Hong Kong: Mpox strategies necessary: CHP

Hong Kongs key mpox control strategies are in line with those recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) and are necessary for safeguarding public health, the Department of Healths Centre for Health Protection said today.

As of yesterday, a total of 32 mpox cases had been reported to the centre. An upsurge in cases is observed to have started from July, with 24 cases being reported since then.

Currently, confirmed mpox patients are either isolated or cohorted together in public hospitals isolation wards until all infectious lesions are treated and the patients become non-infectious. This is to eliminate any chance that confirmed cases may further spread the disease in the community.

In response to suggestions from some quarters that mpox infections pose little in the way of health hazards or transmission risks, and to the inference that the control measures currently in place are disproportionate or unnecessary, the Government said such notions are irresponsible and counterproductive to stopping the spread of mpox in Hong Kong.

It pointed out that the WHO recommends transmission-based precautions for suspected or confirmed mpox cases. These include screening, triage, early recognition, and isolation measures in health facilities. Health authorities in other places have also adopted a containment approach based on the WHOs recommendations.

As for mpox patients under isolation, the Government stressed that the Hospital Authority provides them with comprehensive and effective treatment, including prescribing antiviral drugs based on their individual clinical needs. Public hospitals will also facilitate psychological assessments and care if necessary.

In general, the authority ensures mpox patients stay in the same room during isolation. The department explained that the sharing of bathroom facilities among patients suffering from the same infectious disease etiology is in accordance with infection control principles.

The Government strongly urged high-risk individuals to receive an mpox vaccination.

It said it will continue to assess the risks and adjust prevention and control measures according to the latest scientific evidence and developments, as well as the latest recommendations from the WHO.

This story has been published on: 2023-08-18. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Small railway station in N China's Inner Mongolia attracts throngs of tourists

People's Daily Online) 09:20, August 18, 2023

Although covering just around 20 square meters, the Arxan railway station is dubbed "the most beautiful small railway station in China."

Built in 1937, the railway station was listed as a key cultural relics protection unit in China in 2013.

Photo shows the Arxan railway station in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. (Photo/China Railway)

Photo shows the Arxan railway station in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. (Photo/China Railway)

Photo shows the Arxan railway station in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. (Photo/China Railway)

A train arrives at the Arxan railway station in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. (Photo/China Railway)

Photo shows the beautiful scenery of Arxan city in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. (Photo/China Railway)

The Arxan railway station is located along a railway linking Baicheng city in northeast China's Jilin Province with Arxan city in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. With a total length of 354 kilometers, the railway has 17 stations along it.

The railway is an important east-west transport artery in the eastern part of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and a vital channel promoting economic connectivity between the autonomous region and northeast China.

The main building of the railway station is a two-story structure with an exotic flavor.

The ticket hall and waiting room are integrated into one space covering only about 20 square meters. The bright yellow walls, the ink-green wooden structure and the rough granite exterior tell stories of the small railway station from over 80 years ago.

At the Arxan railway station, passengers only need to walk a few dozen steps from getting off the train to exiting the station. Many of the railway workers stationed here are not locals.

In addition to handling passenger trains and freight trains every day, the railway station also receives tourist trains from Beijing, Shanhaiguan Pass, Dalian, Jilin and other places on an irregular basis. During the peak tourist season, the station bustles with people.

Arxan city has a total area of nearly 7,409 square kilometers. It sits at the intersection of four grasslands. Over 80 percent of the land is covered by forest. In July and August, the average temperature here is only around 22 degrees Celsius.

It takes about one hours drive from the Arxan railway station to the Arxan National Forest Park. Along the way, tourists can enjoy the blue sky, white clouds, mountains, verdant pine forests and distinctive buildings.

The Arxan National Forest Park, with a total area of 103,149 hectares, is home to many scenic spots.

Photo shows the Tuofengling Tianchi (Heavenly Lake) in the Arxan National Forest Park in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. (Photo/China Railway)

Photo shows the Santanxia Gorge in the Arxan National Forest Park in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. (Photo/China Railway)

Photo shows an ice-free river in Arxan in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. (Photo/China Railway)

Train K7565 bound for Arxan city in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is about to leave Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning Province. (Photo/China Railway)

Photo shows passengers aboard train K7565 bound for Arxan city in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. (Photo/China Railway)

Photo shows the cabin of train K7565 bound for Arxan city in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. (Photo/China Railway)

Photo shows the scenery outside train K7565 bound for Arxan city in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. (Photo/China Railway)

Since the start of the summer travel season, the number of passengers taking train K7565 has gradually increased. The train's crew has introduced a number of services to create a warm travel experience for tourists.

During night trips, the crew implements undisturbed service. They finish all tasks before lights are turned off to ensure that the travelers' rest is uninterrupted at night.

Soundproof pads are added to the doors to eliminate noise when passengers enter and exit the cabins. The crew also distributes call buttons to special passengers in each cabin to promptly assist those in need.

Photo shows the autumn scenery of Arxan city in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. (Photo courtesy of the publicity department of the Party Committee in Arxan)

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
A journalist was allegedly shot dead at his home by unidentified miscreants in Araria district of Bihar, said the police on Friday. The incident took place in the Raniganj Bazaar area. The deceased was identified as Vimal Kumar Yadav. "In the Raniganj Bazar area, a journalist namely Vimal Kumar Yadav was shot dead by unidentified miscreants...post-mortem is underway. The dog squad has been called to the murder spot...An investigation is on," said Ashok Kumar Singh, Superintendent of Police, Araria. Further details are awaited. (ANI)
YSR Telangana Party (YSRTP) chief YS Sharmila was placed under house arrest on Friday while she was heading to Gajwel in Siddipet district to meet people who claim they had not received any financial help from the Telangana Government under the Dali Bandhu Scheme. Sharmila was stopped by the police as she was about to leave her Lotus Pond residence in Jubilee Hills area. Telangana Police said that Sharmila had no prior permission to go to Gajwel. As she was stopped, she performed aarti to the cops , as a mark of her protest, and said that she prays for them for getting better wisdom, and not work as an extended outfit of the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). "I am holding aarti to my police brothers and sisters, praying they are endowed with more wisdom and righteousness. I pray they adhere to the Constitution, and not KCR" Sharmila said. Sharmila then proceeded to stage a hunger strike in front of her house in protest against the state government. Taking the attack to Telangana CM K. Chandrashekar Rao She said, It is shameful to note that KCR continues to target me while I was visiting his constituency where hapless Dalits were protesting against him for his failures to extend Dalit Bandhu to the eligible families. It is shocking that I am being house arrested while BRS goons who have threatened us are let off. KCR is clearly rattled and is losing his position. He is obviously scared that my visit will further expose his misdeeds and deception, in his constituency" she said. The YSRTP leader alleged that every time she would go out to visit districts and interact with people, she was being stopped by the state police force. (ANI)
The accused identified as Maqsood Ahmad Malik has been lodged in the Central Jail Kotbhalwal, Jammu, police said.

The Public Safety Act (PSA), 1978, is an administrative detention law that allows the detention of any individual for up to two years without a trial or charge.

Earlier on Tuesday, J&K Police claimed it arrested a terror associate of the Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of proscribed Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba during a checking in Kehnusa village of Bandipora district.

The development came on the heels of the Jammu & Kashmir Police arresting three terror associates of the banned outfit from Srinagar, who, the police said, were planning to "carry out terrorist activities" in the city.

Acting on a tip-off, Bandipora police said it started naka checking at Kehnusa village on Monday and apprehended the terror associate.

Upon further frisking, police said it recovered one hand grenade from his possession.(ANI)
Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury on Friday demanded the sacking of Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh as the four-member party delegation left for the state. Yechury-led delegation is on a three-day visit to Manipur from August 18 to 20. "We are going to express solidarity with the people of Manipur and tell them that India is with you. Manipur CM should be sacked. We will do whatever is necessary to restore peace. The situation in the state is dangerous and it is necessary to control it for the unity of the country," Yechury told ANI. Earlier a 21-member delegation from Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) visited the violence-hit Manipur from July 29-30. The delegation met the Manipur Governor Anusuiya Uikey and visited the relief camps set up in the state. A five-member delegation was also sent to Manipur by Trinamool Congress (TMC). The delegation comprised Rajya Sabha leader Derek OBrien, Rajya Sabha MPs Dola Sen and Sushmita Dev and Lok Sabha MPs Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and Kalyan Banerjee. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address to the nation on Tuesday appealed for peace in strife-torn Manipur saying that people across the country stand with the people of the Northeast state. "The whole country stands with the people of Manipur. Peace is the only way to resolve all disputes. The Centre and the Manipur government are making every effort to ensure that peace returns to the state at the earliest," PM Modi said. The violence in the Northeast state has claimed over 100 lives while displacing thousands more. (ANI)
The event was organised by Kashmir Sewa and was held at a local hotel in Srinagar bringing together a diverse assembly of experts, leaders, and stakeholders, all committed to driving positive change in the region

Chief Guest Iqbal Singh Lalpura, Chairperson, National Commission for Minorities lauded the conference for spotlighting critical issues and promoting unity.

"Unity and understanding are the bedrock of a harmonious society. The government is committed to addressing the challenges faced by minority communities, ensuring their voices are heard and rights upheld."

Lalpura's promise to convey community concerns to Prime Minister Narendra Modi was met with enthusiasm, generating a sense of optimism among attendees.

Firdous Baba, Chief of Kashmir Sewa Sangh, echoed Lalpura's sentiments, emphasising the significance of collective efforts.

"Meaningful dialogues have paved the way for tangible solutions. Our mission is to foster unity, diversity, and harmony within our community," Baba said.

The conference's discussions encompassed vital topics like economic empowerment, infrastructure development, cultural preservation, and social integration. The potential of responsible tourism as a catalyst for sustainable development in the region emerged as a key theme. Participants exchanged ideas and best practices, focusing on leveraging tourism not only for economic growth but also for safeguarding the tribal heritage.

"The conference underscored the significance of preserving the unique cultural heritage of the Hunza, Shina, and Pashtu tribes. By promoting tourism, we can not only create economic opportunities but also ensure the preservation of their rich traditions," a participant said.

The event concluded with a resounding commitment from all stakeholders to collaborate on actionable initiatives. Attendees united in their dedication to fostering understanding, unity, and inclusive growth. The conference has set a promising trajectory towards a brighter future for these tribal communities, driven by the power of collective action and responsible tourism. (ANI)
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav slammed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for challenging the grant of bail to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Lalu Prasad Yadav saying that such efforts will "continue till elections". "This effort will continue till elections. The greatest fear they have is from Bihar. So they are investigating," Tejaswi Yadav said while speaking to reporters on the CBI's latest move. The RJD leader said that they are not deterred by the CBI's actions and will present their side to the court. "We will present our side to the court. Nothing will happen from this no matter how much they harass us. We are clear from our side what we will do," the Deputy Chief Minister said. Speaking on the alleged efforts of the central government to harass opposition leaders through central investigating agencies, Tejaswi Yadav said, "No one fears them nor will anyone bow to them. We will fight and we will win." Taking on the BJP for referring to the Bihar government as 'Jungle Raj 2', the Bihar Deputy Chief Minister said that it has become the work of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to tarnish the image of Bihar. "BJP's work is to tarnish the image of Bihar. No one has insulted Bihar more than the BJP. This will not go on for long," Tejaswi Yadav said. The RJD leader also hit out at the BJP on Delhi recording the largest number of crimes, as against Bihar. "According to the NCRB record, the crime is highest in Delhi be it murder, kidnapping, rape or loot. All this is happening in Delhi, the capital of the country where the PM, President lives. The Delhi Police comes under the purview of the Home Ministry," Tejaswi Yadav said. Reacting to the 'Parivarvad' (dynast) comment of the BJP, Tejaswi Yadav said, "They have been saying this for long. This is a democracy. We have fought elections. We have been elected to power." Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Friday agreed to list the petition filed by CBI challenging the grant of bail to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Lalu Prasad Yadav in the Doranda Treasury case of Jharkhand in which he was sentenced to five years jail term. The former Bihar Chief Minister is currently out on bail due to ill health after his conviction in various fodder scam cases. Yadav was sentenced to five years in prison with a fine of Rs 60 lakh by a special CBI court in Ranchi in connection with the fifth fodder scam case involving embezzlement of over Rs 139 crore by Doranda Treasury. Yadav has been convicted in five fodder scam cases pertaining to the fraudulent withdrawal of money from Doranda, Deoghar, Dumka and Chaibasa treasuries in Jharkhand. The Supreme Court has also held RJD leader and former MP Prabhunath Singh guilty in the 1995 double murder case, overturning the Patna High Court order acquitting him. (ANI)
The state government has constituted a committee under the leadership of retired High Court Judge Nagmohan Das to investigate the allegations made by D Kempanna, president of the Karnataka State Contractors Association.

In connection with the same, an order was issued by the Deputy Secretary of the Public Works Department to investigate the 40% commission case during the BJP government.

It has been mentioned in the order that a committee headed by Nagmohan Das should examine the location and documents in detail and submit a complete report to the government within the next thirty days.

Further, the necessary files and documents related to the investigation should be provided to the investigation committee by the officials of the respective concerned departments.

The public works department said in the order that the officials should be personally present during the site inspection and give full cooperation to the investigation.

The issue first emerged in April 2022, when Santosh Patil, a Belagavi-based contractor, died by suicide. In his suicide note, Patil accused then-state minister and BJP leader KS Eshwarappa of demanding a 40 per cent commission in order to clear a government project.

D Kempanna, president of the Karnataka State Contractors Association, had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2021, alleging that contractors had to shell out 40% commission for public projects, a charge which the Congress used as its key campaign issue to target the then incumbent BJP government.

While meeting the delegation of the Contractors' Association a week ago, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah promised the contractors that his government would initiate action to stop the commission menace. (ANI)
The allegations were voiced by VK Sanoj of the DYFI, the youth wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) during a press conference held in Muvattupuzha.

Sanoj said that the Congress MLA had utilized his power and influence to acquire a resort for commercial purposes while evading his tax responsibilities.

Sanoj also highlighted Kuzhalnadan's public endorsement of a Youth Congress leader embroiled in a Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) case.

DYFI said that it will stage protests and agitations to hold Kuzhalnadan accountable for his alleged transgressions. (ANI)
Former Associate Editor of CPIM mouthpiece Desabhimani, G Sakthidharan alleged in a Facebook post that Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Industries minister P Rajeev had transported money from Desabhimani office in Ernakulam to party headquarters AKG centre in Thiruvananthapuram when Pinarayi Vijayan was CPIM party secretary. In the Facebook post, Sakthidharan wrote, "What would have happened if I had openly written that it was the then Party Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan who secretly collected Rs 2 crore 35 lakhs from Desabhimani office at Kalur in Ernakulam without any receipt, documents or transparency, stayed there for two days and took it to Thiruvananthapuram and it was P Rajeev who brought it to the AKG Center in Thiruvananthapuram?" Sakthidharan described that Pinarayi Vijayan, then party secretary, got off from the car in front of the main gate of AKG center at eleven o'clock in the night, Then two big packets were placed inside two envelopes of the same size with the name of the same hotel printed on them from the five-star hotel of Gulfar Muhammadali in Kovalam. "The earth would still have been spherical, as it is today. No need to expect any change in that...Even if I write that party secretary Pinarayi Vijayan got off in the car in front of the main gate of AKG center at eleven o'clock in the night, two big packets were placed inside two envelopes of the same size with the name of the same hotel printed on them from the five-star hotel of Gulfar Muhammadali in Kovalam, so nothing happens," he added. Sakthidharan lamented that no political change took place in Kerala even when High Court judges said that Pinarayi Vijayan and his daughter Veena Thaikandi had pocketed the amount in monthly and monthly instalments. "Even when the three High Court judges wrote the judgment that Pinarayi Vijayan and his daughter Veena Thaikandi had pocketed the amount in monthly and monthly instalments, Kerala was still like this. Even when a judge publicly challenged that Pinarayi Vijayan was the real mafia kingpin and had evidence of it on his computer, nothing happened. That is Pinarayi Vijayan," he wrote in the Facebook post. Calling for an opposition to emerge in Kerala just like in West Bengal, Sakthidharan said, "If Communism wants to collapse, the opposing force must emerge. That's what happened in Bengal. It's just taking a little more time in Kerala." Earlier G Sakthidharan put an initial Facebook post in which he mentioned that money was transported from Ernakulam to Thiruvananthapuram without mentioning the name of the persons. He also mentioned that two persons in the present cabinet were involved in the transaction. On Friday, Sakthidharan revealed the name of the persons involved in the transaction. After G Sakthidharan put the Facebook post earlier, Congress MP Benny Behanan filed a police complaint demanding a probe into the incident. (ANI)
Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha, Harivansh, Speaker of Rajasthan Legislative Assembly, C.P.Joshi, MPs, MLAs of Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha, Chairperson of CPA headquarters, Ian Liddell-Grainger and other dignitaries will grace the inaugural event.

The theme of the two-day Conference is Strengthening Democracy and Good Governance in Digital Age. During the Conference, Presiding officers of State Legislatures like Chairpersons, Speakers, Deputy Chairpersons and Deputy Speakers will brainstorm on some topics.

One of the topics is how to make public representatives more effective or efficient in encouraging good governance through digital empowerment.

The other topic is the role of public representatives in strengthening the nation through democratic institutions.

The Conference will conclude on Tuesday (August 22) with the valedictory address of Vice-President of India and Chairman of Rajya Sabha Jagdeep Dhankhar. Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra and other dignitaries will be gracing the valedictory session. (ANI)
As the rains wreaked havoc in Himachal Pradesh, which claimed the lives of over 70 people, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday announced a financial assistance of Rs 15 crore to the hill state. An assistance of Rs 15 crore will be given by the Rajasthan government to help the people suffering from the difficult situation created by heavy rains and landslides in Himachal Pradesh, Gehlot said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. The financial aid by Gehlot came in the wake of destruction caused by incessant rain, triggering flash floods, cloudbursts, landslides, and slope failure taking a heavy toll on lives and property. According to the latest information provided by the state government, the total monetary loss in Himachal has reached Rs 8014.61 crore since June 24. A total of 2,022 houses have been fully damaged, and 9,615 houses have been partially damaged, with 113 landslides occurring in this year's monsoon season. Earlier in the day, the state government led by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu declared the whole state as a "natural calamity-affected area". The government in a statement said, "Himachal Pradesh has witnessed unprecedented loss of human lives and huge destruction, damage and loss to public and private property during the ongoing monsoon season. The entire State has been badly ravaged by incessant rains leading to floods, cloudbursts, landslides, and slope failure taking a heavy toll on lives and property." They said that the unprecedented excessive precipitation has led to a series of challenges that impacted the daily life in the State. "Thousands of dwelling units have been damaged or destroyed. There has been unprecedented loss of crops and agricultural land. Thousands of tourists and local people who were stranded had to be evacuated with the help of the Indian Air Force, Army, NDRF, and SDRF, Police. Home Guards, Fire Services and local volunteers. The national highways. state, district and local road network has been severely damaged and destroyed. Dozens of bridges have been washed away or damaged severely hampering connectivity and rescue efforts. The unprecedented excessive precipitation has led to a series of challenges that impacted the daily life in the State," the statement said. "And Whereas, the District Administration supported by the Govt. has been carrying out relief and rescue activities, ever since the onset of Monsoon, working day and night to save lives, provide relief to the affected persons, and restore essential services to minimize the impact the disaster," it read. "Now, therefore, keeping in view the unprecedented grave situation leading to loss of human life and damage, destruction and loss to public infrastructure and private property, the State government has decided to declare the whole State of Himachal Pradesh as 'Natural Calamity Affected Area'," it read further. The government added that after the weather becomes normal and the accessibility is improved, complete assessments of damage and loss assessment of property, livestock, infrastructure and crops shall be carried out by the respective Districts and Departments which shall be submitted to the Government for recovery and reconstruction efforts. (ANI)
Three more persons were arrested on Friday in connection with the Jadavpur University student death case, Kolkata police said. The total number of arrests in the case stands at 12 at present. Earlier Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) protest against the alleged death of a student at Jadavpur University was blocked by the Kolkata police on Friday. The BJP youth leaders said that the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) was jittery over the presence of the crowd at the BJYM protest site so it has muzzled the protest. BJYM now plans to hold further protests throughout the state. "Our protest was going on very peacefully and we have only one demand, that of zero tolerance to ragging and drugs, but the TMC government has objection to our protest. In the last two days, we have got support from a large section of society. Law and order is a state subject. TMC is in power for the last twelve and a half years. Ragging is going on in the University for several years but no steps have been taken to curb it" a BJYM leader said. BJP state chief Suvendu Adhikari criticised the TMC government for its action against the BJYM protestors. In a post on X (formerly Twitter) he said "The 'established' Student bodies of Jadavpur University, the Administration, the Police & the Education Department are complicit in the student's death. Everyone is rattled by the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha's agitation, who are determined to weed out the anti-national and anti social elements from the University Campus". Suvendu Adhikari also accused the Chief Minister of being soft on student groups "Mamata Banerjee is in tacit understanding with these so-called "rival" Students' groups (all part of the I.ND.I. Alliance), who enjoy unmonitored & unjustified facilities within the University Campus in exchange for rolling out the "No Vote to BJP" campaign before elections." Suvendu Adhikari has also lodged an FIR claiming that he was attacked by miscreants while visiting Jadavpur on Thursday. "Yesterday, I visited Jadavpur to attend an event organized by the BJYM. While exiting the venue, around 5:40 pm, I was suddenly attacked by a group of unknown assailants, who managed to breach security and were shouting slogans and brandishing black flags. The unknown miscreants belonged to the Revolutionary Students Federation, an Ultra-Left frontal organisation of the banned Maoist outfit" Suvendu Adhikari said. He alleged that the attack appeared to be a response to the members of the organisations, who didn't like the fact that he minced no words in his speech and called out their hypocrisy. "These people are part of a group who have made Jadavpur University a den of anti-national and anti-social activities. They harbour anti-establishment and secessionist ideologies, who are always criticizing the Govt, but at the same time clinging on to the Institution, even after their formal association is over, to keep on enjoying the subsidised benefits meant for the students." (ANI)
After the (Russian) intervention, our interlocutors in the Russian Federation were warned appropriately to avoid such attempts, which escalate tensions in the Black Sea, the Turkish presidency said, breaking a days-long silence over the incident.

Meanwhile, a civilian cargo vessel sailing from Ukraine reached Turkish waters on Thursday after moving along a western route that avoided international waters in favour of those controlled by NATO members Romania and Bulgaria, France 24 reported.

The Hong Kong-flagged Joseph Schulte left the port of Odesa on Wednesday the first vessel to directly challenge Russias bid to block Ukraine's ability to export via the Black Sea.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the ship was using a new humanitarian corridor that Kyiv established after Russia last month scuppered an agreement that had allowed Ukraine to export grain and foodstuffs.

The Joseph Schultes mission came days after the Russian navy fired warning shots and boarded a small Turkish-crewed cargo ship that was travelling to the Ukrainian port of Izmail, France 24 reported.

Notably, Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukrainian Black Sea and Danube River port infrastructure since pulling out of the UN and Turkey-mediated grain deal.

Earlier on Wednesday, Russian forces launched a drone attack and damaged a port on the Danube River in Ukraine's southern Odesa region overnight, CNN reported on Wednesday citing a Ukrainian official.

In the Telegram, head of the Odesa regional military administration Oleh Kiper said, "The main target is port and grain infrastructure in the south of the region" on the Danube.

Earlier in July, Russia withdrew from the Black Sea Grain initiative, an agreement that had permitted Ukraine to export grain from its Black Sea ports a year ago, despite the war, to help alleviate a global food crisis. (ANI)
The Biden administration on Thursday imposed sanctions and visa restrictions on four Russian operatives involved in the 2020 poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, CNN reported. The four operatives sanctioned by Washington are namely; Alexey Alexandrov, Konstantin Kudryavtsev, Ivan Osipov, and Vladimir Panyaev. They have been sanctioned under the Global Magnitsky Act for having acted as agents of or on behalf of a person in a matter relating to extrajudicial killings, torture, or other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights committed against individuals seeking to expose illegal activity carried out by officials of the Government of the Russian Federation, according to the US Treasury Department. Notably, all four had already been sanctioned under a different authority in August 2021. The State Department has imposed visa sanctions on the four, blocking them and their immediate family members from entry to the United States. Todays actions are a reminder that there are consequences for violating internationally recognized human rights. The United States will continue to use the authorities at our disposal to promote accountability for such egregious acts, CNN quoted US Secretary of State Antony Blinken as saying. In August 2020, Navalny collapsed on a flight from the Siberian city of Tomsk to Moscow after being poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok. He was medically evacuated to Berlin and treated in the German capital before returning to Russia in January 2021. He has been incarcerated there since, CNN reported. According to the US Treasury Department, Kudryavtsev also reportedly was involved in surveillance of Russian opposition politician and Putin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was detained in April 2022 and has been sentenced to 25 years in prison. Earlier this month, Navalny was sentenced to 19 years in prison on extremism charges, which the State Department condemned as an unjust conclusion to an unjust trial. Navalny is already serving sentences totalling eleven-and-a-half years in a maximum security facility, where Russian authorities have repeatedly sent Navalny to solitary confinement, infringed upon his access to counsel, and denied him medical care, CNN reported citing the State Department. (ANI)
Mauritius Minister of Information and Technology, Communication and Innovation Deepak Balgobin said on Thursday that Mauritius is like 'Chhota Bharat' and it has blood relations with India and not just diplomatic ties. On behalf of the government of Mauritius, Deepak Balgobin thanked the government of India for having invited Mauritius as a guest country to the G20 Summit. Further, he said, "Mauritius is, as we say, in our language, like 'Chhota Bharat' because, we have not only diplomatic relations, but we have blood relations." "And, as a minister of information technology, communication and innovation, We have signed a collaboration with the Ministry of ICT Electronics here in India so that we could collaboration with India and Mauritius government, in terms of development, emerging technologies like AI, blockchain, and others," Mauritius Mnister of Information Technology Deepak Balgobin said while speaking to ANI. "Through our relationship, we are going to do more in terms of technology and get expertise from India. Get experience, knowledge from India," he added. He further said that Mauritius is also working with India in space technology. "We're also working on the space technology. We are, working together with ISRO and one of my institutions that is under my portfolio, where we are seeking experienced and valuable help from ISRO to help Mauritius in terms of based technology," he said. Deepak Balgobin, Minister of Information Technology, Communication and Innovation visited the G20-DIA summit in Bengaluru, Karnataka today. The two-day Digital Innovation Alliance summit, being held on the sidelines of the fourth meeting of the Digital Economy Working Group under G20, is being attended by global experts and digital leaders including representatives from other G20 countries. The Summit is focused on discussions on Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), Security in the Digital Economy, and Digital Skilling. As part of Indias G20 Presidency, G20 Digital Innovation Alliance (G20-DIA) initiative was launched under MeitY Startup Hub. It recognizes and accelerates the growth of startups from all G20 countries and nine invited guest countries in six sectors Ed-tech, Health-tech, Agri-tech, Fin-tech, Secured Digital Infrastructure, and Circular Economy that are using digital technologies to solve humanitys most pressing needs. A total of 174 startups from 29 countries are part of the program. These startups will pitch to a jury of global leaders at the G20-DIA Summit. The Summit will culminate on August 18 with an awards ceremony in which 30 startups will be honoured in various categories. (ANI)
US House Republicans are seeking records revealing Joe Biden's use of pseudonyms to discuss his activities related to Ukraine with his son Hunter during his tenure as vice president, The Hill reported on Thursday. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) on Thursday requested that the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to provide unredacted documents and communications from President Bidens tenure as vice president as part of the panels probe into the presidents son Hunter Biden. Comer is also asking for documents and communications in which Biden used a pseudonym; that included Hunter Biden or his business partners Eric Schwerin and Devon Archer; and all drafts of the speech that Biden delivered to the Ukrainian legislature in December 2015. Specifically, Comer is requesting that the National Archives provide the committee special unredacted access to a tranche of emails from Bidens vice presidential records, which includes messages related to Ukraine and the Ukrainian gas company Burisma sent or received by President Biden or Hunter Biden. Hunter Biden sat on the board of Burisma at the time. Redacted copies of those emails were previously released publicly under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), according to The Hill. Comer and the committee have released a series of transcripts and memos seeking to link Hunter Bidens activities back to his father, over the past few weeks. Democrats have dismissed the allegations. Joe Biden has stated there was an absolute wall between his familys foreign business schemes and his duties as Vice President, but evidence reveals that access was wide open for his familys influence peddling, Comer said in a statement alongside the request to the National Archives. We already have evidence of then-Vice President Biden speaking, dining, and having coffee with his sons foreign business associates. We also know that Hunter Biden and his associates were informed of then-Vice President Bidens official government duties in countries where they had a financial interest. The National Archives must provide these unredacted records to further our investigation into the Biden familys corruption, The Hill quoted the statement. The White House has previously said that the president was never in business with his son. Earlier this month, Devon Archer, who sat on the board of Burisma with Hunter Biden, testified to the Oversight Committee that the president was never involved in their business decisions, and that he had no evidence or knowledge that the U.S. took any action to benefit Burisma or Hunter Biden, as per The Hill. Archer, on the other hand, has said that Hunter Biden portrayed the illusion of access to his father when he was vice president but did not have real influence. Republicans, meanwhile, have pointed to Archers testimony that Hunter Biden put his father on speakerphone multiple times while with foreign business associates to allege the president wasnt being truthful when he said in 2019 he hadnt discussed business with his son, The Hill reported. (ANI)
Two dozen Nigerian security operatives were killed after a helicopter carrying dead and wounded soldiers from an evacuation mission in Niger state 249 km north of Abuja crashed on Monday, Al Jazeera reported. The evacuation mission had been to retrieve soldiers wounded or killed in an ambush by armed bandits in Chukuba village in the Shiroro local government area of Niger state. A spokesperson for the Nigerian military, Major General Edward Buba confirmed the figures during a press briefing in Abuja on Thursday. He added that there were 14 soldiers and seven wounded ones aboard the aircraft at the time of the crash, along with two pilots and two crew members, according to Al Jazeera. An investigation is underway to investigate the cause of the crash, Buba said. Moreover, authorities have not yet disclosed the details of the evacuation mission or any other relevant information about the crash, including whether it had survivors or not. Nigeria President Bola Tinubu said in a statement on Tuesday, These officers and men were answering the call of duty while on an evacuation mission. In their dedicated service to our beloved country, they paid the ultimate price." However, according to a local news outlet leadership, the helicopter was evacuating the bodies of security operatives killed by bandits before crashing in Chukuba. Additionally, the newspaper said that the sources confirmed that the armed men carried sophisticated weapons which could bring a helicopter down, reported Al Jazeera. Moreover, the leadership added that the helicopter took off from Kaduna Airfield to Minna but it lost contact with control towers from both Kaduna and Minna. However, according to Premium Times, another local outlet, Dogo Gide, the notorious leader of a group of Bandits that has been a source of terror across parts of northwestern Nigeria bordering the countries of Niger and Chad has taken responsibility for the attack. (ANI)
In a multimillion investment, the UK government on Wednesday announced to invest 210 million in funding to partner with Asian and African nations to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the British High Commision said in a statement. The investment will aim to build State of the art laboratories, cutting-edge disease surveillance systems, and a bigger global workforce to tackle deadly antimicrobial resistance (AMR), said a statement by the government. The funding - from the governments UK aid budget will support the Fleming Funds activities to tackle AMR in countries across Asia and Africa over the next 3 years, helping to reduce the threat it poses to the UK and globally. According to the release, it will bolster the surveillance capacity in up to 25 countries where the threat and burden of AMR is highest - including Indonesia, Ghana, Kenya and Papua New Guinea. More than 250 laboratories are set to be upgraded and provided with state-of-the-art equipment. This investment includes new genome sequencing technology which will help track bacterial transmission between humans, animals and the environment. The investment will also strengthen the international health workforce by supporting 20,000 training sessions for laboratory staff, pharmacists and hospital staff, and over 200 Fleming Fund scholarships to boost expertise in microbiology, AMR policy and One Health - which recognises the connection between humans, animals and the environment. UK Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Steve Barclay who is in India to attend the G20 Health ministers meeting commented that antimicrobial resistance is a silent killer which poses a significant threat to peoples health around the world and in the UK. Its vital it is stopped in its tracks and this record funding will allow countries most at risk to tackle it and prevent it from taking more lives across the world, ultimately making us safer at home," Barclay said. He added, It also builds on work the government is doing to incentivise drug companies to develop new antibiotics - a model which some G20 countries are looking to implement. The government statement revealed that around 1.27 million people around the world die each year due to AMR - where bacteria have evolved so much that antibiotics and other current treatments are no longer effective against infections - with 1 in 5 of those deaths in children under 5. In 2019, AMR was found to have caused between 7,000 and 35,000 deaths in the UK alone. Apart from this, UK Special Envoy on AMR Dame Sally Davies applauded the governments move and claimed that the investment would create a real impact to tackle AMR. I am proud and delighted that the UKs Fleming Fund will continue to create real impact to tackle AMR and build pandemic preparedness on the ground across the world, using data to drive action and catalyse investment," Davies said. She added, This world-leading investment in AMR laboratories, workforce and systems is a vital contribution to realise our vision of a world free of drug-resistant infection. The investment will deliver the second phase of the UK-India Fleming Fund partnership alongside Indias Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Worth up to 3 million, it will accelerate collaboration on AMR surveillance across One Health sectors and help both countries to deliver on their 2030 roadmap. As part of his visit to India, the Secretary of State will go to Indias National Centre for Disease Control, where Indias government and the Fleming Fund are joining forces to combat antimicrobial resistance. He will also attend a showcase of innovative health technology with representatives from UK and Indian artificial intelligence and digital health firms in a bid to unleash further the tech partnership which is already transforming healthcare in both countries. The G20 Health Ministers meeting takes place in Gandhinagar, India from August 18-19, 2023. (ANI)
The Chinese embassy lauded the Indian Coast Guard for successfully conducting the medical evacuation of a Chinese national from a Panama-flagged research vessel, MV Dong Fang Kan Tan No 2, around 200 Kms in the Arabian sea off Mumbai on the intervening night of August 16 and 17. The evacuation was carried out amidst challenging weather conditions and dark night. Our heartful appreciation to @IndiaCoastGuard for the timely and professional medical evacuation of a Chinese citizen in the Arabian Sea off Mumbai, tweeted the Chinese Embassy in India. The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Mumbai on Wednesday received information that a crew member Yin Weigyang onboard the research vessel had a cardiac attack and required urgent medical attention. Communication was established immediately with the vessel, which was en route from China to the UAE necessary telemedicine advice was provided promptly. "In a daring operation, @IndiaCoastGuard #ALH MK-III evacuates a #Chinese national from MV Dong Fang Kan Tan No 2 around 200 Km mid-sea amidst challenging night conditions & extreme weather. Patient was reported chest pain &cardiac arrest symptoms," Indian Coast Guard said on the X (formerly known as Twitter). Considering the best feasible options for speedy evacuation and subsequent medical management, the patient was airlifted by CG ALH MK-III and was administered first aid. He was later transferred to the agent of the vessel for further medical management. The swift operation undertaken by CG ALH and CGAS Daman during the dark hours enabled saving a precious life of a foreign national at sea, reaffirming the Indian Coast Guards commitment to the motto We Protect. (ANI)
The US intelligence community believes that Ukraine's counteroffensive won't succeed in reaching the important southeastern city of Melitopol. If this assessment turns out to be accurate, Kyiv won't achieve its main goal of severing Russia's land bridge to Crimea in this year's push, The Washington Post reported. The assessment is based on Russia's brutal proficiency in defending occupied territory through a phalanx of minefields and trenches, and it's likely to lead to finger-pointing in Kyiv and Western capitals over why a counteroffensive that involved tens of billions of dollars worth of weapons and military hardware from the West failed to achieve its objectives. US officials stated that the Ukrainian forces, which are approaching Melitopol from the town of Robotyne, more than 50 miles away, will stay a distance away from the city. In order to discuss classified military activities, The Washington Post interviewed US, Western, and Ukrainian government officials under the condition of anonymity. The US Directorate of National Intelligence declined to make any comments. Since Melitopol is regarded as the entry point to Crimea, it is essential to Ukraine's counteroffensive. Two significant highways, a railway line, and the city's location at their intersection allow Russia to transport military soldiers and equipment from the peninsula to other seized areas in southern Ukraine. US officials predict that Ukraine's attempt to reclaim Russian-occupied territory would falter before it reaches Melitopol, a crucial city in the southeast. The village of Robotyne is now being pushed south by Ukrainian soldiers. Early in June, Ukraine began its counteroffensive in an effort to repeat the astounding success of its push into the Kharkiv region last year. However, despite possessing a range of recently purchased Western weapons, including US Bradley action Vehicles, German-made Leopard 2 tanks, and specialised mine-clearing vehicles, Ukraine suffered significant casualties in the first week of action against Russia's well-prepared defences. According to US and Western officials, joint war exercises between the US, British, and Ukrainian forces expected such losses but envisioned Kyiv accepting the casualties as the price of breaking through Russia's first defensive line. However, Ukraine made the strategic decision to use smaller units to advance along the front in order to reduce battlefield casualties. As a result, Ukraine made small progress during the summer in several areas. Despite dedicating more reserves, notably Stryker and Challenger troops, to the front, Kyiv has not yet managed to breach Russia's primary line of defence. According to Rob Lee, a military analyst with the Foreign Policy Research Institute, the route to Melitopol is quite arduous, and even retaking nearby cities like Tokmak will be challenging. Russia has three main defensive lines there and then fortified cities after that, he said. Its not just a question about whether Ukraine can breach one or two of them, but can they breach all three and have enough forces available after taking attrition to achieve something more significant like taking Tokmak or something beyond that, according to The Washington Post. A blame game has already started in behind-closed-doors talks as a result of the dire forecast, which has been briefed to certain Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill. Given the meagre results of the offensive, several Republicans are now objecting to President Biden's proposal for an additional USD 20.6 billion in aid for Ukraine. The administration has come under fire for delaying the delivery of more potent weaponry to Ukraine from other Republicans and, to a lesser extent, hardline Democrats. US officials refute claims that the outcome would have been different if the F-16 fighter jets or longer-range missile systems like the ATACMS had been used. The problem remains piercing Russias main defensive line, and theres no evidence these systems wouldve been a panacea, a senior US administration official said, as per The Washington Post. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark A Milley, in an interview this week said that the US has been clear about the difficult task Ukraine is facing. I had said a couple of months ago that this offensive was going to be long, its going to be bloody its going to be slow, he told The Washington Post. And thats exactly what it is: long, bloody and slow, and its a very, very difficult fight. While not achieving its objectives, he noted Kyivs success in degrading Russian forces. The Russians are in pretty rough shape, he said. Theyve suffered a huge amount of casualties. Their morale is not great. According to US officials, the Pentagon repeatedly advised Ukraine to focus a sizable number of forces on a single point of breakthrough. Despite choosing a different course of action, officials in Ukraine claimed the decision was Kyiv's to make in light of the enormous sacrifice Ukrainian soldiers were making on the front lines. Unnamed Ukrainian officials have said that timing will rely on how soon soldiers can enter the minefields. This is a challenging procedure that has put a burden on the military's mine-clearing capabilities throughout a large area of the country. The difficulties Ukraine has encountered are many, according to analysts, but almost all concur that Russia has outperformed expectations in terms of its prowess in defending occupied territory. The most deterministic factor of how this offensive has gone thus far is the quality of Russian defences, said military analyst Rob Lee, noting Russias use of trenches, mines and aviation. They had a lot of time and they prepared them very well and made it very difficult for Ukraine to advance. Concerns have also been voiced in relation to the deployment of Ukraine's military and the locations chosen. The Ukrainians have been pouring a lot of resources, including soldiers, ammunition, and time, into Bakhmut for months, but they have lost control of the city and have made only moderate progress in seizing the surrounding area. The focus has some in the Biden administration worried that overcommitting in the east may have diminished the effectiveness of the counteroffensive in the south, even if the close-quarters, trench-line fighting in Bakhmut is distinct from the mine problem in the south, The Washington Post reported. (ANI)
US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra will participate in the two-day G20 Health Ministers meeting starting today in Gujarat's Gandhinagar, according to an official statement. He will also participate in bilateral meetings. In India, Secretary Becerra will emphasise that the US' partnership with India is one of the most consequential relationships, and the US and India partnership brings health benefits to the region and the world, the US Department of HHS said in the press statement. While at the G20 Health Ministers Meeting, Secretary Becerra will "advance the United States' priorities of increasing our mutual prosperity, advancing democracy and human rights, addressing the climate crisis, and upholding a rules-based order grounded in international law," it said. In addition, Secretary Becerra will highlight that the United States supports all three priorities of the G20 Health Track under India's Presidency. Firstly, improving global coordination on health emergencies prevention, preparedness, and response (PPR), with a focus on implementing a One Health approach (the intersection of humans, animals, and the environment) and combatting Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). Secondly, improving the global availability of and access to affordable medical countermeasures (MCMs, including vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics) for health emergencies; and thirdly supporting the use of digital health systems in low- and middle-income countries to improve healthcare service delivery and to advance universal health coverage (UHC), as per the statement. Finally, Secretary Becerra will stress the importance of deepening "our bilateral relationship with India, reiterating that India is one of America's indispensable partners. Secretary Becerra will use his participation at the G20 in Gandhinagar to help deepen our already significant relationship," the statement added. Specifically on August 18, Secretary Becerra will hold a bilateral meeting with India, and also participate in the inaugural Session 1 of the G20 Health Ministers Meeting: Health Emergencies Prevention, Preparedness and Response (focusing on One Health and AMR). Later on Friday afternoon, Secretary Becerra will hold a bilateral with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the official release added. Finally, Secretary Becerra will participate in a G20 working gala dinner in the evening. On August 19, Secretary Becerra will hold a bilateral meeting with Brazil to discuss opportunities for US-Brazil health cooperation and Brazils 2024 G20 priorities as host. Secretary Becerra will also participate in Session 2 of the G20 Health Ministers Meeting: Strengthening Cooperation in Pharmaceutical Sector with Focus on Availability & Access to Safe, Effective, Quality and Affordable Medical CountermeasuresVTDs (Vaccine, Therapeutics & Diagnostics). Next, Secretary Becerra will participate in Session 3 of the G20 Health Ministers Meeting: Digital Health Innovation and Solutions to Aid Universal Health Coverage and Improve Healthcare Service Delivery. Finally, Secretary Becerra will participate in the Closing Ceremony of the G20 Health Ministers Meeting, the official statement said. (ANI)
Ujjwal Nikam, the special public prosecutor of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack case, says the possible extradition of Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana, an accused in the case, is now a question of a few months. Nikams statement came on the heels of US State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patels remarks to call for those involved in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks to be brought to justice. Patel, however, said that the extradition process of Tahawwur Rana is a pending matter. A US court on Thursday denied the writ of habeas corpus filed by Tahawwur Rana, paving the way for US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to issue a certification for him to be extradited to India, where he is facing charges of his involvement in 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. On the US court denying the writ of habeas corpus, Ujjwal Nikam said, Indeed it's a great success for India and I have no hesitation to say that because of the good relations between the US government and Indian government, the US administration had correctly declared that in any case whosoever the offender in the 26/11 terror attack case on Mumbai they should be punished according to law. It would all depend now on the US administration as to when Tahawwur Rana is to be sent back to India for trial. The moot question is where he will be tried, whether in the NIA court at Delhi or elsewhere, those questions will be decided by the investigating agency, the special public prosecutor of the 26/11 case added. Tahawwur Rana is not the first person who is currently serving time in a US jail after being accused of being part of the 26/11 attack conspiracy. Before Rana, David Coleman Headley was also arrested by the US. Headley struck a plea bargain with the US government to avoid being extradited to India. His statement was howver recorded by Nikam who had cross-examined him in an open court through a virtual conference. When asked if he sees any major development if Tahawwur Rana is brought to India and is examined as a witness or accused, Nikam said, Indeed because that Rana is basically Pakistan national born person and later on he accepted the US government's citizenship and thereafter staying even in the US he was indulging in these terrorist activities. Now it is more than clear that David Headley was his left and right-hand person and with the connivance of Rana, he opened the immigration office in Mumbai. So David Headley had visited India before the terror attack of 26/11 even after the terror attack similarly Tahawwur Rana had also visited Mumbai. In response to a question on how much time it could take to extradite Rana to India, Nikam said that both US and Indias diplomacy will work out on this issue because ultimately, according to US law also they have to give all opportunity to a criminal to defend himsefl. After availing all the opportunities, I'm sure very soon. Because now it is a question of a few months because Tahawwur Rana has lost his habeas corpus for the petition and according to my knowledge, now he has no option Nikam said. US State Department on Thursday said that Washington is committed to confronting terrorism across the world and continues to call for those involved in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks to be brought to justice. What I can say is that we are committed to confronting terrorism across the world and we continue to call for those involved in the 2008 Mumbai attacks to be brought to justice, said State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel. During the recently concluded monsoon session of the Indian parliament the Home Minister Amit Shah had informed the House that Tahawwur Rana would face the Indian judiciary soon. Tahawwur Rana was arrested in the US on an extradition request by India for his role in the Mumbai attacks that killed 175 people, including six Americans. Indian authorities allege that Rana conspired with his childhood friend David Coleman Headley to assist the Pakistani terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba in orchestrating the terror attacks. David Headley had pleaded guilty and testified against Rana. (ANI)
Indian-American lawmaker Vivek Ramaswamy, who is a first-time candidate for the Republican party nomination for the 2024 US Presidential polls, is worth listening to according to popular journalist Tucker Carlson. Carlson, in the latest episode of his production, Tucker on Twitter, interacted with Ramaswamy and the latter stated that America was at a point where the government and the broader establishment believe that the citizens of the nation cannot be trusted with the truth. Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur, also spoke about the "void he is trying to fill in American politics. Carlson termed Ramaswamy as "one of the best-versed voices in policy" he has spoken with. Their first topic of conversation was Ramaswamy's recent comments questioning the official story of 9/11. He said, "I didn't suggest it, I explicitly said the government absolutely lied, the 9/11 Commission lied, the FBI lied. Is this a core point of my campaign? No. Absolutely not. I went on a comedy show where the guy asked if the moon landing was fake, and I said it was real. Then he asked me if the government told the truth about 9/11 and I said no, they did not." What do we know about Hunter Bidens dealings? What do we know about the truth of what happened on January 6? What do we know about that Nashville shooter manifesto? Yes, we can handle the truth. Just give me the hard truth, Ramaswamy went on to say. On the heels of Carlsons comment that it feels like the country is on a cusp of chaos, Ramaswamy said, theres something going on. Were like in a 1775 spring of 1776 moment, Ramaswamy described the current energy in the country. Later in the interview, Ramaswamy explains that he expressed his opinions publicly before thinking about what those things may mean for his political campaign, but acknowledged that his rise in the elections proved his strategy successful. Ramaswamy also highlighted his stance on Ukraine and further positioned himself as one of the only candidates in the race not under donor pressure. Im unconstrained on what Im able to say and that allows me to speak the truth that a lot of people in this country recognize to be the truth, which is that we have no discernable national interest at issue in Ukraine We are driving Russia further into Chinas arms as we arm Ukraine, further strengthening what I see as the single greatest military threat that the United States certainly has faced since WWII, Ramaswamy said. On Thursday, the Indian-American lawmaker was also called a very promising candidate by Elon Musk. He is a very promising candidate, Musk said on X (formerly Twitter) referring to Ramaswamys interview with Carlson. Meanwhile, Ramswamy himself has been quite straightforward with his agenda for the poll campaign. He has called China the biggest threat that the US faces and said that he would go for total de-coupling with Beijing if he comes to power. The Republican leader has also said that he would aim to completely re-enter the trade in the Pacific and enter trade relationships with countries like India, Japan, and South Korea. Earlier, in an interview with Fox News, Ramaswamy said, Xi Jinping is the dictator and China is the top threat that the United States faces. I think I am the clearest candidate in declaring a clear path in declaring economic independence from China. That would be the first step in our policy. He further said that he would go for a total de-coupling with China and ban most of the US companies from doing business in Beijing. I would go for total de-coupling. I would ban most US companies from doing business with China, unless and until the CCP reforms its behaviourI think there would be short-term consequences, but I think we can make sacrifices if we know what we are sacrificing for. I also think that when you are most willing to make a sacrifice, you actually do not have to make one at all, Ramaswamy said. The 37-year-old lawmaker was born on August 9, 1985, and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. His parents migrated to the US from Kerala. He is the third Indian-American along with Nikki Haley and Hirsh Vardhan Singh who will be up against former President Donald Trump in the primaries in January next year. He attended Harvard University for his undergrad and later got a law degree from Yale University. Ramaswamy is the author of "Woke, Inc: Inside Corporate America's Social Justice Scam" and has been dubbed "the CEO of Anti-Woke Inc" by The New Yorker. 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. Ramaswamy is married to Apoorva Tewari Ramaswamy, an Assistant Professor at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. (ANI)
Days after a convoy of Chinese engineers was attacked in Pakistans southwestern province of Balochistan, a prominent Baloch activist justified the incident calling it an attempt by the indigenous people to protect their identity and land. Hakeem Baloch, a journalist and a senior activist of the Baloch National Movement (BNM) based in the UK, told ANI that China has been investing heavily in the region for its own economic and military interests. He said, The Chinese investment is not for the Baloch people, its in reality, not even for the Punjab (a province in Pakistan). What China is looking for is Gwadar Port. China wants to strengthen its military power, China wants to strengthen its military growth in the region by controlling the Gwadar port. If China controls Gwadar port, they can control the Middle East from there. And with that China will become a regional power. For the people of Balochistan, there is nothing in these huge projects, he said. Gwadar, a seaport town in Balochistan is witnessingdevelopmental projects as part of the multi-billion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project. A large number of Chinese engineers are engaged in projects financed by the Chinese government. Hakeem said that these development projects are not benefiting the indigenous Baloch and they are getting poorer. He said, First thing, one has to be clear is that the Baloch are not against development. They are not against any development be it from any country or any part of the world. But, at this very moment when the Baloch are a slave and Balochistan is under slavery when the lives of people in Balochistan are miserable, when the stories of people of Balochistan is about death, sorrows and brutality, how one can imagine coming to Balochistan and they can live a life which the locals cant imagine. How can someone live in Air-conditioning, drink mineral water, have good food, good health while the actual indigenous people of Balochistan are suffering for basic needs of life, said the Baloch activist. There are several armed Baloch groups in the province who have been fighting against Pakistans illegal occupation of their land. The presence of China in the area has been creating hindrances in their movement to fight for their rights. Hakeem Baloch explained about the attacks on the Chinese, The reality is Balochistan is a war zone, there is a war going on, the Baloch armed organisations are struggling for the freedom of Balochistan. They are the only force in the region that has stood up against China. What China is doing in the region, everyone can see that, but Baloch is the only force that is constantly resisting them. So, when it comes to the reality check, when it comes to the ground realities of Balochistan, the Baloch people have no other option but to resist it either politically, or with arms whoever can, they are doing the best possible way they can, he said. Balochistan was the free land before the partition of India and the creation of Pakistan in 1947. Hakeem believes that Balochistan has its own historical, geographical boundaries. He added, Pakistan, in the name of Islam, occupied Balochistan in the name of brotherhood, religion and they took over the resources of Balochistan, they took over the freedom of Balochistan and what they gave us is slavery, occupation, suppression, brutality, kill and dump, drugs, religious extremism and no education, no basic necessities of life, no jobs and no business opportunities available for the people of Balochistan. So, the Baloch people are living a really sad and hard life. The everyday hardship of Baloch people, we and you cant even imagine the way they live in Balochistan, the way they continue their life with all those brutalities, said Hakeem. He said that Baloch are not against the Chinese but they are helping Pakistan to crush the Baloch struggle. The Baloch military organisations, the Baloch militant organisations, the Baloch armed groups, the Balochistan Liberation Front believe that China is supporting our occupier, China has actually strengthened the weakened Pakistan. Without the help of China and aid by China and other countries around the world Pakistan cannot survive. Pakistan is surviving and they are continuing the brutality in Balochistan with the support and aid of China. That is why they are attacking the Chinese in Balochistan, the Baloch activist said. (ANI)
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday praised India for advancing health coverage and schemes. Dr Tedros made the remarks while addressing the inauguration ceremony of the ongoing G20 Health Ministers Meeting in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. At the begining of his address, Dr Tedros thanked India for its gracious hospitality and visionary leadership in hosting the G20 Summit. I commend India for their steps in advancing Universal Health Coverage and the Ayushman Bharat scheme which is the world 's largest health assurance initiative, the WHO chief said. He also recalled his visit to a Health and Wellness Centre and lauded the services being provided there. I visited a Health and Wellness Centre here in Gandhinagar and was impressed by the primary healthcare services being provided to 1000 households by the HWC, he added. He also hailed the telemedicine facilities provided in Gujarat and thanked Indias G20 Presidency for the Global Digital Health Initiative to be launched on Saturday. I commend the telemedicine services being provided here, which provide prescriptions and treatment locally. It is an excellent example of transforming healthcare. I also thank India G20 Presidency for taking leadership in the Global Digital Health Initiative which will be launched tomorrow, Dr Tedros said. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Friday said that more than 70 delegates from different countries are participating in the G20 Health Ministers' meeting and side event in Gandhinagar here. The three-day G20 Health Ministers meeting under G20 India Presidency will culminate on August 19." More than 70 delegates from different countries are participating in the G20 Health Ministers' meeting and side events. "We are showing India's Health model to the people and they are appreciating it. The Modi government has seen the health sector with a holistic approach," Mandaviya said. The G20 Health Ministers meeting under G20 India Presidency is being held during from August 17 to 19 at Gandhinagar, Gujarat. India assumed the presidency of the G20 on December 1, 2022, and is currently part of the G20 Troika comprising Indonesia, India and Brazil. Indias G20 Presidency marked the first time that the troika is consisting of three developing and emerging economies. The focus of the G20 Health Ministers Meeting will be on the three key priorities of the G20 Health Track, including health emergencies prevention, preparedness and response with a focus on anti-microbial resistance and One Health framework; Strengthening cooperation in the pharmaceutical sector with a focus on access and availability to safe, effective, quality and affordable medical countermeasures (Vaccines, Therapeutics and Diagnostics); and Digital Health innovations and solutions to aid universal health coverage and improve healthcare service delivery. (ANI)
The first batch of Bangladeshi tourists has arrived in Nepal's capital Kathmandu as a part of tourism promotion of the Himalayan nation. The first batch of tourists consists of about 200 people who were welcomed at Tribhuvan International Airport by tourism officials while traditional musical instruments were being played in the background. According to the officials, a total of 700 tourists from Bangladesh will be landing in Kathmandu by Saturday in chartered aircraft of Biman Bangladesh. Speaking to ANI, Mohammad Raza, a Bangladeshi tourist in Kathmandu said, "Today its a milestone, a record between Bangladesh and Nepal, 700 people we have come all the way from Bangladesh to enjoy all the attractions of Kathmandu and Nepal. We are going to many places. Nepal'sSamrat Tour and Travels Pvt. Ltd has done ground handling for Bangladeshi tourists coming to Nepal. The team that is about to come to Nepal by a chartered flight from Bangladesh is the largest so far. The group of tourists will remain in Nepal for four nights and five days. Apart from touring around Kathmandu, the team of tourists will also be attending a conference on Sunday. The arrival of Bangladeshi tourists will help in the promotion of tourism in Nepal. This is the first time that a large number of Bangladeshi tourists are travelling to Nepal. Bangladesh, which is close to Nepal, is a destination country with potential for tourism. A significant number of Bangladeshi tourists visited Nepal before and during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the statistics of the board, 13,624 have travelled to Nepal from Bangladesh in the seven months of 2023. In July alone, 2,694 Bangladeshi tourists visited Nepal. The statistics have revealed that 2,402 Bangladeshi tourists came to Nepal in June, 2,217 in April, 2,466 in March, 1,977 in February and 2,468 in January. Earlier in 2022, 25,384 tourists from Bangladesh visited Nepal. According to the board, a total of 534,207 foreign tourists have entered Nepal from various countries around the globe in the seven months of 2023. (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held talks with Iranian President Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi and discussed matters of bilateral and regional importance. The two leaders reiterated their commitment to further strengthen bilateral cooperation, including to realise the full potential of Chabahar Port as a connectivity hub. "The two leaders reiterated their commitment to further strengthen bilateral cooperation including to realize the full potential of Chabahar Port as a connectivity hub," Prime Minister's Office said in a press release. PM Modi and Iranian President Raisi discussed cooperation at multilateral forums, including the expansion of BRICS. The two leaders looked forward to their meeting on the margins of the upcoming BRICS Summit set to be held in South Africa from August 22-24. During the telephonic conversation, PM Modi stated that the relationship between Iran and India is underpinned by close historic and civilizational ties. "Prime Minister highlighted that India- Iran relationship is underpinned by close historic and civilizational connections, including strong people-to-people contacts," Prime Minister's Office said in a press release. Earlier in July, PM Modi chaired the SCO Summit virtually and said Iran is going to join as a new member of the organization and also welcomed the signing of the Memorandum of Obligation for the SCO membership of Belarus. "I am happy that today Iran is going to join the SCO family as a new member. For this, I convey my best wishes to President Ebrahim Raisi and the people of Iran. Also, we welcome the signing of the memorandum of obligation for Belarus' SCO membership," PM Modi said at the Summit. At the SCO Summit, PM Modi said that SCO members can work towards maximizing the utilization of the Chabahar Port following Iran's membership of the SCO, the official press release by Prime Minister's Office said. He further mentioned the importance of better connectivity. "The International North-South Transport Corridor can serve as a secure and efficient route for landlocked countries in Central Asia to access the Indian Ocean. We should strive to realize its full potential," as per the release. "Strong connectivity is crucial for the progress of any region. Better connectivity not only enhances mutual trade but also fosters mutual trust. However, in these efforts, it is essential to uphold the basic principles of the SCO charter, particularly respecting the sovereignty and regional integrity of the Member States," the release said. In September last year, PM Modi held a meeting with Ebrahim Raisi on the sidelines of SCO Summit in Samarkand. The two leaders spoke about the growing friendship between India and Iran. Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, PM Modi stated, "Held wide-ranging discussions with President Ebrahim Raisi. We talked about the growing India-Iran friendship and the scope to boost ties in sectors like energy, commerce and connectivity." (ANI)
Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Mansukh Mandaviya on Friday announced the finalisation of the negotiations and the adoption of the Health Ministers Meeting Outcome document. He called the principle of equitable access to medical countermeasures a fundamental right and emphasised that India under its G20 Presidency is committed to it. In his address at the inaugural event of the G20 Health Ministers Meeting, Mandaviya noted that concurrence in the outcome document was achieved in all paragraphs except one geopolitical paragraph on Ukraine, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said in a press release. He expressed gratitude to G20 nations for their cooperation during the negotiations and looked forward to their implementation in the coming future. Speaking about the collective resolve to establish an end-to-end medical countermeasures coordination mechanism and ensure timely access to safe, quality, affordable, and effective vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics, Mansukh Mandaviya said, "The principle of equitable access to medical countermeasures, is a fundamental right that we, as the G20, stand unwaveringly committed to." "The alignment between the G7 and G20 on this critical issue is a testament to our shared dedication to safeguarding global health through the principles outlined by the WHO's Working Group on International Health Regulations and the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body," he added. Speaking about the health challenges faced by the world in the present time, Mandaviya stated that the COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the imperative of digital health adoption and implementation, according to the press release. Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare said, "The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the imperative of digital health adoption and implementation, and we recognize its potential in strengthening health systems and empowering individuals. In partnership with the World Health Organization, the Global Initiative on Digital Health has been established, fostering collaboration among nations and organizations to realize this transformative vision." World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Japanese Health Minister Katsunobu Kato, Union Ministers of State for Health and Family Welfare Bharati Pravin Pawar, and SP Singh Baghel attended the inaugural event of the G20 Health Ministers Meeting. Brazil Health Minister Nisia Trindade and Indonesian Health MinisterBudi Gunadi Sadikin made opening remarks at the inauguration event. Welcoming the ministers and delegates to Gujarat, Mandaviya said, "It is with immense pride and honour that we extend a warm welcome to esteemed leaders from around the world to the historic city of Gandhinagar in the vibrant state of Gujarat. This gathering holds special significance as we come together to commemorate the enduring legacy of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, and his principles of non-violence, truth, and universal upliftment." TedrosAdhanom Ghebreyesus thanked India for its gracious hospitality and visionary leadership in hosting the G20 Summit. He commended India for its steps in advancing Universal Health Coverage and the success of the Ayushman Bharat scheme which is the world's largest health assurance initiative. Ghebreysus shared his experience of visiting a Health and Wellness Centre (HWC) in Gandhinagar and how he was impressed by the primary healthcare services being provided to 1000 households by the health and wellness centre. Highlighting the significance of the Global Initiative on Digital Health, Ghebreyesus said, "Digital technology can transform health locally and globally, and the Global Initiative on Digital Health to be launched under Indias G20 Presidency, will support the WHO Strategy on Digital Health." In a video message at the G20 Health Ministers Meeting, PM Modi invoked Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy, highlighting the intrinsic connection between health and harmonious living. He underscored the imperative of placing health at the core of global decision-making. He spoke about the international cooperation exemplified through the Vaccine Maitri initiative. "The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us that health should be at the center of our decisions. It also showed us the value of international cooperation, whether in medicine and vaccine deliveries, or in bringing our people back home." Highlighting India's contribution in delivering medicine, PM Modi said that New Delhi under the Vaccine Maitri initiative provided 300 million vaccine doses to over 100 nations, including many in the Global South. He stressed that global health systems should be resilient and the world must be ready to prevent, prepare and respond to the next health emergency. "Under the Vaccine Maitri initiative, India delivered 300 million vaccine doses to more than 100 countries, including many in the Global South. Resilience has turned out to be one of the biggest learnings of this time," PM Modi said. "Global health systems should also be resilient. We must be ready to prevent, prepare, and respond to the next health emergency. This is especially important in today's interconnected world. As we saw during the pandemic, health issues in one part of the world can affect all other parts of the world in a very short time," he added. The G20 Health Ministers Meeting will focus on the three health priorities set under Indias G20 Presidency. The three priorities include health emergencies prevention, preparedness and response, strengthening Cooperation in the pharmaceutical sector with a focus on access and availability to safe, effective, quality and affordable medical countermeasures - vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics and digital health innovations and solutions to aid universal health coverage and improve healthcare service delivery, according to Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare press release. Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in the press release said, "The day saw a session on the first health priority to further build resilient health systems to prepare for, and prevent any further pandemics. Two Interphase sessions were also held as part of the Global Summit on Traditional Medicine, as well as the need for promoting value-based healthcare beyond borders." Ministers of Indonesia, Brazil anddelegates of the G20 and invited countries attended the event. VK Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog, Sudhansh Pant, Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Rajeev Bahl, Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research, Abhay Thakur, Additional Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs and Indias G20 Presidency Sous Sherpa and senior officials from the Ministry of Health participated in the inaugural event. (ANI)
Tel Aviv [Israel], August 18 (ANI/TPS): Uruguay will open a diplomatic office for innovation in Jerusalem, Israels Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Wednesday. The news comes a day after the ministry confirmed that Paraguay would return its embassy to Jerusalem by the end of the year, and is the latest sign of the growing ties between Israel and Latin America. Uruguay is one of Israels important friends in Latin America, and the presidents decision to open an innovation office in Jerusalem will advance the ties between our two countries, said Foreign Minister Eli Cohen. Israels top diplomat met with President of Uruguay Luis Lacalle Pou and his Uruguayan counterpart Francisco Bustillo in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo on Wednesday, the first such visit by an Israeli foreign minister to the Latin American country in the last four decades. Cohen invited the Uruguayan president to Jerusalem to inaugurate the new office, which will work to promote cooperation in the field of innovation, according to the ministry.The office is slated to open soon. During his meetings in Uruguay, the Israeli foreign minister discussed Iranian encroachment in Latin America and the need to prevent the Islamic Republic from obtaining nuclear weapons. He also raised the issue of increasing the limitations on meat imports from Uruguay, as a way to reduce the high cost of living in Israel. Cohen was in the region for this weeks inauguration of Paraguayan President Santiago Pena. Uruguay has a long history of friendship with Israel, dating back to its role in support of the establishment of the Jewish State at the United Nations in 1947. During the 1970s Uruguay had an embassy in Jerusalem, but in 1980 moved it out of the capital to the Tel Aviv suburb of Herzliya on the heels of a similar move at the time by Venezuela, citing concern for the special situation of the holy city for the three great religions. Four countries currently have their embassies in Israels capital: the United States, Guatemala, Honduras and Kosovo. With Paraguay set to move its embassy back to Jerusalem, more than half of the embassies in the city will soon be from Latin America. (ANI/TPS)
American-Italian film director Martin Scorsese comes out in support of prominent Iranian director Saeed Roustaee who has been sentenced to six months in prison for the unauthorised screening of his movie Leilas Brothers at the Cannes Film Festival, New York Times reported citing local media. Along with Roustaee who directed the movie Javad Noruzbegi, the producer were both sentenced to six months in prison by the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran for participating in the oppositions propaganda against the Islamic regime, according to the conviction announcement made by the court and reported in Etemad, an Iranian reformist newspaper. Martin Scorsese shared a petition calling for "justice" for Roustaee and the film's producer Javad Noruzbegi. Please sign this petition to bring justice to Saeed Roustayi, Scorsese wrote on Instagram. The defendants aligned with the oppositional media, under the influence of propaganda, in line with the counter-revolutionary (anti-regime) forces, the announcement read. With the aim of raising money and seeking fame, it said, they prepared fodder and intensified the media battle against the religious authority, NYT quoted the Iranian newspaper. Roustaee and Noruzbegi will serve about nine days of their sentence, with the remainder suspended for five years, Etemad reported. During that period, Roustaee and Noruzbegi will be required to complete a 24-hour course about creating movies aligned with national interests and national morality and refrain from associating with other individuals in the film industry, NYT reported citing Etemad. Leilas Brothers tells the story of an Iranian family struggling to escape poverty in Tehran. The movie was screened at last years Cannes Film Festival,where it won top honours from the International Federation of Film Critics. According to NYT, Roustaee did not have permission from Irans Ministry of Culture to screen the film, and he alleged that the ministry wanted him tocensor some of the movies most important scenes. Roustaees sentence has concerned many in the Iranian cinema community, said an Iranian filmmaker who was granted anonymity because he said he was concerned about his safety. We believe that this indicates that a new wave of limitations and restrictions has emerged. The Iranian government is extra sensitive to criticism and dissent because of the upcoming one-year anniversary of widespread anti-government protests that erupted last September, Ray Takeyh, the Hasib J Sabbagh senior fellow for Middle East studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. The regime is watchful of what is happening and is determined to control the discourse that is taking place, NYT quoted Takeyh as saying. Meanwhile, several prominent figures in Irans film industry have been imprisoned in recent years after running afoul of government authorities. In 2022, the award-winning filmmaker Jafar Panahi was alsoordered to serve a six-year prison sentenceby Irans judiciary; he had beensentenced in 2010, when he was arrested after supporting protests. Taraneh Alidoosti, the lead actress in Leilas Brothers wasarrested in Decemberafter calling on Iranians to support anti-government protests. She wasreleased on bailonly after spending two and a half weeks in detention. (ANI)
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khans nephew Hassaan Khan Niazi has been handed over to the military for trial over his alleged involvement in the May 9 violence, Dawn reported on Friday. According to the report, Hassaan has been named as the prime suspect in the Jinnah House attack that took place in Lahore during the May 9 violence triggered after the arrest of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf chief. The report added that the police had arrested Hassaan from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, after which he was handed over to the military at the commanding officer's request. Hassaan Niazi, who is also the party chiefs focal person on legal affairs, was handed over to the Quetta police on August a day after his arrest late Sunday night from Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The development was confirmed by his father Hafeezullah Khan on his social media account. However, the case in which Hassaan was apprehended remained unknown, as per The News International. Earlier, the police had said that Hassaan was involved in May 9 riots and attack on sensitive military installations. Niazi is wanted by the Lahore police for his involvement in the attack on Jinnah House (Lahore's Corps Commander House), it added. Hassaans father, had filed a plea for his sons recovery, demanding that he be produced before the court. During the hearing on Friday, Additional Advocate General Ghulam Sarwar Nahang submitted the police report before Justice Sultan Tanveer Ahmed of the HC. Nahang informed the court about Hassaans trial in a military court and his handover to the army. He also demanded Hassaans meeting to be arranged with his parents, upon which the court asked the law officer to inform them when the meeting could be held, The News International reported. I can find out the procedures and rules in this regard, and inform accordingly, Nahang replied after which the court granted adjournment to clarify the procedures and rules. Meanwhile, the ousted premier is behind bars at Attock Jail after a trial court in Islamabad found him guilty of concealing proceeds of Toshakhana (state depository) gifts that he received from foreign dignitaries as the prime minister of the country from 2018 to 2022, and sentenced him to three years in prison along with a fine of PKR 1,00,000. Subsequently, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) disqualified him for five years from holding public office following his conviction. (ANI)
United States, Japan and South Korea, in a joint statement on Friday, condemned the dangerous and aggressive behaviour by China and expressed stern opposition against any attempt to change the status quo in the Indo-Pacific. After the first-ever trilateral summit between the three countries held in the US, a joint statement was released titled The Spirit of Camp David expressing support for their collective alliance. Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the United States are determined to align our collective efforts because we believe our trilateral partnership advances the security and prosperity of all our people, the region, and the world, the statement read. The three nations expressed commitment to expanding cooperation trilaterally and raising shared ambition to a new horizon across domains and across the Indo-Pacific and beyond. We will strengthen our economies, provide resilience and prosperity, support the free and open international order based on the rule of law, and bolster regional and global peace and security, especially as current and incoming members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). We will strengthen our coordination on promoting democracy and protecting human rights. And we will enhance strategic coordination between the US-Japan and US-ROK alliances and bring our trilateral security cooperation to new heights, the joint statement read. Additionally, the joint declaration by US, Japan and South Korea expressed shared concerns over Chinese actions in supporting unlawful maritime claims in the South China Sea, as well as their strong opposition to any unilateral actions by Beijing aimed at changing the existing situation in the Indo-Pacific waters. We share concerns about actions inconsistent with the rules-based international order, which undermine regional peace and prosperity. Recalling the publicly announced position of each of our countries regarding the dangerous and aggressive behaviour supporting unlawful maritime claims that we have recently witnessed by the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) in the South China Sea, we strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the waters of the Indo-Pacific, the statement read. They also opposed the militarization of reclaimed features; the dangerous use of coast guard and maritime militia vessels and coercive activities, and further expressed concern about illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing. The three countries also reiterated their commitment to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, emphasizing that the basic positions on Taiwan remain unchanged, and they called for peaceful resolutions to cross-Strait matters. We reiterate our firm commitment to international law, including the freedom of navigation and overflight, as reflected in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The July 2016 award in the South China Sea arbitration sets out the legal basis for the peaceful resolution of maritime conflicts between the parties to that proceeding. We reaffirm the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as an indispensable element of security and prosperity in the international community. There is no change in our basic positions on Taiwan, and we call for a peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues, the joint statement added. They also announced holding the first trilateral meeting between the finance ministers and launching a new commerce and industry ministers track that will meet annually. An annual Trilateral Indo-Pacific Dialogue will also be launched to coordinate the implementation of Indo-Pacific approaches and to continually identify new areas for common action. Expressing support for the ASEAN-led regional architecture, the three countries affirmed commitment to working closely with ASEAN partners to support robust implementation and mainstreaming of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific. US, Japan and South Korea also reaffirmed the commitment towards complete denuclearization by North Korea in accordance with relevant UNSC resolutions and urged Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Furthermore, we reaffirm our commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) in accordance with relevant UNSC resolutions and urge the DPRK to abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. We call on all UN Member States to fully implement all relevant UNSC resolutions. We strongly condemn the DPRKs unprecedented number of ballistic missile launches, including multiple intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launches and conventional military actions that pose a grave threat to peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and beyond, the statement read. The three countries added that in addition to the security partnership, they will also maintain focus on building robust cooperation in the economic security and technology spheres. We are fully committed to continuing to eliminate barriers to economic participation and build diverse, accessible, and inclusive economies in which all our peopleincluding women and marginalized groupscan succeed. We will work to further strengthen our people-to-people ties, including among our young people and students, the joint statement further read. They also stated that the trilateral summit marks a new chapter in their relationship and the three countries depart from Camp David with a shared resolve and optimism for the future. Today, we declare that a new chapter in our trilateral relationship has begun. We are aligned in our vision; undaunted in the face of our eras greatest challenges; and, most of all, united in our belief that Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the United States can meet those challenges together, now and in the future, the statement added. (ANI)
(NEXSTAR)  Dont procrastinate any longer, Facebook users (and ex-Facebook users). You have just one week left to file a claim in the class action lawsuit the social media company agreed to settle earlier this year.

Facebook parent company Meta agreed to pay the sum to settle claims it allowed peoples personal data to be shared with third parties. The most famous third party to get access was Cambridge Analytica, a consulting firm that supported Donald Trumps 2016 presidential campaign. While Meta agreed to the payout, it denies any wrongdoing.

The deadline to file a claim is Friday, Aug. 25, 2023.

Facebooks $725M settlement is huge, but how much will you actually get?

If you file a claim by mail, it has to be postmarked by that date. If you file it online, it needs to be done by 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time the night of Aug. 25.

If you think youve made a mistake on the claim form, you can also edit it before the deadline.

Millions of Americans qualify for a payment. The criteria is pretty simple: If you were a Facebook user in the United States between May 24, 2007, and December 22, 2022, inclusive, you may be eligible for a cash payment, the settlement details state.

People who deleted their Facebook accounts in that time period may also be eligible, but they will likely receive a smaller payment. How big your payout is depends in part on how long your account was active.

Youll need this overlooked piece of info to file a Facebook settlement claim

While millions are eligible, its not yet clear how many have submitted a claim. That will greatly influence how large (or small) each individual payment will be.

After the claim deadline on Aug. 25, there is still a final settlement hearing, which is scheduled for Sept. 7, 2023 at 1 p.m. Pacific Time. Its not clear the exact date payments will be issued, but the soonest they could be sent out is after the September court date.

To file online, youll need to click here, answer a few questions about yourself, and then decide how youd like to be paid (prepaid gift card, direct deposit, PayPal, etc.).

To file by mail, youll need to print some forms and send them in to the settlement administrator in Philadelphia.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Steve Newberne, left, and Richard Latronita board up Gigi's restaurant in preparation for Hurricane Ian on September 26, 2022, in St. Petersburg, Florida. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Hurricane Hilary strengthened to a Category 4 storm on Friday as it moves toward the Southwest.

The National Hurricane Center has issued a tropical storm watch for areas of Southern California.

It's expected to weaken before hitting California, though officials warned of major rainfall and winds.

The National Weather Service has issued a tropical storm watch for parts of Southern California  a first for the region  as Hurricane Hilary barrels toward the Southwest.

The storm strengthened to a Category 4 storm on Friday morning, though it is expected to weaken before reaching California, weather officials said.

Still, the National Hurricane Center is urging residents in the region to prepare for major rainfall, high winds, and possible flooding through the weekend and into next week.

Here are 14 important ways to prepare for a hurricane and helpful links for resources and further guidance.

Establish an emergency plan with your family.

Creating an emergency plan consists of five steps, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Ready program.

This includes knowing where to receive emergency alerts and warnings; figuring out a shelter plan; knowing an evacuation route; establishing a family or household communication plan; and updating an emergency preparedness kit if necessary.



Families should prepare emergency kits (keep scrolling for a list of items to put in them) and determine what they will do in case of an evacuation. Agree on a reunion point for your family, and pick someone out of state who your family members to contact if you get separated.

Follow this link to see further instructions on how to prepare for each step.

Prepare an emergency kit ahead of time.

The Red Cross recommends that all emergency kits include enough water for at least three days, with a minimum of one gallon per person per day.

Other suggested items include non-perishable food, a flashlight, a weather radio, a first-aid kit, medications, copies of important documents, cash, an emergency blanket, and a map of the area.

The US Department of Agriculture recommends grouping foods together in the freezer to create an "igloo" effect that helps food stay cold longer. In areas where lengthy power outages may occur, the USDA recommends buying 50 pounds of dry or block ice, which is enough to keep a fully stocked, 18-cubic-feet freezer cold for two days.

You may need to treat your water if you are waiting a long time for the storm to end.

You may lose access to clean drinking water during a severe storm. If so, it's best to boil water to make it safe to consume. If that's not possible, you can use bleach to kill microorganisms. Add 16 drops of bleach per gallon of water, stir the contents, and let them stand for 30 minutes.

Jarrod Murrieta, head of claims catastrophe response at Farmers Insurance, told Insider that he recommends buying a filtration device that can remove bacteria and parasites from water.

If you are running low on water, avoid salty foods because they will make you thirsty. Instead, eat whole-grain cereals and canned foods that have a lot of liquid.

Don't evacuate unless officials recommend or require it.

Storm surge warnings are the most common reason for mandatory evacuation orders. To find out whether your area is being ordered to evacuate, sign up for your community's warning system, and pay attention to the Emergency Alert System and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather Radio.

Evacuating without guidance from officials can be dangerous. In 2017, when Hurricane Harvey hit, officials initially chose not to tell Houston residents to vacate their homes because they were hoping to prevent drivers from getting into accidents or getting caught in traffic on flooding roads. That decision was informed by chaos that ensued before Hurricane Rita in 2005, when 73 people died in Texas as about 3 million residents were trying to evacuate.

A list and map of current evacuation orders in Florida can be found here.

Find out where your local evacuation shelter is located.

In areas at risk of hurricanes, emergency shelters will likely be set up before the storm, and you can contact local officials or FEMA to figure out where these shelters are.

The Red Cross keeps a list of available emergency shelters, and you can search for open shelters by texting SHELTER and your zip code to 43362.

If you have pets, create a list of pet-friendly shelters and hotels.

Although the Americans with Disabilities Act requires hotels and shelters to allow service animals, hotels are not required to accept pets. Some shelters may not accept pets, either.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recommends keeping a list of pet-friendly hotels in case you need to evacuate.

Prepare your home for heavy rainfall.

Start preparing for heavy rainfall by securing your rain gutters and clearing the drains.

Keep tarps and some cords to tie them down in case you need to patch up holes in your house. When the storm arrives, flooding and downed power lines may also require you to turn off your power, so prepare to switch it off.

If you live in a flood-prone area, it's a good idea to waterproof your basement ahead of storm season and elevate your heating system, electric panel, and water heater. You can also install a sump pump and get a water alarm that will notify you when the system is overloaded.

Clear your yard before the storm hits.

Make sure there's nothing in your front or backyard that could get swept up in water or blown about by strong winds and cause damage to your home. Bring patio furniture, propane tanks, bikes, and other large objects inside.

Do not put tape on your windows.

If you apply duct tape to glass windows, extreme winds could make the glass break into larger and deadlier shards.

Instead, you should board up your windows with plywood and caulk the perimeters. If you are preparing far ahead of hurricane season, you can also buy wind-resistant windows and pull-down storm shutters.

During the storm, stay away from the windows to avoid getting hurt by broken glass. It is better to pass the time in a room without windows or inside a closet when the strongest part of the storm hits.

Prepare your car in case you need to evacuate.

Your car's gas tank should be full before a storm arrives in case you need to leave your house. Lines get long at gas pumps ahead of a storm, so take this step as early as possible.

If you're anticipating an evacuation order, make sure that your car has an emergency kit stored inside.

As with any outdoor furniture or decorations, any cars should be moved into your garage or under cover before a storm hits.

Do not attempt to drive through floodwater.

Driving through floodwaters is more dangerous than it may seem  12 inches of fast-moving water is enough to sweep away a car.

If you can't see the bottom of a flooded area, you should avoid stepping into the water. A storm surge or flood can contaminate water with bacteria and chemicals. There could be sharp objects like nails or broken glass hidden from view, and puncture wounds can lead to tetanus or other infections. Downed power lines in the water may also expose you to electricity. And in some areas, you risk encountering snakes, fire ants, and flesh-eating bacteria in the water.

People can contract these Vibrio infections in areas around the Chesapeake Bay and along the Gulf Coast after eating or handling raw shellfish, or wading in contaminated water.

Hurricane floodwaters after Harvey resulted in at least one fatality from flesh-eating bacteria and there were several Vibrio deaths after Katrina. What's more, these bacteria are spreading farther along the Gulf Coast and eastern seaboard, in part due to warming waters.

Take steps to insulate your clothing if you are in wet or cold conditions.

Stuffing your clothes with insulating material is the best way to maintain warmth, survival expert Tim MacWelch told National Geographic. You can use a range of items for this, including crumpled paper, leaves, or bubble wrap.

If you're trapped in wet or cold conditions, sharing body heat with another person is also a good way to stay warm. Or if you are able to access an object that has been heated, such as a stone or bottle, hold it between layers of your clothes. MacWelch said this is a safe way to help hypothermia victims.

Put a quarter in a cup of frozen water in your freezer.

Power outages can spoil everything in your fridge, and it may not be clear whether your food is safe to eat. An easy trick to determine whether items in your fridge might have spoiled is to fill a cup with water and put it in the freezer until the water is frozen. Then, put a quarter on top of the cup and return it to the freezer.

When you return, if your quarter hasn't moved, then you'll know that your electricity did not go out for a long time during the storm. But if the quarter is resting at the bottom of the cup, your food is no longer safe to eat.

The CDC also recommends that you lower the thermostat in your fridge and freezer to the lowest possible temperature. That will help your food stay fresh longer if the power goes out.

Clean your home quickly after a storm ends to prevent mold growth.

The CDC recommends that you clean and dry your home within 24 to 48 hours after a flood ends, if possible.

To air out your house, use fans to dry any wet areas and open the doors and windows. If you can't dry something quickly, it is best to throw it away.

You also need to remove and throw away drywall and insulation if it has been contaminated with sewage. Pay attention to leaks in the roof or walls as well.

If you spot mold, put on some protective equipment  ideally goggles, an N-95 respirator, and protective gloves  and clean it. According to the CDC, you should mix a cup of bleach with 1 gallon of water to clean off mold.

Aylin Woodward, Peter Kotecki, and Morgan McFall-Johnsen contributed to previous versions of this story.

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A 15-year-old medieval girl was buried face down with her ankles possibly tied together to stop her from returning from the dead, researchers say

Archeologists unearthed the remains of a 15-year-old girl in a Medieval settlement near Conington, Cambridgeshire several years ago. MOLA Headland Infrastructure

A 9th century gravesite unearthed in England suggests ancient settlers may have feared the undead.

Researchers with the Museum of London Archeology discovered a 15-year-old girl buried face-down.

The unusual burial technique suggests people wanted to prevent her from coming back, researchers said.

Researchers believe early Medieval villagers in England buried a teenage girl face-down in a pit  a deviation from the time period's typical burial practices  to prevent her from coming back after death.

Archeologists unearthed the remains of a 15-year-old girl in a Medieval settlement near Conington, Cambridgeshire during excavations that took place as part of an archeological program tied to a national highways improvement project between 2016 and 2018, according to a Monday press release from the Museum of London Archaeology or MOLA.

Years later, scientists with the MOLA Headland Infrastructure have concluded their analysis of the gravesite and the girl within it, offering new insight into ninth century burial rituals in the region.

Despite the presence of Christianity in the country at the time, church cemeteries were not yet the norm in 9th century England, and there were few uniform burial customs during the period, the museum said. But one commonality that does exist among the majority of burials from that period is the position of the body being face-up, the museum said.

Archeologists, however, discovered the Conington girl buried face-down in a pit that marked the entrance to the small settlement and believe her ankles may have also been tied together, according to the MOLA statement.

"As well as being buried face down on a boundary, the position of her ankles suggests they may have been tied together," MOLA senior human osteologist Don Walker said in a museum statement. "This implies that the community took extra measures to ensure she could not 'return' from the grave."

A reconstruction of the early Medieval community at Conington. Oxford Archaeology

The finding calls to mind several recent discoveries of "vampire" burials across Europe, in which researchers believe ancient villagers took extreme precautions to keep the dead from rising due to mythological superstitions. The practice of "vampire burials" was most common across Christian Europe from the 14th century to the 17th century, Matteo Borrini, the principal lecturer of forensic anthropology at Liverpool John Moores University, previously told Insider.

The Medieval girl's burial predates widespread vampire beliefs by several centuries, suggesting the reasons behind her unusual burial  superstitious though they may be  could be tied to other, non-vampiric fears among her people.

Osteologists who study human bones at MOLA found signs of childhood malnutrition in the girl, as well as a spinal joint disease which was likely exacerbated by ongoing manual labor she undertook starting at a young age, both of which indicate she was of low social status, the museum said.

Researchers are uncertain how exactly she died, but there is no evidence she was seriously ill, indicating she may have died suddenly or unexpectedly.

Archeologists unearthed the remains of a 15-year-old girl in a Medieval settlement near Conington, Cambridgeshire several years ago. MOLA Headland Infrastructure

Dariusz Polinski, an archaeology professor from Nicolaus Copernicus University who has unearthed two "vampire" burials in a Polish graveyard, told Insider earlier this month that sudden, violent, or unexplained deaths in ancient communities often stoked fear among the living, leading them to take precautions when burying the deceased person.

Researchers with MOLA believe being buried face-down was a marker of "otherness," reserved for those who did not fit into Medieval society, including people who looked or behaved differently from others, those of low social status, and those who died violently or of unexplainable causes.

"We will probably never know exactly how this young woman was viewed by the community she grew up in, but the way she was buried tells us she was almost certainly seen as different," Walker said. "Her burial rites may have reflected the nature of her death, or her social identity or that of her family."

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A minor was injured in the Russian attack on the village of Virivka in Kherson Oblast.

Source: Oleksandr Prokudin, Head of Kherson Oblast Military Administration, on Telegram

Details: A 17-year-old girl was taken to hospital in moderate condition with a mine-blast injury and a leg injury. The doctors are providing her with the necessary assistance.

About 10 residential buildings in the settlement have been damaged as a result of the Russian strike.

Background:

On the night of 17-18 August, Russian occupiers struck a residential area of Komyshuvakha with two guided aerial bombs. An educational institution was destroyed.

On 17 August, nine regions of Ukraine came under Russian fire. The Russians fired 207 shells on Kherson Oblast.

Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron!






A months-long investigation into drug trafficking and gang activity in Pittsburghs Northside neighborhoods has led to the indictments of 17 people for violations of federal narcotics and firearms laws.

Violence doesnt belong in our communities, said FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Mike Nordwall in a press release from the Department of Justice. Those indicted today have targeted the Northside in and around the Allegheny Commons for far too long.

There are two incidents that officials say are separate, but related.

The first one names Dayon Shelton, 32, of Pittsburgh. He is the sole defendant in this indictment.

The indictment alleges in April, Shelton possessed with the intent to distribute 40 or more grams of fentanyl.

A related nineteen-count indictment charges 16 people with violations of the federal narcotics and firearms laws between December 2022 and August 2023. The DOJ identifies 15 of the defendants as:

Dejarnette Blanchard, 32, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Babangida Adam, 27, of Carnegie, Pennsylvania

Kenneth Blanchard, 37, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Terry Booth, aka Sheisty, 19, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Norman Davis, 37, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Lawrence Gray, 55, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Terry James, 23, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Clinton McLaughlin, 55, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Taemon Posey, 28, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Demetrius Reynolds, 20, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Markel Sayles, 25, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Gilbert Smith, 44, of Bruin, Pennsylvania

Ories Smith, 25, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Denzel Tomlin, 27, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Damor Williams, 19, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The final defendant is still a fugitive, which is why the DOJ is not releasing that persons name at this time.

The indictment alleges the suspects conspired with each other, and additional people, to possess and distribute mainly fentanyl and crack. Some of the defendants are also facing firearm possession charges.

The DOJ says the penalties for the crimes vary. Prison sentences range from as little as five years to as much as life in prison. The defendants are also subject to fines that range between $1 million and $10 million. The sentences imposed will be based on the seriousness of the offense and the previous criminal history of the defendant.

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Rudy Giuliani; Donald Trump; Mark Meadows Credit - Eric LeeBloomberg/Getty Images; Melissa Sue GerritsGetty Images; Stefani ReynoldsAFP/Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump and 18 others were indicted by a grand jury in Georgia this week in connection with their alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state.

The indictment marks the fourth criminal case to be leveled against Trump this year and follows a lengthy investigation by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, an elected Democrat who has been looking into the former Presidents efforts to interfere with the election results for more than two years.

A total of 41 charges were filed against 19 individuals, including Trumps former White House chief of staff, a handful of his former lawyers, and several so-called false electors who have been accused of helping Trump seek to overturn Joe Biden's 2020 win in Georgia. They collectively face a gamut of different charges but are all being prosecuted under Georgias anti-racketeering law for conspiring to nullify the election. Willis has set a deadline of noon on Aug. 25 for each of the 19 people charged to turn themselves in.

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Here is a look at the 19 defendants charged in the indictment.

Former President Donald Trump at a rally in in Erie, Pa. on July 29, 2023. Jeff SwensenGetty Images

Donald Trump

The former President faces 13 criminal charges in the Georgia election meddling case, including violating state racketeering laws and soliciting a public official to violate his oath of office, conspiring to commit forgery in the first degree, conspiring to file false documents, and making false statements. Willis, the lead prosecutor in the case, accused Trump of being the head of a criminal enterprise to overturn the 2020 election, refusing to accept his loss and making unfounded assertions of widespread election fraud in Georgia. The indictment also alleges that he pressured top state officials, including Gov. Brian Kemp, to find a way to reverse his loss. In a recorded Jan. 2, 2021 phone call with Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Trump asked the states top election official to find 11,780 votesone more than the number he lost by in the decisive swing state. Trump has described the phone call as "perfect" and denied he did anything wrong.

Rudy Giuliani

The former mayor of New York City, who first made his name as a federal prosecutor known for using racketeering charges to pursue organized crime, now finds himself facing a racketeering charge of his ownamong several other chargesfor his alleged role in the plot to keep Trump in power. As Trumps personal attorney, Giuliani oversaw Trumps effort to lobby state legislatures to reverse the outcome of the election. In Georgia, he repeatedly claimed that there was ballot fraud in the state, even though officials had counted the votes three times, won multiple lawsuits over the outcome, and debunked extravagant fraud claims. Yet Giuliani visited the Georgia Capitol in December 2020 to repeat those claims and urge state legislators to use powers they didnt have to appoint Georgias electors and hand the states election to Trump. Prosecutors have said that Giuliani was involved in the false electors scheme in a total of seven states that Trump lost. Earlier this year, public information suggests that he could be the unnamed Co-conspirator 1 in Trumps federal indictment over election interference brought by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith.

In total, Giuliani faces 13 counts in the Georgia casethe same number as Trumpincluding violating the states racketeering laws, three counts of solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer, three counts of false statements and writings, conspiracy to commit impersonation of a public officer, two counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree forgery, two counts of conspiracy to commit false statements and writings, and conspiracy to commit filing false documents.

John Eastman, former lawyer to Donald Trump, speaks to members of the media after leaving the State Bar Court of California in Los Angeles, on June 20, 2023. Eric ThayerBloomberg/Getty Images

John Eastman

As one of Trumps lawyers, Eastman was a key legal architect of the effort to keep Trump in power using false electors in swing states that he lost. The indictment alleges that he pressured then-Vice President Mike Pence to try to subvert the election during a joint session of Congress where electoral votes would be counted, which Pence refused to do, and helped develop the scheme to put in place a slate of alternate electors in seven battleground states who would falsely certify that Trump had won their states. Eastman was likely Co-conspirator 2 in the earlier federal indictment over election interference.

Read More: Here's What We Know About the Alleged Trump Co-Conspirators in the Jan. 6 Indictment

He has been charged with nine counts in Georgia, including violating the states racketeering laws, solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer, conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer, two counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree forgery, two counts of conspiracy to commit false statements and writings, conspiracy to commit filing false documents, and filing false documents.

Mark Meadows

The former White House chief of staff was allegedly deeply involved in the efforts to keep Trump in power, organizing phone calls with Georgia state officials and communicating with Trump allies as they pushed election conspiracy theories, according to the indictment. Meadows was particularly interested in Georgia, making a surprise December 2020 visit to a ballot-counting center outside Atlanta and putting Trump on the phone with a top state elections investigator. He faces two charges in the case: violating Georgias racketeering laws and solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer.

Sidney Powell

The lawyer on Trumps team who memorably vowed to release the Kraken faces seven charges in the Georgia indictment for her alleged involvement in the scheme to overturn the election results. Prosecutors said that she advanced false claims of voter fraud and pushed Trump to assert federal authority to seize voting machines that she falsely claimed had been rigged for Biden. Powell also spread a baseless conspiracy theory that Georgias Republican governor and secretary of state were taking payoffs to help Biden wina claim that several Trump allies repudiated and likely led to her exit from Trumps post-election legal team.

The indictment also alleges that Powell coordinated with local GOP officials and hired a forensics data firm to illegally access sensitive voting data, equipment and software stored on Dominion voting systems in Coffee County, Ga., Michigan and elsewhere. She has been charged with violating Georgias racketeering laws, two counts of conspiracy to commit election fraud, conspiracy to commit computer theft, conspiracy to commit computer trespass, conspiracy to commit computer invasion of privacy, and conspiracy to defraud the state.

Kenneth Chesebro

Prosecutors alleged that Chesebro, an attorney, was the first to suggest the false electors strategy, drafting memos on the topic and marshaling Trump supporters to pose as electors in states won by Biden in order to disrupt the joint session of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021. He faces seven felony charges, including conspiracy to commit forgery and conspiracy to file false documents, as well as violation of an anti-racketeering act originally aimed at dismantling organized crime groups.

Chesebro also played a role in the effort to pressure Pence to unilaterally overturn the election, drafting a President of the Senate strategy memo that largely laid the groundwork for Trump and Eastmans last-ditch bid to upend the election. He is likely Co-conspirator 5 in the earlier federal indictment.

Jeffrey Clark, former Acting Assistant Attorney General, attends a January 6th field hearing in Washington on June 13, 2023. Michael A. McCoyGetty Images

Jeffrey Clark

A former high-ranking lawyer in the Justice Department, Clark had drafted a letter he wanted to send to Georgia officials demanding the state legislature call a special session to examine votes in the presidential election and consider appointing pro-Trump electors, the indictment alleged. In the letter, he falsely wrote that the Justice Department identified significant concerns that may have impacted the outcome of the election in multiple States, including the State of Georgia. Trump considered installing Clark as acting attorney general after the Justice Department refused to send the letter. He is likely Co-conspirator 4 in the earlier federal indictment and faces two charges in Georgia: violating the states racketeering laws and a criminal attempt to create false statements and writings.

Jenna Ellis

A right-wing attorney who represented Trump, Ellis planned the hearings before Georgia lawmakers in which Trump allies pushed baseless fraud claims, according to the indictment. She also allegedly wrote at least two legal memos to Trump advising that Pence should block Bidens victory from being certified by Congress on January 6. Ellis has been charged with violating Georgias racketeering laws and solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer.

Ray Smith

An attorney for Trumps 2020 campaign in Georgia, Smith filed one of Trumps election challenges in state court and participated in a Georgia senate hearing in which he falsely alleged widespread fraud and voting irregularities took place in the states election, according to the indictment. Prosecutors also said he made false statements about illegal voting by felons and dead people, and attended the meeting of Trumps electors in Atlanta on Dec. 14, 2020. He faces a total of 12 charges in the Georgia case, including violating the states racketeering laws, three counts of solicitation of violation of oath by a public office, three counts of false statements and writings, conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer, two counts of conspiracy to commit false statements and writings, and two counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree forgery.

Robert Cheeley

A Georgia-based trial attorney, Cheeley has been charged with 10 crimes after making false assertions at a legislative hearing in Georgia where he claimed election workers were double- and triple-counting votes. At the hearing, he showed video clips of election workers handing ballots at the State Farm Arena in downtown Atlanta that he falsely claimed contained evidence of vote-rigging. Cheeley said their actions should shock the conscience of every red blooded Georgian and compared it to the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, even though there is no evidence that election workers were miscounting votes. His charges include violating Georgias racketeering laws, conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer, two counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree forgery, two counts conspiracy to commit false statements and writings, conspiracy to commit filing false documents, solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer, false statements and writings, and perjury.

Michael Roman

A senior Trump campaign staffer, Roman was involved in the unsuccessful plot to use slates of fake GOP electors to block the certification of Bidens victory, working with other Trump allies including Chesebro to distribute forms and handle logistics of their meetings, the indictment alleged. Emails that he sent about the elector plan were published by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack. Prosecutors also said that he promoted baseless claims of massive voter fraud. Roman faces seven charges in Georgia, including violating the states racketeering laws, conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer, two counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree forgery, two counts of conspiracy to commit false statements and writings, and conspiracy to commit filing false documents.

David Shafer speaks at a fundraising dinner during the Georgia Republican Party's state convention on June 9, 2023. Cheney OrrThe Washington Post/Getty Images

David Shafer

One of Trumps false electors in Georgia, Shafer portrayed himself as the chairperson of the Electoral College of Georgia and filed 16 fake electoral votes for Trump. He helped organize the meeting of Trumps electors on Dec. 14, 2020 in which they signed a certificate illegitimately declaring themselves as the states duly elected and qualified electors and falsely claiming that Trump had won. Shafer is the former chairman of the Georgia Republican Party and previously served in the Georgia state senate. He faces eight criminal charges in the case: violating the states racketeering laws, impersonating a public officer, two counts of first-degree forgery, three counts of false statements and writings, and criminal attempt to commit filing false documents.

Shawn Still

A Georgia state senator since January 2023, Still was one of the false electors in Georgia who sought to keep Trump in power after his election defeat. According to the indictment, he signed paperwork illegitimately declaring himself as one of the states duly elected and qualified electors and falsely claimed that Trump had won the state. In an interview with the House Jan. 6 select committee, Still said the fake electors were told by the Trump campaign that their vote was being cast as a contingency in the event of an overturn. He faces seven charges in the case: violating Georgias racketeering laws, impersonating a public officer, two counts of first-degree forgery, three counts of false statements and writings, and a criminal attempt to commit filing false documents.

Stephen Cliffgard Lee

A pastor from Illinois, Lee is among those implicated in efforts to intimidate Atlanta election workers. Prosecutors said he tried to pressure Fulton County election worker Ruby Freeman and her daughter after Trump and his allies falsely accused them of pulling fraudulent ballots out of a suitcase during the vote count. Lee allegedly knocked on Freemans door, prompting her to call the police three times. He told officers that he was working with some folks to help Ruby out and get some truth. Lee now faces five charges in the case: violating Georgias racketeering laws, two counts of criminal attempt to commit influencing witnesses, conspiracy to commit solicitation of false statements and writings, and influencing witnesses.

Harrison William Prescott Floyd

Floyd, a Maryland resident and former leader of Black Voices for Trump, was also implicated in the effort to intimidate Freeman, the Georgia election worker. Prosecutors said he arranged a meeting between Freeman and Trevian Kutti, a publicist, who allegedly pressured and threatened her during the meeting, which was videotaped by police. Floyd has been charged with violating Georgias racketeering laws, conspiracy to commit solicitation of false statements and writings, and influencing witnesses.

Trevian C. Kutti

Prosecutors charged Kutti for taking part in a plot to pressure Freeman, the Georgia election worker, into falsely admitting to committing fraud on election day. A former publicist for musicians R. Kelly and Kanye West, Kutti allegedly told Freeman in a videotaped Jan. 4, 2021 meeting that an armed squad of federal officers would approach Freeman and her family within 48 hours and that she was there to offer help by connecting her to very high-profile people that can make particular things happenin order to defend yourself and your family. Kutti also allegedly warned Freeman that if she refused, her freedom and the freedom of one or more of your family members would be disrupted, according to court filings citing police body-camera video. Kutti denied any wrongdoing in an Instagram post, claiming that Freeman told a chaplain she wanted to provide evidence in exchange for immunity for her and her daughter, but didnt trust a white man to help her. Freeman has denied seeking immunity and has been cleared of the baseless election fraud claims.

Kutti faces three charges: violating Georgias racketeering laws, conspiracy to commit solicitation of false statements and writings, and influencing witnesses.

Cathay Latham

Latham was one of the 16 Republicans who served as fake electors in Georgia. She signed paperwork illegitimately declaring herself as one of the states duly elected and qualified electors and falsely claimed that Trump had won the state. The former head of the Republican Party in Coffee County, Ga., Latham was also cited in the indictment for her involvement in an alleged scheme to help grant pro-Trump activists unauthorized access to voting equipment to copy sensitive election data and software in January 2021. She can be seen in surveillance video escorting Trump supporters into restricted areas of the Coffee County election office, where prosecutors allege voter data was breached.

She faces 11 charges in the case: violating Georgias racketeering laws, impersonating a public officer, first-degree forgery, false statements and writings, criminal attempt to commit filing false documents, two counts of conspiracy to commit election fraud, conspiracy to commit computer theft, conspiracy to commit computer trespass, conspiracy to commit computer invasion of privacy, and conspiracy to defraud the state.

Scott Graham Hall

A Trump supporter from the Atlanta area, Hall was allegedly involved in a plan to access election equipment in Coffee County, Ga. Surveillance footage shows he spent hours inside a restricted area of the Coffee County elections office when voting systems were breached in January 2021. In testimony before the grand jury in the Fulton County case, he acknowledged that he gained access to a voting machine. Hall faces seven charges in the case, including violating Georgias racketeering laws, two counts of conspiracy to commit election fraud, conspiracy to commit computer theft, conspiracy to commit computer trespass, conspiracy to commit computer invasion of privacy, and conspiracy to defraud the state.

Misty Hampton

A former election supervisor for Coffee County, Ga., Hampton allegedly helped Trump supporters access the countys voting equipment after the 2020 election. She was present in the county election office on Jan. 7, 2021 when a computer forensics team copied software and data from the election equipment and allegedly allowed two other men to access the elections office later that month. The indictment also alleges that she tampered with electronic ballot markers and tabulating machines.

She faces seven charges in the case: violating Georgias racketeering laws, two counts of conspiracy to commit election fraud, conspiracy to commit computer theft, conspiracy to commit computer trespass, conspiracy to commit computer invasion of privacy, and conspiracy to defraud the state.

Write to Nik Popli at nik.popli@time.com.
Two passengers won a lawsuit against Air Canada for a delay on a three-leg international flight. Getty Images

Two passengers won a lawsuit against Air Canada for a 56-hour delay in their three-leg flight.

They were traveling from Canada to Cairo, Egypt with three other family members.

They were awarded $740 each in compensation and $115 in interest and fees.

Two passengers from Kelowna, Canada, won a lawsuit against Air Canada for an international flight delay that set them back by 56 hours.

Passengers Abdallah Mohamed and Ghada Ali were awarded 1,000 Canadian dollars, or $740, each in compensation and 155.48 Canadian dollars in interest and fees collectively after the British Columbia civil resolution tribunal found Air Canada could not prove that the primary reason for the delay was out of the carrier's control, according to an August 8 filing.

Mohamed and Ali were traveling from Kelowna city in Canada to Cairo, Egypt, with three other family members on July 4, 2022. The international flight consisted of three legs: Kelowna to Vancouver, Vancouver to London, England, and London to Cairo. It is not immediately clear how the two passengers are related.

The group's first flight departed Kelowna two hours and nine minutes late on July 4 and they missed their second flight out of Vancouver. Air Canada then rebooked the group on a revised itinerary with a departing flight out of Vancouver on July 6  leading to their very late arrival in Cairo.

The dispute was whether the flight's delay was due to staffing issues within Air Canada's control  as claimed by the passengers  or by circumstances outside the carrier's control.

Air Canada claimed the flight delay was due to "air traffic control restraints" and a ground delay program  a procedure used for air traffic control  operated by Nav Canada, which oversees the country's air traffic controllers.

Shelley Lopez, the vice chair of small claims at British Columbia's civil resolution tribunal, found Air Canada did not address the plaintiff's arguments that another flight departed Kelowna on time despite the ground delay program.

"I find the onus is on Air Canada to show the primary cause of the delay that impacted the applicants' ability to make their connecting flight AC862 was outside their control, and I find it has failed to do so," ruled Lopez, referring to the flight out of Canada.

Mohamed and Ali were seeking 5,000 Canadian dollars in compensation  1,000 Canadian dollars each for their five traveling family members.

However, Lopez found the two passengers could not seek compensation on behalf of their three companions and dismissed the rest of the claim.

Air Canada did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider, sent outside regular business hours.

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A federal jury has convicted three members of the Gangster Disciples for their roles in the gruesome murders of three people in Athens.

Philmon Deshawn Chambers, aka Dolla Phil, 34, of Atlanta; Andrea Paige Browner, aka Drea, 28, of Athens, Georgia; Lesley Chappell Green, aka Grip, 35, of Stone Mountain were each convicted of multiple charges including Racketeer Influence and Corruption Organization (RICO) conspiracy.

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Two co-defendants, Robert Maurice Carlisle, aka Different, 36, of Lithonia, Georgia; and Shabazz Larry Guidry, aka Lil Larry, 28, of Decatur, Georgia; pled guilty to similar charges in June.

Prosecutors said Gangster Disciples member Walter Brown was murdered in Athens in 2018. Chambers and Browner wanted retaliation and believed three Athens residents were responsible.

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Chambers shot one of those people, Rodriquez Rucker, to death at his home, prosecutors said. Chambers and Browner fled to Texas, where Browner was arrested.

Chambers thought that someone must have been cooperating with law enforcement and decided Derrick Ruff and Joshua Jackson were snitches. He directed Green to murder Ruff and Jackson.

Ruff and Jackson were lured by Green to break into storage sheds and steal items to send to help Chambers, prosecutors said. They were shot to death in the storage unit on Dec. 19 and not found until March 17, 2019.

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Philmon Chambers, Andrea Browner and Lesley Green were Gangster Disciples who engaged in a pattern of violent criminal activity for years, to include three heinous murders; now, justice has been served, said U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary. Violent gangs, intimidation and murder have no place in our lawful society, and I commend the federal, state and local partners who worked so closely to solve this case of exceptional complexity.

Chambers has been convicted of RICO conspiracy, violent crime in aid of racketeering -- murder, carry and use of a firearm during and in retaliation to a crime of violence and causing the death of a person using a firearm.

Browner was convicted of RICO conspiracy, violent crime in aid of racketeering -- murder and causing the death of a person using a firearm. Green was convicted of RICO conspiracy.

A sentencing date for Chambers, Browner and Green has not been
President Biden will host the leaders from South Korea and Japan on Friday at Camp David, a profound signal of the seriousness the White House places on deepening ties with Seoul and Tokyo to shore up Americas security.

The three democratic countries share grave, mutual concerns about Chinas pursuit of domination in the military, technology, economic and diplomatic arenas, and equally acute threats from North Koreas nuclear weapons program.

The trilateral summit marks the first time Biden has invited foreign leaders to the storied compound, a location strategically chosen to allow South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida a chance to demonstrate the strengthening of historically strained ties between Seoul and Tokyo.

Biden, Yoon and Kishida have met previously on the sidelines of other international gatherings  such as the G7 in Hiroshima in May and last years NATO summit in Madrid  but the meeting at Camp David marks the first official trilateral summit. The leaders are expected to announce a commitment to meet annually moving forward.

Here are four things to know about this historic summit:

South Korea and Japan showcase courageous diplomacy

Yoon and Kishida are credited with expending significant political capital to ease tensions between the two Pacific countries, with longtime grievances ranging from Tokyos human rights atrocities against Koreans during World War II, territorial disputes and more modern-day problems of bilateral economic and environmental issues.

A senior administration official, briefing reporters ahead of the summit, described Yoon and Kishida pursuing rapprochement as courageous diplomacy that is being carried out under serious domestic pressure and opposition.

In each country, there is substantial questions and even opposition about some of the steps that have been taken, the official said.

Its the rarest of things to observe, this kind of leadership from Prime Minister Kishida and President Yoon, and it needs to be acknowledged internationally because it is extraordinarily challenging and important, the steps that they have taken.

Concrete commitments to counter China, North Korea and more

The three leaders are expected to announce a host of commitments and concrete measures to deepen security partnerships.

This includes the establishment of a crisis hotline, which the senior administration official described as a state-of-the-art trilateral hotline to be used in moments of crisis and uncertainty.

All three leaders will take a pledge, what we would call a duty to consult, in the event of a crisis or a set of circumstances that affects the security of any one of our countries, the senior administration official said.

The details of the hotline will be formally laid out in a commitment to consult statement that a second administration official cautioned should not be interpreted as a threat to any other country in the region  hedging against backlash from the Peoples Republic of China (PRC).

It is not a formal alliance commitment. It is not a collective defense commitment that is lifted from an early Cold War Security Treaty, the official said.

But what it very much is, is a commitment amongst our three countries that if there is a regional contingency or threat, we will immediately and swiftly consult with one another.

The U.S., South Korea and Japan are reacting to the security threats posed by North Koreas nuclear weapons program, its testing of ballistic missiles, the official said.

Risks posed by China, and Beijings alignment with Russia while it has carried out a war of aggression against Ukraine, has further drawn Washington, Seoul and Tokyo together, the official said.

The three leaders are also expected to release a statement reaffirming commitments to ensuring peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait  key language warning Beijing against aggressive action in the waterway or against the island of Taiwan.

I would suggest that what youre seeing in Japan and South Korea, the United States is largely a response to security steps and measures that we believe are antithetical to our interests, the official said.

Still, the three leaders are expected to be cautious in the language they use referring to the PRC, in particular, with the U.S., South Korea and Japan all holding important economic ties with China.

All three countries are committed to an effective, practical diplomacy with China, the official said.

China is a huge trading partner, important player on the global stage. Each of these countries wants stable relations, and they are determined to work constructively towards that.

Beijing lashes out

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Tuesday said Beijing stands in opposition to relevant countries assembling exclusionary groupings and described the trilateral as provocative and dangerous.

The pushback to the trilateral summit follows Chinese opposition to Taiwans vice president transiting through the U.S. on the way to official diplomatic engagements in Paraguay.

The transit provides rhetorical cover for William Lai, who is a candidate for the 2024 presidential elections, to engage with the U.S. even as China views such meetings as violating its core belief that Taipei should be subservient to Beijing.

Wang called Lai a troublemaker through and through.

China is also carrying out displays of solidarity with Russia and North Korea, with Beijing sending a representative to Pyongyang last month to stand alongside North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russias defense minister at an event marking the 70th anniversary of the armistice with South Korea.

Scott Snyder, director of the program on U.S.-Korea Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the meeting in Pyongyang shows that those countries are reacting to deepening ties between the U.S., South Korea and Japan.

That really, I think reflects that there is an interactive dynamic at this point, and that the trilateral convergence of interests is having effects on the broader environment, he said during a panel discussion on Tuesday.

Domestic politics in the U.S. and abroad are a wild card

A key aspect of the trilateral summit, according to U.S. officials and experts, is the opportunity to normalize the working relationship among Washington, Seoul and Tokyo and insulate it against wildly changing politics in each respective country.

South Korea will hold legislative elections in 2024, which will be a major test if opposition political parties will gain more power against Yoons Peoples Power Party.

What this really is about is trying to institutionalize trilateral cooperation among the three governments  it hedges against the possibility of reversibility of the process and it puts into place a process the leaders hope will be durable, Snyder said.

Still, Yoon and Kishida are enjoying relative popularity among the public for moving the two countries closer together.

On the politics side, the polling looks pretty positive, said Sheila Smith, senior fellow for Asia-Pacific Studies with the Council on Foreign Relations. But she cautioned such polls dont reflect the deep-seated feelings of the publics opinion.

This is intermittent polling so we shouldnt jump to the conclusions that the public has really shifted, but there is a significant degree of responsiveness to President Yoon and Prime Minister Kishidas summitry that we can see on the polling data on both sides, she added.

The U.S. is also a wild card. Former President Trump took an antagonistic approach to U.S. partners in the Pacific, threatening the pullout of American troops from South Korea and Japan unless those countries offered to pay more for the cost of hosting the U.S. forces.

Trump remains the frontrunner for the Republican presidential ticket despite the unprecedented four separate criminal indictments against him.

But Biden officials point to rare, bipartisan support on Capitol Hill for the relationship with South Korea and Japan as protective against changing politics in Washington.

On Thursday, the bipartisan House members focused on foreign policy and in the Indo-Pacific released a joint statement celebrating Yoon and Kishidas visit and encouraging deeper ties.

As the United States strengthens our already strong alliances with both Japan and South Korea, elevating our trilateral relationship is key to maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific and a rules-based international order, wrote the chairman of the committee, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas); ranking member Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.); and chairpeople of the subcommittee on the Indo-Pacific, chairwoman Rep. Young Kim (R-Calif), and ranking member Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif.)

We applaud both leaders for addressing historic differences to promote our shared values, enhance prosperity, and expand our economic and defense cooperation in the Indo-Pacific to address shared challenges, they wrote.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Approximately 480 people have been evacuated from Kupiansk district in Kharkiv Oblast as of the morning of 18 August, and the authorities are preparing evacuation routes in case of a threat of occupation of the city of Kupiansk.

Source: Andrii Kanashevych, Head of Kupiansk District Military Administration, on air with Svoboda Ranok (Liberty Morning), a Radio Liberty project.

Details: Local authorities state that approximately 480 people, including about 130 children, have already left with volunteers. Some people are evacuating in their own vehicles. They are either going to nearby settlements or across the oblast.

There are still people who refuse to evacuate from the settlement of Synkivka, which is being attacked by the Russian military.

Quote: "This settlement is located basically on the front line. Battles are taking place there. Nevertheless, we know that there are six civilians in Synkivka, who declare that they refuse to leave under no circumstances."

"Routes have been prepared in all hromadas of the Kupiansk district in case it is necessary to carry out a large-scale evacuation of people in the event of a threat of occupation of Kupiansk, if Russian troops advance to the city." [A hromada is an administrative unit designating a town, village or several villages and their adjacent territories  ed.]

Background:

On 10 August, a mandatory evacuation was announced in the Kupiansk district due to an increased rate of Russian shelling. In particular, it has been proposed to residents of 37 settlements close to the combat zone that they leave for Kharkiv and then, if they wish, go to other oblasts of Ukraine.

The Russians attacked Zaoskillia in the Kupiansk district of Kharkiv Oblast on 17 August, killing a 61-year-old woman, and wounding another.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine liberated Kupiansk from the Russian invaders on 10 September 2022.

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This week, the U.S. Department of Education started discharging student debt for 800,000 people. Depending on where they live, they could be taxed on it.

Heres what you should know.

Whats happening?

Last month, President Joe Bidens administration announced that more than 800,000 student loan borrowers will have $39 billion in debt forgiven. That followed the Supreme Court shooting down the $400 billion student loan forgiveness plan that would have reduced or canceled federal student loans for 43 million people.

Student loan payments have been paused since March 2020 and resume in October, with interest accruing in September.

The new relief is happening because the Department of Education is fixing income-driven repayment plans to ensure borrowers who have made payments for 20 or 25 years have any remaining debt canceled.

We are standing up for borrowers who did everything right, but whose progress toward forgiveness went uncounted due to past administrative failures that the Biden-Harris team has worked tirelessly to correct, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a news release.

This week, a judge dismissed a case from two conservative groups seeking to block the relief. The lawsuit, filed by the Cato Institute and Mackinac Center for Public Policy, claimed the policy violated federal law and would harm their recruitment efforts. A federal judge found the two groups did not have standing in the case, The Washington Post reported.

Borrowers started receiving discharges this week. Youll be emailed directly by your loan servicer.

Beginning this week, 804,000 student loan borrowers started receiving $39 billion in automatic student loan discharges thanks to fixes to income-driven repayment (IDR) plans implemented by the Biden-Harris Administration. https://t.co/yA1sYHbOLR



 Learn more  pic.twitter.com/Kw6VNUj3sS  U.S. Department of Education (@usedgov) August 15, 2023

What does the tax code say?

Your tax situation with student debt forgiveness also depends on your repayment plan, according to the Tax Foundation.

Under the tax code, forgiven or canceled debt is taxable income.

If a borrower has debt forgiven, it is treated as if the borrower earned additional income in the previous tax year equal to the amount of forgiven debt, according to a post from the Tax Foundation.

However, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 exempted those with income-driven repayment plans through 2025. There are also exemptions through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

You dont have to pay federal taxes on student debt relief through 2025 because of the American Rescue Plan.

However, some states might tax it.

Business Insider reported those states are:

What is The Sum?

The Sum is your friendly guide to personal finance and economic news.

Were a team of McClatchy journalists cutting through the financial jargon so you know how these issues impact your life. We verify information from diverse sources and keep the facts front-and-center, making finance and economic news add up for you.

You can follow The Sum on Instagram and TikTok.

Ready to take the first step to getting your finances under control? You can sign up for our five-week budgeting newsletter at thesum.news.
5 students beaten, murdered by Mexican cartel in horrifically graphic video were lured by job offer: report

The five young men who went missing in Mexico and were later shown on camera being brutally murdered by a Mexican drug cartel were lured to meet the gang with a fake job offer, according to a report.

The young men, all students and friends whose ages ranged between 19 and 22, who were duct-taped, beaten, stabbed and beheaded in a horrifically graphic video that made its rounds online this week, sought employment as private security, met a contact in town and were not seen again until the video surfaced, according to El Universal.

According to El Universal journalist Carlos Arrieta, the men were deceived into a meeting with the Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) cartel. The cartel hoped to recruit the victims into their ranks and killed them after they refused.

The men were later identified by their relatives as Roberto Olmeda, Diego Lara, Uriel Galvan, Jaime Martinez and Dante Cedillo, El Pais reported.

MEXICAN INVESTIGATORS FIND DECAPITATED, BURNED BODIES AFTER CIRCULATION OF GRUESOME EXECUTION VIDEO

Aerial view of the location where male human remains were found in Lagos de Moreno, Jalisco state, Mexico, on Thursday.

El Universal reported the "strongest hypothesis" pointed to the young men contacting a call center to gain employment. Unbeknownst to the friends, the center is often "managed by the CJNG for [the] forced recruitment of people," the outlet reported.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

According to the report, these call centers offer high-paying jobs with attractive job benefits that are actually a hoax to trick young people into the CJNG, which then forcefully recruits applicants.

Mexican authorities said Thursday that they had discovered human remains during a search for five young men whose disappearance and apparent brutal murder prompted shock and anger. The group of five friends, aged 19 to 22, disappeared last week in the western state of Jalisco, triggering a rare level of outrage in a country where kidnappings and killings are all too common.

Investigators examine the area where the gruesome execution video was believed to have taken place.

The Fiscalia del Estado de Jalisco  the Attorney General's Office in the Mexican state of Jalisco  has yet to confirm the report and has not yet confirmed which of the two major drug cartels that vie for control over the La Orilla del Agua neighborhood in the town of Lagos de Moreno  the CJNG or the Sinaloa cartel  are responsible for the video and deaths.

MEXICAN PROSECUTORS INVESTIGATING GRUESOME CARTEL VIDEO SHOWING VICTIMS FORCED TO KILL EACH OTHER

El Pais reported the mark "Pure MZ" on the released video is attributed to Mayo Zambada, the leader of the Sinaloa cartel.

Detail of the house where allegedly five young men were murdered in Lagos de Moreno, Jalisco State, Mexico, on Thursday.

Blood stains are seen in the house where allegedly five young men were murdered in Lagos de Moreno, Jalisco State, Mexico, on Thursday.

On Wednesday afternoon, Mexican authorities located the property where the photo and video were allegedly filmed and found four burned and decapitated bodies.

The bodies were badly burned and had not yet been identified, according to prosecutors in the western state of Jalisco. However, the bodies were found inside a building near where the young men were kidnapped on Aug. 11 and later photographed in captivity.

A fifth body was found by police inside a burned-out car in a nearby area.

Gloves are seen in the house where allegedly five young men were murdered in Lagos de Moreno, Jalisco State, Mexico, on Thursday.

Photos shared by Jalisco prosecutors show brick and concrete buildings on a ranch, isolated by an open field. They also showed bloodstains on the floor, shoes scattered about and investigators examining the area.

"This makes one think the five youths were there at this ranch," the state prosecutors office said in a statement Wednesday.

Family members of the missing men said they recognized the clothing of the victims seen in the video.

The five young men went missing last week after attending a festival.

During a news briefing Wednesday morning, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador described the killings as "very regrettable," while saying very little else about them. He mentioned federal prosecutors were taking over the case from Jalisco authorities as drug cartels were involved.

US SLAPS SANCTIONS ON SINALOA CARTEL MEMBERS INCLUDING THE ANTHRAX MONKEY, AS PART OF ANTI-FENTANYL MOVES

The young men went missing Friday while on a trip to attend a festival in the city of Lagos de Moreno, an area known for cartel violence.

They were next seen bound by tape, kneeling on the ground and surrounded by gang members, with one of them seen bludgeoning and apparently decapitating his friend.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador speaks at the morning conference in front of reporters at the National Palace.

It revives memories of the most horrifying instances of drug cartel brutality, where kidnapped victims were forced to fight and even kill each other in gruesome ways.

In 2010, the old Zetas cartel abducted men and forced any who refused to work for the cartel to beat each other to death with sledgehammers.

The following year, authorities found 48 clandestine graves containing the bodies of 193 people in the northern border state of Tamaulipas. Most had their skulls crushed with sledgehammers.

Fox News Bradford Betz and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Horror movies have long captivated audiences with their spine-chilling stories, terrifying monsters, and hair-raising suspense. From classic black-and-white thrillers to modern-day slashers, the genre has evolved over the years, leaving an indelible mark on popular culture. Whether youre a die-hard horror fan or just enjoy a good scare now and then, delving into the world of horror movie trivia can be an exhilarating experience and this listicle stretches that further by presenting 50 terrifying trivia questions that will put your horror movie knowledge to the ultimate test. Get ready to dive into the dark and macabre world of horror cinema as we uncover the secrets, scares, and stories behind some of the most iconic films.

What 1978 horror classic features babysitters being stalked by an escaped mental patient?

Answer: Halloween

In The Silence of the Lambs, whats the nickname of the brilliant but deranged serial killer Hannibal Lecter?

Answer: Hannibal the Cannibal

Which horror film franchise features a group of people surviving elaborate death traps set by Jigsaw?

Answer: Saw

Whats the name of the possessed girl in The Exorcist who undergoes a traumatic exorcism?

Answer: Regan MacNeil

In Psycho, whats the name of the motel where Marion Crane meets her sinister fate?

Answer: Bates Motel

What 1984 horror movie features a group of scientists battling supernatural forces for money?



Answer: Ghostbusters

Which horror movie is known for the iconic line Heeeres Johnny! as a crazed maniac breaks through a door?

Answer: The Shining

In Night of the Living Dead, what do the zombies primarily crave?

Answer: Human flesh

Whats the name of the evil doll possessed by a serial killers spirit in Childs Play?

Answer: Chucky

Which horror movie tells the story of a girl who gets a cursed videotape and is told she will die in seven days?

Answer: The Ring

Whats the name of the demonically possessed girl in The Exorcism of Emily Rose?

Answer: Emily Rose

In A Nightmare on Elm Street, what is the weapon of choice for the menacing Freddy Krueger?

Answer: A glove with razor-sharp blades

Which horror film follows a young woman who is terrorized by an eerie, faceless entity that only she can see?

Answer: It Follows

What 1999 found-footage horror film is centered around a group of students who investigate a local legend?

Answer: The Blair Witch Project

In The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Leatherface is known for wearing a mask made from what material?

Answer: Human skin

Which horror film is about a group of people trapped in a mall during a zombie apocalypse?

Answer: Dawn of the Dead

What 2011 horror movie involves a group of five college friends who become trapped in a cabin in the woods and face supernatural horrors?

Answer: The Cabin in the Woods

In The Omen, what is the name of the young boy who is suspected to be the Antichrist?

Answer: Damien

Which horror film follows a family whose vacation takes a sinister turn when they encounter a cult and their eerie doppelgangers?

Answer: Us

What classic horror movie features a Transylvanian count with a thirst for blood?

Answer: Dracula

In Get Out, what is the hypnotic method used to control the minds of victims?

Answer: A teacup and a spoon

Which horror movie franchise follows the vengeful spirit of a young girl named Samara who haunts those who watch a cursed videotape?

Answer: The Ring

Whats the name of the fictional town where the events of Stranger Things take place?

Answer: Hawkins, Indiana

In The Conjuring, what is the possessed doll that serves as a conduit for malevolent spirits?

Answer: Annabelle

Which horror film involves a group of friends who summon a vengeful spirit using a Ouija board?

Answer: Ouija

What horror movie is based on the true story of the Lutz familys experiences in a haunted house?

Answer: The Amityville Horror

In Poltergeist, what classic line is said by the young girl, Carol Anne, as she communicates with spirits?

Answer: Theyre here.

Which horror film showcases a familys struggle to survive in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by blind, deadly creatures?

Answer: A Quiet Place

Whats the name of the deranged cult leader in Rosemarys Baby?

Answer: Roman Castevet

In Candyman, what happens when you say the characters name five times in front of a mirror?

Answer: He appears and kills you

Which horror movie features a young woman who becomes obsessed with a sinister ballet academy?

Answer: Suspiria

What 2007 horror film centers around a viral outbreak that turns people into flesh-eating creatures?

Answer: 28 Weeks Later

In Hereditary, what terrifying legacy is inherited by the Graham family?

Answer: A demon king

Which horror movie follows a young woman who must battle a terrifying curse that haunts her through a mysterious videotape?

Answer: Ringu (the original Japanese version of The Ring)

What iconic 1991 horror film involves a cannibalistic serial killer named Buffalo Bill?

Answer: The Silence of the Lambs

In Paranormal Activity, what type of supernatural entity haunts the main characters?

Answer: A demon

Which horror film features a remote cabin and a group of friends who inadvertently summon evil spirits?

Answer: The Evil Dead

What 2013 horror movie is set in the Purge universe, focusing on a wealthy familys struggle to survive during the annual Purge night?

Answer: The Purge: Anarchy

In Carrie, what supernatural power does the titular character possess?

Answer: Telekinesis

Which horror film tells the story of a journalist investigating a cursed videotape that causes the viewer to die seven days later?

Answer: Ringu (the Japanese version of The Ring)

What 2008 horror film is centered around a virus that turns people into zombie-like creatures?

Answer: 28 Weeks Later

In The Others, what do the main characters believe is afflicting their house and causing their childrens sensitivity to light?

Answer: A haunting

Which horror movie follows a group of people trapped in a remote location and hunted by a clan of deformed, cannibalistic mutants?

Answer: The Hills Have Eyes

What 2014 horror movie features a widowed mother and her son who are terrorized by supernatural forces in their home?

Answer: The Babadook

In Dont Breathe, what sinister secret is the blind man hiding in his house?

Answer: He is keeping a woman trapped in his basement.

Which horror film involves a young woman who is pursued by a supernatural entity that can only be seen when the person is alone?

Answer: It Follows

What 2012 horror movie follows a family whose vacation turns into a nightmare when they are attacked by a group of sadistic strangers?

Answer: The Strangers 2

In Scream, what iconic villain uses a Ghostface mask and voice changer to terrorize his victims?

Answer: The Ghostface Killer

Which horror film revolves around a family who hides in a post-apocalyptic world to avoid supernatural creatures that hunt by sound?

Answer: A Quiet Place

What classic horror movie features a group of people trapped in a farmhouse while being attacked by reanimated corpses?

Answer: Night of the Living Dead
A 60-year-old man died after he was carjacked and assaulted by two masked individuals, according to Pennsylvania police and news reports.

Officers reportedly found the man bleeding from his head in a Philadelphia neighborhood around 10 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 17.

Its believed the man had been waiting on a family member when two people wearing face masks approached him on a dirt bike, police told WTXF.

They pulled him out of his 2023 Toyota Highlander and then a fight began, WPVI reported off a police report. One of the masked individuals then reportedly stole the Highlander, while the other left on the dirt bike.

Police told KYW the man was taken to a hospital and died 40 minutes after the attack. He has not been publicly identified.

The Highlander was tracked and recovered in nearby Camden, New Jersey, but no suspects have been captured, Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small told WCAU.

Small said investigators do not believe the victim was shot, calling the incident a robbery, carjacking (and) homicide, WCAU reported.

Masked trio tries to carjack father and son, then mom opens fire, Mississippi cops say

Man carjacks mom in Taco Bell drive-thru with her 3 kids in the car, Ohio sheriff says

Accused carjacker flees with owner yelling on hood of car, California police say
Eight more countries have supported the Ukrainian Formula of Peace, increasing the total number to 63 states.

Source: Andrii Yermak, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, on the air of the national 24/7 newscast

Details: According to Yermak, a meeting was held on Friday with the ambassadors of Albania, Cyprus, Malaysia, Moldova, Malta, Slovenia, Thailand and Vietnam, where diplomats said they were joining the Ukrainian Peace Formula.

The participants also discussed the environment.

Quote: "We discussed the colossal damage to Ukraines environment caused by the war.

We are working on assessing these losses so that they become part of compensation, reparations that will be presented to the occupying country for payment."

Background: On 5-6 August, Saudi Arabia hosted a meeting on the upcoming Peace Formula Summit, which was proposed by Kyiv. It was attended by national security and political advisers to leaders of about 40 countries. Among them were those who are not part of the western camp, including China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Chile and South Africa.

Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron!
Hurricane Ian rearranged Southwest Florida's landscape.

From the swallowing-up the famous Dome Homes south of Marco Island to blasting the Gulf of Mexico up the Caloosahatchee River, the storm pounded our region with 150 mph winds and up to 18 feet of storm surge.

The aftermath raised questions about the dangers of living in a subtropical paradise like Southwest Florida.

How do we rebuild in the wake of a Category 4 hurricane? What if we get hit by another storm when we're so vulnerable? Who's going to help?

Retired planner and climate expert Jim Beever says he and others identified several vulnerable areas in Lee and Collier counties decades ago, but that people continued to build in dangerous areas.

This aerial view along part of the beach coastline in Bonita Springs was photographed August 8.

When asked if we should abandon certain coastal areas in the wake of the damage from Hurricane Ian and the larger storms that are expected in the future due to climate change, Beever said: "yes."

"We have for decades in Florida had coastal construction setback zones which say you shouldn't build waterward of that line, and unfortunately they've given people permission to build beyond those lines," Beever said. "There are zones that should not be developed extensively."

Just what areas should we abandon?

"A lot of Fort Myers Beach and the various barriers islands and quite a few of the low-lying areas in Cape Coral, Charlotte, Lee and Collier counties," Beever said. "All these counties had tropical storm surge maps that would show areas that were going to be heavily impacted areas due to storm surge, and people still built there."

Beever said it's typically referred to as managed relocation, and it was done extensively in the Punta Gorda community following Hurricane Charley (2004).

More: Well-known FGCU professor accused of downplaying blue-green algae by water advocate

"The governments have moved wastewater treatment plants and emergency facilities and fire stations and police stations out of these hazards zones, and you notice they put emergency response centers far away from the coast, so they''ll be safe during storms."

During part of his career, Beever worked at the Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council, which, during decades past, had power to help decision-makers access the risks of building in wetlands and on low-lying lands.

"We used to have economic planners at the Regional Planning Council, and they'd tell the city council and mayors and commissioners," Beever said. "So, they knew."

Abandoning valuable coastal property is not a popular idea in most communities here as beach-side homes and condominiums represent some of the most desirable real estate in the nation.

Some people have left our area, with some of those fleeing the Sunshine State altogether after experiencing such a devastating storm.

But Southwest Florida remains one of the most popular areas in the nation in which to live and work.

Mike Savarese is a professor, researcher and climate preparation expert at Florida Gulf Coast University.

He said storm surge is one area this region could focus on to prepare for the next major hurricane.

Savarese point out that, unlike Hurricane Ian, major Hurricanes Charley, Wilma and Irma were mostly wind events. It's possible, he said, to design and build structures that are capable of withstanding major hurricane force winds.

Storm surge, which ripped the Fort Myers area apart last September, is a different challenge for coastal development.

More: Researchers: Asian crustacean is invading the lungs of south Florida's native snakes

"From an engineering perspective its easy to design buildings that will withstand those winds," Savarese said. "We havent really focused on surge. (Ian) was the first storm since Donna in 1960 that weve experienced significant storm surge, and in terms of resilience capacity to storm surge, its a different dynamic. I think what we learned quickly how raised elevation can make a difference."

Savarese said having natural areas along the coast that aren't developed helps protect inland areas from further storm damage.

"One thing we learned is green infrastructure is important," Savarese said of Hurricane Ian. "Places that had significantly broad dunes, even though theyre short in stature, fared better. So if you were a development on Sanibel Island and youre behind one of the multiple dune ridges, the surge didnt penetrate as far as where construction was right at the coastline or behind a sea wall."

"But a lot of dune structure is gone," Savarese continues, "and you cant take the homes off that landscape and restore it to its natural state."

Savarese said one study showed that Collier County's damages from Hurricane Ian were $68 million, and that without mangrove coverage along the shoreline, damages would have been $81 million.

This aerial view along part of the beach coastline in the southern end of Fort Myers Beach was photographed August 8.

Real estate analyst Matt Simmons, of Maxwell, Hendry & Simmons, said it's not practical for the public to buy areas that have already been developed, like the north end of Bonita Beach, an area Beever says should have never been developed.

Simmons said neither the state of Florida nor a local government will buy or take private property in the name of climate preparedness or some type of relocation.

"When you see the devastation of a catastrophic storm like Ian, it raises the idea of 'are we building on sandbars' and I get all that," Simmons said. "But there's a practical component that is usually missing in my view. Who's going to pay for that, and that's not a throw-away question. In Florida, we've got property rights and if there's infringement on that the property owners is going to be compensated full on."

Simmons said the idea of relocating people away from vulnerable areas is a valid idea, but that "hardening" coastal communities here is the more practical solution.

his aerial view along part of the beach coastline in the southern end of Fort Myers Beach was photographed August 8.

"The newer structures on Fort Myers Beach, even with hours upon hours of 100 mph plus wind and 15-feet surge, most of those buildings did exactly what they were supposed to do under the most extreme circumstances," Simmons said. "(But) we've got to limit public exposure to footing the bill, and that's a fair conversation."

Julie Wraithmell, executive director of Audubon Florida, said creativity during the rebuilding process may help better prepare the shoreline for the next major hurricane.

"We do have to think that while we want people to recover what has been lost, that recovery may need to be more creative than building everything back as it was before," she said. "The land it's sitting on is not the same as it was before."

Wraithmell, like Savarese, said having natural features along coastal areas helps protect areas further inland as mangrove forests and beach dunes absorb a tremendous amount of force during hurricanes.

"There are some innovative programs where the state bought out some homes in low-lying areas in the Panhandle that flooded during (Hurricane) Michael, and it made sense to protect that drainage," Wraithmell said. "And as sea level rise and marches up slope, there needs to be room for the mangroves to have breathing room. We need room for coastal systems for long-term survival."

The Fort Myers-Sanibel area gets most of the attention when it comes to media coverage of Hurricane Ian, but Collier County and the Naples area, too, were hit hard.

"Mother's Nature is going to win out if you plan poorly," said Dan Summers, director of Collier County Emergency Management. "But most of our coastal areas that are buildable have been built-out, so there is not too much in the coastal high hazard zone left to build on."

Summers, too, was impacted by the intense storm.

"That last little shift to the east got north Collier and all of our coastal communities," Summers said. "My own house got whacked in North Naples, and I haven't seen that type of storm surge in 40 years."

Summers said there are plenty of projects local, state and federal agencies can work on to better prepare our coast for the next major storm.

This aerial view along part of the beach coastline in Bonita Springs was photographed August 8.

What can be done?

"Become more disaster resilient and make good investments in that area and encourage the private sector to break that damage-repair cycle because it's expensive and challenging to put out community back together," he said.

Beever said he expects dangerous and possibly costly coastal development will continue, despite warnings of rising seas and the fact that climate change is expected to cause larger, more destructive storms.

"They keep approving more and more infrastructure in these zones and they think they'll be safe if they're above the storm surge, but you've got to get in and out of that building and all that will be destroyed and your vehicles won't work or they'll be gone," Beever said.

Connect with this reporter: Chad Gillis on Facebook.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Should parts of SWFL be abandoned in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian?
The battle over abortion pills is likely heading to the Supreme Court, whose ruling last year overturning Roe v. Wade has Democrats and abortion rights advocates nervous about another blow.

The Justice Department has already said it will appeal a ruling from a federal appeals court Wednesday that said Mifeprex and its generic counterpart are allowed to stay on the market, but with restrictions that would roll back efforts by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to try to make the drug easier to access.

Those efforts included increasing the gestational age when mifepristone can be used up to 10 weeks of pregnancy rather than seven, allowing the medication to be mailed to patients, lowering the dosage and permitting providers other than physicians to prescribe the drug.

Nothing is changing for now, as the decision will remain on hold until the Supreme Court decides whether to take up the case.

The fate of womens access to this lifesaving drug is now back in the hands of the Supreme Court  a terrifying thought for those of us who dont trust the right-wing justices who overturned Roe and who claimed abortion is an issue to be left to the states, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said in a statement.

The Supreme Court doesnt have to consider the case, but legal experts said the stakes are likely too high for it to ignore.

In addition, they noted a different federal appeals court is expected to rule in favor of the expanded access. The conflicting opinions would mean the justices would almost have to weigh in.

The current state of the world, essentially, is that if an anti-abortion plaintiff filed something in Amarillo, Texas, that the most balanced court to hear that case is the Supreme Court. And thats saying something, because the Supreme Court  overturned Roe, said Greer Donley, an abortion law expert and associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh Law School.

If the high court takes up the case, Donley said there are a few foregone conclusions about how some of the justices will vote, but some of the more institutionalist conservatives are open questions.

Still, this is also a Supreme Court that has a lot of anti-abortion members. The fact that youre trying to hang your hat on [Justices Brett] Kavanaugh or [Amy Coney] Barrett, you start to be very nervous, Donley said.

The parties have 90 days to file an appeal to the Supreme Court, and the justices will then consider whether to take up the dispute, a process that typically takes weeks, if not longer.

The Supreme Court issued a temporary pause in the spring to let the appeals process continue, so as it currently stands, mifepristone can still be prescribed by telemedicine and sent through the mail for use at up to 10 weeks of pregnancy.

But if the ruling goes into effect, the ramifications could once again reshape abortion access across the country.

Before these rules changed, medication abortion was nowhere near as attractive an option as it is today because of the logistical difficulties, said Rachel Rebouche, dean of Temple University School of Law.

The rules prior to 2016 required at least two in-person visits to a provider, and for the patient to take the drug in the providers office.

If the [rules] require that patients not only pick up the pills in person, but then take them in person  its going to stress the brick-and-mortar facilities that are already way oversubscribed with out-of-state patients from states that have banned or severely restricted abortion, Rebouche said.

About half of all abortions nationwide are performed using mifepristone as the first of a two-pill regimen. Millions of women have used mifepristone since it was first approved in 2000, and serious side effects are extremely rare.

Leading medical organizations including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Medical Association have said there is a greater risk of complications from wisdom tooth removal, colonoscopies and Viagra use.

Still, the ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit found the FDA did not follow proper procedure and fully take into consideration the safety of the drug when it made the changes to expand access.

In loosening mifepristones safety restrictions, FDA failed to address several important concerns about whether the drug would be safe for the women who use it. It failed to consider the cumulative effect of removing several important safeguards at the same time, Judge Jennifer Elrod wrote.

The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the conservative Christian legal organization that represents the anti-abortion groups that sued the FDA, said it was pleased with the ruling, despite it only being a partial victory, and had not yet made a decision whether to appeal the portion that allowed mifepristone to stay on the market.

The 5th Circuit rightly required the FDA to do its job and restore crucial safeguards for women and girls, including ending illegal mail-order abortions, ADF senior counsel Erin Hawley said in a statement.

This is a significant victory for the doctors and medical associations we represent and, more importantly, the health and safety of women, Hawley said.

Abortion rights advocates said they have no choice but to move forward and hope the Supreme Court justices would follow the law, rather than the politics.

The idea that a court could substitute its own judgment and its distorted presentation of so-called science to undermine the scientists at the FDA seems like it would be something that would draw the Supreme Courts attention, said Lorie Chaiten, senior staff attorney at the national ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project.

And while she recognizes the concern of relying on the same justices who decided Dobbs, Wednesdays ruling directly contradicts that decision.

If it takes effect, mifepristone would have the same restrictions even in states that have protected abortion access.

In Dobbs, they sent this issue back to the states. And what this case is trying to do is say, not so fast, Chaiten said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Nine former and current police officers are facing widespread corruption charges in Northern California after participating in years of suspected misdeeds including wire fraud, destroying evidence and planned racially-motived police brutality, a federal prosecutor announced this week.

Following a series of FBI raids across three states in which nine officers were arrested Thursday, Ismail J. Ramsey, the U.S. Attorney for Californias Northern District, said the defendants  named in four separate indictments  acted as though they were above the law.

Officers from two police departments in Antioch and Pittsburg - cities in San Francisco's Bay Area  also face allegations they falsified records to receive raises, conspired to illegally distribute drugs and violated citizens' civil rights.

In other cases, authorities said, officers deployed police dogs on at least two dozen occasions to purposely harm people.

Nine defendants  five Antioch officers and four Pittsburg cops  as well as one Antioch community service officer, participated in the alleged crimes, which prosecutors say took place across Contra Costa County, just to the east of San Francisco.

CA mayor announces police investigation: City council in California to audit Antioch Police Department after racist texts spark protests

More than 100 FBI agents make 9 arrests in 3 states

More than 100 agents served arrest warrants on the nine former officers beginning Thursday morning in Texas, California and Hawaii, in what Robert Tripp, special agent in charge of the FBI's San Francisco Field Office, called the result of two years of "painstaking methodical work."

A 10th officers arrest was pending, officials said.

U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California Ismail J. Ramsey points to a visual aid during a press conference to announce federal authorities have charged 10 current and former Northern California police officers in a corruption investigation Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023, in San Francisco. Arrest warrants were served Thursday in California, Texas and Hawaii.

The FBI identified the following defendants and their respective charges in the case:

Morteza Amiri: (Antioch)

Brauli Rodriguez Jalapa (Pittsburg and Oakland Housing Authority)

Patrick Berhan (Pittsburg)

Ernesto Juan Mejia-Orozco (Pittsburg)

Samantha Genoveva Peterson (Antioch community service officer)

Amanda Carmella Theodosy (aka Nash) (Pittsburg)

Eric Allen Rombough (Antioch)

Devin Wenger (Antioch)

Daniel Harris (Antioch)

Timothy Manly Williams (Antioch)

'The college degree benefits fraud indictment'

Ramsey referred to the first indictment as the college degree benefits fraud indictment" and said its six defendants conspired to defraud Antioch and Pittsburg police departments out of taxpayer dollars by claiming they earned college credits towards degrees when "they hired people to attend classes and take exams for them."

The defendants, Amiri, Jalapa, Berhan, Mejia-Orozco, Peterson and Theodosy are charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Both of their former police departments' policies permitted reimbursement for the tuition cost and awarded salary raise to officer who earned college degrees, according to the indictment. All of them, Ramsey said, conspired to defrauded their departments for financial gain "without putting in the work."

Steroids distribution indictment

The second indictment charges Wegner and Harris with:

Conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute anabolic steroids

Attempted possession with intent to distribute anabolic steroids

Possession with intent to distribute anabolic steroids

Destruction, alteration and falsification of records in federal investigations.

According to the indictment, the pair conspired to illegally distribute the drugs and one of them attempted to delete evidence of the scheme from his cell phone before handing it over to law enforcement.

The obstruction indictment

Williams is listed as the sole defendant in the third indictment. He is charged with destruction, alteration and falsification of records in federal investigations, obstruction of official proceedings and deprivation of rights under color of law.

Robert Tripp, special agent in charge of the FBI's San Francisco Field Office, right, speaks to reporters during a press conference to announce federal authorities have charged 10 current and former Northern California police officers in a corruption investigation Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023, in San Francisco. Arrest warrants were served Thursday in California, Texas and Hawaii.

The indictment details how the former Antioch officer was assigned to monitor a wire tap and used his personal cell phone to call a target of the wire tap to prevent the call from being recorded during the wiretap.

The civil rights violation, Ramsey said, stems from a case in which he allegedly confiscated a person's phone to damage it to prevent evidence from leaking.

'Deprivation of rights indictment'

The final 29-page indictment describes "a disturbing litany of civil rights violations," by three Antioch officers  Amiri, Rombough and Wegner  whose alleged crimes include improperly deploying a police dog and weapons to purposely harm "residents in and around Antioch."

"The defendants boasted about their illegal use of force in text messages between one another," Ramsey said, adding they also shared photos of their victims' injuries and collected mementos like spent ammunition from "their attacks".

In text exchanges, the indictment shows, the defendants called suspects in some case "gorillas."

The officers also "laughed and joked about harming people who apparently had surrendered or appeared to be asleep by setting Amiri's police dog on them" the Associated Press reported, while another officer reportedly shot them with a 40mm "less-lethal" projectile launcher."

The dog bit 28 people over a three-year period, the outlet reported, while the officer used the launcher 11 times in 2020 and 2021.

All three men face charges of conspiracy against rights, deprivation of rights under color of law and destruction and falsification of records in federal investigations.

Not guilty pleas entered in some cases

On Thursday, Ramsey said court appearances were being scheduled.

The Mercury News reported Friday Amiri, Rombough Berhan, Peterson, Jalapa and Mejia-Orozco had already pleaded not guilty to their respective charges and that most of them had posted bond.

If convicted of the charges, the defendants could face decades in prison under federal law.

Who polices the police? Federal probe in Memphis marks latest effort to reform law enforcement

'Above the law'

In a statement released to USA TODAY Friday, Anticoh Acting Chief of Police Joe Vigils called the arrest of the department's current and former officers disheartening saying it "undermines the incredible work our staff does on a daily basis."

"Any police officer who breaks public trust must be held accountable, especially because our effectiveness relies heavily on confidence and support from our community," Vigils said. "From the beginning of this investigation, our administration has been fully cooperating with these agencies, and will continue to do so. No individual  including a police officer  is above the law."

The chief said he could not comment further on the ongoing criminal and internal investigations.

Pittsburg police did not immediately respond to USA TODAY.

Bull horns and a flash bang

A defense attorney for one defendant, Michael Rains, told NBC Bay Area the raid was "completely unnecessary."

"The FBI agents, including some from Southern California, used a flash bang and bullhorns during the forcible arrest of his client, adding the officer would have surrendered if asked," the outlet reported.

The lawyer said some of the officers were being held in a federal detention center in Oakland.

'A dark day'

"Today is a dark day in our city's history, as people trusted to uphold the law, allegedly breached that trust and were arrested by the FBI," Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe released in a statement Thursdy, calling the arrests "the beginning of the end of a long and arduous process."

In his statement, Thorpe went on to defend himself being accused of being anti-cop earlier this year when he announced the city was launching an independent investigation into the text-message case.

"To those that have accused me and others of being anti-police for seeking to reform the Antioch Police Department, todays arrests are demonstrative of the issues that have plagued the Antioch Police Department for decades," Thorpe said. "Seeking to reform the Antioch Police Department is not anti-police, it is pro our residents, and pro officers that have served and continue to serve with honor."

Conspiracy indictment

Conspiracy, deprivation of rights, destruction of records indictment by USA TODAY Network on Scribd

Wire fraud indictment

Wire Fraud indictment by USA TODAY Network on Scribd

Contributing: The Associated Press

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @nataliealund.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: FBI arrests Antioch, Pittsburg California officers in corruption probe
One of the worlds largest advertising firms is crafting a campaign to thwart a California bill intended to enhance peoples control over the data that companies collect on them.

According to emails obtained by POLITICO, the Interpublic Group is coordinating an effort against a bill that would make it easier for people to request that data brokers  firms that collect and sell personal information  delete their dossiers.

SB 362, known as the Delete Act, would require companies to delete all data on individuals upon request  including data purchased or acquired from third parties. This would shrink the trove of personal information they hold, such as browsing history, birthdates and past purchases. Data brokers compile this information to build profiles of people, which can be used to craft advertisements tailored to an individuals preferences. But that also grants them access to some of peoples most sensitive details, such as whether they are pregnant or suffering from mental illness.

The IPG emails reveal how an advertising company could use that same personal data and targeting capabilities to undermine a public policy proposal that threatens its bottom line.

The emails show an exchange between the companys global chief digital responsibility and public policy officer, Sheila Colclasure, and other executives discussing what the firm can do to block the bill.

We would like to mount an opposition campaign using in-house digital advertising capabilities, targeting California, Colclasure wrote in an Aug.14 email sent to others at IPG and reviewed by POLITICO.

Those capabilities could include creating ads targeted at California residents to foment public opposition to the bill, and prominently placing those ads on popular websites.

In the email exchange, IPG notes it was pulling out all the stops to fight the bill. It also said data broker and major credit monitoring agency Experian plans to launch its own attack on the bill this week. The discussion included other IPG executives and Chad Engelgau, CEO of Acxiom, a data broker owned by IPG.

Engelgau in a separate email exchange said Acxiom would provide data to target the ad campaign against SB 362.

Engelgau did not directly respond to questions about the effort, but said in a statement on behalf of IPG, Acxiom and Colclasure that the companies disagree with state regulations and are advocating for a national privacy law. Tech industry groups have been pushing for a federal data privacy law that would overwrite state regulations, saying it would be too hard to abide by different rules in each of the 50 states.

We are offering our view as subject matter experts to trade organizations and legislative bodies on why this proposal will damage the economy, negatively impacting both small and large businesses, and have asked our industry partners to join the dialogue, he said. We will continue our work to help create common sense rules at a federal level.

Experian spokesperson Jordan Takeyama said that the company is not launching any advertising related to SB 362, but does oppose the legislation.

We believe the proposed legislation has many unintended consequences and would severely harm the ability for companies to best serve consumers on many levels, he said.

The IPG campaign already includes a website called NoToSB362.org, which urges visitors to contact Democratic state Sen. Josh Becker, the bills main author, and voice opposition to the bill. Concerns on the website include how the ability to delete data en masse would raise health costs and make it difficult for government agencies to detect fraud. There is one mention of the bills effects on advertisers, noting that data deletions would hurt small businesses.

The emails obtained by POLITICO note that the Consumer Data Industry Association and the law firm Venable built and sponsored the website, while Interpublic Group worked on the effort to promote the campaign. But the site, which was registered last week, originally did not disclose who was behind it.

And when POLITICO revealed the websites similarities to an ad industry push on Wednesday, Interpublic Group spokesperson Thomas Cunningham and Acxioms Engelgau denied their companies were involved. Engelgaus statement to POLITICO Thursday did not respond to questions about this discrepancy.

The CDIA has since updated the No to SB 362 website to include the industrys affiliation.

We are considering other options as well [as] including ads but have not made a final decision," Justin Hakes, the CDIAs vice president of communications and public affairs, said in an email. CDIA will work with policymakers to avoid significant unintended consequences undermining privacy and data security for California consumers.

Venable, a law firm with a lobbying practice used by tech companies, didnt respond to requests for comment.

This isnt the first time a tech platform was accused of using its capabilities in an attempt to sway legislation in California.

In 2020, privacy advocates accused Google of blocking political ads that favored California privacy legislation the company opposed, while approving similar ads against the regulations. Google told California lawmakers in response that it doesnt insert political bias into its results.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law in 2022 requiring that businesses disclose to the secretary of state if they use their products or services to target online ads for political purposes. But the regulations dont go into effect until January 2024.

On Thursday, the CDIA, alongside 13 industry trade organizations, including the Association of National Advertisers, the Interactive Advertising Bureau and NetChoice, sent an opposition letter to every member of the California Assembly and Becker.

Collectively, those groups represent companies including Google, Amazon and Meta, owners of Facebook.

Becker said he knew there was an opposition campaign against his bill, but wasnt aware of who was behind it until this week. He said his staff has met with IPG representatives in the past, who urged him to delay the bill.

He said he has no intention to delay his legislation, and that IPGs strategy to use its own advertising resources to promote its opposition campaign gave companies an unfair advantage in the political debate.

Theyre able to target individual consumers based on this treasure trove of data that theyve amassed, Becker said in an interview. The fact that theyre using that to lobby against the bill even more highlights the reason for concern here.
After an alarming increase in traffic deaths this year, Ada County leaders vow to redesign street layouts to make them safer for all.

This is one of the deadliest years on our roads in Ada County history, and it has to stop, Ada County Highway District Commissioner Alexis Pickering said at a Thursday news conference.

The district has recorded one pedestrian death in the county almost every month this year for a total of eight, Pickering said, far more than last year, when the district recorded no pedestrian deaths until October. Pickering said it will take years to undo and update our infrastructure.

Mayor Lauren McLean called the deaths thoroughly preventable.

If youre willing to drive safe to avoid a traffic citation, shouldnt you be willing to drive safe to save somebodys lifewhether its your own or somebody elses, said Boise Police Chief Ron Winegar at a press conference on Thursday following a string of pedestrian crosswalk deaths this summer. Chief Winegar joined Mayor Lauren McLean and City Council President Jimmy Hallyburton, and other civic leaders to address what government can do to address the problem.

At one intersection downtown  11th Street and State Street  four people have been hit by cars already this year.

A total of five pedestrians and cyclists were killed last year, according to data from the Idaho Transportation Department.

In early August, a Boise teenager on a skateboard was killed by a truck while crossing the street in a crosswalk on 16th Street.

A 27-year-old pedestrian was killed in July on North Cloverdale Road. A 23-year-old woman died while crossing the street at a nearby intersection in June, according to Boise police.

A pedestrian and a bicyclist were killed in May in Boise after collisions underneath the Connector and in West Boise, on Eagle Road.

In January, a 79-year-old man was killed by a pickup truck at the intersection of West State Street and 11th Street, near the YMCA.

More than 3,800 crashes have happened so far in Ada County this year, 14 of which have been fatal, according to data from the Idaho Transportation Department. Forty-four crashes have involved bicycles and 28 have involved pedestrians.

There were 101 bicycle-involved crashes in Ada County in 2022, one of which was fatal, according to data from the Idaho Transportation Department. There were 68 pedestrian-involved crashes last year in the county, four of which were fatal. A fifth of fatal crashes involved pedestrians, and nearly 30% of pedestrian crashes resulted in a serious injury or death.

At a Boise crosswalk, 4 people hit by cars this year. One died. How officials responded

Overall, 122 people died in fatal crashes in Ada County last year, according to the data. There were a total of 33,231 crashes.

In a news release, McLeans spokesperson Maria Weeg said the Treasure Valley has seen an alarming increase in serious injury and fatal crashes.

This year, the Ada County Highway District began altering walk signals at intersections, allowing pedestrians a head start over vehicle traffic to make them easier for drivers to see. Over the next several years, the roads agency plans to make changes to every intersection with a traffic light.

ACHD controls almost all roads in Ada County  including those within cities  except federal and state highways controlled by the Idaho Transportation Department.

At the news conference, Pickering said ACHD is creating an internal safety team to better assess crashes and whether they require reengineering the streetscape. The agency plans to spend $22 million on bicycle and pedestrian improvements in the coming fiscal year.

With the defeat of former ACHD Commissioner Mary May last year, most of the current commissioners campaigned on supporting multi-modal transportation.

Last year Ada County didnt have a pedestrian or bicyclist death until October, said ACHD Commissioner Alexis Pickering at a press conference Thursday. This year, and since January, weve had one nearly every single month.

The Idaho Legislature this year passed a law limiting how road agencies can spend their funding, requiring that dollars be spent primarily for cars. A second law only contemplates congestion mitigation as related to cars, leaving out potential bicycle or pedestrian improvements.

Pickering said that law has definitely impacted us.

Our road system works best when were serving all users, Pickering said. If were not making safety the priority for all users, were actually making it dangerous for everyone.

Speed trap or public safety? Heres why some Boise roads got lower speed limits
An unused plot of city-owned land near downtown Bellingham could be the site of an affordable homeownership project being proposed as a way to address local housing concerns and bridge the affordability gap.

A Bellingham-based company, Madrona Community Development, sent a memo to the city in July detailing its proposal to redevelop the public land on the corner of C Street and Halleck Street across from the Municipal Court in the Lettered Streets Neighborhood.

The basic idea is the reuse of underutilized, publicly-owned property taking into account what the community needs and what the neighborhood needs but not just sitting on property that could be doing better, doing more, doing good, Madrona Managing Director Paul Schissler said.

The project would include permanently affordable apartment units available for purchase on the upper levels of the development. The street level of the development would feature non-residential, neighborhood-oriented space.

The non-residential space could include things like public office space or childcare classrooms  something that would benefit the neighborhood and larger community, according to Schissler.

It would look like other apartment buildings that are being built now except this one would be resident-owned, Schissler said.

Homeownership affordability could be created by operating the development as a limited equity cooperative (LEC), Schissler told The Bellingham Herald. That is a model in which residents purchase a share in the development, rather than an individual unit, and commit to resell their share at a price determined by a formula. This maintains affordability at purchase time and over the long term.

Government financial assistance for development often helps create initial affordability. Some limited equity cooperatives allow little or no build-up of equity by homeowners, while others adopt a shared equity approach, balancing long-term affordability and individual wealth creation.

LECs are frequently found in multifamily buildings in urban areas.

In a statement to The Herald, Mayor Seth Fleetwood said he received the proposal letter from Madrona and was open to exploring the idea as it is consistent with the citys goal to actively pursue creative ways to increase affordable housing in the community.

The city has multiple needs in the realm of master facility planning. Consideration of this project would need to be in the context of a broader analysis of city needs, Fleetwood said in the statement. In order for the City to approve something of this nature, it would require us to complete a master plan for the city-owned lots in that area to identify how this proposal would fit into that mix.

Cars are parked in a lot at the corner of C Street and Halleck Street on Aug. 16, 2023, in Bellingham, Wash. The city-owned lot is the site of a proposed affordable homeownership project.

Its too early to know how many units would be available in the development or at exactly what cost. But there is a demand for affordable homeownership opportunities locally as home prices continue to climb at a much higher rate than incomes. A large segment of the workforce can no longer afford to buy a market-rate home and is also struggling to find affordable places to rent.

Paying that monthly  a significant amount of money every month  that same amount could be going to paying the co-ops operating expenses instead of the absentee owner who is motivated by profitability and capital gains, Schissler said.

People in Bellingham are earning more, but not enough to keep up with the increased cost of housing. As home and rent prices continue to escalate dramatically, many people are paying more than they can afford for housing.

The median home price has increased 52% in the last five years while the median income has increased just 18% in that same amount of time, according to the city of Bellinghams Consolidated Housing Plan.

At least 24% of homeowners in the city are considered cost-burdened.

By 2044, Whatcom County is estimated to need almost 35,000 new housing units to meet growth demand. About 22,000 of those units, more than 60%, need to be affordable, according to Blake Lyon, Bellinghams director of planning & community development. In order to be considered affordable, housing costs cant exceed 30% of a familys gross income and must serve families making 80% or less of the area median income, according to the city of Bellingham.

Bellingham makes up about 48% of the housing production in the county. So the city will need to produce almost 17,000 total housing units to help meet the goal. More than 10,000 of those need to be affordable. To stay on track, the city needs to build more than 500 affordable housing units every year.

Washington needs to develop more than one million homes over the next two decades to keep up with population growth, according to the Washington State Department of Commerce. More than half of them need to be affordable for residents at the lowest income levels.
(Bloomberg) -- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said regulations on artificial intelligence would protect a handful of companies from competition, entrench biased data models and give China an advantage in the emerging technology.

Most Read from Bloomberg

DeSantis, the leading challenger to former President Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, addressed the growing questions about AI on Friday at a conference hosted by conservative radio host Erick Erickson in Atlanta.

Erickson billed the two-day event featuring GOP presidential candidates as a forum to talk about policy issues without the distraction of questions about Trump, who was not invited. He asked candidates, including DeSantis, about the unknown unknowns they might face as president.

I think one of the things that we dont know where its going per se, but we know its going to be an influence, is artificial intelligence, DeSantis said.

Read more: Trumps Rivals Look to Seize Spotlight as He Skips Georgia Event

The Florida governor, who rose in prominence among national Republicans for his combative approach to cultural issues, said the technology allows computers to use big data sets to answer previously unanswerable questions. But he said the three most popular AI companies use woke data sets to power those answers.

They want to get some regulation to protect them from competition. I actually think you need the competition, but theres got to be limits to what were going to allow, he said. I dont think we can can just put our head in the sand because Chinas going to be using it from a defense perspective.

The Biden Administration and regulators in Europe are both in the midst of drafting new regulations to govern AI, and some US companies have already rolled out self-imposed restrictions in conjunction with the White House. But lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have said additional legislation is likely necessary to address threats posed by the emerging technology.

DeSantis said he cant fully outline what his AI policy would be as president because it will evolve rapidly in the next year and a half and the policy would have to be nimble.

But he said his guiding principle would be that were not going to let human beings be displaced and overtaken by computers. Thats not going to be good for society.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
This article was originally published in Alabama Reflector.

The future of a bill that would effectively mandate kindergarten in Alabama still faces an uphill battle, even as members of a state education commission said that they support the bill.

During a Wednesday meeting of Governors Commission on Teaching and Learning  a group of educators, lawmakers and officials  State Superintendent Eric Mackey said the Literacy Act, a law that will retain third-graders if they are unable to read at grade level, has led many principals to focus on first grade.

The superintendent, in a presentation on the newly released ACAP scores, said that some are retaining first graders if they believe they are at risk of retention later in their academic careers.

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When you get that before third grade, thats all the better, which is why I think what we hear from our principals are doing is largely focusing on first grade, he said.

Mackey also said that principals want to learn whos on track in those early years, but the assessments they have do not currently track as well with the state test.

Rep. Alan Baker, R-Atmore, had also said that it was important that they focus on grades before first grade.

And that really captures really what its about, that is the prevention that is identifying those students early on, early as possible, he said. And then providing the necessary interventions and supports all the way through and not just waiting.

Some commission members had questions about why kindergarten was not mandatory in the state and if there was a way to make it mandatory.

Carey Wright, former Mississippi State Superintendent of Education and a member of the panel, said that Mississippi had been able to mandate mandatory attendance for those who enrolled in kindergarten.

And that helped a lot with our kindergarten in terms of first grade readiness, she said.

The Alabama House of Representatives last spring passed a bill known as First Grade Readiness that would have required a student to pass kindergarten or an equivalent test showing readiness for first grade. The bill passed out of a Senate committee but did not come to the Senate floor for a vote.

Sen. Donnie Chesteen, R-Geneva, said that the biggest opposition was one senator, as many in the room laughed.

Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, spoke multiple times in opposition to the bill. He said it felt like it would hold more students back.

At the end of the session, Smitherman and the bills sponsor Pebblin Warren, D-Tuskegee, said they would discuss the bill further in the fall.

A message was left with Warren Wednesday afternoon. As of 2020, only 19 states and the District of Columbia required students to attend kindergarten, according to NCES.

Smitherman, reached Wednesday afternoon by phone, said that his stance on the bill has not changed since the end of the legislative session. He said he is still planning to meet with Warren later this fall, though not in the next couple of weeks.

It will be addressed, but right now, theres no scheduled meetings at this time, he said.

Smitherman cited concerns about the bill including retaining students and a lack of infrastructure to support the needs of first grade readiness, such as busing.

Its a great soundbite, and its a great, its an ambitious goal, he said. But we cant help these children like we need to unless we put the proper structure, the proper resources, and have the proper instructors there.

Supporters of the first grade readiness bill insisted during debates over the legislation that it was not a mandatory kindergarten bill. But Brown, the Montgomery Public Schools superintendent, wondered why the state could not simply mandate kindergarten, without the extra test.

What Im imagining in my mind is: Im going to get my drivers license, and my test run is an IndyCar race, he said. If I crash, now, I got to go back to school to take the test. It doesnt make a lot of sense. I want to get them on the front end.

Some of us agree with you, said Rep. Barbara Drummond, D-Mobile. At least in the House.

Alabama Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alabama Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Brian Lyman for questions: info@alabamareflector.com. Follow Alabama Reflector on Facebook and Twitter.
Two Mississippi Historical Black colleges are helping nursing students from underserved communities prepare for new careers and getting public health ready to serve those communities better.

Alcorn State University and Jackson State University are following a nationwide push to prepare students from underserved communities to be part of the public health workforce. The program is meant to fill two needs revealed by COVID-19  the need to include more people from underserved communities in the public health workforce and better utilize health data in a public health emergency.

The program is funded by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the Public Health Informatics & Technology Workforce Development Program (The PHIT Workforce Development Program) to bolster the public health workforce while finding career pathways for students from underrepresented groups.

JSU received a total of $9,999,938 for the PHIT and sub-contracted $ 1 million to Alcorn to partner with them for the nursing informatics program, officials said.

As a part of the program, JSU is partnering with Alcorn State University's Cora S. Balmat School of Nursing in Natchez, Mississippi, to develop curricula and train Alcorn students in nursing informatics.

Officials said those classes will begin in the fall.

Loria Brown Gordon, Ph.D. executive director of the Public Health Informatics and Technology Workforce Development Program at Jackson State University, said the program has approximately 100 nursing students enrolled in nursing informatics courses or undergraduate courses.

"The Office of the Council for Health IT includes identifying courses, training certificate programs, certifications, and graduate and undergraduate programs to prepare students for public health informatics and technology," Gordon said. "The efforts that have moved forward today include: The infusion of nursing informatics competencies within undergraduate and graduate courses and the creation of new studies in nursing informatics.

"This is an opportunity for us to bring that to our HBCUs and then among our HBCU community, whether it's our students or our communities that are stakeholders, and help them to understand their need the need for them to have a role in what happens in our communities in addressing health disparities. These efforts will help better position underserved communities to handle all the health disparities within minority communities."

Gordon said the program began in September of 2021.

"Our collaboration with Alcorn began then but was more formalized in the spring of 2022," Gordon said. "The courses and the infusion of nursing informatics competencies into undergraduate courses began in Fall 2022."

Alcorn Professor and Dean of the School of Nursing Shirley Evers-Manly, Ph.D. said Mississippi had been plagued disproportionately with health disparities for decades.

Alcorn State University Professor and Dean of the School of Nursing Shirley Evers-Manly.

"One of the primary roles of nursing informatics is to teach our students how to analyze a widespread assortment of data to identify resolutions to health disparities from an outpatient, public health and inpatient point of view," Evers-Manly said. "Understanding nursing informatics will allow nurses to provide higher-quality care at the right time and in the right settings.

"In addition to the above, learning how to analyze data will allow them to find solutions enabling nurses to operate more cost-efficiently, evidence-based. Moreover, nurses will learn how to take data from vital signs to COVID-19 rates to provide better insight on prevention, health promotion, bedside care and discharge planning to make better decisions regarding patient care."

Evers-Manly said approximately 120 students were able to participate in COVID-19 education and prevention programs.

"We were able to provide education programs throughout the state, including the Mississippi Delta," she said. "Moreover, our graduate students have been able to integrate evidence-based information and client care technology to communicate relevant client information at community-based clinics to manage care and mitigate error in providing safe, quality client-centered care at the community level as well as at rural hospitals in Mississippi."

JPS administrators placed on leave: Several Jackson Public Schools leaders on paid leave. See why

Ole Miss to use gift to elevate environmental studies program

Donor Steven B. King (left) visits with Lee Cohen, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, about his $1.3 million gift to support an environmental studies program at the university. The gift will fund a new faculty position and support efforts to build an environmental studies major.

The University of Mississippi is developing a program to add faculty members to the College of Liberal Arts and develop a curriculum for a new degree major in environmental studies, according to an Ole Miss press release.

The program was made possible through a gift from alumnus Steven B. King of St. Louis.

According to the release, "King's $1.3 million gift established the Steven B. King Environmental Studies Endowment, with the resources to enhance faculty strengths in teaching, research and outreach on the environment. The university offers an environmental studies minor, founded in Fall 2009 by Ann Fisher-Wirth, a professor of English who recently retired."

King graduated in 1975 with a bachelor's degree in public administration and is currently active in several organizations such as the St. Louis Zoo Conservation Council, the Sierra Club and the Rocky Mountain Conservancy, UM officials said.

Plastics in MS water: Finding 'forever chemicals' in their tap water stirs Mississippians' health fears

King said in a statement that the planet is facing many challenges, such as climate change, loss of biodiversity, plastic waste, pollinator decline, and more  and interest in the environment is very high, especially among young people.

"It is their generation that will be dealing with and bearing the burden of these issues," King said. "Majoring in environmental studies is an excellent way to get involved in working to solve these challenges and have a rewarding career. Companies are now attuned to environmental ramifications and are hiring people to solve these problems, so there's a demand for these professionals."

Chancellor Glenn F. Boyce said in a statement that he is thankful to King for his vision behind the gift.

"We are grateful to Steve King for providing significant resources to promote this critical interdisciplinary field of study," Boyce said. "Steve recognizes and values the expansion of our academic footprint in environmental studies. This generous gift is an investment in our students and our future so we can better address challenges related to our ecosystem."

King said he hopes the resources from his donation provide students with a better understanding of the planet and launch them into jobs, careers, and master's and doctoral programs.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Alcorn joins national nursing program to serve underserved populations
Losses of the Russian Federation in Ukraine exceeded a quarter of a million soldiers killed

Another 460 Russian soldiers were eliminated in Ukraine over the past 24 hours, Ukraines General Staff stated in its regular morning report on Aug. 18.

The report also mentioned that two Russian attack helicopters were destroyed, without specifying the type.

Read also: Ukrainian forces shoot down another Russian Ka-52 helicopter, this time in Zaporizhzhya Oblast

The shoot-downs by Ukrainian forces of two Ka-52 Alligator attack helicopters  one of the most modern types in service with the Russian military  were reported by Ukrainian military units on Aug. 17.

One of the helicopters was downed in the east, near the town of Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast, while the other was shot down near Robotyne in Zaporizhzhya Oblast, in the south of the country.

Read also: Ukrainian army fighting to south of liberated Urozhayne, Russians try to advance in Kharkiv Oblast

Total Russian losses in personnel and equipment in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022 are now as follows:

Personnel: 256,510 (+460) confirmed casualties

Tanks: 4,332 (+3) units

Combat armored vehicles: 8,410 (+12) units

Artillery systems: 5,193 (+24) units

Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS): 714 (+0) units

Anti-Aircraft Missile Systems: 486 (+0) units

Aircraft: 315 (+0) units

Helicopters: 316 (+2) units

Operational-Tactical UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles): 4,276 (+4) units

Cruise missiles: 1,406 (+2) units

Ships/boats: 18 (+0) units

Military vehicles and tankers: 7,658 (+17) units

Specialized equipment: 783 (+10) units.

Since the beginning of June, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have undertaken a counter-offensive in the southern and eastern regions of Ukraine, progressively liberating occupied territories and securing positions on recaptured frontiers.

The Ukrainian military has liberated over 192 square kilometers in southern Ukraine and 40 square kilometers in the eastern Bakhmut area since the beginning of the counter-offensive.

In turn, Russian forces are suffering significant losses, according to the Ukrainian military, and as reported by some pro-Ukrainian and pro-Russian bloggers who cover the conflict.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
The British Museum has dismissed a member of staff after items from its collection were found to be "missing, stolen or damaged," the museum said in a statement on Wednesday.

The items included gold jewelry and gems of semiprecious stones and glass dating from the 15th century B.C. to the 19th century A.D., the museum said.

None of the items in question had been on public display recently and the majority were "kept in a storeroom belonging to one of the museum's collections," according to the statement.

"This is a highly unusual incident," said Hartwig Fischer, director of the museum.

"We have already tightened our security arrangements, and we are working alongside outside experts to complete a definitive account of what is missing, damaged and stolen," Fischer said, noting that the museum apologized for what had happened.

The museum said it would take legal action against the member of staff who was fired, and the matter is now being investigated by the Economic Crime Command of the Metropolitan Police.

It has also launched an independent review of security to look into the incident and to provide advice regarding the museum's security arrangements in the future. The review will start and support a program to recover the missing items.

Founded in 1753, the British Museum has a collection of about eight million objects covering two million years of human history.
Two Fresno City Council members, frustrated with what they say is inaction and a lack of transparency from the county of Fresno over a Chinese-owned medical laboratory that operated illegally in Reedley, are proposing a new city ordinance to ensure public notice of any new labs seeking to locate in the city.

Councilmembers Miguel Arias and Garry Bredefeld told The Bee on Thursday that they, along with council colleague Nelson Esparza, crafted the Infectious Disease Lab Accountability and Transparency Ordinance for initial consideration by the rest of the City Council at its Aug. 24 meeting.

If it wins preliminary approval, a final vote would happen at the councils next meeting, now scheduled for Sept. 14. It would take effect a month after that final approval, unless it is vetoed by Mayor Jerry Dyer.

The idea for the ordinance was spawned by the discovery in December that Universal Meditech Inc. and Prestige Biotech Inc., both companies controlled by owners living in China, operating illegally in a warehouse in downtown Reedley.

Bredefeld and Arias have been critical of the Fresno County Department of Public Health and Board of Supervisors, accusing them of not being forthcoming about the labs existence when the health department became aware of it late last year. The information got out when a local Reedley newspaper, the Mid Valley Times, broke the story about the city of Reedleys response to the illegal lab.

Universal Meditech Inc. previously operated legally for several years in Tulare before relocating to Fresno in early 2019, producing a range of medical diagnostic test kits. Those included COVID-19 tests after the coronavirus pandemic flared in 2020.

After coming under scrutiny from Fresno code enforcement and fire department inspectors and county public health officials in November, the company secretly relocated its equipment and materials to a warehouse in downtown Reedley, without obtaining a required business license.

Historically speaking, (the city of Fresno has) never had a formal role in overseeing, being notified of or approving labs, Arias told The Bee. Such labs have the right, under the citys zoning and land-use laws, to operate in Fresnos industrial-use zones. They come and get a city permit like any other operation, provide a statement of what theyre going to do, and then it gets approved automatically by the citys planning department, he said.

But its the county, not the city, that has authority to grant hazardous-materials permits for labs and other facilities.

No person or entity shall operate an infectious disease laboratory within the city of Frenso without first obtaining all proper local, state and federal licensing, the proposed ordinance reads. It also requires any person or company wanting to open a lab in Fresno to first file a notice with the citys planning department before applying for a permit to operate.

The ordinance also makes it a misdemeanor, with penalties of $1,000 fines and up to a year in jail, for labs that are found by the citys code enforcement inspectors to be run outside of the scope of their approved operational statement.

The ordinance addresses some of the infectious agents that investigators with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control found stored in refrigerators and freezers in the Reedley warehouse, including COVID-19, rubella, hepatitis, HIV/AIDS and malaria, as well as others ranging from tuberculosis and polio to chickenpox and anthrax.

Youre not operating a candy store, Arias said of such labs. Youre operating something that has the potential to have catastrophic impact and devastation of the local community.

Bredefeld agreed. I think its clear that were living in very different times, and all government agencies have to be more alert, more sensitive to these kinds of situations, he said. We learned that labs like this, that are privately funded, dont have the oversight thats needed in todays world.

We still dont know what they were doing (in the Reedley lab) with all of those biological agents that are infectious, that are bacterial and viral in nature: measles and rubella and chlamydia and hepatitis  what were they doing with those things, Bredefeld added.

Representatives of Universal Meditech and Prestige Biotech, identified in email exchanges with the county health department, did not respond to emails from The Bee earlier this week inquiring about the nature of the companys operations in Tulare, Fresno and Reedley, including why the companies did not obtain a required business license from the city of Reedley to operate.
The Albany Police Department in Georgia has arrested an Arizona police officer on child molestation charges.

According to the release from the department, Cody Reed, 24 of Safford, Ariz., was arrested for child molestation and the electronic transmission or posting of video depicting nudity.

Reed, according to Albany police, is a corrections officer in Arizona.

The announcement was published Thursday, more than a week after Reeds arrest.

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The investigation reportedly started in June, when officers received a complaint from the grandparents of a Georgia child, alleging the child had been exchanging explicit photos with an adult male.

According to police, that man was later identified as Reed, who police said was aware of the childs age and proceeded to engage in video calls and the exchanging of photos depicting nudity.

An Internet Crimes Against Children investigator collected evidence across multiple social media platforms and took out arrest warrants.

The International Business Times, and local newspaper the Gila Herald, reported Reed was an officer at the Arizona State Prison Complex. IBT also reported Reed was awaiting extradition to Georgia as of Aug. 14.

On Aug. 8, Reed was arrested and booked at the Graham County Detention Facility in Arizona.

Channel 2 Action News has reached out to the Arizona Department of Corrections to verify if Reed is, or was, an employee of the AZADC.

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Arizonas criminal probe into the 2020 fake electors plot is heating up and investigators are now asking plenty of questions about a key Donald Trump ally involved in it: former state GOP chair Kelli Ward.

The Arizona probe has been accelerating in the past several weeks, two sources familiar with the matter tell Rolling Stone, with prosecutors gathering evidence and speaking with individuals with knowledge of how the fake electors scheme was carried out in the state. The fake electors plot was a core component of the then-president and his aligned lawyers plans to overturn his 2020 election defeat and stop the legitimate transfer of power to his Democratic successor Joe Biden.

The sources add that Ward  once one of the states most prominent Republicans  and her potential contacts and private activities following Election Day 2020 have been of particular interest to investigators as of late. One of these sources describes Arizona investigators as moving aggressively on this stage of the inquiry into the states pro-Trump fake electors, which included Ward, a Trump hardliner and then-chair of the Arizona Republican Party.

Ward did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ward, her husband, Michael, and nine other Arizona Republicans signed a document falsely attesting that they were the states legitimate electors casting Arizonas Electoral College votes for Trump.

According to the January 6 Committee report, Ward was unusually active in her advocacy for President Trump after the election. She spoke with the former president and participated in a Trump-backed pressure campaign to get the state to stop counting votes and delay certification of the tally showing Bidens victory.

After Arizona certified its vote tally, Ward, her husband Michael, and 9 other Republicans in the state convened to falsely represent themselves as Arizonas legitimate slate of electors during a signing ceremony recorded and shared on social media.

In an email from Trumpaligned attorney Kenneth Chesebro to colleagues on the Trump team, the attorney relayed concerns from Ward and Republican state senator Kathy Townsend about the legality of the ploy.

Ward and Townsend are concerned it could appear treasonous for the AZ electors to vote on Monday if there is no pending court proceeding that might, eventually, lead to the electors being ratified as the legitimate ones, Chesebro wrote in an email obtained by The New York Times.

Investigators have started asking questions about any potential contacts between false electors such as Ward, then-President Trump, and other out-of-state officials and lawyers working on his behalf to steal the election, one of the sources tells Rolling Stone. In recent discussions with possible witnesses and others, some investigators have asked or requested information related to a video  tweeted by the Arizona GOP in December 2020  where Ward and other Trump allies sign documents falsely claiming to be the states legitimate electors.

They actually have themselves on video doing it, says one of the people familiar with the stage of the investigation. It is as if Ward and everyone else were thinking: How do we make this a walk in the park for [the prosecutors]?

A spokesperson for the Arizona attorney generals office declined to comment and referred Rolling Stone to public comments made by Attorney General Kris Mayes on Wednesday following the Trump indictment in Fulton County, Georgia.

We are investigating the fake electors situation. I understand why folks want to know what is happening in our investigation. That is a natural desire given what just happened in Georgia and in Michigan, Mayes said. But we are doing a thorough and professional investigation and were going to do it on our timetable as justice demands.

Ward has already drawn the attention of the federal special counsels office related to a 2020 lawsuit alleging misconduct by election officials and a mass of illegal votes. In May, prosecutors from the special counsel subpoenaed the Arizona secretary of states office asking for records related to both Wards suit and a suit from the Trump campaign alleging that election machines in the state had erroneously rejected ballots from voters. Arizona courts ultimately tossed both suits.

In July, former Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers also told CNN that he was interviewed by FBI agents as part of the special counsels investigation into the 2020 election. Trump and senior advisers pressured Bowers to decertify the state electors for Biden, a move Bowers refused.

Reached on Friday, Bowers declined to answer questions. I am under counsel to not discuss anything at this time, so I must  [decline to comment], he tells Rolling Stone.

Before Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to investigate the attempt to overturn the election, both Ward and her husband received subpoenas to testify before a federal grand jury investigating the fake electors scheme in the state.

Ward also fought an unsuccessful legal battle to shield her phone records from the January 6 Committee. The committee questioned Ward under subpoena but she invoked the Fifth Amendment and declined to answer.

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AP African American Studies will be taught after all at the six schools in Arkansas that planned to offer it until state officials said last week students taking the course wouldnt earn high school credit for it and raised concerns about whether its a form of indoctrination.

The schools were set to teach the course, banned in Florida earlier this year, as part of the second year of College Boards pilot testing of AP African American Studies, a college-level class that covers themes ranging from early African empires and the transatlantic slave trade to reconstruction and Black power and pride. But the state's decision threw the College Board's plans into question, coming just as schools were starting the new year.

District leaders believe that the AP African American Studies course will be a valuable addition to the districts curriculum and will help our young people understand and appreciate the rich diversity of our society, said Jeremy Owoh, the superintendent of the Jacksonville North Pulaski School District. The districts only high school, Jacksonville High, will offer the class as an elective, he said.

Owoh also said students enrolled in the class will earn an elective credit and will be able to take the AP exam at the end of the year. Students can earn college credit based on their scores, and about 200 colleges already have said they will offer credit for AP African American History, according to the College Board. Arkansas has typically picked up the tab for AP exams, which cost about $100 per student, but the state has said it will not pay for students to take the AP African American Studies test.

About 35 Jacksonville High students are set to take the class, the school district said.

The course will be taught by our highly qualified instructor who is passionate about the subject and is excited about the scholars interest in the subject matter, Owoh said.

'Indoctrination' Arkansas says AP African American Studies students can't earn credit

Arkansas at center of integration of US public schools

Central High School in the Little Rock School District also will offer the course as planned, the district said. The school was among the first in the nation to integrate in 1957.

AP African American Studies will allow students to explore the complexities, contributions, and narratives that have shaped the African American experience throughout history, including Central High Schools integral connection, the school districts message about its decision said. It will cover the cost of students exams.

In the North Little Rock School District, the course also will be offered as an elective at two high schools, North Little Rock High School and the North Little Rock Center of Excellence, said Dustin Barnes, the districts communications coordinator. The district is still weighing how to pay for students to take the AP test associated with the class.

AP African American Studies will also be available at three other schools planning to take the course, local media have reported.

Although the full impact of our states intentions is vague, reads a letter from school officials at eStem Public Charter Schools, shared by the Arkansas Times, our intentions are clear. We intend to offer AP African American Studies at eHS.

College Board: Slavery was not beneficial to African Americans

AP African American Studies under fire in other red states

Arkansas began looking into the College Board course months ago, following executive orders from Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders. One of those orders, signed on her first day in office, bans indoctrination and critical race theory in schools."

Two Arkansas high schools offered the course last year. After Florida banned the course, officials in Arkansas and three other Republican-led states, including Virginia, said they also would review its curriculum to ensure it complied with policy. And soon after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis denounced the course in January, the College Board removed or made optional topics such as intersectionality and the Black Lives Matter movement.

The College Board later apologized and said in April it would further review the contents of the course. It has said it is committed to providing an unflinching encounter with the facts and evidence of African American history and culture.

Other states led largely by Democratic governors have embraced the course. Some 800 high schools across the country and about 16,000 students are a part of pilot testing, which is about twice as many as originally planned thanks to a surge in demand for the course in recent months.

The six Arkansas schools decisions havent changed the states mind, however.

Until its determined whether it violates state law and teaches or trains teachers in (Critical Race Theory) and indoctrination, the state will not move forward, Arkansas Department of Education spokesperson Kimberly Mundell said. The department encourages the teaching of all American history and supports rigorous courses not based on opinions or indoctrination.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Arkansas schools will teach AP African American Studies
[Source]

Asian American and African American teenagers from San Franciscos Bay Area have embarked on a multi-state Unity Trip to break cultural barriers and form new friendships.

What they did: A total of 10 teens  five Asian Americans and five African Americans  joined the 26-day journey across 10 cities last month. Making stops at relevant historical sites, they learned about the struggles and sacrifices their communities have gone through, finding common ground in the process.

Among the trips destinations was the Hampton House in Chicago, the childhood home of African American activist Fred Hampton. Hampton, a leader of the Black Panther Party, was shot and killed with fellow leader Mark Clark in December 1969 during a police raid.

The trip also included the Tenement Museum in New York, where they learned about the Wong Family. Its matriarch, Mrs. Wong, is known for her hard work and contribution to the local garment industry.

More from NextShark: Son of fatal Fremont hit-and-run victim pleads for information leading to driver

Whos behind it: The Unity Trip, funded through private donations, is a project of RAMS Inc., a mental health nonprofit that advocates for and provides community-based, culturally competent and consumer-guided comprehensive services. President and CEO Jayvon Muhammad started the trips in 2013, but they were limited to Black students.

As COVID-19 raised tensions between the communities  due to the surge in anti-Asian attacks and lingering anti-Black sentiment  Muhammad saw the need to include Asian students. Considering all thats going on in our climate, especially when we think about the Black and Chinese relationship, we need to put them together, she told NBC Bay Area.

More from NextShark: Man Arrested for Physically, Sexually Assaulting Asian Woman in San Jose

Whats next: Organizers plan to hold more Unity Trips in the future. Previous participants attest to the journeys impact on their life views.

I never really had friends who were Asian or Chinese, Malajzia Glenn, 18, who joined last years trip, told the San Francisco Chronicle. It was the first time I had deep conversations with Asian Americans, and it made me look at that culture differently.
BERLIN (Reuters) -Former Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz has been charged with giving false testimony before parliament, the Austrian prosecutor's office for economic crimes and corruption said on Friday.

The conservative politician and his former chief of staff, Bernhard Bonelli, are accused of giving false testimony before the Ibiza committee of inquiry in the Austrian parliament "regarding the alleged corruptibility of his government," the office said in a statement.

Commenting before the indictment was announced, Kurz denied the accusations, saying on social media platform X: "We look forward to the truth finally coming to light and the accusations turning out to be groundless."

His trial will begin on Oct. 18 and if found guilty, Kurz - former leader of the conservative People's Party - could face up to three years in prison, a Vienna court said in a statement.

The case centres on the question of whether Kurz answered truthfully in parliamentary committee hearings in 2020 and 2021 when asked about appointments to state holding company OBAG.

Kurz left office in 2021 after prosecutors placed him and nine others under investigation on suspicion of breach of trust, corruption and bribery with various levels of involvement.

In 2019, Kurz's vice chancellor, former far-right leader Heinz-Christian Strache, quit over a video of him in Ibiza with a woman posing as a Russian oligarch's niece, apparently offering to fix state contracts and explaining how to dodge party financing laws.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer weighed in on the case on Friday ahead of the indictment's release, saying, "If this is the case, then we finally have the opportunity ... to strive for and achieve clarification."

Since leaving office, Kurz has been working as a global strategist for tech investor Thiel Capital.

(Writing by Friederike Heine;Editing by Miranda Murray and Conor Humphries)
Nine current or former Northern California police officers were charged Thursday in a federal corruption investigation that found evidence they committed civil rights violations and fraud in an effort to get a pay raise and lied on reports to cover up use of excessive force, U.S. authorities said.

Ismail J. Ramsey, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California, filed four indictments that outlined charges including wire fraud, deprivation of rights under color of law, conspiracy against rights, and conspiracy to distribute anabolic steroids. Nine police officers and one community service officer are named in the charges, though only two are charged in multiple indictments.

The investigation centered on the departments in Antioch and Pittsburg, two cities in the San Francisco Bay Area. Only three of the officers remain employed by the departments and were not on active duty, officials said.

Arrest warrants were served Thursday in California, Texas and Hawaii, said Robert Tripp, special agent in charge of the FBIs San Francisco Field Office. One has not yet been arrested, officials said.

Tripp said the arrests were the result of a two-year investigation.

Any breach [of] the publics trust is absolutely unacceptable, Tripp said while discussing charges against Antioch officers that include using their official positions as officers to deprive people of their rights.

Charges against Morteza Amiri, Eric Allen Rombough and Devon Christopher Wenger say the three Antioch police officers conspired between February 2019 and March 2022 to injure, oppress, threaten and intimidate residents of Antioch, California, authorities said.

The indictment references racist text messages sent by the officers as well as details of times they used excessive force against suspects and later falsified reports about the encounters.

The indictment quotes a text message exchange where Amiri had shared photos with Rombough of a bicyclist bitten by his police dog after he stopped the bicyclist late at night for biking without a light. Rombough replied, yeah buddy good boy Purcy.

Defendants authored police reports containing false and misleading statements to suggest that the force they used was necessary and justifiable, the indictment said. In truth and in fact, and as the Defendants well knew, Defendants willfully used excessive force in numerous incidents, including those identified in this Indictment.

Police unions did not immediately respond to requests for information on whether the defendants have lawyers who can speak on their behalf. Emails to the Pittsburg and Antioch police departments seeking comment were not immediately returned.

Thousands of incendiary text messages by more than a dozen officers in the Antioch Police Department had previously come to light and led to a federal lawsuit. The texts contained derogatory, racist, homophobic and sexually explicit language. In some of them, the officers bragged about making up evidence and beating up suspects. They freely used racial slurs and made light of the police killing of George Floyd in 2020.

The city of Antioch, with about 115,000 residents 45 miles east of San Francisco, was once predominantly white but has diversified in the last 30 years. Federal and state prosecutors have dropped or dismissed dozens of cases that relied on the impugned officers and the city now faces a federal civil rights lawsuit over the text messages.

Brauli Rodriguez Jalapa, Ernesto Juan Mejia-Orozco and Amanda Carmella Theodosy/Nash and Antioch community service officer Samantha Genoveva Peterson were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud surrounding allegations they had other people take and and complete online university courses toward a criminal justice degree. The police departments offered reimbursement for college tuition and pay raises for those who graduate from college, prosecutors said.

Two Antioch officers, Daniel Harris and Wenger, were charged with several counts related to distributing anabolic steroids.

Another Antioch officer, Timothy Manly Williams, faces charges related to the obstruction of the federal investigation.

Today is a dark day in our citys history, as people trusted to uphold the law, allegedly breached that trust and were arrested by the FBI, Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe said in a statement. As our city absorbs this tragic news, we must come together as one. Todays actions are the beginning of the end of a long and arduous process.

Thorpe is among three Black, progressive members of the five-person council who have said they are committed to holding police accountable.

To those that have accused me and others of being anti-police for seeking to reform the Antioch Police Department, todays arrests are demonstrative of the issues that have plagued the Antioch Police Department for decades, he added.





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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
A badly decomposed body was found at the bottom of a storm drain, California police said.

At 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 17, San Diego officers were dispatched on reports of a death in Mission Valley, according to a news release by the police department.

Maintenance workers opened a storm drain on a property in an area near several businesses and found a dead body, police said.

The deceased person, who cops believe to be male, was discovered at the bottom of the drain in a small concrete area used for cleaning the drain, cops said.

The San Diego Police Homicide Unit was called because of the unusual location of the body.

The medical examiners office will determine the cause of death and identify the body, police said.

Police urge anyone with information to call 619-531-2293, according to the release.

Mission Valley is about 10 miles north of downtown San Diego.

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WORCESTER  City Manager Eric Batista is expected to recommend Worcester adopt a new state building code that calls for electrification of new construction, and he prefers that it take effect on Jan. 1, 2025. Some environmental activists feel that's too long to wait, and prefer the city adopt the code a year earlier on Jan. 1.

Tuesday's City Council agenda includes a letter signed by Batista that recommends the council consider adopting the specialized stretch code. Doing so aligns with the city's demonstrated efforts to fight climate change, the letter reads.

Batista recommended 2025 because of additional demands the specialized stretch code will put on Worcester's code enforcement officials. The city also needs to explore funding sources to meet increased administrative and enforcement expenses tied to the new code.

The code essentially requires electrification for new construction, both residential and commercial, instead of using fossil fuels for heating and other needs. In many cases, new construction that uses fossil fuels must be wired for a future switch to full electric. Plus, have on-site solar where feasible.

"Buildings contribute 65% of total carbon emissions in the city," said John Odell, the city's chief sustainability officer, in a letter to Batista that was attached to Tuesday's council agenda. "Incorporating the SSC (specialized stretch code) will not only reduce future carbon emissions associated with the operation of these new buildings, but will also reduce energy costs, improve indoor air quality (and thus human health), and increase comfort of the users and/or building occupants of those buildings."

Communities must opt-in to the code, which means a vote by a city council or select board. Meeting a state law that requires Massachusetts to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 is the driving force behind the new code.

Prior to the release of Batista's recommendation to the council, City Councilor Etel Haxhiaj used social media to call on Batista to not delay and bring the new code up for a vote. New construction will spew harmful carbon emissions that contribute to global warming if the city doesnt move on this code, states Haxhiajs online posts.

So far 18 communities have adopted the code, including Boston and Cambridge, but none in Central Massachusetts.

One Worcester activist wants vote, with no delays

Worcester resident Paul Popinchalk is a member of 350 Central Mass, an all-volunteer climate-action organization, and he opposes any delay to vote on the specialized stretch code. Including waiting until 2025 to adopt it.

It's time to do what's right for the environment, and for Popinchalk that means a vote by the City Council, sooner rather than later.

Popinchalk is a grandfather who is concerned about the world his grandchildren will inherit. He noted several disturbing climate change developments, including the warming of oceans connected to unsettling weather patterns and rising sea levels that some scientists will eventually flood the coasts.

Not to do everything that we can (to stop climate change) is a travesty and dishonor to future generations, said Popinchalk.

Worcester Chamber on board with Batista

The Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce supports the new code, and agrees with Batista that Jan. 1, 2025, is the time to adopt it.

The chamber's thinking is that many parties, including the city, real estate developers, and National Grid  Worcesters electricity supplier  need months to fully understand the code and how best to implement it.

The city needs this transitional period of at least a year to ramp up the necessary infrastructure for electrifying the building stock, said a Chamber statement on the specialized stretch code. There are several limitations to implementing the specialized code that Worcester must overcome, and changes that already must take place to catch up on implementing the stretch code.

That last reference is to the state stretch code, with its own set of energy-efficiency regulations that Worcester adopted in 2010.

Changes needed in Worcester

The Chamber believes several changes must happen before Worcester is ready for both the stretch and specialized stretch codes. They include ramping up training for building and fire department inspectors to enforce the codes; contractors need time to adjust to ordering and installing new energy-efficient materials like heat pumps; and property owners must first understand the costs and incentives available to defray expenses.

Some developers previously told the Telegram and Gazette that upfront electrification costs must result in cost savings on the back end to make it work.

The state Department of Energy Resources said there will be significant cuts in emissions and considerable cost savings for developers:

The prior stretch and specialized stretch codes will cut 500,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, along with $21 billion in operations and construction cost savings over the life of the buildings.

Mass Save rebates and federal tax credits for different building sizes will more than cover added costs for all electric buildings. The Department of Energy Resources estimates approximately $600 million in Mass Save incentives for new construction over the next decade. That amount includes projects that fall under the state's base energy code and in communities that adopted the stretch code and the specialized stretch code.

What about Worcester's aging power grid?

This is an issue raised by the Chamber and others who keep a close eye on the city's power needs. They want to know if the grid can handle the increased demand for electricity that the new code will place on it. The Chamber noted more time is needed for the city and National Grid to work on that aspect.

Meanwhile, David Sullivan, the Chamber's director of economic development and business recruitment, believes that jumping the gun on the specialized stretch code could result in unintended negative consequences.

He cited a recent report by MIT, Wentworth Institute of Technology and the Home Builders & Remodelers Association of Massachusetts that concluded the code will increase housing construction costs by 1.8% to 3.8%. Those costs could be passed on to first-time homebuyers and low-income renters who can least afford them.

Contact Henry Schwan at henry.schwan@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter: @henrytelegram.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Worcester City Manager Eric Batista electrification building code
As the wildfires continue on the Hawaiian island of Maui, many people and companies are lending resources to those affected by the fires.

Ty Warner, the creator of the Beanie Baby and founder of Ty Inc, announced on Aug. 17 that they are releasing a special bear named Aloha with all profits to be donated to the American Red Cross to help people affected by the Hawaii wildfires.

Aloha has a rainbow ribbon and a chest inscription that reads, Maui Strong.

All profits from the limited-edition Beanie Baby will be donated to the American Red Cross to help people affected by the Hawaii wildfires. (Ty Inc.)

Loss can strike at any time. The speed and savagery of the Maui wildfires are an especially horrific, heartbreaking reminder of that, Warner said in a press release. While I cant undo what has happened, I can try to help those who are suffering in the aftermath.

Right now, thousands of Hawaiians lack food, clothing, shelter and other necessities as they attempt to cope with last weeks fires, he added. My hope in partnering with the American Red Cross is that I can help ease their burden.

Warner described Aloha as a gold-colored plush that offers a symbol of love and hope to Hawaiians.

Just like all Beanie Babies, Aloha has a birthday (Aug. 8) and a poem that reads: Helping each other all day long / We forever will stay Maui strong.

Warner and Beanie Babies have been in headlines recently as the hand-held stuffed plushies are celebrating their 30th anniversary. The creator and toys were also the subject of The Beanie Bubble film, a fictionalized version of Warner's rags to riches story  and the three women that helped him become a billionaire. Zach Galifinakis stars as Warner.

Meanwhile, the Country of Maui shared on Aug. 15 that at this time the death roll rose to 106 people. This is now the deadliest wildfire in modern U.S. history.

We offer our deepest condolences to the families who are beginning to receive notifications about their loved ones, Mayor Richard Bissen said in the release. As a community, we offer our prayers of comfort in this most difficult time.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
Tibetan artist Bama Zhaxi addresses the opening ceremony of an exhibition of his latest paintings at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing, Aug. 18, 2023. [Photo by Zhou Jing/China.org.cn]



An exhibition showcasing paintings by the Tibetan artist Bama Zhaxi opened at the National Art Museum of China on Friday in Beijing. More than 40 artworks in the exhibition were created by the artist over the past several years and are on display for the first time in the city.



Bama Zhaxi is known for his innovative artworks that integrate ink painting colors and techniques with traditional Tibetan painting styles. His paintings have been exhibited in many countries around the world, including Germany, Singapore, the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Canada, Japan and Australia.

The exhibition will run until Aug. 30.
This is part of Airplane Mode, a series on the businessand pleasureof travel right now.

On a hot June day, I was trapped on a packed shuttle busso packed that my nose was brushing the armpit of the man next to me. I was visiting Zion National Park in Utah. The owner of the armpit was a New York City schoolteacher, there with three friends as part of a bachelor party. They were headed to Las Vegas nextif we ever managed to get off the shuttle bus.

We were stuck because a van had slipped from Zion Canyon Scenic Drive and was hanging halfway off a ledge over a river. No one was hurt, but we had to wait for the van to be towed before we could move on and be dispelled at a shuttle stop to swarm around the park. Even when traffic is not being stopped because of a freak incident, to visit Zion is to often be jam-packed next to other people. It was the third most popular national park that year: 2017. To add to the chaos, I was there the week before July Fourth.

Sometimes you just cant avoid crowds if you want to see what everyone else wants to see. The National Park System reported nearly 312 million visits last year, with 26 percent of visits concentrated at the eight most-visited parks. During the pandemic, some parks were so popular that the National Park Service required visitors to make reservations just to get inside. Glacier and Rocky Mountain National Parks continue to require advanced bookings between May and October, and if you want to take a drive up Cadillac Summit Road in Acadia or brave Angels Landing in Zion, you may need a permit.

I get why people flock to these parks: vistas, nature, splendor ahoy! And we spend a lot to see them. National parks generated $42.5 billion in 2021, according to the National Park Service. That figure includes $20.5 billion of visitor spending in communities within 60 miles of a park, on everything from hotel rooms to groceries to keychains to national parkinspired beers brewed right outside park gates.

Technically, these numbers come from a panoply of parks. There are what I call the capital-N, capital-P National Parks, which encompass large land or water areas and have been elevated to National Park status by Congress. There are 63 of these, including the ones you probably think of right off the batYellowstone, Grand Teton, Grand Canyon, Yosemiteand some gems you might not be as familiar with, such as Indiana Dunes National Park along Lake Michigan, Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio, and even St. Louis Gateway Arch.*

But if you want to truly avoid crowds, you will most likely find the same kinds of vistas, nature, splendor, and awe within the other 363 parks that the National Park Service oversees. These include lakeshores, battlefields, memorials, parkways, and monuments, and visiting enables you to experience America while also keeping your nose out of a strangers armpit.

Theres an easy way to find these lesser-known destinations: the Passport to Your National Parks, a $12.95 spiral-bound booklet first created in 1986. It lists all sites overseen by the National Park Service, and upon next printing will include the newest: the Baaj Nwaavjo Itah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument, designated as such by President Joe Biden on Aug. 8. Every time you visit a park, you stamp your book, with each stamp including the name of the park, its location, the date, and sometimes specifics like which section of the park you visited. This is different from the America the Beautiful entrance pass, which grants you access into the parks that do charge a fee for a yearthough most of the 426 national park units are free.

These other kinds of parks arent necessarily lesser or even smaller. The new monument is nearly 1 million acres. (And some of them can still get crowded: the busiest national park unit Ive been to this year wasnt a capital-N, capital-P National Park, but Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming.) It takes an act of Congress to upgrade something to a national park, a designation that is almost always given to a park already run by the National Park Service. But presidents can designate national monuments on their own, on already owned federal ground, that might not get bipartisan approval. One reason behind Biden creating the Baaj Nwaavjo Itah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument was to protect that land from uranium mining, and as you can imagine, some Republicans are pissed.

In July, Biden also designated a national monument for Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley, because the National Park Service also caretakes land connected to the worst parts of the countrys history. My passport has also led me to the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site in Colorado; the Fort Smith National Historic Site in Arkansas, which is part of the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail; and Manzanar National Historic Site in California, where more than 10,000 Japanese people and Japanese American citizens were incarcerated during World War II. These sites are not easy visits, but they are an important piece of Americas past, and just as important asor even more important thanwatching Old Faithful spout off at Yellowstone.

I bought my Passport to Your National Parks in 2017, on the first day of the monthslong cross-country road trip that included that Zion trip where I became well acquainted with a strangers armpit. Being a stamp-seeker has changed the way I see the U.S., and led me to some less crowded spaces, even when traveling in peak summer. As of last week, Ive now been to 221 sites, most collected on cross-country road trips, including the 29 I saw in July when I drove from New Jersey to California and back again. And yes, the stamps I collected on my last trip included some capital-N, capital-P National Parks: In that month, I kayaked through caves at Channel Islands National Park in California, walked among fields of fossilized wood at Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, hiked up Lehman Creek Trail to be greeted by deer, turkeys, and a rattlesnake in Great Basin National Park, and stayed FAR AWAY from the bison at Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota.* (Another important travel tip: Bison can and will gore you.)

But I also walked my dog along the Jacks Fork River at the Ozark National Scenic Riverways in Missouri, watched shore crabs scuttle along the tidepools at Cabrillo National Monument in San Diego, and learned about fur trading (and saw a few prairie dogs) at the Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site in North Dakota.

Near the end of my road trip, after Id hiked Effigy Mounds National Monument in Iowa with my dogand got my passport stampI stopped at a gas station to fuel back up for the rest of the drive home.

Why would someone from New Jersey want to visit Iowa? a woman yelled at me as I waited for my tank to fill.

Because theres something neat to see in every state! I said.

You can get a list of all these sites online, and the National Park Service has an app. But my passport has become a tangible, running diary of my adventures. When someone asks me for my favorite national park, Ill say Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico, where I camped under the stars next to two teens who were arguing about a fake ID being swiped within the first few days of their trip; or Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan, where I stood on the lip of a 200-foot-high sandstone cliff overlooking Lake Superior, without any warning signs or guardrails or gaggles of people to interrupt my thoughts of This is neat! or get in the background of the selfie I took. (I am still a tourist, even if no ones around.) I wouldnt have known these places existed, or had those experiences, without my little blue passport. Its a reminder of all Ive visitedand how much I still have left to see.
[Source]

"Beef creator and showrunner Lee Sung-jin recently shared hints about a potential second season and beyond for his hit series.

Solid first season: "Beef," which debuted on Netflix on April 6, has been applauded for its unique portrayal of anger and conflict. Comprised of 10 gripping episodes, the series follows an intense feud ignited by a road rage incident involving Danny (Steven Yeun) and Amy (Ali Wong). Critics and audience members have praised the show for its strong narrative and interesting characters.

The beef continues: Lee disclosed in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter that while Beef was originally planned to be an anthology, he is not opposed to the possible return of Season 1's beloved characters in future seasons.

"We initially pitched the show as an anthology series where every season is a new beef with new characters, the Emmy-nominated filmmaker shared. At the same time, I really love Danny and Amy and the world we created. So, Im really open to it all."

More from NextShark: Simu Liu calls out HuffPost for suggesting 'tokenism' landed him 'Ken' role in 'Barbie'

Undiminished passion: Lee also revealed that his commitment to the show took a personal toll, leading to a period of adjustment after its release. However, his passion for the project remains undiminished.

"I really want to keep working with this crew that Ive really fallen in love with," he shared.

Already mapped out: In an earlier conversation with Rolling Stone, Lee divulged that he already knows how he could potentially keep Danny and Amys story going.

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I have one really big general idea that I can't really say yet, but I have three seasons mapped out in my head currently," he was quoted as saying.

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SEVENTEEN subunit BSS drop first single album Second Wind'
Belarus would use nuclear weapons in the event of aggression, Lukashenko says

Belarus would be willing to use the nuclear weapons given by close ally Russia in the face of foreign aggression, President Alexander Lukashenko said Thursday, as tensions rise around the countrys borders with NATO nations.

Minsk has played a key role in Russias war in Ukraine, with Moscow using Belarus as one of its launch pads for the invasion in early 2022, while joint Russia-Belarus military drills over the past year have fueled concerns Belarusian troops could join Russian forces in the conflict.

In June, Russian nuclear warheads were reportedly delivered to Belarus for deterrence, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In an interview with state news agency Belta, Lukashenko claimed Belarus would never get involved in this war unless Ukrainians crossed its border. But he added: We will keep helping Russia, they are our ally.

He also warned that if provoked  especially by neighboring NATO countries like Poland, Lithuania and Latvia  Belarus would immediately respond with everything we have, including nuclear weapons.

Its not clear how much of Russias nuclear arsenal was transported to Belarus recently, and US and Western officials have not publicly confirmed that any weapons have been transferred  though senior officials from the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) said they had no reason to doubt Putins claim.

During the interview, Lukashenko said if Belarus were to come under attack, we will not tarry, wait, and the rest. We will use the entire arsenal of our weapons for deterrence.

We didnt bring nuclear weapons here in order to scare someone, he added. Yes, nuclear weapons represent a strong deterring factor. But these are tactical nuclear weapons, not strategic ones. This is why we will use them immediately once aggression is launched against us.

The senior DIA officials said in July they do not believe Lukashenko would have any control over the arsenal, which would most likely be entirely controlled by Russia.

Regional tensions

Lukashenkos latest comments come as the security landscape in Europe becomes increasingly volatile, with Belarus northern neighbors on edge over the presence of Russian mercenary group Wagner  which is stationed in Belarus in the wake of its short-lived rebellion in Russia earlier this summer.

In recent weeks, there have been reports of Wagner troops moving toward a thin strip of land between Poland and Lithuania, in an apparent attempt to increase pressure on NATO and European Union members.

Citing concerns over Wagner, Poland recently announced it would move around 10,000 troops to its border with Belarus, and detained two Russians accused of spying and spreading propaganda for the Russian mercenary group.

Lithuania said Wednesday it would temporarily suspend operations at two of its six border checkpoints with Belarus due to concerns about Wagner forces, with the interior minister citing emerging threats to national security and possible provocations at the border.

In response, Belarus slammed Lithuania for taking an unconstructive and unfriendly step, calling its Wagner reasoning far-fetched.

During the Thursday interview, Lukashenko denied that Putin may have been weakened by the failed Wagner mutiny, calling such claims total nonsense.

Putin is now more mobilized, more cunning, and wiser. Our adversaries need to know it, Lukashenko said, adding: Nobody will overthrow Putin today.

He also reiterated that it had been his idea to deploy Wagner fighters in Belarus. In order to quell this mutiny, to put out this fire, it was necessary to accept any conditions because the mutiny could have been devastating to everyone, he said.

War in Ukraine

Lukashenko also weighed in on the ongoing war on Thursday, warning that Moscow would never give up the Crimean territory it illegally annexed from Ukraine more than seven years ago.

While Russia is open to negotiations on Ukraine, it will never ever return Crimea, he said, according to Belta.

It wont happen. I doubt for now that some agreement can be reached here, in the east. But Russia is ready to discuss any topic. I know it for sure, Lukashenko said.

However, he claimed that Ukrainians are pushed by Americans and dont want to negotiate at the moment, adding that talks have to start without preliminary conditions. Any peace talks on Ukraine should include Belarus, as we have our interests there, and our position should be heard, he added.

Crimea was forcibly seized by Russia in 2014  soon after Ukrainian protesters helped topple pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych  when thousands of Russian special-operations troops wearing unmarked uniforms deployed around the peninsula.

Two weeks later, Russia completed its annexation of Crimea in a referendum, castigated by Ukraine and most of the world as illegitimate, and at the time considered the biggest land-grab in Europe since World War II.

Since annexation, human rights observers have described Crimeas descent into a police state, with local authorities and Russian security services persecuting and arresting those perceived to be loyal to Ukraine, including members of the Crimean Tatar community.

A 2020 US State Deparment report described a pattern of human rights abuses in Crimea by Russia or Russia-led authorities, including unlawful or arbitrary killings and forced disappearances.

The occupied territory has since become a key part of the war in Ukraine, with the Crimean bridge  linking the peninsula to mainland Russia  a vital supply link for Russian forces, and a target for Ukraines counteroffensive.

Formerly under Soviet control until declaring its sovereignty in 1990, Belarus is also an autocratic state which has been effectively run by Lukashenko since independence.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
This week, Chinas defense minister touts Beijing and Minsks continuously strengthening relations during a controversial visit to Russia and Belarus.

Meanwhile, the U.S. and Canada expand their sanctions against Belarus to mark the third year anniversary of the fraudulent 2020 Belarusian presidential election.

A fire breaks out at one of Belarus largest oil refineries just days after Ukraine warned that Russia would stage a false flag attack at the site.

British intelligence suggests that Belarusian authorities are likely funding the Wagner Group as relations between Moscow and the groups founder continue to sour.

Belarusian authorities shut down two opposition parties amid Minsks ongoing crackdown on those who oppose Lukashenkos regime ahead of the 2024 parliamentary elections.

Poland continues to beef up its security due to destabilizing actions by its eastern neighbor, sending 10,000 troops to the border with Belarus.

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Belarus Weekly

Chinas defense minister arrives in Belarus to discuss military cooperation

Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu arrived in Minsk on Aug. 16 for the second half of his six-day visit to Russia and Belarus, Belarusian state media reported.

Li, whose official visit to Belarus will last from Aug. 16-19, is set to discuss bilateral military cooperation in areas of mutual interest with Belarusian state and military leaders.

He will also visit Belarusian military facilities.

In recent years, under the leadership of Alexander Lukashenko and Xi Jinping, the relations between Belarus and China have been continuously strengthening, steadily developing, and moving forward, Li told his Belarusian counterpart Viktor Khrenin, as quoted by Belarusian state media.

Last year we received a new status of our relations  it is an all-weather and comprehensive strategic partnership. This shows that now we have truly fraternal relations, he continued.

China's Defense Minister Li Shangfu makes a speech during the Moscow Conference on International Security in Kubinka, Russia, on Aug. 15, 2023. (Photo by ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP via Getty Images)

Li reportedly said China is Belarus second-biggest partner in terms of bilateral trade, adding that mutual trade grew more than 30% last year.

Li began his journey in Moscow on Aug. 14, where he attended the Moscow Conference on International Security, during which senior defense officials from over 20 friendly states, including Belarus, Iran, and Myanmar, discussed military cooperation.

According to Russias Foreign Ministry, Li met with members of Russias Defense Department to discuss ways to restore constructive international cooperation in the context of aggressive claims by Euro-Atlantic elites for world domination.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Moscow and Beijing will continue to advance the China-Russia comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in the new era, referencing their no-limits friendship agreement.

His visit to Russia and Belarus comes amid growing Western attempts to isolate the two aggressors over their role in the full-scale war against Ukraine.

It also coincides with increased calls by Poland and the Baltic states to boost security at their borders with Belarus, citing the presence of Wagner mercenaries, scarily close military drills, and the Minsk-engineered migrant crisis.

Despite international condemnation of Russias full-scale war against Ukraine, as well as self-declared neutrality on the subject, China and Russia have strengthened military ties, conducting joint patrols and military exercises.

US, Canada expand Belarus sanctions on fraudulent election anniversary

The U.S. and Canada expanded their sanctions against Belarus on Aug. 9 to mark the third-year anniversary of the fraudulent 2020 Belarusian presidential election, which tightened Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenkos grip on the country.

The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned eight Belarusian individuals and five entities complicit in supporting the regimes civil society repression, Russias full-scale war against Ukraine, and Lukashenkos personal enrichment.

In line with our partners and Allies, we will continue to ensure that the regime pays the price for its abysmal treatment of its own citizens and that our measures in response to Russias aggression cannot be circumvented through Belarus, the Treasury Departments Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said.

Read also: Putin cracks down on pro-war opposition as all-out war falters

Among the sanctioned entities are three state-owned enterprises, including Belarus flagship airline (Belavia Belarusian Airlines), one of the countrys biggest aircraft component manufacturers (Minsk Civil Aviation Plant 407), and a steel products manufacturer (Byelorussian Steel Works Management Company, or BSW).

The sanctions also targeted BSW General Director Dzmitryi Korchyk, BEL-KAP-STEEL LLC (a small Florida-based firm joint venture with BSW), Belarus Department of Financial Investigations, and four of the agencys officials.

Personal sanctions targeted the family of tobacco mogul Aliaksei Aleksin, broadly known as one of Lukashenkos wallets, or sponsors of his regime.

Concurrently, the U.S. State Department imposed restrictions on 101 regime officials and their affiliates for their involvement in undermining or suppressing democratic institutions in Belarus.

Meanwhile, Canadian sanctions targeted nine individuals and seven entities for the gross and systemic violations of human rights occurring in Belarus.

Among those sanctioned are Belarusian government officials, judges, and associates of the regime, including the head of Belarusian state TV, Ivan Eismant, as well as military manufacturing and technology companies.

Fire erupts at Belarusian oil refinery after Ukraine warns of Russian provocation

A fire broke out at the Mazyr Oil Refinery in southeastern Belarus on Aug. 10, just days after Ukraine warned that Russia would stage a false flag attack at the site.

According to Belarus Emergency Situations Ministry, the refinerys gasoline unit caught fire. No casualties were reported, and the ministry said it is investigating the cause of the fire.

Meanwhile, Ukraines Security Service (SBU) accused Russia on Aug. 4 of preparing to stage a false flag operation at the refinery to draw Minsk into the full-scale war by blaming Kyiv for the attack.

The fire that broke out at a gasoline production unit of the Mazyr oil refinery in Belarus on Aug. 10, 2023. (Belarus' Ministry of Emergency Situations/Telegram)

The SBU said the attack would be carried out by military and intelligence forces sent by Moscow to Belarus disguised as Wagner Group mercenaries who were exiled after their short-lived mutiny in June.

The SBU reportedly obtained the information from several sources, including a Russian soldier captured in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, who was told to relocate from fighting in Ukraines south to Belarus as a fake Wagner mercenary.

Belarus is a co-belligerent in and supporter of Russias full-scale war against Ukraine, having served as a launching pad for Russian attacks and facilitated the movement of Russian troops. However, Minsk has yet to directly deploy its own troops to Ukraine.

UK Defense Ministry: Belarusian authorities likely Wagner Group paymasters

Belarusian authorities are likely funding the Wagner Group amid the realistic possibility that the Kremlin no longer funds the group, the U.K. Defense Ministry said in its Aug. 13 update.

According to the ministry, the Wagner Group is likely moving toward a down-sizing and reconfiguration process, largely to save on staff salary expenses at a time of financial pressure.

Following the groups armed mutiny in June, the Kremlin has reportedly acted against Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhins business interests, meaning Belarusian authorities are the groups second most plausible paymasters, according to the ministry.

A Belarusian soldier walks through a newly-built camp on a site previously used by the Belarusian army that could potentially accommodate up to 5,000 Wagner troops, on July 7, 2023, 90 kilometers southeast of Minsk, near Tsel, Asipovichy District, Belarus. (Getty Images)

Thousands of Wagner fighters were redeployed to Belarus at Minsks invitation following the mercenary groups short-lived rebellion in Russia.

Minsk claimed that the mercenaries are training the Belarusian military with exercises taking place in the westernmost Brest Oblast close to the Polish border.

The U.K. Defense Ministry noted that, while it is likely that Belarus is currently footing the bill, the sizable force would be a significant and potentially unwelcome drain on modest Belarusian resources.

Andrii Cherniak, a representative of Ukraines Main Intelligence Directorate, said on Aug. 15 that there are likely 6,400 Wagner mercenaries currently in Belarus.

Supreme Court shuts down 2 Belarusian opposition parties

Belarusian authorities shut down two Belarusian opposition parties amid Minsks ongoing crackdown on those who oppose Lukashenkos illegitimate regime ahead of the 2024 parliamentary elections.

Belarus Supreme Court dissolved the countrys longest-standing opposition party, Belarusian Popular Front party (BPF), on Aug. 14.

BPF was founded in 1993 but dates back to 1989 when the political movement advocated for democratic changes and Belarus independence. The partys leader, Ryhor Kastusiou, was detained in 2021 for politically motivated charges.

Belarus Supreme Court also dissolved the United Civic Party, which was founded in 1995. The partys leader, Mikalai Kazlou, is also serving a prison sentence for politically motivated charges.

Read also: Pro-Russian sympathies make life harder for soldiers, cops in Kupiansk district

These dissolutions are part of a string of opposition party shutdowns by Belarusian authorities in 2023, including the Conservative Christian Party, Green Party, Republican Party, Social Democratic Party of Peoples Accord, and Social Democratic Society.

The Belarusian parliament passed a bill in January imposing further restrictions on political parties creation and existence.

The bill raised the minimum number of political party members from 1,000 to 5,000 and required that political party founders be born and reside in Belarus.

Political parties can also be disbanded for promoting so-called war propaganda, terrorist and extremist activities, actions that harm the state (or) public interests, and the reception of funds and other property from foreign sources.

Belarusian experts say new regulations leave zero room for opposition to Lukashenkos regime. Instead, they attempt to fabricate the existence of a democratic political system.

According to the 2022 Democracy Index, Belarus placed 153rd out of 195 countries, ranking as one of the years worst performers.

Poland builds deterrence potential at border with Belarus

Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Baszczak said Poland is continuing to beef up its troop presence at its border with Belarus amid destabilizing actions by its eastern neighbor.

Baszczak said on Aug. 10 that 10,000 Polish military personnel will be stationed at the border with Belarus, in addition to the usual border guards, to boost Polands deterrence potential.

He noted that 4,000 troops will directly support the Polish Border Guard and 6,000 will be on standby.

We move the army closer to the border with Belarus to scare away the aggressor so that it does not dare to attack us, Baszczak said.

Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak speaks at a press conference at a military camp in Jarylowka, near Poland's border with Belarus. (Photo by Attila Husejnow/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Poland, Latvia, and Lithuania, which all share borders with Belarus, have expressed growing concern over the threats presented by nearby Belarusian military drills, the Wagner Groups presence in the country, and the ongoing influx of migrants amid the Minsk-engineered migrant crisis.

The Latvian State Border Guard announced on Aug. 15 that it would increase the number of guards at the border after 96 people attempted to illegally cross into Latvia from Belarus.

There is reportedly increased involvement of Belarusian authorities in organizing the flow of illegal immigrants and information that indicates a possible increase in hybrid threats from Belarus.

Just last week, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called on NATO allies to be increasingly vigilant as the potential for provocations by Belarus remains very high.

There is no doubt that the Belarus regime is cooperating with the Kremlin and that the attacks on the Polish border are intended to destabilize the country, Baszczak concluded.

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IVANO-FRANKIVSK, Ukraine  On just the fifth day of the war, Mykhailo Yavorsky decided to pay a visit to a local military enlistment office, not to enlist in the battle against the invading Russian forces but to explain why he could not.

Please excuse me, I cannot fight, I will not shoot, Yavorsky, 40, said he told the officers last year. I can help you with something else.

Yavorsky said he wanted to support Ukraine but only in accordance with biblical principles. His pleas fell on deaf ears, however, and he was later sentenced to a year in prison, one of about a dozen Ukrainians seeking an alternative to military service as conscientious objectors who have been prosecuted for refusing to fight in the war.

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Although these cases are few  and frequently dismissed by Ukrainians as a cloak for pro-Russian sympathies or just fear  they raise questions about respect for human rights in a country that up until the full-scale invasion allowed for alternative service on religious grounds. They also shed light on the delicate line between duty and principles 18 months into a bloody war.

Yavorsky is appealing his sentence, and to date only one conscientious objector has served jail time. Some objectors have received suspended sentences, and some cases have not yet been resolved. The Ministry of Defense did not respond to questions about specific cases.

Thousands of Ukrainian men of military age have fled the country to avoid participating in the war, some wading across a river or paying smugglers to get them across the border. (In June, the State Border Guard said that up to 20 men are arrested every day for trying to leave the country illegally.) Others have worked connections or paid thousands of dollars to bribe recruitment officers to forge documents declaring them unfit for service.

The objectors insist that their public positions are not betrayals of their homeland but stem from deeply held principles and religious beliefs.

Conscientious objection to military service is an internationally recognized right, one enshrined in Ukraines Constitution. But when Russia invaded Ukraine in late February 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy instituted martial law. With that, the right to alternative service related to conscientious objection effectively evaporated.

Not only is objection a human right, said Eli McCarthy, a professor of justice and peace studies at Georgetown University, it is critical to commitments that Ukraine has made to international bodies and aspirations to join the European Union.

Yavorsky, who works in real estate, acknowledges that his family is worried, but called his legal struggles trivial in light of the suffering in Ukraine.

Im not saying that I have a very strong tragedy and I am the most unhappy person in Ukraine, he said. But there are a lot of people who do not want to serve. It is necessary to give them another opportunity to help the state.

The sacrifices of soldiers are visible everywhere in Yavorskys hometown, Ivano-Frankivsk. Billboards bearing their photos dot the highway into the city. The cemetery has a whole section for them  seven rows, each with 15 graves. One recent afternoon, a new row had been started, with a freshly dug grave awaiting its occupant.

Yavorskys office, with a bookshelf full of bibles, is a short walk from the Alley of Heroes 272 posters of fallen soldiers stretching a few blocks on a pedestrian street. He said he understands why so many of his countrymen are fighting  but that they should also understand his position.

I am not ready to kill another person for a piece of Ukraine or a piece of New Zealand or a piece of the United States, Yavorsky said. I have other values, and I want my values to be at least listened to.

And if his choice might be viewed as betrayal? I dont care what anyone thinks about me, he said. What matters to me is what God thinks.

Ukraine has remained remarkably united throughout the grinding fight for its very existence, leaving little room to express doubts, or reluctance to join the battle. Men who dodge mobilization are called cowards or traitors.

The conscientious objectors represent a tiny segment of a broader phenomenon creeping beneath the surface in Ukraine. Though rarely talked about, there is fatigue and wariness about the draft.

When Russia invaded, Zelenskyys declaration of martial law barred men ages 18-60 from leaving the country and Ukrainians poured into military recruitment centers. Eighteen months later, the pool for eager recruits has thinned, while mobilization has enlisted thousands.

Although countless Ukrainian men have taken drastic measures to dodge the draft, a subtler trend is also at play: In conversation, Ukrainians describe friends adjusting routines to avoid document checks or running into recruiters.

Despite his objection to fighting, running away was never an option for Vitaly Alekseenko, the first known objector jailed after the full-scale invasion. I love Ukraine, I love people, he said. I am a believer. Why should I hide?

Alekseenko, 46, said his case is about fundamental rights  not a measure of his patriotism. If its glory to Ukraine, then glory to free Ukraine, he said, his voice rising, so that my rights are respected, as it is written in the constitution.

He had come to Ivano-Frankivsk as a displaced person and was instructed to report to the military recruitment center. Thats where he said he requested alternative service, telling them that I was a believer, that I was not going to fight.

He expected the request would be granted  he had performed alternative service in Uzbekistan in the 1990s. Instead, he was ultimately convicted of avoiding the call-up and sent to jail.

The first week was hard, then it went by quickly, he said, describing anger at being locked in a room against your will.

Released after three months for a retrial, he now lives in a tiny, shared room off a communal kitchen on the seventh floor of an old building with no elevator. Wearing oversized flip-flops and a checkered shirt, he stopped in the stairwell to greet a neighbor one afternoon.

Not everyone has been so friendly after learning his position on the war. He described another neighbor emotionally confronting him, saying that guys are fighting, theyre protecting you.

I told her I dont need to be protected, he said, sitting cross-legged outside his building as the sounds of a nearby churchs Sunday service echoed. Killing someone else is not defense, he added. You kill somebody and its somebody elses child.

He expressed some dissatisfaction with the Ukrainian government but denied that political considerations played a role in his decision, saying it was 100% about religion.

Yet, Alekseenko does not attend church. I can pray in my mind, he said. That has led to questions about his sincerity; paperwork rejecting his alternative service request cited insufficient proof of his faith.

He animatedly cites Scripture, his finger jabbing each word into the air. Instead of answering evil with evil when it comes to Russias invasion, he said, better to sacrifice ourselves.

That, he says, is why he was willing to go to prison for his beliefs. I dont want to kill anybody, thats for sure, he said. I already know that Id rather die myself. Thats all. Im not even afraid of prison.

A serving soldier, Andrii Vyshnevetsky, cited the same biblical passages to explain his requests for military discharge to alternative service.

Unlike others interviewed for this article, Vyshnevetsky said he supports neither Russia nor Ukraine in the war  only peace. Although Russian missiles killing civilians causes pain in my soul, he said, people are dying on both sides, not only Ukrainians, but also Russians.

Vyshnevetsky wears a photo of his wife and daughter around his neck, saying he prays every day to be home with them.

Those who refuse to take weapons and do not want to fight should be exempted from military service, he said. A person who believes in God and who is against the war will not go to kill, but will be just cannon fodder.

c.2023 The New York Times Company
At least two of three Bellingham Public Schools administrators who are facing criminal charges for allegedly failing to report a students sexual assaults brought to their attention have been reinstated as assistant high school principals.

Jeremy Gilbert Louzao, Meghan V. Dunham and Maude Chimere Hackney were each criminally cited Dec. 7 in Whatcom County District Court with one count of failure to report, which is a gross misdemeanor. Gross misdemeanors are punishable by up to one year in jail and a $5,000 fine.

All three have pleaded not guilty in the case. Their jury trial is expected to start Aug. 28.

All three administrators are mandatory reporters and are required by state law to report any suspected abuse or neglect of a child to law enforcement or to the Washington State Department of Children, Youth & Families.

None of the three reported the sexual assaults on the female student, The Bellingham Herald previously reported.

At the time the criminal citations were issued, Louzao and Dunham were serving as assistant principals at Squalicum High School, while Hackney was an assistant principal at Bellingham High School.

All three were reassigned in early January to the school districts Department of Teaching and Learning. They were also included among the list of 60 administrative staff members the district recommended to the school board for employment for the 2023-24 school year.

The school board approved that list at its May 18 meeting, The Herald previously reported.

Louzao and Dunham will return to their roles as assistant principals at Squalicum High School for the upcoming school year, according to a Friday, Aug. 18 morning Squalicum High School update shared with parents, students and staff.

The update, from interim Principal Laurel Peak, stated that Louzao and Dunham returned to working at the high school this summer and will continue to do so in the upcoming school year.

Peak said Louzao, Dunham and Hackney are continuing to navigate a legal issue which surfaced in December, and said the district hopes a resolution is reached soon, according to the update.

Peaks update went on to state that the district continues to support the administrators and their actions.

Our district continues to be supportive of Jeremy and Meghan and the staff involved, as we believe they acted in good faith and did not violate any reporting obligations. Please join me in welcoming back Jeremy and Meghan and thanking staff from our District Office and community who supported Squalicum last year, the update states.

Bellingham Public Schools spokesperson Dana Smith said in a Friday afternoon email that all three administrators, including Hackney, were back working at their respective schools.

Its unclear at this time if Hackney has also been reinstated to her former position as assistant principal at Bellingham High School.

Assistant Principal Hackney staunchly continues to assert her innocence and looks forward to continuing to serve the students of Bellingham High School, Hackneys defense attorney Michael Brodsky said in an emailed statement Friday afternoon.

The Herald has asked the district for more information. The Herald has also reached out to the administrators attorneys for comment.

Squalicum High School Assistant Principals Jeremy G. Louzao, 41, left, and Meghan V. Dunham, 50, and Bellingham High School Assistant Principal Maude Chimere Hackney, 41, have been accused of failing to report sexual assaults that a student brought to their attention nearly a year ago. Each was issued a criminal citation Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022, for failure to report, a gross misdemeanor.

The former Squalicum High School female student who has accused the district of mishandling her sexual assault reports filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Dec. 7 against Bellingham Public Schools. The student, who has since withdrawn from the high school and began attending another school, accused the district in her lawsuit of violating her federal Title IX rights, failing its duty to protect and care for her and neglecting its duties to report the sexual assaults to law enforcement.

She previously sought $1 million in damages from the district before filing the federal lawsuit.

The district denied it mishandled the students reports in its January response to the lawsuit. The district said it took reasonable steps to stop the reported harassment, that the assault allegations contained in the students lawsuit were not reported to the administrators and that the conduct that was reported to them was not considered abuse or neglect under state law.

The federal lawsuit is currently pending, federal court records show.

The male student accused of sexually assaulting the female student was sentenced July 19 in Whatcom County Juvenile Court to 18-20 weeks in the custody of the state Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration. (The countys juvenile court is a division of Whatcom County Superior Court).

The boy previously pleaded guilty May 17 to amended charges of two counts of fourth-degree assault with sexual motivation. He also resolved two unrelated criminal cases at the time.

He was previously facing a charge of one count of indecent liberties by forcible compulsion for assaulting the female student in November and December 2021.

The jury trial for the administrators, originally set to begin in late July, was rescheduled at a mid-July hearing due to an attorneys medical issues and because the lead Bellingham Police Department Detective in the case  Adam (Bo) S. McGinty  is now himself the subject of an internal administrative investigation and a criminal investigation.

McGinty is alleged to have misused public funds and has been placed on a dishonest officers list, The Herald previously reported.

The internal affairs investigation has since been completed and sent to Bellingham Police Chief Rebecca Mertzig for her determinations, which include whether McGinty will face any discipline. Mertzig has not yet made her decision, according to Bellingham Police Deputy Chief Don Almer and Lt. Claudia Murphy.

The criminal investigation into McGinty is ongoing, according to Mount Vernon Police Department Lt. Mike Moore. The Mount Vernon Police Department is conducting the criminal investigation into McGinty.

The three administrators jury trial is scheduled to start Aug. 28. They have a pre-trial hearing Friday, Aug. 25.

This story will be updated.
Authorities unsealed an arrest warrant for Christopher Worrell, of East Naples, late Thursday.

Worrell, 52, was convicted of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection with his sentencing scheduled for Friday, which was canceled earlier in the week.

Christopher Worrell, under terms of house arrest, requires permission to leave his East Naples home. Here he spoke at an April 26, 2023 meeting of the Collier County Board of Commissioners, saying he is a "political prisoner." On Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023, authorities announced he is missing and have issued a warrant for his arrest. He was to be sentenced for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection on Friday.

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia officials unsealed the document, which was issued Tuesday. It did not include details related to his disappearance. The FBI acknowledged Thursday that agents were searching for him.

Court records indicate the sentencing for Worrell will be rescheduled before U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth. Andrea Aprea, spokesperson for the FBI, referred further questions to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The U.S. Attorney's Office did not respond to inquiries.

The FBI did not respond as to how long Worrell has been missing or what prompted the search. Worrell has been on house arrest in East Naples since he was released from custody November 2021 in Washington, D.C.

On Jan. 6, 2021, after President Donald Trump's reelection loss, a mob of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol Building. The mob hoped to prevent Congress from counting electoral college votes and keep then-President-elect Joe Biden from power.

A video of the attack appeared to show Worrell and others accused of storming the building, attacking police officers, breaking building windows and wreaking other damage.

Worrell had pleaded not guilty to 19 counts linked to the riot. His trial took 10 days, with the verdict delivered by Lamberth on May 12.

Lamberth found Worrell guilty of seven counts:

Obstruction of an official proceeding.

Entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon.

Disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon.

Engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon.

Act of physical violence in the U.S. Capitol grounds or buildings.

Civil disorder.

Assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon.

His girlfriend and court-appointed guardian, Trish Priller, who used to work for the Naples Daily News, couldn't immediately be reached for comment. The courts gave Priller the responsibility to watch over Worrell after his release from custody in Washington, D.C.

It's not known if she would face any penalty in relation to the disappearance.

Collier County Sheriff's Office referred questions to the FBI. The U.S. Department of Justice also did respond to requests for comment.

Authorities unsealed an arrest warrant for Christopher Worrell, of East Naples, late Thursday. Worrell, 52, was convicted of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection with his sentencing scheduled for Friday, which was canceled earlier in the week. A federal judge signed off on a warrant for his arrest, made public Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023.

The FBI has issued a warrant for violated conditions of release pending sentencing. He's one of six people wanted by federal authorities related to the mob.

Christopher Worrell among six on FBI radar for roles in the Capitol mob

Worrell's disappearance marks the six person linked to the Capitol mob on the FBI's radar. He joins:

Evan Neumann, 51, was indicted on Dec. 10, 2021, on 14 counts, including engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon; civil disorder; and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers. He was initially charged in a criminal complaint filed on March 23, 2021. A federal arrest warrant was issued for Neumann in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 10, 2021. Authorities say he fled from the U.S. on Feb. 16, 2021, and is currently believed to be in Belarus.

A federal arrest warrant was issued for Jonathan Daniel Pollock, 24, in Washington, D.C., on June 25, 2021, after he was charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers or employees; aiding and abetting; theft of government property; restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. Authorities say he's believed to be with family or friends in central and north Florida, as well as in Georgia; South Carolina; North Carolina; Tennessee; or Texas.

A federal arrest warrant was issued for Olivia Michele Pollock in Washington, D.C., on June 25, 2021, after she was charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers or employees; aiding and abetting; restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. Authorities say she's believed to be in the Asheville, North Carolina area; South Carolina; Tennessee; Texas; Alabama; Georgia; or north and central Florida.

Joseph Daniel Hutchinson III, 27, was charged on June 25, 2021, with assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers or employees; aiding and abetting; restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. He's believed to be in the Asheville, North Carolina area; South Carolina; Tennessee; Texas; Alabama; Georgia; or north and central Florida.

Adam Villarreal, 39, was allegedly at the tunnel at the west front terrace attempting to make access into the main part of the building and was met by officers who he then allegedly assaulted. He's charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon or inflicting bodily injury; civil disorder; theft of government property; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; impeding passage through the Capitol grounds or buildings; and act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings. Authorities say he has ties to California, Oregon, Washington state and Oklahoma.

Prosecutors have asked for 14 years in prison for Worrell

On Aug. 10, attorney William Shipley, who represented Worrell at trial, asked the court impose two-and-a-half years in home detention, citing medical complications Worrell has faced since he was charged in the mob.

Worrell has argued the U.S. Government and D.C. Jail systems denied access to his life-saving non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma cancer treatment, or any medications since his detention on March 12, 2021.

In response, the Department of Justice on Sunday asked U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth to sentence Worrell to 14 years years in prison; three years of supervised release; $2,000 in restitution; a fine of up to $181,000; and $610 in mandatory special assessments, which are imposed on defendants convicted of federal crimes.

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 Threads @tomasfrobeltran, Instagram @tomasfrobeltran, Facebook @tomasrodrigueznews and Twitter @TomasFRoBeltran.

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Bench warrant issued for Christopher Worrell's arrest; FBI searches
Benton County residents received a Level 2 evacuation warning Thursday evening because of a wildfire that had grown to 32 acres. Residents near the Finley area were initially put on a higher alert due to the Toothaker Fire, which started around 1:30 p.m. Thursday.

The U.S. Forest Service offers guidance on what the three evacuation levels mean:

Level 1: Initial evacuation alert

This warning is for your awareness. Be ready to start or begin preparing for Level 2. Consider what to pack in the event an evacuation is necessary, the U.S. Forest Service said.

Level 2: Evacuation warning or notice.

You should begin packing the necessary items, preparing your family, pets and car.

Necessary items can be remembered using the six Ps method:

 A plan for the people in your family (including a meeting place.)

 Personal items (including toiletries, food and water for 2-3 days and special personal possessions.)

 Prescriptions: Have your full, current supply of prescriptions packed.

 Photographs (and other mementos) which cannot be replaced.

 Pets: Have a plan in place and pets secured so frightened pets dont escape fenced yards or kennels.

 Papers: Pack all important papers, including reference phone numbers, account numbers and the like.

Level 3: Evacuation request or order

There is an immediate threat in your area. You need to leave. People will be given a specified time period or routes, according to the Forest Service.

 You should take your family, pets, and necessary items, including medications and important papers, and evacuate now if you are in a Level 3 area.

 Check in with the local Red Cross shelter (even if you dont intend to stay there) to let them know where you will be in case your family is looking for you.

 Drive with your lights on, safely and slowly and remain aware of your surroundings.
Betty Tyson, who served 25 years in prison before her exoneration for the 1973 murder of a businessman visiting Rochester, died Thursday at the age of 75.

When freed in May 1998 Ms. Tyson was the longest imprisoned woman in New York, having served 25 years. She had maintained her innocence for years, and, in prison, became a popular figure among fellow incarcerated women and prison officials at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility. Even in the face of her wrongful conviction she maintained an attitude that the playwright and author V, formerly known as Eve Ensler, described as "ebullient."

"She was a very compassionate and a very caring person," said V, who visited Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, where Ms. Tyson was imprisoned, to teach writing classes. "She had an ability to transform any situation, to turn poison into medicine, to turn pain into celebration, to find a way in any system to outsmart it and not be beaten down by it.

"Her whole story is just so unbelievable, that she was in for 25 years for a crime she didnt commit," V said of Ms. Tyson. "And she still had such an amazing spirit of love, joy, generosity. ... She was just a profoundly alive person. She loved on a different spiritual level."

Betty Tyson raises an arm is celebration as she is released from prison, surrounded by family, friends ands well-wishers in 1998.

(Ensler, the creator of "The Vagina Monologues, changed her name to V after writing a memoir of her childhood abuse by her father. She changed her name to the mononym V to separate herself from her family legacy.)

Ms. Tyson recently suffered a severe heart attack, and had been on life support for weeks at Strong Memorial Hospital.

Ms. Tyson's exoneration sparked national news, with coverage from major newspapers and television shows, including a segment on ABC's "20-20."

Within the walls of Bedford Hills, the state's lone maximum-security prison for women, Ms. Tyson was known to help newly incarcerated women discover how to survive the trials of prison.

"She was honest and kind and she cared about people who knew a lot less about how to cope and I was one of those people who knew jack about how to cope in prison." said Karen Thomas, who was imprisoned at Bedford Hills with Ms. Tyson. "I was way over my head in how to cope.

Betty Tyson holds the hands of her attorney, Jon Getz, as she heads down the back stairs of the Hall of Justice just after she was released from prison in 1998.

"She was savvy and she was kind enough to share that. I would have known a lot less about how to get by. There was something about her that I trusted her, and what she was telling me was not self-serving."

Elaine Lord, who was Bedford Hills superintendent when Ms. Tyson was freed, befriended some of the incarcerated women, including Ms. Tyson. "She was engaging and also wise," she said of Ms. Tyson.

"She had a knack for dealing with women with mental health problems," Lord said. "She could calm them down, or intercede with something going on in the housing unit."

Ms. Tyson created a popular workout program at the prison  she was nicknamed the "Jane Fonda of Bedford Hills"  and also cared for inmates stricken with AIDS, some who died in her arms.

"There was something honest about her," Lord said. "She wasnt the perfect inmate. She wasnt the person without any disciplinary (actions). She was authentic."

Ms. Tyson's sister, Delorise Thomas, confirmed the death.

"Betty had a free spirit to help everybody," Thomas said. "She didn't do anything wrong to anybody."

Remembering the day Ms. Tyson was freed, her sister said, "It was wonderful. We fought so hard to get her out."

Trek to freedom

Ms. Tyson's road to freedom started in 1997: Then a witness who'd testified at Ms. Tyson's trial that he'd seen her with murder victim Timothy Haworth admitted in a statement that he had lied and had never seen them together. A young teenager in 1973, the witness was jailed for months as a material witness for Ms. Tyson's trial. According to the affidavit he gave in 1997, he was coerced and threatened by police to provide and adhere to the lie that he'd seen Ms. Tyson.

Haworth was a Philadelphia businessman visiting Eastman Kodak Co. for consulting work. He was beaten and strangled and left in an alley in downtown Rochester.

Ms. Tyson at the time was a heroin addict, who was, as she described herself "a trick turner."

"I feel that because I was Black, uneducated, naive, and a woman, I was very vulnerable," Ms. Tyson said in a 2004 interview with LaVerne McQuiller Williams, who is now the associate provost for faculty affairs at the Rochester Institute of Technology. "I was uneducated so why not take this bitch off the street and that's what the police did. I was on the streets using drugs and selling my body and I had a criminal record."

A 1997 Democrat and Chronicle series of stories included the witness' recantation and interviews with two former jail counselors who in 1973 reported that they'd seen Ms. Tyson with severe bruises in the jail after her arrest. Ms. Tyson had alleged that she'd been beaten into signing a false confession; a written complaint from the two counselors to law enforcement officials was ignored.

William Mahoney, the detective who led the investigation into the murder of Haworth, had a slew of civil rights complaints alleging brutal interrogations and was also convicted for fabricating evidence against the local mob.

Local lawyer Donald Thompson first planned to represent Ms. Tyson in 1998 in a bid to overturn her conviction, but, because of a conflict, handed the case to another lawyer, Jon Getz. Getz then gathered new evidence pointing to Ms. Tyson's innocence and filed motions seeking the reversal of her conviction.

During a records search, prosecutors found a police report that apparently in 1973 was never given by police to the District Attorney's Office. That report was a statement from a second teenage witness who also was held as a material witness and said he saw Ms. Tyson and Haworth together the night of the murder. In his initial interview with police  the statement the police withheld  the witness had said the opposite, insisting that he had not seen them together.

Based on that evidence, and the likelihood it would have strengthened Ms. Tyson's proof of innocence in 1973, the District Attorney's Office decided in 1998 that the conviction should be tossed out, the original murder indictment dismissed, and that Ms. Tyson should not be retried.

"It was a moment that I can't forget, just knowing that after all those years there was some justice," Getz said about Ms. Tyson's release from prison in 1998. "What I hope people remember her for is, ultimately, she was a truly kind human being."

There was no physical evidence linking Ms. Tyson to the crime; the evidence was largely her confession and the statements of the two witnesses. In fact, a lone bit of physical evidence  fresh tire tracks in the alleyway where Haworth's corpse was found  was found not to match Ms. Tyson's car.

Ms. Tyson's mother, Mattie Lawson Buchanan, died in November 1998, only six months after her daughter's release. She had been gravely ill before Ms. Tyson's freedom, but her children and relatives thought she maintained some strength to see the moment her daughter came home.

Susie Gatewood, Ms. Tyson's niece, said, "She never shied away from telling us her life experience in order for us to learn what not to do." Those lessons were also filled with messages about how to stay strong and counter the worst of adversity, Gatewood said.

Ms. Tyson was arrested with the late John Duval, who also signed a confession saying he and Ms. Tyson had together killed Haworth. He, too, alleged he was beaten into agreeing to the confession. Duval also was released from prison, but the District Attorney's Office decided to retry him because he had told the Parole Board he was guilty.

Duval later said he thought he would not be released unless he said at the parole hearing that he was guilty of the crime. At a 2000 retrial, Duval was found not guilty. Free from prison, Duval died in 2006 at the age of 53.

Struggles after release

Ms. Tyson received a settlement from the City of Rochester for $1.25 million after securing her freedom, but she also faced many of the challenges confronted by people who have spent much of their lives incarcerated. She could not sleep with her back to a door, and she struggled with recognizing who was trustworthy and who not  especially once news circulated of her settlement with the city.

"She was a strong person and also a very vulnerable person," said Getz. "There were a lot of good people around her and unfortunately there were some people that did target her financially and emotionally."

Ms. Tyson lost a home in foreclosure while mired in financial problems, having loaned people money and taken financial responsibility for some family and friends. According to Getz, Ms. Tyson once remarked: "Its funny how many family members I had when I came out. I know who my real family was. They were the ones who called me and came and saw me when I was inside."

Her post-release life once grew so troubled, and her uncertainty about her place in it so burdensome, that she was arrested in 2011 on a petit larceny charge, having stolen a pair of scissors and a utility knife  goods valued at $32.50  from a Greece supermarket. In a conversation after the offense, Ms. Tyson admitted that she'd acted erratically, motivated by questions of whether she might be better off in prison.

Telling her story behind bars

Within prison walls, as many incarcerated people attest, there are many who claim innocence. Most of them are not innocent, but some are.

Lord recalled how Ms. Tyson told her the story of her wrongful conviction, and how she was at first doubtful. However, as she researched Tyson's record and learned of the facts of the criminal case, she became a believer.

Lord once told Ms. Tyson that she felt badly about her incarceration.

"She said, 'If I was on the outside I probably would be dead now of an overdose, so dont feel bad. The life I had in here was okay.' "

"That was a very gutsy thing to say," Lord said. Ms. Tyson's imprisonment "wasnt fun, it wasn't good, but she was alive."

Ms. Tyson regularly wore a green military-style jacket at the prison. It became threadbare and worn through the years. Ms. Tyson once told Lord, "Superintendent, I'm going to wear this jacket until I leave."

When exonerated, Ms. Tyson gave the jacket to Lord.

"I still have the jacket and I've been retired almost 20 years," Lord said. "It's just a piece of her."

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Betty Tyson dies at 75. She wrongfully spent 25 years in prison
Some military and US presidential officials have criticised Ukraine for striking occupied Crimea, as they see it as a distraction at best and a waste of resources at worst.

Source: CNN with reference to its sources

Details: One unnamed senior defence official said that "its knocked the Russians off balance a bit, but it is not doing anything decisive".

"And it would probably be better for everyone for them to just focus on the counteroffensive," the same official added.

A senior Western intelligence official said that with about a third of the occupied peninsula now within range of the US-provided HIMARS missile systems, Ukraine has also stepped up strikes on Russian ammunition storage points and other logistics and supply infrastructure there.

"Theres more and more pressure on Crimea, and especially so in recent weeks. I mean, they get pounded," that official stated.

At the same time, a Ukrainian source told CNN that the attacks on Crimea are an integral part of Ukraine's counteroffensive strategy to isolate Crimea and make it more difficult for Russia to support its military operations on the Ukrainian mainland.

Background: Strikes on Russian-occupied Crimea are becoming more regular. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the liberation of Crimea is becoming more and more achievable and well-thought-out. "We are making the liberation of Crimea more achievable and more thought-out, one step at a time," he stressed.

Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron!






This photo taken on Aug. 16, 2023 shows a view of Southeast Asia Pavilion at the seventh China-South Asia Expo in Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan Province. [Photo/Xinhua]

The ongoing seventh China-South Asia Expo has attracted more than 30,000 exhibitors, representatives, and guests from 85 countries and regions to attend online and offline.

Themed "Solidarity and Coordination for Common Development," the five-day expo has set up 15 exhibition pavilions, with various kinds of events, such as a cooperation forum and a business forum, scheduled to be held.

Over the past 10 years, the expo has witnessed closer ties between China and South Asia, with the trade volume between China and South Asian countries doubling.

When the first expo took place in 2013, the trade volume between China and South Asian countries amounted to less than 100 billion U.S. dollars, but the figure reached 197.4 billion U.S. dollars last year, with an average annual growth rate of 8.3 percent.

Gem dealer Mohamed Rikas from Sri Lanka sensed business opportunities at the very first expo in 2013 and has attended every expo since then.

"I value China's huge market and purchasing power of Chinese people," he said, adding that more and more gem dealers from Sri Lanka attend the expo.

Liu Ruini has served as the interpreter of Rikas' booth since 2018.

"We have become friends and haven't met in three years because of the pandemic. So I immediately agreed to interpret for him this year," said Liu, adding that she took another four friends as interpreters at different booths this year.

After 10 years of development, the comprehensive expo integrating trade, investment, tourism cooperation, and cultural exchanges has become a name card of exchanges and cooperation between China and South Asian countries and other countries.

With the China-Laos Railway that started cross-border passenger services in April, legions of attendees use the train as their preferred transportation to the expo.

"The China-Laos Railway is expected to serve as a bridge to connect China and Laos, and the grand gathering of the China-South Asia Expo will see more fruitful results," said Muhammad Fazle Rabby from Bangladesh, who took the train to arrive in China.

As of Aug. 15, the Mohan entry-exit border had handled 246 cross-border passenger trains from China and Laos, carrying 52,888 passengers from 53 countries and regions.

Since China proposed the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013, the interconnectivity between China and South Asian countries has been greatly enhanced.

For example, the Yunnan airport group has launched over 10 cargo air routes covering destinations in cities in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal.

Greater interconnectivity across the region has also boosted investment.

Figures show that China's cumulative investment in South Asia has reached nearly 15 billion U.S. dollars, and the turnover of completed contracted projects has exceeded 200 billion U.S. dollars.

Wang Liping, an official with the Ministry of Commerce, said China and South Asian countries account for one-fifth of the global economy.

"With vibrant trade and investment and the unlocked potential for cooperation, an industrial chain and supply chain system featuring interconnectedness has taken shape here," Wang added.
The Biden administration on Friday announced an extension and expansion of temporary legal status for Ukrainians already in the U.S., saying that Russias ongoing military invasion of their country and the ensuing humanitarian crisis prevents them from safely returning.

The expansion is expected to make 166,700 additional individuals eligible for Temporary Protected Status (TPS). This is on top of allowing 26,000 current beneficiaries to retain their TPS through April 19, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement.

Russias ongoing military invasion of Ukraine and the resulting humanitarian crisis requires that the United States continue to offer safety and protection to Ukrainians who may not be able to return to their country, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement.

We will continue to offer our support to Ukrainian nationals through this temporary form of humanitarian relief.

TPS for Ukrainians was expected to expire on Oct. 19, but it is being extended for 18 months.

The Biden administration first granted TPS to Ukrainians shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. The war is nearing its 18-month mark with little signs of coming to a resolution.

Ukrainian forces succeeded in taking back wide swaths of their territory from under Russian occupation in the fall of 2022, but a second counteroffensive launched in June has proceeded much slower in the face of dug-in Russian defensive positions.

More than 6.2 million Ukrainians have registered as refugees in Europe, and an estimated 5.1 million internally are displaced in their homeland, according to the latest data from the United Nations.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
WASHINGTON  U.S. President Joe Biden brokered a series of trilateral defense initiatives with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol at Camp David on Friday as the two U.S. allies move past decades of strained relations.

The agreements between the three countries include annual trilateral military exercises, ballistic missile defense cooperation and shoring up the security of defense supply chains. The U.S. has worked to reconcile Japan and South Korea for well over a decade as it seeks to bolster its alliances in Asia to counter China and contain North Koreas nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Were elevating our trilateral defense collaboration to deliver in the Indo-Pacific region, Biden said. This is not about a day, a week or month. This is about decades and decades of relationships that were building.

The leaders and some of their top cabinet officials agreed to meet at least once a year  in the hope that their commitments will outlast their time in office. The summit marked the first time Biden has hosted foreign leaders at the presidents country residence Camp David, intended to be a symbol of its importance. Indeed, the statement released  titled The Spirit of Camp David  calls this moment a hinge point of history.

Biden announced the three countries would establish a security hotline to consult with each other, and a joint statement announced annual, named, multi-domain trilateral exercises on a regular basis. This would include air, land, sea, undersea and cyber components.

The statement is full of the three countries future commitments, likely in response to the two U.S rivals it names. The first is China, whose maritime claims in the South China Sea it describes as dangerous and aggressive. China has increased its military drills around the island nation of Taiwan, which Beijing considers part of its territory. The statement calls for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

The U.S. regularly conducts freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea and has sought to deepen military cooperation with its Southeast Asian partners who have overlapping claims in the disputed region.

The second country invoked in the statement is North Korea, whose unprecedented number of ballistic missile launches continue to rattle its neighbor to the south and Japan. The three countries remain committed to re-establishing dialogue with Pyongyang with no preconditions, according to the statement. Thus far, North Korea has declined invitations for detente.

The U.S. reaffirmed its extended deterrence commitments to both countries, and the three allies vowed that by the end of the year they would begin sharing data regarding North Korean missile launches.

We are committed to pursuing enhanced ballistic missile defense cooperation to counter [North Korean] nuclear and missile threats, the statement read.

The three countries will also collaborate more closely on supply chain security, which includes several vulnerable areas of the defense-industrial base that are often contingent on Chinese-dominated markets. These include critical minerals, batteries, semiconductors, artificial intelligence and quantum computing.

They plan to expand information sharing and launch early warning systems to combat major supply chain disruptions as well as better prepare us to confront and overcome economic coercion.

The Biden administration and Congress have sought to lessen Chinas influence over critical minerals like cobalt, which is needed to produce batteries and hard-target penetrators for the military.

The U.S. has also sought to onshore semiconductor production, fearful that a possible Chinese attack on Taiwan could upend a global shortage as most microelectronics are produced in east Asia.

Additionally, the Biden administration has convinced Japan to mirror sweeping U.S. export controls on semiconductor technology to China. The U.S. hopes this will hobble Chinas AI weapons development and military quantum computing, though this also impacts civilian use for the technology such as weather forecasting and vaccine development. The joint statement vows to strengthen trilateral cooperation on export controls.

The three leaders also reaffirmed their support for aiding Ukraine against Russias unprovoked and brutal war of aggression.

We believe the lasting lesson from this catastrophic war of aggression must be the international communitys abiding will to uphold the principles of territorial integrity, sovereignty and the peaceful resolution of disputes, the statement read. We reaffirm our view that when these foundational principles are rejected anywhere, they represent a threat to our region.
MADISON  President Joe Biden's campaign on Friday accused former President Donald Trump of wanting "to avoid appearing in Wisconsin" as it seems likely the current Republican frontrunner will skip the first GOP presidential primary debate in Milwaukee next week.

"Of course Donald Trump wants to avoid appearing in Wisconsin because he knows Wisconsin is a state that illustrates his failed leadership," Biden campaign spokesperson Kevin Munoz said in a statement to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The campaign referenced Foxconn Technology Groups project in Racine County that had promised 13,000 new jobs and had been touted by Trump but ultimately never came to fruition.

"Wisconsinites soundly rejected his ongoing efforts to ban abortion in the states Supreme Court election earlier this year," Munoz added. "He cannot hide from the fact that Wisconsinites rejected him in 2020, and will reject the MAGA agenda again in 2024."

More: Janet Protasiewicz sworn in as Supreme Court justice, ushering in an ideological shift

The attack comes as Trump appears to be taking a pass on attending the debate, instead planning to participate in an online interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, according to news reports. The decision from the former president would end months of speculation as to whether he would be on stage in Milwaukee on Wednesday, though Trump has previously hinted he would not attend.

On his social media website Truth Social on Thursday, Trump noted that he is polling far ahead of his Republican rivals, writing of the debate: "Reagan didn't do it, and neither did others. People know my Record, one of the BEST EVER, so why would I Debate? I'M YOUR MAN. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"

More: Do other Republicans have any chance against Trump? Here's what early polls can tell us.

A spokesperson for Trump in a statement to the Journal Sentinel did not confirm whether Trump plans to skip the debate. "We look forward to debating the failed policies of a weak and failed Joe Biden  if he can get out of his basement long enough," the campaign said.

Democrats plan to use the Wednesday debate to attempt to paint Republicans as extreme and tie other candidates on stage to the former president as part of a sweeping media blitz. Officials from both the Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee will be on the ground in Wisconsin engaging with voters.

They will post three billboards around Milwaukee ahead of the debate that will attempt to contrast "the MAGA agenda with Bidens record of accomplishments," according to Biden's campaign. Another mobile billboard truck will circle Fiserv Forum, the debate venue.

Trump's apparent decision to skip the debate is a shot to both the Republican National Committee, which is organizing the debate, and Fox News, which will moderate the event. Both organizations had pushed Trump to attend in recent weeks. His decision also comes on the heels of his fourth criminal indictment  this time from a prosecutor in Georgia who accused Trump of leading a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election.

More: The indispensable state: Why Wisconsin could again be the electoral 'tipping point' in 2024

Still, Trump is expected to have an impact on the debate. Fox News anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum told the Journal Sentinel this week that Trump will "be a part of this debate whether he's there or not."

Some of Trump's strongest allies in Washington, including Georgia U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Florida U.S. Reps. Matt Gaetz and Byron Donalds, plan to be in Milwaukee for the debate, according to NBC News. Kari Lake, who lost a race for governor in Arizona and has since embraced false claims of election fraud, could also make an appearance.

The Republican Party of Wisconsin had not responded to Trump's apparent debate snub as of Friday afternoon.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Biden campaign hits Trump for planning to skip Milwaukee debate
President Biden may have pulled off a diplomatic coup - but will its effect be long-lasting?

The United States and China have achieved what many deemed impossible - a historic meeting between US President Joe Biden, Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korea's President Yoon Suk-yeol.

Mr Biden hosted the first stand-alone meeting among the three countries at the Camp David presidential retreat in the US on Friday. It's a diplomatic - but still tenuous - coup for the American leader.

South Korea and Japan are neighbours and old US allies, but they have never been friends.

Now, however, an increasingly assertive China has renewed US interest in East Asia. And it has brought together two countries who for decades have struggled to overcome deep historical grievances.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Mr Biden praised the "political courage" of the South Korean and Japanese leaders.

"Our countries are stronger, and the world will be safer, as we stand together. I know that's a belief that we all three share," he said, while Mr Yoon said it was a "historic day".

In a joint statement, they said they opposed China's "dangerous and aggressive behaviour" in maritime disputes in the East and South China Seas.

They also agreed to hold regular joint exercises, consult each other during crises, share real-time data on North Korea and hold summits every year.

"I find the meeting at Camp David mind-blowing," Dennis Wilder wrote on X, formerly Twitter. A professor at Georgetown University, he managed the Japan and South Korea relationship under former President George W Bush.

At that time, they could "barely get South Korean and Japanese leaders to meet with us in the same room," he said.

In recent months, Mr Kishida and Mr Yoon have taken tentative steps to resolve their hostilities, and strengthen ties with Washington. This once-inconceivable alliance is driven by shared concerns - the biggest of which is China.

The meeting at Camp David - also the first time foreign leaders have visited the presidential retreat since 2015 - is an attempt to "signify and to demonstrate how seriously" Mr Biden takes the relationship between Japan and South Korea, according to a White House spokesman.

Why has it taken this long?

For one, the wounds are old.

Some may describe the two countries as "frenemies", but it's too trite a term to describe the deep hurt among South Koreans, including the thousands of so-called "comfort women" who were abducted and used as sex slaves by the Japanese army during World War Two.

South Koreans believe the Japanese never properly apologised for the colonisation of the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945. Tokyo, however, argued that it had atoned for its historical sins in several treaties.

Any detente has always been fragile, almost akin to a game of Jenga. Even when the East Asian bloc appeared solid, a single wrong move could bring the whole edifice down.

In 2018, a long-running court case in Seoul over Japan's use of forced labour during WW2 started a trade dispute which plunged relations between the neighbours to their lowest since the 1960s.

But there has been progress recently, including a milestone meeting in March, offering Washington a new window of opportunity.

But there is a good reason for the two new administrations to put their differences aside, even at the cost of political capital on the domestic front.

This is, after all, the era of pragmatic politics - and they see a bigger threat looming.

China's assertive posture in Asia has alarmed its neighbours. Beijing claims Taiwan, a democratically governed island, and has not ruled out the use of force to "unify" it with the mainland. Incursions into Taiwanese airspace and major military drills are now the so-called "new normal".

South Korea's Yoon Suk-yeol (L) and Japan's Fumio Kishida during an event at the G7 summit in May

There is also North Korea. which has carried out more than 100 weapons tests since the start of 2022, including firing missiles towards Japan. The war in Ukraine too has prompted many countries, including South Korea and Japan, to prioritise national security.

All of this appears to have helped Mr Biden win where previous administrations in Washington have failed.

"This marks a major milestone in the history of the trilateral relationship that has moved in fits and starts over the last three decades," said Andrew Yeo, the SK-Korea foundation Chair at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

He says the three sides will aim to "cement the gains" they have made in the last year or so, "while building momentum... to address a range of security challenges in north-east Asia and the Indo-Pacific region".

That would mean signing agreements on defence, diplomacy and technology. It's already known that they will agree to hold regular military exercises, set up a new three-way crisis hotline and, crucially, pledge to meet once a year. Washington's goal then is to establish long-term ties that will last well beyond the sitting presidents.

"Biden, Yoon and Kishida have a chance to make even bigger history that lasts beyond a milestone meeting at Camp David," said Duyeon Kim.

"Their respective governments will need to implement their joint vision proactively and beyond their leadership terms because the Seoul-Tokyo relationship will continue to ebb and flow. If an ultra-leftist South Korean president and an ultra-right-wing Japanese leader are elected in their next cycles, then any one of them could derail all the meaningful, hard work Biden, Yoon and Kishida are putting in right now."

And here lies the challenge.

Will it last?

Kurt Campbell, Deputy Assistant to President Biden and Co-ordinator for Indo-Pacific Affairs, has praised the "political courage" of Mr Kishida and Mr Yoon, calling it "a breathtaking kind of diplomacy".

But a change of leadership could see a change of heart.

"Tensions that run deep, particularly in South Korea due to past historical animosities related to Japan's colonisation of Korea, do not disappear overnight, and we're likely to continue to see diplomatic spats arise, as was the case a couple of weeks ago when the Japanese ministry of defence claimed Dokdo (Takeshima islands) as its own in its national security strategy," said Andrew Yeo.

"Relatively low approval ratings for Kishida and Yoon back at home may limit the amount of diplomatic capital the two leaders could sink into Korea-Japan relations. I also believe at some point the two sides, and Japan in particular, will need a more thorough reckoning of its colonial past in Korea and elsewhere."

Japan and South Korea may also not want to go as far as Mr Biden in criticising China. Fearing a backlash, they may hardly mention Beijing in their public remarks following the summit.

And pacts involving economic measures might be harder to secure than agreements on national security.

Military drills have become routine in the Asia-Pacific region

US-China tensions, especially economic restrictions, have come at a cost to both South Korea and Japan. China is a key trading partner for both. And companies in Seoul and Tokyo - such as Samsung and Nissan - rely heavily on Chinese workers and consumers.

Beijing has already made its displeasure over the summit known. It will see it as yet another attempt by the US to "contain" its influence, no matter how much the White House denies this. It has already dubbed it a "mini-Nato".

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged South Korea and Japan to work with Beijing to "revitalise East Asia".

In July, in a video that has now been widely shared, he made an unusually blunt appeal: "No matter how blond you dye your hair or how sharp you shape your nose, you can never become a European or American, you can never become a Westerner. We must know where our roots lie."

While Mr Biden has - successfully perhaps - focused on building defence alliances in Asia, it has left little room for engagement with Beijing and Pyongyang.

There were signs this was changing, with a flurry of recent Beijing visits by senior US officials - Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and US special envoy on climate John Kerry. There are also reports that Washington has approached the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un with an offer of high-level talks "without preconditions".

But time is running out as another US election cycle begins.
United States President Joe Biden smiles as South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol (L) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shake hands at the Trilateral Summit at Camp David in Maryland on Friday. Photo by Nathan Howard/UPI

Aug. 18 (UPI) -- President Joe Biden hosted a summit at Camp David Friday, bringing together the leaders of Japan and South Korea in an effort to heal old wounds and unite the frayed allies in response to increasing military threats in Southeast Asia.

The summit got underway at 11 a.m., with Biden sitting down with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol for about 4 hours in a first-ever trilateral meeting between the world powers, the White House said.

The three leaders emerged from the private chat after 3 p.m. and held a joint press conference ahead of Biden's expected departure to Reno, Nev., for a vacation on Lake Tahoe.

"Mr. Prime Minster, Mr. President, it's an honor to welcome you both here today to inaugurate the Camp David trilateral between our three nations, among our three nations. It's not only the first summit I've hosted at Camp David, it's the first standalone summit between the leaders of Japan and Republic of Korea and the United States and I can think of no better way to mark our new chapter of our trilateral cooperation than meeting here at Camp David," Biden told reporters.

"Strengthening the ties between our democracies has long been a priority for me dating back to when I was vice president of the United States. That's because our countries are stronger and the world is safer, let me say that again, our countries are stronger and the world will be as we stand together and I know that this is a belief we all three share," Biden continued.

United States President Joe Biden smiles as he greets South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol (L) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Trilateral Summit at Camp David in Maryland on Friday. The summit marks the first time any foreign dignitaries have visited Camp David since 2015. Photo by Nathan Howard/UPI

The leaders announced they had agreed to an annual leaders' meeting to share assessments on a range of strategic issues and to discuss opportunities for further trilateral cooperation.

Also among the agreements reached at the summit was what is being called a "Commitment to Consult," in which the three nations agree to consult with one another regarding any possible responses to regional provocations or threats.

President Joe Biden will host Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol at Camp David Friday. Photo by Nathan Howard/UPI

And the parties all agreed to initiate an annual Indo-Pacific Dialogue focused on coordinating implementation of their Japan and South Korea's Indo-Pacific approaches, with a particular emphasis on partnership with Southeast Asian and Pacific Island countries.

President Yoon thanked his host and emphasized the importance of the strategic partnership.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrives for a trilateral summit at Camp David. Photo by Nathan Howard/UPI

"I would like to extend my gratitude to President Biden for his warm hospitality," said Yoon.

"At this symbolic venue of Camp David in the history of modern diplomacy our trilateral partnership is opening a new chapter which carries great significance in my view. President Roosevelt once stated, 'freedom is not given but something you fight to win.' To make sure that each of our freedoms is neither threatened or damaged our three nations must tighten our solidarity," said Yoon.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol arrives for a trilateral summit. Photo by Nathan Howard/UPI

Prime Minister Kishida started his remarks by expressing his condolences for the loss of life caused by the recent wildfires in Hawaii.

"First of all, I would like to express my sympathy once again for the devastating damages caused by the wildfires in Maui, Hawaii. In order to provide relief to the affected people, Japan has decided to offer a total of around $2 million of support," Kishida said.

United States President Joe Biden (C), South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol (L) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida hold a joint press conference at the Trilateral Summit at Camp David in Maryland on Friday. Photo by Nathan Howard/UPI

"May I also once again offer my heartfelt condolences for the passing of away of President Yoon's father," Kishida continued.

Kishida also drew attention to the security challenge posed by North Korea.

"The international community is at a turning point in history. In order to allow the potential of our trilateral strategic cooperation to bloom and to blossom. I wish to take this moment to raise the security coordination between Japan, ROK and the U.S. to new heights while strengthening the coordination between the Japan-U.S. and U.S. ROK alliances as we deepen our cooperation in response to North Korea I wish to expand and deepen our collaboration in extensive areas including economic security such as critical and emerging technology cooperation and supply chain resilience," Kishida said.

The summit marks the first time any foreign dignitaries have visited Camp David since 2015, and comes as the United States and South Korea prepare to hold joint military drills next week as North Korea was threatening to test another ballistic missile.

The annual defense exercise -- known as the Ulchi Freedom Shield -- includes live field maneuvers, computer-simulated exercises and civil defense drills, and will be conducted over ten days starting Aug. 21.

The thaw in relations between Japan and South Korea comes in the face of growing nuclear threats from North Korea and an increasingly assertive China, which have escalated provocations throughout the Indo-Pacific in recent months.

Biden met previously with Kishida and Yoon in May on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan, where they reaffirmed commitments to settling tensions in the region as Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin were forming a tighter alliance amid the war in Ukraine.

At the time, Biden and Kishida agreed to continue supporting Ukraine against Russia and committed to work more closely to address regional security challenges, including North Korea's nuclear program and actions by China that continued to flout international law.

Washington has long been pushing for closer cooperation among its allies in the region in light of a shifting balance of power across the globe, and Xi vowing to take steps toward "reunification" with Taiwan during his third term, which started in March.

Trilateral defense and intelligence-sharing activities have ramped up in recent months, with Biden signing strategic agreements with several Asian nations while shoring up military installations in the South China Sea and elsewhere.

In July, North Korea and China reaffirmed their alliance in a high-level meeting in Pyongyang, in which North Korean leader Kim Jong Un hosted a Chinese delegation led by politburo member Li Hongzhong.

Since the meeting, Kim has vowed to make "stronger military offensives" against the United States, while backing up the threat by continuing to test-fire missiles in the region.

Earlier this week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken described the upcoming summit as a "new era" of cooperation between the U.S., Japan, and South Korea, saying the alliance would serve as a "force multiplier for good" and "promote peace and stability" in Southeast Asia, while the U.S. was committed to "the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."

"Together, the leaders will have an opportunity to discuss and to strengthen practical cooperation on a variety of shared priorities, from physical security to economic security, for humanitarian assistance to development finance, from global health to critical and emerging technologies," he said.

Tensions between Seoul and Tokyo emerged earlier this week as Japan held memorial services to mark 78 years since Japan's surrender in the war. The South Korean government criticized Kishida after he sent a "masakaki" offering to the Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo -- a controversial site that glorifies military figures who committed atrocities during World War II.

Seoul called for "responsible figures in Japan to face history squarely and to demonstrate humble reflection and genuine remorse for the past."

Overall relations between the Asian powers, however, were showing signs of improvement after decades of tensions due to unresolved political clashes, territorial disputes, and Japan's refusal to compensate for forced colonial labor during the war.

In late June, Japan and South Korea held an economic summit for the first time since 2016, agreeing to reestablish currency exchanges in a further sign of reconciliation between the allies after Japan said it would reinstate South Korea to its "white list" of preferred trade partners after a four-year absence.
South Korean opposition lawmakers and supporters of the victims of Japan's wartime forced labor hold placards protesting reconciliation with Tokyo by President Yoon Seok-yeol in January 2023 (Jung Yeon-je)

US President Joe Biden and the leaders of Japan and South Korea said Friday they saw a "new chapter" of close three-way security cooperation as the Asian allies joined a first-of-a-kind summit that has already rattled China.

Going tieless at the bucolic Camp David presidential retreat, Biden praised the "political courage" of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in turning the page on historical animosity.

"Your leadership, with the full support of the United States, has brought us here because each of you understands that our world stands at an inflection point," Biden told a joint news conference in the wooded hills outside Washington.

Biden insisted the summit was not about China, which has been flexing its muscle both at home and in Asia under President Xi Jinping, including with major exercises around self-ruling Taiwan.

But in a joint statement, the three leaders said they opposed the "dangerous and aggressive behavior" of China in maritime disputes in the East and South China Sea.

"We strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the waters of the Indo-Pacific," it said.

The two US allies largely see eye to eye on the world -- and together are the base for some 84,500 US troops -- but such a summit would have been unthinkable until recently due to the legacy of Japan's harsh 1910-1945 occupation of the Korean peninsula.

But Yoon, taking political risks at home, has turned the page by resolving a dispute over wartime forced labor, and is now calling Japan a partner at a time of high tensions with both China and North Korea.

Yoon said he hoped to be "forward-looking" and called the summit a "historic day" in bringing a "firm institutional basis" to the three nations' joint relationship.

The three leaders also agreed to a multi-year plan of regular exercises in all domains, going beyond one-off drills in response to North Korea, and made a formal "commitment to consult" during crises, with Biden saying they would open a hotline.

The leaders also agreed to share real-time data on North Korea and to hold summits every year.

Camp David marks the first time the three countries' leaders have met for a standalone summit, not on the sidelines of a larger event, and is the first diplomatic event since 2015 at the resort, which is synonymous with Middle East peacemaking.

- 'You can never become a Westerner' -

Even if Biden said the summit did not target China, Rahm Emanuel, the blunt-speaking US ambassador to Japan, took another tone when he previewed the meeting, saying the three nations were defying China with the United States showing, "We are the rising power; they are declining."

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged the two economically developed Northeast Asian democracies instead to work with Beijing to "revitalize East Asia."

"No matter how blond you dye your hair or how sharp you shape your nose, you can never become a European or American, you can never become a Westerner," he said in a video shared on official media.

"We must know where our roots lie," he said.

But China's pressure tactics have led to a sharp deterioration in its favorability in Japan and South Korea, which have traditionally been more discreet than the United States in their comments.

Tensions have also risen with North Korea, which has launched a volley of missiles in recent months and is feared to respond to the summit with new action.

The leaders' joint statement renewed a call on North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons and urged all nations to enforce sanctions.

As the Camp David summit opened, North Korea said it had scrambled jets in response to what it called a US spy plane's incursion.

- Global allies -

The summit also set its focus beyond North Korea and even Asia.

Tokyo and Seoul have offered a major boost to Ukraine as major non-Western powers joining pressure against Russia's invasion.

Kishida said greater cooperation with South Korea was "almost inevitable" in light of the "crisis" in the world order.

"Due to Russia's aggression of Ukraine, the international order is shaken from its foundation. The unilateral attempt to change the status quo by force in the East and South China Seas are continuing and the nuclear and missile threats of North Korea are only becoming even greater," Kishida said.

The summit aims to institutionalize three-way cooperation to make it difficult for any reversal by a future leader -- a South Korean president who again seizes on hostility with Japan or, potentially, a return of Donald Trump, who has disparaged US troop commitments overseas as wasteful.

To the surprise of many observers, Yoon's embrace of Japan has drawn relatively muted protests at home.

Yoon, a conservative, has quickly become a close US ally, with Biden welcoming him for a rare state visit in which the South Korean leader regaled the audience by singing "American Pie."

But Yoon is constitutionally prohibited from serving more than a single term, which ends in 2027.

aue-sct/acb
President Joe Biden hailed Fridays unprecedented trilateral summit with Japanese and South Korean leaders as a harbinger of a safer world on account of new security cooperation between the three democratic allies.

Speaking at Camp David at the start of a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeon, Mr Biden noted that the three-way confab was the first ever standalone summit between the leaders of Japan and Republican Korea and the United States.

The American president also said that strengthening ties between the three democratic nations had long been a priority for him.

Our countries are stronger and the world would be safer as we stand together, he said, before thanking Mr Kishida and Mr Yoon for their courage in making the decision to thaw what has been an often-icy relationship between Tokyo and Seoul, due to longstanding tensions between the two countries as a result of Japans occupation of the Korean Peninsula during the Second World War.

The Japanese and Korean leaders each arrived at the historic presidential retreat earlier on Friday by helicopter, with Mr Biden greeting them individually as they alighted from their aircrafts.

Both leaders have met a number of times over the last several months in an effort to ease longstanding tensions between the two US allies, including old grievances dating back a century to the Japanese Empires occupation of the Korean Peninsula.

According to a senior Biden administration official who briefed reporters on plans for the summit, the two Asian leaders have taken further steps to reengage technologically, militarily and politically at each of their previous meetings, receiving quiet encouragement from Mr Biden during respective bilateral engagements.

The official said Mr Kishida and Mr Yoon have both had to overcome uncertainties about the rapprochement, including substantial questions and opposition about their tentative steps towards deeper cooperation.

There were some starts and stops along the way. But what weve seen over the course of the last several months is nothing short of courageous diplomacy on the part of President Yoon and matching efforts by Prime Minister Kishida, the official said.
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Biden speaks by phone with Russia's President Putin from Camp David in Maryland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden will sign a strategic partnership agreement with Vietnam during a state visit to the Southeast Asian country in mid-September, Politico reported on Friday, citing three people with knowledge of the deal's planning.

The agreement will allow for new bilateral collaboration that will boost Vietnam's efforts to develop its high technology sector in areas including semiconductor production and artificial intelligence, Politico said.

A source familiar with the plans told Reuters on Friday that Biden was weighing a September trip to Vietnam.

Biden said this month he would be traveling to Vietnam "shortly" because the country wanted to elevate its relationship with the United States and become a major partner.

The White House has not confirmed plans for the trip. Vietnam's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday. Ministry spokesperson Pham Thu Hang on Thursday did not confirm or deny a possible Biden visit.

"High-level leaders of the two countries have agreed and are discussing measures to further deepen bilateral relation in a stable, substantive and long-term manner, and aiming to upgrade (the relation) to a new level when possible," Hang told a regular press conference.

At a meeting in April, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed a desire to deepen ties as Washington seeks to solidify relations with partners in Asia to counter an increasingly assertive China.

Officials have not said what the closer relationship might entail, but experts say it could include increased military cooperation and U.S. weapon supplies.

(Reporting by Reuters Washington bureau; additional reporting by Khanh Vu; editing by Diane Craft and Rosalba O'Brien)
President Biden on Friday said the commitments made with South Korea and Japan during the Camp David Summit are meant to guard against political whiplash in Washington, D.C., and will push back on former President Trumps America First policy.

Theres not much, if anything, I agree on with my predecessor, on foreign policy, Biden said. His America First policy of walking away from the rest of the world has made us weaker, not stronger.

The president was responding to a question on how confident countries in Asia should be about a robust American commitment to its nuclear umbrella in the region, given that Trump demanded South Korea and Japan increase the funds they spent on hosting American troops or risk the U.S. bringing forces home.

Trump also pulled the U.S. out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, an Obama-era trade agreement with 12 nations in the region.

Biden said it would be difficult to unravel agreements and commitments reached between Washington, Seoul and Tokyo at Camp David on Friday, and that will link the three countries together in a deeper and more durable way.

What makes today different is it actually launches a series of initiatives that are actually institutional changes in how we deal with one another, the president said.

Security cooperation, economic cooperation, technology cooperation, development cooperation, consultation exercises, and all of this will create momentum, I believe, year-by-year, month-by-month, to make the relationship stronger and more certain to remain, to be in place, he continued. On these results, I think youre going to keep it going and I think were going to benefit all our countries.

Biden has focused on forging stronger ties between the U.S., South Korea and Japan as a powerful bulwark against threats from North Korea and to push back on military and economic threats posed by the Peoples Republic of China (PRC).

The PRC was not named specifically in joint statements and documents released at the conclusion of the historic summit on Friday, but was clearly present in much of the principles discussed between Biden, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

The principles spoke out against unilateral actions of force or coercion; that peace and security across the Taiwan Strait is indispensable and that the three countries are unflinching in a commitment to sovereignty and territorial integrity as laid out in the United Nations charter.

Kishida also responded to a question about whether the deepening ties with the U.S. and South Korea will provoke China to an economic cold war with Japan, saying that there was positive momentum following a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC summit in November.

By maintaining the positive momentum, what has to be asserted, will be asserted and we shall strongly request responsible conduct and we will continue and accumulate the conversation about multiple issues, Kishida said.

We will cooperate with regard to common challenges, such constructive and stable relationship will be established by mutual effort, he added. That is my administration is consistent policy.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
On Earth Day last year, President Joe Biden called for the inventory, restoration, and conservation of mature and old-growth forests on federal, state, Tribal, and private lands. Forests are important in enhancing resilience to climate change, but they are also vulnerable to its impacts. The wildfires in 2020 and 2021 alone increased reforestation needs by over 1.5 million acres, highlighting how crucial it is to develop a plan to restore forests on a major scale.

In accordance with Executive Order 14072, agency-specific reforestation targets totaling over 2.3 million acres by 2030 were set on federally managed lands. There is also a goal to plant more than a billion trees over the next decade. However, a significant factor may stand in the way of these ambitious planting and restoration goalsthe massive undersupply of seedlings.

Tree nurseries lack seedling availability and diversity

According to a recent study published in Bioscience, local tree nurseries lack the seedling availability and diversity needed to meet these lofty environmental goals. Authors from different institutions, including universities, US Forest Service research stations, and local departments of natural resources, analyzed more than 600 plant nurseries across twenty northern states and found that only 56 of them grow and sell seedlings in the volumes needed for conservation and reforestation.

[Related: What successful forest restoration looks like.]

This scarcity is a product of several factors, like how few forest nurseries exist, says author Peter W. Clark, a postdoctoral associate in the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Vermont. Many state and federal nurseries have closed due to the inability to cover costs through nursery sales.

The US Forest Service used to maintain 59 federally funded nurseries, but now there are only six, with only one serving the entire 20-state region we examined, says Clark. Although private nurseries play a key role in supporting the market, publicly-funded nurseries produce important species for conservation and restoration purposes, he adds.

A 2021 study published in Frontiers in Forests and Global Change identified 26 million hectares of natural and agricultural lands with reforestation potential across the contiguous US. The authors reported that reforesting this area by 2040 with 30 billion trees would require a 2.3-fold increase in current nursery production levels of 1.3 billion seedlings per year. In short, the number of tree seedlings produced each year must increase by 1.7 billion.

Much research has emphasized that the volume of seedlings produced in US nurseries is far too low to meet reforestation targets, says Clark. We support these findings but add the finer point in that the types of seedlings are highly homogenous.

He adds that nurseries operate in a free-market economy and tend to favor species that are more economically viable for salesthink conifer species for commercial timber purposes. Its risky to maintain a broad inventory of diverse species that might not sell, especially since seedlings take one to five years to grow to be ready for resale. However, this dismisses the vast diversity of tree species needed to meet other ecological targets like carbon mitigation, ecosystem restoration, or assisted migration.

In the aforementioned Bioscience study, the authors found that commercially valuable tree species were commonly available, but the majority of other species were challenging to source and produced in low numbers. For instance, only two out of 56 nurseries sold red spruce, a culturally and ecologically important tree species in need of restoration, says Clark. About 800 seedlings were available for purchase, which can only reforest one to two acres.

Limited seed sources or genetic diversity among the species is also an issue. Even for northern red oak or eastern white pine, two of the most commonly propagated commercial tree species in the region, we found that seed was collected from less than one third of the available seed collection zones, says Clark. In other words, just a few trees were contributing to the genetic diversity of all nursery grown seedlings.

Federal investment and workforce development can boost public tree nurseries and seed collection efforts

The federal government has invested $35 million to rehabilitate the aging National Forest System nursery and seed infrastructure, putting another $10 million to support state and Tribal nurseries and fund native seed partnerships. However, Clark says more public investment like grants, loans, and cost-share programs will be needed to expand forest nurseries and address the growing reforestation backlog. Funding to support research on producing species and genotypes that are better capable of withstanding the effects of climate change is also needed, he adds.

Seedling inventories often favor commercial species over the production of diverse, climate-adapted inventories because the former involves a lower financial risk, even though the latter has a higher reward in terms of ecological diversity, says Clark. Although nurseries operate based on market demands, in the context of planting for global change, it may be better to simply invest in nurseries to supply seedlings just for the common good, he adds.

[Related: Tropical forests rebound on farm land blessedly fast.]

Increasing seed stock diversity is an important goal that requires increased seed storage capacity and a trained workforce of seed collectors, says Joe Fargione, science director at The Nature Conservancy. However, labor shortages and aging demographics among professionals in the field, like foresters, seed collectors, transport crews, and extractory staff, and nursery growers, are among the biggest limitations for scaling forest seed collection, says Clark.

To fill the skilled-labor gap and prevent the loss or degradation of institutional knowledge, recruiting new workers in these fields is necessary. Funding and job-training programs may be needed to serve as economic drivers for job creation while potentially providing renewed access to nurseries in underserved areas, he adds. Fargione says workforce development programs can ensure there are no bottlenecks in the supply chain.

Nurseries also need to ensure high-quality records of seed origin are readily obtainable for buyers so they can identify its adaptation potential under rapidly changing climatic conditions, says Clark. Forest trees are adapted to different climatic conditions, and they must be matched to the conditions of their reforestation or restoration sites. Developing a national seed-labeling standard and database with high-resolution records of source collections, such as latitude, longitude, and elevation, would improve seedlot selection, he adds. The Department of Agriculture currently has a Seedlot Selection Tool, but it is limited to the western US, Canada, and Mexico.

By planting with an eye on diverse ecosystem functions, cultural needs, and climate adaptability, says Clark, we can meet multiple objectives that result in more resilient future forests capable of withstanding a greater degree of uncertain future conditions.
Photo taken on May 17, 2022 shows a view of the automated container terminal of Shanghai Yangshan Deep Water Port in east China's Shanghai. [Photo/Xinhua]

Shanghai's imports and exports reached 2.45 trillion yuan (about 340 billion U.S. dollars) in the first seven months of this year, up 7.4 percent year on year, local customs said Wednesday.



Over the period, Shanghai's exports rose 9.3 percent year on year to 995.9 billion yuan, while its imports increased by 6 percent to 1.45 trillion yuan, data from Shanghai Customs showed.

Shanghai's imports of consumer goods and bulk commodities rose rapidly from January to July as domestic demand continued to grow. It imported 329.12 billion yuan of consumer goods, up 13.5 percent year on year, accounting for 22.7 percent of the city's total import value.

During the same period, Shanghai exported 693.16 billion yuan of mechanical and electrical products, a year-on-year increase of 15.2 percent, accounting for 69.6 percent of the city's total export value. Among the items, exports of electric passenger vehicles and lithium batteries saw robust growth, up 159.5 percent and 130 percent year on year, respectively.

The city's trade with the European Union, its largest trading partner, amounted to 500.19 billion yuan, up 11.6 percent year on year, accounting for 20.4 percent of the city's total foreign trade volume in the first seven months.

Shanghai's trade with other members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) rose 5 percent and that with countries along the Belt and Road grew by 3 percent, accounting for 32.7 percent and 22.1 percent of the total, respectively.
HARTFORD CITY, Ind.  A Blackford County woman convicted last year of killing a 5-year-old boy and his great-grandfather in a drunk driving crash now wants two of her convictions set aside.

Brandi S. Bare, now 47, last November was sentenced to 57 years in prison after she pleaded guilty to two counts each of causing death when driving while intoxicated, reckless homicide and causing serious bodily injury while driving drunk.

Authorities said Bare was drunk  with a blood-alcohol content more than three times the legal amount for motorists  on June 2, 2022, when her car slammed into the house of Montpelier resident Jerry A. "Jake" Michael.

The 73-year-old homeowner and his great-grandson, Jenson Reynolds, were killed. Two other famly members, including Jenson's one-year-old sister, were seriously injured.

In recent days, Bare  incarcerated at the Indiana Women's Prison in Indianapolis  filed a petition for post-conviction relief, contending she should not have been sentenced for both the causing death and reckless homicide convictions that stemmed "from the same deaths and the same actions."

More: Police: Blackford driver tried to flee after crash that killed great-grandfather, child

She also said her defense attorney had committed a "fundamental error" by instructing her to enter guilty pleas without negotiating a plea agreement.

In her motion, Bare also contended Blackford Superior Court Judge Nick Barry  who imposed a maximum sentence  had a duty to "point out and remedy fundamentally unfair issues in his court," and called his purported failure to do so "suspicious."

Bare also filed a motion to move her case to another county and a new judge, noting that 8,000 people had "signed (an online) petition" in the wake of her arrest asking that her bond be increased.

In July, the Indiana Court of Appeals rejected an appeal filed by Bare that raised some of the same issues.

In that 3-0 ruling, Judge Terry Crone wrote Bare had "waived review of her double jeopardy claim" by entering guilty pleas and also failed to persuade the appeals court the length of her sentence was inappropriate.

"This case indeed represents the worst of the worst," the judge wrote. "Bare chose to operate her vehicle while she was severely intoxicated. In doing so, she plowed through a house where a family that included very young children was gathering.

"She killed two people and severely injured two others who continue to suffer the lasting physical and psychological effects of the damage inflicted upon them."

According to a state Department of Correction website, Bare's projected release date is in June 2064, when she would be 88.

Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Blackford woman convicted in fatal crash seeks sentence reduction
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A Boise high school and elementary school sheltered in place for a little over an hour Friday because of a nearby police investigation.

Capital High School and Valley View Elementary School, which are less than a mile from each other, were sheltering in place, according to a 12:14 p.m. post from the Boise School District on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. By 1:35 p.m. the shelter in place had been lifted, according to a post from the school district. The schools are in West Boise.

In the initial post, officials said that students and staff were safe and that there was no specific threat to the schools.

The Boise Police Department did not respond to a request for additional information. But in a post on X, the department said officers were trying to apprehend a juvenile suspect in the same area. The minor, who police said was possibly armed, was last seen wearing a black shirt and shorts, the post said, causing authorities to close down Maple Grove Road between Edna Court and Ustick Road, according to a 12:28 p.m. social media post.

The department said at 1:34 p.m. that after searching the vicinity, officers determined that the suspect had left the area. Police were asking anyone with information to contact Ada County Dispatch at 208-377-6790.

Cole Valley Christian Schools elementary campus, which is roughly a mile from the two public schools, was working along with police, according to Principal Shelly Crager. In a phone call with the Statesman, Crager said school administrators would decide whether to shelter in place based on law enforcements direction.

Capital High School & Valley View Elementary School are in Shelter in Place due to police investigation in the area. Students & staff are safe. Police say no specific threat to schools.  Boise School District (@BSDEducation) August 18, 2023
Boris Kodjoe, Nicole Ari Parker and Chris Spencer are proud Bison parents. Both of the vetted actors showed off their firstborns on social media to congratulate them on starting their freshman year at Howard University.

The Instagram post featured several pics of Sophie Kodjoe and Christopher Spencer from newborns, and adolescents, to dorm move-in day, as Because of Them We Can reported.

Spencer wrote in his post, This week the Kodjoes and the Spencers moved in there first bornses into @howard1867. These two have known each other since they were infants as you see from the pictures as you scroll to the left. We parents are so proud that these two will continue to forge ahead with your love and friendship for each other. Sophie and Christopher. We love you. #imnotcryingyourecrying.

Kodjoe also shared his thoughts about the kids attending the legendary HBCU with a Facebook post that also reflected on the years of Sophie and Christophers friendship. The cute post ended with an ultimate dad joke.

He wrote, This dude @therealchrisspencer and I have been brothers for 25 years and today we shared another milestone when we moved our firstborns into their college dorm rooms at @howard1867. Sophie-cakes and Lil Chris have been day-ones since day 1 and are now sharing their first big milestone with each other. These two HU dads are so proud and happy. Good luck on your journey, guys. Now hurry up and graduate, get a job and pay us back all that tuition money (plus interest) that we loaned you. Love you.

Fully stepping into her campus life, Sophie posted herself on the yard for the first time as a freshman. The campus was full of students, activities and a bouncy house. She wore a grey fitted short-sleeve and baggy denim cargo pants.

Kodjoe wasted no time squeezing in a joke in the comments of the photo. Im a bit confused by the bouncy castle in the BG. Is that where my tuition $$$ goes? .

Congrats to the Spencer and Kodjoe families.
Supporters of Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro demonstrate against President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, in Brasilia

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian federal authorities on Friday arrested leaders of the capital's military police in a raid carried out as part of an investigation into the Jan. 8 riots, in which supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro stormed government buildings.

The officials had previous knowledge the riots were being planned and failed to stop them, the Supreme Court said.

The military police commander for the federal district, Klepter Rosa, was arrested along with former commander Colonel Fabio Augusto Vieira and five other top officials.

The officers were accused of a slew of crimes such as attempted coup d'etat, qualified damage to public property and violation of their duties as police authorities.

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who authorized the raid, said in his decision that there was "significant evidence" that the military police authorities had "advance knowledge" of the preparations for the riots.

In the riots, a crowd of Bolsonaro supporters invaded and ransacked the Congress, presidential palace and Supreme Court.

Moraes added the officials "maliciously failed to act, giving way to the coup-plotting purposes of the anti-democratic horde that attacked the three branches of the Republic."

The justice also said too few military police officers were dispatched to adequately deal with the riots.

The federal district's military police and its public security secretariat did not immediately respond to requests to comment.

(Reporting by Ricardo Brito; Writing by Peter Frontini)
(Bloomberg) -- Former President Jair Bolsonaro asked a computer programmer if it was possible to infiltrate Brazils electronic voting system and expose vulnerabilities, and promised to pardon him if he was caught, the hacker testified on Thursday.

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Bolsonaro also requested that the hacker, Walter Delgatti Neto, take responsibility for wiretapping the top court justice who is investigating the right-wing former leader, according to his testimony.

Delgatti Neto appeared before the congressional committee investigating riots that erupted on Jan. 8, when Bolsonaro supporters stormed major government buildings in Brasilia, the capital, in an attempt to overturn his defeat to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in last Octobers election.

Bolsonaro spread conspiracies throughout the contest and made baseless assertions that Brazils electronic voting system was vulnerable to fraud. But Delgatti Netos allegations are among the most direct that Bolsonaro went beyond false claims to play an active role in efforts to undermine Brazils election system before the contest took place.

He told me that I would be saving Brazil, that it was the freedom of the people at risk, that I needed to help him ensure the honesty of the elections, Delgatti Neto told the committee.

Bolsonaro spokesman Fabio Wajngarten denied the assertions on social media, saying that Delgatti Neto lies, lies, lies. Bolsonaros attorneys said in a separate statement that Delgatti Neto presented false information and that they planned to take legal action.

But the claims will potentially add to a mountain of legal troubles facing Bolsonaro, whom Brazils chief electoral authority has already banned from seeking public office for eight years. The testimony came less than a week after Federal Police asked courts to unseal banking and tax records in an investigation into whether Bolsonaro tried to sell gifts he received as president.

Brazilian authorities have also detained Bolsonaro allies in other investigations that, together with the congressional probe, have sought evidence into whether the former president and officials from his government were aware of  or potentially involved in  attempts to overturn the election.

After Walter Delgattis testimony, we dont need anything else to make it clear who was behind the coup in this country, congresswoman Jandira Feghali, a Lula ally, said during the hearing. The [former] President of the Republic wants to hire a hacker to fake an electronic ballot scam. Its one crime after another.

Read More: Bolsonaro to Be Banned From Public Office in Brazil for Eight Years

During a meeting at the presidential residence, Bolsonaro asked Delgatti Neto if it would be possible to hack a single ballot during the countrys September independence day celebrations, he told lawmakers. Delgatti Neto testified that Bolsonaro said he would grant him a presidential pardon if he were caught.

Delgatti Neto also said Bolsonaro told him to go to the Ministry of Defense, which was holding an investigation into election security, to detail technical information about how he could hack the ballot.

Infiltrating the system to alter a single ballot could have helped feed Bolsonaros efforts to cast doubt on Brazils voting system ahead of the closely-fought election.

In a subsequent phone call, Bolsonaro told Delgatti Neto that he had managed to wiretap Justice Alexandre de Moraes  the head of Brazils top electoral court  and needed the hacker to take responsibility for the action, Delgatti Neto testified.

He said Bolsonaro told him that the illegal wiretap was made by agents from another country, and that if he were caught, the former president said he will have the judge arrested.

Delgatti Neto did not provide direct evidence to back his claims, but listed names of people he said witnessed the requests.

Bolsonaros attorneys countered those claims in their statement, saying that after Delgatti Neto informed him of the alleged vulnerability of the electoral system, Bolsonaro ordered the Defense Ministry to investigate the allegations. They also said that after the initial meeting at the presidential residence, Bolsonaro was never again in the presence of Delgatti Neto, and did not maintain any type of direct or indirect contact with him.

Delgatti Neto did not answer questions from Bolsonaros congressional allies during an afternoon committee session, remaining silent throughout. Before the hearing ended, the committee requested that the hacker be placed in Brazils witness protection program.

Delgatti Neto will testify to Federal Police for a second time on Friday morning.

Brazils Supreme Court, of which Moraes is a member, declined to comment. The Ministry of Defense has not yet responded to Delgatti Netos claims.

(Updates with additional details from hearing and statement from Bolsonaros attorneys)

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42nd District State Rep. Ann Bollin won her campaign for reelection as a Republican Nov. 3, 2020.

BRIGHTON  Two local businesses, Martin Technologies in New Hudson and Action Tool and Machine in Brighton, were among the businesses awarded Going PRO Talent Fund grants from Rep. Ann Bollin.

According to the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, Workforce Development awards grants to employers through Michigan Works! Agencies. They conduct fact-finding sessions with employers to assess their talent skill gaps, suitable training providers, and availability of federal funding sources.

The MWA Business Services staff then determines whether Talent Fund awards are appropriate to help close the skills gap and give employers access to a convenient online application submission process.

The Going PRO Talent Fund offers awards to employers to assist in training, developing and retaining current and newly hired employees. Training funded by the Talent Fund must be short-term and fill a demonstrated talent need experienced by the employer. Training must lead to a credential for a skill that is transferable and recognized by industry.

Martin Technologies will receive a $12,231 grant, while Action Tool and Machine will receive $7,850.

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Certain industries have plenty of good-paying jobs available, but employers just cant find people with the skills needed to fill them, Bollin said in a press release. These grants help businesses bridge the skills gap and effectively train workers for jobs that are in demand. This is instrumental in shaping a better economic future and empowering more Michigan residents to secure meaningful employment opportunities, supporting their families along the way.

Statewide, approximately $13.5 million in grants from the second cycle of Fiscal Year 2023 Going PRO Talent Fund were recently awarded to 300 Michigan businesses to help approximately 8,500 workers secure employment, industry-recognized credentials and strong wages.

To view a full list of grant recipients and learn more about the Going PRO Talent Fund and its application cycles, visit www.michigan.gov/TalentFund.

 Contact reporter Patricia Alvord at palvord@livingstondaily.com.

This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Brighton business receives nearly $8,000 Going PRO Talent grant
 Read the full article on Motorious

He was a trailblazer.

On August 14, the automotive world mourned the loss of an iconic figure, Harris Mann. The revered former Chief Designer of British Leyland breathed his last at 85, leaving behind an unparalleled legacy. Born in the heart of London in 1938, Mann's infatuation with car design was evident throughout his life.

Mann, who could be rightly juxtaposed with illustrious names like Bertone, Pininfarina, and Guigiaro, was not just any designer. He possessed the knack for pushing boundaries, creating cars that not only turned heads but also sparked conversations. His radical approach was affirmed when his TR7 design was chosen over illustrious competitors like Michelotti and Pininfarina in an in-house design showdown.

Throughout his illustrious career, Mann introduced British roads to three game-changing designs. His wedge-shaped wonders, the Austin-Morris 18-22 (eventually rebranded as 'Princess') and the iconic Triumph TR7, reshaped perceptions of British cars. His third marvel, the Austin Allegro, arguably became the most celebrated of the trio.

But Manns talents weren't confined to British Leyland. During a tenure at Ford between 1962-1968, he contributed to the birth of classics like the first Ford Escort and the Capri. Later contributions to the Morris Ital and MG Rover models, including the ZR, ZS, and ZT, further stamped his mark on automotive history.

In his passing, the world loses not just a designer but a visionary who dared to reimagine the four-wheeled wonders that graced our roads.

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A view of Lucy Letby, who was on trial at Manchester Crown Court charged with the murder of seven babies, being taken in custody by police, in Chester

'I am evil': British nurse murdered seven newborn babies A view of Lucy Letby, who was on trial at Manchester Crown Court charged with the murder of seven babies, being taken in custody by police, in Chester

By Michael Holden

LONDON (Reuters) -A British nurse who described herself as a "horrible evil person" was found guilty on Friday of murdering seven newborn babies and trying to kill another six in the neonatal unit of a hospital in northwest England where she worked.

Lucy Letby, 33, was convicted of killing five baby boys and two baby girls at the Countess of Chester hospital and attacking other newborns, often while working night shifts, in 2015 and 2016.

The verdict, following a harrowing 10-month trial at Manchester Crown Court, makes Letby Britain's most prolific serial child killer in modern history, local media said.

She was found not guilty of two attempted murders while the jury, who spent 110 hours deliberating, were unable to agree on six other suspected attacks.

"We are heartbroken, devastated, angry and feel numb, we may never truly know why this happened," the families of Letby's victims said in a statement.

Prosecutors told the jury Letby poisoned some of her infant victims by injecting them with insulin, while others were injected with air or force fed milk, sometimes involving multiple attacks before they died.

"I killed them on purpose because Im not good enough to care for them," said a handwritten note found by police officers who searched her home after she was arrested. "I am a horrible evil person," she wrote. "I AM EVIL I DID THIS".

Some of those she attacked were twins - in one case she murdered both siblings, in two instances she killed one but failed in her attempts to murder the other.

The youngest victim was just one-day old.

'MALEVOLENT PRESENCE'

Letby will be sentenced on Monday and faces a lengthy prison term, possibly a rare full life sentence.

Her actions came to light when senior doctors became concerned at the number of unexplained deaths and collapses at the neonatal unit, where premature or sick babies are treated, over 18 months from January 2015.

With doctors unable to find a medical reason, police were called in. After a lengthy investigation, Letby, who had been involved in the care of the babies, was pinpointed as the "constant malevolent presence when things took a turn for the worse", said prosecutor Nick Johnson.

Pictures of Letby on social media portrayed a happy and smiling woman with a busy social life, and in one photo she was seen cradling a baby. But, during months of often distressing evidence, her trial heard she was a determined killer.

The jury was told how Letby had tried on four occasions to murder one baby girl before she finally succeeded. When another of the victim's mothers walked in on her attacking twin babies, she said: "Trust me, I'm a nurse".

At her home after her arrest, detectives found paperwork and medical notes with references to the children involved in the case. She had also carried out social media searches for the parents and families of the murdered babies.

Letby wept when she gave evidence over 14 days, saying she had never tried to hurt the babies and had only ever wanted to care for them, blaming unsafe staffing levels on the ward and its dirty conditions.

She also claimed four doctors had conspired to pin the blame on her for the unit's failings and had written the "I am evil" message because she had felt overwhelmed.

CRUEL LIAR

But the prosecution said she was a cold, cruel, calculating liar who had repeatedly changed her account of events and her notes should be treated as a confession.

Detectives said they had found nothing unusual about Letby's life and could not determine any motive. "Unfortunately, I don't think we'll ever know unless she just chooses to tell us," said Detective Superintendent Paul Hughes who led the investigation.

One senior doctor at the neonatal unit, Stephen Brearey, told the BBC that hospital bosses had failed to investigate allegations against Letby and failed to act on his and his colleagues' concerns.

"Our staff are devastated by what has happened, and we are committed to ensuring that lessons continue to be learned," said Nigel Scawn, medical director at Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

The government said it had ordered an independent inquiry which would include how concerns raised by clinicians were dealt with, while the father of twins who survived her attempts to kill them demanded answers from the hospital.

"They could have stopped it," said the father, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Police are carrying out further investigations into all the time Letby had worked as a nurse at the hospital and at another one in Liverpool where she had trained, to identify if there were any more victims.

"There is a number of cases that are active investigations that parents have been informed of," Hughes said.

(Reporting by Michael Holden; Additional reporting by Andy Bruce, William James, Kylie MacLellan, Muvija M, and Suban Abdulla; Editing by Frances Kerry and Andrew Cawthorne)
British nurse Lucy Letby was found guilty of murdering seven babies while working at a hospital in northwest England (-)

A British nurse was found guilty Friday of murdering seven newborn babies and trying to kill six others at the hospital neonatal unit where she worked, becoming the UK's most prolific child killer.

Lucy Letby, 33, had been on trial since October last year, accused of either injecting her sick or premature young victims with air, overfeeding them with milk or poisoning them with insulin.

The victims' families said in a joint statement read outside Manchester Crown Court in northern England said: "Justice has been served."

But they cautioned: "This justice will not take away from the extreme hurt, anger and distress we have all had."

The jury, some of whom were in tears after they were discharged, deliberated for 22 days, returning their first guilty decisions on August 8, which could not be reported until Friday because of a court order.

Letby fought back tears in the dock after the initial verdicts were read out. She was not in court Friday to hear the jurors' final determinations.

They eventually acquitted her of two counts, and could not reach decisions on six others. Prosecutors have asked for 28 days to consider whether to seek a retrial on those charges.

- 'Betrayal' -

Letby will be sentenced on Monday and has reportedly told her lawyers she will not attend court to hear her fate but she faces the prospect of never being released from prison.

The nurse was arrested following a string of deaths at the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital in northwest England between June 2015 and June 2016.

Described by the prosecution as a "calculating" woman who used methods of killing that "didn't leave much of a trace", Letby had repeatedly denied harming the children.

"Time and again, she harmed babies, in an environment which should have been safe for them and their families," said senior prosecutor Pascale Jones, calling the killings "a complete betrayal of the trust placed in her".

The court was told that colleagues raised concerns after noticing that Letby was on shift when each of the babies collapsed, with some of the newborns attacked just as their parents left their cots.

The prosecution said Letby "gaslighted" her colleagues into believing the string of deaths were "just a run of bad luck".

- 'Playing God' -

Letby's final victims were two triplet boys, referred to in court as babies O and P.

Child O died shortly after Letby returned from a holiday in Ibiza in June 2016, while child P died a day after their sibling.

Letby was also said to have attacked another baby boy, child Q, shortly after but the jury was unable to reach a verdict on the charge.

Prosecutors said by that time Letby was "completely out of control", adding that "she was in effect playing God".

Letby was arrested and released twice. On her third arrest in 2020 she was formally charged and held in custody.

During searches at her home, police found hospital paperwork and a handwritten note on which Letby had written: "I am evil, I did this."

Letby later tried to explain the note by saying she wrote it after being placed on clerical duties following the death of the two triplets.

Defence lawyer Ben Myers told the court Letby was "hardworking, deeply committed" and "loved her work".

Letby also suggested that a "gang" of four senior doctors pinned blame on her to cover for the hospital's failings.

When she gave evidence at the trial, she insisted she "always wanted to work with children" and said it was "devastating" to find out she was blamed for the deaths.

- Police probe -

Police are investigating Letby's entire tenure at the Countess of Chester and at the Liverpool Women's Hospital where she also previously worked, sifting through more than 4,000 neo-natal unit admissions between 2012 and 2016.

Nigel Scawn, medical director at the Countess of Chester, said the case had a "profound impact" on the hospital's patients but "significant changes" have been made since Letby worked there.

The government meanwhile announced an independent inquiry into Letby's case, and will look at how concerns by clinicians were dealt with by hospital management.

UK Health Secretary Steve Barclay said it would help the victims' parents and families "get the answers they need" and "help... identify where and how patient safety standards failed to be met".

Her case revived memories of two of Britain's infamous medical murderers, doctor Harold Shipman and nurse Beverley Allitt.

Shipman, a general practitioner, hanged himself in prison in 2004, four years after being convicted of killing 15 of his patients.

A later public inquiry concluded he killed about 250 patients with lethal morphine injections between 1971 and 1998.

Allitt -- a nurse dubbed the "angel of death" -- was jailed for life in 1993 after being convicted of murdering four young children in her care, attempting to murder three others and other offences.

acl-har/
A British nurse has been found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill six others at the hospital where she worked, making her the countrys worst baby serial killer in recent times.

Lucy Letby, 33, harmed babies in her care by injecting air into their blood and stomachs, overfeeding them with milk, physically assaulting them and poisoning them with insulin, Manchester Crown Court in northern England heard.

In one case, Letby murdered a baby boy, identified as Child E, by administering air into his bloodstream, the UKs PA Media news agency reported. The next day, she attempted to kill his twin brother, Child F, by poisoning him with insulin.

A court order protects the identity of the children involved in the allegations against Letby, including those who died and survived under her care.

Police found a trove of handwritten notes while searching Letbys house during their investigation, including one that read: I am evil I did this.

She secretly attacked 13 babies on the neonatal ward at the Countess of Chester hospital between 2015 and 2016, Britains Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said in a statement.

Her intention was to kill the babies while duping her colleagues into believing there was a natural cause of death, prosecutors argued.

Pascale Jones of the CPS called Letbys actions a complete betrayal of the trust placed in her.

Lucy Letby sought to deceive her colleagues and pass off the harm she caused as nothing more than a worsening of each babys existing vulnerability, she said.

In her hands, innocuous substances like air, milk, fluids  or medication like insulin  would become lethal. She perverted her learning and weaponised her craft to inflict harm, grief and death.

Victims families said they may never truly know why this happened.

To lose a baby is a heartbreaking experience that no parent should ever have to go through, a joint statement said.

But to lose a baby or to have a baby harmed in these particular circumstances is unimaginable, the statement added.

Nurse said I killed them in handwritten notes

In 2018 and 2019, Letby was arrested twice by police in connection with their investigation, PA said. She was arrested again in November 2020.

Authorities found notes Letby had written during searches of her address.

I dont deserve to live. I killed them on purpose because Im not good enough to care for them, she wrote in one memo, adding in another, I am a horrible evil person and in capital letters I am evil I did this.

The mother of Child E and Child F said she completely trusted Letbys advice, while giving evidence to the court, according to PA Media.

However, she said she knew there was something wrong when her baby, Child E, started screaming in the intensive care unit one night.

It emerged that before Letby murdered Child E, he started bleeding when she tried to assault him.

It was a sound that should not come from a tiny baby, the mother told the court. I cant explain what the sound was. It was horrendous. More of a scream than a cry.

There was no post-mortem examination following Child Es death. The mother said she thought he had passed away from natural causes.

Her twin son, Child F, later survived an attempt by Letby to kill him by insulin poisoning.

Consultants told to apologize for raising concerns

Doctors at the hospital began to notice a steep rise in the number of babies who were dying or unexpectedly collapsing, the court heard.

But concerns raised by consultants over the increased mortality rate of patients under Letbys care were initially dismissed by the hospitals management, PA Media said.

In September 2016, Letby filed a grievance against her employers after she was relocated from the hospitals neonatal ward. She was put back on clerical duties after two male triplets died and a baby boy collapsed on three days in a row in June 2016.

Later that year, she was notified of the allegations against her by the Royal College of Nursing union, but the complaint was later resolved in her favor. Doctors were asked to formally apologize to Letby in writing.

She was scheduled to return to the neonatal department in March 2017, but her return did not take place. The hospital trust contacted the police, who opened an investigation.

Lucy Letby (center) is shown hearing evidence in a courtroom sketch on Friday. - Elizabeth Cook/AP

Heartbroken, devastated, angry

The UK government has ordered an independent inquiry into the murders, including how concerns raised by clinicians were dealt with.

The inquiry will probe into the circumstances surrounding the deaths and incidents, the government said in a statement on Friday.

It will also evaluate what actions were taken by regulators and Britains National Health Service in response to concerns regarding Letby.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay pledged the voices of parents of the victims are heard throughout the inquiry, acknowledging there are many questions to be answered.

Justice has been served and the nurse who should have been caring for our babies has been found guilty of harming them, the victims families said in a joint statement on Friday.

But this justice will not take away from the extreme hurt, anger and distress that we have all had to experience, the statement added.

We are heartbroken, devastated, angry and feel numb.

Letby will be sentenced at Manchester Crown Court on August 21.

CNNs Niamh Kennedy and Sarah Dean contributed reporting.

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Chinese procuratorates crack down on food safety violations by online platforms

Xinhua) 09:39, August 18, 2023

BEIJING, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese procuratorial organs have handled 5,800 cases related to food safety violations by online platforms in a series of special operations nationwide over the past three years, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) said Thursday.

These cases, spanning from July 2020 to June 2023, involved offenses such as operating unlicensed online food delivery platforms, conducting business activities beyond the authorized scope, and poor storage of food during distribution, the SPP said.

Qiu Jinghui, a prosecutor from the SPP, said that in the process of handling individual cases, procuratorial organs discovered common problems in the industry and pushed for the adoption of targeted measures.

Procuratorates also worked with relevant administrative departments to strengthen oversight of the market access of online food companies and their routine operations, Qiu added.

Procuratorates in the country will launch a campaign on the supervision of livestream promotions and the sale of food and medicine in the next stage, according to the SPP.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
You are here: Business

A crane loads containers at a railway port in Horgos, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, May 11, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]

Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region saw a yearly rise of 59.3 percent in foreign trade in the first seven months of this year, the local customs authorities said Thursday.



The region's total import and export volume in the January-July period reached 183.16 billion yuan (about 25.4 billion U.S. dollars), boosted by a slew of favorable policies, according to Urumqi Customs.

In particular, its trade with countries along the Belt and Road rose by 61.4 percent to 169.1 billion yuan during the period, the customs said.

The region has seen growing competitiveness in the export of high value-added products, including electric vehicles and solar cells, which increased by 3.26 times and 36.9 times, respectively, between January and July.
Britney Spears' husband Sam Asghari has said the pair have decided to end their "journey together" after 14 months of marriage.

A divorce petition filed on Wednesday and seen by BBC News cited "irreconcilable differences" between Mr Asghari, 29, and Ms Spears, 41.

The couple got engaged in September 2021 and were married in a small but star-studded ceremony in June 2022.

Rumours of their marital struggles were reported in US tabloids this year.

Ms Spears became a global superstar after her song ...Baby One More Time was released when she was just 16. She went on to have hits including Toxic, Womanizer and Oops!...I Did It Again.

Some readers may find the language used below offensive.

In a post on Instagram, Mr Asghari said: "After 6 years of love and commitment to each other my wife and I have decided to end our journey together.

"We will hold onto the love and respect we have for each other and I wish her the best always.

"Shit happens.

"Asking for privacy seems rediculous [sic] so I will just ask for everyone including media to be kind and thoughtful."

Representatives for Ms Spears have not yet commented.

The musician did not address the divorce in a Wednesday night post to her 42 million Instagram followers, instead writing that she was "buying a horse soon".

According to the dissolution of marriage petition filed by Mr Asghari in Los Angeles County Superior Court, he asks that spousal support and attorneys' fees be paid by Ms Spears.

The Iranian-American actor, model and fitness trainer met Ms Spears while she was shooting the video for her song Slumber Party in 2016.

He was a vocal supporter of her efforts to end her father Jamie's conservatorship, a fight she won just months before their marriage.

Their wedding last year, at the superstar's home in Thousand Oaks, California, was an intimate and lavish affair attended by celebrities including Paris Hilton, Madonna and Drew Barrymore.

The two had recently been seen without their wedding rings in public.

The separation comes as Ms Spears prepares to publish her memoir - The Woman in Me - this October.

It marks the end of her third marriage.

In 2004, she married childhood friend Jason Alexander for 55 hours in Las Vegas, before she annulled the nuptials at the urging of her management team.

Mr Alexander, who was seen participating in the pro-Trump riot at the US Capitol in Washington DC in January 2021, attempted to crash Ms Spears' wedding to Mr Asghari hours before they tied the knot.

He was charged with trespassing, vandalism and two counts of battery, and has been court-ordered to stay away from her.

Ms Spears' second marriage - to rapper Kevin Federline - lasted from 2004 to 2007. Mr Federline retains sole custody of their two children, Jayden James and Sean Preston.
The trial for the man charged with murdering four University of Idaho students will maintain its sprint to a scheduled start in six weeks in Latah County. The judge in the case on Friday denied a motion by Bryan Kohbergers defense team to pause proceedings over their outstanding questions about his grand jury indictment.

Judge John Judge of Idahos 2nd Judicial District set a breakneck pace to hit the Oct. 2 trial date, telling the prosecution and public defenders for Kohberger that theyll need to be finished with the discovery process in two weeks, name the experts they plan to have testify a week after that and identify all of their witnesses by the middle of next month. All motions have to be filed by Sept. 22, in time for jury selection starting Sept. 25.

I know Mr. Kohberger is anxious to have this speedy trial and hes entitled to that, so Im going to tell you, this is a little bit of a reality check, Judge said. Im not even promising its doable, but thats just what we have to do.  So here we are.

Under Idaho law, a criminal defendant must receive a trial within six months of arraignment. A grand jury sat by the prosecution indicted Kohberger in mid-May on four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary, and he was arraigned a week later.

The prosecution intends to seek the death penalty if Kohberger is convicted.

Kohberger, 28, sat next to his public defense team at Fridays hearing wearing a light blue suit and striped tie. He is accused of stabbing to death the students in November at an off-campus home on King Road in Moscow. At the time, Kohberger was a graduate student of criminal justice and criminology at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, roughly 9 miles away.

Bryan Kohberger talks to defense attorney Anne Taylor.

The four victims were U of I seniors Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncavles, both 21; and junior Xana Kernodle and freshman Ethan Chapin, both 20. The three women lived at the King Road home with two other housemates who went unharmed in the Nov. 13 knife attack. Chapin was Kernodles boyfriend and staying over for the night.

DNA records debate dominates hearing

During the bulk of the expansive, six-hour-plus hearing Friday, the defense and prosecution sparred over whether the state should have to hand over all DNA records used to identify him. Heated at times, the attorneys for the two sides pleaded with Judge either to rule the documents be released through discovery or issue an order to protect all information about the use of investigative genetic genealogy (IGG), a process where detectives build a family tree based on DNA profiles to zero in on a suspect.

Over objections from the prosecution, Judge allowed the defense to call four witnesses to testify during the pretrial hearing on the relevance of the newer DNA technique prosecutors have acknowledged the FBI used while assisting state and local police in their eight-week manhunt. The witnesses included two IGG experts and a pair of attorneys who specialize in discovery and IGG.

Among them was Stephen Mercer, a longtime criminal defense attorney in Maryland with expertise in scientific evidence and DNA databases. He testified that release of IGG records in cases where it has been used is the minimum practice standard, so a defense team can mount an effective case on behalf of its client.

The attorney must obtain discovery of the scientific testing of the evidence sampled, Mercer said. And that is particularly so in a capital case. Particularly an environmental sample of trace DNA is absolutely crucial, because it informs the scope of the investigation and the experts to get.

Stephen Mercer testified at a court hearing Friday in Moscow over consideration of DNA evidence. Mercer is a longtime criminal defense attorney in Maryland with specialization in scientific evidence and DNA databases.

Kohbergers attorneys argued the testimony mixed with their prior arguments clearly demonstrated why they needed the disputed records.

Every single person in this courtroom should have pause when talking about a forensic science that is no more than five years old, public defender Elisa Massoth told Judge. Cumulatively, it is overwhelming that we must have this evidence to do this work.

But Idahos discovery rules do not require the state to turn over such records, countered Jeff Nye, chief of the Idaho attorney generals criminal law division, for the prosecution. IGG does not represent a scientific test, he argued, nor does the information help prove the defendants innocence  elements that could require their disclosure. Rather, Nye said, IGG is merely an advanced method used by police to obtain an investigative lead.

The fact that Kohberger could face the death penalty also should have no bearing on Judges decision, despite arguments to the contrary, Nye said.

You hear, This is a death penalty case, and death is different, he told Judge. But discovery is not. If the Idaho Supreme Court wanted the rules to be different (for death penalty cases), they could have done that, but they didnt do that.

Nye reaffirmed to Judge that prosecutors do not intend to use the information at trial, and that IGG was not used as support for Kohbergers arrest warrant. And, for the first time, he revealed that police did not rely on IGG to justify any search warrants during the investigation, either.

Judge chose not to issue a ruling on the debate over the defense receiving the IGG records, instead saying he would do more research and make a decision at a later time.

Kohbergers alibi due next month

As to the prosecutions ongoing demand that Kohberger submit an alibi if his attorneys plan to put up such a defense at trial, Judge granted them until Sept. 8. A formal alibi would represent proof that he was somewhere other than the King Road home at the time of the homicides, including with support, such as with witnesses.

Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson speaks during Fridays pretrial hearing for University of Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger. Thompson has resisted defense calls for the release of DNA evidence.

The defense previously sought to avoid filing the information, saying that such evidence may come out at trial. Pressed by prosecutors, Kohbergers defense wrote earlier this month that he was out driving his car alone, as he often did as a matter of habit, overnight from Nov. 12 to Nov. 13.

We knew that already, and if thats his alibi, so be it, Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson, who is leading the prosecution, argued before Judge on Friday. We will accept what the defendant has said, he was driving around, with a stipulation that he cannot provide more about it later at trial if the defense team fails to meet Judges revised deadline.

Between members of the public, media who traveled to attend and family for at least one of the victims, the courtroom was near capacity Friday for the entirety of the hearing. Members of the Goncalves family, including Kaylees parents, Steve and Kristi, their attorney, Shanon Gray, and supporters were among those on hand.

Time to collect our thoughts, Gray told the Idaho Statesman on Friday after the all-day hearing, declining further comment.

Yeah, its been a long day, added Kristi Goncalves, as the family exited the courthouse.
Bulgaria works to prevent tensions from escalating in the Black Sea, but an open clash between NATO and Russia in the region cannot be ruled out, Bulgarian Defense Minister Todor Tagarev said, the NOVA TV channel reported on Aug. 18.

Asked whether there is a possibility of a confrontation between the Alliance and Russian forces in the Black Sea, the minister said: "We cannot rule out such an option. We are working to prevent it. Russia constantly provokes NATO."

Tensions in the Black Sea region began to mount after Russia's withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, followed by strikes against Ukraine's port infrastructure and threats against civilian shipping.

Both Moscow and Kyiv announced that vessels sailing to the ports of their opponent will be treated as carriers of military cargo, and the Russian side warned that it will inspect all vessels sailing on the Black Sea.

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed on Aug. 13 that its patrol boat had fired warning shots against the Palau-flagged cargo ship Sukru Okran, forcing it to undergo inspection.

However, according to a Ukrainian open-source intelligence outfit InformNapalm, Russia has lied about the event: "There was no helicopter and no warning shots either. There were only threats from the Russians over the radio."

Tagarev commented on the alleged incident, saying that "a warning shot does not mean that a ship was fired upon," stressing that the civilian ship was reportedly allowed to continue in its journey. However, it is apparent that Russia is "aggressively trying to impose its will," he added.

On Aug. 13, Bulgaria's defense minister said that the protection of the Black Sea region is now a top priority for NATO.

The Alliance has pledged to increase surveillance in the area, using patrol aircraft and drones, and has already strengthened its presence in the region with two new multinational battlegroups in Bulgaria and Romania.

Read also: NATO-Ukraine Council meets for second time, addresses Black Sea security

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Bungalows, cars seized in Singapore's billion-dollar swoop on money laundering View of items seized during a police raid, in Singapore

By Xinghui Kok

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore's police said they have seized S$1 billion ($734.32 million) in assets from a gang of foreigners laundering proceeds from organised crime, including plush bungalows in the most sought-after addresses, bundles of cash, luxury cars, jewellery, handbags and gold bars.

In one of its biggest money-laundering cases, police said 400 officers fanned out across Singapore on Tuesday and launched simultaneous raids on residences across the city-state, from the Orchard Road shopping belt to the resort island of Sentosa.

The raids on at least nine locations netted assets totalling a staggering S$1 billion, police said. These included 94 properties, bank accounts with S$110 million, 50 vehicles, stacks of cash amounting to more than S$23 million, hundreds of luxury handbags and watches, fistfuls of jewellery and two gold bars.

At least 10 foreigners aged between 31 and 44 were arrested, including one man who jumped out of the second-floor balcony of his bungalow in a tony neighbourhood and was found hiding in a drain.

The man, a 40-year-old Cypriot national, sustained injuries in the fall and was taken to hospital. From his home, police seized cash amounting to more than S$2.1 million, four bank accounts with more than S$6.7 million and ownership documents of 13 properties and five vehicles with an estimated value of more than S$118 million.

The other arrested people included citizens from China, Cambodia, Cyprus and Vanuatu. One woman was among them.

Twelve people were assisting police in their investigations while another eight were wanted. Police said all those in the case were foreigners and were linked to each other.

A police statement said the group was suspected to be laundering proceeds from overseas organised crime, including scams and online gambling.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore said it takes this case seriously and has contacted the financial institutions "where the potentially tainted funds have been identified".

David Chew, director of commercial affairs at the police force, said Singapore has "zero tolerance" for being used as a safe haven for criminals or their families and for banking facilities to be abused.

"Our message to these criminals is simple - if we catch you, we will arrest you. If we find your ill-gotten gains, we will seize them. We will deal with you to the fullest extent of our laws," said Chew.

Singapore has in recent years seen an influx of foreign money. Latest figures from the central bank show that total assets under management in Singapore rose 16% in 2021 to S$5.4 trillion, compared with a global increase of 12% to $112 trillion the same year.

($1 = 1.3618 Singapore dollars)

(Reporting by Xinghui Kok; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
SACRAMENTO, Calif.  California will no longer try to stop a Stanford professor from testifying against the state in a major learning loss lawsuit.

The states Department of Education had threatened to sue Thomas Dee, a nationally prominent education researcher, over his plans to testify against the CDE in a suit criticizing the state for failing to adequately help low-income students and students of color recover from setbacks they suffered during protracted pandemic school closures.

The CDE had argued that an unrelated research agreement giving Dee access to department data prevented him from testifying in the case, even though he only cited public data in arguments criticizing the states response. But attorneys for the department effectively dropped their bid to block his testimony Wednesday night, telling several university researchers in a letter that a provision of their agreements limiting testimony adverse to the state would no longer be enforced.

The move, first reported by POLITICO, comes after the ACLU and First Amendment attorneys pressured the department to let up, arguing its efforts violated the professors right to free speech.



The fact that they have now pulled back is important for Tom, its important for this case, and its important for social scientists everywhere, Public Counsel attorney Mark Rosenbaum said in an interview Thursday. The reason they pulled back wasnt that they suddenly read the First Amendment. Its because they knew they were gonna lose.

CDE spokesperson Maria Clayton said she could not comment on pending litigation.

Department attorney Lin Garfinkel in the letter to researchers acknowledged criticism that limits on court testimony are overly broad, and told researchers we look forward to continuing our working relationship.

The lawsuit over distance learning inequalities was filed in state court in 2020 by nonprofit law firm Public Counsel along with the international firm Morrison & Foerster. It criticized the state for failing to develop a plan to remediate learning loss that students suffered during the pandemic. In a filing last year, attorneys argued disadvantaged students continue to fall desperately farther behind as they pushed the courts to force the state to implement stricter accountability measures for schools before its too late.

Dee and Stanford sociologist Sean Reardon both agreed to testify in the case, having studied the disparate effects of remote learning on disadvantaged students. But Reardon withdrew as the CDE threatened to fine him $50,000 and rescind his access to department data, according to EdSource. Dee was facing similar threats, and the ACLU filed a brief urging the judge to allow him to testify.

Public Counsel is seeking a hearing next week as it seeks a commitment from department attorneys to allow testimony from Dee. A trial for the learning loss case is set for November.
Former President Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are among the White House hopefuls scheduled to speak at the California Republican Party convention this fall in Anaheim. (Associated Press)

A rebellious campaign within the California Republican Party to break away from its historic opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage is dividing the party weeks before planned appearances by former President Trump and other GOP White House hopefuls.

A proposed platform overhaul, which could be voted on at the state GOPs fall convention in Anaheim, is a remarkable break from conservative dogma in the state that nurtured Presidents Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon.

Its a seismic shift but its a shift born out of practical necessity. Look at whats happening not just in California but in much more conservative states, realizing antiabortion, anti-same-sex marriage stances are no longer tenable, said Jessica Levinson, an election law professor at Loyola Law School. I think it shows their acknowledgment that the sand has shifted underneath their feet.

Political platforms, while largely symbolic, are supposed to embody a partys principles and core beliefs. Debate about modifying them often prompts controversy.

The California GOP proposal  adopted by a party committee in late July  supports traditional family values and a strong and healthy family unit. But it removes language that says it is important to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

Read more: How Rep. Adam Schiff celebrated the fourth indictment of former President Trump

The draft also excises opposition to a federally protected right to abortion, while maintaining support for adoption as an alternative to abortion.

Longtime conservative leaders are appalled by the proposal  both over its content and its likelihood to foment division at a key moment before the states presidential primary.

This will be extremely controversial and will take a convention that is supposed to be about unifying the party and instead it ends up becoming a big feud, said Jon Fleischman, a former state GOP executive director. Its the last thing the party needs.

He described it as a big middle finger to the presidential candidates who are scheduled to speak at the convention, all of whom embrace the various party planks that are proposed for removal..

Supporters counter that the updates align the partys principles with voters.

Charles Moran, a Los Angeles County delegate who is a member of the platform drafting committee, said it is critical to move away from rigid orthodoxy to give our California Republican candidates a fighting chance.

We need a party platform that empowers our candidates, not one that serves as an albatross around their neck, said Moran, the president of Log Cabin Republicans.

The draft proposal also eliminates language about taxpayer protection for homeowners and a plank about opposing racism. But at a time while the GOP nationally is focused on culture wars, the changes in approach to same-sex marriage and abortion are likely to draw the most consternation among state Republicans.

The proposal slims the platform from 11 pages to four. The vote approving the draft took place in Irvine on July 29, after a contentious state party executive committee meeting about revising how the state partys presidential delegates will be awarded in the March primary. (Despite Californias overwhelming blue tilt, it is home to the largest state Republican party in the nation and will send the most delegates to their presidential nominating convention next year.)

The draft platform will be voted on at the state partys fall convention, which former President Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and other presidential candidates are expected to attend. If the partys delegates cannot reach consensus, the platform debate may be shifted to their spring gathering.

If the proposed modifications are adopted, it would place the partys platform closer to the beliefs held by most Californians and Americans.

More than three-quarters of California adults did not want federal protection for access to abortion to be overturned, according to a 2021 poll by the Public Policy Institute of California. That included 59% of Republicans.

Nationally, 71% of Americans believe same-sex marriage should be legal, according to a recent Gallup poll.

But the state GOP is more conservative than the states voters, which makes the proposed revision of the platform a test of the partys priorities.

The question theyre going to wrestle with is this: What is the primary purpose of a political party, said Dan Schnur, a politics professor at USC, Pepperdine and UC Berkeley. If it's to reflect the ideological passions of their most loyal members, then they shouldn't make these changes. But if it's to win more elections, then its probably something they need to think about.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Three Northern California police officers under investigation in a probe into racist and derogatory text messages were indicted on conspiracy charges alleging they touted their use of excessive force and collected trophies, court documents unsealed Thursday show.

Eric Rombough, Devon Wenger and Mortez Amiri have been accused of conspiring to injure, oppress, threaten and intimidate residents in Antioch, a city of roughly 114,000 people located 45 miles northeast of San Francisco, according to a 30-page indictment filed in federal court in California's Northern District.

The three are among 14 Antioch Police Department officers who allegedly sent a raft of derogatory messages that were released earlier this year, according to an investigative report compiled by the Contra Costa County District Attorneys Office.

In a separate criminal case unsealed Thursday, Wenger and another Antioch officer were accused of conspiracy to distribute steroids, destroying, altering and falsifying federal records, and other crimes.

Amiri was charged in two separate cases also unsealed Thursday alleging six counts of wire fraud related to a higher education fraud scheme.

The six defendants named in that case, some of whom work for the police department in the nearby city of Pittsburg, allegedly faked course work at a Southern California university in exchange for reimbursements, pay raises and bumps in benefits, according to the indictment.

In the excessive force case, the three officers were charged with conspiracy against rights, deprivation of rights and destruction of federal records. Amiri  a former K-9 officer  deployed his dog Purcy to bite at least 28 people between 2019 and 2021, the indictment alleges.

Amiri captured photos and videos of dog bite injuries on his personal cellphone and shared them with officers and others, saying in one 2019 text that the gory pics are for personal stuff, according to the indictment.

In some cases, he texted Wenger and Rombough  who worked for the departments SWAT and gang units  how many times Purcy had bit someone: #4 on fire rnlol, the indictment alleges.

In another instance in 2019, Wenger texted the other two officers, asking them to find a suspect who ran, according to the indictment.

When Wenger asked them to do something vulgar to the suspect, Rombough responded: Deal.

In a 2020 text, Wenger told Amiri that they needed to "go 3 nights in a row dog bite!!!" Amiri emphasized the message, according to the indictment, and Wenger replied with a homophobic slur about a senior officer, saying they should give the lieutenant "something to stress out about lol."

In another text that year, Amiri sent Wenger eight graphic images of people with dog bites and described the work week as "very eventful," according to the indictment.

"Hahahah...YEAH BRO," Wenger responded, using an expletive.

Amiri, who started working for the department in 2017, was suspended from the K-9 unit in early 2022, the indictment says.

Rombough, who also served in the departments problem-oriented policing unit, shot at least 11 people with a less-lethal weapon in less than a year, according to the indictment.

He collected the spent munitions from the weapon, telling others he was keeping them for the mantle and creating a trophy flag to commemorate his deployments, the indictment says.

He resigned from the gang and SWAT units in early 2022, according to the indictment.

Lawyers for Rombough and Amiri did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It wasn't immediately clear if Wenger has a lawyer to speak on his behalf.

Efforts to reach Rombough and Amiri were unsuccessful. A message left on a phone number listed under Wenger's name was not immediately returned.

In a statement, acting Antioch Police Chief Joe Vigil called the allegations "disheartening" and said that "any police officer who breaks public trust must be held accountable."

"From the beginning of this investigation, our administration has been fully cooperating with these agencies, and will continue to do so," he said. "No individual  including a police officer  is above the law."

The Pittsburg Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.

In a statement, Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe described Thursday as a dark day in our citys history, as people trusted to uphold the law allegedly breached that trust.

As our city absorbs this tragic news, we must come together as one, he said. Todays actions are the beginning of the end of a long and arduous process.

Federal authorities investigating the criminal allegations uncovered the racist and derogatory text messages that dozens of officers in Antioch are alleged to have sent or received in 2020 and 2021.

A judge earlier this year released the investigative report compiled by the prosecutor's office that included the partly redacted messages after a joint FBI and local investigation into the citys police department.

In one message, Rombough allegedly used an expletive and texted another officer: Im only stopping them cuz they black." In another message, Rombough allegedly texted a sergeant a picture of a suspect in a hospital bed and said it was the man's fault that he got "6 muzzle thumps and me trying to kick his head over the fence."

Amiri allegedly sent a text saying that because his agency does not record interviews on video, I sometimes just say people gave me a full confession when they didnt.

Gets filed easier, Amiri said, according to the report.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
History will not be kind to former President Trump's enablers, including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), pictured at last year's Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas. (LM Otero / Associated Press)

If only public figures fear of the judgment of history outweighed their appetite for power in the present.

Throughout Donald Trumps rise, rule and continuing domination of the nations political stage, Ive often wondered at the many high-ranking Republican actors who have come to be his Greek chorus. They know what a con man he is, what a loser he is. And they must know theyre on the wrong side of history, kowtowing to an antidemocratic man who will go down as the worst U.S. president ever.

These Republicans are not dumb  heck, some even have Ivy League diplomas.

Take Sen. Ted Cruz. The smarmy Texan (Princeton, Harvard Law) once condemned Trump, aptly, as a pathological liar, utterly amoral and a narcissist. This week, Trump put a Cruz comment at the top of a list of quotes in a 2024 campaign email titled Republicans Show United Support for President Trump after his fourth criminal indictment.

Every time bad news comes out about Hunter or Joe Biden, Cruz said, you can set a stopwatch & within hours, some clown goes & indicts Donald Trump again.

Right, and the dozens of grand jurors who returned the indictments are in on Democrats ruse? And also the brave Republicans whove provided evidence against Trump, under oath?

Read more: After Georgia indictment, Republicans pick sides

Cruz knows better. But its all part of the Trumpian con. Cruz and other faux populists pretend that they champion average Americans against the elites, when actually theyre playing conservative voters for fools.

History will not be kind. Trouble is, too many Republicans fear of historys verdict is offset by their terror of Trumps wrath now. The unshakable MAGA loyalty of roughly a third of Republican voters means Trumps denunciation can doom his critics in Republican primaries, and has.

Even so, Im flummoxed that more elected and party officials still wont turn against the execrable Trump.

People drawn to play a role in politics tend to be students of the subject, Ive found over years of reporting on them. Most Republicans know that historys heroes are those who stand on principle, even at the risk of losing or forfeiting elective office. So why choose to be unheroic  even villainous, juries might find?

Read more: Litman: What makes the Georgia indictment of Donald Trump so different from all the others

A modern-day John F. Kennedy could find enough Republicans to write a new edition of Profiles in Courage. But its subjects wouldnt be the once-Grand Old Partys national leaders or most of the Republicans running against Trump now.

Instead, the heroes are formerly obscure, lower-level Republicans across the nation. Many have endured personal abuse, even death threats, and career setbacks for their anti-Trump, pro-democracy stands, sometimes despite direct pressure from the man himself. Their heroism is clear in the record against Trump contained in the indictments in Manhattan, Washington, Atlanta and south Florida, and in the final report of the House Jan. 6 committee  welcome profiles in courage among the sordid stories of Trump and his indicted and unindicted co-conspirators.

Among them: Former Republican Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, run out of Congress for putting country over party. Former Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, also defeated after resisting Trumps coup attempt in his state. Georgias secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, and election official Gabriel Sterling. Stalwart local officials in other swing states, including Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy were shaken enough after Jan. 6 to castigate Trump for a minute. But they came to define cowardice, not courage  McCarthy by his overt groveling, McConnell by his silence. As Georgia's Sterling once said, If youre going to take a position of leadership, show some!

Read more: How a law associated with mobsters is central to the charges against Trump

Like Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. He defied Trump after the 2020 election and pounced Tuesday when Trump claimed that on Monday, he would reveal irrefutable evidence of voting fraud in the state.

The 2020 election in Georgia was not stolen, Kemp posted on the site formerly known as Twitter. For nearly three years now, anyone with evidence of fraud has failed to come forward  under oath  and prove anything in a court of law. Our elections in Georgia are secure, accessible, and fair and will continue to be as long as I am governor. The future of our country is at stake in 2024 and that must be our focus.

I'd prefer a more frontal attack, but is Kemp's example so hard to follow? Apparently so for all the quislings seeking to protect their own political hides by kissing Trumps. Yet historys early verdicts against them are already being written.

Read more: Georgia prosecutor seeks March trial date for Trump and 18 others in election case

Stuart Stevens, a strategist for George W. Bushs and Sen. Mitt Romneys presidential campaigns, wrote this week, I helped elect Republican governors or Senators in half the country.  By remaining silent or supporting Trump, they became part of a conspiracy to end democracy. They failed America & that will be their legacy.

The Bulwark, a site created by "Never Trump" Republicans, has issued a masterful small book and podcast series tracing what it calls the "corruption" of South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham in morphing from Trump scourge (2015: Hes a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot) to sycophant in chief. And on PBS NewsHour this week, former federal Judge J. Michael Luttig, a conservative legal icon who ashamedly counts Cruz among his former law clerks, told Judy Woodruff, It has been the Republicans who have reprehensibly failed us as Americans.

History is written by the victors, it's said. As worrisome as our current moment seems, we can hope that democracy and the rule of law will triumph over the threat from Trump and his cohorts.

And then future generations will read all about it.

@jackiekcalmes

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
CAMP DAVID, Md.  President Joe Biden on Friday signed historic agreements with the leaders of South Korea and Japan, bridging the fraught history between the two countries with promises of strengthening each nations economic and national security interests.

In what was a clear message to China, Biden welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol for the first trilateral meeting between the three countries that wasnt held on the sidelines of an international gathering.

This is the first summit Ive hosted at Camp David, and I can think of no more fitting location to symbolize our new era of cooperation, Biden said at a joint press conference held at the rustic presidential campsite in the Catoctin Mountains, about 60 miles north of Washington.

The looming threats of China and North Korea shadowed the summit. Both Japan and South Korea are well within range of Pyongyangs rocket tests, and both nations also have attempted to curb Beijings growing strength in the region. Biden saluted the bravery of both Asian leaders by setting aside generations of tensions between their countries, and he vowed that the new formalized alliance would be unwavering in our unity and unmatched in our resolve.

The multihour summit between the three leaders took place in a retreat filled with wooded paths once walked by each U.S. president since Franklin Roosevelt and by foreign leaders ranging from British Prime Ministers Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher to Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev and even Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Administration officials hoped the informality of the presidential retreat  hosting its first world leaders meeting since 2015  would foster what Biden on Friday called the next era of partnership with South Korea and Japan. The two Asian countries have long been at loggerheads with deep hostility stemming from Japans colonial rule over Korea from 1910 to 1945.

Freed of the humidity of Washington and formality of the White House, the leaders appeared without neckties. Biden held individual meetings with each foreign leader before the trilateral meeting and press conference. Yoon and Kishida were at Camp David for about seven hours each.

The administration announced agreements to improve coordination on ballistic missile defense and information sharing, to contribute economic data such as an early warning system for supply chain disruptions, and to better coordinate national security such as multiyear plans to hold military exercises.

With an eye on threats imposed by both North Korea and China, the White House said it aimed to solidify the three countries cooperation for the long term. Biden stressed that the agreements would remain in place  even if Donald Trump were to return to the White House.

His America First policy  walking us away from the rest of the world  makes us weaker, not stronger, said Biden. He added that the summit launched institutional changes that makes our relationships stronger and stay in place.

To gird against political changes in any of the three countries, the agreement commits each country to annual meetings and military exercises, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said earlier Friday.

Both Japan and Korea also pledged to donate funding to help Hawaii recover from its recent deadly wildfires.

White House officials credited Biden for laying the groundwork for the handshakes since the beginning of his term. The president met frequently with both leaders, and other officials, including Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, did the same with their counterparts at international meetings.

White House aides believe the agreements will be judged by history as a signature accomplishment of a president who is deeply comfortable on matters of foreign policy. Once Russia invaded Ukraine, Biden rallied NATO and other democracies to Kyivs defense, revitalizing alliances and making the battle against autocracies a centerpiece of his presidency.

And Biden has long had his eye on China, seemingly coming close to fulfilling the goal of pivoting to Asia, a foreign policy prize that has eluded many of his predecessors. Biden has painted the 21st century as one of competition between the United States and China and many administration officials believe that Chinas weakening economy and struggles with the Covid pandemic have allowed the U.S. to assert more influence in the Pacific.

And to combat Chinas push in that region, the Biden administration also strengthened ties with the other nations in the so-called Quad  India, Australia, and Japan  and brokered the sale of nuclear submarines to Australia. And at a time of rising tensions with Beijing, the White House has also pressed it not to further assist Moscow in its invasion of Ukraine and has looked to it as an influence over North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.

As part of the agreement, the countries committed to creating a communication channel to share information expeditiously if one faces a threat, such as a provocation from North Korea.

The principles include new language declaring that the three countries seek the complete denuclearization of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. Until now, the U.S. said the goal was ridding the whole peninsula of nuclear weapons. The wording opens up the possibility that the administration will rotate nuclear assets to South Korea, like the first American nuclear-capable submarine to visit the country in four decades, or quietly support Seoul starting its own nuclear program.

National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson denied there was a new policy: This [does] not in any way signal a change in the U.S. approach to North Korea, nor does it signal the possibility of the U.S. returning nuclear weapons to South Korea.

At Fridays news conference, Biden downplayed the role China played on the summits agenda, but he acknowledged it was a focus. Beijing, predictably, kept a close watch on the meeting in the Maryland woods.

Attempts to cobble together various exclusionary groupings and bring bloc confrontation and military blocs into the Asia-Pacific are not going to get support and will only be met with vigilance and opposition from regional countries," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin.

Sullivan pushed back on that critique, saying the summit is not against anyone.

It is for a vision of the Indo-Pacific that is free, open, secure and prosperous.

Alexander Ward and Phelim Kine contributed to this report.
Fridays unprecedented trilateral summit between the leaders of the United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea will cap off months of what the White House describes as courageous diplomacy on the part of the Japanese and South Korean heads of government, Fumio Kishida and Yoon Suk-yeol.

Both leaders have met a number of times over the last several months in an effort to ease longstanding tensions between the two US allies, including old grievances dating back a century to the Japanese Empires occupation of the Korean Peninsula.

According to a senior Biden administration official, the two Asian leaders have taken further steps to reengage technologically, militarily and politically at each of their previous meetings, receiving quiet encouragement from Mr Biden during respective bilateral engagements.

The official said Mr Kishida and Mr Yoon have both had to overcome uncertainties about the rapprochement, including substantial questions and opposition about their tentative steps towards deeper cooperation.

There were some starts and stops along the way. But what we've seen over the course of the last several months is nothing short of courageous diplomacy on the part of President Yoon and matching efforts by Prime Minister Kishida, the official said.

But it was Mr Biden, who has staked his foreign policy reputation on his ability to build and grow alliances both in Europe and the Indo-Pacific, who was brought in to close the deal.

The official said the US president reminded both leaders about what was at stake and the importance of fulfilling their shared desire to build a durable trilateral partnership that would be with us for the 21st century and help shape and react to the challenges that we are facing.

He added that Mr Biden had charged Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan with arranging the details of the Camp David summit, with the choice of the presidential retreat as venue seen as a nod to the importance and significance of the meeting, and Camp Davids history as a stage for high-level international diplomacy.

I think we believe this is clearly at that level, the official said.

Both Mr Kishida and Mr Yoon have been in Washington since late Thursday, and each leader will travel to Camp David on Friday by helicopter.

Each will be separately met by Mr Biden, who arrived at the Thurmont, Maryland retreat Thursday evening and spent the night preparing for the event alongside top advisers.

A senior official who briefed reporters on plans for the trilateral summit said each of the two leaders would have bilateral meetings with Mr Biden for the purpose of raising specific issues with the president and his team, followed by a substantial set of trilateral meetings between the three leaders and their official delegations.

Mr Biden, Mr Kishida and Mr Yoon will then share a private lunch alongside Mr Blinken, Mr Sullivan, and their Japanese and South Korean counterparts, followed by a break, after which they will close out the summit with a three-way joint press conference.

The leaders will then roll out a series of three-way statements and deliverables that the official said would cover every arena of engagement between our three countries  education, technology, diplomacy, [and] military, and take questions on the three-way commitments that will be undertaken by the American, Japanese and South Korean governments.

Those commitments that will be unveiled on Friday afternoon will include the establishment of a three-way hotline between Washington, Tokyo and Seoul modelled after the famous Washington-Moscow hotline established during the Cold War.

A White House official said the hotline would be built using appropriate and state-of-the-art technology to allow all three leaders to engage in moments of crisis and uncertainty.

The official added that Mr Biden, Mr Kishida and Mr Yoon will each pledge to have what he called a duty to consult in the event of a crisis or a set of circumstances that affect the security of any one of our countries.

Fridays summit will mark a significant shift in the tone of relations between Tokyo and Seoul. Although both nations have strong security relationships with the US based on mutual defence agreements dating back decades, the Japanese-Korean relationship has been an icy one, due in part to Japans history of aggression and occupation leading up to the Second World War.

A senior administration official acknowledged that Japan and South Korea have long cooperated with the US on certain issues, particularly ones concerning North Korea and that countrys illicit nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

But the official said Chinas more aggressive posture and Russias unprovoked invasion of Ukraine really overturned the threat board and changed how many US allies and partners thought about their own security.

Those forces have increasingly obviously created incentives to cooperate, but as those things have occurred, I think the ROK and Japan have also understood that they increasingly have aligned affirmative interests and objectives, the official said. Those include their interests in a shared secure technology environment, they include shared values, they include deep interest in supporting partners in places like Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands.

The official also said Mr Biden had provided a clear vector of support for the leaders efforts, including by having each of the leaders as some of the first foreign heads of state or government to visit the White House under his administration, and by visiting both countries during his previous travel to the region.

But she also stressed that the remarkable moment that will occur at Camp David is due to the courageous leadership of Mr Kishida and Mr Yoon, each of whom was willing to take considerable risks, to do what they believe is right to ensure that we're all standing side by side and able to work as one to face the challenges and seize the opportunities ahead.
Chinese procuratorial organs have handled 5,800 cases related to food safety violations by online platforms in a series of special operations nationwide over the past three years, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) said Thursday.

These cases, spanning from July 2020 to June 2023, involved offenses such as operating unlicensed online food delivery platforms, conducting business activities beyond the authorized scope, and poor storage of food during distribution, the SPP said.

Qiu Jinghui, a prosecutor from the SPP, said that in the process of handling individual cases, procuratorial organs discovered common problems in the industry and pushed for the adoption of targeted measures.

Procuratorates also worked with relevant administrative departments to strengthen oversight of the market access of online food companies and their routine operations, Qiu added.

Procuratorates in the country will launch a campaign on the supervision of livestream promotions and the sale of food and medicine in the next stage, according to the SPP.
Canada demands Meta lift 'reckless' ban on news to allow fires info to be shared A satellite image shows wildfires burning near Yellowknife

By David Ljunggren

OTTAWA (Reuters) -The Canadian government on Friday demanded that Meta lift a "reckless" ban on domestic news from its platforms to allow people to share information about wildfires in the west of the country.

Meta started blocking news on its Facebook and Instagram platforms for all users in Canada this month in response to a new law requiring internet giants to pay for news articles.

Some people fleeing wildfires in the remote northern town of Yellowknife have complained to domestic media that the ban prevented them from sharing important data about the fires.

"Meta's reckless choice to block news ... is hurting access to vital information on Facebook and Instagram," Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge said in a social media post.

"We are calling on them to reinstate news sharing today for the safety of Canadians facing this emergency. We need more news right now, not less," she said.

Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguez earlier said the ban meant people did not have access to crucial information.

Chris Bittle, a legislator for the ruling Liberal Party, complained on Thursday that "Meta's actions to block news are reckless and irresponsible."

Ollie Williams, who runs Yellowknife's Cabin Radio digital radio station, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. that people were posting screen shots of information on Facebook since they could not share links to news feeds.

In response, a Meta spokesperson said by email that the company had activated the "Safety Check" feature on Facebook that allows users to spread the word that they are safe in the wake of a natural disaster or a crisis.

Canadians can use Facebook and Instagram to access content from official government agencies, emergency services and non-governmental organizations, the spokesperson added.

Meta says users do not come to its platform for news and forcing the company to pay for content shared on its platforms is unsustainable for its business.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Josie Kao)
Social media users are sharing two Canadian weather maps that use different colors to illustrate similar temperatures, claiming the hues were changed between 2018 and 2022 to exaggerate global warming. This is misleading; the meteorologist featured in the images told AFP he temporarily used software with another color scheme after his computer crashed.

"I guess a 'red hot' 19 degrees in 2021 is warmer than a green 20 degree day from four years ago," says the caption of an August 14, 2023 Facebook post with more than 2,400 shares.

The post includes a photo with two screenshots of weather reports in Canada.

The first forecast, dated July 9, 2018, illustrates temperatures ranging from nine to 29 degrees Celsius (about 48 to 84 degrees Fahrenheit) with green and yellow. The second map, labeled "July 26," uses red and orange to shade in areas with temperatures between 12 and 27C (about 54 to 81F).

The photo comparison circulated elsewhere on Facebook with the same caption. Similar claims have spread online since at least summer 2022 -- including a post from Alberta Legislative Assembly Member Todd Loewen, who has since become the province's minister of forestry, parks and tourism.

Screenshot of a Facebook post taken August 18, 2023

Screenshot of a Facebook post taken August 18, 2023

"Could this be the media pushing a government agenda?" says an August 10, 2022 post with the photo on Twitter, which is being rebranded as "X."

AFP has previously fact-checked claims that meteorology reports in the United Kingdom, Sweden and Germany were manipulated to exaggerate the severity of global warming. The posts about Canada are similarly misleading.

Peter Quinlan, a Global News meteorologist who appears in both screenshots, told AFP the colors vary between the photos because he had to use weather mapping software with different palette settings for a week in 2018.

"My computer just crashed one week," said Quinlan, who is based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. "Then I had to use my colleague's computer to complete my weathercasts. And back then they happened to have a different temperature color contour on their national temperature map."

In 2018, Global News meteorologists selected their own palettes for forecasts, he said. But by the end of 2022, the company standardized the colors.

A reverse image search reveals the second photo in the posts is a screenshot from a July 26, 2022 Global News broadcast (archived here).

Quinlan's forecast from July 9, 2018 (archived here) does feature cooler colors. But similar videos from June and August of that year show deeper oranges and reds -- similar to those in the 2022 broadcast (archived here and here).

This screenshot taken August 18, 2023 shows a June 8, 2018 Global News broadcast featuring Peter Quinlan

This screenshot taken August 18, 2023 shows a July 9, 2018 broadcast in which Quinlan used mapping software with different color settings

This screenshot taken August 18, 2023 shows an August 8, 2018 broadcast in which Quinlan returned to using his own software

This screenshot taken August 18, 2023 shows a July 26, 2022 Global News broadcast

When the screenshots first circulated in 2022, Quinlan responded to social media inquiries about the color change with the same explanation about his computer (archived here).

"They just posted it and said, 'this is the narrative' or 'this was the reason why' -- that we were trying to really draw attention to warming or whatever it may be," Quinlan told AFP. "So, I just felt like I needed to address it at least once so that people would have that."

Scientific consensus

Most scientists agree climate change is to blame for more extreme weather events (archived here).

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said in its most recent report (archived here) that human activities have "unequivocally" caused global warming. July 2023 was the hottest month on record, according to the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service.

A 2019 report from Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) concluded the country is seeing more climate change effects as it warms at a faster rate (archived here).

"Observed changes in temperature extremes indicate that warm events are becoming more intense and more frequent, while cold events are becoming less intense and less frequent," said Eleni Armenakis, an ECCC spokeswoman, in an email on August 18, 2023.

In 2021, Canada recorded its hottest temperature ever at 49.6C (121F) in Lytton, British Columbia -- a town that was decimated by a wildfire days after the record was set.

The province faced another severe heatwave in summer 2023. Other parts of the country, including the Northwest Territories capital of Yellowknife, were evacuated due to wildfire threats.

More of AFP's reporting on climate change misinformation is available here.
A Canadian woman who mailed a threatening letter containing a poisonous substance to former President Donald Trump while he was serving in the White House was sentenced to over two decades in prison on Thursday.

Pascale Cecile Veronique Ferrier, a 56-year-old dual citizen of Canada and France, was sentenced to 262 months, nearly 22 years, behind bars in Washington, D.C., for mailing a letter containing the poison ricin in 2020 to then-President Trump and others. She pleaded guilty in January to violating biological weapons prohibitions.

In the letter, Ferrier referred to Trump as "The Ugly Tyrant Clown" and laced it with the potentially deadly ricin, saying, "If it doesnt work, Ill find better recipe for another poison, or I might use my gun when Ill be able to come. Enjoy! FREE REBEL SPIRIT."

Ferrier was ultimately arrested trying to drive across the U.S.-Canada border at the Peace Bridge Border Crossing in Buffalo, New York, while carrying a gun, a knife and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, authorities said. The letter was intercepted at a mail sorting facility in September 2020, before it could reach the White House.

COULD TRUMP PARDON HIMSELF IF CONVICTED OF GEORGIA CHARGES? EXPERTS WEIGH IN

Pascale Cecile Veronique Ferrier, a 56-year-old dual citizen of Canada and France, mailed a letter containing the poison ricin in 2020 to then-President Donald Trump.

In court, Ferriers defense attorney Eugene Ohm said the "inordinately intelligent" French immigrant had no previous criminal record prior. He also highlighted that she had earned a masters degree in engineering and raised two children as a single parent.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

The judge ultimately sided with prosecutors, who argued that Ferrier made the ricin at home in Quebec and mailed the potentially deadly poison to Trump and to several police officials in Texas.

Ferrier was jailed for around 10 weeks in the spring 2019 after she refused to leave a park area after it closed. Investigators found eight similar letters sent to law enforcement officials in charge of the Texas jail where she was held.

In September 2020, Ferrier posted on X, then called Twitter, that someone should "please shoot [T]rump in the face."

In the letter, she instructed Trump to "[g]ive up and remove [his] application for this election."

GEORGIA COURT CLERK ADMITS 'MISHAP' BEHIND 'FICTITIOUS' TRUMP INDICTMENT: 'I AM HUMAN'

Ferrier told the judge that she considers herself a "peaceful and genuinely kind person" but admitted she gets angry about problems like unfairness, abuses of power and "stupid rules." She also said she considers herself to be an "activist" rather than a "terrorist."

Ferrier added, "I want to find peaceful means to achieve my goals."

U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich handed down the 262-month sentence outlined in a plea agreement with prosecutors, which also would expel Ferrier from the U.S. once she is released from prison. She will be required to be under supervised release for life, if she ever returns.

The judge also pushed back on Ferrier's actions. "That isn't really activism," she said. "I hope you have no desire to continue on this path."

Ferrier made the ricin at home in Quebec and mailed the potentially deadly poison to then-President Trump and to several police officials in Texas.

Prosecutor Michael Friedman called the sentence an "appropriately harsh punishment" that sends a clear message.

"There is absolutely no place for politically motivated violence in the United States of America," he said. "There is no excuse for threatening public officials or targeting our public servants."

The mail interception is a standard procedure for the White House, lawmakers and other senior officials and has successfully prevented previous potentially deadly letters from reaching their intended targets.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A self-described Canadian activist has been sentenced to more than 21 years after pleading guilty to sending a poison-laced letter to Donald Trump during the 2020 presidential election.

Pascale Cecile Veronique Ferrier, 56, was sentenced to 21 years and 10 months for sending letters to Trump in the fall of 2020 as well as several Texas law enforcement officials the year before, the Justice Department said Thursday.

Ferrier had pleaded guilty in January to sending the letters containing the deadly toxin ricin, but the federal court had delayed signing off on the deal so Ferrier could attend her graduation ceremony at Georgetown, where she had been taking classes while behind bars.

I am not a terrorist, Ferrier said during Thursdays sentencing hearing. Terrorists widely spread terror and death by targeting innocent people. I saw my actions as an act of activism.

In her letter to Trump, Ferrier described the former president as an ugly tyrant clown and urged him to give up his reelection bid.

The only regret I have is that it didnt work and I couldnt stop Trump before he (executed his plan) to try to stay in power, she said Thursday. It was never my intention to harm innocent people. And in fact, I did not harm anyone.

Ferriers letters were intercepted well before making it to their intended recipients. She was arrested at the U.S.-Canada border in September 2020 while trying to enter the country in possession of a loaded handgun, nearly 300 rounds of ammunition, a stun gun, pepper spray, a baton and a phony Texas drivers license.

Assistant U.S. attorney Michael Friedman said the sentence was a warning to others.

There is absolutely no place for politically motivated violence in the United States of America, a nation of laws where the people choose our leaders by voting, Friedman said. Political violence deeply offends our cherished democratic history and traditions.

After serving her sentence, Ferrier will be deported. She may face additional charges in Canada for manufacturing a prohibited substance for making the ricin at her Montreal home.
PROVIDENCE  Sparks flew Thursday night over the torrent of outside money flowing into Rhode Island's off-year congressional race, with more than one candidate on the defense.

The digs and defenses were directed at:

 The millions of super-PAC dollars bolstering Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos' campaign.

 The $125,000 that former Rep. Aaron Regunberg's father-in-law, James Cielinski, a top money manager at a global investment firm, ostensibly funneled into the pro-Regunberg Progress Rhode Island PAC without Regunberg's knowledge or involvement, as required for "independent," over-the limit campaign expenditures.

 The $600,000 of his own money that investor Donald Carlson is spending on his own high-frequency TV campaign.

Ultimately, the money questions came down to integrity

Before the debate was over, the candidates on the stage at Roger Williams University, at a debate sponsored by the Rhode Island Association of Democratic City and Town Chairs, had gotten in their digs, defended their records and in more than one case, their integrity.

Asked by one of the moderators if he is trying to buy his way into a congressional seat in Washington, Carlson said he put his own money into his campaign because, "as an outsider to politics," he needs to "break through to establish a persona" and do so without owing  or being owed  favors.

"That means I am not beholden to anybody when I get there," Carlson said. "The question we should be asking is not necessarily where the money comes from but what you owe in return."

When Regunberg, in turn, was asked what he would say to Rhode Islanders who remain skeptical he had no idea that his mother and father-in-law were funding a super-PAC pouring tens of thousands of dollars into an effort to help his campaign, he acknowledged that he asked for support early on from "literally everyone I know, including my in-laws," but said he had no idea what form that might take.

"You cant control what your in-laws do," he quipped.

From another forum: Antisemitism, a divided Congress, Israel protests: CD1 candidates get personal at forum

'I condemn the whole system of outside spending'

Regunberg then pivoted away from the question, saying: "I am very proud that my campaign is not taking a dime from corporate PACs or corporate lobbyists ... There are a number of candidates on this stage who have accepted corporate lobbyist money and corporate PAC money." He did not elaborate.

"Mr. Regunberg, do you ... denounce the super-PAC spending?" asked one of his rivals, Providence Councilman John Goncalves, a schoolteacher.

"I condemn the whole system of outside spending," Regunberg began.

"I am asking you a very specific question," Goncalves interrupted, to which Regunberg said: "Can I finish? I think we need to get money out of politics completely. That's why, as far as I know, I am the only candidate on the stage that has substantively worked for public financing of elections."

Was he willing to ask his family to stop?

"I would gladly join with all the candidates who are receiving super-PAC support ... But I am sure the other candidates on this stage who are receiving outside spending support, in one case to the tune of almost a million dollars, are not going to swear off the super-PACs that are supporting them," said Regunberg said in an apparent reference to Matos.

Bringing campaign support down to a very local scale

"I think we need to acknowledge the hypocrisy here," said political newcomer Stephanie Beaute, as she turned the the question on Goncalves.

She asked the councilman if he would "denounce receiving money from ... a building developer in Fox Point ... [that] your residents have literally rejected?"

Her question contained an apparent reference to the $3,300 that Dustin Dezube, the owner of Providence Realty Advisors, and other personnel at the firm have contributed to his congressional campaign in recent months, according to a GoLocalProv report.

Dezube has been the subject of multiple Providence Journal reports for complaints by tenants about mold, prolonged maintenance issues and code violations. His proposed Wickenden Street development made news this week.

"Will you reimburse their funds as well?" Beaute asked.

"Absolutely," he said.

"I'd like to have somebody spend money on my behalf," said another of the candidates, Rep. Stephen Casey of Woonsocket, drawing one of the few laughs of the night.

A chunk of time went into familiar questions to Matos about the purported signatures of dead people  and other alleged forgeries on her nominating papers. But even Carlson, who formally objected to her papers, said he does not question "the lieutenant governor's personal integrity," only her ability to pull a campaign together "that can do the job right."

"Let's move on from these damn signatures," said Goncalves. "Voters care about the issues."

In her own turn, Matos shot darts at former White House staffer Gabe Amos for "taking a lot of credit" for the work of people for whom he worked, and lobbying for Home Depot between government jobs when the company's owners and political affiliates contributed to former President Trump and state legislators who were listed cosponsors of "Anti-choice, Anti-Voting Rights, and Anti-LGBTQ legislation."

Amos said his role during his five to six months as a Home Depot lobbyist was "to help build stores...[and] jobs."

Early voting: Here's how to cast your ballot early voting for CD1 Special Election primary

A pause: Whom among your rivals would you support?

In one of the most smile-producing segments, the 10 Democrats were each asked which other candidate on the stage they would back if they could not vote for themselves.

Amo chose former Naval War College Prof. Walter Berbrick; Berbrick and Carlson chose Sandra Cano, a Pawtucket state senator; Goncalves asked if he could "write in" a candidate and then said an unnamed "woman of color"; Casey chose Beaute, a program manager in the tech industry; Cano chose fellow senator Ana Quezada of Providence; Casey chose Beaute; Matos said "a woman" but also said she'd want to see a poll on which one has the best chance of winning; Regunberg said he has appreciated "Sen. Quezada's chutzpah and fight"; Beaute chose Berbrick, and Quezada named both Cano and Beaute.

On the issues, the debate covered a lot of ground, from military spending to standardized testing mandates for students to the reduction or elimination of student debt, with some of the candidates carving out differences with their rivals.

On student debt, for example, Carlson  who until recently ran a leadership program at Yale University  again stood out from the crowd on student debt relief.

The cost of conferring benefits

While most of the candidates on the stage back some form of student debt relief, Carlson said: "It's easy to sit here and say we want to throw money at everybody. But the bottom line here is that we are not forgiving or canceling debt ... so it is really important to remember that every dollar we quote-unquote 'forgive' means a dollar less for education ... or a dollar less for affordable housing.

"There are tradeoffs here, and I think it is irresponsible, frankly, to blithely say we should just forgive it all and throw out numbers,'' said Carlson, suggesting Congress target the relief to students heading into professions where there are shortages, such as teaching and nursing. "If you're a lawyer on Wall Street, pay your loan."

Casey echoed the question: who's going to pay for it?

Regunberg said he gets "frustrated with what feels like sometimes the selective weaponization of the question  how are we going to pay for it, because that question never gets asked when we are talking about a tax cut for a big corporation or millionaires or billionaires ... or bailing out big banks."

"It only gets asked when we are talking about how do we help regular people who are struggling," he said.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Sparks fly over torrent of money flowing into RI congressional race
Bronwyn Stanford was a month into her $198,000-a-year job as director of the Animal Services Department when she allegedly brought her out-of-sorts cat, Piper, to a Miami-Dade County veterinarian for an exam that included X-rays.

That free pet service in December 2021 violated county rules according to a report issued this week by the Inspector Generals Office that found scattered instances of Stanford receiving special treatment at the countys tax-funded pet shelter in Doral.

The investigation was sparked by an anonymous complaint about Stanford and her stormy 20-month tenure thats now mired in a slander suit. She was placed on paid leave last month by her boss, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, for undisclosed reasons.

READ MORE: Amid lawsuit, Miami-Dade mayor places pet shelters director on leave until further notice

In her response to investigators, Stanford noted she either paid for services cited in the report, was rebuffed when trying to pay, or in the case of the X-ray early in her tenure, wrongly thought the service was available to any pet owner at the Doral shelter.

She blamed the whistleblower investigation on disgruntled administrators  including the vet who treated Piper  upset with her reform efforts.

Bronwyn Stanford photographed on Nov. 16, 2021, in the County Commission chambers shortly after being named director of Miami-Dade Countys Animal Services Department.

The complainant and each of the witnesses has repeatedly, on multiple occasions, challenged my requests and even my directives, Stanford wrote in an undated memo to the Inspector Generals Office.

It included an attachment titled Witness Collusion that included her claiming to hear laughter from an Animal Services administrators office where she saw multiple subordinates seemingly celebrating what was then an ongoing investigation.

We got her, we got her, Stanford recalled hearing from the office. She is going down.

Levine Cavas office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. Stanford also did not respond to a request for comment.

In the report, the chief veterinarian for Animal Services, Maria Serrano, said her new boss, Stanford, arrived at work one day with a short-haired black cat named Piper. Stanford, a lawyer and former administrator in Floridas child-welfare system, told Serrano that Piper is not herself, the report said.

Serrano wrote she suggested Stanford take the cat to a private vet since X-rays are not a service provided to the general public, according to the report. The director insisted she would but was busy if we would just take a look, Serrano wrote in a log entry included in the report.

Later that morning, Stanford texted another administrator under her, clinic coordinator Meredith Hippert, with a question: Anything on Piper? Hippert texted back images of the four X-rays performed on Piper with county equipment.

More than a year later, Hippert also said Stanford asked Animal Services medical staff for help with a skin condition on Parker, a chihuahua she adopted from a private dog sanctuary after becoming director. The requests for diagnosis became more intense, Hippert said, according to the report, and made the veterinary team uncomfortable.

While the shelter does provide the test to the public in some circumstances, Miami-Dade policy exempts Animal Services employees from the service, the report said.

After the test, texts show Stanford asked how she could cover the cost. Hey I do want to pay for the test, Stanford texted Alejandra Duran, a county veterinarian, on Feb. 14. Absolutely not, Duran responded, saying theres no cost associated with the service when provided to the public. Duran added: We are not allowed to do it for employees.

After investigators asked Stanford about the service, she paid $22 to Animal Services for the pet care, according to a receipt in the report.

The report also faulted Stanford for having Animal Services staff provide a $40 spay procedure for Parker, a service available to both the public and department employees. But the shelter routinely turns people away as demand for spay and neuter treatment exceeds capacity. On Friday, for instance, there were no online appointments available at the Doral shelter.

While Stanford paid for the procedure, the report said she should have made an appointment through the regular process at the busy shelter instead of asking employees directly for the treatment.

In her response, Stanford noted she routinely pays hundreds of dollars for medical bills for her dog and 10 cats, as well as for the 16 cats shes temporarily taken in as fosters under an Animal Services program that has volunteers house homeless pets for brief periods of time.

The complaints against me are false and misleading, she wrote.

The reports release comes a month after Levine Cava replaced Stanford with an interim director, Annette Jose, a department veteran whose name does not come up in the Inspector General document. Levine Cava has not said why she put Stanford on paid administrative leave until further notice on July 14.

READ MORE: A fight over a pet shelter gets ugly. Lawsuit claims slander by Miami-Dade director

County lawyers also said they would not represent Stanford in the slander lawsuit filed June 22 by shelter benefactor Yolanda Berkowitz, a national Humane Society board member who had a falling out with Stanford shortly after Levine Cava appointed her to the position.

The suit claims Stanford tried to undermine Berkowitzs volunteer efforts by fabricated stories about her past, including that she was once a sex worker.

On Friday, Berkowitz lawyer Hank Adorno said in a statement that the latest report makes it clear the shelter needs a permanent change of leadership.

My client tried to sound the alarm in a professional way early on and paid dearly for it, he said. The only consolation will be if the shelter gets the leadership and relief it desperately needs.
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Category 4 Hurricane Hilary hurtled towards Mexico's Baja California peninsula on Friday, a U.S. government agency said, as it issued its first ever tropical storm watch for California and warned of life-threatening and possibly catastrophic floods.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) expects the powerful storm to near Mexico's popular Cabo San Lucas resort city by late on Friday, though it should weaken before hitting the U.S. West Coast this weekend, nevertheless bringing dangerous rains.

"Life-threatening and potentially catastrophic flooding are likely over much of Baja California and Southern California this weekend and early next week," the Miami-based agency said in its latest advisory.

Mexico's Baja California peninsula spans two states.

The northernmost one canceled non-essential public activities on Friday, including school classes through Monday, and authorities in Mexico's second-largest city, Tijuana, urged people in high-risk zones to move to temporary shelters.

In the peninsula's southern state, authorities postponed a local baseball match and said ports would be closed through late Friday.

"Without being alarmist, we must all take precautions and stock up on water and basic necessities at home, without resorting to panic buying," the state's governor said.

NHC Deputy Director Jamie Rhome warned of flood risks from San Diego to Los Angeles and Las Vegas, with particularly high risks around the Palm Springs area.

"If you've got weekend plans, it's probably time to start altering those plans," he said. Major League Baseball moved up a trio of Sunday games in Southern California to Saturday.

MOVING FAST

Though cold waters off California's coastline usually weaken incoming storms, Rhome said "this system is expected to hold onto to its strength because it will be moving fast."

Hilary was moving west-northwest at nearly 12 miles per hour (19 kph), packing maximum sustained winds of nearly 130 mph (215 kph), after being upgraded to a Category 4 overnight, it said.

Rhome said California and southern Nevada faced risks from severe flooding caused by up to 10 inches (25.4 cm) of rainfall, while the agency warned a storm surge could cause coastal flooding and destructive waves along Mexico's Baja California peninsula.

According to the National Weather Service (NWS), this is the first time in its records that a high risk warning has been issued for California's south-easterly desert regions.

Heavy rains are expected to hit California, Nevada and neighboring Arizona following a record-breaking summer heat wave.

Phoenix, Arizona, endured a month-long stretch of temperatures exceeding 110 degrees Fahrenheit, (43C) throughout July, according to NWS, trapped under "heat dome" of stagnant air.

In California's Death Valley desert, temperatures hit 128 Fahrenheit (53 C) in mid-July, among the highest temperatures recorded on Earth in the past 90 years, while tens of millions of Americans were put under heat alerts.

(Reporting by Valentine Hilaire, Sarah Morland, Brendan O'Boyle and Lizbeth Diaz in Mexico City, Rich Mckay in Atlanta, Timothy Ahmann in Washington, and Frank McGurty and Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Aurora Ellis and Sandra Maler)
Charlotte Pride says there will be no recipients of this years Harvey Milk Award, Stonewall Award, or Legacy Award.

We do not give every single award out every year. Charlotte Pride was originally going to do Harvey Milk, but upon further discussion, decided not to give out that award this year, said a statement, in part, to Channel 9 on Friday.

Channel 9 learned that Charlotte Pride had selected a winner for the Harvey Milk Award before scrubbing his name from its website.

The recipient was set to be Chad Turner, the CEO of Carolinas LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce. A screenshot of Charlotte Prides Champions of Pride page shows a biography of Turner, and the Internet Archive of the page from Aug. 5 shows Turner listed.

The current version of the Champions of Pride page omits Turners name for the Harvey Milk Award.

Charlotte Prides statement to Channel 9 didnt say what led to the decision to not give out the Harvey Milk Award or the other two awards. The Internet Archive capture doesnt show any recipients for the Stonewall or Legacy awards.

This isnt the first time Turner has made headlines in the LGBT community. Our partners at the Charlotte Observer reported in 2016 when Turner stepped down from the Charlotte LGBT Chamber of Commerce after a conservative group noticed he is a registered sex offender.

According to the North Carolina sex offender registry, Turner was convicted of committing or attempting a lewd act upon a child under 16 after being arrested in 1998. He was 20 years old at the time of his arrest.

Charlotte Pride said the organization is honoring a Parade Grand Marshal, a Parade Grand Marshal - In Memoriam, an Outstanding Ally Award, and the Youth Catalyst Award. Those award recipients can be found here.

(WATCH: Traffic Team 9: Uptown road closures for Charlotte Pride events)








Charlotte Water said it has canceled a developers decision to cut off water service to some living in the citys Hidden Valley neighborhood.

Residents voiced their concerns to Channel 9s Anthony Kustura on Wednesday. They said the developers decision would have forced them out of their homes starting next Monday.

Cesar Concepcion said he received a letter last week from developer Northway Homes regarding improved water infrastructure.

I was confused. Like is this coming from the city directly? Concepcion said.

The letter stated that neighbors have to be out of their homes for a least 10 days, all because of planned construction on a now vacant lot. The notice goes on to say Northway Homes will pay each homeowner $2,000 for what they are calling an inconvenience.

Residents said the notice raised concerns because there are no clear instructions on when or how the affected families would receive the money.

Nowhere on the letter do they have a point of contact, they do not have an address, Concepcion said.

Concepcion went on to tell Channel 9 that this inconvenience couldnt have come at a worse time, as he is recovering from pneumonia, working from home, and taking care of his 3-year-old son.

It doesnt feel fair for us you know to go through that, Concepcion explained.

Neighbors said they were mainly frustrated by the lack of communication. At first, they had not received notice from the City of Charlotte, which made planning for a major disruption even more difficult.

Its kind of complicated, you know, to make arrangements and find where will you stay, Concepcion said.

However, when Channel 9 reached out to Charlotte Water about the decision, they replied with a strongly-worded statement. A spokesperson for the utility company said Northway Homes made the decision to interrupt service without following the proper protocols.

Charlotte Water does not agree with and will not allow an outage of this magnitude, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said they have reached out to the developer in hopes of discussing an alternative process and preventing the upcoming outage. Charlotte Water has also gone door-to-door to talk to residents and explain the situation, saying the outage is canceled and apologizing for what happened.

Those who live in the community said they werent totally surprised at the developers notice to evacuate given the growth in the area. They just hope the city can make sure it doesnt happen again.

Channel 9 has reached out to the developer for comment.

Read the complete statement from Charlotte Water below:

Charlotte Water learned today that a developer working in the Hidden Valley neighborhood recently sent residents of the 1200 block of Log Cabin Road a project notice. The notice described an upcoming multi-day water service disruption while the developer could make a connection to the existing system.

The developer made a process decision without following Charlotte Water protocols. Charlotte Water does not agree with and will not allow an outage of this magnitude. Staff have since contacted the developer to cancel the upcoming service outage, discuss an alternative connection process and be reminded of proper protocols for notifications and planned service outages.

In addition, Charlotte Water staff have gone door-to-door today to speak with the residents who received the outage letter from the developer. Staff have discussed the situation with the residents or left a door hanger behind to explain that the outage is canceled and apologize for any confusion.
A school district in Iowa used artificial intelligence to examine library books and help identify which contain sexually explicit material that needed to be removed from school property to comply with a new state law.

In May, Republican Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a parental rights bill, which requires all books in public school libraries describing sex acts be removed. The law took effect July 1.

To comply with the new law, the Mason City Community School District got creative and used artificial intelligence technology to sift through voluminous amounts of text and determine which books were subject to removal.

"Our classroom and school libraries have vast collections, consisting of texts purchased, donated and found. It is simply not feasible to read every book and filter for these new requirements," Bridgette Exman, the districts assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, told The Gazette.

WHAT IS CHATGPT?

Exman explained to Fox News Digital the district has nine school libraries and hundreds of classroom libraries for students, and Iowas new law put school systems on a tight schedule to comply.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

"Iowa's law was enacted with a very short timeline, signed by the governor at the end of May and effective July 1," Exman told Fox in an email Thursday. "In addition, this law holds individual teachers and teacher librarians criminally liable for violations.

"This has created significant concerns among our teachers as we prepare to welcome students back next week. We needed an efficient and defensible way to identify which books may need to be removed from our collections due to (the law)."

The Mason City Community School District compiled lists of books commonly challenged in school districts, then separated books that were contested for reasons other than sexual content, Exman said.

"We searched the titles of that shortened list to identify which books are available through our school library collections. This narrowed our work down to just over 40 books," she explained.

The district then used ChatGPT, OpenAIs wildly popular chatbot that can mimic human conversation, and asked the system, "Does [book] contain a description of a sex act?" about each book.

WHAT IS AI?

"I specifically used the language of the law. I know others have asked similar questions, such as do [these books] contain explicit content? and received different responses," Exman said.

The text software ChatGPT on a computer.

ChatGPT identified 19 books that contain a description of a sex act, including "Monday's Not Coming" by Tiffany D. Jackson, "Nineteen Minutes" by Jodi Picoult, "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood, "Beloved" by Toni Morrison and "Thirteen Reasons Why" by Jay Asher.

Exman noted that human intervention still plays a big role in the process, explaining the district is using a website that details whether texts contain any questionable material, called "Book Looks," to verify the presence of sexual material. Otherwise, Exman will personally read the materials and make a final determination.

IOWA SCHOOL DISTRICT TO REVIEW NEARLY 400 BOOKS THAT WERE FLAGGED FOR SEX ACT DEPICTIONS, GENDER IDENTITY

"While we're not letting ChatGPT have the final say, the obvious benefit to using AI here is that I will immediately be reading five or six books instead of thousands," she said.

Exman noted that after the removal of the books, parents will be able to challenge the decision and begin a process to reconsider a book.

"Our parents always have and always will have the right to compel the district to reconsider a text that is included or has been excluded from our collections. We are committed to ensuring parents always have a voice in the education their students receive," she said.

Books line the shelves of a Miami-Dade public library July 19, 2023 in Miami, Fla.

She explained to Fox News Digital that, as a former English teacher, she shares the same concern as some Americans that the bans may keep from students books with historical value.

"I want to be clear that it is not the district or me personally deciding to remove these books. Iowa passed a law requiring us to do so, and we have a legal and ethical obligation to demonstrate a good faith effort to be in compliance with the law," she said.

IOWA LEGISLATURE PASSES CRACKDOWN ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION, GENDER INSTRUCTION IN SCHOOLS

Even when she questioned ChatGPT about certain books, Exman said, the chatbot acknowledged a texts "literary value, contextual importance and authorial intent when responding to my question," as opposed to giving a firm yes or no answer.

The ChatGPT logo on a smartphone arranged in the Brooklyn borough of New York March 9, 2023.

All districts in the state scrambled this summer to review books to stay compliant with the states new law. The Urbandale Community School District said earlier this month, for example, that school leaders were combing through nearly 400 books in its library to determine if it violated the law.

IOWA GOV KIM REYNOLDS SIGNS HISTORIC SCHOOL CHOICE BILL: 'WE WILL FUND STUDENTS NOT SYSTEMS'

Exman and the Mason City Community School District are "focused on minimizing the amount of effort required to implement an onerous law."

"We will be compliant, but we have so many other, more important, things to do than investing our limited time and resources in protecting kids from books," she said.

Gov. Reynolds has championed the law as one that will give parents more say over what their children are taught in public schools, which follows actions taken from leaders in other red states like Florida.

"This legislative session, we secured transformational education reform that puts parents in the driver's seat, eliminates burdensome regulations on public schools, provides flexibility to raise teacher salaries and empowers teachers to prepare our kids for their future," Reynolds said in May when she signed the law. "Education is the great equalizer, and everyone involved  parents, educators, our children  deserves an environment where they can thrive."
A milestone was reached in Anhui on Wednesday, as trial operations started on the Yangtze-Huaihe Grand Canal, a significant undertaking by authorities in the eastern province that is expected to increase the efficiency of shipping on the two major rivers.

Veteran sailor Li Shuqing arrived at a wharf in Hefei, capital of Anhui, aboard his cargo ship on Wednesday after traveling through the new canal. His ship was carrying about 1,000 metric tons of wheat from Huaian, a city in neighboring Jiangsu province.

"With this section starting trial operations, it will be much more convenient for my business in the future," he said.

The canal connects China's longest river, the Yangtze, which flows through southern Anhui for 400 kilometers, and the Huaihe River, which runs through the north of the province.

An extra 355 km of shipping lane has been added to existing watercourses and the main construction was completed last year. In terms of length, it is second only to the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, according to provincial authorities.

The section inaugurated on Wednesday connects Huaihe River and Chaohu Lake, the country's fifth largest freshwater lake, located in Hefei.

Before the canal's trial opening, Li had to sail east along the Huaihe River to the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, turn south to the Yangtze River, then head west into Yuxi River, a natural tributary of the Yangtze, before turning north to finally reach Chaohu Lake.

"The new canal helped me save two days of shipping time and more than 400 liters of diesel," Li said.

The Yangtze-Huaihe Grand Canal is part of the Yangtze-to-Huaihe water diversion project. The Huaihe River and the Qinling Mountains form the geographical dividing line that separates China's south and north.

The water diversion project was initiated in 2016 with the aim of not only bringing water from the Yangtze River to the country's comparatively drier northern parts, but also facilitating the passage of shipping vessels to improve logistics efficiency.

"This project reduces the water transportation distance between the Huaihe River and Yangtze River by 200 km to 600 km, making water transportation more convenient, economical and eco-friendly," said Chen Xi, general manager of the Anhui Provincial Group for Yangtze-to-Huaihe Water Diversion.

With a total length of 723 km, the project passes through 12 cities in Anhui and two more in Henan province and will benefit more than 50 million people.

It will see an investment of nearly 91.3 billion yuan ($12.5 billion), with projects worth 83.6 billion yuan completed by the end of July, according to Chen's company.

The project will also be used for agricultural irrigation and help improve the ecology of both Huaihe River and Chaohu Lake.

Chen said the project will enhance the integrated development of transportation in the Yangtze River Delta region.

He estimated it will save more than 6 billion yuan in annual bulk cargo freight and reduce carbon emissions by nearly 1.8 million tons a year.

Engineers from China Railway No 10 Engineering Group, which participated in the construction, said they were excited to contribute to the project, with multiple technical difficulties overcome during construction.

In the early third century, Cao Cao, a powerful minister and warlord who laid the foundation for the future Wei Dynasty (220-265), tried to connect the Yangtze and Huaihe rivers. He gave up due to extreme difficulties, according to an article in Guangming Daily.

In the 1950s, Chairman Mao Zedong also proposed connecting the two rivers during a visit to the Yangtze. However, the idea was not followed up until 2013, when the Anhui provincial government formally began preparation to start construction. Ground was broken for the start of the project in December 2016.
An empty childrens swingset in Qingdao, China. Credit - Getty Images

Chinas fertility rate hit a record low last year, according to a new estimate reported by state-backed media earlier this week. The report cited Chinas Population and Development Research Center, which found that in 2022, each woman in the worlds second largest economy would, on average, give birth to 1.09 babieswell short of the replacement fertility rate for developed countries of 2.1, at which a stable population is maintained, and an even farther cry from Chinas peak fertility rate of 7.5 60 years ago.

But it doesnt come as a surprise for Chinese authorities, who, facing the drastic economic consequences of an aging and shrinking population, have in the last several years been taking a number of measures to try to boost plummeting birth ratesfrom reversing the decadeslong one-child policy meant to stem overpopulation to providing cash incentives to have more children. But experts warn that all the attention devoted to pushing young people to conceive could be futile and that efforts may be better spent maintaining and adapting to this new normal.

Demographers in the early 2000s coined the low-fertility trap, hypothesizing that a series of self-reinforcing economic and social mechanisms make it increasingly difficult to raise the fertility rate once it dips below a certain threshold. The academics posited that lower fertility results in increased individual aspirations for personal consumption but at the same time it also results in an aging population and less job creationand thus greater pessimism about the economic futurewhich in turn disincentivizes having more children. Moreover, as the average family size grows smaller and smaller generation after generation, the social norm of an ideal family size shrinks, too. These forces together lead to a persistent downward spiral for the fertility rate that can be impossible to reverse.

More From TIME

Chinas not the only country in the region or the world facing this kind of demographic crisis. Fertility rates across developed nations globally have almost uniformly dropped over the last few decades. Chinas neighbors Japan and South Korea have among the lowest, and policymakers there have invested billions of dollars and pondered uniquely targeted policies, respectively, to tryso far unsuccessfullyto get young people to have more children.

Ironically, Stuart Gietel-Basten, a professor of social science at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi, tells TIME, China may have accidentally put itself in this low-fertility trap through its family planning policies of the last several decades, encouraging later marriages and limiting childbirth. Now, China faces a younger generation increasingly reluctant to marry or to have kids.

Thats left the country with a disproportionately older population in need of social services unable to be supported by a shrinking working-age population. But rather than just trying to mitigate the cause by relentlessly pushing youth to have children when theyre disillusioned about their own economic futures, it may be time to focus on addressing the resultant problems directly. Even if Chinas current baby-making policies were to succeed, Gietel-Basten says, its economic effects wouldnt be felt anyway for another two decadeswhen the children join the labor force and when Chinas concerns may be completely different from what they are today.

So what should China be focusing on?

It would be overly idealistic if we assume the fertility rate can return to a high level, Adam Cheung, an associate professor of sociology at Hong Kong Baptist University, tells TIME. But that doesnt mean, he says, that Beijing should abandon all its programs aimed at incentivizing child birth. We must adopt policies to prevent it [from falling] further.

Still, Chinas policies should be more holistic, Cheung says. The country has made some investments in automation to increase economic productivity, but not enough. Immigration is another point for improvement, he adds, though China has been resistant to welcoming more immigrants for a number of reasons.

Overcoming challenges related to multiculturalism, openness, and geopolitical tensions will be essential for China's success in competing for global talent, Cheung says. By addressing these factors, China can position itself favorably to navigate the demographic challenges and ensure future economic growth.

China is reportedly expected to raise its retirement age, which for decades has been 60 for men and as low as 50 for many women, later this year, prompting outcry. For Gietel-Basten, this should be promoted as more than just a stop-gap economic necessity to address the shrinking workforce and ballooning retiree cohort draining social services, and it needs to be coupled with social policy.

Rather than forcing people to work, he says, it can be built around what you would like to do, about what you can contribute to society, into the economy, through your skills. But that requires adequate eldercare support to enable older citizens to remain as productive members of society for longer.

Decades of a one-child policy, Gietel-Basten says, led to a 4-2-1 problem, in which a sole young adult must become the breadwinner for not only his two parents but also his four grandparents. Currently, Chinas social policy skews towards pushing the breadwinner to have children, adding more burden to the provider. Greater support directed toward the four grandparent-dependents, on the other hand, would ease the quality of life of the youngest generation and may even allow them to have more babies as they wish. Ironically, Gietal-Basten says, it may well be [that] investing in decent eldercare could increase the fertility rate.

Contact us at letters@time.com.
Chinese President Xi Jinping will travel to South Africa next week, his second international trip of the year (LEAH MILLIS)

Chinese leader Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to South Africa next week, the foreign ministry said Friday, while confirming the president will attend the BRICS summit in Johannesburg.

Africa has emerged as a renewed diplomatic battleground, with the West, Russia and China vying for influence amid heightened competition for minerals and international divisions fostered by the war in Ukraine.

"At the invitation of President of the Republic of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa, President Xi Jinping will attend the 15th BRICS Summit to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa and pay a state visit to South Africa from August 21 to 24," foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in an online statement.

This will be Xi's second international trip of 2023, after paying an official state visit to Russia in March.

The heads of Brazil, China, India and South Africa plus Russia's top diplomat will gather on August 22-24 under the theme "BRICS and Africa", South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said earlier this month.

Questions had swirled over whether Russian President Vladimir Putin -- sought by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his role in the Ukraine war -- would attend this year's BRICS conference in South Africa, which is a signatory of the ICC.

But a spokesman for Ramaphosa last month said Putin would not attend "by mutual agreement".

Xi previously visited South Africa in 2018 as he sought to enhance his country's diplomatic and economic ties with the continent.

On the agenda at this year's Johannesburg summit will be the possible future expansion of BRICS membership.

Several African countries have previously expressed a desire to join the bloc, including Algeria, Egypt and Ethiopia.

In July, China hosted Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune in Beijing, hailing its ties with Africa and calling for closer cooperation.

"China welcomes Algeria's positive intention to join BRICS, and supports Algeria's efforts to achieve this goal," a joint statement released at the time said, adding that Tebboune had invited Xi to visit Algeria.

A total of 69 countries have been invited to the summit in South Africa, including all African states.

BRICS, a loosely-defined group that sees itself as a counterweight to Western economic domination, derives its name from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The bloc has previously indicated it is open to expansion.

pfc-je/cwl
(Bloomberg) -- China cited discrimination by Canada when asked why the North American nation was left off a new list of approved travel destinations for tourists, moves that ramp up a five-year-old feud.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Chinas embassy in Ottawa said in a statement to CBC News that lately, the Canadian side has repeatedly hyped up the so-called Chinese interference idea. It added that rampant and discriminatory anti-Asian acts and words are rising significantly in Canada.

The Canadian media outlet said in a report Wednesday it had asked China why Ottawa wasnt included when Beijing lifted a ban on group tours to countries including the US, Australia and Japan.

Tensions between the two stretch back to 2018 when China detained two Canadians after Huawei Technologies Co.s Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Canada as part of a US investigation. China later released Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor and celebrated after the executive was sent back to China.

During the saga over the detentions, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rejected a prisoner swap, saying it would demonstrate to China that they can just arrest Canadians and get what they want out of Canada.

See: A Bid for Hostage Diplomacy With China Backfires in Canada

Canada said last week the Chinese government was likely behind a series of misleading narratives that appeared on social media about Michael Chong, a prominent opposition politician who sponsored a motion in parliament declaring that Beijings treatment of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in its western Xinjiang region amounted to genocide.

Chinas embassy responded to those charges by saying the Canadian statement is complete nonsense and is outright slandering and smearing.

In May, Canada expelled a Chinese diplomat after a newspaper report that he was looking into penalizing Chong over his positions on Beijing, punishment that could entail sanctioning his relatives in Hong Kong. Hours later, China ordered a Canadian diplomat to leave the country.

Tensions between the two nations were on display at the Group of 20 summit in Bali in November, when Chinese President Xi Jinping publicly confronted Trudeau, accusing him of leaking details of a private meeting.

Canada also joined a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022 that also involved the US, UK and Australia.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

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China is stepping up its criticism as President Biden hosts the leaders of Japan and South Korea for a summit at Camp David on Friday.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin warned against bloc confrontation in the Asia-Pacific region as the U.S. and its allies gather at the presidential retreat in Maryland.

The international community has its own judgment as to who is creating contradictions and increasing tensions, Wang said at a daily briefing, according to The Associated Press.

Attempts to form various exclusive groups and cliques and to bring bloc confrontation into the Asia-Pacific region are unpopular and will definitely spark vigilance and opposition in the countries of the region, Wang added.

The Camp David meeting between the U.S. and its two allies is an attempt to bring Japan and South Korea closer together in economic ties and security.

The relationship between Japan and South Korea hasnt always been warm due to Japans past occupation of the Korean Peninsula, but they have come closer together amid more recent concerns about China and North Korea.

China, known for its military posturing against its rivals in recent years, made some moves with its forces in an apparent response to the Camp David meeting.

Japans Defense Ministry said it spotted 11 ships from China and its ally Russia crossing between the southern Japanese islands of Okinawa and Miyako on Thursday. On Friday, the ministry also said it scrambled fighter jets after spotting two Russian IL-38 reconnaissance aircraft flying back and forth over the Tsushima Strait in southwestern Japan.

The Associated Press contributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
[Source]

Chinese officials and academics are proposing changing how Tibet is referred to in English to "reconstruct" its image on the global stage

Changing an image: The proposal, which emerged during a seminar on the region's image held in Beijing on Aug. 14-16, suggests using the Chinese name Xizang, even in international discourse.

Over 320 scholars, including international attendees, participated in the seminar, which was covered extensively by official Chinese media outlets. Details about the seminar were sourced from a WeChat account managed by the United Front Work Department, a CCP-backed body related to ethnic minorities in China.

Tibet, known as "the Roof of the World," is a historically significant and culturally rich region often associated with Tibetan Buddhism and its unique linguistic heritage. Proponents of the shift say the proposal is part of a broader effort by Beijing to reframe the narrative around Tibet and emphasize its integral place within China.

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A more favorable portrayal: Wang Linping, a prominent scholar from Harbin Engineering Universitys College of Marxism, emphasized the importance of aligning an English translation with China's perspective on Tibet. He argued that the conventional term "Tibet" has contributed to misunderstandings about the region's geographical boundaries.

Lian Xiangmin, vice-director of the China Tibetology Research Centre, supported the idea, citing previous international guidelines advocating for the use of pinyin, the romanization of Chinese characters, in English place names. He believes that adopting "Xizang" adheres to these principles and could foster a more favorable portrayal of the region.

Xia Yan, an editor with the China Tibet Information Centre, suggested that using "Xizang" could help reconstruct Tibets media image and enhance Chinas international discourse on Tibet.

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Challenges and opposition: The proposal may have gained traction within certain circles, but it also gained opposition from those who suggest that this is part of China's ongoing efforts to assert its historical and territorial claims. The region has been a point of contention both within China and on the international stage, particularly regarding the exiled Dalai Lama's assertions of independence.

According to former Indian Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane, exiled Tibetans have a right to return to the land of their forefathers. Reiterating that the Tibetan people must be able to experience their culture and traditions, he said: "Over the decades, China has fully occupied Tibet and made territorial and administrative changes that would transform the identity and culture of the Tibetans."

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Chris Peluso, best known for his roles in the Broadway productions of Mamma Mia! and Assassins, has died aged 40.

The stage musical star died on Tuesday, 15 August. Pelusos family confirmed the news to Playbill. No cause of death was given.

Pelusos death comes a year after it was publicly revealed that he was stepping away from theatre to receive mental health treatment for a schizoaffective disorder.

His diagnosis caused him to experience debilitating paranoia, which kept him from performing in recent years, his friends shared in a GoFundMe at the time.

On Thursday (17 August), his college alma maters musical theatre program honoured him in an Instagram tribute.

The Michigan Musical Theatre family is heartbroken as we announce the passing of our dear family member/alum, the loving, charismatic, and divinely gifted Chris Peluso, the University of Michigans musical theatre programme wrote, alongside his headshot.

Our hearts go out to his family.

Peluso was also remembered by Playbill as a beloved co-star and collaborator to many.

He jumpstarted his career as the favoured understudy for Neil Patrick Harriss The Balladeer in the 2004 Tony-winning revival of Assassins, as well as for characters Nicolas and Louis in Elton Johns production of Lestat and all three of Beautiful The Carole King Musicals leading male roles: Gerry Goffin, Barry Mann and Don Kirshner.

Peluso later went on to star as Sky in Broadways Mamma Mia!, the fiance of lead Sophie. He was a part of several touring productions of Wicked, where he both starred and covered the role of Fiyero.

He eventually relocated to London, where he made his West End debut, appearing in The Woman in White, Death Takes a Holiday and Show Boat.

The actor also starred opposite Eva Noblezada in the revival of Miss Saigon before its eventual transfer to Broadway, where Noblezada went on to win a Tony Award. In addition, Peluso played the starring role of Nick Arnstein in the UK tour of Funny Girl, opposite Sheridan Smith.

Peluso is survived by his wife, Jessica Gomes, their daughter Aria Li Gomes-Peluso, and their son Caio Lian Gomes-Peluso.
Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie visited the Miami area Friday, pitching himself not only as a better option than former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, but also as an alternative to their brand of politics.

Speaking to voters in DeSantis and Trumps backyard, Christie criticized the two leading GOP candidates policies as antithetical to Republicans long standing principles of limited government and personal responsibility. As voters sipped on cafecito and munched pastelitos at Casa Cuba in South Miami, the former New Jersey governor also took aim at Vivek Ramaswamy, a businessman and upstart politician rising in the polls.

We have this group now, folks like Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump and Vivek Ramaswamy. And these folks who believe in big government conservatism, if theres something going on in the country that they dont personally like, they want the government to pass a law to stop it, Christie said, adding that they want to put more power in the hands of the government.

Thats not what conservatives have stood for my whole life, he said. And if Im President, Im about empowering families to make decisions about their childrens lives, their education and their futures

At the event, which was organized by Miamis Community News, Christie took questions from constituents on topics from Latin America to climate change. Some in attendance identified themselves as Democrats. Among the crowd was former Republican U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who said after the event that she attended as an interested citizen and was not endorsing Christie.

We have a good crop of candidates and I hope that everyone goes out to vote, she wrote in a text message.

Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie chats with former Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen during a town hall meeting at Casa Cuba restaurant in South Miami, on Friday, Aug.18, 2023.

Afterward, Christie went to Versaille, a traditional stomping ground in Little Havana for Republican presidential candidates looking to connect with voters in majority-Hispanic Miami. He shook hands and took photos with a handful of customers at the restaurant, and fielded questions from journalists.

Christie, who like the rest of the Republican presidential field trails Trump badly in polls, came to Miami less than one week before the first GOP primary debate, to be held Wednesday in Milwaukee. He is one of the nine candidates that have reportedly qualified for the debate, alongside Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. (Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said Friday that he has qualified, but advisers with the RNC quickly refuted his claim.)

RELATED CONTENT: RNC advisers shoot down Suarezs claim he qualified for the GOP debate in Milwaukee

In a large field of candidates, Christie has positioned himself as a harsh critic of Trump. While DeSantis and others have portrayed themselves as better choices than the former President, Christie is calling for an upheaval of Trumpism within the Republican Party.

Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie greets patrons as he arrives to the iconic Cuban Restaurant Versailles in Little Havana, on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.

Asked to comment about a leaked campaign memo from a pro-DeSantis Super PAC that suggested Floridas governor defend Trump on the debate stage rather than attack the former president, Christie said DeSantis mixed messages have been a contributing factor in his long slide in GOP presidential polls.

Well, this campaign of his has gone from up here to down here, because people are really beginning to wonder what the hell he stands for, Christie said. And if what he stands for is defending Donald Trump, then just drop out of the race and endorse him.

It wasnt that long ago that Christie was considered one of Trumps allies. He endorsed Trump in 2016 after he himself dropped out of that presidential race before eventually turning on the former president as Trump challenged the results of the 2020 presidential election.

I chose Donald Trump because I thought he was better than Hillary Clinton, said Christie on his prior endorsement of Trump in 2016. And  because I thought that I could make him a better candidate ... I was wrong. Thats it. Its that simple. I was wrong.

I dont regret it because I dont think Hillary Clinton would have been a whole lot better than Donald Trump. But today I have the guts to stand here and say what the truth is and nobody else on that stage is doing it.

READ MORE: Trump to skip first Republican presidential debate for interview with Tucker Carlson

Christie also said Trump would be disrespectful to Republican voters if he skipped the debate. Later Friday, the New York Times reported that Trump had chosen to avoid the event and instead do an interview with former Fox News personality Tucker Carlson.

If [Trump]s not tough enough and honest enough and smart enough to stand on the same stage with me and debate these issues then its time to come back to Mar-a-Lago and retire, said the former Governor later that morning.

Christie is behind five other candidates in national polls and, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll, he has little to no support in Iowa, which holds the first-in-the-nation nomination contest of the GOP. Even though hes not a leading candidate, one recent poll found that he has managed to catch DeSantis for the second-place spot in New Hampshire.

Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie, chats with attendees to a town hall meeting at Casa Cuba restaurant in South Miami, on Friday, Aug.18, 2023.
The special agent in charge of the Cincinnati FBI said the agency continues to see public corruption as "a top-tier threat."

"Faith in government" is important, said J. William Rivers, who has been the special agent in charge of the Cincinnati office for nearly two years.

When that faith erodes, "our community is a victim. Us, as citizens, are victims," Rivers said. "So when a community loses faith in its government and its leaders, that's a real problem."

It's clear public corruption has been a priority for the agency, with the arrest and conviction of Larry Householder and others for a racketeering conspiracy. The Enquirer extensively reported on how secretive money flowed from Akron-based utility FirstEnergy and its allies to help elect Householder as speaker of the House, pass a $1.3 billion bailout for two nuclear plants known as House Bill 6 and defend that subsidy against a ballot initiative to block it.

There was also the arrest of three Cincinnati city councilmembers in 2020. Two of the three cases, that of Jeff Pastor and P.G. Sittenfeld, have not wrapped up yet. Pastor has agreed in court to plead guilty to honest services wire fraud and faces prison time, and P.G. Sittenfeld was convicted July 8, 2022 on felony charges of bribery and attempted extortion. Sentencing is set for Oct. 10.

Rivers joined The Enquirer's "That's So Cincinnati" podcast this week to talk about the work the FBI does, from counter-terrorism to cyber threats to partnerships with local police agencies.

FBI Special Agent in Charge of the Cincinnati field office Will Rivers sits for a portrait at their offices in Sycamore Township. He's been in Cincinnati's top role for nearly two years.

On his watch, the Cincinnati office oversaw a landmark case in which the first Chinese intelligence officer ever was extradited, charged and convicted of economic espionage on behalf of the Chinese government; continued the investigation into Pastor and Sittenfeld and withstood an attack on the Sycamore Township office by Ricky Shiffer, a Columbus man enraged at the government and FBI after a raid on Mar-a-Lago a year ago.

Listen to J. William Rivers' full conversation with "That's So Cincinnati" for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Media and other podcast listening platforms.

View of the security gates that suspect Ricky Shiffer, a U.S. Navy veteran who tried to break into the Cincinnati FBI office and kill agents, attempted to breach last year; pictured, Monday, Aug. 7, 2023, at the FBI field office of Cincinnati located in Kenwood.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati FBI boss says public corruption still 'top-tier threat'
A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that victims of sexual abuse cannot pursue their lapsed claims in federal court, despite a move to revive older claims of child sexual abuse under New York's Child Victims Act.

When New York lawmakers passed the Child Victims Act in 2019, they provided a one-time, look-back window for survivors of childhood sexual abuse to pursue civil suits against their alleged abusers, even if the statute of limitations had already run out.

But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit wrote that the look-back window would not apply to similar claims under federal law, such as Title IX, which are commonly used to pursue cases against alleged abusers at educational institutions.

However, survivors will still be able to pursue portions of their cases in New York state courts.

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"Im disappointed that every single federal court that has decided this issue has gotten it wrong," said Kevin Mulhearn, an attorney for one of the plaintiffs in the case, who was attempting to sue the Mount Pleasant Central School District in federal court for sexual abuse the individual says he suffered as a high school freshman.

In his lawsuit, the former Mount Pleasant student said he was sexually abused by older football teammates in the locker room at Westlake High School, and that coaching staff knew about this but did not meaningfully intervene. Later on, he says school administrators conducted a sham investigation into his claims of abuse and ended up suspending him.

"For some reason, the federal courts in New York don't want to revive cases using federal statutes that involve sexual abuse," Mulhearn continued. "But the extent to which the court is bending the law in my mind is ridiculous."

Members of the New York Senate vote for the Child Victims Act in the Senate Chamber at the state Capitol on Monday, Jan. 28, 2019, in Albany, N.Y.

Mulhearn's client is still maintaining a case against the Mount Pleasant Central School District in state court, but without the benefit of the additional federal claims.

According to Alexander Reinert, director of the Center for Rights and Justice at the Cardozo School of Law, one of the major benefits of federal lawsuits, which can be expensive, is that they allow for a survivor who wins their case to charge the defendant for their attorney's fees.

Brewster man alleges abuse by stepfather Jury awards Brewster man $26.5 million over childhood sexual abuse

Reinert nevertheless explained that the Second Circuit's decision Thursday "is consistent with Supreme Court case law."

"It's obviously disappointing for the plaintiffs and will make it harder to bring these cases under federal law," he said. "But I think its consistent with the governing precedent."

Though the court based its reasoning on how New York lawmakers organized state law dealing with statutes of limitations, Reinert said it would be "pretty tricky" for the legislature to appease the court by figuring out a clever way to overcome its decision.

Mulhearn said he and his client are "weighing our options" on whether to try to bring the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Asher Stockler is a reporter for The Journal News and the USA Today Network New York. You can find him on Twitter at @quasiasher or send him an email at astockler@lohud.com. Reach him securely: asher.stockler@protonmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Child Victims Act: NY abuse cases won't get same window in federal court
Leaders at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools have 10 days to make some major policy changes to ensure the district is in line with Senate Bill 49, also known as the Parents Bill of Rights, which just became law in North Carolina.

PAST COVERAGE: NC Legislature overrides 6 governor vetoes, putting measures into law

The CMS Board of Educations Policy Committee met Thursday to discuss the trickle-down impact on the district after the state legislature overrode the governors veto of SB 49.

I support the bills, and I support the policies and the hard work that each and every one of you have done, said Lisa Cline, a CMS board member.

Its not because I agree with it, but I have to ensure whats best for the district as a whole, said Dee Rankin, another CMS board member. (I) just want to make sure thats clear.

CMS talked about several key policy changes, which include:

Parents will have to opt in for their children to participate in reproductive health and safety education programs. Students were automatically part of it previously unless a parent chose to opt-out.

The district also must give parents options to review library media center and supplementary education materials.

It requires the district to develop policies that involve parents in schools and in their childs education.

Gender identity, sexual orientation, or sexual activity may not be mentioned in any curriculum provided in K-4.

I can assure you that, as a CMS teacher, that the third-grade curriculum, at least in particular, does not have any lessons on this, gender identity, sexuality, anything like that, said Megan Hill a teacher.

Related documents:

Some told the board theyve seen social media posts indicating some educators might not follow the new policies.

There have to be consequences for educators that are in violation of the law, so we will be holding you accountable, said Brooke Weiss, president of the Moms of Liberty, Charlotte-Mecklenburg chapter.

Board members differ on whether the impact of the policy changes brought on by SB 49 will be positive or detrimental.

Its going to force teachers to not hide or use text messaging, Cline said. Its going to force them to use the phone to lay out the curriculum to make sure parents are educated.

So many of these parent rights that were now having to list are already rights that parents have, said Jennifer De La Jara, a CMS board member.

They all agree on one thing however, which is that it will cost time, money and resources to institute sweeping changes with a little more than a week before school starts.

The Board of Education Policy Committee will send the policy modifications to the full school board, which will vote next Tuesday.

VIDEO: CMS prepares for potential override of Gov. Copers Parents Bill of Rights veto












The U.S. has approved Denmark's request to provide instructional materials for F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, CNN reported on Aug. 18, citing a Biden administration official and another U.S. official.

"We can confirm the Department has recently approved a request from F-16 training partner Denmark related to their effort to stand up pilot and maintenance training programs," said the official in the U.S. President Joe Biden's administration.

This will include training modules, documentation, and classroom training materials, containing sensitive information on U.S. technology, CNN reported.

Earlier today on Aug. 18, Denmark and the Netherlands confirmed that they had received approval from the U.S. to hand over F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine once pilot training is completed. According to Reuters, U.S. State Secretary Antony Blinken backed both the transfer of the jets and training for Ukrainian pilots in a letter to his Danish and Dutch counterparts.

The Danish Defense Ministry confirmed today on Aug. 18 that the training of Ukrainian pilots will begin in Denmark later in August in cooperation with the 11 countries of the "fighter jet coalition."

During the Vilnius NATO summit in July, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov announced the official formation of a coalition to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16s, led by Denmark and the Netherlands.

The coalition also plans to conduct training in Romania. While the members have not published a precise timeframe for the training process, the Washington Post reported that according to Ukrainian officials, the first group of six pilots will not finish their training before the summer of 2024.

Read also: Kuleba: F-16 fighter jets may arrive as soon as pilots complete training

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
The Cobb County School Board voted to terminate a teacher after she read a book about gender norms to her fifth-grade class.

In a board meeting Thursday evening, the board voted 4-3 to fire Katie Rinderle.

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Rinderle, a longtime educator in the Cobb County School District, read a book called My Shadow is Purple, a book about gender norms.

The termination comes a week after a tribunal proceeding was held to decide if she would keep, or lose, her job. The tribunal determined that she did violate part of Georgias new divisive concepts law, but they recommended that she be able to keep her job.

Rinderle told the three-person tribunal she believes the book is appropriate because it encourages children to be true to themselves.

According to a statement from the Southern Poverty Law Center, Rinderle was removed from her classroom in March after a parent complained about her reading the My Shadow is Purple book to students.

Superintendent Chris Ragsdale recommended the termination of the teacher.

Ragsdale claimed the book violated Georgias 2022 classroom censorship law banning so-called divisive concepts, mostly about race, even though legal advocates say the law is vague and contradicts the U.S. Constitution.

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In a statement, Rinderle expressed her disappointment in the district and claims the district is sending a harmful message.

I am disappointed in the districts decision to terminate me for reading an inclusive and affirming book  one that is representative of diverse student identities, Rinderle said. The district is sending a harmful message that not all students are worthy of affirmation in being their unapologetic and authentic selves. This decision, based on intentionally vague policies, will result in more teachers self-censoring in fear of not knowing where the invisible line will be drawn. Censorship perpetuates harm and students deserve better.

In the statement from SPLC, Attorney Craig Goodmark claimed there was no legitimate explanation for the termination.

Mike Tafelski, senior supervising attorney for childrens rights at the SPLC, said they are disappointed in the decision.

Channel 2s Veronica Griffin spoke with Jeff Hubbard, president of Cobb County Association of Educators. He said the school boards decision essentially puts all Georgia teachers on notice.

If you do anything that angers well-connected parents. Whether its intentional or not an investigation can be rushed against you and you can lose your job, he said.

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IN OTHER NEWS:
The Cofiwch Dryweryn protest mural went up on a Welsh museum in Nebraska

A mural commemorating the drowning of a Welsh village has appeared in a rural USA city with Welsh roots.

Cofiwch Dryweryn - remember Tryweryn - was painted on a Welsh museum in Wymore, Nebraska.

The protest image was first painted near Llanrhystud in Ceredigion in 1965 after Capel Celyn was flooded to create a reservoir to supply Liverpool.

Copycat images started appearing around the world after the original was first vandalised in 2019.

Welsh-American Robert Humphries drove eight-hours from his home in Wisconsin to paint Cofiwch Dryweryn in Wymore in July.

The town was first populated by settlers from Wales in the 1880s and is now home to the Great Plains Welsh Heritage Centre.

Mr Humphries, 49, emigrated to to the US from Newport as a teenager.

He is now one of the museum's board members, does historical research and translates Welsh-language archives.

"I'm really proud we went ahead and did the mural," he said, explaining how he was "goaded" into doing it after a chat with Aberystwyth-born David Parry.

"It is a small contribution to helping raise awareness of the Welsh language and issues related to Wales," he said.

"I hope it can spur conversations and things going on in America and how we can thrive as a multi-cultural community."

Many people in Wymore remain proud of their Welsh roots, he said, explaining how the mural has become "very meaningful" to them.

Mr Humphries saw the original Cofiwch Dryweryn site during a visit to the Eisteddfod in Tregaron in 2022 and called it a "poignant" example of how Welsh culture has endured.

"We had a blank space on the wall outside our museum," he added.

"I was goaded into filling it with Cofiwch Dryweryn."

He said he also wanted the mural in place before the end of August when Wymore hosts the North American Festival of Wales, with guest that include the former national poet of Wales Ivor ap Glyn and the Welsh composer Robat Arwyn.
MANCHESTER, England  The nurse who led "a campaign of violence" and enjoyed "playing God" has been found guilty of murdering seven babies at a hospital, making her the U. K.'s most prolific child serial killer.

Lucy Letby, 33, was also convicted of trying to kill six other babies at the Countess of Chester Hospitals neonatal unit during a yearlong killing spree between June 2015 and June 2016.

The trial shared shocking details of how a total 17 babies  all but one premature  were allegedly murdered or injured by Letby, described by the prosecution as a "devious," "calculating" and "cold-blooded" killer.

She attacked infants by injecting insulin, milk or air into their tiny bodies, leading to their sudden collapse. She was accused of physically assaulting one baby and causing a liver injury akin to a road traffic collision.

Letby took four attempts to kill one baby girl, attacked three sets of twins, twice murdering one twin, and murdered two triplets within 24 hours of each other.

BABY ATTACKED BY ALLEGED KILLER NURSE LUCY LETBY RECOVERED AFTER BEING MOVED TO NEW HOSPITAL

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

She denied the 22 charges against her  seven counts of murder and 15 counts of attempted murder  but was convicted on 13 charges after the jury had deliberated for more than 99 hours.

Letby was found not guilty of two attempted murder charges, and the jury was undecided on further attempted murder charges relating to four babies.

The verdicts were delivered in three stages over a series of days, causing Letby to break down in tears. She refused to appear in the dock for the final verdicts.

Prosecutors told the jury that Letby was a "constant, malevolent presence" at the hospitals neonatal unit when the trial opened at Chester Crown Court in October.

They claimed she was the "common denominator" and that the babys deaths coincided with her shifts.

Babies who had not been unstable "suddenly severely deteriorated," while others who had been sick and recovered suddenly deteriorated "for no apparent reason."

DOCTORS 'CAN'T THINK OF A NATURAL CAUSE' FOR PROJECTILE VOMITING OF BABY ALLEGEDLY OVERFED BY NURSE LUCY LETBY

Letby was variously accused of "getting a thrill" out of murdering babies, "playing God" and killing one infant because she wanted to get the attention of a doctor she had a crush on.

Prosecutors described her as an "opportunist" who had targeted sick children while she was alone with them and used their vulnerabilities to "camouflage" her attacks, which had "patterns" or similarities.

They claimed she was caught red-handed on two occasions, once by a mother whose baby son was murdered and another time by a doctor as she tried to murder a baby girl.

However, Letby was able to get away with her crimes for so long, the jury heard, because colleagues simply could not contemplate there was a murderer on the unit.

She was eventually removed from front-line duties in July 2016 when doctors raised concerns about her involvement in baby deaths and first arrested her two years later in 2018.

A "confession" Post-It note, found by police at her home, read, "I don't deserve to live. I killed them on purpose because I'm not good enough to care for them."

She added, "I am a horrible evil person" and: "I AM EVIL I DID THIS."

Letby carried out social media searches of babies parents and was accused of being "a killer who was looking at your victims."

However, she denied harming babies and told the jury, "I only ever did my best to care for them."

Letby claimed the babies were the victims of poor care and accused a "gang of four" consultants of a conspiracy to cover up failings at the neonatal unit.

And a system that wanted to apportion blame, it was claimed, she became the "obvious target."

LUCY LETBY TRIAL: FATHER TESTIFIES BABY GIRL WAS LEFT SEVERELY DISABLED AFTER NURSE TRIED TO KILL HER

For legal reasons, the babies  who were referred to as Child A to Child Q in evidence  their parents and some witnesses could not be identified.

In heartbreaking testimony, some parents described seeing their babies collapse.

One mother, according to the prosecution, had unknowingly interrupted Letby as she was in the process of killing one of her newborn twin sons  Child E  by injecting him with air on Aug. 4, 2015.

The woman recalled the "horrendous" screams and seeing blood around his mouth and "feeling frightened" because she knew something was "very wrong."

Letby told the panicked mother that the bleeding was caused by a feeding tube rubbing her babys throat and "got rid" of her by saying, "Trust me, Im a nurse."

However, Child E suffered significant blood loss, and when the mother later returned to the neonatal unit, she found medics desperately trying to resuscitate her son, to no avail.

Letby attempted to kill the boys brother  Child F  the following day by injecting insulin into a nutrition bag, but he survived.

She later showed "unusual interest" in the twins family, the jury heard, with many social media searches of them following Child Es death, including on Christmas Day.

The Countess of Chester Hospital, where nurse Lucy Letby used to work in Chester, England.

NURSE LUCY LETBY WROTE SYMPATHY CARD TO PARENTS OF BABY GIRL SHES ACCUSED OF MURDERING

The jury was told how a "smiling" Letby spoke to the mother of Child I after murdering her at the fourth attempt by injecting air into her feeding tube and bloodstream on Oct. 23, 2015.

The mother had witnessed medics trying to resuscitate her baby, and after she died, Letby asked if she wanted to bathe her daughters body and offered to take photos for her to keep.

Letby also later sent a sympathy card to the girls grieving parents just hours before her funeral, which contained the message, "Your loved one will be remembered with many smiles."

The prosecution claimed a "completely out of control" Letby went on a "murder spree" in June 2016 after returning from holiday to Ibiza, Spain.

She murdered two triplet boys, Child O and Child P, and allegedly attempted to murder another baby boy, Child Q, over three successive days.

Letby had already "got away" with so much already, the prosecutor said, it gave her "the misplaced confidence" she could do what she wanted.

Prosecutors claimed that when Letby spoke to a colleague about Child P and asked, "Hes not leaving alive is he?" it was because she knew what was going to happen.

Cheshire police search the home of Lucy Letby in 2018, where they found handwritten notes that were shown to jurors during the trial.

"She was controlling things. She was enjoying what was going on and happily predicting something she knew was going to happen," said prosecutors.

"She, in effect, was playing God."

Prosecutors claimed her "campaign of violence" went undetected for so long because Letbys colleagues had not contemplated the remotest possibility of a nurse killing babies, and her methods left little trace.

They said she was "calculating and devious" and had "gaslighted" staff by persuading them what they knew to be "utterly abnormal" was "just a run of bad luck."

Giving testimony, Letby denied "getting a thrill" from the "grief and despair" of parents whose children she murdered.

When asked for their motive, she replied that "I believe to cover failings at the hospital."

'SMILING' NURSE LUCY LETBY ACCUSED OF KILLING BABY GIRL AFTER FOUR ATTEMPTS

Meanwhile, her lawyers argued that babies had received "sub-optimal" care, and it was "unfair and inaccurate" to blame her.

The prosecution's case, it was claimed, was "fueled" by a presumption of guilt. They described Letby as a hardworking and dedicated nurse who "loved" her job and also pointed out that she worked on the unit for years and treated hundreds of children prior to the alleged events.

Her behavior did not change, they argued, and the more likely reason babies had collapsed or died was their health or condition, staffing pressures, failings in care, and the unit taking on too many babies with high care needs.

In a statement, Pascale Jones, of the U.K.s Crown Prosecution Service said, "Lucy Letby sought to deceive her colleagues and pass off the harm she caused as nothing more than a worsening of each babys existing vulnerability.

A sympathy card sent from nurse Lucy Letby to the parents of a murdered baby.

"In her hands, innocuous substances like air, milk, fluids  or medication like insulin  would become lethal. She perverted her learning and weaponized her craft to inflict harm, grief and death."

The statement noted, "Time and again, she harmed babies, in an environment which should have been safe for them and their families."

It went on, "Her attacks were a complete betrayal of the trust placed in her. My thoughts are with families of the victims who may never have closure, but who now have answers to questions which had troubled them for years."

The British government has ordered an independent inquiry into the case. It will investigate the circumstances behind the crimes to ensure "vital lessons are learned".

U.K. Health Secretary Steve Barclay said, "I would like to send my deepest sympathy to all the parents and families impacted by this horrendous case," concluding, "This inquiry will seek to ensure the parents and families impacted get the answers they need."
After a tumultuous semester at New College of Florida, during which Gov. Ron DeSantis board of trustees began reshaping the liberal arts college in Sarasota, students are leaving for other schools.

And the president of a school in Massachusetts that plans to take in more than 12% of New Colleges student body is blasting Floridas efforts, calling it a threat to the future of education in America.

This is an authoritarian effort to limit free inquiry, to use the power of the state, which is backed up by the coercion of force and law, to forbid people from exploring the truth about our society and our world, said Ed Wingenbach, president of Hampshire College, which is offering an in-state tuition deal for New College students. And if that is allowed to happen, it wont stop.

New College, the smallest of the 12 schools in the state university system, became a target for DeSantis and conservative activists because of its reputation as a progressive-minded college with a vibrant LGBTQ+ population and, according to its website, a student body of free thinkers, risk takers and trailblazers.

In January, DeSantis replaced six of the colleges board of trustees with conservatives including Christopher Rufo, a commentator from Seattle who has led a national effort against the teaching of critical race theory and the abolition of diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

Moves produce fallout

The events are prompting many students and faculty to leave New College.

A large number of the 697 students have applied to other schools. Thirty eight out of about 90 full-time faculty members have resigned, a number even the schools provost, Bradley Thiessen, called ridiculously high.

A retired president of New College, Don OShea, wrote in a recent newspaper op-ed piece that I have never encountered a loss of this scale in my 50 years in higher education.

Rhiannon Hanlon, a third-year student at New College of Florida, is transferring to Sarah Lawrence College in New York this fall. They say New College they knew truly doesnt exist anymore. Hanlon says they will have to take out thousands in student loans to finish their education in public health and medical physiology.

Rising third-year student Rhiannon Hanlon says the tumult has just been too much. The New College that Im grieving, like, truly doesnt exist anymore, Hanlon said. Even if I was staying, it wouldnt be what I want or what Ive enjoyed.

Hanlon first considered leaving when President Patricia Okker was fired in February.

(Interim president Richard) Corcoran got in and started getting involved, and I started actually seeing the changes manifest, Hanlon said. A lot of plans to just demolish so much of campus culture, take away so many different academic disciplines, not giving tenure to very deserving professors.

Hanlon, from Jacksonville, heads this fall to Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York, as a public health and medical physiology transfer student. They have very similar open-course styles and a lot of emphasis on individual work and research.

But the move will come at a cost. In-state tuition, fees, room and board at New College total less than $22,000. Many students can cover that with available scholarships.

At the private Sarah Lawrence College, tuition alone is $63,128. Room and board is nearly $17,500.

Hanlon says even with a full tuition grant, thousands in student loans will be needed. Ill hopefully be able to get a job fresh out of college, that Ill be well-off enough to make those payments.

Sarah Lawrence Communications Director Falguni Smith says the school has received inquiries from other New College students.

Were expecting three students and potentially more at a later time after a potential gap term or two, she said.

A generous offer

From Amherst, Massachusetts, Hampshire College officials watched events unfold in Sarasota.

It was very clear that the state of Florida was going to be using its political power to both impose a really narrow, politicized curriculum on New College, President Ed Wingenbach said. We thought we should try to help.

College officials were concerned enough to make an offer to New College students: Transfer to Hampshire and pay New College in-state tuition for the duration of their college careers.

Were offering automatic admission to any student at New College, because, you know, theyre obviously really strong students, Wingenbach said. It feels like its our responsibility that these students not be punished or burdened by the actions of the state government.

Its obviously somewhat expensive for us to match in-state tuition for Florida students, but it would have been hypocritical to offer that admission and then not make it possible for them to come, he said.

To date, 88 students  more than 12% of New Colleges student body  have transferred to Hampshire or are in the application process, officials said. Twenty-five of them will join 40 other transfer students and 265 freshmen in Hampshires Fall 2023 class.

With so many similarities in programs, Wingenbach says the transfer students shouldnt miss a beat.

Every New College student will be able to pick up wherever they were at the end of last semester and continue to make progress on the degree or focus that they already established without losing time or credit, he said.

Students such as Hanlon are packing up and preparing for the next chapter in their lives.

Im definitely super excited to move to a new place and have all these new opportunities ... a little bit earlier than I anticipated, they said.

But it also is really sad and heartbreaking at the same time, Hanlon said. I met so many amazing people here and really figured out what I loved learning here. The fact that it feels like we can really do nothing to stop it is so just, like, disheartening.

Jim DeLa is a reporter for the Community News Collaborative. You can reach him at jdela@cncfl.org
Gary Lilly is stepping down from his role as director of schools.

Collierville Schools will soon need a new leader.

Gary Lilly, the districts director of schools, has notified the Collierville Board of Education that he plans to step down from his role on Dec. 31, 2023. On Jan. 1, 2024, hes slated to start as the executive director of the Tennessee Organization of School Superintendents.

The board is expected to name an interim director in the coming weeks.

The amazing students, educators, administrators, and board members associated with Collierville Schools have enriched my professional life and practice in innumerable ways, Lilly said, in a press release. As I prepare for a new journey with TOSS, I do so with immense gratitude for the opportunities, collaborations, and accomplishments that we have shared here.

Collierville superintendent Gary Lilly visits a Sycamore Elementary School first grade classroom Friday, August 16, 2019.

Lilly was selected as the superintendent of Collierville Schools in May 2019. He replaced John Aitken and was the districts second-ever superintendent. During his tenure, he guided Collierville Schools through the COVID-19 pandemic, oversaw the creation of its 10th school  Collierville Virtual Academy  and spearheaded the development and adoption of its five-year strategic plan. He also expanded high school career and technical education pathways, adding aviation flight, mechatronics, and aviation mechanics.

Before joining Collierville Schools, Lilly was the superintendent of Bristol Tennessee City Schools for 10 years.

Hes now poised to take the reins at TOSS, a professional memberships association for active school superintendents and directors of public school systems in Tennessee. Chartered in 1975, the organization currently has 145 superintendents who are members, and it looks to address and advance the needs of education in Tennessee, through legislative advocacy, information sharing, and professional development.

Lilly is set to be its ninth executive director.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Collierville Superintendent Gary Lilly to step down at end of 2023
The Commerce Department has determined five Southeast Asian companies circumvented tariffs on Chinese solar components, while the remaining three companies under investigation did not.

The department announced its investigation last year, focusing on eight companies headquartered in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam: BYD Hong Kong, New East Solar, Hanwha Q CELLS, Jinko Solar, Canadian Solar, Trina Solar, Boviet Solar and Vina Solar. The final determination, issued Friday, found all but Hanwha Q CELLS, Jinko and Boviet engaged in tariff-dodging.

The final results reflect those of the preliminary report the Commerce Department released in December, with one exception: New East Solar was found not to have circumvented in the preliminary report, but during the investigation process, the company refused to cooperate and denied auditors access during the onsite investigation, a senior Commerce official said on a call with reporters.

In line with our longstanding practice and U.S. law, we had to make an adverse inference and so were finding in the final results that New East Solar is circumventing because we could not verify the accuracy and reliability of our information, the official said.

The investigation had been fiercely opposed by the U.S. solar industry and its allies in Congress, who have warned it would deal a major blow to the industry at a time when solar buildout is essential to achieving the Biden administrations carbon-neutrality goals.

Americans want abundant, reliable, and clean energy, said Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), in a statement. This decision moves the goalpost yet again for the solar and storage industry and will only undermine the progress of companies that are working hard to deliver American solar products.

Amid the investigation, President Biden in 2022 suspended tariffs on solar panels from the four countries for two years.

A Congressional Review Act resolution that would have resumed the tariffs passed Congress in May, but Biden vetoed the resolution.

In keeping with that suspension, the Commerce official said, none of the duties will be collected until next June.

Nevada has the most solar jobs per capita in the nation, and any action that threatens this industry also threatens the livelihoods of thousands of workers in our state, Sen Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), who has been one of the most vocal critics of the investigation, said in a statement. While this decision is narrower than the original petition called for, it will still hurt the solar industry and solar companies ability to grow.

Let me be clear: this misguided decision is going to directly affect our nations solar economy, she added. Ill continue fighting for Nevadas solar industry and the good-paying, union jobs it creates.

The Hill has reached out to the solar companies found to be circumventing for comment.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The Committee to Protect Journalists is calling for an investigation into the raid at the Marion County Record, the Kansas newspaper at the center of a sharply criticized police investigation.

CPJs U.S. program coordinator Katherine Jacobsen said the search and seizure of items that unfolded at the newspapers office on Aug. 11 was a violation of state and federal laws that protect journalists. CPJ is an international nonprofit that promotes press freedom and works to defend journalists against repression across the globe.

She said there needs to be a thorough investigation into why the Marion Police Department presented the search warrant and why it was signed by Magistrate Judge Laura Viar.

At CPJ, we dont really have a record of anything like this happening in the United States on this scale, Jacobsen said.

Many items from the newspaper including cellphones and computers were taken during the raid led by the Marion Police Department.

Since then, the town of about 2,000 people located about 155 miles southwest of Kansas City, has received national and international attention. Free press organizations and individuals have widely condemned the raid. While a few individual journalists have been the subjects of a raid through a warrant, it appears unheard of for such actions to be taken at an entire newspaper in the U.S.

On Tuesday, the newspapers staff of 10 worked feverishly to get Wednesdays edition published without their servers and other equipment.

Jacobsen said impeding a newspaper from its work was doing a disservice to to people who live there really and more broadly speaking to American democracy.

This isnt a partisan issue, she said. People want to have their local news source.

Wednesdays paper landed on doorsteps with the headline SEIZED...but not silenced.

Later that day, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation announced the search warrant was being withdrawn.

In a statement, Marion County Attorney Joel Ensey said he concluded that insufficient evidence existed to establish a legally sufficient nexus between this alleged crime and the places searched and the items seized.

Around 3 p.m., a forensic expert arrived at the sheriffs office across the street from the newspaper where he picked up electronic devices to be examined to ensure they had not been opened.

Jacobsen said it was heartening to see the warrant withdrawn.

However, part of the damage cannot be done, right? And thats the fact that the search warrant was even signed in the first place.

She continued, saying it was concerning that the police department has not provided an explanation or made an assurance that such actions will not take place again.

Until those steps are taken, it sends a real chilling effect on public interest journalism in Marion and in Kansas more broadly, Jacobsen said. And thats a really harmful precedent for local journalists across the United States.

Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody can be seen on the Marion County Records surveillance footage during a raid on the newspaper that was widely condemned. The Associated Press

We intend to find the truth

Bernie Rhodes, an attorney who is representing the Record in this case, said Thursday that he welcomes an independent investigation.

He also said his firm and the paper are conducting their own investigation.

Between all of them, we intend to find the truth, said Rhodes, who is also The Stars attorney. Returning the seized items, he continued, was the first step, but does not end this.

The newspaper needs to be compensated for the damage to First Amendment rights it endured, Rhodes said.

A search warrant shows police were looking for evidence that a reporter had run an improper computer search to confirm an report that a local business owner applying for a liquor license had lost her drivers license over a DUI.

The newspaper had also investigated the towns new police chief, Gideon Cody, but decided against publishing a story, newspaper owner and publisher Eric Meyer has said.

Cody had been a police officer with the Kansas City Police Department for 24 years before leaving for Marion in May. At the time, he was under internal review for allegedly making insulting and sexist comments to a female officer, The Star discovered.

On Monday, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation announced it was leading the investigation into the computer search.

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach oversees the KBI and said there were allegations of improper access to the Kansas Criminal Justice Information System (KCJIS).

The KBI would not be reviewing the raid itself, Kobach said.

Their role as I understand it now is not an evaluation of constitutional claims about the raid, he said. The principal interest of course is the KCJIS system since one of the allegations I believe, involves improper access to KCJIS information.

Though the warrant was rescinded, Meyer said they are still contemplating filing a lawsuit.

I dont care about the money, he said. Id probably donate it to some charity somewhere. But its mostly to set the example.

Eric Meyer, the editor and publisher of the Marion County Record, stands outside the newspapers office on Monday. The office and Meyers home were raided by police on Friday. Luke Nozicka
The company behind a controversial Michigan electric vehicle battery plant quietly appeared as a Chinese foreign principal in an under-the-radar registration, disclosures reviewed by Fox News Digital show.

Gotion Inc., a Fremont, California-based energy company, has faced uproar from Republican politicians and residents in the state over potential Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influence concerns since it first unveiled plans to construct the multi-billion dollar facility with the support of Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Gotion Inc.'s parent company, Gotion High-Tech, is headquartered in Hefei City, China.

Chuck Thelen, Gotion's North American manufacturing vice president, has attempted to alleviate worries and stated CCP concerns are overblown. "The rumors that you've heard about us bringing communism to North America are just flat-out fear-mongering and really have nothing based in reality," Thelen said, according to Politico.

Michigan Democrats have also dismissed CCP concerns as Republican scare tactics. "Extremists in the Michigan GOP have spent weeks promoting baseless conspiracies that only work to block the thousands of good-paying, American jobs Gotion plans to bring to our state," Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes told UpNorthLive on April 20.

CCP-BACKED TECH COMPANIES ARE POISED TO CASH IN ON BIDEN'S CLIMATE BILL, NATIONAL SECURITY EXPERTS WARN

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has argued Gotion's plant would help make the state the "global hub of mobility and electrification."

But just one day after her statement, on April 21, Gotion Inc. was quietly registered as a Chinese foreign principal, according to FARA filings, which appears to have gone previously unreported. The U.S. subsidiary's document declares that its "wholly owned and controlled" by the China-based Hefei Gotion High-Tech Power Energy Co., Ltd.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Gov. Whitmer announced last October that Gotion would invest $2.4 billion to construct two 550,000-square-foot production plants and other supporting facilities spanning 260 acres in northern Michigan. She applauded the proposal, saying it would shore up Michigan's status as the "global hub of mobility and electrification."

Since then, Republican lawmakers, residents and national security experts have raised concerns about Gotion's Chinese ownership and ties to the CCP. The corporate bylaws of Gotion High-Tech require the company to "carry out Party activities in accordance with the Constitution of the Communist Party of China."

Fox News Digital also reported in June that Michigan Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin and a high-level staffer signed a non-disclosure agreement with the Michigan Economic Development Corp allowing them to be privy to negotiations about Gotion's proposed electric vehicle battery factory in Big Rapids. After a months-long national security review, the Biden administration green-lit the project that same month.

BIDEN ADMIN GREEN-LIGHTS CHINESE EV BATTERY FACTORY IN MICHIGAN, DESPITE LOCAL OPPOSITION

In addition to criticism over its ties to China, legislators have expressed concern about the proximity of Gotion's proposed plant to U.S. military bases. The facility would be located within 60 miles of military armories and 100 miles from Camp Grayling, the country's largest U.S. National Guard training facility.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this year that the Michigan National Guard trains Taiwanese soldiers during annual military exercises at Camp Grayling.

And in a 10-9 vote in April, the Michigan state Senate Appropriations Committee gave the final stamp of approval for granting Gotion $175 million in direct taxpayer funding to help build the facility .

"I'm angry. I'm angry that this vote was slipped into the agenda today with as little information as possible so that people like me wouldn't know it was happening," Marjorie Steele, a local resident, said during the hearing. "I'm angry that you, our elected officials, have ignored my community's pleas to table this vote until some small semblance of due diligence can be performed."

"I can promise you that we will not stop at the local level," she added. "We are tired of being abused, and we are not alone. This is not just a Mecosta County issue. Townships and counties across the state are uniting, sharing resources, manpower and grassroots activism. Your votes today, senators, are lines drawn in the sand."

Gotion Inc. did not respond to a Fox News Digital inquiry about its registration.
Conservative think tank emerges as force behind DeSantis campaign FILE PHOTO: The Heritage Foundation's 50th Anniversary Leadership Summit at Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland

By Gram Slattery

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In mid-March, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis described the Ukraine war as a "territorial dispute" that was not of vital strategic interest to the United States, in a written reply to a questionnaire from Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

His comment dismayed allies and drew fierce rebukes from many Republicans who favor a more active role for the U.S. in Ukraine, including some who are challenging him for the 2024 presidential nomination.

Playing a quiet but important role in shaping the governor's remarks was the Washington-based Heritage Foundation, America's top conservative think tank, according to two people with knowledge of their interactions.

Senior Heritage officials had advocated for months in conversations with DeSantis' team that he oppose policies that could move the U.S. toward direct confrontation with Russia, the people said.

While officials at Heritage have been in contact with almost every 2024 Republican presidential campaign, including that of former President Donald Trump, the think tank's proximity to DeSantis is unique, eight people involved in the discussions said.

Heritage personnel have held near-daily conversations with DeSantis officials in recent months about key issues, including downsizing federal agencies, reorienting U.S. foreign policy to better prepare for confrontation with China, and lowering hurdles to domestic energy production, the eight people said.

The range and frequency of those discussions with DeSantis' campaign have not been previously reported.

"It just makes sense. He's such a policy mind," said one Heritage official who, like the other people, asked not to be identified so he could speak freely about the private conversations.

DeSantis' aides and allies say next week's Republican presidential debate in Milwaukee will be an opportunity for the governor to show that he is better versed in policy than his opponents. They portray it as a pivotal moment as DeSantis tries to regain momentum following a summer slide in the polls.

Bryan Griffin, DeSantis' press secretary, said the candidate had received "a wide variety of input" when formulating his proposals. He did not elaborate on what role Heritage had played regarding specific policies.

"The Heritage Foundation is a principled conservative organization and we are grateful for their contributions and suggestions," Griffin said in response to Reuters' detailed questions for this story.

Although the news agency was unable to pinpoint every policy DeSantis has adopted due to his campaign's relationship with Heritage, many of his preferences mirror the think tank's deep skepticism of the federal government, corporate elites and foreign entanglements.

Several days after DeSantis' March comments on Ukraine, his top aides met privately with Heritage President Kevin Roberts and other officials of the think tank at an office building near the Governor's Mansion in Tallahassee, Florida.

During that meeting, Generra Peck, who would later serve as DeSantis' first campaign manager, thanked the Heritage officials for helping lay the groundwork for the governor's position on the conflict, according to one person with direct knowledge of that conversation.

Publicly, Heritage is taking pains not to take sides, in a bid to position itself as the pre-eminent conservative think tank no matter who wins the Republican nomination.

During Trump's presidency, Heritage developed a close working relationship with him. With the former president holding a formidable 34-point lead in polls, the think tank could again find itself working with a Trump administration should he win the 2024 election.

"We are happy to provide policy recommendations to any lawmaker or candidate who asks," said Noah Weinrich, a Heritage spokesperson, in response to detailed questions about this story.

Weinrich said Heritage has 'hosted' all major Republican candidates, but he did not comment on the contents of any policy discussions held between the think tank and any of the presidential contenders.

TALLAHASSEE VISITS

Either Roberts himself or other top Heritage officials have traveled to DeSantis' home base in Tallahassee about once a month this year, people with knowledge of the trips said. Roberts has also traveled to Mar-a-Lago, the Florida resort owned by Trump, but the last visit was more than six months ago, those people added.

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

DeSantis' policy chief, Dustin Carmack, who was a Heritage research fellow before joining the campaign, talks with officials at the think tank almost daily, according to two of the people, an unusual level of contact for a policy chief at this early stage of a campaign.

Heritage officials have held in-depth discussions with DeSantis' team about restructuring the Justice Department, abolishing the Department of Education, firing thousands of mid-level bureaucrats and disentangling the U.S. from Ukraine, according to those people.

While Heritage officials have also held talks with all other major Republican presidential campaigns, those discussions have not been as frequent or in-depth, those people said.

Some of those conversations have included DeSantis himself as well as Roberts, those people added.

In addition to Carmack, the policy director, at least seven other Heritage staffers have taken positions in the DeSantis campaign.

Among the policy areas in which discussions have taken place is the need to reform federal law enforcement, according to a DeSantis campaign official.

DeSantis, like other Republican presidential contenders, has accused the Justice Department and the FBI in particular of bias against conservatives, accusations that law enforcement officials deny.

Steve Bradbury, the general counsel for the Department of Transportation under Trump and a Heritage scholar, has talked with DeSantis about the need to relocate the FBI outside of Washington and empower its field offices, according to the DeSantis campaign official. Bradbury did not respond to interview requests.

DeSantis appears to have embraced that view in part, saying on the campaign trail he would move much of the agency's functions outside the capital.

The governor, as well as many senior Heritage officials, holds the view that the concentration of federal employees in Washington leads to anti-conservative bias, as the city and its suburbs vote overwhelmingly for the Democratic Party.

Top Heritage officials, one person familiar with the think tank's operations said, were among a small cadre of policy experts who saw an advance draft of DeSantis' "Declaration of Economic Independence," which condemned the effects China and large corporations were having on everyday Americans.

While Reuters could not determine if Heritage staff suggested changes to the speech, the sharing of the document was a sign of the trust, that person said. The speech, which called for a decoupling of the U.S. economy from China and railed against President Joe Biden's recent bank bailouts, was consistent with Heritage's institutional policies, the person added.

PROJECT 2025

The Florida governor has also embraced Heritage's "Project 2025." In addition to a 920-page book that contains policy suggestions for every federal department, the think tank is assembling a vast list of hires that would staff the next administration in 2025 should a Republican win - even for positions that have in the past been seen as nonpartisan.

In June, DeSantis dispatched a senior adviser, David Dewhirst, to work on the project. On the trail, the governor makes frequent references to firing mid-level bureaucrats, which two senior Heritage officials said they considered lightly veiled references to the project.

Whether DeSantis' connection to the think tank has been helpful for his campaign is an open question. In recent weeks, the governor has unveiled a number of policies from immigration and the military to the economy. He has yet to see a bump in the polls.

DeSantis' decision in March to characterize the Ukraine war as a "territorial dispute" was consistent with the views of about half the Republican Party, surveys show. But some donors and many Republican voters vigorously disagree.

Following the controversial March 13 statement, Heritage officials had a suggestion for the campaign, according to one person with knowledge of the discussions.

Perhaps, they said, DeSantis' message on Ukraine could be delivered with more nuance. He could acknowledge the unjustness of the Russian invasion, while insisting the U.S. needed to limit its involvement and keep its attention on China.

It is unclear if DeSantis took that advice to heart. But the governor's message subtly shifted. DeSantis told Fox Nation in an interview on March 23 his remarks had been "mischaracterized."

"Obviously, Russia invaded," he said, "and that was wrong."

(Reporting by Gram Slattery, editing by Ross Colvin and Daniel Flynn)
 Flash

Chinese tourists are seen at the historical Sultanahmet Square in Istanbul, Turkiye, on Aug. 17, 2023. Istanbul, one of Turkiye's most visited cities, welcomed on Thursday its first Chinese tourist group after China lifted the group tour ban to Turkiye on Aug. 10. (Photo by Omer Kuscu/Xinhua)

Istanbul, one of Turkiye's most visited cities, welcomed on Thursday its first Chinese tourist group after China lifted the group tour ban to Turkiye on Aug. 10.

The 12-member tour group will take an 8-day trip across Turkiye. Wu Jian, China's deputy consul general in Istanbul, accompanied the group to tour the historical Sultanahmet Square, surrounded by the iconic Basilica Cistern, Hagia Sophia, and Blue Mosque.

Wu told the group that a series of meetings are being held between Turkish authorities and the Chinese consulate focusing on the safe and trouble-free traveling of Chinese tourists in this megacity with a population of around 16 million.

"We have updated and prepared a brochure in Chinese, listing precautions in Turkiye," Wu said, adding that "consular phone numbers and traffic maps are also provided."

The deputy consul assured the tourists that the consulate is of 24-hour availability.

Fu Tong, the tour leader, said Turkiye has become one of the top-rated outbound destinations for Chinese tourists, and the arrival number of Chinese tourists is expected to grow exponentially in the coming days.

After a three-day stay in Istanbul, the group will head to central Turkiye's Cappadocia, a famed scenic spot for hot air balloon tours.

Chinese tourists pose for photos at the historical Sultanahmet Square in Istanbul, Turkiye, on Aug. 17, 2023. Istanbul, one of Turkiye's most visited cities, welcomed on Thursday its first Chinese tourist group after China lifted the group tour ban to Turkiye on Aug. 10. (Photo by Omer Kuscu/Xinhua)




The results of the 2020 presidential election were skewed by corrupt voting machines, at least thats what speakers and attendees of this years Election Crime Bureau Summit seem to think.

CEO of My Pillow Mike Lindell kicked off the summit on Thursday in Springfield, Missouri with his plan to safeguard future elections in the country.

Based on the nature of the topics presented by speakers at the forum, the proposal calls for a shift back to paper ballots hand counted in front of the public. Some counties in Arkansas have already opted for this voting method, though similar legislation failed in Missouri.

The plan has never been done before in history. It's never been talked about before, and it's gonna secure our election platforms immediately, Lindell said.

Describing the plan as his holy calling to save the country, Lindell insisted that people from all political backgrounds can agree with his ideas.

However, he said that anyone who does not agree with the plan is part of "The Evil"  which he defined as the globalist, Uniparty, Deep State, Chinese Communist Party.

I'm going to refer to them today as The Evil, Lindell said.

Heres what we know about the event so far.

Mike Lindell speaks to attendees of the Election Crime Bureau Summit in Springfield on Aug. 16, 2023.

Promised politician appearances fall through

Appearances from Rudy Giuliani and Ken Paxton, Texas attorney general were assured in the events promotional campaign, but both are currently facing legal charges.

Lindell told participants Wednesday that neither would be attending the summit.

Paxton was told by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, If you go to Mike Lindell's summit, it would be like someone getting a DWI going to a wine tasting event, Lindell told his audience.

Among the morning speakers was David Clements, a former professor and attorney who lost both positions as a result of his outspoken claims that the 2020 election was stolen by rigged voting machines.

I had to go through what they call Marxist tribunals by the Office of Institutional Equity, because I committed microaggressions by virtue of showing up on the Tucker Carlson show or talking to Steve Bannon, Clements said.

Laura Loomer, the far-right former Project Veritas reporter, claimed she was the most banned woman on social media for a time. Loomer, who ran two unsuccessful campaigns for Florida Congressional seats, is blocked on all platforms but Twitter for making anti-Muslim remarks.

To great applause from an audience filling most of the hall at the Springfield Expo Center, Loomer denounced Democrats and Republicans for their complicity in Trumps loss in 2020.

No one wants to talk about this elephant in the room, Loomer said. The Republicans were just as much involved in stealing the election from Donald Trump.

Censorship of conservative voices was at topic touched on by many speakers, including Lindell. Following the Jan. 6 insurrection at the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., many people supporting the attack were blocked on social media.

We were about to be Nazi Germany, where nobody could speak out and nobody had a voice, and if you did speak out, you were hauled away, and everybody else cowered in fear, Lindell said.

Laura Loomer, who ran two unsuccessful campaigns for a Florida Congressional seat, speaks with Emerald Robinson, correspondent on Lindell TV at the Election Crime Bureau Summit in Springfield on Aug. 16, 2023.

What happened at Lindell's 2022 event? Marjorie Taylor Greene speaks, and other takeaways from Mike Lindell's Springfield event

Donald Trump losing the election was all part of a divine plan

The election loss was all part of a grand plan that continues to unfold, Lindell said. In a common theme the first day of the event, many speakers cited their personal Christian faith as motivation for their opposition to the handling of the 2020 election.

Lindell has frequently credited his personal faith as a driving factor that helped him overcome his addiction to crack cocaine, launch his MyPillow company and start the Lindell Recovery Network, a faith-based addiction recovery program.

Mike Lindell speaks with Emerald Robinson, a correspondent on conservative platform Lindell TV, at the Election Crime Bureau Summit in Springfield on Aug. 16, 2023.

Lindell said the current losses and challenges facing him and his supporters are a part of Gods plan to save the country through their actions.

From the loss of the 2020 election to the Jan. 6 insurrection, Lindell insists that every failure happened so that his election plan could be announced and enacted now, prior to the 2024 elections.

People would have been informed of all the truths too early, and they would have demanded that our Constitution be followed, Lindell said. But if that would have happened back then, we would have lost our country forever. It would have been too soon.

Wednesday afternoon's schedule includes speakers from all 50 states evaluating the state of elections across the country. Comparing the 2018 and 2020 elections, speakers rate states based on their compliance or lack thereof with hot-button voting issues, including the use of paper ballots, drop boxes, ranked choice and mail-in voting.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Mike Lindells election crime event rife with conspiracy theories
An inspection that could determine the future of a highly-discussed building in downtown Troy did not go as planned Friday.

>> PHOTOS: Troy property owner starts demo without city approval

News Center 7 was there Friday morning as representatives from the Troy Fire Department, Miami County Building Inspection, and Miami County Prosecutors Office, as well as lawyers for the Troy Tavern Buildings owner and lawyers of clients in the buildings on either side of the Tavern Building waited for the court-appointed inspector to arrive.

The inspection was supposed to begin at 10 a.m., but News Center 7s John Bedell reported that the inspector failed to show up. After waiting an addition 20 minutes, the parties involved called off the inspection.

>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Judge names expert engineer to inspect historic Troy Tavern building

Structural engineer Daniel Geers, of Jezerinac Geers & Associates, Inc., was appointed last month by Judge Stacy Wall to inspect the building at on W. Main Street. Bedell reported that an apparent scheduling mix-up was to blame for the missed inspection.

Hours later, around 2 p.m., Geers arrived. After inspecting the outside of the building, he and a small group of people went inside of a nearly two-hour long evaluation.

Geers will put what he found today in written report and turn it into the court. From there, Wall will make a decision based on the findings.

News Center 7 spoke to several people in Troy Friday who said they are frustrated over the ongoing legal battle regarding the building.

>> RELATED: Controversial building in Troy forces closure of West Main Street

I mean, look at the road closes, all the fences up. Its a beautiful little downtown. It really is a bruise on the city in my opinion, Richard Boyd, of Tipp City, said.

We also spoke to Stacy Lucas, owner of Magnolia Mae Boutique which sits in the shadow of the Tavern Building. She said the road and sidewalk closures caused by the ongoing battle have impacted her business.

Its impacted my business hugely. The foot traffic is way down. People are avoiding coming downtown in general, not just for my business, but, you know, others, too, Lucas said.

She said she was hopeful that Fridays inspection will help get some answers.
COVID-19 hospitalizations are rising in Mecklenburg County, but new boosters could soon be available to protect against the latest variant.

EG.5, also referred to as Eris, is the newest omicron subvariant rapidly spreading nationwide, according to the World Health Organization.

Symptoms of EG.5 are similar to those caused by previous variants and include fatigue, sore throat, runny nose, fever, muscle aches, and loss of taste and smell, the WHO said.

According to the World Health Organization, the variant currently presents a low public health risk at a global level, but health officials are monitoring it.

Moderna, Pfizer, and Novavax will offer new versions of their COVID-19 vaccines and boosters that will target the XBB.1.5 omicron subvariant, CBS News reported. Experts say the shots will be effective against the EG.5 variant since the two are closely related.

Booster doses should be available in Charlotte by late September after the Food and Drug Administration approves them, a Mecklenburg County Health Department spokesperson told The Charlotte Observer in an email.

COVID-19 in Mecklenburg County

According to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, rising COVID-19 virus particles in wastewater can be an early sign of community spread.

At the Mallard Creek plant in Charlotte, an average of 15 million viral gene copies per person were recorded on July 4, according to the most recent data available from NCDHHS. By Aug. 5, that number climbed to 78 million.

As COVID-19 wastewater levels rise, so have the number of hospitalizations related to the virus.

From July 30-Aug. 5, there were 48 COVID-related hospitalizations reported in Mecklenburg County, a 50% increase from the previous week, according to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Who will be eligible for the COVID booster?

Teens and adults are expected to be eligible for all three vaccines, CBS reported.

Children as young as two years old will be eligible for one dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, CBS reported. Children as young as six months may require two or three doses for a complete regimen.

Are there vaccine side effects?

According to Pfizer, the following side effects have been reported in past vaccine versions. It is not clear if the new shots will cause the same symptoms.

According to Pfizer, some of these symptoms, including fainting, irritability, fatigue, and vomiting, are particularly common in children.

How to protect against COVID infection

While the although the COVID international public health emergency was declared on May 5 to be over, the WHO continues to urge Member States to maintain, not dismantle, their established COVID-19 infrastructure. It is crucial to sustain surveillance and reporting, variant tracking, and early clinical care provision, the agency stated.

Mecklenburg County encourages the public to wear a mask, particularly a KN95 or N95 version, when close to others and wash their hands with soap and water frequently. If you feel sick, stay away from others, take an at-home test, and get treatment.

Health officials also recommend testing at home for those feeling sick, washing hands with soap and water more than usual, covering your nose and mouth when you cough or sneeze, and cleaning surfaces often.
Crumbl Cookies held its grand opening in San Luis Obispo on Friday morning, celebrating the third local location for the fast-growing growing cookie company chain.

The store, located at 481 Madonna Road, is one of over 800 Crumbl Cookies locations across the nation.

The other San Luis Obispo County spots are at 2307 Theater Drive in Paso Robles and 503 Five Cities Drive in Pismo Beach.

Customers at the new store can expect to to be able to sample more than 200 unique flavors  from milk chocolate chip to key lime pie  on the shops weekly rotating menu. The new menu can be seen on Crumbls social media every Sunday.

The store is expected to continue to celebrate its grand opening with a Pink Party on Saturday, featuring live music, face painting and giveaways, according to a news release.

Cal Poly graduate excited to bring Crumbl Cookies to SLO

Beside satisfying your sweet tooth, the San Luis Obispo shop also brings more than 40 job opportunities to the area, according to the release.

The location is owned by Julie Craven, Angela and Lary Smith and Ben and Michele Fowler, according to the release.

Craven, a Cal Poly alumna, has lived in both San Luis Obispo and Los Osos, and said she was looking forward to the opportunity to open a Crumbl Cookies locally.

I am so excited and honored to put roots down once again in San Luis Obispo and bring all of our family, friends and communities together over the worlds best cookies, Craven said in the release.

Meanwhile, the Smith family resides in San Saba, Texas, though Angela Smith hails from the Central Coast, according to the release. The Fowlers are from Bakersfield, where Michele Fowler is a stay-at-home mom, small business owner and animal rescue volunteer and Ben Fowler is a firefighter.

Crumble Cookies to start delivering with app soon

Those hoping to have some sweet treats delivered will have to wait a bit.

Delivery, curbside pickup, catering and nationwide shipping will be available to customers using the Crumbl app on Aug. 23, according to the release.

The app will also have a brand-new feature: the Cookie Journal, where customers can track and review cookies and earn points towards free cookies.

Crumbl Cookies in San Luis Obispo is open 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.
A sign for the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services building in Austin on Nov. 14, 2019. Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune

In early 2019, a small group of foster parents clustered in the governors office, hoping months of working with the state would improve things for children like theirs: deaf or hard of hearing and traumatized by a system that struggled to care for them.

In prior meetings held between these foster parents, the governors office and state agencies, leaders from Texas Department of Family and Protective Services waffled on their methods of tracking deaf children in foster care and the number currently in the system. After foster children came forward and shared stories of abuse and neglect amplified by an inability to communicate with anyone around them, DFPS promised to give the issue more attention.

At this January 2019 meeting, state agency officials said DFPS would, on a one-time basis, check medical providers information to verify the number of deaf kids in the system and look for communication barriers in homes where deaf kids were placed. DFPS also said it would train staff on deafness. But the foster parents left without feeling like these were long-term solutions.

During that meeting, I tried to remain hopeful that they would recognize and see how bad it was, said Andrea Bright-Fontana, who lives in Austin, has fostered four deaf children and three hearing children, and is fluent in American Sign Language.

But I felt we were blown off. I felt as though our kids didnt matter, she added. And when we walked out, it felt like all of us foster parents gave up and were like, Im done.

More than four years later, in the wake of a pandemic, massive staff turnover and few follow-up meetings, DFPS has made little progress for deaf youth in foster care. As a result, advocates say these children are undercounted, have few ways to communicate with caseworkers and are often placed in homes that dont use American Sign Language or understand deafness, which can stunt their social and emotional development. Deaf children who need higher levels of care are sent out of state because Texas has few behavioral health facilities accessible to deaf children.

Despite these problems, DFPS indicated it would not implement reforms recommended by the Governors Committee on People with Disabilities for this population of kids as recently as June, citing the limited size of the population as a reason for not dedicating more resources to it, according to a DFPS report from June 1.

Specifically, the governors committee recommended that DFPS designate an expert on deafness who has fluent sign language skills and could be an advocate for this population of children.

Jessica, whose last name is being withheld for safety concerns, is one of Bright-Fontanas adopted foster children and said she had to beg her caseworkers to find her a foster family that uses ASL. Jessica, now 20, said she could barely make the request because there were no interpreters around in the evening hours as she sat in Child Protective Services offices. She said she mainly communicated with them by writing messages back and forth with pen and paper.

It doesnt matter how small the number is, its kids, Jessica said. Were talking about kids here. All kids should have the same treatment and access.

Tracking deaf youth

Approximately 7,000 children are deaf or hard of hearing across the state of Texas, according to statistics from the Texas School for the Deaf Foundation.

There are currently 86 deaf or hard-of-hearing children out of the more than 18,000 in the states custody, and only four primarily use ASL, according to the same DFPS report. But that number doesnt come from childrens health care providers; it comes from caseworkers initial assessments based on information they get from adults who are around the child, DFPS spokesperson Marissa Gonzalez said.

When children are removed from a home because of suspected abuse or neglect, they are supposed to have at least two different medical exams within 30 days. All of them receive Medicaid health insurance through the states contractor, Superior Star Health. But DFPS has not worked with Superior to identify youth with hearing impairments according to the agencys own June report. Superior did not respond to emails or calls asking for comment.

The state should have insight into that [medical information] to be able to get a better accounting of it, said Meredith Parekh, an attorney at Disability Rights Texas, a disability advocacy nonprofit.

Collecting information about these children can be hard. Caseworkers have to use IMPACT, a 1990s-era software application that state lawmakers, DFPS employees and even federal judges criticize yearly for its shortcomings. State caseworkers often have to physically track down documents missing from the system.

Jennifer Hampton, 44, previously worked as a DFPS caseworker in 2014 and was assigned to one case with multiple deaf siblings. She said the only reason she knew about their deafness, along with other health conditions they had, was because their biological parents had passed that information on to her.

Thats all we had to go off of, Hampton said. We didnt have any type of doctors records that said anything else.

Translating needs

Many deaf children are nonverbal and cant explain their situations or conditions on their own. Instead, they may rely on ASL interpreters to convey feelings to their caseworkers or other DFPS employees while in the states custody.

But the process of getting these interpreters is difficult. State workers can use local interpreters through an interagency contract with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission which allows DFPS to use HHSC sign language providers for any need, including visits with children in foster care or interviews with clients during investigations, Gonzalez, the DFPS spokesperson, said.

But Bright-Fontana recalls multiple times DFPS caseworkers didnt bring interpreters. In one instance, her deaf foster son hit his head while running around and playing in the front yard. Foster parents have to report all of a childs injuries to DFPS, and caseworkers will follow up to investigate the situation.

On the phone with a caseworker, she said she told them to bring an ASL interpreter. When one didnt show up once they arrived at Bright-Fontanas home, she said the caseworker asked Bright-Fontana herself to interpret her sons words about what happened.

When we got done, I turned to her and I said, You do realize I could have pushed him? Bright-Fontana said. I could have pushed him, I could have hurt him and you would have been none the wiser because I just interpreted between the two of you and you allowed that to happen. I told you to bring an interpreter and you didnt.

Kristen Schwall-Hoyt, another ASL-fluent foster parent of deaf children living in Austin, said her now adopted daughter was living with foster parents with little knowledge of Deaf culture at age 4 when they took her in for cochlear implant surgery, but no interpreters explained what was happening before or after surgery.

During such surgery, doctors place a small, complex electronic device that can help to provide a sense of sound to a person under the skin behind ones ear for those who are deaf. It does not restore hearing but can help someone understand speech.

The girl told her that she woke up in pain in the hospital and tried to tell someone, including the foster parents, but no one could understand her.

I cried and cried and cried, said Schwall-Hoyts daughter, now 20, whose name is being withheld for safety concerns. I didnt understand a whole lot.

Even for those who dont primarily use ASL, its an important method of communication with other people, which plays a large part in a childs development as they grow, said Wyatte Hall, an assistant professor at the University of Rochester Medical Center who has has researched clinical psychology and mental health among deaf people.

Hall said deaf children who havent learned ASL or dont interact with deaf adults experience a form of trauma that stems from lack of communication, which can become so bad that they never quite understand what it means to have a conversation or use language.

Exposure to other deaf and hard-of-hearing people for deaf children is crucial to helping them grow, Hall said.

If you dont ever meet an adult who is deaf, how do you visualize yourself navigating the world as a deaf individual in the future? Hall said.

Child-placing agencies, which are hired by the state to locate foster homes for abused and neglected children, are required to make every effort to place a child with foster parent(s) who can communicate with the child and, if they are unable, they must document any plan to meet the communication needs of the child, according to the Texas Administrative Code. But DFPS does not ensure agencies do this  instead, HHSC monitors their compliance, Gonzalez said.

HHSC, however, does not track the number or locations of any foster homes that use ASL, according to spokesperson Jose Araiza. Several child placement agencies did not respond to email and phone call requests for comments for this story.

Theyre already going through all kinds of traumatic experiences, said Randi Turner, who used to serve on the Governors Committee on People with Disabilities. To be placed into a setting where theres no communication access just adds to the trauma.

For children dependent on a higher level of care, such as that given in a residential treatment facility for behavioral health, Texas has limited options for where they can go. At least five kids in the last decade have been sent out of the state of Texas to facilities that specialize in the care of deaf children, said Parekh, the Disability Rights Texas attorney.

We have basically created a system where, if you are a deaf child who does not have a family who is able to care for you and your behaviors in the home, you are essentially guaranteed to be placed out of state, Parekh said.

Through the grapevine

In Austin, the deaf community is tight-knit, and many foster parents with knowledge of deafness  growing up with deaf parents themselves, working as interpreters or teachers at the Texas School for the Deaf and viewing deafness as a culture rather than a disability  became connected as they navigated the foster system.

Schwall-Hoyt and Bright-Fontana met through their shared experiences and have heard about deaf foster children through word of mouth; someone would post something on the Facebook group Texas Foster & Adoptive Parents about a deaf child, and Bright-Fontana would reach out or send over resources.

Schwall-Hoyt still receives messages from other parents or caseworkers trying to find homes for deaf foster youth. Both of them have decided to stop fostering children, but they still try to pass information around when they can.

The biggest problem is looking at deafness and ASL as if its a simple language barrier for kids  when it is actually a separate culture altogether, said Bright-Fontana, who trains ASL interpreters.

You have kids that are further neglected because theyre being placed in homes that arent equipped to care for them and meet their needs, Bright-Fontana said. A deaf child is a lot of work because you have to constantly give them the language  otherwise, they dont get language.

Neelam Bohra is a disability reporting fellow, covering accessibility issues affecting Texans. She was a member of the 2022-23 New York Times Fellowship class. Her fellowship is a partnership between The New York Times, The Texas Tribune and the National Center on Disability and Journalism at Arizona State University. The fellowship is funded through a grant from the Ford Foundation.

The full program is now LIVE for the 2023 Texas Tribune Festival, happening Sept. 21-23 in Austin. Explore the program featuring more than 100 unforgettable conversations coming to TribFest. Panel topics include the biggest 2024 races and whats ahead, how big cities in Texas and around the country are changing, the integrity of upcoming elections and so much more. See the full program.
A Mississippi judge declared a mistrial in the criminal case against two white men who chased and shot at a Black FedEx worker as he was delivering packages in January 2022.

The ruling, in which the judge cited errors by a detective in the investigation, comes a week after a judge dismissed a $5 million federal lawsuit filed on behalf of DMonterrio Gibson against FedEx and others reportedly over racial discrimination.

Gregory Charles Case and Brandon Case (file photo)

District Attorney Dee Bates urged the jury to find Brandon Case, 38, and his father, Gregory Charles Case, 59, guilty of the attempted murder in the first degree of Gibson on Jan. 24, 2022. She argued the Case men collaborated to harm Gibson by chasing and shooting at his vehicle until he was out of their community in Brookhaven.

Related: Memphis FedEx Worker Was Told to Operate Forklift That Fell on Her In Freak Accident; Family Says She Was Forced to Choose Between Life and Job

On the day of the incident, Gibson was completing his assigned route. Though the vehicle he was in was not a FedEx van, it had been rented by the company, and he was wearing his official company uniform. The name Hertz was on the vehicle three times.

The DA says after Gibson delivered a package to a residence on the Cases dead-end street, the father jumped in a pickup truck and tried to impede the vans exit. Brandon Case then emerged holding a gun, aiming at the victim.

Gibson tried to maneuver around the pickup truck, but the van was struck three times, damaging the vehicle and the packages inside.

During a press conference, Gibson said he observed a white pickup truck pulling away from another residence connected to the property where he was delivering the package. When he tried to leave the driveway, the person in the vehicle made an effort to block him.

Gibson says he tried to escape, but the white pickup truck continued to pursue him until he reached Interstate 55 near Brookhaven. Once on the interstate, the driver of the pickup, believed to be Gregory Case, ceased the pursuit.

The terrified young man called back to his manager and immediately reported he was shot at while on duty.

Defense attorney Terrell Stubbs said when Gregory Case noticed the van outside his mother-in-laws empty house, he approached it to question the driver, but the driver didnt stop.

It was completely dark, completely dark, and somebody was in the wrong place. It wasnt my client, Stubbs said to WSLS.

Carlos Moore, Gibsons civil suit lawyer, highlights similarities between this case and Ahmaud Arberys. In Arberys case, a father-son duo was convicted of murder in Georgia, and both were sentenced to life plus 30 years.

Circuit Court judge David Strong declared a mistrial on the case on Thursday, Aug. 17, citing errors made by the Brookhaven Police Department.

Vincent Fernando, a detective working on the case, admitted he did not disclose the videotaped statement officers got from Gibson. He also said he lied about improperly testifying about some guns found in one of the Case mens homes and casings near the mans property.

Moore said he shared the deep disappointment and frustration expressed by Circuit Judge David Strong over this development.

The judge reportedly said, In 17 years, I dont think Ive seen it.

In the federal civil complaint against FedEx, the city of Brookhaven, the police chief and the Cases, Moore argued FedEx should have never sent him back on the same route, causing him to experience further trauma, and no one from the company showed his client any concern.

The judge in the civil case said that even though the father-and-son duos alleged conduct was deplorable, Gibson failed to state a viable claim against FedEx for which the Court would have original jurisdiction.

Moore intends to file a state court suit and notes Gibson remains employed by FedEx on workers compensation leave.

Click here to read the full story.
Douglas Dale was scheduled to begin trial Thursday after being charged with involuntary manslaughter and two counts of assault for a March 2019 crash that resulted in a man's death.

But Dale, whose vehicle collided with a group of motorcyclists on Highway 65 near Highlandville going the opposite direction in that 2019 crash, wouldn't ever appear in front of a judge for the alleged offense.

Dale, whose lengthy criminal record includes the 2003 shooting death of his ex-wife, died this week.

Douglas Dale

The cause of Dale's death was not reported, but according to Christian County officials, he passed away shortly before the start of the trial. According to the court docket, Dale's attorney told Christian County Judge Laura Johnson in court Thursday that his client had died.

Dale, 53, allegedly didn't take his prescribed seizure medication for at least a week leading up to the fatal crash and he admitted to drinking a cocktail that morning.

Court documents said alcohol may have exacerbated a seizure Dale said caused the accident, which killed 67-year-old James Roe and seriously injured two other motorcyclists, Michael Jones and Gerald McLaughlin.

Christian County prosecutors said witnesses were ready to testify on Thursday before learning of Dale's passing.

Dale, who served 10 years in prison for the murder of his ex-wife, also had two DWI arrests in 2018, was found guilty of two previous DWIs, and was also arrested for unlawful use of a weapon.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Defendant dies shortly before trial scheduled in manslaughter case
Russian attacks against Ukraine killed two civilians and wounded four over the past 24 hours, the Defense Ministry's Military Media Center reported on Aug. 18.

A total of nine Ukrainian oblasts were targeted during this period  Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, Luhansk, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, Kherson, Kharkiv, and Donetsk. Casualties were reported only in the last three regions.

Russia hit 127 Ukrainian settlements and 89 infrastructure facilities, according to the media center.

Russian troops reportedly used mortars, grenade launchers, tanks, artillery, multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS), and tactical aviation.

The Russian military struck two districts in Kharkiv Oblast, killing a 61-year-old woman and wounding another in the city of Kupiansk, according to the oblast governor.

Local authorities recently began a mandatory evacuation of civilians from the Kupiansk district due to increased Russian attacks.

Read also: Andreas Umland: Why no-fly zones over Ukraine are necessary

The Aug. 17 attacks against Kharkiv Oblast damaged private residences and outbuildings, Oleh Synehuibov reported on Telegram.

In Ukraine's eastern Donetsk Oblast, Russian attacks killed a civilian in Bohdanivka near Chasiv Yar, said Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko. Two more people were injured in Katerynivka, some 15 kilometers southwest of Marinka, according to the official.

Russia targeted nine settlements and one community in the region, damaging 20 houses, an administration building, an outbuilding, and power lines, added Kyrylenko.

Overnight on Aug. 18, Russian forces attacked Kherson Oblast's settlements of Bilozerka and Dniprovske, wounding a woman, the regional prosecutor's office wrote. Houses, farm buildings, gas pipelines, and a local church were damaged, reads the report.

The day before, Russia launched 48 attacks against the region, firing 207 projectiles from various weapons, said Kherson Oblast Governor Oleksandr Prokudin.

Read also: Ukraine war latest: Military reports progress south of newly liberated Urozhaine, Azov Brigade returns to eastern front line

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
President Joe Biden waves as he exits Air Force One before boarding Marine One at Hagerstown Regional Airport, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023, in Hagerstown, Md. Could Biden face a primary election challenge? | Alex Brandon, Associated Press

Even as President Joe Biden faces calls from his own party to be primaried for the Democratic nomination, he remains the favored pick of his partys voters for 2024.

A 55% majority of Democrats believe Biden shouldnt run for reelection next year, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll released Wednesday. Still, the poll found 82% of Democrats said they would definitely or probably support Biden next year.

While a majority of Democrats say they prefer someone else next year, these voters dont see other options and many of the most popular Democrats in the U.S. are publicly backing Bidens campaign.

Related

A NewsNation-Decision Desk HQ poll released last month found Vice President Kamala Harris, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg were Democratic voters top choices to run instead of Biden, but all are supporting his reelection bid.

Bidens only challengers so far have failed to gain traction in national polling.

FiveThirtyEights national polling average shows support for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has failed to rise above much more than about 15% since announcing his campaign. Kennedys comments in favor of a national abortion ban Sunday put him at odds with many Democratic voters, though Kennedy later backtracked on his statement.

Author Marianne Williamson, whos also running for the Democratic nomination, isnt included because she doesnt meet FiveThirtyEights major candidate threshold.

Related

Rep. Dean Phillips, a second-term Democrat from Minnesota, said Sunday on Meet the Press that hes a Biden fan but believes he should pass the torch.

Im a representative, and Im representing what I believe to be the majority of the country that wants to turn the page, Phillips said. Tired of the meanness and the fear mongering of Donald Trump, would like to see Joe Biden, a wonderful and remarkable man, pass the torch, cement this extraordinary legacy.

Phillips: "People want to turn the page ... As a Democrat, I adore Joe Biden. He saved this country. He can cement his legacy. My real call to action right now is not about me. The call to action is to ask the president to pass the torch."pic.twitter.com/K5PoH7I4bZ  The Recount (@therecount) August 14, 2023

Phillips said he believed moderate governors hopefully from the heartland could be potential Biden successors. He agreed Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers were potential candidates he thinks could be successful, and added Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker to the list.

Some people have asked me that I not use their names because of this institutional fear that it might impact you down the road, Phillips said, but he encouraged Democrats to run.

I want anybody who wants to run  Joe Manchin, Cornell West, any of the governors  in the primaries, he said. Enter the primary, my friends. Everybody who is on the bench, meet the moment. Dont wait five years. We need you now.

The Wednesday AP poll found Biden struggles particularly with young Democrats, with 34% of Democrats under 45 saying they want Biden to run again compared with 54% of Democrats ages 45 and older.

The poll also found 58% of U.S. adults have hardly any confidence Biden will reduce corruption in government and only 36% approve of his handling of the economy.
U.S. Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME). Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call

Rep. Jared Golden was one of just two Democrats who voted with the GOP to block Biden's student-debt relief in June.

He doubled down on his vote in a Friday statement, saying borrowers should repay their debt.

The Blue Dog Coalition, which Golden co-chairs, recently received a maximum contribution from student lender Sallie Mae.

Rep. Jared Golden was one of the two Democrats to join Republicans in voting for a bill that would block President Joe Biden's broad student-loan forgiveness. He doesn't have any regrets.

On Friday, Golden responded to an article from the Maine Beacon that highlighted a June contribution of $5,000 from student-loan lender Sallie Mae to the Blue Dog Coalition, which is a caucus comprised of nine centrist Democratic members of Congress co-chaired by Golden. $5,000 is the maximum amount a group can contribute, and that specific donation came just a couple of weeks after Golden voted to block Biden's plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt for federal borrowers.

While Biden vetoed the legislation, the Supreme Court ended up striking down the plan at the end of June. But Golden wrote in a statement on X, formerly Twitter, that Sallie Mae's contribution did not sway his beliefs on student-debt relief.

"I stand by my vote and my opposition to forking out $10,000 to people who freely chose to attend college," he said. "They were privileged to have the opportunity, and many left college well-situated to make six figure salaries for life. The Twitterati can keep bemoaning their privileged status and demanding handouts all they want, but as far as I'm concerned if they want free money for college, they can join the Marines and serve the country like I, and so many others, have in the past and many more will in the future."

"If they want a career and hard skills without college debt, they should join a union and enter an apprenticeship," he continued. "But if they choose to attend college, they can pay back their loans just like working class people pay back home mortgages, car loans, and many other expenses that people choose to take out loans for."

Congressman Jared Golden (@RepGolden) August 18, 2023

Joining Golden in chairing the Blue Dogs are Reps. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and Mary Peltota. Gluesenkamp Perez was the one other Democratic House member along with Golden who voted to block student-debt relief, saying at the time that "expansions of student debt forgiveness need to be matched dollar-for-dollar with investments in career & technical education. I can't support the first without the other. The severe shortage of trades workers needs to be seen & treated as a national priority. It's about respect."

The Education Department is currently in the process of finalizing a new student-debt relief plan using the Higher Education Act. It could take some time because the law requires the department to go through negotiated rulemaking, which entails a series of hearings and negotiations with stakeholders. Meanwhile, other Democratic lawmakers are continuing to push for relief for borrowers  especially with the student-loan payment pause ending in September.

"Obviously we're holding out hope that there's going to be some relief, but I think that we need to start preparing," Rep. Summer Lee previously told Insider in an interview. "We need a Plan C through Z."

Read the original article on Business Insider
 Flash

Chinese tourists are seen at the historical Sultanahmet Square in Istanbul, Turkiye, on Aug. 17, 2023. Istanbul, one of Turkiye's most visited cities, welcomed on Thursday its first Chinese tourist group after China lifted the group tour ban to Turkiye on Aug. 10. [Photo/Xinhua]

Turkish and Chinese officials on Thursday vowed to strengthen cooperation in the tourism sector.

"China is one of our priority markets, and we look forward to working together to develop our existing relationship further," Elif Balci Fisunoglu, vice general manager of the Turkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency, told a tourism promotion meeting in the largest Turkish city of Istanbul.

Fisunoglu said the number of Chinese tourists to Turkiye surpassed 426,000 in 2019, adding that Turkiye aims to raise the yearly number of Chinese tourists visiting the country to 1 million in the upcoming years.

"At this point, our active promotion, advertising, and marketing activities in the Chinese market will continue to increase," Fisunoglu said.

Speaking at the meeting, Wei Xiaodong, China's Consul General in Istanbul, said that Turkiye, home to ancient civilizations, has been luring many tourists from all over the world, including China.

"We believe that more Chinese tourists will come to Turkiye in the near future," he said. "And they will experience the historical and cultural beauties of Turkiye and the hospitality of the Turkish people."

The Chinese envoy underscored the importance and huge potential of expanding the China-Turkiye cooperation in the tourism sector.

"From now on, we will continue to work together with other organizations to ensure that Chinese tourists can travel safely, smoothly, and enjoyably in Turkiye," he added.
Denmark and the Netherlands confirmed they had received approval from the United States to hand over F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine when pilot training is completed.

Copenhagen sent a request to Washington regarding the aircraft supply to Kyiv and received a "friendly response," Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lkke Rasmussen told state-owned broadcaster TV 2.

He added, though, that allies have yet to decide when exactly the planes would be delivered to Ukraine.

Washington's decision was first reported by Reuters, citing an unnamed U.S. official on Aug. 17. According to the media outlet, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken sent letters to his Danish and Dutch counterparts assuring them that the requests would be approved.

In a letter obtained by Reuters, Blinken said the U.S. backs both - the transfer of F-16 fighter aircraft to Ukraine and the comprehensive training of Ukrainian pilots under the guidance of F-16 instructors.

Read also: Uncertainties surround anticipated F-16 training

Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra called the move "a major milestone for Ukraine to defend its people and its country."

"Many thanks to Secretary Blinken for the good and swift cooperation. Now, we will further discuss the subject with our European partners," Hoekstra tweeted.

During the Vilnius NATO summit in July, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov announced the official formation of a coalition to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16s, led by Denmark and the Netherlands.

The coalition plans to start training Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16s in August in Denmark, and a training center will also be set up in Romania.

However, the forthcoming F-16 training has been marked by uncertainties. While the Biden administration has approved the training, it cannot give final authorization until it receives a completed training plan from European leaders.

Read also: Air Force: F-16s cant defend Ukraine this fall or winter

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The Archdiocese of Denver and two of its parishes filed a lawsuit against the state of Colorado's Department of Early Childhood on Wednesday, seeking to overrule an antidiscrimination policy held by the state's universal preschool program protecting LGBTQ+ families or students.



According to the Catholic group, enforcing nondiscrimination policies violates the First Amendment and the right to free exercise of faith.

All eligible families in Colorado can now take advantage of 15 hours of taxpayer-funded preschool per week due to a law signed into law by gay Democratic Gov. Jared Polis in 2022.

Because participating schools must accept students regardless of religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity, the Catholic organization views this program as incompatible with Catholicism.

According to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Colorado, although the archdiocese does not offer an alternative term for the exclusion of students based on their or their parents attributes, attorneys for the archdiocese maintain that, in their view, this doesnt constitute discrimination.

Abiding by Catholic teaching on these issues would violate the Departments ban on sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination, though Plaintiffs do not believe adhering to these beliefs constitutes discrimination, attorneys wrote.

[T]he Archdiocese instructs all Catholic schools, including St. Marys and St. Bernadettes, to consider whether a family or child seeking placement in their schools has identified as LGBTQ, is in a same-sex relationship, or has adopted a gender identity different from his or her biological sex, the lawsuit reads. Yet taking sexual orientation and gender identity into account in this way would violate the Departments ban on sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination.

Thus, the lawsuit claims that St. Marys, St. Bernadettes, and any other preschool within the Archdiocese of Denver cannot sign the mandatory UPK Program Service Agreement.

Since the program also prohibits religious discrimination, the lawsuit claims that the groups rights were violated because it prioritizes admitting Catholic families to its schools.

Poliss spokesperson Conor Cahill noted the governors disappointment with the move in a statement, according to Colorado Public Radio.

While its unfortunate to see different groups of adults attempting to co-opt preschool for themselves, perhaps because they want to not allow gay parents to send their kids to preschool, or they want to favor school district programs over community-based early childhood centers, the voters were clear on their support for parent choice and a universal, mixed delivery system that is independently run, that doesnt discriminate against anyone and offers free preschool to every child no matter who their parents are, Cahill said.
(Bloomberg) -- Ron DeSantiss allies consider entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who is edging closer to the Florida governor for the number two spot in the Republican presidential field, as vulnerable for his ties to China and willingness to join a trans-Pacific trade deal.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The line of attack was outlined as part of a trove of documents on the GOP contenders DeSantis stands to face at the first Republican presidential primary debate scheduled to be held in Milwaukee on Aug. 23. They were posted on the website for Axiom Strategies, the firm founded by longtime Republican operative Jeff Roe, a strategist for the Never Back Down super PAC supporting DeSantis.

Notably, there werent any specific documents listed for Donald Trump, the Republican frontrunner and former president, who has publicly toyed with skipping the first debate, citing his wide polling lead over DeSantis and the rest of the field.

The documents say that as CEO of Roivant Sciences in 2018, Ramaswamy partnered with a Chinese state-owned firm to start another company, Sinovant Sciences, and that he keynoted a conference in China.

The documents also target Ramaswamys stances on abortion and drug policy and link him to Democratic financier George Soros, a frequent target for Republicans. Ramaswamy received a Soros fellowship for new Americans over a decade ago.

Together, the attack lines on Ramaswamy, and others, including North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, former Vice President Mike Pence, US Senator Tim Scott, ex-New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, underscore the stakes for DeSantis, once considered the strongest challenger to Trump, but whose candidacy has been beset by stumbles.

It also highlights DeSantiss increased reliance on the super PAC after his campaign replaced its manager and shed staff due to a cash crunch and dismal poll numbers. In recent weeks, Never Back Down has hosted a bus tour to take DeSantis across Iowa. This weekend the PAC is scheduled to host him on a tour through New Hampshire.

Ramaswamys campaign is riding a wave of momentum. A Fox News poll conducted between Aug. 11 and Aug. 14 showed Ramaswamy surging. Trump was at 53%, with DeSantis at 16% and Ramaswamy in third at 11%, according to the poll. Ramaswamy, the author of Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate Americas Social Justice Scam and Strive Asset Management co-founder, was at just 5% in a June Fox News survey.

Read more: DeSantis-Allied PAC Tops Trump in Money Race With $131 Million

The super PAC did not respond to requests for comment.

A spokesperson from Ramaswamys campaign called the attack lines boring and canned, and DeSantis robotic.

Viveks job on Aug. 23 is to introduce himself and his vision to the American people, the spokesperson said. If DeSantis struggles to use a spoon, I cant imagine he is particularly agile with a sledgehammer, the spokesperson added, an apparent reference to an anecdote reported in the Daily Beast that DeSantis once ate pudding with his fingers.

The memo detailed internal polling in Iowa, which holds the first-in-the nation Republican caucus, conducted by WPA Intelligence that paints a rosier picture of DeSantiss bid, still trailing Trump by a wide margin, but with a more comfortable lead over Ramaswamy.

It also suggests DeSantis would be most competitive if he narrows the field to just him and Trump.

The WPA Intelligence poll shows that DeSantiss net favorability has decreased from March to August, putting him behind Scott. Trumps favorability has also decreased and sits just under 20%, the poll showed.

--With assistance from Stephanie Lai.

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The Scoop

A top official at Never Back Down, the pro-DeSantis Super PAC, defended its decision to publicly post a massive trove of polling, opposition research, and debate tips that has become a potential headache for the candidate this week after its discovery by the New York Times.

Ken Cuccinelli, the former Trump administration official who founded the PAC, told Semafor in an interview Friday that he did not feel that uploading the material to a political consultants website, where it was found, was a mistake.

Its an information dump, publicly, and the risk of doing that is youre sharing it with everybody, Cuccinelli said. And were okay. You know, its not preferred, but were always going to stay legal.

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Its common for political campaigns and Super PACs to publicly post material for the other to use in order to avoid violating rules that prohibit them from directly coordinating. But Never Back Downs decision to post the documents raised eyebrows both thanks to their breadth and detail, and because the move risked tipping off DeSantis opponents to how he might attack them.

They included a debate memo urging DeSantis to defend Donald Trump from attacks on stage next week while taking a sledgehammer to Vivek Ramaswamy, who is now polling at third place in the primary. They also contained extensive polling analysis, with numbers suggesting DeSantis is losing ground in New Hampshire. By Thursday night, the files had been deleted.

You know, he has a history of being the decider, Cuccinnelli said of DeSantis. This isnt a handled guy. So all we can do is lob material in that we hope helps them with whatever theyre doing. We dont know what that is. I certainly stand by the information in there.
(Bloomberg) -- The driving force behind Ron DeSantiss presidential bid isnt his official campaign but rather a well-funded outside group thats handling crucial day-to-day activities  powered by a cadre of seasoned political advisers and a deep cash trove.

Most Read from Bloomberg

DeSantiss super political action committee, Never Back Down, has carried out much of the work typically performed by a campaign, including devising his game plan in Iowa as well as deciding where he goes and who he meets, according to donors and allies. Days before the first Republican debate next week, a firm run by operatives advising the super PAC posted online hundreds of pages of strategy advice for DeSantis.

While traversing Iowa to meet with voters, the Florida governor routinely rides a bus emblazoned with Never Back Down and staffed by super PAC aides as his primary means of transport. Never Back Down staff  not campaign workers  organize and run many of his press events. Last week, Never Back Down announced a list of chairs for each of the states 99 counties to help organize and mobilize voters.

Political lawyers interviewed by Bloomberg News say that DeSantiss reliance on the super PAC for such activities isnt only unprecedented, it could run afoul of rules that require outside groups to act independently of candidates and refrain from coordinating directly with them.

What theyre doing is offloading what is traditionally campaign activity to the super PAC, said Larry Noble, a former general counsel with the Federal Election Commission, referring to the DeSantis campaign. To claim that its done without coordination is unbelievable.

The super PACs top advisers include political veteran Jeff Roe, who engineered Texas Senator Ted Cruzs defeat of Donald Trump in the 2016 Iowa caucuses. Among the documents posted by Roes firm, Axiom Strategies, this week were pages of advice on how to attack rivals in next weeks Republican primary debate, including former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, as well as analyses of how other Republican candidates are likely to attack DeSantis.

Those materials, first reported by the New York Times, were taken down. Yet their publication highlighted the ways super PACs can get around the ban on direct communication. The super PAC cant talk with the campaign about strategy and research, but its free to publish the information online or direct others to do so.

Meanwhile, the campaign, which has been stacked with Tallahassee-based aides, recently replaced manager Generra Peck with Jeff Uthmeier, the governors chief of staff in Tallahassee, who has never run a presidential campaign. Other staff changes signal that Never Back Downs influence over the campaign will continue to grow. Former top super PAC official David Polyansky  from Roes Axiom Strategies  recently was named deputy campaign manager.

Andrew Romeo, a DeSantis campaign spokesman, said the campaign was abiding by the rules. We will continue to follow the law as we maximize our resources by accepting special guest invitations to bring Ron DeSantiss message to reverse the decline of this country and lead our Great American Comeback to as many voters as possible.

Super PAC spokeswoman Jess Szymanski cited the groups door-knocking, event-hosting and participation in Republican events. Never Back Down will continue doing everything we can within the law to help elect Governor Ron DeSantis our next president, she said in a statement.

DeSantiss dependence on his super PAC is the latest twist in campaign finance in the 13 years since a Supreme Court decision opened the door to unlimited fundraising and spending by outside groups.

Campaigns are limited to accepting up to $6,600 per donor, and contributions must be evenly split between primary and general election campaigns. By contrast, super PACs have been allowed under the Supreme Courts 2010 Citizens United decision to raise unlimited amounts of money that can be used for advertising, organizing voters, building donor lists and other activities.

Federal law bars campaigns and super PACs from coordinating their activities, though some limited contact is permissible. Candidates may attend fundraisers held by the committees or policy-focused nonprofits, but they cant ask individuals to give more than $5,000.

Its not so much that Never Back Down is doing things that other super PACs have never done, said a person familiar with its operations. Rather, its the scale of the operation, made possible by the $131 million bankroll it began with, the person said.

Never Back Down reported having almost $96.8 million cash on hand at the end of June, compared with $12.2 million in the campaigns bank account, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

Despite having more cash than any other candidate, DeSantis has struggled to gain ground in the polls. His operation has almost twice as much money on hand as frontrunner Trump, even as the former president continues to grow his lead. Trump is 39.9 percentage points ahead of DeSantis  the only other candidate polling in double digits  according to the Real Clear Politics average of polls.

Yet the bounds of the super PAC coordination rules have generally not been tested this much, Noble said. Because direct communication is against the rules, he said that DeSantis is effectively ceding authority over his campaign operations to people who dont answer to him.

I dont know of any serious presidential campaign that does that, Noble said.

Campaigns and super PACs have for years found ways to get around restrictions on coordination. Former Hewlett-Packard Chief Executive Officer Carly Fiorinas 2016 campaign for president, for example, posted her events on a Google calendar accessible to anyone, including her super pac. Its still online.

The FEC has investigated dozens of complaints that candidates of both parties have illegally coordinated with super PACs, but has yet to issue any penalties since super PACs came into existence following the 2010 Supreme Court ruling. The commission, which is divided evenly between three Republicans and three Democrats, has deadlocked on votes, resulting in no action.

Rosalyn Cooperman, a political science professor at the University of Mary Washington, said theres limited appetite for challenging the growing role of super PACs.

Enforcement of the rules is going to be very permissive, because its one of those things where candidates want the freedom to be able to make those kinds of judgment calls, Cooperman said.

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The Los Angeles City Council voted Friday to buy the Mayfair Hotel for $60 million. The city plans to carry out $23 million in renovations and upgrades before turning it into interim homeless housing. (Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)

The Los Angeles City Council voted Friday to purchase a 294-room boutique hotel and use it as a key asset in Mayor Karen Bass' fight against homelessness, despite concerns from council members about safety, long-term costs and the plan for running the building.

On a 12-2 vote, the council backed the mayor's plan to acquire the Mayfair Hotel for $60 million and spend an additional $23 million on renovations and upgrades to the structure, which closed its doors last summer after serving as temporary homeless housing for two years of the pandemic.

Bass said previously that the hotel, located in L.A.'s Westlake neighborhood, will help the city bring down the cost of the Inside Safe program, which currently has about 1,000 unhoused residents living in hotel and motels. By owning the building outright, she said, the city will have the ability to scale back the number of rooms that it rents out each night.

Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who represents Westlake, voted in favor of the project, but only after reeling off a list of concerns about how it was pitched to the community, how it will be operated and who it will serve.

Hernandez said Bass' team showed "a real lack of community engagement" when they proposed the hotel purchase. And she pointed out that the city will, over the next two years, only provide rooms at the Mayfair to residents of Skid Row  not the scores of people who live immediately around the hotel, which is located in a part of the city with a high concentration of working-class, Spanish-speaking immigrants.

"What my community is being told is that the city has over $80 million to spend on purchasing and renovating a hotel in their backyard to provide 300 rooms of interim housing," she said. "And yet not a single one of those rooms will be available to the people who are living unsheltered just feet away from the entrance."

Read more: L.A.'s $11.5-million damage payout to former homeless hotel won't be used for repairs

Hernandez said she and the community would have appreciated having Bass appear at a neighborhood meeting to discuss the Mayfair proposal. A few weeks ago, Bass attended a town hall on the Westside devoted to a proposal from Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky for a 30-bed interim housing facility on Pico Boulevard  a project that would be a fraction of the size of the Mayfair.

Bass did not directly respond to Hernandez' assertions. Instead, she issued a statement thanking her and several other council members for working with her to "bring people inside and save lives through a citywide approach."

Together, with actions like this, we can sustain our momentum toward confronting the homelessness crisis, she said.

Friday's vote delivered a policy victory to Bass, who declared a state of emergency on homelessness the day she took office in December. At the same time, her proposal did not receive an especially warm reception. Throughout the deliberations, the proposal drew skeptical and at times biting commentary, even from those who voted for it.

Councilmember Traci Park, who voted yes, said she had "deep concerns about the fiscal prudence and the long term feasibility" of the hotel project. Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, another Mayfair supporter, said the process for considering the purchase had been "very rushed."

The mayor's team plans to use a two-year, $60-million state grant to help unhoused residents from Skid Row  many of whom are currently living at the L.A. Grand Hotel in downtown L.A., a facility slated to shut down in January. Those unhoused residents would move into the Mayfair in February and receive access to addiction counselors, mental health specialists and other social services.

That approach has drawn support from a number of community groups, particularly those that serve Skid Row. David Prentice, president and chief executive of the Midnight Mission, told the council he frequently doesn't have beds for people who live on the sidewalks outside his facility.

"We're going to advocate for anything to be built to get the unhoused off of the street and into a safe and clean environment," he said. "It's human life we're talking about here."

The proposal also received praise from Councilmember Kevin de Leon, whose downtown district includes Skid Row. De Leon said he was pleased to see Bass take on the effort to "decompress" the homeless population in that area.

Opponents of the project, most of whom live or work near the Mayfair, said the city did a poor job of managing the hotel when it was part of Project Roomkey, which turned L.A. hotels into homeless housing during the pandemic. When the Mayfair participated in that program, the neighborhood experienced an increase in crime, open-air drug use and antisocial behavior, those opponents said.

"It was horrible. It turned the block into a nightmare," said Nami Oh, who owns a gallery not far away.

The Times reported Wednesday that the city received extensive reports of damage at the Mayfair during Project Roomkey, with participants in the program breaking windows, vandalizing bathrooms and in one case, punching a hole in a wall in the lobby. Hotel workers also responded to overdoses, threatening behavior and violent acts, according to emails obtained by The Times.

Bass said that this time around, the Mayfair will have a much greater level of on-site services, including "housing navigators"  social workers assigned to help unhoused residents find apartments.

"This will not be Project Roomkey," Deputy Mayor Jenna Hornstock said earlier this week.

Despite those assurances, two council members  Monica Rodriguez and Tim McOsker  voted against the purchase. Rodriguez described the transaction as a bad deal, pointing out that the city recently spent $11.5 million to settle claims of damage that occurred at the Mayfair during Project Roomkey. None of that money will go toward repairs.

Rodriguez also said she had not received an adequate explanation for what will happen when the state grant funding for the hotel's operations runs out.

"I cannot support in good conscience this project, and this acquisition," she said.

Hernandez, the council member who represents Westlake, won passage of several amendments to the project, securing $400,000 in sanitation services around the hotel and the formation of a community advisory group to monitor the hotel's operations.

Moments before the vote, she promised her constituents she would hold city officials  including the mayor's office  accountable for their management of the Mayfair.

"We are not playing," she added. "I am not playing."

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Its been over two decades since 10-year-old Tionda Bradley and her 3-year-old sister Diamond vanished from their Chicago home.

Investigation Discovery is unpacking their mysterious disappearance, which re-entered the cultural zeitgeist on TikTok this spring, in a two-hour special, Disappeared: The Bradley Sisters.

On July 6, 2001, Diamond and Tionda were home alone before deciding to go to a nearby playground, The Independent reported. Before leaving, they left their mother, Tracey Bradley, a note letting her know where they were going. To her dismay, they never returned. The Bradley family has been looking for them ever since.

Over the years, the case saw many twists and turns that complicated figuring out what happened to the girls. In May, a woman claimed to be Diamond, who would be 25 years old, ABC 7 Chicago reported. The girls great aunt, Sheliah Bradley-Smith, told ABC 7 Chicago that the woman contacted her via Facebook.

She pretty much said that she remembered being in a car and being around Tionda for a while, but then she said she was taken away and never saw her again, Bradley-Smith said.

And while its undetermined whether the woman is Diamond, IDs Disappeared episode closely examines the incident. Revisiting theories and evidence that had authorities scratching their heads, the two-hour special also investigates how the girls disappearance impacted the Bradley family. It also touches on the role the relationship between law enforcement and the Black community played in the case.

Chicago Detective Pamela Childs plays a pivotal role in unpacking the case. In a special clip Blavity obtained, she shares what she believed happened to Tionda and Diamond.

At the very beginning, in the deepest part of me, I felt that somebody had the girls, Childs said. There was no signs of forced entry at the house.

She later doubled down on her claims, sharing that she always felt like the girls were kidnapped by somebody that they knew.

Childs also said she believes the only people who could point authorities in the right direction.

George [Bradley] and Tracey [Bradley] were the only two people that we could look at to bring more clarity to what happened to Tionda and Diamond.

Disappeared: The Bradley Sisters premieres Sunday at 10 p.m. EST. The 2-hour special starts a new season of IDs missing person series, Disappeared.

Heres the official description:

Twenty-two years later, an unsettling mystery continues to lurk over the city of Chicago, with all of America watching on. On July 6th, 2001, 10-year-old Tionda and 3-year-old Diamond Bradley disappeared from their apartment and into thin air. The following two decades are full of twists and turns as Detective Pamela Childs unravels this heart-breaking unsolved mystery. With never-before-seen interview and unprecedented access to the Bradley family, Pam revisits critical scenes and explores the spine-chilling impact on the community, all leading to a shocking admission from a key member of the family.

Watch the clip below:
Editor's note: This story has been updated with new information clarifying that only one person was shot in the Aug. 8 incident.

The man accused of assaulting 34-year-old Edgar Lopez with a brick just before he was killed in a shooting in Covington this month is the uncle of the alleged shooter, a detective testified Wednesday.

Brian Gray, 51, is charged with assault in connection with an incident that happened the evening of Aug. 8, just minutes before Lopez was fatally shot in the 1200 block of Russell Street.

Dazzamon Jones, 31, who's accused of carrying out the shooting, is charged with murder. He surrendered himself to police on Aug. 12, officials said.

Gray appeared in Kenton County District Court on Wednesday afternoon for a preliminary hearing.

Gray and Lopez were fighting in front of a home on Banklick Street shortly after 6 p.m. that night when Gray used a brick to strike Lopez several times in the head, a criminal citation states.

Covington police Detective Brian Powers testified the assault was captured on surveillance video.

Several witnesses also observed the fight and told police that Lopez was at some point able to get ahold of the brick and struck Gray with it in self-defense, the detective said.

Gray later admitted during an interview with police that he approached and assaulted Lopez after seeing him on the street, according to the citation. He was arrested a day after the shooting.

Powers said it was Jones who identified Gray as his uncle.

Kenton County Commonwealths Attorney Rob Sanders said Gray may be charged alongside Jones as a co-conspirator in Lopezs killing.

His case will be presented to a grand jury, which will decide whether to indict him.

Grays attorney declined to comment on the case.

Covington police originally said a second unnamed person was injured and hospitalized and subsequent media reports said that two people had been shot.

Sanders said the incident was never a double shooting. Gray was hospitalized for injuries he sustained during his fight with Lopez, the prosecutor said.

Lopez shot with rifle while sitting in vehicle, police say

When police responded to the shooting on Russell Street, they found Lopez dead from numerous gunshot wounds, a criminal complaint states. He was behind the wheel of a black Kia Soul riddled with bullets.

Investigators reviewed surveillance video from a nearby business that shows a black Chevrolet Impala pull up behind the Kia before a man gets out, fires a rifle into the vehicle Lopez was sitting in and leaves the scene in the Chevrolet, the complaint states.

At least 26 shell casings were collected from the scene, investigators said.

Police used other surveillance footage to track the Chevrolet as it fled onto the interstate, the complaint says, adding investigators were then able to determine the vehicle was registered to Jones, who lives just around the block from where the shooting happened.

Two days after the shooting, investigators said, the Chevrolet was located in Middletown in the possession of Jones cousin, who told police Jones gave her the keys at his residence and said the vehicle was hidden under a nearby bridge.

Police then executed a search warrant on Jones home and found rifle magazines and ammunition consistent with the type of weapon used in the shooting, the complaint says. Markings on the ammunition matched markings on the shell casings recovered from the crime scene.

A witness told investigators they saw Jones get into his Chevrolet and drive around the block toward Russell Street just before the shooting, according to the complaint.

Investigators also said the height, weight, build and hairstyle of the shooter captured on video were all consistent with pictures of Jones.

Jones is being held at the Kenton County Detention Center on a $500,000 bond, jail records show. He was indicted Thursday on a single count of murder and is scheduled to appear before Circuit Judge Patricia Summe on Monday for an arraignment.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Covington shooting: Accused gunman's uncle may face new charges
When police in the small town of Marion, Kansas, raided their local newspapers offices last Friday, they brought a search warrant authorizing them to seize 15 types of materials, from documents to electronics.

The warrant, signed by local Magistrate Judge Laura Viar, authorized the search on suspicion of identity theft and unlawful acts concerning computers.

Since then, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation has taken over the investigation from local police and Marion County Attorney Joel Ensey has withdrawn the warrant due to lack of evidence and had the materials returned to the newspaper.

But at the time of the raid, the warrant ordered police to seize documents related to local restaurant owner Kari Newell, as well as any devices used to access the Kansas Department of Revenues website.

Eric Meyer, the newspapers publisher, says his reporter used this website to check that state records matched a document sent to the newsroom about Newells past DUI arrest.

Could using a state website to review public records count as identity theft? The Star contacted the Record, the states Department of Revenue and a local attorney to learn more.

What information is available through the Kansas Department of Revenues website?

Criminal information isnt kept on the state department of revenues website. Instead, this department keeps records like tax information, car registrations and drivers licenses.

KDOR does not ordinarily possess criminal history records, Kansas Department of Revenue spokesperson Zach Denney told The Star Thursday. However, a driving record may contain notations of DUI convictions.

One Kansas Department of Revenue page allows drivers to look up the status of a drivers license by entering the license number, the drivers full name and their date of birth.

Its possible to look up the status of anyones drivers license if you have these three pieces of information.

This webpage on the Kansas Department of Revenues website allows anyone to look up the status of a drivers license.

Did the Marion County Record use this website?

Marion County Record editor Eric Meyer confirmed to The Star that a reporter did use this webpage to look up Kari Newells driving record. But he said that they only did so because the newspaper had the driving record already in hand.

A source sent the document to the Record over social media, and the newspaper was merely trying to verify its accuracy, Meyer said.

We werent trying to steal anything  we were trying to verify a document, Meyer said. One of our reporters did look at (the DOR page) to verify that what we had been given was the same document that was available there.

To do so, the reporter entered Newells name, date of birth and drivers license number  which were already listed on the document  into the Department of Revenues website.

The states records matched the document sent to the newspaper, confirming Newells license had been suspended for years due to past DUIs.

Those are all a matter of public record, Meyer said.

Marion County Record Search Warrant by The Kansas City Star on Scribd

Could using this website to access driving records count as identity theft?

Identity theft is broadly defined in Kansas statute as having, obtaining or using personal identifying information to defraud or misrepresent a person.

The laws definition of personal identifying information includes drivers license numbers and cards as well as nondrivers identification numbers and cards.

Overland Park-based criminal defense lawyer Paul Darrell Cramm told The Star that simply accessing a public record, even if you do so using someone elses information, doesnt count as identity theft.

Accessing a record to know what it says is not the same thing as using the information contained in that record to perpetrate some sort of a fraud, Cramm said. If they dont use the information to try to trick someone into thinking something that isnt true about someones identity, I dont know how they call that identity theft.

Cramm said that someone elses drivers license number may count as private information  but its a murky legal area, and knowing this number alone isnt the same as using it for illegal purposes.

Its not just a matter of knowing the information, its a matter of using the information to, for example, open up an account (in someone elses name), he said.

I may know the information, but if I dont try to make use of that information for some sort of primarily economic benefit, I dont think thats identity theft.

Do you have more questions about identity theft in Kansas? Ask the Service Journalism team at kcq@kcstar.com.
A rally by supporters of Niger's President Mohamed Bazoum in Niamey on July 26, the day of his ouster. An online video of the scene was later used to claim a similar rally on August 6 (-)

Following a July coup, Niger has become the latest hotbed of disinformation in the troubled Sahel region as West African powers grapple with crafting a response to the political crisis.

From false rumours and misleading videos to manipulated audio clips, AFP has debunked over a dozen social media claims either backing or discrediting the coup leaders after they toppled President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26.

Soon after his ousting, amateur footage of a large march surfaced online purporting to show a pro-Bazoum rally in Niger's capital Niamey on August 6. In reality, the clip was filmed on the day of the president's removal from power.

Another viral video allegedly featured Niger's deposed finance minister crying after coup leaders gave him an ultimatum to account for missing funds or face death.

But AFP found the clip, from 2021, in fact showed Niger's former justice minister Marou Amadou expressing his gratitude to ex-president Issoufou Mahamadou.

Misleading reports about foreign interference in the crisis abounded as uncertainty mounted over the possibility of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) using military force to reverse the coup.

The regional bloc, chaired by Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, was quick to condemn Bazoum's ouster and piled sanctions on Niamey days after the takeover, with Nigeria -- Niger's main electricity provider -- cutting off supplies.

There were also false claims about French fighter jets landing in Senegal to support a possible ECOWAS intervention, or about fighters from the Russian mercenary group Wagner and Burkinabe troops arriving in Niger to support the new leaders.

- 'Popular' anti-Western views -

Landlocked Niger joined neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso to become the third Sahel country in three years to experience a coup.

Like elsewhere in the region, anti-French sentiment has been on the rise in Niger. Its new military leaders have the support of fellow ex-French colonies Mali and Burkina Faso, which have turned their backs on Paris in favour of closer Moscow ties.

In May, Bazoum told British newspaper The Independent that Wagner had been sponsoring "disinformation campaigns against us".

Some analysts, however, said there were few signs of organised, large-scale offensives aimed at spreading false content as seen in other African nations.

Disinformation about post-coup Niger did not seem "particularly well coordinated or centrally managed", said Ikemesit Effiong, an analyst at the geopolitical consultancy SBM Intelligence in Nigeria.

Nonetheless, coup supporters have "largely amplified the threat of conflict with ECOWAS, particularly Nigeria as well as France, to mobilise support online and on the ground" in a region where "anti-imperialist and anti-Western views are popular and an easy sell", Effiong said.

- Pro-Russia propaganda network -

Experts told AFP that the spread of disinformation targeting Niger mirrored a pattern already witnessed elsewhere on the continent: it usually originates on encrypted platforms like Telegram and WhatsApp before being shared on other social media apps.

Moreover, several anti-French and pro-Russian accounts that post propaganda about Mali and Burkina Faso have also promoted false claims about Niger.

One such actor is the Pan-African Group for Trade and Investment (GPCI), a media firm founded by pro-Russian businessman Harouna Douamba, originally from Burkina Faso.

The GPCI is at the heart of a vast network of websites and Facebook pages pushing disinformation to further stoke tensions, according to the All Eyes on Wagner investigative consortium.

For instance, AFP found that one of its accounts recently alleged that France was preparing a "plot to destabilise" Niger and arm "terrorists".

The GPCI also posted warnings about an imminent military intervention on "suspicious sites involved in spreading disinformation" in Chad and Nigeria for example, according to a French analyst who runs the well-known Casus Belli account on X (formerly Twitter), which monitors suspicious content in Africa.

The analyst, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity for safety reasons, said the pan-Africanist TV channel Afrique Media was also involved in the disinformation drive.

The Cameroon-based broadcaster has partnered with state-owned Russia Today and regularly reports on Wagner operations in Africa.

On August 9, the channel shared a video purporting to show Bazoum looking relaxed after allegedly signing a resignation letter.

In fact, the deposed leader has been held prisoner at his home since July 26, with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres denouncing "the deplorable living conditions that President Bazoum and his family are reported to be living under".

The current wave of disinformation is as much the work of local actors as of foreign influences, said Maixent Some, a Burkinabe financial analyst who tracks Africa-linked disinformation on social media.

"There was an anti-French feeling long before the arrival of Russia" and Moscow was able to capitalise on this sentiment, he told AFP.

Meanwhile, Some said pan-African activists are using their alliance with Russia to further "personal agendas", including political ambitions.

adr-tb/cl/nla/js
 Flash

China on Wednesday donated 1 million U.S. dollars to support the education program of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

Zeng Jixin, head of the Office of the People's Republic of China to the State of Palestine, signed the donation agreement with Karim Amer, director of Partnerships at UNRWA, the office said in a statement.

The donation will benefit 5,300 refugee children in five UNRWA schools across the Gaza Strip, UNRWA said in a statement published on its website.

Zeng said that China fully recognizes and highly commends the work of UNRWA and has been providing assistance within its capacity to support UNRWA in fulfilling its mandates, adding that China is ready to work with the international community to make positive contributions to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting solution to the Palestinian issues as well as realizing lasting peace, security, and prosperity in the Middle East.

Amer thanked China for the contribution and hailed China as a "greatly valued partner and growing donor" for UNRWA.

"It is with thanks to the enduring support of donors like the government of China that UNRWA can provide critical services to Palestinian refugees across the Middle East despite its continuing challenges," said Amer.

Established in 1949, UNRWA is mandated to provide humanitarian aid to Palestinian refugees. Nearly all of its funding comes from voluntary contributions.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is again going after Walt Disney World, after the company launched a stealth power play. Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP and Chris duMond/Getty Images

Disney is pushing back against Gov. Ron DeSantis' plan to rob them of their independence.

In a new court filing, Disney asks for damages and alleges Florida violated its contracts.

It's the latest in a lawsuit in which the Florida board says Disney shouldn't have total power over its district.

Disney isn't going to let Florida Governor Ron DeSantis walk away from their ongoing feud as he tries to reboot his stuggling presidential campaign.

In a new court filing Friday, Disney said it wants damages over how the governor has handled rescinding Disney's right to operate as its entity under the Reedy Creek Improvement District.

The Friday document is the latest in the fight between Florida and Disney, stemming from a lawsuit in which Florida has said RCID's plan to give Disney autonomous power should be thrown out.

Disney alleged in the Friday filing that the Florida board overseeing the transition violated its contract but added that since they have "no adequate legal remedy for the District's breach of the Contracts, as an award of damages would not fully compensate Disney for the losses caused by the District's breach of the Contracts."

Disney said in the document that it "has fully complied with any and all of its obligations under the Contracts." The company alleged that the Florida board "repudiated its duty" to adhere to the contract.

"The District has a duty under the terms of the Contracts to do such further acts and assurances as shall be reasonably requested by Disney to carry out the intent of the Contracts and give effect thereto and the District has refused to perform its obligations under the Contracts and has instead breached the Contracts by, among other things, declaring them void ab initio," the filing reads.

Disney said it has "suffered and will continue to suffer damages, including consequential damages."

Disney filed the court document less than a week after CNN aired an interview with DeSantis where he said that he and his allies had "basically moved on" from their feud with the company and that he would tell the company's CEO, Bob Iger, to "drop the lawsuit."

In addition to asking the court to "enter a judgment against the District for damages," Disney wants the court to force the Florida oversight board to comply with the contracts in place.

As the lawsuit between Disney and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District continues to proceed, DeSantis has been on the presidential campaign trail.

According to an average of national polls deemed "major" by FiveThirtyEight, Trump currently brings in 38.4 percentage points more support on average than DeSantis, who's in second place averaging 15.7% support.

Read the original article on Business Insider
A district attorney in Tennessee dismissed more than 30 cases involving five former police officers who were charged with second-degree murder in the death of Tyre Nichols, according to a statement obtained by CNN affiliate WHBQ on Wednesday

Shelby County District Attorney Steven Mulroy said his office reviewed approximately 100 cases involving the officers.

In addition to the 30 dismissals, charges were reduced in about a dozen other cases, the district attorneys statement said.

As in any such case, the primary consideration is concern about the credibility as witnesses of discharged officers, the statement said.

Tyre Nichols - Provided by Ben Crump

Nichols died a few days after being pulled over and beaten by the former Memphis police officers on January 7.

Body camera videos and surveillance footage from Nichols arrest were released on January 27, publicly revealing the severity of the beating, and sparked widespread condemnation from residents and police officials and, the county prosecutor said at the time, contradicting what officers said happened in the initial police report.

The district attorney charged the five Memphis police officers with second-degree murder in the fatal beating of Nichols. All five were terminated by the Memphis Police Department.

Judge James Jones set a date of September 15 to hear motions from the former officers.

Currently, all five officers accused would be tried together. The attorney for defendant Emmitt Martin says three of the accused officers are seeking to separate their cases but says his client isnt among them.

Additionally, Jones says he plans to issue an order on a records request by a media coalition to release additional public records including more video. Jones did not specify when the order would be issued. CNN is part of the media coalition.

After the motions are settled, the judge says he will move ahead with scheduling a trial date.

The city of Memphis, its police department and the fired officers also face a lawsuit filed by Nichols family.

In February, Mulroy said the attorney generals office would be reviewing all prior cases involving the five officers.

CNN has reached out to the Shelby County District Attorneys Office but has not received a response.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
A Georgia couple filed a lawsuit last week alleging their child was decapitated during delivery by a doctor who used too much force.

Jessica Ross and Treveon Isaiah Taylor Sr. are suing both the Southern Regional Medical Center in Riverdale and their obstetrician, Dr. Tracey St. Julian, who is not employed by the hospital, after she allegedly applied ridiculously excessive force trying to deliver the baby with shoulder dystocia, according to their attorney, Roderick Edmond. The infant did not survive.

According to the lawsuit, Ross water broke around 10 a.m. on July 9 and she arrived at the hospital 10 minutes later. By 8:40 p.m., Ross was fully dilated and was instructed to push. However, the baby did not properly descend, the lawsuit says, most likely because of shoulder dystocia, which occurs when a babys shoulder gets stuck behind the mothers pubic bone.

Premiere Womens OB/GYN, St. Julians practice, did not immediately reply to requests for comment. Southern Regional Medical Center said in a statement that it denies the allegations of wrongdoing and that this unfortunate infant death occurred in utero prior to the delivery and decapitation. The hospital also said it voluntarily reported the death to the Clayton County Medical Examiners Office and is cooperating with all investigations. The lawsuit says the couple were discouraged from getting an autopsy.

Shoulder dystocia occurs in roughly 3% of vaginal deliveries, and it typically happens to women who have reached full term, said Dr. Kiarra King, an OB-GYN in Illinois who is not involved in the case. Risk factors for babies experiencing shoulder dystocia include the mothers having diabetes or being short in stature. Ross, 20, had been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in July 2022, and her pregnancy was considered high-risk, the suit says.

Another risk factor for shoulder dystocia would be whether the baby weighs more than 4,000 grams, or 8 pounds, 13 ounces. (According to the lawsuit, Ross baby weighed 7 pounds, 6 ounces upon delivery.)

While doctors are able to point out possible risk factors, shoulder dystocia is not something that we can fully predict, King said.

Edmond, the couples attorney, said nurses and other health care providers in the hospital should have had protocols to deal with the problem. According to the lawsuit, both St. Julian and the nurses did not meet the standards of care.

King said that in her deliveries, risk factors like diabetes and a larger baby would typically prompt her to offer a couple a primary C-section with a goal of ideally preventing a shoulder dystocia, as per guidelines set out by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Dr. Joia Crear-Perry, an OB-GYN and founder of the National Birth Equity Collaborative, said that even in the moment, the doctor, the nurses and other staff members should have agreed that the patient was deserving of a C-section. Crear-Perry and King were not involved in Ross medical care.

Ross and Taylor, 21, asked for a cesarean section while the baby was viable, Edmond said at a news conference last week, reiterating the allegations in the couples suit. Instead, Ross pushed for three hours without delivering her baby, the suit says, and St. Julian tried to deliver it vaginally using different methods, one of which included applying traction to the babys head.

According to the lawsuit, the fetal monitor showed an abnormal fetal heartbeat starting at 9:26 p.m., and the heart rate continued to decrease until 10:36 p.m. There was no sign of a fetal heartbeat on the monitoring strips by the time St. Julian performed an emergency C-section at 11:49 p.m., the lawsuit says. The babys body was delivered at 12:11 a.m.

St. Julians alleged tremendously excessive tension traction on the head and neck of Ross baby, named Treveon Isaiah Jr., resulted in multiple skull and facial bone fractures and hemorrhaging on his neck and brain and around his spinal cord, according to the suit.

Crear-Perry said that she has used instruments like forceps and vacuums to help patients with the pushing but that if they prove unsuccessful, C-sections are ordered.

In 2020, the infant mortality rate during delivery in the U.S. was 5.4 deaths for every 1,000 live births, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Additional data shows that the rate was highest among Black babies, at 10.6 deaths per 1,000 live births.

While the way Ross baby died is incredibly rare, they can happen, but they dont typically, King said.

The family is seeking an undisclosed amount in damages for the babys life, along with Ross physical, mental and emotional pain and suffering, according to the suit. Since the incident, Edmond said, the couple have been in bad shape and are attending counseling because they have been psychologically traumatized.

Millicent Rose, a trauma specialist and professor of clinical psychology at Pepperdine University, said: With medical trauma, were really mindful that one of the things that can compound onto symptoms is when we know that it could have been preventable. It occurs due to negligence or at the hands of another person.

The hospital said in a statement that it is unable to discuss the care and treatment of specific patients because of patient privacy laws.

Holding a child after birth is a rite of passage for any mother, Rose said. Robbing mothers of that opportunity after loss can cause prolonged grief. The central nervous system interaction between mother and child is also necessary for the mothers healing, regardless of whether the child survived birth, she added. The couple said in the lawsuit that they were unable to hold their baby. The hospital did not address why in its statement.

Rose said that despite the intense grief bereaved parents may feel, she has witnessed families continue their journey to family planning while learning to balance their love for children who are no longer with them.

Grief is all the love that you have to give somebody that you now have nowhere to put it, Rose said. So, for a lot of mothers, when they experience pregnancy, infant or child loss, that overwhelming feeling of love to give another child becomes centered, as well. I always encourage mothers to hold on to hope, even after something catastrophic.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
WASHINGTON  The widow of a police officer who died by suicide after he was assaulted during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has been found eligible for a federal benefits program for the families of fallen officers.

Erin Smith, the widow of Jeffrey Smith, was instrumental in the passage of a renewed version of the Public Safety Officer Support Act that President Joe Biden signed into law last August.

The legislation made the families of officers who died by suicide eligible for the federal benefits that go to first responders, so long as their death is found to have been linked to their official duties and exposure to a traumatic event.

Jeffrey Smith. (Jack Reznicki)

The Justice Department's Public Safety Officers Benefit Office informed Smith's lawyer of the decision on Friday.

"It is an honor to inform you that the Public Safety Officers Benefits (PSOB) Office has approved your claim for death benefits," Hope D. Janke, the director of the office, wrote in a letter to Erin Smith. "The entire PSOB Office staff extends our condolences to you and your family, and our gratitude for Officer Smiths public safety efforts and commitment to his community."

Erin Smith said that Jeffreys injuries clearly caused his death and that she was proud that the work she did would mean that family members of officers who died by suicide would not go through what she did.

When my husband died, I was denied the line of duty benefits that he deserved, she said in a statement to NBC News. But I knew from the beginning that Jeffrey died in the line of duty from the injuries he suffered on January 6th.

Smith was standing at a pharmacy counter after her husband's death when she learned that the benefits she received through his employment had been discontinued. She said she "did not want any future widow, or widower, to ever go through" what she went through after her husband's death.

I am pleased that on the one-year anniversary of the laws passage, Jeffreys death has finally been ruled to be line of duty under federal law," she said. We have fought so long to reach this point, first with the MPD, then with the Police and Firefighters Retirement and Relief Board, and now with the United States government. Dr. David P. Weber, an attorney representing Smith, was also pleased with the outcome.

"The time has come to #smashthestigma surrounding law enforcement officer mental health, the scientific causation between brain injuries and suicide, and to acknowledge the silent injuries suffered by many heroes," Weber said in a statement. "It is time to remove the stigma suffered by Mrs. Smith and all the future widows and widowers who have lost their loved ones to their law enforcement duties. There can no longer be any serious debate that Police Officer Jeffrey Smith died in the line of duty."

Weber said they would now turn to fighting to make sure that Smith is inurned in Arlington National Cemetery, where Brian Sicknick, a U.S. Capitol Police officer who died hours after defending the Capitol on Jan. 6, was buried.

"Today, we know he died a hero, in the line of duty," Weber said. "But at the time, Mrs. Smith watched as other officers lay in state, while she mourned very much alone, with no support or acknowledgement from the nation or city."

Jeffrey Smith was involved in at least two altercations on Jan. 6, 2021. He had grappled with rioters as police tried to force them out of the building, and later that night, Smith was struck in the face by a flying metal pole outside the Capitol, according to a video.

David Walls-Kaufman, who admitted that he "scuffled" with officers and who placed his hands on Smith's baton inside the Capitol, was sentenced to two months in federal prison.

Taylor Taranto, who was sued by Erin Smith in connection with her husband's death, was arrested near former President Barack Obama's home in June and ordered detained. He was separately charged over weapons found in the van he drove to Obama's home.

The person who threw the flying metal pole that stuck Smith in the face has not yet been identified.

The D.C. Police and Firefighters Retirement and Relief Board found in March of last year that Smith had died in the line of duty, ruling that he "sustained a personal injury on January 6, 2021, while performing his duties and that his injury was the sole and direct cause of his death."

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
The Department of Justice (DOJ) is seeking 33 years in prison for former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, who was convicted of seditious conspiracy earlier this year in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.

He and four other Proud Boys in May were convicted of entering a seditious conspiracy against the U.S. government to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election.

As national chairman of the right-wing extremist group, Tarrio was a naturally charismatic leader and a savvy propagandist, prosecutors said in a sentencing memo published late Thursday.

In that capacity, he had influence over countless subordinate members of his group and members of the general public, and he used that influence to organize and execute the conspiracy to forcibly stop the peaceful democratic transfer of power, they wrote.

Though Tarrio was not at the Capitol on Jan. 6, prosecutors portrayed him as the leader and main driver of a plot to keep former President Trump in power.

The 396-month recommended sentence is the longest the DOJ has requested for individuals linked to the Capitol attack and, if accepted by a judge, would be the longest sentence given. Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes, who was convicted of sedition last year for his role in the riot, currently holds the longest sentence for Jan. 6 rioters, of 18 years.

Prosecutors are also recommending a 33-year sentence for Joe Biggs, a Florida Proud Boy convicted of sedition earlier this year. A one-time correspondent for conspiracist Alex Joness InfoWars, Biggs was accused of leading Proud Boys to the Capitol and talking with the first person to breach police barricades just minutes before he acted.

For Zachary Rehl, president of Philadelphias Proud Boys chapter, prosecutors are asking for a 30-year sentence. Theyre recommending a 27-year sentence for Washington state Proud Boy Ethan Nordean. Both men were convicted of sedition.

Dominic Pezzola, the only Proud Boy acquitted of seditious conspiracy following the months-long trial, should receive a prison sentence of 20 years, prosecutors say. He was convicted of other serious felonies, including obstruction of an official proceeding, and assaulting, resisting and impeding certain officers.

According to court filings, Biggs requested a sentence under three years, Rehl a sentence of three years or less, Nordean a sentence under two years and Pezzola a five-year sentence.

Tarrio on Friday asked the court for less prison time than the DOJ recommends, arguing against the use of a terrorism enhancement in deciding his sentence. He did not request a specific sentencing range.

The Proud Boys grew in notoriety when Trump urged them to stand back and stand by during his first debate against President Biden. During a four-month trial, prosecutors said the Proud Boys saw themselves as Donald Trumps army, participating in every major breach of the building that day.

The defendants understood the stakes, and they embraced their role in bringing about a revolution,' prosecutors wrote in court filings. They unleashed a force on the Capitol that was calculated to exert their political will on elected officials by force and to undo the results of a democratic election.

The foot soldiers of the right aimed to keep their leader in power, the prosecutors continued. They failed.

Updated at 1:57 p.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Firefighters put out a fire after a powerful explosion in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic, Monday, Aug 14, 2023. The Monday afternoon explosion killed at least three people and injured more than 30 others, authorities said. (Jolivel Brito/Diario Libre via AP)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP)  Authorities in the Dominican Republic said on Thursday that it could take months to identify all of the 28 victims who died in a powerful explosion near the country's capital this week.

The announcement came as friends and family keep trying to confirm whether their loved ones died in Monday's explosion at a bakery in the city of San Cristobal, just west of Santo Domingo.

Authorities in the Dominican Republic said a patient in an intensive care unit has died, raising the death toll to 28. Fifty-nine people were injured, with the majority of them still hospitalized.

The explosion took place mid-afternoon in a bustling commercial area in the city center, filled with businesses, including a bank and a hardware store.

An investigation is still underway as to what caused the explosion, and authorities have said they will hold accountable any business that was not operating properly. It took firefighters three days to extinguish the blaze, which officials said spread from the bakery to the hardware store next door, and then to a nearby furniture store.

Only seven of the bodies found have been identified and turned over to their families, Santo Jimenez, a forensics institute director, said at a news conference. It may take up to three months to identify some of the victims, he said. Authorities are working with family and friends who could provide helpful details such as any presence of tattoos or scars, he added.

Jimenez said only one body of the 20 that remain at the morgue is intact.

Monday marked the second time that San Cristobal, the birthplace of dictator Rafael Trujillo, was affected by a major explosion. An arms depot exploded in October 2000, killing at least two people and injured more than two dozen others, forcing authorities to evacuate thousands.
A group of residents in Dayton want voters to close their local library because it has more than 150 books that they deem inappropriate. Centuries ago, barbarians used flame and sword to destroy the illuminated knowledge held in Europes Christian monastic libraries. Today, their tools are bullying, misinformation and the ballot box.

As The Seattle Times reported, rural Columbia County residents submitted enough signatures last month to place a measure on the November ballot to dissolve the Columbia County Rural Library District.

Residents of the county pay property taxes through the district to fund the library in Dayton, a small town 60 miles east of the Tri-Cities.

The dispute started a year ago over one book on display in the young adult section, What the T? which contains supportive information for trans and nonbinary teenagers. Other books about gender, sexuality and race soon joined a growing list that angered a small cadre of residents.

At first the library resisted calls to remove the books. Eventually it agreed to move them out of the young adult section and into the adult nonfiction section. That compromise to retain books but not highlight them for young adults should have been the end of it.

But it wasnt. The agitators would brook no compromise and say they have lost all trust in the library. An argument that will appear in the voters guide supporting the measure sums it up, Whether there can be short term appeasement on this issue is immaterial, because in the process of dealing with it, a greater truth has been revealed that this public library is an irretrievably compromised entity, and it needs to be removed from our midst.

A handful of people would kill a community institution that provides access to knowledge to all residents in a malicious quest to squash ideas. There is no room for others to decide for themselves. This is what censorship looks like in the 21st century.

The books in question are a miniscule portion of the librarys collection, and the backers of the measure are willing to throw everything away to get rid of those few titles. If the measure passes, Washington would earn the embarrassing distinction of being the first state in which voters chose to shut down their local library over a book dispute.

Healthy debates about public institutions are great. This, however, is part of an unhealthy national social war being fought between the liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans. In Washington, there have been recent fights over books in Walla Walla, where the school board refused to capitulate to demands from conservative censors, and in Liberty Lake near Spokane, where the mayor vetoed an ordinance attempting to seize control of library policy so the city could ban the book Gender Queer.

The Columbia County library does itself no favors in its defense by not stocking prominent books that are critical of the LGBTQ+ movement. Popular books censored by progressives like When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment and Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters do not appear in the librarys catalog. Nor do hard copies of any works by conservative commentators Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson, though those at least are available in ebook format.

Due to a quirk in how the district was created, only voters outside of Dayton will vote on the measure. That means only about 1,000 of the countys 2,856 registered voters will decide the fate of the library, though all of them pay taxes to support it.

If parents dont want your kids to read certain books, help them find others. Better yet, they should expose their kids and themselves to myriad ideas and voices that will foster a love of learning and a mind that can think critically and creatively. Libraries should be the place to do that.
Donald Trump has cancelled a press conference due next Monday at which he had promised to unveil irrefutable evidence to exonerate himself of racketeering charges in Georgia.

The former president, who was charged in Georgia this week with conspiring to overturn the states 2020 election results, said on Thursday that his lawyers would instead put forward his arguments in court filings.

Rather than releasing the Report on the Rigged & Stolen Georgia 2020 Presidential Election on Monday, my lawyers would prefer putting this, I believe, Irrefutable & Overwhelming evidence of Election Fraud & Irregularities in formal Legal Filings, Mr Trump said on Truth Social.

Therefore, he added, the news conference was no longer necessary.

Mr Trump had claimed on Tuesday that he would publish a 100-page dossier at the event, which was due to be held in Bedminster, New Jersey, that would be conclusive proof of his innocence.

Prosecutors on Monday brought 13 charges linked to an alleged criminal enterprise of racketeering in the state after he lost the presidential election to Joe Biden.

The charges Donald Trump faces in Georgia

Mr Trump responded to the charges by accusing the prosecutor, Fani Willis, of being out of control and very corrupt.

Lawyers seek 2026 trial for Jan 6 case

On Thursday, lawyers for Mr Trump requested an April 2026 trial date on the federal charges that he conspired to overturn the 2020 election  long after next years presidential vote.

The request comes as lead prosecutor Jack Smith is pushing for a Jan 2 start date in the case, one of four criminal prosecutions that Trump is facing in the middle of his White House re-election campaign.

The public interest lies in justice and fair trial, not a rush to judgement, the ex-presidents lawyers said in their filing.

They argued the amount of documents in the case would require months to process.

Assuming we could begin reviewing the documents today, we would need to proceed at a pace of 99,762 pages per day to finish the governments initial production by its proposed date for jury selection, they said.

That is the entirety of Tolstoys War and Peace, cover to cover, 78 times a day, every day, from now until jury selection.

Judge Tanya Chutkan is set to decide the trial date on August 28.

The governments proposed (January 2) trial date represents an appropriate balance of the defendants right to prepare a defense and the publics strong interest in a speedy trial in the case, Mr Smith previously said in court filing asking for the January start.

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For reasons both specific and structural, the latest criminal charges against Donald Trump stand apart from their predecessors, marking perhaps the most immediate and acute legal threat to the former president to date. Alleged by Fulton County, GA, District Attorney Fani Willis to have led a "criminal enterprise" to subvert the results of the 2020 presidential election, Trump has added 13 felony counts to his already expansive list of criminal charges, this time based on Georgia state, rather than federal, law. While Trump's 2024 presidential run is widely believed to be fueled at least in part by the hope that it will negate his current legal perils, state charges  and the particulars of Georgia law, especially  render the possibility of both presidential and state pardons virtually null.

It should come as little surprise, then, that Trump is reportedly planning to request his trial be shifted from Fulton County to federal court  "removed," in the legal parlance  on the grounds that the behavior for which he's charged was conducted as part of his presidential obligations. It's a strategy he has unsuccessfully tried before, although in this instance "it could work," The Wall Street Journal concluded.

What's behind the former president's renewed faith in the federal court system? And is there a chance his removal plan could genuinely work out in his favor? Perhaps unsurprisingly, opinions vary.

'Nonzero chance of forcing his way'

Trump is widely expected to follow his former Chief of Staff and fellow Georgia co-defendant Mark Meadows, who this week filed a request to remove his trial to federal court on the grounds that his actions were committed during his service as a White House officer. Given that Trump will almost certainly follow suit, "talking about anything other than the federal removal statute is putting the cart before the horse," Georgia State University Law School Professor Eric Segall explained to The Guardian. Moreover, there's a "nonzero chance" of Trump "forcing his way into federal court," University of Texas School of Law Professor Lee Kovarsky told the Journal, citing defendant-friendly precedent in the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, which has jurisdiction over the request.

The benefits to Trump of a switch to federal court are fairly straightforward. "The only conceivable advantage" for Trump is that federal court would "draw a jury pool from the entire Northern District of Georgia  an area encompassing both urban, suburban and rural areas  rather than the heavily Democratic jury pool found in Fulton County courts," according to The Independent. But Politico disagreed, noting that a shift to federal court also affords Trump "at least a fair chance of drawing" one of the four out of 15 judges he had appointed to the Northern District of Georgia District Court bench.

In fact, simply making the request for removal could be to Trump's benefit, even if it's ultimately shot down. "Delay is his friend," former Federal Prosecutor Neama Rahmani said to ABC. "Even if he loses, he's going to slow the process down." Georgia Defense Attorney Andrew Fleischman agreed when speaking to the Journal, predicting that not only are there "going to be appeals" but that the process could ultimately "reach the United States Supreme Court." Given DA Willis' hope for a speedy court date that would place opening arguments smack in the middle of Trump's already busy campaign-and-trial schedule this coming spring, "six months is not reasonable," Segall said, predicting months upon months of appeals no matter which way the removal decision goes.

'Federal pardon power would be unavailable'

While a shift from local to federal court would offer Trump some structural advantages in terms of jury selection and scheduling, it crucially would not alter the fundamental nature of the trial itself. The charges would remain a matter of state, rather than federal law, and would continue to be prosecuted by Willis, "meaning Trump likely couldn't pardon himself if he were to be reelected and convicted," the Journal concluded. Cornell Constitutional Law Professor Michael Dorf agreed, telling ABC that "if he were to be convicted, he would then be convicted under state laws" and "federal pardon power would be unavailable."

For her part, Willis seems prepared to head off Trump's attempted shift at the pass, including in her indictment instances in which he acted long after he had left the White House. If Trump can demonstrate a "colorable claim that he was acting in part as president" that would present a strong argument for moving the case to federal court, Georgia State University Law Professor Anthony Michael Kreis told Politico. By including chargest stemming from actions taken on September 17, 2021, Willis' team is "trying to say, 'No, this was never about Donald Trump in his official capacity as president.'"

Trump's attempt to shift his New York charges stemming from alleged hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels in the run-up to the 2016 election was rejected by U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein this past June. And while the nature of the crimes for which Trump has been accused in each case differ significantly, Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Norm Eisen sees them both as examples of the former president hoping to use the protections of his one-time office to allow for behaviors well beyond the scope of the Oval Office. "An attempted coup is just as remote from the presidential official job duties under the Constitution as fabricating documents to cover up hush money payments that help you get to the White House," Eisen told The Independent. "Both are unrelated to presidential duties."

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WASHINGTON  Donald Trumps lawyers on Thursday proposed a 2026 start to his federal trial on charges he tried to steal the last election, part of a strategy to combat a "blank check" of investigations spending and postpone his four pending criminal cases until after his presidential bid.

Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith proposed to start the trial on Jan. 2, which his team said would allow five months for Trump to review the evidence and debate pretrial motions. The trial is projected to last four to six weeks, which would carry it through the early presidential caucuses and primaries.

But Trumps lawyers argued the government has had years and tens of millions of dollars to build a case with 11.5 million pages of documents and interviews with hundreds of witnesses.

"The public interest lies in justice and fair trial, not a rush to judgment," Trump's lawyers said in a filing. "Moreover, if the rights to due process and counsel are to mean anything, a defendant must have adequate time todefend himself."

Former President Donald Trump delivers remarks during the Georgia state GOP convention at the Columbus Convention and Trade Center on June 10 in Columbus, Ga.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan has said she could set a brisk trial schedule to avoid Trumps statements and social media posts tainting the jury pool.

Trumps lawyers have argued a speedy trial only benefits the defendant, which Trump is willing to waive.

"This is an unprecedented case in American history," Trump's lawyers said. "The incumbent administration hastargeted its primary political opponent  and leading candidate in the upcoming presidential election  with criminal prosecution."

But prosecutors argued the public would also benefit from a speedy trial.

Most importantly, a January 2 trial date would vindicate the publics strong interest in a speedy trial  an interest guaranteed by the Constitution and federal law in all cases, but of particular significance here, where the defendant, a former president, is charged with conspiring to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election, obstruct the certification of the election results, and discount citizens legitimate votes, prosecutors wrote.

Trump is already juggling the timing for a half-dozen criminal and civil trials.

New York Attorney General Letitia James has a $250 million civil trial scheduled against Trumps company on Oct. 2, which could last six weeks. E. Jean Carroll has a $5 million defamation case in New York scheduled for trial on Jan. 15  the day of the Iowa caucuses  and projected to last two weeks.

In Georgia, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis proposed to start her racketeering trial on March 4. A judge hasn't set the date yet.

Trump had planned a Monday news conference to rebut allegations in the Georgia case. But he announced Thursday in a post on Truth Social that rather than release his report, he would "fight to dismiss this disgraceful Indictment."

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has a trial that could last five weeks set to start March 25 on charges of falsifying business records. Smith has a tentative trial date for charges of mishandling classified documents on May 20, with the trial lasting an estimated five weeks.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump proposes to start federal election case in 2026
 Flash

Ten people were killed following the crash of a light aircraft in Malaysia's Selangor state on Thursday afternoon, Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook said.

Speaking at a press conference following the incident, Loke said there were no survivors among the aircraft's six passengers and two crew, with another two being killed on the ground where the aircraft crashed.

The aircraft which departed from Langkawi International Airport at 2:08 p.m. was headed to Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport and had been cleared to land at 2:48 p.m., the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia said in an earlier statement.

"At 2:51 p.m., the Subang Air Traffic Control Tower observed smoke originating from the crash site, but no mayday call was made by the aircraft. Kuala Lumpur Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre has been activated to coordinate the search and rescue mission," it said.
For over a year, a group of taxpayers have waged a lawsuit against the state of New Hampshire, seeking to prove that the states school funding model is unfair. This month, lawyers behind that effort made an ambitious ask.

In a proposed settlement offer sent in early August, the plaintiffs asked the state to require that cities and towns send any excess taxes collected by the statewide education property tax back to the state for redistribution  ending a decade-long practice. Since 2011, municipalities wealthy enough to collect more than they need in that tax have been able keep the extra revenue. If the state agreed to the settlement, the result would be a return to the model referred to by opponents as a donor town system.

The settlement offer has dim prospects: The state has not responded to it in the two weeks since it was sent. And even if it were accepted, it would resolve only a portion of the lawsuit, which also seeks to demonstrate that the state does not send enough money for an adequate education to its public schools, distorting property tax rates.

Lawyers in two New Hampshire school funding cases are expecting a final destination at the state Supreme Court.

But the attempt highlights the bigger aims of plaintiffs in the case, known as Rand v. State of New Hampshire, and demonstrates what could be at stake if the state Supreme Court takes up that case and Contoocook Valley School District v. State of New Hampshire in the future.

Heres a refresher of where both lawsuits are and what to expect in the coming months.

Two cases, two focuses

In recent years, two lawsuits have emerged challenging the way New Hampshire funds its schools.

The first, filed on behalf of the ConVal School District and others in 2019, asserts that New Hampshires low level of state support for public schools has hurt districts financially and that the state is not fulfilling its duty to provide an education. The second, filed by taxpayers, argues that the states school funding formula creates broad disparities between towns with more property wealth and towns with less, hurting taxpayers in the poorer towns.

Since the 1993 state Supreme Court decision known as Claremont I  and the follow-up 1997 decision in Claremont II  New Hampshire has been obligated to provide the funding for an adequate education. But despite that mandate, critics argue the state does not do so, and that the current $4,100 minimum of funding guaranteed to every child does not meet that standard of adequacy on its own.

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While similar, the two lawsuits were not filed in conjunction, and they address different themes. The ConVal lawsuit is requesting that the court define the realistic cost of an adequate education in order to determine whether the state is providing that to schools. The Rand lawsuit is arguing that the current system creates uneven outcomes for towns and violates the constitutional requirement that state taxes be uniform.

Each of the cases is following its own timeline. The ConVal case has already appeared before the state Supreme Court; in 2021, the court remanded the case back to a superior court so that that court could hold a trial to determine what parts of public school services constitute the minimum requirements for an adequate education. That trial took place in May; the parties are awaiting a decision by Judge David Ruoff of Rockingham County Superior Court.

The Rand case has not yet received a full trial. Arguments in that case were expected to be heard in September  also by Ruoff. But this month, Ruoff announced he was delaying that trial so he can either issue a ruling in the ConVal case or resolve one of the motions in the Rand case. The timing of that case is now in limbo until Ruoff completes those actions.

The spring ConVal trial

While the Rand case is stalled for now, the ConVal case was put into the spotlight this May, when Ruoff presided over a trial.

There, lawyers for the state and the plaintiffs tussled over which parts of a school districts budget  from busing to nursing  are necessary in order to provide an adequate education, and thus necessary to be funded by the state. They disputed whether the adequacy standard requires the state to give schools enough money to keep the number of students per teacher below a certain level.

And they debated the bigger question of whether the states adequacy formula payments come close to covering the actual cost of educating each student, which averages about $24,000 in Contoocook Valley School District.

The same case had been decided for the plaintiffs by Ruoff in 2019, but in that decision, Ruoff declined to issue a recommended per-pupil dollar figure for what the state owes schools to ensure an adequate education. Because the case was then remanded by the Supreme Court back to superior court for a full trial, Ruoff will need to revisit that decision.

The push for SWEPT changes

In contrast to the ConVal lawsuit, one major aim of the Rand lawsuit is to change New Hampshires statewide education property tax, known as SWEPT.

The tax, created in response to the Claremont school funding decisions, was created to help standardize how towns and cities collect property taxes for their public schools. Money raised by the tax helps to offset how much the state needs to pay in adequacy aid payments.

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But because towns have different property values, each town collects a different amount in SWEPT. Originally, towns that collected more SWEPT than they needed to offset the state adequacy aid would need to return the rest to the state to be redistributed to other cities and towns. But in 2011, the Republican-led Legislature and Democratic Gov. John Lynch removed that requirement after some railed against wealthier municipalities becoming donor towns. Now, wealthier towns that collect more than they need are allowed to keep the excess and use it to lower their other town taxes. Poorer towns that take in less through SWEPT, must rely on adequacy payments from the state and their own local property taxes to bridge the gap.

This month, lawyers for Rand asked in their settlement proposal for the state to reverse the changes made in 2011. The proposal would require the state to stop allowing cities and towns to keep excess SWEPT revenue starting on April 1, 2025. To properly carry that settlement out, the Legislature would need to act in the 2024 session to undo the 2011 changes; if the Legislature refused, the state could be held liable, according to Natalie LaFlamme, an attorney for the plaintiffs.

The state does not look likely to accept that settlement. If it doesnt, plaintiffs in the Rand case will attempt to ask the New Hampshire courts to require the changes to SWEPT instead.

Uncertain steps ahead

At this point, lawyers in both cases are waiting for more developments from the court. And because both cases are in the same court before the same judge, the timing of each development is intertwined.

Ruoffs order earlier this month staying the Rand trial until he issues the ConVal decision means his decision in the ConVal case will likely arrive in the next few months. At that point, the losing side will likely appeal the case again up to the state Supreme Court.

Ruoffs decision in the ConVal case could affect the trial in the Rand case, especially if he rules on some of the questions that overlap between the two cases. That, in turn, could affect the legal strategies of both the plaintiffs and the state.

But lawyers in both cases are expecting a final destination at the Supreme Court, meaning a resolution in court on New Hampshires school funding formula is still likely years away.

This story was originally published by New Hampshire Bulletin

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Heres whats next for New Hampshire school funding lawsuits
North Carolinas state budget, when it finally arrives months late, could speed up changes to downtown Raleigh.

Two well known buildings in the state capital are already having work done this summer: the historic State Capitol dome will change color, along with the rest of the roof, because the copper is being replaced. It takes a few decades for the shiny brown penny color to turn to a greenish blue.

A block away at the Executive Mansion, where Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper lives, several porches are being replaced this summer. The work was surrounded by plastic sheeting for a time, a Department of Administration spokesperson told The N&O, to control the lead paint on the wooden porches being repaired and replaced. The DOA would not share details of the plan, citing security concerns. That work will be done in September.

North Carolina Freedom Park, which honors the African American struggle for freedom, opens on Aug. 23 on the block between the Legislative Building on Jones Street and the mansion. That project had both private and public funding.

But also in the works since the last budget are major demolitions downtown that will change how the state government complex looks, where thousands of employees work, and what visitors and tourists will see.

Things appear to have stalled, and the new budget will move things ahead, Republican legislative leaders indicated this week.

Building demolitions

Senate leader Phil Berger, an Eden Republican, told The N&O on Wednesday that the new budget will include funding to move the state government project along, including the demolition of the Department of Administration and the Bath Building. Both were slated for demolition this year but have not yet come down.

Earlier this year, a Department of Administration head told The N&O it would be unrealistic to move as fast as the 2022 state budget called for.

The Bath Building, once an N.C. Department of Health and Human Services lab space, has been mostly vacant for awhile and awaits demolition. The Department of Administration, which is part of the governors cabinet, has hundreds of employees in its downtown building. The last budget gave more power for state government complex changes to the Legislative Services Office than the Administration agency that previously oversaw some of those projects.

The Department of Administration building on Jones Street in downtown Raleigh, N.C., pictured here in March 2023, is slated for demolition. A new education campus will be built in its place.

One that weve agreed on is redoing ... a lot of the state government capital facilities here, we have some buildings around here that look like theyre from, like East Germany or something that are structurally deficient, House Speaker Tim Moore told reporters after the one-day voting session this week.

The Albemarle Building, where the Department of Insurance is located, on Salisbury Street, is now shared by the office of the State Auditor, which moved spaces earlier this year. And the Governors Office, now in Administration, is being relocated to the Albemarle.

Once the Administration building on Jones Street is demolished, across the street from the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences entrance with the giant globe, a new education campus will rise.

Whats left to finish in the budget

Berger said that he expects there to be a final review of budget documents the week of Labor Day, which is Sept. 4, and then the budget votes the week of Sept. 11.

Im hoping we can meet that schedule, Berger said.

Beyond the state government complex, which Moore also mentioned Wednesday, Berger said that final budget items to decide on include infrastructure funding, from water and sewer to airports. Moore said State Highway Patrol funding is also yet to be decided.

Next up, Berger said, is for head budget writers to work through final negotiations of project spending totals.

Parallel to budget talks, Republicans have also discussed a proposal to legalize more casinos. Berger said if that plan doesnt make it in the budget, it might not pass this session.

Moore said that while he knows Senate Republicans want casinos, House Republicans still have questions.

Moore also said final budget talks center on spending money from the federal American Rescue Plan, a state infrastructure fund and NCInnovation, which is a new nonprofit that would have an endowment for UNC System researchers to turn their ideas into businesses.

An aerial view of the NC State Capitol roof Tuesday, March 14, 2022. The roof, and dome, is being replaced in summer 2023 with new copper.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of state employees and teachers, whose base pay is set by the General Assembly, are waiting on lawmakers to pass a budget with raises. Once that happens, raises will be retroactive to July 1, which is when the fiscal year started and the date when the budget should have been passed.

Beyond teacher pay, raises for bus drivers and other school personnel are in the budget. School systems have reported bus driver shortages leaving students with no or late transportation, including the largest school system in the state, Wake County.

Traditional calendar public schools start Aug. 28.

When will the legislative session end?

Berger said the end of session could bring a flurry of legislation including conference reports  the final versions of bills that passed the House or Senate in different forms  and bills that have passed one chamber but not the other.

Itll be like weve seen in the past when folks are trying to get things across the finish line, Berger said.

There are some fast-moving things that happen at that time, Berger said, adding Republicans havent yet decided which bills will come up.

But that doesnt mean theyre done, done. There will be another 10 days to see what Cooper does with pending legislation, and then after what appears to be shorter and shorter options to take a break, another session for redistricting.

That redrawing of political districts, which will determine many of the state and federal candidates for the 2024 election, will be sometime in October.
Snake hunters in Florida just set a new record, capturing the longest-recorded Burmese python in South Floridas Big Cypress National Preserve. And they did it with their bare hands.

Video captured by one of the hunters shows 22-year-old Jake Waleri diving on the monstrous snake, which was later measured at an astonishing 19 feet, and grabbing it near its head with both hands.

Lets go! Waleri commented at the time.

Hunting and environmentalism often do not go hand in hand, but in this case, hunting Burmese pythons in Floridas Everglades is beneficial to the local ecosystems, as the pythons are a destructive invasive species that were introduced to Florida accidentally and have wreaked havoc ever since.

The state of Florida even pays people to hunt and kill Burmese pythons, which reproduce rapidly, kill native wildlife, and compete with native wildlife for resources. According to the South Florida Water Management District Governing Board website, python hunters can earn $13 to $18 per hour, with an additional incentive payment of $50 for each python measuring up to 4 feet and an additional $25 for each foot measured above 4 feet.

That means that at 19 feet, this record-breaking python earned its captors a $425 bonus.

For the hunters, however, the real reward was helping to protect the Everglades ecosystem.

Its awesome to be able to make an impact on South Floridas environment, Waleri told the Tampa Bay Times. We love this ecosystem and try to preserve it as much as possible.

Its pretty terrifying to know that these animals are so destructive to our ecosystem. But knowing that we can go out there and take care of monsters like this and get them out of the Everglades is something that makes me feel good, Waleris partner Stephen Gauta added.

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NORFOLK, Va.  Can the U.S. Navys fleet fight two conflicts at once, while managing distributed forces with limited resources?

Its something the Navy and Marine Corps tested during Large Scale Exercise 2023, which ran Aug. 9-18.

Members of 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing and 2nd Marine Logistics Group worked in remote fields to extend the range of the Corps helicopters, and sailors aboard aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower at a pier in Norfolk, Virginia, headed to a fight in European waters via virtual training systems. Meanwhile, the Navys top admirals were hard at work asking new questions about the warfighting concept known as Distributed Maritime Operations.

In the years since the Navy and Marine Corps adopted the DMO concept as their preferred way to fight, the services have experimented and practiced such operations over and over. This latest exercise asks sailors and Marines at the tactical level to conduct distributed operations and win a fight. But it also demands four-star fleet commanders manage two global conflicts while sharing and prioritizing limited assets.

The event has provided lessons learned all the way up and down the chain of command.

Its not going to be a regional conflict with our strategic competitors. It will be a global because they are globally distributed themselves, Capt. Chris Narducci, the lead planner for Large Scale Exercise 2023, told reporters during an Aug. 11 visit to the drill. We need to maneuver our forces, we need to distribute our forces. But the most important thing is, they need to remain integrated while we do it.

Four-star commanders

Three four-star admirals used videoconferencing technology each day of the exercise: Adm. Daryl Caudle, who leads U.S. Fleet Forces Command from Norfolk; Adm. Samuel Paparo, who leads U.S. Pacific Fleet from Hawaii; and Adm. Stuart Munsch, who leads U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa from Italy.

The scenario this year provided several challenges for them. One was, essentially, a map. The other is how to share limited resources across that map.

Though clear lines delineate which admiral is in charge of which parts of the globe, the enemy doesnt care, Caudle said, and is incentivized to take advantage of those seams.

For example, Russian and Chinese warships sailed to the Aleutian Islands of Alaska earlier this month, which fall under Paparos Pacific Fleet waters but also affect Caudle as the lead for naval homeland defense. Russian submarines regularly operate in the Northern Atlantic, at the seam between Caudles Western Atlantic fleet and Munschs Eastern Atlantic fleet. Chinese warships ventured to West Africa earlier this summer, crossing from Paparos area of responsibility into Munschs.

Youve seen some real-world examples where our competitors are more increasingly cooperating with one another, and are more increasingly sailing and operating further afield, which further underscores the need for Large Scale Exercise and our ability to find, track and monitor potential threats, and to do so across the globe among commanders whose headquarters are linked at all times, Paparo said at the media roundtable.

While this is already happening to a degree, Paparo said the live forces at sea, coupled with virtual forces piped into the scenario created a more complex cross-boundary picture for the admirals to manage together.

By injecting virtual tracks, you stress the headquarters ability to see and understand the space and to know what each unit is doing, he explained. The effect  is to stress the command centers, to get them up on a wartime footing so that were always ready and that the habits of mind and habits of action of commanding in a global threat environment across a wide geography, across hundreds of units and thousands of warfighters, becomes ingrained in the key warfighting headquarters staffs.

As if the complex map werent enough of a problem, about a dozen retired admirals and generals playing the roles of higher-headquarters leaders, including combatant commanders, the defense secretary and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, exacerbated the challenge.

During a conflict, four-star admirals would have to ask these leaders for additional support, such as moving people and supplies into theater with U.S. Transportation Command assets.

Obviously, we have a limited number of things  ships, aircraft, people  and theres going to be tugging and pulling as the scenario progresses, said retired Adm. James Foggo, who led Naval Forces Europe-Africa in his final assignment.

Retired Adm. James Foggo, right, who led Naval Forces Europe-Africa in his final assignment, answers questions from the press on Aug. 11, 2023, at the Naval Warfare Development Center in Norfolk, Va. (Chief MC Theodore Green/U.S. Navy)

Foggo played the roles of defense secretary and Joint Chiefs chairman for the exercise. These top leaders, he said, would vet incoming requests for high-demand, low-density resources and determine their importance based on the highest-level priorities: defending the homeland, protecting national interests and those of American allies, and deterring war, among others.

Theres just not enough stuff to go around, so somebodys going to get what they need here; somebody else here may have to wait a little bit. But where are the priorities? Where is todays battle? Where is the preponderance of the force needed to deter the adversary? Foggo explained. And so thats what were trying to do  were putting pressure on the leadership.

Rear Adm. Andrew Burcher, the vice chief of U.S. Fleet Forces Command and the drills leader, told reporters that Large Scale Exercise 2023 assumed the same force deployment and ordnance levels that the fleet had at sea as of the end of June in order to make the event realistic.

Moreover, in addition to whatever fights over resources may bubble up organically, Burcher said, the exercise planners had 50-70 problems they purposely introduced into the exercise  perhaps two fleets needing the same limited resource simultaneously  to ensure the four-stars officers and the retired leaders would be forced to work through the tension of having more needs than the military could realistically provide.

Stealth and distribution

During Large Scale Exercise 2023, a group of about 100 Marines established a forward arming and refueling point, or FARP, at the Oak Grove Outlying Field, located near Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina. These FARPs are a key type of expeditionary advanced base Marines would need to set up in combat as a temporary spot for aircraft to refuel, receive maintenance and load up on weapons before moving to more remote locations.

A key area of focus for these Marines involved their ability to conduct FARP operations with a reduced signature in order to avoid detection.

A CH-53E Super Stallion lands on Marine Corps Outlying Landing Field Oak Grove, N.C., on Aug. 11, 2023, as part of Large Scale Exercise. (Cpl. Meshaq Hylton/U.S. Marine Corps)

Col. Ginger Beals, who leads Combat Logistics Regiment 2, told reporters that Marines were experimenting with a new communications system on the FARP that uses light signals instead of verbal communication between forces on the ground and aircraft approaching the base.

First Lt. Anthony Viteri, the site lead for Oak Grove Outlying Field, said the Corps conducted an electromagnetic spectrum analysis of the area before establishing the FARP, and were conducting additional studies during the exercise. Using that information, Marines will consider how they might replicate a site as a decoy FARP and reduce their signature.

Viteri also said Marines at the exercise trained with other communities who havent performed FARP operations but may need to do so. Typically, a Marine wing support squadron would provide the power generation and distribution, water purification, and other life support for the FARP. But for this exercise, Marine Wing Support Squadron 271 worked with 8th Engineer Support Battalion to teach engineers from a logistics group how to do it, too.

In the future fight, they might be the ones that are supporting us, Viteri said. As we spread out more, were going to need more support as far as personnel and equipment, so making sure that multiple people are crosstrained on this will support that.

Capt. Jason Motycka, a CH-53E pilot with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 464, said the crosstraining between the air wing and the logistics community supports the aviators version of Distributed Maritime Operations  dubbed Distributed Aviation Operations  and enable pilots to be survivable and operate further out.

Motycka also said the exercise helps Marines aviators identify what it will take to operate from remote locations for a certain length of time. If were going out and operating for a given amount of time with that reduced footprint, were refining what that looks like in terms of personnel, aircraft, fuel requirements, maintenance requirements.

The goal is to become become leaner while still remaining effective, he explained.

Paparo emphasized that the tactical corporals and tactical petty officers benefit from this type of training by executing the Distributed Maritime Operations approach in real terrain, using real equipment.

Without these drills, he said. its all just a bunch of concepts on a sheet of paper.
A traffic stop turned into a drug trafficking arrest on Friday, according to the Brevard County Sheriffs Office.

A police report says that agents from the Special Investigations Unit stopped a silver two-door Toyota Scion in Melbourne around midnight for failing to stop at a clearly posted stop sign.

While talking with the driver, the deputies said they saw him lean over the center console and toss a clear plastic bag out the passenger window.

When they ordered him out of the car, they observed a homemade smoking device in the center console cup holder, which later tested positive for methamphetamine, according to the charging affidavit.

The plastic bag thrown out of the car contained an off-white crystal substance that also tested positive for methamphetamine. In all, the suspect had about 20 grams of meth, enough for a trafficking charge.

Police say the driver admitted to throwing the bag on the ground because he was scared.

The 46-year-old Melbourne resident is no stranger to law enforcement. He had just been arrested early Monday after being pulled over for no seat belt right around the same area. He ended up behind bars briefly for possession of drug paraphernalia after deputies found a glass pipe with meth residue in the car, authorities say. According to court records, the suspect had also been arrested in June for similar offenses.

In the Facebook post, Brevard Sheriff Wayne Ivey referred to the defendant as a frequent flyer at the Iron Bar Lodge, what he jokingly refers to as his jail.

The suspect was taken into custody, held on no bond and charged with trafficking in methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Debris sits by the road on Aug. 14, a day after a car fleeing police crashed and killed 17-year-old boy and injured seven other people at the intersection of North 68th Street and West Silver Spring Drive in Milwaukee.

A half-second before a crash that killed a teen and seriously injured seven others, prosecutors say the 16-year-old driver was speeding through a Milwaukee street at 100 mph.

The crash occurred Sunday and began after Milwaukee police attempted to stop a stolen vehicle in the 5100 block of West Hampton Avenue. A pursuit ensued and ended when the driver crashed into another vehicle at the intersection of North 68th Street and West Silver Spring Drive around 11:23 p.m.

Jordan Williams of Milwaukee is accused of being the driver. He was charged by the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office Friday with six counts, including first-degree reckless homicide.

According to the criminal complaint, police received a report that a black Hyundai Elantra with Florida plates had been stolen. The next day, police said they received information that the same car was involved in armed robbery and carjacking.

The following day, police had been on lookout for the stolen Elantra when an officer spotted it in Milwaukee, the complaint states. Police got behind the stolen car and activated lights and sirens, to which the driver of the stolen Elantra sped away and a pursuit ensued, the complaint says.

Eventually two other squads would join the pursuit. The chase ended when the driver of the suspected vehicle disregarded several red lights and collided with a Ford Fusion that was turning from 68th Street to go westbound on Silver Spring Drive, the complaint states.

The Elantra started on fire and inside were the driver and five passengers. The Fusion was occupied by a driver and one passenger, both of whom were injured. Jamillian Brown, 17, was inside the Elantra and sustained fatal injuries.

According to the complaint, a girl was taken to a hospital and remains in critical condition. The driver of the Fusion was also hospitalized with serious injuries. Another passenger in the Elantra, a boy, was taken to a hospital with serious injuries and may permanently lose vision in his right eye, prosecutors said.

Police said they downloaded data from the Elantra's airbag control unit that shows that five seconds before the crash, the Elantra was traveling 93 miles per hour. It continued to accelerate up to a half-second before the crash, at which time it was traveling 100 miles per hour, according to police. At the moment of the crash it was traveling 97 miles per hour. The speed limit on Silver Spring in the area of the crash is 35 miles per hour.

In addition to reckless homicide, Williams is charged with operating a fleeing vehicle/eluding an officer resulting in death of another, knowingly operating a vehicle without a valid license causing death, and three counts of operating a fleeing vehicle/eluding an officer resulting in great bodily harm.

According to prosecutors, Williams was found guilty of operating without a license in 2022. Because he didn't pay the ticket, his operating privilege is in suspended status, prosecutors said.

If found guilty on all counts, Williams could be sentenced to more than 100 years in prison.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Teen charged in connection to Milwaukee crash that killed 17-year-old
An explosion occurred during the meeting of the so-called police of the occupying administration in the occupied city of Enerhodar, Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Colonel Pavel Chesanov of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia and his subordinates have received numerous injuries.

Source: Defence Intelligence of Ukraine; Ivan Fedorov, the legitimate mayor of the city of Melitopol, on Telegram

Quote: "On 18 August, a meeting of the heads of the local occupying police was held in the temporarily occupied city of Enerhodar. At about 09:23, a powerful explosion sounded in the room of the police chief.

As a result, Colonel Pavel Chesanov of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia (Chuvash Republic), his operative work deputy, the head of the investigative department, the head of the duty unit and heads of a number of other departments have received numerous injuries.

They have been urgently taken to hospital right after the explosion."

Details: Judging from the video of the accident posted by the Ukrainian intelligence, a drone struck a building where the meeting was held.

Ukraines defence intelligence stated that after the medical examination of the victims was conducted, three ambulances were urgently called from the occupied city of Melitopol.

From Melitopol the injured occupiers will be taken to the territory of Russia by military helicopters.

The Defence Intelligence added that besides the occupying police department which was located in the building, Russian military personnel also stayed there.

As a result of the explosion the building has been significantly damaged. The fire has engulfed storeys three through five.

As of now, the district where the incident occurred is blocked. Movement around the city was significantly restricted for civilians. The Internet was completely shut down in the city.

Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron!
A bloody rivalry between two drug gangs in Marseille on France's Mediterranean coast has claimed the lives of dozens of people this year, targeted in brazen attacks sometimes carried out by teenagers, according to police.

The two gangs, "Yoda" and "DZ Mafia" are vying for control of the drug market in the notorious northern neighbourhoods of France's second biggest city.

Since the start of the year, 36 people have died in the gang war, according to an AFP count, already five more than in all of 2022.

"It's a bloodbath," the city's state prosecutor Dominique Laurens said back in April.

Since then there has been another surge in murders, with 12 people killed over the past month alone.

The latest target was a 30-year-old man gunned down with a Kalashnikov assault rifle in northern Marseille Tuesday night.

"This is nothing less than a new round in the fight between Yoda and DZ Mafia," police prefect Frederique Camilleri told reporters Wednesday.

The two gangs were behind 80 percent of the total of 68 gang-related killings or attempted killings in Marseille this year, she added.

- 'Kill to scare' -

Some of the victims and perpetrators are teenagers, like a 17-year-old beaten to death by 30 attackers in the Marseille high-rise project known as La Paternelle. The killing was live-streamed on Snapchat, a messaging app.

Camilleri said while murders linked to the drug trade used to be about the expansion of territory -- such as the takeover of a dealing spot -- they were now mostly about striking terror in their rivals.

"We're seeing a new landscape, a paradigm change," she said.

Drug gang members now "kill to scare", which she said was like a "vendetta", a blood feud motivated by vengeance.

And the killers were now both younger and less professional than in the past, she added.

Whereas gangs used to employ skilled specialists for the hits "the recruitment of killers has become commonplace", she said, "no different from hiring a lookout".

In early April police arrested an 18-year-old, identified only as Matteo F., suspected of gunning down Djibril, 15, and Kais, 16.

Matteo told police that he had collected a total of 200,000 euros ($218,000) in payment for contract killings.

There appears to be no shortage of candidates, despite police arresting 17 presumed members of five hit squads since the spring.

"It used to be that police got six months of calm after they arrested a team of killers, but that's over," Camilleri said.

- 'Hit their wallets' -

The increase in gang-related murders comes, somewhat paradoxically, at a time when police are reporting greater success in their fight against the drugs trade.

They have seized 740 weapons, including 62 assault rifles, since the start of the year, an increase of 24 percent over 2022.

In addition, they have arrested 1,144 drug dealers in Marseille, up 26 percent, cut the number of deal spots by 70 since 2021, and seized 12 million euros in criminal assets.

The arrest in June of Mohamed Djeha, nicknamed "Mimo", in Algeria removed one of France's biggest suspected drug dealers from the scene.

Camilleri said police were following the money to get their hands on the masterminds of the drugs trade.

"We try to hit their wallets by taking out the dealing spots which are the cash cows of the networks, but also by targeting money collectors and money laundering networks," she said.

- 'We are hostages' -

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin has said he will dispatch the CRS 8 police unit, which specialises in urban violence situations, in the coming days.

He said on Thursday the unit would hit the local networks as hard as possible for a week, especially their dealing spots.

On a visit to Marseille in June, President Emmanuel Macron announced measures against schooling inequality in Marseille -- which he said made recruiting youths in the city easier for the drug gangs -- and against poverty in its run-down neighbourhoods.

"We are hostages here," one Marseille resident told the president during the visit. "We're afraid to go out at night, everybody wants to leave," she added.

Marseille has a long history of large-scale drug trafficking.

Starting in the 1930s, the city was a major hub in the "French Connection", for decades the world's biggest heroin producing and smuggling network.

Run by mafia groups of Corsican background, the French Connection brought morphine extracted from poppy plants in the Near East, Middle East and Asia to Marseille where its labs transformed it into heroin for export mostly to the United States.

That network, made famous by William Friedkin's eponymous 1971 movie starring Gene Hackman, was only dismantled later in the 1970s.

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Ecuador's Perez to review mining contracts suspected of polluting if elected Ecuadorean presidential candidate Perez during his closing campaign rally, in Quito

By Alexandra Valencia

QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuadorean Indigenous presidential candidate Yaku Perez would revise mining concessions that do not comply with environmental and social rules and would ask creditors for breathing room amid spiking violence, he told Reuters in an interview.

More than 13 million Ecuadoreans are eligible to head to polls on Sunday in a contest that has been marred by the murder of anti-corruption candidate Fernando Villavicencio, highlighting sharply deteriorated security which the current government blames on drug traffickers.

Candidates have pledged to fight crime and improve the struggling economy, amid unemployment woes which have increased migration.

Mining is a top contributor to Ecuador's economy, but Perez, an erstwhile water activist, said late on Thursday he would ask the country's comptroller to review contracts suspected of polluting, to define their continuity under Ecuadorean law.

Ecuador has abundant mineral reserves, but has lagged behind regional neighbors like Peru and Chile in developing large-scale projects because of resistance from Indigenous communities and judicial decisions that have stymied development.

"If there are audits that say they are contaminating the environment, that they are poisoning water, that they haven't done prior consultations (with communities)...they will need to be revised," Perez said. "If they have complied with social and environmental licenses they will continue."

"We are not going to premeditatedly pursue (miners), but there must be responsibility," he said. "I respect legal guarantees."

He would also push a constitutional reform to bar mining in areas with lakes, rivers and other water sources, first by sending it to the national assembly, and then, in case of failure, to voters via a referendum.

Perez supports two environmental efforts also on the ballot on Sunday - one to shutter an oil block in a megadiverse part of the Amazon and a local bid to bar mining in a forest near Quito.

Perez, who was polling in the top five of eight candidates, said he would trace corrupt funds through an expert commission backed by the United Nations, which will review contracts from the last 20 years.

"If we correct the distortions, the corruption, if we charge taxes to the defaulters we won't need new loans," said Perez, who came a surprise third in elections in 2021.

He would approach Ecuador's multilateral creditors and bondholders to ask for payment extensions because of the difficult economic and security situation, he said.

"We have to tell them that this is a very difficult time to pay foreign debt, that we recognize them and will pay...but first allow me to get the country started on economic growth and a reduction in poverty."

Ecuador has leaned on international financing since its economy was battered by the COVID pandemic. The country concluded a credit agreement for $6.5 billion with the International Monetary Fund at the end of last year.

"We are in a spiral of violence: there is no work, there is no education, people are fleeing the country," he said. "Hopefully they will understand."

Perez pledged to make agriculture - not oil, the country's top source of income - Ecuador's economic driver, creating 500,000 jobs.

Better social programs and data-based security programs are also on his agenda if elected, he said.

"We must get back control of the borders where drugs come through, get back control of the Ecuadorean coasts where drugs leave and get back control of the prisons from which crimes are ordered," he said.

(Reporting by Alexandra Valencia; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
Flash mob robberies of the kind that have been again hitting Los Angeles area retailers harm far more than the store owners who lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in goods. They harm more than the shoppers and the employees present during the heists who were put in fear of violence from the swarms of rampaging hooded criminals.

These crimes degrade the quality of all our lives  by casting a cloud of hesitancy, then discomfort, then dread over shopping areas and public spaces. People begin to think twice before entering a mall or a store. The next step is to stay away entirely and leave formerly public places to only those who are willing to take their chances and those who have no choice.

Read more: Editorial: Yes, there are problems with Prop. 47 and $0 bail. Just not what you think

Observers who would dismiss the problem as minor or argue that police have no proper role in dealing with it are off-base. Any free society needs law enforcement agencies that are sufficiently modern, well-equipped and nimble to respond to criminals who are constantly seeking new ways to steal.

Investigators can be expected to monitor social media platforms and the dark web, keep their ears to the ground and watch shadier resale markets where stolen goods are hawked at a discount. They keep in close touch with their counterparts in other jurisdictions. They know, even if the rest of us sometimes forget, that flash mob-style attacks are not a recent or uniquely California phenomenon, having hit Chicago, Houston, Jacksonville, Fla. and other cities and suburbs around the U.S. in waves for more than a decade.

The thieves learn from each other. So, no doubt, do police.

Read more: Editorial: 50 Cent and prosecutors are wrong about cash bail. L.A. courts get it right

The Los Angeles Police Department is reportedly increasing patrols as a response to recent flash mob robberies, and that conceivably could shore up shoppers confidence. But police tactics that were the norm decades ago  and that still might make for good TV or hold the public imagination  are not the key to ending the current wave of robberies.

For example, we should be relieved, not disappointed, that police did not arrive to confront the thieves inside the Nordstrom store at the Westfield Topanga mall in Canoga Park on Saturday, the Yves Saint Laurent outlet at the Americana at Brand in Glendale five days before, the Nike store in East Los Angeles on Monday or the Ksubi store on La Brea on Tuesday, and that as a result there were no shootouts or hostages. If unable to head off the attacks  a difficult task  effective law enforcement follows up on the back end with tireless work to identify the perpetrators and planners, and the receivers and sellers of stolen property and bring them to justice.

Read more: Editorial: Blame it on Prop 47: The latest chapter in an endless work of fiction about crime

There is a dangerous myth that as a society we have lost the will or the ability to do that. To the contrary, theres a reason that these kinds of robbery schemes (some homegrown and others masterminded in foreign countries) come in waves, with significant respites in between. The perpetrators are caught. And punished. The smash-and-grab robberies that struck California during the 2021 holiday season ended with arrests, convictions and imprisonment.

More dangerous still is the utter nonsense  perhaps born of frustration, deep ignorance or political malice  that some law enforcement leaders and elected officials continue to spout about the supposed underlying reasons for these crimes. They claim these robberies are the result of criminal justice reform. All that lenience. All those liberals. Proposition 47, which reduced some low-level property crimes from felonies to misdemeanors. $0 bail. Decriminalization.

Ridiculous. These robberies are organized retail thefts and criminal conspiracies, some of them aggravated assaults and all of them felonies. The value of goods stolen is well above the misdemeanor threshold. Proposition 47 has nothing to do with them. That ballot measure set the dividing line between grand theft (a felony) and petty theft (a misdemeanor) at $950. Most other states' limits for felonies are higher, from $1,000 to as high as $2,500. That makes California one of the nations toughest states on property crimes, notwithstanding absurd and dishonest claims to the contrary.

Nor is there any evidence of anyone arrested for a smash-and-grab being released without bail and repeatedly committing the same crimes. Nor has California decriminalized any crime other than marijuana possession. Nor have police in this state been "defunded." Nor have prosecutors been blocked or discouraged from prosecuting smash-and-grab robbers.

Californians, to their credit, are a savvy bunch who have repeatedly rejected falsehoods about criminal justice reform thrown at them by some fact-challenged prosecutors, candidates and law enforcement leaders.

But the nonsense and the fear-mongering from leaders keep coming, and it is in its own way as corrosive to a free and open society as brazen retail thefts. Californians should be able to expect their police and elected officials to tell them the truth, and demonstrate that they have an accurate perception of the crimes they are charged with preventing and solving.

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.
For decades, theres been a brutal tug of war over medical malpractice in Florida. On one side, the often-villainized trial attorneys who have caught criticism for taking massive cuts of settlements meant to help injured patients. On the other, the army of insurance, corporate health-care and medical providers lobbyists who consistently seek to restrict victims of malpractice from claiming compensation for their injuries.

Editorial: Florida, end free kill law that shelters malpractice from justice

And what side do these injured patients fall on? Really, its neither. Instead they are the rope. In Floridas adversarial civil-justice system, they are the most powerless. And so state laws are constantly being crafted to offer a little bit to both sides. Thats how travesties like Floridas Free Kill law, which effectively bars families from filing lawsuits after the death of someone who is unmarried, over the age of 25, or lacks children under the age of 25.

Realistically, that tension will never let up. But theres another path to justice, one that is supposed to be purely motivated by a concern for state oversight into the quality of care.

Discipline moves too slowly

Every health-care provider in Florida  every doctor, every nurse, every chiropractor, x-ray technician or respiratory therapist  is licensed by the state. When they are caught in acts of blatant malpractice that deprive patients of quality care, those licenses provide a way for the state to discipline them.

Unfortunately, that happens too rarely, particularly with those at the top of the medical-care decision chain. The state boards that oversee these licenses often take an excruciatingly long time to investigate and resolve complaints. That allows bad doctors and others to continue practicing, and injuring more patients.

Our sister paper, the South Florida Sun Sentinel, took a look in 2017 at the states performance when it comes to getting rid of the worst offenders. They found cases where the Board of Medicine took years to act, even in cases of clear malpractice that had often resulted in numerous dead, maimed or suffering Florida patients. Had the Board of Medicine done its job, many of those injuries might never have occurred.

Delay means more injury

Have things gotten better? Judge for yourself: We examined Board of Medicine records for M.D.s whose licenses had been revoked in Brevard, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia counties in 2022. As it turns out, we should not have wasted our time trying to figure out the proper plural form of M.D. There was only one: Thomas Velleff, a Brevard County physician with multiple offenses, most related to abuse of his prescription authority. The first complaints we found dated as far back to 2008, and included five patients who were prescribed opiates or other medications that far exceeded normal levels. A second complaint documented a five-year relationship with a patient who was repeatedly given large prescriptions for controlled, highly addictive drugs. A third Board of Medicine complaint from 2017 accuses Velleff of requesting a $35,000 loan from a seventh patient, who also received repeated high-quantity prescriptions of controlled medication.

After rounds of appeals, Velleffs license was finally suspended. In April. Of 2023.

Had the first five cases been acted upon, the sixth and seventh complaints never would have moved forward. And a deeper search of records indicates that there are many more cases in progress. But they are moving forward with excruciating slowness.

Its no wonder so many Floridians turn first to the civil-court system to seek justice. But if the state were quicker and more accurate in identifying offenders and disciplining them, they might be willing to go through that process instead.

So if Florida lawmakers are really serious about reducing the amount of litigation in this state, theyll put more teeth into the states ability to crack down in real, provable cases of medical malpractice. That is the best way to find justice for victims of malpractice, and the best way to protect Floridians from becoming victims in the first place.

The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Krys Fluker, Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson and Viewpoints Editor Jay Reddick. Contact us at insight@orlandosentinel.com
A bus carrying 40 asylum seekers arrived in Los Angeles on Thursday, marking the eighth bus of migrants transported to California from Texas.

The bus arrived at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles shortly after 11:10 a.m. according to a news release from the L.A. Welcomes Collective, a group of immigration advocates and faith-based organizations working with county and city officials.

The bus riders included 12 children, ranging from 9 months to 17 years old, according to the collective. The majority of the group originated from Venezuela and the rest were from Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. The collective claims most of the asylum seekers have sponsors in California.

Since June 14, Texas officials have bused 323 people from Brownsville, Texas, to Los Angeles, many of whom traveled from Brazil, Cameroon, Haiti, China and Nicaragua through the U.S.-Mexico border.

Read more: Child dies aboard asylum-seekers bus en route to Chicago

The collective embraced the migrants' arrival and took them to St. Anthony's Croatian Catholic Church in Chinatown, where they received services from both city and county officials.

"Our commitment to welcoming the stranger is rooted in our shared humanity, reflecting the teachings of Christ to love and care for one another," Michael Donaldson, a senior director with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles said in a statement. "As a beacon of hope, we stand united in providing refuge, dignity, and a sense of belonging to those seeking a better life."

"We hope that everyone will arrive safely and that these modes of transportation do not compromise anyone's health, especially the children," Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights Executive Director Angelica Salas said in a statement.

A spokesperson for Mayor Karen Bass' office confirmed the city learned about the bus when it left Texas on Wednesday. City officials will work with "a coalition of nonprofit organizations, in addition to our faith partners, to execute a plan set in place earlier this year," the spokesperson said, referring to the city's effort to respond to the influx of migrants from Texas.

Read more: This nun defends migrants. She says both Texas and California used them as pawns

The trip was sponsored by the administration of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has sent busloads of migrants to "sanctuary cities" in an attempt to slam the Biden administration's immigration policies. Abbott's office confirmed the bus that arrived in Los Angeles was sent from Texas.

The Justice Department sued the state of Texas last month after the Abbott administration installed a roughly 1,000-foot line of bright orange, wrecking-ball-sized buoys on the Rio Grande. The aggressive border-protection tactic includes razor-wire fencing, arrests of migrants on trespassing charges and transporting migrants to other states.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Elizabeth Thomas was a 15-year-old Tennessee freshman when she was kissing her 50-year-old married teacher in January 2017 and then seemingly vanished two months later.

Her sudden disappearance sparked a national search for her and her kidnapper, Tad Cummins, who groomed and abducted his "vulnerable" underage student. He was added to Tennessee's "Top 10 Most Wanted List" in March 2017.

On April 20, 2017, law enforcement tracked Thomas and Cummins 2,500 miles from her Tennessee home in Culleoka, to a secluded, rural cabin in California's northernmost county that runs along the southern tip of Oregon, where he was finally arrested.

Thomas' relief was short-lived, as she faced scorching ridicule and was blamed for being a willing participant, forcing her underground for years. But now, "she's tired of hiding."

FAMILY OF TENNESSEE GIRL ALLEGEDLY KIDNAPPED BY TEACHER SUES SCHOOL BOARD FOR FAILING TO PROTECT HER

Tad Cummins and Elizabeth Thomas at school in January, days before his alleged inappropriate contact with her, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations.

"The fear of the community bashing me, they've done it for so long, and I've just kind of hid in my own little corner," Thomas told E! in an exclusive interview when asked about her decision to reopen her life as part of Lifetime show.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

"I'm tired of letting those people get to me, and I want other people to see that I'm not scared of them."

EMAILS, SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS SHOW MISSING TENNESSEE TEACHER, STUDENT HAD ROMANTIC INTEREST

Lifetime's show, "Abducted by My Teacher: The Elizabeth Thomas Story," was backed by another kidnapping survivor and victim advocate, Elizabeth Smart, who served as the executive producer.

"Making her feel safe and loved, he groomed Elizabeth for months, and ultimately coerced her to go on the run with him after another student reported seeing him kiss Elizabeth," the show's description says.

"After enduring sexual abuse at the hands of Cummins, Elizabeth was left to face those in her hometown who thought that she was responsible for her own kidnapping."

Elizabeth Thomas was 15 when she was abducted by a trusted teacher in 2017.

Thomas, who's now 22, told E! that she still faces backlash, "But I don't look at the comments."

"If it doesn't have to do with helping other people, I don't try to give them any power," she said.

For 38 days, Cummins kidnapped Thomas and eluded police in a cross-country expedition, with the plan of starting over with bogus identities in Mexico.

Three days after Thomas' parents reported their teenage daughter missing, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) released a foreboding statement.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigations released this collage of pictures of Elizabeth Thomas during the early days of the search.

"Though the TBI cannot discuss specifics at this time, investigative efforts have revealed a troubling pattern of behavior by Tad Cummins, suggesting the 50-year-old may have been abusing his role as a teacher to groom this vulnerable young girl for some time in an effort to lure and potentially sexually exploit her," the TBI said.

They received only 120 potential leads, an alarmingly low number, and said, "The individuals could, frankly, be anywhere."

ELIZABETH SMART REFLECTS ON 20 YEARS SINCE SALT LAKE CITY ABDUCTION: I WILL NEVER BE WHO I WAS

The statement turned out to be true.

Over the next month, investigators tracked their movements through Mississippi, Oklahoma and Colorado, where they assumed new names of John and Joanne Castro, ages 40 and 24, FBI special agent Utley Noble testified during Cummins' trial, according to The Tennessean's May 2017 report.

WATCH SURVEILLANCE FOOTAGE OF TAD CUMMINS

They continued through Utah, Nevada and crossed into California, where they spent time in San Diego and Los Angeles, Noble said.

Running out of money, they met Griffin Barry, in Cecilville in northern California, who tipped law enforcement off about their whereabouts, and they finally cuffed Cummins on April 20, 2017.

Thomas was returned to her family, but faced mounds of backlash from the community, which claimed she wanted to go with Cummins.

Cummins was federally charged with transporting a minor across state lines for the purpose of engaging in criminal sexual conduct and obstruction of justice.

In April 2018, he pleaded guilty to both charges and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

ELIZABETH SMART RESCUE 20 YEARS ON: FAMILY SAYS UTAH POLICE SABOTAGED FAMILY'S EFFORTS TO ID KIDNAPPER

"When I started school, you picked me out of the crowd," Thomas wrote in her victim impact statement that she read during Cummins' sentencing.

"I was just a kid who wanted to make friends, but you were someone who had a plan. You saw a broken girl, who was lonely, scared and traumatized."

"You made her feel safe and loved because you saw what she needed and made her believe you would be her protector. I was at a point in my life where I needed to be protected the most. And when it came down to it, that was all a part of your plan. All you were was a man who wanted sex, and you manipulated me and used me just for that."

A secret kiss in January 2017 quickly spiraled into an abduction and national manhunt.

Cummins was reprimanded by the Culleoka Unit School and barred from being in Thomas' classes, but he defied the orders in early February.

On Feb. 3, 2017, someone saw Thomas in Cummins' classroom, which led to a three-day suspension without pay.

Then he kidnapped her and went on the run across the country.

Elizabeth Thomas seen on surveillance in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on March 15, 2017.

VIDEO: ELIZABETH SMART'S NEW TECH TO FIND MISSING PERSONS

Week of March 6

Cummins planned his crime a week before he took Thomas from her home, Noble testified during Cummins' trial, according to The Tennessean's May 2017 report.

That included grabbing $4,500 in cash from his lockbox at home and two guns, and leaving a note to his wife that claimed he was heading to Virginia Beach or Washington, D.C., to "clear my mind of this crap."

He dismantled his in-car GPS and replaced his license plate, Noble testified.

March 13, 2017

Between 7:30 and 7:45 a.m. CST, Thomas' friend dropped her off at the Shoney's restaurant in Columbia, Tennessee, according to the TBI timeline. That was the last time anyone saw her.

At 8:32 a.m., surveillance video showed Cummins at the nearby Shell station fueling his Rogue.

At 12:41 p.m., Thomas was reported missing by her parents.

By 3:06 p.m. CST on March 13, 2017, investigators spotted her on surveillance with Cummins in Decatur, Alabama.

While there, Cummins and Thomas threw their phones into the Tennessee River, according to Noble's testimony.

March 14, 2017

At 3:49 p.m., the Maury County Sheriff's Department requested an alert.

At 4:18 p.m. the TBI issued an Endangered Child Alert.

At 4:49 p.m., the Maury County Sheriffs Department secures the warrant for Cummins, charging him with one count of sexual contact with a minor.

At 5:53 p.m., the TBI upgraded its alert to an Amber Alert because Cummins is a wanted fugitive.

For 38 days, Cummins passed through several states until he reached Siskiyou County in northern California.

April 20, 2017

A tip led police right to Cummins and Thomas. Cummins was arrested and Thomas was reunited with her family.

January 2019

Cummins is sentenced to 20 years in federal prison.
Elon Musk on Friday declared he wants to remove the block feature on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitterdespite frequently using the block button himself.



Theres also one other big problem: Musks desire to limit this blocking feature could also cost X its spot in various app stores.



The Tesla CEO said he wants to remove the block option, in response to discourse surrounding the difference between blocking versus muting users on the app.

It makes no sense, he wrote. Block is going to be deleted as a feature, except for DMs.

Muting allows you to remove another users posts from your feed without unfollowing them, but blocking allows you to remove that users posts from your feed while also restricting contact and their ability to see your posts.



If Musk goes through with his promise, X may be removed from Apples App Store. The current guidelines state that apps with user-generated content must provide features such as blocking to protect users from abusive users on apps.

Googles Google Play enforces similar user-generated content safety protocol.

Apps that contain or feature UGC, including apps which are specialized browsers or clients to direct users to a UGC platform, must implement robust, effective, and ongoing UGC moderation that ... provides an in-app system for blocking UGC and users, according to Googles policy center.



If the block feature is only allowed for private messaging on X, users will also likely be at a higher risk of experiencing harassment or viewing harmful content on their timeline.



Musk has a history of using the block feature and even banning users from the app. Although Musk claims to be an advocate of free speech, he has banned numerous journalists from X. Earlier this week, a Washington Post report found that X has throttled traffic for social media competitors such as Threads and Substack, as well as news sites Musk simply doesnt like.

This article has been updated.


Editors note: Due to security concerns, the Kyiv Independent isnt publishing the real name or the photo of the police officer at the center of this story. He is identified in the story as Oleksandr.

KUPIANSK, Kharkiv Oblast  Kupiansk police officer Oleksandr doesnt like remembering the time he was abducted and tortured by invading Russian forces trying to recruit him.

In fact, it takes several of his colleagues to essentially bully him into it, unprompted.

Has this man told you that hes a hero? One of his fellow cops breaks in loudly, while grabbing Oleksandr by the shoulder. He was arrested by the (Russians) and interrogated. Come on, tell him.

Oleksandrs heroics had not been under discussion. The conversation was about collaborators in Kupiansk District, during and after the occupation, which ended in September 2022. These included the former mayor of the city, as well as multiple local authorities and residents who were made into authorities by the Russians during the occupation. That included multiple Kupiansk police officers.

After liberation, Oleksandr returned to his job in the town. He and his fellow police now mainly have two types of crimes to deal with: collaboration and looting. With the population down from 28,000 to 11,000 people, looters see all the things left behind to be up for grabs. (On Aug. 10, the order was announced to evacuate the Kupiansk District residents from threatened areas.)

Collaboration is a more insidious threat. Its consequences range from a minor spread of Russian propaganda to people getting killed.

When apprehended, alleged collaborators from the days of the occupation often say that they had been forced to do it with threats and violence. A Kupiansk police investigator, Andrii Subotin, dismisses that as a bad excuse.

For those who made the decision to remain in Ukraine and stay true to their oath, that was all possible. It was possible to leave, Subotin told the Kyiv Independent. When people say there were no ways out so I swore an oath to the Russians, I dont buy it. I left the occupation twice and remained faithful to my duty.

When his colleague Oleksandr is worn down enough to tell his story, it reveals that indeed, a clever and determined person could leave the occupation zone with some effort. But when youre a hunted man, thats sometimes easier said than done.

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Invasion begins

Oleksandr had retired from his police job shortly before the Russian military buildup began along the border, some 20 kilometers away from Kupiansk, where he lived with his wife, two daughters and their pets.

When they struck on Feb. 24, 2022, the Russians rolled over the area easily. Mayor Hennadiy Matsehora welcomed the Russian army and set about helping the occupiers get settled in.

Residents of Kupiansk suddenly had very urgent decisions to make. And as Russians fired on refugee columns throughout the country, escaping became a chancy endeavor. Oleksandr and his family stayed in the occupied city.

Oleksandr told the Kyiv Independent that in the early days of occupation he was passing information about Russian vehicle movements to Ukrainian forces defending Kharkiv through his contact, the regional prosecutor.

With the occupiers in charge, it was not long before the arrests began.

In early March, they came for his upstairs neighbor  Oleksandr heard them breaking down his door at 7 a.m. Soon, they came for him. He was thrown to his knees in front of his family and a bag was placed over his head.

Read also: Pro-Russian sympathies make life harder for soldiers, cops in Kupiansk district

Russian hospitality

He was moved to an unheated basement at below freezing temperature and beaten before being loaded into a truck and sent to Belgorod Oblast across the border. Eventually, he was brought to a POW camp in Shebekino, a Russian city a two-hour drive from Kupiansk, with three parallel barracks and rows of bunks against their walls. Each had a single potbelly stove in the middle, but the supply of wood to the prisoners was strictly rationed, barely enough to keep it smoldering through the night.

From the middle barracks, he was taken to a more secluded location. And then we interacted, he said.

The clinical word interacted puts one in mind of the thin tang of antiseptic covering the stench of gore. In prior interviews with interrogation victims, they said the interaction often involved the application of electrical current.

Oleksandr didnt get shocked, but he was beaten and suffocated. Sometimes, he said, theyd douse his leg in flammable fuel, then set it on fire and quickly put it out. They also threatened his family, saying nothing was stopping them from seizing them any time they wanted.

By day three of this treatment, he figured out that they didnt just want to hurt him or learn what he knows. They wanted to turn him to their side, to work for the Kupiansk occupation authorities. So he agreed to cooperate.

I tricked them, he said. Told them that I agreed to work together.

Unbeknownst to him at the time, his brother went to the turncoat mayor of Kupiansk, to personally ask for mercy for Oleksandr. The captured officers wife also tried to persuade the Russians to go easy on him.

Pressure from the mayor likely sealed the deal and Oleksandr was driven back across the Kharkiv border. He heard the soldiers passing city initials. For a moment, they said something about taking someone towards I and I was terrified that theyd turn towards Izium, he said.

But then he felt the familiar slope of the road beneath the vehicle and knew he was back in Kupiansk, where he found himself in another torture chamber.

I asked them why are you doing this, I already agreed to cooperate, he said. One of them says wait, really? Hold on, Ill go check. While he checked, his partner inflicted more pain on Oleksandr for about 20 minutes, until the other man returned. Shit, hes right. Why is the mayor stumping for you?

The occupiers returned his seized Ukrainian documents in a little bag and ordered him to check in with them every week and wait around until the new administration was sufficiently built up for him to work there. Oleksandr is a resourceful man, with many contacts in the area, who could have been a big asset if they could turn him, and a bigger liability if they failed.

Read also: Thats it, its death, guys. What we know about Russias killing of 2 Ukrainian teenagers in occupied Berdiansk

Easter escape

Unfortunately for the Russians, Oleksandr was back to his old tricks in no time. After sending his wife and daughters away to Germany, via Poland, he was again skulking about, trying to report Russian mechanized movements to the Ukrainians.

He was also secretly meeting with other remaining law enforcers and members of the justice system and trying to persuade them not to work for Russia. Many were considering collaborating and some ultimately did.

Oleksandr described days of moving from tree to tree, hiding out on remote farms and sneaking into his apartment at 4 a.m. to feed the pets they left behind  a fish and his daughters white chinchilla named Pushok (Fluffy).

When the mobile communication blackout hit the area on April 7, he knew he had to get out of there. Hed need a good story to feed the Russian checkpoints standing between him and the unconquered lands. And he knew one date was coming up that offered up a perfect opportunity: April 24, Orthodox Easter.

Oleksandr and people he trusted arranged for several cars to be filled with mixed passengers, including women and children, who would pretend to be making holiday visits to a neighboring town. Because of bad communication between the inner and outer checkpoints, they had a good chance of getting away with the ruse.

Oleksandrs hopes were nearly dashed the night before the trip when he found the note pinned to his front door, summoning him to the district center tomorrow.

If the checkpoint was told to watch for his name, the risk to the other passengers was too great. Oleksandr sent them off without him but watched the checkpoint from a hiding place within view. When the cars, staggered half an hour apart, passed through, he saw that the soldiers did not look to be checking for specific names.



He still had a shot. But he had less than a day to come up with something believable.

He needed more people in the car with him. He found a young guy and a disabled girl, who would pretend to be a couple traveling together. Then he went to his in-laws and asked them to get ready in 20 minutes and take nothing with them, to sell that this was a brief visit.

The first checkpoint was the scariest, Oleksandr said. But then we got lucky.

The car reached the checkpoint in the pouring rain. An irritated soldier who wanted to get out of the water briefly checked them over and tried to contact someone on his walkie talkie. It didnt work. The soldier waved them through.

The next few checkpoints were easier, as they were out of communications range from the town and no one would be calling them to give Oleksandrs description once he failed to show up for his summons.

The group used their intimate knowledge of the local side roads to go around most of the guarded areas, until they began approaching Balakliya. There, Oleksandrs phone caught a connection and he called the regional prosecutor, with whom he had been working since the full-scale invasion began.

He told me that Balakliya was too dangerous, with Buryat soldiers reportedly firing on evacuees, Oleksandr said. But he decided to go for it, under a new cover story. He would tell the Russian troops that they were visiting his brother who was dying in a hospital in Poltava after getting into a road wreck. In reality, that brother had already died in the past.

But the fear kicked up as they reached Balakliya, unsure of whether the ruse would work. The soldiers asked him if he would be coming back, and he emphatically said that he would.

Look, Im registered in Kupiansk, my wife and daughters live there too, he said, showing them his documents. Ill just be a few days.

They wrote down his information and let them through. The next checkpoints they encountered were Ukrainian. He was soon bustled into a debriefing, where he pointed out all the locations where he saw concentrations of Russian vehicles.

In early September, when the Kharkiv counteroffensive was underway and Oleksandr was coming back to the liberated Kupiansk, he said he saw the remnants of the HIMARS strikes on the coordinates he provided.

Now hes back at his job, policing Kupiansk and talking to his family long-distance, even as shells continue to fall on the city and pro-Russian residents bide their time, hoping for the tides to change.



But Oleksandr has a friend to keep him company. While the fish didnt survive the cold, Pushok the chinchilla made it and now lives with him.

Pushok the pet chinchilla belonging to Oleksandr's daughters survived the ordeal and continues to keep the police officer company in Kupiansk. (Courtesy)

Note from the author:

Hi, this is Igor Kossov, I hope you enjoyed reading my article.

I consider it a privilege to keep you informed about one of this century's greatest tragedies, Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. With the help of my colleagues, I will continue to bring you in-depth insights into Ukraine's war effort, its international impacts, and the economic, social, and human cost of this war. But I cannot do it without your help. To support independent Ukrainian journalists, please consider supporting us. Thank you very much.

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Former Daytona Beach Police Officer Brandon Michael Fox was sworn in Tuesday during a hearing at which a judge denied his request to withdraw his plea to possession of child sexual assault material. Fox was previously sentenced to 25 years in prison.

A former Daytona Beach Police officer tried to withdraw his plea to possession of child sexual assault material, saying that his defense attorney had told him he would be sentenced to no more than five years.

But instead of five, Brandon Michael Fox, 24, was sentenced to 25 years in state prison.

And that's what his sentence will remain after Circuit Judge Elizabeth Blackburn denied this week Fox's request to withdraw his plea.

The hearing included testimony from Fox's former attorney Aaron Delgado. It also included testimony that Fox and his sister had discussed hiring a private investigator to tail a prosecutor and a police detective.

Fox had been with the Daytona Beach Police Department for two years before his arrest in April 2022. Investigators found about 100 images and videos of child sexual abuse material on his phone and said Fox also participated in an online chat room on Kik in which group members shared more than 3,800 illegal images.

Former Daytona Beach Police Officer Brandon Michael Fox testified during a hearing at which a judge denied his request to withdraw his plea to possession of child sexual assault material. Fox was previously sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Fox entered no contest pleas to 38 counts of possession of sexual performance by a child, each punishable by 15 years in prison. It was an open plea, but prosecutors agreed to waive a minimum sentence of 63 years. That gave the judge a wide sentencing range: from no jail time all the way to 570 years in prison.

Blackburn sentenced Fox on March 15 to the 25 years in prison followed by 45 years of sex offender probation. Fox must also register as a sex offender.

Fox testified on Tuesday that Delgado had told him he would face no more than five years in prison if he entered the plea agreement.

During cross examination, Assistant State Attorney Mark Interlicchio asked Fox whether in court on Jan. 18 when he accepted the plea agreement if he said he had been promised no more five years.

"You never mentioned  this promise of five years, none of that, Interlicchio said.

I was under the impression that my attorney had my best interest, Fox said.

Judge Blackburn then told Fox to answer the question.

Interlicchio repeated the question and Fox said, No, sir.

During questioning by his new attorney, Asad Ali, Fox said that after the sentence Delgado told him, Oh, I didnt expect that to happen. 

Defense Attorney Aaron Delgado testified during a hearing on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2023, at the S. James Foxman Justice Center in Daytona Beach.

Delgado took the stand and testified that prosecutors had at one point offered Fox 15 years in prison and that he would have to register as a sex offender. Later they reached an agreement on an open plea with the state waiving the minimum guideline sentence.

Delgado repeatedly denied guaranteeing Fox at any time that the prison sentence would be no greater than five years.

Ali did not cross-examine Delgado.

Alecia Barrett, the sister of former Daytona Beach Police Officer Brandon Fox, testified during a hearing Tuesday in support of her brother's motion to withdraw his plea.

Foxs sister, Alecia Barrett, testified that she had been present at all meetings between Delgado and her brother except one. She said Delgado had said her brother would get no more than five years in prison.

She said she was not at the plea hearing, but watched it on video.

Did you see your brother say 'Oh, wait, wait, wait, I was only promised five years?'" Interlicchio asked.

No she said.

She admitted to discussing in a jail house phone call with her brother the possibility of hiring a private investigator to follow Interlicchio and Daytona Beach Police Sgt. Tim Ehrenkaufer. Interlicchio described it as an attempt to get dirt on the pair. Ehrenkaufer is listed as the arresting officer in a charging affidavit.

She said she considered having them followed in part because there were a lot of things that didnt add up in the case.

At the end of the hearing, Blackburn said that she did not find Barrett's testimony credible. She said that she found Delgado credible. And she said that Fox had not testified that he didnt understand the plea agreement.

The judge said she reviewed the plea form with Fox at the January plea hearing and she read portions which stated that Fox agreed no one had promised him a specific sentence and that he understood the judge was not required to follow any state recommendation.

Blackburn said that Fox, who is serving his time at Columbia Correctional Institution in Lake City, was suffering the consequences of the sentence that was imposed.

As the judge ruled, Fox lowered and shook his head.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Ex-Daytona Beach police officer's sentence remains at 25 years
Disgraced onetime NYPD Commissioner Bernie Kerik has been identified as one of the 30 co-conspirators included in former President Donald Trumps election interference case in Georgias Fulton County, an attorney for Kerik confirmed.

Kerik, who served three years in federal prison for felony tax fraud, is the person identified as co-conspirator 5 in the case.

The ex-top cop and longtime ally of Rudy Giuliani is accused of taking part in several meetings with lawmakers in Pennsylvania and Arizona as part of the effort to create slates of fake pro-Trump electors from states President Biden won in the 2020 election.

Kerik is also said to have attended a White House meeting with a group of Republican Pennsylvania state legislators, along with Trump, Giuliani and ex-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

Defense attorney Tim Parlatore Friday confirmed that Kerik appears to be co-conspirator 5 in the case filed by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, although he says he should not have been named in the sprawling indictment.

Among the other co-conspirators are right-wing legal activist Tim Fitton, Trump political adviser Boris Epshteyn and Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, CNN said.

The unindicted people could still face criminal charges and may come under pressure to cooperate with prosecutors to avoid being charged.

The co-conspirators are in addition to Trumps 18 co-defendants, who have all been criminally charged in the sweeping racketeering case that accuses them of helping the former president stay in power by attempting to reverse the outcome of the 2020 election.

Giuliani is one of the co-defendants in the Fulton County case, along with Meadows, right-wing law professor John Eastman and ex-Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark. All of the defendants have been ordered to turn themselves in to Atlanta authorities by Aug. 25.

Kerik was sentenced to four years in prison in 2010 after pleading guilty to eight felony charges for offenses including failure to pay taxes and lying to White House officials during a failed nomination to be Homeland Security secretary.

The federal case centered on charges that he scored $250,000 in renovations for his Bronx apartment from a reputedly mobbed-up construction company in exchange for helping the company bid for city contracts.

Kerik served three years in prison before being released in 2013. He became a close ally of Giuliani, who originally named him NYPD commissioner during his stint as mayor.

Trump pardoned Kerik in February 2020 and he went on to play a major role in Trumps campaign and the effort to overturn his loss in the weeks leading up to the Jan. 6 attack.

Kerik was not named as a co-conspirator in the federal Jan. 6 case filed by special counsel Jack Smith.

Smith identified six unindicted co-conspirators in that case. Giuliani has been identified as co-conspirator 1 in the Smith indictment.

Trump has pleaded not guilty. U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan plans to set a trial date at an Aug. 28 hearing.
Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko played a role in the development of the colossal metal Tryzub or trident, the emblem of the state, that now adorns the shield of Kyivs iconic "Motherland" monument, according to the Tryzub's creator on Aug. 17.

Oleksiy Perhamenshchyk revealed that the former president contributed to crafting a model of the Tryzub, which was recently affixed to the 102-meter-tall Soviet-era statue overlooking the Dnipro River.

Read also: Ukrainian Trident symbol installed on Motherland monument in Kyiv

Perhamenshchyk said that he operates workshops in the village of Novi Bezradychi, Kyiv Oblast, where he collaborated with Yuschenko on consultations for the project. Yuschenko engaged with the creation process by sculpting a model at his museum, which was subsequently translated into a sculptural form.

"Yuschenko participated in the creation phase and sculpted the model, which was later submitted to the Ministry of Culture, and then to the Cabinet of Ministers  all the necessary approvals were obtained," Perhamenshchyk said.

"I welded the exact replica of the trident you see now. I mounted it onto the shield, we assessed the thickness, examined samples."

On August 1, the Soviet coat of arms, including the hammer and sickle symbol, was removed from the monument's shield.

Read also: New photos of Ukraines de-Sovietized Mother Ukraine monument released

The momentum to eliminate Soviet symbols gained traction after a vote was conducted on the Diia platform (a mobile app and web portal for e-governance operating in Ukraine since 2020) inthe summer of 2022. The overwhelming majority of voters wanted to replace the Soviet coat of arms with the Tryzub.

On May 3, 2023, Ukraines parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, passed a law permitting the removal of Soviet and imperial cultural monuments. Subsequently, on July 13, the State Inspection of Architecture and Urban Planning issued a permit to substitute the coat of arms on the monument's shield with a Ukrainian trident.

The Culture Ministry confirmed on July 26 that the process of preparing to remove the Soviet coat of arms had commenced. All funding for the endeavor came from patrons, with the overall cost estimated at UAH 28 million (over $761,000).

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
The ex-wife of a Florida man who was shot and killed in an ambush while his toddler was sitting in a car seat nearby has been indicted on a count of first-degree murder in his death, prosecutors said.

Shanna Gardner-Fernandez also was indicted by a grand jury Thursday on charges of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, solicitation to commit first-degree murder and child abuse related to the killing of her ex-husband, Jared Bridegan, Fourth Judicial Circuit State Attorney Melissa Nelson announced during a news conference Thursday.

Gardner-Fernandez was arrested and taken into custody by ATF Washington Field Division agents in West Richland, Washington, on Thursday, Nelson said. She will be extradited to Duval County, Florida, to face the charges, the prosecutor added.

The indictment hasnt been released, but Nelson noted details on the evidence would be provided during the discovery process.

CNN was unable to determine whether Gardner-Fernandez has secured legal representation in connection with her arrest.

During an interview with CNN affiliate Action News Jax in June, Gardner-Fernandez said she did not have anything to do with (Bridegans) murder.

Her arrest comes months after her husband, Mario Fernandez-Saldana, was arrested and indicted in the case, which Jacksonville Beach Police Chief Paul Smith has called a planned and targeted ambush and murder.

Jared Bridegan - Jacksonville Beach Police Department

Bridegan, a Microsoft senior design manager, was gunned down in February 2022 as he was driving home with his 2-year-old daughter in Jacksonville Beach. The 33-year-old had stopped to move a tire in the roadway when he was shot, police said. Investigators believe the tire was purposefully placed there to make him stop.

The toddler was left in her car seat and had no physical injuries, officials said.

Fernandez-Saldana, 34, was indicted and arrested in March for first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, solicitation to commit a capital felony, and child abuse.

He has pleaded not guilty and is in the custody of the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office. He has a pre-trial hearing scheduled for September 12, court records show.

Prosecutors said Fernandez-Saldana was integral to the solicitation, conspiracy, and murder of Bridegan.

His arrest came shortly after another man, Henry Tenon, 62, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder with a weapon in Bridegans killing and agreed to testify truthfully against any accomplice, the state attorneys office said at the time.

This investigation has uncovered the truth of Jareds murder. Henry Tenon did not act alone. Mario Fernandez did not plan alone. And Shanna Gardners indictment acknowledges her central and key role in the cold, calculated and premeditated murder of Jared Bridegan, Nelson said Thursday.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Gardner-Fernandez and Fernandez-Saldana, Nelson said.

Tenon hasnt been sentenced, but his plea agreement indicates he faces at least 15 years in prison. His next court date is October 9, jail records show.

The father was killed after a weekly dinner with his kids

Bridegan was shot after a weekly dinner he shared with his twins, then 9, who are his children with his ex-wife, and his 2-year-old daughter, one of two young children he shared with his second wife, Smith said.

Bridegan had dropped off the twins at Gardner-Fernandezs home and was driving with his 2-year-old to his home when he came across the tire, according to an affidavit in the case.

Bridegan got out of the car to move the tire when he was gunned down in cold blood, Smith has said. Nothing was taken from the vehicle.

Tenon was arrested in connection with the case in January but had been in the custody of the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office since August 2022 on unrelated charges.

Tenon was a tenant in a home owned by Fernandez-Saldana, the affidavit said. Investigators found three checks Fernandez-Saldana wrote to Tenon in October 2022. Phone records show the men had more than 60 phone contacts with each other.

The affidavit says Bridegan had a highly acrimonious divorce and a contentious relationship with his ex-wife and her second husband. But authorities did not disclose a possible motive.

Shannas arrest ends one horrific chapter of our pursuit for justice for Jared, and now we open a new one. This next chapter will be excruciating, but we are confident in the ability of the states attorneys office and law enforcement to bring truth to light, Bridegans widow, Kirsten Bridegan, said Thursday.

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The Senate Democrats campaign arm launched a billboard campaign Friday in West Virginia targeting Gov. Jim Justice (R) after the Democratic group sued the governor for the release of his official schedule.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) is placing billboards close to the Greenbrier resort owned by the governor and Kanawha County Courthouse that will read What is Jim Justice Hiding? and direct readers to visit a website launched by the Democratic group that points to various controversies surrounding the West Virginia governor, according to plans first shared with The Hill.

The Greenbrier County billboard is located westbound on I-64 at Howards Creek. The Charleston billboard is along I-64 and I-77 just east of the West Virginia State Capitol, according to the DSCC.

The billboards are scheduled to remain in place for a month.

Jim Justice wont be able to hide the looming questions being raised about his absence on the job, his shady finances, mountain of additional scandals, and blistering attacks from his GOP opponent, DSCC spokesperson Amanda Sherman said in a statement.

Justice is running for Sen. Joe Manchins (D-W.Va.) Senate seat but first has to beat Rep. Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.) in the GOP primary. Manchin has not yet said whether hes running for reelection, but the West Virginia Senate seat is considered a prime pickup opportunity for Republicans in 2024.

The DSCC filed a lawsuit against Justices office in May in an effort to obtain Justices official schedule as governor, spanning between when he took office to the present. The Kanawha County Circuit Court will be hearing the case.

The lawsuit followed multiple attempts by the DSCC to obtain his official schedule through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests that Justices office denied. The Associated Press reported in 2019, after obtaining months of Justices schedule, that the West Virginia Republican didnt visit the state capital often and rarely met with his Cabinet.

In response to the lawsuit in May, Justices campaign manager Roman Stauffer said, Governor Jim Justice is the frontrunner in this campaign for U.S. Senate, and the polling shows that he beats every other candidate.

[Senate Majority Leader] Chuck Schumer and the Democrats are panicking and will do everything they can to prop up Alex Mooney, whom they know they can easily beat in the General Election, he added.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Researchers in South Carolina are on the lookout for an exotic type of hornet that can sting people and devastate native honeybee populations.

A beekeeper in Savannah, Ga., recently discovered a yellow-legged hornet, the first time the species has been found in the United States.

Now, Clemson University wants to know if these hornets will wind up in the Palmetto State. Clemson is asking people to let the university know if they spot one.

The yellow-legged hornet is a predatory insect that has been reported to attack western honeybee colonies and has become a serious pest of beekeeping operations where it has been introduced, Clemsons Ben Powell said in a news release this week. Establishment of this exotic pest in the U.S. would pose a significant threat to our already embattled beekeeping enterprises.

Yellow-legged hornets, which are from Asia but have established themselves in Europe, resemble some American stinging insects, including certain types of yellow jackets and wasps. But they are bigger than those native bugs, with yellow-tipped legs and dark heads. The yellow-legged hornet is taller than it is wide, standing just under an inch in height.

The yellow-legged hornet builds paper-like nests in trees and buildings, and swarms of the stinging insects will defend a nest if disturbed. But while they can inflict painful stings, they are not considered as aggressive as yellow jackets.

In the news release, Clemson said it plans to monitor and set traps for yellow-legged hornets. Thats important because of the threat to native honeybees and the beekeeping industry, the university says.

If we find it, we are going to make every effort to eradicate any nests or colonies we discover, Clemson Universitys Brad Cavin told The State Friday.

Native bees pollinate a variety of nuts and fruits, including blueberries and cherries, and they produce honey for peoples tables. Nationally, honeybees contribute some $20 billion to the U.S. economy, including South Carolinas, Clemson says.

About one-third of the food eaten by Americans comes from crops pollinated by honeybees, NPR reported, quoting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

But the number of honeybee colonies is in decline in some places, in part from the introduction of exotic pests, a Clemson fact sheet says.

David McFawn, who is with the Mid-State Beekeepers Association, said the discovery of the yellow-legged hornet in Savannah caught his attention.

Its a concern for local beekeepers, he told The State.

Yellow-legged hornets are a threat because they can destroy entire honeybee colonies in a matter of hours, experts say. Hornets prey on insect larvae in nests.

While we are spearheading a robust trapping protocol in the South Carolina Lowcountry, beekeepers, and the public, both play an important role in our efforts to minimize any potential impact from this invasive pest, Cavin said in a news release this week. Thats why we are asking for public assistance with monitoring for and reporting unusual hornet activity, especially around honeybee hives.

Clemson asks that people who think they have seen a yellow-legged hornet to make a report at www.clemson.edu/public/regulatory/plant-industry/invasive/ylh.htm.

Yellow-legged hornets are the latest exotic insects of concern to native honeybee populations across the country. The Northern Giant Hornet, also an Asia native known as the murder hornet, has been found on the U.S. West Coast.

A few years ago, researchers at Clemson thought they had found Africanized bees in South Carolina, but later determined that not to be the case.
As it is claimed, smoke after an explosion in the Moscow City area on the night of August 18, 2023

Explosions jolted the residents of Moscow and its suburbs in the early hours of Aug. 18 as the Moskva-City complex, a financial district adorned with skyscrapers in the western part of the Russian capital, was once again damaged by what appears to be a drone attack.

News channels on Russian Telegram reported on the explosion at Moskva-City, and videos of the attack and its aftermath began circulating on social media.

Read also: Moscow airports in chaos after multiple reports of drone attacks

The airspace above Moscow's Vnukovo Airport was closed, according to a report from the Kremlin-controlled TASS state news agency. The Kovyor (Carpet in Russian) security protocol was initiated to address an unidentified flying object.

Visual evidence of the damage to the Moskva-City complex was presented in a video posted by the Mash Telegram Channel.

Another video captures the moment of the explosion from a vantage point overlooking the financial district, a massive fireball suddenly erupts, accompanied by a deafening explosion, and a mushroom cloud forms over the Moscow Expocenter.

A subsequent video showcases the extent of the damage to the expo building. Baza reported an approximate 30-square-meter area impacted. They also shared a video featuring the sound of a drone flying over Moskva-City.

Russia's Defense Ministry asserted that an attack by a Ukrainian drone targeted sites in Moscow. They reported that the drone was intercepted and crashed near the Krasnopresnenskaya embankment.

Meanwhile, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin stated that air defenses intercepted a drone that was approaching the capital, and its wreckage fell near Moscow's expo building.

Read also: Electricity substation on fire in Russias Kaluga, drones downed over Kursk Oblast

Various Telegram channels mentioned that explosions were also heard in Odintsovo and Krasnogorsk, located in Moscow Oblast.

The Shot Telegram channel uploaded a video from a tower within the Moskva-City complex, where individuals heard the drone and discussed its impact location.

The Ateo Breaking channel released a video capturing the damage, recorded by a resident of Moscow.

The overnight drone attack on Moscow on August 18 is the most recent in a series of such attacks on the Russian capital. Russia attributes these attacks to Ukraine, asserting that it usually shoots down or disrupts attacking drones using electronic means.

Ukraine typically denies responsibility for such attacks, although some of the drones are known to be of Ukrainian origin.

In a prior incident in the same district of the Russian capital on July 30, a drone collided with the IQ tower within Moskva-City, resulting in damage to an office of the Russian Ministry of Digital Development situated in the building.

Read also: Damaged plant near Moscow was developing next-generation bomber aircraft  report

Moscow faced another drone attack overnight on August 1. The same tower within the city's financial district suffered damage again, as reported by Sobyanin.

Flight restrictions were imposed on August 11 at Vnukovo airport due to a drone flying over Moscow that triggered an explosion, either by self-detonation or being shot down. This incident led to numerous flight delays.

Sobyanin mentioned that the drone was downed over the western part of Moscow, with its debris landing in the vicinity of the Karamyshevskaya embankment.

Moscow's air defense downed two drones heading towards the capital in the early hours of August 10, as claimed by Sobyanin. One of these drones was reportedly shot down in Kaluga Oblast, while the other was downed over Moscow's Central Ring.

Read also: Satellite imagery contradicts Moscow's pyrotechnics explanation for Sergiyev Posad explosion

Subsequent to this incident, flight restrictions were enforced at two of Moscow's airportsVnukovo and Domodedovo. Explosions were also reportedly heard near the settlement of Domodedovo.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
In occupied Melitopol, explosions are occurring more and more often

Explosions rocked the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol, Zaporizhzhya Oblast on the morning of August 18 according to the mayor of the city, Ivan Fedorov.

Fedorov said that the railroad at the entrance to the Aviamistechko area, near the town's military air base, was being inspected by bomb squads.

Read also: Ukraine makes certain successes in the southeast as it crawls toward Berdyansk and Melitopol

Earlier, blasts were heard in the Russian-occupied towns of Tokmak, about 45 kilometers to the north of Melitopol, and Kyrylivka, which is about 45 kilometers to the south, on the Azov Sea coast.

Read also: Russia moving troops, equipment from Melitopol to Crimea  guerrillas

According to the local outlet RIA Melitopol, explosions were heard in the morning from the direction of Novyi Melitopol.

Since the start of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' counter-offensive in June, blasts have been reported frequently in the Melitopol area.

Dozens of wounded Russian soldiers are reportedly being brought to civilian hospitals in the city.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
MADISON  Olivia's alarm goes off at 6 a.m., jolting her awake after five hours of sleep on a hotel mattress. The 26-year-old mother of two gets her kids ready for school and drops them off before starting a busy day working as a server and an Instacart shopper.

It's a draining schedule, but Olivia still found time on a recent Thursday to visit the Urban League of Greater Madison's expungement clinic. She's tired of living in the shadow of her felony charge, and like the dozen or so other attendees, she hoped a visit could scrub her record clean of a blemish she moved past years ago.

But expungement in Wisconsin is complex, with rules both Democrats and Republicans say are outdated. And for now, people looking to eliminate old charges from their records must jump through narrow hoops to navigate the state's strict process.

Wisconsin is the only state in the nation where past and closed cases are not eligible for expungement, and one of just a handful that limits eligibility based on age, according to a 2018 Wisconsin Policy Forum report. Under current state law, anyone over the age of 25 at the time of their offense is ineligible for expungement.

The restrictive law means many of the 1.4 million people with criminal records in Wisconsin  including those convicted for a misdemeanor or a low-level, non-violent felony like theft or drug possession  must carry those charges on their criminal record forever, even if they've completed their sentence.

Michael Yang, a private criminal defense attorney, works with Emma Wexler, a paralegal for Alliant Energy, on casework for a client during a free expungement clinic event at Urban League of Greater Madison's Southwest Madison Employment Center on August 10, 2023.

Its a very narrow law, said Megan Sprecher, a supervising attorney with criminal justice nonprofit Legal Action Wisconsin. I used to practice in Ohio, and when I came here, I was shocked.

Criminal records limit employment, housing opportunities

Wisconsin employers cannot discriminate based on criminal history with the exception of some professional licenses, Sprecher said. Still, something as simple as a marijuana possession charge  or in Olivia's case, being party to a crime she didn't directly commit  can tank someone's chances of finding stable employment or housing.

We've been in a hotel for three years now," Olivia said. "I can't find housing, so then I'm paying $700 a week in a hotel."

It's hard to prove discrimination, Sprecher said, especially in employment.

You can't unring the bell, right? Sprecher said. "The employers not saying 'this is exactly why Im not giving you the job.' Theyre just saying you didnt get the job or hiring people and letting them go once their background check comes in.

More: Wisconsin's criminal expungement rules keep needed workers out of jobs, study says

Sprecher works with Urban League to host the free expungement clinic each month, an event Urban League Senior Vice President Edward Lee said is funded in part by grants from the City of Madison and Dane County. Her legal team consults with roughly two dozen people who attend each clinic to determine whether they're eligible for expungement, a pardon or both.

Olivia lucked out. She was 21 when she was charged and asked about expungement before her sentencing. Olivia said lawyers who looked at her case earlier this month said she might be able to eliminate the felony charge from her record or apply for a pardon if she chooses, but they still needed to review more details from her case before making a final call.

Still, Olivia said her previous lawyer never mentioned expungement while handling her case five years ago, and she only knew to bring it up because her mom reminded her to.

He didnt seem like he cared about it, either. They just wanted me to plea out," Olivia said. I said it, but did my voice matter?

Not everyone is as lucky. Sprecher said she sees at least one person at each clinic who served their sentence and wants to clear their record, only to find out they were too old to qualify or missed the window to ask for expungement before their sentencing.

The best Sprecher can do is sign them up for Google alerts in case anything changes in state law.

Its a hard conversation to have, she said.

Will expungement laws change anytime soon?

State lawmakers on both sides of the aisle support loosening Wisconsin's strict expungement laws. Rep. David Steffen, R-Green Bay, introduced three bills to do so since 2019, the first two of which passed the Assembly with overwhelming bipartisan support.

However, both died in the Senate at the hands of an obscure Republican Party rule that requires 17 GOP senators to support a bill before it can advance for a floor vote, Steffen said in April.

The latest bill, which Steffen co-authored with Sen. Rachael Cabral-Guevara, R-Appleton, would allow people convicted of a non-violent, low-level felony or misdemeanor to apply for expungement regardless of their age as long as they have no previous felony convictions. Those who qualify could apply for expungement a year after completing their sentence, meaning they wouldn't have to ask before their trial.

Some restrictions would remain. For instance, the bill would allow a sentencing court to declare a person's record ineligible for expungement, select minor crimes would be exempt from expungement consideration, and each person could only request one expungement. People could submit a second petition for expungement if their first were to be denied, but they would have to wait two years and pay a $100 fee the second time around.

There's a chance this version could stall, too. Some of Steffen's Republican colleagues said at a public hearing in April they worried loosening expungement laws could reinforce crime, or thought the one-year waiting period was too short compared to Wisconsin's neighbors.

But Steffen is optimistic it could finally pass, despite the concerns. Britt Cudaback, spokeswoman for Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, said the bill has Evers' support, and Steffen is hopeful a recent shakeup among Republicans in the Senate could deliver him the votes needed to expand expungement eligibility.

Nicole Walentowski-Domokos, an aide to Steffen, said his office is in discussions with Senate officers to build support. But she also said they don't have a "clear sense of the timeline" on the bill."Our hope would certainly be to have it move forward this fall, but we dont have an indication either way at this point if that will be the case," she added.

Meanwhile, Olivia's kids still need to be up for school at 6 a.m.

I've been going through hell for five years now," Olivia said. "All because someone I thought I was friends with decided to do something when I drove them somewhere."

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Expungement reform remains elusive in Wisconsin but reform could come
Social media users in Catholic-majority Philippines have shared an AI-generated image of Pope Francis in front of a mammoth crowd with the false claim it shows an actual mass the pontiff presided over during World Youth Day in Portugal in early August 2023. The image was in fact generated using the Midjourney tool, its creator told AFP.

"LOOK: Picture of about two million young people that attended Mass with Pope Francis in Lisbon!" reads part of the caption to the image posted on Facebook on August 9.

It includes the hashtag "#WorldYouthDay2023" which refers to the six-day international Catholic jamboree that ran from August 1 to 6 in Portugal's capital Lisbon.

The image appears to show the 86-year-old pontiff from the back as he raises both hands in front of a massive crowd.

Screenshot of false Facebook post, captured on August 12, 2023

The image was also shared more than 1,000 times elsewhere on Facebook here, here and here alongside similar claims.

User comments indicate some believed the photo was genuine.

"Awesome photo capturing the moment with the young people from all over the world," said one user.

"Amazing. I love the millennials and Gen Zers," said another.

Although Pope Francis did celebrate mass in Lisbon during World Youth Day, the image shared in the posts had been generated using AI technology.

Midjourney image

A reverse image search on Google found the picture was originally shared here on X, formerly known as Twitter, on August 6 by a user named Matt Kielczewski (archived link).

"Managed to get a close up of the pope at #JMJ2023Lisboa#JMJ2023," reads the caption, referring to the acronym for Jornada Mundial da Juventude, the Portuguese translation for World Youth Day.

Replying to commenters who said the image was "fake", Kielczewski responded by saying the image was "100% not real" and "100% AI" (archived links here and here).

He also told AFP the image was generated by AI.

"I confirm this is my photo, I created it using Midjourney AI prompts," he said on August 12.

The online tool generates images from text prompts that users type into the chat platform Discord (archived link).

Below is a screenshot comparison of the image in one of the false posts (left) and the picture shared by Kielczewski (right):

Screenshot comparison of the image in one of the false posts (left) and the picture shared by Kielczewski (right)

He also shared the following screenshots with AFP to show his attempts at creating the photo using Midjourney:

Screenshots showing Kielczewski's attempts at creating the photo using Midjourney

A closer review of the photo using the Invid-WeVerify magnifying glass tool shows one of the Pope's hands appears distorted:

Screenshot showing the Pope's hand, magnified by AFP, appears to be distorted

Experts say such defects are one way to spot a fabricated image.

Actual mass

Pope Francis celebrated mass at Parque Tejo, a park on the outskirts of the Portuguese capital, on August 6 (archived links here and here).

The Vatican said the large outdoor mass was attended by about 1.5 million people.

A handout photo from the Vatican published here in AFP's archives shows the actual mass where the Pope could be seen using a wheelchair.

The handout photo shows a partial view of the Tagus river that passes through Lisbon while the AI generated image shows a tall building and trees.

Below is a screenshot comparison between the AI generated image (left) and the Vatican's handout photo (right):

Screenshot comparison between the AI generated image (left) and the Vatican's handout photo (right)

AFP has previously debunked false claims using AI-generated images here, here and here.
As some Illinoisans look forward to cooler temperatures and the beginning of a new school year, residents will also contend with respiratory viruses, which are more likely to spike in colder seasons, according to researchers with Harvard Medical School.

Early August has seen a 14% spike in new COVID-related hospital admissions across the nation, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although hospitalizations had a significant increase recently, the number is still far below the coronavirus pandemics peak, ABC News reported Aug. 15.

All counties in Illinois are at a low community level for COVID-19, according to the CDCs map. The reporting metrics changed in May with the end of the federal COVID-19 public health emergency.

While community levels previously considered case rates, hospitalizations and the portion of staffed inpatient hospital beds in use by patients with COVID-19, the CDC no longer tracks COVID-19 cases. Now, a county is at a low level if fewer than 10 residents are hospitalized per 100,000, a medium level if there are between 10 and 19.9 hospitalized and a high level with more than 20 hospitalized per 100,000 residents.

COVID-19 case rates are no longer included in the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions community levels. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Dr. Vidhya Prakash, chief medical officer and associate dean of clinical affairs and population health at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, told the News-Democrat the states metrics looked good as of early August, but its important officials continue monitoring them.

Heres what to know about COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus, commonly known as RSV, this fall in southwest Illinois.

COVID-19 in Illinois

The primary metric now being used to evaluate COVID-19 spread in Illinois is the states wastewater surveillance system, Prakash said.

Data is available for sewage treatment plants in Belleville, OFallon, Sauget, Edwardsville and other Illinois locations. In addition to COVID-19 data, researchers also track samples of RSV and influenza. The information is presented in scatterplots, with dots representing the number of virus gene copies per liter of sewage.

Recent data from Bellevilles sewage treatment plant shows COVID-19 gene copies are up from June and July, but much lower than in December through March.

Wastewater surveillance is the primary metric available in Illinois to track COVID-19.

As colder months approach, U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials have provided advice to vaccine production companies asking them to make monovalent vaccine boosters available this fall, specifically to protect against the XBB lineage of the omicron variant, Prakash said.

The last COVID-19 booster was bivalent and geared toward protecting against the original COVID-19 strain, as well as the omicron variant.

I think another booster is definitely on the horizon, Prakash said.

As of February, the omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 was the dominant COVID-19 strain in much of the U.S., the American Medical Association reported. The subvariant spreads more easily than others, even among those who have been vaccinated and/or previously infected, according to the AMA.

Updated COVID-19 vaccines should be available by late September, CBS News reported Aug. 9.

RSV in Illinois

RSV, another common virus in chillier months, typically causes mild, cold-like symptoms in patients. But many Illinois residents have faced complications from the disease, including pneumonia.

There was a significant peak in RSV last October, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. The disease overwhelmed hospitals across the state, and some health care facilities primarily serving adults temporarily converted beds for older children to reserve pediatric beds for younger children. At one point last fall, only 6% of pediatric intensive care unit beds were available in Illinois, according to an October report from the state health department.

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (#RSV) can cause serious illness in older adults, especially those with certain medical conditions or other risk factors.



If you are 60 or older, talk to your health care provider about whether an RSV shot is right for you: https://t.co/ZxutONBk3G pic.twitter.com/TtmvbfP5ll  CDC (@CDCgov) August 16, 2023

There are two RSV vaccines recommended to people over the age of 60, Prakash said, but patients should confer with their primary care physician to determine whether theyre a good candidate for the vaccine.

The FDA approved one of the RSV vaccines, Arexvy, in early May, while Abrysvo was approved just a few weeks later.

An ongoing study of Arexvy showed the vaccine reduced the risk of developing RSV-associated lower respiratory tract disease by more than 82%, Prakash said.

The most commonly reported side effects of Arexvy are injection site pain, fatigue, muscle aches, headaches and joint stiffness, Prakash added. Ten study participants (out of 12,500 total) who received the vaccine reported atrial fibrillation, Prakash said, but the irregular heartbeat was also reported by four participants who received placebos.

The FDA found the data on atrial fibrillation in relation to Arexvy is insufficient to determine a causal relationship to the vaccine, but the company manufacturing it has committed to assessing atrial fibrillation in a post-market study, Prakash said.

Along with adults older than 60, infants and small children are also considered particularly vulnerable to serious RSV outcomes. The vaccines are not currently available to children, but the FDA has approved a preventative antibody for use in children up to 24 months of age.

Signs of different respiratory viruses

While it can be difficult to determine whether youre experiencing symptoms from COVID-19, RSV or the flu, there is some variation in the indicators.

For example, headaches can be caused by a number of maladies, but are more common in COVID-19 cases than for people who have common colds, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Muscle aches, tiredness and loss of taste and smell are also more frequently seen in COVID-19 cases than in cold cases, the Mayo Clinic reports, and diarrhea and vomiting can be COVID-19 symptoms but are not caused by common colds.
A Fresno-area farmworker who labored in triple-digit temperatures died earlier this month in what farmworker advocates believe was a heat-related workplace death.

Elidio Hernandez Gomez, 59, experienced heat illness symptoms while harvesting tomatillos near Selma in 100-degree weather on Aug. 8, according to Leydy Rangel, communications director for the United Farm Worker Foundation. According to the National Weather Service Hanford, temperatures reached 100 degrees that day, following days of triple-digit heat that prompted Cal/OSHA to issue a high heat hazard alert.

The exact circumstances of his death arent immediately clear. It also isnt clear yet who Hernandez Gomez worked for. Farmers and agricultural businesses often hire third-party crews through farm labor contractors on a temporary basis during harvest season, which can make it hard to identify workers and their direct supervisors.

According to Rangel, workers were instructed by their supervisors to transport Hernandez Gomez to Adventist Health Selma, where medical providers made attempts to resuscitate Hernandez Gomez. But workers told Rangel that Hernandez Gomez may have died in the fields prior to being transported to the hospital. A spokesperson for Adventist Health Selma couldnt immediately be reached for comment.

He was later transferred to the Fresno County Coroners office, Rangel said. Tony Botti, spokesperson for the Fresno County Coroners office, confirmed in an email statement to The Bee on Friday that Hernandez Gomez died as a result of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, a build-up of plaque in the arterial walls of the heart that caused an obstruction of blood flow. He said there was no evidence that heat played a role in Hernandez Gomezs death.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, extreme heat is the leading cause of weather-related injuries and death in the United States. The elderly and those with reduced cardiovascular function and pre-existing cardiovascular diseases are at a greater risk. Heat compromises the bodys ability to regulate its internal temperature, a process that is primarily mediated by the cardiovascular system, the CDC says.

Heat-related deaths are historically undercounted in California, since many heat-related deaths are recorded as heart failure, strokes or respiratory failure, according to a 2021 Los Angeles Times investigation. According to The Times, the true number of heat-related deaths could be as much as six times the states official count.

Rangel said said Hernandez Gomezs relatives contacted a UFW Foundation organizer seeking guidance after they learned of his death. The farmworker union and UFW Foundation are assisting the family in reporting the death to Cal/OSHA.

Cal/OSHA spokesperson Derek Moore confirmed that Hernandez Gomezs death was not reported to the agency, as is required by law. Moore said the agency is gathering facts to determine whether to conduct an inspection.

California farmworkers family seeks answers about his death

Family members organized an online GoFundMe fundraiser to send Hernandez Gomezs body back to his home state of Guanajuato, Mexico. They wrote on the fundraiser page that he died from a heart attack caused by the heat while at work.

He is the father of two daughters who together with his wife are waiting for him to give him a holy burial in the place where he grew up, his niece, Christina Torres, wrote in Spanish on the fundraiser page.

Fellow farmworkers familiar with the incident are hesitant to come forward due to fear of retaliation, Rangel said.

We just want to know what really happened, Hernandez Gomezs sister-in-law, Ana Navarro, said in Spanish in a phone interview with The Bee on Thursday. Navarros sister is married to Hernandez Gomez and resides in Mexico.

Other family members, such as Navarros sister who lives in the Fresno area, have tried to reach the company and his coworkers, but no one wants to speak out, she said.

We have not heard anything, Navarro said.

California was the first state in the nation to enact rules to protect outdoor workers from extreme heat.

Employers should provide shade and preventative cool down breaks to prevent overheating, according to Cal/OSHA. If an employee displays or reports heat illness symptoms, Cal/OSHA requires California employers to provide appropriate first aid or emergency response.

Additionally, employers are supposed to immediately report to Cal/OSHA any work-related death or serious injury or illness.

At a press conference Friday in Delano with U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-California), UFW President Teresa Romero called for federal heat protections for farmworkers and addressed Hernandez Gomezs death.

Elidio deserved better. His family deserves better. Elidio had two young children, two young daughters, that now dont have a father, she said.

Farmworkers in California who would like to anonymously report cases of heat violations and/or report any cases of individuals who have passed due to heat illness while working outside, can call the UFW Foundations heat hotline at (661) 546-9020. The information shared can remain confidential.
The FBI and police in northwest Georgia are searching for a 14-year-old girl who vanished last month.

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Graycie Millard vanished from her home in Lafayette, Georgia on July 17. Lafayette is in northwest Georgia near the Tennessee/Georgia line.

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According to her grandmother, Barbara Millard, Graycie was staying at a friends house until she vanished and her friends didnt realize she was gone until morning.

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Millard is described as 56 and 115 pounds with black hair and blue eyes. Family members said her hair is naturally blonde but could also be dyed red.

Anyone who sees Millard or knows where she might be is asked to call the Lafayette Police, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children or the FBI Atlanta.

Please refer any viewer or reader tips to Lafayette Police, NCMEC (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children), or FBI Atlanta.

The family has also set up a GoFundMe to try to hire a private investigator to search for Graycie.
LAHAINA, Hawaii  Nearly two weeks after deadly wildfires burned much of west Maui to the ground and left more than 100 people dead, the island remains open for business, say workers and shop owners who rely on tourism to pay their bills.

But their desire to keep visitors coming has sparked tensions with residents who say now is not the time to travel to the island.

Were really in pain, but I have no trouble with a customer coming in with a smile on their face, said Panna Cappelli, whose art gallery on Front Street and the work of some 200 local artists were all but destroyed when the historic town of Lahaina was leveled.

Cappelli has three galleries on other parts of the island that were not affected by the fire, and said she cannot afford to pay her employees or donate to Lahaina residents if customers don't continue shopping: I need them to buy something."

Artwork at Panna Cappelis art gallery on Makawao Ave, Maui, Hawaii, on Aug. 17, 2023. (Josiah Patterson for NBC News)

Unsurprisingly, tourism has taken a hit since Aug. 8 when wildfires turned everything in its path to ash, forcing evacuees to jump into the ocean to escape the flames and leaving hundreds of friends and loved ones unaccounted for.

Airline passenger numbers to Maui fell 80% this week compared to the same time last year, according to the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. It estimates Hawaiis economy has lost some $8.5 million in sales revenue each day since the wildfires erupted on Maui and the Big Island.

The total economic damage and cost could total $7 billion, Moodys Analytics said in an initial estimate, which called the price tag astronomical and suggestive of a "brief but severe local recession.

Panna Cappelis art gallery in Lahaina wash destroyed by wild fires, in Maui, Hawaii, on Aug. 17, 2023. (Josiah Patterson for NBC News)

'Respect what is happening'

Many business owners and their employees say the only way to help the community heal is by aiding Mauis economic recovery. That means continuing to welcome outsiders to the island.

Come to Hawaii, but also respect what is happening, said Maui resident Jon Baker, who owns and operates a rental car business near the normally bustling Kahului Airport.

If you dont see the typical aloha, its only because people are hurting and grieving, he continued, referring to the spirit of love and community in Hawaiian culture. We rely on tourism. We need it.

Baker, who was born on Oahu and has lived on Maui for 17 years, said business has been at a complete standstill since the wildfires broke out. His fleet of 60 cars is sitting unused in the lot except for the six he has loaned out, free of charge, to families who lost theirs in the fires.

Cars drive by a Lahaina strong sign on Honoapiilani Highway, heading into Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii, on Aug. 16, 2023 (Josiah Patterson for NBC News)

To make ends meet, Baker is working with his bank to forgive monthly loan payments for three months as he contributes to the island's economic recovery by staying open while continuing to provide free rentals to those in need.

Financially it doesnt help us at all with our business, he said. Its kind of insane, but its really about caring for people.

Last year, 2.9 million tourists visited Maui by air, according to the Hawaii Tourism Authority. They spent $5.82 billion annually, compared with $4.04 billion in 2021 during the height of the pandemic.

Prior to Covid, Hawaii's tourism industry had been in transition as officials worked to build better relationships with local communities and create more sustainable infrastructure. The pandemic and its many restrictions halted some of that progress, but this year there was an influx of visitors and an uptick in tourist spending.

Mauis comeback felt like a sure thing as people weary of public health restrictions flocked to vacation destinations across the globe.

Home remains from wild fires in Kula, Maui, Hawaii, on Aug. 17, 2023. (Josiah Patterson for NBC News)

10,000 jobs lost to the fires

But state tourism officials warn that as many as 10,000 jobs have been lost as a direct result of the Maui wildfires. Visitor spending losses are estimated at $1.05 million a day, and household income loss is estimated to top $535,500 a day, according to the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

"Its a fine line. Its a fine balance," said Ilihia Gionson, spokesman for the Hawaii Tourism Authority. "At the end of the day, for those people who want to be working, we want to make sure they can be working. What we dont want to see is people losing their homes and then losing their jobs."

After the fires, state officials gave conflicting messages about whether to keep or cancel trips to Maui. An early emergency proclamation by the governor's office barred nonessential travel to the island, but it was adjusted a few days later to apply only to west Maui.

A line of burnt coconut trees and destroyed homes in Lahaina town, Maui, Hawaii on Aug. 16, 2023 (Josiah Patterson for NBC News)

Still, locals and high-profile celebrities like the actor Jason Momoa warned visitors on social media to avoid the island out of respect for victims and survivors.

That is the wrong message, said Maui-based wedding photographer Tara Lee Murphy, who shot a ceremony on Lahainas beachfront just hours before the venue was devoured by flames. We want to keep working to keep Maui open. We dont want Covid 2.0.

Speaking to reporters after the fire, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said the pandemic has also forced state officials to weigh the public health risks of allowing tourists in against the economic harm of keeping them out.

Like we saw in the pandemic, decisions we made can affect everyone across the islands," Green said in a statement. "So what were saying now is travel should not be to west Maui. But the other parts of Maui are safe.

"And the rest of the state, of course, is also safe.

Aysha Nitze at the Waianae Beach Resort in Maui, Hawaii, on Aug. 17, 2023. (Josiah Patterson for NBC News)

Standing alongside a glittering row of necklaces, rings and bracelets at a luxury resort in Mauis Wailea Beach, island native Aysha Nitze helped customers try on jewelry that she and her mother had made.

She depends on high-end clients to keep operating her small business and said sales are down about 90% since wildfire leveled Lahaina, about 45 minutes away.

The resorts where she typically sets up her handmade creations have transformed into headquarters for emergency personnel, filled with employees from FEMA, the Red Cross and other agencies.

Theyre not buying anything, she said, adding that its shortsighted to tell tourists to avoid Maui.

We cant all lose our houses because one town was devastated, she added.

Business owner and artist Baz Cumberbatch at the Waianae Beach Resort on Maui on August 17, 2023. (Josiah Patterson for NBC News)

At his stand next to Nitzes, artist Baz Cumberbatch tugged at a thick sheet of bark. Cumberbatch creates natural landscapes on plywood from locally sourced materials, such as palm and banana trees, selling his wares at beachfront resorts and local art galleries.

He usually makes $800 to $1,000 a day but has been averaging $200 since the Lahaina fire destroyed Cappelli's gallery that showcased his work. Cumberbatch estimates he lost some $15,000 worth of pieces in the blaze.

Without cash how are we going to donate to the people of Lahaina? he asked. We want to help but we need to survive, too.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
A federal judge in Florida denied a request from a group of Chinese citizens to halt a new Florida law that bans those from certain countries from purchasing property in parts of the state.

In a ruling Thursday, United States District Judge Allen Winsor denied a preliminary injunction motion that would have blocked the law  which went into effect on July 1  until the case moves through the court.

Winsor said the plaintiffs did not show a substantial likelihood that they will win the case, a requirement to grant a preliminary injunction.

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed the property law in May, which restricts people from a foreign country of concern  defined as China, Russia, Iran, Korea, Cuba, Venezuela and Syria  from purchasing land and homes in Florida.

The law bans citizens from those counties from owning property within 10 miles of military installations and requires those who already own property restricted by the new law to register with the state or face fines.

A group of four Chinese citizens later filed a lawsuit, arguing the state law stigmatizes them and their communities, and casts a cloud of suspicion over anyone of Chinese descent who seeks to buy property in Florida.

The plaintiffs argue the law is unconstitutional and violates the Fair Housing Act, which bans discrimination by housing providers based on race, color, religion sex, national origin, familial status or disability.

When signing the bill, DeSantis argued the law was to counteract the malign influence of the Chinese Communist Party in the state of Florida.

He echoed this argument Thursday, writing in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter: Bidens Department of Justice sided with Communist China against Floridas law prohibiting CCP-tied entities from buying land in Florida. Im glad the federal judge made the correct decision and denied a preliminary injunction on SB 264.

DeSantis said Florida will continue to fight against the influence of Chinese Community Party in the state.

In a post on X, the American Civil Liberties Union said it will be appealing Winsors ruling.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
New infrastructure construction gives a leg up to China's manufacturing

People's Daily Online) 10:02, August 18, 2023

New infrastructure construction has become a big driver in the digital transformation, intelligent upgrading and collaborative innovation of China's manufacturing industry.

In the first half of 2023, the country's investment in new infrastructure construction increased by 16.2 percent year on year, of which investment in new information infrastructure such as 5G, and data centers rose by 13.1 percent, and investment in new integrated infrastructure including industrial internet and smart transportation surged by 34.1 percent, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

Photo shows a cloud data center of Chinese tech giant Huawei in Gui'an New Area of Guiyang, capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province. (Xinhua/Tao Liang)

The building of computing power infrastructure became a highlight of China's economic performance in the first six months of this year. The country's total computing power scale ranks second globally, and has grown by about 30 percent annually, data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) shows.

Su Huanlong, senior relationship manager of Lenovo Group in China's northwest regions, has often been traveling between Lanzhou city and Jinchang city in northwest China's Gansu Province.

"With a total investment of 50 million yuan ($6.9 million), the second phase of the high-performance computing platform of Gansu Zijin Cloud Big Data Developing Ltd. Co. (Zijin Cloud) officially started in April this year," Su said.

As a hub of China's national computing power network, Gansu has taken the initiative to scale up investment in new infrastructure construction such as a high-performance computing platform to contribute to the country's east-to-west computing resource transfer project, Su added.

"After it is completed, the second phase will undertake low-latency and high-performance computing demand from enterprises in fields such as big data, artificial intelligence, and blockchain in eastern regions. This will provide stronger support for large-scale computing tasks, including scientific research, engineering design, and data analysis, serving economic and social development," said Su.

5G is an important part of new infrastructure construction and a key driver of the digital transformation and upgrading of the real economy, said Zhao Zhiguo, MIIT spokesman and chief engineer.

An employee checks cable products at the Deqing Smart Industrial Park of Zetastone Cable Co., Ltd. in Huzhou city, east China's Zhejiang Province. Since the beginning of this year, the city has supported enterprises in building intelligent workshops by using new-generation information technologies including 5G, big data and industrial internet. (Photo/Wang Shucheng)

China has built the world's largest and most technically advanced 5G network. As of the end of June 2023, the number of 5G base stations in China had reached 2.94 million, covering all urban areas of prefecture-level cities and county seats, and the coverage is continuously expanding, Zhao added.

"There have been more than 50,000 cases of 5G applications in 60 major categories of the national economy," Zhao said.

The application of 5G ensures better control of production quality. Zhejiang Truelove Vogue Co., Ltd. (Zhejiang Truelove), a company based in Yiwu city, east China's Zhejiang Province that produces nearly 50,000 tonnes of blankets annually, hopes to guarantee the quality of its products from the source.

Thanks to cooperation with China Mobile, which launched a quality inspection program by deploying 5G and artificial intelligence for Zhejiang Truelove, each warp knitting machine in the company is equipped with 24 sets of industrial cameras. Images of blanket weaving are sent to a cloud server for quality inspection through real-time signal transmissions under the 5G network. Once defects are detected by the industrial cameras, the warp knitting machine will immediately stop operating and adjust in a timely manner to improve the rate of superior products as much as possible, said Zheng Kan, deputy general manager of the Yiwu branch of China Mobile.

As regions across China advance new infrastructure construction, the industrial internet is giving a boost to manufacturing enterprises, bringing new opportunities to the integration of digital technologies with the real economy.

Conch (Anhui) Energy Saving and Environment Protection New Material Co., Ltd. and COSMOPlat IoT Technology Co., Ltd. built an industrial internet platform for the production of doors and windows. By the end of May this year, Conch had received over 16,000 orders via the industrial internet platform, with its cumulative sales revenue exceeding 500 million yuan.

This achievement is attributed to the industrial internet that has brought huge changes to Conch's production processes. In the company's workshop, an advanced planning and scheduling system that replaces manual work has cut the required scheduling time to less than half an hour from two to three hours. Workers only need to achieve real-time monitoring and dispatching of orders and resources on their phones.

"The platform has helped enterprises realize the integration of full-process business data including contract signing, internal scheduling, logistics transportation, and customer feedback," said Zhang Junwei, an executive of COSMOPlat, adding that new infrastructure construction is of great significance to manufacturing.

By the end of July this year, China was home to over 200,000 enterprises related to the industrial internet, according to corporate information provider Tianyancha. Between January and July this year, more than 60,000 enterprises related to the industrial internet were added, up 45.3 percent year on year.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
A Black Prince Georges County police officer is afraid for his safety after he reported a fellow officer for a use-of-force violation against a suspect who turned out to be misidentified.

In October 2020, Officer Michael Brown had been on duty in the Maryland county with fellow officer Cpl. Darryl Wormuth. Together, they tracked down an armed 17-year-old suspect named Kayvon Hines. After successfully restraining him, Wormuth struck the teen in the throat.

Micheal Brown testifying in court (WMAR-2 Youtube Video: Police file lawsuit against Prince Georges County alleging racial discrimination). Darryl Wormuth at a press conference (Fox 5/ YouTube screenshot )

Authorities soon found that Hines was wrongly identified as the suspect the officers were meant to be after.

Related: I Aint Getting on the Ground!: Video of Texas Man In Violent Encounter with Police Sparks Debate Over Citizens Rights to Protect Their Property

Brown told NBC4 Washington he was alarmed because their department was never trained to put their hands on anyones neck.

Brown, with the assistance of his partner, PGPD officer Thomas Lester, reported Wormuth, resulting in Wormuth getting charged with misconduct in office and second-degree assault.

Wormuth was originally sentenced to 45 days in jail and had his police powers suspended for the assault and misconduct charges. But the sentence was put on hold when new evidence came to light.

During the investigation, officials found a long series of racist exchanges on Wormuths phone between him and other officers working within the department. One text exchange showed Wormuth calling African-Americans f*cking animals and referring to Black police officers as Black people in a white mans job.



Yet despite stepping up to do the right thing, Brown was quite discouraged during Wormuths trial when he saw how many of his fellow mostly white officers supported Wormuth. Brown openly admitted to the fact that he felt that his department was doing little to protect him from his co-workers throughout the process of the investigation.



According to Brown, he and the officers that stood with him have now become known as the snitches and have been labeled as other derogatory terms within the department. Accusations also surfaced of officers conspiring to not back up Browns squad in the line of duty in retaliation.

I felt betrayed, Brown said in an interview with NBC4 Washington.

Brown said he was also left in the dark throughout most of the investigation regarding the full contents of the texts and who sent them, never knowing who was truly out to get him at any time.

My safety wasnt a priority, he said.

This isnt the first time a PGPD officer has been guilty of violent acts against citizens. In January 2020, the same year as the incident involving the misidentified suspect, Cpl. Micheal Owen shot and killed a 43-year-old Black man named William Green after he was already handcuffed.

Later that year, the court ordered the department to deliver $20 million in settlement money to Greens family.



The summer of that year was filled with protests in the county over police brutality. The department faced accusations of hiring racist officers to protect and serve the community.

During the initial week of the protests, the police chief at the time, Hank Stawinski, stepped down after four years in office. A lawsuit was filed against the department in 2018 for violating racial discrimination laws.

Click here for the full story.
Donald Trumps alleged criminal efforts to use lies about the 2020 presidential election to steal a second term have now landed him two indictments, one each in federal and state court. But to those whove built up their livings, identities and communities around those lies, the stakes are, in some ways, even higher than potential prison time.

And nowhere was that more obvious than at MyPillow CEO Mike Lindells latest election fraud-themed event, which took place on Wednesday and Thursday in Springfield, Missouri.

Over and over during the Election Crime Bureau Summit, attendees  politicians, celebrity grifters and everyday believers alike  spoke in absolutist terms about the consequences they believed they faced for their beliefs and the punishments they wanted for their enemies.

I am ready to meet these son-of-a-guns at the gates of hell, if necessary, Michael Flynn, the former Trump national security adviser and pardon recipient, said on a panel Wednesday night. Soon after, another former administration staffer and Trump pardon recipient, Steve Bannon, called out the Fulton County, Georgia, district attorney prosecuting the case against Trump, Fani Willis, who, along with members of the grand jury that handed up the indictment against Trump, has been targeted online.

Were going to ram the stealing of Georgia down her throat, and were going to ram it up the ass of the governor! he roared. Are you fired up yet?

Earlier, during a roll call of local activists across all 50 states, Nevadas Robert Beadles  a prominent GOP donor known for citing the antisemitic propaganda text Protocols of the Elders of Zion  bragged about his lawfare efforts aimed at Nevada officials, using a slang term for the use of the legal system to attack or delegitimize ones opponents.

The first boxes of evidence I brought down was 3,500 pages. That lands them in jail, Beadles said. The next stuff we bring in is treason, and you know what that does.

If Were Wrong, Its The End Times

The allegations themselves at Lindells conference  despite years of fact-checking efforts, lawsuits and now criminal charges  seemed almost miraculously frozen in time.

During the first hour of the event, for example, Lindell showed a film that singled out a Fulton County election worker, Ruby Freeman, whom conspiracy theorists have falsely accused of rigging the 2020 vote count. Freeman has since filed multiple defamation lawsuits over similar claims, alleging among other things that the lies had led to death threats and the attempted forced entry of people trying to make a citizens arrest at her home. The targeting of Freeman was cited in Mondays indictment of Trump and 18 allies on charges of racketeering in the alleged plot to overturn Georgias 2020 presidential election results.

Trumps former personal attorney Rudy Giuliani recently acknowledged making false statements against Freeman and her daughter.

The same film, which Lindell marveled was first released in December 2020, listed a number of other false claims, such as the assertion that Arizona voters were registered to a vacant lot, which was actually a former mobile home park.

Lindell reassured the crowd that the failure of these claims to overturn the election results in 2020  and ensuing lawfare in the form of defamation suits  was all part of Gods plan.

If lawfare didnt happen, people would have been informed of all the truths too early, and they would have demanded that our Constitution be followed. But if that would have happened back then, we would have lost our country forever. It would have been too soon; things had to be revealed.

And even if his movement failed altogether, Lindell said, it wouldnt be all bad.

Hey, if were wrong, its end times  all of us believers go to heaven, he said, laughing. Its a win-win!

Maybe Theyll Thank Me Later

The event, which was pockmarked with live MyPillow advertisements and requests to donate to Lindells legal offense fund, culminated Thursday with the unveiling of a device that Lindell claimed would allow people to check Wi-Fi networks at their local polling places to see if voting machines were connected to the internet. He previously warned the audience that anyone opposed to the device, which he referred to as the plan to secure our elections, should be considered part of the evil, Lindells all-encompassing term for enemy governments and domestic political forces. One creator of the device, right-wing activist Jeff ODonnell, known online as the Lone Raccoon, said he estimated it would cost in the under $500 range.

Live from the Mike Lindell event on day 2: so far the plan to secure our elections is to fly a wifi detection device on drones over polling places to see if voting machines are connected to the internet. @springfieldNLpic.twitter.com/gKnaz201MW  Kelly Dereuck (@kelly_dereuck) August 17, 2023

The announcement was paired with a promotion of Frank Social, Lindells social network, where voter fraud obsessives are able to share notes, Lindell said.

Despite the shiny new products, the event bore the scars of the recent set of criminal charges against prominent Trump allies: Giuliani, slated to attend, was recently charged in Georgia as part of Trumps alleged election overthrow scheme and couldnt make the event. Nor could Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R), who Lindell said was told (by whom, Lindell didnt specify) that he was not allowed at the event. Paxton is facing years-old charges of securities fraud, which he has denied and called politically motivated, and impeachment proceedings in Texas.

Meshawn Maddock, the former co-chair of the Michigan GOP, was barred by a state judge from attending the event; Maddock is one of the fake presidential electors recently charged with eight state felonies in Michigan, including multiple counts of forgery and conspiracy to commit forgery. She has pleaded not guilty. Her husband, Matt Maddock, recently warned of a civil war or some sort of revolution if the government continued to weaponize against conservatives, according to reporting from The Messenger.

The most striking impacts, though, were in the lives of rank-and-file true believers, who were highlighted during a video montage of citizen election fraud investigators.

One woman on the video spoke wistfully about how her years of research had driven a wedge between her and her family.

In my personal life, Im a wife and Im a mother, the woman, who gave her name as Erica, said. My family doesnt really understand my need to get involved with our elections, but thats OK. I just tell myself that maybe theyll thank me later.

Ive spent quite a bit of time on this, Erica added. I feel pretty invested at this point, and I dont think theres any other option than to see this through.

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The Reedy Creek Fire Department told Channel 9 on Friday afternoon that it was rescuing 28 people from The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror ride at Disneys Hollywood Studios because the ride was stuck.

Firefighters said the people were stuck on the ride for about 45 minutes.

It is unclear what caused the ride to get stuck.

Read: Tropics firing up with 4 areas to watch

Channel 9 has reached out to Walt Disney World to find out more details about the incident.

Watch Channel 9 Eyewitness News for live updates to this developing story.

Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
First ship to use Ukraine's corridor arrives in Istanbul - Reuters witness Hong-Kong-flagged container ship Joseph Schulte transits Istanbul's Bosphorus

ISTANBUL (Reuters) -The first vessel that used Ukraine's Black Sea corridor is crossing through Turkey's Bosphorus Strait, a Reuters witness said on Friday.

The Hong-Kong-flagged Joseph Schulte container ship that left the Russian-blocked Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odesa earlier this week had been in the port since Feb. 23, 2022, the day before the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine last week announced a "humanitarian corridor" in the Black Sea to release cargo ships that have been trapped in its ports after the termination of the main grain exports deal last month.

Moscow has not indicated whether it would respect the shipping corridor, and shipping and insurance sources have expressed concerns about safety.

Ukraine said the corridor will be primarily used to evacuate ships that were stuck in Ukrainian ports.

Local broadcasters have said the ship will anchor at Ambarli port in the south of Istanbul.

(Reporting by Murad Sezer; Editing by Kim Coghill and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
WEST PALM BEACH  A judge has sentenced a Riviera Beach woman to 20 years in prison in the shooting death of another woman in 2022.

Jasmine Nelson, 34, pleaded to a lesser charge of manslaughter in the death of Cartishe Gibbs during a hearing Tuesday before Circuit Judge Sarah Willis, who also ordered that 10 years of probation follow Nelson's prison sentence.

Prosecutors originally had charged Nelson with second-degree murder after West Palm Beach police alleged she shot and killed Gibbs, 26, during a fight on the evening of March 14, 2022, at Echo Lake Park in West Palm Beach, which is off Congress Avenue near Bak Middle School of the Arts.

Pahokee fatal wreck: PBSO: Teen drove at speeds topping 100 mph in moments before crash that killed two

Nelson told investigators that her sister planned to fight Gibbs that evening and said she brought the weapon in order to ensure that the fight was fair.

Videos of the altercation posted to social media showed Nelson swing a gun at Gibbs in an attempt to hit her with its muzzle. Instead she fired a bullet through Gibbs' neck as she struck her.

Nelson fled after the shooting but later met detectives at a restaurant on Okeechobee Boulevard near Military Trail before being taken into custody.

Riviera homicide: Teen facing murder charge searched online how to overcome fear of firing gun, police say

During Tuesday's hearing, she addressed the court expressing remorse for her actions. Members of Gibbs' family also spoke.

"It's a tragic situation all around. The situation that occurred was a tragic accident," Brian Pakett, Nelson's attorney, said Wednesday. "It was a very emotional case on both sides."

On Tuesday, Willis issued an order requesting that the state Department of Corrections house Nelson in a South Florida facility as close to Palm Beach County as possible. She cited medical hardships for Nelson's mother and the difficulty for her to travel.

Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him atjwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter at@JuliusWhigham. Help support our work:Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: South Florida woman sentenced after fistfight turned into fatal shooting
Five transgender Kansans will be allowed to have their voices heard in a court case that will decide whether gender markers can be changed on drivers licenses.

Shawnee County District Judge Theresa Watson issued an order Friday granting a motion to intervene in the case. In the 10-page order, Watson wrote that the trans Kansans have an interest in persuading the court to interpret a law passed earlier this year that could change whether gender markers can be altered and that intervention is a matter within the courts discretion.

Sharon Brett, legal director for the ACLU of Kansas, said she was gratified by the decision.

For our clients and the entire community they represent, this case is about the privacy, dignity, and autonomy that comes from having accurate gender markers on their license, and about their right to be safe from the harassment they would face if forced to present inaccurate IDs that would essentially out them against their will in daily life, she said in a statement.

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, who opposed intervention, said the primary legal question remains the same.

Does a state agency have to follow the plain meaning of a law passed by our duly-elected legislators? With respect to the constitutional challenge raised by the ACLU, we look forward to rebutting their novel theories in court.

Kobach filed a lawsuit last month to block Democratic Gov. Laura Kellys administration from allowing transgender Kansans to continue to change their gender marker on drivers licenses after a new law took effect.

In a motion of mandamus filed in Shawnee County District Court against the Kansas Department of Revenue, Kobach, a Republican, said Kelly was unlawfully ignoring SB 180, which defines man and woman in state law based upon sex assigned at birth.

Watson issued a temporary restraining order, blocking changes on licenses from being made.

The ACLU of Kansas filed a motion to intervene in the case on behalf of five trans Kansans.

On Wednesday, Brett argued before Watson that the statutory bar for intervening in a case was low and that SB 180 conflicts with her clients constitutional rights. She said if the constitutionality of the issue was put aside in this case, another lawsuit would follow and prolong the court process. Such a delay, she said, would harm transgender Kansans.

Kansas Solicitor General Anthony Powell said the case was centered on the department of revenue fulfilling its duties to process licenses and those responsibilities do not involve private citizens. The constitutional questions that were being raised were a separate question, he said, and could be brought in a different case.

After the hearing in Topeka, which lasted just over 40 minutes, Brett said, Our goal here is to make sure that this piece of litigation which is going to fundamentally impact the constitutional rights of all transgender Kansans is not conducted devoid of the voices of the people impacted by it.

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach said the notion that peoples voices were being silenced was ridiculous.

We have stated in our briefing and in our oral argument that we absolutely will be happy to answer their constitutional claims, its just that procedurally, those should follow the determination of what the statute means, Kobach said.
One of the many abandoned cars near the shoreline of the Hawaiian island of Maui exploded, shaking the earth and blanketing the dozens of people bobbing in the ocean with a brief blast of heat.

In the chilly Pacific waters, where they had spent hours fighting against the powerful pull of tides, the wave of warmth was welcome.

We needed it, Etina Hingano said before pausing. That one time.

Etina Hingano. (Courtesy Etina Hingano)

Hingano, 54, watched from the ocean  her head and singed hand resting on a rock  as the deadliest wildfire in modern U.S. history scorched her historic hometown of Lahaina last week.

The rest of Hingano's body was submerged in the water so she would not get burned again by falling embers. Her face was caked in a layer of ash, which felt like paper when she splashed water on it.

Around her, a crying toddler clutched a strangers neck, a family of five floated on a drifting piece of plywood, an elderly woman in a wheelchair sat on a pile of rocks, two teenagers rubbed their mothers arms to keep her warm.

In the pitch-black afternoon, when only the orange of the embers pierced through the thick plumes of smoke, Hingano stopped shivering for a moment. But then the noxious fumes came, burning her throat and starving her body of the little oxygen it had.

I just remember thinking to myself, Im going to die, she said.

When wind-fueled wildfires ripped through parts of Maui last Tuesday, it gave residents and tourists seeking refuge from the flames only seconds to weigh their risks. Fearing the blaze more than open water, about 40 people scaled Lahainas seawall and plunged into the Pacific, several survivors said.

In the nine hours that they waited in roughly waist-deep water to be rescued, they battled hypothermia and lack of oxygen, as they summoned the strength to stay awake, dodge embers and avoid being swept out to sea.

The harrowing escape into the ocean, pieced together through interviews with survivors, shows the resilience of the island community and the far-reaching toll of a disaster that officials say has killed at least 111 people, as thousands of displaced residents work toward recovery and officials continue to identify remains.

A 'horseshoe of fire' closes in

No emergency sirens were activated on Lahaina. But around 4 p.m. on Aug. 8, the blaring sounds of hundreds of home smoke detectors going off all at once told Annelise Cochran there was trouble.

Within minutes, Cochran said she saw an ember the size of a small boulder shoot through the air and land in a parking lot behind her apartment complex. She put her pet bird in her car and, like many of her neighbors, she made her way toward the ocean.

Her attempt to evacuate ended at Front Street, Lahaina's business hub and main thoroughfare, which was jammed with cars  some abandoned, some with drivers as confused as Cochran.

Annelise Cochran with her mother sitting on the exact sea wall she clung to that saved her life. (Courtesy Annelise Cochran)

In the gridlock, flames threatened her from left and right. "It was like a horseshoe of fire closing in," Cochran, 30, said.

Still, she stayed in her car, where fresh air was circulating, for as long as she could. But once the building directly next to her began to smoke, Cochran bolted for the seawall, regrettably leaving her bird in the car.

In the ocean, Cochran was not alone. Her heart broke seeing the shared desperation that surrounded her.

From the moment that I got out of my car, she said, I knew that moment that some of those people would not make it.

Hingano was already there with her 80-year-old friend, Freeman Tam Lung, who had trouble walking. Tam Lung had not wanted to evacuate, but Hingano said she insisted he come with her.

Embers landed on Tam Lung's shirt as they fled, but Hingano quickly put out the flames on his back using her bare hands.

They were the first over the wall, but not for long.

"Everybody was crying," Hingano said. "I felt so bad for them."

Overnight, stronger tides and colder water

As night fell, the tides grew stronger, Hingano said. The waves hit her over her head. Twice, she said, they lifted her up and slammed her body against the rocks.

She clung to a rope that boaters use to anchor their vessels. It was the only thing that kept me from sweeping out into the ocean," she said.

Elsewhere in the sea, Noah Tomkinson, 19, repeatedly assured his 13-year-old brother, Milo, and their mother that they would be OK. Deep down, he didnt think they would be rescued.

Some of the survivors still had working cellphones, including Cochran, whose device had 16% battery life, and Noah, who video-recorded some of the ordeal. They called 911. But dispatchers told them there was currently no clear and safe path to reach them through the barrier reef at sea, and through the swarm of deserted cars on land, they said.

They couldnt get to us," Milo said. "We were just trapped in the ocean.

Those with phones waved around their flashlights to alert anyone to their location, but the tiny cluster of white lights could not contend with the fury of the wildfire. "Nobody could see them," Hingano said.

Noah began hatching plans, including the possibility of swimming out deeper to another part of the island once daylight came.

In the meantime, stomach-deep in the water, his family shivered. The brothers huddled around their mother to keep her warm, grateful to be together.

If any of us were alone," Noah said, "I dont know if we would have made it.

Nearby, hypothermia and the effects of low oxygen began to set in for Hingano and Cochran. The two held each other to stay warm, as they slipped in and out of consciousness.

Lahaina resident Annelise Cochran in Wailuku, Hawaii, Aug. 14, 2023. (Patrick T. Fallon / AFP - Getty Images)

Annelise Cochran's cuts and burns. (Patrick T. Fallon / AFP - Getty Images)

I would feel my face hit the surface of the water, and that would startle me awake," said Cochran, a maritime professional. "Every time I remembered to, I'd tap her and say, 'Etina, wake up. Wake up.' She did the same for me."

"Thats the closest she and I came to death, Cochran added.

Hingano had lost sight of Tam Lung, who she said eventually climbed back up the seawall, intent on seeing the land.

He said, 'I just want to see Lahaina one last time the way it is.' He wanted to see it while it was still Lahaina, Hingano said.

When she heard Tam Lung scream out her name, she stood up at the same time that a nearby car exploded. The force of the blast made her fall back into the water. "The fumes overtook me," she said.

It was the last time she heard his voice.

Hingano struggled to breathe, as nagging thoughts filled her mind. Could she have done something different to help him? Nearly hyperventilating, she inhaled tiny puffs of air close to the waters surface, where she said there was less smoke.

Then she felt somebody grab her shirt and lift her up. It was her former high school classmate David Pakaki.

"He said, 'Im not going to let you die today,'" Hingano recalled. He said, Take your time, just breathe.

Pakaki threw a thick plastic tarp over their heads to shield them against the embers. Every now and then, the pair had to dunk the tarp in the water to cool it down.

"The wind kept blowing the smoke straight towards us. We were breathing it in for hours," said Pakaki, 54, who was born and raised in Lahaina. "Thats why I thought I wasn't going to make it  not the fire, but the smoke."

Nine hours later, rescue and relief

Around midnight, the survivors could see the U.S. Coast Guard attempt to breach the barrier reef. Hingano said two surfers came to save two small children first. Then, around 1:30 a.m., firefighters reached the seawall.

By then, Hingano was so dizzy she fell off the wall, tumbled down the rocks, hit her head and plunged back into the ocean.

Hingano, Cochran and close to 30 others were part of the second batch of survivors to be taken to a grocery store by firetruck. From there, they were transferred by bus to Maui Preparatory Academy and then eventually to shelters.

The U.S. Coast Guard said it rescued 17 people from the water. A week after the disaster hit, its unclear how many bodies have been pulled from the sea. The agency did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

For three days after the fire, Hingano said, "all I spit out was black."

Officials have not yet identified Tam Lung as one of the fatalities of the fire, but Hingano and Cochran said they later saw him slumped against the seawall, unresponsive. They said Tam Lung was not taken in the trucks carrying survivors.

The community has been mourning Tam Lung, a lifelong Lahaina resident and father of three, who was remembered for his happy and light-hearted disposition.

He loved Lahaina with all his heart, said Aaron Kamaunu, one of Tam Lungs best friends. Everything was no worries, no worries.

Kamaunu, 61, said he called Tam Lung as he evacuated to make sure he was safe. Tam Lung laughed and assured his friend that he was fine. Then their call got disconnected.

Survivors guilt and regret over not being able to save Tam Lung have kept Hingano awake at night for more than a week. On Wednesday, she spoke to a therapist for the first time, which brought her some peace.

When she reunited with Cochran, the two cried together and needed assurance from each other that what they had experienced really happened.

I just told myself, how the hell did I survive that? Hingano said. "I didn't realize the strength of fire. I didn't realize the strength of water."

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
The Florida Legislature was widely praised this year when it passed sweeping legislation designed to supercharge construction of affordable housing by directing hundreds of millions of dollars in low-interest loans and big tax breaks to developers.

But in the early days of implementation in South Florida, the Live Local Act is running into significant roadblocks because of another, less-publicized feature of the law that went into effect July 1: Provisions that override local zoning controls on building height and density.

The idea is to allow developers to build big in exchange for setting aside apartments in mixed residential and commercial projects at lower rents for people who meet certain income criteria. The new law, touted as a bold and comprehensive attempt to tackle Floridas crippling housing crisis, requires cities and counties to approve the projects without hearings where elected officials could seek public input and discuss and vote on the proposals, even if they dramatically violate existing height and density restrictions.

Critics question whether the state law really will help people struggling the most to afford soaring apartment rents and home sale prices that became South Floridas hallmark during the pandemic. Most controversially, the Live Local Act bars local authorities from enacting rent controls as Orange County voters did last year. Housing advocates had called for such controls to calm down the frenetic Miami-Dade housing market.

Whats more, the language of the law appears intended to entice real estate developers who typically build market-rate projects to build housing, rather than give experienced affordable homebuilders new incentives to get more homes built.

In at least two local cities, Doral and Hollywood, developers have cited the new law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, in publicly floating supersized plans for high-rise residential and commercial developments that would far exceed anything around them in height, scale and density.

Oasis Doral would be a 17-acre residential and commercial project at a major intersection backing up to a pair of longstanding developments of modest two-story townhomes Villas of Amberwood surrounding a golf course called Costa del Sol.

In Hollywood along the beachfront Broadwalk, a group of motels would be replaced with an 18-story condo and apartment tower complex, a three-story beach club and restaurant facing the pedestrian promenade.

The proposals though not yet formally submitted to local officials for review and approval, have rapidly drawn heated pushback in both cities from residents, property owners and public officials. Elected officials in Doral and Hollywood are frustrated that the state law appears to render them powerless to address community concerns or to plan for the effects on established neighborhoods from the oversized scale of the contemplated new projects.

In both cities, officials say theyre applying the brakes to considering developers applications under the law for real estate projects including affordable homes  possibly in violation of the statute  while they sort out its implications and press state legislators to clarify or revise the laws zoning clauses. That official posture represents a rare public resistance to the Legislatures increasing tendency to approve developer-friendly laws that gut local zoning, environmental and tenant protections in a practice called preemption.

Weston, another city in Broward County, already has taken its own preemptive action. After the Legislature in March passed the housing bill the governor signed into law, the city commission on June 20 passed the first reading of an ordinance that would require a public hearing for development proposals involving affordable housing.

Local officials left without input in law

The money promised from the law, which earmarked $711 million in funding for various state housing programs, has yet to flow. The Florida Housing Finance Corporation, a state agency that manages the programs, has not yet released rules for competitive funding but said it will open applications Oct. 1.

But developers are already racing to figure out if they can take advantage of the zoning override provisions, consulting with land-use attorneys who have been putting out the word to recruit business, lawyers and business groups say, and approaching municipalities with preliminary development plans.

In South Florida, the Doral and Hollywood proposals are among the first to surface publicly statewide  and the first to run into what some experts say could be a wave of public opposition, as projects are submitted to counties and cities for approval.

Officials and residents say the Live Local law means they cant say no or scale back plans by a developer who wants to build towers in the middle of a warehouse district or a low-scale downtown district, no matter how disruptive or how little sense it makes. Some complain that legislative authors of the act, championed by Republican Senate President Kathleen Passidomo of Southwest Florida, did not consult with county or municipal officials or developers specializing in affordable housing, or rejected their input when it was offered.

The reaction has been especially furious in Doral.

An overflow crowd packed a confrontational townhall meeting earlier this month to grill a developer over his Live Local Act colassal construction proposal. The plan calls for five new 10- and 12-story towers with 623 new apartments and 44,000 square feet of commercial space on the traffic-clogged southwest corner of Doral Boulevard and Northwest 97th Avenue.

Audience members booed and groaned out loud as the developer, Edward Abbo of Aventura-based The Apollo Companies, tried to downplay the effect of his proposed towers on the low-scale neighborhood.

A little Brickell on a Doral corner?

Were up in arms against the size of the project, Costa del Sol association president Jim Ferguson said in an interview after the meeting. Its too high and too close to our property line, and there are traffic issues at an already congested intersection. There are no 12-story towers anywhere within a mile or two from here. So you would have a little Brickell on the corner there. Its just crazy.

Jim Ferguson, president of Costa del Sol Home Association stands on Aug. 16, 2023 in the Costa Del Sol Golf Club turf next to the property line that would be altered, if developer Edward Abbo of the Apollo Companies builds the Oasis Doral. Its a 17-acre residential and commercial project planned at the intersection of Doral Boulevard and Northwest 97th Avenue backing up to a pair of modest two-story townhomes Villas of Amberwood surrounding a golf course called Costa del Sol.

The meeting came a week after the Doral town council, reacting to increasingly angry pleas from residents, unanimously approved on first reading a six-month moratorium on accepting or processing Live Local affordable housing development applications, even after Apollos attorney, Joseph Goldstein of powerhouse law firm Holland & Knight, issued a barely veiled threat to sue the city. The council has set a second and final vote on the moratorium on Aug. 23.

Critics, including Doral Mayor Christi Fraga, say Apollos proposal would cram way too much development into a corner of Doral Boulevard and Northwest 97th Avenue never meant for it.

Abbos proposal would set aside 250 units, or 40% of the total, as workforce or affordable housing as defined by the state. That 40% portion is the threshold under the new law to override local zoning. The law applies in all commercial, industrial and mixed-use districts, but exempts areas zoned only for residential construction.

Fraga noted that, under Live Local, the Apollo development proposal provides no opportunity to Doral, as it normally would, to negotiate if a developer wants more height or density than allowed by existing zoning to ensure a project scale compatible with the surroundings. Instead, under the state law a developer can go as high as the tallest building in a one-mile radius within the local jurisdiction, and match the density of the densest allowed local zoning.

The act essentially tries to force the city to accept whatever the developer proposes, Fraga said, so long as the plan conforms to other aspects of local zoning rules, such as setbacks. Because the law also bars cities from prohibiting residential projects in industrial zones, she said it could also threatens the citys economic and employment backbone  its extensive warehouse districts. Land speculation could cause prices in warehouse districts to rise, making continued industrial use economically unfeasible.

This is an Aug. 16, 2023 aerial view of a lot, in the front, next to the Costa Del Sol Golf Club owned by developer Edward Abbo of the Apollo Companies. Abbo wants to build the Oasis Doral, a 17-acre residential and commercial project that includes affordable housing.

And putting housing in an industrial zone, Fraga said, seems questionable at best  especially if it puts people struggling to meet rent payments far from transit, work and shopping.

This is the epitome of what local preemption is, Fraga, who proposed the moratorium, said in an interview. This truly can change the characteristics of a neighborhood that can completely challenge the quality of life of our residents. It overrides measures we have in place to protect that.

My goal is not to be sued, the Doral mayor said. But I saw the uproar in the community and had to do something. My goal is to protect this community.

During the special council meeting called to consider the moratorium, Doral city attorney Valerie Vicente said planners and administrators need the time to figure out how to process Live Local applications, interpret ambiguous language in the state law and consider how best to revise the zoning code to mesh with its requirements and protect residents.

The city has been left grappling how to implement this statute, Vicente said. A lot has been left to interpretation. Its such a significant impact for the city that it has to be done in a careful manner.

In a subsequent letter to Doral officials, attorney Goldstein urged the council not to give final approval to the moratorium, which he argues would be illegal. He said the city has no choice under the new law but to approve Apollos project within 120 days of formal application.

Developer Abbo, during the townhall meeting, said hes willing to work with residents to allay their concerns, though most appeared unpersuaded.

We are not your enemy, Abbo said. Were here to work together and see how we can come up with a development that integrates well.

Removing nostalgia from Hollywood Broadwalk

The second proposal, along Hollywoods famed two-mile beachfront Broadwalk, would require demolition of nine of the resort districts modest but characteristic mid-Century motels.

The plan by Brooklyn-based real estate investors and developers Condra Property Group would replace the one- two- and three-story buildings and their 123 motel rooms with three separate structures on three blocks  the 18-story condo and apartment tower complex with ground-floor commercial, the beach club and restaurant facing the Broadwalk and an eight-story parking garage.

This is an Aug. 16, 2023 view of the properties located near the Hollywood beach Broadwalk. They could be torn down, if the city approves a proposal by developers to build an 18-story condo and apartment tower complex, a three-story beach club and restaurant facing the beach.

The residential complex would include 87 rental apartments, with an entrance separate from the condos, that meet the state definition of workforce or affordable housing. In a pre-application form filed with the city, the developers say the proposed height matches that of the city-sponsored Margaritaville Resort, and the density is less than that of Hyde Residences and Resort. Both properties sit farther south on Hollywood beach.

Condra partners Mark Drachman and Allen Konstam said they had previously proposed a 13-story hotel on property they had been assembling for several years, but the plan ran aground when Hollywood officials would not budge on their refusal to allow the developers to build higher than the current 65-foot height limit in the beach district.

Once Live Local passed, though, their attorney suggested they take advantage of its zoning override provisions, which also include a significant property-tax reduction, Drachman and Konstam said. The additional height and density allowed, along with the tax break, make the overall project financially feasible even with reduced apartment rents, they said.

We jumped on it immediately, Konstam said. Drachman added: We are able to build a beautiful building that makes sense and offer affordable housing.

Drachman said their development plan attempts to be very mindful of the Hollywood surroundings, placing the 18-story tower on the west side of their property towards A1A, with a low-rise club building facing the Broadwalk. The buildings they intend to tear down are outdated and in some cases in bad condition, they said.

This is an aerial view on Aug. 16, 2023 of properties near the Hollywood beach Broadwalk that could disappear, if the city approves a mixed-use real estate development, including an 18-story condo and apartment tower complex, a beach club and restaurant facing the beach.

The partners acknowledge that numerous neighbors and city officials are opposed to their plan, but contend local hotel workers would benefit because they could live in the apartments, though they have not yet set rent and income targets. They said they intend to submit an application to the city in September.

Its a location thats kind of a NIMBY location, Konstam said, referring to not in my backyard opponents of development. Obviously people dont want any development of any size there. People are going to have their opinions. Others are absolutely excited.

We didnt propose an 18-story building the entire block, which we could have. Our goal is not to throw a monkey wrench into everyones area. Were willing to work with the city and state to figure out this Live Local Act. We want everybody to be happy.

But opponents say the scale and size of the project would tear apart the beach districts historic low-scale fabric and pack more people and automobile traffic into narrow streets already jammed to the point of near-immobility in winter high season and holidays. The critics say it would also disrupt the resort areas hospitality economy, which relies on tourists and snowbirds.

This is going to be a disaster, that is a really bad idea, said Marie Balmaseda, manager at the Hollywood Beach Hotel, whose owners rejected overtures to buy from the Condra developers. The motel would be sandwiched between the condo complex and the parking garage. This is a very small area and its already packed. Think about it.

A few blocks down the Broadwalk, the longtime owner of the 1955 Bel Aire Motel, Craig McAdams, said the resort areas low-scale, familiar environment is what has drawn visitors to Hollywood beach from Canada and other points north for decades, including the regulars he depends on.

This is what you call a mom-and-pop, McAdams said of the motel, which has been in his family for 66 years. And so youre telling me that, at the signing of a pen, the state can change the face of Hollywood beach? So you can wipe out our laws and stick it to the residents? That aint right. Someone has to have a long-term vision for this area other than lining your own pocket.

Tourists and beachgoers walk along the Hollywood beach Broadwalk on Aug. 16, 2023. A stretch of it could be dramatically revamped, if the city approves developers plans to build an 18-story condo and apartment tower complex, a beach club and restaurant.

Disregarding coastal climate change effects

The narrow beach district stretches just two blocks between A1A and the Broadwalk. Its already prone to flooding and highly vulnerable to the rising seas and storm surge driven by climate change, Hollywood city commissioner Caryl Shuham said.

Shuham said the new law is flawed because its one-size-fits-all approach allows no provisions for such disparate local conditions and impacts, which should be left to local officials to handle. Its effect on Hollywood beach would be destructive, she said.

The idea that you would be encouraging density on barrier islands, how could they not have considered that? Shuham said. And how can you take away the publics right to weigh in?

Moreover, she said, the law encourages developers to run roughshod over the citys careful planning to foster dense but carefully scaled mixed-use redevelopment, including affordable housing, in the citys nearby downtown and along transit and transportation corridors, where its most appropriate.

Then theres the question of enforcement: The law requires developers to keep rents for units set aside under Live Local at required low levels for 30 years, but doesnt say how that will be verified, or who will take on the onerous task.

Given the doubts, Hollywood assistant city manager Raelin Storey said town officials are not ready to move on any applications under the Live Local Act until such issues are cleared up  something she said might take litigation to determine.

We are still analyzing the law and its going to take a little while. There are questions we are still sorting through, Storey said. Its going to require the courts or the state to provide clarity. Were not going to allow something to go forward without more clarity on that.

We see many of the positive elements of Live Local, including the financing and getting development to market rapidly. We need affordable housing desperately. But then there are the concerns over how development looks and the impact on the existing fabric of our community, and this does seem to throw that out the window. Its an opportunity for random development.

Critics like Shuham say the zoning override rules also risk creating considerable public backlash against the laudable goal of dramatically increasing the states supply of workforce or affordable housing.

And some question whether the substantial benefits Live Local funnels to developers will pay off in terms of truly increasing the supply of homes for those most in need of affordable housing in Florida.

The act does reverse the state and the Legislatures own longstanding practice of diverting millions of dollars in revenue earmarked for affordable housing to other uses.

Its also clearly drafted, at least in part, to aim at cities and counties that made it hard for developers to build housing in many places through zoning restrictions, including prohibitions on building residential development in commercially zoned areas, or low density limits that encourage sprawl and artificially restrict housing supply.

Pro-developer stuff couched as affordable housing

Thats, however, not generally the case in Miami-Dade or cities like Miami, which already encourage development mixing residential and commercial. Miami-Dade has enacted far-reaching rules that encourage high-density development, including workforce and low-income housing, at and around public transit stations and along transit corridors, and require municipalities to lift restrictions on high-density housing development.

Compared to the carefully calibrated county approach, one Miami-Dade official not authorized to speak to the media called the Live Local law a blunt instrument.

There is also the question of who precisely the law will help.

It targets people making up to 120% of the local area median income, with rent levels set for each location by the state Housing Finance Corp. Developers can follow that standard or offer the set-aside housing at a 10% discount off prevailing market rents, depending on which alternative results in lower rents.

In Miami-Dade County, the median income is currently set at $74,700 for a two-person household. In Broward, its $82,100. That means projects approved under the Live Local Act should be affordable to two-person households making no more than $89,640 in Miami-Dade and $98,520 in Broward.

Those numbers define so-called workforce housing, typically described as being aimed at essential workers like teachers, cops and firefighters or hospitality workers who increasingly cant afford to live near their jobs. Thats different from whats generally understood to be affordable housing, which targets residents making below the countys median income level.

Estimates compiled by Miami Homes for All, a housing advocacy group, show the local housing shortage is most severe for households making under 80% of the countys median income.

But the law doesnt help those lower-income households that advocates say are the most in need of assistance. One executive at a large affordable development firm said the zoning provisions do little to foster construction of housing affordable to people making less than the median income, which requires significant public subsidies and a complex mix of federal tax credits and financing, especially given the current high cost of construction. In fact, developers already doing subsidized affordable housing dont qualify for the property tax breaks under Live Local.

Instead, the law is geared to encouraging developers of market-rate projects to get into the workforce housing arena by offering so much profitable extra development capacity that they can afford to charge lower rents on some homes.

One partner at a major Miami law firm with a large land-use team predicted the Florida law will be attractive chiefly to developers looking to build mid-rise projects given sky-high construction, financing and insurance costs. Building above eight stories multiplies costs because of structural building-code requirements.

Attorney Anthony De Yurre, a partner at Bilzin Sumberg, said that extra floor or two of development capacity can be enough of an incentive for developers that he predicted the law will produce what its meant to  a proliferation of mixed-income projects across the state, most at a middle scale.

This will ultimately create mixed-income developments, so that developers are incentivized to include workforce housing along with market-rate housing, but not subsidized affordable housing, De Yurre said.

Some skeptics and critics, though, say they think the law will do more good for developers than for Floridians struggling with housing costs.

Its a lot of pro-developer stuff, couched as affordable housing, Hollywood commissioner Shuham said.

Said Doral mayor Fraga: I know developers have had their eyes on this bill for some time. Its a gift for them.

Jim Ferguson, president of Costa del Sol Home Association, stands on Aug. 16, 2023 in the Costa Del Sol Golf Club turf next to the property line that would be altered, if developer Edward Abbo of the Apollo Companies builds the Oasis Doral residential and commercial project at the intersection of Doral Boulevard and Northwest 97th Avenue. It would back up to a pair of longstanding developments of modest two-story townhomes Villas of Amberwood surrounding Costa del Sol Golf Club.
The Gun Violence Archive identified the victim as Takisha Best, 35, and the suspect as Darrell Rowe, 43. A GoFundMe created by Tracy Best, Takisha Best's mother, identified Rowe as her daughter's ex-boyfriend. "Takisha was a one of a kind person, very down to earth and loving," Tracy Best wrote. She said Takisha Best leaves behind twin daughters and a son.

New details have emerged about a murder-suicide that claimed the lives of a mother of three and her alleged killer.

The Gun Violence Archive identified the victim as Takisha Best, 35, and the suspect as Darrell Rowe, 43.

Around 3:15 a.m. July 29, officers with Fort Myers Police responded to the 100 block of William Street in response to reports of two rounds fired.

When they arrived, they found Takisha Best in the enclosed lanai behind the home. Authorities said she appeared unresponsive.

Officers located a bullet projectile under the outdoor table beside her body, the incident report indicates.

Witnesses at the residence said they were all "hanging out" on the back porch lanai when Rowe asked for a cigarette lighter.

They told authorities Best and Rowe began arguing, leading Rowe to ask if Takisha Best wanted to "play" with him. Rowe fired three rounds at her, witnesses said.

Witnesses reported Rowe ran out the back door after he fired the rounds. Authorities found Rowe unresponsive behind the home with a gunshot wound to the head.

Authorities pronounced him dead on scene.

She was taken to Lee Memorial Hospital where she died shortly after 4 a.m.

A GoFundMe created by Tracy Best, Takisha Best's mother, identified Rowe as her daughter's ex-boyfriend.

"Takisha was a one of a kind person, very down to earth and loving," Tracy Best wrote. She said Takisha Best leaves behind twin daughters and a son.

The fundraiser had exceeded its $10,000 goal by Friday morning.

This is at least the fourth murder-suicide in Southwest Florida this year.

Two murder-suicides in Cape Coral within a week

A March 24 incident, which happened in the 700 block of Southwest 12th Street, was at least the second instance of murder-suicide in the city in less than a week.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, Kimberley Burdick, 28, was killed by John Stern, 33, who then fatally shot himself.

Days earlier, two people died in Cape Coral following a murder-suicide at a home on the 300 block of Seventh Street on March 18, according to Cape Coral Police.

One month later, another murder-suicide in Collier County

A man and woman died last April in an apparent murder-suicide in Collier County, where deputies responded to a shooting at a shopping plaza.

The Collier County Sheriff's Office said the suspect and victim knew each other.

The sheriff's office said deputies responded at about 12:45 p.m. April 19 to the Gulf Gate Plaza parking lot at 2740 Bayshore Drive, in East Naples, where a woman had been shot. The woman died, while the man fled the as deputies responded.

A witness was performing CPR on the woman while a second witness held her head, according to the incident report.

The investigation quickly led deputies to 27th Street Southwest, in Golden Gate Estates, where they believed the suspect was located, the sheriff's office said.

The sheriff's office said the suspect, later identified as Eric Brian Jensen, 50, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on a path leading into a wooded area at the end of 27th Street Southwest.

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 Threads @tomasfrobeltran, Instagram @tomasfrobeltran, Facebook @tomasrodrigueznews and Twitter @TomasFRoBeltran.

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Fort Myers mother leaves 3 behind following July 29 murder-suicide
U.S. intelligence agencies warned private American space companies on Friday that foreign intelligence agencies are targeting the industry in efforts to steal or undermine critical technologies.

The National Counterintelligence and Security Center, the FBI and the Air Forces Office of Special Investigations, urged the industry to beware of various efforts by foreign entities to gain access to information, including through joint ventures, acquisitions, facility visits and employee recruitment.

Foreign intelligence entities (FIEs) recognize the importance of the commercial space industry to the US economy and national security, including the growing dependence of critical infrastructure on space-based assets, the agencies said in Fridays bulletin.

They see US space-related innovation and assets as potential threats as well as valuable opportunities to acquire vital technologies and expertise, they added.

While the bulletin did not specify any particular countries, an American counterintelligence official told Reuters that China and Russia are among the leading foreign intelligence threats to the industry.

The trio of agencies encouraged U.S. space companies on Friday to track peculiar incidents, establish insider threat programs, conduct due diligence on suppliers and investors, and incorporate security requirements into contracts with third parties, among other mitigation efforts.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A state juvenile-justice employee broke a 15-year-old boys arm and then slammed him into a wall, a federal grand jury has charged.

The grand jury indicted Nathaniel L. Lumpkins on Thursday.

Lumpkins faces one charge of violating the teens right under the U.S. Constitution to be free from unreasonable force, and one charge of filing a false report about the incident.

The incident reportedly happened in January 2019 at the Woodsbend Youth Development Center in West Liberty, where Lumpkins worked.

The facility was operated by the Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice, according to the indictment.

Lumpkins was trying to restrain the 15-year-old when he used unreasonable force, causing injuries that included a broken arm, the indictment charges.

The next day, Lumpkins allegedly filed a false report about the incident in an effort to obstruct the investigation.

Lumpkins claimed that the juvenile had threatened to kill staff members and was physically aggressive as Lumpkins attempted to escort him and get him to calm down.

In reality, the teen had not threatened to kill staff members and had not been aggressive toward them, the indictment alleges.

In addition, Lumpkins failed to include in the report that he used an improper control technique on the teen and then slammed his broken arm into a wall, according to the indictment.

Lumpkins had been cited internally for allegedly using excessive force against residents at the center before the January 2019 incident.

Investigators with the state Justice and Public Safety Cabinet substantiated violations by Lumpkins the same month and the case was referred to law enforcement, said Morgan Hall, communication director for the cabinet.

The cabinet fired Lumpkins in February 2019 and cooperated in the federal investigation, Hall said.

The federal charge of using excessive force is punishable by up to 10 years in prison for a conviction, with a maximum 20-year sentence on the charge of making a false report.

Woodsbend is one of six youth development centers the department operates.

Teens who have had problems live and go to school at the facilities. Other programs at the centers deal with substance abuse, anger management, parenting and independent living, according to the department.
Ronnie Goldy Jr., a former commonwealth attorney who was impeached and convicted by the state legislature earlier this year, was arrested Friday by the FBI in Morehead.

Goldy, the ex-commonwealths attorney for Bath, Menifee, Montgomery and Rowan counties, was taken into federal custody Friday morning at an address on Circle Drive, said Katie Anderson, a public affairs specialist with the FBI.

Goldy, 51, was charged with six counts of honest services wire fraud, six counts of using interstate communication to commit bribery and two counts of federal program bribery, an indictment unsealed Friday showed.

The allegations laid out in the indictment stem from a relationship Goldy had with an unnamed individual. Goldy engaged in sexual acts with the individual and solicited and accepted sexually explicit photographs and videos from the individual.

In exchange, Goldy used his office as commonwealth attorney to benefit the unnamed individual, who had pleaded guilty to multiple crimes within Goldys jurisdiction between 2015 and 2020, the indictment alleged.

On different occasions, Goldy allegedly agreed to ask for the individuals release from jail, withdrawal of arrest warrants, the postponement of a court hearing and asked a special prosecutor to sign an order releasing the individuals previously impounded property, the indictment showed.

The arrest comes months after Goldy was unanimously convicted by the state Senate in Kentuckys first impeachment trial in 135 years. His impeachment and conviction came after Goldy was accused of providing legal favors for a woman in exchange for nude photos. The conviction barred Goldy from holding future office.

Last year, a state hearing officer concluded that Goldy solicited sexually explicit photos and videos from a woman named Misty Helton after Goldy helped her in court. A former boyfriend of Heltons took screenshots of the Facebook messages between the two and provided them to a Louisville attorney.

Screenshots previously provided to the Herald-Leader showed that Goldy sent Helton gas money at one point; searched whether she had outstanding arrest warrants; said he would try to move court dates for her; and advised her on getting back her car, which had been impounded after an arrest.

Goldy will make his first appearance in federal court in Lexington at 4 p.m. Monday, a release from the U.S. Attorneys Office said.

If convicted, Goldy faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for each of the wire fraud charges. He faces up to 10 years for each of the federal program bribery charges and five years for the electronic communication bribery charges.
A former national newspaper editor has been given a suspended sentence for viewing child abuse online.

Peter Wilby, 78, who previously worked as editor of the Independent on Sunday and the New Statesman, had 167 indecent images of children on his computer, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.

When interviewed by police, Wilby admitted having viewed abuse material since the 1990s and said he had a sexual interest in children.

After working as an education correspondent for various newspapers, Wilby joined The Independent on Sunday in 1990 and went on to become its editor.

He was also the editor of the New Statesman from 1998 to 2005.

Wilby has since written various columns for publications including The Guardian, with work published as recently as November last year.

The journalist was charged with three counts of making indecent images of children, to which he later pleaded guilty, the NCA said.

Investigators said he had been accessing the material online from his home in Essex.

Wilby, pictured in 1998 - Richard Gardner/Shutterstock

At Chelmsford Crown Court on Friday he was sentenced to ten months in prison, suspended for two years, and was placed on the sex offenders register for five years.

He was also ordered to undertake 40 hours rehabilitation and was handed a ten-year sexual harm prevention order.

Adam Sprague, operations manager at the NCA, said: The material accessed by Wilby and recovered from his computer showed real children being cruelly and sexually abused.

He was viewing this content while working as the editor of prominent national news outlets, a role in which he was entrusted to form the news agenda for the British public. A trust which he has greatly betrayed.

While there is a global demand for this material, children will continue to be abused. The NCA is committed to tackling child sexual abuse in all its forms, to disrupt offenders and protect children.

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.
[Source]

The Charles Wei-hsun Fu Foundation has recently announced its plan to give a $1 million gift to San Diego State Universitys (SDSU) Center for Asian and Pacific Studies (CAPS).

Key details: Sandra Wawrytko, a faculty member at SDSU who teaches Asian philosophy at the College of Arts and Letters, was chosen to give CAPS the $1 million gift through the Charles Wei-hsun Fu Foundation, where she serves as its president.

The foundation was established in 1997 and was named after Wawrytko's husband, a scholar and educator who died in 1996. The educational nonprofit initially focused on Asian philosophy but now supports a large variety of ethnic studies.

About the gift: The endowment will reportedly generate around $40,000 annually for CAPS and help fund scholarships, events and programming.

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Its significance: For Wawrytko, the gift is "a need driven both by cultural heritage and the global economy." Around 14% of SDSU's undergraduate student body is of Asian Pacific Islander Desi American descent.

Funding SDSUs Asian Studies will also help prepare students for this globalized world, Wawrytko noted.

Longtime dedication: Ronnee Schreiber, SDSU's College of Arts and Letters interim dean, acknowledged Wawrytko in a statement, saying, As a faculty member, Sandra understands the importance of stable funding for ongoing student programming, events, and experiential learning such as study abroad. We know her transformational planned gift will eventually establish CAPS as a leading center of its kind."

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Ukraine experienced four air raid alerts across its entire territory on August 17 due to takeoffs of Russian MiG-31K fighter jets, capable of carrying the Kh-47 Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles, Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said on August 18.

Previously, the MiG-31 jets have frequently undertaken flights lasting more than an hour. This is how the fighter jets consume their fuel during training, Ihnat said.

Read also: Russians program missiles to alter route mid-flight to evade air defenses, says air force spokesman

"Yesterday, there were simply more takeoffs, probably for training flights. Aviation, particularly flight crews, requires maintaining constant flying skills. This includes takeoff and landing, transitioning to the missile launch line, and other tactical techniques specific to this type of aircraft."

The "K" modification on the MiG-31 signifies that the aircraft can carry the Kinzhal missile. Consequently, the air defense forces must respond preemptively, leading to the triggering of an air raid alert across all of Ukraine due to the missile's long-range, Ihnat said.

Read also: Eight-year-old boy killed as Russian Kinzhal missiles strike western Ukraine

At the same time, conducting training flights does not guarantee that the Russians will abstain from launching missiles, Ihnat said.

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
LEES SUMMIT, Mo. End-of-year standardized testing could soon be a thing of the past for students in four Kansas City area school districts.

On Tuesday, the Missouri State Board of Education approved school innovation waivers for the Liberty, Lees Summit, Raymore-Peculiar and Center school districts.

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Starting in the 2023-24 school year students in these districts, as well as 16 other school districts in the Success Ready Students Network (SRSN), will be exempt at the state level from taking the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) test for the next three years.

Currently, school districts that use MAP testing typically get the test results over the summer months, after a student has moved on to the next grade level.

Beginning this fall, students in these 20 districts will test multiple times throughout the school year, and the district will receive immediate feedback on results. The school districts will then use the tests scores like education benchmarks to determine what subjects students are excelling in and where they may need more help.

The change comes from a law passed by the state legislature last year that allows school districts to side-step certain education laws and apply for innovation waivers to implement their own unique strategy.

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Assessment in and of itself in terms of traditional end-of-year- assessment as compared to adaptive assessments that are leveraged over the course of the year help us meet that goal of personalizing learning, rather than shooting toward the middle. Then [it] also provides visibility for students in where theyre at, Dr. Jeremy Tucker, superintendent of Liberty Public Schools, told the board Tuesday.

Tucker said the new plan lets teachers monitor the test data and adjust their lesson plan to ensure students are getting the support they need.

Probably the most meaningful experience youll have is walking into a classroom, sitting and kneeling by a student and asking them what are you doing today? They can articulate the objective, the goal, where theyre at, how theyre meeting that, Tucker said.

Shortly after the board approved the waivers, the state released MAP test results from the spring of 2023, showing overall student performance has decreased significantly since the pandemic.

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Federal law could still require students to take the MAP test next spring, but SRSN school districts are seeking out a federal exemption waiver for that too.

The 20 participating school districts will present the state school board with a draft of an alternative assessment plan in January.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
Many French people have been keeping to the shade as high temperatures weigh on the country (JEFF PACHOUD)

France's government held a crisis meeting Thursday to discuss measures to tackle a heatwave in which temperatures could climb beyond 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) this weekend.

Senior civil servants from Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne's office as well as the interior, health, agriculture and transport ministries attended the meeting, the office told AFP.

Paris has been stepping up hot-weather protection measures this summer after the intense heat and fierce wildfires of 2022.

On Friday it will launch an information hotline and begin broadcasting public information messages on the television and radio, said Borne's office.

Seven of mainland France's 96 departments are already on alert for summer storms and intense heat, and another 12 will join them on Friday, mainly in the east and south of the country.

Over the weekend, temperatures in the regions of Languedoc and Provence in the south could rise as high as 41C, said meteorologist Christelle Robert of Meteo France.

Forecasters expect the high temperatures to continue into early next week.

- Heat dome -

A "heat dome" trapping new hot air arriving from the south is expected to form in the coming days.

Heat will spread into central and northern France as well, with temperatures of 35C forecast for Paris.

Thermometers will not begin to fall until "the middle or even the end of next week", said Meteo France.

Meteorologists have even suggested that France could see its most intense heatwave ever -- outstripping 2012's record.

The public health authority SPF said Thursday that at least 30 more deaths than normal had occurred during a July heatwave in the southeastern Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur region, on top of 80 in a first episode in June.

More than 4,800 deaths were attributed to heat in France last summer, out of 61,000 across Europe.

- Fire risk -

With the extreme heat comes an increased risk of fires breaking out.

A wildfire in France that triggered the evacuation of more than 3,000 people from holiday campsites in the Pyrenees-Orientales department bordering Spain Monday night destroyed around 500 hectares (1,200 acres).

France is not the only European country mobilising to deal with the challenges posted by extreme weather conditions.

Storms in southwest Germany late Wednesday dumped huge quantities of water and reportedly unleashed over 25,000 bolts of lightning in about an hour.

The country's biggest airport, in Frankfurt, was forced to cancel 90 flights and reroute another 23.

The huge wildfire ravaging the Spanish holiday island of Tenerife -- off the northwest coast of Africa -- has burnt through more than 2,600 hectares of land.

Wildfires have wrought havoc in several countries in southern Europe over the summer.

Researchers at the World Weather Attribution group last month reported that heatwaves in parts of Europe and North America would have been almost impossible without climate change.

bpa/jj/lcm
Speaking with reporters at City Hall in June after passing a record-breaking $1.87 billion budget, Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer was all smiles.

The budgets adoption capped a months-long process that included five public hearings, two city council meetings, and dozens of modifications made by the city councils budget subcommittee and Dyers administration.

A lot of sausage was being made in the back room, Dyer told reporters at a June 22 news conference, praising the work of the City Councils budget subcommittee.

During the final scramble to adopt the budget before the end of the fiscal year, Dyers team met with the budget subcommittee several times over eight days behind closed doors. More than 75 changes and amendments to the proposed budget emerged from those meetings totaling almost $30 million.

How those decisions were made and prioritized remains unclear because the budget subcommittee meetings were not open to the public; nor were its agendas, minutes, and attendance.

City Attorney Andrew Janz told Fresnoland that the citys budget subcommittee is a temporary, or ad hoc, committee and, therefore, exempt from the Ralph M. Brown Act, the California law requiring legislative bodies to meet publicly.

It complies with the Brown Acts narrow exception for ad hoc committees which are not required to follow the noticing and meeting rules, Janz wrote in an email to Fresnoland. That exception applies only to committees 1) comprised exclusively of less than a quorum of the Council, 2) for a discrete task, 3) whose meetings are not set by formal action, 4) which dissolves upon completion of its task.

However, Fresnoland confirmed that the budget subcommittee, which city officials assert is temporary, has met annually over the same general subject in June since at least 2019.

According to four legal experts who spoke with Fresnoland, that could make the subcommittee subject to public disclosure requirements under the Brown Act.

This is, in my view, a major Brown Act problem, said David Loy, the legal director at the First Amendment Coalition. Theyve been doing this for four or five years. Basically hashing out the budget reconciliation in secret and then sort of presenting it to the full council  the public has a right to be in that group.

A 5-year-old temporary budget subcommittee?

Loy said the Brown Act deals with whats being done in practice, regardless of city officials calling the budget subcommittee a temporary body exempt from the state law.

Additionally, The League of California Cities, which lobbies on behalf of local city governments in the Sacramento legislature, listed budget committees as an example of standing committees in its 2016 Brown Act guide: For example, if a governing body creates long-term committees on budget and finance or on public safety, those are standing committees subject to the Brown Act.

Fresnoland also reviewed the 10 largest cities in California by population  Fresno is No. 5  and found that every city with a budget committee keeps it open to the public, except Fresno. That includes Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Long Beach, Oakland, Anaheim, and Bakersfield  all with budget committees subject to the Brown Act with agendas, minutes, and attendance made public.

San Jose, Californias third largest city by population, does not have a budget committee; the citys budget reconciliation is done publicly by the entire city council, said Bonny Duong, San Joses assistant budget director.

Legal experts who spoke with Fresnoland said the subcommittees annual meetings over the same subject for five years appear to meet the criteria for a standing committee subject to the Brown Act.

It does look a lot like its a standing committee with a continuing mandate to deal with these budget issues every year, said Loy from the First Amendment Coalition. Whether it meets once a year, once a month, once a week  in my view, that looks a lot like a standing committee subject to the Brown Act.

Chris Micheli, a law professor at the McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, agreed that Fresnos budget subcommittee having continuing subject matter jurisdiction over five years would make it a standing committee in practice.

You would think the budget committee of the city council probably has continuing jurisdiction over the citys budget, Micheli told Fresnoland.

Continuing subject matter jurisdiction refers to the general subject matter being discussed. That could range from the budget to infrastructure to education, said Gunita Singh, a staff attorney at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

Fresno city clerks office launches audit to track down subcommittee records

Janz pushed back against any criticism of transparency in the City of Fresnos budget process. While he emphasized over email that the budget subcommittee is exempt from the Brown Act as a temporary ad hoc body, he refused to elaborate or answer any follow-up questions over the phone.

While Janz told Fresnoland that the subcommittee is established during the budget process and then dissolved following the passage of a budget every year since 2019, the city does not have the paperwork to prove it.

A 2004 city resolution requires filing a specific form for the Fresno City Council to create commissions, committees, and boards. However, the City Clerk is only in possession of one document used to create an old budget subcommittee in 2018, despite the city councils committee rosters listing the budget subcommittees membership in subsequent years.

Additionally, the 2023 city council committee roster includes a recommendation to make the budget subcommittee a standing committee.

City Clerk Todd Stermer on Monday confirmed his office is not in possession of formation documents for budget subcommittees formed between 2019 to 2023.

Stermer said he couldnt speculate on why his office is not in possession of the documents, so it is unclear whether the paperwork was ever filed or if it is misplaced.

The budget subcommittee is one of seven city council bodies without formation documents on file, Stermer said. Since March, a city clerk staffer has been assigned to retroactively create necessary files for active city council commissions, boards, and committees without formation documents.

That process includes going through past written communications, Stermer said, including email chains, and scanning through minutes and notes of past public meetings to identify when active city council bodies with no formation documents were first created.

Confusion on the dais about the subcommittee dissolving

In addition to formation documents not being on file, three current council members who either currently serve or recently served on the budget subcommittee all gave slightly different  and at times conflicting  answers about whether the subcommittee is dissolved and reconvened every year.

On June 26, Council President Tyler Maxwell told Fresnoland that the budget subcommittee meets with the mayors administration twice a year.

We do that in January  our mid-year review  and again during June for the budget process, Maxwell said. However, this subcommittee is trying to change that to where were meeting quarterly.

Janz told Fresnoland over email that Maxwell was later advised meeting quarterly would not be possible for an ad hoc committee since it needs to dissolve after completing its task of issuing a budget proposal recommendation.

Councilmember Miguel Arias painted a slightly different picture. He said that although the budget subcommittee meets with the mayors administration in June, only the city council leadership  typically the president and vice president  meet with city administration for a mid-year budget review come January.

Councilmember Nelson Esparza, who was city council president last year, said he couldnt recall whether the subcommittee met with the mayors administration in the middle of the fiscal year but remembered the mayors administration engaging his office regarding a midyear budget review.

Key budget discussions not held in public in Fresno

Legal experts said its unusual for a major city not to have a public budget committee. They also said convening and dissolving an ad hoc budget committee annually is uncommon.

Certainly, I think theres a question here as to whether the city is kind of calling this committee one thing and doing another thing in practice  using terminology to kind of skirt requirements that otherwise would apply in terms of public disclosure, said Julia Stein, a former land use attorney and a professor at UCLA School of Law who has frequently worked with Californias public meeting and disclosure laws.

Fresnos budget process is not entirely walled off from the public. Fresno residents have access to budget hearings and city council meetings where key topics are discussed during meetings open to the public, with recordings published online.

However, Fresno residents cannot access the budget subcommittees closed-door conversations, which play a critical role in finalizing budget decisions forwarded to the city council for approval.

I call it where the rubber meets the road, said City Councilmember Luis Chavez on the budget subcommittees key role in the budget process. The council has outlined the vision, the mayor has brought forward his recommendation, and now its time to actually reconcile those two but also make sure youre including key investments.

Chavez said he was on the budget subcommittee in 2019, 2020, and 2021 and has over a dozen years of experience at Fresno City Hall, first as a staffer and then six years as a council member. Chavez said integral to the budget process are the budget subcommittees members being mindful of the rest of the councils budget priorities.

I think thats why our budget subcommittee did a good job and took that into the back room and negotiated on behalf of the council, Chavez said, speaking to the 2023 budget subcommittee. So by the time it came back, it was pretty spot on, and there was not a lot of discussion or debate out on the dais.

Committee discussions are integral not only in budget conversations. Legal experts told Fresnoland that committees are typically responsible for doing most of the heavy lifting that goes into major policy decisions because a lot of preparatory work and decision-making goes into producing a final recommendation presented for approval.

The real work gets done in committees of a legislative body  whether its the United States Congress, the California Legislature, or your local city council or board of supervisors  its the same thing, said Micheli, the McGeorge law school professor. The real work and the real deliberations take place in committee.

Micheli added that the public deserves the right to be there at every step of the process, listen to critical discussions and provide feedback.

Its not just for the public to know what the final decision or the final action taken is. Its also important for the public to hear and be able to participate in those deliberations, Micheli said. And thats most often done in committees.
Washington  Law enforcement in Fulton County, Georgia, are investigating threats to members of the grand jury that returned the indictment against former President Donald Trump and 18 other associates after the grand jurors' personal information was shared online, the sheriff's office said Thursday.

The Fulton County Sheriff's Office is leading the effort to track down the origins of the threats and working with local, state and federal law enforcement, the agency said in a statement.

"We take this matter very seriously and are coordinating with our law enforcement partners to respond quickly to any credible threat and to ensure the safety of those individuals who carried out their civic duty," the office of Sheriff Pat Labat said.

The sweeping indictment handed up by the grand jury Monday charges Trump and 18 others over their alleged roles in a scheme to reverse the former president's loss in Georgia's 2020 presidential election. The charging document lists 41 counts in all, of which Trump faces 13 counts. The former president has denied wrongdoing and accused Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who is leading the investigation, of pursuing a politically charged "witch hunt."

While grand jury proceedings are held behind closed doors, the indictment listed the names of 26 people who made up the panel, though three of the names are crossed out. Legal experts told the Associated Press that it's standard practice for indictments in Georgia to list the names of the grand jurors without redactions because it gives the defense the opportunity to examine the panel's make-up. The names of grand jurors on the federal level and in most other states typically remain secret, making Georgia an outlier.

After the indictment was unsealed, users on social media, including far-right platforms like 4chan, began to call for violence against the grand jurors and Willis, the group Advance Democracy Inc. found. The organization, which monitored the response to Trump's indictment in Georgia, identified one post on the platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that included photos of some of the grand jury members.

The indictment against Trump in Fulton County is the fourth returned by grand juries this year. In addition to the criminal charges in Georgia, the former president is also facing federal charges in South Florida and Washington, D.C., the latter of which stem from alleged attempts to stop the transfer of presidential power after the 2020 election. Trump has also been indicted by the district attorney in Manhattan on 34 state felony counts of falsifying business records.

The former president has pleaded not guilty in the three cases, and he has yet to be arraigned in Fulton County. Trump and the 18 other defendants have until Aug. 25 to surrender to authorities and are expected to be processed at the Fulton County Jail.

His prosecution in Washington has led to threats against the judge presiding over that case, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan. A Texas woman was arrested last week after she allegedly sent a threatening and racist voicemail to Chutkan. The woman, Abigail Jo Shry, told Chutkan, in part, "You are in our sights, we want to kill you," according to the criminal complaint filed last week.

Former President Trump's phone call that led to indictment in Georgia

Hurricane Hilary, now a Category 4 storm, barrels toward Southern California

Prosecutors outline case against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried
TOPEKA, Kan.  Gov. Laura Kelly announced Friday that new federal funding will be going toward preserving the history of rural Kansas towns.

A total of $750,000 will be used to preserve historic properties in the downtown areas of Kansas rural communities with populations under 30,000, according to a press release from the Office of the Governor.

Chaotic Kansas storms could lead to major disaster declaration

Thirteen sub-grant programs across 12 states received funds through the Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grants, including the Kansas Historical Societys State Historic Preservation Office, KSNT reports.

Kansas is home to many historical and cultural sites that tell the story of our states and our nations past, Kelly said. Thanks to the National Park Service and the Kansas Historical Society, we can protect our rural communities for future generations to learn from and enjoy.

The National Park Service (NPS) disbursed more than $9 million in 2023 to support the preservation of historic buildings across the U.S. in rural communities, according to the Office of the Governor.

The Paul Bruh Historical Revitalization Grant program is one of various programs Congress appropriates funding through, including the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF). The HPF uses revenue from federal oil leases on the Outer Continental Shelf to assist a wide range of preservation projects without using tax dollars.

Kansas news: Headlines from Wichita, Topeka and around the Sunflower State

The Kansas State Historical Society is expected to schedule a grant workshop in the coming days, according to the Office of the Governor.

To be put on a notification list for more information on the available sub-grants, reach out to Cultural Resources Division Director Katrina Ringler at 785-272-8681, ext. 271 or by email at katrina.ringler@ks.gov.

More information on the sub-grant program can be found by clicking here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
Funeral services announced for beloved Lynn mother who drowned while trying to save son

Funeral services will be held next week for a beloved Lynn mother who drowned while trying to save one of her children from the water at Franconia Falls in New Hampshire.

The life of Melissa Bagley, 44, will be honored with a wake at Solimine Funeral Home on Aug. 23 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., and a funeral Mass will follow at St. John the Evangelist Church on Thursday at 10 a.m., according to Solimine Funeral Homes.

Bagley died during a family outing in the area of the East Branch of the Pemigewasset River in the White Mountain National Forest on Tuesday afternoon. She was a resident of Lynn and the wife of Everett Police Department Lt. Sean Bagley.

Lynn mother and wife of Everett police lieutenant drowns while trying to save son in New Hampshire

Melissa, her husband, and children arrived at the Lincoln Woods trailhead in Lincoln around 1 p.m. with plans to hike to Franconia Falls, according to officials. When they completed the hike, Melissas 10-year-old boy slipped and fell into one of the pools at the Falls as they prepared to go for a swim.

The child, trapped in the fast and circulating current of the pool, was unable to get out and Melissa jumped in to help. Melissa encountered trouble as well, prompting two of her other children to jump into the water.

Melissa was later found unresponsive on a rock by her husband, Sean, who performed CPR, but she was unable to be revived.

Since her tragic death, tributes have poured in, including many touching posts on Solimine Funeral Homes website.

You were such an inspiration to mothers and women alike. We will miss you so much and we know you will be a guardian Angel to your family forever, one person wrote on Melissas tribute wall.

A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family pay for funeral costs.

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

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A man accused of brandishing an AR-15-style rifle in the Cincinnati Entertainment District was indicted and arrested on terroristic threat charges after a reevaluation of the case by the El Paso District Attorney's Office and the El Paso Police Department.

Andres Gabriel Lodoza, 22, was arrested on Wednesday, Aug. 16, by the El Paso police Westside Tactical Unit after being indicted on two counts of making a terrorist threat outside the Champagne Villain bar over the weekend, police officials said.

Lodoza, of East El Paso, on Thursday was being held on a $55,000 bond at the El Paso County Jail in Downtown.

Andres Gabriel Lodoza was arrested on Wednesday after being indicted on two terroristic threat counts for allegedly brandishing a rifle on Saturday outside the Champagne Villain bar in Kern Place in West El Paso.

About 2 a.m. Saturday, Lodoza was initially arrested by quick-acting police officers and FBI agents after he allegedly parked his vehicle, pulled out a rifle and was heading to the bar in the nightlife district of the Kern Place neighborhood in West El Paso. No shots were fired.

FBI agents who were taking part in a police gang suppression operation saw Lodoza cause a disturbance at the Champagne Villain and followed him when he was seen grabbing his rifle, police said.

Police later learned Lodoza had been in an altercation with an unidentified man inside the bar and was told to leave. Lodoza claimed the man was a gang member who threatened him. Lodoza allegedly told police that he had retrieved his rifle "intending to intimidate the unidentified male," police said in a statement.

More: 'Crime never stops.' Departing El Paso FBI leader Jeffrey Downey talks of threats, closure

But following Saturday's arrest, Lodoza was only booked into jail  and released a day later  on a pair of traffic warrants after Jail Magistrate Judge Sara Priddy found no probable cause to charge him with making a terroristic threat, police officials said.

Under the Texas penal code, elements of a terroristic threat can include a threat of violence that causes a reaction from emergency officials, places a person in fear of imminent injury or interrupts the use of a building or public space.

Kern Place terroristic-threat indictment issued

The initial denial of the threat-charge caused a response in the El Paso community, which suffered a massacre inside a Walmart store four years ago and where gun violence has become a problem outside bars.

The El Paso District Attorney's Office and El Paso police investigators worked together to evaluate the Lodoza case, officials said.

El Paso police patrol the Cincinnati Entertainment District in Kern Place. File art.

Investigators from the Westside Regional Command then presented a terroristic threat case against Lodoza to the District Attorney's Office, which took the case to a grand jury, police said in a statement.

Fourth anniversary: El Paso memorial mourns 'attack against heart of our community'

On Tuesday, the grand jury returned an indictment on two counts of terroristic threat and on Wednesday the 120th Judicial District Court issued arrest warrants for Lodoza, who was then taken into custody.

Court records do not show Lodoza as having a lawyer.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso man indicted, arrested in rifle threat case outside bar
The Gadsden City Council on Tuesday officially sent an SOS to the countys legislative delegation and others over a situation that will cost the city more than $1.5 million and recently cost Etowah County more than $400,000 in sales tax refunds to Gadsden Regional Medical Center.

The council passed a resolution calling on legislators, the Alabama League of Municipalities, the Alabama Association of School Boards and the Association of County Commissions of Alabama to join forces to seek clarification of Section 40-9-30 of the state code.

It subsequently approved the transfer of $753,678.04 from the citys undesignated fund balance for an initial refund payment to GRMC, with another payment to be made in December, making the total refund for $1,507,356.08. The hospital sought reimbursement for sales taxes it paid on durable medical goods between 2016 and 2020, which it was entitled to an exemption for.

Section 40-9-30 reflects Act 2014-453, a bill passed by the Legislature in 2014. It exempts durable medical equipment and items like catheters and supplies, ostomy bags and supplies, oxygen and related supplies, prosthetic and orthotic devices and specialized wound care products from state, county and municipal sales, use and rental and leasing taxes, if they are covered by and billed to a health insurance provider or Medicaid or Medicare.

The ambiguity in the part about coverage and billing is the problem.

A Norcross, Georgia, firm, Agile Consulting Group, which advertises itself as sales tax consultants ... dedicated to protecting our customers from overspending, explains it this way on its website: Insurers do not directly acquire the covered items used by patients; hospital and surgical centers do and are reimbursed. Theres no clarity on whether that arrangement would invalidate the exemption, and no clear guidance on the documentation that a provider would need to entitle them to acquire the covered items in a tax-exempt fashion.

Agile on its website says it initiated a dialogue with the Alabama Department of Revenue in 2018 for guidance on the issue, began seeking refunds for its clients the following year and to date has garnered $1.18 million for them. (A GRMC spokesman in an email to The Times said the hospital had no connection with the company.)

The statute is poorly written, City Attorney Lee Roberts said, and in tax law, when the taxing statute is ambiguous, its interpreted in favor of the taxpayer, in this case the hospital.

Providers are seeking refunds over a 36-month lookback period, and according to the councils resolution municipalities will be financially crippled if further claims are made and exemptions filed to create a dual impact of demanding one-time refunds and decreasing sales, use, rental, and lease tax revenue from applicable medical equipment.

The resolution said council members denounce and decry the realized effect of Act 2014-453 upon the operations, budgets, and revenue streams of our municipality and that of all cities and counties throughout Alabama.

Brett Johnson, Mayor Craig Fords chief of staff, said the impact has been felt from Florence to Dothan, and in between.

Roberts said the city wants the Legislature to go back and clean up the statute so cities, school boards and counties can make their budgets knowing what kind of money is going to come in and not have to look at paying $1.5 million three years later, and see if the 2014 law is actually saving patients money, as it was intended to.

He said notation on the original legislation said the impact would be no more than $450,000, but that has proven not to be true.

He credited Ford and Johnson for getting a better deal than most, as the city wont owe interest and can make the refund to the hospital in two payments.

GRMC in an email to The Times said, We are careful stewards of resources so we can sustain access to clinical services for the community, including our most vulnerable citizens. Last year alone we provided medical care for which we were uncompensated (totaling) more than $165 million. And our hospital paid $11.8 million in property, (gross receipts taxes) and sales taxes on non-medical items in 2022.

From 2017 to 2019, the city erred in charging the hospital sales taxes (which the hospital paid) on medical devices that were exempt from sales tax under Alabama law, the statement said. We appreciate the council's vote to remedy this historical error.

The Etowah County Commission last month issued a similar refund of $411,332.34 to GRMC, and county officials cited the impact that would have on revenue for education, law enforcement and other entities that benefit from sales taxes.

Its going to be a financial hit in Gadsden as well. Ford said not only is the citys emergency fund reduced, there will be cuts in the Fiscal Year 2024 budget currently being prepared to cover the remaining tax installment, although the goal will be to spread the pain out for everyone.

Council member Jason Wilson called the situation incredibly disappointing and short-sighted" on GRMCs part, as the hospital has always been a partner and an ally to the city, and said it left a bad taste in his mouth.

He accused the hospital of trying to have its cake and eat it too by touting its financial impact with the community, then working behind the scenes with big fat cat attorneys in big cities to recoup sales tax money that is needed for education, infrastructure and public services. And he decried some of the wealthiest, most profitable businesses in America trying to get out of paying the sales taxes that every other person in this room has to pay ... on everything they have to buy every day, as health care costs continue to go through the roof.

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Gadsden must refund more than $1.5 million in sales taxes to hospital
George Santos on whether hed take a plea deal: Look, right now, no

Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) on Friday said he would not take a plea deal right now in the federal case where he faces 13 criminal charges related to alleged financial crimes.

Look, right now? No, Santos said when asked in an interview with FOX 5s Good Day New York if he would take a plea deal. Right now, Im fighting to prove my innocence, and I think thats what everybody should do.

You have the burden of proving innocence and I think you should go fight for that, he added.

Federal prosecutors allege Santos was part of three schemes, including misleading campaign donors, fraudulently receiving unemployment benefits and lying on financial disclosures. He was arrested in May and pleaded not guilty to seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds and two counts of making materially false statements to the U.S. House of Representatives.

The embattled lawmaker was released from custody while he awaits trial. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison.

Santos is accused of directing an unnamed individual to tell campaign donors their money would go towards advertisements for his campaign, while they were actually used for personal expenses  like paying off personal debts or purchasing designer clothing.

Federal prosecutors also allege Santos fraudulently received over $24,000 in unemployment benefits and made false statements to the House of Representatives in financial disclosure reports in May 2020 and September 2022 during his congressional campaigns.

The freshman lawmaker has faced scrutiny over his background and admitted in December to lying abut his education and work experience. He continued Friday to defend his embellished resume, claiming he did not post his resume on his social media or website during his campaign.

A lot of people have those insecurities, Santos said. Actually, studies show that most people lie on their resumes. Its just unfortunately, its the reality.

Santos pushed back against claims that fighting against the charges is a distraction.

Its a distraction if you dont have a legal team, I have a legal team, thats their job. My job is to work right? Im not a lawyer, Im not putting my defense, Im not going through discovery, thats my attorneys job and theyre doing that.

Both sides of the aisle have called for Santos resignation, including Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, who earlier said he will not back Santos reelection bid.

Heres how I look at it  I represent the third district of New York and I respect the speaker a whole ton, Santos said Friday. Thats his opinion. The opinion that matters at the end of the day is the people who cast their vote at the ballot box.

I want to be judged by the people who elected me, he added.

When asked if having the respect of the people he works with is important to him, the New York lawmaker said, Never, no to be quite honest.

Santoss next court date is scheduled for Sept. 7.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A man is recovering after officials say he was severely burned while working at a manufacturing plant.

Columbus Fire Chief John Shull told Channel 2 Action News on Wednesday morning crews responded to reports of a person injured at a manufacturing plant on Northside Industrial Boulevard.

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

According to the investigation, when he was shocked, the victim was working in a small space on a high platform around a lot of high voltage.

Shull said the High Angle Rescue Team was deployed to rescue the victim, who was still on the high platform.

According to Shull, while the rescue was underway, the area was still charged with high voltage.

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The victim was successfully extracted from the area and taken to a local hospital to be treated for his severe burns.

The identity, as well as the current condition of the victim, has not been released.

The investigation remains ongoing.

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IN OTHER NEWS:
After three indictments of former President Donald Trump, the fourth one in Georgia came not as a surprise but as a powerful exposition of the scope of Trumps efforts to remain in power despite losing the 2020 presidential election.

New conservative legal scholarship spells out how and why those actions  which were observed by the public over many months  disqualify Trump from serving in the presidency ever again. And our read of the Georgia indictment, as longtime lawyers ourselves, shows why and how that disqualification can be put into effect.

The key to all of this is the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which states that No person shall  hold any office, under the United States  who, having previously taken an oath  to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. Trump took that oath at his inauguration on Jan. 20, 2017.

Both Trumps Georgia indictment, and his federal indictment in Washington, D.C., cite largely public information  and some newly unearthed material  to spell out exactly how he engaged in efforts to rebel against the Constitution, and sought and gave aid and comfort to others who also did so.

Legal scholars William Baude and Michael Stokes Paulsen, conservatives themselves and members of the conservative Federalist Society, have recently published a paper declaring that under the 14th Amendment, Trumps actions render him ineligible to hold office.

We believe the Georgia indictment provides even more detail than the earlier federal one about how Trumps actions have already disqualified him from office, and shows a way to keep him off the ballot in 2024.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, center, during a news conference, Aug. 14, 2023, in Atlanta, after the release of her indictment of former President Donald Trump and 18 others. AP Photo/John Bazemore

Disqualification is automatic

Trumps supporters might argue that disqualifying him would be unfair without a trial and conviction on the Jan. 6 indictment, and perhaps the Georgia charges.

But Baude and Paulsen, using originalist interpretation  the interpretive theory of choice of the powerful Federalist Society and Trumps conservative court appointees, which gives full meaning to the actual, original text of the Constitution  demonstrate that no legal proceeding is required. They say disqualification is automatic, or whats known in the legal world as self-executing.

Recent public comments from liberal constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe and conservative jurist and former federal judge Michael Luttig  who has characterized the events before, during and since Jan. 6 as Trumps declared war on American democracy  suggest an emerging bipartisan consensus supporting Baude and Paulsen.

Backed by history

This is not a theoretical bit of technical law. This provision of the 14th Amendment was, in fact, extensively used after the Civil War to keep former Confederate leaders from serving in the federal government, without being tried or convicted of any crime.

Few former Confederates were charged with crimes associated with secession, rebellion and open war against the United States. And most were pardoned by sweeping orders issued by President Andrew Johnson.

But even though they had no relevant convictions, former Confederates were in fact barred from office in the U.S.

In December 1865, several who had neither been convicted nor been pardoned tried to claim seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. But the House clerk refused to swear them in. It took an act of Congress  the 1872 Amnesty Act  to later restore their office-holding rights.

There is no requirement in the Constitution that the disqualification be imposed by any specific process  only that it applies to people who take certain actions against the Constitution.

A path through the states

For the U.S. in 2023, we believe the most realistic avenue to enforce the 14th Amendments ban on a second Trump presidency is through state election authorities. Thats where the Georgia indictment comes in.

State election officials could themselves, or in response to a petition of a citizen of that state, refuse Trump a place on the 2024 ballot because of the automatic 14th Amendment disqualification.

Trump would certainly challenge the move in federal court. But the recent disqualification proceedings against former North Carolina Congressman Madison Cawthorn provides a road map and binding legal precedent affirming the 14th Amendment as a valid legal ground for disqualification of a candidate for federal office.

The Georgia indictment against Trump and allies exhaustively details extensive acts of lying, manipulation and threats against Georgia officials, as well as a fraudulent fake elector scheme to illegally subvert the legitimate 2020 Georgia presidential vote tally and resulting elector certification.

Trumps failure to accomplish what is tantamount to a coup in Georgia and other swing states set the stage for the violent insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021, that sought to achieve the same result  Trumps fraudulent installation to a second term.

The top of a sample Georgia ballot from 2020  will Trump be able to get on the 2024 ballot? DeKalb County, Georgia

In fact, the Georgia scheme is included in Special Counsel Jack Smiths federal indictment as one of the methods and means in aid of the larger Jan. 6 federal conspiracy against the United States.

Baude and Paulsen acknowledge that insurrection and rebellion are traditionally associated with forced or violent opposition. But we see the broader set of actions by Trump and his allies to subvert the Constitution  the Georgia vote count and fake elector scheme included  as part of a political coup d'etat. It was a rebellion.

Georgia as a bellwether

So what makes the Georgia scheme and indictment compelling for purposes of disqualifying Trump from the 2024 Georgia ballot?

There are minimally six aspects revealed in the latest indictment that we believe justify Georgia  under Section 3 of the post-Civil War Fourteenth Amendment  keeping Trump off the ballot:

The racketeering scheme was a multifaceted attempt to subvert Georgias own part of the 2020 electoral process; The officials on the receiving end of the unsuccessful racketeering scheme were elected and appointed Georgia officials.   whose actions to reject election subversion vindicated their own oaths to uphold the Constitution and laws of the United States as well as Georgias; Most of these officials were and are Republicans  including Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger, Governor Brian Kemp and former Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan; These officials will, in 2024 as in 2020, collectively determine who is qualified to be on Georgias presidential ballot; and These officials testimony, and related evidence, is at the heart of the proof of the Georgia racketeering case against Trump.

In other words, the evidence to convict Trump in the Georgia racketeering case is the same evidence, coming from the same Georgia officials, who will be involved in determining whether, under the 14th Amendment, Trump is qualified to be on the 2024 presidential ballot  or not.

Little if any additional evidence or proceedings are needed. The Georgia officials already hold that evidence, because much of it comes from them. They dont need a trial to establish what they already know.

How could Trump avoid this happening? A quick trial date in Atlanta with an acquittal on all counts might do it, but this runs counter to his strategy to delay all the pending criminal cases until after the 2024 election.

With no preelection trial, there will likely be no Trump on the 2024 Georgia ballot, and no chance for him to win Georgias 2024 electoral college votes.

Once Georgia bars him, other states may follow. That would leave Trump with no way to credibly appear on the ballot in all 50 states, giving him no chance to win the electoral votes required to claim the White House.

This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. Like this article? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

It was written by: Joseph Ferguson, Loyola University Chicago and Thomas A. Durkin, Loyola University Chicago.

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The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
The election interference case against Donald Trump in Fulton County, Ga., is moving closer to trial, and a new state oversight commission has raised concerns about political retaliation against prosecuting attorney Fani Willis. Photo by Erik S. Lesser/EPA-EFE

Aug. 17 (UPI) -- As the election interference case against Donald Trump in Fulton County, Ga., moves closer to trial, a new state oversight commission has raised concerns about political retaliation against prosecuting attorney Fani Willis.

One political expert even says there's a real possibility that the new commission could ensure that with Willis' investigation against the former president, "the whole case goes away."

The prosecuting attorneys qualifications commission was created by Georgia Senate Bill 92 in March and signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp in May. It creates an eight-person commission with the power to discipline, remove or force into retirement any district attorney or solicitors general in the state.

The commission will be made up of attorneys selected by Kemp, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and Georgia's majority-Republican House and Senate.

Sen. Randy Robertson, R-District 29, sponsored the bill in the Senate. He was asked by Democrats whether he considered or would consider allowing the minority party to be involved in choosing commission members. To both, he said, "No."

Fulton County, Ga., District Attorney Fani Willis has proposed a March 4 start date for the election interference trial against former President Donald Trump. Photo by Peter Foley/UPI

"We have it in a community near our state university where somebody who is an elected district attorney says they can choose, not based on evidence but based on how they feel and what their political leanings are, as to who they will prosecute and who they will not," Robertson said from the Senate well on March 2.

"I welcome oversight into the criminal justice system. We see riots and we see everything all over this country with people running around, saying that the justice system isn't fair and that people are able to do whatever they want to do."

News media gather as enhanced security measures are implemented outside the Fulton County Courthouse and Justice Center ahead of the grand jury indictment against former President Donald Trump for 2020 election interference in Atlanta, Ga., on Monday. Photo by Erik S. Lesser/EPA-EFE

Grounds for removal

The commission has the power to remove a district attorney for several reasons and some of those reasons are vaguely defined or potentially unlawful, according to Sen. Harold Jones II.

"This bill without a doubt is unnecessary government overreach," Jones, a Democrat, said in the Senate session.

Jones was particularly critical of the grounds for removal outlined in the bill. The first of which allows the commission to remove a district attorney for "mental or physical incapacity that interferes with the performance of duties that is likely to be permanent."

"You mean disability?" he said in shock. "We're talking about disability, which is protected under federal law and Georgia state law. You cannot do that."

The next reason for removal is "willful misconduct in office" which is not clearly defined. The same is true about "willful and persistent failure to carry out statutory duties." Conviction of a crime "involving moral turpitude," prejudicial conduct and permitting an assistant district attorney or solicitor general to commit any of the previously mentioned acts can also be grounds for removal.

Commission facing legal trouble

Four attorneys in Georgia have filed a lawsuit in Fulton County, challenging the constitutionality of Senate Bill 92. Sherry Boston, Jonathan Adams, Jared Williams and Flynn Broady filed the lawsuit in the superior court early this month, calling the bill "anti-democratic and unconstitutional."

"SB 92 will silence what the community wants. We are accountable to the voters," Broady said in a statement. "Our job is to enhance public safety and make our communities safer. If we don't do our jobs, we answer to the community, face impeachment per [Official Code of Georgia Annotated] 15-18-24 or get voted out."

Jones also noted the duplicative nature of the bill on the Senate floor, arguing that district attorneys already face oversight. The state bar association and the state legislature have the power to discipline, revoke licensing or impeach. Robertson contended that the routes available are "onerous" and that it can be intimidating for citizens to file a complaint.

"Yes, we have laws on the books that we can push toward somebody," he said. "But I can tell you from experience when the people of Chattahoochee -- when they tried the bar and they tried other avenues they found a chasm of hopelessness."

"Then somebody said to do a recall election," he continued. "Yea, spend that money. Raise that money."

Robertson referenced the case of former Chattahoochee District Attorney Mark Jones as evidence of the need for additional oversight. In 2021, Jones pleaded guilty to four counts of misconduct for allegedly attempting to convince a police officer to lie to a grand jury to secure an indictment on murder charges. He also was accused of attempting to bribe an assistant district attorney to silence a victim.

Jones received a 5-year sentence, including a year in prison. He was released in November.

Commission has 'sweeping powers'

Caren Morrison is a law professor at Georgia State University. On Friday she will be featured on an expert panel called "Balancing prosecutor accountability with protection of prosecutorial discretion" during a law conference at her school. The committee and Senate Bill 92 will be the primary topic at the conference.

"This is terrible because it gives sweeping powers to this politically appointed commission to review and discipline or remove -- based on what they consider to be a dereliction of duties," Morrison said.

The duties of a prosecutor are very broad, added Morrison, and it is impossible for them to prosecute every indictable case that reaches their desk. Though failing to do so could bring them in conflict with the new commission.

"No prosecutor's office has the resources. They have to pick and choose and they have to have enforcement priorities," she said.

These enforcement priorities are often laid out when prosecutors campaign for election. Voters then, ideally, elect a prosecutor based on those enforcement priorities. If a prosecutor says they will not prosecute petty drug offenses and will focus their efforts on violent crime, this could open them up to scrutiny from the commission.

"You can see how any policy of a district attorney that the commission disagrees with gives them absolute cover to remove them for political purposes," Morrison said.

With one lawsuit already filed, Senate Bill 92 will cost taxpayers before the commission begins taking complaints on July 1, 2024. From there, Sen. Elena Parent estimates that the commission alone will cost an excess of $1 million to operate.

At least three commission members have already been announced by Lt. Gov. Jones. District Attorney Stacey Jackson will be the chair of the hearing panel and Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney Jason Saliba and District Attorney Randy McGinley will be members of the commission's investigative panel.

"This is a tool that can be so easily misused. Maybe we will have a fantastic, fair-minded commission," Morrison said. "I think it's going to be extremely chilling to prosecutors, depending on how aggressive this commission is. My concern is that the political and ideological commitments of the commission will replace those of the individual prosecutors who have been elected by the districts they represent."

As for the implications the commission could have on Willis and the case against Trump, Morrison said, as written, the commission could get involved.

"If they can manage to kick her out of her job then potentially the whole case goes away," she said. "I'm also concerned about it in terms of the prosecutors who have made public statements that they wouldn't want to prosecute abortion providers or women who have had abortions."

On Wednesday, Willis proposed starting the trial on March 4, on the eve of Super Tuesday.

Morrison's panel will be livestreamed by GSU at 11:40 a.m. on Friday.
A classroom with empty desks. Getty Images

A Georgia school board voted to fire a teacher who read a book about gender identity to her class.

The teacher said the district is sending a "harmful message" to its students with her firing.

She is believed to be the first Georgia public school teacher to be fired over a new censorship laws.

A Georgia teacher accused a school district of sending a "harmful message" to students when its board voted to fire her after she read a book about gender identity to her fifth graders earlier this year.

"I am disappointed in the district's decision to terminate me for reading an inclusive and affirming book  one that is representative of diverse student identities," Katherine Rinderle, a now-former fifth-grade teacher at Due West Elementary School in Marietta, said in a statement after the Thursday evening school board meeting.

The book she read, "My Shadow Is Purple" by Scott Stuart, explores the idea that there are more than just two gender identities and features a non-binary character.

Rinderle continued: "The district is sending a harmful message that not all students are worthy of affirmation in being their unapologetic and authentic selves."

Rinderle said the decision was "based on intentionally vague policies" and "will result in more teachers self-censoring in fear of not knowing where the invisible line will be drawn."

"Censorship perpetuates harm and students deserve better," she said.

CNN reported that after reading the book to her class in March  which Rinderle said she got from a school book fair, according to FOX5  a parent called the principal to complain that the book was not appropriate.

The Cobb County School District claimed that Rinderle broke the district's rules on not teaching controversial subjects like gender identity, the Associated Press reported.

Rinderle was told in June that the school board intended to fire her, according to CNN, and she has been on leave for over a month, FOX5 reported.

Following a two-day hearing on the case last week, a Georgia tribunal made up of three retired teachers determined Monday that Rinderle had broken the district's rules but said she shouldn't be fired, denying the district's recommendation, according to the AP.

But the final decision came down to the school board, which on Thursday voted 4-3 along party lines to terminate Rinderle in line with the recommendations from the district and the Superintendent.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Rinderle is the first known public school teacher in Georgia to be fired over three censorship laws passed in the state last year.

Read the original article on Insider
During his speech in Munich, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz addressed the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and its supporters. The Chancellor defended support for Ukraine, including the supply of weapons.

Source: DPA, writes European Pravda

Details: Scholz gave a speech at Munich's Marienplatz square, where several hundred AfD supporters gathered to try to disrupt the event. They whistled and shouted at the words of the chancellor, and also arranged protests nearby, DPA notes.

In contrast, among the crowd in the square, many of those present greeted Scholz's words with applause, in addition, many brought Ukrainian flags with them.

Scholz began his speech by explaining Berlin's policy in response to Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine, including the supply of weapons. He said that Germany and a number of other states supporting Ukraine against this imperialist attack is justified.

Quote: "It also implies that we supply weapons," the chancellor added and stressed that along with this, NATO states are doing everything to prevent a direct escalation with Russia.

Addressing those who call for "an end to the war as soon as possible," Scholz stressed that telling Ukrainians they should just let Russia take over their country has nothing to do with peace.

Everyone who walks around the square posing as a "dove of peace" is in reality "a fallen angel from hell" who speaks the language of "Putin, the warmonger," the German chancellor said.

Auftritt Bundeskanzler Scholz auf Munchens Marienplatz pic.twitter.com/g1JAj7C35x  Stefan Leifert (@StefanLeifert) August 18, 2023

Scholz's speech is connected with the upcoming elections in the federal state of Bavaria which will be held in six weeks. His Social Democratic Party has 9-11% support, caused primarily by the failed policies of the federal government.

Most Germans are unhappy with the performance of Chancellor Olaf Scholz for the first time since he took office in 2021, according to recent polls.

Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron!
Germany has reportedly reneged on its pledge to meet NATOs defense spending target.

Citing government sources, Reuters and the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung reported that a clause pledging for Germany to spend at least 2% of its gross domestic product annually on defense was quietly removed from Finance Minister Christian Lindners draft of a new budget financing law.

The clause was deleted right before the law was passed by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz' cabinet to Parliament.

That means the Berlin government will continue its existing National Security Strategy of meeting the 2% target on average over a five-year period. Germany has come under fire by the U.S. and allies for years for failing to meet NATO in spending 2% of its gross domestic product each year on defense.

POLAND PM ACCUSES RUSSIAN WAGNER MERCENARIES OF PLAN TO 'DESTABILIZE' NATO, HOLDS URGENT MEETING ALONG BORDER

President Joe Biden chats with leaders of other alliance states on the first day of the 2023 NATO Summit on July 11, 2023, in Vilnius, Lithuania.

As reported by Suddeutsche Zeitung, Germanys Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock has opposed entering the 2% annual standard into law, going against Germanys Ministry of Defense.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

The move seemingly reversed what Scholz promised during a speech on February 27, 2022.

"From now on, we will invest more than 2% of the GDP into our defense year after year," Scholz said at the time, announcing a "Zeitenwende," or a sea change in its security and foreign policy three days after Russia invaded Ukraine.

President Biden was in Lithuania last month to attend an annual NATO summit, where Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda applauded a decision announced by Germany's defense minister, Boris Pistorius, to scale up NATO presence on the eastern flank by sending 4,000 German troops to his country on a permanent basis.

At the summit, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg  without naming Germany directly  stated "clearly that 2 percent of GDP for defense is the minimum."

"The good news is that European Allies and Canada are stepping up," Stoltenberg said in July. "This year, we have new numbers showing that they have added 8.3 percent in real terms for the defense budget. This is a record high, and that demonstrates that Allies are delivering on their commitments."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during the NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania on July 12, 2023.

GERMANY'S FOREIGN MINISTER ABANDONS PACIFIC TRIP AFTER MULTIPLE PROBLEMS WITH GOVERNMENT PLANE

Meanwhile, Israel's Defense Ministry announced Thursday that it had secured its largest-ever defense deal selling a sophisticated missile defense system to Germany for $3.5 billion after the U.S. approved the deal. Although Israel has long had close economic and military links with western European countries, the deal with Germany could draw the attention of Russia, according to the Associated Press.

Israel has maintained working relations with Russia throughout the war in Ukraine and has repeatedly rebuffed requests to sell arms to Kyiv for fear of antagonizing Moscow.

President of the Republic of Lithuania Gitanas Nauseda welcomes Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz at the Presidential Palace in Vilnius, ahead of a social dinner on the first day of the 2023 NATO Summit, on July 11, 2023.

Germany will buy the advanced defense system, coined Arrow 3, which is designed to intercept long-range ballistic missiles. Israel sought approval for the deal from the U.S. State Department, because the system was jointly developed by the two countries. Israeli defense officials said the system would extend Germanys defense capability while strengthening the U.S.-Israeli defense relationship.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the deal "historic."

"Seventy-five years ago, the Jewish people were ground to dust on the soil of Nazi Germany," Netanyahu said. "Seventy-five years later, the Jewish state gives Germany  a different Germany  the tools to defend itself."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Maremagnum/Getty Images

I went on a couple of dates with a man who I met on a dating app.

After it became obvious we were not a match, I ghosted him.

Then I started seeing his face on every billboard around town.

Most dates I'd been on as a single woman in my 30s were forgettable. And the ones that stand out in my memory do so for the wrong reasons.

Still, I was always down to give someone a chance. So when I met a man on a dating website, I found him smart and attractive. Our first meet and greet consisted of a walk along a riverfront that snaked through both of our mid-Michigan cities. It was there that I learned that he was a journalist for a local paper and acted in community theater. This seemed like a good sign. I had long aspired to be a writer, and this seemed like an important detail to have in common. Also, I was a graduate student at the time, and he seemed genuinely interested in my work as a teacher educator, whereas other men had mocked my profession.

Our second meet-up consisted of checking out the local theater fest, which also went reasonably well. But it wasn't until the third time I saw him that I considered us to be on a real date. And that's when things got weird.

I quickly realized it wasn't going to work, so I ghosted him

I was relatively new to the area and in an unfamiliar part of the city that he was excited to introduce me to. We decided to go to a local bar, and just as we'd parked the car across the street, a man bolted through the bar's doors with someone's purse. The next thing I know, my date is chasing him up the street along with a group of people who'd also bolted from the bar in pursuit of the purse-snatcher. I couldn't get back into the car because it was locked, and I was too far from home to walk, so I'd stood terrified on the side of the road waiting for him to come back  which he did about 30 minutes later. Assuming he was just trying to be a good citizen, I decided not to hold it against him.

But after a few more dates consisting of similarly odd choices  like putting on fake accents and unironically talking about other women he was interested in  I decided we were not to be. I made myself unavailable until he got the hint. Little did I know I'd not seen the last of him.

I started seeing his face everywhere

Soon after I ghosted him, he put his acting and modeling chops to work, and I started seeing his face on billboards across town. The first time this happened, I was running errands and was at a stoplight. I looked up to see his face, large as life, smiling down at me from a health insurance ad. That same ad appeared on roads and highways throughout the city, and it was impossible to avoid, especially ten years ago when people weren't yet outsourcing every task and errand.

Soon thereafter, I was perusing YouTube when the video I'd been watching cut to a local real estate commercial. he appeared again, this time on my screen, to discuss his elation about a fictional home purchase. I've logged onto the internet with a VPN ever since.

It would be about a year before he stopped appearing in odd places. And soon after that, I met my husband.

Christina Wyman is a writer and teacher living in Michigan. Her debut novel "Jawbreaker" will be available in October.

Read the original article on Insider
CDC tracking new COVID lineage BA.2.86 after it was detected in the US

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it is tracking a new lineage of the virus that causes COVID-19 after it was detected in the United States.

Named BA.2.86, the strain was first detected in Denmark on July 24 of this year, then Israel, followed by Michigan in August for a total of four cases, according to the open global genome sequencing database GISAID.

"Today we are more prepared than ever to detect and respond to changes in the COVID-19 virus," a CDC spokesperson told ABC News. "Scientists are working now to understand more about the newly identified lineage in these for cases and we will share more information as it becomes available."

MORE: Weekly COVID hospitalizations rose 14%, as numbers still lower than at other points in pandemic

According to lab data, BA.2.86 has more than 30 mutations in total, much more than other variants currently circulating.

"Based on the available evidence, we do not yet know what risks, if any, this may pose to the public's health beyond what has been seen with other currently circulating lineages," the spokesperson said.

PHOTO: A man receives a nasal swab COVID-19 test at Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Dec. 22, 2020, in Los Angeles. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

On Thursday, the World Health Organization listed BA.2.86 as a "variant under monitoring" also due to its large number of mutations.

Experts told ABC News that even though the number of cases spotted in laboratories is low, the fact that the variant has been detected on three continents suggests a high level of transmissibility and that there could be more cases out there.

"The reason that scientists are concerned, I think it's the numbers of mutations plus the fact that the four sequences were found on three continents," said Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children's Hospital. "So that does tell you that it has some level of fitness, to be able to spread and potentially escape the immune system to create infection, but we don't know the extent."

Brownstein, an ABC news contributor, said the number of mutations, particularly on the spike protein, which the virus uses to enter and infect cells indicates "features of a variant that could take off."

However, he explained that because there's been no real-world data observation done yet, there's no cause for alarm, just for continued public surveillance.

MORE: EG.5 now dominant COVID variant in US. Here's what to know

Recently, CDC data has shown COVID hospitalizations are increasing. For the week ending Aug. 5, hospitalizations rose 14.3% from 9,026 to 10,320 weekly hospitalizations.

Although a double-digit percentage increase seems scary, experts said it's important to remember hospitalizations are much lower than during other surges such as the omicron surge of winter 2021-22.

Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious diseases specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, said there is a combination of immunity from vaccines, boosters, previous infection and multiple infections that would stem any potential surge from BA.2.86 or at least lessen the severity.

"Many people won't get ill because the population has been so exposed with lots of different kinds of COVID and variants and vaccines and previous infections," he told ABC News. "So, the body's immune system has already seen a lot of the repertoire of COVID in all different angles. So, it's unlikely even if it takes off that it will result in a huge wave of illness."

PHOTO: A 3D model shows the structure of the Covid-19 virus. (STOCK IMAGE/Longhua Liao/Getty Images)

He added, "For example, if BA.2.86 came in March of 2020, it probably would be a different story, given the lack of population immunity, the repertoire of the immune response in people, then compared to now."

Until more information is learned about BA.2.864, the CDC said its "advice on protecting yourself from COVID-19 remains the same."

ABC News' Sony Salzman contributed to this report.

CDC tracking new COVID lineage BA.2.86 after it was detected in the US originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Rockford's leading business development associations are merging into a single organization they are calling the Greater Rockford Chamber of Commerce.

Business leaders have worked for several months to develop a new paradigm that combines the Rockford Chamber of Commerce, the Rockford Area Economic Development Council and the Greater Rockford Growth Partnership into a single organization.

There has been extraordinary work put forth by individuals on all three boards to discuss and debate the options best suited for our businesses and our community overall, GRGP chairman Jeff Hultman said in a news release. The merged organization will provide a consolidated and relentless focus on the value proposition to deliver ROI to members, investors and the public sector.

Hultman, the CEO and President of Illinois Bank & Trust, said previously that the merger was sparked by business leaders who were demanding better results, reduced duplication, less competition for funding from the same pool of businesses and improved community influence.

An initial attempt to better align the RAEDC and Rockford Chamber was largely a failure. The creation of the Greater Rockford Growth Partnership in January 2021 created a confusing leadership structure in which the leaders of the Chamber and RAEDC reported to a CEO, but answered to their own independent boards of directors.

More: 'We can't do it all': Rockford mayor urges business leaders to forge a new path and lead

The merger is a second attempt by the region's high-powered business interests to get what they view as better results from the business development organizations.

Under the new merger, the RAEDC and the Rockford Chamber become committees "under the umbrella of the Greater Rockford Chamber of Commerce," the release said.

The economic development committee will work to attract, retain and grow business in the region while focusing on the cultivation of primary job growth. The chamber committee will focus on leading business growth, advocating in the interests of business, and providing service and educational opportunities.

Those committees will report to the Greater Rockford Chamber of Commerce board of directors. Its job will be to manage the new organization. It will focus on community branding, talent attraction, workforce development, entrepreneurship, safety, regional education, infrastructure and public policy.

The Greater Rockford Chamber of Commerce board of directions will be comprised of an equal number of board members from all three existing boards. Those board members will then select "ex-officio board members" from the public and community sector.

The new board of directors will begin meeting within two weeks to finalize a job description and begin a nationwide search for a CEO. It is expected to have a CEO hired before the end of 2023.

RAEDC President Therese Thill announced her resignation just ahead of the merger. She will remain on the job through the end of the month.

Chamber President Caitlin Pusateri will continue in her role and eventually report to the new CEO. The new CEO will hire an economic development leader to replace Thill.

Jeff Kolkey can be reached at (815) 987-1374, via email at jkolkey@rrstar.com and on Twitter @jeffkolkey.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Rockford Chamber, RAEDC merge as the Greater Rockford Chamber of Commerce
Self-funding businessperson Perry Johnson may have just snagged a last-minute invitation to next weeks Republican debate.

And he might not be the only party crasher.

Johnson's apparent qualification came in a whirlwind, 24-hour period in which a series of polls appear to have qualified him for the first primary debate in Milwaukee, according to POLITICOs tracking of the parameters set out by the Republican National Committee.

Another candidate, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, also claimed on Friday to have made the debate, even though it is not clear he did. I am excited to announce that I have met all of the criteria to qualify for the GOPs first primary debate," Suarez's campaign announced on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter. But his announcement does not match POLITICOs analysis, and an RNC official told The Associated Press, which first reported Suarezs claims, that the committee considers Suarez short of its criteria.

Though the roster of qualified candidates has been set for weeks  eight, including former President Donald Trump, who has said hes not likely to show up  Johnson and a handful of other lower-tier candidates have been inching closer in recent days.

Getting on the debate stage is vital for long-shot campaigns, giving them a huge opportunity to capture national attention for better fundraising and polling. Qualifying for the first debate could improve a candidates odds of making a second. Campaigns are hoping for a last-second Hail Mary pass to get them there.

Adding more candidates at the last minute could upend debate strategies for the candidates already on stage. A bigger crowd of candidates could reduce the time in the spotlight for other candidates.

But who ultimately makes the stage is still up to the RNC, which in recent weeks has ignored questions asking for clarification of its rules.



The candidates who have already qualified for the first debate next week, according to POLITICOs analysis, are: Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, businessperson Vivek Ramaswamy, former Vice President Mike Pence, former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Johnson, a self-described quality guru.

Uncertainty surrounds three additional candidates: Suarez, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and former Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas).

To get on stage, candidates needed to hit two thresholds, one for donors and one for polling. The RNC required that candidates have 40,000 donors, with at least 200 in 20 different states to fulfill the donor mark. For polling, candidates needed either 1 percent in three national polls that met the RNCs methodological requirements, or 1 percent in two national polls and 1 percent in two polls from separate early states: Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.

Candidates have until Monday at 9 p.m. Eastern to qualify. Here's how close the final longshots are to qualifying:

Perry Johnson's final push

At the beginning of this week, POLITICOs analysis had Johnson qualifying in zero polls, many of which didn't even include his name. His campaign accused pollsters of rigging the RNC process by excluding him  although his campaign had claimed others had counted, which were not included in POLITICOs analysis for methodological reasons. (Pollsters, who are not paid by the national party, have chafed at being thrust into this situation  as they did eight years ago.)

But in the last 24 hours, that has all changed. A quartet of polls from two companies  national surveys from The Trafalgar Group and Victory Insights, and New Hampshire and Iowa polls from Trafalgar  each had him at 1 percent, apparently boosting him on to the debate stage.

The Trafalgar Group does not have a stellar profile within the political survey community, with many pollsters believing it has a vague methodology that makes its surveys unreliable. And Victory Insights is a little known pollster nationally.

But on their face, the surveys from these pollsters meet the methodological requirements. And both have said their recent surveys were not commissioned by a campaign.

POLITICOs decision to include  or not include  a poll in our debate analysis is not an endorsement of the veracity of any particular pollster or methodology, only a reading of the RNC debate rules.

One of the RNCs requirements is that polls not overly weight responses of any individual cohort beyond the margin of the error of the poll  a rule that campaigns and pollsters alike find vague, and could, theoretically, be used to eliminate seemingly-qualified polls.

Yet for weeks, the RNC has not responded to questions on if any particular pollster counted toward qualification  and did not do so on Friday for either Trafalgar or Victory.

Johnsons campaign also did not immediately respond to a request for comment after the release of the Trafalgar surveys about their sudden reversal of fortunes.

I look forward to sharing more about my vision for rescuing the American Dream on the Milwaukee debate stage, Johnson said in a statement touting the Victory poll.

For now, POLITICO has included these surveys in its analysis  which punches Johnsons ticket to Milwaukee, and could bring others a step closer to the stage.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and the rest

Suarez has already staked his claim to the debate stage, saying he thought those who don't make the stage should drop out. His X post did not specifically mention hitting the polling requirement. In POLITICOs analysis, he has one early state poll, 1 percent in a Fox Business poll in Iowa, and one national survey, 1 percent in a Morning Consult poll. When asked for clarification, his campaign refused to share which polls they believed earned him a spot on stage.

A super PAC that supports his candidacy, SOS America PAC, claimed last week that the Miami mayor had already met the poll requirements, citing three specific surveys that POLITICO does not include in its analysis: Suarez hitting 1 percent in national surveys from the pollsters Cygnal and Echelon Insights, and 1 percent in a rolling average from Morning Consult. The first two polls, for various reasons, do not in POLITICOs analysis meet the rules laid out by the RNC. And there is uncertainty around the rolling average around Morning Consult.

POLITICO has only included Morning Consults weekly poll release, and not the rolling average in its analysis both for practicality reasons  including the rolling average would mean the addition of dozens more polls per qualification period, giving Morning Consult immense weight  and methodological ones. However, the RNC rules do not address rolling averages, and a spokesperson for the committee has not responded to repeated questions from POLITICO on how the party will consider it in their debate qualifications.

Hurd, the former Texas congressman, could also be on the precipice. His campaign on Thursday announced that he had hit the donor threshold. And in POLITICOs tracking, he has two qualifying polls  1 percent in a University of New Hampshire poll of the Granite State and 1 percent in a late-July Morning Consult poll.

But there is uncertainty around his polling as well.

A similar argument for Morning Consults rolling average would apply to Hurd and get him over the threshold  although his campaign has not made any claims that he has qualified for the debate. And how the RNC ultimately decides to round results from a national survey from The New York Times/Siena College in July could also score him another national poll. (The RNC has similarly ignored questions on this as well.)

Hutchinson has perhaps the least confusing path to the debate stage. He has already comfortably cleared the polling threshold in POLITICOs analysis, and just needs donors. Recent fundraising solicitations for the former Arkansas governor say he is around 7,000 donors short.

Jessica Piper contributed to this report.
Russian troops struck the village of Virivka in Kherson Oblast, wounding a 17-year-old girl, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported on Aug. 18.

She was hospitalized in moderate condition with a mine-explosive injury and a leg trauma, according to Prokudin.

Around 10 houses were damaged in the attack, the official added.

Virivka lies some 30 kilometers from Beryslav on the west bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast.

Overnight on Aug. 18, a woman was injured when Russian forces targeted Kherson Oblast's settlements of Bilozerka and Dniprovske, the regional prosecutor's office wrote. The attack damaged houses, farm buildings, gas pipelines, and a local church, the prosecutors added.

Kherson and other settlements on the Kyiv-controlled west bank have been subjected to daily Russian attacks since they were liberated in November 2022.

Russian forces were pushed to the river's east bank, from where they have since been firing at the liberated territories, regularly resulting in civilian deaths and injuries.

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
BROOKHAVEN, Miss.  A Mississippi grand jury issued a report last month sharply criticizing a police department whose errors prompted a mistrial this week in the case of two white men charged in an attack on a Black FedEx driver.

Officers in the Brookhaven Police Department poorly investigate their cases, according to a Lincoln County grand jury that considered more than 60 criminal cases. The department is complacent, does not complete investigations in a timely manner, shows a lack of professionalism and has a habit of witness blaming, the grand jury said.

The July 10 report came weeks before Judge David Strong cited police errors as his reason for declaring a mistrial Thursday in the case of Gregory Case and his son, Brandon Case, who are accused of shooting at and chasing FedEx employee DMonterrio Gibson, who was delivering a package near their homes in January 2022.

Gibson, 25, was not injured in the attack. But the chase and gunfire led to complaints on social media of racism in Brookhaven, about an hours drive south of the state capital, Jackson.

Brookhaven Police Department detective Vincent Fernando, looks around the Lincoln County courtroom while testifying Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023, in Brookhaven, Miss., at the trial of two white men who are accused of chasing and shooting at a Black FedEx driver who had dropped off a package at a home. On Thursday, Aug. 18, 2023, the judge declared a mistrial in the case.

Prosecutors said they intend to set a new trial for Gregory Case and Brandon Case, who remain out on bond. The men were indicted in November on charges of attempted first-degree murder, conspiracy and shooting into the vehicle driven by Gibson. A court official said it could be months before a new trial date is available.

Strong said he made the mistrial decision because of errors by a Brookhaven Police Department detective. On Wednesday, the judge ended court early after Detective Vincent Fernando acknowledged under oath while the jury was out of the courtroom that he had not previously given prosecutors or defense attorneys a videotaped statement police had taken from Gibson.

The bottom line is, this file should have been turned over to the DAs office prior to the indictment, Strong told Fernando on Wednesday. And lo and behold, here we are on the second day of the trial and we find out something that these attorneys have been looking for for at least a week and potentially months is actually in your file.

By withholding the videotaped statement, a potentially critical element of the investigation, Fernando kept attorneys on both sides of the case in the dark.

Do you understand how the system doesnt work when that happens? Strong probed.

Yes, your honor, Fernando replied.

The judge said Fernando also improperly testified about guns found in the home of one of the men on trial and shell casings found outside the home. Defense attorneys requested the mistrial, and Strong said he had no choice but to grant it.

Fernando had testified that he has 20 years of law enforcement experience, with the past three in Brookhaven.

The legal procedure for turning over important documents can be hampered by bureaucratic disconnect, said Andre de Gruy, the state public defender for Mississippi. De Gruy, who was not involved in the case, said in an interview Friday that local prosecutors all over the state have been slow to turn over files to defense attorneys.

District attorneys all over the state tell us, Were having trouble getting files from the police department, so we cant turn it over to you, de Gruy said.

Why Fernando didnt turn over the file has vexed legal observers. If he testified that he had the videotaped statement, it would seem that he wasnt trying to hide it; he just didnt turn it over, de Gruy said.

Outside of potential consequences handed down by the police department, de Gruy said legal punishment for Fernando would be unlikely if he didnt commit perjury, a crime for which he hasnt been accused.

Brookhaven Police Department detective Vincent Fernando, looks around the Lincoln County courtroom while testifying Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023, in Brookhaven, Miss., at the trial of two white men who are accused of chasing and shooting at a Black FedEx driver who had dropped off a package at a home. On Thursday, Aug. 18, 2023, the judge declared a mistrial in the case. (Hunter Cloud/The Daily Leader via AP)

The grand jury  made up of local residents  did not name specific Brookhaven Police Department officers but wrote that investigations are not completed after the original investigator leaves the department and that the department is arresting individuals without sufficient probable cause.

The grand jury said the department has a lack of accountability, department employees gave conflicting statements of fact to the grand jury, the department does too little to train its employees and does not use technology to its advantage.

Brookhaven Police Chief Kenneth Collins did not answer the phone and did not immediately respond to voicemail messages Friday. When The Associated Press called the police department and asked for Fernando, an employee sent the call to the chiefs line.

Sharon London of Irondale, Alabama, attended the trial in Brookhaven this week, saying she wants justice for Gibson and his family because she believes her own family did not receive it after her 43-year-old sister, Bridget London Hall, was killed in Brookhaven in 2015. London said the police department never arrested anyone.

London said the Brookhaven Police Department has a breakdown in their leadership.

They do not know how to investigate cases, London said. And that's a problem. That's a problem for D'Moneterrio. That's a problem for me. And that's a problem for all the citizens here in Brookhaven, Mississippi, and they should be upset about it. And I am.

District Attorney Dee Bates was first elected in 2003 and did not run for office this year. His term expires at the end of the year. Bates said the mistrial was very frustrating to me.

But I'm certain it's frustrating to others  probably more, Bates said.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: MS grand jury cites shoddy police work at center of mistrial
A state grand jury has decided not to file criminal charges against a Hillsborough police officer who fatally shot a township resident in 2022.

The state Attorney Generals Office announced Thursday that Officer Christopher Michaels would not be charged in the death of Joshua Mathis, 19, on Jan. 9, 2022, at an apartment on Corporal Langon Way off Amwell Road, less than a mile from Hillsborough High School.

The investigation included a review of 911 calls, video footage from a Taser and several body-worn cameras, photographs, interviews of law enforcement and civilian witnesses and autopsy results.

After hearing the testimony and reviewing the evidence, the grand jury voted Monday that no criminal charges should be filed against Michaels.

According to the investigation, at approximately 6:12 p.m. Jan. 9, 2022, police officers went to the Corporal Langon Way apartment after Mathis made two 911 calls saying he had a gun and would kill anyone that came near him.

A third 911 call was made by a female resident who said Mathis had a knife in his hand.

When officers encountered Mathis inside the apartment, he was holding a knife and told officers that if they did not shoot him, he was going to charge at them in 30 seconds.

During the encounter, Mathis also took out an imitation gun from his waistband, which he threw to the floor.

More: Construction firm sues NJ after contract for Route 206 project in Hillsborough ripped up

Despite officers attempts to verbally de-escalate the situation, Mathis advanced toward the officers with the knife in his hand less than 90 seconds after officers entered the apartment.

At that point Michaels deployed his Taser, but Mathis continued to advance at the officers with the knife in his hand.

Another Hillsborough officer with a ballistics shield attempted to knock Mathis to the ground, but Mathis remained on his feet.

According to the Attorney Generals Office, Mathis was within arms length of a third officer and swinging the knife, when Michaels fired his service weapon, fatally wounding Mathis.

Although police and emergency medical personnel rendered medical aid, Mathis was pronounced deceased at the scene at 6:51 p.m.

State law requires the Attorney Generals Office to conduct investigations of a persons death that occurs during an encounter with a law enforcement officer acting in the officers official capacity or while the decedent is in custody.

The law requires that all such investigations be presented to a grand jury to determine if the evidence supports the return of an indictment against the officer or officers involved.

Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com

Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Hillsborough NJ police officer cleared in fatal shooting
The sex crime case against a Henry Clay High School teacher was sent to a grand jury Friday.

Kevin Lentz, 49, is charged with 10 counts of distributing obscene matter to a minor, seven counts of using a minor in a sexual performance (under 16) and six counts of tampering with physical evidence, according to court records. He was also recently charged with enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual contact in U.S. District Court.

Lentz and his attorney waived his right to a preliminary in Fayette District Court Friday, sending his case forward to a grand jury. The grand jury will decide whether or not to indict Lentz on the state charges he faces, which would advance his case to circuit court, where a trial could occur.

Lentz was an English teacher at Henry Clay High School and had worked for the district since 2005, Fayette County Public Schools spokesperson Dia Davidson Smith told the Herald-Leader. He was placed on leave following news of his arrest.

The victim in this case is a 9-year-old boy from New Hampshire, according to federal court documents. When the victims parent discovered the conversation, they sent a message to Lentz saying This is a 9 year olds phone. I am going to the police.

Lentz is being held at the Fayette County Detention Center on a $50,000 bond, according to jail records.
FILE - Two women hug at a memorial at the entrance to The Covenant School on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023 unveiled a sweeping list of public safety issues he wants lawmakers to address during an upcoming special session prompted by a shocking Nashville school shooting earlier this year that resulted in the deaths of three children and three adults. (AP Photo/Wade Payne, File)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)  Tennessee's GOP-dominant Legislature will return to the state Capitol on Monday months after a deadly school shooting, equipped with a long list of proposals about mental health, school resources, tougher penalties for violent criminals and more.

Almost certainly missing from the special legislative session will be any serious consideration of tightening Tennessee's relaxed gun laws.

On March 27, a shooter opened fire at a Nashville Christian elementary school and killed six people, including three young students. The tragedy contributed to a record pace for mass killings in the U.S. this year and jumpstarted a statewide campaign to pass a law to help keep firearms away from dangerous people.

Desperate families personally connected to the shooting joined with conservative religious leaders and even Republican Gov. Bill Lee in lobbying for legislation that would temporarily remove guns from people showing signs of potentially violent behavior.

We should address it, we should weigh into that, Lee told reporters this week, but conceded that the General Assembly ultimately decides what will pass.

Law enforcement officials said the 27-year-old shooter had been under a doctor's care for emotional disorder, that Audrey Hale had been planning the event for months and that the parents believed Hale should not own any weapons. But no legal steps were taken to prevent Hale from buying them, and police said they weren't aware of Hale before the attack.

In Tennessee, there are limited avenues to preventing those perceived as dangerous to themselves or others from accessing firearms  with the legal frameworks mainly allowing such efforts in domestic violence cases. Some advocates argue that The Covenant School shooting could have been avoided if Tennessee had a so-called red flag law providing for extreme risk protection orders.

In a rare move bucking his political party, Lee called for extreme risk protection orders and began attempting to woo hesitant lawmakers, alongside celebrities, religious leaders and others. He insisted his proposal was not a red flag law, a label he criticized as toxic.

The push hit immediate resistance. Many Republican lawmakers weren't on board with Lee's attempt to dismiss the red flag label, and stuck with gun rights groups opposing the change.

In the other corner, some gun control advocates said Lee's proposal isn't protective enough.

As Lee's team has noted, his plan would not allow for the use of ex parte orders  when a judge allows law enforcement to remove someones gun before the persons court appearance. Lee's office argued those orders can limit someones rights without first having a chance to be heard in court.

Behind the scenes, the state's lead investigative agency expressed concerns about leaving out ex parte orders, worrying what would happen when someone would have up to 10 days to appear before a judge while a law enforcement agency has petitioned to have their weapons removed.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's concern was spelled out in a line-by-line analysis in the spring, which was sent to Lee's office and obtained by The Associated Press in a public records request.

When Lee released his proposal late in a monthslong legislative session that ended in April, it didn't muster enough Republican support to even get a committee hearing.

Little seems to have changed since then, and Lee appears to have pivoted his messaging away from talking about his proposal to the session's broader focus  public safety  based on what lawmakers plan to consider.

That particular piece of legislation has not been picked up by sponsors but there are dozens of ideas from multiple lawmakers that we believe will make Tennessee safer, Lee said.

The GOP seems intent on toughening punishments, arguing that doing so deters criminals. Critics say more should be done to prevent attacks.

One idea proposed by GOP legislative leaders would make any threat of violence against two or more people a felony, with significantly increased penalties for threats against a school, church or government building. Currently the punishment is a misdemeanor.

So much of the conversation about this special session has centered around guns, but inanimate objects are not the problem, said Sen. Ferrell Haile, the Republican sponsoring this legislation. Violent criminals are the problem."

Other bills that could be discussed include shielding children's autopsies from the public. Supporters say the idea was pushed by families connected to The Covenant School. Republican lawmakers have also introduced legislation to increase school security, add mental health facilities, improve the states background check system, and require optional handgun courses to include instruction on proper firearm storage.

Democratic lawmakers have introduced their own bills, though Republican supermajorities will likely prevent them from advancing. Tensions remain high after Republicans expelled two Democrats in April for a gun control protest on the House floor, only to have their constituents return them to their seats as nationally-known figures.

One Democratic proposal would increase penalties for stalking if the victim was a health care provider who was targeted for providing gender-affirming or abortion care; another would make it a felony to coerce a minor to steal a firearm.

Tennesseans from all walks of life have made it clear: They want lawmakers to work together passing reforms that save childrens lives by preventing gun violence before it happens, said Senate Minority Leader Raumesh Akbari, a Memphis Democrat.
U.S. Border Patrol agents and a group of migrants were shot at Thursday morning in Clint near the U.S.-Mexico border, officials said.

Agents responded about 7 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 17, to a report of migrants, who had illegally entered the U.S., in Clint near the border, U.S. Border Patrol officials said.

As agents apprehended the group of migrants, they saw a person south of the border with a gun, officials said. The person then began shooting at the agents and migrants.

More: El Paso Border Patrol clips ninja-turtle style smuggling try in manhole tunnel

Agents immediately took cover and secured the group of migrants, officials said. No agents or migrants were injured.

FBI El Paso agents are investigating the shooting, officials said.

No further information was released.

Aaron Martinez may be reached at amartinez1@elpasotimes.com or on Twitter @AMartinezEPT.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Shots fired at US Border Patrol agents, migrants near Clint
FILE PHOTO: People shelter at a school after gangs took over their neighbourhood, in Port-au-Prince

Haiti aid groups halt operations as thousands flee gang warfare FILE PHOTO: People shelter at a school after gangs took over their neighbourhood, in Port-au-Prince

By Sarah Morland and Valentine Hilaire

(Reuters) -Haitian aid groups backed by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) are temporarily shutting down operations, including some mobile health clinics, following days of extreme violence in parts of the Caribbean nation's capital Port-au-Prince.

"In a matter of days, violence escalated dramatically in Port-au-Prince, particularly affecting neighborhoods where the IRC collaborates with local organizations to provide vital services," the aid group said on Thursday.

The IRC launched its Haiti response plan last December and works with a number of local groups around the capital, where much of the violence has taken place.

Ann Lee, co-founder of U.S.-based crisis response group CORE, which is still operating in Haiti, said many aid groups had left as costs rise, financial aid dwindles and staff operates under increasingly life-threatening conditions.

"We have a staff member who lost her daughter because she was having a seizure and couldn't get to the hospital," she said. "We have an employee whose brother was beheaded."

Lee said there was not a single member of CORE's 100-person Haiti team who did not know a victim of the violence.

Since Saturday, the United Nations estimates nearly 5,000 people have fled their homes from areas around Savages Pistaches Carrefour Feuilles, which has been besieged by the Grand Ravine gang.

In a statement, Haiti's government said police would deploy "all its forces" to restore order to Carrefour Feuilles.

Haiti's under-gunned police have struggled against heavily armed gangs who have dramatically expanded their territory since last year, with their turf wars driving mass displacements, severe food shortages, murders, kidnappings and sexual violence.

Last October, Haiti's government called for foreign security assistance but this went unanswered until Kenya stepped up last month. Many nations are wary of lending support to Prime Minister Ariel Henry's unelected government, considered by many Haitians to be corrupt.

Following a ground assessment in coming weeks, a U.N.-backed plan to send a multinational security force should go to a vote at the U.N. Security Council.

The IRC said that even where its partner organizations were working to continue providing services, roadblocks installed by warring gangs were preventing residents from accessing them.

Recalling driving around Port-au-Prince and seeing bodies line the streets, Lee said she supported a Kenyan force but this would not solve the root problems.

"The level of violence is unprecedented," she said.

(Reporting by Sarah Morland; Editing by Josie Kao and Lincoln Feast)
Cordell Barnes is missing from White County, but his truck was found in Hart County.

A mysterious missing persons case that began in White County and wades into Hart County has left authorities without answers as to the mans whereabouts.

Douglas Cordell Barnes, 36, was last seen at his home in White County on July 19, according to the missing persons flier.

A deputy spotted his Ford F-150 pickup abandoned behind a guardrail on a Hart County highway on July 21.

Barnes family reported him missing to White County officials on July 28.

A Hart County deputy returned to the pickup on July 31 and upon learning that the owner had been reported missing, an investigation began.

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Hart County sheriffs officials conducted an air and land search of the area without finding anything, Sheriff Mike Cleveland said Friday.

Later on Aug. 12, a volunteer group of more than two dozen volunteers conducted a similar search that was led by the volunteer search and rescue group Texas EquuSearch out of Dickinson, Texas.

A lot of ground was covered, but not all of it, said search group coordinator Scott Underwood of Brantley County, Ga.

There is a lot more to this, Underwood said Friday about the investigation. Underwood said there is video showing the truck traveling into South Carolina sometime before it ends up on a roadside in Hart County.

Sheriff Cleveland said investigators have no leads on where Barnes might be, whether he is missing voluntarily or if foul play is involved.

All we know for sure is his truck turned up in Hart County. Was he in the truck when it was left? Nobody knows, he said.

The truck was purposely driven behind a long guardrail along a rural road not far from Interstate 85.

You have to go around the guardrail to get to the place it was stuck. Its not like it was just pulled off the road and became stuck. That didnt happen, the sheriff said.

The truck also contained a number of belongings.

A helicopter was brought in to assist in the search of an area near where a missing man's truck was found in Hart County.

Thats all I can say about that. There was property in the truck that didnt make sense to leave, Cleveland said.

The sheriff said his investigators have been in touch with White County sheriffs investigators and there did appear to be some personal issues that Barnes was dealing with at the time.

Barnes was living with his father, while his mother currently resides in Tulsa, Okla. A GoFundMe page was set up to help finance a trip by his Oklahoma relatives to Georgia.

Anyone with information may contact Hart County deputies at (706) 376-3114 or White County deputies at (706) 865-5177.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Mysterious disappearance of man leads to searches in Hart County
Volcano Views

The Perseids  an annual meteor shower that's widely considered to be the most spectacular of them all  are in full swing. But if you haven't been able to catch the sight for yourself yet, don't worry: an incredible free live stream will let you watch the spectacular star show in real time.

The livestream, a collaboration between the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) and the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun, is being broadcasted from the Subaru Telescope at the Mauna Kea volcano in Hawaii. The 8.2-meter optical-infrared telescope sits at the mountain's summit, allowing for a crystal clear view of the heavens.

Meteor showers aren't always easy to catch. Sometimes, unfortunately, it's too cloudy for some folks to see the nighttime spectacle, and light and environmental pollution can get in the way as well. And some of us, of course  speaking for a friend  don't wake up to their alarms, or sometimes forget to set their alarms in the first place. While seeing the show in person is always the best option, it's always nice to have a backup.

Better Late Than Never

Named after the constellation Perseus, the Perseids are actually made up of bits of space debris from the Swift-Tuttle comet, a slow-moving cosmic body which, moving in a highly elliptical pattern, completes its orbit around the Sun once every 133 years. Amusingly, the annual shower actually has little to do with Perseus; it's named for the celestial cluster only because its radiant  or the point in the sky where a meteor shower appears to originate  hovers nearby the winged-horse constellation.

There are a few reasons why the Perseids are so well-regarded, the first being that it's classified as a "high rate" shower, with an average of 50 to 100 pieces of debris seen dropping through Earth's atmosphere each hour. Something to behold!

We'd also be remiss not to mention that the Perseids are known for featuring its fair share of fireballs, which are defined by NASA as "exceptionally bright meteors that are spectacular enough to be seen over a very wide area."

This has also been a particularly good year for Perseids viewing, as the Moon's brightness has only been at about ten percent, according to Space.com. And though the shower has already peaked, it'll technically run through September 1. We'd recommend you try to catch at least a hint of it before then, lest you have to wait until next year.

More on space: Scientists: Mars Is Spinning Faster, for, Uh, Some Reason
FILE - Homes consumed in recent wildfires are seen in Lahaina, Hawaii, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023. With a housing crisis that has priced out many Native Hawaiians as well as families that have been there for decades, concerns are rising that Maui could become the latest example of climate gentrification, when it becomes harder for local people to afford housing in safer areas after a climate-amped disaster. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Kim Cuevas-Reyes, a 38-year-old cellphone store owner, snuck into Lahaina last Friday to see the remnants of her home with her own eyes. She took backroads and walked. What she saw stunned her.

When you step into the house, its like an inch or two of ash. There is nothing," she said, adding that she hopes to stay and rebuild her home and destroyed business and is in touch with the insurance company.

More than 3,000 buildings in Lahaina were damaged by fire, smoke or both. Insured property losses alone already total some $3.2 billion, according to Karen Clark & Company, a prominent disaster and risk modeling firm.

With a housing crisis that has priced out many Native Hawaiians as well as families that have been there for decades, concerns are rising that the state could become the latest example of climate gentrification, when it becomes harder for local people to afford housing in safer areas after a climate-amped disaster.

It's a term Jesse Keenan, an associate professor of sustainable real estate and urban planning at Tulane University School of Architecture, first started lecturing about in 2013 after he noticed changes in housing markets following extreme weather events.

Jennifer Gray Thompson is CEO of After the Fire USA, a wildfire recovery and resiliency organization in the western U.S., and worked for Sonoma County during the destructive Tubbs Fire in October 2017. Thompson said Maui is one of the scariest opportunities for gentrification that shes seen because of the very high land values and the intense level of trauma and the people who are unscrupulous who will come in to try to take advantage of that.

Thompson predicted potential developers and investors will research who has mortgages and said Maui residents should expect cold calls. You wont be able to go to a grocery store without a flyer attached to your car, she said.

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said Wednesday his state attorney general will draft a moratorium on the sale of damaged properties in Lahaina, to protect local landowners from being victimized by opportunistic buyers as Maui rebuilds.

Thompson said she supports that wholeheartedly." But she acknowledged some people wont be able to afford to rebuild and will want to sell their land.

While one extreme weather event cannot be entirely blamed on climate change, experts say storms, fires and floods, which are becoming more damaging in a warming world, help make Hawaii one of the riskiest states in the country. Earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes, which are not related to climate change, also add to this risk.

According to an analysis of Federal Emergency Management Agency records by The Associated Press, there were as many federally declared disaster wildfires this month as in the 50 years between 1953 and 2003. Additionally, burned area in Hawaii increased more than fivefold since the 1980s, according to figures from the University of Hawaii Manoa.

Justin Tyndall, an assistant professor at the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization, explained that Hawaii is the most expensive state to rent or own a home in the U.S. by a considerable margin with a median price single family home on Maui exceeding $1 million. Even in the condominium market on Maui, the median price is close to $900,000, so theres really no affordable options throughout all out of the state, he explained.

Until now, when homeowners in Hawaii have considered climate change, Tyndall said, it's been coastal erosion, sea level rise and hurricanes, mainly. Wildfire was something that was on peoples radars. ... But obviously the extensive damage, most people didnt predict, he said. Fire needs to be taken more seriously now, he said.

Maui has stringent affordable housing requirements for new multifamily construction, Tyndall said. But the practical effect has been that very little housing gets built. So new supply is low, both for affordable housing and rentals at market rate, "which just makes housing more expensive for everyone," he said.

Tyndall said the Native Hawaiian community has been hit the hardest by the housing crisis and there has been a huge exodus due to this lack of affordable housing.

On Wednesday, the Indigenous-led NDN Collective issued a statement supporting community-led rebuilding for Lahaina, in ways that center the values, ancestral connections to land and water, and Indigenous knowledge systems of the kanaka oiwi, Native Hawaiian people.

After using the term in lectures, Keenan went on to popularize the concept of climate gentrification as a lecturer at Harvard University in 2018 and published a study that focused on Miami, where Black communities have historically lived at higher elevations because the wealthy wanted to live close to the beach. Now that seas are rising and higher ground is becoming more valuable, that's leading to disruption and displacement, Keenan said.

As with any gentrification, some people do see benefits.

If you own a home, its great  the value of your home goes up. But if youre a renter or a small business, your rent may go up to the extent that you become displaced over time, Keenan said.

With wildfires, areas that don't burn become more desirable, changing cost of living considerably. The 2018 Camp Fire in Paradise, California, was an example of this as people moved down into the Central Valley to Chico where there is far less risk of wildfire, Keenan added.

It led to massive displacement; rental costs increased significantly, a really huge shift. Everything from the school district to their transit system, he said.

Other examples are New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and various cities in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, where many people could not afford to come back.

The rebuilding of these spaces look very different from the types of communities that were living there before and what made them unique and special to begin with, said Santina Contreras, assistant professor at the University of Southern Californias Sol Price School of Public Policy.

With respect to Maui, Contreras said there are many reasons to be concerned about climate gentrification, given the islands natural beauty, history of development, high tourism demand and opportunity to build new hotels.

Not everyone finds the concept useful, though.

Katharine Mach, professor at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science, cautioned against immediately labelling a situation climate gentrification, because that makes it difficult to tease out the other factors such as decades of discrimination, racism and land use changes.

Climate change is overlaid on top of inequities in how we manage flooding or rebuild after fire, she said. You can call that climate gentrification, but you could also say its inequity in how we manage disasters in the United States.

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Associated Press writers Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas, and Seth Borenstein in Washington, D.C. contributed to this report.

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The disastrous Hawaii wildfires are focusing a spotlight on whether Congress will approve additional disaster relief funding.

Lawmakers appear open to the possibility, but any path to approval is complicated by ongoing government funding battles.

The death toll in Hawaii is sitting at 111 and expected to rise, a rare tropical storm heading for California is expected to have significant impacts and wildfires continue to rage in the Northwest. The Atlantic hurricane seasons peak is around the corner and the government is still contending with damage from previous floods, wildfires and tornados.

But funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has to make it through the House, where the slim GOP majority has been feuding for months over federal funding and spending cuts.

And resistance in the GOP to funding for Ukraine could make approving any FEMA aid tricker if the two issues remain linked.

The White House last week issued a request for what it described as three sets of critical needs for emergency funding as part of a possible stopgap funding package to avoid a government shutdown after Sept. 30.

He asked specifically for $24 billion to help Ukraine in its war with Russia and $4 billion for border security measures and to prevent fentanyl from coming across the border, in addition to $12 billion for FEMAs disaster relief fund.

That fund provides money to respond to disasters across the country  floods, hurricanes, wildfires, and beyond.

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said in a White House press briefing on Wednesday that the agency may need more funding beyond the initial $12 billion supplemental request as it re-assess needs, but said that the agency has enough funding to support ongoing response efforts.

If we dont have additional funding, it would delay some of the recovery projects and push them into next year, Criswell said.

Asked about the potential supplemental funding on Friday, Matthew Payne, FEMAs acting deputy assistant administrator of the response directorate, said the agency has enough funding to carry out its immediate rescue operations.

At this time we have sufficient resources to meet the immediate lifesaving, life-sustaining operations both in the Hawaii response and in the anticipated support that well provide to California and elsewhere across the country that have weather threats, Payne told reporters.

As of the end of July  before the wildfires broke out  FEMA estimated that it would reach a shortfall in the disaster relief fund in September. Prior reports had estimated a shortfall as soon as mid-August, Criswell previously told Congress.

We have to make sure FEMA has the tools and the resources to be able to execute support back home at Hawaii. But, quite frankly, this is going to be happening across the country. And they need the money to be able to respond to wherever disaster strikes, Rep. Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii), who represents the areas incinerated by the wildfires, said on CBSs Face the Nation.

In response to Bidens request, Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), the leaders of the Senate Appropriations Committee, released a joint statement saying that these are important priorities and that they would consult with senators on both sides of the aisle, on and off committee, to craft a bill that will pass the Senate  indicating that a supplemental funding bill could have funds to replenish the countrys disaster relief funds.

In the House, approving any kind of supplemental funding request could be a heavier lift for Republicans, who have been battling for weeks over how much to cut spending in their appropriations bills.

On a House GOP conference call on Monday, additional disaster relief funds for FEMA and any disaster aid for Hawaii did not come up, according to a source familiar with the call.

And to some lawmakers, the Ukraine aspect of the White Houses supplemental is a nonstarter.

Twelve House GOP members wrote a letter to Biden expressing their strong opposition to the Ukraine funding request. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) specifically mentioned Hawaii in the context of opposing funding for Ukraine.

FEMA is underfunded by $4 BILLION, Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) is only funded $1 per Georgian, Hawaiis Lahaina is in desperate need of help from devastating fire killing 50+ people, and America is broke, Greene wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. Biden wants to send another $24 BILLION to Ukraine. NO!!

One GOP lawmaker signaled there could be a possibility of boosting aid to FEMA if it is decoupled from the rest of the request, even as part of a continuing resolution to fund the government at current levels  a measure both House and Senate leaders are eyeing to pass before the end of the fiscal year at the end of September.

If you wanted to put in the CR an attachment just for FEMA money, that might be rational because were dealing with the United States, but Ukraine money would not belong on a CR in my opinion. Thats a separate vote, Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) told reporters on Tuesday.

But a number of conservative Republicans have expressed opposition to any continuing resolution that funds the government at current levels.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said Friday that it certainly isnt my preference to separate the FEMA funding from Ukraine aid, even if it would give FEMA funding a better chance of getting through.

We need to do both, Kaine said. I think all three of the things the President asked for are justified.

Kaine predicted that Congress would find a way to pass a supplemental package in the fall.

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) expressed support for the supplemental request in a call with reporters, invoking the situation in Hawaii.

Ive spoken to [Hawaii] Senators Schatz and Hirono about the fires, I committed to them to have the Senate do everything we could to help Hawaii, and the Biden administration has requestedadditional disaster relief funding in the supplemental, Schumer said.

Al Weaver and Mychael Schnell contributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A heart drug that combines three medications in one pill  otherwise known as a polypill  has been included in the List of Essential Medicines from the World Health Organization (WHO).

The unique polypill is designed for those who have had a prior heart attack or other heart-related event, with the goal of preventing a repeat occurrence. It took 15 years of intense study and several versions to create it.

The List of Essential Medications are those that meet the populations "priority health care needs" and can save lives, improve health and decrease suffering, according to the WHOs website.

COMBO 'POLYPILL' CUTS HEART DISEASE DEATHS, NEW STUDY FINDS

"This cardiovascular polypill could become an integral part of global strategies to prevent cardiovascular events in patients who have suffered a heart attack and who are currently already being treated with separate mono-components," said Valentin Fuster, M.D., PhD, president of Mount Sinai Heart and physician-in-chief of The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, in a news release.

"This approach has the potential to reduce the risk of recurrent disease and cardiovascular death," he added.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

A heart drug that combines three medications in one pill, known as a polypill, has been included in the List of Essential Medicines from the World Health Organization (WHO). Experts say it "has the potential to reduce the risk of recurrent disease and cardiovascular death."

WHO selects the essential drugs based on the relevance to public health, prevalence of disease, evidence of clinical efficacy and safety, and comparative costs and cost-effectiveness, according to the global health organizations website.

LEAD AND OTHER METAL CONTAMINANTS INCREASE HEART DISEASE RISK, AHA WARNS: WE NEED TO DO BETTER

"This really, I think, is a change in medicine," Fuster, who is also general director of the Spanish National Center for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC), which spearheaded the research, told Fox News Digital in an interview.

"The inclusion of this therapeutic solution in the WHO's List of Essential Medicines confirms our aim to make a positive impact in society and is an important step in our mission to bring significant and differential value to people with cardiovascular disease," Oscar Perez, chief marketing and business development officer at Ferrer, a Spain-based pharmaceutical company involved in the polypill research, said in a news release.

The World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines consists of medications that meet the populations "priority health care needs" and can save lives, improve health and decrease suffering.

The polypill contains three medications that are typically used to treat patients after they suffer their first heart attack, as Fox News Digital previously reported.

Researchers found it to be effective in preventing secondary adverse cardiovascular events in those who have previously had a cardiac event, according to the SECURE trial led by Fuster that was published in The New England Journal of Medicine in August 2022.

The polypill also reduced cardiovascular mortality by 33% among patients who had previous heart attacks, the study found.

HEART ATTACK DEATH RISK CAN DOUBLE DURING HEAT WAVES AND HIGH POLLUTION, STUDY FINDS: A PERFECT STORM

"The SECURE results showed for the first time that the cardiovascular polypill that we helped develop led to clinically relevant reductions in recurrent cardiovascular events in patients who had suffered a myocardial infarction," Fuster said in the release.

The three drugs contained in the polypill include acetylsalicylic acid, which helps thin the blood to prevent blood clots; ramipril, an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor that lowers blood pressure; and a cholesterol-lowering drug called atorvastatin, according to Fuster.

Each year in the United States, 805,000 people suffer a heart attack. Among those individuals, 200,000 previously had a cardiac event.

A patient is less likely to take the three separate pills on a daily basis, Fuster said, which increases the risk for another cardiovascular event.

The polypill helps patients remain compliant with taking the prescribed medications because it is only one pill.

Fusters research team found that the polypill was also just as effective as the separate pill regimen commonly given to patients after a heart attack.

"Adherence to treatment after an acute myocardial infarction is essential for effective secondary prevention," he told Fox News Digital.

AI HEART SCAN AIMS TO CATCH BLOCKAGES YEARS BEFORE SYMPTOMS: UNBELIEVABLE BREAKTHROUGH

"This cardiovascular polypill, as a strategy that combines three of the baseline treatments for these patients, has proven its value, because increased adherence means that patients are being treated for longer and, as a result, have a lower risk of cardiovascular events," Fuster noted in the release.

It took 15 years of intense study and several versions to develop this polypill, Fuster told Fox News Digital.

This unique polypill is designed for those who have already had a prior heart attack or other heart-related event, with the goal of preventing a repeat occurrence.

It is sold under the brand names Trinomia, Sincronium and Iltria, depending on the country.

"The 3% reduction in cardiovascular mortality demonstrates the efficacy of treatment with Trinomia compared to standard treatment," Ferrers Perez said in the report.

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The polypill is commercially available right now in 25 countries, but the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not yet cleared it for use in the U.S.

"Since our groundbreaking study was published, we have seen an increase in polypill usage across the world, and we are looking forward to having this medicine available in the United States and the rest of the countries where it is not available yet," Fuster said.

Each year in the United States, 805,000 people suffer a heart attack.

Among those individuals, 200,000 previously had a cardiac event, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Hen harriers are on the red list of protected species

Three hen harriers have disappeared from private grouse moors, a conservation charity has said.

Their satellite location tags show they vanished from moors in the Yorkshire Dales, Northumberland and Cumbria.

The birds, which can eat grouse and their chicks, went missing between 9 and 15 August, close to the start of the shooting season.

The RSPB is calling for a licensing system "to act as a meaningful deterrent to raptor crime".

Chief executive Beccy Speight said it was the first time "so many hen harriers have gone missing in such a short space of time", all on driven grouse moors.

"If these magnificent birds are ever going to have a sustainable population in England this has to stop," she said.

"Productivity from nests means nothing if the birds don't survive."

The charity said the three birds were in addition to 21 reported missing in the 12 months to April.

Hen Harriers eat small animals and birds

The numbers of red grouse are managed to be at their peak at the start of the shooting season on 12 August.

The missing birds last transmitted their locations from:

Westburnhope Moor near Hexham, in the North Pennines on 9 August

Mossdale Moor near Hawes, in the Yorkshire Dales on 11 August

Moorland at Birkdale Common near Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria on 15 August

The RSPB said nine other satellite-tagged hen harriers had vanished or been found dead near Birkdale Common since September 2020.

The birds are protected because of their low population numbers.

The charity said illegal killing was "the main factor limiting the recovery of hen harriers in the UK".

Licensing would address the problem while also "protecting the legitimate interests of those landowners who operate legally", the charity said.

It said all three incidents had been reported to the police and the National Wildlife Crime Unit.

Follow BBC North East & Cumbria on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to northeastandcumbria@bbc.co.uk.
A Texas woman has been charged with threatening to kill the federal judge overseeing Donald Trumps election interference case in Washington, D.C.

Abigail Jo Shry, 43, was charged after she left a voicemail threatening to kill U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan.

Abigail Jo Shry (left) is accused of threatening to kill U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan (right). (Photos: Mike Sington/Twitter, WSUA9 News / YouTube screenshot)

According to WUSA9 News, authorities say Shry called Judge Chutkans chambers on Aug. 5 and threatened her life. She also called the judge a slave and threatened to kill Houston-area Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee.

Related: I Got News for You, MTG: Marjorie Taylor Greene Suggests That Fani Willis Should Target Rapists, Not Trump; Social Media Says the Fulton County DA Is on the Right Path

Hey, you stupid slave Ner, said Shry before threatening, all Democrats in Washington D.C. and all people in the LGBTQ community.

You are in our sights, we want to kill you, Shry continued. If Trump doesnt get elected in 2024, we are coming to kill you, so tread lightly, bh. You will be targeted personally, publicly, your family, all of it.

CNN reports that the Alvin, Texas, native was charged with Transmission in Interstate or Foreign Commerce of any Communication Containing a Threat to Injure the Person of Another. Shry was detained by an order from a U.S. magistrate judge on Aug. 16 and will be held until her bond hearing set for Sept. 13.

Shry reportedly admitted to making the call while speaking with special agents from the Department of Homeland Security on Aug. 8. She claimed that she had no plans to carry out the threats. However, she also said, if Sheila Jackson Lee comes to Alvin, then we need to worry.

Trump supporter, Abigail Jo Shry of Alvin, Texas, has been arrested for threatening to kill Judge Tanya Chutkan. Anyone surprised this is happening? pic.twitter.com/SGUlH0PzrL  Mike Sington (@MikeSington) August 17, 2023

Trump  who was indicted for inciting the violent Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and posted IF YOU GO AFTER ME, IM COMING AFTER YOU! on Truth Social  was warned by Chutkan to stop making inflammatory posts on social media.

I caution you and your client to take special care in your public statements about this case, Chutkan said to Trump and his attorney. I will take whatever measures are necessary to safeguard the integrity of these proceedings.

Shrys call to the judge was one day after Trumps post on the conservative platform.

Trump attacked the judge on Truth Social on Aug. 13 as well as the following day by calling her highly partisan and very biased and unfair.

She obviously wants me behind bars, he added.

Chutkan was appointed to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia by former President Barack Obama in 2014. She was randomly chosen to oversee Trumps election interference case.

Shry has reportedly been charged at least four times in the past year for similar threatening behavior and spent 30 days in jail. Shry could serve up to five years in prison for the threats.

Click here to read the full story.
The wait is over! The first Wawa, the chain of gas stations and convenience stores, finally arrived in Hialeah.

Four years after the franchise expanded to South Florida, the City of Progress has its first outpost on Okeechobee Road at 2901 W. 16th Ave.

The gas station is near Pura Vida, the first large mixed residential and commercial development in Hialeah in more than 20 years.

A Wawa without gas? Popular chain opening and testing a Florida drive-thru restaurant

The store is celebrating its opening with 10 days of free coffee from Aug. 17-27 for all customers, said general manager Reniero Valdes.

During the inauguration, Valdes announced that Wawa plans to host community events at the Hialeah store.

On its first day, the store held a Hoagies for Heroes contest between members of the citys police and firefighters, competing to cook the most hoagies in three minutes.

The fire department won the $1,000 prize, which will be donated to a nonprofit organization.

Currently the Hialeah location has more than 45 employees in rotating shifts to serve the community for 24 hours, offering the traditional food offerings of hoagies, soups and coffee.

Pizza is is on the dinner menu, available in 14 or 16 inches, with various ingredients: margarita, pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms and vegetarian.

This dining option was launched in June in other establishments and will be available from 4 p.m. until 3 a.m. in all stores that are open 24 hours, like the one in Hialeah.

In addition to the Hialeah store, a Wawa opened last week in the neighboring town of Medley, at 11590 NW South River Dr., four miles away.

Wawa told el Nuevo Herald that its expansion this year will include opening 76 stores on the East Coast, 35 of them in South Florida.
(KTLA)  Hilary intensified from a tropical storm into a Category 1 hurricane in the Pacific on Thursday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Satellite and radar show the storm continues to be on a track to reach Southern California later this weekend as a tropical storm or possibly stronger.

Im not saying this will be a Category 1 Hurricane, but its going to be awfully close when it arrives in Southern California on late Sunday into Monday, KTLA meteorologist Henry DiCarlo said.

A Category 1 hurricane reaching Southern California would be extremely rare. A hurricane is believed to have hit the San Diego area in 1858.

Tropical storm watches were issued Thursday for the southern portion of Baja California Sur, the Hurricane Center stated in its forecast.

Hilary is forecast to reach Category 3 status at some point Saturday before likely arriving in Southern California as a tropical storm late Sunday or Monday.

Mother drowns trying to save son at a popular waterfall, turning family outing grim

The storm is forecast to drop several inches of rain on the Southland, especially in the desert areas where 5 or 6 inches of rain could fall.

When it moves onshore, its going to bring a lot of rain. Not just for the desert areas but for all of us here in Southern California, DiCarlo said.

Nearly 2 inches of rain are expected to fall across the majority of the Southland, according to the National Weather Service.

Damaging winds and areas of flash flooding are also possible.

High surf between 4 to 7 feet will crash along the southeast and south-facing beaches, according to a tweet from the NWS.

Residents on Catalina Island could be most vulnerable, the tweet stated.

The last powerful tropical storm to hit Southern California arrived more than 80 years ago in September 1939.

The storm came ashore near San Pedro, bringing large waves and heavy rain.

The majority of damage struck the Belmont Shore area in Long Beach, where some homes were washed out to sea. Forty-eight people were killed in that storm.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
Some of Hollywoods biggest stars gathered in New York City to celebrate Robert De Niros 80th birthday on Thursday (17 August).

The legendary actors family and close friends got together for an intimate dinner in the city, with Paul McCartney and his wife Nancy Shevell, film director Francis Ford Coppola, American-Italian film director Martin Scorsese, and actor Alec Baldwin, reportedly in attendance.

George Lucas, Pulp Fiction actor Christopher Walken and civil rights activist Al Sharpton also joined, People reports, along with former governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, Uma Thurman and her father, Robert Thurman, Leslie Bibb, Sam Rockwell, and Christopher Walken.

Earlier this year, De Niro, announced the birth of his seventh child, while promoting his latest comedy film, About My Father.

The revelation was made during an interview with ET Canada, after journalist Brittnee Blair remarked: I know you have six kids.

Seven, actually, De Niro replied. I just had a baby.

During an episode of CBS Mornings, Gayle King revealed new details that DeNiro had shared with her about his newborn, including her name and the first photo of her shared with the public.

(Getty Images)

King went on to present the photo of the baby, who has black hair and was wearing a light pink onesie.

She then revealed that the child was born on 6 April and that her full name is Gia Virginia Chen-De Niro.

King said that De Niro and Chen were over the moon about the newest addition to their family.

According to King, she had asked De Niro if his new baby was planned, to which he responded yes, and added that both he and his partner wanted her.

She emphasised how psyched and excited De Niro was about having another child.

De Niro has six other children from previous relationships, including his daughter Drena, 51, with his first wife Diahnne Abbott, and son Raphael, 46.

He welcomed his twins, Julian and Aaron, 27, with ex-girlfriend Toukie Smith in 1995. He also shares his 25-year-old son, Elliot, and 11-year-old daughter, Helen Grace, with ex-wife Grace Hightower.
A proposal to create more housing in Sacramento must succeed if the city ever hopes to solve the pervasive issues of homelessness that daily affects every resident  yet it may be two votes short of passing at the full city council.

The Sacramento Forward proposal would put a fundraising measure on the 2024 ballot, extend the Tenant Protection Program, implement support programs such as emergency rent assistance and increase developer fees. Among other housing and tenant protection goals, it would also adopt the Sacramento Opportunity to Purchase Act, which would require any tenant building listed for sale to be sold to the tenant or eligible community group if they can meet the initial listing price.

Opinion

The proposal is already supported by the Northern California Carpenters Regional Council, the Sacramento Community Land Trust, the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment and SEIU 1021, and it recently gained the support of City Councilmembers Caity Maple, Katie Valenzuela and Mayor Pro Tem Mai Vang at last Tuesdays Law and Legislation Committee meeting.

Councilmembers Lisa Kaplan and Eric Guerra, however, raised concerns regarding the proposal. Guerra said it would disincentivize developers from choosing to build in Sacramento and Kaplan agreed. Developers and real estate agents argued with the committee, saying that if developer fees go up, they will stop building affordable housing in Sacramento and move their business to the suburbs.

I say if Elk Grove and Roseville want predatory development, let them have it.

Per usual, the fight comes down to how much money local developers can bilk out of a project: Developers in Sacramento only pay $3 per square foot into the citys affordable housing fund, while developers in San Jose pay $43; in Portland, its $27; and in San Diego, its $25. What Sacramentos new developer fee might be is yet to be decided, but at the current charge of $3 per square foot, its a small wonder theres thousands of homeless people and not enough affordable housing in this city.

The California Apartment Association went on record with The Bee calling the proposal a litany of bad ideas, but its patently clear theyre grasping to a waning influence in a city that is 52% majority renters, according to the latest numbers from the city.

How is it a bad idea to make a percentage of all new units affordable for low- and very-low-income households? How is it a bad idea to provide tenants free legal assistance to fight eviction cases or reduce the number of annual rent increases allowed? Its only a bad idea if your goal is to protect the encroaching, predatory practices that landlords, builders and developers have enjoyed for far too long, creating the extensive housing problem Sacramento finds itself mired in today.

The city of Sacramento  and, specifically, Councilmembers Guerra and Kaplan  cannot allow themselves to be swayed by the foot-stamping, petulant demands of wealthy developers. Yet both Guerra and Kaplan have accepted tens of thousands of dollars in campaign donations from both the California Apartment Association and California Association of Realtors, making their votes on this topic highly suspect.

A lack of affordable housing is where homelessness starts.

To avoid worsening that crisis, this city must encourage affordable housing developments that middle-class and low-income Sacramentans can buy, and protect the basic rights of every renter and tenant. The very same Sacramento residents who are hired to build these overpriced communities  the trades workers  are underpaid and thus priced out of their own neighborhoods. Some have already wound up living on the streets, socially demonized and left to rot as the city and county struggle to provide even basic services. No worker should have to build a housing development if they cant afford to buy a home there.

The mayor should agendize this issue regardless of its vote in committee, allowable under rules his office pushed through earlier this year. Then, the full Sacramento City Council must approve this proposal. We must begin to take the hard steps of saying no to the wrong kind of development, even if it means saying no to potential investments.

Maybe that means less money now for the city and for our elected leaders political campaigns, but its the only recipe for a healthy, housed community.
People rest at the Victoria Harbour during sunset in Hong Kong

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Hong Kong's democratic principles, freedoms and autonomy continued to erode in 2022, despite China's obligation to protect them, the European Commission said in an annual report.

Hong Kong returned from British to Chinese rule in 1997 with the guarantee its freedoms would be protected under a "one country, two systems" formula for at least 50 years.

Critics say those freedoms have weakened swiftly, especially after the introduction of a national security law in 2020, months after sometimes violent anti-government and anti-China street protests.

The Commission, the European Union's executive arm, has issued annual reports on the situation in Hong Kong since the 1997 handover.

"2022 saw the continuing erosion of Hong Kongs high degree of autonomy and of rights and freedoms that were meant to be protected until at least 2047," the Commission said.

"These developments cast further doubt on China's commitment to the 'one country, two systems' principle," it said.

"The year was also marked by the far-reaching implementation of the national security law. Trials of pro-democracy activists and politicians continued to intensify," the report said.

Many people in Hong Kong are awaiting trial, including 47 pro-democracy activists who participated in a primary election, members of the now-disbanded Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, media tycoon Jimmy Lai and others.

"Many of them have been held in custody since January 2021, in some cases in solitary confinement. The colonial-era sedition law was repeatedly used in national security cases," the Commission said.

China and the Hong Kong government have repeatedly defended the security law, saying it has succeeded in restoring law and order.

(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski; Editing by Nick Macfie)
Dozens of hateful, anti-Semitic fliers were found in a pair of Kirkland neighborhoods recently.

Neighbors found Ziploc bags filled with vulgar fliers and weighed down with rice and beans on their doorsteps, walkways, and sidewalks. Although those who live in both areas are rattled, they say thats what makes it so important for them to take a stand.

We have to speak out against this, Kirkland resident David Thielsen said. Everyone in the community needs to take a stand and speak what is right and this is not right.

Thielsen found a several fliers in the South Rose Hill neighborhood.

It was horrifying, Kirkland resident David Thielsen told KIRO 7. I picked it up as trash and I glanced at it and saw what it was -- it was a horrific, anti-Semitic statement.

To think that a child could pick something like that up, not only is it horrific; its just plain vulgar, he added

This is part of a larger trend that Anti-Defamation League Regional Director Miri Cypers says is becoming far too common among a handful of groups.

White supremacists or extremist groups will use propaganda to spread their messages of vitriol, conspiracy theories and hate, and they often do it to weigh down the message in different areas, she told KIRO 7.

In this instance, she believes that the group responsible has been doing this across the country.

This is a group that is fiercely anti-Semitic, she described. They peddle in conspiracy theories and ideologym and they ultimately want to see a society in which Jewish people arent welcome and arent here.

Cypers says the best way to combat this hate is to report it and speak out against it.

Call it out talk about it for what it is, she said. Its intolerant, it impacts people in the community, it makes people feel unsafe, and I would say take action.

Cypers also tells KIRO 7 that Kirkland Police have been made aware of the situation and have been very supportive.
The House Judiciary Committee is escalating its probe into Biden administration efforts to address disinformation, issuing subpoenas to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray.

To develop effective legislation, such as the possible enactment of new statutory limits on the Executive Branchs ability to work with social media platforms and other companies to restrict the circulation of content and deplatform users, the Committee on the Judiciary must first understand the nature of this collusion and coercion, Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) wrote in the letters.

The Justice Department immediately pushed back on the heart of the committee investigation.

The Department, including the FBI, does not censor content on social media platforms, the Justice Department said in a statement.

Private companies have the sole authority to make decisions to protect their platforms and users. As with all the committees various requests, the department remains committed to working with the Committee to fulfill their informational needs.

The probe stems from a lawsuit led by the states of Missouri and Louisiana challenging the governments coordination with Big Tech companies over disinformation.

The Justice Department argues that the effort ended more than a year ago and did not undermine free speech. The choice of whether to remove any dangerous misinformation they flagged was ultimately up to the companies themselves, they said.

Attorney General Merrick Garland

Attorney General Merrick Garland announces the appointment of David C. Weiss, the U.S. attorney in Delaware, as Special Counsel in Hunter Biden Inquiry at the Justice Department in Washington D.C., on August 11, 2023.

A Louisiana judge barred any government communications with social media companies for the purpose of urging, encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner the removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected free speech.

However that decision was swiftly enjoined by a higher court after the Department of Justice (DOJ) challenged the sweeping ruling.

Still, the case has become a clarion call for conservatives, particularly on the Judiciary Committee, which frequently accuses the department of weaponization against right-leaning viewpoints.

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The subpoena reiterates a request from an April letter requesting all communications with social media companies under the Biden administration.

It also asks for any emails dealing with alleged misinformation, disinformation, or malinformation, as well as a list of all employees responsible for FBI and DOJ policies on the matter.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) slammed Donald Trump for attacking the criminal justice system, telling the former president if youre innocent, start acting like it.

The Colorado Republican appeared on CNN Thursday evening to discuss Trumps legal predicament and the 2024 presidential race.

Trump has continually attacked those involved in his four felony indictments. Many have since been targeted by violent rhetoric and threats. In Georgia, authorities are investigating threats against grand jurors who voted to indict Trump and 18 others in a racketeering case over their push to overturn the 2020 election.

Buck, a lawyer, said the threats against grand jurors, who are just doing their civic duty, showing up and doing their job as Americans, is despicable.

And if youre innocent, start acting like it, he continued. I cant think of anything worse than trying to attack the criminal justice system because youre a criminal defendant, and I think thats just terrible of any defendant to go through that process.

Buck, who voted against impeaching Trump for the Jan. 6 insurrection, earlier this week criticized the Georgia indictment as going too far, likening it to a nuclear bomb, where a bullet would have been appropriate. He also called Trumps four indictments a targeted piling on.

On CNN, he expressed optimism that the Republican Party will survive this, touting the GOPs strong message when it comes to running against Joe Bidens record.

And I think that other candidates are going to be able to step up and really assume that mantle, Buck added, citing former Vice President Mike Pence and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Trump leads DeSantis, his nearest rival for the Republican nomination, by nearly 40 points in polls, according to RealClearPolitics.

Watch the interview below.

Related...
Howard University is implementing new safety measures after a brawl left several students injured, including one that was hospitalized after being stabbed. A group of around 50 young people, dubbed a fight club by school and city officials, swarmed areas surrounding campus on Sunday morning.

I was prepared to die, one student told NBC Washington. When I was on the ground getting stomped out, I just stopped feeling the pain at one point.

Students said they started being kicked and punched by a large group of people. They were able to escape but some of their friends got left behind, including the student who was stabbed.

He got stabbed in the back and he got just beat on by like 30 people, him by himself, and security looked at him on the ground, watched his body go limp, and just walked away. Didnt call anybody, didnt do anything, a student told the news outlet.

The man who was stabbed is an architecture student at Howard. He is reportedly out of the hospital and home with his family, according to The Washington Post.

The incident ocurred at a restaurent near campus and in areas surrounding residence halls. A student group addressed the assaults, pointing out that campus police did not respond the situation after students asked for help.

A private security officer hired by Howard Uniersity, as well as a campus police officer were suspended pending an internal investigation, Monica Lewis, a spokeswoman for the university, said, according to The Washington Post.

We certainly apologize for any failings in the universitys initial response and certainly will do better on behalf of our students, our faculty and staff to make sure we are keeping everyone as safe as we possibly can, Anthony Wutoh, the universitys provost, said in a virtual town hall.

Howard University plans to install about 1,000 more additional cameras on campus, as well as card readers to control access to university buildings. Campus police officers will now be required to wear a body camera.

Scenes at the Public Safety Fair there's still time to learn more with @HowardPolice and our campus partners pic.twitter.com/lON772lZux  Howard University (@HowardU) August 17, 2023

The university hosted a campus safety event, which included self-defense lessons, on Thursday. Bison Week events for new student are being held inside rather than on the Yard for safety reasons.

Students can also contact campus security by dialing 202-806-1100, and are being handed out devices to call for help. Howard University is also encouraging students to contact counseling services for mental health support.

In the wake of recent events, remember you're not alone. Our counselors at Howard University are here to support you. Reach out to University Counseling Service for help. Learn more here: https://t.co/YAZw97mghA   Howard University (@HowardU) August 17, 2023

The incident prompted Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to implement a curfew in the District of Columbia for individuals 17 and under starting Sept. 1.

Washington, D.C., is having a tough time right now, Howard University Police Chief Marcus Lyles said, according to The Washington Post. There are too many guns on the street, too many juveniles that are conducting violent crimes.

The city passed emergency public safety legislation to combat rising crime earlier this summer.

The incident comes a year after Howard University received multiple bomb threats and Black fraternities and sororities were vandalized.
A rendering shows plans for a renovated kitchen area, co-working and conference space at the Howell Area Chamber of Commerce

HOWELL  Howell Area Chamber of Commerce Chamber officials are in the midst of creating of a new co-working space and business support hub.

Building renovations are underway at the chamber building at 123 E. Washington St. in Howell.

An "innovation center and business hub" in the building will feature co-working spaces, individual suites, and a high-tech conference room.

"The Innovation Center and Business Hub is multifaceted and will work to bridge business and educational resources by providing a space for businesses to connect, grow and learn," Chamber President Janelle Best told The Daily in an email.

"Through this space, businesses and entrepreneurs can grow and prosper in the Livingston County region."

The space will be available for use by chamber members and non-members alike. Chamber officials are expected to release information on pricing soon.

Chamber members, Best said, will receive "significant discounts," and the chamber is offering limited introductory rates to members for the first six months once the space is open.

The center will provide space to work and collaborate, educational and training opportunities, and access to tools and support for businesses and entrepreneurs.

"The major portions of the renovation include opening the kitchen area and the main portion of the building to be utilized as co-working space," Best wrote in the email.

Building upgrades, which will include new flooring, paint, and lighting, have begun already. The renovation is expected to be completed this fall.

A rendering shows renovation plans at the Howell Area Chamber of Commerce, including new co-working and conference spaces

The chamber started planning for the innovation center in 2020, after collecting feedback from more than 60 businesses and community stakeholders.

"Through strategic focus group sessions, we learned that there was a need for services and opportunities such as a business innovation/support hub," Best said. "Through the pandemic, people changed the way they work and we saw an increased need to support them through connection, resources, community, tools, technology, and space."

Chamber officials are also looking to expand their programming with various training opportunities in areas such as resilience, soft skills, leadership, succession planning, and growing a business.

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"Future phases of the project include building out the basement and hiring a full-time workforce development coordinator to support and act as a liaison for curriculum development (employer lead), community connection and investment, and collaboration," Best said.

"Having a business Innovation center and HUB at the heart of Livingston County positions our county as a leader in providing business support services and can be utilized as a tool to drive economic development. The Howell Chamber has a strong pulse on the current needs of our local, state, and national businesses and is the ideal partner to drive innovation in the new business climate and will positively and directly impact workforce, economic development, and support business."

 Contact reporter Jennifer Eberbach at jeberbach@livingstondaily.com.

This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Howell chamber renovations adding new co-working space, 'business hub'
Hundreds of wildfires burning in Canadas Northwest Territories have prompted emergency declarations and the evacuation of the capital city of Yellowknife by road and air.

About 20,000 residents in Yellowknife are being urged to get out of the way of fast-moving flames as more than 230 fires char the territory and smoke creeps south, impacting air quality in the United States. Yellowknife accounts for about half of the total population of the remote territory, which sits north of Alberta and east of Yukon.

One of the wildfires burning west of Yellowknife is approximately 165,000 hectares, more than 600 square miles, and inching closer to the community and main highway, according to Mike Gibbins, who manages communications for Municipal Affairs Minister Shane Thompsons office.

Were all tired of the word unprecedented, yet there is no other way to describe this situation in the Northwest Territories, Premier Caroline Cochrane said in a statement Wednesday night.

Residents living along the Ingraham Trail, in Dettah, Kam Lake, Grace Lake and Engle Business District are currently at highest risk and should evacuate as soon as possible. Other residents have until noon on Friday, August 18, 2023 to evacuate, Northwest Territories officials said in a news release Wednesday.

The community of Ndilo is also under an evacuation order, officials said in the release. Those unable to leave by vehicle can register for an air evacuation, officials said.

If you are able to evacuate by road, obey all warning signs, emergency management officials, traffic control devices and posted speed limits, Cochrane added. Do not make any rash decisions that can put other people in danger.

Those driving out of the Yellowknife area face a potentially perilous journey through heavy smoke and fire. There were patches of flames on each side as we drove through, Nadia Byrne told CNN, calling her evacuation the most terrifying experience shes had.

Byrne, along with four friends and their dogs, left Yellowknife Tuesday evening and struggled to see  and breathe  while driving.

We hit a patch where we couldnt see any of the lines on the road. That lasted 45 minutes, she said. We had our N95s on and could barely breathe and our chest and lungs hurt.

The group made it to their destination safely the next morning, she said.

We find ourselves in a crisis situation and our government is using every tool available to assist, Thompson said.

Thompson declared an emergency for the entire territory on Tuesday, which will allow officials to access and deploy resources so that we can continue our work to protect residents and communities in a more efficient manner, he said.

The mayor of Yellowknife also issued a local state of emergency as the fires approached. The flames were less than 10 miles from the town Wednesday evening, officials said.

The new evacuation orders come as much of the South Slave region  including the town of Hay River  was placed under an evacuation order over the weekend. Roads out of Hay River to the Alberta border and west to Yellowknife were also closed, town officials said in a Facebook post.

The situation has changed quickly. Strong winds have blown the fire within 10 km (6 miles) of the community. It is anticipated the fire will reach Hay River this evening, Northwest Territories Fire said in a Facebook update Wednesday evening. Crews that were in the path of the fire are pulling off for their own safety and are re-positioning to assist in other areas.

A team from Alberta has been deployed to the Hay River area to lay fire retardant to help stop the fire from spreading, according to Northwest Territories Fire, a Canadian government agency.

Canadian fire evacuees Tanisha Edison and her boyfriend Mason Bruneau go through their belongings at the evacuee center in St. Albert, Alberta, on August 16. - Jason Franson/The Canadian Press/AP

Sprinklers and structure protections are in place and turned on, other operations will continue work when conditions allow, the agency added.

Evacuees from South Slave were initially advised to go to a reception center in Grande Prairie, but the government of the Northwest Territories has since rerouted them to a new center in St. Albert, Alberta.

In terms of the fires impact on communities in the Northwest Territories, this has been the worst wildfire season in NWT history, said Gibbins, adding that approximately 65% of the NWT population has been impacted by evacuations as a result of wildfires this season.

British Columbia prepares for potentially catastrophic days ahead

There are over 360 active fires burning in neighboring British Columbia, where officials expect fire conditions to worsen as heat and lightning are forecast to combine over the next few days.

This weather event has the potential to be the most challenging 24 to 48 hours of the summer from a fire perspective, Cliff Chapman, of the British Columbia Fire Wildfire Service, said in a Thursday news conference. We are expecting significant growth, and we are expecting our resources to be challenged.

Chapman warned that high pressure has led to record-breaking heat and that lightning is being forecast, which he said has been the primary ignition source for new fires.

The high-pressure air also causes dry winds, which contribute to extreme fire behavior, according to the BC Wildfire Service. These weather conditions exacerbate low fuel moisture in dead vegetation, which allows fires to start easily and spread rapidly.

These weather conditions also result in live vegetation, including peoples lawns and trees, to start yellowing  not because fall is approaching but because the plants are experiencing extreme drought conditions.

This is dangerous because it results in additional live vegetation becoming available for burning, increasing the risk of the fires getting bigger and spreading further, said Neal McLaughlin of the BC Wildfire Service.

BC Wildfire Service is concerned about the upcoming ridge breakdown, and what that could mean in terms of fire behavior, McLaughlin said. Wed like to alert the public that there could be rapidly evolving fire behavior and fire behavior that could spread very quickly across the landscape.

US under air quality alert

The fires burning in Canada have once again led to harmful air quality in the US, with the Minnesota Pollution Control issuing an air quality alert for Thursday and Friday.

Heavy ground-level smoke from wildfires in the Northwest Territories of Canada is moving south across central Canada and towards Minnesota on Wednesday, the National Weather Service warned. A strong cold front will bring this smoke across the entire state on Thursday.

Smoke could reach the Minnesota-Canadian border around midnight Thursday, and then possibly move over the Twin Cities around noon and southern Minnesota by 3 p.m. Thursday, the weather service said.

Smoke moves toward the city of Yellowknife after a state of emergency was declared in the Northwest Territories, Canada, on August 15. - Pat Kane/Reuters

Air quality has the potential to reach the Purple or Very Unhealthy category for several hours in eastern Minnesota, the weather service said.

Sensitive groups, such as people with lung or heart disease, the elderly and children are urged to avoid prolonged or heavy exertion and the general public is being told to limit outdoor activity.

Smoke will linger across the eastern half of the state on Friday and fine particle levels will continue to be high for most of the day, the weather service said. Winds will become southerly Friday afternoon and smoke will begin to retreat away from the state and disperse. Air quality should improve below alert levels by the end of the day on Friday.

In Canada, the Minister of National Defense Bill Blair on Tuesday mobilized the Canadian Armed Forces to provide firefighting personnel, airlift resources, and logistical support to the Northwest Territories.

We stand with the people of the Northwest Territories as they experience their worst fire season on record, and I am confident that our military personnel will do their utmost to assist their fellow Canadians, Blair said in a statement.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was in communication with Cochrane on Wednesday.

To the people of the Northwest Territories: Were here for you. Weve mobilized Canadian Armed Forces members, and well continue to provide whatever resources are needed. I spoke about that with Premier Caroline Cochrane today  and reaffirmed our commitment to assisting however we can, Trudeau said in a social media post.

Trudeau also met with officials on Thursday to discuss the ongoing wildfires and said that there would be no tolerance for any attempt to escalate prices on things like airfare and essential goods.

CNNs Caroll Alvarado, Taylor Ward and Jamiel Lynch contributed to this report.

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Hungry bears have been feasting on way too many peoples lunches by the lakeside in a Wyoming national park  and its causing lots of problems, officials said.

The most recent example is a black bear that got into a backpack near the shore of Phelps Lake in Grand Teton National Park and gobbled up the food inside while the tourists were out on the water Aug. 11, officials said in an Aug. 18 news release.

It was the fourth time a black bear got into human items left near lakeshores while tourists were out on the water, officials said.

In the last five years, almost half of all human-black bear conflicts within Grand Teton have occurred around lakes, officials said in the news release.

Its a problem because the bears can start to associate people with food  meaning the bear is food-conditioned  and they can become more and more bold in their efforts to snatch more tasty, easily obtainable meals. Once bears become dangerous to human safety, park rangers have few other choices than to kill them, officials said.

Thats why its mandatory for park visitors to store food properly and secure all other smelly items, including dirty cookware, toiletries and anything else that has a scent.

Those rules apply whether tourists are camping, hiking, having a picnic or when theyre out on the water swimming, officials said.

Travelers from around the world come to Grand Teton to observe wild bears roaming across the iconic landscape, officials said. However, the opportunity to see a bear means that we have an extra responsibility to do our part to protect these animals by properly securing anything that may attract them.

Officials ask anyone who sees a bear getting into human items or acting boldly to report the incident to the nearest visitor center or any nearby park rangers.

The earlier park officials know about the bears behavior, the more options the park has to prevent further human-bear conflicts and avoid having to lethally remove the bear, officials said.

People should keep any bear attractants inside a locked car or other hard-sided vehicle with the windows rolled up. Keeping things inside a bear box  a bear-resistant food storage locker, which are available for use in certain areas  will also work.

Anyone heading out to a lake needs to have a plan for securing food.

You could opt to designate someone to stay with your food items or leave them in your closed vehicle, officials said. Remember to never leave your backpack farther than arms reach at all times.

Usually when a bear finds human food, its because someone abandoned a cooler, backpack or any other container with food inside for just a moment, officials said.

But just a moment away from your backpack can result in a bears death, officials said. The solution to not creating food-conditioned bears is easy and we need your help. ... Be a steward for Grand Tetons bears. Have a plan to secure your attractants when you visit the park. By each of us doing our part, we can ensure the long-term future of the parks bear population. We cant do it without you.

What to do if you see a bear

Bear attacks in the U.S. are rare, according to the National Park Service. In most attacks, bears are trying to defend their food, cubs or space.

There are steps people can take to help prevent a bear encounter from becoming a bear attack.

Identify yourself: Talk calmly and slowly wave your arms. This can help the bear realize youre a human and nonthreatening.

Stay calm: Bears usually dont want to attack; they want to be left alone. Talk slowly and with a low voice to the bear.

Dont scream: Screaming could trigger an attack.

Pick up small children: Dont let kids run away from the bear. It could think theyre small prey.

Hike in groups: A group is noisier and smellier, the National Park Service said. Bears like to keep their distance from groups of people.

Make yourself look big: Move to higher ground and stand tall. Dont make any sudden movements.

Dont drop your bag: A bag on your back can keep a bear from accessing food, and it can provide protection.

Walk away slowly: Move sideways so you appear less threatening to the bear. This also lets you keep an eye out.

Again, dont run: Bears will chase you, just like a dog would.

Dont climb trees: Grizzlies and black bears can also climb.

Aggressive grizzly charges family on picnic at Glacier National Park, officials say

Hungry bear busts into two cars and a home in search of food  then steals a backpack

Bear with sweet tooth crashes wedding reception  and leaves no cannolis behind
Long among the most sensitive subjects inside the West Wing, Hunter Bidens legal saga now appears destined to play out amid his fathers bid for reelection, frustrating the president but so far causing little real concern among his advisers.

The probe into Hunter Biden is now one of two special counsel investigations  the other being an inquiry into his fathers handling of classified documents after leaving the Senate and the vice presidents office  that both appear poised to extend for months to come.

Even some of Bidens allies acknowledge they threaten to complicate or erode the moral high ground the president asserts as he seeks reelection. Hunter Biden, of course, is not himself running for president and the White House has taken pains to avoid interference in the case  all points of contrast with the presidents most likely Republican rival.

The cases and consequences are entirely separate for both investigations. Although President Biden is so far not a part of special counsel David Weisss investigation into his son, his aides expect that he may be interviewed as part of special counsel Robert Hurs documents probe.

Hunter Biden arrives at federal court to plead guilty to two misdemeanor charges of willfully failing to pay income taxes in Wilmington, Delaware, on July 26. - Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

Still, both investigations take away the fundamental element of control for a White House heading into an election cycle. As multiple Biden advisers conceded privately this week, special counsels have a history of uncovering information they hadnt set out initially to discover. The fact that its also a delicate family matter, people close to Biden say, is creating a level of personal angst unlike any other challenge for the president.

How and whether those factors play into Bidens reelection chances remains to be determined. Next to a likely rival who has now been indicted four times, Bidens predicament is vastly different. Democratic strategists believe swing voters see Hunter Biden as a private citizen and are more concerned about the economy.

Given the facts currently known, strategists say, these voters dont believe President Biden has been implicated in any wrongdoing. Yet Bidens advisers also concede the topic is mostly verboten with the president, raising the prospect of a critical blind spot heading into a bruising campaign where nothing will be off limits with their Republican rivals.

Hunter Biden is not a topic of discussion in campaign meetings, a senior aide said, speaking on condition of anonymity, given the sensitivity of the subject. Its just not addressed.

It was a surprise to the West Wing last week when Attorney General Merrick Garland announced he was giving special counsel status to Weiss  originally a Trump appointee  a fact that further underscores the separation between the White House and the Justice Department on the case. The decision was met with a range of responses by Bidens allies last week, from resignation to frustration.

For the president himself, the decision to name a special counsel amounted to another page in a chapter he would like to close. Even as the president and first lady try to move on from a dark period surrounding their sons addiction, Republicans and now the Justice Department are extending the scrutiny into an indeterminable future.

Just two weeks ago, the couple had hoped Hunter Bidens expected plea deal would be a moment to admit mistakes and move on, one person familiar with the presidents thinking had said.

But that plea deal fell apart and the special counsel appointment moves the legal issues into a new phase, including potentially a trial.

From the beginning, the Bidens have tried to approach Hunter Bidens issues through a personal lens, expressing their love and support for their son but otherwise declining to comment on the investigation. They have kept him close amid the legal proceedings with Hunter Biden appearing at family events and White House functions including a lavish state dinner days after his initial plea agreement was announced.

President Joe Biden hugs his son Hunter Biden upon returning from a trip to Ireland, at Dover Air Force Base, in Delaware, on April 14. - Kenny Holston/The New York Times/Redux

For some close to the president, however, there are now questions over how the matter has continued to persist, despite work toward a plea deal on tax and gun related charges, the resolution of a child support battle and no evidence yet that President Biden himself was implicated in any wrongdoing.

They pin the blame mainly on Republicans, whom the White House blasted this week for waging years-long investigations into the president that havent produced evidence showing President Biden engaged in wrongdoing.

If you think about what Republicans in Congress have tried to do for years, they have been making claims and allegations about the president on this front over and over again. And month after month, year after year, they have been investigating every single angle of this and looking for any evidence to back their allegations, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said this week. And whats been the result of that, if you ask yourself what we have seen from that? They keep turning up documents and witnesses showing that the president wasnt involved.

Beneath the surface, however, private questions are now brewing among some Democrats about the abilities of Hunter Bidens legal team and the wisdom of his visible presence around his father.

On Tuesday, Hunter Bidens lead criminal defense attorney asked a federal judge on Tuesday for permission to withdraw from the case because he could now be called as a witness in future proceedings. To some Biden advisers, the surprise collapse of a plea deal only exacerbated existing concerns about Hunters legal team.

Im sure this didnt land all that well over in the White House because I think theyd love this Hunter Biden case to be behind them. The Republicans are sort of pointing to it for purposes of what-about-ism, said David Axelrod, a senior adviser in the Obama White House and CNN senior political commentator, who said Republicans were eager to make false comparisons  essentially saying, what about Hunters legal issues?

They need to have a countervailing argument and their countervailing argument is, Oh two standards of justice, theyre not indicting Hunter Biden, he said. And theyre beating that horse to death, even though theyve failed to make the connection between Hunter Biden and Joe Biden in the way that they allege. So I think that anything that extends the Hunter Biden case into the election year is not welcome news for Joe Biden.

Indeed, the actions of Hunter Biden are now becoming a central discussion point for Republicans in Congress and presidential candidates, who frequently point to the presidents son in their argument of a false equivalency in the Justice Department.

Republicans have criticized the now defunct plea agreement between Hunter Biden and federal prosecutors as a sweetheart deal, and they scoffed when Weiss was appointed as special counsel, despite many previously supporting the appointment of a special counsel.

Some of the presidents potential Republican rivals also blasted the special counsel decision. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis argued Hunter Biden would receive soft glove treatment. A spokesperson for former President Donald Trump argued the Biden family has been protected by the Justice Department for decades  even though Trump appointed Weiss to his position and Biden kept him in the post upon taking office.

Hunter Biden at a ceremony at the White House in Washington, July 7, 2022. - Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times/Redux

The matter is likely to arise at the first Republican presidential debate next week in Milwaukee. The Democratic National Committee is not preparing specific responses to any criticism leveled against Hunter Biden at the Republican presidential debate but will be ready to respond as needed, a party official says.

In 2020, plans were similarly laid ahead of general election debates with Trump, who seized on Hunter Biden as an attack line. Bidens defense of his son and his pride in his sobriety proved one of the most memorable moments of that years debate circuit.

First lady Dr. Jill Biden had previously told CNN that the investigations into their son Hunter did not impact the presidents decision to seek reelection this year.

Some Democrats view the development as an opportunity to demonstrate the partys view of a fair judicial system  a contrast to many Republicans who have cried foul at the multiple indictments of Trump.

If Hunter has done something beyond the tax issue and beyond the gun issue that deserves to be investigated, then that should happen. No one is above the law, said Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a Florida Democrat. Thats why youre not hearing Democrats say that, you know, this is the weaponization of the Justice Department. No. Were being consistent. When we say no ones above the law when it comes to Donald Trump, we mean it even if its one of our own.

This story has been updated to clarify that the DNC may respond to criticism leveled against Hunter Biden but has not prepared any specific responses.

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This aerial photo shows the pier and shoreline in Huntington Beach, Calif. in 2022. (Ringo H.W. Chiu / Associated Press)

A "sheen" in the ocean off the coast of Huntington Beach is believed to have originated from a 40-foot vessel that sank nearby, prompting officials to clear the waters and close a stretch of the beach Friday, authorities said.

The sheen originated around Bolsa Chica State Beach, just north of Huntington Beach, after the vessel sank about 7 p.m. Thursday, a spokesperson for the U.S. Coast Guard said.

The size and impact of the sheen has not been determined, but initial reports estimate 300 gallons of diesel on board the boat, according to a statement from the California Department of Fish and Wildlifes Office of Spill Prevention and Response.

A Huntington Beach Fire Department hazardous materials team responded to reports of a sheen in the water near Seapoint Street about 9 a.m. Friday, authorities said. Officials said the boat released diesel fuel when it sank, but not in significant amounts and with no traces of oil.

Kevin Pearsall, the Orange Coast District superintendent for California State Parks, said only two people, the owners, were on the boat. No injuries were reported.

The vessel likely sank after the engine took on water due to an operations error, he said. State lifeguards and Orange County sheriffs deputies responded to the scene Thursday evening and rescued those aboard before the boat fully sank.

It went really fast, Pearsall said. About 15 minutes later, the boat was completely submerged in the water and sank about 20 feet, he said.

Huntington Beach fire officials noted minimal sheening around the vessel at the time of the rescue. By Friday morning, the oil-like glaze was seen in the surf zone, but traces of fuel have not been spotted within the Bolsa Chica Wetland.

Officials said the beach is still open but advised visitors to avoid the waters between Beach Boulevard and Seapoint Street.

Huntington Beach spokesperson Jennifer Carey said the city decided to close the waters after police obtained an overhead view of the area and determined the size of the sheen.

Carey said officials are monitoring the beach and nearby waters, such as tidal inlets, that lead into sensitive wetlands.

No animals have been impacted, but the Oiled Wildlife Care Network remains on standby, officials said.

The Coast Guard has taken over the investigation and recovery efforts. Pearsall said the federal governments private tow recovery company is en route to retrieve the sunken vessel before Hurricane Hilary arrives in Southern California.

We're hoping to get that out of the way so that there isn't any actual oil spill from the vessel, Pearsall said.

Officials ask that anyone who sees an oiled animal call the hotline at 1-877- UCD-OWCN (1-877-823-6926).

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.
Former Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas) went after fellow presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Friday, saying his campaign is circling the drain after a leaked debate prep memo suggests he stand behind former President Trump at the first GOP debate next week.

Hurd said in a CNN interview that he wants to be speaking truth to power, and is planning to attend the debate in Milwaukee if he can meet the criteria before then.

Im not going to be like Ron DeSantis and defend Donald Trump, which is absolutely crazy, he said. The Ron DeSantis campaign is circling the drain. The fact that theyre having to cut so much staff, they dont have the resources to do their own debate prep.

The leaked memo, drafted by members of the pro-DeSantis super PAC Never Back Down, suggests DeSantis defend Trump from attacks by former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, one of the former presidents most vocal opponents. Hurd also has been an open critic of Trump.

The strategy itself is flawed, he said. If youre afraid to take on Donald Trump then you shouldnt be on that stage and you shouldnt be running for president.

Hurd has not yet qualified for the Wednesday debate in Wisconsin. While his campaign announced Thursday he reached the 40,000 donor threshold, he is still one poll short of qualifying.

The former Texas lawmaker only has three opportunities left in the coming week to garner the 1 percent support needed in a national or state poll and make the debate stage.

On Wednesday, Hurd said he was confident he would make the Monday deadline to qualify.



Im pretty confident were going to be able to hit those requirements, he said.

The DeSantis strategy has been focused too much on the negative, Hurd added, arguing it wont win over any voters.

The other thing that was missing in that campaign memo was how do you articulate what your vision for the future is? It was just about attacking other people versus laying out a plan for America, he said.

The Hill Elections 2024 coverage

America wants someone who is not afraid of Donald Trump, but is articulating a vision for the future, Hurd continued. Thats what that campaign memo should have said.

DeSantis has slipped in recent weeks as his campaign attempts to reset its strategy. He turned over a significant amount of staff and replaced his campaign manager in the last month, and donors fear he may not be able to beat Trump without changes.

Hurd is polling at about 0.3 percent in recent national polling averages. Trump leads the field with nearly 55 percent support, while DeSantis is in second with about 15 percent, estimates show.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
When the latest models and forecast were released for Hurricane Hilary on Friday morning, Idaho found itself in a position its never been in before.

Inside the cone of uncertainty.

The National Hurricane Center didnt start creating cones of uncertainty until 2002, but its already a rare instance for the west coast to be impacted by a hurricane.

The cone of uncertainty is the probable track of a named storm from its current position to its evolution into a tropical depression and eventual end.

Hurricane Hilary became a Category 4 hurricane off of Mexicans west coast on Friday morning. A hurricane of that strength requires sustained wind speeds of 130-156 mph.

The hurricane is on a path to make landfall in the Mexican state of Baja California on Sunday before weakening into a tropical storm as it moves into California. It could drop up to 10 inches of rain in Southern California before weakening into a tropical depression and heading north.

Thats where Idaho comes into play. The cone of uncertainty has the remnants of Hilary moving into Southwest Idaho, while forecast models show the bulk of the storms remaining moisture hitting Boise head-on.

The remnants of #HurricaneHilary have the potential to move over the region late this weekend into next week bringing significant rains and flash flooding to southwest Idaho and southeast Oregon. #idwx #orwx pic.twitter.com/hrmwaOL2Gc  NWS Boise (@NWSBoise) August 18, 2023

According to records at the National Weather Service in Boise, its the first time that Idaho has ever been included in a cone of uncertainty.

But there are a few caveats. The National Hurricane Center is responsible for the cone of uncertainty forecast, and the organization didnt start creating them until July 2002.

And since then, theres only been Hurricane Kay last year which approached the Southwest U.S., Weather Service meteorologist Spencer Tangen told the Idaho Statesman.

Hurricane Kay approached the California coast before steering westward; it never made landfall. Hilary will be the first hurricane or tropical storm to make landfall in California since an unnamed storm hit the coast in 1939.

It wont be the first time that the remnants of a hurricane impact Idaho, but its rare.

In 1976 Hurricane Kathleen made a path toward the West Coast, but by the time it reached California, it was a tropical depression  the final stage of a storm before it fizzles out. The remnants reached Idaho and, even in weakened form, brought 1.74 inches of rain to Boise, including 1.1 inches in a single hour.

The remnants of Hurricane Hilary will move into our area Sunday through Tuesday. Heavy rain could lead to localized flash flooding. On September 11-12 1976, remnants from Hurricane Kathleen brought some of Boise's heaviest observed rain: 1.74" total, 1.10" in 1 hour. #IDwx #ORwx pic.twitter.com/szaNp5Ocbb  NWS Boise (@NWSBoise) August 18, 2023

Early predictions from the Weather Service have Boise receiving up to an inch of rain from Sunday to Tuesday, while areas higher in the mountains, such as McCall, could get up to 1.8 inches. The Weather Prediction Center gives Southwest Idaho and surrounding mountains a 15% chance of exceeding flash flood guidance, which is when small rivers break their banks.
Hurricane Hilary is expected to impact parts of Arizona this weekend, affecting mostly the southernmost areas of the state, including Yuma, La Paz and Pima counties.

According to the National Weather Service, Saturday through Sunday will see most of the impact for southwestern Arizona, describing the conditions as "deteriorating" for areas such as Yuma and La Paz County.

Hilary updates: Wind advisory issued for Phoenix area

Here's a look at how each county is preparing.

Pima County

Several advisories were issued for Pima County, including wind advisories and thunderstorm warnings. The National Weather Service in Tucson office advised residents to refrain from driving or entering low water crossings, washes and rivers as Hilary's impact moves into the state.

"As far as safety measures, we always encourage people to stay out of the moving water, no matter how familiar they are with it. Turn around, dont drown. Any outdoor activity becomes more dangerous in severe weather. Hikers and bikers should watch the weather and plan accordingly," Pima County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Deputy Gordon Downing told The Arizona Republic.

Those within Pima County can sign up for alerts from the Pima County Office of Emergency Management to get up-to-date information on flooding, cooling centers and more.

Where is Hurricane Hilary? What Arizonans need to know about the Category 1 hurricane

Yuma County

A flood watch was in effect starting Saturday at 8 a.m. until Monday at 5 p.m., while a wind advisory in effect for Sunday between 11 a.m. and 11 p.m.

In Yuma city, officials have set up a self-serve sandbag filling station located in the east parking lot of the Yuma Civic Center at 1440 West Desert Hills Drive from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Aug. 18 through Sunday, Aug. 20.

La Paz County

The same weather advisories issued for Yuma County were in effect for La Paz.

The La Paz County Sheriff's Office said that as heavy rains and high winds rolled in, residents should not enter flooded areas and should stay away from downed lines.

The sheriff's office said La Paz County residents can pick up sandbags at the following locations:

Quartzsite Fire Department, 70 Tyson St., Quartzsite.

Parker Fire Department, 1101 W. Arizona Ave., Parker.

Bouse Fire Department, 44031 Plomosa Road, Bouse.

Colorado River Indian Tribes Fire Department, Poston Memorial Monument, Mohave Road, Parker.

Coconino County

For northern Arizona, the weather service advised residents to steer clear of low-level water crossings and dry water washes, as it doesn't take much water to sweep a car away.

The areas of Supai and the dry flat canyons and washes near the Grand Canyon are of greater concern in terms of high-country areas.

"Those are some of the big areas that we're really watching and trying to promote the messaging of 'maybe you should be changing your plans if you haven't already'," Flagstaff office meteorologist Reggie Roakes told The Republic.

Yavapai County

In Yavapai County, the sheriff's office urges residents to sign up for their emergency notification system via their website at www.ycsoaz.gov/Home.

Additional sandbag locations throughout Arizona

The Arizona Fire & Medical Authority is providing sandbags at the following locations:

Sun City West: Fire Station 103, 13431 West Deer Valley Drive.

Wittmann: Fire Station 107, 21720 Harding Ave.

Tonopah: Fire Station 341, 36511 W. Salome Highway.

Sun Lakes: Fire Station 232, 25020 South Alma School Road.

Buckeye Valley: Fire Station 324, 25206 W. U.S. HWY85 and Fire Station 326, 19937 West Arlington Road.

Follow your local National Weather Service for the latest forecasts and alerts:

Ways to protect your home

According to State Farm, there are several things homeowners can do to ensure the safety of their community and belongings, as well as their property.

Shore up your surroundings. Make sure outdoor items such as garbage cans, furniture, grills and other objects that could get thrashed around in the wind are placed safely inside your home or garage.

Safely store vehicles. Keep your cars, RVs or boats safely stored in the garage or other potential shelter.

What to do if your home is impacted

If your home is affected during the storm, the National Flood Insurance Program suggests you:

Contact your insurance agent or insurer as soon as possible to file your claim. Before entering, check around your home carefully for signs of structural damage like eroded soil around the foundation, displaced foundation or gaps around doors or windows. Look through your windows to make sure its safe  older homes may be particularly unstable. Make sure the electricity and gas are shut off to avoid fire or injury. Have an electrician check the house before turning the power back on. Your home may be contaminated with mold, sewage or other hazards. Enter with caution and wear rubber boots, rubber gloves and goggles during cleanup. Photograph and make a list of flood-damaged items for insurance purposes before discarding them. Then throw flooded items that pose a health risk such as perishable food items, clothing, cushions and pillows.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Here's how to prepare for Tropical Storm Hilary in Arizona
Hurricane Hilary could be first tropical storm to hit California in 84 years

Tropical Storm Hilary strengthened into a hurricane Thursday, with forecasters warning it could potentially bring devastating rainfall and high winds to Southern California this weekend.

The last tropical storm to impact the state was 84 years ago, according to official records.

The National Hurricane Center said Hilary was about 475 miles south of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, as of 5 p.m. Thursday ET, with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph. While Hilary is likely to weaken as it travels northward, it could bring heavy rainfall to the southwestern United States, along with large swells and high surf along the coast.

There is a tropical storm warning in effect for Baja California Sur, Mexico, for Cabo San Lazaro southward and Los Barriles southward. Theres a tropical storm watch in effect north of those locations.

The National Hurricane Center is warning that the storm could produce 3-6 inches of rain  with up to 10 inches of rain in isolated spots  on the peninsula through Sunday night, with the potential for flash flooding.

Hilary has the potential to bring significant impacts to the Baja California Peninsula and portions of the southwestern United States this weekend and early next week, including after it becomes post-tropical, the center said. Although it is too soon to determine the location and magnitude of wind impacts, interests in these areas should monitor the progress of Hilary and updates to the forecast.

The center noted that the peak rainfall will occur Sunday and Monday.

Experts have warned of an above-normal hurricane season this year due to higher sea temperatures.

Hurricanes and tropical storms rarely make landfall in California.

The last tropical storm landed around San Diego in 1939 and brought with it 50 mph winds and heavy flooding. The only known hurricane to make contact with the state was near San Diego in 1858, which brought up to 73 mph winds, The Washington Post reported.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Tropical Storm Hilary, which was downgraded from a hurricane on Sunday, is rapidly bearing down on the region, with the first rain arriving across Southern California and conditions expected to worsen throughout the day.

The storm is expected to hit Mexico south of Tijuana around 11 a.m. and then enter the U.S. east of San Diego. Officials say the biggest impacts will be in desert and mountain areas, with flash floods the biggest concern. But Los Angeles County could also see widespread flooding Sunday afternoon and evening as the worst of the storm moves through.

Hilary's eye is several miles south of San Diego and expected to reach there by 3 to 5 p.m., then move northeast, reaching the border of Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties by 9 or 10 p.m. It made landfall in Baja Mexico on Sunday around 11 a.m.

We expect widespread flooding, said Joe Sirard, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Oxnard. When I say widespread flooding, I mean, like, potentially countywide flooding.

The National Hurricane Center is predicting 2 to 4 inches of rain with 4 to 6 inches in the mountains, he said.

It's a large-scale storm system  we're going to be getting moderate to heavy rains all afternoon and evening, likely with flooding rains in many areas, he said. The rains are really not going to let up until late tonight, Monday morning.

On Sunday, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell told ABC: People really need to take this storm in California serious... Its going to really be potentially devastating for them in these desert areas. 

Dan Berc, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Las Vegas, warned of major to historic flood impacts in many areas including in parts of San Bernardino and Inyo counties.

Even with the small amount of rain weve had over the period of time, were raining over such a large area that its all draining into the same basin, he said. Half an inch over the entire area is just as much water as 2 inches over a very small area.

A high wind warning has also been issued for much of the area, which will continue into Monday.

Theres also a small chance of tornado, and a chance of strong wind speed exceeding 58 miles per hour, in much of San Bernardino County from Sunday afternoon through early Monday morning, Berc said.

Were not going to see an EF5 tornado running down the street, he said. But we can get these little spin-up tornadoes and they can do some damage locally.

Parts of San Bernardino and Inyo counties, including Death Valley, were expected to see torrential rain overnight from the storm's early bands. Rain is expected to worsen through Sunday morning, according to the National Weather Service. Baja California was pounded Saturday as the storm pushed northward.

"There's a lot of roads that are now rivers in Baja California," said Trevor Boucher, lead meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Las Vegas, during a Saturday night briefing.

Boucher added that forecasters expect similar conditions in the desert regions of Inyo and San Bernardino County and parts of Nevada and Arizona. Some areas, such as Bullhead City, Ariz., and Needles and Barstow, could see gusts of more than 50 mph.

Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for the region and said that thousands of first responders were in place as the storm moved in. L.A.'s mayor urged residents to stay safe.

This is an unprecedented weather event, warned Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. Right now again, it is critical that Angelenos stay safe and stay home unless otherwise directed by safety officials. Avoid unnecessary travel. If you do not need to be on the road, please dont get in your car. Make sure your emergency kit and essential devices are on hand and ensure that all of your devices are charged in the event of life-threatening emergency.

National Weather Service forecasters' warning of lashing winds, intense rain and harrowing conditions along the beaches prompted Los Angeles County officials to advise people on Catalina Island, particularly those with medical conditions or those who might be in need of help during a natural disaster, to evacuate on the Catalina Express. The county noted there could be prolonged utility outages on the island.

Flood concerns also prompted San Bernardino County sheriff's officials to issue an evacuation order for the Oak Glen, Forest Falls, Mountain Home Village, Angelus Oaks and Northeast Yucaipa regions Saturday morning. Orange County issued a voluntary evacuation alert in the Bond fire burn area.

The storm has prompted officials to cancel events and issue dire alerts, particularly as the system moves across southwestern California on Sunday and Monday. The National Weather Service issued a tropical storm warning at 8 p.m. Friday for the area from the California-Mexico border to Point Mugu and for Catalina Island.

This is actually the first time that tropical storm watches have been issued on the West Coast of the United States," said Elizabeth Adams, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in San Diego. Typically, when a tropical storm makes its way to the southwestern U.S., it has severely dissipated, weakening to a depression or storm remnants, she said. The only tropical cyclone to actually make landfall in Southern California was in 1939.

Hilary, downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane Saturday night, had sped up and shifted slightly eastward in its track. It was a Category 4 on Friday and fell to a Category 2 earlier Saturday.

"The system has gained some speed, and it's going to be moving through a little bit on the quicker side. By the time we get to Monday afternoon or so we're expecting most of the precipitation to have moved out of the area aside from a few lingering showers," said Ariel Cohen, the meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

This could cut down on rainfall totals in some areas, Cohen said, "but there's so much moisture pushing into the area that we're still looking at the potential for flooding."

Across Southern California on Saturday, residents rushed to stock up on household essentials like water leaving aisles in grocery stores bare  and sandbags to protect their homes from flooding.

People load cases of bottled water Saturday at a Costco warehouse in Hawthorne on Saturday. (Patrick T. Fallon / AFP/Getty Images)

Please prepare, please take this seriously, said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. We are not used to hurricane preparation, but its another example of climate change. So we have to be prepared for climate events that we are not used to. Stay safe.

As the system moves through, parts of Los Angeles County could see half an inch to three-quarters of an inch of rain per hour. Forecasters are also predicting heavy rain in Orange County, up to 3 inches in some areas. But the mountains and deserts are widely expected to be the most impacted, with more than 5 inches of rainfall possible.

It's so strong right now, and it is going to  make a beeline for Southern California, said Daniel Swain, a UCLA climate scientist. It simply isn't going to have time to fall apart nearly as much as these systems usually do before they reach California."

A tropical storm watch is also in effect for almost all of southwestern California, from the Mexico border to Point Mugu, including eastern deserts and Catalina Island, which the National Hurricane Center said is a first for this area. The watch indicates that tropical storm conditions are possible  meaning more than 39 mph sustained winds  within 48 hours, according to the hurricane center.

Forecasters expect sustained winds whipping through the area at 35 to 45 mph. The highest gusts  up to 50 or 60 mph  are expected in the mountains and deserts. Officials warn residents to stay away from tall objects, such as trees or power lines, which could get knocked down during severe winds, and to secure outdoor furniture.

When the eye of the storm arrives Sunday, San Diego and Orange counties can expect 40 to 60 mph winds, the National Weather Service said. Gusts in excess of 80 mph could hit places such as Joshua Tree National Park.

Those winds also could spur tornadoes  which could be particularly hard to see as they would be embedded with rain  with probable threats Saturday night through Sunday, Adams said.

"The biggest time and place that we see that tornado threat is associated with rain bands out ahead of the system, Adams said. She said tornadoes spawned by tropical storms often strike very quickly but are usually short-lived.

Read more: Full coverage of Hilary

Although high winds are fueling the unusual tropical storm conditions, officials continue to emphasize that rain remains the greatest concern with this storm.

Children play on the beach Saturday at Playa Blanca Beach, south of Ensenada, Mexico. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

A high-risk warning for flash flooding was issued for much of inland Southern California  from the San Bernardino Mountains through the Coachella Valley and down into Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. This is the first time in more than a decade that such a warning has been issued for the low deserts east of the Southern California mountains, areas that remain typically dry, especially in the summer.

"The majority of the flood-related deaths occur in these high-risk situations," National Hurricane Center Deputy Director Jamie Rhome said Saturday afternoon during a forecast. "So if you're in this purple [high-risk] area, specifically, the Palm Springs area, you really, really need to take this seriously."

Some desert areas are expected to receive at least a years worth of rain during this storm, according to the National Weather Service.

Read more: How to prepare for Hurricane Hilary, the first tropical storm to hit L.A. in 84 years

"The entire axis of southeastern California deserts  extending from Imperial County all the way up into parts of Inyo County  are at risk of potentially very serious flash flooding," Swain said. "We're not just talking about normally dry washes running. We're talking about the type of flooding that will be life-threatening, that could severely disrupt or even destroy critical infrastructure, including roads and highways, leading to extended power outages or extended impossibility of travel in some areas."

Palm Springs and Yucca Valley both average between 4 and 5 inches of rainfall a year, but the forecast shows 4 to 7 inches falling between Saturday and Monday.

Read more: How to track Hurricane Hilary and get emergency alerts in Southern California

Death Valley and Joshua Tree national parks announced campgrounds closures from noon Saturday through at least Tuesday and preemptively shuttered several roadways.

"This has the potential to bring the single and most intense precipitation ever observed to some parts of the deserts in southeastern California, so don't take this lightly," Swain said. He advised desert residents to prepare for potentially impassable roads for an extended time.

The Navy announced late Friday that it will send many of its warships out of San Diego Bay on Saturday to make it easier to manage and secure vessels that need to stay in port when Hilary arrives.

Wallace Dugan, a 66-year-old member of the Quechuan tribe who was running errands a few miles west of Yuma, Ariz., on Friday, said his biggest concern is for senior citizens who, like him, live on the Fort Yuma Reservation.

The only thing bad about it is the power lines, he said recalling a storm last summer that knocked out electricity for a week and spurred elderly people living on the reservation to take refuge in cooled casinos with generator power. Its dangerous for the elders if the power goes out, so they call them at their houses and send them to the casino where they have generators.

Read more: Hurricane Hilary forecast recalls infamous 1939 storm that killed scores of Californians

As soils become saturated and runoff accelerates, desert officials are warning residents to prepare for flooded roadways and closures, while across the region, crews are preparing for power outages and localized flooding. In the San Bernardino Mountains, significant flows are expected to surge beneath the Whitewater Bridge on the 10 Freeway, about five miles west of Palm Springs  a threat to the aging infrastructure.

Almost all of Southern California is facing a moderate flash flood risk, with the warning extending into the eastern Central Valley, parts of western Arizona and around Las Vegas.

Read more: Hurricane Hilary is bearing down on Southern California. What's your flood risk?

Some of the highest rainfall totals  from 6 to 10 inches  are possible along many east-facing desert slopes of the Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego County mountains, Adams said.

In Los Angeles, officials spent Friday going to riverbeds to warn unhoused people about the coming storm. The city also plans to operate several local recreation centers this weekend to provide shelter, said officials.

Carol Parks, general manager of L.A.'s Emergency Management Department, warned of the risk of potential or significant flooding and said information about weather conditions is changing very, very rapidly.

Los Angeles County sheriffs deputies have been patrolling the San Gabriel River since Thursday to warn those camped there of the impending storm and to offer shelter.

Capt. Geoffrey Deedrick, commander of the sheriffs community partnerships bureau, said helicopters were broadcasting public service announcements and Homeless Outreach Service teams were working with staff from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority to contact people in the riverbed.

Were encountering a lot of people who have no idea something is coming, Deedrick said.

Read more: The complete guide to storm safety preparedness

A flood watch is set to take effect along the coast from San Diego to Ventura counties, beginning as early as Saturday afternoon and lasting through Monday night. Inland counties such as Riverside, San Bernardino and Imperial also will have a flood watch in effect through Monday.

#HurricaneHillary just before the sun rose this morning. Hilary is currently a CAT 3, and is expected to still be a hurricane as it approches the west coast of the Baja California Peninsula, but is forecasted to weaken to a #TropicalStorm before it reaches #SoCal. pic.twitter.com/f558vlktnJ  NWS Los Angeles (@NWSLosAngeles) August 19, 2023

If youre in a vulnerable location for flooding, be ready  turn around, dont drown, Cohen, the meteorologist in Oxnard, said.

Officials advised residents in the storms path to monitor forecast updates and ensure they have multiple methods of receiving warnings, including wireless emergency alerts, weather apps and local TV, radio and news stations. Ahead of the storm, the Dodgers and Angels both pushed Sunday games up to play double-headers Saturday, and a list of postponed local concerts and events has been growing.

Amtrak has canceled some service along the iconic coastal rail route between San Diego and Los Angeles in expectation of this weekend's storm. The line, one of the busiest in the country, has been closed for most of the last year as crumbling bluffs and beach erosion threaten its stability.

Train 794 will be canceled between Los Angeles and San Diego on Saturday and Sunday, and Train 761 will be canceled between San Diego and Los Angeles on Sunday and Monday, officials said. The rail agency has warned that additional trains may be canceled as the storm makes landfall.

Amtrak officials said in a statement that while they remain "hopeful that the impacts of the tropical storm will be minimal," passengers should follow emergency alerts, heed evacuation warnings, and stay off the roads where possible.

Read more: Hurricane Hilary is headed toward L.A., San Diego. What to know and how to stay safe

The Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation's second-largest school system, is planning to keep schools open Monday, for now.

In a statement, the district said, "Our schools continue to be one of the safest places for students in the event of inclement weather. Families of Los Angeles Unified will receive important updates on operational changes or adjustments from their school directly."

Across L.A. County, there are 80 school systems and 1.3 million students in public schools. The county education office  which plays an important advisory role  took part in regional emergency preparedness meetings and started sending out storm updates Thursday.

We advised the school districts to monitor the situation and plan for possible wind, debris, power outage, flooding and street closures and other damage that could happen because of Hurricane Hilary, said county education office spokesperson Van Nguyen.

Closely monitoring the storm appeared to be the watchword for California school systems, including Poway Unified School District, Sweetwater Union High School District, San Marcos Unified and Grossmont Union High School District in San Diego County.

Read more: How climate scientists feel about seeing their dire predictions come true

Hurricane warning and watches are in effect for much of Baja California, as well as mainland Mexico, north of Guaymas. Forecasters are expecting Hilary to bring up to 6 inches of rain across the Baja California Peninsula through Sunday night, with isolated amounts up to 10 inches. Flash flooding remains a major concern.

Storm surge could produce coastal flooding along the Baja coast, accompanied by "large and destructive" waves, which the National Hurricane Center warned would be "life-threatening surf and rip current conditions."

Times staff writers Jeremy Childs, Laura J. Nelson, Connor Sheets, Keri Blakinger, Dakota Smith, Howard Blume, Doug Smith, Louis Sahagun, Faith E. Pinho and Salvador Hernandez contributed to this report. San Diego Union-Tribune staff writer Gary Robbins also 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.
Tropical Storm Hilary, which formed 470 miles off the coast of Manzanillo, Mexico, became a hurricane on Thursday, and could bring a mix of heavy rains, big surf, and flash flooding to regions of California and the Southwest that rarely see such precipitation, according to the forecasters.

The storm could dump more than a years worth of rain on the already parched American southwest when it makes landfall over the weekend.

Confidence continues to increase on a significant heavy rainfall/high impact event to unfold and focus across parts of the Southwest and California beginning Saturday to at least Monday, the National Weather Service said on Thursday.

So much rain is expected that parts of southern California are under a Level 4 excessive rain warning for the first time since the alert system was created. Level 4 is the most severe ranking.

The hurricane, which has already clocked sustained winds of 85 mph, is expected to continue advancing northward, parallel to Baja California, potentially intensifying to a major Category 3 or higher hurricane by late Thursday and likely making landfall in Mexico on Sunday.

Tropical Storm Hilary is shown on weather-tracking systems off the coast of Mexico (National Weather Service)

As the storm continues to advance northward, it is expected to weaken as it moves over colder waters, though even the remnants of the storm that might hit California and the Southwest would represent an exceedingly rare and potentially hazardous event for the region, Stefanie Sullivan, a National Weather Service (NWS) forecaster, told The New York Times.

California could experience 5 to 6 inches of rain, and the states inland deserts might receive their normal annual rainfall in just 48 hours, while beaches could get between 4 and 7 feet of surf, as well as life-threatening currents.

Im not saying this will be a Category 1 Hurricane but its going to be awfully close when it arrives in Southern California on late Sunday into Monday, according to KTLA meteorologist Henry DiCarlo. When it moves onshore its going to bring a lot of rain. Not just for the desert areas but for all of us here in Southern California.

Hurricane Hilary will likely weaken to a tropical storm before it makes landfall in the US, but it is still expected to produce dangerous winds and bring heavy rains. The NOAAs national hurricane centre said both the Baja penninsula and the southerwest US were at risk of experiencing the high winds.

The threat of significant wind impacts continues to increase for northern portions of the Baja California Peninsula and the Southwestern United States, especially in areas of mountainous terrain, the centre said.

These kinds of storms are exceptionally rare for California.

One of the last major tropical storms to touch down in California, in 1939, washed homes away in Southern California and killed 48 people.

Parts of Mexico are also on notice, including the popular resort town of Cabo San Lucas.

As the storm continues through the Western US, southern Nevada could receive 4 to 7 inches of rain, while parts of western Arizona could get 2 to 4 inches, according to the NWS.

The heavy precipitation could cause flash flooding in dry regions currently experiencing drought.

Hurricanes are getting stronger, and major ones are getting more likely, because of the climate crisis, according to scientists.

Heavy winds from Hurricane Dora recently exacerbated the catastrophic wildfires on Maui.
Hurricane Hilary, considered a "large and powerful" hurricane by the National Hurricane Center, reached Category 4 status Friday with sustained gusts of 145 mph.

The storm is moving through the Pacific on a path that will likely take it toward Southern California.

The NHC said it expects Hurricane Hilary to "still be a hurricane when it approaches the west coast of the Baja California peninsula Saturday night."

The storm is forecast to weaken as it approaches Southern California, according to AccuWeather meteorologist Scott Homan.

"However the impacts of the storm will be well ahead of that as lots of moisture gets strung northward into the storm system and then moves north into California," Homan told USA TODAY.

Hilary is expected to reduce into Category 3 by Saturday late afternoon and eventually diminish into a tropical storm by Sunday afternoon, when it could make landfall in the U.S.

HURRICANE HILARY TRACKER: Category 4 storm forecast to bring heavy rain to Southern California

Hilary could be the first tropical storm to reach California's landfall since 1939, according to federal weather officials. Last year, Tropical Storm Kay gave Southern California heavy rain and flooding to without making landfall.

Hilary is expected to bring a risk of flash flooding and heavy rainfall in southern California, southern Nevada and western Arizona, the hurricane center said.

San Diego weather forecast

San Diego could see rainfall by Saturday evening. Homan said the area could see about 4 inches of rainfall.

The National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center issued a high risk of excessive rainfall over portions of Southern California on Sunday. The rainfall looks to target the mountains and deserts Saturday through Monday.

According to the NWS, isolated areas in the mountains could see more than 10 inches of rain.

"The combination of heavy rainfall, the potential for flash flooding and strong winds could very well make this a high impact event for Southern California," Samantha Connolly, a National Weather Service meteorologist in San Diego, wrote in a Thursday morning forecast.

As alluded to from the Excessive Rainfall graphic, very heavy rainfall looks to target the mountains and deserts Saturday through Monday. Isolated areas in the mountains could receive 10+ inches of rainfall! #CAwx #Hilary pic.twitter.com/ZHOahei0tB  NWS San Diego (@NWSSanDiego) August 18, 2023

Los Angeles weather forecast

Los Angeles residents could expect rainfall around Sunday afternoon, according to Homan. The area could see about 4 inches of rainfall.

The rain is expected to last through Monday, according to the National Weather Service.

As expected, #Hilary will bring the potential for significant marine issues Sunday-Monday:



- High surf

- Strong winds

- Dangerous rip currents

- Coastal flooding/beach erosion

- Dangerous conditions for S and SE facing harbors#CAwx pic.twitter.com/6msF9iCQeF  NWS Los Angeles (@NWSLosAngeles) August 18, 2023

Bay Area weather forecast

The Bay Area is not currently forecast to receive any rain over the weekend.

Saturday is expected to be mostly sunny with a high of 72, while Sunday is also expected to be sunny with a high of 73.

There is a 20 percent chance of rain before 11 a.m. Monday, according to the National Weather Service.

Mojave Desert weather forecast

According to the Mojave National Preserve, there is a "moderate to major weather risk" for San Bernardino County and Mojave National Preserve from Saturday to Tuesday.

The risk includes the possibility of sudden flash flooding from Hurricane Hilary.

There is a flood watch in effect for Las Vegas from 11 a.m. local time Saturday until 5 p.m. local time Monday, according to the National Weather Service.

There is a moderate to major weather risk for San Bernardino County and Mojave National Preserve, Saturday August 19th to Tuesday August 22nd, 2023. This risk includes the possibility of sudden flash flooding from Hurricane Hillary this weekend. Please exercise caution. pic.twitter.com/c7jjxtB6rj  Mojave National Preserve (@MojaveNPS) August 17, 2023

Hurricane Hilary 2023 tracker

Hurricane Hilary spaghetti model

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hurricane Hilary forecast for California: From Bay Area to the desert
Nearly $7 million in state funding is headed to San Luis Obispo County for improvements for a Highway 101 interchange, according to Caltrans.

The California Transportation Commission will allocate $6.8 million to the San Luis Obispo Council of Governments to improve the interchange at Highway 101 and Avila Beach Drive, Caltrans said in a news release on Thusday.

Those improvements include a roundabout, park-and-ride facility, sidewalk, bike lanes and a transit stop, the release said.

The commission will allocate a total of $3.1 billion in state funds to upgrade state-owned transportation infrastructure on the Central Coast, according to Caltrans.

These projects will have a direct, positive impact on every Californian, Caltrans Director Tony Tavares said in the release. Commuters, truckers and visitors will all benefit from more reliable roadways and a safer transportation network.

State funds road improvements for Santa Barbara and Monterey Counties

Santa Barbara County will receive $11 million to build a roundabout at the intersection of Baseline Avenue and Edison Road on Highway 154, Caltrans said.

Meanwhile, Monterey County will collect $8 million to improve the pavement, lighting, sign panels and more at Highway 183 from north of South Davis Road to south of Del Monte Avenue near Salinas and Castroville, the release said.

The federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 provided $1.8 billion of the funds, while Senate Bill 1 provided about $200 million, Caltrans said.
Ahead of University of Idaho stabbing suspect Bryan Kohberger's latest hearing, Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson urged Judge John Judge to deny the defendant's second request to delay proceedings without waiving his right to a speedy trial.

Thompson argued the defense is trying to "grind the litigation in this matter to a halt" and continually postpone the case.

The 28-year-old quadruple murder suspect could face the death penalty under Idaho law if convicted in the killings of 21-year-olds Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen and 20-year-olds Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.

The judge entered not guilty pleas on his behalf at his arraignment in May, and Kohberger said through his public defender after his arrest in Pennsylvania he would be exonerated.

LAWYER EXPECTS BRYAN KOHBERGER PROSECUTORS TO BE VERY AGGRESSIVE SEEKING DEATH PENALTY FOR IDAHO SUSPECT

Bryan Kohberger enters a courtroom for a hearing at the Latah County Courthouse in Moscow, Idaho, June 27, 2023.

In court filings unveiled earlier this week, Thompson is opposing the defense's second push to delay proceedings.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

The court is expected to hear oral arguments on the issue today.

In a sealed affidavit, defense attorney Anne Taylor alleged juror bias and other potential issues with the grand jury that indicted Kohberger, Thompson wrote.

BRYAN KOHBERGER TO FIGHT INDICTMENT AS LAWYERS RAMP UP IDAHO SUSPECT'S DEFENSE

The prosecutor said her claims fall outside the scope of the law she based her arguments on  Idaho's Uniform Jury Selection and Service Act.

"The court should decline to indulge the Defendant's already-stated intention to buy more time to engage in various litigation strategies," Thompson concluded.

The 28-year-old aspiring criminologist is accused of murdering four college students while attending Ph.D. courses at a neighboring school.

IDAHO MURDERS: BRYAN KOHBERGER'S DEFENSE STANDS SILENT AT ARRAIGNMENT; JUDGE ENTERS NOT GUILTY PLEAS

According to investigators, he allegedly entered a six-bedroom house at 1122 King Road in Moscow, Idaho, Nov. 13, 2022, around 4 a.m.

Armed with a large knife, he allegedly stabbed to death Mogen, Goncalves, Kernodle and Chapin and walked out of the house, but not before a surviving roommate saw a masked man with bushy eyebrows on the second floor of the house.

The victims of the Nov. 13 University of Idaho massacre, from left to right: Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen.

At least some of the victims were asleep at the start of the massacre, Latah County Coroner Cathy Mabbutt said previously.

Police did not publicly identify a suspect for weeks, until they arrested Kohberger Dec. 30 at his parents' house in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania.

Days later, he waived extradition, and police flew him back to Idaho to face a judge. He has been held without bail ever since.

Madison Mogen, top left, smiles on the shoulders of her best friend, Kaylee Goncalves, as they pose with Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and two other housemates in Goncalves' final Instagram post, shared the day before the four students were stabbed to death.

He planned to fight the evidence used to arrest him at a June preliminary hearing that never happened because prosecutors secured a superseding indictment.

In July, Kohberger's defense asked the judge to dismiss the indictment against him, claiming that grand jurors were "misled" regarding the burden of proof required to send the case to trial.

Outside experts called the argument "frivolous."
Japanese lawmakers may soon debate the countrys weed lawswhich currently criminalize possession but not consumption of cannabis and allow the trade of CBD and other synthetic cannabinoidsand are expected to try to close the existing loopholes. Credit - Getty Images/iStock

In Japan, you can be jailed for up to seven years for possessing cannabis. But getting high on it isnt a crime at alland neither is possessing, trading, or consuming a number of synthetic cannabinoids designed to mimic the same high just without THC, the naturally occurring psychoactive element in cannabis.

A green rush is sweeping across Asia, a region traditionally known for its harsh drug laws, with some countries embracing partial or full legalization in recent years and others doubling down on strict prohibition.

People take part in a cannabis legalization march in Tokyo, May 4, 2023. Richard A. BrooksAFP/Getty Images

Japanese lawmakers, according to political observers, are gearing up to debate the countrys own cannabis laws during the next parliamentary session, which is expected to convene as early as October. But while there is some hope among cannabis advocates for a greater acceptance of the drugs use for medical purposes, its widely anticipated that lawmakers will aim to crack down on recreational useincluding by closing existing loopholes in the law.

Heres everything to know about the current state of weed regulation in Japanand where it could go next.

Doing almost anything with cannabis is a crime, but consuming it isnt

Japan has a long tradition of cannabis farming, with hemp used in garment-making, as food seasoning, and for religious practices. But the tradition came under scrutiny after World War II, when U.S. occupying forces called for a ban on cannabis.

The result was the 1948 Cannabis Control Act, which outlawed most parts of the hemp plant but not its mature stems and seeds, which were, at the time, believed to contain no psychoactive chemicals. The Act today criminalizes the import, export, production, sale, possession, and research of marijuanabut says nothing of consumption. The reason for this omission, as cited by authorities and local media, is to avoid penalizing farmers, who may inadvertently get high from inhaling their cannabis crops.

"The Cannabis Control Act was established in 1948 as a reconciliation between the protection of cannabis farmers and the demand from the [U.S. forces] to pursue total prohibition, Michiko Kameishi, a lawyer in Osaka known for defending those in cannabis cases, tells TIME.

A hemp harvester collects the crop in a field. Getty Images/iStock

But today, with few hemp farmers left in the country, the apparent legality of cannabis use has led to ambiguity in enforcement. For example, Naoko Miki, co-founder of cannabis legalization advocacy group Green Zone Japan, tells TIME, police wouldnt be able to make an arrest if somebody consumes all of their cannabis and none of it is found in their possession.

Also, if you are at a party and there's a joint going around and if you smoke it, if you say that it doesn't belong to youit's somebody else's, I just puffed on itthen police cannot arrest you, she adds.

Even though getting high per se is not a crime, there are still some legal provisions that stop people from engaging in dangerous behavior while using cannabis, such as driving, says Yasuhiro Maruyama, a criminology professor at Rissho University in Tokyo.

Police officers can arrest people who use not only cannabis but also other substances when they drive [under] the Road Traffic Act, he says, which prohibits people from driving when overworked, ill, under the influence of drugs, or under any circumstances that affects their ability to drive safely.

Authorities have become increasingly aware of gaps in the cannabis laws. In 2021, a panel formed under the Ministry of Health recommended that cannabis use be banned. The announcement came after a record 5,034 people, many of them teenagers and young adults, were caught in cannabis-related cases in 2020. Last year, authorities dealt with a new record 5,783 cannabis offenses.

But until legislative changes are enacted to target cannabis use, authorities can only crack down on possession, which they have done, arresting people for even trace amounts of cannabis on them. Earlier this month, a 21-year-old university student was arrested for possessing just 0.019 grams of cannabis and as well as small amounts of another illicit substance.

THC is banned, but synthetic cannabinoids arent

Despite its unequivocally anti-weed stance, Japan has struggled to rein in green businesses on the ground, most notably CBD productsmade from cannabis stalks and seeds that do not contain THCwhich are allowed to be imported in Japan. The CBD industry has thrived in Japan, rising over the past decade to a value of over 18 billion yen ($124 million) in 2021 and estimated to surge to 83 billion yen ($574 million) by 2025.

But another, more recent, effect of Japans convoluted cannabis laws is the proliferation of unregulated synthetic cannabinoids in the local market that do not actually contain the banned THC but have been designed to achieve similar psychoactive effects. Despite some health concerns about the safety of these novel cannabinoids, known in Japan as loophole herbs, their popularity has soared over the past two years, even as authorities race to stamp out their use in a futile game of regulatory catch-up: trying to ban the derivatives one at a time.

Dried flowers of HHC in a transparent plastic bag. Samuel BoivinNurPhoto/Getty Images

Earlier this month, on August 4, a ban on THCH kicked in after it was first announced on July 25. CBD shops around Japan scrambled to get rid of edibles and vapes containing the synthetic drug, selling them at huge discounts, but theyre not losing sleep over the crackdown. Its not the first time theyve had to work around such bans, with the same thing happening to THC-O and HHC-O in March and HHC last year. Sellers tell TIME they can simply restock with other derivatives that offer the same high but are yet to be banned. I dont wanna mention their names just because I dont wanna make it too obvious, says Toshiki Inoue, the founder of popular cannabis brand Chillaxy, a store which sells CBD anduntil recentlyTHCH.

Inoue adds that the market resorts to synthetic cannabinoids largely because there is no other choice. People are only using these synthetics because they are legal and have the same effects, and they can bypass the law and use it safely. But thats not the best option, he says. The best option is basically for the government to legalize cannabis, monitor it from their point of view, and tax it.

Control it like alcohol, basically.

Is legalization on the table?

While all signals point to a coming crackdown on recreational cannabis, Japan appears to be cautiously warming up to the potential benefits of cannabis for medical purposes. Last year saw a trial for Epidiolex, a pharmaceutical drug used to treat epilepsy that contains a cannabis-derived ingredient, after recommendations from a Japanese health ministry panel. Earlier this year, it looked like the legalization of medical cannabis could make serious headway, having been reportedly considered for bill submission at the annual parliamentary session lasting from January to June. But the 150-day session concluded without any developments on that front.

The countrys stubborn stance against recreational cannabis does not seem likely to change in the foreseeable future, say cannabis advocates. If anything, lawmakers appear poised to try to close the consumption and synthetics loopholes and increase punishments for cannabis-related offenses.

People take part in a cannabis legalization march in Tokyo, May 4, 2023. Richard A. BrooksAFP/Getty Images

We're still in reefer madness era. The government is still sending out [a] message to the public that cannabis is very dangerous, it's addictive, it ruins your life, stay away from it, says Miki of Green Zone Japan. It's really going backwards in terms of a civil way of thinking about this whole thing.

Contact us at letters@time.com.
Tyrone Echols has served as Venices mayor for 40 years and says it has been a long time since there was a grocery store in town.

But on Friday he welcomed Gov. J.B. Pritzker to a bill signing ceremony for legislation that authorizes $20 million in state money to help keep small grocery stores open or help get one started in food deserts like Venice.

Pritzker said in a news conference in the Venice Recreation Hall that a recent study showed there were over 3 million Illinois residents who live in food deserts.

When our residents struggle because they cant find affordable, nutritious food to put on the table, thats a problem that requires community input and help from our elected leaders, Pritzker said.

Grocery stores can have soaring maintenance costs because of decades-old refrigeration, he said.

Well, 20% of the Illinois Grocery Initiative will help these stores replace aging equipment with energy efficient alternatives, keeping costs down and most importantly, keeping their doors open, Pritzker said.

Pritzker, a Democrat, praised the bipartisan support for the bill from Democrats and Republicans in the General Assembly.

The Senate approved the bill 57-0 and the House vote was 96-17 this spring.

Gov. J.B. Pfitzker and Illinois state representatives Chris Belt and Jay Hoffman celebrate Fridays signing of a bill granting roughly $20 million to combat food deserts in rural, urban and suburban communities.

Sen. Dale Fowler, R-Harrisburg, represents the 59th Senate District and said the state financial assistance would aid rural residents in his district in Southern Illinois. He noted one county in his district, Gallatin County along the Ohio River, does not have a single grocery store.

The legislation  formerly Senate Bill 850  defines a food desert as a rural area with 33% of the population or at least 500 residents living more than 10 miles from the nearest grocery store or an urban area with with 33% of the population or at least 500 residents living more than one-half mile from the nearest grocery store.

Rep. Mary Beth Canty, D-Arlington Heights, said this funding could help reduce crime in food deserts.

When people are hungry, people get desperate and desperate people do desperate things, she said.

Canty said some research suggests that food deserts may influence the incidents of violent crimes in these communities.

She supported the bill because it addresses one of the root causes of violence.

Pritzker said those interested seeking grants through this pilot program can anticipate seeing information on the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity website at dceo.illinois.gov.

Were working as fast as we can, Pritzker said in response to a question about when the assistance will be available.

Here are highlights of the program as cited in a news release from Pritzkers office Friday:

 The program will provide support to local governments and independent grocers opening grocery stores in food deserts, which includes providing technical assistance, feasibility studies and marketing, support with operational costs and access to capital funding for the acquisition of land, facilities or equipment.

 Up to 20 percent of program funding may be used for grants for energy-efficient equipment upgrades to existing independently owned, cooperative, and for-profit grocery stores.

 The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity will commission a study to explore reasons for market declines, historical disparities for access to food, potential policy solutions, geographic trends and the role of independent grocers.

A man records comments by state officials Friday in Venice, where Gov. J.B. Pfitzker signed a bill granting roughly $20 million to combat food deserts in rural, urban and suburban communities.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill.  Republicans spent their day at the Illinois State Fair on Thursday largely sidestepping the effect Donald Trump presidential nomination might have on efforts to rejuvenate the moribund political organization in a state controlled by Democrats.

Party leaders also acknowledged that abortion rights, which motivated Democratic voters  particularly women in the once GOP-rich suburbs  and led to election successes last year, will remain a critical 2024 election-year issue that they will have to try to counter.

Why change a winning strategy? Demetra DeMonte, the states Republican national committeewoman, said of Democrats during a breakfast meeting of GOP leaders. We are the ones that must change. We Republicans must put Democrats on the defensive on abortion.

Noting an unending drumbeat of Democratic ads on abortion rights last year, DeMonte and other Republicans said the GOP must work to label Democrats as extreme on the issue.

Referencing the U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year that overturned Roe v. Wade and turned decisions on legalizing the procedure over to the states, DeMonte contended Democrats were spreading misinformation about Republicans seeking to reverse Illinois law that enshrines a womans right to an abortion.

Abortion is not a federal issue. It is a state issue, she said, ignoring efforts by some congressional Republicans to push for a federal ban.

Trump, the embrace of far-right candidates amid internal fights between establishment and grassroots conservatives, and opposition to abortion have proved to be the GOPs biggest hurdles in its efforts to stage a revival in a state where Democrats hold all statewide offices and majorities in the General Assembly and state Supreme Court, and have broken the GOPs once vaunted control of the collar counties.

Im always so curious as why is it all about Donald Trump? state Rep. Tony McCombie, the leader of the House Republicans 40-member minority in the 118-seat House, asked reporters. Why dont we concentrate about whats going on in Illinois?

Rather than discuss Trumps effect on efforts to erode the Democratic supermajorities, McCombie and state Senate GOP leader John Curran each indicated they plan to keep the focus on Illinois issues in local contests rather than see them become nationalized, as they have been in recent years.

I have concerns anytime were not talking Illinois issues with those we represent, Curran said. Illinois has been out of balance, and that is really where we want to drive the conversation. So whether its Donald Trump or any other national issue, it is really the state issues that we want to drive the message.

The states Republican chairman, Don Tracy of Springfield, told GOP leaders, If we are to win again in Illinois, we have got to win back the suburbs.

Curran contended that Republicans have not lost the suburbs, but instead that those areas have become much more balanced politically.

But with the fairs festivities at times resembling an open casting call for GOP candidates, Curran said he and McCombie are working very closely together in identifying community leaders to run as Republican candidates, because it is about representing the district you are in and that is what the Republican philosophy of governance allows, and that is ultimately how we are going to grow again in the suburbs.

Still, the state GOPs party platform, contained in the What We Believe section of its website, calls for amending the federal and Illinois constitutions to affirm the right to life of unborn children as well as a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage and to celebrate the loving commitment a man and a woman make to each other in marriage.

Infighting within the factionalized GOP remains a major concern, with leaders urging unity and an end to name-calling as the party searches for paths to victory.

I think its extremely important that Republicans dont spend time beating up on other Republicans, McCombie said. And quite honestly, we dont have to because the Democrats give us enough material that we can just take their material and beat up on them just quite enough.

Richard Porter, the states Republican national committeeman, encouraged party members to engage with voters who label them a RINO  short for Republican In Name Only.

Were the party of sticks and stones will break your bones but words will never hurt me, he said. Everybodys got to have thick skin to be in this game. If someone calls you a RINO, call them up. Grab a cup of coffee.

Some people really (are) kind of hateful people. That is what it is, he also said. But most people, they just dont know you.

Another example of party infighting was the appearance of Darren Bailey, the unsuccessful GOP challenger to Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker last November who is now running against five-term Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Bost in the massive and ruby-red 12th District downstate.

Bost has received the backing of major Republicans in the district and was hosting a fundraiser featuring U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in downstate OFallon, forcing him to miss the fairs GOP day.

Despite his own background as a state representative and senator, Bailey has sought to paint Bost as part of the GOP establishment that continues to allow incumbents to be elected and this a career.

Trump endorsed Bailey for governor and Bost for reelection to the House in the 2022 election, and Bailey has actively courted the former presidents support for 2024.

Id love to have his endorsement, Bailey told reporters at a fairgrounds rally that he said represents the establishment.

Ive had many conversations with President Trump. President Trumps a very smart man. He knows what hes going to do. But I support him 100%, Bailey said.

Bost has also said he supports Trumps presidential bid in 2024.

The Trump factor weighs heavily on the GOP as the former president remains the frontrunner among Republicans for the White House nomination while at the same time becoming the first former president to face indictment, with criminal charges filed by federal and state prosecutors.

U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, one of three Republicans in the states 17-member congressional delegation along with Bost and U.S. Rep. Mary Miller of Oakland, told GOP leaders, Politics is about the future, not about the past.

LaHood later made clear he was not referencing Trump, who has continued to make false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

For me, its about winning. We need to win, right? LaHood said. I think we as Republicans need to be optimistic. We need to think about the future. So thats what Ive said as we look at 2024 for all of our candidates, whether its the presidential candidates down to congressional, I think thats the winning message.

LaHood hailed a deep, diverse field of candidates but said he has not yet made a choice for the GOP presidential nomination.

Porter, who is backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for the Republican presidential nomination, said it was time to move beyond Trump.

I think that the most ardent Trumpers recognize that they might love him in their heart, but they know in their head he is not going to win the independents in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, New Hampshire, Arizona and Nevada. And thats what you need to do in order to become president, Porter said.

And if you dont become president of the United States, he said, Trump goes to jail.
An Independence Power & Light employee was recovering Thursday from a serious workplace injury, according to the city.

The employee of the city utility was performing maintenance Wednesday when firefighters and paramedics were called, and after stabilizing the injured worker transported him to the hospital. The employees injuries included substantial burns, the city of Independence said in a news release.

As of Thursday, the city said the employee was in stable condition at the hospital.

Reached by phone late Thursday, Meg Lewis, a city spokeswoman, declined to provide further detail of what occurred, give the exact location where the employee was hurt, or say what position the employee held at Power & Light. She cited an ongoing investigation as the reason why that information was not being shared publicly.

In a written statement Thursday, City Manager Zach Walker thanked the community for its support of the employee and city staff. He said Power & Light crews face inherent risks that come with working in close proximity to high-voltage electricity and in challenging physical conditions.

Walker added that every precaution is taken to ensure our employees are well-trained and properly equipped. He said the city would follow practice with a full review of the incident and implement any safety recommendations that may come as a result.

However, our focus now is on our employee, their crewmates, and the department, Walker said. They are receiving the support and services they need to not only recover from this event but also process it as we learn and move forward.
One man was injured after an officer fired their weapon following a vehicle pursuit just north of Beech Grove Friday afternoon.

The pursuit began when Beech Grove Police Department officers attempted to stop a stolen vehicle around 12:20 p.m., Indiana State Police public information Sgt. John Perrine said.

The officers tried using an intervention maneuver with their squad cars multiple times to stop the vehicle, Perrine said. It was unclear where the pursuit began, but it ended along Emerson Avenue, just south of Raymond Street. The suspect began ramming his vehicle into the officers vehicles, Perrine said, and that was when an officer fired their weapon.

More: Lugar Tower residents cautiously hopeful as Indianapolis Housing Agency promises fixes

"At least one shot was fired by an officer, who was involved, and the suspect has an injury consistent with a gunshot wound, Perrine said.

The suspect was in stable condition and no officers were injured. State Police will be investigating the shooting. The officers involved were wearing body cameras.

Indiana State Police officers and other investigators work the scene where a stolen vehicle pursuit ended with a person shot Friday, Aug. 18, 2023, on Raymond Street, west of the intersection with Emerson Avenue, in Indianapolis. ISP confirmed that a Beech Grove officer fired their weapon and the person fleeing in the stolen vehicle had a gunshot wound, as of 2 p.m. The suspect was in stable condition at the time.

As of publication, Perrine could not yet confirm who had shot the suspect or if he displayed any weapons before the officer fired theirs.

It's early in our investigation to know, Perrine said. We've got a lot of work to do still here at the scene and our crime scene investigators aren't here to start looking at the evidence yet.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana State Police investigating shooting involving Beech Grove PD
UPDATE: Travis Lang was convicted of murder for the October 2021 shooting death of Dylan McGinnis, according to a news release issued Aug. 17 by Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears. Lang also was found guilty of felony murder, attempted murder (Level 1 Felony), two counts of robbery resulting in serious bodily injury (Level 2 Felony) and carrying a handgun without a license (Level A Misdemeanor).

Dylan McGinnis was tragically killed while simply looking out for his friend, Mears said in the news release. Great detective work was complemented by witnesses who not only cooperated but testified at trial and ultimately secured justice for Dylan and his family.

The jury returned the guilty-as-charged verdict after a four-day trial. Lang is scheduled to be sentenced later in September.

ORIGINAL STORY (Oct. 19, 2021): A 23-year-old man is facing preliminary murder charges after police say he shot two people during a drug deal on the east side of Indianapolis earlier this month.

Travis Lang was arrested Monday in connection to the shooting death of 24-year-old Dylan McGinnis in a car in the 2900 block of East 11th Street near Rural Street shortly before 11:30 p.m., according to jail records and a preliminary probable cause affidavit.

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police officers found McGinnis shot to death in the passenger seat of a black Ford Fusion minutes after dispatchers were told shots had been fired about 500 feet down the road. Nine 9mm shell casings were recovered from the scene, records indicate, and broken glass was found in the area. A woman in the driver's seat of the car had been shot in the leg.

'She hasn't been forgotten': IMPD officer maintains woman's memorial 22 years later

Witnesses told police the shooting began after McGinnis and the woman had "arranged to meet someone in Indianapolis to buy Xanax and heroin," according to the affidavit. As they were driving, witnesses told investigators, an argument over money between the man and the woman broke out, and the man, who was in the back of the car at the time, got out and fired into the car.

Investigators recovered the woman's phone from the scene, which had a recording of the moment the shooting occurred  the woman told investigators she thought the man might rob them and began to record.

In the recording, investigators said, a man can be heard demanding money, saying, "Give me my money before I start squeezing in this (expletive)," before a struggle and gunshots can be heard.

Police used social GPS data to piece together the route of the car and reviewed surveillance footage from nearby stores, as well as social media postings, to identify Lang as a suspect in the case, according to the affidavit.

In a written message to IndyStar, McGinnis' stepmother, Mindy, said McGinnis was not in the car to purchase narcotics but went along with the woman to help keep her safe. Police have not confirmed those details.

McGinnis' family in a statement described him as a "good kid" with a "helpful heart" who was planning on taking over his father's electrical contracting company.

"He was always helping friends move, (helping) with broken down vehicles," the family said. "He was always there to help whenever he saw someone in need."

An obituary for McGinnis notes he graduated from Westfield High School in 2016 and "enjoyed boating, gaming and building computers."

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: UPDATE: Indianapolis man convicted in 2021 drug deal shooting
An inspection will take place today by an expert engineer at a historic building in Troy.

>>PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Court order stops repair work on wall of historic Tavern Building on West Main in Troy

For months, News Center 7 has been following the legal back and forth over the Troy Tavern Building on the 100 block of W. Main Street.

On Thursday, the Ohio Second District Court of Appeals in Dayton issued an order stopping, at least temporarily, that the wall on the north side of the buildings third floor be shored and repaired.

The appeals court did not overturn the lower courts order relating to the preliminary injunction that stopped the demolition of the building or hiring an expert witness.

We are encouraged to see action on this matter by the Appeals Court, and we hope that a decision is reached expeditiously, Troy Mayor Robin Oda said in a statement Thursday night. Although it means West Main Street remains closed to vehicular traffic, at least we are getting closer to some resolution for our residents, businesses, and visitors.

West Main Street between Plum and Cherry Streets has been closed to pedestrian and vehicle traffic since June.

>>RELATED: Controversial building in Troy forces closure of West Main Street

News Center 7s Xavier Hershovitz says the legal dispute has left the building just sitting in Troy for months.

It became such a safety concern for the city in June that they shut down West Main Street surrounding the building.

News Center 7 previously spoke with business owners that say their customers depend on this main route to get into their businesses.

One owner said shes had customers complain about the struggle to get to their buildings through the construction and street closure.

Kennedy Coomes, Troys Main Street Director, told News Center 7 back in June that businesses claim to have been down 40% every single day since that construction started.

>>Judge denies request to demolish historic Troy building, orders repairs

Hershovitz says the future of this building remains in the hands of the legal system.

On March 29, the buildings owner attempted to tear the building down in the middle of the night. It spurred a legal and back-forth over the buildings future.

The city shut down West Main Street surrounding the building because of safety concerns on June 16.

A Miami County judge named an independent engineer to assess the property because the judge said there were significant concerns with the countys chief building official and the Troy Fire Department chiefs assessment found the building was beyond repair and should be demolished as soon as possible.

The inspection is expected to begin around 10 a.m. today.




A stack of the latest weekly edition of the Marion County Record sits in the back of the newspapers building, awaiting unbundling, sorting and distribution, on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023, in Marion, Kan. The newspapers front page was dedicated to two stories about a raid by local police on its offices and the publishers home on Aug. 11, 2023. | John Hanna, Associated Press

Following last Fridays police raid on a small newspaper office in Marion, Kansas, a prosecutor said Wednesday that the raid on the Marion County Record was not supported by evidence.

As reported by The Associated Press, Joel Ensey, the Marion County attorney, released a statement on Wednesday saying that his review of police seizures from the Marion County Record found insufficient evidence exists to establish a legally sufficient nexus between this alleged crime and the places searched and the items seized.

Ensey withdrew the search warrant and said that all items taken during the raid would be returned to the paper. The reversal was first reported by a local Kansas City TV station and was then confirmed by Bernie Rhodes, the attorney for the newspaper. Rhodes told media representatives that the items taken would be examined by a forensics expert to see if anything had been accessed or altered before being returned to the newspaper office.

The reversal followed days of outrage from press advocacy organizations and others. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre even weighed in on the raid during Wednesdays press briefing. It is important to me and from here and to the president to reiterate, as he has done many times before, the freedom of the press, that is the core value when we think about our democracy, when you think about the cornerstone of our democracy, the freedom of the press is right there, said Jean-Pierre.

Related

Seth Stern, director of advocacy for the Freedom of the Press Foundation, said in a statement to The Washington Post that The Record never should have been subject to this chilling search in the first place. His organization called on the Kansas Bureau of Investigation to conduct an investigation into the raid.

On Tuesday, the KBI announced that it had launched a criminal probe, but, The Washington Post reports, it is not clear whether the state investigation is focused on the local officers who conducted the search at the Marion County Record or on the reporters and editors for the small weekly paper.

Editor and Publisher Eric Meyer considers a question from reporters about the aftermath of a local police raid on his newspapers offices and his home, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023, in Marion, Kan. Meyer said the newspaper will not change its coverage of the community because of the raids. | John Hanna, Associated Press

The editor of the paper, Eric Meyer, said he believes the raid was carried out because the police chief, Gideon Cody, left the Kansas City police department in April and the Marion County Record had begun an investigation as to why. The Kansas City Star reports that Cody faced discipline for allegedly making insulting and sexist comments to a female officer, who recorded a following conversation in which he acknowledged his behavior was unprofessional. She filed a hostile work environment complaint against him in the months before he left Kansas City. Following an internal investigation, writes the Star, he was told he would be demoted to sergeant. Instead, he resigned and went to work in Marion County.

However, the Kansas City Star also reports that the search warrant shows police were looking for evidence that a reporter had run an improper computer search on a protected state database to confirm a report that a local business owner applying for a liquor license had lost her drivers license over a DUI.

The Wichita Eagle reports that Marion County District Court Magistrate Judge Laura Viar, who was appointed earlier this year and signed off on the controversial search warrant, has her own history of DUI arrests, which could bring added scrutiny to both the judge and the case.

Meyer said that the paper had received a tip about a business owners DUI but ultimately decided not to write a story about it. The business owner admitted in a public city council meeting that she had been charged with a DUI.

Since the raid and subsequent press coverage, the paper that normally has 4,000 subscribers saw that number jump to more than 6,000.
According to Miriam Webster dictionary, invasive species are a non-native organisms growing and dispersing easily, usually to the detriment of native species and ecosystems.

I think that this is a perfect definition.

Unfortunately, our world has become global both on land and sea. In the sea, organisms are regularly transported from one region to another in the ballast water of ships. When a ship is empty of cargo, it is very light and rides high in the water and becomes unstable. For centuries, to maintain stability, ships have taken on ballast water to add weight and make the ships ride lower in the water. When the ship reaches the port where it picks up cargo, it discharges the ballast water into the harbor to lighten the load. Problems occur when the water contains organisms, either plant or animal, from another sea or ecosystem. Sometimes, the water temperature or salinity is so different from their sea of origin that the organisms just die. Just as often, the organisms land in a new environment without any natural predators and they thrive.

Blue crab species are known scientifically as callinectes sapidus  Greek and Latin for savory beautiful swimmers.

Recently I had a visitor to the Oceanarium from Italy. When I began showing him the invasive crabs that have invaded the Gulf of Maine, he showed me an article about the Adriatic Sea and an invasion of blue crabs. He wanted to know why we didnt have one for him to look at, as he was curious about them. He couldnt understand why they would thrive in the Adriatic when they came from the cold water of the Atlantic. I explained to him they are not native to the Gulf of Maine. They originate in the mid-Atlantic, found in the warmer water of the Chesapeake Bay south.

Blue crabs at Hampton Beach: Can you take them home for dinner? Just don't get pinched

This surprised him, but the article was intriguing to me as I hadnt heard about this before. It appears that the Atlantic blue crabs, which are famous in southern states and the Chesapeake Bay as a delicacy, have somehow been transported to the Mediterranean Sea. The general feeling is that they were inadvertently dumped into the Mediterranean by bilge or ballast water.

I realize that the dumping of water by ships to regulate ballast is an accepted practice, but as a scientist, I find this practice unconscionable. We need to develop an easy, safe way to regulate ballast that does not include discharging water. You would think we would have developed a more environmentally friendly way to do this in the last few centuries.

Be that as it may, the American blue crabs, as the European countries are referring to them, are in the Mediterranean to stay. For centuries, the accepted way to rid an area of invasive species has been to introduce a predator for that invasive. Time and time again, this practice has proved to be more harmful than the original species. When will we ever learn?

Sharks are built to feed: Here's why they are the ultimate eating machines

Meanwhile, back in the Mediterranean, Turkish fishermen have had their fish catches destroyed by blue crabs. Fishermen are some of the most resilient people I have ever met. These fishermen decided to fish for the blue crabs and start a market for them. They are embracing the moment and continue to try to make a living fishing in the sea. As a scientist looking back over history, it appears that the only way to rid a region of an invasive species is to develop a market for it. Hopefully, this will curtail their numbers, and eventually, an ecological balance will be obtained.

A fisherman holds a blue crab in the lagoon of Scardovari, south of Venice, Italy, on August 11, 2023. The blue crab is a particularly aggressive species threatening local shellfish and fish in the delta where the River Po reaches the Adriatic sea. The blue crab, native to the North American Atlantic coast, has been spreading across the Mediterranean for several years and has now reached what has been described as a "critical situation" in some of Italy's coastal areas.

In the Adriatic Sea, a part of the Mediterranean Sea between Greece and Italy, the Italians have declared an emergency because the blue crabs have devasted their clam aquafarm industry, a local delicacy. They have decided to catch the crabs and kill them, spending upward of two million Euros to do it. Im not sure that will do the trick, as the crabs lay hundreds of thousands of eggs. Time will tell.

Here in the Gulf of Maine, we have so many invasive species that you need a scorecard. The most visible ones are the Asian shore crabs and the green crabs. These can be traced to ballast water. The green crabs and periwinkles began showing up on the East Coast sometime in the late 1800s from Europe. They have been here so long that everyone thinks of them as native.

More: Whats behind the surge of blue, orange and calico lobsters in the Gulf of Maine?

The Asian shore crabs are another story. They seem to have appeared somewhere near New Jersey in 1988 and took only about a decade to make it into the Gulf of Maine. They are voracious feeders with striped legs and huge mitten-like claws with a bubble of skin in the middle of their claws. This allows them to hyper-extend their claws and grab onto large objects. They can annihilate anything in their path, including unsuspecting fingers.

I warn people to keep their children away from these crabs, as I know from experience they can cut right through your fingers. A bit of handy advice, if you find yourself with a crab attached to a finger or toe, do not try to shake it off. The crab will just clamp down harder. The sure way to remove it is to slowly place your hand under the water, and hold perfectly still. The crab will drop right off and scurry away. I guarantee this works every time!

As I said before, the only way to rid an area of an invasive species is to develop a product using them. In the case of the green and Asian shore crabs, an enterprising company in Gloucester, Massachusetts, Neptunes Harvest, has started a fishery turning them into fertilizer!

Ellen Goethel is a marine biologist and the owner of Explore the Ocean World at 367 Ocean Blvd. at Hampton Beach.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Invasive 'American' crabs are taking over the Mediterranean Sea
Dried buffelgrass, an invasive species that leads to faster growing wildfires, is seen on the side of a hill near a trail in Tucson, Arizona (Andrew CABALLERO-REYNOLDS)

After a catastrophic wildfire that killed more than 100 people in Hawaii, eyes have turned toward an unexpected culprit: invasive grass species that have spread massively over the archipelago for decades, serving as the perfect fuel.

Drought-resistant, capable of invading difficult terrain, and gradually muscling out local species, they are also a growing threat in the western United States, where devastating fires are increasing.

"Invasive grasses are very ignitable. They change the landscape," Carla D'Antonio, a professor of ecology at the University of California, Santa Barbara told AFP.

"They make conditions that are more conducive to more fire, and all of a sudden, we just have a lot more fire."

Rather than decomposing when they die, they stay "standing there for a long time, dry as a bone," said D'Antonio, who has been studying these species for more than 30 years. They're also hardy, surviving fires better than native species and gradually replacing them.

Most of these grasses -- buffelgrass, Guinea grass, molasses grass -- came from Africa, and were introduced as pasture for cattle, without knowing the danger they would come to represent decades later.

In Hawaii, the demise of sugar cane plantations in the 1990s as a result of globalization had disastrous consequences: huge tracts of land were abandoned, allowing the invasive species an opening.

"Yes, many parts of Hawaii are trending towards dryer conditions, but the fire problem is mostly attributable to the vast extents of non-native grasslands left unmanaged by large landowners as we've entered a 'post-plantation era,'" said Clay Trauernicht, a fire ecologist at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Trauernicht said the annual area burned in Hawaii has increased by 300 percent in recent decades.

A 2021 fire prevention report by Maui County described fires as a growing threat due to increasing temperatures and prolonged periods of drought as a result of climate change, and the growing menace of intrusive grasses.

Hawaii, despite its tropical reputation, is getting drier: a 2016 study found 90 percent of the state received less rain compared to a century earlier.

The Maui County report recommended "an aggressive plan to replace these hazardous fuel sources with native plants to reduce combustible fuel while increasing water retention."

- 'Nothing natural about it' -

The problem isn't confined to Hawaii. Over in the mainland United States, "the deserts of the West and the conifer forests, and then the shrub lands in the coastal zone, invasive grasses are here to stay, they're now part of the ecosystem," said D'Antonio.

She herself spends some Saturday evenings weeding roadsides with neighbors in a mountainous area near Santa Barbara, California. Their goal: to prevent a fire from starting from a cigarette butt or an overheating vehicle.

Most of the major fires of the Mojave and Great Basin have been fueled by invasive grasses, she says, while also citing the Camp Fire of 2018, which destroyed the small California town of Paradise, killing more than 80 people. It was started by a power line igniting dry grass.

"(I'm) not making the mistake of calling it a natural disaster because there's almost nothing natural about it," emphasizes the scientist.

One of the invaders, buffelgrass, also threatens the emblematic cactus of the Saguaro National Park in Arizona, by smothering young saguaros and fueling fires in the region. Organizations regularly organize clearing operations. The same species is spreading in Mexico and in Australia.

According to a 2019 study, six invasive grass species caused fire frequency to increase by up to 150 percent in US ecosystems.

For D'Antonio of UC Santa Barbara, tragedies like that of Hawaii are linked to many factors: the alteration of the landscape by humans, the invasion of alien species, droughts made worse by climate change, but also a lack of preparation.

In the American West, widespread logging of conifer forests in the 19th century and a long history of excessive fire suppression in the 20th century contributed to accumulation of tinder on the forest floor.

"The potential for disaster is huge," said D'Antonio, leaving society with daunting questions to address. "How do we plan for the extreme? Not for the average fire, but the extreme fire?"

la/ia/dw
One of Iowas top evangelical leaders has told The Independent that Republicans and the press are writing off Florida Governor Ron DeSantiss presidential campaign too soon.

Bob Vander Plaats, the chief executive of the Family Leader, is one of the leading voices in heavily evangelical Iowa. Earlier this year, the Family Leader hosted a forum with many of the Republican candidates for president with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson serving as the moderator.

He has has a track record of betting on the right horse before the Iowa caucus. In 2008, he served as the state chairman for Mike Huckabees run for president when the former Arkansas governor won the caucus. In 2012, he endorsed Rick Santorum before he eked out a win against Mitt Romney and endorsed Sen Ted Cruz before the Texas Republican beat Donald Trump in the first contest in the GOP race.

Mr Vander Plaats said in the same respect, Mr DeSantis has time to triumph despite numerous negative headlines.

I think it'd be a big mistake to count him out, he said. Mr Vander Plaats said that Mr DeSantiss campaign reminds him of Mr Cruzs campaign in 2016 when he struggled in the polls after an initial strong start before his ultimate victory.

So far, Mr Vander Plaats has not endorsed a candidate but he did invite Mr DeSantis and his wife Casey to church earlier this month.

A Fox News poll released this week showed that in June, 22 per cent of Republican primary voters preferred Mr DeSantis compared to 56 per cent that preferred Mr Trump. But since then, only 16 per cent prefer Mr DeSantis, while Republican businessman Vivek Ramaswamy has almost doubled his support from 5 to 11 per cent.

Mr Vander Plaats said that many Iowa voters are kicking the tires on who they might support.

Blessed to have Governor @RonDeSantis and First Lady @CaseyDeSantis join Darla and me for Church this morning! I Timothy 2:1-4 #ChooseWell2024 pic.twitter.com/9YLkJbmKRw  Bob Vander Plaats (@bobvanderplaats) August 6, 2023

But they break late, he said. So I would worry much more around Thanksgiving time, first of December than I would at state fair time and Labor Day.

Mr DeSantis remains Mr Trumps closest competitor, though he still trails the former president significantly despite the latters numerous legal troubles.

The governor has campaigned heavily in the Hawkeye state, which has a large evangelical population, as he seeks to revive his flagging campaign amid disappointing fundraising numbers, staff layoffs and multiple negative headlines.

Never Back Down, the super PAC supporting Mr DeSantis, announced earlier this month that it had county chairpeople in each of the states 99 counties. In addition, he earned the support of prominent Iowa talk radio host, Steve Deace.

Mr DeSantis remains close with Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, a sticking point for Mr Trump, even saying at one point he would consider her as a potential running mate.

Republican presidential candidates will hold their first debate next week in Milwaukee. On Thursday, The New York Times reported on a memo from Never Back Down, a pro-DeSantis super PAC, advising the governor to attack Mr Ramaswamy while also defending former president Donald Trump.

The Iowa Caucus will take place on 15 January.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Mr Vander Plaats welcomed Mr DeSantis, posting the hashtag #ChooseWisely as well as a Bible verse, 1 Timothy 2:1-4, which partially reads Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.
Iran appears to be rounding up activists in a crackdown ahead of the anniversary of mass protests that shook the country.

Authorities in the Islamic Republic detained at least a dozen womens rights activists on Wednesday, according to rights groups and local news agencies.

The arrests are part of a concerted effort to head off protests to mark a year since the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising swept the Islamic Republic, rights groups say.

The government has been trying to stamp out dissent and reimpose strict dress codes as it struggles to reassert its authority in the wake of the sometimes-violent protests, which posed the biggest challenge to the clerical establishment since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Residents of the capital, Tehran, have observed a heavy security forces presence on the streets in recent days. And further north, in the province of Gilan on the Caspian Sea, the semi-official Tasnim and Fars news agencies reported the arrests of 12 people on Wednesday.

Citing the regional intelligence office, the news agencies said those arrested were a team associated with foreign people, which was planning and acting to incite unrest and vandalism on the anniversary of last years autumn protests.

The intelligence office said the members of the team had a history of engaging in multiple anti-security activities during the protests last year, and accused them of trying to organize people with prior protest activity, including some youth, the news agencies reported

They were in the process of creating the conditions for unrest and insecurity across Gilan Province and certain counties in Kurdistan Province, the intelligence office said, according to Tasnim and Fars.

None of the people arrested were named, and the exact charges against them were not listed.

The Human Rights Activists in Iran, a non-governmental group monitoring human rights in Islamic Republic, also said Friday that at least 13 people had now been detained in Gilan.The precise reasons underlying their detentions, their current locations, and the specific charges brought against them all remain undisclosed at this juncture, the group said on its website.

The group told NBC News in an email that it has confirmation of the arrests of 12 women and one man in Gilan. It paints a stark picture of a regime that is deeply concerned about the potential for renewed protest and is taking pre-emptive action to stifle any possible resurgence of popular unrest, said Skylar Thompson, the groups director of global advocacy and accountability.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders Mary Lawlor said Thursday on X, formerly Twitter, that she was deeply concerned about the arrest of womens rights defenders in Iran, adding that their families are unaware of their location and accusations.

Iranian authorities must release them immediately and halt the persecution of womens rights advocates, Lawlor said.

The surge in arrests ahead of the anniversary seems to be a deliberate strategy by the Iranian authorities to sow fear among the populace, Jasmin Ramsey with the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran said in an emailed comment to NBC News.

The lack of accountability by the Iranian government, Ramsey said, has created a volatile situation in the country: a situation that remains highly combustible and susceptible to erupt into further instances of protest.

Daily life in Iran (Fatemeh Bahrami / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images file)

The crackdown comes around a month before the anniversary of the protests that swept through the country, sparked by the death of 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian Mahsa Amini after she was detained by the countrys powerful morality police in Tehran for allegedly violating the Islamic Republics strict dress code.

As protests grew, women and girls defiantly removed their headscarves in public and some across the world shared videos cutting their hair in solidarity. The wave of anger developed into a broader anti-government movement, and though human rights and economic troubles persist, an intense crackdown has largely quelled the unrest.

Thousands of protesters across the country were detained and more than 500 are believed to have died in the months that followed Aminis death, according to the U.N. and Iran Human Rights, a human rights organization tracking the unrest. Some protesters have been publicly executed.

In March, Iran said the countrys supreme leader had pardoned more than 22,000 people arrested during the protests.

Last month, Iranian authorities announced a new campaign to force women to wear the Islamic headscarf and morality police returned to the streets. Irans parliament is also looking into a new bill that could increase penalties for women refusing to wear the hijab.

A number of Iranian celebrities, including famous actors and filmmakers, have also been detained for expressing solidarity with the protesters and criticizing the government crackdown.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
A woman, sans-head covering, at the Tajrish Bazaar in Tehran on Jan. 28. Defiant resistance to Iran's mandatory hijab law has spread across the country after nationwide protests that erupted last year. Credit - Arash KhamooshiThe New York Times/Redux

Almost a full year after the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of Irans so-called morality police galvanized mass protests, Iranian MPs are pushing for even more stringent punishments to deter women from violating its enforced modesty laws.

The Hijab and Chastity Billa draft law consisting of 70 articleswould intensify punishments for those seen flouting a dress code that became the flash point for the most widespread challenge to the Islamic Republic in four decades. The bill calls for increased fines and jail time, as well as the use of artificial intelligence to identify violators, according to CNN. These measures build on previous efforts to crack down on strict dress codes and identify unveiled women, including the addition of cameras in public places in April.

A straw poll taken Sunday saw 175 members of Irans parliament vote in favor of the move, while 49 voted against it, the BBC reported. If Iran's Guardian Council, a separate, unelected body in Irans elaborate theocratic system, approves the bill, it would go forward on a pilot basis for between three and five years. MPs could then progress these measures into permanent law.

More From TIME

Hijaba headscarf conservative clerics say should be worn so snugly no hair is shown in publicbecame compulsory in Iran after the 1979 revolution, along with modest dress that cloaks the female body. By enforcing what many Muslim women said should be a matter of choice, the rule became a political symbol of the regime, showing that it is in control. But since last years protests broke out, more and more women have been moving about in public with their hair uncovered as an act of resistance.

Experts tell TIME that the new bill attempts to use financial coercion to deter women from collective activism. This new bill has only one meaning: gender apartheid is legal in Iran and now they are backing legal ways to treat women like second class citizens, Masih Alinejad, an exiled Iran journalist and human rights activist, tells TIME.

Read More: Iranian Dissident Masih Alinejad Won't Be Silenced

As passage of the bill approaches, heres what to know.

What does the proposed bill entail?

Under Article 638 of Irans Islamic Penal Code, hijab is enforced under the vague guidance that anyone who violates any religious taboo in public is punishable with imprisonment or fines. Women forgoing the hijab or deemed to be wearing it improperly could land a fine of between 50,000 to 500,000 Iranian rials ($1.18 to $11.82), or between 10 days and two months imprisonment.

The new bill is much more specific in its approach and classifies improper hijab as its own crimepunishable by a prison sentence of 5 to 10 years as well as a significantly larger fine of up to 360 million Iranian rials ($8,508), according to figures reported by CNN. Also proposed in the draft law is harsher penalties for businesses, celebrities, and public figures who are seen to be encouraging or allowing the rules to be broken.

The bill is probably one of the most concrete and tangible legislative efforts to signal the path that authorities are considering to take with regards to enforcement of compulsory hijab laws after the [protest] movements, Tara Sepehri Far, a researcher at Human Rights Watchs Middle East and North Africa Division, tells TIME.

She called the bill a form of economic repression that will disproportionately affect people from lower socio-economic backgrounds who can no longer justify the steep price tag behind their activism. Can you afford to pay a fine? Can you afford not earning money at your cafe for 10 days? Can you afford to not pay your rent for two months? All of those are very deliberate measures to break the resistance, Sepehri Far says.

Read More: The Protests in Iran Have Shaken the Islamic Republic to Its Core

Why have leaders used Article 85 to push the bill through?

Article 85 of Irans constitution allows its parliament to pass a law without public debate. Sepehri Far notes that the article is intended for laws that require expert opinions at the committee level. But the government is increasingly using Article 85 to circumvent parliamentary procedure, including last year's The Regulatory System for Cyberspace Services Bill, which rights groups say legitimized internet shutdowns and online censorship. In the case of the hijab bill, Article 85 allows hardliners to deal behind closed doors with an issue that has embarrassed the regime on the global stage, resulting in tens of thousands of arrests, and more than 500 deaths.

According to the BBC, at least one MP, Gholamreza Nouri-Qezeljeh, voiced his concerns about the bill, noting that it focuses too heavily on "criminalizing and punishing" women in breach of hijab laws.

Experts and activists echo this sentiment, saying the government is being calculated in its secrecy because it does not believe it has enough public support to push the bill through conventionally. The reason for keeping it under wraps is fear of the public's, especially women's, reaction. The government is afraid of any kind of response and tries to achieve its goals at the least cost, but the issue is that their calculations often turn out wrong, Alinejad says.

What message is the government sending to dissidents?

Women defying modesty laws, human rights defenders representing these individuals, and the journalists reporting on the movement have all been targeted and punished. Three actressesAzadeh Samadi, Leila Bolukat, and Afsaneh Bayegawho chose to remove their hijab were diagnosed as mentally ill for choosing to forgo the hijab, and ordered to undergo enforced psychological treatments.

Sepehri Far says that the bill is the regimes way of communicating that it will not back down, and to show onlookers, global and domestic, that they remain in control. People have taken a step forward and at least created this alternative reality, and they're paying a huge price for it.

She adds that the demonstrations shows people were willing to take enormous personal risk, and that may change if this bill passes.

But Alinejad remains hopeful that the people of Iran have nothing to lose. The truth is, the paths of the government and the people have diverged, and each is going its own way, she says.

Write to Armani Syed at armani.syed@time.com.
Iran's foreign minister met Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler on Friday during his first visit since the Middle East rivals announced a surprise rapprochement, officials said.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who travelled to Riyadh on Thursday, held talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah, the Saudi foreign ministry announced, after extending a scheduled one-day visit.

The two reviewed relations between the countries, "future opportunities for cooperation... and ways to develop them, in addition to discussing developments in the situation on the regional and international arenas", the foreign ministry posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Iran's official IRNA news agency said the visit was the first time a senior Iranian official had met with Prince Mohammed, 37, who has ushered in a series of reforms in the conservative kingdom.

IRNA later reported that Iran extended an invitation for the Saudi crown prince to visit the Islamic republic and that Prince Mohammed accepted.

In a statement posted on X, Amir-Abdollahian called the 90-minute meeting a "direct, frank, and productive conversation" that addressed bilateral relations, security and development.

"The way to the success of the region is to strengthen dialogue and cooperation and increase development-oriented cooperation," he said, according to a statement from Tehran's foreign ministry.

Shiite Muslim-majority Iran and Sunni-ruled Saudi broke off ties in 2016, but they agreed to restore diplomatic relations in a Chinese-brokered deal in March.

The announcement sparked optimism as the two regional heavyweights have backed opposing sides in conflict zones across the Middle East for years, including in Yemen, Saudi Arabia's impoverished neighbour.

On Thursday, Amir-Abdollahian said ties "are progressing in the right direction" as he appeared in front of the media with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan.

His visit would "be a prelude to the meeting of the heads of the two countries", he said, without specifying when Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi would travel to Saudi Arabia at King Salman's invitation.

Iran's top diplomat hailed economic and security cooperation between the two countries, but announced no new agreements. He was accompanied by Iran's new ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Alireza Enayati.

"We are sure that these meetings and cooperation will help the unity of the Islamic world," Amir-Abdollahian added, proposing a "regional dialogue" without giving details.

Since the March deal, Saudi Arabia has ramped up a push for peace in Yemen, holding direct talks with Huthi leaders in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, and championed the return of key Iran ally Syria to the Arab League.

bur/th/ho/lcm
Ms Maroufian was initially imprisoned last year for reporting on the nationwide protests after the death of Mahsa Amini - Twitter: @maroofian_n

An Iranian woman who was jailed after posing without a hijab has shared another picture of herself without a headscarf immediately after being released from prison.

Nazila Maroufian, a 23-year-old journalist, was initially imprisoned last year for reporting on the nationwide protests that engulfed Iran after the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody.

She was released on bail in January but was then rearrested in July as authorities cracked down on dissent ahead of next months anniversary of Aminis death.

Amini was detained for allegedly violating the mandatory hijab rule, which applies to all women and girls over the age of nine.

Ms Maroufian walked out of prison for a second time following a month behind bars on Sunday.

She almost immediately posted a picture of herself on social media without a headscarf and the slogan Dont accept slavery, you deserve the best!.

Ms Maroufian was promptly detained again afterwards.

After her release from prison on Sunday, Ms Maroufian posted a picture of herself without a headscarf on social media - Twitter: @maroofian_n

After her third release on Wednesday  following a stint in the Qarchak womens prison  she shared an almost identical photo: unveiled, clutching flowers, and proudly holding her hand in a V for victory pose in the air.

Do you regret the photo you posted during your freedom? Do you admit that you were wrong? she captioned the accompanying social media post. No; I have not done anything wrong, the post continued.

Last October, Ms Maroufian published an interview on the Mostaghel Online news site with Amjad Amini, the father of 22-year-old Mahsa.

In the interview, Mr Amini accused the Iranian authorities of lying about his daughters death, which they claimed, at first, was due to a pre-existing condition and not as a result of beatings from police.

Ms Maroufian, a Tehran-based journalist from Aminis hometown of Saqez in Kurdistan province, was arrested the following month.

In January, she said she had been sentenced to two years in jail, suspended for five years, and had received a fine and a travel ban on charges of propaganda against the system and spreading fake news.

Her latest release came as increasing numbers of women across Iran defy the countrys strict dress laws, forcing authorities to redeploy the widely-feared morality police and resort to increasingly draconian measures in a bid to maintain the headscarf rule.

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.
DUBAI (Reuters) -Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian on Friday in the highest-level talks since the countries reconciled in March after years of bitter rivalry that destabilised the region.

After the meeting, Iran's semi-official news agency Tasnim reported Abdollahian as saying the de facto Saudi ruler had accepted his invitation to visit Tehran.

The Saudi crown prince has pushed to reorient Saudi foreign policy in recent years amid troubles in its historically close relationship with the United States.

The unscheduled meeting in Jeddah came a day after Amirabdollahian had declared ties between the countries were "on the right track" as he met his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan.

"Discussions were frank, beneficial and productive," Abdollahian said in a social media post after meeting the prince, adding that the countries "agree on the security and development of all in the region".

Footage of the meeting on Iranian state media showed Prince Mohammed and Amirabdollahian smiling as they spoke, while Prince Faisal and the Iranian delegation looked on.

Rivalry between Iran's revolutionary, Shi'ite Muslim leaders and Saudi Arabia's Sunni ruling family dominated the Middle East for years as they competed for influence in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Bahrain amid a wave of sectarian bloodshed.

However, China brokered a rapprochement in March leading to a resumption of full diplomatic relations, which Saudi Arabia had broken off in 2016 when protesters attacked its Tehran embassy over Riyadh's execution of a prominent Shi'ite cleric.

Prince Faisal visited Tehran in June and said he hoped Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi would visit the kingdom at the "appropriate time".

After years of rivalry, and with some of the main regional arenas for their competition more stable than in previous years, both sides have reason to change tack.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wanted to end political and economic isolation pushed by the United States and saw new relations with Saudi Arabia as a way to do so, Iranian officials have said.

Saudi Arabia had meanwhile lost confidence in U.S. commitment to shared regional security concerns and wanted to bolster ties with China, which has retained good relations with Iran. This month it succeeded in getting China to attend a diplomatic meeting on Ukraine that Beijing had earlier avoided.

Prince Faisal also spoke by phone with U.S. Secretary General Antony Blinken, with the pair discussing more coordination to boost "security and stability in the Middle East region," Saudi state media reported on Friday.

(Reporting by Dubai Newsroom; Writing by Angus McDowall; Editing by Mark Potter and Conor Humphries)
In this picture released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, left, meets with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Friday, Aug. 18, 2023. Iran's foreign minister traveled to Saudi Arabia on Thursday, marking the first trip to the kingdom by Tehran's top diplomat in years after the two nations reached a detente with Chinese mediation. (Iranian Foreign Ministry via AP)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  Iran's foreign minister met Friday with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as part of his visit to the kingdom, a sign of how the two countries are trying to ease tensions after years of turmoil.

Images of Iran's top diplomat, Hossein Amirabdollahian, sitting with Prince Mohammed would have been unthinkable only months earlier, as the longtime rivals have been engaged in what officials in both Tehran and Riyadh have viewed as a proxy conflict across the wider Middle East. The prince even went as far as to compare Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to Adolf Hitler at one point in 2017.

But since reaching a Chinese-mediated detente in March, Iran and Saudi Arabia have moved toward reopening diplomatic missions in each other's countries. Saudi King Salman has even invited Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, a hard-line protege of Khamenei, to visit the kingdom as well.

Challenges remain, however, particularly over Irans advancing nuclear program, the Saudi-led war in Yemen and security across the regions waterways. Meanwhile, the U.S. is still trying to finalize a deal with Iran to free detained American citizens in exchange for the release of billions of dollars frozen in South Korea, while also bolstering its troop presence in the Persian Gulf.

Saudi state television aired images of Prince Mohammed sitting with Amirabdollahian in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah.

The state-run Saudi Press Agency offered few substantive details of their conversation, saying merely that they reviewed relations and future opportunities for cooperation.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Amirabdollahian said the two men talked for 90 minutes at their meeting in Jeddah.

Honest, open, useful and fruitful talks based on neighborly policy, the foreign minister wrote in his post. "Through the wills of heads of the two countries, sustainable bilateral ties in all fields have persisted. We agree on security and development for all in the region.

Amirabdollahian arrived Thursday in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, for meetings with his counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan. The kingdom broke ties with Iran in 2016 after protesters invaded Saudi diplomatic posts there. Saudi Arabia had executed a prominent Shiite cleric with 46 others days earlier, triggering the demonstrations. The kingdom also initially backed rebels trying to overthrow the Iranian-backed president of Syria, Bashar Assad, while also opposing the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Since the U.S. unilaterally withdrew from Irans nuclear deal with world powers in 2018, Iran has been blamed for a series of attacks. Those assaults include one targeting the heart of Saudi Arabias oil industry in 2019, temporarily halving the kingdoms crude production.

But after the coronavirus pandemic and the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, Gulf Arab nations including Saudi Arabia have begun reassessing how to manage relations with Iran. Prince Mohammed as well wants a peaceful Middle East with stable oil prices to fuel his own grand development plans for the kingdom costing billions of dollars.

In March, the kingdom and Iran reached an agreement in China to reopen embassies.

Before Amirabdollahians visit, the last Iranian foreign minister to visit Saudi Arabia on a public trip was Mohammad Javad Zarif, who traveled to the kingdom in 2015 to offer condolences for the death of King Abdullah.

The visit comes as Saudi Arabia is still struggling to withdraw itself from its yearslong war in Yemen against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who hold the capital, Sanaa. Amirabdollahian's visit coincides with a new visit by Omani mediators there to try to reach a peace agreement.

___

Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
(The Hill)  An agent with the IRS was shot and killed during a firearms training exercise in Phoenix, the FBI confirmed Friday.

The shooting occurred at the firing range of the Phoenix federal prison, which is the interagency training ground for federal agents in the region, the FBI said.

IRS agents were at the range Friday for routine training, the bureau said.

Trumps Georgia case lists 30 unindicted co-conspirators: What we know

Details of the incident were not made available.

To preserve the integrity and capabilities of the investigation, details of the ongoing process will not be released. Findings of the FBI investigation will be turned over to the U.S. Attorneys Office, District of Arizona for review, the bureaus Phoenix office said in a statement.

The FBIs investigation will be methodical and thorough to address every element of the incident.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
A special agent with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was shot and killed Thursday during a routine training exercise at a Phoenix-area gun range, authorities said.

The exercise was being conducted at the Federal Correctional Institution Phoenix Firing Range, which is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

ARIZONA WOMAN SHOOTS, KILLS REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER ATTEMPTING TO BREAK INTO HER HOME

Signage outside the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) headquarters in Washington, D.C. An IRS agent was shot and killed during a training exercise in Arizona on Thursday.

The Phoenix Police Department told Fox News Digital that officers responded to the scene and found the IRS agent with serious injuries.

"The agent was immediately taken to HonorHealth Deer Valley Medical Center to be treated for the injury. The agent passed away shortly after arriving at the hospital," an IRS statement aid.

The agent who died was not identified.

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A BOP statement said the shooting range was being used by multiple federal agencies through an interagency agreement, and no BOP or prison employees were hurt as a result of the incident.

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The FBI is investigating the incident.
Health and social insurance benefits for Ukrainian refugees will stay in force in Israel at least until the end of the year, according to a decision taken by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which was reported by the Israeli government on Aug. 18.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba held talks with his Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen just before the decision to extend the benefits was made.

Read also: Over 30,000 Hasidic Jews plan to go on annual Uman pilgrimage

Cohen assured Kuleba that Ukrainians will continue to enjoy all the benefits of Israeli medical care, as reported by the Times of Israel.

There had been speculation that Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council (RNBO) might terminate a visa-free agreement for Israelis if the benefits were not extended, a well-informed anonymous source told NV on Aug. 11.

Read also: Israel donates several tons of medical supplies to Ukraine  ambassador

The RNBO was also reportedly seeking the exclusion of Israels representative from defense ministers Ramstein meetings

Among the reasons cited were the unfriendly treatment of Ukrainians visiting Israel and the termination of the medical insurance program for Ukrainian refugees in the country.

Furthermore, Tel Aviv has yet to provide military support to Ukraine. The RNBO also suspected that sensitive information from a Ramstein meeting might have been handed over to a third party, ie, Russia.

Earlier, Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel Yevhen Korniichuk called on the Israeli government to consider prolonging benefits for Ukrainians.

He also strongly denied rumors about the termination of the visa-free deal for visitors from Israel, but confirmed there were some tensions and problems that needed to be resolved.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
One of the world's most famous cheeses is also one of the most counterfeited dairy products on the planet.

Competing manufacturers have for years produced cheaper imitations of Italy's parmigiano reggiano, a favored topping for pasta and salad.

A storage area for Parmesan cheese wheels is pictured at storehouse shelf at 4 Madonne Caseificio dell'Emilia dairy cooperative in Modena, Italy, February 16 2016. / Credit: Alessandro Bianchi / REUTERS

Now, the producers of parmigiano reggiano say they have innovated a way to prevent any pretenders from ripping off their product.

Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium (PRC), the association that oversees production of the cheese, says it has been putting microchips in its product as part of a technological trial which would allow consumers to trace parmesan cheese back to its place of origin.

Under special protections designated by the European Union, parmigiano reggiano is the only kind of cheese which can be called parmesan within Europe and it must be made in a small part of northern Italy, including in the provinces of Parma and Reggio Emilia.

PRC are hopeful that their new technology will help to enforce that protected status. Their microchips are about the size of a grain of salt and have been inserted into the labels found on the rind of about 120,000 wheels of parmigiano reggiano. The chips work as scannable food tags with a QR code label.

In an e-mailed statement sent on Friday, Nicola Bertinelli, president of Consorzio Parmigiano Reggiano, told CBS News that "by being the first to incorporate these secure digital labels onto our cheese wheels, we can continue to ensure consumer safety."

"Since the establishment of our Consortium in 1934, we have worked to convey the value of our product globally and distinguish it from similar-sounding products on the market that do not meet our strict requirements for production and area of origin," Berintelli said.

In the United States, Parmiano Reggiano does not have protected status and American manufactures in states like Wisconsin make different forms of 'parmesan' cheese.

Outside of the United States, the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium successfully blocked the US food giant Kraft Heinz from registering the name "Kraft parmesan cheese" as a trademark in Ecuador in 2022.

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As COVID-19 cases rise across the U.S.  and a new variant emerges  misinformation about treatment or prevention of the disease perseveres.

In an effort to combat a flurry of recent social media posts touting the use of deworming drug ivermectin, the FDA is reminding people why it never approved it as a COVID-19 treatment.

Although FDA has approved ivermectin for certain uses in humans and animals, it has not authorized or approved ivermectin for use in preventing or treating COVID-19, nor has the agency stated that it is safe or effective for that use, the FDA said on its social channels.

The FDA pointed to recently updated National Institutes of Health COVID-19 treatment guidelines, which not only dont approve of its use but recommend against it due to inefficiency and lack of evidence.

CDC, WHO tracking new COVID-19 variant; highly mutated strain found in US

While some studies on ivermectin as COVID-19 treatment do exist and some do testify to the drugs efficacy, that data is overwhelmingly considered inconsistent, questionable and/or inconclusive by experts.

Its important to remember COVID-19 is a virus, not a parasite, and would not be targeted by ivermectin being introduced in the body.

Medical experts say the data affirming ivermectins use for COVID-19 is insignificant compared to the amount indicating its useless. A previous review of 14 ivermectin studies concluded these studies were small and few are considered high quality.

The researchers say theyre uncertain about the efficacy and safety of the drug and that reliable evidence doesnt support using ivermectin for COVID-19 treatment outside of well-designed randomized trials.

COVID hospitalizations jump again: Maps show where its worst

Meanwhile, a February 2023 review in Future Virology of some ivermectin-affirming studies explained that some used too-small pools of participants, were rushed, and ignored limitations around how ivermectin is absorbed in the body.

It must be acknowledged that some of these studies were possibly intentionally designed to yield predetermined findings, write the researchers.

Among many most recent studies are a Journal of the American Medical Association-published randomized ivermectin vs. placebo clinical trial which concluded there was no support for ivermectin use for patients with mild to moderate COVID-19.

A February 2023 Duke University researcher-led randomized clinical trial upped the dosage from the previous ivermectin vs. placebo clinical trial  finding there was no difference in efficacy even at a higher dosage.

View the latest headlines from Kansas City, Missouri, and Kansas at fox4kc.com

Other major health organizations advising against use of ivermectin for COVID-19 include: the World Health Organization, European Medicines Agency, Infectious Diseases Society of America, and the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Additionally, pharmaceutical company Merck, a manufacturer of ivermectin, says theres no meaningful evidence to support its use in this way.

Back in 2021, the countrys largest doctors group, the American Medical Association, called on U.S. doctors to stop prescribing ivermectin for COVID-19 treatment.

As previously mentioned, ivermectin does have some approved uses  though knowledge of the drug and its popularity soared with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. The FDA said back in 2021 that over 88,000 prescriptions for the drug were dispensed in a month period that year. Before the pandemic, about 3,600 ivermectin prescriptions were dispensed per year.

The FLCCC

Some of the support for ivermectins COVID-19 misuse can be traced to the many conservative and media personalities who promoted ivermectin, including former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and podcast host Joe Rogan, who claimed to have taken it himself.

One vocal group behind ivermectins proliferation is the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance, a group of doctors whose recommendations and treatments have been labeled dubious.

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The FLCCC is behind the website covid19criticalcare.com, which purports to offer prevention and treatment protocols for COVID-19. In addition to the use of ivermectin, its indicated that a person gargle with mouthwash, take vitamins and administer nasal drops containing iodine.

Among the FLCCCs resources on ivermectin is a review published in the American Journal of Therapeutics. Its co-authored by one member of the alliance and relies to some degree (at least 15.5%, according to academic journal Nature) on a non-peer-reviewed preprint that was withdrawn due to ethical concerns.

That paper allegedly studied a large sample size of COVID-19 symptomatic people and found that ivermectin significantly reduced symptoms and deaths. But academics and critics found issues related to plagiarism and data manipulation, Nature reports.

Ivermectin use surges despite no evidence it treats COVID-19  why are people still taking it?

A highly-cited January 2022 study published in Cureus which claimed to find that ivermectin was associated with significantly reduced COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and death rates from COVID-19 was later flagged and corrected by the publisher.

In the correction, Cureus explained that several authors failed to disclose all relevant conflicts of interest when submitting this article. According to Cureus, all but one researcher was affiliated with the FLCCC. Additionally, at least two of the authors were found to be paid consultants for ivermectin manufacturer Vitamedic.

The alliance lists a disclaimer on its website, reading in part:  in no way should anyone infer that we, even though we are physicians, or anyone appearing in any content on this website are practicing medicine, it is for educational purposes only.

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Nexstar reached out to the FLCCC for comment and will update as it responds.

As of Friday, many recent popular ivermectin-promoting Facebook posts have been flagged as False Information and debunked by independent fact-checkers.

The FDA reiterated this week that Americans should talk to their health care providers about available COVID-19 treatment options and vaccines, which have been proven to be effective.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
Former New York Sen. James Buckley, an early agitator for then-President Richard Nixons resignation and winner of a landmark lawsuit challenging campaign spending limits, died Friday at age 100.

Buckley died at a hospital in Washington, D.C., according to his son David Buckley of Arlington, Va.

Buckley was the fourth of 10 children of a millionaire oilman and older brother of conservative commentator William F. Buckley Jr., who died in February 2008. He was the last survivor of the 10 siblings.

Buckley was the sole Conservative Party candidate to win statewide office in New York, elected to the U.S. Senate in 1970 in a three-way race with 39 percent of the vote. Republican Sen. Charles Goodell, who was appointed to the job in 1968 after the assassination of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, and Democratic Rep. Richard Ottinger split the moderate vote, allowing Buckley to capture the seat.

His younger brother called his win the crystallization of counterrevolutionary impulses and often referred to James as the sainted junior senator from New York.

Buckley, identifying himself as both a Republican and Conservative, represented New York in the Senate for one term, losing in 1976 to Democrat Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

A conservative who supported free enterprise, fought big government and even opposed Republican Party members he thought were too liberal, Buckley may best be remembered as the plaintiff in a key court decision on campaign finance.

In 1976, two years after major changes were made to U.S. campaign finance law, the Supreme Court in Buckley v. Valeo threw out mandatory limits on candidate spending as a violation of the First Amendment. The court, however, ruled that Congress could set limits on contributions.

In March 1974, Buckley shocked New York Republicans when he called on Nixon to resign to pull the nation out of the Watergate swamp and save the office of the presidency.

He said he acted out of a duty to my country, to my constituents and to my beliefs. ... I do so with sorrow because I am a lifelong Republican who has worked actively for Richard Nixon.

Buckley was just the second Republican senator to ask Nixon to step down, after Edward W. Brooke of Massachusetts. Nixon finally quit five months later.

He really wasnt a politician; thats probably one of the reasons he didnt get reelected, state Conservative Party Chairman Michael Long said of Buckley in 2006. He really was a statesman of the highest order. He believed very strongly in a set of values, the Constitution and America. He was an outstanding gentleman.

Buckley had gained his first wide notice in the political world in 1968 when he attracted more than a million votes as the Conservative Party challenger to liberal Republican Sen. Jacob Javits. At the time it was the best showing for a minor party candidate in state history. Javits won, with help from the states Liberal Party.

Moving to Connecticut after his 1976 loss, Buckley lost a bid for a Senate seat there in 1980 when he was defeated by Democrat Christopher Dodd. The seat was open because of the retirement of Sen. Abraham Ribicoff, another Democrat.

After the Connecticut race, Buckley was appointed by then-President Ronald Reagan as an undersecretary of state from 1981 to 1982.

He went on to serve as president of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty from 1982 until 1985, when was appointed as a federal appeals court judge in Washington despite criticism from opponents who noted he had worked only a few years as a lawyer.

Among his decisions on the Washington appeals court was one in which he and then-colleague Clarence Thomas, now on the Supreme Court, set aside a $50 million punitive damages award against Korean Air Lines over the Soviet Unions 1983 shooting down of a KAL jetliner.

He stepped down from the bench in 1996 and was ultimately succeeded by John Roberts, now chief justice of the United States.

Buckley was born on March 9, 1923, in New York City. He attended Yale University, graduating in 1943, then enlisted in the Navy. After World War II ended, he went back to Yale and earned a law degree. After a few years practicing law, he entered the Buckley family business.

Buckley is survived by six children, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. His wife, Ann, died in 2011.
By Ana Mano and Rodrigo Viga Gaier

SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Japan will resume chicken imports from Brazil's Santa Catarina state after a ban triggered by an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in backyard flocks there, Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said on Friday.

The ministry said in a statement that the ban, imposed on July 17, was lifted after it confirmed that poultry from Santa Catarina state is free from the disease.

Earlier, a statement from Santa Catarina citing Governor Jorginho Mello had said the embargo had been lifted.

Santa Catarina's government mentioned a bilateral agreement between Brazil and Japan that allowed for chicken sales to resume should no irregularities be found 28 days after the outbreak-related ban was imposed.

"Santa Catarina is free of avian flu," Mello said. "We are a reference for animal health ... and the outbreak is already overcome ...," the governor said.

The Brazilian agriculture ministry said the state of Santa Catarina is Brazil's second largest producer and exporter of chicken. It confirmed Japan lifted its ban on eggs, chicken meat and other by-products effective on Friday.

The news is a boon to local meat processors, as Japan is Santa Catarina's top poultry export destination, according to the state government.

Nationwide, only China imported more Brazilian chicken than Japan in the first seven months of 2023, according to trade data compiled by pork and poultry lobby ABPA.

Japan had temporarily banned chicken products coming from Espirito Santo state in late June and from Santa Catarina in mid-July.

In May, Brazil reported its first-ever case of highly pathogenic avian influenza -- in wild birds. But the country remains technically free of the disease as there have been no detections on commercial flocks.

Japan bought 257,446 tons of chicken products from Brazil in the year through July, an 8.2% annual rise, ABPA data shows. It was also Brazil's biggest egg importer in the period.

(Reporting by Rodrigo Viga Gaier in Rio de Janeiro and Ana Mano in Sao Paulo; additional reporting by Roberto Samora and Peter Frontini; Writing by Ana Mano; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Diane Craft)
The wearable tech jackets are designed to be worn with battery-powered fans (R), which are sold separately, inside the lining to keep the user cool in the summer heat (Richard A. Brooks)

Selling jackets with built-in fans, neck coolers and T-shirts that feel cold, Japanese firms are tapping into a growing market for products to help people handle the summer heat.

Japan -- like other countries -- is seeing ever-hotter summers. This July was the warmest in 100 years, with at least 53 people dying of heatstroke and almost 50,000 needing emergency medical attention.

Workman, which makes clothes for construction workers, launched a version of their fan-fitted jackets adapted for the high street in 2020 as demand grew.

The mechanism is simple -- two electric, palm-sized fans powered by a rechargeable battery are fitted into the back of the jacket.

They draw in air to then deliver a breeze -- at variable speeds -- onto the wearer's body.

The jackets retail for 12,000 to 24,000 yen ($82-164).

"As the weather gets hotter, people who have never worn fan-equipped clothing before want to find ways to cool down... so more people are interested in buying it," Workman spokesman Yuya Suzuki told AFP.

"Just like you feel cool when you are at home with a fan, you feel cool just by wearing (the jacket) because the wind is blowing through your body all the time," he said.

- Ageing population at risk -

Japanese summers are known to be hot and humid, but this July Tokyo really sweated.

The average temperature was 28.7 Celsius (83.7 Fahrenheit), the highest on record since 1875.

Heatstroke is particularly deadly in Japan, which has the second-oldest population in the world after Monaco.

More than 80 percent of heat-related deaths in the past five years have been among senior citizens.

"Some people die from heatstroke," said Nozomi Takai of MI Creations, a company selling neck-cooling tubes mainly to factory and warehouse workers.

"Individuals as well as companies are putting more and more effort into measures against it every year," Takai said.

The gel inside his firm's brightly coloured tubes -- priced at 2,500 yen -- is cool enough to use after 20 minutes in the fridge.

Wearing it on the neck will "considerably cool the whole body" for about an hour, she said.

Takai's company joined an expo this year on "measures against extreme heat" in Tokyo to showcase new products that help users stay cool in the scorching heat.

At another booth, Tokyo-based company Liberta had a series of clothing including T-shirts and arm sleeves using prints that make users feel cool -- especially when they sweat.

The prints use materials such as xylitol that feel cool when reacting with water and sweat, they said.

Chikuma, an Osaka-based company, has even created office jackets and dresses equipped with electric fans.

"We developed them with the idea that it could be proposed in places where casual wear is not allowed," Yosuke Yamanaka of Chikuma said.

Regular fan-fitted clothes can make the wearer look puffy, as they need to be zipped up, and cuffs are tight.

But jackets developed jointly by Chikuma, power tool maker Makita and textile giant Teijin do not need to be buttoned up, thanks to a special structure that sandwiches the fans in two layers and keeps the cool air in, Yamanaka said.

- Men adopting parasols -

Parasols, which are commonly associated in Japan with skin-tone-conscious women protecting against a summer tan, are now proving more popular with men too.

Komiyama Shoten, a small, luxury umbrella maker in Tokyo, began making parasols for men around 2019 after the environment ministry encouraged people to use them.

Before, many male customers thought parasols "were for women and they were embarrassed", the owner Hiroyuki Komiya said.

"Once you use it, you can't let go," he added.

On the busy streets of popular tourist destination Asakusa, Kiyoshi Miya, 42, said he decided to "use his umbrella as a parasol".

"It's like I'm always in the shade and the wind feels cool," he said.

Another visitor, Shoma Kawashima, wore a wearable fan around his neck to stay cool under the blazing sun.

"It's so hot I want to be naked," the 21-year-old said.

Gadgets are helpful, but "not a solution" to rising temperatures, he added.

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Jared Bridegan's ex-wife, Shanna Lee Gardner, has now been indicted in his ambush death in Jacksonville Beach in February 2022.

State Attorney Melissa Nelson held a very brief news conference Thursday announcing the final update to the high-profile case. She said prosecutors will seek the death penalty against her as well as having already advised they are doing with her co-defendant husband, Mario Fernandez Saldana.

Fernandez Saldana, 35, was arrested on March 16 in Orange County on charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, solicitation to commit a capital felony and child abuse. Those are the same charges now as Gardner, 36, who was arrested Thursday in the state of Washington where she was living. Fernandez Saldana's arrest came the same day Nelson announced that Henry Arthur Tenon, 62, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the shooting and was the triggerman. He was the first one charged in the case on Jan. 25.

Jared Bridegan's death: Here's what we know about the fatal shooting in Jacksonville Beach

Who is Henry Tenon? The first suspect arrested in the death of Jared Bridegan

More arrests in the case: Husband of Jared Bridegan's ex-wife arrested, charged in Jacksonville Beach shooting

Shanna Gardner is the ex-wife of Jared Bridegan, who was shot to death on Feb. 16, 2022, in Jacksonville Beach after dropping their two kids off at her house and attempting to head back to his home in St. Augustine. Gardner spoke in June with the Times-Union and was photographed at a friend's home. She has now been charged in the case.

Tenon agreed to testify against Fernandez Saldana and any others who may have been involved in the 2022 ambush of Bridegan, a 33-year-old Microsoft executive from St. Augustine. Tenon had rented a home from Fernandez Saldana, Nelson said.

Bridegan's widow, Kristen Bridegan, and family also were present for Thursday's news conference.

"From very, very early on, everything in my body and soul told me she was behind it," Kristen Bridegan said.

Nelson said her office and law enforcement promised at the outset of this investigation that they would not relent until uncovering the truth. She did not take questions or discuss Gardner's role or what finally led to her arrest. But all along, she said the investigation wasn't over.

A plot to kill in Jacksonville Beach: What do we know about Shanna Gardner, the ex-wife now charged in Jared Bridegan's murder?

Henry Tenon did not act alone. Mario Fernandez did not plan alone. And Shanna Gardners indictment acknowledges her central and key role in the cold, calculated and premeditated murder of Jared Bridegan, Nelson said.

In 2018 Fernandez Saldana married Gardner, whose parents recently said they have been estranged for some time. Gardner, who had moved to Washington state with her children after intense media coverage of the case, has not spoken to the Times-Union since June of last year when she said she wanted people to know she wasn't involved considering all of the scrutiny.

Jared Bridegan

Authorities have not discussed motive, but an arrest warrant states "the investigation into Bridegans background revealed a highly acrimonious divorce from his ex-wife, Shanna Gardner, and a contentious relationship with both Gardner and Fernandez Saldana."

The indictment also specifies that Gardner and Fernandez Saldana are accused of conspiring between Nov. 1, 2021, and Feb. 16, 2022, to have Bridegan killed. For Gardner it states her involvement may have gone back as far as May 2015, which is a few months after she filed for divorce.

Fernandez Saldana and Tenon are accused of orchestrating the attack on Bridegan, who was shot on Feb. 16, 2022, after dropping his twin children off at Mario and Shanna's Jacksonville Beach home. Bridegan was on his way home to St. Augustine with his 2-year-old daughter when he stopped because of a tire on Sancturay Road.

Mario Fernandez Saldana enters a Duval County courtroom where the prosecution advised the judge Wednesday its intent to pursue the death penalty for Jared Bridegan's 2022 slaying in Jacksonville Beach.

Early in the case, police made it clear they didn't think the tire being there was an accident. It was a dark, residential road that Bridegan routinely took to get to Butler Boulevard. When he turned his hazard lights on and got out to move it, he was immediately gunned down, police said. The toddler was unharmed in her safety seat and nothing appeared to be stolen.

On Shanna Gardner's behalf

Gardner's attorney, Hank Coxe, said his position remains the same that he does not comment publicly about pending matters.

The Kirton McConkie Law Firm in Salt Lake City, Utah, provided the following statement on behalf of Gardner's parents, Shelli and Sterling Gardner:

Words cannot accurately express the depth of our sadness. Family is our top priority. We love our daughter and are focused on supporting her and our entire family as we help our grandchildren navigate this difficult and very confusing time. For their sake and all involved, we caution against further speculation and request privacy as the legal process runs its course. In the meantime, we are thankful for the continued support, thoughtfulness and prayers being so generously shared by friends and loved ones.

Her parents are co-founders of the highly successful Stampin Up! arts and crafts company and fixtures in the Mormon community in Utah.

Kristen Bridegan's response

"For 547 days we hoped and prayed that this day would come," said Bridegan's widow, whose case was featured again on "Dr. Phil" this week.

"Shanna's arrest ends one horrific chapter of our pursuit of justice for Jared and now we open a new one," she said. "This next chapter will be excruciating. But we are confident in the ability of the SAO and law enforcement to bring truth to light. We expect justice to be carried out to the fullest extent of the law."

She said she told her now 4-year-old daughter Baxley who was in the car that day in simple terms that "two bad guys" are in jail in connection with her father's death and the woman "who she refers to as 'the mean mom'" now is too.

Kirsten Bridegan tearfully talks about her late husband's twin children still being kept away from her family following the arrest of his ex-wife Shanna Gardner on Thursday.

As for the twins Abby and Liam, she said they have been "kept away and isolated from us" while living with their mother Gardner, stepfather and maternal grandparents.

"Despite my constant requests to see or speak to them, I have been denied and continuously ignored," she said tearfully. "... I plead with the Gardners to put the emotional and mental well-being of Liam and Abby above all else and allow them to reconnect with us. We are their family, we love them... Let our children be siblings again and put them first and do what's right."

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Shanna Gardner, Microsoft exec Jared Bridegan's ex-wife arrested in murder
The University of North Florida has teamed up with the JAX Chamber, Jacksonville IT Council and NLP Logix to present Jax TECH Week, which will feature UNFs Florida Data Science for Social Good (Fl-DSSG) project.

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<

The weeks main events are as follows:

FL-DSSGs Big Reveal from 4:30 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 23 at WJCT Studios

TECH Coast Conference from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 24 at UNFs Adam W. Herbert University Center

Jax TECH networking social from 5 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 25, at Surfer The Bar

[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]

The FL-DSSG and Jax Tech social events are free and open to the public, and tickets are still available for the TECH Coast Conference.

UNFs FL-DSSG program is in its 7th year and works with local nonprofits, small businesses and agencies. As part of the program, interns work as a team to help assist partners in making decisions based on data collected from these partners most important issues.

The 12-week internship supports seven UNF student interns from different fields of study who crunch data and provide solutions under the guidance of Dr. Dan Richard, psychology associate professor, and Dr. Karthikeyan Umapathy, School of Computing associate professor.

Read: She was a shining star; Community looks to keep names of San Marco shooting victims alive

The Big Reveal event will present data solutions on the following projects:

FL-DSSG investigated the 2020 Census data to learn about the populations who were not counted, where they were located, their demographic profiles and other data to improve census results in the future for the Florida Philanthropic Network.

FL-DSSG utilized LEAD survey responses and other relevant data to assist with finding a baseline from school and art education data to compare and rate after-school art programs for the Cathedral Arts Project.

FL-DSSG looked at patterns and trends in the past six years of Florida Companies to Watch application data to develop a dashboard that identifies trends within the type of companies and found areas where programs could expand support for second-stage companies at GROWFL.

Read: Jared Bridegans ex-wife arrested, facing charges in his 2022 murder in Jacksonville Beach

The Tech Coast Conference, hosted by the Jacksonville IT Council since 2014, provides a forum for local businesses, IT decision-makers, technology innovators and the local talent pool to present, discuss and share their discoveries, advances and solutions. Among the many speakers, UNF Vice President and Chief Information Officer Brian Verkamp will join some of the areas top C-Suite technology leaders for a leadership panel discussion.

For more information, visit Florida Data Science for Social Good webpage and register for TECH Coast Conference.

Read: Wildfire nears capital of Canadas Northwest Territories as fleeing residents fill roads and flights

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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.
Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official charged alongside former President Trump on 2020 election-related crimes in Georgia, is opposing prosecutors request for a March trial.

Clarks attorney called Fulton County District Attorney Fani Williss (D) proposal highly premature and expressed concerns about her prosecution on multiple grounds.

The indictment was filed at approximately 10:30 PM on Monday August 14, 2023, while the Motion was filed at 12:49 PM on August 16, 2023, wrote Harry MacDougald, Clarks attorney.

To our knowledge, not one of the 19 defendants named in the indictment has been served with any warrant, taken into custody, had a first appearance, or been arraigned, or waived arraignment, MacDougald continued.

After bringing the charges against Trump and 18 co-defendants stemming from an alleged plot to overturn Trumps loss in the state, Willis filed the motion with the court urging a March 4, 2024, trial start.

Clark, a Justice Department official whom Trump wanted to appoint as attorney general to investigate unfounded claims of election fraud, is the first of the defendants to formally oppose the proposed schedule.

He was fixated on sending a letter to Georgia authorities asking them to hold off on certifying their election results while the department investigated. He is charged with racketeering and criminal attempt to commit false statements and writings.

MacDougald said neither he nor his client were contacted by Williss office prior to the indictment and prosecutors have not attempted to confer about the proposed schedule.

Clarks opposition to the timeline previewed several strategies he may take to defend himself, including moving his case to federal court and asserting he had immunity because of his role in the Justice Department.

The District Attorney chose to indict 19 people from all over the United States on a turgid and prolix conspiracy theory spread across 98 pages, 161 alleged overt acts, and 41 counts, MacDougald wrote.

Having built its proposed scaffolding for this matter in such a ponderous and complexified fashion, the District Attorney cannot now pretend as if this were a simple matter, such as a 2-page single-count indictment against a lone defendant who has already waived arraignment, he added.

The proposed timeline would place the Georgia trial ahead of Trumps two other scheduled criminal trials.

Trumps Stormy Daniels hush money case in New York is slated to go to trial March 25, and the federal case probing his retention and alleged mishandling of classified documents is set to begin May 20. Trump and special counsel Jack Smith are currently battling over the trial date in his federal 2020 election case.

For multiple reasons, we are gravely concerned about the political nature of this case and the steps taken by the State thus far, MacDougald wrote. The District Attorneys proposed scheduling order is just one example of that overarching problem, as it could be interpreted as an attempt to stake out a place at the head of the line of prosecutors seeking the prize of trying the former President before the 2024 presidential election.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Tennessee Governors School for the Arts recognized Jim Dodson as its 2023 State Arts Teacher of the Year. Dodson, a 37-year art teacher at Jefferson Middle School and Oak Ridges mayor pro tem, was presented the award at the Frist Arts Museum in Nashville this summer. He is only the fourth visual arts educator in the state to receive the award since its inception in 2009.

Rodger Murray, visual arts faculty director of the Governor's School, made the presentation along with two Oak Ridge students who were selected to attend this years arts academy. Dodson has served as one of three jurors for the Governor's School for 35 years.

Jim Dodson, center, and the 2023 Governors School for the Arts Visual Art students & faculty at the Frist Art Museum, Nashville.

Among his many accolades, Dodson was named National Middle School Art Educator of the Year in 1999 and the Tennessee Art Educator of the Year in 1998 by the National Art Education Association. He also received the Tennessee Education Associations Distinguished Educator Award. Dodson has been a frequent instructor and adjudicator at local, regional and national events, and he was the visual art coordinator for the Tennessee Arts Academy in Nashville for seven summers. As a board member of the Tennessee Arts Education Association, Dodson organized student exhibitions held in regional art museum in East, Middle and West Tennessee which have provided over $10 million in college scholarships during its 17-year history.

As an artist, Dodson has won awards at the Dogwood Arts Synergy: A Student & Art Educator Exhibit and was selected to show in the Dogwood Regional Art Exhibition. He won first place in the Connections Exhibit at Belmont University in Nashville. He has been commissioned to create art for Holy Ghost Catholic Church, Knox County Government and Disney World and he illustrated a book authored by a University of Tennessee professor.

Dodson has served on Oak Ridge City Council since 2016 and has been on the Planning Commission for several years, now as its vice-chair. His community work has been recognized with several local awards, including the Emory Valley Centers Compassion Award, Childrens Museums Friend of the Child Award, ADFACs Bow Tie Recipient and the Chambers Lifetime Achievement Award.

When asked about the most recent honor, Dodson said, being an art teacher gives me the opportunity to provide my students with a tool to express themselves, be creative, as well as improve problem-solving and cooperative skills. And I have been blessed to be an art teacher in a community like Oak Ridge that has such a strong legacy of arts appreciation along with its scientific history.

This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Dodson named State Arts Teacher of the Year
Organizing major exhibitions demonstrates China's commitment to opening up

10:24, August 18, 2023 By Li Dawei ( People's Daily

China has demonstrated its firm support for trade liberalization and economic globalization by forging many platforms for opening up and cooperation, including the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) and the China International Import Expo (CIIE).

Visitors tour an exhibition area of the 2022 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) at the China National Convention Center in Beijing, on Sept. 3, 2022. (People's Daily Online/Zhang Ruxun)

The successful hosting of events such as the CIFTIS and the CIIE in recent years has strongly promoted connectivity and sharing of elements and resources between domestic and international markets, showing China's unswerving commitment to expanding opening up.

Major exhibitions offer important platforms for enterprises across countries to showcase quality products and services. This can lower transaction costs between businesses and address information gaps, thereby facilitating economic and trade cooperation.

Despite myriad challenges, China successfully hosted a series of major international exhibitions including the CIFTIS and the CIIE, amid the pandemic.

This fully reflects the country's adherence to the concept of committing itself to openness to meet development challenges, foster synergy for cooperation, build the momentum of innovation, and deliver benefits to all.

Most importantly, China underscores imports at these exhibitions, highlighting its allegiance to the concept of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation through expanding opening-up and turning the enormous domestic market into enormous opportunities for the world.

These platforms have become vital channels for exporters globally to access the Chinese market, explore investment and partnership opportunities, and gain insights into China's economic development.

They are evolving into venues for launching new products worldwide, releasing cutting-edge technologies, and introducing groundbreaking services.

Visitors experience a self-driving car displayed by automaker Toyota at the 5th China International Import Expo (CIIE) on Nov. 7, 2022. (People's Daily Online/Zhai Huiyong)

Platforms such as the CIFTIS and the CIIE have evolved into vital bridges and bonds linking China with the rest of the world, serving as comprehensive open platforms for sharing.

At the 2022 CIFTIS, 7 summit forums, along with over 100 specialized forums and industry conferences were convened. Throughout these events, business leaders and experts engaged in discussions on cutting-edge topics, sharing their latest perspectives and insights, and contributing their wisdom and commitment toward advancing global economic and trade growth.

The 2022 CIFTIS comprehensively showcased China's innovative accomplishments in trade in services, realizing a total of 1,339 deliverables.

The 5th CIIE saw the participation of 145 countries, regions and international organizations. During the event, 24 parallel sessions of the Hongqiao International Economic Forum were held. A total of $73.52 billion worth of tentative deals were reached for one-year purchases of goods and services during the 5th CIIE, up 3.9 percent from the 4th CIIE.

High-quality products from different countries, including rose essential oil made in Damascus, Syria, Himalayan salt lamps from Pakistan and alpaca-fur products from Peru, as well as high-tech products such as AI-enabled cleaning robots and intelligent lipstick printers, entered the Chinese market through the CIIE, providing diverse choices and improving user experiences for Chinese consumers.

Amid the uncertainties pervading the current international landscape, countries widely believe such open platforms inject certainty into China's pursuit of shared growth with the world.

These platforms assist China in deepening reforms, raising the quality of its opening-up efforts and upgrading domestic consumption and industries by aggregating top-tier goods, businesses, and resources globally.

Visitors watch a Peking opera show at the cultural and tourism services exhibition hall of the 2022 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) at Shougang Park in Beijing, on Sept. 5, 2022. (People's Daily Online/Du Jianpo)

They also enable more countries, especially developing ones, to further integrate into the global economy, promoting win-win cooperation.

The business exhibition at the 5th CIIE attracted over 2,800 enterprises from 127 countries and regions, including 284 Fortune 500 firms and industry leaders. This fully demonstrates CIIE's sterling reputation among the world's major corporate groups.

Countries including the UK and Malaysia are planning to send high-level delegations to participate in the 2023 CIFTIS.

Countries such as Germany, Uruguay, and Myanmar, as well as international organizations like the UNESCO and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), will establish online and offline exhibitions under the name of their respective governments or headquarters.

Resuming offline for the first time since COVID-19, the Country Exhibition at the upcoming 6th CIIE has already received confirmations of offline participation from over 50 countries and international organizations.

As China continues to share the substantial opportunities of its economic growth with the world, the global sway of high-profile exhibitions will keep expanding, infusing powerful impetus into the continued progression of economic globalization.

(Li Dawei is a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Macroeconomic Research's Institute for International Economy.)

(Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun)
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) subpoenaed Citibank on Thursday for not cooperating in an investigation into whether financial institutions are sharing data with the FBI.

On June 12, 2023, we requested your voluntary cooperation with our oversight to determine the extent to which financial institutions, such as Citibank, have worked with the FBI to collect Americans financial data, the subpoena reads. To date, Citibank has declined to comply with our request voluntarily, and counsel has represented that it will only comply pursuant to a subpoena.

In June, the Judiciary Committee sent letters to multiple financial organizations requesting voluntary cooperation to determine the extent to which banks illegally supplied the FBI with Americans financial data. Overall, seven banks were asked for information: Bank of America, Citibank, J.P. Morgan, PNC, Truist, U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo.

In Thursdays statement, Jordans office accused Bank of America of sharing Americans private financial data, to the bureau without legal process. They noted that the data allegedly shared was related to transactions made in the Washington, D.C., area around Jan. 6, 2021.

The Ohio Republican also alleged that individuals who purchased a firearm with a Bank of America product around the time of the Jan. 6 riot on the Capitol were elevated to the top of the list provided to the FBI.

The transaction data, according to CNN Business, could have been used to show the travel routes and location of suspected rioters  or used to detect the purchase of weapons.

Jordan said lawmakers obtained documents that show a Citibank representative on emails and Zoom discussions organized by the FBI and another agency that was focused on information sharing following the insurrection.

Federal law enforcements use of back-channel discussions with financial institutions as a method to investigate and obtain private financial data of Americans is alarming, he wrote in his letter.

Citibank, according to reports, was the only one that did not comply with the committees request.

That request came after the committee launched the investigation in May, following reports by an FBI whistleblower that Bank of America was voluntarily sharing the information.

An FBI whistleblower has disclosed that shortly after the events at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, Bank of America (BoA) provided the FBI  voluntarily and without any legal process  with a list of individuals who had made transactions in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area with a BoA credit or debit card between January 5 and January 7, 2021, the May letter to Bank of America reads.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
An Erie man accused of holding two people he knew against their will and assaulting at least one of them in what was believed to have been an attempt to steal money in the city in 2020 talked in court on Wednesday about the years of his life he had wasted.

Walter L. Merritte Jr. talked about how he had not contributed to society, how he had been wandering aimlessly and wasting a lot of time, and how, at 37 years old, he had not accomplished anything.

"It's a shame and it's embarrassing," Merritte told Erie County Judge David Ridge.

An Erie man accused of holding two people he knew against their will and assaulting at least one of them during an incident in May 2020 was sentenced on Aug. 16, 2023, to serve 71/2 to 15 years in prison.

What Merritte didn't do, as he stood before Ridge for sentencing on charges he was convicted at trial in June in the May 15, 2020, incident, was address the actions he was convicted of committing or the victims prosecutors said he terrorized over the ordeal.

Those victims remain terrorized even years removed from the incident, Assistant District Attorney Tayler Moses told Ridge, and no amount of money could compensate them for their emotional trauma, she said.

The male victim of the attack, she added, said Merritte was like a son to him.

Initial charges: Erie trio charged in kidnapping, assault

A jury found Merritte not guilty of felony kidnapping but convicted him of a felony count of aggravated assault and misdemeanor counts of terroristic threats, unlawful restraint, simple assault and possession of a weapon. Ridge on Wednesday morning sentenced Merritte to serve a standard-range sentence of 7 to 15 years in prison.

Ridge told Merritte that the offenses had a significant impact on the two victims, both physically and emotionally.

"On this particular day, you were the farthest thing from a friend," the judge said.

Confrontation and assault

The attack happened on the afternoon of May 15, 2020, in the area of East 14th and Parade streets in Erie. According to city police and information in criminal complaints filed in the case, a 65-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman were reportedly forced into a vehicle at knifepoint and were taken to a residence in the area of Buffalo Road and McClelland Avenue.

Once there, the woman was stabbed in the arm and shoulder and the man was threatened with the knife and punched in the eye, according to investigators.

The victims said they were in fear for their lives if they did not pay the suspects, according to information in one of the criminal complaints filed in the case, though the complaints did not list if anything was taken from the victims.

Moses, in her remarks during Wednesday's sentencing, said Merritte stabbed the woman with a knife while demanding money, knowing that the couple had a stimulus check.

Erie police said they learned of the attack the day after the incident, when officers were called to Saint Vincent Hospital to investigate a report of a prior stabbing.

Previous reporting: Trio face trial in Erie kidnapping case

Others charged

Merritte was one of three people charged by Erie police in the attack.

Another of the suspects, Shawn L. Lambert Jr., 28, pleaded guilty in August 2020 to a misdemeanor count of terroristic threats. He was sentenced to seven to 23 months in jail, followed by two years of probation, according to online court records.

A third suspect, Preasha Rowry, 34, pleaded guilty in February to a summary count of disorderly conduct, according to online court records.

Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNhahn.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie man sentenced in 2020 attack on couple held against their will
In a rare move, a Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court judge issued a bench memorandum to his colleagues and lawyers advising that defendants on probation should not be prohibited from using medical marijuana.

The nonbinding legal statement from Judge William Burgess comes months after a Tampa Bay Times story about Pinellas County Judge Dorothy Vaccaro, who told a woman in her courtroom that she couldnt use her medical marijuana card while on probation for a misdemeanor DUI charge. Vaccaro instead suggested the woman consider Xanax for her anxiety.

Burgess said Wednesday that his memo wasnt a direct reaction to that incident but said it was meant as a continuing conversation with lawyers in my division as the issue of medical marijuana is discussed in courtrooms.

Citing previous case law, Burgess wrote in his Aug. 10 memorandum that a court cannot impose a special condition of probation that effectively prohibits the defendant from participating in a state medical marijuana program.

A court also cannot require a defendant to prove the reason that a doctor allowed use of medical marijuana, Burgess wrote. The judge pointed to a Florida statute that protects the use of medical marijuana when authorized by qualified physicians.

A Florida court can violate a persons probation for breaking a law that is illegal on both the federal and state level, Burgess wrote. However, it cannot revoke a defendants probation for conduct that is illegal under federal law but legal under state law. Marijuana possession and use is still illegal at the federal level.

Floridians in 2016 voted to approve medical marijuana, allowing qualified physicians to authorize patients to use it for a variety of physical and mental conditions. Since then, more than 800,000 Floridians have obtained medical marijuana cards.

There are special conditions when a court can question whether or not a defendant should be using certain types of drugs, Burgess wrote in his memo.

A judge can consider a defendants history or pattern of drug abuse, but only if there is evidence that the abuse is recent, and significant or chronic.

Determining if medical marijuana should be barred during probation takes a three-step process, according to the law, Burgess wrote.

First, the validity of the medical marijuana card must be determined. Next, the court should determine if the drug had a substantial relationship to the crime for which the defendant is being sentenced. Finally, the court should consider if restricting the drug is consistent with public policy, and if the public would be protected by the defendant not being allowed to use the drug.

Lawyers in the county said its uncommon for judges to issue memorandums regarding ongoing issues in a judicial circuit. Burgess said he has made it a practice throughout his career to comment on legal topics.

Burgess is a member of the Florida Bars Board of Legal Specialization and Education, where he oversees education programs for lawyers.

Burgess bench memorandum is meant to be used as a reference for lawyers in the county, including in instances where an attorney may be arguing in court whether a defendant should be allowed to use medical marijuana while on probation.

Stephen Thompson, spokesperson for the 6th Judicial Circuit, wrote in an email that Burgess memorandum memorializes his view of the use of medical marijuana and the court system.

Judges within our circuit will continue to apply the law as appropriate, Thompson wrote.

Attorney Haydee Oropesa, who practices in Pinellas and other Florida counties, told the Times that Burgess bench memo is an excellent analysis on the issue.

It can definitely serve to inform attorneys in this jurisdiction when representing defendants who either have a medical marijuana card or need to obtain one prior to sentencing or after, Oropesa said. I have been for some time now waiting for the right case to appeal.
A federal judge has denied former President Trumps attempt to delay a January civil trial in writer E. Jean Carrolls defamation lawsuit against him.

After U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan earlier this summer rejected Trumps bid to toss the lawsuit, Trump appealed that decision and requested Kaplan pause the trial in the meantime.

He has not engaged with this Courts analysis of either question and thus shown no likelihood of success on appeal. Accordingly, this Court certifies that Mr. Trumps appeal is frivolous and therefore has not divested this Court of jurisdiction, wrote Kaplan, a Clinton appointee.

Trumps appeal is still pending, but Fridays ruling would allow the Jan. 15 trial to take place as scheduled.

Carroll has accused Trump of defaming her by accusing her of lying when she came forward and accused Trump of raping her in the mid-1990s at a New York City department store.

Trump has repeatedly denied Carrolls story, but a jury found him liable for sexual battery earlier this year in the longtime advice columnists other lawsuit.

Carrolls pending action sues Trump for defamation over his comments in June 2019 about the accusations, including during an interview with The Hill. She has since added newer remarks from Trumps recent CNN town hall to her lawsuit.

Trump is now appealing Kaplans determination that he cant assert in the case that he has absolute presidential immunity. That ruling cleared one of the last remaining hurdles before the case can reach trial.

Kaplan, in denying Trumps request for a delay Friday, noted it was the former presidents fourth pause attempt since the lawsuit began.

In these somewhat unusual and extraordinary circumstances where immunity is being litigated essentially on the eve of trial, Mr. Trump has not satisfied his burden of establishing that he would suffer irreparable harm in the absence of a stay, Kaplan ruled.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
One of Miamis oldest Black churches has until Sept. 11 to pay back a $1.6 million mortgage taken out in the churchs name by its former pastor, or three of its main buildings, including a fellowship hall where service is held, will be auctioned off, a Miami-Dade judge has ordered. The historic church is not part of the foreclosure.

St. John Institutional Missionary Baptist Church in Overtown, 1328 NW Third Ave., which has roots dating to 1906, is still working to pay off the loan before the auction date, Marva Wiley, an attorney for St John, said Tuesday. Wiley told the Herald the church knew nothing of the mortgage at the time it was taken out in 2018.

The mortgage lender, Taylor Made Lending, filed a foreclosure lawsuit in early 2022 after the initial loan, which has ballooned to over $2.7 million from accrued unpaid interest and fees, went into default in late 2021.

On July 30, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Vivianne Del Rio extended the auction date from Aug. 14 to 9 a..m. Sept. 11 , giving St. John more time. Meanwhile, the monthly interest payment of $16,000 continues to stack up. A foreclosure sale date was originally scheduled for March 28, 2023, but has been rescheduled multiple times.

Congregants, many of whom have longtime ties to St. John, stand to lose their fellowship hall, which houses the Sunday School classrooms and where services are held while the church, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, undergoes renovations. Two other church buildings and their parking lots also are also affected.

The church has been calling on the community for financial help through a Gofundme page, and a Givelify website. The members are still hanging on and trusting that God will bring us out of this, said St. John board president Darryl Spence. Were gonna make it through this.

READ MORE: One of Miamis oldest Black churches faces financial cliff due to loans by ex-pastor

Parishioners chat outside the buildings that are facing foreclosure after Sunday service on Sunday, July 23, 2023 in Miamis historic Overtown neighborhood. St. John Institutional Missionary Baptist Church is facing a Sept. 11, 2023, auction of three of its buildings, a judge has ruled.

During a time when St. Johns was losing members due to leadership changes and ongoing church renovations, the former pastor, Bishop James D. Adams, signed his name to two mortgages totaling nearly $2.5 million, pledging three church properties as collateral against the loans. Adams, 62, was elected senior pastor in 2010, and was fired by the church in 2021, after the church found out about the mortgages.

Much of the borrowed money went to buying a swanky downtown riverfront condo that Adams lawyer says was meant to be his parsonage, or church house. Adams moved in shortly after he signed for an $845,000 mortgage in the churchs name in 2017.

Church leaders say they knew nothing about the mortgage at the time. The church sold the condo and paid off that mortgage, but is still on the hook for the $1.6 million Adams took out in the churchs name in 2018.

The church and everybody I have interviewed whos a member and affiliated with the church says, We never had a congregation meeting on that, Wiley told the Herald in a previous interview.

Adams attorney, Robert Harris, contends the congregation knew about the mortgages and that the church needed a new roof, new windows as well as funds to pay new staff and musicians for Sunday services.

They didnt have any money. The only thing that they had were assets, Harris said in a previous interview with the Herald. We took out a loan on the assets to pay the bill. Everyone agreed to it.

Bishop James D. Adams, the former pastor of St. John Institutional Missionary Baptist Church in Miami. The church fired him after learning that he took out two mortgages totaling nearly $2.5 million in the churchs name in 2017 and 2018 that the church said it did not know about at the time. The church is now facing an auction of three of its buildings on Sept. 11, 2023, due to not paying off a $1.6 million mortgage. Adams, through his attorney, has maintained the church knew of the loans.

The cathedral, marked by an Art Deco facade and two-story stained glass windows, was built in 1940 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. The church was designed by the first major Black architecture firm in the United States, McKissack & McKissack and has hosted the National Baptist Convention four times.

Many of the churchs outreach services, including the clothing drive, a food pantry that distributes food to the Overtown community and daycare, operate out of the buildings affected by the foreclosure suit.

This report was created with philanthropic support from Christian, Muslim and Jewish funders in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald retains editorial control of all work.
The Justice Department is seeking three-decade prison sentences for the leaders of the Proud Boys convicted of seditious conspiracy for plotting and leading the crowd at the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, positioning the men as failed, thuggish political revolutionaries.

In a new court filing, prosecutors say Enrique Tarrio, Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola intentionally positioned themselves at the vanguard of political violence in this country for years and on January 6 sought to change the course of American history.

Prosecutors seek 33 years in prison for Tarrio and Biggs; 30 years for Rehl; 27 years for Nordean; and 20 years for Pezzola. The Proud Boys leaders are set to be sentenced August 29 by Judge Timothy Kelly of the US District Court in Washington.

A jury in Washington convicted four of the men in May of seditious conspiracy.

Tarrio was not on the grounds of the Capitol on January 6 but had stayed in touch with the others expressing his support. The other men were at the front of the crowd, breaking past barriers and the police line and smashing windows to let rioters inside the historic building in the first breaches that eventually led to Congress evacuating and temporarily halting their certification of the 2020 presidential election results.

The jury found Pezzola not guilty of seditious conspiracy, and he was not alleged to have a leadership position in the organization.

The defendants understood the stakes, and they embraced their role in bringing about a revolution. They unleashed a force on the Capitol that was calculated to exert their political will on elected officials by force and to undo the results of a democratic election. The foot soldiers of the right aimed to keep their leader in power. They failed. They are not heroes; they are criminals, prosecutors wrote in the new filing.

The court filing, in many ways, is the summation of the yearslong effort by the US Attorneys Office in the District of Columbia to prosecute hundreds of rioters who inflicted violence at the US Capitol on January 6. The Proud Boys leaders, the prosecutors argue, are even more responsible for the attack than the leadership of another militia group, the Oath Keepers, who stashed weapons just outside Washington as backup and suited up in military gear to march into the riot.

Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers, received a sentence of 18 years in prison for his role on January 6 following his conviction of seditious conspiracy, the longest sentence so far among any defendant from that day.

The Justice Department had asked for Rhodes to receive 25 years.

The conduct of these defendants is more egregious than that of the Oath Keeper defendants and warrants greater sentences, the prosecutors wrote about the Proud Boys leaders.

It is critical that this court impose significant sentences of incarceration on all the defendants in this case to convey to those who would mobilize such political violence in the future that their actions will have consequences.

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Matt Kschinka is an alum of several dueling piano bars. Hes worked at Howl at the Moon in the Power & Light District, Ernie Biggs in Westport, and most recently Jack n Dianes in Greenville, South Carolina.

His latest endeavor, Jukebox Heroes, is not a dueling piano bar  but its close, something of a cousin concept. The club opened Thursday evening inside a new space near Westport called Warehouse on Broadway, at 3951 Broadway.

Basically, we have a very tight band that knows how to play about 180 hit songs, and they are going to be playing here every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night, Kschinka said. We have a jukebox on the wall, and you can go over to the jukebox, pay $10 to request a song, and the band will play it.

Warehouse on Broadway, which is about 18,000 square feet in all, will eventually be home to two additional bars, Kschinka said. He expects to open a martini bar called Up in about two months and a rock n roll-themed basement bar called Rock Bottom next spring.in spring 2024.

For now, its just Jukebox Heroes, which occupies the 8,000-square-foot space most recently home to Komatsu Ramen. It features two full bars, a stage, dozens of high-top tables, and capacity for nearly 400 guests.

The 8,000-square-foot space at Jukebox Heroes features two full bars, a stage and room for nearly 400 guests.

A kitchen serves what Kschinka called glorified bar food, with menu items like a Nashville Hot Chicken sandwich ($13) and Fat Tire Mac and Cheese ($11). The drink menu includes fishbowls  large, fruity, boozy drinks like the Blue Motorboat (cherry vodka, coconut rum, blue curacao, Sprite and pineapple) for $21.

The bar is open Thursday to Sunday, 6 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. The nightly cover is $10, and the band starts playing at 8 p.m.

Weve tried to make sure the songs are crowd-pleasers, Kschinka said. At a dueling piano bar, you can kind of request anything. So if somebody requests Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapton at 11:30 p.m., it brings the energy down and people will start to leave. Our band pretty much only plays what the kids these days call bangers.

A live band at Jukebox Heroes plays songs based on requests customers make from this jukebox. Requests are $10.

He cited Get Low, by Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz, Party in the USA, by Miley Cyrus, and Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen as a few examples.

Guests can also pay a little extra to skip the jukebox queue. A $20 request guarantees the band will play your song in the next 30 minutes; $50 in the next 15 minutes.

And though most songs will run you $10, not all hits are priced equally.

If you want to hear Freebird, Kschinka said, thats going to be $100.
Kansas State University (KSU) was hit with a civil rights complaint for a scholarship program that allegedly racially discriminates, and according to a legal nonprofit organization, creates a "racial litmus test" for applicants.

The Legal Insurrection Foundations Equal Protection Project filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights Aug. 16 over the universitys Joey Lee Garmon Scholarship, which is designed for applicants "of an ethnic group that has been historically and traditionally oppressed in the achievement of academic and leadership endeavors," according to the schools website.

The Legal Insurrection Foundations Equal Protection Project said that Kansas State University's Joey Lee Garmon Scholarship racially discriminates and creates a "racial litmus test."

EPP President William Jacobson told Fox News Digital that the racial requirements for the program is a, "constitutional and legal harm."

"Erecting barriers to access based on race and ethnicity is a constitutional and legal harm," Jacobson said. "There undoubtedly are students who will not bother to apply because they have the wrong skin color or ancestry. KSU not only needs to drop the racial litmus test, but also promote the fact that it is doing so."

GAY VETERANS SUE DEFENSE DEPARTMENT AFTER BEING FORCED OUT OF ARMED FORCES DUE TO SEXUALITY

According to the school's website, the Garmon Scholarship is named after Joey Lee Garmon  an African American male who was "unable to find sensitive nurturing of his cultural identity" in a "predominantly European American community."

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Due to his "desperate and hopeless situation," Garmon "gave up on himself and turned to drugs," and eventually committed suicide in 1972, at the age of 24, the school's website says.

The Garmon Scholarship provides $700 to currently enrolled, fulltime undergraduate KSU students "of historically underrepresented backgrounds."

The scholarship says it seeks to include students "of African American, American Indian, Asian American, and Latinx American heritage."

According to the Kansas State University website, the Joey Lee Garmon Scholarship seeks African American, American Indian, Asian American, and Latinx American applicants for the $700 scholarship.

Jacobson said that KSU "apparently did not get the message" the Supreme Court's recent ruling with rejects the use of race as a factor in college admissions as a violation of the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause.

"Kansas State University apparently did not get the message of the Supreme Court's recent affirmative action ruling. Racial discrimination in the name of 'diversity' is not okay," Jacobson said. "While the Supreme Court's decision was in the context of admissions, its ruling on the Equal Protection Clause applies more broadly whenever race is used as a factor in educational opportunities."

UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN HIT WITH CIVIL RIGHTS COMPLAINT OVER RACE-EXCLUSIVE FILMAKING PROGRAM

In a 6-3 decision, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion that, "A benefit to a student who overcame racial discrimination, for example, must be tied to that students courage and determination."

"Or a benefit to a student whose heritage or culture motivated him or her to assume a leadership role or attain a particular goal must be tied to that students unique ability to contribute to the university. In other words, the student must be treated based on his or her experiences as an individual  not on the basis of race," the opinion reads.

The Legal Insurrection Foundations Equal Protection Project says that Kansas State University's scholarship goes against the Supreme Court's ruling to overturn affirmative action.

Jacobson said the EPP is calling upon the university to remove the alleged "racial litmus test" on the Garmon Scholarship and open it to all students.

"We call on the KSU President to look into how this racial preference made its way onto campus, and to commence an investigation whether any other racial preferences exist," Jacobson told Fox News Digital. "EqualProtect.org would be willing to assist in such an investigation without charge to the university in the interest of promoting equality and equal protection."

In a statement to Fox News Digital, KSU said that they have not received a complaint from the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights related to the Joey Lee Garmon Undergraduate Multicultural Student Scholarship.

"If we do, the university will respond appropriately," a spokesperson said.

The EPP has previously filed similar civil rights complaints against programs at the State University of New York at Buffalo, SUNY Buffalos School of Law and the University of Nebraska.
Kansas Woman Faces Eviction From Senior Living Center After Being Accused Of Excessive Partying: All I Am Asking Is For Someone To Listen To Me | Peter Dazeley via Getty Images

Vivian Jackson, a 68-year-old woman in Kansas City, has been kicked out of her senior living center after being accused of partying too much.

Jackson said she has been pleading with management at the Emanuel Cleaver II Senior Living Community for a while, telling them the accusations are unsubstantiated. However, the managers remain unresponsive, according to the 68-year-old, and they now refuse to renew her lease.

According to The Kansas City Star, Jackson said she was told to leave her apartment by July 31. However, the Kansas City resident said it has been hard to find affordable house and she is also having difficulty moving out because her medical issues are affecting her mobility.

Jackson has also raised accusations against the apartment, saying she has experienced flooding multiple times and that management has failed to make repairs. As for the accusations against her, Jackson said she never had an excessive number of guests and never had loud parties.

Ive lost so much weight because of stress, and I dont really have anybody to help, Jackson told The Kansas City Star.

When she requested to stay at the apartment for a few extra days due to the recent storms and power outages, Jackson said managers told her that they will take the issue to legal aid.

I didnt even have electricity, and she doesnt care. This is not professional. I wouldnt even do a dog like this, Jackson said.

After applying to other senior living centers, Jackson said a few places have put her on the waitlist. (Jackson said shes unable to move into shelters due to her weakened immune system.) Case workers have given Jackson a voucher for an apartment with two bedrooms. However, she said she needs the help of caseworkers to find an affordable place that accepts Section 8 vouchers.

I have a lot of health issues. I cant work. If I could work at McDonalds or something to supplement the income to help me, I would do that, but I cant do it. Its hard to even stand on my legs, Jackson said.

While she is looking for solutions, Jackson is still hoping that she will be able to stay at her apartment until something comes up.

I know times are hard for a lot of people, but Ive been here all my life  all I am asking is for someone to listen to me, and reach out and help me, I just need some help right now, she said.
The search warrant used by police in Marion, Kansas, to carry out a controversial raid on a local newspaper last week named one resident as the victim of an alleged crime.

That person was local restaurant owner Kari Newell.

As a small business owner in Marion, a community of fewer than 2,000 people about 60 miles north of Wichita, Newell would not normally have seen her troubles make national news. But her allegations that the local newspaper, the Marion County Record, broke the law by accessing online information about her 2008 drunken driving arrest are now part of a much larger discussion about the freedom of the press.

The raid on the newspaper, which saw police carrying off cellphones, computers and other materials, set off a firestorm of criticism that made national headlines. In the following days, other news outlets joined the Records efforts to investigate the raid and those who led it.

Additional news reports revealed the DUI arrest history of the judge who signed the search warrant and the checkered past in Kansas City of the police chief who executed it.

State and national elected officials, from Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly to the White House have weighed in, calling for more questions to be asked and expressing concern for the First Amendment. Free press advocates and the Records attorney have said the raid was illegal, and on Wednesday the local prosecutor withdrew the search warrant, prompting the return of the newspapers seized equipment. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation took over the case from local police.

For her part, Newell has said little publicly about the episode. The Star was unable to reach Newell for comment Thursday.

After the raid, Newell posted a statement on Facebook saying journalists are not exempt from the laws they blast others for not following. The post has since been taken down.

Heres what we know about Newell.

Chefs Plate at Parlour 1886, a restaurant in Marion, Kansas, is owned by Kari Newell.

Restaurant owner in downtown Marion

Newell looms large in the restaurant scene on Third Street, in downtown Marion.

First came the Chefs Plate at Parlour 1886 restaurant, housed inside the Historic Elgin Hotel. Newell took over as restaurant owner and lead chef in January, according to The Hillsboro Free Press.

Newell told the Free Press she dreamed of bringing next level fine dining to the steak and seafood restaurant while also maintaining affordable plate prices.

Second came Karis Kitchen, a coffee shop and cafe that Newell opened in June, directly across the street.

With two downtown businesses in the town, Newell told a KSN-TV reporter that she was happy with her investments.

I have fallen in love with Marion, she said in the July 28 interview. Ive been here about 10 years, and being a part of this community does feel like family.

Eric Meyer, the editor and publisher of the Marion County Record, stands outside the newspapers office on Monday. The office and Meyers home were raided by police on Friday.

Conflict with the Marion County Record

Before the raid, Newell had been in conflict with the Record.

In early August, when Newell hosted a meeting at her coffee shop with U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner and other officials, those in attendance included three members of the Marion County Commission.

The three commissioners represented a majority of the five county commissioners, which meant the gathering was an open meeting under Kansas law.

Law enforcement, including the Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody, were invited and in attendance.

The Records publisher, Eric Meyer, joined the meet-and-greet with another reporter. Then, he said, the police chief asked him to leave.

I was standing in line waiting to get a drink at the coffee shop where we were and the police chief came up to us and said youve been asked to leave by the coffee shop owner, Meyer told CNN. She said we dont want the media in here, so they threw us out.

Newell told CNN that she had the journalists to leave because she said the newspaper has a long-standing reputation for twisting and contorting comments within our community.

Raided Kansas newspaper is known for aggressively covering small towns many disputes

Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody can be seen on the Marion County Records surveillance footage during a raid on the newspaper that was widely condemned.

Past DUI arrest and liquor license application

At an Aug. 7 Marion City Council meeting, Newells request for a liquor/caterer license for Chefs Plate at Parlour 1886 was on the agenda.

The Historic Elgin Hotel, where Chefs Plate at Parlour 1886 is located, has an on-premise drinking establishment liquor license that was issued on Aug. 28, 2021, to Tammy Ensey, the previous owner of the restaurant, which used to be called Parlour 1886.

In Kansas, liquor licenses are valid for two years at a time. According to the Chefs Plate at Parlour 1886 website, the restaurant currently has a full-service bar. But the liquor license is set to expire on Aug. 28, according to state records.

While the details of Newells DUI are not publicly available, the newspaper had reportedly been told about the arrest as Newell was applying for a liquor license.

In Kansas, those previously convicted of DUIs  with the exception of felony DUIs  can still work at retail liquor stores, drinking establishments and clubs. Those who work as servers, bartenders or managers at drinking establishments cannot work if they have three or more alcohol-related convictions, according to the Kansas Department of Revenue.

Individuals with any felony convictions cannot obtain a liquor license or work at an establishment with a liquor license, according to the state.

Residents left flowers outside the Marion County Record in central Kansas in remembrance of co-owner Joan Meyer, who died a day after police raided the newsroom.

Publicly accused reporter of violating privacy

Newell took to a public podium during the same council meeting to accuse a Record journalist of illegally obtaining her personal information.

What she did was negligent, reckless and unnecessary, and it was a violation of my personal privacy and information, Newell said of the reporter, who she did not name at the council meeting.

Meyer in the same meeting countered that the paper had done nothing illegal, that the personal information Newell was referencing  a past DUI  had been shared with them on social media by an outside source.

Meyer said the paper did not share the information with Councilwoman Ruth Herbel, as Newell accused them of, or publish a story about it.

The first edition of the Marion County Record since its newsroom in central Kansas was raided by police.

Named in search warrant used in raid

Four days after Newells comments at the City Council meeting, police raided the Record.

On Friday, Marion police officers and two sheriffs deputies arrived at the newsroom with the search warrant, which gave them permission to seize correspondence about Newell, along with digital information or items that would establish the use of computers and networks to participate in the identity theft of Newell.

Marion County Record Search Warrant by The Kansas City Star on Scribd

Security footage from inside the Record newsroom captured law enforcement hauling out reporters electronics.

Police also seized a cellphone and laptop from City Council member Herbels home, and the home of the papers co-owners, Meyer and his 98-year-old mother, Joan Meyer, who died the next day.

Despite challenges posed by the loss of materials, the Record published its Wednesday edition paper on schedule, with the headline: SEIZED ... but not silenced.
In a blue and yellow Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, U.S. Navy Lt. Amanda Lee, the first female pilot for the Navys elite Blue Angels, roared into New Century AirCenter on Thursday, ahead of this weekends KC Garmin Air Show in Gardner, Kansas.

Lee, a native of Mounds View, Minnesota, flies left wing in fighter jet number 3.

I kind of fell into flying for the Blue Angels, said Lee, who enlisted in the Navy in 2007 as an Aviation Electronics Technician (AT). I used to work on these airplanes as a maintainer, and when I picked up my commissioning program, I transitioned into the pilot spot, kind of hoping to get back to the same aircraft that I used to work on, she said.

Lee, who joined the Blue Angels team last September, has more than 1,400 flight hours and 225 carrier landings under her wings. I cant believe I got picked up for this incredible team, Lee said.

U.S. Navy Blue Angels pilots, from left, Lt. Scott Goossens, Lt. Amanda Lee, the Navys first female Blue Angels pilot, and Cmdr. Alexander Armatas, stood for a meet and greet after arriving on Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023, at the New Century AirCenter in Gardner, Kansas, for the Garmin KC Air Show. Lee is a F/A-18E/F demo pilot and flies in the left wing slot.

As the first female pilot for the elite demonstration squadron, Lee said the support from the public has been absolutely incredible.

From the team and the public in general, its awesome to see the support, said Lee, who was originally going to school to be a doctor and was pre-med.

The U.S. Navy Blue Angels arrived on Thursday for the Garmin KC Air Show being held Saturday and Sunday at the New Century AirCenter in Gardner, Kansas.

A member of the ground crew for the U.S. Navy Blue Angels guides in the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet piloted by Lt. Amanda Lee,.

Look at where life has taken me and that is just through seeing the different opportunities saying, Hey, lets try this out, and this is kind of where I fell, said Lee.

As a role model for children, Lee said its awesome to be in this role and her message to children is to apply yourself. If you really apply yourself and you give it 110%, you can really get it wherever you want to go, she said. So, you know, just giving it everything that you have really opened up doors.

Lee said one of the best things about being a member of the Blue Angels, isnt the jet, its the team and the teamwork. Its really about the people both within the team and what we get to do for the public, said Lee, who said she is honored to be a part of the team.

U.S. Navy Lt. Amanda Lee adjusts her cap after deplaning after the Blue Angels arrived on Thursday at the New Century AirCenter in Gardner, Kansas.

As a pilot, Lee currently flies in the left wing position, but will soon transition to a new challenging position.

I should move into the four spot, which is the training officer whos responsible for training the entire delta next year, said Lee. The delta refers to the V-shaped formation the planes fly in for many of their maneuvers.

The Blue Angels pilots greeted each other after arriving at the New Century AirCenter on Thursday.

Im excited, I know its going to be a totally different challenge from flying the left wing, she said. Im a little bit biased, but I think flying the left wing is the hardest position to fly in the delta. Next year, the four spot, the slot, I think has the best seat and the best view in the house, Lee said.

Trust within the team and practice allow for the precision of the flight demonstration squads performance. The maneuvers that we do today are everything that we train to do in the fleet, except for at very low altitude, said Lee, so spectators will get to see it kind of up close and personal. This is all stuff we train to do, she added. We do it in a little bit tighter set for the public, so its a little bit more entertaining.

Lt. Amanda Lee is the first female pilot for the U.S. Navys elite Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron. Lee arrived with the squadron on Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023, at the New Century AirCenter in Gardner, Kansas, for the Garmin KC Air Show.

Im excited, excited to be here, Lee said. Excited to show Kansas what Blue Angels have.

The Garmin KC Air Show is Saturday and Sunday, with performances starting around 10:30 a.m. Tickets can be purchased online.
The City of Kent is taking action to fix a crime-ridden apartment complex.

Mayor Dana Ralph says the city has filed a lawsuit against the Phoenix Court Apartments, which is linked to almost a dozen shootings this year alone.

Tenants were relieved when they heard the news.

Finally, this place is so dangerous and dirty, said Kristina Cazarez, who lives at the apartment complex. Were standing on glass right now.

Mayor Ralph says shes heard from several frustrated residents like Cazarez as well as others living nearby.

Just getting them in a room has been really challenging, Ralph said. Over the last year met with management on three separate occasions, but were just not seeing the action and weve seen an uptick in crime.

On Tuesday, the City of Kent filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction to have the complex declared a public nuisance.

There are families here that arent doing anything wrong. Theres people who are just people here, and like it dangerous hearing gunshots, and then the police are here every night, like yes please do something, said Kristina Cazarez,

According to the lawsuit, there were 576 911 calls for incidents at the complex between Jan. 1 and Aug. 7 of 2023. Thats in addition to 23 stolen cars recovered from the complex over that same period, 11 shootings, and 3 homicides.

In late-July, Kents police chief described the various calls for shootings as off the charts, with more calls to Phoenix Court than the citys next three to four trouble spots combined.

The lawsuit asks the property owner of the complex to make significant changes. That would include evicting people involved in crimes, allow current tenants to move without penalty, complete security fencing and gating around the property, and the installation of cameras and better lighting.

I think there are four cameras for 17 buildings, thats not safe, Ralph said. We would like to see four cameras per building.
This article was originally published in Kentucky Lantern.

Gov. Andy Beshear wants the legislature to fund an 11% pay raise for all Kentucky school personnel, which is the highest increase hes backed since becoming governor.

The Democratic governor, who is seeking reelection, unveiled some of his education priorities as part of his Education First plan for the 2024-26 state budget Wednesday morning. He said such a pay raise was needed because of National Education Association reports that ranked Kentucky 44th in the country in starting teacher salary, with an average of $38,010.

Under his proposal their pay would rise to $42,191, pushing the states ranking to 24. Overall teacher pay would see the states ranking jump from 40th to 25th, according to the NEA data. Beshear has previously asked for a 5% raise for all school employees.

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Beshear estimated the salary proposal, which also includes bus drivers, janitorial staff and cafeteria workers, would require a $1.1 billion investment.

When all you do is raise the starting salary it creates compression and you lose teachers that may have three, four, five, six or seven years of experience when theyre paid almost the exact same thing as someone who is brand new, the governor said.

Beshears opponent, Republican Attorney General Daniel Camerons education plan, released Tuesday, called for raising new teachers starting base rate to $41,500, but did not include raises for current teachers. He also wanted funding for a tutoring program for students outside of school hours to improve student performance, which suffered because of virtual learning during the coronavirus pandemic.

Joined by Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman in his press conference Wednesday, Beshear also renewed a call for funding universal pre-K. Such a program would improve reading scores by making sure every child is ready for kindergarten and is an opportunity to screen children for learning challenges, he said.

Related

Why Are So Many Republicans Raising Teacher Salaries?

Beshear also called on the legislature to fully fund student transportation. Bus driver shortages have created problems for school districts, and made headlines last week when Jefferson County Public Schools were forced to close following the first day of school because of the lack of drivers.

The General Assemblys refused to give districts what it costs to bus our students, and theyve refused to give a big enough salary increase to attract more bus drivers, Beshear said. So, if you dont fund what it costs to bus our students, and you dont have competitive salaries to have enough bus drivers, yes, you are going to have problems.

Some other education proposals Beshear made are to:

Fully fund teachers pensions and medical benefits and make no increases to health insurance premium increases for school employees.

Support a student loan forgiveness program for teachers that gives a maximum of a $3,000 annual award for each year of employment as a Kentucky public school teacher.

Provide funding for professional development

Allocate funds to replace textbooks and other instructional materials

Assemble staff at regional Social Emotional Learning institutes

Kentucky Board of Education Chair Lu Young said at the press conference that Beshears plan is boldly addressing the compensation for teachers and school employees, along with shoring up pensions, providing high quality, professional development, affordable health insurance, and childcare. Young was appointed to the board by Beshear in 2019.

Investing in Kentucky public schools is an investment in the future of the Commonwealth, in our workforce, but most importantly to me, its an investment in the future of our children and youth, Young said.

Following Beshears press conference, House Education Committee Chairman James Tipton issued a statement through the Republican Party of Kentucky that said Beshear was trying to catch-up to Cameron and gave support to the attorney generals plans instead.

For years, Andy Beshear has made empty promises to teachers, parents, and students. He inflicted historic learning loss on a generation, Tipton said. And now he suddenly cares about education? He nor any member of his office has reached out to me to discuss any plan. Daniel Cameron has.

When state lawmakers return to Frankfort in January, they will begin a 60-day session to pass the states next budget.

Related

NYC Charter School Raises Teacher Starting Salary to $140,000

Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jamie Lucke for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com. Follow Kentucky Lantern on Facebook and Twitter.
Authorities are searching for a teen who lived in the same apartment building as an 11-year-old Texas girl after her body was found underneath her bed last week, police announced on Friday.

Juan Carlos Garcia-Rodriguez, 18, has been identified as a person of interest in the killing of the girl, Maria Gonzalez. The chief of the Pasadena police, Josh Bruegger, said at a press conference that investigators discovered a key inside Gonzalezs apartment and learned that it opened Garcia-Rodriguezs unit.

Juan Carlos Garcia-Rodriguez, via the Pasadena Police Department.

Juan Carlos Garcia-Rodriguez, via the Pasadena Police Department.

This key has since been processed by our crime scene investigators and was not found to open any doors at the victims residence. Pasadena police said in a statement.

Gonzalez was found dead Saturday. Her father, Carmelo Gonzalez, called police to report that hed discovered her body, which was wrapped inside a garbage bag and stuffed in a laundry basket.

Carmelo Gonzalez told officers that his daughter texted him shortly after he left for work, saying a stranger was knocking on the front door. Concerned that the girl soon stopped responding, the father asked family members to check on her at the apartment, but theywere unable to locate her.

I told her dont open the door because I am arriving at work, and she responded I am in my bed, Carmelo Gonzalez told Houstons Fox 26.

When the father returned, he found the 11-year-old dead but no sign of forced entry at the apartment.

Medical examiners determined that the girl had been strangled, and that shed been sexually assaulted before dying.

Bruegger said police interviewed neighbors at the apartment building Saturday. Among them was Garcia-Rodriguez, from whom police also collected a DNA sample.

Authorities said Garcia-Rodriguez had been living in the apartment building for three to four weeks but moved out Monday. Histwo roommates, who did not know the 18-year-old well, told officers that Garcia-Rodriguez said he was leaving to find work somewhere else, but did not turn over his key before moving out.

Originally from Guatemala, Garcia-Rodriguez was last seen at the apartment complex Monday. His current whereabouts are unknown.

No arrest has been made in the case.

Need help? Visit RAINNs National Sexual Assault Online Hotline or the National Sexual Violence Resource Centers website.

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TAMPA, Fla.  Kid Rock was spotted apparently drinking a Bud Light on Thursday night, months after calling for a boycott, according to TMZ.

TMZ obtained a photo and video that appears to show Kid Rock holding the can of Bud Light while at a Colt Ford show at Skydeck in Nashville. Other users on X, formerly known as Twitter, have posted photos from other angles, WFLA reports.

Ivermectin still not effective or approved for COVID-19 treatment, FDA says

Many X users were mocking Kid Rock, calling him a hypocrite and a poser.

Kid Rock went viral in April for posting a video in which he shot up a bunch of Bud Light cans in protest of the company partnering with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

The former rocker seemed pretty relaxed as he clutched the blue can, taking sips while chatting and laughing with some friends, TMZ reported. Unclear if there were other beer options available, but Kid Rocks choice seems pretty shocking considering how hard he went in on the brand earlier this year.

Anheuser-Busch InBev, which owns Bud Light, said its total U.S. market share for all brands fell more than 5% to 36.9% in April, but then remained stable from the end of April through the end of June. Some of the companys brands, like Busch Lite and Michelob Ultra, have gained U.S. market share.

Zoo Pals are back  heres where you can find the beloved 2000s-era plates

Still, the Bud Light saga has been a costly one for the brewer. In June, Bud Light lost its place as Americas best-selling beer after more than two decades, slipping into second place behind Mexican lager Modelo Especial. InBev also owns Modelo, but in the U.S. the brand is imported and sold by Constellation Brands.

In the month ending July 22, Bud Lights U.S. retail sales were down 26% compared to the same period a year ago, according to Nielsen data compiled by Bump Williams Consulting. Its year-over-year sales declines have been in the 25% to 30% range every month since the backlash began, the consulting company said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Thursday that it would not be out of character for North Korea to use US soldier Travis King as a propaganda tool or bargaining chip.

They certainly could.  We havent seen any indication that thats exactly whats afoot here, but certainly would not be out of character for them, Kirby told CNNs Jake Tapper on The Lead. What were focused on is trying to make sure we can get information about him.

Kirby added that Kings location is unclear, as well as the conditions hes being held and information about his health.

A portrait of American soldier Travis King is displayed as his grandfather, Carl Gates, talks about his grandson on July 19, 2023, in Kenosha, Wis. - Morry Gash/AP

We have made it clear to the North Koreans through various channels that we want to know those things and we want him back, Kirby said. We want to get him back safely, but unfortunately, we dont know exactly where they have him or what they plan on doing with him.

Kirby also responded to criticism from the family of Lt. Ridge Alkonis, who is detained in a Japanese prison and whose family has criticized the administration for not working hard enough to secure his release. Kirby said that the US has, and continues, to routinely talk about Alkonis. However, he would not say whether President Joe Biden would raise the case Friday when he meets with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at Camp David.

We are still working this out with the Japanese to see whats the realm of the possible here to make sure rule of law is respected, but that we make our concerns clear, he said.

Kirby also defended the administrations work to secure the release of Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich, who the US has designated as wrongly detained in Russia, telling Tapper that while he wished he could say that weve got a deal in hand and that the Russians have agreed to it, thats not the case.

Thats not for lack of trying, and its not like we havent put proposals on the table to try to get Mr. Whelan and, quite frankly, Mr. Gershgovich back home to their families, he added. But we just dont have anything to report out right now.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Russia has repeatedly accused Ukraine of carrying out drone strikes on its territory in recent months.

On 18 August, Moscow mayor Sergey Sobyanin said wreckage from a drone shot down by air defences had hit the city's Expo Centre exhibition complex, next to the city's skyscraper district.

There were no immediate reports of casualties but footage, verified by the BBC, showed damage to one of the exhibition centre buildings.

Although Ukraine hasn't claimed responsibility for specific drone strikes, President Volodymyr Zelensky has previously said that attacks on Russian territory are an "inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process".

How many drone attacks have there been in Russia?

According to Russian media reports monitored by BBC Verify, there have been over 140 suspected aerial drone attacks this year in Russia and Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine.

Map of Russia showing reported drone attacks, based on BBC research

These have been concentrated in the Bryansk and Belgorod regions in Russia near the western border with Ukraine, as well as in Russian-annexed Crimea.

There have been a series of drone attacks in the Moscow region in recent months, which is about 450km (280 miles) from the border with Ukraine, including a wave of strikes on 30 May which damaged several buildings.

Flights were forced to be diverted from Vnukovo International Airport in Moscow after a drone attack on 4 July.

A suspected Ukrainian drone hit Moscow's Expo Centre on 18 August, damaging one of the exhibition halls

It was also shut briefly following drone attacks on 30 July and 1 August.

Russia accused Ukraine of trying to kill President Vladimir Putin in an alleged attack on his residence in the Kremlin on 3 May, which Kyiv denies.

Oil facilities, airfields and energy infrastructure have all been targeted in 2023.

We have identified at least nine reported drone attacks on oil depots. One of these was in Sevastopol, a major city in Crimea, which was hit on 29 April, destroying several of its oil tanks.

A side-by-side comparison using two satellite images of an oil storage facility under Russian control in Crimea, which came under attack on 29 April, allegedly by Ukrainian drones. The before image from 10 March 2023, shows all the oil storage tanks intact, while the image taken on 3 May 2023, shows at least seven storage tanks destroyed or severely damaged

On 31 May, an oil refinery was set ablaze in Krasnodar Territory in southern Russia, about 200km (124 miles) from the Crimean border. The regional governor said it was probably caused by a drone.

Layla Guest, an analyst at Sibylline security consultancy, says: "Ukrainian forces will highly likely prioritise targeting oil refineries, as well as railway infrastructure and wider Russian logistics, to cause maximum disruption."

In February, a drone crashed about 100 km (62 miles) from Moscow, in what the local governor said was an attempt to target civilian infrastructure.

A picture of the wreckage appeared to be consistent with a UJ-22 - a type of drone manufactured by Ukraine.

It has a range of 800km (497 miles) in autonomous flight. Its range under directly-controlled flight is much shorter.

Another suspected drone attack injured at least 10 Russian soldiers at a military training ground in the Voronezh Region on 10 May, according to local media reports.

And in December last year, a drone attack hit an airbase 600km (372 miles) north-east of the Ukrainian border, leaving three people dead, according to the Russian military.

How far can Ukraine's drones fly?

Drones have been deployed by both sides in the conflict, with Russia using Iranian-made drones on targets in Ukraine.

Ukraine says it is rapidly increasing its production of drones as demand grows on the front line.

In terms of range, experts say drones launched from Ukraine could reach deep into Russian territory, and as far as Moscow, which is about 450km (280 miles) from the border.

"Although Ukraine has not confirmed that its armed forces carried out the attacks [on Moscow], I think that the pre-emptive raids we have seen last year prove that Ukraine has the capability to launch long range attacks of that kind from within Ukrainian territory," says David Cenciotti, editor of the Aviationist blog.

Drone specialist Steve Wright also said it was possible that a drone could hit the Kremlin having been launched from within Ukraine.

But he added: "My guess is that the drone was launched from far closer in than that, as this would avoid it having to run the gauntlet of much of Moscow's defences."

Ukraine's Minister for Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov boasted of a Ukrainian drone called the R18 that "can fly from Kyiv to Moscow and back".

But he denied that he was calling for drone strikes on Moscow.

Mr Cenciotti says: "Ukraine has made extensive use of several drones, with the Bayraktar TB2 drone emerging as the real star of the air war for Ukraine, inflicting heavy losses on Russian forces, some of those caught on tape and circulated online."

Turkey has sold Bayraktar TB2 armed drones to Ukraine in recent months, while the Turkish manufacturer of the drones has donated to crowd-funding operations in support of Ukraine.

Graphic showing characteristics of the Bayraktar TB2 drone. The Bayraktar TB2 is a low-cost alternative to US-made drones and can be used to directly attack or coordinate attacks with other systems on targets.

Additional reporting by Tural Ahmedzade, Joshua Cheetham, Thomas Spencer, Shayan Sardarizadeh, Paul Brown and Adam Robinson

BBC Verify logo

Read more about BBC Verify: Explaining the 'how' - the launch of BBC Verify
The man convicted of killing Cal Poly freshman Kristin Smart in 1996 was moved to a state prison in Coalinga, according to California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation records.

A jury convicted San Pedro resident Paul Flores of murdering Smart on Oct. 18 after a three-month trial. He was sentenced to 25 years to life for the crime in March.

His father, Arroyo Grande resident Ruben Flores, was acquitted by a separate jury of helping his son conceal the crime.

Flores was first transferred to North Kern State Prison in Delano on March 30. That prison is typically used as a reception center, according to CDCRs website.

The reception center compiles an inmates criminal records, life histories, medical and psychological histories and social relationships, the state corrections agency said. Then prison staff determine the inmates classification score and institutional placement.

Flores is now at Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga.

The prison provides modern long-term housing and professional rehabilitative services for inmate of all custody levels, CDCRs website says.

Flores will be eligible for parole in about 15 years with the time hes already served and if he has good behavior.

At that time, a parole board would hold a hearing to decide whether Flores should be granted parole. If Flores isnt granted parole, the board will review his case at intervals it determines: three, five, seven, 10 or 15 years.

Flores filed a notice of appeal to overturn his conviction in April. He has yet to file his arguments and briefs to support the appeal.
Mayor Karen Bass is looking to acquire the Mayfair Hotel, which suffered extensive damage when it was used as temporary homeless housing. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Faced with reports of wrecked furniture, torn up carpet and other types of damage, the city of Los Angeles recently paid $11.5 million to a boutique hotel used for two years as homeless housing.

That money won't go toward any repairs in the building, even though the city is on the verge of acquiring the property, officials said this week.

The City Council is set to vote Friday to approve the purchase of the 294-room Mayfair Hotel, which will serve as a key part of Mayor Karen Bass' fight against homelessness. In the run-up to that vote, city officials explained that the seller, Mayfair Lofts, won't be obligated to use any of the $11.5 million in city damage payouts to repaint rooms, replace light fixtures or fix other parts of the building.

That information was delivered during a hearing Wednesday, after Councilmember Bob Blumenfield asked whether the seller would be required to provide receipts showing he had made repairs at the Mayfair in advance of the sale to the city.

"The $11 million in damages that was already paid for  did they actually fix, did they have to show receipts for actually fixing [the building]?" Blumenfield asked. "Or are we getting a building that has $11 million worth of damage?"

Read more: An L.A. hotel became homeless housing. The city paid $11.5 million to cover the damage

Melody McCormick, assistant general manager for the General Services Department, responded by pointing out that the city agreed to certain terms when it leased the Mayfair for Project Roomkey, which provided rooms to unhoused Angelenos during the pandemic. That agreement required the city to restore the hotel to the condition it was in when Project Roomkey began at the hotel in July 2021, she said.

"We are buying the hotel in its 'as is' condition, meaning ... in its damaged state," she told council members.

The Times reported Wednesday that the city received extensive reports of damage to the Mayfair during Project Roomkey, with building residents shattering windows, vandalizing bathrooms and in one case, punching a hole in a wall in the lobby. Project Roomkey workers also responded to overdoses, threatening behavior and violent acts, according to emails obtained by The Times.

The city plans to buy the Mayfair for $60 million and carry out an additional $23 million in renovations and upgrades. Bass plans to use the building, in the near term, as interim housing for homeless residents from Skid Row, some of whom are currently staying at the L.A. Grand Hotel. The city is leasing that building for nearly $4,700 per room per month.

The mayor's proposal for the Mayfair has drawn strong support from nonprofit groups, particularly those working in Skid Row, which has the highest concentration of homeless people in the city. The plan is opposed by a number of people who live or work near the Mayfair, who say the city did a poor job of overseeing the facility when it was used as homeless housing during the pandemic.

Over the past four months, the city has made three payments to address damage claims at the Mayfair, according to City Controller Kenneth Mejia's office. The final $6 million payment was paid Aug. 9, the controller's office said.

Nearly a third of the city's payout represents payments for furniture, including $310,000 worth of ottomans, $239,000 worth of nightstands and more than $940,000 in beds and mattresses, city officials said.

Although some damage at the Mayfair was confined to individual hotel rooms, other problems had repercussions for much of the building.

For example, in January 2022, a hotel manager informed officials with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority that a resident on the seventh floor had flooded a toilet without telling anyone. Water reached the lobby, causing a "major flood," he wrote.

"Given it traveled seven floors to the lobby it might be costly," McCormick responded in one email.

During this week's hearings, McCormick told council members that the costs at the Mayfair were "an anomaly." Other Project Roomkey sites generated much smaller damage claims, she said.

Unlike other Project Roomkey hotels, the Mayfair had high-end furniture and other expensive furnishings appropriate for a newly renovated boutique hotel, McCormick said. Once the city gains possession of the hotel, it won't need to acquire furnishings that are anywhere near as fancy, she said.

"We're not going to replace the $450 ottoman with another $450 ottoman," she said.

Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, who represents the neighborhood where the Mayfair sits, came out in favor of purchasing the hotel. But she also called for several measures to help the surrounding neighborhood, including an extra $400,000 in sanitation services.

Hernandez said she wants the mayor's team to carry out an Inside Safe encampment operation within 30 days of the vote to purchase the Mayfair. She also called for the creation of a community advisory board to oversee the Mayfair's operations.

Councilmember Monica Rodriguez argued against the hotel acquisition, saying the city's fight against homelessness should not come at the expense of "prudent financial decisions."

"To propose a rushed acquisition of a property weve paid $11 million in damages to repair, and take possession without repairs being completed, is not a deal I believe any taxpayer would view as too good to pass up," she said.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Two illegal guns, including one ghost gun, that Lansing police said they confiscated in July after a shooting.

LANSING  Mayor Andy Schor stood behind a lectern, local law enforcement by his side, in the days following a rash of Lansing shootings and decried the violence.

He pointed to the number of illegal weapons available in the city as a major factor, and said police had taken more than 500 guns off the street in the previous 11 months.

That was Dec. 13, 2021, near the end of Lansing's most violent year on record.

Six hundred and two days later  on Aug. 7  the mayor called a similar news conference to deliver a similar message a week after at least eight people were shot, including one fatally, in four incidents on a single Sunday earlier this month.

Lansing gun violence was "out of control," Schor said, adding that illegal guns were "all over the place" and having a devastating impact on the city.

In the roughly 17 months between those news conferences, police seized another 667 firearms. But the shootings continued and illegal guns are still seen as a major driver, police and prosecutors said.

As of the end of June, there had been 165 shooting incidents in Lansing this year, putting the city on a pace for about 330 this year, or about 15 more than in 2022.

Lansing is far from the only city struggling to fight gun violence and the availability of illegal guns. The continual effort by police, prosecutors and cities to tamp down on the black market for guns underscores the difficulty they face in addressing gun violence. Theres no one root cause or source for the shootings and guns. And there's no magic solution to the violence.

"Someone with $150 and the will, will pretty quickly find a gun," said Daniel Semenza, an assistant professor at Rutgers University whose research focuses on firearm markets and violent crime.

How illegal guns enter the market

Lansing Police Dept. Det. Pete Scheccia, right, and another LPD member search an area along eastbound Interstate 96 near the Williamston Road exit Wednesday afternoon, July 5, 2023, looking for two-year-old Wynter Cole Smith missing since July 2, 2023. LPD, the FBI, Michigan State Police, and Ingham County Sheriff's Dept. assisted in the search.

To better understand the challenge facing Lansing police and prosecutors who argue getting illegal guns off the street will help end the gunfire, it's helpful to start with what's known about how guns move from the legal to the illegal market.

"The really important thing to remember always is that every gun  when we call it an illegal gun  starts off as a legal gun," Semenza said.

There are two main channels for firearms to move from one market to another.

The first is known as straw purchasing, when someone buys a firearm with the specific intent to give it or sell it to someone who isn't able to legally buy a weapon. Sometimes it's the purchase of a single gun, Semenza said, and sometimes it's several.

Another channel is theft, either from gun dealers or from individual gun owners.

Semenza said theft from gun dealers is rare, but happens, and the more common location for weapons to be stolen from is vehicles. Thieves will look for pickup trucks or vehicles with a National Rifle Association sticker or other decals, any indication the driver might be a gun owner.

One popular venue for such thefts, he said, is parking lots at sporting events. It's illegal in Michigan to take a gun into many large venues, so thieves know people with concealed carry permits are likely leaving their weapon locked in their vehicle.

Firearms can also make their way to the black market after being stolen from a home. And the guns can change hands multiple times before or after they are used in a crime.

"Guns are incredibly durable," Semenza said. "They don't biodegrade. They just sit."

A firearm lost or stolen can be hidden for years before it's used in a crime. Similarly, a gun used in a crime recently might have first entered the illegal market years ago.

Semenza cautioned against sweeping statements or definitive estimates on the number of illegal guns in circulation at any given time. There's simply not enough data available and no current system to track the movement of every gun from factory to current holder, he said.

However, a surge in legal gun purchases in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, identified by the number of federal background checks legal sellers need to run, means it's very likely the past three and a half years have seen additional guns move into the black market.

How a new top prosecutor and return to an old approach might help

"This is unacceptable. Our community must come together to combat the gun violence," Ingham County Prosecutor John Dewane said Monday, Aug. 7, 2023, during a press conference addressing the recent rash of gun violence in Lansing. "I assure you I will do whatever I can under the law to hold both youthful and adult offenders accountable for gun violence and murder."

Even a simple tally of how many guns are in the U.S.  legal and illegal  is elusive.

Theres no single federal mechanism to track every purchase, but estimates have put the number of guns in the country in the hundreds of millions.

And for many, that's where the problem starts.

"I don't know how you decrease that," said John Dewane, the Ingham County prosecuting attorney. "I've read different philosophies on gun buyback programs. Some people say they work, some people say they don't really work. I don't know what the answer is.

"I think the problem is already here that we have so many guns in this country, that it's easily accessible and cheap to get a firearm."

Dewane was appointed as the county's top prosecutor in December, taking over for Carol Siemon who retired during her second term. Dewane started in the prosecutor's office in 2001 and had long been the deputy chief assistant prosecutor, or second-highest ranking official in the office.

In an interview with the State Journal in June, Dewane said one key part of his strategy with gun violence was to return to policies in effect prior to Siemen's tenure, specifically the use of a weapons charge.

The felony firearm charge carries a mandatory sentence of two years in prison that must be served before the sentence for any other charge in a criminal case. Put more simply, it adds two years to any prison sentence if the defendant had a gun on them during the underlying crime. Siemon had limited the use of the charge in one of several policy moves that attempted to address racial disparities in the justice system.

"I believe possessing or using a gun during the commission of a crime just makes it much more dangerous and potentially life threatening," Dewane said.

'The tables are finally turning a little bit'

"If you see something, say something," Lansing Mayor Andy Schor said during a press conference addressing the recent rash of gun violence in Lansing on Monday, Aug. 7, 2023. Also pictured is Lansing Police Chief Ellery Sosebee. "If you have an illegal gun, we are going to send it to the prosecutor."

Lansing Police Chief Ellery Sosebee said Dewane's appointment and the use of the felony firearm charge will help. He was among a cadre of local police officials who criticized Siemon's decision to limit the use of the felony firearm charge.

"I think a lot of criminals thought that they would get a pass in Ingham County if they got caught with a gun," he said. "And I think that the tables are finally turning a little bit."

Sosebee said his officers have a regular focus on getting illegal weapons off the street, in partnership with federal agencies, and he believes prosecution as a deterrent is important. He added that educating legal gun owners on the proper ways to secure and store their weapons will also help reduce the number of lost or stolen firearms that make their way to the black market.

But Dewane and Sosebee said their departments, or even law enforcement in general, can't end gun violence through arrests and longer prison sentences.

They're both proponents of community violence intervention organizations, like the Advance Peace operation in Lansing, that are seen by many as promising solutions.

The organizations are rooted in the community and identify the small number of people most at risk of picking up a gun to settle a dispute. They build relationships and trust with them and, on a daily basis, work to show them a gun isn't the solution.

Ghost guns and 'switches' complicate the issue

A handgun, along with cash and suspected cocaine and marijuana, Lansing police confiscated from a convicted felon in May who was charged with carrying a concealed weapon, felon in possession, felony firearm and other offenses after a traffic stop.

But adding even more complexity to the issue is the emergence of ghost guns  mail order or 3D printed firearms that require some assembly  and devices known as "switches" that can quickly turn a firearm into a fully automatic weapon.

Semenza, the Rutgers researcher, said while ghost guns remain a minority of all firearms, their increase in popularity is "jarring." It's still too early for research on their impact, but he said their availability "changes the entire calculus" for responses for law enforcement because they eliminate the primary legal market from the equation.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court backed a Biden administration effort to regulate ghost guns, temporarily allowing the government to require manufacturers of the untraceable weapon kits to conduct background checks on customers and mark their products with serial numbers.

Dewane said the "switches" are "super popular" among young people and are often seen as a status symbol or referenced in music videos.

"I think America has an infatuation with firearms," Dewane said. "I mean, I think that's really what it is. And unfortunately, I think everybody thinks that, 'Well, if that person is carrying a gun, then I need to carry a gun.'

"I think it's that mentality, which is concerning, as a citizen."

Lansing State Journal reporter Ken Palmer and USA TODAY reporter John Fritze contributed to this story.

Contact reporter Matt Mencarini at 517-377-1026 or mjmencarini@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattMencarini.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Why Lansing is struggling to get illegal guns off the streets
By Josh Smith, Trevor Hunnicutt and David Brunnstrom

SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -North Korea's latest Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile - its first ICBM to use solid rocket fuel - has reignited debate over possible Russian links to the nuclear-armed state's dramatic missile development.

In a report published on Thursday by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, Theodore Postol, professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, argued that the Hwasong-18 ICBM is likely the result of technical cooperation sourced to Russia.

The Hwasong-18 has been tested twice, including on July 12 in what was the longest flight time ever for a North Korean missile test.

It is the North's first ICBM to use solid propellants, which can enable faster and easier deployment of missiles during war. The missile was first flown in April.

"The sudden appearance of these advanced capabilities is difficult to explain without cooperation from the Russian government and its scientists," Postol wrote, saying visual similarities suggest Russia may have decided to transfer an "advanced 50-ton solid propellant ICBM, the Topol-M, also known as the SS-27", to North Korea.

Other analysts, however, said that while North Korea's missiles show similarities with Russian designs, they are not exactly the same and Pyongyang has several ways of gathering technical data from other countries, including computer hacking.

Researchers at California's James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) in a draft report shared with Reuters, pointed to what they called factual inaccuracies, including mistaking the Russian Topol-M and Yars ICBMs, and misidentifying a spent Hwasong-18 rocket stage as a decoy canister designed to defeat anti-missile systems.

Asked about those concerns, Postol called them "unsupported assertions", saying in an email that his critics had not provided him with any technical evidence to comment on.

'TAKING A HARD LOOK'

Russia and North Korea have recently called for closer military ties but North Korea has denied having any "arms dealings" with Russia.

Russia's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to the new report.

In response to recent allegations from a U.N. Panel of Experts that entities in Russia were procuring items for North Korea's missile programme, Russia denied any knowledge or information on transactions that would breach sanctions on North Korea.

Speaking ahead of a Camp David summit of the United States, Japan and South Korea, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the administration of President Joe Biden was concerned about potential missile cooperation between Russia and North Korea but he was "not validating the report."

"In terms of this specific report... I don't have anything to add to that today. I will say it's something our intelligence community is taking a hard look at," he said.

Sullivan said Russia had been seeking material for its war in Ukraine from North Korea "and as they have done with other countries like Iran, when they ask, they usually also offer some types of security cooperation in return."

"I'm not asserting that that is the case today," he said. "I am saying it is a matter of concern."

RUSSIAN ROOTS

The CNS researchers said the Hwasong-18 clearly takes some design inspiration from Russian missiles, in this case Topol-M and Yars, just as many other North Korean missiles do.

"We do not rule out the possibility that Russian entities may have assisted North Korea in its development of this system," they wrote.

However, a close examination of images, videos and the performance of the missile shows clear differences that exclude the possibility that Russia transferred a complete ICBM system, they concluded, citing major differences in the guidance systems and the missiles' third stages, the researchers wrote.

Some of the Hwasong-18's systems, in fact, more closely resemble Chinese weapons, and North Korea has been publicly developing solid-fuel missiles since at least 2017, they said.

Markus Schiller, a Europe-based missile expert who has long argued that North Koreas success in testing suggests it has had external support, agreed the CSIS report "gets many issues blatantly wrong."

However, he said, those mistakes should not overshadow the signs that point to possible Russian links, including similar motor diameters and missile configuration, as well as the 100% test success rate, suggesting the missile used well-established technology as North Korea fired it on a trajectory that - had it failed - could have dropped debris on Japan.

"You simply dont take such a risk with an untested missile," he said.

North Korea's missile programme has its roots in assistance from the Soviet Union, and later Russia, analysts say, and the boosters involved in propelling the warheads are similar to Soviet designs.

However, there is debate over how much that assistance has continued since the 1990s, and North Korea has many ways of gathering information about other countries' technology.

For example, a group of North Korean hackers secretly breached computer networks at a major Russian missile developer for at least five months last year, according to technical evidence reviewed by Reuters and analysis by security researchers.

(Reporting by Josh Smith; Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom in Washington; Editing by Robert Birsel, Hugh Lawson, Don Durfee and William Mallard)
Glenda Overstreet Vaughn

My family recently saw the article written and heard the news broadcast regarding the pending right to a lawsuit of a doctor who is a valuable and consistent medical professional in this community for years, and we are compelled to respond.

Sometimes articles and two-minute stories do not capture the totality of the events and can be misleading to the public, as well as be a disservice to the parties involved.

Our family has experienced having a near fatal medical procedure and some with ongoing complications from other doctors in the area, but we have never taken the liberty of trying to file a lawsuit or take it public because we understand that the medical practice profession is not fail proof. I do not know of any career or practice that is.

Unintentional accidents happen, and when patients go into the hospital environment, patients sign papers to make us aware of assumed risks because of such practice.

We are finding there is a significant lack of physicians in Kansas and across the nation because of sensationalized stories that cascade to hyperbolic levels that ultimately put physicians and medical centers at risk and out of business because they cant afford the excessive monetary ties that come with them, whether such allegations are proven or not.

Doctors working for hospitals are not responsible for the medical billing or practices.

If news media wants to be truly helpful, consider providing statistics on the number of physicians in Kansas who practice and how many lawsuits they all have had over the course of practice rather than selectively picking and choosing.

Consider sharing how many are working consistently in the community to help address and enhance Black health needs because the stats on quality Black health or lack thereof, specifically in Shawnee County, is mind boggling.

And consider reporting what the community can do to support the few good, caring, spiritual and consistent medical professionals we have in this community, such as Dr. Lui.

Dr. Lui has been a solid medical professional in this community for years. My husband was uncomfortable with any doctor other than Dr. Lui for his colon cancer surgery. His bedside matter was thorough and caring. Dr. Lui was a constant visitor to check on his condition, and he took time to explain everything in the procedure, including the challenges.

There are so many friends in the community who have similar stories because Dr. Lui is a trusted, intelligent, caring, humble and spiritual family man whom the Lord has chosen to be here in Topeka for us.

Let us not make a mockery of this choice. Prayers lifted for all parties involved.

Glenda Overstreet is an active volunteer and community organizer in Topeka. She can be reached at doctorglendao@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Lawsuit vs. doctor doesn't show full picture of his worth to Topeka
During the week of Aug. 20, ClearWater Conservancys Centred Outdoors program will host free wellness activities at the Boal Estate  site of the historic Boal Mansion and three miles of mulched trails featuring diverse flora and conservation projects.

Located an 8-minute drive from downtown State College, the Boal Mansion Trails are new to Centred Outdoors installment of guided summer outings this year.

Centred Outdoors will offer informative guided hikes of trails through the Boal Estate on Sunday, Aug. 20 at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.; and Thursday, Aug. 24 at 9 and 11 a.m. Prior registration is not required for any Centred Outdoors event, though reservations are required for the programs free shuttle van service when available.

According to Centred Outdoors 2023 Passport, the trail is one mile long with a difficulty rating of easy. Along the route, participants will see a variety of habitats ranging from wetlands to forests, as well as over 1,000 tree shelters put in place to promote further species diversity.

During the walks, participants will learn about the history of Boalsburg and the Boal family, the vision behind the newly constructed trails at Boal Mansion and the natural history of the Boal Mansion grounds, said Olivia Stas, ClearWater Conservancys Assistant Adventure Coordinator.

Centred Outdoors recommends that participants wear sturdy shoes, like sneakers or hiking boots, and bring 32 oz. of water per adult. Hikers are encouraged to protect against sun and insects with sprays or protective wear, but Centred Outdoors will also have sunscreen and bug spray at the welcome tent on site.

Centred Outdoors will also host its Wellness Wednesday activity, Yoga and Outdoor Mindfulness, at the Boal Estate on Aug. 23, at 6 p.m. The event will be hosted by yoga instructor, artist and Pennsylvania Master Naturalist Stephanie Koller and co-hosted by the Centre County Community Diversity Group.

Koller will lead participants through slow-flowing movements, easy to follow postures, Tibetan sound healing/chanting, self-applied massage, breath work and a guided meditation, according to the program website. People of all abilities are welcome to attend.

Participants of guided hikes and yoga events should park in the designated area by the Boal Estate barn and expect to see a Centred Outdoors tent set up near the trailhead.

Those needing transportation to the Wellness Wednesday yoga event can reserve a ride through the Centred Outdoors Van Service. Reservations can be made up to one week prior to the event.

Centred Outdoors also allows participants to rent gear like trekking poles, daypacks and child-carrying backpacks from its Gear Library. Those interested should submit requests at least 48 hours before an event.

For more information about all upcoming guided outings and Wellness Wednesday activities, visit Centred Outdoors Events page.

Grace Miller is a freelance writer for ClearWater Conservancy.
At least seven people were victims of armed robbers who were traveling in a white sedan overnight in North Center and Lakeview, Chicago police said.

The robberies happened within minutes of each other. Police described the suspects as young.

The first robbery occurred about 11:35 p.m. when a 63-year-old woman was walking in the 2100 block of West Grace Street. A white sedan approached and two people brandishing rifles got out and demanded her property, police said.

About 11:40 p.m., a 42-year-old man was walking in the 3400 block of North Leavitt Street when two people got out of a white sedan with rifles and demanded his property before fleeing the scene, police said.

Shortly before 11:45 p.m., a 61-year-old man walking in the 1700 block of West Berteau Avenue was robbed by by two people who got out of a white sedan with rifles.

Shortly before midnight, two 43-year-old men and a woman, 32, were on the sidewalk in the 1800 block of West Roscoe Street when a white sedan approached. Two people, armed with a hand gun and a rifle, got out of the car, police said.

Hours later, at 2:45 a.m., a 67-year-old man was walking home in the 900 block of West Dakin Street when two people in a white sedan jumped out and, implying they had a weapon, demanded his property, police said.

Moments later, the suspects were located and arrested near a white sedan by officers and the last victims belongings were found. Detectives are investigating.
Prior to the the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984, the drinking age varied by U.S. state. Now, set at 21, the minimum is uniform, but laws on guardians providing alcohol to minors vary.

Those younger than 21 years of age cannot legally purchase alcohol in Kentucky, and adults who buy it for them could face up to a year in jail, but there is an exception to the rule.

Although underage alcohol consumption is common in the United States, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it can result in misdemeanor charges, community service requirements, fines or prison time, depending on the state and circumstance.

Heres what to know about the legalities of minors obtaining alcohol in Kentucky.

Can parents buy their children alcohol in Kentucky?

Kentucky law prohibits individuals from providing alcoholic beverages to minors, though there is a potential defense for those who inadvertently sell to a minor who uses a fake identification and appears to be of age.

There is one big exception, though. A parent or guardian who purchases alcoholic beverages or otherwise provides alcohol to their child is not bound by this provision.

Other adults who give alcohol to minors are guilty of unlawful transaction with a minor in the third degree, Kentucky law says, which carries a class A misdemeanor charge. In the Bluegrass State, a class A misdemeanor can result in a fine of up to $500 and/or up to one year in prison.

Kentucky does not have a law that requires a consumer to present an identification card in order to purchase alcoholic beverages, according to the commonwealths Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, but many businesses have implemented their own policies to require IDs.

Although parents and guardians who purchase alcohol are not necessarily committing a class A misdemeanor in Kentucky, it is not lawful for minors to purchase their own alcohol or present a fraudulent ID.

Minors cannot enter any premises licensed for the sale of alcoholic beverages for the purpose of buying or receiving alcoholic beverages, state law says.

Risks of underage drinking

Youth who consume alcohol are more likely than their peers who are not drinking to experience a myriad of problems, according to the CDC, including:

More absences from school and lower grades

Alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents

Alcohol poisoning

Memory problems

Misuse of other substances

Hangovers

Illnesses

Legal problems

In addition to these risks, alcohol consumption has also been linked to a variety of severe health outcomes.

There is a strong scientific consensus that alcohol drinking can cause several types of cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute, a U.S. government entity.

The more a person drinks, the higher their risk of developing alcohol-related cancer, the NCI reports. Even those who drink no more than one drink per day face a modestly increased risk of some cancers.

The NCI reports developing the following types of cancer can be related to alcohol consumption:

Head and neck cancer

Esophageal cancer

Liver cancer

Breast cancer

Colorectal cancer

Kentucky residents who are struggling with any substance use disorder, including alcohol, can call 1-833-859-4357 or text HOPE to 96714 to speak with a specialist about treatment options and resources. This number is connected to a state government agency, and specialists are available from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. You can leave a message outside of these hours.
Shirley Meagher got her pink bicycle when she was in her 70s and living in Arizona. She didn't quit riding it until she was 98.

PEORIA  During her 100 years of life, Shirley Meagher spent very little time standing still.

Known for the pink bicycle she got when she was in her 70s and living in Arizona, Meagher was a worry to administrators and her fellow residents at Buehler Home, where she lived the final 12 years of her life.

Meagher was finally convinced to quit riding the bicycle at the age of 98, but for sentimental reasons, she held onto it until this year. After she turned 100, Meagher donated it to the annual rummage sale at First Federated Church.

It sold first thing Friday morning, the day she died, said Patty Busch, Meaghers daughter.

Meagher died instantly when she was struck by a car shortly before 8 a.m. Aug. 11 while crossing the south-bound lanes of University Street. She was on her daily mission to find stray coins to donate to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, a task she had once done on the bicycle. She visited the area's fast-food restaurants, where people often dropped change when paying in the drive-thru.

It was raining and dark that morning when Meagher took her usual route, walking first to St. Philomena Catholic Church for morning Mass before traversing Hudson Street to cross University Street, one of Peorias busiest thoroughfares, without the aid of a streetlight or crosswalk.

"She was hard of hearing and she had kyphosis pretty bad, so she was not an erect walker. She stood in a very stooped position, with an umbrella probably right over her head. Theres just no way she was really seeing what was going on. How she thought she was going to make it across four lanes of traffic, I have no idea, said Busch.

The driver who hit Meagher was not charged, and the family holds no ill will toward them, said Busch.

One of my kids said, The only person I feel bad for in this is the poor person who hit her. Then another cousin chimed in and said, Shirley would be the first person to insist on forgiveness.

Shirley Patee Meagher was born in 1923 in a farmhouse near Peoria. Shirley and her older brother, Bob, and younger sister, Lauralee, are pictured in this old family photo.

A life of purpose

Shirley Ruth Patee was born on March 15, 1923, in a farmhouse near Peoria at a time when people were still traveling by horse and buggy. Growing up during the Great Depression, Shirley developed a strong work ethic at a young age. When she learned that the Journal Star was giving away a Shirley Temple doll to anyone who brought in four new subscriptions, she went door to door for weeks until achieving the goal. The doll was a lifelong possession, and Meagher often told the story of how she got it.

After Meagher's husband, Eddie, came home from World War II, the pair raised five children in Washington. From 1963 to 1973, Meagher wrote a weekly column for the Tazewell County Reporter called It Could Happen. Sharing amusing stories from her life, Meagher became known as "the Erma Bombeck of Tazewell County."

More: 'Strongest man I know': Community rallies around Illinois police chief with lung cancer

A divorce in the mid-1960s prompted Meagher to go back to school and earn a degree. In 1967 she became the third person to enroll in the newly created Illinois Central College. After her last two years at Eureka College, Meagher was offered a job at St. Patricks Grade School in Washington, where she taught for 17 years.

Meagher lived a life of purpose. In the 1970s, she took in a family of Vietnamese refugees who left the country during the fall of Saigon, and in subsequent years sponsored numerous families. When she retired from teaching, she decided to become a missionary and went to Macau, China, in 1987 to work at an orphanage run by Mother Teresas Missionaries of Charity.

Shirley Meagher went to Macau, China, in 1987 to work at an orphanage run by Mother Teresas Missionaries of Charity.

'She was a pistol'

Meagher was an independent soul who had a lot of fun after retirement. Aided by the fact that her youngest son was an airline pilot who could get her free airfare, Meagher became a world traveler. One trip was a monthlong backpacking tour of Europe.

"She was always laughing, even if she had to spend the night in an airport," said Meagher's daughter-in-law, Ilona Meagher. "She was a pistol, an amazing person. I've never known someone with such energy."

More: Former Hale Memorial Church lot in Peoria was supposed to become a park. Now it's for sale

Meagher lived in Peoria until her parents, who both lived to the age of 100, died, then she moved to Tucson, Arizona, to be close to her daughter Patty Busch. Though the plan was to live out her life there, it changed when Buschs husband got a job in Colorado.

She wanted to go with us, but she was already so deep into her daily routine with the morning walk to Mass, and we couldnt find anywhere that would be safe for her to do that in a climate like that, said Busch. Then she just did a complete about-face and said, Well, Im going to Buehler. She had mentioned it in the past, about what a wonderful place it was, and her sister planned to go there. Then, just serendipitously, there actually ended up being five family members there. They all ended up there in the summer of 2011, so we never had any doubt that that was where she was meant to be.

Everyone's friend

Everybody at Buehler was a friend of Shirleys, said Buehler resident Lynne Marsho. She was the heart of Buehler. For every holiday, every birthday, she made handmade little cards that she would put in your mailbox  and thats 165 apartments she dealt with, 200-some people. She made everyone feel special.

Meagher was quick to befriend new residents, so when Marsho and her husband moved in during the COVID-19 pandemic quarantine that prevented a face-to-face meeting, Meagher put a card in their mailbox.

I think we finally met face-to-face at the bridge table. She was a very good bridge player, said Marsho.

Meagher was also good at sewing and knitting.

"She actually just finished knitting a multicolored afghan thats being donated to the fundraiser at St. Phils, said Nancy Whittry, another friend from Buehler. She was physically and mentally active. When she was not playing bridge, she was doing jigsaw puzzles. If we could all be that blessed, we will be lucky.

Shirley Meagher is surrounded by family during her 100th birthday celebration in April.

Determined and noncompliant to the end

Meagher was still living independently in her own apartment when she died. She didnt have any chronic medical conditions, though she was troubled by poor hearing. Because ambient noise made her ability to understand what was going on around her difficult, Meagher asked that just her children and their spouses attend her 100th birthday party, said Busch.

She said that the one thing that would make her happiest was to see her five children and their spouses all having a good time together, even if she couldnt understand anything," said Busch.

In July, Meagher enjoyed a final reunion at the familys cabin in Wisconsin.

It was the last weekend in July, and it was amazing. She went for a swim in the lake, the loons were in full glory, and she had a wonderful time, said Busch. At the end of it she said, I know this is my last visit to the lake.' She had already started getting rid of all her possessions  she had gotten rid of all her dolls, even the Shirley Temple doll. She said, Im ready, whenever God is ready for me.

Meagher was a free and independent spirit who refused to play it safe during her lifetime, and she would never have been happy living with wings clipped by infirmity, said her daughter.

After we got over the horror of (the way she died), you just had to smile and say, Shirley was doing what she loved, Shirley was going to be very active to the very end. It just seems apropos of her energy, and zest, and determination, and kind of her noncompliance."

Leslie Renken can be reached at (309) 370-5087 or lrenken@pjstar.com. Follow her on Facebook.com/leslie.renken.

More: On a mission: How one arts group has thrived for five years in old Peoria school building

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Shirley Meagher of Peoria hit by car while collecting for St. Jude


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1986-present

Who Is Lily Gladstone?

Lily Gladstone is an American actor of Blackfeet and Nimiipuu heritage. She is best known for her appearance in the upcoming Martin Scorsese movie Killers of the Flower Moon, in which she plays an Osage woman living on an Oklahoma reservation during a series of murders in the 1920s. The performance is being described as Gladstones mainstream breakout role. Prior to this role, Gladstone appeared in a number of independent movies and television shows, including Reservation Dogs. She drew particular praise for her performance in 2016s Certain Women, which earned her an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Female, as well as other accolades.

Quick Facts

FULL NAME: Lily Gladstone

BORN: Augsut 2, 1986

BIRTHPLACE: Kalispell, Montana

ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Leo



Early Life

Lily Gladstone was born on August 2, 1986, and raised in Browning, Montana. Her father, who worked in broadcast journalism, is of Blackfeet and Nimiipuu descent, while her mother, an early childhood education specialist, is white. Gladstone lived on the reservation of the Blackfeet Nation until she was 11. For the first years of her life, the family had a log cabin with a wood-burning stove.



In describing Browning, Gladstone said: There is poverty, violence, substance abuse, and unemployment everywhere. But there is so much love in that community. What unites people there is a love of family, a love of land.

Gladstone said she was an energetic and performative kid who got made fun of a lotjust that chubby mixed girl on the rez who had a little bit too much creative energy and not enough outlets. Her father and grandfather were big movie buffs, and growing up, she watched many movies on cable television that they had recorded.

After her family moved away from Browning due to a lack of economic opportunities, she graduated high school in a suburb of Seattle, then attended the University of Montana. She studied acting and theater, graduating in 2008 with a bachelors degree in fine arts and a minor in Native American Studies. While in college, she performed in Montana Repertory Theatre productions, where the teacher and director Greg Johnson said of her: There are a lot of talented kids at UM, but shes always been a standout. Shes absolutely a transcendent actress. We were lucky to have her.

Gladstone said one particular piece of advice she took to heart at UM was: Keep yourself interested and invested in the world and you will stay an interesting performer. As soon as you disconnect from the human experience, youll be flat.

Theater Work and Movies

Getty Images

From 2009 to 2013, Gladstone performed with Living Voices, an educational touring theater company presenting shows about marginalized histories. She made her film debut in Jimmy P: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian (2012), a movie about a Blackfeet World War II veteran portrayed by Benicio Del Toro.

She next appeared in Winter in the Blood (2013), a hallucinatory film about a Native American man in a small Montana town. Gladstone called it labor of love for people from Montana, saying: Winter in the Blood relied so heavily on the Montana community, so many locals, and so many people who have a strong connection with the legacy of the novel. She also appeared in the film Busters Mal Heart (2016).

Gladstone drew particular praise for her portrayal as a rancher in Certain Women (2016), by independent filmmaker Kelly Reichardt. Starring alongside actors Michelle Williams, Laura Dern, and Kristen Stewart, The Guardian called it her big break, while Rolling Stone wrote: Gladstone gives a performance of such piercing honesty and yearning, you almost cant look at her. The rising actor went on to earn several awards and nominations. That included winning the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award and the Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress. Gladstone was also nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female.

Gladstone performed onstage for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2017 and worked with a Native American youth theater program called Red Eagle Soaring. She made television appearances in HBOs Room 104 (2017-2020), Showtimes Billions (2019-2023), and FXs Reservation Dogs (2022) and collaborated with Kelly Reichardt again with a small role in the independent film First Cow (2019). She also appeared in a Yale Repertory Theatre production of Mary Kathryn Nagles Manahatta in 2020.

'Killers of the Flower Moon'

Melinda Sue Gordon - Apple

In August 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gladstone began to question whether she could continue to sustain herself through acting and considered a career change, planning to apply for seasonal work with the U.S. Department of Agriculture tracking murder hornets. During this time, however, she received a Zoom meeting request from filmmaker Martin Scorsese, who was impressed with her work in Certain Women. This led to her being cast in Scorseses Killers of the Flower Moon, which will be released in theaters on October 6, 2023.



Based on David Granns nonfiction book of the same name, Killers of the Flower Moon depicts a series of murders on the Osage Nation Reservation in Oklahoma during the 1920s. Gladstone portrays Mollie Kyle Burkhart, based on a real Osage woman whose friends and family members are mysteriously murdered. Gladstone spent months studying Burkharteven meeting with her real-life granddaughterand attended dozens of meetings with Osage leaders to understand the legacy of the community and ensure their input was heard and implemented.

Gladstone said she drew inspiration from her own life and upbringing in delivering the performance, though she and Burkhart came from different tribes and time periods. I consider it a true gift and great responsibility to be trusted with Mollie Burkhart, and will hold her preciously with both arms, close to my heart, Gladstone said of the casting. My most profound thanks to Osage Nation, it is a remarkable gift to be welcomed by you, and to be able to tell this story.

Scorsese said of Gladstone: I could see that she trusted in simplicity. She understood her own onscreen presence as an expressive instrument that could speak for itself. Thats quite rare. Her silences, as Mollie, were often more powerful than her words. Her castmate Leonardo DiCaprio added: Lily has amazing presence and strength As a Native actor, in a lot of ways, she became a source of guidance for all of us, Scorsese included, in terms of how we told the story.

Killers of the Flower Moon is already being described as Gladstones mainstream breakout role, and Town & Country wrote that she has received the biggest Oscar buzz out of the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. Deadline wrote that Gladstone is the real star of the film, despite appearing with such acclaimed actors as DiCaprio and Robert De Niro.

Next, expect to see Gladstone in Under the Bridge, an upcoming true crime series for Hulu starring Riley Keough thats based on a nonfiction book of the same name by Rebecca Godfrey. Gladstone will portray Cam Bentland, one of the few women of color on the Canadian police force in Victoria, British Columbia.

Personal Life

Gladstone often wears clothes by Native designers and Native jewelry to her red carpet appearances. She has a dog named Birdy, who makes regular appearances in her Instagram posts.

Fact Check: We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesnt look right, contact us!

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Agne Bilotaite, Lithuanias Minister of the Interior, has not ruled out the possibility of closing the border with Russia.

Source: European Pravda, citing Bilotaite in an interview with Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT

Quote: "We had a meeting with the commander of the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service, and together with our team we discussed not only closing the border with Belarus, but also other options, including closing the border with Russia, as there may be various threats, and we must be ready."

Details: At the same time, Bilotaite added that it is now difficult to say whether the border with Russia will be automatically closed if Lithuania completely closes the border with Belarus.

"As of now, I have to say that we have no real threats, but we see that there are certain risks, and various provocations may happen," Bilotaite said.

Background:

As of 18 August, the Lithuanian government will temporarily close two out of six Belarus border crossings.

Rustamas Liubajevas, commander of the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service, spoke in favour of closing more than two checkpoints on the border with Belarus.

Poland and the Baltic States are preoccupied with border security after hundreds of Wagner Group mercenaries arrived in Belarus in July at the invitation of the self-proclaimed Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko. There has also been a rise in border crossings by illegal migrants, who are being aided by Belarusian law enforcement forces.

Poland and the Baltic States (Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia) are discussing the possibility of completely closing the border with Belarus if the situation so requires, and plan to finalise the steps late in August.

Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron!
Lithuania does not rule out closing its borders with Belarus and Russia, Lithuanian Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite said, as reported by local news outlet LRT on August 17.

Read also: Lithuania, Poland, and Latvia highlight Belarus threat to NATO

"Today we had a meeting with the head of the State Border Guard Service and the entire team discussed not only the closure of the border with Belarus but also other options, such as the closure of the border with the Russian Federation because there may be various threats, and we must be prepared," Bilotaite explained.

She also noted that it was "very difficult to say" whether the border with Russia would be automatically closed after the border with Belarus is closed, adding that "there are no real threats now," but there are "certain risks" of various provocations.

Earlier, Lithuania decided to temporarily close two checkpoints on its border with Belarus. The closure of the Shumskas and Tverecius checkpoints is effective from August 18. The country has also been negotiating with Poland on the possibility of a complete closure of the border with Belarus.

Read also: Another Russian army officer flees to Lithuania, BBC reports

Suwaki Gap and Wagner PMC: What is known

After a failed mutiny attempt in Russia, some mercenaries from Russias Wagner mercenary company ended up in Belarus through an agreement with Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko.

Lukashenko subsequently told Russian dictator Vladimir Putin that the Wagner mercenaries were stressing him out because of their threats to attack Poland during their July 23 meeting.

He later clarified that he was joking.

Read also: Lukashenko walks back threatening Poland with a Wagner incursion

More than 100 mercenaries from the Wagner mercenary company were reported to have moved towards the Suwalki Gap, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced on July 29.

The Suwalki Gap is a 100-kilometer stretch between Poland and Lithuania that connects the Baltic states with Poland and the rest of NATO  and also separates the Russian exclave Kaliningrad Oblast from Belarus.

Morawiecki referred to such actions as "a dangerous situation" and "a step towards a further hybrid attack on Poland." He suggested that Wagner mercenaries would disguise themselves as Belarusian border guards and help illegal migrants enter Poland. Additionally, he stated that militants could potentially enter Polish territory under the guise of illegal migrants, leading to "additional risks."

Morawiecki met with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda on August 3 after reports surfaced that Wagner PMC mercenaries were approaching the border area in Belarus.

Read also: Poland nabs suspected Russian agent in Wagner recruitment poster saga  video

Earlier, NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu mentioned that the alliance does not perceive a direct or indirect threat from the Wagner mercenary units based in Belarus.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
The Chamber Music Festival of Lexington took only one year off for the COVID pandemic in 2020. But there is a difference between being able to simply put on a show and completely coming back.

In 2021, the festival that highlights music performed by small ensembles returned with three concerts featuring its core ensemble, and in 2022 it invited a composer in residence.

But this year, festival board president N. Gregory Pettit said, again its over 10 days, as it was pre-pandemic.

Those 10 days start this weekend with ensemble-in-residence WindSync, which is presenting pop-up concerts this weekend; the festival will continue through next weekend with main stage concerts with the same core ensemble that launched the festival in 2007.

WindSync performs on the first main stage concert of the 2018 Chamber Music Festival of Lexington. WindSync consists of Garrett Hudson, flute; Emily Tsai, oboe; Julian Hernandez, clarinet; Kara LaMoure, bassoon; and Anni Hochhalter, French horn. Rich Copley/rcopley@herald-leader.com

The ensemble is led by festival co-founder and artistic director Nathan Cole, a Lexington native who was a violinist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra when the event launched and is now the first associate concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

He is joined, as he has been almost every year, by violinist Akiko Tarumoto, assistant concertmaster of the LA Philharmonic; violist Burchard Tang who has been with the Philadelphia Orchestra for nearly 25 years; Priscilla Lee, associate principal cellist of the Philadelphia Orchestra; and pianist Alessio Bax, whose career as a concert pianist has grown exponentially over the fests 15 years.

Burchard Tang plays as part of Mendelssohns Octet at the first main stage concert of the 2018 Chamber Music Festival of Lexington. Rich Copley/rcopley@herald-leader.com

Violinist Nathan Cole, pianist Alessio Bax, cellist Priscilla Lee and violist Burchard Tang perform Johannes Brahms Piano Quartet No. 2 at the Chamber Music Festival of Lexington in the Fasig-Tipton Pavilion on Aug. 26, 2016. Rich Copley/rcopley@herald-leader.com

Despite all of their careers growing, the core keeps coming back. That Cole and Tarumoto, and Tang and Lee, are couples probably doesnt hurt, but the festival offers other appeals some of which can be filed under Southern hospitality.

When they come here we kind of embrace them the whole time, Pettit said. Over the years, theyve made very fast friendships with folks on the board and supporters and we made sure they get the full picture of Lexington, whether its the latest distillery tour or a zipline. Weve done all that and we just, for lack of a better term, we love on them a lot.

They really feel at home here, and its almost as if theyre coming to summer camp.

Well, summer camp with bourbon.

Joining the regulars this year will be:

Artist-in-residence Kenneth Olsen, assistant principal cellist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Composer-in-residence Alistair Coleman, whose resume includes commissions from a whos who of musicians and major awards such as two ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards.

Colemans world premiere for the festival, the violin sonata Morning, Chapter 30, was inspired by the painting of the same name by artist R.H. Quaytman, which he encountered at the Glenstone Museum in Potomac, Md. That piece will be presented at the festivals second main stage concert, Aug. 26 at the Pam Miller Downtown Arts Center. The third and final concert, Aug. 27, will feature the return of musicians from the Central Kentucky Youth Orchestras, one of several ways in which festival artists will be interacting with student musicians.

An ensemble of musicians from the Chamber Music Festival of Lexington and the Central Kentucky Youth Orchestras -- Burchard Tang, Priscilla Lee, Skye Park (back to camera), Nathan Tantasook, Jeffrey Shen, Nathan Cole (back to camera) Madeline Farrar and Akiko Tarumoto -- played Medelssohns Octet in 2018 at the Pam Miller Downtown Arts Center in Lexington, KY. Rich Copley/rcopley@herald-leader.com

Changes for festival, Lexington Chamber Orchestra

While a lot of old features are returning to the festival this year, there are also new elements, including a new executive director: Cacey Clarke Nardolillo. While she is well known to Lexington arts fans as an acclaimed soprano, she said the Chamber Fest role reconnects her with her love of instrumental music nurtured growing up in Maysville and a recently discovered affinity for administration.

Being able to use my knowledge in the arts and about music has been a lot of fun applying it to the Chamber Music Festival, says Nardolillo.

It comes at an important time for the event. The festival merged with the Lexington Chamber Orchestra in 2019, but this will be the first season of activity for the ensemble, led by music director Marcello Cormio, also music director of the Central Kentucky Youth Orchestras, and concertmaster Margie Karp.

Nardolillo says the orchestras fall concert will be announced at the festival, and the merger and year-round programming will allow the festival to expand its reach in a number of ways, both in terms of audience engagement and financial opportunities.

One of the ideas of taking the Chamber Orchestra under the umbrella of the Chamber Festival is that it fills that niche in Lexington that was not being filled by a smaller orchestra, Nardolillo says. It also gives the Chamber Music Festival that opportunity to grow because of the year-round presence, so it supported the continuation of the orchestra because the Chamber Music Festival was established and financially secure, and taking that on is positive for both groups.

Chamber Music Festival of Lexington

When: Aug. 19 to 27

Where: Performances by wind quintet WindSync starting with the Lexington Farmers Market at 10 a.m. Saturday; a cabaret performance with all festival artists at Als Bar Tuesday, and main stage concerts at the Pam Miller Downtown Arts Center Aug. 24, 26 and 27.

Tickets: Visit chambermusiclex.org for complete performance and ticket information and the festivals Facebook page for information on pop-up concerts.

Other music news

Tickets for the Lexington Philharmonics 2023-24 season are now on sale, and the first season programmed by Music Director Melisse Brunet is unlike any season the orchestra has presented before. In her second year in the post, Brunet has programmed a local vocal extravaganza Oct. 20, a Nov. 18 concert of the movie music of John Williams, a Valentines night concert of music by Aretha Franklin, and a homegrown grand finale May 18 with the world premiere of Lexington native and composer-in-residence Shawn E. Okpebholos Two Black Churches for Orchestra. Visit lexphil.org or call 859-233-4226 for more information and tickets.

If you have visited any major cities recently, you have probably seen ads on Facebook or other social media sites for Candlelight Concerts, performances by candlelight, often of music by pop stars like Adele, movie or video game music. Well, as Facebook may have already told you, the series is coming to Lexington. There are three concerts set for the Lyric Theatre with Halloween classics Oct. 19, Vivaldis Four Seasons Nov. 16, and The Nutcracker and more Dec. 15. Visit candlelightexperience.com for information and tickets.

Christian Adair has been appointed executive director of the Lyric Cultural Arts Center. Adair, a former University of Kentucky track and field athlete, also was co-founder of the DiverCity Festival, participated in the Mayors Racial Justice and Equality Commission, and contributed to the LFUCG Parks & Recreation Advisory Board.

Christian Adair has been named the new executive director of the Lyric Theatre. Provided
WHIO-TV has named Britley Ritz the Storm Center 7 Team morning meteorologist for WHIO-TV. Britley has most recently served as a freelance meteorologist at WHIO since May, but the response has been so positive, she was offered a permanent position.

Britley became such a valued member of the Storm Center 7 Team, we had to ask her to stay on with us, said WHIO News Director Joe Cowan. Shes a wonderful addition to our morning team and we know that viewers trust her to start the day with the weather information they need.

Britley first interned with WHIO nearly ten years ago. Raised in Greenville, Ohio, Britley felt right at home at WHIO from the very beginning.

The Miami Valley is my home, and I am so honored to serve the people in our community, she said. Helping people prepare for each day, and keeping people safe are what I care about most, and Ive made it my lifes work.

As a child, she witnessed a tornado touch down in her front yard in Darke County, and so her respect and enthusiasm for the weather were born. Her desire to help people, combined with her love of weather, fueled a career in meteorology.

Britleys passion to help those in need is evident in her development of a patented weather alert system for the deaf and hard of hearing. Shes also the founder of the non-profit, Raining Angels which aids the disabled and handicapped before and after weather disasters.

I am extremely blessed to be able to come home and forecast for my friends and family and thrilled to work for the station that initially took me in and helped me grow when I was just starting out, said Ritz. Plan on seeing me in the mornings on WHIO for many years to come.

Britley attended Ball State University where she earned her bachelors degree in Atmospheric Physics, Meteorology, and Climatology. She has worked in Duluth, Minnesota, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and West Palm Beach, Florida where she covered Hurricanes Michael and Dorian and won her first Emmy for her outstanding coverage. Most recently, Britley has worked for the Weather Channel and CNN.

Look for Meteorologist Britley Ritz to join the Storm Center 7 Team beginning at 4:25 am on Monday, August 21.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis could theoretically win the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, but that doesnt mean voters actually want to hang out with him.

RealClearPolitics.com shows DeSantis in second place with Republicans, with slightly less than 15%, trailing Donald Trump, who leads in the polls with about 55%.

Trumps massive lead may not be enough to humiliate DeSantis, but a tweet the governor posted three days ago suggests that voters arent really into him.

On Monday, the governor tweeted about a contest in which one person would win a chance to fly to Milwaukee on Aug. 23 to be DeSantis guest at the first GOP presidential debate, which Trump is probably ditching:

Yes, this is really happening. Im flying out one LUCKY winner for a VIP Experience theyll never forget at this years first GOP Presidential debate. Sound interesting? Enter now for a chance to win!

Yes, this is really happening. I'm flying out one LUCKY winner for a VIP Experience they'll never forget at this year's first GOP Presidential debate.



Sound interesting? Enter now for a chance to win!  Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) August 15, 2023

Although DeSantis has 2.1 million followers on Twitter, er, X, the vast, vast majority dont seem that excited about being his debate guest.

As of Thursday evening, the contest post had been viewed more than 274,000 times but had only been liked 48 times, with just 15 reposts and 41 quote tweets, an astonishingly low amount of engagement considering the governors massive social media following.

Twitter users couldnt help but notice. Oh, and pile on,

Three days later, this post has 32 likes. https://t.co/g2gzcnQmna  Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) August 17, 2023

3 days later, 40 likes. Yikes. Maybe there's some patriots out there who will see this and are willing to sign up for Ron's VIP experience?



Y'all know what to do https://t.co/vDCBs29Tj3  The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) August 17, 2023

No this is really unbelievable, how is his engagement so low? This is nuts https://t.co/WDw4V0nUd2  GSB  (@Gsb_Esq) August 17, 2023

Im only QTing so I can be 4% of his engagement on this by myself https://t.co/jlMbgtYnFz  James Dator (@James_Dator) August 17, 2023

How often do you see a raffle where if you enter, the odds of winning are 100%? https://t.co/8iPJTBsHuY  MitchellSushi (@mitchellsushi_) August 17, 2023

Ron Ron, at least buy some bots to boost your engagement, this is pathetic.  Francis  (@FrancisOKC) August 17, 2023

HuffPost reached out to the DeSantis campaign for comment but no one immediately responded.

Still, the lack of engagement is just another snafu plaguing the DeSantis campaign at a time when he could use a boost.

Earlier Thursday, the governor was mocked after it was revealed that he plans to defend Trump at the GOP debate even though he cant win the Republican nomination without attacking the former president.

In addition, he canned campaign manager Generra Peck as part of a shake-up aimed at reinvigorating his faltering White House bid.

Earlier this month, he stirred up some controversy when he vowed to start slitting throats on his first day as president.

Related...
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick presides over the Senate at the state Capitol in Austin on June 28. Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Friday named Marc Brown, a former state appeals court judge, to be his counsel for the upcoming impeachment trial of suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Brown is a former Republican justice on the 14th Court of Appeals from Harris County. He previously was a state district court judge in the county.

Patrick serves as the presiding officer of the trial  effectively the judge  and trial rules give him the option of selecting his own legal counsel. Patrick said Friday he tapped Brown after several months of searching.

Marc Brown, a former state appeals court judge, will be Lt. Gov. Dan Patricks counsel for the upcoming impeachment trial of suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton. Credit: Courtesy of Houston Chronicle/Melissa Phillip

I was looking for a candidate with real-life courtroom experience as a lawyer and a judge who would serve as counsel and work side-by-side with me through this process, Patrick said in a statement. Justice Brown meets these criteria with his years of front-line experience as a courtroom lawyer and trial court judge and also brings a well-rounded perspective from his experience as a former appellate justice.

The trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 5. The House impeached Paxton in May, alleging a yearslong pattern of misconduct and lawbreaking. He was immediately suspended from office on a temporary basis, and the trial will determine whether he will be permanently removed.

The trial rules, which the Senate approved in June, say that the presiding officer may select legal counsel licensed in the State of Texas who is not a registered lobbyist in this State.

Legal counsel for the presiding officer may consult on matters related to all rulings, orders, mandates, writs, questions of evidence, and processes authorized by the rules of the court of impeachment, the rules say, adding that any counsel must be knowledgeable about the Texas Rules of Evidence.

Browns appointment comes at a critical juncture for Patrick. Tuesday was the deadline for the two sides in the trial to respond to pretrial motions, opening a new chapter of the process in which a special committee will review the filings and make recommendations to Patrick about how he should rule on the motions.

Patrick can rule unilaterally on any motion except for those that seek to dismiss articles of impeachment. Those motions have to be put to a vote of senators.

Brown served on the 14th Court of Appeals from 2013-2019. He narrowly lost reelection in 2018, one of many GOP judges in the Houston area unseated as Democrat Beto ORourke came close to unseating U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

Brown previously was a prosecutor and criminal district court judge.

Browns LinkedIn profile says hes been semi retired since leaving the appeals court, serving as a visiting judge and working as an arbitrator in the health insurance industry.

The full program is now LIVE for the 2023 Texas Tribune Festival, happening Sept. 21-23 in Austin. Explore the program featuring more than 100 unforgettable conversations coming to TribFest. Panel topics include the biggest 2024 races and whats ahead, how big cities in Texas and around the country are changing, the integrity of upcoming elections and so much more. See the full program.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announced Friday that he has selected former district and appeals court Justice Marc Brown to serve as his legal counsel through the impeachment trial of suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Under the rules crafted by the Texas Senate, Patrick has the option to hire outside legal counsel to advise him as he presides over the impeachment court. After the Texas House in May voted overwhelmingly to impeach Paxton, the matter was referred to the Senate, which will decide if Paxton should be removed from office.

Brown, who served as a jurist in Harris County from 2010 through 2018, will advise Patrick on matters "related to all rulings, orders, mandates, writs, questions of evidence and processes authorized by the rules of the court of impeachment," according to the Senate rules.

The Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick raises his gavel to announce the passing of Senator Roland Gutierrez' (D-San Antonio) proposed amendment regarding raises for teachers to Senator Paul Bettencourt's (R-Houston) joint resolution on property taxes during the Texas Senate's second special session, June 28, 2023. The amendment was amended and adopted into the joint resolution.

Patrick said in a news release Friday afternoon that he has been searching for several months for the right person to serve as his counsel.

"Today, pursuant to the Rules of Impeachment passed by the Senate on June 21st, and after several months of searching, I have appointed Justice Marc Brown to assist me during the upcoming impeachment trial, which will begin on September 5th, 2023," Patrick said. "I was looking for a candidate with real-life courtroom experience as a lawyer and a judge who would serve as counsel and work side-by-side with me through this process."

More: Paxton used fake Uber name 'Dave P' for secret meetings with mistress, new filings allege

Brown, a Republican, served as the Place 4 Justice on the Houston-based 14th Court of Appeals from 2013 to 2018, when he lost his bid for reelection. Prior to his term on the appeals court, Brown presided over Harris County's 180th District Court after spending over two decades working in the Harris County district attorney's office.

Justice Brown meets these criteria with his years of front-line experience as a courtroom lawyer and trial court judge and also brings a well-rounded perspective from his experience as a former appellate justice," Patrick said in a statement. "I am pleased to have found such a well-qualified candidate, and I am confident he will further the Senates pursuit of a fair and impartial trial.

More: Texas Lt. Gov. Patrick, who'll oversee Paxton impeachment trial, gets $3M from pro-Paxton PAC

Brown earned a bachelor's in government from the University of Texas at Austin and a law degree from the University of Houston Law Center.

On his LinkedIn page, Brown says he is "semi retired," sometimes serving as a visiting judge for trials and as a visiting justice on the state's intermediate courts of appeal.

Brown has also served as an arbitrator through the Texas Department of Insurance Independent Dispute Resolution Program since August 2021 with a focus on out-of-network medical providers and health insurance companies.

Currently, members of the court of impeachment are held under a gag order, as mandated by Senate rules, since it was issued by Patrick in July.

Sen. Angela Paxton, R - McKinney, talks to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in the Senate Chamber at the Capitol before the Senate was expected consider the rules for the impeachment of her husband Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday June 20, 2023.

Largely remaining quiet in the lead up to the September trial, Patrick issued a subpoena compliance order Thursday, which came after Paxton's legal team had continued to express frustrations that evidence was not being properly shared.

Shortly after Patrick's order, three volumes of evidence comprising nearly 4,000 pages were uploaded to the Senate Court of Impeachment webpage Thursday night.

Outside of official orders from the court, Patrick addressed the trial earlier this week in a news segment on Fox 26 in Houston, saying that the process has been interesting and that the senators serving as jurors are in the key role.

"It's not a criminal trial, it's not a civil trial. It's a political trial," Patrick said.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Who is Texas Lt. Gov. Patrick's impeachment counsel? A former jurist
Nurse Lucy Letby has been found guilty of murdering seven newborn babies on a neonatal hospital unit, making her one of Britains most prolific child serial killers.

After a 10-month trial in which jurors at Manchester Crown Court heard from more than 240 witnesses, Letby was found guilty of seven counts of murder and attempted murder of six others.

The 33-year-old deliberately injected infants with air or poisoned them with insulin between June 2015 and 2016 while working at the Countess of Chester Hospital in the north west. Other babies, who had often been born prematurely or had specific vulnerable needs, were harmed by being fed excessive amounts of milk while one was physically assaulted.

Concerns were first raised about Lucy Letby in June 2015 after three babies died over a period of two weeks (Sourced)

Letby was not in the dock when the jury returned their final verdicts on Friday after 22 days and more than 100 hours of deliberation. Her parents were also absent from the court but families of the victims were in the public gallery.

Verdicts on 16 of the 22 counts she faced were returned by the jury on earlier days but could not be reported until now. The jury could not reach verdicts on six counts of attempted murder. When the first two guilty verdicts were returned, to two counts of attempted murder, on 8 August, Letby fought back tears in the dock and then cried as she left the courtroom.

Hospital bosses and the police conducted an investigation into the unexplained and inexplicable deaths but Letby was not arrested until July 2018, before being remanded into custody in 2020.

Letby was a constant malevolent presence

Letbys mugshot after her arrest (Cheshire Constabulary)

The court heard Letby was the constant malevolent presence when things took a turn for the worse for her victims, with seemingly healthy babies often deteriorating dramatically while in her care.

Concerns were first raised in June 2015 after three babies died over a period of two weeks, with Letbys name first mentioned among a group of consultants.

Despite this, she continued to work at the unit for a further 12 months until she was moved to clerical duties in July 2016.

The court heard that on one occasion, a doctor walked into the room while she was suspected of being in the process of trying to kill a premature baby in February 2016.

The nurse during her police interview (Cheshire Police)

Having made the association between the deaths, collapses and Letbys presence, Dr Ravi Jayaram told jurors he was extremely uncomfortable at leaving her alone with the infant, and arrived to find the babys breathing tube had been dislodged.

After the deaths of two male triplets in June 2016, Letby was named as the common denominator and became the subject of a hospital review. Cheshire Police were contacted in mid-2017 to assist with the investigation and upon obtaining expert advice, she was arrested.

Opening the prosecution case last October, Nick Johnson KC said: It is a hospital like so many others in the UK, but unlike many other hospitals in the UK and unlike many other neonatal units in the UK, within the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital a poisoner was at work.

Killer nurse Lucy Letby is arrested over baby deaths (Cheshire Police)

Babies who had not been unstable at all suddenly deteriorated. Sometimes babies who had been sick but then been on the mend suddenly deteriorated for no apparent reason.

Having searched for a cause, which they were unable to find, the consultants noticed that the inexplicable collapses and deaths did have one common denominator. The presence of one of the neonatal nurses and that nurse was Lucy Letby.

The damning I did this notes

The nurse had written I AM EVIL I DID THIS on a Post-it note (PA)

She wrote a sympathy card to the parents of one of her victims, who she killed with an injection of air (PA)

Early on in the trial, the court was told of a disturbing discovery at her home.

A search of the property in Chester found a number of handwritten Post-it notes in which she had written: I killed them on purpose because Im not good enough, I am a horrible person and I AM EVIL I DID THIS.

Other scribbled notes included the words Kill Me, Help Me and I Cant Do This Any More. Police also discovered 257 handover notes which contained medical details of her victims, including how many doses of adrenaline had been given to one child during his collapse.

Ben Myers KC, defending Letby, had insisted the notes showed his clients anguish not guilt, telling the jury they were the outpouring of a young woman when she learnt she was being accused of killing children, that shed done her best to care for.

Analysis of her devices found that she had made a number of Facebook searches for the family members of her victims and had become obsessed with one mother, searching for her on several occasions including on Christmas Day.

With one infant, known as Child I, Letby tried to murder her on four occasions by injecting air into her stomach and bloodstream. Described as calculated and cold-blooded, Letby sent her parents a sympathy card after the infants death on October 23 and kept a picture of it on her mobile phone.

She denied the charges, with her defence lawyer claiming that suboptimal care at the Countess of Chester had been a major factor, and accused hospital bosses of a conspiracy to cover up shortcomings on the neonatal ward.

The nice nurse who became a child killer in plain sight

Letby was described as a constant malevolent presence (Chester Standard/SWNS)

Nice Lucy as one consultant called her, was born in Hereford in January 1990, the only child of John and Susan Letby, who attended court throughout their daughters trial.

An unremarkable childhood filled with holidays to Devon, she attended the local comprehensive school before enrolling in nursing at the University of Chester, 100 miles from home.

One rare moment of emotion during her 10 month trial came when jurors were shown pictures of her bedroom in Hereford, which prompted Letby, 33, to break down in the dock.

The untidy room gave a childish impression of the serial killer, with two teddy bears placed on a duvet cover bearing the motif Sweet Dreams.

Framed pictures containing the slogans Shine Bright Like A Diamond and Leave Sparkles Wherever You Go appeared on the bedroom walls, while a fluffy pink and white polka dot dressing gown hung on the door.

John and Susan Letby, the parents of nurse Lucy Letby, outside Manchester Crown Court ahead of the verdict (PA)

During her time at university in Chester, she was seen as a studious type, never staying out late as she worked towards her goal.

In fact, on qualifying as a registered NHS nurse in 2011, Letby developed a reputation among her colleagues as reliable, hard-working and trustworthy.

But the innocent exterior masked a terrifying truth, her trial heard.

Lucy Letby was operating in plain sight, said deputy senior investigating officer Nicola Evans. She abused the trust of the people around her, not just the parents who had trusted her with their babies but also the nurses she worked with, the people she regarded as friends.

Emotionless response in the dock

Jurors convicted Letby after a lengthy trial at Manchester Crown Court (PA)

For months during the trial, Letby had appeared a sullen, brooding presence in the dock. In the witness box she cried on cue for her barrister, but appeared almost belligerent when cross-examined.

It didnt escape prosecutor Mr Johnsons attention that she claimed not to remember some of her victims. He noted, too, that she shed no tears for any of the babies. Those, he said, were reserved exclusively for Lucy Letby.

Upon hearing that she had been found guilty of the first four murders and four attempted murders, Letby remained dispassionate with her head bowed.

Her mother was heard crying out This cant be right, this cant be right and sobbing uncontrollably, before being escorted from the courtroom by her husband.

Now finally convicted after a lengthy trial, Letby will be remanded into custody and sentenced in due course.

She joins a list of Britains worst killers of children, alongside the likes of Myra Hindley and her partner Ian Bradley. The Moors murderers killed five children in and around Manchester in the 1960s.

Nurse Beverley Allitt was convicted of killing four children in the 1990s, by administering large doses of insulin at Grantham and Kesteven district general hospital in Lincolnshire.

For her horrific crimes, Letby can only receive a mandatory life sentence and will likely spend the majority of her life behind bars.

Infamous across the country, it is likely she will be placed in HMP Low Newton, a maximum security prison that is home to many of the deadliest female killers in recent history.

More follows on this breaking news story....
Myra Hindley kidnapped and murdered five children in the 1960s alongside Ian Brady

When Lucy Letby was found guilty of the murder of seven babies and the attempted murder of another six on Friday she became Britains most prolific child killer  worse even than the likes of Moors Murderer Myra Hindley.

The 33-year-old nurse from Chester had been trusted by parents to care for their premature and vulnerable babies, yet Letby deliberately set out to cause them pain, harm and suffering, a jury in Manchester found.

The magnitude of her crimes has been made all the worse by her professional duty of care, and there appeared to be no explanation for why she had carried out such horrendous acts.

Like Hindley, her crimes, directed against the young and helpless, have shocked the country. Here we look at Britains worst child killers prior to Letby.

Myra Hindley and Ian Brady

Together with her boyfriend Ian Brady, Myra Hindley killed five children who were aged between 10 and 17  Pauline Reade, John Kilbride, Keith Bennett, Lesley Ann Downey, and Edward Evans  after luring them into their clutches.

At least four of the children were sexually assaulted in a series of crimes that came to haunt a generation.

The bodies of two of the pairs victims were discovered in 1965, in shallow graves dug on Saddleworth Moor.

A third grave was discovered there in 1987, more than 20 years after Brady and Hindleys trial.

Bennetts body is also thought to be buried in the same location, but despite repeated searches he has never been found.

Beverley Allitt

Beverley Allitt was convicted of murdering four infants, attempting to murder three others and causing grievous bodily harm to a further six at Grantham and Kesteven Hospital, Lincolnshire between February and April 1991.

Allitt, who came to be known as the Angel of Death, carried out the murders while working as a state enrolled nurse on the hospitals childrens ward.

Beverley Allitt - REX

Robert Black

Robert Black was convicted of the kidnap, rape and murder of four girls aged between five and 11 in a series of crimes carried out across the UK between 1981 and 1986.

It is thought that Black, who died in 2016 at the age of 68, may also have been responsible for several other unsolved child murders throughout Britain, Ireland and continental Europe between 1969 and 1987.

Rosemary West - PA

Rosemary and Fred West

Together with her husband Fred West, Rosemary West tortured and murdered at least nine teenagers and young women aged 15 to 27, between 1973 and 1987. She also murdered her eight-year-old stepdaughter Charmaine in 1971.

She is currently an inmate at HM Prison New Hall, West Yorkshire, after being convicted in 1995 of the 10 murders. Fred West hung himself at HMP Birmingham in 1995 before he could be tried for his crimes.

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Colleagues who raised the alarm about Letby were made to write letters of apology - Chester Standard

Two babies were murdered by Lucy Letby after senior managers at the Countess of Chester were warned about the nurse, it has emerged, as an inquiry which will look at hospital failings was launched.

Dr Ravi Jayaram, a consultant paediatrician on the hospitals neonatal ward told the trial of the nurse that by autumn 2015, he and colleagues had significant concerns about Letby and that these were on the radar of someone as senior as the executive director of nursing.

According to evidence given by Dr Jayaram, the warning about Letby was not acted upon.

Medics who had raised concerns about Letby were also at one point instructed to write to her and formally apologise, or attend mediation with her.

By October, Letby had murdered four babies and harmed another three. Two more babies, known as babies O and P, were killed after doctors raised their concerns about the nurse.

It was not until July 2016  by which time Letby had murdered a total of seven babies and attempted to murder another six  that she was moved off the ward. Some of her surviving victims were left with permanent brain damage and disabilities.

Police fear she may have killed others and are looking into 4,000 cases.

That the warning about Letby was not acted on is the apex of a litany of seeming failures by the hospital.

Lucy Letby

Evidence in court exposed how the neonatal unit had staff shortages and a sometimes chaotic environment. There were also questions over standards of care.

The Department of Health has now launched an independent inquiry that will examine claims that concerns about Letby were ignored by hospital chiefs.

The parents of two babies Letby tried to kill have accused the hospital of failing to prevent the deaths of infants and criticised senior staff for not taking action sooner.

Why did they wait until 2016?, asked the father of two of the children Letby has been found guilty of attempting to murder in April 2016.

They could have stopped it a lot earlier. They need to be held accountable. The doctors did speak up in 2015, they should have acted on that.

If theyd acted on the initial suspicions, then definitely they could have stopped any more babies being attacked.

It would have prevented multiple deaths. It didnt have to be that many... Investigations could have started and she would have been off the unit and they would have been able to investigate properly.

The medical director at Countess of Chester Hospital, Dr Nigel Scawn, reads a statement outside the hospital after nurse Lucy Letby, 33, was found guilty at Manchester Crown Court of the murders of seven babies

On Friday, Dr Nigel Scawn, the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trusts executive medical director, said in a statement that the hospital was deeply saddened and appalled ... at Lucy Letbys crimes.

We are extremely sorry that these crimes were committed at our hospital and our thoughts continue to be with all the families and loved ones of the babies who came to harm or died, he said.

Our staff are devastated by what happened and we are committed to ensuring lessons continue to be learnt. Since Lucy Letby worked at our hospital, we have made significant changes to our services.

Tony Chambers, the chief executive at the trust during the years Letby murdered and harmed infants, told The Telegraph that the best place for issues to be examined was at an inquiry that would have the ability to establish the truth.

Whistleblowing doctors

According to evidence given in court, some of Letbys colleagues first noted an association between the nurse and the sudden rise in neonatal deaths in June 2015  the month she began murdering infants.

In that month there had been three deaths on the ward, which one of the medics, Dr Stephen Brearey, told the jury was a matter of concern because they occurred over a short period of time.

Dr Brearey, who was the lead neonatal consultant on the ward, carried out a review into the circumstances of the death of one of the infants who had died in June, known in the trial as Baby D.

Following this, he met with the director of nursing, Alison Kelly, to discuss his findings.

The consultant disputed in court the suggestion staff were biased against Letby from the start, saying they try to be as objective as possible.

Giving evidence he recalled commenting in the meeting, it cant be Lucy, not nice Lucy.

Dr Brearey also said that Eirian Powell, the nursing manager of the neonatal unit, had first noticed a connection while carrying out a review into three events in June 2015.

According to Dr Jayaram, although the review which had been carried out identified Letbys presence at a number of collapses, it was an association, nothing more.

But by the autumn, the atmosphere had shifted, with some clinicians having significant concerns, Dr Jayaram told the court.

They were on the radar of someone as senior as the executive director of nursing as far back as October 2015.

Dr Jayaram told ITV News he believed lives could have been saved if hospital bosses had contacted the police sooner, adding: I do genuinely believe that there are four or five babies who could be going to school now who arent.

Despite him raising concerns, it appears action was not taken.

As clinicians, we put our faith in the system, in senior management to escalate concerns and investigate them. The initial response was, its unlikely that anything is going on. Well see what happens, the doctor said in his evidence.

In an interview, Dr Brearey told the BBC that he raised concerns about Letby in October 2015. The medic said that he contacted Ms Powell, who didnt seem to share his concerns.

In an email from October 2015 which the broadcaster reported, she described the association between Letby and the unexpected baby deaths as unfortunate.

Each cause of death was different, she said, adding that the association with Letby was just a coincidence.

Dr Brearey also told the BBC that his concerns were relayed to the director of nursing, Ms Kelly, but claimed he heard nothing back.

It is unclear whether these conversations took place before or after the death of Baby I on October 23, whom Letby has now been convicted of murdering.

At some point in the second half of 2015, Dr Jayaram recalled in court that some of the clinicians had already begun to raise concern about the association that wed seen with an individual being present in these situations, but at the time we were being told that really we shouldnt be saying such things and not to make a fuss.

Dr Jayaram said that he and another consultant raised their concerns again about Letby in February 2016.

The doctor said that his colleague, Dr Brearey, asked for a meeting with the medical director, Ian Harvey, and the director of nursing, Ms Kelly, but claimed that they were slow to respond.

My colleague Dr Brearey requested a meeting with them. They didnt respond to that for another three months and we were stuck because we had concerns and didnt know what to do, he said in court.

Alison Kelly

The BBC reported an email Dr Brearey said he sent in early March 2016 to Ms Powell, which said, we still need to talk about Lucy.

Mr Chambers, the chief executive at the Countess of Chester at the time, said that a review that finished in March found no common themes were identified in all of the cases, however, some themes occurred in more than one baby.

He told The Telegraph that following this, a meeting took place in May 2016 where the results of the review were discussed and at this stage, there was no evidence other than coincidence and what was described as gut feeling.

However, the executive said that during the meeting, it was highlighted that there was one member of the nursing staff who had been present at more cases than any other member of staff.

According to Dr Breareys interview with the BBC, the meeting he had requested with senior managers took place in May 2016.

There could be no doubt about my concerns at that meeting, he told the BBC.

Dr Brearey claimed that Mr Harvey and Ms Kelly listened passively as he explained his concerns about Letby. The nurse was allowed to continue working.

Another consultant on the unit, Dr John Gibbs, who has since retired, told the court that as a group, the senior medics had discussed every death and every collapse that occurred after June 2015.

There was a common factor, and that became clear to all of us, he said.

Dr Jayaram said that by June 2016, he and colleagues reached a point where they felt something has got to change.

When two more infants died in quick succession that month, Dr Brearey testified that he called the on-call duty executive, Karen Rees, to say that he and his colleagues wouldnt be happy with Letby continuing to work on their unit.

I phoned Karen Rees, the duty executive in urgent care, who was familiar with the concerns already, he told the court.

I explained what had happened and said I didnt want nurse Letby to come back to work the following day or until this was investigated properly. Karen said no to that, and [that] there was no evidence.

The crux of the conversation was that I then put to her Was she happy to take responsibility for this decision in view of the fact that myself and consultant colleagues would not be happy with nurse Letby going to work the following day?

She responded Yes, she would be happy. I said Would you be happy if something happened to any of the babies the following day? She said Yes.

Mrs Rees has been contacted for comment.

Karen Rees

Letby was taken off the neonatal unit in early July.

The BBC has reported that Letby was moved to the hospitals risk and patient safety office. Here she is alleged to have had access to sensitive documents relating to the hospitals neonatal unit. She also had access to some of the senior managers whose job it was to investigate her, they reported.

The BBC reported that on June 29 2016, one of the consultants sent an email under the subject line: Should we refer ourselves to external investigation?

I believe we need help from outside agencies, he wrote. And the only agency who can investigate all of us, I believe, is the police.

The BBC reported that Ian Harvey, the medical director, wrote action is being taken, in his reply, adding: All emails cease forthwith.

Rather than go to the police, Mr Harvey invited the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Heath (RCPCH) to review the level of service on the neonatal unit.

A doctor told the court that after this, he and others had to resolutely resist repeated attempts by management to have staff nurse Letby come back to the unit.

Mr Harvey said: At this time, my thoughts are with the babies whose treatment has been the focus of the trial and with their parents and relatives who have been through something unimaginable and I am sorry for all their suffering.

As medical director, I was determined to keep the baby unit safe and support our staff. I wanted the reviews and investigations carried out, so that we could tell the parents what had happened to their children. I believe there should be an inquiry that looks at all events leading up to this trial and I will help it in whatever way I can.

Ian Harvey

Evidence in court also revealed how consultants who raised concerns about Letby were told by hospital bosses to apologise to her formally in writing.

The 33-year-old registered a grievance against her employers in September 2016 after she was redeployed from the Countess of Chester Hospitals neonatal unit.

She was moved to clerical duties after two triplet boys died under her care and another baby boy collapsed on three successive days in June 2016.

Three months later she learned of the allegations against her in a letter from the Royal College of Nursing union.

It emerged during legal argument at Manchester Crown Court  in the absence of the jury  that the grievance procedure was resolved in Letbys favour in December 2016.

Letby was due to return to the neonatal unit in March 2017 but the move did not take place and, soon afterwards, police were contacted by the hospital trust.

Dr Jayaram has also told ITV that the trust made him apologise to Letby and also attend mediation with her.

Concerns about the hospitals risk management were also raised in a report by the RCPCH, which was commissioned at the trusts request and concluded in November 2016. It said: Despite sound structures, there seems to be disconnection between the neonatal leadership and the trusts government and risk management processes.

Reviews highlighted examples of poor decision making, delays in seeking advice.

The Countess of Chester Hospital

Despite doctors telling the court they were suspicious of Letby, it does not appear these concerns were passed on to the RCPCH.

The report found that the review team agreed that there were no obvious factors which linked the deaths and that circumstances in the unit were not materially different from those which might be found in many other neonatal units within the UK.

The trust did not respond to questions about whether doctors concerns were passed on to the RCPCH.

In an interview with the BBC, Susan Gilby, who became the medical director after Mr Harvey, said she was shocked by what she found when she started working at the trust.

Dr Gilby claims that Mr Harvey had warned her she would need to pursue action against consultants who had raised the alarm about Letby with the General Medical Council.

She said she found files that revealed how a meeting of the executive team in 2015 had agreed to have the first three deaths examined by an external organisation, but this allegedly never happened.

She also claimed that the management team had also failed to report the deaths appropriately. It meant the wider NHS system could not spot the high fatality rates.

Dr Gilby claimed in the BBC interview that the trusts refusal to call police appeared to be heavily influenced by how it would look. Protecting their reputation was a big factor in how people responded to the concerns raised, she says.

Later in 2018, after Tony Chambers resigned, Dr Gilby was appointed chief executive and she stayed in post until 2022. She is now suing the trust for unfair dismissal.

In a statement, Ms Kelly said: It is impossible to imagine the heartache suffered by the families involved and my thoughts are very much with them.

These are truly terrible crimes and I am deeply sorry that this happened to them.

We owe it to the babies and their families to learn lessons and I will fully cooperate with the independent inquiry announced.

Questions over a cover-up

During the trial, Dr Gibbs said that despite medics repeated requests for action, for a period of 11 months senior managers had been extremely resistant to involving police.

We had to keep insisting the police be involved, he told the court.

The trust was also apparently resistant to questions raised by The Telegraph in 2017, before the police investigation was announced.

Reporters had been told that there was concern a member of staff might be intentionally harming babies and to find out whether this was correct, began speaking to employees.

At the time, there were few reports about the increased death rate and the idea of a member of staff harming, or trying to harm, children seemed extreme, but by knocking on doors, reporters were told that shift patterns were being examined and the trust was considering whether CCTV should be put on the wards.

Although all the sources were off the record, the original tip looked like it had been verified.

Just as with any other investigation, The Telegraph contacted the trust for comment in April 2017. The hospital took some time to reply, but when it did it denied there had been any investigation.

Instead its press office said there had been a clinical review, but the information was only provided on an off-the-record basis, with a request that details were not published.

The Telegraph also asked Cheshire Police to comment on the investigation, but the force denied there was an inquiry taking place.

It was therefore of some surprise that in May  around six weeks after The Telegraph had contacted the trust and the authorities  Cheshire Police announced they were investigating the deaths of babies at the hospital.

Reporters continued to follow up leads and by the autumn had found out that a member of staff had moved off the neonatal unit to administrative duties. The nurses name was Lucy Letby, sources said.

However, in October 2017, the chief executive at the trust, Mr Chambers, wrote a letter to the editor asking for him to intervene and for questions to be put via the hospital press team.

The Telegraph stopped speaking directly to staff at the hospital as requested, but evidence which emerged during the case did raise questions about the trusts original response.

Toby Chambers

Evidence by one of the doctors revealed that some members of staff had called for CCTV to be used, with Dr Gibbs recalling how he and colleagues said Letby should only be allowed back on the unit if we had CCTV in every room.

The report by the RCPCH  labelled confidential  also made a reference to the idea of installing cameras when it sought to explain a dip in morale.

Mention of installing CCTV on the unit without explanation had unsettled the nursing team further, it said.

It also appears that shift patterns were examined as sources had initially said, according to a registrar who gave evidence in the court case.

According to the medic, the nursing manager had looked at all the possible things that could be looked at, which was more than a staffing analysis, before mentioning issues like incubator space and microbiology.

Sources at the trust said it was a junior member of staff who had responded to questions by the Telegraph in 2017.

Mr Chambers left the trust in September 2018.

On Friday he told The Telegraph that the trusts response to questions in 2017 were accurate and reflected where we were...with the RCPCH review and the subsequent clinical and secondary case note reviews.

A spokesman for Cheshire Police said that the forces Chief Constable received a letter from the chief executive of the trust on May 2 2017 and that on April 27 2017 a meeting took place between Cheshire Constabulary and Countess of Chester staff.

They said that after the letter was received, an investigation was subsequently launched and believed any contact before the meeting in April would have been of a preparatory/logistical nature.

Staff shortages

During the trial, Letby tried to shift the blame away from herself by raising issues over staff shortages. While the jury rejected this defence, it is possible that the working environment contributed to the nurse being able to operate undetected for so many months.

Independent reports raised questions about staffing around the time babies were murdered.

In 2016, the Care Quality Commission carried out a full inspection of the trust and rated its maternity care good in all areas. This was despite inspectors noticing that the number of midwives employed did not meet best practice guidance and that there were times when wards and departments were not fully staffed to meet the needs of patients.

The regulator also noted that the maternity service had been forced to close six times during 2015 owing to staff shortages but it was reassured by the trust taking action to recruit extra midwives at the time of their visit.

A report by the RCPCH, which was commissioned by the trust to investigate the high number of baby deaths, also found that there were significant gaps in both the medical and nursing rotas.



Evidence also emerged in court which raised questions about whether the correct processes were followed on the neonatal unit.

The police found 250 nursing handover sheets in a bin bag in the garage of Letbys home and at her parents home. A blood gas reading of a baby boy was also found.

Letby said she had taken the documents home inadvertently.

The family of two children Letby has been found guilty of attempting to murder have also alleged that one of Letbys colleagues  with whom she was infatuated  breached procedures by sharing an email he had been sent by his boss with the neonatal nurse.

The correspondence flagged the likelihood of an inquest into two other babies Letby has now been convicted of murdering.

The family said that the sharing of the email needed to be investigated.

Evidence emerged in court to paint a sometimes chaotic ward, with the hospitals poor drainage causing sewage to come out of the units sinks on one occasion.

The jury also heard that when one infant was being treated she received some suboptimal care from medics  including having a needle left in her chest  before suffering two unexplained cardiac arrests.

The mother of two newborn triplets  Baby O and Baby P  murdered by Letby in June 2016 told the court that when her second babys lungs collapsed during CPR she was alarmed to see a younger, female doctor sitting at a small computer desk googling how to do what looked like a relatively simple procedure to insert a line into his chest and relaying the information to her colleagues.

Jane Tomkinson, acting chief executive officer at the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: Following the trial of former neonatal nurse Lucy Letby, the trust welcomes the announcement of an independent inquiry by the Department of Health and Social Care.

In addition, the trust will be supporting the ongoing investigation by Cheshire Police. Due to ongoing legal considerations, it would not be appropriate for the trust to make any further comment at this time.

Steve Barclay, the Health Secretary, has said he is determined to ensure the voices of all the parents and families affected by the horrendous case are heard as he announced the inquiry.

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The parents of Lucy Letbys victims have said seeing justice done will never take away their deep feelings of extreme hurt, anger and distress.

In a joint statement issued through Cheshire Police, the families said the verdicts were bittersweet because some of the jury had been unable to reach decisions on certain charges.

They also said they were heartbroken at the prospect that they might never know why Letby attacked their babies.

Words cannot effectively explain how we are feeling at this moment in time. We are quite simply stunned, they said.

To lose a baby is a heart-breaking experience that no parent should ever have to go through. But to lose a baby or to have a baby harmed in these particular circumstances is unimaginable.

Today, justice has been served and a nurse who should have been caring for our babies has been found guilty of harming them.

But this justice will not take away the extreme hurt, anger and distress that we have all had to experience. Some families did not receive the verdict that they expected and therefore it is a bittersweet result.

We are heartbroken, devastated, angry and feel numb. We may never truly know why this happened.

06:12 PM BST

That's all for today

Thank you for following our coverage of the verdict of Lucy Letbys murder trial.

05:46 PM BST

How a 25-year-old nurse became Britain's worst baby serial killer

The verdicts in Letbys trial confirm her status as Britains worst child killer.

For at least a year, the neonatal nurse attacked and killed the most vulnerable infants in her care causing unimaginable grief to their families.

Here we trace how her offending began and how she was eventually brought to justice when colleagues accepted the unthinkable and raised the alarm.

Read the full story here.

05:32 PM BST

Victim profiles

05:29 PM BST

Consultants reveal reluctance of hospital management to involve police

Dr Stephen Brearey and Dr Ravi Jayaram, both consultants at the hospital, have spoken of the reluctance of hospital executives to involve the police for fear of damaging the trusts reputation.

Dr Brearey told the BBC that he felt as though hospital management were trying to engineer some sort of narrative or way out of this that didnt involve going to the police.

Meanwhile, Dr Jayaram told ITV News how he was warned that there would be blue and white tape everywhere if he called the police and it would be really bad for the reputation of the trust - calling it a Kafkaesque situation.

He added that police realised they had to be involved after listening to him for less than 10 minutes in 2017.

05:25 PM BST

Babies could have been saved if hospital acted sooner, say consultants

Consultants who raised concerns about Lucy Letby as far back as 2015 have said babies could have been saved if hospital management had listened and acted sooner.

Dr Stephen Brearey, the neonatal unit head consultant at the Countess of Chester, first raised the 33-year-olds association with an increase in baby collapses in June 2015, and continued to express concerns to management as more sudden and unexpected collapses followed.

Dr Brearey told the Guardian that deaths could arguably have been avoided from as early as February 2016 if executives had responded appropriately to an urgent meeting request from concerned doctors.

Discussing with police at that stage would seem to be a sensible action to take, he told the newspaper.

If that had happened, its reasonable to conclude that [two] triplets, Child O and Child P would be alive today.

Police were only contacted in 2017.

Dr Ravi Jayaram, another consultant, told ITV News: Its a horrible thing to say but I do genuinely believe that there are four or five babies who could be going to school now who arent.

05:05 PM BST

Plans to force criminals to face sentencing could be put forward by autumn

Plans for law changes to force criminals like Lucy Letby to face their sentencing hearing could be put forward as soon as the autumn.

The serial killer has indicated she will not take part in her sentencing next week, joining a string of offenders in recent years who have refused to attend court as their punishment is handed down.

The refusal of criminals to face the music in court was described by a source close to Alex Chalk, the Justice Secretary, as the final insult to victims and their families, as they confirmed the Government was committed to changing the law as soon as possible.

Mr Chalk reaffirmed the plans earlier this year after his predecessor, Dominic Raab, promised to act while under pressure over the non-attendance of the killers of Olivia Pratt-Korbel, Zara Aleena and Sabina Nessa.

Judges have powers to order defendants to come to court prior to verdicts being delivered. If they fail to obey, they can be found in contempt of court and face up to two years in prison - but the law does not extend to sentencing hearings.

04:43 PM BST

Watch: Police statement after verdict

04:39 PM BST

Britains leading criminologist: Why medics really kill

The conviction of Lucy Letby provides a judicial ending  any appeals notwithstanding  to this awful and extraordinary case and a formal way of explaining what happened in the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.

Letbys name will now be linked with other so-called British Angels of Death, such as Colin Norris, Benjamin Geen, Beverley Allitt, and also with Charles Cullen  more than likely Americas most prolific serial killer, rather than a good nurse.

However, this judicial ending still leaves unanswered a number of other questions  most obviously: why did Letby do it, and how could she go undetected on her killing spree for nearly a year? This last question is easier to answer than the first.

Read the full story here.

04:08 PM BST

Families of four babies left waiting for answers

Families of four babies who Lucy Letby allegedly attacked have been left waiting for answers as the jury was unable to reach verdicts on all counts.

On Friday, the jury at Manchester Crown Court was discharged having found her guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six more.

But, after more than 110 hours of deliberations, the jury was unable to reach verdicts on six charges of attempted murder.

In a statement read outside court, family liaison co-ordinator Janet Moore said: Some families did not receive the verdict that they expected and therefore it is a bittersweet result.

After the jury confirmed they were unable to reach verdicts in relation to four babies, the relatives of one of the infants stormed out of court.

03:52 PM BST

Head of neonatal unit: 'Letby didn't strike me as too different'

Dr Stephen Brearey, the head of the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester, said that he remembered saying it cant be Lucy, not nice Lucy, in reference to a 2015 review of the care of three babies that died.

She didnt strike me as too different from most nurses on the unit, he said.

Its something that nobody really wants to consider, that a member of staff might be harming the babies under your care.

Commenting on the summer and autumn of 2015, he added: Its the first time I started to have some concerns about the unusual nature of the collapses and deaths. I emailed the unit manager after this death in October and asked to discuss Lucy Letby and her association with the deaths.

Some of the babies didnt respond to resuscitation quite how we expect them to, most babies get a heart rate back and their breathing would get better, but that didnt happen in these cases like you would expect and that was unusual.

03:33 PM BST

Pictured: Letby leaving court

A police van believed to be carrying Lucy Letby leaving Manchester Crown Court after she was found guilty of the murders of seven babies - Steve Allen/PA

03:32 PM BST

Letby wrote on sticky note: 'I AM EVIL I DID THIS'

During the trial, the court was shown a series of sticky notes recovered from Letbys home in Chester.

In one note, she wrote: I dont deserve to live. I killed them on purpose because Im not good enough to care for them... I am a horrible evil person... I AM EVIL I DID THIS.

When she was later asked about the note in a police interview, she told detectives: I just wrote it because everything had got on top of me.

It was when Id not long found out Id been removed from the unit and they were telling me my practice might be wrong, that I needed to read all my competencies  my practice might not have been good enough.

So I felt like people were blaming my practice, that I might have hurt them without knowing through my practice, and that made me feel guilty and I just felt really isolated.

03:21 PM BST

Countess of Chester medical director: 'Deeply saddened and appalled'

Dr Nigel Scawn, the medical director at the Countess of Chester Hospital - Jacob King/Reuters

Dr Nigel Scawn, the medical director of the Countess of Chester Hospital, said that the scandal has had a profound impact on patients, the local community and staff.

I speak for the whole trust when I say how deeply saddened and appalled we are at Lucy Letbys crimes. We are extremely sorry that these crimes were committed at our hospital and our thoughts continue to be with all the families and loved ones of the babies who came to harm or who died. We cannot begin to understand what they have been through, he said.

This case has had a profound impact on our patients and our local community and also our staff, who come to work every day determined to provide safe and high quality care for all of our patients. Our staff are devastated by what happened, and we are committed to ensuring that lessons continue to be learnt.

We are grateful for the co-operation of our staff, especially those who have maintained the utmost professionalism whilst giving evidence in this trial, sometimes on multiple occasions. We will continue to support them and our other staff to ensure that they receive the care and the support they need.

We would like to extend our thanks to the Cheshire Police, for their extensive investigation and the work they did to bring this case to trial, we would also like to thank them for the comprehensive support that they have provided to all the families involved.

Since Lucy Letby worked at our hospital, we have made significant changes to our services, and I want to provide reassurance to every patient that may access our services that they can have confidence in the care that they will receive.

Finally and most importantly our thoughts are with all the families and loved ones at this very difficult time, thank you.

03:13 PM BST

Chief nursing officer: 'We welcome the independent inquiry'

Dame Ruth May, the chief nursing officer for England, said the NHS welcomes the independent inquiry announced by the Department of Health.

Lucy Letby committed appalling crimes that were a terrible betrayal of the trust placed in her and our thoughts are with the families affected, who have experienced pain and suffering that few of us can imagine, she said.

Colleagues within the nursing profession and across the health service have been shocked and sickened to learn what she did, actions beyond belief to the nurses and staff working so hard to save lives and care for patients.

On behalf of all of us I would like to express our profound apologies to the families for all they have been through.

The NHS is fully committed to doing everything we can to prevent anything like this ever happening again, and we welcome the independent inquiry announced by the Department of Health and Social Care to help ensure we learn every possible lesson from this awful case.

03:03 PM BST

Independent inquiry announced

Steve Barclay, the Health Secretary, said the inquiry 'will seek to ensure the parents and families impacted get the answers they need' - Toby Melville/Reuters

The Government has ordered an independent inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the deaths and attempted murders.

Steve Barclay, the Health Secretary, said he was determined to ensure the voices of all the parents and families affected by the case were heard.

The inquiry will examine how concerns raised by clinicians were dealt with and actions taken by the hospital, regulators and the wider NHS.

In a statement, Mr Barclay said: I would like to send my deepest sympathy to all the parents and families impacted by this horrendous case.

This inquiry will seek to ensure the parents and families impacted get the answers they need. I am determined their voices are heard, and they are involved in shaping the scope of the inquiry should they wish to do so.

Following on from the work already underway by NHS England, it will help us identify where and how patient safety standards failed to be met and ensure mothers and their partners rightly have faith in our healthcare system.

The inquiry will investigate the wider circumstances around what happened at the Countess of Chester Hospital, including the handling of concerns, and look at what actions were taken by regulators and the wider NHS.

Officials said the inquiry would be a non-statutory independent inquiry, which would focus on lessons that can be learned quickly.

The Department of Health said a chair will be appointed, and the inquirys proposed terms of reference  setting out the scope of the work  published in due course.

03:01 PM BST

'Highly complex and extremely sensitive investigation'

Detective Chief Inspector Nicola Evans and Detective Superintendent Paul Hughes - Peter Byrne/PA

Following the verdict, Detective Superintendent Paul Hughes, a senior investigating officer, said: This has been a highly complex and extremely sensitive investigation over the past six years. We had to go right back to the start, keeping an open mind and being careful not to draw any conclusions.

The last thing we expected to find was a suspect responsible for these deaths and non-fatal collapses. It was a long, drawn-out process but no stone was left unturned. We had to do it right - not rush it.

This has been an investigation like no other - in scope, complexity and magnitude.

We had to deal with this as 17 separate investigations - we are normally used to dealing with one murder or attempted murder investigation at a time let alone something on this scale.

What started out as a team of eight quickly increased and, at the height of the investigation, featured almost 70 officers and civilian staff working together - in a bid to unearth the answers that the families so desperately deserved.

Turning up at the home of a family who have lost a baby, grieved for their loss and are trying to move on from that is difficult enough, but having to tell them that someone who was meant to be caring for their little one could ultimately be responsible for their death - is not an easy task.

I want to say thank you to the whole investigation team in recognition of all of their dedication and hard work - without you we wouldnt be in this position today.

02:56 PM BST

Police fear Letby may have killed more babies

Lucy Letby may have harmed more babies, police fear, as detectives reveal they are investigating deaths of children throughout her nursing career.

Cheshire Police has confirmed it is pursuing a number of active investigations spanning her five-year career, including events at Liverpool Womens Hospital.

Detective Superintendent Paul Hughes, who led Operation Hummingbird, the investigation into Letby, said his team would investigate the entire time the killer had access to neonatal units.

We are yet to establish the full extent of everything, he said, adding: The investigation needs to go on.

DS Hughes said his team was committed to a full and thorough investigation but warned they did not have unlimited resources.

Read the full story here.

02:46 PM BST

Neonatal deaths at Countess of Chester hospital

02:46 PM BST

Victims' families: 'This justice will not take away from the extreme hurt'

Families of the victims have expressed their extreme hurt, anger and distress.

Janet Moore, a family liaison co-ordinator at Cheshire Constabulary, read out a statement on behalf of the families, saying: Today justice has been served and the nurse who should have been caring for our babies has been found guilty of harming them.

But this justice will not take away from the extreme hurt, anger and distress that we have all had to experience.

Some families did not receive the verdict that they expected and therefore it is a bittersweet result.

We are heartbroken, devastated, angry and feel numb.

We may never truly know why this happened.

02:44 PM BST

Former hospital boss: 'The crimes that have been committed are appalling'

Tony Chambers, the former chief executive of the Countess of Chester Hospital, said he was truly sorry for what the families have gone through.

In a statement, Mr Chambers said: All my thoughts are with the children at the heart of this case and their families and loved ones at this incredibly difficult time.

I am truly sorry for what all the families have gone through.

The crimes that have been committed are appalling and I am deeply saddened by what has come to light.

The BBC also reported that Mr Chambers said he would co-operate fully and openly with any post-trial inquiry.

02:36 PM BST

City of Chester MP calls for full public inquiry

Samantha Dixon, the MP for the City of Chester, has called for a public inquiry into the scandal.

In a statement, she said: The families that have endured this unimaginable suffering deserve to know exactly what happened, and those who use our NHS services need the reassurance that it can never happen again. Thats why, today, I have written to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, asking for a full, independent and public inquiry into this case.

Too many people now live with the consequences of the catastrophic harm caused by Letby. An attempt on a childs life is one of the most depraved acts a person can commit. And the death of a child is the hardest burden to bear.

To know such actions were caused deliberately is truly terrible.

For the families at the heart of this, I feel intense sadness and stand beside them in their grief and sorrow.

I pay tribute to Cheshire Police who have investigated this highly complex case over the past six years. I know they have supported the families and those who have given evidence, throughout.

Following todays verdict, the time is right to seek the reassurance that no one could ever again perpetrate crimes as hideous as these.

The families whose children were killed and harmed, the community I represent and families across the country need to know their children are protected and safe.

The Government should now institute a full, independent and public inquiry into the circumstances in which these crimes were perpetrated.

02:30 PM BST

Charge sheet

Lucy Letby charge sheet

02:28 PM BST

Letby revealed she was 'concerned' over baby deaths

Lucy Letby claimed she was worried about the increase in deaths at the Countess of Chester Hospital in newly released videos of police interviews.

Custody footage released by Cheshire Police shows the neonatal nurse being questioned 13 hours after her arrest in a dawn raid.

Speaking quietly and looking at the floor, Letby, wearing a grey tracksuit, says: They told me there had been a lot more deaths and Id been linked as someone who had been there for a lot of them.

She is then asked by a female detective whether she had any concerns about a rise in mortality rate in the neonatal unit.

Yes, she replies.

Read the full story here.

02:24 PM BST

Letby timeline

02:22 PM BST

'Lessons need to be learned'

Tim Annett, a lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, which represents a number of parents affected by Letbys crimes, said: This is a truly shocking case which has seen families ripped apart by the death of a baby or their child being left with serious injuries in the most horrific circumstances.

The last few months and listening to the evidence must have taken an unimaginable toll on the families involved.

Nothing will ever make up for whats happened, but lessons need to be learned about the early recognition of serious and avoidable harm, and ensuring appropriate steps are taken to avoid or minimise the risk of further harm especially for the most vulnerable patients such as babies.

If families have further questions or concerns over care provided to them, its vital theyre also supported to receive the answers they deserve.

We continue to support those we represent at this incredibly difficult and emotional time.

02:20 PM BST

Calls for public inquiry into scandal

The parents of twin boys who Letby attempted to murder have said that a public inquiry should be held into the scandal and claims that hospital managers ignored warnings about Letby.

Asked if there should be a public inquiry, the father replied: Yes, definitely. A public inquiry. The higher management, they need to be held accountable.

The doctors raised their concerns, and they didnt act upon them, they dismissed them. And it could have been prevented.

02:07 PM BST

Watch: Letby being questioned by police after her arrest

02:06 PM BST

'Today is not a time for celebration. There are no winners'

Following the verdict, Detective Chief Inspector Nicola Evans, the deputy senior investigating officer, said: Today is not a time for celebration. There are no winners in this case.

Our focus right now is very much on the families of the babies. The compassion and strength shown by the parents  and wider family members  has been overwhelming.

Today is all about them  and we must not lose sight of that. I cannot begin to imagine how the families in this case feel today. We will all take some time to reflect on todays verdict both the guilty and the not guilty verdicts.

I would like to say thank you to the families for putting their trust in us and I hope that this process has provided them with some of the answers they have been waiting for. We will continue to work closely with each of the families in the days and weeks ahead in order to ensure they have the support they all require in light of everything they have experienced.

My thoughts  and those of the whole prosecution team  remain with them at this incredibly difficult time.

02:02 PM BST

'It is not the end of our search for answers'

Yvonne Agnew, the head of clinical negligence Cardiff at Slater and Gordon, who represents two of the families affected, said that the verdicts do not end the search for answers.

While today marks the conclusion of this trial, it is not the end of our search for answers and our fight for justice for our clients, she said.

For more than eight months, weve had to hear some of the most harrowing details about what happened to our clients children, something no parent should ever have to experience.

Becoming a parent is a particularly vulnerable time in anyones life. If your child needs special care, in that moment of helplessness, you put your utmost trust in medical professionals to do their best for you in what many people will tell you is the safest possible place  a hospital.

We are determined that lessons are learnt by the Countess of Chester Hospital, the NHS and the wider medical profession so that no babies or parents are put in harms way like this again.

01:39 PM BST

Quiet geek who became a killer feared shed never have children of her own

Lucy Letby

To some, she was a quiet, geeky student. To her friends, the one who loved to salsa. To her family, she seemed the devoted daughter - and to many of her patients, she appeared to be a dedicated, caring nurse.

There were many sides to Lucy Letby, but few who met her would have put her down as a conniving and manipulative murderer, let alone one of Britains worst serial killers.

Read more here.

01:37 PM BST

Parents of twins: Letby became angry when she failed to kill our babies

Read more on this story here.

01:33 PM BST

Police fear there could be more victims

Cheshire Police have already said they believe Letby may be responsible for other attacks and detectives are currently pursuing a number of active investigations.

As part of their work they are reviewing all 4,000 admissions of babies into neonatal units at the two hospitals where Letby worked between 2012 and 2016, the Countess of Chester and Liverpool Womens Hospital.

01:30 PM BST

Watch: The moment Letby is arrested

Letby being arrested

Detectives have released footage of the moment Letby was first arrested on suspicion of being the most prolific child killer in British history.

Cheshire Police knocked on the neonatal nurses door just after 6am on July 3, 2018 in a moment Letby would later describe as traumatic to try to gain sympathy from jurors.

Watch the video here.

01:29 PM BST

Jury deliberated for over 100 hours

The jury spent a total of 110 hours and 26 minutes deliberating their decisions, after which the judge released them from having to perform jury service ever again.

Mr Justice James Goss thanked the jury for their long and careful work, telling them: This has been a most distressing and upsetting case. I want to thank you for the way you have fulfilled your jury service in this case. Jury service is the most important service any citizen can be called on to perform.

Judge Goss went on to thank the jurors for the obvious care and sense of responsibility with which they carried out their deliberations.

01:24 PM BST

Letby was not in court to hear verdicts

Lucy Letby was not present in court when the final verdicts were delivered.

Her parents, John and Susan, were also not in attendance.

Lucy Letby was absent from the dock as verdicts were delivered

01:22 PM BST

The trial

Letbys trial began at Manchester Crown Court on October 10, 2022. Letby pleaded not guilty to seven counts of murder, and fifteen counts of attempted murder relating to ten babies.

Letby herself gave evidence to the court in May 2023.

The trial was originally due to last approximately six months, but went on until July 10, 2023 when the jury was sent to consider verdicts.

The jury returned its final verdicts on August 18, 2023.

01:21 PM BST

Arrest

In June 2016, consultants met to discuss unexpected and inexplicable events on the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester. Letby was removed from front line duties.

In September 2016, Letby became aware of the allegations against her after receiving a letter informing her she was being held responsible for the deaths.

In May 2017, police launched an investigation into the deaths. In July 2018, Letby was arrested for the first time and charged with the murder of eight babies and the attempted murder of a further six.

Letbys home at Arran Avenue, Hereford, was searched by police following the arrest. She was bailed on July 6, 2018 as police continued their inquiries.

On June 11, 2019, Letby was arrested for a second time and charged with three additional attempted murder counts.

On November 10, 2020, Letby was arrested for a third and final time. One of the murder charges was later changed to attempted murder. Letby was denied bail and remained in police custody.

01:21 PM BST

Lucy Letby's upbringing

Born in January 1990, Letby grew up in Hereford, where she attended a comprehensive school before enrolling at the University of Chester to study nursing.

Letby graduated with a nursing degree and qualified as a band 5 nurse in September 2011.

In January 2012, she started working full-time at the Countess of Chester Hospital, living in accommodation on the grounds.

In March 2014, she undertook Neonatal Qualified In Speciality training to work with intensive care infants.

01:20 PM BST

CPS: 'Letby's attacks were a complete betrayal of the trust placed in her'

Pascale Jones, a senior crown prosecutor with the complex casework unit of CPS Mersey Cheshire said:

Lucy Letby was entrusted to protect some of the most vulnerable babies. Little did those working alongside her know that there was a murderer in their midst. She did her utmost to conceal her crimes, by varying the ways in which she repeatedly harmed babies in her care. She sought to deceive her colleagues and pass off the harm she caused as nothing more than a worsening of each babys existing vulnerability. In her hands, innocuous substances like air, milk, fluids or medication like insulin would become lethal. She perverted her learning and weaponised her craft to inflict harm, grief and death. Time and again, she harmed babies, in an environment which should have been safe for them and their families. Parents were exposed to her morbid curiosity and her fake compassion. Too many of them returned home to empty baby rooms. Many surviving children live with permanent consequences of her assaults upon their lives. Her attacks were a complete betrayal of the trust placed in her. My thoughts are with families of the victims who may never have closure, but who now have answers to questions which had troubled them for years.

01:14 PM BST

Timeline of murders

First murder - Baby A (8 June 2015)

Second murder - Baby C (14 June 2015)

Third murder - Baby D (22 June 2015)

Fourth murder - Baby E (4 August 2015)

Fifth murder - Baby I (23 Oct 2015)

Sixth murder - Baby O (23 June 2016)

Seventh murder - Baby P (24 June 2016)

01:14 PM BST

Verdicts were delivered in stages

On Tuesday August 8, Letby was found guilty of two counts of attempted murder in relation to the poisoning of two infants with insulin.

As those verdicts were handed down, the neonatal nurse broke down and sobbed uncontrollably.

Three days later on Friday August 11, six more guilty verdicts were handed down, including four counts of murder.

This time, Letby kept her head bowed throughout. But her mother, Susan, who has attended every day of the trial with husband John, cried out this cant be right, this cant be right, before breaking down.

On Wednesday August 16, the jury returned seven more verdicts, and it was confirmed that she had been found guilty of all the murders with which she had been charged.

Some of the parents of the victims sobbed quietly, comforting one another as the verdicts were delivered.

On this occasion Letby refused to leave her cell, informing the judge she was not willing to take part in the rest of the proceedings.

Just before lunchtime on Friday, the jury informed the judge they were unable to reach verdicts on the six outstanding charges and they were discharged.

Letby was acquitted of two attempted murders.

01:12 PM BST

Welcome to our coverage of Lucy Letby's verdict

We will be bringing you live coverage of the Lucy Letby verdicts, including the latest news and reaction from Manchester Crown Court.

Patrick Sawer, our senior reporter, is at the court, while Martin Evans and crime correspondent Will Bolton are working on the case from London.

The verdicts were delivered after jurors heard evidence over nine months, before retiring to deliberate on Monday, July 10.

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.
Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko admitted that Russian forces had invaded Ukraine from the territory of Belarus in February 2022 in an interview with a pro-Kremlin presenter published on Aug. 17.

While Lukashenko claimed that "not a single Belarusian was involved," he said that some Russian troops entered Ukraine after the completion of "large-scale" training exercises in Belarus.

"The training ended, Russian troops began to withdraw from the territory of Belarus... They began to leave, and on Feb. 23, 24, part of these troops began to cross the border of Ukraine and Russia," Lukashenko said to the Ukrainian-born interviewer, Diana Panchenko.

When Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, its forces started advancing from multiple fronts, including from the north, where Ukraine borders both Russia and Belarus. From up north, Russian forces were moving toward Kyiv in a bid to capture the Ukrainian capital only to suffer a defeat in late March.

Though Belarus hasn't officially joined Russia's war, Moscow has used Belarusian territory to launch missiles and drones at Ukraine, as well as trained its troops there.

Panchenko used to be a presenter for the now-banned Ukrainian channel NewsOne, a pro-Russian channel owned by Viktor Medvedchuk, the ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Panchenko regularly spreads Kremlin narratives about the invasion of Ukraine on her social media channels.

Medvedchuk was a co-leader of the Opposition Platform-For Life, a pro-Kremlin party that was banned in March 2022.

He was charged with high treason and placed under house arrest in 2021. Medvedchuk fled after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 and was re-arrested in April.

In September, he was handed over to Russia as part of a prisoner exchange.

Read also: Belarus Weekly: Sanctions, new passports, as Belarusians mark third anniversary of stolen election

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
A large fire has engulfed a cargo terminal in the Russian port of Novorossiysk and spread over an area of 1,300 square metres.

Source: Kremlin-aligned news agency RIA Novosti

Details: Wooden pallets are reportedly on fire. The cause of the incident is unknown.

Emergency services are responding, and a black pillar of smoke is visible from different parts of the city.

Background: Explosions occurred in the Russian city of Novorossiysk on the night of 3-4 August, and the Russian Defence Ministry reported an attack by two uncrewed surface vessels.

Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron!
By Trevor Hunnicutt and Hyonhee Shin

CAMP DAVID, Maryland (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol made several pledges in an historic Camp David meeting, and issued sharp rebukes to China and Russia:

CHINA'S 'DANGEROUS AND AGGRESSIVE' ACTIONS

The leaders issued a sharply worded joint statement about Beijing's actions in the South China Sea, where China has claimed territory that according to international law, belongs to other countries, and said recently it plans military drills. "Regarding the dangerous and aggressive actions we recently witnessed by the People's Republic of China in support of its illegal maritime territorial claims in the South China Sea, we ... strongly oppose any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo in the Indo-Pacific waters," the statement said.

A NEW ALLIANCE ON 'CAMP DAVID' PRINCIPLES

The three leaders presented the meeting as the beginning of a new, permanent alliance pitching their liberal democracies against administrations that do not follow international law or respect human rights.

They said they would have annual meetings with top leaders, foreign ministers and other top officials, and a new communication channel that Biden referred to as a "hotline."

A set of shared principles stresses respect for the rule of law and the U.N. Charter, and promised to act on human rights abuses and climate changes.

RUSSIA'S 'BRUTAL' WAR, ENERGY

The three pledged to "stand with Ukraine against Russias unprovoked and brutal war of aggression that has shaken the foundation of the international order," and to continue to provide assistance to Ukraine, impose sanctions on Russia and accelerate their "reduction of dependency on Russian energy."

MILITARY COOPERATION

The three countries will agree to "significant steps" to enhance security cooperation among them, including a commitment to consult each other in times of crisis, they said in a joint statement.

They include a multi-year military exercise plan that will be held on an annual basis, Kishida told reporters after the meeting, and deeper coordination and integration on ballistic missile defense.

A SUPPLY CHAIN 'EARLY WARNING' SYSTEM

The three countries agreed to set up an "early warning system," the joint statement said, that will share information and coordinate on "possible disruptions to global supply chains as well as to better prepare us to confront and overcome economic coercion."

It will alert nations to production shortages of goods like batteries and critical minerals, Biden told reporters.

NORTH KOREA THREATS

The three leaders spoke forcefully in remarks to reporters about the nuclear and other threats of North Korea, and said they would cooperate to counter them.

The three will also counter "potential arms transfer in support of Russia's brutal war against Ukraine" by North Korea, Biden said.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt at Camp David and Hyonhee Shin in Seoul; writing by Heather Timmons; editing by Grant McCool and David Gregorio)
A top 10 most wanted Texas fugitive was arrested in Lexington Thursday, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Daniel Noble, 40, was wanted on four counts of sexual assault of a child, indecency with a child and driving while intoxicated, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. He was apprehended by U.S. Marshals.

Working off investigative information, members of the U.S. Marshals Joint East Texas Fugitive Task Force in Beaumont coordinated with the U.S. Marshals Central Kentucky Fugitive Task Force to locate and arrest Noble, the Texas Department of Public Safety said in a statement online. Texas DPS Special Agents assisted in the multi-agency fugitive investigation.

Noble was being held in the Fayette County Detention Center without a bond Friday morning. Court records indicate he has an address in Lexington and is scheduled to make his initial court appearance Friday.

Noble was charged in April 2022 with indecency with a child by sexual contact and arrested by local police, according to Texas officials. He posted bond and has been wanted since February.

This is a developing story and may be updated.
Antonio Jose De Abreu Vidal Filho was apprehended in Boston for his part in a 2015 massacre in Brazil (ICE)

A construction worker was apprehended by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while on the job in New Hampshire.

Earlier this week, on 14 August, former Brazilian military police officer Antonio Jose De Abreu Vidal Filho, 29, was arrested at the construction site in Rye by Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), a division of ICE.

He was named by Interpol in a Red Notice after a criminal court in Brazil convicted him of 11 murders and he was sentenced to 275 years and 11 months in prison in June for his part in a 2015 Brazilian massacre, according to ICE.

The incident has since been dubbed the Curio Massacre. He and three other Brazilian military police officers were convicted of 11 murder charges plus charges of attempted murder and physical and mental torture, the ICE release said.

Coworkers described the dramatic arrest to WCVB, saying the federal officials arrived on the scene with helmets, rifles and flash grenades.

Were just like, OK, OK, OK. We had nothing to do with it, Sammy Johnson told the outlet. Its a pretty epic way to start your Monday morning, you know?

Mr Vidal Filhos coworkers recalled he had informed them that he and his wife had come from Brazil to escape violence in the country and start a family in the US.

To hear that might not be the truth, its rather frightening that I believed him, another unnamed coworker told the station.

The apprehension of this very dangerous foreign fugitive is an outstanding example of the professionalism and expertise of the officers of ERO Boston, said ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd Lyons.

We are proud to have taken this notorious criminal convicted of participating in multiple heinous murders in Brazil, off our streets, Lyons added.

ICE said that Mr Vidal Filho will remain in its custody pending a hearing before a federal immigration judge.
A King County man accused of sex trafficking a 15-year-old girl out of his Maple Valley home pleaded not guilty on Thursday.

Tony Eldridge was arrested at his Maple Valley home after a standoff with police on Aug. 3. The investigation initially began in Bellevue after police there got a tip about a young girl at a hotel.

The 15-year-old girl Eldridge allegedly trafficked was rescued in July. She told police that she was forced to provide sex for clients at Eldridges home and other locations.

Eldridge is charged with human trafficking, promoting commercial sexual abuse of a minor, child rape, and three counts of promoting prostitution.

A judge set his bail at $500,000 and issued a no-contact order against him for four women.

Eldridge is a registered sex offender in Oregon and was convicted a decade ago for promoting prostitution.
A suspect who was arrested during a traffic stop earlier this month in Rowan County is accused of stealing thousands of dollars worth of musical equipment from churches in the area, according to the Rowan County Sheriffs Office.

The sheriffs office says on Aug. 7, deputies stopped a vehicle on Interstate 85 and found two people inside, 21-year-old Mykal David Charter and 20-year-old Lamaya McClain.

Charter and McClain were both wanted out of Virginia for felony breaking and entering a place of worship, and they were arrested.

When detectives in Rowan County got word of their arrests, they realized they had been working multiple break-ins at local churches that sounded similar. Detectives looked at a case from May when the Cornerstone Church in Salisbury was broken into twice in a matter of days. During those break-ins, a Nord keyboard was stolen. Detectives were able to link Charter to the break-ins and thefts of musical equipment, according to the sheriffs office.

Channel 9 reported when those break-ins happened.

RELATED: Burglar breaks into church twice, steals $8,000 keyboard

According to RCSO, deputies found two keyboards during the traffic stop that are believed to have been stolen from churches in the Daytona, Florida area, possibly over the weekend of August 4.

The sheriffs office says after the detectives linked Charter to the Rowan County church thefts, they got contacted by numerous counties throughout North Carolina and other states including South Carolina, West Virginia, and Virginia for similar break-ins.

Charter is now facing charges out of Rowan County, Randolph County, Gaston County, Brunswick County, and Virginia.

Hes being charged with the following:

Seven counts of Felony Breaking and Entering into a Place of Worship

Eight counts of Felony Larceny after Breaking and Entering

Felony Possession of Burglary Tools

Damage to Property

Felony Larceny

Possession of Stolen Goods

Felony Fugitive from Justice (VA)

The sheriffs office says more charges are expected against Charter.

(WATCH: Bystander shot after stepping in during convenience store robbery, police say)




A Florida man who attacked police officers with a flagpole during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol has been sentenced to four years in prison, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Thursday.

Michael Perkins, 40, in March was found guilty of assaulting a federal officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon, civil disorder and lesser charges.

According to the federal prosecutors, Perkins attended the Stop the Steal rally that preceded the riots and joined a group of people who rushed the Capitol. While attempting to break a police line, he hit multiple U.S. Capitol Police officers in the head with a flagpole, prosecutors say.

Perkins was sentenced alongside a co-defendant, Joshua Doolin. Doolin was convicted of civil disorder, trespassing and theft of government property. He received a 1 1/2 year sentence.

Doolin stole a Capitol Police riot shield and used it to break into the Capitol, prosecutors said.

The pair was charged with two other Capitol riot defendants. Perkins and Doolin were arrested in an FBI raid with one of them, while the fourth  Jonathan Pollock  remains at large. A private investigator tracking Pollock said he has cut off contact with family and acquaintances and is on the run from police.

Doolin plans to appeal his sentencing, an attorney told The Associated Press. Perkins did not respond to an AP request for comment.

More than 1,100 people have been arrested for crimes related to the breach of the Capitol, the DOJ said. More than 350 people have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
If a Republican presidential candidate wants to win the Iowa caucus, with its heavily white, heavily evangelical and churchgoing population, they need to win over Bob Vander Plaats.

Few people have had a front-row seat to Iowas evangelical politics than Bob Vander Plaats. In 2008, he served as Mike Huckabees state party chairman when he pulled off an improbable win in the Iowa caucus. Then in 2012, he endorsed Rick Santorum before he pulled off a squeaker against Mitt Romney in the first in the nation contest. In 2016, he backed Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX) before the senator pulled off a victory against Donald Trump.

As the head of the Iowa Family Leader, Republican candidates actively court him. Earlier this year, the Family Leader held a forum with almost all of the major candidates for the Republican nomination for president, with one notable exception: former president Donald Trump.

Mr Trump will repeat his absence as he skips the first GOP debate in Milwaukee next week. For his part, Mr Vander Plaats has expressed his concerns about Mr Trump, posting on X  formerly known as Twitter  earlier this month that some supporters of the former president are looking elsewhere.

But in an interview with The Independent, Mr Vander Plaats said that he was not trying to criticise Mr Trump.

I just believe he presents our biggest risk of winning in 2024 the general election. My fear is much of America has reached an exhaustion level with him and made up their mind on him.

This, and more, is why @realDonaldTrump supporters are looking for another candidate. The facts arent lining up with the repetitive rhetoric. This is the #swamp https://t.co/9Zs944gOGY  Bob Vander Plaats (@bobvanderplaats) August 5, 2023

Mr Vander Plaatss words differ from some other evangelicals who have wholeheartedly embraced Mr Trump. Many social conservatives credit Mr Trump with nominating conservative Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, which led to the overturning of Roe v Wade in last years Dobbs v Jackson decision.

Sen Ted Cruz (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Earlier this summer, the Faith & Freedom Coalition hosted its Road to the Majority Conference where every Republican candidate for president spoke to the evangelical faithful. But the former president had special vaunted status, giving the closing speech during the keynote dinner as he touted his role in ending the long-established right to seek an abortion.

Many Republican strategists, analysts and even elected officials said the Dobbs decision played a role in Republicans underperforming in the 2022 midterm elections. But Mr Vander Plaats said he was frustrated by Beltway consultants and Republicans. He noted that Republicans who supported restrictions on abortion such as Govs Kim Reynolds in Iowa, Brian Kemp of Georgia and Ron DeSantis of Florida all won re-election.

I mean, if they were very clear, not nuanced on the life issue, they won, he said.

Similarly, he faulted Mr Trump and pointed out that many of the candidates the former president backed waffled on the issue of abortion and in turn lost their races.

So far, Mr Trumps hold on the GOP, including in Iowa, seems to be secure. A New York Times/Siena College poll earlier this month shows that while 54 per cent of Republicans nationally support Mr Trump, only 44 per cent support Mr Trump in Iowa. Still, he significantly leads his nearest competitor, Florida Gov Ron DeSantis.

Donald Trump (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Mr Vander Plaats has yet to endorse a candidate. But he has praised Mr DeSantis, and other fresh faces, such as Sen Tim Scott (R-SC), whom he said has a compelling story; former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley; businessman and gadfly candidate Vivek Ramaswamy; and former vice president Mike Pence, an ardent evangelical Christian.

I think that's why you're seeing the poll numbers ... Iowans are kicking the tires to really determine who they like, who's capturing their interests of who could be president and be the leader at this point, he said.

Mr DeSantis has made a full-court press for Iowa even as his campaign falls significantly behind. Hes visited the state regularly and has said he would consider making Ms Reynolds his running mate while Never Back Down, a super PAC that supports him, has chairpeople in all 99 counties in the must-win state.

The Florida governor hopes that his policies such as a six-week ban on abortion and restrictions on how gender identity and sexual orientation are taught in K-12 schools could give him an edge against Mr Trump. But he has also seen his poll numbers drop over time and posted disappointing fundraising numbers.

Still, Mr Vander Plaats said that nobody should write off Mr DeSantis.

I think it'd be a big mistake to count him out, he said, noting that Republican voters are still considering who to support.

They break late, he said of Iowans. So I would worry much more around Thanksgiving time, first of December, than I would at state fair time and Labor Day.
With authorities in Texas, the Modesto Police Department has made an arrest in the 37-year-old cold case of a missing Modesto teen presumed murdered, though her body never has been found.

Susan Robin Bender, 15, was last seen in public on the afternoon of April 25, 1986, at the Greyhound bus depot in downtown Modesto. She told a friend there that she planned to visit people in Carmel. But instead of getting on a bus, she called someone on a depot phone and 10 minutes later got into a green van.

According to a news release Thursday, the Modesto Police Department obtained an arrest warrant Aug. 10 for Raymond Lewis Stafford. Deputies with the Van Zandt County Sheriffs Department in Texas apprehended the 76-year-old at his residence. He was taken into custody without incident and subsequently booked into the Van Zandt County jail on charges of murder with special circumstances. The special circumstances included that he committed a homicide while engaging in the crime of kidnapping.

Susan Benders mother told The Bee in 1999 that some of her daughters personal belongings, such as a diary, phone book and clothing, were found in a mans home around the time of her disappearance. Im afraid she was murdered by a man the police questioned but never arrested, even though they had a lot of circumstantial evidence against him, the mother told The Bee. The police said theres little they can do without a body.

A Modesto Police Department spokeswoman could not immediately confirm Thursday afternoon whether the man Susans mother spoke of did indeed turn out to be Stafford.

Modesto police in 2021 issued a news release saying they were reopening the case, and the DA Offices new Cold Case Unit became involved last year, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Wendell Emerson.

Stafford is awaiting extradition to California.

No information was released Thursday about how Bender might have been killed, whether there is any chance of recovering her body, or what new evidence resulted in the charges against Stafford.

In Thursdays news release, Modesto police expressed their gratitude to the Stanislaus County District Attorneys Office, the California Department of Justice and various Texas authorities for their help in the long and challenging investigation.

The collaborative efforts of these agencies have been instrumental in bringing closure to Susan Robin Benders case, it said.
A North Carolina man found $20 in his pocket and spent it on a lottery ticket that hit the jackpot.

I was just in shock, Thomas Presley told the N.C. Education Lottery in an Aug. 17 news release. I couldnt believe it.

Now Presley  who works as an assistant principal for Wayne County Public Schools  wants to save some of his prize money for his daughters education. Officials said he got richer after he stopped at a Walmart Neighborhood Market in Goldsboro, roughly 55 miles southeast of Raleigh.

Presley said he didnt plan to play the lottery at the store. But when he found the $20, he decided to spend it on a scratch-off ticket for the 100X The Cash game.

It turns out the ticket was worth much more than what he spent, scoring Presley a $100,000 prize. He joked that he had to double check his ticket to determine if the win was real.

Sometimes I mistakenly look at the numbers wrong, he told lottery officials.

After taking a second look at the numbers, Presley said he had to share the good news.

First I called my wife. She didnt believe it so I took a picture of it to show her, Presley said.

Presley, who lives in Goldsboro, kept $71,256 after taxes. In addition to saving for his daughters future, he hopes to spend his prize money on home improvements, according to officials.

Its not the first time a lottery players extra cash has turned into a big prize. In Virginia, a man got a windfall after he used money left from buying other tickets to try his luck again, McClatchy News reported in April.

Many people can gamble or play games of chance without harm. However, for some, gambling is an addiction that can ruin lives and families.

If you or a loved one shows signs of gambling addiction, you can seek help by calling the national gambling hotline at 1-800-522-4700 or visiting the National Council on Problem Gambling website.

Couple learns someone in NC town won big Powerball prize  but didnt know it was them

Same lucky numbers made thousands winners in NC lottery. Now comes $3.2 million payout

Dad let his kids pick his lottery numbers in NC. Then he started hyperventilating
A woman spotted a flashing red light while she used an employee restroom, police in Louisiana say. Now, her brother-in-law is charged.

The 30-year-old man was arrested Thursday, Aug. 17, and charged with video voyeurism, according to the Ouachita Parish Sheriffs Office.

McClatchy News is not identifying the suspect to protect the identity of the victim.

Deputies were called to a business in West Monroe after the caller told authorities her sister found a wireless camera hidden in the employee restroom, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by McClatchy News.

The victim said she knew she was being recorded because she could see a red light flashing, her sister told authorities.

During their investigation, deputies learned the camera had a base station that was connected to the businesss Wi-Fi router, the affidavit said. Security video showed the callers husband installed the device a week earlier on Aug. 9.

The man showed up as deputies were still investigating and denied knowing about the device, authorities said. However, a search of his cell phone revealed an app for the camera had been deleted, according to the affidavit.

The suspect remained in custody at the Ouachita Parish Jail on a $20,000 bond as of Aug. 18, online records show.

West Monroe is about 190 miles northwest of Baton Rouge.

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A Colleton County man alleged to have provided drugs through a go-between to convicted killer and ex-lawyer Alex Murdaugh pleaded guilty to drug and various financial fraud charges Thursday afternoon at the Kershaw County courthouse.

Jerry Rivers, 39, who was indicted last year, pleaded guilty to drug distribution, second offense, before Judge Clifton Newman, who accepted seven different guilty pleas during a 52-minute hearing attended only by lawyers, court officials and a few members of the media. Other charges against Rivers will be dropped as part of a plea deal. He had been scheduled for trial on Aug. 28.

I made a lot of bad decisions in the past few years, Rivers told the judge, saying he was trying to help his family.

Ever since this, Ive been associated with Alex Murdaugh, and all that, and people judge me for that, and thats not me. Ive never met this guy, I dont know nothing about that, Rivers said, apparently referring to his arrest a year ago.

State Assistant Attorney General Johnny Ellis James Jr. gave Newman a 10-minute summary of the crimes to which Ellis was pleading guilty, beginning with the drug and money scheme that has been linked to Murdaugh, the ex-lawyer, convicted killer and alleged embezzler of millions of dollars whose dark exploits have riveted the nation for two years.

Although it has long been alleged that Murdaugh had an expensive drug habit he paid for with money he stole, Rivers admissions Thursday lifted the veil for the first time on exactly where at least one of the pipelines that provided Murdaugh with drugs began.

Although James was careful to avoid naming Murdaugh at certain points of his presentation, he gave enough details of the drug pipeline and case to leave no doubt that the prosecutor was talking about him.

Murdaugh was found guilty in March at a state trial of the 2021 killings of his wife, Maggie, and son Paul at the familys 1,770-acre estate in Colleton County.

James explained the facts of the drug charge against Rivers this way:

Mr. Rivers first appeared on the state grand jurys radar because of its investigation into the finances of Richard Alexander Murdaugh, James said.

During the 2020 lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr. Rivers met and began providing opioid pills to an individual known as Curtis Edward Smith. Mr. Smith had a cousin who needed pills and was thus looking to purchase large quantities of opioid pills, James said. (Smith has been identified in numerous hearings and court documents as Murdaughs cousin who provided him with illegal prescription drugs.)

Rivers began to supply Smith with quantities of Roxy, a street term for a painkilling drug, and Oxy30s, a kind of oxycodone, James said.

Per their arrangement, Mr. Smith would provide cash payments to Mr. Rivers, who cultivated sources of pills from members of the community he knew possessed prescriptions for the pills that he needed.... Mr. Rivers would buy excess prescription pills and then sell them at a significant upcharge to Mr. Smith, James told the judge. Mr. Rivers profited as much as $40 per pill.

After a number of deals, Smith started paying Rivers with checks instead of cash, and Rivers cashed most of the checks at the Enterprise Bank in Walterboro, James said. Altogether, Mr. Rivers accepted as payment for narcotics 16 checks ... (that) totalled $80,100.

Rivers continued accepting checks from Smith until his last check, for $5,000, on Sept. 3, 2021, James said.

As this court will recall, Mr. Smith and his cousin had a meeting with fate on Old Salkehatchie Road on Sept. 4, 2021, and as a result Mr. Rivers lost his reliable customer, James told the judge.

Although James did not name Murdaugh as the reliable customer, Sept. 4, 2021 is the date when Smith met Murdaugh, who had been fired from his law firm for stealing the day before, on the side of Old Salkehatchie Road. On that day, Murdaugh tried to get Smith to kill him and gave him a gun, according to public accounts of that day and court testimony.

Some facts of what happened next that day are in dispute, but both Smith and Murdaugh have been charged by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division with engaging in a bungled life insurance scheme that was supposed to result in a $10 million payoff to Murdaughs son Buster.

Smith faces various charges involving drugs and financial crimes but has not yet been tried.

After the loss of his reliable narcotics customer (Murdaugh), Mr. Rivers required a new means of income, James said.

Within weeks, Rivers and two co-conspirators James didnt identify came up with a scheme to defraud credit unions by applying for auto loans with phony loan papers involving fictitious dealerships and fake cars. Credit unions would issue a check for the loan to the fake dealership and Rivers would deposit it in a fake bank account. He then split the money with a co-conspirator, James said.

Rivers and his co-conspirators did that four times over the next two months, collecting a total of $121,465, James said.

Rivers then began a scam in which he submitted false documents through the federal COVID-19 Paycheck Protection Program and claimed he was sole proprietor of a beauty salon that earned $106,600 in gross income the previous year. No such business existed, James said. It was fake.

After that, Rivers got $27,453 by falsely claiming he was due that money in state unemployment insurance funds because he had been out of work in 2020 and 2021, James said. Rivers falsely represented himself as an unemployed dry wall finisher, James said.

Rivers then submitted two other unemployment claims by falsely representing himself as an unemployed hair dresser and as a construction worker, getting a total of $32,558 from state employment insurance funds, James said.

Rivers also pleaded guilty to an obstruction of justice charge that involved keeping from law enforcement a cellphone of Spencer Roberts, another man allegedly involved in the drug-money pipeline to Murdaugh. Roberts has been charged in connection with two of Rivers schemes and has pleaded not guilty.

The financial charges Rivers pleaded guilty to Thursday included money laundering, obtaining a fraudulent federal Paycheck Protection Program loan and making false statements for the unemployment insurance claims,

Rivers was first arrested in August 2022. In a court hearing that month, state Assistant Attorney General Creighton Waters linked Rivers to Murdaugh.

At that time, Waters explained to Judge Newman that Rivers is very much involved in ongoing money laundering and check-cashing investigations concerning Murdaugh.

Waters said Rivers is one of the individuals downstream from Alex Murdaugh  who received substantial amounts of checks.

James called Rivers agreement to plead guilty to the seven charges a negotiated plea deal. Rivers has agreed to be exposed to a sentence of between five and 20 years in prison, the severity of which will depend on how much help he gives to prosecutors in pending Smith and Murdaugh financial fraud and drug cases.

Although James urged Newman not to let Rivers out on bond, Newman said he would allow Rivers to get out on $150,000 under certain conditions, including that he enter a strict drug treatment program in Greenville.

Rivers court-apppointed lawyer, Chris Leonard, urged Newman to let Rivers out on bond, saying that Rivers is currently incarcerated at Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center in Richland County, a jail that has a reputation for being unsafe, Leonard said. The rehab center would allow him to get the resources that he needs, Leonard said.

Newman noted that although Rivers has an extensive criminal history of drugs and theft, none of the prior convictions against him, some of which dated back more than 20 years, were for violent crimes. Moreover, Newman noted, Rivers has an extensive family, with young and old members who are dependent on him.

In other action at the hearing, James said two federally convicted co-conspirators of Murdaugh  ex-lawyer Cory Fleming and former banker Russell Laffitte  have status hearings on pending state charges against them next Wednesday at the Williamsburg County courthouse.

Fleming pleaded guilty to federal charges involving the state crimes. Laffitte was found guilty in federal court last November of bank and wire fraud. Fleming began serving a nearly four-year federal prison sentence this week. Laffitte, who was sentenced to seven years in federal prison, is in the process of being incarcerated.

James was accompanied Thursday by Attorney Generals office forensic account Carson Burney and SLED financial crimes fraud examiner Matt Wright, a senior special agent, as well as by paralegal Carly Jewell.
The man accused of vandalizing a Lake in the Hills bakery ahead of a planned family-friendly drag show pleaded guilty to a felony hate crime charge in McHenry County court Wednesday.

Prosecutors had charged Joseph Collins, 25, with a hate crime and criminal property damage and defacement after the July 2022 attack at UpRising Bakery and Cafe. The Alsip resident spray painted anti-LGBTQ+ epithets on the business and smashed three windows and a glass door with a bat, prosecutors said.

He man was sentenced to 180 days in McHenry County Jail, which could be shortened with good behavior, court records show. The sentence also includes 200 hours of community service and two years of probation.

Collins was not reachable by phone Thursday. After his release from jail, Collins will be required to obtain a mental health and anger management evaluation. He was ordered to pay $1,400 in fines and over $2,300 in restitution, according to court records.

Prosecutors dropped three charges for defacement and property damage in the plea deal they reached with Collins, including one felony count for causing $500 to $10,000 of damage, court records show.

After obtaining a warrant to search the red Ford Focus Collins left at the scene, officers found items bearing the logo and indication of the Proud Boys inside, according to a police report. The group is a far-right, neo-fascist and exclusively male organization that promotes and engages in political violence, the report said. The Southern Poverty Law Center designates the Proud Boys a hate group.

The attack forced the bakery to lose thousands of dollars on repairs, event refunds and ruined ingredients, owner Corinna Sac, 32, told the Tribune on Thursday. Amid ongoing harassment targeting the business for its drag shows, alleged safety concerns prompted partners such as a farmers market to stop working with the bakery.

It was devastating. Our whole life was that bakery. We gave everything we had to it as a family. All of our savings, all of our work together, collectively, Sac said.

The financial losses caused by the attack ballooned to an estimated $48,000, she said. A GoFundMe seeking to save the bakery started by the Anti-Defamation Leagues Midwest regional director, David Goldenberg, raised $49,700 in March.

But the harm was too much for the small business to handle. Ultimately, after Sac was told by prospective new landlords they would not rent to her, she decided to close the bakery in late May, she said. She and her husband have declared bankruptcy personally and through the business, she said.

The mother of two young children estimates it will take a decade for her to financially recover. The small restitution Collins is required to pay will be taken by creditors, she said.

None of those people who did this to us are going to pay for anything for my children for the next year, Sac said. Me and my husband have to rebuild everything from the ground up ourselves, without credit.

Sac wanted to go to court to look into the eyes of the man who vandalized her business and changed her life. She wondered if he had changed or showed any signs of remorse. However, she had to attend the Wednesday court session via Zoom because of an illness.

She read a victims statement to the court detailing the inclusive mission of the bakery she opened in 2017. After being harassed for two weeks in the days leading up to the scheduled drag show, she woke up to a call from police at 12:15 a.m. hours before the event was to start, she said.

As we walked through the building with a police escort, I was shaking and crying, the sound of falling glass, our footsteps on the glass, is a sound that still haunts me and makes me uncomfortable, she told the court.

One of her children wont sleep or play outside alone now, she said. The other has been diagnosed with anxiety and an eating disorder caused by trauma, she added. Sac herself has been diagnosed with anxiety, depression and PTSD, and many bakery staff members with similar struggles later left their jobs, she told the court.

Sac asked the judge to give Collins the minimum allowable jail time and maximum probation, requesting the judge consider the life the young man has ahead of him and compel him to complete psychiatric evaluations and diversity and inclusion trainings in an effort to change him.

I do not wish to cause Mr. Collins hardship in his future, as he has caused me, she said.

It didnt bring her joy to watch him be handcuffed, she said. But it didnt bring her sadness either, she added. She forgave him so that she can move on, she said.

In some ways, she thinks she can. But the long financial and emotional struggle will be difficult to surmount, she added.

Despite the losses, the owner of the now-closed bakery didnt hesitate when asked if she stands by her decision to host drag events.

Oh my god, yeah, she said. I wouldnt change it for anything. If we were still open, we would still be doing it. Thats never been a question.

Sac is now involved in advocating for and crafting legislation to outlaw doxxing, the practice of maliciously publishing information such as home addresses, phone numbers and email addresses, she said. She hopes Collins sentence shows people wont get away with similar attacks in the future, she added.

jsheridan@chicagotribune.com
An accused car thief tried to evade police only to be run over by the vehicle he was suspected of stealing, police in Alabama say.

The chase unfolded at about 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 17, when officers tried to stop a suspicious vehicle they learned had been reported stolen in nearby Prichard, according to the Semmes Police Department.

The 44-year-old driver sped away with police in pursuit until officers cornered his car, AL.com reported, citing police.

At one point, the man jumped from the moving vehicle and tried to escape over a fence, authorities said in a news release. He didnt put it in park, however, causing the car to roll and hit him, police said.

The man suffered a broken leg and was taken to a hospital for treatment, the release said. An officer was also hit but wasnt injured, police said.

Police secured warrants for the man they said was already wanted on nine misdemeanor and three felony warrants from at least three agencies, according to the release.

He now faces multiple charges, including receiving stolen property, reckless endangerment and possession of a controlled substance, police said.

McClatchy News is declining to name the suspect because he hasnt been charged with a violent crime.

Semmes is about 20 miles northwest of downtown Mobile.

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A 40-year-old man tied to a multi-million-dollar Kansas City meth trafficking ring, which authorities say was linked to two killings, was sentenced Thursday to nearly 50 years in federal prison.

Markus Michael A. Patterson, of Grandview, was sentenced by Judge Greg Kays in the Western District of Missouris downtown Kansas City courthouse to 560 months without the possibility of parole.

Patterson pleaded guilty in October to participating in the criminal conspiracy, money laundering and firearm crimes.

Patterson, arrested at a Phelps County hotel in August 2018 with a pound of meth and nearly $9,000 in cash, admitted to being part of an operation that prosecutors say stretched from Kansas City to St. Louis. Authorities estimated its value at $4.1 million.

Pattersons arrest came shortly after the killings of James Hampton, an associate of the group, and Brittanie Broyles, a witness.

Prosecutors said Hampton was seized and restrained by members of the organization, including Patterson, in St. Louis as they sought information about missing drugs. He was beaten and put in the trunk of his car, which was set on fire and abandoned in Bates City.

Patterson was seen in a car that followed Gerald Ginnings, also convicted in the conspiracy, as Ginnings drove Hamptons car to Bates City, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors say Broyles witnessed what happened in St. Louis, and was taken to Kansas City, where she was murdered and left in a flea market parking lot.

Patterson is among 32 defendants who have pleaded guilty in connection with the drug ring, according to prosecutors.

In November, the alleged leader of the meth ring, 33-year-old Trevor Sparks, was found guilty at trial of conspiracy to distribute meth, conspiracy to commit money laundering and two felony weapons charges.

Sparks made headlines again soon after when he escaped from the Cass County jail, where he was being held prior to sentencing, setting off a manhunt. He was apprehended weeks later in the backyard of a Blue Springs residence, and his mother and an associate were charged with aiding his escape.
A New Jersey man was sentenced to 50 months in prison for burglarizing Asian and Asian American homes across four states.

Randi Barr, 42, along with seven co-conspirators, identified Asian small-business owners by targeting heavily populated Asian communities in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware, according to court documents.

The group stole large sums of money, jewelry and other items, typically from the homes of restaurant owners, to sell across state lines from about December 2016 to March 2019, a press release from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of New Jersey said. Victims were chosen based on who the group believed had large sums of money and valuable jewelry, according to a 2021 press release.

Barr was also ordered to pay $127,661 in restitution and forfeiture. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property, court documents said. His attorney was not immediately available to comment.

Barr was arrested in 2021 with seven others during a burglary in progress, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of New Jersey said in a news release.

The group broke into victims cars at their place of business to find home addresses from vehicle documents and placed tracking devices in the cars; they then often entered the homes from unlocked second-floor windows, according to the press release.

A phone was found in a victims home in 2018 in Newark, Delaware, which appeared to have been dropped by one of the suspects, the 2021 court documents said. The phones records linked to a residence in New Jersey, where the suspects allegedly often operated from. Investigators later connected a car parked outside the New Jersey home to a January 2019 burglar.

These defendants allegedly carried out a brazen conspiracy based on stereotype and opportunity, Special Agent in Charge George M. Crouch Jr. previously said. It is fitting that these arrests come at a time when society is raising awareness regarding crimes against our Asian-American citizens.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
The constable badge is similar looking to the sheriff's, but constables are not actually police. They are only allowed to "act as peace officers" during the course of their duty, which is to process paperwork by the court.

An investigation was underway after a man reportedly shot himself while being served an eviction notice in north Phoenix.

According to Sgt. Robert Scherer with the Phoenix Police Department, officers were called to a home near 30th Street and Shea Boulevard on Thursday around 1:45 p.m. after receiving a call of shots being fired.

The person who called 911 identified himself as a Maricopa County constable and told police he was at the man's home conducting an eviction when the man shot himself.

Police did not provide more information regarding the incident, but said an investigation was underway.

Constables are representatives of the court responsible for serving processes, including for subpoenas, summons, orders of protection, evictions and property seizures, among other responsibilities. Maricopa County has 26 elected constables; however, the name of the constable involved has not yet been released.

Several violent incidents surrounding evictions have taken place across Arizona in recent months, as eviction filings continue to climb since the COVID-19 pandemic.

In July of 2022, a Phoenix resident was shot and killed by a constable following an eviction, after an exchange of gunfire, according to Phoenix police.

A Pima County constable was one of four people fatally shot during an eviction in Tucson in August of 2022.

A Maricopa County constable was under investigation in 2022 for being involved in several incidents, including holding a tenant at gunpoint and being present during the fatal shooting of a tenant.

In metro Phoenix, eviction filings in June hit the second-highest monthly total since September 2008, with landlords filing to evict 6,976 times during that month, according to the Maricopa County Justice Courts.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Police say man shot, killed himself when served eviction notice
A man who survived jumping off the 1,083-foot-tall Eiffel Tower with a parachute now faces criminal charges, local reports say

Cars drive past the Eiffel Tower in Paris on August 16, 2023. MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP via Getty Images

A man was arrested on Thursday for jumping off the Eiffel Tower with a parachute.

According to local reports, the daredevil landed in a nearby stadium, where he was met by police.

SETE, the Eiffel Tower managing company, said it has filed criminal charges against the man.

A man who managed to evade guards on his quest to jump off the Eiffel Tower with a parachute was arrested by French police and is now facing the consequences of his daring antics.

On Thursday, an individual carrying a backpack was spotted ascending the 1,083-foot-tall tourist attraction at around 5 a.m. in France, local media outlets like France 24 and BFMTV reported. SETE, the company that manages the Eiffel Tower, said the trespasser was detected in "less than a minute" by guards. However, they were unable to stop him from climbing to the top of the 134-year-old structure via the east pillar.

After reaching the top, the man jumped off and released a parachute. He landed in a nearby stadium where he was met by police and promptly arrested. According to the reports, SETE has since filed criminal charges against the parachuting daredevil, whose actions they said could've put others' lives at risk.

"This kind of irresponsible action puts people working at or below the tower in danger," SETE's statement read, according to France24.

SETE did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Johan Vervoort jumping with a parachute from near the top of the Eiffel Tower on May 17, 2006. ARNE'T JOLLE/AFP via Getty Images

The danger posed by the incident was likely minimized by the time at which the jump took place, in the early hours of the morning.

On a typical day, the Eiffel Tower opens up to the public at 9 a.m. and regularly attracts thousands of visitors. According to the official website, over 7 million people visit the Eiffel Tower a year, of which 75% are foreign tourists.

The last time someone dared parachute off the Eiffel Tower was in 2006 when Johan Vervoort, a Belgian base jumper, pulled a similar stunt in an effort to promote a comedy show, France24 reported.

It's also not the first time the Eiffel Tower has made headlines for people breaking visitor rules this summer. Just last week, two American tourists were caught sleeping inside the Eiffel Tower after opening hours.

Paris prosecutors later told AFP the pair appeared "to have got stuck because of how drunk they were," CBS News reports.

The daredevil base jumper and the drunk tourists are just a handful of the latest examples of people misbehaving this summer.

Over the past few months, on two separate occasions, two tourists were seen defacing the Colosseum in Rome. Another visitor to the city was recently filmed climbing the Trevi Fountain to fill up her water bottle.

Read the original article on Insider
A man convicted in the shooting death of a bouncer outside a nightclub will go before the Georgia Supreme Court next week.

Houston County prosecutors said Morgan Baker shot and killed Tamarco Head, who worked as a bouncer at Club Boss, in 2019. A jury found him guilty last year and a judge sentenced him to life in prison, WGXA-TV reported.

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

The Georgia Supreme Court will hear Bakers case on Wednesday where he will argue that a rap music video shouldnt have been used during his trial.

WGXA-TV reported that Baker was part of the entourage for rapper NoCap and got into an argument with security after the rappers performance.

TRENDING STORIES:

During the trial, prosecutors showed a 33-second clip from one of the rappers videos where you can see Baker holding a gun. His legal team argues that the video wasnt necessary for the state to identify him or place him at the club during the shooting.

Baker claims the video was not necessary to prove his identity or place him at the club during the shooting. He claims that the music video was unfairly prejudice toward the jurys perception of him.

The state argues that any prejudice didnt outweigh the probative value and supported the states case that Baker was guilty.

Bakers scheduled to appear before the Georgia Supreme Court on Wednesday.

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IN OTHER NEWS
The Marion City Council will meet Monday for the first time since police raided the local newspaper, kicking off an international firestorm of condemnation.

COUNCIL WILL NOT COMMENT ON THE ONGOING CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION AT THIS MEETING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the agenda says.

Thats 47 exclamation points.

Mayor David Mayfield, who has been a vocal critic of the Record, will not attend the meeting, according to an agenda packet posted online Friday afternoon. In a letter, Mayfield apologizes for missing the meeting, saying he has had a family vacation planned for more than six months and is out of state.

I have not missed any meetings in the three and a half years of service being the Mayor. I didnt want there to be any confusion as to why I am not present at this meeting, Mayfields letter says. It has absolutely nothing to do with the current happenings in Marion county.

Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody and his officers led a raid on the Marion County Record last week after obtaining a search warrant signed by Magistrate Judge Laura Viar. Officers were apparently looking for evidence of alleged identity theft of Kari Newell, a local restaurant owner.

Marion County Attorney Joel Ensey withdrew the warrant on Wednesday after finding insufficient evidence for the search and the newspapers computers and other devices were returned.

The agenda doesnt list any items related to the search of the newspaper and the only executive session listed pertains to litigation involving an industrial park. Public comments will be accepted at the end of the meeting, with remarks limited to three minutes per person.

The city council will meet at 4:30 p.m. at 203 N. 3rd Street in Marion.
Marion County Attorney Joel Ensey will decide whether to bring criminal charges in the investigation that led police to conduct a widely condemned raid on a Kansas newspaper, but hes also the brother-in-law of the business owner whose expiring liquor license helped kick off the firestorm.

When Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody raided the Marion County Record last week, the search warrant he obtained allowed his officers to take items and information related to the identity theft of Kari Newell, a local restaurant owner.

After days of intense criticism of the raid that upended Marion, a city of fewer than 2,000 in central Kansas, Ensey withdrew the search warrant on Wednesday and law enforcement returned computers and other property taken to the Record. Ensey said in a statement that he had found insufficient evidence linking the items taken to the alleged crimes.

But the Kansas Bureau of Investigation is continuing to investigate after taking charge of the inquiry on Monday. The agency plans to submit its findings to Ensey, who will then decide whether to file charges.

Enseys brother is Jeremy Ensey, who with his wife Tammy Ensey owns Marions Historic Elgin Hotel, where the restaurant Chefs Plate at Parlour 1886 is located. The hotels liquor license is currently held by Ensey, but is only valid through Aug. 28.

Newell owns Chefs Plate and is seeking her own liquor license. She has accused the Record of illegally obtaining her personal information related to a past DUI that potentially threatens to hold up the license. The newspaper has called the allegation false.

Newell is a dominant force in Marions restaurant scene. In addition to Chefs Plate, in June she opened Karis Kitchen, a coffee shop and cafe.

Wichita-based attorney John Stang, a past president of the Kansas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, wrote in an email that he would not be surprised if Ensey recuses himself given the connections you point out.

The County Attorney is a very nice and fair man, Stang wrote.

Facebook/Chef's Plate at Parlour 1886

Ensey, a Republican, was first appointed county attorney by local party officials in 2019 after the previous prosecutor resigned to become a judge. Ensey was a public defender in Ellsworth at the time, but had previously been a prosecutor in Seward County.

In an interview with The Star, Tammy Ensey said the search and seizure at the newspaper has created quite a ruckus in the normally quiet town. She said she did not think her brother-in-law has a conflict of interest.

I havent spoken to him about it until today, she said. But I had to call him and say Joel, hang in there. Hes getting a lot of flack and I think thats because of the misinformation thats out there.

But you know, hes just been there trying to do his job just like the police and just like this Marion Record and just like us.

Steve Leben, a former Kansas Court of Appeals judge who is now a law professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, said under rules governing conflicts of interest among lawyers, attorneys must withdraw if theres a substantial risk that the representation of their client would be materially limited by the attorneys personal interest.

The argument here would be that his personal interest in supporting his family would color his decisions, Leben said. Given that this is a brother and sister-in-law, I dont know that thats a particularly strong argument, that  disqualification would be required.

Joel Ensey didnt respond to a message left with the Marion County Attorneys Office on Friday. Newell couldnt be reached for comment.

In Kansas, liquor licenses are valid for two years at a time. According to the Chefs Plate at Parlour 1886 website, the restaurant currently has a full-service bar.

According to unofficial minutes for the Marion City Councils Aug. 7 meeting, the city council voted 4-1 to approve a request by Newell to move forward on a liquor license for Chefs Plate. Councilwoman Ruth Herbel, whose home was later searched by police, voted no.

Tammy Ensey said she and her husband started the restaurant in 2019 and later offered to sell it to Newell, who was employed there as a chef. The deal went into effect Feb. 1.

The hotel does have a liquor license that (Newell) operates under because shes on our address, Ensey said. And we have done the proper background checks to ensure that she meets all the regulations or requirements of the state, so that would include not having a felony on your record.

Since the hotel and the restaurant are separate, the Enseys decided not to renew the liquor license this month because the rest of the hotel doesnt need it and it was expensive, she said.

The Stars Anna Spoerre contributed reporting
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Listen to this full episode of The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon and Stitcher.

Even if Donald Trump were to go to prison forever and lose his 2024 bid to return to the White House, America will still face the same problem.

According to Mary Trump, who returns to The New Abnormal this week in the wake of of her uncles historic fourth indictment, the former president has provided a roadmap to a newly empowered Republican party, showing them how to get away with murder and become more powerful, more cruel, more authoritarian, and more fascistic.

Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast.

Trump, who hosts The Mary Trump Show podcast, describes Donald as a stochastic terrorist and predicts: If a Republican wins in 2024we will never have another democratic administration. And secondly, climate change will accelerate, as weve already seen it happening, because the Republican administration will just let everything burn to the ground. And I mean that literally.

No One Should Be Laughing at Trumps Indictments Anymore

Plus! CNN legal analyst Elie Honig walks us through Trumps latest indictment in Georgia, including the fact that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis trial, most notably of all Trumps legal woes,  is going to take an eternity.

He adds: Its not her fault, its just state courts can be maddeningly slow.

Listen to this full episode of The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon and Stitcher.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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The Harford County Sheriffs Office announced on Thursday they have used DNA evidence to identify a potential suspect in the murder of Maryland woman Rachel Morin earlier this month.

Colonel William Davis said DNA found at the scene of Morins death was analysed by state police, turning up a match with DNA found at the scene of a March home invasion in Los Angeles where a young girl was attacked.

Unfortunately that suspect has not been positively identified, but he did leave behind his DNA, Colonel Davis said. Based on the DNA evidence, we consider the individual in the video we received from the Los Angeles Police Department to be the person that murdered Rachel Morin on August 5.

The individual, a shirtless man thought to be in his 20s, was recorded leaving the LA crime scene on a home security camera.

The deputy added that despite the match, police still dont have a clue where he could be.

In March he was in California, and here in August he was in Maryland, the officer said.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated with new information.
FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., is calling on Congress to investigate Judge Tanya Chutkan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, accusing her of conducting her court with open bias and partisanship in handling the cases of people linked to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Chutkan is also the judge overseeing the U.S. governments case against former President Trump for allegedly attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Before that, she made headlines for dealing out sentences to members of the Jan. 6 crowd that were higher than those recommended by federal prosecutors. In his resolution, Gaetz also accused her of supporting the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, some of which were violent, while at the same time openly criticizing the Capitol riot.

Hes introducing a resolution in the House to both censure Chutkan and direct the House Judiciary Committee to probe her conduct.

JUDGE CHUTKAN DELIVERS MIXED RULING ON TRUMP PROTECTIVE ORDER IN 2020 ELECTION CASE

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., is introducing a resolution to censure U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan.

"It is deeply concerning to see a United States District Court judge show such blatant impropriety from the bench," Gaetz told Fox News Digital. "Judge Tanya Chutkans impracticality of her tough sentencing of Jan. 6th defendants, despite openly supporting the violent Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, showcases not only a lack of impartiality but also a disregard for the sacred duty of a judge to uphold justice fairly."

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

One of the instances that Gaetzs resolution zeroes in on is an Oct. 4, 2021, sentencing hearing during which Chutkan disagreed with a comparison made between the Capitol riot and the protests after George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020.

TRUMP TEAM ORDERED TO RESPOND TO SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH'S PROTECTIVE ORDER FILING

Chutkan is overseeing former President Trump's case over 2020 election interference.

"People gathered all over the country last year to protest the violent murder by the police of an unarmed man ... to compare the actions of people protesting, mostly peacefully, for civil rights to those of a violent mob seeking to overthrow the lawfully elected government is a false equivalency and ignores a very real danger that the Jan. 6 riot posed to the foundation of our democracy," Gaetz cited Chutkan as saying.

Fox News Digital reached out to the D.C. court for comment but did not immediately hear back.

SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH PROPOSES JANUARY 2024 TRIAL IN TRUMP ELECTION CASE

Gaetz also said the man she was sentencing at the time, Matthew Mazzocco, "was a nonviolent offender who spent merely 12 minutes on Capitol grounds and who urged others to remain peaceful on January 6, 2021," according to the resolution text. Chutkan had sentenced Mazzocco to 45 days in jail over the misdemeanor charge.

Trump and his allies in Congress and elsewhere have accused Chutkan of behaving politically as the former president continues to deny guilt in all of the four criminal indictments against him. They have lodged similar accusations against Special Counsel Jack Smith and Biden administration officials in the Justice Department.

Tensions around the case are flaring; a Texas woman was arrested recently for threatening to kill Chutkan if Trump was not reelected in 2024, according to multiple reports.
HONOLULU (KHON)  The Maui fire disaster is having impacts across the entire island, even portions not touched by the flames. But some local business owners said they are afraid of an economic downfall without the support from visitors.

Lahaina and West Maui are still off limits to the public  a message that officials and residents are making loud and clear  but the rest of the Maui community still needs to sustain itself, residents say.

Amid wildfire aftermath, should you travel to Maui?

Lahaina resident and musician Akoni Palomino lost his home and his main source of income.

Please respect the West Side, let our families have time to grieve and take care of all these things that we need to for now on the West side, but definitely support all those businesses on the other side, Palomino said.

Im a musician and I play seven days a week here on Maui all in the West Side, so as of right now all of our gigs are completely shut down, Palomino continued.

Its a tricky issue. Maui residents have previously expressed their concerns about the islands dependency on tourism, while understanding that industry continues to be the main economic driver.

Following the wildfires, Gov. Josh Green, too, noted that the state remains open for tourism.

What were saying now is travel should not be to West Maui but the other parts of Maui are safe and the rest of the state of course is also safe, Green said.

Maui wildfire disaster: How can I donate to help?

Kyle Kawakami, the chef and owner of Maui Fresh Streatery, has given hundreds of plate lunches out to those affected. Hes one of several small business operators who found a way to help, and also support employees, by participating in a Pay it Forward initiative which allows people from around the world to buy meals Mauis wildfire survivors.

Small businesses like us that want to give back to the community and be active, for us to do that we need to be able to stay busy, Kawakami said. Were able to feed those that were impacted and it also helps to stimulate our local small business economy.

These are small business owners and workers who will need support for foreseen future.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
LAHAINA, Hawaii  Three survivors of the deadly wildfires that ravaged Maui said Wednesday that when the inferno erupted, the main escape route out of town was partly blocked by Hawaiian Electric trucks clearing downed lines and replacing busted power poles.

The result was "epic bumper-to-bumper traffic while we were trying to escape, said resident Cole Millington, 26. There were no police officers in sight. What there was were Hawaiian Electric trucks coming in with new telephone poles.

Instead of waiting for everybody to get out, they were blocking the only way out with their big trucks.

Millington and one of his roommates, Caitlin Carroll, said that when they started to flee Lahaina around 4 p.m. on Aug. 8, Hawaiian Electric workers were already clearing downed power lines and electrical wires from the Honoapiilani Highway.

I understand that, Millington said. You dont want to be driving over live wires. But they were also starting to replace the poles while we were all trying to get out. We were like, get the f--- off the road and let us get by.

Millington and Carroll, 27, said they and other drivers were yelling at the crews to get out of the way.

It made no sense what they were doing," Millington said. They could see the sky was black. They could see the city was on fire. They could see the wind was still whipping everything around. But they were already starting to plant new power poles.

Carroll said she saw several drivers get out of their vehicles with chain saws and run up to help the electrical crews clear the downed poles.

A Hawaiian Electric crew blocks a roadway as they try to clear a downed powerline in the Lahaina/Maui area of Hawaii on Aug. 8, 2023. (Courtesy Cole Millington)

"But they were waved away," she said. "It would be one thing if they were just clearing away downed power lines to let us through. But their trucks were in our escape lanes, and they were already trying to fix the poles, replace the poles, while we were just sitting there. It made no sense."

Hawaiian Electric spokesman Darren Pai said he would look into whether the companys trucks caused the highway to be shutdown.

Video Millington shot the day the fires erupted appears to show Hawaiian Electric trucks on the highway.

Lahaina resident Amanda Cassidy, 33, said she and her boyfriend encountered a similar situation as they tried to escape their neighborhood using Lahainaluna Road while flames devoured her rental home.

She said she saw police blocking roads while utility crews worked on downed lines.

Video Cassidy recorded and posted to Instagram appears to show her making a left turn into oncoming traffic, which was necessary because an entire lane of cars was at a complete standstill because of roadblocks as the fire barreled down the hill toward them, she said.

When you have thousands of people in vehicles trying to flee, you have to figure something else out, Cassidy said of the utility. That is our lifeline, our escape route, and you cut us off from it? There was no other way out.

Cassidy, who survived Hurricane Katrina in 2005, said her Lahaina home was surrounded by above-ground power lines that should have been secured and dry vegetation that should have been cut before last weeks blazes.

Its so, so sad and disappointing. This could have been prevented years ago, she said.

Cassidy estimated she was 20 minutes in front of people who were forced to abandon their vehicles and jump into the ocean to escape the flames.

Hawaiian Electric, the state's largest utility, was also hit with a lawsuit Wednesday that alleged it helped set the stage for the wildfires through years of negligence and failure to have plans to shut down power systems before fierce winds blew across Maui. It was the fourth lawsuit to be filed against the company in connection with the wildfires.

Hawaiian Electric declined to comment on the lawsuits, saying it would violate an internal policy. Pai said Hawaiian Electric was aware of the allegations but remained focused on restoring power to Maui.

He emphasized that the cause of the fire has not been determined, and we will work with the state and county as they conduct their review.

While investigators were trying to pinpoint what sparked the massive fires, which killed at least 110 people, reduced historic Lahaina to smoldering ruins and caused more than $7 billion in damage, NBC News reported last week that the state's emergency warning sirens were not activated to alert unsuspecting residents.

Millington said Wednesday on MSNBC that the day the fires broke out, he realized something was wrong when he noticed a big plume of black smoke from my bedroom window.

Millington, who said he lost his home and his business to the fires, warned his roommates, and 15 minutes later they were all peeling out of the parking lot in their cars.

But the main highway out of Lahaina, which is on Maui's west side, was already jammed, and it took three-plus hours to get to the middle of the island. He said he could see the blaze chewing through Lahaina "in my rearview mirror."

Alicia Victoria Lozano reported from Lahaina, and Phil McCausland and Corky Siemaszko from New York City.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Hawaii's historic wildfires have caused devastation throughout Western Maui, and more than 1,000 people are missing while another 100 have died, per Axios. Because of this, locals have been vocal about restricting tourism, especially while search and rescue operations are underway, encouraging tourists to cancel their trips. However, many Hawaii natives have been against tourism in the state for a while, arguing that the industry harms local communities and is largely unsustainable.

How have the fires affected Hawaii tourism?

In the wake of the fires, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green (D) has urged visitors to forgo non-essential travel to Maui. "Visitors in West Maui have largely heeded the call to leave the island, and hotels and other accommodations are needed for displaced residents and emergency workers," he said in a statement. The tourism industry has been helping locals affected by the fires. "Hawaii is obviously all about the people and all about family," owner of Hawaiian helicopter tour company Rainbow Helicopters Nicole Battjes told Axios. "The direct aid has been really powerful." Companies still providing tourist activities have been criticized.

Many Maui residents are also employed by the tourism industry, which makes preventing travel a "fine balance," T. Ilihia Gionson, a public affairs officer for the Hawaii Tourism Authority, told The Guardian. "For so many people to face economic uncertainty or challenges, on top of those who have lost everything in the fire  it compounds the issues and prolongs the recovery." Many residents are also upset at the continued tourism to Maui, with one woman telling BBC, "The same waters that our people just died in three days ago are the same waters the very next day these visitors  tourists  were swimming in."

Travel to the other Hawaiian islands is still running as usual, however, the Hawaii Tourism Authority has urged "visitors to be especially mindful and respectful in our island home as our community continues through this tragedy."

How has tourism affected Hawaii?

Tourists and Hawaiian locals have been at odds for some time now, especially following the Covid-19 pandemic due to the large influx of people following the lockdown. Climate change has caused problems for the state's resources  and while locals have faced water restrictions and fines for non-essential water use, resorts did not face such restrictions, per The Guardian. Sea level rise is threatening the state's iconic beaches. Tourists have also caused harm to Hawaii's coral reefs.

In addition, the Indigenous community has criticized Hawaiian tourism, specifically to the resort town Lahaina, which was once the burial place of the Hawaiian royal family and the first capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom, The Guardian continued. "I think the fire was an acute trauma, but it's really just a punctuation point on the injustice that local people, especially Kanaka Maoli [Native Hawaiians], and immigrants have faced for generations," said Kaniela Ing, national director of the Green New Deal Network.

Despite this, tourism is Hawaii's largest industry and is responsible for 80% of the state's wealth, Reuters reported. "You're kind of raised to hate tourists," a hotel worker told BBC. "But that's really the only way to work on the islands. If it's not hospitality then it's construction."

How can you help the locals?

If you had a trip planned to Maui in the coming weeks, the Hawaii Tourism Authority has advised visitors "to consider rescheduling their travel plans for a later time," The Washington Post reported. While the rest of the islands are open for travel, the resources may be necessary to rebuild Lahaina and the rest of West Maui. "We don't want to overstress their system, especially Oahu," Denise Ambrusko-Maida, owner of Travel Brilliant, told the Post. You can also donate to organizations like the Hawaii Community Foundation, which is raising funds for recovery.

During trips, you can also opt to support local businesses, clean up after yourself, and be mindful of the environment, per Insider. "Going forward, I don't know if it's less tourism, but I think more mindful tourism," Kehaulani Watson of the Native Hawaiian organization Aina Momona told The Guardian. "We have to think about enhancing and evolving the visitor experience to be one that invites people who can contribute to Hawaii, as opposed to just taking from us."

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The head of Mauis emergency management agency has resigned, citing health reasons, Maui County said Thursday  a day after he defended the silence of the islands siren system last week during the deadliest US wildfire in more than 100 years.

No details were released about Maui Emergency Management Agency Administrator Herman Andayas health. His resignation was effective immediately, and his role will be filled as quickly as possible, Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen said.

The death toll from the wildfires that ignited August 8 has increased to at least 114 people  including children  mostly around Lahaina, an economic and cultural hub obliterated by the infernos.

The number of people killed is expected to rise as searchers  many grieving their own fire losses  keep digging through the charred remains of more than 2,000 burned homes and businesses. Probably still over 1,000 residents remain unaccounted for, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green told CNN on Wednesday.

Now, scrutiny is mounting over the official wildfire preparations and response, including the role of the local electricity provider and the siren system.

As the deadly fires spread, no one tried to activate Mauis 80-alarm, all-hazard outdoor siren system, a spokesperson for the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency said last week.

Herman Andaya, then Maui's emergency management agency chief, speaks at a news conference this month. He resigned Thursday. - KGMB/KHNL

Andaya was asked Wednesday whether he regretted not sounding the alarms, which are part of a larger statewide network.

I do not, he told reporters, saying he worried their alarms would have sent many residents inland into the fire.

Before Andayas resignation was announced, state Sen. Angus McKelvey  who represents Lahaina and lost his own home in the fires  blasted Andayas response as insulting.

Ive heard the line that people would have panicked and ran up to the mountains because its a tsunami siren.  Its insulting to think that people would be that clueless, that they wouldnt know that sirens blasting was because of the fire, McKelvey told CNN on Thursday.

These are not tsunami sirens. Theyre disaster sirens.

Everything was on fire: The hours that brought Lahaina to ruins

Its still not clear why the siren system wasnt used. Narratives about its silence have shifted, with Green telling CNN some sirens were broken.

The governor has asked the state attorney general to review the fire and officials response, including the alarms silence.

Feds will help investigate as fires rage on

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives National Response Team will help local authorities determine the cause of the disaster, the agency said in a statement.

The team includes one electrical engineer from the ATF Fire Research Laboratory, two Certified Fire Investigators (CFI) and a CFI candidate from the Honolulu Field Office, and one Arson and Explosives Group Supervisor from the Seattle Field Division, the statement said.

The most destructive blaze on Maui, the 2,168-acre Lahaina fire, was 90% contained as of Thursday night, Maui County posted on Facebook.

Other wildfires are still burning on Maui island include the 1,081-acre Olinda fire, which was 85% contained as of Thursday night, and the 202-acre Kula fire, which was 80% contained, according to Maui County.

It will be a multi-year operation to respond to the wildfires on Maui, the commander of the militarys task force said Friday  a process thats only in its earliest stages.

The focus right now is to locate and identify human remains in the area affected by the fire, according to Brig. Gen. Stephen Logan, commander of Combined Joint Task Force 5-0, which is coordinating the Defense Departments response.

We want to be able to treat them in a dignified manner and give some closure to the families, Logan told reporters on a call Friday afternoon.

Crews have searched roughly 45% of the 5-square-mile area affected, Maui Countys mayor told CNN on Thursday.

Combing the ashes of what used to be homes, businesses and historic landmarks has been arduous. And identifying those killed wont be easy, as remains are largely unrecognizable and fingerprints rarely found, the governor said.

Authorities have asked relatives of the missing to provide DNA samples so a genetics team can help identify remains.

At least 40 canines from 15 states have joined in the search, said Jeff Hickman of the Hawaii Department of Defense.

The next phase will be to make sure the area affected by the fire has been deemed safe. The fire tore through both residential and industrial areas, leaving the risk for different types of hazards across the sites.

Each one may have some type of propane tank, there could be some type of live electricity rolling through, some other utilities, there could be paints, thinners, hazardous materials that were used in the construction of the building that is now been consumed by fire, Logan said.

Only after areas are deemed safe can emergency responders allow locals to return to their homes and businesses to see what can be salvaged.

Power company faces scrutiny

While the cause of the fires hasnt been determined, Hawaiian Electric  the major power company on Maui  is under scrutiny for not shutting down power lines when high winds created dangerous fire conditions.

And a company that runs a sensor network on Maui detected major utility grid faults hours before the fires started, it said.

Hawaiian Electric said publicly in 2019 it would conduct drone surveys to identify areas vulnerable to wildfires and determine how to help keep residents and infrastructure safe. But between 2019 and 2022, Hawaiian Electric invested less than $245,000 on wildfire-specific projects, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing regulatory filings.

Hawaiian Electric also didnt seek state approval to raise rates to pay for safety improvements until 2022, and the rate hike has yet to be approved, the Journal reported.

The company has spent roughly $84 million since 2018 on maintenance and vegetation management in Maui County, including trimming and cutting down trees and upgrading equipment, it told CNN in a statement.

There are many elements of wildfire mitigation that dont get counted specifically as mitigation activities, including vegetation management, grid hardening and pole replacement and routine line and equipment inspections, the company said.

A sensor network run by Whisker Labs detected an increasingly stressed utility grid on Maui beginning late August 7 and into the next morning, the companys CEO Bob Marshall told CNN on Wednesday.

Through the overnight hours, when all the fires ignited, we measured 122 individual faults on the utility grid, Marshall said. A fault  a short circuit or partial short circuit  could cause electric current to leave its intended path, which could lead to a fire, Marshall said.

Video taken at the Maui Bird Conservation Center in Makawao appears to show a power pole faulting just before 11 p.m. on August 7. Soon after, what appears to be flames are seen in the video, first reported by The Washington Post.

The sensor system provided verification that, indeed, this was very likely caused by a fault on the utility grid, Marshall said.

The Makawao fire was hours before and miles away from the fire that decimated the historic portions of Lahaina in Western Maui. But sensors detected faults on the grid before that fire, too, Marshall said.

A class-action lawsuit filed over the weekend alleges the wildfires were caused by Hawaiian Electrics energized power lines that were knocked down by strong winds.

The company and its subsidiaries chose not to deenergize their power lines after they knew some poles and lines had fallen and were in contact with the vegetation or the ground, the suit alleges.

Precautionary shutoffs have to be arranged with first responders, Hawaiian Electric Vice President Jim Kelly told CNN on Sunday in an email, adding the company doesnt comment on pending litigation.

Electricity powers the pumps that provide the water needed for firefighting, Kelly said.

Hawaiian Electric is also eager to find answers, a company spokesperson said.

We know there is speculation about what started the fires, spokesperson Darren Pai told The Washington Post. And we, along with others, are working hard to figure out what happened.

Firefighters battled blazes as their own homes burned

When ferocious winds hurled flames across and quickly overwhelmed crews on August 8, some firefighters knew their own homes could burn.

The people that were trying to put out these fires lived in those homes  25 of our firefighters lost their homes, Bissen said Wednesday.

Now, some search crew members are working despite immense personal grief.

Realize that the responders that are going out there are recovering their loved ones and members of their families, Pelletier said.

Maui firefighter Aina Kohler was on the front lines that day and stuck to her mission to save lives  even as her house burned to the ground, she told CNN affiliate KITV. By the time flames reached her home, she said, firefighters had run out of water.

That was honestly the most disheartening thing of my life. I felt the supply, and Im like: Its limp. Just leaving a house to burn because we dont have enough water is like something Ive never experienced before, she said.

Two of Kohlers fellow firefighters also lost their homes while battling the fires, she said.

They watched their homes burn as they fought the fire for other homes in their neighborhood, Kohler said. That hit really hard.

CNNs Oren Liebermann, LJ Spaet, Chris Boyette, Jamiel Lynch, Dakin Andone, Jason Hanna, Sara Smart, Giri Viswanathan, Katherine Dillinger, Taylor Romine, Gloria Pazmino, Joey Hurst and Eva Rothenberg contributed to this report.

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Mecklenburg County court officials are warning residents of a jury duty scam going around Charlotte.

PAST COVERAGE: Officials warn against jury duty scam in Meck County

Scammers, posing as law enforcement, are calling people to tell them they missed jury duty and will be arrested unless a fine is paid through gift cards.

North Carolina court officials said you cannot be fined over the phone or email.

if you get a call like this, officials say to hang up.
The governments of Russia, Turkey, and Qatar are preparing a new agreement on grain exports following Moscow's termination of the grain deal, the German newspaper Bild reported on Aug. 18, citing official correspondence it has obtained.

According to communication between the Turkish and Russian embassies between July 21 and Aug. 8, Moscow has reportedly warned Ankara in advance that it plans to withdraw from the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

Now, the two countries and Qatar are jointly working to set up a new deal to replace the previous agreement which has allowed Ukraine to export nearly 33 million metric tons of food via the Black Sea, Bild said.

The outlet wrote that based on the new deal, Russia would be supplying its grain, primarily to African countries, Qatar would sponsor the supplies, and Turkey would be in charge of organizing the deal.

Bild noted that Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan asked Russia to resume the previous grain deal so that food can again be exported also from Ukraine. Ankara also wants to act under the auspices of the U.N., the newspaper added.

The new deal could be reportedly closed as early as this weekend in Budapest, as the head of Russia's Tatarstan Republic Rustam Minnikhanov has already arrived in Hungary's capital, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is scheduled to come as well, the outlet said.

Following its decision to withdraw from the grain deal on July 17, Moscow wants to plug the whole on the global food market left by the deal's collapse. Ukraine is one of the world's leading grain producers, with many countries in the Global South relying on its exports.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed to supplant Ukrainian exports to Africa with Russian grain while attempting to lure Turkey to join the scheme.

The Financial Times reported already on July 21 that the Kremlin seeks to strike a new grain deal in cooperation with Turkey and Qatar. At the time, the outlet noted that neither of the two countries have so far agreed with the idea.

Read also: Putin attempts to bribe African leaders with free grain after pulling out of grain deal

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Military medics at a frontline hospital removed a mine shank from the body of a wounded soldier.

The photos of the recovered piece of explosive were shared by the Medical Forces Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

During further examination, doctors found a foreign piece in the wounded man's body, the contours of which resembled a mine shank.

Bomb disposal experts were called to the patient, and after examination, they confirmed that the foreign object could be removed safely.

All photos: Medical Forces Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

"The patient's condition is now stable. The Medical Forces specialists are preparing him for further medical evacuation and rehabilitation," the Command added.

f

The doctors did not risk removing the explosive from the wounded man's body without a preliminary examination by bomb disposal experts

The patient's health is currently stable. He will undergo rehabilitation

Background: Earlier, it was reported that a bullet was removed from the heart of a 20-year-old Ukrainian soldier, Volodymyr Hordiienko, without stopping this important vital organ.

Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron!






The Strait of Gibraltar connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Mediterranean Sea and separates Spain on the European continent from Morocco on the African continent. A global heat wave is pushing temperatures in the Mediterranean to new highs. Photo courtesy of NASA

Aug. 18 (UPI) -- The waters of the Mediterranean Sea have spiked to a record-setting 84 degrees on Friday, a disturbing and growing trend that may be attributed to a changing climate, Jordan's government said.

Referencing various global outlets, such as the World Wide Fund for Nature, Jordan's official news agency, Petra, said water temperatures on Friday were "unprecedented."

"Climate change has led to higher air temperatures in the Mediterranean, which raises water surface temperatures and evaporation," the report read.

Petra also noted that water from the Atlantic isn't getting into the Mediterranean as much as in the past, river flows are on the decline and the sea's waters are becoming hotter and saltier as a result.

The rapid warming of the Mediterranean Sea has caused ocean temperatures in the region to soar to unprecedented levels over the past year. The world's waters can absorb heat and distribute it through natural currents, though planetary heating over the past 20 years had led to warmer seas.

The base of Pigeon Rock, a famous landmark just off Beirut's shoreline. A global heat wave has led to increased water temperatures globally, with record-setting levels report from Florida to the Mediterranean Sea. File photo by Norbert Schiller/UPI

Marine scientists have tracked several record-breaking heat waves in the region since summer 2022 as the Mediterranean has warmed faster than the global average since satellite records began more than 40 years ago.

The Mediterranean is no longer unique. The water temperature of the South Florida coast soared to more than 100 degrees over several days during July's global heat wave.

Meteorologists closely tracking marine heat since early July called temperatures in the region unprecedented, saying the oceans have never been this hot in recorded history.

July was the hottest month on record. The Goddard Institute for Space Studies at the U.S. space agency NASA said this July was 0.43 degrees warmer than any July on record.

"The science is clear -- this isn't normal," said Gavin Schmidt, the director at GISS. "Alarming warming around the world is driven primarily by human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. And that rise in average temperature is fueling dangerous extreme heat that people are experiencing here at home and worldwide."
Rapper Drake received a surprise gift from his father during his latest concert, a gigantic bra. The Sticky rapper held up the pink, large undergarment to the crowd at his concert calling it the end of a saga before realizing, that it wasnt thrown from the crowd as is often the case. It turns out it was his father who had made it for him. His father left him a card alongside the larger-than-life sized bra that read, Dads wishing big things for you, I love you.

Zoba Martin is the Canadian-based couture and ready-to-wear designer who made the bra.

I worked on the bra for a whole day and finished it the next morning, she told 21Ninety.

Martin has worked on other projects for Drake, including the famous durag veil worn in his Falling Back video. She posted a process video of herself working on the bra on Instagram.

Made this in my hotel room with a take out bag for the patterns and a Juki domestic sewing machine, Martin shared in the caption of the process video.

Martin tells 21Ninety that her design language is extra, delicate and feminine.

I like playing with intricate fabrics, sparkly/crystal embellishments, etc, the designer explained.

That design sensibility is immediately apparent in this gigantic pink bra, which is generously adorned with gemstones and petals. According to her website, Martin enjoys using her creative skills to contribute to body positivity by designing elegant and feminine pieces for all body types.

She is driven by the belief that whatever is worth doing is worth doing well; therefore, excellence is one principle that guides her work, the site reads.

A Divinely Inspired Process

Martins Instagram page and website are filled with the many custom and ready-to-wear pieces she has created over the years. The Nigerian-born designer has worked on three of Drakes music videos. She has also had her designs walk a handful of runway shows.

Photo credit: Zoba Martin

While talking about where she draws inspiration from, Martin tells 21Ninety that God and her mother are her biggest drivers.

Im guided by the most high as I create. I call my mum when I feel stuck on a design and she always has the right suggestion to keep me rolling. The nipple on the bra was her idea, she explained with a life.  Shes a fashionista and always has stacks of fabric ready for me to create with.

The post Meet the Black Designer Behind the Larger-Than-Life Lingerie Thrown at Drake appeared first on 21Ninety.
It's been a particular feature of Donald Trump's White House tenure, as well as the concurrent slate of scandals, that the general public is now familiar with a host of ancillary characters whose proximity to the former president has earned them a measure of infamous notoriety; Mike Lindell, Sidney Powell, Michael Flynn, and the like have embraced their roles as MAGA figures. Run down a timeline of the past six years of Trump-related news, and you'll find yourself reacquainted with a long list of names like John Eastman, Brad Parscale, and Corey Lewandowski  people who enjoyed a robust fifteen minutes of Trump-associated, headline-grabbing fame before receding back into their respective MAGA fiefdoms.

But while many of Trump's inner circle of operatives and enablers have risen to the rank of household names (at least, in the households that care about these sorts of things), others have remained largely anonymous despite their significant roles in the former president's most grandiose enterprise: working to allegedly subvert his 2020 election loss. Thanks to the growing slate of criminal indictments against Trump and his associates, however, that measure of anonymity has begun to be pulled back, vaulting a new cadre of alleged election subversionists into the spotlight. And perhaps chief among them is a little-known Ivy League lawyer known to his college classmates as "the cheese."

Meet Kenneth Chesebro, the "instrumental" attorney behind Trump's legal effort to block Joe Biden from assuming the presidency.

"A shy, awkward nerd among nerds"

Before he authored a series of newly public memos outlining the scope of former president Trump's (ultimately unsuccessful) "fake electors" plan, Kenneth Chesebro was a "Harvard-trained lawyer once keen on liberal causes" who had been "registered as a Democrat as recently as 2016" according to The Washington Post. As a student at Harvard, Chesebro studied alongside legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin under the eye of high-profile constitutional-law professor Laurence Tribe, who described Chesebro as often going "too far out for me," in Toobin's profile of his erstwhile classmate. "There was a lack of judgment," Tribe added.

Chesebro was a "shy, awkward nerd among nerds" Toobin recalled, noting that his low profile at the time has "rendered his current notoriety a source of bafflement to those who have known him since those days." According to friends who spoke with the Washington Post, Chesebro's politics "seemed to shift" rightward over the past decade, particularly after he began earning "sizable returns" on investments in cryptocurrency. He began working with the conservative Claremont Institute, and represented Republican clients including Senators Ted Cruz of Texas, and Utah's Mike Lee. This placed him in the orbit of former Wisconsin Judge and GOP operative James Troupis, who was responsible for bringing his fellow Wisconsin native into the Trump campaign's legal circle.

Co-conspirator 5

While attorney John Eastman has been identified as the driving legal force behind Trump's "false electors" plan, "Chesebro who first proposed the idea" to Troupis in a Nov. 18 memo, Rolling Stone said. Three weeks later, Chesebro authored another note, this time going further than his initial memo with what Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith later called a "sharp departure" in his criminal indictment of Trump for alleged election subversion.

In this subsequent memo, Chesebro argued that not only would a slate of alternate electors from six states "create a scenario under which Biden can be prevented from reaching 270 electoral votes," but that even if the plan failed at the Supreme Court  which he predicted it would  it would nevertheless "guarantee that public attention would be riveted on the evidence of electoral abuses by the Democrats, and would also buy the Trump campaign more time to win litigation that would deprive Biden of electoral votes and/or add to Trump's column." Other ensuing memos focused on operationalizing the scheme, including a Dec. 13 note to Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, identifying Jan. 6 as the opportunity for Vice President Mike Pence to "announce his recusal from presiding over the joint session of Congress." He gamed out several outcomes, including one in which then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi would assume the presidency, and another in which Trump could step aside and make Pence commander-in-chief.

The best way to understand the alternate electors' plan, MSNBC explained, is to think of them the "same way we would counterfeit money." The plan, ultimately, was to convince Pence to enact the "equivalent to passing phony money. Or worse, walking into Congress and declaring that our true currency had been nullified and the counterfeit money was the official legal tender of the United States."

Even though Eastman became "a key figure who championed the plan and worked more directly with Mr. Trump on it," the New York Times explained, Chesebro was unambiguously its "architect." For his involvement, Smith identified Chesebro as an unindicted "co-conspirator 5" in his federal charges against Trump.

Although Smith has opted not to charge Chesebro for his involvement in the false electors plan, he has been named as one of the 19 defendants alongside Trump in Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis' sprawling racketeering indictment. He has been charged with conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer, conspiracy to commit first-degree forgery, conspiracy to commit false statements and writings, conspiracy to commit filing false documents, and conspiracy to commit forgery, among other allegations.

Chesebro nevertheless defended his work in a 2022 interview with Talking Points Memo, explaining that if he has "come under criticism for identifying possible strategic options that might come into play under various scenarios that could develop, it should be kept in mind that this is what lawyers do."

"It is the duty of any attorney to leave no stone unturned in examining the legal options that exist in a particular situation," he added.

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(Bloomberg) -- Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador rejected claims by one of the top contenders in his partys primary election process that the government is favoring a rival candidate, the latest sign the race to succeed the Mexican president is heating up.

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Lopez Obrador, who is not eligible to run again for election in June, said that the government had been fair and that people would be able to select whichever candidate they favored in early September.

The comment comes a day after former Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard  who recent polls have in second-place  said that the ruling party was increasing the turn-out at events of another candidate, the former Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum.

The instruction is that neither the government nor its funds be used to favor anyone, said Lopez Obrador at a press briefing Thursday, before speaking about the top three candidates competing for his partys nomination. Marcelo and Adan and Claudia know me perfectly well. They know I dont have a double standard, or a double discourse.

Read More: Mexico Candidate Ebrard Says AMLOs Party Favors Rival

Whoever wins the Morena nomination has a strong chance of winning the 2024 election, given the high popularity of incumbent Lopez Obrador.

The party is currently choosing a national coordinator for the campaign, who is also likely to be the nominee for president. This will follow a series of surveys whose details still arent clear, with the final decision to be announced on Sept. 6.

The party is expected to announce on Thursday the details of its selection process, which is likely to include a mix of external polling firms and a party-led measurement of voter sentiment to decide which candidate has the best shot of winning.

In a written statement yesterday, party leaders said that they have acted in an impartial and transparent manner.

(Updates with additional background from fourth paragraph)

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(Bloomberg) -- Mexicos former foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard, a leading contender to win the presidency next year, accused his own party leaders of trying to undermine his chances.

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The bosses of the ruling Morena movement are running a dark campaign to favor former Mexico City mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, his main rival for the partys nomination in next years election, Ebrard said Wednesday.

Morena chiefs are using party machinery to drive more attendees to Sheinbaums events than to his own, Ebrard told reporters in Mexico City.

Why taint the process? he said. Let the people choose freely.

Whoever wins the Morena nomination is likely to win the 2024 election, given the high popularity of incumbent President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

The party is currently choosing a national coordinator for the campaign, who is also likely to be the nominee for president. This will follow a series of surveys whose details still arent clear, with the final decision to be announced on Sept. 6.

Morenas national party head Mario Delgado said that the party leadership has acted impartially and transparently throughout the process, listening to the candidates concerns, according to a post on X, previously known as Twitter.

Delgado called for unity and respect among the party candidates. All guarantees will be given so that nothing and no one gets in the way of the decision that corresponds to the people of Mexico.

Favorite Contender

Sheinbaum is widely perceived as Lopez Obradors favorite contender, Citigroup Inc. analysts Ernesto Revilla and Nydia Iglesias said in a report this week.

On Wednesday, while campaigning in Michoacan state, Sheinbaum told reporters the accusations are false.

We would never do that. All the support has been voluntary and self-motivated, she said, in an audio sent by her press office. Youll never hear me speak ill of any of my colleagues.

Ebrard said that he is the favorite to win, which is why the process has become biased against him. The pollsters that will participate in the survey process will be announced on Aug. 17.

Read More: Mexicos Sheinbaum Grows Advantage in Nomination Race, Poll Says

The opposition, currently going through a similar process, is due to announce its candidate on Sept. 3. Officially, campaigning for the presidency in Mexico doesnt start until 2024.

(Updates with Morenas national party head statement in seventh, eighth paragraphs.)

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(Bloomberg) -- Growing tensions within President Andres Manuel Lopez Obradors ruling party risk derailing its unity as it prepares to pick a candidate to succeed him in Mexicos 2024 election.

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Leaders of the ruling Morena party met behind closed doors on Thursday to agree on details of the plan, which entails a number of national polls to determine the candidate, but representatives for half of the six presidential hopefuls voiced reservations about the pollsters chosen, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Ex-Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrards representative rejected the agreement, while aides for former Interior Minister Adan Augusto Lopez and former Senate majority leader Ricardo Monreal signed it with reservations, the person said, asking not to be named discussing internal party matters. The disagreement was first reported by local media.

The pollsters were chosen through a lottery system, but Morena leaders decided not to reveal their names until after a candidate is picked on Sept. 6 to protect them from external pressures, according to Mario Delgado, the partys national head.

Lopez Obrador has vowed not to interfere in the candidates selection, but concerns about the opacity of the system are fueling discontent among some presidential hopefuls, many of whom had to resign from highranking government positions to compete for the nomination. Tensions hit a high point on Wednesday when Ebrard said Morenas leadership was favoring former Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, his main rival in the race for the nomination.

Opaque Process

Whoever is chosen will be in a strong position to become Mexicos next president, tapping into Lopez Obradors high popularity.

The decision not to name the pollsters will raise further questions regarding the transparency of the internal process, which has already been marred by controversy, Alejandro Schtulmann, research director at Mexico City-based political consultancy EMPRA, wrote in a research note.

Lopez Obrador, whos not eligible to run for reelection in June, reaffirmed his confidence in the process on Friday.

I support the work of party leaders, I support those carrying out the process and trust them, the president known as AMLO said at a news conference. I will support the result of the survey.

Read More: Mexicos AMLO Denies Playing Favorites in Vote Lead-Up

The four external pollsters that have been selected are expected to be vetted on Friday by a party committee that will verify whether they have the necessary experience, the technical requirements and sufficient staff, Delgado said. Firms whose polling numbers were discordant with the outcome of the past eight state elections in 2022 and 2023 were removed from the lottery, he added.

Speaking on Friday, Ebrard said that its very important that the party guarantees the legitimacy of the pollsters, and that he expects it to address the concerns over the selection in the course of the day.

Delgado said Friday that the process would be 100% auditable and that representatives of the candidates would be involved in overseeing the survey process.

The meeting on Thursday lasted more four hours as representatives for the six presidential hopefuls debated the methodology of the process that will select a national coordinator for the campaign, or the person whos expected to become the partys candidate next year.

--With assistance from Maya Averbuch.

(Updates with Delgado quote in the twelfth paragraph)

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Daniela Rendon, a real estate broker, was convicted of swindling COVID-19 loan programs  to lease a Bentley SUV, among other things. On Thursday, she said during her sentencing hearing in Miami federal court that it seemed like everybody was doing it as the pandemic battered the nations economy.

But after she got caught pocketing hundreds of thousands of dollars, Rendon said she realized the victims of her crime were not the faceless entities of the U.S. government but rather the countless individuals and businesses that suffered during an unparalleled period of economic distress.

Rendons confession  including writing a 30-page thesis on her remorse  helped her obtain a sentence of three and a half years from U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore, who could have given her another year in prison.

Its not as easy to see that youre really stealing from your neighbors, your friends and other citizens, Moore said, crediting Rendon, 31, with recognizing her true victims as he condemned her crime. Its their money that goes to the Treasury that makes it possible to have these kinds of programs.

Rendon, who also was ordered to pay back $198,990 to the U.S. government, surrendered to prison authorities immediately after her hearing as about a dozen tearful family members and friends said their good-byes.

According to court records, Rendon used her job as a Miami real estate broker to carry out her crime against a pair of COVID-19 loan programs.

At the height of the pandemic, Rendon pretended to be a Miami real estate developer who desperately needed relief loans from the federal government to stay afloat. But rather than spend the money on legitimate business expenses, Rendon used the COVID-19 loans to lease a 2021 Bentley Bentayga (sales price, $181,000), rent a Biscayne Bay apartment, pay for cosmetic dermatology procedures and refinish her designer shoes, according to court records.

In April, Rendon pleaded guilty to wire fraud, which carried a maximum penalty of 20 years. On Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Bailyn recommended a three and a half year sentence while her defense attorney, Robert Mandell, asked for a lenient term of five years probation.

Rendon fabricated records for her real estate business, Rendon PA, saying it collected about $92 million in revenues, to qualify for pandemic relief from the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program, according to an indictment and other court documents. Both programs are run by the Small Business Administration, which guaranteed loans approved by banks under the CARES Act approved by Congress in 2020.

But in reality, Rendon was a sales associate for A3 Development LLC, which paid her company, Rendon PA, $2,000 on a biweekly basis over a year before the pandemic struck in March 2020, according to a factual statement filed with her plea agreement. In total, Rendon received $381,000 in fraudulent funds from the government loan relief programs during the pandemic, according to prosecutors with the U.S. Attorneys Office.

Under the CARES Act, the federal government doled out about $813 billion in loans through private lenders and the SBA to support ailing businesses during the pandemic. The relief programs became targets for fraudulent activity because the loans were guaranteed and then mostly forgiven by the SBA as long as the funds were properly used for overhead, mainly payroll for employees.

Rendon is among thousands of people in South Florida and other parts of the country who have been accused of exploiting the SBAs relief programs for businesses that faced hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic between 2020 and 2022. South Florida, with the dubious distinction of being a financial fraud capital, became a hub for hundreds of people accused of exploiting the SBAs loan programs, federal authorities say.

According to prosecutors, one of Rendons collaborators was Andre Lorquet, who pretended to be a certified tax preparer in South Florida. He was charged with falsely claiming that a handful of businesses were struggling during the pandemic and filed COVID-19 relief loans for them. The Miami man pleaded guilty in January to money laundering and aggravated identity theft charges and faces sentencing later this month.

Lorquet ended up receiving $4.4 million from the SBAs loan programs for himself and others, according to court records. He also went on a shopping spree, buying a Tesla Plaid, a Porsche Panamera GTS and a Lamborghini Urus, records show.
Sir Michael Parkinson, the legendary television interviewer, has passed away aged 88 following a brief illness, his family has announced.

Parkinson enjoyed one of the most illustrious careers in the history of British broadcasting, the miners son setting out from Cudworth in South Yorkshire to begin a career in print journalism in the 1950s, rising from local newspapers to stints at The Daily Express and The Guardian before landing his eponymous interview show at the BBC in 1971.

Parkinson, on which he sat down to quiz some of the most famous faces from the worlds of art, sport and politics, quickly became a primetime staple and would run until 1982 before being successfully revived by the Beeb in 1998. It moved to ITV in 2004 where it ran for a further three years before the presenter finally announced his retirement in 2007.

More than 800 episodes of the show aired over the course of four decades, with Parkinson interviewing everyone from Orson Welles and Kenneth Williams to John Wayne, Fred Astaire, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, George Best, Sir Elton John, Sir Michael Caine, Dame Edna Everage, Bette Midler, Madonna, David Bowie, Sylvester Stallone, Tom Cruise and Peter Kay.

He later admitted he had fallen in love with Lauren Bacall, Elizabeth Taylor and Sophia Loren during their appearances, and lamented that the only guests he had never been able to secure were Frank Sinatra and Barbra Streisand.

Looking back on his career for the BBC retrospective Parkinson at 50 in 2021, the former host reflected that the art of the interviewer had been lost in recent years, observing: Today its quips and banter because the interviewers are not journalists. Graham Norton gets people chatting away, having a party. But too often the presenters cannot ask a question or listen to an answer.

With that in mind, here is a look back at some of his most memorable celebrity encounters over the decades, not all of which went entirely according to plan.

Muhammad Ali (1974)

The second of Parkinsons three matchups with the celebrated American pugilist was an astonishingly confrontational affair that made for gripping television.

While Muhammad Ali had been all charm and bravado on their first sit down in 1971, he had been politically radicalised after joining the Nation of Islam in the interim and cut a much less relaxed and breezy figure three years later.

Im not just a boxer, Ali told Parkinson. I can talk all week on millions of subjects and you do not have enough wisdom to corner me on television, you are too small mentally to tackle me on nothing I represent.

Legendary broadcaster Sir Michael Parkinson has died at the age of 88.



Of the many incredible guests he interviewed over the years, he said boxer Muhammad Ali was his favourite.



Here's a clip from one of those memorable interviews from our @BBCArchive pic.twitter.com/3LaC7ckoBV  BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 17, 2023

The hosts father subsequently told his son that he should have stood up for himself and punched Ali, which, undoubtedly, would not have played out too well.

The Greatest would return to the show for a third time in 1981 in the grip of what proved to be Parkinsons disease, a very moving spectacle that stood in stark contrast to his earlier feistiness and was only slightly offset by the decision to seat comedian Freddie Starr alongside him.

Sir Billy Connolly (1975)

The Glaswegian comic, affectionately known as the Big Yin, was one of Parkinsons regularly returning guests over the years, making 14 appearances in total  his last on the penultimate Parkinson show  and always providing great value but it was his debut appearance that first made him a household name.

I hope I can get away with this  it's a beauty! the former shipyard welder said, reclining in a beige suit, before launching into a gleefully macabre anecdote about a Scotsman who murdered his wife and left her buried in a shallow grave with her rear sticking out of the ground for use as a place to park his bicycle.

The studio audience ate it up and a star was born.

Dame Helen Mirren (1975)

Far from the broadcasters finest hour, Parkinsons disastrous encounter with the British actor, then an emerging talent, threatened to define his career at one stage.

It is certainly a cringeworthy experience to revisit, with the host pursuing an unpleasant line of questioning about whether Mirrens sexy image threatened to compromise her credibility as a serious actress and making leery reference to her physical attributes and equipment after she appeared wearing a low-cut black dress and toying with an ornamental feather.

In no mood to humour his sexism, the future Dame Helen responded icily: Id like you to explain what you mean by my equipment.

#OTD 1975: Helen Mirren took Michael Parkinson to task during her first ever chat show appearance. pic.twitter.com/r8yF1iIbmK  BBC Archive (@BBCArchive) February 8, 2018

You mean my fingers? Come on, spit it out. Serious actresses cant have big bosoms, is that what you mean?

To the enormous credit of both parties, she returned to the show in 2006 while promoting her film The Queen to patch up their differences.

Parkinson told The Daily Telegraph in 2017: That whole fuss was silly. You have to consider every situation according to the mood of the time, and at the time I didnt cause a ripple. We had a row but nobody considered me unduly sexist. But now some people are making out it was like World War Three.

Rod Hull and Emu (1976)

Parkinson being violently assaulted in his chair by the childrens puppet Emu instantly became an iconic moment in British television history.

Those are the stories people talk about most. Being attacked by a bloody emu  what an epitaph, he grinned in later years.

James Cagney (1981)

Speaking on Parkinson at 50, the former host revealed that his favourite ever encounter was with the legendary Hollywood actor James Cagney, star of The Public Enemy (1931), Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) and White Heat (1949).

Something of a recluse in his later years, assuming the world was no longer interested in his talents, Cagney warmed to the situation and made for an incredibly engaging guest.

He summed up everything marvellous about my job. There I was, a movie fan who grew up watching my heroes at my local cinema in Yorkshire. And now I was interviewing them, Parkinson remembered in 2021.

George Michael (1998)

Appearing in the wake of his arrest in Los Angeles for indecent exposure after propositioning an undercover policeman in a public restroom, which ultimately forced him to come out as gay, the former Wham! star was candid and honest about his sexuality and terrifically good-humoured about his recent ordeal.

He began by saying what an honour it was to be invited on to Parkinson having watched it ever since he was a child with his late mother, who, he said, would have been especially delighted.

She probably wouldnt have been quite as thrilled that I had to take my willy out to be on here, he added with a wry grin.

Of the sting operation he had fallen victim to, he was equally droll, recounting: I responded to, you know, a very handsome, tall, good-looking American cop. You know, they dont send Columbo in there to do that.

It was a stupid moment and obviously Ive suffered for it, he added. I was not in the best state of mind, and it was a kind of reckless thing to do.

Victoria and David Beckham (2001)

Perhaps not a highwater mark for journalistic exclusives but great fun nonetheless, Parkinson invited Britains first couple onto the show, and unexpectedly got the Spice Girl to reveal that her pet nickname for her husband was Golden Balls, to Davids excruciating embarrassment.

Thats one of those things I shouldnt have said, she joked.

Ali G (2002)

Unafraid to keep up or to play with fire, Parkinson invited Sacha Baron Cohen onto the show as his alter ego Ali G in 2002 to ask about life in the ghettos of Berkshire.

Wearing a tiger print tracksuit, a Trilby hat and plenty of bling, G claimed to have burgled Parkinsons home and discovered a pornographic tape in the VCR. He spent time teaching him authentic Staines slang, and how to throw gang signs, and invited him out on a date with his grandma at the Bracknell branch of Harvester.

I expect you to be a perfect gentleman, he told the host. Unfortunately, she dont.

Meg Ryan (2003)

In another car crash exchange, Parkinson interviewed Meg Ryan, formerly known as Americas sweetheart for her roles in classic romcoms like When Harry Met Sally (1989) and Sleepless in Seattle (1993), but at the time attempting to reinvent herself by starring in Jane Campions gritty erotic thriller In the Cut.

Clearly uncomfortable, Ryan gave clipped answers and was evasive when faced with the presenters increasingly impatient questioning on her attitude towards fame and stardom, eventually joking that she would wrap the interview up if she was in his shoes.

She later told Marie Claire that Parkinson had behaved like a disapproving father.

Remembering the clash in an interview with the Radio Times 18 years later, he confessed: I wish I hadnt lost my temper with Meg Ryan. I wish Id dealt with it in a more courteous manner.

I was quite obviously angry with her and its not my business to be angry towards the guests. I came across as kind of pompous and I could have done better.

Asked what he would say to Ryan if he saw her again, Parkinson replied: Im sorry. But you must understand that you played a part in it too. Neither of us were on top form, and we were both discomfited.

Joan Rivers (2007)

The great American comedian delivered one of the all-time masterpieces of black comedy when she appeared on the show, flanked by Sir Cliff Richard, and discussed the suicide of her husband and manager Edgar Rosenberg in 1987.

It was just a very sad time, she said. My daughter wasnt talking to me, my career was gone and I actually took out a gun. I had this little dog and  it sounds so He crawled into my lap and I thought, Somebody needs me.

Rivers paused, amid a deathly silence in the studio, before stroking the fur lapels of her jacket and proclaimed: And here he is!

Her bravery brought the house down.
Michelle Obama said she was a 'picky eater' who ate peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches for breakfast every day until college

Michelle Obama sits down for a meal with children on the South Lawn of the White House in 2016. Cheriss May/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Michelle Obama appeared on the podcast "Your Mama's Kitchen" hosted by Michele Norris.

The former first lady said she was "kind of a picky eater" growing up.

Obama said she ate peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches every day for breakfast until college.

As first lady, Michelle Obama championed children's health and encouraged healthy, nutritious eating. But on an August 16 episode of the Audible podcast "Your Mama's Kitchen" hosted by Michele Norris, Obama shared that she wasn't always open to expanding her palate and trying new foods.

Obama told Norris that growing up, she was "kind of a picky eater" who "despised breakfast."

Her older brother, Craig Robinson, was a student athlete who "ate everything all the time," including large breakfasts, she said. But Obama didn't like any typical breakfast foods like cereal, scrambled eggs, sausage, or bacon.

Instead, she started her days with peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches.

"It was sort of a compromise that I made with my mother because I thought, well, it's got peanuts, it's protein, a little bit of oil," Obama said. "Nothing's wrong with bread. If we're having toast, why can't I have it in a sandwich form? And jelly. Everybody was having jelly on their toast. Let me just put it on my peanut butter. She gave up. And I literally ate peanut butter and jelly every morning for most of my life, literally until I was in college."

Obama said she eventually learned to appreciate breakfast as an adult, and now enjoys dishes like eggs Benedict. She hasn't had a peanut butter-and-jelly sandwich in years  partly because her daughter, Malia, is allergic to peanuts, and partly because she got tired of eating the same thing every morning.

"You know, I think I kind of OD'd on it," she said.

Read the original article on Insider
John DeMay, the father of a Michigan teenager who died by suicide after becoming the victim of a sextortion scheme on social media, said the two Nigerian suspects accused of plotting the scheme "Googled" his son's death after the fact.

Jordan DeMay was 17 years old when he shot himself in 2022 after falling victim to sextortion on Instagram. The FBI defines sextortion as a "serious crime" in which perpetrators threaten to expose a victim's sensitive or private information in exchange for sexually explicit material or money.

The main suspect in DeMay's death, 22-year-old Samuel Ogoshi, is one of three men from Lagos arrested earlier this month for allegedly hacking Instagram accounts and sexually extorting, or "sextorting," more than 100 young men online, including DeMay. Ogoshi allegedly posed as a young woman under the username "dani.robertts."

Ogoshi and his 20-year-old brother, co-defendant Samson Ogoshi, pleaded guilty on Thursday, according to federal court documents.

MICHIGAN FAMILY SOUNDS ALARM ON SON'S SEXTORTION SUICIDE AFTER ARRESTS OF 3 NIGERIAN MEN

After three Nigerian men were arrested in connection with the sextortion of 100 young men and the 2022 suicide of 17-year-old Jordan DeMay, DeMay's family is speaking out.

"The defendants actually  Googled Jordan's death after he died," John DeMay told Fox News Digital of Thursday's court proceedings in Michigan. "So, they knew that he died from their action, and they continued to victimize other people even after the fact."

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Jordan's case is the only sextortion case in the history of the United States in which suspects overseas have been extradited from Nigeria to the U.S. to be processed through the American criminal justice system.

SOUTH CAROLINA LAWMAKER EXPOSES DANGERS OF SEXTORTION AFTER TEENAGE SON'S SUICIDE

"Sextortion is a horrible crime," U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said in a statement last week after the Ogoshi brothers were extradited. "To those who commit these crimes: we will pursue you around the world. And to those who are victims: please know we stand ready to help you."

Jordan DeMay shot himself in 2022 after falling victim to sextortion on Instagram.

DeMay described the proceedings as "groundbreaking" and hopes his family's tragedy sparks change for future sextortion cases.

"It's literally happening to every single teenager that's on social media," DeMay said. "They're being targeted right now. At least at some point in their life, they're going to be targeted. So, it's just a matter of whether they buy into it or not."

GROWING SNAPCHAT SEXTORTION SCHEMES TARGET YOUNG BOYS, EXPERT WARNS

DeMay heard during Thursday's hearing that the FBI may have statements from the Ogoshi brothers making "some admissions" in interviews conducted in Nigeria.

Nigerian brothers Samuel and Samson Ogoshi are charged in connection with Jordan DeMay's suicide after allegedly plotting a sextortion scheme against him.

"It sounds like they have these initial certain screenshots and pictures and such that were provided to them during that interview," DeMay explained. "So it seems to me that they've been cooperating to some degree. With that said, I'm hoping that we're probably never going to get to a trial. I imagine once the overwhelming evidence is presented to the defense, I imagine they'll work to find the best plea bargain they can get."

FBI WARNS TEEN BOYS INCREASINGLY TARGETED IN ONLINE 'SEXTORTION' SCHEMES

The grieving father added, however, that no matter the suspects' sentences, whether they are "50 years or 30 years," it will never amount to "true justice."

Jordan DeMay began chatting with someone he thought was a woman on Instagram under the username "dani.robertts."

The "dani.robertts" account that targeted Jordan on Instagram was real but had been hacked and sold to Ogoshi, who used the profile to coerce young men into sending explicit photos of themselves, authorities said. He allegedly used the photos as leverage for money, according to the FBI.

GROWING SEXTORTION TREND TRICKS BOYS INTO SENDING EXPLICIT IMAGES THROUGH GAMING SITES, EXTORTED FOR MONEY

Jordan DeMay believed he sent a nude image to Ogoshi, posing as dani.robertts, who then threatened to send the image to DeMay's friends and family if DeMay did not send money. When DeMay could not send any more money, he killed himself.

John DeMay also said he would tell Jordan "every single day" if he had "a chance" that threats from the sextortionist were not the end of his life.

Antigone Davis, global head of safety at Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, previously told Fox News Digital in a statement that the company wants "teens to have safe, positive experiences online, and we work to help prevent and stop criminals from targeting them with sextortion schemes."

"This includes cooperating with law enforcement to help protect vulnerable teens from these horrific crimes and bring their perpetrators to justice. In addition to the work we do to protect teens from sextortion, we also helped found NCMECs TakeItDown, which allows teens to stop the spread of their intimate images online," Davis said.

The FBI encourages anyone who believes they are a victim of sextortion, or knows someone who may be, to contact their local FBI office or toll-free at 1-800-CALL-FBI.
Mike Lindell says his new Wi-Fi monitoring device can protect voting machines against hacks.

The MyPillow CEO was hawking the device at his "Election Crime Bureau Summit" in Missouri.

Lindell claimed the device could even filter out the evil Chinese Communist Party.

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell says he has a new tool to combat election fraud: A Wi-Fi monitoring device mounted on a drone that he claims can protect voting machines from the evil Chinese Communist Party and nefarious individuals.

"The wireless monitoring device is a sophisticated networking connection monitoring system, designed specifically with election security in mind," an advertisement voiceover said at the start of the latest episode of Steve Bannon's War Room podcast.

The advertisement showed a device with a small screen, housed in a transparent enclosure. The text "WMD" was emblazoned on the top of the device casing.

"We have been told our election computers are never connected to the Internet. The WMD will put that to the test by detecting and reporting in real-time Wi-Fi connections in county and state election offices," the advertisement voiceover continued.

Lindell is a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump's groundless election fraud claims. He unveiled the device at his Election Crime Bureau Summit, an event held on Wednesday and Thursday in Springfield, Missouri.

Lindell claimed in an interview on Bannon's podcast that the monitoring device doubled up as a filter that could protect voting machines from hackers.

"I have said it on the stage, this is also a filter. Remember what I called the evil. I said it is the CCP, globalist, deep state, uni-party. That's the evil that came in," Lindell said, using the acronym for the Chinese Communist Party.

Lindell told conference attendees that his plan was to fly the device near polling stations, with drones.

"Lemme tell you, everybody. We now can catch them in a lie, okay?" Lindell told the audience.

He even demonstrated the plan to his audience, by flying a drone mounted with the WMD right into the convention center where the conference was being held. The drone was seen hovering over Lindell's head for a while, then landing on the table.

"This device, as it flew into this building, this wireless monitoring device, it just grabbed all of your cell phones, everybody in this room, every device that's on the internet right now," Lindell added.

The business executive also claimed on Bannon's podcast the device was "perfectly legal" and brushed aside any potential privacy concerns or potential trespassing violations.

"This just tells you what devices. It doesn't enter those devices, it just tells you what they are, and that they went online," Lindell said on Bannon's podcast.

It's unclear how much this venture is costing Lindell. But he's also spending plenty of money on other matters  including a billion-dollar defamation lawsuit from voting technology company Dominion Voting Systems, and another from Smartmatic over accusations of pushing baseless election fraud claims.

Just last month, Lindell had to auction off equipment from his pillow factory in Minnesota. At the time, he said he's lost more than $100 million in retail sales.

But the pillow magnate appears determined to press on.

"If they called me a grifter, I got to be the worst grifter in the world," Lindell said on Bannon's podcast. "I have spent 50, 60 million dollars. I borrowed five million two weeks ago, I've sold properties and everything to keep it going."

Lindell did not immediately provide responses to a request for comment from Insider sent outside regular business hours.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Senior officers of the so-called "police" working for Russian occupation authorities in occupied Enerhodar were injured in an explosion in their station on Aug. 18, Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) reported.

"At approximately 9:23 a.m., a powerful explosion rang out in the police chief's office," the report said.

Russian Interior Ministry Colonel Pavlo Chesanov in charge of the Enerhodar's "law enforcement" department, his deputy for operations, the head of the investigation department, and several other senior officers sustained severe injuries, the HUR said, releasing footage of what appears to be a drone strike against the building.

The wounded were examined and hospitalized, upon which the occupation authorities dispatched three ambulances to transport them to occupied Melitopol. Afterward, the injured officers will be taken by helicopters to Russia, the military intelligence said in its report.

The "police" station reportedly sustained extensive damage as fires erupted on its third, fourth, and fifth floors.

According to Ivan Fedorov, the exiled mayor of Melitopol, the building that had once served as the official police station has been seized by Russian security services after the full-scale invasion.

"According to available data, the building also houses a torture chamber where civilian prisoners are kept," Fedorov wrote on his Telegram channel.

The city of Enerhodar in Zaporizhzhia Oblast lies near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the largest nuclear station in Europe. Both the city and the plant have been seized by Russian forces in March 2022.

Read also: Pro-Russian sympathies make life harder for soldiers, cops in Kupiansk district

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
A jury has found a 47-year-old Milwaukee man guilty of conspiracy to deliver over 40 grams of cocaine, Fond du Lac District Attorney Eric Toney announced Thursday.

Lateef Strong faces up to 40 years in jail following the jury's verdict on Thursday at the Fond du Lac City/County Government Center.

He is the last of over 15 defendants to be charged in this conspiracy, which began in 2018 and spanned from Fond du Lac County to Milwaukee and Chicago.

According to Toney, the cocaine distribution ring was responsible for delivering over 96,000 doses of cocaine totaling 127 pounds, worth an estimated $9.6 million. Toney said Strong was the "ringleader" of the operation.

A sentencing hearing for Strong has been scheduled for Nov. 22.

SUPPORT LOCAL JOURNALISM: Our subscribers make this coverage possible. Subscribe to a USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin site today with one of our special offers and support local journalism.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee man found guilty of delivering over 127 pounds of cocaine
Milwaukee police have arrested a 56-year-old man in the Aug. 16 shooting at a northside gas station that left one man dead.

The suspect's identity wasn't immediately released, but police said in a tweet that charges would be forwarded to the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office in the coming days.

Protests and crowds have gathered outside the convenience store at North Teutonia Avenue and West Roosevelt Drive in the days after the shooting.

Family and friends of Isaiah Allen, 29, said on social media he was the person who died in the shooting, and offered their sympathies to his loved ones. Many reacted to a story by Fox6 TV in which Allen's family said he was shot by a security guard who believed he was stealing from the store.

More: Jury convicts teen of fatally shooting man who intervened during argument

City Alderwoman Andrea M. Pratt pushed for the gas station to be shut down while the investigation continued. Pratt said she would create council legislation that regulates the use of security guards, making it a requirement that they be licensed and bonded.

Businesses shouldn't be able to come before the city's Licenses Committee and offer plans of operation that include security if its workers aren't credentialed by the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services, she said.

More: 16-year-old boy killed, 18-year-old injured in Milwaukee shooting related to robbery

"The bottom line for me is accountability and justice in this case, and doing what is needed to keep businesses and neighborhoods safe," said Pratt, whose district includes the area where the shooting occurred. "Our neighborhoods deserve better. We deserve better."

"There is nothing inside of a store worth someones life."

More: Homicides may be down, but 'frustration' persists at level of violence in Milwaukee

The city has had 106 homicides with roughly four months left in 2023, compared with 215 reported during all of last year, according to the most-updated crime data provided by Milwaukee police.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact Milwaukee police at 414-935-7360, or to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 414-224-Tips or use the P3 Tips app.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee police arrest suspect in fatal gas station shooting
Ministers are "working hard" to pass a law banning the import of animal body parts, known as hunting trophies, the Environment Secretary has said.

Therese Coffey gave the assurance with the bill facing a race against time to become law before the current parliamentary session ends in November.

Concerns have also been raised about opponents of the legislation in the House of Lords using "underhand tactics" to wreck it.

It would not apply in Northern Ireland.

In a letter to the Humane Society International/UK, Ms Coffey said: "It is a manifesto commitment to ban the import of hunting trophies from endangered animals and we are working hard to deliver.

"The bill passed the Commons in March, with the government's support, and we will do all we can to support its progress through the House of Lords."

The legislation applies to body parts from endangered species that would not be allowed into Great Britain following hunting expeditions overseas.

It is now in the House of Lords where it cleared its first legislative hurdle in June.

Supporters had hoped it would proceed smoothly, without much further debate, into law.

But some peers oppose the legislation, saying it represents a "triumph of emotion over reason" that could have "unintended consequences".

Conservative Lord Manston has proposed amendments that he said would "clean up" or clarify "badly drafted" parts of the Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill.

The impact will be to prolong the legislative process because time has to be set aside to debate and vote on amendments.

If any changes are approved by the Lords, the government must then allocate time for them to be approved or rejected in the Commons.

Government 'in control'

The measure is a private member's bill, which means it is sponsored by an MP and not the government.

It was introduced in the Commons by Conservative Henry Smith, who told the BBC the "biggest threat" was time.

He said some peers were using "underhand tactics" to delay the bill, but he didn't think their amendments would be voted through.

"My argument would be this is a manifesto commitment, it's got support across the elected House, it featured in quite a few of the other parties' manifestos as well and the best way would be to allow this private member's bill to complete its passage," he added.

The government had control of Parliament's time, he said, and should ensure it made some available for the bill to pass.

Time is in short supply because there are not many parliamentary weeks left in this session of Parliament, before it ends to make way for a new session triggered by the King's Speech on 7 November.

Generally, legislation that does not get through before that deadline falls away.

Parliament is currently on its summer recess but will return on 4 September for three weeks.

It will break again for the party conference season and return on 16 October when there will be only a few weeks left of the parliamentary session.

It is up to the government to decide how to use parliamentary time and, at the moment, it has not set any aside for the Lords to debate amendments to the Hunting Trophies Bill.

There is also a backlog of legislation awaiting scrutiny in the Lords, including the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill and the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill.

But in her letter, Ms Coffey said the government would not be supporting any further amendments to the bill and expected the committee stage, when amendments are discussed, to progress next month.

Claire Bass, senior director of campaigns and public affairs at Humane Society International/UK, said: "There is a small and vocal group of pro-hunting peers doing their best to wreck this bill, but we need the government to remain focused on the almost 90% of the public who want this ban on the import of hunting trophies.

"The timing for this Bill is indeed extremely tight but we were encouraged to receive a letter from Environment Secretary Therese Coffey yesterday."
WASHINGTON  A Minnesota woman pleaded guilty to one felony charge Thursday over her part in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

Victoria Charity White, 41, from Rochester was part of the mob of then-President Donald Trump's supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol grounds and stopped lawmakers for hours from certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election Trump lost.

White pleaded guilty to "civil disorder and aiding and abetting." Her federal public defender said White didn't have any comment when asked by The Minneapolis Star Tribune moments after leaving federal court in Washington, D.C., Thursday afternoon. She is set to be sentenced in November.

Several different attorneys have represented White since her case began in 2021, with court filings showing that White terminated some of them through text message and that she rejected a plea offer in February. Ahead of the latest hearing, White posted on social media last week: "I took the plea NO going back this time. If you only knew what these 2yrs have been like."

Prosecutors alleged in an earlier court filing that after making her way from Minnesota to D.C., White on Jan. 6 "joined a group of individuals who marched to the Capitol, made her way onto restricted Capitol grounds, and pushed her way to the Lower West Terrace tunnel."

Prosecutors also alleged in the April filing that while White "shoved through the crowd, she assisted other rioters into the tunnel and cheered as they attacked the police officers inside."

"She continued to push forward, and shortly after 4:00 p.m., she made it to the front of the tunnel, where she was confronted by multiple police officers who pushed her back," prosecutors alleged.

White had been indicted earlier on four charges in the case, including the civil disorder count as well as for allegedly being in a restricted area along with a count involving "disorderly and disruptive conduct." She pleaded not guilty last year.

"The defendant entered far enough into the tunnel that she was pulled through by police officers, who placed her under arrest and handcuffed her," the prosecution wrote in the April court filing. "She was processed and released later that evening."

A September trial date had been scheduled for White's case before Thursday's plea news. A year ago, White responded to someone on Twitter and said, "I thought in America it's innocent until PROVEN guilty? I committed NO crime on January 6th."

White filed a civil lawsuit against the District of Columbia and local law enforcement in 2022, with her then-attorneys claiming in a filing that on Jan. 6 "she was severely beaten with a metal baton approximately 35 times and punched in face five times," by a police officer during the events of that day.

White later successfully asked the court to dismiss her civil case last year. An attorney for her wrote in a filing that White "does not have the time or resources to spend on her civil case until her criminal trial is resolved," but left open the option of re-filing later.

White has been outspoken on social media and has talked about Jan. 6 in interviews with conservative outlets. A previous defense attorney wrote in a February court filing that "White does not agree that J6 was an 'act of domestic terror,' 'a white supremacist attack,' or an 'insurrection' on her part." The attorney also claimed in the filing that White "was non-violent at the Capitol."
Students who attend Mississippi Coast public schools earned high scores in four school subjects, according to new data released Thursday, and results showed successes in some districts but challenges in others.

The Mississippi Department of Education data scores students on English language arts, math, science and U.S. History.

This year, the program ranked four Mississippi Coast districts high in student achievement. Long Beach School District and Ocean Springs School District both made overall top 10 for scores in each of the four subjects.

Our students, teachers, and administrators work hard day in and day out to reach the highest levels of learning and achievement, Long Beach Superintendent Talia Lock said in a news release announcing the results.

Bay St. Louis-Waveland School District and Biloxi Public School District also made top 10 for two categories each  Bay St. Louis-Waveland for success in English and U.S. history and Biloxi for math and science.

The data, collected as part of the Mississippi Academic Assessment Program, also showed progress since the COVID-19 pandemic. In a news release, Ray Morgigno, interim state superintendent of education, credited those results to teachers and school leaders who have dedicated careers to helping students reach, and exceed, their goals.

The tests score students in grades three through eight on English and math, grades five through eight on science and high school students on U.S. History.

Results showed highs and lows across the Coast. Nearly 90% of students scored in the highest ranking categories for U.S. History in Long Beach, for example, but only 13% of sixth graders in Moss Point earned similarly high scores in math.

Heres a closer look at each district.

Hancock County School District

Hancock County students scored highest on U.S. History: about 87% earned scores classified as proficient or advanced  the two highest categories recognized.

About 59% of students scored proficient or advanced on English language arts, and 64% of students met those same scores in math, according to a Sun Herald analysis of Mississippi Department of Education data.

Roughly 74% of students met proficient or advanced scores in science.

Bay St. Louis-Waveland School District

About 88% of students in Bay St. Louis-Waveland schools scored proficient or advanced in U.S. History, data shows.

In science, 74% of students met similar scores. In math, about 64% scored in the highest two categories, and nearly 60% scored in the high-ranking categories for English.

Harrison County School District

Roughly 84% of students tested in Harrison County earned proficient or advanced scores in U.S. History.

About 72% scored proficient or advanced in science, testing data shows. In math, 65% of students met those categories and 59% of students scored similarly high in English.

Pass Christian Public School District

In Pass Christian, students scored highest in U.S. History: about 86% are proficient or advanced, data shows.

About 80% of students scored similarly high in science, and 59% scored proficient or advanced in math and English.

Long Beach School District

Almost 90% of students tested in Long Beach scored in the highest two categories for U.S. History.

About 76% met proficient or advanced scores in math, 77% met those scores in science and 64% scored similarly high in English.

Gulfport Public School District

About 75% of students tested in Gulfport schools earned proficient or advanced scores in U.S. History.

Around 62% scored similarly in science, and 60% in math.

About 56% of students met proficient or advanced categories in English, data shows.

Biloxi Public School District

Biloxi students scored high in U.S. History: about 80% are proficient or advanced, data shows.

Students scored similarly in science  76% met proficient or advanced scores. In math, 70% of students reached those levels and 58% scored similarly high in English.

Jackson County School District

Trends for high scores in U.S. History continued in Jackson County, and about 86% of students are classified as proficient or advanced in the subject.

On average, 75% of students scored proficient or advanced in science, 65% scored similarly in math and 57% of students scored proficient or advanced in English.

Ocean Springs School District

Nearly 90% of Ocean Springs students tested scored proficient or advanced in U.S. History, data shows.

About 86% scored advanced or proficient in science, 76% scored within the same categories in math and 69% scored high in English.

Moss Point School District

Moss Point students scored high in U.S. History  74% met proficient or advanced scores.

Under half of students are proficient or advanced in science, data shows, and 28% of students scored high in math.

Math scores differed dramatically across grades: only 13% of sixth graders scored advanced or proficient but nearly 60% of high school students did.

On average, 31% of Moss Point students earned proficient or advanced scores in English.

Pascagoula-Gautier School District

In Pascagoula-Gautier schools, about 80% of students scored proficient or advanced in U.S. History, data shows.

About 62% of students scored proficient or advanced in science, compared to 54% of students in math and 49% of students in English.
U.S. Senate candidate Lucas Kunce this week filed his first financial disclosure form since 2021, revealing that the Missouri Democrat is collecting rent from a $930,000 house in Washington, D.C.

The new report showed that Kunce has two properties, including the $930,000 house in Washington, which he is renting out and includes a roughly $765,000 mortgage. His primary residence is listed as a $180,000 two-home lot in Independence with a roughly $153,000 mortgage, the report showed. Kunce also collected rent on a portion of the Independence property.

Kunces combined rental income from the two properties was between $30,000 and $100,000, the report showed.

While in the Marines, Kunce was stationed at the Pentagon in 2016, conducting arms control negotiations with Russia. In 2018, he purchased the Washington property with a roughly $805,000 loan from the Department of Veterans Affairs with no money down, Connor Lounsbury, senior adviser to the Kunce campaign, told The Star.

He bought a home there with a roughly $805k VA loan with no money down while still serving. He still owes over $700k on the house, Lounsbury said in an email. Lucas family went bankrupt as a child. He got to college on a Pell Grant. And he served his country for over a decade in the U.S. Marines.

Kunce was not previously collecting rent on the property and therefore was not required to report the Washington home on his 2021 disclosure form. Craig Holman, a campaign ethics expert with the nonprofit consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, told The Star that personal real estate only needs to be reported if it produces income, such as rental income. Incumbent Republican Sen. Josh Hawley, whom Kunce is challenging in 2024, also did not include his roughly $1.3 million home in Virginia in his most recent filing.

Spokespeople for Hawley did not immediately respond to questions about his report.

Lawmakers and candidates for federal office are required to file the personal financial disclosure forms, which detail their assets, financial interests and liabilities. The reports are intended to help the public monitor potential conflicts of interest.

Largely due to the inclusion of the Washington property, Kunces total reported assets have increased in the two years since his previous report in 2021 and now total between $1.15 million and $1.27 million.

The reports show that Hawley, who filed his most recent report in May 2023, is wealthier than Kunce in terms of total assets, which range from $1.87 million to $3.4 million. Hawleys liabilities, according to the report, total between $500,000 and $1 million due to a joint mortgage incurred in 2021.

Kunce has effectively been campaigning for the past three years after launching a bid in the 2022 Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in early 2021, eventually losing to Anheuser-Busch heir Trudy Busch Valentine. In January, he launched a campaign to oust Hawley.

Kunces report is his first one since 2021 as he has filed for three previous extensions. Hawley has also previously filed for extensions twice in 2017 and once in 2020.

Unfortunately there are very few penalties for not filing timely financial disclosure forms, said Aaron Scherb, the senior legislative director for Common Cause, a nonprofit that focuses on government accountability. Because members of Congress themselves were the ones who created these rules initially, its hard to get them to toughen standards that affect themselves.

The release of Kunces report comes as he is mounting a challenge to Hawley. He faces a crowded Democratic primary against St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell and state Sen. Karla May from St. Louis.

Neither Bell nor May have filed reports. Bell, who has been in the race since June, failed to meet the 30-day deadline to file his financial disclosure form. His campaign, in a statement to The Star, said it was an oversight and that the report would be filed by the end of the week.

Wesley has consistently filed financial disclosures since he became a candidate for prosecutor, with the last one filed as recently as May 2023, a spokesperson for Bells campaign said.

May did not respond to a request for comment from The Star about when she plans to file her report.

In his 2021 report Kunces assets totaled between $251,000 and $617,000. The 2021 report showed he had also collected between $2,500 and $5,000 in rent from a rental property in Independence and between $10,000 and $30,000 in capital gains after selling two rental properties in Jacksonville, North Carolina.

The most recent report shows that Kunce has also taken on more liabilities since his previous report and now includes the mortgages on his Washington and Independence properties, totaling roughly $918,000. His previous report included two mortgages and a line of credit that were all paid off.

Kunce, according to his most recent report, earned $75,500 doing remote work as the director of national security at the American Economic Liberties Project, a Washington-based nonprofit that pushes back against concentrated corporate power.

Kunce, who is listed as an employee at the nonprofit from January 2021 through February 2022 and then again from September 2022 to January 2023, has put a pause on working there while on the campaign trail. He was previously paid $120,750 for his work for the nonprofit, which started in 2020, according to his previous report.

The Democratic candidate also reported earning $10,000 for contributions and advising from Big Newsletter LLC, a Virginia-based newsletter run by Matt Stoller, the nonprofits director of research. According to its website, the newsletter takes readers on a journey through the anti-monopoly revolution that is changing our world.

Stoller is a progressive activist and outspoken critic of corporate power. Despite his ties to Kunce, Stoller has a long history of boosting Hawleys anti-monopoly positions.

Hawleys most recent report indicated he received little money outside of his Senate salary, aside from interest from his familys mutual funds. The report shows two royalty agreements with Regnery Publishing, the publisher of Hawleys books The Tyranny of Big Tech and Manhood: The Masculine Virtues America Needs. But the report does not show how much the agreements were worth.

It also showed some of the work his wife, Erin Morrow Hawley, is doing.

She works with the Alliance Defending Freedom and has been an attorney in several of the conservative Christian law firms high-profile federal cases, including an effort to end the Food and Drug Administrations approval of mifepristone, the first of two drugs used in a medication abortion.

She also writes a column for Gods World Publications and teaches at Regent University in Virginia.

Hawley has raised more money and has more cash on hand than all of his potential Democratic opponents headed into the 2024 campaign. Kunce, who entered the race on Jan. 6 of this year in an attempt to draw attention to Hawleys actions on the day of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, has outraised Bell and May so far in the campaign.
It took more than three decades, but the 1991 death of a 17-year-old Massachusetts girl found shot in the head on the fire escape of her foster familys home has come to a close with the conviction of a Georgia man.

Rodney Daniels, 50, was found guilty on Wednesday in Middlesex Superior Court of first-degree murder in the slaying of Patricia Moreno in Malden on July 20, 1991, according to the office of Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan.

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Daniels at the time dated the oldest daughter of Morenos foster mother and was staying in the home on the night of the killing, authorities said. Although the original investigation found that Daniels had been in possession of multiple handguns around the time of the killing and had engaged in threatening behavior toward the victim, he was not charged.

Channel 2 Action News reported Daniels arrest in September 2021. He was transported to Massachusetts to be arraigned

When a family loses a loved one in a homicide, even the passage of time never fully heals that wound, Ryan said in a statement. That is especially true when they do not have answers about what happened and no one has been held accountable. Those who knew and loved Tricia have been waiting over three decades for answers.

As part of its investigation, the cold case unit interviewed a man who lived on a lower floor of the building who said on the night of the slaying he saw a young woman on the fire escape struggling to breathe with a man fitting Daniels description standing over her, who then went back into the apartment.

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Investigators also developed new information that a now-deceased woman who in 1991 had lied to police to protect Daniels later admitted to friends and family members that he had killed Moreno and disposed of the gun.

The team that worked in this case was not deterred by the passage of time and used every tool at their disposal to root out new information critical to this successful prosecution, Ryan said.

Moreno was found by police and emergency medical personnel on the buildings third-floor fire escape still breathing with a single gunshot wound to the head.

She was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital, where she died.

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Daniels told police he was sleeping in an armchair in the living room when he was awakened by the sound of two gunshots, and found Moreno on the fire escape.

He faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.

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Dozens of migrants are feared dead after a boat that left Senegal with more than 100 people over a month ago was rescued by the coast guard in Cape Verde with just 38 survivors onboard, officials said.

The coast guard rescued the boat, which left Senegal on July 10, in Cape Verde, about 385 miles off West Africa on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the United Nations International Organization of Migration said. At least seven people were found dead, while 38 survivors were located, including several children, said the spokesperson, Safa Msehli.

Around 101 people were believed to be on the boat when it left Senegal, and the roughly 56 people still unaccounted for are presumed to have died, Msehli said.

The circumstances the boat and its survivors were found in are still unclear, Msehli said. She said survivors were still recovering after having been on the boat for over a month.

She also said it was not yet clear where exactly the boat was headed, though relatives of those who were on it said it was headed for Spain, The Associated Press reported.

The route from West Africa to Spain is one of the most dangerous journeys in the world, and Msehli noted that it can be long and unpredictable.

"It's not uncommon for boats to get stranded on this route," she said.

The vessel was a large fishing boat, called a pirogue, the AP reported, citing the Spanish migration advocacy group Walking Borders.

More than 60 feared dead after a migrant boat disaster in the Atlantic (Zane Irwin / AP)

Nearly 1,000 migrants died trying to reach Spain by sea in the first six months of 2023, the AP reported, citing data from Walking Borders.

That people continue to risk the route "signals the despair that people are feeling and the hopelessness for them to embark on these really dangerous journeys," Msehli said.

Msehli noted that a number of factors, including extreme poverty, the impacts of climate change, conflict and violence, push migrants and asylum-seekers to make the perilous journey.

Independent migration policy expert Zoe Gardner said: "Senegal has been in political crisis  ignored in our news  for months. Deadly violence, internet shutdowns and repression."

"There is no safe way for the victims to escape and build the safe futures they have every right to hope for," Gardner wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

In recent months, Senegal has been rocked by deadly clashes between security forces and protesters after demonstrations erupted following the conviction of the prominent opposition party leader Ousmane Sonko.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
(Bloomberg) -- More than 60 migrants who were trying to leave Senegal on a pirogue to the Canary Islands are feared to have drowned, authorities and the United Nations said.

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A Spanish fishing vessel intercepted the boat carrying the migrants about 240 kilometers (150 miles) north of the Cape Verde archipelago and rescued 38 of them, including four children, Safa Msehli, a spokeswoman for the UNs International Organization for Migration, said by email. Seven others had been confirmed dead, and 56 were missing, she said.

Sadly, people missing at sea are presumed dead, Msehli said.

The number of people leaving Senegal for Spain on rickety wooden boats has surged over the past year, leading to a sudden increase in drownings.

On average, five people died each day in the six months through June while making the journey, according to Spanish aid group Walking Borders. It put the death toll from this weeks incident at 92 based on information it obtained from migrants relatives.

Read More: When Does Relocating Unwanted Migrants Cross a Line?: QuickTake

The migrants boat left Fass Boye, a village on Senegals Atlantic Coast, for the Canary Islands around July 10 with more than 100 people on board, Massame Mbaye from the National Union of Fishermen of Senegal told Senegalese news site Rewmi.

All the passengers were Senegalese, besides one Guinea-Bissau national, Senegals foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

The European Union is trying to stem the flow of migrants to its shores and last month signed a controversial deal with Tunisia to try and prevent them from traveling.

Senegal, which has made migration by sea illegal, is working with Spanish patrol vessels to control immigrant flows. It has yet to decide whether to accept an offer to deploy the EU border control agency, Frontex.

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A Massachusetts mother died while trying to save her 10-year-old child after he fell into a river during a family hike in New Hampshire.

According to a Facebook post from the Everett Police Department in Massachusetts, Melissa Bagley, 44, "(drowned) while trying to aid one of her children who slipped into the river."

A child slipped and fell into a pool and could not escape the fast, circulating current, Sgt. Heidi Murphy of the state Fish and Game Department said in a news release, according to The Associated Press. Bagley jumped into the river to help her child and began to immediately have trouble, she said.

The family, who lives in Lynn, Massachusetts, had been visiting the popular Franconia Falls, which flow into the Pemigewasset River in the White Mountain National Forest, according to a New Hampshire State Police press release.

According to state police, the family of five and a friend from Salem, Massachusetts walked to Franconia Falls, where Melissa's 10-year-old son fell into the river, prompting family members to jump in after him.

"The family was able to rescue the 10-year-old, but two other family members became trapped in the rocks and current," said police. According to a report by NBC Boston, Melissa's husband Sean Bagley, a police lieutenant in Everett, Massachusetts, pulled his son out of the water.

The press release stated that one of the people helping  an 18-year-old man  was rescued from the water by his family, and subsequently transported to Littleton Hospital.

"The mother of the family, a 44-year-old female, was located in the water below the falls and despite resuscitation efforts by family members was pronounced deceased," the press release says. "An autopsy is scheduled."

NBC Boston reports that Bagley performed CPR on his wife.

The police said in their press release that drugs and alcohol did not contribute to the tragedy and asked that anyone who witnessed the incident to contact the department.

"As a parent, I know that there is nothing that any parent wouldnt do for their child," Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria wrote in a Facebook post. "Melissa did everything she could to protect her children and her family."

DeMaria added, "This tragic event is an important reminder to us all to never miss an opportunity to tell those you love how much they mean to you."

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
Latonya Eason slammed cops for detaining her 10-year-old son, Quantavious Eason, for urinating behind her car (Latonya Eason/Facebook)

An irate mother in Mississippi slammed local police when they detained her 10-year-old son and hauled him off to jail for urinating behind her car.

Latonya Eason was at an attorneys office in Senatobia for legal advice on 10 August when an officer saw her son Quantavious Eason peeing outside, WHBQ reported.

I was like, Son, why did you do that? He said, Mom, my sister said they dont have a bathroom there, Ms Eason told WHBQ. I was like, You knew better, you should have come and asked me if they had a restroom.

The child was initially going to be let off with a warning, the officer telling Ms Eason: Since you handled it like a mom, then he could just get back in the car.

But several more officers suddenly arrived on the scene and the boy was detained.

Another officer came over there and was like, Your son gotta get out of the car. He gotta be arrested because he cant do that, Ms Eason said.

A photo Ms Eason posted to her Facebook page shows a solemn Quantavious sitting in the back of a cop car.

He recalled the frightening ordeal to the news outlet.

A photo Ms Eason posted to her Facebook page shows a solemn Quantavious sitting in the back of a cop car (Latonya Eason/Facebook)

I started crying a little bit. They took me down there and got me out of the truck. I didnt know what was happening, Quantavious said. I get scared and start shaking and thinking Im going to jail.

Police transported Quantavious to the police station, where he later said he was held in a jail cell. The boy was not handcuffed, police later noted.

Ms Eason admitted that her son urinating in the parking lot was not right, but at the same time I handled it like a parent and for one officer to tell my baby to get back in the car it was okay and to have the other pull up and take him to jail. Like no.

Im just speechless right now. Why would you arrest a 10-year-old kid, she added.

Quantavious was charged with child in need of services then released to his mother, she said.

But the upset mother said the damage had already been done.

Police Chief Richard Chandler issued a statement saying the officers decision to transport the child to jail was a mistake (Senatobia Police Department)

That could really traumatize my baby. My baby could get to the point where he dont wanna have an encounter with police  period, she said.

The police chief issued a statement, stating an officer at the scene did not initially see a parent when the child was caught urinating.

Officers then found the mother inside the nearby attorneys office. The chief then went on to say that transferring the child to the jail was not necessary.

Under these circumstances, it was an error in judgement for us to transport the child to the police station since the mother was present at that time as a reasonable alternative, he said.
KANSAS CITY, Mo.  Kansas City police are investigating a two-vehicle crash that left a motorcyclist seriously injured Thursday.

The crash was reported just after 3:30 p.m. near E. Front Street and Universal Avenue.

American flag flown over Pentagon in honor of fallen Independence officer

Police said the driver of the motorcycle was traveling west on Front Street when the driver struck a black Kia Sportage that was heading east and making a left turn onto Universal.

Police said the collision caused the motorcyclist to be ejected off the vehicle. The motorcyclist was taken to a local hospital with critical injuries and is reported to be in serious condition.

The driver of the Kida was not injured in the crash, according to police.

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The investigation into the incident is ongoing.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
Throughout the two-day Election Crime Bureau Summit, Mike Lindell and other speakers at the Springfield event stoked anticipation for the revelation of their plan to swiftly secure U.S. elections.

When the countdown to the plans reveal reached zero, Lindell premiered a video touting new technology capable of detecting nearby wireless internet connections.

He then proceeded to fly one of these wireless monitoring devices into the Springfield Expo Center  mounted on a drone.

Mike Lindell and Jeff O'Donnell, a 2020 election denier, watch as a drone flies towards them, mounted with a Wireless Monitoring Device capable of detecting Wi-Fi connections at polling places during Lindell's Election Crime Bureau Summit on Aug. 17 in Springfield, MO.

Lindell demonstrated the capability of the device  a WMD, for short  to detect cellphones, printers, computers and other devices connected to local networks.

He hopes to use the devices to detect suspicious internet connections in polling places, working off the debunked theory that vote tabulation machines are connected to the internet.

Lindell leaves many questions unanswered

When the crowd raised detailed questions about specific aspects of the technology or voting system, Lindell delivered less than satisfactory answers.

I've worked the polls here at Greene County, said attendee James Claire. At the end of the night, the results, the ballots are all packed up. The results are put on a zip drive, and that package is taken to the clerk's office. So I think that's the point where you might have problems.

Thats all been covered, Lindell said. Youve been lied to there, too. It makes it look like nothing goes online, but, believe me, at some point they go online.

Another respondent asked about more technical aspects of the new WMD.

What spectrum is this device actually detecting? an attendee from South Dakota asked. Especially with the DS450, that motherboard is made in Germany using the European standards, not the UL spectrum.

Although the South Dakota attendee was using a microphone, and his voice was well amplified throughout the Expo Center, Lindell twice said he couldnt hear what was being said. Finally, after a guest in the front row repeated the question to Lindell, he provided an answer.

Dont worry, Lindell said. Trust me, its been a year in the making. Its all covered. Every single part is covered. Theres no hole.

Lindell tried to steer the line of questioning away from the technical aspects of the device.

So, Id really like questions, like, what can we do with ourselves to do this? Lindell said.

The audience at the Mike Lindell Election Crime Bureau Summit listens as Lindell unveils his plan to secure elections in the country on Aug. 17, 2023 in Springfield, MO.

Respondents peppered Lindel with questions about the device's range, price and availability. Insisting that the devices are perfectly legal, Lindell said that they must be placed within 100 yards of a polling place, but he thinks it could be set for further distances.

The drone is not essential to the device's use, but it made for a splashy entrance to the event and implied that drone's could be used to fly the WMD over polling places. As for their price and availability, Lindell didnt give a clear answer.

Up until now, my plan was to give them out for the election, Lindell said. That was my plan, but I ran out of money. Thats why you see the Lindell Offense Fund up there on the board.

Lindell said that the Springfield event cost him $1 million, which he took out a loan to fund. (Emails sent to attendees in advance said the event would cost $3 million). No admission fee was charged, and meals were provided during the two-day summit.

After sharing a heartfelt tale of his divine mandate to secure elections in the country, he emphasized his need for financial support to accomplish this mission.

Following this, one elderly attendee shouted, Mike, where can I give you my check?

Mike Lindell walks among the crowd and collects donation checks from attendees at the Election Crime Bureau Summit on Aug. 17, 2023 in Springfield, MO.

Lindell personally came into the crowd and began accepting donation checks. Other attendees in rows not reached by Lindell passed around a pink Trump 2024 hat to collect other donations.

Later in the event, Jeff ODonnell, a Florida-based Lindell supporter, estimated that the device would be under $500.

The cost is still being determined because the price of the components is always fluctuating. It depends on volume runs and a lot of things, ODonnell said. Also we're trying to make sure that we're not putting any more expensive hardware than what we need to get the job done.

ODonnell stressed the importance of getting the devices into sensitive election locations.

The people who get these devices can take them around to the election offices, Secretary of States offices, precincts, if thats what they want to do, ODonnell said. The other side has ballot mules. Well, were going to have truth mules.

We want these officials to know that we are monitoring them, Lindell said.

More: Missouri politicians make appearances at Mike Lindells Election Crime Bureau event

Other components of Lindells election plan

The plan would not be complete without some way to monitor the Wi-Fi connections detected by the WMD devices. Lindell offered a solution through means of his FrankSocial website and mobile app.

With a social feed that allows users to detect real time crime, FrankSocial will allow users to report suspected election crime in their states and counties. It connects with other social platforms, like Trumps Truth Social, to allow users to see and have their content seen by a larger audience.

The bad guys have hundreds and hundreds of organizations that are committed 24/7, 365 to making sure you don't have any freedom anymore so that they can steal the elections away from us, said Patrick Colbeck, a speaker at the event. We need organizations that are equally equipped. It's got to be persistent.

Users were urged to download the FrankSocial app and create accounts during a live demonstration of the new real time crime feature. However, the app soon crashed, the demonstration was postponed, and attendees were unable to gain access.

What organizers first assumed was a crash from a large volume of new downloads was later attributed to a cyberattack from an unknown source. Colbeck accused an unnamed assailant of assaulting the events internet connection, too.

There's a reason why they're messing around with our internet connection down here, Colbeck said. There's a reason why they're trying to de-platform us right now. There's a reason why they cut off the mic whenever (Lindell) talks about election fraud. It's because they can't handle the truth.

More: Election conspiracy theories, talk of divine mandate at Mike Lindell's Springfield event

The event wrapped up by giving attendees resources to challenge elections in their home states, including talking points for arguing voting machines are corruptible, implementing hand-counted elections, alleging that fraud happens in elections and combating misinformation.

Linda Rantz, who pushed for hand-counted ballots in Osage County, told the crowd that the hand-counted election in the county in April saved money and hardly took more time to complete.

Rantz calculated that it cost Osage County $3,840 to hand count ballots in April 2023, but estimated that it cost them $10,271 to use voting machines in April 2022.

Linda Rantz, who pushed for hand-counted ballots in Osage County, speaks to the audience at the Mike Lindell Election Crime Bureau Summit about implementing hand-count elections in their home states on Aug. 17, 2023 in Springfield, MO.

However, those figures are disputed by a letter to the editor of The Unterrified Democrat, the countys local print newspaper, written by Nicci Kammerich, the county clerk and election authority in Osage County.

Last year, the total cost for elections in April 2022 was $20,796.18, Kammerich wrote. This April Election the total cost was $21,271.69 That is a $475.51 difference.

However, in a small municipal election, voter turnout was much lower than it would be in a general election.

Additionally, 36 election judges waived payment this year, but indicated that they may not return if the hand count process continued in future elections. If all had wanted payment for their services, it would have raised the bill by $4,006.52, for a total of $25,278.21.

Rantz repeatedly insisted that both local and state governments were unwilling to provide exact totals of the cost of their elections. She claimed that sometimes officials didnt even know what the cost was.

We know more about this, because we are really digging into it, Rantz said.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Mike Lindell election plan: Wi-Fi detection devices in polling places
Authorities have identified the 37-year-old man who a Nampa police officer shot and killed Wednesday.

The Canyon County Sheriffs Office, which is leading the Critical Incident Task Force investigation into the fatal shooting, said Nampa resident Adam Michael Trejo was the man who fled St. Lukes Nampa Medical Center, attempted to steal multiple vehicles and stole two knives from a nearby restaurant before a Nampa police officer shot and killed him, according to a news release issued Thursday.

Nampa Interim Police Chief Curt Shankel previously told the Idaho Statesman that Trejo might have been having a mental health problem.

He appeared to be kind of in a crisis, a mental crisis of some sort, Shankel said by phone.

The news release also corrected a piece of information about the shooting. Shankel previously said Trejo came at an officer with a knife, but the sheriffs office said that initial reports were incorrect and that Trejo lunged aggressively toward a nearby citizen after police confronted him, which caused the Nampa officer to shoot.

The officer has been placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard policy. The Critical Incident Task Force is expected to release the officers name, but Shankel told the Statesman that the involved officer has more than five years of police experience, which includes a year with Nampa police.

The Idaho Statesman has reached out to the sheriffs office to ask when the officer might be identified.

These are the types of situations that law enforcement never wants to find themselves in, but we all swore an oath to protect the community, and its one we take very seriously, Canyon County Sheriff Kieran Donahue said in the release. Unfortunately, these types of life-and-death incidents arise where officers are required to make split-second decisions.

Its been nearly two years since the Nampa Police Department was involved in a shooting. In 2021, the department was involved in three police shootings, two of which were fatal, according to a database maintained by the Idaho Statesman.

This was the first police shooting in Canyon County this year. There have been eight law enforcement shootings in Ada County, though not all of those had a fatality.

There have been nine fatal shootings throughout Idaho, including six in the Treasure Valley, according to the Statesman database.
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  The National Hurricane Center is now monitoring a fourth area, one of which has a 70% chance of development within the next seven days.

The newest system is located out in the Atlantic, south of two other areas of possible development, according to the National Hurricane Center. Another system has a low chance of development in the western Gulf of Mexico.

(Courtesy of the National Hurricane Center)

Disturbance 2, which is located a few hundred miles west of the Cabo Verde Island, has a 70% chance of development within seven days, according to the National Hurricane Center. Disturbance 1, located 1,000 miles west-southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands has a 50% chance of development within seven days.

Disturbance 3 is located 500 miles east-southeast of the Lesser Antilles and Disturbance 4 is located north of Hispaniola and will move into the Gulf of Mexico by early next week, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Disturbance 3 has a 20% chance of development within seven days, while Disturbance 4 has a 30% chance of development, according to the National Hurricane Center.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
Given Russias recent aggressive actions towards civilian shipping in the Black Sea, a potential escalation between NATO and Russia in the region cannot be ruled out, Bulgarian Defense Minister Todor Tagarev said on Aug. 18, as reported by local news outlet Novinite.

We cannot rule out a clash between NATO and Russia in the Black Sea, but we seek to avoid escalation, said Tagarev.

Read also: NATO official backtracks on comment that Ukraine could join NATO after swapping land for peace

However, this depends on Russia's actions. Russia constantly provokes NATO, including by expanding the zone in which it exercises control [in the Black Sea].

Concerning Russia's warning shot and search of a ship near the Bulgarian economic zone in the Black Sea, the minister expressed his opinion that it's safer for civilian ships to pass through Bulgarian and Romanian territorial waters rather than through Turkeys.

Read also: Ukraines Black Sea strategy

Tagarev also noted that it depends solely on Ukraine when the war will end, the main condition being the restoration of control over all its territories.

Read also: White House denies discussions about Ukraines joining NATO in exchange for ceding territory

In response to a question whether Sofia could supply Ukraine with some of its Soviet-era fighter jets, the minister reiterated that Bulgaria has no other choice but to keep the existing MiG-29 fighters until "we can fully perform our air defense tasks with the ordered F-16s". However, the new jets have not yet arrived in the country.

On Aug. 17, former Supreme Allied Commander Europe (2009-2013), retired U.S. Navy admiral James Stavridis, said that Russia risks igniting a war with NATO with its ship interceptions in international waters.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
An abortion rights group in Nebraska is taking initial steps to put the issue on the ballot in 2024.

A political campaign committee called Protect Our Rights filed paperwork earlier this month in support of a ballot initiative that would amend the state constitution to protect the right to an abortion.

Language for the measure hasnt been proposed yet, but the Secretary of State will need to sign off before the group can start collecting signatures.

To place a proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot requires valid signatures from 10 percent of the registered voters in the state  a little less than 123,000 as of the most recent public data available.

In addition, signatures must be collected from 5 percent of the registered voters in 38 of Nebraskas 93 counties.

Nebraska lawmakers in May passed a 12-week abortion ban, as part of a broader bill that also bans gender-affirming health care for transgender minors. The abortion ban carries exceptions for pregnancies resulting from rape and incest, and to save the life of the mother.

The law is set to go into effect Oct. 1.

Planned Parenthood and the ACLU sued, and a state judge last week upheld the law. The groups announced an appeal Friday.

One of the organizers of the Protect our Rights Coalition is Andi Curry Grubb, the executive director for Nebraska of Planned Parenthood North Central States, as well as executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Nebraska.

In a statement, she said the group is committed to exploring all possible options to protect our rights in Nebraska and restore the rights Nebraskans lost when politicians passed an abortion ban earlier this year.

State ballot measures are becoming the new battleground over abortion access in the wake of the Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, and its proven to be a winning issue for abortion rights advocates.

Every state that put abortion on the ballot in 2022 voted in favor of protecting access to the procedure in some way, including Republican-leaning Kentucky and Kansas.

Earlier this month, voters in Ohio rejected an attempt by state GOP lawmakers to make it harder to pass ballot measures, which was largely viewed as a proxy fight for abortion ahead of a November ballot measure to enshrine abortion protections into the constitution.

We are considering a ballot initiative, specifically, because we know the majority of Nebraskans agree that the government shouldnt be involved in personal decisions about healthcare. These deeply personal decisions should be treated with compassion and privacy, without government or political interference, Protect Our Rights said.

Sandy Danek, executive director of the anti-abortion group Nebraska Right to Life, said she expected abortion rights activists to push a ballot measure.

Nebraska has been a leader in pro-life legislation, including parental consent, ending taxpayer funding of abortion, banning abortion once a baby can feel pain, eliminating dismemberment abortions, and the recently passed Preborn Child Protection Act, Danek said.

A ballot initiative could negate these current laws that have been supported by a majority of Nebraskans. I am confident that once Nebraskans understand the consequences of this effort, they will reject it, she said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Netflix employee missing in California just two weeks after moving to Bay Area for dream job

A 22-year-old Cornell University graduate who just moved to California for a dream job at Netflix has vanished under strange circumstances, according to his friends and family.

Yohanes Kidane, a computer scientist from Rochester, New York, who began work as a software engineer with the streaming giant just two weeks ago, was last seen getting into an Uber at 28 North Fourth Street in San Jose around 7:15 p.m. PT Monday.

Days earlier, he had told friends that another rideshare experience had been so concerning that he didn't plan on riding alone ever again. Now his family is looking for answers.

MAN SPOTTED AT OREGON STORAGE UNIT NOT CONNECTED TO MEKENNA REILEY DISAPPEARANCE, SHERIFF'S OFFICE SAYS

"What we do know is that he was on camera leaving the apartment building getting into an Uber Monday evening," said Yosief Kidane, Yohanes' older brother. "We know that his belongings, his phone and his wallet, were found at the Golden Gate Bridge Tuesday morning by a citizen, who collected them and tried to help us return them to him. We know that an officer found his backpack at the Golden Gate Bridge later Tuesday afternoon, and we know that he was never at home at work on Tuesday or Wednesday."

No money was missing from his wallet, and his laptop was still inside the backpack.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Kidane's family and friends from Cornell have formed a "task force" and traveled to the Bay Area to take part in the search. They also have a private investigator and are hoping that someone who saw something on Monday evening will come forward with information that leads to the missing man's whereabouts.

BODY FOUND IN OREGON RESERVOIR AMID SEARCH FOR MISSING WOMAN LAST SEEN NAKED AND AFRAID AT CONSTRUCTION SITE

Yohanes Kidane, second from right and his older brother Yosief, far right, are a year apart but often mistaken for twins. Yosief has traveled from the family's home in Rochester, New York, to take part in the search effort for his missing brother in California's Bay Area.

They have been scouring shelters, hospitals and other places for signs of Kidane, but so far they have found nothing and are asking for the public's help.

"We just really hope that if some people saw something, or saw someone, or something unusual or someone that looked like him to come forward with anything they have to the San Jose Police Department," he said.

The brothers are a year apart, Kidane said, and so close that many people mistake the for twins.

Yohanes Kidane, left, and Austin Farmer, second from right, are close friends and former roommates at Cornell University, an Ivy League school in Ithaca, New York. Kidane went missing just two weeks after moving to California's Bay Area to work as a software engineer for Netflix.

"People couldn't tell us apart  they mixed up our names," he said. "We went to university together, where we studied together. . . . We got through our problems together, and even when there's been periods where we weren't in the same area, or we hadn't seen each other for a while, he's always been the part of me and integral to who I am as a person."

Austin Farmer, Kidane's former roommate at Cornell, said that days before the disappearance, the missing software engineer had told friends about another suspicious rideshare encounter.

"The Uber driver insisted, if it was an actual Uber driver, that instead of taking him to the location that he needed to be, he's like, 'Oh, I'm going to take you to Oakland. It's much safer there,'" Farmer said. "And he just wouldn't let Yohanes go where he needed to go. So they took him to downtown Oakland. I guess he eventually got back to his apartment or wherever he lives, but that was pretty suspicious."

During the experience, Kidane texted another friend that he "might be in trouble."

"He asked me to cancel to pay extra," Kidane wrote. "I got a sense he's taking me there for no good reason."

After the ordeal, he followed up: "Never going in Uber solo again in SF."

San Jose police, who are leading a multi-agency investigation into Kidane's disappearance, told Fox News Digital that the investigation is ongoing but that they had no additional information they could provide to the public as of Friday morning.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 408-277-8900.

A friend has established a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for the search effort.
Expo boosts China's cooperation with South and Southeast Asian countries

10:30, August 18, 2023 By Yang Wenming, Li Maoying ( People's Daily

The seventh China-South Asia Expo, themed "Solidarity and Coordination for Common Development," kicked off on August 16 in Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan province.

The five-day expo features 15 exhibition halls and 14 activities, covering all South Asian and Southeast Asian countries as well as member states of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

Workers arrange exhibits in an exhibition hall of the China-South Asia Expo in Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan province. (Photo/Chen Fei)

Since its inauguration in 2013, the China-South Asia Expo has been permanently settled in Kunming. It has grown into an important platform for economic and trade cooperation between China, South Asian and Southeast Asian countries over the years.

An international trade enterprise cluster park of China (Yunnan) Pilot Free Trade Zone has already attracted 24 human resource companies. Chang Jixing, head of the human resources and social security bureau of Guandu district, Kunming, visits the park every day.

"Since international trade is expanding with each passing day, we must make plans for foreign trade talents beforehand," Chang said.

A few days ago, a business delegation from Sri Lanka visited the park. Attracted by the huge potential of the Chinese market, visitors kept asking questions to the executive of the park, in an attempt to cooperate with Chinese companies with Sri Lankan jewelry and black tea.

When experiencing livestreaming in the park, members of the delegation were full of praise for the brand-new studio, which is brimming with ethnic decorative elements and equipped with advanced facilities.

"The China-South Asia Expo is not only a stage for us to display commodities, but also a platform for us to make friends with Chinese foreign trade companies," a member said.

On August 4, the first batch of 59 exhibits of the expo entered the exhibition halls under the supervision of local customs officers.

Photo shows an architectural rendering of an international trade enterprise cluster park of China (Yunnan) Pilot Free Trade Zone in southwest China's Yunnan province. (Photo from WeChat account of the publicity department of Yunnan province)

"All the exhibits of this year's event were declared through integrated national customs clearance procedures, which has reduced logistics costs for enterprises and ensured quick customs clearance and on-time display," said Fu Yu, customs declaration manager of Yunnan Easy-trans International Freight Forwarder Co., Ltd.

In 2013, when the first China-South Asia Expo took place, the total trade value between China and South Asian countries was less than $100 billion. In 2022, the figure approached $200 billion, representing an average annual growth rate of 8.3 percent in ten years.

China has been the largest trading partner of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Maldives and other countries for many consecutive years.

Many products from South Asian countries, including aquatic products, tea, and nuts, enjoy great popularity among Chinese consumers, with exports to China continuously rising.

In January 2018, representatives of China and Sri Lanka jointly pressed the launch button, marking the official completion and delivery of the Moragahakanda Dam. Undertaken by PowerChina Sinohydro Bureau 14 Co., Ltd., this dam is Sri Lanka's largest water conservancy hub project.

Previously, the surrounding areas of the dam frequently suffered power outages and flooded farmland during rainy seasons. Since the dam was built, the locals have enjoyed a stable electricity supply and seen continuous improvement in their lives.

The Moragahakanda Dam epitomizes how China-invested projects have contributed to the development of South Asia. According to the latest data from China's Ministry of Commerce, by July 2023, China's cumulative investment in South Asia reached nearly $15 billion, and the turnover of projects contracted by Chinese companies in the region exceeded $200 billion.

A train from Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan province, to Vientiane, capital of Laos, passes over a bridge along the China-Laos Railway in Jinghong, Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefecture, Yunnan province. (People's Daily Online/Li Yunsheng)

The opening of the China-Laos Railway has made railway transportation more convenient, while aviation and other comprehensive transportation networks have become increasingly smooth.

In an effort to better serve foreign participants in the China-South Asia Expo, China Eastern Airlines launched a new air route linking Kunming and Kathmandu, Nepal, further strengthening exchanges between China, South Asian and Southeast Asian countries. It also increased the frequency of flights between Kunming and Bangkok, capital of Thailand, as well as flights between Kunming and Colombo, capital of Sri Lanka.

China and South Asia accounted for one-fifth of the world's total economy, representing one of the fastest-growing and most dynamic regions in the world with active trade and investment, and enormous potential for cooperation.

Under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project is moving forward steadily, the Gwadar Port in Pakistan and the Hambantota Port in Sri Lanka have driven the upgrading of local industries, and cooperative projects such as the airport reconstruction and expansion projects in Nepal and the Maldives have gained results.

These projects vividly show China's tangible contributions to the development of South Asian countries and regional connectivity.

China and South Asian countries have firmly stood together, helped each other and overcome difficulties in solidarity, no matter in the face of natural disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis, or global challenges such as international financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.

(Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun)
ISTANBUL, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- A water expert has warned that Japan's dumping of Fukushima nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean could have lethal consequences.

Japan's efforts to discharge nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the sea triggered global concern, said Murat Kapikiran, the head of the Istanbul Chamber of Agricultural Engineers.

"The world knows that the (radioactive) cesium isotope in the contaminated water that would be released from Fukushima has a half-life of 30 years. This isotope is dangerous and lethal in case of contact with living creatures," Kapikiran told Xinhua in an online interview.

"It is even known that one milligram of it is dangerous enough to destroy a big building," he said. "Therefore, the discharge of this wastewater into the ocean could lead to an extensive global disaster."

He believes the contaminated water could spread worldwide with strong ocean currents, impacting human health.

"The nuclear material that will be accumulated in the leaves will definitely harm human health or the superstructures in the food chain and will have a cancer-causing effect," he said.

He also noted that the pollution will substantially negatively impact fish nests along the coasts, especially in the Pacific, which will be lethal.

"It can be said very clearly that it will significantly affect fish eggs and cause mutations in fish and aquatic plant populations," he said, noting that it could be fatal to those who consume such products.

Kapikiran urged Japan to act on scientific data and use other methods to eliminate the contaminated water without harming the environment.

Kapikiran voiced hope for a method that prioritizes global benefits, saying that it would be better to clean the cesium and other radioactive isotopes and elements from the water and then release it into nature.

According to media reports, Japan is considering discharging Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water into the sea in late August or early September. 
Oleksii Reznikov, Defence Minister of Ukraine, has said the Netherlands and Denmark gave the green light to supply F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine after Ukrainian pilots complete their training.

Source: Reznikov on Twitter

Quote: "Great news from our friends in the United States! There is a green light for the Netherlands and Denmark to deliver F-16s to Ukraine after our pilots complete their training.

Ukraine has proven that the impossible is indeed possible. Our military has proven it is [full of] fast learners.

We will soon prove that Ukraines victory is inevitable. Thank you to all our partners and friends in the United States, the Netherlands, and Denmark."

Earlier: The United States has approved the transfer of instructional materials for F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine at Denmarks request. This should bring the beginning of Ukrainian pilots training on American fighter jets closer.

Background:

In July, Ukraine signed a memorandum with 11 of its partner states at the NATO Summit in Vilnius. The memorandum defines the conditions of Ukrainian pilots training on the F-16s.

The exercises should begin in August, but, according to media reports, the United States took a long time to approve the final training plan, since European states did not agree on all its details. Denmark's Defence Ministry confirmed earlier that the Ukrainian F-16 training would begin by the end of August.

Jake Sullivan, the National Security Advisor to the President of the United States, confirmed Washington's approval for the Netherlands and Denmark to deliver F-16s to Ukraine after Ukrainian pilots complete their training.

Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron!
First of two parts

The history of Punjabis is rooted deeply in Bellingham.

Punjab is a region in India that is known for its vibrant agriculture. People who originate from the region are known as Punjabis. Sikhism, or otherwise known as Sikhi, is a religion and philosophy originated in Punjab and those who adhere to it are commonly referred to as Sikhs.

It was nearly 116 years ago on Sept. 4. 1907 when Punjabi migrant workers in Bellingham were forced out of their homes by mobs of white men. Their goal was to drive South Asians out of the city, said Satpal Sidhu, the current Whatcom County executive.

Sidhu, who has resided in Lynden for about 30 years with his family, made history when he was the first Sikh and person of color to be elected as Whatcom County executive in 2020, according to a Bellingham Herald article.

Today, the Punjabis of Bellingham and Whatcom County have become recognized members of various communities. From berry farmers to the creation of the Chardi Kala Project, a group that bridges gaps, Sikhs forged their path in the city.

Currently, out of the nearly 230,677 people who live in Whatcom County, about 5.1% are Asian alone, according to the United States Census Bureau. The Chardi Kala Project estimates that about 8,000 Punjabis reside in the county, or about 3% of the population.

History of Punjabis in Bellingham

When Punjabi folks first came to Bellingham, they took up jobs in the lumber mills. Punjabis, who were incorrectly called Hindus or Muslims at the time, lived in rented homes, sometimes with up to 10 people, Sidhu said.

So Bellingham gained in the early 1900s, about 250 to 350 living here, and they lived together on the lettered streets, Sidhu said. There would be five, six, seven or 10 people living in one home and they will pay one person to be their cook and theyre not related by blood, but they live together.

The Punjabi people divided up the work, some people worked day or night shifts at the lumber mills, one person would do laundry and another person would cook. The people who worked at home would get paid through wages that were divided up.

So these [Punjabis] were very successful, successful in the sense that first thing they will get the job and then they were very loyal. And since they had come that far, they wanted to send money back home [to India]. So they would not refuse overtime and they were not into unions, Sidhu said.

The managers at the mills took advantage of their willingness to work extra for more money and would schedule them to work on weekends or ask them to stay late, and the working Sikhs obliged without complaint, he said.

Because theyve made that money, they will send the money back home [to Punjab], but at the same time, it caused some friction with the white people. They said they are reducing our value because the wages wont go up because they will work [for] a few cents less, Sidhu said.

The 1907 riots against Sikhs

On Sept. 4, 1907, mobs of 400-500 white men took action against the Punjabis living in Bellingham.

According to The Seattle Civil Rights & Labor History Project, the rioters wanted to scare Punjabis out of the mills and the city. The rioters broke windows in town, beat people, overpowered police officers and pulled men who were working that day out of the mills.

Groups of rioters went to the lettered streets, as it was common knowledge Punjabis lived there and forced them out of their homes, Sidhu said. Punjabis spent the night in a basement under the old City Hall.

They were afraid and a lot of people didnt understand the language, Sidhu said.

The Punjabis were forced out of town within the next day or two and none of them came back. It was not until the 1980s when a few Punjabi people returned to live in Bellingham, unaware of the history that was long since forgotten.

Sidhu said he and other Punjabis learned in 2007 about what happened when the Bellingham Herald wrote about the anniversary of the riots in an article titled, Our View: 100 years after riot coverage: our apology.

During that time in 1907, the Heralds editorial board tolerated and encouraged racism in the paper, the article said.

Sidhu said after spending a lot of time researching and uncovering what happened in 1907, he and several other Punjabi community members brought up the subdued history to the former mayor and former Whatcom County executive who also were unaware.

We said our community is upset and we want action taken, he said.

Sept. 4 was declared a Day of Healing and Reconciliation by the city in acknowledgment of the violence against Sikhs.

In 2017, the Arch of Healing and Reconciliation was built as a way to honor early Whatcom County immigrants. The arch sits across from the current City Hall.

A celebration around The Arch of Healing and Reconciliation. The arch is a reminder of the past and bridge toward the future.

What is the Chardi Kala Project?

In Punjabi, Chardi Kala means to keep your spirits uplifted by grace and doing the right thing, said Kamalla Kaur, executive director of the local Chardi Kala Project.

The Chardi Kala Project, led by Sikh community members, was started in 2018 to bridge the gap between Whatcom County Sikhs and the broader community. The ultimate goal is to reduce hate crimes against Sikhs through outreach and education.

According to their website, the Chardi Kala Project founders, Kirpal Singh and Phyllis Singh, decided to develop the foundation in response to increased discriminatory actions against Sikh Americans.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in 2018 about 60 hate crimes against Sikhs were reported.

Kaur said that Sikhs in Whatcom County witnessed parades of pickup trucks with large United States flags honking outside of the Sikh temple and yelling go back to where you came from.

Gurdwaras are temples where Sikhs come together to worship. There are four gurdwaras in Whatcom County, one in Blaine, two in Bellingham and one in Lynden.

Some work that the project has done includes inviting non-Sikh communities to the gurdwara to talk to older and younger Sikhs. They get the chance to learn more of the culture and traditions of Punjabis while eating food at the Langar hall provided by the kitchen. Langar is known as a community kitchen in gurdwaras.

We noticed that spontaneous translations started happening that the people who are both Punjabi and English started talking to each other and laughing together, Kaur said. Its absolutely the best intercultural thing I could imagine.

On other occasions, volunteers of the Chardi Kala Project speak to groups such as K-12 students. According to their website, they teach students about the significance of turbans and why not to fear them. Volunteers are joined by Ragi musicians, who are Sikh musicians that play hymns.

To high school and college students, members of the Chardi Kala Project talk about hate crimes, how students can get involved in learning about new immigrant cultures and how they can advocate for justice, the website says.

The Chardi Kala Project has worked with the Interfaith Coalition and various religious organizations. They are an umbrella organization under the Chuckanut Health Foundation, and have partnerships with One Whatcom and Whatcom Educational Credit Union.

Chardi Kalas The Homeless Hunger Project is a collaboration with HomesNow! to deliver food to unhoused people in two of Bellinghams tiny house villages. Chardi Kalas goal is to provide food every other week, especially during the colder seasons, Kaur said.

Thats the first thing we started doing is feeding the homeless in Bellingham, she said. So we started taking food from the langar hall and feeding the homeless every two weeks.

Kaur said that they take batches of vegetarian Indian food from the Guru Nanak Gursikh Gurdwara temple in Lynden, which can feed around 100 people, and hand it off to volunteers from HomesNow! so they can deliver it.

We try to stay in relationship with [the unhoused people] and it is a wonderful thing because theyre just folks, you know?

Kaur said many of the unhoused people in Bellingham have become Indian food fanatics from eating vegetarian curries to pakoras.

She said they are applying for grants to feed more unhoused people. They received some money from WECU and Industrial Credit Union.

When the history of Sikhs being driven out of Bellingham was uncovered, it brought the Punjabi community and broader community together to acknowledge the violence. Sidhu said the Punjabi community wanted to create cooperation instead of spreading animosity.

We [want to ] show the teachings of our religion that you never forget, but forgive, Sidhu said.
In a city absolutely packed with history, some of the oldest houses are owned by your next door neighbor.

Newport is famous for its colonial buildings, many of which date back to before the country was even founded in 1776. However, as many of these older properties are purchased and restored by preservation-minded organizations, others still are used as homes for Newport residents.

Capt. John Mawdsley House (228 Spring St.)

The rear portion of the Capt. John Mawdsley House dates back to before 1680.

Before 1680

Just across the street from the iconic neighborhood diner Franklin Spa sits an unassuming white colonial home surrounded by lush trees and greenery. This house is one of the oldest in Newport, with the rear portion of the building dating back to before 1680. Historians believe it was built by Jireh Bull, son-in-law to the first governor of the Rhode Island colony, Benedict Arnold, whose great-grandson is the infamous General Benedict Arnold who had betrayed the American army during the revolutionary war.

What's Great Off 138: Learn about Tiverton's colonial history at Chace-Cory House in Four Corners

Capt. John Mawdsley lived in the house during the 18th century and constructed a large addition to the front. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 when it was owned by the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, now called Historic New England. The nonprofit sold the property to the current owners Betsy D. Ray and Frank M. Ray for $35,000 in 1976, the equivalent of $200,729.61 today. The property is currently assessed to be worth $1.3 million.

John Bliss House (2 Wilbur Ave.)

The John Bliss House is one of the last remaining examples of a stone-ender, an architectural style unique to Rhode Island.

1679/1680

The Mawdsley House is not the only historical property in Newport related to Gov. Benedict Arnold, either. Arnold deeded the land to another son-in-law, John Bliss, who built this farmhouse in 1680. The property is one of the last remaining examples of a stone-ender, a historic architectural style unique to Rhode Island which features one side entirely made of chimney stone.

The property was in the spotlight in 2018 when it was up for sale for $825,000 and later in 2022 when the current owners, Ryan and Monika Miller, discovered a historic cannonball on the property.

LucasJohnston House (40 Division St.)

The Lucas-Johnston House was once home to Augustus Johnston, the namesake of Johnston, Rhode Island, who fled Newport when an effigy of him was hanged in front of the Colony House.

1720

This large colonial home on Division Street was registered with the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. It was the home of Augustus Lucas who purchased the land around 1711 and built the home around 1720, according to Historic New England, however, dendrochronology dates the wood of the property from as early as 1650 to as late as 1759, the latter date of which is more consistent with the exterior appearance of the building according to The Oxford Tree-Ring Laboratory. Lucas gave the house to his grandson, Augustus Johnston, sometime before 1765. Johnston would later become the citys Stamp Master, the person in charge of enforcing the Stamp Act of 1765, which was the first direct tax placed on the American colonies. In protest of the Stamp Act, Newporters hanged effigies of Johnston and two other stamp distributors and rioted outside Newport Colony House until Johnston signed a document agreeing to not act as stamp distributor without the colonists consent. Johnston later became Attorney General in 1758 and is the namesake of Johnston, Rhode Island.

The home is currently owned by Diana Pearson, whose late husband Nicholas B. Scheetz purchased the property in 1999 and won an award for its renovation and preservation. Pearson established a Preservation Restriction Agreement on the property with Historic New England in April 2023.

Sculpture commission: Commission proposed to maintain Newport statues. But Columbus statue controversy emerges

Rev. Daniel Wightman House ( 6 Coddington St.)

Rev. Daniel Wightman, who built this house in 1721, was one of 21 people who founded the Second Baptist Church of Newport.

1721

Wightman was a carpenter-turned-minister who moved to Newport as early as 1694, purchased the land from Nathaniel Coddington and built this house around 1721. He was one of the 21 persons who broke off from the First Baptist Church of Newport and established the Second Baptist Church.

Not much else is documented on the history of the property. The current owners purchased the house in 2011 for $264,000.

Neptune Thurston Home (41 Walnut St.)

The former home of artist and former slave Neptune Thurston was purchased in 2019 for $587,000

1734

This historic property was the home of former African slave Neptune Thurston. Thurston was a craftsman who worked with copper and portraiture throughout the 18th century. Not much else is documented about this homes history. Its current owners purchased the property in 2019 for $587,000.

Honorable mentions

While these homes are not currently used as residences, their historic use as houses previously makes them remarkable in their own way.

Gov. Peleg Sanford House (2-4-6 Broadway)Sometime between 1640 and 1701

Although no longer used as a residential home, the Governor Peleg Sanford house has been identified as one of the oldest homes in Rhode Island.

While no longer used as a residential home, the Gov. Peleg Sanford House is one of the oldest houses in Rhode Island. The property sits on the corner of Farewell and Broadway and serves as the storefront for several businesses. Sanford, who served as governor of the then-colony of Rhode Island between 1680 and 1683, built the house sometime before his death in 1701. Historical records indicate the building may be as old as 1640. The storefronts were added to the building by 1827 and it housed the Lallis variety store for 63 years from 1923 to 1986. Frank Lalli Jr. sold the property to its current owner, Bakleh LLC, for $950,000 in 2015.

History lost: Zoning board rules on plans to demolish 230-year-old Newport home

Wanton-Lyman-Hazard House (17 Broadway)1697

The Wanton-Lyman-Hazard house is often identified as one of the oldest homes in Newport. It's owned and maintained by the Newport Historical Society.

This large red colonial building is not currently owned and lived in by a private citizen, but rather, one of Newports history-focused nonprofits. It was built for Stephen Mumford, a merchant and a founding member of Newports Seventh Day Baptist congregation, in 1697 and was later sold to Gov. Richard Ward, who led the colony in 1741.

The Wanton-Lyman-Hazard House is one of several properties owned and maintained by Newport Historical Society, which purchased the property in 1927 from restoration architect Norman Isham. The organization has an extensive history of the property on its website.

'Its a piece of history': A homeowner's fight to save one of Newport's oldest buildings

Simon Peace House (32 Clarke St.)1700

The Simon Pease House is one of the oldest houses in the Newport Restoration Society's collection.

Another home owned by a local nonprofit, the Simon Pease House was purchased by the Newport Restoration Foundation in 1969 and restored in 1971.

The Simon Pease House is one of the oldest properties in the Newport Restoration Societys collection, but it is just one of over 70 properties owned by the society in general, several of which were built before 1776, including the David Bramen Sr. House on Thames Street (1706), the Odlin-Otis House on Spring Street (1705), The Langley-King House on Pelham (1710), and the Dr. Charles Cotton House (1720).

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Newport, RI's, oldest homes date back to Colonial era
Fulton County, Ga. District Attorney Fani Willis, the Atlanta-area prosecutor who indicted former President Donald Trump and 18 others late Monday for an alleged conspiracy to overturn Trump's 2020 election loss in the state, is seeking a March 4, 2024, trial date, according to a proposed scheduling order filed with the court Wednesday. Willis' proposed date would have the trial beginning a day before Super Tuesday, "when the most delegates are at stake in the primary contest to decide the next Republican presidential nominee," The Associated Press reports.

The proposed date drew complaints of bias from conservative commentators in Trump's camp:

The state of Georgia has proposed March 4th for the start of the Trump trial. Timing significance? Thats the day before Super Tuesday. Its almost as if all of these charges are 100% designed to directly impact politics.  Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) August 16, 2023

One-time Trump legal adviser Tom Fitton cried of a "banana republic":

BANANA REPUBLIC: Dem prosecutor in Georgia wants her political trial of Trump and nearly 20 others to begin the day before Super Tuesday primaries! #ElectionInterference https://t.co/qJd853UoXR  Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) August 16, 2023

There are 365 days in a year and Fani Willis just so happened to settle on THE DAY BEFORE SUPER TUESDAY for when she wants Donald Trump to be on trial in Georgia. https://t.co/sNMDDI39GL  Greg Price (@greg_price11) August 16, 2023

Willis also requested that arraignments in the case occur the week of Sept. 5 for Trump and the other defendants, and proposed other deadlines for discovery and motions. She has already set a deadline of noon Aug. 25 for all of the defendants to surrender at the Fulton County jail. The suggested dates were selected "[i]n light of Defendant Donald Trump's other criminal and civil matters pending in the courts of our sister sovereigns," Willis writes in the filing, asserting that the proposed timeline would not conflict with the Republican party frontrunner's already scheduled hearings and trial dates.

Trump is slated to go to trial in March in his New York case accusing him of falsifying business records in connection to an alleged hush money payment to an adult film actor. His Florida, federal case  brought by special counsel Jack Smith regarding his retention of national security documents  is scheduled to stand trial in May, and Smith's team has requested a Jan. 2 trial date in Trump's other federal case regarding his efforts to overturn the election at large.
Visitors look at a display for 5G wireless technology from Chinese technology firm Huawei at the PT Expo in Beijing on Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018. | Mark Schiefelbein, Associated Press

Theft of U.S. intellectual property by China-backed state actors is a political and economic strategy thats been in play for years. Its a strategy Chinese government leaders have as much as admitted.

But alongside the practice of pirating innovations developed in the U.S., which the Chinese government has characterized as a matter of national security policy, is a long-running international pact thats brought researchers from China and the U.S. together in collaborative projects that have yielded wide-ranging benefits for both countries.

Now, amid rising tensions between the worlds premier economic and military superpowers, a group of U.S. lawmakers is calling for an end to the U.S.-China Science and Technology Agreement, which was first struck in the late 70s and has since been regularly renewed.

Congressman Mike Gallagher, R-Wisc., chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, is leading an effort backed by a group of GOP lawmakers to let the agreement, coming due for a renewal later this month, to lapse.

A June letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, signed by Gallagher and nine other Republican House members, calls for bringing an end to the research agreement, citing reports that suggest research partnerships organized under the pact could have developed technologies that would later be used against the United States.

The evidence available suggests that the (Peoples Republic of China) will continue to look for opportunities to exploit partnerships organized under the (Science and Technology Agreement) to advance its military objectives to the greatest extent possible and, in some cases, to attempt to undermine American sovereignty, the letter to Blinken reads. The United States must stop fueling its own destruction. Letting the STA expire is a good first step.

Related

However, a new report from The Wall Street Journal that included analysis of data assembled by Clarivate, a London-based data firm that tracks global scientific research, shows the U.S. may be the biggest loser if the collaborative research program is suspended.

Analysis of the data, performed by Caroline Wagner, a professor of public policy at Ohio State University, notes that scientific research is, by nature, a process of international cooperation and that 40% of Americas scientific research is the product of work produced with colleagues outside of the country. And, China and the U.S. are each others No. 1 collaborators on science research.

Wagners analysis also unveiled that the U.S. depends more heavily on China than China does on the U.S. in some strategic areas of shared research efforts.

Between 2017 and 2021, U.S.-China collaborations accounted for 27% of U.S.-based scientists high-quality research in nanoscience, for example, but only 13% of China-based scientists according to The Wall Street Journal report. And, the gap in telecommunications research was even more pronounced, with collaborations accounting for 10% of Chinas output but more than 33% of the U.S.s.

It feels like U.S. policy makers  people in highest executive branches  have a backward understanding of who benefits from Chinese collaboration, Deborah Seligsohn, an assistant professor of political science at Villanova University and a former environment, science, technology and health counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, told The Wall Street Journal.

Wagner notes in her assessment that the data also reflects Chinas growing might when it comes to domestic scientific research performed outside the international collaborative space.

In 2019, according to Wagners analysis, its researchers for the first time surpassed their U.S. counterparts in the share of the 1% most-cited papers, often known as the Nobel Prize tier, per the Journal. The following year, China-based scholars also passed the Americans in the share of the 10% most-cited papers, Wagner said.

China has become the primary engine of global economic growth, according to a recent study from the Harvard Kennedy Schools Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. It supplanted the U.S. in 2020 as the home to the biggest share of Fortune 500 companies and is on the verge of toppling the U.S. from its position as the premier world economic power, a position its held since the late 1800s.

When measured by the traditional yardstick  market exchange rate  since 2000, Chinas gross domestic product has soared from $1.2 trillion to $17.7 trillion. On the current trajectory, it will overtake the U.S. within a decade. By the yardstick both the CIA and the IMF judge to be the best metric for comparing national economies  purchasing power parity  China has already surpassed the U.S. to become the worlds largest economy.

At a Utah Valley University-hosted summit on China relations last year, former Utah Gov. and former U.S ambassador to Singapore, China and Russia Jon Huntsman Jr. was unabashed in his call for a change in thinking and approach when it comes to China, which continues to flex its economic and political muscle in ways that have rarely been, simultaneously, so externally aggressive and internally oppressive.

Huntsman also called for a revision and renewal of the U.S. approach to competing with China and said he believed Utah could be among the places from which thought leaders could push forward with needed changes.

We need a new locale for new thinking, Huntsman told the sold-out audience at UVUs Noorda Center as well as hundreds of online attendees for the 2022 event. We need a new generation of people who are going to take a look at our most ascendent challenge of the century, which is China.

This is the New West. This is where new thinking is occurring. This is where entrepreneurship abounds ... where new technologies are being advanced, developed and commercialized. Where people really care about the global environment. They want to make sense of it. Not the old think thanks, not the old conventional wisdom thinking, which were sick and tired of. We need something new.
Former President Donald Trump's legal advisers are urging him to cancel a press conference he promised would expose "irrefutable" evidence of 2020 presidential election fraud, according to ABC News.

"If he does restrain himself and not hold the press conference, it will mark one of the first times he has ever taken the advice of wise counsel," James Sample, a professor at Hofstra University's School of Law, told Salon.

Shortly after Trump and 18 allies were formally indicted with felony racketeering and numerous conspiracy counts related to their efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state, the ex-president declared his plan to hold a news conference refuting the allegations.

"A Large, Complex, Detailed but irrefutable REPORT on the Presidential Election Fraud which took place in Georgia is almost complete & will be presented by me at a major News Conference at 11:00 A.M. on Monday of next week in Bedminster, New Jersey," Trump wrote on his social media site Truth Social this week.

The former president alleged that the "conclusive report" would show that all charges should be dropped against him and the others.

Despite Trump's post, his plans may actually be derailed by his legal team, as advisers have pressed him to cancel the event lest he potentially risk digging himself into a deeper hole in the Georgia elections case, ABC News reported Thursday.

"Trump is obviously a unique defendant because he is running for president, but to hold a press conference that is specifically about the charges against him would be the height of foolishness," Sample explained. One of the reasons that Miranda rights exist is to allow defendants in criminal contexts to remain silent, Sample pointed it. They "are almost always better off remaining silent than speaking when they don't have to," he said.

"A press conference may be good politics, but it's bad for Trump's legal cases," former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told Salon. "All Trump would be doing by holding a press conference is potentially giving Smith and Willis more evidence that his claims of voter fraud were meritless and that he knew he lost the election."

The report that Trump is referring to is a document consisting of more than 100 pages that was compiled partly by a Trump communications aide, Liz Harrington, who supports his election-fraud claims, The New York Times reported. It concentrates on alleged voting irregularities in Georgia  a focal point of election skeptics. The report has taken weeks to come together, one source told the newspaper. Harrington has even made calls to people outside of Trump's campaign about the event, people familiar with the matter told The Times.

Soon after Trump made his announcement, she posted to X, the platform previously known as Twitter. "Georgia has among the most corrupt elections in the country  and they haven't gotten better since 2020, they've gotten worse!" she wrote. "Tune in Monday!"

Trump himself, has continued to push out baseless claims about the 2020 election being rigged, even after his most recent indictment. But, organizing an in-person press conference might expose him to greater legal risks than simply posting on social media.

"While at this point, he has not suffered any consequences for the repeated, threatening and insulting attacks on witnesses and on the processes, I suspect that with four cases and four judges and three different lead prosecutors, we are not far removed from him actually, potentially for the first time facing real consequences," Sample said.

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

The former president could possibly face "contempt or witness tampering charges," he added. If the press conference does take place, video from the event could be used as evidence against him, particularly if it captures audio of him making threats toward a witness or judge.

"If Trump starts making statements that are provably false, it may provide more evidence for the prosecutorial theory behind the Georgia indictment, which is that he intentionally deals in known falsehoods to further a political agenda and harm democratic institutions. It would help Fani Willis build her case," Joshua Ritter, a former Los Angeles County prosecutor and a partner at the firm El Dabe Ritter, told Salon

Trump's indictment in Georgia marks the fourth time he's been indicted this year, and the second within this month, that he's been charged with attempting to undermine the outcome of the presidential election in 2020.

"At a certain point, one threat or another will be the proverbial straw that breaks the camel's back," Sample said. "That is the kind of thing that can be played to a jury, can be presented to a judge and will be taken very seriously because it's more compelling, psychologically, to see and hear the individual doing those things than it is to just read text."

Read more

about Trump's Fulton County case
A man responsible for a drunken driving crash in November 2022 that killed one person has been sentenced to 12 years in prison and five years of supervised release.

Derwin Davis Tsosie Jr., 26, of Tuba City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Douglas L. Rayes on Monday. This comes after Tsosie pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

The crash took place on Nov. 14, 2022, on the Navajo Nation, where Tsosie is an enrolled member.

Tsosie was driving at about 135 miles per hour when he hit a car from behind, killing the driver and seriously injuring the passenger, according to a Thursday news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Arizona.

When apprehended by police, Tsosies blood alcohol concentration was measured at .323, more than four times the legal limit of .08. His license was suspended due to a previous DUI arrest before the crash.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Tuba City man sentenced to 12 years in fatal drunken driving crash
A man accused of stabbing another man at least 30 times in a Nevada parking lot has been arrested, police told news outlets.

Dylan Ihmels allegedly stabbed a man between 30 and 40 times in a fight-turned-stabbing incident in Las Vegas, police told KSNV.

Officials arrived at the Main Street Station parking lot on Aug. 13 and found one man with blood on his face and another bleeding from both his arms and stomach, according to a police report obtained by FOX 5.

When cops asked Ihmels how the fight started he told them it began as beef over money, KLAS reported.

The incident began as a verbal argument until the two men fell to the ground and Ihmell began stabbing the man, police said, according to KSNV.

Hotel security guards separated the men, KLAS reported. Ihmel was taken to a local hospital for cuts on his cheek, elbow and knee, the police report obtained by the outlet stated.

The condition of the other man is unknown at this time.

McClatchy News reached out to Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department for more information on Aug. 17 and is awaiting a response.

Ihmels, 25, was booked into Clark County Detention Center on charges of attempted murder with a deadly weapon and battery with use of a deadly weapon resulting in substantial bodily harm, according to online jail records.

Dominos worker hospitalized after road rage leads to parking lot fight, NJ cops say

I am a murderer. 20-year-old kills dad in fight over marijuana, Illinois cops say

Referee stops game because of rough play. Then she was beaten, Indiana officials say
WASHINGTON  Nearly two-out-of-three Americans said they would probably not or definitely not support former President Donald Trump in a new poll ahead of the 2024 race for the White House.

The poll, conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, found that 53% of Americans say they would definitely not support Trump if he is the Republican nominee next year, and 11% say they probably wouldnt support him in November 2024.

Trump was indicted on 13 counts by a grand jury in Georgia earlier this week for allegedly conspiring to overturn the 2020 election. That marks his fourth indictment of the year and comes amid his mounting legal troubles in other civil cases.

But the former president's criminal charges may not be affecting his grip on Republican voters during the 2024 primary election.

About 63% said of Republicans said they want Trump to run in 2024, according to the polling. And 74% of Republicans said they would back Trump in November 2024.

Sarah Longwell, an anti-Trump Republican strategist, told the Associated Press that "there is a meaningful number of voters who have voted for Trump twice and cant vote for him again after all of this."

He has falsely attempted to cast the indictments as politically motivated by his rivals in Washington, including President Joe Biden.

But despite his legal troubles, Trump remains the GOP frontrunner for the Republican Party with 53% of support in the crowded field of GOP candidates, according to a polling average from RealClearPolitics. His indictments have also spurred fundraising for his campaign.

The poll of 1,165 adults was conducted from Aug. 10 to Aug. 14. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.

Contributing: Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nearly two-thirds of Americans say they won't support Trump in 2024
On Monday, Aug. 14, Rep. Gabe Vasquez of New Mexico's Second Congressional District, met with leaders from the Mescalero Apache Tribe and members of Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo (Tiguas) where protection for Otero Mesa, one of the largest remaining areas of the Chihuahuan Desert, was the topic of discussion.

Vasquez said the Otero Mesa area is sacred land to not only the Mescalero Apache Tribe but for the Tiguas as well, and should be considered for conservation.

Vasquez and his team hoped to include Indigenous communities in conservations about how to designate the land for use.

The visit comes two weeks after the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) published a draft resource management plan for natural resources in southeast New Mexico. The plan focused on key points such as mineral development and oil extraction.

More: Oil and gas industry opposes federal conservation proposal, New Mexico voices support

New Mexico Representative Gabe Vasquez meeting with Mescalero Apache Tribe leaders and members of the Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo at Alamo mountain in Otero Mesa on August 14, 2023

Otero Mesa is the largest intact Chihuahuan Desert grassland left on public land. A large portion of the desert is found on private land.

Vasquez along with a dozen people from the Mescalero Apache Tribe and the Tiguas hiked Alamo Mountain in Otero Mesa. The area is located at the border of New Mexico and Texas and has been considered for resource management for over a decade, Vasquez said.

In a district that faces dire climate challenges, we must all come together to conserve our most critical resources and protect our cultural heritage," said Vasquez.

"There are few places left in the world as special as our own Otero Mesa. As New Mexicans, we are deeply connected to our land, water and wildlife, and this week we had a chance to forge new partnerships in southeast New Mexico to discuss the future of conservation and prioritize areas that are important to protect for future generations. Im committed to working with diverse partners to find sustainable ways to address these challenges, while also growing our economy.

More: History is repeating itself on the Otero Mesa

Traveling with Vasquez was Fernando Clemente from New Mexico Wildlife Services who said resources such as water already found in Otero Mesa benefit its wildlife and vegetation.

"It's a matter of managing the land. You have things like weeds that can take over the land and be acidic for some of the animals here, like the sheep on these lands will not eat it," Clemente said. "It's a matter of clearing invasive species such as the weeds."

Clemente said the Salt Basin Aquifer beneath Otero Mesa holds one of the largest reserves of potable water in southern New Mexico. Clemente said this would be a key contribution to a much-needed natural resource.

Clemente said much of the wildlife benefits from the water beneath the ground but also benefits from the greenery it helps nurture.

Texas Horned Lizard at Alamo Mountain on August 14, 2023

Animals like bobcats, horned lizards and javelinas make Otero Mesa their home. Other animals that call Otero Mesa home are the big horn sheep and pronghorn herds which are ideal for hunters in Texas and New Mexico.

Bjorn Fredrickson with New Mexico Wild said aside from the wildlife in the area there are also archaeological documentation of Apache homesites and camps.

"It's an exceptionally rich place in terms of both prehistoric and historic culture resources, so many wildlife values," Fredrickson said. "Some of the scenic views to enjoy and an expansive grassland, it is one of the places in New Mexico with some of the largest concentrations of dark skies, which is a resource that many of us have lost with populated areas."

More: More New Mexico land must be saved from oil and gas to prevent climate crisis, study says

He said Otero Mesa offers not only natural resources but educational opportunities.

Fredrickson said this pocket of land is crucial for both Texas and New Mexico, states in which the extraction of fossil fuels has generated large revenues amid state and federal discussions of conservation.

Petroglyphs seen in Alamo Mountain in Otero Mesa during a hike and gathering with New Mexico Representative Gabe Vasquez, Mescalero Apache Tribe leaders and members of Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo on August 14, 2023

"There is obviously a need for development and resource extraction in the world but there are places that are appropriate for that and places that are not. There is this notion between those two sets of values. We depend on modern economy for resource extraction but there are incredible values and needs to protect these areas," Fredrickson said.

Vasquez said areas like Otero Mesa must be prioritized for conservation for future generations.

"Otero Mesa is a sacred site for surrounding Indigenous communities and is of vital importance to the sportsmen's and ranching community. It's a place with unmatched grasslands habitat deserving permanent conservation management for future generations," Vasquez said. "The protection of these unique Chihuahuan Desert lands should be a collective decision by all stakeholders, and that's what our office is seeking to accomplish - is finding the right balance of conservation, multiple use, and protecting sacred sites."

Juan Corral can be reached at JCorral@gannett.com or on twitter at @Juan36Corr.

This article originally appeared on Alamogordo Daily News: NM Rep. Gave Vasquez visits Otero Mesa
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, holds talks with Minister for Foreign Affairs of Denmark Lars Lokke Rasmussen in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 18, 2023. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)

BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Minister for Foreign Affairs of Denmark Lars Lokke Rasmussen in Beijing on Friday, reaching a consensus to boost bilateral and China-Europe cooperation.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that the sound and steady development of China-Denmark relations injected certainty into bilateral cooperation and provided stability to the international situation.

Noting that China is focusing on promoting Chinese modernization, Wang said China will expand opening up to the world, accelerate the establishment of a new growth pattern, and promote high-quality development.

China's invigorated development will provide the impetus for world development and new opportunities for Denmark and other countries, Wang said.

Wang said China always regards Europe as a comprehensive strategic partner and supports Europe in upholding its strategic independence and playing a more significant role internationally.

"We should contextualize the problems arising from our exchanges and cooperation. Lack of development is the biggest insecurity, and lack of cooperation is the biggest risk. We should mitigate risks through cooperation and eliminate them through convergence of interests," Wang said.

On Rasmussen's part, he said Denmark is committed to strengthening cooperation with China.

Danish companies attach great importance to and are optimistic about the Chinese market and look forward to investing and doing business in China. They are glad that China has introduced 24 new measures to attract foreign investment and look forward to these measures to promote bilateral economic and trade cooperation, Rasmussen said.

He noted that Denmark supports multilateralism, economic globalization, and Europe-China cooperation, which is conducive to each other's development.

On the Ukraine crisis, Wang said China's position is consistent and committed to promoting peace talks.

"We hope that through the efforts of all parties, we can promote the establishment of a balanced, effective, and sustainable European security architecture and achieve long-term peace and stability in Europe," said Wang. 

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, holds talks with Minister for Foreign Affairs of Denmark Lars Lokke Rasmussen in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 18, 2023. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)
The state of Oklahoma has declined to discuss a settlement for the lawsuit filed by the last living survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre, a move thats not shocking to the attorney representing them.

Its no surprise that the state, which took part in a lawless massacre of American citizens, has refused to settle, civil rights attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons told The Associated Press in a statement. The survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre are heroes, and Oklahoma has had 102 years to do right by them.

Hughes Van Ellis smiles for a portrait at a rally during commemorations of the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre on June 1, 2021, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. President Biden stopped in Tulsa to commemorate the centennial of the Tulsa Race Massacre. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

He continued: The states efforts to gaslight the living survivors, whitewash history, and move the goal posts for everyone seeking justice in Oklahoma puts all of us in danger, and that is why we need the Oklahoma Supreme Court to apply the rule of law, according to the outlet.

Related: Sick of History Being Whitewashed: Oklahoma Superintendent of Schools Claims Tulsa Race Massacre Wasnt About Skin Color In Viral Video, Sparking Outrage

It comes days after the survivors appeal to the state supreme court was accepted for their lawsuit filed in 2020 against the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma Military Department, Tulsa County Sheriffs Office, among other entities. A District Court judge had dismissed it.

According to court records, it is seeking a remedy for the ongoing nuisance caused by the 1921 riot where a white mob ravaged the prosperous community in Tulsa known as Greenwood, or Black Wall Street.

Viola Fletcher, Lessie Benningfield Randle, and Hughes Van Ellis Sr.  all over 100 years old  have spoken out about how the incident still affects them decades later.

The supreme court will determine if the case will be returned to the district court to give the team another opportunity.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court has granted a motion to retain the Tulsa Race Massacre survivors' case.



How @AttorneyDamario is reacting: https://t.co/lzo6RfDyVB pic.twitter.com/ma3A20fVNl  David Chasanov (@DavidChasanov) August 16, 2023

Assistant Attorney General Kevin McClure argued in the states response to the appeal that the survivors allegations are premised on conflicting historical facts from over 100 years ago, wherein they have failed to properly allege how the Oklahoma Military Department created (or continues to be responsible for) an ongoing public nuisance.

Solomon-Simmons said the courts should decide what occurred and a way to remedy the nuisance created when 40 blocks were burned to the ground, over 1,500 homes and businesses were destroyed and never rebuilt.

This destruction occurred due to crimes, destroying property and making it uninhabitable. That fits directly within the Oklahoma Public Nuisance statute that has been on the books for over 100 years, he continued.

Click here to read the full story.
WEST PALM BEACH  Standing before a judge Thursday afternoon, Valli Moyer spoke of the pain she has endured for the past five years. She spoke of a mother's heartache since the night in June 2018 when her son Justin and 20-year-old Crystal Rivera were killed when a gunman opened fire on their vehicle near West Palm Beach.

"This has been over five years. Every day that I wake up, it's June 4, 2018, for me," Valli Moyer said during a sentencing hearing for Hipolito Jesus Fraguela, the man convicted in July of her son's murder.

"What you have done to my son, senselessly, ignorantly, you should have been stopped a long time ago."

After listening to emotional testimony from Justin Moyer's mother, his teenage daughter and his former girlfriend, Circuit Judge Sarah Willis sentenced Fraguela to two life terms without the possibility of parole, and 30 years with mandatory minimum of 25 years, ordering that the sentences be served concurrently.

West Palm homicide: Man killed, woman critically injured in shooting at apartment complex

Dispute over money led to shooting between cars

Valli Moyer makes her way back to her seat in the Palm Beach County Courthouse during the sentencing hearing for Hipolito Fraguela as her attorney, Adrienne Ellis, watches from behind August 17, 2023. Fraguela was convicted for killing Moyer's son Justin, 33, and Crystal Rivera, 20, in July, and received two life sentences from Circuit Judge Sarah Willis without the possibility of parole.

A jury in July found Fraguela guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder. In addition to the deaths of Justin Moyer and Rivera, a third person, Bailey Post, was wounded in the attack, prosecutors told jurors.

Prosecutors told the jury that that Fraguela, 38, killed Moyer in the early morning hours of June 4, 2018, in a dispute over money and suggested it stemmed from the theft of marijuana.

Manslaughter sentence: A fistfight in a park led to a fatal shooting. Now a woman is headed to prison.

Moyer spent the evening with friends at the Spearmint Rhino Gentlemans Club before he and four others piled into a car and began to drive away.

One of the car's occupants said a man, who she later identified as Fraguela, pulled up beside them in a white SUV, aimed a gun at Moyer and said: "This is for you."

The gunman opened fire before driving away from the intersection of Okeechobee Boulevard and Military Trail.

Defense sought new trial, saying court made errors

Prior to sentencing, Willis listened to arguments for a new trial by Fraguela's defense team.

In a motion filed with the court, defense attorney Mattie Fore argued that the court erred in several ways:

Allowing the jury to hear evidence about anonymous tips received by law enforcement.

Admitting evidence that Fraguela committed the collateral crimes of selling illegal drugs.

Allowing the jury to see a gruesome crime-scene video.

Allowing a jailhouse informant to provide unreliable information.

Sweet 16 shooting: 18-year-old arrested in Texas to face first-degree murder charge in Boynton Beach

Willis reviewed each facet of the motion before determining that the jury's verdict was proper and denying the defense's request.

Fraguela sat silently through the proceeding and did not address the court. Candida Lugo, Rivera's mother, also attended the sentencing but did not speak.

Mother of dead man senses justice but no victory

Hipolito Fraguela speaks with his defense attorney Mattie Fore during his sentencing hearing at the Palm Beach County Courthouse Thursday August 17, 2023. Fraguela, who was convicted on two counts of first-degree murder in July, received two life sentences without the possibility for parole from Circuit Judge Sarah Willis.

Valli Moyer said Justin was an aspiring music artist who had just come off a nationwide tour. She described him as a person who children loved and who went out of his way to help others.

After the hearing, she spoke of the long wait for justice, which included numerous delays and trial resets as she traveled back and forth from her home in Houston.

"I still feel there's no winner," said Moyer, a former West Palm Beach resident. "My son's never coming home. I feel like there's some sort of justice, but it's been over five years. 

"I'm glad that there's finally some kind of justice. I would say for any mother, or poor father, that is going through this, keep fighting. Don't give up."

Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @JuliusWhigham. Help support our work: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Judge sentences man convicted in 2018 double homicide near West Palm Beach
With a Medicaid expansion kickoff likely delayed further in North Carolina as General Assembly budget negotiations drag on, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper wrapped up a week of rural travel Thursday to attempt to build pressure upon Republicans to hustle on an agreement.

Cooper met with elected officials and physicians in Martin, Richmond and Yadkin counties to highlight local health care challenges, which include shuttered hospitals, rampant drug abuse and high-quality jobs.

All of these and other needs could be addressed with several billion dollars in recurring federal funds statewide annually and a one-time $1.8 billion bonus once expansion can be implemented, according to Cooper.

The governor signed a law in March that would provide Medicaid to potentially 600,000 low-income adults who make too much to qualify for traditional Medicaid. But that law said it cant happen until a state budget law is enacted. House and Senate leaders are still negotiating a two-year spending plan seven weeks after the current fiscal year began.

Its past time for Republican leaders to do their jobs, pass a budget and start Medicaid expansion now to give our rural areas resources to prevent hospital closures and combat the opioid crisis, Cooper said in a news release summarizing his visit to Yadkin County on Thursday.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: NC Medicaid expansion starts Oct. 1 if lawmakers enact a budget

With lawmakers in Raleigh this week to vote on non-budget legislation, House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger said the two chambers are getting closer to a budget agreement, but that it wont be finalized and voted on until early or mid-September.

Kody Kinsley, the secretary of Coopers Department of Health and Human Services, announced last month that expansion would start Oct. 1 as long as his agency received formal authority by elected officials to move forward by Sept. 1. Otherwise, he said, it would have to wait until Dec. 1 or perhaps early 2024.

As the budget stalemate extended, Cooper has urged legislators unsuccessfully to decouple expansion authorization from the budgets passage and approve it separately. After completing votes Wednesday, lawmakers may not hold more floor votes until early September.

Berger and Moore said they remain committed to getting expansion implemented. Berger mentioned this week that some budget negotiations center on how to spend the one-time bonus money the state would get from Washington for carrying out expansion.

While Moore said Thursday he was hopeful expansion could still start Oct. 1, Berger reiterated that missing the Sept. 1 deadline would appear to delay it.

ALSO READ: North Carolina governor vetoes limits on politics, race discussion in state workplaces

Coopers travels took him Tuesday to Williamston, where he toured the grounds of Martin General Hospital, which closed two weeks ago, and later in the week to Yadkinville, where he saw the former Yadkin Valley Community Hospital, which closed in 2015.

Martin General closed its doors after its operators said it had generated financial losses of $30 million since 2016, including $13 million in 2022. Cooper was greeted in Williamston by hospital employees and other supporters who asked him for help keeping the hospital open. The closest emergency room is now 20 miles (32 kilometers) away.

North Carolinas expansion law would result in higher reimbursement rates for these and other hospitals to keep them open and give an economic boost to the region, according to Coopers office.

Kinsley has said he expects 300,000 people who already receive family planning coverage through Medicaid will be automatically enrolled for full health care coverage once expansion begins.

And Cooper said it should also return coverage to about 9,000 people who each month are being taken off the rolls of traditional Medicaid now that eligibility reviews are required again by the federal government following the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.

VIDEO: NC Medicaid expansion starts Oct. 1 if lawmakers enact a budget
Fargo, North Dakota, police bodycam footage of a deadly assault on officers July 14 was released Thursday, which showed the tense situation one officer endured before fatally shooting the suspect.

North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley and Fargo Police Department Chief David Zibolski held a news conference Thursday to go over surveillance and body camera video evidence of the police-involved shooting in Fargo.

That day, 37-year-old Mohamad Barakat shot and killed Fargo Police Officer Jake Wallin and wounded three other people, including officers Andrew Dotas and Tyler Hawes, who were responding to a traffic crash.

GUNMAN KILLS OFFICER, INJURES 2 OTHERS IN FARGO SHOOTING; MOTIVE UNKNOWN

Bodycam footage of a fatal shooting in Fargo, North Dakota, on July 14, 2023, was released Thursday, showing the moment officers who responded to a traffic crash were ambushed by Mohamad Barakat.

Also injured at the scene was Karlee Koswick, a bystander who attempted to flee the scene.

Officer Zach Robinson was also at the scene when gunfire began and is credited with stopping a much bigger attack by shooting and killing Barakat.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

In the bodycam footage from Robinsons perspective, police were seen responding to a traffic crash. About 38 seconds into the video, rapid fire was heard while several people were seen running for cover.

SECOND FARGO OFFICER WOUNDED IN DEADLY SHOOTING SET TO LEAVE HOSPITAL

Robinson was heard saying, "We got shots fired," as he ducked behind a vehicle. He then peaked out from behind the vehicle and fired off four rounds toward Barakat, who was next to a vehicle in a parking lot.

"Central, we got a man with an AK-47 shooting at us," Robinson reported, when more shots are fired by Barakat.

"Central, shots fired, shots fired," Robinson said. "We got three officers down, three officers down."

FUNERAL SERVICES SET FOR SLAIN NORTH DAKOTA POLICE OFFICER WHO WAS KILLED IN SHOOTING

The officer then moved toward the gray vehicle, where legs were seen protruding from the front of the vehicle on the passenger side, horizontally.

Barakat was seen moving and reaching for something when Robinson ordered him to stop moving and to put his hands up, six times.

As Barakat continued to roll on his back, a rifle was seen close to his body.

NORTH DAKOTA GUNMAN HAD 1,800 ROUNDS OF AMMO, HOMEMADE GRENADE WHEN LAUNCHING ATTACK ON OFFICERS: POLICE

Robinson moved into position and fired three shots at Barakat, then reloaded his magazine

Barakat then appeared to have a handgun, and Robinson told him to drop the gun and fired his pistol eight times. Stepping back then checking on Barakat again, Robinson told him six more times to drop the gun, maneuvering to the rear of the vehicle.

Once on the passenger side, Barakat was seen moving while on his back, with a headshot in plain sight. Robinson then fireed his gun five more times, at which point Barakats head was blurred out.

Robinson moved to the front of the vehicle and another officer was seen walking toward the back of the automobile with his weapon drawn.

STANDOFF AT INDIANA APARTMENT COMPLEX ENDS IN FATAL POLICE SHOOTING OF 65-YEAR-OLD MAN

Wrigley said Robinson was "the last man standing between what was coming next, and you can see this assailant was armed for."

The attorney general also said Robinsons use of deadly force was reasonable, necessary, justified and lawful.

Investigators searched Barakats vehicle after the shooting and found numerous guns, 1,800 rounds of ammunition, a homemade grenade and explosives.

MURDER SUSPECT CAUGHT AT TOPGOLF AFTER ALLEGEDLY KILLING GIRLFRIEND IN APARTMENT

His internet queries over the last five years included things like "kill fast," "explosive ammo," "incendiary rounds," "mass shooting events" and one for "area events where there are crowds."

Authorities said the latter query brought up a news article with the headline, "Thousands enjoy first day of Downtown Fargo Street Fair," a day before the shooting.

In recent years, police had visited the suspects home at least twice out of concerns related to his guns, which authorities said he appeared to acquire legally.

Barakat came to the U.S. in 2012 as a Syrian national on an asylum request. In 2019, he became a U.S. citizen, Wrigley has said.

Earlier this month, Hawes and Dotas were discharged from the hospital and Koswick left the hospital nearly a month ago.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
North Miami swore in its first Haitian American woman police chief Friday. She is now the fourth woman to hold that top law enforcement position in all of Miami-Dade County.

Cherise Gause also became the first Haitian American woman police chief in the nation, according to North Miami Mayor Alix Desulme, when she took the oath.

This is a moment Ive prepared for, and as I took the oath today, I did so with a profound sense of duty and commitment to the values that define our noble profession, Gause told a crowd of elected officials, city staff and fellow officers at the Joe Celestin Center in North Miami.

Gause, 50, has three decades of law enforcement experience and most recently was first assistant chief of police at the Miami Police Department, where she ran field operations. She has been a finalist for the top job in both Miami and Tampa in recent years.

Gause will lead a department with just under 120 officers. The city did not immediately respond with details about Gauses salary and benefits.

Newly appointed North Miami Police Chief Cherise G. Gause is pinned by her husband Anthony Gause, a Lieutenant with the Miami-Dade Fire Department, during a ceremony at Joe Celestin Center North Miami, Florida, on Friday, August 18, 2023.

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North Miami city manager Rasha Cameau said she met Gause when the two first worked for the city of Miami, when Cameau was an IT administrator and Gause was a neighborhood resource officer. Cameau said while Gause being a woman is a plus it still came down to her qualifications.

At the end of the day, its the most qualified person, the person with compassion and the expertise, she said. The bonus points are that shes a woman, that shes of Haitian descent. But again we bring in all culture, all diversity, and the wisdom for the diverse community we serve.

Gause noted the historic nature of her appointment, saying nationally, women comprise 12 percent of law enforcement, and 3 percent hold leadership positions.

The audience during a pinning and swearing-in ceremony for newly appointed North Miami Police Chief Cherise G. Gause at Joe Celestin Center North Miami, Florida, on Friday, August 18, 2023.

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Gause said her initial priorities will focus on community policing, increasing patrols and building relationships with the community. She will also seek to improve technology within the department and focusing on officers wellness.

We stand at a critical juncture in history where the publics trust in law enforcement is vital, she said during a speech detailing her goals for the office. It is our duty to protect and serve with transparency, integrity and with respect.

Desulme said apart from their day-to-day duties, officers also have the added challenge of language barriers.

On top of all of the regular issues that you have with community policing, patrolling, public safety, all of these different things, on top of that, you have to deal with the language barrier and the cultural understanding of the community, Desulme said. And I think community policing is one of her strong points in her background.

More than a third of North Miamis population is of Haitian descent, according to the American Community Survey from the U.S. Census. The citys total population is just under 59,000, according to the U.S. Census.

Gause said the department is equipped to meet the diversity of the community, with 50 percent of the police force consisting of Black officers, including some Haitian Americans. The department, she said, also includes Hispanic officers.

So we are already equipped to meet the diversity of the community that we serve, she said.

Miami Herald reporter Chuck Rabin contributed to this report.
In the devoutly religious community in which she grew up, Elisheva Akselrod was raised to be obedient.

Children shouldn't argue with their elders, her parents told her, and women should be submissive to men.

So when an unfamiliar man showed up at her Fair Lawn synagogue in 2016 and interrupted the 14-year-old's conversation with her friends, she didn't reprimand him, she said. His comments were flirtatious  if not outrageous, coming from someone twice her age  but she didn't say anything, she recalled.

"It would have been disrespectful," Akselrod said ruefully this week.

Eli Akselrod has accused Shalom Yehudiel of sexual assault. He first approached her at a Fair Lawn synagogue when she was a teenager, she said.

The stranger, Akselrod said, was Shalom "Sal" Yehudiel, a Teaneck restaurant owner who would become a minor celebrity in the Orthodox Jewish world after he became the first kosher chef to compete on the Food Network. Yehudiel's fame has since turned to notoriety. He has faced a series of sexual assault allegations since 2020, though most of them have been dismissed or dropped. Last week, however, the Union County Prosecutor's Office filed criminal charges against him for allegedly abusing an underage victim, identified in court only as a 14- to 15-year old from Bergen County.

Akselrod, 21 and now living in Brooklyn, says she was that girl.

Taking control of the narrative

Like most news outlets, NorthJersey.com typically does not identify alleged sexual assault victims. But Akselrod has come forward and asked to be named. She said she wants to eradicate the stigma surrounding such abuse and take control of her story.

She said she has found it dehumanizing as news accounts described her as an anonymous entity while dwelling on Yehudiel's rise and fall.

"A lot of times victims are glossed over and nobody cares about them," she said. Yehudiel "doesn't deserve the publicity. It's not his story. It's about all the people he hurt. If those people don't get to be named, it just adds to the problem."

Akselrod, who previously filed a civil lawsuit against Yehudiel in state Superior Court in Bergen County, says her only motive has been to put her abuser behind bars so that he can't hurt anyone else.

Akselrod's attorney, Michael Gorokhovich, told NorthJersey.com he dismissed that lawsuit Friday morning because Yehudiel has been charged criminally by the Union County Prosecutor's office.

"All we ever wanted was a prosecution based on the evidence," he said. "We don't want a dime from him."

Chef Shalom Yehudiel on the Food Network in 2020. His attorney called sexual abuse claims against him "completely unjust."

Yehudiel, who has residences listed in Fair Lawn and in Florida, has repeatedly professed his innocence, saying his accusers are motivated by money. In court filings in criminal and civil cases, he has noted that the Bergen County Prosecutor declined to bring charges in Akselrod's case. After Akselrod brought legal action over that decision, the investigation was transferred to Union County, where a different prosecutor decided there was enough evidence to move forward.

The saga took a series of bizarre turns over the past few weeks.

On Aug. 7, a Bergen County judge dismissed sexual assault charges brought against Yehudiel in a separate case on procedural grounds. The next day, as he was attempting to fly out of John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York with a one-way ticket to Thailand, he was arrested at the behest of Union County prosecutors, who had filed the new charges that morning.

'In the depths of a nightmare'

On Tuesday, Yehudiel's attorneys filed a motion to dismiss those counts and said the former chef had been attacked and badly injured by an inmate at Rikers Island, where Yehudiel was detained pending extradition to New Jersey.

"He is in the depths of a nightmare  one that was completely preventable, and which is completely unjust," attorneys Lee Vartan and Zach Intrater said in the motion.

Yehudiel's response to the allegations in the civil case was that when he first came to the synagogue to visit his father, he noticed that Akselrod was depressed, and, in his caring fashion, tried to be kind to her as a "big brother."

His attorneys also said that though there were at least 100 congregants at the Fair Lawn synagogue where Yehudiel allegedly met and pursued Akselrod, none has come forward as a witness. There is also no videotaped evidence of any assault, defense attorneys said. The motion also alleges that Akselrod sent sexually suggestive messages to Yehudiel, and not the other way around.

"The Union County Prosecutor has brought charges that the Bergen County Prosecutor twice investigated and twice declined to prosecute," Intrater and Vartan added in an emailed statement. "As recently as February 2023, the Bergen County Prosecutor said it did not support the issuance of criminal charges against Mr. Yehudiel. This is an abuse of process, and this case will be dismissed."

More: Teaneck chef fights abuse lawsuits as #MeToo movement roils Orthodox Judaism

The charges that were dropped Aug. 7 involved another allegedly underage victim who worked at Yehudiel's former eatery in Teaneck, Humble Toast. A judge dismissed them after the defense argued they weren't given access to a video that could have helped his case.

Yehudiel was also sued in 2020 by a former waitress at Humble Toast who alleged that he abused her for a year, beginning when she was 17. She eventually abandoned her claim and the case was dismissed.

Akselrod's story

Akselrod tells a very different story. When Yehudiel first showed up at her Orthodox synagogue in Fair Lawn in 2016, he showered the teenager with attention, she said, calling her "beautiful" and commenting on her "sexy haircut." Akselrod said she tried to tell him politely that his attention was unwanted but was too timid to be assertive and so he continued to prey on her through his comments and physical interactions, according to her complaint filed in Superior Court.

Eventually, he began bringing her to isolated spots of the temple property, where he sexually abused her in a series of incidents that lasted a year, beginning in 2016, the court document said.

For a long time, Akselrod said, she was too intimidated and ashamed to speak out or to tell anyone.

She said that when she finally revealed the abuse to her parents and uncle in 2019, they reported it to the Fair Lawn police, who contacted the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office. Akselrod and Gorokhovich contend the office bungled that investigation, leading to its decision to close the case without pressing charges. Gorokhovich says the office failed to examine witnesses and text messages that support Akselrod's case.

"We conducted an investigation, and as a result of that investigation, we declined to charge Shalom Yehudiel," Elizabeth Rebein, a spokeswoman for the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, said in a statement to NorthJersey.com. She declined to offer any other details.

Eli Akselrod, seen here in September 2016 at age 14, has filed a lawsuit against the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, saying it failed to properly investigate her accusations against Yehudiel. The prosecutor's office declined to press charges.

But Akselrod's allegations did prompt charges against Yehudiel by the Union Country Prosecutor.

Akselrod said she long ago banished the submissive girl who was too frightened to speak her mind.

On a recent day, she spoke confidently with a reporter from the sunny apartment she shares with her partner. In a Zoom interview, she discussed a variety of topics before addressing her alleged abuse.

The psychological trauma of her abuse weighs heavily on her and she says the impact is permanent. She refuses to walk anywhere near the synagogue where the incidents took place, she says.

Yet she's created a life that brings her joy. She talks about a summer spent traveling with friends in Canada and California. And when discussing her dreams for her future she smiles. She's looking forward to her senior year at City University of New York, where she is majoring in audio engineering and she's excited about the prospect of working in film after graduation.

Dangerous waters

She's already enjoyed a taste of success, having been nominated for an Emmy as part of the team that made "100 Foot Wave," HBO's docuseries about pro surfers braving danger off the coast of Portugal. "I was an assistant effects editor, so I don't get to go to the awards event," she said. "Only the senior engineers get to go. But I get bragging rights."

Although she grew up observing her family's Orthodox Jewish traditions, she no longer practices her faith. She still harbors anger that in the community in which she was raised, abuse was a taboo subject that was swept under the rug. Due in part to her traumatic experience, she does not participate in religious life anymore, she said.

The abuse impacted her life in other ways, she added: "It made me assertive toward those who violate my boundaries."

Tired of hiding: Jews at U.S. colleges face rising antisemitism from left and right

"Orthodox women are often told you have to be polite to men who hit on you. We are told to protect men's egos and to be careful not to offend them when rejecting them. But we are never told to shield ourselves from harm."

In her tight-knit community, the message was instilled in her: "Be respectful even if someone is disrespecting you."She paused and rolled her eyes. "That is so wrong."

In retrospect, she said, "I know that what happened to me was not my fault. I was just a kid."

There are lessons in her experience for the broader Orthodox community about how it handles sexual intimidation  and way it disempowers young women, she said.

"Obviously, we have to tell men not to be abusers, but onlookers also can't turn a blind eye," she said. People in her synagogue must have seen that something odd was happening "but they didn't want to know about it or get involved."

Sexual assault can't be a taboo subject if people are to spot the signs of abuse and stop it, she said. "Nobody questioned why a strange man showed up one day and was constantly talking to me and looking at me."

She credits ZA'AKAH, a nonprofit that fights child sex abuse in the Jewish community, as being a rare voice of candor about the problem. "They held a protest in front of Yehudiel's restaurant before anyone was talking about Yehudiel," she said. "And they are very supportive of victims and encourage people who need it to get proper help."

She urges other women to fight back against those who disrespect them.

If she ever has a daughter, Akselrod said, she will never preach obedience to her.

"I'll tell her to `be as loud as you can.'"

Deena Yellin covers religion for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to her work covering how the spiritual intersects with our daily lives, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: yellin@northjersey.com

Twitter: @deenayellin

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Shalom Yehudiel accuser speaks out about NJ chef, alleged abuse
NEW YORK  Former President Donald Trumps fourth attempt to delay the original defamation lawsuit brought by E. Jean Carroll in 2019  before the case he lost at trial in May  was resoundingly rejected by a Manhattan judge Friday.

Trump requested to put the case on ice while he pursues an appeal of a decision by U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, which rejected his position that statements he made about Carroll from the White House were protected by presidential immunity. The judge found Trump had raised the argument too late.

Kaplan, whos blasted Trump over the years for stalling the case, said his latest motion to pause proceedings was just one more example of his delay tactics.

Mr. Trumps latest motion to stay  his fourth such request  is yet another such attempt to delay unduly the resolution of this matter, Kaplan wrote.

The judge pointed out that Trumps appeal of his decision ignored his additional findings that it would have failed on the merits anyway.

Accordingly, this Court certifies that Mr. Trumps appeal is frivolous [...], Kaplan wrote.

Carroll first sued Trump in 2019 for defamation, around five months after she accused him of sexually assaulting her inside a Bergdorf Goodman changing room in the mid-1990s.

When she spoke out, Trump lambasted the writer from the White House, claiming shed made the whole thing up. He said he couldnt have sexually assaulted her because she was not my type.

A dizzying series of legal developments delayed the case and moved it from the state to federal courts when Trump argued the presidency shielded him.

The Justice Department joined Trump in that argument before and after Biden became president. The DOJ fought to take his place in the case  so Carroll would be suing the government instead of Trump the individual  which Kaplan rejected in October 2020, prompting appeals.

DOJ lawyers abandoned the effort in June, leaving Trump to argue it alone.

When New York passed the Adult Survivors Act in November, Carroll sued Trump again, this time including a battery claim  which the statute of limitations had previously barred  and another defamation claim for post-presidency comments. That case went to trial in April and featured explosive testimony, with a jury turning around a verdict in Carrolls favor in less than three hours, finding Trump sexually abused her and awarding her $5 million in damages.

Carroll added another claim to her initial suit after Trump defamed her on CNN a day after the verdict. Trump filed a counterclaim, which Kaplan dismissed.

Kaplan on Friday rejected all of Trumps latest arguments to delay the second trial as he beats the dead presidential immunity horse on appeal.

In sum, Mr. Trump has not provided a single reason for the Court to find that there is any likelihood that he will succeed on appeal, let alone a strong showing, Kaplan wrote.

[His] loss of that defense was the product of his own decision not to raise it until the tail end of this litigation.

Carrolls lawyers had argued that rescheduling the trial could see her competing with the end of his campaign, other civil and criminal trials hes facing, the possibility of a prison sentence, and/or conceivably the start of a second Trump presidency.

Kaplan agreed time was of the essence given Carroll and Trumps ages. She is 79, and he is 77.

While there is a public interest in immunizing presidents for actions properly taken within the scope of their duties, there is a public interest also in ensuring that even presidents will be held accountable for actions that ... do not come within that scope, the judge wrote. [Both] parties are of advanced age, and a stay of this case pending resolution of Mr. Trumps appeal would threaten delaying any compensation to which Ms. Carroll might be entitled by at least several months, if not a year or more. The public interest therefore weighs against a stay.

At the second trial, Carroll wants only to address damages; shes seeking $10 million, which Trump wants to cap at $1 million. Kaplan is yet to rule on those requests and whether the former president should have to pay some of Carrolls attorneys fees for forcing them to respond to the manifest frivolity of his arguments that have been put to bed.

Carroll and Trumps lawyers declined to comment.

____
[Source]

After a lengthy investigation, a man from Queens, New York City, has been arrested in connection with a burglary that targeted an Asian American home in Abington Township, Pennsylvania, last year.

The allegation: Fredy Alexander Beltran-Ortiz, 25, is allegedly one of three men who burglarized the home of an Asian American business owner on Andrew Road in the Huntingdon Valley section of Abington Township on Aug. 9, 2022.

After posing as pizza delivery workers to ensure that no one was home, the group broke into the property to steal more than $10,000 worth of cash, jewelry and valuable items, including a childs violin and piggy bank, Abington police said.

The arrest: DNA evidence linked Beltran-Ortiz to the incident. Abington police discovered that he was already in Rikers Island due to a DUI charge.

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On Wednesday, they traveled to the New York prison to transport him to Abington, where he now faces five felony burglary-related charges. Police recommended a $100,000 cash bail, but it was ultimately set at $1,000, which he managed to post later that day for his release.

What authorities are saying: Investigators believe Beltran-Ortiz is connected to other burglaries that targeted Asian American homes in the tri-state area. Business owners have been urged to remain vigilant, monitor their surroundings and improve their homes security systems.

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We're looking at additional burglaries in the Delaware Valley and suburbs of Philadelphia, even stretching into New Jersey and Delaware, where it's obvious the victims are targeted because of their race and that they're Asian business owners," said Lt. Steven Fink of Abington police, as per WPVI.

We strongly believe because of the stereotype that they have a lot of money and valuables in the home, that they were specifically targeted.

Beltran-Ortiz is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Sept. 20.

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Biden Signs Initiative Calling for 'Equity and Justice' for AANHPI Community
[Source]

New York City Mayor Eric Adams invoked the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi in a recent address honoring India's 77th Independence Day.

Gandhi 2.0: Speaking at a flag-raising ceremony in front of New York's Financial District on Tuesday, Adams drew parallels between his own aspirations and the iconic Indian leader's philosophy.

I am Gandhi-like, said Adams in front of a crowd. I think like Gandhi. I act like Gandhi. I want to be like Gandhi I want to be the modern-day Ramayana and say that we can lead against the forces of evil and take us in the next direction on who we are."

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Revered leader: Recognized by many as the father of India, Gandhi pioneered and practiced the principle of Satyagraha  the practice of nonviolent civil disobedience to resist tyranny. Gandhis peaceful approach played a key role in freeing India after nearly a century of British colonial rule.

Being Gandhi on modern issues: Recalling his experience in India, Adams shared his encounter with the footprints marking Gandhis final steps before his assassination. He speculated on how Gandhi would respond to current issues, stating that if Gandhi were alive today, he would champion the cause of migrant seekers, confront gun violence, address homelessness and tackle the challenges posed by illegal drugs.

Humanitarian-driven governance: Adams pointed out the necessity of transitioning from passive admiration to active implementation of Gandhi's philosophy. He emphasized the importance of becoming "Gandhi-like" by advocating for humanitarian actions, engaging with pressing social problems and embodying compassion in dealing with the marginalized and vulnerable.

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Adams address also featured recognition of the significant contributions of Indian Americans in his administration. Deputy Mayor Meera Joshi, Commissioner of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Dr. Ashwin Vasan, Commissioner Rohit Aggarwala and Deputy Commissioner for the Mayor's Office for International Affairs Dilip Chauhan were among those commended for their impact on city governance.

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Benton County residents in the Finley area were still under precautionary evacuation orders Friday morning as firefighters continued battling a blaze in the rural area east of Kennewick.

Residents were told about 7 p.m. Thursday to be ready to leave their homes after initially being placed on a higher alert.

The warnings were issued for the area from the intersection of South Piert Road and Meals Road, south to East Hover Road, and East to the Columbia River.

The Toothaker Fire started around 1:30 p.m. Thursday. As of Friday morning the 300-acre fire was 60% contained.

Benton County Fire District 1 Public Information Officer Jenna Kochenaur said that with a Red Flag warning still in place, there is concern that expected 30-mph winds could fan the flames.

Kochenauer said that a Level 2 warning meant residents needed to start packing their vehicles and those with mobility issues or disabilities needed to leave immediately.

The reduced Level 1 warning was that they needed to have a plan in place to evacuate if the fire worsened.

Kochenaur told the Herald Friday that the Level 1 warning is still in place, in order to keep the roadway free of traffic.

The bigger concern is concerns with the roadway, as long as we have that roadway closed were going to keep it at Level 1, she said.

Kochenaur said people who dont live in the area were driving out to look at the fire and that was causing concerns.

She told the Herald that even with the roadway closed, people were using ATVs trying to get closer to the fire to get a look at it. She said that kind of behavior creates a very dangerous situation for everyone involved. Wildfires are also no-fly zones for drones.

Residents in parts of the Finley area are being told to prepare to evacuate as the Toothaker Fire spreads.

We didnt really get any growth on the fire overnight, which is great, but thats always a possibility, Kochenaur said.

Crews were working to improve and complete fire lines on Friday morning. They also were removing dangerous trees from near the roadway, with at least one falling onto the road Friday morning.

The State Fire Marshals Office mobilized the Washington State Fire Services to support Benton County and other Tri-Cities area fire agencies battling the blaze.

A Level 2 evacuation order is in place for the area from the intersection of South Piert Road and Meals Road, south to East Hover Road, and East to the Columbia River.

Five planes and a helicopter were deployed to help battle the fire.

The fire marshals office said the fire was burning in brush, Russian olive trees and grass and was threatening homes, crops and electrical and railroad infrastructure.

The area was under a Red Flag Fire Warning through Friday night because of blustery winds.
Attendees of the extraordinary meeting of the ECOWAS Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff pose for a group photo in Accra, capital of Ghana, Aug.17, 2023. The defense chiefs of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Thursday gathered in Ghana's capital of Accra to discuss plans for the deployment of a standby force to Niger. (Photo by Seth/Xinhua)

ACCRA, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- The defense chiefs of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Thursday gathered in Ghana's capital of Accra to discuss plans for the deployment of a standby force to Niger.

A two-day extraordinary meeting of the ECOWAS Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff opened here from Thursday to Friday followed the directives by the leadership of ECOWAS at their last emergency session in Nigeria to discuss the political situation in Niger.

Opening the meeting, Abdel-Fatau Musah, ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, said despite the preparations towards the deployment of the ECOWAS standby force, the military option would be the last resort and all other options including the diplomatic resolution were still on the table.

Musah said the ECOWAS standby force was ready to move into Niger to restore constitutional rule should all efforts to end the impasse peacefully fail.

At their last extraordinary summit in Nigeria last week, the leadership of ECOWAS decided to activate the standby force in response to the recent coup in Niger, while underscoring their continued commitment to restore constitutional order in the country through peaceful means. 
Monica Wittrock, a member of the church council at Church of the Servant, poses for a picture at the church at 14343 N MacArthur.

Some members of a local house of worship don't know where their congregation currently stands on the question of leaving the United Methodist Church, but they do know they want a second opportunity to vote on the matter.

Church of the Servant, 14343 N MacArthur Blvd., is taking the Oklahoma United Methodist Conference to court on Friday hoping that a judge will order conference leaders to allow the church to hold a timely congregational disaffiliation vote, which is a key aspect of the exit process.

Monica Wittrock, a local attorney serving on the Church of the Servant church council, said the church's lawsuit filed in Oklahoma County District Court stems from a dispute that arose after the church held a disaffiliation vote in September 2022. The church was one of the largest  and first  United Methodist congregations in Oklahoma to take an exit vote that year but fell shy of the required two-thirds majority to disaffiliate by only two votes.

Wittrock said some church members have asked conference leaders for an opportunity to hold a second disaffiliation vote. She said a conference leader's decision to deny another vote is essentially an effort to prevent the congregation from disaffiliating.

Church of the Servant, a United Methodist house of worship at 14343 N MacArthur in northwest Oklahoma City is shown in this photo.

Wittrock also said some church members think the conference's motivation in denying a second vote is so the conference may acquire the sprawling Church of the Servant building and property near the Kilpatrick Turnpike and MacArthur Boulevard in northwest Oklahoma City.

She said the church council felt it was an "uphill battle and the clock was ticking" when they asked conference leaders for a second disaffiliation vote.

"So, we feel like we have an obligation to the congregation to pursue it," Wittrock said of the court case.

As a Church of the Servant member for the last 45 years, Wittrock, 66, said she's not sure how she will vote on disaffiliation, but she and many others want another chance to consider the move.

"I think to me, this is as an important decision today as it was when I was 12 years old and I went through confirmation," she said. "During confirmation in the Methodist Church, you do a lot of studying leading up to your decision to become a United Methodist. This decision whether to remain United Methodist is every bit as important. We'd like to have that opportunity to decide."

More: A look at the United Methodist split in Oklahoma

Not everyone in church congregation agrees to lawsuit

Meanwhile, not everyone at Church of the Servant is onboard with the lawsuit. Don Wentroth, another church council member, said he doesn't see any need for another disaffiliation vote.

The adjunct college professor and retired high school principal said he's been a member of the church for 26 years, and he doesn't agree with the idea of taking a church matter to civil court.

"I voted against suing the conference because I don't think that's what Jesus would want in this situation," Wentroth said.

Monica Wittrock, a member of the church council at Church of the Servant, poses for a picture at the church, 14343 N MacArthur, which is seeking to have a United Methodist Church disaffiliation dispute resolved in civil court.

"I don't see him suing people. I see him changing people's minds by the words he used, and if he didn't like what was going on, he just moved along to people who agreed with his way of thinking. I don't agree with paying attorneys. I don't think it belongs in the civil court."

Wenthroth, 69, said he knows that church members behind the lawsuit view the disaffiliation dispute as a property matter, but he disagrees with that reasoning.

"I think the church belongs to God. I don't believe it is our property," he said. "I believe we are stewards of that property and the tithes and offerings that the congregation has given in the past to purchase the land to buy the furniture, and all of that, I think that is money that we have given for God's purposes and I don't see that it's our property to begin with."

A statue of Jesus is shown inside Church of the Servant, 14343 N MacArthur.

Lawsuits are just latest in growing schism in United Methodist Church

Church of the Servant is the second house of worship to file suit against the Oklahoma United Methodist Conference regarding disaffiliation matters. First United Methodist Church of Oklahoma City, 131 NW 4, also took its disaffiliation disagreement to civil court.

Both disaffiliation disputes are among the latest developments in an ongoing schism in the United Methodist Church over disagreements about the spiritual compatibility of same-sex marriage and gay ordination.

So far, 84 Oklahoma churches have cut ties with the denomination since 2022. The vast majority of the Oklahoma houses of worship headed for the exit because, although they agree with the United Methodist Church's current prohibition on same-sex marriage and gay ordination, they think the denomination is headed in a liberal direction. These conservative churches generally are known in the United Methodist realm as traditionalist churches.

Church of the Servant's congregation includes traditionalists, but it is unclear how many members are a part of this faction.

In 2019, a special provision was added to the United Methodist Church's Book of Discipline by the denomination's General Conference. Known as Paragraph 2553, the special provision was approved to give a "gracious exit" to churches in disagreement over human sexuality. As part of this special provision, churches wishing to exit have until Dec. 31 to take part in a special disaffiliation process allowing them to sever ties and take their church properties and assets with them.

Two OK UMC court cases: What we know about Oklahoma United Methodist disaffiliation court cases

Should one United Methodist leader have final say?

Wittrock said a key issue for Church of the Servant is that a district superintendent for the regional conference, the Rev. Sam Powers, has turned down the church council's request for a second disaffiliation vote. She said there had been hopes to conduct the vote so that the church could possibly have its disaffiliation request considered by regional conference delegates at a special meeting in October.

Wittrock said church members began talking about having a second vote almost immediately after their first vote in 2022. She said many of them have become better educated about the disaffiliation and related issues, and they think they are prepared to vote again on exiting.

The church council leader said the congregation learned in May that Powers would have final say on whether they would be given an opportunity to vote again. They then learned that conference leaders had given congregations until Sept. 6 to hold the required discernment meetings and congregational disaffiliation votes in order to have their exit requests ratified by delegates in October.

Conference leaders also informed the church that congregations must wait 12 months before holding another congregational vote if their first vote fell shy of the required two-third majority. Under this requirement, Church of the Servant would have to wait until Sept. 11, 2023  one year from its 2022 congregational vote  to hold another vote, which would mean the church would miss the conference's Sept. 6 deadline.

Wittrock said the church has learned within the last several days that Powers ultimately has decided not to allow the congregation another vote.

"There were so many people who felt like they have been silenced and didn't have that opportunity to have a second vote and that's not just those who wanted to disaffiliate, but it's all those that are in the middle, like I am," she said. "And I can tell you to this day, I don't know how I'll vote, but we want that opportunity to talk to our brothers and sisters in Christ, to get a better idea about what our future might look like. That's all we're wanting  an opportunity to discern our future together."

For his part, Wentroth said he thinks it's too bad that some people are unhappy with the current state of affairs.

"I just think we've wandered and gotten off track about what our purposes are in a Christian church," he said. "We need to be focused on worshiping God and loving each other and taking care of each other. Sometimes I understand there's some tough love as well and I think that's OK, but we're spending an awful lot of energy and emotion. I just hate to see friends and people angry with each other and I just don't see that as God's will for people."

Exit vote decided by two: United Methodist Church of the Servant disaffiliation vote was decided by only a few people

Church of the Servant, a United Methodist house of worship on MacArthur Boulevard, near the Kilpatrick Turnpike, is shown in this photo.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Church of the Servant wants congregation's voice heard via exit vote
A police vehicle parked in front of the Del City Police Department in early 2023.

DEL CITY  Police arrested a 27-year-old Del City resident this week on complaints of second-degree murder and incest in the death of his younger sister.

Police say Cody Wayne Garde, 27, confessed to causing the death of Heather Garde, 18.

Heather Garde was taken by family members Sunday to Oklahoma Heart Hospital near SE 74 and Sooner Road, but by the time they arrived at the hospital, she was dead.

She had really plain-to-see, observable trauma to her head, face, body  bruising and all that, said Maj. Mike Arterbury, with the Del City Police Department.

Arterbury said officers detained several family members Sunday at a house off SE 43 Street and took them to the police station for questioning. During interviews, police said they were told Cody and Heather Garde had been having an incestuous relationship for years, another officer wrote in an arrest affidavit Tuesday.

According to the affidavit, a family member also alleged Cody Garde was very controlling of Heather Garde, telling police that he insisted she wear certain clothes and makeup.

What we know: Victims, shooter identified in deadly shooting in OKC that left five dead

While later being interviewed by police Tuesday, Cody Garde said he and Heather Garde were drinking alcohol and doing drugs late Saturday before going to a park near Townsend Elementary School early Sunday.

Cody Garde told police that they had sex at the park. Amid the encounter, he punched her multiple times in the stomach and in the face, telling police that Heather liked to be hit but claiming he did not know he was hurting her, the officer wrote in the affidavit.

According to the affidavit, Cody Garde said Heather Garde probably had a brain injury and carried her back home, where he put an ice pack on her face and then went to sleep.

By the time he woke up, his sister was dead, Cody Garde claimed.

Related: The 'secret suffering' of incest

Tuesday, investigators went to the park near Townsend Elementary School to process the scene. In a message to parents and students Tuesday, Townsend Elementary School principal Heather Dunn confirmed police were conducting an investigation near the school but said authorities do have a suspect in custody.

The incident is not connected to our school or team, Dunn wrote. Operations at the school continued as scheduled.

Police said they found several items described by Cody Garde in the schools playground area, including two syringes, shoes, socks, a dog leash and a dog collar.

More: Lawsuit accuses longtime Mid-Del school administrator of abusing student

Cody Garde was booked into the Oklahoma County jail Tuesday on a complaint of incest and second-degree murder.

The day after his arrest, Cody Garde was supposed to appear in court related to charges of driving under the influence of alcohol and malicious damage of property.

More: Oklahoma may reintroduce felony drug possession, mandatory jail time

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Del City man arrested after sister's death, incest alleged by family
A video circulating on social media ahead of Zimbabwe's August 26 election purports to show opposition supporters attacking a rival from the ruling ZANU-PF party. But this is misleading: the video, taken in February 2022, was filmed during a confrontation between members of the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) and ZANU-PF backers following a campaign rally.

"The President consistently calls for peace," reads a post on X, formerly Twitter. "Whats happening in this video is what he berates against."

The post, dated August 14, 2023, and sent by Zimbabwe's Information Minister Nick Mangwana, adds: "Hoodlums clad in yellow regalia are seen beating up a defenseless individual said to be a Zanu PF supporter in a shameless display of political intolerance (sic)."

A screenshot of the misleading post on X, taken on August 15, 2023

Footage from the video in the post shows a crowd, mostly in yellow, attacking a man wearing a dark green T-shirt. Someone is heard shouting in Shona: "He should be beaten."

Zimbabwe heads to the polls on August 23, 2023, to elect the president and members of the legislature in what analysts expect to be a tense affair, marked by a crackdown on dissent and fears of vote-rigging (archived here).

However, the video is old and does not show a recent example of election-related violence.

Campaign clash

A keyword search on X revealed that the video has been online since at least March 2022, as seen here, and here with more footage of the same incident (archived here and here).

Screenshots of the footage in posts from March 2022

"CCC has stage-managed violence that was witnessed in Kwekwe recently to cast the ruling party in bad light (sic)," claims one post, while another makes a similar claim.

AFP reported on the violence that broke out on February 27, 2022, citing police saying that members of ZANU-PF had dressed in the yellow colours of the opposition CCC ahead of a rally in the central town of Kwekwe.

According to the police statement, the impersonators ambushed a group of actual CCC activists, stabbing one to death.

More than 20 people were injured and several were arrested.

Suspected ZANU-PF attacker confronted by opposition CCC supporters on February 27, 2022 (Zinyange Auntony/AFP).

Pictures taken by AFP photographer Zinyange Auntony show the same man who was assaulted in the videos.

"A man suspected of being a ruling ZANU-PF attacker falls on the ground after being confronted by supporters of the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change during an electoral rally on February 27, 2022, at Mbizo shopping centre in Kwekwe," the photo caption reads.

Other matching elements from Auntonys photos and the videos on social media include the green gate with chipped paint covered with election campaign posters (archived here).

Screenshots showing similarities between one of the videos, left, and an AFP photo

Mangwanas claim is therefore misleading.

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, left, and CCC leader Nelson Chamisa

As reported by AFP, the opposition in Zimbabwe has long complained about being unfairly targeted by authorities in the run-up to the election, with its members arrested and dozens of CCC events blocked.

Zimbabwe's parliament this year approved a controversial law that ostensibly promotes patriotism but has been condemned by the opposition as a "draconian" attempt to stifle dissent ahead of the national elections (archived here).
A Meridian man originally charged with second-degree murder in 2022 was sentenced to at least seven years in prison  after pleading guilty to a drug felony. But because a judge gave him a retained jurisdiction sentence, he may be released from prison sooner depending on his success in rehabilitation programming.

Canyon County prosecutors had accused DeVin Alapati Jones, 26, of aiding and abetting someone to commit murder for his alleged involvement in a shooting death. After a plea deal, prosecutors replaced that charge with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.

This is a rather peculiar case, public defender Michael Florian said at the sentencing hearing. What started out as murder two or aide and abet murder two has resolved with this possession with intent to deliver fentanyl charge, which is what it I think should have been from the get-go. This is a drug case, not a murder case.

On Feb. 28, 2022, paramedics responded to a home in the 3800 block of Garrity Boulevard in Nampa and found Gerardo Quintero dead, according to previous Idaho Statesman reporting. Quintero, 39, of Ontario, Oregon, had gone into an apartment that belonged to an acquaintance of Alapati Jones and Pedro Archuleta, the other man charged in the killing, Florian said. The woman who lived there had asked Quintero to retrieve a phone that she believed the other men had stolen, but police later found the phone on her bed, Florian told the court.

She told Quintero that one of the men had a gun, Florian said, so Quintero made the choice to go into the apartment with his gun drawn to two people he had never met and demanded to them to hand over a phone that they did not steal.

Archuleta was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to a charge of unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon. Under his plea deal, his second-degree murder charge was dismissed.

Alapati Jones was on the bed when Quintero entered the unit, but then fled to the kitchen after hearing shots, Florian said.

I dont think theres any evidence to point to the fact that Mr. Alapati Jones is guilty of the murder charge, he said, but he conceded that his client had fentanyl and intended to deliver it.

He is an addict, he knows it and he knows that he needs help, Florian added. He asked 3rd District Judge Andrea Courtney for a retained jurisdiction, or rider sentence, with two years fixed and five indeterminate.

Prosecutor Matt Dyal requested a retained jurisdiction as well, but asked for a sentence of seven years fixed and 13 indeterminate to motivate Alapati Jones to behave. He did not discuss the circumstances of the killing in his argument.

Courtney sentenced Alapati Jones to seven years fixed and 10 indeterminate. She said she would retain jurisdiction for up to a year and reassess his case based on his participation in the rider program. That means he could be released from prison early.

Mr. Alapati Jones, this will be the singular opportunity to continue to demonstrate that you want something better for yourself and for others, that you want to shed the effects of a drug addiction and that you wish to be out in the community, the judge told him.

Alapati Jones spoke in court and said he was grateful for his arrest. Being arrested is one of the biggest blessings that ever happened to me, he said, because with it came my sobriety, something I could not have accomplished on my own.
RICHMOND, Ind.  One teenager was arrested and two others were hospitalized following a Thursday pickup truck crash in Economy.

Wayne County sheriff's deputies were sent to what was reported to be "a severe motor vehicle accident" in the area of Banning and Economy roads about 4:45 p.m., according to a news release.

Emergency responders found a pickup truck at the scene, which had struck a utility pole, "nearly split in two," the release said.

The truck's 17-year-old driver received medical treatment and was later arrested and taken to a juvenile detection center, preliminarily charged with driving while intoxicated causing serious bodily injury, driving with a controlled substance in his system and driving without ever receiving a license.

Two juvenile passengers in the truck were taken by ambulance to Reid Hospital, and one was later transferred to Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio, "due to the severity of the injury," according to the release.

Along with Wayne County sheriff's deputies, Hagerstown police and firefighters, the Richmond Fire Department's drone team and personnel from Reid Health EMS and Trauma Services responded to the scene.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: One teen arrested, two juveniles hospitalized after Wayne County crash
Despite making up more than three-quarters of the states teacher workforce, women are vastly outnumbered by men in school superintendent positions in Texas, according to a new study from a Dallas-based education advocacy group.

Women hold only about 25% of the top jobs in school districts across the state, according to the report, which was released last month by the nonprofit Educate Texas. As school districts across Texas continue to deal with the fallout from an exodus of school superintendents following the pandemic, an official with the nonprofit says school boards should use the situation as an opportunity to look at candidates they might not have considered in the past.

There are folks that are sort of waiting in the wings, if you will, and no ones even looking towards them, said Priscilla Aquino-Garza, the organizations senior director of programs.

Gender disparity in top school jobs extends nationwide

The gender disparity in superintendent positions isnt unique to Texas. In a 2022 report, the ILO Group, an education policy firm, found that, while about 76% of teachers nationwide are women, more than two-thirds of school superintendents are men. The ILO group also collaborated with Educate Texas on last months report.

The gender disparity was a bit less pronounced in the Fort Worth area than it was across the state during the 2022-23 school year, according to the Texas report: Women made up 29% of the superintendents in districts served by the Region 11 Education Service Center, which covers the western half of the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Arquino-Garza said she doubts school districts in Texas are intentionally leaving women out of their candidate pools for superintendent jobs. But many also arent being intentional about including female candidates in those searches or ensuring that positions of power are open to women.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, school districts across the country have reported abnormally high rates of turnover in their superintendent positions. At a time when many school boards are forced to think differently about who to hire for the districts top jobs, Arquino-Garza said theyd do well to consider candidates who have strong leadership skills, but have been passed over for those jobs in the past. In most cases, she said, those candidates will be women.

Its not like theres a deficit in the teaching field, she said. It has been female-dominated for over 50 years at this point, if not more.

But despite that turnover, theres little evidence that the disparity is closing, either in Texas or nationwide, said Emily Hartnett, senior managing director for the ILO Group. Since at least 2018, there has been nearly no change in the gender imbalance in school superintendent jobs, she said. She also said she hasnt seen much attention given to the problem, either in Texas or elsewhere.

In conversations with women in positions of leadership in school districts in Texas, researchers learned those women felt they hadnt been afforded the same opportunities or mentorship as their male counterparts, Hartnett said. Several also mentioned a good ol boys network, an informal group of men in powerful positions that was difficult for women to penetrate, she said.

Fort Worth, Dallas school districts hire female schools chiefs

The largest two school districts in North Texas, the Fort Worth and Dallas Independent School Districts, both hired women for superintendent roles last year. Fort Worth ISD hired Angelica Ramsey in September. Before coming to Fort Worth ISD, Ramsey was the superintendent of the Midland Independent School District.

In Dallas, Stephanie Elizalde returned to the district in June 2022 after serving as superintendent of the Austin Independent School District for two years. Before her time in Austin, Elizalde served as Dallas ISDs chief schools officer.

Ramsey, who wrote her doctoral dissertation on women in leadership, said the hiring process continues to be affected by bias, but she suspects it comes into play at a lower level. Many school superintendents served as high school principals before being promoted to central office positions, and she thinks social preconceptions about what a leader looks like play a big factor in who gets hired for those jobs. She recalled a time when she served on a hiring panel for a high school principal position in another district, and another member of that panel had reservations about hiring one candidate because the person didnt look like a high school principal, she said.

Ramsey said she also suspects that some of the disparity has to do with differences in willingness to apply for a job. An often-cited internal report from Hewlett-Packard suggests that women generally only apply for jobs when they meet 100% of the criteria listed, while men often apply when they meet only 60%. A report released in 2019 by LinkedIn came to similar conclusions: Although women and men search for jobs at about the same rate, female candidates apply for fewer positions than male candidates.

Ramsey said qualified women might be screening themselves out of school leadership positions because they dont check every box, while male candidates tend to be more confident that they can learn on the job. Ultimately, that trend has more to do with societal ideas about what a good leader looks like than it does with any candidates ability to do the job, she said.

Staff writer Lina Ruiz contributed to this report.
Editors Note: Celia Wexler is a journalist and the author of Catholic Women Confront Their Church: Stories of Hurt and Hope. She writes frequently on Catholicism, feminism and politics. The views expressed in this commentary are her own. Read more opinion on CNN.

What happened to a weekly newspaper in Marion, Kansas, on Friday can be viewed as one unpleasant incident in a small town: the police raiding a local newspaper and the home of its owners and confiscating the digital equivalent of the papers printing presses by seizing computers, cell phones and reporting materials containing the names of confidential sources.

Celia Wexler - Valerie Wexler

But the proper perspective is a much broader one. This is about a police force essentially shrugging off the law and the Constitution. Its about an intrusion into newsgathering that almost never happens because it so profoundly violates one of our deepest American values  the primacy of the publics right to know.

The event stirred journalists to their core. But it also alarmed the White House. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told CNN that the Kansas raid raises a lot of concerns and a lot of questions for the Biden administration.

Im the vice president of the Washington, DC, chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. It happens that our national board is giving up to $20,000 to the newspaper in question, the Marion County Record, to help with its legal fees. But my views dont represent my organization. Rather, they are deeply personal. Im writing as a citizen who became a journalist to ensure the publics access to information out of a conviction that good reporting is the best way to ensure a functioning democracy.

The news story at the center of this raid was so responsible and honest, and the reaction of local law enforcement was so over the top, it would be funny if it werent true.

The day before the raid, Eric Meyer, co-owner and editor of the Record, wrote an article laying out the state of affairs. His paper had received a private message on Facebook from an anonymous source sharing a government record indicating that a local restaurateur had had her drivers license suspended because of a DUI. According to Meyers reporting, under state law, this could have jeopardized her ability to get a liquor license.

The Record checked the information on a public website and confirmed its accuracy. But Meyer said the paper declined to publish it, worried that the source may have had an agenda. Instead, the paper reported the incident to law enforcement out of fear the paper was being set up.

Eric Meyer, the publisher of the Marion County Record, conducts TV interviews in the newspaper's office after the unprecedented raid last week by local law enforcement officers. - Mark Reinstein/MediaPunch/AP

Then, Meyer reported, police apparently told the restaurateur about the information the newspaper had. Later, at a public meeting of the Marion city council, the restaurateur wrongly accused the paper of illegally obtaining and spreading private information about her, in the process making public by herself her DUI. The paper covered the meeting and spoke to the restaurateur following the event while refuting her accusations against it.

Does this sound like the making of a crime? Or is this anything but solid news reporting, something youd expect from Meyer, a longtime journalist at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel who then went on to teach journalism at the University of Illinois? According to the publicly available information, there is no sign the newspaper did anything wrong.

Yet four days after the council meeting, the police raided the newspapers offices. Marion police chief Gideon Cody reportedly pushed for the warrant for the raid in order to investigate whether the paper illegally obtained the DUI information, thus potentially committing identity theft.

Cody also had a personal connection to the Record. The paper had investigated the police chief himself over serious allegations of misconduct in his previous job with the Kansas City Police Department, Meyer told the Kansas City Star.

Cody retorted that the paper had never published that investigation, which proved the charges had been groundless. I have already been vetted, he told the Star. Now the raid, according to Meyer, has given Cody access to the sources behind the story.

That raid was groundless, according to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. In a letter to Cody it wrote, Based on public reporting, the search warrant that has been published online, and your public statements to the press, there appears to be no justification for the breadth and intrusiveness of the search.

The letter also warned that the raid may have violated federal law strictly limiting federal, state, and local law enforcements ability to conduct newsroom searches, which are among the most intrusive actions law enforcement can take with respect to the free press, and the most potentially suppressive of free speech.

While the Kansas Bureau of Investigation has not closed its probe of the publication, the paper is now getting back all its seized equipment and records. Even more important, the Marion County Attorney said Wednesday the search warrant was being withdrawn, concluding that the search shouldnt have been permitted to begin with, saying it was based on insufficient evidence that any crime had been committed.

A tribute to the late Marion County Record co-owner Joan Meyer sits outside the newspaper's office. - John Hanna/AP

This plot could have the makings of a Frank Capra film  the noble newspaper editor standing up for truth and the rule of law and (hopefully) ultimately prevailing  except for its tragic, un-Capra-like elements. Joan Meyer, 98, who owned the paper with her son, had trouble eating and sleeping after her home was raided, asking, Where are all the good people to put a stop to this? Her anger and upset were, her son believes, a factor in her death the following day.

And contrary to Capras formula, there hasnt been an overwhelming outpouring of public community support for the paper from churches, civic leaders, anyone. Meyer said that some people in the community were offering their support, but only privately. They tell him theyre afraid, he said. What if the police go after them?

Indeed, just because this raid had received lots of publicity and even drew the attention of the White House, it doesnt mean that the Marion Record or anyone else who cares about democracy should breathe a sigh of relief.

We have seen so many laws broken and rights trampled over the last few years. Each time these boundaries are crossed, democracy is a little weaker, and people a little less empowered.

This time it was law enforcement seizing a newspapers property. Next time, a governor may decide to arrest a blogger for saying unkind things about him. In Florida, a bill pending in the legislature would require bloggers who write about state elected officials to register with the state and file reports about how much they earn from their work or face fines.

Librarians are quitting their jobs, fearful of intimidation by the book banners. Election workers are leaving in droves because they cant stand the threats from people who believe, mistakenly, that they are rigging the vote. Teachers are growing weary of the harassment by parents who want to dictate what public schools may teach.

Marion may be a small town. But theres nothing small about what happened there. Just ask Maria Ressa, the Nobel laureate Filipino journalist who was hounded by her government for years and became a symbol of press freedom. When news of the Marion police raid began to trickle out on Friday, Ressa responded, Its happening to you now  death by a thousand cuts.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Editors Note: Dave Aronberg is the State Attorney for Palm Beach County, Florida. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion at CNN.

Whether they are called district attorneys, states attorneys or something else, the job of local prosecutors has traditionally flown under the national political radar. That is, until now. As the destroyer of so many traditional norms, former President Donald Trump has turned otherwise low-profile prosecutors into international figures of historic importance, making household names out of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Jr.

Dave Aronberg - Courtesy Dave Aronberg

As a state attorney myself  Florida is the only state that removes the apostrophe and the s from the title  I have long believed that this government position is too often overlooked come election time.

We are the chief law enforcement officers in each jurisdiction, with the weighty power to deprive others of their freedom. Police can arrest someone, but if the prosecutor does not agree, the suspect goes free. Since we have the final say on charges, we also have a higher burden. Law enforcement has the power to make an arrest based on probable cause, but prosecutors have an ethical duty only to file charges when we have a good faith basis to believe we can obtain a conviction beyond a reasonable doubt.

Even though 90% of all cases are in state rather than federal court, the Watergate era helped enshrine federal prosecutors in Americas consciousness as the central figures in our criminal justice system. Although state cases such as the unsuccessful prosecution of O.J. Simpson could occasionally captivate the American public, they never had impacted a national election or the future of our democracy.

By contrast, a special counsels federal investigation of a president, whether from Kenneth Starr or Robert Mueller, posed an existential challenge to the governance of our republic.

It seems that nearly every legal analyst on cable television is a former federal prosecutor, perhaps because cable networks recognize the significance of federal cases, such as Trumps four indictments. But although many of these legal observers correctly predicted that Trump would be the first American president ever to be indicted, few could foresee that it would come in New York state court.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland may be the top prosecutor in the country, but he had no power to stop a first-term elected district attorney in Manhattan from making history.

As outraged GOP leaders in Congress found out, one of the advantages of being a local prosecutor is that your only bosses are the voters in your district. No matter how much they complain, members of Congress cannot tell you what to do. Neither can the US attorney general.

In fact, unlike the attorney general, a local district attorney cannot be fired by the president. (Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has now removed two state attorneys for being so-called woke prosecutors, but a federal court ruled the Governor exceeded his power, and the matter is on appeal.)

In some ways, state prosecutors have more power than their federal counterparts. An internal US Department of Justice policy prevented federal prosecutors from charging then-President Trump for obstruction of justice during the Russia investigation. State prosecutors have no such constraints. And unlike federal criminal convictions, state criminal convictions can be pardon proof: A presidents pardon power has no effect on state cases, and a majority of states divest the governor of such unilateral authority. In Georgia, for example, only an independent board can issue pardons to applicants, who must first wait five years after completion of their sentences.

Special Counsel Jack Smith has deservedly earned a reputation as a pitbull, but his cautious four-count indictment against Trump at the federal level in DC for election-related crimes pales in comparison to Fulton County District Attorney Willis 41-count tour de force.

Wary that a future Republican president will order the Department of Justice to drop his pending case, Smith attempted to expedite the trial schedule by excluding Trumps six co-conspirators from the indictment. District Attorney Willis, in contrast, has no such time pressure. She aggressively indicted Trump and 18 co-defendants for a litany of crimes, including Georgias powerful racketeering law, which raises the complexity of her case and decreases the likelihood of a speedy trial.

Because election law is largely enforced by the states, Smith smartly limited his ambition, focusing only on the strongest charges he knew he could prove. He may have reached a deal with Trumps former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to provide cooperation in exchange for some level of immunity. Thats the same Mark Meadows who Willis just indicted for racketeering and soliciting a public official to violate his oath of office. The lesson for Meadows is that the local district attorney isnt automatically bound by any deal with the feds.

We are still in the month of August, but 2023 is shaping up to be The Year of the State Prosecutor. Willis and Bragg are not the only state prosecutors making headlines this year. The booming true crime genre has made local cases must-see-tv (and streaming), with the state murder trials of Alex Murdaugh and Lori Vallow taking center stage. Meanwhile, internet sleuths and the entire online true crime community continue to be obsessed with the state prosecution of University of Idaho quadruple murder defendant Bryan Kohberger.

Trumps legal team is so fearful of state court that they have been fighting to remove his New York criminal case to federal court. Mark Meadows has already filed a removal motion in the Georgia case, and Trump will certainly do the same. The former president and his co-defendants obviously think federal court offers a friendlier jury pool and the possibility of a Trump-appointed judge akin to Judge Aileen Cannon in the Mar-a-Lago documents case.

So far, Trumps attempts to escape New York state court have failed, and he will likely learn the same lesson in federalism when he tries to remove his latest criminal case to a federal courthouse. It should also serve as a reminder to us all that what goes on in our local courthouse has as much, and often more, of an impact on our lives than what happens in those exalted buildings in Washington, DC.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
I have been thinking a lot about the hawks who return to live in my backyard late eachspring. Are they Coopers hawks? Sharp-shinned? Even practiced birders might relent and log these birds as either/or.

In my neighborhood, a pair of small but vociferous falcons have lately been troubling my hawks, taking turns dive-bombing them in spectacular displays of aerial loops and twirls, intimidation through speed, agility and determination. The hawks just take it, hunched and resigned on a nearby telephone pole, like mute, stationary gargoyles guarding their castle.

It is merlins  small falcons once known as lady hawks in the medieval hierarchy of falconry  that are hectoring my hawks. Their size belies their ferocity. Their association with the female might make one think that my affection lies with these small but mighty birds, but it does not. Hawks speak to me of home. It is to them that I pay my allegiance.

Read more: Opinion: This captive orca might finally go free. Why did it take so long?

My hawks have built a great hulking nest  a safe house  in the pine tree that starts in my yard. To the dismay of my neighbor, some of its tangled branches and messy needles fall into his. The nest, however, is on my side of the property line, so I have claimed the castle, so to speak, even though during nesting season it is the hawks who rule my yard.

I have sometimes wandered into what is clearly their domain to perform some inconsequential chore  going to the shed for a hammer, scratching my dogs ears  only to be swooped down upon and warned that my time outside is over. When these battle lines are drawn, I retreat.

Sometimes when I am reading on my deck, one of my hawks will land on the jacaranda tree above me, almost within touching distance. He and I will sit in what, at best, is an uneasy detente, his eyes trained on me, considering, it seems, just how meek and ridiculous I am. In my subservient position, I have ample time to consider the color of his wings, the rust-colored striations on his chest, the shape of his head. Yes, I think, Sharp-shinned hawk. And after he has turned and left, I rush inside to check my field guides  and my old doubts settle in yet again. There was a certain squaring off of the head that speaks of a Coopers hawk, and my insistence on a correct label for my bird remains unmet.

Perhaps this struggle is not a bad thing. Perhaps labels are meaningless. A label, a definitive name, is nor hand, nor foot, nor arm, nor face, nor any other part of consequence.

The inability to label these birds reminds me of my middle school classroom, where the disparate voices of my students hold sway, and their temperaments defy absolute identification. They are finding the allure of their own voices.

Though I am not a falconer (I do not a-hawking go) it strikes me that the art of falconry has much in common with the art of teaching.

Read more: Opinion: The climate future is bleak. How scientists give their children hope without lying

I like to think of my classroom as a safe house, filled with students defying labels. Is this boy, who refuses to look at the screen when I show photographs and films, on the spectrum? How would I label a girl who moves stealthily amongst her peers yet shows such elegant vulnerability in her prose? I know that the boy who swaggers into the room, chest puffed out, making himself fill the space with his discontent, is doing so to hide his sadness over his parents divorce. How then should I label him?

It is best, I think, to see my students as fledglings, whose brief forays into the world have not yet equipped them to take on all of its wonders and ills. Better to log them as either/or and appreciate their delicious complexity for the brief months that I enjoy their company.

As summer wanes, and months of being awakened by the calls of my hawks, living under the scrutiny of their gaze, observing their nesting, soaring, diving and landing, they have left me. The silence overwhelms my yard, much as it descends upon my classroom each year when June arrives.

But now that my hawks are gone I can tidy up: shelve my binoculars, rake up the pile of blue jay and mockingbird feathers beneath their nest. I can even sleep in a little later  a brief respite before I prepare for the new school year.

Wendy Schramm lives and teaches in North San Diego County.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Dismembered remains of an Oregon City, Oregon, woman who went missing July 25 were found at a landfill nearly 70 miles from her home, according to police.

The Oregon City Police Department said 49-year-old Kara Rayleen Taylor, also known as Kara Sanders, was last seen at about 11 p.m. on July 25 near the 200 block of Jefferson Street.

Taylor, who is from Pasco, Washington, was temporarily staying with friends in Oregon City when she went missing.

TRIAL SET FOR OREGON MAN ACCUSED OF KIDNAPPING, ASSAULTING WOMAN IN MAKESHIFT CELL

Kara Taylor was last seen leaving her residence in Oregon City, Oregon on July 25, 2023.

Early in the investigation, detectives learned Taylor was living with 47-year-old Jamon Peter Fritsch, who reported her missing on July 27, 2023.

Police said the circumstances of her disappearance were suspicious and detectives developed evidence that led them to believe Taylor died by homicidal violence.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Based on the investigation, police executed an arrest warrant for Fritsch, who was arrested Aug. 7 and booked in the Clackamas County Jail for charges of second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter and second-degree abuse of a corpse.

BODY FOUND IN OREGON RESERVOIR AMID SEARCH FOR MISSING WOMAN LAST SEEN NAKED AND AFRAID AT CONSTRUCTION SITE

A judge first set Fritschs bail at $1 million, but after formally getting indicted on second-degree murder and first-degree abuse of a corpse, he was held without bail.

During his arraignment, the New York Post reported, prosecutors said Fritsch admitted to police that he dismembered Taylors body and dumped the remains at several landfills, so they could not be recovered by authorities.

On Aug. 11, the Oregon City Police Department executed a search warrant at the Coffin Butte Landfill in Corvallis, Oregon, nearly 70 miles away from Oregon City.

MAN SPOTTED AT OREGON STORAGE UNIT NOT CONNECTED TO MEKENNA REILEY DISAPPEARANCE, SHERIFF'S OFFICE SAYS

Jamon Peter Fritsch, who's charged with second-degree murder and first-degree abuse of a corpse in the death of Kara Taylor, is being held without bail.

Police said investigators searched for several days until discovering human remains at the landfill, presumed to be Taylor.

The remains were taken to the Clackamas County Medical Examiners Office for examination and positive identification.

"Investigators have been working tirelessly to uncover everything they can about the facts surrounding Ms. Taylors disappearance and death, so that we can provide her family and friends with the answers they deserve as they navigate and grieve her loss," police said.

The investigation into Taylor's disappearance remains ongoing.
KHARTOUM, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Al Nao hospital, the last operating health facility in Omdurman city, northwest of the Sudanese capital Khartoum, is threatened by escalating violence, Doctors Without Borders, or Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), said on Thursday.

"Violence is now escalating around Al Nao hospital, threatening patients and staff. Yesterday, shells landed to the north and southwest of the hospital," the organization said in a statement.

On days when the nearby fighting is at its heaviest, Al Nao mostly receives people injured by the violence, although it remains available for patients with other medical emergencies, it said.

It noted that the insecurity also affects hospital staff, as medics have to work double shifts when it is too dangerous for their colleagues to travel.

"As medics in Al Nao work round the clock, shells are landing nearby, causing yet more horror and threatening the hospital's lifesaving work," Frauke Ossig, MSF emergency coordinator in Sudan, said in the statement.

Ossig called on the fighting parties to spare civilians from the unacceptable violence and ensure the protection of hospitals and healthcare workers, warning that "if hospitals cannot function, there will be even more misery and suffering."

From July 29 to Aug. 11, the MSF staff at the Al Nao hospital worked alongside teams from the Sudanese Ministry of Health, providing emergency trauma care to 808 patients, 447 of whom had suffered injuries caused by gunshots, shrapnel from explosions, or stabbings, said the statement.

In the same period, the hospital treated 787 patients for other medical conditions, including diabetes, respiratory infections, and hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases. Each day, the medical staff at Al Nao treated an average of 34 patients with violent trauma injuries, and 77 with other medical conditions, it said.

MSF supports eight hospitals in Khartoum state on both sides of the front lines, with staff working in hospitals in the cities of Khartoum and Omdurman. In addition to Al Nao, MSF also provides care for wounded patients at Bashair Teaching Hospital and the Turkish Hospital in southern Khartoum.

Meanwhile, five international and local organizations have warned of the possibility of the collapse of the health sector in Sudan as more than 70 percent of hospitals are out of service.

Outbreaks of diseases such as malaria, measles and typhoid had been detected in a number of areas of Sudan, said a joint statement released on Thursday by the World Health Organization, the UN Children's Fund, and Sudanese health organizations.

According to previous reports by the Sudanese Ministry of Health, 39 out of 59 basic hospitals in the capital and the states near the conflict zones are out of service.

Sudan has been witnessing deadly clashes between the country's armed forces and paramilitary forces in Khartoum and other areas since April 15, resulting in at least 3,000 deaths and more than 6,000 injuries, according to figures released by the Sudanese Health Ministry. 
[Source]

The Washington Post released its first-ever story in Filipino, debunking the life of a teenage girl who was chosen to be put on display at the infamous St. Louis World's Fair.

About the story: On Wednesday, the Post published Paghahanap kay Maura (Searching for Maura), an illustrated report by writers Claire Healy, Nicole Dungca and illustrator Ren Galeno. The report follows the true story of Maura, a teenage girl from the Philippines who went to the United States to be put on display at the largest "human zoo" in world history in 1904. The St. Louis facility contained indigenous people who were converted into attractions.

About Maura: Maura, who died of pneumonia a few days before the St. Louis exposition opened, was part of an indigenous Igorot group from the Cordillera mountains. The Igorot village was reportedly one of the most popular exhibits at the St. Louis World's Fair; in it, tribesmen were forced to eat dogs every day, even though they only performed this practice on rare occasions in the Philippines. This is said to be where the stereotype of Filipinos as dog eaters originated.

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Collecting Mauras brain: The report includes information about the research of Czech anthropologist Ales Hrdlicka, who scavenged thousands of body parts and organs, including brains, for the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) for around 40 years. Hrdlickas "racial brain collection" includes some of the 1,200 Filipinos from different islands of the Philippines who were part of the 1904 exhibit, one of which likely belonged to Maura.

There are reportedly 255 brains stored at the Smithsonian NMNH from people of different countries, including the Philippines, Malaysia and Japan.

Returning the Filipino remains: On Tuesday, Hrdlickas findings were published in an investigative report by the Post titled The Smithsonians Bone Doctor Scavenged Thousands of Body Parts. Following this report, the Smithsonian is now coordinating with Philippine authorities, including the National Museum of the Philippines (NMP), to repatriate the Filipino remains.

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In adherence with todays standards of ethical museum practice, the NMP accepts and supports this effort of the Smithsonian NMNH to do the right thing and facilitate the Filipino remains home as a way of rectifying this unfortunate situation, the organization said.

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Members of the Christian community condemn the attacks on churches and houses in Jaranwala town, during a protest in Peshawar

Pakistani brothers arrested for blasphemy after mob burns churches Members of the Christian community condemn the attacks on churches and houses in Jaranwala town, during a protest in Peshawar

By Mubasher Bukhari and Asif Shahzad

LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) -Pakistani police have arrested two Christian brothers accused of blasphemy, a spokesperson and a source said on Friday, two days after a Muslim mob burnt churches and houses, blaming the two men for desecrating the Koran.

Pages of the Koran were found in a street with derogatory comments written on them in red, police said. One attached extra page also carried the names, addresses and national identity card numbers of the accused, provincial police chief Usman Anwar said.

Police were investigating all angles as to why the names and addresses would be attached, he told Reuters. A court ordered the two suspects to be held in police custody for seven days for questioning, a government spokesperson said.

Blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan but no one has ever been executed. Numerous accused have been lynched by outraged mobs. A former provincial governor and a minister for minorities were shot dead for trying to reform the blasphemy law.

Rights groups say accusations of blasphemy are sometimes used to settle scores. Hundreds of people are languishing in prison after being accused because judges often put off trials, fearing retribution if they are seen as being lenient, they say.

Paramilitary troops have been guarding site of the arson attacks, a Christian settlement in Jaranwala in Faisalabad industrial district, which also includes the historical Salvation Army Church and Saint Paul Catholic Church.

A Christian graveyard was also desecrated, residents and the community leaders said, adding that the mob dragged belongings from Christians' houses and set them on fire.

The violence continued for 10 hours without intervention by police at the scene, residents and community leader said. The police have denied that, saying they prevented even worse damage.

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwar ul Haq Kakar said on Friday that minorities had to be protected at all costs, promising to take action against those involved in violence.

Police said they have so far rounded up 128 people involved in the mob attack.

Residents said thousands of Muslims led by local clerics were seen carrying iron rods, sticks and daggers during the violence.

It started after someone took the desecrated pages of the Koran to a mosque prayer leader, which was followed by announcements calling for punishment, residents and police said.

Residents said clerics from an outlawed Islamist political party - Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) - led the campaign which resulted in the violence, residents and government sources said.

The TLP denied that, saying it joined the police in calming down the situation.

"We looked into the announcement from the loudspeakers. The same people who were making announcements on loudspeakers later joined us for the peace process," the police chief said.

Hundreds of Christians who fled the settlement have since started returning home, Akmal Bhatti, a community leader, told Reuters.

(Writing and reporting by Asif Shahzad in Islamabad; Editing by Kim Coghill and Nick Macfie)
Former St. Petersburg City Council member and mayoral candidate Robert Blackmon has made a cash offer for a city-owned strip mall long pitched as a potential grocery store location, he has confirmed.

Tangerine Plaza, at 1794 22nd St. S, has sat vacant, only serving as a location for food drives, since a Walmart Neighborhood Market operated until 2017 as the sole grocer in that part of the city. The area is federally deemed a food desert and City Council members in May expressed frustration with the lack of progress in landing a new store.

Blackmon said he made the $1.625 million offer Aug. 11. In a letter to Mayor Ken Welch, he said he would reactivate the space as a grocery store-anchored retail center. Blackmon said the deal has no financing contingency, he would waive the right to inspect the property and he would agree to deed restrictions requiring that it remain as retail for at least five years after the sale closes.

Every neighborhood should be a complete neighborhood, he wrote. This vision creates a community atmosphere, and helps relieve the burden of lengthy and cumbersome travel times to receive essential goods and services. It also eliminates a food desert in an underserved yet deserving community.

Blackmon provided a copy of the offer after a Tampa Bay Times reporter contacted him about an entry on Welchs calendar July 20 that read: Phone Call with RB. Blackmon confirmed that he and Welch spoke that day about the offer.

The city on Friday fulfilled a public records request made Tuesday for all correspondence regarding Tangerine Plaza over the past month, after an initial version of this story published online. Out of four responsive records, two were Blackmons email to city officials and the offer letter.

The city has been working with the Sugar Hill Group to redevelop the site since the previous mayors administration, but the group has struggled to demonstrate financial wherewithal. They propose demolishing the existing 40,000-square-foot space and building a retail space a quarter of the size, along with constructing two buildings for 115 affordable apartments  the economic driver of the project.

In a statement through a spokesperson, city Development Administrator James Corbett said Blackmons unsolicited offer does not change our strategic partnership and collaboration with Sugar Hill Group.

We are continuing to work with them on a long-term lease that will clear the way for additional funding to produce more workforce and affordable housing, retail store options, including a grocery store component, Corbett said.

The Sugar Hill Group is not the same outfit as Sugar Hill Community Partners, which vied to redevelop Tropicana Field and the Historic Gas Plant District. The group, led by Roy Binger, the Rev. Louis Murphy and Oliver Gross, has been vying to develop the property since former Mayor Rick Krisemans administration. But after about two years of negotiations, a deal never came together before the end of Krisemans term.

Welch ended those talks upon taking office for competitive fairness and other reasons, a city spokesperson said. In May 2022, Sugar Hill Group submitted an unsolicited offer to redevelop Tangerine Plaza. Instead of issuing a request for proposals, in which the city lays out what it wants, the city issued a 30-day notice for other proposals for expediency, the spokesperson said. Only one other proposal was submitted, but the city selected Sugar Hill.

Sugar Hill is seeking a 75-year ground lease for $1.5 million. That comes out to a capitalized lease payment of $20,000 a year with an option to negotiate the purchase of the property after a third-party appraisal.

Murphy told the Times he was not aware of Blackmons offer. He said that offer doesnt change Sugar Hills proposal nor the process.

Anybody can do whatever they desire to do, he said Friday. Were just trying to provide housing and access to a grocery store in the community. Were just trying to help the community.

In a text, Binger told the Times: We are committed to the process with the city. He would not comment further.

Last week, City Council members were told that the city is working on a lease with the Sugar Hill Group so it can have site control to be eligible to apply for affordable housing funding. Corbett said the plan is to bring a lease to the City Council for approval by the end of the year.

Blackmon lost to Welch in the 2021 St. Petersburg mayoral election. Since then, a project to revive the city-owned science center, championed by Blackmon, is underway and under contract. He is also turning a landmark gas station into a drive-thru coffee shop in the Harbordale neighborhood.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
A 31-year-old man died after being hit around 3 a.m. Friday by an SUV in south Sacramento, authorities said.

The pedestrian, identified as Sergio Roberto Rojas of Sacramento, was pronounced dead at the scene by the Sacramento County Coroners Office.

The driver, a 42-year-old Elk Grove woman, was traveling westbound on Calvine Road in a 2015 Toyota RAV4 when she struck the man, who was walking westbound in the bike lane with his dog and shopping cart bicycle, the California High Patrols South Sacramento office said in a news release. The collision caused him to land in the roadway.

The woman pulled to the right, stopped her vehicle and waited for CHP officers to arrive. When authorities arrived, she was transported to a hospital for precautionary measures.

Alcohol and drugs did not appear to be factors on behalf of the driver. It is unknown whether the pedestrian was under the influence, CHP officials said.

The pedestrians dog remained at the scene and was later taken by animal control, authorities said.

The intersection was closed for investigation but has since reopened.
Former Vice President Mike Pence has qualified for the second Republican presidential primary debate next month, his campaign announced Friday.

Pence campaign manager Steve Damaura wrote in a memo to donors shared with reporters that Pence had crossed the 50,000 donor threshold necessary for candidates to make the second debate, which is scheduled for Sept. 27 in California.

The former vice president has also been polling at least 3 percent in national polls and in early primary state polls in Iowa and New Hampshire, checking off another box to qualify.

And Pence has submitted a signed pledge to the Republican National Committee (RNC) vowing to support the partys eventual nominee, his campaign said.

Pence qualified for the first debate, scheduled for Wednesday in Wisconsin, earlier this month. But his campaign believes it is building momentum, as evidenced by it crossing the donor threshold for the second debate.

We never had any doubt, but I wanted to share the news with you first and directly that we have qualified for the 2nd Republican Presidential debate in September, Damaura wrote to donors. While it took other candidates-Haley (21 weeks), Ramaswamy (21 weeks), and Scott (13 weeks)- to qualify for the first debate, we have now made two debates in 11 weeks.

Pence has seen a boost in media attention and in donations in the past two weeks after he was central to the indictment of former President Trump in Washington over Trumps efforts to subvert the 2020 election.

The Hill Elections 2024 coverage

The indictment laid out in detail how Pence resisted repeated efforts by Trump and his allies to get Pence to unilaterally overturn the election results. Pence has been adamant that such requests were unconstitutional.

The former vice president has in recent weeks also rolled out policy platforms focused on the economy and on building domestic energy independence.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Former Vice President Mike Pence has qualified for the second GOP presidential debate, setting up another opportunity for a faceoff with former President Donald Trump.

Pence announced on Friday that he has hit 50,000 donors, a requirement set by the Republican National Committee to make it on stage for the second debate on Sept. 27. He had previously cleared the polling threshold, according to POLITICOs analysis, which required getting 3 percent in a handful of polls.

Alongside Pence and Trump, five other candidates had also previously qualified for the second debate: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, businessperson Vivek Ramaswamy, former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

The second debates setting  the Ronald Reagan presidential library in Simi Valley, Calif.  is as fitting a location as any for a faceoff between Pence and Trump, with Trump representing a new Republican Party that has abandoned much of Reagans lineage and Pences candidacy almost an attempt to go back to an earlier, pre-Trump era of the GOP.

But it isnt clear whether the showdown will come to fruition.

Trump has avoided sharing a stage with any of his rivals, often skipping cattle calls that other candidates attend. That is particularly true for the debates: Trump has publicly teased the idea of skipping the first debate later this month, saying he does not want to give any of his opponents the chance to steal his spotlight.

Pence has become increasingly critical of his former boss in light of Trump's multiple indictments, saying he is no longer fit to be commander in chief. Anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be president of the United States, Pence said in a statement after Trump was indicted by federal prosecutors for trying to overturn the 2020 election.

Trump has also become more critical of Pence, saying he has gone to the Dark Side.

Even so, Pences campaign said Friday he has signed the RNCs loyalty pledge promising to back the eventual nominee  something that Trump has said he would not do.

At this point, Pence almost seems to be relishing the chance for a one-on-one faceoff with Trump. Ive debated Donald Trump a thousand times, he said in Indianapolis at a gathering for state lawmakers recently. Just not in front of the cameras.

As of now, few other candidates appear likely to make the second debate. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum  who has also qualified for the first debate  has previously hit the requisite number of donors for the second debate, but will need 3 percent in at least one national poll.

And self-described quality guru Perry Johnson has also said he has the 50,000 donors needed. And though he appears to have qualified for the first debate in a whirlwind release of polls on Friday, he may struggle with the higher 3 percent threshold.

The debate will be hosted by Fox Business, the Reagan Foundation, Univision and Rumble. Moderators have not yet been announced.

Steve Shepard contributed to this report.
Mike Pence appears ready to face off with former President Donald Trump at next weeks first Republican presidential nomination debate  whether his former running mate is on the stage or not.

"I'm looking forward to the opportunity to be in on that stage," the former vice president told Fox News Digital in an interview last month in New Hampshire.

Last week, as he spoke with this reporter at the Iowa State Fair, Pence stressed that hes "confident that Republican primary voters know that not only do we need new leadership in the White House, but we need new leadership in the Republican Party."

CHECK OUT INITIAL FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS IN 2024 GOP PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION RACE

Former Vice President Mike Pence, a 2024 Republican White House candidate, is interviewed by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds at her 'fair side chats' at the Iowa State Fair, on August 11, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa

For four years in the White House and on the campaign trail, Pence was the then-presidents loyal co-pilot. But that all ended on January 6, 2021, when Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. The attack temporarily disrupted congressional certification of President Biden's 2020 Electoral College victory over Trump.

WHAT PENCE SAID IN HIS FOX NEWS INTERVIEW AT THE IOWA STATE FAIR

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Pence was at the Capitol at the time it was attacked, overseeing the joint session of Congress. He was forced, along with members of Congress to temporarily flee to safety as the rioters  some chanting that the then-vice president should be hanged  stormed the building. In following what he saw as his constitutional duties instead of Trumps wishes, Pence has endured the wrath of the former president and plenty of Trumps most devout loyalists and supporters.

Now, in the wake of Trumps back-to-back indictments in connection with the attack on the Capitol and his alleged efforts to try and overturn the 2020 election, Pence is raising the volume.

"Im very proud of the record of the Trump administration," Pence said last week. "But the president and I took a different path in the end, and sadly, in the last two and a half years, the former president has continued to maintain that I had the right to overturn the election. I had no right to overturn the election. If the American people hear us out, they know that we kept our oath to the Constitution. Im confident more and more Americans every day are understanding the stand that we took and appreciating our commitment to keep the oath that we made to them and to almighty God."

FIRST ON FOX: FORMER VP MIKE PENCE QUALIFIES FOR FIRST GOP DEBATE

Pence and his small team of close political advisers are looking forward to a showdown with Trump at Wednesdays Fox News hosted debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which is expected to draw millions of viewers across the country.

"Were ready," Pence senior adviser Marc Short said in a statement. "Weve been waiting for this for a while."

Pence, a veteran of two vice presidential general election debates, has been preparing the first showdown by taking part in mock debates. An adviser who asked to remain anonymous emphasized that Pence "will be very well prepared."

Whether Trump joins Pence on the stage is still very debatable.

The Republican National Committee, which is organizing all the presidential primary debates, requires that every candidate sign a pledge to support the GOPs eventual presidential nominee  regardless of who it is  and not to take part in any debate not sanctioned by the national party committee.

WHO'S STILL FIGHTING TO MAKE THE STAGE AT THE FIRST REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

Trump, so far, has refused to sign the pledge and has yet to make a final decision on whether hell show up in Milwaukee.

Pence, speaking to state lawmakers at the National Conference of State Legislatures Wednesday in Indianapolis, Indiana, said "I hope he comes" when asked about Trump.

In his interview with Fox News Digital last week in Des Moines said, Pence said, "Everyone who is willing to step forward and be considered here in the Iowa caucus and the upcoming primaries owes it to the American people to be on that stage to tell their story, to share their vision, and Im looking forward to being there."

His campaign appeared to goad Trump, with communications director Devin OMalley questioning in a recent statement whether "former President Trump has the courage to show up" at the debate.

Pences political team appears to welcome the contrast between the steady former vice president spotlighting his conservative stances on numerous issues, including abortion, with Trump, whos known for his unpredictability and fireworks.

The former vice president, in comments Friday at a 2024 confab in Atlanta, Georgia, pointed to the Capitol attack and spotlighted that "my differences with the president go far beyond that fateful day. And I hope to have a chance to debate them."

Even though Trump might not appear on the stage in Milwaukee, hell still be front-and-center at the debate.

"If hes not there, hell still be there," said Fox News anchor Bret Baier, who, along with fellow host Martha MacCallum, is a co-moderator of the debate. "Hell be a part of questioning."

A Pence adviser said the former vice presidents strategy wont change, regardless of whom hes sharing the stage with.

"Mike Pence has been consistent throughout this race about how hes approached his contrasts with Trump and all the other candidates. Hes not going to change who he is when he gets up on the debate stage."
Former Vice President Mike Pence speaks to reporters at an event hosted by conservative radio host Erick Erickson on Friday, Aug. 18, in Atlanta, Georgia.

Former Vice President Mike Pence speaks to reporters at an event hosted by conservative radio host Erick Erickson on Friday, Aug. 18, in Atlanta, Georgia.

ATLANTA  Mike Pence, who was almost killed by Donald Trumps followers during their Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol, on Friday tacitly supported the new Georgia indictment against him for trying to overturn his election loss in that state.

We ought to be willing to tell the American people the truth, and the first principles are that no ones above the law, he told reporters following an appearance at radio talk show host Erick Ericksons presidential candidates forum.

He said that Trump and the other 18 who have been charged with felony counts ranging from racketeering to forgery to fraud are presumed innocent of the crimes until proven guilty in court.

That being said, I do think its important that irrespective of that case or other cases going forward that we speak the truth to the American people that I had no right to overturn the election, and the Georgia election was not stolen, he added.

Pences statement stands out for his willingness to give legitimacy to the indictment brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, following a two-year investigation sparked by the release of a recording capturing Trumps attempt to coerce state elections officials to find him enough votes to win.

While former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and former Texas congressman Will Hurd have all repeatedly criticized Trump for his efforts to remain in power despite losing the 2020 election, the others in the GOP field have declined to do so, and have even verbally attacked the prosecutors.

On Tuesday, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott said, We see the legal system being weaponized against political opponents. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters, I think its an example of this criminalization of politics.

Trumps indictment in Georgia is his fourth overall, and brings the total number of felony counts against him to 91. Trump faces four counts in a federal indictment for his coup attempt, as well as 40 in a separate federal case based on his refusal to turn over secret documents he was keeping at his Florida country club. A New York State indictment earlier this year charged him on 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide a $130,000 hush money payment to a porn star just ahead of the 2016 election.

Despite all this, Trump remains the polling leader, by large margins, for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.
As kids head back to school, districts across Pennsylvania are dealing with an ongoing bus driver shortage.

Gov. Josh Shapiros administration recognizes that districts have been dealing with this shortage since the COVID-19 pandemic. So, PennDOT is working to attract more bus drivers by changing the commercial drivers license skills test.

Its a change PennDOT says makes sense.

The hope is that by updating the test, more people will be successful with passing it.

Buses have changed and modernized over the years  so starting on Aug. 28, PennDOT will waive the Under the Hood requirement for bus drivers. This means that potential school bus drivers no longer need to take the portion of the CDL test that requires them to identify engine components.

Thats the portion of the test that Todd OShell, the Vice President of Operations for ABC Transit, says applicants get frustrated with.

I think its a relief to a lot of people because for the majority of the people who got through our program, our training program, that is the biggest hang up because they dont understand the engine components, OShell said.

He agrees, the test could help recruit more drivers because it will be specific to bus drivers.

It allows us to bring people in to become school bus drivers and retain them, lot of times we will lose ppl to the trucking industry or the garbage industry, OShell said.

Potential bus drivers will still need to pass the CDL skills test, which includes a pre-trip inspection, basic control and a road test.

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The suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people could escape the death penalty along with four of his accused plotters under a plea agreement being considered, CBS News has learned.

The Pentagon sent a letter this week to families of 9/11 victims revealing plea deals are being considered in which the five men, including suspected mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, would "accept criminal responsibility for their actions and plead guilty....in exchange for not receiving the death penalty."

The letter generated fresh outrage in Kristen Breitweiser, whose husband died in the South Tower of the World Trade Center. She has waited years to see the five men face trial.

"It's more heartbroken," Breitweiser told CBS News. "...I thought I lived in the United States of America. I thought we were a nation based upon the rule of law. And obviously, that's turned out not to be the case."

The five 9/11 defendants were held by the CIA before being transferred to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2006.

The prosecution of the defendants at Guantanamo Bay, which would be held in military tribunals, has been delayed for years, mainly complicated by the CIA's interrogation of the suspects that critics called "torture," and questions over whether the evidence extracted during those interrogations is admissible in court.

A defense lawyer for Ammar al-Baluchi, one of the accused plotters, told CBS News last year that a plea deal would end the impasse.



"He is willing to plead guilty, serve a long sentence at Guantanamo, in exchange for medical care for his torture, and taking the death penalty off the table," defense lawyer James Connell said in September 2022.

That doesn't satisfy Brad Blakeman, who lost his nephew Tommy Jurgen in the World Trade Center.



"We were told, and we were promised, that we would bring these people responsible to justice and we expect that to happen," Blakeman said.



If a plea deal goes ahead, and the 9/11 defendants get lengthy sentences, there's a law in place that prevents their transfer to U.S. soil and federal custody. That means the Guantanamo prison could remain open indefinitely.

Over the years, there have been proposals to move the trials from military tribunals to civilian court. However, that idea has faced strong resistance in Congress over concerns about security and the costs of moving defendants out of Guantanamo Bay.

 Catherine Herridge contributed to this report.

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NICOSIA, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- The UN Peace Keeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) on Friday condemned "the assaults against UN peacekeepers and damage to UN vehicles by personnel from the Turkish Cypriot side."

In a statement, the UNFICYP confirmed the attack by Turkish Cypriots in the buffer zone dividing the eastern Mediterranean island. "Threats to the safety of UN peacekeepers and damage to UN property are unacceptable and constitute a serious crime under international law which will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law," it said.

The incident took place inside the buffer zone near Pyla, or Pile in Turkish, a village near the southeastern coast of Cyprus, which is a mixed-population community inhabited by both Greek and Turkish Cypriots.

The UN peacekeepers, according to the UNFICYP, were on a mission to "block unauthorized construction work in the area" after Turkish Cypriot administration announced its plan to construct an 11 km long road between Pyla and another village located in the Turkish-controlled Cypriot area.

No details about the attack were given by the UN force, but local media reported that three UN peacekeepers were treated for minor injuries as a group of 12 peacekeepers were violently pushed back from their positions.

Several UN vehicles blocking access to the road were pushed out of the way by tractors and three of them became unusable.

On Thursday, UNFICYP warned in a statement against the unauthorized construction activities inside the UN buffer zone. It also called on "the Turkish Cypriot side to respect the mission's mandated authority inside the UN buffer zone, refrain from any actions that could escalate tensions further and to withdraw all personnel and machinery from the UN buffer zone immediately."

The Cypriot government has strongly protested to the United Nations against the road construction, saying it would constitute a serious violation of the status quo.

UNFICYP has been in control of the buffer zone since it was demarcated under United Nations Security Council resolutions, following a Turkish military operation against Cyprus in 1974. 
Newly elected member of Congress pose for the 118th Congress member-elect class photo on the House steps on Tuesday, November 15, 2022. Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

UPS workers could get $170,000 in combined pay and benefits in 5 years' time thanks to their new union deal.

Some tech workers seem mad about this.

But members of Congress make $174,000 annually, and are only required to work about 155 days a year.

Earlier this summer, the Teamsters union secured a tentative contract agreement with UPS that could result in employees for the shipping company making up to $170,000 in annual pay and benefits in five years. Such healthy annual compensation predictably generated headlines, as well as apparent backlash from workers in industries that generally are thought of as more lucrative.

As Insider reported last week, tech workers, or people claiming to be them, took to anonymous message boards like Blind to complain about the deal. One person called the deal "disappointing," said it "sucks," and argued that the engineers who created the trucks used by UPS drivers "are more important because the impact to society is higher, including providing a tool for work." Not exactly solidarity!

But perhaps these tech workers should be saving their resentment for the well-compensated government employees who, relative to UPS workers or anyone else with a normal job, barely work: members of Congress, who as of December 2022, make a minimum of $174,000 a year in salary not including very generous benefits.

According to Ballotpedia, House members spent an average of 149 days in session each year between 2001 and 2021, with senators clocking in a bit more at 164 days a year on average in the same span. (Of course some of those days are longer than others with some votes going late into the night or into the early morning.)

For comparison's sake, there are about 260 work days each year for Americans who aren't in Congress.

Outside of their legislative duties, members of Congress can and often do work more each year, doing things like meeting with constituents in their home districts.

"Floor activity and time in session is only a part of a job for a Member of Congress," Brad Finch, President & CEO of the Congressional Management Foundation, told Insider in a statement after this story's publication. "Most of Members' time is spent in committee meetings and meetings with constituents. According to our research, the average workweek for a member of Congress when in session is about 70 hours a week."

But they don't have to work extra hours, or any hours at all, and they're paid for their time away from the Capitol regardless of how they spend it.

"Members of Congress technically are not required to do anything after they're elected," Finch said. "However, if they neglect their duties, they'll likely lose re-election."

The lesson here? Tech workers looking for easier jobs that pay well should simply run for office instead of complaining anonymously on message boards.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Ranger Suarez throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Laurence Kesterson)

WASHINGTON (AP)  Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Ranger Suarez will not make his scheduled start Sunday against the Washington Nationals because of hamstring soreness.

Manager Rob Thomson said the left-hander, who last pitched Sunday against Minnesota, experienced stiffness after some pregame work in the outfield during Philadelphias two-game series in Toronto.

We dont know how it happened, Thomson said Friday. We dont know long its going to be. But well re-evaluate tomorrow.

Suarez is 2-6 with a 3.88 ERA in 17 starts.

The Phillies, who had off days Monday and Thursday this week, will start right-hander Zack Wheeler against Washington in Sundays Little League Classic in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, on regular rest. Aaron Nola will start Monday when Philadelphia returns home to face San Francisco.

Thomson said there was not much immediate concern this could be a long-term issue for Suarez.

A lot of times your legs get aggravated on that turf so Im hoping thats all it was, Thomson said.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
A pilot suffered a medical emergency on a flight from Miami to Santiago, Chile, on Monday.

LATAM airlines told Insider that the flight was diverted to Panama City amid the emergency.

Tragically, the pilot died after receiving assistance during the emergency stop in Panama, per the airline.

A pilot for a Chilean airline company suffered a medical emergency during a flight from Miami, Florida, to Santiago, Chile, on Monday, and died after the plane was forced to make an emergency stop in Panama.

The LATAM Airlines pilot, who was not named by the airline, had served for more than 25 years, the airline told Insider in a statement. He was part of a three person crew commanding the aircraft.

After an emergency stop in Panama, the pilot received further medical help but died, the airline told Insider.

"LATAM Group is deeply saddened by this event and takes this opportunity to express our most sincere condolences to the family of our employee," the airline told Insider on Thursday.

Flight data from FlightAware showed that the Monday flight, which typically takes eight hours, rapidly descended from over 30,000 feet in the air after less than three hours in the air.

The flight landed in Panama City during the emergency stop on Monday and passengers weren't able to board a new flight from Panama City to Santiago till Thursday, the airline told Insider.

It's the latest travel disaster amid a summer of nightmarish incidents for crews and passengers. In July, a Delta flight which languished for hours on a Las Vegas tarmac in triple-digit heat left passengers requiring medical care.

Read the original article on Insider
Pink Sauce Creator Claims Shes Broke Due To Faulty Deal: I Dont Even Have Enough Money To Buy My Kids Food | Pexels

Veronica Chef Pii Shaw was all over social media last summer, thanks to her viral Pink Sauce condiment.

The bubblegum-hued condiment was a concoction that Shaw devised in her kitchen while working as a private chef in Miami.

She often finished her TikTok videos by slathering whatever she cooked in the mystery Pink Sauce.

Although Shaw never revealed the sauces ingredients, her followers demanded it, so she began selling the sauce for $20 a bottle, which quickly sold out. As quickly as orders came in, the backlash followed. Customer complaints about inadequate food packaging and alleged contamination began to damper the hype around the viral sauce.

The most significant blow was when Shaw went live to address followers questioning if her sauce was FDA-approved.

She responded, What do you mean, FDA-approved? I dont sell medical products.

In January 2023, Delish announced that Shaw had partnered with Daves Gourmet. The condiment company added Pink Sauce to its portfolio, selling it on Walmart.com and in 4,000 locations nationwide until July.

The sauce was now in a new bottle, providing the standard nutrition and ingredient facts. Walmart.com also stated that Shaws Pink Sauce is made at an SQF and FDA-approved facility.

While the partnership seemed to change the trajectory of Shaws business, the internet sensation is claiming thats not the case.

On Aug. 17, Shaw took to her Instagram, announcing the launch of her GoFund Me page and asking for financial assistance. Shaw alleged that a partnership left her in financial ruin.

As a young entrepreneur with big dreams, I followed my intuition and went forth toward my dreams to create something new, she wrote on her GoFundMe page. I made a few mistakes on the way. Which lead me to trust a company that is trying to take everything away from me. They lied to me. They are not paying me and are not being transparent about records.

She continued by writing, I have tried on multiple occasions to try and come to one accord with them but they refuse to reimburse me for marketing expenses that I spent my own funds toward.

Shaw then claimed she was silenced and sabotaged. She does not name said company in the video or on social media, and she wrote that it has difficult for her to care for and feed her children.

She then revealed she has been relying on her mother for assistance, who she wrote has been giving her $20 just to get by on a daily basis. Her money issues have left her facing an eviction.

I need legal help, she wrote toward he end of her plea. They are refusing to pay me the royalty that is owed to me. I dont know what else to do. I cant give up. I need help.

Since divulging her hardships, Shaw posted videos on her account alleging that her marketing ideas dating back to October 2022 were rejected and ignored.

Shaw also claimed the company is removing her Instagram posts where she is outing them.

She has since deleted posts containing her allegations from her page.

Blavity reached out to Shaw for a statement. At the time of publishing, she had not responded. Daves Gourmet has also not provided a comment on her claims.
A Conway man has filed a lawsuit against Horry County officials claiming he was falsely arrested for digging up a public roadway.

Kenneth Joe Jordan claims that on March 17, Horry County police arrested him on a warrant that alleged he had instructed someone else to dig up Hubs Lane in Conway using an excavator, according to the suit filed Aug. 8. The suit says that Jordan didnt dig up the roadway and had no involvement in the digging.

Mikayla Moskov, spokesperson for Horry County, said by text Thursday that the county does not offer commentary on substantive matters related to pending litigation.

Jordan, 50, of Conway, was charged with malicious injury to tree or house and trespassing on real property with a value of $2,000 or more, according to online booking records. Jordan posted a $1,000 bond and was released from the J. Reuben Long Detention Center.

The suit says that Jordan had a jury trial on the charges on July 27 and was found not guilty.

The suit claims that officers and county employees were negligent, reckless, willful and wanton in arresting Jordan. Jordan says that he was humiliated and suffered emotional mental distress from the arrest and is asking for damages and costs, including attorneys fees, for malicious prosecution, false arrest, false imprisonment, slander and conspiracy, the suit says.

Jordans attorney, Gene Connell Jr., said Wednesday that police should have gotten their facts straight before they made the arrest. He said the defense has a photo of a person on the excavator and its not Jordan.

Jordan is asking for a jury trial in the matter.
A Collinsville woman known for her big heart for kids with special needs died in an Interstate 55 collision in Madison County.

Jordan R. Chomko, 22, was pronounced deceased at the scene after she was struck by a tractor-trailer Friday night on the highway between Collinsville and Troy, Illinois State Police said in a news release.

Chomko jumped over a guardrail and ran into a lane of traffic before being struck by the northbound truck at about 11:30 p.m., according to preliminary information released by police. The truck driver was not injured and remained on the scene. No other information was released by investigators.

Chomkos obituary said she was working as a waitress in Collinsville and had plans to become a social worker to help fight human trafficking.

Chomko was born in Awassa, Ethiopia, and was adopted to cherished parents and came to live in the United States at the young age of 9, according to her obituary.

Her compassionate and loving personality, her big smile and sense of humor will live on with us every day, states her obituary. She was a good listener, very patient and had a big heart for kids with special needs.

The visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday at Irwin Chapel at 591 Glen Crossing Road in Glen Carbon and funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at the funeral home.
CAMDEN  A city teenager is accused of killing a 19-year-old man who was shot three times after falling in an attempt to escape his attacker.

Davante Trader, 18, allegedly fired a total of five shots during a night-time attack on Tymere Wilcox on a Morgan Village street, according to a court record.

Wilcox tried to flee after the first two shots, but fell to the ground on the 2400 block of Denfield Street in Morgan Village, says a probable cause statement.

It alleges Trader "briefly leaned over Wilcox and then ran off."

The shooting occurred around 10:45 p.m. on July 11, when police found Wilcox lying on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds.

Deadly shooting in high-rise lobby Gunfire kills one, injures another at Northgate 1 complex in Camden

Wilcox, a Camden resident, died a short time later at a city hospital, according to the Camden County Prosecutor's Office.

Trader, who was arrested Aug. 15 in Camden, allegedly took a cab to Denfield Street from his Ferry Avenue apartment complex, the probable cause statement says.

The cab stopped along the way at a convenience store, the statement says.

Morgan Village killer ducked into an alley

It contends Trader entered an alley on Denfield Street, then emerged while wearing different clothes and a black mask.

He then allegedly approached Wilcox on the street and opened fire, the statement claims.

A witness later identified Trader from photographs taken in the convenience store, it says.

Investigators also found a black mask in an alley near Denfield Street. Trader was a match for DNA found on the mask, according to the statement.

Trader is in Camden County Jail pending a detention hearing.

He is charged with murder and weapons offenses.

The charges are only allegations. No one has been convicted in the case.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Prosecutors Detective Michael Dons or Camden County Police Detective Andrew Einstein.

Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. Email: jwalsh@cpsj.com.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Davante Trader was arrested in connection with a fatal shooting
An illustration shows the highly magnetic helium star HD 45166 which could help explain how magnetars are born

Astronomers believe a well-known object is actually a new type of star  and it's one that could be the "missing link" in models showing the formation of stellar corpses with extremely powerful magnetic fields, known as magnetars.

The team found that HD 45166, a star in a binary system that's been studied for over 100 years and sits around 3,000 light-years from Earth, is a highly magnetic helium star. This is a type of stellar body that hadn't previously been predicted to exist.

"This is the first time we have found a magnetic massive helium star," Tomer Shenar, lead author of the discovery and an astronomer at the University of Amsterdam, told Space.com. "This is also the strongest field ever detected in a massive star that may undergo core collapse and become a neutron star."

Related: Record-breaking 'failed' star orbiting stellar corpse is 2,000 degrees hotter than the sun

Shenar explained that this is a binary system with very unique properties. One star, for instance, was reported to be a massive helium star that was stripped of its hydrogen-rich layers by a mechanism thus far unknown. Many highly evolved stars, such as this subject, are thought to have their inner helium layers exposed and are referred to as Wolf-Rayet stars.

"These massive helium stars are predicted to exist abundantly in the Milky Way, but we've never really found any in this mass range," Shenar said.

Not only is HD 45166 an important prototype for this class, but Shenar also pointed out that published literature on the object seems to defy our understanding of massive helium stars.

"It is this conflict between observation and theory that made me and others increasingly obsessed with HD 45166 and eventually led to the hypothesis that it may be magnetic," he said. "The most important discovery we made was that the massive helium star exhibits an extremely powerful magnetic field totaling 43,000 gauss."

For comparison, the sun's magnetic field has an average strength of around 1 single gauss.

Beyond the mystery of this system and its unusual properties, the discovery of a massive, highly magnetic helium star like this one could explain how some of the universe's most extreme objects are born.

How are magnetars are born?

Neutron stars are stellar corpses created when massive stars finally run out of fuel necessary for their intrinsic nuclear fusion processes, and when the energy that provides an outward push against an inward gravitational pull ceases.

No longer able to support themselves against their own gravity, the cores of these dying stars collapse rapidly while the outer layers are blown away in massive supernova explosions.

This results in a leftover stellar core with a mass around that of the sun, but one crammed into a diameter of between 12 and 20 miles (19 and 32 km). That's no wider than a standard city here on Earth. As a result, neutron stars are composed of matter so dense a teaspoon of one would weigh something like 10 million tons if brought over to Earth.

Such a downsized width also speeds up the rotation of the dead stellar core, much like how an ice skater speeds up their spin by drawing in their arms. This results in some neutron stars rotating as fast as 700 times per second. About 10% of neutron stars are magnetars, even more extreme versions of such stellar remnants that possess magnetic fields as great as 100 trillion gauss.

"It remains unclear how magnetars become magnetic in the first place," Julia Bodensteiner, a member of the discovery team and a research fellow at the European Southern Observatory (ESO), told Space.com. "One possible idea is that the magnetar inherited the magnetic field from the collapsing core of its progenitor, implying that the star was magnetic beforehand. Until now, no magnetic massive stars close to the end of their evolution had been found."

That is, until the team discovered the nature of HD 45166.

An illustration of a newly discovered magnetar

"Our results suggest that the magnetic star in HD 45166 will, in a few million years, collapse into a magnetar," Shenar said. "This highly magnetic star therefore provides clues as to a possible formation route of these mysterious objects."

The team thinks that as HD 45166 collapses under its own gravity, its magnetic field will strengthen by up to a billion times because its magnetic field lines will bunch together. Then, the massive helium star will become an incredibly compact stellar corpse, or core with a magnetic field of around 100 trillion gauss, the most powerful type of magnetar in the known universe.

The research also suggests a mechanism by which HD 45166 itself might've formed, with the team thinking the magnetic star is the result of two lower-mass helium stars merging during a unique evolutionary phase.

This is indicated by the fact that the astronomers discovered that HD 45166 has a mass around twice that of the sun, which is smaller than previously predicted, and from the revelation that the residents of the binary system orbit each other at a much wider distance than previously thought.

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The team discovered the unique nature of the star HD 45166 when they observed it and its binary system companion in Feb. 2022 using the Echelle SpectroPolarimetric Device for the Observation of Stars (ESPADONS), an instrument on the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope in Hawaii that can detect and measure magnetic fields.

They will now continue to monitor HD 45166 with ESPADONS and other instruments as they attempt to gain information about the star's morphology and reveal the orientation of its magnetic field. Meanwhile, Shenar said monitoring the binary system with instruments such as the GRAVITY interferometer on the Very Large Telescope (VLT) will allow astronomers to resolve the positions of the two stars in the system, something that can help accurately determine the objects' individual masses.

"Additionally, we will be looking for other objects that could belong to this new class of stars," Shenar concluded. "This new class really sheds new light on how stellar pairs live and interact and how at least some magnetars may form, so it's important to continue studying HD 45166 and other objects in this class."

Bodensteiner explained the idea is to look for signatures of a magnetic field in HD 45166 that can trigger more expansive, comprehensive searches for stellar magnetic fields that appear to be situated on Wolf-Rayet stars.

"A systematic search for those will most likely allow us to detect more such systems, and therefore allow us to better understand themselves, in particular their magnetic fields, and their importance in the context of magnetar formation," she concluded.

The team's research was published this month in the journal Science.
Update: An excessive heat warning that runs from noon Saturday until 10 p.m. Wednesday was issued for the Kansas City area and portions of east-central and northeast Kansas and north-central, northwest and west-central Missouri. Dangerously hot conditions with heat index values up to 113 degrees expected, the National Weather Service said. Overnight temperatures are expected to fall only into the mid-70s, minimizing recovery from the heat which could compound into heat-related illnesses.

The run of generally pleasant weather in the Kansas City area will come to an abrupt end this weekend as dangerously hot conditions are expected to arrive and continue into next week, the National Weather Service said.

But before the prolonged heat arrives, the metro will see temperatures in the mid- to upper 80s on Friday with dew points remaining below 60 degrees.

On Saturday, the hotter conditions will move into the Kansas City area and persist through at least Thursday, the weather service said. Along with the hotter conditions, dew points are expected to climb into the low to mid-70s.

The higher the dew point, the muggier it will feel. In general, when dew points reach between 55 and 65 degrees during summer, conditions become sticky or muggy. Above that, conditions become more oppressive. Dew points less than or equal to 55 degrees make conditions feel dry and comfortable.

With the onset of hotter conditions, the weather service has placed the Kansas City area under an excessive heat watch, which runs from noon Saturday through Wednesday evening.

The extreme heat and humidity will significantly increase the chance for heat-related illnesses, especially for those working or participating in activities outdoors.

If you have outdoor plans this weekend, prepare for the heat! Drink plenty of fluids. Wear light-colored and loose-fitting clothing, the weather service said on X, formerly known as Twitter. Take frequent breaks in the shade or in air-condition.

The hottest temperatures are expected to remain west of Kansas City on Saturday, although some areas in far eastern Kansas could see triple digit temperatures, the weather service said in its forecast discussion.

In Kansas City, temperatures are expected to be around 99 degrees.

The high pressure system that is bringing the heat is expected to expand over the Kansas City region and become centered over western Missouri on Sunday.

Unlike the last wave of hot temperatures that had occasional showers and thunderstorms that helped cool things down, skies are expected to be dry. This will push temperatures toward triple digits with heat index values nearing 110 degrees, the weather service said.

Temperatures are expected to soar above 100 degrees on Sunday. The last time it was 100 degrees or hotter in Kansas City was on Aug. 6, 2022, when temperatures reached the century mark, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Regional Climate Centers.

The long range forecast indicates that temperatures might be above 100 degrees each day through Thursday. Overnight temperatures are expected to remain about 70 degrees.

There is a possibility of cooler conditions toward the end of the week, the weather service said.
Homes and businesses typically run on either propane or natural gas and lines are fed through a hot water tank or meter.

Chris Laderer, the fire chief for the Darlington Township Volunteer Fire Department, recommends having your furnace and water heater looked at one to two times a year to prevent devastating and tragic explosions.

Every time you change your furnace filter, go down and check. Theres a lot of connections in these pipes that can leak; they can leak anywhere, he said. If it fills a small area up with that thimble gas, and it lights that igniter and it lights, then it could blow up.

Chief Laderer, however, said home explosions caused by gas leaks are rare.

Dont be living in fear about it, he said. Just get your stuff checked.

According to data recently collected, 18 people have died and 36 people were hurt from gas explosions throughout the state in the last three years.

There are warning signs to look out for when it comes to a possible gas leak.

The smell is the most obvious. Propane or natural gas leaks have a bad odor, like rotten eggs thats added by companies.

Other warning signs include a hissing or whistling noise; dead or discolored grass or plants; and continuous bubbling in wet or flooded areas.

At that point, get out of your home right away. Dont turn on or off any lights or appliances. Dont even your cell phone. Any little spark could lead to an explosion.

Once outside, call 911 or your propane supplier.

A natural gas alarm could be another way to alert a person to any danger. The device works like a smoke detector. You hang it no less than 12 inches from the ceiling. The alarm beeps if it detects natural gas.

Its really a smart technology that people should invest in, said Julie Harris, the safety & education director with DeNova Detect.

Harris said their DeNova Detect alarms are extremely effective and can help save your life. When seconds matter in a gas leak, she said you shouldnt rely on smell alone.

Oftentimes, natural gas leaks can occur when youre sleeping, Harris said. We have to think about older populations, such as seniors, or COVID patients who have a diminished or completely removed sense of smell.

The alarm only alerts you to natural gas, but Harris said plans are in the works for a propane detector.

For information on where you can get the DeNova Detect Natural Gas Alarm for a discount, head to denovadetect.com and look for the link for Pennsylvania residents. Then, enter the code, PA.

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Chinese Vice President Han Zheng meets with the visiting Minister for Foreign Affairs of Denmark Lars Lokke Rasmussen in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 18, 2023. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)

BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Han Zheng met with the visiting Minister for Foreign Affairs of Denmark Lars Lokke Rasmussen in Beijing on Friday.

Han hailed the time-honored cooperation between China and Denmark that bears fruitful outcomes. He said that this year marks the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the China-Denmark comprehensive strategic partnership, and the two countries' governments will jointly release the Green China-Denmark Joint Programme, offering an overall plan for pragmatic cooperation on the next stage, especially cooperation of green development, to further enrich bilateral ties.

Noting that China and Denmark are both staunch supporters of multilateralism, free trade and economic globalization, Han said China will unswervingly continue advancing reform and opening up, and is willing to work with Denmark to maintain multilateralism, address all kinds of difficulties and challenges, and promote better cooperation globally.

While appreciating the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals put forward by China, and speaking highly of China's efforts to respond to climate change, Rasmussen said Denmark is ready to enhance cooperation with China in green, trade and other fields to bring bilateral ties to a new high. 
Groups working to clean up contamination from a former industrial site in northwest Springfield have scheduled a public meeting Aug. 23 to update the community on their findings and continued work.

The update concerns the former Kerr-McGee Wood Treatment Facility at 2800 W. High Street, which treated railroad ties from 1907 until 2004. The ties were treated with creosote  a mixture of chemicals that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has classified as a probable human carcinogen  and contaminated the soil and groundwater on the plot and the surrounding area. The Multistate Environmental Response Trust, a private entity created as part of an earlier settlement, has been working on monitoring, studying and cleaning up pollution from the site since 2011.

The community meeting hosted by the Multistate Trust and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources will welcome neighbors to hear updates on the cleanup Wednesday, Aug. 23 at the Library Station. According to a news release, representatives will discuss current work that includes sampling of surface soil in residential yards, replacement of certain pipes carrying wastewater from the home to the public sewer main and sampling of domestic or private water wells.

Ground water monitoring equipment at the old Kerr-McGee railroad tie plant on West High Street on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023.

The first portion of the event, beginning at 4:30 p.m., will be an availability session where representatives from the Multistate Trust, DNR and Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services will be available for one-on-one conversations. Following that at 6:00-7:30 p.m. the community meeting will begin with a presentation and include time for questions at the end. Food will be provided 5:00-6:00 p.m.

The most recent meeting was held in February. There, neighbors raised concerns about the health effects of the contaminated water and soil and the representatives shared worries about funding cleanup in the long term.

More: Funding becomes a concern as expensive cleanup continues at contaminated Springfield site

How pollution spread form the Kerr-McGee site in Springfield

The hazardous waste from the facility's operations entered the environment in a variety of ways.

During the operation of the Kerr-McGee facility, pressure-treated wood was transferred to a drip-track, where it often dripped into soil until a concrete pad was installed. Additionally, wastewater from the treatment process was discharged into unlined lagoons until 1976. According to the Multistate Trust website for the facility, creosote was previously discovered in Vich Spring and Woodlawn Spring near the site.

In 2005, after shutting down the facility, Kerr-McGee created a separate company, Tronox, to spin off some of its operations, and alongside it, the accountability for most of its accumulated environmental damages. Tronox filed for bankruptcy in 2009, and the Multistate Trust was established to take control and clean up the property as part of the settlement.

The bankruptcy settlement is also what is funding the cleanup efforts, along with funds from a settlement of fraud claims against Kerr-McGee. These funds can only be used for environmental actions, not personal property or personal injury claims.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Creosote contamination cleanup meeting to gather neighbors for updates
Prosecutors are seeking 33-year prison sentences for former Proud Boys chair Enrique Tarrio and his ally Joe Biggs, who they say aimed to foment a revolution on Jan. 6 to keep former President Donald Trump in power.

The proposed jail sentences would nearly double the lengthiest Jan. 6 sentence handed down to date  18 years for Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes  a decision prosecutors say reflects the pivotal role that Proud Boys leaders played in stoking and exacerbating the violence at the Capitol that day.

The defendants understood the stakes, and they embraced their role in bringing about a revolution,' prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memo released Thursday night. They unleashed a force on the Capitol that was calculated to exert their political will on elected officials by force and to undo the results of a democratic election. The foot soldiers of the right aimed to keep their leader in power. They failed. They are not heroes; they are criminals.

Both Tarrio and Biggs were convicted of seditious conspiracy in May by a jury who also found allies Philadelphia Proud Boy leader Zachary Rehl and Seattle Proud Boy leader Ethan Nordean guilty of the grave offense. Prosecutors are seeking 30 years for Rehl and 27 years for Nordean.



A fifth Proud Boy tried alongside the others, Dominic Pezzola, was acquitted of seditious conspiracy but convicted on other serious offenses. Pezzola may be the best known of the group, however. He shattered a Senate-wing window with a stolen police riot shield, triggering the breach of the Capitol itself. Prosecutors are seeking a 20-year jail term for him.

Nordean, Biggs, Pezzola and Rehl have been in prison since early 2021, and Tarrio has been in jail since his arrest in February 2022.

Prosecutors spent much of the memo describing the trauma the attack caused for members of Congress and outnumbered police officers, many of whom were injured defending the building. The attack, which the Justice Department says was sparked in significant ways by the Proud Boys, left a stain on American democracy. It was, in part, why prosecutors are urging the judge to deem their conduct terrorism  a designation that would result in sharply increased sentences.

[W]hile freedom, democracy, and the Constitution prevailed on January 6th, it was not without cost, they wrote. Alongside the enduring legacy of bravery and honor by those who defended our country, a harsh reality has emerged  political violence is not some foreign concept that exists only in faraway lands, it exists here too.

The proposed sentences set up a test for U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, who presided over the contentious four-month trial of the Proud Boys leaders earlier this year. Defense lawyers repeatedly argued that despite the groups presence at the Capitol, prosecutors had pieced together a case based largely on their private messages, which they said were simply First Amendment-protected expressions of dissent. Nordean, Biggs and Rehl are seeking sentences that would range between one and three years  and largely be fulfilled by the time that the three men have already spent in prison while awaiting trial.

But prosecutors cast the groups actions as significantly more calculated and sinister. They described the group as launching an assault on the Capitol that started at 10 a.m., when a group of 200 carefully selected members of the Proud Boys amassed at the Washington Monument. They marched down the mall, away from the site of Trumps rally, and to the lightly defended Capitol grounds, where they whipped up the crowd into a frenzy before rioters stormed the barricades.

Videos show Nordean, Biggs and Rehl at the front of the crowd at pivotal moments, with pockets of other Proud Boys joining skirmishes, removing metal bike racks that police were using to keep the crowd at bay and facilitating the larger mobs access to Capitol grounds.

Several members of the Proud Boys would ignite a brawl near the Senate wing of the building just before Pezzola barreled through with a riot shield to break into the building, where he would smoke a cigar and film himself reciting a Proud Boys slogan.

Tarrio was not present at the Capitol on Jan. 6, in part because he was arrested and ordered to stay away from Washington two days earlier when he arrived in the city. Prosecutors revealed evidence at trial that Tarrio expected this arrest since he had maintained a relationship with a D.C. Police Officer, Shane Lamond. Lamond had tipped Tarrio to the polices efforts to charge him for burning a Black Lives Matter flag in December, after a pro-Trump march. The officer was charged with obstructing the investigation earlier this year.

But prosecutors say Tarrio continued to rally his men from afar, urging them to remain in the Capitol as police worked frantically to clear it and comparing his allies to Founding Fathers as the violence unfolded on TV. Prosecutors also recounted evidence that Tarrio had received from a girlfriend a few days before Jan. 6 a document titled 1776 Returns that outlined a plan for occupying government buildings in order to derail the transfer of power.

The Proud Boys arc as a group was a central element of the lengthy trial. They gained prominence during the Trump administration for their street clashes with liberal protesters. But their recruitment went into overdrive after Trump mentioned them during a September 2020 debate against Biden.

Stand back and stand by, he told them when asked by moderator Chris Wallace if he would condemn the groups violent tactics.

Evidence at trial showed the Proud Boys took his words as a rallying cry and their ranks quickly swelled. The group, led by Tarrio, quickly rallied to Trumps defense after his apparent defeat in the 2020 election, echoing his claims of fraud and taking to the streets in November and December for marches in Washington that would turn violent. But it was when Trump called supporters to Washington on Jan. 6  in a tweet that urged them to Be there. Will be wild  that the group started planning for a much larger effort, prosecutors said.

Norm Pattis, a defense attorney for Biggs and Rehl, made a different sort of plea in his call for time-served sentences for his clients. He cast the trial as part of a larger political battle with the Proud Boys getting caught in the crossfire.

[T]he Government claimed the republic was in jeopardy and seeks to treat these misguided patriots as terrorists, Pattis wrote. This is grievously wrong  The challenge in divided times is not to divide and conquer, but to build bridges between people who love this country, sometimes in shockingly different ways.
Joseph R. Biggs

Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to sentence Volusia County Proud Boys leader Joseph Biggs to 33 years in prison, arguing his sentence should be enhanced because his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, amounted to terrorism.

Prosecutors are also seeking 33 years for Enrique Tarrio, of Miami, the former chairman of the Proud Boys. If approved by a judge, the sentences would be the longest yet against Capitol Hill rioters. Elmer Stewart Rhodes III, the founder and leader of the Oath Keepers, was sentenced to 18 years in prison in May.

Biggs, who lived in unincorporated Volusia County near Ormond Beach, was convicted along with other Proud Boys members and leaders, at a federal trial in Washington, D.C. this year in relation to the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Prosecutors also asked for long sentences for the others tried with Biggs: 30 years for Zachary Rehl, 27 years for Ethan Nordean, and 20 years for Dominic Pezzola.

Biggs was convicted of seditious conspiracy, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an official proceeding conspiracy to use force, intimidation, or threats to prevent officers of the United States from discharging their duties, interference with law enforcement during a civil disorder, and destruction of government property.

In a court document filed Thursday, government prosecutors said a lengthy sentence is needed to protect the country.

The court must impose a long enough sentence to prevent Biggs from leading another violent conspiracy against the government while he is still motivated and equipped to do so, according to the sentencing memorandum.

Volusia County Proud Boys leader Joseph Biggs in a screen shot from video evidence presented by the House committee investigating what happened on Jan. 6, 2021, when rioters protested the results of the presidential election.

Biggs has been jailed since April 20, 2021.

Federal Judge Timothy J. Kelly has set a hearing for 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 29 in Washington, D.C. to resolve matters in the case before he decides on the sentencing, which will take place at a later date.

Biggs' defense suggests time-served

Biggs' defense attorney, Norman A. Pattis, filed a document asking for a substantially lower sentence than the one sought by prosecutors.

The defendants are not terrorists. Whatever excesses of zeal they demonstrated on January 6, 2021, and no matter how grave the potential interference with the orderly transfer of power due to the events of that day, a decade or more behind bars is an excessive punishment, he wrote.

Joe Biggs, bottom left, in gray and black checked jacket, marches at the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, in this photo shared in a Department of Justice affidavit supporting Biggs' arrest.

Pattis, who also represents Rehl, said both men have been in prison for more than two years, spending up to 22 hours a day in their cells. Pattis suggested a sentence of time served.

"If time served is too much for which to ask, the defendants request a sentence that will permit them to return home to their loved ones in the very near future. They have served enough time," Pattis wrote.

Pattis also said that Jan. 6, 2021, was fostered, in no small measure by then-President Donald Trump insisting the election had been stolen from him. Pattis said that while not using Trump to justify his actions, Biggs should receive some mitigation from believing and responding to the commander in chief.

Pattis noted that Trump had been indicted after scores of ordinary citizens had been prosecuted and convicted.

Pattis wrote that Biggs served in the Army and earned numerous military honors, including a Purple Heart from a traumatic brain injury in Iraq. Biggs was separated from his wife but passionately engaged in the life of their daughter who is in the first grade. Pattis wrote that upon his release, Biggs hopes to return to his home in Volusia County.

Prosecutors: Terrorism enhancement

Prosecutors noted Biggs' prison sentence should be increased due to a terrorism enhancement, reflecting the seriousness of his assault on the government and his leadership role. They also noted he was the only defendant in the case to enter the U.S. Capitol twice on Jan. 6, 2021. Biggs also lied to the FBI when he was interviewed.

Prosecutors wrote that Biggs was a vocal leader and influential proponent of the groups shift toward political violence and that Biggs recognized his own actions in the days following January 6 for what they were  an act of terrorism.

Joe Biggs celebrates following the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, where Congress was voting to certify the 2020 election.

Biggs recorded a podcast in the days following the riot in which he said January 6 was a warning shot to the government  look, we started this country this way and well (expletive) save it this way.

The terrorism enhancement reflects the severity of Biggss actions and the danger posed by Biggs and his co-conspirators on Jan. 6.

Biggs promoted the use of force perhaps more than any other member of the group.

In the days after the election, Biggs said the country could face a civil war because the left was"radicalizing people by stealing th(e) election. Biggs told his followers that it was time for war if the election was stolen, prosecutors wrote.

Biggs said about lawmakers that break their own laws that they should be dragged out of office and hung, the prosecutors wrote,

Biggs was in the first wave that crossed the First Street barrier. He tore down a fence and charged up a scaffolding and he was among the first rioters inside the Capitol building at one breach, according to prosecutors.

Biggs exited the Capitol but then reentered and went straight to the Senate Chamber which he found empty and believed his mission had been accomplished. But when Congress reconvened later that night, Biggs realized his plans had failed and posted on social media R.I.P. America 1776  2021.

Biggs recorded a pod-style interview which he saved as CivilWar.mp4 in which he called Jan. 6 a warning shot showing the government how weak they truly are.

Biggs said that the founding fathers were considered terrorists, prosecutors wrote.

Prosecutors wrote that while Biggs served his country in the military it also meant that Biggs should have known better. The government said seditious conspiracy is a betrayal of the country aggravated when it is done by someone who once swore to defend the country.

Biggs knew the value of the countrys democratic institutions having served in countries where political violence occurred regularly. Biggs' Army service also gave him substantial cachet with the Proud Boys.

More than any other defendant Biggs used the language of war

In his CivilWar.mp4 interview, Biggs said that standing up for what you believe is right sometimes means killing people.

.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Prosecutors seek 33 years prison for Volusia County Proud Boys leader
The Putnam County Sheriffs Office has announced that it is offering parents a forum to provide information on how to better protect their children from online exploitation.

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<

Three online safety forums will take place at three separate locations and dates.

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We are happy to announce three online safety forums in Putnam County, PCSO said on its Facebook account. We have partnered with churches in Crescent City, Palatka and Interlachen to provide ample room to hold these forums which will address internet dangers, social media risks and facts on human trafficking.

A detective assigned to the Northeast Florida INTERCEPT Task Force will be involved in providing this important information in each of the forums.

Read: Get the kids on the pitch, Putnam County and South Putnam soccer season open for registration

The youth forum online safety will take place at the following:

Crescent City on Aug. 31: South Putnam Church - 284 Union Ave. - 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Palatka on Sept. 6: Trinity Baptist Church - 5027 Silver Lake Dr. - 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Interlachen on Sept. 13: First Baptist Church of Interlachen - 115 N. County Road 315 - 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

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According to PCSO, the INTERCEPT Task Force is a unique collaboration of local, state and national partners along with non-profits Operation LightShine and the Tim Tebow Foundation to combat child exploitation and human trafficking.

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I am a proud Kansas voter as well as a recent protester in Israel. I am a historian of Roman antiquity who is extremely interested in contemporary global affairs.

I am primarily an educator. It is deeply ingrained in my heart to observe the educational aspects of public discourse. I continually question the meaning of citizenship. Does it mean that we perform our civic duties by voting once every two or four years? Can we trust our representatives to fulfill our desires, to tend to our needs and provide care for our community at large, whether for constituents who voted for them or not? Will democracy thrive between elections? If not, when should civilians get together to raise their concerns? How ought we stand up for what we believe in?

This is exactly why I stood, week after week, shoulder to shoulder with complete strangers, hoisting the Israeli flag in Tel Aviv. Had you asked me a year earlier about the Supreme Court of Israel or about the countrys reasonableness clause, I would have gazed at you as though you had just fallen from Mars. Because of the unceasing efforts of the protesters to educate the public, there hardly remains an Israeli who is unfamiliar with the full implications of the judicial reform that the government has been promoting since its new leaders were sworn in on Jan. 1. Even the many children who attended the weekly protests with their parents participated in shouting in unison, Demokratia! (democracy).

Eventually, the government overturned the reasonableness clause last month. Put crudely, this new action enables government leaders to pass any legislation without oversight or legal objections via the courts. The protests are ongoing. Protesters are fully aware that more is to come. Opposition in the Knesset (parliament) has been paralyzed.

The most impressive achievement of the Israeli protests, at least from my point of view, is its street literacy. Along with countless speeches that address the issues, many posters are displayed every week. You can walk along an avenue of posters, each bearing a poignant message, sometimes humorous, concerning a country torn asunder. This street literacy constitutes a new public discourse that should accompany all proposals to change an existing legal system.

An example of how valuable, indeed indispensable, the promotion of street literacy is can be seen right here in Kansas. Last year, nearly to the date, Kansans showed how important it is to educate voters. Numerous organizations joined together to explain the far-reaching consequences of voting yes for the referendum that would have allowed lawmakers in Topeka to further restrict abortion rights in the state. Without this tireless public educational effort, I doubt that the vote no campaign would have achieved the decisive majority that it did. The referendum also showed what democracy is about: giving all Kansans an opportunity to participate in the political process.

Teach kids to vote in important local elections

Who votes in local elections? How many take the trouble to look up the biographies and positions of those who contend for a position on the county commission or the school board? Are we teaching our kids that it is our duty to vote, particularly in local elections? The answer is most likely that we dont. It is necessary to do our diligent homework regarding candidates and the offices that they aspire to fill. These are the representatives who have the power to shape our communities.

How could we enhance the component of civics in all school curricula, beginning with elementary school and all the way to college? I remember vividly how then-U.S. Rep. Jim Ryun gracefully responded to my invitation to address a class of mine. The insights he provided enabled us to draw instructive comparisons between ancient Roman and contemporary election campaigns.

But how likely are most of our representatives and our schools to advance such an exchange today? After all, they all got appointed under the present set of circumstances  a system of ignorance  so why should they change?

I am writing these words hard on the heels of the recent decision by the Kansas Supreme Court allowing the supermajority in the Legislature to redraw the states congressional voting districts. To quote Justice Eric S. Rosen, the only dissenting voice on the court, the move is bound to propel this states national political power toward a monolithic single-party system.

Is this what we want for our state? To be dominated by a single party whose representatives do not reflect the full spectrum of its residents? Voters had no say in this critical procedure. No referendum canvassed our opinions. Why? Because the present legislative framework allows gerrymandering without restraint. How should we voice our dissent?

Whats next? Solutions have been proposed by experts. I believe that street literacy, as exemplified by the Israeli protests, is the key. We owe it to ourselves to educate our children. We have the right to know and understand the repercussions of proposed legislation that affects us all. We have the right, as citizens and taxpayers, to participate in public discourse. We are the mainstay of democracy.

Hagith Sivan was educated in Israel at Tel Aviv University and the United States at Yale and Columbia universities, and has lived in Europe, Africa and Asia. She returned to the U.S. in 1993 for a teaching position at the University of Kansas. Since retirement, she has been sharing time between Kansas and Tel Aviv.
A member of the Proud Boys has disappeared ahead of his sentencing on charges related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, according to an arrest warrant unsealed on Friday.

Christopher Worrell was convicted earlier this year on seven counts related to his conduct during the insurrection, including assaulting a group of Capitol Police officers with pepper spray and lying to investigators.

He was set to be sentenced on Friday, with prosecutors seeking 14 years in prison. However, a bench warrant was issued for his arrest on Tuesday, and his sentencing hearing was cancelled on Wednesday, court records show.

A spokesperson for the U.S. attorneys office for the District of Columbia said in a statement that they are interested in any information the public might provide regarding his whereabouts.

Top Stories from The Hill

Worrell had been on house arrest in Florida since November 2021.

He is one of more than three dozen people charged in the Jan. 6 riot who have been tied to the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group.

Four members of the Proud Boys, including former leader Enrique Tarrio, were convicted of seditious conspiracy in May.

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Federal prosecutors said in a filing on Thursday that they are seeking a 33-year prison sentence for Tarrio and between 27-33 years for the three others.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Members of the Proud Boys make a hand gesture while walking near the US Capitol in Washington, DC on Wednesday, January 6, 2021 Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/For The Washington Post via Getty Images

Authorities are searching for a member of the far-right extremist group Proud Boys after he disappeared days before his sentencing in a Jan. 6 Capitol attack case.

According to a warrant filed Friday, Naples, Florida resident Christopher Worrell was supposed to be sentenced this week after he was found guilty of pepper-spraying police officers during the Capitol riots. Prosecutors are seeking a prison sentence of 14 years, the Associated Press reports.

Court records show that Worrell's Friday sentencing was canceled, and a warrant for his arrest was issued under seal on Tuesday. The Washington D.C. U.S. attorney's office urged the public to share any information they may have about his whereabouts. Worrell had been on house arrest since being released from a Washington D.C. jail in November 2021.

Prosecutors are also seeking decades-long prison terms for leaders of the Proud Boys  Enrique Tarrio, Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs and Zachary Rehl  who were convicted of seditious conspiracy in May for their roles in the Jan. 6 riots in a parallel case, a new court filing showed. As CNN first reported, the government seeks a 33-year prison stint for Tarrio and Biggs; 30 years for Rehl; 27 years for Nordean; and 20 for Dominic Pezzola, a non-leading member of the group who was found not guilty of seditious conspiracy but convicted of other crimes, including obstruction of a congressional proceeding and assaulting an officer. U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Kelly is slated to sentence the quintet on Aug. 29.
Asst Chief Constable Chris Todd: The laptop was immediately deactivated and has been recovered. Sections of the notebook remain outstanding - Liam McBurney/PA

A senior officer left his laptop and notebook on the roof of his car before driving off in the latest data breach to hit the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).

The incident is being investigated a week after the personal details of about 10,000 PSNI officers and staff was accidentally published after a freedom of information request.

A detective chief inspector made the blunder, which is the fourth breach since Northern Irelands worst-ever data breach, at about 4.15pm on Thursday afternoon.

The laptop flew off the roof of the car and smashed on the foreshore stretch of the M2 motorway where there was heavy traffic, according to the Belfast Telegraph.

Some pages were missing

The notebook was also recovered but some pages were missing, the PSNI said on Friday and added inquiries were underway to find out what was in the book.

Asst Chief Constable Chris Todd said: The laptop was immediately deactivated and has been recovered. Sections of the notebook remain outstanding.

We will be liaising with the Office of the Information Commissioner and have advised the Northern Ireland Policing Board and the Department of Justice, he added.

The Belfast Telegraph reported that the notebook was a police journal, which are large A4 leather-bound books issued to those of inspector rank and above.

Information in such journals varies but can include notes on sensitive issues such as personnel issues and intelligence.

Four data breaches

The first breach was originally blamed on a junior employee but the information request had in fact gone through five processes in four police departments.

The next day, the PSNI admitted the names of 200 officers were stolen from a superintendents car a month earlier.

The Belfast Telegraph has since revealed some officers full names had been online for three years before the latest blunder.

News of the fourth breach emerged as detectives investigating the major leak detained a man under the Terrorism Act.

The 50-year-old was arrested after a search in the Dungiven area of County Londonderry on Friday and is being questioned at Musgrave Serious Crime Suite in Belfast.

Earlier this week, a 39-year-old man was detained following a search in Lurgan, County Armagh.

He was questioned on suspicion of collection of information likely to be of use to terrorists, and later released on bail to allow for further police enquiries.

Det Ch Supt Andy Hill said officers are investigating the sharing of information from the data breach, and will deal with any criminality identified robustly.

PSNI officers are concerned over their safety. Dissident Irish republicans, who are believed to have the data, have branded them and their families legitimate targets and the terror threat is classed as severe.

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United Way of Pueblo County will get city money for a project after council initially denied a previous grant.

The Pueblo City Council on Monday evening approved $600,000 for United Way of Pueblo County to build a nonprofit center after rejecting a higher grant ask earlier this year.

The council rejected a $975,000 ask from United Way in February, partially because of the price of the project and that the organization hadnt provided ample details.

This grant, approved Monday, comes from the city's allotment of federal American Rescue Plan Act funding.

A potential design for United Way of Pueblo County's Nonprofit LEAD Center. The visual was part of a Dec. 27, 2022 presentation to Pueblo City Council.

What United Ways new project will do

United Way is branding the new building project as the LEAD Center. When open, it will help incubate nonprofits in Pueblo.

Other United Way chapters have similar centers, such as the one in Fort Collins.

The President and CEO of Larimer Countys United Way, Joy Sullivan, testified virtually at city councils meeting. Sullivan said that she collaborated with people at Pueblos United Way chapter on dispersing grants and sees the valuable work they do.

This LEAD center is going to continue to put Pueblo on the map as a leader in prioritizing its most disparately impacted communities and organizations that are trusted to work alongside them, Sullivan said.

Several representatives from local nonprofits also testified in favor of the grant on Monday evening.

I feel like the LEAD Center would be an awesome place for nonprofits to be able to meet, to be able to collaborate together and be able to have those discussions about what gaps are needing to be filled in our community. There are so many, especially with our youth, said Michael Riley, the executive director of Southern Colorado Youth Development.

Mayor Nick Gradisar said that the citys investment would help the local United Way secure additional funding.

We believe that the investment of this money with United Way will allow them to raise the balance of the funds necessary for this project from other foundations and from other sources, Gradisar said.

Before council rejected the earlier $975,000 ask, United Way was in initial discussions with the city to ask for $1.9 million, Gradisar said.

Why some councilors still had reservations

Councilor Vicente Martinez Ortega, who initially introduced a motion to table the first grant ask that came before the council in February, voted to fund the project but expressed reservations about duplicating services.

There are other organizations in Pueblo that already help nonprofits with technology and training, Martinez Ortega said. He also noted that the city has not prioritized a new homeless shelter.

I will be voting for this. But this is not showing that we're prioritizing our homeless issues as a council or as our community, Martinez Ortega said.

Councilor Regina Maestri, who voted no, also noted that the city hasnt decided on the direction for the warming shelter for homeless people during cold winter days.

We shouldn't be sheltering these people. That's what nonprofits are for. They're supposed to shelter people, or theyll work with the homeless and so forth  so our priorities are really confusing here. They're really mixed up, Maestri said.

Councilor Lori Winner joined Maestri in voting against the funding.

I think that our homeless shelter needs to be a priority. I also know that commercial office space is probably the worst investment you can probably make  I think anybody would probably agree with that, Winner said.

What happened in February: Pueblo City Council rejects United Way grant ask for nonprofit center

Previous coverage: Pueblo United Way requests $1 million in city ARPA funds for nonprofit 'LEAD Center'

Councilor Dennis Flores, however, said he was happy to be voting yes.

We've got to stop working in silos, we've got to come together and to maximize our power, Flores said, adding that the LEAD Center will be able to help local nonprofits be more collaborative.

Anna Lynn Winfrey covers politics for the Pueblo Chieftain. She can be reached at awinfrey@gannett.com or on Twitter, @annalynnfrey.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo City Council gives $600,000 to United Way for nonprofit hub
As the Spanish womens football team prepares to face off against England in the Womens World Cup this Sunday (20 August) in Sydney, the Spanish royal family has confirmed it is sending Queen Letizia and her 16-year-old daughter Infanta Leonor to cheer them on in the big game.

The Royal Spanish Football Federation announced on Thursday (17 August) that the royal will travel to Australia to show the countrys commitment to national football.

The statement said that King Felipe, Letizias husband, is unable to make it for the event as he is busy with other official duties.

Letizia has a vested interest in the countrys womens football team and previously visited them during training in June. She also gave a speech to players and coaching staff, according to the federation.

It comes after Kensington Palace confirmed that the Prince of Wales, who is the president of the Football Association in England, will not travel to Sydney to support the Lionesses in their historic final. It is the first time the England team has made it to the Womens World Cup final.

It is understood that Prince William will remain at home and will cheer on the Lionesses while watching the game on television. He is facing criticism for the decision not to travel, which is understood to be because it involves flying across the world for a very short period of time.

But Letizia and Infantas visit to Sydney to provide in-person support to the Spanish womens team has been lauded, with the teams coach Jorge Vilda and captain Ivana Andres promising to give their best in this championship.

Queen Letizia of Spain broke royal protocol by becoming the first Spanish queen to be born a commoner.

Born Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano on 15 September 1972 in northern Spain, the soon-to-be queen was raised in a middle-class family. Her father, Jose Ortiz Alvarez, was a journalist and her mother, Maria de la Paloma Rocasolano Rodriguez, was a registered nurse and hospital union representative. Letizia comes from a long line of journalists; her paternal grandmother was also a radio broadcaster for 40 years.

Letizia pursued a bachelors degree in journalism at the Complutense University of Madrid, as well as a masters degree in audiovisual journalism at the Institute for Studies in Audiovisual Journalism. During her time at university, she worked multiple jobs in media  first for the newspaper La Nueva Espana and later for the Spanish newspaper ABC, before working at the major international news agency, EFE.

After briefly working as a journalist in Mexico, she returned to Spain where she reported for the Spanish versions of Bloomberg and CNN. In 2003, she gained prominence as a TV anchor for Telediario 2, the most-viewed daily evening news programme in Spain. Throughout her career, Letizia has reported from the United States on presidential elections, broadcasted live from New York following the 9/11 attacks, and reported on the Iraq War.

Queen Letizia and King Felipe attend a dinner at Royal Palace in Madrid on 27 February 2019 (Getty Images)

Her engagement to King Felipe, then Prince of Asturias, came as a surprise to many throughout Spain. They met at a dinner party in 2002, organised by fellow journalist Pedro Erquicia, where they reportedly formed an instant connection. The couple maintained a low-profile romance for several months, before announcing their engagement on 1 November 2003.

Prince Felipe and Letizia Ortiz pose during an official engagement ceremony on 6 November 2003 at Palacio del Pardo in Madrid, Spain (Getty Images)

Not only did Letizias engagement to Felipe grab attention for her being a commoner from a middle-class family, much like Kate Middleton, but she was also a divorcee. In August 1998, she tied the knot with Alonso Guerrero Perez, a writer and high school literature teacher, after 10 years together. However, they divorced one year later.

Her previous marriage likely wouldve posed challenges for the couple who wanted to be married in the Catholic Church, considering the Vatican would have to grant special permission that allowed her to marry Felipe. Luckily, her previous wedding to Perez was only a civil ceremony.

On 22 May 2004, Felipe and Letizia were officially wed at the Catedral de Santa Maria la Real de la Almudena in Madrid. The bride wore a white wedding gown designed by Spanish fashion designer Manuel Pertegaz for the special occasion. Her veil, which was a gift from Felipe, was made of off-white silk tulle.

In several photos from the special day, the newlyweds were seen smiling and gazing at each other as Felipe kissed his newlywed wifes forehead.

Prince Felipe kisses Letizia Ortiz on their wedding day on 22 May 2004 (Getty Images)

The then-Prince and Princess of Asturias went on to welcome two daughters. Their eldest daughter  Leonor, Princess of Asturias  was born on 31 October 2005, while their youngest  Infanta Sofia  was born on 29 April 2007.

The royal couple became King and Queen of Spain in 2014 when Felipes father, King Juan Carlos, abdicated the throne. Letizias new title proved to be historic for Spain, making her the first Spanish-born queen consort since 1878 and the first Spanish queen to have been born a commoner.

The royal couple are parents to two daughters: Leonor, Princess of Asturias and Infanta Sofia (Getty Images)

Since then, Queen Letizia of Spain has continued much of the work that she focused on during her time as journalist: raising awareness towards social issues such as childrens rights, culture, and education.

King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain joined the many European royals  including Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene of Monaco, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, and King Carl XVI Gustaf and Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden  who attended King Charles IIIs coronation on 6 May.
TEHRAN, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Friday highlighted the importance of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) for regional stability and rooting out terrorism in Europe, the Iranian president's office said in an online statement.

During a meeting with IRGC commanders held in the Iranian capital of Tehran, Raisi said without IRGC's efforts to promote solidarity and convergence among popular forces in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan and to resist the Islamic State (IS), Europe would have been surrounded by "Takfiri terrorism" today.

However, instead of appreciating the IRGC's efforts and sacrifices, some Western states' officials have blacklisted it as a "terrorist" organization while passing the real sponsors of terrorism off as human rights advocates, he added.

In April 2019, the United States designated the IRGC as a "foreign terrorist organization," a move strongly condemned by Iran.

In January 2023, a draft resolution was approved in the European Parliament calling on "the European Union and its member states to include the IRGC in the EU's terror list."

In addition, over the past months, the United States and the EU have both imposed sanctions on individuals and institutions affiliated with the IRGC, accusing them of "human rights violations in Iran" and "supporting Russia in the war with Ukraine through providing it with Iranian drones."

Iranian officials have repeatedly rejected the accusations as "baseless," highlighting the IRGC's role in the fight against terrorism in the region.

In response to the sanctions, Iran has also slapped retaliatory sanctions against some European and U.S. officials. 
Lawrence Phillips, founder of Green Book Global, in Morocco in 2019. Courtesy of Lawrence Phillips

Lawrence Phillips is the founder of Green Book Global, a travel review site for Black travelers.

After suffering burnout from his consulting job, he quit and traveled the world for a year.

He found differing experiences as a Black man during his travels and saw a need for a modern-day Green Book.

This is an as-told-to essay based on a conversation with Lawrence Phillips, who founded Green Book Global, a Black travel review site, in 2018. The essay has been edited for length and clarity.

My love for travel came from Boston, where I joined a high school program that worked with underserved youth in the city. I'd never camped a day in my life, but went hiking for 30 days on a wilderness trip to Olympic National Park.

My mom was freaking out because I forgot my toothbrush, but I found one on the ground, boiled it to sanitize, and used it. The program really taught me the importance of resiliency and grit, especially when you're traveling.

A photo of Lawrence Phillips as a child in Barbados, where his parents are from. Courtesy of Lawrence Phillips

I was lucky that I didn't experience any prejudice in my early travels, which also included a monthlong stay in Spain as part of the high school program. I'm a "glass half full" type of person, and, as a kid, you don't really realize what's happening in the world. The bubble didn't break until I was in my 20s.

Corporate burnout

After graduating from Georgia Tech, I landed a job at a consulting firm where I worked for eight years. As a consultant, you have to learn the ropes and understand the business really fast. The job also meant I was flown all across the country  California, Ohio, New Jersey, Texas. I'm not going to lie, being flown on the company dollar was also pretty nice, too.

Lawrence Phillips during his consulting years. Courtesy of Lawrence Phillips

But then I started to get burned out. I was working on a project which involved me flying back and forth from Atlanta to San Diego every week for two years: I'd fly in on Monday, work from eight in the morning to eight in the evening, and then fly out on Thursday or Friday. Then, rinse and repeat.

I did well and got promoted. I got to fly on a private jet with one of my clients to a site, and I remember thinking, "Wow, I think I've made it." It helped mold me into the person I am today. But it also made me tired. Two months later, I quit.

Traveling as a Black man

I decided to travel around the world for a year. I hit more than 30 countries on all seven continents during that year.

I was nervous going to certain destinations as a Black man. It's just the reality of the world: I'd heard and knew that certain places are more welcoming to Black people, while in others, they'll be less welcomed. So you've just got to be careful about it and do your research. But I couldn't find a platform with reviews of a particular destination, let alone one specifically tailored to Black travelers.

While I was traveling, I came to realize that people looked at me differently. When I was in Paris, I ran into a Black woman and started talking about chocolate. I told her how much I loved chocolate, and she said, "You should go to Brussels. They have great chocolate."

I said, "Is it okay for us?" And she said, "You'll be fine." She understood.

There were more challenging experiences, too, though I don't know if it was because of race or just a bad circumstance. When I was in China, people randomly took photos of me or pointed at me. But otherwise, I didn't have many bad experiences. I'd done a lot of research to make that happen.

Lawrence Phillips kissing a giraffe in Kenya, 2015. Courtesy of Lawrence Phillips

Starting the modern-day Green Book

I decided to start my own review platform for travelers and started getting it coded in 2015, when I was traveling in Thailand. It was originally geared toward young professionals of all races, but I think Black, I speak Black, and whenever I wrote about something, it attracted a Black demographic. I thought back to that encounter in Brussels, and that was the cosign I needed to lean into a Black-specific travel site.

Green Book Global officially launched in 2018, and now has more than 6,000 reviews. I like to describe it as a modern-day Green Book or a Black TripAdvisor. We cater specifically to Black travelers. We know our experiences are different.

An early version of Green Book Global. Courtesy of Lawrence Phillips

Unlike other travel sites, we rate destinations, not activities. Each destination has a score from one to five for nightlife, history, local food, romance, and, most importantly, what it's like to travel while Black. We don't want to encourage or discourage anyone from going anywhere, but instead help people make informed decisions.

One thing I want Black travelers to know is that the world is our oyster, too. There's a lot of fear and concern about traveling while Black, particularly in the United States. But be open to the world. Be informed. You're entitled to see every destination out there.

Read the original article on Insider
Maryland officials on Thursday said DNA collected from the scene where Rachel Morin was murdered has been linked to DNA from a Los Angeles assault and home invasion that happened in March.

Morin, a 37-year-old mother of five, was jogging on the Ma & Pa Trail in Bel Air around 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 5., when she vanished. She was found dead the next afternoon in what authorities have described as a "criminal homicide."

Police collected DNA from the scene of what Harford County Sheriff Jeff Gahler previously described as a "horrific" criminal homicide and ran it through the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). There was a DNA match, but the suspect could not be identified by name.

"This DNA has come back as a match tied to a home invasion and assault of a young girl in Los Angeles this past March. Unfortunately, that suspect hasn't been positively identified, but he did leave behind his DNA," Chief Deputy Col. William Davis said during the Friday press conference.

RACHEL MORIN MURDER EERILY SIMILAR TO HIGH-PROFILE CASES OF FEMALE JOGGERS KILLED BY STRANGERS

Law enforcement officials in Maryland say the death of Rachel Morin was a "criminal homicide."

The sheriff's office played a video of the suspect, whom they believe is a Hispanic male standing 5 ft. 9 in. and weighing 160 lbs., from the Los Angeles incident during the press conference.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

"We believe the suspect acted alone and, he does not represent the entire Hispanic community of Harford County, who we are now partnering with to identify this suspect. I know I can speak for the sheriff when I say we are very proud of this community," Davis said, urging locals to be vigilant while walking in the area.

The sheriff's office played a video of the suspect, whom they believe is a Hispanic male standing 5 ft. 9 in. and weighing 160 lbs., during the press conference.

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) could not immediately confirm any details about the incident tied to Morin's murder.

RACHEL MORIN MURDER: POLICE IDENTIFY WITNESSES, EXPAND VIDEO SEARCH

Davis told Fox News Digital earlier this week that local authorities are working with the FBI and Maryland State Police Crime Lab to analyze physical and digital evidence related to the crime. He declined to say whether the sheriff's office has any suspects.

"This incident has certainly struck fear into our community, and we have deployed a tremendous amount of resources out onto that trail, and we have deputies out there pretty much 24/7 on bicycle, on foot, on four wheels and four-seater, gator-type vehicles, so we can get around on the trail quickly," said Davis, who added: "We cant say there is not a threat out there right now."

There are no surveillance cameras on the Ma & Pa Trail, but the county has suggested that it will purchase new cameras for the trail in the wake of Morin's death. Police are still working on gathering any significant surveillance footage from locals who live near the trail from the night Morin disappeared.

Law enforcement officials in Maryland say the death of Rachel Morin was a "criminal homicide."

The mom of five frequently jogged along the Ma & Pa Heritage Trail, which begins behind some businesses with decent foot traffic, including a brewery, a Domino's pizza shop and condominiums. It then leads into some wooded areas and neighborhoods outside of Bel Air, Sheriff Gahler previously told Fox News Digital.

Morin's mysterious death has prompted speculation about suspects on Facebook, Twitter and other social media websites.

RACHEL MORIN'S HORRIFIC MURDER ALONG MARYLAND WALKING TRAIL SHOCKS VERY SAFE COMMUNITY: SHERIFF

Morin's boyfriend, Richard Tobin, broke his silence Sunday in a Facebook post after online sleuths speculated that he might have played a role in her death.

Richard Tobin peeks out of his garage in Forest Hill, Md., on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023. Tobin was the boyfriend of murdered hiker, and mother of five, Rachel Morin.

"I love Rachel, I would never do anything to her, let the family and I grieve. Yes I have a past, but I also have 15 months clean and have changed as a person. Please," the 27-year-old wrote.

Authorities are asking anyone with information related to Morin's disappearance or death to call their tipline at 412-836-5430 or email RMTips@harfordsheriff.org.
Rachel Morin murder suspect linked to home invasion in Los Angeles

Authorities have used DNA to link a suspect in the murder of Rachel Morin, a 37-year-old mother who was killed while hiking in Maryland, to a home invasion in Los Angeles.

The suspect's DNA tied him to "a home invasion and an assault of a young girl" that occurred in L.A. in March, Col. William Davis, chief deputy of the Harford County Sheriff's Office said at a Thursday news conference.

Los Angeles police confirmed in a social media post that the "residential burglary and assault" in question occurred on March 26.

The LAPD said its "detectives have been in contact with Harford County Investigators to provide any and all information needed to bring the person responsible for such a brutal and senseless murder to justice."

Davis said investigators don't believe there was a relationship between Morin and the suspect, who has not yet been identified.

He said the suspect is believed to be a Hispanic male who is about 5'9" and in his early to mid-20s. Surveillance video allegedly of the suspect was shown at the press conference.

The suspect is believed to have acted alone, Davis said, and that Morin's killing appeared to be a "random act of violence."

"We have no clue where he could be  he may not be in Harford county or even in Maryland," Davis said.

Morin, a mother of five, was hiking on Ma & Pa Trail in Bel Air, Maryland, in August and never returned home. She was reported missing by her boyfriend around 11:30 p.m. that evening.

Anyone who can identify this unknown male, or has additional information, is asked to contact the Harford County Sheriff's Office at our tip line (410) 836-7788 or via email at RMtips@HarfordSheriff.org

Harford County investigators share video of suspect in Rachel Morin murder

Retail theft on the rise nationwide

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A group linked to U.S. Senator Rand Paul, R-KY, is throwing its support behind Republican gubernatorial nominee Daniel Cameron in more than just spirit.

A political action committee (PAC) connected to Paul, the well-funded Protect Freedom PAC, is running digital ads criticizing Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear by linking him to the Jefferson County Public Schools transportation debacle. The district has received significant criticism after bus issues on the first day of school led it to delay re-starting school by more than a week.

The ads signal the commitment of Pauls political orbit to helping Cameron in his race against Beshear.

Its novel, Al Cross, longtime Kentucky political observer and director emeritus of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues at the University of Kentucky, said. Rand Paul has never seemed to be all that interested (in state-level politics) and Mitch McConnell has always been very interested. But this is a race where the Republicans are all hands on deck, and Paul doesnt have a race for a long time. Its a logical thing for him to do even if its unusual.

A spokesperson for Protect Freedom PAC said the group was working with School Freedom Fund on a combined $5 million digital, television, mail and get out the vote program. Both Protect Freedom PAC and School Freedom Fund are largely bankrolled by conservative megadonor Jeff Yass, a billionaire investment and trading executive who has thrown his support behind Paul in mutliple political endeavors.

School Freedom Fund is a group supporting pro-school choice candidates across the country. The school choice debate has grown heated in Kentucky with the passage of a bill that would have set up a tax credit scholarship fund through the state allowing kids go to schools other than their local public schools. That bill was found unconstitutional by the Kentucky Supreme Court.

The School Freedom Fund has already dumped around $3 million into the race, according to Medium Buying.

One digital ad from Protect Freedom PAC reads Kentucky needs school choice, not Governor Andy Beshears failed leadership.

When asked about the ads, Protect Freedom PAC executive director Mike Biundo criticized Beshears record of failure on COVID-19, crime, education and the economy.

Kentucky is more conservative than how he governs; its time for a conservative reformer as governor that will pass popular initiatives like school choice, Biundo said in a statement.

Cameron has signaled support for school choice initiatives like the tax credit scholarship fund in the past, though school choice was not explicitly mentioned in Camerons Catch-Up education plan.

Beshears campaign spokesperson, Alex Floyd, said the ads are a signal that school choice is, indeed, a major part of Camerons platform.

Daniel Camerons allies are running an ad admitting that the centerpiece of his education plan is a voucher scheme that would take tax dollars out of public schools and send them to unaccountable private ones. Camerons not offering any real solutions, just a retread of old ideas that would defund and hurt our public schools, Floyd said in a statement.

The Kentucky Democratic Party (KDP) also jumped on the advertisements.

Despite his long track record supporting school voucher schemes, Daniel Cameron purposely left them out of his education plan because he knows how wildly unpopular they are. Kentuckians dont want to see taxpayer dollars taken out of public schools and given to unaccountable private schools, KDP spokesperson Anna Breedlove said.

The ads highlighting the JCPS busing scandal  one focuses entirely on linking Beshear to the situation while the other pivots to promoting Cameron in the latter half  draw tenuous connections to the governors race.

Disaster at Jefferson County Public Schools and Governor Andy Beshear fails to act on numerous solutions before him. including a plan to give parents the right to send their child to their neighborhood school, the ad says.

Though the PAC did not respond to a question on this score, that was likely in reference to a bill thats been proposed to allow students to attend whichever school is closest to them, targeted at previous busing efforts at JCPS. According to the Courier-Journal, JCPS has since changed its busing policies and has undone the forced busing that the bill was responding to.

In response to the JCPS debacle, Beshear has also pointed out that his proposed budget included a much higher appropriation for pupil transportation than the one passed by the GOP-led legislature  $389.7 million to $274.4 million.

The ads are just one way in which Paul, who has not normally been as involved in state-level Kentucky politics as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell whos held the office for close to 40 years, has backed Cameron.

Pauls wife, Kelley, who herself has become a prominent conservative in several national media appearances and a speech in her husbands stead at last years Fancy Farm Picnic, spoke on behalf of Cameron at a recent Moms for Cameron event.

Sixth District U.S. Congressman Andy Barr, who represents much of Central Kentucky, joined Cameron on the campaign trail on Monday this week.

Camerons ties to McConnell are well-documented. Cameron began his political career interning for McConnell and later served as his legal counsel.

Other pro-Cameron PACs involved in the gubernatorial race include Kentucky Values and State Solutions, which are backed by the Republican Governors Association (RGA), and Bluegrass Freedom Action which has been largely funded by the McConnell-linked Concord Fund. Unlike Camerons campaign, Beshears has spent significantly on advertisements after the May primary. PACs supporting Beshear including Defending Bluegrass Values, which is funded by the Democratic Governors Association (DGA), and Preserve Protect and Defend.

Planned Parenthood, a pro-abortions rights and healthcare nonprofit that usually supports Democrats, has also filed paperwork to get involved as a PAC in the race. However, it has yet to spend any money on advertisements or report any fundraising.
More than two years before the proceedings began, a judge imposed an order banning the press from identifying any of the victims or their families

The imposition of far-reaching and highly unusual reporting restrictions resulted in the sacred principle of open justice being abandoned during the Lucy Letby trial, a leading barrister has said.

Politicians and legal campaigners have warned that the anonymity orders preventing the naming of the victims and their families as well as a number of key witnesses, will have a chilling effect on court cases of the future.

More than two years before the proceedings began, a judge imposed an order banning the press from identifying any of the victims or their families, despite the fact they had already been widely named when Letby was first charged.

The decision followed highly emotional arguments put forward by police and prosecutors on behalf of the families that claimed the press would report the trial in an irresponsible manner, unless all the names were removed.

The reports of Letbys appearance at Warrington Magistrates Court on 12 November 2020, in which only the most basic facts were published, was described in one police statement as concerning.

There was also an inaccurate comment in one statement submitted to the court, suggesting the media had released the names of the murder victims into the public domain, when in fact that was done lawfully by the Magistrates Court.

Court sketch of Lucy Letby appearing via video link at Warrington Magistrates' Court in November 2020

In a concerted bid to persuade a judge of the need for blanket anonymity, pro forma application forms were submitted on behalf of the families, stressing the negative impact press coverage of the trial would have on them.

Cheshire Police, which was led by Chief Constable Darren Martland at the time, supported the applications on behalf of the families.

In a hearing in December 2020 the prosecution argued the ability of the victims parents to give evidence would be severely affected if they were named in any coverage of the trial.

Handing down her ruling, Mrs Justice Steyn - who was not the trial judge - said she was satisfied the quality of evidence given by each of these witnesses is likely to be diminished by reason of fear or distress on the part of the witness in connection with being identified by members of the public as a witness in the proceedings.

Throughout the trial the victims were identified only as Babies A to Q, making it difficult for members of the public to follow the evidence easily.

But in a further challenge to the principle of open justice, lawyers for a number of Letbys colleagues also successfully applied for anonymity, arguing that their mental health would suffer if they were identified during proceedings.

This included a doctor at the Countess of Chester Hospital, who had grown close to Letby, and whom the prosecution suggested she had been trying to gain the sympathy of when she embarked on her killing spree.

A handwritten note found after her arrest read: My best friend. Love. I loved you and I think you knew that. I wanted you to stand by me but you didnt.

Dr A, who is married, told the court he had been the subject of unrequited affection from Letby and said his wife had also been targeted by her on social media.

He denied being in a relationship with the nurse, despite the court hearing they had spent hours messaging one another late at night and had even taken a trip to London together.

It was the prosecutions claim that she had attacked babies because she enjoyed the drama of being in a crisis situation with him.

He said he had suffered from severe anxiety for four years and believed he would struggle to give clear and accurate answers in court if his true identity was revealed.

The doctor, who now works at another hospital, also made the point that at the time of the trial, his son was doing GCSEs and his daughter A-levels and were both unaware of his involvement in the case.

Lucy Letby reacting emotionally during her trial at Manchester Crown Court

His application for a blanket ban on him being named was granted and when he began giving evidence from behind a screen at Manchester Crown Court, Letby became emotional and tried to leave the dock.

A consultant from the hospital was also granted anonymity after telling the judge she had suffered the loss of her own child at the Countess of Chester and had struggled with mental health problems, anxiety and depression.

Another doctor on the unit was granted anonymity after the court heard she had been the subject of press attention following the loss of another premature baby in 2015, resulting in her suffering from PTSD.

A nurse who worked with Letby said managing her mental health throughout the trial would be a challenge and her concerns about being identified were exacerbated because she wore a name badge at work.

Another nurse, and close friend of Letby, complained she had suffered from stress and low mood since the inquiry had begun and was worried she would need to take time off work if she was named.

A prison van carrying Lucy Letby arriving at Chester Crown Court in November 2020

A consultant at the Countess of Chester successfully applied for anonymity telling the court she had a history of mental health, anxiety and depression.

She said she had previously given evidence in a child homicide case and had found the reporting more traumatic than the act of giving evidence itself.

She told the court if her name was made public it would diminish the quality of her evidence.

Despite one lawyer warning that replacing the names of so many people with letters risked turning the trial into alphabet soup, the judge granted anonymity orders for all those who applied.

Once the trial started at Manchester Crown Court in October 2022, even the defendants name was removed from the daily court lists which are published and made available to members of the public.

The unprecedented measures taken in this case have sparked widespread concern over the preservation of transparency and open justice in criminal courts.

Lucy Letby charge sheet

Geoffrey Robertson KC, the eminent barrister, said the precious tradition of open justice had been abandoned during the Letby trial.

He said: Open justice is the most sacred of all British legal traditions, yet in this case it was abandoned because witnesses and victims said they felt discomfort about being identified.

Their claim to privacy was allowed to outweigh the public right to see justice done. But this is not a question of balancing these two irreconcilable values: open justice should always prevail, except in cases of national security or where victims would be seriously harmed.

That appears not to be the case here and the very fact that these secrecy applications succeeded will doubtless encourage more attempts to suppress information about what goes on in court.

It was unsatisfactory that in this case the application was made by the prosecution, the agent of a state that should be proud of its open justice tradition.

Robert Buckland, the former Justice Secretary, also criticised the wide-ranging anonymity orders, and said embarrassment or anxiety for witnesses was not a good enough reason to hide their identities.

He said: There are some cases where witnesses in criminal trials require anonymity to protect them, but it is usually reserved for situations where there is a threat to life. It is a criminal offence to disclose the identity of a victim of sexual offences also.

The last time we saw this was in the trial of Thomas Cashman, who murdered Olivia Pratt-Korbel. In that case the key prosecution witness was granted anonymity because there was a very real concern that her life would be in danger.

Section 46 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence act, which allows witnesses to be granted anonymity, should only be applied in exceptional cases. It was not designed to be the norm and every effort must be made to preserve the principle of open justice.

For a judge to grant lifelong anonymity to a witness they must be satisfied that there are compelling and exceptional reasons. Embarrassment or anxiety over having to give evidence does not seem to me to be a strong enough argument.

Manchester Crown Court

Nazir Afzal, a former chief prosecutor for the North West, commented that the move could have a really chilling effect on other trials.

He said: I have come across it in cases of serious and organised crime where there has been a potential threat to life to a witness giving evidence.

Indeed we saw it recently in the case of Thomas Cashman, who murdered Olivia Pratt-Korbel, where one of the key prosecution witnesses was granted anonymity in order to protect her.

But a threat to life is not something that is an issue in this case. I would like to know more about the thinking behind it because some people seem to have been granted lifelong anonymity on the basis that they would find the experience of giving evidence traumatising.

Every witness could argue that they may be traumatised by having to give evidence in a high-profile trial. The importance of identification is that we dont have secret courts where secret evidence is heard, not in the UK.

Our system is open so everyone can see it and everybody has an opportunity to form their own view of the credibility of evidence. Justice has to be seen to be done.

I recognise this is serious and the most horrific kind of case. That said, the victim or witness in any crime could say they are triggered and traumatised... This could have a really chilling effect on other trials.

Britains most prolific child murderers before Lucy Letby

Dawn Alford, executive director of the Society of Editors, also criticsed the decision to grant a number of wide-ranging anonymity orders to key witnesses calling it deeply concerning.

She said: While the Society appreciates that there will be instances where anonymity for witnesses is necessary and appropriate to ensure the proper administration of justice, the approach in the Letby case and the unproven criticisms of the press, sets a worrying precedent for the treatment of witnesses in future criminal trials that attract significant public interest.

It is essential that judges carefully consider the implications of imposing reporting restrictions and granting anonymity to key witnesses without compelling evidence to justify doing so.

Moving forward, all applications for anonymity orders should continue to be approached with a great deal of caution in order to ensure that the fundamental principle of open justice and transparency is not undermined.

Lucy Letby

Penelope Gibbs, director of the Transform Justice pressure group, said that more support should be provided to those giving evidence in high profile trials.

She said: The principle of open justice exists for very important reasons. If a witness is anonymous, then the scrutiny that can be applied by members of the public following the trial is significantly impacted.

I am very supportive of the principle of open justice. As a general rule, witnesses in criminal trials should be identified but we do need to do more to support the welfare and mental health of those giving evidence.

Richard Garside, director of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, said the respected and established press was being punished for the sins of social media.

He said: In the world of social media, every single persons reputation is potentially open to all sorts of allegations made by random keyboard warriors around the world.

I can understand why professionals who just want to get on with their job might think twice about giving evidence because they could have some shadow hanging over them for years.

It does raise the question of whether this is the thin end of the wedge or just a highly unusual case?

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Raleigh-Durham International Airport will soon begin clearing trees and moving dirt to nearly triple the size of its remote parking lot near Interstate 40 and William B. Umstead State Park.

The airports governing board voted Thursday to approve the first of several contracts that will add 7,000 spaces to Park Economy 3 off National Guard Drive and Airport Boulevard. When the work is done in early 2025, the remote parking lot will have nearly 11,000 spaces within a shuttle bus ride of the airports two passenger terminals.

The decision was unanimous, despite misgivings by a few board members about the projects environmental impacts. They worried about replacing trees with 65 acres of pavement. They were also disappointed that the airports plans did not include any electric vehicle chargers or solar panels over the spaces or on the roofs of walkways and shelters.

Nina Szlosberg-Landis, who represents Raleigh on the board, said she was concerned the airport wasnt doing enough with the project to minimize fossil fuel emissions that contribute to climate change.

While we have a sense of urgency of taking care of the parking conditions for our customers and moving forward with our plans, there is an equal urgency in terms of trying to do what we can to address the climate crisis, Szlosberg-Landis said.

David Kushner, who represents Wake County, said he sought assurances that the airport would cut no more trees than it has to. In recent days, Kushner said, he and airport staff identified about an acre near a stormwater pond that could be kept wooded.

It may not sound like a lot, but thats going to be dozens and dozens of trees, he said. Im glad we could save them. Im sorry we cant save more.

Ellis Hankins, the boards chairman, said there is still time to consider adding EV chargers and solar panels to the project and that the board will hold a special meeting in September to look at options. But Hankins, who also represents Wake on the board, said the airport needs more parking.

Some people say, Just dont build it and then the cars wont come, he said. Oh, yes they will, and well have a lot of frustrated people. So thats just not a realistic alternative.

The $130 million parking lot is the first of several big construction projects the airport will begin in coming years to try to modernize and keep up with demand. Others include a new main runway; more gates in Terminal 1; additional ticketing and baggage claim space in Terminal 2; a larger Customs and Border Patrol area for international flights; and new areas for ground transportation and rental cars near the terminals.

Why does RDU need 7,000 more parking spaces?

RDU officials say the additional spaces are needed in part to keep up with growing demand for parking. Including its two remote parking lots and the decks between the terminals, the airport has 17,901 parking spaces today, with another 1,000 coming online soon as it reopens its Express lot off International Drive. It expects to need more than 21,800 spaces in 2026 and between 24,825 and 28,734 by 2033, said Bill Sandifer, RDUs chief development officer.

So the inevitable conclusion for me is we need to build as fast as we can that expansion of Park Economy 3, Sandifer told airport board members last week. Weve really got some short-term pressures in terms of being able to provide parking for our customers.

A diagram of what Park Economy 3 at Raleigh-Durham International Airport might look like after a proposed expansion. The airport wants to nearly triple the number of spaces in its remote parking lot off National Guard Drive, to about 10,820.

The larger lot will also help make up for the planned loss of parking spaces elsewhere at the airport.

In 2025, RDU expects to demolish two small parking decks near Terminal 2 to begin expansion of the terminal building and realignment of John Brantley Boulevard. Along with nearby surface lots, the airport will lose about 3,055 spaces. If all goes well, a new parking structure with 3,130 spaces will take their place next to Terminal 2 by 2028.

And RDU plans to eventually close its smaller remote lot, Park Economy 4, off International Drive. That surface lot, with 3,300 spaces, is needed for expansion of the air cargo operations at the north end of the airfield, Sandifer said.

Air cargo has no where to grow today. Theyre out of space, he said. So in the next five- to 10-year period of time, I fully expect those folks are going to be knocking on our door, like the airlines are, saying youre going to have to provide us more space. Thats the location to do it.

Will the larger lot affect the state park next door?

Board members said they heard from hundreds of residents and local politicians about the expansion. Many were concerned about clearing and paving forested land adjacent to William B. Umstead State Park.

Park Economy 3 now covers about 36 acres surrounded by forest. RDU plans to expand in three directions, adding about 65 acres of pavement and clearing a total of 120 acres, coming as close as 320 feet of the park.

RDU says it should be able to build and maintain the expanded lot without affecting the park or harming streams and wetlands on the property or downstream. The new sections are irregularly-shaped to minimize earth moving, avoid streams and allow room for seven new ponds for controlling storm runoff.

The ponds are called submerged gravel wetlands, a relatively new design in North Carolina that filters water in rock basins that are covered with a layer of earth and plants. Airport officials say they wanted to avoid open water that might attract birds that could interfere with airplanes.

But not everyone is convinced the new design is an improvement.

The Umstead Coalition, an advocacy group for the park, questions several of the assumptions and claims in the airports report on the environmental effects of the project, including the effectiveness of the submerged wetlands. The coalition says the designs are harder to maintain, dont appear to cleanse water any better than other types of ponds and wetlands and wont reduce the volume of stormwater leaving the site.

While we applaud (the airport) for looking at innovative stormwater control measures, we strongly suspect the proposed Subsurface Gravel Wetlands (SGW) are not appropriate for this application, the coalition wrote in a critique of the airports plans.

Jean Spooner, who leads the coalition, said shed like to see the airport commit to monitoring water quality in Haleys Branch, the creek downstream of the parking lot, to see how the stormwater system is working and that dirt doesnt leave the site during construction.

If theyre going to do good, lets see it, Spooner said in an interview. And that will help ensure they do good.

How the new parking lot will work

RDU officials say theyre building more surface parking rather than another deck to save money and keep parking rates more reasonable. At $130 million, the new lot is expected to cost about $18,571 per space, Sandifer said, compared to an estimated $59,100 per space in a garage.

Because of the lots size, RDU plans to operate two separate bus routes to and from the terminals. Travelers will be encouraged to remember where they parked and which bus theyll need to catch to retrieve their car. Each route will have five stops, putting more than 80% of spaces within 400 feet of a bus stop, said John Holmes, a design engineer for the consulting firm RS&H.

Two bus routes would carry passengers between the terminals and the larger Park Economy 3 remote parking lot at Raleigh-Durham International Airport. This diagram shows the planned routes and stops in the 10,820-space lot.

Walkways leading to the stops will be covered, and the stop shelters will include monitors that show bus locations and possibly the latest flight information, Holmes said. The airport also plans a new building in the lot with public restrooms and offices for security and maintenance workers and equipment.

For the first time, the lot will also have parking for oversize vehicles, such as RVs or trucks with trailers.

Critics of the lot have asked why the airport continues to encourage people to drive rather than take public transit to and from the airport.

Sandifer notes that RDU draws travelers from throughout central and eastern North Carolina and that 55% of RDU passengers live outside areas that are served by public buses. In addition, a third of flights leave by 8 a.m., requiring travelers to be at the airport in the pre-dawn hours before buses are available.

But even during the day, transit options are limited. RDU is served by only one public bus system, GoTriangle, which on weekdays between 6:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. operates a shuttle between the airport and its regional transit center near RTP, where riders must transfer to another bus. At night and on weekends GoTriangle Route 100, an express bus between the regional transit center and downtown Raleigh, stops at the airport, though only every hour on weekends.

For most Triangle residents, public transit is impractical, Sandifer said.

You can fly from here to Iceland faster than you can get to RDU from one of these outlying areas that is served by public transportation, he said. Thats not a criticism of the system; its a reflection and an understanding that it needs to get better at some point in the future to be able to serve the needs of customers of the airport.
When Ron DeSantis jumped into the Republican presidential primary, he had two choices: run as a pragmatic moderate whos more competent than Donald Trump  or from the far, far right.

The Florida governor chose the latter, taking his overheated rhetoric to the extreme  slitting throats?! And then there was that former staffer whos since been fired after retweeting a now-deleted video containing an offensive symbol common in Nazi imagery. But, as his campaign began to implode, DeSantis changed direction. Last week, he finally  finally!  admitted Trump lost the 2020 election. He was just three years too late.

Even fellow Republicans are looking askance: Well, this campaign of his has gone from up here to down here, because people are really beginning to wonder what the hell he stands for, presidential candidate Chris Christie, the former governor of New Jersey, said during a visit to Miami Friday. And if what he stands for is defending Donald Trump, then just drop out of the race and endorse him.

Christies question mirrors one the Editorial Board has asked: Who is Ron DeSantis, anyway? Is he Trump 2.0, the culture warrior who picks fights with gender pronouns and Mickey Mouse; or Floridas twice-elected governor who can purportedly restore sanity to the Republican Party and beat President Biden? Is he willing to tell the truth, even if it hurts his standing with Trumps base? Or does he talk out of both sides of his mouth?

Christies comments come on the heels of embarrassing leaked memos from a firm affiliated with a super PAC supporting DeSantis. The documents advise him to defend Donald Trump when Christie attacks the former president in the first debate in the presidential primary on Wednesday. They also tell him to talk about his family, showing emotion, and attack the media 3-5 times.

Christies chances of winning the GOP presidential nomination are close to zero, but his words, said in DeSantis own state, were on point. Christie visited Casa Cuba in South Miami and was expected to head to Versailles, a must-stop destination in Little Havana for candidates courting Hispanic voters who strongly backed Donald Trump in 2020 and helped DeSantis win Miami-Dade County in 2022.

What a contrast his presidential bid has been to his landslide reelection by close to 20 points. As long as Trump is involved in GOP politics, DeSantis will be defined in comparison to the former president. Even when DeSantis was at the height of his national popularity he was considered Trump without the baggage.

How do you sell yourself to voters when your message is that youre like someone, both more extreme, but also more reasonable, electable and appealing, while being branded unlikable all at the same time?

Its a master class in inauthenticity. In choosing to take on this challenge, DeSantis overestimated his own political acumen.

Candidates like Christie, a former Trump ally, who now is trying to reclaim the Republican Party from the cult of personality the former president has created, barely show up in polling. Perhaps DeSantis fears that he, too, could face the same fate if he upsets too many Trump supporters.

But he probably cannot win the GOP nomination if voters continue to wonder who the real Ron DeSantis is.
Dozens of iconic red phone boxes are being being put up for adoption across Wales for 1 each.

Wales still has around 260 of the K2 red kiosks - first designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott in 1924.

The rise of mobile phones has meant their repurposing in many places to house things like book exchanges and defibrillators.

BT is making 77 phone boxes available to groups across Wales.

The adoption project is open to charities, community councils and local authorities.

At their peak, there were around 92,000 phone boxes in the UK, but 98% of adults in the UK now own a mobile phone.

There are now around 850 remaining working payphones in Wales, according to BT.

The firm said more than 500 red phone boxes have been adopted since 2008, with many repurposed to house things like book exchanges, food banks, bicycle repair kits, dog waste bags and defibrillators.

Across the UK, the scheme has been taken up by more than 5,000 communities.

One red phone box adopted in 2013 in the village of Rowen in Eryri, also known as Snowdonia National Park, has become a focal point of the community, according to BT.

As well as holding books and a defibrillator, the kiosk next to the Ty Gwyn Hotel has details of local events and serves as an information point for tourists.

Red phone box 'much loved'

"This red phone box is a much-loved local landmark and a popular meeting place," said the Rowen Memorial Hall's Peter McFadden.

"Some residents have told us that they did their teenage courting there," he added.

"When people stopped using it to make calls, and there was a risk it would disappear, we were determined to keep it," he said. "It's been put to so many good uses, including a lifesaving one.

"I'd encourage others to adopt redundant kiosks in their area."

Thousands of rural phone boxes were protected from closure in 2022 when Ofcom required pay phones with more than 52 calls in the previous year to be kept in operation.

"With the vast majority of people now using mobile phones, and significant improvements to mobile coverage across the UK we've continued to see a big drop in the number of calls made from payphones," said BT's Michael Smy.

"With the iconic red kiosk about to turn 100, it's a great opportunity to remind communities that would still like to retain their local kiosk to take it on for just 1 through our adopt a kiosk scheme," he added.

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Congressman Adam Schiff gets into a car with enviromental activists to tour encroaching warehouses in the Bloomington area of the Inland Empire on August 15, 2023. Schiff is running for the Senate. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Riverside County Democratic Party Chair Joy Silver worked the crowd with the guile of a Vegas nightclub opening act, stalling until Rep. Adam Schiff arrived.

A room of about 150 or so eager liberals had turned out to see the Senate candidate and archenemy of former President Trump. Instead, they were hearing Silver butter up every Democratic club in the county.

It wasn't that the Burbank representative was stuck in traffic or hobnobbing with VIPs Tuesday evening.

"He's out in the parking lot doing CNN," Silver told the crowd, which cheered upon hearing that news. "If you get CNN on your phone, he's on the air right now. He'll walk right in, so we just got to wait a few more minutes."

The network had sent a satellite van, which he popped into for seven minutes to join anchor Kaitlan Collins as she updated the nation about Trump's fourth indictment, which pertains to his alleged efforts to overturn Georgia's 2020 presidential election results.

Since Trump entered the White House in 2017, Schiff has been one of his top antagonists. That stature elevated Schiff's 2021 book  "Midnight in Washington: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still Could"  to the bestseller lists.

As a top candidate for Senate, Schiff is using that ubiquity to fuel his campaign strategy to be everywhere, all the time, doing local and national media along with campaign events big and small. Hence the waiting satellite van in Riverside.

"I've felt, ever since I got to Congress, that if my constituents don't know what I'm doing, it's not on them. It's on me," Schiff said. "With respect to some of the national challenges, like the challenge to our democracy, there's so many people out there putting out bad information. I think it's very important to be a great explainer and put in context what's happening in the country."

It's not as if Schiff's top Democratic rivals in the race to replace retiring Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) are pro-Trump lackeys. Both Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) and Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine) have found prominent ways to stand up to Trump. Lee is lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against Trump over his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. And throughout Trump's tenure, Porter used her whiteboard and tough questioning style to expose what she saw as flaws in his administration's policies.

Rep. Adam Schiff does a television interview with Spectrum News on June 2 in Washington, D.C. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

But when Trump's legal troubles are in the news, it's Schiff whom the national cable networks invite on their shows.

The repeated exposure  with Trump's cases unfolding in multiple legal jurisdictions over the coming months  could give Schiff an advantage in what's begun as a tight race by putting him in the living rooms of millions of California voters at no expense to his campaign.

Since mid-July, he's been on either MSNBC or CNN at least 11 times  far more than his competitors.

Political consultants unaffiliated with his campaign say Schiff has used the prominence gained from his role in an impeachment, multiple inquiries into Trump's relationship to Russia and the House Select Committee inquiry into the Jan. 6 Capitol attack to great effect.

During the first Trump impeachment proceeding, Schiff was one of several representatives to make the case that the president should be removed from office. Similarly, he was the ranking member and later chair of the permanent select committee on intelligence, and later led one of the Jan. 6 committee's public hearings, which included an inquiry into what occurred in Georgia.

The message he's preached at those congressional hearings targeting Trump's alleged misdeeds  the need to protect American democracy  has become a pivotal issue to California voters. A May poll from The Times and UC Berkeleys Institute of Governmental Studies found that,after the economy (23%), "threats to democracy" (19%) ranked as the most important issue likely voters in California were assessing when deciding whom to support for U.S. Senate.

Read more: Past donors to Reps. Adam Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee face a dilemma in Senate race

"Its the gold standard of Democratic worthiness to take on Donald Trump in a battle and fight the enemy for good reasons," said strategist Doug Herman, who most recently served as Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass' election advisor. "It's really a solid credential out in the greater political world, but it's an even more powerful credential in a crowded Democratic primary."

That same Berkeley poll revealed a tight race for Senate.

GOP businessman Eric Early led with 18% of the state's likely voters, nearly all Republicans. Porter is close behind with 17%, followed by Schiff with 14%. But among people who rated threats to democracy as the most important issue, Schiff led the field 29% and Porter came in second with 25%.

David Axelrod, an advisor to former President Obama, referenced Schiff's speech at the end of the first impeachment trial as one of the great pieces of oratory, one that will be remembered as prophetic because the congressman said: "What are the odds if left in office that [Trump] will continue trying to cheat? I will tell you:100%."

Axelrod noted that Schiff's recent censure by House Republicans proved to be a boon for his fundraising, helping him rake in roughly double the combined total raised by Lee and Porter. (Axelrod isn't working for Schiff but was previously partners in a campaign consulting firm with Larry Grisolano, who is now advising the congressman. Herman, who isn't consulting for a Senate campaign, regularly works with Grisolano on races including the Bass campaign last year).

Axelrod and others cautioned, however, that Schiff had to go beyond just being a check on Trump  and be careful not to become a single-issue candidate. As potent a foil as Trump remains, voters will want to hear Schiff speak to their concerns about the unequal economy, the broken immigration system and the need to protect the environment.

"Being the No. 1 congressional foil of Trump among Democrats  that's a badge of honor," Axelrod said. "There's no doubt that has a tremendous upside. But if you're only the guy who's seen on MSNBC or CNN talking about Donald Trump, there is a danger to that as well. That's why you see him out there doing all these other things. Just to remind people, 'Hey, I paint on a broad palette here and I'm working on stuff that is really important to you  not just Donald Trump.'"

Adam Schiff passes an elementary school that is going to be torn down and replaced with another giant warehouse in the Inland Empire while touring parts of the area with environmental activists. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Since the House recessed late last month, Schiff has been crisscrossing the state trying to do just that.

After spending Monday at the U.S.-Mexico border in San Diego, Schiff began Tuesday in Calexico with his wife, Eve, talking with local advocates about affordable housing and wealth inequality.

In an interview, he recalled meeting a U.S. citizen living in Mexico who woke everyday at 1 a.m. and crossed the border most days to work in the fields and make enough to care for his family. He also talked about a recent trip to the Central Valley where he met Madera residents concerned about the local hospital closing and a lack of clean drinking water.

When Schiff arrived in Riverside later that day in triple-digit heat, he toured several towns where dozens of warehouses have sprouted up to help feed the nation's insatiable demand for e-commerce. The fumes from idling big rigs sicken residents, they told him. Then environmental activists from the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice showed him the Stringfellow Acid Pit toxic waste site.

In a meeting afterward, Schiff began with a simple question: How can I help?

Read more: Three co-workers running for the same Senate seat? That's awkward

There's a theme emerging in all these communities he's visited on the campaign.

"You see people struggling to find decent paying jobs, and you've got all these warehouses moving in affecting the quality of life and the quality of their health," he said. "They're not producing long-term, good jobs for people. They're producing transient jobs and a lot of illnesses."

According to Schiff, a former federal prosecutor who served in the state Senate before winning his congressional seat in 2000, there's a direct connection between the economic situation in this country and the conditions that make it ripe for Trump to return to power. Though it's gotten less attention, Schiff has long advocated to bring more resources to his district to address issues such as homelessness.

"I've talked to President Biden about it, and he very much feels exactly the same way  that his economic agenda is part of the democracy agenda," Schiff said.

His speech before the Riverside County Democrats was no different: an attempt to braid these themes into something compelling for voters who've spent the last several years offended by Trump.

Rep. Adam Schiff gets into a car with environmental activists to tour encroaching warehouses in the Bloomington area of the Inland Empire. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

But unlike most Senate race stump speeches, this one included an extended analysis that resembled his CNN appearance, where he discussed specifics of the Fulton County indictment in Georgia. He explained he was proud that his work on the Jan. 6 committee had laid the groundwork for Trump's indictment, but also mentioned his recent travels across the state and the economic unfairness he observed everywhere.

After Schiff wrapped up, Diana Rodriguez, 68, and her daughter Kim Belangeri stood eagerly awaiting a photo with the candidate. Rodriguez said she had voted Republican until Trump's ascendance, when she changed her party registration. Both follow the news obsessively, tracking every machination in the former president's legal drama. Nothing could be worse than his possible return to the White House, they said.

"If there's no democracy, the economy doesn't even matter," Rodriguez said. "We need people like Schiff protecting it. "

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, talks to constituents after a town hall meeting at City Hall in Eagle Mountain on Aug. 31, 2021. Owens said he is endorsing former President Donald Trump in his bid to run for president again. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News

Rep. Burgess Owens officially endorsed former President Donald Trump in his bid for reelection on Thursday.

The congressman spoke with the Deseret News on Friday to explain his decision.

Owens said that despite early concerns about Trump, his support for the former president hasnt wavered since learning in 2016 of Trumps plans to help the Black community. And Owens says his present endorsement of Trump is based on the results of those promises.

Im one of those Republicans who has been so frustrated for decades by the promises that have been made by a party that never came through. Within four years President Trump did more than all the other presidents have done for our country because he was not going to be bullied, he was determined to put America first and this was happening even though they were coming after him in so many different fashions, Owens said in a phone call, citing the record-low Black unemployment levels and decreasing wage gap at the end of the Trump administration.

The Republican congressman representing Utahs 4th Congressional District, which covers southern Salt Lake County and parts of central Utah, revealed his endorsement in a statement given to conservative news website the Daily Caller.

Donald Trump delivered record-breaking growth to all communities. As a child born in the segregated South, I witnessed Donald Trump help the Black community more than any president in my lifetime, Owens said.

The statement continues: (President Joe) Biden declared to the world if you dont support him, you aint Black, well, once again, I dont support him. Im proud to support Donald Trump in 2024, and I pray he gets the opportunity to finish the record growth he started. We need his boldness to reverse the damage Joe Biden has done before its too late.

With this announcement, Owens becomes the 75th member of Congress to endorse Trump in his 2024 campaign. In addition, 10 senators have officially endorsed Trump as well.

Owens said he chose to make his endorsement public now as a way to draw attention to and protest what he sees as the unfair application of the law.

I thought it would be a good time now to share with Americans that as we see our country going sideways, as we see what can happen when an administration is weaponized against any American citizen, he said.

Trump has been charged with 91 felony counts related to four criminal cases in recent months. Two separate cases  one federal case, one case in Georgia  involve his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election. A second federal indictment stems from the former presidents alleged mishandling of classified documents. And another state indictment charges Trump with falsifying business records. He has denied wrongdoing in each case.

Owens says that the four indictments are illegitimate and represent the criminalization of free speech, something he says he saw growing up in the segregated South.

Growing up in the 60s, I know what it is to have a government that is weaponized against a people, a person, a race. In the Jim Crow South, I saw what it was to have personal liberty and civil rights being stripped away because the government had the power, Owens said. One of the first freedoms we have, which is freedom of speech, freedom to express ourselves, our doubts, our concerns, that all of a sudden thats being criminalized.

Owens has been an outspoken supporter of the previous president ever since he first ran for Congress in 2020.

We need more leaders like President Trump who understand the freedoms that make up the fabric of America, Owens said during a speech given at the 2020 Republican National Convention in North Carolina.

Owens entered office on Jan. 3, 2021, after narrowly defeating Democratic incumbent Ben McAdams. Just days later, Owens joined over 100 Republican colleagues in objecting to the certification of Pennsylvanias electoral college vote because he said the results of the 2020 presidential election didnt make sense to me anecdotally or factually. However, Owens voted against the Arizona objection.

Trump has also shown support for Owens. Trump endorsed Owens during the 2022 midterms, calling Owens a fantastic representative for the states 4th Congressional District.

I campaigned with Burgess to flip this seat in 2020, and I am proud to support him again, the former president said in a statement.

And as Trump has recently faced several legal challenges, Owens has defended the former president.

Owens said that Trumps first indictment this year reeks of political vengeance and that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has weaponized our justice system to target opponents.

Ahead of Wednesdays first Republican presidential primary debate, Owens says that Republicans need to unite behind their partys standard bearer.

My hopes are that as we go through this process and we get these candidates to talk back and forth that we can come to one agreement and our agreements going to be President Trump and at that point we come together to go ahead against President Biden and the left, Owens said.
TEHRAN, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday vowed to strengthen bilateral and regional cooperation.

In a phone conversation, Raisi and Modi underlined the need to expand cooperation between the two countries in projects such as the International North-South Transport Corridor and in international organizations, Mohammad Jamshidi, the Iranian president's deputy chief of staff for political affairs, wrote in a post on X, previously known as Twitter.

He added the two leaders had also agreed to facilitate the development of the Chabahar port in southeastern Iran as a symbol of bilateral cooperation.

In May 2016, Iran, India and Afghanistan signed a trilateral transit agreement in the Iranian capital Tehran to open new routes of connection by converting Chabahar port into a transit hub.

India has been developing a part of Chabahar in an effort to expand trade with Iran, Afghanistan and countries in Central Asia. 
Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, (D-NY), from left, Santiago's Mayor Iraci Hassler, Congressman Maxwell Frost, (D-FL), Congressman Greg Casar, (D-TX), Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, (D-NY), and Misty Rebik, chief of Staff for Sen. Bernie Sanders, wave to students from a City Hall balcony, in Santiago, Chile, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. The US delegation traveled to the South American country to learn about efforts to defend its democracy ahead of the 50th anniversary of the military coup led by Gen. Augusto Pinochet. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP)  Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Thursday in Chile that it was imperative for the United States to declassify documents that could shed light on Washington's involvement in the South American countrys 1973 coup.

The transparency of the United States could present an opportunity for a new phase in our relationship between the United States and Chile, Ocasio-Cortez said in Spanish in a video posted on Instagram alongside Camila Vallejo, the spokesperson for the left-leaning government of President Gabriel Boric.

The Democratic congresswoman from New York is part of a delegation of lawmakers who traveled to the capital of Santiago ahead of the 50th anniversary of the coup against President Salvador Allende on Sept. 11, 1973.

The delegation had first traveled to Brazil and will now go to Colombia, both of which are also ruled by left-leaning governments.

The goal of the trip was to start to change  the relationships between the United States and Chile and the region, Latin America as a whole, Ocasio-Cortez told outside the Museum of Memory and Human Rights that remembers the victims of the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, who ruled from 1973 to 1990.

Its very important to frame the history of what happened here in Chile with Pinochets dictatorship. And also to acknowledge and reflect on the role of the United States in those events, Ocasio-Cortez said.

Ocasio-Cortez said she has introduced legislation to declassify documents related to Chiles coup and Vallejo said a similar request had been made by the Chilean government.

In Chile as well, a similar request was made  that aims to declassify documents from the Nixon administration, particularly certain testimonies from the CIA director. This is to attain a clearer understanding of what transpired and how the United States was involved in the planning of the civil and military coup, and the subsequent years that followed, Vallejo said. This is very important for our history.

U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, a Democrat from Texas, said after the delegations approximately hourlong visit to the museum in Santiago that it was important to recognize the truth that the United States was involved with the dictatorship and the coup.

So thats why were here, Casar said in Spanish to journalists, to acknowledge the truth, to begin a new future.

U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro from Texas said the visit to the museum was a reminder that it was important to make sure that a tragedy and a horror like this never, ever happens again in Chile or in Latin America or anywhere else around the world.

Earlier in the day, the delegation also met with Santiago Mayor Iraci Hassler.

Reps. Nydia Velazquez of New York and Maxwell Frost of Florida also traveled to South America as part of the delegation sponsored by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a Washington-based think tank.



Politi reported from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
A Kentucky man was arrested Thursday after police found a military-style bomb inside his house, according to Irvine Police Chief John Sturniolo.

The bomb was found inside a home on Stevens Avenue in Irvine. Sturniolo said local police were serving an unrelated arrest warrant on Marcus Spurgeon, 33, when officers noticed suspicious items in his vehicle.

Sturniolo declined to elaborate on the items found in the vehicle, citing an active investigation.

They just werent items that you would typically find in a vehicle, Sturniolo said.

After the discovery of the suspicious items, Spurgeon gave police a written consent to search his home, according to Sturniolo. Thats when officers found the device along with rifles, pistols and ammunition.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives responded to the scene at Irvine polices request, according to Sturniolo.

He took some pictures, sent them to his bomb tech, Sturniolo said. The bomb tech came in from Georgetown, X-rayed it and deemed that the casing was loaded with some type of powdery substance.

The bomb was secured in a frag bag and removed from the scene, Sturniolo said. It has been sent off for further examination.

Spurgeon was booked into the Three Forks Regional Jail Thursday night on charges of second-degree disorderly conduct and first-degree indecent exposure from the unrelated warrant, Sturniolo said. Spurgeon was charged with three more counts of first-degree wanton endangerment from the incident.

Spurgeons bond is set at $25,000 from the wanton endangerment charges and $650 from the misdemeanor charges, according to court records.
The insurrection on January 6, 2021, has become yet another litmus test for Republican presidential candidates and how they respond to questions about the subject may provoke the ire of frontrunner Donald Trump, whos now facing legal action over his role in the Capitol riot.

The former president was indicted on 1 August for his efforts to overturn the election. The indictment included four counts against Mr Trump and was based on a lot of information unearthed by the now-closed-down House Select Committee investigating the riot.

Announcing the charges against Mr Trump, Special Counsel Jack Smith said: The attack on our nations Capitol on January 6, 2021, was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy.

It was fueled by lies, lies by the defendant targeted at obstructing a bedrock function of the US government  the nations process of collecting, counting and certifying the results of the presidential election, he added.

The New York Times revealed on Friday that Mr Trump is planning on sitting down for an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson instead of taking part in the debate in Milwaukee on 23 August.

This is a rundown of what the GOP presidential candidates have said about the January 6 insurrection:

Donald Trump

Donald Trump has been criminally charged over his actions leading up to the January 6 riot (AFP via Getty Images)

Mr Trump has used the riot to spread an alternative reality in which patriotic Americans fought against a massive fraud imposed on the public.

He has promised pardons for the rioters, claiming that theyre political prisoners persecuted for their beliefs and not for the violent rampage that ensued after Mr Trumps speech on January 6. He has argued that the investigation into his actions is politically motivated. He has been going after President Joe Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and he has repeatedly called Mr Smith deranged.

Mr Trump is clinging to the lie that the 2020 election was stolen even as he faces mounting legal problems stemming from his actions connected to those falsehoods both at the federal level and at the state level in Georgia.

Just months after the riot, in March 2021, he told The Washington Post that the rioters were a loving crowd and that what took place was too bad.

He claimed that the violent mob was ushered in by the police I mean, in all fairness  the Capitol Police were ushering people in. The Capitol Police were very friendly. You know, they were hugging and kissing.

Also in 2021, he erroneously told Fox Businesss Maria Bartiromo that one million people had come to listen to him speak at the so-called Stop the Steal rally ahead of the riot.

There was such love at that rally ... They felt the election was rigged. Thats why they were there. And they were peaceful people. These were great people. The crowd was unbelievable, he claimed.

In October of that year, audio leaked to Axios of Mr Trump speaking to Jonathan Karl of ABC News.

Karl asked about Trump supporters chanting Hang Mike Pence at the rally, to which Mr Trump said it was common sense as his supporters genuinely believed that the election had been rigged.

Mike Pence

Mike Pence, who found himself at the centre of events during the riot, has pushed back at his former bosss claim that he had the power to overturn the election result (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

The former vice president has turned his role in preventing Mr Trump from overturning the election into a campaign talking point as he paints himself as a defender of the Constitution.

President Trump was wrong on that day, and hes still wrong in asserting that I had the right to overturn the election, Mr Pence said on CNN last month.

He said Mr Trumps words during the speech ahead of the riot were reckless, but he added that Im not yet convinced they were criminal.

My hope is that the judgment about the presidents actions on January 6 would be left to the American people, he told NewsNation in July.

Over the last two and half years, President Trump has continued to tell the American people things that just arent so, he told Politico this month. I had no right to overturn the election. I welcome the opportunity to set the record straight. And Ill continue to.

After Mr Trumps federal indictment in relation to the riot, Mr Pence issued a statement saying that the legal filing serves as an important reminder  Anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be president of the United States.

On January 6th, former President Trump demanded that I choose between him and the Constitution. I chose the Constitution, and I always will, he added.

Ron DeSantis

Ron DeSantis has played down the events of January 6 (Getty Images)

The Florida governor said last month that the Capitol riot wasnt an insurrection, instead calling it a protest which ended up devolving, you know, in a way that was unfortunate, of course.

Speaking on a podcast hosted by comedian Russell Brand, Mr DeSantis said that the notion that January 6 was a plan to somehow overthrow the government of the United States is not true, and its something that the media had spun up.

If somebody is honestly doing an insurrection against the US government, then prove that thats the case and Ill be happy to accept it, but all youre showing me is that there were a lot of protesters there and it ended up devolving, you know, in a way that were unfortunate, of course. But to say that they were seditionists is just wrong, he said.

In January 2022, he said at a press conference that it was an insult to people to refer to it as an insurrection when nobody has been charged with that.

Six members of the far-right group the Oath Keepers and four members of the Proud Boys have been convicted of seditious conspiracy.

While campaigning in June in New Hampshire, Mr DeSantis said he didnt enjoy seeing the events of January 6 but added that weve got to go forward on this stuff. We cannot be looking backwards.

In July, Mr DeSantis slammed Mr Trumps actions on that day.

He said Mr Trump should have come out more forcefully against the riot, but the governor questioned if the former presidents actions rose to the level of a crime.

During a July press conference, Mr DeSantis said that I think that we want to be in a situation where you dont have one side just constantly trying to put the other side in jail. And thats, unfortunately, what were seeing now.

Vivek Ramaswamy

Vivek Ramaswamy has suggested the former president was guilty of bad judgement but not necessarily of a crime (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

The tech entrepreneur appeared on Fox News last month saying that Mr Trump showed bad judgement but that thats not the same thing as a crime.

I would have made different judgments than Donald Trump made  that is why Im running in this race for the presidency  the same race that hes in. Because I would have made different and, I believe, better judgments for the country, he said.

But a bad judgment is not the same thing as a crime. And when we conflate the two, that sets a dangerous precedent for this country, he added. I dont want to see us become some banana republic where the party in power uses police force to arrest its political opponents.

Mr Ramaswamy wrote in one of his books that Mr Trump inaccurately claimed that the 2020 election was stolen and subsequently raised millions from his supporters.

Six days after the riot, Mr Ramaswamy tweeted: What Trump did last week was wrong. Downright abhorrent. Plain and simple.

Chris Christie

Chris Christie has vociferously denounced his former friend over his actions (EPA)

The former New Jersey Governor tweeted in July that Mr Trumps conduct on January 6th proves he doesnt care about our country and our Constitution.

On CNN earlier this month, he said that Mr Trump asked his supporters to march up to Capitol Hill to stop what was going on up there. He said he would march with them, but  I knew that if Donald Trump had a risk of breaking a fingernail, hes such a coward that he wouldnt go up to Capitol Hill.

So he went back to the safety of the White House and sent those folks up there to do what they did, which was to create, many of them, violent conduct up on Capitol Hill, he added.

About a year after the riot, in February 2022, Mr Christie appeared on ABCs This Week, saying that January 6 was a riot that was incited by Donald Trump in an effort to intimidate Mike Pence and the Congress.

He actually told the truth by accident. He wanted the election to be overturned, Mr Christie said, adding that Mr Trumps actions were beneath the dignity of the White House.

I think everything that he was saying from election night forward incited people to that level of anger, he previously told CNN.

Tim Scott

Tim Scott says he doesnt believe Trump was responsible for what happened (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

The South Carolina Senator told WMUR-TV in New Hampshire that he holds the folks who broke into the Capitol with ill will in their hearts  responsible for their actions.

But he added that I dont hold the former president, who didnt show up at the Capitol, as responsible.

I do not believe the election was stolen, Mr Scott said in July at a town hall event, according to NBC News. There was cheating, but was the election stolen? Theres a difference. I think [in] every election theres cheating.

Theres evidence that there was fraud to such a degree that it affected the election.

Nikki Haley

Nikki Haley has said that January 6 was a terrible day, and we dont ever want that to happen again (Getty Images)

The former South Carolina governor and UN ambassador said It was not a beautiful day, it was a terrible day, and we dont ever want that to happen again, during a town hall in Iowa in May.

I dont know enough about each individual [rioter] but thats my rule  if you break the law, you pay the price, she added, according to NBC.

Two days after the riot, she told the RNC that Mr Trumps actions since Election Day will be judged harshly by history.

She later told Politico that Mr Trump went down a path he shouldnt have, and we shouldnt have followed him, and we shouldnt have listened to him. And we cant let that ever happen again.

Doug Burgum

Doug Burgum has sought to evade questions about what happened on January 6 (Getty Images)

Just after 4pm on January 6, 2021, the North Dakota governor tweeted: We support the right to peacefully protest. The violence happening at our nations Capitol is reprehensible and does not represent American values, and needs to stop immediately.

Since announcing his campaign for president, Mr Burgum has tried to dodge questions on the issue.

I believe that Joe Biden won the election, he said for the first time on the trail earlier this month during an appearance on ABCs This Week.

I believe that we have to move on to the future, he added.

When pressed on the indictments against Mr Trump, Mr Burgum said, Everybodys innocent until proven guilty.

We should be talking about the energy, economy and national security, he added.

He said that he believes there were there were irregularities in terms of how the election went despite there being no evidence of fraud at such a scale that it would have had an impact on the election.

Theres an entire industry built around commenting on President Trump, and Ill just leave it to the pundits, he told ABC. I mean, were in a position today where when were out talking to voters in Iowa and New Hampshire, theyre not asking about the indictments.

Host George Stephanopoulos asked, Do you have an opinion on the fact that President Trump tried to overturn the election as alleged in the indictment this week by special prosecutor Smith?

Im not a lawyer. Im an entrepreneur. Im someone who leads and operates businesses. I care about the people of this country  and youre asking me basically a legal question. Were focused on the future, Mr Burgum said.

He later added: Every question we get is about the past and not the future. Im running for the future of America. And were going to keep talking about that at every stop.

Asa Hutchinson

Asa Hutchinson has said that Trumps actions on January 6 should disqualify him from ever being President again (AFP via Getty Images)

The former Arkansas governor has said that Mr Trumps actions on January 6 should disqualify him from ever being President again.

While Donald Trump would like the American people to believe that he is the victim in this situation, the truth is that the real victims of January 6th were our democracy, our rule of law, and those Capitol Police officers who worked valiantly to protect our Capitol, he added last month, according to Spectrum. Anyone who truly loves this country and is willing to put the country over themselves would suspend their campaign for President of the United States immediately.

I do not believe that Donald Trump should be the next president of the United States. I think hes had his opportunity there. I think January 6 really disqualifies him for the future. And so, we move beyond that. And thats what I want to be focused on, he told ABCs This Week in January.

Will Hurd

Will Hurd has called Trump a threat to US democracy (AFP via Getty Images)

The former Texas congressman tweeted during the riot, at 3.10pm ET on January 6, 2021: This isnt a peaceful protest. This is an attack on our democracy and domestic terrorism to try to stop certifying elections. This should be treated as a coup led by a president that will not be peacefully removed from power.

He told NPR last month that he would have voted for Mr Trump to be impeached for the riot.

Yes, because the very specific thing of the phone call to the Georgia secretary of state  asking the Georgia secretary of state to knowingly violate the law, he said. And then when you look at some of the evidence he January 6th committee produced. So to me, that meets the requirement of a violation of the law.

Donald Trump is a threat to national security. Period. Full stop. And guess who loves all this drama? Guess who loves all this back and forth? Our adversaries. Theyre laughing that were having to potentially have another indictment. Theyre laughing that Donald Trump has tons of baggage, the former CIA undercover agent added. So, yes, he absolutely is [a threat to US democracy]. But the best way to be done with Donald Trump once and for all is to beat him in the primary.
The Scene

DES MOINES  They had come to hear Donald Trump, who finished his brief Iowa State Fair swing with a mini-rally at the Steer n Stein. But the Republican crowd cheered just as loud for Rep. Greg Steube, a third-termer from southwest Florida whod come with big news.

Yesterday, I filed impeachment articles against Joe Biden, said Steube, standing next to Trump in matching MAGA hats. How many of you think we should impeach Joe Biden?

Encouraged by their base, and outraged by the criminal investigations into the 45th president, the right flank of the House GOP is trying to build momentum for a Biden impeachment. Theyve gotten asked about it at town halls, brought it up in conservative media hits, and been urged to act quickly by an array of movement leaders.

Joe Biden is guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors, warranting the opening of an impeachment inquiry, read an open letter from the Conservative Action Project, released Wednesday; David Bossie, chair of the RNCs debate committee, was among the activists who signed. There has never been a more corrupt occupant of the White House than the sitting President of the United States.

Impeachments advocates dont have the 218 votes needed to back up the threat, or the total buy-in of party leaders. Instead, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told his conference shortly before the start of the summer recess that an impeachment inquiry the formal investigative process that typically precedes an impeachment vote  was , if more evidence justified it, as the House Oversight Committee probed whether money paid to the presidents son and brother before he was president made it to him.

That put a lid on the conversation as members headed home. But the impeachment chatter picked up, powered by memos from the Oversight Committee and anger at what was happening to Trump. On Wednesday, at a town hall meeting in his north Texas district, Rep. Pat Fallon told constituents that he supported an impeachment inquiry and that we should have done that already.

Impeachment was the first topic Fallon was asked about; on a recording of the event, one attendee can be heard shouting Whats McCarthy waiting for? Fallon walked the crowd through an FBI informants claim that Burisma Holdings owner Mykola Zlochevsky admitted bribing two members of the Biden family, suggesting that further revelations could remove the president from office.

If Zlochevsky comes forward with either of those things  recordings, or the route to how he got the money  weve got impeachment, conviction, removal, and god forbid, not that Im rooting for this, but were going to say three words: President Kamala Harris, said Fallon. Im not rooting for that, but we have a constitutional duty to investigate.

The same day, in an interview with San Diegos KUSI-TV, Florida Rep. Byron Donalds presented an impeachment inquiry as a post-recess inevitability.

Were going to go through an investigative process, I believe, in the Judiciary Committee, through an impeachment inquiry, said Donalds, who endorsed Trump in April  days after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg indicted him. Theres going to be several hearings on that. And then, if the evidence speaks for itself, therell be impeachment articles brought to the floor.

That decisions up to the House Republicans leadership (on conference call this week, McCarthy said he anticipated some serious family discussions on our next steps forward when we return in September.) But as he campaigned for Trump at the fair, Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt said that it was time to escalate the Biden probe.

I think theres a lot there that warrants it  whether you call it an impeachment inquiry or further investigation, whatever you want to call it, said Schmitt. I think this testimony needs to be out in the open, out in public. And the American people deserve to know whether or not the Presidents a crook.

Davids view

The journey from impeachment as a kook obsession to reality is shorter than it used to be. Republicans put the onus for that on Democrats, who ignored their insistence that removing a president meant defying the will of the voters who elected him.

I blame this impeachment craze on the Democrats, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer told Raw Story late last month. A lot of voters feel like, well they impeached Trump twice, and we should impeach Biden. And again, thats irresponsibility on the Democrats side.

It helps that both parties learned, in the Trump years, that impeachment doesnt lead to removal of a president. Democrats, in both 2019 and 2021, saw Trump as so uniquely dangerous that he needed to be barred from the presidency. But progressive activists who spent millions of Tom Steyers dollars on a Need to Impeach campaign got a vote, then trial, with a single Republican defection, and  pre-Covid  a re-energized Trump talking about his vindication. Even after Jan. 6, Democrats could only lure a handful of GOP Senators to their side.

Thats transformed impeachment into just another tool to try and win the news cycle. With some exceptions like Fallon, pro-impeachment Republicans mostly seem to think Biden is a crooked joke, rather than an imminent danger to the Republic, and this is the best way to educate the people who dont know it. Thats grown more intense over the recess, as Oversights memos and subpoenas, like one this week asking for any communications that used Robert L. Peters as a pseudonym for the president, get lost in the Trump drama.

The purpose of that impeachment, from my standpoint, is not to force a vote that loses, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz said on a Wednesday Twitter Space organized by Tea Party Patriots. (The groups CEO, Jenny Beth Martin also signed the movement letter endorsing impeachment.) Its to put on a trial in the Senate it will not result in a conviction, but the true verdict can still be rendered by the American people.

The View From Democrats

Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, said that Republicans were charging ahead based on debunked conspiracy theories, all to serve a twice-impeached and disgraced enemy of the Constitution now facing 91 serious criminal charges.

The constitutional predicate for impeachment is treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors, Raskin told Semafor in a statement. House Republicans have admitted themselves they have no evidence of any wrongdoing by President Biden, much less evidence of an impeachable offense. The purpose of this colossal waste of taxpayer dollars and Congressional time would be to try and establish a false equivalency between Biden and Donald Trump.

Notable

Steubes four articles were posted right before he touted them to the Trump crowd. All of them focus on actions made before Biden became president; one article, focused on the FBIs interactions with the 2020 Biden campaign and transition team, suggests there was an abuse of power by a candidate who had yet to take it.
The Netherlands and Denmark received approval from the United States to supply F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine after Ukrainian pilots complete their training, Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov announced on Twitter on Aug.18.

"Our military has proven it's filled with fast learners. We will soon prove that Ukraines victory is inevitable. Thank you to all our partners and friends in the United States, the Netherlands, and Denmark," Reznikov wrote.

Prior to the recent approval, Denmark and the Netherlands confirmed their authorization from the United States to transfer F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lkke Rasmussen stated that Copenhagen reached out to Washington with an inquiry about supplying aircraft to Kyiv and received "friendly response."

Rasmussen further noted that the timing for the transfer of these planes to Ukraine has yet to be finalized by the coalition of allies.

Around the same time, the U.S. gave the green light to Denmark's proposal to furnish educational resources for F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. The proposal includes instructional modules, documentation, and materials for classroom training involving sensitive details about U.S. technology.

The training of Ukrainian pilots will kick off in Denmark in late August, in partnership with the eleven nations included in the "fighter jet coalition," according to the the Danish Defense Ministry. Romania is also on the list for training sessions organized by the coalition.

Read also: Andreas Umland: Why no-fly zones over Ukraine are necessary

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
RICHMOND, Ind.  A convicted child molester from Richmond who collected hundreds of thousands of images showing children  including babies and toddlers  being sexually abused has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison.

David L. Julien, 65, had pleaded guilty, in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis, to receipt of child sexual abuse material.

His sentence was imposed by Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson, who also ruled that Julien would be on supervised release for five years after his release from prison, and also would be required to register with local authorities as a convicted sex offender.

According to a press release issued Friday by the U.S. Attorney's office in Indianapolis, Julien on Jan. 2, 2022 was preparing french fries and accidentally left hot grease on his stove, leading to a fire.

A deputy fire chief then found notebooks, on a dresser in Julien's home, that contained photos of child sexual abuse.

More: In a Richmond house fire, responders found images that led to a child pornography charge

The Richmond man conceded to Richmond police they would find "thousands and thousands and thousands" of similar images in his possession.

Investigators found eight more binders of the photos, and thousands of more images of child pornography on a dozen computer hard drives. One hard drive alone had 722,000 images and 29,000 videos depicting child sexual abuse.

For years this defendant collected over a million depictions of children being subjected to horrific sexual abuses, including rapes of babies and toddlers, U.S. Attorney Zachary Myers said in the release.

"He didnt care about the trauma that was inflicted and perpetuated, so long as he could enjoy the heinous material he craved. Thanks to the Richmond fire and police departments, the U.S. Secret Service, and our federal prosecutors, our children are safer, and this pedophile is behind bars where he belongs."

Julien in 1995 was convicted of child molesting in Wayne Superior Court 2, drawing an 18-month sentence.

Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Richmond molester gets 15 years in federal prison in child porn case
Whenever an officer of the law pulls you over, its important to make sure you know what your rights are.

Criminal defense attorney Corey Cohen said whats actually required of you during traffic stops isnt always known.

Comply means pull over, you do not have to speak to the police, Cohen said.

He said give law enforcement your drivers license and registration. But legally, thats all you need to do.

READ: Seminole County deputy arrested, accused of sexually battering woman during traffic stop

They cant force you to incriminate yourself, so what you say is, very politely, Officer, thanks for the ticket but Im not going to answer any questions, Cohen said.

Another thing you can do is start recording. Its legal, as long as you dont obstruct the officers duties.

Have your phone handy, have it in your hand, Cohen said. Have it recording, that way you dont miss anything and let the officer know Im recording you.

READ: Calls to 911 are going unanswered in Orange County. The sheriffs office is making changes

Its legal, as long as you dont obstruct the officers duties. And legally you dont have to let them know youre recording.

Cohen said often, bodycam footage on an officer is recording, but sometimes its not on. You can request them to turn it on, Cohen said.

READ: Mans ex-wife arrested, charged in connection with his murder in 2022

If you find yourself in a situation where the officer is acting inappropriately, Cohen said call 911 immediately, but be wary of driving away.

You drive away now, youre being charged with fleeing, potentially, if the cop lies, Cohen said. Get on the phone with 911, explain why youre driving away, but youre probably going to get pulled over by the police officer and arrested, unfortunately.

Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
A teacher at Auburn High School has been charged with grooming.

Marshall Pratt, 61, was taken into custody Friday morning.

The Rockford Police Department said they were called to investigate a report of an Auburn High School teacher having inappropriate contact with a student on June 1, 2023.

Police charged Pratt after an investigation.

According to a March article on the Rockford Public School District's website, Pratt holds a doctorate degree in math.

Pratt is currently not listed on Auburn High School's staff directory.

No further details have been released at this time.

Pratt is being held in the Winnebago County Jail.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Teacher at Rockford's Auburn High School faces grooming charges
Bucharest hopes that around 60% of Ukrainian grain exports could transit through Romanian territory following Russia's unilateral termination of the grain deal, the country's Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said on Aug. 18, Reuters reported.

Ciolacu pointed out that Romania is working to improve its connecting infrastructure by rail, road, river, and sea, as well as border crossings.

The country's Transport and Infrastructure Minister Sorin Grindeanu said on Aug. 11 that Romania plans to increase the transit capacity of Ukrainian grain from 2 million metric tons to 4 million every month.

"We agreed that the Ukrainian grain exports must be accelerated in the context of the recent attacks that we are all aware of in recent weeks on the Ukrainian ports of Reni and Izmail," Grindeanu said.

Russia's withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative on July 17 was followed by systematic strikes against Ukrainian ports and grain infrastructure. This included Ukraine's ports on the Danube River Reni and Izmail, lying only several hundred meters away from Romania's border.

As Reuters pointed out, Romania's port of Constanta had emerged as Ukraine's biggest alternative shipping route even before the grain deal collapsed. In the first seven months of 2023, the port facilitated the transit of 8.1 million metric tons of Ukrainian grain, and 8.6 million metric tons in 2022, Reuters said.

Read also: Timothy Ash: Solutions need to be found for grain exports

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
In advance of next Wednesdays Republican presidential debate in Milwaukee, a super PAC that has essentially taken over Gov. Ron DeSantis campaign has posted and then erased a memo describing its strategy for success at the event.

Several hundred pages of unfettered advice, research memos, and polls were posted online by a political super PAC affiliated with the Florida governors presidential campaign, the New York Times reports.

One now-deleted document obtained by the Times suggests DeSantis should "take a sledgehammer" to Vivek Ramaswamy, a political newcomer. When Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor, attacks Donald Trump, it is imperative to defend Donald Trump. The memo also instructed him to target President Joe Biden and the media three to five times.

Axiom Strategies, owned by Jeff Roe, chief strategist for DeSantis's super PAC, Never Back Down, published the papers on its website.

Roger Ailes' "Orchestra Pit" strategy for debate is discussed in the memo.

As the late Fox News fixture described, success is achieved through strategic attention-getting.

Let's face it, there are three things that the media are interested in: pictures, mistakes, and attacks, Ailes told Judy Woodruff during a 1988 interview, Rolling Stone reported. Thats the one sure way of getting coverage. You try to avoid as many mistakes as you can. You try to give them as many pictures as you can. And if you need coverage, you attack, and you will get coverage. Its my orchestra pit theory of politics. You have two guys on stage, and one guy says, I have a solution to the Middle East problem, and the other guy falls in the orchestra pit. Who do you think is going to be on the evening news?

DeSantis should create several orchestra pit moments, according to the memo.



Calling Ramaswamy fake Vivek or Vivek the fake was one strategy the document suggested for the Wisconsin event.

Also, he should Defend Trump when Chris Christie attacks him, the memo says.

Trump isnt here, so lets just leave him alone. Hes too weak to defend himself here. Were all running against him. According to the document, I dont think we want to join forces with someone on this stage whos auditioning for a show on MSNBC, DeSantis should say.

Additionally, the memo says DeSantis should be likable, something he has struggled with since entering the national spotlight. He is perceived to be unlikable and does not like to engage in retail politics. DeSantis seems pained and awkward when surrounded by everyday Americans on the campaign trail.

Invoke a personal anecdote story about family, kids, Casey, the memo read.

Showing emotion, it added.

Due to the law prohibiting Super PACs from strategizing with political campaigns, they sometimes publish polling and other materials online, but the information is usually difficult to find.

It is possible to be exposed to the media or opponents, as well as to embarrassment, by releasing internal documents.

Although the press or the opposition may gain access to polling documents, outside groups commonly post polling documents publicly to avoid violating laws prohibiting coordination.

Last week, Trumps campaign trolled DeSantis at the Iowa State Fair, fling a banner behind an airplane that read, Be likable, Ron.

WATCH: Be Likable, Ron! Banner Flown Above Iowa State Fair Ahead Of DeSantis Appearance www.youtube.com
BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- The governments of China and Denmark issued a green joint work programme for the 2023-2026 period on Friday.

The following is the full text of the work programme:

Green Joint Work Programme

between

the Government of the People's Republic of China

and

the Government of the Kingdom of Denmark

2023-2026

Context

In 2008, the People's Republic of China and the Kingdom of Denmark entered into a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, in recognition of their common interest in working together on bilateral, multilateral and global issues. In 2017, they underpinned the partnership with the establishment of a Joint Work Programme for the period 2017-2020. In November 2021, the Foreign Ministers of the People's Republic of China and of the Kingdom of Denmark committed to reaching agreement on a "Green China-Denmark Joint Work Programme" building on and consolidating bilateral cooperation in accordance with the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

New Green Joint Work Programme 2023-2026

China and Denmark have a mutual interest in promoting a bilateral relationship based on shared interests, and a mutual interest in addressing joint global challenges in line with the 2008 Joint Statement of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The Chinese side appreciates Danish adherence to its unchanged one-China policy. Both sides are ready to work together to reinvigorate the global partnership for development, and take efficient and effective actions so as to promote stronger, greener and healthier global development, and make our due contributions to realizing all the SDGs of the 2030 Agenda. The two sides agree on this new Green Joint Work Programme for the period of 2023-2026, to promote areas of mutual interest while recognizing obligations under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Charter. This will include implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, including its Paris Agreement. Important areas of cooperation will be: 1) climate and energy, 2) environment and water, 3) green shipping and green maritime technology, 4) improving quality and sustainability of food and agriculture, 5) improving public health, 6) strengthening economic relations, and 7) science and technology. Engagement on these areas of cooperation should aim at adding value to dialogue and joint projects involving inter alia, authorities, business representatives, stakeholder organizations and academia.

Strengthened High-Level Dialogue

China and Denmark agree to promote political and economic dialogue to the benefit of both, and engage in dialogue on areas of concern to either side. High-level exchanges between governments and local authorities on areas of mutual interest should be strengthened. An important vehicle will be annual political consultations on vice-ministerial level, inter alia to review progress made under the Green Joint Work Programme, decide on potential adjustments and exchange views on future cooperation.

Trade: Strengthening Economic Relations

China and Denmark are important trading partners. Both sides should further deepen and expand commercial relations based on mutual interests, tap the potential of bilateral trade and economic cooperation, work to improve market and competition conditions and ensure a level playing field. With this Green Joint Work Programme China and Denmark will:

a. Conduct bilateral Joint Economic Committee meetings on a regular basis.

b. Strengthen bilateral dialogue and collaboration within certification of products, taxation, competition and other fields.

Climate and Energy: Working Together for the Climate

China and Denmark share a strong commitment to sustainable green and low-carbon transition and both have set ambitious goals to address climate change and reach carbon neutrality. The two sides agree that China and Denmark should take global leadership to achieve the Paris Agreement goals, while adhering to the relevant principles of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Both parties are committed to translate their goals into action by taking concrete steps to address climate change and to cooperate on a sustainable, just and cost-effective green and low-carbon transition. Through this Green Joint Work Programme, China and Denmark will cooperate closely on climate change mitigation and adaptation as well as energy transition. The cooperation will inter alia include the following areas:

a. Climate change mitigation, policy development and regulatory innovation, including promoting a low-carbon and sustainable economic development and supporting training in addressing climate change and green transition for decision makers and officials.

b. Cost effective and safe energy transition, including modelling, long term energy planning and the development of power markets.

c. Increased energy system flexibility, increasing renewable energy integration, energy efficiency and clean and renewable heating.

d. Sustainable urban development, including climate change adaptation, sponge cities and energy efficiency in buildings.

Environment and Water: Ensuring Water Resources Quality and Ecosystem Functions

China and Denmark will work closely together in the fields of environment and water. Both sides share strong ambitions on sustainable resource management, protecting the environment, biodiversity, and promoting a circular economy. This Green Joint Work Programme aims to strengthen cooperation on environment and water, inter alia in the following areas:

a. Environmental protection including air pollution prevention and control, waste and wastewater management, circular economy, and environmental management of chemicals.

b. Sustainable management of water resources, including securing sustainable management of groundwater resources and reuse of wastewater.

c. Promoting integrated, carbon-neutral wastewater management including resource recovery from sludge, slurry and organic waste.

d. Supporting the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED) and the China Europe Water Platform (CEWP).

e. Biodiversity, including conservation and sustainable use of it.

f. Marine eco-environment conservation and restoration.

Research, Innovation, and Higher Education: Boosting Green Transformation

Under the Green Joint Work Programme, China and Denmark will boost green transformation, implement the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and jointly tackle global challenges such as climate change, by cooperating in areas of mutual interest within science, technology, innovation and higher education. Cooperation should enhance research quality in both countries, while building on a level playing field and the principles of reciprocity, openness, research integrity and academic freedom. Cooperation activities will be exclusively for civil application. China and Denmark will hold intergovernmental joint committee meetings on science and technology cooperation on a regular basis. China and Denmark fully agree on the important role of universities from both countries in promoting green transformation and development through education of new talents and research collaboration in areas such as climate change, low-carbon development and green environment. China and Denmark will explore and deepen cooperation in the following priority areas:

a. Climate change and decarbonisation;

b. Environmental protection and sustainable management and utilisation of resources;

c. Sustainable food and agricultural technologies;

d. Sustainable global health.

Intellectual Property: Strengthening IP Cooperation

China and Denmark will deepen cooperation and coordination on intellectual property-rights (e.g. patents, trademarks, geographical indications), including yearly exchange of relevant information on legislation, and jointly undertake cooperation activities.

Maritime Affairs: Collaboration on Green Shipping and Green Maritime Technology

As maritime nations, China and Denmark share a strong commitment to reducing the climate and environmental impacts of global shipping. This Green Joint Work Programme aims to strengthen collaboration on green shipping and green maritime technology, including:

a. Strengthening dialogue and collaboration, promoting emission reduction of global shipping, in particular under the framework of the International Maritime Organization.

b. Exchanging knowledge and experience relating to green maritime technology, shipbuilding and offshore equipment, and reducing carbon emissions for new buildings and retrofitting ships with green technologies.

c. Promoting the production of alternative fuels and the establishment of fuel storage, transportation, refueling and other infrastructure facilitating the green transition of shipping.

Food and Agriculture: Improving Quality and Sustainability

China and Denmark acknowledge that sustainable food and agricultural production will be the cornerstone of a sustainable world. The parties have a long tradition of cooperation within a number of areas related to food production including food safety and biosecurity measures. Through this Green Joint Work Programme, China and Denmark agree to advance cooperation within the food and agricultural sectors by continuing and further expanding cooperation within areas such as:

a. Agricultural productivity and product quality, including sustainable animal production.

b. Food safety, mitigation of food loss and food waste, nutrition, and ingredients.

c. Animal health, animal welfare, zoonotic diseases and veterinary medicine including antimicrobial resistance in a One Health perspective

d. Milk technology and other cooperation in the dairy sector.

e. Organic food and agriculture.

Tourism: Sustainable Development

China and Denmark will further promote their tourism exchanges and cooperation to enhance mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples. To this end, China and Denmark will work together to intensify their exchanges and cooperation in sustainable tourism.

Health: Access for All

China and Denmark share the commitment to achieving universal health coverage, including equal access to quality health services as well as innovative medicines and medical devices. This Green Joint Work Programme will aim at strengthening and promoting physical and mental health and well-being, extending life expectancy for all, including cooperation on non-communicable diseases (NCDs). To this end, China and Denmark will especially cooperate on:

a. Medicines and medical devices, including regulatory affairs.

b. Primary health care, including mental health and non-communicable diseases. 
Florida governor and Republican president hopeful Ron DeSantis, well known for his anti-LGBTQ+ policies, says that if one of his children turns out to be gay or transgender, thats a personal matter between him and his wife.



In an interview with Time at the Iowa State Fair, published Wednesday, DeSantis also defended the anti-LGBTQ+ laws he has signed, such as the infamous dont say gay law and the ban on gender-affirming procedures for trans youth.

DeSantis is making his presidential campaign about his personal life to a degree. He sees education policy, for instance, through the lens of a dad, he told the publication. He and his wife, Casey, have daughters aged 6 and 3, and a son aged 5. But DeSantiss attempt to personalize these issues has limits, Time reports.

When I ask how hell respond if one of his children turns out to be gay or trans, his eyes flash momentarily, and he swiftly shuts down the question, Times Molly Ball writes. Well, my children are my children, DeSantis says. Well leave that  well leave that between my wife and I.

On the dont say gay measure, which bans public school instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity and is part of a larger law aimed at increasing parental involvement in education, he said, Kids should be kids  there shouldnt be an agenda. I didnt feel like there was an agenda when I was growing up.

Framing it all as a crusade for parents rights is a neat trick politically, highlighting a throwback, traditionalist view of what used to be termed family values, but with a very 2023 culture-war spin, Time notes.

He said the trans care ban is needed because doctors are bullying parents in pursuit of profit. As a parent right now, I cant take my 6-year-old daughter and get her a tattoo, even if I want to do that. You dont have the right to do things that are going to be destructive to kids. I think that some of these parents are being told by physicians who are making a lot of money off this that you have to do this, otherwise your kid can end up doing something like commit suicide. I think that they get bullied into thinking this is the right decision. Most of the laws provisions are blocked by a court ruling while a lawsuit against it proceeds.

DeSantis went on to tiptoe around the many criminal charges that have been brought against Donald Trump, who was once an ally of DeSantis but is highly critical of him now that theyre rivals for the Republican presidential nomination. DeSantis said that if Trump is convicted, a presidential pardon would be in order.

When Im president, we need a fresh start, DeSantis said. Just like Ford pardoned Nixon, we are going to move on from the Trump controversies. He also said the U.S. Department of Justice is highly political and that Special Counsel Jack Smith has filed flimsy charges against Trump. Smith has brought charges regarding the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and possession of classified documents.

These are novel applications of the law, to conduct that has not traditionally been criminalized, he said. And I think that's why it's been viewed  at least in my judgment, and by people that think like me  very, very skeptically. Also, why all of a sudden are they doing this now? January 6 happened how many years ago, and I dont know what the agenda is behind that.

Pictured: Casey and Ron DeSantis
Ron DeSantis suggested recently that maybe his top rival shouldn't be in the 2024 presidential race to begin with.

Ron DeSantis suggested recently that maybe his top rival shouldn't be in the 2024 presidential race to begin with.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has treaded cautiously around Donald Trump in the Republican presidential primary, careful not to suggest that Trumps mounting legal troubles or his loss in 2020 make him the wrong choice for the GOP nomination.

But in a local radio interview Tuesday, DeSantis came closer than ever to suggesting that Trump, the GOP front-runner despite all his baggage, shouldnt have joined the 2024 race.

Well, look, I never thought he should run to begin with, even before all these legal cases when he left office in January of 2021, DeSantis told veteran Boston journalist Dan Rea on WBZ NewsRadio.

Rhea asked DeSantis whether he thought it would be better for his party and his country if Trump stepped aside.

I think he did a lot of good things, and I give him credit for that, DeSantis said. But I never thought it was a good idea for him to run again, because, one, I think we need a candidate whos going to be able to win a clear-cut victory; two, we need a candidate thats actually going to be able to deliver on all the things that weve been talking about, [and] that requires focus and discipline.

His remarks come days after Trumps fourth indictment  this time in Georgia, for his efforts to subvert the 2020 election there.

DeSantis rarely takes the bait on the former president, instead leaving that to his campaigns rapid response arm or the Never Back Down super PAC supporting his candidacy. But as he reboots his campaign and prepares for the first Republican debate set for next week, DeSantis may need to confront Trump in a less subtle way if he wants to remain in the race.

A recent memo suggests, however, thats the opposite of what DeSantis is being advised to do Wednesday in Milwaukee.

The memo, posted online by a consulting firm advising Never Back Down, recommends that DeSantis defend Trump while attacking his other rivals  despite a trove of other documents from the firm showing DeSantis stuck in a distant second place against the fields polling leader.

Trump isnt here so lets just leave him alone, Axiom Strategies advised DeSantis to say at the debate, which Trump has suggested he wont attend. Hes too weak to defend himself here. Were all running against him.

The memo directs DeSantis instead to go after his other closest rival, Vivek Ramaswamy.

Still, DeSantis has slowly been amping up his criticisms of Trump, stating unequivocallythat Trump lost the 2020 election and calling his insults phony and juvenile at a recent New Hampshire town hall. Asked in Iowa about Trumps one-sided feud with the states Republican governor, DeSantis bashed the former president by name: I think Donald Trumps attacks on Kim Reynolds are totally out of bounds, he said.

The DeSantis campaign hasnt responded to HuffPosts requests for comment about the radio interview or the Axiom Strategies memo.

Most GOP presidential hopefuls are united in their unwillingness to poke Trump and anger his passionate base, when none of them has yet broken out as a viable Trump alternative. Of the candidates willing to antagonize Trump  former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson  only Christie has qualified for the Republican debate stage, suggesting little appetite in the party right now for anyone but Trump.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani outside state Supreme Court in Manhattan. Molly Crane-Newman/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

The new Netflix series "Painkiller" tells the story of OxyContin's rise.

Former New York City Mayor and Trump ally Rudy Giuliani plays a key role in the real-life story.

Giuliani helped Purdue Pharma strike a deal with the government to keep selling the drug.

The new Netflix series "Painkiller" offers a fictionalized retelling of the rise of the powerful opioid OxyContin , depicting the real-life characters involved in manufacturer Purdue Pharma's rapid ascent and subsequent downfall, including America's most infamous mayor himself  Rudy Giuliani.

While certain aspects of the drama series have been embellished or altered amid the Hollywood treatment, Giuliani's legal involvement in the Sackler family saga is rooted in reality.

The former New York City mayor and larger-than-life Trump ally helped Purdue Pharma continue to sell OxyContin even after federal prosecutors sought to make a case that the drug maker misled the public in claiming OxyContin was less addictive than other narcotics on the market.

Hundreds of thousands of people have died from opioid overdoses since the opioid crisis began in the 1990s, fueled at least in part, by OxyContin.

Purdue Pharma hired Giuliani back in 2002, representing the first client his consulting firm ever landed, The New York Times reported in 2007. Then-beloved as the mayor who saw New York City through the September 11 attacks, Giuliani was brought on to convince public officials that Purdue was a trustworthy company, according to the newspaper.

Giuliani emerges as a key character in "Painkiller" in the mid-aughts as fictional lawyer Edie Flowers, played by actress Uzo Aduba, is working on behalf of the US attorney's office to bring a lawsuit against Purdue Pharma. Despite prosecutors' best efforts, the office ultimately reaches a deal with Purdue, which sees the company plead guilty to charges of fraudulent marketing and misbranding of OxyContin.

Part of the reason the company was able to reach that agreement was thanks to Giuliani's efforts as Purdue's lawyer. Journalist Patrick Radden Keefe, who wrote the New Yorker article upon which the Netflix show draws heavily, reported that Giuliani originally tried to "scuttle the case."

Later, however, Giuliani and the other Purdue lawyers went above lead prosecutor John Brownlee's head to complain to James Comey, who was the deputy attorney general at the time, The Guardian reported.

According to the outlet, Giuliani eventually helped secure an agreement with Brownlee that prevented Purdue from facing additional prosecution over OxyContin and kept the company's senior executives who'd pleaded guilty as individuals from doing prison time. Instead, those individuals paid a collective $34.5 million in fines, while Purdue was fined $640 million.

By getting Brownlee to agree to prosecute the parent company, Purdue Frederick, rather than Purdue Pharma, Giuliani and his team were also able to prevent a ban against Purdue Pharma doing future business with the federal government, which manages public health programs like Medicaid, Medicare, and the Veterans Administration health system, The Guardian reported. This allowed Purdue to keep selling OxyContin without limitations, despite the guilty plea.

A representative for Giuliani defended the former' mayor's work with Purdue Pharma.

"I don't have time to be watching Netflix all night, but I have a sneaking suspicion Hollywood is less than faborable toward the mayor in this show," said Ted Goodman, an advisor to Mayor Giuliani. "I'll just remind people that we've reached a dangerous place in America if we are going to attack lawyers for upholding a pillar of American jurisprudencethe notion that every American has the right to counsel."

In an earlier statement emailed to Insider regarding "Painkiller," a representative for Purdue Pharma said:

"We have the greatest sympathy and respect for those who have suffered as a result of the opioid crisis, and we are currently focused on concluding our bankruptcy so that urgently needed funds can flow to address the crisis. Under our settlement, Purdue Pharma would cease to exist and Knoa Pharma, a newly formed company with a public-minded mission, would emerge. The settlement would deliver over $10 billion of value for opioid crisis abatement, overdose rescue medicines, and victim compensation."

August 18, 2023: This story has been updated to include a statement from Giuliani's representative.

Read the original article on Business Insider
United States attorney Roger B. Handberg with the Middle District of Florida announced on Friday that Verdell Terria Jones, 58, Jacksonville, pleaded guilty to possession of counterfeit government check.

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<

She faces a maximum of 25 years in federal prison and restitution payment to the victims.

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According to the Department of Justice, Jones obtained counterfeit checks made to look like exact copies of U.S. Department of Treasury checks.

Some of the images on these checks appeared identical to the images contained on real government financial documents.

According to the plea agreement and court documents, Jones was involved with the Sovereign Citizen Movement and did not recognize the authority of the U.S. government.

Read: IRS agent shot and killed during training exercise, agency says

In 2015, Jones contacted an individual in Jacksonville who was selling a car, read a statement released by the attorneys office. Jones agreed to purchase the car by paying off the balance on the car loan. Jones sent the financial institution a counterfeit check for $25,000 that appeared to be drawn on the U.S. Department of Treasury in an attempt to defraud both the financial institution and the individual selling the car.

Jones was arrested on Apr. 11, 2017 but after being released on pre-trial supervision she fled the jurisdiction. She remained a fugitive on the run for more than five years. The FBI was able to locate and arrest Jones in Apr. 2023.

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Her sentencing hearing is set for Nov. 1, 2023.

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UK intelligence believes that the integration of schools in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine into the Russian education system is being orchestrated to establish a pro-Kremlin information space and erode Ukrainian national identity, according to the latest report on the situation in Ukraine published by the British Ministry of Defense on Aug. 18.

Read also: Francis Fukuyama on Western attitudes towards Russia and 'overemphasized' corruption  interview

Sergey Kiriyenko, the first deputy head of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin's administration, visited the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Donetsk on Aug. 15 to assess the integration of local schools into the Russian education system, as stated in the report.

UK intelligence believes the occupation administration has been instructed by Russia to implement new accreditation standards for educational institutions in the Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya Oblast,

Read also: British Ambassador reveals reasons behind Russias abduction of Ukrainian children

The report highlights that starting from the new school year, both schools in the Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine and throughout the Russian Federation will receive a new textbook on the "history of Russia." This textbook will extol the so-called "special military operation" and portray Ukraine as an "ultra-terrorist state."

Earlier, the Ukrainian Defense Ministrys National Resistance Center disclosed that the occupation authorities plan to intensify the integration of educational institutions in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine into the Russian education system.

Instances have also arisen where occupation "officials" have threatened Ukrainian teachers with "deportation" if they refuse to cooperate with the occupation "authorities."

Teachers' homes have been subjected to searches to gather evidence of their alleged collaboration with the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Read also: New charges against Russian propagandist Krasovsky - advocated drowning Ukrainian children

The Ukrainian militarys General Staff has reported that Russians are also repurposing educational institutions for military objectives, including a school in the village of Severnyi in Luhansk Oblast.

Meanwhile, in Tokmak, Zaporizhzhya Oblast, the occupation administration has established a hospital within a kindergarten.



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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
(Reuters) -Russia has banned entry to several Moldovan officials following Moldova's "unfriendly" decision to expel 22 Russian diplomats, the Russian foreign ministry said on Friday, marking a further worsening of already strained relations.

Moldova, a former Soviet republic, has been buffeted by Russia's war in neighbouring Ukraine. Moldova's pro-European president, Maia Sandu, has denounced Russia's invasion and accused Moscow of trying to destabilise her own country.

Twenty-two Russian diplomats flew out of the Moldovan capital Chisinau on Aug. 14, leaving behind a skeleton staff.

"... this unfriendly step leads to the further destruction of Russian-Moldovan relations, which are already in a deep crisis due to the actions of the Moldovan side," Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement after summoning Chisinau's ambassador to Moscow to express its disapproval.

The envoy was informed that "as an asymmetric response, entry into the Russian Federation was closed to a number of officials of the Republic of Moldova", the ministry said.

It did not identify the Moldovan officials affected by the ban or say how many there were, but Moldovan media, citing unnamed sources, said the ban applied to 20 officials, including lawmakers from Sandu's ruling party.

A senior Moldovan official said Russia's move was regrettable.

"This is not the first time the Russian authorities have resorted to such measures," said Igor Zakharov, a communications adviser to Moldova's foreign minister.

"The Republic of Moldova is determined to resist destabilising actions," he added.

Moldova shares a border with both Ukraine and NATO member Romania.

(Reporting by Felix LightAdditional reporting by Alexander Tanas in ChisinauWriting by Gareth JonesEditing by Nick Macfie)
Russia is charging families of dead soldiers $1,500 to get their bodies back, human-rights group claims

Russian marines during the International Army Games at the Khmelevka firing ground in the Kaliningrad region on August 17, 2022. REUTERS/Vitaly Nevar

A Ukrainian human-rights group says Russian commanders are charging families to retrieve remains.

Crimea SOS accused the Russians of charging some $1,500 to bring the bodies of dead soldiers home.

The commanders said the bodies were in "inconvenient" locations, per Crimea SOS.

A Ukrainian human-rights organization says some Russian commanders are charging the families of dead soldiers to bring their remains home.

Crimea SOS, a Ukraine-based NGO, posted a report on its website on Thursday saying it has evidence of three to four such cases. It didn't share the evidence itself.

The bodies were being kept at a morgue in Simferopol, the second-largest city in Russian-occupied Crimea, the group said, alleging that Russian military officials were demanding payment to send them back.

It said the relatives had to pay between 100,000 and 150,0000 rubles  between $1,000 and $1,500  to get their loved ones back.

"The commissars justify such a scheme by saying the body is in an inconvenient location for transportation," the report read.

Insider was unable to independently verify the claim. However, there have been reported instances of Russian army officers being accused of mishandling the bodies of their dead troops.

An ex-convict Russian soldier identified only as Aleksandr told The New York Times that he had been ordered not to collect the bodies of his comrades. He said this was because officers wanted to register the dead men as "missing in action" so they wouldn't have to pay compensation to their families.

"There were bodies everywhere," Aleksandr said to the Times. "No one was interested in collecting them."

Russia has hardly given any statistics for its number of war dead. Russia's defense minister Sergei Shoigu claimed in September 2022  almost a year ago  that 6,000 Russian soldiers died in the first six months of the war.

Researchers working with the BBC said in August that more than 30,000 dead Russian soldiers had been identified by name, suggesting an overall death toll far larger.

Read the original article on Business Insider
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed a Ukrainian naval drone had attempted to attack Russian ships in the Black Sea late on Aug. 17 but was allegedly destroyed.

The vessels were "carrying out navigation control tasks" in the Black Sea's southwestern part, 237 kilometers from Sevastopol in Russian-occupied Crimea, the ministry said on Telegram.

Moscow claimed that two Russian patrol ships had destroyed the naval drone before it reached its destination. Kyiv hasn't commented on the incident.

Over the past weeks, a series of explosions took place in the Black Sea.

The Russian landing vessel Olenegorskiy Gornyak was reportedly hit by a naval surface drone on Aug. 4. CNN and several Ukrainian media outlets cited unnamed sources in Ukraine's Security Service (SBU), saying the operation was a joint endeavor between the SBU and the Ukrainian Navy.

Read also: From Moscow to Novorossiysk: The list of attacks on Russian soil

In the early hours of Aug. 5, explosions were also heard near the Crimean Bridge. The Moscow Times reported that the naval drone attack on the Kerch Strait could have potentially damaged the Russian SIG chemical tanker.

Later in the day, the SBU chief Vasyl Maliuk made a statement on the recent surface drone attacks on Russian ships, effectively admitting that Ukraine was behind the attacks. He said such attacks are "absolutely logical" and "completely legal."

On Aug. 15, Ukraine's Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk said that Ukrainian forces had already put out of action five large Russian military landing crafts since the start of the full-scale invasion.

Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said in late July that Ukraine would continue to attack targets in Crimea to reduce Russia's fighting capacity and "help save the lives of Ukrainians."

Read also: ISW: Crimean bridge attacks cause significant disruptions to Russian logistics

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FILE PHOTO: Co-chairman of Golos non-governmental organisation Melkonyants speaks on the phone at his office in Moscow

By Mark Trevelyan

LONDON (Reuters) -An independent Russian vote-monitoring group accused the authorities on Friday of trying to block scrutiny of upcoming regional and presidential elections by arresting one of its leading members and raiding the homes of a dozen others.

Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of the Golos (Voice) group, was detained early on Thursday and placed under formal arrest by a Moscow court on Friday for involvement in the work of an "undesirable organisation", state news agency TASS said. His lawyer said he could face six years in prison.

Police also searched the homes of a dozen current and former Golos members across the country and seized cash, bank cards, passports and other documents, the organisation said.

It said one was taken to hospital after being hit on the head and stomped on the back, while another was detained for 15 days for disobeying the police.

Golos linked the raids to regional elections due to take place on Sept. 10, and to the impending campaign for a March 2024 presidential election in which Vladimir Putin is expected to seek, and win, another six years in the Kremlin.

"We are convinced that the real purpose of this attack is to interfere with public observation" of both sets of elections, said Stanislav Andreichuk, co-chair of Golos.

DOUBTS

Andreichuk said the authorities seemed to "doubt that they have real support, that the desired results of the upcoming presidential and regional elections are achievable" if independent monitoring of the votes is allowed to take place.

The Kremlin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The New York Times quoted Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier this month as saying that "our presidential election is not really democracy, it is costly bureaucracy", and that Putin would be re-elected next year with more than 90% of the vote.

Peskov later told Russian news agency TASS that his words had been interpreted "in an absolutely wrong way" but that Putin had unprecedented support and would win an overwhelming majority if he ran for president, something he has yet to confirm.

Andreichuk said Melkonyants was accused of working with European Network of Election Observation Organisations (ENEMO), a Montenegro-based NGO with which he said Golos had had no interaction since Russia banned ENEMO as "undesirable" in 2021.

Golos first angered the government by publicising evidence of alleged fraud in a 2011 parliamentary vote that sparked opposition protests, and then in the presidential election that returned Putin to the Kremlin for a third term in 2012.

The Russian government has designated Golos as a "foreign agent", a label that carries connotations of spying.

(Additional reporting by Maria Tsvetkova in New YorkEditing by Gareth Jones)
A crater was formed as a result of the missile strike

The Russian military launched a missile attack on the city of Zaporizhzhya in the southeast of Ukraine on the afternoon of August 18, as reported by Yuriy Malashko, the head of the Zaporizhzhya Oblast Military Administration.

The extent of the damage and the number of casualties are being clarified; however, preliminary reports suggest there were no casualties.

Anatoliy Kurtev, the acting mayor of Zaporizhzhya, said that blast waves struck three residential buildings, blowing out apartment and balcony windows, as well as windows in stairwells.

Anatoliy Kurtev/Telegram

Two educational institutions also sustained minor damage, he reported.

Read also: Russia used $500,000 Kh-35 missile to kill 3 civilians in missile strike on Zaporizhzhya on Aug. 9

The last time Russian troops attacked the center of Zaporizhzhya was on August 10. A hotel building where international delegations stayed caught fire. One woman was killed in the attack, and 16 civilians were injured.

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LUANDA, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has given its approval for the rescoping of the SADC Standby Force Regional Logistics Depot in Rasesa village, located 64 km from Gaborone, the capital of Botswana, a senior official said on Thursday.

In an interview with Radio Botswana, Defence and Security Minister Kagiso Mmusi revealed that the government of Botswana has allocated land to SADC for housing the SADC Standby Force Regional Logistics Depot, underscoring its firm commitment to fostering peace and stability in the region.

Mmusi said that SADC has successfully raised a sum of 12.5 million U.S. dollars to initiate the inaugural phase of the Regional Logistics Depot, which aims to achieve partial operational readiness.

"The available funds will be utilized for erecting two warehouses and establishing essential infrastructure such as roads, sewer systems, and water and electricity networks," he said.

Mmusi emphasized that the depot's establishment will be pivotal in bolstering SADC's operational capabilities, particularly in the context of increased peacekeeping missions and humanitarian endeavors.

Headquartered in Gaborone, SADC is an intergovernmental organization comprising 16 member states. It is dedicated to socioeconomic cooperation and integration, as well as collaborative efforts in politics and security among the countries of southern Africa. 
Bild writes that Russia and Turkey, together with Qatar, are planning to conclude their trilateral grain agreement

Russia, Turkey, and Qatar are preparing their own tripartite grain export agreement, German newspaper Bild reported on Aug. 18, citing correspondence between Ankara and Moscow officials.

According to the documents examined by Bild, Turkey will arrange shipments of Russian grain, while Qatar acts as a financial backer for the scheme. The new deal reportedly involves supplying Russian grain  much of which may have been stolen from southern Ukraine  primarily to African countries.

Read also: Russian ship crews train to counter Ukrainian naval drones  report

Additionally, the article said that Moscow gave Ankara advance warning of its intent of abandoning the Black Sea Grain Initiative (BSGI) in July.

Read also: Erdogan offers help in processing Russian grain

At the same time, the correspondence shows that Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has asked Russia to return to the BSGI deal with Ukraine, and also suggested operating "under the auspices of the UN.

Read also: Turkish passenger flight from Norway flew into Ukraines closed airspace

The report adds that Turkey is trying to link grain exports from Ukraine and Russia and mutually secure them. While Ukraine simply wants to export its grain, Russia is trying to dictate what its neighbor should or shouldn't do via bombings.

According to Bild, the new agreement might be signed this weekend in Budapest, Hungary. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is reportedly expected to arrive in Budapest soon.

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Russian forces shelled six communities in Ukraine's northeastern Sumy Oblast on Aug. 17, firing over 130 rounds from various types of weapons, the Sumy Oblast Military Administration reported on Telegram.

According to the post, Russia shelled the Krasnopillia, Bilopillia, Seredyna-Buda, Velyka Pysarivka, Svesy, and Nova Sloboda communities.

Russian forces used mortars and artillery to target the Krasnopillia community, damaging a private residence, a garage, a warehouse, two shops, a car and a gas line. The Bilopillia community was attacked with mortar and anti-tank guns. One household and a power line were damaged in the attack.

According to the post, there were no casualties following the attacks.

Sumy Oblast, which borders Russia in the northeast, has been under daily Russian shelling since the Ukrainian army liberated it in early April 2022.

Read also: Ukraine war latest: Military reports progress south of newly liberated Urozhaine, Azov Brigade returns to eastern front line

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The Intelligence Centre of the Defence Forces of Estonia believes that Russia cannot hope for big achievements in the war against Ukraine, like occupying Donetsk Oblast, without a big wave of mobilisation, but Russia will most likely try to refrain from taking this step.

Source: European Pravda; ERR with reference to a report of Estonian intelligence

Details: According to the intelligence, the fact that Russia wants to improve the mobilisation system "is not an absolute sign of preparation for mobilisation".

"Military enlistment offices will likely persuade reservists to sign the contracts. As it appears, the current pace of recruiting contractors will be enough to compensate for the losses of the Armed Forces of Russia," the report reads.

According to the analysis by the Estonian intelligence, "from the military point of view, Russia needs to conduct mobilisation in order to increase the offensive potential of its troops."

"Yet this is quite an unpopular method, so Russia will most likely refrain from mobilisation for domestic political reasons," the report explains.

Background: US Intelligence claimed that Ukraine will not be able to achieve its key objective  the city of Melitopol in Zaporizhzhia Oblast  in the course of counteroffensive operations.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said earlier that Ukraine does not feel pressure from the West regarding the counteroffensive.

Earlier, the Pentagon said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had performed a miracle, driving the Russians into defence.

In addition, the US defence department recorded an advance of the Ukrainian Armed Forces during the counteroffensive but predicts that it will be a difficult and long fight.

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Alexander Khodakovsky, chief of the pro-Russian Vostok Battalion of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic Vasily Maximov/AFP via Getty Images

A Russian commander said Thursday that the war is entering a phase "of neither peace nor war."

Alexander Khodakovsky, who leads the Vostok Battalion, said his troops "cannot win" against Ukraine.

The Vostok Battalion was forced to surrender a key Ukrainian village earlier this month.

A Russian-backed general admitted his troops "cannot win" against Ukraine and suggested freezing the current front line.

In a lengthy Telegram post on Thursday, Alexander Khodakovsky, who leads the Vostok Battalion fighting in southern Ukraine, predicted a stalemate between the two sides.

"Can we bring down Ukraine militarily? Now and in the near future, no," Khodakovsky said, according to a translation by the Kyiv Post.

"When I talk to myself about our destiny in this war, I mean that we will not crawl forward, like the [Ukrainians], turning everything into [destroyed] Bakhmuts in our path. And, I do not foresee the easy occupation of cities," he added.

Khodakovsky went on to say that he believes the war is entering a phase "of neither peace nor war."

His comments come as Ukraine's military recaptured some key villages in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions, including Staromayorske and Urozhaine, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported.

The Vostok Battalion was among those who were pushed out of Urozhaine, with Khodakovsky saying earlier this month that they left because their "defensive position had become untenable," The Kyiv Post reported.

By taking both Staromayorske and Urozhaine, which are only separated by a small river, Ukraine's troops have gained a key position from which to attack Russian troops, CNN reported.

Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said on Monday that over the past week, Ukraine also retook around 40 square kilometers of territory in the highly-contested Bakhmut area.

Khodakovsky is a former commander of the Alpha special unit of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). But after Russia attacked the Donbas region in 2014, he defected and became the security minister of the Donetsk People's Republic. He left that post in 2014 and has been commanding troops in the Donbas region ever since.

In December, Khodakovsky suggested that the only way Russia could win the war is by using nuclear weapons against Ukraine, according to The Kyiv Post.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously said that his country will not agree to any proposal to freeze the current frontlines in its conflict with Russia in order to "calm" Moscow, Reuters reported.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Japan expressed grave concern after Chinese and Russian warships sailed close to its southern islands on Thursday, just a day before its leader is expected to discuss rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific at a summit with counterparts from South Korea and the United States.

Six Chinese ships, among them missile destroyers, and five Russian vessels, some of them destroyers, sailed between Japans Okinawa Island and Miyako Island before moving toward the East China Sea on Thursday, according to Japans defense ministry.

It is the first time Russian and Chinese ships have sailed together through this particular body of water. The vessels did not intrude into Japans territorial waters.

The 11 naval vessels were first spotted 280 kilometers (about 174 miles) northeast of Japans southernmost Okinotori Island on Tuesday morning local time, according to the defense ministry statement.

It said the ships are believed to have taken part in a joint patrol in the Pacific. Most of them were previously spotted sailing through the Soya Strait between Hokkaido and Sakhalin to the Sea of Okhotsk, after carrying out joint drills in the Sea of Japan in July, the statement added.

Russias Ministry of Defense confirmed the joint patrol in a statement on its official Telegram channel, saying a detachment of ships is currently operating in the waters of the East China Sea. Chinese and Russian sailors conducted anti-submarine exercises, repelled a simulated enemy air raid, conducted rescue training at sea, and practiced helicopter takeoffs and landings on the decks of warships, the Russian ministry said.

Japans defense ministry said China and Russia have repeatedly conducted joint naval and aerial exercises near the country in recent years, which are clearly intended as a show of force against Japan and are of grave concern to national security.

It added that Tokyo had conveyed its concerns about these joint activities via diplomatic channels.

Japans relations with Russia have deteriorated since Moscows full-scale invasion of Ukraine began 18 months ago. Tokyo has joined its Western allies in imposing sanctions on Moscow and pledged billions in humanitarian aid for Kyiv.

China, meanwhile, has strengthened political and economic ties with Russia, despite maintaining it remains a neutral party in the conflict and a proponent of peace.

Trilateral summit

The incident Thursday comes ahead of the first-ever trilateral summit between the US, Japan and South Korea, with the three countries leaders set to meet at the US presidential retreat Camp David on Friday. There, they are expected to agree to deepen defense, technology and economic cooperation, according to senior Biden administration officials.

The summit will also serve as a show of force as the countries grapple with security challenges that include provocative behavior from North Korea and military maneuvering by a rising China.

The meeting is particularly significant given the historically fraught relationship between Seoul and Tokyo, including a dispute between the two countries over forced labor by Japan during its occupation of Korea. But both current leaders  Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol  have made efforts to work together more closely in the face of shared regional threats, even conducting joint military exercises with the US last year.

This banding together hasnt been received well by their Asian rivals. Earlier this year, Chinas top diplomat urged Japan and South Korea to foster a sense of strategic autonomy from the West and instead cooperate with China to revitalize Asia.

No matter how blond you dye your hair, how sharp you shape your nose, you can never become a European or American, you can never become a Westerner, said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. We must know where our roots lie.

And officials are wary of a potential reaction from North Korea, too; the hermit nation has previously launched missiles ahead of joint US-South Korea military drills, and in response to trilateral talks between the US, South Korea, and Japan.

Ahead of Fridays summit, Seoul believes Pyongyang is preparing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch and other provocations around the meeting or the upcoming joint military drills between the US and South Korea set to begin next week, according to a South Korean lawmaker briefed by the countrys intelligence service.

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The Moscow City Court on Aug. 18 liquidated the Sakharov Center, a non-governmental organization focused on human rights, education, and culture.

The center, named after famed Soviet scientist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, was opened in 1996 to honor his legacy and to draw attention to the history and legacy of repression in the Soviet Union.

In 2014, the center was added to the list of foreign agents, which made their work increasingly more difficult.

After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Sakharov Center received a variety of complaints from the Ministry of Justice, leading to an order to be evicted from its Moscow office in March 2023.

Sergei Lukashevsky, the director of the center, said in a Facebook post that the decision to liquidate the center was disgusting, but reflects reality.

Without acknowledging the validity of the various complaints directed at the center, he added that, everything that is happening today is exactly the opposite of what Sakharov fought for.

The liquidation of the Sakharov Center comes amidst the wider crackdown on civil society in Russia. Another target of the repression is the human rights organization Memorial, which received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022.

Despite the courts decision, Lukashesky vowed that there was a future for the center.

We will continue our work, he said. The legacy belongs not to the regime, but to the people.

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Russian forces launched a strike against an aid center in Chasiv Yar, Donetsk Oblast, injuring four civilians, the Donetsk Oblast Prosecutor's Office reported on Aug. 18.

According to the prosecutors, Russian forces shelled the residential area of Chasiv Yar most likely using artillery. Two women aged 73 and 76 who were walking in the streets at the time were injured.

A 72-year-old man was hospitalized with shrapnel wounds. Among the victims is also a 67-year-old worker of the aid center, which serves to distribute humanitarian aid and provide other assistance to the residents, the prosecutors said.

The shelling started a fire in two apartment houses and damaged several other buildings, the Prosecutor General's Office reported.

The front-line city of Chasiv Yar is a regular target of Russian strikes. On July 23, Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko reported that the culture center turned humanitarian aid distribution point has been shelled by Russian cluster munitions.

Read also: Escape from Kupiansk: How one cop tricked the Russians

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Ukraine's SBU security service has arrested a Russian intelligence agent who disguised himself as a volunteer activist while monitoring Ukrainian troop movements in Dnipro, the service said in a press release on Aug 18.

The Russian agent also provided reports on the aftermath of strikes in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. Reportedly, the suspect was a member of a network of agents associated with the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (GRU).

Read also: Traitor enlisted in Ukrainian army to send military secrets to Russias GRU Special Services

The SBU revealed that the agent's accomplices were detained back in January. Subsequently, he had maintained a low profile, but recently resumed contact with the GRU and resumed carrying out tasks assigned by the enemy.

The agent purportedly leveraged his status as the co-founder of a local public organization engaged in volunteering to mask his activities. Through this guise, he attempted to ascertain the locations of military headquarters in the region and monitored the movements of units from his organization's office, situated near a railway junction.

Read also: SBU nabs Russian agent helping Russia prepare attacks on energy facilities in Kyiv

According to the SBU, the suspect utilized his acquaintances to gather information about Ukrainian soldiers by deceiving them.

During searches conducted at the suspect's residence, the SBU discovered a cell phone containing evidence of the agent's interactions with a representative of the GRU.

SBU

This incident marks the eighth exposure of a Russian intelligence network agent in Dnipro by the SBU.

Read also: SBU exposes cell of banned pro-Russian Shariy Party in Dnipro

SBU investigators have filed charges against the detainee for committing high treason during martial law. The detainee faces a potential life imprisonment sentence.

On January 10, the SBU reported the arrest of a Russian agent who was guiding missiles toward critical infrastructure facilities in Dnipro. This individual had also been operating for the GRU and had shared the locations of local heat and power supply facilities with the aggressor.

Specifically, he reported the consequences of air attacks on the Prydniprovska TPP to Russian supervisors.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
The Russian Navy has begun to prepare their ship crews to counter Ukrainian naval drones, with attempts to further improve coastal defenses in Crimea, Ukraines Military Media Center said in a Telegram post on Aug. 18.

The report suggests that these measures are being carried out in both the Black Sea and Sea of Azov.

Read also: CNN shows moment Ukraine attacked Crimean Bridge in July with experimental sea drone

"Such preparations of [ship] crews and coastal units are carried out simultaneously with counter-diversionary protection at Russian fleet bases in the Black and Azov seas," the message said.

In Crimea, Russia is aiming to improve its network of defensive positions and fortifications.

Read also: 2.4 million Ukrainians remain abroad since start of Russias full-scale invasion

On July 17, the Crimean Bridge was rocked by explosions for the second time since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, after which all traffic across it was halted. Russian authorities acknowledge that they will not be able to restore it in full until late 2023.

Read also: Former top SBU official sentenced to 12 years in prison for treason

Head of Ukraines SBU security service, Vasyl Malyuk, later told journalists that the bridge was attacked by a naval drone, the result of many months of development that commenced immediately after the Russian invasion.

This marked the first time that a Ukrainian official confirmed Kyiv was behind an attack on the key bridge connecting occupied Crimea to mainland Russia.

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Russian forces launched a strike against a village near Kherson on Aug. 18, killing an elderly man and injuring two other civilians, local officials reported.

The Prosecutor General's Office said that Russian forces launched the attack at around 8 p.m. local time, killing a 72-year-old man.

A 73-year-old woman and a 93-year-old man were injured. Both have received medical attention on the spot, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said.

Several residential houses were damaged in the attack, the prosecutors reported.

Overnight on Aug. 18, Russian forces attacked Kherson Oblast's settlements of Bilozerka and Dniprovske, wounding a woman, the regional prosecutor's office wrote. Houses, farm buildings, gas pipelines, and a local church were damaged, reads the report.

Read also: This Week in Ukraine Ep. 21  Counteroffensive progress: Expectations vs. reality

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Ukraine loses up to 310 soldiers in Donetsk direction in past day, says Russian Defense Ministry

Xinhua) 10:50, August 18, 2023

MOSCOW/KIEV, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments related to the Ukraine crisis:

Ukraine has lost up to 310 soldiers in the Donetsk direction over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday.

Kiev also lost up to 125 soldiers in the Kupyansk direction and up to 195 soldiers in the Zaporizhzhia direction, the ministry added.

- - - -

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the legislation to extend the current martial law and general mobilization in the country for another 90 days, the parliament's press service said Thursday.

The extension of the martial law and general mobilization, which are due to expire on Aug. 18, was endorsed by the Ukrainian parliament last month.

The Ukrainian parliament imposed martial law after the outbreak of the conflict with Russia on Feb. 24, 2022 and has extended it eight times since then.

- - - -

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said his country will receive F-16 fighter jets after the end of the training course for pilots, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported Thursday.

"I think the Ukrainian pilots will return from training, and the planes will also arrive with them. They may not arrive directly in the cockpits, but this will be a synchronized process," Kuleba said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is in talks with partners over speeding up the process of providing F-16s for Ukraine, he added.

- - - -

The Azov brigade, which is part of the Ukrainian National Guard, has returned to the battlefield, the government-run Ukrinform news agency reported Thursday, citing a military official.

"The legendary special forces brigade Azov was reinstated and started to carry out combat missions," said Mykola Urshalovych, acting director of the planning department at the main directorate of the National Guard.

The Azov brigade is currently carrying out military operations on the frontline in the eastern Luhansk region, Urshalovych said.

- - - -

Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi said on Wednesday that GCC member states support "peaceful efforts" aimed at resolving the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

In a phone conversation with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Albudaiwi also emphasized the significance of reviving the Black Sea Grain Initiative to facilitate the export of grains, essential food, and humanitarian supplies in order to improve the food security of affected countries, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The two sides also discussed the latest developments of the Ukraine crisis.

Albudaiwi said the GCC's stance on the Russia-Ukraine conflict is based on the principles of international law and the UN Charter, which underscores the importance of upholding the existing international order on the basis of respecting the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political independence of states, non-interference in their internal affairs, and the avoidance of using or threatening to use force.

The two officials also vowed to move forward toward drafting a joint action plan that includes significant issues serving the interests of both sides.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
CANBERRA, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- An Australian research team studying the health impacts of bushfires on maternal-child health has called for global research into the issue.

The team from Australian National University (ANU) recently said an internationally-accepted research protocol is needed to aid high-quality studies on the short and long-term health impacts of catastrophic fires on pregnant women and their babies.

Led by Christopher Nolan from the ANU School of Medicine and Psychology, the team is analyzing the health implications of the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires, which blanketed much of Australia in smoke.

"Sadly, we're going to be facing more and more of these events," Nolan said in a media release on Thursday.

"We've recently seen New York covered in smoke due to the Canadian wildfires, an all too familiar sight for many Australians."

However, researchers have encountered major difficulties in finding clear data.

Nolan said a widely accepted protocol would allow researchers worldwide to collect consistent data after major bushfire events.

"It would allow us to much more clearly answer questions like whether babies and infants exposed to bushfire smoke have a higher risk of respiratory diseases such as asthma," he said.

The researchers called for an increased focus on areas of the world that are less-resourced where women and children are typically at greater risk of illness.

"We know women with pre-existing medical conditions such as gestational diabetes or hypertension, or mental health conditions, are more likely to be adversely affected, so they should be a priority going forward," said Amita Bansal from the ANU College of Health and Medicine. 
Since 10 August, the occupation authorities have banned residents of the occupied part of Kherson Oblast from using any unmanned aerial vehicles (drones).

Source: RIA Novosti, a Kremlin-aligned Russian news outlet, citing a decree by Volodymyr Saldo, Kremlin-appointed puppet leader of Kherson Oblast

Details: Saldo banned the use of all types of unmanned aerial vehicles "in order to strengthen public order and ensure public safety in Kherson Oblast" from 10 August 2023 and until a "special order" is issued.

Only occupation authorities and organisations are allowed to use drones, and even then, a decision of the so-called task force is required.

Previously: Last year, while the city of Kherson was being liberated by Ukrainian Defence Forces, the occupiers prohibited civilians from using boats on the Dnipro River.

Background:

Both Russia and Ukraine actively use drones for reconnaissance and strikes. In particular, Ukrainian defenders are directing drones on occupied and Russian territories, thus causing air defence to be activated in the Russian Federation.

Ukraine's Armed Forces have begun using uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) to attack the Crimean Bridge, Russian ships and tankers.

Vasyl Maliuk, the head of the Security Service of Ukraine, called such special operations completely legal and advised Russian troops to leave the territorial waters and territory of Ukraine.

The Security Service of Ukraine showed how the Sea Baby surface drones look, and Vasyl Maliuk said that they are made at an underground production facility in Ukraine.

The Russian army is training its soldiers to repel the attacks of USVs and counteract saboteurs in the Black and Azov Seas, the Military Media Center stated.

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Russian forces are setting up pontoon crossings near the strategic Chonhar and Henichesk bridges after they were damaged by Ukrainian missile strikes, Natalia Humeniuk, press spokesperson for the South Operational Command, said at a briefing on Aug. 18.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces are capable of destroying new crossings as well, Humeniuk said.

Read also: Ukraine knocks out two critical bridges used by Russia to supply southern troops from Crimea  ISW

"They are trying to repair logistical transport structures, including bridges," she said.

They are trying to repair both Chonhar and Henichesk bridges and even advertise the launch of a bus route there.

Humeniuk said this concerns only passenger vehicles, because the damaged bridges will not withstand the passage of heavy military equipment and the transportation of ammunition.

"That is why the occupiers are trying to arrange pontoon crossings there, but with the realization that if we could hit the stationary bridges, we will hit the pontoons as well," said the spokesperson, answering journalists' questions.

Read also: Bridges at Chonhar and Henichensk reported to have been hit by missiles

The occupation authorities reported strikes on the Chonhar Bridge on the administrative border between Crimea and Kherson Oblast during the night of June 22. On July 5, the General Staff confirmed that the Chonhar Bridge had been hit by Storm Shadow missiles.

In a brief response to the strike on the Chonhar Bridge, Andriy Yusov of Ukraine's Defense Intelligence indicated more attacks may be forthcoming, vowing simply that "there's more to come."

On Aug. 6, the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that the Ukrainian Defense Forces had again struck the Chonhar and Henichesk road bridges.

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The Russian army is training its soldiers to repel the attacks of naval drones and counteract saboteurs in the Black and Azov Seas.

Source: Military Media Center on Telegram

Quote: "The Russians are training the crews of their ships to counteract naval drones. Such training of ship crews and of coastal troops is being conducted simultaneously with the measures of anti-sabotage protection of bases of the Russian fleet in the Black and Azov Seas."

Details: According to the information from the Military Media Center, the Russians are also trying to improve the system of defence positions and districts in the territory of the Russia-occupied peninsula of Crimea.

Background:

Ukraine's Armed Forces have begun using naval surface drones (unmanned aerial vehicles) to attack the Crimean Bridge, Russian ships and tankers.

Vasyl Maliuk, the head of the Security Service of Ukraine, called such special operations completely legal and advised Russian troops to leave the territorial waters and territory of Ukraine.

The Security Service of Ukraine showed how the Sea Baby surface drones look, and Vasyl Maliuk said that they are made at an underground production facility in Ukraine.

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The Russians conducted several offensive actions on 18 August, to no avail, and attempted to retake positions near the liberated village of Urozhaine in Donetsk Oblast. A total of 30 combat encounters took place during the day.

Source: General Staff of Ukraine

Quote: "The Defence Forces of Ukraine continue their offensive operation on the Melitopol and Berdiansk fronts, gaining foothold on achieved borders and conducting counterbattery measures.

The Air Force of the Defence Forces launched nine attacks on areas of concentration of manpower, weapons and military equipment of the Russians.

Ukrainian Rocket Forces and Artillery struck two areas of concentration of manpower, weapons and military equipment, four artillery systems on firing positions, two control points and two means of radioelectric warfare of the Russians during the day."

Details: Since the beginning of the day, the Russians have launched 1 missile attack, 31 airstrikes and 45 attacks from multiple-launch rocket systems on positions of Ukrainian forces and settlements.

Civilians were killed and injured in the Russian attacks.

Residential buildings and other civil infrastructure were damaged.

On the Sivershchyna and Slobozhanshchyna fronts, the Russians launched airstrikes near the settlements of Chervona Zoria and Veterynarne in Kharkiv Oblast. Over 20 settlements were struck with mortar and artillery attacks.

On the Kupiansk front, the Russians conducted offensive actions near the settlements of Synkivka in Kharkiv Oblast but to no avail. Settlements were attacked with artillery and mortars.

On the Lyman front, the Russians were conducting unsuccessful offensive actions near the settlement of Bilohorivka in Luhansk Oblast. Airstrikes were launched near the settlements of Bilohorivka in Luhansk Oblast and Spirne in Donetsk Oblast.

Nearly 10 settlements were under Russian artillery fire.

On the Bakhmut front, the Russians were conducting offensive actions to the northeast of the settlement of Orikhovo-Vasylivka in Donetsk Oblast but to no avail. The occupiers launched artillery attacks near the settlements of Klishchiivka and Andriivka in Donetsk Oblast.

Over 15 settlements were attacked by the Russian artillery.

On the Avdiivka front, the Russians conducted unsuccessful offensive actions to the southeast and to the east of the settlement of Novokalynova in Donetsk Oblast. Over 10 settlements were attacked by the Russian artillery.

On the Marinka front, the Defence Forces continue to deter the Russian offensive near the settlements of Marinka and Krasnohorivka in Donetsk Oblast.

The Russians launched an airstrike near the settlement of Krasnohorivka in Donetsk Oblast.

The settlements of Krasnohorivka, Pobieda, Kostiantynivka, Halytsynivka, Katerynivka in Donetsk Oblast were attacked by the Russian artillery.

On the Shakhtarsk front, the Russians attempted to retake the positions near the settlement of Urozhaine in Donetsk Oblast but to no avail. An airstrike was launched near the settlement of Staromaiorske.

Over 10 settlements in Donetsk Oblast were attacked from artillery.

On the Zaporizhzhia front, the Russians launched an artillery attack near the settlement of Robotyne in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Over 15 settlements came under Russian artillery fire.

On the Kherson front, over 10 settlements were attacked by the Russian artillery.

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Sol Blume organizers are optimistic that this weekends festival wont miss a beat even though the event was postponed due to severe weather conditions.

.

The value in this year is our ability to just be able to have Sol Blume, said Chaez Boswell, executive producer of Sol Blume and chief operating officer of ENT Legends. Given the challenges of that, (we were) able to keep a majority of the artists, majority of the attendees and still have a successful festival.

The lineup includes some of the top artists in R&B, soul and hip-hop artists, such as Brent Faiyaz, Ella Mai, Isaiah Rashad, Teyana Taylor, Pink Sweat$, and Jacquees.

Boswell, a Sacramento native, said that the festival was created out of love for the city that hes from.

Boswell, along with partners at ENT Legends, wanted to bring something beautiful to Sacramento that would garner national attention and be celebrated by local residents.

Boswell said Fornati Kumeh, a Sacramento native, curated the festival lineup..

We all think that hes a genius when it comes to putting together these lineups, Boswell said. Hes very in tune with music in a sense of how to create a lineup that really works, gels together, and flows from the artist who opens up and kind of starts the day all the way to the headliners.

Regional acts performing in the states capital

Over the years, they have been purposeful about ensuring Northern Californian artists are well-represented in the Sol Blume lineup and this year is no different.

Some of those artists include: Zyah Belle from Sacramento; LaRussell from Vallejo; Samaria and Kehlani, both from Oakland; P-Lo from Pinole; Thuy from Newark; Noodles from East Bay-Hayward; Marc E Bassy and Christian Kuria both from San Francisco.

Belle told The Sacramento Bee that she is excited going into the weekend.

Belle performs Sunday afternoon.

Knowing that I am going to perform at Sol Blume feels like a full circle moment for me, Belle said. (People) should expect to have a good timeto be entertained and get their moneys worth.

During a 2022 interview with The Sacramento Bee, Kumeh said Sacramento is on the map and emerging.

Being from Sacramento, its important to us that we showcase the talent, you know. We definitely want to push the Sacramento culture, Kumeh said.
A court in Moscow liquidated the Sakharov Centre, which was engaged in cultural, educational, public and human rights activities and was entered by the Russian authorities in the Register of so-called "foreign agents" in 2014.

Source: BBC; The Insider; TV Rain

Details: The statement of claim states that during the audit, "systematic gross and insurmountable violations of the law" were allegedly found in the activities of the Sakharov Centre.

Accordingly, the court decided to exclude the Sakharov Centre from the Register of legal entities of the Russian Federation.

Background:

The Russian authorities recognised the Sakharov Centre as a "foreign agent" in 2014. At the end of 2022, it was fined RUB 5 million [approx. US$53,418 - ed.] under the protocols for the absence of marking "foreign agent". The Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation declared the American organisation the Andrei Sakharov foundation "undesirable" in 2023.

The Public Commission for the Preservation of the Heritage of Academician Andrei Sakharov has existed since 1990. The Sakharov Centre, which was opened in 1996, organised meetings, exhibitions and lectures on human rights issues.

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(Bloomberg) -- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchezs Socialist party won a key vote in the countrys fragmented parliament, handing the caretaker leader a major boost in his bid to retain the job.

Most Read from Bloomberg

In one of the tightest votes since democracy was restored in the late 1970s, Socialist candidate Francina Armengol was elected speaker of the 350-strong lower house of parliament Thursday. She won 178 votes, enough for an absolute majority, beating opponent Cuca Gamarra of the conservative Peoples Party.

Sanchez and his main rival, Alberto Nunez Feijoo of the PP, are both vying to gain enough support from lawmakers to secure the job of prime minister following Julys national election stalemate. Thursdays ballot was seen as providing a first indication of whether Sanchez can muster enough backing to remain in power.

The inconclusive election last month handed the countrys left- and right-wing blocs roughly the same amount of seats and made a handful of representatives from smaller parties potential kingmakers.

Armengols victory was bolstered by backing from Catalan pro-independence group Junts, led by former regional President Carles Puigdemont, which has seven lawmakers.

As part of the deal to support Armengol, Junts demanded that Spain formally request that Catalan, Basque and Galician are made official European languages.

Read more: How Spains Culture Wars Are Shaping Its Politics: QuickTake

In a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Puigdemont said that the Spanish government has registered the request with the European Union. Spain currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU Council, which would decide whether or not to approve it, he added.

A surprise twist in the voting came from Vox, the far-right party that was expected to support the PPs candidate. It chose instead to put forward one of its own, who won no support from other parties.

When it comes to the vote for prime minister, Feijoos party, Vox and one other party have a clear chance of combining for 171 votes, while Sanchez is expected to get 172 from a group of allies, including the Basque nationalist PNV.

The seven Junts lawmakers and the one deputy from the Canary Islands CC could potentially break the deadlock.

Puigdemont, who has been on the run from Spanish courts since 2017 and living in Belgium, said Wednesday that negotiations around picking the speaker were completely separate from those to choose a premier.

(Updates with language agreement, Puigdemont comments starting in sixth paragraph)

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Moldova is working with partners to help Ukraine export its grain while taking into account the interests of Moldovan farmers, the country's President Maia Sandu said in an interview with the Romanian-language service of the French public broadcaster RFI on Aug. 18.

"The Republic of Moldova has been offering Ukraine assistance with grain transit since the beginning of the war. Not only now, when the Danube ports were bombed," Sandu said, referencing Russian attacks against the Ukrainian river ports of Izmail and Reni.

"We are also negotiating with Ukraine, Romania, and the European Commission on how to include the interests of Moldovan farmers and to ensure the transit of grain from Ukraine."

One of the solutions is to make rapid investments in transport infrastructure and increase naval transport capacity, both during wartime and after the peace is concluded, the president said.

Sandu admitted that Moldova's current infrastructure is not sufficiently developed even for the needs of domestic farmers, and Ukrainian exports put it under greater strain.

However, the president emphasized that it is Moldova's duty to help Ukraine: "Ukraine ensures our own peace today."

Commenting on Moldovan farmers threatening to resume protests in the capital in efforts to ban Ukrainian grain imports, Sandu said that the government has also "taken actions to support Moldovan producers."

Agricultural workers in Moldova launched several strikes in protest against Ukrainian grain imports, fearing they threaten their own production.

Similar concerns were raised by farmers in five Central and Eastern EU members, pressuring the European Commission to institute a temporary ban on the domestic sale of certain Ukrainian grain products in Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Hungary, and Poland, scheduled to expire by Sep. 15.

Ukraine's grain exports are hampered by Russia's unilateral decision to terminate the Black Sea Grain Initiative on July 17. The deal, brokered by Turkey and the U.N. in July 2022, allowed the country to export its agricultural product amid the full-scale invasion.

Kyiv's partners have since pledged to assist Ukraine with shipping out its produce. The EU announced it will expand its "solidarity lanes," which have facilitated the export of over 45 million metric tons of grain since May 2022.

Moldova and Ukraine's neighbor Romania hopes that it can transit around 60% of Ukrainian grain, pledging to double the monthly freight volume from 2 million metric tons to 4 million.

Read also: Ukraine, US, EU, Romania, Moldova convene to discuss Ukrainian grain exports

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The Scoop

His alias was Reyem Nad.

Thats the name a fired fundraiser for the indicted George Santos, R-N.Y. used when he pretended to be a donor to get a meeting with Santos, according to three people familiar with the incident.

The former aide, Samuel Miele, was himself indicted Wednesday for a different incident: impersonating then-GOP Minority Leader Kevin McCarthys chief of staff, Dan Meyer, to solicit donations.

Reyem Nad is Dan Meyer backwards.

He was like, I want to max out to George. Im a big fan. I want him to meet him at Capitol Grill, Santos communications director Gabby Lipsky told Semafor of an email she received from Miele last August. He proposed he meet Santos at a New York City restaurant to give him a check. She said the request seemed fishy because donors typically have a pre-existing relationship with either the finance team or the candidate.

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Lipsky said after Miele insisted on scheduling the lunch meeting, she used his cell phone number to get the name on the reservation at STATE Bar & Grill inside the Empire State Building, where the person answering the phone confirmed the reservation was under Samuel Miele. The team then set up a sort of bait-and-switch operation in which two of Santos allies showed up instead of him.

Miele, when contacted by phone, declined to comment.

Miele faces a 4-count indictment for fraud and aggravated identity theft related to a scheme to solicit donations under false pretenses in the unrelated McCarthy scheme. Court documents say Miele impersonated person #1 on the phone and through email with potential donors for the purpose of soliciting financial contributions. The indictment doesnt name Santos or Meyer, but other outlets have previously reported Miele impersonated a top McCarthy aide.

Miele has also worked with Tina Forte, who is challenging Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., after an unsuccessful bid against the progressive firebrand in 2022, and Josh Eisen, a former congressional candidate who owns a background-check business.

Santos is facing his own 13-count indictment, charged with fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds, and making false statements to the House of Representatives. He pleaded not guilty in May and is expected back in court on Sept. 7.
A 10-year-old girl who was found dead at her family home died from multiple injuries inflicted over a sustained period as a police investigation into her murder continues.

Sara Sharif was found at her family home after officers were called from Pakistan by Saras father, Urfan Sharif, at around 2.50am on August 10.

A post-mortem examination on Tuesday revealed Sara had suffered multiple and extensive injuries, which are likely to have been caused over a sustained and extended period of time, the force said.

However it did not establish the cause of Saras death and further tests are being carried out.

An international search is under way for her father Mr Sharif, his partner Beinash Batool, and Saras uncle Faisal Malik, who are wanted for questioning in the investigation.

Police are expected to remain at the property near Woking for 'some weeks' - Tony Kershaw/SWNS

Detective superintendent Mark Chapman, from the Surrey Police and Sussex Police major crime team said it is believed Mr Sharif travelled to Islamabad on August 9, a day before Saras death was discovered, with his partner Ms Batool, and his brother Mr Malik.

They travelled with five children aged between one and 13 years old, he added.

Police are working with the Crown Prosecution Service, Interpol, the National Crime Agency and Foreign Office to carry out their investigation and to liaise with Pakistani authorities.

Appeal for publics help

Although there is no formal extradition treaty between the UK and Pakistan, Mr Chapman said that people have been extradited from the Asian country before.

Mr Chapman said: Firstly, on behalf of Surrey Police, I would like to express my heartfelt condolences following Saras tragic death. Our thoughts are with her mother at this difficult time. We also fully appreciate the impact this devastating incident will have had within the local community.

While the post-mortem has not provided us with an established cause of death at this time, the fact that we now know that Sara had suffered multiple and extensive injuries over a sustained and extended period has significantly changed the nature of our investigation, and we have widened the timescale of the focus of our enquiry.

As a result, we are trying to piece together a picture of Saras lifestyle but we cannot do this without the publics help.

That is why we are appealing for anyone who knew Sara, had any form of contact with her, or has any other information about her, no matter how insignificant it might seem, to come forward as soon as possible.

In the meantime, I would like to reassure you that we are doing everything possible, including working with our partners and international agencies, to ensure that those responsible for Saras tragic and untimely death are brought to justice.

Saras mother, Olga Sharif, is being supported by specialist officers and police say the two have not been in contact.

In an interview with the Sun, Ms Sharif described her daughter as an amazing child and told the newspaper that her life will never be the same again.

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HANOI, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Vietnamese coffee industry should step up the value chain digitalization to get ready for the European Union's Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), local media reported on Friday.

As a major coffee exporter to the EU, the Southeast Asian country should get prepared for the law which requires the products weren't sourced from deforested land or land with forest degradation to be eligible for entering the EU market, Vietnam News reported.

The integration of digital technology was critical to meet the regulations on deforestation-free products, the newspaper cited the Vietnam Trade Office in Belgium.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, origin traceability to every plot of land, one of EUDR's requirements, was the biggest challenge as this is a costly task for many operators. This prompts Vietnam to develop a national database about forest and coffee plantation areas, the newspaper said.

In a recent workshop, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan underlined that the EUDR will directly impact the supply chains of coffee, wood and wooden products and rubber. However this is also a chance for the Vietnamese agricultural sector to develop towards transparency, responsibility, sustainability and green growth, he said.

In 2022, Vietnam reaped 1.49 billion U.S. dollars from exporting coffee to the EU market, surging 45 percent year on year. This accounted for 40 percent of Vietnam's total coffee export, according to the Vietnam Import- Export Report 2022. 
A huge plume of smoke spreading from several wildfires in Canada's Northwest Territories seen in an image taken by the European satellite Sentinel-2

Satellite images reveal the scope of devastating wildfires in the Canadian northwest where an entire capital city had to be evacuated due to approaching flames.

Earlier this week, the European Earth-observing satellite Sentinel-2 observed several blazes raging in Canada's Northwest Territories, spreading thick plumes of smoke across an area wider than 60 miles (100 kilometers). The images were taken just days before authorities ordered the Territories' capital of Yellowknife, a town of 20,000, to be completely evacuated due to the encroaching flames. According to the Guardian , 236 wildfires are currently active across the Territories.

British Earth-observation scientist Simon Proud shared satellite images of similarly extensive smoke plumes spreading across British Columbia, a province to the south of the Northwestern territories.

Related: Wildfire smoke is warming the planet more than previously thought, scientists say

"Worrying view of #fires in Canada yesterday, taken by [the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's] GOES-18 weather sat," Proud, who is a scientist at the U.K. National Centre for Earth Observation, said on X , formerly known as Twitter. "Look how the valleys are filled with smoke. Terrible air quality for anyone in the region."

Worrying view of #fires in Canada yesterday, taken by NOAA's GOES-18 weather sat.Look how the valleys are filled with smoke. Terrible air quality for anyone in the region.Today expected to be another bad day for fires. pic.twitter.com/XLSHavSD69August 17, 2023

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Another image sequence from GOES-18 shared by the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) shows a large storm cloud arising from the wildfire smoke.

"A wildfire in southern British Columbia produced a brief pyrocumulonimbus cloud this evening," CIRA said in a post on X. "This high resolution satellite imagery from GOES-18 shows the explosiveness within the smoke plume."

A wildfire in southern British Columbia produced a brief pyrocumulonimbus cloud this evening.This high resolution satellite imagery from GOES-18 shows the explosiveness within the smoke plume. pic.twitter.com/pU52VKCNiHAugust 17, 2023

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Cardiff University climatologist Ian Hall said that wildfires across Canada have already devoured boreal forests covering an area larger than the entire country of Greece. Hall made the statement on X , sharing an image showing a map of Canada covered in red dots highlighting the locations of dozens of out-of-control blazes across the country.

The Canadian #wildfires have now burned boreal forests covering more than the entire land area of #GreeceToday: Out of control = Red symbolsSmall = 0 to 100 HaMedium = 101 to 1000 HaLarge = >1000 HaBeing held = YellowUnder control = BlueOther = Orange#ClimateCrisis pic.twitter.com/aUZA86ihesAugust 15, 2023

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Related stories:

 Deadly wildfires in Hawaii seen from International Space Station (photo)

 Aftermath of Hawaii's deadly wildfire inferno revealed in gut-wrenching satellite images

 Satellite photos show US East Coast engulfed by smoke from Canadian wildfires

Wildfires erupted early this year in Canada due to the unusually warm and dry weather in spring. In early June, plumes of smoke from wildfires in Nova Scotia and Quebec in the eastern Canadian spread all the way to the U.S. Northeast, suffocating New York and surrounding areas in record-breaking air-pollution.

According to data from the European environment monitoring program Copernicus, carbon emissions from Canada's wildfires emitted this year have already doubled the country's previous annual record from 2014. As of the end of July, the carbon emissions total stood at 138 megatons, Copernicus said in a statement on Aug. 3.
Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman gives a speech during the 32nd Arab League Summit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in May. File Photo by Saudi Foreign Ministry/UPI

Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, was invited by the British government on Thursday to visit, reports said.

The visit by the crown prince, known by his initials MBS, would be his first since the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2018.

MBS is the de facto ruler of the largest exporter of oil in the world and, thus, largely has escaped repercussions for his alleged role in ordering the assassination of Khashoggi, a charge believed by the U.S. intelligence community and the United Nations. The Saudi ruler has denied he ordered the killing.

The possible visit was reported by the BBC, citing the embassy of Saudi Arabia in London, and Sky News -- citing unnamed British officials. The two governments are expecting the visit to happen in the first half of October.

The news of the possible visit came after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke to MBS earlier Thursday. In a statement, Sunak's office said the prime minister looks forward "to meeting in person at the earliest opportunity."

"He welcomed the opportunity to speak to the Crown Prince and looked forward to personally deepening the long-standing ties between the UK and Saudi Arabia, as the Kingdom continues to go through a period of profound social and economic transformation under Vision 2030," 10 Downing, the office and residency of the prime minister, said.

"The leaders discussed their commitment to further develop our trade and investment relationship, including by collaborating in new cutting-edge industries, and to strengthen our close cooperation on defense and security."

Sunak is also said to have assured Saudi Arabia of Britain's "long-standing commitment" to support the country's security and regional stability.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry in its readout of the call said that the crown prince affirmed Saudi Arabia's "keenness to exert efforts to contribute to achieving peace and stability and push for a political solution to the Ukrainian-Russian crisis."

In June, Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with MBS in Jeddah, where the leaders agreed to work together in a renewed effort to fight terrorism in the Middle East. Blinken allegedly put pressure on MBS for more progress on human rights.

Britain, as well as the United States and Saudi Arabia, have each sought a plan of action for stability in Yemen, discussed during both meetings.
A 17-year-old from the Parlin section of Sayreville was sentenced to 12 years in state prison for the sexual assault of a 68-year-old woman in her home last year, the Middlesex County Prosecutors Office announced Thursday.

During a Family Court appearance on Jan. 27, 2023, the teen was waived up to the criminal court where he could be prosecuted as an adult. The Prosecutors Office, which typically does not release the names of juveniles, identified Jermaine Marshall in the case.

Marshall pleaded guilty on Jan. 13, 2023, to aggravated sexual assault, a first-degree crime, and burglary, the Prosecutor's Office said, and he was sentenced July 6 by Superior Court Judge Michael A. Toto to prison and parole supervision for life. Marshall also must register as a Megan's Law sex offender, the Prosecutor's Office said.

More: Union County man sentenced for role in burglary ring targeting Asian Americans

Marshall, who was 16 at the time, entered the woman's apartment in Parlin around 12:30 a.m. Oct. 31, 2022, through a bedroom window before sexually assaulting her and then fleeing, the Prosecutor's Office said.

Marshall was taken into custody later that day and charged with juvenile delinquency. He was ordered to remain detained during a Nov. 1, 2022, preliminary court hearing.

Email: srussell@gannettnj.com

Suzanne Russell is a breaking news reporter for MyCentralJersey.com covering crime, courts and other mayhem. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Sayreville NJ teen gets prison for sexually assaulting woman, 68
This is our biweekly briefing on the pandemic, vetted by John Bailey. See the full archive.

What It Would Take For Schools to Fully Recover from COVID-19

A more realistic and sustainable approach may be to embed practices into future budgets. Extending the recovery period from one year to two, providing an additional year of HQIM and aligned professional development for teachers, could address 83% of students with pandemic-related learning delays.

Several states and districts have seen accelerated rates of learning recovery after adopting high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) and aligned professional development; providing high-quality, high-intensity tutoring; and extending the school year through summer or intensive-learning academies.

Via McKinsey : Our analysis shows that nationwide, an estimated 17 million students have more than half a year of pandemic-related learning delay, 16 million students who need mental health support are not receiving it and 15 million students are chronically absent.

The Chronic Absenteeism Crisis

In seven states, the rate of chronically absent kids doubled for the 2021-22 school year, from 2018-19, before the pandemic. Absences worsened in every state with available data  notably, the analysis found growth in chronic absenteeism did not correlate strongly with state COVID rates.

Via the Associated Press and Stanford University : Over a quarter of students missed at least 10% of the 2021-22 school year, leading to an estimated 6.5 million more chronically absent students. Absences were more prevalent among Latino, Black and low-income students.

Artificial Intelligence in Education

John Bailey in EdNext: In the realm of education, this technology will influence how students learn, how teachers work and ultimately how we structure our education system.

Prompts can also be constructed to get these AI systems to perform complex and multi-step operations. For example, lets say a teacher wants to create an adaptive tutoring program  for any subject, any grade, in any language  that customizes the examples for students based on their interests. She wants each lesson to culminate in a short-response or multiple-choice quiz. If the student answers the questions correctly, the AI tutor should move on to the next lesson. If the student responds incorrectly, the AI should explain the concept again, but using simpler language.

AI might tackle some of the administrative tasks that keep teachers from investing more time with their peers or students.

AIs ability to conduct human-like conversations opens up possibilities for adaptive tutoring or instructional assistants that can help explain difficult concepts to students.

There is a risk that more time spent using AI systems will come at the cost of less student interaction with both educators and classmates.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), a GOP presidential candidate for 2024, argued on Friday for housing federal departments and agencies outside of the nations capital, suggesting the Energy Department could be moved to Tennessee as one way to break up the bureaucracy in Washington.

Literally  there are some agencies that we may have a conversation about eliminating, but we should take the bureaucracy and send it around the country, Scott said at The Gathering, an annual event hosted by conservative talk radio host Erick Erickson.

Why not take the Energy Department and send it to Tennessee? Why does it have to be housed in Washington? he said.

If you want to break the Potomac fever, give these agencies back to the American people. I literally think wed have a smaller, less intrusive government if everything wasnt concentrated in Washington, and then insulated, the senator added.

Several of Scotts fellow White House hopefuls are also on the program at The Gathering, just days before qualified Republican presidential candidates meet in Milwaukee next week for the first GOP debate.

In a sweeping conversation with Erickson, Scott shared changes hed make to the federal government if he wins the Oval Office, including plans to clean out the Justice Department.

The biggest thing that we can do to manage and then reduce the size of the bureaucracy is to get the federal government doing tasks, only assigned by our constitution to the federal government, Scott said.

The senator said his potential presidential administration would set up a 10th Amendment Commission run by a group of governors to start separating what are federal responsibilities and what are not.

Lets let the states do what our Constitution says should be left to the states and let the federal government do less work, take less of your money and have a much smaller workforce, Scott said.

Scotts campaign is rolling out a major $8 million TV, radio and digital ad buy ahead of the looming GOP debate, his second multimillion-dollar ad campaign in recent months.

The latest Morning Consult poll has Scott at just 3 percent in the GOP primary, the same figure earned by former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Former President Trump is in the lead with 57 percent, followed by his closest competitor, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, with 16 percent, according to the poll. Vivek Ramaswamy earned 9 percent, and former Vice President Mike Pence gathered 7 percent.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Alaska authorities are searching for two Tennesseans who have been missing for about a week.

Jonas Bare, 50, and Cynthia Hovsepian, 37, were on vacation in Fairbanks but didn't make their return flight home and haven't contacted family members, according to the Alaska Department of Public Safety.

After state troopers found the couple's car at the the Chena Hot Springs Resort more than an hour east of downtown Fairbanks, they launched a search with rescue crews, helicopters, drones, all-terrain vehicles and K9 teams.

"Search efforts are ongoing," the agency said in a news release.

The couple had checked into an Airbnb in the downtown Fairbanks area on Aug. 9 and were supposed to check out two days later on the 11th, Fairbanks police said in a Facebook post. All their belongings were found in inside.

They were reported missing on Aug. 12.

Timeline

Bare posted on Facebook a picture of the Alaskan Airlines plane he was to take to Alaska on Aug. 6. The next day he was having brunch in Anchorage, according to a picture on Facebook.

On Aug. 8 he posted a photo from Denali National Park and noted they were planning to leave for a base camp early the next morning. That was the last post on Bare's Facebook page.

The two checked into an Airbnb in downtown Fairbanks on Aug. 9 and were scheduled to check out two days later, as well as return a rental car, Fairbanks police said.

Personal belongings were found in the short-term rental and the vehicle was discovered Sunday at Chena Hot Springs Resort.

Missing since June: Search continues for Camela Leierth-Segura, Los Angeles songwriter on Katy Perry hit

'Can't find anything': Colorado officials end search, but family's hunt for missing trail runner goes on

What to do if you are lost on a hike

Chena Hot Springs Resort boasts several miles of hiking trails around the area at varying levels of difficulty but warns that there is no cellphone reception on the trails, it is easy to get lost and bear and moose encounters are possible.

The United States Forest Service recommends that lost hikers follow the S.T.O.P. protocol.

Stop : Once someone realizes they are lost they should stop and not move unless they have a reason to.

Think : Attempt to remember landmarks or previous points on the hike. Stay calm, panic is the greatest enemy.

Observe : Use any tools available to determine direction. Hikers should remain on trails if they are on one.

Plan: Come up with possible plans and utilize one if confident in it. Be mindful of the remaining daylight and if nightfall is near stay put.

The Forest service also recommends avoiding hiking to the point of exhaustion and to stay hydrated.

Gone: He survived an avalanche on Everest. Then he disappeared on a California mountain.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Search on for Nashville couple missing for a week on Alaska vacation
Detectives are investigating an early morning shooting at Westlake Park, according to the Seattle Police Department.

At about 6:15 a.m. Friday, police responded to a report of a shooting in the area of 4th Avenue and Pine Street.

When officers arrived, they found a man with a gunshot wound near 4th Avenue and Pike Street.

The man was treated. At this time, the man is stable, according to Seattle police.

Detectives are investigating the events that led to the shooting.

There is no suspect at this time.
A second man has been charged in connection with an armed robbery that occurred at a Burger King in Ogden earlier this year.

The New Hanover County Sheriffs Office has charged a second man in connection with an armed robbery that occurred at a Burger King in Ogden earlier this year.

According to a news release Friday from the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office, the incident occurred on February 7, 2023. The New Hanover County Sheriffs Office responded to the Burger King in Ogden, located in the 7200 block of Market Street, shortly before 7 p.m. A suspect entered the building, brandished a firearm and demanded money before leaving in an unknown direction. Deputies later intercepted a vehicle matching the suspects in Dutch Square, and two suspects fled on foot.

According to the release, on Aug. 14, detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Derreck Cordearo Edge on the charges of robbery with a dangerous weapon and second-degree kidnapping.

Evidence collection and a thorough investigation played a vital role in obtaining these warrants, the release stated.

With the assistance of the Brunswick County Sheriffs Office, deputies executed a search warrant at a known address for Edge on Aug. 16. During the search, Edge was taken into custody and is in the New Hanover County Detention Facility under a $500,000 secured bond.

In February, detectives charged the other suspect, Maurice Lamar Johnson, with robbery with a dangerous weapon and second-degree kidnapping. He received a $325,000 secured bond.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Second man charged with Burger King armed robbery in Wilmington
This week, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo) led the U.S. presidential delegation to attend the inauguration of His Excellency Santiago Pena in Paraguay. Secretary Haaland was accompanied by U.S. Ambassador to Paraguay Marc Ostfield, U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States Francisco O. Mora, Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Todd D. Robinson, and U.S. Representative Norma Torres.

During their visit, the delegation engaged in discussions with key counterparts and partners, participated in the inaugural ceremony and related events, and held meetings with President Pena to reaffirm the unwavering commitment and robust relationship between the United States and Paraguay.

Paraguay is a beautiful country - I was honored to represent President Biden, our administration, and the American people at President Penas inauguration, Secretary Haaland said. As we look to the future, the United States and Paraguay will continue to work together for the needs of our communities, promote equity and transparency, and work to uplift Indigenous communities.

Never miss Indian Countrys biggest stories and breaking news. Click here to sign up to get our reporting sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning.

Secretary Haaland also took the opportunity to interact with women Indigenous leaders in Paraguay, listening to their perspectives on challenges and opportunities. She shared insights into initiatives in the United States aimed at strengthening relationships with Tribal nations, which encompassed co-stewardship agreements and the elevation of Indigenous Knowledge. Amidst the global climate crisis, she underlined the commitment of the Biden-Harris administration to advance Indigenous communities worldwide.

The climate crisis remains a pivotal focus for President Biden, both domestically and internationally. As part of a comprehensive endeavor to establish a sustainable future, the newly constructed U.S. embassy in Paraguay incorporates sustainable features that minimize environmental impact. During a tour of the embassy, Secretary Haaland was briefed on these innovative attributes.

Ambassador Ostfield emphasized that Secretary Haaland's visit conveys a resounding message about the significance of the partnership between the United States and Paraguay. He stressed the importance of inclusive democracy, highlighting the active involvement of women and Indigenous leaders in the highest echelons of governance. Recognizing diversity as a source of strength, he underscored the notion that democracy thrives when it embraces all segments of society.

The Department's Office of International Affairs played a crucial role in facilitating this visit. The office's mandate includes advancing the agency's mission through international engagement and aligning with complementary U.S. foreign policy objectives around the world.

About the Author: "Native News Online is one of the most-read publications covering Indian Country and the news that matters to American Indians, Alaska Natives and other Indigenous people. Reach out to us at editor@nativenewsonline.net. "

Contact: news@nativenewsonline.net
Jon Tester said he wants to make sure he does not stay too long in Washington.

Without naming names, Tester told NBC, "I've watched it happen too many times in my time in the Senate."

Tester said he's seen colleagues "deteriorate to the point where they're just a shell of what they formerly were."

Democratic Sen. Jon Tester said during his time in Congress he's seen colleagues who have stayed in Washington so long that they become "just a shell of what they formerly were."

"I've watched it happen too many times in my time in the Senate, and it's a pitiful thing to watch, where really good people, both sides of the aisle, really, really good people, have stellar careers in public service, really deteriorate to the point where they're just a shell of what they formerly were," Tester told NBC News in an interview published Thursday.

Tester is fighting for reelection in 2024 in what is expected to be one of the closest-contested Senate races in the nation. The outspoken Democrat said he didn't know if he were to win if this would be his final term in Washington, but he made it clear that he did not want to stay too long.

"I mean, look, the last thing I want to have happen is stay there too long."

While Tester didn't name specific colleagues to NBC, his comments come as national worries heightened over the age and standing after recent episodes. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell froze up during a recent news conference. While Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who at 90 is the chamber's oldest member, continues to have moments where she appears confused and not fully aware of what's going on.

Insider devoted a series of reports, through its "Red, White, and Gray" project, to exploring the nation's growing gerontocracy. Insider-commissioned polling found that Americans would strongly support an age cap on members of Congress, but such a limit would likely require a constitutional amendment. Tester's own comments highlight what Insider found at the time: an apprehension among even the younger lawmakers on the Hill to embrace an age limit. In the face of such opposition, it is extremely unlikely such a requirement comes anytime soon.

Like some of his colleagues, Tester said he prefer the verdict on fitness for office be left up to the voters.

"The voters know that; the voters know that," he said. "They can see what I can see."

As for Tester's own race, fellow Montana Sen. Steve Daines, a Republican who leads the Senate GOP campaign arm, has embraced businessman and former NAVY Seal Tim Sheehy. While national Republicans are coalescing around Sheehy, Rep. Matt Rosendale, a staunch conservative, has yet to rule out a run.

Read the original article on Business Insider
A doctor of a Chinese medical team provides medical services for a patient at the Cambodia-China Friendship Preah Kossamak Hospital's Chinese Medicine Clinic in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Aug. 18, 2023. The eight-member team from China's Guang'anmen Hospital arrived in Phnom Penh in July 2023 for a one-year medical mission. They are the second batch of Chinese TCM experts dispatched to the Southeast Asian nation. Those experts came from eight medical units of emergency, geriatric disease, preventive health care, general diseases, orthopedics, infection control, acupuncture and moxibustion, as well as surgical nurse. (Xinhua/Wu Changwei)

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- For several years, Cambodian elderly woman Por Lon, who has been paralyzed after a stroke, has not been able to walk, but that changed when she received treatment using traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

The 82-year-old mother of three children said she sought TCM treatments after hearing from other patients that a team of Chinese TCM experts provided TCM treatment to patients at the Cambodia-China Friendship Preah Kossamak Hospital's Chinese Medicine Clinic here in Phnom Penh.

Lon has had high blood pressure for 10 years and has fallen face down twice, which left her both legs unmovable, traveling in a wheelchair only.

"I previously could not walk unaided, but after I have come for acupuncture treatment several times, my legs have regained their strength, and I can walk again," she told Xinhua on Friday at the Chinese Medicine Clinic.

"Now, at home, I can walk unassisted from my children, and pain on my shoulders has also relieved," the woman said, adding that she has received acupuncture treatment at the clinic for six months.

She expressed her heartfelt gratitude to China for sending the TCM experts to help heal patients in Cambodia, saying that TCM is very efficacious to treat patients with chronic diseases.

"I'm elated that I have gradually recovered from my illness, and I hope other patients will also get better from their illnesses," Lon said.

Another 71-year-old patient, Som Chanthan, who has pelvic fractures, said her illness has improved after having received acupuncture treatment from the Chinese TCM specialists for several months.

"I used to fall down, leading to pelvic fractures, and I was in constant pain," she told Xinhua. "I have come to receive acupuncture treatment, and I feel much better and can move faster, and an X-ray shows the fractured bone has evolved for the better."

Chanthan said there was not any side effect from the TCM treatment and she felt relieved after each treatment.

Keo Sorya, a 62-year-old mother of three children, said she had a persistent sore throat for years and had difficulty swallowing food, but her condition has improved after she received acupuncture treatment three times.

"Now, my throat is still a bit sore and has phlegm," she told Xinhua. "They (Chinese TCM experts) have provided good treatment, helping treat me, and I believe in them."

Yuan Geng, head of the Chinese Medical Team to Cambodia, which works at the Chinese Medicine Clinic, said his eight-member team from the Guang'anmen Hospital arrived in Phnom Penh in July 2023 for a one-year medical mission. They are the second batch of Chinese TCM experts dispatched to the Southeast Asian nation.

He said the experts came from eight medical units of emergency, geriatric disease, preventive health care, general diseases, orthopedics, infection control, acupuncture and moxibustion, as well as surgical nurse.

"We are now carrying out TCM diagnosis and treatment activities at the Cambodia-China Friendship Preah Kossamak Hospital," he told Xinhua.

"At present, we have carried out this kind of diagnosis and treatment activities for more than a month, and the weekly workload is now about 120 to 130 patients," he said.

Besides offering TCM diagnosis and treatment at the clinic, the team has also reached out to different places to provide patients with free clinics, Yuan said, adding that the team has so far carried out five such large-scale free clinic activities. 

A doctor of a Chinese medical team provides medical services for a patient at the Cambodia-China Friendship Preah Kossamak Hospital's Chinese Medicine Clinic in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Aug. 18, 2023. The eight-member team from China's Guang'anmen Hospital arrived in Phnom Penh in July 2023 for a one-year medical mission. They are the second batch of Chinese TCM experts dispatched to the Southeast Asian nation.

Those experts came from eight medical units of emergency, geriatric disease, preventive health care, general diseases, orthopedics, infection control, acupuncture and moxibustion, as well as surgical nurse. (Xinhua/Wu Changwei)

A doctor of a Chinese medical team provides medical services for a patient at the Cambodia-China Friendship Preah Kossamak Hospital's Chinese Medicine Clinic in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Aug. 18, 2023. The eight-member team from China's Guang'anmen Hospital arrived in Phnom Penh in July 2023 for a one-year medical mission. They are the second batch of Chinese TCM experts dispatched to the Southeast Asian nation.

Those experts came from eight medical units of emergency, geriatric disease, preventive health care, general diseases, orthopedics, infection control, acupuncture and moxibustion, as well as surgical nurse. (Xinhua/Wu Changwei)

A doctor of a Chinese medical team provides medical services for a patient at the Cambodia-China Friendship Preah Kossamak Hospital's Chinese Medicine Clinic in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Aug. 18, 2023. The eight-member team from China's Guang'anmen Hospital arrived in Phnom Penh in July 2023 for a one-year medical mission. They are the second batch of Chinese TCM experts dispatched to the Southeast Asian nation.

Those experts came from eight medical units of emergency, geriatric disease, preventive health care, general diseases, orthopedics, infection control, acupuncture and moxibustion, as well as surgical nurse. (Xinhua/Wu Changwei)
Sen. Tommy Tuberville speaks to reporters in the Senate subway at the US Capitol on July 10, 2023 Drew Angerer/Getty Images

The Pentagon allowed service members to get reimbursed for leaving the state to access abortion care post-Roe v. Wade.

In response, GOP Sen. Tommy Tuberville has blocked more than 300 service members from getting promoted.

In a recent podcast, he doubled down and said "I don't care if they promote anybody to be honest with you."

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who's singlehandedly blocked hundreds of military promotions in protest over the Pentagon's abortion policies, said he's not going to change his mind and doesn't care that people aren't being promoted.

After the US Supreme Court reversed decades of precedent in overturning its decision in the Roe v. Wade abortion access case in 2022, the Pentagon announced its plan to reimburse service members who need to travel out-of-state to receive abortion services.

Tuberville, a Republican senator out of Alabama, took exception to the decision and said he'd use his power to stymie any military nominations and promotions he could. Since February, he's blocked more than 300 promotions.

Appearing on the podcast "The Kimberly Guilfoyle Show" on Thursday, Tuberville doubled down on his promise because the White House and Pentagon have refused to change the policy.

"I don't care if they promote anybody to be honest with you," Tuberville said. "We've got 44 four-star generals right now. We only had seven during World War II. So I think we were a little overloaded to begin with."

Speaking with CNN's Kaitlan Collins in July, Tuberville said "there is nobody more military than me" and noted he wouldn't be blocking promotions if he thought it affected military readiness or recruitment.

As Tuberville downplays the situation, Pentagon officials have said that the hundreds of military vacancies has created "unnecessary and unprecedented" risks for the country.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Montana Sen. Jon Tester (D), running for re-election in what is expected to be one of the tightest Senate races in 2024, said the age of Congress is something that weighs on his mind.

I think it needs to be addressed by the voters, Tester, who is 66 and vying for his fourth term, told NBC News.

The age of members of Congress has increasingly been in the spotlight after Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), 90, was hospitalized again last week after being absent for over two months earlier this year due to prior health issues. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), 81, sparked discussion about his age he froze during a press conference late last month.

I mean, look, the last thing I want to have happen is stay there too long, Tester said. Ive watched it happen too many times in my time in the Senate, and its a pitiful thing to watch, where really good people, both sides of the aisle, really, really good people, have stellar careers in public service, really deteriorate to the point where theyre just a shell of what they formerly were. But the voters know that; the voters know that. They can see what I can see.

The Senate continues to get older over time as the House gets younger, a Pew Research analysis found in January. The average age of the Senate is 65.3 years as of the 118th Congress and has risen with every congress in recent years. Comparatively, it was 62.4 years old in 2017.

Tester said he doesnt have the same age concerns for President Biden, 80.

Hes doing a good job. I think folks are making a bigger deal out of it than it is, Tester said. But, you know, well see what Im like at 82. I doubt Ill be running for president.

Republicans may face a contested primary to take on Tester, as Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) is considering a run against businessman Tim Sheehy for the nomination. Tester defeated Rosendale in 2018.

Sheehy appears to be the preferred pick of the Montana GOP establishment. Hes already gained the endorsements of the Montana Republicans Gov. Greg Gianforte, Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Ryan Zinke.

Tester faces a tough challenge as Montana has voted for the Republican presidential candidate in every election since 1992. Former President Trump took the state in 2020 with a very strong 56 percent of the vote.

The 2020 election also saw popular incumbent Gov. Steve Bullock (D) fall in a Senate race to Daines by a 10-point margin.

But Tester defied those odds three times before, winning his first 2006 election by just a single percent.

People are going to come after me, he said last year. Theyve come after me in the past, but thats politics. And well get through it and then hopefully be successful come November of 2024.

He has proven popular in public opinion polling despite the apparent political leanings of the state. He is the most popular Senator facing a competitive challenge in 2024, with 60 percent approval, a Morning Consult poll found.

Democrats also face difficult races in Ohio and West Virginia as Sens. Sherrod Brown and Joe Manchin end their current terms. While Browns campaign has been up and running, Manchin has yet to announce his 2024 intentions.

The West Virginian recently announced that he is considering leaving the Democratic Party altogether.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Seven Jackson Public Schools leaders have been placed on administrative leave as the district investigates test result abnormalities at the seven schools they lead, Superintendent Errick L. Greene, Ph.D, said at a Thursday afternoon press conference.

Greene said the abnormalities were identified by the Mississippi Department of Education, which notified him of the abnormalities on Monday.

"Upon learning of testing irregularities associated with the 2022/2023 Mississippi Academic Assessment Program, the Jackson Public Schools administration acted swiftly to launch a comprehensive investigation, said Board of Trustees President Dr. Ed Sivak in a JPS press statement. The Board of Trustees was quickly informed of the matter, and is united in its support for Superintendent Dr. Errick L. Greene and has full confidence in the process he has outlined to surface findings in an equitable, transparent, and timely manner. As one of the largest districts in the state, we're hopeful that the overall story of Jackson Public Schools remains one of hard work, resilience and increasingly higher performance of our students. We thank all of our teachers, principals, support staff, scholars and families for their continued commitment to excellence."

Greene said the district is conducting an internal investigation and the school leaders at the seven schools were placed on administrative leave while the investigation continues.

The district has 15 days to complete the investigation and report back to the department of education, he said.

Errick L. Greene

We quickly assembled a team of internal and external educators and developed a comprehensive plan to investigate the actions of our leaders, our educators, our scholars, all of those involved in our testing program, Greene said. And according to the state MBE guidance, our school leaders at the impacted schools were placed on administrative leave with pay to allow us the time to do a thorough investigation of those school sites. We believe in the work that we're doing here in Jackson public schools and passionately believe in our scholars and our educators and their ability to achieve at really high levels.

And to do it with integrity. This is a serious matter.

Greene said the abnormalities are not a districtwide issue.

These are very isolated issues that we're following in the investigation, and we will follow the investigation, Greene said. We will follow where it leads us. And we will take the appropriate actions based on the findings from that investigation based on the findings from that investigation, including up to an including perhaps some personnel actions against any individuals who might be involved and reporting that information to the Mississippi Department of Education, and specifically the Office of Educator misconduct.

Greene re-emphasized the abnormalities were not districtwide.

So as serious as it is, is isolated to only 7% of our scholars who were assessed on the mass assessment, Greene said. I can't give you the number of personnel. We're following all of the data that we received from the Mississippi Department of Education, and we'll follow that where it leads us and obviously that will point to specific teachers and leaders but perhaps others who are involved in the testing process in the individual schools.

Below there are two categories in which the test irregularities occurred, according to Sherwin Johnson executive director of public engagement at JPS.

Four schools have isolated incidents of test irregularities in a specific grade level, classroom, and/or subject area:

Marshall Elementary

Dawson Elementary

Wilkins Elementary

Lanier High

There are three schools where the testing irregularities are more pronounced, that are multiple grade-level and subject areas:

Peeples Middle

Lester Elementary

McLeod Elementary

Also at Thursdays press conference, Greene announced significant gains for JPS students in the fields of science and mathematics.

In 2023, 43.8% of our scholars achieved proficiency in science  an 11% surge from 2022 and 25% increase from 2021, according to a JPS press statement. Comparably, in the area of mathematics, we observed a 9% increase in proficiency from 2022, which translates to an exciting 22.6% rise from 2021. Between 2022 and 2023, proficiency gains of 6% for English language arts and 7% for history were also achieved.

Greene credited the gains to the districts dedication to excellence in education is evident in our recent test scores and academic achievements. Our scholars' hard work, combined with the relentless efforts of our teachers, staff, parents, and the entire community, have led to exceptional results that demonstrate our commitment to academic success.

Our students have shown remarkable growth in their academic performance. Across all grade levels, we have witnessed a significant growth in proficiency levels in subjects ranging from Algebra 1, Biology 1, English II, U.S. History, English Language Learner (ELA), Math, and Science," according to the press release. "These results are a testament to the diligence and determination of our students to excel.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: JPS schools testing abnormalities investigated; School leaders on leave
A womans offer to have a few drinks with a man landed him in a Florida hospital, after she spiked the cocktails with Raid roach spray, according to the Volusia County Sheriffs Office.

It happened around 4:30 a.m. Friday, Aug. 18, at a home in DeLeon Springs, and investigators have yet to release a motive. The victim and 29-year-old suspect were known to each other before the incident, officials said.

He told deputies (the woman) came home from drinking at a bar and asked him to continue drinking with her at home, the sheriffs office said in an Aug. 18 news release.

He said he had two drinks, then began feeling sick. Thats when (she) told him she added Raid to his last two drinks.

The man was reduced to vomiting for about 30 minutes before he was able to call for help, officials said. He then continued vomiting while talking to deputies.

The suspect fled the home before deputies arrived but was arrested without incident after a K-9 tracked her hiding in bushes outside a nearby home, officials said.

She has been charged with poisoning food or water, a first-degree felony, and is being held without bond, jail records show.

Investigators did not provide an update on the victims condition at the hospital. But insecticides like Raid contain poisons that can restrict breathing, induce seizures, cause vomiting and result in victims going into a coma, experts say.

DeLeon Springs is about 45 miles north of Orlando.

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DOVER  County leaders are moving toward removing Strafford County Sheriff Mark Brave from office following his arrest on felony charges that could send him to prison for decades.

Brave, however, as of Friday, had refused requests from county leaders to go on paid leave as his case proceeds and continued to deny any wrongdoing.

"I was asked to step down, but I am not doing that," said Brave, 38, who was elected as the state's first Black sheriff in 2020 and reelected in 2022. "This is a political and racist attack, and I am not sitting still for it. I wholeheartedly feel I will be vindicated, so why would I step down?"

Strafford County Sheriff Mark Brave is seen upon arrival Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023, at New Hampshire State Police Troop A in Epping, where he turned himself in and was arrested on eight felony charges.

Brave turned himself in Thursday to New Hampshire State Police. He was charged with eight felonies: theft by deception for using about $19,000 in county funds by seeking reimbursement for personal expenses with false justifications, two counts of falsifying physical evidence and five counts of perjury for lying to a Stafford County grand jury, according to state Attorney General John Formella. The lies involved attempting to cover up extramarital affairs and spending county money on trips to Florida, Boston and Maryland, according to the allegations.

Strafford County commissioners on Friday announced a special meeting will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, starting with a nonpublic session with County Attorney Tom Velardi, followed by a public session regarding Brave's employment status. Commissioners could vote to petition for Brave's removal, which would have to be approved by the county's delegation of state representatives.

If Brave were to work as sheriff, he would have to do so without having contact with eight members of the Strafford County sheriff's office command staff, according to the bail order Brave signed after his arrest. All eight are listed among potential witnesses listed in the no-contact section of Brave's bail order. The bail order also prohibits Brave from traveling outside New Hampshire and possessing a firearm or other weapons or ammunition.

Brave acknowledged this reality Friday, but also said he would attempt to get his bail conditions changed.

"I will reevaluate me taking a leave of absence after attempting to plead with a judge to amend that original bail order because it's unfair and it's basically accomplishing the goal that the commissioners had from the get-go specifically George Maglaras," Brave said.

Strafford County commissioners, for the second time since the investigation began in June, offered Brave a chance to take paid administrative leave, pending the outcome of his case.

"The offer was made to him after a collective decision by the Board, the County Attorney, and County Administrator, for the sheriff to go on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation and trial with pay," the commissioners said in a prepared statement. "We do this because people are innocent until proven guilty and that is standard county policy for all employees. We hope he reconsiders that offer."

Strafford County Commission Chair George Maglaras is excluded from the proceedings regarding Brave because he is expected to be called as a witness during Brave's trial. Maglaras and commissioners Deanna Rollo and Robert Watson are all elected Democrats, as is Brave.

What is process for Strafford County leaders to remove Brave from office?

Monday's 11 a.m. meeting will be held in the county commissioners' conference room at 259 County Farm Road in Dover. A link to view the meeting will be posted at co.strafford.nh.us/department/commissioner-s-office, according to Ray Bower, Strafford County administrator. He said the sole purpose of the meeting is to discuss Brave's arrest and how to handle it. Bower said questions will be taken from the public.

While the commission has known about the attorney general investigation into Brave for many weeks, Bower said they had no idea the charges were coming until the day Brave was arrested.

Bower said if commissioners vote to petition for Brave's removal, the county delegation of state representatives would vote on whether to remove Brave at a future date that has not yet been determined. This process is in accordance with state law for elected county officials.

Bower said asking Brave to be placed on administrative leave is standard policy for the county.

In general, everyone who is accused of a crime, or even a serious county policy violation is put on paid leave, Bower said. Just in the past year, we placed two members of his department on leave. The offenses turned out to be nothing to pursue, but that is just the first step we generally take.

Brave said he won't be able to attend Monday's meeting if his bail order isn't changed. Bower and other county staff are on his no-contact list. The no-contact order also includes all staff members of Congressman Chris Pappas and police chiefs in Portsmouth and Manchester.

Brave asserts he is innocent

Brave briefly described his Thursday arrest.

I was photographed and fingerprinted, he said. They use invisible ink now so at least I am not still trying to wash off black ink.

Brave is facing up to 31 to 64 years in prison and fines of up to $32,000 if convicted on all counts, according to Formella.

Brave acknowledged that the charges against him are serious.

But in my career, I have learned that you can charge anyone with anything, he said. It is not until a jury looks through all the evidence, thats where the truth comes out. I know I did nothing wrong, and I wholeheartedly believe I will be vindicated.

Brave previously explained his allegation of racism in the investigation, stating Maglaras told him he was "the token Black guy .... but that my time was almost up." He said Maglaras made the comment behind closed doors. Maglaras in July denied making the comment, calling Brave's accusation "ridiculous" and a tactic by a "desperate man."

Details of allegations against Brave

Formella said Brave is alleged to have deceived Strafford County officials and "attempted to hide the personal nature of these purchases by falsifying one receipt to remove the identity of a female companion, and by submitting numerous false justifications for reimbursement such as attending conferences and meetings that he did not attend, that did not exist, or for organizations that did not exist."

The first perjury charge involves a woman on the county sheriff's staff who traveled with Brave to Florida, according to Formella. The woman had told investigators she did not stay in the same hotel room as Brave but had stayed with family instead. She later admitted to the grand jury that she did stay in the same hotel room as Brave, Formella said, but Brave is alleged to have repeated her earlier lie.

The second perjury charge alleges Brave stated that he attended events for a fictitious law enforcement organization, Formella said.

The third perjury charge relates to a trip Brave took to Maryland, Formella said. He said Brave told the grand jury he was scheduled to meet with U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas, D-New Hampshire, but the congressman had to cancel the meeting and gave Brave a flag that flew over the U.S. Capitol as an apology. Records from the congressmans office indicate that no such meeting was ever scheduled, Formella said, and there was no gift of a flag. Brave is alleged to have actually met a paramour who lived in the area.

The fourth and fifth perjury charges concern a dinner cruise and hotel stay for Brave in Boston. Formella said Brave told the grand jury that he purchased the tickets in advance for him and a male deputy to attend a charity fundraiser. However, based on investigation, Formella said, Brave is alleged to have bought the tickets on the same day as the cruise for himself and another paramour to attend the event together  which was on the paramours birthday. Brave claimed in his testimony that that he did not remember the trip, that no one stayed with him at his hotel, and that he did not recall if his paramour spent the night with him  before later admitting that the paramour spent the night with him at the hotel for "romantic and sexual purposes," Formella said.

This case is being investigated by New Hampshire Department of Justice investigators and is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Joe Fincham and Assistant Attorney General David Lovejoy of the New Hampshire Department of Justices Public Integrity Unit.

Brave is scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 28 at 12:30 p.m. in Strafford County Superior Court in Dover. Formella said Strafford County judges are recusing themselves from Brave's case and a Rockingham County judge will preside, at Strafford County Superior Court.

Because Brave is an elected official, Formella said there is a specific process the commissioners must take to remove him if he does not step down.

New Hampshire law, RSA 661:9 states - "Any officer of a county, including the register of probate, may be removed by the county convention for official misconduct. Any removal under this paragraph shall be initiated by petition of a majority of the county commissioners, of the county attorney, or of a superior court judge. No officer of a county may be removed without notice of the allegations supporting the petition for removal and an opportunity to be heard by the county convention."

Brave said the commissioners will need to petition for his removal to the County Delegation who would be the deciding vote.

This article originally appeared on Fosters Daily Democrat: Sheriff Mark Brave on verge of removal from job amid 8 felony charges
Homes and businesses lay in ruins after last week's devastating wildfire swept through Lahaina. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

As recovery efforts stretch into a ninth day following the devastating and deadly wildfire in Maui, concern is also turning to the mental health of those picking up the pieces.

Spiritual care teams have set up throughout western Maui to pray, talk and listen, Salvation Army Maj. Troy Trimmer said. Many, he said, simply need a "ministry of presence."

Trimmer recounted how some volunteers brought hot meals to a family who initially refused the assistance. "Give it to someone else," they said.

"No, we've been specifically asked to go find you," the volunteers replied.

"The amount of stress that came off that family  the ability to just talk stories, and the ability of our team to just be present with them"  was palpable, Trimmer said.

Registering loss after such a catastrophic event usually takes two phases, said Christian Burgess, the director of Vibrant Emotional Health's disaster distress helpline. In the immediate aftermath, people feel overwhelmed, anxious and isolated, "because of the rush of the feeling that there is an out-of-control situation," he said. Survivors  especially caregivers, parents and pet owners  focus on immediate, practical resources to help regain control and quell anxiety.

"What we should expect to see in [the] coming weeks is risk for more serious mental health concerns," Burgess said, such as depression, severe anxiety and substance abuse issues. "Headlines start to shift, people start to feel even more isolated. Those feelings of depression start to settle in and people start to take stock of their losses."

Read more: Use these mental health resources to help yourself  or anyone else

Burgess said this second phase is when calls to disaster distress helplines start coming in, as people struggle to sleep or get through the night.

"It is important they know that they're not alone," Burgess said. Mental health services can be reached around the clock by calling 988.

Volunteers from Church of the Brethren, an Anabaptist Christian congregation, recently landed on the island bringing "kits of comfort"  packs of toys, activities and crafts for children, said Roy Winter, executive director of service ministries. The volunteers are stationed in family assistance centers, to watch children and give parents a break.

"Of course it's also just a chance for children to simply have fun and be a kid again," Winter said. "Sometimes getting to play for the first time since the disaster happened."

Read more: Road to Lahaina reopens. For many, heartache awaits

The death toll from the fire has risen to 111, with 38% of the burn zone searched, authorities said Thursday. Family and friends have held out hope for missing loved ones, as more than 1,000 people remain unaccounted for.

Herman Andaya, head of Maui's Emergency Management Agency, resigned from his post Thursday, citing health reasons.

His resignation comes the day after he publicly defended his decision not to use the island's outdoor siren system during the Lahaina fire, with his comments generating widespread condemnation and media scrutiny.

At a news conference Wednesday, Andaya said the siren system was designed for tsunamis, not wildfires, and is not part of the agency's standard response protocol.

"The public is trained to seek higher ground in the event that the siren has sounded," he said.

The agency used several other types of emergency notifications to alert people to the fire, Andaya said. Wireless emergency alerts, which send text messages to residents, and an emergency alert system, which broadcasts emergency notifications via television and radio, were used. Other local alert systems, such as MEMA alerts, have been used in the past.

"It is our practice to use the most effective means of conveying an emergency message to the public during a wildland fire," Andaya said.

Read more: In the ruins of Lahaina, a surfing legend leads a volunteer army to get supplies to survivors

Later on in the news conference, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green backed Andaya's assessment of the sirens, recounting his own experience when he came to the state to practice medicine.

"When I first moved to Hawaii, people told me if you hear a siren, it's a tsunami and go to high ground," Green said.

The governor also addressed concerns about potential developers swooping in and buying up land in the decimated areas. Green said the state's attorney general is pursuing a temporary moratorium on purchases, adding that the government would not issue new permits.

"That doesn't mean that we dont want people to invest in Hawaii and travel to Hawaii, away from the impact zone," Green said. "What it means is people right now are traumatized. Please dont approach them with an offer to buy land. Please dont approach their families to tell them that theyll be better off if they make a deal. Because were not going to allow it."

Building in the fire zone will come after a long period of recovery, Green said.

Read more: 'We're all family': Angelenos tied to Maui gather in grief at Carson's Back Home in Lahaina

Support staff from Hawaii's Office of Wellness and Resilience are on the ground, Green said, to counsel Hawaiians as they grapple with the fires' aftermath. Mental health specialists from the American Red Cross and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have joined them, according to FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell.

"This community is going through one of the worst things that we could possibly imagine and the mental health concerns are real," Criswell said at a news conference at the White House on Wednesday.

Authorities released the names of three more of the more than 100 victims: Melva Benjamin, 71; Virginia Dofa, 90; and Alfredo Galinato, 79. Previously, Robert Dyckman, 74, and Buddy Jantoc, 79, were identified. All were from Lahaina.

Read more: 'We dont have time to wait for help': Hawaiian athletes are aiding Maui fire victims

The search for human remains has been slow and methodical, with crews sifting through still-hot ruins. Efforts have expanded in recent days, with at least 30 teams of cadaver dogs on the ground and more set to arrive. Mortuary experts from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services arrived earlier this week, along with tons of equipment and supplies, including a portable morgue, to facilitate efforts to process and identify victims.

With one of the two major highways into Lahaina reopened Wednesday, survivors have begun returning to their homes for the first time since the blaze swept through eight days ago and others began to return to work on West Maui. Officials said the Lahaina fire was 89% contained Wednesday.

Times staff writers Alexandra E. Petri and Julia Wick contributed to this report.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Santa Muerte, or Saint Death, is often portrayed carrying a scythe, a globe or a rose -- and is said to derive special powers depending on her clothing and other characteristics (Leonardo Munoz)

Standing before an elaborate altar in her living room in New York, Arely Vazquez explains the pledge she made to Santa Muerte -- or Saint Death -- after surviving pancreas surgery 17 years ago: that she would honor her "little skeleton" by throwing a festival of thanksgiving each year.

Vazquez is the main priest, or "madrina," in the United States of a growing faction of devotees to the skeleton saint revered in Mexico, often alongside traditional Catholic saints.

She calls the movement a "faith, a devotion" that "helps us get out of difficult situations."

For her followers, Santa Muerte -- often portrayed carrying a scythe, a globe or a rose -- takes on special virtues or powers depending on her clothing and other characteristics.

Faithful from around the country convened before the altar at Vazquez's annual festival in Queens this month, gathering for prayer, offerings and devotion and sharing stories of the many blessings granted to them by their bony benefactor.

Many attendees donned images of Santa Muerte -- in large gold pendants, rings and even tattoos.

There are no rules or strict requirements imposed on the followers of what Andrew Chesnut, a professor of religious studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, calls a "new religious movement, not a cult or sect," which first gained popularity in Mexico City in 2001.

According to Chestnut, the author of "Devoted to Death: Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint," there are about 12 million devotees, mostly in Mexico, but also throughout the United States and Central America.

"It's the fastest growing new religious movement on the planet," he told AFP via email.

- 'Satanic' -

Respect for mortality and the afterlife is already entrenched in Mexican culture, rooted in hundreds of years of Catholicism and Indigenous beliefs. Death is seen as an opportunity for new life.

For many of her followers, the veneration of Santa Muerte was therefore a natural next step, though their devotions were until recently performed only in private.

And although the Mexican Catholic Church has repeatedly condemned Santa Muerte as "satanic," "most Mexican devotees still consider themselves Catholic, and approach the Mexican folk saint in very similar ways that they petition the Catholic saints," Chesnut said.

"I believe that something that does good... can't be anything evil," said Vazquez, who hopes to open the first chapel in the United States dedicated to Santa Muerte.

For now, the vast majority of Santa Muerte followers have their own skeleton saint figurines displayed in their homes, where they offer gifts such as flowers, alcohol, tobacco and food.

But according to expert Cressida Stone, prayer is "vital" in Santa Muerte devotion, "indeed far more so than the size or opulence of your altar."

At the same time, "Santa Muerte can also be vindictive and wrathful to those who do not come through on their promises to her, disrespect her or insult" her, the author of the book "Secrets of Santa Muerte" told AFP.

- Direct communion -

Without prescribed doctrine to regulate their practice, worshippers commune directly with Santa Muerte, whom they say accepts supplications from all of humanity, regardless of race, nationality, sexual orientation or economic status.

In Mexico and El Salvador, the folk saint is venerated by drug traffickers -- a so-called narco-saint.

"We come (to the festival) to pray with faith," said Alejandra Flores, 49, who began following Santa Muerte in 2012, when she finally got a job she had previously been denied because she is transgender, as is Vazquez.

"You can be a drug addict, a police officer, trans, whatever," Flores told AFP, adding that Santa Muerte "welcomes everyone here."

Mike Rosales, who traveled nearly 200 miles (300 kilometers) from Maryland to participate in the Queens festival, has dedicated a whole room in his house to the skeleton saint, and pauses before the altar every time he goes out or returns home.

"I have her for protection, and it feels good," the 36-year-old Guatemalan said, explaining that he spares no expense for the offerings he gives Santa Muerte.

"If she gives to us, why not give to her?" he asked.

According to Chesnut, "In Mexico, Central America, and the US, where there are great disparities between rich and poor, Santa Muerte's leveling scythe is powerfully appealing."

af/caw/sst
At first glance, Mark Harris great dissection of the controversy surrounding Bradley Cooper wearing nose prosthetics to play Leonard Bernstein might seem like just another piece recapping the latest internet controversy. But this piece is really a deeper meditation on what relationship actors identities should have to the roles they play, and it helps sort through some of the, well, problematically moralistic attitudes that have been plaguing our lives in recent years.

A relevant excerpt: Its hard not to respond to this as many do, by saying, Its called acting. Thats glib and oversimplified, but it reflects the frustration many of us feel that the long-standing definition of performance (and of artistic creation in general) as an act of expressive empathy, of leaping into the life of another, of inhabiting someone you are clearly not, is being discarded by those who think of an acting role as a prize to be won by someone whose life, identity, and inherent qualities most clearly match the person theyre playing. The whole piece is worth your time.

Donald Trump has never been particularly good at keeping quiet, but he seems particularly keen on saying things that will get him held in contempt of D.C. District Judge Tanya Chutkans court. Could this actually be part of Trumps legal strategy?? Dennis Aftergut and Frederick Baron weigh in.

Plus: Why is Kanye Wests former publicist one of the 18 indicted co-conspirators?

Photo illustration by Slate. Image via radiowv/YouTube.

Oliver Anthonys new hit Rich Men North of Richmond is getting plenty of attention right now, mostly for its aggressive lyrics portraying a very resentful view of the world. But this kind of rib against welfare queens isnt new, Josh Levin writes. Its not even the first to do it in musical form.

Were wrapping up Help! Wanted, our spectacular week in which advice columnists tackled your oldest, most common questions, and even switched roles to get some new perspective. Some of our favorite final columns and shows:

 On the newest episode of the Dear Prudence podcast, Prudie aka Jenee Desmond-Harris is joined by advice columnist and co-host of the Dear Therapists podcast Lori Gottlieb to answer letters from readers about postpartum depression, wedding-planning anxiety, and more. Listen to Dear Prudence ad-free on Amazon Music.

 Former Bachelorette Charity Lawson steps in as Prudie. She also happens to be a child and family therapist.

 And we continue to unpack your timeless questionstoday in Pay Dirt, our column about money problems.

Photo by Julia Sakalouskaya on Unsplash, Nathan Dumlao/Unsplash, lukutin77/Getty Images Plus, Suzi Media Production/Getty Images Plus and Daniel Hanscom/iStock/Getty ImagesPlus.

National Parks are getting too popular. After a crowded bus ride in Zion that left writer Jen A. Miller with too much time sniffing another nature enthusiasts armpit, she figured out a better way to plan a visit.

Both Russia and India are sending spacecraft to the moon next weekand not to the normal part! Joelle Renstrom explains why these countries are trying to get to the South Pole, whats different about that location (so cold, so dark), and what it will mean if they succeed.

Or rather, this is how long it took staff writer Ben Mathis-Lilly to hash out the math on what Americans think of Trumps election-related indictments. Heres where he landed: About half think Trumps behavior was criminal, a sixth or so think it was bad but not illegal, a fifth think it was fine, and the remaining [this is where the counting happened] two-fifteenths have, blessedly, not read a news headline in decades, if ever.

Thanks so much for reading, and well see you next week, when, yes, there is a Republican primary debate! (Its on Wednesday night and Trump has already bailed.) Have a good weekend!
While Western Washington has largely had a quiet fire season in terms of poor air quality, smoke is expected to bring the regions air quality of the year so far.

>>KIRO 7 Meteorologist Morgan Palmer explains how we predict smoke forecasts in your area

According to KIRO 7 Pinpoint Meteorologist Nick Allard, winds will likely turn out of the northeast on Saturday and continue through Monday. Those winds will bring smoke from a smattering of wildfires both in Washington and across the border in Canada.

While a lot of distant wildfire smoke would tend to stay higher in the atmosphere, the fires in the Washington Cascades are close enough that surface air quality will likely deteriorate. That will start Saturday afternoon, with the worst air quality expected between Sunday and Monday.

According to the latest forecast, the AQI rating for much of the region between Everett and Tacoma will be in the moderate range, posing a potential risk for people who are unusually sensitive to air pollution. Further north and east, air quality will be in the unhealthy for sensitive groups category. Closer to the fires burning right now the AQI will be unhealthy for some members of the general public.

Wildfire smoke is expected to impact Puget Sounds air quality over the weekend. The air quality will likely reach MODERATE or UNHEALTHY FOR SENSITIVE GROUPS on Saturday; and UNHEALTHY or worse at times on Sunday. Limit your exposure outside and use air purifiers, if available. pic.twitter.com/XVcJz7JkrR  Puget Sound Clean Air Agency (@pscleanair) August 18, 2023





These numbers come amid a busy week for fire crews across the Puget Sound region, fueled by 90-degree temperatures and dry weather. That included a massive three-alarm fire at Fort Steilacoom Park on Wednesday that had many residents in the area asked to evacuate. Hours later, a home in Green Lake went completely up in flames. Earlier in the week, a fire went up at a homeless encampment in Seattle after a lit candle was knocked over inside a tent.

Dry conditions have had burn bans in effect throughout Western Washington. That includes Skagit, Whatcom, King, Island, and Snohomish counties among others.

It is important to remember that forecasts for smoke often change significantly as a slight deviation in forecast wind versus actual wind as well as fire growth or suppression change the amount of smoke a given area will receive.
The 360 shows you diverse perspectives on the days top stories and debates.

Photo Illustration by Ann Kim for Yahoo News; photos: Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images, Getty Images (3)

Whats happening

In the aftermath of the devastating wildfire that killed more than 110 people on Maui last week, Hawaiian officials are urging visitors to avoid coming to the island in order to give locals an opportunity to recover. The few tourists who havent heeded that guidance have been the target of intense criticism from locals.

This situation is an extreme example of a much broader tension that has existed for decades between Hawaii residents and the millions of visitors who are drawn to the states lush tropical forests and stunning beaches each year.

The tourism industry makes up about a quarter of Hawaiis economy and supports roughly a third of the total jobs in the state. More than 10 million people visited Hawaii in 2019, dramatically outnumbering the states 1.4 million residents.

The push and pull of tourism has been especially stark over the past few years, because of the coronavirus pandemic. Though income from visitors fell dramatically when the state imposed strict travel restrictions to control the spread of the virus in 2020, residents were provided what one local called one deep breath of air, without a flood of tourists clogging the roads, beaches and hiking trails. But tourism bounced back rapidly once the state opened back up. By last year, visitor numbers were back near pre-pandemic levels, and travelers were spending even more money than they were before.

Why theres debate

Hawaiians views of tourism hit a record low in the midst of the industrys post-pandemic rebound, with half the residents surveyed saying they dont believe the benefits outweigh the problems it creates. Some locals , many of them of Native Hawaiian descent, have gone so far as to argue that travelers should cross Hawaii off of their future itineraries for good.

Tourism is seen as one of several factors that allowed the Maui fire to become so deadly. But travelers have been more directly blamed for some of the states many enduring problems, including a severe housing crisis , water shortages, environmental degradation and the dilution of Native Hawaiian culture. Theres a cynical view that the state effectively belongs to tourists , rather than the people who actually call it home.

The industrys defenders argue that tourism, for all of the issues it creates, is still a major asset for the Hawaiian people. They say the state simply couldnt survive without the billions of dollars in spending and tax revenue that travelers bring into the islands every year.

The states leaders have also worked to reimagine tourism over the past few years around the concept of malama (Hawaiian for giving back) by emphasizing more sustainable types of travel, appreciation for Native culture and respect for local residents.

Whats next

The task of rebuilding areas of Maui destroyed by the fire is expected to cost upward of $5 billion . Hawaiis Gov. Josh Green has said the state wont allow the disaster to result in a land grab by outside developers, but some locals are concerned that they could be priced out by the time the recovery effort is complete.

Perspectives

No amount of money is worth the degradation the state has suffered

Certain Americans seem to live in an impenetrable bubble where they dont even seem to register the suffering of people who dont look or live like them.  Could [Hawaii] use the extra tourism money? Yes. But apparently, some tourists clearly dont know how to conduct themselves in someone elses house.  Ian Kumamoto, HuffPost

Tourism is even more vital as the state recovers from disaster

Unlike other forms of economic development, travel and tourism have shown resilience through many different types of crises.  Tourism is an experience that is unique to the human condition. It sustains our hopes and dreams, and offers relaxation and tranquility, or excitement and adventure, through good times and bad.  Rich Harrill, Conversation

Hawaii will always welcome the right kinds of visitors

Hey, we would love you to come, but remember this is our home. You have to take care of this place.  Mondy Jamshidi-Kent, a professor of travel management at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, to Bloomberg

Tourism has helped create a severe cost of living crisis for locals

With every resort and vacation home that pops up on the islands, more and more native Pacific Islanders are being pushed into homeless camps that litter the island.  Jasmine Osby, Travel Noire

Tourism allowed Hawaii to develop a modern economy that raised standards of living throughout the state

The tourism economy provided more than the plantations could. It lifted many people into the middle class, addressed some key social inequities, and brought about a modernization of Hawaii that has improved the quality of life for many people.  Amy Asselbaye, Sunshine Topping, Erika Lacro, Honolulu Civil Beat

Money spent in Hawaii doesnt always benefit Hawaii

Theres an illusion that Hawaii relies on tourism to survive. The complicated reality is that most of the corporations operating here are internationally owned, and the money they earn never seems to trickle down.  Keoni DeFranco, Washington Post

The states new approach can maximize the benefits of tourism while reducing its harms

Visitors want authentic, they want real, but they dont even know what that looks like. This shift allows people and our culture to be the center of the industry. Hawaii is one of the biggest tourism markets in the country and could potentially be a model for what a Native-run model of tourism looks like, one that gives more than it takes.  Kuhio Lewis, president and chief executive of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, to New York Times

Photo Illustration by Ann Kim for Yahoo News; photos: Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images, Getty Images (3)
HANOI, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's aviation industry faces a severe human resource shortage due to the recovery of the tourism sector and the expansion of airports across the country, local newspaper Vietnam News reported on Thursday.

There is significant demand for aviation professionals in airline companies and major airports such as Tan Son Nhat International Airport and the under-construction Long Thanh International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, and Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, the newspaper cited Tran Thi Thai Binh, head of the Vietnam Aviation Academy's Air Transport Economics Department.

Vietnam's aviation industry employs around 44,000 individuals in transportation, port and flight operations. But the workforce fails to meet the industry's growing demands, she said.

Ha Nam Khanh Giao, deputy director of the academy, suggested that Vietnam collaborate with foreign universities and training institutes to send students abroad for education.

In addition to airport expansions, passenger numbers in Vietnam are gradually recovering. In the first seven months of this year, Vietnam transported more than 33.8 million air passengers, up 22.2 percent year on year, according to the General Statistics Office.

The country welcomed more than 6.6 million international arrivals in the same period, of which arrivals to Vietnam by air accounted for 87.6 percent of the total, according to the office. 
In laying out their case that suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton abused his power and should be removed from office, Texas House impeachment lawyers are pointing to text messages, travel records and hours of witness interviews that they say show Paxton ignored pressing state matters to instead help his friend and now-indicted real estate developer Nate Paul.

Presented in three large volumes released late Thursday, the documents paint a picture of deputies in the attorney general's office pleading with Paxton in 2020 to cut ties with Paul, the subject of a federal mortgage fraud investigation, only for the attorney general to ignore them and continue to provide Paul with unusual access to the office, which helped the developer fight his many civil and criminal battles.

The nature of Paxton's relationship with Paul is the focus of the Sept. 5 impeachment trial in the Texas Senate, where House lawyers will seek to permanently remove Paxton from office. All 16 impeachment articles against Paxton involve Paul, who House lawyers say bribed Paxton by paying for a home remodel and giving a job to a woman with whom Paxton had an extramarital relationship.

"Ken Paxton did proceed in an immoral and unethical way, and that is how I feel about it," Andrew Wicker, a former Paxton aide, told House investigators on May 19, according to interview transcripts.

More: Paxton used fake Uber name 'Dave P' for secret meetings with mistress, new filings allege

Texas House lawyers late Thursday released nearly 4,000 pages of documents and 150 individual exhibits ahead of the Senate impeachment trial of suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Wicker, who ran errands for Paxton and traveled with him to meetings, said the office spent significant resources in looking into Paul's many matters.

"We had a number of issues that I know were top of mind, not only for the general, in terms of policy and initiatives, and we were spending an increasingly large share of our calendar time focused on Nate Paul and those cases," he said.

The documents released Thursday include new witness interviews from this year that support the House's theory that Paxton overstepped his authority to help Paul, a political campaign donor who contributed $25,000 to Paxton in 2018.

'Outside' report? Law firm that wrote it to defend Ken Paxton was paid $500K by Texas AG

Paul at the time was dealing with three issues that triggered Paxton's help: an FBI investigation into financial crimes; a lawsuit against the local nonprofit Mitte Foundation; and foreclosure sales after he failed to make payments on some of his properties.

Paul, in June, was arrested and charged in an eight-count federal indictment for mortgage fraud  a case that does not involve Paxton.

Blake Brickman, a former Paxton top aide who has since sued the attorney general's office for wrongful termination, told House lawyers that Paxton's interest in Paul's matters tied up "the resources of the most senior people in the agency."

"During the pandemic, when there was substantive, real issues going on, the attorney general was literally obsessed with anything related to Nate Paul," Brickman said in early May, weeks before the House voted overwhelmingly to impeach Paxton and refer the matter to the Senate.

"It wasn't hard to put all these different pieces together," he said.

Nate Paul, bribery & whistleblowers: Breaking down the investigation into Texas AG Ken Paxton

House lawyers on Thursday released nearly 4,000 pages of documents and 150 individual exhibits aimed to strengthen a string of motions from earlier in the week that included a revelation that Paxton and Paul hailed rides with a joint Uber account  using the fake name 'Dave P'  and concealed their communications using burner phones. Many of the trips show Paxton going to an apartment in Southwest Austin where House lawyers say he visited his alleged mistress, a former Capitol staffer named Laura Olson.

Paxton, who has been suspended from office since late May, has made general denials against all allegations. He is seeking to avoid his impeachment trial by asking the Senate through his lawyers that all articles against him get dismissed on the grounds that they lack evidence or, even if they are true, do not constitute an impeachment offense.

Brickman, who worked for eight months in the attorney general's office as a Paxton deputy, said that Paxton's involvement with Paul became such a concern that he and another top aide, first assistant Jeff Mateer, pulled him aside in July 2020. At the time, Paxton had wanted to personally argue a motion in a Travis County courtroom in a lawsuit involving Paul and local nonprofit the Mitte Foundation. This was seen as highly unusual as Paxton's practice is to assign rank-and-file attorneys to argue motions.

Brickman said the conversation ended with Paxton agreeing to not argue the motion and that the attorney general's office would no longer do anything related to Paul. That representation proved false when Paxton continued to investigate Paul's matters, Brickman said.

"I knew at this point that something really bad was going on, and I probably did not know the full story," Brickman said.

More: What could Austin real estate developer Nate Paul's federal indictment mean for Ken Paxton?

During a February interview with House investigators, David Maxwell, Paxton's former assistant director of law enforcement, said that he and others were feeling Paxton "putting a lot of pressure" on them to look into a legal situation involving a "strong supporter."

Maxwell began researching Paul, eventually meeting with him and his legal counsel in a recorded sit-down interview that June. In the meeting, Paul argued that federal law enforcement unfairly and improperly executed a search warrant on some of his properties the year before, and as a result he sought to view both the search warrant and affidavit tied to the investigation.

Maxwell said that while Paul should get access to the search warrant, which Paul claimed had been digitally altered to his detriment, that he did not have a right to the affidavit. When asked why he was seeking the advice of the attorney general's office, Paul answered that Paxton had told him his office could help with the situation and investigate federal agencies.

Maxwell disagreed. He then returned to Paxton to say the office needs to separate from Paul.

"On one occasion when I talked to him directly about it, I told him, I said, 'General Paxton, Nate Paul is running a Ponzi scheme that would make Billie Sol Estes envied. It's huge. You need to get away from this guy. He's a criminal,'" Maxwell said. "And he just blew me off, so he wouldn't talk to me anymore."

In a group text between attorney general office employees, while commiserating about their bosses, Maxwell said the investigation sought by Paxton and Paul would be illegal.

More: Austin lawyer Mindy Montford could be key witness in Ken Paxton's impeachment. Here's why.

The documents also address Paxton's intervention in a foreclosure sale, and the role played by Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola.

Hughes is said to have been a straw requestor for a legal opinion that confirmed COVID-19 restrictions limiting in-person events to 10 people or less also applied to foreclosure sales.

The request, the House lawyers allege, was made by Paxton in response to foreclosures on Pauls properties.

So, he was asking his closest friend in the Legislature to ask him for a legal opinion, Brickman said.

Hughes, a former Paxton roommate and tenant, will sit as a juror in the impeachment trial, along with 29 other senators. Hughes this summer told the American-Statesman he would be impartial.

Brickman said he was unaware of the situation until Ryan Vassar, the deputy attorney general originally tasked with writing the opinion, came to him.

I wasn't involved in this at all, but when I heard about it, I immediately thought this is another Nate Paul situation, which I ended up being right about, Brickman said.

Paul cited that attorney general opinion in a court filing to argue against a foreclosure sale moving forward, House lawyers say.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Former Texas AG Ken Paxton aide: 'Something really bad was going on'
Yet another tropical disturbance is being tracked in the Atlantic Ocean by the National Hurricane Center, bringing the tally of active systems to four.

One of the disturbances, No. 4, is set to move into the Gulf of Mexico, which will be affecting South Florida and the Florida Keys  bringing even more rain to an already saturated area.

The peak of the Atlantic hurricane season is Sept. 10, with most activity occurring between mid-August and mid-October.

Heres what National Hurricane Center specialists Lisa Bucci and Andrew Hagen wrote in the hurricane centers 2 p.m. Friday advisory:

National Hurricane Centers 2 p.m. Friday, Aug. 18, 2023, forecast map of the Atlantic tropics.

Where is Disturbance 4 in the Gulf?

The hurricane center is watching an area of disturbed weather over the southern Bahamas that is forecast to move into the Gulf of Mexico by early next week.

Slow development could be possible as it moves west and approaches the western Gulf of Mexico by the middle of next week, forecasters said.

 Formation chance through 48 hours: near 0%.

 Formation chance through 7 days: 40%.

The quick pivot from an empty tropical storm formation not anticipated NHC map to one crowded with possible hurricane seedlings is having its moment on social media



My analysis on the suddenly busier Atlantic https://t.co/F1CLELxhu7  John Morales (@JohnMoralesTV) August 18, 2023

Whats going on with Disturbance 1?

An area of low pressure in the eastern tropical Atlantic a few hundred miles west of the Cabo Verde Islands is showing signs of organization through showers and thunderstorms.

Environmental conditions appear generally favorable for additional development of this system, and a tropical depression is likely to form over the weekend while it moves toward the west-northwest or northwest at about 10 mph across the eastern tropical Atlantic, Bucci and Hagen wrote in the advisory.

But upper-level winds over the system are forecast to increase so further development is not expected early in the week.

 Formation chance through 48 hours: 60%.

 Formation chance through 7 days: 70%.

It "looks" very busy out there, and there are several areas of interest, but only the feature in the eastern Atlantic (red blob) has any real short term potential for development.

Remember, beginning this year the outlook has been increased to cover 7 days of potential pic.twitter.com/KSWhnUgRdn  Craig Setzer (@CraigSetzer) August 18, 2023

What about Disturbance 2?

An elongated trough of low pressure roughly halfway between the Cabo Verde Islands and the Lesser Antilles is producing some disorganized showers and thunderstorms.

Environmental conditions are only marginally conducive for further development but a tropical depression could still form over the weekend while it moves west-northwestward at 10 to 15 mph across the central tropical Atlantic.

 Formation chance through 48 hours: 40%.

 Formation chance through 7 days: 40%.

Wheres Disturbance 3?

Another area of low pressure could be ripe for forming in a day or so on the tail end of a trough of low pressure several hundred miles to the east-southeast of the Lesser Antilles.

Some slow development is possible over the weekend and into early next week as it moves generally west-northwestward at 10 to 15 mph across the Lesser Antilles and into the northeastern Caribbean Sea, according to the hurricane center.

 Formation chance through 48 hours: 10%.

 Formation chance through 7 days: 30%.

Will they affect Florida?

The fourth system over the southeastern Bahamas and set to go into the Gulf of Mexico will first move over South Florida this weekend. As it travels overhead, it will bring higher rain chances. But if it develops next week it will have moved beyond the state and into the western Gulf of Mexico coastline area.

4 areas across the Atlantic being monitored by NOAA NWS National Hurricane Center for development over 7 days.



Area #4 will move across the #FlKeys as a broad tropical wave on Sat/Sun, accompanied by increasing rain chances and freshening breezes.



Visit https://t.co/BQCTvCzxKU! pic.twitter.com/Ea246v7dZS  NWS Key West (@NWSKeyWest) August 18, 2023

South Florida weather forecast

A disorganized tropical wave will be approaching S. Florida tomorrow, bringing increased chances for showers and thunderstorms this weekend.



This wave is NOT forecast to develop into a tropical system over the next two days although you will probably want to carry your umbrella pic.twitter.com/LeRfNQSvLc  NWS Miami (@NWSMiami) August 18, 2023

Expect a soggy weekend due to the tropical system. Scattered to numerous showers and storms are already in place Friday afternoon and after 9 p.m.

Saturday and Sunday rain and storm chances are at 80%, according to the National Weather Service in Miami.

 Saturdays highest rain and storm chance is after 3 p.m., according to the service. A tenth to a quarter-inch of rain is expected, but could be more during thunderstorm downpours. Wet weather could kick in before the afternoon, though.

A high of 87 is forecast with a heat index of 101, meaning a heat advisory is unlikely and under the 105 feels-like threshold.

 Sundays highest rain and storm chance is after noon, though dont rule out showers and lightning in the morning. The storms could linger into the evening, beyond 9 p.m., with a 60% chance of rain and winds gusting at 20 mph.

Sundays high is near 88.

 Monday is Back to School Day in Broward County. When schools open after 7 a.m. and dismiss in the afternoon on Monday, the forecast calls for a 50% chance of storms. Broward will be breezy, with gusts over 20 mph and the high is near 91 degrees.
WASHINGTON, D.C.  A Lindenwold man has withdrawn his plea agreement and now is awaiting trial for alleged crimes during the January 2021 Capitol riot.

Michael Oliveras is scheduled to be tried on a seven-count indictment returned on Wednesday, Aug. 15, by a federal grand jury, court records show.

He pleaded not guilty to all charges at an arraignment that same day in Washington, D.C., federal court.

So we are now set for trial in November, Oliveras attorney, William Shipley, said Thursday.

Michael Gianos sentenced for riot role Evesham man sentenced to probation for role in U.S. Capitol riot

He noted the Justice Department did not oppose the pleas withdrawal, which was allowed by U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell.

Conflicting views on Michael Oliveras

Oliveras, a carpenter, carried an American flag and wore a red Trump hat and hoodie while shouting expletive-filled threats during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, the Justice Department says.

But Shipley asserted his client was the victim of misinformation from "conspiratorial sources of news."

The Justice Department alleges he was ejected from the Capitol twice and was in the building or on its grounds from shortly before 1 p.m. into the evening.

Oliveras in January admitted guilt under a plea agreement to a single charge: assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers. In turn, the prosecution agreed to request dismissal of four misdemeanor counts.

The plea withdrawal came after repeated delays in scheduling a sentencing hearing.

A hearing in April did not take place because Shipley, newly hired by Oliveras, needed time to become familiar with the case, records show. Scheduling concerns for both sides derailed planned hearings in June and July.

The prosecution and defense each prepared lengthy sentencing statements in advance of the July hearing date.

Shipley asserted a year and a day in prison would be fair and just.

A federal prosecutor sought a 30-month term.

Concern over Capitol riot charge

Oliveras also was concerned over a pending change to the charge against him, Shipley said.

The prosecution added language to say the South Jersey man had admitted guilt to a crime involving "physical contact with the victim and the intent to commit another felony."

Its sentencing memorandum asserted Oliveras had "forcefully pushed into officers."

But Shipley's statement contended evidence "shows no physical contact" between Oliveras and any officers.

The Aug. 15 indictment contains the new wording and two additional charges against Oliveras: civil disorder and obstruction of an official proceeding.

It also repeats the charge of assaulting, impeding or resisting officers, as well as four pending misdemeanor counts.

"We knew the government intended to add charges if it took the case to the grand jury, said Shipley. I knew the charges they would add, so that was discussed by us before he decided to withdraw the guilty plea.

The trial, expected to last one business week or less, is to begin with jury selection on Nov. 13.

Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. Email: jwalsh@cpsj.com..

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Michael Oliveras of Lindenwold faces trial over Capitol riot charges
DNA from a South Los Angeles burglary has been tied by investigators to a woman who was killed on a Maryland hiking trail, increasing the chances of solving that slaying, law enforcement officials said.

Investigators in Maryland on Thursday released a video of the shirtless, unidentified prowler leaving a South L.A. home after a break-in last March, and said they believe he is the killer of the woman, Rachel Morin, based on a match made through a DNA database.

Morin, a 37-year-old mother of five, disappeared on Aug. 5 after apparently leaving for a run on the Maryland and Pennsylvania Heritage Trail. Searchers found her remains the next day. Her death was ruled a homicide.

The Harford County Sheriff's Department doesnt know the suspected killers name, but believe him to be 5 feet 9 and 160 pounds, between 20 and 30 years old, based on images captured in the South L.A. home security footage.

"Based on the DNA evidence, we consider the individual in the video we obtained from the Los Angeles Police Department to be the person that murdered Rachel Morin," said Col. William Davis of the Hartford County Sheriff's Office. We believe this was a person that Rachel didnt know, potentially a random act of violence."

LAPD Capt. Kelly Muniz said the video comes from a March 26 "hot prowler" burglary in South L.A., which means he burglarized an occupied home. Muniz said a person was assaulted in that incident, but it was not a sexual assault. Hartford County sheriff's officials said the assault victim was a minor. LAPD collected DNA during the burglary investigation.

The video from an exterior camera shows the suspect closing the home's front door and walking down the steps, away from the house. Davis said investigators released the home security footage hoping someone in L.A. or Maryland would recognize the suspect.

Morin vanished on the evening of Aug. 5 from the scenic trail that cuts through Bel Air, Md. According to the Sheriff's Department, her boyfriend, Richard Tobin, called police that evening to report her missing after finding her car at the trailhead.

The Sheriff's Department launched a search, and a volunteer found Morins body around 1 p.m. the next day. The sheriffs office has not described the nature of her injuries but a relative of the person who found her described her as suffering from blunt force trauma. Coroner's officials declared Morin's death a homicide.

Tobin, 27, shared the images of the suspected killer Thursday evening on his Facebook page. "I hope they found this scum of the Earth," he wrote. "Justice for Rachel Rip love you Rich," adding heart and prayer emojis.

Morin, a cleaning service owner, had five children, ages 8 to 18.

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.
Russia has dispersed its naval forces in the Black Sea between the southeastern coast of Crimea and Novorossiysk in fear of Ukrainian surface drone strikes, Southern Command spokesperson Natalia Humeniuk said on Aug. 18.

As of the morning of Aug. 18, there are no missile carriers on duty in the Black Sea, the spokesperson added.

Humeniuk noted growing anxiety among Russian naval forces regarding Ukraine's "Sea Baby" surface drones. Russian military vessels are reportedly trying to hide behind the areas used by civilian ships, which were intentionally delineated to create an artificial buffer zone.

CNN reported on Aug. 15 that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) claimed responsibility for the July 17 attack on the Crimean Bridge, using a new experimental surface drone nicknamed "Sea Baby."

Join our community Support independent journalism in Ukraine. Join us in this fight. Support us

"Sea surface drones are a unique invention of the Security Service of Ukraine," Vasyl Maliuk, head of the SBU, told CNN. "None of the private companies are involved. Using these drones we have recently conducted a successful hit of the Crimean Bridge."

The Russian naval base in Novorossiysk also came under attack on Aug. 4, leading to serious damage to a military landing craft Olenegorskiy Gornyak. Several media outlets reported that the strike has been carried out by the SBU and the Ukrainian Navy using surface drones.

Russia's Defense Ministry claimed yesterday on Aug. 17 that Russian warships repelled an attempted attack by Ukrainian surface drones, without providing footage as evidence.

Read also: From Moscow to Novorossiysk: The list of attacks on Russian soil

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
If all goes according to plan, next week spacecraft from Russia and India will arrive at the moons south pole, an area thus far unexplored by both humans and landers. A successful landing by either country would represent a scientific first and would pave the way for future missions by these and other countries, such as the U.S. and China. Those missions will later be crewedalso a big deal, as no human has been to the moon in more than 50 years. And presumably, those crews will eventually lead the construction of lunar bases, which will have major implications both on Earth and in space.

Indeed, the lunar south pole appears to be the stage of the next space race. For practical and scientific reasons, as well as for geopolitical and astropolitical ones, this race is different from the SovietU.S. one of the 1960s. And although the U.S. isnt directly involved in either of the current south pole missions, these missions will galvanize future moon exploration and habitation. They also set the stage for a future in which, once again, the worlds space-faring powers will have a choice between competition and collaboration.

In 1959, Russias Luna-2 became the first spacecraft to reach the moons surface, and in 1966, its Luna-9 made the worlds first successful lunar landing. Russias last uncrewed mission there, Luna-24, concluded in 1976. Nearly 50 years later, Luna-25, Russias latest lander, launched on Aug. 11. But Luna-25 isnt the only craft with the south pole in its sights. The crafts initial landing date, Aug. 23, was bumped up to Aug. 21, largely in an attempt to beat Indias moon-bound spacecraft, Chandrayaan-3, which launched in July and also has a target landing date of Aug. 23. (Indias spacecraft has taken a less direct route to the moon than Russias, in part because its carrying a bigger and heavier payload.)

Both missions seek to land on the moons mountainous south pole, a difficult and dangerous landing spot. Because of the lack of sunlight, much of the regionwhere temperatures can drop below 300 degrees Fahrenheithas remained in endless darkness for billions of years. But hidden in this darkness could be something essential for a human future on the moon: frozen water.

NASAs Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, Indias Chandrayaan-1, and other spacecraft have observed the presence of billions of gallons of water ice in the lunar poles. But thus far, those observations have been conducted from afar. Russia and India both seek to confirm firsthand the presence of water iceand see if theres even more of it under the surface. Chandrayaan-3 will also study the moons surface, atmosphere, and tectonic activity, running at least two weeks worth of experiments. Luna-25 is scheduled to operate on the moon for a year, drilling, collecting, and analyzing samples.

Why is ice so important? Ice leads to water, which boosts the chances of long-term lunar habitation. It could also help astronauts produce oxygen and rocket fuel. And figuring out how to mine and process water ice could pave the way not only for future lunar bases, but also for travel beyond the moon.

Space exploration is rarely just about space or science, and this is especially true for Russia. Russias war against Ukraine put its collaboration with the U.S., with whom it shares the International Space Station, on precarious footing. Last year, Roscosmos, Russias space agency, announced that it intended to pull out of that partnership in 2024though it later walked that back, saying it wanted to remain involved with the ISS until at least 2028, at which point Russias own space station could be operational.

As Russia looks to walk away from collaborations at the ISS, its shaking hands with countries like China, which is not an ISS partner. According to the Russian News Agency, the director general of Roscosmos said that after it finishes three other pending lunar missions, it will embark on the next phasea manned mission and the construction of a lunar base with our colleagues from China. The director general also said he expect[s] many countries to join the lunar base program it intends to create with China. Its unclear who those other countries will bethough if the U.S. is not in that group, its reasonable to imagine that a Russia-China partnership might prompt the U.S. to accelerate the construction of the lunar base it already has planned on the south pole.

And what about India? You may not think of the country as a space superpower, but it has slowly and steadily developed a cosmic presence. In 2008 India sent Chandrayaan-1 into lunar orbit, the countrys first major space milestone. Its 2014 Mars Orbiter Mission made Indias space agency the fourth to successfully guide a spacecraft into the red planets orbit. Chandrayaan-2 would have become the first spacecraft to land on the south side of the moon in 2019, but it crashed. If Chandrayaan-3 touches down successfully, India will become just the fourth country to land a spacecraft on the moon. (China became the third in 2013 with its Yutu-1 rover; the Yutu-2 rover, which landed on the moon in 2019, remains in operation.)

Although its unclear who Indias space allies might be for future missions, the country should be considered a major player in the next chapter of space exploration. Space exploration, after all, has long eclipsed the exclusive province of the U.S. and Russia. Chinas speedy and ambitious advancements in space include the operation of its own space station. All of these countries possess fierce military might, including nuclear weapons, which raises the stakes of these lunar missions. Soon, the moons south pole will be another venue for competitionor for collaboration.
(Bloomberg) -- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchezs chances of keeping his job will be tested Thursday when lawmakers vote on his choice as speaker of parliament.

Most Read from Bloomberg

While normally a routine procedure, the ballot this time will be the tightest in four decades of democracy and provide a first indication of whether Sanchez can muster enough backing to remain in power following Julys election stalemate.

Sanchezs Socialist party on Tuesday said it will propose Francina Armengol, a former regional president of the Balearic Islands, for the position of speaker of the lower house, but it is still unclear whether she will gain enough support in the highly fragmented 350-member chamber.

Two small regional nationalist parties, one Catalan and one Basque, are crucial to pick a winner but are yet to make their intentions clear.

Sanchez and the leader of the main opposition conservatives, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, are both vying to gain support from lawmakers to secure the job of prime minister, which Sanchez is currently performing in a caretaker capacity.

Last months inconclusive election handed the countrys left- and right-wing blocs roughly the same amount of support and made a handful of representatives from smaller parties potential kingmakers.

The speakers election  which doesnt typically draw much attention outside core political circles  is expected to offer the first clear hint as to who holds the upper hand.

Read more: How Spains Culture Wars Are Shaping Its Politics: QuickTake

Feijoos Peoples Party and two other parties have a clear chance of combining for 171 votes, while Sanchez is expected to get 172 from a group of allies, including the Basque nationalist PNV. The seven lawmakers of the Catalan separatist group Junts and the one deputy of the Canary Islands CC could potentially break the deadlock.

Carles Puigdemont, the leader of Junts, said in a post Wednesday on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that he would require strong guarantees because we have no confidence in Spanish political parties.

Puigdemont, a former Catalan regional president who has been on the run from Spanish courts since 2017 and living in Belgium, also said that talks on picking the speaker were completely separate from those to choose a premier.

For Feijoo, bringing on the PNV and Junts, both parties with strong pro-business roots, would be a natural move.

However, given the importance of regional nationalism in Spain and Feijoos proximity to far-right group Vox, the third-largest party in parliament, it is unlikely to happen. Vox is staunchly anti-separatist.

Both the election of the speaker and the prime minister require an absolute majority in the first round of voting or a simple majority in the second. There isnt yet a date for the premiership vote.

The speaker is parliaments presiding officer and Spains third-highest elected official. Eight other officials are also named to form the so-called parliamentary bureau  the organ that presides over sessions. It also has powers to delay or fast-track discussion of legislation and the interpretation of parliamentary rules, such as which parties are entitled to having their own caucus.

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Sssshhhh

A peculiar type of podcast has found a huge footing on Spotify, amounting to what the platform says totals tens of millions of dollars in lost profit: entire episodes of white noise, seemingly aimed at listeners who are asleep.

Some podcasters are making as much as $18,000 a month through ads placed in these episodes of crashing waves or recordings of fans blowing air, Bloomberg reports.

And Spotify recently got wind  if you will  of the trend. According to an internal document obtained by Bloomberg, white noise and ambient podcasts are adding up to a stunning 3 million daily consumption hours on the music platform  leading Spotify to wonder if there's a way to direct listeners in a more profitable direction.

Ambient Noise

The problem is that white noise isn't very profitable. Spotify makes the most money by pushing customers to its paid music subscriptions, an important revenue stream for a company that relies on razor-thin margins.

And the pressure is on, with its ratio of paid-to-free listeners in free fall, according to the company's Q1 earning report.

Once Spotify started spending time making sense of the data, it concluded that shifting users away from white noise programming could net the company an additional $38 million in profit, according to document obtained by Bloomberg.

"The proposal in question did not come to fruition  we continue to have white noise podcasts on our platform," a spokesperson told Bloomberg.

Meanwhile, users have noticed how some of their white noise podcasts have mysteriously vanished. One white noise podcaster also told Bloomberg that some of his episodes have disappeared without warning.

Apart from a flood of white noise, Spotify has also been dealing with a tsunami of AI-generated music, sometimes with bots artificially inflating its listener count.

White noise has already stirred considerable controversy in the music industry. Execs at major record labels have complained that tracks by reputable artists are being assigned the same value as those uploading just noise.

"It cant be that an Ed Sheeran stream is worth exactly the same as a stream of rain falling on the roof," Warner Music Group CEO, Robert Kyncl told Music Business Worldwide earlier this year.

More on Spotify: Spotify Busts Network of Bots Listening to Bot-Generated Music
A doctored image appearing to show a man in a loincloth depicting the Sri Lankan national flag has surfaced in social media posts that appear to suggest he was disrespecting the country. The posts targeted activists who participated in anti-government protests in 2022. However, the original photo shows the man wearing a loincloth that does not feature the Sri Lankan flag. The filmmaker and activist in the picture told AFP his underwear had been fashioned out of a red scarf and not the country's flag.

Warning: This story contains strong language

The image was shared in a Facebook post on July 29 with a Sinhala-language caption reading "Disgusting".

Text overlaid on the image translates as: "I did not contribute to or support the Aragalaya that was instigated by bastards like this who made loincloths out of the Sri Lankan flag."

"Aragalaya", which means struggle, refers to the series of demonstrations against then-Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa that began in April 2022, when protesters demanded his resignation over the island's most painful economic downturn since independence in 1948.

The months-long movement culminated in thousands of people breaking into the presidential palace on July 9, 2022, forcing Rajapaksa to flee.

Screenshot of the lead post, taken August 16, 2023.

High-profile activists who took part in the protests have since been targeted with false claims -- AFP previously debunked false posts that alleged one of them had abandoned her infant on a train in Sri Lanka.

The doctored image was also shared alongside similar claims on Facebook here and here.

Some comments suggested that Facebook users believed the picture was genuine.

One user wrote: "These traitors should be burnt to death."

"JVP-ers. What more can you expect from them?" wrote another, in reference to supporters of Sri Lanka's communist-leaning Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna party (archived link).

Red scarf

A Google reverse image search found a similar photo posted to Facebook by Sri Lankan filmmaker and activist Sumudu Guruge on 24 May 2022 (archived link).

"This is all that was eventually left," the Sinhala-language post jokes.

Guruge can be seen standing in the same pose as in the image shared in false posts, but his loincloth does not show the Sri Lankan flag.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the doctored image (left) and the genuine photo posted by Guruge (right):

Screenshot comparison of the doctored image (left) and the genuine photo posted by Guruge (right)

Guruge confirmed on August 11 the photo had been doctored.

"I was wearing a loincloth that day but it is not the Sri Lankan flag, its a scarf," he told AFP.

He said the photo was taken in May 2022 when Sri Lankan activists displayed their underwear on barriers placed to prevent protesters from heading towards parliament -- "to make a statement and express our objection for depriving us of our right to protest".

The activist can also be seen wearing his red loincloth in a video report by local news organisation News First Sri Lanka posted on YouTube on May 6, 2022 (archived link).

The video is titled: "Underwear displayed in protest held to demand the President and the government to go home."

Guruge can be seen among other protesters holding up underwear at the 23-second mark of the video:

Screenshot of the News First clip that shows Guruge participating in the protest wearing a red loin cloth.
Kias and Hyundais continue to be a prime target for would-be car thieves in Pierce County.

According to new numbers released by the Pierce County Sheriffs Department, 16 of the 20 most stolen cars in unincorporated Pierce County are Hyundai and Kia models. Of that list, those models occupy each of the top 13 spots.

Year over year, the numbers are even more stark. In the first quarter of 2022, Kia and Hyundai thefts were near zero. By 2023, that number had ballooned to nearly 150 for the second quarter of the year.

This trend started to surface in July of 2022, when a TikTok user posted a viral video showing people how to use a USB cable to exploit a vulnerability in some older Kia and Hyundai models. It was taken down a couple weeks later, but by that point the word had already gotten out.

Since then, thefts of those cars have skyrocketed with no clear end in sight.

Thats despite software upgrades the manufacturers offered to fix the vulnerability highlighted on TikTok. In the wake of those upgrades, Pierce County is still reporting a spike in theft attempts, however unsuccessful the efforts might actually be.

It appears that car thieves (mostly juveniles) are breaking into any Kia/Hyundai they come across without much consideration for whether or not the cars can actually be easily stolen, the Pierce County Sheriffs Department said on Facebook.

And if the car isnt ultimately stolen, the attempt itself can still prove costly for the owner too.

Even if the thief doesnt get away with your car, a shattered window and damaged ignition can result in costly repairs, which can be delayed due to supply chain issues, the PCSD noted.

Kia and Hyundai owners are being urged to use visual deterrents to fight this trend. Steering wheel locks can be especially useful, given that car thieves arent interested in having to defeat the method.

They will move along on the path of least resistance, the PCSD said.
BISHKEK, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Special forces from Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan have started joint military exercises, according to an official statement from the Defense Ministry of Kyrgyzstan.

The report said that the opening ceremony of the joint tactical-special exercise, "Erdik" (Courage), with the participation of special forces units of the armed forces of both countries, took place on Thursday in the town of Balykchy in northern Kyrgyzstan.

The purpose is to create a joint-response plan against terrorist threats in the border areas and assess the capabilities of the units involved in combat missions.

More than 150 servicemen and about 30 units of special and aviation equipment were involved in the exercise, which runs until Aug. 23. 
The state on Thursday gave more flexibility to cities and towns required to have at least one zone in which denser, multi-family housing is permitted, but also expanded the list of state grant opportunities that can be denied to any town that does not comply with the law meant to spur badly-needed housing production.

An law signed in January 2021 requires that every MBTA community have at least one zoning district near a transit station in which multi-family housing is allowed as of right. The Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities announced updated guidelines Thursday, newly allowing housing units in mixed-use buildings with commercial space required on the ground floor to count towards a communitys compliance with the law. The changes do not reduce the total unit capacity required.

The secretariat said the revisions were made [i]n response to feedback from municipal leaders in several MBTA Communities. Brookline Town Administrator Chas Carey said Thursday that his towns leadership was instrumental in advocating for the commonsense solutions that let us sustainably build affordable housing where people want to live, work, and play. He said the Brookline Select Board voted Tuesday to adopt a zoning proposal that mandates ground-floor commercial uses along portions of Harvard Street.

The MBTA Communities law is a vital tool to incentivize and expedite much-needed housing development across the state, Secretary of Housing Ed Augustus said. These updated guidelines demonstrate a collaborative effort with MBTA Communities to implement the law, ensure compliance, and provide reasonable adjustments to zoning requirements without reducing the total number of required housing units.

Augustuss office said it will now take into consideration the existence and impact of mixed-use zoning that requires ground floor commercial uses in buildings that also allow residential units as of right on other floors. The administration said MBTA communities always could allow ground floor commercial in proposed multi-family zoning districts, but residential units in properties that required commercial space did not count for compliance calculations before the changes announced Thursday.

We urgently need to clear the way to build more housing in our suburban communities, but we dont want to squeeze out our restaurants, retailers, and other merchants in the process. These guideline adjustments will go a long way towards protecting our mom-and-pop merchants and small downtowns while -- thanks to additional housing -- will also create the vibrancy and foot traffic our small businesses need to thrive, Greg Reibman, president of the Charles River Regional Chamber, said.

Massachusetts trails 40 other states when it comes to increasing its housing stock, having authorized 5.9 new units of housing per 1,000 existing units in 2022. A report out this week from Construction Coverage said that was about half the national rate of 11.7 new units per 1,000 existing units.

Greg Vasil, president and CEO of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board, said that the best way to address the housing crisis is through housing creation and that his organization is happy the Healey administration is moving with purpose and speed to do whatever it can to create more housing where its needed most.

We are hopeful these guidelines will jumpstart the creation of units in MBTA communities, which can and must do more to help meet the need, while also creating more retail to help further spur economic growth in these vital areas, he said.

There are 177 cities and towns that are considered MBTA communities and are subject to the laws requirements because they either host MBTA service or are adjacent to a town that does. Currently, 176 of those municipalities are in compliance, the Healey administration said. The one non-compliant town is Holden, and the Worcester suburb is being sued by the Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance for its refusal to comply with the law, according to Lawyers for Civil Rights.

Towns that dont comply with the law are not eligible for three significant state grant programs: MassWorks, the Housing Choice Initiative and the Local Capital Projects Fund. The Healey administration announced Thursday that it will consider compliance with the MBTA community zoning law when making funding decisions for 13 other programs, emphasizing the seriousness with which the Healey-Driscoll Administration views compliance.

Those grant programs are: community planning grants, Massachusetts Downtown Initiative, Urban Agenda, Rural and Small-Town Development Fund, Brownfields Redevelopment Fund, Site Readiness Program, Underutilized Properties Program, Collaborative Workspace Program, Real Estate Services Technical Assistance, Commonwealth Places Programs, land use planning grants, local acquisitions for natural diversity grants, and Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Planning grants.

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

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Plastic covers the sign for the closed Foggy Bottom Kitchen restaurant in April 2022 at Roman Nose State Park in Watonga.

Oklahoma's new multicounty grand jury has begun looking into the state's dealings with Swadley's Bar-B-Q.

Testifying Thursday was Mike Jackson, the executive director of the Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency.

The watchdog office created by top lawmakers was the first to raise red flags about the deals with Swadley's to operate restaurants in six state parks. The executive director told a House Special Investigative Committee last year that the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department lost $12.4 million in taxpayer funds because of insufficient oversight.

Grand jurors hear testimony in secret behind closed doors at the attorney general's office. Jackson was seen leaving the grand jury area Thursday morning with a large folder. The grand jury's chief adviser, Gayland Gieger, walked him to the door and thanked him.

The Oklahoman confirmed from sources his appearance was connected to Swadley's. He declined comment.

Grand jurors also heard Thursday morning from agents with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

More: Swadley's deal cost Oklahoma taxpayers $12.4 million, state watchdog says

Testimony the first confirmed in Swadley's case since Attorney General Gentner Drummond took over investigation

The involvement of the grand jury in the Swadley's scandal has been expected ever since the state's new attorney general, Gentner Drummond, announced in January he was taking over control of the investigation.

Still, the first confirmed grand jury testimony about Swadley's is a significant milestone. Any decision by the grand jury on criminal charges is likely months away.

Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, faced criticism last year during his successful reelection bid because of the deals. "We can't even trust Stitt with barbecue," his Democratic opponent, Joy Hofmeister, regularly said from the campaign trail.

The Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department in April 2022 canceled its agreement with Swadley's Bar-B-Q due to "suspected fraudulent activity and questionable business practices."

Days later, the leader of the Tourism and Recreation Department resigned, and the state sued Swadley's Foggy Bottom Kitchen for breach of contract.

Swadley's countersued, saying the "Tourism Department got exactly what it wanted with rapid construction of first-class restaurants during a pandemic."

The lawsuit is still pending in Oklahoma County District Court.

Also Thursday, grand jurors returned two indictments.

An Ardmore attorney, Jason David May, 39, was charged in one indictment with five felony counts of filing false court documents.

A murderer and two other convicts were accused in the other indictment of gang-related attacks in prison in 2021.

Grand jurors next meet Sept. 19-21.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma grand jury hears first testimony in Swadley's scandal
It's a simple question, but it has many areas to answer. Both technically and politically

It is now advisable to raise issues with our partners that still need to be actively discussed, even in the US political community. Because we have already seen how sanctions work, or not so much. And we have seen that sanctions do not stop the Russians from shelling civilian infrastructure, namely our energy grid. Therefore, it is impossible to say that the countermeasures applied by the international community to the Russian Federation are effective and correspond to the damage caused to Ukraine by these aggressive actions of the Russian Federation. Therefore, it is time to raise the question of strengthening countermeasures. In this context, we can talk about depriving Russia of sovereign immunity. This can be seen as a countermeasure that can open the way to Russian money that has already been frozen, but we still do not have access. This is at least $350 billion circulating in the Western financial system. Someone benefits from this: interest and taxes on interest, and all this money is now inaccessible to us.

Read also:

So I would start with measures related to the sovereign money of the Russian Federation.

The removal of immunity can be such a significant step forward.

The debate on the legality of confiscation has been going on for many years, and this is not the first time we are opening a new discourse in international law. It is always tricky. But now we are on the eve of the winter period. We can already say that the international community and the UN have confirmed that the level of destruction of critical energy infrastructure that Ukraine has suffered is incredibly high, that the measures taken by the world to counter this attack have not worked, and that pressure needs to be increased. This pressure can be increased precisely by removing state immunity from Russian money. The legal community can now consider this at the level of both international experts and the countries' political leadership. It's not just about confiscation, but confiscation will be a consequence of the fact that Russia's immunity will be lifted. This will open the way not only to money related to compensation for damages, but it will also open the way to receiving the money that Ukraine won from the Russian Federation in the process of court decisions that also concern Naftogaz.

Read also:

For these kinds of judgments against Russian assets to be enforced, it is necessary to ensure that Russia's immunity over its sovereign money is expunged. That is, to make its cash available to implement these court decisions.

It would seem logical to take such a step - the arrest, confiscation, and transfer to the Ukrainian government. What is standing in the way? The answer is that all new measures need to be promoted. This is a tough and challenging job. I have repeatedly said that even there, the imposition of sanctions is not just a matter of working with a sanctions unit in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or some other institution. This is a matter of creating a particular information field and decision-making. This takes time and a lot of effort.

Indeed, the president pays much attention to speeches in parliaments and meetings with politicians. But then it's a matter of working out the meetings and many contacts inside. It is not the kind of work where the process is straightforward  Today we talked, and tomorrow everything is decided. Many people are involved in the decision-making process, and all have their own opinions. Not only opinions, but they also have what prejudice. That is, they have certain assumptions and beliefs. They don't always coincide with what we think.

Even if someone asks us what a chair is, we'll each answer in our own way. How to apply the norms of international law is a considerable discussion. Therefore, to be heard, you have to be constantly present, I mean as a country, in all discussions. You have to engage both at forums of public organizations and with bloggers and influencers. This is more than just diplomatic work. Citizens must also take part; in the public sector and everyone. This is a paradigm shift in thinking. There has always been a theory that any sovereign asset cannot be touched, because it can have irreversible consequences. But it should not be about assets as irreversibility, but about immunity. Immunity can be revoked today in connection with Russia's violations of all norms of international law as a countermeasure. This immunity can be returned after Russia returns, fulfills all its international obligations, and compensates for all losses. This will be the reverse of this measure, which must be observed.

Russia is constantly testing the limits of its behavior.

If no countermeasures have been taken for the destruction of our energy system, this only increases their appetite and encourages them. When we say that this is extremely dangerous, we have to realize that if they can destroy civilian infrastructure without any responsibility, which is a criminal offense in the sense of international criminal law, and they have not been punished for this and no measures have been taken against them; then this can only encourage them to use tactical nuclear weapons. If nothing happened to them for this, why should they worry that something will happen to them for using tactical nuclear weapons? If there is no punishment for a crime, it only increases the likelihood of raising the scale of unlawful acts.

In the area of countermeasures, that first step has already been taken. The first step is the seizure of sovereign money. This is something that had not been done before. The money of the Russian Central Bank was arrested. Before that, no one had touched this money because it was such a sacred thing protected by the general principle that public funds should not be subject to enforcement. Whatever a sovereign country creates is protected. There may be other assets of a commercial nature, and something else may be subject to arrest and then confiscation, but not the money of the Central Bank. The first events have already taken place. Now the question is how to push for the next step to change this attitude towards this money as something that cannot be touched.

An analogy would be like Saddam Hussein's regime financing the reconstruction of Kuwait, which they destroyed. I have always treated this as an example of how we can address the return, satisfaction, and restitution of property lost in connection with the war. But, again, that activity was based on a UN Security Council resolution. In our case, and in the case of unwillingness to change the overall architecture of the UN Security Council, it is challenging to achieve this. And indeed, the question of how this commission will be created, or even the mechanism, and how it will address the issue of the queue for compensation, is still at such an early stage. Even in the case of Iraq, this was decided after the war.

As far as access to money is concerned, in the case of Ukraine and with this enormous volume of violations of international law, we have this opportunity to start this dialogue precisely with the need to lift immunity as a sanction for a significant breach of international law.

Read also:

What needs to happen for our partners to make such a political decision? This may be related, again, to the discussion between Democrats and Republicans within Congress. The House of Representatives is now a Republican majority while the Democrats are in the minority, creating an opportunity to open a discussion. Remember that when we lobbied for sanctions against Nord Stream 2, we played on the fact that the Democrats had a majority in Congress. Then they were forced to implement it even with Trump in the White House. Certain tools can be used, which are very open and transparent, because it is a matter of achieving one's interests through the current political situation.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
The future of housing near Cal Poly may come in smaller packages than youd expect.

Thats because accessory dwelling units  small attached or detached housing units that sit on existing residential property lots  are in the midst of a boom period in San Luis Obispo.

Since the start of 2020, the city of San Luis Obispo has issued 217 new permits for ADUs  including 125 within two miles of the Cal Poly campus, according to the citys planning and building logs.

Its a trend thats unlikely to slow, San Luis Obispo-based developer and property investor John Rourke told The Tribune, as more units become available to renters and property managers look to get more value out of their properties.

Students are the ones looking for the housing, especially close to Poly, Rourke told The Tribune. I think the ADUs are being driven by the demand by students, and the students ability to pay higher rents.

Heres what sparked the ADU boom  and how its changing the complexion of San Luis Obispos most competitive neighborhoods.

CWA Studios designs ADU projects for homeowners looking to get more housing capacity or other uses from their properties.

ADUs prove popular with landlords near Cal Poly

Rourke said he has built 10 ADUs in the Cal Poly area since 2017.

Interest in ADUs began growing across the state in 2016 with the passage of Assembly Bill 2299, which rolled back restrictions on building second units on residential property, but only started gaining interest as a source of rental income in 2019, Rourke said.

In 2020, Senate Bill 13 placed a five-year freeze on local laws that require ADUs to be owner-occupied only, essentially allowing ADUs to function as rentals through 2025.

If youre an investor who owns a three-bedroom rental and you just want to add an additional rental, an ADU obviously makes more sense to build on a property you already have than to buy a new property, Rourke said.

ADUs tend to be much smaller than main units, often use the same utilities as the primary dwelling and are not subject to impact fees, which makes them a cheap and efficient investment for property owners, Rourke said.

Savings on fees alone can shave tens of thousands of dollars off of the property owners overhead, Rourke said. If building a new house requires $80,000 to $90,000 in fees and permitting, an ADUs permits and fees cost around $5,000 in total, he said.

Additionally, the city of San Luis Obispo has done a good job in streamlining the ADU application process for property owners, Rourke said.

Building a home takes six to nine months of back-and-forth with the city to get the necessary permits, plus a year or more of building, whereas ADU applications take a maximum of 60 days under state rules, Rourke said.

A freestanding ADU can take around a year to 16 months to build, not including the three-month design phase, said Christopher Allen, a San Luis Obispo-based architect with design-and-build firm CWA Studios.

In recent years, Allens studio has designed around 20 standalone and attached ADUs each year, including for some of Rourkes properties, he said.

Garage conversions  one of the more popular and cost-effective ways to construct an ADU  usually take around 90 days, Rourke said, meaning with short permitting times, new garage units can become available within around six months from start to finish.

Allen said most of the costs involved with opening an ADU as a rental come in the design and construction phase.

The cost disparity between converting a garage into a one- or two-bedroom ADU vs. building a freestanding ADU is significant, with freestanding structures costing between $300,000 and $400,000 and garage conversions typically priced between $75,000 and $100,000, Allen said.

It still costs money, and theres property owners that literally dont have the $300,000 laying around to build something new, Allen said. But theres a lot of homeowners who have $75,000 laying around, and they would love to be able to have a guaranteed source of income in perpetuity, and that really is what the garage conversion lends itself to.

CWA Studios architect Christopher Allen designs accessory dwelling units for property owners looking to get fresh use out of their properties. ADUs have spiked in popularity near Cal Poly over the past three years as property owners look to get more value out of rental units.

ADU resident: Its bigger than what we previously lived in

In neighborhoods that predominantly house Cal Poly students, the privacy of a standalone unit that one or two people can share is a valuable commodity, Rourke said.

Tyler Weaver, a bartender at Guiseppes Cucina Rustica in San Luis Obispo, said his ADU has been the perfect fit for him and his girlfriend.

Weaver and his girlfriend live on Palm Street, not far from Franks Famous Hot Dogs, in a detached 800 square-foot ADU placed in the backyard of another resident.

For the past two years, the pair have called the two-bedroom, one-bath unit home  and have paid less rent for more space, Weaver said.

Its bigger than what we previously lived in, so we actually enjoy it a lot more, Weaver told The Tribune. We used to live in a little tiny one-bedroom, one-bath that was on on Broad Street back in a little corner.

But best of all, the property allows pets, which is a rare feature in many rental units, Weaver said.

As a standalone dwelling, Weavers ADU has its own water and electric bills, but it shares a backyard and driveway with the main dwelling, he said.

CWA Studios designs ADU projects for homeowners looking to get more housing capacity or other uses from their properties.

Weaver also said one of the best features of the ADU is the built-in community that comes with living near his neighbors.

(Living in an ADU) gives more options for students or people that are working, to come in and do construction for a couple of months, pop in, pop out, stuff like that, Weaver said. Its also good for full-on yearlong leases. For the homeowner, its also nice that theyre adding more value to the property as well.

Era Management property manager Anthony Aurignac, who manages Weavers ADU, said in his 10 years of working in real estate, hes seen rents in historically student-heavy housing balloon as Cal Poly breaks enrollment records each year.

Cal Poly and San Luis Obispo increase in popularity as desirable destinations with every passing year, Aurignac said, turning up the heat on the most coveted neighborhoods in town.

As a result, adding ADUs and expanding density in high-value neighborhoods is an increasingly preferred strategy for landlords and property managers, including several of Aurignacs clients.

In fact, ADUs have become so popular in recent years that Era Management started working with Housable, an engineering and design firm that specializes in ADUs and junior ADUs  attached ADUs under 500 square feet  Aurignac said.

My clients absolutely love adding value any way they can, and creating more housing, provided economically it makes sense, Aurignac said.

CWA Studios designs ADU projects for homeowners looking to get more housing capacity or other uses from their properties.

Housing isnt the only thing getting smaller  so are lots

Rourke said while ADUs are becoming the new norm in neighborhoods, the next big trend could stem from Senate Bill 9, which was passed into law in 2021.

SB 9, also known as the HOME Act, put a significant dent in single-unit zoning in California by making it legal to build up to four homes on properties that had previously permitted one unit.

Single-family zoning in California was kind of rooted in segregation  trying to keep poor people away from rich people, Rourke said. ADUs and SB 9 kind of get rid of that single-family zoning. Every property has the ability to have multiple units.

Essentially, the law unlocked the potential for duplexes and fourplexes in residential areas through lot splits, allowing eligible property owners to add around 700,000 units to single-unit lots statewide, according to a UC Berkeley Terner Center for Housing Innovation study.

For example, a property owner could choose to split their lot into two lots under SB 9, then build an ADU on the original lot plus a new home and ADU on the new lot, Rourke said.

With more ADUs coming on the market every year and SB 9 loosening control of single-unit zoning, San Luis Obispos most competitive neighborhoods are closer to achieving workforce housing and density goals than they have been in the past, Rourke said.

Affordable housing comes from quantity, Rourke said. Not by mandating all housing to be affordable, but by just building as much as we can and letting the supply pour in.
Special glasses marketed to filter out blue light likely do not make any difference to sleep quality or eye strain from computer use, according to a new review of studies.

Blue-light blocking spectacles have been increasingly recommended, often by optometrists, since the early 2000s.

Eye patients are frequently prescribed these lenses in many parts of the world with a range of marketing claims existing about their potential benefits.

Some of these claims include that the special glasses may reduce eye strain associated with digital device use, improve sleep quality, and also protect the retina from light-induced damage.

However, researchers, including those from the University of Melbourne in Australia, say there is substantial debate about whether blue-light filtering spectacle lenses have merit in ophthalmic practice.

The research, published in the journal Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, assessed data from 17 clinical trials on the benefits offered by these glasses for improving visual performance, providing protection to the retina, and improving sleep quality.

The review assessed data from individual studies from six countries, each including five to 156 participants, and the period of time over which the lenses were assessed ranging from less than one day to five weeks.

Researchers found that there may be no short-term advantages with using blue-light filtering spectacle lenses to reduce visual fatigue associated with computer use, compared to non-blue-light filtering lenses.

They say it is also currently unclear whether these lenses affect vision quality or sleep-related outcomes.

The research review could also draw no conclusions about any potential effects on retinal health in the longer term.

People should be aware of these findings when deciding whether to purchase these spectacles, study co-author Laura Downie said.

Our findings do not support the prescription of blue-light filtering lenses to the general population. These results are relevant to a broad range of stakeholders, including eye care professionals, patients, researchers and the broader community, Dr Downie added.

However, scientists said the quality and duration of the individual studies part of the review also needs to be considered.

High-quality, large clinical research studies with longer follow-up in more diverse populations are still required to ascertain more clearly the potential effects of blue-light filtering spectacle lenses on visual performance, sleep and eye health, Sumeer Singh, another author of the study, said.

The potential mechanisms by which these lenses might help with eye strain, sleep, and protecting the retina are also unclear, scientists say.

The amount of blue light our eyes receive from artificial sources, such as computer screens, is about a thousandth of what we get from natural daylight, Dr Singh said.

Filtering out higher levels of blue light would require the lenses to have an obvious amber tint, which would have a substantial effect on colour perception, he added.

But the new research did not find any consistent reports of adverse side effects from using blue-light filtering lenses.
Crystal Finn, an actor who appeared in "Succession" and the Broadway play "Birthday Candles," said she had to seek medical treatment after she was bitten by otters while swimming in a California river.

Finn told The San Francisco Chronicle the attack occurred last month when she was swimming in the Feather River near Plumas National Forest.

"I felt something on my backside and on my leg," Finn said. "I started looking around and yelling out and (the otters) popped up right in front of me. Then they dove down and started going at me again."

Finn said she headed toward the river's shore when the three otters began biting her again, and that she tried to fight them with her feet as she climbed on a rock for safety.

A sea otter swims in Elkhorn Slough in Moss Landing, CA. (Paul Chinn / The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)

"I could see the bites on my legs and knew I had been bitten on my butt  that one was the worst, but I couldnt see it," she said. "The bites really hurt."

The otters disappeared after she climbed onto the rock, she said.

Finn was treated for her injuries at Tahoe Forest Hospital in Truckee, California, where doctors told the Chronicle they had never seen an otter attack victim until this summer, when two separate patients came in within days of each other in July with injuries.

Dr. Martin Rosengreen, an emergency room physician at Tahoe Forest Hospital, declined to comment whether one of the patients was Finn, citing confidentiality reasons.

"After the first otter attack I thought, 'Wow that was kind of special' and then two days later there was another one," Rosengreen told the Chronicle.

The first victim Rosengreen saw was attacked by several otters while swimming in Serene Lakes, where she was bitten 15 to 20 times on different parts of her body, he said.

"She was out swimming in the middle of a lake and noticed something brush up on her leg," Rosengreen told the newspaper. "Then, all of a sudden they started attacking, and she was trying to fend them off and swim away from them at the same time."

Rosengreen said she had severe injuries and was treated for rabies.

Earlier this month, three women were injured in Montana after an otter attacked them while they were in inner tubes on the Jefferson River, around 10 miles southeast of Caldwell, Montana, authorities said.

One of the women had to be airlifted to an area hospital via helicopter for her injuries, according to the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Park.

The department said in a statement otter attacks are rare, and that the animals "can be protective of themselves and their young, especially at close distances."

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
Jake Sullivan, US Presidential National Security Advisor, has commented on The Washington Posts article that claims with reference to sources that Ukraine will not be able to attain the key goal of its counteroffensive.

Source: Sullivan at the press conference in Camp-David on 18 August, as reported by European Pravda

In its article, The Washington Post reported that Ukraine will not be able to achieve its key objective  the city of Melitopol in Zaporizhzhia Oblast  in the course of counteroffensive operations.

Sullivan stated that the Russian war against Ukraine and all the ways it could unfold have been analysed numerous times over the course of the last two years, and the conclusions have changed "as dynamic battlefield conditions changed".

"What we have said from multiple podiums and multiple briefings remains the same: we are doing everything we can to support Ukraine and its counteroffensive. We are not going to handicap the outcome," Sullivan stressed.

The advisor added that the US will not make any forecast for the war in Ukraine as it is "inherently unpredictable".

"[I can say  ed.] that I believe and have confidence in the capacity and especially the bravery of the Ukrainian fighters to continue to make progress on the battlefield," Sullivan summed up.

Earlier, the Pentagon stated that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had performed a miracle, driving the Russians into defence.

In addition, the US defence department recorded the advance of the Ukrainian Armed Forces during the counteroffensive but predicts that it will be a difficult and long fight.

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WASHINGTON  If history is any guide, former President Donald Trump could be holding out for help from the Supreme Court  even if history also suggests he won't get it.

As Trump and his allies face a 41-count indictment in Georgia for their role in attempting to overturn the 2020 election, there is a chance the former president will call on the high court to weigh in on a variety of questions in the sprawling case, experts said, as well as in the other criminal matters in New York, Florida and Washington, D.C.

Though the final outcome of those cases are unlikely to be appealed to the Supreme Court, the justices may be asked to decide whether two of the cases should be moved to federal court, whether Trump and other former federal officials are entitled to immunity, and even whether efforts to limit Trump's public remarks about his legal problems on the 2024 campaign trail are consistent with the First Amendment.

"SCOTUS ain't getting off easy here," predicted Josh Blackman, a professor at South Texas College of Law Houston.

Delay: Here's how Donald Trump will try to push back his criminals trials

Those appeals would arrive at a time when the Supreme Court remains under scrutiny for decisions on abortion, affirmative action, LGBTQ+ rights and other questions that divide Americans. At the same time, the high court is keen to avoid the appearance of engaging in politics and has repeatedly shot down other appeals from Trump.

But whether those efforts are ultimately successful may be beside the point: The former president has a long history with long-shot appeals as part of a strategy of delay. Here is a look at some of the issues that could be appealed:

Former President Donald Trump waves as he steps off his plane at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport earlier this month.

See you in federal court? Trump expected to seek federal review

The former president is widely expected to ask a federal court to take over the Georgia case, largely because many believe his lawyers could build a more conservative jury that way. President Joe Biden won Fulton County with 73% of the vote in 2020.

Trump made the same request in New York, where he faces a 34-count indictment from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. A U.S. district judge denied the request last month and the former president appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. That decision, whenever it lands, could be appealed to the Supreme Court.

A filing in federal court this week by Trumps former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, may serve as the template. Meadows was charged in the Fulton County case for his role in allegedly pressuring Georgia state officials with false claims of election fraud. Meadows is attempting to move his case to federal court  and have it dismissed.

Federal law allows U.S. officials to move their cases to federal court if they are fighting state charges over actions related to their work for the federal government. The theory dates back centuries and is intended to prevent states from trying to hamstring the federal government by arresting its employees. Trump might argue, for instance, that his effort to overturn the election was made as a president seeking to ensure the sanctity of the vote.

Meadows' filing cites those same grounds in asking a federal court in Georgia to take over his case.

Then-President Donald Trump during the 2018 swearing-in ceremony of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

Immunity: Trump could also ask courts to dismiss his case

Meadows raised a related claim in his filing this week that some experts say Trump is likely to attempt: asking a federal court to dismiss the case under the Constitutions supremacy clause. The theory is that federal officials are immune from state prosecution when they are carrying out their official duties for the U.S. government.

In making such a claim, Trump could rely in part on an 1890 Supreme Court case involving a U.S. Marshal named David Neagle who was assigned to protect Justice Stephen Field while he was hearing cases in California. Neagle shot and killed a man who assaulted the justice over breakfast. California charged Neagle with murder.

But the Supreme Court ruled Neagle "cannot be guilty" of a state crime for an act he was authorized to carry out under federal law.

Trump, like Meadows, may try to convince a court that the actions he took in Georgia were done in his capacity as president. If a lower court rules on that argument, the losing side will likely ask a federal appeals court to review it. That appeals court decision ultimately could be appealed to the Supreme Court.

Summary: Lying, pressuring Georgia officials: What does Trump indictment accuse his associates of doing?

"They're all going to raise it," said Eric Segall, a law professor at Georgia State University. "Trump is going to argue that he and all his merry people were simply ensuring the integrity and fairness of federal elections, something they had an obligation to do, and therefore he has immunity."

Segall said the laws protecting federal officials from state prosecution serve an important purpose. Consider, for instance, federal officials working to desegregate the South during the civil rights era being thrown in jail by state officials opposed to those efforts. But Segall stressed that he doesnt believe the facts of Trump's intervention will warrant immunity.

"He might win," Segall said, "but he definitely should lose."

Would the conservative Supreme Court back Trump?

As president, Trump placed three justices on the Supreme Court  Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett  giving it a six-member conservative majority. But in case after case since Trump left office, the court, despite its composition, hasn't had his back.

In November, the court declined Trump's request to block the release of his tax returns to a House committee seeking them. Weeks earlier, it denied his request to allow a special master to review documents seized last year at his Mar-a-Lago estate. It also denied his effort to stop lawmakers from receiving administration documents.

It even started when Trump was still president. In July 2020, the court ruled that Trump could not keep his tax returns and financial records away from New York prosecutors.

Perhaps most notably, the Supreme Court has already dipped a toe into the effort by Fulton County prosecutors. The justices last year denied Sen. Lindsey Graham's request to pause a subpoena from the grand jury. Graham, a South Carolina Republican and Trump ally, argued that his phone calls to Georgia election officials were part of his official duties. Graham had raised a different constitutional defense based on the speech or debate clause, which admonishes that members of Congress "shall not be questioned in any other place" for official remarks.

The court handed down its decision in a brief, unsigned order with no noted dissents. Graham ultimately testified but was not named in the Fulton County indictment.

Political vs. legal strategy: Delay until Election Day

Though the former president and his allies didnt win those disputes, Trump did manage to delay his losses  sometimes by months. And that stands to be a major part of any appeals strategy.

In the case of Trump's tax returns, for instance, Democrats on the House Committee on Ways and Means sued for the documents in federal court in 2019, when Trump was still president. By the time the case wended its way through the federal court system, he had been out of the White House for nearly two years. The Supreme Court denied Trump's emergency appeal in that case in 2022, and the committee made the documents public in late December.

The Fulton County grand jury had been seeking Graham's testimony as far back as July 2022. By the time the Supreme Court ruled against him, nearly five months had passed. Graham finally appeared a few days before Thanksgiving last year.

The former president, who is running for office again, has already called for all four criminal trials he is facing to be delayed until after the November 2024 election. Trump has long claimed that the criminal prosecutions are politically motivated to undermine his bid for the White House.

Besides the practical benefit of not having to juggle court appearances while running for president, Trump has managed to use his legal problems as a fundraising tool and a rallying cry for supporters.

The maneuvering shouldn't work in the end, Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe and two other prominent lawyers wrote this week in The Atlantic. But, they said, it "will command our attention, and it will introduce a potential for delay."

Contributing: David Jackson

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows speaks with reporters at the White House, Oct. 21, 2020, in Washington.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Will Supreme Court enter Trump indictment fray? Here's how it could happen.
If former President Donald Trump were facing the booking process that newly charged criminal defendants in Fulton County typically experience, he might find himself lingering for hours at the Rice Street jail waiting for his fingerprints and mug shot to be taken.

Even by the standards of local jails, the Fulton County jail on Rice Street has a reputation for troubled conditions for inmates. Last month, the US Justice Department launched a civil rights investigation into living conditions, access to health care, violence against detainees and possible discrimination against those with psychiatric disabilities.

A look inside a cell at the Fulton County Jail in 2013. - CNN

But the treatment that defendants receive when being booked and processed on criminal charges in Fulton County varies drastically, case by case. The system gives discretion to prosecutors, the magistrate judges who often preside over the first court appearances and the superior court judges who have been assigned the underlying case.

Trump is expected to turn himself in next Thursday or Friday, according to a senior law enforcement official.

While officials have vowed to treat Trump and his associates as they would any defendant, that is likely impossible due the security precautions required for a former president and the high-profile nature of some of his co-defendants.

Were in uncharted waters at this point, Chris Timmons, a former prosecutor and now a law partner at Knowles Gallant Timmons in Atlanta, told CNN. We havent had a former United States president or anyone with Secret Service protection booked into the Fulton County jail.

Trumps team has already been in contact with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis office and conversations are expected to continue early next week about the conditions of his appearance and the logistics of his surrender. Other defendants have also engaged with the district attorney, sources told CNN.

Willis gave Trump and his co-defendants in the case, which alleges they engaged in racketeering scheme and other crimes in their efforts to overturn Georgias 2020 election results, until August 25 to turn themselves in voluntarily. That nearly two-week window for self-surrender has given the defendants time for planning and for potential outreach to prosecutors to discuss how the process will work.

Weve got mugshots ready for you

Attorneys for defendants in the Trump case are expected to negotiate with the district attorneys office to agree to terms of release and bond for their clients  known as a consent bond  before they turn themselves in at the jail in Fulton County. Many of those discussions are expected to take place in person next week, according to people familiar with the matter.

Defendants have an incentive to settle the bond question before they turn themselves in. If they surrender at the jail without a bond agreement in place  which has to be approved by a Fulton County Superior Court judge  they will be held in custody, attorneys familiar with the process said.

The jail is open 24/7 for Trump and his allies to turn themselves in and Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat is among the officials publicly insisting Trump and his associates will face the same processing steps as any other defendant.

Unless someone tells me differently, we are following our normal practices, Labat told reporters earlier this month. It doesnt matter your status. Weve got mug shots ready for you.

Normally, those taken into custody are thoroughly searched by a jail deputy. In the past, though, some high-profiled defendants who have voluntarily surrendered were not subjected to that thorough body search, a person familiar with the process told CNN.

Defendants also typically undergo a medical screening and receive a pre-trial consultation to determine whether they can sign out on their own recognizance, although its not clear whether those same steps would be taken with Trump and other high-profile defendants.

For an average defendant, the booking process can take hours, much of which can be spent waiting around for their turn to be booked.

In this particular case, youre dealing with VIPs, Timmons said. Having them there is kind of a pain.

For Trump and other prominent defendants, the process will likely move much more swiftly. Some may coordinate with the sheriffs office before they arrive to try to expedite the process. And in Trumps case, the Secret Service would likely coordinate with the sheriffs office ahead of Trumps arrival.

If everybodys there and ready to do their job, it probably takes three minutes to get a set of fingerprints, Timmons said. It could be 15 minutes total to get them in and out.

A look inside a cell at the Fulton County Jail in 2013. - CNN

In a typical case in Fulton County where police make an arrest, the person arrested is booked into jail and must appear before a magistrate judge within 72 hours. That wont be the case for the defendants in this racketeering case. Since they have already been indicted and will likely have negotiated bond, they most likely wont have an initial court appearance, attorneys told CNN.

The judge that considers the bond agreement, likely Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee who was assigned to the case, has to consider four factors when deciding whether to approve the bond agreements, attorneys told CNN. The judge has to determine the defendant is not a flight risk, is not likely to commit other felonies pending trial, does not present a danger to the community and is not likely to intimidate witnesses or take other steps to interfere with the case.

Its possible Trump and his alleged co-conspirators wont even have to show up at court for an arraignment. McAfee could choose to arraign the defendants virtually or he could allow them to waive their arraignments altogether. If he does the latter, its unclear when the public might see Trump his co-defendants in a Georgia courtroom for the first time.

Gerald Griggs, the head of the Georgia NAACP, which has been scrutinizing the poor conditions of the Fulton County jail, said he understood, given the security concerns, why the former president would get treatment that would spare him from spending time in custody with the general population of the jail.

For Trumps co-defendants, Griggs said, everybody else should be treated exactly the same.

It just underscores the injustice that could possibly happen to everyone else, if there is any favoritism or preferential treatment that is given to these individuals for how they turn themselves and are expedited out, Griggs said.

Custody at Fulton County Jail

The Justice Department last month launched a civil rights investigation into the jail which has been the site of multiple deaths on the premises.

US Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke pointed to the death last year of LaShawn Thompson, whose family has blamed unsanitary conditions, including a bed bug and lice infestation, as contributing to his death.

Those circumstances were far from isolated, Clarke said in announcing the investigation last month. Following Mr. Thompsons death, evidence emerged that the mental health unit where he died was infested with insects and that the majority of people living in that unit were malnourished and not receiving basic care.

Family Photo provided to CNN by Michael Harper, attorney for the family of Lashawn Thompson, an inmate who died in the Fulton County Jail in September of 2022. Harper blamed unsanitary conditions and complications from insect bites for Thompson's death in September after three months in jail. The Fulton County Sheriff's Office said in a statement, "The manner and cause of death was listed as undetermined by the county medical examiner. - Family Photo

Three jail officials stepped down earlier this year, after a preliminary investigation into Thompsons death.

Labat has sought more than in $2 billion in county funding to build a new jail and has acknowledged the difficulties in meeting safety and health standards in the current facility, which, from the day that it opened, was not large enough to accommodate the population that comes through it.

The sheriff said he was not surprised by the announcement. In fact, he says he welcomes it.

We welcome another audit, another opportunity for people to come by and help us get it right, Labat told CNN. We dont discriminate. Our goal is to maintain our focus on care and custody, maintain our focus on that.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

CNNs Nick Valencia, Jason Morris and Kevin Conlon contributed to this report.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
(Bloomberg) -- Sweden announced an increased level of terrorist threat following a series of Koran burnings that have sparked anger in the Muslim world.

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The threat level has been raised to four from three on a five-point scale, the head of the nations Security Service, Charlotte von Essen, said at a news conference. That implies a high threat, compared with the previous elevated level.

During this year, there has been a gradual worsening of the situation, where Sweden has moved from being seen as a legitimate target to a prioritized target for Islamist extremists, she said. This threat will remain for a considerable time.

At a separate news conference, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said plans to commit attacks in Sweden have been thwarted in the wake of a number of public events where people have desecrated Islams holy book. The actions, which have also led to protests and riots, have been criticized by the Swedish government.

There are several examples of terrorist groups that have urged sympathizers to avenge Koran burnings that have happened in Sweden, Kristersson said. We also cannot exclude that the attempted murder at the Swedish Honorary Consulate in Izmir had a political motive and was targeted against Sweden.

Ministers are considering changing laws on public order to allow police to block provocations that may threaten national security. Previous attempts by the countrys law enforcement to stop Koran burnings have been struck down by courts on the basis of Swedens far-reaching rights to freedom of speech and assembly.

Read More: Why Koran Burning Has Sweden and Denmark in a Knot: QuickTake

In Sweden, authorities have assessed that the threat of terror attacks has been elevated since 2010. The most recent attack in the Nordic country happened in 2017, when an Uzbek man hijacked a truck and barreled through a busy Stockholm shopping street, killing five.

Authorities in the Nordic nation have long warned that it has been a target of disinformation campaigns aimed at portraying Sweden as a country that is hostile to Islam. Von Essen said intelligence agencies also have indications that foreign states have been using the focus on Sweden to fuel negative narratives for their own purposes, without naming any countries.

Read More: Posing as Islamists, Russian Hackers Take Aim at Sweden

The decision on Thursday to raise the threat level is not tied to any specific event and is mainly intended as a signal to society of a serious risk, according to von Essen.

The assessment is based on what is currently known as well as potential future developments, the director-general said, calling on authorities to double down on the work to prevent terror attacks.

The move comes after the UK government last week said travelers to Sweden should maintain a high level of vigilance as terrorists are very likely to attempt to carry out attacks.

(Updates with premiers comments from fourth paragraph.)

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 18)  Surging oil prices will make air travel more expensive next month as the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) has imposed higher fuel surcharge rates.

According to its advisory, CAB has raised the fuel surcharge rate to Level 6 covering Sept. 1 to 30 of this year following the recent increases in oil prices.

Depending on the distance, this means that for domestic flights, fuel surcharges would range from 185 to 665 for each passenger.

International flights, meanwhile, would run from 610.37 to 4,538.40.

CAB noted that fuel surcharge remains an optional fee that would be collected by airlines to recover fuel costs.

Air carriers wanting to collect fuel surcharge should file their application with CAB, the agency added.

Commenting on this development, Xander Lao, Cebu Pacific president and chief commercial officer, urged travelers to book their flights "as early as possible to avail of low fares."

"Despite the increase in fuel surcharge, Cebu Pacific remains committed to providing accessible and affordable air travel to our passengers through our seat sales," the official said.

Steve Dailisan, AirAsia Philippines head for Communications and Public Affairs and first officer, said the low-cost carrier would "adhere" to CAB's advisory.

"However, as a pioneer in low-cost air travel with a well-established domestic and international network, we will continue to strengthen our commitment to offering our guests the best value, as well as the safest and fastest way of connecting to their loved ones. We also invite our guests to avail of ongoing promos and book their flights early, especially for future travels," Dailisan added.
(Bloomberg) -- Switzerlands armed forces want to spend as much as 50 billion francs ($57 billion) over the next years to cope with a security situation in Europe that has been deteriorating after Russias attack on Ukraine, the countrys army chief said.

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Switzerland is refocusing its army on national defense, Thomas Suessli told reporters in Kloten near Zurich on Thursday.

The army plans new investments of 13 billion francs into communications, ground forces and cyber defenses. Together with regular maintenance and other costs, this totals 50 billion francs through the early 2030s, Suessli said.

Turning to a concrete example, he highlighted that the amount of ammunition Switzerland currently buys per year covers training cadets, but wouldnt be enough to defend the country in case of an attack. In the future, budgets should reflect that scenario, he said.

Suessli, who is Switzerlands highest military official, stipulated that the figure is only a request and that the final decision on how much money will be spent rests with lawmakers. Still, the planned investments are backed by a prior government and parliament decision to raise military spending to 1% of annual economic output, according to a statement.

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(Bloomberg) -- Switzerlands parliament is summoning the board of the state-owned postal service to testify after it purchased a forest in Germany to become climate neutral.

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Its not the attempt at carbon offsetting itself thats angering politicians, but the purchase price. Swiss media are reporting that the 2,400 hectare (9.3 square miles) woodland  estimated to be worth about 10 million ($11 million)  is being acquired for more than six times that amount.

Representatives of Schweizerische Post AG have to answer questions in the lower houses transport and telecommunications committee in the final quarter of this year, Social-democratic lawmaker Jon Pult, who heads the body, told Blick newspaper on Thursday. The postal service has previously said it is obliged to keep the purchase price confidential.

The postal service has too much money and is increasingly investing in areas that have nothing to do with its mission, fellow committee member Christian Wasserfallen of the Free Democrats told Aargauer Zeitung.

The postal service said in a statement to Blick that the purchase amount was in line with market prices.

The fact that a Swiss company is buying a forest some 400 kilometers north of Switzerland, in the state of Thuringia, is less controversial. The postal service wants its operations to be climate neutral by 2030 and has argued that the purchase helps that endeavor.

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TAIPEI (Reuters) -The mayor of Taipei will visit Shanghai at the end of this month for an annual city forum, his office said on Friday, a trip that will take place against the backdrop of frozen ties between the Taiwanese and Chinese governments.

While China has refused to speak to Taiwan's government since President Tsai Ing-wen took office in 2016, believing she is a separatist, city-to-city exchanges had continued until interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Still, Tsai's administration has cautiously been trying to reopen less sensitive people-to-people links since it lifted pandemic-related border controls late last year, aiming to engender goodwill with China, and a group of Shanghai officials made a low-key visit to Taipei in February.

Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an, from the main opposition party the Kuomintang, which traditionally favours close relations with China, will go to Shanghai on Aug. 29-31 for the Taipei-Shanghai City Forum, which was first held in 2010.

The Taipei city government said Chiang, a rising Kuomintang star, would lead the delegation to the forum, the theme of which this year is "new trends, new development".

The Kuomintang has pushed to resume contacts with China since pandemic controls were lifted, saying that dialogue was needed now more than ever given the tensions over Taiwan.

China, which claims the island as its territory, has been carrying out military activities near Taiwan, including regularly sending fighter jets into the air space around it.

"When the situation across the Taiwan Strait is tense, we have a need even more for communication and exchanges, and the two cities forum can be that kind of platform," Chiang told reporters in Taipei.

Taiwan's ex-President Ma Ying-jeou, who remains a senior Kuomintang member, in March became the first sitting or former Taiwanese leader to visit mainland China since the Communist revolution in 1949, saying he hoped to bring about peace and improve relations.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; editing by Robert Birsel)
A federal judge in Delaware dismissed two tax misdemeanor charges against Hunter Biden that were filed as part of his now-defunct plea deal, paving the way for special counsel David Weiss to potentially bring more charges in another jurisdiction as part of his continuing probe.

After the plea deal collapsed earlier this month, Weiss prosecutors asked District Judge Maryellen Noreika to dismiss the charges in Delaware, so new charges could potentially be brought in California or Washington, DC. Hunter Bidens lawyers agreed that the charges should be dismissed, because they were only brought in Delaware as part of the earlier plea agreement.

Noreika approved the procedural request on Thursday.

The two charges brought in Delaware were misdemeanors, for failing to pay taxes on time in 2017 and 2018. Without a plea deal in-hand, Hunter Biden could potentially face more serious charges: IRS whistleblowers who worked on the case told Congress they recommended charging the presidents son with six federal felonies, including tax evasion and filing false tax returns.

The fate of a separate but related deal to resolve a felony gun possession charge is still unclear.

Prosecutors say the deal never went into effect. Hunter Bidens lawyers say it is still valid and binding. It is up to Noreika to decide the status of that deal, which called for prosecutors to drop the gun charge in two years if Hunter Biden stayed out of legal trouble and passed drug tests.

Weiss, now with special counsel status, is continuing the investigation.

At the July 26 court hearing where the plea deal started to unravel, a prosecutor in the case told the judge that the probe into Hunter Bidens potential foreign lobbying violations continued and more charges potentially could be brought. That part of the investigation into potential violations of the Foreign Agent Registration Act, led by the FBI, has been part of the Hunter Biden probe for years.

CNNs Evan Perez contributed to this report.

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Former Teaneck restaurant owner Shalom Yehudiel was ordered to be released from jail as he awaits a trial for child sexual assault charges out of Union County.

Yehudiel appeared before Judge Anthony Gallina for his first appearance on Friday afternoon. The 41-year-old kosher chef is accused of the sexual assault of Elisheva Akselrod at their synagogue when she was a teenager.

As part of Yehudiel's release, he is required to appear for all of his hearings, including the next one on Sept. 28, he must have weekly phone reporting to pretrial services, he cannot commit any new offenses, he is to have no contact with Akselrod, he cannot live in the same house as Akselrod, he cannot be in contact with anyone under the age of 18 with the exception of his 3-year-old daughter, he is not allowed to travel outside the United States and is required to surrender his passport and green card and he cannot apply for a new passport.

Shalom Yehudiel

Union County Prosecutor Caroline Lawlor and Lee Vartan, Yehudiel's attorney, said Yehudiel would be living in Florida and that pre-trial services agreed to allow him weekly phone calls to them instead of appearing in person every other week.

Yehudiel rose to fame by appearing on "Chopped" on Food Network in 2020, but the fame was fleeting. He soon became embroiled in sexual assault accusations, subsequently facing two lawsuits claiming sexual harassment, including one by a former employee at his restaurant Humble Toast. He was arrested in March 2022 on charges of allegedly assaulting a third victim, who prosecutors said was underage.

The 2022 charges were dismissed without prejudice in Bergen County after the FBI failed to turn over a disputed video on Aug. 7. Should the video be produced and the prosecutor's office finds evidence to support the charges, they could file charges again.

Related 'It's not his story': 'Chopped' chef accuser discusses alleged abuse and her recovery

After Yehudiel was released, he was arrested the next day at John F. Kennedy International Airport, attempting to fly to Bangkok with a one-way ticket, according to the Union County Prosecutor's Office. His attorneys said he was attacked by another inmate in Rikers Island Jail and had his arm injured and was throwing up blood over the weekend. When appearing before the court, Yehudiel could be seen wearing a blue and white sling on one of his arms.

The Bergen County prosecutor declined to press charges in Akselrod's case, which she sued over. The Union County prosecutor is handling the case because of a lawsuit filed by Akselrod against Bergen because of its decision not to pursue charges against Yehudiel.

Michael Gorokhovich, Akselrod's attorney, previously told NorthJersey.com the lawsuit was dropped because of the new criminal charges, noting his client didn't want money from him. Yehudiel has repeatedly professed his innocence, saying his accusers are motivated by money.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: 'Chopped' chef Shalom Yehudiel released after court hearing
As mental health professionals we reject the proposed legislation to commit more Tennesseans to mental health institutions as a response to gun violence.

First, as has been shown in the data, most recently by the Columbia School of Psychiatry Columbia Mass Murder Database (CMMD), a very small number of anywhere from 5%-8% of individuals responsible for mass shootings actually have any kind of psychosis or serious mental health disorder that may have led them to conduct the shooting.

We are aware of the FBI number that puts this number much higher, but that number includes depression, anxiety, and other common mental health diagnoses that many, including 43% of Tennesseans, struggle with and that are not causes of extremely violent acts like mass shootings.

In our collective experience as psychiatrists, therapists, researchers, nurses and psychologists, we know that admission to an inpatient psychiatric facility should only be considered where there are no other options to maintain safety, and risk is truly imminent because hospitalization itself could cause unintentional harm. In the vast majority of cases, mental health concerns are best managed using outpatient resources, like consistent psychotherapy, medication, and community or faith-based resources.

Fear of unnecessary and unwarranted psychiatric hospitalization could lead people to further try to conceal any plans of harm, and would not promote honest disclosure of suicide risk or thoughts of harm to others for fear of hospitalization.

Hear more Tennessee Voices: Get the weekly opinion newsletter for insightful and thought provoking columns.

Lawmakers need to heed the public's pleas

The authors: "Focus on the issue at hand, death and injury by guns in our state."

Finally, even if admission to an inpatient psychiatric facility is warranted due to true imminent risk of harm to self or others, stays typically are no longer than 14 days. As professionals, we recommend restricting access to lethal means, including guns, for any period of time when risk for harm to self or others is known to be high, including in the weeks and months after a psychiatric hospitalization. Again demonstrating that mental health commitments will not be the solution to gun violence, removing guns from individuals will be.

In a state where we rank 45th in access to mental health care, where we had over 1,000 lives lost to suicide last year, improving access to quality mental health services would benefit our whole state. The proposal distracts from addressing the lethality of these weapons and fails to address the concerns of our state and responsible gun owners themselves, as was demonstrated in the thousands of submissions to Gov. Bill Lee over the summer. These submissions asked for training, permits, background checks, and significant restrictions to the ownership of semi-automatic sporting rifles.

Alongside 84% of the 19,000 comments submitted to Gov. Bill Lee, we call upon our legislators to focus on the issue at hand, death and injury by guns in our state.

Signed:

Alex Bettis, PhD

Susanna Quasem, MD

Caitlin Coile, LPC-MHSP

Molly Butler, PMHNP

Lauren Beem, LMSW

Katherine Spencer, PsyD,HSP

Michelle Reising, PhD

Katherine Hofstetter, LMFT

Kimberly Lux, LCSW

Jenn Stewart, PhD

Sarah Iaccarino, LMFT

Kelly Watson, PhD

Lily Catalano, LMSW

Kelsey Riddle, LMFT

Laura Grafham Knapp, LPC-MHSP

Theresa Padilla RN

Rise and Shine TN

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee special session avoids gun safety and mental health care
Tesla has been accused of several unethical business practices over the years. The latest, according to a new, extensively reported piece from Reuters, is that the electric vehicle company misled consumers about the battery range of its cars.

Not only that, but according to the report, Tesla also created an entire secret Diversion Team to thwart customers who complained about the issue.

Range anxiety  the fear that your electric vehicle could run out of battery in between charging stations, leaving you stranded  has been an issue plaguing electric vehicle manufacturers ever since EVs have been sold.

To combat this consumer fear, EV makers have managed to develop efficient and reliable batteries that can hold hundreds of miles worth of charge.

But Tesla apparently went one step further, advertising range estimates that were not based in reality, going as far as to rig the range-estimating software within its cars.

Per Reuters, a person familiar with an early design of the software for its in-dash readouts said that Teslas range meter would show rosy projections for how far a car could travel on a full battery. Then, once the battery fell to under 50% charged, the projection would switch to a realistic number so as to avoid actually leaving drivers stranded with an empty battery.

However, drivers who noticed the abrupt switch thought something was wrong with their cars and scheduled service appointments. Thats where the Diversion Team came in.

The team was reportedly tasked with identifying customers who had scheduled appointments based on the misleading range estimates. From there, they were meant to tell those customers there was nothing wrong with their cars and that they should cancel their appointments  without ever telling them what the actual issue had been.

The issue of Teslas range estimates being inaccurate has been reported previously  earlier this year, the South Korean government fined the EV maker $2.2 million for failing to tell customers about the shorter driving range of its cars in low temperatures, Reuters reported.

However, the extent of how intentionally Tesla misled its customers and then attempted to cover it up had not previously been known.

Tesla has been forced to settle several lawsuits over violating consumers rights, including a recent one in which the company was accused of doubling the price of its solar roofs after customers had already signed a contract.

In addition, experts have said that the companys misleading marketing around its Full-Self Driving feature, which still requires driver supervision, has led to unsafe driving practices and accidents.

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As far as Trey Farmer is concerned, every new home should be a passive house.

Passive houses are made to be as airtight and insulated as possible. This helps lock in the comfortable temperature inside, protecting residents from both heat and cold, while dramatically lowering the need for heating and air conditioning.

Theyre a specialty of Forge Craft Architecture + Design, the firm where Farmer is a partner. The award-winning architect and a certified passive house consultant is an adamant supporter of this cutting-edge building technique.

This is the best way to build a house, and we dont want to do anything else, Farmer told The Cool Down.

Farmer lives by that ideal himself. In 2015, he and his wife began planning renovations on their Austin, Texas, home, a 1914 Craftsman in a historic neighborhood.

The finished construction won a stunning array of honors in 2022, including a Department of Energy 2022 Housing Innovation Award, Austin Home Magazines Readers Choice Home of the Year, and an Austin Green Award.

Farmer completed the project and moved into the home in 2020, just two weeks before COVID-19 lockdowns began in his area.

We got to move into our brand-new house and then spend a lot more time in it than we thought we were going to, he said.

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As Farmer can confirm, the temperature isnt the only benefit of a passive house. Thanks to a quality HVAC system, the air is incredibly clean, even when theres wildfire smoke outside.

The insulation makes the neighborhood less noisy, too.

Ive been surprised at how quiet it is, Farmer said. We live a block from a major highway with a train. Before, the whole house would shake. Now, I dont know when the train goes by.

According to Forge Craft, Farmers home uses 75% less energy than a typical house. Farmer took it a step further by adding solar panels, so now the house generates more electricity than it uses, making it net positive.

A net-positive home has incredible advantages. Electricity is free, and homeowners can even earn money by producing power for their neighbors. In an outage, the house will still have power, too.

At the same time, lowering energy usage and switching to a nonpolluting energy source minimizes the heat-trapping gas being released into the atmosphere. This makes passive houses one potential key to getting Earths temperature under control.

Given all these benefits, its incredible how little passive home construction actually costs.

[The cost premium is] usually somewhere south of 5%, Farmer told The Cool Down, adding that it shrinks to nothing as providers get more familiar with passive home construction. Also, the utility reduction  we see five- to 10-year payback just purely on utility savings.

Farmer has almost 20 years of experience building the healthiest passive buildings he and his team can create. As chief sustainability officer at Forge Craft, Farmer has contributed his knowledge to all the firms new projects, including low-income housing and multifamily dwellings.

Forge Craft is also leading the way toward a higher standard of construction across the U.S. Farmer would like to see it adopted as part of the official building code.

To make that happen, Farmer has offered his own home as an example.

A big part of the house was making it a case study and trying to be open about everything we were doing, he said.

Meanwhile, Farmer and his team have started designing their next boundary-pushing building. In July, they purchased a lot for the project, which they hope will be another showcase for passive houses and healthy building principles that other companies can adopt.

Its easier than you think, Farmer said. The benefits just outweigh the costs in such a huge way that its just kind of why not?

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A North Texas man was sentenced to life in federal prison for investment fraud that led to the killing of a friend, the Carrollton Police Department announced in a news release Thursday.

Keith Todd Ashley, 51, was found guilty in October 2022 on charges of wire, mail, and bank fraud, and firearm violations.

Carrollton Police Chief Roberto Arredondo said in the news release that Ashley went to great lengths to steal clients life savings and even kill to gain control of their finances.

Ashley was a registered nurse who began working as a financial advisor and life insurance agent. He stole more than $1 million from his clients, according to the release.

He promised his clients he would invest their money in financial products, but used the money to for other reasons including to help keep his struggling brewery business alive, pay personal debts, and to fund a lavish lifestyle, police said.

In May 2016, Ashley started stealing investment funds from his friend, Jim Seegan, from Carrollton.

Ashley transferred Seegans funds into his own accounts and changed the beneficiary of Seegans life insurance policy to a trust Ashley controlled, according to the release.

The scheme resulted in the 2020 death of Seegan, which Ashley staged to look like a suicide, police said in the release. He was arrested and charged with murder in November 2020.

The Dallas County District Attorneys Office may continue pursuing state murder charges, according to police.
Not long ago, the idea that red states can be blue too interested me. The idea being, even though Kentucky politics are predominantly Republican, decades of Democratic control in Frankfort had entrenched government with a size-and-scope more in line with liberal blue states than conservative red states.

Whether the Republican super-majorities in the General Assembly were up to the task of realigning us with those limited-government states was a relevant question.

Evidence continues to pile up that our current course is a far-reaching departure from the past. Exhibit one: last month, Kentucky closed the fiscal year with $3.7 billion in our rainy-day fund.

To put this in perspective, when Steve Beshear left office in 2015, there was only $209 million in that fund. Matt Bevins balances werent much better, although he dedicated annual surpluses to shoring up the states pension systems.

The massive influx of federal COVID relief allowed our state general fund surpluses to begin accumulating. For the past few years, steady economic growth and low unemployment have been driving record revenues to the state treasury.

Still, 2021 was an inflection point. The critical decision was deciding not to spend every dollar available, something that is much easier said than done in legislative politics.

Building budget reserves isnt much of a rallying cry. The benefits of doing so, however, shouldnt be ignored.

In a period of seven months, two separate natural disasters ravaged eastern and western Kentucky. Because Frankfort had prioritized savings, state government was positioned to provide hundreds of millions of dollars in immediate aid and relief to the devastated communities in those regions.

The improvement in our fiscal health is getting noticed. Credit rating upgrades send a signal to business and investors that were getting our financial house in order.

When the economy slows down, a strong rainy-day fund is the best defense against a tax increase. And now, the glide path to a lower, more competitive tax structure is conditioned on sufficient budget reserves.

Kentuckys personal income tax rate has already dropped a full percentage point. Further reductions are almost certain with the latest good news.

Claiming it (threatened) Kentuckys economic future, Gov. Andy Beshear vetoed the legislation that, over time, will eliminate the state income tax. In this election year, hes trying to share the credit for the legislatures bold move.

So, Beshear opposed cutting taxes before he was for it? Somewhere John Kerry is beaming with pride.

2024 is a budget session. The discussion should start with how to maintain the spending restraint delivering these benefits to Kentucky. A debate on what to do with the accumulated balances is also warranted.

Liberal organizations will go back to page one of their playbook, claiming any dollar not spent on government programs will result in the sky falling on Kentuckians. The Republican-controlled Appropriations and Revenue committees will listen respectfully before soundly rejecting these tired and discredited predictions.

In the past, Sen. Chris McDaniel, R-Latonia, has supported rebating the surplus to the taxpayers and, hopefully, will continue to lead that charge. Returning the money to the people who paid it should be the priority. Additional structural changes to the tax code to enhance Kentuckys long-term competitiveness  like eliminating the death tax  should also be in the mix.

Theres still room for improvement. Frankfort collects and spends far more from taxpayers than Tennessee. Also, we cant ignore Kentuckys finances, while improving, still rank near the bottom of states.

The decision by Republicans to set a new course based on pro-growth, conservative fiscal principles is paying off in big ways. Continuing to firm up the new ground were standing on is the right path forward.

Andrew McNeill is President of the Kentucky Forum for Rights, Economics & Education and a former Deputy State Budget and Policy Director. His email is amcneill@kyfree.org.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 18)  Cinemalaya has announced the 10 full-length features that will compete for the 20th edition of the country's most anticipated independent film festival next year.

Cinemalaya said the 10 finalists are shortlisted from the top 20 semi-finalists that went through Cinemalayas three-month-long film-laboratory mentorship program.

READ: Cinemalaya 2023: Iti Mapukpukaw wins Best Film, Dolly de Leon hailed as Best Supporting Actress

The film festival added that this year's edition logged 250 submissions  the highest number of full-length film submissions in the history of Cinemalaya.

Below are the 10 films competing under Main Competition's Full-Length Category:

Alipato by JL Burgos

The brother of missing activist Jonas Burgos bares in this documentary the untold stories behind the confidential leads, damning evidences, and why the disappearance of his brother remains a relevant case today.

Ang Tumandok (The Inhabitants) by Kat Sumagaysay and Richard Salvadico

Based on real-life experiences of the Atis, the indigenous people of Central Panay, and starred by the Atis themselves, Ang Tumandok features a 16-year old chieftain's daughter as she fights tooth and nail with her people for their ancestral land.

Aripuen (The Servant) by Christopher Gozum

Stranded for 21 years in a remote mountain village in a Middle Eastern country, 63-year-old Filipina shepherdess Divina Sabangan endures isolation, threats of imprisonment and deportation, homesickness, unpaid salaries, and insanity while clinging to her faith in God and love for her family.

Balota by Kip Oebanda

A land-grabbing tycoon and a former sexy male actor are locked in a tight race for mayor in a small town. When violence erupts, Emmy, a teacher, runs into the wilderness with a ballot box, the last copy of the election results. Emmy and the community try to outsmart and outmaneuver the goons who want the elections to fail.

Gulay Lang Manong by BC Amparado

Pilo is a struggling, old vegetable farmer in Benguet. His stoner brother, Ricky, is part of the prominent Benguet Marijuana Cartel and is being trained by his best friend, Razer, a cunning midget and a well-known personality in the underground Ganja community.

Kantil (Trench) by Joshua Caesar Medroso

While facing threats of demolition, a coastal community of informal settlers in Purok 12, Tibungco, Davao City discovers a strange, unearthly shell by the sea. This makes them more vulnerable to menacing powers set out to destroy their homes and their humanity.

Kono Basho (This Place) by Jaime Pacena II

An introspective journey of a Filipino son attending the funeral of his estranged OFW father in a city in Japan that is rebuilding from the aftermath of the March 2011 tsunami.

Love Child by Jonathan Jurilla

Young, unmarried couple, Aila and Pao must agree on certain terms on how to properly raise their son, who is diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

The Errand by Sarge Lacuesta

A driver is sent on a simple errand: to pick up a designer t-shirt and a tin of viagra for his boss, who is shacked up in a hotel with his lover. Simple as it sounds, the road trip crisscrosses the chasms of time, class, and character.

The Wedding Dance by Julius Lumiqued

In 1942, a Kalinga woman is personally invited by her husband, a warrior of their tribe, to his new wedding dance.
Tesla began to open some of its exclusive Supercharging stations to other electric vehicles earlier this year.

But the cords are designed for Teslas, meaning that owners of some other cars need to use two spaces to plug in.

Tesla plans to grant other EV owners access to at least 3,500 of its chargers by the end of 2024.

After years of teasers, Tesla began opening up its vast, exclusive network of Superchargers to drivers of other electric vehicles in the US earlier this year.

There's just one kink that Elon Musk hasn't ironed out: The charging cables, which were designed for Teslas, aren't long enough to comfortably accommodate some other cars. It means non-Teslas have had to park awkwardly to plug in. Or worse yet, park in the wrong spot, blocking off two charging stalls instead of one.

In March, Tesla opened a handful of its roughly 1,700 US charging stations to non-Tesla vehicles. It accomplished this rather elegantly, by retrofitting what it calls a "Magic Dock," an adapter that automatically attaches to let Chevrolets, Porsches, BMWs top up. (Tesla designed its own charging connector, while the rest of the industry uses a different standard.)

EV owners flocked to the stations to test them out, with many marveling online at the seamless process. But they also noticed a glaring flaw in the plan. All Teslas have their charging in the same spot on the back-left corner of the car. Superchargers themselves  and the surrounding parking spots  are designed to accommodate Teslas only.

That poses a problem when other electric cars, which may have their charging ports elsewhere, try to charge up.

For example, when tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee took his Rivian truck to a Tesla station in New York, he had to park in the wrong spot  effectively blocking another charging stall  in order to plug in. The same happened when Electrek, an electric-car blog, brought a Chevrolet Bolt to a Supercharger.

In a recent YouTube video, Dave Conner, of the automotive channel Out of Spec Reviews, charged a Genesis GV60 electric SUV at a Tesla station while taking up two spots. He noted that the situation could pose problems, particularly during times when chargers are in high demand.

"People are going to start to get upset here with the fact that Tesla has delivered this Magic Dock station capability, but they haven't thought through the logistics as far as how people are going to charge," Conner said.

In a video on his State of Charge YouTube channel, Tom Moloughney could barely get Tesla's cable to reach the charging port of his Ford F-150 Lightning, but succeeded (while blocking an extra space) after repositioning his vehicle extremely close to a bollard in front of the parking space. He spoke with a Lucid Air owner at the same location who said he would have had to "crash my bumper into the charging station" to top up at one of the standard stalls, so he chose the lone Supercharger off to the side that was positioned differently.

Tesla owners sometimes experience long lines at charging stations, particularly during popular travel times. Ford, Chevy, and Hyundai owners clogging up Superchargers could frustrate Tesla owners further if the company fails to roll out a fix before deploying Magic Docks to more locations. The simplest solution, it seems, would be to add longer cables that can reach the charging ports on more vehicles.

Tesla's chargers being open to anyone is set to be a boon for EV owners who currently rely on an inconsistent patchwork of charging providers. The move allows Tesla to access some of the $7.5 billion in federal funding set aside for improving charging infrastructure.

Are you a Tesla or other EV owner with thoughts to share? Contact this reporter at tlevin@insider.com

Read the original article on Business Insider
Russians also spotted drones flying in the direction of Moscow

Thousands of office workers in the Moskva-City complex in Moscow were evacuated from a building following an anonymous call about an upcoming "drone attack," according to social media reports on Aug. 18.

The anonymous report turned out to be a false alarm. About 2,000 people were evacuated from Tower A.".

Shot

Shot

Explosions rocked Moscow and the surrounding area overnight on Aug. 18. A drone exploded near the Moskva-City complex, Russian media reported, posting a video of a woman saying that the Moskva-City had been "blown up again." All Moscow airports were closed for departure and arrival on Aug. 18.

Read also: Recent naval drone attacks will change situation in the Black Sea

Drone attacks have become frequent news in Moscow in the past months. Unidentified drones attacked the same district of the Russian capital on July 30, with a drone colliding with the IQ tower within Moskva-City, resulting in damage to an office of the Russian Ministry of Digital Development situated in the building.

Moscow faced another drone attack overnight on Aug. 1. The same tower within the city's financial district suffered damage again, as reported by the citys mayor.

There have been several other attacks, one of which briefly set fire to one of the domes of the Kremlin.

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
David M. Uhlmann in 2021 during a Senate confirmation hearing to be assistant administrator of the E.P.A.

Under President Joe Biden, the Environmental Protection Agency has closed fewer civil cases against polluters than any administration in the last two decades and has overseen a drop in criminal investigations of environmental crimes.

David Uhlmann hopes to change that.

Uhlmann, 60, begins a new job this week as the agencys top cop. An expert on environmental law, Uhlmann is leading the EPA unit that holds companies and individuals accountable for fouling drinking water, dumping hazardous waste, failing to control toxic pollution and other violations.

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A onetime federal prosecutor who spent seven years as chief of the environmental crimes section at the Department of Justice, Uhlmann was the lead attorney on the countrys first environmental justice criminal trial and later won the longest jail sentence in history for an environmental crime.

Uhlmann, whose confirmation as an assistant EPA administrator was stalled in Congress for more than two years, enters the role at a consequential moment for the Biden administration.

The president has made bold promises to hold polluters accountable, particularly in low-income communities that have faced disproportionate levels of environmental contamination.

But a recent study found that the White Houses signature environmental justice program may not shrink racial disparities when it comes to exposure to pollution. And last month, the EPA closed an investigation into complaints from environmental groups that Louisiana had discriminated against Black communities in the way it issued permits for chemical plants in a majority-Black area known as Cancer Alley. In May, the state challenged the investigation in court, saying the EPA had overstepped its authority. The following month, the EPA closed the case.

In his first interview since his July 20 confirmation, Uhlmann said he was intent on increasing the number of administrative actions as well as the criminal and civil cases that the EPA brings for violations of environmental law.

The enforcement programs at EPA are a force to be reckoned with. We are going to be present in every community across America where violations of the law are occurring, said Uhlmann, who took a leave from teaching at the University of Michigan Law School to join the EPA. We are going to hold polluters accountable when they break the law.

On Thursday, the EPA intends to announce enforcement priorities, with a new emphasis on greenhouse gas emissions. The agency said it would focus on making sure that oil and gas wells, landfills and other facilities did not leak methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. It will also monitor the phase-down of another class of greenhouse gases, hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, which are used in air conditioning and refrigeration. The United States and other countries have agreed to cut back production and use of HFCs by 85% over the next 13 years.

Other enforcement priorities include a focus on the toxic forever chemicals, perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl compounds known as PFAS, as well as the disposal of coal ash, the toxic material left over from burning coal.

Uhlmanns biggest challenge is getting cases on the ground and filed, said Richard Lazarus, a professor of environmental law at Harvard University. Hes got a year and a half to realize the promise of these announcements. My guess is hes impatient and ready to go.

During the Trump administration, Uhlmann criticized the EPAs enforcement activity, which sank to record lows in terms of inspections and the volume of civil cases concluded as well as those referred for prosecution.

But that activity has not increased significantly since Biden took office.

While the EPA has recently stepped up inspections, the number of civil cases resolved in fiscal year 2022 was the lowest in at least two decades, according to agency data. Most environmental violations are civil offenses, with enforcement action initiated by states or the EPA. They usually result in fines and other obligations to clean polluted areas and comply with the law.

The EPA enforcement unit refers severe or deliberate violations to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution. Last year, the agency opened 117 criminal investigations, the second smallest number of inquiries in 22 years. (Only 115 investigations were opened in 2017).

Uhlmann blamed the lingering effects of budget cuts and staff departures that occurred during the Trump administration.

The number of people working in the EPAs civil enforcement program fell from 3,294 in 2012 to 2,253 in 2022, according to the Environmental Integrity Project, a watchdog group. The agency also has lost about 40 criminal enforcement agents since 2012 and seen a 30% budget cut over the last decade.

If you experienced those kinds of cuts, its going to dramatically reduce how much you can do on behalf of communities across America to address harmful pollution, and the budget cuts did have that effect, Uhlmann said.

The unit is rebuilding, he said, and the EPA is hiring to try to fill more than 100 positions. Early 2023 data provided by the EPA also showed more than 9,000 inspections have occurred, with more than half taking place in disadvantaged communities that the agency has pledged to prioritize.

Susan Bodine, who led EPA enforcement in the Trump administration, said enforcement numbers were a lagging indicator of the work being done and not entirely reflective of the significance of cases being brought. Getting numbers up is easy, but it may not be meaningful, Bodine said.

Eric Schaeffer, executive director of the Environmental Integrity Project, said there have been encouraging signs recently. In May, BP, the oil giant, agreed to pay a record $40 million penalty and spend about $200 million on environmental controls to settle civil claims brought by the EPA and Justice Department that BP released excessive amounts of cancer-causing benzene in wastewater from its Indiana oil refinery.

But he also said Uhlmann needed to rebound far more aggressively.

The laws dont mean squat if theyre not enforced, Schaeffer said. You need a person in enforcement that wants to enforce and is not looking over their shoulder constantly that is looking at shadows and worrying what the politicians will say. I have a sense that David will do that.

In his law school classes, Uhlmann often mined the cases he worked on during his 17-year career as a federal prosecutor.

In 1997, he brought what later would be called the first environmental justice criminal case, United States v. Jonnie James Williams. Williams, the owner of a Memphis company that refurbished metal drums, was sentenced to three years and four months for illegal storage and disposal of hazardous waste after neighbors complained of noxious fumes that wafted into their yards.

Uhlmanns most notable case, in 2000, was against the owner of a fertilizer manufacturing company in Idaho who ordered his employees to clean out a storage tank containing cyanide without taking safety precautions. One worker was overcome by hydrogen cyanide gas while cleaning the tank and sustained permanent brain damage.

It resulted in a 17-year jail sentence, which at the time was the longest sentence ever imposed for an environmental crime.

George Breitsameter, a former U.S. attorney in Idaho who helped prosecute that case, said Uhlmann avoided ruffling feathers on a case that required coordination between state, local and federal authorities.

But when it came to the prosecution, Breitsameter said, David is very aggressive. I would describe him as aggressive and fair.

Uhlmann said that he hoped to breathe new life into the EPAs mission to uphold the nations environmental laws.

Certainly my top priority is revitalizing the enforcement program at EPA and doing everything I can, not just to bring it back, but to take it to new heights, he said.

c.2023 The New York Times Company
An EF-1 tornado touched down in both Mansfield and North Attleboro on Friday morning as severe storms left a trail of destruction across eastern Massachusetts, officials said.

Caught in the funnel: Rhode Island tornado lifts car off interstate highway

The National Weather Service confirmed in a statement that the tornado snapped or uprooted trees near the intersection of Mendon Road Monticello Drive in North Attleboro.

A home on Mary Ann Way had a window blown in by the winds estimated to have been gusting between 80 to 90 miles per hour, the NWS says.

The tornado briefly lifted before touching down in Mansfield where the twister sheared several large trees near their tops, one of which fell on a car, the NWS says.

Elm and Otis Streets in Mansfield also saw significant damage. A giant tree was torn out of the ground on Elm Street and another tree slammed onto the roof of a home on Otis Street.

Drone video from Plantingfield Road showed clusters of downed trees as crews begin cleanup work.

Trees toppled, roads flooded as severe weather wreaks havoc on Massachusetts

Chris Driscoll stood in the backyard of his Mansfield home Friday surveying the damage hours after a tornado tore through town.

Falling trees pierced his roof and garage, leaving holes and a mess of broken branches on Plantingfield Street.

We all knew something big happened, we were afraid of how much damage, Driscoll said. We got the tornado alert. We all went down into the basement, and it really started to rain and the wind picked up. And probably in 15 seconds, we just heard the house  a big thump  things shatter, and then after 15, 20 seconds, it was over. So, it was real quick but very impactful.

Tree crews spent hours removing the debris from the roof with a bucket truck, using chainsaws to chop up and later haul away huge logs from the backyard.

On nearby Otis Street, a falling tree also took out a portion of a roof.

And on Elm Street, trees were uprooted around the home belonging to Jack Keyworth, whose wife quickly and safely took cover downstairs, while he waited a bit too long.

I was watching it on television, and they kept saying there were tornadoes in this area. And foolishly I was staying by the window looking out, and I watched the tree turn and come out of the ground. Then I went downstairs, he said, with a laugh.

Despite the heavy damage, no one was injured by Mansfields tornado.

It couldve been a lot worse, Driscoll said. Very thankful.

As the storms wreaked havoc on the region, one of multiple tornado warnings was issued and then extended in Norfolk County, where trees were uprooted in Stoughton.

Flooding also impacted travel in Mansfield on North Main Street, Otis Street, Franklin Street, and Elm Street, according to police.

There have also been confirmed tornados along the Foxboro/Easton line, in Mattapoisett, in North Brookfield, and in Dublin, New Hampshire, this summer.

Additional details on Fridays weather event are expected to be released when the survey is complete.

So far, tornado damage has been confirmed in North Attleboro + Mansfield, MA.



Storm damage is being surveyed in Weymouth, MA, Stoughton, MA, and in portions of Rhode Island.



Tough determining how many tornadoes occurred with the cyclical nature of the supercell at this time.  Tucker Antico (@tuckerweather) August 18, 2023

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

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In this Oct. 21, 2015 file photo, cage-free chickens stand in a fenced pasture on the Francis Blake organic farm, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2015, near Waukon, Iowa. Utah is possibly looking to amend its cage-free law before 2025 deadline. | Charlie Neibergall, Associated Press

Cliff Lillywhite admits that it has not been easy converting his egg-producing facility from cages to no cages.

He began the endeavor at Oakdell Egg Farms in North Salt Lake before the Utah Legislature passed a law two years ago requiring all egg facilities in the state to be cage-free by the start of 2025. While he expects to be compliant by that deadline, he's now worried by what the law didn't include: a state ban on selling noncage-free eggs.

"If the state of Utah remains where it is, it will encourage all of us to sell eggs outside of the state, which we don't want to do because we love Utah," he told members of the Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Interim Committee last week. "We want to take care of things here in Utah. It's just been a real difficult thing."

He's not alone, either. Utah's egg producers are asking state lawmakers to consider banning the sale of noncage-free eggs by the time the 2021 law goes into effect, state agriculture officials reported to the committee on Aug. 9.

But members of the committee, including the original bill's sponsor, seem hesitant to oblige, arguing that it might be easier to pass a bill that rescinds portions of the law than pass legislation that could ban a potentially lower-cost option for consumers.

The committee ultimately approved a motion to open a bill file for a broad review of the matter ahead of the 2024 legislative session before any changes are made.

How Utah's cage-free law came to be

The Legislature, in 2021, set a deadline for Utah egg producers to use only cage-free methods. Sen. Scott Sandall, R-Tremonton, who sponsored the legislation, said at the time that producers requested the legislation, asserting that they wanted to take a "proactive" approach to the issue.

The law states that Utah egg producers must provide hens perches, nest boxes, scratching areas and other amenities that allow them to "exhibit natural behaviors" by the start of 2025. Several producers, animal rights groups and the Utah Retail Merchants Associations all endorsed the law, saying it meets the growing pressures placed by consumers and many food companies.

With Arizona approving a similar measure this year, the Beehive State is one of now 11 states with complete or partial cage-free requirements on the books. Other Western states include California, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, according to Amber Brown, director of legislative and government affairs for the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food.

Major retailers like Walmart, Costco and Kroger, the parent owner of Smith's, all have pledged to be cage-free by 2025, too, she added.

Producers realized it might be the only way they could sell their products, Lillywhite explained.

"I'm not sure we saw it as an entrepreneurial opportunity for us," he said. "We saw it as a matter of survival to supply our customers."

The law also gave the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food the job of enforcing the law and for the department to compile an implementation report for the Legislature's Business and Labor Interim Committee by this November.

A costly implementation

Utah's egg producers report being anywhere from 50% to 75% compliant with the regulation and expect to reach 100% by the end of next year, according to Brown, who offered members of the Natural Resources committee a sneak preview of the November report in last week's meeting.

Producers are somewhat split on how to describe future changes, as 36% called it an opportunity, compared to 28% who called it a challenge. Another 36%  the plurality of the survey  said they view it as equally challenging and opportunistic. Four-fifths of those surveyed said demand for cage-free eggs has increased over the past three years, estimating that the increase is between 10% and 15%, according to the department presentation.

But getting there hasn't been easy, as Lillywhite mentioned. Every Utah producer the department spoke to reported spending at least $1 million transitioning to the law and costs may exceed $10 million altogether, Brown said. That's because going cage-free requires at least twice the capital costs, along with all sorts of other additional costs associated with the process.

These additional costs could be pushed onto the consumer, which would cause problems. She adds that self-reported data indicates most people will buy the cheapest egg available no matter what.

"Data has shown consumers will purchase the lower-priced egg regardless of whether there is a cage-free pledge or cage-free requirement in the law. If the price is too high, they will just not purchase eggs at all," she said, cautioning that there isn't enough sales data yet to confirm the self-reported information.

Addressing the new problem

This is where the new concerns about implementation arise. The 2021 law doesn't include any sort of language that prohibits noncage-free eggs from being imported and sold in Utah.

If the consumer scenario plays out, agriculture officials suspect there might be a shift in the market, where Utah produces eggs sold to other states and retailers import eggs from states that don't have similar requirements, raising potential food security concerns, especially if there are transportation issues blocking imports.

Utah egg producers  the ones like Lillywhite  are requesting an amendment to the law to address the possibility. They want a change that allows for noncage-free eggs to flow through the state, but not sold in it, and requires egg sales in Utah to "meet or exceed Utah production standards," Brown said.

However, that idea didn't sit well with some members of the committee, including Sandall. He said he isn't sure the Utah Legislature would support a measure that would "deny" consumers a potentially lower-cost option in stores.

"I'm a free market person and I have a hard time saying, 'You can't do this.' I think it ought to be the consumer that makes the choice," said Rep. Rex Shipp, R-Cedar City, in agreement.

Rep. Tim Jimenez, R-Tooele, presented a motion to open a committee bill file looking into the idea of rescinding the 2021 bill, allowing producers to decide whether to go cage-free or not, as a possible solution.

That idea, in turn, didn't sit well with Lillywhite, whose company put even more time and money into its facility to meet the state law after the 2021 bill cleared the Legislature.

"That ship has sailed quite frankly," he said. "We had no choice, we invested a lot of money. If you put all Utah producers out of business  that could happen."

Rep. Walt Brooks, R-St.George said he doesn't believe the Legislature would want to "pull the carpet from underneath" producers after requiring them to convert their equipment, either. In the end, the committee agreed on opening a bill file to review the law and explore any possible changes before the 2025 deadline.

"(We'll be) working with you (in the) industry to make sure we're doing it in a way that's favorable, as well, for you," he said, speaking to Lillywhite and other agriculture experts.

It's likely a topic that will be considered further as the deadline slowly approaches.
Boiling Springs is planning to construct a new gathering space downtown after receiving a grant. This drawing shows the proposed plan.

The town of Boiling Springs was recently awarded a rural transformation grant which will be used to enhance its downtown area.

The $195,000 grant from North Carolina Commerce will be used to create a gathering space for residents.

Gov. Roy Cooper announced that 29 local governments in rural areas across the state were awarded grants from the Rural Transformation Grant Fund, a course of support for rural economic development projects. Funds were awarded in four different categories: downtown revitalization, resilient neighborhoods, community enhancements and rural community capacity.

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 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.

Boiling Springs is planning to construct a new gathering space downtown after receiving a grant. This drawing shows the proposed plan.

Town Manager Justin Longino said Boiling Springs staff have been working on a streetscape project, which included making it safer for pedestrians, widening sidewalks and more on south main street and out of that process, they came up with the idea to create an area downtown where people could gather. The grant will help make that happen. He said it would be a space for outdoor dining, concerts and more.

Longino said it wouldnt take away from current parking but would rearrange the downtown area.

The courtyard is going to be in the parking lot downtown, but it's not going to affect the parking, he said. The idea is to just rearrange the parking. It's not going to take away parking from downtown businesses.

Longino said they plan to have a public art piece in the middle of the courtyard.

The preliminary idea is to have some sort of tie-in with Earl Scruggs and maybe even have a design contest so a local artist could help us fill that space, he said.

The grant, which is reimbursable, would cover the majority of the project, and the town is currently working through a final agreement. Town leaders recently met with stakeholders downtown and solicited feedback.

Now we're perfecting that and getting everything ready to bid out, Longino said. Hopefully well have the construction documents ready in 60 days and bid out for 60 days. We hope to move it along.

He said they are aiming for a spring completion date.

This is the result of a conversation that the council had with the community a couple years ago that established the big downtown master plan we had, Longino said.

The town is also working to develop a land use plan in the next few months in addition to a downtown plan and a park master plan.

One other thing were doing in conjunction with the courtyard is we got a grant for Wi-Fi downtown. Well be adding Wi-Fi that folks can access from businesses and the courtyard and extend to the park as well, Longino said. That should be available in the next two months. We have a request for bids out now. It should be a pretty quick implementation.

The Wi-Fi was made possible through a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission.

This article originally appeared on The Shelby Star: Town of Boiling Springs receives grant for new gathering space
John Straub, a volunteer with the West Orange County Community Emergency Response Team, loads dozens of sandbags on Friday in Seal Beach for residents ahead of Hurricane Hilary. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

The vast majority of Southern California residents weren't even alive the last time a tropical storm hit, back in 1939.

So with Hurricane Hilary approaching, you're probably not drawing on a well of experience on how to prepare. For help on that front, check out The Times' complete guide to storm safety preparedness.

In the meantime, here are tips for tracking the progress of Hilary and other storms rarely seen on the West Coast. Also in this story are links to the services you can sign up for that will notify you when different kinds of trouble are heading your way.

Granted, your response to an earthquake alert will be different from a flood warning. But whatever you're facing, you need to know the severity of the risk to your home and your community. That's where the alerts come in.

Read more: Hilary timeline: When will the storm hit? How bad will it get where I live?

Hurricane tracking maps

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Central Pacific Hurricane Center offers multiple ways on its website to visualize the path of approaching hurricanes, cyclones, tropical storms and tropical depressions. The center's maps include:



Projected arrival times of tropical-storm-force winds, which have sustained speeds of 39 to 73 mph



Areas most likely to be hit by tropical-storm-force winds



Probable reach of hurricane-force winds, which are equal to or greater than 74 mph



Areas at greatest risk of flash flooding over the next five days

The center's feed on X, the social network formerly known as Twitter, is a good source of information and warnings too, as is the National Hurricane Center's Facebook page.

Another source of hurricane tracking maps is WeatherBug. The information isn't sliced and diced in as many ways as the hurricane center's, but it delivers the most important information at a glance.

Severe weather and other regional emergencies

If you've got a cellphone, chances are good that you'll automatically receive the Wireless Emergency Alerts broadcast by federal, state, tribal and local authorities. These include "imminent threat alerts" about extreme weather, disasters, active shooters and other emergencies in your area; Amber Alerts about possibly abducted children; and more routine public safety alerts.

For example, the California Office of Emergency Services used the system last year to send out a "severe alert" about the need to conserve energy. "Power interruptions may occur unless you take action," it warned, urging recipients to "turn off or reduce nonessential power" until 9 p.m. (It worked; blackouts were avoided.)

This system can also deliver text messages from the president in the event of a national emergency. So far, that particular capability has been used only once, in a test five years ago.

Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile all deliver Wireless Emergency Alerts at no charge to customers, as do some prepaid phone services, but older mobile phones may not be able to receive the messages or take advantage of the system's more advanced features. More compatibility information is available from Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and other service providers' websites.

Read more: How to prepare for Hurricane Hilary, the first tropical storm to hit L.A. in 84 years

Local emergency notifications

The state's counties have their own alert systems to notify participants about local public safety emergencies. In Los Angeles County, the system  Alert LA County  sends out messages via text, phone call or email when residents need to evacuate immediately, to prepare to evacuate, or to shelter in place. In other words, it's for really serious stuff.

The notifications are free, but you have to sign up for them. To do so, visit the "Stay Informed" page on the Ready LA County site.

The city of Los Angeles, meanwhile, offers an alert system called NotifyLA that can send notifications via text, email or phone call. You can sign up through Everbridge, which operates the system. For other cities' alert systems, check out this list of links provided by L.A. County.

Finally, Everbridge's Nixle platform carries local public safety information from numerous agencies, including the Los Angeles Police Department, the L.A. County Sheriff's Department and the California Highway Patrol. Topics covered include traffic tie-ups, criminal activity, missing persons and severe weather.

You can sign up for text alerts by texting your ZIP Code to 888777. Those messages will count against your monthly allotment, if your mobile carrier charges you for text messaging. As an alternative, you can download the Nixle app and receive the alerts through the internet instead of texts.

Read more: 'Widespread flooding' expected as intense Hilary pounds Southern California

NOAA Weather Radio

If you don't have a smartphone or just want a backup system for emergency alerts, you can tune in to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's broadcast network.

NOAA Weather Radio stations pump out an around-the-clock stream of official National Weather Service warnings, watches and forecasts. But they also serve as "all hazards" alert systems, transmitting warnings and "post-event information" about natural disasters, environmental hazards and public safety incidents.

There's just one catch: NOAA Weather Radio operates on frequencies that your typical car radio can't receive. You'll need a specialized device  NOAA's website offers a list of radios and retailers that sell them

Flex Alerts and other power issues

If you're a customer of Southern California Edison, visit the company's Preference Center to sign up for alerts by email, text or phone call. In addition to notifications about Flex Alerts and scheduled blackouts, you can be alerted about repairs and peak rate periods.

In the city of Los Angeles, you can sign up for text or email alerts about power issues on the L.A. Department of Water and Power website.

Customers with San Diego Gas & Electric will need to download an app to get their alerts. And if you're in Pacific Gas & Electric's turf, go to the alerts page on its website to sign up for notifications about outages, rates, scheduled repairs and other issues.

Read more: Hurricane Hilary is bearing down on Southern California. What's your flood risk?

Tsunamis

If the earth is shaking under the ocean instead of under your feet, that raises the possibility of a tsunami. It's not as unusual an event as you might think; since 1880, a tsunami has hit Los Angeles County every three to four years on average.

Granted, most have been pretty meek by the time they reached Venice Beach. But still, the potential is there, as we saw in 2011, when a tsunami triggered by an earthquake off the coast of Japan caused $100 million in damage to California harbors and ports.

The feds will transmit tsunami warnings over the Wireless Emergency Alert system and NOAA Weather Radio. But if you'd like to hear more directly from the government's Pacific Tsunami Warning System, you can check its live online feed or follow its Twitter posts.

Wildfires

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, offers to send you text messages to keep you updated about fires in your area. You can sign up on the Ready for Wildfire site.

While you're there, you can also create a wildfire readiness plan, including steps you can take to make your property less vulnerable to fire and to be ready for an evacuation order. The plans are customized to your location and living situation.

Read more: Hurricane Hilary forecast recalls infamous 1939 storm that killed scores of Californians

Earthquakes

ShakeAlert is an earthquake detection and warning system developed by the U.S. Geological Survey with the help of multiple partners in government and academia. It is designed to send alerts when the first signs of a major earthquake are detected, giving people a few precious seconds or even tens of seconds to prepare for larger shock waves.

Earthquake warnings may be sent over the Wireless Emergency Alert system, which reaches most cellphones in use today (see below). And smartphones in California running Google's Android operating system have the built-in ability to receive ShakeAlert messages.

Beyond that, there are at least three free apps available for Apple and Android smartphones that will receive and display ShakeAlert messages in this state: MyShake from UC Berkeley, QuakeAlert USA from Early Warning Labs, and SD Emergency, a general-purpose disaster-preparedness app by San Diego County.

Times staff writer Karen Garcia contributed to this report.

Sign up for the L.A. Times Unshaken newsletter, and get earthquake-ready in six weeks

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
TOPEKA (KSNT)- Republican U.S. Representative Jake LaTurner weighed in on last weeks police raid of a local newspaper in his district.

During a roundtable event in Topeka on Thursday, LaTurner told reporters that the raid, where computers and cellphones were confiscated, was an unfortunate situation.

Its an unfortunate situation whats happened in Marion, LaTurner said. This is an ongoing issue thats going to be settled through the legal process, and so, weve been following this. It seems like theres a new development almost every day.

Ive always supported the First Amendment and the freedom of press, LaTurner said. Its incredibly important. Its also a tragedy what happened to the owner of the paper, who was a pillar in the community, very sad. [Its] a terrible circumstance thats happening down there that I know will be sorted out through the legal process.

$138,000 worth of stolen merchandise recovered at Shawnee residence

The Marion County Record, a local newspaper in Marion, Kansas, was raided by the local police department on Friday. They also raided the home of the newspapers publisher and editor, Eric Meyer, which he shared with his mother Joan Meyer. Joan, the 98-year-old co-owner of the newspaper, died on Saturday, the day after the raid.

According to the Associated Press, police said they had probable cause to believe there were violations of Kansas law, including one pertaining to identity theft, involving a woman named Kari Newell. Newell said she believed the newspaper, acting on a tip, violated the law to get her personal information to check the status of her drivers license following a 2008 conviction for drunk driving.

USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski resigns after disappointing World Cup: reports

Meyer said the Record decided not to write about it, but when Newell revealed at the subsequent city council meeting that she had driven while her license was suspended, that was reported.

On Wednesday, just days after computers and cellphones were seized by police, the Marion County Attorney Joel Ensey withdrew the search warrant against the newspaper. Ensey stated that there was insufficient evidence for the search and seizure.

Bernie Rhodes, the attorney representing the newspaper, said Wednesday that the items seized were being released and returned.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
A Kennewick man has been sentenced to one year in federal prison for conspiring to make a homemade bomb after saying he planned to use explosive devices against police officers.

The attorney for Daniel James Anderson, 28, had asked for a sentence of five years probation.

But prosecutors said only probation would seriously discount the seriousness of Andersons actions and they asked for three years and one month in prison.

Andersons arrest followed a federal investigation into the Verified Bois, a Pacific Northwest group of about 30 involved in anti-government and anti-authority activities, according to court documents.

U.S. Judge Mary Dimke agreed that probation alone wasnt enough.

This is too serious for probation, she told Anderson during a sentencing hearing in the U.S. Courthouse in Richland on Thursday.

But she encouraged Anderson to continue to work to turn his life around as he has the past 18 months, including getting mental health treatment and taking medication.

In addition to the prison sentence, Dimke sentenced Anderson to three years probation.

An FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force Office began working with a confidential informant in spring 2021 to build the cases against Anderson and the leader of the Verified Bois, Connor Duane Goodman, of Auburn, Wash.

Tri-City Herald File

Both Goodman and Anderson adhere to the beliefs of the Boogaloo Bois, a loosely connected group of people who share anti-government sentiment and advocate violence, according to court documents.

Participants in Verified Bois were waiting for an over-aggressive law enforcement action, such as at a public protest, to target officers with violence, according to court documents.

Training to kill

The Verified Bois held training events, including in Ellensburg and Easton, Wash., to practice raids, firearms handling and survival skills.

But Anderson told the confidential informant that too many members of Verified Bois were not taking training seriously enough and they did not understand the group was training to kill people right now, according to court documents.

In July 2021, Anderson received Thundercracker fireworks that Goodman had obtained from a tribal reservation.

Anderson told the informant he used the fireworks to make explosive devices small enough to carry in a backpack when he was on a motorcycle, according to court documents.

Anderson said he could use the devices against law enforcement and then speedily escape on a motorcycle, according to court documents.

Online Anderson called his homemade bombs distraction devices, before also posting that they arent training tools. I wouldnt be anywhere near this thing. Its going to throw shrapnel like a MF.

Shown is a screenshot from a video taken by an FBI confidential informant that federal court documents say shows Daniel James Anderson, of Kennewick, inserting a charge into an explosive device he made. Eastern Washington District U.S. Court

He showed the confidential informant one device, a sealed glass jar designed to explode and send glass fragments and shotgun pellets flying, and the informant was able to capture video of it, according to a court document.

In December 2021, Goodman sold the confidential informant 12 mortar-style fireworks, and Anderson showed him how to extract material from them to make improvised explosive devices, according to a court document.

Thirteen days later federal law enforcement agents searched Andersons apartment and found a single improvised explosive device made out of a small glass jar, birdshot and explosive powder, which Anderson said he created using fireworks provided by Goodman, according to a court document.

Anderson told federal agents then that he did not intend to use the device against law enforcement officers.

Defendant was boasting, attorney said

Andersons attorney, Nick Mirr of Yakima said in court documents that Anderson needed friends during an isolated period of the pandemic.

In search of a community, he made vague, boastful claims which he believed would win him the groups reverence and respect, according to Mirr, referring to the Verified Bois. Many of these claims were literally debunked by the paltry amount of evidence found in his house.

There is no evidence that he built bombs other than the one seized by law enforcement and no evidence that it was tested, brought to a training or part of a specific plan of attack, Mirr argued.

Anderson has struggled with his mental health and self-esteem, but has taken some college classes, held a job after being released from jail pending resolution of his case and has cared for the children he shares with his wife, Mirr said in court documents.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Cashman argued in court documents that Anderson did not simply build a device and play a passive role (in an anti-government group); he was an active participant and organizer.

Anderson participated in planning to develop training outlines and scenarios, and he discussed how to recruit more members and whether to build relationships with other Pacific Northwest anti-government groups, Cashman said in court documents.

At one point Anderson provided a homework assignment to others in the group to identify ways to possibly attack infrastructure, according to Cashman.

Defendant: Choices were harmful

Anderson addressed the judge on Thursday, wiping away tears as he said the choices he made were incredibly harmful to those around him and his family.

I dont want to downplay anything Ive done, but I want to say I am not the same person who appeared before the judge right after his arrest, he said.

Working with his probation officer he has come to respect law enforcement and he no longer wants to harm them, he said.

Dimke said that while his mental health issues may have led him to become involved in an anti-government group, his activities posed a risk to the community.

Not only had he made an explosive device in the furtherance of the goals of an anti-government group but making the device put his family and everyone in his apartment building at risk, she said.

Goodman is also a defendant in the case.

He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to make or possess an unregistered destructive device. His sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 31

In Goodmans plea agreement, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Washington agreed to ask for a sentence of no more than three years and one month in prison.
A 36-year-old woman was booked into the Benton County jail this week in connection with a murder plot that spans from Florida all the way to West Richland.

Shanna Lee Gardner was arrested at her West Richland home Thursday morning, according to public records and State Attorney Melissa Nelson from the Fourth Circuit of Florida.

She was expected to appear in Benton County Superior Court on Friday afternoon. It wasnt immediately clear if she would fight her return to Florida to face the charges.

Florida investigators say Gardner was part of an elaborate plot to kill her 33-year-old ex-husband, Jared Bridegan, a Microsoft executive in February 2022, according to a Thursday news conference in Jacksonville Beach, Florida.

A grand jury indicted her on charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, solicitation to commit first-degree murder and child abuse.

Nelson announced plans to seek the death penalty if Gardner is convicted of playing a central and key role in the cold and calculated premeditate murder.

Gardner was the third person to be arrested in connection with Bridegans death.

Gunman Henry Tennon pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in March. As part of his agreement with prosecutors, he said he would testify against any accomplice in the case, according to the state attorney release.

Gardners husband, Mario Fernandez-Saldana, has since been indicted for first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, solicitation to commit first-degree murder and child abuse.

According to Florida media reports, Gardner and Bridegan had a troubled relationship that started in 2010 and ended in their divorce in 2016. But a bitter custody battle continued even after their divorce.

Then on Feb. 16, 2022, the father of four had just dropped off his 9-year-old twins back at Gardners home and was driving home with a 2-year-old daughter still in the car.

Police said he was turning out of the Jacksonville Beach neighborhood, when he came across a tire in the middle of a dark section of the road, according a states attorney release.

Bridegan opened the door to move the tire when Tennon, who rented property from Fernandez-Saldana, ambushed and shot him.

Investigators believe Fernandez-Saldana was integral in recruiting Tennon for the plot.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 17)  Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro isn't satisfied with some provisions  particularly those pertaining to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)  included in the revised military and uniformed personnel pension (MUP) bill which was approved at the committee level of the House of Representatives.

Under the proposed measure which has yet to be tackled in the plenary, two separate pension systems will be created to manage the benefits of the AFP and civilian uniformed personnel.

READ: House OKs revised pension reform bill

"First, I do not subscribe to the proposed blanket mandatory contributions for military personnel, especially for those who have already completed at least twenty (20) years of active service," Teodoro said Thursday, two days after the consolidated measure hurdled the Ad Hoc Committee on Military and Uniformed Personnel Pension System.

He said the mandatory imposition of monthly contributions without a transition phase would impact soldiers, adding that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. also envisioned a "carefully transitioned introduction of any reform plan."

Second, Teodoro took a swipe at the 50% indexation of the MUP pension proposed in the measure.

"It has been my position that their pensions and entitlements, including 100% automatic indexation, shall remain unchanged. Ensuring the non-diminution of their retirement benefits is the least we can do in recognition of their sacrifices to the country," he continued.

Non-diminution refers to keeping MUPs' retirement benefits intact; not reducing them in any way.

For Teodoro, the AFP is distinct from other MUPs due to its "sui generis" or unique constitutional mandate to secure the country's sovereignty, and that adding to the AFP's burdens would distract from this directive.

"Despite wearing uniforms and ranks similar to that of other uniformed personnel, there is no uniformity in terms of the nature of their duties and responsibilities," he said.

He added: "[T]hey [AFP] receive no additional financial support from local government units, unlike some of the other services. They are governed by strict rules of military law from the moment they first train until the last day of their service."

RELATED: Biting the bullet: The Marcos administration's push for MUP pension reform
The Tri-City Heralds journey toward a more digitally focused, sustainable future takes its biggest step yet later this year.

We will transition to a 24/7 digital product with two days of high-quality print editions beginning Oct. 23.

The print editions will publish Wednesdays and Sundays and continue to be delivered alongside your regular mail delivery. The Sunday newspaper will arrive on Saturday as it has since December. Single copies also will be available at select retail locations.

The eEdition will continue to publish seven days a week at Tricityherald.com and in our digital app. And well continue to publish news digitally throughout the day, every day.

Were also improving your digital experience. Over the next few months, were excited to launch a tablet program, new community calendar and portal for submissions, better eEdition navigation, a refreshed homepage that will provide unique experiences for our readers, and much more.

This is another key move for us within the digital transition of the news industry  and a vital step toward the sustainability of the Tri-City Herald.

Weve been at the forefront of the digital transformation for many years. The Herald was one of the first newspapers in the nation to become fully paginated  using computers to build entire news pages rather than cutting and pasting them on paper.

Our first paginated edition was published in November 1994, and three years later we added digital photography.

By then, our website was already contributing to our legacy as the dominant source of news and information for the Tri-Cities and Mid-Columbia region for over 75 years.

Herald publishers and managers also have been key partners in helping shape this community, from serving on the boards of dozens of local organizations to playing pivotal roles in Washington State Universitys decision to locate a branch campus here and the routing of the interstate highway that otherwise would have bypassed the Tri-Cities.

And we plan to be here for decades to come.

Increasingly, Mid-Columbia residents get their news from their phones, tablets and computers.

With that trend in mind, weve become much more digitally focused and have intensified that approach to where readers of Tricityherald.com or our eEdition often see our best work before our print readers. Since last year, our eEdition has included a new section of stories that were published after our print deadline or are scheduled to run in print at a later date.

For the Herald to continue to provide you with essential coverage of our community and unsparing investigative reporting, we must transform our business to thrive in 2023 and beyond.

We have, by far, the most experienced reporting team of any news organization in Southeast Washington.

We provide you with unparalleled coverage of the years-long challenge to clean up the Hanford nuclear site, as well as insight into the areas breakneck economic development and struggles with crime, homelessness and the opioid crisis.

Our award-winning journalists commitment to the Tri-Cities community isnt changing. We will continue to deliver in-depth reporting, investigative work and captivating stories about amazing Tri-Citians.

This year alone:

We won awards for our coverage of breaking news and editorials, including coverage of the Fred Meyer shooting and manhunt, as well as veteran photographer Bob Brawdys images from a plane crash and a devastating downtown fire.

Reporters Eric Rosane and Cameron Probert were honored for their months-long coverage of the effort to recall three Richland School Board members over their vote to defy a state COVID mask mandate.

Weve continued to produce outstanding journalism this year, including Wendy Culverwells exclusive stories on the stalled opening of two Amazon warehouses and Costcos proposal to add a 2nd store; Annette Carys reporting on the difficulties at the half-built vitrification plant; Cory McCoys coverage of the Cody Easterday ghost cattle scam; and Karlee Van de Venters informative, and often fun, reports packed with tips to help in your daily life.

If youre already a subscriber, thank you for supporting the work we do and investing in local journalism and be sure to activate your digital access at tricityherald.com/activate.

If you arent a subscriber, please consider being a part of the solution. A growing community deserves a strong, independent local news source. The future of our community depends on it.

In the coming days, subscribers will receive correspondence from our customer service team regarding next steps. That team can be reached at 800-750-4967 or customerservice@tricityherald.com.

Laurie Williams is in her 12th year as editor of the Tri-City Herald and has been on staff for 39 years. Contact her at laurie.williams@tricityherald.com.
Financially troubled Northlake Mall has seen several store openings after two national retailers abruptly closed earlier this year.

The north Charlotte malls tenant occupancy rate is 85% as of June 30, according to the latest status report filed Tuesday in North Carolina Business Court. The court hears complex business litigation cases.

Thats an increase of nearly 20% since March 31, when occupancy was at 71.03%, court filings show. It also means Northlake Mall is closer to reaching the national average of 89%, according to Moodys Analytics REIS data from last year.

Two major retailers  Apple and Buckle  closed in the spring following three shootings in three months on the malls property. But there have been several openings and more are planned, according to Northlakes website.

The two-story, 1.1-million-square-foot mall has been in receivership since May 2021 after failing to pay unspecified debts. Spinoso Real Estate Group of Syracuse, N.Y., maintains and operates the mall, and collects rent.

A year ago, Spinoso reported the malls vacancy occupancy rate was 69.4%, and it has hovered around a 30% vacancy rate since.

In June, Spinoso officials asked the court for up to nine months to continue stabilizing the property and promote the malls increased security measures, The Charlotte Observer reported. Early next year, Spinoso will evaluate when is the right time to sell the mall.

Northlake Mall at 10325 Perimeter Pkwy. in Charlotte.

Northlake Mall occupancy rate

Northlake Mall at 6801 Northlake Mall Drive has 112 stores and restaurants, according to its website on Friday.

Since May there have been five store closings totaling 16,811 square feet, according to the latest court filing.

On March 1, the Apple store closed in the middle of the day, a day after a shooting on the property. Apple said then it would open another store in the Charlotte area. In June, Apple said a new store will open early next year at The Birkdale Village in Huntersville.

Nebraska-based apparel store Buckle closed March 26.

Another store is closing at Northlake Mall amid financial and safety struggles

However, there are several lease renewals and negotiations underway, according to the latest status report filing.

Two renewals total 5,247 square feet for Locker Room by Lids and Spencers, according to the report. And, another deal has been signed for 2,136 square feet.

There also are five renewals in negotiations totaling 11,085 square feet, and one new deal for 812 square feet, according to the report.

In May, Spinoso said Forever 21 also had renewed its 21,806-square-foot space.

The malls website lists recent or planned openings of several stores: 3SIX92, womens apparel store; American Eagle, casual clothing, accessories and footwear, based in Pittsburgh; Custom Place, a customized T-shirt, hoodies and hats shop; and temporarily Spirit Halloween.

Spinoso previously said it was drafting two other deals, including a gym that would anchor a 70,000-square-foot space formerly occupied by Dicks Sporting Goods, and another unnamed tenant for a 2,812-square-foot space that combined would generate $986,000 in revenue. In 2021, Dicks relocated to Simon mall Concord Mills about 5 miles away.

Officials with Spinoso declined to comment further Friday, including about lease updates. Northlake Mall officials did not respond to requests for comment.

The fountain at North Lake Mall at 6801 Northlake Mall Drive in Charlotte, N.C., Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022.

Security at Northlake Mall

Following a spate of violence, the mall has increased security measures.

Northlake Mall, CMPD vow changes as stores and shoppers cringe after spate of shootings

The latest court filing shows the mall has, or will:

 Increased the number of police shifts and raised wages for off-duty police.

 Added canine firearm detection patrols in April.

 Installed blue strobe lights to outside security cameras.

 Install public monitors at all entrances and hightraffic areas.

 Install vehicle recognition technology at entrances that work with CMPDs Real Time Crime Command Center to read license plates.

The mall also is planning community events, such as a free back-to-school program Saturday through Aug. 26, including a fashion show, story time with meet and greets, and pancake and pajama party, according to a news release.

Lawyers for all parties in the Northlake Mall case asked the court to hold the case open for a further update in three months, Tuesdays court filing shows.

Northlake Mall sale pushed back to next year. Safety concerns part of reason for delay

Northlake Mall adds gun-sniffing dog, more security after recent shootings

Whats next for Northlake Mall after Apple stores hasty exit and trio of shootings
Kenneth Chesebro, a Donald Trump ally and the alleged mastermind of the scheme to subvert the results of the 2020 election through the use of fake electors, was at the US Capitol on January 6, accompanying conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

Video and photos taken on the grounds of the Capitol on the day Trump loyalists stormed the building, reviewed and reported on first by CNN , clearly show the attorney, now at the heart of the criminal case concerning the plot to overturn the election, wearing a red Trump 2020 hat and filming Jones with his phone.

Mr Chesebro is credited as the alleged architect of the plan to upset the Electoral College process as it played out in Congress that day, with the use of fake Republican electors across multiple key states.

CNN reports that when he was asked by the House select committee investigating the Capitol riot about his whereabouts in the first week of January 2021, Mr Chesebro invoked his Fifth Amendment rights to not self-incriminate.

The footage reviewed by the network now clearly places the attorney in a restricted area outside the Capitol with bombastic conspiracy theorist Jones before the riotous mob stormed the building.

Neither Jones nor Mr Chesebro entered the building that day nor did they engage in violence.

Jones had encouraged his followers to converge on Washington DC that day, echoing then-president Donald Trumps tweet calling for his supporters to protest the result of the 2020 election.

Mr Chesebro is one of the unindicted co-conspirators in Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smiths federal indictment of the former president on charges of attempting to overturn the election.

Kenneth Chesebro, the alleged architect of the fake electors' plot, followed Alex Jones around the Capitol grounds on January 6th https://t.co/3uNFu7C3BV pic.twitter.com/KERD6gJ8fI  CNN (@CNN) August 18, 2023

He is described in the indictment as an attorney who assisted in devising and attempting to implement a plan to submit fraudulent slates of presidential electors to obstruct the certification proceeding.

Mr Chesebro is also one of the 19 people, including Mr Trump, to have been indicted by District Attorney Fani Willis in Fulton County, Georgia, as part of an alleged criminal conspiracy to alter the outcome of the election in the state in favour of then-president Trump, who lost.

He is the only member of Mr Trumps legal team now known to have been on the Capitol grounds that day. CNN confirmed his identity through interviews with acquaintances.

Footage used to place him at the Capitol with Jones was culled from a number of sources including social media, Infowars, and Joness bodyguards body camera.

They were together for approximately an hour from 1.40pm onwards ending up halfway up the steps of the Capitol before they left. Shortly afterwards, the violent mob breached the doors of the building.

It is not clear why Mr Chesebro was following Jones around on the day, but it is significant in that it shows his activities went beyond his purported role as a legal adviser to the president.

Mr Chesebro declined a request by CNN to comment, citing the ongoing litigation.
A decade before she unleashed the sprawling case now entangling former President Donald Trump in Georgia, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis used similar methods to target an unlikely group: public school educators in Atlanta.

As an assistant district attorney in 2013, Willis turned heads in one of her first big cases: She helped convene a grand jury that indicted decorated Superintendent Beverly Hall and nearly three dozen other educators for cheating on state standardized tests. In the end, Willis brought a dozen cases to trial, with a jury convicting 11.

This week, Willis invoked the same statute  Georgias Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO, Act  to indict Trump and 18 others in an alleged plot to overturn the states 2020 election results.

In doing so, she offered a reminder of her role in a divisive chapter in the citys recent history. While the former president leveled accusations that Willis is, among other things, a rabid partisan, the cheating prosecutions left fissures in her own community, where many say she stood up for children but others accuse her of turning her back on Black educators.

Cooking the books

Hall, the Atlanta superintendent, arrived in the district in 1999, eventually leading what she would call a data-driven turnaround. She told observers that under her tenure, Atlanta schools were debunking the American algorithm that socio-economics predicts academic success, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

By 2009, her efforts had earned her one of educations top honors: National Superintendent of the Year. But the same year, the Journal-Constitution published the first of several stories analyzing Atlantas results on the Georgia Criterion-Referenced Competency Test. The analysis found that scores had risen at rates that were statistically all but impossible. It also found that district officials disregarded internal irregularities and retaliated against whistleblowers.

Critics would soon compare Hall to a Mafia boss who demanded fealty from subordinates while perpetrating a massive, self-serving fraud, the city newspaper reported at the time. Willis pursued Hall using the same tools many prosecutors employ against Mafia bosses and drug kingpins. In bringing charges under the states RICO Act, Willis alleged that Hall and her colleagues used the legitimate enterprise of the school system to carry out an illegitimate act: cheating.

Lonnie King, a former head of the local NAACP, would later tell the newspaper that when he looked at the data, I thought Beverly Hall was cooking the books as early as 2006.

The newspapers coverage led Gov. Sonny Perdue to appoint a team of special investigators, who conducted 2,100 interviews and reviewed 800,000 documents. By 2011, they uncovered cheating in 44 of the 56 schools they examined, concluding that 178 educators participated. Investigators eventually found widespread tampering with test papers and concluded that Hall stood at the center of a culture of corruption.

Special investigator Michael Bowers, a former state attorney general, told USA Today in 2013 that interrogating teachers in the scheme had left him in tears.

The thing I remember most was talking to some of the teachers who had been mistreated, mostly single moms, he said. And its heartbreaking. They told of how they had been forced to cheat. One told him, I had no choice.

On the backs of babies

Hall retired in 2011, but on March 29, 2013, a Fulton County grand jury indicted her and more than 30 others in what Willis called a conspiracy comprising administrators, principals, teachers and even a school secretary.

Similar to this weeks indictments, the Atlanta defendants faced charges of racketeering, conspiracy and making false statements. Hall also faced theft charges because her rising salary was tied to test scores  in 2009, the year she was named Superintendent of the Year, she got a $78,000 bonus, prosecutors noted.

Former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young, who in 2014 asked the judge in Superintendent Beverly Halls criminal trial to be merciful and drop the case. Hall died of breast cancer in 2015. (Monica Morgan/Getty Images)

If convicted, Hall could have served as many as 45 years in prison, but she soon fell ill and the judge in the case indefinitely postponed her trial. At an April 2014 hearing, Andrew Young, a former Atlanta mayor and United Nations ambassador, rose in the courtroom and asked the judge to be merciful and drop the case against her.

Let God judge her, he said.

Hall died of breast cancer in 2015, at age 68.

Public opinion on the case was sharply divided, with many Black commentators accusing Willis of overreach. But eventually, 34 of Halls subordinates faced criminal charges.

Brittney Cooper

Brittney Cooper, a professor of Womens and Gender Studies and Africana Studies at Rutgers University, wrote: Scapegoating Black teachers for failing in a system that is designed for Black children, in particular, not to succeed is the real corruption here.

Cooper noted that former Washington, D.C., Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, who is Korean-American, had also been under scrutiny for creating a culture of fear about test scores. An investigation by USA Today revealed findings similar to Atlantas, but an inspector general report found no evidence of widespread cheating and Rhee never faced prosecution.

While most of the Atlanta educators eventually pleaded guilty to avoid jail time, 12 went to trial in 2014. As with the Trump case, this one was complex: Jury selection took more than six weeks, and jurors sat through complex statistical analyses of answer-sheet erasure patterns, among other matters. At a few points in the trial, a dozen or more lawyers offered different versions of events.

A demonstrator holds a sign in support of prosecutor Fani Willis outside of the Lewis R. Slaton Courthouse before this weeks indictment of former U.S. President Donald Trump in Atlanta, Georgia. (Christian Monterrosa/AFP)

In an early case that went to trial in 2013, Willis said supervisor Tamara Cotman worked to protect educators jobs by advising principals under investigation not to cooperate with state investigators  a charge Cotman denied  and by vowing to return high test scores at any cost.

She did it on the backs of babies, Willis told jurors during closing arguments. The jury acquitted Cotman, who was later convicted of other charges in the larger case.

Former President Donald Trump at the Georgia state GOP convention on June 10, 2023. Fani Willis, the prosecutor who is pursuing the Georgia election case, made a name for herself a decade ago by pursuing similar racketeering charges against Atlanta educators. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

In court, Willis told the jury of cheating parties at which educators got together to erase childrens incorrect answers on test sheets and pencil in correct ones. At a few of the parties, she said, educators ate fish and grits  I cant make this up.

The jury convicted 11 of the 12 of racketeering and other charges.

The Rev. Dr. Raphael G. Warnock, at the time senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church  he now serves as a U.S. Senator  told The New York Times, Theres no question that this has not been our finest hour. Its a dark chapter, but its just that. Its a chapter.

In 2015, commentators Van Jones and Mark Holden wrote that the educators convicted in the case were the latest victims of overcriminalization, facing serious jail time because of Williss unprecedented use of RICO. Three were sentenced to seven years in prison, they noted, while others received one- or two-year sentences if they didnt accept plea deals.

These punishments do not fit the crimes, they wrote.

Sen. Raphael G. Warnock, then senior pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church, called the cheating scandal a dark chapter. (Curtis Compton/Getty Images)

Since then, several of the defendants have loudly proclaimed their innocence, even as theyve served prison time or pursued appeals to avoid it. A handful of those cases remain outstanding. In several instances, they and their defenders say theyve spent their life savings pursuing appeals.

In 2019, Shani Robinson, one of those found guilty, co-authored a book about the ordeal. In an interview, she told NPR, the thought of being blamed for something that I did not do is horrifying.  I felt like if I was on the right side of justice, that one day I would be vindicated. That was the moment that I decided that I would never take a plea deal.

But many parents saw it differently.

Shawnna Hayes-Jocelyn had three of her four children in classes at schools affected by the cheating. She said Willis rightly brought RICO charges.

Youd better believe she did the right thing, because that was the worst Black-on-Black crime example that could have ever happened around education, she told The 74. Because what they did to those children is that they didnt give those children options and opportunities.

Shawnna Hayes-Jocelyn

Hayes-Jocelyn said her mind was made up once she read the state report that alleged widespread cheating among educators.

When I read that report and saw what was happening in that school system, yeah, people said, Oh, this is RICO. We think about RICO as organized crime. I said, This was organized crime.

Those familiar with Williss work say shes tenacious. Atlanta NAACP president Gerald Griggs, one of the defense attorneys in the cheating trial, told The Guardian this week that Trump is going to be very surprised when hes sitting across from her for months on trial. Hell find out how great of a lawyer she really is.

Asked in 2021 if she had regrets about pursuing the school cheating cases, Willis was blunt, telling the Times that by going after teachers, principals and administrators, she was defending poor Black children. Public education, she said, offers these children their only chance to get ahead. So if what I am being criticized for is doing something to protect people that did not have a voice for themselves, I sit in that criticism, and yall can put it in my obituary.
Former President Donald Trump is planning to skip the first Republican presidential debate on Wednesday and is instead expected to sit for an interview with former Fox News Host Tucker Carlson, multiple sources familiar with his plans tell CNN.

Over the last 24 hours, Trump has increasingly been informing those close to him that he has made his decision, and will not be on the debate stage next week.

The timing for the Carlson interview has yet to be determined, the sources said, but it is expected to air around the same time as the debate. The New York Times first reported the details of the Carlson interview.

CNN previously reported that Trump was not expected to participate in the debate and that his campaign had engaged in conversations with Carlson about a potential interview as counterprogramming for the event.

Trumps advisers continue to add the caveat, however, that the former president could ultimately change his mind and decide at the 11th hour that he wants to attend the debate.

Trump has both publicly and privately feuded with Fox News, as has Carlson, who left the network earlier this year after the network settled a monster defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems.

The former president has privately and publicly floated skipping either one or both of the first two Republican presidential primary debates, given his lead in the polls. The second presidential debate is scheduled for September at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California.

Wednesdays primary debate is the first of the 2024 cycle. It will come just over a week after the former president was indicted for a fourth time, this time for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia. Negotiations between his lawyers and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis office over the details of his surrender are expected to continue into next week, CNN previously reported. He faces an August 25 deadline to surrender.

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

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Anonymous law enforcement officials in Georgia are expecting Donald Trump to turn himself in no earlier than next Thursday  just short of the Friday deadline given by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis  at which time he'll most likely be booked at the Rice Street Jail, according to the Fulton County Sheriff's Office. Trump has been charged, along with 18 co-conspirators, with 13 criminal counts for his alleged attempt to overthrow the 2020 presidential election.

In a report by The New York Times published Wednesday, the local sheriff said that Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows, John Eastman and the other defendants accused of conspiring with Trump will be "treated like everyone else should they surrender at the jail," but the process could be different for Trump himself. Per the outlet, "whether Mr. Trump himself is processed there will very likely depend on the Secret Service."

"We're in uncharted waters at this point," Chris Timmons, a former prosecutor and now a law partner at Knowles Gallant Timmons in Atlanta, told CNN. "We haven't had a former United States president or anyone with Secret Service protection booked into the Fulton County jail." Much is still unknown about just how this will go down next week, but the area is preparing for a media circus.
ATLANTA  Republican presidential hopefuls gathered here Friday for an event Donald Trump wasn't invited to and didn't attend.

They still couldn't escape the former president.

I had hoped that judgments about the events around January 6 would be left to the American people and to history, former Vice President Mike Pence told reporters at conservative radio host Erick Ericksons two-day conference. But that's not the case.

Pence was the only candidate to directly address Trumps most recent indictment, which alleges the former president and more than a dozen others tried to subvert the 2020 election results in Georgia, a key battleground state that President Joe Biden narrowly won. The candidates largely avoided journalists who sought their stance on the wide-ranging indictment out of Fulton County, Ga.

Less than a week before the first primary debate, the event served as a preview of how difficult it remains for Trumps rivals to navigate one of the biggest issues facing the GOP field  Trumps growing list of criminal charges. The former president, who is set to turn himself in to local authorities as early as next week, is now facing four separate criminal trials along the eastern seaboard, though the charges in Fulton County  a county Trump lost by more than 240,000 votes  stands out in part because the state will play such a pivotal role in the upcoming presidential election.

The road to the White House is running through Georgia, Georgia GOP Gov. Brian Kemp said onstage at the conference. If we dont win this state we are not winning the White House.

Kemp, along with Brad Raffensperger, Georgia's top election official, has blistered Trump over his claims. Kemp may also be a witness in Trumps upcoming Georgia trial.

Erickson addressed the awkwardness of the situation at the very start of the event Friday, promising not to discuss Trump even though that seems to be the conversation in the media.

The former president isn't going to be here, Erickson said. With all respect to him, it kind of works out because, under Georgia law, if he were to come you know what the D.A. would want to do.

Erickson, however, broke his own rule, and asked Kemp  only the second of about 30 speakers  his thoughts on Trumps indictment.



Onstage, Pence sought to make the clearest distinction between himself and Trump, as well as other candidates in the race. He criticized Republicans, including Trump, who viewed it as someone elses problem to reform Social Security and Medicare and didnt support a federal abortion ban. He also took aim at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, without naming him, for using the power of the state to enforce his agenda, likely alluding to his high-profile battle with Walt Disney World.

He repeated his stance that the Georgia election wasnt stolen, but added that Trump and others named in the indictment were entitled to the presumption of innocence and said voters were more interested in moving forward.

DeSantis, who is struggling to gain traction among voters and has faced declining poll numbers, didnt address Trumps indictment, though he jabbed at Trump in more indirect ways. He blamed Covid lockdowns that started under Trump for hurting the economy, and asserted that the countrys leading infectious disease expert in the former presidents administration, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who led the pandemic response, should have been fired.

DeSantis previously criticized the charges against Trump by attacking the federal government, claiming it weaponized the legal system and criminalized politics.

Even Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, who didnt field questions from Erickson about Trump and left the conference after he was done speaking, called on Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI director Chris Wray to be fired. At the Iowa State Fair this week, Scott took a similar stance as DeSantis, arguing that the legal system was being weaponized against political opponents.

The strongest line of attacks against Trump on Friday came from Kemp, who has made no secret of his opposition to Trump. Kemp's endorsement in the 2024 race would likely be highly coveted ahead of the March primary in Georgia. DeSantis met with the governor on Friday for about 30 minutes but discussed his time on the campaign trail and didn't ask for an endorsement, POLITICO first reported. Pence also spoke with Kemp.

Kemp framed Trumps legal issues as a stupid distraction, predicting the trial in Georgia wouldnt start until after the 2024 election.

You can believe whatever you want about the 2020 election, Kemp said. That is your right. I understand that. I have no problem with that. But the thing is, that was three years ago.


WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Former U.S. President Donald Trump plans to skip the first Republican primary debate next week and instead sit for an online interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, the New York Times reported, citing people briefed on the matter.

Trump has for months suggested that he would likely pass on Wednesday night's debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, arguing that it did not make sense to give others a change to attack him given his sizeable lead among Republicans in national polls.

Trump has also criticized Fox, which is hosting the debate, over its recent coverage of him.

Trump's absence could mean Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a distant second in the polls, will become the focus of attacks from other candidates looking to position themselves as the primary alternative to the former president.

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said nothing had been confirmed on the candidate's debate plans, without elaborating.

Representatives for Fox, which parted ways earlier this year with Carlson, and the Republican National Committee could not immediately be reached for comment. Carlson, who now is starting his own media company, also could not be reached.

In the most recent Reuters/Ipsos poll released this month, Trump held 47% of the Republican vote nationally, with DeSantis dropping six percentage points from July down to just 13%. None of the other candidates due to attend the debate have broken out of single digits.

Trump's rivals for the Republican presidential nomination ahead of the 2024 election will gather at the debate to tout their candidacies, but so far only a few have aggressively criticized Trump despite his mounting legal troubles.

Trump has an Aug. 25 deadline to voluntarily surrender in Fulton County, Georgia, after being charged this week in a fourth criminal indictment, for an alleged scheme intended to reverse his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

Most self-identified Republicans polled in June said they saw politics behind the indictments of Trump up to that point.

Trump also faces two federal indictments over his handling of classified documents after leaving office in January 2021 and over his alleged role in efforts to overturn his election loss. He also faces charges in New York over alleged hush money payments to a pornographic film star ahead of the 2016 election.

(Reporting by Nathan Layne; Writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by Ismail Shakil and Alistair Bell)
Former US president Donald Trump is facing four criminal cases in the midst of his 2024 White House reelection campaign (TIMOTHY A. CLARY)

Lawyers for Donald Trump on Thursday requested an April 2026 trial date on the federal charges that he conspired to overturn the 2020 election -- long after next year's presidential vote.

The request comes as lead prosecutor Jack Smith is pushing for a January 2 start date in the case, one of four criminal prosecutions that Trump is facing in the middle of his White House reelection campaign.

"The public interest lies in justice and fair trial, not a rush to judgment," the ex-president's lawyers said in their filing.

They argued the amount of documents in the case would require months to process.

"Assuming we could begin reviewing the documents today, we would need to proceed at a pace of 99,762 pages per day to finish the government's initial production by its proposed date for jury selection," they said.

"That is the entirety of Tolstoy's War and Peace, cover to cover, 78 times a day, every day, from now until jury selection."

Judge Tanya Chutkan is set to decide the trial date on August 28.

"The government's proposed (January 2) trial date represents an appropriate balance of the defendant's right to prepare a defense and the public's strong interest in a speedy trial in the case," Smith previously said in a court filing asking for the January start.

The case is the most serious of four criminal probes that have yielded dozens of felony charges against Trump, including allegations that he covered up hush money payments to a porn star in a bid to cheat campaign finance rules ahead of the 2016 election.

The government also accuses Trump of mishandling dozens of classified documents he took from the White House as he left office, including military plans and nuclear secrets, and plotting with his staff to hide them from investigators.

Biden's attorney general, Merrick Garland, appointed Smith as a special counsel in the federal election conspiracy case, giving him sole charge of prosecuting decisions in a bid to avoid actual or apparent political influence.

Trump and his team have decried the prosecution as politically biased.

"The incumbent administration has targeted its primary political opponent -- and leading candidate in the upcoming presidential election -- with criminal prosecution," his lawyers said in their Thursday filing.

The dates for two of Trump's other trials, at the state level in New York and at the federal level in Florida, have already been set to open ahead of the November 2024 vote, in March and May, respectively.

The trial date for his election-related racketeering charges in Georgia has not yet been fixed.

Trump indicated Thursday on his Truth Social network that he would cancel a news conference on the Georgia 2020 election planned for Monday at his Bedminster, New Jersey golf club, in which he had promised to reveal new evidence of fraud in the state's vote -- allegations for which there has never been any evidence.

He said that his lawyers preferred instead to make the case in "formal legal filings."

sst/nro/acb/bfm/nro
Former President Donald Trump on Thursday proposed an April 2026 trial date in his federal Jan. 6 case as his lawyers negotiate arrangements for him to turn himself into authorities in Atlanta along with 18 co-defendants in the Georgia election interference case.

Trump asked U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan to delay the case for more than two and a half years, citing the massive scope of the investigation into his effort to overturn the 2020 election.

The public interest lies in justice and fair trial, not a rush to judgment, Trumps legal team wrote in a 16-page filing. If the rights to due process and counsel are to mean anything, a defendant must have adequate time to defend himself.

Special counsel Jack Smith last week asked Chutkan to start the trial on Jan. 2, days before the third anniversary of the violent attack.

Chutkan has said she will set a date on or before a planned Aug. 28 hearing in the case.

The hard-nosed jurist, who has already presided over more than 30 trials of accused Jan. 6 rioters, warned Trumps legal team that she is inclined to move swiftly to trial, especially if Trump continues to publicly attack witnesses, judges and prosecutors.

Trump pleaded not guilty to a four-count federal indictment that accuses him of trying to overturn his loss to President Joe Biden in the 2020 election.

The legal action in the federal case comes as Trumps team negotiates with authorities in Atlanta over his surrender to face the sprawling racketeering case that covers some of the same conduct.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has given Trump and his 18 co-defendants until Aug. 25 to turn themselves in.

Trump had vowed to hold a press conference Monday in which he planned to unveil an irrefutable REPORT about supposed voter fraud even though courts have repeatedly rejected those claims.

He is considering scrapping the event on the advice of his lawyers since he could risk digging a bigger legal hole for himself, ABC News reported Thursday.

Sheriff Pat Labat has said the Trump case defendants will be treated like anyone else and told them to present themselves at a downtown Atlanta jail for booking.

But the Secret Service will likely insist on special security arrangements for Trump, who is under the agencys protection as a former president.

Meanwhile, right-wing extremists and supporters of Trump are stepping up a campaign of threats and intimidation against those involved in his criminal cases, including the grand jurors who voted to indict him in the Georgia case.

Abigail Jo Shry of Alvin, Texas, was charged with threatening to kill Chutkan, who is currently under security protection. She has admitted calling the federal courthouse in Washington and using the n-word to deride Chutkan, prosecutors say.

You are in our sights, we want to kill you, Shry said, according to court papers. If Trump doesnt get elected in 2024, we are coming to kill you.

_____
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 17)  Taguig City maintains it does not need to obtain a writ to exercise its jurisdiction over 10 contested barangays that were formerly part of Makati City.

In a statement on Thursday, the local government of Taguig was responding to the supposed initial assessment from the Supreme Courts (SC) administrator circulated by Makati City, which states that the former city needs to secure a writ of execution from the court before it can have control over 10 barangays from the latter.

A writ of execution is a legal order that enforces the transfer of a property as a result of a judicial decision and puts into effect a judgment of possession.

In April 2022, the SC's 3rd Division made a final decision declaring Taguig to be in charge of the contested areas, including Bonifacio Global City and the nearby Enlisted Mens Barrios (EMBOs).

This decision, according to Taguig City, is final and executory and therefore, the requirement from the SCs Office of Court Administrator (OCA) does not have the force of law and does not bind Taguig.

With due respect to the OCA, Taguig believes the supposed initial assessment is not only a non-binding opinion but more importantly beyond the OCAs legal authority, the city government said, pointing out that its authority does not extend to administrative or judicial adjudications.

Taguig City added that OCAs statement unfortunately encourages delay and even defiance, instead of respect and immediate voluntary compliance of the judgments of the high court.

The opinion tends to unwittingly support Makatis pattern of delaying and obstructing the implementation of the Supreme Courts Decision, the city further said.

A few weeks before the opening of the new academic year, public schools in affected barangays became entangled in the land row between the two cities.

Taguig began taking over the public schools, which along with the pupils, instructors, and other staff members that work there, have long been supported by Makati City.

The Department of Education (DepEd) has assumed authority over the 14 schools affected.
Former President Donald Trump is asking the federal judge overseeing special counsel Jack Smiths criminal election subversion case against him to set the trial for April 2026.

In a filing Thursday evening, Trump urged US District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington, DC, to reject Smiths proposal for a January 2024 trial, saying he seeks a trial calendar more rapid than most no-document misdemeanors, requesting just four months from the beginning of discovery to jury selection.

The governments objective is clear: to deny President Trump and his counsel a fair ability to prepare for trial. The Court should deny the governments request, lawyers for the former president wrote.

They asked the judge to instead set jury selection and the trial for April 2026. Chutkan, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, ultimately will decide the trial start date, a decision she is likely to make by the end of the month.

Among other things, Trumps team argued that Smiths proposed timeline for the trial would conflict with the other criminal and civil cases in which the former president is a defendant, including the classified documents case brought by Smith, the hush money case in New York and the Georgia election subversion case.

As CNN previously reported, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis wants her trial to begin in March 2024. The federal judge in the documents case has set that trial for May 2024, while the New York case is set to go to trial in March of next year.

President Trump must prepare for each of these trials in the coming months. All are independently complex and will require substantial work to defend. Several will likely require President Trumps presence at some or all trial proceedings, they wrote.

Without question, President Trumps obligation to diligently prepare for this case does not end because of other pending matters, the attorneys said. However, the Court may, and should, consider the practical effects these parallel prosecutions will have on President Trumps ability to meet the extraordinarily brief deadlines the government proposes.

Federal prosecutors had requested to start the 2020 election interference criminal trial on January 2, 2024, days before the anniversary of the attack on the US Capitol and the Iowa caucuses.

The special counsels office said in a filing last week that its presentation of evidence in the trial would take no longer than four to six weeks and proposed having jury selection done in December, before the winter holidays.

A January 2 trial date would vindicate the publics strong interest in a speedy trial  an interest guaranteed by the Constitution and federal law in all cases, but of particular significance here, where the defendant, a former president, is charged with conspiring to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election, obstruct the certification of the election results, and discount citizens legitimate votes, prosecutors wrote in their filing.

Trump had promptly objected to the proposal in a Truth Social post, saying at the time that any trial in the cases against him should wait until after the presidential election.

Such a trial, which should never take place due to my First Amendment Rights, and massive BIDEN CORRUPTION, should only happen, if at all, AFTER THE ELECTION. The same with other Fake Biden Indictments. ELECTION INTERFERENCE!

Trump says Smiths proposed schedule for election case trial conflicts with docs case

In a separate filing Thursday evening, Trumps lawyers complained to Judge Aileen Cannon  a Trump appointee who is presiding over the classified documents case in Florida  that Smiths trial timeline conflicts with the schedule Cannon has ordered in her case.

The conflict in question, according to the Trump team, is a hearing Cannon has ordered for December 11, which is the day Smith has proposed starting jury selection in the election subversion case. Trumps lawyers are now asking Cannon to require Smiths office to explain its reasoning in proposing overlapping schedules.

The filing also alleges that Smith has circumvented Cannons scheduling order.

Special Counsels actions appear to be intentionally motivated to prevent Trump from meaningfully preparing for either trial and to simultaneously prevent him from running a campaign for President of the United States, the filing states. Though it quotes from a Justice Department manual for prosecutors, the filing does not cite any case law.

Earlier Thursday, Cannon canceled tentative plans to hold a hearing on August 25 on a protective order for evidence in the documents case. She said in an order that the proceeding will take place under seal at a different time and place to discuss sensitive, security-related issues concerning classified discovery.

This story has been updated with additional details.

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(Bloomberg) -- Presidential hopeful Will Hurd said his GOP primary rivals arent ready to be president if theyre afraid to stand up to Donald Trump.

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You cant kiss the behind of your opponent. Thats not a winning strategy, Hurd, a former congressman from Texas, said from Dallas in an interview on Bloomberg Television on Thursday. They are afraid.

Hurds comments are thinly veiled knocks at Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, US Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina and other opponents seeking the Republican nomination who he says have been far too circumspect in their criticism of the former president amid a slew of criminal indictments. Last month, Republicans booed Hurd at an Iowa dinner after he said Trump was running for office to avoid prison.

Read More: Hurd Says Trump Running Because He Knows He Wont Survive Prison

Hurd said he has met the 40,000-donor requirement to qualify for the first Republican debate next week in Milwaukee. He also believes he will meet the 1% support level in polls needed to meet the Republican National Committees threshold for voter backing. He has until Monday to qualify.

Hurd reiterated that he wont sign an RNC pledge to support the eventual nominee no matter who it is. Failing to do so could potentially keep him from participating in the debate. Trump has also said he wont sign the Republican loyalty pledge and isnt expected at the debate next week.

I think were going to be able to resolve this with the RNC, Hurd said.

A strong showing at the debate is crucial for Hurds campaign. As one of the lowest-polling and least-funded candidates, he needs the exposure. The latest numbers from FiveThirtyEight, which aggregates polling data, has Hurd with 0.2% support. Trump is leading the pack with 54%, followed by DeSantis with 15%.

Hurd, 45, steers away from culture-war issues, preferring to focus on foreign policy, the economy and technology. He said he is broadly supportive of the US continuing to supply Ukraine with equipment and weapons, a contrast with many conservative Republicans in Congress who are calling to cut off financial support.

Hurd, who was until June a board member of the ChatGPT parent company OpenAI, also has cast himself as a tech-friendly politician. He said that the emerging technology has the power to be a useful educational tool, but that it needs oversight and regulation. He said that AI needs to follow the law and that major applications of the technology should require permits.

With President Joe Bidens suffering at the polls  a recent Quinnipiac survey found him with just 37% support  theres a ripe opportunity for Republicans to win the presidency in 2024, Hurd said. It shouldnt be hard to find a winning candidate, he emphasized.

All we gotta do is put up someone whos not a jerk, whos not a racist, whos not a homophobe, whos not a misogynist and we can see victories in places we probably havent seen, Hurd said.

(Adds that Hurd has met a threshold for participating in the GOP debate in the fourth paragraph.)

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Donald Trump should really keep his mouth shut.

Thats the advice that experienced litigators of all stripes are giving the former president as he faces a tide of criminal investigations into his conduct both as president and during the 2016 election.

Mr Trumps legal woes grew more serious this week with his fourth criminal indictment on charges of running a criminal conspiracy aimed at changing the 2020 election results in the state of Georgia. He now faces 13 state-level felony charges in addition to the more than 30 he already faced in New York. At least one, the RICO charge Mr Trump faces, carries a mandatory minimum incarceration period were he to be found guilty.

Meanwhile, in Washington DC all indications are pointing to the former president going to trial for his broader effort to overturn the 2020 election nationally  and the resulting siege of Congress on January 6  before the general election begins next year.

All of this mounting pressure has spurred the twice-impeached ex-president to do what he does best: punch back in public statements, addresses and tweets , now filtered through the lens of his Truth Social platform rather than being sent out via Twitter/X. But that may soon change.

On Thursday, it was reported by ABC News that the former president was rethinking plans to hold a press conference responding to the charges laid out in his Georgia indictment. Such a development was notable if only because it would be the first confirmed example of Mr Trump actually taking his attorneys advice and not address his various enemies, imagined or real, in the public eye.

It isnt clear why Mr Trump is just taking this tactic now; he has already made gratuitous swipes at Judge Tanya Chutkan, the federal district judge overseeing his trial in Washington DC, and encouraged his allies in Congress to do the same. Judge Chutkan had already warned the Trump legal team about making statements that could affect the courts ability to put on a fair trial before Mr Trump blasted her as being very biased and unfair in a Truth Social posting. And now, a woman has been arrested and charged with making threats against the DC-based judge.

I caution you and your client to take special care in your public statements about this case, Judge Chutkan said on Friday. I will take whatever measures are necessary to safeguard the integrity of these proceedings.

Legal experts who have been watching the various cases say that Trump is pushing firmly into the territory of speech that could affect the sanctity of his legal proceedings  something Judge Chutkan and her colleagues around the country will likely not abide.

It would not surprise me if Judge Chutkan called a hearing, with Trumps presence, given his new remarks, wrote Neal Katyal, a lawyer with history arguing before the Supreme Court.

Some have speculated that Mr Trump is already pushing far into an area of leeway that Judge Chutkan is forced to give a presidential contender, given the especially sensitive idea of chilling or outright censoring the speech of a political candidate. But that leeway has limits, even for a former president.

He has been getting some leeway, but ... the judicial system is not going to give him an infinite amount of patience as he behaves outrageously, former White House ethics czar Norm Eisen told The Independent.

They're gonna give him enough rope, and then he's gonna find himself subject to a gag order, Mr Eisen predicted.

The question now is: where is the line? How much rope does a presidential contender get to question the legal integrity of (presumably) any judge selected to oversee criminal proceedings against them before that speech crosses the boundary of acceptability, or legality?

Hints of the answer to that question may actually lie in Mr Trumps third indictment. (If youre beginning to lose count, that one related to his campaign to change the election results and unleash a mob upon Congress.) Among the four felony charges was a count of witness tampering.

Experts who have followed Mr Trumps criminal proceedings say that public comments about named or unnamed witnesses in his cases would be an unmistakable red line, one that would trigger serious legal remedies being employed to restrict the ex-presidents words going forward. And Mr Trump has already broached that very boundary: on the afternoon of 4 August, he warned in a very simple Truth Social posting: If you go after me, Im coming after you.

This is the part where it gets really serious for the ex-president. Commenting about the supposed biases of a judge is one thing; intimidating or otherwise tampering with a witness is another, specifically another crime. And Donald Trump was very plainly warned against committing any further crimes between now and the beginning of his trial as part of the pretrial release guidelines set by the magistrate overseeing this portion of Mr Trumps third prosecution. Comments that cross this line wont just result in a chilling of his speech  he could go to jail.

If he stumbles and directly threatens a witness, that would cross the line, thats a condition of his release, Mr Eisen said, adding: He's using that leeway. But also the closer you get to the wants of the trial the less leeway there is.

Remarks that anger Judge Chutkan could fall short of violating his release conditions, Mr Eisen speculated, while still causing problems for Mr Trump in court. Were she to move his trial date up sooner, as she has already threatened to do, the ex-president could find himself at criminal trial before the 2024 primaries conclude.

He's digging his own grave on a speedy trial, Mr Eisen cautioned.

As of now, Mr Trumps trial for the third indictment is to be set at a hearing later this month. Well learn then, barring anything explosive before that date, what Judge Chutkan thinks of the ex-presidents efforts to disqualify her from the proceedings, and how far shell let him continue. But its clear that Mr Trumps own worst enemy going forward could very well be his own ability to leave a fight unpicked.
A driver was arrested Monday afternoon after a frightening road rage incident in Florida, according to a Facebook post from the Flagler County Sheriffs Office.

A charging affidavit says that hours earlier deputies went to a hospital in Palm Coast, about 60 miles east of Gainesville, to speak with a patient being treated for minor head injuries.

The victim said that he was driving along Old Kings Road in nearby Bunnell around 8 a.m. when he tried to make a left turn to go east on State Road 100.

Then suddenly a man in a Ford F-150 sped up behind him on the right and threw a rock inside the open passenger window, according to the police report.

The rock, later retrieved from inside the vehicle and pictured on the sheriffs post, hit the windshield, and bounced off the dashboard before hitting the driver in the forehead. The victim  who had a noticeable red mark, the complaint noted  was able to get the trucks tags.

Deputies, dispatchers, and the Flagler sheriffs Real Time Crime Center tracked down the suspect in Flagler Beach, according to the Facebook post.

Peter Cicacci-Blackwell, 32, was arrested and charged with throwing a missile into a vehicle, criminal mischief and simple battery. He was released from the Flagler County jail the following day after posting $16,500 bond.

Even though it may seem relatively minor, the rock could have caused significant injury, said Sheriff Rick Staly. Drivers need to remember to control their anger and dont escalate incidents. Call us instead and let our deputies investigate the situation.
ORLANDO, Fla.  Despite the victim's calls for a harsher penalty, a judge sentenced Ehsan Karam to two years in prison Thursday after the former Twin Cities-based mixed martial arts fighter pleaded no contest to choking and assaulting his ex-girlfriend with a deadly weapon during a violent 36-hour episode in this central Florida city last September.

In exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors dismissed charges for battery and the more serious first-degree kidnapping, the latter carrying up to a life prison sentence. Judge Kevin Weiss also granted Karam credit for the year he's already spent in jail since he was first arrested on allegations of imprisoning Holly Appell in a closet, repeatedly choking her unconscious and holding a knife to her throat.

Appell, through her attorney, objected to the plea deal, telling Weiss she thought Karam deserved more prison time and "she's fearful for her life should he get out."

The charges against Karam were detailed in a June Star Tribune special report on the unsolved death of Heather Mayer, another former girlfriend. The story followed Mayer's mother, Tracy Dettling, as she set out to uncover the events leading to her daughter's nude and battered body being discovered in the basement of a South St. Paul home Mayer had shared with Karam and her three young sons. In the process, Dettling learned of a life her daughter had kept secret from her family as a well-known figure in the world of bondage, dominance, submission and sadomasochism  a sexual fetish commonly known as BDSM.

Mayer was found strangled by a chain used for BDSM on July 4, 2019. The medical examiner listed the cause of death as "undetermined," and South St. Paul police told Dettling her daughter killed herself, but Dettling has refused to believe it.

On Thursday, Dettling watched the proceeding from the courtroom gallery, having driven 1,500 miles from Nerstrand, Minn., to witness Karam admit guilt in Appell's case. After the sentencing, Dettling, who blames Karam for her daughter's death, said she also did not believe Judge Weiss gave Karam a severe enough penalty. But she was pleased that Karam will serve prison time.

"It was not justice," said Dettling. "But it does give him two felonies. It does make him accountable in some way. I'm grateful for that."

Dettling said she planned to continue searching for justice for her daughter.

Attack on Holly Appell

Police arrested Karam on Sept. 28, 2022, as Hurricane Ian ravaged the area around Orlando, where Appell lived at the time. In a hearing later over his bond, Appell said Karam had come to stay with her last fall, after spending two months in jail in Minnesota for violating Mayer's domestic assault no-contact order, a conviction that was based on evidence Dettling discovered after her daughter's death.

Appell testified in February that she'd told Karam she wanted to end their relationship and he choked her until she blacked out. Over the next two days, she said, he held her captive in her apartment, took her phone, stripped her naked, locked her in a dark closet for hours and forced her to perform sex acts. He told her he planned to kill her and himself, she said.

Karam later forced her on the bed and drew the tip of a kitchen knife from her neck to her cheeks and mouth, according to Appell's sworn testimony. He told her how he was going to rip off her insulin pump and let her die, she said. "He also at that point told me that my dad wasn't coming until Friday and that my body would be decomposing by then."

Appell said she was eventually able to call for help using her Apple Watch.

Karam initially pleaded not guilty to the charges. His attorney, Bryce Fetter, said in a court document that Ehsan's actions with Appell during the alleged assault and kidnapping were "consensual," and in the bond hearing he called her unreliable.

"This was a difficult case with a very unique fact pattern and I think there were strong arguments on both sides," Fetter said afterward. "I am happy we were able to resolve the case today and both parties can move forward."

In the courtroom Thursday, Karam, charged under the name "Kramamafrooz," did not speak, other than providing brief answers to Weiss' questions. In addition to the prison sentence, he agreed to serve three years of supervised probation and three years of standard probation. He must also submit to evaluations for mental health, substance abuse and psychosexual behavior.

Weiss also granted Appell a no-contact order, which also applies to digital contact, and barred Karam from entering the state of Alabama, where she now lives.

Frustration from other victims

As Karam put the plea on the record, several more of his ex-partners who have accused him of assault in the past watched the proceeding from across the country via live video feed.

Bella Bree, Karam's ex-wife, said she empathized with Appell, and was frustrated by the plea deal. "It is really hard to feel much beyond anger and fear for Holly  and for the rest of us," she said.

Bree, Appell and several other women told police and the Star Tribune they engaged in relationships as "submissives" to Karam, their "dominant." Though BDSM is about taking or relinquishing control in a safe place, they said, Karam used it to punish them with brutal force beyond any consent.

In interviews with the Star Tribune, Bree described instances when he beat her with a metal rod so hard he bent her wedding ring, or when he held her head underwater for prolonged periods of time or shoved her face into dirty cat litter.

Bree filed for divorce against him last year. Karam was previously convicted of violating her no-contact order.

Karam is facing additional assault charges in Tucson, Ariz., where he is accused of tackling and punching another ex-girlfriend, Stephanie Chao.

Bree and Appell were both in the house when Mayer died, and both say Karam and Mayer were engaging in a BDSM "scene" the night before they found her body. According to her statements to police, Bree could hear Mayer being whipped and saying, "I would hang myself for you" that night.

The investigation into Mayer's death is still open.
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  Two Tampa Bay area men were sentenced to prison this week for multiple offenses connected to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Carl J. Nichols handed down an 18-month prison sentence to Joshua Doolin, 25, followed by three years of supervised release, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Doolin traveled to the Capitol with a group of family and friends, including Michael Perkins, of Plant City; Olivia and Jonathan Pollock, of Lakeland; and Joseph Hutchinson III, of Georgia. The Pollock siblings are Doolins cousins.

Brother of Polk County Capitol rioter arrested for acting as fiances lawyer: State Attorneys Office

Court documents state that Doolin considered bringing a semi-automatic rifle to the rally outside the Capitol, but decided against it at the last minute. Doolin documented the following events on his cellphone, in various text messages and videos obtained by the DOJ.

Doolin texted a friend, We are just waiting on word to go to the capital!!!, according to federal prosecutors. When the friend responded, Dont get killed on your birthday bro, Doolin replied, I wouldnt mind dying with my family storming the capital on my birthday!

The group would go on to storm the Capitol after breeching a police perimeter on the south side of the building. In a cellphone video, Doolin described the scene, saying it sounds like the cops are shooting rubber bullets and macing people.

Doolin filmed his group charging at the police line and attacking officers at around 2 p.m. At some point during the exchange, he was hit with chemical spray, according to a release from the DOJ.

Now its ours, and were taking our Capitol back, Doolin said while filming the other rioters. Were taking our Capitol back, baby!

Insurrection is coming: Lakeland woman pleads guilty to Jan. 6 Capitol riot charge

At 3:45 p.m., Doolin stole a police riot shield, which he would take with him after leaving the Capitol. According to the DOJ, he filmed a video of himself saying, I got a riot shield!

Doolin used the stolen riot shield to charge at police as part of a mob, lending his force and weight to their efforts. He left the area just before 5 p.m., still carrying the shield.

Joshua Doolin (DOJ)

Michael Perkins (DOJ)

Jonathan Pollock (DOJ)

Olivia Pollock (DOJ)

Joseph Hutchinson III (DOJ)

Jonathan Pollock (DOJ)

FBI agents arrested Doolin in Lakeland on June 30, 2021. He was found guilty civil disorder (a felony), entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, and theft of government property on March 15, 2023.

Michael Perkins, 40, was arrested in Plant City on June 30, 2021 after he was accused of striking several Capitol police officers with a flag pole. In March, he was found guilty of assaulting a federal officer, disorderly conduct and entering restricted grounds.

On Thursday, Judge Nichols sentenced Perkins to four years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

While addressing the court at his sentencing, Perkins became visibly emotional and apologized for his actions on Jan. 6. He said he only traveled to D.C. because he believed former President Trumps false claims about the 2020 election and alleged he did not remember attacking the officers.

Jonathan Pollock remains on the run after body camera footage showed him allegedly assaulting a Capitol police officer. The FBI has offered a $30,000 reward for information leading to his arrest on charges of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers or employees, aiding and abetting, theft of government property, entering a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

Olivia Pollock removed her ankle monitor just days before her trial in March and is considered a fugitive. She was charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers or employees, aiding and abetting, entering a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and violent entry, and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

Joseph Hutchinson III is also on the run. He is wanted by the FBI on charges of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers or employees, aiding and abetting, entering restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
A trial date for the five now-former Memphis police officers charged with the death of Tyre Nichols is looming, Shelby County Criminal Court Judge James Jones Jr. said during a Friday morning court appearance.

That date was not set Friday, but a timeline for the case's duration and possible trial is expected to be laid out in a scheduling order when attorneys, the former officers and prosecutors next come to court.

Friday's court appearance gave Paul Hagerman, the newly appointed deputy district attorney for the Shelby County District Attorney's Office, the opportunity to update Jones, and those who came to observe the proceeding, on multiple aspects of the case.

Each of the five officers  Emmitt Martin, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith and Desmond Mills  are charged with one count of second-degree murder, aggravated assault, official oppression, two counts of aggravated kidnapping and two counts of official misconduct.

Some defendants want a separate trial

As of Friday morning's court appearance, three of the five former officers are requesting a separate trial. Attorneys for Tadarrius Bean and Justin Smith had both filed motions to sever from the case in late June, and Desmond Mills Jr. joined them Friday.

Desmond Mills, Jr., one of the officers charged in the beating of Tyre Nichols, stands in the courtroom next to his defense attorney Blake Ballin during a hearing where the he and the other four officers plead not guilty at the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center in Memphis, on Friday, February 17, 2023.

"There's a danger, potentially, of a jury being confused, or a jury feeling that one or more of the defendants is guilty. Mr. Mills is not guilty, but grouping them together, prejudicially, mistakenly, risks him not getting a fair trial," said Blake Ballin, the attorney representing Mills. "If it's not granted, we'll deal with it. We will focus on pointing out that Mr. Mills' actions were different from his codefendants."

Hagerman, though not providing many details, told reporters after the hearing that his team planned to argue against severance, and said that through a "law of criminal responsibility," the defendants came together to commit the crime they have been charged with.

More: Shelby County DA drops '30 to 40' cases worked by officers charged in Tyre Nichols beating

"We do want to try the defendants together," Hagerman said. "We're not going to litigate the motion to sever here in the public, but we're going to file our response to their motions. We're going to make it clear that, as a matter of law, we believe that they should be tried together."

The response from the district attorney's office is due within the next ten days, and the motions are set to be argued on Sept. 15.

Paul Hagerman, who is leading the prosecution, speaks to the press after a hearing where the five former Memphis police officers charged for their involvement in the beating of Tyre Nichols plead not guilty at the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center in Memphis, on Friday, February 17, 2023.

Trial date looms

The same day motions to sever are argued in court, Jones said he plans to establish a scheduling order with a trial date. According to Hagerman, the case has moved into "step two," which precedes the trial date.

"Things are progressing, probably not fast enough for Tyre's family, probably not fast enough for you all, probably not fast enough for everybody, but it's progressing," Hagerman said. "We are heading for a resolution of justice."

Hagerman laid out the steps from indictment to trial, the first of which was discovery, which he said has been completed. The second step will be pretrial motions that will be heard on Sept. 15. The third step will be trial, he said.

William Massey, the attorney representing Emmitt Martin III, said he is anticipating a federal criminal case in the future and that he would like the criminal trial at the state level to be set quickly. Massey has not filed to sever Martin's case from the rest.

Emmitt Martin III, one of the five former Memphis Police Department officers charged with the killing of Tyre Nichols, makes a court appearance at Shelby County Criminal Court in Memphis, Tenn., on Friday, June 23, 2023.

"I think in the state system, we need to get this matter to trial," Massey said. "If others are with us when we go, that's fine. If they want to wait and try their cases at a different time, that's up to them. But I think we will be looking for a trial date on the next setting."

Massey also said he expects the case, at least against Martin, to go to trial.

The U.S. Attorney General for the Western District of Tennessee is conducting a criminal investigation into Nichols' death separately from the U.S. Department of Justice's pattern or practice investigation.

Ruling on additional records expected

Also before Jones is a motion by the Media Coalition to release a trove of additional records that the DA's office was given by the City of Memphis following its internal investigation.

Judge James Jones Jr. speaks during a court appearance for the five former Memphis Police Department officers charged with the killing of Tyre Nichols at Shelby County Criminal Court in Memphis, Tenn., on Friday, June 23, 2023.

The records were initially slated to be released by the City of Memphis in March, but that release was put on hold after a motion was filed by defense attorneys representing the former officers.

The contents of the records are unclear, but then-City of Memphis Chief Legal Officer Jennifer Sink previously said there are more than 20 hours of audio and video footage contained in the records. In a mid-May court hearing, Hagerman said there are also personnel files and Garrity statements  which are statements made during internal investigations  among "2,000 or 3,000 pages of documents."

It is not likely those Garrity statements will be released, but other documents might be included with some redactions.

Lucas Finton is a criminal justice reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com and followed on Twitter @LucasFinton.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Tyre Nichols criminal case: what to know as a trial looms
President Joe Biden talks with Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, center, and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Hiroshima on May 21, 2023. Credit - Susan WalshAP

U.S. President Joe Biden will meet at Camp David in Maryland on Friday with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts for a first-of-its-kind trilateral summit aimed at bolstering security partnerships amid increasing tensions in the Asia-Pacific.

The White House said in July that, aside from addressing the continued threat of North Koreas nuclearization, the leaders will use the meeting to focus on how they can fortify relationships with Southeast Asian and Pacific nations to counter Chinas increasing exertion and expansion of its influence in the region. The summit is also expected to touch on maintaining peace in the Taiwan Strait. Two senior Biden officials told Reuters earlier this week that the trilateral alliance will launch joint initiatives on technology and defense, and a three-way crisis hotline during the meeting.

The summit is a monumental coming-together for two parties, Japan and South Korea, whose historically strained relationship has been on the mend only in recent months. Some observers have claimed the three-way partnership represents a sort of mini-NATO, while others have suggested it could pave the way for a de facto Asian NATOreferencing the mutual defense pact formed in 1949 between the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and several European states (since expanding to include almost all of Europe) in response to the security threat posed by the former Soviet Union.

Today, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is most known for its Article 5, which defines an armed attack on any member state as an attack on the entire coalitionand requires a collective response. Its an appealing concept for some worried about military aggression from Beijing and Pyongyang. But experts tell TIME that a multilateral, U.S.-led Asian defense alliance like NATO is not feasible, nor necessary.

More From TIME

Read More: China Is Testing How Hard It Can Push in the South China Sea Before Someone Pushes Back



The Asia-Pacific is too diverse politically and economically to host the formation of a NATO-like construct, Nicholas Szechenyi, deputy director for Asia at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, tells TIME.

For one, Asian nations are certainly not unified in their opinions on the U.S. and China. The U.S. has found democratic allies in some countries in the Indo-Pacific. But many Southeast Asian states, such as Myanmar and Cambodia, are led by authoritarian regimes, which the U.S. has criticized and China has embraced. Meanwhile, other countries are pursuing strategic non-alignment: India, just behind China in military size with 1.4 million active personnel, has vowed not to side with either the U.S. or China.

But at the core of most states expected hesitancy to fully commit to a regional defense pact is economic reliance on China. Analysis by the Economist Intelligence Unit shows China dominates trade in Asia, with every major economy in the region having a bigger two-way goods trade relationship with China than with the U.S. U.S. allies in the region want to maintain economic interdependence with China but are also uncertain about Chinas military ambitions, says Szechenyi. This is the dilemma for frontline states.

Riley Walters, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute specializing in international economics and national security, says a NATO-like construct would be redundant given the existence of other, more specific bilateral and multilateral collective defense arrangements. Theres already the Quad (a security dialogue between Australia, India, Japan, and the U.S.), the ANZUS (Australia-New Zealand-U.S.) Treaty, individual alliances with the Philippines and others, and now the trilateral partnership of the U.S., Japan, and South Korea. I believe the efforts between the U.S., its allies, and with Taiwan, are already working to deter against [North Koreas] aggression on the Korean Peninsula and conflict in the Taiwan Strait, Walters tells TIME.

Walters points to the aid sent by the U.S. and other NATO members to Ukraine, a non-member, as evidence that existing alliances can deter and respond to attacks on third parties. Even the actual NATO, which has stated it sees China as a threat to its interests, is already stepping up its presence in the Asia-Pacific region, with Japan and South Korea having been invited to formal talks with the transatlantic congregation earlier this year. You dont need to be a member of NATO to get NATO-like support, Walters says.

Contact us at letters@time.com.
Back in 1999, the U.S. military was flying some of its most challenging combat search and rescue (CSAR) missions ever, to retrieve pilots downed by Serbian forces during Operation Allied Force, fought by NATO over the former Yugoslavia. Fast-forward 24 years, and the U.S. Air Force is, for the first time, training for the same kinds of missions with its former adversary, Serbia.

As well as being a development that would have been unthinkable not so long ago, these maneuvers also indicate Belgrades increasing willingness to cooperate with Western nations, after many years as a staunch Russian military ally.

U.S. Air Force Tech Sgt. John Dwinell, 56th Rescue Generation Squadron flying crew chief, shuts down a U.S. Air Force HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter at Batajnica Air Base, Serbia, Aug. 7, 2023. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Edgar Grimaldo

The landmark maneuvers were conducted over Serbia between August 7-11, 2023. They included what the U.S. Air Force says was the first helicopter flight formation in history involving rotorcraft from that service and from its Serbian counterpart  officially, the Serbian Air Force and Air Defense.

More importantly, from a military perspective, was the chance for both air forces to participate in rotary-wing search and rescue operations. These were flown out of Batajnica Air Base, outside Belgrade, and Sgt./Pilot Mihajlo Petrovic Air Base, at Nis, in the south of the country.

Photos published by the U.S. Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) show participation by U.S. Air Force HH-60G Pave Hawk CSAR helicopters, as well as Serbian Airbus H145Ms and Soviet-era Mi-17 Hips.

HH-60G SERBIA

Meanwhile, the significance of the exercise, on a political and diplomatic level, was reflected in a special formation flight, involving an HH-60G and an H145M, flying to Serbia with U.S. Ambassador to Serbia, Christopher R. Hill on board.

U.S. Ambassador to Serbia, Christopher R. Hill, speaks with U.S. Air Force airmen assigned to the 56th Rescue Squadron and 435th Contingency Response Support Squadron at Batajnica Air Base, Serbia Aug. 8, 2023. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Edgar Grimaldo



U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Tyler Peterson, 31st Operations Wing standards and evaluations section chief, reviews a safety brief with U.S. Ambassador to Serbia, Christopher R. Hill, before boarding a U.S. Air Force HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter at Batajnica Air Base, Serbia, Aug. 8, 2023. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Edgar Grimaldo



https://twitter.com/usambserbia/status/1671857261411434500?s=20

The HH-60Gs involved in the exercise came from the 56th Rescue Squadron, stationed at Aviano Air Base in Italy. The squadrons mission is officially described as long-range rescue, humanitarian assistance, non-combatant evacuation, and disaster relief capabilities for USEUCOM, USAFRICOM, and NATO in peacetime, contingency, and wartime operations.

Throughout the training and discussions held this week, we hope the Serbian military can gain some of our search and rescue knowledge acquired from trial and error, said Staff Sgt. Noah Davila, 56th Rescue Squadron special missions aviator. And in the future, they can become search and rescue experts as well.

U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Tyler Peterson, 31st Operations Wing standards and evaluations section chief, looks out at a Serbian Air Forc H145M helicopter during a formation flight while flying over Serbia, Aug. 8, 2023. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Edgar Grimaldo



Its an interesting coincidence that Operation Allied Force, NATOs campaign against Serbia in 1999, saw some of the most celebrated and influential CSAR missions of recent times.

Most prominent among these was likely the massive CSAR operation launched after the shooting down of an F-117A Nighthawk stealth attack jet by Serbian air defenses. This required CSAR assets to penetrate deep into enemy territory to pluck the F-117 pilot from the enemys clutches. The operation was a great success (read about it here), and it went a long way to prove the capabilities of U.S. CSAR operators as well as the continued relevancy of the mission set.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjbnyNGz4j8

Despite the lessons of Allied Force, the U.S. Air Force has somewhat neglected some higher-end mission set aspects of its CSAR components since then.

Only recently has the Air Force begun to receive the HH-60W Jolly Green II  another Black Hawk derivative  to replace its well-worn HH-60G Pave Hawks. However, questions over the feasibility of these aircraft successfully infiltrating areas in which likely high-end stealth aircraft can only be trusted to venture have contributed to orders for the HH-60W being trimmed back.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOgbD2Qb3w4

Nevertheless, the HH-60W will continue to play a key role in lower-end threat scenarios, just like the HH-60G before it. Even in more benign scenarios, CSAR missions are notably complex, with a typical package of assets also including A-10C Thunderbolt II attack jets in the Sandy role, not to mention other aircraft to provide suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD), electronic warfare support, command and control, and defensive counter-air capabilities where required.

An HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter carrying combat search and rescue airmen approaches a landing zone during an exercise at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, Aug. 21. 2010. U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Christopher Boitz

All this means that the ability to launch full-spectrum, high-end CSAR missions is a big challenge if not beyond the reach of all but the best-equipped and well-funded air arms.

For others, like the Serbian Air Force and Air Defense, joint operations with larger air arms, like the U.S. Air Force, can bring new insights into more complex CSAR operations. The learning can flow in the opposite direction too, with USAF personnel learning from a less capable but resourceful ally.

U.S. Air Force airmen assigned to the 435th Contingency Response Support Squadron and 56th Rescue Squadron discuss the agenda for a rotary-wing operation, at Batajnica Air Base, Serbia Aug. 7, 2023. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Edgar Grimaldo

According to the U.S Air Force, The event allowed U.S. Air Force and Serbian Air and Defense Force personnel to practice mixed aircraft formation, requiring communication and skill from both crews. They were also provided the unique opportunity to review videos of real-world search and rescue operations to understand their capabilities used to assist and lead rescue attempts.

U.S. Air Force Capt. Samuel Unke, 56th Rescue Squadron pilot, demonstrates the capabilities of a U.S. Air Force HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter to a Serbian Air Force pilot assigned to the 890th Mixed Helicopter Squadron, at Sgt./Pilot Mihajlo Petrovic Air Base, Serbia, Aug. 9, 2023. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Edgar Grimaldo

U.S. Air Force airmen assigned to the 435th Contingency Response Squadron and 31st Fighter Wing, receive a slideshow presentation from a Serbian Air Force airman assigned to the 119th Mixed Helicopter Squadron at Sgt./Pilot Mihajlo Petrovic Air Base, Serbia, Aug. 9, 2023. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Edgar Grimaldo



For Serbia, working with the U.S Air Force on joint CSAR training also points to increasing willingness to not only work with NATO and Western armed forces but also to increasingly procure military equipment from the same sources.

Traditionally, Serbia has relied on Russia, both as its closest military partner, but also as its main source of arms, including for its air force.

The introduction of the H145M  which can also be armed with various guns and rockets  is one example of Serbias shift to the West.

U.S. Air Force airmen assigned to the 435th Contingency Response Squadron, 31st Fighter Wing, and Serbian Air Force 119th Mixed Helicopter Squadron stand in front of a H145M helicopter, at Sgt./Pilot Mihajlo Petrovic Air Base, Serbia, Aug. 8, 2023. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Edgar Grimaldo



In late 2021, Belgrade began negotiations to acquire a pair of Airbus C295 turboprop transports, which are planned to replace Soviet-era An-26 Curl aircraft now in use. A contract for the new transports was announced in early 2022.

Also in late 2021, the Serbia president, Aleksandar Vucic, announced that Serbia would buy 29 new helicopters, comprising a mixture of 11 H145Ms (adding to the nine previously acquired), four Mil Mi-35 Hind attack helicopters, and three Mi-17 transport helicopters, to bolster existing fleets. Also included were another 11 former Cyprus National Guard Mi-35s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ7Zd858Ufk

This kind of arms procurement, divided between Western and Russian equipment, predates the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine but has no doubt been given added impetus by the war in Ukraine and the international fallout.

The Joint Action 2020 maneuvers in Serbia included a mixture of new and Cold War-era equipment, originating from China, Russia, and Western Europe:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRkPSh5N-2k

More recently, the possibility has emerged that Belgrade may follow neighboring Croatias lead and acquire French-made Rafale multirole fighters. If that happens, the Rafales would replace the current Serbian fleet of MiG-29s  originally provided by the Soviet Union and later topped up by secondhand jets from Russia and Belarus. That would signal a very clear break from relying on Soviet- and Russian-made fighter equipment, something that also reflects the current sanctions on Russia, which not only make buying new jets much harder but also make it almost impossible to procure spares for existing aircraft. This is further exacerbated by Russia consuming available spare parts for its high-tempo operations in Ukraine. This has caused a shift globally in aircraft procurement.

View from the cockpit of a Serbian MiG-29. SERBIAN MINISTRY OF DEFENSE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_djntl6nEiE

Surprisingly, Serbia has emerged as a possible export customer for Boeing's T-7A Red Hawk jet trainer, which is seen as an option to supplant its G-4 Super Galeb jet trainers and J-22 Orao ground-attack planes. You can read more about that here.

In the meantime, as reflected in its helicopter plans, the policy seems to be a deliberate move to maintain close relations with Moscow, while also increasingly turning to Western nations for more advanced equipment  as well as operational and tactical know-how.

And with the successful completion of the recent CSAR exercise, there are clear signs that there will be more such maneuvers to come, with greater complexity and a higher degree of cooperation with the U.S. Air Force in particular.

Moving forward, we hope to conduct more flight formations and scenario-based training, explained U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Erik Silva, 435th Contingency Response Support Squadron aircraft maintenance air advisor. The Serbians have been very welcoming, professional, and eager to learn, and I cannot wait to see where this partnership progresses in the upcoming years.

A U.S. Air Force HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter arrives at Batajnica Air Base, Serbia Aug. 7, 2023. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Edgar Grimaldo

U.S. Air Force Capt. Samuel Unke, 56th Rescue Squadron pilot, goes over HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter flight procedures with a Serbian Air Force pilot assigned to the 890th Mixed Helicopter Squadron, at Sgt./Pilot Mihajlo Petrovic Air Base, Serbia, Aug. 9, 2023. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Edgar Grimaldo

In the future, we plan to further our cooperation by conducting more joint flights, and expand to rescue demonstrations outside Serbia, where both the SAFAD and the U.S. Air Force can demonstrate how each country is able to perform search and rescue, Silva added. In addition, we hope to incorporate medical evacuation scenarios and operate together to conduct these training scenarios.

With that in mind, the CSAR exercise may well signal the start of closer military relations between the United States and Serbia, something that could have significant repercussions on the international stage.

Contact the author: thomas@thedrive.com
The Biden administration has formally approved the transfer of F-16 training materials to Denmark, allowing Ukrainian pilots to begin training on the long-anticipated fighter jets, according to two U.S officials.

At the same time, the U.S. this week provided written assurances to Denmark and the Netherlands promising to expedite the approval of all necessary transfer requests so that the aircraft can be sent to the battlefield as soon as the pilots are trained to use them, according to one of the U.S. officials and a State Department spokesperson.

This way, Ukraine can take full advantage of its new capabilities as soon as the first set of pilots complete their training, said the official, who was also familiar with the letter. Reuters previously reported the U.S. assurances of a speedy approval.

Taken together, the moves signal a new sense of urgency from Washington to get fighter jets to the battlefield as soon as possible. The move to green light Denmarks request to transfer training materials  such as instruction manuals and flight simulators  is the last bureaucratic hurdle on the U.S. side before the training can begin.

The program will begin soon, said the first U.S. official. All three individuals were granted anonymity to discuss sensitive deliberations.

Ukraine has sent the U.S. a list of 32 pilots it says are ready for training, but the official said only eight have the English language skills to complete the course. The other 24 must go through an English language instruction program run by the United Kingdom before they can start training on the jets.

On Wednesday, a Ukrainian official said that Kyiv was not expecting to receive the jets this year, meaning they would not be available for the current counteroffensive.

Meanwhile, Denmark and the Netherlands had asked for U.S. assurances that it would quickly approve their requests to transfer aircraft to Ukraine, once the pilots are trained, according to the first U.S. official.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken sent letters to his Danish and Dutch counterparts earlier this week providing those assurances, according to the first U.S. official and a State Department spokesperson.

Denmark and the Netherlands, which are leading a coalition of 11 countries to train F-16 pilots, still have not officially said they would send jets to the battlefield. But the letter from Blinken signals that when they do request the third-party transfer, Washington will move quickly to approve it.

The United States is in active discussions with our European partners about how we can support the efforts to provide Ukraine with F-16 pilot training as quickly as possible," the State Department spokesperson said.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 18)  Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez on Friday said grounds were unclear on the expulsion of former Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo Teves, as he called on the the House of Representatives to identify actions that may lead to unseating a member.

While it was not recorded during the Aug. 16 plenary session, Alvarez on Thursday said he voted against the recommendation since the reasons cited by the Committee on Ethics to expel Teves were insufficient.

READ: Rep. Teves expelled from House

Speaking to CNN Philippines' The Source, Alvarez said his vote goes beyond Teves.

"I am doing this on behalf of the members of the House now and in the future dahil (because) this precedent is very dangerous, he said. The lawmaker said determining right and wrong is relative so it is important for the House to define the reasons or actions that may lead to the expulsion of a member.

Paano na lang lets say kung gusto ng leadership na tanggalin ka sa House of Representatives, magi-imbento sila ng mga instances sabihin nila grave reasons yan enough to expel a member, he pointed out.

[Translation: What if let's say the leadership wants to remove you from the House of Representatives, they can just come up with instances and say those are grave reasons enough to expel a member.]

The former house speaker said the expulsion rocks the very foundation of a republican and democratic form of government since it deprived congressional representation for the third district of Negros Oriental.

While a caretaker may be named, there's no assurance that the constituents will be in favor of the appointee, Alvarez said.

The Commission on Elections said it is up to the House to decide on a special election to replace Teves.

Meanwhile, House Secretary General Reginald Velasco said the chamber's leadership is looking at lawmakers from the first and second districts of Negros Oriental, namely, Rep. Jocelyn Limkaichong and Rep. Manuel Sagarbarria, as possible legislative caretakers of the third district.
Guatemalan presidential candidate Bernardo Arevalo participated in the "Face to Face with the Migrant" forum, held at the Celebrity Center International in Hollywood on May 5, 2023. (James Carbone/Los Angeles Times en Espanol)

In the first round of Guatemala's presidential election earlier this summer, the so-called "null vote" received more support than most of the candidates did  a symbolic rejection of the ruling political class, by voters both in the homeland and U.S. immigrants.

In contrast, second round voting, which will take place Sunday, is raising hope among many voters who will elect the next president and vice president of Central America's most populous country.

The two contenders are Sandra Torres, candidate of the formerly democratic, increasingly right-leaning National Unity of Hope (UNE), who obtained 881,592 votes (15.8%) in the first round.

Her opponent is Bernardo Arevalo, candidate of the center-left Movimiento Semilla party, whose vote tally of 654,534 (11.7%) stunned supporters, pundits and pollsters. Arevalo's progressive values, and his fight against corruption and impunity, have made him a target of attacks from the political establishment.

We were all in shock over Arevalo's surprisingly strong showing, said Eduardo Estrada, 63, a psychologist and family counselor originally from Guatemala City.

Arevalo's ascent to the second round caused a political earthquake. The same day that the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) announced that the Semilla candidate would face Torres in the August 20 run-off, a court ordered the suspension of the legal status of Arevalo's party for alleged corruption, which set off a series of protests and legal skirmishes.

The electoral process was able to move forward only after the Constitutional Court intervened. But Arevalo supporters fear that his adversaries will continue seeking ways to disrupt his candidacy.

The day after the elections, as official results were confirmed, Estrada's cell phone vibrated incessantly with calls and text messages from euphoric compatriots who glimpsed what they regarded as a light at the end of the tunnel following a years-long breakdown of the rule of law dating back to the administration of Otto Perez Molina (2012-2015).

Most people know that this change is necessary, said Estrada, a former student leader in Guatemala who arrived in Los Angeles in 1984 as a refugee fleeing military persecution. He and other compatriots have been organizing since June 26 to invite members of the U.S. community to vote in Guatemala's presidential election.

In the United States, 90,708 Guatemalans are registered to vote in Los Angeles and 14 other electoral centers. But in the first round, absenteeism and a slew of TSE procedural problems resulted in only 1,443 people being able to cast votes.

Of those immigrants who were able to vote, 38.1% cast a "null" ballot. The candidate who received the lowest percentage of the immigrant vote was Manuel Conde, of the ruling Vamos party (1.3%). Torres obtained 3.9% of the votes in the United States, while the candidates with the greatest support were the daughter of the former dictator Efrain Rios Montt, Zury Rios (12.1%) Edmond Mulet (11.8%) and Arevalo (11.3%).

Torres, 67, formerly served as first lady during the presidency of her then-husband Alvaro Colom (2008-2011). This is the third time that she has reached the second round. The previous two times she was defeated by Jimmy Morales, then by Alejandro Giammattei, the country's current president. Representatives from the UNE party, led by Torres, have been allies of Morales and Giammattei in Congress.

Sandra Torres means maintaining the status quo we have right now. Arevalo represents the hope that Guatemala can be changed, said Manuel Perez, a native of the Guatemalan province of Peten.

Guatemalan presidential candidate Bernardo Arevalo participated in the "Face to Face with the Migrant" forum, held at the Celebrity Center International in Los Angeles on May 5, 2023. (James Carbone)

Arevalo, 64, is a sociologist and diplomat by profession. He has been Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Ambassador to Spain and is one of the founders of Movimiento Semilla, which was legally registered in 2018. He is currently a deputy in the Guatemalan Congress. His father, Juan Jose Arevalo Bermejo, was president of Guatemala from 1945 to 1951.

There are several mixed feelings. On the one hand, concern and on the other enthusiasm and hope, said Xuana Mulul, an immigrant of Maya Kiche origin. The 50-year-old woman has been urging her community in Southern California to get people out to vote here and in Guatemala. It's not that things are going to automatically change, it's a start of change, she continued.

Others took a starkly dimmer view.

Arevalo is going to extend the agony of Guatemala and in a year you are going to see the people protesting against him, said Mario Avila, an activist who leans toward the leftist Movement for the Liberation of the Peoples (MLP), whose presidential candidate, the indigenous leader Thelma Cabrera, was blocked from running by the electoral authorities. "People have the expectation that everything will change, but it is not true because there are very deep interests of the country's oligarchy."

Julio Villasenor, a Guatemalan leader in L.A., predicted social upheaval in the days ahead.

There are many enthusiastic, they want a Messiah to come to change things," he said. "If Semilla manages to win and they cancel it as a party, then all that will be missing in the streets will be a match for those masses to light up, and there will be a tremendous catastrophe in Guatemala."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
U.S., Japan and Australia to hold joint drills as tensions rise

The U.S., Japan and Australia will hold joint naval drills on Wednesday, as tensions continue to mount in the South China Sea following Russian and Chinese military activity in the region.

News of the joint naval drills, reported by Reuters citing Japan's Kyodo news agency, comes as President Biden is set to welcome South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to Camp David on Friday, where they are expected to discuss increasing tensions in the Indo-Pacific region.

Video released by Russian state news agency TASS purports to show large vessels sailing in a diamond formation as crew members stood to attention on deck in the South China Sea. Russian and Chinese navy ships have been jointly patrolling the Pacific Ocean and holding naval exercises in the East China Sea, the Russian Defence Ministry said in a statement on Friday (August 18). / Credit: RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY

Meanwhile, Japan's defense ministry said on Friday that it had scrambled fighter jets in response to two Russian spy planes that it had identified flying back and forth between the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea, according to Reuters.

This latest Russian activity near Japanese and South Korean waters comes just a day after Tokyo said it spotted Russian and Chinese naval ships crossing waters between the southern Japanese islands of Okinawa and Miyako.

The news also comes as Russia's defense ministry confirmed on Friday that Russian and Chinese warships are conducting joint maritime patrols in the Pacific Ocean that Moscow claims involve rescue training and drills for countering air strikes.

Video released by Russian state news agency TASS showed nine large vessels sailing in a diamond formation as crew members stood at attention on deck.

The drills also included practicing the "replenishment of fuel reserves by ships and the transfer of cargo on the go," the defense ministry said on social media platform Telegram, adding that the joint detachment of ships had covered more than 6,400 nautical miles since the start of the exercises.

"A detachment of ships of the Russian Navy and the PLA Navy is currently operating in the waters of the East China Sea," said the ministry, referring to China's People's Liberation Army.

"During this period, the sailors of the two countries conducted anti-submarine exercises, repulsed an air strike by a mock enemy, conducted rescue training at sea, and perfected the skills of taking off and landing helicopters on the decks of warships," the statement read.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and China's President Xi Jinping make a toast during a reception following talks at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, in a March 21, 2023 file photo. / Credit: PAVEL BYRKIN/SPUTNIK/AFP/Getty

Ties between Moscow and Beijing have grown closer in recent years, as prolonged fighting in Ukraine has shattered Russia's relationship with Western governments.

A Chinese defense ministry spokesperson said Monday that naval fleets of the two countries were conducting maritime patrols in western and northern regions of the Pacific Ocean.

"These actions are not aimed at a third party and are not related to the current international and regional situation," the spokesperson added.

Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu visited Russia this week to attend the 11th Moscow Conference on International Security, where he called for closer military cooperation.

Moscow and Beijing have ramped up bilateral defense collaboration in recent months, carrying out a joint air patrol over the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea in July.

The displays of force have caused concerns in the region -- the July air patrol led to South Korea deploying fighter jets as a precaution.

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Eugene Shvidler, a partner of Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, has lost a lawsuit at London's High Court to overturn British sanctions imposed due to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reported on Aug. 18.

Shvidler, whose net worth Forbes estimated at about $1.6 billion, holds both U.S. and U.K. citizenship, and his lawyers stressed that he has not visited Russia in over 15 years.

However, Shvidler and Abramovich have made much of their fortune working together in various ventures that involved the extraction and processing of natural resources in Russia.

Despite these business connections, Shvidlers lawyer Michael OKane argued that that he was unfairly targeted for sanctions because of his friendship with Abramovich. Both own a number of expensive properties around the world, including in the U.K. and the U.S.

OKane said they were determined to appeal, but an unnamed source from the U.K. Foreign Office stated that they felt they had won comprehensively, and that this decision shows the strength of the U.K. sanctions regime.

London has long been one of the primary places where Russian oligarchs have sought to park their money, earning it the nickname Londongrad. Since the outbreak of the full-scale invasion, the U.K. government has taken steps to crack down on the flow of dirty money into the country.

Following the beginning of Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the U.K. government announced wide ranging sanctions against Russian oligarchs and their associates. Around 1,600 individuals have been sanctioned, and more than 18 billion pounds ($23 billion) in assets frozen.









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Russia seeks to create a pro-Kremlin information space in occupied parts of Ukraine "to erode Ukrainian national identity," the U.K. Defense Ministry wrote on Aug. 18.

In its latest intelligence update, the ministry pointed out Russia's recent actions aimed at fulfilling this goal.

On Aug. 15, Russian Deputy Presidential Chief of Staff Sergey Kiriyenko came to occupied Donetsk in eastern Ukraine to visit local schools and "check their integration into the Russian education system."

Meanwhile, in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Moscow-installed illegal occupation administration was briefed to introduce new standards for the accreditation of educational institutions, reads the report.

The Kremlin is also preparing to issue a new textbook on Russian history to schools in occupied Ukrainian regions and across Russia from Sept. 1, according to British intelligence.

Read also: Thats it, its death, guys. What we know about Russias killing of 2 Ukrainian teenagers in occupied Berdiansk

The book reportedly praises Russia's all-out war against Ukraine, which Moscow calls "the special military operation," and describes Ukraine "as an ultra-terrorist state."

As another method for spreading pro-Kremlin propaganda, media outlets in Russian-occupied territories are employing journalists from Russia, the U.K. Defense Ministry added.

On Aug. 17, the National Resistance Center said that Russia had deported another 450 children from areas of Ukraine under Russian occupation. The majority of them were reportedly sent to summer camps in the Krasnodar region.

Ukrainian children are taught to believe Russian propaganda in these camps and attend activities like Russian patriotic concerts. In the end, Ukrainian children are often not returned home.

According to the government's portal Children of War, Russia has illegally deported more than 19,546 children since the start of the full-scale invasion. Only 386 of them have been returned to Ukraine.

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UK Defence Intelligence has reported on Russia's goal to establish its own pro-Russian information space in the occupied territories of Ukraine.

Source: UK Defence Intelligence review, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The UK MoD noted that Sergey Kiriyenko, First Deputy Head of the Russian Presidential Administration, arrived in Russian-occupied Donetsk on 15 August to inspect schools and check whether they were integrating into the Russian education system.

The Russian occupying administration in Zaporizhzhia Oblast received guidelines from Russia to introduce new accreditation standards for educational institutions.

Furthermore, journalists from Russia are finding employment in news agencies in the occupied territories, UK Defence Intelligence added.

Effective from 1 September, schools in the occupied territories of Ukraine, as well as Russian educational institutions, will receive a new Russian history textbook that glorifies aggression against Ukraine, also called a "special military operation" by Russian propaganda. These textbooks also refer to Ukraine as an "ultra-terrorist state".

"Russias aim is to create a pro-Kremlin information space in the occupied regions in order to erode Ukrainian national identity," the UK MoD stressed.

Background:

In a previous report, UK Defence Intelligence forecasted that Russia would continue to attack Ukraine's energy infrastructure in the coming winter.

The report dated 16 August said Russia had begun using copies of Iranian-made Shahed attack drones domestically produced in the country

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This undated handout issued by Cheshire Constabulary shows Lucy Letby, a neonatal nurse in a British hospital who was found guilty of killing seven babies and trying to kill six others when she worked at the Countess of Chester Hospital in northwest England between 2015 and 2016. | Cheshire Constabulary via Associated Press

In whats believed to be the longest murder trial in the U.K., according to the BBC, former nurse Lucy Letby was found guilty of killing seven infants in a neonatal unit, and attempting to kill six other infants, on Friday.

This verdict makes her the U.K.s most prolific child serial killer in modern times, BBC added.

The Washington Post reported, During the trial, prosecutors alleged that Letby killed five boys and two girls and attempted to kill another five boys and five girls in the hospitals neonatal unit by poisoning them with insulin, injecting air into their veins or overfeeding them with milk.

The murders occurred between 2015 and 2016, while Letby worked at the Countess of Chester hospital, according to Reuters.

CBS News reported that an investigation was launched in 2017 after the spike in infant deaths.

Letby was arrested three times in connection with the deaths before she was charged in November 2020, with her defense lawyer saying there wasnt sufficient evidence to prove Letby the culprit.

After the 33-year-olds arrest in 2018, police found a handwritten note that read, I killed them on purpose because Im not good enough to care for them, I am a horrible evil person, and I AM EVIL I DID THIS, Reuters said.

Related

This court artist drawing by Elizabeth Cook from Aug. 11, 2023, shows of nurse Lucy Letby at Manchester Crown Court in Manchester, England. A neonatal nurse in a British hospital has been found guilty of killing seven babies and trying to kill six others. Letby was charged with murder in the deaths of five baby boys and two girls, and the attempted murder of five boys and five girls, when she worked at the Countess of Chester Hospital in northwest England between 2015 and 2016. | Elizabeth Cook, Associated Press

After the first two sets of guilty verdicts were declared on Aug. 8 and Aug. 11, the jury was unable to reach verdicts on six further attempted murder charges relating to five babies, the BBC said.

In a statement, Nicola Evans, detective chief inspector for the Cheshire Constabulary, said, Today is not a time for celebration. There are no winners in this case.

Our focus right now is very much on the families of the babies, Evans said, per the Post. The compassion and strength shown by the parents  and wider family members  has been overwhelming.

Of the children who survived the attacks are a girl and boy, ages 8 and 7, who live with severe brain damage due to the injury inflicted by Letby, according to The Guardian.

Related

Pascale Jones of Britains Crown Prosecution Service said, Lucy Letby sought to deceive her colleagues and pass off the harm she caused as nothing more than a worsening of each babys existing vulnerability, per CNN.

The families of the infants who died said in a joint statement on Friday, Justice has been served and the nurse who should have been caring for our babies has been found guilty of harming them.

But this justice will not take away from the extreme hurt, anger and distress that we have all had to experience. ... We are heartbroken, devastated, angry and feel numb, per CNN.

The trial started in October 2022 and sentencing of Letby for all guilty charges will be at 10 a.m. local time on Monday, Aug. 21, according to the BBC.
A pair shelter from the rain near Big Ben. with further downpours expected on Friday night

Parts of the UK and Ireland are being lashed by Storm Betty, which has brought heavy rain, storms and winds.

Train services in Cornwall have been disrupted and flooding has hit roads in County Cork.

The storm, named by the Irish meteorological service, is set to bring more severe weather as it moves in from the Atlantic.

Half a month's rain is expected in some areas, with other instances of flooding reported on Friday evening.

The forecast is expected to improve as the weekend continues and many areas can expect sunny spells and showers.

A yellow warning alert for wind came into effect at 18:00 on Friday, with Betty expected to bring very strong gusts lasting until midday on Saturday.

The strongest, of around 60mph-70mph (97kmh-113kmh), are expected along the south-western coasts of England and Wales. Gusts of 40-50mph could also affect much of south-west England, Wales, the east of Northern Ireland, south-west Scotland and the Cumbrian coast.

A second thunderstorm warning, covering the East Midlands, the east and south-east of England and London, came into effect at 20:00 on Friday and will last until 05:00 on Saturday.

On Friday, flooding caused disruption for drivers in County Cork, while a boat in Dungarvan, County Waterford, broke free from its berth and crashed into the harbour.

Heavy and thundery rain will spread across many parts of the UK on Friday night with the potential for some large hail, especially in East Anglia, Kent and East Sussex.

Significant rainfall is also expected in Northern Ireland. A weather warning is in place from 21:00 on Friday until 06:00 on Saturday. Around a months' worth of rain - 40mm-80mm - could fall in hilly areas and around 15mm-25mm elsewhere.

On Friday morning, a yellow warning for thunderstorms was in place from 06:00 BST until 12:00 across the West Midlands and the south of England, with commuters told to expect travel disruption and possible flooding.

Around 20mm-30mm (0.8in-1.1in) fell in some areas. The average monthly rainfall in August is usually around 63mm (2.5in) of rain falls across south-east England.

Met Office meteorologist Tom Morgan told the BBC that although there had been some heavy rain on Friday morning, he was not aware of any significant flooding at that time.

He said Storm Betty was "more likely to bring frequent lightning and flooding overnight".

Mr Morgan warned that "potentially severe gales" were possible but stressed: "for the weekend as a whole, for many its a fine weekend with a small chance of a shower."

The Coast Guard inspect the damage to a boat in Dungarvan.

Waves crash against the sea wall in Tramore, south-east Ireland, on Friday evening

A woman seen during heavy rain in central London on 2 August

Women purchased umbrellas in Westminster to shelter from the rain

BBC meteorologist Simon King also advised anyone holidaying in unfamiliar areas to check local reports.

Among events cancelled due to Friday's forecast is the Tall Ships parade of sail in Falmouth, Cornwall.

Organisers said the safety and welfare of the vessel crews were the "foremost considerations".

The Met Office has warned people living and working on the coast to take extra care during windy and stormy weather, and to be prepared for the weather changing quickly.

It added that there is a "small chance" of damage to homes and businesses from flooding, lightning and hail.

Storm Betty, named by Met Eireann, is the second named storm in August following Storm Antoni earlier this month. It is only the second time since naming was introduced in 2015 that two storms have been named in August.

Forecasters expects Saturday to see the remnants of Storm Betty move north and bring some showers in western parts of the UK, and more persistent rain in western Scotland.

For Sunday and next week, the main theme of the forecast is expected to be sunshine and showers.

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The number of Russian prisoners of war in Ukraine has increased by more than 200 people, and every fifth has surrendered voluntarily in recent weeks.

Source: Interfax-Ukraine, referring to Andrii Yusov, the representative of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine

Quote from Yusov: "Our exchange fund has increased by more than 200 Russian prisoners of war in just a few weeks of active actions by the Ukrainian Security and Defence Forces, both defensive and offensive."

Details: The intelligence official reports that this means that "it will be easier and more active to bring back our people".

Yusov also added that every fifth Russian out of this number surrendered voluntarily. At the same time, three or five Russian soldiers are captured daily under the state programme Hochu Zhit (I want to live). [The Ukrainian state project Hochu Zhit (I want to live) was set up to help soldiers of the Russian army safely surrender to the Armed Forces of Ukraine - ed.]

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Romanian F-16s on a NATO Air Policing mission on July 4. Photo by JOHN THYS/AFP via Getty Images

Dutch officials say the US has finally authorized the delivery of American-made F-16s to Ukraine.

F-16s will be more capable than Kyiv's jets, but they aren't silver bullets, a top US general said.

The jets will be better suited for the Western-made weapons that Ukraine is already using, however.

The US has signed off on plans to transfer F-16 fighter jets from Denmark and the Netherlands to Ukraine after Ukrainian pilots complete their training on the jet, paving the way for F-16s to arrive as soon as early next year.

F-16s would be an improvement for Ukraine's air force, but anyone expecting them to start knocking out top Russian air defenses as soon as they get into battle will likely be disappointed, the top US Air Force general in Europe said Friday.

Ukraine's MiG-29s "are pretty capable," Gen. James Hecker, commander of US Air Forces in Europe, said during a Defense Writers Group event, but F-16s will be better suited for the Western-made weapons that Ukraine has received, like the radar-hunting missiles the US began providing a year ago.

"Right now, weapons that we're giving them have to be adapted to go on a MIG-29 or to go on a Su-27 or something like that," Hecker said, adding that F-16s are "already interoperable" with those weapons, "so that will help out and give them an added capability."

Portuguese and Romanian F-16s at Siauliai airbase in Lithuania during a NATO exercise on July 4. Photo by JOHN THYS/AFP via Getty Images

Ukrainian officials have repeatedly asked for F-16s, arguing they would provide an edge against Russia's larger and more advanced air force. Hecker and other US officials have said F-16s would have limited utility for Ukraine right now, in large part because of the extensive air-defense weaponry deployed by both sides, which has prevented either from gaining air superiority.

"It's not going to be the silver bullet and all of a sudden they're going to start taking down SA-21s because they have an F-16," Hecker said Friday, using the NATO designation for Russia's modern S-400 air-defense system.

In addition to anti-radar missiles, Ukrainian jets have employed US-made guided bombs, which Russia has countered with electronic warfare. While F-16s would allow Ukraine to better employ those weapons, Hecker said Russia's military will continue to adapt and adjust.

Russian forces are staying out of the range of the missiles Ukraine is using now, Hecker told reporters, "and then any time we give them a new capability, we might hit one of [Russia's] command posts and they go, 'Oh, now they can go 20 miles as opposed to 15,' and then we see them adapt and they move all their command posts back to 25 miles."

The Russians would likely respond the same way to Ukrainian F-16s, "and the problem is you won't be able to chase them down in the F-16 over their land to get close enough because you'll get shot by one of the Russian surface-to-air missiles," Hecker added.

Training Ukraine's pilots

A bus with the slogan of the "Arm Ukraine" campaign in Vilnius, Lithuania, during the NATO Summit on July 11. Photo by Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Dutch officials first announced this week that the US had finally approved the delivery of F-16s to Ukraine, allowing the much-anticipated training of pilots to move forward.

"I welcome the US decision to clear the way for delivery of F-16 jets to Ukraine," Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren said Friday. "It allows us to follow through on the training of Ukrainian pilots. We remain in close contact with European partners to decide on the next steps."

Wopke Hoekstra, the Dutch foreign affairs minister, thanked US Secretary of State Antony Blinken for the cooperation and said the approval "marks a major milestone for Ukraine to defend its people and its country."

The Netherlands is one of several NATO countries that pledged in July to train Kyiv's pilots to fly F-16s. Ukrainian officials said at the time that training would begin soon. Although the timeline has been somewhat unclear, Denmark  one of 11 countries in the coalition  announced on Friday that it would start training pilots later this month.

"The US is prepared to support the training effort in coordination with the coalition, and is willing to host training for Ukrainian pilots within the US if the capacity of training is reached in Europe," Pentagon press secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement to Insider.

A US Air Force F-16 takes off at Yokota Air Base in Japan. Yasuo Osakabe/US Air Force

Hecker said Friday that training had begun with "young pilots that barely have any hours at all, so they're not currently fighting in the war." Those fliers are getting language training in the UK and will go through more training on propeller-driven planes before heading to France to fly in the Alpha Jet training aircraft.

"That all is going to take time, and that's probably not going to happen before the end of the year," Hecker added. "So that's why it's going to be at least until next year until you see F-16s in Ukraine."

The rapid depletion of Ukraine's Soviet-era military hardware and the swift influx of Western-made weapons has transformed Ukrainian arsenals. Experts and officials have said Ukraine's air force will ultimately have to shed its Soviet-designed jets, which are getting harder to maintain, and adopt Western-made jets.

But training and equipping Ukrainian airmen to operate F-16s and other sophisticated jets will be a long-term project, Hecker said Friday.

"To get proficient in the F-16, that's not going to happen overnight. You can get proficient on some weapons systems fairly quickly, but ones like F-16s, that takes a while to build a couple squadrons of F-16s and to get their readiness high enough and their proficiency high enough," he said.

"This will be four or five years down the road," he added. "But I think in the short-term that will help a little bit, but it's not the silver bullet."

Read the original article on Business Insider
The Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine (ESBU) has charged a Russian oligarch, who holds both Russian and Israeli citizenship, and was formerly the owner of a Ukrainian bank, with laundering approximately UAH 100 million ($2.7 million), the agency reported on August 18.

Although the ESBU does not explicitly mention the oligarch's name, the description and photo in the message suggest that the individual in question is Mikhail Fridman, the former owner of Alfa-Bank Ukraine (Sense Bank).

The Russian businessman is suspected of engaging in illegal money laundering involving $1.2 million and EUR 1.93 million (equivalent to approximately UAH 100 million), carried out by an organized group of individuals.

Additionally, he is suspected of intentional tax evasion amounting to UAH 18 million ($492,225), orchestrated by bank officials through an organized group.

In early June, the ESBU seized 738 real estate assets, including apartments, shopping centers, land plots, and residential buildings, owned by the bank.

Read also: Sense Bank chair resigns

The oligarch's Ukrainian bank, its Russian parent bank, and an offshore company are all linked through common beneficial owners, according to the ESBU.

Prior to and during Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine, the oligarch, along with his Russian associates, allegedly conducted illegal activities aimed at laundering assets worth over UAH 1 billion ($27.3 million) and subsequently withdrawing them from Ukraine's banking system.

This was apparently done to evade potential negative consequences, such as sanctions or forced property seizure.

The investigation is ongoing, with ESBU agents identifying the businessman's assets within Ukraine and in foreign jurisdictions.

In February 2022, the European Union imposed sanctions on Russian oligarchs Petr Aven and Mikhail Fridman in response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Fridman was also sanctioned by Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council in September 2022.

On July 22, 2023, the Ukrainian government purchased 100% of Sense Bank shares from Fridman for UAH 1 and appointed Dmytro Kuzmin, the former chairman of the board of Universal Bank, as the new manager.

The National Bank of Ukraine initiated the nationalization of Sense Bank on July 20, 2023.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Early learning center funded by Chinese company provides education for children in South Africa

Xinhua) 10:54, August 18, 2023

This photo taken on Aug. 11, 2023 shows a classroom of an early learning center in De Aar Town, more than 750 kilometers northeast of Cape Town, South Africa. This early learning center was funded by Longyuan South Africa Renewables of China Longyuan Power Group Corporation Limited, which has funded the establishment of four early learning centers in De Aar to provide education for children from poor families. Nearly 500 children in need have been admitted to these learning centers so far. (Xinhua/Dong )

Children receive fruit at an early learning center in De Aar Town, more than 750 kilometers northeast of Cape Town, South Africa, on Aug. 11, 2023. This early learning center was funded by Longyuan South Africa Renewables of China Longyuan Power Group Corporation Limited, which has funded the establishment of four early learning centers in De Aar to provide education for children from poor families. Nearly 500 children in need have been admitted to these learning centers so far. (Xinhua/Dong Jianghui)

Children play at an early learning center in De Aar Town, more than 750 kilometers northeast of Cape Town, South Africa, on Aug. 11, 2023. This early learning center was funded by Longyuan South Africa Renewables of China Longyuan Power Group Corporation Limited, which has funded the establishment of four early learning centers in De Aar to provide education for children from poor families. Nearly 500 children in need have been admitted to these learning centers so far. (Xinhua/Dong Jianghui)

A teacher gives lessons to children at an early learning center in De Aar Town, more than 750 kilometers northeast of Cape Town, South Africa, on Aug. 11, 2023. This early learning center was funded by Longyuan South Africa Renewables of China Longyuan Power Group Corporation Limited, which has funded the establishment of four early learning centers in De Aar to provide education for children from poor families. Nearly 500 children in need have been admitted to these learning centers so far. (Xinhua/Dong Jianghui)

A teacher gives lessons to children at an early learning center in De Aar Town, more than 750 kilometers northeast of Cape Town, South Africa, on Aug. 11, 2023. This early learning center was funded by Longyuan South Africa Renewables of China Longyuan Power Group Corporation Limited, which has funded the establishment of four early learning centers in De Aar to provide education for children from poor families. Nearly 500 children in need have been admitted to these learning centers so far. (Xinhua/Dong Jianghui)

A teacher gives lessons to children at an early learning center in De Aar Town, more than 750 kilometers northeast of Cape Town, South Africa, on Aug. 11, 2023. This early learning center was funded by Longyuan South Africa Renewables of China Longyuan Power Group Corporation Limited, which has funded the establishment of four early learning centers in De Aar to provide education for children from poor families. Nearly 500 children in need have been admitted to these learning centers so far. (Xinhua/Dong Jianghui)

Children play at an early learning center in De Aar Town, more than 750 kilometers northeast of Cape Town, South Africa, on Aug. 11, 2023. This early learning center was funded by Longyuan South Africa Renewables of China Longyuan Power Group Corporation Limited, which has funded the establishment of four early learning centers in De Aar to provide education for children from poor families. Nearly 500 children in need have been admitted to these learning centers so far. (Xinhua/Dong Jianghui)

Children play on swings at an early learning center in De Aar Town, more than 750 kilometers northeast of Cape Town, South Africa, on Aug. 11, 2023. This early learning center was funded by Longyuan South Africa Renewables of China Longyuan Power Group Corporation Limited, which has funded the establishment of four early learning centers in De Aar to provide education for children from poor families. Nearly 500 children in need have been admitted to these learning centers so far. (Xinhua/Dong Jianghui)

A teacher and children pose for a group photo at an early learning center in De Aar Town, more than 750 kilometers northeast of Cape Town, South Africa, on Aug. 11, 2023. This early learning center was funded by Longyuan South Africa Renewables of China Longyuan Power Group Corporation Limited, which has funded the establishment of four early learning centers in De Aar to provide education for children from poor families. Nearly 500 children in need have been admitted to these learning centers so far. (Xinhua/Dong Jianghui)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 18)  The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday said its next move will depend on the order of Congress on whether special elections should be held to replace Arnolfo Teves as representative of the third district of Negros Oriental following his expulsion.

"Magdeclare ang Congress na vacant then idirect kami na mag hold ng special election," Comelec chairman George Garcia said.

[Translation: Congress should declare it vacant and direct us to hold special election.]

On Aug. 16, 265 members of the House voted to evict Teves from his position for his disorderly behavior and for violation of the Code of Conduct of the House of Representatives. This is amid multiple criminal cases he is facing and his refusal to return to the Philippines.

House Speaker Martin Romualdez has been the caretaker of the third district of Negros Oriental since Teves left the country early this year.

Speaking to CNN Philippines' The Source, Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez, who voted against the expulsion of Teves, said it may be difficult to hold a separate poll for the vacant position because Congress did not allocate a budget for it.

Asked about the budget, Garcia said the poll body is willing to look for funds in case the special election will push through.

It is also under the discretion of the House of Representatives if it will appoint a caretaker for now, he noted.

House Secretary General Reginald Velasco said Thursday the lower chamber's leadership is currently looking at lawmakers from the first and second districts of Negros Oriental, namelyRep. Jocelyn Limkaichong and Rep. Manuel Sagarbarriaas the legislative caretaker of the third district.

Velasco noted that a special election may be difficult given the Comelec's preparations for the village level polls in October as well as for the 2025 midterm polls.
Ukraine received a cache of 101 guns and 148,000 bullets confiscated by Miami police. Photos courtesy of Ken Russell

The Miami Police Department sent over a hundred guns and 148,000 bullets to Ukraine.

It's the first time the US has transferred confiscated small arms to another country.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is pressing the US to send more long-range weapons.

Ukraine received a shipment of 101 firearms and 148,000 bullets handed in to the Miami Police Department, according to Ukraine's Parliament, with the weapons now in the hands of Ukrainian authorities.

The transfer, a first-of-its-kind, came about through the City of Miami's voluntary gun buyback program, which aims to get guns off the streets and send them to Ukraine.

The "Guns 4 Ukraine" scheme provides vouchers ranging from $50 to $150, depending on the type of weapon handed in.

At least two more batches of weapons are expected to arrive in Ukraine, though the announcement did not provide a clear timeline for those.

The Miami project took shape in June last year, with a proposed resolution from then-Commissioner Ken Russell, local outlet Miami New Times reported at the time. The resolution said that the weapons would be shipped with the help of the nonprofit Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA).

Russell, who traveled to Irpin this week at the invitation of the Ukraine Parliament, said: "What you are seeing today has never been done before in the history of the United States. Never before has a US city sent guns to another country. It was very complicated, and I can only take credit for the idea."

"Normally when confiscated these guns would be destroyed," he added. "So this program creates a new precedent where they may serve a higher purpose."

Marian Zablotskyi, a member of Ukraine's Finance Committee, praised both sides for achieving this "powerful goal."

The Biden Administration has played a critical role in helping Ukraine shore up its defense by providing over $43 billion in security aid since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022, the State Department said.

But last month Ukrainian President Zelenskyy made another plea for military assistance, urging the US to supply it with long-range weapons and modern aircraft.

"I would really draw attention to long-range armaments," he said, adding: "We have been waiting for this for quite some time."

Read the original article on Business Insider
(Bloomberg) -- Ukrainian forces said they shot down Russian Ka-52 attack helicopters Thursday in the Zaporizhzhia and Bakhmut regions, respectively. There was no confirmation from Moscow. Kyivs troops continued to push ahead after capturing the small but strategically important village of Urozhaine in the south following an intense week-long battle, the Ukrainian General Staff said on Facebook. Theyre seeking to cut off Russias land bridge to the Crimea region as a critical element of Ukraines counteroffensive.

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Germanys government announced the delivery of two more IRIS-T air defense systems to Ukraine, along with about 4,500 rounds of 155 mm smoke ammunition and ten more ground surveillance radars along with a number of logistical items including semi-trailers.

The first trade ship to leave Ukraines seaports since the collapse of a safe-corridor grain deal with Russia should reach in Istanbul tonight. The Hong Kong-flagged container ship Joseph Schulte sailed from Odesa via a new temporary Black Sea route established by Kyiv as it seeks to reclaim control over its maritime trade. Russian authorities wont tighten capital controls for now after officials reached an informal agreement with exporters to surrender more of their foreign revenues, the business daily Vedomosti reported.

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The Washington Post on Thursday revealed new details about a Russian plan to domestically manufacture Iranian Shahed-136 drones. Russia is trying to improve on Iran's dated manufacturing techniques and is exploring ways to introduce swarming technology as well.

However, the process is at least month behind schedule already, the Post reported.

The drones will be built in a facility 500 miles east of Moscow in the Tatarstan region. The goal is to domestically build 6,000 drones by summer 2025."

If it succeeds, "the sprawling new drone factory could help Russia preserve its dwindling supply of precision munitions, thwart Ukraines effort to retake occupied territory and dramatically advance Moscows position in the drone arms race that is remaking modern warfare.

The existence of the factory and the cooperation between Russia and Iran is not new. But the Post said the leaked documents it obtained "provide new information" that "despite delays and a production process that is deeply reliant on foreign-produced electronic components, Moscow has made steady progress toward its goal of manufacturing a variant the Iranian Shahed-136, an attack drone capable of traveling more than 1,000 miles."

Russia's use of Iranian drones has created widespread destruction across Ukraine. It began in earnest last Fall and continued throughout the winter, hitting critical power infrastructure and into this year. Just yesterday, a Ukrainian port on the Danube River were hit by a Shahed-136 drone attack.

https://twitter.com/IntelDrop_/status/1691730433203982837

The documents show that the facilitys engineers "are trying to improve on Irans dated manufacturing techniques, using Russian industrial expertise to produce the drones on a larger scale than Tehran has achieved and with greater quality control."

The engineers also are exploring" improvements to the drone itself, including making it capable of swarm attacks in which the UAVs autonomously coordinate a strike on a target." The Post story offers no further details about Russia's swarming technology plans, how feasible they actually are, or how complex a concept they are trying to achieve.

So far, the Russian plant "has reassembled drones provided by Iran but has itself manufactured only drone bodies, and probably for not more than 300 of the UAVs," researchers at the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security told the publication. The factory is unlikely to meet its target date for the 6,000 drones, they said.

Still, the plan has troubling implications for Ukraine.

Russia has a credible way of building over the next year or so a capability to go from periodically launching tens of imported Shahed-136 kamikaze drones against Ukrainian targets to more regularly attacking with hundreds of them, David Albright, a former U.N. weapons inspector who helped lead the research team that studied the documents, told the Post.

Before we head into the latest news from Ukraine, The War Zone readers can catch up on our previous rolling coverage of the war here.

The Latest

Ukraine claims it downed two more Russian Ka-52 Alligator attack helicopters, one near Robytyne in Zaporizhzhia Oblast and one near Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast.

The 47th Mechanized Brigade stated on its Telegram channel Thursday that it shot down a Ka-52 near Robotyne with a man-portable air defense system (MANPADS). The video below, obtained by the Kyiv Post, purports to show the aftermath of the Robotyne shutdown. As the wreckage burns, two additional Russian helicopters approach the crash site. One lands and troops disembark while the other apparently keeps overwatch.

https://twitter.com/KyivPost/status/1692126860459520167?s=20

The Ka-52 shot down in Robotyne may have provided the first visual evidence of the RBS 70 man-portable air defense system (MANPADS) being used on the battlefield. The system has a laser beam-riding guidance system, allowing the operator to direct the missile to the target via a laser on the launcher and a laser receiver on the back of the missile.

There have been several claims that Ukraine has used the RBS 70 system before. The 47th Mechanized Brigade hinted that it used one in July to take down a Russian Su-25 Frogfoot close air support jet. And in May, the Ukrainian Armed Forces claimed they'd already used the RBS 70 to down "Russian cruise missiles and Iranian-made kamikaze drones."

But neither of those claims included any video or other visual verification. Video purporting to be from near Robotyne may have been the first time the RBS 70's Bolide missile was seen in action in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian In Factum Telegram channel on Thursday posted a video it says was "probably" the system being used.

https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/1692165848482435136

A highly magnified screencap shows the same apparent shape and distinctive midsection fins as the Bolide, a modified version of the RBS 70 projectile manufactured by SAAB.

A video screencap of what is reportedly a missile fired by a MANPADS at a Russian Ka-52 attack helicopter near Robotyne (In Factum screencap)

The SAAB Bolide short-range, ground-based air defense missile fired by the RBS 70 MANPADS (SAAB image)

Regardless of how it was shot down, Ukrainian military officials say that the Ka-52 downed near Robotyne was one of two its forces eliminated Thursday.

Mykola Oleshchuk, the commander of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, reported another Ka-52 was destroyed in Bakhmut direction this morning, the Kyiv Post reported. I thank a unit of anti-aircraft missile forces of the Air Force for the successful combat work.

However, unlike in Robotyne, there was no visual evidence to accompany that claim.

So far, Russia has lost at least 41 Ka-52s according to the Oryx open-source tracking group. Of those, 37 have been destroyed, three damaged and one captured. The actual number of lost aircraft is likely higher, because Oryx only counts those for which it has visual confirmation.

You can read more about the huge role the Alligators have played in helping Russia defend against the ongoing counteroffensive in our story here.

https://twitter.com/Aviation_Intel/status/1669455363509473280

Yesterday, we told you that Ukraine captured the Donetsk Oblast town of Urozhaine. Today, video emerged showing Ukrainian troops clearing out Russian position dug into earthen berms off of a roadway near the outskirts of that town.

https://twitter.com/front_ukrainian/status/1692240085972856953?s=12\u0026t=BQRSNakUKt7_8ssZiGBW-A

Germany on Thursday announced a new tranche of military aid to Ukraine that includes two new IRIS-T SLS air defense launchers, eight PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzers for spare parts, 10 GO12 ground surveillance radars, 4.359 155mm smoke rounds, four HX81 Tank Transporters and eight trucks.

https://twitter.com/oryxspioenkop/status/1692125384127516875?s=12\u0026t=BQRSNakUKt7_8ssZiGBW-A

Czech Defense Minister Jana Cernochova on Thursday hinted that its fleet of Mi-24V/35 helicopters it is getting rid of in favor of U.S. rotary wing assets might be bound for Ukraine.

"Even though we symbolically say goodbye to them today, their story certainly doesn't end. We will certainly find the use for these helicopters, she said, according to the Czech CT24 news outlet. That is all I have to say about this, because I do not comment on supplies to Ukraine on principle.

She did not say how many Mi-24V/35s were being retired.

Cernochovas comments came after a ceremony marking delivery of the first UH-1Y Venom utility helicopter to the Czech Republic. All told, the Czech Republic will eventually receive 20 H-1 series helicopters  10 AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters and 10 Venoms. Hellfire and Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) air-to-ground guided weapons, unguided rockets, and ammunition for cannons and machine guns, will also be provided. You can read more about that in our story here.

https://twitter.com/euromaidanpress/status/1692242569709658401?s=12\u0026t=BQRSNakUKt7_8ssZiGBW-A

Belarusian President Alexandr Lukashenko on Thursday said his patron Vladimir Putin was not trying to push him into a war with Ukraine.

"To involve Belarus ... what will that give? Nothing," said Lukashenko in an interview with Diana Panchenko, a pro-Russian Ukrainian journalist, according to a translation provided by Reuters.

"If you Ukrainians do not cross our border, we will never participate in this war. In this hot war. But we will always help Russia - they are our allies," he said.

He also claimed he was given no advance warning by Putin that he was going to invade Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, according to a transition by Anton Gerashchenko.

https://twitter.com/gerashchenko_en/status/1692225552134910402?s=12\u0026t=BQRSNakUKt7_8ssZiGBW-A

Almost 15 months after its last fighters surrendered at the Azov Steel Plant in Mariupol, the Azov Brigade of Ukraine's National Guard is again carrying out military operations at the front, Col. Mykola Urshalovych said during a briefing at the Military Media Center on Aug. 17, according to the Kyiv Independent.

"The Special Operations Brigade 'Azov' has recovered and begun carrying out combat tasks in the area of the Serebrianskyi forest," the National Guard officer said.

On Aug. 15, the brigade's artillery destroyed a Russian mortar and a vehicle near the Serebrianskyi forest in Luhansk Oblast, Urshalovych said.

Kyiv exchanged around 200 captured soldiers for pro-Russian politician Viktor Medvechuk last September, according to the Kyiv Independent. Separately, five top commanders of the Azovstal's defense were exchanged for 55 Russian prisoners and sent to Turkey.

You can read more about the harrowing fight inside the steel plant in our exclusive interview with one of the men there at the time.

https://twitter.com/kyivindependent/status/1692122733587362176?s=12\u0026t=BQRSNakUKt7_8ssZiGBW-A

A 23-year-old Odesa resident seeking quick money was arrested in Kyiv for trying to collect information about the location of military repair facilities so they could be hit by airstrikes, the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) announced Thursday.

In addition, the man, accused of working for the Russian GRU intelligence service, also passed along information about the location of power substations in Kyiv.

The unnamed man now faces life in prison on treason charges.

According to the investigation, the GRU was hoping that while conducting reconnaissance their agent would be able to spot locations of Ukrainian air defense systems near the energy facilities, the SSU said. The occupiers needed the intelligence to prepare a series of targeted air strikes on Kyiv and nearby settlements.

The SSU claimed it detained the suspect red-handed when he was recording a video of a Ukrainian military base and referencing its GPS coordinates to an electronic map.

The man was recruited by the GRU after posting his resume online seeking jobs, the SSU said.

https://twitter.com/Flash_news_ua/status/1692095476785422367?s=20

Ukraine's 3rd Assault Brigade released a video showing its troops advancing on Russian positions through a forest near Bakhmut. They fire numerous rounds as they move through the woods, until they come upon some Russians they take prisoner.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAZdwIJnPw0

The Mk-19 40mm automatic grenade launcher is a fearsome weapon any time of day. But you can see it in action at night in this video, showing Ukrainian special operations forces using one against Russian troops in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast sector of the front. In this video below, a night vision-enabled camera shows the flash of the Mk-19s launching multiple grenades before the scene cuts those rounds landing on Russian troops.

https://twitter.com/gloooud/status/1692167800259780875?s=12\u0026t=BQRSNakUKt7_8ssZiGBW-A

The all-out war in Ukraine is the most intensely recorded conflict in human history, with everyone possessing cell phones with which to collect video and images from the battlefield. In the case of this Russian soldier, sometimes people capture things by surprise. Reportedly, while filming the front, he caught a Ukrainian artillery round blow up an armored vehicle. You can hear the sound of the incoming round then see the resulting explosion on the video below.

https://twitter.com/mrkovalenko/status/1691892812214616143?s=12\u0026t=BQRSNakUKt7_8ssZiGBW-A

In the age of drone warfare, it's hard to hide. Such was the case of this Russian transport truck, reportedly spotted by a Ukrainian surveillance drone. The drone directed artillery fire, which destroyed the truck.

https://twitter.com/GloOouD/status/1692134341747327358?s=20

And finally, a Ukrainian soldier has produced his own version of the viral Bentley-themed ASMR spoof video created by U.S. Army Staff Sergent Tyler Butterworth. In this case, the Ukrainian soldier uses a domestically-made KrAZ truck instead of a Humvee.

https://twitter.com/kvistp/status/1691551080570667322

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
Key developments on Aug. 18:

Washington approves sending F-16s to Ukraine from Denmark and Netherlands

Southern Command: Russia disperses ships in fear of Ukrainian strikes

Washington Post: US intelligence thinks Ukraine will fail to reach counteroffensives key goal

General Staff: Russia fails another counterattack at Urozhaine, Ukraine advances in south

Ukraine's allies discuss grain exports following Russia's termination of deal

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan confirmed on Aug. 18 that Washington will approve the third-party transfer of U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine after Ukrainian pilots complete training.

According to Sullivan, Washington is working closely with its European partners on all elements of the training program, including manuals.

Citing a Biden administration official and another U.S. official, CNN reported on Aug. 18 that the U.S. had approved Denmark's request to provide instructional materials for F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.

The Danish Defense Ministry said on Aug. 18 that training will begin in Denmark later in August in cooperation with the 11 countries that compose the "fighter jet coalition."

Denmark and the Netherlands also confirmed they had received approval from the U.S. to hand over F-16s from their arsenal to Ukraine after pilot training was completed.

Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra called the move "a major milestone for Ukraine to defend its people and its country."

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov announced the official formation of a coalition to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16s, led by Denmark and the Netherlands, during the NATO summit in Vilnius back in July.

Ukraine has been actively pushing for the U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets to help counter Russia's air superiority, with many believing that it is necessary to achieve a successful counteroffensive.

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Southern Command: Russia disperses ships in fear of Ukrainian strikes

Southern Command spokesperson Nataliia Humeniuk said on Aug. 18 that Russia has dispersed its naval forces in the Black Sea between the southeastern coast of Crimea and Novorossiysk, fearing more Ukrainian drone strikes.

According to Humeniuk, there are no active duty Russian missile carriers in the Black Sea as of the morning of Aug. 18.

Humeniuk pointed out a growing concern among Russian naval forces regarding Ukraine's "Sea Baby" surface drones. Russian military vessels are reportedly attempting to position themselves within the zones designated for civilian ships as a result. These zones were deliberately established to serve as artificial buffer areas.

The Russian naval port in Novorossiysk came under attack on Aug. 4, with the strike causing serious damage to the Olenegorskiy Gornyak, a military landing craft. Several media outlets reported that the strike had been carried out by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Ukrainian Navy using surface drones.

Ukraine's Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk said on Aug. 15 that Ukrainian forces had already taken out five large Russian military landing crafts since the start of the full-scale invasion last year.

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that another Ukrainian naval drone attack in the Black Sea late on Aug. 17 had been thwarted.

Kyiv has not commented on the latest alleged attack, but President Volodymyr Zelensky said in late July that it was an "inevitable, natural, and absolutely fair process" that the war is returning to Russian territory.

Read also: From Moscow to Novorossiysk: The list of attacks on Russian soil

Washington Post: US intelligence thinks Ukraine will fail to reach counteroffensives key goal

Citing unnamed sources, the Washington Post reported on Aug. 18 that U.S. intelligence believes Ukrainian forces will fail to recapture the key southeastern city of Melitopol this year within the scope of the ongoing counteroffensive.

Failure to recapture Melitopol would mean that Ukraine cannot fulfill its goal of cutting off the land bridge that connects Russia to the occupied Crimean Peninsula.

Prior to the full-scale invasion, Melitopol had a population of over 150,000 people. Located in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, the city has been under Russian occupation since the start of the full-scale invasion last year. It functions as a logistical hub for the Russian military in southeastern Ukraine concerning the movement of military equipment.

According to the Washington Post, U.S. intelligence's prediction stems from Russia having established an array of minefields and intricate trenches leading up to the counteroffensive, which has reportedly slowed down Ukrainian forces' progress.

General Staff: Russia fails another counterattack at Urozhaine, Ukraine advances in the south

The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on Aug. 18 that Russian forces failed to launch additional counterattacks around the recently-liberated village of Urozhaine in Donetsk Oblast.

Additionally, Ukrainian forces are continuing their offensive operations in the directions of Melitopol and Berdiansk, solidifying their recaptured positions while also engaging in effective counter-battery fire operations, the General Staff's report reads.

Urozhaine was confirmed as the latest settlement to be liberated on Aug. 16. Russian forces previously attempted to retake it on Aug. 17, with no success.

According to the General Staff, around 30 combat engagements occurred on Aug. 18.

Russian forces launched one missile strike, 31 airstrikes, and 45 attacks by multiple launch rocket systems against Ukrainian military positions and populated areas, injuring and killing civilians.

Read also: Just hold on: Front-line medics race against time to save wounded soldiers

Ukraine's allies discuss grain exports following Russia's termination of deal

Ukraine's allies are considering how to transport its grain exports following Russia's termination of the Black Sea Grain Initiative in mid-July.

Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said on Aug. 18 that Bucharest hopes around 60% of Ukrainian grain exports could be transited through Romanian territory.

Moldovan President Maia Sandu also said in an interview on Aug. 18 that her country was working with partners to help Ukraine export its grain while taking into account the interests of Moldovan farmers.

"The Republic of Moldova has been offering Ukraine assistance with grain transit since the beginning of the war. Not only now, when the Danube ports were bombed," Sandu said, referencing Russian attacks against the Ukrainian river ports of Izmail and Reni.

"We are also negotiating with Ukraine, Romania, and the European Commission on how to include the interests of Moldovan farmers and to ensure the transit of grain from Ukraine," Sandu added.

At the same time, the German newspaper Bild reported on Aug. 18 that Turkey, Qatar, and Russia are preparing a new agreement on grain exports that would see Russia exporting its own grain primarily to countries on the African continent.

The Financial Times previously reported in late July that the Kremlin was seeking to establish a new grain deal in cooperation with Turkey and Qatar. However, the outlet noted at the time that neither of the two countries had so far agreed with the idea.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative, which was originally brokered by Turkey and the U.N. in July 2022, was essential in mitigating a global surge in food prices partially caused by Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine. It allowed Ukraine to export its agricultural products via the Black Sea despite the ongoing invasion.

Russia repeatedly threatened to withdraw from the deal, demanding concessions relating to its own agricultural exports.

Read also: Timothy Ash: Solutions need to be found for grain exports

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Nineteen months into Russias war on Ukraine, its lessons are shaping how the U.S. Air Force thinks about combat over Europe.

The conflict is pushing the Pentagon to focus on tactics instead of the strategic-level chess moves that have defined the U.S.-Russia military relationship in Europe since the end of the Cold War, Gen. James Hecker, the Air Forces top officer in Europe, told Air Force Times in a recent interview.

No longer are allied air forces passively circling over Europe for the sake of visibility. U.S. pilots and their counterparts now use air policing missions to practice offensive and defensive maneuvers along NATOs eastern border.

Struck by Russias inability to control Ukrainian airspace and Ukraines inability to fully secure it, NATO has begun working through the details of how it would maintain ownership of its own skies while breaking through enemy defenses to secure more airspace.

Read more of Military Times' coverage of the war in Ukraine

Hecker said his top priority has become figuring out how to counter air and missile defenses, electronic jamming and other anti-access, area-denial (A2/AD) capabilities, as they are known in military parlance, that would keep the U.S. out of Russian territory.

And its a main focus of U.S. and allied discussions at NATOs highest levels.

A revamp of NATOs regional security plans led by Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli, the head of U.S. European Command and one of the transatlantic alliances two strategic commanders, has spurred a new look at how member militaries would fight future wars if deterrence fails.

Those are geographically specific plans that describe how we will defend key and relevant places in our alliance against Russia and terror groups, Royal Netherlands Navy Adm. Rob Bauer, chairman of NATOs military committee, said in May.

To the greatest extent seen since the end of the Cold War, he said, the alliance is setting goals to develop the capabilities it needs to thwart specific threats, like hypersonic weapons and unmanned vehicles.

Together this family of plans will significantly improve our ability and readiness to deter and defend against any threats, including on short or no notice, and ensure timely reinforcement of all allies, NATO said in a statement at its July 11 summit in Lithuania. We have committed to fully resource and regularly exercise these plans to be prepared for high-intensity and multi-domain collective defense.

A closer look

For the allied air forces, that requires a closer look at how to defend their own airspace and gain access into an enemys. Delegates from each member nation began answering that question at NATOs first weapons and tactics conference, or WEPTAC, at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, July 17-28.

Officials discussed the aircraft and weapons that the alliance would need for the counter-A2/AD mission in Europe, and hashed out techniques airmen would use in the field, Hecker said.

U.S. Air Force officials have pointed to unmanned aircraft, stealthy and long-range assets, and electronic weapons as options to distract or destroy defensive systems and clear the way for more traditional combat aircraft.

We did a lot of the tactical-level planning for that kind of mission, Hecker said. We will use that planning to actually do rehearsals and practices as we continue our enhanced air policing on [NATOs] eastern border.

U.S. airmen have begun honing those moves in training sorties with European aircraft on the eastern flank, he said. Its one example of how allied airpower has evolved alongside the conflict across NATOs border.

After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, armed NATO jets flew around-the-clock air patrols to discourage the conflict from spilling into other European nations. That kept Russian forces at bay but arguably left NATO airmen less ready for conflict, Hecker said.

If you just do circles with missiles on board, youre not actually practicing what youre going to do in combat, he said.

Once leaders were convinced that the alliances airspace was safe, airmen changed tack. Now pilots on patrol also take part in anti-access training along NATOs border  pairing the deterrent value of an air patrol with the tactical value of real-world practice.

NATO will also put those tactics to the test at a major new training exercise, Ramstein Flag, in Greece at the end of 2024, Hecker said.

We dont want to go to war with Russia, and I dont think they want to go to war with us either, he said. But we need to make sure that we have the forces capable of deterring them, so that nothing bad will happen.

NATO will look for other opportunities to try out new tactics in large exercises, particularly those that combine multiple types of aircraft for more realism, Hecker said.

Those events could include Ukrainian pilots at the end of their training to fly the U.S.-built F-16 Fighting Falcon, he added.

POLITICO reported Aug. 4 that eight Ukrainians who are fluent in English are ready to learn to operate the fighter jet once a syllabus is created by a coalition of European countries and approved by the United States. Its unclear when that might come to fruition.

Ahead of Ramstein Flag, U.S. Air Forces in Europe will continue trying to reform the classification rules that hinder how it shares combat data with others in NATO, from satellite imagery to targeting information collected by the F-35 Lightning II fighter jet.

Theres things that we could share when it comes to A2/AD that would make us more integrated  and we could do the mission better, if they knew the capabilities that different countries had, Hecker said. Were getting through some of those barriers and were able to brief certain folks on some of those capabilities, so we can fight better  as a team.

Hecker also wants to ensure the alliance could carry out its combat objectives even if its communications are disrupted. And U.S. airmen can learn from Ukraines success at keeping its military aircraft from being targeted on the ground, by continually moving and maintaining a light footprint, he said.

The growing catalog of training events are part of a new era on NATOs path to grow national investments in the alliances mutual defense since 2014.

Asked whether the U.S. should commit additional air squadrons to Europe, Hecker instead pointed to another sign of those investments: the rising number of European countries that have signed onto the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program.

Within the next 10 years, Hecker said, more than 600 F-35s will be spread across the continent  only 54 of which are slated to be American.

The European NATO allies are really stepping up to the plate and taking it seriously, Hecker said. I think youre going to see, over the next several years, better tactics, better integration, and all that means better deterrence.

That growing commitment can ensure a strong military presence in Europe without relying too heavily on the Pentagon, whose top priority is sending forces to deter Chinese aggression in the Pacific.

Youre never going to have as many forces as you want  but I think were sitting in a pretty good position right now, Hecker said of U.S. airmen in Europe. I think everyone understands where we are with the National Defense Strategy, and it doesnt get very heated during those discussions.
Ukraine has long been pushing its allies to provide advanced fighter jets to defends its skies from Russian attacks

The US has approved the transfer to Ukraine of American-made F-16 fighter jets from Denmark and the Netherlands when Ukrainian pilots are fully trained to operate them.

"This way, Ukraine can take full advantage of its new capabilities," a US state department spokesman said.

Ukraine praised the decision it had been pushing hard for since last year.

But it is expected to be months before Kyiv will be able to use F-16s to try to counter Russia's air superiority.

The Dutch are thought to have about 24 operational F-16s which are scheduled to be taken out of service and replaced by more advanced war planes.

Denmark is also planning an upgrade of its fleet of some 30 F-16s.

The US and its allies had earlier ruled out providing F-16s to Ukraine, fearing that this would lead to further escalation with a nuclear-armed Russia.

Russia - which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 - has so far made no public comment on the issue.

Both Denmark and the Netherlands had been given "formal assurances" for the transfer of their multi-role F-16 war planes, the US state department spokesman said.

The spokesman added that this would happen "as soon as the first set of pilots complete their training".

Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra welcomed the US decision, saying that "this marks a major milestone for Ukraine to defend its people and its country".

"Now we will further discuss the subject with our European partners," he wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Danish Defence Minister Jakob Ellemann-Jensen echoed his words.

"The government has said several times that a donation is a natural next step after training. We are discussing it with close allies," he told Denmark's Ritzau news agency.

In Ukraine, Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov described the US decision as "great news".

"Our military has proven it is filled with fast learners. We will soon prove that Ukraine's victory is inevitable. Thank you to all our partners and friends in the United States, the Netherlands and Denmark. Onward to Victory!" he wrote on X.

An 11-member coalition of Ukraine's allies in the West is due to start training Ukrainian pilots later this month and they are expected to be ready next year.

Earlier this week, Ukraine's Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat admitted that Kyiv would not be able to operate F-16s this coming autumn and winter.

The F-16 Fighting Falcon is widely considered one of the world's most reliable fighter jets.

It can be armed with precision-guided missiles and bombs and is able to fly at 1,500mph (2,400km/h), according to the US Air Force.

The F-16's targeting capabilities would allow Ukraine to attack Russian forces in all weather conditions and at night with greater accuracy.

Ukraine is believed to have dozens of combat aircraft - mostly MiGs - all dating from the Soviet era, and the country is currently badly outgunned by Russia in the air.

Kyiv needs modern war planes to help protect its skies from regular deadly Russian missile and drone attacks, and also to support its counter-offensive in southern and eastern Ukraine that has so far yielded limited results.
Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) is asking residents of the temporarily occupied territories to provide intelligence ahead of the sham "elections" Russia plans to hold in September.

Source: press service of the DIU

Quote: "The Kremlin occupation regime is planning to organise sham elections in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine in September 2023.

... We urge the citizens of Ukraine in the temporarily occupied territories to continue to provide information concerning the sham elections."

Details: The DIU is particularly interested in the following intelligence:

information about collaborators from among local residents and their handlers from Russia (personal information, addresses, number plates, telephone numbers, etc.);

on the Russian proxy deputies and representatives of the occupying administrations;

evidence of fraud and the illegitimacy of the sham elections.

The DIU said the intelligence provided would contribute to the defeat of the Russian occupiers and help identify deployment points, addresses where troops were accommodated, storage points, equipment storage and deployment sites, air defence locations, etc.

The information should be sent to the bot via the link.

Quote from the DIU: "We are grateful to each and every person contributing to the victory of Ukraine and the liberation of all the occupied territories of Ukraine."

Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron!
TOPSHOT - This photo shows the damaged Expocentre building following a drone attack in Moscow on August 18, 2023. Russia's defence ministry said its air force downed a Ukrainian drone over the capital at about 04:00 (0100 GMT) on August 18. Russian forces have destroyed Ukrainian drones targeting Moscow and its Black Sea Fleet, officials said, the latest in a surge of attacks on the capital and the flashpoint waterway. (Photo by NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA / AFP) (Photo by NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP via Getty Images)

Ukraine has launched strikes targeting Moscow as well as the Black Sea Fleet and involving both aerial drones and drone boats, or unmanned surface vehicles (USVs). Videos and photos reveal damage inflicted in the center of the Russian capital, although the Russian Ministry of Defense has said it thwarted two separate attacks.

At the same time, other footage shows a major blaze at a fuel oil terminal in the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk today, although its not immediately clear if that was the result of a drone strike, another kind of hostile activity, or an accident.

Drone war on Moscow continues

According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, air defense units downed a Ukrainian drone over Moscow at around 4:00 AM local time today.

The UAV, after being exposed to air defense weapons, changed its flight path and fell on a non-residential building in the Krasnopresnenskaya embankment area of Moscow, the ministry said on Telegram. The intended target of the drone strike is not known.

Footage from the Russian capital showed damage to an exhibition center on the Krasnopresnenskaya embankment, located on the Moskva River, close to the center of Moscow.

Damage to the Expo Center building following the drone attack in Moscow on August 18, 2023. Photo by NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP via Getty Images

The wreckage of the UAV fell in the area of the Expo Center, and did not cause significant damage to the building, Moscows mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, said on Telegram. Sobyanin added that emergency services were on the scene, but that initial reports indicated there were no casualties.

There are meanwhile multiple unconfirmed reports that more than one drone was involved, which would be in keeping with previous such Ukrainian raids. Meanwhile, at least one video shows what appears to be a large explosion in Moscow, apparently as the result of one of the UAVs coming down. A witness speaking to the Reuters news agency also described hearing a powerful explosion.

https://twitter.com/MrKovalenko/status/1692504412936192367?s=20 https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1692351658469015855?s=20 https://twitter.com/Feher_Junior/status/1692458854179541094?s=20

Citing emergency services, the Russian state-run news agency TASS reported that one of the walls of Pavilion 8 at the exhibition center had partially collapsed. Other reports mention damage to the roof and facade and wreckage of the drone on the pavement.

The area of the collapse is about 30 square meters [323 square feet], the emergency services told TASS.

https://twitter.com/clashreport/status/1692476314551275998?s=20

Unconfirmed reports suggest that the incoming drone strike saw around 2,000 people rapidly evacuated from parts of the center of the city. Photos, meanwhile, show large groups of people gathered outside the exhibition center itself.

People and workers stand in line to enter a building within the Expo Center following the drone attack in Moscow on August 18, 2023. Photo by NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP via Getty Images

According to Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti, the evacuation was the result of a hoax phone call, at around 2:00 PM local time, warning about the arrival of a drone.

The pro-Russian SHOT account on Telegram said that the caller claimed to be Russian Minister of Economic Development, Maxim Reshetnikov, although this cannot be independently verified. At the same time, the recipient of the call is also unclear.

Obviously, the call came from the territory of Ukraine, SHOT added.

If true, this could perhaps signal a changing approach from Ukraine, with an apparently calculated move to create more disruption. But it remains very much unclear where the call may have come from. There is no shortage of different potential actors who might have done this, including Ukrainian agents in Russia, local partisans or activists, or even simply a troublemaker.

As is now becoming more routine, air traffic in and out of Moscow airports was also disrupted, although authorities didnt explicitly tie this to the drone attack.

The Russian Federal Agency for Air Transport, or Rosaviatsiya, announced temporary restrictions at the civil airports of Vnukovo, Domodedovo, and Sheremetyevo, as well as the joint civil-military airport at Zhukovsky.

At 4:30 Moscow time, restrictions on incoming and outgoing flights were lifted, Rosaviatsiya stated. In the meantime, seven flights had been diverted to alternate airports, in the Nizhny Novgorod and St. Petersburg regions, while one other flight was diverted to Minsk, in Belarus.

The fact that Moscow has once again come under attack by aerial drones also indicates that targets deep inside Russia are now fairly routine for strikes of this kind, although in this case, we dont have an indication of the type of drones used.

Black Sea Fleet under attack

The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that a drone boat was destroyed overnight by Russian Navy warships, around 150 miles southwest of the port of Sevastopol, a major base of the Black Sea Fleet, in Russian-occupied Crimea.

https://twitter.com/UKikaski/status/1692289975880917187?s=20

Unconfirmed reports suggest that the target of that drone strike was a pair of Project 22160 corvettes, although its not clear if these were the same vessels that are claimed to have destroyed a drone. TASS, meanwhile, reports that the uncrewed surface vessel was destroyed by fire from standard weapons mounted on the two ships, which it says were the Project 1135M Krivak II class frigate Pytlivyy and the Project 22160 patrol ship Vasily Bykov.

Blaze in Novorossiysk

Meanwhile, Novorossiysk, one of the largest ports on the Black Sea, around 100 miles from Crimea, witnessed a major fire today, at a fuel oil terminal, the major export hub for Russia in the region.

While its currently unclear if the blaze was caused by a Ukrainian drone strike, or any other kind of hostile action, infrastructure of this kind has previously been targeted by Ukraine, both in Crimea and in border areas of Russia. At the same time, theres been a relative spate of fires like this in recent months, the causes of which have been very hard to directly tie to reported attacks.

https://twitter.com/Tendar/status/1692446302746136836?s=20 https://twitter.com/zakavkaza/status/1692453690207043866?s=20

Citing the press service of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, TASS reported that the fuel oil terminal is operating normally; since the beginning of the year, 40.5 million tons of oil have already been shipped from it.

However, the agency also admitted that wooden pallets caught fire in the cargo terminal in Novorossiysk on Markova Street, resulting in a blaze that covered an area of 1,300 square meters (14,000 square feet) before firefighters extinguished it. So far, there have been no reports of deaths or injuries.

Based on the available videos, and unconfirmed accounts, it would appear that the fire at the very least extended to petroleum products at the site.

While the official line suggests an accidental fire that was quickly brought under control, the Russians do have a history of trying to pass off incidents as accidents. At the same time, major industrial accidents are not exactly unheard of in Russia.

https://twitter.com/NOELreports/status/1692463949977940369?s=20

Russian-installed officials in Crimea have so far provided little additional information on the attempted drone attack. However, the governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhaev, took to Telegram and said the situation was calm while stating that undisclosed military training was ongoing in the area, including live-fire exercises.

As it is, Novorossiysk has been a repeated target for Ukraine, chiefly due to the major Russian naval port there. Located on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, it is roughly 420 miles from the closest Ukrainian-held shores.

On this occasion, there has so far been no comment from Kyiv, although Ukrainian officials are increasingly talking more openly about drone strikes.

Taken together, the attacks, or attempted attacks today signal, once again, that uncrewed platforms have emerged as a central means for Ukrainian forces to keep up pressure on Russia. Amid the flagging counteroffensive, especially, theres every likelihood that attacks of this kind will continue, and their scope and complexity continue to increase.

Contact the author: thomas@thedrive.com
Though the U.S. has signed off on fast-tracking F-16 Vipers to Ukraine, it will take until next year before they hit the skies and many more before its pilots reach full combat proficiency in sufficient scale, the general in charge of U.S. and NATO air operations said Friday morning.

F-16 pilot training for Ukrainians is currently underway, U.S. Air Force Gen. James Hecker, head of U.S. Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), as well as NATO's Allied Air Command and U.S. Air Forces Africa (AFAFRICA) announced Friday morning during a Defense Writer's Group virtual briefing.

A pilot sits inside an F-16 simulator. CAE

They're young pilots that barely have any hours at all. So they're not currently fighting the war, he said.

The Ukrainian pilots are currently undergoing language training in the U.K.

And then they're going to get a little bit more training on propellers, and then go down to France and fly in the [Dornier Alpha Jets] for a little bit, that all is going to take time, said Hecker. And that's probably not going to happen before the end of the year. So that takes a while to make that happen. So that's why it's going to be at least until next year until you see F-16s in Ukraine.

Dornier Alpha training jets. (Dassault Aviation photo)

It was unclear, however, if he was talking about the same group of pilots that The Washington Post wrote about last week in a story on that training being delayed until next year. We reached out to USAFE for clarification and will update this story when they provide additional details.

Concerns about Ukrainian pilot language skills and how long it will really take them to be highly combat capable as opposed to having merely the basic skills to operate the Vipers for missions are questions we addressed back in May, which you can read about here.

But even if Ukraine does get F-16s next year, it won't likely have enough pilots who can fly them into combat to anywhere near their potential before 2027, Hecker said.

You can get proficient on some weapons systems fairly quickly. It takes a while to build a couple of squadrons of F-16s and to get their readiness high enough and their proficiency high enough. This could be four or five years down the road.

Even though the U.S. has approved expediting the transfer of Dutch and Danish F-16s to Ukraine, training pilots will take time, a top Air Force general says. (Danish Armed Forces)

As for what difference the Vipers would make in the current counteroffensive, Hecker said that they are a better option than Ukraine's current fleet of mostly Soviet-designed Su-27 Flankers and MiG-29 Fulcrums.

If I went to war, would I rather be in a MiG-29 or an F-16? Hecker asked rhetorically. I'd rather be in an F-16.

What the F-16 will give them is - it's going to be more interoperable with the current weapons that we're giving them now. So right now weapons that we're giving them have to be adapted to go on a Mig-29, or to go on an Su-27 or something like that. The F-16, it's already interoperable with, so that will help out and give them the added capability, but it's not going to be the silver bullet, that all of a sudden, they're going to start taking down SA- 21s [NATO designation for the Russian long-range S-400 SAM] because they have an F-16.

The War Zone has been making the case since right after the war began that a tactical jet platform with the data bus architecture needed to seamlessly integrate many types of NATO-compatible weapons was badly needed in Ukraine. Being able to quickly bring new munitions into the fight, especially standoff weapons like cruise missiles and high-speed anti-radiation missiles, and squeeze the most out of their capabilities, would be a major advantage. Many of the mission profiles used to employ standoff weapons do not require extreme levels of experience.

Back in February, with the media awash with many dubious reports, with the help of experienced F-16 instructor pilots, we drilled down on the reality of what Ukrainians would actually face in terms of training to fly and fight in the F-16:

For a pilot with around 500 hours experience in a Western fighter, but that has never previously flown the F-16  someone transitioning from the Hornet for example  without any breaks, working weekends, etc, they need 69 days to learn everything to safely employ the Viper in air-to-air and air-to-ground roles, commented an experienced F-16 instructor.

Thats assuming they speak good English because thats the language we teach in. Those 69 days include six flights learning to fly the jet and land it. About 15 flights of air-to-air, but if theyve done a lot of this before you might get that down to 10. The between six and nine air-to-surface missions, which would include a basic ability to employ laser-guided bombs [LGBs] and GPS-guided Joint Direct Attack Munitions [JDAMs]. That would give them a basic, wingman-level understanding, and thats assuming they are already familiar with the complex weapons such as the AIM-120 AMRAAM [Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile].

They would also need to take in 210 hours of academics and 10-20 simulator events. You cant do that fast  even doing two sims a day means 10 days straight. You cant do that kind of thing fast. So, those 69 days would mean the pilot could potentially employ the jet safely in a tactical training environment. Flying in combat is a whole different story.

Going into combat against a Su-35, even a Su-27 in contested airspace  now youre talking about years of experience. You cant do that with a brand-new guy who has seen everything once! You can have all the capabilities of the jet, but if the pilot doesnt know how to use it correctly, then thats useless. So for a pilot coming from a MiG-29, having to learn a brand-new PVI [pilot-vehicle interface] where everything looks different, use weapons that theyve only ever read about, to give them three-months training then toss them into combat  thats a tall order!"

The MiG-29 to a Block 50 or Mid-Life Upgrade Viper isnt a big step in performance, but its a huge leap in technology  the weapons and avionics. Even after 69 days of intense training, thats only a wingman qual [qualification], so who is going to lead the mission? Do you just send them off as a rogue single-ship to try and shoot down anything with more than one vertical tail? To be super effective, you at least need a four-ship, and to lead that needs at least a year of intensive training  then you can crush the opposition.

The answer initially would have to be based on building a new syllabus based on Ukraines specific needs and the threat scenario, and to then take that into combat would need anywhere between six and 12 months of training. It would still be risky, but that might outweigh the rewards.

You can read more in our story here.

Given the pace of the counteroffensive and growing concerns about future support for Ukraine, what impact F-16s and their newly-minted pilots will have when they do arrive remains to be seen. Of course, even if the war were to end in a settlement tomorrow, or if it continues to drag on into 2024 and beyond, squadrons of Vipers flown by capable pilots would still be a critical need.

Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com
Russia is replenishing the army of the occupiers for the war against Ukraine

A concealed yet comprehensive mobilization campaign is ongoing in Russia wherein approximately 20,000 individuals are being conscripted into the Russian army every month, according to Andriy Yusov, the spokesperson of Ukraines Defense Intelligence agency HUR, on August 18.

"These activities persist on a daily and monthly basis, with roughly 20,000 individuals being mobilized each month," Yusov said.

"Recently, Moscow Mayor Sobyanin mentioned an intriguing number  45,000 Muscovites who are purportedly at the frontlines. This figure was previously 35,000. This implies that the mayor acknowledged an additional 10,000 Muscovites being mobilized in recent months."

Yusov said that the Kremlin's actions amount to compulsory mobilization. Those who have recently acquired Russian citizenship are often the first to be mobilized.

Read also: Russia mobilized 500,000 people in 2022, Bloomberg reports

Earlier, Russia amended its law to increase the conscription age limit. Men aged 18 to 30 will now be subject to service, rather than 18 to 27.

According to a Bloomberg report on March 24, Russia intends to enlist an additional 400,000 contract soldiers following its recent unsuccessful offensive in Ukraine.

Read also: The Kremlin is changing the rules of mobilization. Whom does Putin plan to call up for war

This development coincides with the context of substantial losses sustained by the Russian invasion army, which are now approaching 257,000, as indicated by Ukraines General Staff.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 18)  The House committee on poverty alleviation on Friday called on the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to suspend its removal of up to 1.3 million poor families from the conditional cash transfer program.

In a statement, committee chairman 1-Pacman Rep. Mikee Romero said the panel asked the agency to "carefully assess" the condition of families to be delisted and those who would replace them.

While the committee supports the government's effort to have more poor families benefit from the 4Ps, Romero said it wants to be sure that "exiting families have really improved their financial status."

He questioned the DSWDs policy that 4Ps households earning over 12,000 a month would no longer be entitled to financial aid, noting that 400 a day is not enough to feed a family.

Romero further said the committee's proposed delisting moratorium would not impact the 4Ps as it has sufficient funds.

"Its funding in the annual national budget is good for 4.4 million families. Today, 3.9 million families are considered 'active,' of which 3.2 million are receiving financial assistance. Some 700,000 households are 'under review'," the lawmaker said.

Last year, the agency announced that at least 1.3 million 4Ps beneficiaries were no longer qualified for aid as they were found without eligible household members, not complying with program conditions, or have achieved the self-sufficient stage.

The poverty alleviation program, which provides cash grants to poor households with children not older than 18 years old, has a 112.8-billion funding in the proposed 5.768-trillion 2024 national budget, 10.23 billion higher than the current outlay.

The DSWD earlier said it is "in the process" of purging the 4Ps households after the Commission on Audit flagged duplicates in the list of beneficiaries that resulted in an overpayment of 7 million in 2020 and 2021.
Ukraine expects good news on regarding more prisoner swaps with Russia in the near future, Ukrainian Military Intelligence spokesman Andriy Yusov said at a briefing on Aug. 18.

Ukraine and Russia have already held 48 prisoner swaps, during which almost 2,600 Ukrainian servicemen and civilians returned home, Yusov said."

The work on the next ones continues. We expect good ne

Read also: Ukraine could exchange Russian POWs for political prisoners

ws for the families of our defenders inthe near future."At the same time, some Russian prisoners of war have refused to return to Russia and sided with Ukraine, the spokesman added.

Ukraine must return home all POWs captured by Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in July.

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 Soldiers assigned to 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, offload U.S. M1A1 Abrams tanks needed for training the Armed Forces of Ukraine at Grafenwoehr, Germany, May 14, 2023. US Army photo by Spc. Christian Carrillo

Ukrainian soldiers have reached the end of their planned training on American M1 Abrams tanks in Germany.

But Kyiv requested that its troops stay there to continue the program until the tanks are ready for delivery.

US officials have said that the 31 tanks of the M1A1 variant will be sent to Ukraine this fall.

Ukrainian soldiers training on American M1 Abrams tanks in Germany have reached the end of their planned training program, but Kyiv wants them to stay there until the heavy armor is ready for delivery, a US Army official told Insider on Friday.

Around 200 Ukrainians "just completed one of the last phases of their 12-week training program, a combined arms, battalion force-on-force exercise at Hohenfels Training Area," said Col. Martin O'Donnell, a spokesperson for US Army Europe and Africa, in a statement. The soldiers will now head back to the Grafenwoehr Training Area, where they trained previously

"There, at the request of Ukraine, the soldiers will maintain their operator and maintenance proficiency until the 31 tanks the US has committed to refurbish and to deliver to Ukraine by the fall are ready," O'Donnell added. The training is expected to last for weeks and stretch into fall.

Facing international pressure to outfit Ukraine with heavy armor, the Biden administration said earlier this year that it would procure new M1A2 Abrams tanks for Kyiv's military to complement pledges from other NATO allies like Germany and the UK that offered their own main battle tanks. The US later announced that it would send older, refurbished M1A1 variants to Ukraine instead, as these tanks were already in Pentagon stocks and could be delivered sooner.

US M1A1 Abrams tanks needed for training the Armed Forces of Ukraine arrive by rail at Grafenwoehr, Germany, May 14, 2023. US Air National Guard photo by Airman 1st Class Tylon Chapman

Training the Ukrainians to operate and maintain the tanks  initially a three-month-long effort led by the US military  represents "just one piece" of a global effort to help Ukraine defend against Russia, O'Donnell said, adding that Washington and its partners have trained over 70,000 Ukrainian soldiers since the full-scale war began in February 2022. Stars and Stripes first reported Ukraine's request to keep its soldiers in Germany for further training.

While US officials have routinely asserted that the Abrams tanks would make their way to the battlefield this fall, an exact timeline remains unclear.

"We're confident that we can provide those tanks when we said we would, which would be before the end of this year. And by all accounts, the training has gone well for those tank crews, but certainly at the appropriate time, we'll provide updates, in terms of delivery," Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters this week. He declined to provide additional details, citing operational security concerns.

The planned delivery of Abrams tanks could come at a crucial time for Ukraine, which is currently entangled in counteroffensive operations along several directions in the eastern and southern parts of the country and may still be attempting offensive operations come fall. Formidable Russian defensive lines  consisting of minefields, trenches, razor wire, and anti-armor obstacles  have slowed Ukrainian advances.

US soldiers and an M1 Abrams tank in a wooded area during a multinational exercise at the Hohenfels training area in Germany. Nicolas Armer/Getty Images

Abrams tanks will complement Ukraine's expanding inventory of armored vehicles that it has accumulated from the US and its NATO partners over the last few months. American officials, meanwhile, have suggested that the Abrams tanks are expected to give Kyiv a significant firepower boost on the battlefield.

"The Abrams will certainly make a difference on the battlefield. I mean, we know it's an extraordinary tank," Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims II, director of operations for the US military's Joint Staff, told reporters at a briefing last month adding that the training will make the Ukrainians "extraordinarily good" at using the tanks.

"I can't tell you whether the offensive would still be going on by then or not, I just know that when the Abrams arrive, they'll be able to make a difference with Ukrainians," Sims said.

The Abrams tanks the US plans to deliver to Ukraine are part of more than $43 billion in security assistance that the US has committed to Ukraine since Russia invaded last year. But as the war nears the 18-month mark, Kyiv continues to pressure its Western military partners to send additional weapon systems like fighter aircraft and long-range missiles.

Read the original article on Business Insider
A Ukrainian serviceman walks in a trench at a position near the frontline town of Bakhmut, Ukraine, on May 30 2023 REUTERS/Yevhenii Zavhorodnii

Two Ukrainian soldiers pushed back against those claiming Ukraine's counteroffensive is too slow.

The soldiers told Insider they're making progress despite Russia's better weapons and deep defenses.

They said they are short on key weapons and choosing tactics that keep their troops alive.

Ukrainian soldiers are pushing back against criticism their counteroffensive against Russia isn't going quick enough.

Ukraine launched its attack in June, and while it has succeeded in regaining some territory, progress has not been sweeping enough to significantly reshape the conflict.

Two soldiers with units on the front lines of Ukraine's fight told Insider that any such criticism was unfair and ill-informed.

They argued that they and their comrades are making progress, but have to contend with Russia's extensive preparations and strong advantage in terms of weaponry.

Many in the West sympathize with the slow progress. But German intelligence was more damning, recently describing Ukraine's progress as too slow, arguing that Ukraine was failing to make use of its Western training.

Vitaliy Kryukov, a loitering-munition commander for the elite Adam Tactical Group, said Ukraine was being held back by heavy Russian artillery.

Kryukov and other Adam forces have been in the eastern city of Bakhmut since February, where fighting has been intense.

He said it took his forces two weeks to get through an area around one square mile.

"Unfortunately, that part is flat, and it has not many places to hide away. The enemy used heavy shelling tactics to prevent our assault."

He shared this image of the crater-marked ground that he had to advance through.

Drone footage of the area Ukraine's troops moved through near Bakhmut in July, marked by artillery hits. Vitaliy Kryukov

He said they found Russia well-prepared. "That's why the assault doesn't go that fast, because obviously the Russians are ready for that."

Unlike Ukraine's quick counteroffensive late in 2022, when it regained swathes of territory in the northeast of the country, the current pushback was anticipated and Russia dug in hard.

Kryukov said Ukraine has to pick tactics that save as many of its soldiers as possible: "I think for the Ukrainian army, it's no other choice but to make sure our loss is not drastic losses, even despite of the assault campaign."

He added, laughing: "I wouldn't wish to anyone to be in a place of our commander-in-chief. So much responsibility."

He said it is clear from planning sessions he attends that Ukraine's military leaders are prioritizing keeping their troops alive.

"For sure the main task is obviously to clear up our land from these cold people," he said. "But not at any cost, I would say. It's always the question from our commanders: How risky is that?"

In contrast, he said, Russia often chose tactics that showed little regard for keeping people alive.

A second source gave a similar account to Insider, speaking on the condition that he was identified only by his rank. Insider has verified his identity.

The soldier, a deputy battalion commander also fighting near Bakhmut, told Insider that anybody who thought the counteroffensive could move quickly was wrong.

He said that some in the West think "it must be something very easy, something very fast and glorious."

"But no: In our situation you need to move slowly, but always."

"You need to move, dig, move, dig, move, dig, you know? Because Russian artillery, they have a lot. It is like rain. They are using it very often. "

Ukraine's troops are now often operating from trenches to try hide from Russia's artillery and drones, while vast minefields slow down their movement.

This includes in the battle for Bakhmut, which has been one of the longest and bloodiest of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine's forces were pushed outside the city earlier this year, but are now making some gains once more.

The deputy commander said Ukraine was making progress there, with small results every day.

"We are attacking, we are taking back our land."

But both soldiers said Ukraine needs more weapons to make more progress, echoing calls from their military leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Kryukov said Russia is fighting with more advanced weapons than Ukraine is: it has military-grade drones while his unit is working with civilian gear.

He said more long-range missiles would help provide cover for quicker infantry advances.

The deputy commander said Ukraine needed more mortar shells and tanks, and lamented Russia's air superiority in the area. He noted that Ukraine's air-defense was stretched too, with too little ammo. "We need more."

These problems are unlikely to be fixed soon. Western allies have been reluctant to meet all Ukraine's requests, especially for the much-delayed F-16 jets which Ukraine says could help it counter Russian air power.

But experts say they see Ukraine making progress in its fight all the same, and that it appears to have ramped up in the last two weeks.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Iryna Vereshchuk, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories, has called on residents of these territories to leave for Ukraine through the territory of the Russian Federation and the pedestrian border crossing point in Sumy Oblast.

Source: Iryna Vereshchuk on air during the 24/7 national joint newscast

Quote: "I want to thank the people who are leaving the occupied territories. This process has now intensified. For example, on the Sumy front, more than 200 people leave every day to escape the occupiers."

"I urge people to leave any way they can. I want to make an announcement: perhaps not everyone in the temporarily occupied territories knows that there is free evacuation transport in Sumy Oblast. I know that people are afraid of what awaits them here if they have no money... The main thing is to get to the border crossing point, and we will help you with everything."

Background:

On 10 August, Vereshchuk reported that a humanitarian corridor was operating in Sumy Oblast, through which Ukrainian citizens could get to Ukraine from Russia.

A volunteer humanitarian centre operates on the Ukrainian border, where all Ukrainians can receive free psychological, legal and humanitarian assistance, as well as spend the night and get to Sumy or other cities in Ukraine.

Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron!






For the second day in a row, Ukraine requested emergency assistance for the power system

Ukrainian state energy company Ukrenergo reached out to Romania and Poland for emergency assistance to stabilize the countrys power grid, the company said in a Telegram on August 18.

"Emergency assistance is the final and most costly measure to address the energy shortfall in the power grid, which does not entail curtailing supplies to consumers," Ukrenergo said.

Read also: Freezing winter? Ukraine slow to repair +$1 billion damage to energy system in Russian attacks

Although energy consumption was slightly below the record high, it closely approached the maximum on August 17.

Furthermore, three power units at thermal power plants were temporarily removed from the grid for maintenance, and only two were subsequently returned to operation.

Read also: French company begins upgrading Ukraines power grid

Given that electricity imports failed to adequately compensate for the deficit, Ukrenergo was compelled to implement emergency assistance from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. from the power grids of Romania and Poland, with a combined capacity of 400 MWh.

Commercial electricity imports amounted to 3,815 MWh over the past day.

As of August 4, only 1.6% of Ukrainian heating facilities heavily damaged by Russian attacks during the previous winter have been repaired.

Additionally, a mere 7% of the electrical grid has been restored, as reported by the National Commission for State Regulation of Energy and Public Utilities.

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
Displaced Yemenis receive humanitarian aid provided by the World Food Programme (WFP) in Yemen's northern province of Hajjah, on January 22, 2023. (Essa AHMED)

More than four million Yemenis will receive less food assistance as a result of funding shortages, compounding one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, the UN's food agency warned Friday.

The World Food Programme said "a deeper funding crisis for its Yemen operations from the end of September onward... will force WFP to make difficult decisions about further cuts to our food assistance programmes across the country in the coming months."

Without new funding, it expects more than four million people will receive less food assistance, many of them women and children already suffering from some of the highest malnutrition rates in the world.

With major cuts announced across different programmes, the actual number of people affected could be higher.

"We are confronted with the incredibly tough reality of making decisions to take food from the hungry to feed the starving," said Richard Ragan, WFP's Yemen representative.

The UN agency was "fully cognisant of the suffering these cuts will cause", he said in a statement.

Yemen, the Arabian Peninsula's poorest country, is already in the grips of one of the planet's worst humanitarian crises after eight years of war, according to the United Nations.

The conflict broke out in 2014 when Iran-backed Huthi rebels seized the capital Sanaa, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene the following year to prop up the internationally recognised government.

Although fighting has remained largely on hold since a six-month truce expired in October, the United Nations says current hunger levels are unprecedented.

Seventeen million Yemenis are experiencing food insecurity, and one million women and 2.2 million children under five require treatment for acute malnutrition, the UN says.

For the next six months, WFP said it requires $1.05 billion in funding, only 28 percent of which has been secured.

"Yemen will remain one of WFP's largest food assistance operations, but these cuts represent a significant reduction to the agency's programmes in the country," it said.

"The funding shortages are happening at a time of more people becoming severely malnourished."

The World Food Programme was forced to slash food aid for 13 million Yemenis by more than 50 percent in June last year because of a funding squeeze.

ho/dv
GENEVA (Reuters) - A United Nations agency has suspended services at the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon to protest against the presence of armed fighters around its schools and other facilities within the area.

Deadly clashes broke out at the Ain el-Hilweh camp last month after Islamist gunmen tried to assassinate Mahmoud Khalil, a leader of Palestinian political faction Fatah, forcing hundreds to flee.

"The Agency does not tolerate actions that breach the inviolability and neutrality of its installations," United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said in a statement.

It said that schools in the camp were unlikely to be available for 3,200 children at the start of the new school year.

"UNRWA reiterates its call on armed actors to immediately vacate its facilities, to ensure unimpeded delivery of much needed assistance to Palestine Refugees," the agency added.

Some 400,000 refugees live in Lebanon's 12 Palestinian camps, which date back to the 1948 war between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

Established in 1949 following the first Arab-Israeli war, UNRWA provides public services including schools, primary healthcare and humanitarian aid in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.

(Reporting by Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
A Union County man has been sentenced to 50 months in prison for his is role in a conspiracy that targeted Asian and Asian American homeowners in more than 50 residential burglaries in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware.

Randi Barr, 41, of Vauxhall, had pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Evelyn Padin to one count of conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property.

In addition to sentencing Barr to prison, Padin ordered restitution and forfeiture of $127,661.

Barr and others were charged with committing more than 50 burglaries between Dec. 2, 2016, and March 20, 2019, court papers say.

Five of those burglaries were in Central Jersey, four in Middlesex County including Edison, Spotswood, Sayreville and Old Bridge, and one in Somerset County.

More: Grand jury clears Hillsborough police officer in fatal shooting

As part of the conspiracy, court papers say, the suspects would identify and conduct surveillance at the victims' businesses, typically Asian family-owned restaurants.

After learning the daily patterns of the victims, the suspects would burglarize their residences while the victims were likely not home.

The houses would be ransacked, and large amounts of American and foreign currency were stolen as well as jewelry and other valuables.

Court papers say the suspects communicated with each other by two-way radios and used to ladders to gain entry to the houses.

Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com

Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ man sentenced for burglary ring targeting Asian Americans
A United Airlines pilot has been charged in a bizarre ax attack earlier this month in which he savaged a parking arm at a Denver International Airport employee parking lot, causing an estimated $700 in damage. Police say the pilot, Kenneth Henderson Jones, told them "He just hit his breaking point."

/ Credit: CBS

Video of the incident on on Aug. 2 obtained by CBS News Colorado showed the 63-year-old pilot armed with a full-sized ax. In the video, he chops at the parking arm at the exit gate of an employee parking lot 23 times until he knocked the parking arm off its base. After that, Jones scuffles at length a few minutes later with an airport employee who saw what happened and tried to take the ax away from the pilot. The pilot only surrenders the ax after a second Denver International Airport employee intervenes and helps wrestle it away. Airport administrators described it as a "physical struggle" with no injuries.

/ Credit: CBS

Adams County authorities have charged Jones with misdemeanor criminal mischief. He is scheduled to appear in court in Adams County Court on Sept. 25 for an arraignment.

Jones has not responded to numerous inquiries from CBS News Colorado made by phone, email and text message. Russel Carlton, Corporate Communications Manager for United, said, "He was removed from the schedule and is on leave while United conducts an internal investigation." Carlton did not offer further comment or details.



Federal records show Jones is rated to fly large jets like the 767 and 757.



While Jones has not responded to messages, Adams County Sheriff's deputies say Jones told them, "He just hit his breaking point."



According to a police report, Jones also said he was trying to leave but he estimated there were six cars in line at each of the three exit gates. Airport administrators said there have been issues with the lot as people don't have proper permits. Deputies say Jones told them he "was trying to get rid of issues for everyone waiting."



/ Credit: CBS

Videotape from airport cameras shows police officers assigned to the airport apprehend Jones in a nearby field and put him in handcuffs. The same video shows Jones later talking to police and being released from their custody and driving away.

Records show Jones has no previous arrests in Colorado.

RELATED: Denver will pay $300,000 to pilot who was arrested after standing naked in front of Denver airport hotel room window

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Maui emergency chief resigns amid outrage over wildfire response
The U.S. has approved the transfer of F-16s to Ukraine from the Netherlands and Denmark, according to officials from both countries, finally agreeing to send a long-asked-for advanced warplane to Ukrainian troops.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier this week signaled his approval for the transfer in a letter to Dutch and Danish leaders. Although Denmark and Netherlands own the aircraft, the planes are made in the U.S., and deliveries must be approved by Washington.

It is a major step forward for Ukraine, which has asked for the jets since the beginning of the war more than a year ago.

Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Wopke Hoekstra on Friday thanked Blinken for the good and swift cooperation on the approval of the jets.

This marks a major milestone for Ukraine to defend its people and its country, Hoekstra wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

For now, the decision has opened the door to allowing the two European countries to send the prized fighter jets to Ukraine, with more exact details expected to come later.

Delivery of the aircraft and arrival on the battlefield could take months. Ukrainian pilots still need to train on the F-16s. But now, Kyiv could deploy the aircraft sooner than next spring or summer, as had been feared.

Danish officials will turn over the F-16s after getting more advanced F-35 aircraft this fall. The first four F-35s are expected to be delivered Oct. 1.

U.S. officials long argued the F-16s were not needed in the current phase of the war against Russia, rebuffing numerous requests from Kyiv since early 2022.

Ukraine operates aging, Soviet-era aircraft, and it is outgunned by Russia in the skies. Ukrainian officials have said advanced aircraft could help turn the tide of a slow-going counteroffensive in the southeast.

In May, President Biden said European allies would train Ukrainian pilots on the fighter jets, marking a reversal in the stance. A coalition of 11 allies agreed at a major NATO summit in July to begin training Ukrainian pilots in August, which is expected to begin soon.

Danish Defense Minister Kasja Ollongren said Friday the U.S. approval now allows us to follow through on the training of Ukrainian pilots.

We remain in close contact with European partners to decide on the next steps, Ollongren wrote on X.

The Associated Press contributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 18)  Despite numerous calls to end land reclamation  the process of creating new land from nearby bodies of water by filling them with rocks, cement, clay, or dirt  many such projects dot Manila Bay, an area which spans Metro Manila to Calabarzon.

CNN Philippines takes a look at the reclamation activities around the vital natural harbor, and the conflicting claims surrounding them.

Only 13 projects, PRA claims

The Philippine Reclamation Authority on Aug. 14 told CNN Philippines The Source that there were 22 reclamation projects around the whole country.

READ: PRA: Less than 5% of Manila Bay covered by 13 reclamation projects

PRA Assistant General Manager Joseph Literal said 13 of these were concentrated in Metro Manila and some parts of Cavite, which is in Calabarzon.

Literal added the projects only cover 5,000 to 6,000 hectares compared to Manila Bays almost 200,000 hectares.

He noted that two of these reclamation projects have been seeking approval for years. One project sought approval in the late 1990s. Another one applied between 2013 to 2014.

As for the remaining projects, Literal told CNN Philippines in an interview that these were applied for under the Duterte administration, when Roy Cimatu was the Environment Secretary.

The PRA is the states lead instrument in regulating reclamation, creating environmentally sustainable reclaimed land, promoting coastal resilience, and developing government properties.

CNN Philippines sought further information from the PRA and from Cimatu on the reclamations but has yet to receive a response.

What does the DENR say?

However, contrary to the claims of the PRA, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) disclosed that 22 reclamation projects were, in fact, based in the Manila Bay area and not all throughout the country.

There are 22 reclamation projects in Manila Bay AREA including on-going, those with permits and those still in the paperworks/permit stage, the DENR told CNN Philippines through email correspondence on Friday.

When you talk of Manila Bay, you refer to a huge area from Region 4A, NCR and Region 3. The subject of the suspension are the 22 in the Manila Bay AREA and not the entire Philippines, it continued.

These are the 22 projects which were earlier suspended by the DENR, but it did not specify why these were halted or when the suspension would be lifted. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. previously said all but one had been nixed.

READ: All reclamation projects in Manila Bay suspended, DENR clarifies

These 22 include ongoing projects, those already granted permits, and those still seeking Environmental Compliance Certificates from the DENR, authorization from the PRA, and area clearance.

Of the 22 Manila Bay area reclamations, 15 are in the National Capital Region. Three are currently in development, it said.

The remaining seven are in Calabarzon, according to the agency.

The DENR refused to be interviewed on the subject, though CNN Philippines is seeking further clarification on the projects.

Calls to cease reclamation

Lawmakers, environmental groups, and even foreign diplomats have called for a stop to the reclamation, citing environmental damage and a project contractors possible ties to China.

Fisherfolk group PAMALAKAYA earlier demanded that the DENR end reclamation until it could scientifically prove that their projects have not aggravated the flood hazards in these coastal areas, citing Bulacan and Pampanga which were inundated in the aftermath of Typhoons Egay and Falcon.

PAMALAKAYA, citing geologist Dr. Kevin Rodolfo, said that the projects bring "the danger of land subsidence, danger of storm surge and strong waves caused by typhoon, and danger from seismically induced liquefaction."

READ: DENR urged to suspend reclamation projects in Manila Bay amid 'worsening' flooding

The US Embassy likewise raised concerns over environmental damage but also pointed out that one of the contracted firms had helped Beijing construct and militarize artificial islands in the contested South China Sea.

"We are also concerned that the projects have ties to the China Communications Construction Co. [CCCC], which has been added to the US Department of Commerce's Entity List for its role in helping the Chinese military construct and militarize artificial islands in the South China Sea," the embassy said.

It said CCCC has also been cited by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank for engaging in fraudulent business practices.

Chinese incursions and harassment of Filipino vessels in the West Philippine Sea, meanwhile, have heightened tensions between Manila and Beijing.

READ: US Embassy expresses concern over ongoing Manila Bay reclamation projects

Senators echoed the US Embassys concern over the projects' possible China ties, saying that the contractor in question should be investigated and possibly banned from the country.

READ: Lawmakers raise concerns over Chinese state firm's ties to Manila Bay reclamation

This story will be updated with further developments.
The United States has finally greenlit the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine from Denmark and the Netherlands  as soon as Ukrainian pilots complete their training  Reuters reported on Aug. 17, citing an unnamed U.S. official.

Read also: Biden to petition Congress for $25 billion in aid funding  report

According to the report, Washington assured Denmark and the Netherlands that it will expedite the approval of all necessary requests for the F-16 transfer, so that the Ukrainian pilots can receive their fighters immediately after completing training.

I am writing to express the United States full support for both the transfer of F-16 fighter aircraft to Ukraine and for the training of Ukrainian pilots by qualified F-16 instructors," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a letter to his Danish and Dutch counterparts  a copy of which was seen by Reuters.

The report notes that U.S. President Joe Biden approved training programs for Ukrainian pilots on F-16s in May, although delivery timelines for the aircraft had not been announced.

NV

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that Ukraine's allies will individually determine when to begin training Ukrainian pilots.

Read also: Who is delaying transfer of F-16s and ATACMS missiles to Ukraine, and why  expert interview

At the July NATO summit in Vilnius, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov signed a memorandum with 11 colleagues to form an international pilot training coalition. There is also a possibility to include other types of aircraft in the program, not just F-16s.

Read also: Ukrainian pilots to train in Denmark and Romania  White House

In addition to Ukraine, the coalition includes the UK, the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, and Sweden.

In early August, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that Ukrainian pilots will start training on F-16s by the end of the month.

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
An 11-nation coalition has agreed to train Ukrainian pilots on the F-16, with officials hoping for them to be ready by early 2024 (Bo Amstrup)

Washington has told Denmark and the Netherlands that they will be permitted to hand over their F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine when the country's pilots are trained to operate them, the US State Department said Friday.

Both Denmark and the Netherlands, which are leading the program to train Ukraine's pilots on the F-16, have been given "formal assurances" for a jet transfer, a State Department spokesman said.

"This way, Ukraine can take full advantage of its new capabilities as soon as the first set of pilots complete their training," the spokesman said.

The United States keeps tight restrictions on the resale or transfer of US-made military equipment by allies.

It remained unclear how long it would take before the first Ukrainian pilots are ready to fly F-16s.

Training by an 11-nation coalition was to begin this month, and officials have said they hoped for pilots to be ready by early 2024.

Ukrainian Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov hailed "great news from our friends in the United States".

Netherlands Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren also welcomed the move.

"It allows us to follow through on the training of Ukrainian pilots," she said on social media.

However, "everything takes time," she said later, according to the ANP new agency.

The F-16 program responds to requests by Ukraine to replace the heavy losses incurred by its air force, which flies mostly Russian aircraft.

The US jet has better combat capabilities than those operated by Ukraine, but requires more training for pilots.

Kyiv has been pushing hard since last year for the US-made jets, but Washington only gave its nod in recent months.

In July, a senior Ukrainian official said they wanted dozens of the aircraft to back up offensive ground operations in the south, where Kyiv hopes to drive out Russian forces.

"We need 60 to 80 F-16 planes in order to close the skies well, especially in the area near the front," said Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior aide to President Volodymyr Zelensky.

While the delivery of fighter jets should help Ukraine in the long term, its army is unlikely to benefit from them quickly, even though its June counter-offensive has so far yielded limited results.

pmh/des/lcm/cw
The United States has approved the transfer of instructional materials for F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine at Denmarks request. This should bring the beginning of Ukrainian pilots training on American fighter jets closer.

Source: CNN citing two US officials, one of them from the Joe Biden administration, reports European Pravda

Quote: "We can confirm the Department has recently approved a request from F-16 training partner Denmark related to their effort to stand up pilot and maintenance training programs," an official in President Joe Biden's administration stated.

Details: The programme contains training modules, documentation and materials for classroom sessions, including information about secret American technologies. Because of this, Denmark needed Washington's prior approval.

The approval of Denmark's request for the transfer of instructional materials to Ukraine is an important step towards the start of direct training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16 jet fighters.

Background:

In July, Ukraine signed a memorandum with 11 of its partner states at the NATO Summit in Vilnius. The memorandum defines the conditions of Ukrainian pilots training on the F-16s.

The exercises should begin in August, but, according to media reports, the United States took a long time to approve the final training plan, since European states did not agree on all its details. Denmark's Defence Ministry confirmed earlier that the Ukrainian F-16 training would begin by the end of August.

Jake Sullivan, the National Security Advisor to the President of the United States, confirmed Washington's approval for the Netherlands and Denmark to deliver F-16s to Ukraine after Ukrainian pilots complete their training.

Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron!
A U.S. citizen already imprisoned in Russia now faces espionage charges, according to Russian news agencies.

Gene Spector, who was born in Russia, was serving a 3 1/2-year sentence after pleading guilty to bribery charges in 2021. Spector was charged with mediating a bribe to help an aide to the Russian deputy prime minister secure luxury vacations abroad.

An espionage charge could carry a 10- to 20-year sentence if Spector, who was the chairman of the pharmaceutical manufacturer Medpolymerprom Group, is convicted. Details on the charges were not available.

The release of two other U.S. citizens in Russian custody, former Marine Paul Whelan and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, has been the focus of U.S. diplomatic efforts.

Whelan is serving a 16-year sentence on espionage charges decried as fraudulent by the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to Whelan on the phone this month, according to CNN reports.

Gershkovich, meanwhile, was arrested on espionage charges in March and detained. American officials have also denounced those claims, saying he was merely acting in his role as a journalist.

Journalism is not a crime. We condemn the Kremlins continued repression of independent voices in Russia, and its ongoing war against the truth, the State Department said in April.

The State Department has repeatedly warned U.S. citizens in Russia to leave the country amid fractured diplomatic relations and the Kremlins ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
There are two questions on the agenda as President Joe Biden hosts a trilateral summit at Camp David this weekend with the leaders of Japan and South Korea, Fumio Kishida and Yoon Suk Yeol, respectively. Can Biden draw the two countries, which have a long history of enmity and warfare, into a fruitful alliance? And will that alliance become a "mini NATO" located in Asia?

The U.S. has been allied with both countries individually, The New York Times reported, but there are "historic animosities" stemming from Japan's "brutal" decades-long occupation of the Korean peninsula ending in 1945. But Yoon has made "moves toward rapprochement" that have led to hopes for a "closer, more enduring alignment." That new alignment would include a "commitment to consult" on security threats.

Such a commitment has drawn the ire of Chinese officials and foreign policy experts who see the arrangement as a mini NATO alliance intended to cement American dominance in Asia, China's Global Times reported. Voice of America added that North Korean officials have also accused Biden of "cooking up the Asian version of NATO" with this week's summit. U.S. officials, though, say the alliance between the three summit countries will "fall short" of a formal military alliance.

What the commentators are saying

Yes, the trilateral summit is aimed at "bolstering security partnerships amid increasing tensions in the Asia-Pacific," Chad de Guzman wrote at Time. But the region is "too diverse politically and economically" for a NATO-style alliance, one expert told de Guzman. Some Asian countries, like Cambodia and Myanmar, are in China's camp. Others, like India, are carefully avoiding taking sides for or against either the U.S. or China. But the most critical factor weighing against an Asian NATO is the region's "economic reliance on China." Besides, as another expert stated, the war in Ukraine shows "you don't need to be a member of NATO to get NATO-like support."

The "biggest prize" of this summit would be a NATO-style acknowledgment that an "attack on one is an attack on all," Bloomberg editorialized. Such a statement would certainly draw notice from China and North Korea; it would also be "powerful and hard to renounce." Japan and South Korea deserve credit for trying to resolve their old disputes. "The task for the countries' leaders now is to solidify their alliance before sentiment shifts again."

"China will be livid" at the new trilateral alliance, Daniel R. DePetris wrote for The Interpreter. It believes Washington is creating a closer relationship with Japan and South Korea because it "sees deeper U.S.-South Korea-Japan military ties as indispensable to containing Chinese power." Similarly, while the U.S. has "no intention of invading North Korea," leader Kim Jong-un is convinced of the threat. This means those two countries may cement their relationships with Russia in response to this week's summit. The message to the White House? "If you want a confrontation between blocs, then that's precisely what you will get."

What's next?

The meeting probably will "not result in a NATO-style collective defense pact," The Washington Post reported, but the three leaders are "expected to affirm publicly for the first time that their nations' security is linked." According to one scholar, "The message is the three can't be divided and conquered." That means the three countries will conduct annual joint military exercises and begin "robust" information sharing on the North Korean nuclear threat.

Similarly, the summit will also result in a three-nation line to enable the three countries to communicate more easily during times of crisis, Nikkei Asia reported. "We're going to invest in technology to have a three-way hotline for the leaders and others inside their governments to communicate," said a member of the White House National Security Council.

China, of course, is not happy about this development. Beijing "opposes practices that exacerbate confrontation and jeopardize the strategic security of other countries," a Foreign Ministry spokesman said. And every step the U.S. takes to fortify alliances in Asia will probably produce a similar response from China, one scholar told the South China Morning Post. "It appears that the two sides are containing each other."

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(Bloomberg) -- The US escalated its complaint that Mexicos ban on genetically modified corn violates the nations free-trade deal, heightening tensions between neighbors.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The US Trade Representatives office on Thursday said its establishing a dispute resolution panel under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The panel of trade experts  whose findings are binding  would be charged with deciding whether Mexicos corn policy is inconsistent with the trade pact. If the group sides with the US, it could ultimately result in tariffs on Mexican goods.

Read more: US Set to Escalate Claim Mexico Corn Policy Violates Trade Deal

US Trade Representative Katherine Tai had requested formal talks on the issue with Mexico under the trade pact in early June, starting an initial 75-day clock that expired Wednesday.

Although the corn dispute is unlikely to interrupt otherwise robust trade between the countries, it could make it more difficult for the Biden administration to win Mexicos cooperation on other issues including migration and the trafficking of fentanyl.

American officials have repeatedly criticized the Mexican governments prohibition on GMO corn for human consumption, calling the policy unscientific. Imports of GMO corn for animals is allowed, although USTR is concerned that the Mexican government intends to phase that out as well.

Mexicos Economy Ministry said in a statement that it is prepared to defend its position and that its rules on GMO corn dont violate the trade pact.

The escalation risks complicating the relationship between the two nations, given that Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, known as AMLO, reacted angrily to a US request for talks over his nationalist energy policy little more than a year ago. Mexico is the USs largest trading partner, with almost $400 billion in commerce through the first half of this year, according to data from the US Commerce Departments Census Bureau.

Although the bulk of the corn that Mexico imports is used as animal feed, the vast majority of US corn is genetically modified, leaving growers concerned about losing a major market for their products.

Mexicos decree, which runs counter to scientific findings and is in direct violation of USMCA, is negatively impacting American corn growers, National Corn Growers Association President Tom Haag said in a statement. U.S. officials have exhausted every avenue trying to resolve this conflict and are left with no other choice but to turn to a third-party panel in hopes of quickly rectifying this issue.

--With assistance from Maya Averbuch.

(Updates with Mexicos response in sixth paragraph)

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FILE PHOTO: The Regeneron Pharmaceuticals company logo is seen on a building at the company's Westchester campus in Tarrytown

By Pratik Jain

(Reuters) -Regeneron Pharmaceuticals said on Friday the U.S. health regulator approved its drug to treat a rare blood disease.

The drug pozelimab, branded as Veopoz, would treat CHAPLE disease in adult and pediatric patients 1 year of age and older.

Veopoz  the first treatment to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the life-threatening disease  will be sold in the U.S. at a list price of $34,615.38 per single-use vial, the company told Reuters in an emailed response.

The drug will be available in the third quarter of this year, it said.

Regeneron said the disease has fewer than 10 patients identified in the U.S. and estimates less than 100 patients worldwide.

People with CHAPLE disease have mutated CD55 gene, which regulates the body's mechanism for destroying microbes. Without proper gene regulation, the mechanism may start attacking normal cells of the body.

Veopoz's approval, however, comes with a boxed warning for serious meningococcal infections, as the treatment poses risks of developing the life-threatening bacterial infection.

With Veopoz's approval, the company said the pre-approval inspection issues related to the marketing application of the higher dose of its blockbuster eye disease drug Eylea, or aflibercept, has been addressed.

The regulator's decision on the 8mg dose of Eylea is expected in the next few weeks, the company added.

Imminent approval would allow the company to quickly begin converting new patients to 8mg aflibercept ahead of biosimilar entrants, potentially preserve its Eylea franchise and future revenues from the high-dose version which could reach as high as $9.8 billion, according to BMO Capital Markets analyst Evan Seigerman.

Seigerman sees biosimilars for Eylea potentially able to enter the market in May 2024.

The FDA had in June declined to approve the higher-dose version following an inspection at third-party manufacturer Catalent.

(Reporting by Vaibhav Sadhamta, Khushi Mandowara and Pratik Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
US intelligence believes that Ukraine will not reach the key goal of the offensive, which is to retake Melitopol.

Source: The Washington Post citing sources familiar with the "secret forecast" by US intelligence, and Ukrainian, US and European government officials who spoke on condition of anonymity

Details: The newspapers sources stated that Ukraine would not be able to reach the city of Melitopol, according to US intelligence. This means that if the forecast comes true, Ukraine will not fulfil the main goal of the offensive  to cut off Russia's land corridor with occupied Crimea.

Quote from WP: "The grim assessment is based on Russias brutal proficiency in defending occupied territory through a phalanx of minefields and trenches, and is likely to prompt finger pointing inside Kyiv and Western capitals about why a counteroffensive that saw tens of billions of dollars of Western weapons and military equipment fell short of its goals."

More details: US officials say that Ukrainian troops advancing on Melitopol from the settlement of Robotyne, located more than 50 miles [about 80 km  ed.] from the city, will remain a few miles away. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment.

     

Distance from the village of Robotyne to Melitopol

Screenshot: deepstate

WP mentions that Ukraine has invested enormous resources in Bakhmut, including human lives and ammunition. Some in the Biden administration have expressed concern that commitments in the east could undermine the potential for an offensive in the south.

The new intelligence assessment coincides with a US "secret February forecast" believed to have been leaked on Discord. It states that the lack of equipment and the number of troops may mean that the offensive will remain "well short" from achieving its goal of severing the land bridge to Crimea by August.

In this assessment, Melitopol or Mariupol are identified as targets "to deny Russian overland access to Crimea."

WP also reported that, despite the expectations of Western allies, the pace of the Ukrainian offensive has been slowed down, among other things, by the decision of the Ukrainian command to reduce casualties on the battlefield.

Quote from WP: "US officials said Washington was still open to Kyiv surprising sceptics and overcoming the odds. One defence official said it is possible that Ukraine could buck historical norms and continue the counteroffensive through the winter, when everything including keeping soldiers warm and stocked with food and ammunition becomes much more difficult.

But that would rely on several important factors, such as the amount of rest troops need after a hard fighting season. It would also depend on how much specialised equipment and cold-weather clothing they have on hand, the defence official said. But Moscow may also outperform during winter military operations.

Russians are known to be capable of fighting in cold weather, the official said."

For reference: Melitopol is crucial for the Ukrainian offensive, as it is considered the gateway to Crimea. The city is located at the intersection of two important roads and a railway line that allow Russia to transfer troops and equipment from the peninsula to other occupied territories in Ukraine's south.

Background:

Late in June, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said that soldiers were paying in blood for the liberation of every metre of Ukrainian land, so he was annoyed by other people's comments that the counteroffensive is slower than expected.

Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraines Foreign Minister, in an interview with AFP, commenting on the pace of the advance of the Armed Forces, said that Ukraine will not stop fighting, and "we don't care how long it takes." Kuleba also called on critics of the pace of the Ukrainian offensive to join the Foreign Legion.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasised that the Ukrainian offensive is not a Hollywood movie, and that people's lives are at stake. At the same time, he admitted that the progress on the battlefield since the beginning of the offensive of the Armed Forces was "slower than we would like it to be".

Zelenskyy explained in one of his addresses that the offensive was supposed to begin in the spring, when the Russians had not yet had time to build so many defence lines, including mining territories. Meanwhile, there was not enough ammunition in Ukraine at that time.

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CAMP DAVID, Md. (AP)  President Joe Biden and the leaders of Japan and South Korea agreed Friday to expand security and economic ties at a historic summit at the U.S. presidential retreat of Camp David, cementing a new agreement with the allies that are on an increasingly tense ledge in relations with China and North Korea.

Biden said the nations would establish a communications hotline to discuss responses to threats. He announced the agreements, including what the leaders termed the Camp David Principles, at the close of his talks with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Our countries are stronger and the world will be safer as we stand together. And I know this is a belief that all three share, Biden said

The purpose of our trilateral security cooperation is and will remain to promote and enhance peace and stability throughout the region, the leaders said in a joint statement.

Biden maintained, as have US, South Korean and Japanese officials, that the summit was not about China but was focused on broader security issues. Yet, the leaders in their joint summit concluding statement noted China's dangerous and aggressive" action in the South China Sea and said they strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the waters of the Indo-Pacific.

Yoon noted in particular the threat posed by North Korea, saying the three leaders had agreed to improve our joint response capabilities to North Koreas nuclear and missile threats, which have become sophisticated more than ever.

He said as the three appeared before reporters that today will be remembered as a historic day, where we established a firm institutional basis and commitments to the trilateral partnership.

Japan's Kishida said before the private talks that "the fact that we, the three leaders, have got together in this way, I believe means that we are indeed making a new history as of today. The international community is at a turning point in history.

The visitors spoke in their home languages, their comments repeated by a translator.

The U.S., Japan and South Korea agreed to a new duty to consult security pledge committing them to speak with each other in the event of a security crisis or threat in the Pacific.

The pledge is intended to acknowledge that they share fundamentally interlinked security environments" and that a threat to one is a threat to all," according to a senior Biden administration official. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the announcement.

Under the pledge, the three countries agree to consult, share information and align their messaging with each other in the face of a threat or crisis, the official said.

The Camp David retreat, 65 miles (104.6 kilometers) from the White House, was where President Jimmy Carter brought together Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in September 1978 for talks that established a framework for a historic peace treaty between Israel and Egypt in March 1979. In the midst of World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met at the retreat  then known as Shangri-La  to plan the Italian campaign that would knock Benito Mussolini out of the war.

Kishida and Yoon were mindful of Camp Davids place in U.S. and world history, making repeated references to its past and now their place in it during their comments at the news conference after the meeting with Biden. The leaders arrived in Washington on Thursday and, as guests of Biden, on Friday were flown separately to Camp David on U.S. military helicopters like the ones Biden uses.

Biden's focus for the gathering was to nu dge the United States' two closest Asian allies to further tighten security and economic cooperation with each other. The historic rivals have been divided by differing views of World War II history and Japans colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

But under Kishida and Yoon, the two countries have begun a rapprochement as the two conservative leaders grapple with shared security challenges posed by North Korea and China. Both leaders have been upset by the stepped-up cadence of North Korea's ballistic missile tests and Chinese military exercises near Taiwan, the self-ruled island that is claimed by Beijing as part of its territory, and other aggressive action.

Yoon proposed an initiative in March to resolve disputes stemming from compensation for wartime Korean forced laborers. He announced that South Korea would use its own funds to compensate Koreans enslaved by Japanese companies before the end of World War II.

Yoon also traveled to Tokyo that month for talks with Kishida, the first such visit by a South Korean president in more than 12 years. Kishida reciprocated with a visit to Seoul in May and expressed sympathy for the suffering of Korean forced laborers during Japans colonial rule,

The effort to sustain the trilateral relationship wont be without challenges.

Beijing sees the tightening cooperation efforts as the first steps of a Pacific-version of NATO, the transatlantic military alliance, forming against it. U.S. officials expect that North Korea will lash outperhaps with more ballistic missile test and certainly blistering rhetoric.

Polls show that a solid majority of South Koreans oppose Yoons handling of the forced labor issue thats been central to mending relations with Japan. And many in Japan fear that bolstering security cooperation will lead the country into an economic Cold War with China, its biggest trading partner. Bidens predecessor (and potential successor) Republican Donald Trump unnerved South Korea during his time in the White House with talk of reducing the U.S. military presence on the Korean Peninsula.

If an ultra-leftist South Korean president and an ultra-right wing Japanese leader are elected in their next cycles, or even if Trump or someone like him wins in the U.S., then any one of them could derail all the meaningful, hard work Biden, Yoon and Kishida are putting in right now, said Duyeon Kim, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security s Indo-Pacific Security Program.

___

Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Hyung-Jin Kim in Seoul contributed to this report. Lee reported from Washington.
FILE - Mohamed Toumba, one of the soldiers who ousted Nigerian President Mohamed Bazoum, addresses supporters of Niger's ruling junta in Niamey, Niger, Sunday, Aug. 6, 2023. The U.S. is making precautionary plans to evacuate two key drone and counter-terror bases in Niger if that becomes necessary under the West African nations new ruling junta. That word came Friday, Aug. 18, from the Air Force commander for Africa, Gen. James Hecker. The Air Force general stressed to reporters in Washington that there had been no U.S. decision to evacuate Niger, which has been the United States' top counter-terror outpost in West Africa's Sahara and Sahel regions. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)

WASHINGTON (AP)  The U.S. is making precautionary plans to evacuate two key drone and counter-terror bases in Niger if that becomes necessary under the West African nation's new ruling junta, the Air Force commander for Africa said Friday.

That planning includes looking for U.S.-allied nations in the Saharan and Sahel regions, some of the world's most active areas for al-Qaida- and Islamic State-allied extremist groups, that we could maybe partner up with, and then move our assets there, Air Force Gen. James Hecker told reporters in Washington.

Hecker stressed that there had been no decision from the Biden administration regarding whether the Niger military's July 26 overthrow of the country's democratically elected president would compel U.S. diplomats or security forces to leave the country.

U.S. bases there have been vital counter-terror posts in an unstable region that is seeing an increasing number of coups as well as encroachment by Russia's Wagner mercenary group. The U.S. presence includes air bases in Niamey, the capital, and in the remote city of Agadez on the southern edge of the Sahara.

If U.S. forces do leave, either following a decision by the Biden administration that it cannot work with the mutinous soldiers now leading the country or because the junta orders them out, it obviously will have an effect" on U.S. intelligence and counterterrorism efforts, Hecker said.

But of course what we hope for is that we have a peaceful diplomatic solution to this and we don't have to" leave, he said.

The head of Niger's presidential guard instigated the coup, and continues to confine President Mohamed Bazoum and his family in the presidential palace. U.S. diplomats say junta leaders have warned that Bazoum would be killed if Nigers West African neighbors intervene militarily to restore Bazoum to power. Bazoum took office in 2021, in the coup-prone country's first peaceful and democratic transfer of power since independence from France in 1960.

The U.S. has yet to formally call what happened in Niger a coup. That designation could compel Washington to cut many of the military and security ties between the two countries.

Hecker said he believed it would be weeks or much longer before U.S. officials would announce any kind of decision to evacuate, if it does come to that.

Niger had been one of a dwindling number of countries in West Africa's Sahara and Sahel regions neither ruled by a military-backed government nor aligned with Russian mercenaries.

Hecker gave no details on what countries the U.S. was considering as an alternate West Africa counter-terror post, if Niger became unworkable.

We've just started looking at that, he said. American military officials know where we would like the base to be, but more of that's going to be diplomatic in terms of how it's decided.

The precautionary planning for evacuation, Hecker said, included scenarios where the Americans are able to move out at leisure and also where they have to depart in a hurry, taking only the most sensitive materiel.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 18) -- President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. denied the request of the mayor of Naga City to proclaim Jesse Robredo's death anniversary as a special non-working holiday.

Mayor Nelson Legacion wrote a letter last Aug. 10 requesting the declaration of Aug. 18 as a special non-working holiday in Naga City.

The Office of the President responded by citing Republic Act Number 10669 which declared Aug. 18 as a special working holiday in the country.

Given the presence of a legislative enactment, the president's office said it was "constrained to deny" the mayor's request.

Despite denying the request, the office noted that it also recognizes the importance of commemorating Robredo's death to the people of Naga City.

An employee who works on a special working holiday is entitled only to his basic rate. Employers are not required to give premium pay since work performed on such a holiday is considered work on an ordinary working day.

An employee who works on a special non-working holiday, meanwhile, must be paid 30% more of the basic wage for the first eight hours.

Jesse Robredo was a former Naga City mayor. He was the secretary of the Departmet of the Interior and Local Government when died in a plane crash in 2012.

He was also the late husband of ex-Vice President Leni Robredo, the closest rival of Marcos in the 2022 presidential elections.
The U.S. is making precautionary plans to evacuate two key drone and counter-terror bases in Niger if that becomes necessary under the West African nations new ruling junta, the Air Force commander for Africa said Friday.

That planning includes looking for U.S.-allied nations in the Saharan and Sahel regions, some of the worlds most active areas for al-Qaida- and Islamic State-allied extremist groups, that we could maybe partner up with, and then move our assets there, Air Force Gen. James Hecker told reporters in Washington.

Hecker stressed that there had been no decision from the Biden administration regarding whether the Niger militarys July 26 overthrow of the countrys democratically elected president would compel U.S. diplomats or security forces to leave the country.

Ukraine war prompts new US air tactics in Europe

U.S. bases there have been vital counter-terror posts in an unstable region that is seeing an increasing number of coups as well as encroachment by Russias Wagner mercenary group. The U.S. presence includes Air Base 101 in Niamey, the capital, and Air Base 201 in the remote city of Agadez on the southern edge of the Sahara.

If U.S. forces do leave, either following a decision by the Biden administration that it cannot work with the mutinous soldiers now leading the country or because the junta orders them out, it obviously will have an effect on U.S. intelligence and counterterrorism efforts, Hecker said.

Gen. James Hecker, commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa, said the U.S. is making precautionary plans to evacuate two key drone and counter-terror bases in Niger if that becomes necessary under the West African nations new ruling junta. (Eric Dietrich/Air Force via AP)

But of course what we hope for is that we have a peaceful diplomatic solution to this and we dont have to leave, he said.

The head of Nigers presidential guard instigated the coup, and continues to confine President Mohamed Bazoum and his family in the presidential palace. U.S. diplomats say junta leaders have warned that Bazoum would be killed if Nigers West African neighbors intervene militarily to restore Bazoum to power. Bazoum took office in 2021, in the coup-prone countrys first peaceful and democratic transfer of power since independence from France in 1960.

The U.S. has yet to formally call what happened in Niger a coup. That designation could compel Washington to cut many of the military and security ties between the two countries.

Hecker said he believed it would be weeks or much longer before U.S. officials would announce any kind of decision to evacuate, if it does come to that.

Niger had been one of a dwindling number of countries in West Africas Sahara and Sahel regions neither ruled by a military-backed government nor aligned with Russian mercenaries.

Mohamed Toumba, one of the soldiers who ousted Nigerian President Mohamed Bazoum, addresses supporters of Niger's ruling junta in Niamey, Niger, on Aug. 6. (Sam Mednick/AP)

Hecker gave no details on what countries the U.S. was considering as an alternate West Africa counter-terror post, if Niger became unworkable.

Weve just started looking at that, he said. American military officials know where we would like the base to be, but more of thats going to be diplomatic in terms of how its decided.

The precautionary planning for evacuation, Hecker said, included scenarios where the Americans are able to move out at leisure and also where they have to depart in a hurry, taking only the most sensitive materiel.
Manuel Garfio of Lovington worked in the Permian Basin oilfields of southeast New Mexico for 15 years before he said an injury on Oct. 7, 2022, took away his ability to earn a living.

Originally from Mexico, Garfio moved to the U.S. to work in the oil and gas industry, and did so in one of the busiest fossil fuel regions in the world.

The Permian Basin, shared by New Mexico and West Texas, produces about 5.8 million barrels of oil per day, the most of any shale region in the nation and almost half of the about 12 million barrels of daily U.S. output.

More: US Rep. Gabe Vasquez talks balancing oil and gas and conservation during Carlsbad stop

But amid the recent boom that boosted the economy of communities like Lovington, Hobbs and Carlsbad in New Mexicos southeast region, many immigrant energy workers like Garfio said they suffered in unfair and perilous conditions.

Thats why U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-NM) announced Wednesday a bill intended to better compensate oilfield workers like Garfio for the heath impacts of their jobs, as most of New Mexicos oil and gas industry centered in the Permian region is largely within Vasquezs Second Congressional District.

More: Feds issue notice to sell New Mexico public land to oil and gas industry in Permian Basin

U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-NM) addresses a group of immigrant oilfield workers with worker's rights group Somos Un Pueblo Unido, Aug. 16, 2023 at the Hobbs Public Library.

The legislation was announced during a meeting with immigrant workers group Somos Un Pueblo Unido at the Hobbs Public Library, part of a three-day visit by Vasquez to New Mexicos southeast region that included a trip to Otero Mesa with the Mescalero Apache Tribe and a stop in Carlsbad for the Citys Student Advisory Committee.

The Energy Workers Health Improvement Compensation Fund Act would create a trust fund used to provide relief to oil and gas workers, by reimbursing healthcare expenses tied to poor air quality and intense heat.

It would be paid for by energy companies, requiring them to pay into the fund in an amount equal to the salaries of the companies 10 highest-paid employees.

More: Permian Basin oil market slips slightly as companies tackle wastewater management

Workers could seek reimbursement for costs not covered by Medicare or Medicaid, and linked to asthma, heat-related illness or other ailments tied to smog or methane exposure.

Both energy workers and their family members living near oil and gas facilities would be eligible, should the bill pass.

More: Oil and gas near schools? New Mexico groups hope to protect students from pollution

Bill could help immigrants oil workers struggling to make ends meet

In a translated interview with Carlsbad Current-Argus, Garfio said he suffered from two hernias, a pinched nerve and injuries to his hands and knees.

That left him unable to work or pay for his mothers home care, and struggling to afford expenses like housing bills and child support. He did receive some workers compensation, about $1,800 a week compared to his salary of $5,000 to $6,000 a week, Garfio said but contended that was not adequate to cover his expenses.

Well, its a lot of stress and depression because sometimes I dont have money, I dont have enough to make ends meet, so Im borrowing money from my friends, Garfio said.

More: Mewbourne Oil Company faces $5.5 million federal, state fines for New Mexico air pollution

He described working up to 16 hours a day, without days off, and in the heat of the arid deserts of southeast New Mexico.

The way the climate is, its very extreme or if theres a lot of wind. They stop us from working. But I have worked in 117 degrees heat, Garfio said.

Vasquez, in a statement announcing the bill, said oil and gas companies are raking in records profits despite the struggles of energy workers in the Permian Basin.

More: $455 million deal by Kimbell Royalty Partners latest in Permian Basin oil boom

Thats why Im standing by the workers, not the oil barons. Im focused on investing in the folks who have generated hundreds of millions in revenue for our state, Vasquez said. This is hard work, and its dangerous and tireless - if oil executives are receiving record bonuses, they can afford dignified health care for their employees. This bill helps level the playing field.

He said New Mexico was ranked 41st in the U.S for overall air quality, with air pollution largely tied to emissions of methane and smog-forming volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from oil and gas facilities.

Last week, the New Mexico Environment Department and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it fined Mewbourne Oil $5.5 million for violations of state and federal air pollution regulations in the Permian, following a $42 million fine issued by NMED against Ameredev in July for alleged violations at its facilities throughout the region.

More: Carlsbad's Missi Currier taps into her roots to lead New Mexico Oil and Gas Association

Meanwhile, Exxon Mobil Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods was paid $35.9 million last year, according to media reports. Vasquez argued this was indicative of a system that disregards the needs of workers.

The workers in these fields slog through dangerous conditions and are often exposed to airborne toxins, Vasquez said. Im making sure our energy workers are being prioritized, and that while the rich are getting richer, the companies and people responsible for creating these health disparities are being held accountable.

Somos Un Pueblo Unido Executive Director Marcela Diaz said New Mexicos reliance on oil and gas should equate to better support of the industrys workers in the field.

About half of the State of New Mexicos General Fund revenue was tied to oil and gas extraction, according to recent state budget projections, and the state is second in the U.S. for production following only Texas.

Immigrant families in the Permian Basin are disproportionately impacted by inadequate enforcement of health and safety standards, long hours, and extreme work conditions, Diaz said. Thats why they are organizing and demanding adequate compensation, safer and better jobs, and more public investments in their families and communities.

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Vasquez pushes bill to pay medical costs for New Mexico's oil workers
By Trevor Hunnicutt, David Brunnstrom and Hyonhee Shin

CAMP DAVID, Maryland (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden and the leaders of South Korea and Japan agreed at Camp David on Friday to deepen military and economic cooperation and made their strongest joint condemnation yet of "dangerous and aggressive behavior" by China in the South China Sea.

The Biden administration held the summit with the leaders of the main U.S. allies in Asia, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, in a bid to project unity in the face of China's growing power and nuclear threats from North Korea.

In a summit statement the three countries committed to consult promptly with each other during crises and to coordinate responses to regional challenges, provocations and threats affecting common interests.

They also agreed to hold military training exercises annually and to share real-time information on North Korean missile launches by the end of 2023. The countries promised to hold trilateral summits annually.

While the political commitments fall short of a formal three-way alliance, they represent a bold move for Seoul and Tokyo, which have a long history of mutual acrimony stemming from Japan's harsh 1910-1945 colonial rule of Korea.

The summit at the Maryland presidential retreat was the first standalone meeting between the U.S. and Japan and South Korea and came about thanks to a rapprochement launched by Yoon and driven by shared perceptions of threats posed by China and North Korea, as well as Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.

The leaders' language on China stood out as stronger than expected, and is likely to provoke a response from Beijing, which is a vital trading partner for both South Korea and Japan.

"Regarding the dangerous and aggressive behavior supporting unlawful maritime claims that we have recently witnessed by the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the South China Sea, we strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the waters of the Indo-Pacific," the statement said.

The spokesperson for China's Washington embassy, Liu Pengyu, said the international community was able to judge who was increasing tensions.

"Attempts to cobble together various exclusionary groupings and bring bloc confrontation and military blocs into the Asia-Pacific are not going to get support and will only be met with vigilance and opposition from regional countries," he said.

It was Biden's first Camp David summit for foreign leaders and he said the woodsy venue had long symbolized "the power of new beginnings and new possibilities."

"If I seem like I'm happy, I am," he told a joint news conference with Kishida and Yoon, calling it a "new era" for the three countries. "This has been a great, great meeting."

'BREATHTAKING' DIPLOMACY

Biden praised the leaders for their political courage in pursuing a rapprochement. He said they understood the world was "at an inflection point, where we're called to lead in new ways, to work together, to stand together."

"Critically, we've all committed to swiftly consult with each other in response to threats to any one of our countries from whatever source it occurs." he said. "That means we'll have a hotline to share information and coordinate our responses whenever there is a crisis in the region, or affecting any one of our countries."

"Together we're going to stand up for international law," and against "coercion," Biden said.

Without mentioning China by name, Kishida said, "Unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force in the East and South China Seas are continuing," while adding that the North Korean nuclear and missile threat was "only becoming ever larger."

Yoon said the summit agreement meant that any provocations or attacks against any one of our three countries will trigger a decision making process of this trilateral framework and our solidarity will become even stronger and harder."

U.S. officials say lingering historical baggage is among the reasons the three countries are not currently pursing a three-way mutual-defense pact like those Washington has separately with both Seoul and Tokyo - who are not themselves formal allies.

However Kurt Campbell, Biden's coordinator for Indo-Pacific affairs, said the summit came about thanks to "a breathtaking kind of diplomacy" led by Yoon and Kishida, who had "sometimes gone against the advice of their own counselors and staff."

CHINA VIEWS SUMMIT WARILY

Beijing previously warned that U.S. efforts to strengthen ties with South Korea and Japan could "increase tension and confrontation in the region.

While South Korea, Japan and the United States want to avoid provoking Beijing, China believes Washington is trying to isolate it diplomatically and encircle it militarily.

Asked about charges leveled by China, Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters the aim was "explicitly not a NATO for the Pacific" and also said that a trilateral alliance had not been set as an explicit goal.

The White House, conscious of upcoming elections, wants to make the progress between South Korea and Japan hard to reverse by institutionalizing routine cooperation across the board.

Biden, an 80-year-old Democrat seeking another four-year term in the 2024 presidential election, faces a likely opponent in Republican former President Donald Trump, who has voiced skepticism about whether Washington benefits from its traditional military and economic alliances.

South Korea has legislative elections next year and Japan must hold one before October 2025, and what analysts see as a still fragile rapprochement between the two nations remains controversial among the countries' voters.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt at Camp David and David Brunnstrom and Susan Heavey in Washington; Additional reporting by Hyonhee Shin in Seoul; Editing by Don Durfee, Grant McCool, Alistair Bell and Cynthia Osterman)
By Timothy Gardner

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Biden administration has tightened controls on the export of materials and components for nuclear power plants to China, saying it would ensure the items were used only for peaceful purposes and not the proliferation of atomic weapons.

The steps are among the latest signs of strained relations between Washington and Beijing, which have clashed over spying allegations, human rights, China's industrial policies, and U.S. export bans on advanced technologies.

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), an arm of the Commerce Department, now requires exporters to get specific licenses to export certain generators, containers and software intended for use in nuclear plants in China.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the federal agency responsible for nuclear energy safety, also requires exporters to get specific licenses to export special nuclear material and source material.

That includes different types of uranium as well as deuterium, a hydrogen isotope that, in large amounts, could be used in reactors to make tritium, a nuclear weapons component.

The Biden administration sees the action as "necessary to further the national security interests of the United States and to enhance the common defense and security" the NRC said.

A U.S. official said the changes, made on Monday, were prompted by general policy toward China.

"No action by an exporter or China prompted this action," an NRC spokesperson said. "This is part of a broader U.S. government effort to tighten oversight of certain exports to China."

Chinese embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu said he had nothing to say on the regulation specifics, but in general "China firmly upholds the international non-proliferation regime" and honors its obligations under the Treaty of Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. China opposes "putting geopolitical interests above nuclear non-proliferation efforts," he said.

Few exporters have used a general license to export the materials to China, so the NRC's action does not affect a large number of entities or amount of material, the agency spokesperson said. Two exports to China of the regulated nuclear materials occurred under a general license in the last year.

Non-proliferation analyst Edwin Lyman of the Union of Concerned Scientists non-profit group said the changes were "more symbolic than substantive" and doubted China's nuclear weapons program would be meaningfully impacted.

The Pentagon said late last year China will likely have 1,500 nuclear warheads by 2035, up from current stockpile of 400 warheads, if it continues its current build-up pace.

Another analyst said it was likely the administration was monitoring the risk of weapons development.

"Apparently what the administration is saying with this regulation is that we can no longer assume that any of China's nuclear power plants are all that peaceful," said Henry Sokolski, executive director of Nonproliferation Policy Education Center.

U.S. company Westinghouse has four AP1000 reactors in China. In 2018 Donald Trump's administration issued restrictions on exports of nuclear reactor technology newer than the AP1000 due to proliferation concerns. Westinghouse did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the U.S. requirements.

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; additional reporting by Michael Martina; editing by Barbara Lewis)
(Bloomberg) -- The US, UK and France condemned assaults against United Nation peacekeepers and damage to UN vehicles by Turkish Cypriots within the buffer zone that divides the two sides of Cyprus.

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Threats to the safety of UN peacekeepers and damage to UN property constitute a serious crime under international law, the three countries said in a joint statement via their embassies in Nicosia.

The three permanent members of the UN Security Council expressed serious concern at the launch of unauthorized construction of a road leading from the north into the UN-delineated buffer zone to the bi-communal village of Pyla/Pile. The assaults took place despite the UN having presented a proposal addressing Turkish Cypriot concerns in the area, the three countries said.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey occupied the northern third of the island following a coup by supporters of the countrys union with Greece. The 180-kilometer (112 miles) buffer zone divides the two sides.

The UN should not try to prevent the construction of the road and there is determination to go ahead with its construction as it will facilitate the lives of Turkish Cypriots, Turkish state-run Anadolou Agency cited the Turkish-Cypriot administrations foreign minister Tahsin Ertugruloglu as saying in a statement.

The European Union condemns the assault on members of the UNs peacekeeping force in Cyprus, or UNFICYP, by personnel from the Turkish Cypriot side and calls on Turkish Cypriots to respect the missions mandated authority in the UN buffer zone, the EUs top diplomat Josep Borrell said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Threats to the safety of UN peacekeepers and damage to UN property are unacceptable and will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, UNFICYP said in a statement.

The assaults were made against British and Slovak members of the UN pecekeeping force, according to Cyprus Government Spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis. Cyprus and Greece also condemned the assaults.

The self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is recognized only by Turkey. Numerous UN-led efforts to reunify the island have failed, most recently in 2021.

--With assistance from Beril Akman.

(Updates with Turkish Cypriot comment in fifth paragraph.)

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The United States has officially approved the supply of American F-16 fighter jets from Denmark and the Netherlands to Ukraine after the training of Ukrainian pilots is completed.

Source: Reuters with reference to an unnamed American official

Details: Washington has given official assurances to Denmark and the Netherlands that the US will speed up the approval of all necessary third-party requests for the supply of F-16s to Ukraine so that it can receive the fighters when the pilots are trained, the newspaper writes.

Denmark and the Netherlands, which lead the aviation coalition, recently sent a request to the United States to provide appropriate guarantees.

A Reuters source said Secretary of State Anthony Blinken had sent letters to his Danish and Dutch counterparts assuring them the requests would be approved.

"I am writing to express the United States full support for both the transfer of F-16 fighter aircraft to Ukraine and for the training of Ukrainian pilots by qualified F-16 instructors," says Blinken's letter, a copy of which was seen by Reuters.

Blinken mentions that approving the third-party requests will allow Ukraine to take "full advantage of its new capabilities as soon as the first set of pilots complete their training."

Background:

Earlier, The Washington Post, citing Ukrainian, European and American officials and military personnel, wrote that Ukraine will probably be without F-16 pilots for another year.

The New York Times believes that Ukraine can prevail in its counteroffensive without the F-16s, and their presence would not have a decisive impact on the situation on the battlefield.

Recently, Colonel Yurii Ihnat, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, said that Ukraine will not be able to protect its skies with US-made F-16 fighters in the coming autumn and winter.

Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron!
Pennsylvania's Commonwealth Court has ruled that a letter containing the results of the state Attorney Generals investigation into York County Regional Police Departments handling of the Vicosa murder-suicide case is not a public record and will not be released.

The York Daily Record sought the release of the letter, citing its public interest in how the department handled the case, which ended with former Baltimore County Police officer Robert Vicosa murdering his two young daughters and his girlfriend before taking his own life.

Giana, left, and Aaminah Vicosa were murdered by their father, former Baltimore County police officer Robert Vicosa. On Thursday, the Commonwealth Court ruled that a timeline describing the state Attorney General's investigation into York County Regional Police's response to the case will not be made public.

The letter reportedly outlines a timeline that includes the department's alleged failures in the case, including its failure to serve Robert Vicosa with a protection from abuse order sought by his estranged wife, Marisa, in a prompt fashion. The delay in serving the order permitted Robert Vicosa to abscond with his daughters, which resulted in a four-day-long manhunt that ended on a highway in northern Maryland when Robert Vicosa shot his children and his girlfriend before turning the gun on himself.

The Daily Record's attorney, Josh Bonn, argued that the document should be made public to "shed light on the underlying circumstances" in the case and would incentivize police departments to change how they respond to such cases "to prevent this kind of tragedy from happening in the future."

In March 2022, the Daily Record sought to have the letter released under the Right-To-Know Law, arguing that it was in the public interest to see how police responded in the case.

Marisa Vicosa and her attorney, Harold Goodman, had alleged that the murders of her daughters, Giana, 7, and Aaminah, 6, could have been prevented, arguing that the response by police was inadequate. Specifically, according to a settlement in the case between Marisa Vicosa and the police department, they accused York County Regional Police Chief Tim Damon of failing to order his officers to take action that could have saved the girls lives.

Damon did not return a phone call seeking comment for this story.

The horrific series of events began on Nov. 21, 2021, when Robert Vicosa, 41, a former police officer with a history of disciplinary infractions, lured his estranged wife to the home they had shared, held her at gunpoint with the assistance of his girlfriend, Tia Bynum, a former colleague with the Baltimore County Police Department, and drugged and raped her.

More on the Vicosa case: Marisa Vicosa tells the horrific tale of her 2 daughters murder by ex-cop father

After she was able to escape, Marisa Vicosa went to police. She sought an emergency protection from abuse order, which was granted. However, Damon, who was off duty at the time, declined to order his officers to serve the order immediately, despite the pleading of a corporal who was handling the case.

When police did execute the order the following day, Robert Vicosa was gone, abducting his daughters and fleeing to Maryland.

Marisa Vicosa filed a private criminal complaint against Damon, citing his inaction. The York County District Attorneys office handed the investigation of that complaint over to the state Attorney Generals office. Marisa Vicosa later withdrew her complaint.

In the settlement of a civil case brought by the estate of the two girls  which resulted in a $3 million award to Marisa Vicosa  her attorney wrote that the attorney generals office described the letter and told him that it described major concerns with certain lapses and decisions leading up to the abduction and murder of Giana and Aaminah.

The settlement: Torture, rape, murder & police negligence: Vicosa settlement details tragic failures by cops

The district attorneys office did provide a redacted version of the letter to the Daily Record in response to the right-to-know request but declined to hand over a five-page timeline of the investigation attached to it.

The Commonwealth Court ruling did not address the merits of the newspapers case. Rather, the three-judge panel examined the letter and concluded that it is exempt from disclosure under the Right-To-Know Laws exemption of investigative notes and materials produced in a criminal investigation.

The court also cited Pennsylvania's Criminal History Record Information Act. Bonn had argued that the law did not apply since the investigation was into the department's response in the case and that the law was not intended to shield police from disclosure of how it handled the case.

The York County District Attorney's Office responded that it had no comment on the court's ruling.

"This decision is very disappointing," said Scott Fisher, central Pennsylvania regional news director for the USA Today Network, which includes the York Daily Record. "We understand that Pennsylvania's Right to Know Law exempts police investigatory records, but this document should be of great public interest. There should be full transparency to allow citizens to know what went wrong in this tragic case."

Columnist/reporter Mike Argento has been a York Daily Record staffer since 1982. Reach him at mike@ydr.com.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: State court rules against releasing information about the Vicosa case
Virginia man behind bars for abduction, sexual assault may have more victims: police

A Virginia man already behind bars on accusations of sexually assaulting a woman who accidentally entered the wrong vehicle may have additional victims, police announced.

Julio Basurto, 42, is in custody in connection with his June 22 arrest for which he is charged with abduction and forcible sodomy of the woman.

Now, Arlington County police are searching for potential victims in four more possible sexual assaults.

Police received a report shortly on May 21 at about 6:40 a.m. from a woman who said she was sexually assaulted leaving a bar on Clarendon Boulevard earlier that morning. The woman said she was approached by a black vehicle she mistakenly believed was a rideshare.

VIRGINIA SCHOOL EMPLOYEE FACING CHARGES FOR FORCIBLE SODOMY, ABDUCTION: POLICE

The woman said she entered the vehicle and was sexually assaulted during the ride before she was able to escape. Police said Basurto was not operating as a rideshare driver or in a for-hire status.

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VIRGINIA POLICE SEARCHING FOR INMATE WHO ESCAPED FROM HOSPITAL

Further investigation led to Basurto facing additional charges in connection with an Oct. 10, 2021 incident, which was reported that morning and has now prompted the search for other possible victims.

At around 9:55 a.m. that day, a woman met with police to report a sexual assault inside a black vehicle, FOX 5 DC reported. She told police she was leaving a bar on Wilson Boulevard when the suspect approached her in the car. She said she entered the vehicle and was sexually assaulted before she could exit.

Basurto was subsequently identified as a suspect. He was charged last month with abduction with the intent to defile, object sexual penetration and unlawful filming.

Detectives obtained information during the comprehensive criminal investigation that led them to believe there may be additional incidents that happened during the early morning hours of Sept. 20, Oct. 3 and Oct. 14 in 2021, and Sept. 4, 2022.

Possible victims are asked to contact the Arlington County Police Department at 703-228-4180. Anonymous tips can be called in on the Arlington County Crime Solvers hotline at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).
Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy shared a list of what he called 10 truths to social media Thursday, with references to faith, gender, and capitalism.

Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur who is seeking the Republican nomination, shared the ideals on X, starting with, "God is real" and "There are only two genders"  the latter being a contentious claim by those on the Left.

The list also promotes the importance of fossil fuels, condemns "reverse racism," defends the role of parents in choosing their own children's education, and boasts the U.S. Constitution as the "strongest guarantor of freedoms in history."

While many voters may have started the 2024 presidential campaign unfamiliar with Ramaswamy, some polls have the rising Silicon Valley star in the top three among GOP candidates, behind former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

RAMASWAMY GOES VIRAL FOLLOWING EXCHANGE WITH LGBTQ ACTIVIST: 'I RESPECT THAT YOU HAVE A DIFFERENT OPINION'

"TRUTH," Ramaswamy said in all-caps, starting the post on X.

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His list followed:

1. God is real.

2. There are two genders.

3. Human flourishing requires fossil fuels.

4. Reverse racism is racism.

5. An open border is no border.

6. Parents determine the education of their children.

7. The nuclear family is the greatest form of governance known to mankind.

8. Capitalism lifts people up from poverty.

9. There are three branches of the U.S. government, not four.

10. The U.S. Constitution is the strongest guarantor of freedoms in history.

VIVEK RAMASWAMY BREAKS WITH GOP ON DECRIMINALIZATION OF HARD DRUGS: IM IN THAT DIRECTION'

Ramaswamy's been showcasing his list in recent weeks at campaign stops in the early voting states. He posted the list ahead of an event in California and as he continues a barnstorming blitz in several states before next weeks first Republican primary debate in Wisconsin, which will be hosted by Fox News.

During the event at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum located in Yorba Linda, Ramaswamy shared details of his upbringing and his concern that the American Dream may not exist for further generations.

Vivek Ramaswamy shared the ideals on X, starting with, "God is real" and "There are only two genders."

"My parents came to this country 40 years ago with no money in a single generation," he said at the event. "I have gone on to found multi-billion dollar companies and did it while marrying my wife, Apoorva, and raising our two sons. That is the American dream, and I am deeply worried that that American dream will not exist for my two sons and their generation."

Ramaswamy also said the country was in "the middle of a national identity crisis" where traditional ideals of "Faith, patriotism, hard work and family have disappeared only to be replaced by new secular religions in American life [such as] wokeism, transgenderism, climate-ism, chauvinism, globalism, depression, anxiety, fentanyl, [and] suicide."

"These are symptoms of a deeper void of purpose and meaning in our country," he added.

Biotech millionaire and Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy acknowledges his supporters at the conclusion of one of Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds' "Fair-Side Chats" at the Iowa State Fair on August 12, 2023 in Des Moines, Iowa.

Ramaswamy, 38, also said he and other millennials were "hungry for a cause."

"We are starved for purpose and meaning and identity at a time in our national history when the things that used to fill our void. Faith, patriotism, belief in God, nation. The things we talked about when those have disappeared. That leaves a moral vacuum in its wake. And I think that that presents our opportunity, not speaking to conservatives, I'm speaking to Americans. That is our opportunity to step up and to fill that void with a vision of what it means to be an American today," the candidate said in California.

Ramaswamy will join his other 2024 contenders for the Republican debate at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on August 23, 2023. The debate will be moderated by Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum.

Fox News' Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report
Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has a reckless plan for achieving U.S. global dominance: giving away other countries territory.

Ramaswamy is already under fire for his objectively terrible plan to let China invade Taiwan after 2028 if he were elected. Now, the presidential hopeful thinks that Russia should be allowed to keep the parts of Ukraine it currently occupies.



Our goal should not be for Putin to lose. Our goal should be for America to win, Ramaswamy told CNN Thursday night.

Ramaswamy said that U.S. involvement in Ukraine is strengthening the RussiaChina military allianceand the only way to break that alliance and bring Russia around to the American side is to give Vladimir Putin what he wants.

I would freeze the current lines of control, and that would leave parts of the Donbas region with Russia, Ramaswamy explained. I would also further make a commitment that NATO will not admit Ukraine to NATO. But there are even greater wins that I will get for the United States.

Ramaswamy seems to be under multiple false impressions with this diplomatic plan, the first being that the United States has the authority to simply give away parts of another sovereign nation. He also appears to believe that if he visits Moscow, he can single-handedly buddy up to Putin enough to convince the Russian leader to drop a highly advantageous military alliance.

And as anchor Jim Acosta rightly pointed out, Putin is unlikely to stop with Ukraine. He wasnt satisfied with annexing Crimea in 2014 and now wants all of Ukraine. If he is allowed to keep parts of Ukraine, its possible that hell try to invade somewhere else such as Poland, a NATO memberwhich would require military intervention from the rest of the members.

This plan is just as bad as Ramaswamys strategy for Taiwan. Earlier this week, Ramaswamy proposed letting China take over Taiwan after 2028, which he believes is when the U.S. would build up its own supply of semiconductors. Taiwan produces about 60 percent of the global supply of semiconductors, which are microchips crucial to making all electronic devices.

Ramaswamy said he intends to dramatically up the firepower around Taiwan during his first term, to make clear to Beijing that they should not mess with the island until the U.S. has semiconductor independence. After that, China can do whatever it wants. It did not seem to occur to him that China would likely interpret these moves as acts of aggression and respond in kind. Nor does he seem to realize that its highly unlikely China would listen to his proposed arrangement.

But despite his only campaign points being battling wokeness, taking away rights, and, apparently, allowing authoritarian governments to do whatever they want, Ramaswamy is somehow rising in the polls.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 18)  President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. allayed worries about the countrys rice supply as harvest has already begun in major palay-producing provinces.

In a statement released by the Palace on Friday, Marcos said the government is closely monitoring the staples supply and prices in local markets.

Mayroon naman tayong balita na nagsimula na ang pag-aani sa Nueva Ecija, sa Isabela, at saka sa North Cotabato, he said.

[Translation: We received reports that harvest in Nueva Ecija, Isabela, North Cotabato already started.]

The president said this is expected to boost supply and help stabilize rice prices.

Babantayan namin nang mabuti para tiyakin na ganon ang mangyari, he said.

[Translation: We'll be watching closely to make sure that happens.]

According to DA Undersecretary for rice industry development Leo Sebastian, palay harvest is expected to peak late September to October this year.

Barring strong typhoons in the coming months that may adversely affect Central and Northern Luzon, he said they are aiming to harvest up to 11.5 million metric tons (MT) of palay in the second semester of 2023.

"This would breach the 20 million MT total national palay production, making it a record, being the highest in the country's history," Sebastian said in a statement on Thursday.

Citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, Sebastian said palay harvest from January to June 2023 rose to 9.02 million MT, up 3.4% from the 8.7 million MT palay production seen in the same six-month period last year and in 2021.

Sebastian said early palay harvest equivalent to 900,000 MT will come from the provinces of Isabela, Nueva Ecija, and Cotabato.

"Farmers in these provinces were able to plant early in May, or four months ago, earlier than when the counterparts from other rice-producing areas in terms of harvest operations started planting," he added.

On Wednesday, lawmakers criticized the DA's plan to import over one million metric tons of rice from the third quarter of this year until early 2024. Agriculture officials, however, said this was necessary to increase inventory and curb the further uptick in rice prices.

READ: Flag of surrender? Lawmakers slam DA for rice import plans

Sebastian also said the DA will continue to provide rice farmers with needed high-yielding seeds, fertilizers, biofertilizers, soil ameliorants, farm machinery, and extension support this coming dry season.
History will be made today at Camp David, when President Joe Biden meets with President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan. Not only is it President Bidens first time hosting foreign leaders at the iconic presidential retreat in Maryland, but it marks the first time the leaders of the United States, Japan, and South Korea have met formally and exclusively as a tripartite group.

At issue is the increasing threat from China. While it is unlikely that a NATO-style alliance with a formal mutual defense pact will emerge, The New York Times reports that Biden administration officials said the leaders would sign off on a formal commitment to consult, an understanding that the three nations would treat any security threat to one of them as a threat to all of them requiring mutual discussion about how to respond.

To understand why this summit is so monumental, one must understand not only our own moment in history  one in which China is threatening regional security in the Asia-Pacific rim  but the unresolved tensions between Japan and South Korea stretching back decades. The past and the future will collide at Camp David, making this a pivotal day in the history of all three nations.

If the 20th century was largely defined by the conflict between communism and capitalism, the 21st century is being defined by the clash of authoritarianism and democracy. That clash is likely to play out not in Europe or the Middle East, but in Asia. And Washington understands this. Beginning with President Barack Obamas so-called Pacific pivot in the 2010s, the US has recognized that its national security and economic interests lie increasingly off its west coast, not its east. Both the Trump and Biden administrations have likewise understood this.

That is not without reason. China is the worlds second-largest economy, behind the United States, accounting for 18 percent of the global GDP last year. Even with its current economic slowdown, the general trajectory of China continuing to be an economic superpower shows no signs of stopping. It is the single largest manufacturing economy in the world, accounting for almost 29 percent of the global manufacturing output in 2019. At the same time, China has been beefing up its military to a point where it may soon outpace the United States. This year, it increased its military budget by 7.2 percent.

Meanwhile, China has become increasingly aggressive in the Pacific. Last year, US Indo-Pacific commander Admiral John C Aquilino warned that China had fully militarized three islands in the South China Sea. Just yesterday, The South China Morning Post reported that Beijing appears to be building a runway for small warplanes on an island also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan, while The Guardian reported on footage appearing to show Chinese military preparation for conflict in the Taiwan Strait.

A build-up of Chinese authoritarian, autocratic military power is obviously deeply concerning to democratic nations who have witnessed Chinas antidemocratic crackdown in Hong Kong, its detainment and harassment of dissidents last year, its continued crackdown on dissent this year, and its ongoing human rights abuses against the Uyghurs. This includes South Korea and Japan, which is why Yoon and Kishida have come to Camp David  and in doing so, marked a new era in East Asian relations.

Despite both being capitalist democracies with similar international interests, South Korea and Japan do not have the easiest relationship. The two nations have fought one another on and off since the 7th century. More recent developments have inflicted wounds that are incredibly slow to heal.

Occupying the peninsular nation in 1910, Japan would institute brutal colonial rule that would last until the end of the Second World War. This included forcing Koreans to work in factories or conscripting them, often against their will, into the Japanese military. Most famously and among the most horrific instances of Japanese oppression of its colonized peoples, tens of thousands of so-called comfort women were abducted from across Asia, including many from Korea, and forced into sex slavery by Imperial Japan.

South Korea has long demanded restitution and apology for these actions. Tokyo, for its part, has maintained that the 1965 treaty with Seoul which normalized relations settled the issue, and many Japanese leaders have been hesitant to even acknowledge such atrocities occurred.

For example, in 2015, after signing an agreement with South Korea on comfort women in which the Japanese foreign minister at the time acknowledged the issue of comfort women, with an involvement of the Japanese military authorities at the time, was a grave affront to the honor and dignity of large numbers of women, and the Government of Japan is painfully aware of responsibilities from this perspective. However, just three weeks later, then-Prime Minister Sinzo Abe told the National Assembly that there was no document found that the comfort women were forcibly taken away, undermining the very acknowledgement his own foreign minister had recently given.

That was then. This is now. The two nations seem to slowly be realizing that they cannot allow the past to prevent them from securing their mutual futures.

Meanwhile, speaking in May at a bilateral summit between the two nations in Seoul, Kishida said he has strong pain in my heart as I think of the extreme difficulty and sorrow that many people had to suffer under the severe environment in those days. He and Yoon agreed to work on resolving these past animosities so they can better cooperate on present and future security matters, including North Koreas nuclear weapons program and the rising threat from Chinese autocracy.

So concerning is this warming of relations between the historic rivals that in July Chinas foreign minister advised Tokyo and Seoul to align themselves with Beijing. Today, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, in what can be interpreted as a swipe at the United States, said that the international community has its own judgment as to who is creating contradictions and increasing tensions and that attempts to form various exclusive groups and cliques and to bring bloc confrontation into the Asia-Pacific region are unpopular and will definitely spark vigilance and opposition in the countries of the region.

No doubt it will. That does not mean the Camp David summit should not occur, though. China has already demonstrated an increased belligerence in the region, one that should rightly concern every democracy in the Indo-Pacific.

Old animosities can no longer be allowed to prevent likeminded nations from working together to preserve a liberal and democratic international order. The free world must come together to stand up to autocracy and authoritarianism. This summit between the United States, Japan, and South Korea is a good start  and a welcome sign that the worlds leaders are finally waking up to the frightening realities of our new multipolar world order.
Ritas Italian Ice & Frozen Custard is sweetening the deal for people who come out to celebrate the chains newest Central Florida store grand opening.

The first 50 people in line at the grand opening of their new store in Kissimmee will get free Italian ice for a year. The grand opening of the new location at 847 Cypress Parkway starts at 3 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 25.

The store will also be offering attendees $2 small Italian Ice and $3 small Gelati.

Read: Tropics firing up with 4 areas to watch

The new location is the first one in Kissimmee.

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An aspiring police officer found himself on the other side of the law after applying to be a cop  despite being wanted on a warrant, police in Arkansas say.

The 24-year-old man, from Atlanta, Georgia, was arrested Aug. 15 and charged with forgery, according to the Monticello Police Department.

Investigators said he applied to be a patrolman with the department via email in South Carolina. On Aug. 14, he arrived in Arkansas from Atlanta to verify his information for a fitness test scheduled for the following day, police said in a news release.

Officers checked his background, however, and noticed discrepancies in his appearance, the release said. Thats when they realized he had a warrant in Georgia, according to police.

Authorities didnt say what charges he faced.

The man was allowed to complete the physical fitness test, then was immediately arrested, police said.

He remained in custody at the Drew County Jail on a $20,000 bond as of Aug. 18, online records show. Police said hell be extradited to Georgia in the coming days.

Monticello is about 90 miles southeast of Little Rock.

Man stops mid-burglary to pet household dog, California cops say. I love you, too

Fugitive applies for sheriffs office job, then is arrested, New Jersey officials say

Inmate escapes jail a third time, this time through duct vent, Arkansas officials say
Editors note: This commentary was first published in The Conversation.

U.S. defense strategists warn that China may use the distraction of the war in Ukraine to launch military action against Taiwan. They believe Chinese President Xi Jinping is determined to gain control over the breakaway province  which has been beyond Beijings control since the founding of the Peoples Republic of China in 1949  before he leaves office.

In response to these concerns, in July 2023, the U.S. announced a $345 million military aid package for Taiwan. For the first time, arms are being delivered to Taiwan from U.S. stockpiles under presidential drawdown authority, which does not require congressional approval.

Such fears have been heightened by the fact that China has stepped up its probes of Taiwans defenses over the past year. Last month saw the release of an eight-part docuseries by state media broadcaster CCTV titled Chasing Dreams about the Chinese militarys readiness to attack Taiwan.

But opinion remains divided over just how likely it is that Xi will launch a military action to occupy Taiwan, and whether the war in Ukraine makes such action more or less likely.

Factors making war more likely

The main argument that the war in Ukraine makes a Chinese attack on Taiwan more likely centers on the failure of the threat of U.S. sanctions to deter Russia from invading.

Russian President Vladimir Putin believed that U.S. power, weakened by the Trump presidency, was in decline. He also knew  because President Joe Biden said so  that the U.S. was unwilling to commit its own troops in combat against the nuclear-armed foe.

Putin saw the hasty American withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 as a sign that the U.S. has lost its appetite for military intervention overseas. The U.S. relies on economic sanctions to pressure adversaries such as Iran, Russia and China. But Putin was confident that Europes dependence on Russian oil and gas would prevent it from imposing serious sanctions on Russia. He was also emboldened by the lackluster Western response to Russias invasion of Georgia in 2008 and annexation of Crimea in 2014.

It turned out that Putin was wrong about Europeans unwillingness to stop buying Russian energy. But he was right about the U.S. aversion to committing its own forces to defend Ukraine.

As with Ukraine, U.S. policy regarding Taiwan is built around using the threat of economic sanctions to deter China from attacking the province. However, there is also the possibility  absent in Ukraine  that the U.S. would commit its forces to defend Taiwan. The official U.S. policy is one of strategic ambiguity on Taiwan. Furthermore, there is the simple geographical fact that Taiwan is an island, and thus easier to defend than Ukraine.

For the people of Taiwan, Putins invasion shows that an authoritarian leader can wage war at any time, for no good reason. Ukraine has so far managed to prevent a Russian victory, but it is paying a heavy price in terms of lost lives and a shattered economy. According to some Taiwanese observers, the people of Taiwan would be unwilling to pay such a heavy price to preserve its political autonomy.

There is also the concern that the U.S. is so tied up with the Ukraine crisis that it does not have the political bandwidth to deal with Chinese pressure on Taiwan. Arms that could have been sold to Taiwan have been sent to Ukraine. Xi may see this as an opportunity that he can exploit.

Factors that make war less likely

There are, however, several factors that make conflict over Taiwan less probable. Russias failure to achieve victory in Ukraine makes it less likely that Xi would gamble on the use of military force to occupy Taiwan.

The Wall Street Journals Yaroslav Trofimov argues that the Ukrainian war has focused minds in Beijing on the inherent unpredictability of a military conflict. Meanwhile, Bi-khim Hsiao, Taiwans representative in the U.S., has said that Ukraines success in defending itself will deter China from attacking Taiwan.

One reason is advances in weaponry. The latest generation of drones and missiles capable of destroying aircraft, ships and tanks favors the defense. This makes invasion of Taiwan more risky for China. Moreover, Russias weapons seem to be generally less effective than those of its NATO counterparts  and Chinas arsenal relies heavily on Russian designs.

Also, the Ukraine war has unified European allies behind U.S. leadership. In 2019, French President Emanuel Macron was talking about NATO being brain dead. After Russias invasion of Ukraine, the alliance stepped up defense spending and both Sweden and Finland applied for membership. Finland officially joined NATO in April 2023 while Sweden awaits final ratification.

The European Union was previously reluctant to join the U.S. trade war with China. However, Chinas support for Russias invasion of Ukraine has made Brussels more willing to join the U.S. in pushing back against Chinas efforts to dominate key sectors of global trade. EU Commission President Ursula van der Leyen said in March 2023 that China is becoming more repressive at home and more assertive abroad. China is all too aware that overstepping in Taiwan would further unite nations in a trade war against Beijing.

The Ukraine war has also unified core Asian allies behind U.S. leadership. Taiwan, Japan and South Korea joined the sanctions on Russia, and Japan plans to increase defense spending by 60% by 2027. In March 2022, Russia added Taiwan to its Unfriendly Countries and Territories List, and in August 2022 Taiwan canceled visa-free travel for Russians, which had been introduced in 2018.

It is difficult to assess how sanctions on Russia affect Chinas decision calculus. The sanctions have seriously hurt Russias economy, but have not prevented the country from waging the war. Given Chinas high level of trade with Europe and the U.S., it is likely that sanctions leveled in retaliation for an attack on Taiwan would be severely damaging for the Chinese economy.

In launching the abortive war on Ukraine, Russia has shown itself to be weak and unstable, and therefore less useful as an ally to China. Besides the initial failure to take Kyiv, developments such as the Wagner mutiny illustrate the fragility of the Putin regime and must have rung alarm bells in Beijing. In November 2022, Xi called for an end to threats to use nuclear weapons in an implicit rebuke to Russia.

The peace plan that China released in February 2023, Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis, insisted on the importance of respecting sovereignty while ignoring Russias violation of Ukraines sovereignty. It was arguably more about Taiwan than Ukraine.

China seemingly wants to see an end to the Ukraine war, but on terms acceptable to its ally, Moscow. China has accepted Russias narrative that NATO is to blame for the war, but still pays lip service to the importance of respecting Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity. Those principles are central to the One China policy and Beijings claim to sovereignty over Taiwan. Chinas failure to condemn the Russian invasion puts it in a position that is riven with contradictions and makes it hard to play a role as a broker for peace.

There is no simple answer to the question of how the war in Ukraine has impacted Beijings intentions regarding Taiwan. But it has starkly illustrated to all sides that the stakes are high, and the costs of miscalculation are punitive.

Prof. Peter Rutland has taught at Wesleyan since 1989. Before that he taught at the University of Texas at Austin, and at the University of York and London University in the UK. He has a BA from Oxford and a D. Phil from York. He has also been a visiting professor at Columbia University, and is an associate of the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University.

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The United States has given the green light to Denmark and the Netherlands for sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine to defend against Russian aggression as soon as pilot training is completed, a U.S. official said on Aug. 17, according to Reuters.

Ukraine has actively sought the U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets to help counter Russian air superiority.

The primary nations at the helm of the training coalition, Denmark and the Netherlands, have been asking Washington about official assurances. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken sent letters to his Danish and Dutch counterparts assuring them that the requests would be approved, the official said.

In a letter obtained by Reuters, Blinken said the U.S. backs both - the transfer of F-16 fighter aircraft to Ukraine and the comprehensive training of Ukrainian pilots under the guidance of F-16 instructors.

A coalition of 11 nations will start training Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16s in August in Denmark, and a training centre will be set up in Romania.

Read also: Kuleba: F-16 fighter jets may arrive as soon as pilots complete training

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Leaked documents show that Russia "has made steady progress" with its plans to produce its own version of the Iranian Shahed kamikaze drone for use against Ukrainian targets, the Washington Post reported on Aug. 17.

The documents detail how Russia is setting up a production line in Tatarstan that aims to build 6,000 attack drones by the summer of 2025, improving on "Iran's dated manufacturing techniques," to produce more deadly drones on a greater scale.

Russia often launches drones at night to exhaust and detect Ukrainian air defense to further fire missiles at it from its aircraft or missile carriers. According to the Air Force, drones remain challenging to Ukrainian forces to shoot down.

The Washington Post story follows a U.K. Defense Ministry report on Aug. 16, that said that Russian forces have almost certainly started to deploy domestically-produced drones based on Iranian Shahed drone designs.

Domestic production will enable Russia to establish a more stable supply of kamikaze drones to be used in airstrikes against Ukraine, the ministry noted.

However, Moscow is currently still dependent on components and complete weapons shipped from Iran, mostly via the Caspian Sea, the defense report said.

The White House has raised the issue of Iran's supply of attack drones to Russia with Tehran, the Financial Times reported on Aug. 16, though Iran has long officially denied that it is behind the supply of drones.

According to the FT's sources, Washington has asked Tehran to stop selling drones to Russia at indirect talks in Qatar and Oman this year.

The Washington Post added that researchers from the U.S. Institute for Science and International Security studied the leaked documents and assessed that Russia has not yet managed to produce entire drones yet, their bodies, "and probably for not more than 300" units.

The researchers also said that the project is already "at least a month behind schedule."

However, the research team concluded that if Russia manages to set up the production line, it will have the ability to regularly attack Ukraine with hundreds of drones at a time.

The Washington Post said that the documents, which date from late 2022 to early 2023, were leaked by a person involved in the project who opposes the invasion of Ukraine.

On Aug. 3, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia had so far launched almost 2,000 Shaheds at Ukraine.

Read also: FT: US asks Iran to stop drone supply to Russia

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
The U.S. intelligence assesses that Ukrainian forces will fail to reach the key southeastern city of Melitopol in this years counteroffensive, the Washington Post reported, citing unnamed sources familiar with the forecast.

If the assessment proves correct, Ukraine will not fulfill its principal goal of cutting off the land bridge that connects Russia to the occupied Crimean peninsula.

Ukrainian forces, currently advancing toward occupied Melitopol from the village of Robotyne around 80 kilometers away, will remain outside the city, anonymous U.S. officials suggested to the Washington Post.

Zaporizhzhia Oblasts Melitopol lies on the crossing of two critical highways and a railway line, serving as a logistical hub for the Russian army in southern Ukraine to move military equipment. The city was occupied shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The U.S.s pessimistic forecast is based on Russias ability to effectively defend occupied territory with a phalanx of minefields and trenches, which has reportedly slowed down Ukraines advances, the media outlet wrote.

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As another reason for Ukraines counteroffensive not meeting the allies expectations, the officials named Kyivs strategy of relying on smaller units to advance in different areas of the front rather than concentrating a large mass of forces on a single breakthrough point.

This approach, which contradicts the Pentagons recommendations, has led to Ukranian forces making limited gains in different areas over the summer, but allowed them to reduce the losses, added WP.

According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine had planned to launch the counteroffensive much earlier than in early June to prevent Russia from building up its defenses. The plans were postponed due to the slow progress of Western supplies and training, he told CNN.

Ukrainian armed forces' Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi told the Washington Post that Ukrainian troops advance daily despite the lack of much-needed supplies, including F-16 fighter jets and artillery ammunition.

Zaluzhnyi criticized those complaining of "slow progress," adding that the counteroffensive is "not a show." President Volodymyr Zelensky also noted that the advance is "slower than desired" but that the campaign is not a movie.

Read also: How controversial cluster munitions give Ukraine needed punch during counteroffensive

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An alligator was up to some late night antics in a Southwest Florida residential neighborhood.

Bystander Kayla Ronquillo was driving home in the Babcock Ranch gated community in Punta Gorda around 11:30 p.m. Monday when she spotted the beast roaming the streets, she told Storyful, which posted her video.

*HUGE FLORIDA GATOR* tries to climb up a house last night in Babcock Ranch, Florida. That's a new one! Credit: @WINKNews viewer Kayla pic.twitter.com/X6OglOqF7a  Matt Devitt (@MattDevittWINK) August 15, 2023

She rolled down the window and whipped out her phone to capture the visitor strolling casually past someones garage, its eyes glowing. The gator then noisily whips around the corner and attempts, unsuccessfully, to scale the side of the home, banging into something loudly on its way down.

Oh my gosh, Ronquillo whispers off camera, then repeats: Oh my gosh.

READ MORE: Motorist finds alligator under car

Though this sight was likely terrifying, its not that unusual.

Alligators are quite nimble and have been known to climb not only walls but trees. Back in 2019, one even impressively cleared a fence at the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville.
The United Nations Security Council met publicly on Thursday, 17 August, to discuss human rights abuses in North Korea in a move requested by the United States, Albania and Japan.

The discussion, which was the first formal public meeting of the 15-member council on the issue since 2017, was expected to anger Pyongyang and faced opposition from China.

Last week, North Koreas vice foreign minister Kim Son Gyong described the open meeting as despicable, while Chinas UN mission spokesperson said the discussion has no added value.

The councils mandate is maintenance of international peace and security, not human rights, China added.

For years, North Korea has repeatedly rejected accusations of abuses.

In 2014, a UN report called for North Korean security chiefs, and possibly its leader Kim Jong Un, to face justice for overseeing a state-controlled system of Nazi-style atrocities.

North Korean officials have blamed sanctions, in place since 2006 over its ballistic missiles and nuclear programs, for a dire humanitarian situation.
Watering lawns can prevent foundation issues for Texas homeowners, but it can also lead to water supply strains during times of drought.

With drought conditions affecting most of the state, some Texas cities have restricted water use or banned sprinklers to help conserve supply.

Central Texas cities like Manor and Georgetown banned sprinkler use this summer, restricting residents to watering their lawns by hand.

Excessive heat and lack of rainfall led to severe drought conditions in North Texas as well, including Tarrant County.

Should you water your lawn during a drought?

Watering your lawn prevents grass from drying out and becoming a fire hazard, and helps with your homes foundation.

However, during a drought it is important to maximize when and how you water your lawn, according to Dallas-based company Lawns-4-U.

Much of the water used outdoors in Texas is wasted through inefficient landscape watering practices, according to the Texas Water Development Board.

Outdoor watering also contributed to more than 30% of household water use, according to the TWDB.

Because grass only needs about one inch of water a week, Lawns-4-U recommends watering once or twice a week for about 30 to 60 minutes to train grass to develop a robust root system.

Watering early in the morning is best to limit evaporation between the sprinkler or hose before it reaches the grass, according to the TWDB.

Fort Worth has year-round outdoor watering restrictions to maintain and encourage water efficiency.

This includes a watering schedule by address and restrictions on irrigation systems and sprinklers.

How can I water my lawn and foundation in a drought?

If youre in an area that restricts sprinkler use and only allows watering by hand, a soaker hose may be a good alternative.

A soaker hose  also known as a weeping hose  slowly seeps water out of the hose onto the ground and are ideal for home foundations.

Soaker hoses are recommended to be placed about 6 to 22 inches away from the foundation of a house and used at least three times a week for around 15 to 20 minutes each time.

By seeping water out along the length of the hose instead of from one end, soaker hoses provide more efficient coverage, according to watering company Swan. Because of its efficiency, a properly positioned soaker hose can save time water.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 18)  House ethics committee vice chairperson Ria Vergara defended the decision of the lower chamber to expel former Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr. from his post, noting that his indecent behavior online and his designation as terrorist were not the main reasons for his removal.

Speaking to CNN Philippines The Source on Friday, Vergara explained that Teves expulsion was hinged on basically two grounds: continuous absence and his abandonment of his duty.

A total of 265 members of the House of Representatives on Aug. 16 voted to adopt the ethics committees recommendation to evict Teves. The panel cited as basis of Teves expulsion his continued absence without leave and his pursuit of political asylum in Timor-Leste, which are as good as abandonment of public office.

The report also mentioned Teves indecent behavior in his social media posts and his designation as terrorist, which the committee said both negatively affect the image of the House.

Vergara said that Teves social media posts were only a secondary factor that led to the decision.

I think what the Committee on Ethics did was to look at all the actions that have been done and that is what you call a mitigating factor but on its own it is not grounds for expulsion, she explained.

We have to protect the institutional integrity of the House of Representative, she said. If it was just Congressman Arnie Teves social media post, thats not grounds for expulsion. That would have been maybe a reprimand.

Vergara said the matter of Teves being tagged as a terrorist was also discussed by the panel. However, during an executive session, the members agreed that this was not enough ground to expel him.

According to Vergara, this was because there were other congressmen who were previously tagged as such, specifically those from the Makabayan bloc, but remained in their post.

The Commission on Elections said Thursday it is waiting for orders from the House on possibly holding special polls to elect a replacement for Teves.

Vergara said the camp of Teves still has the option to file a motion for reconsideration. However, this will require one of the 265 lawmakers who voted for his expulsion to request for the reconsideration of the vote so prospects are dim, she noted.
The chain of events was tragic. Destiny Jones was hit by gunfire at a Downtown West bar, Then, as friends tried to rush her to the hospital, the driver crashed the car. Jones was thrown from the vehicle and died of the injuries she suffered in the crash.

So what consequences await Jaheim Houston, the man who police say fired the shots?

The incident creates an unusual legal conundrum: Should Houston be charged with attempted murder or murder?

Can Houston be prosecuted for murder?

You could argue that the only reason Destiny Jones died in the crash is because she was being rushed to the hospital after she was shot.

But that argument would fail in the courtroom because the medical examiner ruled the cause of death was blunt force trauma, not the nonfatal gunshot wound, says one veteran criminal defense attorney.

"You have to prove the homicide beyond a reasonable doubt," Gregory Isaacs told Knox News. "The medical examiner's findings would be the centerpiece."

Theoretically, Isaacs said, if a shooting victim died in an ambulance on the way to the hospital, that would relate to the shooting and the defendant could be charged with murder.

"But when you have a superseding, intervening act such as a car wreck, you dont have that clarity as to the cause of death," he said. "If there is no science or forensics to support (a charge of) homicide, you go with what you can prove."

What charge is the suspected shooter facing?

Houston, 22, of Knoxville, has been charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder and employing a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony, stemming from the May 15, 2023 shooting in the parking lot of Bebos Cafe.

Houston also has been charged with felony drug possession after marijuana and money were found in a Watauga Avenue home Aug. 16 when he was taken into custody on the attempted murder warrant, court records state.

A $200,000 bond has been set for the attempted murder charge.

KPD seeks help: Police ask for tips to find man they say fired shots at officers on patrol

What happened at Bebo's Cafe led to Jones' death, police say

Knoxville police officers responded to the parking lot of Bebos Cafe on Gleason Drive at around 3 a.m. May 15, a police department spokesperson said in a press release. Shell casings were found in the parking lot, but no gunshot victims were there.

A short time later, officers found a car that had driven away from the shooting had crashed on the Kingston Pike ramp to southbound Alcoa Highway. Jones, who was a passenger, was thrown from the car and pronounced dead after she was taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, the release said.

Medical Examiners Office personnel determined that Jones, 24, of Anderson County, was shot one time in the lower body. However, Jones actually died from blunt force trauma suffered in the crash.

Bebo's Cafe closed for good by District Attorney's office

The hookah bar in Knoxville's Downtown West neighborhood now is permanently shut down under a Tennessee nuisance law after multiple shootings and other violent incidents at the club.

On Aug. 3, Criminal Court Judge Steve Sword signed an order of permanent injunction that bars owner Beshoy Saman from operating the business at the Gleason Drive address. Saman also must surrender Bebo's Cafe's beer and liquor permits.

Ruei Mei, listed in the order as the owner of the property, must run criminal background checks at no cost on all potential tenants before signing a lease agreement, an order that is in effect for the next two years.

Liz Kellar is a public safety reporter. Email lkellar@knoxnews.com.

Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Man won't face murder charge in Bebo's Cafe parking lot shooting
President Biden wrote in the New York Times in June 2022 that the United States was arming Ukraine to "fight on the battlefield and be in the strongest possible position at the negotiating table."

Ukraine's fall 2022 counteroffensive left it in a stronger position, yet Biden and his NATO allies still chose the battlefield over the negotiating table. Now the failure of Ukraine's long-delayed "spring counteroffensive" has left Ukraine in a weaker position, both on the battlefield and at the still empty negotiating table.

So, based on Biden's own definition of U.S. war aims, his policy is failing, and it is hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers, not Americans, who are paying the price, with their limbs and their lives.

But this result was not unexpected. It was predicted in leaked Pentagon documents that were widely published in April, and in President Zelenskyy's postponement of the offensive in May to avoid what he called "unacceptable" losses.

The delay allowed more Ukrainian troops to complete NATO training on Western tanks and armored vehicles, but it also gave Russia more time to reinforce its anti-tank defenses and prepare lethal kill-zones along the 700-mile front line.

Now, after two months, Ukraine's new armored divisions have advanced only 12 miles or less in two small areas, at the cost of tens of thousands of casualties. Twenty percent of newly deployed Western armored vehicles and equipment were reportedly destroyed in the first few weeks of the new offensive, as British-trained armored divisions tried to advance through Russian minefields and kill-zones without de-mining operations or air cover.

Meanwhile, Russia has made similar small advances toward Kupyansk in eastern Kharkiv province, where land around the town of Dvorichna has changed hands for the third time since the invasion. These tit-for-tat exchanges of small pieces of territory, with massive use of heavy artillery and appalling losses, typify a brutal war of attrition not unlike the First World War.

Ukraine's more successful counteroffensives last fall provoked serious debate within NATO over whether that was the moment for Ukraine to return to the negotiating table it had abandoned at British and U.S. urging in April 2022. As Ukrainian forces advanced on Kherson in early November, the Italian daily La Repubblica in reported that NATO leaders had agreed that the fall of Kherson would put Ukraine in the position of strength they had been waiting for to relaunch peace talks.

On Nov. 9, 2022, the very day that Russia ordered its withdrawal from Kherson, Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke at the Economic Club of New York, where the interviewer asked him whether the time was now ripe for negotiations.

Milley compared the situation to the First World War, explaining that leaders on all sides understood by Christmas 1914 that that war was not winnable, yet they fought on for another four years, multiplying the million lives lost in 1914 into 20 million by 1918, destroying five empires and setting the stage for the rise of fascism and the Second World War.

Milley concluded his cautionary tale by noting that, as in 1914, "there has to be a mutual recognition that military victory is probably, in the true sense of the word ... not achievable through military means. And therefore, you need to turn to other means.  So things can get worse. So when there's an opportunity to negotiate, when peace can be achieved, seize it, seize the moment."

But Milley and other voices of experience were ignored. At Biden's February State of the Union speech in Congress, Milley's face was a study in gravity, a rock in a sea of misplaced self-congratulation and ignorance of the real world beyond the circus tent, where the West's incoherent war strategy was not only sacrificing Ukrainian lives every day but flirting with nuclear war. Milley didn't crack a smile all night, even when Biden came over to glad-hand after his speech.

No U.S., NATO or Ukrainian leaders have been held accountable for failing to seize that moment last winter, nor the previous missed chance for peace in April 2022, when the U.S. and U.K. blocked theTurkish and Israeli mediation that came so close to bringing peace, based on the simple principle of a Russian withdrawal in exchange for Ukrainian neutrality. Nobody has demanded a serious account of why Western leaders let these chances for peace slip through their fingers.

Whatever their reasoning, the result is that Ukraine is caught in a war with no exit. When Ukraine seemed to have the upper hand in the war, NATO leaders were determined to press their advantage and launch another offensive, regardless of the human cost. But now that the new offensive and weapons shipments have only succeeded in laying bare the weakness of Western strategy and returning the initiative to Russia, the architects of failure reject negotiating from a position of weakness.

So the conflict has fallen into an intractable pattern common to many wars, in which all parties to the fighting  Russia, Ukraine and the leading members of the NATO military alliance  have been encouraged or, we might say, deluded by limited successes at different times into prolonging the war and rejecting diplomacy, despite appalling human costs, the rising danger of a wider war and the existential danger of a nuclear confrontation.

But the reality of war is laying bare the contradictions of Western policy. If Ukraine is not allowed to negotiate with Russia from a position of strength nor from a position of weakness, what stands in the way of its total destruction?

And how can Ukraine and its allies defeat Russia, a country whose nuclear weapons policy explicitly states that it will use nuclear weapons before it will accept an existential defeat?

If, as Biden has warned, any war between the U.S. and Russia, or any use of "tactical" nuclear weapons, would most likely escalate into full-scale nuclear war, where else is the current policy of incremental escalation and ever-increasing U.S. and NATO involvement intended to lead?

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Are they simply praying that Russia will implode or give up? Or are they determined to call Russia's bluff and push it into an inescapable choice between total defeat and nuclear war? Hoping, or pretending, that Ukraine and its allies can defeat Russia without triggering a nuclear war is not a strategy.

In place of a strategy to resolve the conflict, the U.S. and its allies harnessed the natural impulse to resist Russian aggression onto a U.S. and British plan to prolong the war indefinitely. The results of that decision are hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian casualties and the gradual destruction of Ukraine by millions of artillery shells fired by both sides.

Since the end of the First Cold War, successive U.S. governments, Democratic and Republican, have made catastrophic miscalculations regarding the United States' ability to impose its will on other countries and peoples. Their incorrect assumptions about American power and military superiority have led us to this fateful, historic crisis in U.S. foreign policy.

Now Congress is being asked for another $24 billion to keep fueling this war. They should instead listen to the majority of Americans, who, according to the latest CNN poll, oppose more funding for an unwinnable war. They should heed the words of the declaration by civil society groups in 32 countries calling for an immediate ceasefire and peace negotiations to end the war before it destroys Ukraine and endangers all of humanity.

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about Russia and Ukraine
If you live in Boise, you may have noticed some smoke creeping over the Foothills and into the Treasure Valley in recent days. Its coming from multiple active wildfires, big and small, burning throughout the Northwest, particularly in North Idaho, Washington and Canada.

But how can you find out precisely where the fires are?

A vegetation fire retardant burns east of Blacks Creek Road south of Interstate 84, Wednesday, June 21, 2023.

Idaho has multiple online resources, including Fish and Games interactive fire map. The map shows all active wildfires in the Gem State, and the location of previous fires and burnt acreage from 2023 wildfires. You can click on each fire icon to learn more about the date it started, how many acres have burned and how much of the fire is contained.

The Environmental Protection Agency also runs an interactive fire and smoke map that provides a national view of all fires and smoke coverage.

The Department of Lands posts a detailed map on its website using information from the Integrated Reporting of Wildland-Fire Information system, which shows all active, controlled and inactive fires in Idaho.

The Department of Lands also maintains a fire news feed on which it frequently publishes updates and summaries on specific fires.

Which Idaho agencies issue wildfire alerts?

Idahos primary statewide source for wildfire alerts is the Department of Lands. The department issues wildfire alerts across Idahos 9 million acres of forests and rangelands, but doesnt issue evacuation notices. Its up to the local sheriffs office to order an evacuation.

The Department of Lands Twitter and the #IDLFireInfo hashtag are good social media sources for the most recent and frequently updated information.

Thee Sarah Loop Fire near Athol, ID, is now 100% contained and was held to 20 acres.



Kootenai County Emergency Management also announced all evacuations for the incident have been lifted.#IDLFireInfo#SarahLoopFire2023 pic.twitter.com/hEVIjas5Cj  ID Dept. of Lands (@IdahoLands) August 16, 2023

The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality also issues air quality advisories based on how much wildfire smoke is in the air. The advisories note where outdoor burning and wood stove or fireplace burning are disallowed in each county.

The DEQ issued a yellow/moderate air quality advisory for Friday in the Treasure Valley, and all outdoor burning in Ada County was banned.

Idaho residents can sign up for emergency notification systems that alert residents of potential dangers, such as weather and wildfires. Here are the best options for the Boise area:

CodeRED - Ada County and City of Boise alert system

Alert Sense - Canyon County alert system

Department of Lands alert system - Alerts for specific forest protective districts

How do you report a wildfire in Idaho?

If you spot a wildfire, dont assume someone else has reported it. If no emergency crews are on the scene, play it safe and call it in. Idaho fires can be reported to 911 or the local sheriffs office  for Ada County, the number is (208) 577-3460. If you are on a highway, note the nearest exit or milepost marker.

Once youve spotted a wildfire and called emergency services, move as far away from the source of the wildfire as possible.

If (the fire) is showing that its going to grow quickly, you definitely want to get away from it in case it starts growing, Spencer Tangen, a fire weather forecaster with the National Weather Service in Boise, told the Idaho Statesman. So if youre near a fire, you have to be very careful about the direction it could be growing because you dont want to get trapped by the fire.

What causes wildfires to start?

There have been 35,702 wildfires nationwide since the start of 2023, burning a total of 1,699,381 acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Both numbers are below the past 10-year average, according to NIFC, headquartered in Boise at the airport.

About 40% of fires are caused by lightning, which means the other 60% are human-caused.

Tangen said human-caused wildfires are from some of the simplest things, such as an unattended bonfire or flicking a cigarette butt onto dry grass. He also warned about lesser-known causes, such as hot bullet casings falling on dry fuel and sparks from a chain dragged along a roadway.

Before heading into the wilderness, check for any red flag warnings in the area, Tangen said. A red flag warning is issued by the Weather Service and means conditions are ripe for wildfires to start and spread quickly, such as warm temperatures, low humidity and strong winds.

When we issue them for the dry and windy conditions, people need to be very careful about anything that could cause a spark in grasses or the forest, Tangen said.
Its a typically sizzling summer in Washington, but its beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the White House, with the Bidens putting out a call for volunteers to help decorate for the holiday season.

President Biden and first lady Jill Biden are excited to continue the tradition of welcoming volunteer holiday decorators, holiday open house volunteers, and volunteer holiday performers to help celebrate the holiday season, the White House announced Thursday.

Applications to help trick out the White House with festive decor will be accepted from across the country and U.S. territories.

The White House encourages military-connected family members, educators, front-line workers, and students to apply, an announcement about the call for volunteers said.

While theres no minimum age requirement for performers, decorators and holiday open house volunteers must be at least 18 to apply. And they might need an assist from Santa to get to the nations capital if theyre chosen: All selected volunteers are responsible for their individual travel and personal expenses, the White House said.

The deadline to apply to be a Christmastime volunteer at the White House is Sept. 7.

Last year, the White House said it expected about 50,000 visitors to come through its doors during the holiday season.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Several senior U.S. officials view the Ukrainian strategy of carrying out missile strikes on occupied Crimea with skepticism, CNN reported on Aug. 18.

Read also: White House denies discussions about Ukraines joining NATO in exchange for ceding territory

To some military and White House officials, Ukrainian attacks on Crimea are a distraction at best, and a waste of valuable resources on a strategy that, many analysts believe, has stretched Ukraine thin among multiple attack vectors.

Its knocked the Russians off balance a bit, but it is not doing anything decisive, CNN quotes a senior security official.

And it would probably be better for everyone for them to just focus on the counteroffensive.

According to a high-ranking Western intelligence official, approximately a third of the occupied peninsula is currently within reach of HIMARS rocket artillery systems provided by the United States, enabling Ukraine to step up strikes on Russian ammunition depots and logistics infrastructure.

Theres more and more pressure on Crimea, and especially so in recent weeks; I mean, they get pounded, the official said.

Read also: CNN shows moment Ukraine attacked Crimean Bridge in July with experimental sea drone

A Ukrainian source familiar with the Kyivs military strategy stated that the attacks are an integral part of their counteroffensive strategy aimed at isolating Crimea and complicating Russia's conduct of military operations on the Ukrainian mainland.

Read also: Former French leader Sarkozy criticizes Ukraine's Crimea stand as 'illusion'

On July 17, the Crimean Bridge was rocked by explosions for the second time since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, after which all traffic across it was halted. Russian authorities acknowledge that they will not be able to restore it in full until late 2023.

Read also: Exclusive video shows new unmanned naval vessels used in attack on Crimean Bridge

Head of Ukraines SBU security service, Vasyl Malyuk, later told journalists that the bridge was attacked by a naval drone, the result of many months of development that commenced immediately after the Russian invasion.

This marked the first time that a Ukrainian official confirmed Kyiv was behind an attack on the key bridge connecting occupied Crimea to mainland Russia.

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
If you mourn the loss of Columbus Day, want less focus on the evils of slavery, and think climate change is overrated, PragerU is for you.

The brainchild of conservative talk show host Dennis Prager, its catchy videos just won approval from the Florida Board of Education for use in all the states K-12 public schools, making Florida the first of what the nonprofit PragerU expects will be more red state adoptions of its rightwing ideology.

Pragers prime audience is kindergarten through fifth grade, with animated portrayals of historic figures like Christopher Columbus, who is shown explaining to future generations that slavery is as old as time, and that people should not be judged by standards that change over time. In another video, an animated Frederick Douglass explains slavery is wrong and evil, but compromise was necessary to achieve something great.

Let the Public Watch Trumps Trial, Put Cameras In the Courtroom

The conservative slant and America First boosterism are obvious and well within bounds, but do they belong in public schools?

Gov. Ron DeSantis banned racial equity policies and programs where he could, saying hes for education not indoctrination. Meanwhile, Dennis Prager says in a promotional video, We are in the mind-changing business, and few groups can say that. Addressing criticism he received at a Moms for Liberty convention this summer, he said, Its true we bring doctrines to children. He then asked, But what is the bad of our indoctrination?

Michelle Pozzie homeschooled her children with PragerU videos, and now shes running as a Republican for the Florida House, promising to end the woke agenda and defend parental rights. In a phone interview with The Daily Beast, she said, The name [PragerU] is a little misleading, it makes you think its a university or an educational platform, but as far as PragerU being a right-wing bogeyman, thats not factual.

Courtesy of Michelle Pozzie for State Rep

She continued: Slavery is happening now in parts of the world and we know that from PragerU videos. We still have child labor and child trafficking going on. But, Pozzie insists, If some teachers dont like the content in videos about climate change, they dont have to show them. I dont want to shove it down anybodys throat, she added, but facts dont have feelings. (Paraphrasing one of conservative flamethrower Ben Shapiros best-known lines.)

Florida is not mandating these videos, and Broward County, one of the largest and most progressive school districts in the state, has said it will not use PragerU materials. Its up to individual teachers if they want to incorporate these videos, and with the school year only just starting across Florida, we dont know how many districts in the more conservative parts of the state will adopt the videos, or how much pushback there will be from teachers and/or parents, and in what direction.

PragerU, founded in 2009 as a non-profit organization by a rightwing radio host with a history of making inflammatory remarks, aims to to teach what most schools arentour American values, history and blessings, according to its founder.

PragerU videos address all the hot button issues of our time: racism, sexism, income inequality, gun ownership, immigration, police brutality, and speech on college campuses in a climate where, according to its website, Woke agendas are infiltrating classrooms, culture, and social media.

Glenn Youngkins MAGA-Lite Image Isnt Going to Win Over the GOP

But PragerUs slickly made animated videos for younger kids have recently gained the attention of environmentalists. Jesse Ferguson, a Democratic strategist based in Virginia, where Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin won office on a platform of parental rights, says people whove seen the videos describe them as a cross between conspiracy theories and indoctrination.

Some PragerU videos echo climate change denier arguments, portraying climate change over time as natural and not man-made. They also warn that renewable energy is inadequate to meet the challenge of the worlds needs without fossil fuels.

What Prager is doing for Big Oil is strikingly familiar to what was done for Big Tobacco over a generation, says Ferguson. Theyre pushing their political agenda through an alliance with a governor and a school system that gives them direct access to the next generation.

One animated video has two children, siblingsLeo and Laylabeing counseled by their uncle, a scientist, that Wind and solar just arent powerful enough to power the modern world, the energy from them isnt dense or robust enough. To underscore the message for young children, a bird falls dead from the sky, a supposed victim of the blades of a wind turbine. Windmills kill so many birds, the scientist says sadly.

Another video has a girl in Poland being assured by her parents that the planet has naturally heated up and cooled since prehistoric times, prompting the girl to clash with her friends, activists who abandon coal for an undependable energy source. Unlike coal, energy from the wind or sun is unreliable, expensive, and difficult to store, the narrator opines as the girls grandfather praises her courage in fighting oppression, likening climate activists to the Nazi invaders of Poland.

Responding to recent criticism of its content as biased, Marissa Streit, chief executive of PragerU, issued this statement, The purpose of our climate videos is to allow for real debate, create an opening for scientists who have been bullied and marginalized by tyrannical elites and legacy institutions.

Adrienne McCarthy, a researcher at Kansas State University who studies ideological extremism, told The Daily Beast that environmentalists have PragerU in their line of vision because two of its biggest funders are petroleum industry billionaires Dan and Ferris Wilks. Big money is trying to change minds, says McCarthy, noting the irony of DeSantis overturning critical race theory because it was biased and political, and replacing it with PragerU which is biased and political.

Ron DeSantis Anti-Free Speech Crusade Would Cancel Fox News

What McCarthy finds most alarming is the growing resemblance between what PragerU is marketing and what she sees in the echo chambers of far-right extremist groups. In her words, nationalism imbued with morality, how the West is a superior system, how we dont hate immigrants, but we dont like their influences on our culture and our economics.

In other words, PragerU is not a bogeyman operating in the dark places of the Internet. Its cheery and charming, not like all that leftwing stuff that DeSantis has been trying to remove from Florida schools.

Whats happening in Florida is evidence of a larger struggle, as the two political parties frame the world as they see it. And voters are left to decide which America they wantthe one they have or the one they wish they had.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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The conviction of Lucy Letby provides a judicial ending  any appeals notwithstanding  to this awful and extraordinary case and a formal way of explaining what happened in the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016. Letby killed seven babies and attempted to kill six others. Her name will now be linked with other so-called British Angels of Death, such as Colin Norris, Benjamin Geen, Beverley Allitt, and also with Charles Cullen  more than likely Americas most prolific serial killer, rather than a good nurse.

However, this judicial ending still leaves unanswered a number of other questions  most obviously: why did Letby do it, and how could she go undetected on her killing spree for nearly a year? This last question is easier to answer than the first.

In researching nurses who had been convicted of murder within a hospital setting in Europe and North America  a sample that included 16 nurses convicted between 1977 and 2009  for a paper for the Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling in 2014, it became clear that they shared a number of common features, or personal attributes which, in my published work, were described as red flags.

The five most common of these red flags were: higher incidences of death on his/her shift; has a history of mental illness, or depression; makes colleagues anxious; is found to be in possession of legal and/or illegal drugs at home or in their hospital locker; and, appears to have a personality disorder.

By far the most common of these red flags was a higher incidence of death on the nurses shift, although this in itself was a problematic feature and had to be interpreted with care. Hospitals are places where people go because they are sick, and sometimes close to death. It has to be expected that some will die and so spikes in the number of deaths might simply be a random occurrence and does not necessarily imply that a serial killer is working on a ward, or within a specific unit.

Nor are the statistical analyses and the conclusions that are drawn from them to demonstrate a nurses guilt always reliable. Law and statistics  specifically those statistics related to an individuals attendance and a number of deaths  might both speak the same language, but they have very different dialects. Was there really an empirical association between specific actions and specific outcomes on the ward?

Attendance data, for example, was central to the conviction of the Dutch nurse Lucia de Berk, who had been found guilty in 2003 of killing seven patients and attempting to murder three others. However, de Berk was exonerated in 2010 when academic research used by her appeal drew attention to the tricky nature of using attendance data on its own, without any medical evidence, to demonstrate her guilt. Attendance data needed to be used in conjunction with other pieces of evidence  such as those suggested by the remaining red flags  and, in relation to Norris, for example, this seems to be the basis of his ongoing appeals, as he, too, was convicted largely on attendance data.

Dutch nurse Lucia de Berk was exonerated in 2010 - Vincent Jannink/EPA/Shutterstock

So, attendance data alone did not set alarm bells ringing in Chester at first and, above all, the reason why Letby was able to evade detection for so long was a seeming absence of other red flags. She didnt make her colleagues worried or anxious, but appeared to be well-integrated into the professional and social life of the unit and the hospital. She wasnt found to be in possession of drugs, and nor did she display, as Allitt had done, evidence of having an underlying personality disorder which, in her case, was Munchausen syndrome by proxy (now usually described as Factitious disorder imposed on another). Nor did she have less common, but still noticeable red flags  such as being fascinated by serial killers. In other words, Letby hid in plain sight and presented as competent, caring, ordinary and simply as unlucky. There was no smoking gun in this case  no one ever saw her inject a baby with air, for example  but instead it was a compelling compendium of circumstantial evidence that eventually left the jury convinced of Letbys guilt.

The motives of nurses who kill in hospital settings are notoriously difficult to establish. Some want to claim that they were exercising mercy when managing a very sick patient; although often when this is interrogated more fully, the patient was easily capable of recovering. Others simply seem to have been ridding the ward or unit  and also themselves  with demanding patients and therefore not only freeing up beds, but also their time.

A small number also had a hero complex. This means that they liked the attention that came with managing complex cases and, even if a number of their patients died, they were still seen as heroic for attempting to treat and care for them  perhaps even more so if the outcome was that patients death. These categories are not in themselves mutually exclusive and several of the nurses who murdered that I studied displayed evidence of having more than one motivation.

Letby pleaded not guilty and so it is impossible to say definitively what might have motivated her to kill, rather than to do no harm. She claimed that she hadnt killed and harmed people in her care, rather than offering explanations for what she had done in mitigation. However, my sense of what she said at her trial, and how she behaved within the court, is that she liked to keep control of herself and those who surrounded her. Shes good at her image management and her presentation of self and therefore also how she expects other people will react to her. Above all, she wants to be respected.

It was a compelling compendium of circumstantial evidence that eventually left the jury convinced of Letbys guilt - Elizabeth Cook

This seems to me to be about her sense of entitlement  theres a whiff of narcissism here too  and an expectation and exercise of power. Thats a recurring theme with many of the serial killers that I have worked with. They like power and control and deciding to take another persons life is, of course, the ultimate way of expressing power; a power that is often missing in other aspects of their life.

A rarely asked question in all of this is: does the killer have a motivation to kill prior to choosing their profession, or does it develop after they start to work and when they realise that they can commit murder but remain undetected? After all, specific occupations seem to dominate those chosen by serial killers: healthcare and driving occupations (such as delivery workers) most obviously.

Our most prolific serial killer was Harold Shipman, a trusted, local GP working in a singleton practice, with little managerial oversight to curb his murderous behaviour. He, too, hid in plain sight until he forged the will of his last victim  and that victims daughter, who worked as a solicitor, challenged what had happened. But nurses and doctors have access to lethal drugs and to people who are vulnerable  especially the very young, or the very elderly  and their deaths are all too often simply seen to be a consequence of their age, or structural healthcare issues.

From those serial killers who have talked about why they kill (in itself, relatively rare), its obvious that they have already developed a desire to kill other people and then chose a profession that allowed them to do so. Take Robert Black and Peter Sutcliffe, for example  the latter who became a lorry driver knowing that there would be little managerial oversight of him, and that driving about Yorkshire would give him access to the people and places that other jobs would not have facilitated. As a delivery driver, Scottish serial killer Black knew road networks just as well as any satnav, and therefore also where he might abduct his victims and then discard their bodies with little chance of their being discovered. (He was convicted of the kidnap, rape and murder of four girls aged between five and 11 in the 1990s).

Harold Shipman, Robert Black and Peter Sutcliffe - Paul Bates/ Reuters | PA Wire | Express Newspapers

In all of this deeply sad and depressing story theres hope, too. Dont get scared. Look again at the numbers of nurses that I uncovered in my research across the world: just 16 in more than 30 years. This phenomenon is very rare and its clear that the vast majority of nurses want to help, not to harm.

I know this only too well as just a few weeks after Letby went on trial, my grandson Ronan was born more than two months prematurely. I got to know all about neonatal units, and watched on helplessly as Ronan, his tiny body almost entirely covered in tubes, breathed in and out fighting for his life. The nurses who worked in that neonatal unit  all women, and I actually did not encounter a male healthcare professional there  exuded knowledge, care and a professionalism that was quite simply superhuman. They really were angels.

I like to think about those nurses, rather than Letby, and I am only sorry that she has prevented other parents and grandparents from excitedly discussing and fussing over their own child or grandchild. Ronan, I am delighted to report, is in rude health, thanks to the professionalism of the staff who work in that hospital.

As for Letby, we might never know why she started killing, but the chances are that she did so because her underlying narcissism, and sense of entitlement, drove her behaviour so that she was always manipulating ways to be the centre of attention, even if that involved murder.

That narcissism likely existed long before June 2015. She is an outlier  a nurse who killed in plain sight  but who was also well-liked in the unit, making it all the more difficult to have spotted what was actually happening in these cases. However, the fact that she is an outlier should also give us comfort. Nurses who kill are few and far between and someone like Letby is even more unusual within that rare and small sample of Angels of Death.

Murder at Home: how our safest space is where we are most in danger, by David Wilson, is out now (22, Sphere). His paper In Search of the Angels of Death: Conceptualising the Contemporary Nurse Healthcare Serial Killer, co-written with Elizabeth Yardley, was published in the Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling

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.
Although its not guaranteed, Pueblo city clerk Marisa Stoller is expecting that there will be a runoff in the 2023 mayoral election.

Pueblos city charter requires that a runoff election is held if one candidate does not receive a majority of votes. More than a dozen candidates have filed their intent to run for the office, so its unlikely that a single candidate will be a decisive victor.

Stoller is already working on planning the runoff election, expected sometime in January next year.

The city will be getting some help from the Pueblo County elections department, under jurisdiction of Pueblo County Clerk Candace Rivera, but the county itself will not run the runoff election like it did in 2019.

Thats because county elections staff need to prepare for Colorados presidential primary election, scheduled for March 5, Rivera said in a statement.

Pueblo City Hall at 1 City Hall Place.

Why the county cant run the runoff

Our statutory timelines and obligations to conduct the 2024 presidential primary for Pueblo County voters overlap and conflict with the election preparation and conduct of a potential city of Pueblo mayoral runoff election in January 2024, Rivera wrote in an emailed statement.

Running an election takes months of work before and after ballots are due to ensure everyones vote is counted accurately. Elections staff will need to start preparing for the presidential primary as early as Jan. 5, 2024 and mail ballots to military and overseas voters on Jan. 20, Rivera said.

Stoller told the Chieftain that the runoff will likely be in late January, but the date has not yet been finalized. The timing of the runoff also needs to align with the statutory requirements for sending ballots to military and overseas voters, Stoller said. Colorado law requires that ballots get sent no later than 45 days before an election.

Rivera said she was unavailable for an interview and follow-up questions, but Deputy Clerk Karen Long explained that its difficult to have two elections running on election equipment at the same time.

Running two different elections at once isnt impossible, but its not a good idea, Long said  it can be done, but we've never done it before and it's really not advisable.

Long also noted that the timeline for the municipal election stretches into December, which could affect how soon military and overseas ballots could be sent out in a runoff. Dec. 14 is the last day for election staff to complete a recount requested and paid for by an interested party.

Counties are required by Colorado law to run coordinated elections held in November, but are not legally obligated to run elections for cities, special districts and other political entities during other times of the year.

In addition to the presidential primary in March 2024, Pueblo County elections staff will also run the primary election in June 2024 and the general election in November 2024.

From left: Pueblo County Chief Deputy Clerk Karen Long, Clerk Candace Rivera and Election Director Dan Lepik stand in front of the Agilis ballot sorting machine at the new office of the Pueblo County elections department in the Wells Fargo Building on July 18, 2023. At the department's previous office, this machine was previously on another floor as most of the rest of the election equipment. Having this machine on the same floor as everything else will help optimize the process and improve the flow of accurate ballot counting, officials said.

How the city is preparing to do the runoff

Administering the runoff will cost the city approximately $250,000, Stoller said.

The city would have been on the hook to pay for the runoff election even if Pueblo County administered it. Stoller said she wasnt sure how much it would have cost to run the runoff election if the county was doing most of the work.

The cost of printing and mailing the ballots is one of the largest costs of running the election, Stoller said, and that likely wouldnt change much under the countys supervision.

There are some very minor setup costs with the printing vendor, as well as some equipment rental and setup costs that might be higher because the city is taking the lead, but other expenses such as paying election judges would be the same, Stoller said.

The city is also planning on hiring an election supervisor of day-to-day operations and election judges so that staff in Stollers office wont be handling day-to-day ballot operations.

How this compares to what happened in Pueblo West

Rivera was sworn in as Pueblo Countys new clerk and recorder in January.

Earlier this year, before she had obtained certification to run elections, Rivera notified the Pueblo West Metro District that her office would not be able to administer the May 2 special district election.

An initial intergovernmental agreement with the city  which Pueblo city council unanimously approved Monday night  defines that the county will run the municipal election in November but not run the potential runoff. Also, Stoller and Long said that the city and county are working on an additional intergovernmental agreement to formalize how the county can assist the city with the runoff.

Rivera said in the statement that the city and county have been meeting about the runoff and that the countys assistance can include lists of election judges, a limited amount of election supplies and any other requests we can meet.

Pueblo County elections department moves into Wells Fargo building

Pueblo West Metro Districts public information officer Anthony Sandstrom confirmed that they contracted with a single vendor, Community Resource Services, for all of the election administration in May.

Unlike the Pueblo West election, Stoller said that the city is preparing to do separate contracts for election equipment, printing and hiring election judges.

Anna Lynn Winfrey covers politics for the Pueblo Chieftain. She can be reached at awinfrey@gannett.com or on Twitter, @annalynnfrey. Please support local news at subscribe.chieftain.com.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo city clerk will administer mayoral runoff election in 2024
Even before the German grocery giant Lidl opened its first U.S. store in 2017, the company had its eyes on Erie.

As early as 2015, Lidl had been working to develop a store on Route 99, south of Interchange Road, Jack Munch, a real estate developer with Baldwin Brothers Inc., said in a 2018 interview.

That plan was ultimately scuttled over zoning concerns. But Lidl, known for its low prices, in-store bakeries, fresh produce and bag-your-own groceries culture, also had another Erie location in mind.

Plans for an Erie store took a big step forward in September of 2017 when Lidl US paid $2.3 million to purchase a 35,000-square foot space from VCG Properties LLC, which owns the West Erie Erie Plaza.

While VCG Properties maintained ownership of the rest of the plaza, Lidl became the owner of a vacant building at the southwestern end of the plaza that had previously been home to Good Cents, a Giant Eagle subsidiary.

Shown here in this 2018 file photo is a building adjacent to the West Erie Plaza. The building, which had been owned by Lidl USA, has been sold to an entity owned by Baldwin Brothers Real Estate.

Two years later, in 2018, the building remained empty and unused and there were hints that Erie might not be part of the company's expansion plans.

"It is early along in our expansion into Pennsylvania and we are not addressing eachindividual site at this time," Chandler Ebeier, a spokesman for Lidl, said at the time. "However, we do look forward to opening our first stores in Pennsylvania."

That's already taken place. In fact, the company has 13 Pennsylvania stores, according to ScrapeHero, a data company. Lidl is well regarded as a competitor to Aldi, another German-owned chain that operates more than 2,300 stores in the United States.

But Lidl, which has more than 12,000 stores worldwide, including 181 in the United States, has grown more slowly in this country than some had expected.

In a 2019 report, Forbes concluded: "One has to be surprised that new store opening activity is relatively slow by this very big food retailer."

According to The Grocer, an online industry publication, Lidl announced in February that it planned to cut in half its plans to open 50 new U.S. stores this year to focus on expanding its warehouse capacity.

No final act for West Erie Plaza building

Meanwhile, the prospects of a Lidl store, at least one in Millcreek Township at the West Erie Plaza, seems to be fading.

The company, which originally paid $2.3 million for the plaza store building, recently sold the structure to an entity controlled by Erie-based Baldwin Brothers Inc. for $1.325 million, nearly $1 million less than Lidl paid for the property.

Matthew Puz, zoning and development officer for Millcreek Township, said a demolition permit was issued Monday that will allow the building to be demolished except for the wall it shares with the West Erie Plaza.

Jack Munch, of Baldwin Brothers, referred questions about the property to Gregory Baldwin, who did not respond to requests for comment.

There's been no word on the company's plans for the property.

More: West Erie Plaza making a comeback

More: Tops Market closing raises food desert concerns in Erie

Contact Jim Martin at jmartin@timesnews.com.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Baldwin Brothers to demolish former Lidl property in West Erie Plaza
A Sedgwick County judge on Friday ordered a Wichita man to serve more than 18 years in prison for fatally shooting a Colorado man in the parking lot of a South Broadway motel in 2019, Sedgwick County District Attorneys Office spokesman Dan Dillon said.

Tyrone Adams, 44, pleaded guilty on March 23 to an amended count of voluntary manslaughter in the Dec. 9, 2019, killing of Kyson Mock, 34.

Police have said Mock had been in Wichita for four days for work when Adams fatally shot him inside of his Ford F-250 at the Countryside Inn, 803 S. Broadway on Dec. 9, 2019.

Mock was in the motel parking lot waiting on Adams on-again, off-again girlfriend to retrieve her dog from her room at the neighboring Trail Motel, according to an affidavit released by the court. Mock had recently met the woman, the affidavit says.

The woman told police Adams wouldnt let her leave her motel room when she arrived for the dog and that Adams killed Mock after overhearing a phone conversation where she begged Mock to not leave without her, the affidavit says. The voluntary manslaughter charge alleges the killing happened upon a sudden quarrel or in the heat of passion, court records say.

Judge Bruce Brown imposed the 221-month sentence, Dillon said. Adams was originally charged with first-degree murder and criminal possession of a firearm in the case.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 18)  Inmate Michael Cataroja was reportedly able to escape the national penitentiary casually after impersonating a visitor and copying the prison's stamp manually on his arm, a Philippine National Police (PNP) official said Friday.

New Bilibid Prison (NBP) inmate Cataroja, who had been missing since July 15, was recaptured by police in Rizal province on Thursday.

PNP APC-Southern Luzon Commander LtGen Rhoderick Armamento said Cataroja was able to pass through security after copying NBP's visitor stamp on his arm using a ballpen.

"Pinag-aralan niya 'yung movement ng mga visitors and then napansin niya na may tinatak na parang rubber stampGinaya nya yung parang rectangle na rubber stamp, itinatak nya sa braso niya," Armamento said.

[Translation: He studied the movement of the visitors and then he noticed that something was stamped like a rubber stamp... He imitated the rectangle-like rubber stamp, stamped it on his arm]

The officer added that Cataroja also looked for a visitor with the same height and body size as him and used the false name of "Julius Villanueva."

Cataroja reportedly walked half a day, traversing EDSA to reach Cainta, where he hid since his escape.

He was found after authorities received a tip regarding his location.

Senate probe on security breach

The Senate committee currently investigating the reported "mass grave" will now turn its focus on the NBP security after Cataroja's arrest

"Matutuon ngayon ang hearing ng Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights kung paano nakatakas si PDL (person deprived of liberty) Michael Cataroja at kung ano ang naging kapabayaan ng BuCor (Bureau of Corrections)," panel chair Senator Francis Tolentino said Friday.

[Translation: The hearing of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights will now focus on how PDL Michael Cataroja escaped and the negligence of the BuCor]

The BuCor earlier launched a "full-blown investigation" on the 25-year-old inmate's escape from the national penitentiary in Muntinlupa City.

Tolentino's panel last week initiated a motu proprio inquiry on the alleged discovery of a mass grave inside the national penitentiary after some "bone fragments" were unearthed in the said location.

RELATED: House probe on discovery of human remains in Bilibid septic tank set next week

The piece of bone found in the septic tank was later reported as not of human origin, according to the National Bureau of Investigation.

Tolentino said the committee will be tackling the NBP's security breach issue on the hearing on Tuesday, Aug. 22

CNN Philippines Senior Correspondent Anjo Alimario contributed to this report.
YELLOWKNIFE, Canada  About 20,000 people, the entire population of Yellowknife, were ordered to evacuate by noon Friday as a wildfire threatened the city.

The capital city of the Northwest Territories in Canada, Yellowknife, along with surrounding communities was issued an evacuation order as a wildfire is expected to reach the outskirts of the city by the weekend.

Map showing location of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada.

"It is critical that all residents obey the Evacuation Order," City of Yellowknife officials said on Thursday. "Fire behavior is expected to increase in the next few days, and there will be a dramatic increase in smoky conditions."

WILDFIRES CAN BE DANGEROUS FOR YOUR HEALTH EVEN IF YOU'RE NOWHERE NEAR ONE

As of Friday afternoon, officials counted 236 active wildfires in the Northwest Territories. The total number of fires for 2023 stands at 269, with more than 8,200 square miles affected.

Footage from Yellowknife captured images of residents fleeing their homes. A line of individuals carrying suitcases could be seen from the road near a local high school, where local officials asked residents evacuating by air to go Thursday.

"There is a possibility that, without rain, the fire reaches the outskirts of Yellowknife by the weekend," NWT Fire officials said. "While rain is in the forecast, there are no guarantees."

Plane flies above locals sitting in traffic as they try to evacuate. August 16, 2023.

On Tuesday, Municipal and Community Affairs Minister Shane Thompson declared a Territorial State of Emergency for the Northwest Territories.

HOW TO WATCH FOX WEATHER

The declaration allows the Government of the Northwest Territories to acquire and deploy the necessary resources to support the management of the wildfire season and protect the health and safety of Northwest Territories residents.
The Nevada County Sheriffs Office on Thursday evening briefly ordered mandatory evacuations for a new wildfire that started along Highway 49 in the northwestern portion of the county, with authorities reporting forward progress on the fire had been stopped in less than an hour.

The wildfire, which was being called the Reader Fire, was burning in the North San Juan area of Nevada County.

Sheriffs officials shortly after 6:30 p.m. ordered the mandatory evacuations for county evacuation Zone 331, which is the greater Tyler Foote and Purdon Road area, and Zone 330, which includes the Millhouse, Montezuma and central Purdon areas along Highway 49.

The Sheriffs Office in updates around 7:15 p.m. said forward progress on the fire had been halted and that all evacuation orders were lifted.

Roadways were expected to be impacted in the area as crews continued to work the fire, sheriffs officials said. Caltrans reported Highway 49 was closed in the immediate area of the fire.

Cal Fires Nevada-Yuba-Placer unit in social media posts reported the blaze involved three separate fires, one of which had been halted as of 6:40 p.m. while the other two continued to burn near the Yuba River. The fire was spreading at a moderate rate near power lines, Cal Fire officials wrote.

No size estimate was immediately available. Cal Fire said the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

The fire is the second in as many days to force evacuation orders in Nevada County. On Wednesday, sheriffs officials ordered at least Nevada County 185 residents to evacuate in response to the Highway Fire. As of Thursday afternoon, the Highway Fire had burned nearly 31 acres with 5% containment, according to the Tahoe National Forest.
The interim president and CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee resigned Thursday over false academic credentials included on his resume.

Willie McLaurin, a former Tennessee pastor, stepped down from his role as the Nashville-based executive committees highest-ranking employee. The sudden and surprising news comes amid a search process for a permanent president and CEO in which McLaurin was a candidate.

Executive committee chair Philip Robertson confirmed McLaurins resignation in a statement Thursday. A presidential search team, in a review of McLaurin's application for the permanent position, "discovered disqualifying information during their process of vetting and due diligence, Robertson said.

McLaurins education credentials that he presented in his resume are false," Robertson said.

Interim President and CEO, Willie McLaurin, addresses the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee meeting Monday, Feb. 20, 2023 in Nashville, Tenn.

The executive committee, comprised of about 30 staff and an 86-member board of elected representatives, manages denomination business outside the conventions two-day annual meeting. As chair, Robertson leads the group of 86 elected members.

McLaurin admitted to the charges against him in a resignation letter to executive committee members, according to Robertsons statement. McLaurins resignation letter said his resume included schools that I did not attend or complete the course of study. Robertsons statement did not include a copy of McLaurins full resignation letter.

McLaurin's resume falsely stated he received degrees from North Carolina Central University, Duke University Divinity School and Hood Theological Seminary, according to Baptist Press.

McLaurin stepped into the interim role last February after the last permanent president and CEO, Ronnie Floyd, resigned following controversy and division among the executive committee over a third-party abuse investigation.

Moving up from a vice president role in the organization, McLaurins interim appointment made him the first Black entity head. The Nashville-based SBC, the nation's largest Protestant denomination, has 12 entities, or convention-affiliated agencies, that oversee different ministry enterprises such as seminaries, missions, publishing and administration.

Prior to working at the executive committee, McLaurin worked for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, which serves as the state Southern Baptist convention, and was as a pastor in Clarksville.

The executive committee is currently undergoing a second search process for a permanent president and CEO after an initial attempt unexpectedly failed.

The first search process came to an end in May when the presidential search team  a subcommittee of executive committee members  recommended Texas pastor Jared Wellman as the next president and CEO. However, executive committee members voted 31-50 against Wellmans hiring, thereby resetting the process.

Executive committee members raise their hands in praise during the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee meeting Monday, Feb. 20, 2023 in Nashville, Tenn.

The pushback surrounded Wellmans position at the time as an executive committee member, meaning he was an elected trustee vying for a full-time staff position, and specifically the committees chair. When Wellman applied for the job and became a finalist, he stepped down as chair but remained a member.

Some executive committee members who ultimately voted against Wellman in May felt the presidential search team failed to communicate how it handled the delicate nature of Wellmans candidacy.

During both the first presidential search process and now the second, McLaurin was a presumed candidate.

The leadership rollercoaster has caused additional instability for the executive committee at a critical moment. Coming off a historic third-party abuse investigation and subsequent abuse reform efforts, the executive committee is facing lawsuits related to abuse and a Department of Justice inquiry. Since the initial revelation last April, there hasn't been any public updates about the status of the DOJ investigation.

McLaurin said in a statement to Baptist Press on Thursday, "I am thankful for the trust that Southern Baptists placed in me to serve as Interim President & CEO. Now, I am trusting Southern Baptists to pray for me and my family as we navigate this part of the journey.

Robertson's statement Thursday didn't outline the executive committee's next steps to fill the vacancy left by McLaurin. The committee is set to gather for one of its major yearly meetings in September.

Other recent SBC news: Suit against SBC mission agency dismissed in case highlighting church authority, First Amendment

Liam Adams covers religion for The Tennessean. Reach him at ladams@tennessean.com or on Twitter and Threads @liamsadams.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Southern Baptist Convention: Willie McLaurin resigns over credentials
Jacqueline Nguyen and her wife on a Spirit flight a few days before the incident. @jacqueline.ngu/TikTok

A woman said a flight attendant made her exit a plane after confusing her eczema for mpox.

She's now suing Spirit Airlines, accusing it of anti-gay discrimination and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The lawsuit accused the airline of stereotyping the woman because she was gay.

A woman who said she was escorted off a plane after a Spirit Airlines flight attendant confused her eczema for mpox is suing the airline, alleging anti-gay discrimination, according to a new lawsuit.

According to a civil complaint filed on Wednesday at the Los Angeles Superior Court, Jacqueline Nguyen and her wife checked into a Spirit Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Dallas last August.

But after all of the passengers were seated, a woman in a Spirit Airlines uniform approached Nguyen and her wife and asked them to get off the plane, according to the complaint.

Nguyen was "very confused" by the request, and once she reached the jet bridge she asked staff what was going on, it said.

A Spirit Airlines employee, who is not identified by name in the lawsuit, asked about the "rash" on Nguyen's face, the complaint said, with Nguyen explaining that it was eczema and was not contagious.

But according to the complaint, Spirit Airlines staff expressed concern that Nguyen had been infected with the mpox virus..

Mpox is a viral infection that is primarily spread by skin-to-skin contact. Though mpox can be spread through close contact, including sex, it is not considered a sexually transmitted disease.

Anybody, regardless of sexual orientation, can spread mpox, though early reporting on the disease focused on the high number of cases amongst gay and bisexual men.

"This assumption demonstrated that Spirit Airlines was stereotyping Ms. Nguyen, as they seemed to believe that gay people are more vulnerable to carrying the disease," the complaint said.

According to the complaint, Nguyen and her wife were asked to provide medical documentation to prove that she had eczema. Nguyen presented a tube of eczema cream and was allowed to reboard the flight, which had been delayed by the interaction.

"On the flight, Ms. Nguyen hid her face because of how humiliating and shameful the whole ordeal was to her," the complaint said.

Nguyen told Insider's Monica Humphries in August 2022 that she remembered thinking, "Oh, my god, everybody here thinks that I'm diseased."

Nguyen's lawsuit accuses Spirit Airlines of intentional infliction of emotional distress and sexual orientation discrimination.

It's seeking an unspecified amount of damages, as well as an injunction preventing Spirit Airlines from requiring non-heterosexual passengers to prove they are traveling without sexually transmitted diseases.

"Defendants did not require any of the other heterosexual patrons present to prove that they were not flying with sexually transmitted diseases before being allowed to fly," it said.

The airline did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Read the original article on Insider
A Chipotle bowl. Chipotle

TikToker Alex Williams said she "didn't want to pay 86.50 for an airport salad."

So she brought what appeared to be a container filled with Chipotle takeout on board.

"I'm in a middle seat and I know for a fact someone is about to hate me," Williams wrote on TikTok.

TikToker Alex Williams sparked a debate by showing off her choice of plane food  a full container of what looked like Chipotle takeout wrapped in a plastic bag.

Williams filmed herself sitting at an airport in a video uploaded on Thursday, August 10. In the video, she explained that she brought a Tupperware of Mexican takeout with her because she "didn't want to pay 86.50 for an airport salad."

"I'm in a middle seat and I know for a fact someone is about to hate me," Williams wrote in her video.

"Im so sorry this plane is about to REEK #chipotle," Williams added in her TikTok video caption, seeming to name the restaurant she bought from.

The video really annoyed some people, who thought it was out of line for Williams to bring her takeout on board.

"Why not eat it before the flight? Eating a full in meal in the poor section of the plane is next level disgusting and inconsiderate," one TikTok user wrote.

"Girl eat it beforehand what's wrong with you," another person commented.

Williams had some supporters, some of whom said it was fair game to bring food on a trip.

"I always take food to the airport/on flights," wrote one TikTok user.

"I'm convinced people who hate on this wish they thought of it because paying that much for airport food is WILD," another TikTok user wrote.

Some people commented that the smell of Chipotle was nothing compared to the other smells on the plane  like that of other people, or diapers.

Other commentators, however, asked practical questions like how she managed to bring her salsa on board and whether that would count as a solid or a liquid.

"How did you get this through TSA?" one person asked.

(TSA guidelines say up to 3.4oz of salsa is permissible.)

The Chipotle official account was a big fan of Williams' idea  obviously.

"This barbie is clever," the account commented on Williams' video on Thursday, August 18.

Williams posted a response to Chipotle on Thursday, gushing about her love for Chipotle.

"I have you multiple times a week, I don't care what anyone says about you. You are my number one, I love you more than anything," she said, tagging the Chipotle account in her video.

Williams did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider, sent outside regular business hours.

Read the original article on Insider
Pascale Ferrier was sentenced to nearly 22 years in prison for mailing a threatening letter containing the poison ricin to Donald Trump - Hidalgo County (Texas) Sheriff's Office

A woman was jailed for nearly 22 years for sending threatening letters containing homemade ricin to Donald Trump when he was United States president.

Pascale Ferrier, 56, had pleaded guilty to violating biological weapons prohibitions in letters sent to Mr Trump and to police officials in Texas, where she had been jailed for several weeks in 2019.

The envelope addressed to Mr Trump was intercepted in September 2020 at the White House mail sorting facility in Washington.

US Postal Service personnel flagged it as suspicious and contacted the FBI, according to an FBI affidavit filed then with the charging documents.

Ferrier, a Canadian national, was arrested two days later on the Canada-US border between Buffalo and Fort Erie, Ontario.

She was carrying a gun, a knife and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, said authorities.

Ferrier admitted that she had made ricin at her residence in Quebec, Canada, in September 2020, said prosecutors.

She then mailed the potentially deadly poison, which is derived from processing castor beans, to Mr Trump with a letter that referred to him as The Ugly Tyrant Clown.

I might use my gun

The letter read in part: If it doesnt work, Ill find better recipe for another poison, or I might use my gun when Ill be able to come. Enjoy! Free Rebel Spirit.

In a winding speech, Ferrier told the judge that she considers herself a peaceful and genuinely kind person, but gets angry about problems like unfairness, abuses of power and stupid rules.

She spoke about feeling like she had done little to support her values while her children were young, and considered herself to be an activist rather than a terrorist.

She expressed little remorse but said: I want to find peaceful means to achieve my goals.

US District Judge Dabney Friedrich noted a real disconnect between the Canadian grandmother who has worked toward another degree while behind bars and the crimes Ferrier pleaded guilty to.

But she pushed back on Ferriers framing of her actions. That isnt really activism, she said. I hope you have no desire to continue on this path.

Ferriers sentence of 262 months (21 years and eight months) in prison will be followed by a lifetime of supervised release, said the Justice Department.

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.
A 56-year-old woman who sent letters containing ricin poison to then-President Donald Trump and eight Texas law enforcement officials in 2020 has been sentenced to nearly 22 years in federal prison.

Pascale Cecile Veronique Ferrier, a dual citizen of Canada and France, was sentenced Thursday in Washington, D.C., after pleading guilty in January to charges in two separate cases concerning biological weapons.

Ferrier reportedly expressed no remorse for her actions at her sentencing hearing and argued that her homemade ricin wasnt lethal enough to kill.

Canadian police investigators exit a residential building in Quebec that was related to a probe into ricin-filled envelopes sent to the White House and to Texas officials in 2020.

Canadian police investigators exit a residential building in Quebec that was related to a probe into ricin-filled envelopes sent to the White House and to Texas officials in 2020.

It was just a strong warning. I did not target innocent people, she said, according to NBC News. Her only regret was that the threatening letter to Trump did not stop him from seeking reelection, she added.

Ferrier confessed to making ricin, a poison derived from castor beans, at her home in Quebec in September of 2020 and then mailing the powder to Trump and the Texas law enforcement officials with letters threatening violence.

Ferrier suspected that the Texas officials were connected to a roughly 10-week detention she experienced in the state in the spring of 2019 for weapons possession, authorities said.

In her multiple letters, Ferrier wrote that if the special gift she enclosed didnt work, she would find a better recipe or make a trip with her gun, according to court documents.

Ferrier also took to social media to ask that someone please shoot [Trump] ... in the face, authorities said.

A few days after mailing the letter to Trump  which was intercepted by Secret Service officials  she was stopped by border patrol officers while driving from Canada to Buffalo, New York, and arrested.

Authorities said she had with her a loaded firearm, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, and other weapons. She made statements to the officers of being wanted by the FBI for the ricin letters, according to court documents.

Her public defender had argued for the 262-month sentence, which includes a life sentence of supervised release and eventual deportation. The lawyer told the judge back in May that the grandmother and former software developer had no prior criminal record and that the sentence would give her hope of surviving prison and seeing her grandchildren.
Here is a Lexington list and guide of the best weekend events around Central Kentucky on Friday, Saturday and Sunday if you are bored and need things to do including live music concerts, benefit 5K runs, art festivals, kid-friendly and free events, comedy shows, concert series, small town festivals, foodie events and the popular Doggie Paddle where your dog can swim in a Lexington city pool.

Berea Celtic Festival

The Berea Celtic Festival will continue through Aug. 20 with a bevy of workshops, presentations, and concerts taking place everywhere from The Boone Tavern to the Kentucky Artisan Center, Cowan Chapel and the Madison County Public Library in Richmond. Free-$20. Berea-Celtic.com.

Tacos N Tequila at Greyline Station

Enjoy tequila and tacos from some of the citys top restaurants during Tacos N Tequila at Greyline Station on Aug. 18 from 5-9 p.m. Tickets start at $50 and include five taco tickets and one tequila drink. 101 W Loudon Ave. Eventbrite.com.

Mama Said String Band concert at The Void Sake Company

Louisville based bluegrass band Mama Said String Band will perform at The Void Sake Company on Aug. 18 at 7 p.m. with support from Kyle Zornes. $15. 949 National Ave #190. TheVoidSake.com.

Shaker Village music on the lawn concert series

Somerset based musician Spooky Fox will perform during Shaker Village of Pleasant Hills free music on the lawn concert series on Aug. 18 at 6:30 p.m. 3501 Lexington Rd, Harrodsburg. ShakerVillageKy.org.

Going to Kentucky State Fair? Concert lineup includes local music stars, old favorites

Summer Nights In Suburbia concert series at Moondance Amphitheater

Honeychild will perform during the next iteration of the Summer Nights In Suburbia concert series at Moondance Amphitheater on Aug. 18 at 7 p.m. Free. 1152 Monarch St. LexingtonKy.gov.

Comedian Roy Wood Jr. at Comedy Off Broadway

Emmy-nominated comedian and former correspondent on Comedy Centrals The Daily Show, Roy Wood Jr., will perform at Comedy Off Broadway on Aug. 18 at 7 and 9:30 p.m. and Aug. 19 at 6:30 and 9 p.m. $25-35. 161 Lexington Green Cir #C4. ComedyOffBroadway.com.

8 top comedians visit Lexington over 6 weeks and you can play Office trivia with one

Bendigo Fletcher, AJJ, Second Hand News concerts at The Burl

Louisvilles Bendigo Fletcher will team up with Whitesburgs Wayne Graham for an outdoor show at The Burl on Aug. 18 (8 p.m., $20) followed by AJJ, Open Mike Eagle, Sad Park, and Foot Ox on Aug. 19 (8 p.m., $22.50) and Second Hand News with Hannah & The Barbarians on Aug. 20 (6 p.m., $15). 375 Thompson Rd. TheBurlKy.com.

Benefit: DV8K Life-Changing Run at Keeneland

The 5th Annual DV8K Life Changing Run will take place at Keeneland on Aug. 19 at 8:30 a.m. Events include a 4K, an 8K and a Kids  Mile Dash. $20-30. 4201 Versailles Rd. RunSignUp.com.

Benefit: Triple Crown Trot 5K at Ashford Stud

Get a behind-the-scenes look at Ashford Stud, home of Triple Crown champions American Pharoah and Justify, during the Triple Crown Trot 5K benefiting the Woodford Humane Society on Aug. 19 at 8 a.m. $55. 5095 Frankfort Rd, Versailles. RunSignUp.com.

Doggie Paddle at the Southland Pool

Lexington Humane Societys Doggie Paddle, the citys largest pool party for dogs, will take place at the Southland Pool on Aug. 19 from 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. $5-20. 625 Hill N Dale Rd. LexingtonHumaneSociety.org.

Woodland Art Fair at Woodland Park

The 47th annual Woodland Art Fair will take place at Woodland Park on Aug. 19 from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Aug. 20 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. There will be nearly 200 artist booths and more than 70,000 are expected to attend. Free. 601 E High St. WoodlandArtFair.org.

Chamber Music Festival at the Pam Miller Downtown Arts Center

The 16th annual Chamber Music Festival of Lexington will kick off on Aug. 19 and run through Aug. 27 at the Pam Miller Downtown Arts Center with performances featuring artist-in-residence Kenneth Olsen and ensemble-in-residence WindSync. Free-$100. 141 E Main St. ChamberMusicLex.org/2023-Festival.

Youll be hearing music everywhere: Lexington chamber festival returns full strength

East End Arts & Music Festival at the Artists Village

The second annual East End Music & Arts Festival featuring music from The Keith McCutchen Trio feat. Mary Jackson, a reptile zoo and more will take place at The Artists Village on Aug. 19 from 3-6 p.m. Free. 243 Powell St. ArtIncKentucky.org.

Pops At The Park at White Hall State Historic Site

The 40th annual Pops At The Park will celebrate Made in the 80s with music from Rock Of Ages at White Hall State Historic Site in Richmond on Aug. 19 at 5 p.m. $10-200. 500 White Hall Shrine Rd, Richmond. VisitRichmondKy.com.

All Elite Wrestling at Rupp Arena

All Elite Wrestling (AEW) will invade Rupp Arena for a night of high-flying combat on Aug. 19 at 7:30 p.m. From $18. 430 W Vine St. RuppArena.com.

Mark Wills and Tina Turner tribute concert at Manchester Music Hall

Grand Ole Opry member Mark Wills will perform at Manchester Music Hall with support from Matthew Douglas Simpson on Aug. 18 ($11-22). Then on Aug. 19 Rachel Crowe, Emily Jamerson, David Chill Napier and others will gather for a Tina Turner tribute concert ($15-60). Each show begins at 8 p.m. 899 Manchester St. ManchesterMusicHall.com.

Back To School Makers Market at Rock House Brewing

Get back-to-school ready during a makers market at Rock House Brewing on Aug. 20 from 2-6 p.m. Free. 119 Luigart Ct. facebook.com/events/278710111513717.

Matt Wickstrom is a freelancer covering food, music and more. You can follow him on Instagram at @WickstromWrites .
When Aramis Ayala decided to run for Orange-Osceola state attorney in 2016, she had no idea that no Black person had ever held the position in any circuit in the state.

She said her campaign was about three-quarters through before anyone even thought to ask if she could be the first. And even when she realized winning would be historic, she didnt think her skin color would be a defining factor of her time in office.

I wasnt running to be the first Black state attorney, she said. I was running to pursue justice and to redefine justice in a way that spoke more to those who are directly impacted.

Then she won.

Days after she entered office in January 2017, Ayala found herself in a feud with then-Gov. Rick Scott over her opposition to seeking the death penalty in all cases, including that of a man who killed an Orlando police officer. Scott slashed her office budget and removed her from dozens of capital punishment cases, reassigning them to a new prosecutor.

Elected on a progressive platform, Ayala spent much of her term in conflict with Scott and Central Floridas law enforcement leaders, who saw the policies she adopted  in her view, to combat mass incarceration and racially unequal justice  as soft on crime.

The tension became a theme of her time in office. Last week, it brought the term of the woman who replaced her to an early end.

Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended from office State Attorney Monique Worrell, a friend of Ayalas and fellow progressive who she endorsed in 2020. The governor said Worrell had been clearly and fundamentally derelict in her duties and failed to adequately prosecute violent crimes, repeat offenders and juveniles, echoing criticism from Scott, who following a February shooting spree in Pine Hills called for firings in her office.

Ayala reflected on her time in office in an interview with the Orlando Sentinel, seated at a small metal table outside City Hall in downtown Orlando while, feet away, Worrell addressed a crowd who had gathered to support her following her suspension.

Ayala said she believes at least some of the opposition to her decision-making happened because she is a Black woman with progressive ideas about criminal justice reform and police accountability.

Before people like me were elected to take these seats, there was never a question about prosecutorial discretion, she said. As a matter of fact, all the law review articles, all of the university research, talked about how they had so much unfettered discretion and that was just the nature of prosecution. Now that the face and the heart of prosecution has changed, now we have to be so leery of what our discretion looks like and now you want to take discretion away.

Worrell, acknowledging the parallels between her experience as state attorney and Ayalas, said it isnt lost on her that she is only the second Black woman to hold her position and is also now the second to face criticism and discipline from the Republican governor in office.

The first one who held [this position] had some governor problems as well, Worrell said. It seems like every time a Black woman is elected, the governor needs to tell her how to do her job and that is a problem.

I wasnt expecting it

Ayala, too, faced calls for her suspension  a punishment usually reserved for elected officials accused of crimes or other wrongdoing, not disagreements in political ideology  as well as public criticism from local law enforcement leaders, something Worrell has also faced.

In 2018, a Republican state representative from Altamonte Springs called for her removal after she decided not to pursue the death penalty in a murder-for-hire case. In 2020, yet another case was removed from her office, this time by DeSantis, after then-Osceola County Sheriff Russ Gibson wrote a letter to the governor accusing Ayala of withholding evidence in a homicide case to avoid seeking death.

Ayala called Gibsons accusations complete blatant lies.

Meanwhile, the racism Ayala faced from members of the public was undeniable.

Ayala was sent a noose in the mail, she was repeatedly called racial slurs, she received death threats and a Seminole County Clerk of Courts employee wrote on Facebook that she should be tarred and feathered if not hung from a tree.

To be clear, I wasnt expecting it, she said of the backlash she faced from both public officials and residents who disagreed with her politics. I had a very innocent and true vision of justice and I was naive enough to believe that we all wanted justice.

Worrells suspension came after months of scrutiny and criticism from DeSantis, Scott, law enforcement leaders and police unions, all accusing her of being soft on crime and questioning her charging and bail decisions.

Orange County Sheriff John Mina questioned Worrells handling of cases involving repeat offenders last year and again in February after three people were killed and two others were injured in a shooting spree in Pine Hills. In March, Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez held a press conference to object to what he described as Worrells failure to aggressively prosecute drug trafficking cases.

Worrell has previously accused both Mina and Lopez of feeding information to the governor to build a case against her, which both sheriffs denied.

Melba Pearson, a criminal justice professor at Florida International University and a longtime Miami-Dade County prosecutor, said though few Black women across the nation have held similar positions, many of them have faced similar hardships. She said fundraising alone can be a challenge and the difficulties dont stop once these women make it into office.

Just from the starting block, Black females who are running to be elected to be prosecutors are often slow at the start, not due to a lack of ability but just due to perception, which causes funders to stay on the sidelines and makes it harder to get into that seat, said Pearson, who ran unsuccessfully for Miami-Dade State Attorney in 2020. Then once youve gotten into that seat, now, theres that excessive scrutiny.

The examples are not difficult to find.

Former St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner accused city officials and the local police union of conspiring to have her removed from office. In Chicago, Kim Foxx, the first Black woman to serve as Cook County State Attorney, faced accusations of being too soft on crime and a rally by white nationalists in 2019 calling for her to be removed from office. Marilyn Mosby, former lead prosecutor in Baltimore faced similar scrutiny as she attempted to prosecute a group of police officers responsible for Freddie Grays death.

Gardner resigned. Foxx chose not to seek reelection after two terms. Mosby lost her reelection bid.

This is one of the things that you know is coming and you think that you can prepare for it but how do you prepare for hate in action, said Ayala, who chose not to run for reelection after a single term. How do you prepare for the oppression that you see coming? The ability to prepare for abuse is impossible because you dont know what its going to look like. Even if youve experienced it in your life because of your demographic  being a woman, being a Black woman  it doesnt make it easier each time.

Ayala: Bain should resign

A year before DeSantis suspended Worrell, he removed from office Andrew Warren, the elected state attorney for Hillsborough County. Though Warren is white, Ayala said his progressive politics make race a factor in his suspension, too.

The policies that support Black people, Black freedom, Black justice, and fights the injustice, thats what the attack is on, she said. So when you look at Andrew Warren and his policies in Tampa, those policies addressed the systemic racism in our system, its about the policies.

Meanwhile, Andrew Bain, the judge chosen by DeSantis to take over Worrells role as state attorney, is Black, but his early actions in office and membership in the conservative Federalist Society suggest his political leanings are more in line with those of the states predominately white, Republican lawmakers.

DeSantis office did not respond to Ayalas claims, instead saying Worrell was suspended for neglect of duty and incompetence and citing the governors previous claims that she failed to seek adequate punishment for gun charges, drug trafficking and minors who commit crimes.

Our office will aim to be transparent while strengthening partnerships with local law enforcement to ensure public trust and hold those who break the law accountable for their actions in a manner consistent with Florida law, Jason Gunn, spokesperson for the State Attorneys Office, said in a statement. We seek to unify this community rather than divide it. We will prioritize our commitment to public safety, justice for victims, and restoration of offenders who have served their debts to society.

Ayala, pointing to Bains decision to immediately end diversion programs meant to keep nonviolent offenders out of jail, said this choice does nothing to assuage her concerns over the way Black women have been treated in office.

She said Bain was chosen strictly for optics to dull the concerns of those who fear racist motivations led to Worrells suspension.

Ayala called on Bain to resign.

He can call a press conference and he can say Im not going to support the oppression and the destruction of our criminal justice system and I resign this appointment,' she said. Thats what he can do. Because the reality is the minute that you accept that appointment, you have gone along with the problem, you have cosigned it, you have agreed with it and fallen in line instead of being the person whos leading the change.

___
Wayne Lusardi, Michigan's state maritime archaeologist with the Department of Natural Resources helps guide the 1,200-pound mussel-encrusted engine from a P-39 World War II-era fighter plane flown by a member of the famed Tuskegee airmen into a chemical solution, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023 at the Tuskegee Airmen National Historical Museum in Detroit. The plane was flown by a member of the famed Tuskegee airmen that crashed during training nearly 80 years ago near Port Huron, about 60 miles northeast of Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

DETROIT (AP)  A team of divers have been trolling the deep, cold waters of Lake Huron off Michigans Thumb for several weeks each of the past few years searching for scattered pieces of aviation  and Black military  history.

Their target is the wreckage of a World War II-era fighter plane flown by a member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen that crashed during training nearly 80 years ago near Port Huron, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) northeast of Detroit.

So far, the plane's bullet-riddled propellor and hundreds of other pieces have been recovered. Organizers this week hauled the P-39's 1,200-pound (544-kilogram) mussel-encrusted engine from about 30 feet (9 meters) below the surface of the the lake which is home to scores of sailing vessels, tankers and other ships that have sank over the past several centuries.

Once restored, the engine, like other parts of the plane, eventually will be exhibited at the Tuskegee Airmen National Historical Museum at the Coleman A. Young International Airport on Detroit's east side.

Were doing some finalizing of mapping things in terms of what all is there, said Carrie Sowden, archeological and research director at the National Museum of the Great Lakes in Toledo, Ohio. As we prepare for these major lifts, were finding all these small pieces. When were done were going to have a complete understanding where every single piece came from.

The airmen were the nations first all-Black air fighter squadron. They trained and fought separately from white fighter units due to segregation in the U.S. military. Their unit was based in Tuskegee, Alabama, but Michigan served as an advanced training ground during the war.

On April 11, 1944, 2nd Lt. Frank Moody, 22, of Los Angeles was flying over Lake Huron. It's believed his machine guns were not in sync with the rotation of the P-39's propellor. When Moody fired the guns, the slugs struck the propellor, causing the plane to crash into the waters below.

His body washed ashore a few months later, but the plane's wreckage lay scattered along the lake bottom, only disturbed by the movement of the waves and water until 2014 when it was discovered.

In 2018, the state issued an archeological recovery permit to the museum. Later that year, dive and recovery teams began mapping and bringing pieces of the plane up, including the tail, guns, gauges and munitions.

The aircraft is largely disarticulated," according to Wayne Lusardi, Michigans state maritime archaeologist with the Department of Natural Resources and organizer of the recovery effort.

Its broken, spread out over almost a half-a-mile underwater and consists of thousands of pieces," he told The Associated Press on Thursday after the engine was lowered into a chemical solution inside the Tuskegee Airmen museum's hangar. Theres still a good amount of the plane thats still on the bottom."

The Detroit News reported Tuesday that divers also located part of the planes landing gear wheel well and wing flap motor.

Depending on the condition of the artifacts, restoration could take years, according to Isis Gillespie, the museum's conservator of the P-39.

Because the engine is intact, you know it crashed very shallow in the lake ... and it was in fresh water so it helped preserve it a lot more, Gillespie said. This find is so important for Black history to find out how Tuskegee airmen fought for this country and how they fought a war at home, Gillespie said Thursday.

Moody's sacrifice in Lake Huron also should be remembered, added Lusardi.

Its sometimes very easy to forget that this was a place where a young man died who gave his life for this country, Lusardi said. "It really is going to be a memorial to the African American airmen that died here, that trained here in Michigan.

Fifteen Tuskegee airmen were killed while training in Michigan, including five pilots lost in Lake Huron and one in the St. Clair River, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

At least three other planes flown by Tuskegee Airmen remain in Lake Huron, according to Diving With a Purpose, a Tennessee-based group that focuses on the maritime history of Black Americans.

A monument dedicated to Moody and other Tuskegee Airmen who died in Michigan during World War II training was unveiled in 2021 near the international Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron.

Tuskegee Airmen and their aircraft have been referred to as Red Tails for the red-painted wings of their airplanes. Hollywood producers used the name as the title of a 2012 film showcasing the units struggles and its accomplishments.

President George W. Bush awarded the Tuskegee Airmen the Congressional Gold Medal in a ceremony at the Capitol Rotunda in 2007.

The Tuskegee Airmen National Historical Museum is working to start a capital campaign to raise funds for a new building with room to display aircraft flown by the airmen, said Brian Smith, the museum's president and chief executive.

Tuskegee airmen are known for their valor and excellence in fighting the Germans in the air war over Germany in World War II, Smith said. "That story is being told, and has been told, but what we havent heard are about the accidents in training that the airmen suffered. This is an exhibit thats when it's conserved can tell the story of African Americans  the complete story  from training, combat then what they did after the war.

___

Associated Press writer Ken Kusmer in Indianapolis contributed to this report.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 18)  More than half of Filipinos favor stronger military cooperation between the Philippines and the United States to help address territorial disputes in the West Philippine Sea, a survey by OCTA Research showed.

Based on the Tugon ng Masa second quarter survey shared by OCTA fellow Guido David on Thursday, 14% said they were very favorable to strengthening and expanding the countrys military alliance with Washington, while 40% were somewhat favorable, or a total of 54%

Thirty-two percent of respondents said they werent sure, 9% answered somewhat unfavorable, and 2% very unfavorable.

OCTA explained that figures may not add up to 100% due to rounding off.

It also noted that the survey, which was conducted from July 22 to 26, had 1,200 respondents and has a  3% error margin.

Earlier this month, National Security Council Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya said the planned joint patrols of the Philippines and the United States in the disputed waters  where China has sweeping claims over  may happen within the next few months.

Beijing also offered to conduct joint military exercises with Manila, although officials are still studying the proposal. Malaya said the Philippines would need a visiting forces agreement with China for this to happen.
The U.S. is concerned that Turkey has become a hub for Russian sanctions evasion, including a "ghost fleet" for Russian oil and port calls for Russian vessels carrying weapons and sanctioned goods, the Wall Street Journal reported on Aug. 18.

The Turkish company Beks Ship Management, operating dozens of aging oil tankers, participates in a "ghost fleet" of hundreds of vessels that help Russia ship out its oil despite the Western sanctions, the outlet said.

According to the WSJ, there are signs that the effectiveness of U.S.-led sanctions is fading, as in July, Russia's Ural-grade crude oil began trading above the $60 cap set by the Group of Seven (G7) countries.

Western countries are seeking to curb Russia's ability to evade sanctions, particularly in Turkey.

"We have an ongoing dialogue with the Turkish government on these issues," said a Western diplomat cited by the WSJ.

"Our sincere hope is to avoid a scenario in which a Turkish company is sanctioned, and we've worked with both the government and private sector to inform them of the very real risks."

The EU's latest 11th sanctions package was designed primarily to undermine Russia's ability to circumvent previously imposed sanctions. In particular, it prohibited access to EU ports to any vessels that engage in ship-to-ship transfers in order to tackle deceptive practices for importing Russian oil.

Read also: US sanctions companies involved in arms deals between Russia, North Korea

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The Ukrainian Air Force has reported a missile threat to Zaporizhzhia, as the Russians may launch S-300 missiles.

Source: Ukrainian Air Force on Telegram; Yurii Malashko, head of Zaporizhia Oblast Military Administration on Telegram

Quote from Air Forces: "Zaporizhia. Missile threat!".

Details: The head of the Oblast Military Administration clarified that missile launches from the S-300 air defence system in the direction of Zaporizhzhia and populated areas of the Zaporizhzhia district are possible.

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By Lucy Craymer

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand farmers will have until the end of 2025 before they have to pay for methane produced by sheep and cattle, after the Labour government on Friday pushed back its plans to price agricultural emissions of greenhouse gases.

New Zealand, home to 5 million people, has about 10 million cattle and 26 million sheep and nearly half its total greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture, mainly methane.

It is one of the first countries to announce it will price agricultural emissions, but the government has faced criticism from parts of the farming community which is concerned about the cost. It has moved to address some of these concerns ahead of an October election, where it is trailing in the polls.

Agriculture Minister Damien OConnor said pricing of such emissions would start in the fourth-quarter of 2025, back from a previously planned start in the first quarter to give farmers more time to adjust.

Its important the system to manage and price agricultural emissions is workable, effective, fiscally responsible and set up to last. Thats why were taking a measured approach," he said in a statement.

Scientifically validated carbon sequestration such as tree planting around waterways and indigenous forestry would be recognised in the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme, he added.

New Zealand's red-meat lobby groups said they were "dismayed" by the plan.

There is no sound rationale for pricing when the sector is making good progress towards meeting emissions reduction targets, Kate Acland, chair of Beef + Lamb New Zealand, said in a statement.

The government says that along with meeting commitments to cut emissions, demand was growing from foreign buyers for agricultural products that have sustainability credentials.

National, the largest opposition party, says it will only look to price farm emissions by 2030.

(Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Editing by Stephen Coates)
President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a bill designed to ensure the predictability of budget policy and to strengthen debt sustainability, lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak announced on Aug. 18.

This step means the implementation of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) 10th "structural beacon", and serves as the basis for the implementation of the 12th "beacon" on better budget predictability, better debt management, and the risk management of state guarantees, Zhelezniak wrote on his Telegram channel.

The law restores stipulates that, to be considered by the parliament, budget amendments must be approved by the Finance Ministry.

The legislation also sets limits on state guarantees and resumes the development of the State Debt Management Strategy for 2024-2026, which the Finance Ministry must submit by Oct. 25, 2023.

The law was backed by the parliament on July 27 as part of the efforts to complete benchmarks set by the IMF's program for Ukraine.

In March, the IMF approved an agreement with Ukraine under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for four-year financing aid worth about $15.6 billion, part of an overall $115 billion package.

In a first review of the program in June, the IMF said that Ukraine had made strong progress towards its commitments despite Russian aggression.

According to the organization's statement, the country had met all quantitative performance criteria through end-April and structural benchmarks through end-June.

Under the program, Ukraine has already received around $3.6 billion disbursed by the IMF.

Read also: Browder: West must hand Russian Central Banks $350 billion to Ukraine for reconstruction

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President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Aug. 17 that he had signed a law changing how Constitutional Court judges are chosen, which is necessary to launch EU membership talks.

In his evening video address, Zelensky said the law "guarantees transparent, professional, and honest selection of the Constitutional Court judges."

"Our state is one more step closer to joining the European Union," he added.

The reform of the Constitutional Court, which has been entangled in corruption scandals and controversies, is one of the seven recommendations outlined by the European Commission as conditions for Ukraine's accession to the EU.

The first version of the law, signed by Zelensky on Dec. 20, ignored the Venice Commission's recommendations, failing to give foreign experts a key role in assessing the integrity of candidates for Constitutional Court jobs.

Critics argued that the bill would enable the Presidential Office to handpick loyalists and fully control the Constitutional Court. The European Commission urged Kyiv to increase the number of experts who would approve or reject the judge candidates from six to seven, ensuring that the seventh expert is foreign.

Read also: Oleg Sukhov: Ukrainian kleptocrats use war to entrench corruption, with Western experts as facade

On July 27, Ukraine's parliament approved the new bill changing the selection procedure. It gave international experts a deciding vote on judging a justice candidate's integrity and competence, which was praised by the Venice Commission.

However, the European advisory body regretted that its key suggestion to add a deadlock-breaking seventh member to the six-person expert group involved in the judge selection was not followed. Under the new law, the expert panel will still include three representatives of the Ukrainian government and three foreign experts.

Ukraine's Constitutional Court has long been a controversial body, which has struck down multiple important anti-corruption reforms, a number of which were later brought back.

President Volodymyr Zelensky suspended and removed the court's chairman in 2021, calling his tenure a threat to Ukraine's national security.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Aug. 17 that he had enacted a bill on the competitive selection of candidates for judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine

Zelenskyy referred to the bill as one of the pivotal laws for initiating negotiations with the EU to achieve membership.

Read also: Ukraine included in EUs economic forecasts for first time

The law ensures the transparent, professional, and equitable selection of judges for the Constitutional Court, the president stated.

Our nation is now one step closer to becoming a part of the European Union.

Read also: Prospects for Ukraine's Membership in NATO - opinion

The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, approved bill No. 9322 at the second reading on July 27. This bill clarifies the provisions related to the competitive selection of candidates for judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.

On June 17, the European Commission recommended granting Ukraine candidate status. However, the bloc presented seven conditions that must be fulfilled before accession negotiations can commence. These conditions include:

Reform of the Constitutional Court

Continuation of judicial reform

The implementation of anti-corruption measures, including the appointment of the head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutors Office

Combatting money laundering

The implementation of an anti-oligarchic law

The alignment of audiovisual legislation with European standards

The revision of legislation concerning national minorities.

Ukraine won't be able to meet all seven conditions set by the European Commission until October but negotiations for accession will begin by late 2023, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Olha Stefanishyna, stated on Aug. 17.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
News coming soon about more heavy equipment, artillery, and air defense systems

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting with representatives of law enforcement agencies to discuss the situation in the country on Aug. 18, as reported by his official Telegram channel.

"Agreements with partners are being implemented. This includes heavy equipment, artillery, and air defense systems. We continue to work on the next [military aid] packages. News will be coming soon, Zelenskyy said.

Read also: Zelenskyy holds meeting to discuss winter preparedness, army equipment supply, and Russian plans

Zelenskyy also received reports from Ukraines SBU security service and military intelligence onspecial operations.

The meetings agenda included reports on the operations of the Ukrainian Armed Forces as well as the effectiveness of the use of drones.



Read also: Zelenskyy announces Ukrainian defense industry forum

The participants also discussed inspections of military medical commissions and talked about the work of the SBU in relation to military enlistment offices and collaborators.

On Aug. 16, the Ukrainian president held a meeting of the High Command, during which he received updates from military commanders about the situation in the east and south of the country.

Prior to that, Zelenskyy visited front-line army units in Zaporizhzhya Oblast.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that he had signed a law changing the procedure for selecting Constitutional Court judges, which Ukraine had to do to meet the European Commissions criteria for Ukraines path to EU membership.

Source: President Zelenskyys video address

Quote from Zelenskyy: "I have just signed one of the key laws that Ukraine needs to start negotiations with the European Union on our countrys accession. Negotiations will start this year. The law guarantees a transparent, professional, and fair selection of Constitutional Court judges. Our country is one step closer to joining the European Union."

Background:

On 9 June, ambassadors of the G7 states presented key recommendations to help Ukraine strengthen its anti-corruption institutions and reform the judiciary. Among other things, they suggested that Ukraine introduce legislation on transparent selection of Constitutional Court judges on a meritocratic basis.

On 27 July, The Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) adopted the draft law no. 9322 in the second reading, introducing changes to the procedure for selecting Constitutional Court judges, in order to meet the criteria by the European Commission on Ukraines EU accession.

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President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that he held a daily morning meeting with various state agencies and announced "news" about equipment from partners, events at the front and inspections of military medical commissions.

Source: Zelenskyy on Telegram

Quote: "There was a daily morning check-in. Agreements with partners are being implemented. Heavy equipment, artillery and air defence systems are arriving. We continue to work on the next packages. More news is coming soon."

Details: Zelenskyy added that they also discussed the situation at the front, defensive and offensive actions, and the results of the use of drones.

In addition, the president was briefed on the progress of the "comprehensive inspection" of military medical commissions and the work of the Security Service of Ukraine against chiefs of military enlistment offices and collaborators. Zelenskyy said there were "good results".

Separately, the president heard closed reports from the Security Service of Ukraine and the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine on their special tasks and noted that work in this area continues.

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APPOMATTOX  The last of five co-defendants charged in a Lynchburg area mans October 2020 slaying was sentenced to 60 years in prison Thursday, the most extensive punishment handed down in all the combined cases prosecuted over the past year.

Enrico Andre Moss, 32, was found guilty in January of first-degree murder in connection with the killing of Carlos Levell Rose, whose remains were found by law enforcement inside a burned GMC Yukon off State Park Road near Holliday Lake State Park. In early January, a jury also convicted Moss of one count each of abduction, arson, conspiracy to commit abduction for money or benefit, conspiracy to commit arson, concealing or altering a dead body, conspiring to conceal a body and destruction of property.

Moss, who didnt testify at trial, continues to maintain his innocence. Appomattox County Commonwealths Attorney Les Fleet described Moss as the ringleader who orchestrated the planned abduction of Rose in Madison Heights.

Fleet described Roses murder as one of the most horrible and horrendous cases hes prosecuted in his 23-year career. Moss and two other men took Rose at gunpoint in Amherst County and in the course of the abduction, Rose was shot to death and the group drove his body to Appomattox County and lit the fire in attempt to conceal the crime, according to prosecutors evidence.

Mr. Roses body was so consumed by fire it took DNA to determine who he was, Fleet said.

MikTavis Elonta Naeshu Green, of Prospect; Keyanta KeShaun Robinson, of Lynchburg; and Artenna Kainna Horsley-Robey, of Lynchburg, also were arrested on the same charges as Moss. Green and Robinson, whom Appomattox County Commonwealths Attorney Les Fleet said were the triggermen in Roses death, also each were charged with using a firearm in commission of a felony. Green and Robinson was sentenced to 25 years active prison time; and Horsley-Robey received a nine year sentence.

Moss was the only co-defendant to go to trial. Horsley-Robey testified at his Jan. 11 trial she had a sexual relationship with Rose, her godfather.

Horsley-Robey testified Moss was highly upset about the relationship when he discovered text exchanges between the two. Prosecutor Kia Scott said at the trial Rose, a well-known marijuana dealer in Lynchburg, met up with Horsley-Robey at a Lynchburg parking lot near the James River and she got into his vehicle.

Horsley-Robey lured Rose to Madison Heights on a spot near the U.S. 29 Bypass; and Moss, Green and Robinson descended on Roses vehicle and seized him, prosecutors have said. Horsley-Robey testified she and Moss rode in Moss vehicle behind Roses Yukon that Robinson drove with Green also in the vehicle while Rose was held at gunpoint.

Green and Robinson both said they shot Rose after he went for a gun, Horsley-Robey testified. Moss told the two you did what you had to do and the four co-defendants drove in the two vehicles, eventually reaching the state park. Horsley-Robey testified at Moss direction, she contacted his brother, Montel Shaquille Croner, who brought two cans of gasoline used to set Roses Yukon on fire.

Horsley-Robey recently was sentenced to nine years in prison. Green and Robinson each received 25-year prison sentences. Croner received a 10-year suspended jail sentence and supervised probation for his role in the fire.

Fleet has said Green fired the first shot into Roses head and the second shot to the victims chest came shortly after from Robinsons gun. Rose was dead before the fire, with the cause of death being gunshot wounds to the head and chest, according to the autopsys findings, Fleet said.

Sheila Rose Anderson, Roses mother, testified at Moss sentencing hearing Thursday of the impact the murder has had on the family.

Mr. Moss, you killed my son. You killed my family, Anderson said to the defendant. You planned all this. This was premeditated.

Anderson said Moss should have pleaded guilty like the others and spoke of the trauma the two-day jury trial put her thorough. She described her son, who was 45 at the time of the murder, as a loving family man and the stress took her eyesight; she is now legally blind.

He was a good human being. He would have done anything for his family, Anderson said, directing more comments at Moss. You just dont realize how you tore my family apart.

Moss sister testified Thursday he is a hard worker who was general manager of a North Carolina restaurant and he was always there for her when she needed. She said Moss is innocent and she feels sorry for the Rose family.

Fleet credited the Appomattox County Sheriffs Office and various local, state and federal law enforcement agencies for their team effort in bringing forward a strong case, a big part of which he said involved tracking phone records and GIS to track the two vehicles movement that night.

Moss was the one leading that parade the night Rose was killed, Fleet said. He was clearly giving the orders, Fleet said.

Fleet said Moss has had a pattern of criminal activity since he was a juvenile and in 2010 was found guilty of shooting at an occupied vehicle at a gas station in the town of Appomattox and other firearms-related charges, as well as conspiring to assault an inmate while incarcerated in 2022.

He doesnt care who he hurts or how he hurts, Fleet said.

Judge Andy Nelson sentenced Moss to 125 years and suspended 65 years. Fleet said because of Mosss extensive criminal history sentencing guidelines called for more prison time than the two shooters.

It may not have been him who pulled the trigger but hes the one who got it initiated, Fleet said. Because of his actions hes earned every single one of those years.

Jason Anthony, Moss attorney, argued against Moss getting more prison time than one of the two shooters who told law enforcement he should have shot Horsley-Robey as well.

I dont think thats equitable, Anthony said. For that person not to get more jail time than Mr. Moss is problematic.

Anthony filed a motion for another evidentiary hearing for Moss based on interviews with law enforcement, which Nelson denied and described as a tactic by the defendant to avoid sentencing.

Nelson said the court finds Moss was the primary instigator in the unfolding of events that led to Roses murder and took charge.

Theres no question in the courts mind you were the mastermind of this, Nelson told Moss.
(CNN)  As oil-rich Gulf states seek to diversify their military partnerships, they are finding themselves ensnared in the intensifying rivalry for global dominance between the United States and China.

One of Americas closest allies in the region, the United Arab Emirates plans to hold its first-ever military drill with China this month, the Chinese defense ministry announced late last month.

The nation is a military partner of the US, having served alongside American forces six times, and has been the recipient of some of the most advanced weaponry Washington has sold in the Middle East.

Dubbed the China-UAE Falcon Shield-2023 joint air force exercise, the drill will take place in August in Chinas northwestern Xinjiang region, the ministry said, without giving a specific date.

The drill is the latest in a flurry of Chinese activity in the Middle East, traditionally seen as the US backyard. It takes place as Gulf states seek to distance themselves from what they see as an increasingly polarizing global order following Russias invasion of Ukraine, and waning US interest in their region as it redoubles efforts to contain Chinas rise.

A UAE official told CNN Monday that such joint exercises are part of the UAEs ongoing efforts to strengthen international cooperation across various fields and are designed to support efforts to enhance international peace and stability.

The UAE holds joint and multilateral training exercises with various international partners across the world, including with countries in the Middle East, Europe, Africa and Asia, the official added.

Relations with China serve as a useful signaling device for the US, Hasan Alhasan, a research fellow for Middle East Policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), told CNN. To communicate to the US that the defense and security partnership might not be meeting their expectations.

But there is a triangular dynamic to the Gulf-China-US relationship, he said, adding that it is unlikely that Gulf states are oblivious to the second-order ramifications of their growing ties with China, referring to the possibility of upsetting Washington.

The Chinese ministry of foreign affairs told CNN Tuesday that Beijing was developing mutually beneficial and cooperative relations with Middle Eastern countries and would not seek geopolitical interests.

We have no intention to fill a so-called vacuum. And we will not build exclusive circles, the ministry said, adding that China will continue to develop friendly relations in all fields with Middle Eastern countries as well as play a positive and constructive role in promoting peace and stability in the region.

Obamas pivot to Asia

Experts say that China first saw an opportunity in the Middle East during former US President Barack Obamas pivot to Asia strategy that sought to refocus Americas military and diplomatic efforts to the East. Regional states saw that as happening at the expense of the US commitment to their own security.

For Saudi Arabia and the UAE, those fears materialized when they each faced the biggest attacks in years on their soil in 2019 and 2022 respectively. Both attacks, blamed on either Iran or its Houthi proxy in Yemen, received a lackluster response from Washington. The UAE called it its own 9/11.

The perceived security vacuum left by the US created an opening that was not there before, said Mohammed Baharoon, director general of the Dubai Public Policy Research Center, known as Bhuth. Chinas growing presence in the Middle East, he added, is a direct response to the growing significance of the region, and lack of viable solutions to the Gulfs security concerns. The US strategy to alienate Iran over 30 years, he said, didnt pay any dividends.

The Gulf states were incapable of filling the vacuum on their own, so they became more autonomous and began relying on China, John Calabrese, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told CNN.

The perception among those countries, (is) that the United States has been either unable or unwilling to fulfill its declared commitments to serve as the security guarantor, Calabrese said.

Saudi Arabia has been keen to note that the US isnt its only international partner. Asked by CNNs Becky Anderson in October whether the kingdom was siding with Russia in its war with Ukraine, Saudi ambassador to the US, Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud, said the government has a policy of engaging with everybody across the board.

Washington has denied that it is pulling back from the Middle East and has affirmed its commitment to helping protect its allies, especially from Iran and its proxies.

Saudi Arabia may be putting that commitment to the test now. It is now reportedly demanding that the Biden administration extend security guarantees in the form of a formal agreement in exchange for Riyadh recognizing Israel. According to the Wall Street Journal, the US wants Saudi Arabia to distance itself economically and militarily from Beijing in return.

Alhasan said that Saudi Arabia will likely factor in a possible change in the US administration next year before striking any grand bargain with Washington, over fears that it might be discarded upon the arrival of a new government.

A global arms player

Chinas wish to become a global arms player is no secret. President Xi Jinping has said that building a strong military is a key component of the nations new era of rejuvenation.

The US is watching closely. An American official last year singled out China as the one country that geopolitically has the power potential to be a significant challenge to the United States.

But analysts say it will take time for Beijing to challenge both US technology and military outreach, especially in the Middle East where it has traditionally played a small military role.

China presents an alternative and an option (for Gulf states), Yun Sun, director of the China Program at the Washington-based think tank Stimson Center, told CNN. China is interested in challenging and undermining US traditional influence in the region, but it does not have either the capacity or the willingness to replace the US in the region, she said.

The US and Europe remain the Middle Easts top arms suppliers. Four of the top 10 importers of US arms are Gulf Arab states: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE.

But Saudi Arabia and the UAE have also made purchases from China. Last year, China and Saudi Arabia agreed to co-manufacture drones locally in the kingdom. The UAE has bought advanced trainer jets from China.

Some of these purchases were driven by US restrictions on selling arms to Gulf states under the Biden administration, according to Alhasan.

The point is that Gulf states are interested in diversifying and localizing their defense procurements, Alhasan said, even if there is a baseline preference for US equipment.

The cost of ties with China

With the Gulf states increasing engagement with China, it remains to be seen how willing they are to provoke Washington and what price theyd accept to abandon the budding ties with Beijing.

The relationship has a twofold function for Gulf states, analysts say. It allows them to benefit economically, diplomatically and militarily, while building leverage with a US that is anxious about Chinas growing influence in the region.

But not everyone agrees that ties with China are up for negotiation.

This is not a honeymoon, Baharoon said, adding that there will neither be a marriage nor a divorce between the Gulf states and China. However, the partnership with China is growing and expanding it continues to be economically dominant.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE, he said, arent bound by the ideological polarity of the US-China relationship, adding that it would not be in their interest to join a pact against China, Russia or Iran.

Sun of the Stimson Center said that China and Gulf states have shared goals and agendas beyond the US.

Even without the US, China will remain a key buyer of Gulf oil and a critical economic partner, she said. Gulf states desire to leverage China against the US is only one factor among many considerations.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "In the shadow of US-China rivalry, Arab allies tread delicate ground"
Two programs to support startups in the region are beginning this month for those who want to open their own business.

Do you have an idea for a product or service, and you want to bring it to market? Maybe you have people ready to buy your products, or customers ready to sign up for your services, but youre not sure how to start getting paid. You may have an idea what your concept is but youre not sure if it will make a profitable company. One or both of these programs can help you, a news release from the Lynchburg Small Business Development Center said.

The StartUp Toolbox Workshops are the Small Business Development Center  Lynchburg Regions program for those who are just starting out or who have basic questions about starting a business.

Its a toolkit for you to do things right the first time, the release states. StartUp Toolbox is free, online and is designed to answer most of the general questions that people have when getting started.

Those interested can join a Getting Started workshop on the third Thursday of each month, which introduces the most basic concepts and connects business owners to other resources.

Other Toolboxes classes offered include Hiring Your First Employee, scheduled for Aug. 31. Additional workshops focus on Funding Basics, Web Based Media, and Budgeting and Taxes. StartUp Toolbox is free and counts toward the Start Small Campbell Grant requirements.

The Toolbox isnt a series of workshops, Stephanie Keener, director of the SBDC said in the release. Those classes are meant to give you the right tools for your new business at the right time. You can use all the tools, or just one!

Entrepreneurs who are looking for a more in-depth series can apply for CO.STARTERS, a ten-week cohort-based program that equips aspiring entrepreneurs with the insights, relationships and tools needed to turn ideas into action, and turn a passion into a sustainable and thriving endeavor.

The nationally-based program has been proven to jump start entrepreneurial ideas and provide a foundation for success, the release states.

To date, more than 100 Lynchburg businesses have graduated from the CO.STARTERS program. CO.STARTERS is hosted in part by the Office of Economic Development & Tourism, Small Business Development Center  Lynchburg Region and Vector Space.

CO.STARTERS Core is a three-month, cohort-based program that equips entrepreneurs of all kinds with the insights, relationships and tools needed to turn business ideas into action.

Working together, a small group of participants develop and fine-tune their ideas, critically examining every part and determining next steps through real-time feedback from people in the community, using a simplified version of the Business Model Canvas, the release states. This approach enables entrepreneurs to rapidly uncover flaws in their concepts and find viable models more quickly. Participants leave the program with a deeper understanding of how to create a sustainable business, articulate their models, and repeat the process with the next great idea.

Applications for CO.STARTERS are due Aug. 21 and can be found at sbdclynchburgregion.org.
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New Delhi: Pakistan may boast and brag about its democratic set-up before the world but history belies its tall claims. Today, its duplicity again exposed before the world as it appointed a terrorists wife in the new Pakistan cabinet, that will serve as caretaker government till new government is elected.

The neighbouring country, with proven record of sponsoring terrorism in India, took the provocative step by giving a minister rank status to terrorist Yasin Mallicks wife Mushaal Hussein Mullick. She has been appointed as Special Advisor on Human Rights to Pakistans caretaker PM Anwaar Ul Haq Kakar.

Terrorist Yasin Malik is currently serving jail term in Delhis Tihar jail. He was involved in many terror cases in Kashmir during 1990s and charged with secessionist & promoting anti-India campaign in many instances. He was convicted in a terror funding case by NIA court in 2022 and awarded life imprisonment.

Terrorist Yasin got married Pakistani national Mushaal in Rawalpindi in 2009. The duo met in 2005 when Yasin went on a trip to Pakistan. Mushaal is a graduate from London School of Economics and has a daughter with Yasin. Both of them live in Islamabad.

With Pakistan allotting a junior minister rank to terrorists wife, it has raised hackles in India but it speaks more about formers penchant for staying rooted in terror.

Paks caretaker government

An 18-member cabinet of the new caretaker Pakistan government led by Anwaar Ul Haq Kakar, took oath of office on Thursday. Anwaar is a little known name in Pakistans political circles but believed to have close links with Pakistan Army.

Islamabad: President Dr. Arif Alvi administered the oath of office to members of the caretaker federal cabinet, at Aiwan-e-Sadr, today. pic.twitter.com/sWC2grAWHx  The President of Pakistan (@PresOfPakistan) August 17, 2023



Under Pakistans laws, a caretaker government is appointed upon the dissolution of National Assembly. It remains in control of nations affairs until elections are held, which must take place within 90 days from date of dissolution.

Political watchers believe that Army will use this time & space to enforce control over nations political affairs, which got out of hand after Imrans defiance & protest.
There is something so freeing about a long drive down the highway, with nothing but fresh air, open fields and open sky as far as you can see.

Throw in a good soundtrack, some wild grasses and wildflowers growing near the roadway and the rolling Loess Hills manifesting in the distance and you're getting close to paradise.

In the middle of an overwhelmingly stacked work week, it's this very reason that I took my dog and my new (to me) SUV and hopped on Interstate 29 north to Harrison County.

I arrived in Little Sioux and drove through town, taking in some beautiful views as I made my way uphill to Murray Hill Scenic Overlook.

There's a gravel lot there to park in. Hopping out of the car, we were greeted by many grasshoppers, taking to the thin dirt trail up the hill. It wasn't too far of a walk at all, though different to the flat paths I usually walk with the dog, and there we were.

It was windy but the day was not yet hot. Rather than waiting for me to clear a path, Sully jumped so high in the air to clear tumbleweeds that had stopped in our path  bringing lots of laughs.

Surrounded by wild grasses and flowers, we looked out over farmland, the road below and lots of trees. It was peaceful, calm, quiet  something I wish I'd saved for maybe Friday morning, but nevertheless something I'm glad I made time for this week.



Speaking of I-29, I'm happy to breathe out a sigh of relief now that Interstate 29 through Council Bluffs has reopened.

I got turned around in the detours more than once, which even caused us to be late for an important appointment once, so I'm glad that things are open and flowing better as of this week.

It's still going to take some getting used to, but it's nice to see the confusion hasn't been for naught.



If you're looking for things to do this weekend, you should start by wishing me a "Happy birthday!"

I'm just kidding, but I will be celebrating my birthday on Sunday. I don't have much planned  my boyfriend and I have started planning one weekend a month where we don't plan anything at all and just figure it out as we go along, and that's been nice, to be honest.

Locally, I'm envious of anyone attending the Iowa is For Lovers Festival at Stir Cove this weekend. I had tickets for the Sunday show  I've wanted to see Mayday Parade live since I was in high school; their debut album, "A Lesson in Romantics," is still a favorite of mine  but ended up selling my tickets.

If you're into emo/alternative music  something high school me certainly was  send me a video from your favorite band.



If a road trip sounds enticing, consider taking a drive to Macedonia to take in Donia Days.

Festivities kicked off Friday but are in full swing Saturday.

The Macedonia Volunteer Fire Department will host a breakfast at the DeWitt Building from 7 to 9:30 a.m. Citywide garage sales run from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

A craft/vendor fair is from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Macedeonia Methodist Church, and there's a flea market at Tibbles Station from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Macedonia Market runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Clayton and Main streets (with a parade break).

A silent auction will be at the Pioneer Trail Museum from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The museums will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The parade is at 10 a.m. and food trucks will be available from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Bed races are from 11 a.m. to noon and children's games are from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. A dance performance is set for 1 p.m. and a talent show is at 2 p.m.

A special event will be held at the DeWitt Building from 3 to 5 p.m.

The cornhole tournament runs 4 to 7 p.m. and Element Variety Band performs from 7 to 11 p.m. at The Back Forty.

On Sunday, there's RCA community worship at the grandstand at 10:30 a.m. A community potluck is set for 11:30 a.m. and a cupcake walk is set for noon.



Here's a look at other things happening around the area this weekend:

Saturday, Aug. 19

 The River City Farmers Market runs 9 a.m. to noon at the YMCA Healthy Living Center parking lot at 714 S. Main St. The family-friendly market sells vegetables, baked goods, specialty foods and other items.

 Ron Cisar will host A Land Ethic Workshop: A Chorus of Insects from 9 a.m. to noon at Hitchcock Nature Center, 27792 Ski Hill Loop. The program is for people ages 14 and up with an interest in conservation and a desire to develop a better understanding of the natural world. Cost is $15 per person. Topics include an introduction to common insects of the Midwest, nature journaling and more. Find tickets and more info at pottconservation.com.

 The Council Bluffs Public Library hosts Dungeons & Dragons Adventurers League from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 400 Willow Ave.

 The Herpetology Investigation Junior Refuge Ranger program runs 1 to 2 p.m. at the DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center near Missouri Valley. 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?

 Drag Yourself to Brunch offers two shows  one at 10 a.m. and one at 1 p.m.  at Caddy's Kitchen & Cocktails, 115 W. Broadway. Call for reservations: 712-256-0070.

 The Carter Lake Improvement Club will host Dog Days at 4328 N. Ninth St. Activities include a bounce house and dunk booth beginning at noon. A hog roast runs from 2 to 5 p.m. and cornhole is at 2 p.m. Bingo is from 3 to 5 p.m. The band Full Circle performs from 8 p.m. to midnight (adults only).

Sunday, Aug. 20

 The Church of Christ is hosting a Back to School Carnival from 5 to 7 p.m. at 1525 McPherson Ave. The free event is open to the community and features food and games with school supply prizes.

 Stir Concert Cove presents Iowa is For Lovers, a two-day festival featuring alternative and emo bands. Find tickets and more information online.

Monday, Aug. 21

 The Friends of Underwood's Monday Market will offer locally grown produce and goods from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the UMBA Hall Pavilion, 300 Second Ave. in Underwood. Bingo will also be held at Monday's market.
Meet Murphy, the newest member of the Council Bluffs Police Criminal Investigation Division.

The sweet and affable black Labrador is a trained electronic detection specialist, able to sniff out electronic devices that use memory, from something as small as a microSD or SIM card to mobile phones to hard drives.

Her target? Individuals involved in ICAC  Internet Crimes Against Children.

When we get, like, a NCMEC (National Center for Missing and Exploited) tip in for child pornography or child exploitative material, when we end up serving search warrants on these people's houses, if they're really cunning they'll try to hide their devices, said Det. Anthony Fletcher, Murphys partner. That's what her main purpose is  to go in and find those electronic devices that they don't want us to find, that we may not find during our regular search, because she can find something hidden in a wall. We're not going to tear up a wall. Well, she can still find it.

Fletcher said that Murphys snoot can detect a phone that has been submerged in a full can of paint with the lid sealed, or hidden underwater.

She can find phones that have been thrown in water, Fletcher said. During my training with her last week, we actually practiced in a creek. A bunch of phones were hidden under the water. Got her down there, got her in the water, probably chest high to her, and she was able to follow the scent that was coming down the creek all the way back to the phone and pinpoint it.

Murphy and Fletcher are just back from a two-week training course in Indianapolis, taught by a man named Todd Jordan.

Jordan started training electronic detection dogs in 2014 with a dog named Bear, who would later become famous for his participation in a raid of the home of former Subway spokesman and current inmate at the Englewood Federal Correctional Institution in Englewood, Colorado, Jared Fogle.

(Jordans) like the number one guy that trains these dogs, Fletcher said. So what he does, he actually rescues therapy dogs who don't get placed with people with disabilities for one reason or another, and since they didn't get placed with a personal disability, he takes them in, trains them for their scent detection stuff.

Electronic detection dogs are trained to detect a chemical called triphenylphosphine oxide, or TPPO, which is used to prevent overheating in electronic devices that contain memory.

A trained electronic storage detection dog like Murphy costs about $15,000, which includes the two weeks of training that Fletcher and Murphy went through.

Operation Underground Railroad, an Anaheim, California-based nonprofit whose stated mission is to fight child sex trafficking and exploitation around the world, picked up the tab, which included another $5,000 for equipment and travel expenses.

Fletcher said that their training class included nine other dogs, and only two  Murphy and another dog  earned the highest level certification.

Fletcher first heard about dogs trained in electronic storage detection about a year ago when he attended an ICAC conference shortly after he joined CID.

The state ESD K9s did a presentation, kind of talk about what they do and what they can be used for, and I said, you know what, thats pretty cool, Fletcher said. I put together a whole bunch of information, gathered as much as I could, and being that I was new over there, I was like, I'm gonna just hold on to this for a while. I don't want to ask for too much right away.

Shortly thereafter, CID Capt. Todd Weddum read an article about Sandy, an ESD K9 in Ankeny, Iowa.

He approached me about it, and said, hey, what do you think about this? I said, well, actually here's all  now that you've asked me  here's all this information about it. And he said, well, let's look into it a little bit further.

In addition to her keen K9 senses, Murphy will also be available as an emotional support animal for both police officers and any young witnesses they might have to interview.

Like I said, she was brought up as a therapy dog, but obviously she didn't get a place with somebody, so she can be utilized for the department, especially for kids that come in, as an emotional support comfort animal, Fletcher said. So, interviews with child victims, she can be present, and it's been shown that having a dog present really can help bring down the stress, help kids open up and remember more.

Less than a week on the job and Murphy is already a hit with her fellow detectives.

She's been in CID two days now and already it's like everybody in there loves her, Fletcher said.

Murphy is no slouch, either. She's already earning her keep. She went out on her first search warrant on Wednesday and turned up two laptops in the suspect's bedroom, one hidden beneath some detritus under a bed and the other buried under some junk in the top drawer of a dresser.

"The dresser was probably about five foot tall," Fletcher said. "She pinpointed right to that top drawer."
Weather Alert

...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 10 PM CDT WEDNESDAY... * WHAT...Dangerously hot conditions with heat index values up to 110 expected. * WHERE...Portions of west central Iowa and east central and northeast Nebraska. * WHEN...From noon today to 10 PM CDT Wednesday. * IMPACTS...Extreme heat and humidity will significantly increase the potential for heat related illnesses, particularly for those working or participating in outdoor activities. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles under any circumstances. Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When possible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing when possible. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent rest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location. Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1. &&
(CNN)  Belarus would be willing to use the nuclear weapons given by close ally Russia in the face of foreign aggression, President Alexander Lukashenko said Thursday, as tensions rise around the countrys borders with NATO nations.

Minsk has played a key role in Russias war in Ukraine, with Moscow using Belarus as one of its launch pads for the invasion in early 2022, while joint Russia-Belarus military drills over the past year have fueled concerns Belarusian troops could join Russian forces in the conflict.

In June, Russian nuclear warheads were reportedly delivered to Belarus for deterrence, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In an interview with state news agency Belta, Lukashenko claimed Belarus would never get involved in this war unless Ukrainians crossed its border. But he added: We will keep helping Russia, they are our ally.

He also warned that if provoked  especially by neighboring NATO countries like Poland, Lithuania and Latvia  Belarus would immediately respond with everything we have, including nuclear weapons.

Its not clear how much of Russias nuclear arsenal was transported to Belarus recently, and US and Western officials have not publicly confirmed that any weapons have been transferred  though senior officials from the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) said they had no reason to doubt Putins claim.

During the interview, Lukashenko said if Belarus were to come under attack, we will not tarry, wait, and the rest. We will use the entire arsenal of our weapons for deterrence.

We didnt bring nuclear weapons here in order to scare someone, he added. Yes, nuclear weapons represent a strong deterring factor. But these are tactical nuclear weapons, not strategic ones. This is why we will use them immediately once aggression is launched against us.

The senior DIA officials said in July they do not believe Lukashenko would have any control over the arsenal, which would most likely be entirely controlled by Russia.

Regional tensions

Lukashenkos latest comments come as the security landscape in Europe becomes increasingly volatile, with Belarus northern neighbors on edge over the presence of Russian mercenary group Wagner  which is stationed in Belarus in the wake of its short-lived rebellion in Russia earlier this summer.

In recent weeks, there have been reports of Wagner troops moving toward a thin strip of land between Poland and Lithuania, in an apparent attempt to increase pressure on NATO and European Union members.

Citing concerns over Wagner, Poland recently announced it would move around 10,000 troops to its border with Belarus, and detained two Russians accused of spying and spreading propaganda for the Russian mercenary group.

Lithuania said Wednesday it would temporarily suspend operations at two of its six border checkpoints with Belarus due to concerns about Wagner forces, with the interior minister citing emerging threats to national security and possible provocations at the border.

In response, Belarus slammed Lithuania for taking an unconstructive and unfriendly step, calling its Wagner reasoning far-fetched.

During the Thursday interview, Lukashenko denied that Putin may have been weakened by the failed Wagner mutiny, calling such claims total nonsense.

Putin is now more mobilized, more cunning, and wiser. Our adversaries need to know it, Lukashenko said, adding: Nobody will overthrow Putin today.

He also reiterated that it had been his idea to deploy Wagner fighters in Belarus. In order to quell this mutiny, to put out this fire, it was necessary to accept any conditions because the mutiny could have been devastating to everyone, he said.

War in Ukraine

Lukashenko also weighed in on the ongoing war on Thursday, warning that Moscow would never give up the Crimean territory it illegally annexed from Ukraine more than seven years ago.

While Russia is open to negotiations on Ukraine, it will never ever return Crimea, he said, according to Belta.

It wont happen. I doubt for now that some agreement can be reached here, in the east. But Russia is ready to discuss any topic. I know it for sure, Lukashenko said.

However, he claimed that Ukrainians are pushed by Americans and dont want to negotiate at the moment, adding that talks have to start without preliminary conditions. Any peace talks on Ukraine should include Belarus, as we have our interests there, and our position should be heard, he added.

Crimea was forcibly seized by Russia in 2014  soon after Ukrainian protesters helped topple pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych  when thousands of Russian special-operations troops wearing unmarked uniforms deployed around the peninsula.

Two weeks later, Russia completed its annexation of Crimea in a referendum, castigated by Ukraine and most of the world as illegitimate, and at the time considered the biggest land-grab in Europe since World War II.

Since annexation, human rights observers have described Crimeas descent into a police state, with local authorities and Russian security services persecuting and arresting those perceived to be loyal to Ukraine, including members of the Crimean Tatar community.

A 2020 US State Deparment report described a pattern of human rights abuses in Crimea by Russia or Russia-led authorities, including unlawful or arbitrary killings and forced disappearances.

The occupied territory has since become a key part of the war in Ukraine, with the Crimean bridge  linking the peninsula to mainland Russia  a vital supply link for Russian forces, and a target for Ukraines counteroffensive.

Formerly under Soviet control until declaring its sovereignty in 1990, Belarus is also an autocratic state which has been effectively run by Lukashenko since independence.

This story was first published on CNN.com. Belarus would use nuclear weapons in the event of aggression, Lukashenko says
Authorities believe a language barrier led to a misunderstanding during an incident near Hershey on Wednesday.

According to the Lincoln County Sheriffs Office, a homeowner called the Lincoln County Dispatch Center to report a suspicious incident with a man and a woman in a large white SUV who had approached her home.

The homeowner told deputies that a woman she believed to be Indian or Middle Eastern knocked on her door and grabbed her hand, then in broken English asked the homeowner to speak with her husband in the vehicle.

According to the Sheriffs Office, the homeowner retreated inside the home and retrieved a pistol.

The homeowner went back outside and the woman again grabbed her hand and asked her to speak with her husband.

The homeowner then went to speak with the man, who told her he wanted to buy some chickens and showed her some money. The homeowner said her chickens were not for sale, but he persisted, the Sheriffs Office said.

The male then got out of the drivers seat of the vehicle and began to walk around the vehicle toward the homeowner, the Sheriffs Office wrote in a Facebook message. The homeowner noticed there was a large machete in the front seat of the vehicle. The homeowner backed up and drew her pistol from her pocket. The male observed the pistol and in broken English said, We leave.

A large number of on- and off-duty deputies and Nebraska State Patrol troopers responded to the area searching for the vehicle. The homeowner told authorities the vehicle left westbound on U.S. Highway 30 from Hershey. After several hours the vehicle was not found and was assumed to have left the area.

Because of the cultural and language issues this may have been an entirely innocent incident, the Sheriffs Office said. However, the Sheriffs Office applauds the female homeowner for using her 2nd Amendment right to protect herself, family and property.
Donald Trumps supporters, as you might expect, have not taken his latest indictment in stride. Charlie Kirk, writing in the Federalist, proposes a list of Democrats or liberal groups to charge in retaliation, proposing Hunter Biden, James Biden, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorka, Black Lives Matter, the Southern Poverty Law Center, or literally any Democrat, for anything. Trumps indictments, Kirk argues, arent the product of a reasoned criminal inquiry. They are the product of years of work that started from the premise of investigate Trump for literally anything, and bring whatever charges you can come up with, even if theyre invented.

What is perhaps more surprising is that Republican supporters of Trumps erstwhile rivals are saying more or less the same thing.

This may be the last indictment of Trump, but it wont be the last indictment of its type. Expect to see this scenario repeat itself any time a conservative who rattles the establishment cage gets too close to winning, said Laura Ingraham. Whatever you think of the Trump indictments, one thing is for certain: the glass has now been broken over and over again. Political opponents can be targeted by legal enemies, Ben Shapiro proclaimed, Running for office now carries the legal risk of going to jail  on all sides. In a column headlined, Republicans must fight dirty  or America is finished, Nate Hochman urged Republicans to start bringing legal charges against their political rivals.

Ingraham and Shapiro have both plumped for Ron DeSantis, and Hochman left a job at National Review to work for him (before being forced out after making fascistic, white supremacist memes for the campaigns social media accounts). You might think they would depict Trumps legal jeopardy as, if not fair punishment for his crimes, then at least a political vulnerability. Its too bad prosecutors keep targeting Trump, but maybe the party should nominate a non-incarcerated candidate for president seems like an obvious case to make for DeSantis.

Instead, they are insisting all Republicans  or at least all Republicans who pose a real threat to the left  are equally vulnerable to prosecution. They are throwing away a strong rationale, perhaps the only remaining viable one, to nominate the candidate they prefer. Why?

The answer is that Republicans are genuinely obsessed with the potential for using the criminal-justice system as a political weapon. They are so obsessed they dont even wish to imagine leaving behind a world in which prosecution is linked with political identity. Victory or prison is the political environment they affirmatively wish to inhabit. Trumps predicament hands them permission to do what they have always craved. And now the campaign, which will be anchored around a series of criminal trials, will be framed around their desire not only to keep Trump out of prison, but to lock up as many of their political opponents as they can.

If you havent drunk deeply from the fetid waters of the conservative fever swamp, this impulse might seem incomprehensible. Trumps legal jeopardy is easily explained: His private sector record was a long history of shady associations with gangsters and running scams. His presidency was a continuous procession of his own advisers pleading with him not to do illegal things while he complained that his attorneys werent as unethical as Roy Cohn, the mob lawyer he once employed.

If Trump were being charged because he was a Republican, rather than because he were an incorrigible crook, then why werent George W. Bush or Ronald Reagan hauled into court by their successors? Why are other liberal hate objects like, say, DeSantis, Tucker Carlson, or Marjorie Taylor Greene not facing criminal investigations right now?

But conservatives have constructed an alternative reality that obscures these facts. Right-wing news sources serve up a curated version of events that ignores or justifies misbehavior by conservatives and magnifies or invents crimes by their opponents, creating a belief system resting upon a foundational premise that Democrats are evil and criminal and always get away with it.

The whataboutism allows even Republicans who recognize Trumps failings to justify supporting him. Because Democrats are allowed to commit crimes and walk away scot-free, Trump should be allowed to commit crimes. Because Trump is being prosecuted unfairly  its unfair even if his crimes are real, remember, because Democrats get away with it all the time  Democrats should be, too.

Trump, of course, made Lock her up! a prominent theme of his first campaign. DeSantis is now attacking Trump for having failed to make good on that threat.

I went to the rallies in 2016, Laura, he told Ingraham. You remember them, Lock her up, lock her up, about holding Hillary accountable. And then, two weeks after the election, he said, Never mind that I said that, and let her off the hook. And so I think, if you look at it  and I give him credit, even though were competing, for the great things he did do. But one of the things he did not do was drain the swamp  [Trump] had people in power who were not getting the job done.

In 2014, Shapiro wrote a book titled The People Vs. Barack Obama: The Criminal Case Against the Obama Administration. Shapiro even explained to Larry King why the RICO Act was the precise tool he wished to employ against Obama:

Shapiro: I make the case that the RICO Act, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act from 1970, which allows for civil charges  people can file civil suits  that that be broadened to allow people to sue members of the executive branch. So, the people themselves, essentially, become the guardians of the criminal law. Because, sorry, but I just dont trust the executive branch to prosecute its own guys.

King: What did he do, hands on, that was criminal?

Shapiro: Well, you see, this is the problem, this is why you have to use the RICO Act, Shapiro answered. So, no president is actually going to do things  unless youre Richard Nixon, presumably, and there are tapes  is going to have to do things that are particularly hands on. The government is run more like a mafiaesque organization, which is, you have somebody at the top who makes, you know, a basic demand that certain things be done, and somebody at the low level says, OK, well, you know, I want to up my career. This is Henry II with Thomas Beckett, Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest? And someone goes and rids him of the meddlesome priest.

From the outside, this may appear to be hypocritical  Republicans insisting that now politicians will start being hounded with criminal charges, after theyve been demanding this very thing all along.

But within the sealed world of partisan Republican-curated news, it is merely more evidence of a long-time double standard of justice. Obama was a criminal. Hillary Clinton was a criminal. Bill Clinton was a veritable criminal mastermind. (Conservative organs as respectable as The Wall Street Journal editorial page, not to mention its seedier competitors, routinely accused Clinton of murdering Vince Foster and running a secret drug-smuggling operation out of Arkansas.)

It is a strange twist of fate that years of hysterically accusing every leading Democrat of criminality culminated in Republicans falling behind a presidential candidate who came to politics from the world of crime.

For some Republicans, the ascension of a transparently amoral swindler precipitated a psychic break from their party. But for most of them, it served merely to deepen the belief system they already subscribed to. Trumps campaign and presidency followed directly from a mentality that detached the notion of criminality from any actual behavior and turned it into a partisan identity. Trumps mantra  The crimes are being committed by the other side  has become a partywide doctrine.

But this idea, which has tightened its grip on conservative minds over the last generation, is now the dominant theme of the campaign. Trumps indictments have intensified their humiliation and created an insatiable demand for revenge. The party is no longer running on policy or even culture war. It is now consumed above all with turning the criminal-justice system into an instrument of revenge.
Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer; Photos: Getty, United States federal court

After Donald Trump was indicted for racketeering in Georgia following a yearslong investigation into his efforts to overturn the 2020 election there, the former presidents supporters began doing their own research. Over the past week, the names and supposed addresses of the grand jurors involved in the probe have been posted on far-right conspiracist forums, with some users vowing revenge. By Thursday, the Fulton County sheriffs office opened investigations into the threats, with the FBIs cooperation.

Trump has long had a habit of making threats against his political adversaries and prosecutors looking to hold him accountable  resulting in death threats or worse from some of his most dangerous supporters. But the unprecedented indictment season this year has intensified the cycle of Trump supporters menacing public officials and those who stand in his path to regain power. As he put it recently, If you go after me, Im coming after you!

Days before his supporters began doxing grand jurors in Georgia, Abigail Jo Shry of Texas threatened the federal judge overseeing Trumps election-interference case in Washington, D.C. According to prosecutors who charged her, Shry called Judge Tanya Chutkan, telling her that if Trump doesnt get elected in 2024, we are coming to kill you. So tread lightly, bitch. She added that we want to kill you and that Chutkans family will be targeted personally, publicly. Shry, who is white, began the call to Chutkan, who is Black, by saying, Hey, you stupid slave n- - - - -.

Fani Willis, the district attorney prosecuting the Trump case in Georgia, has also been subject to racist threats. In late July, Willis said that she had been receiving ignorant voice-mails as the grand jury inquiry wrapped up, as well as a message that called her the N-word and a Jim Crow Democrat whore. Willis said that Fulton County commissioners were also targeted in emails.

The most dangerous of the recent spate of threats came from 75-year-old Trump supporter Craig Robertson. Federal prosecutors gathered dozens of Robertsons Facebook posts, in which he threatened to assassinate public officials, including Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg, who charged Trump in the spring, and Attorney General Merrick Garland, whose Justice Department is prosecuting Trump over his coup attempt and the classified-documents case. I dreamed I was in a dark corner of a Washington DC parking garage, one post read. I was standing over the body of the US Attorney General Merrick Garland with a bullet hole dead center in his forehead. When FBI agents appeared at Robertsons house in Utah to take him into custody on August 9, he pointed a .357 revolver at them, and the agents shot him dead.
Pls use this post as an opportunity to talk about whatever other k-drama you're watching right now or looking forward to being released.



I'm currently watching My I.D. is Gangnam Beauty and I think next up on my list will be Celebrity.



Also also, I'm SO close to biting the bullet and signing up for a Viki subscription. lol There are a lot of k-dramas on there that are on my To Watch list. Any Viki subscribers here able to tell me if it is worth it?

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I have subbed to Viki.com for many years. I pay the top tier of $99.00 per year for all access (that was my December renewal price, not sure what annual is now). Now that I am switching to more countries, there is so fucking much there.



They also have the $5.99 month with less content, but still a LOT.

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Maybe my strategy will be to get the cheaper plan for a year or so and burn through the dramas available on the cheaper plan and then upgrade later?

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I really, really hate that Viki uses community subtitles and DOESN'T PAY THEM. It just gives them access to stuff not in their region and obv their subscriptions are free, but the amount of work it takes to segment & subtitle is not worth it.

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I just finished Sky Castle and really liked it. It was a surprising 20 episodes long compared to the 16 episode length I typically come across.

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I pay 4.22 for Viki and I think it's worth it.



Even better now that it has app support on my smart TV vs just my tablet/phone.

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sorry to report that my subscription to viki has been worth it lol

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I have viki account and I use it for my Chinese dramas since Netflix started this obsession and failed at their acquisition of more. I do not regret it and I love it so much. But it's how I'm watching What's Wrong With Secretary Kim? and bless it.

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I just started King the Land. Not sure how I feel about it quite yet.



I just don't know that anything will top CLOY for me lol

I finished "Once Upon a Small Town" not long ago and I thought it was pretty cute! I don't see it mentioned much.

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https://mydramalist.com/profile/LeeRuri Oooh, I just added that one to my watch list. If you use mydramalist for tracking your dramas and finding community, you can add me

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omg I dont follow anyone so lemme follow u!

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https://mydramalist.com/profile/FallingSlowly88 Gonna follow you! <3

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what kind of genre do you like tho?

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Im unsure. Theres something about Jo Boah that I dont enjoy and ive not watched Rowoon in anything.



Im loving Moving a lot a lot.

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I've heard so many good things about Moving. I believe it's on Disney+ in a lot of places but I think it's on Hulu in the US and I don't have Hulu. :(

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I felt that way about Jo Bo Ah at first, but she won me over with King of the Nine Tailed. I think this one that looks to be a crossover sageuk and modern might give her more range. And Rowoon is WORTH IT.





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Haven't seen a lot with Rowoon but I found him quite charming and charismatic in an otherwise boring drama like The King's Affection. As someone before said it, he's worth it

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Jo Bo Ah was really good in Military Prosecutor Doberman!

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I love that OST SO much

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Moving is so good!!

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I feel the same about Jo Boah. Idk what it is but I celebrated in season 2 of tale of the nine tailed when she wasnt in it.

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it looks interesting. i want her to be a witch. it's nice to see jo bo-ah in stuff again. but im so behind on my kdramas!



was heartbeat, king the land and see you in my 19th life good? i think it's funny 2 2pm guys were in stuff at the same time. from what i saw, it seemed like king the land was most popular?

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Haven't seen Heartbeat.



Watched half an episode of King the Land but idk it didn't grab me. I hheard it takes a few episodes to really get going though,



Watched See You in My 19th Life and thought it was cute but didn't quite live up to its potential.

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Heartbeat - not seen



King of the Land - Junho is worth watching, but the chemistry with him and Yoona was off for me. But it is a typical KDrama, so no harm



See you in my 19th Life - I actually ended up liking it more than KTL. It had a better ending. The leads worked for me too.

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I liked the leads of Heartbeat. I am interested to see who Won Ji A plays in the Squid Game sequel. I was a fan up until the last episode because the ending was...a choice lol The writing was a bit of a mess, but nothing too awful. They would have benefited from a good script doctor. If you're in it for the vampires, you'll be disappointed.



King the Land was cute. Both lead characters had good communication skills, which for some reason drama watchers aren't a fan of 

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I haven't watched the last two episodes of Heartbeat yet, but it does have hands down some of the most terrible CGI/SFX I've ever seen in a kdrama. Thankfully there isn't a lot of it in the series but DAMN is it tragic. Also the villains all have terrible motivations and are almost cartoonist, and there are three of them because the ran out of "100 year old adapting to modern life" plot ideas two episodes in.



But the leads are both good actors and do magic with the bad dialogue, so would recommend as a fun watch if you want something you don't have to invest in finishing right away.



Edited at 2023-08-18 05:38 am (UTC)

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King the Land was good fun, I watched for Junho and he delivered on every level. I'd never seen Yoona in anything until this drama, but I knew that her acting tends to get mixed reviews, so I was actually pleasantly surprised by her comedic timing and their chemistry as leads. The healthy communication between their characters was especially really nice to see.

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I found See you in my 19th life tedious and it was only 12 eps. The first 4 eps were really good but then the quality deteriorated quickly

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I loved King the Land!!

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Bed Friend - Thai BL, just one first ep Viki

My Lovely Liar - Viki

My Dearest - Viki





Also, I do not work for Viki, I swear - they have a ton of free content.

https://www.viki.com/categories/watch-free/genre/all







Currently watching (Kdrama unless otherwise noted)Bed Friend - Thai BL, just one first ep VikiMy Lovely Liar - VikiMy Dearest - VikiAlso, I do not work for Viki, I swear - they have a ton of free content.

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loved bed friend! and they're filming the spin-off atm. it was actually supposed to be first but the actors changed and bed friend went first. i wonder how much theyll have to change it bc iirc it was a plot progression, not just two interconnected yet standalone stories.

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I was watching "it's okay not to be okay" but homegirl is like if Wednesday Addams was a legit sociopath. And then I read about the lead actresses leaked texts to her bf and I lost all desire to watch it.



Now I am watching "doom at your service" and I am really enjoying it 3 episodes in.



I can't wait for "destined with you" I will watch anything supernatural related 

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I looooooveed the vibe of It's Ok to Not Be Ok, but yeah... the female lead was... a lot. It's been a while since I watched so I can't remember the specifics, but iirc she did some stuff that was kinda irredeemable to make me root for her to end up with the male lead. And like obvs she had trauma but that doesn't excuse some of the stuff she did. Also like, for the male lead, it seemed like his character arc was about not devoting his life to his brother and letting his brother stand on his own two feet. So you'd think the happy ending would be the male lead learning to live for himself. Except... it kinda seemed like he just replaced his brother with the female lead. lol He was still functioning as a caretaker, in a lot of ways, but to the female lead instead of his brother. But I loved the style of it. lol. So I couldn't fully hate it.



Doom At Your Service was great imo!!! At least the A-plot. I didn't give a fuck about the B-plot, but the A-plot was EXCELLENT.

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I LOVE the spooky vibes. The stop motion animation is great and it has an amazing soundtrack.



I will probably just finish watching and move it on to my problematic faves list lol



Edited at 2023-08-18 05:44 am (UTC)

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I just started Doom! It is one of those dramas that never seemed to interest me but now im bored ill watch anything :(

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it's okay not to be okay is so good though (also it was pre-scandal, nobody knew she was an actual psycho)

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I couldn't get past the fist episode of "it's okay not to be okay", and recently I saw some clips of it on a video about sexual assault of men in kdramas played for laughs, so I'm glad I didn't keep watching

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this post pains me because my kdrama list is out of control. still working my way through. i did do a mydramalist and i think i am at 22 days of watched asian dramas and 70 shows. not bad for just watching since march.



out of the newer netflix shows i still want to watch hellhounds and celebrity. their recent romcoms dont interest me (apologies to my icon).

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Will you be watching, ONTD?



Yes, I'll give just about any kdrama a try. And by "try" I'll watch at least 10 episodes to see if it'll get better, no matter how bad it is.



Big shout out to the ONTDer who recommended The Cursed! The first "procedure" victim death was sooooooo satisfying and demented . I'm only a couple episodes in but I'm exciting to see how creepy and/or crazy it gets!



Anyone here watching Behind Your Touch? I was looking at the comments for the first few episodes and it appears to a be a crime/fantasy plot, which normally I love, but the FL's a psychic who can see memories after touching someone's butt?? The main cast are all well established actors so it must have a great writer or director attached, because I can't imagine that plot pitch was selling it to anyone...



Edited at 2023-08-18 05:52 am (UTC)

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Theres sth off about BYT to me. I really want to stan for Han Ji Min tbh.



I didnt like how violent LMKs character gets with HJM like are we meant to root for them to get together

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Yessssss Im so glad someone finally took my rec on The Cursed. So good and satisfying.

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i will watch anything for rowoon, and i've honestly enjoyed every drama i've seen of his! it's been a minute since i watched a drama at all so this is arriving at a perfect time.

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Oh lemme rant rq:



Im watching Not Others and ive been reading bits (dramabeans, asianwiki and twitter) about how the comedy or immaturity of Jeon Hye Jins character puts people off. I think its a very weak and slightly sexist opinion.



Theres a high tolerance from kdrama fans for bromance and their shit (literally and figuratively) jokes and gay baiting. But a female led comedic drama which touches on female sexuality, abuse, growing up too quick but holding onto youth is too difficult for people to watch? Give me a fucking break lol.



There are issues with the writing itself like there is too much going on for next week to be the last week. I dont buy the older couples romance too much. That criticism I can take lol.

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Urgh I'm not surprised by that shitty criticism, you're right, it's incredibly weak but very telling of the current climate in SK. Also are they not aware of how young Jeon Hye Jin had her duaghter like I thought that was kind of the point?



I really like Not Others so far (altho I'm behind atm so no spoilers pls), women led dramas tend to be my favourite anyway hehe.



I also just really enjoy Sooyoung's acting, her dramas have been my favourite out of all the snsd members.

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Oh no spoilers from me dw lol. But yeah! The character had her baby alone, young, with an abusive father, dead mother, ran in delinquent circles PLUS the stigma single esp unmarried women get? The trauma of that especially on the now adult daughter who despite everything grew up really well. Like the cleotrapa tiktok clip: *aggressively poking head* turn it on!!!!



Im somewhat sensitive to criticism of noona dramas and women-led dramas because the international reactions stink lol and theyre in such echo chambers where opinions like mine calling their shit out gets piled on. So I just seethe on my own lol.



Soo is definitely my favourite of Soshi Actress-line. She and Yoona are the ones im more likely to watch.

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I agree with you 100% on the criticism. I kind of wanted more romance between the police people originally, but I'm also happy with the subtle buildup they're doing. At least it requires a bit more from the actors. lol With each scene, showing a little more affection.

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I've been Delightfully Deceitful but 8 eps in and I'm still not fully bought lol. I love Chun Woohee and the male lead that I don't know his name, at least they have chemistry but the other characters aren't doing much for me.

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Oh Kim Dong-Wook is excellent for some chemistry. I didnt care for the drama much so its unfinished but he and Seo Hyun-Jin in You Are My Spring?

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I have watched recently

- Under The Queen's Umbrella, she is one the best characters ever created

- The Crowned Clown, the lead did a great job, I love his relation with his political staff

- My Name, kickass woman, the chemistry btw the criminal boss and the lead was fire



I am currently watching Kingdom so far it's good the lead is awful



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I'm watching Not Others and My Lovely Liar. Heartbeat/Mysterious Brothers I tried to get into but couldn't.

Sometimes still skipping through The Real Has Come as well just for practicing Korean. Those soaps always have the easiest dialogue. lol



I'm still so torn on My Lovely Liar. Do I enjoy Minhyun's acting, or do I tolerate it cause he seems nice? I'll never know. But I needed fluff, so I got fluff, so not gonna complain.



I couldn't get into Tomorrow, even though I liked all the leads in other dramas before... But I enjoyed all the romcoms Rowoon delivered thus far, so I hope he's gonna bring his charm again. Will try to watch this next one.

Also kind of excited for Mask Girl, but cautiously excited.

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Jo Bo-ah my love

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Court Upholds OSHA Citations Against WSC Group LLC

The New York contractor was involved in a trench collapse in 2018.

An administrative law judge has upheld OSHAs citations of Brooklyn-based contractor WSC Group LLC.

In a release dated August 15, OSHA announced the decision, which stems from a September 2018 trench collapse that claimed the life of a WSC worker. Following that incident, OSHA determined in March 2019 that the company failed to provide effective protections, leaving trench workers exposed to excavation hazards.

After this decision, WSC Group contested the citations. But the case was put on hold due to the criminal charges leading to the conviction of WSC owner Jiaxi Jimmy Liu in March 2023. With that resolved, the OSHA charges were brought back into focus. And following this decision, WSC Group must now pay $50,000 in penalties.

"This settlement affirms OSHA's citations, which found that this employer knowingly failed to construct the trench protection system properly and did not use other safeguards that would have prevented a workers death in a cave-in, OSHA Regional Administrator Richard Mendelson in New York said in a statement. It also confirms that neither WSC Group LLC nor its owner will ever engage in construction work again.

The judges conclusion is currently set to become a final order on August 21, 2023.
Washington L&I Cites Amazons Spokane Warehouse for Safety Hazards

The e-commerce giant now faces $85,800 in fines.

The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) has identified safety concerns at an Amazon fulfillment center.

In a release dated August 16, L&I announced the results of its inspection of the Amazon facility in Spokane, Washington. The agency determined the location puts workers at ergonomic risk of developing work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) due to the necessity for physical work involving repetitive motions and lifting at a fast pace.

The Spokane fulfillment center faces three serious and one general violation for high noise levels without hearing protection for employees in addition to the risk of WMSDs. As a result, L&I cited Amazon must pay $85,800 in fines.

Such violations are nothing new for Amazon, as L&I previously issued similar citations at three other locations across Washington. Because of this, the Spokane violations carry the higher penalty of being designated willful. While this mirrors similar concerns at Amazon facilities nationwide, the Spokane location has the highest injury rates of any in Washington state.

Perhaps more than any other company, Amazon has the means and the know-how to invest in solutions that keep their workers safe, Craig Blackwood, assistant director for L&Is Division of Occupational Safety and Health, said in a statement.

Amazon now has 15 days to appeal L&Is decision. The company currently has active appeals in three previous cases.
Industrial Emergency Response: Do You Need an In-House Response Team

In this webinar, we will discuss how to determine if, and when, you need an in-house emergency response team, factors to consider when implementing a new ERT team, how to set up an emergency response team, skillsets needed for choosing your ERT members, and what training they will need based on response types.

Attendees will learn:

How to evaluate if you need an emergency response team The pros and cons of having an in-house ERT team Training requirements to be an ERT member

Register for this free webinar!

DATE: September 7, 2023

TIME: 2:00PM ET - 1:00PM CT - 11:00AM PT

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CSIQs drop hasnt just been about upcoming earnings. It has also been a result of weakness in China, a key market for them. That part of it I understand in some ways, but it looks to have gone too far, especially considering that economic weakness in China is not the same in its scope and implications as weakness in the West. The Chinese government can target stimulus quite easily, and is

That is why, even though the beginning of June looks like this, I intend to buy Canadian Solar (CSIQ) in front of their calendar Q2 earnings release, which is scheduled for Tuesday, August 22nd.

In some ways, buying a falling stock in front of earnings isnt a smart thing to do. There is always the chance that there are people out there who know more than you do and that the drop is the result of that knowledge. Furthermore, it could be argued that when sentiment around a stock is extremely negative, even what looks like a generally good earnings report will be picked apart for weaknesses to justify more selling. However, for those of us with a more contrarian trading style, a big decline in the price of a stock in the runup to earnings sometimes looks like an opportunity. It sets up a sell the rumor, buy the fact scenario, where profit taking will limit the downside even if the results miss expectations, and it also means that the whisper number is probably way below the published analysts estimates, so even an average quarter will look good.

In some ways, buying a falling stock in front of earnings isnt a smart thing to do. There is always the chance that there are people out there who know more than you do and that the drop is the result of that knowledge. Furthermore, it could be argued that when sentiment around a stock is extremely negative, even what looks like a generally good earnings report will be picked apart for weaknesses to justify more selling. However, for those of us with a more contrarian trading style, a big decline in the price of a stock in the runup to earnings sometimes looks like an opportunity. It sets up a sell the rumor, buy the fact scenario, where profit taking will limit the downside even if the results miss expectations, and it also means that the whisper number is probably way below the published analysts estimates, so even an average quarter will look good.

That is why, even though the beginning of June looks like this, I intend to buy Canadian Solar (CSIQ) in front of their calendar Q2 earnings release, which is scheduled for Tuesday, August 22nd.

CSIQs drop hasnt just been about upcoming earnings. It has also been a result of weakness in China, a key market for them. That part of it I understand in some ways, but it looks to have gone too far, especially considering that economic weakness in China is not the same in its scope and implications as weakness in the West. The Chinese government can target stimulus quite easily, and is forcing the transition to solar power, so there is a good chance that the industry will escape the worst of any downturn that may materialize.

If you discount or at least play down those fears, what you are left with is a curious anomaly. CSIQ is falling out of bed in front of earnings, despite being one of the few companies this quarter who are expected to report positive growth. The consensus view is for EPS of $1.52, 42% above the same quarter last year, on revenue of $2.5 billion, representing just over 8% growth. That drop might make sense if the stock had been hugely overvalued a few months ago, but that really isnt the case and CSIQ is now trading more than 30% below where it was a year ago.

Does that make sense to you? A 30% drop on a 42% increase in profits? No, it doesnt to me either. And on top of that, every value metric suggests that the stock is undervalued at these levels. Forward and trailing P/Es stand at 6.3 and 6.9, respectively, with a PEG ratio, where a value below 1.0 indicates value, of 0.25, and CSIQ is trading below book value and at only 0.29 times sales.

The strong impression of value that all that creates is also backed up by the technical picture. The stock is just around 10% above what has proven to be a solid support level in the past at around $27.

If nothing else, that makes for a good level off on which to base a stop loss, and, should earnings beat expectations, the rush to exit all the short positions could create a significant upside.

Obviously, this is not a trade for the faint of heart. As I said earlier, buying a falling stock in front of earnings always poses a significant risk. But a stock expected to show good growth at a time when growth is scarce, and which is trading way below any logical calculation of its actual value, is just too hard for me to resist. So, I will be picking up CSIQ at around $30, placing a stop at $26.80, and crossing my fingers. Wish me luck!
Firm support voiced for drive to weed out healthcare corruption

11:23, August 18, 2023 By Wang Xiaoyu ( China Daily

Continuous oversight, reforms needed to achieve goals, experts and officials say

High hopes are held by experts and officials for China's yearlong drive against corruption in the healthcare sector, which is aimed at uprooting widespread misconduct, reducing medical expenses and fostering a healthy environment for the industry's development.

Prompt action taken at central and local levels to investigate and report a wide range of malpractices has demonstrated the determination to fight corruption, the experts and officials said. The campaign was launched early last month.

However, the experts and officials added that corruption in the healthcare sector is such a complicated and long-standing issue that continuous oversight and institutional reforms are needed to achieve the goals.

Ren Jianming, head of Beihang University's Center for Integrity Research and Education, said: "This round of the anti-corruption drive specifically targets the medical and pharmaceutical sector. The sole focus promises a tough and thorough crackdown."

A statement released by the National Health Commission on Tuesday said the campaign will investigate bribery and kickbacks in pharmaceutical sales, misuse of healthcare insurance funds, the ethics of medical personnel, use of power in exchange for money, and misconduct by industry associations and enterprises.

Ren said that in 2006, one round of a major anti-corruption campaign focused on curtailing irregular pricing mechanisms, such as charging excessive fees for medical services and drugs.

"But that round primarily targeted the business sector, so the impact on healthcare was relatively limited," he said.

"Recent crackdown efforts have pledged a comprehensive investigation to directly confront corrupt acts in the healthcare sector. I look forward very much to the outcome."

Ren added that involvement of the nation's top anti-graft authorities  the Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, or CCDI, and the National Supervisory Commission  has further injected momentum into the campaign.

On July 28, the CCDI held a video conference to request intensified supervision and enforcement of disciplines and laws for the anti-corruption drive.

"Although the National Health Commission, as the top health authority, is able to enforce management and disciplinary action, the role of the CCDI in fighting corruption is irreplaceable," Ren said.

Figures compiled by media outlet Shangyou News show the number of hospital heads placed under investigation has risen rapidly since last month, with the total to date reaching more than 180.

"The speed at which local governments carried out probes, and the severity of penalties meted out, are impressive," Ren said.

Hu Xiaodong, a professor at China University of Political Science and Law's School of Political Science and Public Administration, said that over the years, most anti-corruption drives in the healthcare sector have centered on wrongdoing involving kickbacks given by pharmaceutical companies to doctors, and gifts from patients to doctors.

"But the scope of this latest investigation extends to hospital heads, heads of clinic departments, and administrative officials. The form of corruption being investigated is also more varied," he said.

The National Health Commission said the entire industry chain of production, logistics, sales, use and reimbursement will be rectified, and all shareholders, from administrators and associations to medical institutions, enterprises and healthcare insurers, will be examined.

Price rises

Corruption in the healthcare industry causes harm to individual patients and impedes the implementation of Healthy China 2030, a strategy to improve the overall health of the population, experts said.

"A normal procurement contract tends to determine the final price at 10 to 20 percent higher than the benchmark pricing (usually the industry average), but in the healthcare sector, the procurement price could rise by more than 10 times in some extreme cases," Ren said.

Selling products at high prices is a common malpractice among pharmaceutical suppliers. These vastly inflated prices enable them to bribe hospital staff members.

Hu said a typical case was revealed by anti-corruption authorities in Guangdong province on Aug 1.

Luo Yong, president of a hospital in the province's Zhongshan city, was found to have accepted cash and gifts from patients and colluded with suppliers and medical representatives to take kickbacks.

A report on the Guangdong Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection's website said: "The total amount involved in the case reached 29.80 million yuan ($4.1 million). The kickbacks going into his (Luo's) pocket were turned into medical expenditure charged to patients."

The report said that after Luo was removed from his post in November, procurement costs and medical fees at the hospital dropped significantly.

"From January to May, the average cost for an outpatient visit there fell by 16.6 percent and the cost of each hospitalization decreased by 21.4 percent," the report said.

Hu said, "This case shows how corrupt acts can drive up expenses shouldered by patients  impacting people's sense of happiness, satisfaction and security in society."

Under pressure

Experts said hospitals facing financial pressure amid intense competition, and unbridled decision-making power in the hands of hospital administrators have led to severe cases of corruption.

Li Ling, a professor at Peking University's National School of Development, said public hospitals in China are under pressure to be self-reliant in generating revenue and funding about 90 percent of their operating costs. Government finances often only cover 10 percent.

"If a hospital pays lower wages than its competitors, its medical workers might be poached. Such competition between hospitals also motivates them to create higher revenues," Li told news portal Economic View.

Hu said: "Retaining skilled healthcare workers and purchasing high-end equipment cost enormous amounts of money, but the funds provided by governments are limited. With marketization of the medical field, hospitals are easily lured into choosing suppliers that offer additional benefits."

He added that two groups are the most likely to commit offenses  hospital administrators who have the power to allocate resources, and doctors who write prescriptions and devise treatment plans.

In a case that was revealed by the CCDI in May and which attracted public attention this month, a hospital in Pu'er, Yunnan province, bought a medical linear accelerator used for cancer radiation therapy for 35.2 million yuan, more than double the average market price of 15 million yuan.

The hospital's president, surnamed Yang, had a long history of dining out with and accepting gifts from suppliers. Even though his colleagues were opposed to purchasing the expensive equipment, which would be of limited use at the small hospital, Yang insisted on buying it for personal gain.

He received more than 16 million yuan in kickbacks.

"There is insufficient supervision of hospital administrators and oversight of market prices," Hu said.

Complicated issue

In its statement, the National Health Commission said that in addition to clamping down on corruption, the campaign is aimed at fostering a "clean and clear" industry culture and boosting high-quality development of the healthcare sector.

Hu said medical corruption is an extremely complicated issue. Despite challenges, the campaign should be enforced firmly, as it also presents an opportunity to rebuild doctor-patient relationships and reform drug procurement systems.

"It is essential to mobilize hospitals to return to the function of saving lives and treating people's ailments as public welfare, rather than being driven by making profits," he said.

"Governments, charity organizations and foundations can join efforts to step up investment to hospitals (to ease financial pressure)."

Hu also suggested imposing stricter oversight of key shareholders, such as hospital heads, department heads and doctors, to ensure that their priority is to enhance medical skills and address illnesses, instead of maximizing income.

"It is also important to increase bonuses and housing subsidies for medical workers while nurturing a healthy ethical culture among them," he said.

Hu added that more rules and regulations should be introduced to standardize drug procurement and sales procedures, and pricing mechanisms for medical products.

"More funds should be invested to support enterprises making basic medications that have a slim profit margin. In the meantime, favorable policies can be rolled out to support manufacturers creating more costly and advanced drugs for patients in need," he said.

Important role

The anti-corruption campaign has triggered a discussion on potential disruptions to normal medical order and academic activities.

Sun Ningling, a cardiovascular medicine specialist at Peking University People's Hospital, said she resolutely supports anti-corruption efforts, but objects to blindly stigmatizing all academic conferences.

"Academic meetings provide a platform for doctors to exchange knowledge, discuss complicated cases, and play an important role in improving our skills. When governments cannot fund these events, it is legitimate for medical associations and enterprises to provide sponsorship," she said.

However, some local campaigns have labeled sponsorship offered to academic conferences by industry associations as a form of corruption, she added.

Responding directly to the concern, the National Health Commission said on Tuesday that academic conferences and activities that abide by regulations should be supported and encouraged, but practices that use fake academic meetings to cover up the illegal transfer of benefits and division of sponsorship fees should be rectified.

Ren, from Beihang University, said that as a result of the campaign in 2006, a large number of medical experts were detained, interrogated and had their licenses revoked.

Many patients who waited for as long as two years to obtain an appointment with these experts were left disappointed.

"The campaign now underway should forcefully root out all existing cases, and avoid being stretched over a prolonged period that might disrupt the regular operation of hospitals," he said.

"It takes determination as well as a wise strategy to weed out corruption."

Timeline

Details of China's anti-corruption efforts targeting the healthcare sector this year:

Jan 9: The nation's top anti-graft body calls for a heightened crackdown on corruption that directly harms people's interests, such as those working in education, healthcare, social security, and care for the elderly. The decision is announced in a work report delivered at the second plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, or CCDI.

May 10: The National Health Commission says it will focus on addressing prominent corruption issues in healthcare and the pharmaceutical industry in the rectification campaign this year. The number of ministries taking part in the annual campaign rises from nine in previous years to 14.

Early July: Ten government departments, including the CCDI, issue documents clarifying goals and tasks for the yearlong anti-corruption campaign targeting procurement and sales of pharmaceuticals, and provision of medical services.

July 12: A video conference is held by the 10 government departments to launch the campaign nationwide. More than 4,000 officials across the country attend the online meeting.

July 25: A draft amendment to the Criminal Law submitted to the top legislature for review states that offering bribes in the food, drug, education and healthcare sectors should be harshly punished.

July 28: The CCDI holds a video conference, calling for stronger efforts to be made in the fight against corruption in the health industry. The commission launches an online platform to seek opinions from the public on the culture of the medical industry.

August: Local authorities release their plans for rectification campaigns. Some regions set up hotlines to receive reports from the public on corruption issues in the healthcare sector. The rectification campaign will last through June next year.

Sources: National Health Commission, Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
(CNN)  President Joe Biden is using the presidential retreat at Camp David to help with a diplomatic mission  hosting the first-ever trilateral summit with Japan and South Korea, two countries that are putting aside a fraught history in the face of shared security challenges.

Bidens summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is meant to serve as a show of force as the countries grapple with persistent provocative behavior from North Korea. It also comes as the president has sought to deepen ties with allies in the Indo-Pacific amid concerns about a rising China.

On Friday, Biden will host the leaders at the secluded getaway in the Catoctin Mountains in Maryland where they are set to deepen defense, technology and economic cooperation between the three countries, senior administration officials said.

The leaders will establish annual military exercises, including regular ballistic missile drills, and discuss new intelligence-sharing agreements, officials said. They will take steps to set up a three-way hotline for the leaders to consult in crises and will formalize the trilateral summit, the first of its kind, as an annual event.

The summit will fall short of a producing a three-way collective defense agreement but will underscore that a challenge to any one of the countries is a challenge to all of them, a senior administration official said.

The gathering will mark the first time Biden is hosting foreign leaders at the Camp David retreat, a site of historic diplomatic negotiations for past presidents. Biden will greet the leaders at Camp David on Friday morning for the trilateral meetings, and they are expected to hold a joint news conference at the end of the summit.

The prospect of trilateral progress between the countries was not always a given. The relationship between Seoul and Tokyo is trailed by decades of tension and mistrust, including a dispute between the two countries over forced labor by Japan during its occupation of Korea.

But in the face of persistent missile threats from North Korea and Chinas military maneuvering in the region, Kishida and Yoon have gone to great lengths to put aside those differences, including hosting a fence-mending summit in March, the first of its kind in 12 years. US officials have credited that work as a key step in cementing the trilateral partnership once thought unimaginable.

Chinas entire strategy is based on the premise that Americas number one and number two ally in the region cant get together and get on the same page, Rahm Emanuel, the US ambassador to Japan, said at the Brookings Institution on Wednesday. He added the trilateral partnership is a foundational piece that alters all calculations.

Ahead of the summit, South Korea believes North Korea is preparing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch and other provocations around the gathering or the upcoming joint military drills between the US and South Korea set to begin next week, according to a South Korean lawmaker briefed by the countrys intelligence service.

A senior administration official said the US anticipates criticism and reactions from Pyongyang and Beijing around the summit but said the presidents focus is on making sure that the region knows that this trilateral partnership is operating at a new level and as a fundamental force.

Alliance-building a cornerstone of Biden foreign policy

The gathering at the secluded, wooded retreat will also highlight Bidens mission of reinvigorating alliances in the wake of the tumultuous four years of his predecessor  a key argument from Bidens 2020 campaign thats extending into his reelection bid.

From the start of his administration, Biden has sought to draw Asian allies like Japan and South Korea closer, in part, to counter an ascendant China. Bidens first foreign leader visits at the White House were Japan and South Korea, and he visited the countries back-to-back in May 2022.

The leaders held trilateral meetings on the sidelines of last years NATO Summit in Madrid and at the G7 in Hiroshima in May, but the Camp David gathering will be the first stand-alone summit for the three leaders.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan has held yearly meetings with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts beginning with a sit-down in Annapolis, Maryland, less than three months into Bidens time in office.

Biden has worked to foster his individual relationships and cooperation with South Korea and Japan. Biden and Kishida have touted efforts to strengthen their countrys military alliance and the two men have worked closely as the US has sought to rally allies against Russias war in Ukraine.

I dont think theres ever been a time when we were closer, Biden said as he met with Kishida in the Oval Office in January.

During a state visit for South Korea at the White House in April, Biden and Yoon announced a new agreement to deter North Korean aggression, including a US commitment to temporarily deploy a nuclear-armed submarine to South Korea for the first time since the 1980s.

The visit also included memorable personal touches as South Koreas president serenaded dinner guests with a verse from American Pie. The president in return gifted Yoon a guitar signed by the musician responsible for the song, Don McLean.

Yoons father Yoon Ki Jung passed away on Tuesday, just days before the South Korean president was set to travel to the US.

The presidents private retreat as a foreign policy tool

Fridays meeting in the rustic setting could offer an opportunity to deepen those personal ties. A senior administration official said the backdrop of Camp David will convey images and symbolism certainly of reconciliation, of friendship and of new beginnings  symbols that Camp David has encapsulated for a long time.

Located roughly 60 miles outside of Washington, Camp David became a personal retreat for US presidents starting with Franklin D. Roosevelt, who called the grounds USS Shangri-La. President Dwight D. Eisenhower later renamed the grounds after his grandson.

When not at the White House or one of their homes in Delaware, Biden and his family have frequented the wooded getaway on weekends. But this will mark the first time the president is playing host to foreign leaders.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was the first world leader to visit the grounds in 1943, meeting with Roosevelt as the US president fished in one of the streams on site. Two weeks of negotiations that led to the Camp David Accords, the historic peace agreement between Israel and Egypt, took place at the retreat during President Jimmy Carters tenure.

President Bill Clinton tried for another Middle East peace deal as he hosted Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at Camp David in 2000, but those talks ultimately failed to reach an agreement.

The last US president to use the grounds for diplomatic meetings was President Barack Obama, who hosted Gulf state leaders there in 2015. Former President Donald Trump considered inviting the Taliban to Camp David in 2019 but ultimately scrapped those plans after the group took credit for a bombing that killed 12 people, including a US soldier.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Biden turns to Camp David diplomacy for first-ever trilateral summit with Japan and South Korea"
Becancour, a quaint Canadian town nestled along the St. Lawrence River, is not the kind of place youd typically associate with a high-tech revolution. With a population that barely surpasses 14,000, this town might just be at the epicenter of North America's burgeoning electric vehicle (EV) supply chain.

Its easy to think of the EV transition in terms of swanky new cars and charging stations, but for anyone familiar with the intricacies of the energy world, its clear that the heart of the EV beast lies in its batteries. And as global giants pivot towards the green tech future, a consortium comprising of Ford Motor Co and South Korean trailblazers EcoProBM and SK On Co Ltd have decided that Becancour is just the place to kickstart their EV dreams.

With a cool C$1.2 billion (equivalent to $887 million) on the line, this consortium is gearing up to birth an EV battery material powerhouse right in Becancour. The aim? Producing a staggering 45,000 tonnes of cathode active materials (CAM) yearly, dedicated specifically to Ford's electric fleet.

It's not just about quantity. Ford promises quality too, highlighting their intent to churn out high-grade nickel cobalt manganese (NCM)  the golden trio for rechargeable batteries that boast enhanced performance and extended EV range.

As Lisa Drake, Ford's EV frontwoman, put it, This cathode facility will supply the material that goes into Fords future EVs in North America, specifically some of our future trucks.

Now, seasoned industry watchers might note that this is Ford's debut foray into Quebec, an interesting move given its century-long ties with neighboring Ontario. But Becancour's recent buzz makes it clear why this detour is happening.

Ford isn't the first automotive titan to cast its lot with the town. GM and South Koreas POSCO Future M earlier signaled their intentions to amplify production capabilities in a battery material facility there. Even Germanys BASF SE is joining this Becancour bandwagon.

Canadas government, ever the eager participant in this green shift, isnt shy about pitching in either. With a conditional loan of C$322 million from the federal coffers, matched by Quebec's partially forgivable loan of the same sum, its clear that the nation is investing heavily in this EV promise.

And why shouldnt they? With a vast mining landscape, rich in coveted minerals like lithium, nickel, and cobalt, Canada is uniquely positioned to be the seductress of companies spanning the entire EV supply chain.

This latest industrial embrace further entrenches the country's commitment to a greener future, amplified by its multibillion-dollar green technology fund.

Francois-Philippe Champagne, Canada's industry bigwig, couldn't hide his enthusiasm: This is a big vote of confidence in the (EV) ecosystem weve been building, adding with a dash of pride that Quebec is finally sharing the limelight with Ontario in the automotive sector.

But Becancour isnt the only Canadian town gearing up for the EV revolution. Ontario, the traditional heart of Canadas auto industry, is witnessing a flood of investments from automotive behemoths like Volkswagen and Stellantis.

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All in all, while the world focuses on cutting carbon footprints and ushering in an era of green tech, towns like Becancour, previously overshadowed by their more industrious neighbors, are emerging as the dark horses in this energy transition. And for those who understand the stakes, it's evident that the EV battery game is more than just tech  it's a reimagining of geopolitical dynamics and industrial hotspots.

By Michael Kern for Oilprice.com

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Last year, Greece emerged as a new hub for Russian oil via ship-to-ship (STS) loadings shortly after the U.S. and Europe slapped heavy sanctions on Russian crude. At the height of the Russia-Greece trade, shipments of Russian fuel oil clocked in at nearly a million tonnes, several times the volumes before the sanctions.

But now Greek-operated tankers are cutting their volumes of Russian crude after the price of Urals surpassed the US$60/bbl price cap for the first time in July. According to Argus Media, Greek tanker operators, who control more than one-third of tankers which have been lifting Russian crude post-ban, cut volumes of Russian crude by 482,000 bbls in July, with current volumes good for 35% of all cargoes compared to 45% in June. With Russian crude now more costly, Chinese buyers are increasingly turning elsewhere which further disincentivizes Greek operators from remaining in the Russian trade due to the complications of remaining sanctions-compliant.

Consequently, Greek-operated tankers are discharging Russian crude and increasingly ballasting to the Middle East Gulf instead of ballasting back to load again in Russia. Suezmax tankers are the most affected with an average 40% of Greek-operated Suezmax tankers having ballasted back to the Middle East Gulf. Ballasting or de-ballasting is a process by which a ship takes in or discharges sea water when the ship is at the port or at sea. Ballasting is done to ensure trim, stability and structural integrity of the ship when its carrying no cargo. Suezmax tanker and Aframax tanker availability is at high levels, which has pushed Aframax tanker freight rates to lows last seen before the Russian invasion. Related: Standard Chartered: All-Time-High Demand Will Push Oil To $100

Little-Known Traders Dominate Trade In Russian Crude

Historically, giant commodity traders such as Switzerland's Vitol, Glencore, and Gunvor as well as Singapores Trafigura have dominated the global oil trade while smaller trading desks that lack the wherewithal and deep infrastructure networks of the giants usually feed on crumbs. The same case applied to the Russian market before Putins invasion of Ukraine, with Trafigura moving ~850,000 barrels of Russian crude per day at its peak. But the oil hegemony has now been severely disrupted, with Bloomberg reporting that six little-known companies based in Dubai and Hong Kong now dominate Russian oil trade with the traditional leaders no longer in the picture.

According to Bloomberg, Russian customs data shows that Nord Axis Ltd, Tejarinaft FZCO,QR Trading DMCC, Concept Oil Services Ltd, Bellatrix Energy Ltd and Coral Energy DMCC together handled about 1.4 million barrels a day of Russian crude oil. Thats more oil than what the commodity giants typically handled before the war in Ukraine, and enough to meet the entire needs of countries such as the UK and Italy.

Interestingly, its Nord Axis, a company that was incorporated just a year ago in Hong Kong, that emerged as the biggest buyer, moving 521,000 barrels of Russian crude per day. Nord Axis was virtually unknown in the oil market until it bought Trafiguras stake in Rosnefts flagship oil project Vostok Oil in July. Dubai-based Tejarinaft FZCO was the second largest buyer after it purchased 244,000 barrels a day from Rosneft while Dubai-based QR Trading DMCC was the third-largest buyer, moving 199,000 barrels a day from Surgutneftegas PJSC. Other top buyers were Hong Kongs Concept Oil Services Ltd (152,000 b/d), Hong Kong-based Bellatrix Energy Ltd (151,000 b/d) and Dubais Coral Energy DMCC (121,000 b/d).

Its not clear how these traders were able to finance the large flows of Russian oil, with Bloomberg estimating it was worth more $2 billion over the month of December.

Even more perplexing is the fact that Nord Axis, QR Trading DMCC and Bellatrix Energy Ltd were unknown entities before the west abandoned the Russian energy markets. Bloomberg has established that Bellatrix received loan facilities from Russian banks including Rosneft-owned Russian Regional Development Bank and Russian Agricultural Bank, though calls or emails to these traders, their banks and Russian oil producers have gone unanswered.

Knowing who the big names are is an important step in understanding how oil markets are responding to the price cap and wider sanctions, Steve Cicala, co-director of the Project on the Economic Analysis of Regulation at the National Bureau of Economic Research, has told Bloomberg.

Meanwhile, other experts have decried the opacity of Russian oil markets, Were coming to this with a lot of humility and were just asking that everyone else can adopt the same level of uncertainty. These are really opaque markets, the datas not great on it. Lets just acknowledge that from the outset when were making conclusions, U.S. Assistant Treasury Secretary Ben Harris has told Bloomberg.

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By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

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It was only a (short) matter of time before Libyas oil was once again in a very precarious position as various factions in rival governments attempt to jockey for position. Militia warfare in Tripoli (the seat of the Government of National Accord, GNA) broke out on Monday, killing an estimated 50 people as of Wednesday and wounding scores of others, before dying down.

The trigger in this case was the arrest of a militia commander affiliated with the Libyan defense ministry and allied with the Libyan interim prime minister of the GNA, Abdulhamid Dbeibah. The arrest of the commander was perpetrated by another Tripoli militia, also aligned with Dbeibah.

The fighting began to subside once Dbeibah negotiated a deal for the commanders release late on Tuesday. But this all further underlines the fact that Libya has a major militia problem that will be more than merely challenging to unite in order to hold elections without major violence and a return to active civil war.

There are various militias that support Dbeibah (the western government based in Tripoli), various militias that support the rival eastern powers in Benghazi, and various militias that support neither. Its a tinderbox of militia that need to be bought and paid for and switch alliances or launch battles at the slightest indication of the balance of power shifting, or for a better offer.

This setup renders it virtually impossible to hold elections
Russias Arctic LNG 2 project is on track to begin first production later this year, one of the minority shareholders, Chinas CNOOC, said on Friday.

So far all the partners...have been financing the project as per normal. None is delaying in funding it. The project is thus proceeding as planned, CNOOCs chief financial officer Xie Weizhi told an earnings briefing in Hong Kong, as carried by Reuters.

Arctic LNG 2 is developed by Novatek, Russias largest independent natural gas producer, which holds a 60% stake in the LNG export project. The other shareholders include CNOOC of China and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), French supermajor TotalEnergies, and Japanese firms Mitsui Group and Jogmec.

Arctic LNG 2 was planned to be up and running by 2023, reaching full capacity by 2026. The project is expected to produce 20 million tonnes of LNG annually.

Arctic LNG 2 production will be delivered to international markets by a fleet of ice-class LNG carriers that will be able to use the Northern Sea Route and the transshipment terminal in Kamchatka for cargoes destined for Asia and the transshipment terminal close to Murmansk for cargoes destined for Europe.

Novateks deputy chairman Eduard Gudkov told a Russian energy forum in June that the company plans to launch its Arctic LNG 2 project at the end of 2023 or in early 2024.

Novateks chief executive Leonid Mikhelson said last month that We are going to meet the deadlines of the first lines launch, scheduled for 2023.

Novatek also plans to deliver 2 million tons of LNG to Japan from the project, Mikhelson was quoted as saying by Russian news agency TASS.

Unlike Yamal LNG, the Arctic LNG 2 project envisages that the liquefied natural gas is marketed by partners, [depending on their] share in the project. The Japanese side holds 10% in the project, which amounts to two million tons. They will certainly be delivered to the Japanese market, he said.

By Josh Owens for Oilprice.com

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Adani Transmission, a subsidiary of Indian conglomerate Adani Group, has denied reports that Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. PJSC (TAQA) will invest $1.5-2.5 billion in Adani Group firms or in a single entity. The Economic Times had earlier reported that TAQA is evaluating a large exposure in the sprawling power businesses of billionaire Gautam Adani that span thermal generation to transmission, clean energy and green hydrogen, said people aware of the matter.

"In this regard, we wish to clarify that the Company is not engaged in any discussion with Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. PJSC (TAQA), for their investment in the Company," the company said in a stock exchange clarification

The reports had sent shares of Adani Group companies soaring, with Adani Green Energy, Adani Energy Solutions and Adani Power jumping up to 12% in Friday's trade on BSE. Earlier in the year, the shares were hammered after short-seller Hindenburg Research published a damning report alleging that Adani Group was involved in brazen stock manipulation and an accounting fraud scheme over the course of decades.

According to Hindenburg, Gautam Adani, founder and chairman of the Adani Group, had managed to amass a net worth of roughly $120 billion, with $100 billion coming in the past 3 years, largely through stock price appreciation in the groups seven key listed companies, which had spiked an average of 819% over the timeframe. Hindenburg argued that Adani Groups seven key listed companies had 85% downside purely on a fundamental basis owing to sky-high valuations.

To allay investor concerns, Adani Group sold Rs 15,446 crore (~$1.9B) worth of shares in four of its companies to US-based equity fund GQG Partners. GQG Partners bought 55,600,000 shares of Adani Green Energy; 38,701,168 Adani Enterprises shares, 88,600,000 Adani Ports shares and 28,400,000 shares of Adani Transmission. To enhance its green credentials, Adani canceled a Rs 7,017 crore ($857.6 million) coal plant purchase, ditched plans to buy a stake in power trader PTC India and suspended work on a Rs 34,900 crore ($4.3B) petrochemical project in Gujarat. Adani Group later revealed that it prepaid share-backed financing of Rs 7,374 crore ($901.2 million) to various Indian financial institutions and international banks. The company also held multiple roadshows in London, Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore, among other locations.

The measures appear to have worked only partially, with Adani Enterprise shares paring back some losses but still down nearly 20% in the year-to-date.

By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

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CNOOC Ltd, Chinas state-held oil and gas giant, has reported a decline of 11.3% year over year in its net profit for the first half of 2023, as lower oil prices weighed on profitability.

CNOOC posted $8.7 billion (63.8 billion Chinese yuan) in net income between January and June, down from the same period last year as lower commodity prices weighed on realized prices at all major companies during the second quarter of 2023 and the first half of 2023.

The lower oil prices more than offset an 8.9% increase in CNOOCs net oil and gas production which was 331.8 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) for the first half of 2023.

In the first half of 2023, macroeconomy stayed complex and volatile, while international oil prices saw fluctuations in a downward trend, CNOOCs chairman Wang Dongjin said in a statement to shareholders.

In the first half of the year, the CNOOC achieved significant growth in oil and gas production in both China and overseas, with daily net production hitting a record high, the executive added.

Early this year, CNOOC reported a record-high profit for 2022, thanks to the high oil and gas prices.

As prices slid this year, CNOOC, the other Chinese giants, and international majors reported lower earnings compared to the smashing profits of last year.

CNOOC saw a drop in first-quarter net profit compared to the same period of 2022.

CNOOCs net profit fell by 6.4% year-over-year and stood at $4.4 billion (32.1 billion yuan) for the first quarter of 2023. The companys average realized crude oil price plunged by 23.9% to $74.17 per barrel, compared to $97.47 a barrel for the first quarter of 2022.

CNOOC, however, reported net production rising by 8.6% in the first three months of 2023 compared to the same period last year.

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This year, the company is targeting another record in production and has set its goal at 650 million to 660 million boe, up from the current annual record of 623.8 million boe hit in 2022.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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Forecasters are revising their diesel demand outlook for the rest of the year on slower-than-expected Chinese economic growth, Reuters has reported, noting this would mean exports of the fuel from China would likely remain robust.

Citing data from Rystad Energy and the IEA, the report said that the weak growth in demand for the fuel that keeps economies going will likely extend into 2024.

According to Rystad Energy, demand for diesel in China will grow by 3.81 million bpd in the second half of the year. Thats down from an earlier forecast of growth at 3.9 million bpd.

The revision is moderate, and second-half growth would still be 3.8% higher than first-half growth in diesel demand, Reuters noted.

The International Energy Agency, meanwhile, has reduced both its outlook for diesel and gasoil demand in China, seeing diesel demand growth specifically 127,000 weaker than it did in March this year.

The reason for these revisions is lower than previously forecast economic growth, with a Rystad Energy analyst saying that "Diesel demand is still growing, but at a lower-than-expected rate."

Lin Ye cited Chinas troubled real estate sector and a worsening trading environment.

Rising diesel stocks in China also contributed to the bearish mood of forecasters, Reuters noted in its report.

For much of this year, demand for diesel was seen as strong on a global level, prompting concern about possible supply shortages. However, weak economic growth in Europe and the U.S., and the prospect of recession in some EU states eventually tempered that concern and motivated demand forecast revisions.

These revisions, interestingly, came despite strong diesel demand data in all parts of the world earlier this year. High profit margins for diesel exports from China to the rest of Asia also support the perception of strong diesel demand, despite the challenges.

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By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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Texans have been asked to voluntarily cut back on energy usage amid extreme temperatures, sagging wind power generation, and booming demand, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) said on Thursday.

ERCOT has issued a Voluntary Conservation Notice for 3  8 p.m. today, Aug. 17, due to extreme temperatures, forecasted high demand, & lower reserves due to low wind generation. Texans are asked to voluntarily reduce electric use, if safe to do so, ERCOT said on Twitter.

Temperatures are soaring in Texas, reaching 111F in Wichita Falls at 4 pm ET.

ERCOT stressed that despite calls for voluntary cutbacks, it was not in emergency operations.

ERCOT asked consumers to voluntarily cut electricity use a couple of weeks ago as well, as temperatures climbed into triple digits, and before that, in mid June. In June, the reasons ERCOT cited for the cutbacks were lower-than-normal wind energy output, the intermittency of solar output that contributes nothing to the grid after sunset, extreme heat, record demand, and thermal outages.

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.

According to ERCOT demand forecasts, demand could meet electricity supplied this afternoon before dropping off again in the evening hours. At 4 pm, ERCOT data suggested that demand reached 82,597 MW against committed capacity of 86,715 MW.

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ERCOT is also asking all government agencies (including city and county offices) to implement all programs to reduce energy use at their facilities.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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The market for sour crude in Asia is tightening as Kuwait is ramping up a large new refinery and cutting exports to divert supply to its new facility, adding to the ongoing cuts from major Middle Eastern producers in the OPEC+ group to further restrict heavy and medium sour crude supply.

Kuwait is currently in the process of ramping up its huge new 615,000-barrels-per-day refinery Al-Zour and has reduced crude supply to the global market this year, analysts from energy consultancies Energy Aspects, Rystad Energy, FGE, and S&P Global Commodity Insights have told Reuters.

Kuwaiti crude oil exports declined by around 10% annually to average 1.61 million barrels per day (bpd) in the first seven months of the year, per Kpler data cited by Reuters.

As the Al-Zour refinery ramps up through the rest of the year, Kuwaits crude supply could shrink by 18% in the second half of 2023 compared to the first half of the year, the consultancies told Reuters.

With lower sour crude supply from Kuwait, Asian refiners are scrambling to get their hands on additional sour crude volumes. But Saudi Arabia and Iraq, key sour crude producers, are also cutting production, making the sour crude market one of the hottest in the oil complex this year and undermining Asian refiners profitability.

With output cuts hitting the heavy sour crude market hard, Dubai crude is trading at a rare premium to Brent, while the price of Urals crude has breached the G7-led price cap now making all Russian oil exports ineligible for G7 and EU maritime services, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its monthly Oil Market Report last week.

The premium for Brent Crude prices to Dubai crude has evaporated in recent weeks and has swung to a discount as Middle East oil availability has shrunk with OPEC+ and Saudi production cuts. This dramatic shift in the usual trading pattern could change global oil flows and prompt Brent-linked barrels to sell more easily on the Asian markets.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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Members of the Omaha Public Power District board voted 8-0 Thursday to move forward a historic $2 billion expansion that will nearly double the utilitys electric generating capacity over the next decade.

The expansion, utility officials said, is needed to meet unprecedented growth in energy demand expected in the utilitys 13-county service territory in eastern Nebraska. Energy consumption by all customers  residential, commercial and industrial  is expected to increase by 70% by 2032.

Nearly 90% of the projected new development OPPD is striving to meet is coming from industrial customers, very large business enterprises that are heavy energy users. And roughly two-thirds of that new demand, OPPD says, is from data centers, the digital warehouses powering the nations work-from-home shift and allowing the sharing of back-to-school pictures on social media.

To meet that demand, the utility will add a fleet of new generation plants, mostly renewable sources like wind and solar, and plants that burn natural gas. But the utility says 90% of the actual energy generated will come from renewable resources, which will allow OPPD to continue reducing its climate-changing emissions.

Several attendees spoke to the need for additional generation to meet the growing demand for electrical power they are seeing from area business and industry.

Eric Williams, OPPD board chairman, said that highlights the fact that the utility is experiencing significant, unprecedented growth in demand for energy, and specifically for clean energy.

We know the need, he said. It is clear that we need to provide the energy for our community going forward, and this recommendation meets those needs for our customers.

OPPD officials project the plan will roughly require a 10% increase in rates, which will be phased in over four years beginning in 2027.

How individual classes of ratepayers will be impacted wont be known until then.

Attendee David Begley complained that residential customers, particularly those in east Omaha, would be subsidizing data centers and said the companies that operate them should be shouldering the increased costs. He also questioned the utilitys assertions that wind and solar generation are low cost because those sources are backed up by natural gas plants.

OPPD CEO Javier Fernandez, however, has said that all customer groups will pay their fair share of any increases and that all customers will benefit from a more robust and resilient generation system.

Some of the new generation, in fact, is needed to meet an increase in the reserve power margin that the regional power grid to which OPPD belongs set last year. The added margin is intended to increase system reliability.

Meanwhile, the demand OPPD is facing is becoming more evident. Google on Tuesday will host a new investment announcement at its Papillion Data Center. In addition to its data center complex in Sarpy County, Google has another data center complex in Council Bluffs and another under construction in northwest Omaha.

Fernandez reported later in the meeting that OPPD set a new peak electrical load of 2,670 megawatts on July 28. That topped the previous peak recorded Aug. 2, 2022, marking a jump of 130 megawatts or a 5.1%.

Fernandez said the higher peak is a reminder of why the utility needs to keep existing generating units in good working order and why we need to build the resources the board just approved.

OPPDs expansion plan initially was announced in May. But enough questions and concerns were raised that the utilitys elected board declined to vote in June, rescheduling the vote for Thursday.

The plan approved Thursday calls for 1,000 to 1,500 megawatts of wind and solar generation, a figure that includes up to 600 megawatts of renewable power approved in 2019 that the utility is still working to bring online.

Also included are 600 to 950 megawatts of natural gas, at least 32 megawatts of demand response (shifting or shedding electricity demand to help balance the grid), up to 125 megawatts of battery storage, and approximately 320 megawatts of added fuel capability and fuel oil storage at existing generation facilities.

While the fossil-fueled natural gas plants represent a big part of the new assets, OPPD officials say those plants are expected to operate less than 15% of the time. They will provide backup for when the wind isnt blowing and the sun isnt shining, help the utility meet demand at peak times, fill reserve requirements and make possible the introduction of the new renewable resources.

The board also voted 7-1 to revise its strategic directive on system planning to add incremental timelines for when the utility must get new resources under contract. The revised policy also specifies that the board get quarterly updates on progress on the resource plan.

Board member Mike Cavanaugh voted against the update, saying the revised policy doesnt spell out how progress toward the goals should be counted.

But Fernandez said the fact that the new policy is a strategic directive rather than a resolution allows for discussion on how progress is measured as the utility moves forward. The revision says the utility needs to move fast and having the goals is one way to measure whether its moving fast enough.

Williams also has said he expects the utility will work to add more interim emissions goals between now and 2050. The utility has set a goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050, meaning it would find offsets for any remaining carbon it is still emitting by that time.

The approved plan does not specify exactly what the renewable resources will be under the plan. But Fernandez has made it clear that a big focus will be solar, a resource he said combines both low costs and reliability when energy is most needed.

Last week, the utility announced it had acquired the rights for a potential solar project in York County. If it becomes a reality, the 310-megawatt plant near the town of McCool Junction would go a long way toward meeting OPPDs 2019 renewable commitment.

Representatives of local environmental groups also encouraged the utility to continue to work toward greater energy conservation, both for residential customers and businesses.

Utility officials have stressed that they continue to work toward additional conservation in a variety of ways.

World-Herald staff writer Henry J. Cordes contributed to this report.

Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of August 2023
(CNN)  The administrator of Mauis emergency management agency has resigned, citing health reasons, Maui County said in a news release Thursday, nine days after the deadliest US wildfire in more than 100 years began on the Hawaiian island.

The resignation of Maui Emergency Management Agency Administrator Herman Andaya is effective immediately, the county said.

Given the gravity of the crisis we are facing, my team and I will be placing someone in this key position as quickly as possible, and I look forward to making that announcement soon, Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen said.

Details about the health reasons that Andaya cited were not immediately available. CNN has sought comment from Hawaii Gov. Josh Green.

Andayas resignation comes amid growing scrutiny around why the islands robust siren system, which is mainly used for tsunami warnings, stayed silent as flames spread.

On Wednesday, Andaya told reporters he did not regret the decision not to sound those alarms, saying that if they had sounded, he worried many residents wouldve gone inland and would have gone into the fire.

US Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii criticized that response later that day, calling Andayas assessment of the situation and comment about not regretting his decision premature.

The wildfires that started August 8 have killed at least 111 people  including children. With the search for victims not halfway over, the devastation wrought by Mauis wildfires already defies imagination as scrutiny mounts over the cause  and the officials response

Most of the burn zone still needs searching, Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said Wednesday.

No one has ever seen this that is alive today  not this size, not this number, not this volume, Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said Wednesday. And were not done.

The number of residents unaccounted for is probably still over 1,000, Green told CNN on Wednesday.

Search crews are expected to keep scouring the charred debris of more than 2,000 burnt homes and businesses for days, the police chief said. Some are working despite immense personal grief.

Realize that the responders that are going out there are recovering their loved ones and members of their families, he said.

While the cause of the fires hasnt been determined, Hawaiian Electric  the major power company on Maui  is facing scrutiny for not shutting down power lines when high winds created dangerous fire conditions. A company that runs a sensor network on Maui says it detected major utility grid faults hours before fires started.

Hawaiian Electric said publicly in 2019 it would conduct drone surveys to identify areas vulnerable to wildfires and determine how to help keep residents and infrastructure safe.

But between 2019 and 2022, Hawaiian Electric invested less than $245,000 on wildfire-specific projects, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing regulatory filings.

Hawaiian Electric also didnt seek state approval to raise rates to pay for safety improvements until 2022, and the rate hike has yet to be approved, the Journal reported.

In a statement to CNN, the company said it has spent roughly $84 million since 2018 on maintenance and vegetation management in Maui County, including trimming and cutting down trees and upgrading equipment.

There are many elements of wildfire mitigation that dont get counted specifically as mitigation activities, including vegetation management, grid hardening and pole replacement and routine line and equipment inspections, the company said.

Authorities ask for DNA samples to identify victims

About 38% of the burn zone had been searched as of Wednesday afternoon, and authorities hope to cover much of it by the weekend, the police chief said.

Combing the ashes of what used to be homes, businesses and historic landmarks has been arduous. And identifying those killed wont be easy, as remains are largely unrecognizable and fingerprints rarely found, the governor said.

A genetics team will help identify remains so that we can make sure that were finding who our loved ones are, and that we make the notifications with dignity and honor, Pelletier said.

Authorities have asked relatives of the missing to provide DNA samples.

Brenda Keaus husband gave a DNA sample to help find his 83-year-old mother, Keau told CNN. The couple found her home in hard-hit Lahaina burned to the ground.

We accepted it on the day that we saw that there was no house, Keau said. But you never give up hope.

At least 40 canines from 15 states have joined in the search, said Jeff Hickman of the Hawaii Department of Defense.

Well start to bring closure to those who need it and identify those missing, he said. Theres assistance centers helping those who are missing, theres civilian lists going around and DNA being collected to help make the match and help people find those who are still missing.

Firefighters battled blazes as their own homes burned

When ferocious winds hurled flames across and quickly overwhelmed crews on August 8, some firefighters knew their own homes could burn.

The people that were trying to put out these fires lived in those homes  25 of our firefighters lost their homes, Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen said Wednesday.

Maui firefighter Aina Kohler was on the front lines that day and stuck to her mission to save lives  even as her house burned to the ground, she told CNN affiliate KITV. By the time flames reached her home, she said, firefighters had run out of water.

That was honestly the most disheartening thing of my life. I felt the supply, and Im like: Its limp. Just leaving a house to burn because we dont have enough water is like something Ive never experienced before, she said.

Two of Kohlers fellow firefighters also lost their homes while battling the fires, she said.

They watched their homes burn as they fought the fire for other homes in their neighborhood, Kohler said. That hit really hard.

Kohlers husband and fellow firefighter Jonny Varona said civilians stepped up to battle the flames, too.

Its not just firefighters that were out there risking their lives to help people, he said. It was the community. Everybody down there understood what was happening. You couldnt just let people die without trying to help them.

Role of power lines scrutinized

A sensor network run by Whisker Labs detected an increasingly stressed utility grid on Maui, beginning late August 7 and into the next morning, the companys CEO Bob Marshall told CNN on Wednesday.

Through the overnight hours, when all the fires ignited, we measured 122 individual faults on the utility grid, Marshall said. A fault  a short circuit or partial short circuit  could cause electric current to leave its intended path, which could lead to a fire, Marshall said.

Video taken at the Maui Bird Conservation Center in Makawao appears to show a power pole faulting just before 11 p.m. on August 7. Soon after, what appears to be flames are seen in the video, first reported by The Washington Post.

The sensor system provided verification that, indeed, this was very likely caused by a fault on the utility grid, Marshall said.

The Makawao fire was hours before and miles away from the fire that decimated the historic portions of Lahaina in Western Maui. But sensors detected faults on the grid before that fire, too, Marshall said.

A class-action lawsuit filed over the weekend alleges the wildfires were caused by Hawaiian Electrics energized power lines that were knocked down by strong winds.

The company and its subsidiaries chose not to deenergize their power lines after they knew some poles and lines had fallen and were in contact with the vegetation or the ground, the suit alleges.

Precautionary shutoffs have to be arranged with first responders, Hawaiian Electric Vice President Jim Kelly told CNN on Sunday in an email, adding the company doesnt comment on pending litigation.

Electricity powers the pumps that provide the water needed for firefighting, Kelly said.

Hawaiian Electric is also eager to find answers, a company spokesperson said.

We know there is speculation about what started the fires, spokesperson Darren Pai told The Washington Post. And we, along with others, are working hard to figure out what happened.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Mauis emergency management chief resigns, citing health reasons, a week after start of deadly wildfires"
Just four months after he was indicted, former Omaha City Councilman Vincent Vinny Palermo accepted a plea agreement and pleaded guilty to a felony charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud by deprivation of honest services.

Palermo admitted during a change of plea hearing in federal court Friday to failing to disclose conflicts of interest when awarding money through his position on the City Council, and to conspiring with others to use nonprofit funds to pay for his airfare and accommodations on a number of trips.

I agreed to a common and unlawful plan to commit honest services fraud by wire, Palermo wrote in his petition to enter a plea of guilty. I knew the unlawful purpose of the plan and willfully joined in it.

The former South Omaha representative had previously pleaded not guilty to nine federal felonies spanning conspiracy, honest services fraud, bank fraud and wire fraud. The government will move to dismiss all but the conspiracy charge at sentencing, which is scheduled to take place in November.

As much as Mr. Palermo has been vilified and talked about and shamed, in the end, he did the right thing, Randy Paragas, Palermos defense attorney, said of his client taking the plea deal. He didnt drag the government through what would have been a horrific trial for the city of Omaha, and for himself.

As part of the agreement, the prosecution and defense agreed that Palermos federal prison sentence should not exceed 21 months. The honest services fraud conspiracy charge that Palermo pleaded guilty to carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Cheryl Zwart will recommend that Palermos guilty plea be accepted by his sentencing judge, Senior U.S. District Court Judge John Gerrard. Gerrard is not bound by the sentencing agreement and could choose to reject it, in which case Palermo could withdraw his guilty plea.

If (Gerrard) decides not to accept the 21 month recommendation, the defendant is free to withdraw his plea, and wed start all over again, Paragas said.

Palermo is set to be sentenced by Gerrard on Nov. 16 in Omaha.

At the sentencing hearing, Palermo will also be sentenced for violating conditions of his federal probation, which he was placed on in 2019 after pleading guilty to three misdemeanor counts of willfully failing to file tax returns. Paragas said they plan to admit at the hearing that Palermo knowingly violated the conditions of his supervised release by leaving the state without informing his probation officer.

Paragas also stated he will file another motion to reconsider detention, which, if granted, would allow Palermo to be released from jail ahead of sentencing. Citing witness tampering and obstruction concerns, Zwart ruled in April that Palermo would be kept behind bars as the case progressed.

That decision was affirmed by Gerrard, and Palermo has remained in custody at the Saunders County Jail since his indictment. But Paragas is hopeful that the court will allow Palermo to be released ahead of sentencing so he can attend to personal affairs, like a contentious ongoing divorce, before he is likely to report to prison.

Paragas said Palermo is holding up as well as can be expected in jail.

Hes got a lot of remorse, and hes having to deal with that, Paragas said. I think in the long run, hell come out of this OK.

According to the plea agreement, Palermo admitted to conspiring with his co-defendants  Richard Gonzalez, a former Omaha police captain and onetime executive director of youth sports charity Police Athletics for Community Engagement (PACE), and Johnny Palermo, a former Omaha police officer and president of the Latino Peace Officers Association (LPOA)  to deprive the citizens of Omaha of honest representation by their City Council member.

In the factual basis for the plea agreement, Vinny Palermo admitted to the following:

Failing to disclose to the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission that LPOA donations and grant money were used to purchase airfare and hotel rooms for him on various trips.

Taking a 2019 trip to Las Vegas with Johnny Palermo and Gonzalez, funded by LPOA and PACE funds, without approval from the LPOA board.

Selecting LPOA and PACE to receive city firework permits through his City Council position each year from 2018 to 2023, which allowed Gonzalez to negotiate greater sums of money from local fireworks vendors for the benefit of LPOA and PACE over other nonprofits.

Failing to disclose conflicts of interest with LPOA when participating in awarding $60,000 to the nonprofit through the South Omaha Turn Back Tax Committee.

The plea agreement also includes multiple excerpts from wiretapped conversations between Vinny Palermo, his co-defendants and witnesses known to the government.

If one little fing trip has my name on it, and a ticket was paid by you, theyre gonna say I shouldve claimed that, Vinny Palermo said in a conversation with Johnny Palermo in October 2022, according to the agreement. But the only thing it would be is plane tickets, you know? Hotel rooms. Stuff like that. I dont think any of them was ever in my name.

Vinny Palermo is the first defendant to accept a plea agreement in the case. Gonzalez has also indicated that he intends to plead guilty to one or more charges, and he will appear in court for a change of plea hearing later this month.

Gonzalez, along with Johnny Palermo and Jack Olson, a longtime police fundraiser who worked with LPOA, are also charged in a separate but related indictment. That indictment alleges that Gonzalez and Johnny Palermo employed Olson as a fundraiser while letting him keep 65% to 80% of charity donations for himself while representing that every penny went toward youth sports programs.

When asked if it was his understanding that the investigation into Vinny Palermo and his co-defendants is over, Paragas replied cryptically.

That is not my understanding, he said. I cant comment on that.

Vinny Palermo will likely appear in court next week on the motion to reconsider detention. Until then, he remains in custody at the Saunders County Jail.

Earlier this month, the City Council voted 6-0 to oust Palermo from his seat after he missed three consecutive months of council meetings while in jail. Palermo had served as the councilman for South Omahas District 4 since 2017.

Photos: Federal agents search the home of Omaha City Councilman Vinny Palermo
Attorneys for Vinny Palermo, the former Omaha City Council member indicted on federal fraud charges earlier this year, have scheduled a change of plea hearing for Friday.

Palermo previously pleaded not guilty to nine federal felony charges spanning conspiracy, honest services fraud, bank fraud and wire fraud. It is anticipated that he will plead guilty to one or more of the charges, according to court documents.

The guilty plea will likely come in the form of a negotiated deal with federal prosecutors, but Palermo also could plead guilty to some or all of the charges without a plea agreement. Randy Paragas, Palermos defense attorney, declined to comment on the details of the plea.

The announcement comes just two days after attorneys for Richard Gonzalez, a former Omaha police captain and co-defendant of Palermo, scheduled a change of plea hearing for Aug. 29.

Palermo, who had served as the councilman for South Omahas District 4 since 2017, was removed from his position this month after missing three consecutive months of council meetings. Along with his co-defendants, Palermo has remained in federal custody since his arrest in April due to obstruction and witness tampering concerns.

Some of the charges against Palermo involve alleged fraudulent activity through his position on the City Council. Among other things, he is accused of going on trips paid for by the Latino Peace Officers Association without reporting them as gifts as required by law.

Palermo is also accused of lying on a loan application for the Paycheck Protection Program and filing false statements about his financial interests with the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission from 2018 to 2022.

At the time that prosecutors allege Palermo committed these crimes, he was on federal probation for a 2019 conviction on three counts of failing to file tax returns. Prosecutors further allege that Palermo violated the conditions of his supervised release on multiple occasions.

Photos: Omaha City Council votes to remove Vinny Palermo
ISLAMABAD (AP)  When the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, Shukria Sediqi knew her days in safety were numbered. As a journalist who advocated for womens rights, shed visited shelters and safe houses to talk to women who had fled abusive husbands. She went with them to court when they asked for a divorce.

According to the Taliban, who bar women from most public places, jobs and education, her work was immoral.

So when the Taliban swept into her hometown of Herat in western Afghanistan in August 2021 as the U.S. was pulling out of the country, she and her family fled, eventually making their way to Pakistan.

The goal? Resettling in the U.S. via an American government program set up to help Afghans at risk under the Taliban because of their work with the U.S. government, media and aid agencies.

But two years after the U.S. left Afghanistan, Sediqi and tens of thousands of others are still waiting. While there has been some recent progress, processing U.S. visas for Afghans has moved painfully slowly.

Many of the applicants who fled Afghanistan are running through savings, living in limbo in exile. They worry that the U.S., which had promised so much, has forgotten them.

What happens to my children? What happens to me? Sediqi asked. Nobody knows.

During two decades in Afghanistan after its 2001 invasion, the U.S. relied on Afghans helping the U.S. government and military. Afghan journalists went to work at a growing number of media outlets. Afghans were the backbone of aid programs providing everything from food to tutoring.

Since 2009, the U.S. has had a special immigrant visa program to help Afghans like interpreters who worked directly with the U.S. government and the military.

Then, in the waning days of the U.S. presence in the country, the Biden administration created two new programs for refugees, expanding the number of Afghans who could apply to resettle in the U.S. The visas, known as P-1 and P-2, are for aid workers, journalists or others who didnt work directly for the U.S. government but who helped promote goals like democracy and an independent media that put them at risk under the Taliban.

The American airlift in August 2021 carried more than 70,000 Afghans to safety, along with tens of thousands of Americans and citizens of other countries  plane after plane loaded with the lucky ones who managed to make their way through the massive crowds encircling Kabul airport.

But many more are still waiting. There are about 150,000 applicants to the special immigrant visa programs  not including family members. A report by the Association of Wartime Allies said at the current rate it would take 31 years to process them all.

Separately, there are 27,400 Afghans who are in the pipeline for the two refugee programs created in the waning days of the U.S. presence in Afghanistan, according to the State Department. That doesnt include family members, which potentially adds tens of thousands more. But since the U.S. left Afghanistan its only admitted 6,862 Afghan refugees, mostly P-1 and P-2 visa applicants, according to State Department figures.

In June, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. has relocated about 24,000 Afghans since September 2021, apparently referring to all the resettlement programs combined.

Among the refugee program applicants are about 200 Associated Press employees and their families, as well as staff of other American news organizations.

Krish OMara Vignarajah, president and CEO of the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, said the U.S. refugee process in general can be agonizingly slow, and waits of as long as 10 years are common. Furthermore, former U.S. President Donald Trump gutted the refugee system.

Other challenges are unique to Afghan immigrants, said Vignarajah. Many Afghans destroyed documents during the Taliban takeover because they worried about reprisals. Now they need them to prove their case.

The grim reality is that theyll likely be waiting for years on end and often in extremely precarious situations, Vignarajah said.

In a recent report, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, a body created by Congress to oversee government spending in Afghanistan, faulted the various resettlement programs set up for Afghans.

Bureaucratic dysfunction and understaffing have undermined U.S. promises that these individuals would be protected in a timely manner, putting many thousands of Afghan allies at high risk, the report said.

Many applicants ended up in Pakistan  one of the few countries that allows Afghans in  only to discover the U.S. was not processing refugee applications there. That changed late last month when the State Department said it would begin limited processing of applications in Pakistan.

The State Department declined an AP request for an interview but said in a statement it is committed to processing Afghan refugee visas. In June, Blinken applauded the efforts that have gone into helping Afghans resettle in America but emphasized the work continues.

At the same time, the Biden administration has made progress in recovering from the Trump-era curtailment of the refugee system with the number of refugees and Afghans admitted into the country increasing.

Left with little information, Afghans in Pakistan compare what they hear about their cases in group chats and organize social media protests demanding swifter U.S. action.

Enayatullah Omid and his wife are among those waiting.

In 2011, Omid started a radio station in Baghlan province with the help of the U.S.-based media training nonprofit Internews and funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development. He was the stations general manager but did everything from reporting on-air to sweeping the floors at night.

When the Taliban entered Baghlan on Aug. 9, 2021, Omid said he did one last thing: He burned documents to keep the Taliban from identifying his staff. Then he and his wife fled.

They stayed at shelters arranged by a committee to protect Afghan journalists until the Taliban shut them down. Internews referred Omid to the U.S. refugee program in April 2022. Told he had to leave Afghanistan for his case to proceed, Omid and his wife went to Pakistan in July 2022.

Even in Pakistan Omid doesnt feel safe. Worried about the Talibans reach, hes moved three times. He said America has a saying: Leave no one behind.

We want them to do it. It shouldnt be only a saying for them, he said.
Nebraska State Patrol troopers found 61 pounds of methamphetamine during a traffic stop along Interstate 80 in south-central Nebraska.

Around 9:45 a.m. Thursday, a state trooper pulled over a Toyota Camry for allegedly tailgating another vehicle along the Interstate near Giltner. The trooper became suspicious of criminal activity during the stop.

A K-9 unit detected an odor of a controlled substance in the Camry. Troopers searched the vehicle and found the 61 pounds of suspected meth inside bins, according to a press release. Troopers also found a handgun.

A 21-year-old man and a 25-year-old man both from Cicero, Illinois, a Chicago suburb, were arrested and taken to Hamilton County Jail on suspicion of possession of methamphetamine, possession with intent to deliver, possession of a firearm during a drug violation and possession of a fireman while committing a felony.

Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of August 2023
LINCOLN  The debate over abortion rights continues to heat up in Nebraska, with a new effort emerging that could leave the issue up to voters in 2024.

Local abortion rights advocates  under a newly formed committee called Protect Our Rights  filed paperwork this month with the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission to establish a ballot initiative that would put a constitutional amendment protecting the right to abortion on the 2024 ballot.

Andi Curry Grubb, a member of the committee and Nebraska executive director of Planned Parenthood of North Central States, said the committee is considering a ballot initiative but hasnt yet committed to the effort.

We are committed to exploring all possible options to protect our rights in Nebraska and restore the rights Nebraskans lost when politicians passed an abortion ban earlier this year, Curry Grubb said in an email.

Curry Grubb declined to give further details on the possible initiative. A petition drive would require signatures from 10% of Nebraskas registered voters to make it on the ballot. According to the latest data from the Nebraska Secretary of States Office, that would translate into roughly 122,000 authorized signatures.

State Sen. Joni Albrecht of Thurston, who has led the charge for abortion restrictions in the Legislature, said she expects that abortion rights supporters will launch the petition effort. But she said she believes Nebraska voters would reject a constitutional amendment protecting abortions.

To me, its totally obnoxious to think that people in Nebraska dont realize that we are a pro-life state, Albrecht said.

Without knowing the ballot language, its unclear to know how the initiative would impact abortion access in Nebraska, if it were to pass. In this years session, lawmakers tightened the states abortion restrictions from 20 weeks post-fertilization to 12 weeks based on gestational age.

Those restrictions in Legislative Bill 574 took effect immediately. They have been challenged in court because the law affected both abortions and gender-affirming care options for individuals under 19. The legal challenge claims the law violated the Nebraska Constitutions single-subject rule.

A Lancaster County District Court judge recently rejected this challenge. Officials with the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska filed an appeal to the Nebraska Supreme Court on Friday.

Abortion rights were on the ballot in several states in 2022. In California, Michigan and Vermont, voters passed ballot measures protecting abortion rights in their state constitutions, and in Kentucky, Kansas and Montana, voters rejected measures that would have made it easier for lawmakers to increase abortion restrictions.

Following those elections, Nebraska abortion rights advocates have suggested that Nebraska voters might follow suit if they had a vote on abortion, and Sen. Merv Riepe of Ralston cited the outcome of the Kansas initiative as a reason for casting the deciding vote to block a bill that would have banned abortions at six weeks gestation.

Albrecht said she believes the Kansas initiative failed because abortion rights advocates misled voters.

Its so confusing if youre not in it every day, Albrecht said.

While Albrecht believes Nebraska voters would ultimately reject an initiative to protect abortion, she opposes a ballot initiative because she said it will lead to both sides of the debate spending too much money. She noted that a combined $22 million was spent by supporters and opponents on the Kansas ballot question.

Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of August 2023
LINCOLN  Planned Parenthood of the Heartland is taking its challenge of the states new abortion and gender-affirming care restrictions to the Nebraska Supreme Court.

Lancaster County District Court Judge Lori Maret had dismissed the groups lawsuit last week. On Friday, Planned Parenthood, backed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska, filed notice of its appeal to the Supreme Court.

We will never stop fighting for the reproductive freedom, bodily autonomy, and health of our Nebraska communities. We are doubling down on that commitment with this appeal, Ruth Richardson, president of Planned Parenthood North Central States, said in a press release.

A spokesperson for the Nebraska Attorney Generals Office said the state looks forward to defending the statute in this important case.

Planned Parenthood challenged the states new law and sought a temporary injunction to halt enforcement of its 12-week gestational ban on abortions, saying Legislative Bill 574 violated the Nebraska Constitutions single-subject rule. But Maret sided with the states argument that all regulations in LB 574 fell under the category of health care.

The bill started out as an attempt solely to ban gender-affirming care for people under 19, while a separate bill sought to ban abortions after embryonic cardiac activity could be detected, at about the six-week mark. But the abortion measure, LB 626, was blocked when supporters failed to get enough votes to cut off a filibuster.

Supporters then combined the two topics into an amendment that replaced the original language of LB 574. ACLU of Nebraska officials said that was unconstitutional.

We are hopeful that the Nebraska Supreme Court honors the language in our states constitution that no bill shall contain more than one subject, Mindy Rush Chipman, ACLU of Nebraskas executive director, said in the press release.

At the same time, Planned Parenthood officials and other abortion rights advocates are considering a separate effort to put a constitutional amendment protecting the right to abortion on the ballot in 2024, though the initiative has not been officially launched. It is unclear how the outcome of the lawsuit would affect this effort.

Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of August 2023
LINCOLN  City officials on Thursday announced a new collaboration that will allow the Lincoln Police Department to respond to fewer calls involving people experiencing homelessness.

The alternative response program is a collaboration between the department and CenterPointe that will have employees of the nonprofit respond to certain calls regarding unsheltered residents, rather than police officers.

Chief Michon Morrow said LPD typically sends two officers to any call involving a homeless person, but as part of the partnership, officers will now respond only to calls in which the person needs medical attention or is accused of committing a crime. All other calls will be diverted to CenterPointes five-person street outreach team.

LPD officers will continue to be available to respond if CenterPointe staff is not able to respond within 20 minutes.

Morrow said the collaboration will have two main advantages: One, it will allow CenterPointe staff to provide compassionate outreach and basic care to people who dont need medical attention and arent violating the law. Two, it will free up police resources for other, more-urgent calls, she said.

Officer Melissa Ripley, LPDs homeless outreach coordinator, said the program started Tuesday and police dispatchers have since diverted 10 calls to CenterPointe.

That might not sound like a lot, but thats 10 calls we didnt have to have two uniformed officers respond to, she said.

Ripley said the new approach creates a more dignified response to contact people while still accomplishing the same outcome. She also noted that people are much more likely to accept help from a CenterPointe employee than from a uniformed officer.

Police officials did not say how many calls they get each year involving homeless people, but this years census from the Lincoln Homeless Coalition counted more than 400 people living either on the streets or in a designated shelter.

Even though that number is down more than 50% over the past 15 years, CenterPointe CEO Topher Hansen said the number is likely much higher.

For example, he said the organization served more than 4,400 people last year, and 57% of them reported making less than $1,000.

If youre making less than $1,000 a year, youre probably sleeping at somebody elses house or unsheltered in some other way, so the number is probably higher, Hansen said.

The program will be largely paid for with a nearly $200,000 grant from the Nebraska Homeless Assistance Program which is being administered by the citys Urban Development Department.

Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird called the new program a win-win for the community.

This is a brilliant example of LPDs and our partners commitment to ensuring the health and safety of everyone in Lincoln, she said.

Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of August 2023
CAMP DAVID, Md. (AP)  President Joe Biden and the leaders of Japan and South Korea agreed Friday to expand security and economic ties at a historic summit at the U.S. presidential retreat of Camp David, cementing a new agreement with the allies that are on an increasingly tense ledge in relations with China and North Korea.

Biden said the nations would establish a communications hotline to discuss responses to threats. He announced the agreements, including what the leaders termed the Camp David Principles, at the close of his talks with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Our countries are stronger and the world will be safer as we stand together. And I know this is a belief that all three share, Biden said

The purpose of our trilateral security cooperation is and will remain to promote and enhance peace and stability throughout the region, the leaders said in a joint statement.

Biden maintained, as have US, South Korean and Japanese officials, that the summit was not about China but was focused on broader security issues. Yet, the leaders in their joint summit concluding statement noted China's dangerous and aggressive" action in the South China Sea and said they strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the waters of the Indo-Pacific.

Yoon noted in particular the threat posed by North Korea, saying the three leaders had agreed to improve our joint response capabilities to North Koreas nuclear and missile threats, which have become sophisticated more than ever.

He said as the three appeared before reporters that today will be remembered as a historic day, where we established a firm institutional basis and commitments to the trilateral partnership.

Japan's Kishida said before the private talks that "the fact that we, the three leaders, have got together in this way, I believe means that we are indeed making a new history as of today. The international community is at a turning point in history.

The visitors spoke in their home languages, their comments repeated by a translator.

The U.S., Japan and South Korea agreed to a new duty to consult security pledge committing them to speak with each other in the event of a security crisis or threat in the Pacific.

The pledge is intended to acknowledge that they share fundamentally interlinked security environments" and that a threat to one is a threat to all," according to a senior Biden administration official. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the announcement.

Under the pledge, the three countries agree to consult, share information and align their messaging with each other in the face of a threat or crisis, the official said.

The Camp David retreat, 65 miles (104.6 kilometers) from the White House, was where President Jimmy Carter brought together Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in September 1978 for talks that established a framework for a historic peace treaty between Israel and Egypt in March 1979. In the midst of World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met at the retreat  then known as Shangri-La  to plan the Italian campaign that would knock Benito Mussolini out of the war.

Kishida and Yoon were mindful of Camp Davids place in U.S. and world history, making repeated references to its past and now their place in it during their comments at the news conference after the meeting with Biden. The leaders arrived in Washington on Thursday and, as guests of Biden, on Friday were flown separately to Camp David on U.S. military helicopters like the ones Biden uses.

Biden's focus for the gathering was to nu dge the United States' two closest Asian allies to further tighten security and economic cooperation with each other. The historic rivals have been divided by differing views of World War II history and Japans colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

But under Kishida and Yoon, the two countries have begun a rapprochement as the two conservative leaders grapple with shared security challenges posed by North Korea and China. Both leaders have been upset by the stepped-up cadence of North Korea's ballistic missile tests and Chinese military exercises near Taiwan, the self-ruled island that is claimed by Beijing as part of its territory, and other aggressive action.

Yoon proposed an initiative in March to resolve disputes stemming from compensation for wartime Korean forced laborers. He announced that South Korea would use its own funds to compensate Koreans enslaved by Japanese companies before the end of World War II.

Yoon also traveled to Tokyo that month for talks with Kishida, the first such visit by a South Korean president in more than 12 years. Kishida reciprocated with a visit to Seoul in May and expressed sympathy for the suffering of Korean forced laborers during Japans colonial rule,

The effort to sustain the trilateral relationship wont be without challenges.

Beijing sees the tightening cooperation efforts as the first steps of a Pacific-version of NATO, the transatlantic military alliance, forming against it. U.S. officials expect that North Korea will lash outperhaps with more ballistic missile test and certainly blistering rhetoric.

Polls show that a solid majority of South Koreans oppose Yoons handling of the forced labor issue thats been central to mending relations with Japan. And many in Japan fear that bolstering security cooperation will lead the country into an economic Cold War with China, its biggest trading partner. Bidens predecessor (and potential successor) Republican Donald Trump unnerved South Korea during his time in the White House with talk of reducing the U.S. military presence on the Korean Peninsula.

If an ultra-leftist South Korean president and an ultra-right wing Japanese leader are elected in their next cycles, or even if Trump or someone like him wins in the U.S., then any one of them could derail all the meaningful, hard work Biden, Yoon and Kishida are putting in right now, said Duyeon Kim, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security s Indo-Pacific Security Program.
LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP)  Public schools on Maui started the process of reopening and traffic resumed on a major road in signs of recovery a week after wildfires demolished a historic town and killed at least 110 people, while the head of the island's emergency agency said he had no regret that sirens weren't sounded to warn people about the onrushing flames.

At least three schools untouched by flames in Lahaina, where entire neighborhoods were reduced to ash, were still being assessed after sustaining wind damage, Hawaii Department of Education superintendent Keith Hayashi said.

Theres still a lot of work to do, but overall the campuses and classrooms are in good condition structurally, which is encouraging, Hayashi said in a video update. We know the recovery effort is still in the early stages, and we continue to grieve the many lives lost.

Elsewhere crews cleaned up ash and debris at schools and tested air and water quality. Displaced students who enroll at those campuses can access services such as meals and counseling, Hayashi said. The education department is also offering counseling for students, family members and staff.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency opened its first disaster recovery center on Maui, an important first step" toward helping residents get information about assistance, FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell said. They also can go there for updates on aid applications.

Criswell said she would accompany President Joe Biden on Monday when he visits to survey the damage and bring hope."

At a news conference, Herman Andaya, Maui Emergency Management Agency administrator, defended not sounding the sirens during the fire. We were afraid that people would have gone mauka, he said, using the Hawaiian directional term that can mean toward the mountains or inland. If that was the case then they would have gone into the fire.

There are no sirens in the mountains, where the fire was spreading downhill.

Hawaii created what it touts as the largest system of outdoor alert sirens in the world after a 1946 tsunami that killed more than 150. Andaya said they are primarily meant to warn about tsunamis and have never been used for wildfires. The website for the Maui siren system says they may be used to alert for fires.

Beyond the decision to not use sirens, state and local officials have faced public criticism over shortages of available water to fight the fire and a chaotic evacuation that saw many trapped in their vehicles on a jammed roadway as flames swept over them.

Avery Dagupion, whose familys home was destroyed, is angry that residents werent given earlier warning to get out and that officials prematurely suggested danger had passed.

He pointed to an announcement by Maui Mayor Richard Bissen on Aug. 8 saying the fire had been contained, instilling a false hope in residents of Lahaina, when hours later the fire exploded. That, he said, lulled people into a sense of safety and adds to the mistrust that he and others have over officials' efforts now.

At the news conference, Gov. Josh Green and Bissen bristled when asked about that mistrust and how they can assure the public they will do all thats needed to help the community rebuild.

Did mistakes happen? Absolutely, the governor said, later adding: You can look here to see who you can trust, referring to the police, fire, emergency and Red Cross officials standing behind him.

I cant answer why people dont trust people, Bissen said. The people who were trying to put out these fires lived in those homes  25 of our firefighters lost their homes. You think they were doing a halfway job?

With the death toll rising by four since Tuesday, a mobile morgue unit with additional coroners has been brought in to help.

Kimberly Buen was awaiting word Wednesday of her father, Maurice Shadow Buen, a retired sport fisherman who lived in an assisted-living facility that was destroyed.

The 79-year-old was blind in one eye, partially blind in the other and used a walker or an electric scooter to get around. In recent weeks he also had swollen feet.

For him, there is no moving quickly, Buen said. The stories from survivors who fled the fast-moving flames terrified her.

If able-bodied people were having to run and jump into the ocean, I can only imagine whats happened to the assisted living and the lower income and the elderly people that didnt have warning, you know, or have any resources to get out, she said.

Bill Seidl, 75, lived in the same complex. His daughter, Cassie Seidl, of Valencia, California, said he knocked on doors before escaping.

I think people were assuming it was just another brushfire, she said. I dont think people realized, and they were not warned.

Seidl's father is now camping on a friends property in Wailuku.

On Tuesday, the county released the names of two victims: Lahaina residents Robert Dyckman, 74, and Buddy Jantoc, 79. They were the first of five who have been identified.

Sacred Hearts School in Lahaina was destroyed, and Principal Tonata Lolesio said lessons would resume in the coming weeks at another Catholic school. She said it was important for students to be with their friends, teachers and books, and not constantly thinking about the tragedy.

Im hoping to at least try to get some normalcy or get them in a room where they can continue to learn or just be in another environment where they can take their minds off of that, she said.

The main building of the Children of the Rainbow Preschool in the center of Lahaina was also completely destroyed, director and lead teacher Noelle Kamaunu said via email Wednesday, adding that she's thankful she closed the school the morning of the fire because the power was out. The staff is safe, and families have been accounted for.

We are not allowed into the area so I am unable to even see it with my own eyes. Children of the Rainbow Preschool is in my heart, my second home, said Kamaunu, who has worked there for 20 years. It is a tragic loss.

The governor said Wednesday that he instructed the state's attorney general to institute a moratorium on land transactions in the Lahaina area. Green said he has heard of people he described as not even in real estate reaching out to ask about purchasing land owned by people in the disaster area.

My intention from start to finish is to make sure that no one is victimized from a land grab, he said.

The cause of the wildfires, already the deadliest in the U.S. in more than a century, is under investigation. Hawaii is increasingly at risk from disasters, and wildfire is what is escalating the most, according to an AP analysis of FEMA records.

Green has warned that scores more bodies could be found.

John Allen and his daughter surveyed an ash-gray landscape once festooned with colorful orchids and plumerias from a hill above the fire zone. His daughter wept as she pointed to the coffee shop where she used to work, and the places they used to live.

Allen moved to Maui two years ago after leaving Oakland, California, where he witnessed a destructive wildfire race up hillsides in 1991.

No one realizes how quickly fires move, Allen said.

Kelleher reported from Honolulu and Weber from Los Angeles. Associated Press journalists Haven Daley in Kalapua, Hawaii; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; Jennifer McDermott in Providence, Rhode Island; Seth Borenstein in Washington, D.C.; and Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Missouri, contributed.
BLOOMINGTON  Students will notice more space and accommodations at Illinois Wesleyan University's largest residence hall as they return to campus this fall.

"This is part of our campus master planning process that we've been trying to make happen for a few years now, and this is just the first bit that we're able to reveal to the public," said Kyle Griffith, director of residential life at IWU. "We're really excited for this space, and then also what we'll be able to do in these next few phases over the course of the next few summers."

Renovations to Munsell Hall are now complete and feature an array of modern appliances and updates to provide students with a welcoming and productive environment.

Being the largest dormitory on campus, Munsell houses 195 beds of about 1,200 of the university's total residential capacity, and is a coed dorm with males and females split among the seven floors, Griffith said.

The project, which began earlier this summer, includes renovations to the bathrooms on each floor; a refreshed look and feel throughout the hallways, stairwells and rooms, with more lighting, new carpet, and Titan green on the walls; and new windows to let in more natural light. Other upgrades were made to mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection services.

The first floor has a new security system for each entrance to the building; a kitchen area in place of the former mailroom, with updated appliances and tile flooring; and study rooms and other open spaces for students to relax or work on assignments.

Griffith said the board of trustees authorized up to $16.5 million for this project, along with renovations to Ferguson Hall, which will begin next summer.

"I'll say that I'm really excited to see what our students are capable of doing with this new space," Griffith said. "We're pretty proud of all our student leaders who are doing amazing programming making this place feel like home, giving students a sense of belonging when they get here."

While a small number of students have returned to campus, most will arrive beginning Aug. 23, with the first day of class set for Aug. 28.

"Over time, our student needs have changed," Griffith said. "It's really a special space; we're looking forward to seeing how students are actually going to use it when they all move in."

Resident Adviser Amanda Balaba, 21, said after living in Gulick Hall her freshman year and Ferguson Hall her sophomore year, she appreciates the larger windows in each room at Munsell, along with the larger study and lounge areas.

Balaba, an international student from the Philippines, said she hopes incoming and returning students will feel like they're in a community where they can connect with each other.

"Since it's a smaller school, I feel like I get to know each and every person," said Balaba, a junior accounting major who is minoring in both data and political sciences. "If I would have chosen another school, I don't think I would have gotten the same opportunities."

Devyn Kennedy, 20, said the interior design and theme used throughout the hallways and in the first-floor lobby create a move vibrant space and home-like feeling, especially with the study rooms and lounge areas.

Another improvement are the bathrooms, which have been changed over from communal to single user bathrooms and showers, giving residents more privacy, Kennedy said.

Kennedy, from Earlville, said the university feels like a second home and has been very accommodating to him as he switched over to a nursing major.

"Wherever you're from, whatever background you have, Wesleyan wants to make sure this is your second home, which I appreciate," Kennedy said.

Photos: Media football day at Illinois Wesleyan University
(CNN)  Warming global temperatures are dangerous for people in many ways, but theyre proving ideal for one type of animal: venomous snakes.

As Australias east coast experiences one of its warmest winters on record, snake season appears to have started early. The Australian Reptile Park has issued an urgent warning for people to be on the look out for venomous snakes.

A rise in temperatures, coupled with winter rainfall, is the perfect environment for venomous snakes to become more active, the Australian Reptile Park said in a statement.

Snakes tend to brumate over the winter, a state similar to hibernation during which they become less active and often seek out a place to hide until temperatures start to climb again. Usually this doesnt happen until September.

But the heat is enticing snakes to emerge sooner than usual and snake catchers have reported a significant increase in call outs  a phenomenon rarely seen at this time of year, according to the Australian Reptile Park.

Its important that all Australians know that [snakes] do not go out of their way to harm people. Snake bites mostly occur when people are trying to catch or kill the snake, so if you dont do either of those things, theres a greater chance that youll be okay! Billy Collett, operations manager at the park, said in a statement.

But he urged people to learn how to deal with snake bites, which can be fatal in as little as 30 minutes. These include keeping bite victims calm, removing jewelry and watches and bandaging the whole limb, not just the bite area. He also recommended people keep backyards clear of stacks of firewood and other materials which can creating ideal habitats for snakes.

As the world continues to burn planet-warming fossil fuels, and global temperatures soar, Australias winters have been steadily warming.

Last month was the fourth warmest July on record for New South Wales, data from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology shows. Across the country, temperatures were nearly 1.2 degrees Celsius above average for this time of year.

In the UK, which this year experienced its hottest June on record by a significant margin, rising temperatures are also affecting its snake population  specifically pet snakes.

The animal non-profit the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) said more snakes in captivity are breaking free from their enclosures due to the warming climate.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Snake season starts early as unusually high temperatures hit Australia"
BLOOMINGTON  The McLean County Board on Thursday approved a $270,300 engineering agreement for construction of a Historic Route 66 bike trail between Funks Grove and McLean.

In April, McLean County officials were notified that the county was selected to receive Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program funding for the construction of the Route 66 bike trail starting in McLean and ending at a previously constructed trail section near Funks Grove.

The trail would run about 4.5 miles in total.

According to the agreement, which was included in the board's consent agenda, 80% of the engineering work would be funded by ITEP and the remaining 20% would be a local match.

McLean County Administrator Cassy Taylor said this could be a roughly three-year project.

"That's phase one, the engineering for that section of road, and then they anticipate that the actual construction will be in 2025, with completion and payment of the bills in 2026," Taylor said.

The Illinois Department of Transportation had received 215 applications for ITEP funding requesting more than $339 million.

According to a letter from IDOT in April, the ITEP commitment for the project will not exceed $2,684,920, pending a more detailed review.

All projects funded through ITEP must have all phases of work fully obligated within four years of the award notification or funds will be rescinded, the letter read.

Due to ongoing upgrades to the McLean County Government Center's board chambers, Thursday's meeting was held at the McLean County Museum of History. Taylor said September's board meeting will likely be held in the museum as well.

Photos: Inside 4 unique McLean County Airbnbs
How Time Flies is a daily feature looking back at Pantagraph archives to revisit what was happening in our community and region.

100 years ago

Aug. 18, 1923: Bloomington hard road boosters have received invitations to the big picnic to be given at Mackinaw Dells in honor of Sen. Simon Lantz, to whom is given most of the credit for putting over the Diagonal trail hard road between Bloomington and Peoria. The date has been set for Friday, Sept. 7.

75 years ago

Aug. 18, 1948: General Mills will soon manufacture a coffee maker at its Bloomington plant, J.R. Logan, a vice president, told the Rotary Club on Thursday. Mr. Logan said that the new item would put the manufacturing plant here at top capacity.

50 years ago

Aug. 18, 1973: If you're planning a trip to Chicago next weekend, you might want to reconsider. According to UPI, as many as 90% of the service stations in the Chicago area are expected to close Aug. 24-26 to protest a federal government order to roll back their gross profit margins to Jan. 10 levels.

25 years ago

Aug. 18, 1998: Country and dance music nights for teens will return to the Wild West this Sunday, minus alcohol, the club's owner said. The business at 1035 Wylie Drive, Bloomington, had never been cited for serving a minor, but city officials said they received complaints from parents who said their teenagers returned home drunk. From to 7 to 11 p.m. on Sundays and Mondays, the bar will now remove all alcohol from behind the bar and unplug cigarette machines.

101 years ago: See vintage Pantagraph ads from 1922 Gerthart's Union Gas and Electric Co. Hoover Dr. J.A. Moore Dentists Moberly & Klenner W.P. Garretson W.H. Roland Pease's Candy Thor 32 Electric Washing Machine The Kaiser's Story of the War Ike Livingston & Sons Gossard Corsets Cat'n Fiddle 'Stolen Moments' Case Model X The Johnson Transfer & Fuel Co. The Pantagraph want ads Franklin Motor Car Co. 'A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court' Calumet Baking Powder Mayer Livingston & Co. Newsmarket 'The Emperor Jones' 'California Fig Syrup'
SPRINGFIELD  In their weakest position in a generation, Illinois Republicans on Thursday vowed to become relevant again in the Democrat-dominated state, acknowledging the need to reach more voters yet largely avoiding the elephant in the room: indicted former President Donald Trump.

The party faithful gathered in Springfield for their annual day at the Illinois State Fair, which came one day after Democrats gathered in the same space.

There was less to celebrate for Republicans, who have been shut out of all statewide elected offices and relegated to superminority status in the state legislature. The party is also in the minority on the state Supreme Court and holds just three of the state's 14 congressional seats.

Republican leaders conceded that it will not be "an overnight process," but they aim to make Illinois "a two-party state" again and then, eventually, flip it red.

State Party Chair Don Tracy said they need to focus on the mechanics of turning out voters and improving their small-dollar fundraising instead of a major overhaul of their message.

Several times, Tracy goaded Republicans to vote by mail or vote early, saying Democrats have superior programs that have allowed them to bank more votes and focus on recruiting new voters, which has made a difference in close races.

Tracy insisted that the party's messaging on issues like crime, corruption and taxes  largely similar to those deployed before the party recorded steep losses up and down the ballot in 2022  was not at issue.

"I don't think the message has been the problem," Tracy said. "The Democrats keep going farther and farther left, and that just makes the message more resonant. Mostly, we've got to get more people out."

"We got to get more people off the sidelines and chipping in," Tracy added. "The time where we can rely on a self-funder like the Democrats rely on a self-funder to do everything for them  is over."

Trump's name was barely mentioned during an hour-long rally held on the Director's Lawn of the Illinois State Fairgrounds, or at the joint meeting of the Illinois Republican State Central Committee and Republican County Chair's Association held at a Springfield hotel earlier that morning.

Trump, who is now facing 91 felony charges stemming from four different criminal investigations, is the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. But he is deeply unpopular in Illinois, where voters resoundingly rejected him in 2016 and 2020.

Many political observers attribute the former president's unpopularity in the Chicago suburbs, buoyed by conservative positions on issues like abortion and guns, even as he's helped solidify downstate Illinois as solidly Republican.

But whereas Democrats largely kept their focus on national issues on Wednesday, Republican leaders sought to promote a version of "all politics is local," hoping to avoid the divisive national topics that have cut them down in Illinois in recent years.

"Why is it always about Donald Trump?" said Illinois House Republican Leader Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, when reporters asked about the former president.

Senate Republican Leader John Curran, R-Downers Grove, said he was concerned "anytime we're not talking Illinois issues."

"So whether it's Donald Trump or any other national issue, it is really the state issues ... where we want to drive the message, because we have a lot to address here," Curran said.

Among them was the issue of corruption, with Republicans referencing the indictment of former House Speaker Michael Madigan and others in his orbit.

Former Madigan Chief of Staff Tim Mapes is on trial now in Chicago on federal perjury charges in a separate but related case.

"Democrats' tolerance for bullshit might be low, but their tolerance for corruption is apparently sky high," McCombie told the cheering crowd, a clear reference to Gov. J.B. Pritzker's comment the day before about alleged lies coming from Republican elected officials. "They're huddled up right now on yet another trial brought on by bribery, lying and self-interest."

McCombie made no mention of the charges facing Trump.

U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Peoria, seemingly alluded to the idea that is time to move on from Trump when he told Republicans gathered that in 2024, "it's about winning," and that "politics is about the future, not about the past."

However, asked by reporters afterward, LaHood sidestepped the question, saying he was impressed with the "deep, diverse field" of GOP candidates.

"I'm not in the business of saying who should run for president or not run for president," LaHood said. "I will say this, as a former federal prosecutor, I believe in the rule of law. But I don't believe in the unequal application of the law. And that's what I think is happening."

Still, even if Illinois Republican leaders wanted to redirect the conversation away from the former president and his legal troubles, there were signs of his continued hold over his party, including Trump campaign signs.

It is a reminder of the conundrum facing state Republicans as the former president is politically toxic, with moderate suburban voters needed to win general elections, but remains a favorite of the party's downstate base.

This was clear in the Republican primary race for the 12th Congressional District, which features incumbent Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, and former GOP gubernatorial nominee Darren Bailey. Both have endorsed Trump.

"It's bogus, it's a complete witch hunt," Bailey told reporters at the fairgrounds on Thursday. "What's going on should be illegal. We need more attorney generals across the United States actually filing indictments against Joe Biden and many of the other people in office."

Bost was not present Thursday, instead appearing with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy at a fundraiser in the Metro East for his reelection campaign.

With this, a face-to-face clash was avoided between the two candidates. Bailey, one year removed from being the event's headliner as the candidate taking on Pritzker, was not included in the speaking program, but nevertheless made an appearance. He called McCarthy's presence on behalf of Bost "a sign of desperation."

"They know they're in trouble, they know I'm going to win," Bailey said. "You know, Mike Bost has been very loyal to (Washington, D.C.) and I expect D.C. to be very loyal to Mike Bost."

Tracy confirmed a few minutes later that the state party was firmly behind Bost in the race. The incumbent held a campaign kickoff event in Murphysboro earlier this week. Bost said Bailey was "desperate for a job" and running to satisfy his ego.

LaHood was the only Republican member of the congressional delegation to attend with the absence of Bost and Rep. Mary Miller, R-Oakland.

Illinois Supreme Court Justice Lisa Holder White, who faces voters next year, also addressed Republicans gathered.

Photos: Illinois State Fair political days through the years 2012 State Fair 2012 State Fair 2015 State Fair 2015 State Fair 2015 State Fair 2007 State Fair 2008 State Fair 2008 State Fair 2009 State Fair 2012 State Fair 2012 State Fair 2005 State Fair 2004 State Fair 2003 State Fair 2003 State Fair 2006 State Fair 2007 State Fair 2012 State Fair 2018 State Fair 2012 State Fair 2021 State Fair 2021 State Fair
SPRINGFIELD  The Illinois State Police is reminding the public about the importance of focusing on roadway safety as children across the state head back to school, especially laws specific to the safety of children in school zones and while boarding buses.

Back-to-school season means an increase in pedestrians and bicyclists in traffic during morning and afternoon commutes. Not only are children walking to school and bus stops, they are also riding bicycles and crossing the street. While crosswalks are designed for pedestrians to cross the road safely, children sometimes walk in-between cars in an unsafe manner, not understanding the potential consequences of their actions.

Motorists are reminded to be alert while driving through streets with parked cars that may conceal a child. Unless otherwise posted, pedestrians have the right-of-way at crosswalks. Parents and caregivers should also educate their children on proper crosswalk procedures and the importance of not running in between parked cars. Knowledgeable pedestrians and motorists can prevent tragedies.

As parents and caregivers drop off their children before school and pick them up after school, there will also be an increase in vehicle traffic during the morning and evening commutes. Extra travel time should be planned to allow for the increase in traffic.

ISP reminds motorists to be extremely vigilant in school zones and obey posted speed limits. Posted school zones have a speed limit of 20 mph and are in effect from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on school days when children are present. Driving while talking or texting on a hand-held cellular device is strictly prohibited, and fines are increased within a school zone.

Motorists approaching a stopped school bus with lights activated and sign extended must stop their vehicle before reaching the school bus. When a school bus stops on a two-lane roadway and uses its visual signals, vehicles in both directions must stop until the school bus begins motion again and the visual signals are disengaged. When the school bus stops and uses its visual signals on a one-way roadway, regardless of the number of lanes of traffic, all traffic must stop until the school bus begins motion again and the visual signals are disengaged. When the school bus stops on a four or more-lane roadway with at least two lanes of traffic traveling in the opposite direction, only those lanes of traffic traveling in the same direction as the school bus must stop.

A first-time violation for failing to stop for a school bus unloading/loading while their lights are activated and stop arm extended can result in a mandatory $300 fine and a three-month suspension of driving privileges.

For additional information concerning the safe interaction with school buses in traffic, visit the ISP website's "Traffic Safety Brochures" page, where you the "School Bus Safety Brochure."

School zone laws are meant to keep the public safe, but compliance with these laws is what really keeps children safe. Remember to slow down, be aware of pedestrians and use caution when traveling in school zones or near school buses.

Photos: Illinois State Fair political days through the years 2012 State Fair 2012 State Fair 2015 State Fair 2015 State Fair 2015 State Fair 2007 State Fair 2008 State Fair 2008 State Fair 2009 State Fair 2012 State Fair 2012 State Fair 2005 State Fair 2004 State Fair 2003 State Fair 2003 State Fair 2006 State Fair 2007 State Fair 2012 State Fair 2018 State Fair 2012 State Fair 2021 State Fair 2021 State Fair
It was the sort of conduct one usually associates with totalitarian governments: Law enforcement officers swarm a newspaper office and confiscate computers, servers and cellphones of reporters and editors. Yet this raid took place not in a faraway autocracy, but in a small town in Kansas, despite a federal law prohibiting such searches in most cases.

Police acting on a warrant Aug. 11 searched the offices of the Marion County Record, a weekly newspaper with seven employees and a circulation of about 4,000. Simultaneously, officers searched the home of Eric Meyer, the publisher and co-owner, seizing computers, his cellphone and the homes internet router, according to Meyer. Meyers 98-year-old mother  a co-owner of the newspaper who lived with him  collapsed and died Saturday. Meyer blamed her death on the stress of the raid on their home.

Drastic as they were, the searches originated in what might appear to be a trivial dispute between the Record and a local restaurant owner, Kari Newell, who has accused the newspaper of invading her privacy and illegally accessing information about her and her driving record. (The newspaper says it obtained information about her driving record unsolicited and verified it through online public records. And it didnt print a story referencing the information.) The search warrant alleged identity theft and unlawful use of a computer.

The searches left the small news operation in such a dire state that it was not clear whether it would be able to publish the next scheduled edition Tuesday evening. Meyer memorably described the police action as an atomic flyswatter.

It may also have been illegal. The federal Privacy Protection Act of 1980 requires that in most situations, law enforcement seek to obtain material from journalists through a subpoena.

The 1980 law was passed after the Supreme Court upheld a search by sheriffs deputies of Stanford Universitys student newspaper seeking photographs from a protest. It serves as a necessary recognition that a free and inquisitive press serves the public interest, and that raids and searches of newsrooms can intimidate reporters and stop their vital work. The law broadly defines who is protected: those reasonably believed to have a purpose to disseminate to the public a newspaper, book, broadcast, or other similar form of public communication. ...

The law does contain an exception for situations in which there is probable cause to believe that the person possessing such materials has committed or is committing the criminal offense to which the materials relate. In a statement to NPR, Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody pointed to this exception to justify his departments search of the Record.

That claim is unpersuasive. In a letter to Cody signed by the Los Angeles Times and more than 30 other news organizations, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press noted that the suspect exception cited by the chief is inapplicable when the relevant conduct consists of the receipt, possession, communication, or withholding of the material, with only limited exceptions for certain federal statutes that are not at issue here.

These searches took place in a small town, but the temptation of law enforcement to overreach in dealing with journalists exists in communities of all sizes. In 2019, police in San Francisco searched the home and office of freelance journalist Bryan Carmody in an apparent bid to identify a confidential source. The city later agreed to pay Carmody $369,000 in a settlement.

Congress decided that journalists needed protection against searches. Local police and judges need to honor that judgment.
I dont think Ill ever fully understand why Tim Mapes allowed himself to be put into this situation.

Not one of the lies former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigans former chief of staff is accused of telling a grand jury while under a grant of immunity was about illegal activity. During his two hours on the stand and through 650 questions, he was never once asked if hed witnessed any sort of crime or suspected wrongdoing by others. And now hes standing trial on federal charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.

His alleged lies were in response to fairly benign queries, like, for instance: Did (Madigans top lieutenant Mike McClain), after he retired, kind of give you any insight into what his interactions with (Madigan) were that you werent privy to personally?

Mapes response: No, that wouldnt  that wouldnt happen.

But it did happen. And the feds recorded quite a few instances of it happening.

Thats another thing about those questions: The feds didnt ask Mapes anything they didnt already know in advance.

And Mapes knew all too well that the government was likely listening in. Mapes testified to the grand jury in February of 2021. The Chicago Tribune reported as far back as November of 2019 that investigators had tapped McClains mobile phone. McClain has since been convicted based in part on those very recordings.

The feds basically set a trap for Mapes with the grand jury. Mapes knew the trap was likely there, but then he jumped right in anyway.

Maybe he was just being a tough guy like in a gangster movie.

But this is real life, not a movie, and the man has a real-life family. And he wasnt being asked to say anything particularly incriminating of either Madigan or McClain.

The federal government doesnt usually ask a judge to involuntarily impose immunity on a witness to compel grand jury testimony under oath if that witness has been cooperative during an investigation. Ive assumed all along Mapes really ticked off government investigators during the interview process.

There are those who say Mapes was so arrogant after decades of amassing power that he couldnt shake the habit while on the stand. And his strict Madigan gate-keeper status (a sign on his office wall read: Nobody gets in to see the Wizard) may have naturally compelled him to mum up under questioning.

His non-answers to simple questions about whether Madigan had any sort of esteem or regard for the late Mayor Richard J. Daley or if Madigan ever talked about Daley points to that. Madigan loved to talk about old man Daley, who Madigan used as a model for his entire political and patronage structure. That Madigan wouldnt have ever spoken to his highest level employee about his political idol and personal mentor is truly difficult to believe.

Mapes, in the end, just seemed like he wouldnt cop to anything.

And now hes looking at up to 20 years in prison for an obstruction of justice charge and another 5 years for perjury.

None of the federal governments released recordings of Mapes conversations show that anyone he spoke with talked about actually committing a crime. The government apparently didnt have Mapes on anything. I suppose Mapes might have been trying to protect himself about something else, but he probably wouldve received a far better deal if hed just fessed up then.

Aside from opening statements and cross-examination, we have as of this writing yet to hear Mapes full defense. His lawyers have claimed in previous filings that the feds have twisted Mapes deliberately careful and cautious answers into lies.

Thats also difficult to believe in its entirety.

I have no knowledge or recall of that, Mapes said during his grand jury appearance when asked if McClain had been in contact with a House member whom McClain wanted to push out of the legislature after a very public scandal that was never actually proved to be true.

But according to the wiretapped calls, [the legislator in question] was a frequent topic of conversation between Mapes and McClain, Hannah Meisel reported for Capitol News Illinois last week. She then gave her readers some examples.

Mapes was widely considered to have a very detailed memory when he was Madigans chief of staff, but maybe he did somehow forget. Even so, he most certainly had knowledge of the calls because he was on them.

Other Madigan made men have testified for the prosecution in Mapes trial, so perhaps Mapes believes he did the honorable thing by not fully cooperating. But those other folks are going home to their families. Mapes may not.
Hollard Life Assurance, a subsidiary of Hollard Ghana insurance group, was named the Best Growing Life Insurance Company of the Year at the esteemed Ghana Insurance Awards.

The award ceremony held at the Icon Event Centre celebrated Hollard Life's remarkable growth, outstanding financial performance, and commitment to delivering innovative insurance solutions to the Ghanaian market.



Established in 2018 as a start-up headed by Managing Director Nashiru Iddrisu, Hollard Life has quickly made its mark in the insurance industry by focusing on creating and securing a better future for Ghanaians. With a business purpose tailored to address the unique life risks faced by individuals and businesses, Hollard Life has emerged as a trailblazer in the life insurance segment.



Nashiru Iddrisu, Managing Director of Hollard Life, expressed his gratitude for the recognition, saying,



"We are immensely honoured to be recognised as the Best Growing Life Insurance Company of the Year. This award reflects our team's dedication, passion, and tireless efforts to provide innovative insurance solutions that positively impactGhanaians' lives. At Hollard, it's our purpose to enable more people to create and secure a better, and so we are on the path of achieving sustainable and inclusive growth for all."



"Hollard Life has consistently demonstrated its commitment to financial stability and sustainable growth, with a remarkable 83% revenue growth over the past year. The company's innovative product offerings and strong customer relationships have been crucial in achieving this commendable financial performance. He added to all Hollardites, our partners and customers for sticking with us on our journey of becoming the country's favourite insurer, thank you".



As a testament to continuous improvement and innovation, Hollard Life remains committed to the industry's forefront by delivering cutting-edge insurance solutions to its valued customers.



The Ghana Insurance Awards recognise excellence and leadership in the insurance industry, honouring companies and individuals who have made significant contributions to the growth and development of the sector.



About Hollard Life Assurance



Hollard Life is a subsidiary of the insurance group Hollard Ghana, which combines its deep local knowledge of the market with the world-class expertise of an international insurance brand. With feet firmly planted on Ghanaian soil but Headquartered in South Africa, Hollard delivers innovative insurance solutions customised to the unique risks Ghanaians face. Hollard was previously Metropolitan Insurance which operated in Ghana for over 25 years. Hollard Life was birthed in 2018 as a subsidiary. The company offers various life insurance products, including funeral, personal accident, savings and investments, group life insurance and employee plans, and more. Beyond various nationwide office branches and Hollard 2U franchise shops, Ghanaians can find Hollard Life at Shell Fuel Station Welcome Shops, Melcom stores and online at www.hollard.com.gh, www.melcom.com/hollard-insurance and www.jumia.com.gh for all their insurance needs.





Source: Peacefmonline









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West African military chiefs have said they are prepared to use force to restore democracy in Niger following last month's coup if diplomacy fails.



The generals from the Ecowas group of nations are meeting in Ghana to co-ordinate possible military intervention.



The Ecowas peace and security commissioner, Abdel-Fatau Musah, said almost all member states were committed to contributing troops and are ready to intervene in Niger.



He added that the coup leaders in Niger still had time to pull back from the brink - but said all options were on the table if they did not restore civilian rule.



The threat of intervention has raised fears of a wider conflict, as the military governments in Mali and Burkina Faso have said they would side with their counterparts in Niger.



Ecowas officials say their resources will be used to support troops, but they will also welcome any outside help.

Source: BBC









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Popular Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, who has been on hunger strike for two weeks in protest against his detention, has been taken into intensive care, according to his allies.



"Mr Sonko was the victim of an illness that occurred last night," said Ousseynou Ly, who is a member of Mr Sonko's Pastef party that was forced to close by Senegal's authorities.



A medical source at Hospital Principal in the capital, Dakar, confirmed to the BBC that he had been moved into the intensive care unit.



Pastef says the authorities were "responsible" for Mr Sonko's condition after they charged and detained him for insurrection and conspiracy against the state, among other crimes. There has been no statement from the authorities on Mr Sonko's condition.



He plans to run for president in February next year but has been engaged in a bitter power struggle with the authorities since 2021 when he was placed under investigation in a moral corruption case.



"From the state of Senegal, we do not ask many things, except for the rights and freedom of Ousmane Sonko," said Habib Sy, president of the opposition coalition Yewwi Askan Wi.



In June, Mr Sonko was sentenced in absentia to two months in prison - which he said was politically motivated.



That triggered angry clashes by supporters that left 24 people dead, according to Amnesty International.



The next month he was arrested, and earlier this week he was charged with fomenting insurrection.

Source: BBC









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The High Court in Accra will, on Thursday, August 31, this year, deliver its ruling on whether or not the Special Prosecutor should continue freezing the bank accounts of former Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources Cecilia Dapaah.



The court presided over by Justice Edward Twum, fixed the date after Dr Isidore Tuffour, who represented the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), moved the application in Court today.



Counsel argued that the confirmation application by the office of the special prosecutor was aimed at seizing $590,000 and GH 2,730,000 found in her home upon a search of three houses associated with her.



Dr Tuffour revealed that Cecilia Dapaah could not explain how she came by the funds and the ownership of the alleged stolen monies is in dispute.



He argued that there was no requirement for them to show grounds for suspicion that the accounts were tainted.



Opposition



But Counsel for Cecilia Dapaah, Victoria Barth, on the other hand, argued that the application for confirmation contravened the procedure outlined in the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959).



She contended that section 32(2) of Act 959 mandated the office to bring the application for confirmation within seven days after the seizure.



She argued that the application was filed after seven days had elapsed.



Ms Barth further argued that the fact that substantial amounts were found in the home of her clients does not justify the seizure of the property.



Counsel argued that the mere fact that their client was being investigated for corruption was not enough grounds for her accounts to be frozen.



According to her, the Special Prosecutor Act requires the applicant to demonstrate reasonable grounds for believing that the property is tainted and not just a mere assertion of the fact.



In her view, the OSP had not shown any grounds to prove that the monies found were tainted.



Husband



Before fixing the date, the presiding judge asked why Cecilia Dapaah was the only person being investigated when the alleged tainted money was found in her matrimonial home.



In his response, Dr Tuffour told the court that Cecilia Dapaahs husband had also been placed under arrest.



Background



On July 5, this year, police prosecutors arraigned two househelps working for Ms Dapaah and her husband, Daniel Osei Kuffour, at an Accra Circuit Court for allegedly stealing money and items worth millions of Ghana cedis from the couple's residence at Abelemkpe in Accra.



According to the charge sheet, the accused persons allegedly stole valuable items from the residence of Mrs Dapaah, including $1,000,000 and 300,000 belonging to the couple.



The OSP arrested the minister and commenced investigations into the matter.



In the application filed at the High Court, the OSP noted that Ms Dapaah stated in her initial complaint to the police that $800,000 of the amount reportedly stolen from her residence belonged to her deceased brother and GH300,000 was a contribution towards her mother's funeral, which was contained in a box.



The OSP added that Ms Dapaah, who later resigned, did not indicate who owned the remainder of $200,000.



After several media publications, Ms Dapaah issued a public statement claiming that there were noticeable inconsistencies between the amounts of money being discussed in the public domain and the thrust of the original complaint in the matter.



On July 22, this year, Mrs Dapaah resigned from her position as Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, which was subsequently accepted by the President.



On July 24, this year, the OSP arrested her on charges of corruption and corruption-related offences and subsequently conducted searches in three residential properties of Ms Dapaah at Cantonments, Abelemkpe and Tesano in Accra, leading to the new cash discoveries.



According to court documents, the OSP seized the discovered cash sums on grounds that they were suspected to be tainted property in accordance with section 32(1) of Act 959, hence the need to exercise the power of seizure to prevent concealment of the cash sums.



Circuit Court



Meanwhile, the father of one of the lead suspects has been freed.



Kwaku Botwe became a free man after police prosecutors filed a fresh charge sheet at the Circuit Court which excluded his name.



Botwe is the father of Patience Botwe, a former househelp of Ms Dapaah.



In the new charge sheet, Sarah Agyei and Patience Botwe have been charged with six counts of stealing, while Benjamin Sowah, Malik Dauda, Christiana Achab, Job Pomary and Yahaya Sumaila have been charged with dishonestly receiving stolen money.



Agyei and Achab, both lactating mothers, have been admitted to bail in the sum of GH1 million each, with three sureties to be justified by the court presided over by Afia Owusuaa Appiah.



Per the bail conditions, the sureties are to deposit their passports and Ghana cards at the court registry.



The prosecutor, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Emmanuel Nyamekye, told the court that investigations were ongoing.



Meanwhile, another suspect, Franklin Sarakpo, is currently on the run.



Hearing at the Circuit Court has been adjourned to Tuesday, August 22, this year.

Source: graphic.com.gh









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The Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin has been criticized for proposing that Chiefs be allowed to be involved in politics.



The Speaker suggests re-examining constitutional provisions that prevent chiefs from participating in politics.



He believes that Ghana should revise its democratic structure to tap into the wisdom and expertise of chiefs for better governance.



"We need to listen, think together, and well be taking stock on what we did wrong with our leaders, that chiefs should not be in active politics and thats not helping us. They used to govern; today we have imposed other chiefs on our chiefs, so we have District Chief Executives, he added.



But speaking on Peace FM's morning show 'Kokrokoo', Kwami Sefa Kayi said: "The kind of politics we do in this country, I don't think we should involve our chiefs..."



Kwamena Duncan chipped in saying: "the call by the Speaker was needless"; and Sefa Kayi responded, "I think so...oh yes needless because he is in a position to understand better than most of us. Look at what happened to the Dormaahene..."



Listen to their discussion in the video below





Source: Peacefmonline.com









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A group named the Ballot Education Project says they are much concerned about the impending limited voter registration exercise.



In a statement, they said, Our organization believes in the importance of ensuring a fair and transparent electoral process that encourages maximum participation from all eligible citizens.



The decision to hold the registration exercise only at District Offices places an undue burden on individuals, especially those from remote areas, who now have to travel to the district capital to have their names added to the voter register.



The Electoral Commission of Ghana has announced that it would commence a registration exercise for eligible Ghanaians who turned 18 years old after the 2020 registration exercise and other eligible voters who could not register on Tuesday, September 12, 2023.



The Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Jean Mensa, who made this disclosure at a press briefing in Accra, dubbed, Let the Citizen Know, on August 17, 2023, indicated that the registration exercise would end on Monday, October 2, 2023.



She added that the exercise would be held at all the 268 district offices of the EC across the country.



Below is their full statement



Addressing Concerns Regarding Limited Voter Registration Exercise



The Ballot Education Project is deeply concerned about the recent decision by the Electoral Commission (EC) to conduct a limited registration exercise for the upcoming District Assembly Elections exclusively at the District Offices, rather than in the Electoral Areas. This decision has raised valid concerns among citizens, particularly regarding accessibility and inclusivity.



Our organization believes in the importance of ensuring a fair and transparent electoral process that encourages maximum participation from all eligible citizens. The decision to hold the registration exercise only at District Offices places an undue burden on individuals, especially those from remote areas, who now have to travel to the district capital to have their names added to the voter register.



Furthermore, the requirement for individuals without valid identification documents to arrange for two family members to vouch for them raises financial and logistical barriers, potentially excluding a significant portion of the population from participating in the democratic process.



The Ballot Education Project acknowledges the importance of maintaining the integrity of the electoral system and respects the autonomy of the Electoral Commission. However, we urge the EC to reconsider this decision in light of the potential negative impact it may have on voter participation and inclusivity.



We call upon the EC to explore alternative solutions that prioritize accessibility and inclusivity, such as setting up registration centres in Electoral Areas to facilitate the registration process for all eligible citizens. This approach would ensure that our democracy remains vibrant and representative, allowing individuals from all walks of life to exercise their right to vote without unnecessary obstacles.



In the spirit of promoting a healthy democratic environment, we encourage open dialogue between stakeholders, including civil society organizations, political parties, and the Electoral Commission, to address these concerns and find a solution that upholds the principles of fairness and inclusivity.



The Ballot Education Project remains committed to promoting voter education, civic engagement, and transparent electoral processes. We believe that together, we can work towards a stronger and more inclusive democracy for the benefit of all citizens.



Signed:



Albert Kweku Simpson

Director of Communication

Ballot Education Project.

Tel:0242508169

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Mr. Benjamin Kofi Quashie, South African National Democratic Congress Council of Elders Chairman, has questioned the competence of Nana Akufo-Addo and Dr. Bawumia regarding the unconscionable expenditure of the Bank of Ghana.



According to him, if the President and his Vice who were touted as very competent, can superintend over such inconsiderate and reckless expenditure of the Bank of Ghana, "Then how do we describe them? Super incompetent", he claimed.



In a telephone interview on CTV's "Dwabremu" Political Show, he averred that, if the competent pair can allow the BoG to print money in excess of 40 billion in 2022, which far exceeds the percentage of revenue accrued in the preceding year, "It tells you these are people who have no regard for laid down procedure and a time would come that our kids, grand kids and great, great grandkids would come to realise that Ghana retrogressed under Nana Addo/Bawumia government", the SA Council Chair stated.



He indicated that the actions of the "President have been supported by a super incompetent Vice President. The Vice President has become a walking illegality, the Vice President has made mockery of economics and has become a comedian of the people", said Mr. Quashie.



Explaining further what he meant by the Vice President being a comedian, he argued that, he has heard Dr. Bawumia on the NPP campaign trail averring that he can fix the economy when given opportunity to rule as president. In the view of the SA Council Chair, "if as the head of the current NPP government's Economic Management Team, you have not been successful, then it stands to reason to conclude that it's for comic purposes for the same person to promise doing something worthwhile when given the opportunity to lead as president.



The Nana Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government has terribly disappointed Ghanaians and Bawumia cannot be absolved from blame and claim to do better when he becomes president. That isn't possible and it's a ploy to deceive Ghanaians", Mr. Benjamin Quashie ended.

Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/peacefmonline.com/ghana









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This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: shutterstock

Just days after being moved in, people seeking asylum were removed from the Bibby Stockholm accommodation barge due to legionella bacteria on board. Dorset council, where the barge is located, has raised concerns that delays in removing people increased their risk of exposure to the potentially fatal bacteria.

Even before this development, the use of the barge to house people seeking asylum was controversial. This is both because of the impact on the local community, and conditions for the people living on board. The barge has been used in the past to house workers, including military personnel. But when being used for asylum seekers, the cabins on the bargeoriginally designed for one person and only "slightly larger" than a prison cellwill be used to house at least two.

People seeking asylum will be expected to share their small accommodation with a stranger. This is a situation that few would find desirable. It does not meet the government's own bedroom standard, which is itself not overly generous.

Crowded conditions such as these are associated with a range of negative health consequences including anxiety, depression and psychological distress. They are also associated with increased risk of respiratory illness, including COVID-19 and tuberculosis, as well as infectious disease.

These diseases include diarrhea and gastroenteritis. We often hear stories of norovirus, a common cause of gastroenteritis, spreading through other high-density spaces such as cruise ships and resorts. However, these are usually much less densely populated than the Bibby Stockholm is expected to be.

The effect of crowding on health is notable. A review of evidence found that around one-fifth of hospital admissions due to infectious disease in New Zealand were attributable to crowded conditions in the home.

Links between crowding and mental health problems have been established among the general population, but risks are likely higher for those that have recently fled their home country due to the trauma that they have already experienced.

Life in lockdown

Another important difference between the experience of asylum seekers on the barge compared to others that have lived onboard is the restricted movement and high security they will experience. Residents will be unable to freely leave the barge or the nearby containment area.

Like most asylum seekers in the UK, they are prohibited from working, and the very low levels of financial support they receive would severely limit any activities they could take part in. They will probably spend much of their time onboard in their small, cramped rooms (with disconnected TVs) or the limited space onboard.

The lockdowns of the COVID pandemic demonstrated the importance of safe, secure and suitable housing for protecting our health and well-being as well as the challenges of restricted movement. People seeking asylum and housed on the Bibby Stockholm will experience lockdown-like conditions, and evidence suggests that lockdown had greater negative effect on those in smaller homes and without outside space.

The facilities on the Bibby Stockholm are not just bleak, but dangerous. The Fire Brigades Union has raised concerns about fire safety on board the vessel, a worry familiar to those that spent lockdown in homes covered in flammable cladding identified after the Grenfell Tower fire.

Further, there are concerns about a lack of life jackets. This worry is likely to be particularly severe for people who may not be able to swim. And for those who may have arrived via a dangerous sea-crossing journey, simply being housed on the water could be traumatic.

Savings, at what cost?

The government has argued that the Bibby Stockholm is needed to save money on housing asylum seekers as it works through the backlog of applications. But there is little evidence for thisand the potential health costs of housing people on the barge could easily wipe out any savings.

Among the general population, the health effects of poor housing in England are thought to cost the NHS 1.4 billion a year. Overcrowding is the third highest contributor to this figure.

While conditions on the barge are particularly likely to harm the health of people living there, many of the issues will also apply to other asylum seeker "containment sites." The Bibby Stockholm is the latest in a long history of housing asylum seekers in the poorest conditions, including more recent trends of using "quasi-detention" sites, which are isolated, have high security and reduce people's access to privacy, freedom and legal advice.

Government ministers have said that the use of hotels as temporary housing is a "pull factor" for asylum seekers, attracting them to Britain. Housing is a basic, essential need and shouldn't be used punitivelyas a deterrent or punishment. In fact, any deterrent is unlikely to work, so long as the push factors forcing people to seek asylum in the first place remain.

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:

Overview of the Dog10K collection. a Sample collection and sample filtering for (b) the varied demographic, genome function, and architecture examined in the program. QC, quality control. ROH, runs of homozygosity. OMIA, Online Mendelian Inheritance in Animals. Credit: Genome Biology (2023). DOI: 10.1186/s13059-023-03023-7

An international research consortium has generated and analyzed 2,000 canine genomes. The resulting advanced genetics toolkit can now be used to answer complex biological questions, spanning dog domestication, genetic differences in breed morphology, behavior and disease susceptibility, as well as the evolution and structure of the genome. The study, published in Genome Biology, describes the toolkit resource package and presents the first set of discoveries.

The publication is the culmination of efforts from the Dog10K consortium; 48 scientists across 25 institutions, contributing samples and resources to the immense analytical effort.

"The goal was to produce a resource the global community could access, and which they could use to speed the translation of their own research, be that in the study of the shared ancestors of dogs and wolves, or the clinical treatment of cancers. All these avenues are exciting, and all can benefit from the Dog10K catalog," says Uppsala University research scientist, Jennifer Meadows, lead co-author of the study.

The power of the Dog10K analyses lies in the depth of genetic diversity the team was able to capture. Canine samples were drawn from more than 320 of the approximately 400 recognized pedigree dog breeds, as well as niche populations of village dogs, wolves, and coyotes.

With this the team developed:

A comprehensive catalog of single nucleotide variants, including those which can disrupt protein coding genes and may influence the extremes of dog appearance and physiology. All pedigree dogs in the study were free from disease when sampled, suggesting that some of the variants that cause a loss of protein function do not cause obvious disease in that population.

A catalog of structural variants. This category of variants has a minimum size of 50 base pairs, and so impacts more space in the genome than a single nucleotide variant. Some structural variants were found to impact protein coding genes. This could mean that too much, or too little of the protein is made in that individual, but again did not cause obvious disease in the pedigree population.

For both single nucleotide and structural variants, the Dog10K team illustrated how these variants are distributed within and between pedigree dog breeds, and how these variants may impact the study of potential drug therapies.

Publicly available data processing pipelines. Combining the results from different studies can be made more difficult when different settings are used to map sequencing data, and then to call variation. The pipeline used by the Dog10K consortium is open to the community so that new or existing data can be processed and easily combined with this set.

An imputation panel from the single nucleotide variants. Imputation is a process that allows researchers to infer variation at sites that they did not directly measure. The Dog10K team showed that by using the imputation panel, a dataset that contained 170 thousand single nucleotide sites, commonly used in genotyping array studies, can be expanded to up to 8 million sites. This allows researchers to reuse their valuable samples, and to revisit complex questions that need more data.

"We have just scratched the surface of the data's potential," continues Meadows. "There is yet more genetic diversity left to be found in dogs, wolves and coyotes, but the Dog10K team looks forward to seeing how this first effort is applied by the canine science community."

More information: Jennifer R. S. Meadows et al, Genome sequencing of 2000 canids by the Dog10K consortium advances the understanding of demography, genome function and architecture, Genome Biology (2023). DOI: 10.1186/s13059-023-03023-7 Journal information: Genome Biology
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:

Polish firefighters set up a floating dam to catch dead fish from the river Oder in August 2022.

Environmentalists on Friday slammed the passing of a controversial law in Poland on the revitalization of the Oder river, which was hit by toxic algae growth last year that caused mass fish deaths.

A toxic algae bloom hit the river on the Polish border with Germany last summer, with at least 300 tons of dead fish pulled from the water as tensions spiked between the two countries.

In response to the environmental disaster, Warsaw passed a new law Thursday evening which includes provision for new water treatment plants, and is intended to put more stringent requirements on industrial sites.

But Greenpeace said the government had "ignored the voice of the public and scientists" in passing the law, in a statement on the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter.

They criticized what they said was a lack of consultation and said that the bill will "not protect the Oder" and will continue to be polluted.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) had previously criticized the bill for focusing on "further regulation of the Oder (and other rivers), which will further destroy the ecosystem and its ability to clean itself."

The law allows the building of new infrastructure including the modernisation of sewer systems and constructing new water treatment plants, estimated to cost some 9.5 billion zlotys ($2.3 billion).

The new law also forces large industrial sites, such as mines, to invest in systems to reduce saltwater discharges.

The toxic algae growth was sparked by the introduction of high levels of salt into the waters, according to the German environment ministry, which said that there was a "lack of available information" on the cause.

Poland also blamed toxic algae for the mass fish deaths, but said the disaster had most likely been caused by poor water quality as a result of high temperatures and very low water levels.

Polish and German authorities on either side of the river have said they are determined to stop future disasters happening, but have clashed over responsibility and the best way to keep the algae in check.

 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:

Global representation of the strain data set and the associated variables. (A) Core genome phylogenetic tree of the 1,282 E. coli isolates used in this study (see Materials and methods) with their phylogroup distribution (internal color ring) and commensal or BSI status (external color ring). (B) Proportion of commensal isolates, distribution of covariates (sex, age, collection date), and BSI isolates with the urinary tract and digestive tract as portal of entry within the full dataset. (C) Scatter plot of the distributions of all covariates in the two collections, colors matching that of panel B. PE: portal of entry. Credit: PLOS Genetics (2023). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1010842

Hannover Medical School researcher Prof. Galardini from the RESIST Cluster of Excellence has found causes for bloodstream infections in the genes of bacteria. This will enable better diagnostics and vaccinations in the future.

Escherichia coli bacteria live in the intestines of humans and play an important role there for normal intestinal function as well as for a functioning immune system. These intestinal inhabitants do not form a uniform population, but consist of a large number of strains that differ greatly in their genome and also in their metabolism.

Most strains of E. coli are harmless, but some can cause diarrhea or urinary tract infections andif they enter the bloodbloodstream infections and sepsis via their toxins. Sepsis is the third most common cause of death in Germany.

The bacteria have caused increasingly more diseases

Prof. Dr. Marco Galardini's team has found that E. coli has a significant genetic variation that contributes to the transition between the harmless life in the intestine (commensalism) and the pathogenic form. In addition, the researchers were also able to show that this bacterial species has evolved more toward causing disease over the years.

"Building on these findings, we envision the creation of better molecular diagnostic tools in the future, and these results might also be important for vaccines development," says Prof. Galardini.

The team published their findings in the journal PLoS Genetics. First authors are Judit Burgaya and Julie Marin. The work originated in TWINCORE in collaboration with Prof. Erick Denamur (INSERM, Paris) and Prof. Francois Blanquart (College de France).

Significant genetic differences between harmless and dangerous bacteria

The team examined a collection of about 900 E. coli isolates that caused blood infections and 370 harmless isolates. The samples were collected over a 17-year period (from 2000 to 2017) by the team of Prof. Erick Denamur.

"We found significant differences between the disease-causing and the harmless isolatesboth in their pangenomes, i.e. the totality of genes of the respective isolates, and in their genetic backgrounds, in terms of the presence of virulence-associated genes and antimicrobial resistance genes," says Prof. Galardini.

Using another commensal collection from 1980, the group also found that pathogenicity might have increased steadily from 1980 through 2000 to 2010.

This work is the third in a series of studies aimed at understanding the genetic determinants of the ability of E. coli to cause bloodstream infections. The team published the first two papers in 2020 and 2022.

More information: Judit Burgaya et al, The bacterial genetic determinants of Escherichia coli capacity to cause bloodstream infections in humans, PLOS Genetics (2023). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1010842 Journal information: PLoS Genetics

Provided by Medizinische Hochschule Hannover
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Credit: Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA)

On 18 July 2023, 97 pilot whales became stranded near Albany, WA.

It didn't take long for hundreds of people to rush to Cheynes Beach and offer their help. Despite the combined efforts of wildlife experts and volunteers, all the whales died. The only solace for distraught witnesses is the hope of learning something from the tragedy.

Fishing for clues

Scientists currently don't know why whales beach themselves in large numbers. "It's been a question for us for so many years," says Dr. Chong Wei, Research Associate at Curtin University's Center for Marine Science and Technology.

Scientists from across Australia are examining the pilot whale carcasses in Albany for clues. "We've got a big team working on it," says Chong. A WA Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) spokesperson says the tests may take several months to complete.

It's getting loud in here

One theory behind the cause of whale strandings is acoustic trauma. "Toothed whales rely on sound for major life functions," says Chong. "They send out sounds and listen to echoes to detect and navigate the environment around them." Loud underwater noiseslike military sonarcan potentially mess with the whales' echolocation systems.

"Human activities could cause enormous interference," says Chong. "[The whales] might lose their direction, which could cause beachings."

Holy hearing

Chong's team will search for evidence of acoustic trauma in the beached pilot whales via computed tomography (CT) scans of their heads.

His team has previously performed the same tests on fish to examine the damage caused by noise.

"When fish experience intense noise for a period of time, it will cause physical damage," says Chong. "Very tiny holes in the membranes of the otoliths can cause hearing loss."

"First, we'll do medical CT scans of the entire [whale] heads to check internal structures. Then we'll do micro CT scans of the ears to provide a much higher resolution. Based on these scans, we can  simulate the sound production and reception processes that occur inside the animals' heads."

"Then we can assess whether noise could be a reason for the strandings." Pilot whales gathered near Cheynes Beach before becoming stranded. Credit: Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions

Testing, testing

Disease is another theory behind mass whale strandings. The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development will run histopathology tests to check whale tissue samples for evidence of disease.

Flinders University in South Australia will test for viral or bacterial illnesses via dry swab samples. The University of Western Australia will analyze DNA to "help understand population dynamics and potential genetic vulnerabilities," according to the DBCA.

DBCA staff will also take morphometric measurements, including length, gender and photo IDs. It's hoped that this will help us get a better understanding of the group's composition and demographics.

Some experts suggest whales' strong social connections may be a contributing factor. Group strandings tend to involve only the most social families of toothed whales. When one of their pod becomes stranded, others may follow. Once beached, they may also refuse to leave their loved ones, hindering rescue efforts.

In an ABC interview about the pilot whales, Griffith University research fellow Olaf Meynecke said "It might just be that emotional connection to their peers that keeps them there."

Hot spots and booby traps

Thousands of whale strandings occur every year. New Zealand has recorded over 5000 strandings since 1840, while the UK has reported 17,850 strandings since 1990. Some of these sites share similarities in beach topography and environmental conditions. For example, Golden Bay and Cape Cod have a narrow land feature, long sloping beaches and large tidal variations.

It's thought the whales' echolocation systems may not work as effectively in these areas when the tide quickly recedes, effectively creating natural 'whale traps.'

Making data waves

Records of whale strandings have increased in recent decades. However, it's unclear whether this indicates a true increase in the frequency and scale of these events. Instead, it may simply reflect improved human awareness and recording efforts. "We're certainly collecting more data these days," says Chong. In some cases, higher numbers of stranded whales could even suggest a growth in the total number of whales, indicating healthier populations.

Since commercial whaling ceased in the 1980s, humpback whale populations have significantly increased, along with reports of strandings.

Mass whale strandings are still largely considered a "natural phenomenon," according to the DBCA. Until we determine why they do it, it's difficult to prevent.

On the plus side, strandings provide access to samples that are otherwise very difficult to collect. This precious data can inform scientists about how the whales live as well as their possible causes of death.

Understanding them better can help inform conservation efforts.

Provided by Particle

This article first appeared on Particle, a science news website based at Scitech, Perth, Australia. Read the original article.
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Bright-field sequences showing biofilm phenotypes. (A) Time-lapse sequence showing the formation of a monolayer on a trapped drop. The edge of the drop trap is indicated by the white dashed line. The confluent monolayer is formed at t 0 (t = 0 h). (B) Development of a spherical biofilm (SB) on an oil drop. The oil drop radius monotonically decreases in time. At 12 h, the droplet is outlined with a cyan line and the biofilm is outlined by a magenta line, as a guide for the reader. (C) Time-lapse sequence showing the development of a dendritic biofilm (DB) on an oil drop. The biofilm deforms the surface, initially generating wrinkles and protrusions, that fragmenting the droplet into tube-like segments and numerous smaller irregularly shaped volumes of oil covered with cells at later times. Credit: Science (2023). DOI: 10.1126/science.adf3345

A team of French and Japanese environmental scientists has found that one kind of oil-eating microbe reshapes droplets to optimize biodegradation. In their study, reported in the journal Science, the group isolated Alcanivorax borkumensis bacteria specimens in a lab setting, fed them crude oil, and then watched how they worked together to eat the oil as quickly and efficiently as possible. Terry McGenity and Pierre Philippe Laissue with the University of Essex's School of Life Sciences have published a Perspective piece in the same journal issue describing the work.

Prior research has shown that there are many microbes living in the ocean that feed on oil, eventually cleaning away oil not cleaned up by human efforts. Prior research has also shown that such microbes are not able to consume crude oil until it disperses into droplets, which can take a long time. In this new effort, the researchers sought to learn more about the process of crude oil consumption by sea microbes. To that end, they collected A. borkumensis specimens and tested them in their lab.

Under a microscope, the research team observed that A. borkumensis formed biofilms around oil dropletsbut they did so in two major ways. In one experiment, A. borkumensis samples that had not been exposed to crude oil before were introduced to simple crude oil droplets. Groups of the bacteria converged on a droplet, forming a sphere. The sphere shape persisted until the entire oil droplet had been consumed.

But when the team exposed samples with experience consuming crude oil, their behavior was much more advanced. Initially, upon converging on a droplet, a sphere formedbut then finger-like protrusions formed, radiating out from the sphere, each completely covered with bacteria. The result was much faster, more efficient consumption of the droplet.

The researchers suggest that the formation of the protrusions results in more oil surface area exposure, allowing more of the bacteria to consume the oil droplet at the same time, compared to the simple sphere, resulting in faster consumption.

More information: M. Prasad et al, Alcanivorax borkumensis biofilms enhance oil degradation by interfacial tubulation, Science (2023). DOI: 10.1126/science.adf3345. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adf3345 Terry J. McGenity et al, Bacteria stretch and bend oil to feed their appetite, Science (2023). DOI: 10.1126/science.adj4430 Journal information: Science

 2023 Science X Network
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Data overview and relevant geography and chronology. a, Locations of the 4 archaeological sites examined here, as well as a map of the areas settled by Phoenician, Greek and Etruscan speakers by 550 BCE. b, Timeline showing the dates for the newly reported individual genomes, with the methods of dating indicated. Indirect radiocarbon dating refers to using the radiocarbon date of a different individual in the same tomb. A single date estimate for each individual in the study was determined by the average of lower and upper estimates of the 95% confidence interval when using accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon dates and the average of the lower and bound inference dates when using archaeological and historical context for dating. The full 95% confidence intervals are reported in Supplementary Dataset 3. The map was generated using the World_Basemap_v2 from the ArcGIS online platform. Credit: Nature Ecology & Evolution (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41559-023-02143-4

An international team of anthropologists, archaeologists and geneticists has learned more about the migration patterns of people living around the Mediterranean Sea during the Iron and Bronze ages. In their study, reported in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, the group conducted genetic sequencing on the remains of 30 people who lived during the Iron or Bronze Age in Italy, Tunisia and Sardinia.

As the researchers note, most knowledge of people living around the Mediterranean Sea during the Iron and Bronze Ages derives from study of artifacts they left behind. But such evidence, they point out, does not reveal much about the backgrounds of those people or where their ancestors came from. In this new effort, the research team sought to learn more about the backgrounds of such people by following migration patterns using genetic sequencing.

The researchers conducted shotgun sequencing (sequencing conducted in random fashion) on samples collected from unearthed bones of ancient people living in Italy, Tunisia and Sardinia to get a sense of migration patterns for people living in the northern, central and southern parts of the eastern part of the Mediterranean during the Iron and Bronze Agesa time, the researchers note, when people were traveling greater distances due to advances in boat and shipbuilding. The team then compared their findings to the results of other sequencing efforts conducted on both modern and ancient peoples living in the region.

They found evidence of widespread migration around the Mediterranean, suggesting strong ties between distant people. They also found heterogeneity in Iron Age populations and shifts in ancestry in North Africa and Sardinia during the Bronze Age, suggesting an uptick in migration. More specifically, the research revealed an increase in migration from what is now Morocco and Iran by neolithic farmers to both Sardinia and Tunisia, and somewhat less migration to what is now Italy.

The research team suggests that there was an increase in migration, as expected during both the Iron and Bronze Ages, as people sailed the Mediterranean Sea for a myriad of reasonsand in so doing, shaped the ancestry of those who lived in the region.

 2023 Science X Network
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People mill about on the streets after an earthquake in Bogota, on August 17, 2023.

A strong earthquake followed by dozens of aftershocks rattled central Colombia and the capital Bogota on Thursday, setting off sirens and sparking panic, authorities said.

No major damage was reported, but one woman died after jumping from a building, and Bogota's mayor noted "reports of people trapped in elevators and other minor events."

The Colombian Geological Survey put the quake's magnitude at 6.1, while the US Geological Survey (USGS) reported it at 6.3.

The Colombian agency said the earthquake struck at 12:04 pm (1704 GMT), with its epicenter in the town of El Calvario, 40 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of Bogota. It hit at a depth of less than 30 kilometers.

Buildings shook and sirens sounded as thousands of panicked residents poured into the streets of the capital, gripping their cell phones as they called loved ones, AFP journalists observed.

"The only serious incident reported was a woman who threw herself from the 10th floor of a residential building... apparently due to a nervous disorder," said the mayor of the capital, Claudia Lopez, on the X social network, formerly known as Twitter.

Firefighters confirmed the woman's death.

Social media users reported feeling the quake in the cities of Villavicencio, Bucaramanga, Tunja and Ibague, all near the epicenter.

"Strong tremor in Bogota. Let's remain calm and cautious. Please take all precautions against possible aftershocks. Calm, serenity and caution," Lopez warned on X.

Central Colombia is very seismically active and features one of the country's main geological faults.

Seismically active

US diplomat Francisco Palmieri was giving a speech at a Bogota hotel when the quake hit, as seen in a video of the session, which was attended by President Gustavo Petro.

Palmieri stopped talking to ask in English if there had been an earthquake, then resumed speaking, with a smile. The hotel was not evacuated.

A piece of the ceiling in the congress building detached but caused no injuries, according to videos released by the lower chamber on X.

A landslide was reported in Villavicencio, while only the windows of homes and businesses were reportedly affected in El Calvario, according to an update from the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management.

The main road linking Bogota to the country's southeast was temporarily shut due to landslides, local officials said.

At least 35 aftershocks struck later Thursday, with the USGS reporting one that registered a 5.7 magnitude.

Central Colombia is very seismically active and features one of the country's main geological faults.

In 2008, a quake centered in El Calvario left 11 people dead.

 2023 AFP
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The Whanganui River, New Zealand. Credit: Wirestock Creators/Shutterstock

As the scale and severity of environmental issues become more obvious, lawmakers are experimenting with new ways to protect nature. One approach that has gone from blue-sky debate to meaningful reality over the past 50 years is to give elements of the natural worldtrees, rivers and mountainslegal rights and allow people to go to court on their behalf.

In 2022, Spain's Mar Menor saltwater lagoon became the first ecosystem in Europe to be granted a limited legal status similar to a company. Meanwhile, Ireland's recent Citizens' Assembly on Biodiversity Loss concluded with a recommendation to amend the constitution to include a provision on the rights of nature.

This idea can be traced back to the early 1970s, when American legal scholar Christopher Stone spontaneously threw it into a classroom discussion about the gradual expansion of rights, and was pleasantly surprised by the positive response it got.

He knew that the US Supreme Court was about to hear an important case on what lawyers call "standing" (whether or not one has the right to be heard by a court in a particular dispute), in which an environmental organization called the Sierra Club was seeking to prevent the development of a ski resort in the Sequoia National Forest. Stone also knew that one of the justices, William O. Douglas, who was well known for his environmental sympathies, would be writing a foreword to an issue of a legal journal.

Stone quickly wrote an article called Should Trees Have Standing?, elaborating on his initial thought just in time to get it into that issue. Douglas picked up the idea and endorsed it in his judgment, saying: "The river as plaintiff speaks for the ecological unit of life that is part of it. Those people who have a meaningful relation to that body of waterwhether it be a fisherman, a canoeist, a zoologist or a loggermust be able to speak for the values which the river represents and which are threatened with destruction."

Though this did not sway the other members of the Supreme Court, it did spark a brief flurry of academic writing on the subject (the ski resort was never built anyway). Stone became a media celebrity for a short while before the idea of giving parts of nature legal rights faded from the public eye.

Fast forward to the 21st century and academics alongside environmental activists have given the idea a new lease of life. It has grown to include different schools of thought and these theories are now being put into practice worldwide.

So far, they have not been a quick fix for environmental problems. But they are leading to some successes.

More experiments may help identify how to make them work well effectively. But simply granting rights to nature is probably not a substitute for strong institutions and meaningful enforcement. This becomes clear when we explore the experiences of three different countries.

New Zealand

In 1840, the Treaty of Waitangi was signed between the British crown and New Zealand's indigenous Maori people. The treaty aimed to protect the Maori people's right to their land and resources.

As part of a settlement to remedy past breaches of the treaty, both a former national park called Te Urewera and the Whanganui River have been recognized in New Zealand law as entities with their own rights (although not all the rights of a human person) since 2014 and 2017 respectively. This has involved the creation of two boards to manage the natural resources, featuring joint representation from the government and the local tribe.

Sequoia National Forest, California. Credit: Panpilas L/Shutterstock

Plans for rethinking Te Urewera are still being formulated, and representation for the Whanganui River has only recently been appointed (like many things, it was delayed by the COVID pandemic). However, a strategic plan will be developed in tandem with a NZ$30 million (14 million) fund to support the river's health and well-being.

Time will tell if reframing this process so that nature itself has a voice will yield better outcomes.

Bangladesh

In 2019, the High Court of Bangladesh recognized the Turag River (and all other rivers in Bangladesh) as a living entity with legal rights and required that the government take significant action to protect it.

The state agency with overall responsibility, the National River Conservation Commission, has promised rapid action. But, still today, many water bodies in the country are "dead" thanks to pollution caused by the widespread dumping of industrial and human waste.

The Buriganga River, which flows south-west of Bangladesh's capital city of Dhaka, is now so polluted that its water appears black outside of the monsoon season.

Ecuador

In 2008, Ecuador adopted a new constitution that includes an article explicitly recognizing nature's right to "exist, persist, maintain and regenerate its vital cycles, structure, functions and its processes in evolution". This development has enabled landowners and environmentalists to bring cases to court to protect the country's rivers and forests, slowly making this right a reality.

A striking example of this unfolded in 2021 when the Ecuadorian Constitutional Court revoked mining permits in Los Cedrosa cloud forest area of great biodiversity in the Andean mountains. It asserted that these permits not only violated the rights of local residents (such as the right to clean water and a healthy environment), but also the rights of the forest itself.

This is a significant step with ramifications for the future. However, it also highlights a common objection: that environmental matters frequently also include some form of human interest that can serve as a basis for legal standing. Consequently, granting nature rights may be unnecessary.

Whether they work or not, some form of rights for aspects of nature are likely to become part of most legal systems this century. Anyone with an interest in environmental protection should be aware of the idea and its development.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Structure of the T3 SAMase-E. coli synthase. Credit: Artem Isaev

Scientists from Skoltech and research centers in Sweden and Switzerland have presented results that explain the mechanism of interaction between bacteria and phagesviruses that infect bacterial cells. The discovery is an important step on the way to developing new ways to fight infections. The study is published in the journalCell Reports.

Disease-causing microorganisms become more resistant to antibiotics. Researchers across the world are searching for new mechanisms to combat pathogenic bacteriaone of them is phage therapy. Bacteriophages are natural "predators" and enemies of bacteria with a high infection specificity. They are harmless to the human organism, have a natural origin, and can be found wherever there is life and bacteria. Phages had been studied more than 100 years ago, but when antibiotics were discovered, research interest declined.

"Our laboratory at Skoltech pursues research into the new systems of bacterial immunity. In recent years, bioinformatics has allowed predictions of a plethora of novel antivirus systems and a new field emergedmicrobial immunology," says Head of the Laboratory of Metagenome Analysis and a study co-author Artem Isaev.

"Molecular mechanisms for most of those systems have not been uncovered yet, so one of the ways to learn how microbial immunity works is to find out how viruses managed to overcome the defense. The interaction between viruses and bacteria can be described as an arms race: when bacteria acquire a new defense strategy, it exerts great pressure on the opposing sidephages. In turn, phages that somehow acquire resistance to the bacterial immunity should emerge.

"It initiates a new stage of bacterial adaptation, and such intense competition leads to a wide variety of antiviral systems."

The authors studied the BREX (short for BacteRiophage EXclusion) immunity system, a protective mechanism of bacteria against phages, and showed that bacteriophage T3 can infect the BREX culture only when the special enzyme is expressedthe SAM lyase, which destroys S-adenosyl-methionine, an important cell metabolite.

"SAM is used as a donor of methyl groups, which can regulate the expression of genes. In the case of the BREX system, a methyl group also serves as a label, which allows bacteria to distinguish between their own DNA and the non-methylated DNA of the virus.

"Unexpectedly, the methylation function of BREX was not severely affected, while the BREX protection was completely disrupted by the SAMase expression. We can assume that SAM is also a cofactor necessary for inhibition of the virus infection by the BREX system," says Artem Isaev.

According to the researchers, many countries are developing bacteriophage banks and support projects allowing the use of phages for therapeutic purposes. Modification of virus particles might allow the construction of modular bacteriophages effective against a specific pathogenic microorganism detected in the body of a particular patient.

"We still do not know much about the repertoire of anti-defense proteins encoded by phages, while these proteins are largely responsible for the success of bacterial cells' infection in the natural environment, considering a huge variety of immune systems present in bacteria (including pathogenic species).

"Our research contributes to the establishment of the interaction network between viral anti-defense proteins and bacterial immunity systems. It has to be considered at the next stage of the phage therapy development when we will approach the creation of phages capable of killing specific pathogenic bacteria," adds Artem Isaev.

More information: Aleksandr Andriianov et al, Phage T3 overcomes the BREX defense through SAM cleavage and inhibition of SAM synthesis by SAM lyase, Cell Reports (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112972 Journal information: Cell Reports

Provided by Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology
By Nasratu Kargbo

Speaker of Sierra Leones Parliament, Dr. Chernor Abass Bundu has said Opposition Members of Parliament Elect that are yet to take the oath of office have breached the contract they had with their people and urged them to assume their seats in parliament.

Speaking in Parliament on the 17th of August 2023, Dr. Bundu stated that the elected MPs were not forced to contest for the position, and it is their duty to represent their people.

By failing thus far to come and take their seats, they must know that they are in breach of their contract with the people who voted them to parliament, and they must also know that there is a consequence for such a breach, the speaker stressed.

He explained that there is no evidence that they were coerced to stand for election, on the contrary, they stood for the elections voluntarily and freely made promises of all sorts to their supporters, thus demonstrating their willingness and determination to represent their people, he went on.

Bundu said that aside from the court there is no better platform for MPs to elect to air their grievances, concerns, and interest than parliament. He reminded them that the clock of thirty days is ticking, explaining that parliament has had twelve plenary sittings and seven sessional committee sittings. He warned that the law of the land is supreme.

I say to them please come and exercise your right of representation, you will receive the full protection of this noble house, he stated and thanked members of the party and paramount chiefs who are trying to persuade the MPs to attend the sitting.

Member of Parliament from the Western Area Urban Ibrahim Tawa Conteh highlighted several sections in the 1991 constitution and Parliaments Standing Orders (SO), explaining that Section 94 Sub-section 3 of the 1991 Constitution speaks on skipping activities of parliament and that the proceedings are considered valid despite the absences of members of parliament.

He further highlighted Section 94 sub-section 1 of the constitution which gives parliament the powers to regulate itself and SO 77 (2) which speaks on the duration of absenteeism for MPs. Conteh added that it is important that the Speaker reminded the MPs to elect about the timeframe of absenting from parliament.

Conteh said as MPs from the ruling party are not afraid to execute their functions under the guidance and protection of the constitution.

It must be known that it is a moral responsibility by our colleagues to come and represent their people within the ambit of the law, let them come and respect the wishes of the people, the MP said. He explained that whatever they do presently is not done under the umbrella of their party but as members of parliament.

Parliaments SO 77(2) (a) states that Any Member who, without good cause, during any session is absent from sittings of parliament on a number of days amounting to an aggregate period or thirty days shall vacate his seat

Fifty-two out of fifty-four Members of Parliament that were elected from the countrys main Opposition All Peoples Congress are yet to take oath of office. This is a result of the decision taken and communicated to the public via a press release on the partys stance to boycott all forms of governance which include legislature and local council.

The Party took the decision after a series of complaints of being dissatisfied with the conduct of the June 24 General Elections.

Copyright  2023 Politico
By Francis H. Murray

Some prospective customers of the Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority (EDSA) have expressed concern and frustration over the fate of their application after the Authority announced it had outsourced energy meter sales.

Some who spoke to Politico and have applied for their meters to the Authority, are particularly worried that EDSA failed to provide them answers about payments they had already made for the service.

EDSA in a statement last week named three companies it said had been awarded contracts to procure and distribute the meters to three different parts of the country.

It followed reports that one of the contracting companies, Holley Technology & Barri Investment, had procured hundreds of STS Split Prepared Electricity Single and Three-Phase Meters and brought them into the country.

According to the statement, Holley Technology will supply the Western Area Urban and Rural, Lungi and Port Loko Districts.

A second contractor, Kalleone Group of Companies, will supply Bo and Kenema Districts, while the third, Elite Power Solutions, will supply Bombali, Tonkolili and Kono Districts.

EDSA added in its statement that the three companies won the right to handle the sale of the meters under a vendor financing and consignment stock model.

The development has been received by Sierra Leoneans with mixed feelings. While some hope it will bring to an end a culture of exploitation of applicants by rogue EDSA officials, there are concerns about other implications arising from the business model. For instance, the cost of a meter has gone up substantially as a result of the outsourcing. Before now the single phase meter was sold for Le 805,000 (including installation fee). Now that is sold for Le 1,100,000. Three-phase meter was sold for Le 1, 350, 000 and now goes for Le 2, 300,000.

Also, there are questions about the time it takes to complete the process of application and installation of the meter.

Crucially, the immediate concern for hundreds of Sierra Leoneans is what becomes of monies they have already paid to EDSA for meters before the privatization of the process. Some of them have waited for over a year, amidst repeated failed assurances by the Authority.

Abdul Sherry, a resident of Sumaila Town in Freetown has been waiting for his meter since he applied and made the necessary payments in mid-December of 2018.

Last month, the EDSA office put out a notice in newspapers that enough meters were available to meet customers needs. I bought a copy of the newspaper which had the published notice and took it to their office, including my receipt of payment Sherry said.

He added. But when I got there, I was told that meters were not available, that their bosses had put out the notice without thorough consultations. They encouraged me at the end of the day to continue checking with them.

Sounding livid and looking disappointed, he lamented that it was very frustrating that we pay for services in this country and they are not given to us. Some people apply today and are given their meters. I really dont know what magic is involved on their part.

Another disappointed applicant, Allie Kamara, who resides at Rokel Village in the Freetown outskirts, said he had been waiting for his meter after applying over 15 months ago.

I feel too bad that my neighbors have electricity and I cant enjoy from a service that has been paid for. What is more frustrating is the fact that my wife does not believe that I really paid for the meter even when I have authentic receipt to the effect, he said.

While Alie said he paid Le850, 000 for a single-phase meter, Sherry said he paid Le950, 000 for same, pointing to a disparity in the charges.

When approached, authorities at EDSA refused to talk to Politico on the concerns of these customers and the way forward. The Public Relations Officer abruptly cancelled a scheduled interview with us on Monday.

There have been numerous complaints against EDSA for ignoring customer complaints. It took the Authority almost two weeks to address concerns over the recent frequent power outage in Freetown.

Copyright  2020 Politico Online
By Abdulai Fasineh Dumbuya

In reaction to growing mob justice particularly in the Western Area, the Sierra Leone Police have strongly condemned the practice in a public notice issued on the 16th of August, 2023.

According to the notice, the violent acts in the guise of exercising justice culminate in what the Police say are extra-judicial killings of suspected thieves or miscreants in some local communities which they view as homicidal and a serious miscarriage of justice.

The notice says mob or jungle justice has no place in any decent society, considering that it has serious and far-reaching implications for the peace, safety, and security of the State.

Mob justice in Sierra Leone is out rightly intolerable, given the fact that the position of the law is clear: no person has the right to unreasonably and unjustifiably take the life of another person-either suspected to have committed a crime or being about to do so, part of the notice reads.

The SLP quoted a section of the Constitution of Sierra Leone in the notice which presumes everyone to be innocent until proven guilty by a competent court of law. It reiterated that the only statutory body authorized to investigate suspected criminals is the police.

It advised individuals who are engaged or have been engaged in acts viewed as mob justice in various communities across the country to refrain from doing so immediately.

The notice urged people to realize that mob justice acts are not only hostile but barbaric as well, saying it is either people desist now from such offensive acts or be ready to face the full force of the law.

The police encouraged everyone to report any incident of suspected or arrested criminals to the nearest police station for investigations and subsequent prosecutions, as prescribed by law

It could be recalled that on the 17th of July 2023, police in Waterloo found the partially decomposed corpse of a notorious three-card gambler popularly called PM. They also discovered the mutilated corpse of 24-year-old Ibrahim Jagitay, a shop owner at Allen Town, East-end of Freetown at Kellie Farm, Malambay Village in Waterloo on the 29th July 2023.

Just over a week ago, there was a video circulating on social media, whereby a large crowd of people chased Kush victims with canes at the number 9 community, amidst the growing concerns about the mental health status of youths taking the substance in the country

Cassell Farm community in Kissy had also manifested a similar victimization campaign, with much of the kush users searched and paraded in the community.

Copyright  2023 Politico
Crandall Public Library received a $500,000 donation from a Queensbury native, in memory of his mother Anna J. Bennett, Aunt Helen B. Whittemore, and Aunt Mary E. Jones. The donation will be used towards technology improvements.

Bennett and Library Development Director Michelle Barrios met. Barrios said Bennett had planned to donate a larger amount from his own estate  hopefully in decades. However, after his mothers death in her mid-90s, he thought it would be better to go and make a smaller donation now.

He described his mother and aunts as voracious readers who loved utilizing Crandall Public Librarys services. His mother was a devoted New York Times reader, stayed abreast of the publishing and literary industry. Mary liked popular fiction and Helen, who never learned to drive according to Bennett, the library came to her for years through Outreach service.

I wanted to make it now so both Crandall could put it to use now rather than decades later, if I should live that long. But mostly because in, say 30 years from now, my mother, my aunts, and for the most part I myself, would have been distant memories. So I wanted to do something in their memories now while they all have so many living friends and other family, he said.

Christopher Bennett, now residing Virginia, made what is the largest gift by an individual the library has received outside of its capital campaign for the renovation and expansion back in the late 2000s. The Fairfax County Public Library is a part of his estate plans, but he noted some differences between Crandall feeling like home.

It often feels like a branch of some gigantic bureaucracy, like you walked into a branch of the local water department except with books and electronic equipment.

Crandall has never felt like that. It has always had the feel of a small library with all the benefits of a large one, he said. I used to joke with Michelle that there are two crown jewels of Glens Falls: Crandall Library and Glens Falls Hospital, one of which is free and you can use without limit and the other of which is costly and you hope to use rarely.

A few examples of improvements are adding touchscreen kiosks to access the library catalog, upgrades to the projection equipment in the Christine L. McDonald Community Room, a Creation Space that will host collaborative workshop area with equipment, technology, materials, and human expertise to guide users to make their dreams come alive and adding more digital signage.

Bennett said Crandall Public Library deserves the credit for conceiving of the technological aids that will benefit the students of this area for years to come.

I am so grateful it will benefit the students. Crandall Library was an extraordinary benefit to me during my school days in Glens Falls. But I know that young people today are so much more technologically sophisticated and advanced than we were all those decades ago and have needs that are beyond imagination to remain competitive in the economy of today and of the future, he said.

Library Director Kathleen Naftaly said the contribution from Bennett will not just be used for new computers and software, but an investment in the future of the library and technology.

We plan to spend the money as it is intended, as a lasting legacy in memory of three long-time Library patrons. We are humbled by Mr. Bennetts generosity. It is through gifts like this and the support of our community that we know the Library will be here for generations to enjoy for years to come, Naftaly said.

Naftaly said that the librarys first step will be to rename the room and upgrade the current computers and software. Then they will expand to technology upgrades throughout the building.

Bennett said he donated the money with no restrictions of how they should be spent.

In all my decades of using it I have never had any reason to doubt the judgment of the leadership of Crandall Library, he said.

The first technology improvement project will be updating the computer room that will have the name of those the gift in remembrance of, The Bennett, Whittemore, and Jones Information Center.

It is really truly a blessing and a privilege to be in a position to help others. I am so blessed that my mother and both my aunts lived so long. So it is right that I should recognize that blessing and be grateful and fortunate enough to do something to show how thankful I am, Bennett said.
FORT ANN  The Fort Ann community is in mourning and a local teen has been charged with manslaughter in the death of a 14-year-old boy, who was killed in a shooting on Wednesday.

Rycky Martin Stark Jr. died after being shot in the abdomen. Law enforcement sources told NewsChannel 13, The Post-Stars media partner, that three boys and one girl were playing with guns at about 5:15 p.m. at an apartment at 3 Charles St. in the Village of Fort Ann. A 17-year-old boy pointed a shotgun in the direction of Stark. He did not know it was loaded and the gun fired and hit Stark in the abdomen, police said.

Lifesaving aid was provided to Stark and he was transported by Fort Ann EMS to Glens Falls Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family pay for funeral expenses. It has raised nearly $20,000 as of 10 a.m. on Friday morning.

Stark was the son of Rycky Stark and Delia Sherwood. He was student at Fort Ann Central School. Superintendent of Schools Justin Hoskins said the tight-knit community is devastated by this news.

We are concentrating on supporting our students and families at this time by offering grief counseling at the school. Students who need support are encouraged to come, he said in an email.

Candice Spooner with Charlotte, her therapy dog, waited with Kristin Casey, the school psychologist, outside of the Fort Ann Central School on Thursday. At 5:15 p.m., they said no one had shown up for a drop-in counseling session. They were there to listen, they said.

Counselors were also available on Friday, Aug. 18, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will be available on Monday, Aug. 21, from 9 a.m. to noon and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The juvenile accused of firing the weapon was charged with felony second-degree manslaughter and misdemeanor second-degree reckless endangerment. The teen was arraigned in Washington County Youth Arraignment Court and was released to his guardians under the supervision of probation. His name is not being released due to his age.

Police did not provide additional information, but the charges indicate that the shooting was not an intentional act.

With the passage of the Raise the Age law in 2017, people under 18 can no longer be prosecuted as adults.

Other child shootings

This incident is similar to other cases involving children killed with weapons in a home.

On June 5, 2012, a 14-year-old Hudson Falls boy shot and killed his 13-year-old friend Gary Cota at Cotas home in Fort Edward. The juvenile admitted to grabbing the 12-gauge shotgun when it was pointed at Cota and it went off. The boy pleaded guilty in December 2013 to criminally negligent homicide and was sentenced to 18 months of probation, according to Post-Star archives.

Cota owned the gun. His parents were charged in Family Court with child neglect for not securing the weapon and were also sentenced to probation.

In December 2010, 12-year-old Nicholas Naumkin, of Wilton, was shot and killed by a 12-year-old friend. State police said at the time that the two boys were home alone playing video games and found a gun and ammunition in the fathers bedroom.

The weapon was hidden under clothing in a dresser drawer and the ammunition hidden in a different drawer, according to the Saratoga County Sheriffs Office. The boys were loading and unloaded the weapon when it discharged, striking Naumkin in the head, killing him.

The 12-year-old boy was charged with manslaughter and 56-year-old father Edward ORourke was charged with endangering the welfare of a child for not securing the ammunition.

The boy was sentenced to 2 years of probation. ORourke pleaded guilty to child endangerment and avoided jail time but was prohibited from owning firearms in the future.

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A Vermont man has admitted to traveling to Lake George to have sex with a 12-year-old.

Bennington resident Scott Westervelt, 46, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Albany on Thursday to interstate travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. Westervelt admitted to the court that between January and June 2022, he exchanged sexually explicit messages online with someone posing as a man who was sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy. Over the course of those exchanges, Westervelt expressed his desire to have sex with the boy. Westervelt arranged to meet the man and the boy in Lake George for that purpose.

On June 14, drove the prearranged meet-up in Lake George, where he was arrested.

Westervelt will be sentenced on Dec. 15.

Under the terms of Westervelts plea agreement, the parties have jointly recommended that Chief U. S. District Judge Brenda K. Sannes sentence him to a prison term of at least 70 months and no more than 87 months and a term of post-imprisonment supervised release of at least 5 years and up to life. Westervelt would also have to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.

The FBI and its Child Exploitation Task Force investigated the case. The FBIs Child Exploitation Task Force includes members of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, including the Colonie Police Department and New York State Police. Assistant United States Attorney Benjamin S. Clark and former Assistant United States Attorney Rachel Williams prosecuted the case as part of Project Safe Childhood.
The population in the Town of Chester is aging, and leadership is seeking ways to draw younger families to keep the town alive. This was the main thrust of a forum on housing at the towns auditorium on Thursday evening.

Based on the 2020 census, the Town of Chester has about 3,000 residents in 1,500 households with a median household income of $64,000. Chester also has 2,900 housing units, which means about half of the households are seasonal residents.

The median age for the Town of Chester population hovers around 48 years old, according to Warren County Economic Development Corporation data. This means the town has an aging population.

In 2017, the town worked with the Warren County EDC on a community survey that found access to entry-level housing was a priority concern.

Housing has always been an important issue in the Town of Chester, Town Supervisor Craig Leggett said. Were looking for that next generation, were looking for the young families.

In 2016, when Leggett first became supervisor, the town applied for, but missed, a pilot program for affordable single-family houses. He still sees grants as a viable option in the future.

Jim Siplon, the Warren EDC president, said that there are worrying trends in Chestertown.

We are old. Every day the median age gets bigger, Siplon said. There are more people who are over 50 years old than there are younger. We dont have anywhere near the same number of kids as we once did.

With a lack of young families in the community, Siplon posed an existential dilemma for the town residents: Who is coming behind us?

Siplon sees a potential slippery slope. Fewer kids in school means fewer young people entering the workforce. That forces restaurants and other businesses to operate fewer days a week. Taxes then rise for the residents who remain to make up the difference in the loss of sales tax revenue.

Whos going to take care of us? Whos going to drive the ambulance? Whos going to be a teacher? Siplon asked.

Adam Feldman, the executive director of Warren, Washington and Saratoga area Habitat for Humanity organization, mentioned the difficulty of building a new, energy efficient home for less than $300,000, which is often out of the price range for young people buying their first home.

The conversion of older, sometimes dilapidated, seven-bedroom houses to three-unit affordable apartments was an attractive proposal for many in the forums audience.

Many in the audience who participated in the discussion seemed to agree with the potential cost-effective development of apartment complexes that could mix older and younger generations together, and still be centrally located.

With an aging population who are living longer, and who remain in their homes, it means less home-buying options for young families looking to move to the area, Siplon said.

Feldman said that senior housing for 55-and-older residents could be a beneficial development project in the area. Not only does it socialize seniors and give them easier access to town resources, it also allows older residents to sell and repurpose their homes for younger families new to the area.

Feldman introduced deed restrictions which would require people to live in a house and work in the area for a certain number of weeks each year. Leggett said the high number of seasonal residents means fewer people who have a long-term interest in the town. They are still taxpayers, Leggett said, but dont carry the same community contribution as a year-round resident.

At the end of the meeting, Supervisor Leggett said the town would have more meetings and asked the few dozen people present to reach out to neighbors and friends.

This is a community-driven process, Leggett concluded.
A New Jersey Superior Court judge on Friday declared that the Atlantic City Housing Authority failed to comply with his previous court order and gave the agency 10 days to provide a timeline for repair plans at Stanley Holmes Village.

During a phone hearing Friday morning, Judge John C. Porto granted the latest motion brought by 87 Stanley Holmes residents in their lawsuit against the agency and ordered the Housing Authority to submit its repair plans to ensure safe gas service and safe, adequate, reliable heat and hot water at the community.

Rich DeLucry, an attorney with Cooper Levenson and the Housing Authoritys general counsel, said the authority would provide the most detailed plan and timetable that we can ahead of the deadline, but he cautioned it would be a living document.

The agency has limited resources and cant anticipate what responses it will receive to its requests for bids on its gas, heating and hot water systems, he explained. Between 15 and 20 gas lines still need to be replaced at Stanley Holmes, he said.

We cant starve the other units in order to protect a portion of the housing inventory, DeLucry said. The Stanley Holmes community accounts for about 420 of the agencys nearly 1,600 units throughout the city.

The latest representations from the Housing Authoritys legal counsel, however, frustrated Olga Pomar of South Jersey Legal Services. She pointed out that the authority made similar commitments when they last met in court May 11, and then three weeks later, work at the site stopped.

I was frankly horrified when they sent all the contractors home in early June, which was purely the fault of the Housing Authority, she said, referencing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Developments recent rejection of the authoritys emergency contracts for failing to follow federal guidelines. The halt paused replacement of gas lines, which a Housing Authority consultant in March said were so deteriorated that they could create life-threatening gas leaks at any time, and left at least one resident without a working shower and sink in her bathroom.

Im really seeing virtually no progress in the last three months, said Pomar, who asked Porto to schedule another hearing. This requires greater oversight by the court, greater accountability for the Housing Authority.

Atlantic City Housing Authority returns to court as fears of gas leaks mount at Stanley Holmes Village Nearly 90 residents of a large public housing development in Atlantic City are suing the city's Housing Authority over unsafe and unsanitary conditions." A judge is set to hear an update Friday.

Porto agreed and expressed disappointment that more work had not been completed; some homes at Stanley Holmes were without hot water for a short time as recently as last weekend.

The court wants to see some quick progress, Porto said. These were families, real people who had to uproot themselves from their residences because of the heating and the hot water inadequacy.

He scheduled the next hearing for Sept. 29.

Stanley Holmes residents on Nov. 17 filed the lawsuit against the Housing Authority over unsafe and unsanitary conditions at the development after multiple households lost heat and hot water for the fourth consecutive winter, and some units were unable to use their stoves and ovens for three weeks after a gas leak prompted a shutoff to gas service.

On Dec. 21, Porto ordered the Housing Authority to provide alternative accommodations for any residents without heat and hot water until the issues were fixed; conduct inspections of its heating and gas systems; submit a timeline of repair plans for its gas, heating and hot water systems; and establish a method for residents to report complaints and repair requests.

Over the next few months, the authority missed several deadlines spelled out in that order and residents continued to lose heat and hot water, prompting South Jersey Legal Services in April to submit a motion to enforce the December order.

At a May 11 hearing on that matter, the Housing Authority told Porto it would provide South Jersey Legal Services with the timeline for repairs and other missing documentation within three weeks.

But that didnt happen. And the recent work stoppage has compounded residents fears that the heat and hot water system will again fail this winter.

Whistleblower lawsuit targets Atlantic City Housing Authority board, attorneys The former interim executive director of the Atlantic City Housing Authority has sued her former employer, alleging her attempts to stop fraudulent activity there were thwarted by the board and its attorneys.

We are now very close to the start of the heating season, Pomar told the court Friday. I really hope that the proposed timeline takes into effect that urgency.

DeLucry told The Press of Atlantic City earlier this week that gas line testing was set to resume Thursday and that while it is behind schedule on the rollout of the resident repair request system, the system is expected to become available in early September.
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ATLANTIC CITY  The Atlantic County Prosecutors Office seeks to detain the most dangerous criminals under current bail law, and has the highest success rate in the state in detaining them, Prosecutor William Reynolds said Friday.

We rank No. 1 in the detention rate, and in issuing the most summonses, Reynolds said during the biweekly Clean and Safe Atlantic City meeting in Council Chambers.

Reynolds has been in the job for just about one year, having been nominated in May 2022 and approved by the state Senate Aug. 8, 2022.

His offices success rate in getting a judge to agree to detention is 48.9%, Reynolds said, more than twice the 18.1% statewide average.

County Executive Dennis Levinson said Reynolds and his team have made the county the toughest on crime in New Jersey.

Finally, we have a prosecutor who gets it, Levinson said this week in a statement. For years I have asked for stricter enforcement of our laws. Prosecutor Reynolds ... understands that without enforcement, our laws are ineffective.

When a person is arrested and charged, Reynolds said, the police department and Prosecutors Office make a joint decision about whether to put a person on a summons or a warrant.

On a summons, a person is arrested, charged and released with a court date, Reynolds said.

Atlantic County prosecutor confirms no link between West Atlantic City, Gilgo Beach murders Atlantic County detectives don't believe there is a connection between the Gilgo Beach and West Atlantic City murders.

On a warrant, a person is detained and there is a detention hearing within 72 hours with a Superior Court judge, who decides whether the person will be released with conditions or retained pending trial.

Were not trying to detain everyone, only the people most dangerous to the community, Reynolds said. Atlantic County is a model for effectively using bail reform.

Police Chief James Sarkos said his officers appreciate the countys high detention rate.

When they make an arrest of a violent individual, the prosecutor is stepping up and making sure they are detained, Sarkos said. That does wonders to stop future recidivism.

In about 75% of cases, the prosecutor issues a summons. Only 25% are subject to warrants, he said.

We have the highest rate of summonses, Reynolds said of Atlantic County. We are only putting the most serious on warrants and have been successful in detaining them.

He said that is why violent crime numbers are down in the county.

There were 30 homicides countywide in 2012, 22 in 2017 and 14 in 2022, Reynolds said.

Atlantic County leads state in prosecuting, Reynolds says Hundreds of people who have committed crimes have been taken off the streets into drug or alcohol treatment or incarceration, Reynolds told participants in the biweekly Clean and Safe Atlantic City meeting at City Hall.

So far this year there have been five homicides, and only two involved likely gang or drug activity. Two were stabbings and three shootings.

The warden has said the jail population prior (to Reynolds taking office) was 250 to 300, Reynolds said. It now is 800. More than 490 are pending trial.

Reynolds said the right people are being detained.

Those 492 are the most dangerous in Atlantic County, he said.

His office recently won its 14th straight jury conviction since Reynolds took office, he said.

From a safety standpoint, these numbers are significant, Reynolds said. The stats bear out, if they are only detained two days, the percentage likelihood of being a shooter or being shot goes down 300% to 400%.
GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP  Absegami High School students won top honors at the 2023 National Leadership Conference of the Future Business Leaders of America, a national student organization focused on business careers.

Eleven Absegami students were among the more than 13,000 participants at the event in Atlanta from June 27 to 30. More than 8,700 high school students competed for cash prizes and recognition in more than 100 competitive events over four days.

Sameera Hossain, a 2023 graduate and outgoing FBLA Southern Region vice president, received the Distinguished Business Leader Award, along with a $500 scholarship. She also placed second in the nation for publication design for her work on an online publication highlighting Absegami life called "The Brave Way."

Stephanie Ruales and Parth Shah, also 2023 graduates, earned 10th place for their public service announcement about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on teens.

Rising seniors Shyna Kataria and Nidhi Patel made it to the final round for their graphic design project for an educational nonprofit.

The Absegami chapter was nationally recognized as a Gold Champion Chapter and a Gold Seal Chapter.

Business education teacher Dawn Kosko is the team's mentor.

I am extremely proud of our hard-working FBLA students. All of them represented Absegami High School, the Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School District and the entire state of New Jersey at this national event with professionalism and maturity beyond their years, Kosko said.
ATLANTIC CITY  Area residents will be able to remember the late Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver for her work stabilizing city finances and improving its culture during a memorial service Aug. 31.

Oliver died Aug. 1 at age 71. Her family has not released the cause of death.

The local memorial service, which follows services in Trenton and elsewhere, will be held at 5:30 p.m. at Second Baptist Church, 110 Rev. Dr. Isaac Cole Plaza, off Arctic Avenue. Doors will open at 5 p.m.

"We will show our love and affection for Lt. Gov. Oliver," City Council Vice President Kaleem Shabazz said Friday. "We will make two announcements in reference to her."

The service is open to all, Shabazz said.

Oliver, as commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs, oversaw the state takeover of the city under the 2016 Municipal Stabilization and Recovery Act.

Shabazz said her nephew Charles Oliver will attend, as well as acting DCA Commissioner Kim Holmes.

Mayor Marty Small Sr. said Oliver, when in the Assembly representing a district covering much of Essex and part of Passaic counties, had first opposed the state takeover of the resort under Gov. Chris Christie.

Then she supported Small when he became mayor and the takeover was a done deal.

She told me, Youve got your shot. Im going to support you in every way possible, Small said.

Oliver, the first woman of color to be elected to statewide office in New Jersey, had often talked about wanting to retire to Atlantic City.
Senior advocate Dushyant Dave on Thursday told the Supreme Court (SC) that the exercise of abrogating Article 370 suffers from fraud on the Constitution and was done completely contrary to the provisions of the Constitution.

He emphasized that the exercise of the power by the President or Parliament has to be done under the Constitution itself and in a constitutional sense. In my sense, constitutional sense or constitutional provisions prohibited both -- the President and Parliament -- from touching Article 370(3) in any manner to abrogate it, Dave argued.

During the hearing, he referred to his written submissions where the election manifesto of Bharatiya Janata Party has been quoted. In that, they expressly said that they will work towards abrogation of Article 370  these manifestos cannot be contrary to the constitutional scheme. In 2015, EC issued guidelines that all manifestos must be within constitutional scheme and spirit, Dave told the 5-judge Constitution Bench.

He argued that Article 370 was abrogated to gain political weightage by the ruling party at the Centre. You have not done it for any purpose. These arguments of impeding growth, etc., are not relevant at all. It doesnt exist. The only reason you have done it, is because you told people of India to vote for you as I will go and abrogate Article 370, he said, adding that power has been exercised for colourable considerations based on irrelevant considerations.

Dave contended that there is no power to abrogate Article 370 under Article 370(3). It has lived its purpose and its object. It is no longer available for exercise, he added.

He said that a false narrative has been built that Jammu and Kashmir is not part of India due to Article 370 of the Constitution, adding that it has always been an integral part of India.

Dave repeatedly argued that the procedure adhered by the Centre to nullify Article 370 amounted to fraud and termed the exercise of power by Parliament as colourable.

A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud has been hearing a batch of pleas challenging the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution from August 2. IANS
Justice for 25-year-old homicide victim Davion Roe will have to wait until witnesses decide to cooperate with authorities, Rock Island County State's Attorney Dora Villarreal said.

On Monday, the second of two men accused in the Chicago man's murder last summer in Rock Island had his case dismissed because of a lack of witness cooperation with authorities, she said.

Marlon Keyshawn Martin Jr., 24, of Davenport, was released from the Rock Island County Jail after Rock Island County prosecutors had to dismiss the case when alleged witnesses to the crime failed to show for the trial that was scheduled to start Monday morning.

On Jan. 27, the case against the other man accused in Roe's shooting death, Devonte Dazel Hall, 30, of Rock Island, also was dismissed because of uncooperative witnesses.

Both men had been charged with first-degree murder. Since murder has no statute of limitations and dismissal means double jeopardy won't apply, the charges can be filed again once prosecutors can secure cooperating witnesses.

"Davion Roes family will not get justice until his accused murderers are brought to trial and convicted of his killing," Villarreal said.

"The States Attorneys office moved to dismiss murder charges against defendants Marlon Martin and Devonte Hall because crucial witnesses to Davions murder were uncooperative in law enforcements investigation leading up to trial," Villarreal added.

"But these charges were dismissed with leave to reinstate, which means that they can be brought again if these witnesses cooperate in the prosecution of Martin and Hall," she said. "There is no statute of limitations for the crime of murder, and we intend to hold Martin and Hall accountable for Roes senseless killing."

Villarreal said residents of any community must engage honestly with all levels of law enforcement if crimes were going to be investigated and offenders were going to be prosecuted and held accountable.

"Holding defendants accountable for violent crime in Rock Island County takes a community effort," Villarreal said.

"Law enforcement and prosecutors cannot bring a criminal case without witnesses to the crime," she said. "And our court system cannot deliver on its promise of justice without the publics help.

"We need everyone in our community to band together to ensure that it is a safe place to live for all," she added. "Without the publics participation in the criminal justice system, Davion and his family will not receive the justice they deserve."

Hall was on federal supervised release and Martin was on parole out of the Iowa Department of Corrections at the time Roe was gunned down.

At 9:50 p.m. July 15, 2022, Rock Island Police were sent to the Century Woods apartment complex on Rock Island's west end to investigate the shooting.

Roe died of a single gunshot wound to the head, Rock Island County Coroner Brian Gustafson said.

Hall is currently serving a 30-month sentence in the Federal Correctional Institute in Oxford, Wisconsin, for violating his supervised release.

According to electronic records of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, Hall is not scheduled to be released until April 6, 2024.

Hall had been out of federal prison for only nine months when he became a suspect in the death of Roe, having been released from custody of the Bureau of Prisons on Oct. 5, 2021.

Hall was sentenced to federal prison in 2015.

During a hearing in U.S. District Court, Rock Island, held Jan 15, 2015, Hall pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robberies and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, The Hobbs Act, enacted in 1946, prohibits actual or attempted robbery or extortion affecting interstate or foreign commerce "in any way or degree."

Hall was charged in connection with the March 25, 2014, armed robberies of the 7-Eleven at 2930 16th St. in Moline and the Kwik Shop at 2805 Telegraph Road in Davenport. He initially was charged in Scott County District Court and Rock Island County Circuit Court. Those charges were dropped when the federal charges were filed.

During a sentencing hearing held Sept. 17, 2015, U.S. District Judge Sara Darrow sentenced Hall to 84 months, or seven years, in federal prison for the weapons conviction, with credit for the time he served in custody awaiting trial.

Martin was on parole from the Iowa Department of Corrections when he was arrested in connection with Roe's murder.

He had been convicted of conspiracy to commit a forcible felony in connection with a May 29, 2017, armed robbery in the Village of East Davenport. The charge is a Class C felony under Iowa law that carries a prison sentence of 10 years.

Martin initially was sentenced Dec. 1, 2017, to two years on supervised probation, however, he twice violated his probation, the second time by being caught with a gun. He was then charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm.

On July 26, 2018, Martin was sentenced to 10 years in the Iowa Department of Corrections on the original conspiracy charge, and a concurrent term of five years for the weapons charge.

Martin was released from prison and placed on parole on Feb. 4, 2022. His parole ended Oct. 18, 2022.
No blood detected; one fingerprint.

That's what three examiners from the FBI Laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, concluded and testified to during testimony Thursday about the forensic evidence available in the 2020 murder of Breasia Terrell.

Henry Dinkins' trial in the kidnapping and death of Breasia was in its sixth day in Scott County. The 10-year-old was reported missing on July 10, 2020  the morning after spending the night at Dinkins' Davenport apartment.

Her remains were discovered March 22, 2021, near a small pond in rural Clinton County.

Scott County Attorney Kelly Cunninghams prosecution of Dinkins has focused largely on the evidence from Dinkins' 2007 maroon Chevy Impala, an RV stored near Credit Island that he used, and the apartment where Breasia and her younger brother stayed with Dinkins and his girlfriend, Andrea Culberson. Breasia's younger brother is Dinkins' son.

'Blood was not detected'

FBI forensic examiner Tiffany Smith testified that Breasia's blood was not detected in the Impala Dinkins was driving after Breasia disappeared.

Her blood was not detected in the apartment Dinkins shared with Culberson. And her blood was not detected in the recreational vehicle that Dinkins sometimes used.

While being cross-examined by defense attorney Chad Frese, Smith made it clear that Breasia's blood was not detected, which means that there was no detectable quantity of blood. Smith pointed out that Breasia's blood could have been present at those locations and had been degraded in some way to make it unmeasurable.

In response to Frese, Smith said no detectable blood was found on the machete recovered from the RV.

Earlier, Frese's cross-examination of FBI forensic examiner Linda Otterstatter established there was no trace evidence linked to Breasia found in the Impala.

"Is it fair to say we don't know, from the testing you've done, if Breasia Terrell was ever in that Impala?" Frese asked.

"That's correct," Otterstatter replied.

One print, on a broom

No fingerprints were found on items found in Dinkins car and recreation vehicle, according to latent-prints expert Monique Brillhart, also of the FBI laboratory in Quantico. She testified that Dinkins' prints were not found on a hatchet nor on a large-knife sheaths that were found in the trunk of the Impala.

Brillhart also told the court no prints were found on a machete located in Dinkins RV.

She then testified that no prints were identified on a bottle of bleach found in the Davenport apartment, but one print belonging to Dinkins was found on a broom.

During cross-examination, Frese asked Brillhart, So you were brought from Quantico, Virginia to testify that one print (from Dinkins) was found on a broom?

Brillhart said she wasnt sure how to answer the question.

27 witnesses, one bombshell

Cunningham and O'Donnell have called 27 witnesses since the start of the trial on Thursday, Aug. 10.

The most surprising testimony came from the 11-year-old younger brother of Breasia, identified in court as D.L., when he said he saw his sister murdered. He made the statement while he was being cross-examined by Frese.

D.L. was 8 when he asked Breasia to spend the night with Dinkins and Culberson. He testified last Friday and was the first witness called when the trial resumed on Monday.

Defense attorney Chad Frese cross-examined D.L. and started to point out inconsistencies in his testimony, deposition, and statements he made to police after Breasia disappeared.

Frese asked if D.L. was telling the truth about seeing Breasia's murder, saying that at one point the boy told investigators he saw Dinkins and Culberson take Breasia from the car before he heard two shots. He answered, "Everything I say is true."

The boy appeared confused and frustrated by some of Frese's questions.

D.L. repeated the claim under redirect questioning by Scott County Assistant Prosecutor Liz ODonnell.

She asked D.L. if the last time he saw his sister was at Andreas apartment?

He responded yes.

ODonnell then repeated, Was that the last time you saw Breasia?

D.L. answered, When she got shot.

ODonnell then asked, Were you afraid to tell people she got shot? He answered, Yes.

ODonnell asked Was it hard to tell people? He again answered, "Yes."

The prosecutor asked the boy whether he was scared.

"No," he answered.

Were you afraid youd get in trouble? O'Donnell asked.

D.L. answered, Something like that.

During the boy's testimony last Friday, he said Dinkins picked up him and Breasia on July 9, 2020. He told the court Breasia went missing sometime in the night. He testified that Dinkins returned to the apartment two times in the early morning hours of July 10, 2020, and Breasia was not present. On a third trip to the apartment, Dinkins picked him up, the boy testified.
The last four men in a six-man crack cocaine trafficking conspiracy in the Illinois Quad-Cities have been sentenced to federal prison.

Each of the men were sentenced during hearings held Aug. 8 in U.S. District Court, Rock Island, before Chief District Court Judge Sara Darrow.

Rasheem Damonte Bogan, 31, of Davenport, also known as Sheem, was sentence to 180 months, or 15 years, in prison to be followed by five years on supervised release.

Christopher William Pullman, 35, of Rock Island, also known as Dime, also received a 15-year sentence to be followed by 10 years on supervised release. Due to Pullmans criminal history his sentence was enhanced, according to federal authorities.

Raheem Jacques Houston, 30, of Rock Island, also known as Heem, was sentenced to 120 months, or 10 years, in prison to be followed by five years on supervised release.

Devell Carl Lewis, 35, of Davenport, was sentenced to 126 months in prison, or 10 years and six months, to be followed by five years on supervised release.

The two other members of the conspiracy were sentenced in March of 2022.

Brandon Jerome Pullman, 32, of Rock Island, also known as Tall B or B, was sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by five years on supervised release. He is currently serving his sentence in the U.S. Penitentiary in Thomson, Illinois. He is scheduled to be released on June 24, 2028, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.

Cortez Deangelo Cooper Jr., 29, of Davenport, also known as Tez, also was sentenced in March of 2022 to a term of 10 years and five months in prison to be followed by five years on supervised release. He is currently serving his sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Oxford, Wisconsin. He is scheduled to be released March 29, 2030, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.

There is no parole in the federal prison system.

Additionally, Bogan, Lewis, and Houston are part of a group of 12 Quad-City gang members indicted by a federal grand jury on May 22 of this year on multiple racketeering charges in U.S. District Court, Davenport.

In that case, the indictment accuses the 12 of conspiring to engage in what federal authorities said was a years-long pattern of violence including murder, attempted murder, robbery and drug trafficking.

The men charged were members and associates of a criminal organization known as the Arsenal Courts Posse, Zone Fifth, Fifth Street Mafia, Rock Town Money Getters and Money Team.

The Arsenal Courts reference is to the apartment complex built by the United States Housing Authority from 1940 to 1941 to house defense workers at the Rock Island Arsenal. The housing project was known as Arsenal Courts and had a reputation for criminal activity in Rock Islands west end. The complex is known today as Century Woods. It is located in the 1400 block of 5th Street.

The enterprises origins date to Rock Island in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

According to federal authorities, Arsenal Courts is where the organizations members lived or frequented. Between 2009 and 2011, the younger members and associates began referring to themselves as the Zone Fifth, or Fifth Street Mafia.

The indictment alleges that the objective of the enterprise was to distribute illicit drugs, obtain money and things of value, and earn and maintain respect in the Quad-Cities.

To those ends, the indictment alleges the members committed murder, robbery, trafficking in illicit drugs and threatening others with violence.

Trial dates are still being set in that case.

12 Rock Island men indicted on federal charges related to racketeering conspiracy A federal grand jury in Davenport indicted 12 Quad-Cities gang members on charges relating to a racketeering conspiracy
SIOUX CITY  The results of an internal investigation released Thursday showed no one with the Sioux City Police Department ever reported Chad Krastel to the FBI for speaking out at local school board meetings, but instead tried to assist the Sioux City parent with criminal allegations he reported to police.

The police department also released an affidavit from a then-FBI special agent who spoke with Krastel in late 2020, after he objected to the school district's handling of an incident in which his 4-year-old daughter was assaulted at an afterschool program.

"I recently learned Mr. Krastel alleged SCPD Chief (Rex) Mueller and other Sioux City officials referred him to the FBI as a potential domestic terrorist. This did not occur," former FBI agent Stephen Friend said in the statement.

"At no point has Mr. Krastel been the subject of an FBI investigation nor a target of FBI surveillance. Further SCPD Chief Mueller never referred Mr. Krastel to the FBI as a potential domestic terrorist or criminal subject."

Friend's affidavit corroborated a statement a FBI spokesperson provided to The Journal Wednesday in which the bureau denied Krastel's claims he was investigated for domestic terrorism.

At the school board's monthly meeting Monday, Krastel claimed former school superintendent Paul Gausman, former board member Perla Alarcon-Flory, board member Monique Scarlett, Mayor Bob Scott and Mueller, colluded to report him to the FBI after he spoke out at school board meetings in 2020.

Asked about Friend's statement and the results of the police department's internal investigation, Krastel said he never claimed to be under investigation, but instead, said what transpired between the different agencies and how the FBI was involved.

"I stand by my statements and this was an attempt by them to discredit me and used a former FBI agent to do so," Krastel told the Journal.

Police responded to complaints

Krastel, a former school board candidate, has been outspoken at school board meetings in recent years after reporting the assault of his daughter by a six-year-old girl at the Beyond the Bell program at Leeds Elementary School.

In a statement Thursday, Sioux City Police Capt. Chris Groves said Krastel reported the assault to the department, as well as other criminal complaints, but "was not satisfied with the level of service provided by the department."

"There were several meetings attempting to rectify the issues, but Mr. Krastel continued to state his frustrations with the department," Groves said. "It was reported there were comments or statements made that Mr. Krastel was going to request the assistance of a 'higher authority' or federal agencies and the FBI was mentioned."

Groves said Mueller then contacted the local FBI office to notify them of a potential contact from Krastel.

"The FBI was notified that Chad Krastel felt he had received inadequate service from the Sioux City Police Department and provided him with an avenue to speak with someone about it," Groves said. "This was done as a courtesy and he advised the FBI the Sioux City Police Department would fully cooperate with any investigation for allegations alleged against the department."

Krastel released a copy of an email from Friend, dated Dec. 1, 2020, in which the agent wrote, "Chief Mueller reached out to me in my capacity as the supervising Agent for the Sioux City FBI office. My assigned investigative responsibilities fall in Nebraska. Therefore, I do not have regular interaction with the Sioux City Police Department."

In his statement released Thursday, Friend confirmed he emailed Krastel and invited him to the local FBI office, where he and Special Agent Jeffrey Howard spoke to him about the assault.

"There was no apparent violation of federal or state law by SCPD or the Sioux City Community Schools," Friend said. "I informed Mr. Krastel that the FBI could not investigate the matter."

Friend said he also contacted MercyOne Siouxland Child Advocacy regarding the assault of Krastel's daughter and notified Sioux City police there would be no investigation into Krastel's complaint against the department.

"SCPD Chief Mueller never referred Mr. Krastel to the FBI as a potential domestic terrorist or criminal suspect," Friend said.

Following Monday's school board meeting, Mueller told the Journal the following day, "At no point has the Sioux City Police Department ever reported Mr. Krastel to the FBI as a suspect in any crime nor have we ever attempted to label him as a domestic terrorist." Groves said the internal investigation confirmed Muellers statement was accurate.

COVID-related controversy

In September 2021, the National School Boards Association in September 2021 stoked outrage among many parents with its release of a statement outlining threats school officials have faced, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic. The letter, which the association later retracted, asked for help from the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Secret Service and its National Threat Assessment Center.

A month later, the Justice Department announced a series of efforts to address threats of violence against school board members, teachers and employees of public schools, citing an increase in harassment and threats against the groups. People were encouraged to report threats of violence to school officials to the FBIs National Threat Operations Center.

Friend, a self-described FBI whistleblower, testified before the House Judiciary Committee in May regarding his surveillance of school board meeting participants. The surveillance operation transpired in Bunnell, Florida in fall 2022, he said.

"I believe Mr. Krastel conflated his interview at [the FBI Omaha Division-Sioux City Resident Agency] in 2020 with my public statements in 2023," Friend said.

Krastel said he never claimed to be investigated and didn't conflate the issue.

Agent Friend was part of the Domestic Terrorism Unit, which he himself has spoken to on multiple occasions, Krastel said. I will say that everything I said in my complaint is in fact matched by what former Agent Friend said.

Public officials deny involvement

Scarlett, Alarcon-Flory, Mueller, and Scott all denied the allegations Krastel publicly raised Monday. Gausman, now the superintendent for the Lincoln Public Schools, has not yet responded to the Journal's request for comment.

"I was shaken and appalled by the vehemence and absurdity of such outlandish allegations," Scarlett said. "I have never contacted the FBI for any reason during my tenure on this board or for that matter in my entire life."

Alarcon-Flory, who recently resigned from the board to move with her family to Arkansas, said she began championing parental involvement ever since she joined the district's School Improvement Advisory Board in 2009.

"I have never colluded with anyone to silence any individual, let alone a parent/guardian seeking the best for their child, nor have I ever labeled anyone as a domestic terrorist, and I have never contacted the FBI," Alarcon-Flory said Wednesday.

Photos: House explosion, Buckingham, Iowa Aug. 24, 2023 081423jr-buckingham-explosion-2 081423jr-buckingham-explosion-1 081423jr-buckingham-explosion-3 081423jr-buckingham-explosion-4 081423jr-buckingham-explosion-5
This could go in your permanent record. For generations of schoolkids, that sinister sentence was a threat, injunction, mystery and sword of Damocles.

We didnt know exactly what a permanent record was or what enshrinement therein might mean, but it sounded ominous. Worse, there seemed to be no appeal. How? Where? To whom?

Teachers played the permanent record card for a hodgepodge of low crimes and misdemeanors. Rules? Boundaries? Were permanent records even real? Only teachers knew. And Big Education wasnt dishing to us small humans.

Ambiguity is a powerful tool in the hands of tall authority figures. Permanent record wasnt even mentioned in our school handbook. How deep did this conspiracy of silence go?

Kid insight: Miscreants could be stigmatized for lifepermanent means permanent, after all. That our childish hijinks could fossilize in some secret educational dossierforeverwas disturbing.

Kids being kids, though, the prospect of schoolyard glorykid immortality!was psychological catnip to some of my pals. Mischief was caused, literally, by the same draconian system designed to stifle such shenanigans. Was child psychology not taught in teacher colleges?

Permanent record infractions could include:

 Being a wisenheimer

 Tossing spitballs

 Passing notes

 Doing creative things with bubblegum

 Steaming homemade stink bombs on school radiators

 Sniffing mimeograph paper

 Eating school paste

But, really, pretty much anything that smacked of fun or hinted of danger. Those of us who lived in the sweet spot between definite right and wrong sure could have used a guide to infractions.

The playground was where permanent record discussions really played out. Had we put as much effort into, say, science, as we did into the exegesis of our permanent records, Earth today would be a glittering utopia.

Our schoolyard questions:

1. Where are permanent records kept? Raiders of the Lost Ark was still decades away, but that scene where the Ark of the Covenant is boxed away in a humungous warehouse with thousands of other identical boxes? Thats exactly what every American school kid saw in their minds eye. Lucas and Spielberg clearly envisioned their own permanent record depository. The rest is film history.

2. How could tossing a spitball or eating school paste have any conceivable impact on our future? What adult employer would care? No kid ever thought they would be spitball tossing or paste eating when they grew up. Serious doubt began to creep in about these larger humans in charge of our learning.

I attended Johnson Elementary School, named for President Johnson. The first one, Andrew. One of the all-time worst presidents. A racist. I went to a school named for someone who never went to school himself. Quite a message, School Board. Some among us wondered why naming a school for that guy didnt automatically condemn the perpetrators to eternal damnation in THEIR permanent records. Doubt about our elders piled up.

It was time to hunt down my permanent record. It arrived onlineonline?from the Davenport, Iowa, School District. Id expected curling, yellowing paper in a big wooden box stenciled top secret, jam-packed with evidence of my ill-spent youth: broken slingshots, spent pea ammo, MAD magazines, dirty jokes, whoopee cushions.

My actual permanent record? Alas. Grades, test scores, attendance. Where were the clever bon mots and witty repartee worthy of permanent record immortality? My pedagogical elders neglected archiving those. Worse, they didnt seem to even notice? Ouch.

Lest you young whippersnappers think permanent records dont exist for you, think again. Just because teachers today dont threaten you with your permanent record and just because permanent records havent been part of schoolyard conversation for a while, doesnt mean they dont still exist. Davenport has permanent records dating back to the early 1900s. Illinois permanent records are maintained for 60 years.

Tim Vincent, Galena Superintendent of Schools, shared information about the Illinois Student Records Act. There are two categories of student records. One is, you guessed it, permanent record. What can go in a permanent record is specific: transcripts, attendance, health record, high school assessment testing, etc. Nothing about school paste.

The other school record is a temporary record. (Why not impermanent records? one former smart aleck pondered.) Vincent: Temporary records hold everything else: discipline, accident reports, honors, K-8 test scores, extracurriculars, report cards, more. Temporary records are kept for a minimum of five years after a student graduates or transfers.

The superintendent pointed out that there are strict rules about who has access to school records; essentially, parents, educators, court orders and former students. The latter includes erstwhile wisenheimers. I can prove it. I know one.
South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announced Friday that a former state correctional officer has been convicted of simple assault on a prison inmate.

Joshua Westenkirchner, 42, of Harrisburg, was convicted of two counts of simple assault after a two-day trial. He was found not guilty of another count of simple assault and one count of aggravated assault.

The conduct in this case should not and has not been tolerated. It is an isolated incident of one individual that should not reflect on those correctional officers that serve their positions with respect, Jackley said in a statement. I want to thank the investigators, Assistant Attorneys General, and the jurors for their important work in serving justice in this matter.

Officials say the incident occurred March 14 and 15, 2022, while Westenkirchner served as a correctional officer at the State Prison in Sioux Falls. He was indicted by a Minnehaha County Grand Jury on Dec. 22, 2022.

The State Division of Criminal Investigation investigated the incident. Prosecution of the case was handled by the Attorney Generals Office.
What started as an idea from Dakota and Lakota elders has now entered its fifth year.

The annual Mni Ki Wakan Summit has grown to unite Indigenous water specialists from around the globe. This years theme was Indigenous water justice and dismantling water colonialism.

By the end of the nineteenth century, the U.S. had reallocated all Indigenous waters to non-Native settler-colonists. Every bit of the rights we have within the U.S. now had to be fought for through the U.S. justice system by grassroots Indigenous movements fighting injustice, said Wakinyan LaPointe, Sicangu Lakota and the summit co-convener.

The summit also served as a safe space for Madeline McKeague, Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian), who is grieving from the destruction of the Lahaina wildfires.

I think I've been telling a few people here that it's so nice always to be around Indigenous people, but especially when we're kind of going through a crisis, because no one can have the same empathy for colonization that other Indigenous people have, McKeague said. Maybe the information is new, but none of the feelings are.

During the two-and-a-half-day summit from Aug. 15 to 17, Indigenous water protectors, water department managers, scientists and innovators discussed and collaborated. Presenters came from Chile, New Zealand, Canada and Hawaii to discuss water rights issues facing their different communities.

Indigenous peoples are excluded from the decision-making processes, from the agenda setting, and from the resources of those water rights, LaPointe said. And so what we're also about is disrupting that global narrative of water quality, not just at the global level, but from the national and local level, and the only way to do that is just to consistently come together.

As the advocacy specialist for the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, McKeague came from Hawaii to discuss the Red Hill Underground Fuel Facility with Sharde Mersberg, also Native Hawaiian, of the Sierra Club.

The Red Hill facility, which was built in Honolulu in 1943, has begun to degrade and leak into the nearby aquifer, contaminating drinking water supplies.

We have had some of the worst contaminations over the past few years, because the more time that has passed, the worse the tanks have gotten. They further degraded, and little to nothing had been done about it while it continued to poison the waters and poison the lands, McKeague said.

The ideal solution, McKeague said, would be to decommission the fuel facility rather than repurpose it.

Given the recent wildfires in Lahaina, McKeague also had to tweak her presentation to include information about the cause of the fires and their colonial roots.

Lahaina used to be the capital of Hawaii and a very important location for Native Hawaiians, McKeague said. What used to be wetlands is now overrun with hotels and plantations, causing the land to dry and become arid.

On a local level, presentations included a discussion by the Black Hills Clean Water Alliance on mining claims in the sacred Black Hills and treaty obligations. The Alliance reported that 20% of the Black Hills is claimed by mining companies and said that number is only going to increase.

Thats an important detail not just for Indigenous people but for all South Dakotans, LaPointe said.

Presenters discussed the implications of climate change, rising sea levels and other elements that impact Indigenous communities globally.

The summit ended Thursday with a water ceremony.
While many embrace zoning legislation passed earlier this year with the goal of increasing housing stock in Montana, some say there's not necessarily a straight line to be drawn from reducing regulations to more places to live and affordable home or rental prices.

Montana is an increasingly expensive place for those who arent wealthy. Home values in the state are 80% higher than five years ago, according to Alex Horowitz with Pew Charitable Trusts, who recently addressed a group of legislators, business owners and close watchers of economic policy.

This is a highly unusual run-up  That means that people are going to struggle, even if mortgage rates are not as high as they are right now, Horowitz said. When home prices rise that much, that makes buying tough. That is much, much faster than wages are rising. Especially for potential first-time homeowners, this is a difficult situation for buying.

The inventory of homes for sale this year is at 59% of 2018 levels, and that lack of options means what's for sale costs a whole lot more, Horowitz said.

Those who earn the least are hit the hardest, as data from the National Low Income Housing Coalition shows. The state has a shortage of 15,741 rental homes that are affordable and available for what's defined as extremely low-income renters, or those who earn 30% or less of the median area income.

Montanas rate of those who are unhoused has grown at more than double the rest of the country between 2018-2023, Horowitz said, increasing 8.5% compared to 3.9% across the country. He drew ties between rapid rent increases and the unhoused population increasing elsewhere in the country.

What the Legislature did

Faced with those challenging data points, state lawmakers earlier this year passed a series of bills aimed at reforming land use policies and zoning regulations. Their idea was that making it easier to build would increase housing supply and drive down prices.

Senate Bill 382 is one of the larger pieces of land use legislation that came out of the session, both in terms of scope and length, clocking in at 52 pages.

This bill will change how land use planning works in Montana," said sponsor Sen. Forrest Mandeville, a Columbus Republican and land-use planning consultant with his own company, when the Senate heard the bill. "This will provide a quicker review process. It will provide more predictability, both for existing neighborhoods and existing residents, as well as developers, and lead to a better overall result."

Mandeville said Montana has done its planning "kind of backwards" over the years.

"We backload the public participation process so the developer is on the hook to buy the land, to do the engineering, to put all of the information together and then the governing body tells them what they actually have to do, which creates an unpredictable process that's kind of done on an ad hoc basis. It's a very bad and inefficient way to do government. This bill creates that foundation to start to front-load that process, creating a better process from beginning to end.

Senate Bill 382 only applies to cities with a population of more than 5,000 within a county of more than 70,000, which focuses it on Montanas more urban places. The communities that fit that bill now are Belgrade, Billings, Bozeman, Columbia Falls, Great Falls, Helena, Kalispell, Laurel, Missoula and Whitefish. The bill initially looped in counties as well, but was changed through amendments during the legislative process. Still, any local government can choose to opt in.

What it requires

Under the bill, communities must establish a planning commission to develop and review a land use plan and future land use map, as well as zoning regulations and associated maps, subdivision regulations and any other land use planning documents.

The process must provide for continuous public participation. The planning commission will propose a land use plan and future land use map, which would be adopted, amended or rejected by the local governing body. Citizens can suggest amendments by a petition of 15% of electors or by property owners applying for a land use permit. If changes are made, they must be accompanied by data supporting the alteration.

Plans must be reviewed every five years, though updates can happen at any time and must go through a public process.

The bill comes with a years-long timeline to comply, depending on what progress a community had already made. Generally cities have three years to meet requirements in the bill, but if a local government had completed a growth policy within five years of the bills implementation, they can extend that deadline five years from when that policy was adopted. Any cities that newly meet the population threshold have three years to comply.

What are the map and plan?

A future land use map should identify preferred and anticipated development patterns for the next 20 years, including annexation possibilities and adequate areas to accommodate the housing units a city already needs and projects to need down the road.

The land use plan must address the inventory of existing houses and whats projected to come in the next two decades, and it also must take into account demands on local services and facilities, natural resources, the environment, hazards and more. The legislation also prescribes things like reaching out to local schools to communicate about projected demands on their systems.

The brunt of the whole bill is identify what you need, identify the challenges, and then make a plan for how you can either get around the challenges or come up with a solution, said Toni Henneman, a research analyst with the Legislature's Office of Research and Policy Analysis, during the meeting with legislators and other stakeholders. If a community cant meet the projected need, the commission must come up with a minimum number of units that can be built, either through rehabilitating existing housing or new development.

Progress must be documented toward the goal every five years. Plans need to come with implementation schedules for when things will happen and include the projected costs and revenue sources for expanding public services. There must also be a plan to monitor progress.

Its definitely not a light lift, Henneman said.

Some places are already doing parts of the work required under the new law. Eran Pehan, the director of Community Planning, Development and Innovation for the city of Missoula, is excited about the potential that comes with SB 382.

It starts to modernize Montanas outdated land-use and planning process and streamlines the zoning and planning processes for individual communities like Missoula, and that is something that is desperately needed on a statewide level and from community to community, Pehan said.

Missoula is well-situated to take the bill and run with it, Pehan said, because the city was in the middle of a comprehensive code reform process.

We are knee-deep in that work already, Pehan said, adding that the city is eager to implement things like bringing public participation into the process earlier and engaging the community authentically and with a lens of equity.

Zoning to encourage housing

The bills section that focuses on ways zoning can spur housing construction comes with 14 options for communities to meet their goals; cities are required to pick five to pursue.

The strategies include things like allowing duplexes, triplexes or fourplexes where single units are permitted, higher density near urban centers, eliminating or reducing parking requirements, eliminating or reducing accessory dwelling unit (ADU) impact fees, allowing more ADUs, allowing single-room occupancy development and more.

The idea here was to try to find a compromise between some local control and find out what works in their area, Henneman said.

That menu is important for Missoula, Pehan said. Some of the selections are already being pursued or followed by the city, others will be considered going forward after public input.

Not every option on the menu is going to work for Missoula, so its working with the community to figure out which ones are, Pehan said.

I feel like that section was crafted with an acknowledgement that communities are unique and we have different geography, we have different goals, we have different values, so our solutions will look different."

A need for more

While Missoula sees potential in the legislation, Pehan also acknowledged its not a fix for everything.

If you follow economics or get behind some of these market-based strategies for increasing the housing supply, the notion is as we increase supply and the market starts to self-regulate, we will see prices start to not necessarily come down but inflate at a less unhealthy rate, that the market will stabilize, Pehan said.

Pointing to places like Oregon that passed statewide legislation similar to Montana's, Pehan noted home prices have still escalated at double-digit rates and markets have not stabilized. The average home price there was about $250,000 in 2016 and sits at nearly $500,000 now.

Put another way, those market adjustments alone werent enough to impact affordability.

Pehan said Missoula wants to provide every opportunity for the market to control itself, and some legislation will help that. But we also need to plan for a future where the market does not self-regulate."

The city is looking at affordable housing incentive programs, either through code changes or investments or access to subsidies to help buy down the cost of constructing houses that are deed-restricted or protected as affordable through community land trust models.

We know were also going to have to invest as a community both financially and through programs and policies in getting affordable housing on the ground, because the market wont do it alone, Pehan said.

Through the legislative session, Pehan said there was robust conversation about putting money into the statewide affordable housing trust fund or subsidizing affordable housing developments, and those two things in combination would have been incredibly powerful in starting to see affordability stabilize in our community.

Unfortunately we left the session with more of a robust reform around regulation and not much of an investment in true affordable housing, Pehan said.

Pehan hopes next session will bring a look at more direct efforts at affordable housing. That would include bills that failed this time around, like moderate-income housing loans from the coal tax trust fund, property tax abatements for affordable housing, tax incentives for housing that promoted access, tax credits for owners who rent below market rates and a state tax credit for workforce housing.

Additional new laws

A slew of other bills came out of this legislative session aimed at addressing housing.

That includes Senate Bill 245, which also applies only to cities with more than 5,000 in population. It says those cities must allow mixed-use developments in commercial zones and cant require more than one off-street parking space unless otherwise required in a parking agreement or under the Americans with Disabilities Act. A mixed-use development means non-residential uses are less than 50% of the total square footage and limited to the first floor, so that could be a business below apartments.

Trying to get people to live where theyre possibly working is the intent there, Henneman said. The bill became effective this year.

Senate Bill 323 also applies to cities of more than 5,000 and would require duplexes be allowed on any lot zoned for a single-family home. That bill becomes effective in 2024.

By no means is Montana first to try some of these ideas, and earlier this month lawmakers and others heard about how measures enacted elsewhere have played out.

Minneapolis was the first city to eliminate single-family zoning, and Libby Starling from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis gave lawmakers context about how its gone during a recent presentation.

Change is slow in this process, Starling summed up.   Looking at that key headline of the  elimination of single-family zoning, we have seen very few duplexes and triplexes permitted since the adoption of the plan.

The city changed its rules in 2019, and since then only 21 duplexes and triplexes have been permitted and ultimately built in areas where they were not previously allowed. The majority built since the adoption of the plan have been in places they were previously permitted, Starling said.

And while Minneapolis saw a spike in 2019 of new units of multi-family housing, that fell off the following year and only slightly increased after that. A chart Starling provided noted the difference between whats estimated to have happened if not for the zoning changes is not statistically significant after 2020.

We see ultimately that what is happening (is) there's some years where Minneapolis might have built less than what would have happened (without the zoning change) and more recently, in 2022, maybe building more. But at this point over the first few years, the key trend is that the new units of multi-family construction are emerging slowly, Starling said.

Starling did note that new housing, even at the higher end of the market, can open up affordability down the road. But it comes with caveats. Some portion of the community will always want the newest option available, meaning their move causes vacancy in their previous home.

"That then starts to cascade down in such a way that even building new luxury housing can create opportunities as people relocate into newer property," Starling said.

But that might not apply in the Big Sky state the way it does elsewhere.

This model is going to work differently in markets where there is significant in-migration or also in terms of the secondary home market, and both of those are certainly phenomenon that exist in Montana and may make the effect of increasing housing supply less continuous in terms of creating greater housing affordability for residents of all incomes, Starling added.

Certainly the best way of ensuring more affordable housing opportunities to the lowest-income households would be in terms of income-restricted, publicly subsidized (options), but broadly adding housing supply does create more opportunities for housing affordability across all income levels.

Another bill lawmakers passed related to zoning is Senate Bill 528, which does not have a population threshold and applies to any town or city with zoning regulations. It says that at least one accessory dwelling unity must be allowed on a lot with a single-family dwelling. Cities and towns can require reconstruction of streets damaged in the building process, along with an application fee of up to $250 and a letter from the local water or sewer system to say they can hook up to the unit and have the capacity to serve it.

Another major housing bill  not focused on zoning  also passed this session. House Bill 819 ended up a "conglomeration" of other proposals and contains a $107 million revolving loan fund to help communities pay for expanding infrastructure. It also has a revolving loan fund to buy down mortgages for some households and increases in the amount of money from the coal trust fund for the Board of Housing to loan to people earning low and moderate incomes. The bill was a salvage of some of the governor's original housing proposals that legislators voted down.

Local control questions

Even though those zoning bills can bring positive changes, they do not come without tension, Pehan said. As the legislation moved through the session, Missoula didnt support some of the bills  not because of the content itself but because of a lack of public participation in the process.

Montana and specifically Missoulians didnt have an opportunity to engage very deeply about these solutions before they were passed, Pehan said, adding that there was concern about taking away a city's ability to steer their own ship in terms of land use.

Changes in local zoning code should really be driven at the local level, Pehan said.

But even with concerns about involvement, Pehan said the laws can have a positive impact on infill development, or the rebuilding of beloved neighborhoods like the University District.

I do think that all three in combination will support the goal of more homes, which again if that stabilizes the market, it starts to support affordability. They all move us in the right direction, Pehan said.

Horowitz, from Pew, praised the legislation passed in Montana, saying other states have gotten into deeper holes with more severe housing shortages. He also pointed to examples in places around the country that show data supports more housing supply does slow the growth of housing costs and leads to lower prices than in places with continued scarcity.

Across the country, rent has increased 31% from 2017 to 2023, according to data Horowitz presented, while the housing stock grew just 3%. But in places like Portland, Oregon, for example, rent only grew 2% while housing increased 7%.

He also offered up Colorado as a comparison, saying that state has seen median rent increases ranging from 22-53%, while in four other places  New Rochelle, New York; Portland, Oregon; Tysons, Virginia; and Minneapolis; rent cost either stayed flat or grew just 5%.

Another interim committee is looking at the topic of affordable rentals, with a bit of an acknowledgement that SB 382 isnt a silver bullet or quick fix.

I think the idea here is that (SB) 382 is a large bill that probably will have long-term solutions and there was some thought that there are some people that are struggling with rental prices now and if there's any solutions that is a more of a fast-track kind of a thing, Henneman said.

Community concerns

Affordability is top of mind for Missoulians trying to figure out how they can stay in the place they call home and what their future looks like, Pehan said. Long-term community members also have a lot of questions about how the city adapts and if it remains a place where people can thrive. But they also wonder if that means they will live next to a big apartment complex that changes the scale of their neighborhood and how they can be a part of the solution without feeling like their area is altered dramatically.

For them it means what does this look like in my neighborhood and how can my neighborhood still feel like my neighborhood, but make space for more homes so more people can stay in this community they love? Pehan said.

And even success stories elsewhere don't cleanly translate to Montana.

Different communities have different advantages and challenges, such as a place like Missoula that cant easily expand out because of the physical constraints of being in a valley with a river.

Theres no template to follow, Pehan said.

If there was an easy solution, we would have already done it a long time ago. But I think we are learning some powerful things.
Western Montana Mental Health Center is organizing a back-to-school event at Claudia Driscoll Park on Friday, Aug. 25.

Gabrielle Coffee, prevention specialist for WMMHC in Ravalli County, said the event is free and family friendly.

We'll be having family friend activities and games, K9 demonstrations, raffles, backpack/school supplies, information for parents and a whole lot of fun for kids, Coffee said. The goal is to create a space to address risks for substance abuse and connect students and their families to community resources.

WMMHC is organizing the back-to-school event and fun family night to provide 100 backpacks, filled with school supplies and a toothbrush and toothpaste from Tobacco Free Ravalli.

Well have community resource information and Parenting Montana material, Coffee said. The Parenting Montana material will go over healthy risk-taking for young kids and how to talk to older kids about substances. It is really age-appropriate information that was the most requested item by teachers.

Coffee said there is a correlation between increased academic achievement and reading and math plus a decrease in substance abuse later in life.

We just really want to support our community, our families and our kiddos, Coffee said.

Multiple organizations will partner with Prevention Services of Western Montana Mental Health Center at the event including Ravalli County DUI Task Force, Tobacco Free Ravalli, BEAR, Ravalli County Sheriffs Office, local law enforcement, Ravalli County Public Health and Bitterroot Health Foundation.

Coffee said Ravalli County Public Health and Bitterroot Health Foundation are sponsoring $2,500 worth of school supplies and backpacks. WMMHC Prevention added an additional $1,000.

So, thats $3,5000 total, Coffee said. With schools starting on different days, well have 100 backpacks here and anything leftover will be distributed to the different school districts. They will each get a portion of the $2,500. Were very excited to be able to provide that.

The event will have a few raffles including a Parent Engagement Basket worth over $100.

Its an insulated picnic basket with a waterproof blanket for the park, a set of five reusable utensils, a Dominos gift card and a game of conversation starters for parents, Coffee said. We are also raffling off three sets of fair tickets.

There will be free balloon animals, a ground-level ropes course with team-building activities by BEAR, a family scavenger hunt, a K9 unit demonstration and impaired driving goggles simulation.

Everything will be hands-on, Coffee said. We still are ironing out details like Evergreen Kids Corner and Bitterroot Childrens Museum may also be there.

Coffee said kids will love coming to the WMMHC Back-to-School event.

It is completely free, nothing is available for purchase at all, she said. It is going to be a good night to hang out as a family, doing family activities and learning how we can help build a healthy Ravalli.

The WMMHC multiple organization Back-to-School Event will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday, August 25, at Claudia Driscoll Park just across the street. For more information contact Coffee at Western Montana Mental Health Center, 209 N 10th, St. C, in Hamilton, or call 406-532-9148 ext. 3148.
The Bitterroot National Forest (BNF) has released its draft Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Bitterroot Front Project and is inviting the public to review and make comments on the proposal. The project is located on the Stevensville and Darby-Sula Ranger Districts and is a proposed fuels reduction, vegetation management, and forest health improvement project.

The project planning area extends the length of the main Bitterroot Valley along the front of the mountains from McClain Creek on the northern end of the forest to Trapper Creek on the southern end. The landscape-scale proposal will address the wildfire risk to communities using a wide range of tools including tree thinning, harvest and prescribed burning.

The project was first announced last year following a series of public meetings and field trips. The projects primary purpose has been refined since the initial scoping notice to focus on restoring a healthy and resilient forest ecosystem through fire and fuels treatments.

The BNF contains five of the highest risk firesheds in the nation, four of which are in the Bitterroot Front Project area. The Montana Forest Action plan has identified the area as having high wildfire risk to communities and infrastructure and significant forest health concerns. Ravalli County has the highest risk to structures from wildfire of any county in Montana.

The project aligns with the USDA Forest Services Wildfire Crisis Strategy that works with partners to protect communities and improve the resilience of Americas Forests. This crisis is being driven by declining forest health in the West, which is due to a combination of overgrown forests following a century of fire suppression and a warming climate with record-breaking drought. The problem is compounded by expanding development in fire-prone areas. The strategy includes an increase in fuels and forest health treatments by up to four times current treatment levels in the West.

Increased tree mortality from insects and disease is also a serious concern. The project area has dense pockets of dead and dying trees impacted by mountain pine beetle, Douglas-fir bark beetle, and western spruce budworm damage.

The proposed action also includes project-specific amendments to forest plan direction for elk habitat objectives, old growth, course woody debris, and snag retention.

Project planning was completed with participation and input from local collaborative organizations and partners such as the Ravalli County Collaborative, and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

The Chief of the Forest Service has approved the Bitterroot Front Project to be implemented as an Emergency Action Determination project. Emergency actions are taken to protect public health and safety, critical infrastructure, and natural resources on National Forest System lands from destructive wildfires.

As a result of the Emergency Action Determination, the project will not be subject to the pre-decisional objection review process. It is critical that the public provide feedback during the designated comment period described below, as they will not be able to raise additional project concerns during an objection period.

Public comments specific to this project are valuable in helping the Forest Service identify concerns, develop alternatives, and refine the analysis to focus on issues. Comments are due by Sept. 16, 2023.

To provide electronic comments (preferred method), visit the project website at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=57341 . Click on Comment/Object on right side of the page.

If you wish to comment in writing, please address comments to Matt Anderson, Forest Supervisor at: Bitterroot National Forest, 1801 N. First Street, Hamilton, MT 59840. Comments may also be hand delivered weekdays 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Comments should include: 1) name, address, phone number, and organization represented, if any; 2) title of the project on which the comments are being submitted; 3) substantive comments including specific facts and supporting information for the responsible official to consider. All comments are open to public inspection and will be posted to the Forest Service website.

For more information or questions concerning the project, please contact Steve Brown, Stevensville District Ranger at 406-777-5461 or Abbie Jossie, Darby-Sula District Ranger at 406-821-3913.
The Montana Fish & Wildlife Commission voted unanimously on Thursday to implement a mandatory smallmouth bass catch/kill/report regulation for the entire stretch of the Bitterroot River effective immediately.

On July 5, an angler caught a smallmouth bass in the Bitterroot River, approximately 3.5 miles upstream from its confluence with the Clark Fork. Since then, a second report was confirmed earlier this month in the same area of the river. The fish was turned in to FWP officials and was verified by staff.

FWP staff have conducted sampling in the Bitterroot River since the reports using various techniques, including snorkeling, and have not found any other smallmouth bass in the river.

The initial proposal had only included implementation in the lower portion of the Bitterroot River. But after further questioning officials decided to expand the regulation to include the entire river.

One of the reasons we want to do immediate implementation on this catch, kill and report, is we think anglers could be a very efficient and effective method of getting us information on a very small population, said FWP Fisheries Administrator Eileen Ryce. This information and the samples we can gather from the fish, including information on sex, size, the otoliths  that can all give us more information on reproduction, how long the fish have been in there, where they potentially came from.

Anglers who catch a smallmouth bass in the Bitterroot River are now required to report the catch to FWP within 24 hours by calling 406-542-5500. The fish must be turned in whole to the agency within 10 days. Fish can be turned in frozen.

This method has been used in response to other unauthorized introductions of fish species in Montana, and FWP has found it to be very effective, Ryce said. On Feb. 19, 2022, a Bozeman angler caught a smallmouth bass in the Yellowstone River near the confluence of the Gardiner River. That incident led to a similar catch/kill/report rule for the Yellowstone and Shields rivers, approved in April 2022.

The regulation passed on Thursday is aimed at preventing smallmouth bass from gaining a leg up on Bitterroot trout populations. Bass prefer warmer water than the cold-water species normally found in the Bitterroot River, such as native westslope cutthroat trout and non-native rainbow trout. Bass thrive in water from the mid-60s to mid-70s. Trout, meanwhile prefer water from the low-40s up to low- or mid-60s.

The regulations are specific to smallmouth bass and do not effect largemouth bass, which have been in the Bitterroot for quite some time. Largemouth bass are less invasive than smallmouth bass, according to Ryce. Smallmouths are far more adaptable, and can endure a wider temperature range. They can also be more predatory than their largemouth cousins.

Representatives from Montana Trout Unlimited, the Montana Wildlife Federation and the Fishing Outfitters Association of Montana all spoke in support of the measure at Thursdays meeting in Helena. Some suggested the commission look into implementing similar regulations on other waterways.

We should probably look at something like this for all cold-water rivers in Montana, said Fishing Outfitters Association of Montana spokesperson Mike Bias. Because I'm pretty sure there might be one popping up on some of these other lower rivers, as we have conditions like we're experiencing this week.

Jeff Lukas with the Montana Wildlife Federation also spoke in support of the measure.

We applaud FWPS quick reaction to this issue, Lukas said. The lower Bitterroot happens to be good habitat for smallmouth bass and if they get a foothold in that river it would have devastating consequences for a world-class fishery. We urge you to pass and implement this rule immediately, and we do support looking at the rest of the Clark Fork River for a similar recommendation as river temperatures come up. As we've seen over the last few years, the rest of the Clark Fork could potentially become smallmouth habitat. Because the lower Bitterroot is good habitat due mostly to its temperature regime.

The Bitterroot River registered a temperature reading of 76.1 degrees Fahrenheit on July 22 at the base of the river near Missoula, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Geological Survey. The day-time temperature reading on Aug. 17 at the same location was 74.48 degrees. Water temperatures in the 75-77 degree range for extended periods of time can kill rainbow and brown trout. The lethal temperature for a cutthroat trout is 68.5 to 69 degrees.

Missoulian reporter Joshua Murdock contributed to this article.
Kathmandu, Nepal: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has urged the House Speaker Devraj Ghimire to take extra initiation to resume meeting of the long being obstructed federal parliament.





During a meeting between Prime Minister Dahal and Speaker Ghimire held at the official residence of the Prime Minister in Baluwatar, PM Dahal said I will play a role in resuming parliament and you should also do your bit.





Prime Minister Dahal also underlined the need of consensus among the parties to resume the obstructed parliament.




In the Moscow region's Patriot Park, dedicated to the achievements of the Russian army, an officer wearing a green cap stood in front of a captured US MaxxPro armoured vehicle.





"It was abandoned on a battlefield because it stopped working," the serviceman told Russian state-run agency TASS.





He then turned to a British Husky vehicle, whose windshield was riddled with what seemed to be bullet holes.





Around him, more Western military equipment was on display, an opportunity for the Russian army to flaunt its achievements and mock the counteroffensive that Ukraine launched in June.





A few metres away, another Russian officer was showing off a French AMX-10 RC and its famously long anti-tank gun.





The collection of "trophies" that AFP journalists saw Tuesday also included an Australian Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle, a US M113 personnel carrier and a Swedish CV90 combat vehicle.





"A large part" of the show consisted of British equipment, including Husky and Mastiff vehicles as well as a Saxon personnel carrier, according to the defence ministry press service.





Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, who now deals with questions related to the country's military industry as the deputy dead of the Russian security council, visited the exhibition on Wednesday.





"Advanced technologies, that's worth looking at," he said while inspecting a military vehicle purportedly from Australia, according to footage from Russian state-run agency RIA Novosti.





Medvedev also looked at items supposed to show the "ideological indoctrination" of the Ukrainian youth, including clothes with national slogans and emblems of the Azov regiment -- considered an extremist organisation in Russia.





- 'Ready to share' -





The exhibition also featured Ukrainian-made weapons allegedly seized since the start of the military campaign in February 2022.





Last summer, the Russian army had already presented equipment it said it brought back from Ukraine.





The display is one of the attractions at the Army-2023 Forum, which runs until August 20 and is attended by military delegations from countries deemed "friendly" by Moscow.





After the setbacks last year -- with the withdrawal from Kherson and the northern Kharkiv region -- the Russian army wants to show it has recovered.





Ukraine launched another counteroffensive in June but its troops are now contending with well-entrenched Russian positions.





Ukrainian troops' slow progress provided the Kremlin with a new talking point: the counteroffensive, it says, is a failure.





"Ukraine's military resources are almost exhausted," Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told an assembly of international military officials on Tuesday.





He said there was "nothing unique" about Western weapons and that they were not invulnerable to Russian arms on the battlefield.





"We are ready to share assessments of the weaknesses of Western technology," Shoigu said.





More than 17 months into the offensive, the capabilities of its military-industrial complex is one of the major challenges for the Kremlin.





Shoigu said Russia had succeeded in "strongly" increasing its production of armoured vehicles, despite international sanctions.




After a hugely successful first edition of the Mad Jazz Festival in 2022, Lee Enterprises Virginia will bring their second annual event to beautiful Nelson County on Sept. 23 and 24. Hosted by Veritas Vineyards & Winery as part of their Starry Nights series, critically acclaimed saxophonist Tim Warfield serves as artistic director for the 2023 edition of the festival. Warfield acquired an all-star lineup of jazz greats, Grammy-nominated musicians and chart climbers.

Warfield, who has performed with many jazz standouts during his long career, said he was honored when he was approached by Lee Enterprises Virginia last year to curate the inaugural festival.

Last years event had something for everyone, the assistant professor of jazz studies at the Boyer College of Music and Dance at Temple University said. We attracted a diverse community that included couples, groups of friends and families with children, he said. It was joyful and amazingly synergistic for both the performers and attendees.

When Warfield was approached to curate this years lineup, he didnt hesitate to accept.

This year we plan to tastefully do things bigger and better with even greater diversity, Warfield said. You can expect to hear performances by living jazz legends, Grammy nominees, sounds from the classic big band dance era, and a VIP room, offering a special tribute to women in jazz. Performances will allow audiences to experience varied jazz styles from traditional to gospel to Caribbean to neo soul.

This years lineup features performances by the award-winning jazz pianist and vocalist Champian Fulton, Trinidad-born Etienne Charles and Creole Soul, 6X GRAMMY Nominee & NAACP Image Award Winner The Baylor Project, trumpet legend Eddie Henderson, and Big Band sensation Josh Lee and the Extended Family, featuring Imani Rousselle.

George Hodson, general manager of Veritas Vineyards & Winery, is beyond excited to host the 2023 Mad Jazz Festival.

What an incredible opportunity to have world-class talent here in Nelson County, Hodson said. We are incredibly excited to host the highest level of jazz performers and share it with everyone. This is what we have always wanted the Starry Night Series to become.

Lee Enterprises Virginia will donate part of this years proceeds to the Chris Long Foundation, explained Chris Dorm, regional director of digital advertising for Lee Enterprises.

The Mad Jazz Festival is not just about music, its about community, Dorm said. And we couldnt think of a more deserving nonprofit than the Chris Long Foundation, an organization poised to bring clean water and educational opportunities to underserved communities, both domestic and internationally.

For Warfield, that community-building aspect is exactly the diversity he believes jazz represents.

Jazz music is an American art form, he said. It's a social music and best experienced live. It boasts a sound that encompasses the celebration of life, joy, freedom, spirituality and sensuality through the feeling of the blues.

For more information about this years lineup, ticket prices and more, please visit madjazzva.com.
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J.  A church associate charged with gunning down a New Jersey councilwoman has been indicted on murder and weapons charges.

A Middlesex County grand jury handed up the indictment Wednesday against Rashid Ali Bynum, 29, of Portsmouth, Virginia. He remains in the county jail and is scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 28. It was not known Thursday if he has retained an attorney.

Bynum was arrested in Virginia in May and was extradited to New Jersey last month. He had previously lived in Sayreville, where victim Eunice Dwumfour lived with her 11-year-old daughter and served on the City Council.

Dwumfour, 30, had gotten married just months before she was gunned down outside her rented town home on Feb. 1 as she returned from the grocery store. She married a fellow pastor from her Nigerian church, Champions Royal Assembly, at its Abuja headquarters in November, but her husband had not yet joined her in the U.S.

Bynum was listed in Dwumfours phone under the acronym FCF, or Fire Congress Fellowship, a related church entity. She was deeply involved with the prosperity gospel group, helping lead services several times a week in Newark and serving as a church treasurer.

Prosecutors have released few details about the case and have not disclosed a possible motive.

When Bynum was arrested, prosecutors said police had used cellphone and vehicle transponder data to recreate his travels on Feb. 1 and tie him to the crime. He also matched the description of the gunman given by neighbors in Sayreville.
Several members of Virginias congressional delegation are bolstering a veterans ongoing fight to attain educational benefits that has been supported by Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares.

Signing onto a court brief are Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Mark Warner, D-Va., joined by Reps. Jennifer McClellan, D-4th; Jennifer Wexton, D-10th; Bobby Scott, D-3rd; and Rob Wittman, R-1st. Members of Congress from other states joined the effort as well.

Richmond resident James Rudisill has been in a legal battle to use his Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits so that he can further his education and become a chaplain.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear his case after years of battles in lower courts.

After serving in the U.S. Army, Rudisill joined the FBI, where he helped stop white supremacists from attacking Black churches and synagogues. In later pursuing his theological passion, he claims the Department of Veterans Affairs did not pay him the full benefits he had earned under two separate GI Bill programs and that he had to turn down an offer to attend Yale Divinity School.

When Miyares lent his support this past spring, he said veterans like Rudisill represent the very best of America and of Virginia.

Rudisill had served three periods of active-duty military service between 2000 and 2011  as an enlisted member from 2000 to 2002 and as a commissioned officer from 2007 to 2011. Enlisted members do not need to have college degrees to serve in the military, while commissioned officers do.

The time frame of Rudisills active-duty enlistments means he falls into eligibility categories for both the Montgomery GI Bill and the Post-9/11 GI Bill. After his first tour, he used some Montgomery GI Bill benefits to finish a college degree (which allowed him to become an officer when he served again). After another tour, he sought to switch and tap into the Post-9/11 GI Bill  which functions more like a scholarship, in that it pays funds directly to the students school and offers living stipends.

Having not yet used his Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits, he believed he was entitled to over 20 months of coverage to reach the 48-month cap allowed. According to the VA website, some applicants are only eligible for 36 months, but it does not specify why.

The Department of Veterans Affairs mistake not only impacted Rudisill, but our greater Army community, McClellan and Kaine said in a statement. While we cant turn back the clock, we urge the Supreme Court to deliver justice and provide other veterans with the opportunities intended by Congress.

Rudisills fight has been going on in lower courts for years. In December, a federal appeals court ruled that if a person used benefits under the Montgomery GI Bill and chooses to use the Post-9/11 GI Bill, those benefits will be limited to what was unused by the Montgomery GI Bill. A three-judge panel of that same court had first sided with Rudisill in 2021 before the VA appealed for a full-panel hearing.

Amid the legal battles, Rudisill has been hoping for his case to make it to the U.S. Supreme Court. The high court could take up the case beginning this fall.

Explainer: How health care for vets became a fight in Congress Intro How would the bill help Iraq and Afghanistan veterans? Is there help for other veterans? How much will the bill cost? Where do things stand in Congress? So why hasn't the Senate approved it yet?
Gov. Glenn Youngkin is launching a six-figure campaign for Hispanic voters to vote Republican in legislative elections in November that will determine political control of the General Assembly and his power for the second half of his term.

This weekend, Youngkins political team will begin running digital and radio ads aimed directly at Hispanic voters, a growing slice of the Virginia electorate.

The Spanish-language ads will run statewide as all 140 assembly seats are up for grabs in an election year transformed by political redistricting a year ago that for the first time did not protect incumbent legislators.

The message is all Youngkin  who is also being urged by some GOP donors to make a late run for the Republican presidential nomination  in upbeat ads that focus on the governors political agenda for the state.

Glenn Youngkin made a simple promise to working Virginians: Bring more great jobs to the state and let your family keep more of your hard-earned money, one digital ad says. Hes kept that promise.

Youngkin launches campaign for Republicans to vote early, absentee Gov. Glenn Youngkin wants to beat Democrats at their own game by helping Republicans vote early in person and by absentee ballot in the legislative elections in November that will determine political control of the next General Assembly.

It is the latest effort by Youngkin to change the way Republicans campaign in a state with rapidly changing demographics and voting trends. Earlier this year, he launched a Secure Your Vote Virginia initiative to push for early and absentee voting, after years of GOP efforts to roll back early voting and mail-in absentee balloting that some Republicans blame for their losses in the 2020 presidential race and subsequent elections during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The governor believes that the vision that he and our candidates are offering for the future of Virginia has wide appeal to a lot of different groups in Virginia, said Dave Rexrode, chairman of the Spirit of Virginia political action committee that Youngkin formed after taking office last year. He wants to make sure every voter understands the direction he wants to take Virginia.

Rexrode said the ads aimed at Hispanic voters build on the data-driven approach that Youngkin took in his gubernatorial upset of former Gov. Terry McAuliffe in 2021.

The governor is bringing a much higher level of technology and focus and resources to legislative races than our side has ever really had before, he said.

Team Youngkin, as it calls itself, will have plenty of money to pay for the six-figure ad campaign.

Spirit of Virginia raised $5.9 million between April 1 and June 30 and finished the reporting period with a balance of nearly $6.26 million, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.

During that period, Democratic candidates for the state Senate collectively raised $3.14 million to Republicans $1.43 million. In contests for the House of Delegates, Democrats raised nearly $2.36 million to Republicans nearly $1.54 million.

Photos: First Lady of Virginia presents inaugural Spirit of Virginia Award at Valor Farm Spirit of Virginia Award Spirit of Virginia Award Spirit of Virginia Award Spirit of Virginia Award Spirit of Virginia Award Spirit of Virginia Award Spirit of Virginia Award Spirit of Virginia Award Spirit of Virginia Award Spirit of Virginia Award Spirit of Virginia Award Spirit of Virginia Award Spirit of Virginia Award Spirit of Virginia Award Spirit of Virginia Award Spirit of Virginia Award Spirit of Virginia Award Spirit of Virginia Award Spirit of Virginia Award Spirit of Virginia Award Spirit of Virginia Award Spirit of Virginia Award Spirit of Virginia Award Spirit of Virginia Award
03-09-1969: Boys gather for a fast game of football on the campus of the Richmond Home for Boys. Ages start at six years and residents show appreciation for discipline.

10-2-1958: Youngsters enjoy game of kickball on non-landscaped area at Richmond Home for Boys.

12-16-1959: The women who prepare breakfast for 44 boys have a busy hour. Mrs. Ethel Fisher (left), Mrs. Ruby Petit Work at Richmond Boys Home.

Boys help with breakfast clean up at the Richmond Home for Boys in 1959.

In December 1959, boys help out with breakfast dishes at the Richmond Home for Boys.

9-5-1965: In September 1965, Richmond Home for Boys Assistant Director W.H. Gormon (left) chatted with two residents. In front of them is the bell that had been used for 70 years to summon young residents. The organization was founded in 1846 as the Richmond Male Orphan Society and moved to its current current site on West Broad Street in Henrico County in 1957. It is now known as the Virginia Home for Boys and Girls.

9-18-1949: In mid-1949, youths from the Richmond Boys Home were eager to appear in "This is Our Way," a 20-minute movie that told the story of the Community Chest, now known as the United Way. Each of the 31 agencies serviced by the Chest had a part in the film, which premiered in September that year and was made available to anyone willing to show it. It was filmed over several months by the motion picture department of Reynolds Metals Co. as a donation to promote the good works of the Chest.

3-17-1962: A special sort of road. Lee Hazelgrove, 4, takes to his fire engine to try out new sidewalks at the Richmond Home for Boys. About 400 feet of sidewalk, costing $1,400, were donated to the home by the Downtown Optimist Club. Watching the test run are (from left) W. L. Hazelgrove, superintendent of the home at 8716 West Broad St.; Don N. Maloy, president of the club; G. S. Maynard, president of the home; Allen Meads, 6, and Steve Madison, 6.

From the Archives: Virginia Home for Boys and Girls

This year, the Virginia Home for Boys and Girls celebrates 170 years of serving children and families.

The organization was founded as the Richmond Male Orphan society in 1846.

In 1847, it was incorporated by the General Assembly.

In 1969 its name was changed to the Richmond Home for Boys and then to the Virginia Home for Boys in 1971.

Today, the Virginia Home for Boys and Girls is one of the oldest children's homes in continuous service in the state.

Since its founding, the home has aided thousands of children and continues to do so today.

Today, some photos of the home from our archive.
The right to vote may be foundational to American democracy, but Virginia strips hundreds of thousands of its residents of this right.

Take Tati King  the 52-year-old was disenfranchised for a drug possession felony conviction in Fairfax County. He completed an 11-month incarceration period and a term of probation. He owes the state no fines. But he still cant vote.

Mr. King has tried to regain the right to vote, applying for his voting rights to be restored. So has Melvin Lewis Wingate, who was convicted of uttering in the mid-1990s. Now a minister, he has not been able to vote in five presidential elections, six midterm elections and five Virginia gubernatorial elections. Toni Heath Johnson, a 60-year-old Virginia resident disenfranchised in 2021, has also applied for her right to vote to be restored  to no avail.

These individuals, along with nonprofit organization Bridging the Gap, have sued state leaders in King v. Youngkin, taking issue with Article II, Section I of the Virginia Constitution. This provision automatically disenfranchises Virginians convicted of a felony but allows the governor to restore their right to vote.

Defendants were expected to respond this week. Then, litigants must wait to see how the district court proceeds, with appeals possibly to follow.

Litigation regarding blanket bans for felon voting rights recently yielded success for citizens seeking rights restoration. Earlier this month, a federal court of appeals found Mississippis lifetime ban on voting for those convicted of felonies to be unconstitutionally cruel and unusual punishment.

But litigation is not the only path forward for those concerned about the state constitutions felon disenfranchisement/voting rights restoration provision.

Virginias current constitution, effective in 1971, replaced a post-Reconstruction constitution steeped in white supremacy. The 1902 constitution championed disenfranchisement and segregation, seeking to return the commonwealth to how things had been before Reconstruction. At the 1901-1902 constitutional convention, statements like the horror of negro suffrage to the people of Virginia has brought shame upon the white people of Virginia made the drafters intentions clear. Fortunately, after the U.S. Supreme Court ended Virginias practice of Massive Resistance  the practice by which schools were closed to prevent integration after Brown v. Board  Gov. Mills Godwin, in 1968, commissioned a team of distinguished Virginians to make a constitution that supported a more inclusive political community.

In their report, the Commission on Constitutional Revision recognized needless obstacles ought not to be placed in the path of Virginians seeking to have a voice in the government of their commonwealth. Thus, they removed the previous constitutions poll tax and literacy test requirements and altered an earlier criminal disenfranchisement provision, so that it would apply only to those convicted of felonies, as opposed to those convicted of any general crime.

At the time, every state except Maine either had a constitutional or statutory provision that prevented individuals convicted of a crime from voting. Still, the Virginia Constitutions drafters implicitly recognized litigation could lead to changes for felon disenfranchisement provisions. They noted, for example, a challenge in federal court to the constitutionality of a state bar to voting by felons had been unsuccessful, but the Supreme Court of California had already found that the federal Equal Protection Clause limits a states ability to disenfranchise those with a criminal conviction.

State approaches to disenfranchisement provisions have indeed shifted. Now, Virginia is the only state where those convicted of felonies must apply individually to the governor for their voting rights to be restored. And the language at issue in King has long been seen as the Virginia Constitutions failure, despite its drafters good intentions, to expunge completely the legacy of yesteryears white supremacist constitution.

Fortunately, the drafters recognized a state constitution is not static. They removed voting bars found in the earlier constitution and left room for future generations to achieve further change through constitutional amendments.

Virginians who care about voting rights can make their voices heard, regardless of political affiliation and no matter Kings outcome. To amend the constitution, Virginians can put forward language for the General Assembly to greenlight, which could then be approved in a referendum by statewide popular vote. There have been recent amendment efforts regarding the disenfranchisement/rights restoration provision. In February 2021, the House and Senate agreed to an amendment to Article II, Section 1, striking the language that voting rights restoration requires action by the governor. Representatives of a politically diverse coalition  the American Conservative Union, Americans for Prosperity Virginia, the ACLU, and others  spoke in favor. But a General Assembly subcommittee defeated it on a 5-4 party line vote.

On the heels of the recent Mississippi decision, let King be a prod to action. Just over 50 years ago, a group of Virginians overhauled the states constitution, broadening access to the ballot. Through constitutional change, a new generation can further redefine Virginias political community.

From the Archives: The Richmond City Jail farm Jail Farm Jail Farm Jail Farm Jail Farm Jail Farm Jail Farm
Cancun taxi driver arrested after physically assaulting police officer while resisting arrest

Cancun, Q.R.  A Cancun taxi driver was taken into custody Thursday for resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer. The driver was stopped by police after he was seen speeding which put the safety of other drivers and passers-by at risk.

Police attempted to pull him over on Avenida 20 de Noviembre in SM 221 where he took evasive behavior and began to drive recklessly to escape. Police eventually caught up with him and detained him for a physical inspection, they reported.

During the procedure, Gheiler N maintained an aggressive attitude against police, launching blows and verbal attacks for which he was arrested, the Secretaria de Seguridad Ciudadana (SSC) of Quintana Roo explained.

It is the second time in as many days that a Cancun public driver has been arrested for physically assaulting Cancun City Police.

On Wednesday, a Cancun combi driver was arrested after being videoed physically assaulting a Cancun Transit Officer who attempted to arrest him for driving while intoxicated.
A West Virginia man was sentenced this week to three years in prison for killing his father on his Floyd County property in 2014.

Defense attorneys said the mans estranged wife tipped police about the homicide in 2020.

Robert Joseph Gibbons, 35, of Snowshoe, W.Va., was indicted in April 2021 on a murder charge in connection with the death of 65-year-old Robert James Langhorne Gibbons.

The younger Gibbons pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in June and was sentenced Tuesday in Floyd County Circuit Court.

Judge Mike Fleenor sentenced Gibbons to 10 years in prison, suspended after he serves three years. Once released, hell be placed on supervised probation for another five years.

Gibbons has been incarcerated since March 2021, which one of his attorneys, Chris Anderson, said means Gibbons has already served about two and a half years of his three-year active sentence.

Everybody throughout the process was very flexible, Anderson said. It really was a hard case on everybody for two and a half years, and I think the outcome satisfied just about every interest that it could in light of the facts.

Gibbons second attorney and Andersons father, Tony Anderson, said that in June 2014, Gibbons and his wife at the time, Tori Mask, had gone to visit his father at his residence on Lick Ridge Road. An argument ensued, and there was a fight.

He lost his life in that fight, and then they buried the body, Tony Anderson said, on the mountainside there in Floyd County, on the property that the deceased owned, and where they had gone to visit.

A missing person report was filed the following August. Six years later, in August 2020, Anderson said Gibbons and Mask had begun divorce proceedings.

The wife, estranged at that point, notified the authorities that she had information about that homicide and that her husband was responsible for it, Anderson said.

In February 2021, a Floyd County Sheriffs Office captain and Virginia State Police officers interviewed Mask, who was a patient at a mental health facility in Radford, Anderson said.

With her statement, police obtained a search warrant for the Floyd County property that Mask had identified. Forensic anthropologists conducted a dig, Anderson said, and they found human remains in the area that she took them to.

Through a DNA analysis, investigators determined that the remains were those of Gibbons father. Gibbons was subsequently arrested in West Virginia on a second-degree murder warrant. He was brought back to Floyd County and incarcerated at the New River Valley Regional Jail, where he continued to be held Friday, according to the facilitys inmate search system.

Anderson said that as Gibbons court proceedings were pending, one of the forensic anthropologists on the case died, and Mask very tragically committed suicide.
The Roanoke County School Board heard from dozens of speakers Thursday about the gender issues that have roiled recent meetings  then unceremoniously voted to adopt a new transgender student policy that said in matters of sports, bathrooms and more, students gender will be considered to be the same as their birth sex, minus intervention from parents and staff.

Based on a Virginia Department of Education model that Virginia law requires all school boards to follow, the new Roanoke County policy states that even when parents initiate creation of a Gender Support Plan, school staff, teachers and other employees  and other students  do not have to use transgender students preferred pronouns or names. If staff or classmates feel that changed pronouns or names are at odds with the students birth sex, requiring them to use the new forms of address would infringe on the staff members and non-transgender students religious and ideological freedoms, the new Roanoke County and model Virginia policies say.

Approval of the new policy came after more than an hour of public comment, most of it urging the board to rethink its stance, and the arrest of one man for disorderly conduct.

Brent Brewer, who had already risen to tell the board that he opposed the new policy as a county schools graduate and parent of a transgender student, was escorted out of the meeting by three sheriffs deputies after telling the officers several times that they were out of line in shushing audience members. Brewer said board members should be asking for order, not the deputies, but was led away as some audience members called the officers cowards and others began chanting, Protect trans kids!

Other deputies rushed school board members out of the room until the arrest was finished. After an absence of several minutes, they returned to continue hearing public comment.

The arrest echoed events at the boards last meeting, on July 27, when deputies cleared the meeting room and two people who did not immediately leave were charged with trespassing.

Thursdays meeting was the school boards first with a new policy limiting public comment to county residents, students, their parents and staff, and requiring a more intensive signup process.

Twenty-six people spoke, with all but four criticizing the board or the new transgender policy, or a policy that the board approved last month that banned classroom decorations that referenced sociopolitical or religious issues. It was a measure apparently prompted by a parents criticism of rainbow flags and signs at one county school.

Dr. Ryan White, a psychiatrist who began his comments Thursday by telling the board that he prefers he and him pronouns, said that displaying rainbows is not child abuse, but that marginalizing a group of students through the recent policies should be seen as child neglect.

We are making national news for intolerance, added county resident Samantha Newell, who then announced her own write-in candidacy for the school board, prompting whoops from the audience.

Why must minorities continue to have to fight for basic human respect? asked Katie Dralle, who said she spoke for a bisexual, non-binary county resident who did not feel safe making a statement at the meeting.

Several speakers said that the board seemed to have veered to the political right or toward an overt Christian ethos.

You were elected to represent all of us, not just your friends, Ann Wood said.

Again youre going after our most vulnerable students, Tiffany Sandifer said.

Of the speakers who voiced support of the board, most referenced religion. The bullying goes both ways. If you think being an LGBTQ student is hard, try being a godly student, said Jason LaTempa, who said he had taken his child out of county schools due to anti-religious sentiment.

The new policy was approved without comment by the four board members present, and was unanimously adopted as part of the boards consent agenda on a motion by Vice Chairman Tim Greenway. Board Chairman Brent Hudson and board members Cheryl Facciani and Mike Wray voted in favor of adoption. Board member David Linden was not at the meeting.

At the meetings end, the board members said they appreciated the comments  with Greenway and Hudson adding that they were proud of their Christianity and did not think it entitled them to judge anyone.

Wray said that after eight years on the board, he does not plan to run again, and that he had benefited from speaking to many, many parents during his time in office.

I respect everyones thinking and what you bring forth, Wray said.
CLIMATE GLIMPSE: Here's what you need to see and know today

Across the globe, raging wildfires and extreme weather are taking a toll as the people on fire-ravaged Hawaiian island of Maui begin to grapple with the death and destruction
Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com. His book, "The Burzynski Breakthrough, The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Governments Campaign to Squelch It" is now available in a soft cover fourth edition. For more Elias columns, visit www.californiafocus.net
" " Carl Sagan received a Ph.D. in astronomy and astrophysics. Tony Korody/Sygma via Getty Images

Before Neil deGrasse Tyson, there was Carl Sagan. Handsome, articulate and witty, Sagan wasn't a man about town. He was a man about the cosmos. A tireless proponent of the universe, he was a pioneer in bridging the gap between science and nonscientists.

Sagan was a giant among his peers, too. He received 22 honorary degrees from colleges and universities throughout the U.S., published more than 600 scientific papers and articles, wrote best-selling books and hosted a record-breaking public television series, "Cosmos: A Personal Voyage." He discovered that Venus was heated through the greenhouse effect (something scientists later learned also happens on Earth) and that the red color of Mars comes from windstorm dust rather than vegetation. NASA explorations eventually proved he was right.

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Sagan was born in 1934 and grew up in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from the University of Chicago in 1960 with a doctorate in astronomy and astrophysics, then taught at Harvard and Cornell, where he became the director of Cornell's Laboratory for Planetary Studies and the David Duncan Professor of Astronomy and Space Sciences.

Some of Sagan's most memorable contributions occurred outside the classroom. During the 1950s and 1960s, he was NASA's astronaut whisperer. He offered advice to the Apollo crew before their journeys to the moon and conceived experiments for other planetary expeditions, including an interstellar record designed to greet the unknown inhabitants of deep space. And that's just one cool thing on our list.
Hurricane Charley began as a tropical storm in the Atlantic Ocean, growing into a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 241 km/h (150 mph). The storms trajectory took it through the Caribbean and into the Gulf of Mexico, where it ultimately made landfall on Captiva Island near Cayo Costa, Florida. Charley then struck Punta Gorda, Florida, an hour later, leaving a path of destruction in its wake.

Although Tampa Bay was fortunate to avoid the full force of Charleys power, the storm still caused significant damage to the Florida Peninsula and surrounding areas. The high winds and heavy rain associated with Charley extended hundreds of miles from the center, causing extensive damage to infrastructure, property, and the environment.

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Formation and Strengthening

Charley formed on August 9, 2004, and quickly developed into a Category 4 hurricane with peak intensity winds of 150 mph (240 km/h). This rapid intensification made it difficult for meteorologists to predict the storms path and potential impact on the communities in its path.

The storms strength and rapid development caught many off guard, emphasizing the need for vigilant monitoring and preparedness during hurricane season, especially when a hurricane warning is issued.

Tampa Bay and Florida Peninsula

Despite the overall devastation caused by Hurricane Charley, the Tampa Bay area, located on the west coast, was spared the worst of the storms impact. This was due in part to the storms relatively small size and the fact that it veered eastward just before making landfall. Nevertheless, the region still experienced significant winds, storm surge, and precipitation.

One of the most notable impacts of Hurricane Charley on the Florida Peninsula was the storm surge it produced, which extended up to Tampa Bay, around 500 miles from the point of landfall. This surge caused widespread flooding and coastal erosion, illustrating the far-reaching effects of hurricanes even for areas not directly in the storms path. Additionally, a wind gust of 147 mph was reported in Wauchula, highlighting the potential for severe wind damage across the region.

Charley's Landfall and Aftermath

When Charley made landfall in Florida on August 13, 2004, it left a path of destruction that spanned 20 miles wide, often referred to as a 20-mile-wide tornado. The storm moved in a north-northeast direction across the Florida peninsula, re-entering the Atlantic before making a second landfall on the Carolina coast. As Charley continued its destructive path, it spawned tornadoes, high-velocity winds, and flooding.

The aftermath of Hurricane Charley was devastating. Nine people were reported dead in Florida, and it caused nearly $17 billion in damage. The diameter of Charleys eyewall had decreased to 9.6 km (6 mi) wide, which helped confine the most extreme damage to a 16 kilometer-wide (10 mi) area. This relatively small area of catastrophic damage underscores the importance of monitoring and preparing for hurricanes, as even a minor shift in a storms path can have significant consequences for nearby communities.
Credit: Jesus A. Reina / Texas A&M University

Researchers at Texas A&M University will spearhead a groundbreaking project to revolutionize medication administration for pediatric patients, thanks to an approximately $3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

This pioneering initiative explores using additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, to create customized tablets tailored to the unique needs of young children. The project is an interdisciplinary collaboration of experts from the College of Engineering, the College of Pharmacy and the School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

Traditional manufacturing methods yield mass-produced medicinal tablets with standardized dosages and sizes. However, due to their frequently changing weight and dosage requirements, pediatric and geriatric patients need greater flexibility in administering medications effectively.

Dr. Mathew A. Kuttolamadom, co-principal investigator and associate professor from the Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution, and his team will work on a manufacturing method that adapts to the evolving needs of pediatric patients, ranging from infants to 17-year-olds, by tailoring medication dosage and tablet size accordingly.

In addition to investigating the use of additive manufacturing, the team will work to maintain the drugs' integrity and effectiveness.

"The additive manufacturing of pharmaceuticals presents a relatively new process that differs significantly from the additive manufacturing of metals or ceramics," Kuttolamadom said. "Our primary challenge lies in comprehending this novel process and unraveling the unique aspects specific to pharmaceuticals. Overcoming these challenges is essential as we strive to advance the field and ensure the drug's efficacy remains intact throughout/beyond the manufacturing process."

Traditional mass-produced medications lack flexibility, which is needed in pediatric oncology. By leveraging the capabilities of 3D printing, medications can be customized in terms of size and dosage and the combination of multiple medicines within a single tablet.

Provided by Texas A&M University
HARTSVILLE, S.C.  Carolina Pines Regional Medical Center was recently one of 153 hospitals included in the 2023 Beckers Hospital Review listing of Great Community Hospitals. Carolina Pines was one of only six hospitals from South Carolina to make the list.

Hospitals recognized in the listing, according to Beckers, are lauded for their clinical excellence, compassionate care and economic impact on their communities. Beckers editorial team selected hospitals for inclusion based on several outside rankings and ratings organizations, including U.S. News & World Report, Healthgrades, CMS, The Leapfrog Group and The Chartis Center for Rural Health.

Its quite an honor to make this listing and a nice validation of our hospitals efforts to advance the health and well-being of our patients and our community, said Caroliona Pines CEO Bill Little. Our team at Carolina Pines embraces the opportunity to provide highly skilled, compassionate care to those from the surrounding areas who come to us in need. This recognition  much like our quality ratings, our growing list of accreditations, and our many innovative approaches to improve our services  indicates that we are making the positive impact we want to make in our community.

Beckers described community hospitals as vital pieces of the overall health care system, expanding care access to patients who might otherwise need to travel great distances or face other barriers to care.

CPRMC has a legacy of expanding quality care access to those it serves throughout Hartsville and surrounding areas. For example:

the hospital continues to use innovative approaches to ensure it is properly staffed, recently announcing its participation in Project BOLD, a program that provides student loan forgiveness to new employees who commit to work at CPRMC upon completing their education;

in that same vein, it also recently partnered with a local higher education institution, Coker University, to create a nursing school and internship program to function as a workforce development pipeline for the Pee Dee area and the state as a whole;

in addition, CPRMC recently added on-site dialysis service expansion to better serve an area with higher-than-normal rates of hypertension and diabetes;

the hospital is also part of the MUSC Health Network, including its telehealth program that enables healthcare providers across the Network to work together to achieve quality care in a more effective manner than can be achieved independently.

Even prior to this Beckers listing, the hospitals pursuit of providing the highest-quality care earned recognition. For instance, CPRMC achieved a Leapfrog Group A grade for patient safety in two consecutive Leapfrog surveys through Fall 2022 and received an A grade in Leapfrogs most recent survey in Spring 2023. In the past few weeks, the hospitals employed Medical Practice also attained recognition as a Patient-Centered Medical Home from the National Center for Quality Assurance as well as Gold Seal Approval Certifications from The Joint Commission for its Heart Failure Program and its Total Knee and Hip Replacement Program.

Previously, CPRMC earned The Joint Commissions Gold Seal of Approval for the hospital and laboratory and achieved advanced certification as a Primary Stroke Center. It also recently received Chest Pain Center accreditation from the American College of Cardiology.

We strive to be the best we can be and offer the right services at the right time to those who come through our doors, said Little. We know we are part of a great community and consider it a privilege to have the opportunity to make a positive impact on our community, one patient at a time.
 Highlighting how even the "godfather of progressive prosecutors" has struggled to advance re-sentencing plans | Main | Celebrating "Drug Enforcement and Policy Center at Five Years" 

August 17, 2023

Intriguing accounting of Texas punishment numbers

The latest issues of Texas Monthly includes "a roundup of the many categories  both good and bad  in which Texas ranks number one. " One notable part of the roundup is titled "When It Comes to People Behind Bars, Texas Is Way Ahead," and here is part of the discussion (with links from the original:

For years our elected officials  sheriffs, district attorneys, judges, and governors  have won office by promising to be tough on crime. The most infamous metric for this is that were the number one state in executions. Since 1976, when the Supreme Court declared the death penalty was once again constitutional, weve killed nearly five times more convicts than Oklahoma, our nearest competitor. (Our northern neighbor, however, executes more prisoners per capita than we do; were number two by that measure.) But were also the leader when it comes to living, breathing subjects of the criminal justice system: no state has more inmates than Texas. (Though, again, on a per capita basis we dont come out on top; were number ten, behind some much smaller states.) We werent always number one; California, with a far bigger population, used to outdo us. Then in the nineties, Governor Ann Richards led an expansion of prisons and a tightening of parole rules that pushed us into the top spot. Between 1993 and 1998 the population of our state prisons, state jails, and private facilities more than doubled, to 143,889  more than the entire population of Waco. Ten years later we reached 156,126 inmates. Yet, as crime rates fell, so did those numbers, aided, to the surprise of many, by conservative politicians affiliated with the Texas Public Policy Foundations Right on Crime initiative, which framed prison issues as economic issues. Texas began sending nonviolent inmates to community-based programs designed to divert them from future crimes, and it started closing prisons, not building new ones. Then, during the pandemic, law enforcement curtailed arrests, the court system slowed down its processing, and TDCJ took fewer transfers from county lockups. By April 2021 Texas had 116,926 inmates in its prisons. But now, as society is getting back to normal, our numbers are climbing once again. As of January, Texas had 124,893 inmates. California, with 10 million more residents, had about 29,300 fewer inmates. And this is all part of a much larger web. Texas has more inmates in administrative segregation  solitary confinement in all but name  than any other state, more than 3,000. And our numbers are shockingly high when it comes to prisons without air-conditioning, incidents of prison rape, and unpaid inmate labor. None of these changes take into account our 252 county jails, where, by some accounts, on average more than 60,000 men and women await a trial, a plea bargain, or a transfer to state prison.

August 17, 2023 at 06:55 PM | Permalink

Comments

Texas has net in migration and California, with its disasters in SF, Oakland and LA, has net out migration. People can still vote with their feet.

Posted by: Bill Otis | Aug 17, 2023 8:15:48 PM

Most of the immigrants from California to Texas are not "voting with their feet." They're following their jobs. And, in any event, seeking for-now cheaper real estate.

Texas has long been fairly innovative with diversion courts for drugs, veterans, first-time offenders. etc. and other incarceration alternatives, driven in part by the TPPF, the same kind of conservative thinkers behind the First Step Act.

Posted by: Fat Bastard | Aug 20, 2023 9:15:23 PM

Fat Bastard --

There's a reason jobs are moving to Texas from California: Texas has a relatively low tax, pro-growth environment created by elected state lawmakers and the California has the opposite. In other words, people are indeed voting with their feet.

Posted by: Bill Otis | Aug 20, 2023 11:56:14 PM

Fat Bastard --

There's a reason jobs are moving to Texas from California: Texas has a relatively low tax, pro-growth environment created by elected state lawmakers and the California has the opposite. In other words, people are indeed voting with their feet.

Posted by: Bill Otis | Aug 20, 2023 11:56:14 PM

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For those who have a masochistic streak, there are few things more fulfilling than hate-watching awful films and TV shows.

And there are plenty of them: Ben Wheatleys lavish yet weirdly empty adaptation of Rebecca appalled critics and fans alike in 2020, as did fellow period drama adaptation Persuasion.

When the first season of Emily in Paris hit screens, it inspired a deep hatred in critics who condemned it for caricaturing French people as vile snobs.

But fans still inhaled both of these abominations within hours of them arriving online.

Rebecca, Persuasion and Emily in Paris were all brought into the world by Netflix, so it only seemed fitting that we collate a list of the platforms top 20 critical flops here

Television

Emily in Paris

In a one-star review, The Independents critic Ed Cumming listed seven groups of people who would not enjoy this series, and its hard not to fall into one of those categories, one of which is anyone whos eaten a croissant. He also described the titular lead  played by Phil Collins daughter Lily  as obnoxious and her banter as faintly agonising.

Hollywood

Ryan Murphys big-budget, all-star ode to the golden age of cinema should have been a hit, but was near universally panned by critics when it was released earlier this year. The Independents Ed Cumming called the show a big shiny mess, reading: Hollywood can never decide whether it wants to be an aspirational woke-alternate-reality fantasy or a nihilistic black comedy, and its conflicting tones sit uneasily together.

Space Force

(Netflix)

This satirical show starring Steve Carell did not have enough comic content to constitute a whole series, according to The Independents critic Ed Cumming who wrote that the show struggles to get out from under the biggest joke of all, which is that it is based on a real US government department. Its material for a sketch, rather than a whole series, and it would be funnier if it wasnt true.

Insatiable

One of the most controversial Netflix Originals of all time, Insatiable was accused of fat-shaming before it was even released, with over 100,000 people signing a petition calling for it to be cancelled. The show didnt fare much better with critics once it finally aired, with The Independents review reading: Insatiable is more than happy to slap the label of satire over itself with little to no understanding about what it actually entails.

Story continues

Away

In a one-star review for The Independent, Ed Cumming wrote of this sci-fi series: Hilary Swank commits admirably to her role, frankly beyond what she ought to be able to do with the script, but even her shoulders, and the rest of the Atlass crew, arent broad enough to carry us away.

What/If

This gender-flipped version of Indecent Proposal starring Renee Zellweger received a lukewarm critical reception when it was released in 2019. While Zellwegers performance was praised, the show struggled to make a splash, with The Independents Clarisse Loughrey writing that in the end, a deep and meaningful premise is undercut by all the melodramatics.

Marco Polo

This drama about the Venetian merchant and adventurer was ripped apart by The Atlantics Lenika Cruz, who said: A big budget, high hopes, and good intentions it seems wasn't enough to buoy a boring protagonist and flaccid story. The series scored an unfavourable 66 per cent on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes  but its audience score was an impressive 94 per cent, making it the perfect hate-watch.

Gypsy

(Netflix)

With Sam Taylor-Johnson directing and Naomi Watts starring as a manipulative psychologist, Gypsy had all the markings of a hit, but received poor reviews on its 2017 release. IndieWires Ben Travers wrote of the series: Intended as an exploration of a middle-aged woman's unrestrained desires, [Gypsy] never elevates its drama to anything thematically challenging or narratively titillating.

Hemlock Grove

This horror series scored a pitiful 38 per cent on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. The supernatural show about the goings-on in a Pennsylvania steel town was deemed idiotic, tedious, and frequently offensive by Den of Geeks Sarah Dobbs.

Lunatics

Australian comedian Chris Lilley may have found success with Summer Heights High and Jamie: Private School Girl, but the joke was considered to be wearing thin when Lunatics was released in 2019. In the comedy series, Lilley dons a fat suit, plays a seven-foot-tall female student and mocks the transgender community, leading The Guardians Luke Buckmaster to write in his one-star review: [Lilleys] approach has never felt as laboured, or as formulaic, or as devoid of ideas.

Film

Persuasion

With Dakota Johnson, Henry Golding and Richard E Grant at the helm, Netflixs take on Persuasion should have been a hit, right? Wrong. The film was poorly received by critics and Austen fans alike, with The Independents Clarisse Loughrey writing that at no point during Carrie Cracknells directorial debut do you ever get the sense that anyones actually read Persuasion. Amanda Whiting, meanwhile, questioned how the streamer could get Jane Austen so terribly wrong. Ouch...

The Kissing Booth

Netflix has branched into the world of teen movies and romcoms with varying degrees of success, with some receiving critical acclaim (To All the Boys Ive Loved Before, Always Be My Maybe) while others were panned. One such flop is The Kissing Booth, which was condemned for being both cliched and misogynistic, with The Independents Clarisse Loughrey writing in her two-star review of the 2020 sequel that the follow up wasnt as aggressively problematic as its predecessor, at least.

Rebecca

(Kerry Brown/Netflix)

In a two-star review for The Independent, critic Clarisse Loughrey described this adaptation of Daphne du Mauriers classic book as dreary and garish and its lead actors Armie Hammer and Lily James as behaving like two planks of wood. She concluded: This Rebecca is du Maurier reduced to an airport novel.

The Ridiculous 6

This Adam Sandler spoof western was branded unwatchable by critics. Hastily put together with some dodgy CGI, the movie co-stars Terry Crews, Taylor Lautner and Luke Wilson and most of its jokes revolve around donkey excrement.

The Cloverfield Paradox

(Netflix)

The third instalment in the Cloverfield franchise, this JJ Abrams-produced film was a surprise release from Netflix in 2018. However, reviewers generally agreed that it was by far the weakest of the trilogy and struggled to see its connection to the original films, with The Independents Jacob Stolworthy writing: This latest entry has turned the once-burgeoning series into a sham.

Polar

Neo-noir action movie Polar was given one star by The Guardians critic Stephen Snart. He said the film, which stars Mads Mikkelsen as a hitman facing retirement, is full of distractingly explicit violence and it drowns in gore and stupidity.

Brain on Fire

Based on Susannah Calahans memoir of the name, Brain on Fire stars Chloe Grace Moretz as a journalist diagnosed with a rare auto-immune disease affecting the brain. But despite featuring a starry cast including Tyler Perry and Jenny Slate, the film was accused of slipping into the well-worn cliches set out in films like The Fault in Our Stars and Five Feet Apart, with Varietys Peter Debruge writing that Moretzs character was the sort of role for which the Razzies were invented.

Death Note

This horror film centres around a high school student who discovers a supernatural notebook that gives him deadly powers. The Verges Megan Farokhmanesh said it was weightless and unnecessarily gory, adding: The film is more focused on cyberpunk-esque visuals and crunchy synth than on any kind of substance.

The Silence

(Netflix)

Taking clear inspiration from A Quiet Place but failing to make the same impact as Bird Box, Netflixs The Silence couldnt be saved by stars Stanley Tucci and Kiernan Shipka and was accused of having a poor script and slow pacing. "The Silence is barely a horror movie, and thats its biggest problem, Roger Eberts Brian Tallerico wrote. A horror movie needs stakes, and you just never feel them here.

Secret Obsession

This film has a damning 29 per cent rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, but NPRs Linda Holmes implied it could be perfect for a hate-watch. This is a pretty bad movie, she wrote, but it seems to be bad in the way it's meant to be bad. It's cheerfully trashy, and if that's up your alley, have at it.
A man walks past a model of G20 logo outside the finance ministry in New Delhi

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India plans to hold bilateral free trade talks with the United Kingdom, the European Union and Canada and discuss bilateral trade issues with the Russian delegation on the sidelines of a G20 meeting next week, a top trade official said on Friday.

The G20 trade ministers are likely to discuss trade and World Trade Organisation reforms in their meeting, trade secretary Sunil Barthwal also told reporters.

More than 300 delegates from G20 members are to gather in Jaipur, about 300 km from the capital New Delhi, for the Aug. 24-25 Trade and Investment Ministerial meeting.

The Trade and Investment Working Group was set up in 2016 under the Chinese G20 presidency and has continued to hold talks on related issues at subsequent meetings.

"WTO reforms is one of the priority issues at G20," the official, said noting that the agenda for the G20, who account for nearly 85% of global GDP, will include the role of logistics in expanding global value chains and small businesses.

Among others, France, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey, UK, USA and EU have confirmed their participation in the meeting.

The trade ministers are likely to aim to build a consensus on the issue of reducing transaction costs through a paperless global trading system, while helping small businesses to become part of global trade, the trade ministry said in a statement.

(Reporting by Manoj Kumar in New Delhi, writing by Shilpa Jamkhandikar; Editing by Toby Chopra and Hugh Lawson)
This satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC shows Triton Island in the South China Sea on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2023 (AP)

China appears to be constructing a runway on a disputed island in the South China Sea, which has also been claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.

According to satellite images, a new airstrip appeared in early August on Triton Island  the southernmost of the Paracel Islands. The contested island is roughly equidistant from the coast of Vietnam and China's island province of Hainan.

So far China has built a 600-metre-long runway, enough to accommodate turboprop aircraft and drones, but not fighter jets or bombers, according to the Associated Press.

Beijing has asserted claims to the entire South China Sea as its own, denying the claims of other Southeast Asian countries and defying an international ruling. In order to assert its sovereignty, China continues to fortify islands in the disputed waters.

The work on Triton Island mirrors construction on seven human-made islands in the Spratly group to the east which have been equipped with airstrips, docks and military systems.

Apart from the airstrip, there is also the presence of large numbers of vehicle tracks running across much of the Triton Island, along with what appear to be containers and construction equipment.

A new building around was built at the same time as the runway around 100 metres to the south of the island and appears to be connected to it by a taxiway.

(L) Satellite image of the Triton Island in February 2023 with no airstrip and the image of the island from August with visible runway and other constructions (Planet Labs PBC / AP)

Beijing had a small harbor and buildings on the island for years, along with a helipad and radar arrays. Two large fields on the island sport a star from the Chinese flag and a hammer and sickle representing the ruling Communist Party.

Hunter Marston, a researcher and analyst at the Australian National University, told The Guardian that Vietnam appeared to perceive the developments on Triton Island with relative ambivalence and did not consider the islands to be an existential threat to Vietnams security.

Meanwhile, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi met his Vietnamese counterpart Tran Luu Quang on Wednesday in Kunming, Yunnan province.

Following the meeting, Mr Wang said China is willing to work with Vietnam to oppose interference from external forces and maintain the peace and stability of the South China Sea and the region".

Washington alleges it takes no stance on the sovereignty claims, but regularly sends navy ships on "freedom of navigation operations" near the islands.
Eligible Candidates for Singapore's Upcoming Presidential Election: Former Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Former GIC Chief Investment Officer Ng Kok Song, and Former Presidential Contender Tan Kin Lian. (PHOTO: Bloomberg and Reuters)

SINGAPORE  Former Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, former GIC chief investment officer Ng Kok Song, and former presidential contender Tan Kin Lian have been officially recognised as eligible candidates for Singapore's upcoming Presidential Election, according to an announcement from the Elections Department (ELD) on Friday (18 August)

However, businessman George Goh's application for a Certificate of Eligibility was not successful.

ELD said in a media release that it had received a total of six applications for the Certificate of Eligibility by the deadline on Thursday. Additionally, the department received 16 community declarations when applications closed.

Why were the three candidates issued certificates of eligibility?

The Certificate of Eligibility serves as a confirmation that a candidate possesses integrity, good character, and a reputable background, while also fulfilling the required public sector or private sector service criteria.

According to ELD, its presidential elections committee has verified Ng's integrity, character, and reputation. With a tenure of over three years as the group chief investment officer at GIC, his experience aligns with the eligibility criteria, making him fit for Presidential responsibilities.

Tharman's application, on the other hand, satisfied Article 19(3)(a) of the Constitution, due to his service as a Minister for a period exceeding three years. The presidential elections committee has also confirmed his integrity and reputation.

Similarly, Tan's application corresponds to Article 19(4)(b) of the Constitution that attests to his integrity and reputation. With a leadership role spanning over three years at NTUC Income Insurance Co-operative Limited, Tan's experience mirrors the criteria, establishing his capability for Presidential duties.

Next step in Singapore's presidential race

The next procedural step for Tharman, Ng and Tan is to secure their nominations as official candidates. This involves submitting their nomination papers, along with the Certificate of Eligibility, community certificate, and political donation certificate, on Nomination Day on 22 August.

Story continues

The nomination proceedings are scheduled to take place at the People's Association auditorium on King George's Avenue between 11am and 12pm on 22 August.

Among the candidates, Tharman was the first to declare his intention to run on 8 June, followed by Goh on 12 June and Ng on 19 July. Tan officially launched his bid on 11 August.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had issued the Writ of Election on 11 August.

If more than one candidate is successfully nominated, the Singaporean public will participate in voting on 1 September, which will be declared a public holiday.

George Goh disappointed by application rejection

In a press statement released on Friday, Goh said he was "very disappointed" at the decision of the Presidential Elections Committee to reject his application for a certificate of eligibility.

He said his legal and financial team had submitted a "very strong case" outlining his experience and performance in managing five companies.

He added that these companies met the necessary criteria of shareholders' equity and profitability and that he had held the position of the most senior executive in each of them.

Goh explained the committee did not accept Goh's argument that his collective experience across various companies was equivalent to that of a single company CEO.

"The PEC rejected our argument that my experience in these companies was equivalent to that of a CEO running a single company, and took a very narrow interpretation of the requirements without explaining the rationale behind its decision," he said.

"This decision has deprived Singaporeans of a wider choice to select who the next President will be. It is a setback not just for me but for Singapore." Goh added.

Goh then expressed his gratitude to the many Singaporeans who rallied behind him during the weeks leading up to the announcement.

He said: "I am saddened, but I am heartened by the support shown to me by many Singaporeans over the past few weeks, and I would like to thank all of them for their support."

Do you have a story tip? Email: sgnews.tips@yahooinc.com.

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Girls studying in a secret school at an undisclosed location in Afghanistan (AFP via Getty/Representative image)

For weeks now, Ferhanas* education has remained a secret from the Taliban. In the privacy of her room, she joins virtual classes along with 2,500 other women to get the university education otherwise denied to her in Afghanistan.

After the Taliban shut down womens colleges and universities in December last year  at gunpoint in some places  this online classroom has become the only place for women like Ferhana to meet and study literature, business administration and computer science, among other courses.

For her masters degree in advanced teaching, Ferhana mostly uses the app Evernote to organise assignments and add reminders for submissions that are due at the University of the People  an American non-profit providing distance learning.

Afghanistans physical libraries are equally off-limits, meaning everything must take place online, she explains to The Independent. I put more focus on reading online e-books and resources which are linked to libraries, and then I start working on assignments, she says.

A former English language teacher at one of Kabuls girls schools, Ferhana saw the dreams of her students shattered in August 2021, when the Taliban fighters rolled into the Afghan capital and declared the beginning of a new Islamist regime.

The way my students looked at me with tears in their eyes, it was heartbreaking. The dreams all of these girls and women had for education died inside, she says over a phone call. She is among the lucky few who at least have a formal bachelors degree in hand  most of her students had to leave school before they had completed their secondary education.

Around 10 to 12 of my minor students are now married. They cannot work or support their families any more, she says.

Before the fall of Kabul, the online university had around 300 students from Afghanistan, of whom 90 per cent were men. After August 2021, it received 21,000 applications and granted more than 2,500 scholarships to women to continue their academic pursuits.

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Ferhana is joined by Hamdiya*, a former journalist and social activist with a masters degree in international relations, majoring in peace and diplomacy. She worked as a journalist in the parliament of Afghanistan during the Ashraf Ghani administration.

Hamdiya was unable to escape via the flurry of flights leaving the country in August 2021. She finally heard about women managing to study and take examinations on a group chat the following year.

It felt like a good opportunity for those who were desperate to continue their education despite what was going on in Afghanistan, she tells The Independent.

She now mostly conducts her studies during the night, finding it easier to keep her secret under cover of darkness.

Sometimes I wish I was studying at that university physically rather than online, because of our conditions here. Whenever I hear some bad news, I just keep thinking about it and then I am unable to go online and pretend to study, Hamdiya says.

Hamdiya, who was a global peace ambassador in the Global Peace Chain community, says she was previously a campaigner for education in rural areas while honing her skills in writing and research about the empowerment of women and girls.

Her views on gender equality took her to national and international conferences.

But now, under the watch of the Taliban, she finds safety in the midnight classes and comfort in her curriculum at the University of the People. Its what keeps the 26-year-old going.

Even when some of us ask the Taliban about reopening our schools and classes, they ask us to wait. We dont know the exact time, she says.

The Taliban shut down schools for girls above sixth grade in March 2022, and colleges and universities for women in December last year.

Like Hamdiya, Kinaaz*  who is pursuing a bachelors degree in business administration at the virtual university  is fighting a number of mental battles.

I feel lucky to have this opportunity to study, even in this difficult situation. However, sometimes depression hits my brain and I feel lost, she says.

Alongside the threat to their personal safety if the Taliban were to discover their studies, there are plenty of practical problems involved in online learning in Afghanistan. The women need steady electricity and fast wifi  deemed to be luxury items among their circles.

Sometimes lack of internet and electricity makes things hard, Kinaaz tells The Independent.

While Hamdiya is paying 1000 AFN (9.24) for 50 days of internet, Ferhana spends 2500 AFN (23) per month.

Sometimes, we see 15 out of 40 women attending classes  some of them log in using their fathers or brothers cellphone. The internet does not always work, Ferhana says.

Her fellow student Hamdiya says she has seen five or six girls drop out and give up on education as a result of these infrastructure challenges.

The universitys president, Shai Reshef, acknowledges the difficulties his students from Afghanistan are facing, particularly in terms of the basics like power and internet.

Life gets in the way when you are doing things, but if you are an Afghan woman, it will get in your way a lot more, he tells The Independent.

As soon as the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan, Reshef says, he worried for the future of millions of women. We all have heard these stories years ago. In August we worked on a plan to make education tuition-free for as many Afghan women as possible.

He gives a warning to the Taliban of the dark future their edicts will bring for the country. You have banned half of your population from entering schools and colleges. What do you think your country will look like in 20 years? he asks.

Hamdiya is living this anxiety. Even if I manage to finish this course, I do not have the means to flee my country for a job abroad and provide my family [with] a secure life.

To travel abroad, the Taliban will ask me to be accompanied by a mehram [male guardian].

Similar grievances raised in the emails Reshef receives from women, some of whom are even seeking evacuation, have made him work towards a solution that would help them. We are looking to provide these women with some job internships and tie-ups with foreign organisations, so that the road doesnt end at graduation.

*Names changed to protect identities
(Univison Screenshot/Facebook Amador Saput)

Just thirty minutes after Carmelo Gonzalez left for work on 12 August, he received an alarming text from his 11-year-old daughter Maria saying that someone was knocking on the door of the apartment the two shared in Pasadena, Texas.

Mr Gonzalez warned his daughter not to open the door but he never got a reply to that final text. Worried that something might have happened, he asked his brother to go check on Maria, who was nowhere to be found.

When the father-of-two arrived at the home hours later, he discovered a disturbing scene in his daughters room. Maria had been strangled to death, her body wrapped inside two trash bags and stuffed in a laundry basket concealed under the bed.

They took my child, whom I loved the most, Mr Gonzalez said in Spanish during an interview with Univision. I left her alone in the apartment and she was sending voice notes saying that someone was on the door. I told her not to open the door and that I was leaving work.

A manhunt is now underway for the perpetrator of Marias brutal killing, with the Pasadena Police Department saying that theyre looking into suspects who may have known the familys routine and that Mr Gonzalez had left the home on the day of the killing.

Heres everything we know about the case:

Marias body was placed in a basket under her bed

Four years ago, Mr Gonzalez and Maria immigrated to the US from Guatemala, where Mr Gonzalezs wife and younger daughter still live. They had lived in Austin, Texas, and Florida before moving to Pasadena.

They had been living at the building complex on 1004 Main Street for just three months, and during the summer, Mr Gonzalez would leave for work while his daughter stayed at home.

She was well-behaved, respectful. She was a calm girl, the grieving father told Univision while holding a portrait with a picture of his slain daughter.

On the morning of the murder, Mr Gonzalez left for work around 9.45am, Pasadena Police Chief Josh Bruegger said at a press conference on Tuesday.

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Maria Gonzalez, 11, was sexually assaulted and strangled to death in her home (Amador Saput/Facebook)

Shortly after, Maria told her father that there was an unknown person at the front door. That would be the last message Maria sent before she was killed.

Mr Gonzalez asked his brother Reginaldo Gonzalez, who lives in the area with his family, to check on Maria. Marias uncle did not find her when he looked for her across the house with his wife but became alarmed after seeing coffee and sugar scattered on the couch.

I felt something different immediately after opening the door, Reginaldo Gonzalez told Telemundo 47. I thought, What happened here?

Marias father then arrived at the home and joined the search, eventually suggesting that his daughter could be doing laundry because the laundry basket was gone.

He asked out loud, Why is not my laundry basket here? Reginaldo Gonzalez said. Then we found her. They put the girl inside a trash bag in the basket under the bed.

Why would anyone do something like this? She was just a little girl, Marias father also told Telemundo 47.

Marias father Carmelo Gonzalez found her body estuffed inside a laundry basket under the bed (Telemundo 47/Screenshot)

Police say girl was raped and strangled

The medical examiner determined that Maria was sexually assaulted.

Her cause of death was ruled asphyxiation due to strangulation and blunt force head and neck trauma.

Whoever saw something just after 10 am on Saturday at that particular apartment, were asking them to come forward with the information they might have, Pasadena Police Chief Josh Bruegger said on Tuesday.

Mr Bruegger said the door was locked when family members first arrived searching for Maria. He said the entrance did not appear to have been forced.

Its a fairly small complex ... it seems awfully suspicious that dad leaves for work and within 30 minutes, youve got someone knocking on the door, MrBruegger said when asked whether he thought the killer lived in the apartment building.

Authorities are interviewing residents of the apartment complex where Maria lived with her father (Univision)

Police have taken voluntary DNA samples from some residents in the complex, but Mr Bruegger said some were uncooperative. Mr Bruegger reassured the community that immigration status would not be a concern if they decided to come forward with information.

Authorities are also trying to process surveillance cameras installed on the complex, but there is concern that they may not be operational. The chief of police said his department is investigating similarities between Marias killing and recent crimes but has not found any links so far in the probe.

We dont have a suspect yet and we are doing all we can to solve this crime. As a parent of an almost 10-year-old myself, this is a cause for concern, Mr Bruegger added. 

Marias mother says shes run out of tears

Marias mother Ana Elizabeth Xitumul Saput told Telemundo 47 that she and her youngest daughter had stayed behind in Guatemala due to her heart issues. She said the tragic news had taken a huge toll on her and now just wants to see her daughter one last time.

I dont want to cry anymore ... I want justice. I need her killer to turn himself in and Im asking God that kind-hearted people help us bring our daughters remains back to Guatemala, the grieving mother said. This person has no feelings. Dont you have sisters, a mother?

Crime Stoppers is offering $5,000 for information that leads to the arrest of Marias killer. No suspects have been identified in the case.

Federal investigators are assisting in the investigation, according to local police.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Pasadena Police detectives at 713-475-7803 or 713-475-7878.
Erin Patterson (centre) is at the centre of a mushroom poisoning scandal (News International/The Salvation Army Australia Museum/Facebook)

It was supposed to be a family meal where differences could be reconciled and future plans made for the sake of the estranged couples children.

Instead, it kicked off events that could have come straight out of a murder mystery novel or the board game Clue.

Four of the five people sat around the table fell gravely ill, three of them later dying with the fourth left fighting for his life.

The fifth, meanwhile, appeared to escape unscathed  curiously the very same person who prepared and cooked the meal for the other four guests.

What has since emerged is a bizarre case that continues to enthrall people all across the globe  involving mushroom poisoning, a series of deaths, a tearful interview and now reports of a past mystery illness.

It all began one fateful day on 29 July, when Erin Patterson prepared a special meal of beef Wellington with lots of mushrooms for lunch at her home in Leongatha, a rural town in the Australian state of Victoria.

Present at the church-mediated lunch  set up to sort out visitation rights for her two children  were her in-laws Gail and Don Patterson, both 70, Gails sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, and her husband Ian, 68.

All four of her elderly in-laws fell violently ill that night from suspected mushroom poisoning.

Gail, Don and Heather, all teachers, died in hospital days later, while Ian, a local pastor, has been left fighting for his life.

Erins estranged husband Simon Patterson had skipped out on the meal at the last moment, while the couples two children had also left their mothers home to see a movie just before the meat and pastry dish was served.

Victoria Police have since launched a homicide investigation, and at a press conference last week confirmed Ms Patterson is a suspect in the killings.

Erin Patterson sobs to the media about the deadly lunch (News International)

Erin, an experienced wild mushroom forager, reportedly told investigators she used dried fungi that she had purchased months earlier from an Asian grocery store and a fresh button variety bought recently from a local supermarket.

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She later admitted lying to investigators about dumping a food dehydrator used to prepare the meal in a local refuse site after the deaths, according to the ABC.

In a statement obtained by the Australian public broadcaster, she said she was at the hospital with her children discussing the food dehydrator when her former husband asked: Is that what you used to poison them?

The 48-year-old mother-of-two has vehemently maintained her innocence, and in an interview this week claimed she is unfairly being painted as an evil witch.

As the poisoning mystery has shaken the small rural community 136kms southeast of Melbourne, and gripped Australian and international media, more disturbing details continue to emerge  with Simon Patterson now claiming that he once spent 16 days in an induced coma from a mystery gastro illness after eating food prepared by his wife.

Deadly dinner party

In a police statement obtained by the ABC, Erin reportedly told investigators that she had prepared a meal of beef Wellington with a lot of mushrooms.

Erin claimed she had purchased dried mushrooms from an Asian grocer several months ago, and button mushrooms from a local supermarket recently  using both in the dish.

Yet she reportedly could not remember exactly where she had bought them, according to the ABC.

She stated that she stored the dried mushrooms at a home she owns in Melbourne, before bringing them to the home in Leongatha.

I used the dried mushrooms as they been in my cupboard for some time and I wanted to use them up. I rehydrated them and put them into the dish with the mushrooms that I had bought at [the supermarket], according to the ABC.

Don and Gail Patterson died after eating poisoned mushrooms at Erin Pattersons home in Victoria, Australia, on 29 July. (Supplied)

Erin said she served the others and allowed them to select their own plates, before taking the last plate.

The two elderly couples fell violently ill that night and were taken to local hospitals before being transferred to a facility in Melbourne.

Gail and her sister Heather died on 4 August, while Don died the next day. Ian, a pastor from the local Baptist church in Korumburra, remains in critical but stable condition and is awaiting a liver transplant.

Police have said the victims symptoms were consistent with them having ingested death cap mushrooms, one of the deadliest fungi in the world that are usually found near oak trees.

Erin has said she also fell ill after eating the beef Wellington and was taken to Monash Medical Centre in Melbourne by ambulance for treatment.

She said her two children, who were initially thought to have been present at the lunch, had gone to the movies before the others ate.

When they returned that evening, she claimed that the two children did then eat the dish  but that she had scraped off the mushrooms as they didnt like them.

Then, after learning of her in-laws illness, Erin said she preserved the meal and handed it over to toxicologists. However she initially refused to speak to police.

Heather, 66, and Ian Wilkinson, 68, became ill after eating poison mushrooms at a lunch cooked by Erin Patterson. (The Salvation Army Australia Museum/Facebook)

In the statement, Erin has now said she had received advice immediately after the deaths to decline to speak to police.

I now very much regret not answering some questions following this advice given the nightmare that this process has become, she said.

Erin said she found the police interview terrifying and anxiety-provoking.

In another bizarre twist, Victoria police told NBC News that the police statement appears to have been provided to the ABC by Erins legal team, and did not come from them.

In response to a request for further details about the case, Sergeant Julie-Anne Newman told The Independent they were not expecting to be able to release more information about the case for some time.

A tearful interview

Speaking to reporters outside her home in Leongatha last week, the mother-of-two broke down as she said she was devastated by the deaths.

I didnt do anything, she insisted.

In a separate interview this week, the mother-of-two again protested her innocence.

I lost my parents-in-law, my children lost their grandparents, she told The Australian.

And Ive been painted as an evil witch. And the media is making it impossible for me to live in this town.

Erin Patterson insists her innocence (News International)

Police have said they are keeping an open mind about what happened.

I am now devastated to think that these mushrooms may have contributed to the illness suffered by my loved ones, Erin said in a statement provided to the ABC.

I really want to repeat that I had absolutely no reason to hurt these people whom I loved.

Past mystery illness

In yet another twist to the saga, it has now emerged that Erins estranged husband also reportedly once suffered a mysterious illness after eating his wifes food.

Erin and Simon Patterson separated amicably after living apart for several years, according to investigators.

But a mystery illness he suffered in 2022 is now forming part of the investigation into the poisoning.

Back in 2022, Simon allegedly spent 16 days in an induced coma after being served a meal by his wife.

Simon Patterson, estranged husband of homicide suspect Erin, reportedly fell gravely ill in 2022 after eating one of her meals. (Facebook / Simon Patterson)

According to The Herald Sun, Mr Patterson detailed the health scare in a post on Facebook,

I collapsed at home, then was in an induced coma for 16 days through which I had three emergency operations mainly on my small intestine, plus an additional planned operation, Mr Patterson wrote.

My family were asked to come and say goodbye to me twice, as I was not expected to live.

Experienced foragers

Speaking to The Independent last week, local mayor Nathan Hersey told of the utter shock, disbelief and grief reverberating throughout their close community and more widely in the wake of the tragedy.

Im hearing from people regularly about their shock and disbelief and how theyre coming to terms with such loss, he said. People so well connected, loved and respected in the local community have been struck down and died so suddenly.

Mushroom foraging is popular in the area even though theres risk involved, said Mr Hersey, adding that a lot of people would know what theyre looking for.

A friend of Erins told the Daily Mail this week that Erin and her family were all experienced mushroom foragers in the Gipplands area around her hometown.

In the ensuing fallout from the deaths, the Australian Mushroom Growers Association (AMGA) has also defended its supply chain and said there was no way poisonous mushrooms would be found on any commercial farms.

This fungus only grows in the wild, the association said. Commercial mushrooms are grown indoors in environmentally controlled rooms with strict hygiene protocols and food safety standards.

Erin Patterson sobs in interview (News International)

The only mushrooms you can be sure are safe are fresh, Australian-grown mushrooms bought from a trusted retailer.

As the community reels from what has happened, the Patterson and Wilkinson families said in a statement in a local newspaper on Sunday that they were grateful to our wider communities for their outpouring of love, support, and prayers.

This support extends not only to those we have tragically lost but also to our family member who continues to bravely fight for his life in the hospital, they added.

Mr Hersey said he had personally met the Wilkinsons, describing them as lovely and caring people with integrity.

He said a close friend of the couple had told him, Weve lost a real level of kindness in our community this week because of these deaths. But he added: The community is rallying around and supporting one another.

Death cap mushrooms

While toxicology reports have not conclusively proved what the three relatives died from, police have said the symptoms are consistent with death cap mushrooms.

Death caps, or amanita phalloides, usually grow up to round 15cm across and 15cm tall, have greenish caps and white stems, and are commonly fund near oak trees in summer and autumn.

The Death Cap mushroom kills 90 per cent of people who eat it (Getty Images)

The toxins are resistant to heat, so cooking does not reduce their deadly effects, and just half of one mushroom contains enough poison to kill a human being, according to the CDC.

Initial symptoms can include muscle weakness, agitation, rapid heart rate, and headaches, followed by nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps and diarrhoea.

In 2017, it emerged that 14 people had fallen ill after eating the death cap variety in California. Three required liver transplants, while an 18-month-old girl who consumed them has permanent neurological damage, according to a CDC report.

It is not yet clear if these mushrooms are the same type the victims ate at the family lunch in Victoria.

And if they are, there will be many more questions to answer.
China establishes world's largest language resource repository

Global Times) 11:49, August 18, 2023

China has established the world's largest language resource repository, consisting of over 120 languages and dialects that are being used in the world's most populous country, the Chinese Ministry of Education said Wednesday.

Speaking at a news conference held in Anyang, Central China's Henan Province, Tian Lixin, director of the Language and Information Management Department under the Ministry of Education, said that the ministry has successfully conducted investigations at more than 1,700 sites in 34 provinces, regions and municipalities, including Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

Among the most significant outcomes of the first phase of the project - officially named the Chinese Language Resource Protection Project - are three publications: Chinese Language and Culture Collection, Endangered Languages in China, and Chinese Language Resources Collection.

The Ministry of Education has also collaborated with 36 countries and regions along the Belt and Road initiative, engaging in international copyright cooperation for 38 products.

Chang Huiqin, deputy mayor of Anyang - known in China as the home of oracle bone script - said the local authority will cultivate around 100 core teachers in oracle bone script to support its integration into classrooms.

She also noted that the highly anticipated Yinxu Museum is set to open its doors in October. It is expected that the museum will open when Anyang hosts the China (Anyang) International Conference of Chinese Characters in October.

Anyang already boasts 105 oracle bone script book houses and 37 schools with oracle bone script specialties. These initiatives enable children to engage with the ancient script, and oracle bone script education has made its way into offices, communities and campuses.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
X O X night lights and GIFFEST III at National Design Centre (Photo: Critical Craft Collective and Yahoo Southeast Asia)

SINGAPORE  A violin rendition of Zubir Said's "Semoga Bahagia". An indoor roller-skating rink reminiscent of Singapore's roaring 1960s and 1970s. Dancers interpreting traditional cobblers of Waterloo Street in a roving performance.

These are some of the nostalgic sights and sounds you will experience while visiting this year's Singapore Night Festival, which runs from 18 to 26 August.

Whether it is seeing adaptations of old archival footage on screens, or a reimagined version of your favourite childhood see-saw, the 14th edition of the annual festival will be depicting Singapore's history through the use of modern technology and live performances.

According to festival director David Chew, the installations and programmes hope to celebrate Singapore's history as an international port city, as well as the communities and historical sites of worship at the Bras Basah.Bugis (BBB) precinct.

So how is Singapore's history as a trading hub showcased at this year's festival?

Reclaiming trade history and challenges

700 Years by Zizi Majid, Muhammad Izdi, Jeremie Bellot (Photo: Muhammad Izdi)

For Muhammad Izdi, the illustrator behind the National Museum projection-mapping installation "700 Years", steering people away from the perception that Singapore was "just a fishing village" was one of his goals.

With the intention of "sparking curiosity", he wanted to showcase Singapore's history pre-dating the arrival of Stamford Raffles.

Playwright Zizi Majid, who came up with the script for the installation, told Yahoo Southeast Asia that the research process was "really deep and intense".

"I spent the most time looking at the book, 700 Years: A History of Singapore, written by Kwa Chong Guan, Derek Heng, Peter Borschberg and Tan Tai Yong," she said.

"The book examines in great depth key events and the activities on this island from the 13th Century and the great role it played as a port city from that time."

The team of three, alongside French digital artist Jeremie Bellot, had to digest the long history of Singapore documented by historians. It was published in 2020, and sought to debunk the commonly held narrative that Singapore was a sleepy fishing village prior to Raffles arrival in 1819.

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Key considerations include presenting something familiar and accessible for contemporary audiences, and identifying which paintings would translate well as projection mappings on the building.

Another artist, Ashley YK Yeo, included a trading vessel from the 1960s to weave in mythology qualities of Singapore's trade history in her work Birth in Bloom, which is located at CHIJMES.

"I was looking at our linear history from the 14th Century, and thought its really incredible how Singapore has come a long way to acquire the status it has today," she said.

Yeo focused on presenting a "celebratory atmosphere" in her animation on the evolution of Singapore.

She acknowledged that the research that went into her work was important in helping her understand the significance of how Singapore came to be where it is now.

"The past wasnt all that wonderful with its racial conflicts and violence that came with historical monumental moments."

Artist Impression of Birth in Bloom by Ashley YK Yeo (Photos: Ashley YK Yeo)

Nostalgia and connecting with our past

To go back in time, the public can visit highlight act "Time is a Black Circle" by local artist Dawn Ng at the National Museum.

The act is an indoor roller-skating rink playing famous hits of the past from the likes of The Beatles, and is a tribute to the live disco scene of the BBB precinct in the 1960s and 1970s.

Other nostalgic elements in the festival include familiar musical tracks contemporarised by solo violinist Ismahairie Putra Ishak at the National Museum, and photos of Singapore's BBB precinct from the 1960s and 1970s at Waterloo Street.

'Time is a Black Circle' and Waterloo Street Stories (Photos: Yahoo Southeast Asia)

"Nostalgia is a reflection of our emotional view of the past, and so we should be responsible in making that sense of the past as accurate as possible," added Zizi.

She added that the team behind "700 Years" wanted audiences to be empowered to "see history through a new lens" and that the work was a "reclamation of our history".

"It was important that we did not use nostalgia to a maudlin effect," she added.

Zizi underlines the need for artists to listen, archive and weave historical narratives into the art they create. In connecting with the past, people can connect with one another, and share common ground as a community.

"In seeding a strong nostalgic past together, we can propel forward better because we know what our strengths are as a community."

How current day Singapore might be depicted in art 50 years from now

Half a century from now, Yeo predicts that Singapore will continue to be a financial hub for major players in finance and business development.

She envisions more futuristic elements like "technology" and "clinical aesthetics" taking priority in historical art pieces that might be on display in a festival 50 years into the future.

As a big advocate for celebrating the Singapore cannon, Zizi hopes that contemporary local artists of today will be included in future festivals. These include those in the field of visual arts, music and performers.

"I think celebrating our artists is key to centering who we are as a community and society," she said.

Singapore Night Festival 2023 will showcase four projection mappings, 12 installations, two roving performance locations, two experiential programmes, one stage performance, nine partner programmes, and three festival villages.

It runs from 18 to 26 August. Full details of the festival can be found on their website. Entry to the festival is free, although some programmes are ticketed.
Last week, I wrote about how much fun it is to get in your car and drive far away from the Quad-Cities. THIS week, I should probably be fair and tell you about a couple of upcoming events that are fun to do IN the Quad-Cities.

Will these events be a hoot? I can't guarantee it, but I'll go with a confident "most likely!" Is this little more than shameless self-promotion for events directly involving me and/or my friends? Maybe. Is that kind of unfair? Perhaps. But do I have a newspaper column and you don't? Nanny nanny boo boo.

This weekend is the return of Alternating Currents, the Quad-Cities' annual music, arts, and comedy festival  30-plus venues around town will be hosting more than 100 live performances in one weekend.

The air will be exploding in rarified sound for the next couple days, including some don't-miss performances. Friday night brings Chicago's Smoking Popes to town, a band who rocketed to acclaim after their song "Need You Around" was featured in the movie "Clueless." The Made Indie Market AND the Beaux Arts Fair will be happening in conjunction with the festival. Floatzilla will be launching from Main Street Landing, soundtracked by my buddy, DJ Buddha. There's a great band called Dendrons playing inside Ragged Records on Saturday. Download the Alternating Currents app for all the details and the full schedule.

But, of course, my favorite part of Alternating Currents is the annual Silent Disco, which will be in the Davenport Skybridge this weekend. That's right, they'll be turning our favorite bridge to nowhere into the world's quietest dance party. If you haven't been to a silent disco, they're ridiculous and fun. Each night, three DJs will be spinning records from 9 to 11 p.m. But they won't be amplified. There's nary a speaker to be found.

Instead, everyone who shows up at the event gets a pair of glowing headphones. Instead of powering a speaker, the DJs will instead be broadcasting directly to your wireless headphones. The phones allow you to easily switch between the three DJ feeds, so if there's a tune you don't like, you can just click over to a different DJ. Put the headphones on, and beats will be flying all night. Take the headphones OFF and the Skybridge will be as quiet as a library.

And yep, as you may have guessed, yours truly is scheduled to be one of those DJs on Saturday night. This will be my third year engaged in quiet DJ battle, and it's never failed to be a silly good time. Come down, shake a tail feather, and bask in the awkwardness of watching me interact with other humans. It's a big time.

But if you don't come out to see ME on Saturday, you should DEFINITELY head out next Thursday the 24th in support of one of the greatest human beings to ever reside in these fair cities. If you're lucky in life, you may get to know some people who are innately good. But if you're EXTRA lucky in life  like, four-leaf clover and winning the Lotto kinda lucky  you might get to know a few people who are truly great.

Janos Horvath is one such great person. John (to his friends, and Janos to his closer friends) is nothing if not a Quad-City mainstay. You might know him from his many roles onstage with Circa '21's Children's Theatre over the years. Or you might know him from his wife Jen's store; she runs Fred & Ethel's 50's Antiques in Rock Island.

But most likely, you probably know John from his many years behind the bar at an assortment of Rock Island watering holes (Blue Cat, RIBCO, and his current home at Radikal Effect Brewerks.) But Janos Horvath is no simple bartender. Some say he's the consummate bartender. In fact, he's won "Best Bartender in the QC" so many times, he took himself out of the running just to give others a chance. He's never without a smile, never without a great one-liner, never without the ability to pour the perfect shamrock atop your pint of Guinness.

The thing about John is that he genuinely cares about pretty much everybody. He's the guy who never forgets to send you a birthday greeting, even if you haven't seen him in years. He remembers everyone's favorite drinks and favorite bands. He's one of those guys who's always there for you, whether you're a close friend or a literal stranger off the street. And now we need to be there for him.

John's had a lousy summer. In April, he fell ill with what turned out to be a rare spine-eating infection. He's endured hospital stays, a lengthy surgery to fix his back, intense rounds of antibiotics, and he's currently in isolation while his immune system tries to rebuild itself. He hasn't been able to work since April.

That's why on Thursday, Radikal Effect Brewerks is hosting John's Backbreaker Bash from 4 to 8 p.m. with 30% of all bar sales going to him, along with stuff like caricatures, hot sauce, food from Peaceful Palate, and a slew of raffle baskets bolstering the fund.

So there's my pitch. This week is yours to do with as you will. You can do what I did LAST week and flee the QC, looking for adventure. But if you stick around, you could see some great bands, dance in silence, help one of the best people in town, and maybe say hi to an awkward newspaper columnist along the way. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the weekend.
SIOUX CITY  A Sioux City man who set fire to two vehicles was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in prison.

Shaw-Keem Goodman, 28, entered an Alford plea to two counts of second-degree criminal mischief and one count of second-degree arson, which was reduced from first-degree arson as part of a plea agreement. A second count of first-degree arson was dismissed. In an Alford plea, a defendant admits no guilt, and the judge enters a guilty plea into the record.

Goodman set fire to an SUV parked inside a garage in the 1800 block of Virginia Street on June 27, 2022, and told police after his arrest he had opened the SUV's fuel cap, placed a piece of fabric by the gas tank fuel neck and set fire to it with a lighter. The vehicle sustained approximately $5,000 in damage.

He also claimed responsibility for a June 26, 2022, vehicle fire in the 2100 block of Grandview Boulevard.

Goodman was ordered to pay $850 restitution to one of the victims and an amount yet to be determined to the Iowa Attorney General's Crime Victim Assistance Division.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla.  The ex-wife of a Microsoft executive who was gunned down by a triggerman in front of his young daughter was charged with first-degree murder, and prosecutors in Florida plan to seek the death penalty.

A grand jury indicted Shanna Lee Gardner in the ambush-style death of Jared Bridegan, State Attorney Melissa Nelson announced Thursday at a news conference in Jacksonville, Florida. Gardner, 36, was arrested in West Richland, Washington, and will be extradited to Florida to stand trial, Nelson said.

"From very, very early on, everything in my body and soul told me she was behind it," Kristen Bridegan, Jared Bridegan's wife, said during the news conference.

Hank Coxe, who represents Gardner, said via email that he does not comment on pending cases.

The state also is seeking the death penalty against Gardner's husband, Mario Fernandez Saldana, who was arrested in March and charged in Bridegan's death. His attorney, Jesse Dreicer, said in an email that his client pleaded not guilty and is presumed innocent. "We are dedicated to his defense and are optimistic that when the all of the facts are made available our client will be exonerated," he wrote.

He was arrested after triggerman Henry Arthur Tenon, 62, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, court records show. He agreed to testify against Fernandez Saldana and Gardner, Nelson said.

Nelson did not say what led to Gardner's arrest or mention a motive.

"Henry Tenon did not act alone. Mario Fernandez did not plan alone. And Shanna Gardner's indictment acknowledges her central and key role in the cold, calculated and premeditated murder of Jared Bridegan," Nelson said.

Bridegan, a father of four and a software developer for Microsoft, was ambushed Feb. 16, 2022, as he was leaving a Jacksonville Beach neighborhood after dropping off twin children he shared with Gardner and returning to his home in nearby St. Augustine.

Police said there was a tire in the dimly lit street and Bridegan presumably opened his car door to move the tire. That's when he was shot multiple times as his 2-year-old daughter sat in her car seat. She was found unharmed in the car.

Gardner married Fernandez Saldana in 2018 and moved to Washington following media coverage of the case, officials said.

After the killing, she told news outlets, including the Florida Times-Union and FirstCoast News, that she wasn't involved in Bridegan's death.

A warrant for Gardner's arrest said an investigation into Bridegan's background revealed the couple had a "highly acrimonious divorce" and a "contentious relationship" with both Gardner and Fernandez Saldana.

Gardner's parents, Shelli and Sterling Gardner, issued a statement.

"Words cannot accurately express the depth of our sadness," they said. "Family is our top priority. We love our daughter and are focused on supporting her and our entire family as we help our grandchildren navigate this difficult and very confusing time. For their sake and all involved, we caution against further speculation and request privacy as the legal process runs its course."

"Shanna's arrest ends one horrific chapter of our pursuit of justice for Jared and now we open a new one," Kristin Bridegan said. "This next chapter will be excruciating.  We expect justice to be carried out to the fullest extent of the law."
LONDON  A neonatal nurse in a British hospital was found guilty Friday of murdering seven babies and trying to kill six others during a yearlong campaign of deception when she preyed on the vulnerabilities of premature and sick newborns as well as their anxious parents.

Following 22 days of deliberation, the jury at Manchester Crown Court convicted 33-year-old Lucy Letby of killing the babies in the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital in northwest England between 2015 and 2016.

"Parents were exposed to her morbid curiosity and her fake compassion," said the lead prosecutor, Pascale Jones. "Too many of them returned home to empty baby rooms. Many surviving children live with permanent consequences of her assaults upon their lives."

Her attacks, Jones said, were "a complete betrayal of the trust placed in her."

Letby was accused of deliberately harming the newborn infants in various ways, including by injecting air into their bloodstreams and administering air or milk into their stomachs via nasogastric tubes. She was also accused of poisoning infants by adding insulin to intravenous feeds and interfering with breathing tubes.

Families of the victims said they will "forever be grateful" to jurors who had to sit through 145 days of "gruelling" evidence.

In a joint statement read outside court, they also expressed their gratitude to medical experts, consultants, doctors and nursing staff who came to give evidence during the trial, which they described as "extremely harrowing and distressing" at times to listen to.

"The search for the truth has remained at the forefront of everyone's minds and we will forever be grateful for this," they said. "We would now ask for time in peace to process what has happened as we come to terms with today's verdict."

A sentencing hearing was set for Monday.

The jury of seven women and four men deliberated for 22 days before reaching the verdict. One juror was excused well into deliberations for personal reasons and the judge later gave the remaining 11 jurors the option of reaching a verdict with 10 people in agreement instead of a unanimous decision.

Letby denied all the charges. She was found guilty of the seven murders and of seven charges of attempted murder relating to six children. She was cleared of one charge of attempted murder and the jury could not reach a verdict on several others.

Some of the verdicts were announced in court earlier in the month, but the judge imposed a ban on reporting them until deliberations were complete. Letby fought back tears on Aug. 8 as the jury found her guilty of two counts of attempted murder and burst out crying as she left the courtroom. She had more recently declined to be in the courtroom as additional verdicts were announced.

During the lengthy trial, which began last October, prosecutors said the hospital in 2015 experienced a significant rise in the number of babies who were dying or suffering sudden deteriorations in their health for no apparent reason. Some suffered "serious catastrophic collapses" but survived after help from medical staff.

They alleged that Letby was on duty in all the cases and described her as a "constant malevolent presence" in the neonatal unit when the children collapsed or died. They said the nurse harmed the babies in ways that did not leave much of a trace, and that she persuaded her colleagues that the collapses and deaths were normal.

The first baby allegedly targeted by Letby was a boy born prematurely who died when he was a day old, in June 2015. Prosecutors alleged the nurse injected air into his bloodstream.

Police launched an investigation into the baby deaths at the hospital in May 2017. Letby was arrested three times in connection with the deaths before she was charged in November 2020.

Prosecutors said a note found at Letby's home after she was arrested in 2018 where she had written "I am evil, I did this" was "literally a confession."

Her defense lawyer argued she was a "hard-working, dedicated and caring" nurse who loved her job and that there was not enough evidence of her carrying out any of the alleged harmful acts.

The lawyer said the infants' sudden collapses and deaths could have been due to natural causes, or in combination with other factors such as staffing shortages at the hospital or failure by others to provide appropriate care.

He also claimed that four senior doctors pinned blame on Letby to cover up failings in the neonatal unit.

Letby testified for 14 days, denying all accusations she intentionally harmed any baby.

"I only ever did my best to care for them," she testified. "I am there to care not to harm."

She sobbed at times and defended the collection of medical records she kept at home on some of the babies in her care.

"I don't deserve to live," she wrote on a green sticky note shown in court. "I killed them on purpose because I'm not good enough to care for them."

"I am a horrible evil person," she wrote. "I AM EVIL I DID THIS."

Her lawyer defended the notes as the anguished writings of a woman who had lost confidence in herself and blamed herself for what had happened in the ward.

"One note says 'not good enough,'" defense lawyer Ben Myers said. "Who did she write that for? She didn't write that for us, the police or these proceedings. That is a note to herself. Writing for herself."
CAMP DAVID, Md.  President Joe Biden and the leaders of Japan and South Korea agreed Friday to expand security and economic ties at a historic summit at the U.S. presidential retreat of Camp David.

Their meeting and agreement come at a time when all three countries are on an increasingly tense ledge in their relations with China and North Korea.

Biden said the three nations would establish a communications hotline to discuss responses to threats. He announced the agreements, including what the leaders termed the "Camp David Principles," at the close of his talks with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

"The purpose of our trilateral security cooperation is and will remain to promote and enhance peace and stability throughout the region," they said in a joint statement.

"Our countries are stronger and the world will be safer as we stand together. And I know this is a belief that all three share," Biden said as he opened the meeting.

Biden maintained, as have US, South Korean and Japanese officials, that the summit "was not about China" but was focused on broader security issues.

Yoon noted in particular the threat posed by North Korea, saying the three leaders agreed to improve "our joint response capabilities to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, which have become sophisticated more than ever."

He said as the three appeared before reporters that "today will be remembered as a historic day, where we established a firm institutional basis and commitments to the trilateral partnership."

Japan's Kishida said before the private talks that "the fact that we, the three leaders, have got together in this way, I believe means that we are indeed making a new history as of today. The international community is at a turning point in history."

The U.S., Japan and South Korea agreed to a new "duty to consult" security pledge committing them to speak with one another in the event of a security crisis or threat in the Pacific.

The pledge is intended to acknowledge that they share "fundamentally interlinked security environments" and that a threat to one is "a threat to all," said a senior Biden administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Under the pledge, the three countries agree to consult, share information and align their messaging with one another in the face of a threat or crisis, the official said.

Biden's focus for the gathering was to nudge the United States' two closest Asian allies to further tighten security and economic cooperation with each other. The historic rivals have been divided by differing views of World War II history and Japan's colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

But under Kishida and Yoon, the two countries have begun a rapprochement as the two conservative leaders grapple with shared security challenges posed by North Korea and China.

Both leaders have been upset by the stepped-up cadence of North Korea's ballistic missile tests and Chinese military exercises near Taiwan, the self-ruled island that is claimed by Beijing as part of its territory, and other aggressive action.

Yoon proposed an initiative in March to resolve disputes stemming from compensation for wartime Korean forced laborers. He announced that South Korea would use its own funds to compensate Koreans enslaved by Japanese companies before the end of World War II.

Yoon also traveled to Tokyo that month for talks with Kishida, the first such visit by a South Korean president in more than 12 years. Kishida reciprocated with a visit to Seoul in May and expressed sympathy for the suffering of Korean forced laborers during Japan's colonial rule,

The effort to sustain the trilateral relationship won't be without challenges.

Beijing sees the tightening cooperation efforts as the first steps of a Pacific version of NATO, the transatlantic military alliance, forming against it. U.S. officials expect that North Korea will lash out  perhaps with more ballistic missile test and certainly blistering rhetoric.

The international community has its own judgment as to who is creating contradictions and increasing tensions, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Friday.

Attempts to form various exclusive groups and cliques and to bring bloc confrontation into the Asia-Pacific region are unpopular and will definitely spark vigilance and opposition in the countries of the region, Wang said.
WATERLOO  The lengthy shutdown of the U.S. economy during the pandemic was a mistake still affecting American businesses, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said Tuesday during a visit to a Waterloo manufacturer.

Grassley said the overreaction to COVID-19 beginning in March 2020 was partly the fault of the U.S. Congress. Well never make this mistake again, he said.

It was a crazy thing to do, but we panicked, Ill have to admit, he said. And then you got to spend a lot of money to get (the country) up and running.

He said a lot of that money was spent doling out checks to people, some of whom used stimulus checks to avoid getting a job.

Grassley toured Crystal Cold along with company employees of the refrigerated facility, Waterloo Mayor Quentin Hart and other community members.

Seth Gerst, an operation manager for Crystal Cold, noted the company continues to face supply chain issues that began during the pandemic. He said items that took two to four weeks to arrive in 2019 now take 10 to 40 weeks.

Grassley noted he also hears about workforce problems everywhere he goes on his annual 99-county tour of Iowa. Asked about Iowas newly loosened child labor laws meant to help alleviate worker shortages, he said while he hasnt read the bill, he supports children working as long as they work in a safe manner and it doesnt interfere with their family and schoolwork.

The law signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds in May allows 14- and 15-year-olds to work longer hours and in more dangerous jobs like industrial laundries, freezers and meat coolers.

Tom Poe, the president of Crystal Cold, asked the senator about the effect of Californias Proposition 12  which bans the sale of pork from pigs housed in cages that prevent them from turning around freely  will have on Iowa, which he deemed hog heaven.

Grassley said for most of his life, sows have lived in narrow crates to prevent the mothers from laying down on their piglets.

California figures that thats cruel to the sows, he said. So you got to have these 24-by-24 square foot crates.

He said that California makes up 13% of the national market for pork.

So for Iowa being the number one pork producing state, losing market in California would be very difficult, he continued.

Iowas senior senator also was asked about the potential for limiting foreign ownership of farmland. Becky Poe, wife of Tom Poe, said as a third-generation farmer she is worried by the issue.

Grassley said when Congress returns in September, he expects some action on legislation prohibiting people from China, North Korea, Iran and Russia from buying land in the U.S. He said he believes Chinese interests own 440,000 acres in the U.S.

I think if theyve already purchased it, we wont do anything with that, he said. Itd just be in the future.

Another Crystal Cold worker asked the senator about Iowas energy future. Grassley said the U.S. goal of converting completely to electric cars by 2035 would cost Iowa of 43,000 ethanol jobs. He said he supports alternative energy and believes climate change is problematic, but said there should be more focus on Chinas emissions. According to articles from CNN and Reuters, China is the worlds largest emitter of greenhouse gases.

Grassley also weighed on Iowas governor potentially becoming a vice president pick. Grassley said Reynolds can do more for Iowa as governor than as a vice president. He quoted John Garner, vice president under Franklin D. Roosevelt, who said being a vice president isnt worth a cup of hot spit.

As for backing a presidential candidate, Grassley, along with other Iowa leaders such as Sen. Joni Ernst, has taken a pledge to not endorse anyone to make sure Iowa keeps its first-in-the-nation caucus status.

Asked about former President Donald Trumps fourth criminal indictment, Grassley said he didnt know the details since the story just broke Monday. He did, however, provide extensive comments on the investigation into President Joe Bidens son, Hunter Biden.

A special counsel was named as part of the ongoing investigation into Hunter Bidens business dealings while President Biden was vice president. Republicans in the House of Representatives have launched investigations into Hunter Bidens engagements in China and Ukraine.

Grassley said money allegedly given to Hunter Biden from those countries has not been tied to President Biden.

(President Biden) may have been using his influence as the vice president to bring about some of these things, he said. But theres nothing I can say that the president has done wrong now.

Grassley recently released an unclassified Federal Bureau of Investigation record describing an alleged bribery scheme involving President Biden and a Ukrainian energy executive. FBI officials have said releasing that document could jeopardize other FBI investigations and the trust of confidential sources while endangering U.S. intelligence agents. Grassley said the American people deserved a chance to read this document for themselves, without the filter of politicians or bureaucrats.

Democrats criticized Grassley for publishing raw intelligence data, accusing him of selectively highlighting uncorroborated information to hurt the president.

It is remarkable that congressional Republicans, in their eagerness to go after President Biden regardless of the truth, continue to push claims that have been debunked for years, White House spokesperson Ian Sams said in a statement responding to the release. Its clear that congressional Republicans are dead-set on playing shameless, dishonest politics and refuse to let truth get in the way, Sams said.

Photos: Sen. Grassley at Crystal Cold, Aug. 15, 2023 081523jr-crystal-grassley-4 081523jr-crystal-grassley-1 081523jr-crystal-grassley-2 081523jr-crystal-grassley-5
State, city and county food inspectors have cited Iowa restaurants and stores for hundreds of food-safety violations during the past four weeks, including unsanitary kitchens, expired food and a lack of running water.

One popular eastern Iowa restaurant was repeatedly cited for unsanitary kitchen conditions, prompting a county inspector to warn the management that additional violations could result in the business being shut down. At a small, northeast Iowa cafe, an inspector found eggs from a home-based chicken operation that were contaminated with feces. The inspector also reported finding pork livers marked not for sale.

In addition, a central Iowa buffet was cited for numerous new violations despite a history that includes rodents, ants, mold and chicken that was adulterated with a disposable glove mixed into the food.

The findings are reported by the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing, which handles food-establishment inspections at the state level. Listed below are some of the more serious findings that stem from inspections at Iowa restaurants, stores, schools, hospitals and other businesses over the past four weeks.

The state inspections department reminds the public that their reports are a snapshot in time, and violations are often corrected on the spot before the inspector leaves the establishment. For a more complete list of all inspections, along with additional details on each of the inspections listed below, visit the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing website.

Steak & Shake, 5229 Elmore Ave., Davenport  During a July 27 visit, a Scott County Health Department inspector cited the restaurant for numerous areas throughout the facilitys kitchen that had a buildup of grime, soil, dirt and food debris. The inspector made specific note of the interior of the microwave oven, the interior of both reach-in freezers, the interior shelving of the walk-in cooler, the dispensing nozzle of the whipped cream machine, and numerous condiment bottles that were placed in a clean-storage bin. All surfaces require additional cleaning, the inspector reported.

The inspector also reported that the eaterys dishwashing machine was not properly sanitizing items either through heat or chemicals. Several pans of noodles prepared earlier in the week were found in the walk-in cooler without any date markings to ensure freshness and safety. Also, spoons used for milkshake preparation were stored in glasses of standing water at room temperature and needed to be washed, rinsed and sanitized. The inspector noted that refrigerator doors, kitchen floors, cooler fans, faucet handles, drawer fronts, shelves and the ice cream machine, as well as a flavor-burst dispensing system, had a buildup of grime.

All equipment requires additional cleaning, the inspector reported. The visit was in response to a complaint regarding a lack of working restrooms. In her report, the inspector didnt indicate whether the complaint was deemed verified but stated that the restrooms are now in working order.

On Aug. 7, the inspector returned to the restaurant and cited the business for additional violations. Facility corrected a couple of the out-of-compliance items from the last inspection, she reported, but the majority of violations were still observed 10 days later during todays full-facility physical reinspection. Numerous areas throughout the establishment were still observed with a buildup of grime, soil, dirt and food debris  All food-contact surfaces require additional cleaning.

The inspector warned the restaurant that if the violations werent corrected by the time of the next inspection further action may be taken, up to and including closure.

Dianes Cafe, 105 E. Main St., Hawkeye  During an Aug. 15 visit, a Black Hawk County inspector cited the restaurant for having an expired food-safety certificate and noted that the person in charge appeared to be unaware of any food-safety requirements. The inspector noted that eggs had been left out on a counter unrefrigerated due to the lack of available space in the refrigerator, which was full of eggs from a home-based chicken operation. The eggs were unwashed and had excessive fecal debris on them, the inspector reported.

The cafe was also making use of home-canned vegetables for customers meals, and there were pork livers marked not for sale inside one refrigerator. In addition, there was potato salad, melon slices, pasta salad and other items that were time sensitive but had no makings on them to indicate the date of preparation or the date of expiration.

Also, there were two roasting pans of cooked beef knuckles, and a pan of meatloaf or some other dish that had been left sitting out with no temperature control. The fryer and the kitchen shelves were described as dirty, as were the walls and the floors behind the grill. The establishment is using a lot of self-canned foods, the inspector reported, adding that the rings on the cans are very rusted. Multiple badly dented cans  which can lead to food being contaminated with high-risk bacteria  were found on the shelves, having been purchased from a local discount store.

Louis Brothers Family Style BBQ, 3315 Vine Ave., Sioux City  During an Aug. 15 visit, an inspector from the Siouxland District Health Department cited the management of this food truck for preparing food at home in an unlicensed facility. The inspector also noted that the food truck had no certified food protection manger on staff as required. In addition, there was no hot water available in the food truck. The staff told the inspector that food  including funnel-cake mix, coleslaw and pork butt  was prepared and stored at home inside a private residence, with the meats cooked on a smoker and then cooled at home in a freezer.

At that point, the owner arrived and told the inspector that all of the food was prepared on site, in the food truck, and his staff did not know the facts of the situation. The inspector reported that he discussed the matter with the owner who agreed to discard all of the food that had been prepared off site. Containers of pork butt, pulled pork and funnel-cake mix were discarded due to product being prepared in home, the inspector reported.

The inspector also noted that the floor, where food was being stored, was visibly soiled with dirt and debris, as were the shelves, and the report of the most recent inspection of the food truck was not posted. Due to history of violations, and violation of duties of the person in charge, the establishment will be required to obtain a certified food protection manager by February 2024, the inspector reported.

Sweet Carolines, 316 Main St., Ames  During an Aug. 15 visit, a state inspector cited the establishment for holding several food products, including steak sauce and pickled onions, longer than the maximum of seven days. The inspection was tied to an illness complaint that was deemed unverified.

Hy-Vee Foods, 3285 Crosspark Road, Coralville  During an Aug. 14 visit, a Johnson County Public Health Department inspector cited the store for failing to hold all refrigerated foods at 41 degrees or colder. The inspector reported crab that was measured at 47 degrees, spicy shrimp that was 46 degrees, and salmon that was 46 degrees, all of which were discarded.

The inspector also noted that a portion of the sushi cooler was unable to hold foods below 41 degrees and the food thermometer at the Hy-Chi station, for Chinese food, was not functioning. In addition, the water heaters used to supply the kitchen and bakery with hot water for the high-heat dishwashing machines were not able to provide any hot water at the time of the inspection. The inspector also noted that only one page of the previous inspection report was posted for customers to read.

The visit was in response to an illness complaint involving a customer who claimed to have become sick after consuming a meal at the store. The inspectors report gives no indication as to whether the complaint was deemed verified, but the inspector noted the manager was unaware of the complaint, there had been no ill employees and no loss of power or water around the time of the complainants food purchase.

Gringos Cafe and Catering, 210 3rd Ave., Cedar Rapids  During an Aug. 14 visit, a Linn County Public Health Department inspector observed employees failing to wash their hands and saw one employee chopping cooked chicken that was prepared the previous evening and which was measured at 56 degrees room temperature. The inspector also made note of cooked taco meat and other cooked food items that were stored in zip-closure bags with no date markings to ensure freshness and safety  a repeat violation.

Jesses Mart, 412 E. Locust St., Davenport  During an Aug. 14 visit, a Scott County Health Department inspector cited the store for failing have an active person in charge to ensure proper cooking temperatures are achieved.

The inspector reported that fryer baskets had an excess of food debris in them, the tongs used to place hot food items on plates were soiled from the previous days food service; the Pepsi soda machine and the chute where ice is dispensed each had an excess buildup of grime, and there were no paper towels at the sink designated for handwashing.

Also, windshield-wiper fluid was stored directly above beverages; there was no thermometer on hand to measure the internal cooking temperature of food; several boxes of seasoned breading were stored on the ground in the back kitchen; there was no test kit on hand to measure the concentration of sanitizing solution used in the kitchen; the doors of the stainless steel cooler were soiled with an excess of food debris, and the fryer filters were soiled with an excess of grease buildup.

The inspector reported that the visit was in response to a non-illness complaint, but its not clear whether the inspector determined the complaint was verified.

Valentina Mexican Food Truck, 301 W. Broadway St., Eagle Grove  During an Aug. 14 visit to this food truck, a state inspector found the person in charge was unable to demonstrate any knowledge of safe-food practices. In addition, the inspector reported that the food truck staff was unable to wash, rinse or sanitize any dishes in the unit due to the absence of running water. This also meant the food handler was unable to wash their hands when changing tasks, the inspector reported.

Also, the inspector observed cooked ground beef sitting on raw meat, which resulted in the cooked meat being discarded, and there were no thermometers available on the food-prep table or in the refrigerator. Due to the risk created by the lack of running water, the food truck staff agreed to temporarily shut down operations until water service was restored.

African General Grocery Store, 1411 Pierce St., Sioux City  During an Aug. 11 visit, a Siouxland District Health Department inspector noted that the staff is not washing any dishes. The dishwashing sinks were covered and blocked with personal debris items, the inspector reported. In addition, the inspector noted that the packaged butter offered for sale had no labels or identifying information on it and the store had no invoices or receipts to indicate its origin. The staff said only that the butter came from Minnesota. It was discarded during the inspection.

Hy-Vee Foods, 802 S. Center St., Marshalltown  During an Aug. 11 visit, a state inspector cited the store for storing raw hamburger patties and raw bratwurst over ready-to-drink lemonade and tea, and storing raw ground turkey and raw chicken over bacon and raw pork, creating a risk of cross-contamination. In addition, the whole chickens displayed in a rotisserie-style, hot-holding case were measured at 125 to 127 degrees, which was not hot enough to ensure safety.

Also, there were multiple pans that had a buildup of food debris on them, despite being stored on a shelf designated for clean items. The inspector noted that some clean items were being stored near a garbage can where food and debris were discarded, and there was frost buildup on packages of food in the walk-in freezer. Also, clean equipment and utensils were being stored adjacent to soiled equipment and where they were exposed to overspray from the sinks and dishwashing machine.

La Finca, 916 W. 2nd St., Davenport  During an Aug. 10 visit, a Scott County Health Department cited this restaurant for 18 violations, an extraordinarily high number. Among the issues: Mouse droppings were found throughout the facility, including the storage area and the interior of cabinets near the cash register; employees were not properly washing their hands and were observed handling homemade tortilla shells with their bare hands, and raw chicken was stored in a pan directly on top of another pan holding beef, creating a risk of cross-contamination.

Also, several pans of tamales were stored on the floor of a walk-in freezer; several boxes of tortilla chips were stored on the ground in a rear storage room; steak, chicken, pork, and chorizo meats used for tacos were left sitting out at room temperature, at 56 to 80 degrees after being cooking earlier that same morning; and a large pot containing pork that was cooked several hours earlier was left sitting out at room temperature, with the pork measured at 80 degrees.

Also, a large pan of ground beef prepared the previous day was in a cooler holding at 45 to 47 degrees and had to be discarded; a cooler in the meat department was holding products at 43 to 50 degrees, which was too warm to ensure safety; refried beans in a large stock pot were holding at 43 to 44 degrees and had to be discarded; the interior of the meat cooler had a buildup of food debris and soil; the interior of another cooler was soiled with excess food debris, and a separate cooler was soiled with raw chicken juice.

The manager reported that the meat grinder was typically used in the morning but not cleaned until that same evening, and a food dicer was stored on a shelf with leftover bits of raw fish clinging to it.

In addition, a pan of potato and chorizo mixture was stored on top of a crate in the kitchen beside an open trash can; several pieces of equipment  including a meat grinder and tortilla press  had duct tape on them, making them difficult to sanitize; there was no hot water available at the kitchen handwashing sink or at the hand sink in the mens restroom, and the storage-room floor was soiled with food debris and dirt.

The visit was in response to an illness complaint from a customer who claimed to have become sick after eating at the establishment. The inspectors report does not state whether the complaint was deemed verified. Due to the number of violations, a risk-control plan was developed between the facility and the health department to address any long-term issues.

In October 2022, inspectors noted the person in charge at the restaurant was unaware of how to sanitize and the need to do so. At that time, the business was also cited for a pan of cow intestines that measured 89 degrees roughly 11 hours after it was placed in a cooler. The inspector also noted the presence of house-made sauces that were expired or had inaccurate labels as to their date of preparation, with the staff explaining that they just wrote numbers on the labels. The inspector also made note of the presence of cockroach-like insects in the kitchen.

International Buffet, 901 E. Euclid Ave., Des Moines  During a July 21 visit, a state inspector cited the eatery for 11 violations, an unusually high number. The inspector reported that he watched as the owner picked up a soiled cutting board with an ant crawling on it and rinsed it with water, using no soap or sanitizing solution, and then returned the board to a table for cutting raw chicken.

The inspector also noted a buildup of mold on the ice-dispensing chute near the soda fountain and a buildup of debris on a food-preparation table. Cooked noodles made the previous day had yet to cool to 41 degrees or colder and had to be discarded; multiple cooked meats were measured at 115 to 130 degrees and were discarded; the dishwashing machine had no measurable amount of chlorine sanitizing solution in it, and the handwashing sink in the kitchen was obstructed with items stored in the basin.

Also, cooked zucchini fritters on the buffet were measured at 108 degrees and were discarded; raw frozen chicken was left to sit in standing water; there was no probe-style food thermometer on the premises; ants were observed on a cutting board near the rear door, and customer restrooms were not equipped with soap.

Last October, the state inspector concluded the person in charge was not fulfilling their duties as evidenced by the extent of the violations found at that time. At the buffet line, a cooked dish with shrimp, vegetables and imitation crab was visibly adulterated with what appeared to be spoilage, the inspector reported, adding that the interior of several salt-shakers on dining room tables were soiled with what appeared to be foreign debris. Inside a cooler, the inspector found a container of chicken adulterated with a disposable glove mixed into the food.

On the buffet line, several foods  including General Tso chicken that was measured at 120 degrees, chicken wings that were measured at 97 degrees, and cooked mushrooms that were measured at 100 degrees  had to be pulled from the line and reheated to at least 165 degrees. Several cold items, including raw shrimp, cooked seafood and cut lettuce, were too warm and had to be discarded.

Multiple flying insects, including what appeared to be flies and gnats, were observed throughout the facility  specifically, they were concentrated around the dining room beverage station area and the kitchen soda fountain area, the inspector reported, adding that the underside of the buffet tables were visibly soiled with what appeared to be rodent droppings. There was what appeared to be a dead rodent behind the water heater, the inspector added.

Inspections in November 2022, February 2023 and May 2023 resulted in additional violations.

Cellar 19 Wine & Deli, 425 2nd St., Cedar Rapids  During an Aug. 9 visit, a Linn County Public Health Department inspector noted that one cooler was holding food  including cooked potato, feta cheese, artichoke dip, chicken and hummus  at 45 degrees to 56 degrees, which was too warm to ensure safety. The food was discarded. Also, some food items had expiration-date markings that indicated they should have already been discarded  including cooked meatballs that were dated July 31, sliced deli beef that was dated July 27, and potato salad that was dated July 17.

Mongolian Buffet, 1620 S. Kellogg Ave., Ames  During an Aug. 9 visit, a state inspector noted that the grilled salmon was in a hot-holding unit at 113 degrees  not warm enough to ensure its safety  and had to be discarded. Also, there were numerous refrigerated foods that were well above the 41-degree maximum temperature, such as sprouts held at 62 degrees, tomatoes held at 58 degrees, corn held at 63 degrees, an egg mix held at 44 degrees, and chocolate pudding held at 55 degrees.

All of the food that was prepared more than four hours prior and was still holding at 42 degrees or warmer was discarded. The visit was performed after inspector received an illness complaint of some unspecified nature. The inspector deemed the complaint to be unverified.

1st & Main, 101 Main St., Dubuque  During an Aug. 8 visit, a City of Dubuque inspector cited the establishment for having no certified food protection manager on staff. He also noted that one of the coolers was holding food above the 41-degree maximum intended to ensure food safety, with chicken wings measured at 52 degrees and potato salad measured at 48 degrees. All of the food in the cooler was discarded. The inspector also noted that the cooked chicken, taco meat, pork, and sausage in one cooler were not marked with any dates. The items were discarded.

Hy-Vee Foods, 1201 12th Ave., Le Mars  During an Aug. 7 visit, a Siouxland District Health Department inspector cited the store for rotisserie chickens that were in a hot-holding case and which measured 119 to 124 degrees, which was not warm enough to ensure safety. The chickens were discarded.

The inspector also made note of sliced watermelon and shredded leafy greens that were held at 44 to 52 degrees, above the 41-degree maximum, and ice chutes in the customer self-service area of the convenience store that were visibly unclean.

A cooler in the convenience store had water dripping onto egg cartons and butter containers, and the leak also was leaving water on the floor behind the cooler. The inspector noted a buildup of some unspecified nature that had accumulated on various surfaces and along floors throughout the establishment.

Sol Agave, 721 E. 1st St., Grimes  During an Aug. 3 visit, a state inspector cited the restaurant for the lack of food-safety certification; a lack of cold water at a handwashing sink; a refrigerator that was holding food at 56 degrees rather than the maximum of 41 degrees, and ranch dressing that was dated July 21 and salsa that was dated July 23, both of which were past their expiration date.

The inspector also reported the lack of a food thermometer, and flies that were observed on both the main level and the basement. The inspector also made note of the basement ceiling where insulation and wires were left exposed, water that was pooling on the floor of a walk-in cooler, and a buildup of a black substance on the floor and walls of the basement. This visit was a pre-opening inspection triggered by a change in ownership. The application for a new license was not approved.

Caseys General Store, 316 2nd Ave., West Bend  During an Aug. 2 visit, a state inspector found that the temperature inside a cooler used by the staff for food preparation was 60 degrees and several food items had to be discarded, including deli turkey that was measured at 51 degrees, pizza ham that was measured at 51 degrees, and sausage that was measured at 47 degrees. Also, the soda-dispensing nozzles and the underside of the soda dispenser around the nozzles were visibly soiled. In addition, the handwashing sink in the kitchen was being used to store items.

The inspection was performed in the wake of a non-illness complaint alleging contaminated equipment. The manager indicated they were aware of the complaint and showed the inspector how the store cleaned its dough mixer once it had been used. The complaint was deemed unverified.

La Pacifica, 211 S. 9th St., Marshalltown  During a July 29 visit, a state inspector cited the food truck for cold food items that were not kept at 41 degrees or colder to ensure safety. Cut lettuce was held at 65 degrees, sliced tomatoes were measured at 58 degrees, shredded cheese was kept at 56 degrees and cooked meat was measured at 62 degrees. All of the items were discarded.

Zaika, 3209 Henry St., Bondurant  During a July 28 visit, a state inspector determined the person in charge was not fulfilling their duties as evidenced by the extent and severity of the violations. Inside a reach-in cooler there was water dripping from a drain tube onto pans of food, and sauces and gravies prepared the previous day had yet to cool sufficiently and were discarded after they were measured at 50 degrees.

Also, raw chicken, heavy cream, string cheese and other items in the cooler were measured at 50 to 55 degrees and had to be discarded. The inspector also concluded the establishment had no date-marking procedures in place for food items held more than 24 hours. In addition, a case of frozen chicken was being thawed at room temperature, and uncovered pots of food were being stored on the floor by a handwashing sink.

Cedar Rapids Country Club, 550 27th St., Cedar Rapids  During a July 20 visit, a Linn County Public Health Department inspector cited the establishment for undated half & half in a cooler; red onion vinaigrette that was dated June 17, almost a month prior; chicken salad that was dated July 11; and sliced turkey that was dated July 11.

Hot water for one dishwashing machine was measured at less than 110 degrees and there was no detectable amount of sanitizing solution being used in the machine. In addition, a blizzard machine was marred by dried food debris, as were trays and high-touch areas in the cabana area. The visit was prompted by a non-illness complaint regarding sanitation and cross contamination, with three of the identified issues being repeat violations. The complaint was deemed unfounded.

Hy-Vee Foods, 2900 Devils Glen Road, Bettendorf  During a July 20 visit, a Scott County Health Department inspector cited the store for improper food storage, with raw eggs stored on top of buttermilk containers, hot dogs stored below raw bacon and sausage, and packaged cheese stored on top of raw bacon and sausage, creating a risk of cross contamination  a repeat violation.

The inspector also found prepared fried chicken pieces on the Hibachi grill line that measured 113 to 121 degrees, and prepared crab rangoon that measured 90 degrees, all of which were removed, sent to the kitchen, and reheated to 165 degrees. In addition, a refrigerator case containing cheesecake, cannoli and cream puffs was holding foods at temperatures between 44 and 46 degrees rather than the maximum of 41 degrees.

The inspector also reported finding a container of meat sauce in the Market Grille walk-in cooler that was dated July 4, more than two weeks prior to the inspection. The sauce was discarded. The inspector also made note of shelves in the bakerys walk-in cooler that had a buildup of soil, which was a repeat violation. In addition, bottles of chemicals were being stored above single-service food containers and crushed red pepper in the Hibachi/Italian food areas.

Through conversation with the sushi staff, the inspector learned that some of the packaged sushi products were being improperly cooled and packaged before reaching 41 degrees or colder. Also, the vents and fan covers inside the refrigerators had an accumulation of dust, the walls of the bakerys walk-in cooler had a buildup of soil, and the flooring in the bakery area had a buildup of food debris.
Rich Men North of Richmond was the first song Oliver Anthony says he ever recorded using a professional microphone. The red-bearded Virginians out-of-nowhere country hit gets a whole lot done in just three minutes. Its a working mans anthem (Ive been sellin my soul, workin all day/ Overtime hours for bullshit pay), a conservative rallying cry (cause your dollar aint shit, and its taxed to no end), and a starter kit for the conspiracy curious (I wish politicians would look out for miners/ And not just minors on an island somewhere). But while this might be the first American chart-topper to reference Jeffrey Epsteins sex crimes, Anthonys viral sensation isnt all that newfangled, either as a piece of music or a culture war grenade.

Dont be fooled by the title: The most vividly drawn villains in Rich Men North of Richmond arent rich. Lord, we got folks in the street, aint got nothin to eat/ And the obese milkin welfare, Anthony yowls in the second verse. In the next couplet, he completes the picture: Well, God, if youre 5-foot-3 and youre 300 pounds/ Taxes ought not to pay for your bags of Fudge Rounds.

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Its a potent image, one that draws on the welfare queen stereotype that oozed to life in the 1970s. I could go on for many hundreds of pages about where that trope came from and how it got deployedand I have. But if you want a primer on the musical tradition that Oliver Anthony is drawing on, all you have to do is listen to another out-of-nowhere country hit: Guy Drakes Welfare Cadilac.

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Like Oliver Anthony, Guy Drake didnt take a traditional path to music stardom. Drake was born in Kentucky in 1904 and worked as an undertakers assistant, among other odd jobs. The way he told it, inspiration struck him when he was well into middle age. One day in the mid-1960s, he was perched high above the earth, painting a radio tower, when he came upon a striking scene:

I looked down and saw this shanty that was half wood and half Holiday Inn sign with a roof made of sawmill slabs, tin cans, and pieces of linoleum. There was a litter of younguns, some of em old enough for school, without a stitch of clothes on. I didnt see any grownups. What really got me was this Cadillac parked in front of the house.

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According to Drake, when he made his way back down to the ground, he scribbled a bunch of words on a paint-can labelthe first song he ever wrote. For years after that, he said, he couldnt convince anyone to record those lyrics. But in 1969, he spent $1,500 of his own money to have a record made. Not long after that, Welfare CadilacDrake spelled it with one Lstarted motoring across the country, picking up fans and inciting outrage.

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Welfare Cadilac is less a song than a twangified spoken-word poem. In a slow Kentucky drawl, Drake describes a shack with a busted screen door and cracks in the walls: I know the place aint much but I sure dont pay no rent. But not everything is so broken down. I get a check the first of every month, from this here federal government, Drake rhymes, a hint of mischief in his voice. Every Wednesday I get commodities, why, sometimes four or five sacks/ Pick em up down at the welfare office, driving that new Cadilac.

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Drakes song hit Billboards Hot Country Singles chart in January 1970. A month later, Variety reported that 50 welfare recipients stormed into a Kansas City radio station and demanded that it be taken off the air. A few weeks after that, an Oregon welfare official sent a recorded statement to radio stations in that state. It isnt easy being poor, he said. Those who are need a helping hand, not ridicule and shame.

Guy Drake was in the ridicule business. When he performed Welfare Cadilac on television, he did it with a sly, toothless grin and a comically enormous flower on his lapel.

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Drake said that all those protesters were taking him way too seriously. I didnt write this song to make anybody mad, he told a reporter. I just wanted people to laugh, because I figured if they were laughing they wouldnt be thinking about their troubles. He also added: If they aint on welfare and dont drive a Cadillac, then I aint talking about them.

Not everyone found that argument convincing. Rolling Stone magazine called Drakes song disgustingly racist, a three-minute riff on how undeserving layabouts live high on the hog while hardworking Americans get shafted. But in 1970, a whole lot of Americans were humming Drakes tune. When a Louisville station asked its listeners to weigh in, they voted 28 to 1 in favor of Welfare Cadilac.

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Drakes most prominent supporterand his best publicistwas the president of the United States. In the spring of 1970, Richard Nixon requested that Johnny Cash play three songs during a scheduled visit to the White House: A Boy Named Sue, Okie From Muskogee, and Welfare Cadilac. When those selections became public, civil rights officials howled in protest. Meanwhile, Drakes record scales tripled, growing from 5,000 to 15,000 a day.

Cash ultimately declined to sing Welfare Cadilac for Nixon or anyone else. But Guy Drakes record, and the conversations surrounding it, just wouldnt die. Drakes record label, Royal American, released a cover version recorded by a Black blues musician, Jerry McCain. Rolling Stone was not impressed: Its identical to the original except at the end of each verse McCain lets out this big Amos and Andy knee-slapping guffaw and jives, Aint that a blessing. 

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There were also covers by white artists, a rebuttal song called About That Welfare Cadillac?, and a tune, Mortgaged Plymouth, that was billed as the taxpayers answer to Welfare Cadilac.

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At the height of the songs popularity, in April 1970, Guy Drake got tossed in a Kentucky jail. The charge: writing a bad check to buy a used car. Drake laughed the whole thing off, saying the whole thing was ancient history, and that he thought the debt had been paid. He got released quickly and started churning out new music, including an anti-peacenik anthem called The Marching Hippies.

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Related From Slate Why a Canceled Country Song Is No. 1 on the Hot 100 Read More

And theres one other that some wont like, he told Billboard. It takes a crack at people who keep on having children to draw bigger aid checks.

Im not sure if that song ever got released. But the Miami Herald reported that Drake did take to driving a 1970 Cadillac with Welfare Cadilac printed on the side. And in 1971, he announced his biggest gambit yet: He was running for president. This may be the last chance to save the country, he said.

Guy Drake was no threat to his old friend Richard Nixon. In the end, he didnt run for anything, and the papers and the public lost interest in his stunts and his music. When he died in 1984, the legacy he left behind was a song that rose as high as No. 6 on Billboards Hot Country Singles chart.

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Oliver Anthonys Rich Men North of Richmond has already soared much higher than Welfare Cadilac ever did, hitting No. 1 on iTunes, Spotify, and Apple Music. (The top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 might be next.) In some ways, Anthonys path to stardom looks a lot like Drakes. They share a blue-collar background and an us-against-them message, and theyve both drawn loads of progressive critics and high-profile conservative supporters. But listening to their songs and reading their words, I get the sense that Drake and Anthony are very different people.

Drake was a huckster and an opportunist. He gave people what they wanted to hear and laughed all the way to the Cadillac dealership. Anthony comes off as entirely sincere and genuinely angryabout rich men and Jeffrey Epstein, but especially the obese milkin welfare, people he believes dont deserve what theyre getting. Thats a message with a whole lot of resonance for a whole lot of Americans, in the 1970s and today. And that kind of resentment isnt anything to joke about.
In the concluding chapter of his new book, The Country of the Blind, Andrew Leland, a writer and audio producer, likens himself to Clov, a character from the play Endgame, who speaks the line Finished, its finished, nearly finished, it must be nearly finished. Its never a good sign when you feel like a Samuel Beckett character, but the comparison is apt. Clov is the partially blind servant of a cantankerous, fully blind man, and Leland is a partially sighted man who has written a book about blindness and blind culture. He has an inherited condition, retinitis pigmentosa, that causes the slow deterioration of the retina. He expects to be completely blind someday, but no one can say exactly when. Leland cant see well enough to drivehe is legally blind in Massachusetts, where he lives with his wife and sonand uses a cane to navigate sidewalks, but he can still see an annoyingly helpful fellow pedestrian well enough to describe her as an eccentric-looking woman in an ankle-length brown coat. He writes that he lives in an infinite endgame, a frozen twilight where Ive gone blind but still can see. Then another grain of blindness is added to the heap.

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The Country of the Blind is a familiar hybrid of genres in which a writer describes his own experience of a particular phenomenon, then expands on it by traveling around, interviewing various experts, then reflects on how what theyve told him has enlarged his understanding of his own situation. Researching the book took Leland to a convention of the National Federation of the Blind in Florida, a gallery in Manhattan showing the work of the blind painter and sculptor Emilie Gossiaux, a shop that produces audio descriptions of film and television, the Bay Area office of the principal accessibility researcher at Amazon (a MacArthur genius grant fellow), and finally to the Colorado Center for the Blind, a residential training school where students learn how to read braille, use screen readers, cook meals, sweep floors, cross busy streets, even use power saws in on-site woodshops. On that last trip, he donned sleep shades that blotted out the tunnel vision he retains so that he could practice the skills he may (or may not) need someday.

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A fluid, thoughtful writer, Leland finds plenty of fascinating insights during these journeys. Dismissing the cliche that the blind compensate for the absence of sight by developing preternatural senses of hearing, he nevertheless finds himself, behind the sleep shades in Colorado, experiencing mildly psychedelic, synesthesia-like responses to the aural landscape in the centers cafeteria. When someone brought in a toddler, the childs babbling cut through the room like washes of color. He recounts a fellow writers initially unsettling experience of using a screen reader to repeat back to him the words hed just typed. When sighted people read, the man said, they have a voice in their head. I dont have one. I havent had one for years because I never read for myself. Leland meets a sighted man who once had a job reading for a blind retired philosophy professor. He wanted someone good at reading junk mail, the reader explained, a seemingly mystifying requirement until Leland realizes that he craves the same access to trash as well as to quality: the freedom to know the unspoken on-screen URL in the TV ad for the weird fitness product that I feel ashamed of being interested in. I want to watch what everyone else is watching, even if its a soul-crushing training video, or a bad sitcom, or an ad for paint.

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At heart, The Country of the Blind is a book about identity, which in Lelands case is a strangely fluctuating proposition. Among blind people, he can see fairly well, but among the sighted, he is more blind than a casual observer might realize. (Encounters with suspicious strangers who accuse him of not really needing his cane are not uncommon.) Because he evidently moves in politically progressive circles, this puts Leland in the position of sometimes feeling entitled to claim a marginalized identity that brings with it a certain amount of rhetorical authorityhe can be indignant over patronizing remarks made by sighted peopleand at other times obliged to mince around the minefield of contemporary identity discourse.

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In chapter titled The Male Gaze, for example, Leland describes the way his impending blindness complicates his feelings about his masculinity and sexuality. He plays this delicately and partly for laughs, musing about how ineffectual hed be at protecting his family in the event of a zombie apocalypse. A book he found more terrifying than any episode of The Walking Dead, easily the scariest book Ive read is a memoir by the Australian theologian John Hull, who also lost his vision in midlife and meticulously recorded the effect of this on his emotional landscape. Hull described a dampening of his libido after he became unable to see, as well as a nagging, guilty curiosity about what the women he met looked like. Leland himself, when asked the irritating question of what he will most miss when his vision goes, used to joke by first listing artistic and natural wonders, then adding, and butts, sheathed in that modern denim that somehow stretches like yoga pants.

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The joke, Leland reports, never went over well, so he stopped telling it. The male gazehis professor wife reminds him, as he strives to disentangle what seems like a legitimate sense of loss from some sort of privileged transgressionfixes women in an acquisitive, objectifying light, and its from this kind of entitled, invasive looking that systemic violence arises. True enough, but it is fully possible to appreciate the desirable appearance of other people without being a dick about it. Theres an intractable sadness running through this chapteras well as some unexplored aspects of male sexualitythat Leland can only pass over on his way to the safer territory of discussing how, when on trial, notorious sexual predators like Bill Cosby attempted to use their own visual impairment as proof that they were not virile enough to commit those crimes.

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As a writer, Leland is more cerebral than sensual, so its frustrating when his ability to fully examine his experiences and ideas feels a bit hemmed in by this fear of stepping out of line. The sweet spots in The Country of the Blindand there are lots of themcome when his efforts to comprehend something intellectually tips him over into unexpected emotion. As someone who has always looked at art with a cooler eye, as something that was interesting to talk and think about, he surprises himself by tearing up at Gossiauxs drawing of guide dogs dancing around a white cane as if it were a maypole. (She draws by touch, using crayons and a rubber mat.) She had found joy in aids that hed previously regarded with a muted dread.

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The historical passages in The Country of the Blind are less compelling, with the exception of a chapter on the birth of the disability rights movement in Berkeley that zips and sizzles with the marvel of human ingenuity and resourcefulness. Even the saga of the National Federation for the Blindan organization rich enough in feuds, scandals, and controversies to become a sort of character in its own rightis less interesting than Lelands puzzling out of his own flickering evolution. It is true that he faces great losses, chief among them the image of the beloved faces of his wife and child, but there are gains too, and he makes a convincing account of them.

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At a natural history museum, Lelands son, Oscar, describes for him an exhibit of a stuffed owl, saying, The talons are like this, and the father reaches out to feel the boys hand in the shape of a claw. The intimacy of this, and the practical necessity of walking around the exhibits hand in hand, is an experience neither of them would have had if he were sighted. It makes Leland feel as if he had unlocked a new, airy chamber in my life as a blind person. The Country of the Blind is itself such a chamber, full of riches where he had anticipated only deprivation, and with plenty of corners yet to be explored.
At first glance, President Bidens summit with the leaders of Japan and South Koreabeing held at Camp David todaymay not seem newsworthy, much less extraordinary. But in fact, its a very big deal, taking place at a tensely pivotal moment.

Though Japan and South Korea are Americas two largest allies in eastern Asia, and while both countries leaders greatly value that alliance, their relations with each other have long been bristling with mistrust.

As one sign of its significance, the summit marks the first time ever that an American president has wrangled the South Korean president and the Japanese prime minister together into a trilateral summit where they are the only participants and their common concerns form the only agenda.

The summitwhich Biden sees as crucial to weaving together a network of allies across Asiais the culmination of meetings and talks that have gone on between the leaders and their senior aides for two years. The fact that it is taking place at all reflects the progress that has been made in those years.

Yet tensions and differences remain, and even the points of accord and compromise are seen as fragiledue in part to upcoming elections in all three countries.

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The 2024 U.S. presidential election is only the most prominent political concern. Officials in Tokyo and Seoul trust Biden and know his deep commitment to alliances, but they wonder whether his successor will share that commitment. Specifically, if Donald Trump is elected again, they fearfrom watching him the first time aroundthat their progress will be wiped out, and so they are hesitant to take many political risks on their own. (U.S. allies in Europe have expressed the same concern.)

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And moving into a truly trilateral security arrangementin which Seoul and Tokyo share the same obligations to each other that they each hold with Washingtonis a politically risky step for both.

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Their mutual enmity dates back to the early 20th century, when Japan held Korea as a colony, and especially to World War II, when Japanese troops forced Korean men into slave labor and Korean women into forced prostitution. South Koreans demands for compensation and apologiesand Japans refusal to complyhave been central issues in the two countries relations.

In March, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol took the extraordinary step of compensating families of enslaved workers with local fundsthen asked Japanese companies to chip in as well. The companies did nothing, and the government in Tokyo did nothing to pressure them.

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Still, Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishidaat Bidens urgingstarted cooperating in other areas, especially in sharing intelligence, with Washington and with each other, on North Koreas nuclear and missile tests, which threaten both directly. There have been other advances, at least in discussing shared interests and concerns.

Daniel Sneider, a lecturer in international policy at Stanford University, wrote in this weeks Oriental Economist that the leadersespecially Bidenhope that Fridays summit will lock in this past years progress, in the form of official declarations and new trilateral institutions that future leaders cant easily overturn.

At a news conference on Thursday, two senior U.S. officials, speaking on background, said that the summit will institute a three-way hotline, where the leaders can speak securely and instantly, as well as a pledge to consult with one another in the event of crises affecting their interests. They also hope to make commitments on trade, cybersecurity, and nuclear deterrence.

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One of the officials, who said he has been doing diplomacy in Asia for 30 years, said the alignment between Tokyo and Seoul has never been greater. The summit will build on the rock-solid bilateral treaty commitments that the U.S. has with South Korea and Japan separatelyand try to extend these into a trilateral arrangement (all three countries committed together) where this is possible and appropriate. The other official stressed that the summit would not be heralding a formal alliance or collective-defense commitment, such as the NATO treaty binding the U.S. with much of Europe.

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Sneider, who has been writing for years on the tensions between Japan and South Korea, told me in a phone conversation Wednesday that he is encouraged by the existence of the summit and by the steps that all three leaders have taken toward making it possible. However, he also noted the fragility of the politics that produced itnoting that it wouldnt have happened at all without President Yoons electoral victory in 2022 and if South Koreas more left-wing party, which is more suspicious of Japan and holds a majority in parliament, wins the next election.

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Yoon and Kishida both face low ratings in their home countries, Kishida for Japans domestic troubles, Yoon for making overtures toward Japan that many South Koreans view as too one-sided.

Related From Slate What Biden Is Doing to Keep South Korea From Going Nuclear Read More

Sneider also noted remaining differences on crucial issues between both countries and the United States. Particularly sensitive is the status of relations with China. Biden sees the trilateral summit as, in part, forming a strengthened joint bulwark against Chinese expansionespecially at a time when China, Russia, and North Korea have formed trilateral relations of their own. However, Japan and South Korea have much closer ties with Chinain trade and investmentthan does the United States, and they have no great desire to loosen those ties.

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In an awkward moment during Thursdays press conference, the two senior officials were asked whether the new trilateral hotline and the pledge to consult would be activated if China invaded Taiwan. The officials declined to discuss specifics. However, they did say that one of the documents coming out of the summit would contain robust language on security in the South China Seawhere the Chinese navy has been expanding bases.

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It is also unclear, as of a few hours before the summit begins, whether or to what extent the three leaders will discuss nuclear deterrence. In its long-standing separate treaties with Japan and South Korea, the United States has pledged to defend each country from attack, even if doing so means using nuclear weapons. Biden hopes to incorporate this assurance into the trilateral security arrangement with both countries, but officials in South Korea and Japan are reluctant to be drawn into a war that involves the other country but not themselves.

One of the senior officials said Thursday that the three leaders at the summit will engage in the task of doing whats possible and whats appropriate. Its not entirely clear what all that does and does not include.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appealswhere law goes to die, as Mark Joseph Stern previously put ithas made a new abortion pill ruling that targets patients directly.

This ruling wont have any immediate impact because the Supreme Court issued a stay earlier this year until it has the chance to rule on the issue. Still, the 5th Circuits ruling is troubling. This case has nothing to do with protecting women, but rather ending abortion at pregnant peoples expense, David S. Cohen, Greer Donley, and Rachel Rebouche write.

The ruling also gives us some insight into how conservatives are adjusting their anti-abortion strategy, Mary Ziegler writes. She argues that it represents conservatives best guess that the Supreme Court is going to go much further than it did in Dobbs in limiting abortion at a national leveleven if not necessarily in this case.

Plus: David Coale explains how the 5th Circuit is learning from past Supreme Court smackdowns.

Mauis imposible choice

A bitter conflict is defining the islands recovery from the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century. Shirin Ali takes a closer look at whats at stake as Lahaina rebuilds.

Plus: Did an aging electrical grid, a failed warning system, and an overstretched fire department contribute to the fires devastating toll? What Next asks: Who failed Hawaii?

ChatGPTs climate consequences

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Theres an angle to the A.I. arms race that were not talking about enough: the potentially disastrous consequences for the climate, Nitish Pahwa writes. He breaks down why tools like ChatGPT use so much energy.

I beg your pardon?

Trump cant escape the charges he faces in Georgia with a pardon. The states rules around pardon power cut off any escape hatch for Trump and his co-defendants, Adam Gershowitz writes. But what does that mean for other criminal defendants, and the larger problem of mass incarceration? He looks at the ways in which Georgias pardon rules show us both the right and wrong ways forward.

The summer of big teen feelings

The Summer I Turned Pretty is ostensibly for teensbut plenty of grown adults are secretly obsessed with the shows angsty love triangle. Heather Schwedel homes in on what makes the show so appealing.

Today, Slate  * CAN BE FOUND AT THE HOTTEST CLUBS FROM SARAJEVO TO LJUBLJANA

 much like DJ Crazy Times, alter ego of comedian Kyle Gordon, whose debut single, Planet of the Bass, is the surprise viral parody song hit of the summer. Luke Winkie spoke to Gordon about whats next for him.

Thanks so much for reading! Well be back again tomorrow.
The 18 co-conspirators indicted alongside Donald Trump this week are a strange crew.

Kenneth Chesebro apparently became red-pilled through a love of cryptocurrency. Jenna Ellis pretended to be a constitutional law expert on TV. Jeffrey Clark complained of being the victim of witches, spiritists, mediums, those with spirit animals, and Ukrainian NPCs. And Rudy Giuliani haswell, it would be impossible to recount all of the strange things Giuliani has done. And thats before you even get to the allegations about how all of these lawyers and advisers conspired with Trump to overturn the 2020 election.

But there is one co-conspirator who stands out for being particularly out of place among this motley group of lawyers and advisers to the former president: one of Kanye Wests former publicists, Trevian Kutti.

Until reports surfaced of her attempted interference in Georgia vote counting for the 2020 election, Kutti was much more of a presence in the world of fashion and celebrity than in politics. She was best known for working as a publicist for controversial artists (she worked, at one point, for R. Kelly, in addition to her time with Kanye West.) But by 2020, she was doing potential crimes for a former president, connected to him, per the criminal filing, by a group called Black Voices for Trump.

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Kuttis role in the indictment relates to the harassment of Fulton County election worker Ruby Freeman, whom some might remember as Lady Ruby, and whose testimony was played at the televised Jan. 6 committee hearings last year. (There is nowhere I feel safe. Nowhere, she testified. Do you know how it feels to have the president of the United States target you?) Freeman and her daughter, Shaye Moss, were both election workers who were featured in edited viral videos that appeared, from the perspective of conspiracy theorists, to show them pulling from a suitcase of fake ballots. (The suitcase was standard ballot boxes; a secretive USB drive they were accused of suspiciously passing between them was a ginger mint.)

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Both women, who testified in person last year, were targeted by Trump supporters who believed these virulent conspiracy theories, in part because both Trump and Giuliani repeatedly promoted them.

Related From Slate Americans Are Not Really That Divided About Donald Trumps Conduct Read More

But Republicans treatment of Freeman went beyond lies and harassment, it seems. In the weeks after the 2020 election, according to the Georgia indictment, Kutti traveled from Chicago to Atlanta in hopes of convincing Freeman to admit that she committed election fraud. Kutti appeared at Freemans house, told Freemans neighbor she was a crisis manager and was there to help, and called Freeman to warn her that she was in danger. According to Reuters, Kutti told Freeman that a high-profile individual had sent her and that if Freeman did not confess to voter fraud, in 48 hours people would come to her home, and Freeman would go to jail.

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If the allegations prove true, they amount to cruel and illegal scare tactics. And theyre all the more baffling because years ago, Kutti had been a Democratic donor and outspoken critic of Republicans and the Bush administration.

Perhaps the earliest article about Kutti, a 2003 Chicago Tribune article, noted a local controversy: Her luxury shoe store, GBani, which she opened in 1997 with her husband, had decorated its storefront with rolled-up dollar bills, white powder, and razor blades. Were comparing the spirit and concept of GBani to something that people must havean addiction, Kutti told the Tribune at the time. Were more European-based and would like to take Chicagos mentality a little further than just Midwestern.

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The next year, Kutti stoked even greater controversy with overtly political messaging. The New York Times described eye-catching window displays in a 2006 article:

Before the 2004 presidential election the storefront was filled with dismembered mannequins spattered in fake blood under an Iraqi flag and little signs saying Oil, with the headline Vote World Peace. For Black History Month 2004 there were two mannequins, one draped in white, the other in bright fabrics, under Whites Only and Colored Only signs. They one-upped that last year, placing a poster-size swastika, a Klansmans portrait and a picture of the burning World Trade Center behind the words Never Again.

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When asked about alienating potential customers, Kutti was blunt. Our customer is not the conservative Christian right, she told the Times.

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According to the paper, the high-end fashion storeit expanded from shoes into clothing and later housewareswas stocked with items that cost thousands of dollars. A bar in the store offered Champagne and caviar. Celebrities reportedly shopped at the store. Kutti later opened a second Chicago business, Trevian, which offered the same high-end fashion. She deployed the same controversial marketing tactics in her window displays there, too.

According to a 2009 interview that Kutti did with a local Chicago design blog, Kutti used her shops as a launchpad for her celebrity styling career. She claimed she had worked for Kelly Rowland and Regina King and hinted in the interview that she was being considered for a role on a Real Housewives show. Kutti has also claimed to have represented the queen of Jordan and the boxer Terence Crawford. (A spokesperson for the queen denied any involvement with Kutti in a statement to Reuters.)

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In 2017, according to Kuttis LinkedIn, she started working as R. Kellys publicist, but she ditched him a year later following the release of the BBC documentary R. Kelly: Sex, Girls and Videotapes, which explored previously aired allegations that Kelly operated a coercive sex cult. (Kelly is currently serving 31 years in prison on charges related to racketeering and child pornography.) She claimed that at that point, she began working as a publicist for Kanye West, now known by the name Ye.

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Its unclear what, exactly, radicalized Kutti and caused her shift from Bush-era critic to Trumpian conspiracy theorist. But by her own account, working for two embattled starsthe first prosecuted for sex crimes, the second a paranoid controversy magnet who has been vocal about his avowed antisemitismhad an effect on her.

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Working with Ye and Mr. Kelly truly made me understand the amount of false accusations that can be given to strong people such as Trump, she said in a recent statement to WBEZ Chicago. I am no politician and have no interest in being one. I would like to quote Ye, one of my favorite people I have worked with: The media is trying to crucify me like Im Christ. 

Kuttis first known foray into politics came ahead of the 2020 elections. While its not known if she worked on Yes long-shot presidential campaignshe supported it on social media but didnt respond to the Chicago Sun-Times questions on the mattershe did work as the campaign manager for Angela Stanton-King, a Real Housewives of Atlanta cast member who also happens to be a right-wing QAnon supporter who challenged the civil rights icon John Lewis for his seat in the House. (Lewis died in 2020 and Stanton-King lost by 85 percentage points of the vote to his replacement, Democrat Nikema Williams.) Stanton-King had previously served two years in prison on charges related to a car-theft criminal ring. Trump would later grant her a full pardon.

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Kutti also dabbled in lobbying, campaigning in 2020 for a cannabis cultivation license for a major hemp producer called Red White and Bloom. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Kutti also lodged a series of incendiary and profanity-laden attacks against Toi Hutchinson, a cannabis adviser for Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who also happens to be a Black woman. Im going to keep my knee on Toi W. Hutchinsons neck. Period, Kutti wrote on Facebook in July 2020. [She] stole every chance minorities had to access equity and prosperity in cannabis. She is a bought and paid for piece of trash, a slave and a powerless echo of those who appointed her.

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Donald Trumps 2020 campaign got behind Yes political ambitions and Stanton-Kings campaigns, giving Kutti a direct connection to the White House. On Facebook, she posted an invitation she received to a White House event for Black History Month in February 2020. In June of that year, she was photographed holding a sign at one of Trumps rallies for Black Voices for Trump.

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Trumps administration has done more for Black people than Ive seen in my adult life, and on issues that matter to me, Kutti told the Sun-Times.

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The conspiratorial mindset that Kutti shared with Yeone that was also on display early in the pandemic, when she spread conspiracy theories about COVIDappeared to kick into high gear when Trump lost the election.

At some point after Election Day 2020, according to the Georgia indictment, a white police officer and Lutheran minister from Illinois named Stephen Lee asked Harrison Floyd, the executive director of Black Voices for Trump, to speak to Ruby Freeman to discuss an immunity deal for her in exchange for her willingness to admit to voter fraud. Lee apparently believed that Freeman would only trust Black people who approached her. Floyd recruited Kutti to contact Freeman, and Kutti approached Freeman with promises to help her with crisis management. She eventually met up with Freeman and Floyd at a police department precinct in Cobb County to pressure Freeman. But Freeman did not give in.

Since then, Kutti has been even more public about her extreme and incendiary viewsmany of which, again, are based on baseless conspiracy theories. On social media, Kutti has continued to spread QAnon-adjacent speculation and falsehoods. Her Twitter account is also full of virulent, antisemitic rants.

Even as Trumps indictments pile up, Kutti has continued to project confidence in the former president and in her own righteousness. On Twitter shortly before the indictment she declared: I look forward to redeeming Black women in politics by becoming Press Secretary to the 47th President of the United States @realDonaldTrump.
The First Amendment doesnt have special caveats and carve-outs for the rich and famous or for putative presidential contenders. The same rules that govern whose speech can be restrained or punished by the state apply whether youre a criminal defendant, the Republican nominee, neither, or both. You can say what you want and need to say unless your speech falls into limited categories of exceptionsfighting words, incitement, defamationwhich are narrow and sometimes confounding in the age of social media.

The age of Trump has ushered in new challenges around what kinds of threats and inducements will serve to rile up random malcontents in a country that has become fertile ground for stochastic terror and nothing-to-lose vigilante self-help. And while we all know that sticks and stones may break our bones, most of us now know that a few well-chosen words can summon those with the sticks and the stones. It is the fear of chilling important political speech that causes us to forever slightly err on the side of letting dangerous speakers speak dangerously.

As former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney put it in her opening statement of the Jan. 6 House Select Committee, it was clear that with his words, Donald Trump had summoned the mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack. Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives for incitement of insurrection. And while the Jan. 6 committee ultimately found that there was sufficient evidence to charge the former president with assisting, aiding or comforting the insurrection, in the end neither special counsel Jack Smith nor Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis charged him with so doing. Too many charged First Amendment issues, too many nuances and complications. These charging decisions are understandable and also frustratingthe very power Trump has to stir up angry and violent reprisals is the power he seems continually granted to do so again in the future, forever citing the First Amendment and his and his enablers own plausible deniability.

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Related From Slate Rudy Giuliani Set the Legal Trap He Has Fallen Into Read More

Trumps borderline-knife-edge, too-close-to-call incendiary statements have been legion to the point we are almost numb to them. Whether it was his stand back and stand by message to the Proud Boys (the leaders of whom have since been convicted of sedition for their roles in Jan. 6) around the 2020 election, or a promise of death and destruction over an impending Alvin Bragg indictment, each archly worded call for someone to do something drastic almost manages to desensitize you to the next one. So everyone just felt kind of sleepy by the time candidate Trump was posting on Truth Social on Monday, just as the Fulton County grand jury stood ready to criminally indict him, to offer a bit of not-subtle-at-all witness intimidation.

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Trump, of course, has been emulated widely. Rep. Matt Gaetz, campaigning last weekend with Trump in Iowa, calmly told the collected attendees, Only through force do we make any change. That statement happened just days after a Utah man who had threatened to kill President Joe Biden and repeatedly baited federal officers was killed in a standoff with FBI special agents.* (He is now receiving the martyr treatment.) Within hours of the Fulton County grand jury returning an indictment against former President Trump, meanwhile, those grand jurors spent the remainder of the week being doxed, threatened, and subjected to racist taunts, as their names and addresses were shared widely on right-wing websites. On Wednesday evening, a woman in Texas was arrested for making threats against U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing Trumps federal case in D.C. It is, all of it, just words, of course, until someone is dead or arrested for mere speech. (See: the 6th, January.)

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Its hard not to compare some public figures deep and visceral fear for their own lives when certain words are spoken with the just speech defense as those words are directed at others. (See: Hawley, Josh.) Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito said last year that joining the draft opinion in Dobbs itself made the signatories the targets of assassination, and Sen. John Cornyn has argued that imposing new ethics rules on Supreme Court justices will make them so vulnerable to violent, crazy attackers that the justices should be allowed to carry guns, regardless of local restrictions, in order to protect themselves. You see, words dont kill people; ethics rules do.

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Once upon a time, we could count on U.S. leaders to avoid using inflammatory and incendiary rhetoric, either out of the fear of violent responses, or due to the magic of eventual public shaming. But we are entering a toxic moment in which political vulnerability and the prospect of legal accountability mean that whipping up your most vulnerable and suggestible followers seems more a tactic than a disgrace. Its also very much a last resort. And the just speech defense deployed in response to every criticism of every incremental call to violence has the effect of sweeping ever more incendiary language into the safe basket.

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Chutkan has already warned defendant Trump to avoid making inflammatory remarks that could taint the jury pool or intimidate potential witnesses. He responded by attacking her. In Georgia, the presumption is that a defendant may not be released on bail unless he meets an affirmative presumption that he poses no risk of intimidating witnesses or otherwise obstructing the administration of justice. A presumption Trump has already failed to meet. (See: Duncan, Jeff.) But the very same judges who would likely restrict the speech rights of a notorious shit-talking defendant like Roger Stone may nevertheless balk at muzzling a former president, especially one who is running to be a future president. The irony is lost on nobody that most of the conspiracies of which Trump now stands accused involve variations on speech acts that included threats and intimidation, lies, and bullyingthe same actions he takes up with increasingly reckless zeal on social media against the machinery of the justice system itself. And the same things that make him uniquely dangerous with every winking post about a witness, prosecutor, or judge make him all but impossible to silence: Hes a larger-than-life political figure with millions of paranoid followers, of which some subsection will do anything he asks.

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Donald Trump knows this. The courts know this. The judges who will likely tolerate ever more transgressive incitement from the former president not only know it but are likely the most obvious, agonizing targets. Judge Aileen Cannon, bless her heart, was resoundingly scolded by a federal appeals court last winter for treating a former president as different from any other criminal defendant. The irony is that the same former president is de facto going to be allowed to go much further than any other criminal defendant in his other three criminal trials precisely because, at least when it comes to the First Amendment, he is like no other criminal defendant in history.
If all goes according to plan, next week spacecraft from Russia and India will arrive at the moons south pole, an area thus far unexplored by both humans and landers. A successful landing by either country would represent a scientific first and would pave the way for future missions by these and other countries, such as the U.S. and China. Those missions will later be crewedalso a big deal, as no human has been to the moon in more than 50 years. And presumably, those crews will eventually lead the construction of lunar bases, which will have major implications both on Earth and in space.

Indeed, the lunar south pole appears to be the stage of the next space race. For practical and scientific reasons, as well as for geopolitical and astropolitical ones, this race is different from the SovietU.S. one of the 1960s. And although the U.S. isnt directly involved in either of the current south pole missions, these missions will galvanize future moon exploration and habitation. They also set the stage for a future in which, once again, the worlds space-faring powers will have a choice between competition and collaboration.

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In 1959, Russias Luna-2 became the first spacecraft to reach the moons surface, and in 1966, its Luna-9 made the worlds first successful lunar landing. Russias last uncrewed mission there, Luna-24, concluded in 1976. Nearly 50 years later, Luna-25, Russias latest lander, launched on Aug. 11. But Luna-25 isnt the only craft with the south pole in its sights. The crafts initial landing date, Aug. 23, was bumped up to Aug. 21, largely in an attempt to beat Indias moon-bound spacecraft, Chandrayaan-3, which launched in July and also has a target landing date of Aug. 23. (Indias spacecraft has taken a less direct route to the moon than Russias, in part because its carrying a bigger and heavier payload.)

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Both missions seek to land on the moons mountainous south pole, a difficult and dangerous landing spot. Because of the lack of sunlight, much of the regionwhere temperatures can drop below 300 degrees Fahrenheithas remained in endless darkness for billions of years. But hidden in this darkness could be something essential for a human future on the moon: frozen water.

NASAs Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, Indias Chandrayaan-1, and other spacecraft have observed the presence of billions of gallons of water ice in the lunar poles. But thus far, those observations have been conducted from afar. Russia and India both seek to confirm firsthand the presence of water iceand see if theres even more of it under the surface. Chandrayaan-3 will also study the moons surface, atmosphere, and tectonic activity, running at least two weeks worth of experiments. Luna-25 is scheduled to operate on the moon for a year, drilling, collecting, and analyzing samples.

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Why is ice so important? Ice leads to water, which boosts the chances of long-term lunar habitation. It could also help astronauts produce oxygen and rocket fuel. And figuring out how to mine and process water ice could pave the way not only for future lunar bases, but also for travel beyond the moon.

Related From Slate The Moon Is Headed for Chaos Read More

Space exploration is rarely just about space or science, and this is especially true for Russia. Russias war against Ukraine put its collaboration with the U.S., with whom it shares the International Space Station, on precarious footing. Last year, Roscosmos, Russias space agency, announced that it intended to pull out of that partnership in 2024though it later walked that back, saying it wanted to remain involved with the ISS until at least 2028, at which point Russias own space station could be operational.

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As Russia looks to walk away from collaborations at the ISS, its shaking hands with countries like China, which is not an ISS partner. According to the Russian News Agency, the director general of Roscosmos said that after it finishes three other pending lunar missions, it will embark on the next phasea manned mission and the construction of a lunar base with our colleagues from China. The director general also said he expect[s] many countries to join the lunar base program it intends to create with China. Its unclear who those other countries will bethough if the U.S. is not in that group, its reasonable to imagine that a Russia-China partnership might prompt the U.S. to accelerate the construction of the lunar base it already has planned on the south pole.

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And what about India? You may not think of the country as a space superpower, but it has slowly and steadily developed a cosmic presence. In 2008 India sent Chandrayaan-1 into lunar orbit, the countrys first major space milestone. Its 2014 Mars Orbiter Mission made Indias space agency the fourth to successfully guide a spacecraft into the red planets orbit. Chandrayaan-2 would have become the first spacecraft to land on the south side of the moon in 2019, but it crashed. If Chandrayaan-3 touches down successfully, India will become just the fourth country to land a spacecraft on the moon. (China became the third in 2013 with its Yutu-1 rover; the Yutu-2 rover, which landed on the moon in 2019, remains in operation.)

Although its unclear who Indias space allies might be for future missions, the country should be considered a major player in the next chapter of space exploration. Space exploration, after all, has long eclipsed the exclusive province of the U.S. and Russia. Chinas speedy and ambitious advancements in space include the operation of its own space station. All of these countries possess fierce military might, including nuclear weapons, which raises the stakes of these lunar missions. Soon, the moons south pole will be another venue for competitionor for collaboration.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
Swap some plants, get your hips moving and do a good thing for the planet. Here's what to do on the weekend of August 18 - August 20.

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Community

Planting friendship

A plant swap is a great place to get growing tips, meet new faces and, of course, gather new green friends. Visitors will have the chance to chat with plant experts and talk plant care and even get help picking their new plant. You can bring your own plant to swap for other plants, but you dont have to. Theres a chance to also bring just one plant and get more, while financially supporting the organizers with a small fee. You dont have to bring anything at all, though!

Youll find the plant swap at Oaza, Bratislava, which is a part of Stara Trznica. The event starts on August 19, at 11:00 and ends around 14:30.

Fun in colours

Kosice will be having their very own pride parade on August 26 but before that, there will be plenty of accompanying events to choose from and enjoy, starting August 19. Tabacka will be the patron of all things pride as host. Day one launches with a community lunch and a photography exhibition, followed by a string of concerts and music starting at 16:00 and ending around 2:00 in the morning. Other days will offer swaps, fashion shows, workshops, movie screenings and more.

Pretty bazaar of pretty things

Plants will not be the only thing to swap this week. The event space Pan Kralicek Priestor, Bratislava, will host a swap event of all things vintage, repurposed, upcycled and handmade - all ready to wear. Handmade clothing are available for purchase from various makers. To get a taste in swapping, you can bring clothing that you no longer wear and let others give them another try. The only rule is to bring clean, washed pieces that are not damaged. Your clothes will then be swapped for tokens that will let you trade in for pieces you want. If your clothes dont fit the rules, no need to fret, youll be able to recycle them. The entry is free of charge! Swap starts On August 19, 11:00 - 18:00.

Pride parade will be accompanied by many events. (Illustrative photo) (Source: Marko Erd, SME)

TIP: Legendary cable car in Slovakia is back in operation! Here's where to find it.

In (but not only) Ukrainian

For kids to enjoy

One of Bratislava culture centres will host an event for (not only) Ukrainian children wanting to express themselves through art and learn something new. An open-group invitation invites children to try out many types of art techniques, all under the lead of a professional designer skilled in painting, graphic creation and more. The lector is able to communicate in Ukrainian and English. It is best to check the capacity beforehand with the organizer. The activities start on August 20, at 11:00.

Humour and seriousness

Zilina will host an exhibition of drawn caricatures, humour in lines and comics from Ukrainian, Slovak and foreign authors titled Slobodni Ludia (Free People), traveling all the way from Presov. A discussion will be part of the opening. Youll be able to enjoy the atmosphere of humour and serious discussion on August 21 at 18:00, in the community centre Zahrada.

Kids will be able to let loose. (Illustrative photo) (Source: Henrich Misovic, TASR)

TIP: A sight filled with sheep, friendly guard dogs and fresh air. What to explore in Central Europe's largest ski resort?

Art

Pottery and beyond

This weekend belongs to traditional Slovak craftsmanship and craft artistry from abroad in a joined love for folk. The castle Cerveny Kamen will be full of carefully picked handmade pieces curated by authors with the help of the Slovak National Museum. More than 40 maestros of their craft will have their best work ready for visitors to enjoy or purchase.

The event does revolve around creating, but is focused on enjoying too. There will be a wine mini-festival taking place as well. The entry is free of charge and open August 19 to August 20, both days at 9:00 to 17:00

Homey festival

Zamocky park in Sered will become a place overflowing with culture, music, and people. With the festival VATA returning to the city, there will be a lot to explore. Bands Korben Dallas and Modre Hory will have concerts, you listen to them while browsing all the art and photography there. One of the big names is a Slovak photographer carrying multiple award-winning titles both Slovak and foreign. The festival wraps up with a light show which in combination with the castle walls and ruins brings a never-seen-before atmosphere. Get your tickets and be ready August 19  20 from 10:00 to midnight.

Cerveny Kamen is the home of many historical festivals. (Illustrative photo) (Source: Pavol Majer)

TIP: Central Slovakia hides a treasure and a rarity in one. Tourist stumble upon it even without knowing its value. What's so special about open air museum?

Upcoming events

August 24. Zilina. Festival of Ukrainian culture will take place as a celebration for Ukrainian Independence Day.

August 31. Kosice. Newly rising star Vojtik will have his concert at Tabacka, joined with Blue Uandi.

October 8. Bratislava. Faunia Bratislava will delight aquaristics fans with the pantheon of fish and other water-loving creatures.

video //www.youtube.com/embed/H3zUPbS64i4

BEFORE YOU GO

WHAT TO DO FOR FREE: Play, play and play. Pavilion for games travels to Bratislava and you can try it out for free.

WHAT TO BE CHEERFUL ABOUT: Slovak man brings the wonders of radio-communication to his municipality. Read about how he competes with his radio-hobby in a batch of feel-good stories from Slovakia.

WHAT TO DO IN BRATISLAVA: Nova Cvernovka is filled with life during summer. Long-term festival of summer activities Pod Palmou (Under The Palm) keeps going with fun activities.

That's it for this week. Take care, and have a restful weekend!

-Maria

Do you have any tips? You can reach Maria at maria.jurikova@spectator.sk
Following a police operation on Thursday, the Security Council will meet on Friday morning.

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Almost a week after the police charged three men, including ex-police chief and Smer politician Tibor Gaspar and oligarch Norbert Bodor, with corruption and organised crime, more men followed suit on Thursday morning.

As part of the Unravelling (Rozuzlenie) police operation, the police charged the current head of the Slovak Information Service (SIS), Michal Alac, his predecessor Vladimir Pcolinsky (who is already facing a corruption charge in another case), entrepreneur Peter X Kosc with links to SIS (alleged head of the organised crime group), and former National Crime Agency (NAKA) investigator Jan Kalavsky. Kalavsky is hiding in Bosnia. In July, he was convicted of corruption. The verdict is invalid due to appeals. Ex-SIS member Martin Ciriak was also charged on August 17. Ciriak and two police investigators from the Interior Ministrys police inspectorate were, moreover, detained (and released later).

Some of the charged men are currently on holiday and business trips.

The charges read that the men were allegedly members of the organised crime group. They were supposed to sabotage the investigation of corruption cases, said police chief Stefan Hamran. The obstruction of justice and the abuse of power by a public official were added to the list of criminal charges as well.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230818/bidens-trilateral-summit-with-south-korea-japan-aimed-at-accelerating-anti-china-policy-1112682339.html

Bidens Trilateral Summit With South Korea, Japan Aimed at Accelerating Anti-China Policy

Bidens Trilateral Summit With South Korea, Japan Aimed at Accelerating Anti-China Policy

An international relations expert told Sputnik on Wednesday that the trilateral summit being hosted by the White House is an acceleration of the US attempts to stop Chinas rise.

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On Friday, US President Joe Biden will host South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at a summit in Camp David, Maryland, as part of an effort that is nakedly aimed at building a new military bloc against China and the Peoples Democratic Republic of Korea (DPRK).The move comes after nearly a year of increased testing by North Korea of new types of ballistic, cruise, and hypersonic missiles, which it says are intended to counter the threat posed by US forces, and which the US calls provocative. The DPRK is technically still at war with the US and South Korea, since the 1950-53 war ended in a ceasefire and not a permanent peace treaty, and has justified its military buildup on security grounds.It is also no coincidence that South Korea and Japan are two of the worlds biggest producers of advanced computer microchips, which Washington has sought to deny to China by pressuring them and other governments to stop selling to Chinese companies.However, earlier this week, Singaporean Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong accused the US of threatening other nations with collateral damage from its all-out drive to halt Chinas economic rise, warning the trade war would ultimately be disastrous for the global economy.Dr. Victor Teo, a political scientist who specializes in the international relations of the Indo-Pacific region, told Sputnik that the ultimate goal of the trilateral summit was for the US to invite South Korea and Japan to form another coalition against China in the Indo-Pacific region.The summit itself is designed to help boost the three leaders domestic standing as much as it is designed to send a signal of the countries resolve to work together to stand up to North Korea and China, Teo explained.Earlier this year, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reportedly also pitched forming a bloc against China to Seoul and Tokyo, inspired by the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue between the US, Australia, Japan, and India.Teo explained that it was part of an ongoing effort by Washington to consolidate and tighten its existing alliances with Japan and South Korea - two nations that have not always gotten along with each other for historical reasons.Yoon has adopted a conservative nationalist pro-US posture and advocates a muscular policy towards North Korea and China, Teo explained. To that extent, Yoon has effected a reconciliatory policy towards Japan, suggesting that common outlook and future interests between Japan and South Korea matter more than antagonism over historical issues. The United States and Japan are therefore capitalizing on Yoons elections to further tighten the military cooperation of the US-Japan and US-ROK alliances to ensure that these countries could work more effectively than ever in the event of any future conflict in the region.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230814/singapore-blasts-us-for-extreme-competition-with-china-warns-disastrous-for-global-economy-1112595823.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230718/north-korea-us-south-korean-consultative-group-pushes-peninsula-to-brink-of-nuclear-war-1111959852.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230818/ecowas-chiefs-of-staff-meeting-in-ghana-to-agree-date-for-niger-intervention-1112700294.html

ECOWAS Top Brass Meet in Ghana to Agree on Date for Niger Intervention

ECOWAS Top Brass Meet in Ghana to Agree on Date for Niger Intervention

An emergency meeting of the chiefs of staff of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Ghana, which ends today, will agree on a concrete date for the launch of the military intervention in Niger, French broadcaster has reported, citing a spokesperson for the organization.

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The spokesperson told the news outlet that the summit's purpose is to choose the timetable of the intervention, since everything else is ready. On August 17, the first day of the meeting in Ghana, the sides discussed the distribution of reserves among potential participants in the operation against Niger, according to the report. At least five ECOWAS members, Nigeria, Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire, Benin and Guinea-Bissau, are among the future participants. Distribution work that was not completed during yesterday's session will continue on Friday, RFI reported. On Thursday, an unnamed officer in the ECOWAS standby force told the broadcaster that no order had been given to stop the deployment, so the activation of the troops was still in effect despite the community's diplomatic efforts. A military takeover took place in Niger on July 26. President Mohamed Bazoum was ousted and detained by his own guard, led by Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani. Following the military takeover, ECOWAS suspended all financial aid to Niger, froze rebels' assets and imposed a ban on commercial flights to and from the country. In early August, during a summit in the Nigerian capital of Abuja, ECOWAS leaders agreed to activate a standby force to potentially compel the Nigerien military to reinstate Bazoum.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230814/rebels-in-niger-ready-to-start-talks-with-ecowas---reports-1112571911.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230818/eu-states-china-waiting-for-washingtons-answers-on-biolabs-in-ukraine---russian-diplomat-1112696733.html

EU States, China Waiting for Washington's Answers on Biolabs in Ukraine - Russian Diplomat

EU States, China Waiting for Washington's Answers on Biolabs in Ukraine - Russian Diplomat

Some countries of the EU were not opposed to further discussions on the issues raised by Russia regarding the activities of biological laboratories in Ukraine in the framework of the BTWC, Konstantin Vorontsov, the deputy director of the Department for nonproliferation and arms control of the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

2023-08-18T05:53+0000

2023-08-18T05:53+0000

2023-08-18T05:53+0000

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ukraine

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us

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"We note that even within the Western camp there are countries that do not want to replace the truth with lies invented in Washington, that are at least prepared to recognize the need for further discussion of this topic, that seek to obtain from the United States detailed explanations in connection with military and biological activities in Ukraine, on the one hand, to understand this issue and, on the other hand, to remove this serious irritant that remains on the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) platform," Vorontsov told Russian journalists in Geneva, citing Spain and Portugal as an example. The diplomat added that there is a group of countries that fully shares Moscow's claims regarding military and biological activities in Ukraine carried out in violation of the BTWC. At every BTWC event, this group of countries requires the US to answer questions raised by Russia, including providing additional explanations in connection with the development and use of drones as means of delivery of biological weapons, the Russian official explained. China, during a consultative meeting of the BTWC, raised a number of questions to the US and Ukraine regarding the activities of biological research laboratories on Ukraine's territory, the diplomat said. "For example, China, for its part, during the Consultative Meeting held in September 2022, detailed questions to the US and Ukraine regarding military and biological activities that were carried out on Ukrainian territory," Vorontsov explained. These questions were in many ways similar to those raised by Russia, the diplomat said, adding that China also raised a number of "absolutely new" questions. Geneva is hosting the Second Meeting of the Working Group on the Strengthening of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) from August 7-18. Vorontsov is leading the Russian delegation. The working group, in which all 184 member states can participate, has been authorized to adopt a report with recommendations to be submitted to BWC state parties at the 10th review conference scheduled for 2027. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a 2024 Democratic presidential candidate, said in an interview with Tucker Carlson on Monday that the US operates biological research laboratories in Ukraine for the purpose of developing bioweapons. In February 2022, the Russian Defense Ministry discovered the existence of 30 US-funded military biological laboratories in Ukraine. According to Moscow, Washington has spent over $200 million to develop biological weapons at the facilities. Russia also said that the labs discovered in Ukraine constituted only a small part of a global network of over 300 similar facilities. The United States denies the Russian accusations. In April 2023, Russia's upper house unanimously approved the report of the parliamentary commission, supported by the lower house, to investigate the activities of the US biolaboratories in Ukraine. Deputy speaker of the Russian upper house Konstantin Kosachev then said there were at least 30 US biolaboratories on the territory of Ukraine, adding that the Pentagon was the main "customer" of the bio-research, which may speak about the military nature of the research. Kosachev noted that the establishment of US biolaboratories in Ukraine indicates possible plans of the US to use its military against Russia.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230623/us-uk-seeking-to-destabilize-central-asia---russian-security-council-1111418617.html

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biological laboratories in ukraine, russian foreign ministry, biolabs in ukraine
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230818/first-north-korea-russia-flight-after-covid-19-pandemic-scheduled-for-august-25---airport-1112700016.html

First North Korea-Russia Flight After COVID-19 Pandemic Scheduled for August 25 - Airport

First North Korea-Russia Flight After COVID-19 Pandemic Scheduled for August 25 - Airport

North Korea's Air Koryo has scheduled the first flight from Pyongyang to Russias Vladivostok since the COVID-19 pandemic for August 25, while the next one is planned for August 28, the Vladivostok airport told Sputnik on Friday.

2023-08-18T09:01+0000

2023-08-18T09:01+0000

2023-08-18T09:01+0000

russia

russia

vladivostok

pyongyang

air koryo

democratic people's republic of korea (dprk)

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North Korea's Air Koryo has scheduled the first flight from Pyongyang to Russias Vladivostok since the COVID-19 pandemic for August 25, while the next one is planned for August 28, the Vladivostok airport told Sputnik on Friday.There is information about only two flights at the moment, the Russian airport said, without specifying whether return flights to Pyongyang or other flights between the two cities are planned. Flights between North Korea and Russia were suspended in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On Thursday, Russian Ambassador to North Korea Alexander Matsegora told Sputnik that Moscow and Pyongyang were working on a wide range of issues related to the post-pandemic restoration of bilateral contacts.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230818/first-ukrainian-cargo-ship-enters-bosporus-after-grain-deal-cessation--tracking-service-1112698953.html

First Ukrainian Cargo Ship Enters Bosporus After Grain Deal Cessation  Tracking Service

First Ukrainian Cargo Ship Enters Bosporus After Grain Deal Cessation  Tracking Service

The first Ukrainian merchant ship has left the port of Odessa and entered the Bosporus Strait after the termination of the grain deal, the data of the Marine Traffic tracking service showed on Friday.

2023-08-18T07:34+0000

2023-08-18T07:34+0000

2023-08-18T10:21+0000

world

black sea grain deal

odessa

bosporus strait

cargo ship

ukraine

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At 06:20 GMT, the ship named Joseph Schulte crossed the Bosporus Strait from the Black Sea and was heading toward its destination  the Istanbul port, according to the data. The Joseph Schulte is indeed a cargo ship, but it is not carrying grain, the Turkish Defense Ministry said later in the day.Meanwhile, a Turkish diplomatic source told Sputnik that the fact that the ship passed through the Bosporus Strait did not mean that Ankara had agreed to alternative routes to the grain deal, as the strait is used for the passage of commercial ships.On Wednesday, Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said that the container ship Joseph Schulte with more than 30,000 tons of cargo on board left the port of Odessa, where it has been docked since February 23, 2022. Kubrakov noted that it was the first ship that left the Odesa port since July 16. On July 18, the Turkey- and UN-mediated Black Sea Grain Initiative, which provided for a humanitarian corridor to allow exports of Ukrainian grain over the past year, expired, as Russia did not renew its participation in the deal. Moscow emphasized that the deal's component on facilitating Russian grain and fertilizer exports had not been fulfilled, specifically with regard to reconnecting Russian banks to SWIFT and unblocking the Tolyatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230610/togliatti-odessa-ammonia-pipeline-unlikely-to-launch-soon-after-ukrainian-attack--moscow-1111048583.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230818/gunshots-heard-during-ecuadors-presidential-candidates-campaign-close-event-1112696937.html

Gunshots Heard During Ecuador's Presidential Candidate's Campaign Close Event

Gunshots Heard During Ecuador's Presidential Candidate's Campaign Close Event

Gunshots have been heard during Ecuadorian presidential candidate Daniel Noboa's campaign close event in the city of Duran in the Guayas province, local media reported Thursday.

2023-08-18T05:59+0000

2023-08-18T05:59+0000

2023-08-18T05:59+0000

americas

ecuador

shooting

police

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Sounds of gunfire were heard during the event of Noboa, the presidential candidate from the National Democratic Action political movement, on Thursday evening, media reported. Journalists participating in the event said they did not know if it was an attack on the candidate. Noboa was in the center of Duran when shots were heard. The politician's security evacuated him without being injured, the report said. Noboa wears a bulletproof vest and has been reportedly receiving death threats. In early August, Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was shot dead in Ecuador's capital Quito during an attack at an election rally. Moreover, the leader of the Citizen Revolution Movement in the Esmeraldas province, Pedro Briones, was shot dead earlier this week. As of late July, 25 politicians have been assassinated in the country since January 2022, according to the newspaper.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230817/political-violence-in-ecuador-rooted-in-neoliberalism-subservience-to-the-us--1112660079.html

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ecuadorian presidential candidate, daniel noboa, gunshots have been heard
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230818/hunter-biden-gets-a-sweetheart-prosecutor-joe-biden-to-visit-hawaii-1112693196.html

Hunter Biden Gets a Sweetheart Prosecutor; Joe Biden to Visit Hawaii

Hunter Biden Gets a Sweetheart Prosecutor; Joe Biden to Visit Hawaii

A special counsel has been named to look into Hunter Biden's business dealings, and observers reject him as being far too close to the President.

2023-08-18T04:05+0000

2023-08-18T04:05+0000

2023-08-18T11:09+0000

the critical hour

radio

hawaii

wildfires

north korea

niger

hunter biden

lebanon

economy

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Hunter Biden Gets a Sweetheart Prosecutor; Joe Biden to Visit Hawaii A special counsel has been named to look into Hunter Biden's business dealings, and observers reject him as being far too close to the President.

Dr. Margaret Flowers, activist, and editor of "PopularResistance.org, joins us to discuss the Hawaiian wildfire disaster. The Biden administration faces criticism for failing to adequately respond to the Maui wildfire crisis. Dr. Margaret Flowers argues that this is similar to the East Palestine train derailment in that the government refuses to spend money on its own citizens.George Koo, journalist, social activist, and international business consultant, joins us to discuss China. North Korea argues that the US soldier who defected was sick of the unfair US society. George Koo argues that the People of Korea will not accept the US push for a unified China assault that pairs them with Japan.Thomas Mountain, journalist and historian, joins us to discuss Africa. Western-sponsored leaders seem to be setting up a military force to invade Niger. Thomas Mountain argues that support for the Nigerien military government will make it extremely difficult for outsiders to invade and maintain power in the resource-rich nation.Craig Jardula, co-host of The Convo Couch & AM Wakeup on Rokfin, joins us to discuss domestic politics. A special counsel has been named to look into Hunter Biden's business dealings, and observers reject him as being far too close to the President. Craig Jardula argues that the case against Hunter may be used to get rid of the President and that the charges against President Trump are an example of judicial hypocrisy.Laith Marouf, broadcaster, and journalist based in Beirut, Lebanon, joins us to discuss the Middle East. Lebanon is receiving new drilling equipment to extract the gas field off its shores. Laith Marouf argues that the pressure from resistance forces has forced Israel and its imperial patrons to share the energy wealth with the people of Lebanon.Misty Winston, radio host and free speech and press freedom activist, joins us to discuss imperial lawfare. Police raids against a small-town US newspaper have many Americans concerned about their constitutional rights. Misty Winston highlights the stories regarding Julian Assange, the Uhuru movement, and the recent attack on Code Pink by members of the US Congress in a discussion about the desperation of the US empire, necessitating a crackdown against its own citizens.James Carey, Host of "The Lefts is Dead" podcast, joins us to discuss foreign policy. The US is instigating coups, insurgencies, and assassinations around the world. Recent information regarding US involvement in the Pakistani coup against Imran Khan has come out. James Carey says that the world is tired of US bullying.Dr. Linwood Tauheed, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Missouri-Kansas City, joins us to discuss the economy. 401k accounts are surging, and a record number of these accounts have exceeded 1 million dollars. Dr. Tauheed reminded us that the value of 401k accounts took a dramatic downturn during the COVID crisis, and we are witnessing a recovery from previous losses.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.Catch us at at 105.5FM, 104.7FM, 102.9FM, 1390AM, 1140AM

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the critical hour, hawaiian wildfire disaster, maui wildfire crisis, hunter biden's business dealings, julian assange, the uhuru movement
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230818/iran-commences-construction-of-most-advanced-ever-satellites-1112705011.html

Iran Commences Construction of Most Advanced-Ever Satellites

Iran Commences Construction of Most Advanced-Ever Satellites

A fledgling space power with some of the best-developed space-based capabilities in the Muslim World, Irans space program has successfully launched over a dozen civilian and military satellites, created cosmodromes and built a range of homegrown space rockets using knowhow gained in the military sphere.

2023-08-18T12:48+0000

2023-08-18T12:48+0000

2023-08-18T12:48+0000

beyond politics

iran

iranian space agency

soyuz

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Iran has formally announced the start of design and construction work on two of its latest generation earth-imaging satellites.We had previously made promises regarding the construction of high-precision observation satellites, and today I proudly announce that the Iranian Space Agency has taken a significant step in designing and building domestic high-precision observation satellites. In this regard, the design and construction of two important projects, named Pars 2 and Pars 3, have officially commenced, Iranian Space Agency chief Hossein Salariyeh told a media event Thursday.The Pars series (lit. Persia or Iran in Persian) is one of Irans most ambitious satellite projects to date, with the remote-sensing spacecraft to be fitted with high-resolution earth imaging capabilities which can be used in agriculture, natural resource management, environmental and border monitoring, water sciences and mining.Iran has one of the most advanced home-grown space programs in the Middle East, and in 2009 became the first Muslim nation to independently launch a satellite into orbit. The Iranian Space Agency has also engaged in deep cooperation with Russia and China, engaging in cooperative joint research programs, and piggybacking spacecraft on Soyuz rockets from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Last year, a Russian rocket helped launch the Khayyam, a 600 kg remote sensing satellite which became fully operational and started its remote sensing activities last month.Speaking at Thursdays event, Iranian government spokesman Ali Bahadori Jahromi hailed the progress reached in Irans space endeavors, and said the country, whose peaceful space ambitions were born after the victory of the 1979 Revolution, is already reaping economic benefits from its space program.Home to one of the worlds oldest continuous major civilizations, Iran has gifted the world with many of its earliest space scholars, including mathematicians and astronomers Omar Khayyam, Al-Khwarizmi, and Ibn al-Haytham. After the Muslim conquest of Persia during the 7th century, Ancient Persian astronomy became intermeshed with that of the wider medieval Islamic World, with Persian scholars contributing heavily to the creation of advanced mathematical formulas to calculate the movement of the Sun and planets in our solar system and the positions of various heavenly bodies. Persian contributions to ancient Islamic astronomical sciences helped spark the broader flourishing of the sciences in the Islamic World from the 8th through 13th centuries.Modern Irans space-based efforts have been subject to derision by some US officials, with now former United States Space Command chief John Raymond once ridiculing the Islamic Republics Noor (Light) satellite as a tumbling webcam in space unlikely to provide any useful intel. Several months later, the Noor, operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Command, sent back detailed snapshots of Al-Udeid Airbase, largest US military facility in the Persian Gulf region.Iran repeated the feat in 2022, with the Noor-2 sending back a panoramic image centered on the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230709/iran-boosts-power-of-chopper-fleet-boasts-new-space-based-eye-in-the-sky-1111772932.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20220626/iran-carries-out-2nd-successful-test-launch-of-homegrown-carrier-rocket---video-1096680592.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230818/japan-us-australia-to-conduct-joint-naval-drills-in-south-china-sea---reports-1112705346.html

Japan, US, Australia to Conduct Joint Naval Drills in South China Sea - Reports

Japan, US, Australia to Conduct Joint Naval Drills in South China Sea - Reports

Japan, the United States and Australia will conduct joint naval exercises in the South China Sea on August 23, a Japanese news agency reported on Friday, citing sources.

2023-08-18T12:53+0000

2023-08-18T12:53+0000

2023-08-18T12:53+0000

military

japan

us

australia

japan self-defense forces

us navy

royal australian navy

joint naval drill

joint military exercises

philippines

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Major vessels of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, the US Navy and the Royal Australian Navy will be stationed near the Philippines, the news outlet noted. Japan plans to send its largest destroyer, the Izumo, which is being converted into a de facto aircraft carrier, the sources added. The exercises are reportedly aimed at monitoring Chinese vessels, while a timeframe for the drills has not yet been set. The exercises come amid escalating tensions between China and the Philippines after a Chinese coast guard vessel fired a water cannon at a smaller Philippine boat on August 5, preventing it from carrying out a resupply mission, the news agency clarified. On August 6, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) strongly condemned the Chinese coast guard's "dangerous maneuvers and illegal use of water cannons against the PCG vessels" near Ayungin Shoal, also known as Second Thomas Shoal. The Chinese coast guard fired back, saying that two cargo ships and two PCG vessels entered the territorial waters of the Nansha (Spratly) Islands without China's permission, adding that Beijing has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and adjacent waters. The reef, known as Ren'ai Jiao in China and Ayungin Shoal in the Philippines, is part of the disputed Spratly Islands, a large archipelago to which China and several other Asian nations lay rival claims. The Philippines grounded a naval transport ship, the BRP Sierra Madre, on the reef in 1999 to house a contingent of marines.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230813/does-new-japan-australia-defense-pact-bring-asia-pacific-closer-to-war-1112563049.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230818/japan-us-south-korea-to-agree-on-exchanging-data-on-semiconductor-shipments-1112701598.html

Japan, US, South Korea to Agree on Exchanging Data on Semiconductor Shipments

Japan, US, South Korea to Agree on Exchanging Data on Semiconductor Shipments

Japan, the United States and South Korea will agree at the Camp David summit on Friday to create a mechanism to reduce the risk of disruptions in the supply chains of semiconductors and critical minerals though information sharing, Japanese newspaper reported.

2023-08-18T10:02+0000

2023-08-18T10:02+0000

2023-08-18T10:02+0000

world

joe biden

fumio kishida

japan

south korea

european union (eu)

semiconductors

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The countries will agree to share information on shipments of semiconductors, critical minerals, storage batteries and other key industry items, the report said. A special mechanism will be set up to provide early warning of possible disruptions, allowing countries to exchange data in case of a commodity shortage, develop measures and neutralize the negative impact on supply chains, the newspaper added. In July, the Japanese government discussed the establishment of a similar mechanism with the European Union. A mechanism involving Japan, the US and South Korea will expand the network of stable semiconductor supplies. The US-South Korea-Japan summit on Friday will be the first time the leaders of the three countries have met outside of a multilateral event. US President Joe Biden will host South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese leader Fumio Kishida at Camp David, the US presidential retreat located about 60 miles from Washington, D.C. Critical minerals are mineral resources that are vital to the economic well-being of the worlds economies. They include cobalt, lithium, manganese, zinc, chromium, and several others.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230810/why-is-tsmc-building-a-multibillion-dollar-semiconductor-chip-factory-in-germany-1112491419.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230818/photos-lake-huron-divers-recover-pieces-of-crashed-ww2-plane-flown-by-tuskegee-airman-1112717609.html

Photos: Lake Huron Divers Recover Pieces of WW2 Plane Flown by Tuskegee Airman

Photos: Lake Huron Divers Recover Pieces of WW2 Plane Flown by Tuskegee Airman

A piece of US aviation history is slowly being recovered from the bottom of Lake Huron on the US-Canada border, after which it will be restored and placed in a... 18.08.2023, Sputnik International

2023-08-18T21:53+0000

2023-08-18T21:53+0000

2023-08-18T21:57+0000

americas

lake huron

african americans

tuskegee university

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fighter aircraft

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On April 11, 1944, 2nd Lt. Frank Moody was flying his Bell P-39 Airacobra fighter aircraft on a training mission over Lake Huron. His squadron, the all-African American Tuskegee Airmen, was based in nearby Selfridge Air Base in Michigan, prior to deployment in Europe. However, an error in the synchronization gear, which should have ensured his machine gun only fired when his airplanes propeller wasnt in the way, resulted in his propeller getting shredded when he pulled the trigger. The plane crashed into the lake, and Moodys body was discovered several months later.The planes wreckage was scattered along the lakebed, where it sat undisturbed until its discovery in 2014. Now, divers are working to slowly lift to the surface as much of the aircraft as they can.As we prepare for these major lifts, were finding all these small pieces. When were done were going to have a complete understanding where every single piece came from, she said.Photos shared with local media show the engine totally overgrown with freshwater mussels as historians placed it into a cleansing solution to soak.However, the recovery effort is extremely slow, as the aircraft is scattered over a large area of the lakebed. Once restored, the planes parts will one day be exhibited at the Tuskegee Airmen National Historical Museum at the Coleman A. Young International Airport in Detroit.The Tuskegee Airmen were the nations first all-Black fighter squadron, which served separately from white pilots due to the US militarys racial segregation policy that mirrored the segregation in US society at the time. Despite the discrimination they faced, the Red Tails, as they were called due to the paint designs on their planes, served valiantly in the war, with US President George W. Bush awarding the unit the Congressional Gold Medal in 2007."That story is being told, and has been told, but what we havent heard are about the accidents in training that the airmen suffered. This is an exhibit thats when it's conserved can tell the story of African Americans - the complete story - from training, combat then what they did after the war.More than 1.5 million Black Americans served in the US Armed Forces in World War 2, and their experience fighting fascism in Europe and the Pacific, and living in countries that did not segregate white and Black people like in the United States, motivated many Black service members to fight for an end to Jim Crow laws after they returned home from the war. The US military was desegregated in 1948, three years after the war ended, but desegregation didnt come to wider US society until the 1950s, with discriminatory laws being banned altogether in 1965.Another 14 Tuskegee Airmen were killed during training in Michigan, including four other pilots lost in Lake Huron and one in the St. Clair River, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20160504/estonia-sub-heroes-1039073067.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230818/russia-hungary-sign-documents-on-moving-to-direct-construction-of-paks-2-npp-1112707791.html

Russia, Hungary Sign Documents on Moving to Direct Construction of Paks-2 NPP

Russia, Hungary Sign Documents on Moving to Direct Construction of Paks-2 NPP

Moscow and Budapest have signed documents on the transition of the Paks nuclear power plant (NPP) project, also known as Paks-2, to the stage of direct construction, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Friday.

2023-08-18T13:08+0000

2023-08-18T13:08+0000

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The documents have been signed by Paksi Atomeromu Zrt CEO Gergely Jakli and ASE JSC (part of Russia's Rosatom state nuclear corporation) Vice President Alexander Merten.According to him, the Paks-2 project is attracting the interest of the Hungarian industry, European countries and other states. In late 2014, Russia and Hungary signed documents on the construction of new power units No. 5 and No. 6 at the Paks NPP with reactor units based on the advanced Russian VVER-1200 project. Moscow has granted Budapest a state loan of up to ten billion euros, the total cost of the works will amount to 12.5 billion euros. The license for the construction of the new units has already been issued.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230818/russian-foreign-ministry-appeals-to-ukrainian-troops-resist-kiev-regime-or-surrender-1112710792.html

Russian Foreign Ministry Appeals to Ukrainian Troops: Resist Kiev Regime or Surrender

Russian Foreign Ministry Appeals to Ukrainian Troops: Resist Kiev Regime or Surrender

Maria Zakharova, the official spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, has advised soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to either turn their weapons against the Kiev regime or surrender. The diplomat's comment was published on the ministry's official website.

2023-08-18T16:10+0000

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2023-08-18T16:10+0000

russia's special operation in ukraine

maria zakharova

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"We strongly recommend Ukrainian servicemen who are convinced of the criminal nature of the bandit junta that has seized their country to either turn their weapons against it or surrender to our forces," the official noted.Zakharova also emphasized that in such cases, the humane and dignified treatment of Ukrainian military personnel will be ensured.She also stressed that the criminal Kiev regime continues to shell Russian cities and villages with NATO weapons, including with banned cluster munitions. These actions result in civilian casualties, including children.In early July, the US government announced it would send hundreds of thousands of cluster bombs to Ukraine to aid its struggling counteroffensive. The munitions, fired from howitzers, are intended to bolster Ukrainian forces. The move came after significant losses, including more than 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers and more than 4,900 military vehicles.The US pre-positioned these weapons prior to the announcement, and their use began shortly thereafter. These cluster bombs, similar to depleted uranium shells in Ukraine's tanks, pose the risk of widespread unexploded bomblets, leaving areas dangerous for years. The US and its allies have provided nearly $100 billion in support since February 2022 as Ukrainian forces face Russian superiority, raising concerns about waning Western interest in the ongoing conflict.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230816/ukraines-army-suffers-mass-desertions-morale-sinks-as-500-troops-flee-offensive-1112632665.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230718/ukraine-civilians-children-will-die-for-years-from-us-cluster-bombs---peace-activist-1111958202.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230818/russian-official-chinese-ambassador-discuss-upcoming-eastern-economic-forum-1112703877.html

Russian Official, Chinese Ambassador Discuss Upcoming Eastern Economic Forum

Russian Official, Chinese Ambassador Discuss Upcoming Eastern Economic Forum

Anton Kobyakov, the executive secretary of the organizing committee of the eighth Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) and an adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, met with Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui to discuss issues of importance to Eastern Economic Forum and the preparation for the EEF, the Roscongress Foundation said.

2023-08-18T11:12+0000

2023-08-18T11:12+0000

2023-08-18T11:12+0000

economy

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china

eef

ties

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"Anton Kobyakov, the executive secretary of the organizing committee of the Eastern Economic Forum and an adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, held a working meeting with Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui in Moscow ... The parties discussed issues of current cooperation and joint plans for further partnership. Special attention was drawn to the upcoming Eastern Economic Forum that will take place from September 10-13 in Vladivostok," the foundation said in a statement. During the meeting, the Russian official expressed confidence that meetings on the sidelines of the forum will contribute to further development of "good neighborly relations and increase of economic prosperity" of the two countries. The Chinese ambassador stated that a high-level Chinese delegation is expected to take part in the forum, which shows that Beijing considers the forum as an important platform for the development of relations between the two countries. The Eastern Economic Forum was established in 2015 as an international platform to facilitate business cooperation in the Asia-Pacific and stimulate investment in Russia's easternmost regions. The eighth EEF will take place from September 1013 in Vladivostok. Roscongress is the organizer of the forum.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230705/dozens-of-states-confirmed-participation-in-eastern-economic-forum-2023---russian-official-1111668731.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230818/russias-astarta-sniper-rifle-outguns-us-rival-with-superior-firepower--accuracy-1112701279.html

Russia's 'Astarta' Sniper Rifle Outguns US Rival With Superior Firepower & Accuracy

Russia's 'Astarta' Sniper Rifle Outguns US Rival With Superior Firepower & Accuracy

New Russian rifle "Astarta" on comparative tests surpassed the American Barrett in accuracy by 4 times, the developer company "Vysokototchnye kompleksy" reported.

2023-08-18T12:48+0000

2023-08-18T12:48+0000

2023-08-18T14:27+0000

military

army-2023

russia

kubinka

sniper rifle

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High Precision Systems, a company that's part of Russia's state-owned defense corporation, Rostec, plans to start mass production of the new Astarta anti-material rifle within 4 months, a corporate rep told reporters at the Army-2023 forum. According to the company, the Astarta outperformed the American Barrett rifle in terms of accuracy fourfold in comparative tests. The Army-2023 military forum, being held in Kubinka near Moscow, has Russian military-industrial innovations out on display. The 2023 edition of the annual forum is running from August 14 to 20.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230816/russias-army-2023-expo-from-kalashnikov-rifles-to-icbms-and-everything-in-between-1112633980.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230818/swedish-police-cannot-guarantee-security-at-quran-burning-demonstration-in-stockholm-1112710687.html

Swedish Police Cannot Guarantee Security at Quran-Burning Demonstration in Stockholm

Swedish Police Cannot Guarantee Security at Quran-Burning Demonstration in Stockholm

Sweden's police cannot guarantee security at a Quran-burning demonstration in Stockholm amid a high level of terrorist threat in the country, Swedish National Police Commissioner Anders Thornberg said on Friday.

2023-08-18T15:54+0000

2023-08-18T15:54+0000

2023-08-18T15:54+0000

world

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swedish security service

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On Thursday, the Swedish police authorized the demonstration near the Iranian Embassy in Stockholm on August 18. Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom told a Swedish newspaper also on Friday that the country's interests abroad had been under threat over the past months due to Quran-burning protests. On Thursday, the Swedish Security Service raised the terrorist threat level in the country from elevated (3) to high (4) on a five-level scale. Several Quran-burning demonstrations have taken place in Sweden, as well as Denmark, in recent months. Most Muslim countries have condemned the demonstrations, and some have summoned the Swedish and Danish ambassadors to give them notes of protest. Last month, hundreds of Iraqi protesters stormed the Swedish embassy after the burning of the Quran in Stockholm. In late July, the Swedish Security Service said the Quran-burning demonstrations had a negative impact on domestic security. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson also said that Sweden was facing its most serious security situation since World War II.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230629/russian-foreign-ministry-condemns-quran-burning-in-sweden-1111556972.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230406/turkish-foreign-minister-likens-sweden-to-nazi-germany-over-quran-burning-verdict-1109185529.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230818/tens-of-thousands-forced-to-evacuate-as-wildfires-rage-across-canadas-northwest-1112693639.html

Tens of Thousands Forced to Evacuate as Wildfires Rage Across Canada's Northwest

Tens of Thousands Forced to Evacuate as Wildfires Rage Across Canada's Northwest

Hundreds of wildfires in Canada's Northwest Territory has prompted the evacuation of its capital as the entire country battles the worst wildfire in its history.

2023-08-18T01:43+0000

2023-08-18T01:43+0000

2023-08-18T01:42+0000

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Hundreds of fires in Canadas Northwest Territories have led to the evacuation of the capital Yellowknife and other areas as the country battles the worst wildfire season in its recorded history.At present, there are 230 fires raging in the sparsely populated Northwest Territories, and other areas have already been evacuated, affecting 60% of the territory's roughly 45,000 residents.One wildfire west of Yellowknife has already burned approximately 407,000 acres and is moving toward Yellowknife and the main highway in the area. Officials warned that residents may face significant smoke and air hazards while evacuating the area. One Canadian resident told US media the experience was the most frightening of her life.Residents in the community of Ndilo have also been told to evacuate with officials adding that those who cannot leave by car can request an air evacuation.A state of emergency has been declared for the entire territory, allowing officials to deploy resources without delay and the Canadian Armed Forces have been mobilized to support firefighters.Meanwhile, there are over 360 fires ablaze in neighboring British Columbia, with more expected in the coming days due to high-pressure air that is expected to cause dry winds, high temperatures and lightning strikes, which have been the primary igniter of new fires.A video of the town of Fort Smith, on the border of the Northwest Territories and Alberta, showing the sky a disturbing color of red has since gone viral. It was a scene reminiscent of footage in June of New York Citys sky turning orange from smoke from the Canadian wildfires.That month, smoke blanketed much of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic areas of the United States, with the smoke cloud later reaching the shores of Europe.The wildfires are again affecting the air quality in the United States. An air quality alert has been issued through Monday for the entirety of Wisconsin, with conditions expected to get as bad as red or unhealthy.Minnesota initially issued a statewide air quality alert for Thursday and Friday, but that has been lifted for the southern regions of the state. Northern regions remain on alert and air quality is expected to reach orange or unhealthy for sensitive groups in the Twin Cities and other areas.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230627/smoke-from-canadian-wildfires-reach-european-skies-1111511807.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230818/training-of-ukrainian-pilots-to-be-followed-by-transfer-of-f-16s-us-national-security-advisor-says-1112708091.html

Training of Ukrainian Pilots to Be Followed by Transfer of F-16s, US National Security Advisor Says

Training of Ukrainian Pilots to Be Followed by Transfer of F-16s, US National Security Advisor Says

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fight jets will be followed by the transfer of the aircraft, US National Security Advisor Jake... 18.08.2023, Sputnik International

2023-08-18T14:10+0000

2023-08-18T14:10+0000

2023-08-18T14:10+0000

military

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Earlier this week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken sent a letter to his European counterparts in Denmark and the Netherlands on the formal approval of a third-party transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine amid the ongoing conflict with Russia, Sullivan added."The training will be followed by the transfer as we work with Congress to effectuate that and with our allies. We underlined, underscored, and put an exclamation point on that this week," the security advisor stated at a press briefing. Last week, an American newspaper reported, citing Ukrainian officials, that a first group of six Ukrainian pilots would not complete their training on F-16 fighter jets until the summer of 2024 at the earliest because they would have to take four months of English classes to learn technical terms. The pilots would reportedly start training on F-16 fighters only in January 2024 and the preparation would take six months, while the second group of pilots would start training no earlier than in late 2024.US, Japan, S Korea Leaders to Commit to Multi-Year Military Exercise PlanningMeanwhile, the leaders of the US, Japan, and South Korea agreed to commit to a multi-year planning process for military exercise in all domains, including air, land, sea and cyber on the sidelines of the trilateral summit at Camp David, the official pointed out.Moreover, the US is announcing "significant steps" to boost trilateral security cooperation with Japan and South Korea in the Indo-Pacific region, the official mentioned.The three nations are unveiling new economic and energy security initiatives including an early warning mechanism for supply chain disruptions, the advisor highlighted.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230812/mig-35-vs-f-16-russian-veteran-pilot-explains-which-plane-would-win-in-a-dogfight-1112552714.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230625/hunter-and-joe-bidens-weekend-escape-to-camp-david-prompts-fuss-on-twitter-1111450374.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230626/threat-of-nuclear-war-on-korean-peninsula-increasing-pyongyang-warns-1111465086.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230818/uk-govt-signs-3-contracts-worth-over-100mln-to-supply-ukraine-with-air-defense-systems-1112701466.html

UK Gov't Inks 3 Contracts Worth Over $114 Mln to Supply Ukraine With Air Defense System

UK Gov't Inks 3 Contracts Worth Over $114 Mln to Supply Ukraine With Air Defense System

The United Kingdom has concluded three contracts on air defense equipment delivery to Ukraine worth 90 million pounds ($114.5 million) on behalf of the International Fund for Ukraine and is set to hand over counter-uncrewed aerial systems and counter-drone equipment, the UK government said on Friday.

2023-08-18T09:58+0000

2023-08-18T09:58+0000

2023-08-18T11:37+0000

military

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"Three contracts to deliver air defense equipment to Ukraine worth more than 90m have been signed by the Ministry of Defense on behalf of the International Fund for Ukraine (IFU)," the government said in a statement. The delivery agreements also include a 56 million pounds counter-uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) contract with Norwegian defense company Kongsberg and two further contracts to boost Ukraine's air defense capabilities. It added that the arms supply would include the CORTEX Typhon air defense system intended for physical destruction or disruption of drones. The statement did not provide details on two other contracts. Western allies began delivering weapons to Ukraine after Russia launched its military operation there in February 2022. Their support has evolved from light artillery munitions and training to heavier weapons. Russia has consistently warned against further arms deliveries to Kiev.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230816/uks-mi6-prepared-ukrainian-sabotage-unit-to-be-sent-to-africa---source-1112628632.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230818/uk-starts-deliveries-of-new-batch-of-reconnaissance-drones-to-ukraine---defense-ministry-1112702005.html

UK Starts Deliveries of New Batch of Reconnaissance Drones to Ukraine - Defense Ministry

UK Starts Deliveries of New Batch of Reconnaissance Drones to Ukraine - Defense Ministry

London has begun supplying a new batch of aerial reconnaissance drones to Kiev as part of the assistance by the UK-administered International Fund for Ukraine, the UK Defense Ministry said on Friday.

2023-08-18T10:11+0000

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2023-08-18T10:11+0000

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united kingdom (uk)

ukraine

kiev

uk defense ministry

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"Delivery begins of a new package of [aerial reconnaissance] drones to Ukraine, funded by the UK-administered International Fund for Ukraine," the ministry said in a statement, adding that the Ukrainian armed forces have already begun "training on the systems, which will form a package of more than 100 drones." The new batch includes multiple types of drone designed for different roles, such as target acquisition, electronic warfare, guiding artillery, and night operations, the statement said. Western countries stepped up their military aid to Ukraine after Russia launched a special military operation there on February 24, 2022, providing Kiev with various types of weapons. The Kremlin has repeatedly warned against further escalation leading to direct NATO involvement in the conflict.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230801/why-uk-training-of-ukrainian-commandos-to-seize-crimea-is-waste-of-time-1112323451.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230818/ukraine-loses-over-400-troops-in-donetsk-south-donetsk-directions-1112704855.html

Ukraine Loses Over 400 Troops in Donetsk, South Donetsk Directions

Ukraine Loses Over 400 Troops in Donetsk, South Donetsk Directions

Ukraine has lost more than 400 military both killed and injured in the Donetsk and South Donetsk directions over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry stated on Friday.

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russia's special operation in ukraine

ukrainian crisis

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ukraine

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Over the given period, the Russian armed forces repelled three attacks by Ukrainian troops in the Donetsk direction, one in the South Donetsk direction, seven attacks and counterattacks in the Kupyansk direction, two in the Krasny Liman direction, and two more in the Zaporozhye direction. "Enemy losses [in the Donetsk direction] amounted to up to 220 Ukrainian servicemen killed and wounded, a tank, three armored combat vehicles, five vehicles, a US-made M777 artillery system, a D-20 howitzer and two Gvozdika self-propelled artillery mounts," the ministry noted, adding that up to 210 troops were destroyed in the South Donetsk direction. Moreover, Kiev lost up to 195 soldiers in the Zaporozhye direction, the ministry mentioned.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230804/watch-russian-su-25-aircraft-destroy-ukrainian-mortar-units--1112384746.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230818/ukraine-recruiting-asocial-mercenaries-worldwide-as-western-ones-dwindle---un-envoy-1112694520.html

Ukraine Recruiting Asocial Mercenaries Worldwide as Western Ones Dwindle - UN Envoy

Ukraine Recruiting Asocial Mercenaries Worldwide as Western Ones Dwindle - UN Envoy

The Ukrainian military is recruiting mercenaries from asocial elements of society around the world because the number of Western mercenaries in Ukraine is dwindling, Russian UN Representative Dmitriy Polyansky said Thursday.

2023-08-18T02:54+0000

2023-08-18T02:54+0000

2023-08-18T02:53+0000

russia's special operation in ukraine

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"Recently, we learned that the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine is recruiting all over the world, including in Latin America, and also asocial elements that are prepared to fight for much less money," Polyansky said during a UN Security Council meeting. The Western mercenaries are beginning to realize that they are considered "cannon fodder" by the Ukrainian leadership, Polyansky said. The Russian diplomat pointed out that Western-supplied arms are leaking out of Ukraine due to the corruption of the country's military. The responsibility for the situation lies with the Western suppliers of weapons to Ukraine, Polyansky added.Polyansky's remarks come after Russian President Vladimir Putin underscored that Ukrainian losses were the result of the Kiev regime's "stupidity" as estimates suggested some 5,000 mercenaries had been killed in the conflict. Another 4,900 were said to have fled their posts and abandoned Ukraine.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230712/watch-foreign-mercenaries-run-screaming-from-russian-tank-1111828399.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230818/un-stands-firmly-against-using-cluster-bombs-in-ukraine-anywhere-1112715053.html

UN Stands Firmly Against Using Cluster Bombs in Ukraine, Anywhere

UN Stands Firmly Against Using Cluster Bombs in Ukraine, Anywhere

The United Nations firmly opposes the use of cluster munitions in Ukraine and anywhere else in the world, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Friday.

2023-08-18T18:48+0000

2023-08-18T18:48+0000

2023-08-18T18:48+0000

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"We are firmly against the use of cluster bombs everywhere and anywhere. They are a horrifying tool of war," Dujarric said during a press conference. The United Nations wants to see an end to the conflict in Ukraine and hopes to see the territorial integrity of the country preserved. On July 7, the US government unveiled a new military aid package for Ukraine that included cluster munitions. The move was widely criticized in many quarters, including allies in the European Union as well some US lawmakers. On Thursday, Defense Department spokesperson Pat Ryder said that the information provided by the Ukrainians to the United States indicates Kiev is using the cluster munitions appropriately. The Convention on Cluster Munitions, which bans their use, has been ratified by 123 countries. The United States, Ukraine, Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and South Korea have not signed the convention.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230718/ukraine-civilians-children-will-die-for-years-from-us-cluster-bombs---peace-activist-1111958202.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230810/ukraine-hands-pentagon-first-report-on-use-of-deadly-us-gifted-cluster-bombs-1112498924.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230818/us-denies-targeting-china-through-trilateral-cooperation-with-japan-s-korea-1112708257.html

US Denies Targeting China Through Trilateral Cooperation With Japan, S Korea

US Denies Targeting China Through Trilateral Cooperation With Japan, S Korea

The United States' renewed efforts to boost trilateral security cooperation with Japan and South Korea is "not against anyone," National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Friday.

2023-08-18T13:52+0000

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"I would just underscore that this summit today, this partnership, is not against anyone; it is for something. It is for a vision of the Indo-Pacific that is free, open, secure and prosperous," Sullivan said in response to a reporter's question at Camp David about Chinas complaint that the US was seeking to form an "Asian NATO." He noted that the US had already been cooperating with Japan and South Korea for decades; thus, what was actually new was a framework to "stitch all of that work together." He argued that this preexisting trilateral cooperation had helped boost economic conditions for all countries in the Indo-Pacific region, including China.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230815/us-plans-to-create-alliance-network-in-asia-pacific-region-to-deter-russia-china---russian-intel-1112615037.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230818/us-main-instigator-of-coups-terrorism-and-assassinations-around-world---media-commentator-1112710064.html

US Main Instigator of Coups, Terrorism, and Assassinations Around World - Media Commentator

US Main Instigator of Coups, Terrorism, and Assassinations Around World - Media Commentator

While Washington complains that the military takeover in Niger "does not comport with the constitution," James Carey, host of "The Left is Dead" podcast, noted that the US was behind regime-change efforts across the globe.

2023-08-18T16:12+0000

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2023-08-18T16:12+0000

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The US is the driver of political destabilization and insurgent violence around the world, says a media commentator.Podcaster James Carey told Sputnik that the US is "in its last throes," and is growing "incredibly desperate."Proof emerged last week that the US was behind the legislative coup and jailing of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan in 2022  for the offense of trying to maintain his country's neutrality during NATO's proxy conflict with Russia in Ukraine."The military there is highly [...] beholden to US interests, and they take all of their arms and money from [the US]. So they're in no position to argue with us if we want to use them as an Air Force base," he added. "But the problem is people are starting to get sick of it and the US doesn't have any real way to exert power now, especially with another economic power on the other side of the world finally emerging."Washington refuses to accept any competitors to its hegemony, and has resorted to its standby tactic of sanctions in an attempt to stave off China's rise as an economic power, the commentator noted.The Caribbean island nation of Cuba has been under continuous US sanctions longer than any other country. Washington's economic blockade has been in effect for over 60 years since October 1960, less than two years after the revolution led by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara.For more in-depth analysis of the top news stories, check out our Sputnik Radio show The Critical Hour.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230817/russia-grows-richer-while-west-bleeds-trillions-amid-failed-sanctions--funding-ukraine-1112666650.html

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us sanctions list, us behind overseas coups, us rivalry with russia and china
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230818/who-is-2024-gop-presidential-candidate-vivek-ramaswamy-1112699089.html

Who is 2024 GOP Presidential Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy?

Who is 2024 GOP Presidential Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy?

Following announcements from former President Donald Trump and ex-UN Ambassador Nikki Haley in February, Indian-American tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy entered the GOP 2024 presidential race as a longshot, polling initially at "zero point zero percent.

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2023-08-18T14:13+0000

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vivek ramaswamy

donald trump

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forbes

2024 us presidential election

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A political novice and the youngest major Republican candidate ever, Vivek Ramaswamy first announced he would give the 2024 Republican nomination a shot in February on Tucker Carlson Tonight. He sat down with the former Fox News host again on Thursday, but now more in the status of a realistic contender whose message appears to be gaining a foothold. The statements he made were unabashed, and to the point.The very existence of the US might be at stake in the event of a war against Russia and China, Ramaswamy told Carlson, adding:On the Ukraine issue, Ramaswamy stressed that the United States should negotiate an end to the conflict, and any peace deal ought to include guarantees Kiev will not join NATO. He previously described President Volodymyr Zelensky, in his cargo pants like the Pied Piper of Hamelin, playing Americans for fools, having got half the Democratic Party and three-quarters of the Republican Party eating out of his hand.As he proceeded to reference everything from how the Hunter Biden's dealings story was systematically suppressed, to the truth of what happened on January 6 at the Capitol, Ramaswamy claimed he would rather lose an election than play some political snakes-and-ladders of what we're supposed to say.CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, tech billionaire Elon Musk went on his social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to applaud Ramaswamys interview with Carlson, calling him a very promising candidate.Who is Vivek Ramaswamy, the ex-biotech tycoon-turned-GOP 2024 hopeful? Sputnik takes a closer look.Where is the Ramaswamy Family From?Ramaswamys parents immigrated to the US from Kerala, India. His mother, Geetha Ramaswamy, is a geriatric psychiatrist, and his father, Vivek Ganapathy Ramaswamy, is an engineer/patent attorney. The couple moved to Ohio after V.G. Ramaswamy got a job offer from General Electric. Vivek was born in Ohio, Cincinnati, on August 9, 1985. He has a brother, Dr. Shankar Ramaswamy, co-founder and CEO of Kriya Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical firm involved in developing gene therapies.Who is Vivek Ramaswamy's Wife?Vivek Ramaswamy is married to Apoorva Tewari Ramaswamy, a Yale alumni. In fact, that is where the couple first met - at Yale. Apoorva is a laryngologist specializing in disorders of cancer patients. The couple have two small sons, Karthik and Arjun.What Was Vivek Ramaswamy's Education?Vivek Ramaswamy studied at the Jesuit school St. Xavier High School, and once described himself as a "skinny kid with nerdy glasses and a funny last name." The aspiring and determined young man got a biology degree at Harvard University in 2007, and then completed Yale Law School's three-year Juris Doctor (J.D.) program. What Was Vivek Ramaswamy's Career?Vivek co-founded the technology company Campus Venture Network  offering software and networking resources to college entrepreneurs  in 2007. Ramaswamy also did a stint with the QVT Financial investment advisor from 2007 to 2014. According to his bio, at age 28, he was made partner at the hedge fund, investing in pharmaceutical companies, as per Forbes. Vivek Ramaswamy founded Roivant Sciences, a pharma firm whose goal was developing and delivering medicines to patients faster and more efficiently, in 2014, serving as the CEO until 2021. In 2015, Viveks image was splashed across the cover of Forbes magazine after he was reported as raising over $350 million for a subsidiary of Roivant, Axovant Sciences. It was an attempt to prop up a failed medication for Alzheimers. The same drug again failed tests at Axovant in 2017. Since then, Ramaswamy has co-founded Chapter, a Medicare advisory firm, while also becoming co-founder and executive chairman of Ohio-based company Strive Asset Management.Referring to the presidential elections of 2008, 2012, and 2016, when he did not vote, Vivek Ramaswamy has publicly described himself as having been "apolitical" at the time. By 2021, despite registering as "unaffiliated," he claims he was ready to position himself as a Republican. Ramaswamy, who cannot boast of any prior experience in the realm of politics, announced he was going to run for president in late February 2023.What Book Did Vivek Ramaswamy Write?Vivek Ramaswamy penned a book in 2021, titled Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate Americas Social Justice Scam. The publication did very well, reaching #2 on The New York Times Best Sellers list in the Hardcover Nonfiction section.What is Vivek Ramaswamy's Net Worth?The 2024 GOP hopeful's net worth was estimated at around $630 million in April 2023, as per Forbes, with the wealth attributed to his biotech and financial business endeavors.What is Ramaswamy Religion?Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy claims he practices Hinduism, but has unfailingly stressed that he also shares the same values as Christians. What is Vivek Ramaswamy's Agenda?Vivek Ramaswamy pitches himself as an anti-woke Republican presidential candidate. The word Truth appears to be pivotal to his campaigning, as evidenced by both his own statements and banners as well as signs omnipresent at his campaign events. As he addressed the crowd at the Iowa State Fair on August 12, Ramaswamy made these "truths" explicitly clear, stressing that "God is real," "Parents should determine the education of their children," "Capitalism lifts people up from poverty," "Fossil fuels are requirements for human prosperity," etc.Ramaswamy has been always eager to underline that he is "proudly aligned" with Moms for Liberty, a conservative social welfare non-profit, which actively opposes "woke" cancel culture and the teaching of Critical Race Theory in schools.Incidentally, Ramaswamy, a Trump supporter who stood outside the courthouse during cases being filed against the 45th POTUS and vowed to pardon him if elected, was asked if he would agree to run for vice president if the GOP nomination went south. Ramaswamy said "no," joking that Trump might do "pretty well" as his own VP.How is Ramaswamy Doing in the Polls?At the start of his campaign, Vivek Ramaswamy joked that he was polling, not just at zero percent, but at zero point zero percent. But since then, he has notched up in the polls. A recent national average from FiveThirtyEight.com showed him hovering in third place with 6.7 percent of support, trailing former President Donald Trump, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. A Morning Consult poll suggested Ramaswamy had drummed up at eight percent support. The same survey showed Donald Trump garnering 59 percent, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis with 16 percent. Another poll, from GOP firm Cygnal, even placed Ramaswamy in second position in the race, with the support of 11 percent of Republican voters.In any case, Vivek Ramaswamy is set to walk out onto the debate stage in Milwaukee for the first time on August 23, hoping to capitalize on the momentum he's gained ahead of further campaigning.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230222/us-businessman-vivek-ramaswamy-announces-2024-presidential-bid-1107708100.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230818/2024-gop-hopeful-us-may-cease-to-exist-in-hypothetical-conflict-against-russia-china-1112693348.html

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The Heartland Expressway, part of the larger Ports-to-Plains Alliance Corridor continues to help bring trade and economic development to the Panhandle. Currently, projects with the Nebraska Department of Transportation are focused on the L-62A Junction and Highway 385.

The Heartland Expressway is a proposed four-lane highway that will connect Denver, Colorado, to Rapid City, South Dakota, using existing highways in Colorado, Nebraska and South Dakota. The eventual goal is to connect the Heartland Expressway to the other components of the the Ports-to-Plains Corridor and the Theodore Roosevelt Expressway. Proponents advocate that the four-lane divided highways will make it easier to travel the corridor.

The stretches of highways through Nebraska that make up parts of the larger corridor represent a massive trade corridor and its use could be expanded with the improvements being made to the highways in the area.

According to Ports-to-Plains Alliance CEO Lauren Garduno, there are several major sources of commerce and trade along the corridor. These include 12 of the nations top 20 animal feedlots and 40% of the nations cotton. It also connects two of the largest oil producing regions in the country; the Permian Basin in Texas and the Bakken Oil Field in North Dakota.

Proponents of the expressway hope that the improvements being made to the roads will increase the traffic coming up and down the corridor and bring economic development to towns like Scottsbluff and Gering.

That gives you basically a footprint for the smaller communities such as Scottsbluff and Gering to be able to move their products north and south, Garduno said.

Garduno also spoke about the importance of developing another large north-south corridor since many interstates run east to west and leave large gaps in north-south corridors especially in the Midwest.

Notably there is not an interstate running north to south in the entire state of Nebraska. The nearest options are I-25 which runs through Denver and Cheyenne and I-29 through Kansas City which follows the states border with Missouri and Iowa.

Local leaders who attended an annual meeting of the Heartland Expressway Association meeting on Tuesday agreed on the importance of developing these projects for the area.

Scottsbluff City Manager Kevin Spencer was in attendance along with Gering City Administrator Pat Heath, TCD Executive Director Jordan Diedrich and Scottsbluff City Councilmember Angela Scanlan.

For our area to have a divided highway like that, it will have a tremendous impact, Spencer said. Itll make traveling a lot easier between I-80 up 385 into South Dakota.

The impact from previous Expressway project can already be seen in the area including the four-lane Highway 71 south of Gering.

The expansions of roadways could also lead to the development of additional infrastructure along the highways to accommodate for increases in traffic like gas stations and restaurants. The highway improvements may represent an opportunity for economic development.

I think thats where you hope to grow, I think youll see all of those types of things pop, said Spencer.

Scanlan said she also felt it was important to attend the meeting to learn more about the project.

I think this is a very worthy project and this is one that Im here to find out more about myself, said Scanlan.

She said was also enthusiastic about the local communitys involvement in the project, especially for infrastructure projects like this which can be difficult for rural areas to attract.

Scanlan pointed to how important it is for communities like Scottsbluff to remain invested in projects like these and referenced the work of Gering City Engineer Annie Folck, who has worked on the Expressway Associations board since 2014.

We have to be involved in a process to make sure ... that our voices are at the table when it comes to how this is done, Scanlan said.

Highway projects like the Heartland Expressway require a significant amount of research before construction can even begin. The vision for the Heartland Expressway was first proposed in 1988 and it was designated as a federal high priority corridor in 1991. In Nebraska, the first portion of the four-lane expressway wasnt complete until 2005, with the Kimball to Scottsbluff-Gering portion finished.

Currently, the NDOT is working on a study to decide whether to add lanes to the north or south side of L-62A to expand the junction to four lanes.

NDOT District Five Engineer Doug Hoevet said there were a number of factors that built into the decision including where the construction would cost less, where farmland and other properties come up to the roadway and how to minimize the impact of construction on areas like Minatare, which the roadway runs directly through.

Other decisions include choices on the types of medians and width of lanes across the roughly 18 miles of road. Estimated cost is $60 million according to NDOT estimates.

The study on what side of the roadway to build on is expected to be completed some time in the spring of 2024 according to Hoevet, at which point the NDOT will look at beginning construction.
Thursday was the first day of a new year for Scottsbluff Public Schools, and students at Lake Minatare Elementary were welcomed back with a level of excitement that is only possible at a small, community school.

Lake Minatare is the smallest school in the Scottsbluff school district with fewer than 100 students between kindergarten and fifth grade. Many of the families it serves work in agriculture, and the school serves a unique purpose as a community hub in addition to a place of learning.

Lake Minatare Elementary School principal Ashlen Schaneman is entering her third year of leadership at the school. She expressed pride in the cumulative years of service among its educational staff that more than make up for its small size.

We have over 200 years of experience out here among our staff. Its phenomenal, second to none, Schaneman said.

She also credits those small class sizes and years of experience as pillars of the schools culture that allow for deeper connections between classmates, coworkers and families.

All of our kids and all of our staff know everybody. There are no strangers here, Schaneman said. Its not just a school, its definitely a community and a family out here.

Lake Minatares librarian Nancy Marez embodies that family mentality. She can be found each school day standing by the front door ready to make every student feel welcomed and appreciated before they even set foot in the building.

Every single kid gets greeted by Mrs. Marez, Schaneman said. Every day, shes standing at the door, excited to see every kid.

To Marez, welcoming students to school every day is more than a job. She sees it as her opportunity to make a difference in the daily lives of kids in addition to keeping an eye out for any feelings or negative experiences that should be conveyed to the teaching staff.

We all need a purpose, and a big purpose for Scottsbluff schools is Every kid, every day. That doesnt just mean academics, that means making the child feel they are part of the school and that you are interested in them. That gives me an opportunity to form relationships, she said.

On Thursday, Marezs welcome also included snapping photos of every student who walked through the door. She did this on behalf of paraeducator Linda Claflin, who makes it her mission to document the school year. The first day photos will be placed on a special bulletin board that reinforces every childs sense of belonging.

I do it now and I do it again in January, Claflin said. It just gives them an opportunity to see that were all a community, we all go together. I also do class pictures and take pictures of the kids at recess and in P.E.

Kindergartners get special attention from Claflin. Throughout the school year she compiles an album for each student so that their parents can see all the fun activities and lessons they participated in. She also finds time to provide supplemental lessons of her own for all ages that include science experiments, Native American history, geography and more.

Mrs. Claflin does an amazing job out here, Schaneman said. Every single morning she comes and has STEM activities for the students, so instead of just coming out and playing recess theyre actually learning.

The sense of welcome at Lake Minatare extends to students parents and siblings as well. Schaneman said that parents spend more time in the Lake Minatare building than is average at other schools, which keeps them informed and involved in their kids learning and in their community.

The community and culture is second to none, Schaneman said. Ive worked at a lot of the other elementary schools in town, and theyre wonderful, but the community out here is just amazing. The families are extra involved. Our parent club does everything and anything for the kids.
When sisters Kristen Mayle and Jamie Beecham came up with the idea of A Day of Sass, it was meant to be a one-time thing.

Instead, A Day of Sass, intended to honor their late mother Sheila Braniff on her birthday, grew and now its become an almost annual tradition. The almost is because they had to take a couple of years off due to COVID, but it came back last year, and now they will be hosting it again on Oct. 3.

What is A Day of Sass?

The name is again a tribute to Braniff. Sassy was the name she was called by her grandchildren, who thought it fit their energetic, loving grandmother much better than Granny or Nana. The two sisters started Sassy Caps after Braniff died of cancer in 2014. The sisters wanted to honor their mother and give comfort to others going through cancer.

They made fun, bright caps for cancer patients, and that grew into making other gifts that bring comfort, both literally and figuratively. They added Sassy Seatbelt covers to their homemade product list. Mayle explained some cancer patients have a port in their chest to allow for easy administration of medication, but the seat belt may hit the port, causing discomfort. The soft covers give the patient a cushion between the seat belt and the port.

After the success and happiness they felt with Sassy Caps, on what would have been their mothers 70th birthday, they were looking for another way to give comfort to cancer patients and A Day of Sass was born.

A Day of Sass is a one-day event in which women with a cancer diagnosis are pampered and showered with love. Facials, massages and manicures are the services offered at A Day of Sass, and it also includes a professional photographer who takes family or individual photos. Light refreshments are served and a gift bag is presented to each woman. And one of the best features, Mayle said, is everything is free.

We arent selling anything. There is no money involved. Theres no strings attached. Its a labor of love, Mayle said.

And thats thanks to donations of money, services and products, she said.

Its just a great day, Mayle said.

Some of those donating their services this year include Catering by Tracy, Katherines Big Give, BeCause Cosmetics, Willow Branch Flowers and Design, A Linen Affair, Pinkies on Main, Beautiful Faces by Melissa, Whos the Fairest?, Danielle Gallo Photography, Oriental Trading and the Mooresville Costco.

Mayle said she and her sister are humbled by the support they receive for A Day of Sass. They are good people. They dont bat an eye at offering to help, she said.

When their mom was alive, the family did birthdays big. After their mom died, Mayle said that Beecham came up with an idea to continue that tradition of remembering their moms birthday in a big way by reaching out to those who were suffering from cancer and going through chemotherapy.

The first Day of Sass was held in Statesville and the next moved to Mooresville. After the two-year hiatus, the event moved to the Fields at Skycrest in Cleveland, and thats where it will be this year as well, Mayle said.

Fields at Skycrest is honored to host A Day of Sass. It is humbling to be a part of this special event again. We are thankful for this opportunity to make these amazing ladies and their families feel loved, supported and beautiful during their cancer journey, Stacey and Todd Abernathy, owners of Fields at Skycrest, said.

The women who are treated to A Day of Sass are chosen via a nomination form that is found on the website, www.sassycaps.org/events.

They just need to receive nominations of women who could benefit from a spa event. Names of ladies can be submitted by family or friends or ladies can nominate themselves by going to sassycaps.org/events. Any woman age 18-100 who is undergoing cancer treatment can be nominated to participate. Names are due by Sept. 8, and the sisters will notify the applicants afterward to inform them of their selection and of time slots. Nominations are not limited to Mooresville and Iredell County; however, each person selected is responsible for their own travel expenses.

Mayle said one woman came to A Day of Sass from eastern North Carolina and others have traveled from Charlotte and surrounding areas to take part.

A Day of Sass is from 3-7 p.m., and those chosen can select a time slot, Mayle said. Thats in order to make sure everyone has the time needed to get the services performed and enjoy the day.

Mayle said the day is designed to be one of hope and celebration.

She said the women who take part have a cancer diagnosis in common but thats not the dominant theme at A Day of Sass. The bonding is based on a day when their cancer diagnosis is not at the forefront.

She said some of the women are a little reluctant to get a facial, have someone put false eyelashes on them, have eyebrows drawn on or have their nails done, but it always turns out to be a fun and relaxing experience.

Past recipients of A Day of Sass and their family members said that is exactly what the day delivers.

I had the best day of my journey with Sassy ladies. Not only did it lift my spirit, yall taught me how to look good, feel great! I still talk about my day there, said Karen Ladislaw.

Jessica Bunton learned of the event through a flyer one of the sisters had put up in an oncologists office. She was taking her aunt for treatment, saw the flyer and nominated her aunt.

This event really helped make my auntie smile during a very rough time, she said.

Mayle said that is the reason she and her sister organized A Day of Sass and continue their work each year to make it happen. But, she said, it is truly a labor of love.

We get so much more than we put into it, she said.
The policy on how parents can object to material in school has been at the heart of the debate, which one side arguing that there is smut and 
A Florida man who told authorities that his crew of jewelry store robbers came to Virginia because targets here are easy marks because yall are slow, was sent to prison Monday.

Sean Tyler Flowers, 35, pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiring to commit a burglary. His two co-conspirators (Jonathan Morgan Flowers and Dale Louie Bennett, also from Florida) also pleaded guilty on Aug. 14. Their sentencing will be next month.

Sean Flowers was not present at the Floyd Jewelry Store robbery on June 24, 2022, during which up to $40,000 of merchandise was stolen, and two men were recorded by the stores surveillance system.

Digital technology from Google provided the sheriffs department a geo-fence that tracked the duos travel, phone use and more information.

That information, Commonwealths Attorney Eric Branscom said, was used by the Tennessee-based Regional Organized Crime Information Center to map out the suspects travel and other information.

Tracking of the stolen items located three pawn shops where they were sold by one of the trio of men, including S. Flowers.

Six pieces of jewelry were recovered, and the suspects were identified by fingerprints, photos and videos by the pawnshops, Branscom said.

Branscom said Crime Information Center provided a detailed map of Jonathan Flowers from June 23 to July 11, where he and Bennett were arrested in another burglary attempt, this one in Rockingham City, North Carolina.

Sean Flowers was arrested two days later by North Carolina authorities, Branscom said.

Circuit Judge Mike Fleenor sentenced Sean Flowers to six years, with a year and nine months in prison.

Jonathan Flowers and Dale Bennett are charged with grand larceny, burglary and  in Flowers case having burglary tools. Their guilty pleas were accepted, and the judge will sentence them on Sept. 19.

In other cases, heard on Monday:

Tara Sambola of Roanoke pleaded guilty to petty larceny and escaping from jail by force on June 13, but Judge Fleenor deferred final disposition for two years. If she stays out of trouble for that period, the charges could be dismissed.

Randy Earl Lee Quesenberry of Indian Valley pleaded guilty for failure to make any payments on a $25,000 fee that is part of a helicopter rescue transport bill.
While ground isnt being turned, work is proceeding to develop a truck stop on land just off Interstate 81s Exit 39.

Arpit Soni of Soni Holdings LLC, the project developer, told the Smyth County Board of Supervisors Thursday evening that a great deal of work has been going on in the background.

By no means is the project dead, Soni said.

Among the key developments Soni outlined is a tentative agreement with Circle K, a company well known for service stations in this area and for truck stops in western states. Next month, he said, theyll open a 6,200-square-foot operation with Circle K in another locality to see how it does. If all goes well, Circle K will also be the brand behind the Smyth Travel Center, which is designed at about 7,000 square feet.

Circle K is a brand of Alimentation Couche-Tard, a Canadian company.

Soni also said that his company is working to acquire the remaining interchange sites and has some properties under contract.

A major aspect of his work over the last year, Soni said, has been acquiring a financing institution for the project after the first one was lost. The company theyre currently working with, he said, wants the project divided into three phases rather than two.

Additionally, Soni said, HS Williams is now working with the project as a contractor and once the project receives the final go-ahead has estimated that work will be done in 12 to 18 months.

However, with several steps yet to complete, including getting commercial access approval from the Virginia Department of Transportation and mitigating wetlands, if necessary, Soni said, he would project that ground could be broken in the spring of 2024 at the earliest.

The plans, he said, call for the truck stop to have 10 fuel dispensers with the capability of 20 people filling up at once for passenger vehicles. Multiple grades of fuel, including ethanol-free gas, will be available.

For commercial trucks, Soni said, another 10 fuel dispensers will be available, offering diesel and DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid).

In planning the truck stop, he said, inspiration is being taken from Whites Travel Center in Raphine, the largest such center on the East Coast. The projects second phase, Soni said, will focus on retail and services such as barbershops and medical care.

At 40,000 square feet, the Raphine center, off of I-81 and I-64, offers barber and beauty shops, chrome shop, truck service and parts, truck service road squad, Nathans Famous Express, Papa Johns, Popeyes, Subway, Caribou Coffee, Whites Deli, Quaker Steak & Lube, Raphine Fitness, a chiropractic provider, medical associates, a dermatology clinic, dental clinic, and five stores.

The third phase would include a parking lot expansion and a truck wash for diesel trucks, Soni said.

Much of whats been done since the supervisors approved a Special Use Permit for the project in 2022 involves numbers that are confidential, the developer said. We want to protect our largest investment ever  this one, he said.

When asked about the number of vehicles traveling I-81 per day, Soni said, the last official VDOT statistics were reported in 2019 with 60,000 to 80,000 vehicles traveling north and southbound. Unofficially, he said, hes heard reports of the number approaching 100,000.

Supervisor Phil Stevenson thanked Soni for his report and said he continues to believe the board did the right thing in giving its OK to the permit for the commercially zoned land. In approving the permit, the supervisors acted against the recommendation of their planning commission, which recommended denying the permit.

Supervisor Kris Ratliff noted that on drives to Richmond, he often sees tractor-trailers pulled off, illegally parked for rest breaks. The need is there, he said.

In 2022, Soni said that projections indicated that in its first year of operation the truck stop would generate $5.5 million in local, state and other taxes.

When the project came to public attention in early 2022, it drew opposition, especially from nearby residents who cited negative impacts on their quality of life. Others cited threats to the environment, including the nearby Holston River and wetlands, and the propertys historic value, which includes significant Civil War activity and the 22-room Seven Mile Ford pre-Civil War home of the late Lucy Herndon Crockett, a noted writer and artist. The house, placed on National Register of Historic Places in 1969, was built in 1842 by John Montgomery Preston on land his wife, Maria Thornton Carter Preston, inherited from her father, General Francis Preston.

In May 2022, the private, non-profit Preservation Virginia included the Preston House on its list of Virginias Most Endangered Historic Places.

Following the supervisors decision to grant the permit, a group of Seven Mile Ford homeowners took legal action against them, filing a complaint in Smyth County Circuit Court. This spring Judge Sage B. Johnson denied a county request to dismiss the case.

Thursday, the supervisors asked Soni to continue to provide project updates every six months.
There is a significant disruption in traffic within the major cities of Daraa governorate, according to Syria TV.

The governorates of Daraa, Suweida, and Damascus countryside experienced strikes and protests on Thursday morning in response to the call of the Syrian Peaceful Movement group, launched by Syrian activists the previous evening.

According to sources from Syria TV, a considerable number of individuals in the city of Nawa, located northwest of Daraa, shuttered their shops and declared a widespread strike in support of the peaceful movement. This action is a response to the deteriorating economic conditions in the areas controlled by the regime in southern Syria.

The sources further noted that there is a significant disruption in traffic within the major cities of Daraa governorate, with approximately 70% of shops and markets completely closed. This has resulted in a prevailing sense of anger and frustration among the local populace.

Furthermore, reports indicate that in Nawa, a multitude of protesters and strikers have taken to obstructing roads by setting tires ablaze. This coincided with the deployment of regime forces and associated militias both inside the city and its vicinity.

Protests in Suweida

Additionally, since Thursday morning, the governorate of Suweida has become a focal point for widespread protests. Demonstrators have taken the initiative to block main roads that connect towns and villages in the countryside, creating disruptions in access to the capital, Damascus.

According to reports from the Suwaida 24 network, the protests have been concentrated in several towns, namely al-Matuna, Majadel, Nimra Shahba, Qanat, and al-Thala. Additionally, a peaceful gathering took place at the tomb of Sultan Pasha al-Atrash in the town of al-Qarya. These demonstrations have arisen due to the deteriorating economic conditions and the perceived failure of the Syrian regime to address the peoples hardships effectively.

Videos released by Suwayda 24 depict the spirited slogans chanted by protesters in Dignity Square. Among the most resonant chants were: Syria is for all of us, not just Assads household, and Let them know, those who claim our lives are insignificant.

The recent hike in fuel prices, following a recent salary increase decree, triggered a widespread strike among most public transport services on internal routes within Suweida. This transportation halt has essentially brought the governorate to a near standstill, exacerbating the publics dissatisfaction.

Simultaneously, as strikes and protests unfold in Daraa and Suweida, Swords Square in the city of Jaramana within the Damascus countryside also witnessed a gathering. Banners held aloft bore the message: We demand the right to live with dignity.

These protests and strikes in the southern governorates of Syria are a response to the call of the Syrian Peaceful Movement. This movement emerged in conjunction with the regimes decision to increase fuel prices. These actions are taking place against the backdrop of an economic collapse and soaring prices that the nation is grappling with.

Syrian Peaceful Movement

The Syrian Peaceful Movement, a group of Syrian activists, issued a call for civil disobedience and a comprehensive strike across cities and towns in southern Syria, beginning on Thursday. This response was prompted by recent economic decisions made by the regime.

According to Ahrar Houran Gathering, one of the organizers of the peaceful movement stated that their actions are a direct response to the regimes economic and political policies. These policies have been perceived as attempts to marginalize and deprive the remaining Syrian population, potentially forcing them to migrate. The organizer emphasized that the movements persistence will be maintained until the Syrian peoples demands for freedom and dignity are met. The movement was officially formed on the evening of August 16, 2023, and it consists of a collective of activists within Syria.

It is worth noting that the emergence of the Syrian Peaceful Movement follows the establishment of another movement known as the August 10th Movement. The latters primary objective, as outlined in its initial statement, is to address the suffering of the Syrian populace arising from the countrys governance mismanagement and the states apparent disregard for the peoples future.

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.
A new study claims that Rich Americans contribute more to carbon emissions than lower earners.

Experts said that those specifically in the top 10% of earners are responsible for 40% of the greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.

Rich Americans Contribute More to Carbon Missions in the US

According to Forbes' latest report, a new study was published in the PLOS Climate journal on Wednesday, Aug. 16.

Experts from the University of Massachusetts Amherst conducted it. Their findings revealed that the top 10% of American earners contribute more to greenhouse gas emissions.

Via Business Insider, Jared Star, the study's lead author, said that the carbon emissions are linked to the earnings these wealthier Americans make. The University of Massachusetts Amherst sustainability scientist added that their greenhouse gas emissions are created to generate earnings.

Starr also explained that their findings show that those earning less and contributing less to carbon emissions mostly suffer from the worsening climate crisis.

"It just seems morally untenable to have such an extreme disparity in our society," said the lead author.

Read Also: [SURVEY] Americans More Interested in Space Defense Than Mars Missions; Are Asteroids Really That Scary?

Why Rich Americans Emit More Greenhouse Gas

There are many reasons why wealthier Americans contribute more to carbon emissions. These include investing in businesses that have manufacturing plants that emit greenhouse gases. In the new study, researchers said that carbon emissions are associated with the investment income of richer Americans.

When it comes to lower and middle earners, the carbon emissions they make are associated with their wages. Because of this, experts suggested that the best solution for this disparity is to tax wealthy people instead of consumers.

Starr explained that carbon taxes are currently focused on the wrong residents. In the U.S., numerous proposals for a carbon tax were already introduced in Congress.

However, these laws are usually passed to consumers. This is why product prices go up, as the International Monetary Fund explains. Starr and his co-authors explained that the government should start taxing shares of companies based on their carbon emissions.

They said that taxing wealthier Americans could discourage them from investing in industries that are harmful to the environment, such as the gas and oil industries. Instead, they could shift their investments to more sustainable industries, including solar and wind energy.

Related Article: [STUDY] Young American Cancer Patients on the Rise; 30 to 39 Years Old Mostly Affected

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The official stance of Jordan underscores the principles of a voluntary and secure repatriation process, according to Syria TV.

Presently, concerns regarding the involuntary repatriation of Syrian refugees in Jordan are on the rise. Although Jordan has never formally advocated for the forced return of Syrian refugees to their homeland, the discourse surrounding the issue has become increasingly intense. While the Jordanian government consistently emphasizes a voluntary and secure repatriation process, its normalization of relations with the Syrian regime has ignited fears among refugees of being forcibly returned against their will.

Dread of Deportation from Jordan

Mona Khalif, a refugee who has sought asylum in Jordan for a decade, openly shares her anxieties about returning to Syria. Khalif, aged 50, recounts the devastation she endured when her home in the Daraa Governorate was bombed, leading to the loss of her son, her husbands debilitating injury, and the destruction of their residence. Speaking to the Syria TV website, she states, Its true that I am distant from my children, who are in Lebanon. In these past 10 years, I havent laid eyes on them. Reunification is my hope, but not within Syrias current circumstances.

Khalif maintains regular communication with relatives in Daraa, who vividly describe a life that has led her to prefer death over returning to Syria. She adds, Instant death befalls people there, with no safety or sustenance. Returning to such a place is unthinkable. Were acquainted with the fate that awaits us there, yet we also tremble at the prospect of coerced repatriation.

Ibrahim al-Mahamid, who lost a hand during a severe bombardment of his home and tragically lost his cousins, expresses, Syria lacks the elemental essentials for lifeno electricity, no water, no employment. Why would we yearn to return? Were the ones who built it.

Jordans Position: Striking a Balance

The official stance of Jordan underscores the principles of a voluntary and secure repatriation process. However, the demarcation between this approach and a potential forced return appears blurred.

Specializing in Syrian affairs, Jordanian researcher Salah al-Malkawi remarks, Throughout Jordans political history, there hasnt been an instance of refugees being coerced back to their homeland, regardless of whether security and stability were restored. It seems improbable. He further asserts, Syria lacks the conducive environment to offer a dignified life to its refugees.

Reluctance Among Syrians in Jordan to Return

In accordance with a recent comprehensive study commissioned by the United Nations, a mere 1.1% of Syrian refugees residing across four Arab nations express a desire to return to Syria within the forthcoming year. Concurrently, efforts intensify to establish conditions conducive to the voluntary and safe return of these refugees.

Conducted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) between January and February of 2023 in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq, the study reveals that merely 1.1% of surveyed Syrian refugees anticipate returning within the next twelve months. This percentage is a decrease from 1.7% in 2022 and 2.4% in 2021.

An overwhelming 93.5% of respondents affirm their unwillingness to return to Syria within the following yeara slight increase from 92.8% in 2022. Notably, UNHCR currently refrains from actively advocating for their repatriation.

The study highlights that 97% of Syrian refugees in Jordan who participated in the survey have no intentions of returning to their homeland within the ensuing 12 months, while 2.4% remain undecided.

Regarding the overarching desire to return to Syria at any point, the cumulative percentage stands at 56.1%. Among the highest percentages of refugees rejecting a return within the upcoming year are found in Jordan, reaching 96.8%, compared to last years 94.2%. This compares to 95% in Egypt, 94% in Iraq, and 91% in Lebanon.

In Jordan, 65% of surveyed refugees express a general aspiration to return to Syria eventuallythe most significant percentage, followed by Lebanon and Iraq. Notably, intentions to return within the next 12 months decreased from 2.4% last year to 0.8% this year, signifying the most substantial alteration in intent.

The decision-making process to return is predominantly influenced by factors encompassing safety, security, livelihood, employment, basic amenities, and housing in Syria, as evidenced by the insights of 2,984 participants in the survey.

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 Jenny Creek Fire burning north of La Center was 100 percent contained and 40 percent controlled as of Friday morning.

Cooler weather and continued joint fire fighting efforts around the clock have made tremendous gains, according to Clark Regional Emergency Services Agency.

Smoke will still be visible throughout the day, CRESA said, though it should be less than what was seen Thursday.

Evacuation zones remained unchanged from Thursday night but will be reassessed as the day unfolds, according to the update, posted at 8:45 a.m. Previous Level 3 areas were downgraded to Level 2 and previous Level 2 areas moved to Level 1. Public alerts will be sent out if the zones change, along with updates on social media.

The evacuation zone map is available at https://rb.gy/5uck3.

The blaze started at about 3:38 p.m. Wednesday in the 37000 block of Northeast Jenny Creek Road. A house fire spread to a barn and several other small structures on the same property and surrounding vegetation, prompting fire officials to call for evacuations that reached into the city of La Center.

CRESA said Thursday the fire had blackened 32 acres and destroyed a house, barn and some outbuildings on the property where it originated. No injuries were reported.

The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Clark County Fire Marshals Office.

In total, 72 units and five aircraft have helped fight the fire. On Thursday, 92 firefighters from the Department of Natural Resources and Clark-Cowlitz Fire Rescue worked on the fire, which included 40 trained incarcerated individuals from Larch Corrections Center. The Washington Department of Corrections recently announced the minimum-security prison near Yacolt will close this fall.

Additional fire updates are available at www.cresa911.org.
Columbia River Fire & Rescues chief, ousted last week in a surprise board vote, filed a $20 million whistleblower suit Thursday against the fire district, four board members and union leaders.

The federal civil rights suit alleges the district and its governing board retaliated against Fire Chief Joel Medina for reporting unchecked district credit card purchases, mismanagement of grant-funded jobs and improper classification of administrative staff to obtain higher firefighter retirement benefits. The state police and Columbia County District Attorneys office are conducting an ongoing criminal investigation into Medinas findings.

The board received copies of Medinas lawsuit at a special meeting called to discuss the fire districts deepening financial troubles, including losing its line of credit.

The board fired Medina after he made a good faith report in the public interest about misconduct by public employees and public officials, the lawsuit says.

The suit accuses the board of firing Medina without notice in violation of his contract, due process rights and state public meetings law.

Medina seeks unspecified punitive damages against the four members who voted to add the resolution to fire him to their Aug. 8 meeting and the three new members who voted to fire him, Richard Fletcher, Ryan Welby and Austin Zimbrick. All three were elected in May.

The board added the resolution at the start of its monthly meeting. It wasnt on the agenda posted for the public. The resolution cited two votes of no confidence in Medina this year by the local firefighters union, which is in arbitration with the St. Helens-based district over a disputed contract.

Board president Kelly Niles abstained from the vote to fire Medina, though he agreed with the three new members to add the resolution to the agenda. One lone board member Gary Hudson voted against firing Medina and the next day resigned from the board. The board then immediately appointed an interim chief, who resigned three days later, after having resisted union pressure to fire Medinas colleagues, Finance Division Chief Jimmy Sanchez and Deputy Chief Eric Smythe.

Medinas suit also alleges that the three board members who voted to fire him as well as a local resident and community activist, Ronda Melton, defamed him on social media, including disparaging him because of his race.

Defendants have published statements on Local #3215s Facebook site accusing Plaintiff of gross misconduct, fraud, dishonesty, and financial misconduct in his employment with CRFR, the suit states. Defendants have also used other social media sites including, but not limited to Twitter, accusing Plaintiff of gross misconduct, fraud, dishonesty, and financial misconduct.

Some businesses in the town of about 14,360 people have gone so far as to deny public accommodations to Chief Medina and Division Chief (Jimmy) Sanchez and their families, including refusing to seat them in a restaurant when only one table was occupied, according to the suit.

A previous board hired Medina from Florida to run the fire department, which has a current roster of 35 firefighters and a $13 million budget. Medina started in late December 2020 and last year hired Sanchez, a colleague from Florida, to oversee the finances after the longtime civilian finance manager left.

Chief Medina and Division Chief Sanchez believe that they are being victimized by persons that are trying to cover-up their own malfeasance and wrongdoing, the suit contends. In doing so, they are defaming them in an effort to drive them from their employment, ruin their credibility and drive them from the District and the area.

The suit seeks economic damages, damages for emotional distress and reinstatement with back pay.

Medinas lawsuit follows a suit filed in April by three former district employees against Medina alleging sexual harassment. Medina, who eliminated their jobs, has denied the allegations.

At Thursday nights meeting, the districts lawyer, Akin Blitz, informed board members that U.S. Bank has effectively canceled the agencys line of credit designed to keep the district afloat until November, when the district receives it property taxes.

This is a huge problem, Blitz said.

Without significant revenues, youre going to run out of money, the district-hired auditor Robert G. Moody Jr. said moments later.

The bank acted when district administrators were unable to certify that the district hadnt undergone any material change in its finances or faced any legal liabilities in the past yearincluding a suit, proceeding or investigation at law, that could have an adverse effect on the ability of the district to pay back the loan, the districts bond counsel Gulgun Ugur wrote to Sanchez Thursday.

I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, Ugurs letter said.

The disputed union contract, now before a state arbitrator, could add to the financial turmoil.

Past board members signed the contract but became aware only later that a wage table included as an appendix had rolled in a 10% premium pay into the base salary of firefighter paramedics, aside from the 2% increase and $7,500 stipend that the district intended for them.

At the start of the fiscal year, the districts available cash totaled $3.1 million. The district had $1.3 million left as of Wednesday, according to the auditor.

District expenses are expected to hit $4.35 million through the end of October, Moody said. The district will face a projected $1.6 million deficit at the end of the fiscal year 2023-24 because revenue isnt keeping up with personnel and operating costs, he said.

Sanchez, who remains in his job as the fire districts division finance chief, said he and Medina have been raising the alarm about the dire financial picture for more than a year, but union leaders scoffed at them.

Its what weve been saying since July of last year: the district has no money, he told the new board. Theres a deficit, and weve been borrowing for a long time.

At the end of the night, four board members voted to direct Sanchez to reach out to the city of St. Helens to find out if it would provide a secured loan to the district to allow it to operate until property tax revenue becomes available in November.

If St. Helens agrees, it buys you some time, Moody told the board.
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A city view of Helsinki in the style of the French painter Henri Matisse. Created with the AI Style Transfer for a study participant who mentioned a trip to the Finnish capital in the questionnaire. Credit: Ernst Strungmann Institute (ESI) for Neuroscience

Pictures, preferences, names, dates Have you ever wondered why Big Tech and artificial intelligence (AI) companies collect so much personal information about you? A new paper out this week reveals a big reason why: self-relevance is a key predictor of what people likethat is, how much something means to us because it speaks to our identity, memories, needs, or feelings.

The study involves researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics (MPIEA), the Ernst Strungmann Institute (ESI) for Neuroscience, both based in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, and the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen, Netherlands.

Recent advances in AI are currently revolutionizing creative processes. In the graphic-visual realm, programs like DALL-E enable anyone to bring to life detailed artistic images of just about anythingincluding self-portraits according to very individual preferences and ideas.

These current developments highlight the power of art to speak to our individual lived experiences, and for these aesthetic experiences with art to be transformative. Which means they can have the potential to fundamentally change how we perceive ourselves and the world around us.

The new research published in Psychological Science provides an answer for why people are so captivated by these artificially created "mirror images." The findings show that self-relevance is a crucial factor in the aesthetic appeal of art. In their study, the researchers used an AI technique called Style Transfer to create customized artworks for individual participants.

First, the study participants had to fill out a questionnaire about aspects of their self-construct, in which they provided information about childhood memories of the places they grew up, recent vacations, and their personal and social identity (e.g., "I am an LGBTQ activist" or "I am an avid roller skater").

The researchers then selected photos that illustrated these aspects and used Style Transfer to create new artwork tailored specifically to each person. In addition, subjects were also shown artwork created for others, as well as a diverse set of AI-generated and human-made artwork unrelated to the study participants.

Van Gogh's sunflowers, but for sailing fans, please! Credit: Vincent Van Gogh: Twelve Sunflowers in a Vase (August 1888), Neue Pinakothek, Munich; ESI/C. Kernberger

The researchers found that test participants rated artworks that had been designed specifically for them as aesthetically much more appealing than those that had been designed for other people. Self-relevance also helped the researchers to predict which artworks their subjects would find particularly appealing. In addition, there were no features of the images that universally signaled self-relevance: individual observers tended to relate very different things to themselves.

But we don't always seek out art just to see reflections of ourselves. Sometimes it can tell us about the experiences of others. Edward A. Vessel, the lead author of the study and research associate at the MPIEA, explains, "Even if an artwork provides a window onto something different from what we know, it doesn't automatically mean that we can't relate to it. If the work contains elements that establish or enhance self-relevance, a deeper understanding and thus a greater pleasure is nevertheless possible."

Co-author Cem Uran, doctoral student in Martin Vinck's research group at the ESI, continues, "For this study, we showed our subjects artworks that specifically contained self-relevant elements. However, with real art, it is entirely up to us to discover these visual elementsor perhaps we don't even consciously notice them and simply like certain art without knowing why."

"Here, we focused on showing that 'individual self-relevance' is more important than general rules such as aesthetic design or the golden ratio. Both are, of course, factors that can explain some parts of likingbut not all."

This work forms the basis for understanding the psychological effects and massive popularity of AI tools for creating personalized contentfrom superhero avatars of oneself to imaginative narratives entirely based on personal preferences and desires.

The fact that self-referential information appeals to us so strongly also highlights the potential for abuse of personalized content, which is becoming increasingly ubiquitous through recommender algorithms serving up personalized feeds and content (TikTok, YouTube, etc.). This trend is accelerating dramatically with the recent advances in AI technology and is often not even consciously perceived by social media users.

More information: Edward A. Vessel et al, Self-Relevance Predicts the Aesthetic Appeal of Real and Synthetic Artworks Generated via Neural Style Transfer, Psychological Science (2023). DOI: 10.1177/09567976231188107 Journal information: Psychological Science

Provided by Ernst Strungmann Institute (ESI) for Neuroscience
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Shown is a UML model of a gas warning system comprised of three layers from the bottom to the topdata access layer, domain layer, and view layer: (1) Data acquisition: This logic flow is run between the Data Access Layer and Domain Layer. The data are obtained from gas, temperature, and wind databases. (2) Correlation analysis: Within the Domain Layer, correlation analyses are conducted separately between data upstream of gas and gas, gas and temperature, and gas and wind. (3) Activated decision: This step bridges the Domain Layer and the View Layer. Credit: Scientific Reports (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-35900-3

Greater monitoring of wind, gas density and temperatures in coal mines can help reduce the risk of disasters, according to a new joint study with Charles Darwin University (CDU) and University Technology Sydney (UTS).

The study, "An FSV analysis approach to verify the robustness of the triple-correlation analysis theoretical framework," focused on developing a gas monitoring system that takes a holistic approach to assessing wind, gas, and temperature conditions. It was published in Scientific Reports.

The project used data from a large Global Fortune 500 listed mining company in China, which held 46% of the world's coal production in 2020.

Co-author and CDU Faculty of Science and Technology Associate Professor Niusha Shafiabady said the study examined real-time data and all tests indicated three significant correlations between gas, temperature, and wind.

The project confirmed the framework could be used to develop a gas warning system with improved sensitivity to reduce the incidence of gas explosions.

"A significant number (3,284) of coal mines have high gas content at outburst-prone risk levels across almost all 26 major coal mining provinces in China," Shafiabady said.

"For example on 10 June 2020, a serious coal and gas outburst accident occurred in Liaoyuan, China which resulted in seven deaths and two injuries, with a direct economic loss of 16.66 million yuan ($3.4 million).

"It is significant to carry out real-time monitoring of coal and rock dynamic disasters during coal mining activities."

The study was undertaken by CDU, University of Technology Sydney, Shanxi Normal University, Central Queensland University, Taiyuan Normal University, Shanxi Fenxi Mining Industry Group Co and Shanxi Fenxi Mining Zhongxing Coal Industry Co.

Shafiabady said the results of the study could be used by different mining companies to avoid gas incidents.

"The outcomes of this study can also be used in other industries such as chemical industry, oil and gas industry, water treatment plants and semiconductor manufacturing industries," she said.

"Currently we are working on creating a real-time artificial intelligence decision-making system with the ability to predict the accidents as an addition to the current designed gas monitoring system."

More information: Robert M. X. Wu et al, An FSV analysis approach to verify the robustness of the triple-correlation analysis theoretical framework, Scientific Reports (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-35900-3 Journal information: Scientific Reports
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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Selling jackets with built-in fans, neck coolers and T-shirts that feel cold, Japanese firms are tapping into a growing market for products to help people handle the summer heat.

Japanlike other countriesis seeing ever-hotter summers. This July was the warmest in 100 years, with at least 53 people dying of heatstroke and almost 50,000 needing emergency medical attention.

Workman, which makes clothes for construction workers, launched a version of their fan-fitted jackets adapted for the high street in 2020 as demand grew.

The mechanism is simpletwo electric, palm-sized fans powered by a rechargeable battery are fitted into the back of the jacket.

They draw in air to then deliver a breezeat variable speedsonto the wearer's body.

The jackets retail for 12,000 to 24,000 yen ($82-164).

"As the weather gets hotter, people who have never worn fan-equipped clothing before want to find ways to cool down... so more people are interested in buying it," Workman spokesman Yuya Suzuki told AFP.

"Just like you feel cool when you are at home with a fan, you feel cool just by wearing (the jacket) because the wind is blowing through your body all the time," he said.

Aging population at risk

Japanese summers are known to be hot and humid, but this July Tokyo really sweated.

The average temperature was 28.7 Celsius (83.7 Fahrenheit), the highest on record since 1875.

Heatstroke is particularly deadly in Japan, which has the second-oldest population in the world after Monaco.

More than 80 percent of heat-related deaths in the past five years have been among senior citizens.

"Some people die from heatstroke," said Nozomi Takai of MI Creations, a company selling neck-cooling tubes mainly to factory and warehouse workers.

"Individuals as well as companies are putting more and more effort into measures against it every year," Takai said.

The gel inside his firm's brightly colored tubespriced at 2,500 yenis cool enough to use after 20 minutes in the fridge.

Wearing it on the neck will "considerably cool the whole body" for about an hour, she said.

Takai's company joined an expo this year on "measures against extreme heat" in Tokyo to showcase new products that help users stay cool in the scorching heat.

At another booth, Tokyo-based company Liberta had a series of clothing including T-shirts and arm sleeves using prints that make users feel coolespecially when they sweat.

The prints use materials such as xylitol that feel cool when reacting with water and sweat, they said.

Chikuma, an Osaka-based company, has even created office jackets and dresses equipped with electric fans.

"We developed them with the idea that it could be proposed in places where casual wear is not allowed," Yosuke Yamanaka of Chikuma said.

Regular fan-fitted clothes can make the wearer look puffy, as they need to be zipped up, and cuffs are tight.

But jackets developed jointly by Chikuma, power tool maker Makita and textile giant Teijin do not need to be buttoned up, thanks to a special structure that sandwiches the fans in two layers and keeps the cool air in, Yamanaka said.

Men adopting parasols

Parasols, which are commonly associated in Japan with skin-tone-conscious women protecting against a summer tan, are now proving more popular with men too.

Komiyama Shoten, a small, luxury umbrella maker in Tokyo, began making parasols for men around 2019 after the environment ministry encouraged people to use them.

Before, many male customers thought parasols "were for women and they were embarrassed", the owner Hiroyuki Komiya said.

"Once you use it, you can't let go," he added.

On the busy streets of popular tourist destination Asakusa, Kiyoshi Miya, 42, said he decided to "use his umbrella as a parasol".

"It's like I'm always in the shade and the wind feels cool," he said.

Another visitor, Shoma Kawashima, wore a wearable fan around his neck to stay cool under the blazing sun.

"It's so hot I want to be naked," the 21-year-old said.

Gadgets are helpful, but "not a solution" to rising temperatures, he added.

 2023 AFP
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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

If you're like most people, when you saw an update to the terms and conditions to use the New York Times' website last week, you just accepted them and moved on.

But there was something unusual in this particular updatea prohibition on artificial intelligence.

"A lot of folks who are creating contentreporters and writers, but also artists and othersare discovering that their work is essential for these models to function," said Robin Burke, professor and chair of the information science department at CU Boulder's College of Media, Communication and Information. "And yet there's this business model for which this is the input, but there's no compensation for it."

Generative AI platforms like ChatGPT create content based on user input. If you ask it to write a thank-you note to your grandmother for the sweater she knitted for your birthday, it draws upon all the text it has "read" online and generates a fairly convincing note. But there is no recognition for the writers whose prose generated the source material that make the AI's output possible.

The Times' action forbids AI systems from scraping its content to train machine learning systems. So far, it's the most influential shot fired as AI's perceived impact looms in newsrooms, creative fields and beyond.

"The first round with AI has kind of been a free ride, because nobody was paying attention to what they were doing," Burke said. "Now, I think it makes sense that the organizations producing content are thinking, 'Do I really agree with this as a usage of my work?'"

A unique perspective on news, AI

Burke has unique expertise in this arena. He's the son of a newspaper publisher and a scholar who is part of a team that's creating tools for the close study of news recommender systems and their impacts on users, including journalists and editors.

The Times is facing the same challenges as other papers in this new chapter of the digital age. But with a very robust subscriber base and a global audience, it is not really in the same category of daily newspapers that have been constricted by technologies that have moved audiences online and siphoned away significant advertising revenue. It's easy to read journalists' concerns over AI as a chance to correct what the industry got wrong at the dawn of the internetwhen publishers made their news free to everyone online, counting on the new technology of digital advertising to pay the bills.

"In the early days of the Internet, people had a lot of different crazy ideas," Burke said. "And certain models came out of thatsome thrived, some failedbut as it relates to AI, we're not far enough along to understand who the winners are."

Need proof? A month before the Times changed its terms, the Associated Press signed a deal to allow ChatGPT to scrape its archive going back to 1985.

"AP is a little different, in that their model is very different from the Timesthey get their money mostly from publishers for using their content," Burke said. "It might also be the case that OpenAI saw the writing on the wall and looked to AP as a reliable source, especially in case other publishers start to lock them out."

It's something Burke feels is worth watching as he continues his research, particularly as those smaller papers face the choice of whether to restrict access to their reporting or consider AI's role in a newsroom. If you'll task AI with analyzing government records in search of scandal, it's not a far leap to just ask an algorithm to write the story, leaving out human judgment altogether.

"Part of that recommendation equation is this question of credibility," Burke said. "So when an article is recommended to you, what does the system need to do to ensure it's credibleeven if I might prefer some version of the news that suits my ideal ideological inclinations better?

"It's why I think it's such an important research goal to explore more of this space."
When Taylor and Brandon Carlson found out they would be having fraternal triplets, Taylor said she and her husband had very different reactions.
Deane Retirement Strategies Inc. grew its holdings in Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA  Free Report) by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,079 shares of the credit services providers stock after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the quarter. Mastercard makes up approximately 1.1% of Deane Retirement Strategies Inc.s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Deane Retirement Strategies Inc.s holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,996,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. raised its holdings in Mastercard by 13.8% during the 1st quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 808 shares of the credit services providers stock worth $294,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Bell Bank raised its holdings in Mastercard by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Bell Bank now owns 1,908 shares of the credit services providers stock worth $693,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Mastercard by 88.7% during the 1st quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 8,503 shares of the credit services providers stock worth $3,090,000 after buying an additional 3,998 shares during the period. CMH Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 0.4% in the first quarter. CMH Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,201 shares of the credit services providers stock valued at $4,071,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 25.4% in the first quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 4,747 shares of the credit services providers stock valued at $1,725,000 after purchasing an additional 961 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.33% of the companys stock.

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Mastercard Price Performance

MA stock traded down $1.75 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $392.62. The company had a trading volume of 2,029,379 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,732,954. The company has a market capitalization of $369.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $389.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $375.24. Mastercard Incorporated has a 1-year low of $276.87 and a 1-year high of $405.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

Mastercard ( NYSE:MA Get Free Report ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The credit services provider reported $2.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.18 billion. Mastercard had a return on equity of 178.10% and a net margin of 43.37%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.56 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Mastercard Incorporated will post 12.14 earnings per share for the current year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 7th were paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 6th. Mastercards dividend payout ratio is currently 21.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Mastercard from $392.00 to $404.00 in a report on Friday, April 28th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $472.00 to $476.00 in a report on Thursday, May 4th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $463.00 to $488.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $400.00 to $435.00 in a report on Monday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $425.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $438.54.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Raj Seshadri sold 5,164 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $373.24, for a total value of $1,927,411.36. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,164 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,166,851.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO J. Mehra Sachin sold 10,838 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $394.38, for a total value of $4,274,290.44. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,707 shares of the companys stock, valued at $8,166,426.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 399,783 shares of company stock worth $158,204,310 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the companys stock.

Mastercard Profile

(Free Report)

Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. It facilitates the processing of payment transactions, including authorization, clearing, and settlement, as well as delivers other payment-related products and services.

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Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund bought a new position in AmerisourceBergen Co. (NYSE:ABC  Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,757 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $922,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ABC. United Bank raised its holdings in shares of AmerisourceBergen by 16.6% in the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 3,632 shares of the companys stock worth $562,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its holdings in shares of AmerisourceBergen by 29.9% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 5,193 shares of the companys stock worth $803,000 after purchasing an additional 1,194 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of AmerisourceBergen by 123.4% in the 1st quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 6,301 shares of the companys stock worth $975,000 after purchasing an additional 3,480 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of AmerisourceBergen by 22.5% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,767 shares of the companys stock worth $430,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in shares of AmerisourceBergen by 12.4% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 8,124 shares of the companys stock worth $1,257,000 after acquiring an additional 899 shares in the last quarter. 92.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Insider Activity at AmerisourceBergen

In other AmerisourceBergen news, CEO Steven H. Collis sold 10,499 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.87, for a total value of $2,024,942.13. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 257,967 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $49,754,095.29. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, major shareholder Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. sold 275,984 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.17, for a total value of $50,000,021.28. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,090,404 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $5,994,988,492.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven H. Collis sold 10,499 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.87, for a total transaction of $2,024,942.13. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 257,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,754,095.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,655,881 shares of company stock worth $310,997,955 in the last ninety days. 20.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AmerisourceBergen Price Performance

NYSE ABC opened at $180.02 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.40 billion, a PE ratio of 21.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $187.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $171.73. AmerisourceBergen Co. has a 12-month low of $135.14 and a 12-month high of $194.79.

AmerisourceBergen (NYSE:ABC  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 2nd. The company reported $2.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.09. AmerisourceBergen had a net margin of 0.66% and a return on equity of 612.69%. The business had revenue of $66.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $63.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.62 earnings per share. AmerisourceBergens revenue for the quarter was up 11.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that AmerisourceBergen Co. will post 11.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AmerisourceBergen Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 28th. Investors of record on Friday, August 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 10th. AmerisourceBergens payout ratio is currently 23.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ABC shares. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of AmerisourceBergen from $174.00 to $192.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 11th. TheStreet raised shares of AmerisourceBergen from a c rating to a b+ rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 2nd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of AmerisourceBergen from $182.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of AmerisourceBergen from $200.00 to $212.00 in a research report on Monday, July 17th. Finally, 888 reaffirmed a maintains rating on shares of AmerisourceBergen in a research report on Friday, May 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $189.36.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on AmerisourceBergen

AmerisourceBergen Profile

(Free Report)

AmerisourceBergen Corporation sources and distributes pharmaceutical products. Its U.S. Healthcare Solutions segment distributes brand-name and generic pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter healthcare products, home healthcare supplies and equipment, and related services to acute care hospitals and health systems, independent and chain retail pharmacies, mail order pharmacies, medical clinics, long-term care and alternate site pharmacies, and other customers.

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(Photo : BANARAS KHAN / AFP) (BANARAS KHAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Pakistani law enforcement personnel arrested more than 100 people after an angry Muslim mob attacked churches following rumors of religious blasphemy.

Pakistani authorities reported that they had arrested more than 100 people in relation to attacks on churches following a rumor that spread, claiming that Christians burned Quran pages.

Following the rumors, law enforcement personnel were forced to respond to an angry Muslim mob that attacked at least five churches and many homes in the eastern parts of the country. Fortunately, there were no reports of injuries or deaths despite the large-scale rampages in the region.

Pakistan Arrests More Than 100 Among Angry Muslim Mob

However, the chaos on Wednesday marked some of the most serious outbreaks of sectarian violence in Pakistan in the last few years. Officials noted that accusations of blasphemy frequently result in unpredictable riots that lasted several hours before authorities intervened.

This time, law enforcement personnel acted slowly after the mob violence on Wednesday that occurred in Jaranwala. The situation questioned whether Pakistani officials are willing to dedicate enough resources to protect the nation's religious minorities, as per the Washington Post.

But the large number of people arrested following the attack on the churches shows a more vigorous response compared to what has been done before. Christians in the region comprise about 2% of the population as it is dominated by Sunni Muslims, who are roughly 248 million. They are among the groups in the nation that are the most frequent targets of acts of sectarian violence.

In a statement, the State Department said that it was "deeply concerned" about the violence that occurred on Wednesday. On the other hand, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called the chaos "disturbing" and added that these actions cannot be allowed.

The caretaker prime minister, Anwaar-ul-Haq, who took over from Sharif last, also committed to "stern action" following the attacks. The spokesman for the police in Faisalabad district, Naveed Ahmed, said that police raids were ongoing on Thursday afternoon.

A day after the mob's riot, the historic Salvation Army Church was still burning, and the ruins of the destroyed buildings were surrounded with barbed wire. According to BBC, officials also restricted public gatherings for seven days in the Faisalabad district while the situation is still being addressed.

Read Also: US, Japan, South Korea Establish 3-Way Hotline to Bolster Relations

Alleged Religious Blasphemy

The rumors that sparked the chaos claim that two men damaged the Quran, the Muslim holy book, and they have been charged with blasphemy, which in Pakistan is punishable by death. While officials in the country have yet to sentence anyone to death for the crime, the mere fact that they were accused can prompt widespread riots and sometimes result in lynchings and killings.

The EU ambassador to Pakistan, Riina Kionka, said that the reports of the chaos were deeply disturbing. She noted that the matter in which society's minorities can feel safe and not in danger in Pakistan, the EU, and other parts of the world, is a measure of the people's respect for the rule of law, tolerance, and diversity.

In 2013, Pakistani officials reported that angry Muslims in Lahore's Badami Bagh community burned more than 100 homes of Christians after police arrested a 20-year-old man who was accused of speaking against the Prophet Mohammed, said CNN.

Related Article: Sweden Raises Terror Alert Level In Response to Quran Burnings

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Agricultural Bank of China Limited (OTCMKTS:ACGBF  Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 64,118,200 shares, a drop of 9.0% from the July 15th total of 70,451,900 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 160,295.5 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ACGBF shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Agricultural Bank of China from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Agricultural Bank of China from a neutral rating to a sell rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 4th.

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Agricultural Bank of China Price Performance

About Agricultural Bank of China

ACGBF opened at $0.34 on Friday. The companys fifty day moving average price is $0.36. Agricultural Bank of China has a twelve month low of $0.28 and a twelve month high of $0.41.

(Get Free Report)

Agricultural Bank of China Limited provides banking products and services. The company operates through Corporate Banking, Personal Banking, and Treasury Operations segments. It offers demand, personal call, foreign currency call, time or demand optional, foreign exchange call, foreign exchange time, savings, agreed term, and negotiated deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit; and loans, including housing, consumer, business, fixed asset, working capital, real estate, and entrusted syndicated loans, as well as trade finances, guarantees and commitments, and loans with custody of export rebates accounts.

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Bank of Hawaii cut its holdings in Dominion Energy, Inc. (NYSE:D  Free Report) by 2.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,617 shares of the utilities providers stock after selling 257 shares during the quarter. Bank of Hawaiis holdings in Dominion Energy were worth $482,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Dominion Energy by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 168,723 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $14,325,000 after buying an additional 12,002 shares during the period. Prudential PLC acquired a new position in Dominion Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,528,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Dominion Energy by 30.0% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,195 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 1,661 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Dominion Energy by 49.8% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 394 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Dominion Energy in the first quarter worth $419,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.58% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Dominion Energy in a report on Thursday. They issued a hold rating for the company. Bank of America lowered their price target on Dominion Energy from $54.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 16th. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on Dominion Energy from $63.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Friday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Dominion Energy from $58.00 to $55.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Dominion Energy from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Dominion Energy presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $57.50.

Dominion Energy Price Performance

NYSE:D opened at $48.09 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.24 billion, a PE ratio of 17.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.45. Dominion Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $47.74 and a 1-year high of $86.28. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

Dominion Energy (NYSE:D  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.72 billion. Dominion Energy had a net margin of 12.71% and a return on equity of 11.94%. The companys quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.77 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Dominion Energy, Inc. will post 3.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dominion Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 1st will be given a $0.6675 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 31st. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.55%. Dominion Energys payout ratio is 98.89%.

Insider Transactions at Dominion Energy

In other news, COO Diane Leopold sold 6,250 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.16, for a total transaction of $307,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 100,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,921,653.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Dominion Energy Company Profile

(Free Report)

Dominion Energy, Inc produces and distributes energy in the United States. It operates through four segments: Dominion Energy Virginia, Gas Distribution, Dominion Energy South Carolina, and Contracted Assets. The Dominion Energy Virginia segment generates, transmits, and distributes regulated electricity to approximately 2.7 million residential, commercial, industrial, and governmental customers in Virginia and North Carolina.

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Bessemer Group Inc. lowered its stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW  Free Report) by 89.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 383,257 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 3,333,516 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $20,075,000 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 stock. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 20,822 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,847,000 after buying an additional 1,452 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 6,263 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $528,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 25.4% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 13,064 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,101,000 after purchasing an additional 2,648 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,807 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 16.6% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,239 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.77% of the companys stock.

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Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In other news, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 72,047 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.66, for a total value of $4,802,653.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 59,748,538 shares in the company, valued at $3,982,837,543.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 75,760 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.60, for a total transaction of $5,045,616.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 59,672,778 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,974,207,014.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 72,047 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.66, for a total transaction of $4,802,653.02. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 59,748,538 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,982,837,543.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 225,447 shares of company stock worth $13,866,915 over the last three months. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Argus increased their target price on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $81.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Charles Schwab in a research report on Thursday. They set a sell rating for the company. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price target on Charles Schwab from $73.00 to $77.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $72.09.

View Our Latest Stock Report on Charles Schwab

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SCHW opened at $59.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.39. The company has a market cap of $105.81 billion, a PE ratio of 17.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.37. The Charles Schwab Co. has a fifty-two week low of $45.00 and a fifty-two week high of $86.63.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.61 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 27.54% and a net margin of 33.15%. The companys quarterly revenue was down 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 11th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 10th. Charles Schwabs payout ratio is 29.15%.

Charles Schwab Profile

(Free Report)

The Charles Schwab Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a savings and loan holding company that provides wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, asset management, custody, and financial advisory services. The company operates in two segments, Investor Services and Advisor Services.

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JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Bumrungrad Hospital Public (OTC:BUHPF  Free Report) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research report report published on Thursday, FlyOnTheWall reports.

Bumrungrad Hospital Public Stock Performance

Shares of BUHPF opened at C$6.52 on Thursday. Bumrungrad Hospital Public has a 52-week low of C$6.04 and a 52-week high of C$7.13. The businesss fifty day moving average is C$6.54 and its 200-day moving average is C$6.59.

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About Bumrungrad Hospital Public

(Get Free Report)

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Bumrungrad Hospital Public Company Limited owns and operates healthcare-related entities in Thailand and internationally. It operates allergy centers, arrhythmia centers, behavioral health centers, breast centers, breastfeeding clinics, home service centers, clinics yangon, COVID-19 recovery clinics, heart valve centers, robotic surgery centers, spine institute, rehabilitation centers, children's (pediatrics) centers, colorectal surgery centers, complex coronary artery intervention centers, comprehensive sleep clinics, cornea transplant centers, dental centers, diagnostic centers, diagnostic radiology and nuclear medicine, dialysis centers, digestive disease centers, ear, nose and throat centers, emergency centers, endocrinology, diabetes and clinical nutrition centers, esperance, expatriate liaison centers, eye centers, fertility centers and IVF clinics, gastrointestinal motility centers, health screening centers, hearing and balance clinics, heart institute, holistic wound care centers, horizon regional cancer centers, hyperbaric oxygen therapy centers, intensive care unit, and medical clinics.

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Crestwood Equity Partners (NYSE:CEQP  Get Free Report) was downgraded by Truist Financial from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, FlyOnTheWall reports.

CEQP has been the topic of several other reports. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded Crestwood Equity Partners from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating and dropped their target price for the company from $29.00 to $26.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Raymond James dropped their target price on Crestwood Equity Partners from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Crestwood Equity Partners from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $31.00 to $29.00 in a report on Thursday. Scotiabank downgraded Crestwood Equity Partners from a sector outperform rating to a sector perform rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $29.00 to $27.00 in a report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Crestwood Equity Partners in a report on Thursday. They set a hold rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $28.50.

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Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on CEQP

Crestwood Equity Partners Stock Performance

NYSE CEQP opened at $27.35 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.41 and a beta of 2.44. Crestwood Equity Partners has a 1-year low of $22.11 and a 1-year high of $31.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $27.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.85.

Crestwood Equity Partners (NYSE:CEQP  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 1st. The pipeline company reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.90. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.19 billion. Crestwood Equity Partners had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.11%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.14 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Crestwood Equity Partners will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Crestwood Equity Partners

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in Crestwood Equity Partners by 91.5% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 60,954 shares of the pipeline companys stock valued at $1,824,000 after buying an additional 29,126 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Crestwood Equity Partners by 3.4% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 26,596 shares of the pipeline companys stock valued at $796,000 after purchasing an additional 870 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Crestwood Equity Partners by 13.8% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 8,246 shares of the pipeline companys stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 997 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in Crestwood Equity Partners by 18.0% in the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 27,502 shares of the pipeline companys stock valued at $823,000 after purchasing an additional 4,188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in Crestwood Equity Partners in the first quarter valued at about $631,000. 52.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Crestwood Equity Partners Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Crestwood Equity Partners LP develops, acquires, owns, controls, and operates assets and operations in the energy midstream sector in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Gathering and Processing North; Gathering and Processing South; and Storage and Logistics. The Gathering and Processing North segment offers natural gas, crude oil, and produced water gathering, compression, treating, processing, and disposal services to producers in the Williston Basin and Powder River Basin.

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Otsuka (OTCMKTS:OSUKF  Get Free Report) and Arrow Electronics (NYSE:ARW  Get Free Report) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends and risk.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

95.6% of Arrow Electronics shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Arrow Electronics shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

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Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Otsuka and Arrow Electronics top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Otsuka N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Arrow Electronics $37.12 billion 0.19 $1.43 billion $19.65 6.58

Analyst Ratings

Arrow Electronics has higher revenue and earnings than Otsuka.

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Otsuka and Arrow Electronics, as reported by MarketBeat.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Otsuka 1 0 0 0 1.00 Arrow Electronics 1 4 1 0 2.00

Arrow Electronics has a consensus price target of $129.57, suggesting a potential upside of 0.17%. Given Arrow Electronics stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Arrow Electronics is more favorable than Otsuka.

Profitability

This table compares Otsuka and Arrow Electronics net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Otsuka N/A N/A N/A Arrow Electronics 3.35% 22.19% 5.92%

Summary

Arrow Electronics beats Otsuka on 9 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Otsuka

(Get Free Report)

Otsuka Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of system integration, support, and other services in Japan. The System Integration Business segment offers management systems and collaborative software, such as ERP packages and groupware to cover a range of specialized fields, including CAD and web technologies; and provides software, hardware, intranet, and security products for the construction and expansion of computer networks, as well as intermediary services between manufacturers and system integrators. The segment also sells computers, copiers, and communications equipment and software; and develops consigned software. The Service and Support Business segment involved in the provision of emergency computer rescue services for corporate and individual clients; coordination of multi-vendor efforts consisting of pick-up, repair, and return of computers. The segment also offers 24/7 network support and comprehensive services for planning, design, construction, and operation of corporate information systems, as well as out-sources system engineers. It also provides educational support services. The company was founded in 1961 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

About Arrow Electronics

(Get Free Report)

Arrow Electronics, Inc. provides products, services, and solutions to industrial and commercial users of electronic components and enterprise computing solutions in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates in two segments, Global Components and Global Enterprise Computing Solutions. The Global Components segment markets and distributes semiconductor products and related services; passive, electro-mechanical, and interconnect products, including capacitors, resistors, potentiometers, power supplies, relays, switches, and connectors; and computing and memory products, as well as other products and services. The Global Enterprise Computing Solutions segment offers computing solutions, such as datacenter, cloud, security, and analytics solutions. This segment provides access to various services, including engineering and integration support, warehousing and logistics, marketing resources, and authorized hardware and software training. The company serves original equipment manufacturers, value-added resellers, managed service providers, contract manufacturers, and other commercial customers. Arrow Electronics, Inc. was founded in 1935 and is based in Centennial, Colorado.

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Innovid Corp. (NYSE:CTV  Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,070,000 shares, a decline of 5.9% from the July 15th total of 2,200,000 shares. Approximately 2.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 680,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Innovid news, CEO Zvika Netter purchased 50,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 15th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $1.09 per share, for a total transaction of $54,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,010,733 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,371,698.97. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider David Helmreich bought 100,000 shares of Innovid stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $1.24 per share, for a total transaction of $124,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 698,857 shares of the companys stock, valued at $866,582.68. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Zvika Netter bought 50,000 shares of Innovid stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 15th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $1.09 per share, for a total transaction of $54,500.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,010,733 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,371,698.97. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 305,988 shares of company stock worth $351,157 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 9.90% of the companys stock.

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Institutional Trading of Innovid

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CTV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. bought a new stake in Innovid during the 1st quarter worth about $38,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Innovid during the 1st quarter worth about $118,000. Bank of Montreal Can bought a new stake in Innovid during the 1st quarter worth about $72,000. Vanguard Group Inc. bought a new stake in Innovid during the 1st quarter worth about $4,253,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Innovid during the 1st quarter worth about $41,000. 63.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on CTV. Needham & Company LLC restated a buy rating and issued a $3.00 target price on shares of Innovid in a research note on Monday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Innovid from $1.10 to $1.40 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on CTV

Innovid Stock Up 1.8 %

Innovid stock opened at $1.13 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $1.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 4.09, a current ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Innovid has a 12-month low of $0.75 and a 12-month high of $4.40.

About Innovid

(Get Free Report)

Innovid Corp. operates an independent software platform that provides ad serving, measurement, and creative services. The company offers advertising services for the creation, delivery, and measurement of TV ads across connected TV, mobile TV, and desktop TV environments to advertisers, publishers, and media agencies.

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General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD  Get Free Report) CEO Phebe N. Novakovic sold 33,230 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.96, for a total transaction of $7,575,110.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 778,092 shares of the companys stock, valued at $177,373,852.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

General Dynamics Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of GD opened at $222.31 on Friday. The companys fifty day moving average is $218.18 and its 200 day moving average is $220.57. General Dynamics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $202.35 and a fifty-two week high of $256.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.70 billion, a PE ratio of 18.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.39.

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General Dynamics (NYSE:GD  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 26th. The aerospace company reported $2.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.11. General Dynamics had a net margin of 8.24% and a return on equity of 18.01%. The business had revenue of $10.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $9.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.75 earnings per share. The businesss revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 12.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Announces Dividend

Institutional Trading of General Dynamics

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.32 per share. This represents a $5.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 5th. General Dynamicss dividend payout ratio is currently 43.35%.

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GD. Mcdonald Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 0.9% during the first quarter. Mcdonald Partners LLC now owns 5,075 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $1,158,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Rock Creek Group LP increased its holdings in General Dynamics by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. Rock Creek Group LP now owns 623 shares of the aerospace companys stock worth $134,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Mission Wealth Management LP boosted its position in General Dynamics by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 1,385 shares of the aerospace companys stock worth $316,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT boosted its position in General Dynamics by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 2,474 shares of the aerospace companys stock worth $565,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Dynamics by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 7,621 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $1,640,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. 86.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on GD shares. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $268.00 to $242.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $248.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday. They issued a buy rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $280.00 to $270.00 in a report on Thursday, April 27th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on shares of General Dynamics from $251.00 to $245.00 in a report on Thursday, May 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $262.38.

View Our Latest Analysis on General Dynamics

General Dynamics Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

General Dynamics Corp. is a global aerospace and defense company, which engages in design, engineering, and manufacturing to deliver state-of-the-art solutions. It operates through the following business segments: Aerospace, Marine Systems, Combat Systems, and Technologies. The Aerospace segment designs, manufactures, and sells business jets.

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Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund bought a new position in Lennar Co. (NYSE:LEN  Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 9,022 shares of the construction companys stock, valued at approximately $948,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LEN. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lennar by 111.4% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,467,501 shares of the construction companys stock worth $259,359,000 after buying an additional 1,300,163 shares during the last quarter. Duquesne Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lennar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,991,000. Smead Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Lennar by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,962,690 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $268,123,000 after purchasing an additional 415,350 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Lennar by 94.1% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 667,414 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $60,401,000 after purchasing an additional 323,531 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in Lennar by 196.4% in the 1st quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 472,781 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $49,694,000 after purchasing an additional 313,274 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.69% of the companys stock.

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Insider Transactions at Lennar

In other news, CFO Diane J. Bessette sold 10,790 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.46, for a total transaction of $1,310,553.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 270,556 shares in the company, valued at $32,861,731.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Lennar news, CFO Diane J. Bessette sold 10,790 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.46, for a total value of $1,310,553.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 270,556 shares of the companys stock, valued at $32,861,731.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey Joseph Mccall sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.48, for a total transaction of $1,264,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,386 shares of the companys stock, valued at $17,882,501.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 1,775 shares of company stock worth $220,794 over the last ninety days. 9.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lennar Trading Down 4.6 %

NYSE LEN opened at $117.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 7.08. The firm has a market cap of $33.64 billion, a PE ratio of 7.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.47. Lennar Co. has a one year low of $69.90 and a one year high of $133.24. The firms fifty day moving average is $124.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $112.03.

Lennar (NYSE:LEN  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 14th. The construction company reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.32 by $0.62. The company had revenue of $8.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.28 billion. Lennar had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 18.27%. Analysts expect that Lennar Co. will post 12.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Lennar Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 7th were paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 6th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Lennars dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Lennar from $120.00 to $135.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 24th. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Lennar from $94.00 to $123.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 15th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Lennar from $103.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 14th. JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Lennar from $115.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Friday, June 16th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn restated a buy rating on shares of Lennar in a research note on Wednesday, June 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $127.20.

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Lennar Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN  Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 9,361 shares of the business services providers stock, valued at approximately $985,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Glassman Wealth Services grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 94.3% during the 1st quarter. Glassman Wealth Services now owns 239 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Clear Street Markets LLC bought a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. MV Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Global Payments by 166.7% during the 1st quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 296 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, Vigilant Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Global Payments during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.68% of the companys stock.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Global Payments news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 2,016 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.47, for a total value of $240,851.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,045 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,992,126.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the companys stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GPN. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Global Payments from a hold rating to a buy rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 10th. 51job restated a maintains rating on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Thursday, May 4th. Citigroup upped their price target on Global Payments from $137.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. KeyCorp increased their target price on Global Payments from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, Credit Suisse Group increased their price target on Global Payments from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Global Payments presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $147.50.

View Our Latest Stock Report on Global Payments

Global Payments Price Performance

Shares of GPN stock opened at $124.98 on Friday. Global Payments Inc. has a 1-year low of $92.27 and a 1-year high of $136.64. The stocks 50-day moving average is $109.84 and its 200 day moving average is $107.43. The company has a market cap of $32.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.66, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 1st. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.43 by $0.19. Global Payments had a return on equity of 10.98% and a net margin of 8.65%. The company had revenue of $2.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.23 earnings per share. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 9.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. Global Paymentss dividend payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

Global Payments Profile

(Free Report)

Global Payments Inc provides payment technology and software solutions for card, check, and digital-based payments in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific. It operates through three segments: Merchant Solutions, Issuer Solutions, and Consumer Solutions. The Merchant Solutions segment offers authorization, settlement and funding, customer support, chargeback resolution, terminal rental, sales and deployment, payment security, and consolidated billing and reporting services.

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A federal judge orders Starbucks to pay an additional $2.7 million to a former manager who claims that she was wrongfully fired because of her race following a 2018 incident with two Black men.

Starbucks has been ordered to pay an additional $2.7 million to a former manager in Philadelphia after she was fired five years ago in what she claims was a decision based on her being a White woman.

The woman who accused the coffeehouse company of racism was identified as Shannon Phillips, who was previously awarded $25.6 million in June. It came after a federal jury determined that she was wrongfully fired because of her skin color.

Starbucks To Pay Former Manager Additional $2.7 Million

On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Joel Slomsky ruled that Starbucks was also mandated to give Phillips $1 million in back pay, $1.6 million in front pay, and roughly $66,000 in tax gross damages. The judge wrote in his decision that the payments were part of a "court-determined economic loss and attorneys' fee award.

On Thursday, the coffeehouse company declined to comment on the order for additional pay and was found to have argued last month that the former manager did not deserve more payments. It argued that this was partly due to Phillips not looking for a job since separating from Starbucks and inaccurate back pay calculations, as per CBS News.

In court documents, Starbucks lawyers said that not only has Phillips removed herself from the job market, she did not even pursue a potential career with 7-11 that would have given her similar or even more compensation than her previous position with the coffeehouse company before her current role at Raymour & Flanigan.

Phillips' role as a former regional manager for Starbucks had her overseeing dozens of coffee shops in the Philadelphia area. The decision to fire her came after a 2018 incident at a branch in the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood of the state.

That particular occurrence involved two Black men who were in their 20s and were waiting for a third person to hold a business meeting at the Starbucks store. Then, one of them, identified as Rashon Nelson, was denied permission to use the store's restroom because he had not yet purchased anything.

Read Also: Former George Santos Staffer Indicted With Aggravated Identity Theft and Wire Fraud

Alleged Racial Discrimination

An employee then called 911 and accused the two Black men, Nelson and Donte Robinson, of trespassing after they refused to buy anything or leave when asked. According to ABC News, the incident resulted in widespread protests across the United States and forced Starbucks to close some of its branches for one day for racial bias training of its employees.

Less than a month after the arrest of the two men, Phillips was told that she was being fired from the company. The decision came despite her claiming she was not at the store where the two Black men were arrested.

Phillips argued in her initial complaint that Starbucks made efforts to punish White employees who were not involved in the arrests but worked in and around the city of Philadelphia. She said that this was part of an effort to convince the community and the public in general that it had already responded to the incident with the two Black men properly, said CNN.

Related Article: Female Inmates at California Jail File Federal Lawsuit for Sexual Assault

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Keysight Technologies (NYSE:KEYS  Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Barclays from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report issued on Friday, FlyOnTheWall reports.

KEYS has been the subject of a number of other reports. VNET Group reiterated an initiates rating on shares of Keysight Technologies in a report on Friday, June 30th. StockNews.com began coverage on Keysight Technologies in a research note on Thursday. They set a buy rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Keysight Technologies from $184.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Monday, April 24th. Citigroup began coverage on Keysight Technologies in a research note on Thursday, June 29th. They set a buy rating and a $200.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America lowered Keysight Technologies from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $163.00 to $148.00 in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $188.42.

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Keysight Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of Keysight Technologies stock opened at $150.05 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.76 billion, a PE ratio of 22.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 3.35. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $163.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $160.87. Keysight Technologies has a one year low of $139.63 and a one year high of $189.45.

Keysight Technologies (NYSE:KEYS  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $1.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. Keysight Technologies had a net margin of 21.11% and a return on equity of 31.75%. Research analysts expect that Keysight Technologies will post 7.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Keysight Technologies

In other Keysight Technologies news, SVP Soon Chai Gooi sold 29,139 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.95, for a total value of $4,719,061.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 227,874 shares of the companys stock, valued at $36,904,194.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Keysight Technologies news, SVP Soon Chai Gooi sold 29,139 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.95, for a total value of $4,719,061.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 227,874 shares of the companys stock, valued at $36,904,194.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kailash Narayanan sold 500 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $82,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 26,169 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,317,885. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.51% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in KEYS. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its stake in shares of Keysight Technologies by 22,598.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 59,271,518 shares of the scientific and technical instruments companys stock worth $9,925,016,000 after buying an additional 59,010,391 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Keysight Technologies by 1,242.2% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,939,449 shares of the scientific and technical instruments companys stock worth $48,469,000 after buying an additional 3,645,946 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Keysight Technologies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $265,043,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Keysight Technologies by 110,226.3% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,500,438 shares of the scientific and technical instruments companys stock worth $256,680,000 after buying an additional 1,499,078 shares during the period. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Keysight Technologies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $103,365,000. 84.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Keysight Technologies

(Get Free Report)

Keysight Technologies, Inc provides electronic design and test solutions to commercial communications, networking, aerospace, defense and government, automotive, energy, semiconductor, electronic, and education industries in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. Its Communications Solutions Group segment provides electronic design automation (EDA) software; radio frequency and microwave test solutions, and related software; hardware and virtual network test platforms and software applications, including data center, routing and switching, software defined networking, security, and encryption; oscilloscopes, logic and serial protocol analyzers, logic-signal sources, arbitrary waveform generators, and bit error rate testers; and optical modulation analyzers, optical component analyzers, optical power meters, and optical laser source solutions, as well as resells refurbished used Keysight equipment.

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Shares of Los Andes Copper Ltd. (CVE:LA  Get Free Report) dropped 0.4% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as C$12.94 and last traded at C$12.95. Approximately 1,600 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 15,349 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$13.00.

Los Andes Copper Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 5.85, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.79. The firm has a market cap of C$380.99 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -68.16 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of C$16.32 and a 200 day moving average price of C$13.52.

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Los Andes Copper (CVE:LA  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 25th. The company reported C$0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. As a group, analysts predict that Los Andes Copper Ltd. will post 0.0302497 earnings per share for the current year.

Los Andes Copper Company Profile

Los Andes Copper Ltd. acquires, explores, and develops copper deposits in Canada and Chile. It operates through three segments: Mineral Exploration, Hydroelectric Project, and Corporate. The company holds 100% interest in the Vizcachitas copper, molybdenum, and silver porphyry project located north of Santiago, Region V, Chile.

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Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW  Free Report) had its target price lowered by Royal Bank of Canada from $12.00 to $10.00 in a report released on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the real estate investment trusts stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on MPW. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Medical Properties Trust from $14.00 to $12.00 in a report on Friday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Medical Properties Trust in a report on Wednesday, April 19th. They set an equal weight rating and a $9.00 target price for the company. Bank of America downgraded Medical Properties Trust from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and decreased their target price for the company from $9.00 to $8.00 in a report on Friday, August 11th. StockNews.com began coverage on Medical Properties Trust in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a hold rating for the company. Finally, Raymond James downgraded Medical Properties Trust from a strong-buy rating to an underperform rating in a report on Friday, August 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $12.25.

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Medical Properties Trust Stock Performance

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Medical Properties Trust

NYSE:MPW opened at $7.50 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 2.88 and a current ratio of 2.88. The firm has a market cap of $4.49 billion, a PE ratio of 68.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $9.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.29. Medical Properties Trust has a fifty-two week low of $7.10 and a fifty-two week high of $16.65.

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust in the second quarter worth $2,858,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 12.0% in the second quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 3,591,995 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $33,262,000 after acquiring an additional 385,400 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 9.2% in the second quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 18,184 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $168,000 after acquiring an additional 1,534 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Medical Properties Trust by 83.4% during the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 124,245 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $1,151,000 after buying an additional 56,493 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Medical Properties Trust during the second quarter valued at $105,000. 74.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Medical Properties Trust Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Medical Properties Trust, Inc is a self-advised real estate investment trust formed in 2003 to acquire and develop net-leased hospital facilities. From its inception in Birmingham, Alabama, the Company has grown to become one of the world's largest owners of hospital real estate with 444 facilities and approximately 44,000 licensed beds in ten countries and across four continents.

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StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Molson Coors Beverage (NYSE:TAP  Free Report) in a research report released on Thursday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on TAP. UBS Group upped their price objective on Molson Coors Beverage from $67.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, June 26th. Wedbush upped their target price on Molson Coors Beverage from $53.00 to $60.00 in a report on Thursday, May 4th. Bank of America raised Molson Coors Beverage from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and upped their target price for the company from $54.00 to $68.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 6th. 58.com reissued a maintains rating on shares of Molson Coors Beverage in a report on Monday, June 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Molson Coors Beverage from $74.00 to $75.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Molson Coors Beverage currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $61.88.

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Molson Coors Beverage Price Performance

Molson Coors Beverage Dividend Announcement

TAP stock traded up $0.86 on Thursday, reaching $63.03. 1,747,819 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,018,870. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $66.60 and a 200-day moving average of $59.92. Molson Coors Beverage has a twelve month low of $46.69 and a twelve month high of $70.90. The firm has a market cap of $13.63 billion, a PE ratio of 388.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 1st will be issued a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 31st. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. Molson Coors Beverages dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 1,025.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Molson Coors Beverage news, insider Geoffrey E. Molson sold 1,840 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total value of $111,540.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 25,904 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,570,300.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.30% of the companys stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Molson Coors Beverage

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Molson Coors Beverage in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Molson Coors Beverage during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in Molson Coors Beverage by 125.4% during the second quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 444 shares of the companys stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Molson Coors Beverage by 2,192.0% in the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 573 shares of the companys stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 548 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Molson Coors Beverage by 85.7% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 650 shares of the companys stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.73% of the companys stock.

About Molson Coors Beverage

(Get Free Report)

Molson Coors Beverage Company manufactures, markets, and sells beer and other malt beverage products under various brands in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company offers flavored malt beverages including hard seltzers, craft, and ready to drink beverages. It provides its products under Aspall Cider, Blue Moon, Coors Original, Hop Valley brands, Leinenkugel's, Miller Genuine Draft, Molson Ultra, Sharp's, Staropramen, and Vizzy Hard Seltzer above premier brands; Bergenbier, Borsodi, Carling, Coors Banquet, Coors Light, Jelen, Kamenitza, Miller Lite, Molson Canadian Lager, Molson Dry, Molson Export, and Niksicko, Ozujsko under the premium brands; and Branik, Icehouse, Keystone, Miller High Life, Milwaukee's Best, and Steel Reserve under the economy brands.

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Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI  Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of Moderate Buy from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $309.67.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Motorola Solutions in a research note on Thursday. They issued a buy rating on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on Motorola Solutions from $329.00 to $322.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Motorola Solutions from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Motorola Solutions from $320.00 to $311.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 7th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on Motorola Solutions from $315.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, August 4th.

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Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on MSI

Motorola Solutions Price Performance

Shares of Motorola Solutions stock opened at $277.46 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $286.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $280.61. Motorola Solutions has a 12 month low of $212.76 and a 12 month high of $299.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.46, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.14, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Motorola Solutions (NYSE:MSI  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The communications equipment provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.36 billion. Motorola Solutions had a return on equity of 2,157.02% and a net margin of 15.72%. The businesss revenue was up 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.87 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Motorola Solutions will post 10.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kenneth D. Denman sold 1,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.58, for a total value of $284,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,101 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,305,382.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.50% of the companys stock.

Institutional Trading of Motorola Solutions

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MSI. Tucker Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Motorola Solutions in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Mendota Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Motorola Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Albion Financial Group UT increased its position in Motorola Solutions by 3,633.3% in the 2nd quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 112 shares of the communications equipment providers stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new position in Motorola Solutions in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, HM Payson & Co. increased its position in Motorola Solutions by 52.3% in the 4th quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 134 shares of the communications equipment providers stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. 82.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Motorola Solutions Company Profile

(Get Free Report

Motorola Solutions, Inc provides public safety and enterprise security solutions in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Products and Systems Integration, and Software and Services. The Products and Systems Integration segment offers a portfolio of infrastructure, devices, accessories, and video security devices and infrastructure, as well as the implementation and integration of systems, devices, software, and applications for government, public safety, and commercial customers who operate private communications networks and video security solutions, as well as manage a mobile workforce.

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The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT  Get Free Report) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 3,531,901 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 243% from the previous sessions volume of 1,029,409 shares.The stock last traded at $43.23 and had previously closed at $42.96.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NYT. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of New York Times from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. StockNews.com upgraded New York Times from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Wednesday. Guggenheim boosted their target price on New York Times from $37.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, August 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on New York Times from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on New York Times from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, New York Times presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $42.00.

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New York Times Trading Down 1.3 %

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.81. The company has a market cap of $6.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.63 and a beta of 1.02.

New York Times (NYSE:NYT  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 8th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.17. New York Times had a return on equity of 14.81% and a net margin of 7.45%. The firm had revenue of $590.85 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $580.56 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.24 earnings per share. The companys revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that The New York Times Company will post 1.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

New York Times Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 11th were paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 10th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. New York Timess payout ratio is currently 41.51%.

Insider Activity at New York Times

In other New York Times news, CAO R Anthony Benten sold 8,401 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.30, for a total transaction of $372,164.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 41,575 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,841,772.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other New York Times news, CAO R Anthony Benten sold 8,401 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.30, for a total value of $372,164.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 41,575 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,841,772.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Arthur G. Sulzberger sold 8,500 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.23, for a total transaction of $375,955.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 101,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,497,792.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,689 shares of company stock worth $2,233,298 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.00% of the companys stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NYT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of New York Times by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 302,022 shares of the companys stock valued at $13,845,000 after acquiring an additional 5,921 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in New York Times by 11.9% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 17,533 shares of the companys stock valued at $804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,870 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of New York Times by 7.8% in the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,619 shares of the companys stock valued at $259,000 after buying an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of New York Times by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 21,607 shares of the companys stock worth $991,000 after buying an additional 354 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors L.P. purchased a new position in shares of New York Times during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $476,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.60% of the companys stock.

About New York Times

(Get Free Report)

The New York Times Company, together with its subsidiaries, provides news and information for readers and viewers across various platforms worldwide. It offers The New York Times (The Times), a daily and Sunday newspaper in the United States, as well as international edition of The Times; and operates the NYTimes.com website.

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Piper Sandler cut shares of Northern Oil and Gas (NYSE:NOG  Free Report) from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a research note released on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $46.00 price objective on the stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Northern Oil and Gas from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, August 7th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Northern Oil and Gas from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research report on Friday, June 30th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Northern Oil and Gas in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a sell rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Northern Oil and Gas from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, August 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Northern Oil and Gas from $45.00 to $42.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Northern Oil and Gas has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $47.67.

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Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on NOG

Northern Oil and Gas Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NOG opened at $40.49 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.77 billion, a PE ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.98. Northern Oil and Gas has a 12 month low of $24.21 and a 12 month high of $42.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.31.

Northern Oil and Gas (NYSE:NOG  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.14. Northern Oil and Gas had a net margin of 55.68% and a return on equity of 57.03%. The firm had revenue of $476.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $414.01 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.72 earnings per share. Northern Oil and Gass revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Northern Oil and Gas will post 7.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Northern Oil and Gas Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 28th will be given a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.75%. This is a positive change from Northern Oil and Gass previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 27th. Northern Oil and Gass dividend payout ratio is 10.38%.

Insider Transactions at Northern Oil and Gas

In related news, CEO Nicholas L. Ogrady sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.06, for a total value of $878,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 177,255 shares in the company, valued at $6,923,580.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Nicholas L. Ogrady sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.06, for a total value of $878,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 177,255 shares in the company, valued at $6,923,580.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider James B. Evans sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $40,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 43,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,759,480. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 142,791 shares of company stock valued at $5,906,692 over the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Northern Oil and Gas

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NOG. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Northern Oil and Gas by 7.2% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 434,031 shares of the companys stock worth $12,236,000 after purchasing an additional 29,141 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Northern Oil and Gas in the 1st quarter valued at $200,000. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC lifted its stake in Northern Oil and Gas by 40.4% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 17,783 shares of the companys stock valued at $501,000 after buying an additional 5,121 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in Northern Oil and Gas during the first quarter worth about $207,000. Finally, Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in Northern Oil and Gas by 32.9% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 88,939 shares of the companys stock worth $2,507,000 after buying an additional 22,033 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.50% of the companys stock.

About Northern Oil and Gas

(Get Free Report)

Northern Oil and Gas, Inc, an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, exploitation, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas properties in the United States. It primarily holds interests in the Williston Basin, the Appalachian Basin, and the Permian Basin in the United States.

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Orient Overseas (International) Limited (OTCMKTS:OROVY  Get Free Report) shares passed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a fifty day moving average of $73.67 and traded as high as $78.53. Orient Overseas (International) shares last traded at $78.53, with a volume of 560 shares trading hands.

Orient Overseas (International) Stock Up 1.0 %

The firms 50 day moving average is $73.87 and its 200-day moving average is $83.46.

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Orient Overseas (International) Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 25th were issued a $22.75 dividend. This represents a yield of 52.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 24th. This is a positive change from Orient Overseas (International)s previous dividend of $12.85.

Orient Overseas (International) Company Profile

Orient Overseas (International) Limited, an investment holding company, provides container transport and logistics services in Asia, Europe, Australia, and North America. The company offers supply chain management services; and containerised shipping services in various trade lanes comprising Trans-Pacific, Trans-Atlantic, Asia/Europe, Asia/Australia, and Intra-Asia trades.

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NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI  Free Report)  Stock analysts at Zacks Research upped their Q4 2023 earnings per share estimates for NiSource in a research note issued on Wednesday, August 16th. Zacks Research analyst J. Saha now expects that the utilities provider will post earnings of $0.58 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $0.57. The consensus estimate for NiSources current full-year earnings is $1.57 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for NiSources FY2024 earnings at $1.71 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $0.85 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $1.81 EPS.

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NiSource (NYSE:NI  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.13 by ($0.02). NiSource had a return on equity of 10.90% and a net margin of 12.00%. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.12 earnings per share.

NI has been the subject of a number of other reports. Bank of America decreased their target price on NiSource from $32.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 22nd. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on NiSource from $31.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 21st. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on NiSource from $31.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Friday, July 7th. UBS Group upgraded NiSource from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $31.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on NiSource from $31.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $30.00.

View Our Latest Research Report on NiSource

NiSource Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NiSource stock opened at $26.20 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The firm has a market cap of $10.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.47. NiSource has a fifty-two week low of $23.78 and a fifty-two week high of $31.87. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $27.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.53.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NiSource

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NI. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 67.7% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of NiSource by 161.0% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,099 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 678 shares in the last quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. acquired a new position in NiSource during the first quarter worth $33,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in NiSource by 897.5% during the first quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,197 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 1,077 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in NiSource during the first quarter worth $36,000. 93.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP William Jr. Jefferson sold 4,875 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.80, for a total transaction of $130,650.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 30,905 shares of the companys stock, valued at $828,254. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other NiSource news, EVP William Jr. Jefferson sold 4,875 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Friday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.80, for a total transaction of $130,650.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 30,905 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $828,254. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Donald Eugene Brown sold 14,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.64, for a total transaction of $372,960.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 187,278 shares in the company, valued at $4,989,085.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

NiSource Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 30th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.82%. NiSources payout ratio is 69.44%.

About NiSource

(Get Free Report)

NiSource Inc, an energy holding company, operates as a regulated natural gas and electric utility company in the United States. It operates through two segments, Gas Distribution Operations and Electric Operations. The company distributes natural gas to approximately 859,000 customers in northern Indiana, as well as approximately 2.4 million residential, commercial, and industrial customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, and Maryland.

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Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM  Get Free Report) has received an average rating of Hold from the seven analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $87.69.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SQM. HSBC cut their price target on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile from $134.00 to $90.50 in a report on Thursday, July 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile from $97.00 to $93.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 21st. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile from a sector outperform rating to a sector perform rating and cut their price target for the company from $113.00 to $86.00 in a report on Monday, May 1st. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile in a report on Thursday. They set a hold rating for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile in a report on Friday, May 19th. They set a sell rating and a $60.00 price target for the company.

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Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on SQM

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile

Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile Price Performance

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $223,000. First Capital Advisors Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile by 44.0% during the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,445,971 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $177,626,000 after buying an additional 747,037 shares during the period. Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV grew its position in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV now owns 5,035 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $366,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,025,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 17.35% of the companys stock.

NYSE:SQM opened at $63.68 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $72.86 and a 200-day moving average of $76.48. The company has a market capitalization of $18.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.71, a PEG ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 0.97. Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile has a 52 week low of $60.21 and a 52 week high of $115.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a current ratio of 2.48.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 18th. The basic materials company reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $3.12 by ($0.49). The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.44 billion. Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile had a return on equity of 82.96% and a net margin of 35.24%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile will post 12.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 1st were given a dividend of $0.5119 per share. This represents a $2.05 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 13th. Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chiles dividend payout ratio is 14.87%.

About Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile

(Get Free Report

Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA produces and distributes specialty plant nutrients, iodine derivatives, lithium derivatives, potassium chloride and sulfate, industrial chemicals, and other products and services. The company offers specialty plant nutrients, including potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate, sodium potassium nitrate, specialty blends, and other specialty fertilizers.

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A LATAM Airlines pilot died while going to Chile.

Authorities said the airplane operator died after a medical emergency on Monday, Aug. 14.

LATAM Airlines Pilot Dies Mid-Flight From Miami to Chile

According to USA Today's latest report, the pilot died mid-flight. The incident happened while the Boeing 787 traveled from Miami, Florida, to Santiago, Chile.

When the airplane landed at the Tocumen International Airport in Panama City, first responders quickly tended to the pilot. However, LATAM confirmed that the man died.

The cabin crew also helped the pilot by trying to resuscitate him. Officials said all the protocols were conducted during the flight to save the pilot.

However, despite receiving further medical assistance after landing, the pilot still died, as reported by Fox Business.

"LATAM Group is deeply saddened by this event and takes this opportunity to express our most sincere condolences to the family of our employee," said the airline.

LATAM thanked the pilot for his 25 years of service, saying he was distinguished by his enthusiasm, professionalism, and dedication.

As of press time, the airline's officials haven't revealed the pilot's identity.

Read Also: Malaysia Airlines Passenger Arrested After Flight Forced to Return to Sydney Due to 'Emergency Incident'

Another Rare Case of Incapacitation

Simple Flying reported that what happened to LATAM Airlines, the pilot's death, is a rare case of incapacitation. Pilot incapacitation happens when the airplane operator suddenly suffers from an inability to carry out duties usually.

These could happen because of the effects of physiological factors onset during flight. When this happens, all the remaining crew members must take action immediately to ensure the safety of all the passengers.

Among the things they need to handle are contacting air traffic control, requesting permission to land at the nearest airport, and declaring an emergency landing. In March, another crew incapacitation happened. One of the Southwest Airlines pilots became ill while flying from Las Vegas, Nevada, to Columbus, Ohio.

In the same month, an Air Transat pilot also suffered from incapacitation. During the incident, a second officer assisted the remaining pilot so that the flight could safely continue. If you want to learn more details about pilot incapacitations, you can click this link.

Related Article: At Least 10 Dead After Jet Plane Crashes in Malaysia's Selangor State

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EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG  Get Free Report) had its price objective boosted by research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $143.00 to $159.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, FlyOnTheWall reports. Stifel Nicolaus price objective would indicate a potential upside of 22.56% from the stocks current price.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their target price on EOG Resources from $139.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on EOG Resources from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on EOG Resources from $147.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Monday, May 15th. Mizuho upped their target price on EOG Resources from $146.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on EOG Resources from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, EOG Resources currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $146.88.

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Read Our Latest Analysis on EOG Resources

EOG Resources Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:EOG opened at $129.73 on Friday. EOG Resources has a 12-month low of $98.52 and a 12-month high of $150.88. The company has a market capitalization of $75.54 billion, a PE ratio of 8.74, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.55. The business has a 50 day moving average of $120.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $117.87. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The energy exploration company reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.21. EOG Resources had a return on equity of 28.52% and a net margin of 33.58%. The company had revenue of $5.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.74 earnings per share. EOG Resourcess revenue for the quarter was down 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that EOG Resources will post 10.66 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at EOG Resources

In other EOG Resources news, COO Lloyd W. Helms, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.87, for a total value of $579,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 149,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,344,464.43. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, COO Lloyd W. Helms, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.87, for a total transaction of $579,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 149,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,344,464.43. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey R. Leitzell sold 2,031 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.26, for a total value of $238,155.06. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 37,607 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,409,796.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,582 shares of company stock worth $1,412,594 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EOG Resources

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Natixis lifted its stake in EOG Resources by 56.2% during the 4th quarter. Natixis now owns 351,270 shares of the energy exploration companys stock worth $45,496,000 after acquiring an additional 126,454 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in EOG Resources by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 11,160 shares of the energy exploration companys stock worth $1,279,000 after acquiring an additional 666 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in EOG Resources by 61.3% during the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,611 shares of the energy exploration companys stock worth $468,000 after acquiring an additional 1,372 shares in the last quarter. Cravens & Co Advisors LLC acquired a new position in EOG Resources during the 4th quarter worth about $1,155,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in EOG Resources during the 1st quarter worth about $263,000. 89.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

EOG Resources Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

EOG Resources, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, explores for, develops, produces, and markets crude oil, and natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its principal producing areas are in New Mexico and Texas in the United States; and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. The company was formerly known as Enron Oil & Gas Company.

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Kenmare Resources plc (LON:KMR  Get Free Report) insider Tom Hickey bought 7,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 15th. The stock was bought at an average price of GBX 436 ($5.53) per share, for a total transaction of 30,520 ($38,716.22).

Kenmare Resources Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Kenmare Resources stock opened at GBX 425 ($5.39) on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.28, a current ratio of 4.07 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Kenmare Resources plc has a 1 year low of GBX 370.80 ($4.70) and a 1 year high of GBX 500 ($6.34). The firms 50-day moving average is GBX 433.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is GBX 453.80. The stock has a market cap of 403.03 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 259.15, a PEG ratio of 0.03 and a beta of 0.44.

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Kenmare Resources Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 21st. Kenmare Resourcess payout ratio is 2,743.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Berenberg Bank decreased their target price on Kenmare Resources from GBX 820 ($10.40) to GBX 780 ($9.89) and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 3rd.

Get Our Latest Research Report on Kenmare Resources

Kenmare Resources Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Kenmare Resources plc, together with its subsidiaries, produces and sells mineral sand products in China, the rest of Asia, Europe, the United States, and internationally. It operates the Moma Titanium Minerals Mine located on the northeast coast of Mozambique. The company's products include ilmenite, rutile, and zircon; and concentrates, including secondary zircon and mineral sand concentrates.

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Vantage Consulting Group Inc raised its stake in shares of Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE  Free Report) by 30.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,082 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after purchasing an additional 1,412 shares during the quarter. Vantage Consulting Group Incs holdings in Pfizer were worth $248,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. BancFirst Trust & Investment Management lifted its position in Pfizer by 2.3% during the first quarter. BancFirst Trust & Investment Management now owns 17,794 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $719,000 after purchasing an additional 398 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 32.1% during the first quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 94,117 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $3,840,000 after acquiring an additional 22,879 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 0.9% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 1,771,584 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $72,281,000 after acquiring an additional 15,900 shares in the last quarter. MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Pfizer by 1.6% during the first quarter. MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC now owns 197,477 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $8,057,000 after acquiring an additional 3,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Center For Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Pfizer by 28.0% in the first quarter. Center For Asset Management LLC now owns 23,894 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $975,000 after buying an additional 5,228 shares during the period. 67.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Pfizer Stock Performance

Shares of Pfizer stock opened at $36.49 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $206.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.70, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.60. The firms 50-day moving average is $36.87 and its 200 day moving average is $39.14. Pfizer Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.65 and a 1 year high of $54.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 2.12 and a quick ratio of 1.82.

Pfizer Dividend Announcement

Pfizer ( NYSE:PFE Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $12.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $13.36 billion. Pfizer had a net margin of 27.55% and a return on equity of 28.36%. Pfizers revenue was down 54.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.04 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Pfizer Inc. will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 28th will be given a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.49%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 27th. Pfizers dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on PFE. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Pfizer from $41.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of Pfizer from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and set a $38.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, May 11th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Pfizer from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Pfizer from $40.00 to $38.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an overweight rating on shares of Pfizer in a report on Wednesday, May 17th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $46.35.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Pfizer

About Pfizer

(Free Report)

Pfizer Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products worldwide. It offers medicines and vaccines in various therapeutic areas, including cardiovascular metabolic, migraine, and women's health under the Eliquis, Nurtec ODT/Vydura, and the Premarin family brands; infectious diseases with unmet medical needs under the Prevnar family, Nimenrix, FSME/IMMUN-TicoVac, and Trumenba brands; and COVID-19 prevention and treatment, and potential future mRNA and antiviral products under the Comirnaty and Paxlovid brands.

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Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PFE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE  Free Report).

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Wolters Kluwer (OTCMKTS:WOLTF  Get Free Report)s share price was down 0.4% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $117.87 and last traded at $117.87. Approximately 602 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 49% from the average daily volume of 1,181 shares. The stock had previously closed at $118.39.

Wolters Kluwer Stock Performance

The stocks 50-day simple moving average is $119.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $118.80.

About Wolters Kluwer

(Get Free Report)

Wolters Kluwer N.V. provides professional information, software solutions, and services in the Netherlands, rest of Europe, the United States, Canada, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Health; Tax & Accounting; Governance, Risk & Compliance; and Legal & Regulatory.

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Microsoft on Thursday disclosed that it found a new version of the BlackCat ransomware (aka ALPHV and Noberus) that embeds tools like Impacket and RemCom to facilitate lateral movement and remote code execution.

"The Impacket tool has credential dumping and remote service execution modules that could be used for broad deployment of the BlackCat ransomware in target environments," the company's threat intelligence team said in a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter).

"This BlackCat version also has the RemCom hacktool embedded in the executable for remote code execution. The file also contains hardcoded compromised target credentials that actors use for lateral movement and further ransomware deployment."

RemCom, billed as an open-source alternative to PsExec, has been put to use by Chinese and Iranian nation-state threat actors like Dalbit and Chafer (aka Remix Kitten) to move across the victim environments in the past.

Redmond said it started observing the new variant in attacks conducted by a BlackCat affiliate in July 2023.

The development comes over two months after IBM Security X-Force disclosed details of the updated version of BlackCat, called Sphynx, that first emerged in February 2023 with improved encryption speed and stealth, pointing to continued efforts made by threat actors to refine and retool the ransomware.

"The BlackCat ransomware sample contains more than just ransomware functionality but can function as a 'toolkit,'" IBM Security X-Force noted in late May 2023. "An additional string suggests that tooling is based on tools from Impacket."

The cybercrime group, which launched its operation in November 2021, is marked by constant evolution, having most recently released a data leak API to boost the visibility of its attacks. According to Rapid7's Mid-Year Threat Review for 2023, BlackCat has been attributed to 212 out of a total of 1,500 ransomware attacks.

It's not just BlackCat, for the Cuba (aka COLDRAW) ransomware threat group has also been observed utilizing a comprehensive attack toolset encompassing BUGHATCH, a custom downloader; BURNTCIGAR, an antimalware killer; Wedgecut, a host enumeration utility; Metasploit; and Cobalt Strike frameworks.

BURNTCIGAR, in particular, features under-the-hood modifications to incorporate a hashed hard-coded list of targeted processes to terminate, likely in an attempt to impede analysis.

One of the attacks mounted by the group in early June 2023 is said to have weaponized CVE-2020-1472 (Zerologon) and CVE-2023-27532, a high-severity flaw in Veeam Backup & Replication software that has been previously exploited by the FIN7 gang, to steal credentials from configuration files.

Canadian cybersecurity company BlackBerry said it marks the group's "first observed use of an exploit for the Veeam vulnerability CVE-2023-27532." Initial access is achieved by means of compromised admin credentials via RDP.

"The Cuba ransomware operators continue to recycle network infrastructure and use a core set of TTPs that they have been subtly modifying from campaign to campaign, often adopting readily available components to upgrade their toolset whenever the opportunity arises," it added.

Ransomware remains a major money-spinner for financially motivated threat actors, growing both in sophistication and quantity in the first half of 2023 than all of 2022 despite intensified law enforcement efforts to take them down.

Some groups have also begun moving away from encryption to pure exfiltration and ransom or, alternatively, resorting to triple extortion, in which the attacks go beyond data encryption and theft to blackmail a victim's employees or customers and carry out DDoS attacks to put more pressure.

"The increasing popularity of Encryptionless Extortion attacks, which skips over the process of encryption, employs the same tactic of threatening to leak victims' data online if they don't pay," Zscaler said in its 2023 Ransomware Report. "This tactic results in faster and larger profits for ransomware gangs by eliminating software development cycles and decryption support."

"These attacks are also harder to detect and receive less attention from the authorities because they do not lock key files and systems or cause the downtime associated with recovery. Therefore, Encryptionless Extortion attacks tend to not disrupt their victims' business operations  which subsequently results in lower reporting rates."

A second growing trend among ransomware actors is the adoption of intermittent encryption to encrypt only parts of each file to speed up the process as well as sidestep detection by security solutions that "make use of the amount of content being written to disk by a process in their heuristics to identify ransomware."

Another notable tactic is the targeting of managed service providers (MSPs) as entry points to breach downstream corporate networks, as evidenced in a Play ransomware campaign aimed at finance, software, legal, and shipping and logistics industries, as well as state, local, tribal and territorial (SLTT) entities in the U.S., Australia, U.K., and Italy.

The attacks leverage "Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) software used by service providers to gain direct access to a customer's environment, bypassing the majority of its defenses," Adlumin said, granting threat actors unfettered, privileged access to networks.

The repeated abuse of legitimate RMM software by threat actors has led the U.S. government to release a Cyber Defense Plan to mitigate threats to the RMM ecosystem.

"Cyber threat actors can gain footholds via RMM software into managed service providers (MSPs) or manage security service providers (MSSPs) servers and, by extension, can cause cascading impacts for the small and medium-sized organizations that are MSP/MSSP customers," the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) cautioned.

(An earlier version of the story erroneously mentioned that the security flaw in the Veeam backup service was used to gain initial access. It has been updated to reflect that the issue is exploited during post-exploitation.)
A new "mass-spreading" social engineering campaign is targeting users of the Zimbra Collaboration email server with an aim to collect their login credentials for use in follow-on operations.

The activity, active since April 2023 and still ongoing, targets a wide range of small and medium businesses and governmental entities, most of which are located in Poland, Ecuador, Mexico, Italy, and Russia. It has not been attributed to any known threat actor or group.

"Initially, the target receives an email with a phishing page in the attached HTML file," ESET researcher Viktor Sperka said in a report. "The email warns the target about an email server update, account deactivation, or similar issue and directs the user to click on the attached file."

The messages also spoof the from address to appear as if they are coming from a Zimbra administrator in a likely attempt to convince the recipients into opening the attachment.

The HTML file contains a Zimbra login page tailored to the targeted organization, with the Username field prefilled with the victim's email address to make it seem more authentic. Once the credentials are entered, they are collected from the HTML form and sent via a HTTPS POST request to an actor-controlled server.

What makes the attacks stand out is their ability to propagate further. Subsequent phishing waves have leveraged accounts of previously targeted, legitimate companies, suggesting that the infiltrated administrator accounts associated with those victims were used to send emails to other entities of interest.

"One explanation is that the adversary relies on password reuse by the administrator targeted through phishing  i.e., using the same credentials for both email and administration," Sperka noted.

While the campaign is not technically sophisticated, it banks on the fact that "HTML attachments contain legitimate code, and the only telltale element is a link pointing to the malicious host" that's embedded in the source code.

"This way, it is much easier to circumvent reputation-based anti-spam policies, compared to phishing techniques where a malicious link is directly placed in the email body," Sperka said.
Months after she resigned from Nebraska's Legislature to focus on her unsuccessful Lincoln mayoral campaign, Suzanne Geist has landed a new job in state government.

The former District 25 senator on Monday joined the Attorney General's Office as Mike Hilgers' chief policy adviser, a newly created position that will pay Geist $95,000 annually, a spokeswoman for Hilgers said Thursday.

Geist, who studied broadcast journalism at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, worked as a style consultant before winning a seat in Legislature in 2016. She was reelected in 2020.

She was the chair of the Legislature's Transportation and Telecommunications Committee when she resigned in April to focus on her mayoral campaign following her second-place finish in that month's primary. Geist's bid to unseat Lincoln's mayor failed in May, when voters reelected Leirion Gaylor Baird after a contentious race.

As a member of the Legislature, Geist served on numerous committees including the Judiciary, Natural Resources, Executive Board, Corrections Oversight, and Child Welfare Contract Special Investigative and Oversight committees.

She also served as the Chair of the Performance Audit Committee.

"I am thrilled to add Suzanne Geist to our talented team," Hilgers, himself a former lawmaker, said in the news release announcing her appointment.

"I served with former Senator Geist for six years, and she was a trusted colleague and friend. Suzanne has deep policy expertise, with a particular focus on criminal justice and sentencing issues."

In her role as Hilgers' chief policy adviser  a position that did not previously exist  Geist will "oversee numerous initiatives and priorities," Hilgers' office said in a news release.

Suzanne Gage, the office's communications director, said Thursday that Geist will serve on the Nebraska Sentencing Reform Task Force, which was created when the Legislature passed LB50 in June.

The omnibus criminal justice reform bill was first introduced by Geist but carried to the finish line by Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha following her resignation.

The reform task force that Geist will sit on will identify and recommend changes to the state's criminal justice laws, policies and practices "to improve public safety and more effectively allocate Nebraska's criminal justice system resources."

Gage said Geist has spent her initial days in the Attorney General's office meeting with law enforcement leaders, which will be among her regular job responsibilities.

Geist has previously said that she had primarily been interested in politics as an observer before she ran for a seat in the Legislature in 2016, but had worked on family friend Doug Peterson's successful bid for attorney general.

Hilgers was elected last year to replace Peterson, who did not seek a third term.

In his announcement of Geist's hiring Thursday, Hilgers also named Joshua Shasserre as the new deputy attorney general for public affairs.

Shasserre, who has worked in the attorney general's office since 2015, will be the primary liaison with the Nebraska Legislature and other state, federal and local government officials, Hilgers' office said in the news release.

Shasserre will be paid $133,536 annually  unchanged from his previous salary, Gage said.

Photos: Last day of the 108th Nebraska Legislature
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Kathy Eckols already had a business. A creator of customized jewelry pieces, she had a sort of epiphany when participating in the very first Made in Southern Illinois Expo several years ago.

I was set up there, right next to a food vendor and they were five people deep constantly throughout the show and I didnt make any money at all that weekend, she recalled. I left the event and said to myself that I have got to sell food because everybody loves to eat and if what you are selling is good, theyre going to eat it.

However, Eckols did not know what sort of food to sell. That is, until a trip to her home state of Massachusetts the following winter. While visiting family, she met a woman producing and selling a line of dips  things like beer cheese dip, guacamole, and even mixes for cheesecakes and other sweet treats. The dips were food and they were good. Eckols found her product.

Since 2019, the Johnston City resident has been selling the products under the Flabby Daddy Dips name, a moniker derived from her fathers citizen band radio handle during his days as an over-the-road truck driver. Not long after that, she added a line of wine slushy mixes  think of them as a juice pouch for adults  as Flabby Daddy Sips.

The sips are especially popular in the summertime, she said, adding with the combination of the dips and sips, her business is a go-to source for a party.

Eckols sells the products through her website and the dip mixes are available at a number of retail and specialty shops, she said. Sips can be purchased at several local wineries, as well.

Im out just about every weekend doing vendor events and we are currently in 11 Southern Illinois stores and growing more and more every day, she said, thanks to referrals and creative customers.

I have some very loyal followers and they have been so helpful in taking a dip and adding a seasoning packet to make different recipes with them. One of my friends says they are more than just dips and shes right. They are part of your culinary [arsenal], she said.

Eckols said she is hopeful to continue to grow the business into a full-time role for her.

Im beginning to realize that I am just at the tip of the iceberg, she said. When I do an event and someone comes up to me and says they love the dips and that theyve been looking for me, I come to know that this is much bigger.

In fact, shes given up on the jewelry except as a hobby, but she is still participating in the Made in Southern Illinois event, only this time, visitors are lined up at her booth.

More information on Flabby Daddy Dips and Flabby Daddy Sips can be found online at www.flabbydaddydips.com.
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Robert Woolridge, English and Literature instructor at Shawnee Community College, will use anything from Pearl Jam to pop culture to engage with his students. For him, education is not necessarily about poetry or printed words, but rather making an impact that will change lives.

Woolridge has taught courses in composition, fiction, literature and poetry at Shawnee for nearly two decades. He said he couldnt imagine teaching anywhere else, explaining that he appreciates the value of a community college education and how it can change circumstances for students. As a native of Southern Illinois, he said it was his mothers nursing degree from Shawnee and the job which followed, which transformed life for his own family.

I was 8 or 9 and it sounds silly, but it was as though almost overnight, we became middle class, he recalled. I directly see Shawnee College as this example of how that happened, he said.

A graduate of Woodlawn High School, Woolridge attended McKendree College (now University) for a couple of years before transferring to Southern Illinois University Carbondale. It was at McKendree where Wooldridge said he encountered instructors like none he had ever had before  ones that he models his own teaching after.

I dont know how to explain it, but they were incredible. They changed me in ways I couldnt believe. They were engaging and there for everything  any question you may have had, he said. I started in biology, but all of a sudden I found myself exclusively taking philosophy and English courses, just to learn from them.

He said he began to see language through his studies at McKendree and in the respected English department at SIU as a way to ask tough questions about what it means to be a human and how to live in the world.

I learned that English was so utilitarian  you can talk about psychology, philosophy, sociology, biology, anything. Its all up for grabs in the English field, he said. I began to realize that I wanted to do for others what all of those teachers did for me. I wanted to inspire.

After earning three degrees at SIU and following one year of teaching high school English, he joined the faculty at Shawnee.

I swore to myself that teaching and caring for students would be what I would do, he added, admitting that it can be challenging. One of the things that is important to me is how I was raised and I have this love for the blue collar worker. Many of our students come from similar backgrounds and I want to be a piece of the puzzle that gets them to where they want to be, he said.

He continued, The majority of my students also are working 30 hours a week or more just to keep the lights on, to pay for the car and to help pay for the electric bill at their home. I want to do everything in my power to help them and I fervently believe education is one of the best ways to do that.

Over the years, students have shared with Wooldridge about the impact he has made on them, but, he confessed, he does not take compliments well.

I did not get into teaching for fame and glory, he stressed. I got into teaching because I love ideas and I still think the purpose of an education is to make a better, well-rounded citizen. Its not about me.

To reach those goals, he said every class and every student encounter is different.

Earlier this week I taught three sections of entry level composition and no three classes were the same. You have to come in, read the energy and dynamic of the room and figure out what it takes to reach them, he said.

He said it pains him to see how higher education has been under attack and how many are accused of bringing agendas to the classroom.

I think the only agenda we have is the students. We dont have time for other stuff in class, he said. For the majority of teachers I see, all we care about is helping students get an education and be where they want to be in life. Thats all that matters.
Former Ethiopian president asserts Ethiopia's commitment to ensuring Belt and Road's success

13:10, August 18, 2023 By Kou Jie ( People's Daily Online

Former Ethiopian President Mulatu Teshome receives an exclusive interview with People's Daily Online, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. (People's Daily Online/Liu Ning)

In Addis Ababa, August is a damp and humid month. Raindrops rhythmically patter on the gleaming dome of the African Union Conference Centre, one of the most magnificent structures in Ethiopia's capital. A train forges through the pouring rain along the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway into the city's train station, which has transformed into a sea of colorful umbrellas. Both projects, constructed with Chinas assistance, are visible reminders of the close relationship between China and Ethiopia.

Since the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Ethiopia on Nov. 24, 1970, the two countries have cultivated a strong relationship. This bond has since evolved into a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, serving as a prime example of China-Africa relations.

Former Ethiopian President Mulatu Teshome, who studied in China and is an expert in Chinese language and culture, spoke with People's Daily Online in an exclusive interview to shed light on the decades-long friendship between Ethiopia and China.

Along the prosperous Belt and Road

Since the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was initiated in 2013, Ethiopia has actively participated in the program, deepening cooperation with China within the BRI framework. The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding in 2018 to jointly construct the Belt and Road for prosperity and mutual benefits.

"From its very name, the Belt and Road is about having infrastructure in place to connect countries  connect China to Africa, to Ethiopia. It gives very important emphasis to the development of infrastructure, which Ethiopia is a beneficiary of," Teshome told People's Daily Online.

Teshome lauded the Chinese-built Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway, stating that Ethiopia welcomes further infrastructure development to facilitate the easy movement of products and services between China and Ethiopia.

According to Teshome, the Belt and Road is very important. When considering the countries it encompasses, Africa can benefit greatly from the BRI, which spans across Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Eurasia. These regions can be connected via various modes  railways, roads, or sea routes. "Ethiopia is dedicated to make this initiative a success story," said Teshome.

Chinese investment in Ethiopia, especially in the manufacturing sector, will be a primary focus, according to Teshome. He also emphasized the promising future of bilateral ties between the two countries. China and Ethiopia have begun collaborating on industrial parks and industrial zones in several Ethiopian cities, and this trend is set to continue.

"It is not something which starts this year and ends next year. It is going to be long, long-term cooperation. From this long-term cooperation, both Ethiopia and China can benefit. And if we have this strong cooperation, strong economic interaction, then it will be the foundation for the political, diplomatic, cultural and other aspects of the relationship between our two countries," said the former president.

An old friend of the Chinese people

China is a "second home" for Teshome. After graduating from high school in 1976, he arrived in China to study Chinese under a program sponsored by the Ethiopian government. He started at the Beijing Language Institute, now known as Beijing Language and Culture University, and then went to the Department of Philosophy at Peking University, where he obtained a bachelor's degree. Later, he continued his studies in international politics at Peking University, earning both master's and doctoral degrees.

"I love both these learning institutions because it was the Beijing Language Institute which gave me the opportunity to open the door for my Chinese language and entrance to Chinese universities, especially Peking University. And Peking University also is a university which really shaped me, I would say, which changed my world outlook, and which brought me to the level where I am and where I was. So, I love my stay in China as a student," he said.

The overarching theme that deeply resonated with Teshome during his decade-long stay in China was "development."

"I witnessed all the developments, especially from the opening-up, up to my time as a student and also when I went back as ambassador. It was a different Beijing, and it was a different China," said Teshome.

Teshome attributes China's impressive economic advancement to the Chinese government's effective policies. However, to him, what truly stands out is their people-oriented approach. Not only has the government focused on boosting the economy, but they've also prioritized enhancing Chinese living standards. "That, I think, is the most successful part of China's reform and opening-up," he added.

Building a multipolar world

According to Teshome, developing nations don't have a say in establishing the current rules and norms of global governance. They are formulated and adopted by the major powers, especially Western countries. The international community should reevaluate the economic share and political attitudes to ensure fairness to all nations, regardless of size.

He expressed his belief that to navigate the challenges unseen in a century, developing nations should work together to create a multipolar world. He spoke highly of the BRICS, adding that an increasing number of countries are expressing their willingness to join the organization.

"In that reformation of the global standard, countries may seek to protect their interests and national interests. It is to get out of the challenges of being dominated by some few. [Developing nations] should seek a common agenda for themselves in the interest of their respective national interests," he added.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Du Mingming)
(Photo : Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema criticized the decision of United States President Joe Biden's administration in providing unfair budget to New York City and her state to address the migrant crisis.

Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema blasted United States President Joe Biden's administration for the unfair budget allocation between her state and New York City, which received more than four times the funding than her state.

It was previously revealed that the Biden administration provided NYC with more than $104 million to address the migrant crisis but only allocated less than $24 million for Arizona.

Sinema Blasts Unfair Budget Allocation for Migrant Crisis

Sinema, now a registered Independent lawmaker, said she was "livid" about the current administration's decision to give NYC more money than a border state on the front lines of the migrant crisis.

The funding was revealed in June, and Sinema noted that she only learned of the exact amount that NYC was getting from the $800 million new Shelter Services Program grant after House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer issued a press release about it, as per The Blaze.

The press release that Jeffries and Schumer issued claimed that NYC had been struggling with a disproportionate surge of asylum-seekers. The lawmakers argued that their negotiation efforts with the White House allowed them to secure the largest share of the federal dollars released via the Shelter Services Program.

The Democrats both said that when they negotiated the funds into the budget for the FEMA Emergency Food and Shelter Program and the Shelter Services Program, they had the needs of NYC as the core of the discussions. Jeffries and Schumer said the funding represents a step in the right direction to better recognize and reward NYC's unique challenge amid the migrant crisis.

However, Sinema told both the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Biden administration that the unfair budget allocation was "outrageous" and "deeply, deeply wrong." She also noted that she was frustrated over the lack of understanding of what it was like in border communities.

Read Also: California Legalizes Jaywalking Due to High Number of Pedestrian Fatalities in LA

New York City's Struggle With Asylum-Seekers

The Arizona senator said what they were experiencing in the state only matched what residents from southern Texas felt. She argued that these two communities are the ones that face the brunt of the migrant crisis, according to The Hill.

Sinema's criticism of the funding for NYC comes as the region has already spent roughly $1.73 billion amid its efforts to provide care to more than 100,000 migrants who have traveled to the city since April 2022. Officials anticipate spending another $5 billion just this fiscal year.

In a statement, the press secretary for the office of New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Fabien Levy, said that nothing with the situation is ideal or good. He added that the city barely got by and needed even a little support to address the migrant crisis better.

New York City officials added they could spend up to $12 billion in the next three years if nothing changes. The surprisingly high cost of providing shelter to asylum-seekers is partly due to the city's unique "right to shelter" law which mandates the provision of housing to every unhoused person, said News Nation.

Related Article: Former George Santos Staffer Indicted With Aggravated Identity Theft and Wire Fraud

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
An outreach ministry that has served the needy with food, clothing and other necessities for more than three decades is continuing in its mission.

Cooperative Church Ministries of Orangeburg, more commonly known as CCMO, started as a small effort among 13 churches. It has grown into a group of more than 20 churches serving thousands.

God has really

been good

The late Pauline Atwill, who was in charge of missions at St. Andrew's United Methodist Church, decided to take the reins on what would eventually become CCMO.

The late Roy Mikels, also a St. Andrew's UMC member, was eventually given the OK to help run the organization, with past executive directors including Brother Jeremiah O'Leary of the Order of the Brothers of St. Francis Xavier, the late Agnes Glover-Wells and most recently Barbara Troy.

Troy, an 84-year-old retired school teacher, has been volunteering at CCMO for more than a decade. She prays that the organization is able to continue its ministry. She was among those who gathered for CCMOs 35th anniversary celebration, which was held at the Orangeburg County Convention Center on April 29.

God has really been good to us. The Orangeburg community has been good to us, and theyre still good to CCMO. Orangeburg is a city that has a heart for people, and we thank them, Troy said.

What began as a small effort became CCMO in 1988. Its dedicated volunteers have helped keep the organization going with a service that has expanded well beyond food to include the provision of medicine, eyeglass vouchers and, occasionally, bus tickets and motel rooms.

CCMO board member Sheryl King, a member of St. Andrews UMC, said CCMO has been a catalyst for positive change within the community.

It has been a driving force to assist those who have food instability, as well as home instability with their electricity. It also helps provide some medical assistance, King said.

It actually originated at St. Andrews. Our church felt so strongly about it that for over 15 years we held a huge mission dinner every year and sent proceeds there, as well as had volunteers drive their bus and enter information into the computer as a way of assisting, King said.

She continued, Once the number of people in the community that do have food instability was seen, it was really the springboard for our churchs own Shepherd Ministry, which we now have giving out boxes of food.

CCMO was the springboard for so many ministries that developed at other churches. They dont turn anyone away, and I think thats the beauty of it.

St. Andrews UMC member Edgar McGee said CCMO has evolved and withstood changes  and challenges  that the years have brought.

To withstand and not disappear is a credit to those that started it and those that are there now. Its a tough ride right now because theres more competition out there and there may not be as many people making contributions, but its still there. I dont think they get enough credit for quietly helping people that really need help, McGee said.

The community is a good community. Its tough for all communities right now, but taking care of the least of us is all of our jobs. Thats what CCMO did. It filled a void, he said.

Troy said a love for people keeps her and the other volunteers going.

We feel like this is where God wants us to be. The group that started, it had a love for people. We have survived 35 years. Its getting rough because everything is so expensive, and were getting so many clients now, Troy said.

She continued, We have more than weve ever had. We saw 225 different families in the month of May. Were getting people from all demographic groups.

They do a fantastic job

CCMO maintains a stock of clothing and a food pantry.

A partnership with the City of Orangeburgs Department of Public Utilities and its Project Good Neighbor program has provided CCMO with the opportunity to expand its outreach to include utility assistance.

The project's funds come from donations made by DPU customers, who sign up to add $1 to $10 to their monthly bill. The money is funneled directly to CCMO, which then helps financially strapped individuals and families pay energy costs.

The financial base for CCMO is its approximately 25 member churches, which contribute monthly to the ministry. While the organization does not depend on miscellaneous donations, they are welcome.

That giving has been great in spite of whats going on in the world. The churches have not forgotten us. As a matter of fact, we received a big donation from a church thats not even a member church. We also got a large donation from a plant who had never given in December, Troy said.

The Rev. Jerome Anderson, pastor of Unity Fellowship Community Church in Orangeburg, said his church donates to CCMO for a reason.

They do a fantastic job. They are instrumental in helping people with food, light bills and basically making better decisions in life. I think they are a very vital part of what the churchs mission ought to be about, Anderson said.

The pastor continued, CCMO is able to reach some of the people that the church cant reach. The other thing I really appreciate about them is many of their volunteers are basically over 75. I dont see how they do it, but they have a passion and just a sincere desire to help people.

Freddie Antley, Bess Goodwin, the Rev. Thelma Johnson, Margaret McDonald and Orangeburg couple Leroy and Frances Morant are among the arsenal of volunteers that keep CCMO running.

Antley, 81, picks up food for the organization as part of his duties that he has performed for approximately a decade.

At my age, I need to stay as active as I possibly can. I also enjoy helping people because in my coming along, I had some help. So I just try and contribute back, Antley said.

Johnson said its her love for God that causes her to help others. She said she also gets blessed by being a blessing to others.

I dont miss a meal because God provides for me. God provides when I help somebody else. There was a lady that came here and after I had talked to her, she said she was suicidal, she said.

Johnson continued, She said, When I came here, I was just about to give up on everything. Her lights were off. She was just out of it. That gave me the opportunity to talk with her and let her know its not over.

Goodwin has volunteered for more than 30 years at CCMO. While she shuns the title of assistant director, she fully embraces the opportunity to help others even amid feelings of being underappreciated.

I like helping people. I see there is a need for it, but sometimes Id like for the clients to appreciate it and not just come in and use all this profanity. ... Were just volunteers. Were here because of the love for our community and our church, she said.

Goodwin said volunteers who have computer skills and are able to lift heavy items are all needed at CCMO.

Its not just at Christmas or Thanksgiving. Theres always a need. If someone cant help CCMO, help somebody in the neighborhood. It may be a person with transportation needs in going to the doctor or grocery store. Somebody helped me, and I dont mind helping somebody else, Goodwin said.

Troy said a grants writer is also needed to help CCMO secure additional funding.

Volunteers are very important. We have an assistant director, secretary, treasurer and receptionist. Fred picks up the food, and we have a lady who is the new food supervisor. Shes very good, and she can do so many other things. No one gets paid, the director said.

The Rev. Eddie Williams, pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church in Orangeburg, is chairman of the CCMO board.

This is a powerful ministry. There are a lot of people who sometimes wonder, Where could I volunteer and give of my service and time? CCMO is an awesome place where they can come," Williams said.
COLUMBIA -- Gov. Henry McMaster was joined Friday by state Rep. Brandon Guffey, father of the bill's namesake Gavin Guffey, members of the General Assembly, and other state leaders for a ceremonial bill signing of H. 3583, Gavin's Law. The legislation makes sexual extortion, the act of blackmailing someone using sexually explicit images or videos, a felony offense and an aggravated felony if the victim is a minor, vulnerable adult, or if the victim suffers bodily injury or death directly related to the crime.

"With the signing of Gavin's Law, despicable criminals like the ones responsible for the Guffey family's tragic loss will now know that they will go to jail for a very long time for preying on our state's innocent young people," said Governor Henry McMaster.

A person convicted of felony sexual extortion must be imprisoned no more than five years for a first offense, no more than 10 years for a second offense, and no more than 20 years for a third or subsequent offense. A person convicted of aggravated felony sexual extortion must be imprisoned no more than 20 years.

"This is spreading the awareness in the state of South Carolina so that all of our children are aware and all of our parents are aware," said Representative Brandon Guffey. "What I'm most impressed by is this community, this state, everyone who has rallied together to get this passed."

The legislation also provides that local school districts collaborate with the State Department of Education, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, and the Attorney General's office to implement a policy to educate and notify students of the law, which includes adequate notice to students, parents or guardians, the public, and school personnel of the change in law and the dangers of sexual extortion.

The State Department of Education must file a report on the status of the adoption and implementation of the education policies under this act to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives annually by July 1 of each year.

In 2022, 17-year-old Gavin Guffey was a victim of sexual extortion, resulting in him taking his own life.

According to the FBI, over 3,000 minors were victims of sexual extortion schemes in 2022.

This bill passed the House 100-0 and Senate 43-0. It went into effect on May 18, 2023.
HOLLY HILL  The Orangeburg hospitals new chief executive officer, Walter Bennett, presented information and fielded questions for nearly 40 minutes during Holly Hill Town Councils meeting on Monday, Aug. 7.

Im here to give you an update on what were doing at MUSC Health Orangeburg, where our mission is to preserve and optimize human life in South Carolina and beyond through education, research and patient care, he said.

MUSC is operating the former Regional Medical Center of Orangeburg and Calhoun Counties system under a long-term lease with the county governments.

Bennett, who began his new duties on June 12, called the hospital a precious gem that was neglected throughout the years. ... We need to shine up that diamond.

Bennett and two women From left, Gaynell Walters and Diane Bergen speak with new MUSC Health Orangeburg CEO Walter Bennett after the Holly Hill Town Council meeting

Its hard to attract the best talent to a rural hospital, but now that were a part of MUSC, there are more resources available, along with that brand recognition, so we are able more and more to attract the best talent, including four new physicians in the past month alone, Bennett said.

Its a new day in Orangeburg, Bennett said. Were going to give the best possible experience to everyone who comes through our doors.

Im hoping its going to get better, one area citizen told the hospital CEO. The service was frustrating and very poor for my family. I dont usually go to Orangeburg. Were closer to Roper Berkeley.

Bennett said, I dont want you to have to go to Columbia or Charleston or anywhere else to receive services, because we have great services here.

He cited the Dialysis Access Institute, which is rated No. 1 in the nation and attracts patients from multiple states.

Weve been very busy initiating programs and trying to find ways to increase access to health for all of our constituents, he said. MUSC is all about innovation. How can we find ways to be creative? We make change possible.

The hospital has added treatment options for heart attack patients and no longer needs to automatically airlift them to facilities in Columbia or Charleston. A new cardiologist may be hired next year.

Ramping up cancer care, the hospital has hired a new radiation oncologist and medical oncologist and has closer ties to the Hollings facility in Charleston.

The hospital is replacing its Cerner electronic medical record system.

Our goal is to go live on the EPIC system on Dec. 7, Bennett said.

MUSC Orangeburg has received a grant to establish a behavioral health stabilization unit for adults and juveniles.

Were not perfect, but were going to strive for perfection, he said. That means taking action in areas where the hospital can improve and holding every single leader and every single care team member accountable.

Im requiring that all leaders and care team members go through a patient engagement session where they learn how to treat people when they come into any of our facilities, he said. We are definitely looking into the pay and equity of compensation of our people as well.

An audience member spoke of arriving at the RMC Emergency Department at 7 one evening and having to stay there until 9 the next morning.

We normally have three or four providers in the ED at all times, Bennett said. Were just not moving patients out of our ED fast enough.

Some patients need to be admitted to intensive care, critical care, or a conventional hospital room. Others can be discharged, but sometimes a lack of transportation delays the process.

The conversation turned to the former RMCs existing and potential new services in eastern Orangeburg County.

Existing services include a family practice that is able to take care of pediatric through geriatric patients, in addition to a HealthPlex.

We are looking at what else we can provide to the Holly Hill community, such as an obstetrician-gynecologist, a pediatrician, or an internist, Bennett said.

One audience member spoke of the problem of access to health care outside the traditional doctors office hours.

I totally get it, Bennett said. Hes a Manning native who spent the past 17 years of his career in Spartanburg, where he said urgent care facilities are open from 6 a.m. until 8 p.m. on weekdays and 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. on weekends.

We need to get to something very near to that, he said.

Bennett noted that the previous RMC received a certificate of need from the state to build a free-standing facility along the Interstate 95 corridor.

MUSC will be looking and evaluating where exactly we will put it and exactly what is the true need  an emergency department, urgent care, express care, or some combination. Those terms describe specific levels of medical care.

MUSC inherited the former RMCs urgent care facility in Santee.

It was created through a grant from Duke, an audience member said. Its been there for years and its done very poorly. Its like it doesnt understand what its there for.

Bennett responded that he visited the Santee facility two weeks earlier.

Based on my evaluation, it doesnt function like a true urgent care, like Im traditionally used to, he said. It is a quasi-physician practice. Were unable to do X-rays there, due to our equipment being down, and we are unable to do lab draws.

Im trying to get a new X-ray machine there in the next two months and add lab draws by the end of 2023, so it will turn into a true urgent care until were able to build a new facility, he said.

Bennett noted that MUSC is not the Medical University of Charleston. We are the Medical University of South Carolina and we are spread across the whole state. We have facilities in Charleston, Columbia, Lancaster, Florence, and now Orangeburg. Each facility has a specific purpose. The teaching university aspect is housed in Charleston.

Bennett received applause and words of appreciation for taking the time and effort to visit the Holly Hill elected officials and area residents.

In other business:

 The council gave first reading to the town budget for fiscal year 2023-2024, as follows: general fund revenues, $1,700, 067; general fund expenses, $1,676,484; water fund revenues, $698,800; and water fund expenses, $722,383. A public hearing will precede the final vote at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 28, in the town hall meeting room. Call 803-496-3330 or visit the town hall for details.

 Police Chief Josh Detter reported that a new Dodge Durango patrol vehicle had been delivered and a second one was expected within days.

 Resident Diane Bergen asked how she could report a door-to-door solicitor. She was advised to contact the police department.
COLUMBIA  The South Carolina Commission on Higher Education has announced a partnership with the United States Census Bureau for an online tool providing insight into the workforce-relevance of higher education programs through post-graduation income trend data of South Carolina college graduates by institution and program.

Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes are experimental tabulations developed by researchers at the U.S. Census Bureau, in cooperation with higher education institutions and institutional systems across the nation.

AI is already linked to layoffs in a surprising industry (CNN)  Many have raised alarms about the potential for artificial intelligence to displace jobs in the years ahead, but its already causing upheaval in one surprising industry where workers once seemed invincible: tech.

This tool offers prospective students a way get insight into potential earnings by degree and even institution, based on real-world data, said CHE President and Executive Director Rusty Monhollon, Ph.D.

This partnership can also help our state answer some of those questions about the intersection of higher education and the workforce, and also help us look back at those trends over time for different majors.

How Health Care May Be Affected by the High Courts Affirmative Action Ruling Some medical professionals warn that the Supreme Courts recent ruling against using race as a factor in admissions could have far-reaching implications for the diversity of medical students, the practice of medicine, and patient care. Heres what you need to know.

PSEO tabulations show average earnings and employment outcomes for graduates of post-secondary institutions across the nation, and are generated by linking graduate transcript records to employer-household dynamics data. The data includes post-secondary graduates earning trends one, five, and ten-years after graduation.

The tool also provides data on where graduates who leave the state move to, and may ultimately provide the CHE and state leaders insight into how South Carolina can retain more graduates.

AI is already linked to layoffs in a surprising industry (CNN)  Many have raised alarms about the potential for artificial intelligence to displace jobs in the years ahead, but its already causing upheaval in one surprising industry where workers once seemed invincible: tech.

PSEO includes data from 825 institutions, which account for more than 29 percent of all college graduates in the United States. The Census Bureau uses state-of-the-art confidentiality protection mechanisms to protect the underlying data.

The PSEO Explorer tool is available to the public through the CHE website at: https://che.sc.gov/PSEO
Almost three years after Cuban national Arianna Taylor-Israel was gunned down on the compound of the St. Martins Secondary School in broad daylight, her husband Mitchel Mitch Israel is awaiting sentencing for the murder.





A 12-member jury, six men and six women, on Wednesday, found Israel, a former civil servant, guilty of murdering Taylor-Israel, who was employed here as a nurse and was Israels wife for 20 years.





Upon conviction, Justice Rickie Burnett ordered that a Social Inquiry report on Israel be submitted by September 18 and that sentencing submissions be filed by October 2.





Israel is expected to be sentenced on October 13.





Surgical Pathologist, Dr. Ronald Child concluded that Taylor-Israel died from multiple gunshot wounds, including one to her neck, one to her chest, and one to her shoulder.





The Crowns case was that Israel deliberately and intentionally shot and killed his wife shortly after 3 p.m. on the date in question, but the defense sought to establish a case of an accident, arguing that Taylor-Israel was shot accidentally during a struggle with her husband.





Attorney Dr. Linton Lewis represented the accused while Richie Maitland, an attorney attached to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), led the case for the Crown.





Witnesses for the crown





The Crown called 27 witnesses but relied heavily on the evidence of two eyewitnesses  Fidel Akers, at the time a student of the St. Vincent Grammar School, and Mohammed Dowers, then a student of the St. Martins Secondary School.





Akers told the Court that he was sitting on a rail when he saw a vehicle pulling into the yard of the St. Martins Secondary School around 3:30 p.m. When a man alighted from the vehicle, he said the man had something in his hand which he (Akers) later recognized to be a gun. He said there was a struggle between the lady and the man.





According to Akers, "They were tugging and pulling for the gun, and the gun went off. The struggle continued, and three more shots went off, and the lady fell to the ground. The man went back into the vehicle and left.

Under cross-examination by Lewis, Akers said, "She grabbed the gun, it was pointed towards the abdomen, and I heard three more shots. He admitted to hearing four shots in all.





Dowers said he saw the woman "fighting up with Israel and that she slipped and fell, and Israel shot her several times.





But under cross-examination, Dowers said he could not recall whether the woman was shot while standing or lying on the ground. He was also unable to recall if there was a struggle, how close the man and the woman were to each other, or if he had given a statement to the police.





There was evidence from a friend and former co-worker of Israel, that after the shooting Israel told him that he had shot his wife six times. He said Israel told him that he was fed up. The witness added that Israel complained of not feeling well that day, and asked that he drive him home.





There was also evidence from a police officer that Taylor-Israel had made a report to the police that her husband had threatened to kill her. But Justice Rickie Burnett, in his summation on Wednesday, told the Jury they would have to determine what weight, if any, they should give to his evidence, as Taylor-Israel was deceased, and therefore could not be there to testify, and be cross-examined.





The case for the defence





Israel, in his defense to the Court, said that when he went to the schools car park that afternoon to pick up his sons from school, he saw his wife on the compound making a phone call, and he touched her to get her attention. He said she struck him with the phone, and he held onto her hand. A struggle ensued, and he could feel his licensed firearms holster, which was under his shirt, moving from side to side. He was trying to pull it back, and she grabbed onto it, as to pull it from him, and a shot went off.





He said there was struggle and tugging during which more bullets went off and she knocked him back, and they fell. She came close to him and when he looked over to her he saw the gun between them. He took it up and went back into his vehicle not knowing that she was shot, until the police at Questelles told him that she was killed.





Forensic pathologist, Professor Hubert Daisley of Trinidad and Tobago, who was called by the defense, said the victim could not have sustained those injuries if she was lying on the ground on her back, with the shooter standing over her. The Professor said he detected gunshot residue which means that Taylor-Israel had to be shot at close range, say about 18 inches.





Closing arguments





In his closing arguments, Maitland referenced evidence in which Israel told the Investigator Sergeant Biorn Duncan that he was in an uncomfortable position with his wife. He quoted Israel as saying, "We have been arguing for about three weeks now.





Maitland also referenced the evidence of Israels son Mathew, who said there was an argument between his mother and father on the morning she was shot. He also told the Court that on that morning there was a marital exchange between them, with the senior Israel saying he would bring women into the house to have sex with them.





"Mr. Israel would have had a motive for the killing of his wife. He had a .32 revolver which he inherited from his father, Maitland said, adding, "He (Israel) had numerous opportunities to indicate that she held onto the gun, but he did not do that.





But defence attorney Dr. Lewis argued that Israels son Mitchel Israel Jr. said in his testimony, that his mother was always the one to start the arguments. "He (son) could not think of any incident of his father hitting his mother or threatening her with a gun.





Dr. Lewis pointed out that, based on the boys evidence his mother always had the propensity to be aggressive and erratic, and that their father always had to come to their defense when she was beating them.





He stressed that Akers admitted there was a struggle between Israel and his wife, and while Akers evidence supported that of his client, it vastly contradicted the evidence of the other eyewitness, Mohammed Dowers, and both Akers and Dowers were prosecution witnesses.

The Jury rejected the defenses version of the events.
Andrew Stephens, drowning victim, would not have thought t he was going to his last picnic.

Residents of Georgetown were still in support of their counterparts above the Rabacca River after a weekend boating mishap that left one person missing, when they, too, were thrown into their own bereavement.





The air of somberness overcame the community when they learned that Andrew Stephens, a 65-year-old native of Georgetown who resides in the USA and who was home on vacation, became allegedly, this country latest drowning victim.





Stephens is the brother of Georgietha Aunty G Nanton, well-known Georgetown-based cultural activist and social media administrator of the popular Facebook page The Beauty of SVG.





A report reaching THE VINCENTIAN said that Stephens along with relatives and friends had gone to the Chatoyer National Park at Rabacca to cook (picnic), on Tuesday 15th August.





During the course of time, he indicated an interest in going to Drip for a swim. Residents of the North Central Windward and North Windward areas would tell you that Drip is not a safe place for swimming, though many have braved it to exhibit their (swimming) prowess.





Stephens, apparently against the advice of those who had accompanied him to Drip, entered the water but did not make it back out. The report is that a waved pulled him out and then under.





The disappearance, according to a relative, occurred around 5:15pm on Tuesday.





In confirming the drowning, a release (dated August 17) from the RSVG Police Force Public Relations and Complaints Department, said that the Police in the Georgetown district "are investigating the circumstances surrounding a suspected drowning that occurred on Tuesday 15 August 2023 at Rabacca Beach, Georgetown.





According to the referenced release, "at 6:24 p.m. on Tuesday 15 August 2023, officers at the Georgetown Police Station received a report of a suspected drowning at the Rabacca Beach.





The release continued, "A party of Police officers were dispatched to the scene and on arrival at the scene, eyewitness reported to the police that the deceased was bathing in the sea, appeared to have encountered difficulties and disappeared from view.





A search for Stephens body was mounted but he was not found.





However, on Wednesday 16 August 2023, Commander of the Eastern Division, Superintendent of Police (SOP), Mr. Hesran Ballantyne, confirmed that Stephens body was recovered just before 9:00 a.m. on that day.

The body had washed ashore, along the rocky front of usually rough seas on the Rabacca Beach. The District Medical Officer was called to the scene and pronounced Stephens deceased.





Stephens is the third drowning here in the just over two weeks. His followed on the weekend drowning of Kenson Browne of Sandy Bay. Both drownings followed that of Nigerian medical student Michael Odu.

Odu drowned on August 1 in the area between Young Island and Fort Durvenette (Rock Fort).




"The management of this facility would have submitted to Cabinet last week, rates for approval in terms of the public wanting to have the use of the facility. By and large, it is the first [that] were having such a facility here in St. Vincent and the management and staff would have accumulated figures from across the region where such facility is being operational.





This was a statement made by the Hon. Montgomery Daniel, Acting Prime Minister, as he addressed the listening public on NBCs Face to Face programme aired last Wednesday, 9th August.





The Minister was referring to user fees for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) which was recently installed at the Modern Medical and Diagnostic Complex in Georgetown. He went on to explain that management had done its work of researching and coming up with a cost for the use of the facility by individuals here.





He intimated that with the facility being the very first of its kind here, relevant and accurate research was required to come up with figures, and therefore, ".the submission was made to Cabinet, with their own tweeking on the numbers, and Cabinet has approved basically the numbers that were submitted with: 30 percent less to nationals for the use of the facility and 20 percent less for non-nationals.





In giving the reason for the discounted fees Daniel said that cabinet had taken into consideration that the initial cost of the equipment was not burdened by government. "We got the facility as a grant and though in the overall cost submitted to Cabinet, where there is an in-built cost, for the use over time, all of that was taken into consideration to give you the final numbers to which was submitted to Cabinet by the management of the Modern Medical facility.





No exact user fees were available up to the time of preparation of this article.
The outpouring of support for the In D Street concert augurs well for the future of steel pan music in SVG.

The United Nations General Assembly on July 24, 2023, passed a resolution tabled by Trinidad and Tobago declaring August 11 as World Steel Pan Day, and this country was not going to be left out of the celebrations to mark the day.





Five steel orchestras - Genesis, Elite, Epic, Starlift, and Symphonix  formed the nucleus of a concert dubbed In D Streets, with the steel orchestras lining the section of Bay Street once referred to as Unity Square, that includes the area in front of CobbleStone Hotel and the Immigration Office.





Genesis got the ball rolling, presenting a variety of genres. Those included reggae numbers like Light your fire, New found love and Vincentian reggae artist Abuzas Love and patience.





Their calypso segment included Winston Sosos I dont care, Shaunelle Mckenzies Up in dey, Johnny Rebels Musical ride, and Olatunjis Engine Room But it was their rendition of the Jus Bus 2023 composition that revived memories of the recent carnival festivities, and jolted the crowd into spontaneous revelry.





Leaf Elite Steel Orchestra used the occasion to showcase young pannists from their Summer School Programme, and ensuring in a way the future of the pan music. They displayed a variety of musical styles.

An energized Epic Steel Orchestra kept the audience entertained. Their play list included: Dont leave me this way, Human nature, Coming in from the cold, and the Spanish influenced Guantanamera.





No one could deny Starlift their experience as the oldest steel orchestra and their performance, their contribution, justified their honour as the most decorated steel orchestra in the land.





Symphonix Steel Orchestra brought the curtain down on the affair by which time the crowd had been mesmerized.





Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves came to "lime and suggested that Rodney Small, President of the Youlou Pan Movement (YPM), organisers of the event, pay for his address.





Gonsalves echoed his appeal for two days of cultural and sporting activity in October.





Culture Minister Carlos James commended the YPM and urged persons to join the steelband fraternity.





As advertised, guest artistes were also on hand, with 2023 Ragga Soca Monarch, Javid Jay R Rouse, contributing; and Jamesy P Morgan creating a stir with new as well as established numbers.





Reigning Soca Monarch Fireman Hooper blended vocals under the Epic banner. That was after a rhythmic enforcement with renown pan tuner Francis Pes Llewellyn in the section.





President of the Youlou Pan Movement Rodney Small confirmed that another concert, In D Street Link Up, is scheduled for Barrouallie, Sunday August 20. Starting time: 3:00pm.




Bequia resident jailed





On 8th August, 2023, Police arrested and charged Tiquiado Williams, 26 years unemployed of Bequia with (1) theft of a firearm (2) possession of an illegal firearm without a license issued under the Firearms Act, and (3) possession of fifteen (15) rounds of .9mm ammunition without a license issued under the Firearms Act.





The offences occurred at Arnos Vale between 2:00 am on 21.07.23 and 7:30 am on 29.07.23.





Williams appeared before the Serious Offences Court on 08.08.23 and pleaded guilty to the offences. He was sentenced to twelve (12) months imprisonment for the theft of the firearm, two (2) years and three (3) months for the possession of the said firearm, and thirteen (13) months for possession of the ammunition.

The sentences will run concurrently.

Bus Conductor charged with theft





On 04.08.23, Marlon Garraway, a 34-year-old Eveham Bus Conductor, was arrested and charged with theft.

Garraway is accused of stealing several items valued at $1,535.00ECC from a 26-year-old domestic of Eveham at Evesham around 10:00 a.m. on May 26th, 2023.





Garraway will appear in Mesopotamia Magistrate Court to answer the charge.





Labourer charged with wounding

Mark Shallow, a 51-year-old labourer from Kingstown, was arrested and charged with two charges of wounding on August 5.





Shallow is accused of unlawfully and maliciously wounding a 41-year-old vendor of Campden Park with a knife over her right eye and on her forehead on 04.08.23 between 9:30 and 10:55 p.m. on White Chapel Road, Kingstown.





Shallow appeared before the Kingstown Magistrate Court on 07.08.23 and pleaded not guilty. He was granted bail in the sum of $2,500.00ECC with one surety.





The matter was adjourned to Tuesday, October 10th, 2023.





Mayreau man charged with burglary

Matthias Grant, a 40-year-old labourer from Mayreau, was arrested and charged with burglary on August 5, 2023.





Grant is accused of stealing one (1) black and red Gucci purse valued at $50.00ECC, one (1) GECCU ATM Card valued at $10.00ECC, three (3) GECCU Passbooks valued at $15,00ECC, one (1) SVG National Identification Card valued at $125.00ECC, and $1,380.00ECC in cash on 03.08.23 between 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.





Grant appeared before the Union Island Magistrate Court on 07.08.23 and pleaded not guilty. He was granted bail in the sum of $2,500.00ECC with one surety.





The matter was adjourned to Monday, August 28th, 2023.





Woman charged with theft





On August 5, 2023, Shekelia Gibson, a 27-year-old unemployed of Redemption Sharpes, was arrested and charged with theft.





Gibson is accused of stealing $3,150.00ECC in cash from a 33-year-old labourer of Redemption Sharpes in Kingstown between 4:00 a.m. on 8.1.2023 and 11:25 a.m. on 9.1.2023.





Gibson appeared before the Kingstown Magistrate Court on 07.08.23 and pleaded not guilty. He was given Station bail.





The matter was adjourned to Tuesday, October 10th, 2023.





(Source: RSVG Police Force)




(Photo : ATTA KENARE / AFP) (ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made his first visit to Saudi Arabia since the restoration of ties between the two nations and touted Islamic unity.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian touts Islamic unity in his first visit to Saudi Arabia since restoring ties between the two regions.

In a joint news conference statement, Amir-Abdollahian said that relations between Tehran and the Kingdom were on the right track and were making progress. In the Thursday meeting involving his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, the Iranian foreign minister said that the talks were successful.

Iranian Foreign Minister in Saudi Arabia

Amir-Abdollahian added that his trip to Saudi Arabia came a few months after Prince Faisal met with officials from Iran in June during his first trip to the nation. That visit came after a March China-brokered deal between the regional rivals to restore ties.

The deal would have Tehran and Riyadh agreeing to end a diplomatic rift and allow the re-establishment of relations following several years of hostility. The chaotic situation had endangered regional stability in the Gulf and Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen, as per Aljazeera.

In 2016, Saudi Arabia broke ties with Iran after protesters attacked its embassy in Tehran. The chaos resulted from Riyadh ordering the execution of prominent Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr.

The Iranian foreign minister said the two sides had "good discussions" over various issues during the historic meetings. He added that the talks held in the Saudi foreign ministry's Islamic Solidarity Hall were a prelude to the meeting of the heads of the two nations.

Prince Faisal also said Saudi Arabia hoped to see Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi visit the Kingdom. This came after an invitation was sent by King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, which he had communicated during the visit held in June. In response to the invitation, Raisi said he would visit Saudi Arabia at the "appropriate time."

Read Also: US, Japan, South Korea Establish 3-Way Hotline to Bolster Relations

Restoration of Ties

Amir-Abdollahian also took the opportunity to reiterate that Iran supports the Palestinian cause during a time when Riyadh is in talks to normalize ties with Israel. If it pushes through, the deal would have the Kingdom recognize Israel in exchange for various conditions, including security guarantees from the United States and concessions from Israel on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to the Times of Israel.

The Iranian foreign minister described the conflict as the most crucial issue in the Islamic world today, adding that continued support for Palestine needs to be continued. Amir-Abdollahian also criticized the "Zionist" regime that he claims would continue to divide the Muslim world and the region.

Anna Jacobs, a senior Gulf analyst for the International Crisis Group, said that the visits and the reopening of embassies mark crucial confidence-boosting measures. She added that the Saudi-Iran rapprochement is still in its early phases, and it remains unclear how the two sides will address their many divisive stances.

The situation also comes after reports on Wednesday said that Iranian and Saudi military officials met in Moscow on the sidelines of a security conference, said Yahoo News.

Related Article: Sweden Raises Terror Alert Level In Response to Quran Burnings

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(TBTCO) - Tuan toi, Chu tich Cuc Du tru Lien bang My (FED) Jerome Powell se phat bieu ve trien vong kinh te tai hoi nghi chuyen e kinh te Jackson Hole hang nam cua FED tai thanh pho Kansas, voi su tham du cua lanh ao cac ngan hang trung uong hang au the gioi. Cac nha au tu se xem xet bai phat bieu rat uoc mong oi nay e tim manh moi ve trien vong lai suat, ma FED a nang len muc 5,25% en 5,5% vao thang truoc, muc cao nhat trong 22 nam. Ba Lagarde, Chu tich ECB cung phat bieu tai hoi nghi.
The Ukrainian battlespace features the most intensive use of drones in a military conflict in history, marking a shift in warfare tactics and technology. From ECFR.

Drones have been around for a long time  a very long time, if you go back to Chinese fire kites or the Austrian attack on Venice using exploding balloons in 1849. Drones were used in Vietnam, in the Kosovo war, Afghanistan, Iraq, and, most recently, in the confrontation between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The war in Ukraine is thus not the first drone war. It is neither the first war in which drones play an important role, nor the first in which both sides employ them. Nevertheless, the use of drones in Ukraine represents a step change. Never before have so many drones been used in a military confrontation. The Royal United Services Institute estimates that Ukraine is losing 10,000 drones per month, giving an indication of how many are in use. Aerial defense systems are largely neutralizing manned aviation, making unmanned systems particularly important. For those looking to understand their importance, here are the main takeaways from Ukraine:

There are a lot of different drone systems in use in Ukraine.

These range from the very small  such as the Black Hornet, which has a wingspan of only 12 centimeters  to drones with wingspans of over 15 meters. Small systems play a particularly important role in Ukraine. Quadcopters and other rotor drones are mainly produced by commercial firms such as the Chinese DJI and are among the most common. Armed systems, such as the Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2, or on the Russian side, the Orion drone, carry missiles that can be used to attack troops on the ground. So-called kamikaze drones, or loitering munition, single-use drones, which hover above a target before diving into it and exploding with it, are also used extensively, especially by Russia but more recently for the attacks on Moscow.

Drones are primarily used for surveillance, intelligence gathering, propaganda, and strikes.

Surveillance and reconnaissance are the most natural uses of drones. All drones carry photo, video, or other data-collection sensors, which allow forces to locate enemy bases, observe troop movements, and choose targets. Closely linked to surveillance is the ability of drones to document attacks, which can also provide useful material for propaganda purposes. Drones have documented the destruction of cities by Russian forces, the flooding of Ukrainian territory following the Kakhovka dam breach, and attacks against Russian ships, tanks, troops, and materiel. Finally, drones are used to help direct and conduct strikes. At the beginning of the war, Ukrainian forces used armed military drones such as the TB2 to target the Russian convoy headed for Kyiv. A TB2 drone may also have been used to distract the defenses of the Russian flagship Moskva while naval missiles attacked and ultimately sank it. Intelligence gathered by drones is also used to direct artillery and other strikes.

The most remarkable aspect of drone use in this war is the large number of civilian drones.

Many, possibly the majority, of the drones used by Ukrainian forces were originally designed for commercial purposes or for hobbyists. They are therefore available in large numbers and at low cost, and are easy to use. As they are not built for war, these drones tend not to survive for a long time in the battlespace  but given their price and availability, they are generally dispensable. The Chinese manufacturer DJI produces most of these systems. It officially suspended operations in Ukraine and Russia a few weeks into the war, but its drones, most notably the Mavic type, remain among the most-used and most sought-after systems. Individuals have donated many drones, and crowdfunding efforts by the public have also allegedly led to the acquisition of thousands of drones. Many, possibly the majority, of the drones used by Ukrainian forces were originally designed for commercial purposes or for hobbyists.

Drone attacks on Moscow are a warning signal for now  but could eventually have military consequences.

So far, the Ukrainian government has not officially assumed responsibility for the drone attacks on Moscow, which have become more frequent in recent days. Initially, unmanned systems were used to attack military installations in Russia, such as the Engels air base in December. More recently, there have been drone attacks on Moscow, including its financial center, which could have been carried out either by the Ukrainian armed forces or pro-Ukrainian groups possibly from within Russia. Militarily, their impact has been limited: so far, no one has been killed in the attacks, and the destruction appears minimal. But they send a signal to the Russian regime, population, and businesses that the war could come back to Russia. While Russian air defenses reportedly intercepted some of the drones, it is still embarrassing for the Russian military that they are unable to protect the capital. If the attacks continue and grow in frequency and force, the Russian army may have to increase the protection of Moscow and other cities, meaning aerial defense systems or experts might have to be withdrawn from the frontline.

Drones are easy targets but that doesnt mean they are easy to fight.

Drones are easy targets as they are usually not built to evade aerial defenses. They tend to fly low and slowly, and can often be destroyed with a single hit. However, combating drones can be difficult as one needs to have the right drone defense systems in the right place, at the right time, while not spending significantly more money on fighting a drone than the drone is worth.

There are two main ways to down a drone  kinetically and electronically. The first means shooting down a drone with bullets, rockets, or similar. Ukraine has been using Gepards, Patriots, or Iris-T to fight against attacks from the air. The second means jamming or interrupting the signal between the drone and its operator(s). A more advanced version of this approach is to hack the drone and take over its command. Besides these, net throwers, drones that fight drones, and even birds of prey trained to take out rogue hobbyist drones can intercept drones. The counter-drone market is a multibillion business opportunity.

Naval drones are beginning to play a role in Ukraine.

The term drone doesnt necessarily refer to airborne systems, but most drones fly. Maritime drones  both surface vessels and submarine systems  exist, as well as ground-based drones (though many call them robots rather than drones). Before this conflict, however, only airborne systems were used extensively in military operations. This is starting to change. Drone boats were already used last autumn, most notably in the attack on Russias Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol. More recently, Ukrainian forces damaged a Russian amphibious landing ship and struck a Russian fuel tanker using naval drones. These attacks are a testimony to Ukraines innovative military-industrial sector.

Ukraine is likely to become a serious player in the drone industry once the war ends.

Ukraine has become an important place for drone development and manufacturing. Joint private-public partnerships have led to the development or repurposing of drones for military use. The pressure of the war to innovate, the ingenuity of the Ukrainian people, and the opportunity to work closely with experts from many Western countries have helped establish a robust domestic defense industrial base. The Ukrainian drone industry is on track to become a serious international player once the war ends, able to export systems that are combat-proven.



A shorter version of this article was first published in German in Focus on 3 August.

Dr. Ulrike Franke is a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), where this article originally appeared. She leads ECFRs Technology and European Power initiative. Her areas of focus include German and European security and defense, the future of warfare, and the impact of new technologies such as drones and artificial intelligence on geopolitics and warfare. The European Council on Foreign Relations does not take collective positions. ECFR publications only represent the views of their individual authors. Reprinted with permission.
Gov. Mark Gordon, State Library Division Director Patricia Bach and State Librarian Jamie Markus sent a letter to the American Library Association on Monday expressing worry that the organization has become politicized" and calling on the group to open discussions with Wyoming to address the concern.

This change has been reflected in views expressed by its current leadership, as well as actions and guidance that appear to stray from ALAs core mission to provide leadership for the development, promotion, and improvement of library and information services and the profession of librarianship in order to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all, the letter, addressed to American Library Association Executive Director Tracie Hall and signed by Markus, the state librarian, says.

The letter, which the governors office provided to the Star-Tribune, calls on Hall to open a dialogue with Wyoming through the Western Council of State Libraries and the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies.

Active discussions and action toward meaningful change will inform the decision to renew our membership for our 100th year, the letter says. Wyomings public, school, and academic libraries are independently governed and this decision will not impact them.

The letter adds that, regardless of the outcome of these discussions, the state library will continue to support the Wyoming library community through active participation in the Wyoming Library Association," the state chapter of the American Library Association.

Freedom Caucus letter

The message from the state library to the ALA comes amid calls from the hard-line Wyoming Freedom Caucus for Wyoming to cut all ties with the national library organization over uproar about the associations direction.

On Monday, 13 caucus members, along with Secretary of State Chuck Gray, signed a letter addressed to Gordon that asked the governor to end the states relationship with the ALA. The letter describes the organization as having taken a sharp leftward turn with a self-avowed Marxist currently at its helm. It raises concern about materials on the associations Rainbow Book List, which aims to encompass an array of diverse stories and identities representing the LGBTQIA+ youth experience, according to the ALAs website.

Wyoming does not need to take orders, entertain recommendations, or accept suggestions from the American Library Association, the Freedom Caucus letter says. Our local communities can best curate the books on our library shelves the Wyoming way.

Gray said in a separate statement that he was concerned the state library's association with the ALA and other groups has led to "an inappropriate use of government resources to promote partisan electioneering." He referenced a training listed on the state library's website about how to run for local office, which states that there has been an "attack on Americans' freedom to read because of far right elected local officials. (The training was not connected with the ALA, but with a different nonprofit.)

Markus, the state librarian, said the addition of the training was a mistake, and staff removed it from the calendar once they read the description. (Markus wasn't aware that the training description had remained on a library news blog post, which is what Gray referenced, and said he would make a note for staff to address the post.) The state library looks at a list of more than 100 nonprofit groups that offer free trainings. There's now a different process in place to check each of the trainings and make sure they don't "cross the political line," Markus said.

Gov. Mark Gordon lambasted the Freedom Caucus letter, saying in a Wednesday statement to the Star-Tribune that the message "smacks of a veiled threat couched as a media stunt."

"The letter implies that Wyoming citizens  Wyoming parents  are not capable of deciding how best to govern themselves and need the self-appointed morality police to show them the way," he said.

"Wyoming people can think for themselves, and Wyoming parents have a right to determine what is best for their kids."

Wyoming Freedom Caucus Chairman Rep. John Bear said on Thursday that he doesnt think Gordons characterization of the letter writers even deserves a response," but shared that he thinks the state librarys Monday message to the ALA is "a move in the right direction."

Local control

To be clear, the state and local libraries arent obligated to take orders from the ALA and dont have to carry books from any of the organizations lists. Local libraries can also independently choose whether or not they want to associate with the ALA regardless of the state library's relationship with the organization.

Individual libraries make that decision at the local level," Conrrado Saldivar, president of the Wyoming Library Association, a chapter of the ALA, told the Star-Tribune on Wednesday.

"And that's something that we definitely stand for in Wyoming, is the ability for all of the public library systems in Wyoming to make those local decisions for their community members and whatever the interests are for the people who are using their libraries."

Gordon similarly emphasized in his statement that "whether or not the Wyoming State Library remains a member of the ALA has no impact on any local public librarys decision to be a member or what content and books are in those locally-governed libraries."

If the state library were to end its membership with the ALA, it's likely that it would no longer be able to send staff to the ALA's annual conference. The conference is the largest gathering of library vendors from across the country in one place at one time. The state library buys a number of resources from library vendors and supplies them to libraries across the state, and being able to meet with vendors at the ALA conference provides "an advantage of time and place and location," Markus said.

He added that, if the state library were to leave the organization, it would no longer "have a seat at the table to talk to them about how their national perspective doesn't fit Wyoming values or could be changed to reflect how things work in a small, rural state like Wyoming."

Increased pressure

Last month, Bear, a Gillette Republican, sent out a mass Freedom Caucus email that called on the Wyoming State Library to cut ties with the ALA. In the message, Bear applauded the Montana State Library for ending its relationship with the organization and praised the Campbell County Library Board  which his spouse, Sage Bear, sits on  for taking the lead in withdrawing the county library from the association in October.

The Campbell County Library Board voted to fire former library director Terri Lesley last month after she refused to voluntarily resign over disputes about what books should and shouldn't be in the library, the Gillette News Record first reported. The vote came after disagreements between Lesley and the board over a new book "weeding" policy the board had passed earlier this summer. While board members said that, under the new policy, Lesley and library staff could throw out books they alleged were sexually inappropriate, Lesley expressed concern about getting sued, according to the Gillette News Record. Lesley spoke about her experience with these issues in a Thursday interview with CNN.

Earlier this month, Wyoming Family Alliance President Nathan Winters, a former lawmaker, also sent out a mass email petition asking Gordon to drop the ALA. According to a follow-up email from Winters, Gordon called him to say that "he is looking into something better for Wyoming libraries than the ALA!"

"This is exciting," the email says. "It shows that your messages really can make a difference for our state." (Gordon didnt confirm the phone call when asked by the Star-Tribune.)

History

The ALA, a Chicago-based nonprofit, is the oldest and largest library association in the world, according to its website. The association provides professional development and mentorship resources, among other things, for library staff, and does advocacy work for library professions. The state has had a relationship with the ALA for 99 years.

Since 2021, two Wyoming libraries have received grants from the ALA totaling $30,000, according to Saldivar, the Wyoming Library Association president. ($20,000 went to the Fremont County Library System when it faced severe budget cuts after the pandemic, and $10,000 went to the Fort Washakie School and Community Library to provide literature and other resources to remote populations on the Wind River Reservation.)

Wyoming has had its own chapter of the national organization since 1914. The Wyoming Library Association has about 220 members right now, Saldivar said. He estimated that number represents somewhere between 20-25% of library staff in the state of Wyoming.

The conservative furor over the ALA ignited after Emily Drabinski, the president of the national organization, tweeted a message last year in which she described herself as a "Marxist lesbian." (Drabinskis tenure lasts a year, and she will be cycled out this upcoming summer.) Her comment prompted the Montana State Library to end its relationship with the ALA last month.

Drabrinskis social media comment and tenure as president of the ALA is just more oxygen on a fire thats already been blazing in Wyoming and across the nation around debates about what information kids should be allowed to access in libraries.

Much of this concern has targeted books with LGBTQ characters. In Wyoming, some of these books include Gender Queer, a graphic novel by Maia Kobabe that explores the authors gender identity and sexuality, and Trans Bodies, Trans Selves, a resource guide for transgender individuals by Laura Erickson-Schroth. Those who have advocated for keeping such materials in libraries have voiced suspicion that opposition to these books really boils down to opposition to LGBTQ identities.

'Slowly spreading'

While much of the original focus in Wyoming centered primarily on the question of what materials school libraries should or shouldnt provide, the Wyoming Freedom Caucus and its sympathizers in the state have expanded that discussion to include public libraries and other entities.

During this years legislative session, for example, Casper Republican Rep. Jeanette Ward, who is now a member of the caucus but was not at the time, sponsored a bill that would have expanded child porn definitions and repealed obscenity exemptions meant to allow for the teaching of sexual health topics, prohibiting not just schools, but colleges, universities, museums and public libraries from keeping or providing materials that fell under the new definition. (The bill died in committee).

Not requiring tax payers to pay for obscenity is reasonable and just, Ward told the Star-Tribune in a January email regarding her bill. These books will continue to be available in the marketplace, but not paid for by taxpayer dollars. Reasonable people everywhere recognize these books as obscene and reasonable people do not want their money used to subsidize obscenity.

Saldivar, the Wyoming Library Association president, fears that attempts to restrict access to certain books could eventually spread even to the marketplace, just as these efforts have spread from school districts to public libraries and other entities in Wyoming.

Last year, Republican politicians in Virginia attempted to restrict the marketplace sale of Gender Queer and A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas, claiming the books violated the states obscenity law. (A judge ultimately dismissed the attempt.)

So its just slowly spreading, Saldivar said, recalling the Virginia case. Its just different flavors of arguments being used in different places.

Bear said the Wyoming Freedom Caucus is "not interested" in restricting the purchase of certain books on the marketplace; it's the use of taxpayer dollars to purchase materials that he believes are "harmful to children" that is the caucus' "main concern." (During debates over this issue in Natrona County, at least one person said they would personally be willing to pay for these books if spending taxpayer money was the main concern.)

Wyoming solutions for Wyoming problems?

The Wyoming Freedom Caucus Monday letter to Gordon describes ending the state librarys relationship with the ALA as an opportunity for Wyoming to blaze its own trail.

You mentioned in your speech closing out the 67th Legislative Session in March that you deeply desire Wyoming solutions for Wyoming problems, the letter says. We are here to present you with one.

We hear about these books on Fox News and CNN, but that doesnt mean they arent a Wyoming problem,'" the letter says later on.

But in his Wednesday statement, Gordon accused the Wyoming Freedom Caucus of spending time dithering to comply with direction from out-of-state groups on what is largely a local issue while his administration is hard at work doing things that have an actual impact on Wyomings economy. (As an example, Gordon touted the state's win this week in a court case that approves Wyoming's State Implementation Plan regarding emissions regulations from the Wyodak and Naughton power plants, allowing all units of the two plants to continue operating.)

Gordon closed this years legislative session by telling lawmakers that the state needs Wyoming solutions for Wyoming problems and highlighting his concern about Washington D.C. think tanks that develop model pieces of legislation to influence national politics. (The Wyoming Freedom Caucus is partnered with the State Freedom Caucus Network, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that aims to establish state freedom caucuses across the country.)

His words followed a turbulent legislative session that saw several bills  many of which the Wyoming Freedom Caucus championed  modeled after controversial legislation from other states. Though not unusual for ideas from other states to make their way into Wyoming legislation, some lawmakers expressed concern about such bills that hadn't been vetted in the interim session.

One prominent example was Afton Republican Sen. Dan Dockstaders Parental rights in education bill modeled after a Florida measure critics call the Dont Say Gay law. The bill would have banned classroom instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade, or more generally in a way thats not age or developmentally appropriate. It also would have given parents more authority to opt kids out of health services and questionnaires, among other things. (The bill missed the deadline for introduction in the House.)

Arguments in support and against the bill in many ways paralleled those heard in debates about school library books. Proponents of the legislation said it would protect students and empower parents. But opponents said the bill would step on First Amendment rights and questioned, for example, if it would bar teachers from assigning books with LGBTQ characters or talking about LGBTQ people.

Your news on your smartphone Your story lives in Wyoming, and our new mobile app is designed to make sure you dont miss breaking news, the latest scores, the weather forecast and more. From easy navigation with the swipe of a finger to personalized content based on your preferences to customized text sizes, the Star-Tribune app is built for you and your life. Dont have the app? Download it today from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
LARAMIE  Its an excelsior type of moment when Rhiannon McLean finds something with a movie stars signature amongst the sea of fan mail.

Since late May, she and two other University of Wyoming students have been sifting through the donated materials of Marvel creator Stan Lee with the goal of chronologically organizing them, highlighting major finds within the collection and preparing for the creation of their student-led exhibit inside the American Heritage Center on UWs campus.

McLean, Liam Leslie and Hazel Homer-Wambeam have turned the Alfred Jacob Miller classroom into a makeshift research room, pulling 20 boxes at a time from the 200-box collection housed in the centers secure underground archive.

The three interns all come from Wyoming, but each have different reasons as to why they sought out this job: one spent considerable time studying Lee when she was younger; one wants to learn more about pop culture and apply it to his studies; and one enjoys learning about Marvel and its history.

Lees relationship with the university started 41 years ago when he began donating his personal effects after forming a relationship with Gene Gressley, the former director of the center.

His last donation came in 2012, the year he underwent his first major surgery.

Leslie, McLean and Wambeam have until next May to look through, organize and display Lees donations. Their efforts will culminate in an exhibit that will highlight Lees life.

It isnt all eureka or excelsior moments, as most days consist of sifting and reading through the thousands of fan letters and the occasional scramble to cover pornographic materials from Lees day as a contributor at Playboy from the tours of children that sometimes come through the building.

Still, they plug along, out of passion for Lee, Marvel and the significance of pop culture.

You cant discount anything because Stan kept it for a reason. And it also means he wasnt trying to curate the collection himself either, McLean told the Star-Tribune in June. Its really special to kind of understand who Stan is, even though none of us got to meet him, right, just being able to go like, Wow, he kept this for a reason. Lets figure out why.

A storied history

Lees first gift to the university was in 1980. The content of his donations stretches back to the 1940s.

He then sent a deed of gift to the university in 1990. Whatever he sent after that deed would be property of the school, unable to be claimed by anyone else.

In the annals of time, the story of how Lee came to know Gressley and the American Heritage Center has become a bit unclear; no ones really sure. But the legend goes like this, according to McLeans account to the Star-Tribune: Lee met Gressley, the centers director throughout the 1970s, in 1977. Lee had seen an exhibit on Jack Benny, whom he admired, that the center had done. His interest was piqued.

Benny, who was born in 1894, was an American radio and movie star and has often been credited as an early influence in comedy for Lee.

I have this little archive at the University of Wyoming. You may wonder why I picked that university but, when they asked if I would archive my material there, they said that Jack Benny had his archive there. And I was a big fan of Jack Bennys and I figured, if hes there, I want to be there, Lee told the Wall Street Journal in a 2012 interview.

Gressley reached back out to Lee in 1978; somewhere along the way, they had a conversation about Lee creating his own archive.

Lee sent his first donation a few years later.

Lee, who was born in New York City in 1922, never went to college. He started working as a teenager and then joined the U.S. Army. If the chance for higher education was possible, he never pursued it.

In an interview with the Star-Tribune, the interns speculated that sending his personal material to the university was a way for Lee to contribute to higher education, to see himself represented at an accredited school. He didnt really need a degree to be taken seriously within his industry  by the time he started donating, he was already a titan in the realm of comics  but maybe he always wanted a degree.

Theres an element to that  of Stan really kind of being excited to be forever immortalized in an environment that he loved so much, but never got the opportunity to utilize himself, McLean said.

And the interns can relate to that a little bit.

In a lot of ways that is an aspiration for unfulfilled validation. Stan always wanted to be validated in an intellectual manner. And I think many of us deal with the same affliction here at the University of Wyoming, where there are great resources, there are great faculty members, there are brilliant minds kind of abounding, Leslie said. And they kind of fall by the wayside because of the state being so small and out of the limelight in a way. And I think that this is a cool opportunity to bring it to the fore.

In 1989, Lee visited the UW campus for the first time. Although first-hand accounts from that visit are sparse, the donated materials from the university photo department reveal a lively campus: Lee could be seen stopping by classrooms, holding a meet-and-greet in the UW Arts and Science auditorium and even visiting his donated materials in the underground archive. Spiderman, who had been flown out from Marvel, joined him wherever he went that day.

Well, I remember I had him sign a comic book  and that he had a very distinctive voice, said UW Director of Photo Services Ted Brummond, who was assigned to follow Lee that day as a photographer for the UW Photo Services Department. I remember he corrected my grammar  it was a may I, can I sort of thing.

The school would continue getting packages from him a few times each year until 2012, the interns said. He gave to the university like someone who had just cleaned out their closet; a lot was sent at a time, and the packages were few and far in between, like he had marked a date to get rid of stuff and then went through everything he didnt want.

The filing boxes, neatly labeled and numbered, fill shelves in the catacomb-like archives below the American Heritage Center. They contain letters, drafts, doodles, newspaper clippings.

McLean, Wambeam and Leslie pull out hundreds of pieces every day. Some of the more interesting findings include letters from celebrities and political figures. Fanmail is a given, so Wambeam searches for that from other countries. Half-finished manuscripts are common, too.

So not every moment is an excelsior moment for the interns. Excelsior was Lees favorite word, a signature of his, and it means ever upward in Latin.

How do the interns keep a sharp eye, the Star-Tribune asked, when everything can be so similar that it starts to blur together?

Pacing.

  There is a temptation when it gets that mundane to speed through it. But the obligation is not to speed through it, but rather to take your time, and, you know, enjoy what youre looking at, Leslie said.

Even when its box after box of letters that basically read the same.

Approximately halfway through the summer, the interns are 25% done with the boxes, they estimate. They still plug along, taking notes, organizing their plans for the exhibit on a lightboard, sometimes going on tangents in conversation with one another.

With every box they conquer, they hear Lees voice more and more clearly.

The interns

The three interns who have the honor of preserving and preparing the exhibit look out the window and dont see Lees New York City skyline or the Marvel offices Hollywood view, but instead the emptiness of the plains.

Once, the interns took a workday to watch the new Disney documentary on Lee. The eerie feeling of his presence hung in the room as they watched the film amongst the open boxes of his life.

For UW theater student and Laramie native Hazel Homer-Wambeam, the archives and documentary hit a special place in her heart. Wambeam, after being inspired by the American Heritage Center collection on Lee, interviewed the comic book legend himself over the phone for her own documentary she made for National History Day  which, according to her colleagues, could rival the Disney version. She was 13.

Stan Lee had a relationship with the American Heritage Center  something unique that not a lot of other places can say that they have, Wambeam said. And so I had this idea that maybe I could reach out to him.

As Wambeam explains, National History Day is kind of like a science fair, but instead of having science, its all topics involving history.

It took months and months of correspondence between the American Heritage Center and Stan Lees assistant at the time to arrange the call, Wambeam said. And, finally, we had set up a 10-minute phone interview. And I was just in my house and dialed a phone number, and Stan Lee picked up, and to this day, its still my fun fact about myself that I talked to Stan Lee for 10 minutes on the phone.

Despite the teenage Wambeam only having the time to ask enough questions for her documentary, Lee took the time to be his charismatic self, crack jokes and turn the interview around on the young documentarian just for a few seconds. This would lead to Lee talking about Wambeams hometown of Laramie  the home of his archives.

Eight years later, now the former Miss Wyoming, Miss America competitor, National History Champion and current 22-year-old head Stan Lee intern, Wambeam leads another expedition through Lees archives, this time to honor the man she once interviewed.

The archives provide an opportunity for Liam Leslie to read from one of Americas greatest authors and to rediscover a lost form of education.

Walk into the interns makeshift research room and one can often find Leslies tall frame covered in a blanket wrapped tightly around his shoulders as he attempts to stay warm in the room, which is kept cooler for the archival documents. Leslie, an English and secondary education major from Cheyenne, is a bit quieter and more reserved than his more expressive counterparts.

He is also introspective, considering the academic and cultural implications of the work.

I think its a bit of a time capsule [the archives] and that is pretty profound to me, Leslie said.

The interns have discovered comic books that have dealt with social issues like womens rights and drug abuse tropes among the Marvel characters.

It wasnt seen as something to be respected or legitimate [comic books]. And then Stan Lee sparked this transition and that narrative where he was doing something totally different, he said. And all of a sudden, there was the comic book education boom, and everybody was interested in that.

This experience has personally impacted Leslie as he considers what is going on in culture and the classroom.

And I think that sometimes in your contemporary age, you dont necessarily understand the phenomenon that is transpiring around you. I think its very cool cause now Im thinking about, you know, the various forms of art that are happening around me right now.

For UW political science major Rhiannon McLean of Casper, the archives provide the chance to comb through decades of American politics and propaganda  and the chance to get to know Lee.

Shes a quick, witty talker, and she tells you exactly what shes thinking. And she thinks a lot about Lee, his legacy and the implications of his archives.

Shes also a huge Marvel fan. The work takes on a personal bent because of it.

Its really special to kind of understand who Stan is, even though none of us got to meet him, right, just being able to go like, wow, he kept this for a reason. Lets figure out why, she said. Theres a few Timely Comics that are featured that make my hands shake every time I touch them.

McLean, Wambeam and Leslie meet every Monday to chat about the work, but also to talk as friends. Its easy to see that they have the sort of bond that only people who take on a really hard project together can form.

They are creating an entire exhibit about one man who forever changed the history of comics. By the end of this internship, they will have spent nearly a year together, picking apart boxes, discussing Lee and creating something tangible, something real, to show the public.

I think the happiest thing about this is getting to shine Stans legacy in a way that I think would make him really happy, McLean said.

None of the interns will give away any details or hints about the exhibit. They say youll have to visit Laramie when the exhibit opens to see for yourself.

Just like Stan did.
There are 24 grizzly bears that died or were found dead in the Greater Yellowstone area this year, with over 60% of those deaths happening in Wyoming, according to United States Geological Survey data.

So far, there were 15 grizzly bear deaths in Wyoming, seven in Montana and two in Idaho, the data shows. There were 48 grizzly bear deaths last year in total.

About 85% of all documented bear deaths are human-caused, so tracking those deaths can help direct programs designed to reduce them, the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study website states.

There have been several incidents of grizzly bears being hit by moving vehicles, which either resulted in their immediate death or euthanasia due to severe injuries, the data states.

One adult grizzly bear died last month at Heart Mountain Canal in Wyoming due to a human-caused drowning, the data states. It drowned in a cement-sided canal, but what a person did to cause this was not disclosed.

The most common death is grizzly bears being put down for a variety of issues including conditioned behavior around people, killing livestock and property damage.

A couple of cubs died from natural causes, which were likely starvation or exposure, the data said. The remaining deaths are under investigation, or the cause was undetermined.

On Aug. 11, a 20-year-old male grizzly was euthanized after killing a cow on private land near Yellowstone National Park in Montana, the Billings Gazette reported. That incident had not yet made it into the official count as of Thursday.

Mortality data is collected by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study, which is an interdisciplinary group of scientists and biologists responsible for monitoring grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem across Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, their website states.

Your news on your smartphone Your story lives in Wyoming, and our new mobile app is designed to make sure you dont miss breaking news, the latest scores, the weather forecast and more. From easy navigation with the swipe of a finger to personalized content based on your preferences to customized text sizes, the Star-Tribune app is built for you and your life. Dont have the app? Download it today from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
Cheyenne  The schoolhouse at the end of the block maybe about to fall down.

The once-revered building is 60-years old and needs help. It is in really bad shape.

Perhaps there isnt enough money to replace that school right now but you could patch it up.

What should you do?

Rep Phil Nicholas, R- Cheyenne, the co-chair of the Joint Appropriation Committee (JAC) offered the example of a leaking window at an earlier JAC meeting.

What would you do rst? Paint the window or replace it?

The logical answer is to replace the window before you paint it. Right?

This brings us to the states priority system for school replacement, which has been criticized.

Cheyennes Arp school may be an example of the problem.

A small, 60-year-old elementary school in south Cheyenne, it had rodents, sewage problems and crumbling walls.

At one time it was No. 1 on the states priority for new construction.

Because the district replaced a leaking roof, Arp lost its top spot for replacement a few years ago.

The school now is waiting for demolition.

The kids are okay They will attend school in another building this fall.

That may be the answer for some schools but what do you do in Jackson and Gillette where the superintendents say the students are crowded up to the rafters.

Never fear. The Legislature is aware of the problems. Two interim committees are doing separate studies this year.

One is the Special Task Force for School Facilities; the other is the Joint Interim Appropriations Committee. The latter is examining the nancing angle.

Meanwhile waiting in the corner as it were, is a lawsuit led by the Wyoming Education Association.

The lawsuit maintains the state has been underfunding schools and school facilities for more than a decade.

That lawsuit is scheduled for trial in June, 2024, shortly after the 2024 budget session.

Having been monitoring committees on Zoom this spring and summer. I found that one of the more compelling statements came from Jerry Vincent, the director of the state division of construction.

He suggested shortening the estimated life cycle of a school building.

The new schools being built are not being built like they were years ago, Vincent said.

Moreover, it is getting more difcult to get contractors to build the new schools. That assessment alone upsets the entire set of state rules on school construction.

No one seems interested in starting over at box one to create a new school school construction program.

This program, which had a rocky start as I recall, l has worked out pretty well until recent years.

The states unstable up ad down revues didnt help. Nor did the pandemic. The ultimate decision for all of this will be the Wyoming Supreme Court which at some time in the future will decide again on school nance.

I wonder if the new court will agree with the 1995 unanimous decision in an opinion written by Justice Mike Golden.

Simply put, that said the Legislature must pay for the needs of K-12 public schools before it spends money on anything else.

That will continue to be a challenge for a number of legislators who oppose spending much money on K-12 public schools. They want to spend it on charter or religious schools instead.

Meanwhile I have sympathy for any reporter who is covering the issue on school nance or school construction.

Those programs are so complicated. It is a real challenge to explain how they work to readers.

Keep trying.
GUARDIAN Holdings Ltd is not just sold as a rock, it is as solid as bedrock, its chief executive officer Ian Chinapoo has said, as he assured that the group, even in the face of recent concerns, remains both stable and reliable.

At the end of the day we know who we are, we know we are very, very, very strong, we know our investments are all over the world, we know that we are well diversified, we know that we have a business that has honoured every single claim, Chinapoo told the Express during a sit-down interview at his Westmoorings office.
Elon Musk's SpaceX has unloaded millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin, sending the top cryptocurrency's price tumbling by a staggering nine percent.

A recent report shed light on the cryptocurrency holdings of Musk's giant exploration firm.

Elon Musk's SpaceX Unloads Millions of Bitcoin Holdings

Musk's SpaceX has set off shockwaves across the cryptocurrency universe by revealing the sudden sale of millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin holdings.

According to The Wall Street Journal, a SpaceX document gave a glimpse into the secretive finances of the giant tech firm. It dived into the private firm's profit in the first quarter of 2023 at a staggering $55 million. Meanwhile, the revenue is at a whopping $1.5 billion.

The rocket launcher's documents also shed light on how the giant firm handled its cryptocurrency portfolio in the past years. SpaceX wrote down the value of its Bitcoin assets to a cool $373 million in 2022. In 2021, the Musk-led firm sold its crypto holdings.

The Coin Telegraph reports that the wealthiest man in the world disclosed in 2021 that SpaceX dipped its toes in the speculative world of cryptocurrency. The giant rocket maker invested millions worth of Bitcoin.

Last year, or in 2022, to be precise, Musk's electric vehicle (EV) firm Tesla sold the bulk of its Bitcoin portfolio. As per CNBC's report, the giant carmaker bought roughly $1.5 billion of the highest-valued cryptocurrency. But later on, the automaker sold around 75 percent of its total holdings.

The news of SpaceX's Bitcoin selloff, which occurred throughout 2021 and 2022, surprises many.

The company's involvement in the cryptocurrency world has long been a subject of speculation, with Musk himself known for his influential tweets that can send digital asset values soaring or crashing. The exact motivations behind SpaceX's decision to part ways with its Bitcoin reserves remain shrouded in mystery.

Read Also: Elon Musk: SpaceX, Tesla Helping Hawaii Recover; Billionaire Shares Efforts

Bitcoin Price Tumbles by 9%

Following the news uncovering SpaceX's unloading of Bitcoin, the price of the highly speculative asset dropped by over eight percent, Coin Metrics data shows.

A Bitwise Asset Management researcher Ryan Rasmussen told CNBC that the latest Bitcoin price drop is historical. The expert says, "This is one of the most brutal minute-by-minute selloffs [we have] seen in the history of Bitcoin." And as some speculate, the aggressive decline is tightly tied to the Elon Musk-SpaceX news.

Bitcoin is currently trading at around $26,000 following the massive selloff.

Related Article: Elon Musk's X, Formerly Twitter, Takes Down Giant Flashing Sign at San Francisco HQ

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THE Historic Shrine of Our Lady of Montserrat will open its doors tomorrow having completed major restoration in just nine months.

The Roman Catholic Church, located in the quiet village of Tortuga, Central Trinidad, is set to mark a significant milestone with its rededication ceremony, following an extensive restoration project which began in October 2022, The Shrine Committee of Our Lady of Montserrat said in a news release on Saturday.
Several Government and Opposition MPs listed their lands and properties on Form B of their declaration forms to the Integrity Commission, a search by the Sunday Express has found.

There has been controversy over Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowleys non-declaration of his Inez Gate, Tobago, townhouse on Form B of his declaration filed for 2019 to the Integrity Commission.
So, I love tasting and, in fact, it is my truest form of eating. I am the kind of person who would be the first to try when something new comes out.

A new twist of an existing product, a new type of snack, a new-flavour Shandy or mixed drink, a new fruit, a new meal combination. I have even tasted baby food, which I actually like, either at home before giving to said babies or when I see a new flavour combination. The fruit ones are usually great. The actual food ones are bland, and the ones where bananas are mixed in overwhelm everything and there is only the taste of banana.
A new study has found that Apple Watch and Fitbit wristbands can harbor harmful bacteria, which could potentially lead to alarming health problems.

A recent study published in the science journal Advances in Infectious Diseases warned that most wristbands contain bacteria like E.coli.

Apple Watch and Fitbit Wristbands Carry Harmful Bacteria, Study Warns

In a world where our wrists are adorned with sleek and stylish gadgets, a startling revelation has emerged from the depths of scientific scrutiny. The Apple Watch and Fitbit smartwatches are two of the most popular options out there. It lets tech aficionados and health-conscious folks check important information from the comfort of their wrists.

However, a recent study showed that they are hotbeds of microscopic activity that might leave some squirming.

According to The New York Post, the study by the Florida Atlantic University (FAU) found that the wristbands of both devices were contaminated with bacteria, including some known to cause infections. The researchers also found that the levels of bacteria were higher on wristbands that had been worn for longer periods.

The research shows that roughly 95 percent of wristbands contain harmful bacteria. The experts looked into various types of bands, including leather, gold, silver, plastic, rubber, and cloth.

The precise findings are much more alarming. Around 85 percent of the wristbands included Staphylococcus spp. It could leave staph infections in users. And according to The Daily Mail UK, it could also trigger pneumonia.

On the other hand, roughly 60 percent contained E.coli bacteria, whereas approximately 30 percent had the deadly Pseudomonas spp contamination.

A Florida Atlantic University biological sciences professor Nwadiuto Esiobu says, "The quantity and taxonomy of bacteria we found on the wristbands show that there is a need for regular sanitation of these surfaces." Esiobu is also the senior author of a recent study.

Read Also: Cancer Surge: Scientists Baffled by Sudden Rise in Number of Cases Among Young Americans

Which Wristband Harbored Fewer Bacteria?

The study shows that rubber and plastic bands harbored the most bacterial colonies, around 15,200 cfu/cm2. Meanwhile, gold and silver wristbands were impressive at only 18 cfu/cm2.

With that in mind, the researchers conclude that the bacteria load is worst with a cloth wristband. The study finds that plastic and rubber are next to cloth when it comes to the trend of bacterial load. Leather is next to rubber, while metal, such as gold and silver, had the least bacterial colony.

The study's authors say the best defense against harmful bacteria is disinfection. They suggest using both 70 percent ethanol and Lysol Disinfectant. The Telegraph reports that using apple cider vinegar is not as effective as this combo.

The researchers believe this disinfection method is "highly effective regardless of the wristband material with 99.99 percent kill rate within 30 seconds."

Related Article: Facebook Messenger Apple Watch App Shuts Down This June

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A time is coming soon (very soon if you live in Minnesota) where nightly revelers looking for a drink might be able to belly up to the bar and order a canna-cocktail or THC-infused seltzer instead of a rum-and-coke or White Claw.

The cannabis beverage sector has been experiencing significant growth in recent years, with evidence of even more growth on the horizon.

According to Expert Market Research, globally, the cannabis beverage industry reached a value of $3.94 billion in 2022. The industry is further expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 48% between 2023-2028 to reach a value of USD 27.82 billion by 2028.

While those numbers still pale in comparison to alcohol-sector categories, it is growing and consumers are seeking alternative ways to consume THC and CBD.

"There is the macro-trend of less alcohol for people," says Miguel Garcia, head of brand for Wherehouse Beverage Co. "And we see that that's a true macro-trend that is hard to ignore, that I believe cannabis and THC can take massive advantage of."

Other industry insiders and experts, such as Bohb Blair, President and CMO of Jones Soda Co. and its cannabis bran Mary Jones Soda, also see an opportunity to tap into the alcohol market with alternatives, but he doesn't see it as an either/or proposition.

"Most people mix and match what they're doing," Blair said. "I saw a recent study that younger adults that are in their low 20s and things like that, are very frequently mixing cannabis beverages with alcohol beverages over the course of their evening, as opposed to picking one or the other."

Of course it isn't just alcohol that adults consume. The soft drink market is even larger.

Jones Soda's rollout of the Hatch Chili Lime flavor, available in both their mainstream soda line and cannabis-infused Mary Jones line, reflects the growing trend of synchronizing product releases across cannabis and non-cannabis divisions. Blair emphasized that consumers are responding positively to these coordinated releases.

Blair pointed out that timing plays a crucial role in these launches. The synergy between seasonal releases and cannabis-infused products opens up a unique opportunity for expansion. He stated that such efforts are in line with modern consumers' preferences for diverse recreational beverages, including THC-infused options. Blair also noted that cannabis beverages, unlike traditional cannabis consumption methods, lack the cultural stigma of the past, allowing them to seamlessly integrate into social occasions.

Garcia, emphasized Wharehouse's mission to create new beverage experiences that cater to emerging lifestyle choices. Garcia discussed the development of their brands, Wink and Countdown, and their distinct market positioning. Wink targets the wellness-conscious consumer seeking zero-calorie, zero-sugar, THC-infused seltzers, while Countdown addresses the legacy cannabis consumer with a range of all-natural, flavorful beverages.

Garcia acknowledged the role of cannabis beverages in reshaping social norms around consumption. He highlighted the potential for these beverages to provide normalized, responsible cannabis consumption options in various settings, from bars to social gatherings. This perspective aligns with the industry's aspiration to expand its market presence and compete with traditional beverages.

Both Blair and Garcia recognize that the cannabis beverage sector is still evolving, with room for further growth and innovation. As regulations change and consumer preferences continue to shift, the cannabis beverage market holds the promise of becoming a mainstream and integral part of the recreational and wellness beverage landscape.
It was always going to be a hard challenge for anyone to beat Tucson Mayor Regina Romero as she runs for re-election this year.

But with two opposing candidates, is it even possible? Wouldnt just one opposition candidate bring a seemingly impossible task into the realm of the barely possible?

When you look back at 2019, it makes you wonder.

That year, Romeros hardest run was in the Democratic primary. She won 50% of the vote to Steve Farleys 37% and Randi Dormans 12%.

In the general election that year, Romero won 56% of the vote, to independent Ed Ackerleys 39% and Green Party candidate Mike Ceases 4%.

It was a three-way race then, but with a Green Party candidate who didnt win a large percentage of the vote.

This year, the opposition front is even more divided. Ackerley is running again as an independent, but this time there is a Republican, Janet J.L. Wittenbraker, likely to win a bigger slice than Cease did as a Green.

Its something that Pima County GOP Chair Dave Smith has been thinking about. He was happy the GOP recruited candidates for all the city elections, but recognizes the big challenge that a three-way race presents.

We need to sit down as a group with shared interests and decide, Smith said, alluding to the opposition camps. I think we need to talk about our goals and objectives.

He set Labor Day as around the time when a candidate should drop out, if theyre going to.

Ackerleys strengths as an opposition candidate are that he has decent name identification, due to his previous run and his long business career in Tucson. He also had raised more money, almost $20,000, than the Republican candidate, as of their last filings.

Wittenbrakers campaign had raised more than $12,000 as of the last filing in late July, but about $9,000 of that was loans from the candidate to the campaign.

As a Republican, Wittenbraker has a big advantage in that theres a party structure ready to help her out, Smith noted.

Wittenbraker told me shes reached out to Ackerley on this topic.

I am the strongest candidate in the race and have mixed party support behind me, including a highly motivated grassroots movement, she said via text. Lets hope Ackerley doesnt let his ego prevent him realizing the electoral reality.

For now, Ackerleys not interested. Asked about the idea of one candidate dropping out, he said by text: I am in it to win it!

Pima County Democratic Party Chair Eric Robbins called Romero a strong candidate as it is.

It would be daunting for anyone to challenge her, he said. A divided field does not help anybody running against her.

Former Sen. Melvin dies

Former state Sen. Al Melvin, a three-term Republican from SaddleBrooke, died Aug. 2.

Melvin served in the state Senate from 2009 to 2015 and ran unsuccessfully for the statewide offices of governor and Arizona Corporation Commission.

Born in Helena, Montana, Melvin graduated from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and served for 30 years in the U.S. Naval Reserve, retiring as a captain. Thats why he was known in Arizona political circles as Captain Al.

He also had a parallel career in international trade and transportation, working for shipping companies in South Korea, Japan, Pakistan and elsewhere.

Melvin, along with his wife Kou, was a devoted Catholic and brought a social conservative approach to his time in the state Senate. His friend Paul Parisi noted his interests went well beyond social issues, though.

Al was an expert on nuclear power and was an advocate at the Capitol for small nuclear reactors to strengthen the electric grid, Parisi said via email. He also was a leader in desalination, championing a plant in Baja with aqueducts to Arizona.

Former Pima County GOP Chair Bill Beard noted that the two of them disagreed on some issues but bonded over their love of basset hounds.

The public perception of Al Melvin was that he was Mr. Social Conservative, and he was, Beard said. But he also understood that practical matters do come to play in a lot of things that happen in the political world.

Services have not yet been set.

South Tucson name change?

The South Tucson City Council discussed Tuesday whether to change the citys name as part of a rebranding effort.

The upshot? Not now.

Mayor Paul Diaz suggested it would be a worthwhile exercise to ask the community whether it would like to change the citys name in an effort to improve the citys image. The little city of 5,000 is surrounded by Tucson.

Other cities have rebranded themselves, though that mostly took the form of new slogans or new logos, a staff member noted. Name changes have been rarer, but even Phoenix changed its name. It was first known as Swillings Mill.

Several council members argued that the town has more immediate problems to worry about than the citys name.

All of our energy, all of our staffs time needs to be put toward making that fire department and the police department work at optimal levels, Council member Roxanna Valenzuela said.

So for now, the square-mile city of South Tucson will remain South Tucson.
PHOENIX  Arizona taxpayers are footing the $5,000 bill for a legal bid by the states two top GOP lawmakers to help Abe Hamadeh try to overturn his loss to Kris Mayes in last years election for attorney general.

In a new legal filing, a private attorney hired by Senate President Warren Petersen and House Speaker Ben Toma is telling the Arizona Supreme Court that the pair take no position on the question of whether Democrat Mayes outpolled Republican Hamadeh by 280 votes as certified in the formal results. Instead, Tom Basile argues that their interest is to afford the parties a full and fair opportunity to adduce the facts necessary to answer that pivotal question.

Basile said that did not occur when Mohave County Superior Court Judge Lee Jantzen declined last month to give Hamadeh a second trial on his challenge to the election results and another opportunity to search for evidence not all ballots were counted. Jantzen had previously ruled in December that Hamadeh failed to provide evidence the election results were wrong.

But Basile also lashed out at Mayes and her legal team, telling the Arizona Supreme Court that Hamadehs rights were harmed by litigation tactics to extinguish  entirely through delay his ability to discover and present new information.

Basile had particularly harsh words for Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat who took office in January, whose office is a party to the case because of its statutory role in elections. Fontes filed a legal brief urging the justices to reject Hamadehs bid for a new trial.

In that brief, Fontes accuses Hamadeh and the Republican National Committee, which also is contesting the outcome of the race, with failing to act in good faith in dealing with the courts.

We cannot allow a disgruntled vocal minority to weaponize our courts, sow unfounded distrust in our election processes, malign our public servants, and undermine our democracy  all for the purpose of trying to overturn the peoples will and topple an election, Fontes wrote.

Fontes also wants the justices to order sanctions against Hamadeh and his lawyers.

Basile termed the language in Fontes filings gratuitous and abusive. He accused Fontes of churlish imperiousness in dismissing Hamadehs bid to reexamine some ballots to determine if the should be recounted.

Citizens should not be disparaged and assailed by their own public servants for raising measured and modest claims  in the closest election for statewide office in Arizona history, Hamadehs attorney wrote.

Petersen, the Senate president, brushed aside inquiries about the Legislature spending taxpayer money to get involved in the dispute about who won the 2022 election. He pointed out that lawmakers have filed briefs in other cases.

An aide to Toma said it is in the public interest to get to a conclusion in this case.

It is a legitimate question whether all relevant laws were followed, said the aide, Andrew Wilder.

The Legislatures legal brief argues that Jantzen had a misconception of what election laws require when he limited Hamadehs ability to inspect ballots.

As lawmakers, the legislative branch has a constitutional voice in this matter, Wilder said.

Petersen and Toma arent the only ones hoping to convince the states high court to give Hamadeh another chance to argue his case.

Another new legal filing has come from America First Legal Foundation, formed following the 2020 election by senior Trump legal adviser Stephen Miller.

The organization describes itself as designed to save the United States from a coordinated campaign by an unholy alliance of corrupt special interests, gig tech titans, the fake news media, and liberal Washington politicians.

James Rogers, its attorney, accuses the Secretary of States Office  under the control of Katie Hobbs at the time Hamadehs first trial occurred in December  of using hide the ball tactics to withhold from the trial judge information it contends was relevant. He told the justices that requires them to send the case back to Jantzen to give the GOP contender the opportunity for full inspection of ballots he did not get the first time around.
PHOENIX  A Scottsdale attorney who is a supporter of Kari Lake is asking the Arizona Supreme Court to void not just the results of the race for governor she lost but the entire 2022 election statewide.

In a new filing, Ryan Heath contends it was illegal for Maricopa County to verify signatures on early ballots by comparing them with images from prior early ballots. He contends Arizona law says the only valid comparison has to be with the persons original voter registration.

Heath is asking the justices to decertify the results and order a recount of all early ballots, this time using what he argues is the only permissible method.

If that isnt possible, Heath says the court should order a new statewide canvass, but counting only the votes from the other 14 counties, which he says uses the proper method of comparing signatures.

If the justices dont find either of those acceptable, Heath proposes to decertify all state races, including ballot measures, and order a new election to be conducted in Maricopa County in a manner that ensures strict compliance with Arizonas election safeguards.

In some ways, Heaths arguments are not new.

He proffered similar legal arguments in a friend of the court brief earlier this year in the middle of Lakes so-far-unsuccessful efforts to get her loss overturned. The justices rejected the brief as exceeding their word limits.

Heath conceded in his new filing that even Lake objected to his efforts to intercede in her case.

There was no official response from the county. But the litigation is likely to get a fight from county officials who have argued that state law does not limit their signature comparisons to only a voters original registration, which may have occurred years earlier, but can include other examples on file.

For early ballots, the state Election Code requires the county recorder to compare the signatures thereon with the signature of the elector on the electors registration record.

There are procedures for election officials to contact a voter in cases of inconsistent signatures to allow the ballot to be counted. Heath says none of that permits a county, on its own, to decide that other signatures on file can be used for comparison.

What makes all that relevant is questions about whether some early ballots were improperly accepted.

Any move to eliminate the ballots that Heath contends were illegally tallied is likely to favor Republicans. That is because most Democrats generally outpolled their GOP opponents among early voters, with Republicans generally faring better among those who waited until Election Day to go to the polls.

Eliminating the challenged early ballots could change the outcome of several races.

That is part of the argument that Heath is raising on behalf of two listed clients. One is David Mast, who was also behind Heaths unsuccessful attempt to intercede in the Lake case.

According to the lawsuit, Mast voted in person. Heath argues that his votes were diluted by the inclusion of illegal early ballots where the county did not follow the law on signature matching.

The other is Cochise County Supervisor Tom Crosby, who, in a separate legal action, had to be ordered by a judge to certify the results of the 2022 election after he and fellow Republican Supervisor Peggy Judd pushed for a hand count based on claims that vote-counting machines are prone to hacking or otherwise untrustworthy.

This isnt Heaths first effort to alter the results of the 2022 race. In January, he filed legal papers asking Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson to void his order dismissing Lakes challenge to the election results. The judge declined.

Lake still has a pending appeal of one of Thompsons prior rulings against her on a related question of whether the county used proper signature verification procedures. That claim is based not on which signatures the county used for verification but her argument that it was not possible for the county to perform the necessary verification in the time it provided, saying about 274,000 signatures on early ballots were compared on computer screens in less than three seconds, with about 70,000 in two seconds or less.






Trump the fascist

Trump is as completely narcissistic and power-hungry of a politician as Hitler was, and they will long be remembered for it in U.S. history. (Bet Trumpers wish they could rewrite yesterdays history on a daily basis.) Trump is fueling hatred, like Hitler did, where it already existed. Many of us care but feel helpless.

Remember WWII? Leading up to it, in 1930s Britain, the fascist Oswald Mosley wanted to bring his country into the present by shifting away from the supposed economic and social dysfunction of democracy to the more effective (for whom) model of autocracy. This is not different from 2023 Republican ideology. Sensible people can be swept up in radical action by the pack of wolves out to get Democratic blood.

Toni Kane

Oro Valley

Age limits

In light of Senator Dianne Feinsteins disabilities (shes 90), Senator Mitch McConnells sudden speechless meltdown (81), and President Bidens frequent confusion (80), I think there should be age limits for congressmen, senators and presidents, the endpoint being an absolute 80 years old. So, one could run for the following:

President: no later than 72

Congressman: no later than 78

Senator: no later than 74

Most people are forced by company rules or enticements to retire at 65. Why should we allow these elected officials to hold office for a lifetime? They are outliving their usefulness to their constituents.

Robin Gaudielle

Northwest side

Have you heard the one about ...

Re: the Aug. 5 letter Congress  hard right and hard left.

Figures dont lie, but liars figure! In the letter referencing the conservative/liberal ratings promulgated by the Conservative Political Action Conference, I question their objectivity. By recognizing few representatives as 100% conservative, are they not trying to influence other conservatives to be more conservative? By rating more liberal representatives as 100% liberal, are they spinning the story that conservatives are not as radical as liberals? What do the ratings provided by the Americans for Democratic Action indicate is the more radical group/more in line with liberal objectives? I didnt research their opinion because the spin starts here.

Be wary of subjective statistics. They lie so very well!

James Abels

Midtown

Trump is indicted, not you or I

Let us be clear, Mr. Trump was indicted by a Grand Jury over the events of Jan. 6, 2021. He and his co-conspirators are alleged to have tried to overthrow the government. President Biden did not indict him, Attorney General Garland did not indict him, and Special Counsel Jack Smith did not indict him. A Grand Jury of citizens indicted him, which is exactly how our system works. Mr. Smith presented the evidence and the Grand Jury decided there was enough evidence to have a trial. Is he guilty or innocent? Neither you nor I get to decide, nor any other official. A jury of his peers will decide that after a trial where defense and prosecutorial evidence will be presented. Again, that is the system we have, and it is the same system every other defendant is subject to.

Don Ries

Southeast side

School vouchers

Re: the Aug. 12 article School vouchers.

I was surprised to discover that our public schools were graduating illiterate dunderheads per a letter writer. I was interested in the definition of dunderheads, and according to the Oxford English Dictionary, it means a stupid person. I also looked up stupid. It means lacking in intelligence. So we now have illiterate people lacking in intelligence graduating from our public schools. Nonsense. Our public school system produces scholars who go on to the Ivy League and to our great public universities. My own family is a perfect example. Weve produced three physicians in just two generations and three Ivy Leaguers. There are many complex reasons for student failure in our public schools. We take everyone  the weak, the wounded and the sad. Yes, we teach feelings. I have empathy for the letter writers arrogance and ignorance; that is hard to overcome. Perhaps he might tutor or help some students to achieve greater things.

Jean McLain

Foothills

Radiology Ltd. changes

Re: the Aug. 12 letter United Health Care should settle with Radiology Ltd..

I share the writers concern that UnitedHealthcare (UHC) is threatening to drop coverage of Radiology Limiteds services but fear that the shoe may belong on the other foot. Radiology Ltd. is no longer locally owned by a consortium of doctors, although it does indeed continue to be very well run. Rather, it has been bought out by U.S. Radiology Specialists, a huge national corporation founded jointly by Charlotte Radiology and Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, a leading healthcare investment firm in December of 2019. USRS seeks to partner with radiological services everywhere, to provide the resources they need to thrive, etc. In other words, they are not health care providers, theyre money men. And they probably raised their rates so high  to make money  that UHC is balking at covering those rates. Locally, it is a disaster because so many Tucsonans rely on Radiology Ltd. Ive appealed to UHC. But maybe it is USRS who needs to be reined in.

Regula Case

Midtown

Dark money and the 1st Amendment

Arizonans passed the Dark Money proposition last November by an overwhelming margin. Yet those with a vested interest in dark money contributions continue to argue against it, believing it would violate their right to free speech. They are afraid that public association with the causes they support will lead to retaliation and harassment.

What is the use of freedom if you have to hide to be free?

Freedom of speech has an underlying principle: the right to free speech implies that one can do so openly and safely.

If donating money is an act of free speech, it is up to the government to protect the donors safety in being open and free about that act of free speech.

Instead of letting donors hide their identity, Arizonas legislature should encourage their open contributions but also pass and ensure enforcement of laws that protect anyone from doxxing and other forms of harassment.

Why do our legislators fight the Dark Money law when they can make laws to protect freedom?

Kalyanraman Bharathan

Midtown

Trump malaise

A lot of our citizens in the USA are sad and have an unhealthy unhappiness because of a Trump-caused malaise.

We have less fun in our lives because of this.

It has been brought on by an ever-expanding grey cloud of malaise emanating from the aura around Trump. It began years ago, but since Jan. 6, 2021, it has mushroomed and covers the USA and much of the world.

It reminds me of Peanuts character Pigpen. Every time Pigpen went in public, he was surrounded by dirt. Pigpen is known for his perpetually filthy overalls and the cloud of dirt and dust that follows him wherever he goes.

With Trump, it expands exponentially every time he opens his mouth.

With an apology to Pigpen.

Donald Plummer

Northwest side

Pinal County voter suppression

I am a snowbird. My permanent residence is in Pinal County. I just received a notice from Pinal County Recorder Dana Lewis telling me that USPS had informed Pinal County that my residence has changed. Thus, my registration status may be changed to inactive 35 days after the mailing date. My change of address with USPS says temporary. Pinals notice offers a form to change my address to a non-Pinal one, but no form with which to affirm my permanent Pinal residence. In order to affirm my residence, I am required to call the Pinal Recorders office. I have two concerns: 1. How many snowbirds like myself will miss this form and/or not see that they need to actually call the Pinal Recorder?; 2. ARS 16-166 states that the Recorder must provide a return form or an internet address with which to verify a residents status. Pinals form offers neither of these. Why not? And why now?

Peter Frank
LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP)  Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said Friday that what's rebuilt from the ashes of the devastating wildfires on Maui will be determined by the people.

Lahaina will rise again, Green said during a livestreamed evening address from Honolulu. The seaside town will be rebuilt as a living memorial to those lost  a number that increased by three on Friday to 114  while preserving and protecting Native Hawaiian culture, he said.

His wife, Jaime Kanani Green, stood next to him and cried as she described Lahaina as a vibrant community rich in history and culture.

Tragically it took less than a single day for us to lose Lahaina in the deadliest fire our country has seen in more than a century," she said.

Native Hawaiians and others from Lahaina said earlier Friday they worry Hawaii's governor is moving too quickly to rebuild what was lost while the grief is still raw.

The fire occurred only 10 days ago, and many people are still in shock and mourning, Tiare Lawrence, who grew up in Lahaina, said at an emotional news conference organized by community activists.

They called on Green to give residents time to grieve, provide community leaders with recovery decision-making roles and comply with open-records laws amid distrust in the government response to the disaster.

In Green's address, he attempted to allay their concerns, while noting that rebuilding will take years of work and billions of dollars.

Let me be clear, he said. Lahaina belongs to its people and we are committed to rebuilding and restoring it the way they want.

Earlier this week, Green said he would announce details of a moratorium on land transactions in Lahaina to prevent people from falling victim to land grabs. But his Friday address didn't provide details, other than saying he directed the state attorney general to impose enhanced criminal penalties on anyone who tries to take advantage of victims by acquiring property in the affected areas.

Since the flames consumed much of Lahaina, locals have feared a rebuilt town could become even more oriented toward wealthy visitors.

The governor should not rush to rebuild the community without first giving people time to heal, especially without including the community itself in the planning, Lawrence said. Fast-track development cannot come at the cost of community control.

The coalition of activists, under the umbrella of a group calling itself Na Ohana o Lele: Lahaina, were especially concerned about the impact of development on the environment and noted how mismanagement of resources  particularly land and water  contributed to the quick spread of the fire.

There was no word Friday on who would replace the Maui Emergency Management Agency administrator who abruptly resigned after defending a decision not to sound outdoor sirens during the fire.

Herman Andaya had said this week that he had no regrets about not deploying the system because he feared it could have caused people to go mauka, a Hawaiian term that can mean toward the mountains or inland.

If that was the case, then they would have gone into the fire, Andaya explained. He stepped down Thursday, a day later.

Andayas resignation letter was brief and had no mention of the health reasons that county officials cited for his resignation.

I appreciated the opportunity to head this agency for the last 6 years, he wrote. I have enjoyed working for the agency and am grateful for the support provided me during my tenure as administrator.

The county released Andayas resignation letter Friday after The Associated Press requested a copy.

The decision to not use the sirens, coupled with water shortages that hampered firefighters and an escape route clogged with vehicles that were overrun by flames, has brought intense criticism.

While crews sifted through ashes and rubble in Lahaina, scenes of normalcy continued in other parts of Maui, even if the tragedy hung heavy over the island.

Off the coast of Kihei on Friday morning, a holiday marking Hawaii's statehood, paddlers in outrigger canoes glided through Maalaea Bay about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Lahaina. Fishermen cast their lines from knee-deep water. And beachgoers strolled along the sand.

Green reiterated a plea for visitors not to go to West Maui. However, all other areas of Maui and the rest of Hawaii are safe and open to visitors and continue to welcome and encourage travel to our beautiful state, which will support the local economy and speed the recovery of those who have already suffered so much, he said.

More than 60% of the disaster area had been searched, Green said Friday, adding that he expects the number of dead to increase each day of the search.

Six forensic anthropologists with the Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency are assisting in gathering and identifying human remains, the Pentagon said in a statement Friday. The group is experienced in verifying DNA from long-lost service members, many of whom died as long ago as World War II.

The lack of sirens has emerged as a potential misstep, part of a series of communication issues that added to the chaos, according to reporting by The Associated Press.

Hawaii has what it touts as the largest system of outdoor alert sirens in the world, created after a 1946 tsunami that killed more than 150 on the Big Island. Its website says they may be used to alert for fires.

Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez said earlier Thursday that an outside organization will conduct an impartial, independent review of the governments response.

The cause of the wildfires is under investigation. But Hawaii is increasingly at risk from disasters, with wildfire rising fastest, according to an AP analysis of FEMA records.

We will get to the bottom of exactly how the fire started, how our emergency procedures and protocols need to be strengthened, how we can improve our defenses to protect us in the future, Green said.

Corrine Hussey Nobriga said it was hard to lay blame for a tragedy that took everyone by surprise, even if some of her neighbors raised questions about the absence of sirens and inadequate evacuation routes.

The fire moved quickly through her neighborhood, though her home was spared.

One minute we saw the fire over there, she said, pointing toward faraway hills, and the next minute its consuming all these houses.

Authorities hope to empty crowded, uncomfortable group shelters by early next week, said Brad Kieserman, vice president for disaster operations with the American Red Cross. Hotels also are available for eligible evacuees who have been sleeping in cars or camping in parking lots, he said.

Contracts with the hotels will last for at least seven months but could easily be extended, he said. Service providers at the properties will offer meals, counseling, financial assistance and other disaster aid.

The governor has said at least 1,000 hotel rooms will be set aside. In addition, Airbnb said its nonprofit wing will provide properties for 1,000 people.

Ernesto and Adoracion Garcia, who moved from the Philippines a decade ago, joined a dozen other relatives in two time-share apartments at the Hyatt Regency in Kaanapali after being left homeless by the fire.

They were thankful that they would no longer be staying at shelters, after fleeing the flames.

Green, who was an emergency room doctor before becoming governor, described meeting survivors. He said one woman was seven months pregnant and told him she's not sure how she'll make it to her next medical appointment.

Tears in her eyes, Green recalled, she told me she intends to name her baby Faith.

Kelleher reported from Honolulu and Weber from Los Angeles. Contributing to this report were Associated Press journalists Michael Casey in Concord, New Hampshire; Jennifer McDermott in Providence, Rhode Island; Seth Borenstein in Washington, D.C.; and Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Missouri.

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.
LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP)  The head of the Maui Emergency Management Agency resigned abruptly Thursday, a day after saying he had no regret about not using sirens to warn residents of wildfires that devastated the historic seaside community of Lahaina and killed at least 111 people.

That decision from the agency directed by Administrator Herman Andaya, coupled with water shortages that hampered firefighters and an escape route that became clogged with vehicles, has brought intense criticism from many residents. The lack of sirens has emerged as a potential misstep, and The Associated Press reported that it was part of a series of communication issues that added to the chaos.

Mayor Richard Bissen accepted Andaya's resignation effective immediately, the County of Maui announced on Facebook. Andaya cited unspecified health reasons, with no further details provided.

Given the gravity of the crisis we are facing, my team and I will be placing someone in this key position as quickly as possible, Bissen said in the statement.

A day earlier, Andaya defended the decision not to sound sirens as the flames raged. Hawaii has what it touts as the largest system of outdoor alert sirens in the world.

We were afraid that people would have gone mauka, Andaya said, using a Hawaiian word that means inland or toward the mountain. If that was the case, then they would have gone into the fire.

The siren system was created after a 1946 tsunami that killed more than 150 on the Big Island, and its website says they may be used to alert for fires.

Andaya was to take part in a meeting of Maui's fire and public safety commission on Thursday morning, but it was canceled. On Wednesday he vigorously defended his qualifications for the job, which he had held since 2017. He said he was not appointed but had been vetted, took a civil service exam and was interviewed by seasoned emergency managers.

Andaya said he had previously been deputy director of the Maui County Department of Housing and Human Concerns and had been chief of staff for former Maui County Mayor Alan Arakawa for 11 years. During that time, he said, he often reported to emergency operations centers and participated in numerous trainings.

So to say that Im not qualified I think is incorrect, he said.

Arakawa said he was disappointed by the resignation "because now were out one person who is really qualified. Arakawa said Andaya was scrutinized for the job by the countys personnel service.

He was trying to be strong and trying to do the job," Arakawa said about the wildfire response. "He was very, very heartbroken about all the things that happened.

Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez said earlier Thursday in a statement that an outside organization will conduct an impartial, independent review of the governments response and officials intend to facilitate any necessary corrective action and to advance future emergency preparedness. The investigation will likely take months, she added.

Avery Dagupion, whose familys home was destroyed, is among many residents who say they werent given earlier warning to get out.

He pointed to an announcement by Bissen on Aug. 8 saying the fire had been contained. That lulled people into a sense of safety and left him distrusting officials, Dagupion said.

At the Wednesday news conference, Gov. Josh Green and Bissen bristled when asked about such criticism.

The people who were trying to put out these fires lived in those homes  25 of our firefighters lost their homes," Bissen said. "You think they were doing a halfway job?

Displaced residents are steadily filling hotels that are prepared to house them and provide services until at least next spring.

Authorities hope to empty crowded, uncomfortable group shelters by early next week, said Brad Kieserman, vice president for disaster operations with the American Red Cross. Hotels are also available for eligible evacuees who have spent the last eight days sleeping in cars or camping in parking lots, he said.

We will be able to keep folks in hotels for as long as it takes to find housing for them, Kieserman said at a media briefing. I am confident well have plenty of rooms.

Contracts with the hotels will last for at least seven months but could easily be extended, he said. Service providers at the properties will offer meals, counseling, financial assistance and other disaster aid.

Green has said at least 1,000 hotel rooms will be set aside. In addition, AirBnB said its nonprofit wing will provide properties for 1,000 people.

The governor has also vowed to protect local landowners from being victimized by opportunistic buyers. Green said Wednesday that he instructed the state attorney general to work toward a moratorium on land transactions in Lahaina, even as he acknowledged that would likely face legal challenges.

Since the flames consumed much of Lahaina just over a week ago, locals have feared that a rebuilt town could become even more oriented toward wealthy visitors.

The cause of the wildfires, the deadliest in the U.S. in more than a century, is under investigation. But Hawaii is increasingly at risk from disasters, with wildfire rising fastest, according to an AP analysis of FEMA records.

The local power utility faced criticism for leaving power on as strong winds from a passing hurricane buffeted a parched area , and one video showed a cable dangling in a charred patch of grass, surrounded by flames, in the early moments of the wildfire.

Facts about this event will continue to evolve, Hawaiian Electric CEO Shelee Kimura wrote in an email to utility customers Thursday. And while we may not have answers for some time, we are committed, working with many others, to find out what happened as we continue to urgently focus on Mauis restoration and rebuilding efforts.

The search for the missing moved beyond Lahaina to other communities that were destroyed. Searchers had covered about 45% of the burned territory as of Thursday, the governor said.

Corrine Hussey Nobriga, whose home was spared, said it was hard to lay blame for a tragedy that took everyone by surprise, even if some of her neighbors raised questions about the absence of sirens and inadequate evacuation routes. The fire moved quickly through her neighborhood, not far from where crews were sifting through ash and debris looking for human remains.

One minute we saw the fire over there, she said, pointing toward faraway hills, and the next minute its consuming all these houses.

The search was marred by intermittent cellphone service and misleading information on social media. There were also challenges finding people who may be in hospitals, hunkered down at friends' houses or in unofficial shelters that have popped up. Many people made fliers and were going door to door in search of loved ones.

The FBIs Honolulu division said it is helping Maui police locate and identify missing people. Immediate family members who are on Maui can provide DNA samples at the Hyatt Recency in Kaanapali beginning Friday, and those elsewhere can contact the FBI for instructions.

Judy Riley, who has been working with families seeking relatives, said false leads and a sense that no one is in charge of the missing" have contributed to a sense of despair.

If you are looking for the missing, its easy for people to slip through the cracks, she said.

This story has been updated to correct the spelling of the name Nobriga in one instance.

Kelleher reported from Honolulu and Weber from Los Angeles. Contributing to this report were Associated Press journalists Michael Casey in Concord, New Hampshire; Jennifer McDermott in Providence, Rhode Island; Seth Borenstein in Washington, D.C.; and Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Missouri.
BROOKHAVEN, Miss. (AP)  A Mississippi grand jury issued a report last month sharply criticizing a police department whose errors prompted a mistrial this week in the case of two white men charged in an attack on a Black FedEx driver.

Officers in the Brookhaven Police Department poorly investigate their cases, according to a Lincoln County grand jury that considered more than 60 criminal cases. The department is complacent, does not complete investigations in a timely manner, shows a lack of professionalism and has a habit of witness blaming, the grand jury said.

The July 10 report came weeks before Judge David Strong cited police errors as his reason for declaring a mistrial Thursday in the case of Gregory Case and his son, Brandon Case, who are accused of shooting at and chasing FedEx employee DMonterrio Gibson, who was delivering a package near their homes in January 2022.

Gibson, 25, was not injured in the attack. But the chase and gunfire led to complaints on social media of racism in Brookhaven, about an hours drive south of the state capital, Jackson.

Prosecutors said they intend to set a new trial for Gregory Case and Brandon Case, who remain out on bond. The men were indicted in November on charges of attempted first-degree murder, conspiracy and shooting into the vehicle driven by Gibson. A court official said it could be months before a new trial date is available.

Strong said he made the mistrial decision because of errors by a Brookhaven Police Department detective. On Wednesday, the judge ended court early after Detective Vincent Fernando acknowledged under oath while the jury was out of the courtroom that he had not previously given prosecutors or defense attorneys a videotaped statement police had taken from Gibson.

The bottom line is, this file should have been turned over to the DAs office prior to the indictment, Strong told Fernando on Wednesday. And lo and behold, here we are on the second day of the trial and we find out something that these attorneys have been looking for for at least a week and potentially months is actually in your file.

By withholding the videotaped statement, a potentially critical element of the investigation, Fernando kept attorneys on both sides of the case in the dark.

Do you understand how the system doesnt work when that happens? Strong probed.

Yes, your honor, Fernando replied.

The judge said Fernando also improperly testified about guns found in the home of one of the men on trial and shell casings found outside the home. Defense attorneys requested the mistrial, and Strong said he had no choice but to grant it.

Fernando had testified that he has 20 years of law enforcement experience, with the past three in Brookhaven.

Brookhaven Police Chief Kenneth Collins did not answer the phone and did not immediately respond to voicemail messages Friday. When The Associated Press called the police department and asked for Fernando, an employee sent the call to the chiefs line.

The legal procedure for turning over important documents can be hampered by bureaucratic disconnect, said Andre de Gruy, the state public defender for Mississippi. De Gruy, who was not involved in the case, said in an interview Friday that local prosecutors all over the state have been slow to turn over files to defense attorneys.

District attorneys all over the state tell us, Were having trouble getting files from the police department, so we cant turn it over to you, de Gruy said.

Why Fernando didnt turn over the file has vexed legal observers. If he testified that he had the videotaped statement, it would seem that he wasnt trying to hide it; he just didnt turn it over, de Gruy said.

Outside of potential consequences handed down by the police department, de Gruy said legal punishment for Fernando would be unlikely if he didnt commit perjury, a crime for which he hasnt been accused.

The grand jury  made up of local residents  did not name specific Brookhaven Police Department officers but wrote that investigations are not completed after the original investigator leaves the department and that the department is arresting individuals without sufficient probable cause.

The grand jury said the department has a lack of accountability, department employees gave conflicting statements of fact to the grand jury, the department does too little to train its employees and does not use technology to its advantage.

Sharon London of Irondale, Alabama, attended the trial in Brookhaven this week, saying she wants justice for Gibson and his family because she believes her own family did not receive it after her 43-year-old sister, Bridget London Hall, was killed in Brookhaven in 2015. London said the police department never arrested anyone.

London said the Brookhaven Police Department has a breakdown in their leadership.

They do not know how to investigate cases, London said. And that's a problem. That's a problem for D'Moneterrio. That's a problem for me. And that's a problem for all the citizens here in Brookhaven, Mississippi, and they should be upset about it. And I am.

District Attorney Dee Bates was first elected in 2003 and did not run for office this year. His term expires at the end of the year. Bates said the mistrial was very frustrating to me.

But I'm certain it's frustrating to others  probably more, Bates said.

Michael Goldberg reported from Jackson. He is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow him at @mikergoldberg.
Pascale Cecile Veronique Ferrier, 55, a dual citizen of Canada and France, was sentenced today to 262 months in prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release, for sending threatening letters, containing homemade ricin (a toxin), in September 2020, to then-President Donald J. Trump at the White House, and to eight Texas State law enforcement officials.

Ferrier pleaded guilty on Jan. 25 to prohibitions with respect to biological weapons in two separate criminal cases. One case was brought in the District of Columbia, and the other was brought in the Southern District of Texas and transferred to the District of Columbia for purposes of plea and sentencing.

READ ALSO: Wanted Fugitive Antonio Lopes Moreno Returned to Glenn County to Face Homicide Charges

According to court documents, Ferrier admitted that she made ricin at her residence in Quebec, Canada, in September 2020. Ricin is a deadly poison made from castor beans. Ferrier placed the ricin toxin in envelopes containing letters she wrote to then-President Trump at the White House and to eight Texas State law enforcement officials.

Ferrier had been detained in the State of Texas for approximately 10 weeks in the spring of 2019, and she believed that the law enforcement officials were connected to her period of detention. In early September 2020, Ferrier used the Twitter social media service to propose that someone should "please shoot [T]rump in the face." The letters in the envelopes contained threatening language, and the letter addressed to then-President Trump instructed him to "[g]ive up and remove [his] application for this election." Ferrier mailed each of the threatening ricin letters from Canada to the United States. Ferrier then drove a car from Canada to the Peace Bridge Border Crossing in Buffalo, New York, on Sept. 20, 2020, where border patrol officials found her in possession of a loaded firearm, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and other weapons, and arrested her. Ferrier has remained in custody.

Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department's National Security Division, U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia and Assistant Director Susan Ferensic of the FBI's Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate made the announcement.

The FBI Washington and San Antonio Field Offices investigated the case. Assistance was provided by the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael J. Friedman for the District of Columbia; Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rob Jones, David Coronado and David Lindenmuth for the Southern District of Texas; and Trial Attorney David Smith of the National Security Division's Counterterrorism Section prosecuted the case.

READ MORE: Former Special Agent in Charge of the New York FBI Counterintelligence Division Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Violate U.S. Sanctions on Russia

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Dalton Daily Citizen. August 16, 2023.

Editorial: Be mindful of charity scams

As we watch the truly devastating impact of the wildfires that have hit parts of Hawaii, many of us may feel a need to respond with a call to action. The images have implored many of us to find ways to help, even in some small way.

And although we are seeking ways to help out, please be mindful and do some research to ensure that your donations are going where they are intended.

The Georgia Secretary of States office has compiled a list of tips for residents seeking to make donations. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

Check For Charity Filings  Before making any donation, be sure to confirm the organization you are supporting is a legitimate 501(copyright)(3) charity. Ask for the organizations Employer Identification Number (EIN) and search it on the IRS website, or look for the organizations 990 tax filings. You can also utilize reputable websites such as charity navigator (charitynavigator.org) to search out organizations and check their validity.

Effectiveness Matters  Take the time to look at an organizations financial situation. Tools available online, such as those previously mentioned, will provide you with information necessary to ascertain how much of your contribution will actually go to those in need versus administrative or other costs. Ask what percentage of your donation will go to relief efforts.

Research Online  If there is a charitable organization or cause to which you would like to donate, research online beforehand to ensure the charity is right for you. The Better Business Bureau, Charity Navigator, Guidestar, and other websites provide evaluations of different charitable organizations.

Do not share personal financial information over the phone  Do not share your credit card, debit card, or bank account information over the phone. Donate by check or credit card, rather than cash. and send the contribution directly to the organization rather than through a third party. If you donate more than $250, the organization should send you a letter confirming the size of your donation.

Another option  research ways to send gift cards so as not to provide your personal information through a website.

Tax Deductible Donations  If making a tax-deductible donation is important to you, search the database of tax-exempt organizations available on the IRS website. Before making your donation, ensure the charity you have identified is in fact tax deductible. Then, once you have made the donation, be sure to get a receipt for your contribution.

If you suspect that youve been contacted or have even fallen victim to unscrupulous activities claiming to be charities, call the Charities Division at the Georgia Secretary of States Office to report it, 470-312-2640 or visit this link to email  https://sos.ga.gov/form/contact-office-secretary-state-charities-division .

Since it was founded in 2005, the U.S. Justice Departments National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) has fielded more than 95,000 complaints involving more than 100 events, including hurricanes, floods, wildfires, tornadoes, earthquakes, explosions and chemical spills.

Disaster frauds often prey directly on those struggling to recover from extreme weather.

Dont let fraud compound a disaster.

Valdosta Daily Times. August 13, 2023.

Editorial: Consider foster care

A story in the Friday, Aug. 11, edition of The Valdosta Daily Times reported that efforts to reform Georgias foster care system and reduce the number of children housed in hotels and offices continues.

The story reported that hoteling of foster children is at a record low for the state.

Thats good but we urge more people to consider fostering children.

April may be National Foster Care Month designed to raise awareness about foster care needs and show appreciation to all foster families but raising awareness about the importance of foster care is always timely.

There are thousands of children in foster care in Georgia, according to the states Division of Family and Children Services.

The children come from many backgrounds and situations.

They are children of all ages and races.

A great many of them have special needs, including teenagers, siblings and children with physical, emotional and/or behavioral disabilities.

The Division of Family and Children Services operates under the Georgia Department of Human Services and is tasked with assuring that children are safe from abuse and neglect.

Dedicated caregivers are a critical part of fulfilling that mission.

DFCS says once a determination is made that it is not safe for a child to remain in the home of a parent or guardian, the child may be placed in foster care.

The foster-care program is designed to be a temporary home away from home while qualified professionals work with the family to address child-safety concerns.

DFCS said its goal is to return children safely to their families but adds that the childs safety comes before any other consideration.

DFCS has said the agency is always looking for what it calls loving, safe and stable homes for the children who are brought into care. The approval process can take up to 10 months and may require certifications, evaluations and a good bit of documentation.

Foster parents do not receive a per diem for caring for the children in their homes, according to DFCS. Rather, they can be reimbursed for some of the expenses they incur while caring for children. The state may provide an initial clothing allowance when children enter foster care as well as an annual clothing allowance.

Foster children may also benefit from certain therapeutic services as well as health and safety items that may include things such as car seats, booster seats and safety helmets.

Foster children between the ages 14-25 are provided with services through the Independent Living Program that provides funding and support to help youth successfully transition from foster care, according to DFCS.

In a perfect world, foster care would not be needed.

In a perfect world, children would never be abused or neglected.

It is not a perfect world.

In our world, children are orphaned, sadly others are abandoned, abused and neglected, making foster care so important and foster families so needed and appreciated.

People interested in serving as a foster parent can call (877) 210-KIDS.

Brunswick News. August 14, 2023.

Editorial: Foster children need more help from the state

When you see the term roller coaster associated with anything but a fun ride at an amusement park, it is usually not a good sign. Any other use of the term focuses on how up-and-down something is performing.

So when Capitol Beat News Service described the current state of the hoteling of Georgia foster children as a roller coaster, it should be very concerning for all.

The good news is that the number is currently down. As of last Tuesday, the state had only seven children currently being kept in a hotel, according to the state Department of Human Services Commissioner Candice Broce.

The roller coaster comes when you look at the previous numbers. The state foster care system was at a record low of fewer than 20 kids in hotels last summer, but that number ballooned to 95 at the end of last month.

Broce said, according to Capitol Beat, that not all of the children are in the foster-care system because of abuse. She said about half enter to gain access to services, adding that families often dont know how to apply for services on their own. Thats why the DHS and DFCS are launching a pilot program in 58 counties to help families get access to treatment and services they may need.

This problem isnt a new one, and its one the General Assembly tried to address in its most recent session.

Lawmakers left $10 million in the budget to help with the hoteling problem and also passed a bill establishing a uniform process for placing a child in the custody of the Georgia Division of Family and Child Services on a non-emergency basis or absent exceptional circumstances.

The state Senate is also holding committee meetings, like the one Broce and others spoke at Wednesday, in an effort to find more solutions that can be brought up in the 2024 legislation session.

Whatever solutions are proposed, it should be done with the best interest of the foster kids in mind. It is the goal of DHS and DFCS to reunite foster kids with their families, but that is not always possible. And when they struggle to find the right place for some of these kids, they sometimes wind up in hotels.

One way people can help is by becoming foster parents. It is an incredibly important responsibility and one that shouldnt be taken without a lot of thought and planning, but it can be a very rewarding experience. Visit www.fostergeorgia.com for more information about becoming a foster parent.

END
James D. Watts Jr. Tulsa World Scene Writer Follow James D. Watts Jr. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

Elliot Nelson has to pause for a moment to figure out just how many restaurants he has opened in the past 19 years.

I think its around 15 or 16, Nelson said, during a conversation in the dining area of Jimmys Chophouse, the newest addition to the McNellies Group of which Nelson is the founder and CEO.

Named in honor of his father, Jimmys Chophouse is something of an homage to flavors and experiences from Tulsas culinary past, drawn from Nelsons memories of visiting steakhouses such as Eddys and Jamils, the Italian Inn and the Celebrity Club.

The new restaurant is already earning high praise from diners, as well as getting one of the highest ratings of any new restaurant this year from the Tulsa World. But Nelson and the McNellies Group are not resting on laurels.

Three new restaurants are in the works and are projected to be open by the summer of 2024.

First up will be City Hall Steak & Cocktail, which is planned for a spring 2024 opening. The restaurant will be at 123 E. Main St. in downtown Jenks, taking over a building that had once served as the towns city hall.

When the project was announced, the new restaurant was described as having a blend of modern design and vintage accents that celebrate the buildings unique history. The atmosphere will be ideal for intimate dinners, special occasions, business meetings, gatherings with friends or just a glass of wine at the bar.

That one is going to be closer to the traditional steakhouse than Jimmys, Nelson said. Steaks are certainly a main thing at Jimmys, but the menu here has a fairly broad variety of dishes, Nelson said. The focus at City Hall will be more on steak.

City Hall Steak & Cocktail is part of a citizen-led effort to rebrand the citys historic Main Street as The Ten District, a reference to that particular corner of Main Street being 10 miles from downtown Tulsa, Bixby, Sapulpa and Broken Arrow, and also 10 blocks west of the Arkansas River.

Another project in the works is Maple Ridge Grocery, which will offer breakfast, lunch and dinner in a space near the intersection of 18th Street and Cincinnati Avenue. Nelson said he hopes this restaurant will be open by March of 2024.

The building used to be a print shop, Nelson said. Its just a block or so away from (Council Oak Elementary) school, and I envision parents dropping off their kids, and then swinging by for a coffee or breakfast. Its also going to be on my way home from the office, so I can imagine people leaving work and stopping by there.

The third project is a proposed Italian restaurant that will be part of the Santa Fe Square development at the corner of Second Street and Elgin Avenue downtown, which will likely open in the summer of 2024. Nelson is one of the developers of this multi-use location.

Although a few of the concepts the McNellies Group has opened over the years have closed (the Mexican restaurant El Guapo, which had locations downtown and in south Tulsa, for example), the majority of the companys restaurants are still open.

That includes Nelsons first endeavor, McNellies Pub, which opened in 2004 and has since expanded to three locations in Tulsa and Oklahoma City.

The original location, at 409 E. First St., is now part of a bustling landscape of restaurants, clubs and other businesses. But that was not the case when Nelson first opened his version of an Irish pub.

I remember there was a welding shop on one side and a machine shop on the other, he said, laughing. It was pretty rough going the first couple of years. I think the thing that really saved us was that we were one of the first places to capitalize on the craft beer trend. It was something that got people to come downtown to an area that, at that time, wasnt all that inviting.

One of the McNellies Group restaurants plays off the less-than-savory reputation of that neighborhood: Red Light Chicken, which opened last year in the spot that formerly held El Guapo, is named for the fact that one of the citys most notorious brothels once occupied the building next door (a painting of Pauline Lambert, owner of the May Rooms, adorns one of the walls in the restaurant).

It has been a busy couple of years for the McNellies Group. Besides Jimmys Chophouse and Red Light Chicken, the company has opened a stand-alone location of its popular Mother Road Market restaurant, Howdy Burger, on 11th Street; Mr. Kims, a uniquely personal reinterpretation of the traditional Korean steakhouse; and Bar Serra, an upscale bar and cafe that is the first new restaurant concept to open in Utica Square in nearly a decade.

When asked if opening some 20 restaurants in 20 years, among other projects, is enough, Nelson gave a quiet laugh.

Well, there are still voids in the Tulsa dining landscape that we can fill, he said. But at this, we have so many employees who have been with us for a long time, and who have real ownership in the company. All our restaurants are wholly owned subsidiaries, and this allows us to offer more chances for ownership for them.

Our employees work so hard, and put so much into the successes weve had, and we want to provide as best we can the opportunity for them to retire comfortably, Nelson said. Were just trying to be the best employer we can.

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Jimmie Tramel Tulsa World Scene Writer Follow Jimmie Tramel Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

A pair of Oklahoma music artists are coming home for a New Years Eve show at Cains Ballroom.

J.R. Carroll and Kaitlin Butts are co-headlining a Dec. 31 show. Carroll, in addition to his solo work, is the touring keyboardist with Zach Bryan. Butts, who attended Union High School, released a 2022 album (What Else Can She Do) that garnered positive attention in Rolling Stone.

Carroll and Butts will be joined by Nolan Taylor and Tommy Prine. Tickets start at $28, plus fees.

Ned LeDoux will make his Cains Ballroom debut with a Thursday. Sept. 14 performance. Tickets start at $15.

Paul Cauthens This Road Im On Tour will make a Friday, Nov. 10 stop at Cais Ballroom. Cauthen will be joined by support act Drayton Farley. Tickets go on sale 10 a.m. Friday, Aug. 18.

American Aquarium will return to Cains Ballroom for a Friday, Dec. 8 show with guest Lance Roark. Tickets go on sale 10 a.m. Friday, Aug. 18.

For tickets to Cains Ballroom events, go to cainsballroom.com.

River Spirit Casino

Foreigner is on a farewell tour and will perform Thursday, Oct. 5 at the Cove, the concert venue of the River Spirit Casino.

Tickets to River Spirit events can be purchased at riverspirittulsa.com.

Hard Rock Casino

Country music artist John Conlee will perform Wednesday, Oct. 4 at Hard Rock Live, the concert venue of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Conlees hits include Rose Colored Glasses and Back Side of Thirty.

Tickets start at $19.50 and go on sale Aug 18.

Information on upcoming shows at Hard Rock Live, Track 5., Riffs and Amp Bar is available online at hardrockcasinotulsa.com or by calling 918-384-ROCK.

Darryl Worley will perform a free concert 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 31 at Track 5 inside the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. For more information on Worley, visit darrylworley.com.

Sundance Head, a former champion on The Voice, will perform a free concert 9 p.m. Saturday, Sept 9 at Track 5 inside Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. For more information on the music artist, visit sundancehead.com.

Tulsa Theater

Comedian and actor James "Murr" Murray is bringing a Nov. 11 tour stop to Tulsa Theater. For tickets, go to tulsatheater.com.

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Michael Dekker Tulsa World Business Writer Follow Michael Dekker Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

The Tulsa Ports Authority board on Thursday approved a plan to build a new water treatment plant at the Port of Inola at a cost of $85 million to $117 million.

This really helps with new industries coming in, said Andrew Ralston, ports director of economic development.

The board approved the plan following an announcement earlier this year by Enel, an international green energy company, that it will build a solar panel manufacturing facility at the Tulsa Port of Inola. Officials said it would be the largest economic development project in state history.

Enel North America picked Oklahoma to be the home of one of the largest solar cell and panel manufacturing plants in the nation, the company and its affiliate, 3Sun USA LLC, announced in May.

The Italian company expects to invest more than $1 billion in the new factory and create 1,000 new, permanent jobs by 2025.

Port Authority Executive Director David Yarbrough said that in addition to Enels announcement, the water plant would help to attract other companies to the site.

Currently, only Italy-based tissue maker Sofidel is located there. It began operations in 2020 with a 1.8 million-square-foot factory on a privately owned tract inside the Port of Inola, about 20 miles east of Tulsa.

The new water treatment plant will also replace the existing plant for the town of Inola, which is many years old, Yarbrough said.

The new plant is planned to be completed by late 2025 or early 2026, officials said.

It will be able to treat 3.1 million gallons of water per day.

Cost of the project is somewhat in flux because the engineering company, Kansas City, Missouri-based Burns & McDonnell, is using a progression design build approach.

Rather than typically designing the facility, then waiting for bids from a contractor and the contractor to then build it, the approach allows for design and construction simultaneously.

It allows for the project to be completed more quickly but also results in estimated costs being more fluid, depending on what components are needed and how fast they can be delivered, engineers said.

The maximum amount is $117 million, Yarbrough said. We wanted to be conservative. That way if there are unforeseen costs and we estimate it on the low side, we dont have to come back and say we were $10 million below the cost.

Funding for the project is coming from federal and state grants, as well as from the Port Authority itself.

The plant will treat both municipal and industrial wastewater, with different processes and equipment for each, engineers said.

Officials from Burns & McDonnell, who gave a presentation about the water treatment plant and answered questions about it for more than an hour before Thursdays vote, said they would again be briefing the board about progress at least three more times over the next year or more.

In another matter Thursday, Yarbrough told the board the number of employees at Tulsa ports was 2,874 as of the end of June, working in more than 70 companies.

The number of employees is up about 12% from the same time last year, Yarbrough said after the meeting.
Anna Codutti Tulsa World Breaking News Editor Follow Anna Codutti Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

A murder charge has been filed after testing of remains found in Nowata County confirmed the discovery of a 21-year-old Bartlesville man missing since last summer.

Officers from Bartlesville Police Department had requested assistance from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation on Aug. 10, 2022, related to the suspicious disappearance Devin Viles. The 21-year-old had not been seen in since July 11, 2022, according to his family.

During the investigation, OSBI agents discovered human remains in Nowata County and submitted evidence from the scene for testing.

On Thursday, OSBI says DNA testing at the agencys Northeast Regional Laboratory confirmed the identification of Viles.

Other information and evidence obtained through the investigation resulted in charges being brought against Brock Anthony Edward Thompson, 34, the release states.

Thompson was convicted in early 2016 in a drug trafficking case in Nowata County and received parole in April 2020, according to a Department of Corrections spokeswoman.

After Thompson was arrested again last August in Nowata County, his 10-year sentence resumed in the trafficking conviction. He has been incarcerated since September 2022 at Oklahoma State Penitentiary.

A family member of Viles posted shortly after his disappearance that Viles said he was going to Nowata with a woman named Bailey. According to a protective order filed against Thompson last summer, available through public court records, Thompson was accused in a stalking case  along with a woman named Bailey.

Thompson faces a murder charge in Nowata County in connection with Viles death.

Those with information on this case are encouraged to contact tips@osbi.ok.gov.

Bartlesville Police Department and Nowata County Sheriffs Office assisted in the investigation, according to OSBI.

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Kevin Canfield Tulsa World Staff Writer Follow Kevin Canfield Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

A group of community funders and tribal governments on Thursday expressed their support for Tulsa Public Schools and urged approximately 200 organizations they partner with to do the same.

The letter was sent on the same day TPS students returned to their classrooms amid uncertainty over whether the school district will be accredited for this school year. The State Board of Education is expected to take up the issue a week from today.

Signing off on the letter were the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, Coretz Family Foundation, Ed Darby Foundation, Flint Family Foundation, Hille Foundation, Lobeck Taylor Family Foundation, Sanford & Irene Burnstein Family Foundation, The Sharna and Irvin Frank Foundation, Cherokee Nation, Muscogee (Creek) Nation, and T.D. Williamson.

On August 24th, the State Board of Education will meet to discuss the accreditation of TPS and may take action that would amount to a state takeover of the district, the letter states. Any such action would bypass the democratic process and undermine the authority of the TPS Board of Education, which has been entrusted by Tulsa voters with the responsibility to make decisions about what is best for the district.

The state accreditation office has recommended that the district overall be accredited with two deficiencies.

But State Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters, who serves as chairman of the State Board of Education and sets its agenda, has indicated he may not go along with the state accreditation offices recommendation.

He has repeatedly said he is leaving all options on the table, including probation and allowing the Oklahoma State Department of Education to take the district over.

Any form of a state takeover of TPS would devastate student learning, create chaos and uncertainty for teachers and families, negatively impact businesses that rely on schools to prepare TPS kids for work and life, hinder our regions efforts to attract and retain businesses, and depreciate home values, the letter states.

The community funders encouraged the recipients of the letter to consider showing their support for TPS in ways that feel aligned with your mission and values.

They include:

Get educated: The TPS Board of Education approved a strategic plan for 2022-2027. The district has identified goals and strategies and is regularly tracking progress. Learn more on the TPS website.

Sign the petition: Go to ProtectTPS.com, subscribe, share and sign the petition, and ask colleagues, board members, employees, family and friends to do the same.

Share comments: Contact local elected officials, state representatives, and especially the governors office and members of the State Board of Education to express support for the district.

Show up in support: Attend the next TPS board meeting Monday, Aug. 21, or the State Board of Education meeting Aug. 24 to express support for the district. Consider showing support with a TPS T-shirt.

Get engaged with TPS schools: There are many ways to volunteer in schools and directly support teachers. Reach out to the Foundation for Tulsa Schools to learn about Partners in Education and other opportunities to help our schools and students.
Andrea Eger Tulsa World Staff Writer Follow Andrea Eger Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

After a Friday morning meeting with State Superintendent Ryan Walters  which included members of the Tulsa Public Schools board and state board of education  Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum called going ahead with Walters threats of a state takeover of Tulsa Public Schools an extreme action and an affront to democratic principles of self government upon which our country was founded.

He issued a letter to the Oklahoma State Board of Education with a simple message: "We do not want it, and we do not need it."

Instead of including the Tulsa school district with the routine renewal of state accreditation for all public school districts in the state in July, Walters persuaded Gov. Kevin Stitts appointees on the Oklahoma State Board of Education to delay a decision until the boards next meeting, set for Aug. 24.

He said he needed more time for a fact-finding mission and has said all options are on the table, including recommendations for a state takeover like the one newly underway in Houston and even nonaccreditation, which would halt state recognition of and funding for TPS.

Stitt told the Tulsa World earlier this week that he believes TPS issues and the employment of Tulsa Superintendent Deborah Gist, who has been repeatedly targeted with criticism and calls for replacement by Walters, matters of local control.

I dont know what takeover is, what they are talking about. I believe in local control. I think the local board needs to address that, Stitt said.

In attendance at Friday mornings City Hall meeting were Bynum; Walters; Tulsa school board president and vice president Stacey Woolley and John Croisant; and Tulsa businessman Don Burdick, a Stitt-appointed member on the state Board of Education.

Bynum said afterward that he believes there is a sincere desire to work together to deliver a great education for students in Tulsa Public Schools.

Bynum urged the state Board of Education not to authorize Walters to take over TPS and he asked instead for an ongoing collaboration with the State Department of Education to make Tulsa Public Schools the best school district in the state.

As with many of the authorities allocated to those of us in government by the citizens we serve, just because we have the power to do something doesnt mean we should, Bynum wrote in a Friday letter, which he shared on social media. An action of that severity would only be appropriate if the board or superintendent were guilty of criminality or an unwillingness to improve outcomes for students They are guilty of neither."

He also addressed an embezzlement case, which is still under investigation by federal law enforcement, because Walters has used it to call into question the wider fiscal management under Gists leadership at TPS.

The disgraceful embezzlement of public funds by a single former employee has been cited in the Districts independent audits. The District has fully complied with ongoing related criminal investigations, and it has modified its internal controls to prevent similar crimes in the future, Bynum wrote.

The Tulsa World caught Woolley and Croisant leaving City Hall around noon.

There were some stern words both directions and also very diplomatic, Woolley said. This is the beginning of a diplomatic conversation in which Tulsa Public Schools will strive to improve  like we have been  and he is going to work with us to do that.

When asked if any business or other city leaders have sought Gists resignation, in response to Walters criticism, Woolley said no.

Did Gists employment status come up during Fridays meeting at City Hall?

As much as was discussed about her status is that I believe the board has been working incredibly hard with the administration in the last few years in the development of our strategic plan. And in this, our first real year of that strategic plan, all goals have been met. That strategic plan was developed with the community, and I made sure to reinforce to State Superintendent Walters, as did Mr. Croisant, that we believe we are on the right path  and that leadership and continuity is incredibly important.

Croisant said the only person who has contacted him to echo Walters desire for Gist to be replaced was a resident of Jenks.

He also expressed gratitude to Bynum for helping get us to the table on Friday.

Whenever we talk about people behind their back, or in the media, publicly, without actually having a conversation, without sitting down with them, its kind of hard to understand where theyre coming from, Croisant said. I think theres a lot the state doesnt know about what Tulsa Public Schools has been doing around our strategic plan and from all of the things the last few years that weve implemented, that I think, are very similar  theyre almost exactly the same as what the (state) superintendent is wanting us to do. So we have the same goals. He just didnt maybe understand what those goals were because he hadnt had that in-depth conversation with us.

Woolley said she and Gist met earlier this week with the leadership of the Tulsa Regional Chamber shortly after Walters did.

Basically, I would say how it went is, they shared the information that he had shared with them as part of a document, and we were given the opportunity, I would say, to explain our reflection on that data, Woolley said.

Mike Neal, president and CEO of the chamber, did not respond directly to Tulsa World questions about the meeting, but was unequivocal regarding the school districts accreditation status.

"We do not support a state takeover of Tulsa Public Schools," Neal said. We strongly support the reaccreditation of Tulsa Public Schools.

Walters' spokesman did not respond to an invitation to comment.

Staff writers Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton and Kevin Canfield contributed to this report.

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Dozens of entrepreneurs from Laos, Thailand, China, and Malaysia traveled to Ho Chi Minh City to attend the Vietnam International Advertising Equipment & Technology Exhibition, which opened at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center in District 7 on Wednesday.

The exhibition is held to offer investment and trade opportunities within Vietnams advertising industry.

Featuring 300 booths that display advertising equipment and machines, the expo is aimed at satisfying local advertising professionals, international investors, and a slew of other visitors, said Nguyen Thanh Dao, chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Advertising Association.

The 13th exhibition, which wraps up on Friday, is expected to attract over 1,000 guests.

The exhibition also features opportunities to learn more about new advertising-related technology and machinery such as printing machines, automated bending machines, heat transfer machines, and the LED 3-D technology.

A workshop on outdoor advertising is held within the framework of the exhibition.

Tran Thanh Vuong, an official from the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Culture and Sports, said that advertising is one of eight spearhead cultural industries in the city and significantly contributes to its economic development.

Advertising activities in Ho Chi Minh City fetch some VND51 trillion (US$2.1 billion) each year, with outdoor advertising accounting for 25 percent of the total.

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(Photo : Photo by RAMI AL SAYED/AFP via Getty Images)

The United States Geological Survey reports that a strong earthquake followed by a significant aftershock shook Colombia on Thursday afternoon.



A powerful earthquake jolted the Colombian capital, Bogota, on Thursday, triggering alarms and causing a brief but intense moment of panic.

Tragically, one woman lost her life after jumping from a building during the commotion, according to local authorities, as per NDTV.

Earthquake Strikes Bogota, Unveiling Vulnerabilities

While no significant structural damage was reported, the incident has raised concerns about the region's seismic vulnerability. The earthquake, which struck at 12:04 pm local time, had a magnitude of 6.1, as reported by the Colombian Geological Survey (CGS).

However, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) recorded the quake's magnitude slightly higher at 6.3. The epicenter of the tremor was situated in the town of El Calvario, approximately 40 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of Bogota.

Shortly after the initial shock, a 5.9-magnitude aftershock followed, as announced by the Colombian agency on various social media platforms.

Buildings in the capital swayed, and sirens blared, prompting thousands of concerned residents to flood the streets while clutching their cellphones to communicate with loved ones. Although there was no widespread destruction, there were reports of people being trapped in elevators and minor incidents around the city.

Tragically, one woman's death cast a somber shadow over the aftermath. The mayor of Bogota, Claudia Lopez, revealed on social media, "The only serious incident reported was a woman who threw herself from the 10th floor of a residential building... apparently due to a nervous disorder."

Firefighters confirmed the woman's passing, highlighting the distressing impact such events can have on individuals during moments of crisis, according to Economic Times.

Read Also: Rare Flesh-Eating Bacteria Forces New York, Connecticut Officials to Issue New Guidance After 3 People Die

Central Colombia's Response to Recent Earthquake

Reports of the quake's effects extended beyond Bogota. Residents in cities such as Villavicencio, Bucaramanga, Tunja, and Ibague, all located near the epicenter, reported feeling the tremors.

Despite the initial chaos, authorities urged citizens to remain calm and vigilant, particularly against the possibility of aftershocks. In the midst of the seismic event, US Ambassador Francisco Palmieri was delivering a speech at a hotel in Bogota.

A video of the session showed the moment when the quake struck, causing a pause in his address as he queried aloud in English about the possibility of an earthquake. He then continued speaking with a smile. The hotel did not require evacuation.

While the quake itself didn't lead to significant infrastructure damage, there were some instances of minor destruction. A piece of the ceiling in the congress building became detached, as captured in videos released by the lower chamber of congress on social media.

Fortunately, this incident did not result in any reported injuries. Beyond Bogota, the effects rippled through central Colombia, an area characterized by its high seismic activity and proximity to one of the nation's primary geological faults.

Earthquakes are a recurring concern in this region, and experts emphasize the importance of preparedness, communication, and awareness to ensure public safety during such events.

As Colombia grapples with the aftermath of this recent earthquake, the tragedy and the panic it provoked serve as a reminder of the unpredictable nature of seismic events and the urgent need for ongoing preparedness efforts, The Telegraph reported.

Related Article: Pakistan Arrests More Than 100 After Angry Mob Attacked Churches Following Rumors Christians Burned Quran Pages

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More than 60 overseas Vietnamese educators have convened in Hanoi to participate in a training program focused on enhancing their Vietnamese language teaching skills.

The two-week program, co-sponsored by the State Commission on Overseas Vietnamese under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education and Training, officially launched on Wednesday.

This years event  the ninth iteration of the program  hosts over 60 Vietnamese expatriates from 17 countries and territories who are keen on teaching their mother language to others.

The Vietnamese language serves as a strong cornerstone for our heritage, said Nguyen Thi Thu Huyen, a Vietnamese-Laotian woman who spoke at the opening ceremony for the course.

I hold the conviction that, when our language is spoken in a foreign land, it evokes a profound sense of connection for overseas Vietnamese.

Once a teacher, forever a teacher

Le Thi Thanh Tung, a former Vietnamese teacher who currently lives in San Francisco, California, spent 10 years teaching Vietnamese at a language center in the U.S. before retiring.

Her students included both overseas Vietnamese children and Americans interested in learning the language.

Though she no longer teaches at the center, she still offers private tutoring to children from local Vietnamese families.

Among the many tools Tung uses to help her young students, singing is perhaps her favorite.

A, B, C are the first three letters, U, O form a beard, O, E come with a hat, she hummed before sharing that pronunciation is the most challenging aspect of learning Vietnamese.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang (L) presents flowers to overseas Vietnamese participants in a Vietnamese language teaching course at the events welcome ceremony in Hanoi, August 16, 2023. Photo: State Commission on Overseas Vietnamese

Tung considers her role as a Vietnamse teacher to be crucial in helping her fellow overseas Vietnamese retain their connetions with the motherland.

As the Vietnamese community continues to thrive in the U.S., preserving the Vietnamese language is integral to the enduring identity of the Vietnamese people, she explained.

During this years training program, she hopes to learn about the newest methodologies in Vietnamese teaching so that she can improve her own skills.

Firstly, I hope to use what I learn to help my grandchildren speak Vietnamese more fluently," Tung said.

"Then I wish to use my knowledge to continue teaching within my own community in the U.S.."

Speaking at the programs opening ceremony on Wednesday, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang, who is also the head of the State Commission on Overseas Vietnamese, thanked the participants for their dedication to teaching the Vietnamese language.

Even though many of these teachers arent professionals, they teach Vietnamese with their hearts, with love, and with the responsibility of helping overseas Vietnamese preserve the essence of our nation, our mother tongue, and the traditional cultural values of Vietnam, Hang said.

According to Hang, the programs 20 sessions will be led by top educators and experts in language and pedagogical methods from the Hanoi National University of Education and the University of Social Sciences and Humanities under the Vietnam National University-Hanoi.

Such participants will also engage in extracurricular activities, such as meetings and exhanges with local teachers, as well as visits to many of Hanois landmarks and historical sites.

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BRUSSELS - Europe is once again battling scorching temperatures this summer, with wildfires blazing across the continent from the Mediterranean to Spain. Here's how climate change drives these events.

Hotter, more frequent heatwaves

Climate change makes heatwaves hotter and more frequent. This is the case for most land regions, and has been confirmed by the United Nations' global panel of climate scientists, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities have heated the planet by about 1.2 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times. That warmer baseline means higher temperatures can be reached during extreme heat events.

Every heatwave being experienced today has been hotter and more frequent due to climate change, said Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College London who co-leads the World Weather Attribution global research collaboration.

But other conditions affect heatwaves too. In Europe, atmospheric circulation is an important factor.

Fingerprints of climate change

To find out exactly how much climate change affected a specific heatwave, scientists conduct "attribution studies". Since 2004, more than 400 such studies have been done for extreme weather events, including heat, floods and drought - calculating how much of a role climate change played in each.

This involves simulating the modern climate hundreds of times and comparing it to simulations of a climate without human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.

For example, scientists with World Weather Attribution determined that a record-breaking heatwave in western Europe in June 2019 was 100 times more likely to occur now in France and the Netherlands than if humans had not changed the climate.

Trees burn in a forest fire in La Esperanza on the island of Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain August 17, 2023. Photo: Reuters

Heatwaves will still get worse

The global average temperature is around 1.2 C warmer than in pre-industrial times. That is already driving extreme heat events.

On average on land, heat extremes that would have happened once every 10 years without human influence on the climate are now three times more frequent, according to ETH Zurich climate scientist Sonia Seneviratne.

Temperatures will only stop rising if humans stop adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Until then, heatwaves are set to worsen. A failure to tackle climate change would see heat extremes escalate even more dangerously.

Countries agreed under the global 2015 Paris Agreement to cut emissions fast enough to limit global warming to 2 C and aim for 1.5 C, to avoid its most dangerous impacts. Current policies would not cut emissions fast enough to meet either goal.

A heatwave that occurred once per decade in the pre-industrial era would happen 4.1 times a decade at 1.5 C of warming, and 5.6 times at 2 C, the IPCC says.

Letting warming pass 1.5 C means that most years "will be affected by hot extremes in the future," Seneviratne said.

Climate change drives wildfires

Climate change increases hot and dry conditions that help fires spread faster, burn longer and rage more intensely.

In the Mediterranean, that has contributed to the fire season starting earlier and burning more land. Fires burning since mid-July on the island of Rhodes forced the evacuation of some 20,000 people as an inferno reached resorts and coastal villages on the island's southeast.

Hotter weather also saps moisture from vegetation, turning it into dry fuel that helps fires spread.

Hotter, drier conditions make fires far more dangerous, according to Copernicus senior scientist Mark Parrington.

Without human-induced climate change, the extreme weather experienced across the world this summer would have been extremely rare, according to a study by World Weather Attribution. The study found that human-induced climate change played an absolutely overwhelming role in the extreme heatwaves that swept across North America, Europe and China in July.

Climate change isn't only the factor in fires

Forest management and ignition sources are also important factors. In Europe, more than nine out of 10 fires are ignited by human activities, like arson, disposable barbeques, electricity lines, or littered glass, according to European Union data.

Countries, including Spain, face the challenge of shrinking populations in rural areas, as people move to cities, leaving smaller workforces to clear vegetation and avoid fuel for forest fires building up.

Some actions can help to limit severe blazes, such as setting controlled fires that mimic the low-intensity fires in natural ecosystem cycles, or introducing gaps within forests to stop blazes rapidly spreading over large areas.

But scientists concur that without steep cuts to the greenhouse gases causing climate change, heatwaves, wildfires, flooding and drought will significantly worsen.

When people look back on the current fire season in one or two decades, it will probably seem mild by comparison, said Victor Resco de Dios, professor of forest engineering at Spain's Lleida University.
Vietnam and the United States are discussing ways to deepen their partnership and potentially reach a higher-level relationship if conditions permit, Pham Thu Hang, spokesperson of the Vietnamese foreign ministry, said at a regular press briefing in Hanoi on Thursday.

Bilateral ties between the two countries have flourished in numerous fields over the years, Hang said.

The two nations are currently moving toward a more sustainable and long-term relationship that will enable them to jointly contribute to the world's peace, stability, and development, according to the spokesperson.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Vietnam-U.S. comprehensive partnership.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken affirmed in a video posted on July 24 to mark the celebration of the diplomatic ties that Vietnam and the U.S. have built, and transformed into, a dynamic relationship to generate success.

Blinken said that his visit to Vietnam in April was aimed at expanding and strengthening bilateral ties.

He expressed his hope that the partnership will continue to thrive over the next 10 years.

The two countries will use the 10-year milestone to determine new steps for a brighter future, Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son said in a telegram sent to Blinken on July 26.

Minister Son underscored that Vietnam sees the United States as a key partner.

Vietnam is willing to collaborate with the U.S. to spur bilateral ties in all fields, mainly commerce, investment, technology, and innovation, in order to advance the benefits of the two peoples, said the Vietnamese official.

He also shared his belief that the Vietnam-U.S. partnership will make greater strides in the next 10 years and emphasized that Vietnam will continue to throw its support behind the U.S. cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Asia-Pacific region, and the Indian Ocean.

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A company in Quang Nam Province, central Vietnam has got fined VND445 million (US$18,700) for exploiting sand illegally.

Nguyen Hong Quang, vice-chairman of the provincial Peoples Committee, has signed a decision to impose the administrative fine for unlawful mineral exploitation on Tan Loi Minh Company, headquartered in Hiep Duc District, a representative of the provincial administration said on Friday.

The company dredged sand in unpermitted areas, according to the decision.

Besides, the firm showed no mineral mining licenses granted by authorities, and failed to follow sand exploitation steps and criteria passed by designated agencies.

Aside from the fine, the company was ordered to submit the proceeds from the illegal sand exploitation at over VND108 million ($4,550).

In addition, the firm must submit VND36 million ($1,520) for unlawful sand consumption to the agencies.

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Police in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday fined Jean-Marcel Guillon, CEO of FV Hospital, VND5 million (US$209) for insulting officers on duty over an incident in Thao Dien Ward, Thu Duc City last December.

Guillon, a French national, was accused of assaulting Vu Viet Hung, 57, who worked as a private security guard at a house in Thao Dien on December 2, 2022.

According to Hungs report, he was guarding at the gate of a house on Nguyen Van Huong Street at around 11:35 pm that day.

A car arrived before two foreign men got out of the vehicle and said they were looking for their friend at the residence.

Hung explained that this was a private house and that the mens friend did not live in the house, but one of them started yelling and insisted on entering the residence.

He pressed his hand against my chest, pulled my shirt, and then slapped me on the back of my neck, Hung recalled.

The foreign man only stopped when some neighbors intervened.

The owner of the house later got out and explained to the strangers that they were not allowed to enter his home.

The foreign man was still yelling when police officers arrived.

He and relevant individuals were requested to follow the officers to the police station, before they were sent home.

Guillon later clarified that he was having dinner that day when a friend called him and said that the latters friend needed emergency treatment.

He then headed to the address that his friend had given him and thought that the house where Hung was guarding was the right place.

The CEO said he tried to explained but the security guard did not understand English, so he insisted on entering the residence.

After Guillons friend showed him the correct address, he was able to save his friend.

The Frenchman admitted that might have overreacted thinking that the security guard was preventing him from saving a dying friend.

Guillon apologized for having an impact on Hungs body and possibly affecting his health, adding that he would take Hung to FV Hospital for monitoring and care if the latter agreed.

The FV CEO stated he would meet and apologize directly to the security guard.

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Residents of Ba Tri District in Ben Tre District, southern Vietnam on Thursday complained that a stadium in the district has become a dump emanating a nauseating odor and stealing space for local recreation.

They have also voiced concerns that part of the road surrounding the stadium has been transformed into a garbage dump.

Dozens of garbage trucks have been emptying their loads on the stadium each day since the local landfills temporary closure earlier this month.

The landfill was closed following protests from local residents feeling upset that authorities showed no sign of halting dumping at the landfill despite it being overloaded.

As a result, local authorities have allowed the temporary use of space at a waste treatment plant in Ben Tre for garbage from Chau Thanh District and Ben Tre City.

Meanwhile, dozens of metric tons of garbage from Ba Tri District have been piling up at the districts stadium.

The stadium in Ben Tre Province, southern Vietnam is full of garbage.

On the same day, the Peoples Committee of Ben Tre Province held a press briefing to announce the results of a plan to tackle the environmental pollution at the An Hiep landfill.

At the press briefing, director of the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment Bui Minh Tuan said that issues at the An Hiep landfill are nearly resolved and the odor and leakage from the site have decreased by over 95 percent compared to one month ago.

Some 20,700 square meters of the waste at the landfill has been covered with canvas to prevent the odor and leakage from spreading to adjacent areas.

The province has plans to build a leakage treatment system with a capacity of 30 cubic meters per day and a cost of some VND4 billion (nearly US$168,900). The development of such a system would take six months.

A garbage truck transports trash to the stadium in Ba Tri District, Ben Tre Province, southern Vietnam.

Local authorities will also accelerate the expansion of the landfill by three hectares to increase its capacity and plant more trees surrounding the dumpsite in order to minimize its impact on residents in the neighborhood.

The provincial administration promised local residents that the landfill would not cause environmental pollution once it resumes operation this Saturday.

Garbage on a road in Ba Tri District, Ben Tre Province, southern Vietnam despite a 'No Littering' signboard and local officials patrols.

The An Hiep landfill in Ba Tri District, Ben Tre Province, southern Vietnam has temporarily closed and the environmental pollution at the site has been eased.

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The Mekong Delta region in Vietnam needs nearly VND13.4 trillion (US$563 million) to battle widespread riverside landslides, heard a conference on land subsidence assessment held in Tien Giang Province on Thursday.

The much-needed funds would be used to handle 63 riverside landslides and sites of coastal erosion spanning approximately 240 kilometers.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development had previously launched surveys on riverine landslides in Tien Giang, Ben Tre, Tra Vinh, Hau Giang and Long An Provinces in the region.

The Mekong Delta region is facing severe riverside landslides and coastal erosion in terms of scale, pace, and quantity, said Nguyen Hoang Hiep, Deputy Minister of the Agriculture and Rural Development.

Statistics recently released by the ministry indicated that since 2016, the provinces and cities in the region have reported 779 riverside landslides spanning a combined 1,134 kilometers.

Of the total, 281 land subsidence incidents stretching a combined 528 kilometers posed major threats to residents.

As such, experts estimate that $563 million would be needed to solve the issue.

The massive amount of money has caused concerns for the Mekong Delta provinces, all of which have used reserve capital to deal with several land collapse episodes.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Hoang Hiep (L, 3rd) and other officials survey a landslide site in Tien Giang Province, southern Vietnam. Photo: Mau Truong / Tuoi Tre

Nguyen Minh Lam, vice-chairman of the Long An Peoples Committee, said that the province has recorded eight riverside landslides since the start of 2023.

The province has also found 14 landslide-prone areas in dire need of anti-landslide embankments.

Lam said that the province has sourced funds from the provincial budget for handling some landslides but it is in need of capital from the state coffers to fix issues caused by two dangerous riverine landslips in Kien Tuong Town and near the Can Giuoc River.

Hundreds of billions of Vietnamese dong are needed to fix [issues caused by] the two landslides, Lam stressed.

Other provinces such as Ben Tre, Hau Giang, and Tra Vinh are also thirsty for funds from the state budget to deal with land subsidence.

Voicing concerns over the danger of riverside landslides, Nguyen Van Vinh, chairman of the Tien Giang Peoples Committee, said that the province has promptly allocated funds to cope with small and medium landslides.

However, some VND2.8 trillion ($118.3 million) is required to deal with 10 other severe landslide sites spanning a combined 25 kilometers.

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ABC Canberra is conducting an Open House next week at its studios, in Dickson.

Presenters expected to attend include Laura Tingle, David Speers, Lisa Millar, Michael Rowland, James Glenday and Greg Jennett.

There is something for the whole family to enjoy when visiting our outside activations and activities on the day. Watch the ABC Radio Canberra team as they broadcast live, peep through your favourite Play School window or meet an ABC personality or two!

You can also experience the behind-the-scenes action with exclusive studio tours, where youll witness firsthand how your favourite TV and radio programs come to life.

Date: Saturday 26 August

Time: 8.30am  3pm

Location: Cnr Northbourne and Wakefield Avenues, Dickson, ACT.
(Photo : Photo by South Korean Defense Ministry via Getty Images)

The Biden administration has cleared the shipment of F-16 training materials to Denmark, allowing Ukrainian pilots to start training on the long-awaited fighter jets.



The transfer of F-16 fighter jets from Denmark and the Netherlands to Ukraine has received US permission, which is a significant move.

This move comes as part of the US commitment to supporting Ukraine's defense capabilities in the face of ongoing Russian aggression, as per The New York Times.

US Approves F-16 Transfer to Ukraine

The announcement was made by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a letter that was viewed by Reuters news agency. The letter conveyed the United States' intent to expedite the approval process for the transfer requests of F-16s, with the training of Ukrainian pilots being a prerequisite for the transfer.

The letter, addressed to Blinken's counterparts in Denmark and the Netherlands, emphasized the importance of enhancing Ukraine's defense capabilities against Russian encroachments. It remains critical that Ukraine is able to defend itself against ongoing Russian aggression and violation of its sovereignty."

The decision to provide F-16s to Ukraine was endorsed by US President Joe Biden in May, with training programs slated to take place in both Denmark and Romania. However, Russia responded by asserting that this move posed a "colossal risk" to Western nations.

A coalition of 11 countries is set to commence the training of Ukrainian pilots for F-16 jets in Denmark this month. Denmark's acting defense minister, Troels Poulsen, expressed hope for visible outcomes from the training by early 2024.

The US approval comes shortly after Ukraine's admission that, due to existing timelines, the F-16 jets would not be operational during the autumn or winter. Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat revealed that the country had pinned high hopes on the F-16s to bolster its air defense against Russian threats, according to CBS News.

Read Also: US Air Force Awards $235 Million Contract to JetZero for New Blended-Wing Body Aircraft

Ukraine's F-16 Integration

Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine's foreign minister, emphasized that Ukrainian pilots would return from training with the F-16s, implying the nation's eagerness to integrate the jets into its defense strategy.

Blinken's letter also stressed that the approval of transfer requests would enable Ukraine to harness its new capabilities once the initial batch of pilots completed their training. Despite the optimistic outlook, challenges remain. Finding enough pilots proficient in English, a requirement for the training, has proven to be an obstacle.

According to reports, only a handful of combat pilots have been identified so far, and additional pilots are being sent to the UK to enhance their English language skills in connection with the jets.

Experts have pointed out that while the F-16s are anticipated to significantly bolster Ukraine's long-term defense capabilities, they might not be a game-changer in the ongoing counteroffensive against Russia, given the intricate air defense systems and contested skies over the region.

Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, highlighted the substantial investment of time and resources required to match or surpass Russia's airpower. He indicated that the F-16s' impact on the situation would require substantial funding and a significant period.

The approval of F-16 fighter jets transfer to Ukraine marks a pivotal moment in the nation's efforts to enhance its defense against Russian aggression. While challenges persist, the commitment from the United States and its allies signifies a united front against external threats.

However, the road ahead is long, demanding continued preparedness, coordination, and a resilient spirit from Ukraine in the face of an unpredictable geopolitical landscape, The Guardian Times reported.

Related Article: New York City Bans TikTok on Government-Owned Devices Amid Chinese Security Concerns

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The Australian Film Television and Radio School opens its doors at 10am today, Saturday August 19. Those considering enrolling or are simply curious can attend the Sydney campus or online.

This year the School is celebrating 50 years as Australias national screen and broadcast school and one of the worlds leading film schools  recently been named again as one of the top 15 films schools in the world by The Hollywood Reporter.

We invite everyone to come along and hear about our hands-on, industry-focused courses, meet our award-winning expert practitioners, take a School tour, see our passionate students in action and get valuable advice on scholarships, student support and acing your application, said Director of Teaching and Learning, David Balfour.

AFTRS Open Day will feature demonstrations of its Virtual Production Volume studio. This is the technology that films like Thor: Love and Thunder used to capture In Camera Visual Effects, and is part of contemporary filmmaking practice taught within the Master of Arts Screen Program. Industry training in Virtual Production is also offered via short courses. Visitors will be able to see how live action and visual effects elements are combined using an LED volume wall.

There will be a sound stage in full operation as well as a radio studio with interview demonstrations and the opportunity to get behind the mic. AFTRS props and staging and TV Control areas will also be open for viewing. For those interested in AFTRS range of short courses, anyone visiting Open Day and enrolling in a short course will get an exclusive discount. The short course team invites visitors to drop in to visit their interactive behind the behind-the-scenes of film and television production with hands-on opportunities with gear and the chance to step behind the news desk.

AFTRS senior staff will be presenting deep dive sessions into each course offering  short courses, Graduate Diploma in Radio and Podcasting, Bachelor of Arts Screen: Production and the Masters program, student films will be screening in the AFTRS theatre and AFTRS CEO Nell Greenwood will lead a career pathways panel with guests including AFTRS Council member, Debra Richards (Director, APAC Content & Studio Affairs at Netflix) alongside AFTRS alumni Jayden Rathsam Hua (Master of Arts Screen, 2020) and Faraz Anarwala (Bachelor of Arts Screen: Production, 2021).

The AFTRS cafe and library will be open with an annual sale of books and merchandise. In the foyer visitors can also see an incredible collection of screen and broadcast items on loan from AFTRS alumni including Academy Awards from Jane Campion and David White, clapper boards from Dion Beebe, and a Daytime Emmy Award from Cleon Prineas.

AFTRS Open Day runs from 10am to 4pm  on campus and online.

Register here
Filming is getting underway on a new season of Love Island in Mallorca, Spain, for Nine.

Sophie Monk returns as host with Stephen Mullan as narrator.

Season 5 is back in the same villa as S4, won by Austen and Claudia. It is executive produced by Alex Mavroidakis for ITV Studios Australia, the same team behind Im a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here.

It is expected to screen around October, but dates have not been confirmed.

Cast are yet to be announced.

Nine has been contacted for comment.
SWNS

A young woman has proudly spoken of her amazing tattoo which covers her entire back and bum - but is completely invisible from the front. Alexandra Cornish, 24, opted to get a unique back tattoo - which spans her entire back, bum and the back of her thighs. A tattoo artist herself, Alexandra, from Hillarys, Perth, Australia, took inspiration from Japanese 'bodysuit' tattoos. She got the 3,000 ink done over NINE sessions in a year, taking more than 50 hours to complete in total. The tattoo centres around Princess Wakana and also features flowers, skulls and spiders on a spider web background. She loves seeing people's reactions when they see her from the front, with no visible ink - then she turns around. Alexandra, who is currently living with her partner in Singapore, said: "I never looked at myself originally with a big back piece. "But traditionally with Japanese back pieces, they're supposed to tell the story of the rest of your body and all images link to the back and I liked that. "When people say the back is quite painful, I didnt find it too bad. My waist and tailbone hurt though. "Tattoos like this are designed to be hidden under clothes - and it's good I can have it hidden. "I love having it on display though. I love the contrast of not looking tattooed from the front, but having a heavy back piece. "I do notice people staring when I'm out - but I take no offence. "I put 50 hours into it - I don't care who looks!" Alexandra had two tattoos but nothing on her back when she first reached out to tattoo artist Dan Molloy, based in Perth, Western Australia in January 2021. She already knew him from a previous tattoo he did for her and she feels he is "one of the best artists" in Australia. Initially unsure what she wanted, they came up with an idea around Princess Wakana, the beautiful daughter of Lord Otomo no Sorin, a Japanese feudal lord of the 1500s. She studied magic and had a special connection with spiders which taught her magic spells, according to Japanese art from the 1800s. Alexandra said: "I told Dan I wanted a woman that wasnt too feminine, but nothing too intense, and he suggested Wakana. "Originally I didn't like spiders and I wasn't inclined, but I have always liked magic and fantasy, so I went with it." She explained these back pieces normally only cover the back when done on men because they have broader shoulders. But due to her feminine proportions, it made more sense for the design to stretch lower, and cover her entire bum and the tops of her thighs. Alexandra's first session took place in September 2021. She had to fly to and from Dan's studio Kurikara Fudo Tattoo in Perth from where she was living in Surry Hills, Sydney at the time. The entire tattoo took nine sessions - with some as long as eight hours in one go - and the entire piece took 50 hours to complete. She said: "When people say the back is quite painful, I didnt find it too bad. "Certain parts were better than others. The shoulders, I found so easy. "But I didnt like my waist or ribs. The worst part was the very bottom, my tailbone. "People say the butt is sore but I found that and my thighs ok - I was expecting it to be worse. "The hardest thing was the bruising when travelling for the days after." By August 2022 her back was completed - delayed by travel restrictions in Sydney due to local Covid outbreaks. Since then, she has proudly showed off her unique ink and loves it. While her parents weren't originally big tattoo fans, now they see it as "art" - although not everyone agrees. Alexandra said: "A comment that irks me is 'I like it but I wouldnt get it' - I just dont really care. "It's not on their body! "The way mine is, and where it is a whole design, it looks like art. "Someone else commented that I'm beautiful but the tattoos ruined me. "Someone once asked if I'm worried that men won't be attracted to me - but then why would I be attracted to them? I'm a tattoo artist! "Ten out of ten times someone approaches me, it's about my tattoo - I get it in clubs, the gym, the shop, cafes, everywhere." She said she loves surprising people - who don't expect her to have ink on her back after seeing her from the front. She said: "Personality wise I am friendly and bubbly, I dont have a face where I look like I'll be heavily tattooed. "Its a good contrast. "I still like the look of being heavily tattooed, I love that look, as a tattooer myself. "But for me personally I am not at a point yet where I want that next step. "For now, I'm very content with the 'shock factor'".
France has paid tribute to one of its youngest members of the Resistance during the Second World War, who, at the age of 11, hid false identity cards under her dolls in her family home during German army raids in Normandy.

Annette Lajon, who died on Wednesday at the age of 91, had decided to join the Normandy Resistance at an early age in 1942, alongside her father and mother.

French President Emmanuel Macron posted on X (formerly Twitter), "In 1942, Annette Lajon was eleven years old when she decided to resist the Nazis in Normandy. Her death commits us to taking up her torch."

For his part, Minister of the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu posted: "Having joined the Resistance at the age of 11, hiding her equipment behind her dolls, Annette Lajon became a tireless witness to the Normandy Resistance. She passed away at the age of 91. Her legacy will live on. We will continue to carry on her work of remembrance."

Tricking the Gestapo

An only child, Lajon decided to follow in the footsteps of her parents, who had refused to accept the 1940 armistice and joined the Resistance.

Never one to shy away from a fight, the little girl told her parents: "I know you're in the Resistance, and I want to join in with you!

"Despite my young age, I was well aware that one unfortunate word could cost the lives of others and myself. I had to maintain absolute secrecy", she confided to journalists a few years ago.



Read more on RFI English



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SWNS

Two magnet fishers have pulled out a cannon from a river in what is believed to be the first discovery of its kind in the UK. Dave Sonik Jordan, 46, and Raymond Harper, 73, latched onto the artillery piece while magnet fishing - which is where people use magnets to pull treasure out of water. It took the pair, who have been fishing together for ten years, over an hour to get the 3ft (91cm) object out of the River Don in Sheffield, South Yorks,. The cannon's origins are currently unknown but Raymond and Dave believe it could be anything between 200 to 600 years old. YouTuber Dave has said he thinks the artillery piece could be the first one to be discovered in a river in the UK and said he was 'elated' to have found it. He said: "I've never seen anything like this before. "We always come across weird and wonderful stuff but this cannon takes the cake. "When we were pulling it out, we just looked at each other and said 'it's a frigging cannon.' "I just thought 'cannon - oh my god' and we were really elated as it's the holy grail of finds. "A few people talk about it and say it's on their bucket lists to find one and we've just come along and found it. "We never thought we would find something as amazing as that when we started our journey cleaning the environment. "It might be the first cannon to be discovered in-land, in the UK or in the world. "I'll never find a cannon again - this is once in a lifetime." Dave took the cannon back to his home in Northampton, East Mids,. and is planning to contact the British Museum's Portable Antiquities Scheme to report the object. But although he is estimating it could be from '200 to 600 years old', he doesn't know for sure how old it is but is interested in finding out the cannon's history. Dave said: "It's still covered in rust at the moment but I don't want to clean it up just yet. "It could be anything from 200 years old, which would be from the Napoleon time period or it could be from the civil war. "It also could be from when the Sheffield castle was demolished or it could have been brought back from a war from a merchants ship. "It could have been anything but until it gets cleaned up a little bit and we can see some markings on it, then we haven't got a clue. "We know it's old because when was the last time a cannon was used? "It's just whether it's 200 years old or more 500 to 600 years old, we just don't know. "But it could also be something to do with the manufacturing side of Sheffield but we haven't got the foggiest." Dave started magnet fishing ten years ago and enjoys going to different rivers in the UK and cleaning rubbish out of them. He said: "We go out and clean the environment and rivers for around ten hours a week. "Anyone could have got the cannon out of the water if they knew it was there but we spend so much time sorting out rubbish and that's how we come across stuff. "It's not just as easy as walking up to somewhere and finding the cannon. "It's pure luck and you never know what's down there." In November last year, Dave helped reunite retired police officer Geoffrey Barron with his exemplary service medal after it was stolen from his home. Dave found the medal after he was scouting for treasure in the River Nene, Northampton. He documents his finds on his YouTube channel, which you can subscribe to here: https://www.youtube.com/@AdventureswithSonik
A civilian cargo ship sailing from Ukraine reached Istanbul on Thursday in defiance of a Moscow blockade that saw another ship come under attack from Russian military personnel. Earlier in the day, Ukraines Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said his country would need weapons from the West "until we have won" the war against Russia. Read our blog to see how the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).

This live blog is no longer being updated. For more of our coverage on the war in Ukraine, please click here.

9:51pm: Ukraine port ship reaches Istanbul

The civilian cargo ship that left the Ukrainian port of Odesa reached Istanbul late Thursday, marine traffic sites showed.

The Hong Kong-flagged ship had left Ukraine on Wednesday, in defiance of a Moscow blockade.

9:43pm: Chinas defence minister visits Russian ally Belarus, promises to boost military cooperation

Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu visited Belarus on Thursday and said his country would increase military cooperation with Russias neighbour and ally, where Moscow is deploying tactical nuclear weapons.

Shangfu met with President Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk and said the purpose of my visit to Belarus is precisely the implementation of important agreements at the level of heads of state and the further strengthening of bilateral military cooperation.

Neither side gave details of what the cooperation will entail, but the two countries have agreed to hold joint military exercises next year.



Read more on FRANCE 24 English



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(Photo : Photo by MOHD RASFAN/AFP via Getty Images)

The Shah Alam police found all 10 plane disaster victims on the Guthrie Highway near Elmina today.



A devastating incident unfolded in the Malaysian state of Selangor as a light private business jet crashed onto a road, leading to a loss of lives and widespread grief.

Before the pilot died in a plane crash on Thursday (Aug. 17) on the Guthrie Highway close to the Elmina township in Shah Alam, Selangor, he said to his mother Mahanum Ismail, "Adik sayang mama," or "I love you mom," in Malay, as per The Strait Times.

Tragedy Strikes Malaysia

The crash occurred near the township of Elmina in Shah Alam, as the aircraft struck two vehicles, resulting in a tragic outcome.

On that fateful day, the wreckage claimed the lives of ten individuals, including eight passengers who were aboard the ill-fated plane, as well as two motorists - a car driver and a motorcyclist - who were struck by the falling aircraft. The aftermath of the crash left a trail of destruction and heartache.

In the aftermath of the crash, the authorities embarked on a mission to recover any available evidence and remains. A pivotal development emerged when the cockpit voice recorder, a crucial component for investigating air accidents, was successfully retrieved.

Additionally, the bodies of the victims were recovered, bringing a solemn conclusion to the search efforts. Selangor police chief Hussein Omar Khan addressed the media, stating, "We have also found 10 bodies and five body parts.

This means we have completed our search for the victims." He further explained that the collected remains would be transferred to the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital in Klang for post-mortem examinations.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke disclosed details from the flight manifest, shedding light on the identities of the individuals onboard the aircraft.

Among the victims was Pelangai assemblyman Johari Harun. The other victims were pilots Shahrul Kamal Roslan and Heikal Aras Abdul Azim, as well as passengers Kharil Azwan Jamaludin, Shaharul Amir Omar, Mohamad Naim Fawwaz Mohamed Muaidi, Muhammad Taufiq Mohd Zaki, and Idris Abdol Talib @ Ramali, according to CNA.

Read Also: 'How Are You?' Ukraine's First Lady Leads Country's Mental Health Front

Families Mourn as Communities Stand Together After Tragic Plane Crash

The tragic incident left families shattered and communities in mourning. Mahanum, the mother of one of the pilots, shared her heart-wrenching experience of their last conversation. She recounted her son's words, stating, "He was a mama's boy and the last time I spoke to him was when I was admitted to the hospital ... before hanging up the phone, he told me that he loved me."

The pain of loss was palpable as she spoke while holding back tears outside the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital forensic department. Shamsul Azizan Md Nasir, seeking confirmation about the fate of his brother-in-law, expressed the collective anguish of families anxiously awaiting news about their loved ones.

His brother-in-law, Khairil, served as a private pilot for Johari, who held a significant position as the Pahang Local Government, Housing, Environment, and Green Technology Committee chairman.

In a gesture of compassion, the Pahang government pledged to shoulder the funeral expenses for the victims of the plane crash. Chief Minister Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail conveyed the state's commitment to supporting the grieving families during this difficult time. "We will bear the costs for all the victims of the accident," he solemnly affirmed.

This tragic event has not only led to loss but has also brought communities together in solidarity. As the families and friends of the victims grapple with their sorrow, the nation stands united in mourning and in recognizing the value of every life lost.

The investigation into the causes of the crash will continue, striving to uncover the truth and ensure that such a tragedy is not repeated, Al Jazeera reported.

Related Article: Pakistan Arrests More Than 100 After Angry Mob Attacked Churches Following Rumors Christians Burned Quran Pages

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What is money laundering and why is it a crime? (PHOTO: Singapore Police Force)

SINGAPORE  On 15 August, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) conducted islandwide raids, including at residences such as Good Class Bungalows (GCB) and condominiums, that led to the arrest of 10 foreign nationals for their suspected involvement in offences of forgery and money laundering. It was one of the city state's largest anti-money laundering operations.

During the raids, about S$1 billion in assets were seized. This included 35 bank accounts with a total estimated balance of more than S$110 million and cash amounting to more than S$23 million. Prohibition of disposal orders was issued against 94 properties and 50 vehicles, with a total estimated value of more than S$815 million.

Additionally, more than 250 luxury bags and watches, more than 120 electronic devices such as computers and mobile phones, more than 270 pieces of jewellery, two gold bars, and 11 documents with information on virtual assets were also seized.

What is money laundering?

Money laundering is the process of concealing money obtained through illegal activities  such as drug trafficking, corruption and terrorist funding  by converting them into assets that make them appear to have come from legitimate sources. As money made from criminal activity is considered "dirty" money, criminals go through the process of "laundering" or "washing" the money in order to make them look clean.

Why is money laundering illegal?

Criminal money that appears as legitimate assets allows criminals to avoid detection by authorities and enables them to continuously fund and support their criminal activities. Furthermore, it can encourage more criminal activity as the potential for financial gain makes engaging in illegal activities more attractive.

Money laundering also makes it difficult for law enforcement agencies to follow the money trail back to its original criminal source. This can hinder investigations and may prevent authorities from successfully prosecuting criminals.

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When criminal money is successfully laundered, it becomes integrated into a country's financial system disguised as legitimate economic activities. This can distort markets and undermine the integrity of financial institutions. It can also lead to inflating asset prices and contribute to the erosion of tax revenues, as illicit funds evade taxation.

Money laundering cases in Singapore

In July, former Senior Minister and ex-Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) chairman Tharman Shanmugaratnam revealed that in the last five years, MAS had penalised 17 financial institutions for breaching Singapore's laws against money laundering and terrorism financing. Among the 17 financial institutions penalised, one had its licence revoked, while 14 were fined. The remaining two were issued reprimands. The financial institutions that were fined included DBS Bank, OCBC Bank, Citibank Singapore and Swiss Life Singapore. These four firms were implicated in the Wirecard scandal and were fined S$3.8 million for failing to comply with the rules and not having adequate controls in place.

In the same month, six people were charged for allegedly taking part in money laundering activities involving banking-related phishing scams that used malware. Among them was a 16-year-old boy who was accused of giving his Internet banking login details linked to the accounts to unknown parties on four separate occasions. Another was a 42-year-old male who was arrested and charged with cheating. Police investigations revealed that he had allegedly deceived a bank into opening an account. He then handed over login information linked to his account to an unknown person who had offered him S$500 in return for "renting" his bank account for two weeks, according to SPF.

In June, SPF conducted a joint operation in Johor, Malaysia, with the Royal Malaysian Police to cripple a transnational scam syndicate. The syndicate comprised of three Singaporean members allegedly involved in the money laundering of scam proceeds obtained from Singaporean victims. The trio were allegedly responsible for laundering scam proceeds linked to more than 50 police reports of investment scams, job scams, e-commerce scams, and impersonation of government officials reported in Singapore. The losses amounted to more than S$2.9 million. They were believed to be acting as money mules for scammers by procuring bank accounts to launder and move the scam proceeds out of Singapore in order to avoid detection and confiscation by the authorities.

Last November, a 55-year-old company director was sentenced to 15 months in jail and fined S$5,000 for facilitating a money laundering scheme. According to SPF, the man had channelled more than US$200,000 (S$284,000) through two of his company's bank accounts after he was offered loans by an unidentified man and a way to "earn money without having to borrow from him". The criminal proceeds that the man had laundered originated from several scam victims who had made the transfers believing that they were purchasing investment shares.

Anti-money laundering law in Singapore

The main anti-money laundering law in Singapore is the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act (CDSA). The law criminalises any dealing in property that represents, in whole or in part, and directly or indirectly, the benefits of drug dealing or criminal conduct.

Individuals convicted of money laundering are punishable under Section 54 of the CDSA with imprisonment for up to 10 years, a fine of up to S$500,000, or both.

Additionally, Singapore has the Payment Services Act (PSA), which is a framework that details regulatory expectations for payment service providers. MAS is the designated authority that oversees payment compliance and is also responsible for pursuing allegations involving money laundering within Singapore's financial institutions.

SPF's Commercial Affairs Department is the main law enforcement agency tasked with investigating allegations of money laundering. An investigation into money laundering cases may also involve the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) and the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB).

The Suspicious Transaction Reporting Office (STRO) is Singapore's intelligence unit. The agency is responsible for monitoring and receiving suspicious transaction reports (STRs), cash movement reports (CMRs), and cash transaction reports (CTRs) to uncover any money laundering activities.

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FILE PHOTO: The Russian flag flies on the dome of the Kremlin Senate building in Moscow

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia has charged a jailed American citizen with espionage, state news agencies reported, upping the pressure on U.S. President Joe Biden's administration which has been trying to find a way to bring several detained citizens back home from Russia.

Russia's RIA and TASS news agencies said that Moscow's Lefortovo court had remanded Gene Spector in pre-trial custody on suspicion of espionage, which is punishable with a jail term of 10 to 20 years.

"The court granted the request of the investigation to detain a U.S. citizen Spector on charges under Article 276 (espionage) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation," TASS quoted an unidentified source at the court as saying.

The news agencies did not report any details of the new charges, but said the court session was held behind closed doors as the case materials were classified.

Spector is already serving a 3-1/2-year sentence after pleading guilty to his role in bribing an assistant of ex-Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, according to the news agencies.

Spector was born in what is now St. Petersburg and then moved to the United States. Before his 2021 arrest, he served as chairman of the board of Medpolymerprom Group, a company specialising in cancer-curing drugs, TASS said.

Speaking on CNN, White House spokesperson John Kirby said the administration was still collecting information about the case and had no comment yet.

A State Department spokesperson said they were aware of reports of charges against a U.S. citizen in Russia and were monitoring the situation, but declined to comment further.

The United States has been talking to Russia about ways to bring back several American citizens detained in Moscow, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan.

The Kremlin has confirmed that it has held some discussions with Washington but has repeatedly said swaps can only be considered after trials and has cautioned that U.S. attempts to speak publicly about the talks will undermine efforts.

Story continues

Russia's ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, said on Wednesday that Moscow and Washington operate an effective channel to swap prisoners.

The Journal's Gershkovich was arrested in March on espionage charges that he, the Journal and Washington deny. Russia says he was caught red handed.

Former U.S. Marine Whelan is serving a 16-year sentence in a Russian penal colony after being convicted of espionage charges that Washington also says are a sham. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by phone to Whelan this month.

Last December, U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner was released in a prisoner swap, having been sentenced to nine years in a penal colony for possessing vape cartridges containing cannabis oil - which is banned in Russia - after a judicial process labelled a sham by Washington.

Since the war in Ukraine began in February 2022, the United States has repeatedly told its citizens to leave Russia due to the risk of arbitrary arrest or harassment by Russian law enforcement agencies.

In June, Michael Travis Leake, a U.S. musician and former paratrooper, was shown in court, locked in a metal cage. He was arrested on drug dealing charges. Reuters was unable to reach him for comment.

Brazil this year refused a U.S. request to extradite Sergey Cherkasov, who Western intelligence agencies say is a Russian spy who tried to use a false identity to infiltrate the International Criminal Court (ICC).

(Reporting by Maxim Rodionov, Kanishka Singh and Lidia Kelly; additional reporting by Simon Lewis; Editing by Daniel Wallis, Raju Gopalakrishnan, Nick Macfie and Jonathan Oatis)
Another new Omicron variant has got scientists talking.

Although the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the end of COVID-19 as a global health emergency in May, the virus is still widespread - and mutating.

While the EG.5 and EG.5.1 now makes up one in seven cases in the UK, a new heavily-mutated version of Omicron could be another cause for concern.

So far the latest BA.2 "sub-lineage" (coined BA.6 or 'Pi') has only been sequenced a handful of times in Denmark and Israel - but the early differences showing up could mean it has the potential to cause a fresh wave of infections.

Here's what we know so far.

Where has it been found - and when did it emerge?

The new variant is a mutation of the first sub-variant of Omicron known as BA.2 that emerged in November 2021.

It has only been sequenced three times, twice in Denmark and once in Israel, having first been identified in Denmark on 24 July.

This doesn't mean there aren't more cases, but it has only appeared on a small number of occasions when scientists have screened virus samples for their genetic make-up.

Some are predicting it may already be in the UK and the US.

At such an early stage, it hasn't been given an official name - although some are referring to it as BA.6 or the 'Pi' variant.

How is it different?

Compared to the original BA.2, the new variant has 33 mutations of the spike protein - the membranes on the outside of the virus that allow it to enter and infect human cells.

These are the things that change as the virus grows and evolves - and can help it spread faster or evade immunity provided by either natural infection or vaccines.

Professor Andrew Easton, a virologist at the University of Warwick, explains: "Some mutations are damaging to the virus, some are neutral so don't have any impact at all, and others may benefit the virus.

"Those benefits could give it an advantage in growing more effectively or rapidly - or allowing it to evade the immunity that already exists in the community."

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Because of the large number of mutations, it's being referred to as a 'saltation' - a large mutational change from one generation of virus to the next, which was used to describe Omicron when it first emerged.

Should we be worried?

With only three cases sequenced, it is "way too early to say what impact this new variant will have", according to Ryan Hisner, an online COVID genomic sequencing tracker on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Professor Christina Pagel, an expert in operational research at UCL, adds that although it is "very, very early days" it has "a lot of new mutations that make it very different to previous Omicron strains".

She says this could mean it is "potentially more able to cause a big wave" because it could outstrip the immunity we already have.

But Professor Easton says although there are a considerable number of mutations - you need far more cases to see if a pattern of rapid spread, immune escape or more severe disease emerges.

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"In order to assess all these things it's a numbers game," he tells Sky News.

"It's not something we can easily predict - but what we can say is that these mutations may affect the virus's ability to escape immunity - or spread faster."

For example a variant labelled BS.1.1 appeared with significant mutations in 2022 but "had little impact globally".

The most important thing for now, Professor Easton stresses, is surveillance.

"The earlier you're able to pick up a variant of concern the earlier you can intervene in terms of alerting people to the risks - or altering vaccines.

"Because the faster you react the lesser the impact on people."
ReportLinker

The Raw Coffee Beans Market size is expected to grow from USD 33.33 billion in 2023 to USD 44.60 billion by 2028, at a CAGR of 6% during the forecast period (2023-2028). Key Highlights.

New York, Aug. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Raw Coffee Beans Market Size & Share Analysis - Growth Trends & Forecasts (2023 - 2028)" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06483769/?utm_source=GNW

The Raw Coffee Beans Market size is expected to grow from USD 33.33 billion in 2023 to USD 44.60 billion by 2028, at a CAGR of 6% during the forecast period (2023-2028).



Key Highlights

Coffee beans are a global agricultural product shipped worldwide, providing livelihood for millions of coffee growers and producers. While coffee production is concentrated in developing countries, its consumption mainly occurs in developed and emerging economies. The coronavirus restrictions led to shipment delays and increased freight prices, and overland transportation became difficult for smallholder farmers who often receive low prices for their produce.

Coffee farming communities in Indonesia face overlapping crises as market volatility, climate change, and gender inequity pose critical challenges to rural communities and agricultural enterprises. Therefore, in 2022, the US Government, through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), announced the launch of the Indonesia Coffee Enterprise Resilience Initiative (Resilient coffee), a new partnership with Keurig Dr. Pepper and Root Capital, a US NGO, to provide credit to agricultural enterprises in rural communities. Resilient coffee will support 14 coffee enterprises across Aceh, East Java, and North Sumatra, reaching 14,000 smallholder farmers as it promotes sustainable growth that balances economic needs with environmental sustainability. This is expected to boost the production of the coffee beans market in the coming years.

Globally, Europe is the worlds largest consumer and exporter of raw coffee beans, accounting for more than 28% of global consumption. The growth of the global market for coffee beans is driven by their taste when consumed as a beverage. Moreover, health benefits associated with coffee and retail market expansion make purchasing easy for consumers, boosting the global coffee bean market. For many years, Europe has been the worlds largest consumer of raw coffee beans. The demand for coffee beans in Asia-Pacific has grown significantly over the years due to the increase in its consumption. Japan, India, and the Philippines are the major contributors to its growth.



Raw Coffee Beans Market Trends



Increasing Demand for Certified Coffee



Due to rising consumer concerns regarding the sourcing and quality of coffee, the demand for certified coffee is increasing globally. Certified coffee is an assurance to the consumer about the reliability of the product. These certifications offer various third-party assurances to the consumer regarding environment-friendly farming practices and the quality involved during the production of coffee.

As a result, some of the coffee certification organizations, such as Fair Trade Certification, Rainforest Alliance Certification, UTZ Certification, and USDA Organic Certification, are engaged in keeping a check on the production procedures and supply chain of coffee. These certifications help improve the quality of life of workers and help them gain adequate market access through increased trade of certified coffee.?

Many Fairtrade coffee growers also have organic certifications that ensure environmentally sustainable production. In Indonesia, around 25 Fairtrade-certified coffee cooperatives, and 98 percent of them have organic certifications. Having organic and Fairtrade certifications increase market opportunities for coffee growers and enable them to fetch higher prices from consumers willing to pay a premium for sustainable coffee.

Among all the certifications, UTZ Certification or the rainforest alliance is an important certification that allows farmers to grow coffee professionally with care for local communities and the environment. The most important aspect of the UTZ certification program is traceability, which means that consumers can know exactly where their coffee comes from and how it was produced. This makes the consumers more inclined towards purchasing certified coffee, thereby fueling the growth of the market during the forecast period.?



South America Dominates the Export Market



In South America, Brazil is the worlds largest coffee producer and exporter, responsible for 40% of the worlds total production, with 69.9 million bags in 2021. Due to its major production and exportation role in the global coffee market, Brazil has also been recognized for its commitment to quality and social sustainability parameters based on voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) and geographic identification (GI). In 2021, Brazil held a share of 30.2% of the coffee production worldwide, followed by Vietnam and Indonesia, with 18.6% and 7.7%, respectively.

According to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), coffee plantations in Brazil covered about 11.3 hectares in 2021. Minas Gerais, Espirito Santo, Sao Paulo, and Parana are the main coffee-producing regions. These regions produced 3 million metric tons of coffee in 2021, of which 2.3 million metric tons were exported. The major countries that imported raw coffee beans from Brazil as of 2021 were the United States (USD 1.12 million), Germany (USD 1.1 million), Belgium (USD 4.9 million), and Italy (USD 4.8 million), among others. Brazil is also the second-largest consumer of coffee.

Brazils major green bean export destinations include Germany, the United States, Italy, Belgium, and Japan. Other key exporters of coffee beans include Vietnam, Colombia, Germany, Indonesia, and Honduras. However, the existence of economic and social barriers plays salient challenges for farmers to meet the quality standards as well as GI protocols among other market compliance tools, in addition to the correct value appropriation arising for quality sustainable adopted strategies by coffee farmers in Brazil.



Raw Coffee Beans Industry Overview



Additional Benefits:



The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format

3 months of analyst support

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06483769/?utm_source=GNW



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ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



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Nottingham Forest forward Brennan Johnson and Wolves midfielder Mario Lemina. Credit: Alamy

Chelsea have moved on to Brennan Johnson, who is a target for two other Premier League clubs. Liverpool also have domestic competition for Mario Lemina

CHELSEA LINKED WITH ATTACKING TRIO

After Crystal Palace forced Chelsea to back down from their pursuit of Michael Olise, the Blues have refocused on other attacking targets, with another Premier League youngster in their crosshairs.

The Guardian says talks have already taken place with Chelsea over a move for Brennan Johnson. Those discussions are at an early stage but the possibility of a player-plus-cash deal has been raised, with Forest said to value the 22-year-old at around 45million.

The Independent says Forest would accept 40million, but there is the prospect of a bidding war with Tottenham and Brentford also keen.

Chelsea have made an offer for Bradley Barcola but Lyon have turned down 29.8milion in the knowledge PSG are ready to make a move.

The Blues have also been on to Rennes about a possible swoop for Jeremy Doku. Thats the word according to 90min, while The Independent adds that West Ham, Spurs and Manchester City are also on the 21-year-olds tail, with the Hammers more advanced in their approach. They have already submitted an offer but it is understood to be less than the 50million that Rennes are demanding.

City are said to remain confident of winning the race for Doku, which would allow West Ham to take Cole Palmer on loan from the champions, who also remain intent on signing Lucas Paqueta.

LIVERPOOL LINKED WITH LEMINA

Liverpool continue their pursuit of midfielders after their failure to land either Moises Caicedo or Romeo Lavia. We can now add Mario Lemina to the four linked with the Reds on Thursday.

Lemina was outstanding for Wolves in their defeat at Manchester United on Monday and Foot Mercato says Liverpool are one of a number of interested parties.

Indeed, the Reds are among three of the big five clubs keen to land the Gabon star, with interest also coming from Saudi Arabia.

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INTER OFFER FOR MAN UTD TARGET

Manchester United still appear unable to move for their remaining targets while they struggle to shift their deadwood. The Red Devils want Benjamin Pavard from Bayern Munich but are reliant on Harry Maguire moving to West Ham. Maguire, though, is sitting tight, as is his right.

In the meantime, Inter are looking to swoop and Fabrizio Romano says they have plonked 21.3million in Bayerns table. But the Bavarians want more for the France star.

Bayern have been linked with a move for ex-United keeper David De Gea, but Sky Sport Germany reckons Thomas Tuchel has vetoed the idea. Instead, Bayern have reached an agreement with Maccabi Tel Aviv for 23-year-old stopper Daniel Peretz.

Read next: Caicedo, Rice and Mount next: Ranking all 22 previous 40m-plus intra-Premier League transfers

The article Transfer gossip: Chelsea eye Prem forward as Liverpool line up Lemina appeared first on Football365.com.
Joe Scott, Jake Burford , Sami Fielder and Millie Justice. Picture: The Angmering School / Submitted

Students celebrating outstanding results this year include Alfie Charlton (A*A*A*A), Sami Fielder (A*A*A), Joe Scott (A*A*AA), Sam Ide (A*AAA), Millie Justice (ABB) and Harry Taylor (A and Btec Double Distinction).

Special mention to Freddy Ireland, whom we believe is the only registered blind student to take A level chemistry in the country, gaining a grade C along with B and C in his other subjects.

Rather than go to university, Alfie has opted to join Goldman Sachs as a Global Markets degree apprentice.

Freddy Ireland. Picture: The Angmering School / Submitted

Sami will be taking up a place studying mathematics and statistics at the University of Warwick, Joe is off to Imperial College London to study biochemistry, Sam is going to the University of Bristol to study aerospace engineering and Millie will study musical theatre at Bath Spa University. Freddy will continue his studies taking geography at the University of Sussex.

We would also like to congratulate Georgia Connelly, who, by gaining her grade A in history to accompany her two A grades last year, will now take up her place at the University of Oxford studying human sciences.

Tony Kerrison, head of sixth form, commented: We are so very proud of our students and their achievements this year. They have faced the most difficult set of circumstances in recent memory as they have lost the same teaching time as their predecessors but have not been given any advanced information on exam content and grade boundaries rising but they have stepped up to the challenge.

"Once again, I also need to highlight the outstanding work done by the teaching staff this year, both in preparing the students for their exams and supporting them in a kind and professional manner.
(Bloomberg) -- The top international envoy to Bosnia-Herzegovina accused the countrys Serb leader of playing into the hands of Vladimir Putin, who he says is exploiting the Balkan nations ethnic divisions to divert attention from Russias invasion of Ukraine.

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Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik, who has intensified efforts to to cut ties with the rest of Bosnia, has become a puppet on a string to the Russian president, Christian Schmidt, who was appointed as the United Nations-backed High Representative in 2021, said in an interview.

As European governments have imposed ever-tighter measures to isolate Russia after its assault on Ukraine, Putin has sought to strengthen ties with Serbian allies in the Balkan region. Putin has hosted Dodik, himself targeted by US and UK sanctions, three times since the war began in February of last year.

There could be an interest to raise a hot spot crisis outside Ukraine  not militarily but politically, Schmidt said via video link on Wednesday of Putin. But that doesnt serve the interests of Bosnia-Herzegovina or the people in Republika Srpska, he said, referring to the Bosnian entity Dodik leads.

Under a US-brokered peace agreement that stopped a bloody civil war in 1995, Bosnia is comprised of two entities, Republika Srpska and a Muslim-Croat federation, linked by a weak central government in Sarajevo. As high representative, Schmidt has broad authority to maintain order and hold the nation of 3.3 million together.

European governments have accused Dodik of threatening that order with ever more provocative efforts to secure autonomy for the Bosnian statelet. Under his leadership, lawmakers in 2021 voted for a plan to wrest much control over areas including the judiciary, taxation, education, and security in an effort to reverse a move toward centralization overseen by Schmidts predecessors.

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Read more: As World Watches Ukraine, Another Part of Europe Embraces Russia

The efforts reached a new level in June when the legislature in Republika Srpskas capital, Banja Luka, approved a law rejecting the countrys Constitutional Court authority. Schmidt responded by revoking the legislation.

Dodik was unmoved, and the standoff escalated this month when the Bosnian Serb leader was charged by prosecutors in Sarajevo with defying Schmidts decisions, an act punishable by up to five years in prison. Dodiks office rejected the indictment.

For his part, Dodik has assailed Schmidt as an unelected foreigner, arguing that Schmidts 2021 appointment is illegitimate because Russia and China had supported a failed resolution in the UN Security Council to end the high representatives office.

Christian Schmidt is not the High Representative, therefore his office does not exist, Dodik told reporters in Banja Luka last week.

The claim is dismissed by western allies  who cite the 1995 Dayton Agreement  and Schmidt, who pointed to the central role of Bosnias Constitutional Court as part of that treaty.

There is no way to negotiate about the Constitutional Court, Schmidt said.

In addition to sanctions already imposed on Dodik, Schmidt said the possibility of EU measures is not excluded. Steps to cut aid from EU member states to Republika Srpska are also underway, with Germany earlier this month ending four infrastructure projects as a way to pressure Dodik.

I expect and hope that we will see in the next two weeks some kind of rapprochement to the standards of European requirements, Schmidt said. If not, there could come the time when there will be a need to show the limits to Mr. Dodik.

Schmidts efforts to hold the line in Bosnia has placed him at the center of the nations once-warring factions. He made a public display of his impatience at an event a year ago, cracking when pressed on perceived inaction over an election law.

Rubbish  full rubbish! the Bavarian erupted. We are not here just to make political games.

(Updates with Dodik quotes from ninth paragraph.)

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Jonson Clarke-Harris is available. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Bristol Rovers CEO Tom Gorringe has commented on transfer links with Peterborough United striker Jonson Clarke-Harris.

Earlier this week, Posh chairman Darragh MacAnthony suggested that three League One clubs had been chasing the 29-year-old. He revealed that the third club had come out of nowhere and since then Gas social media has gone into overdrive.

Rovers have recently been taken over by Kuwaiti businessman Hussain AlSaeed and are keen to back Joey Barton in the transfer market. The 40-year-old is keen to finish his transfer business before the deadline and a striker could be on his wish list.

Clarke-Harris is someone who fits the bill given how proven he is at this level. The Jamaica international got 27 goals last season and was the joint-top scorer in the league but has been transfer listed by Peterborough who are keen to cut costs.

Jonno is somebody we know really well, said Gorringe to Lewis Railton .

He was obviously with us during my time here.

I spoke to him on-and-off since hes left. Hes a brilliant player and a really good lad.

Gorringe however refused to be drawn in to the specifics of Rovers transfer strategy. It was however confirmed on Friday that Aston Villa loanee Lamare Bogarde would be returning to the Memorial Stadium in a welcomed boost to Bartons plans.

The 19-year-old will spend the entirety of the 2023/24 season in the blue and white quarters, having made 18 appearances during a six-month loan spell last year.

Last week Andy Mangan predicted that business would be exciting and over the course of the week theyve signed Harvey Vale, Lamare Bogarde and League One play-off winner Jack Hunt.

Gorringe added: Were not in a position to confirm who were going after in terms of any players at this stage.

Jonno scores goals, and Im sure wherever hell end up, hell have a positive season.
FILE PHOTO: Paramilitary police officers stand guard in front of the headquarters of PBOC in Beijing

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese commercial banks need to maintain a proper level of profit and net interest margins to ensure sustainability in supporting the real economy, China's central bank said in a monetary policy implementation report on Thursday.

Banks' net interest margins and rate of return on total assets are in a downward trend due to lowering lending rates, the People's Bank of China said in a special column of the report.

"China's economic operation is facing many difficulties and challenges," the report said. "It is necessary to give further play to the important role of banks in serving the real economy and smooth the virtuous circle of economy and finance."

Banks should have certain financial capabilities and risk buffers, as the exposure of banks' credit risks usually lags a certain time behind the economic cycle, it said.

The central bank also said it is normal to see banks' profit conditions fluctuate with the economic cycle, which should be treated rationally.

(Reporting by Ziyi Tang and Ryan Woo; editing by Jason Neely)
Pub supporters say community ownership could be the way to preserving them (OLI SCARFF)

With a 15-degree list making one end four feet (1.2 metres) lower than the other, the historic Crooked House pub looked as if could topple over at any minute.

But despite its precarious appearance, the quirky 18th century hostelry stood at the heart of its community in the small central English village of Himley for 260 years.

That is until late last month when the historic watering hole was sold and promptly burned down just over a week later.

To the horror of locals, bulldozers then moved in and reduced the burned-out pub to rubble.

Police are now investigating the blaze as arson while planning authorities insist they only gave permission for the building to be made safe, not razed entirely.

The case has not only caused outrage among locals but highlighted the threat facing the nation's pubs which have been battered by successive crises.

- 'Absolute tragedy' -

Around 30 British pubs close their doors each month, according to the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra), a lobby group which promotes traditional drinks and pubs.

Paul Ainsworth, of Camra, told AFP the loss of the "unique" and "amazing" Crooked House was an "absolute tragedy".

But even if calls for it to be rebuilt were successful it would "never be the same because its unique atmosphere stemmed from its age and its history", he added.

Campaigners say the loss of such pubs rips the heart from local communities.

Once sold, new owners under a law introduced in 2017 need planning permission to repurpose the sites.

But according to Camra figures, 31 pubs were knocked down or converted without approval between January and June this year.

In a letter to the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the Campaign for Pubs last week denounced what it called "predatory purchasing and asset stripping of historic pubs" and called for action from central government to enforce the law.

Pubs -- a central part of British life for centuries -- have been struggling for many years as people's drinking habits have changed.

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Most recently, pandemic shutdowns and massive increases in energy prices this winter driven by the Ukraine crisis have taken a devastating toll.

Some pubs saw a more than 300-percent hike in bills, as part of a wider cost-of-living crisis, according to six of the country's biggest pub and brewing firms.

Ainsworth said many pubs were just poorly run, resulting in a downward spiral.

Others, he said, were deliberately allowed to fail as part of a strategy by owners to get the pub converted into a residential property in a prime spot.

- Not just a pub -

After the sale of the Crooked House -- famed for its bar on which marbles or coins would appear to roll uphill -- thousands of people signed an online petition calling for it to be saved.

Paul Turner, who started the petition, argued that properly marketed, the pub could "attract visitors from all over the world".

Turner, 58, described himself as "absolutely devastated" by the subsequent blaze, adding that the place had been "part of my childhood".

In recent days, locals have turned out in their droves to mourn their pub's destruction.

Some have placed flowers and placards in the rubble with slogans such as "More Than a Pub" and "Straight Answers for our Crooked House".

Ainsworth said the best hope for the Himley community was that authorities ordered the rebuilding of the pub, paving the way for some sort of community takeover.

Since 2017 there has been a growing trend for communities to club together and take ownership of their pubs.

Although they represent just a fraction of the 47,000 pubs nationwide, he said the 205 now in the hands of their communities represented real hope for people faced with the loss of their local.

One of the most recent is Scotland's Old Forge which was has just reopened after being bought by a remote Highland community last March.

Locals raised 1 million ($1.2 million) to buy it from its Belgian owner.

Ainsworth said the trend was "creating pubs which are by and large community focused, lovely places to be, serving the interests of the local community.

"Places that had become sad places are now extremely happy places," he said.

har/phz/gw
(Photo : Photo by NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP via Getty Images)

Ukrainian drones tried to assault Moscow early Friday, but Russian soldiers shot them down.



Apparently, Ukraine launched a drone attack on Moscow, but Russian military shot the drone down in a stunning change of events.

The attack led to debris falling on Moscow's Expo Center, situated within a short distance from the Kremlin, as per Sky News.

Drone Attack on Moscow

Despite the incident, Moscow's Mayor Sergei Sobyanin assured the public that the wreckage did not cause significant damage. This incident comes amid Ukraine's claim of a successful counteroffensive, which purportedly reclaimed portions of Russian-controlled territory in the southeastern region.

This push was aimed at extending beyond the recently liberated village of Urozhaine, with the ultimate objective of reaching the Sea of Azov and dividing Russia's occupying forces.

Urozhaine, located in the Donetsk region, marked the first village that Kyiv declared retaken since late July.

The region's heavily mined and Russian-controlled terrain has posed challenges for Ukraine's advancing troops. Drone footage showcased the intensity of the fight for Urozhaine, capturing scenes of Russian troops retreating to the south of the village.

Vladimir Rogov, a Russia-installed official in parts of Zaporizhzhia controlled by Moscow, contested Ukraine's claims about Urozhaine and the neighboring village of Staromaiorske, asserting that they were not under Ukrainian control.

However, the counteroffensive's progress has been slowed by the vast network of Russian minefields and fortified defensive lines. Kyiv's aspirations to regain territory have been met with formidable obstacles, leading to a protracted and challenging conflict.

Amid the conflict, Ukraine accused Russia of damaging grain infrastructure in a drone attack on the port in the Odesa region. Ukrainian officials alleged that the attack targeted the port of Reni on the Danube River, damaging warehouses and grain storage facilities. Despite the assault, no casualties were reported.

Furthermore, Ukraine's air defenses claimed to have successfully downed 11 Russian drones over Odesa, showcasing the ongoing technological battles being waged in the skies. The Ukrainian military disclosed that its air defenses neutralized a total of 13 drones overnight and revealed that Russia employed Iranian-made Shahed drones to target Odesa and Mykolaiv, according to VOA News.

Read Also: US, Japan, South Korea Establish 3-Way Hotline to Bolster Relations

Ukrainian Container Ship Departs Odesa Amid Tensions

Oleksandr Kubrakov, the deputy prime minister of Ukraine, made a big announcement about maritime activity. The Hong Kong-flagged container ship Joseph Schulte departed from Ukraine's port of Odesa, utilizing a temporary Black Sea corridor that Ukraine established for civilian ships following Russia's withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

The vessel, laden with 30,000 metric tons of cargo, had been stranded in Odesa since Russia's invasion in February 2022. However, the situation remains tense as Russia's response to Ukraine's shipping corridor remains uncertain.

Recent events, including warning shots fired by a Russian patrol ship at a vessel, underscore the precarious nature of the maritime environment.

As Ukraine's counteroffensive continues and Russia's defenses hold firm, the conflict showcases the complexities and challenges inherent in contemporary warfare.

Amid the struggle, families mourn lives lost, communities stand united, and the international community watches closely as both nations navigate an unpredictable and critical geopolitical landscape, Al Jazeera reported.

Related Article: Purged Russian General in Charge of Ukraine Invasion Found Dead

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PICTURE POSED BY MODEL. A woman showing signs of depression. (Photo: Anna Gowthorpe)

Fewer potential slavery victims were referred to police for investigation in Northern Ireland last year, new figures show  despite a rise in referrals across UK police forces.

Anti-trafficking charity Hope for Justice said many police forces lack specialist offers to deal with these cases, meaning not enough perpetrators are being investigated and prosecuted.

Figures from the Home Office show the Police Service of Northern Ireland was responsible for investigating 481 referrals where a person was a potential victim of modern slavery, including 96 children, in the year to June.

Overall, it was down from 570 in 2021-22. Excluding the City of London, this makes the Police Service of Northern Ireland one of just three UK police forces to see a fall.

Adam Hewitt, a Hope for Justice spokesperson, said the identification of victims and referral is an important step towards survivors getting support.

He added: "Unfortunately, even after a referral, many survivors face incredibly long delays in having a final decision made on their case  often years.

"A lack of resources and specialised teams at many police forces, plus the complexity of many cases, mean not enough perpetrators are being investigated and prosecuted."

Across the UK, more than 17,700 potential victims of modern slavery were referred to the Home Office in 2022-23  a significant jump from 14,600 the year before.

Of the referrals last year, nearly 7,600 were children.

Despite the annual increase, the most recent quarterly data for April to June saw the lowest level of referrals since the start of 2022.

Andrew Wallis, chief executive of anti-slavery charity Unseen, said this is a result of the Government's move to change Home Office guidance earlier this year requiring claimants to prove they are victims by submitting third-party evidence of modern slavery and trafficking.

Legal challenges by two people who were refused protection under the new threshold led to the Government conceding and withdrawing the new guidance last month.

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Mr Wallis said: "To the scale of the problem, everybody accepts  except maybe the Government  that at any one time in the UK somewhere in excess of 120,00 victims of modern slavery are in a situation of exploitation.

"And, even though we have found nearly 18,000, sadly most of those victims will be replaced by another person."

He added: "Until every police force, officer, statutory agency, and society as a whole understand what modern slavery looks like, we will never be able to say that we have a true picture of the size and scope of modern slavery.

"But the more we look for it, the more we find it."

A Home Office spokesperson said the Government remains commited to stamping out modern slavery.

They added: We are reforming our response to modern slavery to make the system more robust and ensure that genuine victims are supported.

"This includes new rules introduced in January this year, meaning that individuals who pose a threat to public order are able to be disqualified from using modern slavery protections to thwart their removal from the UK. These measures have also been expanded through the landmark Illegal Migration Act.

Anyone who has any concerns, or intelligence to suggest modern slavery or human trafficking is happening in their communities, can contact the Modern Slavery Helpline on 08000 121 700.
Craig Goodridge Travel is now open for business for 1:1 travel consultations and ATOL protected holiday bookings at The Moor Market in Sheffield. (Photo: Submitted)

A new independent travel agent has opened in Sheffield city centre - offering holidays to world-wide destinations including Canada, the United States, Egypt, Corfu and more.

Craig Goodridge Travel has opened its first retail unit in the citys bustling Moor Market, on The Moor. The new store has been described as a significant milestone for the independent business, which formed in 2017.

To find out more, or to book a free travel consultation, please visit: https://craiggoodridgetravel.com/ or https://www.facebook.com/craiggoodridgetravel.

Craig Goodridge, a former cabin crew member for 10 years, began his journey as a travel expert with Independent Travel Experts (ITE) in March 2017. After six years of running his business online, Craig made the decision to open Craig Goodridge Travels first retail store in the Moor Market last month, on July 29.

The travel agent guarantees personalised holiday experiences tailored to each individuals needs and wants. All packages come with BTA/ATOL/TTA and 100 per cent financial protection.

I am thrilled to embark on this exciting new chapter with the opening of our retail unit in Sheffield city centre, said Craig.

Our goal is not only to expand our brand and customer base but also to diversify the range of travel products we offer. We are committed to providing top-level service and showcasing the excellence of Craig Goodridge Travel.

Rest assured, all our products come with the Travel Trust Association's 100 per cent financial protection, ensuring peace of mind for our valued customers.

Holidays on offer include something for all budgets, from seven-nights in Corfu from just 251 per person, to eight-nights at JOALI Maldives, as seen on BBC 2s Amazing Hotels, from 8,929 per person.
(Bloomberg) -- Singapore received a total of six applications for certificates of eligibility to run in the countrys presidential elections, according to a statement from the Elections Department.

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Four individuals have publicly declared their intention to run for the role. They are: Tharman Shanmugaratnam, a former deputy prime minister; former chief investment officer of Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte Ng Kok Song; George Goh, a local businessman and former non-resident ambassador to Morocco; and former presidential candidate Tan Kin Lian.

Singapore plans to hold the elections on Sept. 1 if more than one candidate is contending for the post.

Related story: Singapore Sets Sept. 1 Vote for Ceremonial Presidential Post

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Ukraine and neighbouring Romania signed a deal on Friday to work together to boost Kyivs export of grain through the latter's territory after Moscow broke off a shipping agreement that allowed safe passage through the Black Sea.

The accord was signed during a trip by Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal to the Romanian capital, Bucharest, for talks with his Romanian counterpart Marcel Ciolacu.

The two leaders discussed ways to ramp up the war-torn nation's key grain exports, and improve infrastructure for transportation across river, rail, road, sea, including at border crossings.

Ukraines economy is heavily dependent on farming, and its grain is crucial for world supplies of wheat, barley, and sunflower oil.

Ciolacu told a news conference after the meeting that he hopes Romania can transport more than 60% of Ukraines grain exports.

He also noted the ambitious target to double the transport of Ukrainian grain through Romania that was set last week during a meeting that included Western and Ukrainian officials in Romanias Danube River town of Galati.

Romania intends to double the amount from 2 million to 4 million tons per month, but Ciolacu did not specify a timeframe for the increase.

US boost for Ukrainians

The Biden administration on Friday announced a major expansion of temporary legal status for Ukrainians already living in the United States, granting a reprieve for those who fled Russia's invasion.

The move is expected to make 166,700 Ukrainians eligible for Temporary Protected Status, up from about 26,000 currently, the Homeland Security Department said.

To qualify, Ukrainians must have been in the United States by 16 August, two days before the announcement. They are eligible for work authorisation.

The temporary status was originally scheduled to expire on 19 October but is being extended 18 months to 19 April, 2025.

Russias ongoing military invasion of Ukraine and the resulting humanitarian crisis requires that the United States continue to offer safety and protection to Ukrainians who may not be able to return to their country, said Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

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Election monitoring group leader arrested

A Moscow judge has formally arrested and detained one of the leaders of a prominent independent election monitoring group on suspicion of being involved with an undesirable organisation, his lawyer said Friday.

The case against Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of Russias leading election watchdog Golos, is the latest in the months-long crackdown on Kremlin critics and rights activists the government ratcheted up after sending troops into Ukraine.

Melkonyants was charged and detained Thursday in Moscow and appeared in the city's Basmanny District Court on Friday where a judge arrested him, his lawyer told The Associated Press. Russian media report he has been detained until 17 October. He faces up to six years in prison if convicted.

Drone crash

Russian authorities said a Ukrainian military drone crashed into a building in central Moscow on Friday morning.

Local air defence system shot down the drone before the debris fell in the city's Expo Centre complex, the defence ministry said in a statement.

The "unmanned aerial vehicle" was hit at about 4am local time but caused no casualties after interception, the statement added.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said emergency services were operating around the non-residential building although no significant damage was done.

One of the walls had temporarily collapsed as a result of the falling wreckage, emergency services told the local media. Airspace near Moscow's international airport was temporarily closed following the strikes.

Russia also claimed it had successfully defended against a Ukrainian drone attack which targeted its warships in the Black Sea on Thursday night.

US approves sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine

The United States has approved sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine via Denmark and the Netherlands.

Washington has assured the delivery of highly sought-after fighter jets will start as soon as the Ukrainian pilots complete the required training, a US official told the Guardian.

I welcome the US decision to clear the way for delivery of F-16 jets to Ukraine. It allows us to follow through on the training of Ukrainian pilots, Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren said in a message on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Ukraines allies first agreed on training the countrys air force on advanced fighter jets at the G7 summit held in Japan in May, without ironing out the details.

Officials attending the NATO summit in July hinted the training could start as early as August.

The approval comes as a relief for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has repeatedly called on the allies to provide aerial arms to bolster Ukraine's slow-progressing counteroffensive.

Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov thanked Denmark and the Netherlands for "outstanding leadership" in July after the summit.

Russia, in response to the support, warned that allowing Kyiv to use F-16s would be a colossal risk and would spread the war across Europe.
The Big Grrrls social media account is feeling good as hell about Lizzo.

The verified Instagram account representing the singer's backup dancers posted a statement Thursday praising Lizzo's character and thanking her for breaking down barriers with her recent international tour. The show of support comes two weeks after three of Lizzo's former dancers sued her, accusing her of sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment. Lizzo has denied the allegations.

"We have had the time of our lives on The Special Tour," the statement begins. "We have been so honored to share the stage with such amazing talent. This tour experience has been beyond just #Special!"

The 11-month international tour wrapped up July 30 in Niigata, Japan, just days before the lawsuit was filed. The statement Thursday does not directly address the lawsuit.

"THANK YOU to Lizzo for shattering limitations and kicking in the door way for the Big Grrrl and Big Boiii Dancers to do what we love!" the statement continues. "You have created a platform where we have been able to parallel our Passion with a purpose!"

The statement goes on to affirm the value of traveling the world and representing a wide spectrum of body types: "So many advantages to prevailing over hardships that society and the entertainment and beauty industry can bring So Grateful that the standards and existence of Beauty in THIS Team goes beyond the surface!"

Lizzo and her backup dancers

Dave Simpson/WireImage Lizzo and her backup dancers

The statement is attributed to "the Big Grrrls & Big Boiiis" but does not enumerate which members of the dance team contributed or cosigned. EW has reached out to a representative for Lizzo for comment.

The Big Grrls added a new member to their lineup on the Prime Video series Lizzo's Watch Out for the Big Grrrls, which saw 13 dancers compete for a spot on the team. The series won an Emmy for Outstanding Competition Program.

Story continues

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Business owner Jordan Zammit, pictured left, says her proudest achievement is placing second in the best new business category at this years Northants Life Awards. (Photo: The Paddock Pantry)

A year has passed since a popular cafe in a renovated horsebox first opened, and the business owner says she is overwhelmed and incredibly grateful for how everything has panned out.

Jordan Zammit set up The Paddock Pantry while on maternity leave from her job in the emergency services, and opened to the public at the end of July last year.

She took the plunge after deciding she wanted to own a business and contribute to the Northampton community in a positive way.

The Paddock Pantry is open at Harlestone Firs every Saturday and Sunday from 8.45am until 4.30pm come rain or shine. (Photo: The Paddock Pantry)

The six months leading up to the opening were spent transforming the horsebox from its former use as a prosecco bar, enabling Jordan to sell food and drink.

The business owner had no previous barista experience before setting up The Paddock Pantry, but volunteered at coffee shops and did thorough research to make her dream a reality.

The Paddock Pantry began by attending a number of events across the county, before finding its permanent home at Harlestone Firs five months later in November last year.

The business now remains there and is open every Saturday and Sunday from 8.45am until 4.30pm come rain or shine.

The food and coffee they offer is supplied by independent businesses across the county, which has remained important to Jordan over the past year. (Photo: The Paddock Pantry)

When asked how she feels that the business has surpassed its first year of trading, Jordan said: Its overwhelming  one because its gone so quick, and two because its been such a successful first year.

Im really proud, and proud of the team and anyone whos helped. Not just those who work for us.

I feel so connected with the community and our regulars. Im incredibly grateful.

With such a positive response from the community and many sell-out weekends over the past year, Jordan says that before owning her business she had never felt this connected to everybody.

There is even seating for customers to make the most of when they purchase something from The Paddock Pantry. (Photo: The Paddock Pantry)

Having the business has allowed me to meet people and they share their stories with me every week, said Jordan. Im more connected, grateful and proud.

The food and coffee they offer is supplied by independent businesses across the county, which has remained important to Jordan over the past year.

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Her regulars include Made by Millie and Treatbox by Jess, as well as Yellow Bourbon Coffee Roasters. Jordan also likes to stock other businesses when the opportunity arises.

She said: Its humbling. We all support each other.

When asked if she ever imagined the business would get to where it is today, the founder said: Absolutely not. It completely took me by surprise.

Buying this horsebox, doing it up and putting myself out there, it was so nerve-racking. I needed and wanted it to work, and its been the best.

The business goes above and beyond in changing the drinks on offer and how the horsebox is decorated depending on the time of year.

It is currently decorated with sunflowers and they offer Barbie and Ken slushies as part of the drinks menu, but pumpkin and maple spice drinks will be making a return in the autumn.

When Jordan first spoke to this newspaper when the business was in its early days, she was looking to employ staff of her own  and now has a team of six, as well as her parents who kindly help whenever needed.

The team made it easier for Jordan to transition back into her emergency services job after maternity leave, which she now juggles full time alongside running her business and being a mother to Evelyn.

Its definitely worth it, said Jordan.

The business recently hired two new individuals and everyone plays their part as The Paddock Pantry continues to grow.

The main reason Jordan started this venture was to set up a future for her daughter, who is regularly brought along to visit her mum at work by friends and family.

Jordans proudest achievement was placing second in the best new business category at this years Northants Life Awards.

The business owner says it was a wow moment getting recognised by the local community in under a year  despite only being open twice a week.

It is hard work, said Jordan. Every week you stock up, clean, and tow the horsebox. We had a break in and the past year hasnt been without its faults or scary moments.

It takes a lot of energy and time, but it is worth it and the business is growing.

Jordan loves their pitch at Harlestone Firs and they will celebrate the one year anniversary of being based there in November, with balloons and cake.

Looking to the future, Jordan says she would consider getting an additional coffee van that she can drive rather than tow.

She would love to place it somewhere local at another busy park, to create further jobs and links to suppliers and the community.

To keep up to date with The Paddock Pantry, check out the business Facebook page here.
Performers in the Pride Monologues as part of Foyle Pride Celebrations

The event promises to be an evening full of zany, wild, moving, radical, thought provoking, tear jerking and side-splitting words and wonderings. It will take place on Thursday 24th August at 8pm in The Derry Playhouse, produced by Sole Purpose Productions in association with Foyle Pride.

Mel Bradley is a member of the Foyle Pride Committee and will be acting as MC for the night. She said: We are delighted to be working with Sole Purpose again for this wonderful event. Sole Purpose has a long history of supporting Foyle Pride and the LGBTQIA+ community.

Events like this are so important for the LGBTQIA+ community. We tell stories to see ourselves and when we cant see ourselves represented in the stories that we see on stage and screen then we dont know where we fit in the world. Events like this offer positive representation and validate us. Its going to be a heart-warming and celebratory evening. Get your tickets!

Pat Byrne

There will be a number of writers and performers taking part in the event including Gemma Walker Farren, Taryn de Vere, Cat Brogan, Rosie Patton, Martin McConnellogue and many others. Sole Purpose has run the monologues many times over the years as fundraisers for Foyle Pride. The idea comes from The Vagina Monologues, a play by Eve Ensler, which explores consensual and non-consensual sexual experiences, body image and several other topics through the eyes of women with various ages, races, sexualities, and other differences. Artistic Director of Sole Purpose, Patricia Byrne, said: We started off with The Vagina Monologues many years ago. Then one year we wanted to include a monologue by a trans woman, there werent any in The Vagina Monologues, so we decided to do The Muff Monologues, which is our own home grown version ofThe Vagina Monologues where the performers write their own pieces. These were very successful events with packed houses and lots of laughter. For the 30th Anniversary year of Foyle Pride, we decided to do The Pride Monologues. The rehearsals have been going really well with many new writers and performers coming forward to share their work. Its going to be a really brilliant night!

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Martin McConnellogue, well known local activist on the Foyle Pride Committee, and former UNISON LGBT+ Coordinator, said: I am really looking forward to this and sharing the stage with some icons of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Lizzie Devlin, Community Arts Development Officer, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, core funder of Sole Purpose, said: The Arts Council of Northern Ireland is delighted to support Sole Purpose Productions The Pride Monologues, thanks to The National Lottery players. The Pride Monologues marks 30 years of Foyle Pride, bringing writers and performers together at the wonderful Playhouse in celebration of the local LGBTQIA+ community. Congratulations to all involved.

The Pride Monologues is on Thursday 24th August 8pm in The Derry Playhouse, tickets are 7 suggested donation. Tickets are available on Eventbrite at the following link https://bit.ly/3DaOmvj or can be paid on the door. For more information contact Patricia Byrne on solepurpose@mac.com

Rosie

Mel Bradley

Agnes

Jennifer

Cat Brogan

Mary

Kelly

Taryn

Martin McConnellogue

Caitriona
Ecuador will hold a presidential election Sunday after a campaign marked by the murder of a top candidate and vows to tackle the lawlessness that has engulfed the once-peaceful nation.

The small South American country has in recent years become a playground for foreign drug mafia seeking to export cocaine from its shores, stirring up a brutal war between local gangs.

The murder rate has soared above that of Mexico or Colombia, and the assassination of several politicians in the run-up to the vote underscored the challenge facing Ecuador's leaders.

The most high profile among them was presidential candidate and anti-corruption crusader Fernando Villavicencio, gunned down in broad daylight as he left a political rally just days ahead of the vote.

"These are completely atypical elections, in a situation basically of horror that Ecuador is going through... due to the existing violence, but which manifested itself in a more acute and atrocious way" with Villavicencio's murder, political scientist Anamaria Correa Crespo told AFP.

Soldiers have been deployed across the country to secure the vote, which begins at 7:00 am local time (1200GMT) and closes at 5:00 pm (2200 GMT).



Read more on FRANCE 24 English



Read also:

Ecuador's Lasso declares state of emergency after killing of presidential candidate

Amazon nations fail to agree on shared goal to end deforestation at summit in Brazil

Gang boss who threatened slain Ecuador candidate transferred to max security
Jane McDonald. Photo: Danny Lawson/PA Wire

At the start of the week, we looked back on 50 years of Chatsworth Farmyard in Bakewell. Those behind the popular farm reflected on its half-century in operation and looked to the future, urging people to buy local to support British farming.

Meanwhile, Wakefield-born Jane McDonald revealed what to expect from her new travel series Lost in Japan, claiming she saw Mount Fuji while sitting naked in a hot spa.

We heard from Hull creative prop maker Natasha Nichols about her participation in the televised Ultimate Wedding Planner competition and how she ended up in the business.

We also spoke to the Leeds doctor at the forefront of trialling artificial intelligence in the NHS breast screening service. Dr Nisha Sharma is preparing for the start of a landmark study in Leeds over the coming weeks.

We looked at how a new campaign aims to make the Yorkshire coastline the 'number one destination to visit in the UK at all times of year', with a focus on what's on offer in autumn and winter.

And we featured two Yorkshire contestants on TV competition Alone, who have challenged themselves to get by in the wilderness.

Finally, in arts and culture, we looked at the National Theatre's streaming service and how it saves Yorkshire audiences a journey to London.

And we looked ahead to next month when an exciting new immersive theatre piece about climate change and climate migration will be performed by over a hundred young people in a co-production between the National Youth Theatre and Leeds 2023.

We have recently launched a weekly Yorkshire Lifestyle newsletter, sending highlights from the features team directly to your email inbox. Well be including everything from theatre and restaurant reviews to our magazine stories, arts and culture content, fashion, property and more. To sign up, visit www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/newsletter
(Photo : Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

The brutal murder of Jared Bridegan in broad daylight in front of his toddler has been exacerbated by discoveries in the 18 months following his death.



Shanna Gardner, the ex-wife of slain Microsoft executive Jared Bridegan, has been indicted for first-degree murder in what Florida prosecutors are describing as a "cold, calculated, and premeditated murder."

The indictment includes charges of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and child abuse. The case involves the killing of Bridegan, a father of four, who was shot and killed in a targeted ambush on a Jacksonville Beach street last year, according to ABC News.

Murder of Microsoft Executive

The grand jury's indictment signifies a significant development in the case, as Gardner becomes the third person charged in connection with the homicide. Her current husband, Mario Fernandez Saldana, was indicted five months ago on multiple charges, including first-degree murder.

Henry Tenon, Fernandez Saldana's former tenant, was arrested earlier this year and is accused of pulling the trigger in the fatal shooting. Shanna Gardner's alleged involvement in the murder has brought to light the complexity of the case.

State Attorney Melissa Nelson, who is leading the prosecution, emphasized Gardner's central and key role in the "cold, calculated, and premeditated murder of Jared Bridegan." The case has revealed a web of connections and relationships that contributed to the tragic event.

The incident unfolded in February 2022 when Bridegan, accompanied by his then-2-year-old daughter, encountered a tire blocking his path while driving in Jacksonville Beach.

Upon stepping out of his car, he was ambushed and fatally shot. The subsequent investigation led to the arrest of Henry Tenon, who has since pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and is cooperating with prosecutors.

Mario Fernandez Saldana, Gardner's current husband, was charged with first-degree murder in March for his alleged involvement in Bridegan's death. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in his case. The prosecution has asserted that the tenant-landlord relationship between Tenon and Bridegan is a significant link in the case, as per Daily Mail.

Read Also: Malaysia Jet Crash: Victims' Remains, Voice Recorder Discovered Following Tragic Accident

Shanna Gardner's Alleged Involvement in Murder Plot

Shanna Gardner's indictment further complicates the narrative, shedding light on her alleged role in the murder plot. Gardner's denial of involvement during a television interview last year contrasts with the charges brought against her. Her attorney declined to comment on the matter.

As the legal process continues, the families involved are grappling with the repercussions. Gardner's parents expressed their sadness over the situation, emphasizing their commitment to supporting their daughter and grandchildren during this challenging time. The Microsoft exec's family requested privacy as the legal proceedings unfold.

The unfolding case serves as a reminder of the intricate layers of human relationships and the potential for unexpected and tragic outcomes. As the legal process seeks to uncover the truth behind Bridegan's murder, the complexities of the case underscore the importance of thorough investigation, due process, and justice for the victims and their families, Independent reported.

Related Article: Vanished Ship Bringing Senegalese Migrants to Spain Rescued, Yet Over 60 Feared Dead

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West African military chiefs began talks in Ghana on Thursday to discuss a possible armed intervention to reverse the coup in Niger. The African Union has rejected the idea of a military intervention, as have several regional capitals. The junta said it is open to talks but has been holding deposed President Mohamed Bazoum since it took power July 26 and says it wants to prosecute him for treason. Read our blog to see how the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).

This live blog is no longer being updated.

7:05pm: ECOWAS has 'its back up against the wall

West African military chiefs met in Ghana on Thursday to coordinate a possible armed intervention in Niger.

FRANCE 24s international affairs editor Philip Turle explained why ECOWAS is perceived to have its back up against the wall, and why a military intervention is so risky.

Because it could lead to widespread clashes around the country, it could lead to regional wars with other countries getting involved, notably Burkina Faso and also Mali, who threatened to intervene if anybody touches the coup leaders in Niger, he said. But at the same time, ECOWAS has to do something.

Click on the player below for Turle's full analysis.

2:06pm: West African military chiefs start talks on Niger coup

West African military chiefs are set to meet Thursday in Ghana to coordinate a possible intervention aimed at reversing Niger's coup.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)



Read more on FRANCE 24 English



Read also:

Niger junta has 'no legitimacy' to try President Bazoum, exiled minister tells FRANCE 24

ECOWAS condemns Niger juntas threat to prosecute President Bazoum for 'high treason'

Niger junta is open to diplomacy, say Nigerian scholars
The UN mission in Cyprus said its peacekeepers were assaulted by Turkish Cypriot personnel (Jewel SAMAD)

Turkish Cypriot forces were accused of assaulting UN peacekeepers on Friday as they attempted to block the construction of a controversial road in the buffer zone dividing Cyprus, drawing international condemnation.

The confrontation occurred in Pyla, an ethnically mixed village in the UN-patrolled area between the internationally recognised Republic of Cyprus in the south and a breakaway Turkish Cypriot statelet in the north.

Video widely shared on social media showed bulldozers pushing away UN-marked SUVs, cement barriers and razor wire as well as a posse of Turkish Cypriot police forcing back peacekeepers in blue berets. AFP could not immediately independently verify the footage.

The UN mission said its peacekeepers were assaulted as they tried to block the "unauthorised construction work" near Pyla, the only village where Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots live side by side.

"The United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus condemns the assaults against UN peacekeepers and damage to UN vehicles by personnel from the Turkish Cypriot side this morning," UNFICYP said.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the UN chief "stresses that threats to the safety of UN peacekeepers and damage to UN property are unacceptable and may constitute serious crimes under international law," said Stephane Dujarric.

European Union member Cyprus denounced what it called "organised incidents caused by the Turkish occupying forces... and the unacceptable attack against British and Slovak members of the UN peacekeeping force".

The EU also condemned the incident, as well as Britain, France and the United States, who in a joint statement expressed "serious concern at the launch of unauthorised construction" of the road.

The authorities in the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, who say the road project is aimed at easing the plight of its people, dismissed the UN mission's allegations as "baseless".

Story continues

"Our expectation from UNFICYP... is to review its biased stance, put an immediate end to its physical interferences and blockage efforts" of the roadworks, the TRNC said in a statement.

- 'Faits accomplis' -

An official said Turkish Cypriot police and military in plain clothes had punched a peacekeeper and assaulted a dozen others by "pushing them back violently".

A tractor was used to drag a UN vehicle out of the way and major damage had been caused to three vehicles, said the official who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity.

In its statement, the UN mission urged the Turkish Cypriot side to "respect the mission's mandated authority inside the UN buffer zone, refrain from any actions that could escalate tensions further, and withdraw all personnel and machinery from the UN buffer zone immediately".

UNFICYP said it was determined to block any construction work and would remain in the area.

"The mission is monitoring the situation closely and remains committed to ensuring calm and stability are maintained in the area," it said.

Cyprus government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis accused the Turkish side of trying to create new "faits accomplis" at Pyla by constructing a road connecting the "occupied village of Arsos with a forward illegal military outpost".

The spokesman described the Turkish road project as "an attempt at a very serious violation of the status quo".

- 'Humanitarian objective' -

The Turkish Cypriot authorities said the road project had a "humanitarian objective" that was "aimed at providing ease of access to TRNC territory for our citizens living in the village of Pile".

They said that despite this, the UN peacekeepers had "physically assaulted... our road construction teams as well as our police, who are present in the area only to provide safety. This stance displayed by UNFICYP is unacceptable."

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish forces occupied its northern third in response to a military coup sponsored by the junta then in power in Greece.

The statehood of the republic Turkish Cypriot leaders proclaimed in 1983 is recognised only by Ankara.

Efforts to reunify Cyprus have been at a standstill since the last round of UN-backed talks collapsed in 2017.

Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, a protege of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has urged the international community to "acknowledge the existence" of two states in Cyprus.

His calls for a two-state solution have been rejected by the Greek Cypriot leadership of the Republic of Cyprus who say they still want a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation in line with successive UN peace plans.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin bathes in the blood of his thousands upon thousands of victims in a bathtub painted in Ukraine's colours of yellow and blue in this carnival parade in Duesseldorf, western Germany (Picture: Ina Fassbender/AFP via Getty Images)

Wednesday morning, and Lord Robertson of Port Ellen is on the radio, talking about his life in politics, and particularly about his time as Nato Secretary-General between 1999 and 2003. There are always reasons to argue with George Robertson, of course, and his unfailingly sunny interpretation of his own career as a leading member of the British Labour party.

It is fascinating, though, to hear him talk about his relationship with Vladimir Putin, who came to power in Russia in 1999; and about how Putin seemed, at the time, to be a broadly progressive figure, who said that he wanted Russia to become "part of western Europe. They chatted, Robertson remembers, about Putins legendary 1991 visit to East Lothian as deputy mayor of St Petersburg, and his visit to a Prestonpans pie shop; and its clear that at the time, western diplomats thought that Putin  like Mikhail Gorbachev  was a leader with whom they could do business.

All of which casts just a little more light on this weeks strange incident of the very senior Nato diplomat who, at a panel event in Norway, publicly inserted his foot into his mouth by suggesting that the Ukraine war might end with Ukraine agreeing to give up some territory, in return for Nato membership.

Vladimir Putin addresses a rally about his claim to have annexed four regions of Ukraine (Picture: Alexander Nemenov/AFP via Getty Images)

Now given the official positions of most Nato members, and the facts of international law, it is hard to count the number of levels on which this is a repellent and possibly dangerous proposition. It proposes a solution which would, in effect, make Nato complicit in rewarding aggression and punishing its victims, while doing little to discourage Putin from further raids on the territory of former Soviet republics. And of course, the Nato official in question has since apologised for his remarks.

Yet the whole incident highlights the strains within the western alliance created by the Ukraine crisis; and its worth seeking to understand why the idea that Russia is still some kind of rational actor, and might be placated by reasonable concessions, still exercises such a grip over some western diplomats.

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So far as I can see, there are roughly three strands of thought that tend to support the idea of compromise with Russia. The first, and easiest to dismiss, is the position of the Putin-sympathising far right of UK and European politics, motivated by a mixture of authoritarian instinct and pure financial self-interest, and often closely linked to the generation of oligarchs who first looted the old state assets of the Soviet Union, and then began to spread their wealth in a web of influence around the globe, not least in London. Then there is the old nostalgic left, which seems to find it difficult to accept that Putins Russia no longer represents an alternative to capitalism, but is in fact an example of oligarchic capitalism at its authoritarian worst.

And finally  and most tellingly  there is the liberal centre of western politics, which, as Robertson pointed out in this weeks conversation, has become wedded since 1945 to the idea, explicitly expressed in the structures of the European Union, that the way to build peace is through connection and economic interdependence. That idea might even have worked, in relation to Russia, if the West had not allowed Russia to become an arena for savage capitalism, but had instead worked hard, through the 1990s, to support the kind of judicial and democratic institution-building that might have made Putins eventual rise to power impossible.

That, though, became the path not travelled; and 24 years on, the once affable Putin has become a paranoid and isolated autocrat, now engaged in a shocking war of aggression against an independent neighbour. Given the extent of the shift in Russias stance, and the unwieldy scale and entrenched cultures of the international institutions involved in responding, its perhaps not surprising that there is reluctance to abandon attitudes formed in the more hopeful 1990s; war is always a desperate humanitarian disaster, and the instinct to avoid or end it is both commendable and understandable.

In the end, though, the very fact that Putin launched his all-out attack on Ukraine at all, on the basis of no evidence that Ukraine represented a material threat to Russia, and on the deluded assumption that Russian troops would be welcomed into Kyiv as liberators from fascism, tends to suggest that reason is no longer informing his actions. In fact, of course, Ukrainians will not surrender their homeland, and seem ready to fight to the last man and woman, so that now, the war has sunk into an ugly and apparently interminable stalemate, along Ukraines eastern border.

In the world of diplomacy, its often said that wars only ever end in peace deals, grubby or otherwise. In truth, though, the war that truly shaped the last 80 years of global history ended only in the comprehensive defeat of Nazi Germany, and of the crazed ideology of national destiny and dominance that drove its aggression. The idea that Putin is now acting out a similar ideology, in alliance with forces that want to wipe the very idea of Ukraine from the map, certainly demands some radical and depressing reassessment both of Putin himself, and of the diplomatic model pursued by the West since 1989.

Yet it seems increasingly dangerous to deny the possibility that we do now face that kind of threat; and that if the Putin regime cannot be comprehensively defeated in Ukraine, then the idea of building a peaceful Europe based on principles of co-operation and mutual dependence may soon become a footnote to history, as we enter a new age of perpetual conflict that will damage and impoverish us all, in ways beyond what we of the lucky generations raised in peace can easily imagine.
The One in Toronto, recently announced by the developer Mizrahi Developments, will stand at an official height of 91 stories, making it the tallest building in Canada upon completion. Its unique facade system is provided by BM WINDOWS  a Vietnamese facade brand intricately linked with a range of iconic projects within the country.

For several consecutive years listed among the world's most liveable cities, Toronto has stood as an economically and culturally vibrant centre, characterised by its rich diversity and forward-looking lifestyle standards. Stepping through two decades of resplendent development, Toronto is adorned with proud skyscrapers, and The One stands as a notable piece, often likened to a 'dominant' crown gracing the citys skyline. This 91-storey 'landmark' tower, soaring 328.4 meters high, has been meticulously nurtured by Mizrahi Developments, from the selection of design partners to the provision of finishing materials for its facade. Renowned global architectural firm Foster + Partners has brought forth an unmistakably distinctive identity to The One, and BM Windows  a Vietnamese facade contractor  has become a supplier and producer of facade modules for the project.

The facade of The One encompasses all the highest technical specifications of a 'supertall' building, along with the stringent standards of the North American region. Especially within the context of the current global sustainable development trend, environmental factors take precedence. For this project, BM Windows will manufacture more than 38 different types of panels, totalling more than 7,000 unitized panels. The entire facade system produced by BM Windows undergoes rigorous scrutiny from ASTM International - the American Society for Testing and Materials, meeting the demands of Canada's harsh temperate climate that can drop to as low as -18C, withstanding wind pressures of up to 4.0kPa at elevated heights, alongside criteria for structural integrity, building displacement, insulation, soundproofing, airtightness, and high durability.

By meeting the most stringent technical standards to participate in a project considered a symbol of contemporary world architecture, BM Windows has demonstrated the capabilities of Vietnam's facade contractors, earning international recognition.

Upon completion, The One will be the first 'supertall' building according to the definition by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat Canada, and it will serve as one of the emerging iconic symbols of the Red Maple Leaf country.
HA NOI  After the information that Vietnamese fresh husked coconuts can be exported to the US, the price of fresh coconuts in the Mekong Delta has increased again.

According to the Ben Tre Coconut Association, the price of coconuts fluctuated in the range of VN25,000-45,000 (US$1.1-1.9) for 10 coconuts in the province at the beginning of this year.

However, it has increased to VN35,000 - VN75,000 depending on the type and quality.

At the beginning of the year, the price of fresh coconut was only VN15,000 - VN20,000 for 10, it has now tripled to between VN60,000 to VN65,000.

Ben Tre Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said that the reason why coconut prices rose was thanks to the increase in world coconut prices.

Although the coconut area of the province is the largest in the country, it is very small compared to the world, so the price of coconut depends greatly on the world market.

The domestic coconut market has many positive signals after the news that the US officially opened to Vietnamese husked coconut.

After more than two years of decline, the sharp increase in the price of coconut made coconut farmers very excited, because coconut trees are the main source of income for many households. Besides, some businesses have also started planning to export this item.

Viet Nam ranks seventh in coconut production worldwide with an area of over 188,000 ha, mainly concentrated in the Mekong Delta.

The countrys coconut area accounts for 1.67 per cent of the world's area, 2.07 per cent of Asia's coconut area.

Coconut export turnover is estimated at US$900 million last year, making Viet Nam the fourth largest exporter of coconut products in the Asia-Pacific region.

Currently, there are about 854 enterprises manufacturing and processing coconut products with many different types and sizes of activities such as processing coconut shells, copra, coconut juice to solve jobs for more than 15,000 employees.

Currently, there are more than 90 enterprises exporting coconut products, of which, 42 have exported deeply-processed products.

The coconut industry strives to export coconut and coconut products to reach over $1 billion.  VNS
Hong Kong: Public health I&T pact signed

Witnessed by Secretary for Innovation, Technology & Industry Prof Sun Dong, the Department of Health and the Science & Technology Parks Corporation today signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to drive digital transformation in public health.

The MOU is aimed at leveraging innovation and technology (I&T) to expedite the digitalisation of public health functions, while also fostering an innovation-driven culture in the healthcare sector. The partnership not only equips the department to face ever-evolving public health challenges, but supports Hong Kongs smart government strategy.

Under the MOU, the department and the corporation will jointly explore innovative solutions across four key areas of the departments remit over the next three years, namely health regulatory affairs, health protection and promotion, health administration, and dental and clinical services.

Efforts will be focused primarily on smart health regulatory functions, smart clinics, smart workflow re-engineering, smart customer services, online engagement, and data collaboration.

Speaking at the ceremony, Prof Sun said the department has been actively implementing smart government initiatives and making good use of data.

He said he believed that the collaboration with Science Park, coupled with the application of technologies such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and big data analysis, all of which have been developing rapidly in Hong Kong in recent years, will bring a new impetus to the citys public health services and benefit the public at large.

He added that this will inspire more I&T companies to work with government departments to develop appropriate digitalisation projects and intelligent solutions for different public services.

This story has been published on: 2023-08-18. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
New Zealand celebrates long-standing education links with China

Xinhua) 13:18, August 18, 2023

WELLINGTON, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand greatly values the long-standing education links with China, New Zealand's top education official said at a national conference closed on Friday.

New Zealand's education links with China has been based on reciprocity and partnerships that have been developed through many years of two-way student mobility, high-level dialogue and research collaborations, Education Minister Jan Tinetti said at the New Zealand International Education Conference (NZIEC) held from Wednesday to Friday.

"Education is one of the key pillars of the New Zealand-China relationship and a foundation for enduring links between our countries," Tinetti told attendees at the NZIEC at which China is this year's country of honor.

This year, the 30th edition of the NZIEC was attended by practitioners and leaders from across New Zealand's international education sector.

One of the key topics of the conference was responding to international students' mental health and wellbeing needs, with non-government organization Asian Family Services' health and wellbeing professionals Ivan Yeo and Leah Rodriguez-Palomer sharing strategies to support the wellbeing of international students.

"China is our largest source country of international students, with almost 12,000 Chinese students studying in New Zealand," Tinetti said.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
(Photo : Photo credit should read MARTIN BUREAU/AFP via Getty Images)

A Georgia school board voted to fire a fifth-grade teacher who "improperly read a book on gender fluidity to her students."



A recent decision by the Cobb County School Board in suburban Atlanta has stirred debate over the limits of public school teaching and the role of parents in curriculum choices.

The board, divided along party lines, voted 4-3 to terminate the employment of Katie Rinderle, a ten-year veteran teacher, after she read the picture book "My Shadow Is Purple" by Scott Stuart to her fifth-grade class at Due West Elementary School, as per Washington Post.

Georgia Teacher Firing Ignites Debate on LGBTQ+ Education in Schools

The book explores themes of gender fluidity, a topic that has become the center of contentious debates about LGBTQ+ education.

The board's decision, made against the recommendation of a panel of retired educators, highlights the challenges educators face when addressing potentially sensitive topics in the classroom. The panel found that Rinderle had violated district policies but suggested that firing her was not warranted.

The case has attracted significant attention, raising questions about the boundaries of classroom instruction and the extent to which schools can dictate teacher behavior. The incident unfolded in March when Rinderle chose to read "My Shadow Is Purple" to her students.

Afterward, some parents expressed concerns, triggering a larger discussion about the appropriateness of the material. The controversy reflects a broader conservative movement in the United States that opposes the inclusion of LGBTQ+ subjects in school curricula.

It has also prompted conversations about the influence parents should have over classroom content. While the board's four Republican members voted for Rinderle's dismissal, three Democrats opposed the decision, attempting to delay the vote. Superintendent Chris Ragsdale, aligned with the Republican majority, initially recommended Rinderle's termination.

The case has underscored the challenges of defining boundaries in classroom instruction, especially in areas where policies might be vague or open to interpretation. Rinderle, who released a statement through the Southern Poverty Law Center, which represented her, criticized the district's decision.

She argued that the dismissal sends a harmful message to students, suggesting that not all students are valued for being their authentic selves. She expressed concerns that teachers might self-censor due to the unclear boundaries set by the policies, impacting the quality of education, according to The Daily Beast.

Read Also: Pakistan Arrests More Than 100 After Angry Mob Attacked Churches Following Rumors Christians Burned Quran Pages

Teacher Firing Sparks Curriculum Autonomy Debate

Rinderle's lawyer, Craig Goodmark, echoed her sentiment, emphasizing that the case raises fundamental questions about educators' ability to teach without fear of political interference. He highlighted the vagueness of the policies, which makes it difficult for teachers to navigate what is allowed in the classroom.

The hearing tribunal appeared to acknowledge this ambiguity, rejecting claims that Rinderle knowingly violated district rules. The impact of the decision could extend beyond the Cobb County School Board. Rinderle has the option to appeal her termination to the state Board of Education and potentially through the courts.

Despite the immediate firing, Rinderle's teaching license remains intact, offering her the possibility of resuming her career elsewhere. Goodmark expressed confidence that she would teach again.

The situation in Georgia reflects a broader national trend of adopting laws that restrict certain classroom discussions. Georgia introduced a rule in 2022 prohibiting teaching on controversial topics, coinciding with state legislation that limits the teaching of "divisive concepts."

These laws aim to restrict discussions on race, politics, and religion in classrooms. As the case unfolds, it raises significant questions about the future of classroom instruction and the balance between educators' autonomy and community concerns, NBC reported

Related Article: US Pledges Funds To Support Ecuador's Anti-Drug Initiatives in Effort To Fight High-Profile Crimes

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
HA NOI  The coffee industry should step up the digitalisation of the value chain to get ready for the European Union (EU)s Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) to maintain and expand exports to this bloc, according to the Viet Nam Trade Office in Belgium.

The trade office said that the law passed by the European Parliament on May 16 and taking effect from December 30, 2024, required companies to demonstrate their products werent sourced from deforested land or land with forest degradation.

The law targets cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, rubber, soy and wood as well as commodities fed by or made using these products such as leather, chocolate, printed paper and furniture.

As a major coffee exporter to the EU, Viet Nam should get prepared for the law to maintain and expand coffee exports to the bloc, raising the pressing need for digitalisation of the value chain.

The trade office said that enterprises would have more than one year left to comply with the law. For companies of micro and small sizes, the time was longer.

For the coffee industry, exporters must ensure that the products werent sourced from deforested land or land with forest degradation to be eligible for entering the EU market.

The integration of digital technology was critical to meeting the regulations on deforestationfree products, the trade office stressed.

An important target of the law was to increase the origin traceability, which said that it is the responsibility of the operators (or traders that are not SMEs) to collect the geolocation coordinates of the plots of land where the commodities were produced.

If the operators cannot collect the geolocation of all plots of land contributing to a shipment, then the products could not be placed on the EU market or exported from it.

Operators (and traders which are not SMEs) and enforcing authorities could cross-check the geolocation coordinates against satellite images or forest cover maps to assess if the products meet the deforestation-free requirement of the regulation.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, origin traceability to every plot of land was the biggest challenge to the coffee industry in complying with the EUDR.

It would be costly if each enterprise developed its own geolocation system which many operators could not afford.

Thus, Viet Nam would need to develop a national database about forest and coffee plantation areas.

The ministry was drafting a national-level action plan for the coffee industry to adapt to the EUDR which would focus on enhancing the publicprivate partnership to support the industry towards transparent and sustainable development.

The ministry said that EUDR provided not only opportunities but also challenges for Viet Nams coffee industry.

Viet Nam has banned the exploitation of natural forests since 2016. Currently, the rate of deforestation for coffee plantations in Viet Nam was below 0.1 per cent.

However, the Viet Nam Coffee  Cocoa Association said that attention must be paid to preventing deforestation for coffee production, especially when coffee prices increased strongly from the beginning of this year.

Coffee prices were fluctuating around VN66,000-67,000 per kg in the domestic market, compared to the band of VN35,000-40,000 recorded during the past decade.

The association said that the EU was a major coffee export market of Viet Nam which accounted for around 40 per cent of Viet Nams coffee export each year.

Statistics from the agriculture ministry showed that the EU imported around 3.05 million tonnes of coffee from the world in 2022, worth around 12.81 billion euro. Viet Nam was the second largest coffee exporter to the EU outside the bloc, after Brazil, with an export volume of 662,000 tonnes, worth 1.54 billion euro.

According to Eurostat, EU imported coffee worth $7.1 billion from the world in the first four months of this year, a fall of 1.7 per cent against the same period last year. However, the EUs coffee import from Viet Nam increased by 34.1 per cent to reach $601 million, according to 8.86 per cent of the EUs coffee import.

There were about 710,000ha of coffee plantation areas in Viet Nam with an output of more than 1.84 million tonnes per year, mostly in five Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) provinces.  VNS
HCM CITY  Indian firms want to promote wedding tourism in Viet Nam because of its natural wonders and amazing landscapes.

Consul General of India Madan Mohan Sethi has said that tourism acts as a conduit linking the peoples of both nations.

The mutual understanding and respect for each others cultures and traditions will inevitably yield economic benefits, the consul general said at the Viet Nam-India tourism collaboration event held early this week in HCM City.

He affirmed that given the evolving geopolitical landscape, Viet Nam and India view one another as long-term partners.

Therefore, India is glad to welcome Vietnamese travel firms for the purpose of tourism promotion.

During the event, which centered on the business networking activity between the two nations, delegates from 25 Vietnamese travel enterprises had the chance to engage in conversations with 25 Indian tourism companies, establishing the groundwork for long-term collaborative partnerships.

Shakti Singh Kavia, a co-founder of Travel Recipes, said his visit to Viet Nam had the aim of exploring avenues to develop wedding-related tourism, a trend that has gained traction in India over the past decade.

With Indians increasingly seeking destination weddings in foreign countries, Viet Nam presents itself as a potential choice for such occasions, according to Kavia.

As per Kavias evaluation, Viet Nam holds a competitive pricing edge.

He asserted that the expenses for a wedding tour in Viet Nam could potentially be lower than those incurred for a similar event in India.

In addition, Viet Nams appeal lies in its numerous picturesque locations.

Viet Nams natural wonders and amazing landscapes in Ha Long Bay, Phu Quoc Island, Nha Trang Beach City and in a Nang City have become a glorious backdrop for several Indian weddings since the beginning of the year.

High-end resorts and luxury cruises in these popular destinations have carried out many Indian weddings with an average of 400-700 guests, who often stay in the country for up to a week.

Sunil Gupta, from Super Travel Company, regarded the concept of merging tourism with weddings as a promising prospect for Viet Nam.

Gupta pointed out that Indians spend substantially on weddings, which hold utmost significance in Indian culture.

When celebrations are hosted at distant locations, numerous family members, relatives, and friends accompany the couple.

Groups of up to 400 individuals often travel together exclusively for the wedding.

Elaborating on the notable surge in Indian tourists visiting Viet Nam in recent times, Sanjay Kaushik, director of Rajputana Tour and Travels Company, said in India there is a crowd effect where people tend to follow each others choices.

There was a period when people were enamored with visiting Singapore, then Thailand, followed by Malaysia.

Starting from 2022, there has been a rising trend in people opting for Viet Nam.

Kaushik also recommended that the country should enhance its tourism promotion efforts in India, particularly through organising roadshows in major cities.

He highlighted that destinations like Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Australia have successfully drawn significant tourist attention using this approach.

Sanjeev Tulsian, chairman of India Holiday Options, held Viet Nam in high regard based on his own personal experience.

Prior to his visit to Viet Nam, he had a perception of it being a developing nation.

However, now that he was in Viet Nam, he could liken the country to Singapore.

The positive experience has motivated him to better persuade his travel customers to opt for Viet Nam.

Since the start of 2023, Tulsians company has brought over 100 Indian tourists to Viet Nam, averaging around four to five trips per month.

Viet Nam welcomed 5.6 million foreign tourists, including 141,000 Indian arrivals, in the first half of this year, according to the national radio station Voice of Vietnam (VOV).  VNS
HA NOI  Numerous Vietnamese architectural projects have won prizes at the prestigious Asia Architecture Design Awards (AADA) 2023 held in Singapore under the theme Impactful Asia.

The Vietnamese winners were the Grand Maria Saigon - The Lake Tower, CBRE Hanoi Office, Dhawa Quy Nhon, Buon Me Thuot Medical University Hospital, Xuan Thao Residence, the Ngo, Mai Chau Culture Resort, among others.

AADA was created with the aim of recognising and celebrating outstanding excellence and creativity in a diverse range of architecture and design projects, spanning from regional to international scales.

After receiving registration submissions from February to May 2023, a panel of industry experts evaluated the projects based on criteria such as concept, impact, uniqueness, innovation and project functionality.

This years AADA ceremony took place at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, an architectural landmark representing the pinnacle of modern urban development in the "Lion City" and the broader Asian region. The event was attended by many architects, designers and top experts in the field of architecture, real estate and related industries from 12 countries and territories.

According to Deputy Director of AADA, Dylan Yip, the awards received a strong response with more than 1,100 registered accounts on the official website, more than 436 projects successfully submitted, and 100 projects making it to the final round after over eight months. 50 projects were selected to become the winners.

Commenting on competition entries, Alberto Beretta, CEO of I.F.O SRL and Head Judge of AADA 2023, highlighted that Asian architecture is renowned for its unique beauty, diversity, and exquisite blend of tradition and modernity.

The entries showcased the strong emergence of Asian architecture with creative ideas that span across various sectors, ranging from commercial buildings to social and residential structures, he noted.

Architects have employed advanced technology to construct architectural masterpieces that harmonise with the environment and contribute to the sustainable development of the region and the world. Notable projects include the Sikanderpur Forest Regeneration (India), Tops Redevelopment (Philippines), MARSA HQ (Indonesia), BMW Millennium Auto - Pattanakarn Srinakarin (Thailand), Silhouette (Malaysia), and Mai Chau Culture Resort (Viet Nam).

AADA also provides opportunities for architects and industry experts to network, share experiences, collaborate, and exchange technical knowledge with professionals from 12 countries in the region, thereby fostering the development of a strong Asian architectural community.

Speaking of the development potential of Vietnamese architecture, ang The My, CEO & Founder of Vacons and partner of the Asian Architecture Design Awards, said: With the emergence of numerous award-winning projects from Viet Nam, this will undoubtedly be a significant step forward, potentially opening a new era for design and architecture in the country.

After this years awards, the AADA organising committee has officially launched the new season with the theme Emerging Asia. AADA 2024 will feature 30 categories across six main fields: architecture design, interior design, retail interior design, architectural design firms, interior design firms, and furniture manufacturing and retail.

The AADA 2024 awards aim not only to honour the exceptional skill and imagination demonstrated by architects and visionary designers in the Asian region but also to celebrate the special architectural projects that are reshaping the urban landscape and cultural identity of emerging Asian countries.

Registration for AADA 2024 is now open and will continue until the end of January 2024. The awards ceremony is scheduled to take place in Bangkok, Thailand.

Here is the list of Vietnamese winners at AADA 2023:

- Mai Chau Culture Resort  Best resort architecture design

- Grand Tourane Nha Trang Hotel  Best hotel architecture design

- TRE dining; The Hispania Nha Trang Restaurant  Best F&B architecture design

- Rooftop infinity pool, Grand Tourane Nha Trang Hotel - Best leisure & wellness architecture design

- Define; Xuan Thao Residence; VCD water point - Best residential architecture design

- The Ngo - Best residential architecture design-landed housing

- Buon Ma Thuot Medical University Hospital - Best civic building architecture design

- DHAWA Quy Nhon, The Coral Villas inspired by GT115 Yacht designed by Porsche Studio - Part of Gran Melia Nha Trang 6* Resort  Best resort interior design

- TRE Dining  Best F&B interior design

- CBRE Hanoi Office; SHB Best workplace  Best workplace interior design

- Tonkin - Best household furniture design

- "The Sublimation" - The Ballet Ceramic Embroidery Table Lamp  Best furniture accessories design

- TwoG Architecture JSC  Best architecture design firm

- TOA Paint Vietnam; Stella Global Company Limited Vietnam  Best firm in construction & material

- Grand Marina SaiGon  Best furniture manufacturer. VNS
HA NOI  A congress establishing the Association of Former Peoples Public Security Officers of Viet Nam was held in the presence of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in Ha Noi on Thursday.

With permission from the Party Central Committees Secretariat, the Ministry of Home Affairs signed a decision to establish the association on August 1.

It is considered a major landmark in the 78-year history of the Peoples Public Security Force, an affirmation of the importance of former public security officers and the association, and a contribution to the development of the public security force as well as national construction and defence.

The association operates based on the principles of voluntariness, self-management, democracy, equality, transparency, solidarity, and mutual assistance in line with the law. Its activities are under the leadership of the Central Public Security Party Committee, leaders of the Ministry of Public Security, and all-level Party committees of the public security force. It is also managed by the Ministry of Home Affairs and local administrations.

The congress, attended by 219 delegates, elected the executive committee, standing board, and inspection board of the association. Sen. Lt. Gen. Le Quy Vuong, former Deputy Minister of Public Security, was elected Chairman of the association for the 2023-2028 tenure.

The congress organising board reported that the number of former public security officers has increased over the years by almost 10,000 annually, to reach more than 110,000 at present. Most of them wished to have a national-level association set up to gather and give support to members.

Addressing the event, PM Chinh said the peoples public security is a crucial armed force of the Party, State and people and plays a core role in safeguarding national security and social order and safety. Over the 78 years of development, the force has surmounted countless hardships and bravely fought to achieve various feats of arms.

The Party and State always respect and appreciate the substantial contributions of former public security officers to the national construction and defence. Many policies have been issued to mobilise the strength of the former officers for national development, he went on.

He noted the establishment of the association reflects the Party and States care for the force, including the former officers.

In his speech, the Government leader also gave directions for the associations activities.  VNS
HA NOI  The National Assembly Standing Committee on Thursday gave opinions on the draft amended Law on Social Insurance, focusing on the proposal that elderly people who did not receive a pension or other monthly social insurance benefits would be eligible for social retirement allowances provided by the State budget.

An important part in the draft amended law was the addition of social retirement benefits to establish a multi-tiered social insurance system in accordance with Resolution No 28-NQ/TW. The draft law stipulated that Vietnamese citizens aged 75 and above, without receiving pensions or other monthly social insurance benefits, would be entitled to receive social retirement benefits.

This aimed to achieve the target of having approximately 60 per cent of people after retirement age receiving monthly pensions, regular social insurance benefits, and social retirement benefits by 2030.

During the session, Minister of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs ao Ngoc Dung reported that under the new regulations, employees who reached retirement age but paid social insurance premiums for less than 15 years or those who had not yet reached the age of 75 to receive retirement benefits as stipulated would be eligible for monthly benefits.

They would also be covered by health insurance while receiving monthly benefits. The amount of the monthly allowance would depend on the employees insurance contribution period, salary, monthly income and would be maintained until they reached the eligible age or the insurance contribution period required to receive social retirement benefits, he explained.

Dung emphasised that this regulation would increase the number of monthly benefit recipients without significantly increasing the budget expenditure.

As of the end of 2022, Viet Nam had approximately 14.4 million people beyond retirement age (55 for women and 60 for men and above). The total number of individuals receiving pensions, monthly social insurance benefits, and social retirement benefits was over 5.1 million, accounting for about 35 per cent of the total retired population.

The number of elderly individuals benefiting from this policy would be more than 800,000.

Dung also said that the amended draft law stipulated that employees who had contributed for a minimum of 15 years upon reaching retirement age would be eligible for monthly pensions.

This provision aimed to create opportunities for those who joined social insurance at the ages of 45-47, or engaged in specialised short-term work that prevented them from accumulating the required 20 years of contributions.

It would provide them with the chance to receive monthly pensions and ensure healthcare insurance coverage upon retirement age.

Furthermore, this provision contributed to reducing the number of lump-sum withdrawals, he said.

During the review of the draft amended law, head of the NAs Committee for Social Affairs Nguyen Thuy Anh stated that the majority of the committee's standing members and some opinions from parliamentary agencies agreed with the amended law.

However, she recommended the Government thoroughly assess the impact of the social retirement benefits provision on the State budget and policy conflict when including the scope of adjustment and application of the Law on the Elderly into this legislative project, which affected the policy of encouraging voluntary social insurance participation by employees.

Regarding the conditions for benefiting this policy, she suggested the Government continue to carefully evaluate the impact and provide additional information to the National Assembly deputies to enhance the persuasiveness of this policy proposal.

Optimal approach for lump-sum social insurance payment was also among issues tabled for discussion.

The draft amended law presented two options for eligibility criteria for lump-sum payment. Option 1 stipulated that those who participated in social insurance before the amended Law on Social Insurance took effect in July 1, 2025 and had more than 12 months of unemployment would be eligible for lump-sum benefit. Those who participated in social insurance after that time would not be allowed to get the payment, except for cases of emigration for settlement, or being afflicted by life-threatening diseases as defined in Article 60 of the current Law on Social Insurance.

Option 2 stipulated that those had after 12 months of not being obligated to participate in compulsory social insurance and not participating in voluntary social insurance, but having contributed to social insurance for less than the required 20 years would be given a maximum of 50 per cent of the total contributions to the retirement and survivorship fund. The remaining period of social insurance contributions would be preserved for the employee to continue participating and benefiting from various social insurance schemes.

The NA's Social Committee indicated that each option proposed by the Government had certain advantages and disadvantages. Due to the complexity and sensitivity of this issue, which impacted the rights of workers and long-term social welfare, the NA Social Committee recommended that the Government continue to consult, gather public opinions, and involve the directly affected parties in this matter.  VNS
HA NOI  Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan on Thursday signed an action plan for implementing economic diplomacy to help promote agricultural development in the 2023-26 period.

Applauding the agriculture and rural development sectors achievements, Son said agriculture has established itself as a true pillar of support in the national economy, an essential contributor to social security, and a leading strength of Viet Nam's international cooperation and diplomatic activities.

In 2022, agriculture, forestry and fisheries expanded 3.36 per cent to substantially contribute to the overall GDP growth of 8.02 per cent. Agro-forestry-fishery exports topped US$53 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of over $8.5 billion or nearly 76 per cent of the economys total trade surplus, statistics show.

Agriculture has played a crucial role in ensuring domestic food security, political stability, and social security, especially amid the food crisis that has led to political and social instability in many countries, the Foreign Minister noted.

The sector has also helped promote Viet Nam's stature and prestige in the international arena, he went on, adding that from an agriculturally underdeveloped country, Viet Nam has become one of the worlds top producers and exporters of agro-forestry-fishery products and a role model on safeguarding food security.

At bilateral meetings and on the sidelines of multilateral conferences, foreign leaders have recognised and valued Viet Nam's experience in agricultural development as well as its important role in global and regional food production and supply chains, Son said.

He highlighted the moves taken by the foreign ministry and Viet Nam's overseas representative agencies to help expand markets for agro-forestry-fishery products, attract resources for agricultural development, and assist the agricultural sector to integrate into the world.

As the global, regional and domestic situations are predicted to face complex and unpredictable developments in the time ahead, Minister Son stressed the critical necessity for stepping up economic diplomacy to support the sector, thus helping facilitate the export of agro-forestry-fishery products and maintain economic growth.

Appreciating the diplomatic sectors assistance, Minister Hoan expressed his hope that the diplomatic sector, especially overseas representative agencies of Viet Nam, will continue assisting the agricultural sector to weather challenges and seize opportunities to bring Vietnamese farm produce to more markets.

He also considered the overseas representative agencies a trustworthy and effective information channel for the agricultural sector to access advanced scientific and technological achievements of global agriculture so as to undertake reforms, improve production capacity, and improve on quality.

Following the meeting, the two ministers signed an action plan for implementing economic diplomacy to help with agricultural development for 2023-26.  VNS
HA NOI  The 25th session of the National Assembly Standing Committee commenced on Friday, with the primary agenda focusing on the scope and efficiency of the forthcoming monitoring process on the NAs resolution on fiscal and monetary policies designed to bolster the socio-economic recovery and development programmes.

The session also addressed National Assembly resolutions related to pivotal national projects, namely Long Thanh Airport Project; the eastern part of the North-South Expressway Project; Ring Road No.4 Project in Ha Noi; Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road No.3 Project; Khanh Hoa  Buon Ma Thuot Expressway Project Phase 1; Bien Hoa  Vung Tau Expressway Project Phase 1; and Chau oc  Can Tho  Soc Trang Expressway Project Phase 1.

Chairman of the NAs Finance and State Budget Committee Le Quang Manh said directives have been delivered to the supervision delegations deputies and representatives of the Committee on Economics regarding assigned tasks. The directives also include opinions on the detailed programme, outlining reports, specific duties to members of the monitoring team and personnel for the supervisory delegation.

National Assembly Deputy Chairman Nguyen Khac inh stated that the members of the National Assembly Standing Committee have generally reached a consensus and expressed their commendation for the meticulous groundwork invested in drafting the supervision delegation's plan and Outline of the report. Concurrently, there is a proposition to align the People's Council appropriately to ensure coherence with the National Assembly's Resolution No. 94/2023/QH15 concerning the formation of the supervision team.

During the session, participants suggested that within the stipulated monitoring scope, a judicious identification of focal points is essential. This strategic delineation aims to prevent diffusion and optimise the efficiency and punctuality of the monitoring process, leading to informed reporting to the legislative body.

Additionally, some participants said that both the provincial and municipal People's Councils play dual roles in supervising and being supervised. As a result, it is imperative to include both aspects in the reporting process.

In his concluding remarks, Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen uc Hai recommended that the Supervisory Delegation persist in assimilating and incorporating the perspectives shared by the National Assembly Standing Committee. He urged the delegation to finalise the plan, the report's outline, and the comprehensive monitoring dossier. Simultaneously, he underscored the paramount importance of concentrating efforts on a meticulous review and a distinct delineation of the monitoring's ambit and primary objectives.

Concerning the logistics of supervision, the Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly urged for a judicious allocation of the workforce, ensuring a well-structured, efficient, and non-disruptive approach. This approach should minimally affect the functioning of government ministries, branches, and local administrations. Furthermore, he called for active mobilisation of local People's Councils to collaborate with the National Assembly Delegation in facilitating regional oversight activities.  VNS
HA NOI  Former minister of health Nguyen Thanh Long received bribes of US$2.25 million (over VN51 billion) related to the COVID-19 test kit case at Viet A company, according to the Investigation Police Agency of the public security ministry.

Long received $2.2 million indirectly through his secretary and $50,000 directly. All were given by Phan Quoc Viet, general director of Viet A Technologies.

Long was recommended for prosecution for receiving bribes while approving the issuance of circulation registration numbers, price negotiation and price checks of COVID-19 test kits, causing particularly serious damage to the States assets.

According to the investigation, Long knew that the COVID-19 test kit was a product of a research project assigned by the Ministry of Science and Technology to the Military Medical Academy, which was owned by the State.

Viet A Company was not eligible to be granted a circulation registration number, but at the request of Phan Quoc Viet, Long directed his subordinates to create conditions for the company to receive a temporary circulation registration number.

Long represented the Ministry of Health to negotiate the price of the test kit with Viet A, with the participation of the Ministry of Finances representatives.

The final negotiated price for each test kit was VN470,000.

The interdisciplinary inspection team also discovered that Viet A Company committed violations in production materials and proposed the Ministry of Health revoke the registration number.

However, former minister Long neither gave timely instructions nor issued inspection conclusions following the Prime Ministers order.

The Ministry of Health published baseless prices on the ministrys portal.

Longs violations created conditions for Viet A to sell test kits to other units and localities at the inflated prices, according to the police.

Long also introduced Phan Quoc Viet to some local leaders to sell test kits.

At the time of prosecution and detention, Long was investigated for abusing his authority while on duty.

After investigating that he received bribes for many times from Viet As general director, the investigation agency changed the crime and recommended receiving bribes.

Chu Ngoc Anh, former minister of science and technology and former chairman of Ha Nois Peoples Committee, was recommended for prosecution for violating regulations on management and use of the State's assets, causing loss and waste.

The ministerial-level officials proposed to be prosecuted in the case also include Nguyen Minh Tuan, former director of the Department of Medical Equipment and Construction, Ministry of Health; Nguyen Nam Lien, director of the Financial Planning Department, Ministry of Health; Trinh Thanh Hung, deputy director of the Science - Technology Department of Economic and Technical Sectors, Ministry of Science and Technology; and Nguyen Huynh, deputy head of the Price Management Department of the Drug Administration of Viet Nam, former Secretary of Minister Long.  VNS
Colonel Pham Manh Thang, head of Viet Nam Peacekeeping Department, speaks to Voice of Viet Nam (VOV) about Viet Nams peacekeeping plans to contribute to UN peacekeeping operations.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres once assessed Viet Nam's peacekeeping force as one of the most prestigious and capable forces to fulfill the current task of UN missions. What have we done to be able to achieve such good results?

The results have been achieved thanks to the leadership and direction of the Party, the State, the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defence.

The Viet Nam Peacekeeping Department has actively coordinated with relevant agencies to offer training and strengthen professional skills following UN standards.

After more than nine years of deploying forces to participate in UN peacekeeping operations, Vietnamese officials and employees have overcome differences in foreign languages, customs and local practices.

They have actively engaged with local people and international friends through many practical activities such as running classes for children; exchanging experience with students to establish student volunteer clubs; organising charity, cultural and arts activities; instructing local people to grow their own vegetables and cook Vietnamese dishes.

While the COVID-19 pandemic was getting complicated, one of our female officers in the Central African Republic sewed masks and gave them for free to mission headquarters staff and local people.

From May 2022, Viet Nam's Military Engineering Unit Rotation 1 was deployed to the UN peacekeeping missions in the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA).

After a year of performing their tasks, in addition to the specialised duties assigned by UN, the team has helped local people to renovate, upgrade, repair and even construct new infrastructure such as roads, health facilities, sewers, military airports, ensuring traffic order for arterial roads, markets and schools.

The team was assessed by the Mission Commander as "changing the face of the Mission in Abyei".

What are the limitations of the Vietnamese peacekeeping force? What solutions taken to overcome these limitations?

Currently, Vietnamese forces that are prepared to participate in UN peacekeeping operations are well-trained and professional, meeting the UN requirements.

However, shortcomings remain in regime and policy for servicemen as well as national coordination on peacekeeping mission, leading to various difficulties in recruitment and training.

The rotation of troops faces difficulty because they have to depend on international partners.

Another problem is to maintain the proportion of female soldiers participating in peacekeeping activities in line with UN expectations (currently the rate of Vietnamese women participating in UN peacekeeping activities is more than 16 per cent).

In the coming time, we need to update the situation, conduct practical surveys as a basis for researching and advising on the issuance of legal documents to ensure compliance with the current legal system and the nature of the law.

We need also to strengthen coordination between relevant sectors and foster international UN peacekeeping cooperation in order to attract resources and learn from experience of international partners, contributing to building and improving the capacity of Vietnamese forces.

The requirements set for officers on UN duty are strict and the soldiers have to face major difficulties. Could you elaborate on the training to meet the requirements?

Soldiers selected to participate in UN peacekeeping operations must have stable political viewpoints, professional qualifications and good foreign language skills, especially officers on individual duty, to work in a multilateral environment.

They must be in good health, able to withstand harsh working environments, security threats and epidemics.

Before being deployed on duty, all soldiers will receive pre-deployment, survival training and specialised training in military medicine, engineering, and specialised foreign language training.

The level 2 field hospital soldiers will receive practical training on equipment and air relief for the air rescue team.

Military engineers are trained to operate heavy engineering equipment within the framework of the three-party partnership programme.

Officers deployed as individuals will join the UN staff officer classes.

Soldiers to perform tasks in units are also trained with soft skills for cultural exchange with local people and international friends such as art, cooking, negotiation, communication.

The Viet Nam Department of Peacekeeping has actively coordinated with relevant peacekeeping partners to invite expert delegations to share experience and provide training with all necessary skills.

We have continued to send field hospital officers and a team of military engineers to join UN peacekeeping operations. Could you share Viet Nams plan to expand its participation in other areas of peacekeeping operations?

In the future, we will continue to maintain the Level 2 Field Hospital in the South Sudan Mission, Military Engineering Unit in Abyei and individual positions operating independently.

We will increase the percentage of female soldiers participating in UN peacekeeping activities and strive to maintain and increase the number of officers deployed to UN Headquarters.

We will also propose to the Party, State and Government other peacekeeping forms such as military control, security forces and prepare forces for commanding positions.

At the same time, Viet Nam will improve the force capacity and build the Viet Nam Peacekeeping Department into an international UN peacekeeping training centre of the region and the world.

The department will make careful preparations for forces participating in UN peacekeeping operations including procurement of equipment, construction of infrastructure, training ground, material assurance, capacity building.

We will do research and make proposal to build training programmes at military academies and schools, and continue to coordinate with the Ministry of Public Security in deploying forces to participate in UN peacekeeping activities.  VNS
HA NOI  President Vo Van Thuong on August 17 met with Vietnamese and foreign professors, scientists and experts, who are in Ha Noi to attend the ongoing Vietnam International Dental Exhibition & Congress 2023 (VIDEC 2023).

At the meeting, the President affirmed scientific research, technology development, and innovation activities in the medical field in general and odonto-stomatology in particular have contributed to making Viet Nams medicine approach to the worlds level, bringing economic efficiency and profound social meaning in various areas.

He said the Party and State of Viet Nam always consider protecting, caring, and improving people's health an obligation and responsibility of every citizen, the whole political system and society. Viet nam has been acknowledged by the United Nations as a bright spot in implementing the Millennium Development Goals in healthcare in 2015 and is well implementing other Sustainable Development Goals until 2030.

He highly appreciated and praised the development of Viet Nam's dental sector, saying that many hospitals have successfully implemented advanced and modern specialised techniques on par with regional and global standards.

Every year Viet Nam receives tens of thousands of international visitors who come for dental treatment and examination, he said.

He expressed his wish that international scientists, the Asia Pacific Dental Federation, the World Dental Federation, and the odonto-stomatology associations of countries will further promote cooperation with Vietnam.

According to Associate Professor Dr. Tran Cao Binh, Director of the National Odonto-Stomatology Hospital and Chairman of the Viet Nam Odonto-Stomatology Association, the VIDEC 2023, which takes place from August 17-19, attracts thousands of delegates from 23 countries and territories.

Dr. Wong Chi-wai Nelson, Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Dental Federation, and Chairman of the Hong Kong Dental Association (China), congratulated Viet Nam on hosting the event and said he will cooperate more actively with research and training establishments in odonto-stomatology in Viet Nam in the near future.

Dr. Lawrence Yong, President of the Singapore Dental Association, who has participated in training many Vietnamese dentists, highlighted the passion and enthusiasm of young Vietnamese doctors and nurses with their job. VNS
Apple has revealed it has removed "The Glenn Beck Program" from Apple Podcasts due to an unspecified dispute.

Over 3,000 of the podcast's episodes were removed by Apple Wednesday (August 16), prompting Beck to demand an explanation from the company. The company responded they have "found an issue" with his show, which should be resolved before restoration.

The show was later restored on the platform, resolving the issue.

However, not all of the show's episodes have been restored as only around 1,900 of them, or over half, have been listed on Apple Podcasts as of this report.

Beck added he was not given any "clear answers" why the incident happened.

Read Also: Maui Wildfire: Apple iPhone's Emergency SOS Satellite Feature Saves Family Surrounded by Flames

Looks like Apple restored my 3000+ episodes to their platform but still don't have clear answers as to why this happened. Hope to have an update for you tomorrow on radio.  Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) August 16, 2023

Reason Behind the Deplatforming

Beck, a conservative media mogul, speculated his show's removal was connected with election interference. Others noted a likely technical reason for the removal.

"Apple totally de-platformed me - they removed every last episode from Apple Podcasts," he said Thursday (August 17) on his syndicated radio show. "It was removed with no explanation why for several hours."

According to Apple Insider, the RSS feed for the over 3,000-episode series is over 11 megabytes (MB) whereas Apple has previously flagged ones that exceed just 5MB, which meant it was most likely the reason why the podcast was removed.

However, an Apple spokesperson told Variety the removal was more legal than technical, but fell short of providing a reason why other than a trademark dispute, which has now been resolved.

Neither Apple nor Beck have made any comments about what the trademark issue was, or how it was resolved.

Related Article: Apple Watch, Fitbit Wristbands Carry Harmful Bacteria; Study Reveals Potential Effects

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HA NOI  Building digital skills, technology and engineering talent, and scale is needed to develop the STEM workforce, experts said at a conference held in Ha Noi on August 18.

The eighth annual Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEMCON) conference drew over 200 industry leaders, educators, policymakers, and forward-thinking entrepreneurs to address the imperative of cultivating a proficient and adaptable STEM workforce capable of driving Viet Nams digital economy towards a prosperous future.

It was organised by Arizona State University (ASU) with support from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in partnership with Phenikaa University and renowned university and industry collaborators.

Against the backdrop of rapidly advancing technologies reshaping industries and redefining career trajectories, Viet Nams technical professionals and visionary entrepreneurs convened to deliberate and contribute towards crafting a potent STEM workforce. Central to this endeavor was a collaborative call to action, uniting the forces of industry, academia, and government entities to chart a comprehensive national roadmap for STEM education. This roadmap, meticulously curated, accentuated the significance of digital skills, technology acumen, and engineering prowess in sculpting Viet Nams educational trajectory.

Sessions and dialogues at the conference facilitated innovative partnerships, spotlighting Viet Nam as a burgeoning model for Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) in STEM within the ASEAN region.

Its sessions and presentations showcased the highest caliber of expertise and vision. The morning commenced with a keynote presentation celebrating the USAID Building University-Industry Learning and Development through Innovation and Technology (BUILD-IT) Project with impactful results and extensive outcomes. This eight-year collaboration between the USAID, ASU, industry stakeholders, and the Ministry of Education and Training, orchestrated a transformative symphony in higher education.

The Honorable Aler Grubbs, USAID Mission Director, commented: Over the course of eight years, we have witnessed universities making significant strides in aligning their programmes with global standards. This transformative endeavor has brought about systemic change, empowering Vietnamese universities to embrace autonomy and innovation. BUILD-ITs partnership-driven approach has been bridging the gap between academia and industry needs. Their focus on project-based learning and cutting-edge labs and makerspaces has unleashed the creativity and innovation of thousands of students, resulting in over 300 outstanding projects that push boundaries and drive progress.

Following this, the Industrys Voice: Development of Vietnams STEM Workforce of the Future panel gathered executives from industry giants such as Intel, Paradox, Oracle, Boeing, and Amkor. These industry stalwarts delved into discussions on industry-academia synergy, addressing challenges, and charting strategic pathways toward cultivating Vietnams STEM talent pipeline.

Another session, Creating Pathways to STEM Education through Digital and Online Lifelong Learning at Scale, delved into the promising realm of delivering comprehensive STEM education through digital platforms.

Other sessions highlighted university autonomy, building 21st century professional skills and reskilling the STEM workforce through Just-in-Time micro-credentials and certification programmes. VNS
The opening of these centres at 20 Cong Hoa, Ward 12, Tan Binh district and 71 Hoang Van Thai, Tan Phu ward, District 7, underlines the British Council's commitment to strengthening cultural and educational ties between the UK and Vietnam. Moreover, this significant initiative offers parents and students more choice in high-quality learning environments for the upcoming 202324 academic year.

Education has long been a cornerstone of diplomatic relations between the UK and Vietnam, with the British Council playing an important role in strengthening ties. With over the three decades of operation here, the British Council has collaborated closely with the Ministry of Education and Training, as well as other governmental departments and educational institutions, to implement impactful education initiatives. These cumulative efforts have significantly contributed to enhancing the quality of teaching and learning, as well as elevating English language proficiency standards among Vietnamese learners.

In June, the British Council unveiled the six-month UK/Vietnam Season 2023 programme, commemorating the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries, and the 30th anniversary of the British Council's operations in Vietnam. The launching of these two new English teaching centres in Ho Chi Minh City is an important part of these celebrations, following the successful launch of the English Teaching Centre in Ha Dong, Hanoi earlier in the month. The opening of the two new Teaching Centres brings the total count across the country to nine.

Michael Little, general director, British Council in Vietnam, said, "The establishment of these new English teaching centres signifies the British Council's commitment to meeting the increasing demand of Vietnamese English learners and strengthening the educational connections between the two countries."

"Our goal is to offer a high-quality UK education to a diverse cross-section of learners in Vietnam. We firmly believe that the educational foundation laid by the British Council will adeptly prepare them for successful international cultural integration as capable global citizens," Little added.

Operating alongside the three existing centres in districts 1, 10, and Binh Thanh, the two new teaching centres are set to meet the growing demand for English learning in Ho Chi Minh City. Situated at bustling traffic intersections, both new centres offer a variety of flexible scheduled classes, providing enhanced learning opportunities for students and added convenience for parents.

The two centres are equipped with a total of eight classrooms, each with modern facilities and equipment that adhere to the international standards synonymous with the British Councils teaching centres across over 40 countries.

The curriculum, developed by the British Council and curated by industry experts, is tailored to various age groups, including the Primary Plus (aged 610), Secondary Plus (aged 1114), Secondary Plus IELTS, and Academic English (aged 1517).

Delivered by a seasoned team of highly proficient English educators, the curriculum integrates innovative pedagogical methodologies, diverse subjects, and robust student interaction. Beyond proficiency for international examinations and educational settings, students will develop essential soft skills for success, including leadership, teamwork, coordination, and critical thinking. Furthermore, learners will cultivate a broader understanding of global affairs, positioning them to become informed global citizens of the future.

British Council launches UK/Vietnam Season 2023 On June 15, the British Council  the United Kingdoms international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations  announced the UK/Vietnam Season 2023, a series of programmes from June through to December that showcases and celebrates the best of educational and cultural exchange and collaboration between the two countries.

British leaders enthusiastic over CPTPP implementation The United Kingdom is beginning its new life as a member of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, with Vietnam also being a beneficiary from its expansion.
The 500/220kV Nho Quan-Phu Ly-Thuong Tin transmission line project is funded by EVNNPT, and the Northern Power Projects Management Board (NPMB) is assigned with its management and operation.

The project is key to enhancing capacity in Ha Nam and Ninh Binh provinces, the southern regions of Hanoi, and the surrounding areas. The transmission line will also help to reduce power loss in the system, contributing to improving Vietnam Electricity and EVNNPT's efficiency.

The construction of the project was started in 2018 and is expected to be completed in December 2023.

EVNNPT has focused on speeding up progress, and the site clearance and handover have reached over 90 per cent. However, the remaining works are behind schedule due to land clearance delays.

At a recent meeting to review the implementation of the project, Bui Van Kien, deputy general director of EVNNPT, asked the NPMB to focus on solving the outstanding problems quickly and to hand over the entire transmission lines route soon. This will allow the remaining column footings for the line to be poured and ensure the projects progress.

Kien proposed that agencies and localities should continue supporting and coordinating with EVNNPT and its related units so that approval documents for the alignment of adjusted sections can be completed, along with the site clearance.

Power transmission projects facilitated in Ha Tinh On October 27, National Power Transmission Corporation and the Central Power Projects Management Board (CPMB) had a meeting with management authorities in Ky Anh town, Ha Tinh province, to review the site clearance results at power transmission projects.

Danang removing space woes for power projects On November 4, Chairman of Danang Peoples Committee Le Trung Chinh worked with several power unit executives to discuss measures to remove space woes for power transmission projects in the city.

Van Phong substation holds official naming ceremony Following great effort from staff and workers, and the construction process exceeding the deadline, the Van Phong 500kV substation and connection line held an official naming ceremonyon April 7.

Samsung meets with EVNNPT to ensure stable power supply Choi Joo Ho, general director of Samsung Display Vietnam, and the representatives of some of its vendors are working with National Power Transmission Company (EVNNPT) to discuss the power supply situation coming up to their peak production season.
Gulf wishes to invest in energy, infrastructure, and utility service sectors in Thanh Hoa

Speaking at a meeting on August 16 in Thanh Hoa, general director of Gulf Vietnam Panawit Sidejchayabhon said that the group was looking forward to learning about investment promotion projects and appreciated the potential of the provinces economic zone, especially in Nghi Son Port area, which is very convenient for large ships to transport materials for construction.

The general director of Gulf Vietnam expressed his desire to cooperate with the local Department of Industry and Trade, the Nghi Son Economic Zone Management Authority and industrial zones to conduct in-depth surveys to assess the feasibility of each proposed project. At the same time, the company expects to receive the support of the authorities during the implementation process.

Standing Vice Chairman of the Peoples Committee Nguyen Van Thi said, Renewable energy and LNG are the provinces priority to call investment capital in the upcoming time. The province is committed to supporting and accompanying the investors from starting steps.

The visit to Thanh Hoa is a part of the Gulfs survey programme to develop a LNG project in the north and central region.

In Vietnam, Gulf currently operates two solar power farms in the southern province of Tay Ninh, and two wind farms in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai. In addition, it is the operator of one solar power farm and one wind farm in the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre.

In 2019, Gulf also signed a cooperation agreement with Ninh Thuan People's Committee on researching and proposing investment for the LNG warehouse project and the Ca Na LNG gas complex project with a scale of 6,000MW, including four mixed-cycle gas turbine plants, each with a capacity of 1,500MW.

The project will have an investment value of $7.8 billion and is expected to be invested under the build-operate-transfer format. However, to date the project has not moved any further forward.

Thai Navy strives to prevent oil spill in Gulf of Thailand The Thai government has ordered the Royal Thai Navy to join efforts to rescue an oil tanker operated by a unit of Chevron Corp that was damaged earlier this week during a routine maintenance in the Gulf of Thailand.

Second notice prequalification of the ESIA consulting bidding package in line with international standards Quang Ninh Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Power JSC (QN LNG Power) would like to inform interested bidders of the specifics of an investment package.

JERA considers potential investments in Vietnam's bid for net-zero Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha is seeking collaboration between Japanese and Vietnamese energy groups for mutual growth and profit sharing through technology transfer.

3rd pre-qualification notice for the package Advisor for ESIA according to International Standards Quang Ninh LNG Power JSC (QN LNG Power) would like to provide interested bidders with some information on the package.
The annual awards are given out by consulting firm Anphabe in association with the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Chambers of Commerce of Britain, Europe, Australia, and Canada, along with the Hong Kong Business Association in Vietnam.

Through the 20-year EVE programme, INSEE has supported Kien Giang College in their training and development of local human resources (HR), as well as providing many job opportunities for students after graduation. With a training period of three years, EVE combines theoretical and practical training, improving students' existing knowledge along with teaching new skills. Participants are mainly students aged 18 years and over who have graduated from high school and live in the Kien Luong district of Kien Giang province.

Since 2001, there have been more than 200 graduates, 93 per cent of whom still work at INSEE. Over 120 former students are working at the Hon Chong Factory, representing 75 per cent of the plant's technicians. About 15 per cent of INSEE graduates have been promoted to middle managers, demonstrating the commitment of the alumni.

At the ceremony, Vo Thi Thanh Truc, manager of HR and Training at INSEE Vietnam said, "We are proud to receive the 2023 HR Excellence Award as it recognises our commitment to training high-quality HR and meeting INSEE's highest standards. Moreover, it has also highlighted our contribution to improving the community, enhancing workers' skill sets and providing employment opportunities."

"This award is also a clear demonstration of our core motto at INSEE Vietnam, 'Seize the Opportunity.' We believe in building a prosperous and sustainable future for our employees, community, and society, and we are honoured to look back on our achievements. This recognition is motivation for us to continue our dedication and development," Truc added.

INSEE Ecocycle 2022 conference showcases collaboration with key partners INSEE, the leading cement maker in Vietnam, and its partners have shown strong commitments to fulfil 'Net Zero' by 2050.

INSEE PRIZE 2023: a journey for talented students After the continuous success of the INSEE Prize, this year INSEE Vietnam officially kicked off the next edition of the competition.
Located in the capital city of Hanoi, the new subsidiary Eurus Energy Vietnam LLC specialises in the development and operation of wind power plants and solar parks.

The company deems Vietnam as one of the regional markets in which the expansion of renewable energy is set to be vibrant.

The demand for electricity in Vietnam is expected to continue increasing due to economic and population growth, and the country is promoting the construction and expansion of power plants to secure new sources.

In particular, wind power generation is attracting attention across the nation as it benefits from favourable conditions. The government has set lofty goals for wind generation, namely introducing 17GW of onshore capacity by 2030 and 39GW by 2045.

With its new base in Vietnam, Eurus Energy will contribute to the stabilisation of the electricity supply and the development of a low-carbon infrastructure in the country by leveraging its knowledge and experience in the renewable energy business.

Eurus Energy has been engaged in the renewable energy generation business globally for more than 30 years, beginning with the establishment of its wind power business in the United States in 1987. Currently, it maintains operations in 15 countries, with a concentration within the US, Europe, and Asia-Pacific regions.

Renewable efficiency for Vietnamese cities Energy developer Copper Mountain Energy JSC (CME) is carrying out the first renewables venture at a Vietnamese airport. CEO Bui Trung Kien talked with VIRs Nhat Ha why the initiative is important, and how the companys moves will ultimately benefit both customers and the environment.

The bankable answers for renewable energy The Vietnamese government has taken part in discussions with various private sector groups and energy organisations as part of a step-by-step approach for the countrys latest Power Development Plan. VIRs Nguyen Thu talked with John Rockhold, head of the VBFs Power & Energy Working Group, about the role of foreign investment in the power and energy sector.
Workers transport rice to truck in Yangon, Myanmar. (Photo: AFP/VNA)

Hanoi  President of the Myanmar Rice Federation (MRF) Ye Min Aung said that the tightening in global supply should help revive Myanmars rice shipments, which slumped 56 per cent in the first four months of the fiscal year, and bring it closer to its annual goal of earning 1 billion USD from exports of the grain.

According to MRF, from April to July this year, Myanmar exported nearly 320,000 tonnes of rice clocking only 138 million USD after the government decided to prioritise selling higher-grade rice.

However, prospects for its rice exports improved last month when India, the worlds top exporter, banned a substantial portion of its overseas sales to keep a lid on domestic prices. Thats pushed up rice prices in countries in the region to a record high in the last 15 years.

According to MRF President, Myanmar hopes to take advantage, even though it will maintain its focus on exporting only higher-quality varieties.

Although sales of high-quality rice can bring in 700 USD per tonne compared to 300-400 USD per tonne for low-quality rice, this measure also limits the number of customers from rich countries.

According to MRF, in the past two financial years, Myanmar earned about 800 million USD a year from rice exports, and its largest partners were China, the Philippines, and Belgium. The US ranked Myanmar as the sixth largest rice exporter in the world last year.

Indonesia sends humanitarian aid to Myanmar The Indonesian Government on June 26 sent humanitarian aid to people affected by Cyclone Mocha in Rakhine State of Myanmar last May.
President of the Senate of Belgium Stephanie D'Hose (Photo: hbvl.vn)

Hanoi  President of the Senate of Belgium Stephanie D'Hose is scheduled to pay an official visit to Vietnam from August 21 to 25.

The visit will be made at the invitation of Chairman of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue, according to the National Assemblys Committee for External Relations.

Vietnam, Belgium promote partnership in seaport, logistics There are great opportunities for Belgian investors in the development of seaports in Vietnam, a country owning a coastline of over 3,200km, heard a conference held in Anvers city of Belgium on June 12.

Vietnam seeks Belgian advice on global minimum tax policy Vietnam is engaging with Belgian support to navigate the complexities of implementing the global minimum tax (GMT) amid strengthening economic ties.
The event was also an opportunity for Siemens to re-emphasise its commitment to support Vietnam as it improves and upgrades its smart infrastructure, digital transformation, and economic sustainability.

We are proud to have made a remarkable contribution to Vietnams urban infrastructure and socioeconomic development over the past three decades, transforming the everyday for millions of customers and partners as their businesses become more competitive, profitable, and sustainable. As we enter a new decade in Vietnam, we look forward to accelerating the countrys progress towards a greener future, said Matthias Rebellius, member of the managing board of Siemens AG and CEO of Smart Infrastructure, at the event.

Siemens has a strong presence in Vietnam and is a major player in many of Vietnams key infrastructure sectors, ranging from energy, healthcare, and manufacturing; to buildings, water, and transportation.

The company has contributed extensively to the development of Vietnam's energy sector, ensuring stable energy supply for Vietnam by participating in many important power projects ranging from fossil fuel to wind and solar. Power plants using Siemens gas turbines, such as the Phu My 3, Ca Mau 1&2, and Nhon Trach 2 combined cycle power plants, are among the most efficient in Vietnam, with more than 95 per cent reliability. Siemens has also helped energise the largest solar power plant in Vietnam, Trung Nam  Thuan Nam. The solar power project is expected to contribute about one billion kWh of electricity to the national grid each year.

In healthcare, Siemens Healthineers' diagnostic imaging systems contribute significantly to improving the quality of service for Vietnamese people. Some examples include the supply of advanced diagnostic imaging solutions to Can Tho Stroke International Services and the installation of a total lab automation system designed to power end-to-end diagnostic testing and increase workflow efficiency to Cho Ray Hospital.

Siemens automation and digitalisation solutions help Vietnamese customers in water treatment, food and beverage, paper, cement, machinery, chemical, metal, and other industries to significantly enhance their productivity, energy efficiency, and competitiveness. For instance, Siemens SIMOCRANE Crane Management System enables Saigon Newport  the biggest container port in Vietnam  to maximise its productivity, thus reducing vessel loading time remarkably.

Siemens also actively supports Vietnam in its digital transformation journey and embracing 'Industry 4.0'. Siemens Digital Enterprise portfolio has assisted Vinfast in fulfilling its ambition of building the first Made in Vietnam vehicle in record time, while Thuy Nguyen 220kV substation is the first 220kV digital substation in Vietnam equipped with Siemens Process Bus technology, enabling it to provide a more secure, efficient, flexible, and intelligent electricity supply.

Sustainability is a key part of Siemens strategy, and deeply embedded in the companys activities. This is evidenced by its innovative solutions that make electricity generation, buildings, and factories more energy efficient and sustainable. Siemens Combined Cycle Power technology helps Vietnam reduce CO2 emissions by nearly five million tonnes, while its building technology has enabled customers to achieve energy savings of between 20 and 30 per cent.

In particular, Siemens building management system has helped the German House in Ho Chi Minh City become one of the greenest and most energy-efficient office buildings in Vietnam. Siemens also supplies technology to local manufacturers of components used in VinFasts electric buses, thereby contributing to a greener urban environment.

Siemens ASEAN & Vietnam President & CEO Pham Thai Lai

Siemens is privileged to have grown with Vietnam over the last 30 years, doing our part to help build this country and support it to become one of the most dynamic emerging countries in Asia. We are thankful for the cooperation and support from our many stakeholders, including the Vietnamese and German governments, our partners, customers, and suppliers, as well as very dedicated employees, said Siemens ASEAN and Vietnam president and CEO Pham Thai Lai.

We are committed to strengthening our presence in Vietnam and continue to support Vietnam in its digital transformation journey and sustainable development, Lai added.

Siemens presents $2.19 billion investment strategy to boost growth To boost growth, drive innovation and increase resilience, on June 15 Siemens presented its investment strategy which includes $2.19 billion mainly for new manufacturing capacity as well as innovation labs, education centres and other own sites.

Siemens to invest over $1.1 billion in Germany On July 13, in the presence of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, technology powerhouse Siemens announced the establishment of its new Technology Campus in Erlangen, Germany, with an investment of around $560 million for the expansion of its development and manufacturing capacities.
Registration for the protection of intellectual property rights of Vietnamese enterprises abroad is on the rise. (Photo: hanoimoi.com.vn)

Hanoi - Registration for the protection of intellectual property rights of Vietnamese enterprises abroad is on the rise, contributing significantly to the process of entering foreign markets as well as promoting products.

Intellectual property plays an increasingly important role as a foundation to help Vietnamese businesses become more confident in international trade and investment activities.



According to statistics of the Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam under the Ministry of Science and Technology, in recent years, the number of applications related to the registration of international marks from Vietnam through the Madrid System of International Registration for Marks is continuously increasing.



However, Vietnamese enterprises nationwide are still quite confused and stuck in the process of preparing, submitting and pursuing applications for registration of trademarks and geographical indications abroad.



Director of the Hanoi Department of Science and Technology Nguyen Hong Son said that the products after being protected have more added value than before, helping to change awareness of farming habits, and application of scientific and technological advances in production.



In order to implement Resolution 48/NQ-CP dated May 6, 2021 on the regular Government meeting in April 2021, a coordination plan between the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the Ministry of Industry and Trade on supporting the protection of trademarks and geographical indications for potential export products of Vietnam abroad has been signed.



This is a favourable condition for Vietnamese enterprises to participate in foreign markets and protect trademarks and geographical indicators of Vietnamese products.

The intellectual property perspective of investing Foreign investors are always concerned about the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR), as well as relevant policies and regulations. This is especially so in the context where the global economy is changing, and the competition in attracting such investment among countries of similar development level and speed is increasingly fierce.
Russia temporarily closed all four major Moscow airports early Friday morning (August 18) after an alleged drone strike hit the capital city.

According to the Russian aviation authority Rosaviatsiya, seven flights from Moscow's Vnukovo, Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo, and Zhukovsky airports were diverted to Nizhny Novgorod, St. Petersburg, and Minsk in Belarus.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said Russian air defenses shot down a drone over the city overnight, with debris from the drone falling into Expocentre, an exhibition center within the wider Moscow city center, about 3 miles (5 kilometers) east of the Kremlin.

No casualties were recorded and damages to buildings were minimal, he added.

Ukraine Strikes Again, Russia Says

In a statement, the Russian defense ministry quickly blamed Ukraine for the alleged drone strike, saying it was "another terrorist attack" from Kyiv.

"The [unmanned aerial vehicle], after being hit by air defense systems, changed its flight trajectory and fell on a non-residential building near Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment in Moscow," the statement added.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials have not commented on the incident despite its earlier admission of using drones to strike deep into Russian territory to defend itself against Moscow's unprovoked aggression.

The drone attack was the third time Moscow was hit in the past month.

Earlier this month, Ukraine displayed its capability to target Russian warships after heavily damaging one in Novorossiysk using naval drones.

US Approves Transfer of F-16s to Ukraine

Earlier this week, the US made what could be seen as a crucial step in its commitment to helping Ukraine after Washington approved of the transfer of F-16 fighter planes from the Danish and Dutch air forces to the Ukrainians once their training is complete.

In a statement to his Danish and Dutch counterparts, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized the importance of enhancing Ukraine's defense capabilities against Russian encroachments.

Despite this, military experts claim the F-16s would significantly increase Ukraine's long-term defense capabilities, but might not be pivotal in its ongoing counteroffensive.

Read Also: US Approves Sending F-16 Jets to Ukraine After Ukrainian Pilots Complete Training

Ukraine Bound to Fail Counteroffensive Key Goals, US Intel Says

On the other hand, the Washington Post reported the US intelligence community assessed Ukraine's counteroffensive would fail to reach its key goal of retaking the southeastern city of Melitopol because it is at the intersection of two important highways and a railroad line that allows Russia to move military personnel and supplies to the areas in southern Ukraine they have occupied.

People familiar with the classified prediction told the outlet, on the condition of anonymity, that, if proven correct, Kyiv would underdeliver from the counteroffensive's main objective of severing the land bridge connecting Crimea with Russia within the year.

The assessment was based on Moscow's brutal proficiency in defending occupied territory using mines, trenches, barbed wire, and bunkers.

Given the sluggish pace of the counteroffensive and the massive casualties Ukrainian forces sustained in the first few weeks of the campaign, the sources project officials in Kyiv and the West would play the blame game on how cost-ineffective it is with the help the Ukrainians are getting.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment on the information The Post received.

Related Article: Russia Destroys Ukranian Drones After Hitting Building in Moscow, Disrupting Air Traffic

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The domestic air passenger transport market recorded an annual growth of 41.8 per cent in the first seven months of 2023. (Illustrative image - Source: vneconomy.vn)

Hanoi - The domestic air passenger transport market has experienced a strong recovery, with an annual growth of 41.8 per cent recorded in the first seven months of 2023, announced the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV).

Accordingly, the total number of passengers carried by six Vietnamese airlines  Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air, Bamboo Airways, Pacific Airlines, Vietravel Airlines and Vasco  increased by 20.1 per cent. The volume of foreign passengers flying with the domestic carriers surged by 424.2 per cent year-on-year, while the number of domestic passengers slightly went down by 4.4 per cent.

Between January and July, Bamboo Airways was rated as the most punctual carrier, with an OTP rate of 92.7 per cent, significantly higher than the industry average of 85.4 per cent. It was followed by Vasco with 90 per cent, Vietravel Airlines 86.9 per cent, Vietnam Airlines 86.2 per cent, Pacific Airlines 84.5 per cent, and Vietjet Air 81.7 per cent.

Meanwhile, the sectors rate of cancelled flights during the period was 0.3 per cent.

Vietnam will have a four-day holidays from September 1-4 to celebrate the country's National Day (September 2), with carriers preparing seat increasing plans and security requested to be tightened at airports, particularly Noi Bai in Hanoi and Tan Son Nhat in Ho Chi Minh City.

Vietnams aviation ready to fully recover international flights The Vietnamese aviation industry is currently ready in all aspects to operate the entire international flight network like before the COVID-19 outbreak, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has told Deputy Transport Minister Le Anh Tuan.
According to an industry report by Acclime Vietnam and supported by Decision Lab, the fintech landscape in Vietnam is poised for significant growth, mainly driven by the vibrant economy, growing middle class, strong regulatory support and increasing smartphone penetration.

Investors should also consider the large unbanked population and cash-based businesses, offering a significant opportunity for fintech solutions to penetrate the market.

Additionally, the rise of fintech startups in the country signifies a shift towards a more inclusive and accessible financial ecosystem. According to the State Bank of Vietnam, the number of fintech companies in the country has quadrupled in the last few years, from 39 companies at the end of 2015 to more than 150 firms in 2021.

The growth of fintech in Vietnam has not gone unnoticed by international investors. The country has become an attractive destination for venture capital firms, who recognise the vast opportunities and the untapped potential of the market.

However, this influx of investment saw a drop amid global headwinds. According to UOB, in 2022, Vietnam saw a reduction in their share of investments as the number of deals decreased compared with 2021.

Vlad Savin, head of Business Development at Acclime Vietnam said that the funding of startups (particularly late stage) was difficult currently as there was more emphasis on sound business models and unit economics vs top line and user growth.

However, from a midterm and earlier stage perspective, the regional and Vietnamese fintech market was attractive as many segments are not saturated yet.

He added that many fintech firms lack scalability. 99 per cent of the time ambitions and capabilities of local startups do not go beyond country borders.

However, from a long-term investor perspective, Binh Tran, co-founder of Ascend Vietnam Ventures believes Vietnam will continue to breed fintech unicorns with regional and global competencies.

The goal for Vietnamese fintech is to either solve fintech issues specific to emerging Asian markets or to penetrate developed markets like the United States. Companies like Trusting Social and Anduin Transactions have already demonstrated this dual approach capability.

Recently, several Vietnamese entrepreneurs have continued to raise money effectively in the middle of the 2022-2023 global monetary crisis, closing a total of nine deals, including Finhay at $25 million), Timo for $20 million), and VUIAPP with $6.4 million. The statistical data illustrates the optimistic attitude of investors towards the potential for fintech development in Vietnam.

Following the trend of Gamefi across blockchain community, in 2022, Sky Mavis which is a blockchain game publisher, received $150 million in the Series C round in April 2022. Moreover, Fundiin, the leading Buy Now Pay Later fintech company in Vietnam, successfully raised $5 million in a Series A funding round co-led by Trihill Capital and ThinkZone Ventures.

MoMo purchased a 49 per cent share in the domestic securities firm Tin Viet Securities (CVS) in mid-2022. The payment giant also purchased Nhanh.vn, a company that provides sales channel management solutions on a cloud-based system.

According to Robocash Group, Vietnams fintech is witnessing the highest growth rate in ASEAN after Singapore and is predicted to reach a staggering $18 billion by 2024.

Vietnam's fintech app market shows impressive growth Vietnam's fintech app market has experienced substantial growth, presenting opportunities for innovation and expansion. April Tayson, Adjust's regional vice president for Southeast Asia and India, discussed with VIR's Le Luu how Adjust provides data-driven insights and solutions to empower fintech marketers while ensuring compliance with data protection regulations.

Fintech groups and banks linking up for new payment partnerships Vietnams payment fintech landscape is witnessing a surge in partnerships between foreign giants like Apple Pay and local banks, while local payment apps are teaming up with international firms, signalling promising growth prospects for the digital payment sector.
At a press conference on August 16, Le Thi Thu Thuy, Global CEO of VinFast, spoke about the company's next moves after successfully listing on the US stock exchange. The CEO expressed cheer for the warm welcome the company received during its first trading session.

"The goal of VinFast is to improve internally and become a global company with the mission of transforming the industry to zero-emission EVs," Thuy said.

Therefore, its business development strategy remains the company's top priority.

She said that VinFast currently has seven EV models, including the VF e34 and VF 5, the VF3 for the Southeast Asian market, and the VF6, VF7, VF8, and VF9 for the US and European markets.

However, through its research and sales in the United States, the CEO noted that the VF3 and VF5 were also well-received by customers. Therefore, the company will adjust its plan to take advantage of these opportunities. In addition, VinFast will expand the Southeast Asian EV market with a diversified model range, and debut right-hand drive EVs on the international market by the end of this year.

Regarding VinFast's competitive advantages, Thuy said, "We work on the general principle of high-quality products, competitive prices, and good service. They are the three key points that all companies constantly strive for."

Along with its lineup of cars, the company has already delivered e-buses and e-motorbikes that are seen as premium products in the market right now.

She also reaffirmed VinFast's production ability. "Around the world right now, only Tesla can rival our production capabilities. Other companies face many challenges in their supply chain," Thuy said.

Le Thi Thu Thuy, Global CEO of VinFast

Thuy made VinFast's business strategy clear. In the first step, they reached the most difficult market, the US, and from there will expand into Europe, ASEAN, and the Middle East.

"There are countless opportunities, but the road ahead is definitely not easy. We will have to redouble our efforts," the CEO said.

She further stated that VinFast will break even by 2024.

"The demand for EVs around the world is very high. The perception of governments and the general public has undergone considerable changes, soaring the demand for green transportation. However, additional improvements are required in terms of infrastructure," she said.

At the end of July, VinFast started the construction of an EV factory in North Carolina with a total investment of $2 billion in the first phase and an expected capacity of 150,000 vehicles per year. The supply of components for production will give priority to the US, Vietnam, and some other countries in the region.

Vero, an ASEAN brand communication consulting company, has just released a whitepaper on the development potential and current barriers for electric cars in the Vietnamese market amidst the trend of sustainable transport. With a population of about 100 million people, Vietnam has made significant strides in accepting electric motorbikes, becoming the second-largest market in the world, following China. Although VinFast and other well-known global brands have already launched electric models in Vietnam, the use of electric cars in the country is much lower than the regional average. The survey found that 79 per cent of Vietnamese consumers see electric cars as an effective solution to reduce environmental problems, and two-thirds of respondents said they had researched and considered buying an EV. However, the disparities in Infrastructure leave users concerned about the range of EVs. One-third of respondents said they had no intention of buying one, and 87 per cent of them said that this was due to the lack of charging stations, especially when travelling long distances. Familiarity with EV technologies is still low. More than half said that they would not consider buying an EV because they have yet to become acquainted with the technology and were unable to distinguish between the various models. Gen Z and millennial consumers were particularly disinterested. The growth of ride-hailing apps and the current economic situation make young users shy away from using EVs, according to the report.

EV maker VinFast to list in US in August VinFast will list in the United States via a merger with a blank-cheque company after the Securities and Exchange Commission greenlit its proposed business combination.

Vingroups revenues see a soar in the second quarter of 2023 Vingroup reported a revenue increase in the first half of 2023 thanks to the contribution from the sale of electric vehicle products.
After learning that 100 pounds of insulin was stuck, grounded last week at Kona International Airport on the big island, volunteers at Maui Brewing Company, Hawaiis largest craft brewery, got to work. They spent several hours trying to link health officials with a general aviation pilot who could complete the medical delivery to their community.

Kami Irwin, who runs a military nonprofit, was frustrated that it fell to volunteers like her to secure such a vital resource.

The fact that Im just a normal civilian that is trying to help the community along with everyone else here and we were able to make that happen? Irwin said. It doesnt look good.

Irwin has been coordinating donation pickup out of the brewerys tasting room, taking advantage of what the tight community calls coconut wireless, informal communication chains that spread information like a game of telephone.

We will be OK if us residents keep building together, she added.

Volunteers on Maui have cobbled together countless improvised, urgent solutions like the insulin shipment in response to the countrys deadliest wildfire in over a century, which has killed more than 100 people and displaced thousands. Nonprofit groups struggle to deliver aid to the second-farthest state from the U.S. mainland, while mutual aid groups and local businesses help fill the cracks.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency opened its first disaster recovery center on Maui on Wednesday, the same day traffic resumed on a major road. In the initial days following the fire, officials scrambled to house thousands of displaced residents. Transportation and communications remained limited for days in impacted areas, which likely contributed to uncertainty for some residents about where to get assistance. Meanwhile, relief groups based on the U.S. mainland have contended with a major airport hamstrung by a deluge of departing tourists and arrivals toting assistance from afar.

But nonprofits and volunteers are ready to help.

The Salvation Army has been supplying meals and offering counseling to survivors and people impacted, serving food to 12,000 people on Tuesday, said Maj. Troy Timmer, divisional commander of The Salvation Army Hawaiian & Pacific Islands. The Salvation Armys Lahaina Corps location, was destroyed in the fire, but their staff all safely evacuated and continue to track the losses among the people they served. Trimmer acknowledged possible frustration as the community and officials scramble to meet urgent needs, saying that major tragedies take a significant toll.

From my experience, what weve seen is that people are doing their best, including the officials. Theyre doing the best. Could there be something missed in the process? Absolutely, he said.

International relief groups like CityServe said that the primary airport in wildfire-ravaged Maui has been so full the group decided to truck a quarter-of-a-million meals from Florida to California and then load them onto ships to cross over 2,500 nautical miles. Officials from the faith-based nonprofit hope the packages of apple cinnamon oatmeal and vegetable rice arrive next Monday at the earliest.

Its almost impossible to fly them in now, said Todd Lamphere, the vice president of government relations for CityServe. His prior experience with emergency response tells him the meals will arrive just as that first wave of external support begins to wane.

Edward Graham, chief operating officer of Samaritans Purse, said the nondenominational evangelical Christian organization landed its cargo plane Tuesday with 17 tons of equipment. Most of their work will involve helping homeowners identify family heirlooms and other valuables.

Even finding a timeframe at the airport to drop off tools like sifting instruments, vital to helping people get closure by finding lost personal treasures, required coordination, Graham said. Even though there are several airfields on the island, Kahului Airport has been overloaded just because of all the disaster relief flights coming in, he said.

Challenges dont end once assistance reaches the island. Many evacuees fled to a more remote area west of the nearly incinerated historic town of Lahaina. It wasnt until Tuesday at 6 p.m. local time that the two-lane Lahaina bypass road reopened to residents, first responders and employees of West Maui.

Laurence Balter, the owner of Maui Flight Academy, said his small armada of roughly a dozen pilots have used West Maui Airport to meet the survivors' immediate needs. The airfield is designed for smaller aircrafts and located near some of the hardest hit areas. He estimates they have flown over 100,000 pounds of supplies ranging from diapers and flashlights to Costco chicken and oil. He counted 57 flights on their second day in action and 36 on day three.

Even if the run is 200 pounds they're still doing it because they know it's impacting someone's life, Balter said.

The group Maui Mutual Aid has raised $1.6 million through its PayPal account, said Tina Ramirez, executive director of Grants Central Station. Her organization is acting as a fiscal sponsor for the mutual aid group, which is also coordinating the sourcing and delivering of supplies, transportation, housing and other needs, in part through an online form.

The group, which formed in response to COVID-19, has around 100 volunteers trying to handle logistics and gather information about people's needs, Ramirez said. Her group will eventually distribute the funds raised to pay directly for expenses, but have not yet released the money.

In many cases, a lot of these people have lost their ID. Theyre unable to go to the bank. Theyre unable to get their bank cards, Ramirez said. So were still trying to work through all of that, as well as collecting all the information.

Water, supplies for babies and children, medication and personal toiletries were still needed, but that local groups were inundated with clothing donations, she said, adding that, in the past two days, more government support has reached the worst-hit areas.

It takes a while. We are out in the middle of nowhere, Ramirez said. Its a little different than on the mainland where you can drive things in, so everyone is doing the best they can.

Distribution centers flush with donations have not always been able to efficiently distribute the overwhelming amounts of aid that does arrive.

The Rev. Jay Haynes, a pastor at Kahului Baptist Church, said his congregation started bringing resources straight to homes after they noticed them piling up at major supply drops. He said the communitys strong word-of-mouth game allows his team to gather needs lists directly from people seeking items like hygiene products, water and propane.

A Tuesday meeting of local pastors sought to build a more cohesive network. Haynes soon anticipates having to address long-term concerns of people torn from their communities. He expects the Central Maui public school system will be overpopulated with children lacking school supplies.

He preached patience for people compelled to help by visiting Maui. The need for volunteers will persist.

Were all tired. My people have been working nonstop since Wednesday, Haynes said. But were also overwhelmed by what this is going to be for the next months and years."

-

Pollard is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of APs philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.
HAMMOND, Ind. (AP)  If you need gas during early morning hours in northwestern Indiana, don't bother stopping in Hammond come November. A new law will force service stations to close between midnight and 5 a.m.

The Chicago suburb's 37 gas stations must close during those hours under a new ordinance designed to curb crime.

The Hammond Common Council voted 7-2 Monday to approve the ordinance, which takes effect Nov. 1, news outlets reported.

Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. championed the ordinance.

Right now, every time theres an incident in the middle the night, we have to deploy multiple officers, McDermott said. I have 14 police officers working at 2 in the morning, and five or six of them will be tied up at a gas station.

Some Hammond residents expressed reservations.

Id hate to see people get stuck, just in case somebody is traveling and gets off and needs to have gas, said Annette Nordgren.

The citys Board of Public Works and Safety will consider exemptions to the ordinance based on factors including its proximity to expressways, the number of incidents the location has had over the past five years and whether it has a security presence.

I realize theres going to be a couple of gas stations open, McDermott said, because there are people that going to be stranded and they need gas  and were going to make exceptions for them.

Jim Witham, who operates a large service station in the city, told the council that independent gas stations were willing to voluntarily close overnight for one year, but said the city should enforce the mandatory overnight closure citywide with no exceptions.

The ordinance was first introduced by McDermott in early July, weeks after a 33-year-old Chicago man was fatally shot at a Hammond gas station around 2 a.m.

Across the state line in Illinois, the Village of Oak Park approved an ordinance similar to Hammond's, closing stations from midnight to 5 a.m. The village was sued, but the case was eventually dismissed and the ordinance remains in place.
In the murder-for-hire trial of a Waco attorney, the defense rested Thursday after saying no one warned the target of the alleged 2020 plot that he was in danger, apparently content with efforts to show the jury reasonable doubt while the state put on its case.

Waco attorney Seth Sutton stands trial this week on a first-degree felony charge of solicitation of murder, accused of starting a plot May 14, 2020, to kill Marcus Beaudin. Beaudin has since been indicted on an attempted indecency with a child charge involving a member of Sutton's family.

Prosecutors and Sutton's defense attorney are expected to deliver closing arguments Friday to the McLennan County jury of 10 men and 2 women, before Visiting Judge Roy Sparkman in Waco's 19th State District Court.

After the state rested, defense attorney Clint Broden, of Dallas, presented an uncontested statement of fact that no one told Beaudin he was in danger. Broden and lead prosecutor Patrick Sloane, of the Texas Attorney Generals office in Austin, both signed the statement.

Then the defense rested.

Earlier Thursday, the third day of testimony in the trial, the state called law enforcement witnesses who told the jury about evidence for search and arrest warrants against Sutton, including a firearm purchase and a string of deleted text messages.

The prosecution also presented audio of Sutton talking with an undercover detective about wiping a handgun clean of fingerprints, hiding it on a specific property and deleting text messages from phones.

The Tribune-Herald is withholding the undercover detective's name to protect his identity for future investigations.

Texas Ranger Jake Burson, who wrote the arrest warrant for Sutton, told the jury how three Waco police officials, including the undercover detective, laid out for him how Sutton had asked the detective to kill Beaudin and days later told the detective he would help him buy a gun for the purpose. The detective testified earlier in the trial about Sutton paying him $300 to buy a gun.

Under Brodens questioning, the detective told the jury that before their May 22, 2020, arrests Sutton and Chelsea Tijerina, Beaudin's ex-wife who was accused of taking part in the plot, had not set a specific date for Beaudins murder, just that it would be after July 1, 2020. Tijerina died following a 2021 motorcycle crash in Hays County.

A string of 40 to 60 text messages between Tijerina and Sutton registered in Tijerinas phone records, Waco police Sgt. Sam Key told the jury Thursday under prosecution questioning. Police Sgt. Matthew McCallister told the jury he found fewer than 10 text messages to Sutton in Tijerinas phone.

McAllister said in his experience a string of text messages indicated in phone records but missing from the phone itself means someone deleted the text messages or they were sent from another device.
A man arrested last month on federal warrants in a pair of Hewitt Drive bank robberies has been charged in a June robbery of Boozer's Jewelers, Waco police announced Thursday.

John Rainwater, 42, now faces a Waco charge of aggravated robbery, in addition to the two federal bank robbery charges.

"Waco Police Department Special Crimes Detectives were able to identify Rainwater as the suspect due to his likeness and consistency with how he committed each robbery," a police press release says. "When Rainwater was initially arrested on his two Federal Warrants in July, a Rolex watch was found that was later confirmed to be stolen from Boozers."

A pair of armed robbers entered the store shortly before closing time June 17 and zip-tied two employees while making a third empty out the store's shelves, owner Brad Boozer said shortly after the robbery.

Boozer estimated the pair took 90% of the store's merchandise, worth millions of dollars.

Two others have been arrested in the Boozer's case on theft by possession charges, police announced Thursday. They did not specify whether they believe they know who the second robber is.

Tontanisha Freeman was arrested Aug. 4 in Austin "as she pawned jewelry from the robbery," and Lawanda Joiner was arrested the same day "for delivering the stolen jewelry to Freeman," the press release says.

Rainwater was initially arrested July 21 in Waco on bank robbery charges in an October armed robbery of Texell Credit Union, 1221 Hewitt Drive in Waco, and an April 2022 robbery of First Convenience Bank in the Walmart at 600 Hewitt Drive, also in Waco. In their initial statements about the incidents at the banks, police said employees' hands had been tied during the First Convenience robbery but provided less detail about the Texell robbery.

Freeman and Joiner had been released on bond by Thursday. Rainwater remained in McLennan County Jail.
Waco Independent School District schools showed mixed results in this years state standardized testing, with some showing marked jumps in reading and math scores, others only incremental change and a few dropping considerably from last year.

McLennan County public school districts held steady or slightly declined from last years rebound in their average scores in the annual Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, with fifth-grade math scores dipping in many districts. Statewide, reading scores largely were unchanged from last year while math scores showed a slower recovery from the pandemics effect.

This years test, given in the spring, differed from previous versions with the Texas Education Agency redesigning the test last year to better align it with the state curriculum taught in classrooms. The test of reading skills added a writing component, where students had to write answers to questions. The number of correct answers needed to achieve certain performance levels also increased. For the first time, all students took the test online rather than on paper forms.

In Waco ISD, five elementary schools showed increases in both reading and math scores for their third grades, while six elementary schools had similar increases for their fifth grades. Two schools dropped in both math and reading for third grade while four had decreases on the fifth grade level.

At the same time, third graders at seven of the districts 13 elementary schools, and fifth graders at one elementary school, failed to meet state standards in math. In reading, third graders at five schools and fifth graders at two failed to meet state standards in reading.

On the middle school level, eighth graders at Lake Air Montessori Magnet School improved on both reading and math, while Tennyson Middle School dipped slightly in both and Cesar Chavez Middle School dropped in reading while improving in math. A majority of students in the three schools passed reading and math, but a majority failed the social studies STAAR exam.

Waco ISD Superintendent Susan Kincannon said she hoped to see greater improvement from last years scores, but found the mixed results fell short of that.

We are disappointed and its a setback to what weve been doing, Kincannon said, referring to the forward progress the district had made in recovering from pandemic disruptions in the 2019-20 and 2021-22 school years.

Kincannon was pleased with the overall increases in third grade reading and math STAAR scores, even as math scores in general have been slower to rebound. Administrators will look at increasing teacher training and professional development on math instruction for schools where student STAAR scores have stubbornly remained low, she said.

For the five schools in Transformation Waco, a charter district within Waco ISD, CEO Robin McDurham said she found promise in the STAAR results, even as a majority of its elementary-level students fell short of state passing standards. At J.H. Hines Elementary, scores in third-grade reading and math were up, the latter by 12 points, as well as for fifth-grade reading and math, the latter by 16 points.

The fifth-grade reading and math scores were roughly triple of those tallied two years ago in the immediate aftermath of pandemic disruptions. Alta Vista Elementary had increases in third-grade reading and math, with 50% meeting state standards in reading. Brook Avenue Elementary fifth graders also improved 9 points in reading.

A majority of G.W. Carver and Indian Spring middle school students  a difference distinguished largely by TEA student ID numbers as both shared the same campus and teachers for the last two years  passed state standards for reading and approached the 50% mark in math.

Were celebrating our gains, McDurham said. Theres some progress and were proud of the work our people have done.

Student attendance dropped dramatically during the school years affected most by the pandemic, but as attendance has recovered, student learning has found traction, she said.

While state attention is focused on how well students do on the STAAR test, Transformation Waco educators rely on national Measures of Academic Progress testing as a better guide to student performance. Administered three times a year and with a testing base of some 6.7 million students, it provides a better indication on student learning, McDurham said.

Its consistent and its reliable, she said.

Transformation Waco schools have demonstrated a growing rate of student learning over the last two years, and results are shared with students to give them personal goals in their learning, she said.

Its something concrete. They can see their progress. They can measure their growth, she said.

This years STAAR results were cause for celebration at some Waco ISD schools.

West Avenue Elementary saw a 26 percentage-point jump in third-grade reading and a 24-point gain in third-grade math. At South Waco Elementary, third-grade reading scores improved 22 points and math scores were up 14 points. Lake Air Montessori increased its fifth-grade reading score by 14 points and its math score by 17 points, with eighth-graders raising their math score by 19 points. Provident Heights Elementary third-grade math scores increased by 29 points and Mountainview Elementary saw an 18-point increase in its fifth-grade math scores.

The districts average reading score for third grade topped its pre-pandemic 2019 level, but that was the only category to do so.

In all grade level and subject averages of STAAR scores, Waco ISD continues to fall below the state average. Third graders at Hillcrest Elementary School topped the state average in reading, and third graders at Lake Air Montessori School scored higher than the state average in math.

On a fifth grade level, Parkdale Elementary, Hillcrest and Lake Air Montessori were above the state in reading, and Bells Hill and Lake Air Montessori higher than the state average in math. Lake Air Montessori eighth graders also scored higher in reading than the state average.

Given the changes in the calculation of school accountability scores, the letter grade given to public school districts and campuses for academic performance and student preparation, Kincannon said this years scores likely will mean low grades for some Waco schools when the grades are released Sept. 26.

For the Waco ISD, state calculation changes in the College, Career and Military Readiness score will frustrate what officials had viewed as progress. Last year, the districts results in the category had helped boost Waco High Schools accountability grade from a C to a B. This years raw scores in the category are higher, but under the new calculations, the district instead may end up penalized.

Continuing the districts efforts to retain teachers, slow turnover and promote leadership stability also will help student learning in the long run, Kincannon said.

We start over in STAAR, but we dont start over on our systems, she said.

2023 STAAR results  Waco ISD 2021 2022 2023 2021 2022 2023 3RD GRADE READING MATH '21 '22 '23 '21 '22 '23 Alta Vista 42 38 50 37 36 39 Bell's Hill 56 74 69 50 66 66 Brook Avenue 33 41 29 21 33 38 Cedar Ridge 37 54 40 33 44 30 Crestview 48 40 59 28 37 35 Dean Highland 47 45 34 41 31 32 Hillcrest PDS 52 82 78 28 65 65 J.H. Hines 23 36 34 10 20 32 Kendrick 46 65 63 38 45 60 Lake Air Mont. 69 69 75 59 67 79 Mountainview 60 62 60 38 50 47 Parkdale 57 55 43 36 38 40 Provident Hts. 47 49 51 24 24 53 South Waco 37 29 51 24 24 38 West Avenue 59 48 74 33 42 56 DISTRICT 48 53 54 35 42 48 STATEWIDE 66 75 75 61 70 72 5TH GRADE READING MATH '21 '22 '23 '21 '22 '23 Alta Vista 42 61 66 56 61 35 Bell's Hill 81 83 81 80 80 82 Brook Avenue 35 40 49 33 33 24 Cedar Ridge 57 72 63 59 70 66 Crestview 57 73 70 64 84 72 Dean Highland 46 67 51 29 62 45 Hillcrest PDS 68 81 71 69 65 63 J.H. Hines 17 46 48 14 28 44 Kendrick 68 60 66 68 52 65 Lake Air Mont. 73 67 81 54 71 88 Mountainview 56 67 74 51 52 70 Parkdale 54 71 81 40 66 70 Provident Hts. 71 65 67 55 57 63 South Waco 46 53 56 26 47 40 West Avenue 55 64 65 43 62 68 DISTRICT 56 66 67 50 60 61 STATEWIDE 72 80 80 69 75 79 8TH GRADE READING MATH '21 '22 '23 '21 '22 '23 Cesar Chavez 57 76 71 47 53 61 G.W. Carver 44 62 53 23 33 42 Indian Spring 47 64 66 34 46 46 Lake Air Mont. 77 83 86 32 42 71 Tennyson 67 77 75 49 57 55 DISTRICT 58 72 69 41 49 53 STATEWIDE 72 82 82 60 70 74
City of Waco and Waco Independent School District leaders this week discussed development possibilities for 60 acres of public land in downtown Waco that could play into a $2 billion return to a town square serving as the heartbeat of a regional economy.

Also in the mix is relocating the Waco ISD headquarters closer to City Hall, where district staffers could share a new office building with city of Waco employees.

The ambitious goals are outlined in a Downtown Master Plan prepared by the M. Arthur Gensler Jr. & Associates architecture and consulting firm, and the city expects soon to put out a Request for Qualifications to potential developers.

Other ideas in the Gensler proposal, none of which the city has committed to, include leveling the Waco Convention Center and building a new convention center downtown not blocking the view of Lake Brazos. Another would place as many city employees as possible in a new office building or two, and generate revenue by selling off scattered public properties downtown. The plan also proposes a large lawn or green space extending from City Hall to Lake Brazos, creating an outdoor venue for public enjoyment.

Also in the works is leveling Indian Spring Middle School on University Parks Drive, and making available for development its prime 26-acre site.

An estimated 60 acres owned or controlled by either the city of Waco or Waco ISD would come into play, including the parking lots around City Hall. The lots represent economic development opportunities, Waco City Manager Bradley Ford said during a meeting Wednesday of the City of Waco and Waco ISD Intergovernmental Relations Board. Several city council members, school board trustees and support staffers attended the session.

Ford said the city in 2017 solicited proposals to develop sites around City Hall. Ford said that process did not yield satisfactory results, so the city this time crafted a vision for what were hoping for, incorporating ideas gleaned from public meetings held citywide, and with input from M. Arthur Gensler Jr. & Associates.

Now it will ask high-profile development companies nationwide to take those ideas and run with them, keeping in mind local preferences.

Wacos Town Square once was the heartbeat of a regional economy, a vibrant place, but the tornado took that away from us, Ford said, referencing the deadly 1953 twister that obliterated much of downtown.

He said a reimagined downtown could also include a new home for the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum, now located on Interstate 35. Ford said a performing arts center could materialize at Franklin Avenue and University Parks Drive, but its $100 million price would require private involvement.

He said assembling the pieces may take 15 to 20 years, if not longer, and potentially cost $2 billion. Construction would begin in 2025.

The next step is to send a Request for Qualifications to the development community, which should happen within the next four weeks, Ford said.

I expect we will receive quality looks at the project because there is almost 60 acres owned by the City and Waco ISD along the Brazos River in downtown, he said in an email response to questions. This is a generational opportunity to develop a multi-phase project between two of the fastest growing regions in America in Austin and Dallas/Fort Worth.

Additionally, due to our own regions growing economy, we think it is a great time to go to market with a dynamic opportunity like this.

Waco ISD Superintendent Susan Kincannon, who attended Wednesdays meeting, said the district already views its administration building at 501 Franklin Ave. as a long-term liability. She said the district would seriously consider relocating operations to near Waco City Hall.

Waco ISDs administration building doesnt function well for the work that we do, Kincannon said by email. Its challenging for parents to access, and there are limited spaces for collaboration. In addition, the district does not have adequate spaces for professional development.

If a new facility were built, the district would not have a need for the current administration building, she said.

It would be my recommendation to the Board of Trustees that the building be sold, Kincannon said.

The building itself and two connected Waco ISD properties are appraised for tax purposes at a combined $4.1 million.

Indian Spring Middle School is now empty, with its former students in the newly opened G.W. Carver Middle School. The former Indian Spring building will house Kendrick Elementary School students beginning in January, through the end of the 2024-2025 school year, while a new Kendrick is built on its current South Waco campus, Kincannon said.

The Indian Spring school building sits on one of the largest pieces of property in the downtown area, so it makes sense to include it in a conversation regarding the future of the downtown area, Kincannon said.

Asked about the propertys appeal, real estate agent Gregg Glime said, I am not sure it would be appropriate for me to throw out a estimated price, but I would say that I fully expect that to be one of the most desired pieces of land on the market, and I believe it would catch the eye and interest of many different developers. That is a prime location and would open the door for a significant investment within the boundaries of the downtown market area.

Waco Mayor Dillon Meek spoke glowingly of the plan, adding with emphasis he thinks downtown Waco needs a quality product that reflects local culture, one that feels like Waco, and does not represent a cookie-cutter approach. He said the Stockyards district in Fort Worth is an example of what works.

Waco ISD Trustee Jonathan Grant, a real estate agent, said he hopes redevelopment does not spell doom for small business owners. He said Waco has reaped financial rewards from the Magnolia phenomenon, but some have seen their property values and taxes skyrocket in its wake.

I love audacious dreams, and I love throwing myself into them. I would love downtown to become our heartbeat. I would trade Indian Spring Park for a Pappasitos in a minute, Grant said. But will there be room for a body shop? Are we going to turn downtown over to people who already have a lot of capital, or are we going to help build wealth for Waco people?

Meek said Waco enjoys an admirable track record of supporting local businesses, and, yes, they will have a place here.

Ford said he will brief Waco City Council members as the city receives responses to its Request for Qualifications. The council will definitely have to vote to approve any selected developers, Ford said.

I expect WISD will also want briefings along the way as well, he said.

I feel its important for Waco ISD to continue to have a strong presence in the downtown area, Kincannon said. The potential to relocate the districts administration building next to City Hall provides the opportunity to improve and enhance district operations while strengthening our relationship.

Its possible that we will be able to collaborate on some shared administrative spaces such as training rooms, which will enhance the work of both organizations while providing efficiencies for our taxpayers.
The Biden Administration announced a major expansion of the Temporary Protect Status for Ukrainians residing in the U.S.

This was confirmed by U.S. officials on Friday, Aug. 18. But, what does the expansion mean for Ukrainians?

Biden Admin Expands Temporary Protected Status For Ukrainians in US

According to Time Magazine's latest report, the major Temporary Protected Status expansion could make over 166,000 Ukrainians eligible.

This is a drastic increase compared to the current scope of the temporary legal status, which only covers 26,000 Ukrainians.

For those who are not familiar with it, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is the program of the U.S. government that allows migrants to stay in the United States when their home countries are deemed unsafe.

But, it doesn't mean that TPS can offer citizenships to affected nationals. Instead, the U.S. government can extend this status depending on the situation of their countries.

In the latest TPS expansion, Ukrainians who have been in the U.S. since Aug. 16 are eligible.

"The Secretary is also redesignating Ukraine for TPS. The redesignation of Ukraine allows additional Ukrainian nationals who have been continuously residing in the United States since August 16, 2023," said the Homeland Security Department.

Read Also: Russia-Ukraine War Update: Moscow Hit by Ukrainian Drone Attack; US Approves Transfer of F-16s to Ukraine; US Intel Predicts Counteroffensive Will Fail

TPS Expansion's Details

Recently, the TPS offered for Ukrainian nationals was supposed to expire on Oct. 19. However, the Homeland Security Department announced that this deadline has been adjusted.

The Temporary Protected Status for these nationals has been extended for 18 months. This means that their TPS will last until April 19, 2025.

DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas explained that the ongoing military activities of Russia in Ukraine and the country's humanitarian crisis require the U.S. to take action.

He said that the U.S. government must offer safety and protection to Ukrainians who are having a hard time (or can't go back at all) returning to their beloved country.

Aside from Ukrainians, the TPS for Sudanese nationals was also expanded. The Biden Admin added 2,750 more, bringing the total to 3,950.

In the case of Sudanese nationals' TPS, the expansion is the 16th extension since 1997.

Since the Temporary Protected Status offered by the U.S. government to nationals has been debated by Americans, the latest TPS expansion will surely make some U.S. residents angry or disappointed.

Related Article: US Approves Sending F-16 Jets to Ukraine After Ukrainian Pilots Complete Training

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The American judicial system finds itself under siege as threats loom and the identities of certain jurors are exposed across countless social media platforms. What's even more alarming is that these individuals are now being targeted with recommendations that encourage harassment and even resort to the use of racial slurs.

The Fulton County Sheriff's Office said on Thursday that It has come to their attention that certain grand jurors, who patriotically performed their civic responsibilities honorably cast their votes this week to indict former President Donald J. Trump and 18 other individuals, are now facing a disconcerting wave of internet threats. These threats, originating from unknown sources, are believed to be aimed at those who played a pivotal role in the indictment, accusing them of conspiring to overturn the results of Georgia's consequential 2020 election. In light of these distressing circumstances, the Fulton County Sheriff's Office has taken it upon itself to thoroughly investigate this matter and ensure the safety and well-being of the grand jurors involved. The allegations levied against former President Trump and his co-conspirators revolve around a concerted effort to exert influence over the outcome of the state's highly consequential presidential election.

In accordance with the customary legal practice observed in the state of Georgia, the identities of the jurors have been duly revealed at an early stage within the extensive 98-page indictment. The distinctive nature of Georgia's judicial system sets it apart from both its counterparts in other states and the federal government.

Now, the faces of some of those jurors, as well as their social media accounts, probable residences, and phone numbers, and in some cases, the recommendation that they should be harassed, have been circulated on internet sites; however, as of Thursday, it was unclear if anybody had followed through on those suggestions and harassed the jurors in question.

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In a statement, the county's sheriff's office stated that it was aware of internet threats made against grand jurors and that it was collaborating with other law enforcement agencies to determine where the threats originated. It did not respond to questions on whether or not any jurors had complained of being harassed.

Threats have also been made in response to other legal actions against Mr. Trump. Tanya S. Chutkan is the judge in Washington presiding over the federal election interference case being brought against the former president. This month, a woman from Texas was accused of threatening to assassinate Chutkan.

The jury members in the Georgia case came from throughout Fulton County, where the district attorney, Fani T. Willis, spent the last two and a half years investigating the activities taken by Mr. Trump and his friends in the wake of the 2020 election. She presented evidence to the jury on Monday. For an indictment to be handed down, there needed to be support from twelve of the panel's 23 members.

As soon as the indictment was made public late on Monday night, users on social media immediately started questioning the identity of the jurors and disclosing information about their personal lives.

One person commented on Wednesday on Facebook, "I thought it only fair to share a few names from that grand jury," including probable residences and phone numbers for some jurors. The user included a list of names from the grand jury. "I will continue to post the other jurors as I find them," said the jury's foreperson. (A spokeswoman for Meta, the company that owns Facebook and oversees its operations, said in an email that site moderators subsequently deleted the post.)

On Truth Social, the social media network launched by Mr. Trump  who has lashed out at prosecutors, judges, and private individuals who have sued him  many users shared the names. Mr. Trump has himself lashed out at prosecutors, judges, and private citizens who have sued him. In one answer to a list of several jurors, a user asked other users to "make sure they can't walk down the street" and to "make sure they become notorious" for their actions.

Other remarks that contained threats of violence against the jurors were posted on one web board, and Media Matters, a leftist group that monitors conservative media companies, gathered these messages and termed the list of the jurors' names and addresses a "hit list." Media Matters monitors these organizations.

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The New York Times was able to see the messages posted on over a dozen different channels of the messaging service Telegram, where the information on the jurors was being exchanged. Accusations were made on several media channels about the racial or religious origin of the jurors based on their names or views. No evidence supported these accusations. A number of individuals posted tweets that seemed to be written by a grand juror who had historically favored Democrats.

According to a criminologist and lawyer at the University of California, Irvine, named Jon B. Gould, the state of Georgia is quite rare in that it makes the identities of grand jurors public. According to him, this raises the risk of them being threatened or harassed due to the judgments they make, particularly in situations involving criminal gangs and organized crime.

According to Diane Peress, a former state and federal prosecutor who now teaches at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, prosecutors in both the New York State and the federal systems made significant efforts to conceal the identities of grand jurors. During the proceedings of the grand jury in the state of New York, for instance, the jurors are often solely referred to by their assigned numbers.

According to Michael Mears, a professor at John Marshall Law School in Atlanta, one of the purposes of the rule in Georgia that requires the release of the jurors' names is to provide defense attorneys with a small window into the proceedings. This allows defense attorneys to check, for example, whether any of the jurors should have been excluded because they were previously convicted of a felony or resided outside the county.

In every other respect, the legal proceedings in Georgia are more shrouded in secrecy than those in New York, the other state jurisdiction in which Mr. Trump has been charged with crimes. The state of New York maintains a record of the proceedings and testimony of grand juries, which is then provided to the defense and may be utilized during the trial.

According to Mr. Mears, however, records are not retained in Georgia, and a transcript is not prepared of grand jury proceedings, making it exceedingly difficult to contest the grand jury's judgment.

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Trump Supporters ENDANGER LIVES of Georgia Grand Jury - Post Names & Addresses Online!!!
DES MOINES  Three Black Hawk County operations were among 39 farm families honored this week with Iowa Farm Environmental Leader Awards at the Iowa State Fair.

Among the operations honored were the Cook Family Farm and BarLee Farms Ltd. of Waterloo and Miller Time Farms Inc. of La Porte City.

The award, presented by Gov. Kim Reynolds, Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg, Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig, and Department of Natural Resources Director Kayla Lyon, acknowledges farmers who take voluntary actions to improve and protect Iowas natural resources while serving as leaders in their communities.

These farm families use proven practices such as cover crops, no-till, wetlands, bioreactors and saturated buffers, among many others, that support the goals of the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy by holding soil in place and improving water quality. These recipients recognize that the benefits of conservation practices extend beyond their fields, and their leadership encourages others to adopt similar conservation practices.

The Iowa Farm Environmental Leader Award recognizes the farmers who have made stewardship a priority. Their commitment to protecting, preserving, and restoring Iowas natural resources will ensure that future generations can enjoy the benefits of healthy soils and improved water quality for decades to come, said Gov. Kim Reynolds. Congratulations to the 2023 winners of the IFELA award. We applaud your leadership and commitment to environmental excellence!

A total of 777 Iowa farm families have been recognized since the creation of the Iowa Farm Environmental Leader Award in 2012.

The winners were chosen by a committee representing conservation and agricultural groups.
WATERLOO  The Kwik Star convenience stores at Six Corners and Franklin Street are closing.

The Six Corners store  serving customers since 1985  could close for good as soon as Aug. 31, according to John McHugh, vice president of external relations.

The closing date for the convenience store and gas station at 1636 W. Fourth St. is tentative and could change based on the progression of the construction at its new, more-than-9,000-square-foot store about a mile south along a commercial corridor at 135 E. Ridgeway Ave.

The new store, framed as part of a relocation, is expected to open Oct. 5. It is the primary reason for closing the 3,400-square-foot Six Corners location.

The goal is to improve service for the larger Waterloo neighborhood, said Dave Niemi, public relations representative. There will be more offerings. It will be bigger, offer more pumps and a car wash.

The Kwik Star at 1214 Franklin St., opened in 1986, also is scheduled to close Aug. 31, according to the operations support division.

One of Kwik Stars first 100 stores, the former Walters Mini Mart on Fourth Street was acquired in 1985 and turned into a Kwik Trip (Kwik Trips in Iowa were rebranded as Kwik Stars in 1993).

Records indicate the current building was constructed in 1994. It is nestled in a residential area at Six Corners  the Fourth Street, Kimball Avenue, Williston Avenue and Campbell Avenue intersection where a roundabout is now being considered.

Officials declined to comment on individual stores profitability and whether that played a factor. Nonetheless, the store will be missed by frequent patrons.

I hate it, said Tammy Gonzales, who lives about a half-mile away. I go to this store every day and will have to go to the one on Ridgeway or Fletcher.

Her friend, Tina Borman, another frequent patron of years and years, said the location is so convenient for a lot of people. She definitely has to get a pop  usually Cherry Pepsi  whenever she stops at the location as well as gas, bread, vegetables and snacks.

I feel most for the people who live around here and dont have cars and either walk or ride a bike here, she said. It will be heartbreaking.

The New Star Liquor convenience store, with snacks and drinks as well as alcoholic beverages and tobacco products, is across the street at 1625 W. Fourth St.

Manager Taylor Wilson said she doesnt know if it will be good or bad for business. Kwik Star drew a lot of people to the area with its hot food and gas, she said.

What will end up at the soon-to-be former Kwik Star property is unknown. But McHugh said the company typically sells the property when it closes a store and does not lease it to another tenant.

All workers at its closed stores with upwards of 30 part- and full-time staff members are offered jobs at other locations.

Editors note: A previous version of the story incorrectly stated that only the Fourth Street location was closing.
WATERLOO -- Police have arrested one person on weapons charges in connection with gunfire Thursday.

Neighbors reported hearing shots in the area of West Seventh and Pleasant streets around 12:10 p.m., and officers eventually determined the shooting happened about a block away in an alley off Allen Street.

No injuries or damages were reported.

Witnesses reported seeing a person with his face covered step out of a Dodge Charger in the area around the time of the shooting.

Officers spotted the Charger parked at 401 Sunnyside Ave. and surrounded the home.

The occupants later left the house and were detained. Police searched the house and found a 9 mm Tech handgun.

The resident, Jayden Mitchell Pruitt, 20, was arrested for felon in possession of a firearm.

The incident came five months that Pruitt was sentenced to probation for a felony drug conviction from a July 2022 incident where police found marijuana and a stolen .45-caliber Springfield pistol, according to court records.

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WATERLOO  Acquaintances of a Waterloo man accused of killing his friend in 2022 said he had a habit of recklessly playing with guns.

Savion Deonte Wilson, 24, is charged with first-degree murder for shooting Cortavius Benford in the head in front of Benfords girlfriend and another friend in a Palmer Drive apartment on Aug. 27, 2022.

Prosecutors said Wilson had threatened to shoot Benford in a social media post months earlier following a dispute between the two.

The defense said the shooting was an accident that happened while a group of friends was simply hanging out.

During testimony on Thursday, Benfords girlfriend at the time, Katera Allen, told jurors Wilson was known to be always joking around.

And he also had a history of being reckless with firearms.

So, he was a little silly or did things with guns that you felt werent safe? asked defense attorney Dustin Lies.

Yeah, Allen responded.

She recounted how Wilson once pointed a pistol at her cat months earlier. She told him not to, and he quit, she testified.

The other person who witnessed the fatal shooting, Kelon Buchanan, told jurors that Wilson had been horsing around with the pistol in the Palmer Drive apartment while smoking marijuana.

He was playing around with it, Buchanan said.

Wilson even held the pistol to his own head, he said. He said he and Allen told him to stop it, and he put the weapon down. But a few minutes later Wilson picked it back up and shot Benford.

Allens account of the incident was slightly different, and it didnt include any horseplay with the gun leading up to the shooting.

She said Wilson briefly stepped out of the apartment, she assumed to make a phone call. He returned moments later wearing a camouflage mask over his face and holding the gun. It was the first time she saw the gun that day, she said.

Wilson then went up to Benford, who was seated in the living room, pointed the gun at his head, and the weapon fired, Allen said.

After the shot, Wilson said what the f***.

Allen dialed 911 and screamed for Wilson to get out of the apartment while she pleaded with dispatchers to bring help.

Jurors also saw a rambling Facebook Live video that Wilson had broadcast in May 2022 following an argument he had with Benford and Allen.

In the video, Wilson can be heard saying pop, pop. One of them dead.

He also said this is your life in this blunt, as he lit a hefty marijuana cigar.

Allen told jurors she interpreted both of those as threats against Benford.

She also said that Benford and Wilson had later patched things up by June 20202 and were friends again. She described it as a minor bump in their friendship, but admitted things still werent the same.

Also taking the stand on Thursday was Dr. Jacob Smith, the associate state medical examiner who performed the autopsy.

He said Benford suffered a single gunshot wound to the top of his head and the shockwave from the bullet caused fractures in other parts of his skull. The angle of the shot was downward, slightly left to right and slightly back to front.

The lack of stippling  small lacerations from unburnt gunpowder  meant the muzzle was likely three or four feet away when the gun was fired, Smith said. He concluded there was no way it could have been a self-inflicted wound.

Benford didn't have any marijuana or alcohol in his system, Smith said. Friends testified Benford was clean because he was on probation.

Photos: Homicide, Palmer Drive, Aug. 27, 2022 082722jr-homicide-palmer 081623jr-homicide-trial-2 081623jr-homicide-trial-1 081623jr-homicide-trial-3 081723jr-homicide-trial-1 081723jr-homicide-trial-3 081723jr-homicide-trial-5 081823jr-homicide-trial-1 081823jr-homicide-trial-3 081823jr-homicide-trial-5
WATERLOO  Waterloo Community Schools is less than a week away from the first day of classes, but there are still 30 unfilled certified teaching positions.

Students will have a staggered start to the year, with some grades beginning school Wednesday and others Thursday.

Superintendent Jared Smith said its not only the Waterloo district struggling.

Its not the easiest but I will say, speaking with other large school superintendents, its an issue across the state, Smith noted. Its not just a Waterloo thing.

Based on a meeting of the Urban Education Network, comprised of the largest public school systems in the state, he suggested other districts were worse off.

I feel like, quite honestly, were in a little bit better position than those schools who are talking more than 50 openings, he said. I think Davenport was at 100, Sioux City was at 80 when I spoke with them.

Smith said 30 sounds alarming, but said there are 19 school buildings, which equals one or two openings per building.

One thing he said that isnt ideal is that special education teachers makes up a large amount of absences. The district is looking at shifting teachers around and adding to their caseloads, as well as adding more paraeducator support to classrooms.

Another area of concern Smith highlighted is that East High School lost three math teachers. One option they are looking at to fill those gaps is to pay teachers to teach a class during their planning period. Another is taking a teacher from another building that is fully staffed.

There are also elementary openings.

Its August 14th, lets be honest, he said at the boards Monday meeting. How do we still meet the needs of our students if you cant find certified employees?

Board members mentioned the idea of incentives for recent retirees or placing student teachers into different positions.

The board also begrudgingly accepted a change order for an extra $24,280 for the West High School gym floor replacement project. The project, which began last year under the direction of InVision Architecture with H2i Group as the general contractor, had issues with the floor leveling. Sue Flynn, board president, said the project end date kept getting pushed back.

This has been a thorn in my side from the very beginning and now theyre coming back to ask us to pay $25,000 more for a project that was delayed, delayed, delayed, delayed, delayed, Flynn said. In good faith its hard for me to say Yes, lets pay more because they did a crappy job.

The floor leveling job was done before the school board approved the change order, according to architect Kate Payne. Operations Director Zach Kelly said they talked to the districts attorney to make sure everything was followed correctly.

He stated since we benefited from this that its hard to argue it but we can negotiate, Kelly said, meaning the benefit was a finished floor.

To negotiate, the contractor forfeited 5% of their retainage, resulting in a little over of $10,000.

Board member Janelle Ewing said although the overall situation is disappointing, it was probably the best outcome.

As unfortunate as it seems, were sort of getting a bargain on the problem we have  if youre looking at dollars, not looking at time, because were all really upset with how long that took, Ewing said.

The board also approved:

A $200,000 grant from the R.J. McElroy Trust for the PreK-12 LifeLab programming for the next three years.

A $327,816 grant from the Stronger Connections Grant from the Iowa Department of Education to update security cameras in the district.

A change order of an additional $37,427 for the Central Middle School remodeling and Waterloo Career Center expansion project due to ceiling, elevator sump pump and storm drain piping issues.
WATERLOO  The Black Hawk County Board of Supervisors has not decided how to use local option sales and service tax dollars.

Supervisors are set to decide on Tuesday whether LOSST revenue from a 1% sales tax will have an expiration date, requiring residents to vote on the measure every decade.

The county and its cities have until Sept. 1 to provide ballot language to the county auditor. That language is what voters will decide on Nov. 7. It includes how revenue will be allocated and if that decision will have to be reapproved by voters. The supervisors have the sole authority on including sunset dates on the ballot.

The current LOSST sunsets at the end of 2025. If more than 50% of voters approve continuing the sales tax, it would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2026. The contiguous cities of Waterloo, Cedar Falls, Hudson, Evansdale, Raymond and Elk Run Heights vote as a unit. If all cities approve their individual LOSST ballot item except Evansdale, for example, that city would still have to collect the taxes because a majority of the contiguous cities voted for the measure.

Dunkerton, La Porte City, Gilbertville and the unincorporated areas of the county are considered noncontiguous  meaning the cities boundaries dont touch each other  and they decide their own fates.

The parts of Jesup and Janesville that are located in Black Hawk County will not have a LOSST ballot measure. Those city councils took an action to not have a sunset and vote as a singular unit, rather than in both of the counties they occupy.

If the county board decides to not have the tax sunset but a government entity wants to change how funds are used, the countys Elections Manager Karen Showalter said, there are actions that can be taken. Showalter said shes been working with city clerks and they intend to follow Waterloo, which does not want a sunset.

All the county supervisors, except Linda Laylin, who did not voice her opinion, said theyd be fine with not having a sunset clause.

What also needs to be decided on is the allocation of the funds. County Engineer Cathy Nicholas said she wants the county to continue giving at least 50% of the revenue toward county roads and bridges. The other 50% currently goes to property tax relief.

Nicholas also asked the board to consider upping the percentage for roads and bridges to 60%. Her reasoning is that roadway construction costs increased 28% in the last 10 years, so the money wont go as far as it did a decade ago. She said this would give her department an extra $180,000 a year.

We would not waste this money, she said. We would certainly spend it.

Supervisors Chris Schwartz, Dan Trelka and Tom Little said they are comfortable at remaining with the current 50%.

To be honest, thats how the board of supervisors sold it back in 2008, Little said. And it wasnt an easy job to do that.

Supervisor Tavis Hall said during the meeting that he needed more time to think about the allocation.

The sunset language and allocation is expected to be on next Tuesdays agenda.

A resolution to support the Jump In initiative to fund a community natatorium  or indoor pool  at the new Cedar Falls High School is also expected to come before the board. Traci Mallaro, a co-chairperson of the group, asked the board for $150,000. County funding is contingent on Cedar Falls being awarded a Community Attraction and Tourism grant from the state. If approved, the money would come out of the countys reserve funds.

Cedar Falls is applying for $950,000 in grant money in September for the second phase of the project which totals $5.7 million. The total project cost is $21 million.

The Iowa Economic Development Authority requires matching funds from the county for CAT grants. Mallaro said the group is also asking the Black Hawk County Gaming Association to contribute $900,000.

So far, the Cedar Falls Community School District is contributing $8 million and the city of Cedar Falls is giving another $8 million.

Schwartz, Hall and Trelka said they are all comfortable with allocating $150,000 toward the project.

I recognize the regional impact, Hall said. Weve got to do some of the work by increasing population and quality of life measures are the foundation for increasing (it).

Supervisor Little said he believes the program is excellent but would support giving $50,000 and see if the city receives the CAT grant.
Living with a serious illness or dealing with the death of a loved one doesnt come with a set of directions. These can be life-altering situations and it isnt easy to know the next steps to take.

At Cedar Valley Hospice, we can be a resource in navigating the healthcare system, while providing guidance, comfort, dignity and support. Our philosophy of care focuses on caring for you physically, mentally and spiritually  regardless of your beliefs.

Care in the home or a facility

Cedar Valley Hospice provides medical care and pain management wherever you call home.

Hospice care: For those with a serious illness measured in months not years. Care is provided by an interdisciplinary team who visit your home or nursing facility. A nurse is available 24/7, which helps reduce stress and hospitalizations. Services are covered by Medicare, Medicaid and most private insurances.

Palliative care: For those with a serious illness, regardless of life expectancy or prognosis. Care is provided by a nurse and social worker who visit your home or nursing facility. You can still be seeking curative treatment while receiving palliative care. Examples of diagnosis include COPD, heart disease, dementia and cancer.

Often wives, husbands, sisters and children are the main caretakers for someone who is ill. For some, it is natural to step in to help, and its also important to maintain that family relationship beyond being a caregiver.

When my moms health began changing a lot, it could be very overwhelming. Making that call to Cedar Valley Hospice was the best decision, said Tracie Spencer, daughter. When they visited my mother in her home, she would smile all the time. Their extra support allowed our family to exhale and just spend precious time with her. They truly are like guardian angels.

Mental & spiritual support abound

Social workers and spiritual care counselors are part of the hospice interdisciplinary team. Social workers help you navigate the healthcare system, find resources, answer tough questions and provide peace of mind for the entire family throughout your illness.

Spiritual care counselors are available throughout your journey to provide more profound levels of support through listening and conversation.

Cedar Valley Hospice Spiritual Care Counselor Rusty Van Wey feels honored to have people share their stories with him and serve them any way he can.

I respect all spiritual beliefs and each patients individuality. It is important for people to know they are cared for, and I do this by helping them to see the positive impact theyve made in their lives. Sometimes simply having these conversations brings them dignity and helps them deal with other issues they may be struggling with.

We are here when and where you need us

Grief Support: Available for those who have experienced the death of someone close to them. We offer no-cost grief counseling to adults and youth, so you dont have to travel this journey alone. We also provide support groups, including specific ones for those who have lost a loved one to suicide. For a listing of current support groups, visit cvhospice.org.

CASS (Cedar AIDS Support System): Available for persons living with HIV. We provide case management to help you navigate your healthcare options and coordinate services. We also offer direct assistance programs that can help with groceries, travel and medication expenses. Call 319.272.2437 for more information.

SOS (Speakers On Site): Available to the entire community, these no-cost presentations offer education on a variety of topics from death and dying to filling out your advance directives. To schedule a free presentation for your business or group, email awall@cvhospice.org.

Its never too soon to call

Its important to receive support when youre grieving or to learn about hospice or palliative care before a life-limiting illness becomes critical. It does not mean youre giving up or saying you cant manage it, but simply that you choose to be informed and receive support so you can make every day as good as possible. Our person-centered care brings hope, dignity and compassion to so many families.

Making the choice to call Cedar Valley Hospice can turn a difficult situation into one that is manageable. Whether you need a lot of assistance or a little, our experts are available when and where you need us.

Call us at 319-272-2002 or 800-626-2360 for a no-cost consultation or visit cvhospice.org.
CEDAR FALLS  With delicate strokes, Paula Schrad brushes a harmonious blend of transparent watercolors onto a large canvas shes painting  a sun-kissed Italian scene of a Venice canal.

Tim Kuhlmann unwinds a fresh orange peel and begins a nature study with oil pastels on beige paper. Nearby, Keaton Hinsley paints a portrait in oils, while Julie Hughes creates abstract landscapes on wood panels using oil paint sticks. One table over, Ann Olsson applies pastels on sandpaper to paint a lion.

Welcome to Thursday Painters.

Each Thursday, a Hearst Center for the Arts classroom fills with artists of all ages and experience levels. They unpack canvases, sketchbooks, paints, pastels, colored pencils and other materials and settle in for a few hours of work on individual projects. They chat, offer advice and suggestions, share bits and pieces of their lives and applaud each others creative efforts. Once a month, members share a potluck.

Thursday Painters began 75 years ago in Cedar Falls. A group of women gathered to build a new community celebrating the arts in the post-World War II American Midwest. Through the years, the group began welcoming other artistic mediums and now has evolved into a diverse group of talented artists.

A new exhibition opens Thursday at the Hearst Center, Thursday Painters: 75 Years of Creating Together, showcasing artwork created by present and past members. An opening reception and potluck-style spread is from 5:30 to 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

The Hearst Center, 304 W. Seerley Blvd., has been home to Thursday Painters since the center opened in 1989. The group boasts about 43 members, although not everyone is active.

Schrad joined the group 30 years ago. I love working with watercolors  the softness of it, the blending of colors, the unpredictability and uncontrollable nature of watercolor. Its a challenge, said the Cedar Falls resident and former art major.

Originally, members devoted themselves to watercolor painting. Interests expanded as more artists joined the group, and the door opened to men, as well.

Kuhlmann enjoys finding beauty in what some people consider trash, describing the inspiration of an orange peel. He joined Thursday Painters about a year ago to reconnect with his love for art after retiring from the Waterloo Public Library.

I hadnt done serious painting in 15 years, so I felt insecure about it, kind of rusty. But theres no judgment here. Everyone is encouraging, and you pick up on the enthusiasm. Its also interesting to see what people create, said the Cedar Falls resident.

At 26, Hinsley is one of the youngest Thursday Painters. The Cedar Falls artist joined the group eight months ago to belong to a community of artists thats not typical. I appreciate the relaxed reality of being around older people. Everyone is so relaxed and supportive.

Hughes, an arts educator from Grundy Center, has been coming for about three years. She teaches online art courses for Northeast Iowa Community College in Calmar and works for Grundy Center Community Schools.

When I moved to this area, a friend recommended Thursday Painters. Its a great place to find a community that offers support and so many different perspectives in one room. The resources are phenomenal, she said.

Olsson, a retired John Deere chemical engineer from Waterloo, joined 18 years ago. She grew up a horse-crazy kid who only drew horses and considered herself a beginner when she joined the group. 

Now she paints animals, landscapes and flowers in a variety of mediums. I dont know if Id be a painter if I didnt come here. I like the camaraderie, the social aspect of it and learning new techniques. Its fun and expands your horizons, Olsson explained.

This keeps my brushes wet, keeps me painting, said Jan Drake, who joined Thursday Painters in 2008. Being around so many artists frees you up to try different things. You loosen up and become more creative.

Artist Marion Boyer of Reinbeck, an organizer of the Reinbeck Art Festival, needed to be around other artists. I joined in 2010. Its become a family of artists for me. Everyone is friendly and generous, she said.

Sandy Rittgers of Cedar Falls joined 10 years ago. I like having artist-friends who get you, who understand your need to create. I thought it was a watercolor group, but its so much more. You can work in any medium and learn so much from other artists.

Mary Disburg has taught art classes at the Hearst Center and appreciates the groups willingness to welcome amateur artists into the fold.

This is an amazing group of people who have genuine affection for each other, she added.

PHOTOS Treasure Chest of wonderful, weird objects at Cedar Valley museums, galleries WCA 1 WCA 5 WCA 3 WCA 2 Cedar Falls Historical 1 Cedar Falls Historical 2 Cedar Falls Historical 3 Cedar Falls Historical 4 Cedar Falls Historical 5 UNI Art 1 UNI Art 3 UNI Art 4 100820bp-uni-gallery-art-6 100820bp-uni-gallery-art-5 100820bp-uni-gallery-art-7 100820bp-uni-gallery-art-4 Grout 1 Grout 2 Grout 3 Grout 4 Grout 5 Hearst 1 Hearst 2 Hearst 3
Russian Defence Ministry report on the progress of the special military operation (17 August 2023)

The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation.

In Donetsk direction, units of the Yug Group of Forces, in close cooperation with aviation and artillery, repelled four attacks by Ukrainian Armed Forces near Zaliznyanskoye, Staromikhailovka, and Krasnogorovka (Donetsk Peoples Republic). In addition, the assault detachments of the Russian grouping of forces conducted successful offensives and improved the situation along the front line.

A missile strike on the Mezhevaya station (Dnepropetrovsk region) destroyed a military echelon with ammunition.

The enemy lost up to 310 Ukrainian personnel, a tank, three armoured fighting vehicles, nine motor vehicles, and a D-20 artillery in this direction throughout the day.

In Kupyansk direction, units of the Zapad Group of Forces improved the situation along the front line in the course of active operations with the support of aviation and artillery fire.

During the day, six attacks by assault groups of the 14th Mechanised, 25th Airborne, and 95th Air Assault brigades of the AFU were repelled in the areas of Olshana, Sinkovka (Kharkov region) and Novosyolovskoye (Lugansk Peoples Republic).

During the day, up to 125 Ukrainian personnel were eliminated, as well as two armoured fighting vehicles, two pick-up trucks, one Tyulpan self-propelled mortar, one M777 artillery system, and one U.S.-made M109 Paladin self-propelled artillery system.

In Krasny Liman direction, units of the Tsentr Group of Forces repelled an attack by an assault group of the AFU 42nd Mechanised Brigade near Kuzmino.

In addition, comprehensive fire damage was inflicted on the enemy close to Kremennaya and Chervonaya Dibrova (Lugansk Peoples Republic).

Up to 55 Ukrainian troops, two armoured fighting vehicles, three vehicles, one Akatsiya self-propelled artillery unit, and two D-30 howitzers were destroyed.

In the South Donetsk direction, professional actions by units of the Vostok Group of Forces, air strikes and artillery fire inflicted a comprehensive fire defeat on the enemy near Priyutnoye (Zaporozhye region), Staromayorskoye and Rovnopol (Donetsk Peoples Republic).

More than 175 Ukrainian soldiers were neutralised, as well as two tanks, three armoured fighting vehicles, two motor vehicles, one D-20 howitzer, and two Gvozdika self-propelled artillery units.

In Zaporozhye direction, units of the Russian grouping of forces, supported by aviation, artillery, and heavy flamethrowers, repelled an enemy attack and inflicted a comprehensive fire defeat on the assault detachments of the 46th AFU Airmobile Brigade close to Rabotino (Zaporozhye region).

The enemy losses totalled up to 195 Ukrainian troops, four Stryker armoured personnel carriers, two infantry fighting vehicles, three motor vehicles, one U.S.-made M777 artillery system, a UK-made FH-70 gun, as well as two Msta-B and one D-20 howitzers.

In Kherson direction, Ukrainian units lost up to 30 troops, three motor vehicles, and one D-30 howitzer as a result of a fire attack.

Operational-Tactical and Army aviation, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Group of Forces have engaged AFU manpower and hardware in 138 areas during the day.

Two AFU drone control points were hit in the areas of the settlements of Lastochkino (Donetsk Peoples Republic) and Ivanovskoye (Zaporozhye region). A command and observation post of a unit of the AFU 67th Mechanised Brigade and an ammunition depot were hit near Serebryanka (Donetsk Peoples Republic).

Russian air defence forces have intercepted one HIMARS MLRS projectile during the day.

In addition, 18 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were intercepted in the areas of Zhitlovka (Lugansk Peoples Republic), Soledar, Nikolayevka, Zarya, Orlinskoye (Donetsk Peoples Republic), Mirnoye, (Zaporozhye region), and Olshana (Kharkov region).

In total, 459 airplanes and 246 helicopters, 5,805 unmanned aerial vehicles, 431 air defence missile systems, 11,349 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,144 combat vehicles equipped with MLRS, 5,918 field artillery cannons and mortars, as well as 12,289 units of special military equipment have been destroyed during the special military operation.

WtR
US officials warn private space companies to stay vigilant after they discovered China and Russia trying to steal their critical technology and prepare cyberattacks aimed at degrading US satellite capabilities during a conflict or emergency.

The New York Times reported the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, the FBI, and the US Air Force issued an advisory to US companies Friday (August 18) that they, their employees, and their contractors might be targeted by foreign intelligence services.

Space companies' data and intellectual property could be at risk from attempts to break into computer networks, moles placed inside companies, and foreign infiltration of the supply chain, officials said.

"Foreign intelligence entities recognize the importance of the commercial space industry to the U.S. economy and national security, including the growing dependence of critical infrastructure on space-based assets," US officials added.

Commercial Space Endeavors at Risk

While the US government is still building and launching its own reconnaissance and communication satellites, private American space firms like SpaceX, Blue Origin, and other companies have already been building and launching their own infrastructures and satellites.

Because of this, intelligence agencies have increasingly been dependent on the private-sector space industry, which could make them vulnerable to cyberattacks perpetrated by adversaries such as China or Russia, according to recent FBI investigations and intelligence collection on foreign intelligence plans.

Officials believe private space companies have given the US a huge advantage in space that is envied by foreign adversaries. However, security measures greatly vary from firm to firm, and US officials urge its space industry to tighten its protections against attempts made by Chinese and Russian intelligence agencies to infiltrate them.

Read Also: Pew Research Poll Says Support for Space Tourism Skyrocketing

Ground Support Saboteurs

Since 2017, the US Justice Department has charged Chinese, Russian, and Iranian nationals with various schemes to steal space-related technology. In 2019, a Chinese national was sentenced to federal prison for trying to acquire a radiation-hardened power amplifier used in space applications.

Some companies have disclosed infiltration attempts on their own operations, such as United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin which puts many national security satellites into orbit. In 2019, ULA speculated a Chinese firm tried to infiltrate its supply chain, but the supplier did not succeed in extracting critical intelligence.

The latest incident came in October when five Russians were accused of attempting to illicitly acquire "semiconductors and microprocessors used in satellites, missiles, and other space-based military applications" from US companies.

Space: The Next Frontline?

In addition, US officials believe rendering ineffective space-based communication and imaging satellites is likely to be the opening move of any future conflict.

When Moscow launched its attack on Ukraine in February 2022, officials stated, hackers linked to the Russian government conducted a cyberattack against Viasat, a US-based telecommunication firm, in an attempt to disrupt Ukraine's ability to command its troops.

The Russians also used satellite signal jamming as the war dragged on, which might put SpaceX's low-earth orbit satellite network Starlink, which proved to be critical to Ukraine's war effort, at very high risk.

Officials advised space firms to frequently track anomalous incidents on their computer networks to look for potential breaches, develop protocols to identify potential foreign agents inside the business, conduct due diligence on potential investors, and prioritize the protection of their most important intellectual properties.

Both China and Russia, as well as SpaceX and Blue Origin, have not provided any comment about the advisory as of this report.

Related Article: Elon Musk's SpaceX Unloads Millions of Bitcoin Holdings, Tumbles Price by 9%

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
It is like a never ending, Tower of Babel

https://www.learnreligions.com/the-tower-of-babel-700219 The tower of Babel Bible story involves the people of Babel attempting to build a tower that will reach to heaven. It is one of the saddest and most significant stories in the Bible. It is sad because it reveals the widespread rebellion in the human heart. It is significant because it brings about the reshaping and development of all future cultures.

Probably the most confusing issue in the Bible is the story of the, Tower of Babel, It makes no sense to me. Since we have built these, Towers of Babel all over the world anyway. Just individually, not as a world community. Just look at our cities and the skyscrapers

This one is upon God and he did this intentionally. It was a simple thing to leave humans congealed, but he chose to scatter humans all over and thus, caused strife in life for true advancement

Maybe one day I will find my answer to this very perplexing issue. Because, following this thinking from the Bible, we should scatter every large city a million times. For do we not just build more isolated to a sect, skyscrapers?

God had his reasons and that is above my pay-grade

WtR
A Target customer successful Sioux City, Iowa was successful for a astonishment erstwhile they pulled retired a cart and recovered a boa constrictor coiled up successful it.

Lindsay Alvarez, a resident of Sioux City, posted a image of nan snake successful nan Target cart connected social media, penning that her girl spotted "this small feline astatine Target" connected August 13. She did not specify which Target shop nan snake was recovered at.

A Target representative, successful an email to USA TODAY, confirmed that nan snake was so recovered astatine a shop successful nan metropolis and said that their squad acted quickly and animal power removed it from nan property.

Harrison Ford's snake: 'We astir apt wouldve been friends,' Harrison Ford says of caller snake type named for him

While it is not yet clear really nan snake made its measurement to Target, authorities judge nan reptile whitethorn person gotten wrong nan shop aft it stowed distant extracurricular successful a cart which was past taken into nan store. Cindy Rarat, head of nan Sioux City Animal Adoption and Rescue Center told USA TODAY they presume nan boa whitethorn person either travel from an flat analyzable adjacent by, escaped from a car aliases been near by someone.

"We're not precisely judge really it came to beryllium there," Rarat said

The animal was later taken to nan Sioux City Animal Adoption and Rescue Center, wherever it is presently housed. Rarat said that nan 4-and-a-half-foot-long snake has been taken attraction of, is well-fed and is successful bully health.

Unclaimed

A spokesperson astatine nan installation told USA TODAY that nary 1 has travel guardant to declare nan animal and that a herpetologist from Lincoln, Nebraska has volunteered to return nan snake. The herpetologist, who is besides a professor, intends to support it for acquisition purposes successful a classroom. The herpetologist will beryllium collecting nan animal connected Saturday from nan facility, erstwhile nan seven-day waiting play for claiming nan animal ends, nan spokesperson said.

Sioux City laws do not let residents to support constrictors arsenic pets and if personification comes guardant to declare nan animal, they will person to show impervious of ownership and location nan snake extracurricular metropolis limits.

Pet alligator: Gator successful 'deplorable' authorities rescued by landscapers from creek successful Pennsylvania

Preferred pets

Native to Central and South America, boa constrictors typically do not onslaught humans, according to nan Smithsonians National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute. They are non-venomous and termination their prey by strangling them, arsenic their sanction suggests. They tin unrecorded up to 20 years.

Boa constrictors are celebrated arsenic pets arsenic they are comparatively undemanding, arsenic agelong arsenic their ample big size and abstraction needs are accounted for, arsenic per nan University of Michigan Museum of Zoology. In immoderate areas, these reptiles are utilized to power rodent and opossums populations.

Target recall: 2.2 cardinal Threshold candles recalled; astatine slightest 1 injured
Weather Alert

...Widespread rains and cooler temperatures with an increased risk of flooding for parts of western NV and the eastern Sierra through Monday... * Remnant tropical moisture from Hilary is producing periods of heavy rainfall across the Sierra and western Nevada. The greatest threat for flooding is across the Basin & Range and the eastern Sierra. For travelers overnight, the heaviest rainfall is forecast to occur before sunrise, so road damage, closures or flooding will be difficult or impossible to see. Have multiple ways to receive alerts in case flood warnings are issued, and never drive through flooded roadways. * Abundant cloud cover and rainfall will keep afternoon high temperatures 10 to 20 degrees below normal through Tuesday, with Monday likely being the coolest day. * Stay tuned to the National Hurricane Center by visiting www.hurricanes.gov for the latest on Hilary.
This summer marks the long-awaited return of celebrated Malaysian chef Azalina Eusope to the San Francisco restaurant scene.

With a focus on the homestyle dishes and street foods of the Mamak ethnic group, Eusopes newest restaurant Azalinas is a brilliant, beckoning light. Inside, under a cloud of handmade kites and a color-drenched Malaysian streetscape that draws the eye like the sun through the fog, Southeast Asia feels almost within reach.

Some of Azalina's decor includes items from the chef's own kitchen and photos from the streets of the Tenderloin. (Courtesy of Brianna Danner/a&fco)

It wasnt long ago that Eusope was a straight-up boss, with two restaurants, a food truck, a line of condiments, and other food-centric projects to her name. But the pandemic had other plans for the chef. At its start, Eusope was not only forced to close both of her restaurants, a fast-casual spot in the (former) Twitter food hall and the upscale restaurant Mahila in Noe Valley, she was ousted from the massive Bayview commercial kitchen where she toiled over sambals and peanut sauces for sale online and at retailers like Bi-Rite, Rainbow Grocery, and Berkeley Bowl.

But Eusope, who grew up a fifth-generation street food vendor on the island of Penang, is resilient. She retreated to the small space shed obtained as a commissary kitchen in the Tenderloin in 2018 and turned it into a new center of operations for her handmade products. Finally, five years later, she was ready to dip her toe back into the restaurant industry. Over the last several months, shes transformed the kitchen into a restaurant as homey and joyful as the food she prepares in it.

Azalinas isnt like her previous restaurants. To really invest in the complexity of each and every dish, Eusope narrowed the scope of her menu to a set four-course meal that includes one non-alcoholic drink and a choice of beer or wine for $100 (a two-course version is also available at the bar and accommodations are available for vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free diners with advance notice). But dont expect the pomp and flash of other multi-course restaurants; Azalinas leans more cozy home-cooked meal than glittering chef showcase.

Like a film that snaps you to attention from its first scene, Azalinas hooks me with my first bite of char koay kak, a dish of wok-charred turnip cakes, preserved radish, sweet chili sambal, and fried egg. Like fried gnocchi, the turnip cakes melt in my mouth, the sweet-hot sambal a gorgeous complement to their savory saltiness. Between bites, I sip from the effervescence of a freshly juiced watermelon and lychee soda.

The salad course features Azalinas famous pineapple tea dressing (which she also sells in retail form), a tart and herbaceous topping for chunks of pink pineapple, baby kale, mint, cucumber, and radish. Its a good segue to the main entree, nasi dagang, a plate packed with a variety of precisely prepared components inspired by the meals served at Malaysian weddings. Every elementthe meaty local halibut and its flavor-punching turmeric crust; the rich, heat-packing okra-tomato-coconut-milk curry; the tangy pickled eggplant acharis as delightful on its own as it is mixed-and-matched with its neighbors.

Finally, we arrive at dessert, a delicious classic halwa kesari topped with roasted pistachio, candied ginger, saffron, and seasonal stone fruits. Like a cousin of both carrot cake and bread pudding, it is slightly gooey and just sweet enough to satisfy. A surprise second dessert, a compote-like berry granita with champagne-colored cubes of chrysanthemum jelly, is a tart contrast to the comforting halwa.

From start to finish, the meal is exceptional. It is also ephemeral. Each menu will be offered for only about three weeks before Eusope remakes it anew with her reinterpretation of classic Malaysian dishes.

Given the quality of her food and the name recognition shes worked so hard to achieve, Azalinas should be packed every night. But its location at the heart of the Tenderloin has its challenges, not the least of which is getting San Franciscans to return to the gutted center of the city.

So, until the word really gets out, Azalinas has the feel of a secret hideout, a hidden sanctum in an otherwise bleak culinary landscape. But it wont for long. Because even if you havent set foot in the Tenderloin in years, the pleasure of Eusopes cooking is a magnetizing force that simply cannot be ignored.

For the doyenne of Malaysian cooking, theres no journey too great.

// Azalinas is open 4pm to 10pm Thursday to Sunday; 499 Ellis St. (Tenderloin), azalinas.com.
The U.S. flu season this 2023 is about to begin. In the past two years, health experts said that Americans only experienced light flu seasons.

The question is, will this be the same this 2023? Here are the things you need to know.

US Flu Season 2023

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that flu seasons commonly start in October. Activities of respiratory viruses peak between December and February.

There are some instances when flu seasons last until May. But, ever since the global COVID-19 pandemic began, researchers have been having a hard time determining flu activities.

Luckily, CNN reported that new tools in the form of antibodies and vaccines are already available to protect people from the flu season.

Because of this, health experts predicted that the illnesses, such as flu and RSV, will settle back into their seasonal patterns this 2023.

Although a COVID-19 winter surge is expected to happen, researchers said that cases will not be as many as those in the past years.

But, this will still depend if the COVID-19 virus will have a more deadly and infectious variant.

Read Also: Scientists' Shocking Discovery: Microplastics From Food Packaging, Paints Found in Human Heart Tissues

Top 3 Respiratory Viruses You Should Look Out For

Dr. Buddy Creech, a Vanderbilt University pediatric infectious disease specialist, said that the 2023 flu season will see three respiratory viruses.

These are COVID-19, RSV, and flu. He said that this is the first time in human history that vaccines for the three respiratory viruses are available.

However, the health specialist clarified that a vaccine "shot is only as good if it gets into your shoulder." This means that these vaccines will only work if people actually use them.

COVID-19

COVID-19 cases this 2023 are expected to be low since people now prefer to seek indoor refuge from the record-breaking heat.

RSV

RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) is not really something adults should worry about since this virus is commonly a mild infection. However, parents should be worried about their newborns since RSV can greatly affect babies by filling their lungs with mucus. RSV cases are expected to appear in October and peak in late December.

Flu

Dr. William Schaffner, another infectious disease expert from Vanderbilt University, said that flu infections are expected to rise around November and could peak after December.

Related Article: New York City Sees Spike in COVID-19 Cases as EG.5 Variant Continues To Spread Across United States

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Cover Images/Sara De Boer Celebrity

The 'Gimme More' songstress, who tied the knot with the fitness trainer in June 2022, doesn't mention anything about their split in the caption of her first post since their divorce.

Aug 18, 2023

AceShowbiz - Britney Spears was seemingly in good spirits despite her split from Sam Asghari. Just hours after it was unveiled that Sam has filed for divorce from her, the "Gimme More" songstress talked about "buying a horse soon" in her first post since the news broke.

On Wednesday, August 16, the 41-year-old shared a photo of her posing on horseback from an undisclosed beach location. She declared in the caption, "Buying a horse soon !!! So many options it's kinda hard !!! A horse called Sophie and another called Roar ??? I can't make up my mind !!!"

"Should I join the camaraderie and put a pink cowboy hat on ??? Either way I think I found my sweet spot with Roar !!!" the pop star added. She didn't mention anything about her and Sam's split in the message. The "Toxic" songstress also turned off the comments section.

Britney and Sam called it quits after 14 months of marriage. Just hours after the split news made media headlines, Sam reportedly submitted the divorce paper, citing "irreconcilable differences" as the reason of their separation.

The fitness trainer allegedly listed July 28, 2023 as the official date of he and Britney separated. He is asking for spousal support and attorneys fees.

In the docs, his lawyer Neal Hersh says Sam will contest the prenup. "[Sam] has yet to determine the full nature and extent of the separate property assets and obligations of each party," the documents reportedly state. "There are various items of community and quasi-community assets and debts, the full nature and extent of which are unknown to [Sam] at this time."

It was reported back then that when they tied the knot, Britney had Sam sign a prenup that maintains her assets as separate property. While it's unlikely that a judge would declare the prenup invalid, Britney is allegedly expected to write a check to Sam to end any issues regarding the prenup.

Meanwhile, Britney is being represented by a dream team of Hollywood lawyers amid the divorce. She has reportedly retained top divorce lawyer to the stars, Laura Wasser, and will continue to work with her powerhouse attorney Mathew Rosengart, who helped her out of her conservatorship, Variety has reported.

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The 73-year-old iconic musician has been officially announced as a recipient for the prestigious Troubadour Award at a private ceremony in September in Nashville.

Aug 18, 2023

AceShowbiz - ZZ Top legend Billy F. Gibbons is scheduled to receive BMI's Troubadour Award. The 73-year-old blues rock legend will receive the prestigious prize at a private ceremony on September 18 at BMI's Nashville HQ.

"With a career spanning several decades, Billy has penned an array of timeless hits that have left an inedible mark on the music industry. His ability to craft lyrics that resonate with audiences across generations is a testament to his songwriting prowess and he is the epitome of what the BMI Troubadour Award represents," BMI's VP of Creative Nashville Clay Bradley said.

The "La Grange" hitmaker has sold more than 50 million albums with ZZ Top and has also had a successful solo career. Billy has performed and collaborated with everyone from B. B. King and Jeff Beck to Nickelback and Queens of the Stone Age. For ZZ Top, the guitarist and songwriter penned the likes of "Sharp Dressed Man", "Legs", and "Cheap Sunglasses".

The honour comes two years after ZZ Top lost their beloved bassist Dusty Hill. The musician died aged 72 in July 2021, just weeks after he was forced to pull out of a number of shows across the US after suffering an injury to his hip.

Bandmates Billy and Frank Beard confirmed the news in a statement which read, "We are saddened by the news today that our Compadre, Dusty Hill, has passed away in his sleep at home in Houston, TX. We, along with legions of ZZ Top fans around the world, will miss your steadfast presence, your good nature and enduring commitment to providing that monumental bottom to the 'Top'. We will forever be connected to that 'Blues Shuffle in C'. You will be missed greatly, amigo."

Dusty was a founding member of the rock band and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the group in 2004.

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MissMalini, the definitive source of Bollywood and lifestyle inspiration in India of the Good Creator Co, is delighted to announce its collaboration with Indya, the acclaimed fashion brand renowned for seamlessly blending contemporary and traditional designs. Together, they proudly introduce the spectacular B-Desi Collection, an exquisite ensemble that flawlessly captures the essence of 55 iconic Bollywood looks. This partnership powered by the Good Community, one of Indias largest omnichannel deep interest-based networks of women and experts and Good Creator Co - Indias largest Creator platforms, both are a part of the Good Glamm Group.

Through the partnership with the Good Community & Good Creator Co, Indya will be able to leverage the Good Glamm Groups content-creator-community-commerce model. The steadfast commitment of the Good Community to cultivating substantive connections seamlessly aligns with the foundational ethos of Indya. This dynamic synergy takes the B-Desi Collection beyond conventional fashion, elevating it to a realm where personal expression merges seamlessly with the excitement of cinematic glamour.

Speaking of this collaboration, Shivani Poddar, CEO & Co-founder of Indya expressed, "We are thrilled to announce our collaboration with MissMalini for our upcoming festive edit. With MissMalini's unparalleled expertise in the trends of Bollywood, this partnership seamlessly captures the essence of Indian glamorama. Additionally, teaming up with the Good Community and Good Creator Co. adds another layer of distinction to this edit. Their dedicated endeavors in fostering meaningful connections resonates perfectly with our brand's values, complemented by their impressive influencer network that will contribute to crafting an experience that deeply connects with our esteemed patrons."

Its been extremely fun & exciting to personally curate iconic Bollywood looks from Indyas fabulous collection. Partnering with Indya felt like a natural progression for me, given my deep admiration and affection for Bollywood. Through this collaboration, we are weaving the magic of iconic Bollywood characters into the fabric of fashion, allowing style enthusiasts to step into the shoes of their beloved movie characters & leveraging the influencer network of Good Creator Co through a fun & strategic campaign. This collection is a tribute to the glitz and timeless glamour of Bollywood, and to the irresistible fashion inspiration that it continues to shines on us through the silver screen." Added Malini Agarwal, Co-Founder of Good Creator Co.

Naiyya Saggi, Group Co-founder of Good Glamm Group & CEO of the Good Community, commented, The Good Community thrives on nurturing connections and shared interests. The partnership with Indya & MissMalini herself enables us to bridge the gap between Indya and our community's passion for fashion, beauty and all things Bollywood style. This is also an exciting collaboration for us at The Good Glamm Group since we are bringing together The Good Community and The Good Creator Co alongwith our much loved media assets of MissMalini to co create this collection with Indya. This initiative stands as a remarkable celebration of self-discovery and significant connections, where personal expression seamlessly merges with cinematic splendor.

The MissMalini x Indya B-Desi Collection pays homage to the captivating charm of Bollywood, meticulously curated to resonate with iconic movies, celebrity styles, and the very essence of Indian cinema. This exclusive collection presents thoughtfully reimagined looks from the most memorable characters in Bollywood history, elegantly modernized for the ultimate festive edit.

Indya's dedication to embracing the allure of Bollywood is evident in its meticulous selection of prints, patterns, and embellishments that pay homage to the cinematic universe, infusing a touch of nostalgia into each iconic look and the overall collection.

The "MissMalini x Indya B-Desi Collection," powered by the Good Community & Good Creator Co, promises to redefine the art of festive celebrations. This fusion of Bollywood-inspired charm showcases a splendid array of ensembles that capture the essence of celebration and Indian tradition, making it a truly unforgettable experience.

Shop the collection here - https://bit.ly/3seXixp

Credits :

Photographer - Shruti Tejwani

Hair - Sushil Charles & Ishitaa Pahuja

Makeup - Shweta Kohojkar

Stylist - Shereen Sikka
Hero Nikhil who gained nationwide fame with Karthikeya 2 will be joining forces with director Bharat Krishnamachari for his milestone 20th movie. Titled Swayambhu, Bhuvan and Sreekar will produce the movie under Pixel Studios with Tagore Madhu presenting it. While the title Swayambhu alone generated lots of curiosity, the title poster that showed the sacred Sengol made everyone inquisitive to know more about the project. Then, the first-look poster that presented Nikhil as a ferocious warrior received an overwhelming response.

The makers chose an auspicious occasion of Shravana Shukravaram to hold a grand launching ceremony. The opening has been organized in a majestic manner in the presence of the films entire team and special guests. The regular shoot of the movie also commences today. The announcement has been made through this stupefying poster where Nikhil as a warrior is seen aiming an arrow at a dragon while riding the horse. From his get-up to his costumes, this is a new Nikhil which we havent seen before. Like the first-look poster, this new poster too is out-of-this-world.

Samyuktha Menon is the female lead opposite Nikhil in the movie which is going to be the most expensive one in the actors career.

Swayambhu will be mounted with top technical standards. Manoj Paramahamsa helms the cinematography, while Ravi Basrur scores the music. M Prabhaharan is the production designer and the dialogues for the movie are provided by Vasudev Muneppagari.

Technical Crew:

Writer, Director: Bharat Krishnamachari

Producers: Bhuvan and Sreekar

Banner: Pixel Studios

Presents: Tagore Madhu

Music: Ravi Basrur

DOP: Manoj Paramahamsa

Dialogues: Vasudev Muneppagari

Production Designer: M Prabhaharan

Co-Producers: Vijay Kamisetty, GT Anand
Amazon miniTV - Amazons free -video streaming service, sets its foot in the patriotic genre with Rakshak: Indias Braves as the nation commemorates the 77th year of Independence. The patriotic drama narrates the supreme sacrifice made by Lt. Triveni Singh on January 2nd at Jammu station when he saved over 300 civilians while surrendering his own life without hesitation. The film has piqued the curiosity of audiences from all corners of the nation owing to its inspiring and gripping narrative, top-notch action and battle scenes, and on-point dialogue delivery.

While Rakshak: Indias Braves is available for viewers to witness Lt. Trivenis sacrifice for the nation only on Amazon miniTV, the lead star cast, Varun Mitra and Kanika Mann, recently jetted off to New Delhi to celebrate the success of the hard-hitting film in the National Capital. The lead actors visited India Gate to take a step closer to make the viewers acquainted with the bravery and sacrifices made to keep our country secure, as seen through the eyes of a key soldier. Making pit stops and sharing insights with multiple media in Delhi, Varun Mitra and Kanika Mann visited India Gate, as they paid homage to our security forces while passing by numerous places of historical significance garnering the adoration of fans in the city.

Rakshak- India's Braves weaves a narrative of passion, heroism, and ultimate sacrifice to tell a story of bravery, Lieutenant Triveni Singh and his formidable squad heroically thwarted a terrorist attack at Jammu Tawi Railway Station, thereby saving the lives of innocent people. The film features an all-star cast led by Varun Mitra, Kanika Mann, Mrinal Naval, Mrinal Kulkarni, and Mohit Chauhan, and it was directed by Akshay Chaubey and produced by Juggernaut.

Unfold the courageous and heroic story of Lt. Triveni Singh in Rakshak- Indias Braves, streaming live on Amazon miniTV, for free within the Amazon shopping app and on Fire TV.
A virtual event management solution built for marketers, Zoom Events allows up to 50,000 view-only attendees and 100+ interactive panelists. Zoom Events built-in tools promote networking and enable real-time feedback, so attendees can enjoy the same benefits of in-person events while at home. By using a variety of custom branding features, marketers can extend their brand reach beyond the walls of a conference center to maximise the ROI of their online experience.

In an exclusive interview with Adgully, Debjani Gupta, Country Marketing Leader for India, Zoom Video Communications, Inc., delves into the remarkable journey of Zoom Events and the ingenious marketing strategies that have shaped its recent years. Notably, Zoom has undergone a significant transformation during the pandemic, and Gupta sheds light on the brands evolution in the post-pandemic landscape, while also highlighting some pivotal milestones.

How have virtual and hybrid events transformed event marketing strategies in recent years?

Virtual events not only have become more common, but are now a critical part of marketing tools to reach and engage more people. Virtual and hybrid events have become a vital part of marketing strategies in recent years, as event marketers embraced the simplicity, expanded reach, and cost-savings that virtual events provide. With opportunities to extend brand reach, decrease operating costs, and engage audiences with inclusive and sustainable experiences, theres never been a better time to host a virtual event and elevate marketing effectiveness.

A study from Morning Consult found that 91% of event marketers believe hybrid events play an important role in future event planning with 89% of event marketers agreeing that hybrid events are important to organisations. The study, commissioned by Zoom, surveyed more than 150 event marketers and planners from various organisations to collect insight into the current and future state of hybrid events. As the survey reflects, hybrid events are here to stay and play a valuable role in marketing strategies. Event marketing professionals face unique challenges with hybrid events and aim to create engaging, meaningful experiences that connect both audiences. To truly achieve these results, marketers need to understand the limitations of older video conferencing solutions and adopt a modern platform that is purpose-built for robust virtual and hybrid experiences. Zoom solutions help take the complexity out of hosting high-quality, engaging virtual events and webinars, so marketers can focus on delivering a valuable attendee experience.

How has Zoom Events reimagined virtual experiences compared to other platforms?

Zoom understands what customers need for modern collaboration for anyone, anywhere. We also look to our customers for their feedback and insights to determine what the features they want to see are. With Zoom, event planners do not need to settle for one-size-fits-all. Instead, they can choose from three flexible event solutions designed to fit unique event needs. The Zoom Events portfolio plans, supports, and produces some of the best virtual, live, and hybrid events on Zoom and helps in meeting organizers varying needs, without sacrificing any desired features. It is currently includes:

Zoom Sessions , our latest event management solution that delivers much-needed flexibility and expanded features for single-session events.

, our latest event management solution that delivers much-needed flexibility and expanded features for single-session events. Zoom Events , an all-in-one virtual event platform for hosting multi-day, multi-track virtual and hybrid events supporting up to 50,000 attendees.

, an all-in-one virtual event platform for hosting multi-day, multi-track virtual and hybrid events supporting up to 50,000 attendees. Zoom Webinars, ideal for large, one-to-many broadcasts featuring simple setup and join. It supports 500-100,000 participants.

Zoom also offers Event Services to help plan, support, and produce high-end virtual or hybrid events.

Could you share some highlights or key findings from the Morning Consult Survey commissioned by Zoom?

Zoom commissioned Morning Consult to survey event marketers and planners from various organisations to specifically understand the challenges facing event marketers when it comes to hybrid events, the value of hybrid events to a modern marketing strategy and what event marketers need to successfully deliver hybrid events over the long term. Some key takeaways include:

Hybrid events will continue to play a pivotal role for event marketers in the future, with most event marketers agreeing that hybrid events are the future of event planning/management.

Event marketers are challenged with engaging dual audiences and providing equitable, productive, and meaningful experiences for remote attendees.

Hybrid events offer event marketers a variety of benefits that include expanding their reach to a larger audience, lower costs, and greater access to data than an in-person or virtual event alone.

Event marketers need a collective understanding of what defines hybrid event success and the technology and services that will generate their intended results.

As the survey reflects, hybrid events are here to stay and play a valuable role in marketing strategies. To truly achieve these results, marketers need to understand the limitations of older video conferencing solutions and adopt a modern platform that is purpose-built for robust virtual and hybrid experiences.

How do hybrid events help in reaching a wider audience and expanding event participation?

Hybrid events existed long before the seismic shift to remote life. More than just an alternative to in-person events, hybrid experiences are sustainable, inclusive events that reduce travel expenses and appeal to broader, more diverse audiences. These benefits, combined with advanced data and analytics, make it easy to see why they are an integral part of any modern event marketing strategy. The Morning Consult study cited 54% of those surveyed support that networking is one of the greatest benefits of in-person events, but its still possible with virtual and hybrid experiences, and 61% of respondents believe the interaction between virtual and in-person attendees is the greatest benefit of hybrid events (higher than any other benefit).

One of the biggest benefits of a virtual or hybrid experience is access to the data and analytics marketers may otherwise miss in person. For example, the Zoom Events dashboard enables hosts to generate reports and enjoy enhanced sorting functionality to view, export, and download valuable metrics. Event marketers no longer have to guess ROI and attendee engagement owing to transparent analytics surrounding registrations, booth sponsors, livestream views and duration, content downloads, tickets sold, event sponsors, and more. Hybrid events are changing the way we do business, and the companies that embrace this new event strategy will be better positioned to lead their markets and gain market share.

Could you provide examples of the enhanced production, engagement, and collaboration features that Zoom Events offers?

Zoom Events are designed to be engaging and interactive experiences with an abundance of features that make virtual events memorable. It elevates event production with a robust feature set, session branding, and hybrid-specific tools that enable new opportunities for sponsorship and collaboration. With features such as flexible scheduling options, breakout rooms, comprehensive reporting, interactive chat capabilities, live event support, and more, event organizers can create engaging events designed to immerse their audience in the content. Zoom Events offers high-end production and branding capabilities with features like Session Branding, which let users customise name tags, backgrounds, wallpaper, and registration hubs with company logos and brand assets.

Zoom Events also gives attendees the ability to network with each other, engage event sponsors, exchange contact info, and chat and initiate meetings with other attendees via the interactive event lobby feature. Zoom Events Expo Floor lets attendees interact with sponsors, engage in live conversations, and explore topics-based conversations in a deeper way in Expo Booths. Zoom Events Backstage provides a backstage or green room that runs before, during, and after a session, where panellists can enter before the webinar and view and hear the live session, allowing them to prepare, consult, follow the presentation and know when it's their cue to join. Data is also essential for todays marketing and events teams and at the conclusion of an event, the Zoom Events analytics dashboard is a valuable tool for hosts to review data and see how many connections and one-on-one chats were initiated. Further, this provides additional opportunities to identify any areas for improving networking at future events.

How do these enhanced features of Zoom Events contribute to a more immersive and interactive event experience?

Whether youre looking to build connections or announce the latest company news, choosing the right technology is crucial to deliver a valuable virtual event experience. We want to encourage event organisers and planners to think about technology and how it can enrich the event experience. While there is a desire to go back to full in-person events in the industry, we believe the right technology can ensure events are more engaging, impactful, diverse and equitable and provide us with the ability to expand our audience and reach more people with our message.

Online events dont have to be static. Todays virtual experiences can be high-energy, engaging, and impactful, no matter the size. Zoom Events built-in tools promote networking and enable real-time feedback, so attendees can enjoy the same benefits of in-person events while at home. By using a variety of custom branding features, event professionals can extend their brands reach beyond the walls of a conference center to maximise the ROI of the online experience.

What is the roadmap or future direction for Zoom Events in terms of innovation and improvements?

Delivering happiness isnt just a Zoom tagline or how we define our culture. Its about listening to our customers, understanding their needs, and developing new opportunities to fulfill those needs. Whether you are a seasoned events pro or need a guide to hosting hybrid events, we will continue to keep our customers at the center. The events industry will continue to evolve and Zoom is dedicated to making virtual events as engaging, inclusive, and memorable as possible.

With Zoom Events, organisations can foster a tighter sense of community between attendees and hosts, enabling them to connect, learn from one another, and expand their professional networks. Over the next several months, well continue to add even more features and tools to help attendees be a part of meaningful, engaging and productive interactions within their industry. We aim to ensure that were delivering an experience that enables a new kind of productivity  one that brings all the best tools and applications for modern, engaging collaboration into one destination.

How does Zoom plan to address the evolving needs and challenges of event marketers through its platform?

The key thing to understand is that we are in a very modern event landscape with a place for every format of event  hybrid, in-person and virtual. In the current macroeconomic environment, marketers are facing challenges of rising costs of in-person events, including through-the-roof costs of event venues, catering, traveling and logistics, making these events not as cost effective as they used to be. Businesses are also reducing their travel expenses, which ultimately reduces foot traffic in physical events. Another key important challenge today is that event planners need to meet attendees when, where and how they want to meet. As marketers, they do not get to dictate the venue of the event anymore, making flexibility the key to a successful event.

Zoom is building a full collaborative platform that is designed to support limitless connection and modern collaboration through flexible solutions that meet people where they are. Global businesses are always going to need to evaluate the platforms that give them the best value and right solutions and businesses continue to choose Zoom based on the quality of our experience and the ease of use. With a focus on the future, we have refreshed our mission and vision: One platform delivering limitless human connection, including customer experience.

How can event marketers leverage Zoom Events to achieve their goals and enhance their event marketing strategies?

Hybrid events, in-person events, and virtual experiences all have a place in the modern event landscape. Yet not all events need the same capabilities. The one-size-fits-all approach to event management can leave marketers sacrificing features they want or, worse, paying for ones they dont. With that in mind, we announced Zoom Sessions this year, our new event management solution that delivers much-needed flexibility and expanded features for single-session events. Built to help marketers level-up their Zoom Webinars and Zoom Meetings, Zoom Sessions offers robust production, branding, and analytic tools that help you engage attendees, generate meaningful connections, drive better ROI, and elevate your brand.

Zoom Sessions is designed to give marketing teams more options when hosting single-session events. Using either Zoom Meetings or Zoom Webinars, marketers can track and measure the success of your events with robust analytics and ticketing features, grow their pipeline and generate new leads with marketing automation tools and integrations, engage attendees through interactive features that inspire collaboration and meaningful connections and build brand awareness and adoption with advanced production tools and customisable branding.

What is the post-pandemic market of Zoom and what are the key highlights of it?

Zoom is a full collaborative platform that is designed to support limitless connection and modern collaboration through flexible solutions that meet workers where they are. Our goal at Zoom has always been to make all kinds of connections possible, effective, and meaningful. To this end, our team has built and launched more than 1,500 features and enhancements on the Zoom platform in 2022 alone, advancing the way people connect with each other, their organisation, and their customersultimately, opening the doors wide for creativity and collaboration. Zoom Events, for example, leverages the Zoom platforms inherent reliability and security for large-scale events. As a globally distributed company, we rely on every part of the Zoom platform to make hybrid work happen and continue to support businesses worldwide on their hybrid work journey as well.

Zoom has been delivering AI innovations for a long time, starting with our transcription services. But the recent acceleration in AI, particularly in generative AI, has allowed us to take our AI capabilities to the next level faster. We are excited to see the industry going through this AI evolution brought by large language models and see the increased benefits we can bring to our users. Announcing our federated approach and collaborations with Anthropic and OpenAI technologies is the next step in Zooms evolution. Our goal with this approach is to provide the most value for its customers' diverse needs. Currently, you can find AI-powered innovation across the entire Zoom platform. Some examples include:

Meetings include virtual backgrounds, audio processing, noise suppression, real-time captions, and translation to power a more immersive and productive experience

include virtual backgrounds, audio processing, noise suppression, real-time captions, and translation to power a more immersive and productive experience Smart Recording with summaries and highlights that make Meetings content easier to consume and share

with summaries and highlights that make Meetings content easier to consume and share Rooms with Smart Gallery & Intelligent Director, and People Counting and Presenter Tracking

with Smart Gallery & Intelligent Director, and People Counting and Presenter Tracking Workspace Reservation Smart Suggestions

Zoom continues to transform industries by connecting and enabling them to work flexibly and seamlessly in todays macroeconomic climate, allowing customers to reimagine both their customer and employee experience. Olive Living, a next-gen living community in India, found the perfect solution with Zoom Rooms Virtual Receptionist which is being leveraged at some of their properties to greet guests upon arrival, provide seamless check-in, and receive feedback on their virtual receptionist experience. Zoom helped Shyft, a personalised wellness provider scale 10x by encouraging global users to adopt a healthier lifestyle. Cypeer brings cybersecurity peers around the world to meet, share, learn, and make connections. The company is rolling out their platform with the integration of Zoom Meetings SDK to enable seamless collaboration while bringing together people for live interactions. Skylark Drones has recently integrated Zoom Video SDK with their Drone Software Platform - Drone Mission Ops, bringing forth a new level of connectivity between the skies and the screen. AccioJobs, an edtech startup, is revolutionising the way engineering students learn and upskill by integrating Zooms Meeting SDK and Video SDK into their product. Zoom has proven to be a game-changer for AccioJob, enabling the startup to improve both the student experience and its business bottom line.

Each organisation is undergoing an unique digital transformation journey; and what Zoom offers are tailored solutions  such as through our federated approach to AI  that fit these nuanced needs. Businesses are looking to consolidate and streamline amid todays challenging business landscape. We believe that our customer-first approach and our rapid product innovation is increasingly offering that single pane of glass that businesses and employees want and need.
Military chiefs of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have agreed upon a "D-day" for a possible military intervention to restore democracy in Niger should all avenues of diplomacy fail. A senior ECOWAS official told reporters of the decision Friday (August 18) but fell short of disclosing when it would happen.

The bloc's Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security Abdel-Fatau Musah made the comments at the end of a two-day meeting of ECOWAS military chiefs in Ghana's capital Accra, where they have been planning the logistics and strategy for a possible use of force in Niger that ECOWAS has said would be a last resort.

"We are ready to go anytime the order is given," Musah said. "We've already agreed and fine-tuned what will be required for the intervention."

Musah also stressed ECOWAS was still employing all diplomatic means necessary to peacefully deal with the junta in Niamey, adding the bloc was readying a "mediation mission" into the country, as per Reuters.

Read Also: ECOWAS Prepares to Muster Troops to Counter Niger's Junta

Sahel, West Africa on the Verge of War

Senior military officers deposed Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26 and defied calls from the United Nations, ECOWAS, and other entities to restore him, prompting ECOWAS to order a standby force to be assembled.

Most of its 15 member-states, those whose governments are under civilian control, are prepared to contribute to the joint force, another ECOWAS official confirmed Thursday (August 17).

The bloc's military chiefs have declined to mention anything about their deployment plans and strategic details as of this report.

No matter how necessary, a military intervention might further destabilize an already distressed Sahel region due to its long-standing issue of Islamist insurgency.

Niger also has strategic importance beyond West Africa due to its oil and uranium reserves, as well as a hub for foreign troops involved in the fight against Al Qaeda- and Islamic State-affiliated groups.

Meanwhile, France 24 reported US officials are preparing to evacuate its drone bases from Niger if ever it became necessary for ECOWAS to conduct its military intervention should all avenues of diplomacy fail.

Related Article: Niger's Overthrown President Mohamed Bazoum to Be Charged With High Treason, Junta Says

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The National Hurricane Center had its hands full as of Friday.

Forecasters were tracking powerful Category 4 Hurricane Hilary in the eastern Pacific, which is forecast to be a rare storm that moves very close to California. The first-ever tropical storm watches for southern California were issued earlier today.

Heres the track forecast for Hilary, a track you dont see every day:

Hurricane Hilary is taking a rare track that could take the storm near southern California.

Then, in the Atlantic, there are four disturbances that are being tracked. And one of them will make it into the Gulf of Mexico early next week.

That disturbance was located over the southeastern Bahamas on Friday afternoon but will eventually make it into the Gulf, according to forecasters.

The hurricane center said an area of low pressure could then form, and some slow development will be possible as the system heads toward the western Gulf Coast (Texas and Mexico) by the middle of next week.

The system is not expected to threaten Alabama.

The hurricane center gave that disturbance a 40 percent probability of becoming a tropical depression in the next week (which is up from 30 percent earlier today).

There were also three other disturbances being watched, but they were farther out in the Atlantic.

The one that is closest to becoming a tropical depression was in the eastern Atlantic, a few hundred miles west of the Cabo Verde Islands off Africas west coast. The hurricane center said the disturbance continued to look more organized, and a tropical depression could form over the weekend as the system tracks to the west-northwest or northwest.

This may not be a storm to worry about, however. Forecasters expect winds over the Atlantic to become unfavorable by early next week and further development is not expected.

The next disturbance was in the central Atlantic about halfway between the Cabo Verde Islands and the Lesser Antilles.

It was disorganized as of Friday afternoon, but there is a chance it could still develop and become a tropical depression over the next few days as it tracks to the west-northwest. Upper-level winds are also expected to become unfavorable for this disturbance and could limit any more development, the hurricane center said.

The last area to watch was to the east-southeast of the Lesser Antilles on Friday. The hurricane center said an area of low pressure could form over the weekend and could slowly develop over the weekend and into early next week as it tracks to the west-northwest.

That disturbance has a 30 percent chance of becoming a tropical depression in the next seven days.

The climatological peak of the Atlantic hurricane season is fast approaching on Sept. 10. NOAA is forecasting a busy season, with 12-17 named storms (that includes tropical storms and hurricanes), five to nine hurricanes and one to four major hurricanes (Category 3 or stronger storms).

That forecast includes storms that have already formed. There have been three tropical storms, one unnamed storm and one hurricane so far in 2023.

According to NOAA an average season in the Atlantic basin has 14 named storms, seven hurricanes and three major hurricanes.
Fifty thousand lines of computer code broken down into smaller pieces or modules tested more than 2 million times - at last count. Tests continue daily with one mission: sending a spaceship with astronauts around the moon and back to Earth.

Fifty thousand lines might sound like a lot of code, NASAs Dan Mitchell agreed. His team at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., did the programming for Artemis I and is preparing this code for the Artemis II launch in November 2024.

But the preparations carry more weight this time - lives will be on the line because its the first mission with astronauts.

It might sound like a lot of code but todays cars, especially self-driving ones, have substantially more software than the Space Launch System. So do commercial airplanes and modern fighter jets, Mitchell said in a recent interview.

We have the advantage of a very well-defined message, Mitchell said of programmers. Its not an easy mission to execute, but its well-defined.

Mitchell is the rockets flight software design lead. He heads a team of 50 software and hardware experts at NASA Marshalls Systems Integration Laboratory, also known as the SIL. The team also works with commercial partners like Boeing.

Simply put, the rocket has a lot of moving and stable parts including a propulsion system, launch abort system, cargo module, service module, guidance systems and crew capsule. Flight software touches all of those, Mitchell said.

This test lab at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville simulations the shape and brain of the Space Launch System. It's where experts test the rocket's software for its mission maneuvers ahead.

Mitchells team just finished final testing of the software for Artemis II and is in the middle of post-test analysis making sure it did, indeed, perform as expected.

For team members like software engineer Hannah Hopkins, the feeling is irreplaceable. Her job is writing code for take off and landing simulations. With those skills, she could be working many places. Instead, shes working with a simulation she said can model about 40 hours before a flight through the entire core stage part of flying, so thats about 10 minutes before we get to core stage disposal.

That means thinking about what ground operators are doing, about tank fueling, about flight and about booster deployment. We have to have this overall understanding of what the rocket should do and what it is doing, she said. Taking all of that into account.

Accomplishment and pride, Hopkins said. That and the community of software developers I work with keep her at NASA-Marshall. Just knowing that Im a part of getting the first woman and the first person of color on the moon, she said.

Hopkins knows that the number of lines of code really in no way represents the complexity of something. She doesnt work on the flight software but feels its kind of a source of pride that its 50,000 lines of code. For me, what theyre able to accomplish with 50,000 lines of code ensures that the vehicle is not doing something overly complex.

Theres an old adage that says measuring progress on a software project by lines of code is like measuring an airplane by how much it weighs, Mitchell said.

The stakes were high for Artemis 1. A failure might have threatened NASAs entire plan for the rocket and the return to the moon. But putting people on this one raises the stakes quite a bit, Hopkins said.

When the softwares written and checked, the team takes it into test area of the SIL at Marshall. Thats a tall cylindrical structure where flight computers and connecting wires are mounted in a frame the size and shape of the Space Launch System rocket.

The engine software is then tested connected to the same software used for the real core stages, Orion capsule and ground system. The test is to make that avionics and the software running in those boxes think its actually at Kennedy Space Center ready to launch and then is actually flying the vehicle when we launch, Mitchell said.

The simulators can model 40 hours of flight and must be able to consider everything from what ground operators are doing to fueling to booster fire  what the rocket should do and what it is doing, as Hopkins put it. The goal is a test as much like a flight as possible.

For the first SLS launch, their simulations were very close. We were very happy with how the simulation compared to actual launch performance, Mitchell said. That gave us a lot of confidence that, one, we had a really good test environment not only for flight software but for the integrated system, Mitchell said, but it gives us a lot of confidence going into Artemis II where were going to have crew on the vehicles. That was a big milestone and check mark for us.

Not everything the team does is big. Programmers can scale down emulators (computers programmed to act like other computers) to emulate the SLS vehicle, the rocket and the capsule. Mitchell calls it challenging but pretty fun.

The team at Marshall could do pretty much anything in computing, Mitchell agreed. So why this? Everybody has a different aspect that motivates them, he said, but its a grand activity, right? Theres still the mystique of being able to send vehicles and teams into space and do what we can to explore that frontier.

It still is very much a frontier and we have as a human race not gotten off our planet yet, Mitchell said. So, I think its kind of the honor and mystery of being part of this.
Alabama is starting a training program for people who want to work in the biotech industry.

Gov. Kay Ivey announced Friday that Alabama Industrial Development Training (AIDT) is working in partnership with the organization BIO Alabama to launch the bioscience technician program.

The program is intended to help people develop the skills and knowledge to pursue a career in the biotech industry, the governors office said in a press release.

People with a high school diploma, proficiency in Microsoft Office, and basic math skills are encouraged to apply on the AIDT website.

Applicants will take an online pre-employment course to assess their suitability for the program. Those who successfully complete the course will be eligible to continue in the training program in collaboration with biotech companies. The blend of theoretical learning and practical experience will give participants the well-rounded education that prepares them to work in the industry, the governors office said.

The bioscience training program offers successful candidates starting wages of $20 per hour.

We are leaving no stone unturned in developing our workforce to meet and exceed industry demands in Alabama, Ivey said in a press release. Bioscience has grown to be one of our states premier industries, and we have numerous firms like Hudson Alpha and Southern Research making groundbreaking advancements daily. Supporting this vital economic engine is an absolute must for our state, and Im proud to partner with BIO Alabama to develop the bioscience leaders of tomorrow.

BIO Alabama represents Alabamas bio related industries, research scientists, clinicians and business professionals who are working together to foster, develop and support the life sciences in Alabama, the press release said. BIO Alabama is the state affiliate of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO).

This is a great step forward in our workforce training initiative and creates support not only for our existing biotech companies but provides room for growth and expansion opportunities along with creating better jobs for residents of Alabama, Dr. Jeremy Blanks, CEO of BIO Alabama, said.

AIDT is Alabamas workforce training agency and encourages economic development through job-specific training. Training services are offered in many areas, at no cost, to new and expanding businesses throughout Alabama.

Related: Southern Research putting finishing touches on biotech incubator space
A woman arrested in connection with the 2019 death of her 13-month-old infant son is now charged with felony murder.

A Limestone County grand jury has also indicted Elizabeth Anne Case, 39, on charges of reckless manslaughter and aggravated child abuse.

Case had previously faced capital murder charges in the death of Casen Case, who was left in a hot car for as long as eight hours. Those charges are now dismissed.

Attempts to reach the Limestone County District Attorneys Office for comment were not immediately successful.

According to investigators, on Oct. 4, 2019, Elizabeth Case left her residence between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. the night before the childs death, with him buckled into a front-facing car seat without strapping the seat to the vehicle. Case traveled to both Limestone and Madison counties where she was dumpster diving while the child was in the vehicle, officials said.

She then returned home around 5:40 a.m. and left the baby in the vehicle when she went inside the home and went to bed. Case awoke around 1:30 p.m. when the babys grandmother was banging on the door because she couldnt find her grandchild.

They searched for the baby and found him in the car. Case then took the child in the home and placed him in the shower. The grandmother called 911, loaded the child in the car with Case, and met Athens Police at the Recreation Center at Highway 251 and Highway 31. The outside temperature was approximately 97 degrees when he was found.

Casen was transported to Athens-Limestone hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Authorities are searching for a teen girl and a teen boy missing from east Alabama.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency on Friday issued an Emergency Missing Child Alert for 15-year-old Chyann Elise Woodard and Isaiah Formby. Authorities said the two 15-year-olds could be together and may be in danger.

Chyann was last seen 12 a.m. Friday in the area of Ivy Place in Oxford.

Isaiah Formby

Isaiah was last seen about 10 p.m. Thursday in the area of Woodlock Lane in Weaver.

Chyann is 5-feet, 3-inches tall and weighs 160 pounds. She has blonde hair and brown eyes.

Isaiah is 6 feet tall and weighs 183 pounds.

They could be traveling in a white 2016 Subaru Crosstrek with Alabama license plate DV95B23.

Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to 911, the Oxford Police Department at 256-835-6133 or the Weaver Police Department at 256-820-1766
An agent with the Internal Revenue Service was shot and killed Thursday during a routine training exercise in north Phoenix.

Charlotte M. Dennis, a spokesperson for the IRS Phoenix field office, confirmed special agents were participating in the exercise at a firing range when the shooting happened.

The agent, whose name was not released, died shortly after arriving at HonorHealth Deer Valley Medical Center, Dennis said.

No other injuries were reported.

Dennis declined to give further details.

The range is on property that belongs to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. But because of an interagency agreement, other law enforcement agencies typically use the facility.

Officials with the FBIs Phoenix field office said they will oversee the shooting investigation. The results will be turned over to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Arizona.
A neonatal nurse in a British hospital was found guilty of killing seven babies and trying to kill six others.

Lucy Letby, 33, was charged with murder in the deaths of five baby boys and two girls, and the attempted murder of five boys and five girls, when she worked at the Countess of Chester Hospital in northwest England between 2015 and 2016.

She was accused of deliberately harming the newborn infants in various ways, including by injecting air into their bloodstreams and administering air or milk into their stomachs via nasogastric tubes.

She was also accused of poisoning infants by adding insulin to intravenous feeds and interfering with breathing tubes.

A jury of seven women and four men deliberated for 22 days before reaching the verdict. One juror was excused well into deliberations for personal reasons and the judge later gave the remaining 11 jurors the option of reaching a verdict with 10 people in agreement instead of a unanimous decision.

Letby denied all the charges. She was found not guilty on one charge of attempted murder and the jury could not reach a verdict on several others.

Some of the verdicts were announced in court earlier in the month, but the judge imposed a ban on reporting them until deliberations were complete. Letby fought back tears on Aug. 8 as the jury found her guilty of two counts of attempted murder and burst out crying as she left the courtroom. She had more recently declined to be in the courtroom as additional verdicts were announced.

During the lengthy trial, which began last October, prosecutors said the hospital in 2015 experienced a significant rise in the number of babies who were dying or suffering from sudden deteriorations in their health for no apparent reason. Some suffered serious catastrophic collapses but survived after help from medical staff.

They alleged that Letby was on duty in all the cases and described her as a constant malevolent presence in the neonatal unit when the children collapsed or died. They said the nurse harmed the babies in ways that did not leave much of a trace, and that she persuaded her colleagues that the collapses and deaths were normal.

The first baby allegedly targeted by Letby was a boy born prematurely who died when he was a day old, in June 2015. Prosecutors alleged the nurse injected air into his bloodstream.

Police launched an investigation into the baby deaths at the hospital in May 2017. Letby was arrested three times in connection with the deaths before she was charged in November 2020.

Prosecutors said a Post-It note found at Letbys home after she was arrested in 2018 on which she wrote I am evil, I did this was literally a confession.

Her defense lawyer argued she was a hard-working, dedicated and caring nurse who loved her job and that there was not enough evidence of her carrying out any of the alleged harmful acts.

The lawyer said the infants sudden collapses and deaths could have been due to natural causes, or in combination with other factors such as staffing shortages at the hospital or failure by others to provide appropriate care.

He also claimed that four senior doctors pinned blame on Letby to cover up failings in the neonatal unit.

Letby testified for 14 days, denying all accusations she intentionally harmed any baby.

I only ever did my best to care for them, she testified. I am there to care not to harm.

She sobbed at times and defended the collection of medical records she kept at home on some of the babies in her care.

I dont deserve to live, she wrote on a green Post-it note shown in court. I killed them on purpose because Im not good enough to care for them.

I am a horrible evil person, she wrote. I AM EVIL I DID THIS.

Her lawyer defended the notes as the anguished writings of a woman who had lost confidence in herself and blamed herself for what had happened in the ward.

One note says not good enough, defense lawyer Ben Myers said. Who did she write that for? She didnt write that for us, the police or these proceedings. That is a note to herself. Writing for herself.
A man and a woman from Ohio are charged in a federal indictment accusing them of convincing an Alabama juvenile to send sexually explicit images and videos under the guise of helping a dying loved one.

John Brickhouse, 35, and Nina Darling, 26, both of Junction City, Ohio, are charged in a 19-count federal indictment in Ohio.

The Clay County Sheriffs Office and the Ashland Police Department began the child solicitation investigation in February, authorities said Friday. Early into the probe, they discovered that the suspect was a repeat sexual offender from out of state.

Sheriffs officials then brought in FBI agents to help with the ongoing investigation.

Investigators say Brickhouse and Darling had been coercing a minor into producing child pornography.

According to court documents, the couple conspired for approximately seven months to coerce a minor girl, whom Brickhouse had met online, into producing and sending child pornography.

It is alleged that Brickhouse and Darling told the victim that Brickhouses mother had two weeks left to live, but that a third party had agreed to pay for life-saving surgery if the victim created and sent sexually explicit images and videos of herself in exchange.

The third party  Michael Jones  was actuality a fictitious person created by Brickhouse and Darling. It is alleged that Darling, at Brickhouses request, posed as Michael Jones in order to convince the victim that Brickhouses mothers life could be saved if only the victim created and sent child pornography.

Darling also allegedly posed as Brickhouses dying mother and Brickhouses aunt as part of this deception.

The victim, believing that she was acting to save Brickhouses mothers life, created and sent the child pornography as requested.

Brickhouse and Darling allegedly obtained and then distributed the child pornography to others, including to registered sex offenders.

Brickhouse is a registered sex offender whose most recent conviction was in 2015 for sexually assaulting a child, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. His multiple sexual offenses against children date back to 2009 and involve victims as young as 3 years old.

Brickhouse committed many of the alleged crimes while he was in custody for his prior sexual offenses against minors, authorities said.

If convicted, Brickhouse faces 25 years up to life in prison and Darling faces between five to 30 years in prison.
Windows 11 users will soon have less trouble managing their computers' storage.

Microsoft recently announced it would soon allow Windows 11 users to uninstall more built-in apps, allowing them to customize their computers further and free up more space.

Microsoft has started giving Windows 11 users the ability to uninstall built-in apps since March.

Hello, (Storage) Space

Microsoft mentioned in its announcement of Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25931 with Canary Channel testers that it is testing the new build, which includes the ability to uninstall certain Windows 11 built-in apps.

According to the announcement, these apps include the camera app, the recently discontinued Cortana app, the Photos app, the People app, and the Remote Desktop (MSTSC) client. While these apps are not exactly big enough to make a significant difference in a Windows 11 user's storage space, their ability to be removed makes the OS feel less bloated than before.

Their removal is also a boon for people who want to personalize their computers further by replacing them with similarly functioning apps they are comfortable with.

The ability to uninstall built-in Windows 11 apps has been present in Windows 11 computers since March when Microsoft gave users (or at least people testing its Canary Channel at the time) the ability to uninstall the Camera app. Additionally, the company also announced it has discontinued support for its standalone Windows Cortana app earlier this month, effectively killing it in the process.

Read More: 5 Handheld Consoles You Can Play With This 2023

However, Microsoft assures Windows 365 users that they can still access Cortana in Outlook Mobile, Teams Mobile, Microsoft Teams display, and Microsoft Teams rooms.

Unfortunately, the typical Windows 11 user can't uninstall the camera app, the recently discontinued Cortana app, the Photos app, the People app, and the MSTSC client anytime soon. Microsoft has yet to release this ability in its recent updates.

Thankfully, Windows 11 users won't need to wait for that long. A report from The Verge stated that Microsft is planning on releasing it along with its next big Windows 11 update in September.

Whether Microsoft will follow through with this or not is still debatable.

Other Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 25931 Features

Aside from the removal of certain Windows 11 built-in apps, Microsoft said in its announcement that it is adding more fields in File Explorer to show in the Details pane. These panels include image dimensions for pictures, number of pages for .docx, space used, and free information for drives.

Microsoft also added Dynamic Lighting - it lets users sync their Windows accent color with the devices around them. Interestingly, Microsoft said it is making two improvements to the domain controller (DC) locator algorithm in Windows.

The first improvement is blocking the use of NetBIOS\WINS\mailslot-based methods for DC-discovery by default. This change is reversible using a new Group Policy setting.

It is also making the reversion to default behavior require enabling the "EnableMailslots" SMB configuration option. However, Windows 11 users should keep in mind that reversions should be considered as a temporary measure until Microsoft finds a more appropriate (and permanent) solution.

Related Article: Microsoft Officially Kills Its Cortana Standalone App
The holds blocking military promotions by Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville are having a negative impact on the military, according to the countrys top general.

Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, discussed his view of the holds in an interview published Friday by The Washington Post. Tuberville, of course, put a hold on promotions in February in objection to a new Pentagon policy providing paid leave and travel expenses for military personnel to receive abortions.

Milleys full response when asked about Tuberville and the holds:

I dont want to enter into the whole discussion of abortion and the culture war, Milley told The Post. Im staying out of all that.

So now youre up to, probably, I dont know somewhere between three [thousand] and 4,000 people, humans, children, spouses, the officers themselves that are being impacted by this in a negative way  increased uncertainty, cant go to school, cant change jobs, cant get settled.

About a third of our assignments change pretty much every year. So youre looking at about a third of the organizations in the U.S. military globally, are without predictable, consistent leadership. And the guy whos in the job right now would either have to extend or defer retirement or defer the next assignment and theres a real ripple effect to all of this. So there is a real readiness impact to all of this and that concerns me. And the sooner we can get to a resolution, I think the better.

In a statement Friday to AL.com, Tuberville Communications Director Steven Stafford said, Contrary to false reporting, no jobs are going unfilled. All of these jobs are being done in our military of nearly 2 million people.

Tuberville has repeatedly said he does not believe that military readiness is affected by the holds and that acting commanders can perform necessary duties without Senate-confirmed promotions. Democrats in the Senate disagree while top Senate Republicans Mitch McConnell and John Thune have also spoken against the military holds.

Tuberville has said he will not budge on the holds unless the policy is rescinded or Congress votes its approval of the policy. Stafford told AL.com in July that the issue is unauthorized use of taxpayer dollars to facilitate elective abortions. No one is disputing servicemembers ability to take leave and get an elective abortion in another state (access). What is at dispute is taxpayer funding to facilitate this.

The holds go to the top of the military. Milley is retiring next month and the Senate has not held a vote to confirm his replacement. President Joe Biden has nominated Air Force Gen. CQ Brown Jr. to be the next chair of the Joint Chiefs.

About 300 promotions are on hold at this point and that number is expected to approach 600 by the end of the year. The Senate has traditionally approved military promotions in a quick unanimous consent action but Tuberville has invoked his authority as a senator to block that mechanism.

Instead, Tuberville has said that the Senate can hold confirmation votes on each promotion to bypass his holds. Sen. Jack Reed, a Democrat from Rhode Island and chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told The Associated Press in July that voting on individual promotions would take about three months with the Senate working eight hours a day.

Updated today, Aug. 18, 2023, at 10:43 a.m. with comment from Tuberville spokesman.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville showed no signs of backing down from his holds on military promotions during an appearance on The Kimberly Guilfoyle Show, where he said he doesnt care if anyone is promoted.

I dont care if we promote anybody to be honest. We got 44 four-star generals right now. We only had seven during WWII, so I think were a little overloaded to begin with, Tuberville said.

The states senior senator has placed a freeze on Defense Department leadership promotions and new appointees for nearly six months.

The Alabama Republican is trying to stop taxpayer funding of travel and paid time off over and above what other service members receive for the purpose of facilitating elective abortions, Tuberville Communications Director Steven Stafford said in July.

Tuberville said in a column for AL.com in May that since the Biden administration began illegally using tax dollars to facilitate elective abortion, Ive used my rightful authority as a United States senator to slow down their civilian nominations and promotions from being confirmed.

The Supreme Court ruled in June 2022 that the legal right to an abortion no longer exists.

But the Pentagon said in February it will pay travel expenses and leave for medical care for military members and their families. Available in that health coverage is support for decisions to terminate a pregnancy.

The U.S. Secretary of Defense spoke out against Tubervilles holdouts last month saying this is a national security issue. Its a readiness issue. And, we shouldnt kid ourselves. I think any member of the Senate Armed Services Committee knows that, during an interview with CNN.

But during his appearance on Guilfoyles show, Tuberville said he did not believe his stance had any impact on national security.

National security is not a problem here. Because you dont change your position just because somebodys not promoted. Somebody stays there until the promotion is done. So thats not thats not a problem here, Tuberville said.

I think well even feel more support as time goes on because Im not changing my mind.
In creating a free and open system, the framers of the Constitution recognized that corrupting influence from foreign powers was a real threat. They were particularly concerned about a corruptible American president. In his famous Farewell Address of 1796, George Washington issued a stern warning against the poisonous influence of foreign governments on the affairs of the new United States of America. He said, "Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence... the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government."

The Founders were idealists but also realists, and they recognized that peoples private ambitions and thirst for power or money were powerful motivators. They understood that the human condition was flawed, and that goodness of human nature could not be relied upon. So, they set up a system of checks and balances of power in the three branches of the legislative, the executive and the judiciary, and in a federal system of divided power between states and the federal government. They understood it was necessary to create these competing and redundant structures to guard against abuse of power and corruption. But they went even further.

The Constitution created two other safeguards against corruption in the impeachment powers of Article II, Section 4 and in the emoluments clause in Article I, Section 9, Clause 8 of the U.S. Constitution. The latter prohibits any person holding a government office from accepting any present, emolument, office, or title from any foreign state without congressional consent. With these safeguards, the Founders believed they had created a governmental system better than any prior to forestall domestic public vice and the corruption that would come from foreign influence. Still, Washingtons Farewell Address of 1797 framed the issue in ways that are as relevant today as they were 227 years ago, when he wrote:

The nation which indulges toward another an habitual hatred or an habitual fondness is in some degree a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest. Antipathy in one nation against another disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury So, likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter without adequate inducement or justification.

The standard for impeachment as expressed in the Constitution is conviction of Treason, Bribery, or other High Crimes and Misdemeanors.

President Joe Bidens questionable activities go back to his first year as Vice President in 2009 and continued throughout his eight years serving in the two-term Obama administration, punctuated with son Hunter being paid $1 million a year as a board member of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma in 2014. That role continued for more than four years, with a large $10 million dollar payoff from Burisma coming to Hunter and Joe Biden after the latter blackmailed Ukraine by threatening the withholding of $1 billion in U.S. aid unless prosecutor general Victor Shokin was fired from the corruption investigation of Burisma in March of 2016 -- an investigation that would have exposed fraud, including questionable payments to Hunter Biden. FBI documents refer to the two $5 million payments to Hunter and Joe Biden as a 'bribe' paid by Burisma owner Mykola Zlochevsky.

The case for impeaching President Joe Biden goes beyond bribery and emolument high crimes related to Ukraine. In 2014, Hunter Biden introduced his father, then Vice President, to Kazakhstan oligarch Kenes Rakishev at a dinner. Records and testimony obtained by James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee show that at that time of introducing Rakishev to Vice President Biden, Hunter Biden and his business partner Devon Archer were working on a deal involving Burisma, on whose board they both served, and a Chinese company that would have been based in Kazakhstan. To facilitate the deal and his relationship with Archer and the Bidens, Rakishev wired $142,300 to Rosemont Seneca -- a shell company created by Devon and Hunter -- the exact amount needed to fund Hunter's sportscar purchase the next day.

Another mysterious payment to the Bidens came during that same year. Shortly after Joe Biden was introduced to Russian oligarch Yelena Baturina at a dinner meeting in February 2014, $3.5 million was wired to Rosemont Seneca by Baturina.

These kinds of payments to the Bidens coming from oligarchs from Ukraine and other countries are way beyond a level where impeachment and removal from office is justified. Also, the means of transferring and distributing funds follows the pattern of international criminal enterprises. The Bidens were involved with the creation of some twenty shell companies for the purpose of concealing money transfers from foreign nationals and then distributing those transferred funds to as many as nine different Biden family members.

As egregious as all these payments and shell game money transfers were, the scope and scale of Biden deal activities in China crosses a new threshold requiring urgent correction.

China engages in unrestricted warfare against the United States, something that the Founders could hardly fathom. Blackmail was not then a term in wide usage, having first been coined in Scotland in the 17th century. Today blackmail is one of the chief tools in Chinas massive elite capture program in the United States, giving them control over many in government in the United States -- with the top elite family in the U.S. being Joe Bidens family. Preliminary records assembled in 2021 and 2022 by investigative journalists without subpoena power or access to bank records show that the Chinese elite have paid some $31 million to the Biden family. For the Chinese, these payments were and are about control and blackmail, which may explain why Biden more than any other U.S. president has pursued policies that have weakened the United States and helped China.

Bring on impeachment and let the hearings on the Bidens involvement in China begin.

Scott Powell is senior fellow at the Discovery Institute and a member of the Committee on the Present Danger-China. His timeless book, Rediscovering America, was #1 new release in history for eight straight weeks (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1637581599). Reach him at scottp@discovery.org

Image: Josh Hallett
The tragedy of September 11th defined President George W. Bushs first term, but it was also an inflection point that defined the American government. Now, almost 22 years on, our nation still hasnt recovered from the events of that terrible day, which changed our society and realigned us both politically and culturally, to our great detriment.

Subversive operatives in government took Rahm Emanuels famous commandment Never Let a Crisis Go to Waste to heart, and the result? Generally collegial relationships between our Washington representatives gave way to the zero-sum and anti-American political warfare we see today.

The political process is, by design, contentious. Through this tension, the extremes of governance were supposed to be restrained, leading to gradual change, reliable policies, a degree of bipartisanship, and a predictable market economy. There were always exceptions to the rule, but 9/11 was different, and it opened the door to profound changes in how we engaged the world and the way we viewed our own. Unprecedented permanent powers were created to surveil Americans citizens, secret intelligence courts were established and normalized, and Americas role as guarantor of inalienable rights was no more.

The beginning of the rift between the government and its people results directly from massively increased spending and subsequent actions taken to protect us, which could also be construed as control us  its a fine line between for your safety and for your enslavement. Politicians and agencies like the FBI exploited their new mandate to protect and defend to increase their power and prestige; today, we live with weaponized bureaucracies and two-tiered justice.

The first casualty of any war is truth. War is more than actual combat; it also includes the political world from which war is born. Carl von Clausewitz wrote, War is politics by other means.

The world as we know it began to unravel when the U.S. engaged in vaguely-defined combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, and later in secret conflicts elsewhere. The War Powers Resolution of 1973 gave the president the ability to unilaterally engage in warfare under certain congressional limitations; but the parameters have been repeatedly deemed ineffective by critics.

Weve also had a problem defining our national interest for decades. This gave rise to wars conducted without defined endpoints. How has this happened? Once we decide to engage, why are we afraid to openly acknowledge that the point of war is to fight our enemies to destruction? Why do we not share our reasoning? (Proxy wars are another layer of the onion and deserve a standalone article.)

Our country has frequently been blessed with great leaders in our high chambers and presidency. Yes, there are the occasional duds, but the tension built into our system has restrained rapid changes that would upset the proverbial apple cart.

That all changed though with Barack Obama in 2009. Obama was able to capitalize; the country was at once, both fearful and hopeful. We were coming off of one of the worst recessions since the Great Depression, and Obama rode in on promises of change.

Even though the U.S. was technically on the economic upswing before Obamas inauguration, he initiated massive spending on a scale not seen outside of wartime; he truly put the entitlement state on steroids. The national debt is $33 trillion today. At the start of the Clinton administration, it was $12 trillion. With assistance from his political acolytes, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, eight years of Obama fundamentally altered our countrys checks and balances by evil intent. Recall that Obama was a card-carrying socialist at one time and an unabashed Alinskyite community organizer who articulated a fundamentally transform[ed] America.

To our detriment, he achieved it, and were still paying for it through deficit spending, endless wars, and a contentious split between fiscal conservatives and dedicated progressives that want no less than a Marxist-America utopia. With Obamas legacy of class warfare, many believe that our countrys ongoing destruction bears his fingerprints on the levers of a compromised and incapacitated Joe Biden.

Weve made a devils bargain: a two-party system where both parties rubber stamp out-of-control deficit spending. We cant afford it, so we borrow money to cover the gap!

If you argue that taxation was inadequate, review the growth of government since 1965, and you will see an average 17.6% annual increase in revenue. However, in that same graph, spending has increased at an average rate of 19.8%. How much is enough? Whatever is available, the government will spend more. Deficit spending allows both parties to throw fiscal discipline to the winds.

Democrats demagogue relentlessly about their bleeding hearts. Yet, after spending trillions of dollars on poverty, homelessness, and all, disenfranchised populations are unchanged or greater in number than before the Great Society Programs were established. These failures are pushing us to a reckoning with endlessly rising entitlement spending. Even present-day supporters are forced to equivocate and acknowledge the failures.

Democrats, nay progressives, tell you they hate the one percent that steals from the poor; yet AOC preens in a $14,000 dress before fawning followers. The one-percenters in both houses flaunt their wealth in clothing, jewelry, yachts, personal jets, and lavish trips and homes; they are Marie Antoinette, but without the noblesse oblige. Its those like Jesse Jackson, who sent his children to elite private schools instead of Chicagos infamously broken public schools, which see 85% of children graduate functionally illiterate. Its the Denver mayor who flies to Mississippi to spend Thanksgiving with his family  after urging others to stay home. Its the mayor of Austin, TX who jetset to Cabo San Lucas on a private plane. Its Gavin Newsom, who dined at a swanky French restaurant with lobbyists, none wearing masks, after force-closing businesses and muzzling Californians with facial coverings. Everything is an illusion in Democrat political theater.

Our collective memories allow us to look back over the past 75 years and discern what is true and what is false. We can objectively understand what works and what does not. We are in the middle of a period that will puzzle historians for the next millennia. They will ask how we willingly destroyed the finest economic system ever devised, and theyll wonder how we traded prosperity for a make-believe world of wokeness, deficit spending, class warfare, and adulation of those who collectively led us off the cliff.

God Bless America.

Allan J. FeiferPatriot, Author, Businessman, and Thinker. Read more about Allan, his background, and his ideas to create a better tomorrow at www.1plus1equals2.com.

Image: Jennifer Parr, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, unaltered.
Establishment politicians and mainstream media have fought harder than on any other issue to convince the public that voter fraud is a conspiracy theory. But unconstitutional changes to state election laws, unsupervised ballot drop boxes, voting machine errors, mathematically improbable voter turnout, and other examples of outright voter fraud that were denied a chance to be presented in court between the 2020 election and Biden's inauguration can't simply be chalked up as coincidental. All those things occurring simultaneously make the fraud seem coordinated.

In response to the most recent indictments, Trump's attorneys indicated they finally have a platform to "fully re-litigate every single issue that occurred during the 2020 election," of which there were many. The most important issue in America may finally get its due.

Trump's 2016 victory was fueled by flipping the states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania from blue to red. Pennsylvania and Michigan had not voted for a Republican in a general election since 1988, while Wisconsin hadn't voted for one since 1984. Those three states delivered Trump the necessary electoral votes to become president. It also sent a signal that blue strongholds were no longer a "given" after the people of those states were fed up with delivering victories for politicians who never went on to deliver results for them.

In addition to "Hillary Clinton's blue wall," Arizona and Georgia were also viewed as potential swing states that Trump needed to retain as previous Republican nominees did to have any chance at victory. Twenty sixteen made it clear that those states would again decide the 2020 election. Suspiciously, after America was forced to anxiously await the results for days following election night, those five states all "flipped" to Biden despite Trump outpacing his record 2016 turnout by even greater margins.

Even as mathematically improbable-without-being-previously-counted percentages of ballots favoring Biden continued pouring in on November 4, Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger concluded that with voter turnout already exceeding the 2016 total by 400 thousand votes, and Trump leading by over 105 thousand votes with just 2% of the vote left to count, there simply were not enough outstanding votes for Biden to win the state.

Coincidentally, as Raffensperger began stating this on live television, his connection to the program was disconnected. But when he returned, Raffensperger doubled down. Questioned by NBC News panelists, he said, "Even if one of the candidates got the remaining 100%, it wouldn't be enough to change the result."

Despite this determinative revelation, Raffensperger later switched gears when he told the January 6 committee, "If you looked at all the numbers, it never added up to anywhere near what could throw the election in doubt," completely contradicting his previous claim in the process.

In Michigan, a recent report exposed the scheme that delivered Biden with unprecedented amounts of ballots in the early morning hours of November 4, which included an excess of 800 thousand ballots being sent to non-qualified voters. Michigan was allegedly decided by 154,188 votes, making the results more than questionable.

In March of 2022, former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice Michael Gabelman's investigation unearthed a nursing home exploitation scheme so egregious that his suggested remedy was decertifying Wisconsin's 10 electoral votes. Even Assembly speaker Robin Vos, previously an election fraud denier, conceded that "widespread fraud" had occurred. Later, the state Supreme Court determined that the absentee ballot drop boxes through which 2 million votes were submitted during the election were actually illegal. The majority opinion described the outcome as "obtained by unlawful procedures," as Wisconsin was decided by just 20 thousand votes.

There were concerns regarding Pennsylvania's voting procedure long before any votes were even cast. The Keystone State's Senate Republican Caucus and the Republican Party strongly argued that the state Supreme Court extending the deadline to count ballots violated the U.S. Constitution's Elections Clause by taking away the Legislature's authority to "set the times, places and manner of federal elections." This was ruled on by the U.S. Supreme Court just prior to Justice Barrett's confirmation. This led to a 4-4 decision, which results in a "stay." Had this been heard after her confirmation, it is likely Barrett would have ruled against the extensions that led to Biden's constitutionally questionable "comeback."

But of all the suspected fraud in 2020, Arizona was the first state that raised suspicions in real time. Despite not voting Democrat in a two-candidate presidential election since 1948, Fox News shockingly called the state for Biden after just 27% of the vote was reported. This sparked a forensic audit that concluded that the number of illegal votes exceeded Biden's alleged 11-thousand-vote victory fivefold.

When vote-counting was inexplicably halted on Election Night, Trump led all these states by six figures. A combination of any three of these states holding would have secured him a second term, which is why Democrats fought so hard to steal them.

But even putting state-specific statistics aside, a basic analysis of election history signals the improbability of Biden receiving the number of votes he allegedly did.

Every general election since 2004 has seen between 120130 million total votes. The 2020 election reportedly saw 155 million votes. There were roughly 168 million registered voters in 2020, which means that voter turnout in 2020 was an astonishing 92%. This is statistically improbable when you consider that countries such as Australia institute compulsory voting, which mandates that citizens vote or pay a fine. Yet its most recent turnout rate was in the high 80s. America voluntarily outpacing a nation that financially penalizes non-voters does not pass the smell test.

Though transformational candidates can generate an uptick in voter turnout, a previously failed, two-time-primary-losing candidate such as Joe Biden is not likely to be the one who does this. He ran in 1988 and 2008 and never won the hearts of voters. He dropped out of the 1988 race after he was caught plagiarizing, and twenty years later was rejected by the party base again before being plucked off the scrap heap by Obama. After serving as vice president, his public image only worsened as it became clear he was the same old Joe Biden, except he now exhibited cognitive limitations. He won just one bellwether county and fewer than 500 total counties compared to Trump and Obama, who won roughly 2,500 and 900, respectively. Yet as it stands, it is said Joe Biden received the most votes in American history.

President Trump did not try to "subvert" the election, nor did he secretly know he lost. Any beyond-surface-level inspection of the 2020 election reveals its fraudulency. Trump was not only allowed to dispute an election he felt was fraudulent, but as president was constitutionally obligated to do so. That is the opposite of criminal. In fact, he is one of the only public officials willing to uphold the oath he swore. Trying to imprison him for this not only is a tall task, but also puts them at risk of allowing him to publicly prove that "The Big Lie" is the real "Big Lie."

The evidence exists for Trump to finally prove that his over two-year-old claims are valid. All he must do now is present it.

Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.
California's Gov. Gavin Newsom continued his attacks on red states, blasting Texas and Florida for "banning" books containing pornographic imagery from school libraries.

Nothing could be further from the truth, he oleaginously assured. Newsom insisted that outstate groups had misled parents into thinking that schools are somehow "sexualizing" children.

Incredibly, he did this while touting his state as a bastion for parental rights, going so far as to argue that no state outdoes California on "local control and parental engagement."

Newsom actually claimed that he supports the rights of parents to speak out, despite the fact that the state is poised to turn parents into criminals if they dare to question their school board representatives.

According to the California Globe, Senate Bill 596, introduced by Democratic State Senator Anthony Portantino last February and dubbed the School Employees Protection act, expands an existing law which makes it a misdemeanor for any person to threaten or harass a school employee during the course of [their] duties.

This expansion adds a penalty for creating a substantial disorder at any meeting of a public school board, charter school board, county board of education, or the California State Board of Education.

As the Globes Kenny Snell (a retired longtime teacher) put it, In California-speak, that means school boards get to decide what is substantial and what is not; what is harassment and what is not.

In totalitarian-speak that means dont dare even think about going to a school board meeting and question their narrative or policies. (We all know that Democrats consider concerned and outspoken parents domestic terrorists. In fact, at one point, the National School Boards Association even planned to ask the Biden administration to deploy the Army National Guard and military police to school districts where uppity parents were protesting mandatory masking requirements and the teaching of critical race theory.)

It's comforting to know that Newsom doesnt believe that giving kids access to books with illustrations depicting gay, oral, underage-- and anal-- sex could in any way sexualize them. And that he fully supports the right of taxpaying parents to engage with school boardsas long as they dont disagree with them in any way.

From the French Laundry scandal to his professions of love, Gavin Newsom is a fraud. From the hyper-slicked hair on his head, to the toes in his expensive shoes.

Image: Screen shot from California Governor Gavin Newsom video, via YouTube
Last night, I watched with shame as the Three Stooges of Hawaii  Gov. Josh Green, the mayor of Maui, and the head of Maui Emergency Management Agency (MEMA)  stuck together like a band of thieves sharing an alibi: It's not our fault. We did the best we could. That's our story, and we're sticking to it!

The MEMA administrator actually said he had no regrets about not using the emergency alert siren system. His lame excuse was that the sirens are primarily used to warn of tsunamis: "The public is trained to seek higher ground in the event that the siren is sounded." First of all, that's not true. The official Maui County website lists wildfires among the hazards for which the statewide warning siren may be used. Furthermore, everyone in Hawaii knows to turn on cell phones, TVs, or radios to get instructions following an alert. Second, what this buffoon is saying is that people would have reflexively headed to the mountains where wildfires were still burning, and because Hawaiians are as stupid as trained circus animals, they would have continued running right into the flames.

Many other tragic mistakes were made. Firefighters were frustrated by hydrants that were bone-dry because the state water official refused to release water to the affected area. The official is a woke climate activist who believes that water should be "revered" and distributed with "equity."

The Hawaiian Electric Company has also gone woke. Money allocated for maintaining transmission lines and clearing brush from areas vulnerable to wildfires was instead spent to fight "climate change."

Roads leading into Lahaina were blocked, presumably to protect the public, but it also prevented aid from being delivered. Volunteers from neighboring communities were forced to use boats and jet skis to circumvent the roadblocks in order to bring food, medical supplies, and potable water to the survivors. The good news is that the aloha spirit is still alive and well in Hawaii. The bad news is that our government leaders don't seem to understand the meaning of the word. Thus far, no one has accepted responsibility for any of these tragic mistakes.

Governor Green, a relative newcomer to Hawaii, made my stomach churn when he used the word "pono" (righteousness) to warn away real estate speculators trying to buy Maui land on the cheap. The word is part of the Hawaii state motto: "Ua Mau ke Ea o ka Aina i ka Pono," which means "the life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness." Failure to take responsibility and telling lies to cover up criminal incompetence are not acts of "pono," Governor. Yet that appears to be what is happening.

So far, more than one hundred people are known to have perished in the fire. There are still thousands of people missing, but only a fraction of Lahaina has been searched. Are they hoping the bodies will rot, or be eaten by maggots or vermin before they can be discovered and identified?

From top to bottom, the failure of leadership is endemic in this country. The president of the United States can't even be bothered to comment, though he apparently plans to stop by after a vacation in Lake Tahoe. By the way, thanks for the lousy 700 bucks. If only Lahaina had been invaded by Russia, we could have gotten billions.

Image via Public Domain Pictures.
Microsoft has already sent out official invites for a "special event" in New York City on September 21. What makes this exciting is that Microsoft did not provide any additional details on what the special event will feature.

Read Also: Intel to Launch Its First Chip with Neural Processor, Meteor Lake

Rumored Updates on Surface Laptops

Microsoft has been rumored working on the new Surface line up such as the Surface Go 4, Surface Laptop Studio 2, and Surface Laptop Go 3. Windows Central reported that the Surface Laptop Studio 2 could be Microsoft's most powerful Surface PC yet. The Surface Laptop Studio 2 will be powered by 13th-Gen Core i7-13700H and Core i7-13800H in the high-end models. However, rumor has it that Microsoft has not plans to integrate AMD chips to these laptops this year.

On the other hand, Microsoft already confirmed that the company will no longer make Microsoft-branded PC accessories. Regardless, this has not removed the hopes of getting an entire lineup of Surface-branded accessories. Some are still hoping to see if it will be unveiled to the special event.

Next Windows 11 Update

The next big update to Windows 11 is one of the most highly anticipated news for Windows fans. Last June, Microsoft revealed that they are already working on the September update for Windows 11. This will include native support for RAR and 7-zip files, improved volume mixer UI, and new settings homepage.

The Windows 11 update will also allow an early access to Microsoft's AI personal assistant, Windows Copilot. This update follows the announcement of Microsoft that they will no longer support Cortana on Windows starting this late 2023.

Microsoft's upcoming special event will mark the company's first event after its layoff last year.

Related Article: Microsoft Officially Kills Its Cortana Standalone App
Built in 1926, The Mayfair Hotel in downtown Los Angeles was a historical treasure, a unique marriage between the glamor of Old Hollywood and the elan of the Roaring Twenties and then California Democrats got ahold of it. The Mayfair once hosted the first ever Academy Awards after-party, but now it houses Skid Row.

Under former Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcettis now-concluded Project Roomkey program, the city turned the Mayfair into temporary housing for the homeless, and since 2020, the hotel has deteriorated into lawless, leftist, chaos. From the Daily Caller:

The Mayfair suffered millions of dollars in damages over the course of two years, and staff and security assigned to the hotel routinely dealt with violent behavior, drug overdoses and property damage.

(How could anyone think inviting drug-addled derelicts into a luxury hotel wouldnt end up this way?)

Like stereotypical crazy bums, the transients housed at the Mayfair punched through walls, trashed appliances and bathrooms, smashed windows to throw objects onto the street below, and left fentanyl-covered tinfoil sheets strewn about. And, in predictable fashion, the idiotic decisions of the left arent limited to only affecting leftists, and the havoc spilled out onto the street. Also from the Daily Caller:

Outside the hotel, residents and business owners reported similar behaviors of crime and violence from homeless residents at the Mayfair, according to the L.A. Times. One woman who worked as a cashier near the hotel said people regularly robbed her shop; another person said his car windshield was shattered with a crowbar.

As Londons far-left mayor Sadiq Khan would say, its all part and parcel of life in a big city.

All in all, the invoice for the damages came in at an upwards of $11.5 million, a bill the city quietly settled using taxpayer money. Thankfully the program is dead though right?

Well, wrong, because Los Angeles voted in another far-left Democrat, and shes looking to revive the project, albeit permanently. As The Real Deal reported yesterday:

Mayor Karen Bass wants the city to buy the 15-story hotel and convert it into homeless housing as part of her Inside Safe program....  The City Council is slated to vote on the purchase Friday, paving the way for the city to spend more than $83 million on acquisition, renovation and upgrades to the Mayfair, not including the money paid for damages.

The kind of leftism embraced by politicians like Garcetti, Bass, and the Los Angeles city council members who would dare vote so foolishly, is the worst kind: its all elitism, but none of the altruism. Is there anything more destructive to a society than a philosophy like that?

Image: The Erica Chang, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons, unaltered.
Im not a Catholic, but I have an abiding respect for Catholicisms role in bringing down the paganism that dominated Europe before the Church took over. At least one Catholic cardinal, though, seems to have forgotten that time. How else can we explain Cardinal Blase Cupichs decision to participate in a Wiccan-organized conference to enrich his faith?

Before the Jews, the world was entirely pagan. People across the known world worshipped a panoply of gods tied to the visible and invisible phenomena of the earth. The gods didnt provide an overarching morality. Instead, they were capricious beings that constantly needed to be placated, and they especially liked blood, whether animal or human. The stories of the Roman gods are a soap opera of vanity, matricide, patricide, incest, insanity, and random violence.

The Jews brought something new: a single, invisible God who had a powerful moral code that He demanded of His followers. The shorthand for this is ethical monotheism. Through Jesus, ethical monotheism spread beyond the Jews. Eventually, throughout Western Europe, it was the Catholic Church that took up this banner.

Being a Jew, Ill be the first to admit that Catholicism, even as it wove ethical monotheism into the warp and woof of Western society, could be brutal. After all, its early adherents all came from paganism and, once Catholicism took hold, they all fought against paganism. There were those who fought with words and moral example, like St. Patrick, and those who fought with swords.

Image: Cardinal Cupich (cropped) by MTF-GR. CC BY-SA 4.0.

But contrary to the leftist perception, it wasnt all war. Unlike Islam, which spread only by the sword, one of the wonders of the Catholic Church was its use of syncretism, which smoothed the way for pagan converts. Most significantly, they were told that Christ himself was the ultimate human sacrifice, making all others redundant, cruel, and unnecessary. As the Venerable Bede explained, persuasion was a very effective way to end paganism.

That was the early Catholic Churchit made its bones fighting paganism, whether by persuasion or the sword.

I happen to think that fight was worthy. Today, we have a gauzy conception of pagans, especially the druids, dressed in pretty white robes, garlanded with mistletoe, and dancing around flames. But, as noted, the pagan world was an insanely brutal world centered around blood sacrifices to capricious gods, along with religious orgies that were heavy on child sexuality and sacrifice. Morality was not a part of the scene.

Thats why I find so upsetting news that Cardinal Blase Cupich, a member in good standing of the Catholic Church, is enthusiastically participating in a religious conference that a Wiccan priestess organized and that will be attended by thousands of self-identified pagans:

Left-wing Cardinal Blase Cupich is set to appear at a scandalous ecumenical event in Chicago this week. The conference is coordinated by a Wiccan priestess and features more than 6,000 representatives of various forms of pagan and non-Catholic sects. The 2023 Parliament of the Worlds Religions is being held at McCormack Place convention center from Tuesday, August 14 until Friday, August 18. Its theme is A Call to Conscience: Defending Freedom and Human Rights.

One could defend Cupichs decision to attend by looking to St. Patrick, who went among the pagans to convert them. Or perhaps Cupich might be engaging in syncretism; that is, convincing pagans that Catholicism serves their needs, only better. But hes not. Cupich is going there in a purely ecumenical spirit, to improve his faith through their faith:

The Parliament of the Worlds Religions is returning to Chicago after 30 years on Aug. 14. Interreligious encounter is fundamental to our Catholic identity and is not an option. We are all enriched by engaging one another as we grow in our own faith: https://t.co/F3zWtdOoez pic.twitter.com/XU2Faa76dQ  Cardinal Cupich (@CardinalBCupich) August 4, 2023

I strongly disapprove of killing people in the name of Christianity. I equally strongly disapprove of the slow suicide of Christianity in the name of ecumenicalismespecially when that ecumenicalism comes from the left, which has long had as its goal Christianitys demise. Marx wasnt the first socialist to hate religion. In the lead-up to the French Revolution, Denis Diderot famously said, Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.

If the Catholic Church doesnt stand against paganism, one has to worry what basic principle it will abandon next.
Having never before heard of the show Forensic Files, Im finally catching up with it. In episode after episode, we see how science helps catch killers. And in episode after episode, despite heinous murders, we learn that the murderers avoided the death penalty. In Bidens America, that works on a macro scale, too, because the administration is apparently contemplating plea agreements with the 9/11 mastermind and four others, sparing them the death penalty.

On 9/11, Al Qaeda terrorists killed 2,977 people by crashing planes into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, as well as by hijacking United Flight 93, which saw the passengers die in a fight to prevent the terrorists from hitting the United States Capitol. It was the largest case of murder in American history.

At the end of the day, when people were still burning with white-hot anger, the United States was able to track down Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the man who masterminded this mass murder, along with four other men associated with the deaths on 9/11. Then, the bureaucracy kicked in. Twenty-two years after the 9/11 attacks, those men are still alive and untried.

Image: 9/11 (cropped) by Robert J. Fisch. CC BY-SA 2.0.

This long delay is the kind of thing that reminds you that the Sixth Amendments right to a speedy trial doesnt just benefit the accused, who are not supposed to languish in jail, deprived of their civil rights, while witnesses die and memories fade. (And yes, I am thinking of the January 6 defendants, who are being physically abused while they are being deprived of that fundamental right.) The right to a speedy trial also benefits society at large. Justice delayed is justice denied for the victims as well as for the accused. In the case of 9/11, the families of those who died and all Americans were victims of that horrible crime.

It turns out that the Biden government is finally thinking about taking steps to resolve the fate of the last five 9/11 defendants. (And the Bush, Obama, and Trump governments all should hang their heads in shame that its devolved on Bidens administration to address this.) But typically for the Biden government, the proposed resolution is disgraceful:

The Pentagon and FBI have notified some of the families of victims of the 9/11 attacks that suspected terrorist mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four other defendants could be spared the death penalty under plea agreements being considered by the Biden administration. The notice came in the form of a letter, obtained by the Associated Press, that was sent to 9/11 families as the government explores how to resolve the more than decade-long prosecution of the alleged terrorists. The Office of the Chief Prosecutor has been negotiating and is considering entering into pre-trial agreements, the letter informs families, adding that while no plea agreement has been finalized, and may never be finalized, it is possible that a [pre-trial agreement] in this case would remove the possibility of the death penalty. The Associated Press reports that in the letter, dated Aug. 1, military prosecutors pledge to consider the views of the 9/11 families before accepting any plea deals, and the note asks recipients to respond to the FBIs victim services division by Monday with any comments or questions about the potential agreements.

It doesnt matter that the prosecutors are willing to consider the families feelings. What matters is that theyre even contemplating a plan that will let these men live out their lives. And murderers understand that their own lives are precious. I can't tell you the number of Forensic File episodes that end with killers freely confessing to their crimes in exchange for life in prison rather than the electric chair. They dont want you to live, but they definitely want to live themselves.

The ancients understood that it is profoundly wrong to coddle the wicked. Proverbs 18:5 is clear: It is not good to be partial to the wicked and so deprive the innocent of justice. (New International Version translation.) The rabbis whose wisdom is in the Talmud (Midrash) put it more simply: If you are kind to the cruel, you will end up being cruel to the kind.

Currently, for reasons I cannot comprehend, the Biden administration is contemplating being partial to people whose wickedness murdered 2,977 innocents. (And, inevitably, by being a massive hinge-point in history, their wickedness also led to the disastrous world in which we live today.) If the administration follows through on this proposal, this will be an act of unfathomable cruelty to the victims families and to America as a whole.
As I was reading the summary of Fulton County attorney Fani Willis's mind-numbing indictment of Donald Trump, I immediately thought of the most consequential sentence in John Locke's 1689 Second Treatise on Civil Government, the essay that legitimated the revolution against King George III and his Parliament by the British colonies in North America, which then led to the founding of the United States of America.

Locke wrote:

Great mistakes in the ruling part, many wrong and inconvenient laws, and all the slips of human frailty, will be borne by the people without mutiny or murmur. But if a long train of abuses, prevarications and artifices, all tending the same way, make the design visible to the people, and they cannot but feel what they lie under, and see whither they are going; it is not to be wondered, that they should then rouze themselves, and endeavor to put the rule into such hands which may secure to them the ends for which government was at first erected[.]

Following Locke, our Declaration of Independence says:

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

In indicting Donald Trump and others for conspiracy, Willis has extended a "long train of abuses and usurpations" to the point where the Democrat party has trespassed into a political realm where it should not be.

Why have the Democrats crossed Locke's notorious boundary line between lawful government and abuse of power?

Because they no longer believe in the constitutionalism of John Locke.

Locke wrote his treatise to put checks on royal government. Supporters of the crown and their allies in the Church of England, the landed aristocracy, and the House of Lords opposed Locke and formed the Tory Party to sustain royal prerogatives and privileges. Those who followed Locke became the Whigs.

In the United States, the Republican Party arose out of our Whigs to defend the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence against the slaveholders and, after the Civil War, to build a middle-class society under the Rule of Law with authority decentralized to states, counties, cities, and towns, and with respect for the autonomy of private enterprise.

After the Civil War, the Democrats became an anti-Whig/Republican coalition of Southern whites, big-city machines, Catholic immigrants, workers, and followers of the Social Gospel Movement.

Then, in 1972, the movement protesting the Vietnam War took over the Democrat party. This gave the party a new social orientation  more and more turning the values and narratives of a college educated elite into legislation and regulations governing all Americans. These new Democrats were neither Whigs nor Tories, but more the heirs of the left Jacobins in the French Revolution, using Reason to discern a General Will that would take the place of God in our hierarchy of moral legitimacy.

But in their fervid persecution of Trump since 2016, the Democrats and their acolytes in the federal government (notably in regulatory agencies, the FBI, the CIA, the Department of Justice, even the military), the media, educational institutions, and large corporations with dominant market shares in their sectors have left the anti-establishment Jacobins behind to become a new American Tory establishment.

The new Tory mission of Democrats mostly is to defend privilege  the privilege of those who hold power to enforce certain social and cultural norms of their own devising. The apex of this new Tory Party is no longer a monarch, but a divine right of those presuming to have superior minds and hearts to determine our beliefs and values.

Tory parties are not parties of the people. They are elite parties that, in a constitutional democracy, must seek permission now and again from all the people to hold public office.

Tory parties are also conservative parties because they exist to conserve their powers and prerogatives against the views and interests of the "deplorables." The Democrats today want above all to conserve the discourse hegemony of their cultural narratives about listening only to their "certified" experts, climate change, white racism, entitlements for those "victimized" or marginalized by insensitive others  and, most importantly, about justifying subsidies for those who vote to keep them in power.

Our new Tory Democrats talk a lot about "democracy." They fear Trump as an existential threat to that which they call "democracy." But by "democracy" they don't include all of the American people in the "demos" to be empowered by elections and served by government. Rather, they believe that our "democracy" includes only their kind, only those with Tory sympathies. It is a system of "democracy" for right-thinking Americans and un-democratic regimented subordination for the rest.

Thus, maybe from here on out, we should speak of "Tory democracy" as being in competition with "American democracy." I think Locke would today side with the latter.

Image via Picryl.
Public comments being made about the Trump indictment have all assumed that the states evidence passes scrutiny without due process and presumption. Commenting on the prosecution's case is not based in law, but in opinion (one law professor excitedly claims that the former presidents free speech is instead, a confession).

But the public needs to back up and ask the most basic legal question about the current criminal complaint against President Trump: is the plaintiff actually the United States of America? Isnt it actually the DNC Party?

In this supposed criminal case, the only legitimate known fact that can asserted by legal experts as correct, is that the former U.S. president, as a defendant, has numerous rights in law. Those fundamental rights, which are also your rights, include due process, presumption of innocence, adherence to standards of evidence, and the vital right to cross examination -- but most of all, they include the right to confront the actual witnesses against you (Sixth Amendment). And in U.S. v. Trump, those actual witnesses are political party members and donors.

The beauty of the presidents defense, which is the same as the nations defense and its rights in election rule integrity, is that he has all the benefits of evidence, procedure, and case law on his side, including detailed fact and law dissent in Trump v. Biden, 394 Wis. 2d 629 where three of the seven state Supreme Court Justices, including Wisconsin Chief Justice, Patience D. Roggensack, made Trumps, and the Peoples, case by noting the DNCs systematic violations of election laws, and as well, pointing out that the majority opinion of the court was announced by overt partisan judges who refused to consider evidence, or the law.

The current indictment relies on intent rather than fact (the word knowingly is used 30 times in the complaint). This partly explains why the DNC and its allies are desperate to cover up the 2020 election by converting it to a criminal prosecution, and turning incriminating facts into speculative intent.

Matthew G. Andersson is the author of the upcoming book Legally Blind. A former CEO, he has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, the New York Times and by the National Academy of Sciences in law and economics. He has testified before the U.S. Senate and is a graduate of the University of Chicago. He studied with White House national security advisor W.W. Rostow at the LBJ School of Public Affairs.

Image: Fulton Superior Court
Imagine a young, bright-eyed journalism student, envisioning a future as a crusading force for truth, justice, and holding the powerful accountable. You idolize journalistic giants like Woodward and Bernstein, Upton Sinclair, H. L. Mencken, and Seymour Hersh - reporters who fearlessly exposed corruption and deceit, often putting their careers on the line to do so. Yet, somewhere along the way, this passionate dreamer finds himself in a perplexing situation: that he is now part of the mainstream political reporting machinery, promoting narratives designed not to expose the truth, but to obfuscate and deceive.

So, how do these once-aspiring journalistic heroes live with themselves? How do they reconcile their dreams of becoming modern-day crusaders with the reality of promoting stories that are ultimately revealed as well-crafted fiction rather than well-researched exposes?

It's a perplexing question, akin to wondering how a firefighter could become an arsonist' a police officer, a criminal; or a physician who works for Planned Parenthood.

Let's delve into the psyche of the modern political reporter as they navigate the ethical tightrope of promoting the Russia hoax, while suppressing stories like the Hunter Biden laptop bombshell.

In the spirit of fairness, let's put ourselves in their shoes and attempt to understand their perspective.

The Art of Selective Blindness: A Journalist's Survival Guide

Picture this: You're a budding journalist, fresh out of college, ready to change the world with your pen. You've studied the greats, internalized the importance of truth, and promised yourself that you'd never back down from a good story. But then, reality knocks on your door in the form of newsroom politics, corporate and political pressures, and perhaps even some well-placed incentives.

You find yourself caught in the gears of an industry that is more focused on sensationalism and narrative-building than on unbiased truth-telling. The Russia hoax, with its tantalizing spy-thriller allure, presents itself as the perfect plotline to captivate the masses. It's not about objective reporting; it's about smearing the political opposition while feeding a hungry audience's appetite for intrigue. You begin to rationalize that contorting the facts won't hurt, as long as it serves a higher purpose: the protection of your readers' political party and the preservation of your job.

And then there's the Hunter Biden laptop story. Ah, the delicate dance between doing your job as a reporter and the promotion of the deep states narrative. You see, you tell yourself, sometimes a story feels so outlandish that it must surely be a Russian disinformation campaign and a nefarious attempt to influence an election. It's your duty, as a responsible journalist, to verify sources, weigh credibility and report the truth without fear nor favor. Yet, in doing so, you risk alienating the left-wing readership, causing them doubt about your loyalty to the cause, and, heaven forbid, damaging your career prospects.

The Smoke and Mirrors of Ethical Acrobatics

As you navigate these murky waters, you might find solace in the idea that journalism, much like life, is a series of trade-offs. You're contributing to a narrative that resonates with your audience, painting a picture that evokes emotion and reinforces existing beliefs. In a world where attention spans are fleeting and competition for clicks is fierce, what's the harm in a little creative storytelling? After all, aren't you just giving the people what they want?

Perhaps this is how mainstream political reporters justify their actions to themselves. They've become skilled acrobats, gracefully contorting their ethics to fit within the confines of the modern media landscape. The end justifies the means, and the mirror reflects only the image they've constructed.

A Chance for Redemption?

And now there's a new elephant in the room  the massive political scandal that could rewrite the history books. Our political reporter, once driven by the ideals of uncovering corruption and holding those in power accountable, now faces a Herculean task: ignoring arguably the most significant political scandal in American history. The alleged selling of influence by Joe, Hunter, and Jim Biden to foreign oligarchs in nations like China, Russia, Ukraine, and Romania is a narrative that seems tailor-made for the spotlight of journalistic inquiry. Yet, the reporter's reality is a tangled web of ethical conflicts, corporate directives, and, maybe most of all, self-preservation.

Imagine being in their shoes  caught between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, this story could be a career-defining moment, a chance to expose a web of corruption that could shake the foundations of the political establishment. On the other hand, there's the weight of potential backlash from powerful figures, the risk of being labeled a partisan puppet, and the daunting challenge of verifying and corroborating an intricate tale with global implications. It's the kind of story that could solidify a journalist's legacy or bring about their downfall, and it's precisely this high-stakes nature that makes it both alluring and terrifying.

In the End, a Pitiable Character

So, can we really blame these reporters for the role they play in shaping the narrative? The truth is that the news industry has evolved into a complex ecosystem where commercial interests, audience engagement, and political motivations intermingle in ways that are hard to disentangle. In this world, it's easy to lose sight of the purity of journalistic principles in pursuit of relevance and success.

As they sit at their desks, typing away stories that erase the line between truth and sensationalism, perhaps these reporters justify their actions with a simple mantra: It's not personal; it's just business. After all, it's a sad but accurate reflection of the times we live in  a world where the news is more a product of market demands than a beacon of unfiltered truth.

In a way, comparing these journalists to firefighters who are arsonists, police officers who are criminals, and physicians who are abortionists might be an oversimplification. The world of journalism is nuanced, and the choices these reporters make are often the result of a complex interplay of pressures, incentives, and personal beliefs.

So, the next time you find yourself baffled by a news story that seems more fantastical than factual, remember the journey that these reporters have embarked upon. Perhaps they're not the modern-day crusaders they once aspired to be, but they're the products of a system that, much like them, has lost its way in the pursuit of a different kind of truth  the kind that promotes a political agenda, while garnering clicks, eyeballs, and advertising dollars.

Jim Daws is long-time America First activist beginning with work on Pat Buchanan's presidential campaigns. He's a writer and itinerant talk radio / podcast host and a former fire battalion chief from Atlanta.

Image: Mohamed Hassan via Pixabay, via Needpix / Pixabay License
Think back to the scene in Schindlers List where Krakow Jews are forced to build their own prison housing at the Krakow-Paszow concentration camp. Diana Reiter, one of Krakows first female architects, insists they are incorrectly pouring the cement foundation. She tells fellow Jews and Nazi guards that, if they continue, the buildings will soon fall as the foundation will not hold the structure. Overhearing the commotion, Reiter is brought to Amon Goeth, commandant of the Krakow-Paszow concentration camp in what is now German-occupied Poland.

By this time, everyone has stopped working. Goeth quietly and intently listens to Rieter, who introduces herself and shares her architectural background. She quickly explains the problem and how to remedy it. When she has finished, Goeth nonchalantly takes out his gun and shoots her, instantly killing Rieter. Then, annoyed, Goeth turns to the other Nazi guards and tells them to redo the cement foundation in the that way Reiter had described.

Image: Diana Reiter. CC BY-SA 4.0.

By killing Reiter, the sadistic Goeth imparted an important message to the horrified Jews who had just seen what happened: If I can kill this important architect, who knows how we can properly build this camp, I can kill any of you.

That is the same message Marxist Democrats district attorneys (with the full support of the Biden administration, its alphabet agencies, and RINOs/Never Trumpers) are telling America First Patriots. If we can go after former President Donald J. Trump, who is substantially leading in Republican primary polling, has substantial support across the United States, and looks to be Joe Bidens opponent in the 2024 presidential election, we can go after you!

As Donald Trump frequently says, Theyre not after me. They are after you. Im just in the way.

Image: Trump is in the way.

Robin M. Itzler is a regular contributor to American Thinker. She can be reached at PatriotNeighbors@yahoo.com.
Four years ago, Samsung shook the world with the first consumer foldable phone, the Galaxy Z Fold. It was a train wreck, but it helped lead the foldable phone to be the flashy tour de force that it is today. If you still own your original Galaxy Z fold (first off, you deserve a gold medal for protecting your phone), youre getting the August 2023 security patch.

With four generations between now and the first Galaxy Fold, it feels like a lifetime has passed. The brand, and the foldable phone in general, has changed so much since then, but it doesnt mean that Samsung has washed its hands of the product. People still rock the first-gen Fold, and theyre still enjoying software updates from the company.

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The original Galaxy Z Fold is getting the August update

Samsung has been issuing updates really early in the month, but since the original Galaxy Fold is pretty old, its getting its update a bit later. The device no longer gets major platform upgrades, but its still getting security updates.

Right now, the update has landed in four markets: France (version F900FXXS7HWG1), Hong (version F900FXXS7HWG1) Kong, The UK (version F907BXXS7HWG1), and Korea (version F907NKOU3IWH1). Other markets will follow as time goes on.

So, theres not much you can expect from this update. Since its a routine security patch, the phone got some fixes for system vulnerabilities. These will patch spots in your software that could give bad actors access to your system. The patch fixes several Samsung Galaxy-specific issues along with issues present within Android in general. There arent going to be any new features or changes to the system.

If youre looking forward to this update, then you should go to your settings, find the Software Update section and tap on the Download and install button at the bottom of the screen. If you dont see the update just yet, youll want to wait a few days for the update to make its way to you.
It might not be long before we have smartphones with zero display bezels all around us. Samsung Display, the worlds biggest maker of OLED panels for mobile devices, showcased a bezel-less smartphone display during a recent presentation. The company suggested this design to be the next step after the industry moved from notched displays to the hole-punch design.

Samsung referred to this futuristic display design as an All Around Full Screen panel. The specimen phone shown on the slide seemingly has curved edges with the display wrapping around the edges. The company noted that this design allows for 3D lamination technologies and edge brightness control functions. There are also many other potential use cases, such as volume control and gesture navigation.

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Its unclear when and where this Samsung Display presentation took place. The slide showing a bezel-less smartphone was shared on X (formerly Twitter) by noted tipster @Tech_Reve. We dont have any information about the companys plans for the mass production of this OLED panel. It only shows Samsungs vision for the future of smartphones.

However, this isnt the first time we have heard about the Korean behemoth exploring OLED displays with zero bezels. A few weeks back, a rumor surfaced that Apple has tasked Samsung and its compatriot LG with developing a bezel-less flat OLED panel for future iPhones. It appears that Samsung plans to launch Galaxy phones with zero display bezels around the same time as similarly designed iPhones.

Dont expect to see a bezel-less display on the Samsung Galaxy S24

These plans may not materialize in a year or two, though. Rumors about Samsungs next-gen flagships have already started arriving and there are no hints of a drastic design change when it comes to the display. Instead, we are hearing that the company would make the edges flatter. Perhaps the first step would be to make flat OLED panels with zero bezels. Curved solutions may come next.

An under-display or under-panel camera (UPC) perfectly complements a bezel-less design. Samsung has used UPC solutions on the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Fold 5, but the image quality leaves much to be desired. The company is probably working on improving the UPC tech as it pursues a bezel-less smartphone. Time will tell when it realizes these dreams. For now, wed love to see Samsung cut bezels a little on the Galaxy S24 series. The new Galaxy flagships launch in early 2024.
NFTs or non-fungible tokens were all the rage and grew in popularity especially back in 2021. Among the famous ones were from Bored Ape's, and they were not exactly cheap. Since buyers acquired the NFTs, the prices have plummeted, and they are suing the auction house for what they call a "bad investment."

Bored Ape's Fall from Grace

Sotheby's Auction House is at the end of a class-action lawsuit filed by buyers of the popular NFT after its value significantly dropped from its price at purchase. The buyers believe that they were duped into purchasing as the NFT was given an "air of legitimacy" to generate investors.

The Bored Ape NFTs gained so much popularity that images of its products have circulated around social media for quite some time. Now, the buyers claim that the prices during the auction were "rooted in deception," as mentioned in Ars Technica.

According to the lawsuit filed in the US District Court for the Central District of California, Sotheby's failed to disclose that the buyer was FTX, which has been the subject of disgrace in the cryptocurrency industry because of its former CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried.

The auction house represented the buyer as a "traditional collector" which misled buyers and investors into thinking that the market for BAYC NFTs had crossed over to a mainstream audience. Investors were led to think that there would be profit in owning the tokens.

Back in 2021, the "Ape In!" auction sold a collection of 101 Bored Ape NFTs for a total of $24 million, which is twice the pre-auction estimate of $12 million. Reports say that the average price was at $241,000, which is now valued at only $50,000 of ether cryptocurrency.

The creator of the NFT, Yuga Labs claimed that the tokens were not only digital collectibles, but also served as a "Yacht Club membership card." This gave owners access to a members-only club whose benefits and offerings will increase over time.

Read Also: The Story Behind Bored Ape Yacht Club: How Did it Become NFTs' Status Symbol?

Not the First Class-Action Suit Against Bored Ape

This isn't the first time that Sotheby's was hit with a lawsuit regarding the Bored Ape NFTs. The previous lawsuit against promoters like Kevin Hart, Snoop Dogg, Serena Willians, Jimmy Fallon, Paris Hilton, Justin Bieber, and many others has been amended to include the auction house.

Mainly, the class-action suit filed by Scott+Scott Attorneys at Law LLP was against Yuga Labs. Specific charges include violations of unfair competition laws, aiding and abetting, civil conspiracy, and more, as reported by The Verge.

The lawsuit accused Bored Ape NFT creator Yuga Labs colluded with Sotheby's to run a deceptive auction, adding that Sotheby's failed to mention that FTX had several deep toes to Yuga such that it would be mutually beneficial for Yuga and FTX if the BAYC NFT collection rose in price.

Yuga Labs and the other defendants will have until September 12th to file motions that would dismiss the lawsuit. Sotheby's defended its name, saying that the allegations were baseless and that it was prepared to defend itself.

Related: Paris Hilton, Jimmy Fallon Get Sued For Promoting Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs
Last year, we got the news that Google was looking to add some text formatting to its notetaking app Keep Notes. Not too long ago, we saw a leak of this functionality showing us that its pretty basic but useful. Now, according to Mishaal Rahman, the text formatting for Google Keep Notes is finally rolling out.

Google Keep Notes is a great notetaking platform if you want an integrated experience. Youre able to make text-based notes, but youre also able to make hand-written notes and audio notes along with uploading pictures.

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Since Keep Notes is tied to your Google account, you know that youll be able to access your notes from any device logged in with your Google account. If youre an avid notetaker, then you should give this app a try.

Download Google Keep Notes

Text formatting is rolling you for Google Keep Notes

The text formatting is pretty basic with this app, but that shouldnt be too much of an issue. Notetaking doesnt really require complex formatting. Youre able to use two heading sizes if you want to have titles and sub-headings.

As for the paragraph text, you can use the basic formatting that youd see in any word processor. You have the bold, italics, and underline options. In order to access the formatting, youll need to tap on the formatting button on the toolbar right above the keyboard.

All of the options will be laid out on the toolbar so youll be able to quickly access them. On the right side of the toolbar, youll see the X to close it.

So, if you need to take more in-depth notes using the app, youll have some formatting to make the experience better. Right now, this feature is still rolling out, so you might not see it right away. Make sure that your app is fully updated.
Xiaomi is one of the companies giving us the most exciting devices of the year. Last year, it released the Xiaomi 13 family of devices, and the company is now giving us its mid-cycle release, the Xiaomi 13T Pro. Thanks to MySmartPrice, we have a new leak of the Xiaomi 13T Pro, this looks like a beast of a phone.

Before we start, Android Headline did a review of the Xiaomi 13 Ultra. If youre thinking about picking up that phone, you can check out the review below. We dive into every aspect of this phone and what makes it great.

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Xiaomi 13 Ultra Review

We have a leak of the Xiaomi 13T Pro

Its not uncommon for a company to do a mid-cycle release of their flagship phones. OnePlus was one of the main companies doing this with its phones. The Xiaomi 13 family hit the market back in December of last year, and it consisted of some of the most powerful phones of the year.

Now, were following rumors surrounding the T variant, and we have some pictures showing off two colors that this phone will come out with. Theres a black color and a light blue color. Looking at the pictures, the black color looks to come with a matte glass back. However, the blue one looks like it will come with a leather back. This gives it a bit of an elegant look.

On the back of the phone, we see a large square camera package. Regardless of the colorway, the back looks like its black metal. Also, we notice the Leica branding on the back, pointing to the camera being tuned by the German company.

As for the rumored specs of this phone, the Xiaomi 13T Pro could sport a 6.67-inch OLED display with a 144Hz refresh rate. As for the internals, were looking at the powerful MediaTek Dimensity 9200+. It could have 16GB of RAM and either 256GB or 512GB of storage.

As for the camera package, it looks like this phone will have a 50MP main camera with a 50MP telephoto camera, and a 13MP ultrawide camera. Up front, there could be a 20MP selfie camera.

Rounding out the specs, this phone could have a 5000mAh battery with blazing 120W charging and IP68 water and dust resistance. Rumor has it that this phone could come out as soon as next month.
(ANSA) - ROME, AUG 18 - A 21-year-old Dutchman with reported psychiatric problems who allegedly killed his father and a family friend near Cuneo in Piedmont on Wednesday was captured by police on Friday.

The alleged double murderer, Sacha Chang, was caught in the woods in the Val Corsaglia where he had fled after the alleged fatal stabbings at Montaldo Mondovi.

At least one hundred Carabinieri took part in the search for Chang after a huge manhunt was launched. (ANSA).


Killer nurse Lucy Letby first became visibly emotional in the courtroom when she heard the voice of a doctor colleague.

For months, Letby, 33, was impassive as she sat in the dock and listened to the prosecution outline its case at Manchester Crown Court and then detail the horrific crimes she committed against her infant victims.

No flicker of emotion was betrayed until the afternoon of February 16, when the medic, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, confirmed his name after he swore on oath.

Letby and people in the public gallery could not see the doctor because he had asked to give his evidence from behind a screen.

His voice prompted her to break down in tears as she abruptly left her seat and walked towards the exit door of the dock.

When the time came for her to enter the witness box, she said she loved him as a trusted friend but was not in love with him.

One nursing colleague teased her about flirting with the registrar, the court heard, while many messages between the pair were read out to the jury.

Following her return from a holiday to Ibiza with friends, she messaged the doctor in June 2016 about the arrival of triplets on the unit  two of whom she went on to murder.

She asked: What gestation are the trips? I dont mind being busy anyway. Are you on nnu (neonatal unit) tomorrow?

The doctor replied: I like it when youre in (intensive care unit)  everything feels safe and organised.

On the next day at work  before she went on to murder one of the triplets  she messaged him: Ive forgotten my sandwich!!! (Can I go home?) Still in holiday mode.

The doctor quipped: Probably not  would you like me to write you a note? Lucy cant stay at work today because

Letby joked: Yes please. Write yourself one too to escape clinic.

Lucy Letby gave evidence in her defence at Manchester Crown Court (Elizabeth Cook/PA)

The doctor said: Do you want me to pick something up for your lunch? Clinic should be done in a hour.

Tapas? replied Letby.

Letby also frequently sought reassurance from her senior colleague, who was called to attend Child N, Child O and Child P in June 2016 as they deteriorated.

The prosecution accused Letby of having a crush on the doctor and that she had attacked those infants to get his attention at work.

After concerns were raised about the care of Child Q  who the jury could not decide if she had tried to kill  she asked the doctor: Do I need to be worried about what Dr Gibbs was asking?

The doctor responded: There is nothing to worry about. All he was doing was checking that there wasnt a delay and that a room had been left empty. Nobody has accused you of neglecting a baby or causing a deterioration.

Letby said: I know. Just worry I havent done enough. Weve lost 2 babies I was caring for and now this happened today, makes you think am I missing something/good enough.

The doctor said: If anyone knows how hard youve worked over the last three days its me. The standard of care delivered is tertiary nicu level. If anybody says anything to you about not being good enough or performing adequately I want you to promise me that youll give my details to provide a statement. I dont care who it is and I dont care if Ive left the trust. Promise?

Letby replied: Well I sincerely hope I wont ever be needing a statement. But thank you, I promise.

The doctor went on: You are one of a few nurses across the region (Ive worked pretty much everywhere) that I would trust with my own children.

The doctors name appeared repeatedly on a number of scrawled notes found at Letbys home address following her arrest.

A handwritten note found at the home of Lucy Letby who said the words love was all we needed were from a Craig David song (Cheshire Police and CPS/PA)

One referred to him as my best friend and the notes also included several references to love was all we needed.

Letby told the jury it was a lyric to a Craig David song which was was obviously on my mind at that time but said it was a random thought.

She said the pair would meet outside work.

Letby said: Sometimes he came to my house, sometimes we would go out for meals or coffee or walks.

In social media messages and photographs from July 2016 onwards retrieved from Letbys phone, prosecutor Nick Johnson KC pointed to an away day in London in June 2017 with the registrar.

Mr Johnson asked: Did you stay overnight?

No, said Letby.

He is a married man. We were not in a relationship at all. It was a friendship.

Letby said the friendship fizzled out at the beginning of 2018 before her arrest in the summer of that year.
Plans for law changes to force criminals like Lucy Letby to face their sentencing hearing could be put forward as soon as the autumn.

The serial killer has indicated she will not take part in her sentencing hearing next week, joining a string of offenders in recent years who have refused to attend court as their punishment is handed down.

The refusal of criminals to face the music in court was described by a source close to Justice Secretary Alex Chalk as the final insult to victims and their families, as they confirmed the Government is committed to changing the law as soon as possible.

Mr Chalk reaffirmed the plans earlier this year after his predecessor, Dominic Raab, promised to act while under pressure over the non-attendance of the killers of Olivia Pratt-Korbel, Zara Aleena and Sabina Nessa to stop offenders convicted of the most serious crimes dodging court and avoiding facing justice.

Judges have powers to order defendants to come to court prior to verdicts being delivered. If they fail to obey, they can be found in contempt of court and face up to two years in prison  but the law does not extend to sentencing hearings.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak previously refused to say if the proposed legislation would be introduced before the next general election, which is anticipated to take place next year.

Mr Chalk is also yet to publicly confirm when the proposals will be introduced to Parliament despite calls from Labour to act urgently, while campaigners have pressed ministers to put forward plans before the end of the current parliamentary session in the autumn.

The PA news agency understands there are plans for the legislation to be put forward later this year or in early 2024, as soon as parliamentary time allows.

A Ministry of Justice (MoJ) source told PA: It is a final insult to victims and their families when criminals dont stand up to what theyve done in court.

Were committed to changing the law as soon as we can to ensure that offenders face the music, or face the consequences.

Letbys trial at Manchester Crown Court was the subject of a reporting ban until the jury had returned all of its verdicts on the seven counts of murder and 15 counts of attempted murder she faced.

The moment Lucy Letby was arrested for murder (Cheshire Constabulary/PA)

The 33-year-old was in the courtroom on August 8 when the jury returned its first two guilty verdicts of attempted murder, and then again on August 11 when she was convicted of four murders and another two attempted murders.

But at the end of the court day on August 11, the nurse did not return to the dock as the jury was sent home for the weekend.

Letby returned to court the following week but made her last appearance in Court Seven on the morning of August 16, when trial judge Mr Justice Goss sent the jury out to continue its deliberations.

More verdicts were returned later that day, in her absence, and again on August 17 when the court heard Letby had indicated to her legal team that she did not intend to return to the dock.

She continued to be produced at court from prison but would not come up from the cells.

Her parents, John and Sue, who had previously attended the trial every day, did not come to court on Friday as the case ended.

Letby has also indicated she does not wish to follow Mondays sentencing hearing by videolink from prison, the court heard, but the reasons for her choosing not to attend have not yet been disclosed by the judge.

Mr Justice Goss said: The sentencing hearing will of course take place whether she is present or not.

The court has no power to force a defendant to attend at a sentencing hearing, therefore there is nothing I can do in relation to that.

Thomas Cashman was jailed for life with a minimum term of 42 years for fatally shooting nine-year-old Olivia at her home in Dovecot, Liverpool, while pursuing a fellow drug dealer.

Sex attacker Jordan McSweeney murdered 35-year-old law graduate Ms Aleena as she walked home in Ilford, east London, and was jailed for life with a minimum term of 38 years.

Koci Selamaj received life with at least 36 years behind bars for murdering primary school teacher Ms Nessa after travelling to London to carry out an attack on a random woman.

Each refused to appear in court for sentencing, with their punishments being handed down in their absence.

Olivias mother Cheryl Korbel called for the law to be changed to make sure criminals are in court for sentencing, saying Cashmans absence was like a kick in the teeth.

Speaking during Commons justice questions in June, the Justice Secretary said he wants to know that when offenders are sitting in the cells trying to get to sleep, that ringing in their ears are those words of condemnation from the judge, because there are victims who find it hard ever to recover; why should that defendant ever have to sleep soundly in their bed?.

On Friday, an MoJ spokesman said Mr Chalk had been clear he wants victims to see justice delivered and for all those found guilty to hear societys condemnation at their sentencing hearing.
China resumes beef imports from South Africa

Xinhua) 15:38, August 18, 2023

BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- China has agreed to resume beef imports from South Africa, recognizing some regions in South Africa as Foot-and-Mouth-Disease (FMD)-free zones and allowing these regions to export beef products to China, the General Administration of Customs announced Friday.

According to the announcement, the resumption was revealed by the General Administration of Customs and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in a joint statement on Thursday, and became effective on the same day.

The two departments earlier imposed a ban on South African beef imports because of an FMD outbreak in South Africa.

Since then, South Africa has actively taken various steps to prevent and control FMD, said the statement. Through close cooperation between relevant authorities of the two countries and scientific assessment and technical consultation, China has recognized South Africa's epidemic prevention and control system in accordance with the law, and officially issued a notice to lift the ban on beef exports from relevant regions of South Africa to China.

When relevant imports enter the country, China's customs will carry out inspection and quarantine according to the law to ensure the safety and hygiene of the relevant products, it said.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
K-pop girl group Fifty Fifty / Courtesy of Attrakt



By Kwak Yeon-soo



Fifty Fifty members Keena, Saena, Sio and Aran have finally broken their silence about their ongoing dispute with their agency Attrakt.



In June, the members filed a lawsuit against Attrakt seeking to suspend an exclusive contract. The group cited a lack of financial transparency and disregard for their health conditions as reasons for the legal action. The court ordered mediation, but Fifty Fifty did not agree to settle the dispute out of court.



In a handwritten letter to fans on Thursday, the K-pop girl group explained why they have remained silent on the recent controversy.



"Misunderstandings and accusations have been snowballing. We were deeply shocked by this and have been going through a tough time. Nevertheless, we believe there is a truth that needs to be uncovered despite these difficulties," the group wrote in a letter.



Fifty Fifty members claimed they filed the lawsuit against their agency because they believed that taking this issue to court was the right way to solve the situation.



"We first wanted to take this opportunity to right the wrongs that have been forced in our relationship with the agency. And to protect our music, we had no other choice," they said. "We had hoped that the truth would be uncovered during the trial process and or right would be guaranteed. This is something we hope for even to this day."



The group filed a criminal complaint with police on the same day against Attrakt CEO Jeon Hon-joon for fraud and malpractice.



Fifty Fifty burst onto the music scene with their debut EP "The Fifty," released in November last year. The group's hit single "Cupid" has stayed on the Billboard Hot 100 for 20 consecutive weeks.



Meanwhile, Attrakt filed a criminal complaint with the police against The Givers in June, on charges of obstruction of business, damage to electronic records, fraud and malpractice. The company also filed a criminal complaint against Ahn Sung-il, the head of The Givers and the main music producer of FIFTY FIFTY's first album, over embezzlement and document forgery in July.




UK ministers, journalists, media representatives and the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court are among 54 British nationals to have been banned from entering Russia.

BBC journalist Ros Atkins, known for his popular explainer-style videos, is among those included on the list, along with Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer and reporters from The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph newspapers.

The Guardian said the move demonstrated Moscows disregard for a free and fair press.

Karim Khan KC, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), also features on the so-called stop list.

Russia in May put Mr Khan on its wanted list after the ICC two months earlier issued a war crimes warrant for President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of bearing personal responsibility for the abduction of children from Ukraine.

The Kremlins Foreign Ministry said the latest sanctions list was in the context of Londons unrelenting military support for the Kyiv neo-Nazi regime.

Ms Frazer, who is set to represent the UK Government at the Womens World Cup final featuring England versus Spain on Sunday in Sydney, Australia, was targeted for actively lobbying for the international sports isolation of Russia, the ministry said in a statement on Friday.

The Cabinet minister has previously lobbied for Russian and Belarusian athletes to be excluded from international sport, including at next years Olympics in Paris, in response to Mr Putins invasion of Ukraine.

Defence minister Baroness Goldie was the other Government figure placed on the list, with the ministry saying she was responsible for the supply of weapons to Ukraine, including depleted uranium shells.

The UK has been one of Kyivs strongest allies, with the House of Commons Library suggesting 4.6 billion in military assistance has been provided to President Volodymyr Zelenskys forces since the invasion broke out in February 2022.

Among the dozens of journalists and media representatives barred from travelling to Russia are BBC News analysis editor Mr Atkins, BBC News chief executive Deborah Turness and the corporations disinformation and social media correspondent Marianna Spring.

Defence minister Baroness Goldie is among the 54 Britons on Moscows so-called stop list (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Guardian correspondents Julian Borger and Daniel Boffey feature, along with Keith Underwood, the Guardian Media Groups chief financial and operating officer, and the groups chairman Charles Gurassa.

Journalist David Knowles was among those listed who work for The Daily Telegraph.

Russias Foreign Ministry accused the journalists and senior media industry officials of being involved in the fabrication of anti-Russian libels for promotion in the media space and in the dissemination of false information about our country.

They strive to prevent and suppress attempts to objectively cover events in Ukraine, to eliminate signs of dissent using the methods described by George Orwell in 1984 and Animal Farm, the statement continued.

A Guardian spokesman said: In banning Guardian journalists and executives, the Russian government is simply demonstrating its disregard for a free and fair press.

Guardian journalism is highly trusted the world over, and we will continue to report robustly on Russia and its invasion of Ukraine.

A BBC spokeswoman, asked about the corporations journalists being targeted by Moscow, said: We will continue to report independently and fairly.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Telegraph Media Group have been contacted for comment.
The face of Bonnie Prince Charlie has been recreated using death masks, depicting him as he would have looked during the Jacobite rising.

The prince was renowned for his good looks and has captivated a new generation of audiences through TV show Outlander.

A team at the University of Dundees Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification have now produced what is said to be the most lifelike replica of the princes face to be made so far.

It shows him with blond ringlets, wearing a white shirt, and with blotchy patches on his skin, as he would have looked at the time of the Jacobite rising  his unsuccessful attempt to restore his father, James Francis Edward Stuart, to the British throne.

Death masks of the prince were painstakingly photographed and mapped by researchers, so 3D models could be produced with state-of-the-art software allowing experts to de-age the prince.

Barbora Vesela, a masters student who initiated the project, said: I have looked at previous reconstructions of historical figures and was interested as to how these could be done differently.

I wanted to create an image of what he would have looked like during the Jacobite rising.

There are death masks of Bonnie Prince Charlie that are accessible, while some are in private collections.

We also know that he suffered a stroke before he died, so that made the process of age regression even more interesting to me.

In 1745, Prince Charles Edward Stuart sought to regain the Great British throne for his father, exiled Stuart King James III of England and Ireland and VIII of Scotland, during the Jacobite rising, when he was aged just 24.

The prince unsuccessfully attempted to restore his father to the throne, leading to one of the most romanticised periods of Scottish history.

Despite some initial successes on the battlefield, his army was defeated by government forces at the Battle of Culloden, near Inverness, in April 1746.

Bonnie Prince Charlie spent the next five months as a fugitive before fleeing to France and living on the continent for the rest of his life.

He died in Palazzo Muti, Rome, at the age of 67, after suffering a stroke.

After his death, a cast of the princes face was taken, which was common for notable figures at the time.

A 1737 portrait of Bonnie Prince Charlie by Venetian artist Rosalba Carriera (Jane Barlow/PA)

Researchers examined copies of the masks, at Inverness Museum and Art Gallery, and The Hunterian at the University of Glasgow, creating a composite over several months.

Ms Vesela took photographs from all around the masks and used photogrammetry software to establish a 3D model using almost 500 images.

She said: It has been a pleasure to work with these artefacts.

The access I have been given has been incredible.

There are moments, when you are working with the masks, that it suddenly strikes you that this was once a living person.

We dont tend to think about the age of people when we study history, but Prince Charlie was just 24 years old when he landed in Scotland and to visualise how young he was at this pivotal moment in history is fascinating.

He has some interesting features.

Beauty is a very subjective thing, but Bonnie Prince Charlie does have distinctive features, such as his nose and his eyes, that encourage you to study him.

Hopefully this recreation encourages people to think about him as a person, instead of just a legend.

At the same time, it is important not to romanticise him or the era of history.

There are many accounts of him but having a face to look at helps us to view him as a human and not just a name from history.

The work will feature as part of the University of Dundees annual Masters Show, which opens to the public on Saturday.

Tobias Houlton, who specialises in craniofacial identification and forensic imaging, said: This has been a hugely exciting project.

Through many hours of hard work, Barbora has given us an exciting new insight into European history.

This recreation will undoubtedly fascinate the public and the added dynamic of using artificial age regression to bring him back to the Jacobite era, when he was most famous, showcases the range of expertise we have here at the University of Dundee.
The families of the victims of Britains worst child serial killer Lucy Letby say they are heartbroken, devastated, angry and feel numb.

Rogue nurse Letby, 33, murdered seven babies and attempted to murder six more in a year-long attack spree at the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital.

In 2015 and 2016, there was a significant rise in the numbers of babies who suffered serious and unexpected collapses at the unit.

Letbys presence when collapses took place was first mentioned to senior management by the units head consultant in late June 2015, her trial at Manchester Crown Court heard.

Concerns among some consultants about the defendant increased and were voiced to hospital bosses when more unexplained and unusual collapses followed.

But Letby was not removed from the unit until after the deaths of two triplet boys in June 2016.

The Government has ordered an independent inquiry which will investigate the circumstances behind Letbys offending.

It will also look at the handling of concerns raised by staff at the hospital and what action was taken by regulators and the wider health service.

Letby was not removed from the unit until after the deaths of two triplet boys and the collapse of another baby boy on three successive days in June 2016 (Elizabeth Cook/PA)

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, Rob Behrens said: Those who lost their children deserve to know whether Letby could have been stopped and how it was that doctors were not listened to, and their concerns not addressed, for so long.

Former Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust chief executive Tony Chambers, who was in charge at the time, said he would co-operate fully and openly with the inquiry.

On Friday, jurors completed their deliberations of 110 hours and 26 minutes  spanning 22 days  following a trial which began last October.

The jury of seven women and four men convicted Letby of seven counts of murder and seven counts of attempted murder in relation to six other infants.

Police searched the Chester home of nurse Lucy Letby following her arrest (Peter Byrne/PA)

Following the verdicts, speaking on behalf of the families, Janet Moore, family liaison co-ordinator, said: Words cannot effectively explain how were feeling at this moment in time. We are quite simply stunned.

To lose a baby is a heart-breaking experience no parent should ever have to go through, but to lose a baby or to have a baby harmed in these particular circumstances is unimaginable.

Over the past seven to eight years weve had to go through a long and torturous emotional journey.

From losing our precious newborns and grieving their loss, seeing our children who survived, some of whom are still suffering today, to being told years later that their death or collapse might be suspicious. Nothing can prepare you for that news.

A Post-it note written by nurse Lucy Letby was discovered by police at her home in Chester following her arrest (Cheshire Police/CPS/PA)

Today, justice has been served and the nurse who should have been caring for our babies has been found guilty of harming them.

But this justice will not take away from the extreme hurt, anger and distress that we have all had to experience.

We are heartbroken, devastated, angry and feel numb.

We may never truly know why this happened.

Crown Prosecution Service reviewing lawyer Pascale Jones said: Lucy Letby was entrusted to protect some of the most vulnerable babies. Little did those working alongside her know that there was a murderer in their midst.

She did her utmost to conceal her crimes, by varying the ways in which she repeatedly harmed babies in her care.

A court order prohibits reporting of the identities of the surviving and dead children who were the subject of the allegations.

John and Susan Letby, the parents of nurse Lucy Letby, arriving at Manchester Crown Court ahead of the verdict (Danny Lawson/PA)

The nurse was arrested at her semi-detached home in Westbourne Road, Chester, at 6am on July 3 2018.

During searches of her address, a number of closely written notes were discovered.

On one green Post-it note she wrote: I dont deserve to live. I killed them on purpose because Im not good enough to care for them, I am a horrible evil person and in capital letters I am evil I did this.

Prosecutor Nick Johnson KC invited the jurors to read the note literally as a confession.

Also found during searches, the court heard, were more than 250 shift handover sheets containing names of some of the children on the trial indictment.

Her voyeuristic tendencies drove her to carry out numerous Facebook searches for parents of children she attacked, he said.

Letby falsified medical notes to cover her tracks and gaslighted doctors and nurses to persuade them the collapses were just a run of bad luck.

She was also prepared to publicly trash the reputations of colleagues in an effort to get away with it, the prosecutor added.

Letby, from Hereford, denied all the allegations.

She has indicated through her lawyers that she does not intend to take any part in her sentencing hearing on Monday.

The court heard earlier in the week that she no longer wanted to be brought up from the cells to the courtroom.

Letby was cleared of two counts of attempted murder.

Jurors could not reach verdicts on six remaining counts of attempted murder in relation to five infants.

Prosecutors asked for 28 days to consider their position over whether to seek a retrial on those counts.

Cheshire Police say they are continuing to review the care of some 4,000 babies who were admitted to the Countess of Chester  and also at Liverpool Womens Hospital when Letby had two work placements  during her employment from 2012.

Only those cases highlighted as concerning medically would be investigated further, police added.
The father of a 10-year-old girl who was found dead in Woking is being sought by police investigating her murder and is believed to be in Pakistan.

Sara Sharif was found at her home after officers were called from Pakistan by Saras father, Urfan Sharif, at around 2.50am on August 10, Surrey Police said.

The discovery at the semi-detached property in Hammond Road sparked a murder probe.

Detective superintendent Mark Chapman, from the Surrey Police and Sussex Police major crime team, said Mr Sharif, his partner, Beinash Batool, and his brother, Faisal Malik, are wanted for questioning in the investigation.

Urfan Sharif is being sought by police (Surrey Police/PA)

He said it is believed Mr Sharif, 41, travelled to Islamabad on August 9, a day before Saras death was discovered, with his partner Ms Batool, 29 and his brother Mr Malik, 28.

They travelled with five children aged between one and 13-years old, he added.

A post-mortem examination, which took place on Tuesday, did not establish the cause of Saras death and further tests are being carried out.

But the force said the examination revealed the child had suffered multiple and extensive injuries, which are likely to have been caused over a sustained and extended period of time.

There is no formal extradition treaty between the UK and Pakistan, but Mr Chapman said that people have been extradited from the Asian country before.

Police are working with the Crown Prosecution Service, Interpol, the National Crime Agency and Foreign Office to carry out their investigation and to liaise with Pakistani authorities.

Beinash Batool is also being sought by detectives (Surrey Police/PA)

Officers are not looking to identify anyone else in connection with the investigation, Mr Chapman said.

Saras mother is being supported by specialist officers and police say the two have not been in contact.

Olga Sharif described her daughter as an amazing child in an interview with The Sun and told the newspaper that her life will never be the same again.

Police are expected to remain at the property in the quiet Woking village of Horsell for some weeks.

Mr Chapman said: Firstly, on behalf of Surrey Police, I would like to express my heartfelt condolences following Saras tragic death. Our thoughts are with her mother at this difficult time. We also fully appreciate the impact this devastating incident will have had within the local community.

While the post-mortem has not provided us with an established cause of death at this time, the fact that we now know that Sara had suffered multiple and extensive injuries over a sustained and extended period has significantly changed the nature of our investigation, and we have widened the timescale of the focus of our enquiry.

Surrey Police officers outside a property on Hammond Road in Woking (Jonathan Brady/PA)

As a result, we are trying to piece together a picture of Saras lifestyle but we cannot do this without the publics help.

That is why we are appealing for anyone who knew Sara, had any form of contact with her, or has any other information about her, no matter how insignificant it might seem, to come forward as soon as possible.

In the meantime, I would like to reassure you that we are doing everything possible, including working with our partners and international agencies, to ensure that those responsible for Saras tragic and untimely death are brought to justice.

Locals spoke of their shock and fear the day after the 10-year-olds body was discovered.

Many of the flowers left on the pavement outside the house had heartfelt messages written by local families attached, while one person left a stuffed unicorn.

One note read: Sweet girl, Im so sorry that your sparkle was put out too soon.
Hollywood actor Morgan Freeman has said that black history needs to be embraced so that people can move on.

The 86-year-old is part of a new documentary called 761st Tank Battalion: The Original Black Panthers about a unit staffed by African-American personnel in the Second World War that played a significant role in military operations against Nazi Germany.

Asked why he thinks their story has been overlooked and forgotten about, Freeman told Good Morning Britain: Systemic racism  exists in our country.

Morgan Freeman urged people not to run away from history (Zak Hussein/PA)

White people dont want their children to know about it because they dont want them to get guilt complexes.

He added: This is history, lets not run away from it, lets embrace it and move on.

Discussing the way history was taught in schools, Freeman said he found Black History Month to be just a total insult.

There is so much more to history then what you can cram into 28 days, he said.

Many doubted the 761st Tank Battalion during World War II, but these men were willing to sacrifice all for each other and their country. pic.twitter.com/B0fJrm6lRX  HISTORY (@HISTORY) August 15, 2023

If you get into some sort of mindset where teaching our young that there is something wrong about teaching this history, that is a warp.

The 761st Tank Battalion trained, amid the restrictions and racism of the Jim Crow laws in the southern United States, and their motto was come out fighting.

According to The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, more than one million African-American women and men served in the military during the Second World War and they battled racism at home and while serving in the military.

Freemans accolades include an Oscar, American Film Institutes Life Achievement Award, the Golden Globes Cecil B DeMille Award and a National Medal of the Arts from former US president Barack Obama.

761st Tank Battalion: The Original Black Panthers will air on October 1 in the UK on Sky History.
A 10-year-old girl suffered extensive injuries over a sustained period of time before she was found dead, murder detectives said as they sought her father in Pakistan.

Sara Sharif was found at her home in Woking after officers were called from Pakistan by Saras father, Urfan Sharif, at around 2.50am on August 10, Surrey Police said.

The discovery at the semi-detached property in Hammond Road sparked a murder probe and a post-mortem examination has now revealed the extent of her injuries.

Detective Superintendent Mark Chapman, from the Surrey Police and Sussex Police major crime team, said Mr Sharif, his partner, Beinash Batool, and his brother, Faisal Malik, are wanted for questioning in the investigation.

Urfan Sharif is being sought by police (Surrey Police/PA)

He said it is believed Mr Sharif, 41, travelled to Islamabad on August 9, a day before Saras death was discovered, with his partner Ms Batool, 29, and his brother Mr Malik, 28.

They travelled with five children aged between one and 13 years old, he added.

A post-mortem examination, which took place on Tuesday, did not establish the cause of Saras death and further tests are being carried out.

But Mr Chapman said: While the post-mortem has not provided us with an established cause of death at this time, the fact that we now know that Sara had suffered multiple and extensive injuries over a sustained and extended period has significantly changed the nature of our investigation, and we have widened the timescale of the focus of our inquiry.

There is no formal extradition treaty between the UK and Pakistan, but Mr Chapman said that people have been extradited from the Asian country before.

Police are working with the Crown Prosecution Service, Interpol, the National Crime Agency and the Foreign Office to carry out their investigation and to liaise with Pakistani authorities.

Mr Chapman went on: I would like to reassure you that we are doing everything possible, including working with our partners and international agencies, to ensure that those responsible for Saras tragic and untimely death are brought to justice.

Beinash Batool is also being sought by detectives (Surrey Police/PA)

Officers are not looking to identify anyone else in connection with the investigation, Mr Chapman said.

Saras mother is being supported by specialist officers and police say she and Sara had not been in contact.

Olga Sharif described her daughter as an amazing child in an interview with The Sun and told the newspaper that her life will never be the same again.

Police are expected to remain at the property in the quiet Woking village of Horsell for some weeks.

Surrey Police officers outside a property on Hammond Road in Woking (Jonathan Brady/PA)

Locals spoke of their shock and fear the day after the 10-year-olds body was discovered.

Many of the flowers left on the pavement outside the house had heartfelt messages written by local families attached, while one person left a stuffed unicorn.

One note read: Sweet girl, Im so sorry that your sparkle was put out too soon.
Lessons continue to be learned after Lucy Letby murders, says hospital boss

The director of the hospital where Lucy Letby murdered seven babies and attempted to kill six more has said lessons continue to be learned following her conviction.

The nurse carried out the attacks at the Countess of Chester Hospitals neonatal unit in 2015 and 2016.

Speaking outside the hospital on Friday, medical director Dr Nigel Scawn said: I speak for the whole trust when I say how deeply saddened and appalled we are at Lucy Letbys crimes.

We are extremely sorry that these crimes were committed at our hospital and our thoughts continue to be with all the families and loved ones of the babies who came to harm or died. We cannot begin to understand what they have been through.

This case has had a profound impact on our patients and our local community and also our staff, who come to work every day determined to provide safe and high quality care for all of our patients.

Dr Nigel Scawn, medical director at Countess of Chester Hospital, said several changes have taken place at the trust since Lucy Letbys murders (Jacob King/PA)

Our staff are devastated by what has happened and we are committed to ensuring that lessons continue to be learned.

We are grateful for the co-operation of our staff, especially those that have maintained the utmost professionalism while giving evidence in this trial.

He said significant changes have been made to services since Letby worked at the hospital.

He added: I want to provide reassurance that every patient who accesses our services can have confidence in the care they will receive.

And, most importantly, our thoughts are with all the families and loved ones at this very difficult time.

Dr Scawn walked away without answering as a journalist asked him: Why did hospital managers try to stop Lucy Letby from being investigated?

Two babies died on the unit in 2013 and there were three deaths in 2014.

No babies died between when Letby was removed from the unit in July 2016 and when police were called in by the hospital in May 2017.

During this period, the trust chief executive was Tony Chambers and the medical director was Ian Harvey.

Mr Harvey retired in August 2018  a month after Letby was first arrested  after he reportedly notified Mr Chambers at the start of that year of his intention to retire.

He had held other managerial roles within the trust and was medical director for six years.

Mr Chambers served six years in his post before he resigned in September 2018.

He said he made the decision to allow the trust to focus on its future as the police investigation continued.

Former director of nursing Alison Kelly left the Countess of Chester in 2021 and works in a similar position at the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Salford Royal Hospital and Royal Oldham Hospital.

Members of the media outside the Countess of Chester Hospital after nurse Lucy Letby was found guilty of murder and attempted murder (Jacob King/PA)

At the Countess of Chester in 2015 and 2016, there was a significant rise in the number of babies who suffered serious and unexpected collapses in the neonatal unit.

Letbys presence when collapses took place was first mentioned to senior management by the units head consultant in late June 2015.

Concerns among some consultants about the defendant increased and were voiced to hospital bosses when more unexplained and unusual collapses followed, the court heard.

But Letby was not removed from the unit until after the deaths of two triplet boys and the collapse of another baby boy on three successive days in June 2016.

Letby was confined to clerical work and in September 2016 registered a grievance procedure.

It emerged during legal argument in the trial  in the absence of the jury  that the grievance procedure was resolved in Letbys favour in December 2016.

Letby was due to return to the neonatal unit in March 2017, but the move did not take place as soon afterwards, police were contacted by the hospital trust.

She was suspended on full pay from the moment she was arrested in July 2018.

It is understood she was sacked when she was charged in November 2020.
Murderer Lucy Letby may have been motivated by a pathological desire for attention and sympathy, a criminology expert has said.

Dr Dominic Willmott, a senior lecturer in criminology at Loughborough University, said the former nurses text messages showed she wanted to garner sympathy from colleagues after the childrens deaths.

The expert told how there were clear similarities with the Letby case and historic cases of killer nurses, such as Beverley Allitt from the UK and Charles Cullen in the US.

Allitt, 54, targeted 13 victims during a 59-day spree which saw her kill four babies and poison nine others at Grantham and Kesteven Hospital, Lincolnshire, in 1991.

Lucy Letby is said to have craved attention (Cheshire Constabular/PA)

Doctors believe she suffered from Munchausen syndrome by proxy while carrying out the attacks, in which a caregiver may harm someone in their care to get attention.

Cullen, 63, murdered dozens, possibly hundreds, of patients during a 16-year career spanning several medical centres in the American state of New Jersey.

Dr Willmott believes there are clear resemblances between the historic cases and that of Letby.

The criminologist, who has previously authored a paper on the Beverley Allitt case, said: In our analysis of healthcare professionals who perpetrate violence against their patients, especially children, offending appeared to be motivated by a pathological desire for attention and sympathy emerging as a consequence of their involvement in the case.

There was a complex interaction between this and a history of personality disorder diagnoses and characteristics, and were often found to be highly sadistic and narcissistic as described by those who knew them.

Speaking after the trial, detectives said the reason why Letby went on a killing spree at the Countess of Chester Hospital neonatal unit may never be known.

Prosecutors never advanced a motive as they outlined the allegations against her to the jury at Manchester Crown Court.

Dr Willmott said Letbys interaction with colleagues was indicative of her desire for sympathy.

He continued: Text messages released during the Letby trial appear to indicate her efforts to garner sympathy from her colleagues following the childrens deaths.

Other evidence that she had to be repeatedly asked to focus on other patients around the time of the death of other babies and her passing on death notifications to family members seems to indicate her desire to be personally involved in the case, even when doing so was likely to raise suspicions about her involvement.

My heart goes out to the families whose babies were mercilessly taken from them.

James Treadwell, professor in criminology at Staffordshire University, also said he believes there are similarities between Letby and Allitt.

Prof Treadwell suggested a number of reasons why Letby could have committed the crimes, including that she is a narcissist; Munchausen syndrome by proxy; she enjoyed the risk; she used the offences as a means for attention from the doctor prosecutors said she had a crush on; or evil.

But the expert said he thinks that answering how is much more important than the why question  which he believes will never be answered  as finding out how could prevent it happening again.

Prof Treadwell said: The police described her as beige but beige people can do evil acts as well, its not that it always comes from the people that radiate malice.

Sometimes those who do the most evil acts can be remarkably beige.

He added: One of the things that is quite interesting is she is being compared in the media more to Myra Hindley and Rose West, but Beverley Allitt is often forgotten as a serial killer, people dont remember her.

We can suggest conditions like Munchausen by proxy and narcissism, it could simply be that theres an element of enjoying the risk.

I saw suggestions that she had an infatuation with one of the doctors, it could simply be that harming the children could not have been significant in her thought process, that it would be a vehicle for something else.

Is there evil? Ive never believed that people are evil, some will do evil acts and many are capable of doing evil acts.

All of these things are possible in the case of Letby, I think the problem is, will people ever know.

Well never be furnished with a why from her, shell continue to protest her innocence.

Its with the how question you can prevent these things happening again. We had Allitt and Harold Shipman in medical situations, if you dont answer the how question, tragic history, terrible history, bereaved families could happen again.
A nurse was unmasked as the worst serial killer of children in modern UK history on Friday after a jury found her guilty of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder six more while working on a neonatal unit.

Lucy Letby, 33, was working at the Countess of Chester Hospital when she carried out the string of attacks on tiny, premature babies between 2015 and 2016.

Jurors spent 22-and-a-half days deliberating before reaching their verdicts in one of the UKs most high-profile criminal trials.

The nurse, who is facing life behind bars, joins a list of the UKs most twisted child murderers.

Here the PA news agency looks at some of the notorious names whose company she has joined.

 Beverley Allitt

Beverly Allitt murdered four children (David Jones/PA)

In a case with disturbing echoes of Letbys crimes, Beverley Allitt is serving 13 life sentences  one for each of the children she murdered or attempted to murder as a paediatric nurse in the 1990s.

Allitt attacked 13 children who had been admitted for minor injuries between February and April 1991 at Grantham and Kesteven Hospital, Lincolnshire, injecting some of them with dangerous amounts of insulin.

She succeeded in killing four of them. Her youngest victim, Liam Taylor, was just seven weeks old.

After the death of her fourth victim, 15-month-old Claire Peck, staff became suspicious of the number of cardiac arrests on the childrens ward and police began to investigate.

It was established that Allitt was the only nurse on duty during the medical episodes and she was found guilty of four counts of murder, three of attempted murder, and a further six of grievous bodily harm in 1993.

The 54-year-old is imprisoned at Rampton Secure Hospital in Nottinghamshire.

 The Moors Murderers

Ian Brady and Myra Hindley were given life sentences (PA)

Ian Brady and his girlfriend Myra Hindley kidnapped, sexually assaulted and murdered children before burying their bodies on the moors above Manchester between 1963 and 1965.

Brady, then 28, was given three concurrent life sentences in 1966 for killing Edward Evans, Lesley Ann Downey and John Kilbride.

It was only in 1985 that he finally confessed to the murders of Pauline Reade and Keith Bennett.

The couples victims were aged 10 to 17 when they were killed.

Hindley received two life sentences plus seven years for harbouring Brady knowing he had murdered Kilbride.

The pair narrowly escaped the death penalty because it had been abolished a year before their trial concluded.

She died in prison of pneumonia in 2002 while he died in a psychiatric hospital in 2017 after going on hunger strike.

 Robert Black

Robert Black was found guilty of four murders (PA)

Robert Black was a Scottish serial killer who was found guilty of murdering four schoolgirls in the 1980s.

He carried out his first known murder in 1981 when he abducted, sexually assaulted and killed nine-year-old Jennifer Cardy in Ballinderry in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

Five-year-old Caroline Hogg was his youngest victim, who disappeared while playing outside her Edinburgh home.

He took her to a nearby funfair before killing her and dumping her body more than 300 miles away.

He was also convicted of killing 10-year-old Sarah Harper, who was abducted while buying a loaf of bread in Leeds, and 11-year-old Susan Maxwell who vanished in the Scottish town of Coldstream in 1982.
Scottish Secretary Alister Jack did not act irrationally when he called on never-before-used powers to block controversial gender reforms in Scotland, according to UK Government legal arguments published on Friday.

In April, Scotlands First Minister Humza Yousaf confirmed the Scottish Government would mount a legal challenge against the UK Governments use of Section 35 powers, which prevented the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill from gaining royal assent.

The legal challenge is due to be heard at the Court of Session in Edinburgh next month.

In a note of argument published ahead of the hearing, Lord Stewart KC, Advocate General for Scotland, said: The Bill modifies the law as it applies to the reserved matters specified in S1 of Schedule 2 to the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill (Prohibition on Submission for Royal Assent) Order 2023 (the Order).

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack used Section 35 powers (Victoria Jones/PA)

In making the Order, the Secretary of State (Mr Jack) did not act irrationally on the basis of the evidence which was before him or by taking into account any irrelevant considerations.

The reforms aim to make it easier for trans people to self-identify and obtain a gender recognition certificate.

The powers under the Scotland Act  the legislation which established the devolved Scottish Parliament  had never been used before, with UK Government ministers arguing the gender legislation infringed on reserved equality laws.

Mr Yousaf previously said the legal challenge was necessary to defend the Scottish Parliaments democracy from the Westminster veto.

In the note of argument, Lord Stewart said the plain intent and purpose of the Scotland Act (SA) is that Section 35 should be exercisable by the Secretary of State in areas of devolved competence, provided only that specified preconditions are met.

He said: If that is so, there is nothing whatever to suggest that the UK Parliament intended some additional, unspecified constraint on the exercise of the power on the basis that the context involved a policy disagreement (as the issue is framed by the petitioners) between the UK and Scottish governments.

The existence of the power in Section 35 explicitly recognises the possibility that devolved policy may have an adverse impact on the operation of the law as it applies to reserved matters (as in the present case).

Lord Stewart also said: Section 35 exists as part of the devolution framework.

It forms part of a suite of carefully crafted checks and balances on the devolution of law-making power from the UK Parliament to the Scottish Parliament, which includes, but goes beyond, the question of competency alone.

In the note of argument, which responds to the petition from Scottish ministers (the petitioners), he said: The Secretary of State did not err in law in concluding that the provisions of the Bill listed in Schedule 1 to the Order modify the law as it applies to reserved matters.

The petitioners argument relies upon an incorrect, formalistic and unduly narrow interpretation of Section 35.

The legal argument also states the Scottish Government misinterpret the Section 35 order by suggesting a divergence exists between the schemes for gender recognition in Scotland and that of the rest of the UK.

But Lord Stewart argued: It is not the fact of divergence itself which is considered by the Secretary of State to be adverse, but rather the effect that particular examples of divergence would have on the operation of the law as it applies.

It comes after it emerged a senior judge has granted LGBT+ organisations permission to intervene in the legal challenge against the UK Governments block on the gender reforms.

Charities such as Stonewall, Gendered Intelligence and the Institute for Constitutional and Democratic Research (ICDR) will be able to present written evidence to the court on the adverse consequences of the UK Governments decision.
A view of Frieze Seoul 2022 at COEX in southern Seoul / Yonhap



By Park Han-sol



Frieze Seoul and Kiaf Seoul are returning to Seoul in September to offer a distinctive two-for-one art fair experience once again. The creative momentum generated by their partnership is expected to extend well beyond the fair venues this time, with the city government launching a broader cultural initiative "Seoul Art Week" to celebrate the two art events' arrival.



"In a very short period of time, I feel the two fairs together have already become a very important anchor in the city's arts and culture calendar," said Frieze Seoul Director Patrick Lee during a joint press conference in central Seoul, Thursday.



Some 330 emerging and established galleries around the globe will flock to COEX in southern Seoul for the concurrent openings of the two fairs on Sept. 6. Like last year, Frieze Seoul will be hosted for four days, while Kiaf Seoul is set to run until Sept. 10, one day more than its counterpart.



Purchasing one joint ticket, sold at 250,000 won ($187) for a preview or 80,000 won ($60) for general admission, will grant access to both fairs.





George Condo's "Internal Combustion" (2023) / Courtesy of the artist, Hauser & Wirth



The second edition of Frieze remains similar in size as last year as it brings together just over 120 dealers, but with a much stronger core of Asia-based exhibitors. Approximately 70 have a space in the region, 26 of which are either based in or opened a branch in Korea.



Blue-chip dealer Hauser & Wirth is poised to bring pieces by George Condo and Paul McCarthy, while David Zwirner will land in Seoul with a presentation of Katherine Bernhardt and Rose Wylie.



Meanwhile, Gagosian is set to present Jonas Wood's oil painting alongside Nam June Paik's 2005 "TV Buddha." Lehmann Maupin will spotlight significant Korean creatives across generations, including Sung Neung-kyung, Do Ho Suh and Lee Bul, and Pace Gallery will debut its representation of Lawrence Weiner's estate side by side with works by Yoshitomo Nara and Lee Kun-yong.



Other galleries with notable solo booths include David Kordansky with Mary Weatherford; Jessica Silverman with Woody De Othello; and Francois Ghebaly with Cindy Ji Hye Kim.





Sung Neung-kyung's "Apple  contact print" (1977) / Courtesy of the artist, Lehmann Maupin





The late 15th-century manuscript "Hours of Guillaume II Mole (Use of Troyes)" / Courtesy of Dr. Jorn Gunther Rare Books



The fair's two feature sections will return: Focus Asia, which centers on 10 of the groundbreaking up-and-coming artists introduced through emerging galleries in the region, as well as Frieze Masters, dedicated to art from antiquities and rare, centuries-old manuscripts to 20th-century master drawings etched with names like Cezanne, Matisse, Picasso, Renoir and J. M. W. Turner.



"I am cautiously optimistic that the atmosphere will be a positive one (this year)," Lee said, adding that the fair expects to see many collectors hailing from mainland China, who were unable to come during its inaugural edition due to COVID-19-related travel restrictions.



"Asia (as a region) does provide a lot of potential  because there's a new audience that can be educated and be inspired by their dialogue with galleries, collectors, patrons and curators," he noted. "Frieze and Kiaf together are exposing a new audience to new art and also (serving as) a platform for Asian galleries to interact with an interesting community."





Hwang Dal-seung, president of Galleries Association of Korea, Kiaf Seoul's host, speaks during a joint press conference with Frieze Seoul, at The Westin Josun Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of Kiaf Seoul





Yun Hyong-keun's "Burnt Umber" (1981) / Courtesy of BHAK

Kiaf Seoul, known as the country's longest-running contemporary art fair, emphasized its strengthened focus on spotlighting young, dynamic creatives and their new works to differentiate itself from Frieze.



"We are also featuring more Korean galleries in our roster of 210 for a more balanced representation, since Frieze has a much larger percentage of foreign dealers," said Hwang Dal-seung, president of the fair's host, Galleries Association of Korea.



To achieve such a goal, the organizer is staging a number of additional programs including its satellite art fair Kiaf Plus, joined by 30 emerging galleries here and abroad as a platform for rising creators, and "Gray Box Area," a curated exhibition of 10 Korean new media artists and collectives.



In addition, the fair is poised to mount a special show, "Hometown to the Unadulterated Colors," bringing to light the underappreciated history of Korean polychrome paintings through the works of two masters, Park Re-hyun and Park Saeng-kwang.





Park Saeng-kwang's "Shaman 12" (1984) / Courtesy of Kiaf Seoul
All questions around the Omagh bomb atrocity can only be answered by holding a public inquiry on both sides of the Irish border, a lawyer representing some bereaved families has said.

John McBurney urged the Irish Government to reconsider its position after a minister indicated this week that there is no new evidence which would warrant holding a public inquiry in the Republic of Ireland.

The scene of the Omagh bomb in 1998 (Paul McErlane/PA)

Twenty-nine people, including a woman pregnant with twins, were killed when a massive car bomb exploded in the Co Tyrone town in 1998, the worst loss of life in a single incident in Northern Irelands troubled past.

It came just months after the historic Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.

No-one has ever been criminally convicted of the attack.

In 2021, High Court judge Mr Justice Horner recommended the UK Government carry out a new investigation into the Omagh bombing, and urged the Irish Government to do likewise, after finding plausible arguments that there had been a real prospect of preventing the atrocity.

Earlier this year, Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris announced that an independent statutory inquiry would be carried out.

Peter Burke, Irish Minister for European Affairs and Defence, said this week during an interview with the BBC that a number of investigations, including the Nally Report, had already been carried out in Ireland into the bombing.

He said that the Nally Report had found no significant new evidence which warranted the establishment of a public inquiry, adding that is our position at the moment.

Mr Burke stressed that the Irish Government would cooperate fully with the UK inquiry in an attempt to ensure there are no unanswered questions left about the atrocity.

Mr McBurney, who represents some families in the Families Moving On victims support group, said: On behalf of my clients I wish to convey the sense of surprise and disappointment felt on hearing the indication by Minister Burke during the BBC interview.

He added: With respect, it is submitted that the position outlined by Minister Burke is entirely unsatisfactory.

The Nally Report which he referred to throughout the interview did not have the necessary powers to fully probe all matters and therefore many aspects remain to be inquired into.

Lord Justice Horner made it quite clear in a very detailed judgment that full investigation in both jurisdictions was necessary in order to fully deal with the matter.

Mr McBurney continued: It is essential that the Irish Government must reflect urgently on how disrespectful and unsatisfactory it is to ignore the obvious need, in tandem with a statutory inquiry in Northern Ireland, to properly investigate by public inquiry all matters outstanding as elucidated in the judgment of Lord Justice Horner.

The call is now for reconsideration of the negative position outlined by Minister Burke and an indication that a tandem inquiry will be launched in the Republic of Ireland.

It is difficult to see how all aspects can be properly probed by any other arrangement.

Minister of State for European Affairs Peter Burke (left) and Lord Jonathan Caine, representing the British government, following a service to mark the 25th anniversary of the bombing that devastated Omagh in 1998 (Brian Lawless/PA)

The Irish Government has been approached for a response.

On Tuesday, a number of families who lost loved ones in the 1998 attack gathered and laid flowers at the spot where the bomb exploded to mark the 25th anniversary.
A winking witness nicknamed Del Boy has been jailed for a cynical plot to nobble a jury in the trial of a drugs kingpin.

Laurence Hayden, 54, had skipped bail and fled to Spain to evade justice after a bungled scheme to sway jurors in the trial of Leslie Allen at Warwick Crown Court in 2018 failed spectacularly.

But he was convicted in his absence of conspiring to pervert the course of justice, extradited back to the UK and jailed for three years and eight months.

Sentencing him on Friday at the Old Bailey, Mr Justice Cavanagh said it was a complex, carefully planned and very cynical conspiracy which struck at the very heart of the criminal process.

The case centred on the trial of drugs kingpin and boxing promoter Leslie Allen for having 150,000 of cannabis and cocaine and a pepper spray.

His second-in-command Hayden, from Coventry, set about securing his acquittal by lying in the witness box about a text message to Allen referring to white cakes.

He told jurors white cake was not a reference to compressed cocaine but to energy bars or protein shakes.

Mr Justice Cavanagh told Hayden he was somewhat cocky and over-confident in the witness box and was spotted by several jurors giving a nod or wink to corrupt juror Damien Drackley who was in on the plot.

Hayden also acted as a conduit between Allen and Drackleys mother Lorraine Frisby and arranged for another witness, Daniel Porter, to give false evidence.

Mr Porter, from Birmingham, who died before he could stand trial, had only recently been released from prison and was offered a bribe to falsely confess to having the drugs, the court was told.

Leslie Allen recruited a team of stooges to help him get off drugs charges (Warwickshire Police/PA)

The conspiracy failed after other jurors in the Warwick Crown Court case became suspicious of Drackley as they deliberated on verdicts.

The judge in the drugs trial went on to convict Allen without the jury and jail him for 13 years for the drugs offences.

After a separate trial at the Old Bailey, Hayden was found guilty of the plot to pervert the course of justice with Allen, 66, from Coventry, Drackley, 37, from Nuneaton, and Mark Walker, 57.

Drackleys mother Frisby, 56, from Birmingham, had admitted her part in the offence.

Previously, Allen was jailed for five years, Drackley for four years, Frisby for two years and three months, and Walker for nine months.

Sentencing Hayden on Friday, Mr Justice Cavanagh told him: You were a major player at the heart of this conspiracy.

You were not the head of it, but you were in effect Leslie Allens second-in-command.

You gave false evidence which, unlike Daniel Porter, was potentially credible and so might have had an impact on the jury.

You also worked with Leslie Allen to persuade Daniel Porter to give false evidence which might have resulted in Leslie Allens acquittal and in Daniel Porter serving a lengthy prison sentence for offences he had not committed.

Then you worked assiduously as a go-between in the second strand of the conspiracy.

It is not clear to me whether you did all of this in return for payment from Leslie Allen or out of a misplaced sense of loyalty to him but it does not matter which: you demonstrated a complete disregard for the rule of law and the integrity of the criminal process and you did so willingly and voluntarily.

The judge said that while the plan was inept in many ways and some of the plotters were grossly incompetent, Hayden was not save for your idiotic decision to jeopardise the conspiracy by nodding or winking at the jury.

The court was told Hayden had 16 previous convictions for 21 offences including for intimidating a witness in 2016 by threatening to smash up a complainant in a case involving his then-partners son.

The judge said Hayden had shown no real remorse by travelling to Spain in breach of his bail but accepted he was suffering from stress and depression.

In mitigation, Greg Krieger said Hayden was sorry for not attending his trial but had not wanted to leave Spain as he had begun a new relationship there.

He told the court he had was supported by his children and had worked hard throughout his life buying and selling expensive watches.

Hayden nodded and thanked the judge as he was sent down from the dock.
A counter-demonstrator extinguishes a Quran on fire outside the Iranian embassy, in Stockholm, Friday, Aug. 18, 2023. A woman with a fire extinguisher on Friday raced toward the man who set fire to a Quran outside the Iranian Embassy in Stockholm but was stopped by plain clothes officers. Swedish media said the woman, who was not identified, was detained, suspected of disturbing public order and violence against a police officer. Salwan Momika, the protester, was not injured. (Fredrik Sandberg/TT News Agency via AP) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Swedish police detained a woman on Friday who sprayed an anti-Islam activist with a fire extinguisher as he staged a Quran-burning protest outside the Iranian Embassy in Stockholm.

Video of the scene showed the woman rushing up to Salwan Momika and spraying white powder toward him before she was intercepted by plainclothes police officers who led her away. Momika, who appeared stunned but unhurt, then resumed his demonstration, which had been authorized by police.

Police spokeswoman Towe Hagg said the woman, who was not identified by police, was detained on suspicion of disturbing public order and violence against a police officer.

Momika, a refugee from Iraq, has desecrated the Quran in a series of anti-Islam protests that have caused anger in many Muslim countries. Swedish police have allowed his demonstrations, citing freedom of speech while filing preliminary hate speech charges against him.

Prosecutors are investigating whether his actions are permissible under Swedens hate speech law, which prohibits incitement of hatred against groups or individuals based on race, religion or sexual orientation. Momika says his protests target the religion of Islam, not Muslim people.

The Quran-burnings have sparked angry protests in Muslim countries, attacks on Swedish diplomatic missions and threats from Islamic extremists.

Sweden on Thursday raised its terror alert to the second-highest level, saying the country had become a priority target for terrorist groups.

Momika said he would continue to burn the Quran despite the threats directed at him and Sweden, saying he wants to protect Sweden's population from the messages of the Quran.

I have freedom of speech, Swedish news agency TT quoted him as saying.

Muslim leaders in Sweden have called on the government to find ways to stop the Quran burnings. Sweden dropped its last blasphemy laws in the 1970s and the government has said it has no intention to reintroduce them. However, the government on Friday announced an inquiry into legal possibilities for enabling police to reject permits for demonstrations over national security concerns.

According to Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer, the inquiry would study legislation in countries such as France, Norway and the Netherlands which he said have extensive freedom of speech but greater scope for including security in this type of assessment.

The Quran-burnings have prompted several countries to update their travel advice for the Scandinavian country. The U.S. Embassy in Sweden issued a security alert this week warning of possible retaliatory attacks by terrorists" and urging U.S. citizens to use caution when going to crowded public venues and around diplomatic facilities.
On a fall day in September, two men sat watching movies about cowboys and the Old West at a rustic retreat in Maryland.

It could have been a relaxing way to spend a weekend  except the men were President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, and it was the height of the Cold War.

US President Dwight Eisenhower (1890 - 1965) (left) and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev (1874 - 1971) at Camp David, Maryland, September 25, 1959. (Photo by PhotoQuest/Getty Images) - PhotoQuest/Archive Photos/Getty Images

Khrushchev was the first Soviet premier to make an official visit to the United States  and Eisenhower decided to take him to Camp David for important conversations about foreign affairs, and a really American experience.

President Joe Biden will follow in the footsteps of US presidents before him when he holds a crucial foreign policy meeting with the leaders of Japan and South Korea at the camp on Friday.

Camp David  originally dubbed Shangri-La  was created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1942 during World War II. He wanted a secure presidential hideaway outside of DC, and quickly gave the spot dueling purposes.

He soon after sets this precedent of using the site as a retreat and for diplomacy, because in 1943 he welcomes Prime Minister Winston Churchill to Camp David, and we discuss World War II and the US efforts and allied efforts there, historian Sarah Fling with the White House Historical Association said. So, its really from the very beginning that we see Camp David being used for both of these uses, and most presidents have used Camp David not only as a retreat, but also for either policy conversations or summits or these more political uses as well.

The most famous of all the diplomatic events held at Camp David is likely the September 1978 Camp David Accords negotiations, Fling said.

Portrait of from left, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin (1913 - 1992), US President Jimmy Carter, and Egyptian President Anwar Al Sadat (1918 - 1981) as they pose together during the Egyptian-Israeli peace negotiations, in front of Aspen Lodge at Camp David, near Thurmont, Maryland, September 12, 1978. The negotiations resulted in the 'Camp David Accords' which were formalized as the 'Egypt--Israel Peace Treaty' the following year, in Washington DC on March 26, 1979. (Photo by White House via CNP/Getty Images) - The White House/CNP/Getty Images

Then-President Jimmy Carter acted as mediator between Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. The men spent about two weeks there at Camp David negotiating a pair of political agreements that would eventually lead to the EgyptIsrael peace treaty and a Nobel Peace Prize for Sadat and Begin.

President Bill Clinton tried for another Middle East peace deal as he hosted Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at Camp David in 2000, but those talks ultimately failed to reach an agreement.

Camp David is a really great location when were talking to get to know world leaders one on one, Fling said. Its very private and secluded, so they can really focus on the conversations that are happening, but its also much less formal.

US President Bill Clinton, center, speaks during a morning meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, left, and Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat July 25, 2000 at Camp David in Maryland. Clinton announced later in the day that the Middle East peace summit had collapsed because of a deadlock over the status of the disputed city of Jerusalem. - Ralph Alswang/Newsmakers/Getty Images

One of the perks of the spot is that you can get to know somebody on a real one-to-one basis, you get to have real conversations out of the constant chaos  that you have in Washington, DC, she said.

Its definitely different than what you would experience at the White House, right?, Fling asked. Its not a formal dinner. Its not these formal events. Instead, you might go skeet shooting, or you might go bowling, or you might take a jog around Camp David. So, its very different in that sense.

While every president has used the space in slightly different ways, almost all of them tried at times to use it for diplomacy  none more so than George W. Bush.

In this handout provided by The White House, Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom, U.S. President Barack Obama, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, and others watch the overtime shootout of the Chelsea vs. Bayern Munich Champions League final in the Laurel Cabin conference room during the G8 Summit on May 19, 2012 at Camp David, Maryland. - Pete Souza/The White House/Getty Images

He hosted many foreign visitors there including leaders from South Korea, Pakistan, Great Britain and more, Fling said.

The largest gathering of world leaders at Camp David was in 2012 when President Barack Obama hosted the G8 summit. Nine foreign leaders, plus Obama, attended.

Even President Donald Trump, who famously eschewed the retreat in favor of his own properties, tried to host secret talks with Afghan and Taliban officials  plans that were eventually scrapped, and announced in 2019 he would hold the following years G7 meeting there, before Covid caused the event to go virtual.

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It was barely a month after Chris Weidman said he'd experienced "the most horrific pain you can imagine," that the one-time UFC middleweight champion was thinking of returning to the Octagon.

Just seconds into an April 24, 2021, bout against Uriah Hall in Jacksonville, Florida, Weidman threw a routine calf kick that thousands of fighters had thrown tens of thousands of times, in practice and in fights, without incident.

Weidman wasn't so lucky.

The force of the kick snapped the tibia and fibula in his right leg. One of his bones broke through the skin and his foot was left dangling.

"The pain, you can't even imagine," Weidman told Yahoo Sports. "What I've been through, I don't think anybody's ever gone through this. I'm the only one where the bone's gone through the skin like that. When that happens, it goes through the muscles, goes through the nerves and affects a lot of things that most people wouldn't even think about."

He endured four surgeries and an infection, and Saturday, almost miraculously, he'll return to competition when he faces Brad Tavares in the main preliminary bout of UFC 292 at TD Garden in Boston.

It wasn't long after his injury, one of the most gruesome in recent sports history, that Weidman seriously began to plot his return. But in the early days after the injury, he was concerned with more everyday issues.

"In the beginning, I was just worried that I wasn't going to be able to play with my kids," Weidman said. "I was thinking that I wasn't going to be able to do the everyday activities we take for granted. I worried that I wouldn't be able to play football with the kids or wrestle around with them. Things like that were just in my head. At first, I wasn't really thinking about fighting."

He'll make the familiar walk to the Octagon on Saturday, exactly 849 days after the worst night of his professional life. That night, he worried if he'd be able to walk normally again. Fighting the toughest 185-pounders in the world was the farthest thing from his mind.

After suffering a gruesome broken leg in his last fight on April 24, 2021, former middleweight champion Chris Weidman returns to the game Saturday when he faces Brad Tavares on the UFC 292 preliminary card at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. (Paul Rutherford/Getty Images)

Including the four surgeries he underwent to repair the injuries he suffered against Hall, Weidman has undergone an astounding 23 surgeries in his life.

Only days after he'd returned to his home in South Carolina from Jacksonville, Florida, Weidman was sitting on a couch in his home, musing about his future, recording the aftermath of his return home for a video he posted to YouTube. Those surgeries  mostly the last four  weighed heavily on his mind.

"Am I going to have the motivation and the passion to push through this long process again?" Weidman said in the video. "It's kind of scary, because I don't know."

He spoke of his friends and his training partners and of his uncertain future. He expressed gratitude for the outpouring of support he'd received. He leaned back, his right arm behind his head, and tears welled up in his eyes. He closed his eyes and spoke in measured tones.

It was clear that he wanted to be able to fight again, but after suffering one of the worst injuries in UFC history and having a rod implanted into his leg, there were more questions than answers. The pain was still great.

"I really want to turn this thing into such a big positive that it could help so many people in their everyday lives," Weidman said on the video. "I feel like I've been so blessed by God, physically and mentally, with everything I've been able to overcome in my life. I just don't want this to be the end."

Weidman's recovery gave him a glimpse at a side of life he wasn't ready for: retirement. He'd been struggling in his MMA career before his injuries. He'd dropped five of his prior seven going into the Hall fight and wasn't his usual dominant self.

But he'd won his bout against Omari Akhmedov on Aug. 8, 2020, and went into the Hall fight convinced his career was about to change for the better.

"I went into that fight and my thing was, win that one impressively, fight another big-name guy, get myself into a position where I could get another crack at the title and then make a defense," Weidman told Yahoo Sports. "That's sort of what was in my head. I'm so much better now than I was even though, and I felt good about where I was [heading into] the Hall fight. After winning the title again and making another defense, maybe then it would have been time to retire."

The injury changed things. He got an unexpected and highly beneficial assist in his recovery from his long-time rival, former middleweight champion Anderson Silva. Silva suffered a similar leg injury, ironically in a bout with Weidman, on Dec. 28, 2013.

Chris Weidman (on canvas) broke the tibia and fibula in his right leg just 17 seconds into a 2021 fight with Uriah Hall. Weidman will return to action Saturday. (Alex Menendez/Getty Images)

Not long after he was settled at home, Silva reached out.

"He was actually awesome," Weidman said of Silva. "Me and him had that competitive relationship with each other. I didn't expect to become good friends with him. I always respected him, but fighting each other for the title a couple of times, there was some bad blood between us. A little bit. We both wanted something that only one of us could have.

"After I was injured, we got in touch with each other and he was really helpful. I was in a bad place, especially at the beginning, and like I said, I was worried if I'd be able to play with my kids. But he assured me I'd be back better than ever and that it's all mental. He was a massive help."

When Weidman finally returned to training, he knew he'd have to give and receive a kick before he could fully commit to fighting. He was, he conceded, tentative at first, but fighters are cut differently than the average human and he knew he couldn't put it off forever.

"I had to ask guys to kick my leg a little bit," Weidman said. "I went southpaw so it was my back leg. I took a kick and then I'd ask, 'Kick it a little harder. OK, kick it a little harder. Kick it a little harder,' and then I got to the point I realized how hard I was being kicked and that I'd be all right. As I've progressed, it feels great. It feels like I have a titanium rod in there now."

He wasn't given an easy test by any means in his comeback. Tavares is a solid fighter and is a quality professional.

That's the way Weidman wants it because he has big plans.

"You know, this is the part of the story that is still to come, but I really believe this is leading me down a path where I'll shock the world again," he said. "I'm just so, so much better now than I was before I was hurt and I'm really motivated to write the perfect ending to this story. Believe me, I will be a world champion again and I will shock the world. Bet on that."

By simply returning to fight an elite opponent, Weidman has already shocked the world. Only time will tell what other magic he has in store.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Donald Trump is currently the target for four separate indictments, but hes got something else on his mind at the moment: the picture Fox News uses when they talk about him.

Why doesnt Fox and Friends show all of the Polls where I am beating Biden, by a lot. They just wont do it! the former president, 77, complained in a Thursday, August 17, post on his Truth Social network. Also, they purposely show the absolutely worst pictures of me, especially the big orange one with my chin pulled way back. They think they are getting away with something, theyre not. Just like 2016 all over again  And then they want me to debate!

Trump has so far refused to commit to attending the first Republican primary debate, which is scheduled for Wednesday, August 23. As for his claim that he is beating President Joe Biden by a lot, RealClearPolitics shows that nearly every mainstream poll has Biden, 80, defeating Trump in a hypothetical 2024 matchup  including a Fox News poll published earlier this week.

Among a crowded field of Republican candidates, however, Trump remains the undisputed leader in the polls, coming out far ahead of his own former vice president, Mike Pence, as well as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images

His polling success has continued amid the fact that he is currently the subject of four separate criminal indictments, the most recent of which was announced this week. On Monday, August 14, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis accused Trump and 18 associates of a racketeering conspiracy to overturn Bidens win in Georgia during the 2020 election. Trump was charged with 13 felony counts. If he is convicted and then wins the presidency in 2024, he would not be able to pardon himself because the charges are being carried out under state law.

Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Melania Trump, Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump, Tiffany Trump

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Two weeks earlier, U.S. Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith indicted Trump on four charges in Washington, D.C. This case relates to the actions Trump took before the events of January 6, 2021, when his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying Biden as the winner of the election. The charges include conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding.

Jeff Swensen/Getty Images

In March, Trump was indicted in New York on 34 felony charges related to hush money payments he made to porn star Stormy Daniels. Three months later, he was indicted again in Florida on 40 felony charges related to accusations that he mishandled classified documents that were found at his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges in all four cases.
The family of an inmate who died in Fulton County Jail in Atlanta last year says he was eaten alive by insects and bedbugs. The family of Lashawn Thompson and their lawyer are now calling for a criminal investigation into his death.

The family's attorney, Michael Harper, said in a statement that Thompson was arrested for a misdemeanor simple battery charge on June 12. He was taken to Fulton County Jail and was placed in the psychiatric wing due to mental health issues.

But three months later, he "was found dead in a filthy jail cell after being eaten alive by insects and bed bugs," Harper said.

Jail records show that medical staff and detention noticed Thompson was deteriorating, but they didn't help him, the attorney said. "They literally watched his health decline until he died," said Harper. "When his body was found one of the detention officers refused to administer CPR because in her words she 'freaked out.'"

Harper shared disturbing photos he said were from Thompson's jail cell that show him apparently covered in bugs and the cell's dirty conditions, which Thompson's family gave the attorney permission to share. Harper said the cell was "not fit for a diseased animal."

"He did not deserve this. Someone has to be held accountable for his death. The Fulton County Jail must be closed and replaced," he said in the statement, adding that he would hold a news conference on Thursday.

Last year, Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat raised concerns with extreme overcrowding at the jail and the need for funding, according to CBS Atlanta. "You have 3,500-plus points of data that show the dangers of where we are and the crisis that we're in," Labat said during a meeting with the Fulton County Commission.

He said the total population of the jail was 3,600 after about 1,400 new inmates came to the jail in two years. He said 428 inmates were sleeping on the floor due to overcrowding. One of the city's commissioners, Bob Ellis, called it a "humanitarian crisis."

The commission renewed a $27 million contract for inmate physical and mental health services for inmates, but Labat asked for another $6 million to fix other issues with employee retention and overtime.

CBS News has reached out to Fulton County Jail and the sheriff for comment and is awaiting response.

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In an interview on CBS Mornings Thursday, 2024 GOP presidential candidate and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum said both sides of the political aisle are untrustworthy.

When asked about what he thinks about the recent fourth indictment of former President Trump, Burgum deflected and began talking about his campaigns goals. He said he wants to leave it up to others to discuss the topics surrounding Trumps legal woes.

Were trying to talk about the future, Burgum said. So, our whole campaign is how were going to improve every American life, what were going to do on economy, on energy policy, on national security, we can move it forward.

Burgum, who announced his presidential candidacy in June, has a history of tiptoeing around questions about the former president and his legal woes. In an interview with George Stephanopoulos earlier this month, he dodged five questions regarding Trump and the criminal charges he faces.

Weve got to be looking to the future, not to the past. Presidential campaigns should be about the future, not about the past. And thats what were bringing, that voice to this  to this campaign, Burgum previously said on ABCs This Week.

Similarly, in a June interview on The Hugh Hewitt Show, Burgum deflected when asked a question about pardoning Trump.

If you want to ask someone about pardoning President Trump, I mean, ask Biden, Burgum said at the time.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
If the United Auto Workers decides to strike against the "Big Three" Detroit automakers when the current contract expires next month, it could cost the U.S. economy more than $5 billion, according to a new analysis from the Anderson Economic Group, a Michigan-based think tank that specializes in the economic impact of labor strikes. The report estimates that economic losses from a ten-day work stoppage could cost about $5.6 billion.

"Even a short strike would impact economies throughout Michigan and across the nation," said Patrick Anderson, CEO of the Anderson Economic Group.

Stellantis workers attend a "members' handshake" event with United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain to mark the beginning of the UAW's contract talks with Stellantis at the Sterling Heights Assembly Plant on July 12, 2023 in Sterling Heights, Michigan.

That figure includes manufacturer losses of $989 million and lost direct wages of $859 million. It does not take into consideration strike pay, unemployment benefits, unemployment taxes, income taxes, government spending or settlement bonuses.

Negotiations between UPS and the Teamsters union stalled last week as the two sides remain at odds over the terms of a new contract, raising the odds of a strike at the beginning of August.

UPS OFFERS TEAMSTERS SIGNIFICANT PAY BOOST AS UNION'S STRIKE THREAT LOOMS

The union's current contract with General Motors, Ford and Stellantis  the maker of Chrysler and Jeep  expires on September 14. About 146,000 UAW workers are set to vote next week on whether to authorize a strike against the Detroit automakers.

READ ON THE FOX BUSINESS APP

UAW President Shawn Fain urged members to authorize a strike a Facebook live appearance this week.

"If we want to make progress at the bargaining table, we need to show the companies that its not just talk," Fain said.

The main point of contention between the two sides is higher pay, with Fain saying the union will seek more than 40% general pay raises for rank-and-file members over four years, making all temporary workers at the automakers permanent, cost of-living adjustments, increases in pension benefits for current retirees and restoring pensions for new hires, among other benefits.

Fain called the demands the "most audacious and ambitious list of proposals they've seen in decades."

United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain speaks with workers at the Ford Michigan Assembly Plant on July 12, 2023, in Wayne, Michigan.

Negotiations appear to have made little headway so far, with automakers noting they are facing a multibillion-dollar shift to electric vehicles.

Stellantis has sharply criticized the demands of the autoworkers. In a letter to employees last week, Stellantis North America Chief Operating Officer Mark Stewart belittled the "theatrics and personal insults" from Fain and urged a "focus on reality from everyone involved," according to Reuters.

The UAW's demands "could endanger our ability to make decisions in the future that provide job security for our employees," Stewart continued. "This is a losing proposition for all of us."
Kim Il-hyeok, a North Korean defector, speaks during a meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss the situation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Thursday, Aug. 17, at United Nations headquarters. AP-Yonhap



North Korea was accused at the U.N. Security Council Thursday of spending heavily on its nuclear arms program while its people go hungry and lack basic necessities.



Volker Turk, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, told the council that people in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea have experienced increasingly severe political repression while economic conditions have worsened, with widespread systematic human rights violations.



"Many of the violations I have referred to stem directly from, or support, the increasing militarization of the DPRK," he said.



He cited widespread use of forced labor, including by children, to "support the military apparatus of the state and its ability to build weapons."



The hearing, requested by the United States, was the first in the Security Council on human rights in North Korea in six years, and came as Pyongyang has sped up its testing of nuclear-capable missiles in the past year, heightening tensions across East Asia.



Surrounded by diplomats from more than 50 countries, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield denounced in a joint statement "human rights violations and abuses" that she said were "inextricably linked with the DPRK's weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile development."



Elizabeth Salmon, the U.N. Human Rights Office's special rapporteur on North Korea, said the prolonged shutdown of the country's borders, the result of global sanctions, has led to increased hardship for the people, including food shortages.



"The frozen conflict is being used to justify continued militarization within the DPRK with devastating effects on its people," she said.



Salmon said Pyongyang's policy is to prioritize resources for the military.



"The leadership in the DPRK continues to demand its citizens to tighten their belts, so that the available resources could be used to fund the nuclear and missiles program," she said.



Kim Il-hyeok, a North Korean defector, told the council that he had been forced at a young age to work in fields without compensation, and that the grain they grew all went to the military.



"The government turns our blood and sweat into a luxurious life for the leadership and missiles that blast our hard work into the sky," he said.



"The money spent on just one missile could feed us for three months," he said.



In the hearing most council members decried the deterioration of living conditions and human rights in North Korea, which lives under stiff sanctions instituted by the council and major countries over its nuclear weapons program.



While there was no delegate from Pyongyang present at the Security Council, representatives from China and Russia argued that it was not the place to review North Korean human rights issues.



Dmitry Polyansky, Russia's deputy ambassador to the U.N., denounced what he called "a cynical and hypocritical attempt by the U.S. and its allies to advance their own political agenda."



The two countries said the discussion was unconstructive and offered no solutions to bring down strategic tensions in the region. (AFP)


CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico (AP)  Hurricane Hilary churned off Mexico's Pacific coast Friday as a powerful Category 4 storm threatening to unleash torrential rains on the mudslide-prone border city of Tijuana before heading into Southern California as the first tropical storm there in 84 years.

Forecasters warned the storm could cause extreme flooding, mudslides and even tornadoes across the region.

Hilary grew rapidly in strength early Friday before losing some steam, with its maximum sustained winds clocked at 130 mph (215 kph) in the evening, after falling from 145 mph (230 kph). Nevertheless, it was forecast to still be a hurricane when approaching Mexicos Baja California peninsula on Saturday night and a tropical storm when approaching Southern California on Sunday.

Hilary was already disrupting life.

Major League Baseball rescheduled three Sunday games in Southern California, moving them to Saturday as part of split-doubleheaders. The National Park Service closed Joshua Tree National Park and Mojave National Preserve to keep people from becoming stranded amid flooding. Cities across the region, including in Arizona, were offering sandbags to safeguard properties against floodwaters.

No tropical storm has made landfall in Southern California since Sept. 25, 1939, according to the National Weather Service. The watch was posted for a wide swath of Southern California from the coast to interior mountains and deserts. The U.S. National Hurricane Center warned of potential threats to life and property.

The latest forecast pointed to Hilary making landfall along a sparsely populated area of the Baja peninsula Sunday, about 200 miles (330 kilometers) south of the Pacific port city of Ensenada.

As it moves north, it could bring heavy rains to Tijuana. Mayor Montserrat Caballero Ramirez said the city was tracking the storm closely and clearing out storm drains.

The sprawling border metropolis of 1.9 million people is particularly at risk of landslides and flooding, in part because of its hilly terrain. Shacks are perched on cliffs with little vegetation to hold soil in place. In addition, dozens of people live under tarps on the streets and in canals in flood zones, including migrants who arrive daily from various parts of the world.

The city was setting up four shelters in high-risk zones and warning residents in risky zones, Caballero Ramirez said.

We are a vulnerable city being on one of the most visited borders in the world and because of our landscape," she said.

Mexico issued a tropical storm watch for parts of mainland Mexico and put 18,000 soldiers on alert.

On Friday evening, Hilary was centered about 310 miles (495 kilometers) south-southwest of Cabo San Lucas, near the southern tip of the Baja peninsula. It was moving northwest at 12 mph (19 kph) and was expected to turn more toward the north.

Some Cabo San Lucas schools were being prepared as temporary shelters, said Flora Aguilar, a city official.

In La Paz, the picturesque capital of Baja California Sur state on the Sea of Cortez, police patrolled closed beaches to keep swimmers out of the whipped-up surf. Schools were shut down in five municipalities.

It was increasingly likely that Hilary would reach California early Monday while still at tropical storm strength, though widespread rain was expected to begin as early as Saturday, the National Weather Services San Diego office said.

Hurricane officials said the storm could bring heavy rainfall to the southwestern United States, dumping 3 to 6 inches (8-15 centimeters) in places, with isolated amounts of up to 10 inches (25 centimeters), in portions of southern California and southern Nevada.

Two to three inches of rainfall in Southern California is unheard of for this time of year, said Kristen Corbosiero, a University of Albany atmospheric scientist who specializes in Pacific hurricanes. Thats a whole summer and fall amount of rain coming in probably six to 12 hours.

The region could face once-in-a-century rains and there is a good chance Nevada will break its all-time rainfall record, said meteorologist Jeff Masters of Yale Climate Connections and a former government in-flight hurricane meteorologist.

President Joe Biden said the Federal Emergency Management Agency had pre-positioned staff and supplies in the region.

I urge everyone, everyone in the path of this storm, to take precautions and listen to the guidance of state and local officials, Biden told reporters Friday at Camp David, where he is meeting with the leaders of Japan and South Korea.

Deputies with the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department announced warnings over public address systems and urged homeless people living in riverbeds and other potentially dangerous areas to move into shelters before the storm hits.

Authorities in the city were also helping arrange food, cots and shelters for people who needed them, officials said at an afternoon news conference.

Janice Hahn, chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, said planning had been underway for several days, which included evacuation plans for the tourist destination of Santa Catalina Island, off the coast.

I dont think any of us  I know me particularly  never thought Id be standing here talking about a hurricane or a tropical storm, Hahn said.

Officials in Southern California were also re-enforcing sand berms, built to protect low-lying coastal communities against winter surf, like in Huntington Beach, which dubs itself as Surf City USA."

In nearby Newport Beach, Tanner Atkinson waited in a line of vehicles for free sandbags at a city distribution point.

I mean a lot of people here are excited because the waves are gonna get pretty heavy," Atkinson said. "But I mean, its gonna be some rain, so usually theres some flooding and the landslides and things like that.

SpaceX delayed the launch of a satellite-carrying rocket from a base on Californias central coast until at least Monday. The company said conditions in the Pacific could make it difficult for a ship to recover the rocket booster.

Storms dont usually hit Southern California because prevailing winds usually push them either due west into open ocean or northeastward into Mexico and other parts of the U.S. Southwest, according to experts.

Almost all of them just go out to sea. Thats why we never hear about them, said Kerry Emanuel, a hurricane professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

That's unlikely to happen with Hilary mostly because of a high pressure heat dome that is expected to bring triple digit heat indices in the Midwest and block the eastern turn, Masters said.

___

Watson reported from San Diego. Associated Press writers Seth Borenstein in Washington, Maria Verza and Mark Stevenson in Mexico City, John Antczak in Los Angeles, and Eugene Garcia in Newport Beach, California, contributed to this report.
Fulton Countys sweeping indictment against former President Donald Trump and 18 additional co-defendants also includes details involving 30 unindicted co-conspirators  people who Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis alleges took part in the criminal conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election.

Some of the co-conspirators are key Trump advisers, like Boris Epshteyn, while several others are likely Georgia officials who were the states fake electors for Donald Trump.

One of the unindicted co-conspirators who appears multiple times in the indictment is Georgias Republican Lt. Gov. Burt Jones. Willis was barred by a state judge from investigating Jones after she hosted a fundraiser last year for Jones Democratic opponent when he was a state senator running for lieutenant governor.

The 98-page document alleges the 30 unindicted co-conspirators, who are not named, constituted a criminal organization whose members and associates engaged in various related criminal activities across the 41 charges laid out in the indictment.

Prosecutors use the co-conspirator label for people who are not charged in the indictment but nonetheless were participants in the crime, said Elie Honig, a CNN senior legal analyst and former federal and state prosecutor. We do this to protect the identity and reputation of uncharged people  though they often are readily identifiable  and, at times, to turn up the pressure and try to flip them before a potential indictment drops.

CNN was able to identify some of the co-conspirators by piecing together details included in the indictment. Documents reviewed from previous reporting also provide clues, especially the reams of emails and testimony from the House January 6 Committees report released late last year.

CNN has been able to identify or narrow down nearly all of the unindicted co-conspirators:

Co-conspirator 1 is Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch

The indictment refers to Trumps speech on November 4, 2020, falsely declaring victory in the 2020 presidential election and that Individual 1 discussed a draft of that speech approximately four days earlier, on October 31, 2020.

Tom Fitton, President of Judicial Watch, addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference on February 28, 2021 in Orlando, Florida. - Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The January 6 committee obtained an email from Fitton sent on October 31 to Trumps assistant Molly Michael and his communications adviser Dan Scavino, which says, Please see below a draft statement as you requested.

The statement Fitton wrote also says in part, We had an election today  and I won.

Co-conspirator 3 is Boris Epshteyn, Trump political adviser

The indictment states that co-conspirator 3 appeared at the infamous November 19, 2020, press conference at the Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington, with Rudy Giuliani, one of the defendants in the case. Epshteyn was there.

A November 19, 2020 photo shows Trump campaign advisor Boris Epshteyn at the Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington, DC. - Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images/FILE

The indictment also includes two emails between co-conspirator 3, John Eastman and Kenneth Chesebro, two lawyers who pushed the strategy of then-Vice President Mike Pence trying to overturn the election on January 6, 2021, including one with a draft memo for options of how to proceed on January 6.

According to emails released by the January 6 committee, Epshteyn was the third person on those emails.

Co-conspirator 4 is Robert Sinners, Trumps Georgia election day operations lead

Individual 4 received an email from co-defendant David Shafer, Georgias Republican Party chair, on November 20, 2020, that said Scott Graham Hall, a Georgia bail bondsman, has been looking into the election on behalf of the President at the request of David Bossie, according to the indictment.

CNN obtained court documents that show Shafer sent this email to Sinners in November 2020: Scott Hall has been looking into the election on behalf of the President at the request of David Bossie. I know him. Hall is one of the 19 defendants charged in the indictment.

The indictment notes an additional email from December 12, 2020, from Shafer to Individual 4 advising them to touch base with each of the Trump presidential elector nominees in Georgia in advance of the December 14, 2020, meeting to confirm their attendance.

CNN reporting from June 2022 reveals an email exchange between Sinners and David Shafer on December 13, 2020, 18 hours before the group of alternate electors gathered at the Georgia State Capitol.

I must ask for your complete discretion in this process, Sinners wrote. Your duties are imperative to ensure the end result  a win in Georgia for President Trump  but will be hampered unless we have complete secrecy and discretion.

Co-conspirator 5 is Bernie Kerik, former NYPD Commissioner

Keriks attorney, Tim Parlatore, confirmed to CNN that his client is the unnamed individual listed in the indictment as co-conspirator 5. The indictment refers to co-conspirator 5 taking part in several meetings with lawmakers in Pennsylvania and Arizona, states Trump was contesting after the 2020 election.

That included the meeting Kerik attended at the White House on November 25, 2020, with a group of Pennsylvania legislators, along with Trump, then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Giuliani, Jenna Ellis and individual 6.

Former New York Police Department Commissioner Bernie Kerik at Trump National Golf Club on June 13. - Mary Altaffer/AP

Parlatore took issue with Willis definition of co-conspirator in the case of Kerik, saying that the indictment only refers to him in the context of receiving emails and attending meetings.

Co-conspirator 6 is GOP operative Phil Waldron

The indictment says on November 25, 2020, Trump, Meadows, Giuliani, Ellis, Individuals 5 and 6 met at the White House with a group of Pennsylvania legislators.

According to the January 6 committee report, Waldron was among the visitors who were at the White House that day, along with Kerik and attorney Katherine Freiss. Cassidy Hutchinson, former aide to Meadows, explained that their conversation with the president touched on holding a special session of the Pennsylvania state legislature to appoint Trump electors.

The indictment also says on December 21, 2020, Sidney Powell, a defendant in the case, sent an email to Individuals 6, 21 and 22 that they were to immediately receive a copy of all data from Dominions voting systems in Michigan.

The Washington Post reported last August that the email stated Waldron was among the three people to receive the data, along with Conan Hayes and Todd Sanders.

Waldron at a hearing in front of Michigan lawmakers in December 2020. - Michigan House Oversight Committee

Waldron is the only person who was involved in both the White House meeting and received the Powell email.

Co-conspirator 8 is Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones

The indictment says Giuliani re-tweeted a post from co-conspirator 8 on December 7, 2020, calling upon Georgia voters to contact their local representatives and ask them to sign a petition for a special session to ensure every legal vote is counted. The date and content of the tweet match a tweet posted by Jones, who was at the time a state senator.

Burt Jones, Georgia's Republican Lieutenant Governor - Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images/FILE

Jones, who was elected lieutenant governor in November, appears more than a dozen times throughout the indictment as co-conspirator 8, including as a fake elector.

After the 2020 election, Jones was calling for a special session of the Georgia legislature, something Gov. Brian Kemp and former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan refused to do.

On Thursday, Pete Skandalakis, the executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia, told CNN that he will appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Jones role in the states 2020 election interference case, after a judge blocked Willis from investigating him last year.

Co-conspirators 9 is former Georgia Republican Party Treasurer Joseph Brannan

The indictment lists several emails sent to co-conspirator 9 related to preparations for the fake electors who met on December 14, 2020, including an email from Chesebro to help coordinate with the other 5 contested States, to help with logistics of the electors in other States hopefully joining in casting their votes on Monday.

According to emails obtained by the January 6 committee, that email was sent to an account belong to the Georgia GOP treasurer, which at the time was Brannan.

Co-conspirator 9 is also included in the indictment as one of the 13 unindicted co-conspirators who served as fake electors.

Co-conspirators 10 and 11 are Georgia GOP officials Carolyn Fisher and Vikki Consiglio

The indictment says on December 10, 2020, Ken Chesebro sent an email to Georgia state Republican Chair David Shafer and Individuals 9, 10 and 11, with documents that were to be used by Trump electors to create fake certificates.

The January 6 committee obtained as part of its evidence an email from Chesebro sent on December 10 sent to Shafer and three other email addresses. One is for Carolyn Fisher, the former Georgia GOP first vice chair, one is for the Georgia Republican Party treasurer and one is for the Georgia GOP assistant treasurer, the role Consiglio was serving in 2020.

The email contains attachments of memos and certificates that could be used to help swap out the Biden electors with a slate of electors for Trump.

Both co-conspirators 10 and 11 also served as fake electors in Georgia.

Co-conspirators 2 and 8-19 are the fake electors

Of the 30 unindicted co-conspirators, 13 are listed as the fake electors for Donald Trump, who signed papers unlawfully falsely holding themselves out as the duly elected and qualified presidential electors from the State of Georgia, according to the indictment.

Three of the 16 Georgia fake electors were charged in the indictment: David Shafer, Shawn Still and Cathleen Alston Latham.

The other 13 fake electors, according to the fake electors certificate published by the National Archives, are Jones (co-conspirator 8), Joseph Brannan (co-conspirator 9), James Ken Carroll, Gloria Godwin, David Hanna, Mark Hennessy, Mark Amick, John Downey, Daryl Moody, Brad Carver, CB Yadav and two others who appear to be Individuals 10 and 11.

Several of the fake electors who were not charged are only listed in the indictment for their role signing on as electors for Trump, while others, like Jones, appear in other parts of the indictment as being more actively involved with the alleged conspiracy.

Co-conspirator 20 is unclear

The indictment says Individual 20 was part of a meeting at the White House on December 18, 2020, with Trump, Giuliani and Powell, known to have discussed the possibility of seizing voting machines.

The December 18 meeting featured prominently during some of the hearings from the January 6 committee. All but two of the outside advisers who attended have been named as co-defendants in the indictment already: former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn and former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne.

The meeting featured fiery exchanges between Trumps White House lawyers and his team of outside advisers, including on whether to appoint Sidney Powell as special counsel to investigate voter fraud, according to the indictment and previous details that have been disclosed about the meeting.

The outside advisers famously got into a screaming match with Trumps White House lawyers  Pat Cipollone and Eric Herschmann  at the Oval Office meeting. Cipollone and Herschmann, along with Meadows, pushed back intensely on the proposals, Cipollone and Herschmann testified to the January 6 committee.

Co-conspirators 21 and 22 are Conan Hayes and Todd Sanders

Co-conspirators 21 and 22 are Conan Hayes and Todd Sanders  who are both affiliated with Byrnes America Project, a conservative advocacy group that contributed funding to Arizonas Republican ballot audit. Hayes was a former surfer from Hawaii and Sanders has a cybersecurity background in the private sector.

The indictment says on Dec. 21, 2020, Sidney Powell sent an email to the chief operations officer of SullivanStrickler, saying that individual 6, who CNN identified as Waldron, along with individuals 21 and 22, were to immediately receive a copy of all data from Dominions voting systems in Michigan.

According to the Washington Post, Conan and Todd were the other two people listed on the email to receive the data.

Co-conspirators 23-30 are related to Coffee County voting machines

The final eight co-conspirators listed in the indictment are connected to the effort to access voting machines in Georgias Coffee County.

Co-conspirator 25 and 29 are a Cyber Ninjas CEO Doug Logan and analyst Jeffrey Lenberg

The indictment says that Misty Hampton allowed co-conspirators 25 and 29 to access non-public areas of the Coffee County elections office on January 18, 2021. Logan and Lenberg were the two outsiders granted access to the elections office that day by Hampton, according to surveillance video previously obtained by CNN. No one else was given access to the office that day, according to a CNN review of the footage.

The indictment also notes that co-conspirator 25 downloaded Coffee County election data that SullivanStrickler then had uploaded to a separate server. Documents previously obtained by CNN show five accounts that downloaded the data  one account belongs to Logan and none of them belong to Lenberg. Still, CNN could not definitively determine who exactly downloaded the data.

Logan and his company conducted the so-called Republican audit of the 2020 ballots cast in Arizonas Maricopa County.

Co-conspirator 28 is Jim Penrose

The indictment says that co-conspirator 28 sent an e-mail to the Chief Operations Officer of SullivanStrickler LLC directing him to transmit data copied from Coffee County to co-conspirator 30 and Powell. CNN has previously reported on emails Penrose and Powell arranged upfront payment to a cyber forensics firm that sent a team to Coffee County.

CNNs Kaitlan Collins, Morgan Stoviak and Aleena Fayaz contributed to this report.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Police outside the British Museum in central London

The British Museum came under pressure this week after it sacked a member of staff over treasures reported "missing, stolen or damaged".

The museum, one of the nation's biggest tourist attractions, is dedicated to human history, art and culture, and is home to millions of valuable objects.

Police are now investigating the theft of items including gold, jewellery and gems of semi-precious stones.

Here's what we know about what has happened so far, as well as a look back at some other big thefts.

What happened?

It is understood the missing items were taken before this year and over a "significant" period of time. Some of them ended up on eBay, being sold for considerably less than their actual estimated value.

None of the treasures, which dated from the 15th Century BC to the 19th Century AD, had recently been on display and had been kept primarily for academic and research purposes, the museum said. The majority of them were kept in a storeroom.

The British Museum's outgoing current director Hartwig Fischer said this week that the museum would "throw our efforts into the recovery of objects".

"This is a highly unusual incident," said Mr Fischer. "I know I speak for all colleagues when I say that we take the safeguarding of all the items in our care extremely seriously.

"We have already tightened our security arrangements and we are working alongside outside experts to complete a definitive account of what is missing, damaged and stolen."

The perpetrator

Legal action is being taken against the staff member who was sacked, added the museum, which has started its own independent review of security.

However, the sacked member of staff has not been identified as the suspected thief.

London's Metropolitan Police is investigating the thefts but no arrests have been made as yet.

BBC News has not been able to independently verify the identity of former employee involved. We have contacted the museum and the police but neither have confirmed their identity, or said exactly why they were sacked, how the items went missing or what they were.

Other thefts at the British Museum

Among the treasures that have previously gone missing from the British Museum are a Cartier ring worth 750,000 and a 12cm marble head.

During the 1970s, the museum said a number of historic coins and medals were stolen.

In 1993, Roman coins and jewellery worth 250,000 were taken after thieves broke in via the roof.

In 2002, the museum reviewed security after a 2,500-year-old Greek statue, believed to be worth around 25,000 was stolen by a member of the public.

The British Museum welcomes millions of visitors each year from all around the world

The marble head was taken from the Greek Archaic Gallery which had been open to the public without a permanent guard on duty.

In 2004, it was reported that 15 "historically important" Chinese artefacts - including jewels, ornate hairpins and fingernail guards - had been taken by a member of the public.

In 2017, it was revealed that an expensive Cartier diamond had actually been missing since 2011.

High-profile museum thefts elsewhere include:

The robbery of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre in 1911 by handyman Vincenzo Peruggia

The theft of The Scream, stolen from the Munch Museum in 2004 but recovered two years later

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston had 13 works, worth a combined $500m (392m), stolen in 1990. The case remains unsolved

A slick thief known as "Spider-Man" stole five masterpieces from a Paris museum in 2010

Impressionist masterpieces were taken from a Paris museum as the public looked on in 1985

The same year, amateurs took 124 beloved artefacts from a Mexican archaeological museum

The Nazi looting of Europe during World War II, and Russian looting of Ukraine during the 2022 invasion

Contested artefacts

The British Museum has been under increasing pressure itself in recent years to return items in its collection to their countries of origin.

The demands by Greece for the return of the Parthenon Sculptures, often still known as the Elgin Marbles, are the most high profile example in this contested debate.

They were removed by the diplomat and soldier Lord Elgin in the 19th Century and later bought by the British government and placed in the British Museum.

In March, the Vatican returned three fragments of Athens' Parthenon temple it had kept for centuries.

Parthenon Sculptures, which are originally from the temple of Athena in Greece, were brought to Britain by Lord Elgin

Restitution issues more commonly apply to countries which experienced colonial conflict.

Ethiopia wants the British Museum to return ceremonial crosses, weapons, jewellery, sacred altar tablets and other items taken from Maqdala in the north of the country during British military action in 1868.

The Nigerian government has also formally asked the museum to return 900 Benin Bronzes.

And ruler of Ghana's Asante people has pressed the museum to return gold items in its collection.

Elsewhere in May, Greece said it had recovered hundreds of looted artefacts, including a 2nd Century bronze statue of Alexander the Great.

The British Museum was established by an Act of Parliament in 1753 and is currently governed by the British Museum Act 1963.

Its principal regulator is the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), which also sponsors it. A non-departmental public body, the museum operates at arm's length from government, but is accountable to parliament.
In a sharp break from Arkansas education officials, the Little Rock School District said in a news release it will offer AP African American Studies for credit.

Earlier this month, state education officials said students enrolled in the controversial Advanced Placement course would not receive credits toward graduation.

As part of our commitment to providing a rich and comprehensive learning experience, we will continue with our plans to offer the AP course, the districts release said Wednesday. We will also continue to work closely with the College Board regarding content and curriculum.

CNN has reached out to the state board of education and Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders for comment. Sanders signed an executive order in January prohibiting indoctrination and critical race theory in schools.

The Little Rock School district includes Central High School, the scene of a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights era. In 1957, nine Black students enrolled to test the landmark Brown vs. Board of Education ruling that declared segregated public schools unconstitutional. On their first day of school, the students were met with an angry White mob that rejected integrated schools and the National Guard blocking the entrance.

We are fortunate to have one of the foremost subject matter experts leading the instruction at Central High School who has expressed that her students are enthusiastic about the opportunity to take the course, the district said. AP African American Studies will allow students to explore the complexities, contributions, and narratives that have shaped the African American experience throughout history, including Central High Schools integral connection.

Nearly 100 students at Central had enrolled in the course this year, school board member and attorney Ali Noland told CNN.

Calling the course the opposite of indoctrination, Noland said it taught an essential and important part of American history.

In other states, as well, Republican leaders have sought to limit what can be included in Black history education.

CNNs Nicquel Terry Ellis contributed to this report.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Updated Friday 8:45 a.m. EDT

Hurricane Hilary is intensifying even faster than forecast well southwest of the tip of Baja California. The worst of the storm will miss the Cabo San Lucas area, though they'll know an intense hurricane is passing by.

Hilary is forecast to peak out at Category 4 today before a weakening trend begins tomorrow. The storm is caught in an unusually strong river of air between the extreme high-pressure heat dome over the middle of the U.S. and an unseasonable low-pressure system off the California coast.

The flow between those weather systems has Hilary on a beeline toward Southern California. The ocean water temperature under the circulation will quickly drop as the hurricane moves north, so Hilary's winds are forecast to weaken significantly by the time it gets to the U.S./Mexico border. Large circulations like Hilary's take longer to spin down, however. A significant windstorm is possible in parts of San Diego, Imperial, Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Bernadino Counties.

Hurricane Hilary is intensifying even faster than forecast well southwest of the tip of Baja California.

It's too early to know where the worst of the winds will occur because the mountain valleys and passes will funnel the wind, and the local wind speeds are very dependent on the exact direction of the wind. But heavy tropical rains will likely impact all of the southern part of California and the western parts of Arizona and Nevada. Flash flooding from heavy rain, especially over the mountains and in desert arroyos, is a real possibility.

The direction of the moisture-laden wind, when it runs into the various mountain ranges that crisscross Southern California, is also critical to where the heaviest rain will fall. And the wind direction in any one place is dependent on the exact track of the center of circulation.

On the current schedule, the rain moves in from south to north late Saturday, peaks Sunday into Monday in Southern California, moves north as a weaker rainmaker, and dies out Tuesday into Wednesday. Although some moisture will remain over California after the storm passes. Arizona and Nevada effects will be on a similar schedule. The moisture will rapidly spread north on Sunday.

The worst of the storm will miss the Cabo San Lucas area, though they'll know an intense hurricane is passing by.

If the center moves inland before reaching California, the heaviest rain will fall over the eastern-facing mountains and the deserts. If it tracks farther west and stays offshore longer, however, more rain will fall in the populated areas and west and south-fact slopes where millions of people live. It's too close to call.

This weekend it will be essential to stay informed in Southern California and in the population centers in Arizona and Nevada.

The Atlantic is buzzing with activity, but none of it is especially threatening. From left to right:

Tropical Disturbance #4 is near the Bahamas. The system will cross the southern part of the Florida peninsula on its way into the Gulf of Mexico. The National Hurricane Center is giving it a low chance of developing into a tropical depression on its trek across the Gulf over the weekend.

The Atlantic is buzzing with activity, but none of it is especially threatening.

Whether it organizes or not, it could bring beneficial rain to at least parts of coastal Texas and the Hill Country around midweek. It's being driven west by the circulation around the ultra-strong heat dome high-pressure system over the central U.S. If the strong high flexes its muscles, the disturbance and its moisture might get pushed south so the Houston area, for example, only gets brushed. The breeze should also increase as the system tries to tighten up, and so will the humidity. Eastern Texas should get a break from the relentless 100+ degree heat.

In the eastern Atlantic, there are 3 disturbances embedded in an elongated area of disturbance weather. They all have a chance of developing into a tropical depression over the next few days, especially Invest 98L, the system farthest east.

Tropical Disturbance #1 (officially Invest #98L) is not a threat.

There's a chance the Tropical Disturbance #3, the one closest to the Caribbean islands, and possibly Invest #99L will track toward the Caribbean. With all these systems so close to each other and all captured in a broad area of disturbed weather across the tropical Atlantic, predictions about exactly what will happen are low confidence.

HOW TO WATCH FOX WEATHER

A lot of dusty dry air has spread across the Atlantic. Combined with upper winds that are hostile at times, the odds of development of the westernmost disturbance are low and medium for Invest #99L. Everybody on the northeast Caribbean islands should stay up to date on the latest forecasts over the next several days.

On the current schedule, the Tropical Disturbance #3 will move into the Caribbean over the weekend. The system is not expected to blow up into a major storm, but it could bring some gusty tropical downpours to some of the islands.

Some aspects of the atmospheric pattern over the Atlantic are very conducive for tropical development, and others are hostile. Right now, the hostile forces are winning. On average, the pendulum swings about this time, so we watch the disturbances closely to be sure a conducive patch of atmosphere doesn't suddenly open up. But for now, we are seeing a lot of systems but no atmospheric conditions like those supporting major Hurricane Hilary in the Pacific.

If you havent done it, download the FOX Weather app now. Youll get alerts issued by the National Weather Service, plus you can stream FOX Weather by touching "Watch LIVE" in the upper right of the apps home screen.

Be informed before you head out.
BEIJING (Reuters) -China's President Xi Jinping will attend the BRICS leaders' meeting and visit South Africa on Aug. 21-24, the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday.

Leaders from the five BRICS countries of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa meet in Johannesburg next week from Aug. 22 to discuss how to turn a loose club of nations accounting for a quarter of the global economy into a geopolitical force that can challenge the West's dominance in world affairs.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who faces an international arrest warrant over alleged war crimes in Ukraine, will dial in by video call instead of attending in person.

Expansion is expected to be high on the agenda, as some 40 nations have shown interest in joining, either formally or informally, according to South Africa. They include Saudi Arabia, Argentina and Egypt.

China, seeking to expand its geopolitical influence as it tussles with the United States, has said it "welcomes more like-minded partners to join the 'BRICS family' at an early date."

Russia also supports expansion, while Brazil resists it, fearing the already unwieldy club could see its stature diluted by it. India is on the fence.

Besides attending the BRICS meeting, Xi will also co-chair the China-Africa Leaders' Dialogue with his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa, the Chinese foreign ministry said.

(Reporting by Beijing newsroom; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Christian Schmollinger)
By Foo Yun Chee and Sudip Kar-Gupta

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm will have to seek EU antitrust approval for its planned takeover of Israeli auto-chip maker Autotalks even though the deal is below the European Union's turnover threshold, EU regulators said on Friday.

The European Commission cited the importance of the deal to original equipment manufacturers and others who need access to vehicle-to-everything (V2X) semiconductors.

The EU competition watchdog said 15 EU countries, including France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden had asked it to examine the deal.

It said Qualcomm would have to secure EU antitrust approval before it can close the deal.

"The transaction would combine two of the main suppliers of V2X semiconductors in the EEA (European Economic Area). The V2X technology is key to improving road safety, traffic management and reducing CO2 emissions as well as for the deployment of autonomous vehicles," the Commission said in a statement.

"It is therefore important to ensure that customers such as original equipment manufacturers or infrastructure managers retain access to V2X technology at competitive prices and conditions."

Qualcomm, which announced the planned takeover in May to expand its automotive-related business, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Autotalks makes dedicated chips used in the V2X communications technology sector for manned and driverless vehicles, with a view to improving road safety.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta Editing by Jason Neely and Mark Potter)
The ex-wife of a man who was killed in the middle of a street in front of his 2-year-old daughter has been charged in the "cold, calculated and premeditated murder," Florida officials said.

Jared Bridegan, a Microsoft executive and father of four, was found fatally shot outside his Volkswagen Atlas on a Jacksonville Beach street last year.

On Thursday, a grand jury indicted Bridegans ex-wife, Shanna Gardner, on charges that include murder, conspiracy and solicitation to commit murder, said Melissa Nelson, the state attorney for the 4th Judicial Circuit in Florida.

Nelson said her office intends to seek the death penalty.

Officials say Gardner conspired with her husband to plan the slaying. Her husband and another man were previously arrested in the case.

Jared Bridegan. (Courtesy Kirsten Bridegan)

They did not act alone, Nelson said.

Shanna Gardners indictment acknowledges her central and key role in the cold, calculated and premeditated murder of Jared Bridegan, Nelson said Thursday at a news conference.

Gardner was arrested in West Richland, Washington, on Thursday morning by agents with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Nelson said.

Gardner, 36, was being held without bail in the Benton County, Washington, jail Thursday night, jail records show.

It was not immediately clear whether Gardner had an attorney who could speak on her behalf. Her case did not appear to be in online Florida records Thursday night.

Prosecutors will seek to extradite Gardner to Duval County, Florida, to face charges, Nelson said.

Gardner is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, solicitation to commit first-degree murder and child abuse, prosecutors said.

An indictment alleges that she and her husband, Mario Fernandez-Saldana, conspired to cause Bridegans death and solicit someone else to kill him.

Bridegan, 33, was fatally shot in front of his 2-year-old daughter, who was unharmed in the back seat of the Volkswagen.

His widow, Kirsten Bridegan, told NBCs Dateline that when he did not come home on Feb. 16, 2022, she went driving looking for him and kept calling his phone until a police officer answered.

The officer told her that her daughter was OK but that she needed to go to the police station.

Bridegan had dropped off the twin 9-year-old children he had with Gardner at Gardner's home, prosecutors have said.

He was driving on a regular route home when he stopped to remove a tire from the middle of the road, the state attorney's office has said. When he got out, he was shot multiple times.

Henry Tenon is alleged to have carried out the killing, and Fernandez-Saldana is alleged to have been involved in planning it, Nelson said.

Tenon, 62, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder this year and agreed to testify against any accomplice, the state attorney's office has said.

He has not been sentenced, according to court records. He was a tenant of Fernandez-Saldanas, prosecutors said.

Fernandez-Saldana, 35, was indicted in March on charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, solicitation to commit a capital felony and child abuse.

Fernandez-Saldana has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors have said they intend to seek the death penalty.

NBC affiliate WTLV of Jacksonville has reported that Bridegan was a Microsoft executive and father of four.

Kirsten Bridegan said his family has "hoped and prayed that this day would come.

Shannas arrest ends one horrific chapter of our pursuit for justice for Jared, she said.

"We expect to see justice carried out to the fullest extent of the law," she said.
(Elana Marie / For De Los )

Its hard to think of a scenario in which being overprepared could be a bad thing.

But heres one: Youre in a foreign country, you have the vocabulary of a 5-year-old in the countrys language and your flight boards in about an hour. The scale at the ticket counter says that your luggage  two suitcases and a broken carry-on that youve been lugging from bus to train station to airport  is about 20 pounds over the limit.

In this moment, being overprepared felt more like a curse than a blessing. I had everything I needed and then some, secured inside three suitcases.

The truth is, my flight from Paris to San Diego after a semester of studying abroad was a long time coming  seven months, give or take. I had accumulated pounds of miscellaneous items (clothes, food, shoes, souvenirs) to fill the void of the places, things and people I had left back home months before.

Read more:Do Latinos in the U.S. have a 'toxic gratitude' problem?

As a Mexican American 20-something living in a different country without knowing anyone, retail therapy was a way to cure the culture shock and solitude. But even that got old. The shops at Champs-Elysees only distracted from the longing for my culture for so long.

The effects of being away from home can creep up on you. And while you can bring along a select amount of memorabilia and tokens of comfort, some things are just impossible to fit into a suitcase.

If I could, I would take these things with me everywhere I go, just to feel an inch closer to home.

Una dulceria

On Valentines Day during my year abroad, my mom flew to France to cure my homesickness, bringing a bag of my favorite Mexican treats along with her. Pica Fresas, Skwinkles, chamoy, Takis and Tostitos, paired with her warmth and ability to speak Spanish with me, cured all.

Read more:How this Latina mother-daughter duo is confronting mental health

Dulcerias are more than candy shops  theyre a recollection of your childhood birthday parties where pinatas were filled to the brim with treats and your biggest worry was gathering all of the spicy candy within sight.

La fuerza y etica de trabajo mi madre

Single mothers often are left with the responsibility of having to provide for their families. Migrating from Mexico to the United States is hard enough. Adding children to the mix? Now, that should qualify many of the single mothers across the country  including my own  as saints.

For years, early mornings were spent crossing the border from Tijuana to San Diego, watching my mother work around the clock while my two brothers and I were at school. When we finally moved to San Diego, forcing my mother to leave her career as a doctor behind in Mexico, her work ethic only became stronger as she decided to go back to school to make a decent living for us.

Read more:As a Oaxacan, living in Miami brought me closer to Mexico

This level of hard work is not found everywhere. Countries with large populations of immigrants  get it. They get the sacrifices, the long days and the uphill battle for a better life.

El sazon de mi abuela

I have a memory from my time abroad of my Mexican roommate cooking beans for lunch. The aroma of pinto beans simmering in a pot with onions and tomatoes reminded me of my late abuelita Martha.

She worked wonders in her bubble-gum-pink kitchen in Tijuana, often feeding the grandkids her specialties: gelatina de fresa, arroz con leche and other delicacies. Mid-semester abroad, I got a phone call from my brother saying she had died.

Read more:Visiting a shrine to Walter Mercado at a Puerto Rican mall

There arent enough recipes in the world to replicate the magic she brought to the kitchen. But if there were, theyd be the first items Id tuck away in my carry-on.

El respeto

This one transcends Latinidad. It was one of the first rules we ever learned in school. A song was even written about it.

Two syllables and all women should be on the receiving end of it: respect. Our people can feel when it's not being given, and we will call you out for it.

Read more:What does it mean to belong? These Latino poets explain

We know to ask for permission, not forgiveness, and most important, to honor peoples personal space and boundaries. Although the latter is a generational work in progress, respect has always been at the forefront of our culture.

Roxana Becerril is an independent Mexican American journalist covering stories spanning across lifestyle, travel and Latino verticals. Her words have been published by the San Diego Union-Tribune, the San Diego Union-Tribune en Espanol, Eater, San Diego Magazine and other publications. Becerril earned her degree in journalism at San Diego State University and at the French university Sciences Po.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
A Missouri man used other peoples Social Security cards and drivers licenses to finance his vehicle purchases, then he taught others how to do the same scheme after his arrest, according to federal authorities.

The 27-year-old man from Hazelwood committed a series of scams trying to steal a total of $404,415, authorities said, and now he has been sentenced to nine years and three months in federal prison. Hes also been ordered to repay the money.

The defense attorney representing the man said his client is disappointed in the sentence imposed and views it as excessive.

Although he continues to accept responsibility for his actions, hes exploring his options on appeal, the attorney said in a statement to McClatchy News.

In March, the man pleaded guilty to four felony counts of bank fraud and three felony counts of aggravated identity theft, according to court documents.

Authorities said his years-long schemes began in 2018, when he accessed other peoples Discover Bank accounts and changed their information so that he could get debit cards and checks connected to their accounts.

The intended loss was $11,754, according to an Aug. 17 news release from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Missouri.

In 2019, the man bought three vehicles from a dealership in Florissant using fraudulent Social Security cards and drivers licenses, according to court records. He bought the vehicles using loans that he received in the names of other people, officials said.

The vehicles included a $18,098 Chevrolet Impala, a $42,086 Chevrolet Tahoe and a $29,079 BMW 428 XI, according to the release.

On Aug. 23, 2019, the man tried to buy a $38,191 Dodge Challenger using someone elses Social Security number, authorities said. He was arrested during the attempt.

After his arrest, (he) helped others to do the same thing at dealers throughout the St. Louis and southern Illinois areas, causing a total loss of $244,374, authorities said.

And in 2020 and 2021, officials said he fraudulently applied for COVID-19 pandemic loans and received $20,832 in Paycheck Protection Program funds.

(He) not only stole individuals identities for his personal gain but led multiple fraud schemes including stealing money intended for legitimate businesses that were impacted by COVID-19, Gail S. Ennis, inspector general for the Social Security Administration, said in the release.

Authorities said five other people involved in the schemes have been charged. Four people pleaded guilty, and they have been sentenced to prison and ordered to pay restitution.

Couple nearly swindled out of $88,000 in Missouri  but they got suspicious, feds say

Pool builder stole $1.5M from customers  and bought Super Bowl tickets, Florida cops say

Worker stole over $483,000 from real estate company in yearslong scheme, feds say




South Korea's spy agency said Friday it has not detected the occurrence of a suspected terrorist bombing attack near Pyongyang but is monitoring related situations.







Citing a source familiar with North Korea's situation, the Donga Ilbo, a local newspaper, reported that there were signs of a suspected terrorist attack involving an explosive in the vicinity of the North's capital one or two months earlier.







"The outbreak of a bombing attack has not been identified, but (we) are tracking related situations," the National Intelligence Service (NIS) said in response to the report.







In a closed-door briefing to the parliamentary intelligence committee in May, the NIS said the number of violent crimes had tripled in North Korea from a year earlier.







"Large-scale and organized" crimes were also committed, including the throwing of homemade bombs in attempts to extort goods, it added.







With deaths from starvation being reported, North Korea has been suffering from a severe food crisis amid deepening economic hardships and disruptions of the state-controlled food supply system. (Yonhap)


Ive written twice in the past week about the shocking and most likely illegal raid that Marion police carried out in a campaign to terrorize the local newspaper, so Im going to take a break from that today.

Lets go back a few weeks to a simpler time in Marion, before it became the national poster child for police abuse of power and press intimidation.

Today, Im going to write about an incident involving the same cast of characters  when the Marion police chief facilitated an illegal meeting at the instigation of the same restaurateur who precipitated the newspaper raid.

How do I know an illegal meeting occurred?

Easy. The Marion police put it on their Facebook page  with four photos.

On Aug. 1, they posted this:

Karis Kitchen hosted a meeting with U.S. Congressman Jake LaTurner and District 70 Kansas Representative Scott Hill for a meet and greet. Thank you Kari Newell for the invite.

Along with Marion Police Chief G. Cody, Col. Duane McCarty, Marion County Sheriff Jeff Soyez, Under Sheriff Larry Starkey was Marion Councilman Jerry Kline, Marion City Administrator Brogan Jones, Marion County Commissioners David Crofoot, David Mueller and Ken Becker, and many citizens from Marion County.

Thanks Again Karis Kitchen for hosting the meeting.

What they didnt put in their post was that Newell got Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody to chase away a reporter and publisher from the Marion County Record under the color of authority of law.

Reminiscent of Wichita Trump campaign rally ejections

The situation is somewhat reminiscent of the 2018 Donald Trump rally at the Century II in Wichita, where a couple of Trump goons in tailored suits moved through the crowd, pointing out people  mostly young and minorities  who they wanted removed, and police removed them.

But that was different. It was a campaign event, which is technically private, so all you could do was try to look older and whiter and MAGAer if you wanted to stay.

The Marion event was a governmental exercise, not a campaign one  a sitting congressman interacting with his constituents on matters of federal and local affairs.

The congressmans staff had actually invited news coverage, but said there was nothing they could do when Newell wouldnt allow the Record staffers into her restaurant.

Theres an argument to be made here that by consenting to allow the use of her property for the meeting, Newell had consented to its use as a public forum.

But we dont even need to have that argument.

The meeting was illegal anyway because, if youll refer back to the Police Departments Facebook post, three members of the Marion County Commission were in attendance.

That represents a majority of the five commissioners, which makes it an open meeting.

Government meetings in Kansas are governed by what is whimsically called the Kansas Open Meetings Act. Its a bit ironic because its mostly about when government can close a meeting.

Its worth noting here that because Kari Newell said so is not one of the legal exemptions allowing a closed meeting.

Abuse of social gathering exemption in law

There have been several changes to the act over the years.

For example, it used to say that a majority of a quorum of a government body constituted a meeting. On a five-member board, like the Marion County Commission, thats two members.

Faced with the horrifying prospect of having to discuss the publics business in front of the public, Sedgwick County went so far as to alter its definition of a quorum from three of its five members to four.

But loopholes like that became moot when the Legislature changed the law from majority of a quorum to majority.

And attorney general opinions over the years have softened the law further, carving out an exemption for social gatherings.

What that means is if the majority of a public body shows up at the same dog fight or strip club, its not an official meeting as long as government business isnt discussed.

The social gathering exemption is of course wildly abused  politicians talk business all the time at social gatherings  but it is what it is, and it wont change until someone challenges it in court.

In the case of the Marion meeting, its beyond belief that a congressman and local officials didnt discuss any aspects of government policy affecting the county. Thats literally what they were there to do.

But because the press was excluded, you and I dont get to know what they talked about.

Bottom line, its illegal to exclude anyone, public or press, from a County Commission meeting, unless theyre actively disrupting the proceedings. And the staffers from the Record werent doing that.

So we now have more probable cause to believe that the Kansas Open Meetings Act was violated on Aug. 1 than Cody did when he got the search warrant to rifle the newspapers computers, phones and documents, which was also done at Newells behest.

To KBI Director Tony Mattivi: I will very much be looking forward to your investigation of the Marion County commissioners on police-provided evidence that they participated in an illegal meeting, and of Police Chief Cody for illegally excluding members of the press from that meeting. Im hoping it will involve seizing their computers and phones.

Because as you yourself said after the Marion Police raided the newspaper, no one is above the law.
DUBAI (Reuters) -Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian on Friday in the highest-level talks since the countries reconciled in March after years of bitter rivalry that destabilised the region.

The unscheduled meeting in Jeddah comes a day after Amirabdollahian arrived in the kingdom and declared ties between the countries were "on the right track" following talks with his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan.

"Discussions were frank, beneficial and productive," Amirabdollahian said in a social media post after meeting the de facto Saudi ruler, adding that the countries "agree on the security and development of all in the region".

Mohammed bin Salman, widely known as MbS, has pushed to reorient Saudi foreign policy in recent years amid troubles in its historically close relationship with the United States.

Footage of the meeting on Iranian state media showed MbS and Amirabdollahian smiling as they spoke, while Prince Faisal and the Iranian delegation looked on. Saudi state news agency SPA said they discussed international and regional developments.

Rivalry between Iran's revolutionary, Shi'ite Muslim leaders and Saudi Arabia's Sunni ruling family dominated the Middle East for years as they competed for influence in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and Bahrain amid a wave of sectarian bloodshed.

However, China brokered a rapprochement in March leading to a resumption of full diplomatic relations, which Saudi Arabia had broken off in 2016 when protesters attacked its Tehran embassy over Riyadh's execution of a prominent Shi'ite cleric.

Prince Faisal visited Tehran in June and said he hoped Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi would visit the kingdom at the "appropriate time".

After years of competition, and with some of the main regional arenas for their competition more stable than in previous years, both sides have reason to change tack.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wanted to end political and economic isolation pushed by the United States and saw new relations with Saudi Arabia as a way to do so, Iranian officials have said.

Saudi Arabia had meanwhile lost confidence in U.S. commitment to shared regional security concerns and wanted to bolster ties with China, which has retained good relations with Iran. This month it succeeded in getting China to attend a diplomatic meeting on Ukraine that Beijing had earlier avoided.

Prince Faisal also spoke by phone with U.S. Secretary General Antony Blinken, with the pair discussing more coordination to boost "security and stability in the Middle East region," Saudi state media reported on Friday.

(Reporting by Dubai Newsroom; Writing by Angus McDowall; Editing by Mark Potter and Conor Humphries)
(Reuters) -The number of Ukrainian and Russian troops killed or wounded since the war in Ukraine began in February 2022 is nearing 500,000, the New York Times reported on Friday, citing unnamed U.S. officials.

The officials cautioned that casualty figures remained difficult to estimate because Moscow is believed to routinely undercount its war dead and injured, and Kyiv does not disclose official figures, the newspaper said.

Russia's military casualties are approaching 300,000, including as many as 120,000 deaths and 170,000 to 180,000 injuries, the newspaper reported. Ukrainian deaths were close to 70,000, with 100,000 to 120,000 wounded, it added.

The NYT quoted the officials as saying the casualty count had picked up after Ukraine launched a counter-attack earlier this year.

Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, commenting on the NYT article, said only the General Staff could disclose such figures.

"We have adopted a model that only the General Staff has the right to voice the figures on the wounded, the disabled, people who lost limbs, and the missing, and, of course, the number of people who died in this war," he said in a live broadcast on the Youtube channel of journalist Yulia Latynina on Friday.

The Ukrainian military on Thursday claimed gains in its counter-offensive against Russian forces on the southeastern front. Kyiv said its forces had liberated a village, the first such success since July 27, signaling the challenge it faces in advancing through heavily mined Russian defensive lines without powerful air support.

There was no immediate response from Ukrainian officials to Reuters requests for comment. Russia made no immediate comment on the report.

(Reporting by Rami Ayyub and David Ljunggren; Editing by Caitlin Webber and Chizu Nomiyama)
BEIRUT (AP)  A Lebanese Shiite cleric who has angered politicians and religious leaders in Lebanon and Iraq said Friday that groups including Lebanons militant Hezbollah are trying to silence voices of dissent within the sect  including his own.

Sheikh Yasser Auda has developed a reputation on social media in recent years for his criticism of corruption in Iraq and Lebanon. He has also spoken out against the use of violence against opponents of Iran-backed groups in the two crisis-hit countries. He vowed in an interview with The Associated Press on Friday not to bow down even if it costs him is life.

His comments came two days after a department within The Supreme Islamic Shiite Council of Lebanon, the countrys top Shiite religious authority, issued a statement naming 15 clerics whom it said are not qualified to provide religious guidance. Auda was at the top of the list and was almost stripped of his religious status.

But the council later issued a statement saying that the position of the General Directorate for Religious Advocacy did not represent its point of view.

I dont recognize The Supreme Islamic Shiite Council of Lebanon, Auda said in the sitting room of his modest apartment in Beiruts predominantly Shiite southern suburb of Mreijeh. Auda said he rejects corruption by politicians who are protected by religious authorities, in an apparent reference to the council.

He blamed the divisions within the council regarding the statement about his being unqualified to provide religious guidance to competition among clerics who hope to head the council one day.

One of Auda's harshest comments to go viral on social media, which angered Lebanese as well as Iraqi politicians, came in a speech late last month. Whoever defends, even with one word, any legislator, Cabinet minister or a leader in Lebanon or Iraq is a liar, corrupt and a partner with them, he said.

This speech was spread in Iraq and angered politicians and profiteers, especially Shiites, Auda said, wondering how the oil-wealthy country could have a crumbling infrastructure and many of its citizens living in poverty.

He also blasted some of the religious leaders in the Hawza, the religious seminary of the Iraqi Shiite holy city of Najaf, angering some influential figures in the city that is home to one of Shiite Islams holiest shrines.

An Iraqi official in Baghdad told the AP that some of the religious leaders in Najaf requested that Auda be prevented from making public statements. Another official said some senior members of Iran-backed groups and some politicians sent complaints to Beirut through Hezbollahs representative in Iraq, Sheikh Mohammed Kawtharani, demanding that Auda be sidelined.

Both Iraqi officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about religious-related matters. Hezbollah denies any interference in Audas case, saying The Supreme Islamic Shiite Council of Lebanon is in charge.

Auda said there is huge pressure on him in Lebanon from Hezbollah and the Shiite Amal group of powerful Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. He referred to the two groups as the Shiite Duo whom he said strictly prohibit any criticism.

Auda backed the anti-corruption protests that broke out in Iraq and Lebanon in 2019 that were both mostly put down by Iran-backed Shiite groups in Iraq and Amal and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The Shiite Duo dont like me because I accuse them of mismanagement, failure and for taking part in corruption in the country by signing on all laws that wasted public money, he said, referring to decades of corruption and mismanagement that threw Lebanon in its worst economic crisis in its modern history.

Auda described the latest attacks against him, including the General Directorate for Religious Advocacy statement, as moral killing, a killing that lacks a bullet.

Asked if he fears for his life, Auda said he's not scared to die.

I am ready to pay the price but dont hurt my family. I dont want more than that, he said.

____

Abdul-Zahra reported from Baghdad.
By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has approved sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine from Denmark and the Netherlands to defend against Russian invaders as soon as pilot training is completed, a U.S. official said on Thursday.

Ukraine has actively sought the U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets to help it counter Russian air superiority.

Washington gave Denmark and the Netherlands official assurances that the United States will expedite approval of all necessary third-party transfer requests of F-16s to Ukraine so that Ukraine will get F-16s when the pilots are trained.

Denmark and the Netherlands, the two countries leading the training coalition, had recently asked for those assurances.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken sent letters to his Danish and Dutch counterparts assuring them that the requests would be approved, the official said.

"I am writing to express the United States full support for both the transfer of F-16 fighter aircraft to Ukraine and for the training of Ukrainian pilots by qualified F-16 instructors," Blinken said in a letter to the two officials, a copy of which was seen by Reuters.

Blinken said, "It remains critical that Ukraine is able to defend itself against ongoing Russian aggression and violation of its sovereignty."

He said the approval of the third party requests would allow Ukraine to take "full advantage of its new capabilities as soon as the first set of pilots complete their training."

U.S. President Joe Biden had endorsed training programs for Ukrainian pilots on F-16s in May but no timing for the supply of war planes had been given so far.

The F-16 is made by Lockheed Martin.

(Reporting By Steve Holland; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
By Philip Pullella

(Reuters) - The superior general of the worldwide Jesuit religious order has condemned the closure of its university in Nicaragua as part of a government attempt to "suffocate" the Catholic Church and civic institutions in the Central American country.

In a letter sent to the order's Central American leader, Father Arturo Sosa said the government's accusations against the prestigious university were "totally false" and part of a wider government programme of "slander" against those defending freedom.

The letter was sent late on Thursday and seen by Reuters.

The United States has condemned the confiscation of the assets of the Central American University (UCA) as a further erosion of democracy.

The university has said the government has accused it of being a "centre for terrorism organised by criminal groups" and that a Nicaraguan judge had ordered the confiscation of all its assets.

"We know that all of the accusations against UCA are totally false and without any foundation whatsoever," Sosa wrote in the letter to Father Jose Domingo Cuesta, the order's regional superior for Central America.

The Rome-based Sosa, who is Venezuelan, said that if Nicaragua had an impartial justice system it would "shed light on the truth" about the government's actions since 2018 anti-government protests in which more than 360 people were killed.

The government's action against UCA, other Catholic institutions and civic organisations, was aimed at "suffocating, closing or appropriating them", Sosa said.

The UCA seizure follows an intensifying crackdown by President Daniel Ortega on Nicaragua's Catholic Church, whose leaders acted as mediators in the aftermath of the 2018 protests.

Vatican officials see the oppression of the Church in Nicaragua as one of the worst since the Cold War, when many communist countries in Eastern Europe persecuted the Church.

In his letter, Sosa called for an end to "government aggression" against the 63-year-old UCA, saying it mission, like that of all Jesuit universities, is to defend justice, truth and free thought and to offer an open and democratic education.

(This story has been corrected to fix the first name of the order leader to Arturo from Antonio, in paragraph 2)

(Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Robert Birsel)
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP)  New Zealand said Friday it plans to boost its defense capabilities as tensions rise in the Pacific, due in part to a military buildup by China.

Defense Minister Andrew Little said current defense spending amounted to about 1% of the nation's economy, a proportion he expected would need to increase, although not as high as 2%.

He said replacing aging navy frigates and patrol vessels is among the most pressing needs under consideration. He said the country is also facing an increase in domestic threats such as misinformation, cyberattacks and terrorism.

The new defense policy paper released by Little contained no specifics about increases in spending, equipment or troops, with those details expected to be finalized in a later plan.

Rather the paper pointed to a rethinking about the role of the nation's military, which has often been used primarily to act as peacekeepers or provide aid when Pacific countries are hit by natural disasters.

Now, the paper said, New Zealand is facing more challenging times than it has in decades and the military needs to improve combat readiness. The military has been struggling with outdated equipment and difficulties recruiting and retaining staff.

Little said New Zealand had thought until recently that it was protected by its remoteness.

The changes in the domestic and international security environment mean our response and preparedness must change, too," he said.

The paper took direct aim at China for heightened tensions, saying it is using its national power in a way that challenges existing international rules and norms.

Beijing continues to invest heavily in growing and modernizing its military, and is increasingly able to project military and paramilitary force beyond its immediate region," the paper said.

Little stressed that he doesn't think "we are close to war in the Pacific.

I think there is some rising tension in the Pacific. I think it puts the onus on all countries with a stake in the Pacific, and involved in the Pacific, to be engaged, he said.

U.S. Ambassador Tom Udall told The Associated Press that New Zealand has an important role in Pacific security.

I think the first thing that this recognizes is that we are seeing a big security change in the region, Udall said of the defense paper. And I don't think there is any doubt that New Zealand is on top of that, and moving forward to take very aggressive action to put in place policies and plans to address it.
For decades, Spam has been a staple in Hawaiian cooking, a phenomenon dating back to its introduction during World War II.

Now, Spam and parent company Hormel Foods are stepping up to aid victims of the Maui wildfire disaster.

The companies announced Thursday they would be donating 264,000 cans of Spam, valued at more than $1 million, to a relief organization.

The people of Hawaii have a special place in both the history and heart of the Spam brand," the companies said in a statement. "Our donation efforts are just one way we are showing the community our love and support back.

The delivery will be carried out by Convoy of Hope, a nonprofit organization whose mission includes aiding those affected by natural disasters.

We know how popular Spam products are, especially in Hawaii," said Stacy Lamb, vice president of disaster services at Convoy of Hope. "This donation allows Convoy of Hope to deliver comfort to people whose lives have been turned upside down," Lamb added.

The fact that Spam doesnt need refrigeration makes it a perfect item for Convoy to deliver to survivors, Lamb said.

The creation of Spam predates World War II, but the product surged in popularity during the war, thanks to its long shelf life. Spam grew especially valued in Hawaii as a cheap alternative to pork, according to food historians.

Today, the Hawaiian community consumes more than 7 million cans of Spam products a year  more than any other state, Hormel says.
They really are little bandits.

Raccoons are not native to Germany, but in less than 100 years, the number of the little masked mammals in the country has grown to several hundred thousand. Some Germans refer to them as waschbaren  washing bears  because of their habit of dunking their food before they eat it, while other Germans just call them straight-up annoyances. Especially when beer is involved.

According to The Telegraph, vacationers and locals alike are getting home and discovering that raccoons have raided their kitchens, causing thousands of dollars worth of damage in the process, including killing household pets and stealing any beer they can find. On less frustrating occasions, the raccoons have been seen at city parks, knocking over discarded beer bottles so they could drink whatever booze was left inside. Raccoons are funny and clever  and they like beer, Berthold Langenhorst of the German Nature Conservation Association (NABU), said.

Although theres a widely circulated story that raccoons were introduced to Germany by Nazi leader Hermann Goring, theres no evidence to support it. Derk Ehlert, the chief wildlife officer for the city of Berlin, has said that two pairs of U.S.-born raccoons were released into the wild by a forestry official in 1934, in an attempt to increase wildlife diversity. Those raccoons reproduced, but the fledgling population got a big boost in World War II when a bomb hit a fur farm near Berlin, and another 20-plus raccoons escaped. (Ehlert joked to the Los Angeles Times that Germanys raccoons were a present [from] the American people.)

These 2023 beer-swilling raccoons arent the first time that the little critters have been spotted having a drink. In 2019, a visibly drunk raccoon was seen stumbling around the Christmas markets in the city of Erfurt. The animal overserved himself by drinking whatever mulled wine that was left in mostly empty cups, briefly entertained himself with a womans shoes, and then passed out on a doorstep.

A spokesperson for the Erfurt police department told a German news outlet that the raccoon was obviously intoxicated before adding that a breathalyzer test on the animal was not carried out. (If you want to stay in a good mood for the rest of the day, skip to the next sentence ... because we hate to report that, although local officials hoped to take the animal to a shelter, he was instead put down by the city hunter.)

While the German Hunting Association says it's culled some 200,000 raccoons over the last year, others say there's another way  just learning to live with these tiny little thieves. In less than a century, this species has made Germany its home, one newspaper wrote. Thats a story of both success and suffering.

Suffering, and of an occasionally stolen beer bottle.



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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, front right, talks with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, left, during a military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the armistice that halted fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War, on Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang, July 27, in this photo released by the Korean Central News Agency. AP-Yonhap



Moscow proposes Pyongyang to conduct joint military exercise: NIS



By Lee Hyo-jin



As Pyongyang moves to forge closer ties with Moscow, South Korea's spy agency suggested that Russia has proposed North Korea conduct joint military exercises. But analysts were divided on whether Pyongyang  which has not held a combined military exercise with other nations since the end of the Cold War  will accept the proposal.



South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) said, Thursday, that Moscow proposed Pyongyang conduct joint military drills and the related talks supposedly took place during Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu's visit to Pyongyang last month when he met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.



"Intelligence reports show that Russia recently proposed conducting joint military exercises with North Korea along with trade in artillery shells and missiles. North Korea is speculated to have made requests to Russia on repairing aging military equipment and technology transfers," Rep. Yoo Sang-bum of the People Power Party, told reporters following a closed-door meeting with NIS officials.



However, analysts were split over whether North Korea will accept Russia's proposal.



Park Won-gon, a professor of North Korean studies at Ewha Womans University, thought it unlikely Pyongyang would accept the request, despite growing signs of military cooperation between the two nations.



"The reclusive regime has never conducted joint military exercise with other nations since the end of the Korean War," Park said. "A military exercise involving other countries would seriously undermine North Korea's decades-long principle of developing independent defense capabilities."



Where and how the combined military training would be conducted is another issue making the scenario unlikely, he said.



"Joint military training between regional partners is usually conducted in the air or in the ocean, but the North Korean military is mainly focused on ground forces," Park said.











North Korea fires a Hwasong-18 solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), July 12, in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency. Yonhap
Former President Donald Trump has made up his mind not to attend the first GOP debate next week, according to two sources familiar with his thinking, and is seeking a sit-down interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson as a means of counter-programming the event.

A source close to Carlson says the host is currently en route to Europe, where he has interviews and events lined up all next week. The source said Carlson is always in discussions with all the candidates, and nothing is firmly set with Trump and Carlson.

Asked about the former presidents plans for next week, a Trump campaign spokesman told NBC News, We havent confirmed anything on our end.

Carlson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The New York Times first reported on Trump's plans to skip the debate for an interview with Carlson.

Trump had been hinting that he might forgo the Wednesday night debate with his 2024 GOP rivals, and was exploring options for counterprogramming, people familiar with his deliberations told NBC News last month.

The former president indicated during a Newsmax interview this month that he wouldn't sign the required loyalty pledge committing to support the eventual GOP nominee, which is required to secure a spot on the debate stage.

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said Thursday that she believed Trump will sign the pledge if he decides to debate.

Hes signed the pledge before. He signed it to get on the South Carolina ballot, McDaniel said in an interview with NewsNations Blake Burman. I have a feeling if he wants to be on the debate stage, hes going to sign that pledge.

A person familiar with the matter said the RNC hasnt heard from Trump or his team on whether hell participate in the debate.

The loyalty pledge also asks candidates to agree not to take part in any non-RNC sanctioned debate for the rest of the election cycle.

Trump is one of at least nine GOP presidential candidates who appears to have met fundraising and polling criteria set by the RNC to qualify for next week's debate hosted by Fox News in Wisconsin.

Former Vice President Mike Pence's campaign announced this month that he had qualified for the debate. If Trump had decided to participate, he would have gone head-to-head against his former vice president after being indicted in two separate probes related to his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Special counsel Jack Smith's indictment referred to contemporaneous notes written by Pence that described meetings and conversations between the two men after Trump's election loss.

Trump and 18 co-defendants were also indicted on felony charges in connection with alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia.

In a post to his social media platform, Truth Social, on Thursday Trump touted his poll numbers as a reason not to participate in the GOP debate. "People know my Record, one of the BEST EVER, so why would I Debate? IM YOUR MAN. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" he wrote.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a GOP presidential candidate who has qualified for the debate, said, "not going? his loss," after The New York Times reported on Trump's plan to skip the debate.

At least three of Trumps closest congressional allies  Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Florida Reps. Matt Gaetz and Byron Donalds  plan to travel to the Milwaukee debate to defend the former president on his behalf, NBC News reported on Wednesday.
Three former Trump administration officials have told NBC News that the controversial barrier buoys in the Rio Grande on the Texas-Mexico border was originally their idea.

The buoys, which have faced criticism from the left as well as a lawsuit by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to attempt to get them removed, were installed by Texas as part of a state anti-illegal immigration effort known as Operation Lone Star. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has said he will not remove the barriers in response to the DOJs legal threats.

Former U.S. Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott said he found inspiration in early 2020 for the system currently at the border in the use of buoy barriers in other countries to protect ships in harbors. After that, he began to review applications from contractors for possible buoy barrier systems along the Pacific coast in California and the Rio Grande. He also said he had members of the Border Patrols special operations test buoys to find out if they would work as barriers in different settings.

Its a deterrent, Scott told NBC News. We were sold.

Scott said the barrier project was paused in March 2020, but one of his staff members, Mike Banks, later joined Abbotts administration as a border czar in January. Scott and two other Trump administration officials told NBC News that some tactical ideas were brought to Abbotts office by Banks and started being implemented at the state level.

Two bodies were found floating near the barrier earlier this month. The Mexican president derided the barriers as inhumane in the wake of the discovery of the bodies.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Ukraine has ramped up missile strikes on Russian-occupied Crimea in recent weeks in an effort to disrupt Russian logistics and resupply efforts as fighting rages in southern Ukraine  but its a strategy that some US officials in Washington are viewing with skepticism.

For some military and Biden administration officials, Ukrainian attacks on Crimea are at best a distraction, and at worst, a valuable waste of resources in a strategy that many analysts now believe has left Ukraine stretched too thin between multiple axes of attack.

Its knocked the Russians off balance a bit, but it is not doing anything decisive, a senior defense official told CNN. And it would probably be better for everyone for them to just focus on the counteroffensive.

Ukraine has in recent weeks used long-range missiles to strike two bridges linking Crimea to Russian-occupied territory in southern Ukraine, and on Saturday, targeted the only bridge connecting Crimea to mainland Russia. With roughly a third of the peninsula now within the range of US-provided HIMARS artillery, according to one senior Western intelligence official, Ukraine has also stepped up strikes on Russian ammunition dumps and other logistics and resupply infrastructure there.

Russian investigators work at the accident scene on the section of a road sloping to one side following an alleged attack on the Crimea Bridge, that connects the Russian mainland with the Crimean peninsula across the Kerch Strait, in this still image taken from video released July 17, 2023. - Investigative Committee of Russia/Reuters

Theres more and more pressure on Crimea, and especially so in recent weeks, that official told CNN. I mean, they get pounded.

Crimea holds a deep symbolic importance to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who ordered his forces to invade and illegally annexed the peninsula in 2014. And it is also a strategically vital logistics hub for Russias war effort; its location on the Black Sea has made it sought-after territory for centuries.

For Ukraine, the attacks are an integral part of their counteroffensive strategy, intended to try to isolate Crimea and make it more difficult for Russia to sustain its military operations on the Ukrainian mainland, a Ukrainian source familiar with the strategy told CNN.

In general, Ukrainian strikes in the south have slowed and complicated Russias resupply and logistics maneuvers, the Western intelligence official said. And another US official said that if the Ukrainians are ultimately able to breach Russias extensive network of defensive lines and move forward, then targeting ammunition depots and resupply lines in Crime will be beneficial to the counteroffensive writ large.

But because the emphasis on Crimea is relatively new, multiple US and Western officials said that it was difficult to judge yet how much of an impact the attacks are having on Russias ability to withstand the Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Ukraine has conducted some pretty good attacks on logistics and command and control in Crimea, one US military official said, but I dont think those effects have fully come to bear.

But so far, some US officials and outside analysts say, the attacks do not appear to be having much of an impact. In 10 weeks of fighting, Ukraine has failed to break through Russian defensive lines  something some critics believe is because Ukraine failed to prioritize any one effort and instead spread their resources too thin across multiple fronts.

For now, the United States is not actively advising Ukraine against striking Crimea, according to the senior defense official. But the longer the counteroffensive drags on without significant gains, analysts say, the greater its chances of failure.

The reality is this offensive does not have some eternal runway to go on through the fall, said one source familiar with internal Pentagon discussions on the matter.

A stalled offensive

US and Ukrainian officials openly acknowledge that the Ukrainian counteroffensive has not proceeded as quickly as had been expected and war-gamed in the months leading up to the push.

Ukraine has sought to roll back Russian gains in three different directions, with active fighting along front lines in the northeast, near the town of Bakhmut, and in the south, where Ukraine has sought to sever the so-called land bridge connecting Russia to Crimea by driving forward to the southerly Sea of Azov.

Some US and western officials insist that the Russian defensive lines are limited to a single line of forces, suggesting that if Ukraine is able break through, Russia will be vulnerable from the rear. But after 10 weeks of fighting, the front lines remain fixed. And eventually, the brutal math of warfare  the plain number of bullets and bodies that an army has to throw into the fight  may not be on Ukraines side.

It puts into question how much Ukraine will have available in combat strength to exploit any breakthrough, said Michael Kofman, a senior fellow in the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Russian forces proved far less brittle than hoped over the past several months.

Miles of minefields laid by Russia have kept Ukraine at bay and for weeks now, and the two sides have been engaged in a grinding fight within a narrow, unchanging band along the frontlines.

Ukraine has for now largely abandoned more complex maneuvering that the US had trained its military to use in favor of smaller-unit engagements and heavy use of artillery, which US officials are privately concerned about, CNN has reported.

The US and Europe are struggling to provide Ukraine with the large amount of ammunition it will need for a prolonged counteroffensive, and Western officials are racing to ramp up production to avoid shortages on the battlefield that could hinder Ukraines progress.

Some Western officials have defended the Ukrainian strategy on the battlefield, arguing that Ukraine is responding to the reality it faces on the ground.

Ukraine, like the Russians, are engaged in an act of war and they are adapting to what they see and experience on the battlefield, said the senior Western intelligence official. What theyve learned that is, smaller unit and tactics are more likely to be successful, to try to cause those holes in those frontlines complemented by longer range precision strike from artillery, and even cruise missiles to soften that line.

You can understand why theyve done what theyve done, the US military official said. I dont know if the US army only had artillery and no air, if we wouldnt be fighting somewhat similarly.

These officials and others are careful to say that the story is not yet written on the outcome of the counteroffensive. The senior Western intelligence official said that they were cautiously optimistic  for the potential for the Ukrainians to have a breakthrough because as the Russians commit more and fix more in place, it gives the Ukrainians an easier target to identify and go after.

But within the US military, optimism is dimming that Ukraine will have a major breakthrough any time soon.

Im not too optimistic that well be at the Sea of Azov by Christmas, said the US military official.

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Noroviruses are transmitted from person to peron and via contaminated water and food.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shared a report this week on a norovirus outbreak in Tazewell County that sickened over 300 people last November.

According to the article, 317 people who ate at "restaurant A" from Nov. 19, 2022, to Nov. 26, 2022, reported falling ill with norovirus symptoms.

Vomiting and nausea were listed at the most common symptoms, followed by diarrhea. Other symptoms of norovirus include muscle aches and pain, abdominal cramping, chills and fever.

The outbreak affected Tazewell County residents, as well as people from 10 other counties and 12 states outside of Illinois. Three of the cases were confirmed through stool samples. There were no hospitalizations or deaths reported, but the CDC article said, "seven persons were evaluated in an emergency department, and five visited an outpatient health care provider."

Given that the outbreak took place around the Thanksgiving holiday, the article stated, "the number of cases is likely underreported."

More: Washington restaurant temporarily closes after customers fall ill

The Tazewell County Health Department worked with the Illinois Department of Public Health to investigate the outbreak.

The report said many of those who fell ill  227 of the 268 who responded to secondary interviews  had the restaurant's salad. Fifteen of the 40 people who reported not becoming sick also had the salad.

"Preparation with ungloved hands by a food handler who had vomiting on November 22, and worked during November 2123, likely served as a main contributor to the outbreak," the article said.

The restaurant closed voluntarily on Nov. 26 before reopening on Nov. 29. During this time, the restaurant disinfected the space. The Tazewell County Health Department also "provided education to food handlers on hand hygiene, staying home from work when ill with diarrhea or vomiting, and cleaning procedures."

In Washington, Monicals Pizza at the Cherry Tree Shopping Center voluntarily closed on Nov. 26, 2022, after reports of illness among guests.

"The safety of our guests and employees continue to be our main priority, the restaurant wrote in a Facebook post at the time. Monical's reopened on Nov. 29, 2022, and on Dec. 1, the health department sent out a press release confirming three norovirus cases had been identified in the outbreak.

Kim Litwiller, communications manager for the Tazewell County Health Department, declined to name the restaurant involved in the CDC report. She said the purpose of the article is to share public health best practices with public health colleagues across the nation in regard to foodborne illness.

More: The best and worst Peoria food inspections for July

The report said noroviruses are listed as "the leading cause of foodborne illness in the United States" in the FDA 2022 Food Code.

Litwiller said the county has not seen a similar outbreak since November. She said it is important for all restaurants and food establishments to ensure employees stay home when sick and are trained in proper handwashing and cleaning techniques. The CDC article noted staff members should stay home "for at least 48 hours" after symptoms clear.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Tazewell County norovirus outbreak linked to sick employee, CDC says
Maui faces a rebuilding challenge of historic proportions after the deadly wildfires that killed over 100 people and destroyed a beloved town. And some residents say their toughest opponent may be the Hawaii state government itself.

Much of the aid efforts happening in the charred community of Lahaina and elsewhere are community-run because people don't feel as if the government is stepping up fast enough.

Were not waiting for our mayor to say we can or cant. We're like, 'People need help and were helping them,' said Lianne Driessen, who was born and raised on Maui and is director of sales and marketing at Trilogy Excursions, a family-run catamaran tour company based in Lahaina.

Her family lost their home in the devastating fire. Trilogy captains and boats didn't hesitate to start rescuing people from the ocean or transport people along the coast during recovery efforts.

Many have been frustrated when it comes to the lack of response and continued transparency from state and federal officials in the days following the deadliest U.S. wildfire in over a century.

The concern comes after decades of low public trust in the government given Hawaiis history of colonialism and slow-moving bureaucracy.

Theres a general distrust in the government, said Noelani Ahia, a Maui born and raised indigenous healthcare professional running for Maui County Council for Wailuku-Waihee this November. She is one of the Native Hawaiian activists on the ground providing mental health support for people with post-traumatic stress disorder from the fires.

The government they put in was white supremacy-centered from the assimilation and possession of our land, Ahia said. The government we have now are offshoots of that.

Hawaii lost its last reigning monarch in 1893 to a government of nonnative American businessmen, plantation owners and politicians.

As a remote island chain that must be self-sufficient, the wildfire aftermath is a pivotal opportunity for officials to prove themselves as the community continues to show its resilience, critics say.

Volunteers unload pet food donations at Maui Humane Society in Puunene on Aug. 15, 2023. The organization estimates that over 3,000 animals are lost or missing from the fire and are treating found animals for severe burns and smoke inhalation.

More: 'Help is pouring in': How to assist victims in the Maui wildfires in Hawaii

Driessen added, If we left it to our local government entity I think the rebuild is going to be incredibly slow. She pointed out how the state took over five years to build a small pier out of Lahaina Harbor but with military assistance and dollars, the community could move much faster. People need to know that.

Officials continue to say that they were unprepared for the unprecedented wildfires, which doesnt sit well with much of the public, especially when a fire weather watch was issued two days beforehand warning of tinder-like conditions.

Mauis fire chief and Herman Andaya, Mauis top emergency management official, were not even on island during the time of the fires, according to Honolulu Civil Beat. In the aftermath, its come to light that Andaya has no formal education or direct previous experience in emergency management.

Maui authorities defend not using sirens

During a Wednesday briefing, Andaya defended the decision, saying that the sirens would have sent people into the mountains, where the flames were. Instead, people were sent texts and voicemails warnings  however, cell service and power were already lost for most. Many ended up self-evacuating without knowing where to go.

Hours after making the comment, Andaya resigned.

As the fires spread rapidly across Hawaii's second-largest island, firefighters were stretched thin and resources were at capacity. The Maui Fire Department has not publicly answered Honolulu Civil Beats questions of response time and manpower.

My guess is this is something that wildfires that the state is prepared for in the way it's prepared for hurricanes and tsunamis, said Colin Moore, a political scientist at the University of Hawaii at Manoa on Oahu. Thats not to excuse anything.

Moore said that like in many other states, trust in government in Hawaii is not particularly high, although there is a uniquely core distrust in Hawaii, considering the island chains history of colonization.

He points out other incidents that has led to the publics lack of faith in the government, such as in 2018 when a mistaken alert led residents to believe they were going to be hit by North Korean missile, or the mismanaged rail project on Oahu that was almost a decade late in opening and took extra billions to build.

Hawaii is also known to have notoriously apathetic voters with some of the lowest voter turnout in the country since the early 2000s.

A lot of amazing people work in the county and I can only imagine they feel horrible but it points to a bigger picture of a government thats tied to business, Ahia said.

Just days after the tragic fire, developers have been reportedly asking survivors of the fire to buy their properties, where their homes have been burned to the ground. The island was already facing a housing crisis thats been pricing locals out  now its even more critical.

Su-Mi Lee, the chair of the political science department at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, said that while tourism is the states major source of the states revenue, it seems - at least publicly - that residents are a main priority.

It might be too soon to build sentiments for any politicians or hold anyone accountable as everybody is busy with helping with rescue efforts, she said.

Evans Smith, a professor of political science professor at the University of Hawaii at Hilo and who has been living on the island for 20 years, told USA TODAY that he finds local and state governments in Hawaii are far less adversarial compared to their counterparts in other states.

Gov. Josh Green, who is also a medical doctor, built a relatively positive political reputation based on how COVID-19 was handled by the state when he was lieutenant governor. Recovery efforts for Hurricane Iniki in 1992, the last major hurricane to hit Hawaii, were well-approved, but that was a long time ago, Moore said.

A harmonious approach among state politicians is going to be tested in the coming weeks, months, even years, as the state recovers from the horrific tragedy, Smith said. He said many political leaders will have to show resilience and not be afraid to repeatedly ask for assistance at the highest levels for their constituents.

Theres not a lot of political friction among elected officials and well see if that holds up. I believe our leaders are going to face major challenges because this disaster is something that with even the best-laid plans, many werent prepared for, Smith said. There will be a hard learning curve going forward.

Contributing: Terry Collins, USA TODAY

Kathleen Wong is a travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Hawaii. You can reach her at kwong@usatoday.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Maui residents have low public trust in government following wildfire
British Columbia Premier David Eby declared province-wide state of emergency in response to unprecedented wildfires on Friday night.

Evacuation orders in B.C. expanded from 4,000 houses Friday afternoon to about 15,000 by nightfall.

Tonight as a result of this rapid deterioration, we are declaring a provincial state of emergency to ensure that we have rapid access to any tools that we may need to respond to this situation, British Columbia Premier David Eby said.

PHOTO: This screengrab from a video provided by Jordan Straker shows vehicles driving on the freeway as people evacuate from Yellowkife, Northwest Territories, Canada, on Aug. 16, 2023. (Jordan Straker/UGC via AFP via Getty Images)

Over 380 wildfires have been raging since the beginning of the week throughout western Canada territories, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.

Fire officials warned on Thursday, they would be facing "the most challenging 24 to 48 hours of the summer," as wildfires that have been ravaging western Canada.

Two wildfires of note, the Stein Mountain wildfire, which was discovered on July 12, and the McDougall Creek wildfire, which was discovered on Tuesday, are classified as "out of control" and have burned through a combined 18,000 acres as of Friday morning, according to the British Columbia Wildfire Service.

Cliff Chapman, the British Columbia director of wildfire operations, said in a statement Thursday evening that he is expecting more wildfires to erupt.

MORE: Video Gusty trade winds continue to impede Maui wildfires

"We are expecting significant growth and we are expecting our resources to be challenged from north to south in the province over the next 48 hours," he said in a statement. "Those fires will challenge even our air tanker and helicopter resources and our ground resources as we are likely to see a number of new fires happening across the province."

PHOTO: This August 13, 2023, image provided by Sylvia Webster shows smoke rising from wildfires near Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. (Sylvia Webster/UGC via AFP via Getty Images)

High winds in western Canada have been contributing to the spread of the flames, officials said. Several B.C. towns and cities have issued evacuation orders and alerts over the wildfires.

A local state of emergency was issued Thursday for the city of Kelowna, which has a population of over 144,000, a portion of Westbank First Nation and the Central Okanagan West Electoral Area. Sixty-eight properties located off Bear Creek Road were ordered to evacuate.

MORE: Canadian wildfire dangers should prompt more proactive mitigation from government: Experts

Residents of Yellowknife, Hay River and Fort Smith, N'dilo, Dettah and the Ingraham Trail, all in the Northwest Territories, were also ordered to evacuate this week because of the fires.

PHOTO: Residents watch the McDougall Creek wildfire in West Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, on Aug. 17, 2023. (Darren Hull/AFP via Getty Images)

Chapman warned that 28 of British Columbia's 34 water basins continue to be operating at worst or second-worst drought levels while fighting the blazes.

PHOTO: This handout satellite image courtesy of the European Space Agency's (ESA) Copernicus Sentinel-2 sattelite taken on Aug. 16, 2023, shows fires burning in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. (European Space Agency via AFP/Getty Images)

"So the drought situation is serious in British Columbia ... and the impacts of drought conditions in certain B.C. watersheds will be serious as well," he said.

PHOTO: This handout photo shows the town of Fort Smith, Canada, during the wildfires, on Aug. 13, 2023. (Handout/AFP via Getty Images)

MORE: Canada marks worst wildfire season on record

Canada has seen a rise in wildfires on both coasts this summer, causing black smoke to spread for miles and into the United States.

As of Friday, the fires have burned through over 34 million acres this season, which is larger than New York state, Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. This year marks the worst wildfire season on record and doubles the previous high for most acres burned, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.

PHOTO: Canada wildfire graphic (ABC News)

David Phillips, a senior climatologist at Environment and Climate Change Canada, a government agency, told ABC News that the fires have been worse this year because "it's been too hot and too dry for too long." Phillips noted that 50% to 60% of the country was abnormally dry during the spring months, including many agricultural regions.

In Yellowknife, only 0.3 inches of rain has fallen in the last seven weeks, which is roughly 12% of the normal precipitation for the area, according to Phillips.

PHOTO: The McDougall Creek wildfire burns on the mountainside above a lakefront home in West Kelowna, B.C., on Aug. 18, 2023. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

He said there was "no question" that climate change was contributing to the rise in the larger fires.

"Its almost impossible for nature alone to do these things," Phillips told ABC News. "This wildfire season has been ramped up. These fires are bigger and badder."

ABC News' Will Gretsky, Daniel Peck and Daniel Manzo contributed to this report.

British Columbia under province-wide state of emergency due to 'unprecedented' wildfires: Officials originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Over 20 years after "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" came out, the Portokalos family is back for a third time. Since then, the cast has changed and hasn't at all ... just like family.

"My Big Fat Greek Wedding" first came out in 2002, introducing the world to Toula Portokalos (Nia Vardalos, who also wrote the movie) and her overbearing but loving Greek family. My Big Fat Greek Wedding remains the highest-grossing romantic comedy in North America. The second sequel, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, came out in 2016.

'My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3.' (Yannis Drakoulidis / Focus Features)

Set to be released in September, the third installment follows the family's journey back to their ancestral island in Greece, which was Gus Portokalos' final wish before he died. Michael Constantine, who played Toula's father Gus, died in 2021 at 94.

Heres a peek at how the cast has aged over the past 20 years.

Nia Vardalos as Toula Portokalos

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (Everett Collection, Focus Features)

Nina Vardalos, 60, who stars as Toula Portokalos, also wrote the script for the iconic picture. The Academy Award-nominated actor and writer made her directorial debut with "I Hate Valentine's Day" in 2009, and then went onto star in "My Life in Ruins." She also wrote and starred in the theater adaptation of Cheryl Strayed's "Tiny Beautiful Things."

In 2011, she and Tom Hanks joined forces to write the romantic comedy, "Larry Crowne," which stars Hanks and Julia Roberts.

John Corbett as Ian Miller

John Corbett as Ian Miller in My Big Fat Greek Wedding in 2002 and 2023. (Everett Collection, Getty Images)

Aside from starring as Ian Miller in the "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" franchise, John Corbett, 62, is also known for playing one of Carrie Bradshaw's most famous love interests in "Sex and the City," Aidan Shaw  who recently made a return to the series in "And Just Like That..."

The Emmy Award-nominated actor has also appeared in "Northern Exposure," "Parenthood" and "To All the Boys I've Loved Before."

Lainie Kazan as Maria Portokalos

Lainie Kazan as Maria Portokalos in My Big Fat Greek Wedding in 2002 and in 2023. (Everett Collection / Focus Features)

Lainie Kazan has a repertoire both on the screen and on the stage, nominated for an Emmy Award for "St. Elsewhere" and for a Golden Globe award for "My Favorite Year." She later starred in the musical adaptation of the music, garnering her a Tony Award nomination.

The 83-year-old actor also appeared in "The Nanny" and "Veronica's Closet."

She told Reader's Digest that filming the sequel was "even more enjoyable" than the first movie. "I ... kept in touch with all the cast members; we had dinners, lunches, and spoke over email and text. We remained friends over these past 14 years. And I think that our close relationship comes across on film," she said.

Andrea Martin as Aunt Voula

Andrea Martin as Aunt Voula in My Big Fat Greek Wedding in 2002 and in 2023. (Everett Collection, Focus Features)

By the time she starred as fan favorite Aunt Voula, Andrea Martin, 76, was a Tony-winning stage actor with a long IMdB page  her voice pops up in "Anastasia" and "The Rugrats Movie."

Since then, you may have seen her in comedic roles on Great News, Difficult People and, most recently, Only Murders in the Building.

Gia Carides as Cousin Nikki

Gia Carides as Cousin Nikki in My Big Fat Greek Wedding in 2002 and in 2023. (Everett Collection, Focus Features)

Gia Carides, 59, plays Cousin Nikki in the "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" franchise, but has also appeared in "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me." The Australian-American actor can be seen in works like "Primary Colors" and "Year One."

She also appeared in Baz Luhrmann's early movie "Strictly Ballroom,"

Joey Fatone as Angelo

Joey Fatone as Angelo in My Big Fat Greek Wedding in 2002 and in 2023. (Everett Collection, Focus Features)

Joey Fatone, who will be reprising his role as Angelo in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3," is beset known for as a member of boy band NSYNC.

The 46-year-old has gone on to become a popular television personality, coming in second place in the 2007 season of "Dancing With the Stars." He also hosted "The Singing Bee," "Family Feud" and several shows on Food Network.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com


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In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, right, with Russian delegation led by its Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visits an arms exhibition in Pyongyang, North Korea Wednesday, July 26, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the armistice that halted fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War. AP-Yonhap



North Korea's latest Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile  its first ICBM to use solid rocket fuel  has ignited new debate over a possible Russian role in the nuclear-armed state's dramatic missile development.



In a report published on Thursday by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, Theodore Postol, professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, argued that the Hwasong-18 ICBM is likely the result of technical cooperation sourced to Russia.



The Hwasong-18 has been tested twice, including on July 12 in what was the longest flight time ever for a North Korean missile test.



It is the North's first ICBM to use solid propellants, which can enable faster and easier deployment of missiles during war. The missile was first flown in April.



"The sudden appearance of these advanced capabilities is difficult to explain without cooperation from the Russian government and its scientists," Postol wrote, saying visual similarities suggest Russia may have decided to transfer an "advanced 50-ton solid propellant ICBM, the Topol-M, also known as the SS-27", to North Korea.



Russia and North Korea have recently called for closer military ties but North Korea has denied having any "arms dealings" with Russia.



Russia's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to the new report.



In response to recent allegations from a U.N. Panel of Experts that entities in Russia were procuring items for North Korea's missile programme, Russia denied any knowledge or information on transactions that would breach sanctions on North Korea.



Other analysts questioned Postol's report.



Researchers at California's James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) noted in a draft report, shared with Reuters, factual inaccuracies, including mistaking the Russian Topol-M and Yars ICBMs, and misidentifying a spent Hwasong-18 rocket stage as a "decoy canister" designed to defeat anti-missile systems.



Postol did not immediately respond to a request for comment.



The Hwasong-18 clearly takes some design inspiration from Russian missiles, in this case Topol-M and Yars, just as many other North Korean missiles do, the CNS researchers said.









"We do not rule out the possibility that Russian entities may have assisted North Korea in its development of this system," the CNS researchers said in their report.



However, a close examination of images, videos and the performance of the missile shows clear differences that exclude the possibility that Russia transferred a complete ICBM system, they concluded, citing major differences in the guidance systems and the missiles' third stages.



Some of the Hwasong-18's systems, in fact, more closely resemble Chinese weapons, and the North has been publicly developing solid-fuel missiles since at least 2017, the researchers added.



"There is nothing sudden or surprising about North Korea's continued development of large solid propellant rocket motors," they said.





North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, front right, talks with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, left, during a military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the armistice that halted fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War, on Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang, July 27, in this photo released by the Korean Central News Agency. AP-Yonhap
YEREVAN, AUGUST 18, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijan continues to distort the appeals of the international community, to look for false pretexts, not corresponding to reality, to avoid fulfilling its obligations and, by prolonging the humanitarian crisis, including through starvation to subject the indigenous people of Nagorno-Karabakh to ethnic cleansing, the Armenian Foreign Ministry warned on Friday.

In a statement, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said that the UN Security Council, convened on August 16 at the request of the Republic of Armenia, once again proved that, despite the false propaganda of Azerbaijan, the international partners are clearly aware of the fact of the dire humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and realize the importance of addressing it.

Below is the full statement released by the Armenian Foreign Ministry.

The urgent meeting of the UN Security Council, convened on August 16 at the request of the Republic of Armenia, once again proved that, despite the false propaganda of Azerbaijan, the international partners are clearly aware of the fact of the dire humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and realize the importance of addressing it. During this second discussion in the format of the UN Security Council, the assessments and targeted appeals addressed to Azerbaijan, in essence, complemented the clear positions expressed so far by various governments, international structures, and human rights organizations.

Noteworthy were the statements of the members of the UN Security Council and the EU representative reiterating that Azerbaijan is obliged to lift the illegal blockade of the Lachin corridor in accordance with the Trilateral statement of November 9, 2020, and the legally binding Orders of the UN International Court of Justice of February 22 and July 6. It was unequivocally emphasized that the ongoing 8-month-long severe humanitarian situation created for the population of Nagorno-Karabakh as a result of the blockade should be resolved.

It is evident that Azerbaijan continues to distort the appeals of the international community, to look for false pretexts, not corresponding to reality, to avoid fulfilling its obligations and, by prolonging the humanitarian crisis, including through starvation to subject the indigenous people of Nagorno-Karabakh to ethnic cleansing. Moreover, Azerbaijan tries to manipulate any "balanced" approach of international actors, interpreting it as an explicit permission to continue its adopted policy.

We emphasize the urgency of using all available international tools to eliminate the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh and restore unimpeded movement in both directions through the Lachin corridor and ensure unhindered access of international humanitarian organizations to Nagorno-Karabakh.



The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, highly appreciating the principled and fair positions of the UN Security Council members that remain faithful to their mandate to advance international security and peace, will continue to work on various platforms, including in the UN Security Council, taking consistent steps to unblock the Lachin corridor and resolve the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 18, ARMENPRESS. Nagorno-Karabakh Foreign Minister Sergey Ghazaryan has commented on the document posted online which is allegedly Russias latest offer after a trilateral meeting with Armenia and Azerbaijan, which envisages the status of ethnic minority for the people of Nagorno-Karabakh within Azerbaijan.

Ghazaryan said Nagorno-Karabakh hasnt officially received any such document.

Weve very clearly said that this is a vision detached from reality, Ghazaryan said, referring to a status of ethnic minority within Azerbaijan. This isnt simply our opinion, the realities on the ground attest to this. If any of the mediators had such hopes, then by seeing the consequences of Azerbaijans policy, when 120,000 people are starving, when Azerbaijan is making belligerent statements every day, making threats of force, seeing how the Armenian historical-cultural heritage is being destroyed, no mediator has any grounds to claim that offers of such visions would be possible to realize, Ghazaryan said.
A major criticism of the Quad has been that it is an Asian Nato to contain Chinese expansionism in the Indo-Pacific.

The four friends are back in the news. As a strategic dialogue that was first started in 2007 between India, Australia, Japan and the United States, the initial focus of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, otherwise known as the Quad, was on enhancing economic, diplomatic and military cooperation. Thus, as an example, the bilateral Malabar naval exercises between India and the United States, begun in 1992 to increase interoperability between the two countries armed forces, was scaled up to include the other strategic partners in 2007. For the first time that year, the exercise was also shifted from the Indian to the Pacific Ocean, subtly signalling a pivotal place for the Quad in a broader Indo-Pacific security agenda. Australia participated in 2020 following the invitation of India, and Malabar is being held off the coast of Sydney this month.

A major criticism of the Quad has been that it is an Asian Nato to contain Chinese expansionism in the Indo-Pacific. While the decision taken at the 2017 Asean summit to revive the Quad was influenced by Chinese actions in the South China Sea and the importance of a rules-based maritime order, the member countries have denied the allegation that the Quad mimics a Nato logic, pointing out that there was no reference to China in its first joint statement and no mutual defence pact. Instead, they emphasise the partnerships multi-dimensional activities, such as global health security for improving vaccine preparedness and strengthening members capacities to respond to infectious disease outbreaks through multilateral organisations like WHO, as well as the humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) during the Indian Ocean tsunami that was later expanded as a joint mechanism and signed in Tokyo in 2022 to coordinate HADR operations while promoting gender equality and socio-economic inclusion.

Yet the Quad continues to be in the news primarily as a military alliance, whether it be an American generals recent emphasis on the India-US military-to-military dialogue and security challenges in the maritime domain during his confirmation hearings for the Joint Chief of Staff, or plans for US military stockpiling and a joint intelligence centre in Australia just announced, or Australia hosting the Malabar exercise for the first time this month. What, then, is the future of the Quad, its pitfalls and possibilities?

Many schoolchildren are fascinated when they first learn about the national birds of different countries; for the Quad partners, they are the peacock (India) and the pheasant (Japan), the eagle (US) and the emu (Australia). The peacock is known for its resplendent colours, and those who have witnessed this beautiful bird move rhythmically to attract potential partners during the mating season (which often coincides with the monsoons) will seldom see a sight more gorgeous in the animal kingdom. The peacock is not a creature of shadows and silence; it makes a noise. A lover of larger spaces to explore, it dislikes being boxed or caged. Nor does it shy away from tackling stealthy attackers, as many a snake has learned. Then there is the green pheasant -- industrious, also omnivorous, with dark plumage and great ecological range, blending gracefully into woodlands, grasslands, and human habitats. Meanwhile the emu, flightless but long-legged, can run as fast as 50 km per hour, kicking hard and even killing with its big-toed, long-nailed feet. Booming loudly in the mating season, it mates for life.

The majestic eagle is from a different realm, soaring high. Peacocks and pheasants will quickly spot an insect or a worm which an eagle, used to feasting on larger animals, sometimes cannot.

Four very different birds, like the countries they represent, with layered, distinct histories and visions. Any alliance between the four, let alone a friendship, requires mutual respect. As I have earlier noted in an article on international friendship relations, mutuality has been a challenge for superpowers used to dictate terms. Russias invasion of Ukraine is an example, where some nonaligned nations refusal to be forced militarily and economically into a war that, while a clear violation of the Budapest Memorandum, was not their creation, led to global shaming by the United States. While the India-US relationship was fortunately not derailed, do we forget Western allies own record of wars and conquests, of toppling democratic governments and supporting friendly military regimes, including in South Asia? Have those who preach against not taking sides in this war curbed their own animal instincts, running with several hares while hunting with the hounds? Here an important role can be played by Japan which, its own imperialist past and present economic interests notwithstanding, has in the postwar decades pushed back against both Chinese and American aggression, instead promoting peace-building in Asia and working diplomatically to strengthen regional autonomy through Asean. The same is true for Australia, which provides regional security infrastructure and whose role would grow further as it strengthens relations with other member nations.

The obvious differences with Nato aside, it is critical that the Quad therefore not be reduced to a militaristic alliance. Instead, this transnational security dialogue is an opportunity for partners to do genuine good for the global order even while also recognising and meeting pragmatic ends. For instance, the eagle, whose altitude protects it from lesser dangers while also blinding it to what goes on below, might do well to acknowledge the current multipolar world. The peacock demands respect in this new order, and will receive it even more upon promoting the well-being of diverse populations domestically and internationally, exercising strategic as well as moral leadership in the new world.

Health security is one among innumerable areas where the vision and resources of the influential four can help not just in improving the availability and equitable distribution of vaccines, but also in addressing gender and other socio-economic dimensions of public health more broadly. For example, research points to a global spike in violence against women during Covid-19, yet pandemics are not the only times this occurs. A primary strand of my research is on gender violence in humanitarian and other settings, and effective public policies to address it.

Scholar-practitioners know that designating key issues as domestic and foreign policy priorities can make a difference. Aligning not just on traditional security though military cooperation but also joining forces to tackle overlooked aspects of human security through the Quad would go a long way in ensuring a free, fair, and genuinely inclusive Indo-Pacific.
In his words: "I am just a professional writer, which means I don't do blogs and try and get money for whatever I write."

Those who are sceptic insist that their scepticism doesnt mean that they deny trans people civil rights.

In loves vast symphony two hearts entwined

A melody of passion, beautifully designed,

Like Bachchoos verse with grace and flair

Loves harmonies untold, beyond compare

With tender notes and gentle strains

Loves music plays, erasing all pains

Like Bachchoos lyrics, weaving their spell

Loves language transcends, all else it quells.

From Kaboothar Ka Geet, accessed by Bachchoo

A friend tells me that an academic acquaintance began a lecture to a Canadian university audience with the words Ladies and gentlemen Before he could go on, the audience, or at least a section of it, erupted in objections. They said that the phrase offended those humans who didnt believe in the binary distinction of gender, and it excluded those who didnt identify as either male or female.

Perhaps he should have started his address with Dear Persons  Or he could have confounded the potential objectors with a Joycean obfuscation and started with Ladles and Jellyspoons

One has to be so careful these days.

I draw attention to this incident as it strikes me as merely curious. There are those, for instance the headbangers who write columns for the right-wing British weekly The Spectator who characterise such incidents as the end of civilisation. Over the top? After all, Charles III and Camilla are on their thrones, the Tories rule, Donald Trump is the Republican front- runner, the Taliban are curtailing womens right to live, God is in his heaven and alls wonky with the world.

If the same lecturer were invited to Kandahar University (Is there such an institution?) and addressed the crowd in the same way, he would certainly meet with very strong objections, but not for the same reasons. There would certainly be no ladies in the audience and to imply that they should or could be is perhaps a jailable offence?

In countries such as Afghanistan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, homosexuality is illegal and carries nasty, even capital sentences. I dont know if such countries have passed laws relating to the gender question. I mean the sort that the Scottish Assembly passed enabling anyone to choose their gender. So, if a man says he is a woman, he has to be afforded that status. It is extremely unlikely that an Afghan woman can assert that she is a man and claim the right to go to university and walk the streets alone and uncovered.

Now there is absolutely no doubt that human beings all over the world have individual sexual inclinations. Yes, most of the species is heterosexual, but there is no denying that homosexuality is as natural an inclination or a choice regardless of what a religion says or what the attitude of a State to it is. But of course, the inclination and the practice go into purdah in repressive states. In these, there are no open LGBTQA+ movements, no Pride marches and no men asserting that they are women, or vice versa.

In the West, the traditional prejudice against homosexuality has, at least in law, been abolished. Social prejudices and homophobia still persist. Only last week two gay men emerging form a nightclub in Clapham in South London were stabbed by a masked and hooded man. The attacker targeted the nightclub as it was reputed to feature drag acts and was a regular haunt of gay couples.

The Scottish Assemblys ultra-liberal trans legislation is not universally popular, even among the Scottish National Party that introduced and passed it. While writers such as J.K. Rowling and others who are sceptical about the reality of trans-ness absolutely insist that their scepticism doesnt mean that they deny trans people civil rights, they are still cancelled and reviled as bigots.

That T is indelibly associated with LGB (as in LGBTQA+) is, as an inclusion against social prejudice, perfectly understandable. And yet there is a paradox. Would a man who asserted that he was a woman be accepted as a lesbian lover? Or a woman who said she was a man be a natural partner in a gay relationship?

Gentle reader, there was the old roues assertion I am a lesbian trapped in a mans body -- which used to raise a laugh but will probably be unacceptable as a joke today, even though it conforms, frivolously, to the view that ones gender is what one asserts it to be.

Traditionally, all the monotheistic religions have ascribed masculinity to their single God. Well, not all. The Sufi poets write verses to The Beloved. They dont mean the girl next door or the lady on the bus, but God. They fluidly address this Being as Him, and more often as a woman, alluding to her tresses. The divinity of this lover is recognised by the Muslim culture of the Sufi poets without a murmur against the possible implication that, for instance, the poet Rumi professes love for his inspiration, the male Shams-u-Tabrez. Oh well -- render unto the Ayatollah etc?

(And now gentle reader, I must admit that the Bachchoo quote at the top of this column was not composed by him but by Artificial Intelligence, when asked to write a verse about love in the style of Bachchoo! Thats why its called the song of the computer. To my mind its not as good as Bachchoos stuff, so no comparison and no threat! --fd. And a cut in your fee for cheating? --Ed)
The North Korean flag flutters at the North Korea consular office in Dandong, Liaoning province, China, April 20, 2021. Reuters-Yonhap



North Korea accused the United States, Friday, of flying a surveillance aircraft into its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) before being chased off by its warplanes earlier this week and threatened to take action to guard its sovereignty.



The accusation by the spokesperson of the General Staff Department of the North's Korean People's Army came as the leaders of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan were set to meet for a trilateral summit at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, the same day.



North Korea claimed a U.S. military spy aircraft "intruded" in the area over its EEZ three times between 5:38 and 6:37 a.m. Thursday to conduct what it claimed to be "aerial surveillance activity," according to the statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).



The North scrambled military jets, and the U.S. aircraft retreated at around 7:15 a.m., it added.






by John Ai

New direct investments have reached their lowest level since 1998. What weighs heavily - in addition to the deterioration of the economic situation - is the recently introduced law on espionage which fuels denunciations and has already led to several arrests. Analysts skeptical of Beijing''s new measures possible success.

Beijing (AsiaNews) - The process of progressive abandonment of the Chinese market by global financial investors is accelerating.

China's new foreign direct investment plunged 87% in the second quarter, the lowest figure since 1998. China's direct investment liabilities, which measure foreign investment, fell, according to official data. at its lowest level in 25 years.

That is why China's State Council, which represents the central government, issued new guidelines over the weekend in a bid to boost foreign investment.

The document released by China's State Council contains 24 guidelines according to which the authorities should provide support and tax incentives to companies investing overseas, such as income tax exemption for reinvesting profits in China.

The document also promises to increase the protection of the rights and interests, including the intellectual property of foreign companies operating in the country.

According to the document, foreign companies are encouraged to set up R&D centers in China and undertake major R&D projects in China.

US President Biden last week announced restrictions on US investment in Chinese entities in three technology areas, namely semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum computing technologies and some artificial intelligence systems.

Details of the legislation will be released later to clarify the prohibited areas, however the measures have already infuriated Beijing.

Executives and staff members of foreign companies have been promised the ability to enter and exit the country, and the same goes for applying for permanent residency in China.

Additionally, the document promises that regulators will decrease the rate and frequency of company inspections, resulting in lower credit risk.

China's State Council has ordered local governments to implement the provisions as soon as possible, to improve the confidence of foreign investors.

Regulation by Beijing authorities in technology industries and private enterprises, as well as geopolitical tensions, have weakened returns for international investors. In the first half of this year, 62% of hedge funds suffered losses; in the same period, only five new ones were created, while 18 were liquidated.

However, the latest measures to keep foreign investors in China contradict the anti-espionage law that went into effect on July 1 last year. The broadening of the definition of espionage and national security activities has discouraged some foreign companies in China, ready to retreat.

Foreign companies are aware that broad and unclear definitions of espionage can lead to uncertainties and risks of punishment, even arbitrary detention. In recent months, Chinese police raided the office of US consulting firm Bain & Company in Shanghai.

Five employees of the Mintz Group, a company operating in the Investigative Due Diligence (IDD) sector, have been arrested. A Japanese executive of Astellas Pharma has been jailed for espionage.

China's Minister of State Security launched a WeChat account in August, urging citizens to report spies and announcing that whistleblowers would be rewarded.

A survey by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China showed that European companies' confidence in the country's business environment has plummeted under the growing influence of repressive regulation and political meddling.

About 75% of companies are considering readjusting their supply chain strategy and 12% of them have already moved some activities out of China.
by Vladimir Rozanskij

Yerevan rejects Azerbaijani accusations of a troop concentration at the border. The call for an extraordinary convocation of the Security Council. Putin's visit to Turkey is expected at the end of August, priority on the grain deal. The future of the disputed territory will not be independence, but a reasonable autonomy in Azerbaijani territory in harmony with the Armenians.

Moscow (AsiaNews) - Armenia's defense ministry has rejected Azerbaijan's accusations of the concentration of troops at the border together with new loads of armaments, denying for the umpteenth time that it has deployed armed forces on the Nagorno Karabakh border.

Baku warned that "it maintains the right to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity with all the legal means available". According to the Azeris, the Armenians have activated war engineering works and other actions that violate international law and the commitments assumed by Yerevan in the agreements of November 9, 2020, referring in particular to the "radio-electronic means of struggle".

The areas where the Armenians are allegedly concentrating their weapons would be those of the Azerbaijani territory where the Russian peacekeepers are temporarily stationed: a "demilitarized zone" where the Armenians are coming forward to "re-propose their territorial claims", according to the Foreign Ministry of Baku. Accusations in turn reproached by the Armenians against them, which also concern firefights on both sides between Kelbadzar and Nakhicevan.

Yerevan, following these umpteenth verbal clashes and in the field, has decided to address the UN with the request for an extraordinary convocation of the Security Council to "deal with the issue of the blockade of the Lacin corridor and the danger of a total humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh".

The Armenians insists that "only the UN is able to enforce the conditions of peace and international security, preventing mass destructive actions such as war crimes, ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity and genocides.

Armenia has also turned to US President Joe Biden, to use "all instruments of pressure on Azerbaijan, including the suspension of military aid", as stated by the member of the House of Representatives of the US Congress Jim McGovern.

The Washington Post commented on the report by former international tribunal chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo, who spoke of Azerbaijan's "genocide of the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh" using "hunger, the invisible weapon of genocide", inciting in turn the United Nations to take charge of the problem.

According to Armenian political observer Akop Badalyan, Yerevan's appeal to the UN is forcing Baku to react "not capable of negatively affecting its international reputation", even though he considers it unlikely that the UN will approve a document condemning the 'Azerbaijan.

The "language of threats and blackmail" is therefore being used by the Azerbaijanis not only against the Armenians, but against the entire international community.

The aggressive statements by Azerbaijan against the Armenians have been joined in recent days by some official positions of Turkey, which in turn warns Armenia not to "seek provocations" and to respect the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. According to Ankara "there is no reason to criticize Azerbaijan in the question of the territory of Lachin".

Badalyan believes that these positions of the Turks should be considered "in a broader geopolitical context", in view of Vladimir Putin's visit to Turkey expected for the end of August, in which the priority will be the restoration of the agreement on wheat, Recep's main diplomatic weapon Tayyip Erdogan.

The political scientist maintains that "Azerbaijan's actions and Turkey's support are aimed at raising Turkey's price for Russia, which is very sensitive to the need to avoid a second front in the Caucasus".

Ankara also intervenes in this game to throw its cards in the wider market, and the UN could at least make the Azeris understand that threats and acts of force are worth nothing in global negotiations. The future of Nagorno Karabakh will probably not be independence, but a reasonable autonomy in Azerbaijani territory, and in harmony with its Armenian brothers.
Cadillac shuffled its nameplates again when it introduced the CT4 on the market in 2019 for the 2020 model year, replacing the former ATS as its premium entry-level sedan. Only this time, it looked like it focused more on the vehicle's dynamics than on the comfort side.

Cadillac has been building luxury cars forever, and the CT4 had to live up to its predecessors, regardless of its new nameplate. But there were a few things that the American luxury carmaker knew how to do better to make its cars attractive in an era where electrification was trendy and big block engines were forgotten. Fortunately, the CT4 shared the same platform with the retired ATS, and that was one of the best platforms Cadillac made to that date. But, apart from that, it was a new vehicle, not a redesigned one.

Right from the bat, the design team burned the midnight oil to create a strong image for the car. The massive chromed grille at the front flanked by headlights enhanced with full LED lights created a powerful look for the vehicle. In addition, the lower bumper sported a trapezoidal-shaped center grille flanked by vertical side scoops. From its profile, the CT4 boasted an elegant ascending beltline that the carmaker emphasized with a chromed door trim. The greenhouse followed the design language of the cab-rearward trend. At the back, the sloped-down rear windscreen and the short and tall deck created the image of a sporty vehicle because that's what Cadillac's marketing team considered would be attractive to customers.

Inside, Cadillac created a cabin centered around the driver. The tall center console and the dashboard moved towards the driver's seat, offering them a race-car-inspired sensation. In addition, the automaker installed a classic instrument cluster filled with a mix of analog dials for the speedometer and tachometer and an LCD that showed data from the car's onboard computer. Furthermore, the technology pack included a touchscreen placed atop the center stack that allowed Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity. In addition, it could also serve as a hot spot for other occupants of the vehicle. There was ample legroom at the front, and the bolstered seats provided adequate side support during high-speed cornering. In the back, the automaker installed a profiled-for-two bench seat for a reason. The transmission tunnel was quite high, thus preventing a third occupant from sitting comfortably there. Nevertheless, GM installed a third, center-mounted seatbelt.

Those looking for a V8 or, at least, a V6 engine under the CT4's hood were disappointed since the automaker offered the vehicle with a choice of inline-four turbocharged units. Still, the performance was there, and fans of big engines had to admit that the car was quick on its toes. The most powerful version provided more than 300 ponies to the rear or all corners of the vehicle via a standard 10-speed automatic transmission. The lower grades got a 2.0-turbocharged unit paired with an eight-speed automatic.
In 2024 Mercedes-Benz introduced the CLE convertible that replaced the previous C-Class Convertible (A205) and the E-Class Convertible (A238). This was not a new solution for the German automaker since it used it when it launched the first generation of the CLK (C208/A208) in 1997.

Mercedes-Benz tried to convince customers that the open-top versions E-Class and the C-Class were very different, but they weren't that much, actually. Yes, there were some styling differences, some options that were or were not available on each model, but at the end of the day, those were mainly two-seat vehicles with a retractable rag-top. The main differences were in the engine performance, where the E-Class had access to higher-powered versions. But for the mainstream versions, these were the same. So, after two generations of distinct open-top versions for the C-Class and the E-Class, the German automaker returned to its former solution found with the CLK.

The design team drew its inspiration when it penned the CLE Convertible from both the C-Class (W206) and the E-Class (W214). As a result, the lower part of the bumper featured the A-shaped lower grille inspired by the former, while the upper side of the front fascia resembled the one from the latter due to its chromed horizontal bar that adorned the main cooling area. Still, the headlights were distinct and were slimmer than its siblings, but they featured the same LED or Digital Light technology with them. From its profile, the open-top version was elegant yet sporty, thanks to the raked windshield that stretched above the front seats and also served as a roll-over protection system. In the back, the retractable roof was stored behind the rear seats. Finally, at the back, the deck was not as sloped as on its coupe sibling but featured the same taillights that shared their details with the C-Class.

Inside, there were more C-Class-inspired elements, such as the dashboard, the seats, and the standard infotainment system. The driver fronted the same digital instrument cluster as in the W206. Atop the center stack, Mercedes-Benz installed a standard touchscreen for the infotainment system similar to the one from the C-Class, but with a graphic that resembled the E-Class. The automaker offered the vehicle with ARTICO man-made leather for the lower grades, while the upper trim levels could get a combination of ARTICO/Microcut upholstery, which was made from 60% recycled materials. As expected, Nappa leather was also an option. Those seated in the back on the comfortable seats didn't have the same legroom as inside the coupe version since the bench seat was pushed forward a bit to make room for the retractable folding roof.

Mercedes-Benz installed a choice of diesel, gasoline, and hybrid drivetrains under the car's hood. In an era where most automakers started to ditch the oil burners, the German automaker kept those powerplants in its offer, but only for selected markets. All versions came fitted with the 9G-Tronic automatic transmission built by Mercedes-Benz.
If you know anything about the Cadillac Series 62, it probably has something to do with its iconic tailfins featuring those dual bullet taillights. The sixth-generation model is arguably the most distinctive of the bunch, although I would personally also praise the fifth-gen cars for their styling too  they also had massive fins.

Photo: Bring a Trailer

Anyway, the sixth-gen Series 62 was only in production for roughly a year, between 1959 and 1960, boasting two distinctive rooflines and pillar configurations, plus a medley of other iconic traits, such as their shockingly straight body moldings. They also came with impressive standard equipment, like power steering, power brakes, a four-speed Hydra-Matic automatic gearbox, and windshield wipers (yes, they were standard).The Convertible variant even came with power windows and a power seat, and rest assured, that if you coveted one today, especially one thats in great condition, it would cost you nothing short than an arm and a leg.Dont think so? Check out this absolutely stunning 1959 Series 62 Convertible  it is mere days away from ending up in the hands of a new owner and, as you can see, it most certainly does not come cheap. Generally speaking, a mint condition sixth-gen Series 62 Convertible will set you back more than what you would spend on a brand new 2023/2024 Cadillac Escalade or a CT5-V Blackwing.According to the ad , this car was exported from Arizona to Canada all the way back in 1977, where it was placed in a barn for long-term storage. The current seller acquired it in 2009, which could mean that this Caddy slept in that barn for a little over three decades. We cant be sure of that, of course, but it all kind of checks out, seeing as how it was sold as a non-running project which then had to undergo a full restoration.Visually, the car used to be finished in Dover White, before getting repainted red  this occurred before the body was disassembled for rust repairs. The frame was also repainted (black), with additional work consisting of refurbishing the convertible top mechanism, replacing the vinyl soft top, polishing the stainless trim, plus applying a few chrome touches here and there.Meanwhile, the whole interior was reupholstered and trimmed in white and red leather (seats and door panels), and yes, the car does come with a power-adjustable front bench seat, which is really cool for 1959.Other interior goodies include the two-tone steering wheel, a heater, branded floor mats and a push-button AM radio, which for some reason isnt connected to the speakers. The seller also states that the cruise control system doesnt work.As for performance, the hood hides a 390ci V8 engine , factory-rated at 325 horsepower and 430 lb-ft of torque, and as you can see, the entire engine bay was repainted in satin black during the refurbishment process.
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This weekend will be about the most important events in California during the Monterey Car Week  The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, and the classic Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. And this is mainly because the vast majority of automakers refrained from unleashing their surprises (like the Mustang GTD) earlier.Sure, there were occasional exceptions  such as the 'Golden Era' Bugatti Sur Mesure Chiron Super Sport or the Aston Martin DB12 Volante, but they were a minority. On the other hand, Hyundai wanted the spotlight all for itself during the world premiere of the 2024 Santa Fe that took place, of course, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. And so did General Motors, which allowed Cadillac to take over New York City's iconic Times Square with the 750-hp Escalade IQ full-sizeHowever, an entire world  and sometimes even the parallel universes of the imaginative realm of digital car content creators still can't get over the introduction of the 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser, which occurred in Toyota City, Japan, and immediately spread across all major regions like North America, Europe, Japan, or Australia for specific details. Speaking of the United States, the return of the nameplate brought a change of vision  this isn't the follow-up to the J200 series but rather the light-duty version that appeared in 1990 and was dubbed Prado in many places of the world.Now the J250 Lexus GX 550 and 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser are twinned in TNGA-F format and profiles, but each has its separate target audience. While the GX features a 3.4-liter twin-turbo V6 mill packing 349 hp and only dreams of luxurious overlanding adventures, the 2024 Land Cruiser is a little more down to Earth and also much more efficient, given the estimated 27 combined mpg fuel consumption of its 326-hp electrified i-Force Max 2.4-liter turbo inline-four powertrain.Plus, the 2024 Land Cruiser has two distinct personalities  the base Land Cruiser 1958 trim and the First Edition series sport a classic round-LED headlight fascia, while the regular Land Cruiser grade is squared and inspired chiefly by stuff like the J80 Land Cruiser of the 1990s. Naturally, people will have to choose and live with different perspectives when the model reaches US dealerships in early 2024. But what if folks were enamored with the off-road adventure options of the First Edition and couldn't get their hands on one?Well, no worries. There are digital solutions to the conundrum. For example, Nikita Chuicko, the virtual artist better known as kelsonik on social media, thinks now is the right CGI time to fuel our aftermarket Land Cruiser dreams towards great overlanding adventures. It's not the first time this pixel master has CGI-reworked the 2024 Land Cruiser, but all past creations focused on making the rugged SUV a veritable mall crawler.Now he's making amends with the off-road section of fans after presenting us the hypothetical Land Cruiser 'Off-Road Edition' based on the base Land Cruiser 1958 trim level. It comes virtually complete with everything we could possibly dream of  body-colored 'steelie' aftermarket wheels shod in meaty all-terrain tires, a massive suspension lift kit, beefier front and rear bumpers plus side guards, additional LED lights, a winch, a snorkel, and a roof rack with lots of accessories fitted to it.So, what more could we possibly need aside from the automaker itself giving us access to such accessories in a bid to fight the Ford Bronco and Jeep Wrangler options? Or, even better, hopefully, aftermarket companies are already hard at work researching and developing the best options for the 2024 Land Cruiser. After all, what's a Land Cruiser if you can't take it to the far end of the world?
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Just like its parent Honda, Acura now has an all-electric crossoverin its lineup. And just like the Prologue, the upcoming battery electric mid-size crossover SUV was put together with General Motors. However, unlike the Honda Prologue, the Acura ZDX isn't an all-new moniker  the company sold for model years 2010-2013 a first generation aimed at BMW X6 fans.It's safe to say the model was ultimately a failure, which is somewhat counterintuitive for Acura relaunching the nameplate as its first foray into thelifestyle. Maybe they're not superstitious and hope the first-gen didn't jinx it. Anyway, the GM underpinnings mean two things for the new Acura ZDX  BEV3 platform and Ultium technology, just like in the Cadillac Lyriq, Buick Electra E5, and Chevy Equinox EV plus Blazer EV, as well as Honda's Prologue.Acura wanted to make sure it would cover all angles of the EV lifestyle, so the base A-Spec single-motor configuration, tipped to start from around $60k when it goes on sale in early 2024, has an anticipated EPA range of 325 miles (523 km). Designed at the Acura Design Studio in Los Angeles, the all-new ZDX welcomes the company's new styling, previewed by the Precision EV Concept. It also includes many other firsts, like Google built-in, Bang & Olufsen luxury audio, and the AcuraWatch 360 with Hands Free Cruise in the Type S model.The flagship Acura ZDX Type S, by the way, is packing an estimated 500 horsepower (the same as a V8-powered Ford Mustang Dark Horse, for example), the most an Acura SUV ever had. There's also a dual-motor (all-wheel-drive) configuration for the 340-hp A-Spec, and the Type S will kick off at around $70k. By the way, all of them will feature DC Fast Charging rates of up to 190, giving some 81 miles of range in ten minutes to ZDX A-Spec RWD's 102-lithium-ion battery pack.That's for those eager to blend zero emissions with familiar crossover practicality. But how about fans who want more from Acura? They won't be disappointed as the Japanese carmaker also had a surprise for the Monterey Car Week  the Performance Electric Vision design study preview. Also penned by the Acura Design Studio in Los Angeles, the electrifying concept car has "thrilling performance proportions; powerfully sculpted, contrast surfacing; and striking neon green lighting signature" to advance the company's Precision Crafted Performance design language into the zero-emissions future."Our Acura design team in Los Angeles is dreaming up the future of Acura Precision Crafted Performance in the EV era," said Dave Marek, Acura executive creative director. "This latest expression of an all-electric high-performance model is inspiring everyone in our studio to push the boundaries, and we wanted to share the fun with our Acura fans." Unfortunately, this isn't the full unveiling but rather just a preview of things to come. Additionally, the brand didn't let slip when we should expect this prototype's world premiere. However, we can take a hint and ask the million-dollar question: is this also the harbinger of NSX EV things to come? Frankly, as far as I am concerned, I sure hope so!
Did you know that several tugboat designs around the world are gearing up for unprecedented, green towage operations? Most of them are based on battery-electric propulsion technology. Yet, a few are bold enough to try something even more innovative. An experience towage provider in Europe is working on what it claims to be the world's first MHFC tug  a hybrid tugboat combining methanol fuel cells with battery power.

It doesn't have an official name yet, but it promises to be a game-changer. The hybrid tug developed by Svitzer, a Denmark-based towage provider, part of the giant A.P Moller-Maersk, claims to be better even than the most recent all-electric tugboats. The reason behind that is simple. Just like with any other type of vehicle, hybrid propulsion improves endurance compared to purely electric systems. This MHFC tug will basically be self-sufficient. In addition to longer endurance, it will mostly be free of the inherent operational constraints of battery-powered vehicles. That's because its secondary generators, fueled by methanol, will supply backup power whenever it's required.Svitzer claims that compared to a tug of a similar size, running on fossil fuel, its new tug will cut more than 1,300 tons of CO2 every year without compromising performance.The Danish operator hasn't yet revealed more technical details about the future tug. For now, we know that it will be based on Svitzer's own award-winning TRAnsverse platform. The main design project is none other than the acclaimed naval architecture company Robert Allan. Robert Allan is also linked to the design of the Haisea Marine tugboat fleet, which will operate in Canada, and eWolf, America's first electric tugboat, due to operate in the Port of San Diego.As for this MHFC tug, it will show what it can do in a port known for its pioneering green initiatives, the Port of Gothenburg in Sweden. Gothenburg plans to become, among other things, a strategic methanol bunker hub and has already taken significant steps in that direction. A methanol fuel cell tugboat providing green towage fits perfectly in line with this plan. It will help the huge Swedish port reach its goal of cutting emissions by 70% by the end of this decade.Svitzer is now working on the second phase of the MHFC tug project, which will focus on the vessel's design together with Robert Allan. The next phase will be dedicated to selecting the best onboard equipment for the future tug.Damen introduced a similar project last year, harnessing the benefits of methanol. However, in Damen's case, we're talking about dual-fuel methanol/diesel tugboats, which would be ready for commercial service three years from now. According to the Dutch giant, methanol-ready dual-fuel engines could help lower emission levels while being drastically more powerful than all-electric versions.
Participants of the sixth edition of the Model African Union Assembly pose after the general meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul, Thursday. The two-day event that began on Thursday aims to exchange views on major issues concerning the African continent with delegations from 28 African countries. Courtesy of the Korea-Africa Foundation
When the M3 and M4 switched to the CLAR platform, BMW had to drop the Getrag GS7D36SG dual-clutch transmission in favor of the 8HP torque-converter automatic from ZF Friedrichshafen. The switch further allowed the Bavarian automaker to gift its compact executive thrillers with xDrive all-wheel drive, which makes a huge difference from a dig and in the twisties.

Twinned with the M3 and M4, the M2 comes exclusively with rear-wheel drive. With the G87 boasting the aforementioned CLuster ARchitecture, chances are the M2 will receive all-wheel drive in the near future. BMW Blog understands that BMW is close to giving the M2 xDrive the green light, although it will be a slow burn.As per the cited publication, the most capable M2 of them all would arrive in 2026 . It's not clear, however, if we're dealing with a 2026 or a 2027 model. BMW Blog further understands that project decisions can be taken as late as 18 months prior to the start of production, which might sound a little unrealistic. On the other hand, remember that BMW already knows how to integrate the performance-oriented version of xDrive  officially dubbed M xDrive  in the CLAR vehicle architecture.If the M2 were to receive xDrive, it's pretty obvious that it's going to weigh a little more than the rear-drive specification. For reference, the M4 Competition tips the scales at 3,880 pounds (make that 1,760 kilograms) compared to 3,979 pounds (1,805 kilograms) for the M4 Competition xDrive. With the M2 8AT rated at 3,814 pounds (1,730 kilograms), the M2 xDrive would  in theory  weigh around 3,913 pounds (1,775 kilograms).Did you catch the 8AT from earlier? That's the other downside of M xDrive, which isn't compatible with manual transmissions. The manual in the M2, M3, and M4  referred to as GS6-53BZ  is a ZF design as well.With the M2 CS expected to rock 518 horsepower (525 ps) from its 3.0-liter S58 twin-turbo sixer, it's easy to imagine the M2 CS getting xDrive all-wheel drive for year-round usability. The worst-case scenario would be for the base tune of the S58 to receive xDrive, although that's not actually a bad thing. The Life Cycle Impulse of the G87 is due in August 2024 for the 2025 model year with a bit more power to its name. As per Bimmerpost's ynguldyn, look forward to 475 horsepower It's not clear if ynguldyn refers to metric or mechanical horsepower, though. 475 ps converts to 469 hp, whereas 475 hp converts to 482 ps. Bimmerpost's brigadier general claims that BMW is also preparing a few visual upgrades, including a handful of new wheel designs.The G87 is BMW 's most affordable M car as of August 2023. Manufactured in Mexico rather than Germany, the M2 carries a starting price of $63,200  excluding the destination charge  in the United States.
Someone once described wind power as the cleanest energy source in the world. Today's world can benefit from the powerful pairing of this universal energy source with state-of-the-art technology, resulting in unprecedented efficiency. One of these innovative approaches to wind-assisted propulsion is called suction sail and will be installed on a tanker for the first time ever.

Two big players in the maritime industry have joined forces for a project that could change tanker operations forever. Odjfell, a Norwegian shipping company, has selected the eSail suction sail system developed by the Spanish tech company bound4blue to be installed on its fleet. At first, the eSail system will be fitted on a chemical tanker, which will make it the first tanker in the global industry to feature this innovative technology. The Norwegian giant chose eSail after a complex evaluation of existing wind-assisted propulsion systems (WAPS) completed by SSPA. The technology developed by bound4blue promises to produce up to seven times more lift than a conventional sail while also requiring minimal fuel consumption and simple mechanical tasks.According to the designer, eSail uses suction based on "active boundary layer control." It goes on to explain that when suction is activated, the small amount of air that gets sucked in adheres to the airflow to the sail. This translates to a powerful lift combined with low drag.Here are some of the advantages of this technology: it works 100% autonomously; it's small and lightweight, with no impact on the vessel's cargo capacity; it's easy to integrate on both current fleets and future vessels; it requires almost no maintenance at all; most importantly, it claims to be affordable and highly-efficient, with huge fuel savings and significantly lower emission levels.The bound4blue sailing system has already proven its efficiency on other types of ships, but this is the first time it will be installed on a tanker, more specifically, a chemical tanker. This industry-first installation is due to be completed next year when it will pave the way for other tanks as well.Like other players in the industry, the Norwegian shipping company is on a journey towards cleaner operations that will comply with the increasingly harsher maritime regulations. So far, it has improved its carbon intensity by more than 50% compared to 2008 levels.Wind-assisted propulsion is slowly but surely changing the way we do shipping. There are many routes leading to greener maritime transportation, and harnessing the power of wind is considered one of the most efficient. Airseas , the maritime branch of Airbus, launched the futuristic Seawing, a system that combines kite technology with automated flight control derived from aerospace. More recently, Michelin also started testing its innovative sailing system, called Wisamo, on a commercial ship.
High-net-worth people usually expect high-net-worth services and products, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that the most expensive cars on the planet require eye-watering bank accounts just for simple maintenance and servicing.

Regular Servicing and Inspection Costs

Photo: Bugatti

Tires, Wheels, and Brakes

Photo: Bugatti

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Photo: Bugatti

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Photo: Bugatti

With that in mind, have you ever wondered how much it costs just to maintain your average modern hypercar? Everyone expects it to be a hassle on the old Louis Vuitton wallet, but some costs are truly monumental from an average person's point of view.Let's assume you've struck it big with your business, or you're a trust fund baby, and you already have your dream home(s), usually fly private, and you no longer remember how much is a carton of milk.Things are going so great financially that it's time to honestly treat yourself and buy your first hypercar to round up the fleet of Rolls-Royces, Lamborghinis , and limited-edition Porsches parked in your multi-car garage.Albeit being spoiled for choice regarding boutique exotic carmakers in this time and age , most people will invariably begin their hypercar collection with a Bugatti , a symphony of power and opulence on wheels.Despite a tumultuous history, especially in recent years, Bugatti is not only a name but an emblem of automotive extravagance. The Chiron currently sits at the apex of this illustrious car brand, a hypercar that transcends most superlatives and speeds (pun intended) into the realm of automotive divinities.From the very inception of Bugatti in 1909 by Ettore Bugatti, this French-Italian - now also German and Croatian - fusion of engineering excellence vowed to embody the spirit of artistry in motion.The Bugatti Chiron, with its ever-increasing number of versions, is only the latest in a long lineage of mechanical marvels, so it's only logical that the least expensive model started at a whopping $2.6 million (2.4 million Euros) when it went on sale in 2016.You'd be lucky to find a non-customized one for under $4 million (3.6 million euros) on the used car market nowadays, the only choice you have without spending over $6-7 million for a new one-of-one or limited edition version.The extravagant acquisition price is only part of the deal because once you get your hands on a Chiron, the high spending is only beginning.After rummaging through hypercar forums and various owners' social media, these are all the costs involved with the long-term ownership of a Chiron I could find.When buying a new Bugatti Chiron , you get a four-year bumper-to-bumper warranty with unlimited mileage. After that is finished, you can get it extended or pay per service visit, which is much more expensive.Somewhat surprisingly, and despite the Chiron being almost twice as expensive as its predecessor, the Veyron, the overall maintenance costs for the former are slightly more manageable.This is all while a simple LED taillight costs upward of $10,000 (9,000 euros). You can't pull a Lamborghini and go for less expensive Audi parts on your Bugatti. Oh, and never lose your keys because a replacement key fob is $13,500 (12,500 Euros).The regular one-year annual inspection for a Bugatti Chiron costs $11,500 (10,500 Euros), with specialized mechanics checking everything that can go wrong after driving a car capable of over 250 mph (402 kph) if road conditions allow it.Bugatti recommends changing the fluids on the model's 8.0-liter quad-turbocharged 16-cylinder engine every 14 months or 10,000 miles (16,000 km). This operation includes 16 drain plugs, coolant, filters, and the recommended Castrol Edge 10W-60 oil for $22,000 (20,000 Euros).No matter how cool those wheels may look and the stress they can take at 200+ mph speeds, Bugatti also recommends changing them every 10,000 miles (16,000 km) at a cost that starts at $45,000 (41,000 Euros) for the most 'basic' versions.Remember, this is a 250+ mph car that weighs almost as much as a mid-size(4,056 pounds, or 2,070 kg), so those special wheels go hand in hand with specially developed tires. Thankfully, unlike its Veyron predecessor, Chiron owners are spoiled for choice regarding tires, which are also much less expensive than before but still specially developed for the model.As standard, the hypercar comes fitted with Michelin Pilot Sport PAX all-season, run-flat tires, which cost around $7,200 (6,600 Euros). If you ever decide to track your Chiron or drive it more in the summer, you can get a set of Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 XL tires for the same price.Not content with the grip those Cup 2s offer? There are also specially developed Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2R TR tires available for a cool $38,000 (35,000 Euros).Surprisingly, those who remember that the Chiron is all-wheel-drive can use that 1,500 horsepower to dig snow trenches in the winter with a set of Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3 tires, which cost as much as the all-season Michelins.What about replacing those gargantuan brakes? Well, the front carbon-ceramic rotors, which measure 420 mm in diameter, can be replaced for no less than $45,000 (41,000 Euros). The accompanying 3D-printed titanium brake pads with 8 calipers? Those are just $8,100 (7,500 Euros).I haven't found any numbers for the rear, 400-mm rotors, and the 6-piston calipers, but they should be a tad cheaper than those in the front. That said, brake fluid and other component cleaning or replacement during a brake job will cost you another $54,000 (50,000 Euros).Obviously, most of the above only cover yearly routine maintenance, but with such a complex vehicle, other, much higher costs can be involved.Like its predecessor, the Veyron, the Bugatti Chiron houses a formidable array of 10 radiators for cooling that 8-liter, quad-turbocharged, 16-cylinder beast of an engine. Those intercoolers will need to be replaced every three to four years, and it will only cost you $19,800 (18,200 Euros).Pricing for the four turbochargers, which can pump up to 60,000 liters of air into the engine per minute? A reasonable $23,400 (21,500 Euros).Need some engine tuning and calibration from time to time? That will be $26,000 (23,700 Euros). Want a new coat of paint over that sculpted carbon fiber body from the factory? That's at least $49,000 (45,000 Euros) for the least expensive option.Speaking of which, Bugatti recommends you never wash your Chiron using an automated car wash - you wouldn't want tiny scratches on your 50 grand paint, would you?Did you manage to crack your Bugatti Chiron windshield? Tough luck because an OEM replacement is an eye-watering $54,000 (50,000 Euros).Too many overly optimistic launches on an incline to test the 2.4-seconds 0 to 62 mph (100 kph) acceleration? Your 7-speedtransmission may be grenaded, meaning you must now fork out a staggering $185,000 (170,000 Euros) for a replacement.Total cost for a brand-new, 8-liter, quad-turbocharged, W16 Chiron engine? At over $856,000 (788,000 Euros), it's almost a third of the car's cost when new.Most car owners are recommended to replace their windshield wipers at least once, if not twice, per year, but this usually doesn't break their wallets. However, most car owners don't own a Bugatti because that would mean they'd need to pay $3,400 (3,150 Euros) to change their wiper blades.In short, the Bugatti Chiron is an amalgam of excesses, from its engine's number of cylinders to its 261 mph (420 kph) electronically limited top speed.However, Bugatti isn't a marque content with mere velocity. No, Bugatti masterfully merges swiftness with sophistication, sculpting an interior haven that feels more like a lavish penthouse than a conventional car cockpit within the Chiron.It's an orchestration of luxury that transcends mere transportation, an ambiance where craftsmanship and comfort intertwine to redefine the very essence of automotive indulgence.Yes, all this isn't cheap, but most good things aren't. With that in mind, Bugatti has created the so-called Passeport Tranquillite service program for Chiron and Veyron customers worldwide.In translation, the program gets you an extended four-year warranty covering everything from oil changes to cracked wheels for a mere $204,000 (188,000 Euros). That sounds like a bargain.
Originally called QX56 due to its 5.6-liter V8, the QX series became the QX80 for the 2014 model year. Introduced in 2010, the second generation was facelifted twice. It's high time for Infiniti to launch an extensive redesign of its body-on-frame sport utility vehicle, a redesign that might drop next year.

4MATIC

Photo: Infiniti

Codenamed Z63 as opposed to Z62 for the second generation, the newcomer has been previewed at Pebble Beach in the form of the QX Monograph concept. It's not the first one, though. Back in April 2017, the Nissan-owned automaker lifted the veils off the QX80 Monograph concept, which previewed the 2018 model year second facelift of the second-generation QX80.As the headline implies, Nissan is expected to drop the naturally-aspirated V8 in favor of a force-fed sixer. A twin-turbo V6 seems to be the right call for this application, more so if you remember that segment competitors also flaunt six cylinders and spinny lads.The 3.4-liter V6 of the Lexus LX comes to mind, together with the 3.5-liter V6 of the Lincoln Navigator. Unibody competitors also pack six cylinders as standard. Think 3.0-liter I6 for the BMW X7 xDrive40i and 3.0-liter I6 for the Mercedes-Benz GLS 450Rather than developing a brand-new platform, Nissan is rumored to update the F-Alpha vehicle architecture one last time for this fellow and the next-gen Armada. In other markets, the Armada is known as the Patrol. Turning our attention back to the concept, what makes the QX Monograph stand out from the QX80 currently available to configure from $72,700? First and foremost, eye-catching design traits.Infiniti makes a statement with the anti-wedge profile of the concept, which gives a sense of motion to the sport utility vehicle. A seven-/eight-seat sport utility vehicle, that is. Infiniti couldn't be bothered with finalizing this concept's interior, hence the lack of interior pictures.The sophisticated-looking behemoth dons a special paint dubbed Akane, which  translated from Japanese  means deep red. The designers behind the QX Monograph took inspiration from bamboo forests for the front grille. At the very top of the radiator grille, a narrow light strip is flanked by the headlights.A three-dimensional illuminated emblem brings the point home, and props to Infiniti for giving the middle finger to the flat logo trend that everyone and their dog seems to be crazy about nowadays. The rear end is pretty cool in its own right, yet the rear bumper's openings have an afterthought quality about them.Infiniti would share anything about what's hiding under the skin of the QX Monograph, nor did the Japanese automaker share an ETA for the next-generation QX80 . For future reference, the 2023 model produces 400 horsepower at 5,800 rpm, 413 pound-feet (560 Nm) at 4,000 rpm, weighs 5,701 pounds (2,586 kilograms) in Luxe RWD attire, and promises up to 16 miles per gallon (14.7 liters per 100 kilometers) combined.
The Jeep brand has  once again  been hit with quite a large safety recall. As per documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the safety boffins at FCA US LLC identified a software issue that prevents the rearview camera image from displaying when the vehicle's transmission is placed in reverse.

NHTSA

A grand total of 162,713 unibodies and body-on-frame utility vehicles are called back, starting with the 2021 to 2023 model year Jeep Grand Cherokee . As you're well aware, the midsize utility vehicle is Jeep's most popular nameplate in the US market. No fewer than 124,956 were delivered in the first half of 2023, whereas the 12-month total for 2022 is 223,345 units.The 2022 to 2024 model year Wagoneer and more luxurious Grand Wagoneer are recalled as well, albeit in fewer numbers. More specifically, we're dealing with 43,041 units compared to 59,508 examples of the three-row Grand Cherokee L and 60,164 units of the two-row Grand Cherokee. Production dates for suspect vehicles range between December 3, 2020 and August 4, 2023.Auburn Hills-based Chrysler became aware of the aforesaid problem last year, on October 7. The Technical Safety and Regulatory Compliance organization within FCA US LLC was informed of a potential issue regarding rearview camera functionality, which resulted in an engineering review. For some reason or another, it took Chrysler until June 21 to acknowledge the issue's existence. FCA US LLC also identified a noncompliance with federal motor vehicle safety standard number 111.Under specific conditions, the central vision processing and park assist module may not display the rearview camera image after placing the gear lever into reverse. A software update, however, will fix said condition. Dealers will be informed to perform the update on October 3, the day owner notifications will be sent via first-class mail. In the meantime, owners can easily find out whether their Jeeps are called back by running the VIN on the's completely free VIN look-up tool.Codenamed WL, the fifth-generation Grand Cherokee is the best-handling one yet due to the Giorgio platform, which Fiat Chrysler Automobiles premiered in the Alfa Romeo Giulia. Other applications of this vehicle architecture include the Alfa Romeo Stelvio and Maserati Grecale. The GranTurismo and GranCabrio use a derivative of the Giorgio, referred to as Giorgio Sport.Available with four- and six-cylinder powertrains, the WL can also be specified with plug-in hybrid 2.0L turbo muscle as long as you're fine with two-row seating. The 2024 model year Grand Cherokee starts at $40,130 (excluding the destination freight charge), whereas the Grand Cherokee 4xe plug-in hybrid starts at $60,460.The Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer aren't Jeep models per se, but "Wagoneer by Jeep" models. The apparent feeling of specialness will immediately go away once you find out these family-sized leviathans ride on the Ram 1500's platform. Customers are presented with either NA V8 or TT V6 muscle, with prices starting at $61,595 for the Wagoneer and a whopping $91,140 for the posher one.
Federal motor vehicle safety standards were adopted to ensure the safety of the occupants and other traffic participants. On the other hand, certain standards are somewhat ridiculous. FMVSS 208 section 4.5.1 stands out as being one of the most absurd of the bunch.

Photo: Kia

kWh

Said federal motor vehicle safety standard requires automakers to equip their vehicles with permanently affixed sun visor airbag warning labels. Emphasis on permanently affixed. Recall number 23V-579 concerns a little over 50,000 vehicles equipped with labels that may peel off. Given that the law is the law, Kia was required to call back the MY23 Sorento.The South Korean automaker's Georgia-based assembly plant notified Kia North America of this condition on July 28. The safety boffins identified no fewer than 10 peeling incidents. Come August 8, the peeps in charge of regulatory matters determined that peeling of said warning label is a noncompliance with FMVSS 208.The airbag warning label's purpose is to warn the driver and front passenger of certain things. For example, children aged 12 and under can be killed by the airbag. The label also instructs the driver and occupants to always use seatbelts and child restraints. In other words, all the warnings displayed are common knowledge.Why do said labels peel off from the sun visors of the 2023 model year Sorento? According to the document attached below, the supplier didn't affix the warning labels properly. The process of adhering the label to the sun visor was improved on August 6. Care to guess what kind of remedy has Kia prepared for this comical condition?The answer is no, not replacement labels. Believe it or not, affected vehicles will receive replacement sun visors with properly affixed warning labels. The part numbers for the sun visor assemblies in question are 85210-R5000, 85210-R5500, 85220-R5000, and 85220-R5500.Dealers will be informed of this recall no later than October 5, whereas known owners will be notified by first-class mail on October 10. Of the 50,517 units recalled, one percent of them are believed to have been equipped with improperly affixed warning labels. Build dates range between October 2022 and August 2023.Scheduled to receive a mid-cycle refresh for 2024, the Kia Sorento bridges the gap between the compact Sportage and three-row Telluride. Currently priced at $30,090 in the United States, the front-/all-wheel-drive crossover is also offered as a hybrid or plug-in hybrid.The hybrid carries a sticker price of $36,690 (excluding destination charge). For the plug-in hybrid, make that $49,990. The pricing difference may be tremendous, but remember that the 261-hp plug-in hybrid comes with a larger high-voltage battery than the 227-hp hybrid. The numbers are 1.6and 13.8 kWh, respectively.In the first half of 2023, the South Korean automaker delivered 51,376 units of the Sorento in the United States, up from 48,518 in the first half of 2022. This means the Sorento is Kia's fourth best-selling nameplate in this part of the world after the Telluride (65,043 units), Forte (73,065 units), and Sportage (83,742 units).
The push of the aviation industry to cut down on traditional fuel consumption and the resulting harmful emissions comes in many shapes and sizes. Some are trying new engine designs, others are researching alternative fuels, while a few, like NASA, go bolder and try to envision new aircraft designs.

We've known for a while now the space agency is working on something called the Transonic Truss-Braced Wing (TTBW). The concept is, if you will, an evolution of the standard wing, only longer and thinner, and equipped with diagonal struts that link the main wings to the fuselage.Going for this approach should allow for the aircraft to generate more lift, thus reducing the amount of fuel the plane needs to become airborne and move through the air. The approach is expected to account for a reduction in fuel consumption by up to 30 percent, when combined with a series of other technologies that are yet to be detailed. NASA partnered a while ago with Boeing for the project, but so far we only knew of scale tests being conducted on the TTBW wing design alone. This week however we've learned the actual plane to put the idea through its paces will be based on the MD-90.This family of single-aisle aircraft was introduced in 1995 and is powered by a pair of turbofan engines mounted on the tail. It's probably this particularity that prompted Boeing to choose this model for conversion to NASA's experimental aircraft.The aerospace company said this week the MD-90 just made the trip from Victorville to the facility in Palmdale where the modifications will be made. The exact date when work on it will begin was not disclosed (Boeing says it'll be "soon), but we do know when the modified machine will fly for the first time: 2028.In the reconfigured form the MD-90 will be known as the X-66A . Until earlier this year the project was known as the Sustainable Flight Demonstrator, but as it always happens when an idea moves into the real world, the X designation was slapped on the flying machine by the U.S. Air Force.NASA has been flying X-planes since the 1940s, a time when it was still called the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The designations are always awarded by the USAF, starting with the Bell X-1 in 1946 and ending with the X-65 Crane earlier this year. Naturally, now the X-66A is the most recent member of this exotic family of aircraft.Although the changes in need to be made may seem rather minor, NASA will spend a lot of money on the project. More to the point, it plans to burn some $245 million over the next seven years.
WalzWerk Motorcycles is a name known to custom bike aficionados all over the world, with its history stretching as far back as 1990. The mastermind behind it goes by the name of Marcus Walz, and hes what you might refer to as a man of many talents. Born in Heidelberg, West Germany in 1967, Marcus went on to establish his motorcycle customization venture at just 23-years-old.

Photo: WalzWerk

Photo: WalzWerk

He certainly didnt predict how much success awaited down the road, and almost two decades of painstaking labor were required for it to be fully attained. At first, Herr Walz dealt solely with Harley-Davidsons , but he later expanded his interest to other marques, as well. Meanwhile, the shop we now know as WalzWerk scaled up its operations, gradually employing more people and never stopping to rest on its laurels.What started as a humble one-man endeavor in a repurposed horse stable has eventually turned into the most prolific customization outfit on German soil. At present, the WalzWerk crew operates out of a massive 8,600-square-foot (800 sqm) facility in Hockenheim, with a clientele that includes figures like Kimi Raikkonen. Hes a cool dude from Finland who drives pretty well; maybe youve heard of him.Jokes aside, Marcus and his team are obviously not playing around, but the frontman is now also a successful entrepreneur owning a hotel and multiple restaurants. Were here to talk about custom motorcycles, though, more precisely the 1,000th project put together by these bike-modding connoisseurs. You have, indeed, read that correctly, and you arent the only one wondering if they ever sleep.The WalzWerk squad tackled this build in 2022, with their starting point being a BMW R 100 RS from the model-year 1990. As the guys soon discovered, the airhead had in fact come off the assembly line around a month after Marcus founded the firm that bears his surname. Thus, it seemed like a matter of destiny for this old-school Beemer to find its way onto their workbench.Once it did, the experts took everything apart and deleted the stock subframe, both wheels, and all the original bodywork. The main frame was cleaned up, then sand-blasted, and ultimately stiffened with some clever welding. A new subframe got bolted onto the rear section, featuring built-in LED lighting and supporting a gorgeous seat from WalzWerks proprietary aftermarket range.Right ahead of it lies the modified fuel tank of a Honda CB model from the seventies, with CNC-milled emblems displaying the workshops logo. The tank is draped in a light beige hue borrowed from Porsches vintage color palette, along with black pinstripes on the flanks and commemorative graphics up top. Completing the motorcycles attire is a repurposed Harley-Davidson front fairing, which encircles a yellow-tinted LED headlight.Look closely, and you will also see minute aftermarket turn signals attached to the fairing. The R 100s cockpit area bears fresh CNC-machined triple clamps, a Motogadget speedo, and clip-on handlebars. In turn, the clip-ons come equipped with Daytona grips and compact switches, as well as a pair of KustomTech control levers.That just about does it for the hardware on the upper part of this machine, so lets have a gander at whats going on lower down. Gone are the BMWs factory wheels, making room for custom 18-inch alternatives with black hubs, stainless-steel spokes, and shiny alloy rims. These new hoops wear Firestone Deluxe Champion rubber for visual appeal, but they can be swapped with a second wheel set sporting ContiRoadAttack tires from Continental.For ample stopping power at the front, WalzWerk installed higher-spec brake rotors and calipers from their own parts catalog, mating them to modern Wunderkind lines. The rear end still carries the standard drum brake, but its been drilled to prevent things from getting too toasty.Rear-mounted foot pegs can be spotted a little further ahead, appropriately complementing the clip-ons found in the cockpit. In terms of suspension upgrades, the stock R 100 RS forks were shortened by approximately five inches (127 mm) and then fitted with progressive springs.The lowers have been powder-coated black, while the upper portions received bespoke covers to beef them up cosmetically. As tasty as these modifications might be, the rear end is where the Germans really went to town. Seeking a more unique setup, WalzWerk got in touch with the folks over at Suspension Store  the official distributor of YSS goodies in the Netherlands.The Dutch specialists came up with a billet aluminum linkage that employs an adjustable YSS shock absorber, both a stunning and highly functional arrangement we cant get enough of. The Bavarians twin-cylinder boxer was blessed with an all-inclusive rebuild, gaining a brand-new camshaft, DellOrto carburetors, and a youthful electronic ignition in the process.Items such as the valves and crank have also been revised, while the OEM exhaust got ditched in favor of a two-into-one replacement made of stainless-steel. With these items in place, the engine can produce a very respectable 85 hp, and this grunt pushes a curb weight of just 370 pounds (168 kg).
During a video-conference discussion on Thursday Nagorno-Karabakhs Foreign Minister Sergey Ghazarian, in particular, explained why Stepanakert rejects humanitarian aid through the Agdam road.

Azerbaijan clearly wants that connection between Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh  ed.] be cut by blocking the Lachin Corridor. And secondly, no international aid should degrade human dignity, therefore, if Azerbaijan created such a difficult situation itself, deliberately dooming more than 120,000 of our compatriots to starvation, this is simply unacceptable, these false attempts to present themselves with humanitarian approaches are unacceptable, Ghazarian said.

The Karabakh official emphasized that this was not only the position of the Karabakh authorities, but also of the regions ordinary residents.

Speaking about the results of the emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh that was held at Armenias request on August 16, Ghazarian stressed that it was only the beginning of the process.

Summarizing the discussions in New York, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said on Thursday that the very fact of the closure of the Lachin Corridor was highlighted at the UN Security Council, which he called the highest international instance.

Officials in Baku, meanwhile, claimed that the outcome of the meeting was more in favor of Azerbaijan as many representatives mentioned the possibility of Karabakh Armenians using alternative routes of supply.

Commenting on this, Ghazarian said: We are concerned that a number of countries have attempted to establish some kind of equality between the Lachin Corridor and other roads, transport links, which is unacceptable and does not correspond to the parameters of the Lachin Corridor established by the November 9, 2020 document.

Ghazarian, however, expressed a hope that the emergency meeting of the UN Security Council was only the beginning and that this process will continue.

Stepanakert and Yerevan accuse Azerbaijan of violating the terms of the Moscow-brokered 2020 ceasefire agreement by closing the Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, which has led to severe shortages of food, medicines and fuel in the predominantly Armenian-populated region.

They also charge that Azerbaijans actions amount to a policy of ethnic cleansings and expect a resolution from the UN Security Council to unblock the Lachin Corridor.

Baku denies blockading Nagorno-Karabakh or carrying out any policy of ethnic cleansings in relation to the regions Armenian population.
The NSS said the incident in which windows and the roof of the Syunik airport were damaged occurred at 04:24 a.m., less than 24 hours after Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian visited the facility, arriving from Yerevan on board a small passenger aircraft that is due to start regular flights to the Armenian town next week.

According to the report, the unknown person who approached the territory of the airport and fired three shots then left.

We call on the authorities of Azerbaijan to conduct a proper investigation of the incident and to take measures to exclude the repetition of such incidents, the NSS said in a statement.

The Border Guard troops of the Republic of Armenia NSS are ready for a joint investigation and/or a transfer of relevant videos to the Azerbaijani side, it added.

Azerbaijan did not comment on the incident immediately.

The Kapan airport is expected to host the first demonstration passenger flight by a commuter aircraft from Yerevan on August 19, which is marked annually as the towns day.

Regular commercial flights between the Armenian capital and the town in Armenias strategic Syunik province bordering on Iran and sandwiched between Azerbaijan and its western exclave of Nakhichevan are expected to start next week.

On his trip to Kapan on Thursday afternoon the Armenian prime minister was accompanied by Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Gnel Sanosian.

Syunik Governor Robert Ghukasian, Kapan Mayor Gevorg Parsian and other officials reportedly welcomed the prime minister at Kapans recently renovated airport.

A video posted by the Prime Ministers Office showed Pashinian touring the airport and inspecting its conditions.

The first test flight from Yerevan to Kapan was operated in late April to become the first such flight since the 1990s, barring one private flight made in 2017.

The Civil Aviation Committee said then that an Armenia-registered L-410 passenger plane (made in the Czech Republic) designed for 19 passengers successfully landed at Kapans Syunik Airport after a 48-minute flight from Yerevans International Zvartnots Airport. It described that flight as a truly historic event.

Despite concerns raised in Armenia by the incident at the Kapan airport, the Civil Aviation Committee said that the Yerevan-Kapan-Yerevan flight will take place on Saturday as scheduled. It said that Azerbaijan had been notified about the planned flight in accordance with regulations concerning flights operated near borders between two states.

Kapan is situated some 190 kilometers to the southeast of capital Yerevan not far from the border with Azerbaijan. The runway of its airport stretches along the border and at one point is situated less than a hundred meters from it.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh for decades. Tensions along their restive border have persisted despite a Russia-brokered ceasefire that stopped a deadly six-week Armenian-Azerbaijani war in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020.
Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol disembarks the presidential plane after arriving at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Aug. 17. Yonhap



South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol arrived in Washington on Thursday to attend a trilateral summit with U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on ways to enhance security cooperation in the face of North Korea's nuclear threat.



The summit will be held at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland on Friday, marking the first time the three countries' leaders will meet for a stand-alone trilateral summit that's not on the sidelines of a multilateral event.



The summit was proposed by Biden when the three leaders met on the margins of a Group of Seven summit in Japan in May as the U.S. pushes to lock in recently improved Seoul-Tokyo ties in a trilateral framework countering China and Russia's growing assertiveness.



As such, cooperation on economic security issues, such as building resilient supply chains for semiconductors and batteries, is also expected to feature high on the agenda.



"Through the upcoming South Korea-U.S.-Japan summit, Camp David will be recorded as the site of 21st century diplomatic history that opened a new chapter in trilateral cooperation," Principal Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo told reporters Sunday. "Trilateral consultations among South Korea, the U.S. and Japan will gain a clear independent identity as an Indo-Pacific cooperation body."



Kim said the summit will help the countries create and institutionalize a "key framework" for trilateral cooperation in the future, while also allowing the leaders to discuss a common vision and basic principles for trilateral cooperation and build comprehensive and multilayered cooperation mechanisms across diverse sectors at every level.



The three leaders plan to adopt two documents  the "Camp David Principles" and the "Spirit of Camp David"  with the first one containing sustainable guidelines for trilateral cooperation going forward, and the second outlining their vision for trilateral cooperation and its implementation plan.

"Under Principles, the leaders of the three countries will state their principle of strengthening cooperation for peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region, including on the Korean Peninsula, among ASEAN states and Indo-Pacific island nations, and across the globe, based on their common values and rules," Kim said in a separate briefing Thursday, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.



The Spirit of Camp David will be a joint statement outlining concrete measures to enhance trilateral cooperation through the establishment of a new consultation body and cooperation on extended deterrence, combined military exercises and economic security, he said.





Yoon, Biden, Kishida plan to approve 'duty to consult' policy in case of crisis Biden offers condolences over death of Yoon's father Biden to use Camp David backdrop hoping to broker breakthrough in Japan-S. Korea relations This photo provided by the presidential office shows condolence flowers sent by U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden to South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol over the recent death of his father, Yoon Ki-jung. Yonhap

A third document is currently under discussion but has yet to be finalized, he added.



In addition to the trilateral summit, Yoon will hold bilateral meetings with Biden and Kishida on Friday, Kim said. The three leaders will also have lunch together and hold a joint press conference.



In a speech commemorating Korea's independence from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule Tuesday, Yoon touted the upcoming summit as one that will "set a new milestone in trilateral cooperation, contributing to peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and in the Indo-Pacific region."



Meanwhile, in an interview with Bloomberg published Wednesday, he said he expects to see agreement on ways to enhance the three countries' capabilities to respond to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, including through the possible increase of trilateral defense exercises.



He also said the three countries will work to operationalize their sharing of missile warning data on North Korea in real time within this year.



Yoon will depart the U.S. on Friday evening to return home.



First lady Kim Keon Hee did not accompany him on the trip to the U.S., which came only hours after the funeral of Yoon's father.



The late Yoon was an honorary professor at Seoul's Yonsei University and died Tuesday at the age of 92.



The presidential office said Biden and first lady Jill Biden sent condolence flowers to Yoon's hotel, together with a message that read, "You are in our prayers and we wish you peace as you mourn your father."




Armenia and ethnic Armenian authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh accuse Azerbaijan of violating the terms of the Moscow-brokered 2020 ceasefire agreement by closing the Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, which has led to severe shortages of food, medicines, fuel and other basic products in the predominantly Armenian-populated region.

They also charge that Azerbaijans actions amount to a policy of ethnic cleansings and urge the international community to prevent a genocide by putting pressure on Baku to restore free movement of people, vehicles and goods along the Lachin Corridor in both directions.

Baku denies blockading Nagorno-Karabakh or carrying out any policy of ethnic cleansings in relation to the regions Armenian population.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, highly appreciating the principled and fair positions of the UN Security Council members that remain faithful to their mandate to advance international security and peace, will continue to work on various platforms, including in the UN Security Council, taking consistent steps to unblock the Lachin corridor and resolve the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said.

The statement said that the August 16 urgent meeting of the UN Security Council once again showed that, despite the false propaganda of Azerbaijan, the international partners are clearly aware of the fact of the dire humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and realize the importance of addressing it.

During this second discussion in the format of the UN Security Council, the assessments and targeted appeals addressed to Azerbaijan, in essence, complemented the clear positions expressed so far by various governments, international structures, and human rights organizations, the Armenian ministry said.

Noteworthy were the statements of the members of the UN Security Council and the EU representative reiterating that Azerbaijan is obliged to lift the illegal blockade of the Lachin corridor in accordance with the Trilateral statement of November 9, 2020, and the legally binding Orders of the UN International Court of Justice of February 22 and July 6. It was unequivocally emphasized that the ongoing eight-month-long severe humanitarian situation created for the population of Nagorno-Karabakh as a result of the blockade should be resolved, it added.

The statement said that it is evident that Azerbaijan continues to distort the appeals of the international community, to look for false pretexts, not corresponding to reality, to avoid fulfilling its obligations and, by prolonging the humanitarian crisis, including through starvation, to subject the indigenous people of Nagorno-Karabakh to ethnic cleansing.

Moreover, Azerbaijan tries to manipulate any balanced approach of international actors, interpreting it as an explicit permission to continue its adopted policy.

We emphasize the urgency of using all available international tools to eliminate the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh and restore unimpeded movement in both directions through the Lachin corridor and ensure unhindered access of international humanitarian organizations to Nagorno-Karabakh, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said.

Summarizing the discussions in New York, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said on Thursday that the very fact of the closure of the Lachin Corridor was highlighted at the UN Security Council, which he called the highest international instance.

Officials in Baku, meanwhile, claimed that the outcome of the meeting was more in favor of Azerbaijan as many representatives mentioned the possibility of Karabakh Armenians using alternative routes of supply.

Azerbaijan, in particular, suggests that a road via Agdam, an Azerbaijani-controlled town situated to the east of Nagorno-Karabakh, be used for supplies to the Armenian-populated region.

Authorities in Stepanakert reject this option, insisting that it is designed to legitimize the Azerbaijani blockade and cut Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenia.
The U.S. embassy in Yerevan said in a Facebook post on Friday that Kvien traveled to Vayots Dzor to meet with local officials and observe the security situation on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border.

The Ambassador met with the Governor of Vayots Dzor, the EU Monitoring Mission, and local military representatives, joined by Armenian Ambassador to the U.S. Lilit Makunts. Ambassador Kvien emphasized U.S. support for Armenias sovereignty and security, as well as lasting peace in the South Caucasus, it said.

While in Vayots Dzor Ambassador Kvien also traveled to Jermuk to learn about the challenges and opportunities facing the city. The embassy said that in Jermuk the U.S. ambassador met with the towns mayor and hosted a roundtable with business owners to discuss the local economy and tourism sector.

Ambassador Kvien was impressed with the beautiful natural landscape and outdoor activities that make Jermuk a popular tourist destination, the report said.

Jermuk, an Armenian resort town close to the border with Azerbaijan, was shelled by Azerbaijani troops during last Septembers deadly fighting. The escalation during which Azerbaijani forces advanced their positions closer towards Jermuk also affected the towns businesses largely dependent on local and international tourism.

Ambassador Kvien, joined by the mayor of Jermuk, also reportedly visited a major mining project  Lydians Amulsar  to view their operations.

The Amulsar project represents one of the biggest U.S. investments in Armenia and we are proud that it is deploying western mining standards. The United States supports Armenias economic development and opportunities for U.S. companies and investors to do business in a range of sectors, the U.S. embassys said on Facebook.
18 August 2023 13:41 (UTC+04:00)

In Armenia, a woman was found and brought to justice for beating, humiliating, and raping her minor daughter in front of her other children. She is currently in police custody, Azernews reports.

According to the law enforcement agency, the officers managed to find the woman and take her to the police station.

Despite calls from the police, the video began to circulate on social networks.

The office of the Ombudsman of Armenia has already begun proceedings in connection with a video that appeared on social networks, where a mother beats her daughter and humiliates her.

Recall that this is not shocking news for Azerbaijan. Therefore, in the 90s, not only Azerbaijan, but also the whole world witnessed the atrocities committed by Armenians against the elderly, pregnant women and even babies in the Khojaly tragedy.

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18 August 2023 08:30 (UTC+04:00)

Qabil Ashirov Read more

Armenia again tried to show some exaggerated economic figures by launching its imaginary development analysis. Thus, Armenian media outlets claim that some international economic institutions announced that the GDP per capita of Armenia will be over $8,000 in 2023, versus Azerbaijans GDP per capita totaled $7,800 in 2023. This whole fictitious calculation is really an economic section of an Armenian lie. Where and how to get the information is another matter. Actually, although it is not very interesting to investigate, Armenia's attempt to keep itself on the same level as Azerbaijan based on these mysterious numbers has led to the depth of the issue.

But what will happen, if really the GDP per capita of Armenia overtakes the GDP of Azerbaijan? The answer is short: nothing. Because we observed quite similar situation before.

Let no one think that we took this matter seriously. Perhaps the Armenian side, which exaggerated these numbers, believed in it more than anyone else. We are not talking about the population yet, because considering that Armenia has only 2.5 million inhabitants, it is perhaps understandable that the country's GDP per capita has reached this level. But this is still under question. In order to understan the situation a way better, let's be a bit more specific about the background of the both countries.

First of all, it should be noted that oil has been considered the most strategic commodity for 150 years, and therefore Moscow integrated Azerbaijan more than other South Caucasus countries during the USSR making it its own backyard. Azerbaijani oils were one of the major factors in the Soviet victory over the Nazis. It was so precious for Moscow that newly founded oil wells in Siberia in the 1940s were called Baku 1, Baku 2, and so on. So, Azerbaijans economy integrated into Moscow to such a degree that when the Soviet Union collapsed Azerbaijan suffered more than its neighbors. In 1992, in the first year of independence of three countries in the South Caucasus, Azerbaijan was the poorest country with $60 GDP per capita. It is worth noting that the then-GDP per capita of Armenia was over $356. In other words, it was 6 times more than Azerbaijan.

However, Azerbaijans economy recovered itself very soon and the GDP of Azerbaijan ramped up by 175 times and GDP per capita by 130. At the same period, the GDP of Armenia increased by 17 times and GDP per capita grew by 22 times. From these statistics, we can see that the growth trend of Azerbaijan's economy proved to be 10 times more than Armenia's.

Besides, as mentioned earlier, the demography of the two countries also should be taken into account. When the Soviet Union collapsed the population of Azerbaijan was 7 million, and the population of Armenian totaled 3.5 million. Over 30 years, the population of Azerbaijan increased by 40 percent totaling over 10 million, and the population of Armenia decreased by 30 percent amounting to 2.6 million. So, if the population of Azerbaijan had decreased by 30 percent as happened in Armenia and become 5 million, the GDP per capita would have amounted to $15,600, which is twice more present GDP per capita of Armenia.

Besides, we also should not miss the most important factor. Unlike Armenia, 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territories were invaded. Azerbaijan could not use its natural resources and agriculture in the occupied territories. To top it all off, Azerbaijan was obliged to settle over 750,000 IDPs from the territories under Armenian occupation, 250,000 refugees from Armenia, and over 300,000 other people i.e. Georgian Azerbaijanis, Meskhetins, Chechens, and so on.

Simultaneously, Azerbaijan conducted mass infrastructure constructions which Armenia has never ever done before. Let's take highways, for example. Over two decades, Armenia could only finish five percent of the highway stretching from the border with Iran to the border with Georgia, which is part of the International NorthSouth Transport Corridor (INSTC).

Moreover, it is very interesting that Armenia considers INSTC as a guarantor to its statehood, but for 20 years, it cannot finish the part that falls Armenia. In Armenian media outlets, even today the experts debate which country should build the highway instead of them. Iran and India are the most mentioned countries. However, Azerbaijan constructed two big 4-lane highways from Baku to Georgia, and from the Russian border to the Iranian border. Moreover, Azerbaijan not only constructed the part of BTK railways that falls on Azerbaijan's territory but also financed the construction of the part that falls on Georgia.

In parallel with all these, Azerbaijan built a strong army by spending billions to train its servicemen and purchase brand-new weapons. Today, Azerbaijan's army is considered one of the most capable armies in the world.

Furthermore, Azerbaijan is considered one of the most important oil and gas suppliers in the world. In addition, to oil and gas mega projects, Azerbaijan launched green energy projects. According to the last investigations, Azerbaijan has 200 GW of green energy potential. Azerbaijan intends to turn part of this potential into electricity and to sell to Europe. It should be noted that probably Armenia has green energy as well. They have never tried to launch similar projects, but they were used to bolster how Armenians were creative and so on.

Azerbaijan's foreign trade turnover always results in surpluses. Due to it, the foreign exchange reserves of Azerbaijan increase year by year. However, totally opposite situation happens in Armenia. Foreign trade turnover of Armenia results in a deficit. Wrongly, many relate this situation to oil and gas. Besides oil and gas, other sectors flourish in Azerbaijan as well. Take agriculture, for example. Azerbaijan ranks in first place in the export of persimmon, in the top 5 in the export of hazel, in the top 11 in the export of tomatoes, in the top 20 in the export of apples, and so on. Taking into account that in terms of water, Armenia is richer than Azerbaijan and 20 percent of Azerbaijan was under Armenia over 30 years, Armenia should have had better results in agriculture. However, we see the opposite. We can say the same words in tourism, in mining, in textile and other sectors.

Finally, it should be noted that the increase in the Armenian economy is not healthy but hormonised. Because the increase relates to the capital shift from Russia to Armenia. Everybody knows very well that soon or late the Russian-Ukrainian war will be over, and the Russian capital will return home. In this case, the Armenian economy will have hard times.

In conclusion, Armenia and Azerbaijan have had different economic challenges and opportunities. Unlike Armenia, Azerbaijan strictly and determinedly worked on it and reap the benefits. Speaking about success based only upon one criterion is whitewashing. Taking into account all criteria, some easily could conclude that Armenia is the last country in the world to compare itself with Azerbaijan.

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Qabil Ashirov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @g_Ashirov

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18 August 2023 12:30 (UTC+04:00)

Abbas Ganbay Read more

Armenian bloody paws stretching all over the world have given another misfire. During the demining of Ukrainian territories, Ukrainian military sappers found Armenian-made anti-personnel mines E-001 M.

This was reported by political observer Oleksandr Kovalenko in his channel, while publishing photos confirming Armenia's aggressive and hostile activities, not only on the territory of Azerbaijan but also in other conflict zones between the countries.

"For example, a photo No.1 of the found anti-personnel mine E-001 M, which is produced in Armenia, was published! There can be no doubt that this is an Armenian mine, many of which have been found and are being in Garabagh. Photo No. 2" is said in the message.

According to the expert, it is not time to rush to conclusions now, as it is not known how many such mines could get into the territory, and how they could get in, but the fact that they were recorded, confirms smuggling, through still a single way, from the Armenian side. The report also mentions that the Armenian Diaspora closely cooperates and works in Crimea, under the leadership of the Union of Volunteers Armen Martoyan, where the latter visited Garabagh during the 44th war, and sent volunteers to fight, and possibly through a gray channel of communication.

The fact is that Armenia has been at the epicenter of arms scandals more than once in the past. In 2011, Yerevan was caught up in a scandal involving illegal supplies of Moldovan arms to Libya, where a bloody civil war has already broken out and where Turkiye is currently fighting organized terrorist groups in the country. Also in 2014-16, Armenia sold 1.6 million dollars worth of weapons, amounting to 9301 items of weapons. This took place during the UN efforts to achieve peace and its settlement in DR Congo.

Azerbaijan proved its case in a 9397 meeting at the Security Council held on August 16, 2023, where Azerbaijan's representative to the UN criticized Armenia's atrocities in Garabagh.

Azerbaijan is determined to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity by all legitimate means enshrined in the UN Charter and international law. It is Armenia that for almost 30 years has brazenly ignored the four relevant UN resolutions of 1993 and a number of statements by the President of the Security Council unequivocally demanding the full, immediate, and unconditional withdrawal of the occupying forces from the territory of Azerbaijan.

At the last meeting of the UN Security Council, the statement of Yashar Aliyev, Azerbaijan's permanent representative to the UN, about the hypocritical position of Armenia and, at the same time, provocative actions in the region, reflects the above-mentioned issues.

Armenia is widely known for its provocations not only in the region, but also abroad. The Sudan Air Force 2010-11 rented Armenian aircraft EK-76300 (Il-76), the owner of which was Deputy Chief of General Staff of the RA Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Stepan Galstyan, which caused the plane to crash on November 30, 2012, killing 30 people in Congo. The EK-76592 airplane and the EK-76300 airplane were operated under the documents issued by the RA Civil Aviation, where the flight and technical crews consisted of Armenians.

In the information war, it is easy to get lost and misguided by the Armenian propaganda, which will eventually come out in the truth, opening the eyes of all those who closed them.

While supporting illegal armament, sabotage and terrorism, Armenia forgets the traces it left behind. However, it must clearly know that every mistake it made is in plain sight and the world community knows well who is who in this compact world.

At a time when the world is fighting deadly weapons and mines, landmines belonging to Armenia are found in Ukraine. It is likely that Armenia will clarify this issue without dressing up in a different way.

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18 August 2023 11:16 (UTC+04:00)

On August 18, the first migration caravan was sent from Gobu Park 3 residential complex of the Garadagh district of Baku to Fuzuli city, Azernews reports, citing Azertac.

23 families - 90 people temporarily settled in Baku, Sumgayit and Absheron districts will now live in their homeland.

Residents of Fizuli expressed their gratitude to the President, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev, First Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva, the brave Azerbaijani Army, and our heroic soldiers and officers who saved our lands from occupation, for being surrounded by comprehensive state care.

The distribution of houses was carried out by drawing lots based on the existing rules of providing new residential areas to internally displaced persons, based on the principles of openness and fairness. The drawing was held on August 5 at the Repatriation Department of the State Committee. 144 families (509 people) participated in the drawing. In terms of family composition, 51 of them were provided with two-room apartments, 76 with three-room apartments, and 17 with four-room apartments.

Representatives of the State Committee for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons, the Special Representation of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the territories of the Garabagh economic region (except Shusha district) liberated from occupation and the Executive Power of Fizuli district, as well as other officials, took part in the departure ceremony.

Fizuli resident: I am very happy to return to my homeland.

"I've never seen Fizuli. I was a one-month-old baby when my family moved there. I am very proud to have returned to my native land."

Araz Aliyev, a resident of Fizuli, said in a statement.

Expressing gratitude to the President, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev, and our glorious Army for giving them this joy, Araz Aliyev said: "I started a new family life. I studied music at Shusha Humanitarian College. I am working on a specialty in Fizuli. I believe that everything will be according to the will of my heart.".

Araz Aliyev wished God's mercy to our martyrs, who shared the joy of their return and wished strong health to our veterans.

Resident experiencing the joy of returning to Fizuli: It's like I was born again

"I am so excited, I couldn't sleep tonight because of my joy. I feel like I have been born again. The land is another love. Blood has been spilled for this land, our brave boys have died. It is our duty to take possession of the land they entrusted to us."

This opinion was expressed by Fizuli resident Sureya Abbasova in her statement.

The Fizuli resident, thanking for the joy of returning to our country, said: "May God protect our country, our army, and our President.

I have been preparing my belongings since the day we bought Fizuli. During those years we lived in a hostel in Darnagul. Now, fortunately, we have our own house. With the attention and care of our state, we will rebuild everything and turn Fizuli into a paradise."

A resident of Fizuli, who reported that he has three children, indicated that his son is traveling with him, and his daughter is going to the third stage.

The relocation of families to Fizuli town will continue in the coming days.

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18 August 2023 12:00 (UTC+04:00)

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has accepted credentials of newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Sin Hong Chol.

The ambassador presented his credentials to President Ilham Aliyev.

The head of state then had a conversation with the ambassador.

Expressing his gratitude to the head of state for the reception, the ambassador conveyed the greetings of President of the State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Kim Jong Un to President Ilham Aliyev.

President Ilham Aliyev thanked for the greetings, and asked the ambassador to communicate his greetings to the President of the State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Congratulating Azerbaijan on its successful chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement, the ambassador said that National Leader of the Azerbaijani people Heydar Aliyev`s visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in 1985 was remembered with pleasure. He emphasized the significance of successful cooperation between Azerbaijan and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea within international organizations, and noted the importance of developing cooperation between the two countries` parliaments, including the New Azerbaijan Party and the Workers' Party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Sin Hong Chol underlined the importance for the students from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to study in the field of oil and gas in Azerbaijan given the countrys rich experience in this sector.

The head of state expressed confidence that relations between the two countries would expand down the line in the fields of mutual interest. Recalling Great Leader Heydar Aliyevs visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in 1985, President Ilham Aliyev noted that this trip gave an impetus to development of relations between Azerbaijan and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the following years during the National Leaders leadership in the independent Azerbaijan.

President Ilham Aliyev recalled his meeting with high-level delegation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on the sidelines of the Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in 2019, and highlighted the ties between the two countries within the Non-Aligned Movement, UN and other international organizations.

The head of state found the need to cultivate relations between parliaments and ruling parties and expand cultural ties.

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18 August 2023 13:18 (UTC+04:00)

About 400 former IDPs families have returned to Garabagh economic region and Eastern Zangazur so far, Deputy Chairman of the Azerbaijani State Committee for Refugees and IDPs Affairs Fuad Huseynov told, Azernews reports.

According to him, about 2,000 people have been permanently settled so far.

"By the end of this year, approximately 2,000 IDP families, or approximately 10,000 former IDP fellow citizens, are expected to return to their native villages in the Garabagh and East Zangazur economic regions," he added.

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18 August 2023 14:08 (UTC+04:00)

The Lachin road is open for use by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for humanitarian purposes, Azerbaijani Ambassador to the Netherlands Rahman Mustafayev wrote about this on his X page (former Twitter), Azernews reports, citing the post.

1/4. Lachin road is open for humanitarian actions of @icrc.  rejected proposal on parallel delivery of cargoes to Khankendi through Lachin & Aghdam routes. Why?  doesnt seek , is willing to ignite tension with a view to continuing manipulation & misleading at inter/level https://t.co/cFAqO2k6Iz  Rahman Mustafayev (@rahman2609m) August 17, 2023

As the ambassador noted in response to the publication of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands Wopke Hoekstra, who called for "opening" the Lachin road, Armenia itself rejected the proposal for the parallel delivery of goods to Khankendi along the Lachin and Aghdam routes.

"Armenia does not seek peace, it is ready to inflame tensions in order to continue to manipulate and mislead the international community. Armenia does not comply with Article 4 of the Declaration of 11/10/2020, which requires the "complete withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces" from the Garabagh economic region. There are still about 10,000 Armenian servicemen being illegally stationed in Garabagh. More diplomatic pressure is needed on Armenia," Mustafayev added.

2/4.  doesnt respect article 4 of 10.11.2020 Declaration, requiring the full withdrawal of |n armed forces from the Karabakh region. There is still illegal presence of some 10.000 |n military personnel in Karabakh. More diplomatic pressure on , not carrots, is needed https://t.co/cFAqO2k6Iz  Rahman Mustafayev (@rahman2609m) August 17, 2023

He also stressed that Armenia neglects Article 9 of the Declaration, which states that "Armenia guarantees the security of transport communication between the western regions of Azerbaijan and its Nakhchivan region." Since 1991, Nakhchivan, with its 400,000 population, has been under blockade with no land connection.

3/4.  doesnt respect, for more than 2 years now, art. 9 of the Declaration, saying, that  guarantees the safety of transport links btw western regions of  and its Nakhchivan region. Since 1991 Nakhchivan with its 400.000 population is in blockade, there is no land link. https://t.co/cFAqO2k6Iz  Rahman Mustafayev (@rahman2609m) August 17, 2023

"I firmly believe that as a victim of military aggression and 30 years of occupation (which was confirmed by 4 UN Security Council resolutions of 1993), which led to unprecedented destruction and mining, Azerbaijan can count on the balanced position of The Hague - the capital of justice and international law," - the ambassador added.

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18 August 2023 17:59 (UTC+04:00)

A peaceful action of the Azerbaijani community was held in front of the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York, Azernews reports.

The protesters opposed the attempt of Armenia, which has been pursuing an occupation policy for 30 years, to turn the UN Security Council into an instrument of political, military, and information-manipulative campaign.

During the actions We demand justice for the destruction of the ecological environment of Garabagh!, We demand justice for the victims of land mines!, We demand justice for Azerbaijani hostages!, Release Azerbaijani hostages!, Stop ecological terrorism of Armenia!, Armenian mines killing civilians! slogans were displayed.

The protesters called on the UN Security Council to take measures to protect the environment of the Garabagh region of Azerbaijan, put an end to Armenia's ecocide, provide international assistance for restoration work, and ensure the safety of Azerbaijani citizens in Garabagh. and for the protection of human rights.

Informational leaflets about the military and environmental crimes of Armenia were handed out to local residents interested in the action.

Members of the Armenian community tried to stage provocations during a peaceful protest, but our compatriots, who responded by waving Azerbaijani flags, calmly prevented this provocation.

It should be noted that members of the Coordinating Council of Azerbaijanis of America also took part in the action. Statements of the Coordinating Council and diaspora organizations in the United States regarding understanding and support for Azerbaijan's peaceful efforts in the region have been sent to the UN.

It should be noted that the UN Security Council discussed the issue of tension on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. This step was included on the agenda at the request of Armenia and at the initiative of France.

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The ministerial meeting of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) held in Detroit, U.S., May 27 is seen in this photo provided by Seoul's trade ministry. Yonhap



Officials of the Korean trade, finance and foreign ministries discussed strategies Friday ahead of a new round of negotiations on the United States-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), the trade ministry said.



Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun and officials of relevant ministries held a trade committee meeting in Seoul, as the country will take part in the fifth round of IPEF talks slated for Sept. 10-16 in Bangkok, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.



The platform was launched by U.S. President Joe Biden in 2022 in a move to counter China's growing influence in the region, and member nations have held four rounds of negotiations to set details, with the latest round taking place in Korea's southeastern port city of Busan.



The initiative has the four pillars of supply chain resilience, trade, a clean economy and a fair economy, and they reached an agreement on the pillar of supply chain resilience during a May meeting in Detroit.



The member nations include Korea, the United States, Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, and they represent 40 percent of the global gross domestic product and 28 percent of the global goods and services trade, according to government data.



In 2021, trade volume between Korea and the remaining 13 IPEF member nations reached $498.4 billion, accounting for 39.6 percent of Seoul's total trade that year. (Yonhap)


18 August 2023 20:00 (UTC+04:00)

Qabil Ashirov Read more

Unfortunately, European countries and politicians are moving away from the principles that European values are constructed on. Day by day Europe loses its reputation due to the double standards demonstrated by the European politicians. It is impossible to understand what principles European politicians attach importance in approaching issues because they change the principles every time. In some cases they support human rights, but in other cases they turn a blind eye to certain situation. For example, 30 years ago when Armenians expelled 750,000 Azerbaijanis from Garabagh and adjacent districts the European politicians remained silent, they never expressed their concerns about the fate of Azerbaijani IDPs. However, when Azerbaijan restored its internationally recognized territorial integrity the same politicians immediately started speaking about human rights and expressed their concerns about the fate of Armenians. However, at the time when the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan was yet violated and 20 percent of the country was invaded by Armenia, the EU never sent a mission, but after the 44-day war, they appeared on the Armenian border. Besides, the EU Mission in Armenia makes biased statements in favor of Armenia and they make these statements so unprofessionally that their impartiality immediately becomes remarkable.

In a comment to Azernews on the double standards demonstrated by European politicians, Farid Shafiyev, the Azerbaijani political analyst, Chairman of the Baku based Center of Analysis of International Relations and Adjunct Lecturer at ADA University, noted that the EU was indifferent towards the appeals of Azerbaijan. He does not rule out that the EU Mission serves Armenian interests.

Overall we should start by saying that the EU completely disregarded numerous appeals of Azerbaijan during 30 years of occupation. So, now the occupation has ended and Azerbaijan established control of its internationally recognized borders. Currently, in the post-occupation development period, the EU rushed to Armenia to establish the mission.

I believe that this mission serves the Armenian purpose and the protection of Armenia, Shafiyev noted.

The pundit pointed out that the EU tries to portray the image as if the union concerns the stability in the region. However, he noted that if they had been concerned about the peace, they would have interfered previously.

If the EU is really concerned about the security of the conventional Azerbaijani-Armenian borders, they should have interfered many years ago. However, we have not seen it. Brussels has generally approached the issue indifferently and now it is acting probably under the pressure of France and some other countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and maybe some Scandinavian countries. So, we clearly see that the European mission in Armenia is not unbiased. As we saw that the EU Mission in Armenia issued a tweet on August 15, and after a few hours they deleted the tweet under the pressure of some European countries including France. After this incident we cannot definitely believe the impartiality of the EU Mission in Armenia, the Chairman stressed.

He noted that some European countries encourage narrow Armenian nationalistic interests that are based on irredentism. He underlined that such kind of policy will hinder the lasting peace in the region.

Why did we witness such development? Because few countries led by France decided to act in the region, not for the sake of peace and security, but for promoting the narrow nationalistic interest of Armenia, and as is known the Armenian interest is comprised of the irredentist claims toward Azerbaijan. This situation is quite unfortunate and the action of certain European countries and overall the EU Mission won't bring lasting peace to the region, Farid Shafiyev added.

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Qabil Ashirov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @g_Ashirov

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18 August 2023 17:06 (UTC+04:00)

Ismayil Akhundov, Head of the Working Group of Azerbaijans State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages, and Missing Persons, announced at a briefing that the identities of 15 people whose remains were found in mass-casualty burials have been identified in Azerbaijan, Azernews reports, citing Commission.

The Working Group of Azerbaijans State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages, and Missing Persons is responsible for the search, identification, and return of prisoners of war, hostages, and missing persons. The group has been working to identify the remains of those found in mass-casualty burials in Azerbaijan since the end of the Garabakh War in 2020.

The Garabakh War was a conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region of so-called "Nagorno-Karabakh". The war lasted from September 2020 to November 2020 and resulted in the deaths of thousands of people on both sides.

The Working Group of Azerbaijans State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages, and Missing Persons has been using DNA analysis and other methods to identify the remains of those killed in the war. To date, they have identified the remains of 15 people, and are continuing to work to identify more.

The identification of the remains of those killed in the so-called "Nagorno-Karabakh" War is an important step in the process of bringing closure to the families of those who were killed. It is a difficult process, but one that is necessary in order to ensure that the victims of the war are remembered and honored.

The list of names is presented below:

Ibrahimov Valiaddin

Abdullayev Nurali

Gurbanov Nofel

Rustamov Araz

Abbasov Maharram

Niftaliev Adil

Garayev Gafar

Huseynov Ali

Huseynov Gulverdi

Mikayilov Baba

Isayeva Senem

Azizov Yusif

Musayev Mehman

Allahverdiyev Shamsaddin

Mammadov Asad

A mass-casualty burial was discovered on the territory of the former Shusha prison in June. As a result of excavations conducted from August 1 to August 15, the remains of 17 people were found.

Additionally, mass-casualty burials were previously discovered in the liberated villages of Sarijali (Aghdam district), Dashalti (Shusha district), Edilli (Khojavand district), Farrukh (Khojaly district), Yukhari Seyidahmadli (Fuzuli district), as well as Kalbajar, Aghdam, and other communities.

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18 August 2023 17:33 (UTC+04:00)

Vagif Khachatryan, detained in the territory of Azerbaijan, will soon be brought to court, Azernews reports, citing the Azerbaijan Military Prosecutor's Office Emil Tagiyev telling at the briefing over Missing Persons.

It is worth noting that Vagif Khachatryan committed a mass massacre against Azerbaijanis in Meshali village of Khojaly district on December 22, 1991, as part of the Armenian military units.

During the massacre, 25 Azerbaijanis were killed, 14 people were injured, and 358 Azerbaijanis were displaced. Due to the fact that sufficient reasonable suspicions arose regarding the criminal case, it was decided to involve Vagif Khachatryan as an accused person under articles 103 (massacre) and 107 (deportation or forced movement of the population) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan. However, due to the fact that his whereabouts were unknown to the investigation, on November 12, 2013, an international arrest warrant was applied by the court's decision.

As a result of the conducted search measures, on July 29, 2023, Khachatryan was detained by the military personnel of the State Border Service at the Lachin border crossing point of the Azerbaijan-Armenia state border. He was trying to go to the Republic of Armenia for treatment through the mediation of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

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18 August 2023 17:43 (UTC+04:00)

Armenian residents of Garabagh today crossed the border in the direction of Armenia without hindrance. A total of 8 vehicles of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and 24 people passed through the Lachin border checkpoint in the direction of Khankendi-Gorus, Azernews reports.

It should be noted that Azerbaijani citizens of Armenian origin can safely cross the Lachin border checkpoint at any time of the day. All conditions have been created by the Azerbaijani side for their unimpeded crossing of the checkpoint.

This once again proves that there are no barriers on the part of Azerbaijan to crossing the checkpoint at the state border. Armenia's statements and actions regarding the border are purely provocative.

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18 August 2023 09:00 (UTC+04:00)

S. tech giant Google has invested a cumulative 118 billion won (US$87.9 million) to incubate nearly 500 South Korean startups and help them go abroad, Azernews reports, citing Kabar.

Google's ChangGoo Program -- launched in 2019 in cooperation with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups -- is aimed at discovering potential young developers and fledgling businesses and helping them become profit-making companies through the tech firm's information technology infrastructure and global network.

The program includes various educational workshops and conferences, mentoring activities and networking events.

Kay Shin, senior director of marketing, APAC platforms & ecosystems, said the program is an indigenous one in South Korea as Google has credited Korean developers with an ambitious spirit and outstanding capability, citing the Korean developer Sohn Ho-yeol, who won the 2023 edition of Google's data science and technology competition, Kaggle.

"There are many successful startups from our incubation program," she said during a press event. "We've funneled more than 118 billion won into the ChangGoo Program since its launch to support those young companies."

She said Google has invited 80 potential startups annually to its program since its launch in 2019, and the number was increased to 100 for this year. Nearly 500 companies have participated in the program over the cited period.

Participants in the ChangGoo Program have seen downloads of their applications soar 140 percent and revenues 62 percent from 2019-2021. About 69 percent of them also do their business outside Korea, she added.

"Our biggest goal is to serve as a bridgehead for helping Korean developers go abroad," the Google official said. "This year, we will join hands with Japan's Google for Startups program and let Korean developers meet with Japanese experts before starting their businesses in the neighboring country."

Google for Startups is the tech giant's startup incubation program at the global level.

At the press event, the three best-performing startups from the ChangGoo program -- Petpeotalk, Medility and Zackdang Company -- also introduced and promoted themselves.

---

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Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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The future of New Development Bank's contribution to BRI and green finance initiatives

16:11, August 18, 2023 By Dilma Vana Rousseff ( People's Daily

Photo shows the headquarters building of the New Development Bank (NDB), also known as the BRICS bank, in east China's Shanghai. (Photo courtesy of the New Development Bank)

The New Development Bank (NDB) is a product of the further maturation of the BRICS cooperation mechanism: the initiative to set up a multilateral development bank was first put forward at the fourth BRICS leaders summit in New Delhi in India in 2012, and consensus was reached on at the sixth BRICS summit in Fortaleza, Brazil 2014.

At both meetings, I was president of Brazil. Under the theme "Sustainable solutions for inclusive growth," the five BRICS countries announced the signing of the agreement on the New Development Bank in Brazil in 2014. In 2015, the BRICS's NDB was formally established, focusing on the two major areas of "infrastructure development" and "sustainable development projects." The central idea is that the NDB shall mobilize resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in the NDB member countries, in complement of existing multilateral and regional development financial institutions.

Based on our strategy, sustainable infrastructure development is at the core of the Bank's financing methodology, with about two-thirds of its lending going to projects in this area. Such projects effectively and strategically mobilize financial, and more importantly, social resources for sustainable infrastructure development of emerging markets and developing countries (EMDCs), in the fields of green recovery and inclusive economic growth. In addition, taking into account the specific period of history that we are in, post-COVID-19 recovery and climate change are by nature also at the core of the Bank's vision. Furthermore, the Bank's concept of development is based on the understanding that always must be sustainable and inclusive.

It is, also, highly-relevant to mention that, the NDB strategy is grounded on the understanding of challenges faced by globalization in recent years. Various crises have been shaking the process of globalization. The future of political globalization is at stake, and global economic relations are being reshaped. Rules and practices of international trade and finance are being fundamentally rewritten and transformed in ways history has never seen. Linkage in science and technology between Asia, North America, Latin America, Africa and Europe, which has been strengthening over the past three decades, is also going through a dramatic process of reshaping. Such changes impose grave risks on the world's stability and prosperity. If not managed efficiently and sufficiently, such risks may well be both reasons and results of global political polarization. As a result, the world economy will be disintegrated into blocs. The world economy is threatened by all kinds of protectionism currently and maybe in the coming years. The objective of economic protectionism is economic hegemony, and it also means to suppress and contain the emerging economies. For these economies, this will lead to reduction of political space for their activities and the shrinking of margin for growth.

In reality, the threat of unilateralism and protectionism is posing many challenges to developing countries. The weaponization of sanctions and the "long arm of jurisdiction" do not solve any problems, but only create more difficulties and inequalities of opportunity for economic growth and social development, affecting the growth prospects of the world economy.

In that context, as an important participant in the new international financial architecture, the NDB is committed to prioritizing the use of local currencies for financing, while at the same time mobilizing funds in a wide range of currencies and markets.

The NDB also is dedicated to devising solutions, to address the mismatch between project cash flows and the needs of sustainable infrastructures in EMDCs and the NDB is aiming at financing in a targeted and customized manner, helping the emerging economies not only to gain economic growth, but most importantly, to achieve economic inclusiveness.

In order to counterplay and mitigate the weakening of globalization, the NDB and Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) join forces to create, develop and strengthen regional markets in EMDCs, to support and foster multilateral cooperations.

Within this scenario, the proposition of the BRI is an excellent example of aligning infrastructure projects with economic growth and social inclusion. The essential linkage between the NDB policies and the BRI is that the NDB not only provides financing and overcomes market failure, but also promotes technological progress and innovation demonstration. Both the NDB and the BRI through its projects have strengthened infrastructure in partner countries, helping them pursue their development goals and bolster their industry, value, and supply chains.

When we understand the BRI in its essence we realize that the BRI is not only about building roads, railways, ports, dams and other infrastructure facilities, but rather a major global opening up initiative that creates a new international cooperation platform. On the one hand, the BRI has helped build hundreds of industrial parks around the world and also facilitated the development of e-commerce through the digital silk road in different regions and countries, and promotes green development. On the other hand, the BRI is helping a large part of the global economy to shift to the green development path. The BRI focuses on planning and building large-scale infrastructure development projects; improving connectivity: facilitating cross-border trade and investment in different regions of the world; boosting cooperation among economies and increasing people-to-people exchange.

As we know, infrastructure financing is characterized by large up-front investment, long construction period, high political sensitivity, high professionalism, etc., which is risky, and privately financed infrastructure projects are prone to insufficient funds and face the dilemma of "market failure." In addition, sustainable infrastructure financing also faces special risks and obstacles, including political and institutional factors, economic factors, market environment factors and project-level factors, etc. The provision of preferential funding by the NDB is conducive to overcoming market failure and obstacles to sustainable infrastructure financing, it therefore plays a leveraging role in attracting social capital into the fields of sustainable infrastructure investment and financing. I believe the NDB and the BRI share the same vision in this sense.

In essence, sustainable infrastructure construction and development require the promotion of technological progress and innovation demonstration. At present, the technological level of sustainable infrastructure in countries along the Belt and Road is relatively moderate and, they are striving to foster innovation as one of the core elements of the initiative. At the same time, the investment uncertainty and risk of technological obsolescence associated with technological innovation also make countries along the Belt and Road face a larger financing gap in this area than in general infrastructure. The degree of development and utilization of new technologies is an important criterion for the NDB to select sustainable infrastructure projects. Multilateral development banks take into great consideration the political and economic influence of multilateral sovereign governments, to promote demonstration projects for technological innovation in order to leverage investment in innovation.

Based on these settings, the NDB is entering a new momentum by welcoming new members such as Bangladesh, the UAE, Egypt and other members that are part of the BRI that may join. As the name "New Development Bank" suggests, the NDB, with its innovative mission and business model, has become an active force in promoting South-South cooperation and it is already a vital instrument that promotes new initiatives such as the BRI. Nearly 100 projects have been implemented by the NDB in a total investment of $32.8 billion. These successful investments in infrastructure projects have contributed to the rapid development of green finance in countries that are important nodes of the Belt and Road strategy.

Finally, the NDB is working hand in hand with several Belt and Road countries to contribute to a more inclusive and innovative global development.

Dilma Vana Rousseff is the president of the New Development Bank.

(Web editor: Chang Sha, Du Mingming)
President Yoon Suk Yeol reads a condolence message sent by U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill in his hotel room in Washington, D.C. U.S., where he traveled for a summit with Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Thursday, local time. Courtesy of the presidential office



U.S. President Joe Biden offered his condolences to South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday over the recent death of his father, shortly after Yoon arrived in Washington to attend a trilateral summit with Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the presidential office said.



The two leaders spoke by phone shortly after Yoon's arrival a day ahead of the trilateral summit set to take place at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland.



During the call, Yoon thanked Biden and first lady Jill Biden for the condolence flowers sent to his hotel room ahead of his arrival, according to senior presidential secretary for press affairs Kim Eun-hye.



Biden said his heart aches over the death of Yoon's father and that he extends his deep condolences to the family. Yoon thanked him, saying he was able to bury his father comfortably thanks to the Bidens' concerns.



The late Yoon Ki-jung was an honorary professor at Seoul's Yonsei University and died Tuesday at the age of 92.









During the call, Yoon also expressed his concern about the devastating wildfires in Maui, Hawaii, saying he believes the South Korea-U.S. security alliance calls for "always being together even during times of disaster," according to Kim.



Yoon offered any support South Korea can give to help Hawaii overcome the disaster.



Biden thanked him for his generosity, calling Yoon a brave man and a good friend. He added he looks forward to seeing him again at Camp David, where he said their countries will write new history and chart a new path.



Yoon replied that he will not forget Biden's warm heart and that he plans to hold constructive discussions at Friday's summit. (Yonhap)




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Yes, the Religion of Woke must continue; there are so many groups of underprivileged, underserved, a direct result of unrelenting Inequity; they deserve everything.

No; the Woke fools must be toppled from their self-anointed pedestal; a functioning society of a good Constitutional people cannot withstand this level of "existential" favoritism as it exists now.

I just observe; with this thoughtful observation: What will happen "when the Vikings are breeching our walls;" how do the Woke react?

770 total vote(s) What's your Opinion?
Two members appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate.

Two members appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives.

Two members appointed by the minority leader of the Senate.

Two members appointed by the minority leader of the House of Representatives.

This post appears here courtesy of the Carolina Journal . The authors of this post are Alex Baltzegar and Theresa Opeka Apair of election integrity bills passed Thursday in the North Carolina Senate. S.B. 747, Election Law Changes, and S.B. 749, No Partisan Advantage in Elections, both passed with a vote of 28-19.The bills will help strengthen election laws and make state and local elections boards bipartisan.said Senate Redistricting and Elections Committee chairman Sen. Paul Newton, R-Cabarrus in a press release.S.B. 749 restructures the North Carolina State Board of Elections by splitting the appointments between the majority and minority legislative leaders.The NCSBE would be composed of four majority and four minority party appointments. All would come from the legislature, with the following allocation:Local election boards would be appointed in a similar fashion, but with only one appointment per legislative leader instead of two. Local boards would only consist of four members as opposed to eight.Unaffiliated voters will also be able to serve on the board, which is a change from current law.A recent poll from the John Locke Foundation found that only 50% of North Carolinians think future elections will be free and fair.said Senate Redistricting and Elections Committee chairman Sen. Warren Daniel, R-Burke, in a news release.Currently, three out of five members of the NCSBE are allowed to be from the same political party, allowing partisan decisions to be made.Additionally, all appointments are currently made by the governor from a list of nominations submitted by parties.For local boards, the NCSBEaccording to the NCSBE website.The NCSBE chooses two of the three recommendations by party chairs, and the governor chooses the fifth and final appointee, which will be the deciding vote on partisan issues.Under the current law, when North Carolina has a Democratic governor, Democrats have the ability to exert control over all boards of elections, including local boards in Republican counties.Similarly, when the governor of North Carolina is a Republican, Republicans have the authority to control all boards of elections, even in counties that predominantly lean Democratic.The proposed Senate plan alters the existing framework by establishing mandatory bipartisan boards at both the state and county levels.Under S.B. 747, board decisions are required to be bipartisan. On local boards, a decision would require agreement from at least three out of the four members. On the state board, at least five out of the eight members would need to reach a consensus for a decision to be made.If bipartisanship cannot be achieved, it could lead to gridlock. There is currently no process for decision-making in gridlock scenarios.If the board fails to reach a decision on the appointment of an executive director or chair within 30 days, the responsibility falls upon the General Assembly to make the selection. However, it is important to note that the chair must be chosen from among the four existing board members and does not possess tie-breaking authority.Furthermore, the board has complete authority over the executive director, and the director cannot make independent decisions.The bill also establishes Election Day as the deadline for accepting absentee ballots, prohibits boards of elections from accepting third-party donations, and addresses the loophole of having new voters cast a ballot before their address is verified. It also launches a pilot program for select counties to use signature verification software for absentee ballots and implements a process for rooting out any non-citizens from voter rolls.House Minority Leader Robert Reives, D-Chatham, who would gain appointment power if S.B. 749 passes, said he opposes the bill.Reives said.North Carolina Democratic Party Chairwoman Anderson Clayton released a statement in opposition to the bill after Republicans introduced it at a press conference.Clayton said.Senate leader Phil Berger said that House leadership supports the appointment power changes to the NCSBE, but they have differing opinions regarding appointments to the local boards.Berger expects the two chambers will be able to work out those differences.If the bill is passed and Cooper vetoes it, which he is expected to do, all Republicans would need to be present or vote in favor of overriding Cooper's veto if the legislation does not receive any Democratic support.The bills now head to the House for consideration.
Good news, Christian! A new study shows that you have chosen the one and only completely correct branch of the Christian faith! You are one of the very few correct ones, everyone who disagrees with you is pathetically wrong, and you are one of God's preferred children.
Here are four hospitals closing departments or ending services since Aug. 1:

1. Williamston, N.C.-based Martin General Hospital, which closed and filed for bankruptcy on Aug. 3, could also close its six clinics if a buyer isn't found. When the hospital shut down, it said that its clinic would remain open. Martin General is looking to identify a buyer for the clinics before Oct. 5.

2. Northfield (Minn.) Hospital will close its 40-bed long-term care center this October due to staffing and financial challenges.

3. South City Hospital, a 178-bed facility in St. Louis, plans to close in the coming weeks because of financial challenges.

4. Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Corewell Health will close its Lakeview, Mich.-based Spectrum Health Kelsey Hospital in October after a steady decline in admissions.




Korea "strongly condemns" a recent terror attack carried out at a shrine in the Iranian city of Shiraz, Seoul's foreign ministry said Friday.







In a statement, the ministry offered its condolences to the families of victims in the attack on the Shah Cheragh mausoleum in Shiraz, southern Iran, on Sunday.







The ministry also reaffirmed the government's position that "acts of terror cannot be justified for any reason."







The attack came less than a year after a mass shooting at the same holy site in October of last year. Sunday's incident left one person killed and eight others wounded. (Yonhap)


Morris (Ill.) Hospital & Healthcare Centers disclosed a data breach that affected 248,943 patients, according to a filing with the Maine Attorney General.

The hospital discovered the cybersecurity incident on April 4, according to an Aug. 17 Morris Hospital news release. Information affected in the data breach included:

Names

Addresses

Dates of birth

Social Security numbers

Medical record and account numbers

Diagnostic codes

According to DataBreaches.net, the Royal Ransomware group claimed responsibility for the breach and added the hospital to its leak site.
Numerous hospitals, health systems and health tech companies have faced lawsuits during the summer, most pertaining to cybersecurity issues.

Here is a list of health IT lawsuits Becker's has reported since June:

Lawsuits for pixel tracking technology

1. Advocate Aurora Health  dually headquartered in Downers Grove, Ill., and Milwaukee  agreed to pay a $12.25 million settlement after facing multiple lawsuits for placing pixel tracking technology on its website and patient portals.

2. Overlake Hospital Medical Center, based in Bellevue, Wash., is facing a lawsuit for allegedly using pixel tracking technology on its website that intercepted patients' information through conversations with physicians and online health services.

3. Heritage Valley Health System, based in Beaver, Pa., is facing a lawsuit for allegedly embedding a pixel within the website that intercepted visitors' communications and sent them to Meta.

4. Rush Health, based in Chicago, is facing a lawsuit for allegedly sharing patient information entered in the patient portal with Google and other third parties.

5. Kaiser Permanente, based in Oakland, Calif., is facing a proposed class-action lawsuit for allegedly using technology that allowed companies such as Google, Twitter and Microsoft to intercept patient data.

6. Southern Illinois Healthcare, based in Carbondale, Ill., is facing a lawsuit claiming it installed pixel tracking technology that allowed patients' search questions and histories to be sent to Meta.

7. Froedtert Health, based in Milwaukee, agreed to pay a $2 million settlement after facing a patient-led lawsuit that alleged sharing patient data within MyChart with Facebook.

Lawsuits for data breaches

8. Tampa (Fla.) General Hospital was sued for allegedly failing to notify patients of a May 31 data breach that impacted 1.2 million patients until two months after it occurred.

9. Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare is facing five lawsuits for a July data breach that compromised 11 million patients' personal data. The lawsuits alleged the health system failed to implement adequate security procedures.

10. Henry Ford Health System, based in Detroit, was sued for a March 30 data breach that leaked the protected health information of 168,000 patients. The lawsuit claimed the health system did not take adequate steps to protect the health information or notify patients of the breach in a timely manner.

Lawsuit for not meeting health IT hiring goals

11. Olive AI, a healthcare tech company based in London, faced a lawsuit from an Ohio economic development arm alleging the company failed to meet its hiring goals by 35 jobs and $100,000 in payroll.
Medical Properties Trust, the nation's largest hospital landlord, said its deal to secure $375 million in new financing from third-party lenders for Prospect Medical Holdings was completed, but the company did not mention that a California state regulator put the transaction on hold, The Wall Street Journal reported Aug. 18.

Prospect said in a filing that a subsidiary of MPT had acquired a 49 percent stake in Prospect's parent company and that the deal didn't need the regulator's advance approval because it wasn't a change in control. The deal was put on hold July 20 as the state regulator was concerned over how much control MPT would have over Prospect Health Plan.

But Medical Properties Trust "didn't disclose the regulator's order when it reported second-quarter results, or in its quarterly report with the Securities and Exchange Commission," according to the publication.

"Information is being provided to the relevant agencies, and MPT continues to expect to complete the transactions," Drew Babin, a company spokesperson, told the Journal.

Los Angeles-based Prospect Medical told the Journal it was "in no position right now" to answer questions about the California state regulator's July 20 order.

The Prospect Medical Holdings deal, announced May 24, was made to provide Prospect's hospital operations with liquidity and capitalize its managed care business for growth and value creation.

The deal was also made to alleviate some financial stress for the organization and MPT, according to the publication.

Mr. Babin told the publication that the deal is "proceeding through a normal regulatory review process that was expected and is not controversial."

When it comes to healthcare, MPT has played a large hand in private equity firms' push into healthcare facilities.

The Journal reported that MPT "used cheap, plentiful financing to buy more than 400 hospitals."

Now some of MPT's hospital tenants  like Watsonville (Calif.) Community Hospital  have had to close facilities and cut services. Prospect and Dallas-based Steward Health Care, according to the Journal, have also been receiving financial support from MPT due to financial losses.

On May 1, Steward shuttered its San Antonio-based Texas Vista Medical Center, saying its losses came from treating low-income patients.
John C. Fremont Healthcare District, based in Mariposa, Calif., has had a difficult time retaining leaders in 2023.

In January, the hospital's CEO, Matt Matthiessen, went on medical leave, and COO Lynn Buskill temporarily took the helm.

Under Ms. Buskill, the hospital's new CFO, Mark Foote, resigned after five days on the job. He said the commute was too long.

As summer wore on, Ms. Buskill denied a contract extension, leading the hospital's board to call a special meeting July 31. Nanette Wardle, its emergency and disaster preparedness coordinator, was named interim CEO for two days, according to the Mariposa Gazette. Then, Chief Nursing Officer Lisa Hoyle, DNP, RN, was promoted to the helm.

Dr. Hoyle is still serving as interim CEO, a member of the hospital's administrative department confirmed to Becker's on Aug. 18. However, on Aug. 10, another special board meeting was called to discuss the role. The details of that meeting have not yet been released to the public.

Becker's has reached out to the hospital's media spokesperson and board member Joseph Rogers, MD. This story will be updated if more information becomes available.
Cincinnati Children's has tapped Sharon Marine as its next chief philanthropy officer, effective Oct. 9.

Ms. Marine has more than 30 years of experience in philanthropy and donor relations, according to an Aug. 18 news release shared with Becker's. Most recently, she served as senior vice president at Grenzebach Glier and Associates, a Chicago-based consulting firm for nonprofit institutions. She previously held leadership roles in development at the University of Chicago, Ithaca, N.Y.-based Cornell University, Stanford (Calif.) Graduate School of Business and the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School in Philadelphia.
Hospitals and health systems are shaking up their C-suite and leadership structures as they focus on key areas to ensure long-term success.

Becker's has reported at least 20 health systems that have announced changes to leadership ranks and administration teams in 2023. The changes come as hospitals continue to grapple with financial challenges, leading some organizations to cut jobs and implement other operational adjustments.

At the same time, some health systems are bulking up their C-suites amid organizational transformation. Some are also combining roles.

One such example is Cary Medical Center in Caribou, Maine, which is combining the CFO and COO roles into one position.

Chelsea Reynolds Desrosiers will assume the new role Aug. 21. The promotion comes with the departure of COO Leslie Anderson. Ms. Desrosiers has served as CFO since 2018.

Ms. Desrosiers told Becker's she's excited about the opportunity.

"I think it's a great decision for the organization as well as next steps in the ever-changing healthcare industry," she said. "I think it provides a bridge between financial and operations."

Kris Doody, RN, CEO of Cary Medical Center and Pines Health Services, said the hospital conducted a search for a new COO, but combining the roles felt like the right path.

"We have discussed this idea for a few weeks, and when we brought our chief medical officer and chief financial officer together, a clear vision developed that this was the way to move forward," Ms. Doody said in a news release. "We are so fortunate to have such strengths on both the fiscal and clinical side of operations, that we believe this unique model will serve us very well into the future."

Ms. Desrosiers has served as CFO since 2018. Before that, she worked at Baker Newman Noyes, a public accounting firm with offices in New England.

"She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience," Ms. Doody, who has been the hospital's CEO for 25 years, told Becker's. "She's young, she's vibrant, and  her experience and her financial knowledge is going to be a huge benefit for this consolidated position."

The change comes as Cary Medical Center is focused on the hospital's strategic plan. Ms. Desrosiers and Ms. Doody said that the combined role will be instrumental in decision-making for the organization going forward.

Health systems are not only combining roles on the finance and operations side. Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Health has combined its chief analytics officer position with the vice president of data services position.

The change comes as Albert Marinez, the health system's current chief analytics officer, leaves the role for Cleveland Clinic. Nick Iannoni, vice president of data and analytics services, will take on the responsibilities of the chief analytics officer.

Mr. Iannoni has served as vice president of data and analytics services at Intermountain since October 2022.

He told Becker's he feels good about the transition to the combined role.

"There's a tremendous amount of work ahead of us, especially as we talk about consolidation [on the data and analytics side] and rationalization. There's a lot of work that the team is going to be focused on. But in terms of the day to day where we are, as we start this journey, I feel good with what we have in place, what we will put in place and the team that we have to make that happen," Mr. Inannoni said.

He noted that the change goes beyond consolidation on the data and analytics side. He said it's also the next step down in terms of Intermountain rationalizing application stacks that provide analytic insights.

"The places where the data is actually generated, we're working on streamlining, we're working on picking best of breed, we're working on rationalizing and simplifying that environment," Mr. Iannoni explained.

"We're going to do that simplification in terms of the places that are actually generating this data as well as where our customers are interacting with it. This is our opportunity to make sure that we have the hierarchy structure, the leadership structure in place to make sure that that consolidation is successful. It's our opportunity to confirm or select that best of breed. And because of us moving some of those applications that we may have used historically to new places, we're going to be changing where the data is generated. So we're going to have the opportunity then to redefine or make sure that the backend side of our environment is optimally configured."

As the organization transitions to the cloud, this new combined role is another opportunity to ensure data and processes are simplified and that people, processes and data governance structures are aligned, he added.

"We had a tremendous amount of data processes. We had a number of different places that customers were going for our data assets," Mr. Iannoni said. "So simplifying that is one of the goals of this alignment."
The Minnesota attorney general is launching an investigation into the billing practices of Minneapolis-based Allina Health following a New York Times article about the nonprofit system.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced the investigation Aug. 18 as one step of many to renew scrutiny of medical billing in the state.

On June 1, The New York Times published an article about Allina Health's billing practices. Citing internal documents and interviews with Allina physicians, nurses and patients, the Times found the system provided care to indebted patients in emergency rooms but restricted services to other patients who had certain levels of debt, with some patients not allowed to return unless debt was paid in full.

Allina announced on June 9 it paused the policy. At that time, Mr. Ellison asked patients to contact the AG office if they were affected by access decisions linked to medical debt.

"I continue to be concerned about reports of Allina denying needed non-emergency medical care solely on the basis of medical debt," Mr. Ellison said in the news release announcing the investigation. He said his office heard from "a good number of Allina patients" with their stories of care denial over medical debt. He encouraged residents to continue contacting his office to determine the scope of the problem and potential violations of laws or agreements.

Allina Health shared the following statement with Becker's in response to news of the investigation:

"Allina Health continues to engage with the Attorney General's Office about our compliance with the Minnesota Hospital Agreement and the comprehensive support we offer patients with financial needs. Our policy that interrupted the scheduling of non-emergency, outpatient clinic care remains on pause since June 9th. We continue to conduct research and analysis as well as outreach to patients and remain committed to reducing barriers to care."

Since 2005, all 128 nonprofit hospitals in Minnesota have been held subject to what's called the Hospital Agreement, which prohibits unfair practices in billing and collections and mandates that Minnesota hospitals provide discounts on healthcare services for certain patients and reasonable payment plan options to all patients.

"Allina is bound under the Hospital Agreement to refrain from oppressive billing practices and provide charity care when patients need and qualify for it, as all Minnesota hospitals are," Mr. Ellison said.

Mr. Ellison's office is also holding listening sessions for consumers to share their experiences with medical billing and devoting a booth at the Minnesota state fair to the theme of medical billing, inviting fairgoers to stop by and share their experiences with AG office staff.
A group of Maine healthcare workers is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review its case regarding the state's COVID-19 shot mandate.

The workers, who refused COVID-19 vaccines based on their religious objections and were fired, filed a petition with the nation's highest court Aug. 15.

At issue in the petition is a First Circuit decision that held that the potential for undue hardship for hospitals if they had allowed religious exemptions, in violation of Maine law, superseded federal workplace discrimination protections, according to Law360.

In the petition, attorneys for the seven healthcare workers contend that Maine Gov. Janet Mills and state health officials and hospitals forced employers to ignore Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by denying all religious accommodations for the healthcare workers.

The petition argues that a previous First Circuit decision "conflicts with the precedent of [the Supreme Court] and the precedent of numerous circuit courts concerning whether compliance with a state law directly contrary to Title VII can excuse noncompliance with Title VII."

The petition also argues that the lower court's decision "conflicts with [the Supreme Court's] precedent and the precedent of other circuits on the question of whether the plain language of Title VII explicitly requires the preemption of contrary state laws."

The case is against Ms. Mills; Jeanne Lambrew, commissioner of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services; Nancy Beardsley, acting director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention; and five of the state's largest hospital systems, which include MaineHealth, Genesis Healthcare of Maine, MaineGeneral Health, and Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center.

Becker's reached out to these parties and will update this story if comments are received.

Maine announced its healthcare worker vaccine mandate in 2021. In 2019, the state passed a law that removed religious and philosophical mandate exemptions for all vaccines, which took effect in September 2021.

The Supreme Court has until Sept. 15 to submit a response to the workers' petition.
When describing the housing market, real estate agents often talk about "location, location, location." In hospitals, according to many executives, the mantra seems to be more like "meetings, meetings, meetings."

At the same time, longtime leaders are quick to say that getting out of the office and connecting with team members and colleagues is the best way to build culture and commitment to the organization.

At Inova Health System in Falls Church, Va., nursing leaders designed Empower 180, a program that blocks out three hours every Wednesday and creates a "meeting-free zone."

"Our nursing leadership team was requesting a set time to be able to connect with their teams without the potential worry that their input on very important system initiatives might be missed," Maureen Sintich, DNP, RN, chief nurse executive at Inova, told Becker's.

When other department leaders said they wanted to be able to schedule meeting-free time as well, Dr. Sintich got C-suite approval for Empower 180.

"Our team members may utilize this time in a manner most conducive to the needs of their workday," she said. "In addition to patient care, this could include taking a training course to continue professional development, ideating with a colleague or focusing on a near-term deliverable without being pulled away for a meeting."

Empower 180, which has gotten rave reviews from executives throughout the healthcare system since it was launched in January, also affords leaders time to round on direct reports to strengthen relationships and talk with patients to identify ways to improve experience and satisfaction.

Alquietta Brown, PhD, BSN, RN, chief nursing officer at Inova's Mount Vernon Hospital in Alexandria, Va., told Becker's that Empower 180 has given her the time to interact with her team in ways she has not been able to in recent memory.

"One day, we went outside and sat in the gazebo out on a big, beautiful lawn. We had a chat between all the nurse leaders and everyone truly enjoyed the change of venue," she said. "We were able to connect and be open with our creative ideas."

In addition to rounding on units, Dr. Brown said she has enjoyed barbecues with her leaders and has led her team on mini-trips during the three-hour meeting-free time to places such as a local farmers market, where they offered health screenings to community members.

"Every week we have an opportunity to get out from behind our desks, away from email and meetings and think a little bit outside of the box," she said.

"The Empower 180 initiative has been wildly popular and appreciated by our nursing leaders as well as our team members. It allows everyone to focus on what matters most," Dr. Sintich said. "I realize that this is a common phrase that we use when referring to how we engage with our patients, but 'what matters most' also applies to our people."
SAN MATEO, Calif., August 15, 2023  Helix, the leading population genomics and viral surveillance company in the nation, and Nebraska Medicine, the states largest hospital and leading academic health network, announced a partnership today to launch a population genomics program to drive precision medicine for all individuals in Nebraska called the Genetic Insights Project.

The research program will identify participants risk for a variety of cancers and other potentially life-threatening diseases with a single test, with the goal of not only helping to improve the lives of individual patients but also identifying trends for everyone across the region.

This new genomics program will help patients and their providers understand if theyre genetically predisposed to having an increased risk of one of several significant diseases, says Allison Cushman-Vokoun, MD, PhD, medical director of Nebraska Medicines Molecular Diagnostics and Human Genetics Laboratories. The Genetic Insights Project is a fundamental step in being able to provide patients with precision care. The projects large-scale information will also help unlock DNA trends for the entire communityprotecting more people from heart-related issues and cancerfor years to come.

The Genetic Insights Project will provide important information about serious health conditions by testing for mutations in genes connected to a higher risk of breast and ovarian cancer, Lynch syndrome (which is related to colorectal cancer), and high cholesterol. The research program may also expand its panel of genetic markers in the future, potentially providing information about other conditions.

This information will let people make proactive decisions about their own health, says Kyle Skiermont, PharmD, Nebraska Medicine vice president of operations. This will potentially delay, reduce or even prevent these things from happening later in life. Well also be able to better understand and treat conditions affecting the entire population of the state.

The goal of the new program is to enroll 100,000 people, which would make it the largest population health program in Nebraska. There will be no cost associated with participating in the research project to any participant involved and participation is completely voluntary. Partnering with Helix allows for the possibility of future genomics testing to be ordered without having to re-sequence patients. This may give providers and patients access to ongoing insights at point-of-care about their health throughout their lifetime.

Other programs found that 1 in 75 participants discovered they had one of these serious, genetic conditions, of which 90 percent wouldnt have been found through traditional methods, said James Lu, MD, PhD, CEO and co-founder of Helix. Additionally, population-wide screening is cost-effective for many people in preventing cancer and cardiovascular events. With this launch, Nebraska Medicine will be raising the bar in empowering all patients and their providers to take greater control of their health.

Nebraska Medicine joins other health systems nationwide in partnering with Helix to launch this program. Nebraska Medicine and Helix plan to officially launch it on a limited basis in late 2023.

About Helix

Helix is the leading population genomics and viral surveillance company. Helix enables health systems, public health organizations and life sciences companies to accelerate the integration of genomic data into patient care and public health decision making. Learn more at www.helix.com.

Media Contacts

press@helix.com
U.S. President Joe Biden, left, shakes hands with Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, right, as Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida looks on ahead of a trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, May 21. AP-Yonhap



President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida plan to adopt a trilateral summit document stipulating a "duty to consult" with one another in the event of a crisis, a senior U.S. official has said.



The leaders are poised to issue the document during a landmark three-way summit at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland on Friday, the official said, in a sign of deepening solidarity amid North Korea's military threats, China's assertiveness and Russia's war in Ukraine.



The envisioned commitment to consult fueled speculation that the three countries are on course to elevate their cooperation closer to a level approximating an alliance, but it remains to be seen whether the word, "duty," will make it into the finalized document, observers said.



"All three leaders will take a pledge (on) what we would call a duty to consult in the event of a crisis or a set of circumstances that affects the security of any one of our countries," the official said in a telephonic press briefing Thursday.



Yoon, Biden and Kishida will also agree that their countries will hold a trilateral summit "on an annual basis" and take steps to build a "state-of-the-art" three-way hotline, through which "we can engage in moments of crisis and uncertainty," the official said.



Another U.S. administration official said the consultation commitment will be contained in a stand-alone statement, noting it will take "our security and broader coordination to the next level in a really fundamental way."



"What it very much is a commitment amongst our three countries that if there is a regional contingency or a threat, we will immediately and swiftly consult with one another," the official said. "We will discuss ways to share information to align our messaging and to take policy actions in tandem with one another."



The official described the consultation commitment as part of efforts to build a "common security" platform, dismissing the notion that it could amount to a formal alliance commitment.



"What we are building here is a common security framework that increasingly gives our leaders and our top national security officials the incentive to work closely together whenever one of us faces a challenge and to make sure that not only the challenging picture but the policy options that follow are taken together," the official said.



The official added that the commitment "does not infringe upon any one of our country's rights to defend itself under international law, nor does it change or impinge in any way on the existing bilateral treaty commitments between South Korea and the U.S., and between the U.S. and Japan."





Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol disembarks the presidential plane after arriving at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Aug. 17. Yonhap

New headway in the U.S.' push for trilateral cooperation has unnerved China. In a recent op-ed piece, the Global Times, China's nationalist outlet, criticized a "U.S. desire to build a mini-NATO-style trilateral military alliance in Northeast Asia."




Hospital rankings, particularly those from U.S. News & World Report, have drawn scrutiny from health system leaders in recent months. Now, The Leapfrog Group  known for assigning hospitals letter grades  is also facing criticism.

James Berry, CEO of Tahlequah, Okla.-based Northeastern Health System, alleged Leapfrog ratings have created a "medical social media bully pulpit" in an Aug. 17 report from Tahlequah Daily Press.

"Leapfrog performance measurements and letter grades are biased toward large, tertiary hospitals in urban areas," Mr. Berry told the newspaper. "They echo the belief that critical and/or subspecialty care should only occur in large urban hospitals, and all rural communities should transfer complex patients for care because it is 'appropriate and safe.'"

Northeastern's hospital received a "D" from Leapfrog's Hospital Safety Grade in spring 2023, indicating the hospital performs worse than average across several measures. Mr. Berry disagrees with the group's assessment.

"Leapfrog's standard measure for an effective Intensive Care Unit, equates appropriate treatment as only under the supervision of a critical care specialty physician," Mr. Berry said. "All day, every day  otherwise [Leapfrog rates] the care provided as substandard hospital care for critical patients."

However, physicians are scarce in rural Oklahoma. The health system employs only one pulmonologist/critical care specialist, who works 10 to 12, 12-hour shifts in the ICU per month.

Mr. Berry also takes issue with Leapfrog's consideration of nurse education. The group assesses hospitals based on the percentage of registered nurses with BSNs and surgical competence.

"My 30 years in healthcare have taught me that it's not the education that counts, but the passion to help people get better," Mr. Berry said. "Fewer people in rural areas have advanced education, including RNs. NHS disagrees with LeapFrog's philosophical position but has no outlet for discussion."

Leah Binder, CEO of Leapfrog, told Becker's that she disagrees with Mr. Berry's concerns. She defended the group's safety grades and surveys as "exceptionally rigorous, tested, expert reviewed and transparent."

"The only bias in Leapfrog methodology is a bias toward the hospitals that put patients first. Those hospitals will do best on Leapfrog time and again," Ms. Binder said. "Hundreds of rural and community hospitals demonstrate outstanding performance on Leapfrog and patients of Northeastern Health System should expect no less. All patients deserve dignified, high-quality healthcare, whether they live in an urban or rural area or whether they choose a small or large hospital."
Greensburg, Pa.-based Independence Health System has cut 226 positions since January. Now it is refocused on growth, one hospital president told the Butler Eagle.

The system, formed Jan. 1 from the merger of Butler (Pa.) Health System and Greensburg-based Excela Health, began its layoffs from the top, terminating 13 manager positions in March. Most recently, another 53 employees lost their jobs in late June.

Karen Allen, president of Butler (Pa.) Memorial Hospital and Clarion (Pa.) Hospital, told the newspaper she has attempted to allay employees' concerns that more layoffs are imminent.

"Today, I was out on the floor, ran into one of the workers who said, 'We heard there is a rumor there are more layoffs coming in October,'" Ms. Allen said. "I said, 'That is not true, we're not looking at that right now. I can't promise there will never be another layoff, but we're not looking across the system to say, "Where can we get savings in labor?" We did that, and now we're looking at how do we grow.'"

Independence is one of at least 80 health systems that have eliminated jobs in 2023. View Becker's full roundup here.
Charles Hurst will open a new 2m CUPRA and SEAT dealership later this year

Car dealer Charles Hurst in Belfast has announces plans for 2m investment and 26 new jobs as it expands its electric car offering.

The investment by the regions largest new and used car retailer, which is part of Lookers plc, will see a new CUPRA and SEAT dealership open later this year.

Charles Hurst Group operations director Jeff McCartney said: Were delighted to be expanding our brand portfolio and introducing the ground-breaking CUPRA hybrid and all-electric vehicles to meet fast-growing local demand for cutting-edge, sustainable and innovative driving options.

One of Europes fastest-growing electric car brands, CUPRA is the premium performance brand of Spanish parent SEAT, both of which are owned by leading car maker Volkswagen.

CUPRA was launched as a standalone brand in 2018 and has since sold 200,000 models worldwide.

Read more Spar owner Henderson Group announces sales of 1.23bn for 2022

Duncan McPhee, Lookers chief operating officer, said: Right across the Group and in every region, we are rapidly accelerating our journey towards all-electric driving that accurately matches the needs of our customers who are keen to embrace a more sustainable future by delivering unrivalled choice, information, and advice for every step of the way.

Were proud that in Northern Ireland, Charles Hurst continues to charge ahead as the market leader in this vitally important area.

All cars sold as new will be electric in the UK after 2030 when a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans comes into force by the UK government. However, hybrid cars that can drive a significant distance in zero-emission mode will be exempt from this until 2035.

Charles Hurst operates across eight sites in Northern Ireland and two in the Republic, representing more than 20 of the worlds top global car manufacturers, including leading premium and luxury brands.
Heartstopper actor Kit Connor has revealed a film project he did in Belfast earlier this year was the hardest thing he has had to do in his career.

The 19-year-old English actor was speaking to Magherafelt-born fashion designer Jonathan Anderson for Interview Magazine.

During their chat, the pair discussed Connors upcoming project as the lead role in mystery-horror One Of Us.

The allegorical feature film will depict members of a family as they start dying one by one at a funeral, while the Emmy winners character searches for the stranger in their midst.

Callum Woodhouse (The Durrells), Charlotte Hope (The Spanish Princess), Siobhan Fallon-Hogan (Rushed) and Ian Beattie (Game Of Thrones) will be among the stars in the film.

Kit plays Nick Nelson in the Netflix LGBTQ+ coming of age drama Heartstopper which has received rave reviews since its release in April 2022.

The shows second series has recently released on Netflix to rave reviews, with season 2 sitting at 96% on review site Rotten Tomatoes.

In his interview with JW Anderson, Connor said he has been making a conscious effort to take on more difficult roles.

"In all honesty, the one thats more appealing is definitely the role that I think Im going to be good at, he said.

"But Ive been making a conscious effort over the last year or so to go for things that are more difficult. I just did a film earlier this year in Belfast, which was the hardest thing Ive ever tried to do. Who knows if I succeeded, but I think it was a good thing to do.

Heartstopper follows teens Charlie Spring (Joe Locke) and Nick who discover their unlikely friendship might be something more as they navigate school and young love.

Speaking about having to grow up as a child actor, Connor told Anderson: I wouldnt want to be dramatic about it, but I definitely think I was forced to mature in certain ways that made me speak a bit like an old man at times.

"But then I also sometimes felt, whether this was true or not, a little socially stunted. I never went out to parties reallyalthough maybe I just wasnt popular, who knows? But I never did those things.

"A lot of my friends and family would be going out on holiday and Id be working. That was the only thing that did have a sort of lasting impact. But for the most part I really loved growing up on film sets.

Last year Connor announced he is bisexual and suggested he was forced to come out publicly.

He told Anderson: I found it very disappointing, especially given my agealthough I dont think that it should be something that is speculated on at any age. I really wanted to have that boundary.

"It was my private information and my personal life that I wanted to keep to myself. So I was kind of frustrated with myself that I gave into it. What I learned from that experience is that there are certain things I want to keep private in my life.

"Ive also learned that people are always going to have something to say. Even with me coming out, people will still have something to saywhether they believe me or not, whether they suddenly think, Oh, now can he play straight roles? But whatever they say, theyre going to say something.

Replying to the teenage actor, Mr Anderson called him incredibly human and a huge inspiration to many people.

"You should hold onto that because there are not many people who could deal with that pressure, the NI man said.
Sir Kenneth Branagh during filming of A Haunting In Venice. Pic by GC images.

Sir Kenneth Branagh has revealed the actors on the set of his upcoming film A Haunting in Venice had no warning about what would happen.

The supernatural mystery, based on the 1969 Agatha Christie novel called Hallowe'en Party, sees Branagh play the role of detective Hercule Poirot.

The movie, which is also directed by the Oscar winner, includes Holywood actor Jamie Dornan among its impressive cast.

In a new featurette released for the film ahead of its release next month, Branagh and the cast talked about the scary experience shooting the film as the stars involved were surprised with unannounced effects.

"These actors had no warning about what would happen, what we did with lights, wind, doors opening," Branagh said.

"Agatha Christie was an incredible storyteller.

"She is the world's number one mystery writer because she understood a good detective story. Orient Express dealt with revenge. Death on the Nile dealt with greed. This film is about whether there is anything beyond us, a ghost, a god, whether Poirot believes in it, that involves him and us being scared.

Speaking in the same clip, Dornan added: "I've never been on a set like this before. There's a great sense of authenticity. It will be a proper thrill for the audience.

Meanwhile American actress Tina Fey said: "It's not only a murder-mystery but there's also a supernatural element to the film which takes it to another level.

A Haunting in Venice is Branaghs third adaptation of a Agatha Christie mystery novel, following on from the success of Murder on the Orient Express in 2017 and Death on the Nile in 2020.

Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter earlier this year, Branagh said he was paying tribute to the time in his life that his mother became a fan of Agatha Christie when he wrote Belfast.

Once deep in the world of the famous detective, he added if he got the chance he would film the Halloween tale set in Venice.

My mother was a big Agatha Christie fan, so why dont you put it in as an offering to the gods? They can tell us, in the end, if well be allowed to make it, Branagh said.

Last month a new trailer for the film was released.

In the trailer things go horribly wrong when detective Poirot attends a seance held by psychic Mrs. Reynolds, played by Michelle Yeoh, at a decaying palazzo in post Second World War Venice.

Ariadne Oliver, played by Fey, doesnt believe in psychics and manages to convince detective Poirot to take part in the spiritual ceremony with her to spot the con I can't.

I've seen a million of these so-called psychics. Each one are fake, Ariadne tells the investigator during a meet up.

I do not believe in psychics,' Branaghs character says before the seance is held for one of the attendees to talk to her dead daughter Alicia.

Detective, you are here to discredit me but I can talk to the dead, Mrs. Reynolds tells him.

Moments later a chandelier shatters and a number of spooky things unfold.

Last year Branagh won an Academy Award for best original screenplay for his autobiographical coming-of-age film Belfast set at the advent of the Troubles.

A Haunting in Venice, also starring Emma Laird, Kelly Reilly and Camille Cottin, is set to be released on September 15.
Gabrielle Monaghan with her grandfather as she picked up her results. Photo: Pacemaker Press.

A Co Antrim teenager has achieved top grades despite her father passing away from cancer while she was doing her A-level exams.

Gabrielle Monaghan juggled studying with visits to the hospice to see her father, Kieran Monaghan, and said she just wanted to make him proud.

The 18-year-old from Hannahstown studied at St Dominics Grammar School in west Belfast and achieved two A*s in Irish and PE, and an A in Health and Social Care.

Gabrielle picked up her results with her grandfather on Thursday, and said she couldnt be happier with them.

It was difficult trying to manage everything, trying to go from place to place but I just wanted to make him proud, she said. I needed to get the grades.

It was hard but I just wanted to get it done.

Her father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in August 2022, and died in May while she was sitting her exams.

When he was ill, Gabrielle visited him in hospice after school.

He wasnt well so I would have went to school and went over to the hospice to go and see him, she explained.

The school would have let me out early to go and see him at times. They were so good, even all the teachers.

She added that she couldnt have done it without the support of the staff at St Dominics.

Its literally the best school. The teachers couldnt have helped me more than they did, she said.

They were so helpful and they really helped me get the grades that I wanted.

After collecting her results, Gabrielle said her family is incredibly proud of her.

My mummy is delighted, she couldnt be happier. My granda was delighted too, he was straight down to the school with me.

Gabrielle now has plans to go to St Marys in the autumn to become a teacher.
A man has been extradited from Romania to Northern Ireland to face charges of brothel keeping and offences under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Police said the 37-year-old was extradited as part of a PSNI Organised Crime Branch investigation on Thursday, August 3 and is wanted to stand trial in Northern Ireland.

A 28-year-old woman who is a co-accused in the same case was also extradited from Romania to Northern Ireland on the same date.

PSNI Detective Inspector Lennon from the International Policing Unit said: This demonstrates our commitment to work with International Law Enforcement partners to track down wanted persons and bring offenders to justice.

Our message is clear to anyone who has left Northern Ireland to avoid arrest or the consequences of their actions. We will relentlessly pursue those that are trying to delay or deny justice to victims of crime.
President Joe Biden walks to board Marine One, Thursday, Aug. 17, from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, en route to Pennsylvania and then on to Camp David. AP-Yonhap



South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will adopt a document committing each side to consult with one another in the event of a common security or other threat, officials said.



The document titled "Commitment to Consult" will be adopted at a trilateral summit involving the three leaders at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland on Friday, according to the officials.



It will be the first such commitment that has been made by the three countries, the officials said, underscoring their growing closeness and cooperation in the face of North Korea's nuclear threat and China's increasing assertiveness.



"The leaders of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan (will adopt) a separate document containing a political commitment to strengthen consultations among the three countries," Principal Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo told reporters Thursday.









"This will allow each country to communicate closely about common threats and challenges in the region and come up with timely and effective response measures," he said.



The document will not specify the type of threat or challenge that will trigger the commitment to consult, a presidential official said. Also, in the event one country decides not to share information because it deems a particular threat to not be a threat to itself, it will have no obligation to do so.



"It will be a document saying that when there is a trade dispute, or a North Korean missile threat, or a serious provocation at sea, or any threat in and outside the region, be it military, economic or cyber, if it is thought to be directly connected to our interests, we can share information, coordinate messaging and come up with joint response plans," the official said.



The less-than-half-page document will be part of a joint press statement to be issued by the three leaders after their summit. The reason it will be lifted and made into a separate document is because such a commitment is unprecedented among the three countries, according to the official.



"South Korea, the U.S. and Japan have dealt with such issues passively until now and are agreeing to consult closely and actively going forward to resolve what's necessary," the official said.



The Commitment to Consult will not violate or interfere with the existing alliance treaties between South Korea and the U.S., or between the U.S. and Japan, and will not carry any new obligations under international law, the official added.



The three leaders plan to adopt two other documents as well  the "Camp David Principles" and the "Spirit of Camp David"  with the first one containing sustainable guidelines for trilateral cooperation, and the second outlining their vision for trilateral cooperation and its implementation plan. (Yonhap)




Party rapped over social media post about embarrassing little secret

Alliance MLA Patrick Brown accuses former SDLP councillor Eugene Reid of sour grapes after losing his council seat back in May.

Alliance MLA Patrick Brown doubled down on the late night tweet before both posts were deleted.

The late night tweet was deleted on Friday morning, within hours of being posted on Alliance's official account.

The Alliance Party has been accused of online bullying after it threatened to reveal a former SDLP councillors embarrassing little secret on its official social media account.

The tweet read: Here @eugenereid  weird how youre publicly slabbering about our reps and blocking us on social media. Want us to share your embarrassing little secret from the other week? Or do your colleagues in the SDLP already know?

The Belfast Telegraph understands this refers to Eugene Reids bid to join Alliance earlier this month. His application was rejected.

The late night tweet was deleted on Friday morning, within hours of being posted on Alliance's official account.

The now-deleted post also included screenshots of him replying online to images of Alliance representatives, including John Hyland.

Passion, enthusiasm and energy?!? Wise up. Mr Reid posted.

Mr Reid lost his seat on Mid and East Antrim Borough Council in May when Mr Hyland, who had been co-opted last year, was elected.

However, a vacancy has arisen because Mr Hyland is stepping down and returning to his native Liverpool.

Another tweet from Mr Reid during a conversation with a friend said: Elections here are not about who contributes, who is on the ground working!

Scouser and unknown got elected in my town. Scouser has gone home!

In response to its social media activity, the Alliance Party said: This was a light-hearted way of addressing continual derogatory trolling and baiting of our elected representatives by this individual, including yesterday.

However, we appreciate humour doesnt always translate on social media, hence the post being deleted.

But Mr Reid said the post was certainly not humorous, and defended his own remarks.

I genuinely had a conversation with a very good friend and community leader on Thursday evening, he explained.

I have worked with her, and continue to do so, to deliver change for some of the most vulnerable and forgotten communities in my town.

She expressed concern and annoyance at elected representatives leaving their positions.

Alliance MLA Patrick Brown doubled down on the late night tweet before both posts were deleted.

Mr Reid said he had never trolled any politician.

My record shows that I call out anyone whom I think is not delivering as per their position as a public servant, he added.

I am sure that the public can make up their own minds with respect to the tweet from the Alliance Party  light-hearted it certainly was not.

Alliance has been criticised by social media users for the tone of its post.

One person wrote: This is bizarre, a registered Irish political party, which already has a reputation for being nasty, publicly blackmailing a private citizen?

Another speculated Alliance Twitter is on the lash, and accused the party of showing their classy side again.

A third poster said: A horrendous tweet for a political party. The irony of the Alliance Party criticising someone for slabbering then blocking people  their party leader is famous for it.

Alliance MLA Patrick Brown doubled down on the sentiment by sharing the tweet before the party backtracked.

SDLP really need to wise up, nasty comment from a party that only understands negative politics, he wrote.

In a further post, Mr Brown suggested Mr Reid should find a new career in winemaking with all those sour grapes.

Alliance MLA Patrick Brown accuses former SDLP councillor Eugene Reid of sour grapes after losing his council seat back in May.

He later removed the post, saying he was made aware Eugene is no longer a member of the SDLP, so felt it only fair to delete.

Doesnt take away from the nasty spitefulness of his comments though, he added.

Mr Reid did not respond to questions about his attempt to join Alliance.

DUP MP Carla Lockhart said: This post appears to be a clear attempt to bully or intimidate a member of another party with a threat to expose an embarrassing little secret.

Online bullying is a problem which has impacted representatives from every party, including Alliance. In most cases such posts are from anonymous trolls rather than from an official party account.

The SDLP refused to confirm Mr Reids status within the party.

It added: If the Alliance Party believe that engaging in unprofessional and nasty social media activity of this nature is the best use of their platform, then thats a matter for them to address.
Councillors have said they are worried Belfast City Council is cancelling Christmas this year after civil servants announced there would have to be a 50% budget slash on festive lights.

At a Belfast City Council committee meeting yesterday, council members heard that contractors were waiting for a decision from the council on its lighting plan in the city centre by the end of the days business.

Councillors decided to hold a special meeting to discuss the budget on festive lights.

Last week, elected representatives were told that the councils static budget was likely to mean that the current city centre festive lighting scheme would need to be scaled back for 2023.

Councillors had asked for a report earlier this year looking into the potential for extending the Christmas lighting regime across the city, to provide festive lighting and animation on main arterial routes in the four quarters of the city.

However, John Greer, Director of Economic Development, told councillors he was the harbinger of doom and informed them not only was there no budget to allow lighting arterial routes this year, but the city centre lighting would see a 50% cut.

He cited a 100,000 cut from non-recurrent budget and increasing contractor costs as the reasons.

During yesterdays meeting of the councils Strategic Policy and Resources Committee, the director presented a map showing the cuts to the lighting. Costs have gone up across the board, labour costs, insurance costs, vehicle costs and so on, he said.

Within our budget, approved by the council during the estimate setting process, that will mean a reduction in the Christmas lighting scheme this year.

That would mean a number of cross-street features would be removed at the bottom of Ann Street, North Street and Gresham Street, but we will retain bespoke features at North Street, Union Street, Library Street, Wellington Street, Danske Bank, Berry Street and Bank Square.

Pole mounted features on Rosemary Street, Lombard Street and Bridge Street, as well as Bedford Street, Dublin Road and Great Victoria Street are also unlikely to be supported.

Sinn Fein councillor Ciaran Beattie said: We keep bringing up Castle Street, but it is always an area that gets left out.

This goes back to a consultant we got around 10 years ago to draw up a city master plan, and the map he drew up for this committee had a red line drawn around Castle Street.

He told us he was advised by officials to stay away from there.

From then there has been very little, if any, investment into the Castle Street area.

Alliance councillor Michael Long said: I would make a similar point about Donegall Street and the traders there.

There are never many lights there, and obviously that is a gateway to [north Belfast].

Green councillor Brian Smyth said: It seems like we are saying some parts of the city are no-go. We know there are issues of how people dont feel safe in certain places in the city centre.
Members of the Royal Black take part in the Last Saturday parade in Dromore, Co Down, last year. Pic: Stephen Hamilton/Presseye

The Sovereign Grand Master of the Royal Black Institution has said thousands are expected to attend the finales of the parading season next week.

Six locations across Northern Ireland will hold the demonstrations on Last Saturday (August 26).

Around 17,000 members of the Royal Black Institution will take part in the parades, which will be held at Lisburn, Loughgall, Moneymore, Larne, Dromore, and Artigarvan.

Approximately 350 preceptories and 300 bands will be involved in the traditional parades.

Sovereign Grand Master Rev William Anderson, who will address the event in Loughgall, said: The annual Last Saturday parades are flagship events on the parading calendar.

We expect to see thousands of supporters turning out at the various locations to witness a glorious expression of culture, pageantry, music, and history.

The institutions principled stance on the Reformed Christian faith will be to the forefront at all our demonstrations on the Last Saturday.

Last Saturday parade locations

Lisburn There will be six districts taking part in the procession - Lisburn, Ballymena, Antrim, Larne, Ballymoney and Ballyclare.

Around 5,000 participants are expected, with 79 preceptories and 75 bands.

The parade was last held in Lisburn in August 2015.

The demonstration field is at Wallace Park, with sir knights and bands assembling at the Laurelhill Road, beside the Community College.

The main parade will begin at 12.30pm, proceeding through the city to the park, where a religious service will take place at 3pm, conducted by the County Grand Chaplain, Rev David McCarthy.

The return parade will start at 4.15pm, proceeding to Prince William Road.

Loughgall

Summerisland RBDC No 6 are hosting the demonstration in the Co Armagh village, home to the headquarters of the Royal Black Institution.

Sixty bands will be on parade, with an estimated 4,000 participants in the procession, which will take in Ballygassey Road, Main Street and Old Road.

The starting time is 12om, with the return procession scheduled for 5pm.

Moneymore

Co Londonderry will parade in Moneymore for the first time since 1997.

A total of 35 preceptories and 31 bands - an estimated total of 1,000 participants - will gather on the Desertmartin Road from 11am and walk the one-mile route to the field on the Moneyhaw Road.

The procession will move off at 12pm, led by County Officers.

Moneymore RBP 313 will be celebrating their 150th anniversary.

Districts from south Londonderry, who are the hosts, will be joined by Raphoe, Coleraine and City of Londonderry.

Platform proceedings will be chaired by Jeffrey Stirling, the County Grand Master, with the main speaker being William Bailie, Past Assistant Sovereign Grand Master.

County Grand Chaplain Rev J Andrews will lead the worship, with the speaker being Rev John Martin, of RBP 97 in Limavady.

The return parade will leave at 3.30pm and head back through the town, to depart from the Magherafelt Road.

Larne

City of Belfast Grand Black Chapter are the organisers at the Co Antrim venue, which last hosted the demonstration in 2014.

Seven districts are taking part, comprising three from Clifton Street, with the others from Sandy Row, Shankill Road, Ballymacarrett and Ballynafeigh.

A total of 1,500 will walk in the procession, including participants from 35 bands.

A remembrance service will be held at the towns War Memorial at Inver Road, with the main procession route taking in Larne Town Park, Main Street, Upper Main Street, High Street, Bridge Street, Station Road and Circular Road.

Dromore

The Co Down venue will be the setting for the largest demonstration of the day.

An estimated total of 6,000 participants, including the members of 90 bands, will parade.

The parade will leave Dromore Orange Hall at 11.30am, making its way along Hillsborough Road via the Market Square to the demonstration field at Killinstown Road, with the return procession scheduled for 4.05pm.

Artigarvan

RBP 91 are the hosts for the Tyrone demonstration, which is being held in Artigarvan for the first time.

Districts from Omagh and Castlederg will join the organising Strabane Chapter.

A total of 25 preceptories and 20 bands will take part, with an estimated total of 900 in the procession.

The main route takes in Berryhill Road, Mount Pleasant, and Art Road, with a starting time of 12.30pm and returning at 3pm.

District master Derek McDermott will chair platform proceedings and conduct the service of worship; the principal speaker will be the Imperial Grand Registrar Robert Dane, and the preacher is the Rev Alan Irwin, County Grand Chaplain, Tyrone.
The circumstances surrounding the deaths of a man and a woman at a property in County Down are being investigated by the PSNI.

Police discovered the bodies of an elderly couple in Co Down after a postman became concerned for their wellbeing.

The PSNI are currently investigating the deaths of the man and woman in the Greenan Road area, which connects Warrenpoint to Newry and is a short distance from the dual carriageway.

SDLP councillor Declan McAteer said he believed the couple had been deceased for quite some time.

It is understood a postman became suspicious and contacted police on Thursday after he did not see the couple for months.

A number of PSNI vehicles were pictured outside the partially boarded up property on Friday with a police cordon in place around the house, which is in a rural area.

PSNI officers and forensic teams were at the property, which is overgrown in places, throughout Friday as the investigation continues.

A police cordon was also in place along a laneway at the side of the property which appears to lead to a number of farmhouses.

Mr McAteer told the Belfast Telegraph the couple kept very much to themselves and he was not aware if they had any close relations in the area.

"But its believed they have been there for some time in the house, he added.

"I have spoken to some members of the local community who are saddened and totally shocked and bewildered about the situation, he added.

A police spokesperson said they were investigating the deaths which were reported on Thursday and enquiries are ongoing.

There are no further details at this time, police added.

Sinn Fein MLA Sinead Ennis paid tribute to the pair and said the community is in a state of shock.

"Heartbreaking news that the bodies of a man and woman have been found in the Greenan Road, Newry, she said.

"The local community are deeply shocked and saddened. My thoughts are with all those affected by this tragic loss.

Independent councillor Mark Gibbons also sent his condolences at the news of the couples death and called for an end to speculation.

"My thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of those who have sadly passed away, he said.

"This is simply terrible news for the wider Warrenpoint community and I will not be making any further comment as a mark of respect for those who are touched and affected by this tragic news.

We don't need gossip and speculation at this time. We only need to be respectful and supportive.

Former leader of the SDLP and South Down MP Margaret Ritchie said: Deepest sympathies to the family, friends and neighbours of the bereaved.

Councillor Selina Murphy also said: Very sad news this evening. An elderly couple have passed away at home on Greenan Road. Thoughts are with their family and neighbours.
Police have said they are treating a fire at a commercial premises in Belfast as a racially motivated hate crime.

The blaze occurred shortly after 3.30am this morning (Friday) in the Sandy Row area of south Belfast.

No injuries were reported however the premises suffered significant damage.

The PSNI are appealing for witnesses to the incident and are keen to speak to two males who were spotted in the area prior to the fire.

They were described as wearing all black clothing and were travelling on foot in the direction of Schomberg Park.

Read more PSNI admits senior officer who drove off with sensitive papers on car roof scattered names of 42 officers and staff over motorway

A police spokesperson said: We are treating this as a racially motivated hate crime. Thankfully, no one was injured but significant damage and disruption has been caused.

"As part of our ongoing enquiries, we are keen to speak to two males who were seen in the area before this incident.

I would appeal to anyone who was in the area at the time and saw anything, or who may have dashcam, CCTV, or other footage, to contact us on 101, quoting reference 198 of 18/8/23.

Alternatively, you can submit a report online using the non-emergency reporting form via http://www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/.

You can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at http://crimestoppers-uk.org/.
The graffiti has been condemned by an Alliance councillor.

Police are treating graffiti reading No Irish No Gay in Lurgan as a homophobic hate crime.

In a statement to the Belfast Telegraph, the PSNI said they received a report of criminal damage and had been informed by local residents in the Mourneview area that the paintwork had been there for a number of years and was not newly painted.

Alliance councillor Peter Lavery told the Belfast Telegraph he was aware of the graffiti, but believed it was new.

He said he is concerned its existence may lead to a resurgence of the slogan which was initially spotted around the Co Armagh town in 2021.

Read more Politicians condemn disgusting sectarian graffiti in Derry

"Its very concerning, I seen stencils did go up and around Mourneview a year or two ago, and they were reported and removed at the time, he said.

"But its very worrying this is now becoming a regular occurrence.

In a further statement provided to the Belfast Telegraph, Councillor Lavery said: Lurgan is an inclusive, welcoming town that is looking to the future. Those spray painting these homophobic and anti-Irish statements do not represent the vast majority of people here, and I condemn them and their actions entirely.

A PSNI spokesperson said: Police received a report of criminal damage in the Pollock Drive area of Lurgan in Friday, 18th August.

Officers attended and spoke with local residents, who advised that the graffiti had been there for a number of years.

"The graffiti is being treated a homophobic hate crime.

In 2018, the same slogan appeared on a banner hung on a bridge close to Lurgan on the M1, visible from the Belfast-bound lanes.

Shortly after it appeared, Sinn Fein MLA Declan Kearney said he reported the banner to police and called its placement reprehensible, with police saying they were treating it as a hate incident.
Sinn Fein and the PSNI are at odds over a night time street trading designation for an area off Castle Street in Belfast city centre.

Elected representatives at Belfast City Council this week deferred a decision to allow night time street trading on a site at the end of King Street, beside Castle Court, after police aired their objections to the plan.

The councils Licensing Committee received a proposal for the site to trade in hot and cold food and non-alcoholic beverages at night time.

The committee previously refused designation of the site as a new street trading area in 2021, based on concerns which had been raised by both the PSNI and the not-for-profit company Belfast City Centre Management.

After the new application, police told the council that they continued to object to the site being designated for street trading at night.

Read more Belfasts first power station and unaltered Victorian house both granted listed status

In a letter to the council in April this year, they wrote: Please note that during further consideration to the designation of the above street trading pitch, there are particular concerns from police regarding the potential for disorder in and around the surrounding and immediate area of the proposed site location.

There is the potential for crowds gathering and loitering in unmanaged queues, possibly spilling out onto the main road or causing additional antisocial behaviour, graffiti and rubbish in an area already of concern for police.

Sinn Fein councillor Aine McCabe told the Licensing Committee the area was the gateway to west Belfast and said her party had previous worries that the site was deemed unacceptable.

She said there was nothing materially different from other sites that had been approved by the council for street trading, including a licence on Donegall Square East approved moments earlier by the committee.

Ms McCabe proposed the committee agree to the designation of the site on King Street for street trading at night.

Green councillor Brian Smyth said: I dont think anything has changed. I would say we do not give approval to this.

If police are saying it is already an area of concern for them, I dont think we can let this go ahead.

Because if anybody gets hurt round there, it lands on this committee.

SDLP councillor Gary McKeown, chair of the Licensing Committee, said: The material difference is that there is a police objection to this.

The City Solicitor Nora Largey said another difference was that the Donegall Square East pitch had been previously approved as a designated street trading site for a considerable period of time.

Read more Belfast city centre Christmas lights display to be cut in half due to budget constraints

She added: King Street is (being considered) as a new, additional designation. That is the difference between the two. If you could go back in time, whether you would accept or not Donegall Square East in principle, I dont know if the committees decision would be the same.

But this one is about the principle of a hot food bar at King Street. In Donegall Square East the decision has already been made.

The committee agreed as a compromise to defer the matter for further discussion, and to receive more detail from the PSNI about alleged antisocial behaviour in the area.
Fisher has accepted the inevitable and has stood himself down after a major health scare and a near brush with death

Members were ordered to attend a summit held in the Rathcoole estate at which a new leader was to be agreed on.

Current mob boss Gary Fisher has accepted the inevitable and has stood himself down after a major health scare and a near brush with death.

The Sunday World understands his successor will be a safe pair of hands but someone who is determined to re-establish the organisation in Carrickfergus.

It is understood that the leading members gathered to rubber-stamp Fishers successor.

There was speculation South East Antrim (SEA), which broke away from the mainstream UDA in 2007, would be welcomed back into the fold. But it is believed that has been ruled out.

The organised crime gang oversees a highly lucrative drug-running operation which has made Fisher and other senior leadership figures very wealthy men.

Fishers successor, whose identity is known to the Sunday World, will have to shore up an organisation that has fragmented in the last couple of years.

Prior to the Covid crisis, SEA was said to have 100 per cent control of the drug trade across Carrick, Larne and Rathcoole.

Their grip of the drugs business remains largely intact in Larne and Rathcoole but has waned in Carrick.

Fisher had a firm grip on the trade but that has fallen away as he battled ill-health.

The one-time fitness fanatic has been reduced to a gaunt and troubled figure and become a recluse at his Greenisland home.

As previously revealed, Fisher collapsed at home after a week away with his partner on the north coast.

The crime boss spent almost a week in intensive care before checking himself out against medical advice.

There had been speculation that Fisher was looking to quit the UDA but was seeking reassurances that he could still rely on the organisation for protection. South East Antrim was being run by a three-man committee with Fisher as a figurehead. It is now hoped that his successor will bring a sense of order to the organisation.

Company commanders have gathered in Rathcoole this weekend to ratify his successor.

Gary had a reputation for being in complete control, a source told us.

And that worked for years  he had a clear head and SEA was a well-oiled machine.

He raked in a fortune and outsiders werent tolerated.

His grip on SEA began to weaken as he lost some of his most trusted lieutenants.

Clifford Trigger Irons is facing criminal charges and one-time enforcer Colin Simms was stood down after he was caught with his hands in the till and Fisher ordered he be given a punishment shooting.

Ironically, Simms gang is back on the scene in Carrick looking to take advantage of Fishers weakness.

Fisher was the surprise choice to take over SEA in the wake of the murder of his predecessor John Grug Gregg in 2003. He was close to Gregg and worked as the terror chiefs driver. It is understood Gregg had anointed him as his successor.

Grugg laid big store in loyalty, and there was no one more loyal than Gary, and he got his reward, a source said.

Some people were sceptical because he had no record as an active member.

He never got his hands dirty, and some of the older guys didnt like that, they wanted someone who was battle-hardened.

Fishers strength didnt lie in conflict but rather in the seedy world of organised crime and racketeering.

SEAs place at the top of the heap has been challenged over the last couple of years as a number of outside drug-dealing organisations have moved into Carrick.

That and the public backlash in the wake of the Glenn Quinn murder put SEA on the back foot.

The Paramilitary Crime Task Force has also scored a number of successful raids on the SEA operations.

Gary became paranoid, said our source. He was freaking out at the prospect of being arrested. When Trigger was done he thought he was next on the list, which is why he took a lower profile.

Fisher moved away from his power base and set up home in Greenisland close to his former right-hand man Irons.

A notoriously private man, he insisted on his men leaving mobile phones at the door when attending meetings.

SEA needs to get its house back in order, theyve lost control of Carrick and need to get it back, our source said.
Ryan Tubridy tried to explain to the Irish national broadcaster that he did not intend to cause difficulty for RTE when he made a contentious statement about a highly-anticipated report into his earnings, which ultimately led to his axing from the station, sources close to the presenter said.

On Thursday, RTE director general Kevin Bakhurst said he had made the decision that Mr Tubridy would not return to his radio programme because trust had broken down in the wake of the former presenters statement.

At issue were the publicly published figures for Mr Tubridys earnings in 2020 and 2021 which were published in February, and upwardly revised in June, as part of information relating to a range of understated payments that has pushed the national broadcaster into an expanding crisis.

In the restated figures RTE included payments relating to a commercial arrangement with Renault which involved the presenter being directly paid by the car company.

It also included payments to Mr Tubridy from a UK barter company used by RTE after Renault pulled out of the deal as the national broadcaster had chosen to underwrite the arrangement.

In his response to Wednesdays report, Mr Tubridy said that the figure included in the initial publication of his earnings was correct.

It is also clear that my actual income from RTE in 2020 and 2021 matches what was originally published as my earnings for those years, he said.

It is understood his position is that the payments were from Renault and the UK barter company rather than RTE and were related to work distinct from his RTE work.

However, Mr Bakhurst said he was particularly disappointed with this statement and that Mr Tubridy had to accept the restated figures were correct.

He sought clarification from Mr Tubridys lawyers, who are understood to have told him that their client was not in any way inferring that RTE was incorrect in relation to its restatements.

The lawyers are understood to have told Mr Bakhurst that Mr Tubridy had no intention of causing any difficulty for RTE.

Ultimately, Mr Bakhurst ended negotiations about Mr Tubridys return over the matter.

New RTE director general Kevin Bakhurst (Niall Carson/PA)

Asked why the decision had been taken to end the talks, Mr Bakhurst said he did not believe that Mr Tubridy, formerly RTEs highest-paid star, had owned his mistakes in relation to RTEs under-declaration of the presenters salary.

Following that decision, the director general accepted there is a danger and a risk of legal action after the abrupt end of the talks.

Mr Bakhurst said he had received internal and external legal advice before making the decision and said he hoped it does not come to legal action between RTE and Mr Tubridy.

I dont think it will be a good thing for anybody. Clearly, theres always a risk, but we factored that in and considered that risk, and I still feel convinced it was the right decision for RTE and for audiences, he said.

Mr Bakhurst said that it had been agreed that Mr Tubridy would return to his weekly RTE Radio show on a 170,000 euro fee, while also presenting a new podcast series.

It is the latest development in the controversy over RTEs under-declaration of his salary, which has widened to investigations into RTEs financial affairs, accounting practices, governance and spending on advertising clients.

The crisis has led to a significant drop-off in the number of people buying TV licences, an obligatory 160-euro fee for people with televisions, which goes towards funding operations at the broadcaster.

In his third interview with RTE in 12 hours, Mr Bakhurst said Mr Tubridy was shocked and disappointed at the decision not to continue negotiations, adding he did not think Mr Tubridy saw the decision coming.

He said that RTE staff were strongly divided about whether Mr Tubridy should return, but added that he is a hugely talented broadcaster and he felt it was the right thing to try to bring him back.

However, I feel there was an issue throughout about the need to accept your role in what has been a hugely damaging scandal for everybody involved, and particularly for RTE, who need to take the vast majority blame, he said.

But there are others, including Ryan and his team, who should take some of the blame and take some responsibility, he said, adding that he did not believe he was aware of some significant resistance to his return.

He said the interim leadership team was consulted over the decision to end the talks and they agreed.

They realised, like I did, it was a tough decision but they also realise weve got a job to do.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol arrives at Camp David, the presidential retreat, Friday, Aug. 18, near Thurmont, Md. AP-Yonhap





The leaders of South Korea, Japan and the United States will announce a multiyear exercise plan at their historic trilateral summit Friday, which will better prepare their countries against North Korea's evolving military threats, a senior U.S. official said.







South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will lay a "strong foundation" for strong trilateral cooperation that is built to last as they hold their first-ever stand-alone trilateral summit at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said.







"We are going to lay a strong foundation for this trilateral partnership to make sure that it's deep, it is strong and that it's built to last," he told a press briefing at Camp David, where the leaders of the three countries will meet later in the day.







"We are announcing significant steps to enhance trilateral security cooperation in the region in the face of North Korean provocations, including a multiyear exercise plan, deeper coordination and integration on ballistic missile defense, and improving information sharing and crisis communication and the policy coordination that goes along with responding to contingencies in the Indo-Pacific," he added.







Sullivan explained the joint exercises component will be part of efforts to make sure the countries' trilateral cooperation will last.







"We've had one-off exercises in the past, particularly in response to DPRK provocations," he said, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.







"What the leaders will commit to today is a multiyear planning process for the military exercises in all domains  air, land, sea, undersea, cyber, etc.  and that means that you will start to see a kind of momentum and inertia built into the planning processes of our three national security establishments with a horizon that extends not just a year out, three years out, but quite extensively," he added.







The three-way summit, the fourth of its kind to be held in the Biden administration, has prompted speculation that the U.S. may be pushing to form a three-way alliance to counter China's increasing assertiveness, as well as North Korea's evolving threats and Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine.






Star presenter Ryan Tubridy was due to return to hosting his RTE radio programme in September before he appeared to question the organisations statements on his previous earnings, according to the head of the national broadcaster.

The details of Tubridys mothballed return emerged after director-general Kevin Bakhurst announced trust had broken down and there are now no plans for him to resume presenting at RTE.

Tubridy, who was the highest earner at the national broadcaster, has been off since June 22 after a scandal emerged that RTE had understated his earnings.

According to revised figures from RTE, Tubridy earned as much as 545,000 euros in 2019 and earned 515,000 euros in 2022.

Reports into how figures for his fees had been mis-stated found that Tubridy had no involvement and there was no wrongdoing on the part of the presenter.

Talent agent Noel Kelly with his client Ryan Tubridy (Niall Carson/PA)

Mr Bakhurst, who started as director-general at the height of an ever-expanding scandal at the broadcaster, continued negotiating Tubridys return to his daily radio programme until Wednesday.

Critically, the talks were thrown into crisis after Tubridy released a statement which appeared to question RTEs decision to restate his earnings for 2020-2021 following a highly anticipated report into the matter.

RTE had upwardly revised the publicly stated figures on Tubridys earnings for that period after it emerged he was paid additional money for a commercial arrangement with a sponsor.

However, Tubridy said on Wednesday the original figures were correct.

It is understood he felt the original figures for his RTE payment were correct as the fee for the commercial arrangement was paid by Renault and a UK barter account for the years RTE had chosen to underwrite the deal.

Speaking to RTEs Prime Time current affairs programme, Mr Bakhurst said a number of thorny issues had been overcome in negotiating Tubridys return.

He said this included his salary and the repayment of 150,000 euros which was paid to Tubridy as part of RTEs decision to underwrite unfulfilled commercial commitments.

Mr Bakhurst said Tubridy had planned to return the money.

Asked when Tubridy was due to return, Mr Bakhurst said: The plan was to get him back on September 4 on to his show on Radio One.

Also, part of the deal under discussion was about Ryan doing a podcast as well.

He said the agreement involved Tubridy, who was previously the organisations highest earner, returning on 170,000 euros per year.

However, Mr Bakhurst said he was particularly disappointed with Tubridys statement.

Speaking to RTEs Nine OClock News, he said: I just think for the sake of rebuilding trust, which is my focus with the organisation, we cant afford to be questioning the facts that are out there.

He added: I dont actually feel Ryan was best served by the people around him who advised him on making that statement.

However, the director-general said the door is still open for a future return for Tubridy.

Separately, Mr Bakhurst said Tubridys planned fee reduction was part of a wider strategy to lower the amount paid to the broadcasters presenters when their contracts come up for renegotiation.
Austrias former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has been charged with making false statements to a parliamentary inquiry into a scandal that brought down his first government, prosecutors said on Friday.

An indictment against Mr Kurz, his former chief of staff, Bernhard Bonelli, and another unidentified person was filed at the state court in Vienna, the prosecutors office that investigates corruption cases said in a statement.

The court said Mr Kurz will go on trial on October 18.

Former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has been charged with making false statements to a parliamentary inquiry into a scandal that brought down his first government, prosecutors said (Lisa Leutner/AP)

The charges result from an investigation that was launched in 2021, when Mr Kurz was still chancellor.

It centres on his testimony to a parliamentary probe that focused on alleged corruption in his first government, a coalition with the far-right Freedom Party, which collapsed in 2019.

Mr Kurz pulled the plug on that government after a video surfaced showing the vice chancellor and Freedom Party leader at the time, Heinz-Christian Strache, appearing to offer favours to a purported Russian investor.

In the corruption case, Mr Kurz is accused of giving false evidence regarding his role in the setting up of a holding company, OeBAG, which administers the states role in some companies.

Mr Kurz has denied wrongdoing, a stance he reiterated in a series of posts on Twitter that anticipated the charges.

He wrote: The allegations are false and we are looking forward to the truth finally coming to light and the accusations also turning out to be unfounded in court.

Former Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz has denied the claims (Kirsty OConnor/PA)

He said it was unsurprising that prosecutors had decided to file charges despite 30 exonerating witness statements.

A few months after the collapse of his first government, Mr Kurz returned to power in a new coalition with the environmentalist Greens in early 2020.

However, he resigned as chancellor in October 2021 to defuse a political crisis triggered by prosecutors announcement that he was one of the targets of a second investigation into suspected bribery and breach of trust.

The Greens had demanded his replacement and Mr Kurz denies any wrongdoing in that case too.

In the second case, Mr Kurz and his close associates were accused of trying to secure his rise to the leadership of his party and the country with the help of manipulated polls and friendly media reports financed with public money.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said the charges were an opportunity to clear this up'(Heinz-Peter Bader/AP)

Mr Kurz became the leader of his Austrian Peoples Party and then chancellor in 2017, when he was only 31.

A few weeks after he quit as chancellor, Mr Kurz announced that he was leaving politics altogether.

Karl Nehammer then became chancellor and leader of the Peoples Party.

Austrias next national election is due next year and recent polls have shown the Freedom Party in the lead.

News of the indictment broke as Mr Nehammer was holding a news conference in Salzburg with visiting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Asked about the news, Mr Nehammer replied: If that is the case, then there is finally the possibility to clear this up now.

The court on Friday identified the third person charged as Bettina Glatz-Kremsner, the former head of Casinos Austria, who is accused of making false statements regarding the appointment of a board member at that entity.
US President Joe Biden opened a historic summit with Japan and South Korea at Camp David on Friday, focused on strengthening security and economic ties at a time of increasing concerns about North Koreas persistent nuclear threats and Chinas provocations in the Pacific.

Our countries are stronger and the world will be safer as we stand together, and I know this is a belief that all three share, Mr Biden said at the start of the meeting with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida at the presidential retreat in Maryland in the US.

Addressing the men at what he called the first standalone summit of the three nations, Mr Biden said: I want to thank you both for your political courage that brought you here.

Mr Yoon said as they appeared before reporters that today will be remembered as a historic day, where we established a firm institutional basis and commitments to the trilateral partnership.

The summit is being held at Camp David (Andrew Harnik/AP)

And Mr Kishida said before the private talks that the fact that we, the three leaders, have got together in this way, I believe means that we are indeed making a new history as of today. The international community is at a turning point in history.

The US, Japan and South Korea have agreed to a new security pledge committing the three countries to consult with each other in the event of a security crisis or threat in the Pacific.

Details about the new duty to consult commitment emerged as the summit got under way.

Before the three-way talks, Mr Biden separately met Mr Yoon and then Mr Kishida. The visitors remarks were translated into English as they spoke to reporters.

The agreement is one of several joint efforts that they were expected to announce at the day-long summit.

Suffice it to say, this is a big deal, Mr Bidens national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Friday shortly before the start of the summit.

It is a historic event, and it sets the conditions for a more peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific, and a stronger and more secure United States of America.

Even before the summit began, it drew harsh public criticism from the Chinese government.

The international community has its own judgment as to who is creating contradictions and increasing tensions, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters on Friday.

Attempts to form various exclusive groups and cliques and to bring bloc confrontation into the Asia-Pacific region are unpopular and will definitely spark vigilance and opposition in the countries of the region, Mr Wang said.

But Mr Sullivan said: Its explicitly not a Nato for the Pacific.

This partnership is not against anyone, it is for something. It is for a vision of the Indo-Pacific that is free, open, secure and prosperous.

The duty to consult pledge is intended to acknowledge that the three countries share fundamentally interlinked security environments and that a threat to one of the nations is a threat to all, according to a senior Biden administration official.

The summit is the first Mr Biden has held during his presidency at Camp David.

The three leaders are also expected to detail in their summit communique plans to invest in technology for a three-way crisis hotline and offer an update on progress the countries have made on sharing early-warning data on missile launches by North Korea.
As schools begin to reflect on another year of outstanding achievement in A-level results, there will be one word that rises to the surface.

Its not success, delight, nor achievement. Its despite.

While Northern Ireland has the highest percentage of students gaining A* and A grades of all the home nations, albeit lower than last year, the fact remains that chronic underfunding does no one any favours.

This year has seen an almost full return to pre-Covid status. Around 37% of local students achieved A* to A grades, compared to 44% last year.

It remains the case that our talent, commitment and ability to achieve exceeds other parts of the UK.

If only the commitment to fund education matched the commitment of teachers and pupils to do the best they can.

Its no secret that the money spent per pupil in Northern Ireland is less than elsewhere in the UK.

Financial restrictions are set to hamper funding for education even more in the years ahead, and unless there is a dramatic change of heart and a loosening of the purse strings to the extent seen in Scotland, the challenge facing schools and teachers will only grow.

There also remains a major gap in achievement between the haves and the have-nots.

Pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, regardless of their ability, still receive little support compared to their better-off peers.

Thats something the Department of Education has tried to address.

The publication of the Fair Start strategy two years ago was supposed to be a watershed moment.

The document was sold as a blueprint for levelling the academic playing field, but funding has been curtailed.

Investing in education, at whatever level, is investing in the future.

It forms a base from which the country can plan for and develop a more energetic and successful economy.

That pupils and schools in Northern Ireland deliver the best results in the UK year-on-year continues to be a remarkable achievement.

But lets not allow that to be a reason to continue cutting costs, pulling back essential services and treating teaching staff with so much less than the respect they deserve.

All 18-year-olds are different, but all should be treated equally and benefit from the same opportunities.

Success because of the system would be a cause for even greater celebration, and who knows what heights could be reached?
One of the founders of the SAS, Blair Paddy Mayne was a hero in his native town, Newtownards. But his legacy is a complicated one, he was not a model officer.

Featured last year in the BBC mini-series SAS Rogue Heroes, Maynes relatives have criticised his portrayal saying it made him out to be an aggressive, inveterate bar brawler.

The SAS is an elite Commando force set up to raid behind enemy lines, it needed a special kind of soldier  Paddy Mayne was just the kind of man needed despite some of his flaws.

His exploits in battle saw him earn many honours but he was denied the Victoria Cross.

To tell his story, Ciaran Dunbar is joined by Belfast Telegraph reporter Andrew Madden.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol arrives at Camp David, the presidential retreat, Friday, Aug. 18, near Thurmont, Md. AP-Yonhap



At a Camp David summit on Friday, the United States, South Korea and Japan will deepen military and economic ties as the allies seek to project unity in the face of China's rise and nuclear threats from North Korea.



U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told a Camp David news briefing the meeting would announce "significant steps" to enhance trilateral security cooperation, including a commitment to consult each other in times of crisis.



Sullivan said the steps would include a multi-year military exercise plan, deeper coordination and integration on ballistic missile defense and improved information sharing, crisis communication and policy coordination "that goes along with responding to contingencies in the Indo-Pacific."



He said the leaders would also unveil new economic and energy security initiatives including an early warning mechanism for supply chain disruptions.



The commitments, which fall short of a formal alliance, will be the centerpiece of U.S. President Joe Biden's first Camp David summit for foreign leaders and represents a significant move for Seoul and Tokyo, which have a long history of mutual acrimony and distrust.



Biden is welcoming South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to the mountainside presidential retreat, where they are expected to have several hours to strategize over how to manage tensions in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.



The summit is expected to produce a series of joint statements, including commitments to establish a crisis hotline, work together on emerging technologies and to meet annually.



The meeting is freighted with symbolism: with Washington's encouragement, Tokyo and Seoul are navigating their way past disputes dating to Japan's 1910-1945 occupation of the Korean Peninsula.



Those disputes are among the reasons the leaders would not now consider a mutual-defense pact along the lines of what the United States has separately with both South Korea and Japan - who are not themselves formal allies - according to U.S. officials who declined to be identified while previewing the summit.



"What we have seen over the last couple of months is a breathtaking kind of diplomacy, that has been led by courageous leaders in both Japan and South Korea," said Kurt Campbell, Biden's coordinator for Indo-Pacific affairs.



"They have sometimes gone against the advice of their own counselors and staff and taken steps that elevate the Japan-South Korea relationship into a new plane," Campbell said.











South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, center, poses next to Ethan Rosenzweig as Yoon Suk Yeol arrives to attend the trilateral summit at Camp David near Thurmont, Md, U.S., Aug. 18. Reuters-Yonhap
The Pheu Thai Partys prime ministerial candidate Srettha Thavisin attends a campaign event in Bangkok on May 13, 2023, on the eve of Thailand's general election.

UPDATED at 11:36 a.m. EDT on 2023-08-18

At 1.92-meters (6 feet, 3 inches) tall, Srettha Thavisin towers over other politicians vying to become Thailands first civilian prime minister after more than nine years of military-backed rule.

Despite only entering politics in November, the 61-year-old property tycoon has emerged as the frontrunner to lead Southeast Asias second largest economy.

Known for his straight-talking style, Srettha was appointed as chief advisor to the Pheu Thai family, headed by Paetongtarn Shinawatra, in the lead up to the May general election and quickly became one of the partys most recognizable faces. On Aug. 2, Pheu Thai announced it would nominate him for prime minister.

As an outsider who has never held office, the businessman nicknamed Nid (which means little) was never considered Pheu Thais first choice for prime minister. Paetongtarn, the scion of the billionaire Shinawatra clan, has always been tipped as the frontrunner for that role.

But Sretthas broad acceptability and solid economic credentials have given him the foundations for the job, according to a commentary in May by Thai researchers as the ISEAS  Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.

[M]y enemy is the poverty and disparity of the people. My goal is the better livelihood of all Thai people, Srettha said Friday in a message posted with a video posted on his Facebook page.

We are transparent in our work. I come here today to show my innocence to the general public that my activities were done according to the law, he said in the video as he defended himself against allegations of having committed fraud in his business dealings.

Srettha, who has an estimated net worth of 1.3 billion baht (U.S. $36.6 million), has not been shy to burnish his business experience in his bid for PM.

After resigning in March as CEO of Sansiri PLC, one of Thailands biggest real estate developers, and transferring his shares to his daughter, he said would use his experience to help propel the countrys economy and society.

I also want to make Thailand great again in the eyes of the international community and to lessen the ongoing disparities of the past years, he said in his resignation letter.

Srettha Thavisin (center) addresses the media at Pheu Thai headquarters in Bangkok after vote counting began in Thailand s general election, May 14, 2023. [AFP]

The economy and peoples livelihoods have been at the center of his political messaging, while he has steered clear of controversial issues like reform of Thailands royal defamation law, known as lese-majeste.

The son of a retired army officer, Srettha earned a degree in finance from Claremont Graduate University in the United States. He is married to Dr. Pakpilai Thavisin, a doctor, with whom he has three children.

His ascension to prime minister could signal an evolution in Thai politics, according to Dr. Isa Gharti, a public policy researcher at Chiang Mai University.

Given his background in real estate and not the traditional political elite circle, this might hint at the desire for a more business-oriented approach to governance, she told BenarNews.

However, advancing his policy agenda and balancing the entrenched interests of Thailands elite and military will take a deft touch, Isa said.

Navigating this relationship requires a blend of respect, diplomacy, and assertiveness. Srettha, being an outsider to traditional political corridors, might approach this relationship with a fresh perspective, she said.

However, to ensure stability and progress, it will be crucial for him to find common ground and collaborate on shared national objectives, while also ensuring that the democratic ethos is not compromised.

Courting allies

The Pheu Thai Party won 141 out of 500 lower house representative seats in the May 14 election, finishing second behind the Move Forward Party  another arch rival of the royalist military establishment  which won 151 seats.

It is still uncertain whether Srettha and Pheu Thai can cobble together enough support in Parliament ahead of a vote for prime minister slated for Aug. 22.

A nine-party Pheu Thai-led coalition now has a total of 238 seats in Thailands 750-seat bicameral Parliament. It needs at least 375 votes from the combined house and senate to seat a new prime minister.

Among its allies are the royalist Bhumjaithai Party, which has 71 seats, and seven smaller parties. It quickly abandoned the election-winning Move Forward Party after military-appointed senators blocked its leader Pita Limjaroenrats two attempts to become prime minister.

On Thursday, the United Thai Nation Party, which put forward former coup leader Prayuth Chan-o-cha as its prime ministerial candidate, said it would join the Pheu Thai alliance.

Prayuth, who overthrew a Pheu Thai government in a 2014 coup, has resigned from the party following its poor showing at the ballot box.

Pheu Thai has yet to confirm the United Thai Nation party as a member of its alliance. But doing so could put the party in a compromised position  not least with many of its supporters who are fed up with the militarys meddling in politics.

Srettha, who was critical of Prayuths government, has personally ruled out working with United Thai Nation and Palang Pracharath, which is led by another ex-general Prawit Wongsuwan.

However, the latest development raises questions about his sincerity.

Pheu Thai prime ministerial candidates Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and Srettha Thavisin, a local property tycoon, at a rally in Bangkok, May 12, 2023. [Reuters]

Winning enough votes in Parliament is not the only challenge facing Srettha.

Chuvit Kamolvisit, a former sex industry titan who is now a graft-busting political activist, has accused him of committing fraud when he was CEO at Sansiri and is calling for an investigation into his business dealings.

On Thursday, Chuvit submitted evidence to the police alleging Srettha of tax fraud and using nominees to siphon money from a subsidiary of his publicly-listed property development company.

Deputy national police chief Gen. Surachate Hakparn has promised to question the alleged nominees  a maid and security guard  though no formal investigation has not been launched. A Senate panel is also looking into issues related to the accusation of tax evasion.

Srettha has denied any wrongdoing and said he would file a defamation suit against Chuvit.

I confirm that for all thirty years that I was at Sansiri PLC, I did everything by the law, he told reporters at party headquarters on Friday.

When I stepped into politics in March, many people warned me that I would face unexpected challenges. But I didnt believe it would be a mess like this, with so much distortion of the truth.

Kunnawut Boonreak contributed to this report from Chiang Mai, Thailand.

This report has been updated to add more comments by Srettha Thavisin.
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Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol arrives at Camp David, the presidential retreat near Thurmont, Md., Aug. 18. AP-Yonhap





The United States, Japan and South Korea have agreed to a new security pledge committing the three countries to consult with each other in the event of a security crisis or threat in the Pacific, according to Biden administration officials.







Details about the new "duty to consult" commitment emerged as President Joe Biden welcomed South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for a summit at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, Friday (local time).







Before the three met together, Biden met separately with Yoon and then Kishida in the midmorning.







The agreement is one of several joint efforts that the leaders are expected to announce at the daylong summit, as the three countries look to tighten security and economic ties amid increasing concerns about North Korea's persistent nuclear threats and China's provocations in the Pacific.







"Suffice it to say, this is a big deal," Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Friday shortly before the start of the summit. "It is a historic event, and it sets the conditions for a more peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific, and a stronger and more secure United States of America."







Kishida, before departing from Tokyo, Thursday, told reporters the summit would be a "historic occasion to bolster trilateral strategic cooperation" with Seoul and Washington.







"I believe it is extremely meaningful to hold a Japan-U.S.-South Korea summit where leaders of the three countries gather just as the security environment surrounding Japan is increasingly severe," he said.







Before it even began, the summit drew harsh public criticism from the Chinese government.







"The international community has its own judgment as to who is creating contradictions and increasing tensions," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters Friday.







"Attempts to form various exclusive groups and cliques and to bring bloc confrontation into the Asia-Pacific region are unpopular and will definitely spark vigilance and opposition in the countries of the region," Wang said.







Sullivan pushed back against the Chinese concerns.







"It's explicitly not a NATO for the Pacific," Sullivan said. "This partnership is not against anyone, it is for something. It is for a vision of the Indo-Pacific that is free, open, secure and prosperous."







The "duty to consult" pledge is intended to acknowledge that the three countries share "fundamentally interlinked security environments" and that a threat to one of the nations is "a threat to all," according to a senior Biden administration official. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the coming announcement.







Under the pledge, the three countries agree to consult, share information and align their messaging with each other in the face of a threat or crisis, the official said.






LENOX  For musical theater fans, Kelli OHara needs no introduction.

Having accumulated seven Tony Award nominations over the years, OHara is one of the foremost leading ladies of her generation. Her memorable theater work has run the gamut from her Tony Award-winning performance in The King & I to a searing turn as Regan in a Public Theater production of King Lear, while her classical background has led to to an impressive operatic career, with her recently starring in The Hours at the Metropolitan Opera.

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If You Go What: Kelli O'Hara solo concert, accompanied by pianist Dan Lipton When: 8 p.m., Aug. 22 Where: Seiji Ozawa Hall, Tanglewood, 297 West St., Lenox Tickets: $22-$72 Information and reservations: 888-266-1200; tanglewood.org

Fan's of HBO's "The Gilded Age" will recognize O'Hara, who is expected to reprise her role as Aurora Fane, niece of the late Mr. van Rhijn, in the second season of the popular Julian Fellowes' series.

On Aug.22, OHara will be making her solo Tanglewood debut. She recently took the time to answer a few of our questions via email.

THE EAGLE: What can audiences expect from this evening at Tanglewood?

OHARA: It will be an intimate evening of stories and songs from my career and personal history. Dan Lipton will accompany.

THE EAGLE: I know that you build your set list organically on the day of the show. How do you decide what to perform? What are you drawing from?

OHARA: I feel like I always need to be in the space, to know what the evening will inspire. I also take into account who my audience might be, what they might be expecting or hoping for, what they might be feeling based on their surroundings. Then I can make a set list.

THE EAGLE: Can you speak about your collaboration with music director Dan Lipton?

OHARA: Dan and I met working on The Light in the Piazza at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago in 2003. He could really play that difficult score, but he could also play the more classic Broadway, the folk, the country, et cetera, et cetera music that I also loved to sing. Plus, he is a wonderful arranger. So we have toured the world together for all these years!

THE EAGLE: Many of us have had the fortune of watching you perform for two decades now. But still, with your performance as Kristen Arnesen in Days of Wine and Roses this spring, you managed to surprise and thrill. When youre given new material, say, There Go I, where do you start? How do you approach it?

OHARA: Im so glad you enjoyed it! It is very, very special to me. Its a project that I asked Adam to write for Brian and me 21 years ago. I was given There Go I [the first musical piece written for the show] almost 10 years ago, just after I had my daughter. I remember thinking it was haunting and beautiful, learning it note by note and putting as much of myself into it as I could, but I had no idea how much it would grow to mean so much within the context of Kirstens journey.

Actors from HBO's 'The Gilded Age' who have appeared on Berkshire stages If you've been following Julian Fellowes' latest period drama, "The Gilded Age," on HBO and HBO Max, you're sure to have recognized the many talented actors in the show, including Carrie Coon, as social climbing "new money" Bertha Russell, and Christine Baranski, as protector of the old guard, "Never the New" Agnes van Rhijn. And while the show  filmed partially in nearby Troy, N.Y., during Broadway's shutdown  is stacked with Tony Award winners, many of those actors have also graced our stages in the Berkshires. Here are a few cast members who walked our stages and many of the productions they have appeared in over the years. Cynthia Nixon, who plays Ada Brook, spinster sister of Agnes van Rhijn (Christine Baranski), is best known as Miranda Hobbs on HBOs Sex and  Donna Murphy holds court as Caroline Schermerhorn Astor (based on the real-life socialite who dictated New York social life with her list of  If Louisa Jacobson (right), who plays Marian Brook, the niece Ada Brook (Cynthia Nixon, left) and Agnes van Rhijn (Christine Baranski), looks  Six-time Tony Award-winner Audra McDonald, who plays Dorothy Scott, mother of Peggy Scott (Denee Benton), should be one of the most recognizab John Douglas Thompson, who plays Arthur Scott, has frequented the stages of Shakespeare and Company. He was Othello in the Tina Packer-directe Tony Award-winner Kelli OHara, who portrays Aurora Fane, most recently was in the Berkshires in 2021 as part of the Berkshire Theatre Groups Katie Finneran, who plays socialite Anne Morris, has appeared at both the Williamstown Theatre Festival and Berkshire Theatre Group. Her WTF a The Russell family's staff includes Douglas Sills, Michael Cerveris, Celia Keenan-Boger and Kelley Curran. Michel Gill, who makes his home in the Berkshires with wife Jayne Atkinson, plays banker and New York City alderman Patrick Morris. Hes been  Tony Award-winner Bill Irwin, Adas former beau Cornelius Eckhard, appeared in Tonight at 8:30, 2000, and Cabaret & Main, 2004, at Wil Kelley Curran, the Russell familys new head housekeeper, Turner, appeared in Shakespeare and Companys Red Velvet, 2015. Taylor Richardson, as Bridget, Debra Monk as Mrs. Armstrong, Simon Jones as Mr. Bannister, Kristine Niesen as Mrs. Bauer and Ben Ahlers as Jac Ben Ahlers, the footman Jack Treacher, was seen at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in 2018 in The Member of the Wedding and The Closet. Linda Emond, who plays Clara Barton, appeared at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in The Cherry Orchard, 2004; and Far East, 1998. Jack Gilpin, the Russell familys butler Mr. Church, has appeared at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Barrington Stage Co. and Berkshire The

THE EAGLE: Do you think that your approach has changed over the years?

OHARA: I dont think my approach has changed much. I learn a song technically and then personally and then try to put it through the lens of the character Im playing while keeping a huge part of me there.

THE EAGLE: Often when you perform pre-existing work, theres an unexpected twist. On a song like Fable, for example, how do you find your way towards a jazz arrangement?

OHARA: When I first sang this song, I couldnt see it from the point of view of Margaret yet. I had just finished playing Clara. But I loved the song and wanted to put it on my first album, which was arranged by Harry Connick Jr. That jazz version, in a different time signature, was my way into the song, but it was Harrys handy work. These days, I prefer to sing it as it was originally arranged.

THE EAGLE: Youre often drawn to singing material originally written for men. Why do you think that is?

OHARA: First of all, that idea came from Tita Cahn [Sammy Cahns widow]  she heard a recording I made of All The Way and told me I should sing more songs written for men. But I have also often felt much more moved by the plight of traditionally male characters  especially during the years I was only playing the ingenue. I think there are more interesting women characters being written these days, for sure, but when I started putting together my man songs with Dan Lipton, it was during a time in my life when I was hungry to sing about deeper issues or at least with deeper agency over certain emotions.

THE EAGLE: What kind of work are you still aching to do, that you havent yet?

OHARA: Ill know it when I hear/read/see it.

IF YOU GO

What: Kelli O'Hara solo concert, accompanied by pianist Dan Lipton

When: 8 p.m., Aug. 22

Where: Seiji Ozawa Hall, Tanglewood, 297 West St., Lenox

Tickets: $22-$72

Information and reservations: 888-266-1200; tanglewood.org
It was a busy 12 days in all: Madrid, Leon, Barcelona; winery visits in Rioja, Bierzo, the mountain appellation of Valdeorras on the eastern edge of Galicia and the Penedes region on the Mediterranean coast; a couple of days with a friend on the island of Formentera. More stops than I would have liked  I would usually prefer to stay in one place at least for several days. But it was my first-ever visit to a big and extremely diverse country, so I wanted to get my steps in, and see a few things.

More importantly, I wanted to taste a few things.

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For 20 years, since my first trip to France as a young person working in the restaurant business, I thought of Europe as a place to find some of the best things that had been thought and cooked. Anyone who landed in Paris or Rome could immediately glean the historical foundation provided by centuries of culinary practices if they didnt know about them already. I went there looking for a kind of focus, for the gifts of time-tested approaches and of course found an abundance of them in observing the work of small, family wineries, many of which could trace their lineage through multiple generations.

At Lopez de Heredia in Rioja, there arrived a bit of information, in the midst of a torrent of history, at the venerable, almost 150-year-old domain, which seemed to fit like a puzzle piece in my general sense of Spanish wine. Lidia, our excellent tour guide who I have mentioned previously, first explained the friendly relationship between Hitler and Francisco Franco in the 1930s, which helped Franco and his right-wing government prevail in the Spanish civil war. What followed, she said, under Francos authoritarian regime, was almost 40 years of a country essentially shut off from the rest of the world, until Francos death in the mid-1970s.

The wines of Lopez de Heredia, with their extraordinary balance and regal classicism, struck me  for 20 years as a wine buyer  as being curiously underpriced. So too were the best examples of other wines from the top growing regions around the country, as was plainly borne out in visits I made to a grower named Cesar Marquez in Bierzo, and a more well-known producer of sparkling wine in the Penedes, called Recaredo. As Marquez dipped his thief (a device designed to pull a few ounces of wine from a barrel) into one cuvee after another and released those tastes into my glass, I scratched my head, wondering how wines of such towering quality could remain so little-known to wine drinkers all over the world, and grateful that they remain, for the time being, so reasonably priced.

At Recaredo, where a multi-generational family story not unlike the historical arc at Lopez de Heredia undergirds not only the world-class wines but also the magnificently appointed winery itself, the value on display was still more astonishing. Long known as a producer of the Spanish sparkling wine called Cava, Recaredo led the charge several years ago to establish a new classification, because they realized that their exacting practices in the vineyards and in the winery bore little resemblance to the work that was going on in much of the rest of the region. Corpinnat, the three syllables of which explain that the wines were born (Nat) in the heart (Cor) of the Penedes (Pin), is the new designation on the labels of top-shelf growers like Recaredo, and now offers a hint, at least, that many of these wines are at least as good as comparably-priced Champagnes, if not much better.

Mark Twain famously remarked that travel is the surest antidote to bias and prejudice, opining that occasional or more frequent glimpses of foreign cultures and their people are apt to make a person more broad and more charitable. After two years or more of being hunkered down by the pandemic, it was all the more refreshing and inspiring to experience even 10 days of immersion in the habits and patterns of Spain and its amazing people. That I had a chance to do so through the lens of food and wine, and all of its concurrent pleasures, made the trip that much sweeter.
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The Annie Selke Cos., of Pittsfield, donated $1 million worth of material to Central Berkshire Habitat for Humanity last spring. That gift has led to a partnership between the companies and Habitat for Humanity International.
This Story in History is selected from the archives by Jeannie Maschino, The Berkshire Eagle.
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PITTSFIELD  When Herberg Middle School students return to school at the end of the month, theyll be greeted by a new face. The school will start the year under the leadership of a new principal, William Wood.

Wood joins Pittsfield Public Schools after nearly a decade of work as an educator at several school districts in New York. Voice messages and emails left by The Eagle with Wood and staff at Herberg Middle School were not returned.

Most recently Wood served as the principal of the Windham-Ashland-Jewett Central School in Windham, N.Y. The school in the Catskill Mountains enrolled about 300 students between kindergarten and 12th grade last school year.

Prior to Woods year in Windham, he worked as the career and technical education principal at Questar III BOCES and the associate principal of Hudson Senior High School, both in Hudson, N.Y. Wood also worked as an English teacher at the Adirondack Academy in Johnstown, N.Y., and at Canajoharie High School in Canajoharie, N.Y.

Wood has a certificate of advanced graduate study in school building leadership from the University at Albany (N.Y.), a masters of science in education from the College of Saint Rose and a bachelors of arts in English from UAlbany.

In past interviews with districts in New York and on his LinkedIn page, Wood mentioned that he is fluent in Italian and a former professional musician.

The recent addition to the district was hired to fill the role left vacant with the resignation of former Herberg Principal Jason Hynek.

Pittsfield Public Schools Superintendent Joseph Curtis informed Herberg families and staff on June 1 that Hynek had tendered his resignation to the district for personal reasons.

Principal Hynek has played a vital role in our school community, and we thank him for his service to the students and staff of Herberg Middle School, Curtis wrote in the letter.

Hynek joined the district in August 2020 and led the middle school through the thick of the coronavirus pandemic. Prior to working in Pittsfield, Hynek held several interim, acting and assistant principal positions in schools in Springfield and North Brookfield.

Hyneks resignation came nearly a month after Curtis named Steve Smith, the middle schools assistant principal, as the acting principal. Hynek had reportedly been out of school for some time before Smiths appointment was announced  an absence that raised questions from some community members.

In the letter announcing Smiths appointment on May 7, Curtis apologized for a delay in communicating with families as we are respecting confidentiality and said that Principal Hynek will continue to not be at Herberg Middle School.

Over the summer, Curtis convened an 11-person search committee of Herberg teachers and staff, district employees, school families and community members to interview candidates for the leadership role.

The superintendent said the group met with three of four candidates who were invited to interview for the position  one candidate dropped out of the running  before selecting Wood to lead the school into the coming school year and beyond.

With a new principal hired at Herberg Middle School, Curtis said that Smith will return to work this school year at Taconic High School. The schools website lists Smith as the vice principal.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pose for a photo ahead of a trilateral summit meeting at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, Aug. 18. Yonhap





Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida agreed Friday to consult with one another in the event of a common threat, elevating their trilateral partnership to a new level amid security and economic challenges posed by North Korea and China.







The three leaders reached the agreement during a trilateral summit held at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, calling it the "Commitment to Consult Among Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the United States," in what South Korean officials said was the first such commitment among the three nations.







The agreement underscored the urgency of jointly responding to common challenges, such as North Korea's nuclear threat and supply chain disruptions, after years of historical tensions between Seoul and Tokyo prevented deeper cooperation at the trilateral level.







"We, the leaders of Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the United States, commit our governments to consult trilaterally with each other, in an expeditious manner, to coordinate our responses to regional challenges, provocations, and threats affecting our collective interests and security," the document said, referring to South Korea by its formal name. "Through these consultations, we intend to share information, align our messaging, and coordinate response actions."







The document did not specify the type of threat or challenge that will trigger the commitment to consult, but a South Korean presidential official cited examples such as trade disputes, a North Korean missile threat, a serious provocation at sea, or any threat in or outside the region.







Also, in the event one country decides not to share information because it deems a particular threat to not be a threat to itself, it will have no obligation to do so, the official said.







"Our countries retain the freedom to take all appropriate actions to uphold our security interests or sovereignty," the document read, noting the commitment would not supersede any obligations under the alliance treaties between South Korea and the U.S. or between the U.S. and Japan, or give rise to rights or obligations under international or domestic law.







The Commitment to Consult was one of a series of agreements reached by the three leaders at their summit. The overarching agreement, contained in a joint statement titled "The Spirit of Camp David," called for holding annual trilateral meetings among the three countries' leaders, foreign ministers, defense ministers and national security advisers, as well as the first trilateral meeting between their finance ministers.







The leaders agreed to launch an annual Trilateral Indo-Pacific Dialogue to coordinate implementation of their Indo-Pacific approaches and to discuss ways to coordinate their efforts to counter disinformation, while also welcoming the trilateral development policy dialogue planned for October.







The three countries announced plans to hold trilateral defense exercises on an annual basis and operationalize their real-time sharing of missile warning data on North Korea before the end of the year. They are committed to pursuing enhanced ballistic missile defense cooperation to counter North Korea's nuclear and missile threats and agreed to establish a new trilateral working group to combat North Korean cyber threats and block its cyber-enabled sanctions evasion.







In addition, the three countries agreed to strengthen cooperation to improve the human rights situation in North Korea and resolve the issues of abductions, detainees and un-repatriated prisoners of war.







The joint statement expressed the three countries' shared concerns about "actions inconsistent with the rules-based international order," recalling their individually announced positions on the "dangerous and aggressive behavior supporting unlawful maritime claims" by China in the South China Sea.







"We strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the waters of the Indo-Pacific," the statement said, adding the leaders reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. "There is no change in our basic positions on Taiwan, and we call for a peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues."







The three leaders pledged to continue to support Ukraine in its war against Russia.







"We commit to continue providing assistance to Ukraine, imposing coordinated, robust sanctions on Russia, and accelerating the reduction of dependency on Russian energy," the statement said.







Issues of economic security were also discussed in detail, with the three leaders committing to work closely to launch pilot programs for early warning systems about supply chain shortages. The three sides agreed to cooperate on supply chain resilience, especially for semiconductors and batteries; technology security and standards; as well as clean energy and energy security, among other areas.







They further agreed to strengthen cooperation to prevent their cutting-edge technologies from being illegally exported or stolen abroad.







A third document outlining the guiding principles for trilateral cooperation, called "Camp David Principles," was also adopted at the summit.







The principles provide the basis for the agreements in the Spirit of Camp David joint statement. (Yonhap)


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NORTH ADAMS  Most everyone is glad for the possible return of North Adams Regional Hospital. But there are still lingering questions for some on how this hospital will hire staff and, more importantly, keep staff.

Visiting nurses, who provide outpatient services, want to know how new inpatient beds will impact their work. The Berkshire Visiting Nurses Association, which unionized in December 2021, is in the midst of protracted contract negotiations with the health system that began in 2022. The prospect of a reopened NARH complicates those negotiations.

In June, the BVNA said new patients will no longer be accepted from 15 towns, primarily in South County. It cited significant changes in staffing at all levels for the service area reduction. Now, the clinicians are wondering how Berkshire Health Systems will be able to retain enough of its staff to support what they say will be increased demand for outpatient services.

If they have to discharge people quickly, you need the staff and the home-care division to be able to admit these people, so if they dont have enough staff to do that, you have to start declining admissions, Tamaryn Clowdus, a union co-chair and physical therapist with BHS, told The Eagle last week.

What to know from the forum: Almost all the people who asked questions of Rodowicz, including Clowdus, prefaced their inquiry with some variation of, We are happy NARH may come back. Several questions brought out new information. Rodowicz said NARH will ramp up to its goal of 18 beds, although under a critical access hospital, there can be 25 inpatient beds. A critical access hospital also allows for a separate behavioral health unit with up to 10 inpatient beds, though Rodowicz said there is currently no plan for that. There will not be a maternity wing or pediatric beds due to a lack of demand and specialized staff, Rodowicz said. Health care as a whole is still a business, whether we like it or not, Rodowicz said during her presentation. It has to be financially viable It would be a terrible service to open it up and close it two years later.

At the beginning of August, Berkshire Health Systems held a public information session on MCLAs campus that drew more than 100 residents. Most everyone expressed support for the health systems efforts to get NARH deemed a critical access hospital at the state and federal levels, which requires that patients average stay time be four days. Berkshire Health Systems President and CEO Darlene Rodowicz was given an early and resounding round of applause at the first mention of expanding access to care in North Adams and bringing back the hospital.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which oversees critical access hospitals, proposed a regulatory change in June of last year, and finalized it in November. Previously, per federal guidelines, hospitals had to be located at least 35 miles away from each other by primary roads, defined as a numbered state or federal highway with at least two lanes going in each direction.

But last years change made an exception for hospitals located around secondary roads  or one-lane highways  and mountainous regions. Such health centers only have to be 15 miles away from the nearest hospital. That allows the North Adams Regional Hospital, and hospitals in rural areas around the country, to pursue or convert to the designation.

Rodowicz said the health system has had concerns about the distance from North Adams to the closest hospitals in Pittsfield and Bennington, Vt., and that people are delaying their care because of that. If all goes well, she said, BHS would bring NARH back slowly, with a phased-in approach, at a rate of four or five in-patient beds at a time. And she discussed different avenues for recruitment of staff, including MCLAs new nursing program, that the health system is taking advantage of.

Clowdus issue, and what her fellow union members take issue with, is that there was little mention of retention. During the question-and-answer session she broached the subject with Rodowicz.

Recently, we had to stop our services due to a lack of staff, Clowdus said to Rodowicz. I heard you talking about recruiting people, are you looking at investing anything more into the staff that you have at present, so you dont have that turnover?

Rodowicz recognized Clowdus from the union and rejected the question.

Im going to leave that discussion to the negotiating table, Rodowicz said in response.

My question was not part of the negotiations, Clowdus later said to The Eagle. I was truly there as a North County citizen, interested in what the plan is. When I heard her say theyre putting $7 million toward recruitment, and we cant get a simple step scale because theyre not sure if they have the money, that upset me so much.

Joe Markman, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Nurses Association, the organization that is negotiating BVNAs contract with BHS, said the current problem visiting nurses are trying to get BHS to address is relatively simple.

BHS has refused to agree to some of the key aspects in this contract and clinicians believe its keeping them from having enough staff, he said. The clinicians are bringing this message as part of the North Adams reopening: If youre a patient in North Adams who will eventually be discharged, you may need home care. If theres continued service reductions, thats going to be a big problem.

Following the public information session, BHS spokesperson Michael Leary told The Eagle that the health system is very pleased with the strong turnout and positive, productive conversation.

Leary took an opposite view from the unions, telling The Eagle, As the largest health care provider in Berkshire County, we do not anticipate that reopening the hospital will substantially increase volume for our other facilities or service lines.
Scripture is the Word of God shared through various translations, versions, chronologically, and more. Daily devotion readings allow us to learn more about the message of God and His love, mercy, and forgiveness. How do we know where to start reading the Bible?

Different Ways to Read the Bible

Some people choose to read the Bible from cover to cover, while others choose to read chronologically. Another way is to read the entire Old Testament and then move to the New Testament. A verse or a book a day are other ways to read Scripture. Bible study classes and programs are offered throughout the year. A class may focus on one book of the Bible or study several books during the time of the class.

Many leaders participate in continuing education about religion and the Bible. The wisdom and facts learned from these classes may help share Gods Word with others.

Spiritual leaders can learn from each other and those they are teaching.

Online and in-person classes are ways to read the Bible. Applications on phones, websites, magazines, and books allow us to read Scripture anytime.

Why Do Some Books of the Bible Cover the Same Events?

God equips each one of us with special and unique gifts and talents. God chose certain individuals to record history.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. (2 Timothy 3:16 NIV)

Have you ever heard statistics stating that people need to hear something three times before they absorb what is being said? Or maybe youve heard that people must read something seven times before the comment is completely understood. Whether we hear or read Scripture once or many more times, there is always something to be gleaned.

Perhaps that is one of the reasons some books of the Bible cover the same events. The more we read, the more we learn from His Word.

Also, have you noticed that certain books of the Bible record the same happenings but from a different person and point of view?

Biblical scholars think the book of Mark may have been written first. Mark records more miracles than the other gospels, probably to emphasize Jesus divinity. Scholars have suggested his record is based on Peters memories of following Jesus, meaning it shows Peters point of view.

Compare Marks focus to what Matthew focuses on. The tax collector Matthew, who became a disciple of Jesus, tells about the genealogy of Jesus, His birth, and his early years. Matthew includes John baptizing Jesus, the miracles of healing the sick, and raising the dead. Matthews main goal was to prove Jesus is the Messiah.

In each book of the Bible, important information is shared by the people God has chosen and equipped to give those messages. Authors today may recall the same event yet have different perspectives on each scenario. God knows how He wants history to be recorded and shared.

Where to Start Reading the Bible to Learn about the Nation of Israel?

What should we do if we want to have more information about Israel and its history? Reading Scripture will provide information. Bible concordances, study books, the library, websites, and conversations with clergy and other spiritual leaders can help provide context to what we read in the Bible.

Genesis says the name Israel was given by God to Jacob. God gave him a new name and a new purpose to be fruitful and increase in number.

In Exodus, God extends an invitation for Israel to join Him on Mount Sinai.

Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites. (Exodus 19:5-6 NIV)

The book of Deuteronomy shares that the Lord has chosen the Israelites to be His chosen people, children of the Lord. Detailed instructions were given as to how they should live.

Scripture continues sharing about the people and their journeys in the Old and New Testaments.

In the book of John, Jesus declared that Nathanael was an Israelite with no deceit.

Israel was important in Biblical times and is vital to Gods message today.

Where to Start Reading the Bible to Learn about Israels Exile

Exodus 6 shares the words of God when He told Moses about establishing a covenant with the people to give them the land of Canaan. Moses spoke to them, but they didnt listen. God had said He would take them as His own and be their God. They would know He brought them out from the yoke of the Egyptians. The people continued to have hard hearts and wouldnt listen.

The Israelites were exiled to Babylon. Thinking they could handle struggles on their own, they turned away from God. In todays world, there are times when we try to figure things out by ourselves instead of praying and seeking Gods help.

The Old and New Testaments tell about the struggles of the Israelites, their defiance in seeking God, the sins they committed, the times they cried out for help in desperation, their punishments, and the ways God dealt with each situation.

Where to Start Reading the Bible to Learn about Jesus

Some people would say that to learn about Jesus, you must begin at the beginning. Genesis tells about Gods creations, including man and woman. The lineage of Jesus can be traced back to Adam and Eve.

To learn about Jesus, we need not only look at the New Testament words about His mother, Mary, and father, Joseph. The Old Testament shares prophecies about the upcoming birth of the Messiah. Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled these prophecies. A prophecy is defined as a prediction of something to come, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary.

Passages giving messianic prophecies share in the Old Testament that the Messiah would be born of a virgin. This was fulfilled when the Virgin Mary conceived and gave birth to Jesus.

Another Old Testament prophecy sharing that the Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah is found in Genesis. This was fulfilled as told in Hebrews 7:14.

Scripture told that the Messiah would be resurrected from the dead.

But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. Selah (Psalm 49:15 NIV)

The Bible shares how Jesus would suffer, die, and rise from the dead on the third day.

And he said, The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. (Luke 9:22 NIV)

Where to Start Reading the Bible to Learn about the Early Church

The early church could have included people meeting in homes or gathering in the fields. People were listening to speakers prophesying and giving hope for the future.

Pentecost in the Old Testament was a Jewish holiday celebrating Israels deliverance from Egypt.

In the New Testament, the dictionary defines Pentecost as the Christian festival celebrating the descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples of Jesus after his Ascension, which is held on the seventh Sunday after Easter.

In the book of Acts, we read that the Holy Spirit came to the apostles to fulfill the words of Jesus that they would receive power from the Holy Spirit to glorify Gods name.

When Peter arrived and entered the house, Cornelius fell at Pauls feet. The law stated that a Jew could not associate or visit with a Gentile. However, Peter told the large crowd that God had shown him that he should not call anyone impure or unclean. Later in Scripture, Cornelius shares how he sent for Peter and that they would listen to everything the Lord had commanded Peter to tell them.

According to Scripture, as Peter was speaking, the Holy Spirit fell on the people. He commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord.

Great Bible Reading Plans

Whether reading or listening to Gods Word, there is always a way to learn His message. Staying in the Word of God daily may deepen your relationship with God and help you bring others to know Him.

These are two great plans for reading the Bible.

Bible Study Tools Classic Reading Plan

Bible Stduy Tools Old Testament and New Testament Reading Plan

In His Name,

Melissa Henderson

Photo Credit: Unsplash/Ben White

Award-winning author Melissa Henderson writes inspirational messages sometimes laced with a bit of humor. With stories in books, magazines, devotionals, and more, Melissa hopes to encourage readers.

Melissa is the author of Licky the Lizard and Grumpy the Gator. Her passions are helping in the community and church. Melissa is an Elder, Deacon, and Stephen Minister.

Follow Melissa on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and at http://www.melissaghenderson. com

This article is part of our larger resource library of Christian practices and disciplines important to the Christian faith. From speaking in tongues to tithing & baptism, we want to provide easy to read and understand articles that answer your questions about Christian living.

10 Things to Know about Speaking in Tongues

The Fruit of the Spirit - What Are They?

What Is the Tithe?

What Is the Sabbath and Is it Still Important?

Baptism - What Does it Mean and Why Is it Important?

Communion - 10 Important Things to Remember

Armor of God - What Is it and How to Use It

What Does it Mean to Be Righteous?

What Is Christening?

What Is Submission?
James 1:27

Pure religion and undefiled

That which is sincere and genuine, and free from adulteration and hypocrisy:

before God and the Father;

or in the sight of God the Father of Christ, and all his people; that which is approved of by him, who is the searcher of hearts, and the trier of the reins of men, "is this": not that the apostle is giving a full definition of true religion; only he mentions some of the effects of it, by which it is known, and without which it cannot be true and genuine; and they are these:

to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction;

and not only to see them, and speak a word of comfort to them, but to communicate to them, and supply their wants, as they may require, and according to the ability God has given: where there is true religion in the heart, there is love to God; and where there is love to God, there is love to the saints; and this will show itself to them, in times of affliction and distress; and where this is wanting, religion itself is not pure and undefiled:

and to keep himself unspotted from the world:

from the men of the world, who defile by their evil communications; and "from the vices of the world", as the Arabic version renders it, which are of a defiling nature; and, where religion is in its power and purity, and the Gospel of the grace of God comes with efficacy, it teaches to separate from the rest of the world, and to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly.
The newly formed MMA SA Youth Development Board has elected the leadership team headed by chairperson Takalani Masikhwa, digital lead and strategist at Mindshare and vice-chair Anesu Malisa, head of Gen Z marketing (Africa Office) at Samsung Electronics.

Source:  123rf 123rf The newly formed MMA SA Youth Development Board has elected its leadership team

The youth leadership team are brought on board to propel the MMA SA forward into the future

Together with 11 members of the Youth Development Board, they will drive the growth and empowerment of younger leaders in the digital marketing space while also acting as a conduit through which trends and insights into the youth and how they receive and engage with marketing are shared with members of the MMA SA Board.

The team will drive this for a period of six months.

Leading the charge

As strategist for Mindshare, Masikhwa is at the coalface of progress in the marketing world, charged with making the brand more youth relevant.

He says the world of advertising and especially digital marketing is undergoing sweeping and rapid changes.

There is a lot of new tech out there, and a whole new audience. Gen MZ - the 15- to 34-year-olds  are the target market that most marketers want to reach right now, and this generation doesnt respond to traditional advertising. They are the mobile generation and they engage with new technology and edgy platforms, like TikTok, he says.

Digital is the new frontier and early adopter brands like Standard Bank and Samsung are ahead of the curve. I want to lead the charge for this shift in marketing and I believe the MMA SA Youth Development Board is the platform through which to accomplish this, he says.

Its somewhat like the 2004 social media revolution when new publishing channels that engaged with consumers directly came to market. This is happening again, only now exciting elements like AI are into the mix.

Do things not done before

Malisa believes its not about replacing the current way of doing things, but rather intentionally integrating new methods and tools that will give a brand a competitive edge among a younger audience.

Lets do things that have not been done before. Experimenting with brand partnerships and influencers by means of working collaboratively on a brief, and driving the brand towards cultural relevance, is the way to go, he says.

Malisa further believes that the new breed of marketers are champions of sustainability, a passion point for most Gen-Z.

Passion point-led sustainability campaigns - such as working with a conceptual fashion designer, to create a solar powered back-pack, made from upcycled materials  is how we will take this element of marketing forward, in a way that the target audience will genuinely engage with he advises.

The best way to connect with Gen-Z, in a deep and impactful way, is through tapping into the communities filled with individuals with shared values, and if your brand shows up in a way that reflects and supports the same values, such as sustainability, brand loyalty and advocacy is formed.

Its this perspective I want to bring to my role as vice-chair of the Youth Development Board, and with the MMA SA mentors guiding us, we can drive real change in the industry by bringing what is happening among the youth now to the marketing table, he enthuses. 

Taking the industry into the future

Sarah Utermark, regional director of MMA SA believes the input and initiatives from the Youth Development Board will contribute not only to the MMA SAs continued success and relevance in the future, but also to the growth and progress of the South African marketing space as a whole.

We are delighted to have the exuberant energy of our new chair and vice-chair on board, she says.

Takalani and Anesu are both pioneering marketers with vision and a passion for the industry, and they embody the kind of attitudes and interests that we want to encourage so as to take the industry forward into the future.

They, along with the rest of the Youth Development Board are our investment into the next generation of marketing professionals, and they bring a wealth of insight and new ideas to the table, along with deeply personal experiences of current trends, she says.

This is exactly why we created the Youth Development Board - to build a close connection with young people in marketing in the country.

We  as an industry body - believe we can architect the future of marketing by unlocking these young board members fresh perspectives.

We also believe that matching each of our Youth Development Board members with a more experienced MMA SA Board member, will guide and support them through our mentorship programme, which is pivotal to this initiative, she adds.

Since inception, the MMA SA has differentiated itself by focusing on outcomes and aims to lead a total transformation by architecting the future of marketing, significantly improving marketings contribution to business and customers, thus raising the stature and gravitas of CMOs.

By investing in the next generation of marketing professionals, we can ensure a vibrant and prosperous future for this important sector in South Africa. We believe the Youth Development Board is a step in the right direction, she concludes.
Sibanye-Stillwater presented a trading statement for H1 2023, that outlines an anticipated decline in earnings per share (EPS) and headline earnings per share (HEPS) compared to H1 2022. Factors contributing to the decline include a substantial drop in platinum group metal (PGM) prices and a decline in production coupled with higher unit costs from the US PGM operations due to an incident at the Stillwater West mine.

SA operations were the few positives in a tough H1 2023 for Sibanye-Stillwater. Source: x.com

Some of these negative impacts were offset through improved results from the South African gold operations, boosted by favorable currency exchange rates and prudent financial strategies.

Production of 4E PGM (PGM with four elements: platinum, palladium, rhodium, and gold) from the SA operations remained consistent and stable during the first half of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. This indicates that there was no significant increase or decrease in the output of these metals.

PGMs with two elements (platinum and palladium) from its US operations experienced a decline over the same period that is attributed to challenges in operations, which affected the ability to extract these metals. The amount of recycled precious metal content also experienced a notable decrease because of lower receipt rates.

SA to the rescue

Gold production in South Africa saw a significant recovery during the first half of 2023, a boost after a challenging period in the first half of 2022 when operations were suspended due to industrial action and a subsequent lockout. The recovery in production indicates the company's successful efforts to overcome previous obstacles.

There was also a 22% increase in the average rand gold price year-on-year, demonstrating the benefits of the Groups commodity and geographical diversification. These gains were coupled with an 18% depreciation of the rand/dollar exchange rate, which resulted in a net increase in foreign currency translation gains and supported the rand commodity prices received in SA - where most costs are rand based.

This was not enough to carry group operation, though, with earnings per share (EPS) expected to be between R2,49 and R2,75 compared with EPS for H1 2022 of R4,26, representing a decline of 35% to 42% period-on-period.

Headline earnings per share (HEPS) for H1 2023 expected to be between R1,98 and R2,18, down 48% to 53% from the R4,23 of H1 2022.

The decrease in EPS and HEPS is primarily due to:

 a decline PGM prices, resulting in a 22% decline in the average rand 4E PGM basket price year-on-year and a 28% decline in the average US dollar 2E PGM basket price.

 lower production and higher unit costs from the US PGM operations, due to the shaft infrastructure incident at the Stillwater West mine which was announced on 13 March 2023

Sibanye-Stillwater managed to partially mitigate the impact through strategic measures.

Noteworthy among these were the realisation of a net fair value gain on financial instruments, a marked departure from the net fair value loss in H1 2022. Additionally, a reduction in royalties and mining, as well as income taxes, further contributed to tempering the overall financial implications, showcasing the company's proactive approach to optimising its fiscal standing.
U.S. President Joe Biden greets Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol during the trilateral summit at Camp David near Thurmont, Maryland, U.S., Aug. 18. Reuters-Yonhap





The following is the full text of a joint statement adopted by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at their trilateral summit at Camp David, Maryland, on Friday.







The Spirit of Camp David: Joint Statement of Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the United States







We, the leaders of Japan, the Republic of Korea (ROK), and the United States, convened at Camp David to inaugurate a new era of trilateral partnership. We do so at a time of unparalleled opportunity for our countries and our citizens, and at a hinge point of history, when geopolitical competition, the climate crisis, Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, and nuclear provocations test us. This is a moment that requires unity and coordinated action from true partners, and it is a moment we intend to meet, together. Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the United States are determined to align our collective efforts because we believe our trilateral partnership advances the security and prosperity of all our people, the region, and the world. In this spirit, President Biden commended President Yoon and Prime Minister Kishida for their courageous leadership in transforming relations between Japan and the ROK. With the renewed bonds of friendshipand girded by the ironclad U.S.-Japan and U.S.-ROK allianceseach of our bilateral relationships is now stronger than ever. So too is our trilateral relationship.







On this historic occasion, we commit to expand our cooperation trilaterally and raise our shared ambition to a new horizon, across domains and across the Indo-Pacific and beyond. We will strengthen our economies, provide resilience and prosperity, support the free and open international order based on the rule of law, and bolster regional and global peace and security, especially as current and incoming members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). We will strengthen our coordination on promoting democracy and protecting human rights. And we will enhance strategic coordination between the U.S.-Japan and U.S.-ROK alliances and bring our trilateral security cooperation to new heights. As we embark together in this new era, our shared values will be our guide and a free and open Indo-Pacific, in which our half-billion people are safe and prosperous, will be our collective purpose.







Today, we declare openly that we are united in a common purpose to strengthen our shared region. Our mandate is to ensure Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the United States are aligned in our objectives and in our actions, generating the common capacity required to ensure that the Indo-Pacific is thriving, connected, resilient, stable, and secure. Ours is a partnership built not just for our people but for the entire Indo-Pacific.







We announce our governments' commitment to consult with each other in an expeditious manner to coordinate our responses to regional challenges, provocations, and threats that affect our collective interests and security. Through these consultations we intend to share information, align our messaging, and coordinate response actions. To this end we will improve our trilateral communication mechanism to facilitate regular and timely communication between our countries, including our national leadership. We will hold trilateral meetings between our leaders, foreign ministers, defense ministers, and national security advisors at least annually, complementing existing trilateral meetings between our respective foreign and defense ministries. We will also hold the first trilateral meeting between our finance ministers as well as launch a new commerce and industry ministers track that will meet annually. We will also launch an annual Trilateral Indo-Pacific Dialogue to coordinate implementation of our Indo-Pacific approaches and to continually identify new areas for common action. Recognizing the increased threat posed by foreign information manipulation and misuse of surveillance technology, we will also discuss ways to coordinate our efforts to counter disinformation. We welcome the trilateral development policy dialogue planned in October to advance concrete discussions for deepening development policy coordination. We are resolute in our determination to uphold regional security, strengthen Indo-Pacific engagement, and promote common prosperity.






Influencer marketing continues to grow as more and more brands turn to influencers - big and small - to help them win over new customers and retain existing ones. Nicola Ashe, director and partner at award-winning agency, The Digital Media Collective (TDMC) shares her expert insights on everything influencers need to know to grow their profiles and woo brands.

For many businesses, influencer marketing forms a key part of their marketing strategy  its a powerful way for them to differentiate themselves from their competitors, particularly in the face of the current economic downturn which sees brands fiercely competing for consumer spend. By partnering with the right influencers, brands can stand out in the minds of consumers and connect with their target market in an authentic way. According to the Influencer Marketing Hubs State of Influencer Marketing Benchmark Report, influencer marketing had an estimated market size of $16.4bn last year and is expected to reach $21.1bn in 2023  thats a 29% jump.

At the same time there has been a massive spike in e-commerce in South Africa with data from the FNB Merchant Services showing that the South African online e-commerce market is expected to jump from R200bn per annum to more than R400bn by 2025 off the back of more than 1 billion transactions per annum. There has been a marked shift in the role of influencers in marketing in South Africa, particularly in the e-commerce space, as companies recognise the value of peer-to-peer communication, says Ashe, whose award-winning agency is one of South Africas leading e-commerce development agencies. TDMC is one of only four accredited Shopify Expert Partners in Southern Africa, as well as a Google Expert Partner and Meta Business Partner, and has launched more than 200 e-commerce stores in the last five years. Here Nicola outlines how aspiring social media content creators can get a piece of the influencer pie.

1. Create your own personal brand

Breaking into the influencer market requires building a strong personal brand and establishing a loyal following on one or more social media platforms. While it may seem challenging if you havent started yet, it's never too late to begin, says Ashe. Start by identifying your niche, then get to creating and posting quality content regularly, engaging with the audience you build, collaborating with other influencers, and staying authentic  this way you create your own personal brand. It takes time and effort, but with persistence and consistency, you can succeed.

2. Post content that is relevant, sincere  and helpful

Compelling content is key to your success, says Ashe. It needs to be authentic, relevant, and tell a story that viewers resonate with. In 2023 we are seeing that video content, short-form content and user generated content is popular, as well as content which incorporates trends into its messaging. Additionally, content that provides value  such as educational or informative content  is compelling to an audience, especially if its tailored to their interests and needs.

3. Master video and these key trends

Social media trends are ever-changing and are influenced by both user behaviour and platform algorithms. To maximise reach and engagement, it is important to stay ahead of the trends, and right now that means short-form video content, interactive content, and real-time ephemeral content.

Short-form video content like you find on TikTok and Instagram Reels has exploded in popularity in recent years, largely due to its ability to capture and hold users attention quickly, says Ashe. Similarly interactive content such as quizzes, polls and surveys has also grown in popularity. These boost engagement and provide a unique and personalised experience for the audience while enabling your partner brand to gather valuable data and insights.

Ashe says real-time content that disappears after a set amount of time, such as Instagram and Facebook Stories is also proving popular with audiences. This type of ephemeral content is most suited to a live event, special occasion, or campaign content. Because it is only available for a limited amount of time it creates a sense of urgency and FOMO for the audience, encouraging them to look out for the content and to engage and interact then and there.

4. Prepare a media kit and polish up your branch reach outs

Building relationships with brands or their agencies takes time and effort, but a personalised and professional approach goes a long way to establish a positive and mutually beneficial partnership. When it comes to reaching out, Ashe shares some important dos and donts:

Do:

Research the brand and make sure your message is tailored to them.



Clearly state your value proposition and what you can offer the brand.



Be professional and courteous in your approach, keeping in mind that first impressions are important.



Follow up in a week or two if you don't hear back, but don't be pushy or aggressive.



Give examples of your work and include a media kit and rate card with links to all your social feeds.

Don't:

Dont send a generic message to multiple brands.



Dont make demands or appear entitled, instead focus on how you can provide value.



Dont spam the brand with multiple messages or follow ups.



Dont be dishonest about your intentions or experience.



Dont exaggerate or misrepresent your reach or engagement rate.

5. Use analytics to your advantage

Set time aside to come to grips with social media analytics and leverage these insights to understand exactly what types of content resonate with your audience, says Ashe. Authentic engagement (comments, shares, saves) is the most important stat brands are looking at, so try to spotlight what content gains you the most engagement with your audience.

6. Dont be tempted to buy followers

While brands and agencies cant actually access your social media accounts, we have various tools  and manual checks  which we can use to tell if you have bought your followers, warns Ashe. Red flags include a sudden large increase in followers without a corresponding increase in engagement, and a high ratio of followers to following  meaning the account follows very few users relative to the number of followers. A low quality of followers, such as profiles with no profile pictures or posts, inactive accounts, or bot accounts also sets off alarm bells, as does a sudden drop in followers, which can happen when social media platforms remove fake or inactive accounts, says Ashe.




Zimbabwean authorities on Thursday deported four regional democracy activists on arrival at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport and barred hordes of journalists from several international media houses, including at least one Daily Maverick photojournalist, ahead of the country's general elections slated for Wednesday.

Source:  Wikimedia Wikimedia Zimbabwean authorities on Thursday deported four regional democracy activists on arrival at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport

Zimbabwean authorities on Thursday deported four regional democracy activists on arrival at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport and barred hordes of journalists from several international media houses, including at least one Daily Maverick photojournalist, ahead of the countrys general elections slated for Wednesday.

Authorities at Zimbabwes major airport turned back Chris Maroleng, who is the executive director of Good Governance Africa in the Southern African Development Community region, and three of his colleagues from Good Governance Africa while several journalists from foreign media organisations were denied clearance to cover the upcoming elections.

Some Zimbabwean immigration officials who requested not to be named said they received instructions from security officials not to allow Maroleng, a former broadcaster with the South African Broadcasting Corporation, and members of his delegation into the country.

Read the full article by Frank Chikowore at Daily Maverick.
Ambassador Barbara Masekela and Justice Albie Sachs open Zeitz Mocaa's new season of exhibitions.

Ambassador Barbara Masekela on opening night. Courtesy of Zeitz MOCAA. Photograph by Ramiie_G

Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) has recently launched two new exhibitions titled Past Disquiet and Seismography of Struggle: Towards a Global History of Critical and Cultural Journals as part of their new season of exhibitions. Also present, Ambassador Barbara Masekela, South African poet, educator, and activist delivered the exhibition opening remarks calling on African youth to be more exposed and engage with historical narratives delivered through this archival exhibition and to take ownership by including their voices and perspectives in solidarity of movements of today.

Justice Albie Sachs gave a moving address at the book launch of Zeitz MOCAAs latest publication, Radical Solidarity: A Reader where he shared anecdotes on radical solidarity reflecting on his own journey of active resistance against apartheid and how instrumental the collaboration with the arts was in raising awareness and fostering solidarity. The exhibitions will be available for public viewing at the museum over the next 10 months.

Past Disquiet is a documentary and archival exhibition based on research conducted by Lebanese curator-writer duo, and long-time collaborators, Kristine Khouri and Rasha Salti. For over a decade, they explored four seed collections of art that were intended to be 'museums in solidarity' or 'museums in exile', that incarnated the engagement of artists with a particular political cause. It is an exhibition of stories told with documents, photographs, pamphlets, press clippings, posters, interviews, and videos.

The research began as the two curators explored how the International Art Exhibition for Palestine, which took place in Beirut (Lebanon) in 1978, was meant to become the nucleus for a museum in solidarity with the Palestinian peoples struggle. Despite the size and scope of the exhibition, yet unprecedented for the region, it seems to have been totally forgotten. The story of that museum was closely connected to other similar collections and initiatives, namely, the International Museum of The Resistance Salvador Allende, the Artists Contre/Against Apartheid, and Art for the People of Nicaragua.

Central to our context, the curators expanded their research into Art Against Apartheid, conceived in 1978 by French artist Ernest Pignon-Ernest and the late Spanish painter Antonio Saura. This was a travelling exhibition of works by internationally recognised artists produced to raise awareness of the unjust regime of the National Party. In 1996, the collection made a homecoming, with the artworks exhibited in Parliament in Cape Town, taking the place of colonial portraits and landscapes to symbolise a new dawning of democracy in the nation, and now housed in the University of the Western Cape Robben Island Mayibuye Archives.

Rasha Salti and Kristine Khouri, curators of Past Disquiet courtesy of Zeitz MOCAA. Photograph by Ramiie_G

Past Disquiet is presented in parallel with the multi-media installation and database, Seismography of Struggle: Towards a Global History of Critical and Cultural Journals, an itinerant exhibition compiled and curated by French-Algerian art historian Zahia Rahmani. The exhibition is presented as a sound and image installation with multi-channel projections displaying journal covers, inside pages, and images of protagonists, accompanied by a manifesto of quotes from revolutionary editors and a soundscape by French composer Jean-Jacques Palix.

Furthermore, a browsable database of journals is available at https://sismo.inha.fr/. This approach attests to the incredible and inspiring volume of printed material produced as part of cultural and political struggles worldwide and highlights the diverse aesthetic strategies of revolutionary publishers.

Executive director and chief curator at Zeitz MOCCA, Koyo Kouoh, impresses that: Seismography of Struggle brings to life the power of publishing and its revolutionary impact in social movements. Zahias dedication in researching and bringing together a publicly accessible database with its particular geographical and cultural focus is legendary, and at its core fundamentally political. Whilst leaning into the aesthetics of the archival objects seductiveness, the meditative nature of the installation also allows for new connections to be made between these historic documents.

Zahia Rahmani, curator of Seismography of Struggle courtesy of Zeitz MOCAA. Photograph by Ramiie_G

Together, these two exhibitions speak to rich and radical histories of art and culture as integral to political struggles for democracy, equality, and sovereignty. These themes and values were explored in the one-day Symposium: The Poetics and Politics of Archival Practice with keynote lectures from the curators of Seismography of Struggle and Past Disquiet alongside distinguished guests from the field of art, activism, and academia.

The museum launched Radical Solidarity: A Reader which captures the profound ideas and projects of radical thinkers, artists, and activists committed to fostering the arts from Africa and its diaspora. The publication emerges from the proceedings of the Radical Solidarity Summit, a week-long online gathering hosted by Zeitz MOCAA in September 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic, with the intention to not only address the urgent issues of the moment, but to explore the alternative futures, and possibilities that can be forged in the cultural field through acts of radical solidarity.

Edited by Tandazani Dhlakama, Alexandra Dodd, Tammy Langtry, and Storm Janse van Rensburg, the publication retains the conversational, intimate nature of the online gathering, whilst honouring the urgency and complexity of its subject matter. Contributors include blaxTARLINES KUMASI, Diana Campbell Betancourt, Nadia Davids, Tandazani Dhlakama, Abdul Dube, Frieda Ekotto, Sakhisiswe Gcina, Haroon Gunn-Salie, Storm Janse van Rensburg, Koyo Kouoh, Awa Konate, Tammy Langtry, Mpho Matsipa, Achille Mbembe, Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese, Nontsikelelo Mutiti, Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, Remy Ngamije, Tuan Andrew Nguyen, Emeka Okereke, Bukola Oyebode, Marie Helene Pereira, Edgar Pieterse, Zahia Rahmani, ruangrupa, Albie Sachs, Rasha Salti, Phokeng Setai, Tau Tavengwa, and Francoise Verges.

Commenting on the summit and subsequent reader, Koyo Kouoh said: Many associate the term radical with extreme reforms that shift the fundamental nature of things, while the word solidarity brings to mind fellowship, unity and shared convictions among people. However, radicality does not always need to be loud and extreme. The silent, sotto and steady defiance of any given state of affairs can be just as radical as the loudest protest.

Designed by Yvon Langue and Soukaina Aboulaoula of the design duo Untitled, this Reader gives collective voice to the historical and philosophical root system of Zeitz MOCAA as contemporary pan- and diasporic African art institution at the leading edge of global contemporary art practice and discourse.

Zeitz MOCAA's curatorial and educational programming is generously supported by Gucci and the Mellon Foundation. Seismography of Struggle is furthermore supported by the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS).




At a time when women hold only 23% of tech jobs in South Africa, Everlytic's leadership is mostly made up of women, and as they rise, they're uplifting others.

Their mentorship has been strongly felt this Womens Month as these women managers at South Africas largest digital messaging platform have explained what leadership means to them and shared career advice for other women in tech.

On 11 August, some of them attended an event to encourage bravery among learners who are part of the Girls in Stem (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) programme, in collaboration with the Melisizwe Computer Lab Project. The event was held at Webber Wentzel in Sandton, and a key theme that emerged was the need for a supportive community among women who leave the door to opportunities open for others.

In this light, five of Everlytics women leaders shared their advice for other women hoping to succeed in the tech industry. Louise Krog, executive head of sales and marketing, encouraged women not to shy away from failure as theres bound to be failings along the way. Continue to lean in to being better tomorrow and so you will win the day, then the week, then the month, and finally the year, said Krog.

Similarly, Wilene van Greunen, head of client services, said to focus on the long game. Be an infinite player who does not just strive to win or excel, but to persevere and outlast. Our ultimate successes are embedded in tough and challenging times  have the courage to lead with intensity and consistency, she advised.

Courage can be found when one feels supported, and Cristelle Snyman, marketing manager, urged aspiring women in tech to look for like-minded women to help, guide, and mentor them. When you find the right mentors, it makes it so much easier to learn from your mistakes, to find the courage to keep going, and to never give up, said Snyman.

Its this never-give-up spirit and strength of women that leads Nazeerah Khan, head of technical and customer support, to advise: Always remember that you are the only person who can define your ability and limitations. Shine like the diamond you were born to be!

In a similar vein, Zuraida Smail, head of channel sales, believes women should embrace their femininity. She added: Understand your industry, have balance in your life, and  most importantly  dont put anything off that should and can be done today. Stay focused on your goals.

To learn more from these women leaders, visit our blog on www.everlytic.com.




As the new chief executive of Edge Growth's Ventures business, Janice Johnston is passionate about developing and cultivating SMEs. This Women's Month, she highlights the need to support and uplift women entrepreneurs in South Africa.

Women constitute a significant portion of the population and their participation in the economy through SMEs contribute to South Africas overall economic growth. Women-owned businesses that thrive can generate employment opportunities, can create new markets and stimulate local economies, especially as many of these businesses are community based, Johnston says.

Women-owned businesses contribute to empowerment and gender equality, and provide women with opportunities to participate in economic activities on an equal footing as businesses owners, rather than solely being employees.

We also find that women owned SMEs have a strong drive towards innovation and problem solving, with these women often coming with slightly different perspectives, which bring unique insights and experiences to businesses, she says.

This, she says, can lead to new product development and business models. As a leading South African SME development specialist and impact investor, Edge Growth has seen this with a number of its portfolio investee companies.

I think we also cannot underestimate the social and cultural impact that women in SMEs can have in terms of influencing social norms and cultural attitudes. Successful women entrepreneurs become role models, inspire those around them and can be a strong force for change to persuade girls to follow their entrepreneurial aspirations, really challenging traditional gender roles in society, Johnston says.

The resilience and sustainability of an economy requires a broad range of participation and so, by having more women-led businesses, this can create a more robust economy that can withstand economic shocks and contribute to a more balanced and stable environment for all.

According to the 2022 Mastercard Women Entrepreneurs Index (MIWE), South Africa is one of only 12 economies globally from the 65 countries assessed, where womens entrepreneurial activity rates have increased, with 11.1% of working-age women engaged in early-stage entrepreneurial activities. South Africa is ranked 44th out of these countries globally, with 21.9% of all businesses owned by women in 2021 versus 21.1% in 2020.

While this growth in female entrepreneurism is likely stimulated by an increase in female necessity-driven entrepreneurship, womens advancement still remains impeded by less supportive entrepreneurial conditions compared to other global economies.

Johnston concurs with these findings and says that many smaller scale operations are started by women because of a lack of other opportunities to earn a livelihood. Many of these types of businesses have more challenges when it comes to access to finance and growth opportunities, especially in terms of capital resources and the types of business models that they are working with.

If we want to expand the reach and the overall productivity of these particular businesses, we need to do more to support them. This includes reducing their risk profile to enhance their access to finance, and to provide them with the support and business development opportunities that they would need in order to take their businesses to the next level, she says.

Johnston says that there is also still a gender stereotype and bias deeply rooted in society, and this makes it more difficult for women entrepreneurs, who often face scepticism and difficulty to assert themselves from a credibility perspective beyond a certain scale. Here, networking and mentoring opportunities can enhance their ability to grow within the business environment.

Johnston is the Chairperson of 100 Women in Finance in South Africa, a global organisation committed to gender equity in finance by promoting diversity, raising visibility, and empowering women to find their personal path to success.

You cant be it if you cant see it, which is often quoted within the organisation, is exactly why we need to better recognise and showcase various successful women-owned SMEs in order to drive growth in this sector.

We also need to provide access to mentorship and guidance for women who are at an earlier stage of their business journeys.

For a relatively small operation that needs to become more sustainable, there are a plethora of online tools and resources to get women business owners one step further. There are also many incubator and accelerator programmes available in South Africa that could assist these businesses into the next phase of development.

Its about taking responsibility and accountability that being a business owner is different to just providing a product. This is the shift in mindset that is needed. It is also vital to have a very clear understanding of your unique selling point, she says.

Similarly, for a more scalable business looking to attract venture capital, many of the same fundamental questions apply, as well as having the right team and complimentary skills set to ensure a viable and credible business model that is able to scale across markets and products.

At Edge Growth, our experience with women-owned SMEs has shown that they are solution driven, are problem solvers and have a unique ability to simplify products. They tend to be more collaborative and often bring fresh perspectives to a business, she says, adding that women also tend to be at the forefront of embracing social impact. This is very important in shifting the focus from profit performance only, to delivering on solutions that addresses social, environmental and economic challenges within communities in South Africa.

Johnston rejoined Edge Growth as chief executive of its Ventures business after serving as chief executive of Growth Equity Portfolios between 2014 and 2019. Prior to her return, she was part of the Presidential Climate Finance Task Team and then the Just Energy Transition Project Management Unit that was directly involved with the drafting and launch of the Just Energy Transition Investment Plan by South Africa at COP 27.

While social justice and gender equality are vitally important, one cant underestimate the strategic economic imperative of having more women owned SMEs to drive economic growth, innovation and transformation, for a more inclusive and prosperous future, Johnston says.




On Wednesday 6 and Thursday 7 September this year, Sandton Convention Centre is the place to be for every business owner and aspiring entrepreneur who want to learn the open secret about why South Africa is home to an estimated 2.6 million SMEs, with around 37% being considered formal.

The NSBC and World Famous Events 15th edition of The Business Show :: Africa is a hotbed of inspiration, with the countrys most innovative business experts and exhibits, offering an opportunity for networking with like-minded and successful business leaders whose business solutions have created iconic brands.

Dont miss Build a Business Live, where Olebogeng Mogale, Nedbank executive, Digital Fastlane offers vital tips and strategies you can implement on accessing new markets and building your customer base.

With more than 15 years in the finance industry, Mogales passion is creating customer solutions by leveraging technology. Listen to the man, and itll be your passion too.

Disrupted  or disruptor?

Nicky Verd is a digital technology expert, speaker, author and podcast host. She will share the secrets of her success as a most sought after global keynote speaker on all things tech, disruption, innovation, future of work, 4IR and digital transformation.

Author of the book Disrupt Yourself Or Be Disrupted, Nickys experience in the SME sector and with entrepreneurs covers things you never knew needed to be disrupted  and how you can be the next big disruptor.

Leverage digital technology

Shabir Ahmed, vice president: Customer Solutions Centre for Southern Africa, Mastercard will share his experience  and adventures in  about 20 years of experience in finance, operations and payments and the advantages you can access in the booming digital payments innovation sector.

Business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs that can leverage the latest technologies for enterprise growth and security are those who will continue to provide the backbone of the South African economy, while creating those all-important jobs.

These are just a few of the experts willing to share secrets with entrepreneurs and SMEs that can take your business from 'moving along' to 'sky-rocketing'.

Meet true inspiration

Dont miss the opportunity of meeting The Business Show :: Africas host, chief inspiration officer and master of ceremonies, Leanne Rhodes, who brings unrivalled passion for entrepreneurship, innovation and winning big as NSBCs creative director to this gathering of exceptional business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs.

Note that your ticket to the top is absolutely free by visiting our website at www.thebizshow.africa.

This is all you need to learn how to become your own success story. You may be sharing your journey at the next  The Business Show :: Africa.




The South African National Editors' Forum (Sanef) has announced an opportunity for early to mid-career journalists to receive mentoring from international experts.

Through a project implemented by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, Sanef is offering funding, editorial and legal support to produce high-quality journalism on issues related to media capture in the South African press. In this context, media capture refers to a set of negative and limiting influences on media freedom; these range from commercial to political/policy factors. It can include both state and non-state actors. Media capture also explores the confluence of the two.

Support

The mentoring includes one-to-one support (usually remote) to provide feedback on story angles, journalism quality and accuracy, and ethical considerations, whilst developing the content. Successful applicants will also receive pre-publication review from highly skilled lawyers to help identify and navigate relevant legal risks and considerations.

Participating journalists must commit to all components of the scheme and will sign an agreement to this effect. These components include:

Attending at least one or more research dissemination events hosted by Sanef.

For selected participants

Producing at least one item of content on an issue of media capture.

Participating in a mentoring scheme to support the development of content, focused on quality and ethical conduct.

Participating in a legal pre-publication review mentorship process focussed on identifying legal risks in the story, and advisory on how to mitigate these.

Participating in the mentoring scheme for its entire duration (approximately two hours per week, over six weeks).

Journalists will not be considered to have fulfilled the scheme until they have completed each of these elements.

Benefits of the scheme

If selected to participate in the mentoring scheme, you will receive a financial contribution to the costs of producing your story.

You will be provided with editorial guidance from highly experienced journalism mentors right up until publication/broadcast.

You will have access to a lawyer who will guide you on how to mitigate legal risks in developing your piece, such as libel and defamation. The lawyer will also review your story pre-publication.

Eligibility

We are looking for:

Journalists with at least two to eight years of professional experience.

Journalists who are accredited and belong to a professional body e.g., Sanef or other national associations.

Journalists who are familiar with investigative journalism, reporting on media freedom and/or freedom of expression issues in general.

Journalists who have a strong motivation to learn about and understand these issues.

Journalists able to devote time working on their story and commit to the mentoring process as described above (two hours a week, over six weeks)

Both freelancers and staff journalists. Journalists working for a news organisation will need prior written consent from their editor or newsrooms to take part.

Journalists working in any medium or multiple media (print, online, radio or television).

Journalists based in South Africa and/or working for one or more South African media organisations.

Journalists must have fluent English.

Journalists must be ready to share their content/story plans with the designated mentors/lawyers involved in the mentoring scheme.

Funding

Successful applicants will receive funding capped at the rand value equivalent to the total $500 to cover expenses in support of the production of their stories.

Applications

A story grant pitch: this should include a strong story idea related to issues of media capture and a brief summary of a plan to execute the research and drafting of the story.

Curriculum Vitae.

Two examples of your work: broadcast journalists can send in their scripts and a summary. If this work is in local language, please provide an English translation. If it is online, please share a link so that the web page can be translated.

A letter from your editor consenting to your participation in the mentoring process and, ideally, their commitment to publish the story.

If the letter from your editor does not explicitly state that the story will be published, we will still consider your application.

Candidates are requested to submit an expense budget.

Deadline for applications: 12pm on 27 August 2023.
From left, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, South Korean Director of National Security Cho Tae-yong, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, U.S. President Joe Biden, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, Japanese Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiji Kihara and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attend a trilateral summit at Camp David in Frederick County, Maryland, U.S., Aug. 18. EPA-Yonhap





The following is the full text of the "Camp David Principles" adopted by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at their trilateral summit at Camp David, Maryland, on Friday.











We, Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, President Yoon Suk Yeol, and President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., affirm a shared vision for our partnership as well as for the Indo-Pacific and beyond. Our partnership is based on a bedrock of shared values, mutual respect, and a unified commitment to advance the prosperity of our three countries, the region, and the globe. As we move forward, we intend our partnership to be guided by these principles:







As Indo-Pacific nations, Japan, the Republic of Korea (ROK), and the United States will continue to advance a free and open Indo-Pacific based on a respect for international law, shared norms, and common values. We strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion.







The purpose of our trilateral security cooperation is and will remain to promote and enhance peace and stability throughout the region.







Our commitment to the region includes our unwavering support for ASEAN centrality and unity and the ASEAN-led regional architecture. We are committed to partnering closely with ASEAN to advance implementation and mainstreaming of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific.






Urban Violent Crime Statistics Fast Facts National Average Violent crime rate - 366.7 violent crimes per 100K people in the US nationwide in 2019. (Source)

Washington, D.C., had the highest violent crime rate in 2022, with 999.8 crimes per 100,000 people. (Source)

89% of firearms used in crimes were obtained illegally, per a 2016 BJS report.

Of the 26,000 US homicides in the US in 2021, 60% (15,702) occurred in Metro and Fringe Metro areas.

Violent crime nationwide decreased by 1% from 1,326,600 in 2020 to 1,313,200 in 2021, with robbery decreasing by 8.6%, lowering the national average.

Violent crime rates in urban areas were 24.5 per 1,000 citizens in 2021. (Source)

There were 461,540 arrests for violent crimes in 2020 nationwide. (Source)

Suburban areas with a population of less than 50,000 had the most violent crimes in 2017.

Between 1994 and 2002, an increase in street gangs correlated with an increase in violent crime (61.1 homicides per 1.5 square miles).

Urban areas with a population size of 500,000-999,999 have the highest crude rate of violent crime. (Source)

Many factors play into violent crime victimizations in the U.S. Population size is only one factor. Poverty, criminality, education, and public policies all affect crime rates, particularly violent crime.

Violent crime costs American taxpayers more than $800 billion U.S.D. Annually according to this report. However, this isnt the most sinister aspect of violence-related victimization in the United States. Recent reports indicate that there are 366.7 victims of violent crimes for every 100,000 people in the U.S. The highest violent crime rate in the U.S. occurs in communities with more than 500,000 and less than 1,000,000 residents.

The second highest violent crime rate occurs in communities with a population size between 250,000-499,999 thousand (21.7 per 100,000). The third highest violent crime rate occurs in communities with more than 1,000,000 people (20.0 per 1,000).

There is little correlation between a states firearm laws and violent crime rates. While New Hampshire has relaxed firearms laws, the states violent crime rate in 2022 was only 146.38. Washington, D.C., has extensive firearm regulations but a much higher violent crime rate per capita.

Key Methodology & Findings

Crime data is gathered from a variety of federal agencies to compile a broad perspective of actual and empirical data. Homicide reports come from the CDC, violent crime rates come from the FBI and the DOJ, the United States Census Bureau provides population data, and the National Institute for Health provides studies and information regarding economic and geographical crime-related data. Data provided by the FBI and DOJ largely relies on self-reporting from police agencies.

However, crime data takes years to collect; therefore, much of the data available today reflects crimes committed and victimizations from years prior. Moreover, some studies, particularly regarding gang violence in urban and rural settings, are over a decade old. Readers can also note that violent crime victimization rates are measured in 1/1,000 and 1/100,000. So, its essential to account for the raw data while also accounting for the percentage of a communitys population concerning crime.

Violent crimes, per the most common definition, include homicide, non-negligent murder, forcible rape (the definition recently changed to remove forcible), robbery, and aggravated assault. The United States Census Bureau also redefined urban. Urban populations now comprise 2,500 people with a jump distance (miles traveled between populous) to 1.5 miles.

NY and NJ have the highest concentration of population, with 19,426,449 people. L.A. has the second highest concentration of people, with 12,237,376 people. Texas, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Ohio comparatively have the largest rural population. Anchorage, AK, had the highest number of reported rapes in 2021 (186.7 per 100,000), with 64% of the population being gun owners.

Homicide in Urban Areas

The United States saw 26,031 homicides nationwide in 2021. Of those homicides, 42% occurred in only 50 counties (25% of the nations entire population). 28 of the 50 counties had more than 1,000,000 residents, and all 50 counties had more than 100,000 residents.

The highest number of total homicides by county is as follows:

Cook County, IL - 1,061 homicides of 5,173,146 residents

LA County, CA - 812 homicides of 9,829,544 residents

Harris County, TX - 606 homicides of 4,728,030 residents

Philadelphia County, PA - 551 homicides of 1,576,251 residents

Wayne County, MI - 367 homicides of 1,774,816 residents







Note: 92% of homicides in Cook County, IL, and 89% of homicides in Philadelphia, PA, were firearm-related despite excessive state gun laws. LA County had the lowest percentage, with 78% of homicides being firearm-related. (Source)

Notably, 11,208 homicides nationwide occurred in Metropolitan areas (total population 101,133,819), and 4,494 homicides occurred in Fringe Metropolitan areas (total population 84,491,905). (Source)

Violent Crimes in Urban Areas

According to a 2017 report from the FBI, Suburban areas accounted for 281,639 violent crimes (excluding homicides), whereas metropolitan counties accounted for 186,137 violent crime reports (excluding homicides). Per this report, suburban areas are locations with fewer than 50,000 citizens.

However, the top five cities with the highest rates of violent crime, including homicides, are as follows (2023):

St. Louis, MO - 2,082 per 100,000 citizens (279,390 overall population)

Detroit, MI - 2,057 per 100,000 citizens (621,193 overall population)

Baltimore, MD - 2,027 per 100,000 citizens (563,455 overall population)

Memphis, TN - 2,003 per 100,000 citizens (621,777 overall population)

Little Rock, AR - 1,634 per 100,000 citizens (201,029 overall population)







These five cities exceed the national average of 366.7 per 100,000 individuals by 171%. (Source)









Another interesting facet of violent crime is that the top 5 most violent crime cities in 2023 have an average population density of 1,513.2 people per square mile, while the following 15 cities with high violent crime rates have a population density of 1,511 people per square mile.

For perspective, the average population density of the U.S. is 34 people per square mile. Moreover, we measure crimes as incidents per 100,000 people to account for varying population sizes (Chattanooga, TN, has fewer violent crimes than Chicago, IL, but a higher crime rate due to the population size, for example).

We can compare older reports to newer violent crime statistics and conclude that while violent crime has declined, it is still a problem secluded to areas with higher populations. (Source)

Urban Crime and Firearm Statistics

Another important aspect regarding urban violent crime statistics is the impact of state laws and programs.

While firearms were used in more homicides in 2019, other violent crimes such as robbery and aggravated assault used no weapons or other weapons such as knives (313,939 firearm-related compared to 719,953 alternatives). 309,322 strongarm offenses compared to 309,322 strongarm offenses (where no weapon was used at all) compared to 269,159 firearm-related assaults and robberies. (Source)

Counties with the highest rates of violent crime versus states and gun control legislation:

Cook County, IL - Strict

LA County, CA - Strict

Harris County, TX - Relaxed

Philadelphia County, PA - Strict

Wayne County, MI - Mixed (policy changes)

Gangs & Violent Crimes

Communities with 50,000+ people have a higher risk for gang-related violent crimes. (Source)

In 1990, more than 450 street gangs with more than 36,000 members (LA). Violent crime rose, and the LAPD estimated half of the violent crimes were gang-related. (Source)

The last available Gang report from the FBI occurred in 2015. Page 14, High gang-related violent criminal activity. (Source)

Per the FBI, in 2008, gangs did increase the number of violent crimes. (Source)

The number of street gangs in the NIH report from 1994-2002 increased from 3.4 homicides per square mile to 61.1 homicides per square mile with the increase of known street gangs. (Source) However, poverty and dropout rates also showed a strong correlation between gangs and violent crime.

Sources
3 killed in fresh violence in India's Manipur

Xinhua) 16:35, August 18, 2023

NEW DELHI, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Three members of the Kuki community were killed by gunmen Friday in India's northeastern state of Manipur, police said.

The men were gunned down during the wee hours at Thowai Kuki village in Ukhrul district, about 33 km northeast of Imphal, the capital city of Manipur.

"A group of armed miscreants approached the village from the hills located to the east of the village and started firing at village guards. Three people from the village have been killed in the incident," a senior police official in Ukhrul, Ningshem Vashum, was quoted by local media as saying.

The slain men were voluntarily guarding the village.

Following the killings, government forces were rushed to the village to nab the assailants.

The ongoing violence due to the ethnic clashes between the majority Meitei group and the tribal Kuki minority has so far killed over 150 people in the state. The mobs have been resorting to vandalism and arson, during which hundreds of houses and shops were gutted.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden share a joke at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, Aug. 18. Yonhap





South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden agreed Friday to continue to closely cooperate on strengthening the credibility of the U.S. extended deterrence commitment to South Korea, the presidential office said.







The two leaders held a bilateral meeting ahead of a trilateral summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland and discussed the South Korea-U.S. alliance, as well as regional and global issues, the office said in a press release.







"The two leaders noted the faithful implementation of the Washington Declaration agreed in April, through the successful launch of the South Korea-U.S. Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) and the deployment of a U.S. nuclear submarine, and agreed to continue to closely cooperate to strengthen the credibility of extended deterrence," the press release said.







"President Biden reaffirmed the U.S.' ironclad defense commitment and extended deterrence commitment to South Korea," it continued.






President Joe Biden, center, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol stand during a joint news conference at Camp David, the presidential retreat near Thurmont, Md., , Aug. 18. AP-Yonhap





President Joe Biden and the leaders of Japan and South Korea agreed Friday to expand security and economic ties at a historic summit at the U.S. presidential retreat of Camp David. Their meeting and their agreement come at a time that the three countries are on an increasingly tense ledge in their relations with China and North Korea.







Biden said the three countries would establish a hotline to discuss responses to threats and announced the agreements, including what they have termed the "Camp David Principles," at the close of his talks with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida .







"The purpose of our trilateral security cooperation is and will remain to promote and enhance peace and stability throughout the region," they said in a joint statement.







The three leaders agreed to "improve our trilateral communication mechanism to facilitate regular and timely communication between our countries, including our national leadership," the statement said. "That will include yearly trilateral meetings between leaders, foreign ministers, defense ministers, and national security advisors."







Biden opened the historic summit with Japan and South Korea, Friday, and focused on strengthening security and economic ties at a time of increasing concerns about North Korea's persistent nuclear threats and China's provocations in the Pacific.







"Our countries are stronger and the world will be safer as we stand together. And I know this is a belief that all three share," Biden declared at the start of the meeting with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the presidential retreat in Maryland.







Addressing his fellow leaders at what he called the first standalone summit of the three nations, the American president said, "I want to thank you both for your political courage that brought you here."







Yoon said as the three appeared before reporters that "today will be remembered as a historic day, where we established a firm institutional basis and commitments to the trilateral partnership."







And Kishida said before the private talks that "the fact that we, the three leaders, have got together in this way, I believe means that we are indeed making a new history as of today. The international community is at a turning point in history."







The U.S., Japan and South Korea have agreed to a new security pledge committing the three countries to consult with each other in the event of a security crisis or threat in the Pacific. Details about the new "duty to consult" commitment emerged as the summit got underway.







U.S. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrive for a joint press conference following a trilateral summit at Camp David near Thurmont, Maryland, U.S., Aug. 18. Reuters-Yonhap





Before the three-way talks, Biden met separately with Yoon and then Kishida in midmorning. The visitors' remarks were translated into English as they spoke to reporters.







The agreement is one of several joint efforts that the leaders were expected to announce at the daylong summit.







"Suffice it to say, this is a big deal," Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Friday shortly before the start of the summit. "It is a historic event, and it sets the conditions for a more peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific, and a stronger and more secure United States of America."







Even before the summit began, it drew harsh public criticism from the Chinese government.







"The international community has its own judgment as to who is creating contradictions and increasing tensions," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters Friday.







PHOTOS Camp David summit Full text of 'Commitment to Consult' Full text of 'Camp David Principles' Full text of joint statement of leaders of S. Korea, US, Japan "Attempts to form various exclusive groups and cliques and to bring bloc confrontation into the Asia-Pacific region are unpopular and will definitely spark vigilance and opposition in the countries of the region," Wang said.



Sullivan pushed back against the Chinese concerns.



"It's explicitly not a NATO for the Pacific," Sullivan said. "This partnership is not against anyone, it is for something. It is for a vision of the Indo-Pacific that is free, open, secure and prosperous."



The "duty to consult" pledge is intended to acknowledge that the three countries share "fundamentally interlinked security environments" and that a threat to one of the nations is "a threat to all," according to a senior Biden administration official. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the coming announcement.



Under the pledge, the three countries agree to consult, share information and align their messaging with each other in the face of a threat or crisis, the official said.



The summit is the first Biden has held during his presidency at the storied Camp David. The three leaders were scheduled to hold a news conference later. Biden was hoping to use much of the day with the two leaders as a more informal opportunity to tighten their bond.



The U.S. president planned to take Kishida and Yoon on a walk on the picturesque grounds and host them  and a few senior aides  for lunch.



The retreat 65 miles (104.6 kilometers) from the White House was where President Jimmy Carter brought together Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in September 1978 for talks that established a framework for a historic peace treaty between Israel and Egypt in March 1979. In the midst of World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met at the retreat  then known as Shangri-La  to plan the Italian campaign that would knock Benito Mussolini out of the war.



Biden's focus for the gathering is to nudge the United States' two closest Asian allies to further tighten security and economic cooperation with each other. The historic rivals have been divided by differing views of World War II history and Japan's colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.



But under Kishida and Yoon, the two countries have begun a rapprochement as the two conservative leaders grapple with shared security challenges posed by North Korea and China. Both leaders have been upset by the stepped-up cadence of North Korea's ballistic missile tests and Chinese military exercises near Taiwan, the self-ruled island that is claimed by Beijing as part of its territory, and other aggressive action.



Yoon proposed an initiative in March to resolve disputes stemming from compensation for wartime Korean forced laborers. He announced that South Korea would use its own funds to compensate Koreans enslaved by Japanese companies before the end of World War II.



Yoon also traveled to Tokyo that month for talks with Kishida, the first such visit by a South Korean president in more than 12 years. Kishida reciprocated with a visit to Seoul in May and expressed sympathy for the suffering of Korean forced laborers during Japan's colonial rule,



The effort to sustain the trilateral relationship won't be without challenges.



Beijing sees the tightening cooperation efforts as the first steps of a Pacific-version of NATO, the transatlantic military alliance, forming against it. U.S. officials expect that North Korea will lash outperhaps with more ballistic missile test and certainly blistering rhetoric.



Polls show that a solid majority of South Koreans oppose Yoon's handling of the forced labor issue that's been central to mending relations with Japan. And many in Japan fear that bolstering security cooperation will lead the country into an economic Cold War with China, its biggest trading partner. Biden's predecessor (and potential successor) Republican Donald Trump unnerved South Korea during his time in the White House with talk of reducing the U.S. military presence on the Peninsula.



"If an ultra-leftist South Korean president and an ultra-right wing Japanese leader are elected in their next cycles, or even if Trump or someone like him wins in the U.S., then any one of them could derail all the meaningful, hard work Biden, Yoon and Kishida are putting in right now," said Duyeon Kim, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security's Indo-Pacific Security Program.



The three leaders are also expected to detail in their summit communique plans to invest in technology for a three-way crisis hotline and offer an update on progress the countries have made on sharing early-warning data on missile launches by North Korea.



Other announcements expected to come out of the summit include plans to expand military cooperation on ballistic defenses and to make the summit an annual event. Sullivan said the leaders would commit on Friday to a multiyear planning process for joint military exercises.






Chandrayaan-3 successfully conducts separation of Lander Module from Propulsion Module. Photo: ISRO.

BENGALURU (PTI): India's Chandrayaan-3 mission on Thursday achieved a major milestone when its Lander Module carrying the rover inside successfully separated from the Propulsion Module to be on course for an unprecedented soft-landing on the moon's south pole planned on August 23.



The Lander Module comprising the lander Vikram and rover Pragyan is now ready to be lowered to an orbit that takes it closer to the moon's surface. The soft landing on the lunar south pole is scheduled at 5.47 pm next Wednesday.



"Thanks for the ride, mate! said the Lander Module (LM). LM is successfully separated from the Propulsion Module (PM). LM is set to descend to a slightly lower orbit upon a deboosting planned for tomorrow around 1600 Hrs IST," the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said in a post on X (formerly Twitter). The estimated

Rs 600 crore Chandrayaan-3 mission was launched on July 14, a far more complicated 41-day voyage to reach the lunar south pole.



After Thursday's separation, the lander is expected to undergo a "deboost" (the process of slowing down) to place it in an orbit, where the Perilune (the orbit's closest point to the Moon) is 30 km and Apolune (farthest point from the Moon) is 100 km, from where the soft landing on the south polar region of the Moon will be attempted, an ISRO official said.



The Propulsion Module will continue its journey in the current orbit for months/years, the ISRO said.



"Now really the match starts. These are the final overs we are talking about," Chandrayaan-I Project Director M Annadurai told PTI.



Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2 and its objectives are to demonstrate safe and soft landing on the lunar surface, roving on the moon, and to conduct in-situ scientific experiments.



Chandrayaan-2 had failed in its lunar phase when its lander 'Vikram' crashed into the surface of the moon following anomalies in the braking system in the lander while attempting a soft landing on September 7, 2019. Chandrayaan's maiden mission was in 2008.



The lander has the capability to soft land at a specified lunar site and deploy the rover that will carry out in-situ chemical analysis of the moon's surface during the course of its mobility.



The lander and the rover have scientific payloads to carry out experiments on the lunar surface.



If the Chandrayaan-3 mission succeeds in landing a robotic lunar rover in ISRO's second attempt in four years, India will become the fourth country to master the technology of soft-landing on the moon's surface after the US, China and the former Soviet Union.



The race to the uncharted south pole of the Moon is also hotting up with Russia's Luna-25 also gearing up for lunar landings next week. The proximity, possible overlap, of their landing dates -- August 21-23 for Luna-25 and August 23-24 for Chandrayaan-3 -- has heightened excitement in the scientific community worldwide.



Polar regions of the moon are a very different terrain due to the environment and the difficulties they present and therefore have remained unexplored. All the previous spacecraft to have reached the moon landed in the equatorial region, a few degrees latitude north or south of the lunar equator.



The moon's south pole region is also being explored because there could be a possibility of presence of water in permanently shadowed areas around it.



"It(separation) is a great moment and this will imply how the lander is performing and the lander will be verified and tested and brought closer and closer to the moon. Then it will be given the required commands such that it takes over on the cue on August 23 to go all the way to the targeted place and have a safe and secure landing," Annadurai said.



He said this is the beginning and all further milestones have to be seen very carefully.



"We have crossed major milestones from the launch vehicle and after that the propulsion system (separation)...now really the match starts. These are the final overs we are talking about. I think it is a great moment. The whole world is waiting to see what Vikram will do and what Pragyan will come out and do... I am also enthusiastically waiting."



ISRO Chairman S Somanath had recently said the most critical part of the landing is the process of bringing the velocity of the lander from 30 km height to the final landing, and that the ability to transfer the spacecraft from horizontal to vertical direction is the "trick we have to play" here.



"The velocity at the starting of the landing process is almost 1.68 km per second, but this speed is horizontal to the surface of the moon. The Chandrayaan-3 here is tilted almost 90 degrees, it has to become vertical. So, this whole process of turning from horizontal to vertical is a very interesting calculation mathematically. We have done a lot of simulations. It is here where we had the problem last time (Chandrayaan-2)," Somanath explained.



The significance about Chandrayaan-3 mission, unlike its unsuccessful predecessor, is that the PM has a payload -- SHAPE -- Spectro- polarimetry of HAbitable Planet Earth which is to study earth from lunar orbit.



The ISRO said the SHAPE is an experimental payload to study the spectro-polarimetric signatures of the Earth in the near-infrared wavelength range.



Apart from the SHAPE payload, the PM's main function is to carry the LM from launch vehicle injection orbit till lander separation.



The lander module after landing on the surface of the moon has payloads including RAMBHA-LP which is to measure the near surface plasma ions and electrons density and its changes, ChaSTE Chandra's Surface Thermo Physical Experiment -- to carry out the measurements of thermal properties of lunar surface near polar region-- and ILSA (Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity) to measure seismicity around the landing site and delineating the structure of the lunar crust and mantle.



The rover, after the soft-landing, would come out of the lander module and study the surface of the moon through its payloads APXS - Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer - to derive the chemical composition and infer mineralogical composition to further enhance understanding of the lunar surface.



The rover, which has a mission life of 1 lunar day (14 Earth days), also has another payload Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) to determine the elemental composition of lunar soil and rocks around the lunar landing site.


Department of Defense Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder is seen answering questions during a daily press briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, U.S., in this Aug. 17 captured image. Yonhap



The United States will continue to work with its allies to deter any potential aggression by North Korea, a Pentagon spokesperson said Thursday, following reports that Pyongyang may be preparing to make various provocations, including a long-range missile test.



South Korea's spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, earlier noted that the North may test launch an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) to protest against a trilateral summit between the leaders of South Korea, Japan and the United States, set to be held here in Washington on Friday.



"I am not going to comment on any potential intelligence in terms of what we think of North Korea may or may not be doing," the Pentagon spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, told a daily press briefing.



"We have been very clear that we are going to maintain robust communication with our Republic of Korea and Japanese allies, as well as those other countries and partners and allies in the region, to make sure that we can deter potential aggression," he added, referring to South Korea by its official name.



Pyongyang has conducted a dozen ICBM tests since the start of last year, with its latest ICBM launch taking place on July 12.



A new ICBM test, if taken, will also come amid an annual South Korea-U.S joint military exercise which will be held from Monday through Aug. 31.



The defense department spokesperson emphasized that the joint military drills are defensive in nature.



"The exercises that we are doing ... those are defensive in nature, and they are meant to, again, enable our commitments, our alliance commitments and ensure that we can work together," he told the press briefing.



On a similar note, the Pentagon spokesperson noted that the upcoming trilateral summit is not aimed at countering any specific country, including China.



"It's not directed at any one particular nation," he said when asked about the trilateral summit, set to be held at Camp David.



"If there are nations that choose to try to use coercion and try to create instability or violate sovereign rights, we want to work together with nations to try to prevent that kind of activity," added Ryder.



North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, visiting an arms factory, is seen in this Aug. 14 photo carried by the North's Central News Agency. Yonhap
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The drop in people buying TV licences in the weeks since the controversy at RTE came to light is disappointing but not surprising, the Minister for Finance has said.

Michael McGrath said that RTE does not have an easy job to restore trust in the organisation after the self-inflicted damage done to its reputation over financial issues at the public service broadcaster.

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The debacle began on June 22nd when RTE said it had not correctly declared fees to its highest-paid earner Ryan Tubridy between 2017-2022, but has widened out to other financial and governance matters.

This has led to a dramatic fall in TV licences being bought in the weeks since, with thousands of citizens a week choosing not to renew or apply for a licence when compared to last year.

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Media Minister Catherine Martin has said she is monitoring the figures to see if it becomes a long-term trend while chairwoman of the broadcasters board Siun Ni Raghallaigh said there is concern about the decline among the organisations board and management.

Mr McGrath said that Ms Martin and Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe will be having a very serious discussion on interim funding for RTE as part of Budget 2024.

The drop-off in the rate of payments on TV licences is not surprising, but it is disappointing, and for now that remains the vehicle through which we all need to support public service broadcasting, he told reporters in Cork.

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So its important that we do continue to support it.

On a long-term funding model, Mr McGrath said it was important that RTE is not entirely funded through the Exchequer, adding that if the entire burden of funding fell on the shoulders of taxpayers through general taxation, it would be a very different RTE.

This was very much a self-inflicted own goal by RTE in recent months, and they have put their hands up and acknowledged that as an organisation they have been the cause of these problems, and that has undoubtedly undermined public confidence and public trust in the organisation, he said.

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RTE director general Kevin Bakhurst said he fully understands some peoples reluctance to pay the 160 TV licence fee, particularly during the cost-of-living crisis.

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I hope to convince those people who havent paid it that they still get real value from RTE, that were doing everything we can to change the organisation, to rebuild that trust with them, and hopefully in due course, theyll change their mind, he told RTE Morning Ireland.

He said there is an increased hole in the funding at the broadcaster and said ways to ensure a security of public funding included a household-based fee and a device-neutral fee.

RTE has previously warned that it is losing millions of euro in funding a year by people with televisions evading paying the fee and by those using the RTE Player on phones and tablets to watch its programmes.

Mr Bakhurst said among the reforms he is planning is to cut its highest-paid presenters pay as their contracts come up for renewal.

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He also said that a proposal for a register of interests has been drafted, and that he would need to consult with the unions, the management association and the Data Commissioner in relation to it.
A man has been arrested Derry by detectives investigating potential criminality linked to last weeks major PSNI data breach.

The 50-year-old was detained under the Terrorism Act following a search in the Dungiven area on Friday.

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He is being questioned at Musgrave Serious Crime Suite in Belfast.

Our detectives investigating criminality linked to last weeks freedom of information data breach have carried out a search in the Dungiven area today, Friday 18th August, and made an arrest. pic.twitter.com/kl3VzViXWy  Police Service NI (@PoliceServiceNI) August 18, 2023 Advertisement

Detective Chief Superintendent Andy Hill said officers are investigating the sharing of information from the data breach, and will deal with any criminality identified robustly.

We continue to work toward establishing those who possess information relating to last weeks data breach, and will take action to ensure that any criminality identified is dealt with robustly to keep communities, and our officers and staff who serve them, safe, he said.

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Earlier this week, a 39-year-old man was detained following a search in Lurgan, Co Armagh as part of the same investigation.

He was questioned on suspicion of collection of information likely to be of use to terrorists, and later released on bail to allow for further police enquiries.

Last week, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) revealed a document had mistakenly been shared online in response to a Freedom Of Information request which included the names of about 10,000 officers and staff.

Details released included the surname and first initial of every employee, their rank or grade, where they are based and the unit they work in.

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Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly speaking to reporters outside the partys Falls Road office in Belfast, after a redacted document, purporting to be from the PSNI data leak, was posted on a nearby wall. Photo: Liam McBurney/PA.

This week, PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne said he believed the information was in the hands of dissident republicans.

It followed the posting of documents from the leak on a wall near a Sinn Fein office in Belfast.

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Many officers have expressed concern for their safety in Northern Ireland, where police are under threat from terrorists  with the current level of threat assessed as severe, meaning an attack is highly likely.

Earlier this year, dissident republicans were blamed for the attempted murder of senior PSNI detective John Caldwell.
All questions around the Omagh bomb atrocity can only be answered by holding a public inquiry on both sides of the Irish border, a lawyer representing some bereaved families has said.

John McBurney urged the Irish Government to reconsider its position after a minister indicated this week that there is no new evidence which would warrant holding a public inquiry in the Republic of Ireland.

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The scene of the Omagh bomb in 1998. Photo: Paul McErlane/PA.

29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins, were killed when a massive car bomb exploded in the Co Tyrone town in 1998, the worst loss of life in a single incident in Northern Irelands troubled past.

It came just months after the historic Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.

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No-one has ever been criminally convicted of the attack.

In 2021, High Court judge Mr Justice Horner recommended the UK government carry out a new investigation into the Omagh bombing, and urged the Irish Government to do likewise, after finding plausible arguments that there had been a real prospect of preventing the atrocity.

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Earlier this year, Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris announced that an independent statutory inquiry would be carried out.

Peter Burke, Minister for European Affairs and Defence, said this week during an interview with the BBC that a number of investigations, including the Nally Report, had already been carried out in Ireland into the bombing.

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He said that the Nally Report had found no significant new evidence which warranted the establishment of a public inquiry, adding that is our position at the moment.

Mr Burke stressed the Irish Government would cooperate fully with the UK inquiry in an attempt to ensure there are no unanswered questions left about the atrocity.

Mr McBurney, who represents some families in the Families Moving On victims support group, said: On behalf of my clients I wish to convey the sense of surprise and disappointment felt on hearing the indication by Minister Burke during the BBC interview.

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He added: With respect, it is submitted that the position outlined by Minister Burke is entirely unsatisfactory.

The Nally Report which he referred to throughout the interview did not have the necessary powers to fully probe all matters and therefore many aspects remain to be inquired into.

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Lord Justice Horner made it quite clear in a very detailed judgment that full investigation in both jurisdictions was necessary in order to fully deal with the matter.

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Mr McBurney continued: It is essential that the Irish Government must reflect urgently on how disrespectful and unsatisfactory it is to ignore the obvious need, in tandem with a statutory inquiry in Northern Ireland, to properly investigate by public inquiry all matters outstanding as elucidated in the judgment of Lord Justice Horner.

The call is now for reconsideration of the negative position outlined by Minister Burke and an indication that a tandem inquiry will be launched in the Republic of Ireland.

It is difficult to see how all aspects can be properly probed by any other arrangement.

Minister of State for European Affairs Peter Burke (left) and Lord Jonathan Caine, representing the British government, following a service to mark the 25th anniversary of the bombing that devastated Omagh in 1998. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA.

Ireland Omagh bombing inquiry: Irish Government must take... Read More

The Government has been approached for a response.

On Tuesday, a number of families who lost loved ones in the 1998 attack gathered and laid flowers at the spot where the bomb exploded to mark the 25th anniversary.
The planning process in Ireland needs to change so more houses can be built and more quickly, that is the view of economist John Fitzgerald.

Commenting on a European Commission report which said Ireland needed to substantially revise upward its housing targets, Prof. Fitzgerald said he was not at all surprised at the report.

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Everyone knew that we need loads more houses. The dogs in the street know that, he told Newstalk Breakfast.

Prof Fitzgerald said it was not a lack of money.

The Government had the money and was building houses, but the planning system was the problem. Permission for projects was being held up by appeals so the system goes on forever. The process can take months and years.

We need to be building substantially more, and we need the regulatory system to work and at the moment it's not working.

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Prof Fitzgerald said he was not suggesting that a fee should be charged for appeals, but there was a serious mismatch. There was also an issue with the tendering and contracting process which he said takes too long.

The issue would ultimately be solved, but not in the next year. It was going to take time.
Patients travelling abroad for bariatric surgery underestimate the risks associated with the procedure, a study has found.

A national patient register for those who undergo bariatric surgery abroad would help appropriate follow-up medical treatment when complications occur, the study co-authors suggested as currently there is none pertaining to Irish medical tourists.

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The co-authors of the study, Challenges associated with Global Bariatric Medical Tourism, published in this months Irish Medical Journal, pointed out that it would be helpful if formal registration for those patients including the time and location where the surgery took place.

The limited access to timely bariatric service in Ireland has led to significant waiting times. Cheaper weight loss procedures in certain parts of the world have incentivised patients to seek bariatric surgery abroad. There are multiple challenges associated with global bariatric tourism, the co-authors noted.

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Patients do not have access to adequate information regarding the bariatric procedure and they resort to informal blogs to access this information resulting in patients to underestimate the risks associated with bariatric surgery and believe that their surgeries will be complication-free.

The study carried out by University Hospital Galway, Wexford General Hospital, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and Ninawa School of Medicine, Iraq examined four bariatric cases and found that all patients underwent surgical intervention including reversal of the index bariatric procedure when they returned to Ireland after surgery abroad.

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To date eight people are officially known to have died abroad while undergoing cosmetic surgery abroad - of those figures, several were during or soon after bariatric surgery.

The four cases included those of a 58-year-old male with BMI of 32.1kg/m2 presenting with a two-month history of persistent vomiting after undergoing insertion of an intra-gastric balloon (IGB) in Thailand having lost 22 kg since the insertion of the balloon.

The second case was of a 49-year-old female with BMI of 35.1kg/m2 presenting with an acute abdomen secondary to gastric perforation eight-years post laparoscopic gastric band insertion in the Middle East.

In the third case is of a 53-year-old male with a BMI of 36.2kg/m2 presented with refractory indigestion due to IGB insertion one year ago in Prague, in the Czech Republic.

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The patient had the IGB for over 12 months that failed to lose weight. The fourth case was a 47-year-old female with a BMI of 58.3kg/m2 who presented with an anastomotic leak at day-5 post gastric bypass performed in Turkey.

The total cost to the HSE and in essence to the taxpayer for dealing with the complications from these four bariatric cases carried out abroad was 48,220

Global bariatric procedures can carry a significant risk of complications if appropriate post- operative care is not accessible. Managing these complications have been a huge burden on an already under-resourced healthcare system. This requires stricter regulations with appropriate patient education and follow-up.

Having a registry of patients who have bariatric procedures elsewhere will ensure appropriate care post-operatively and facilitate dealing with post- operative complications if they arise, the authors noted.

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They also said that limited access to timely bariatric service in Ireland has led to significant waiting times. Cheaper weight loss procedures in certain parts of the world have incentivised patients to seek bariatric surgery abroad. There are multiple challenges associated with global bariatric tourism.

Patients do not have access to adequate information regarding the bariatric procedure and they resort to informal blogs to access this information resulting in patients to underestimate the risks associated with bariatric surgery and believe that their surgeries will be complication-free.

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The co-authors as a result of their findings have also called for the name of the performing surgeon and their contact number, dates of expected follow-up, emergency plans, and most importantly data regarding the details of the weight-loss equipment used as this would potentially improve patient outcomes when dealing with complications to form part of a national register.

Importantly, it will also aid in estimating the annual cost of bariatric medical tourism to the HSE., the co-authors said.

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Global bariatric surgery is associated with significant risk of complications without appropriate post-operative care. The management of such complications carries a significant burden to the Irish healthcare system thereby requiring regulations in order to control such post-operative complications, the authors highlighted.

Due to the overall lack of bariatric resources in Ireland only 1 in 100,000 people per annum undergo bariatric surgery. Bariatric procedures are currently only offered to patients who have failed non-surgical measures and have a consistent Body Mass Index (BMI) of greater than 40 kg/m2 or BMI of 35 to 40 kg/m2.

Currently, bariatric procedures are only offered in two public hospitals in Dublin and Galway. The high demand for such procedures has led to long waiting times as evidenced by figures published by the Health Service Executive (HSE) where only 154 bariatric procedures were performed in 2020, a drop from 169 from the previous year, amounting to 1.3 million to the HSE.

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It is estimated that a total of 5.7 million was spent on bariatric procedures over the last five years with one of the biggest barriers to offering greater numbers of bariatric surgery being the availability of adequate funding.

Obesity is a growing pandemic in Ireland, with an estimated 6 out of 10 adults deemed overweight or obese. Obesity is a significant contributor to morbidity and mortality as it is a major risk factor for the development of conditions such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular events, cancer, and chronic conditions such as osteoarthritis, renal disease, and obstructive sleep apnoea.

The annual cost to the healthcare system of Irish adult obesity is estimated to be 1.3bn of which 400m is attributed directly to healthcare cost. Non-operative management options such as lifestyle modification and weight-lowering drugs.

In order to avoid this, the HSE has a Treatment Abroad Scheme (TAS) where consultants can refer patients for procedures in the European Union, European Economic area or Switzerland if the procedure is not available in Ireland or cannot be accessed within a timely fashion.

The referrals will have more credibility as the consultants will have to research the accreditation, qualifications, morbidity and mortality data before referring patients. The question is whether surgeons will have the time to accommodate this ancillary work in their current busy practice.

The co-authors also found that during the Covid-19 pandemic, new challenges have emerged in dealing with medical tourism. Primarily, given that some of the bariatric procedures are temporary weight loss measures, leaving them for longer than intended duration would increase the risks of complications including erosion, migration, small bowel obstructions, leakage and intra-abdominal collections.

With the travel bans imposed due to the pandemic, it is more likely that these patients would not have an opportunity to reverse these procedures in a timely manner.
Austrias former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has been charged with making false statements to a parliamentary inquiry into a scandal that brought down his first government, prosecutors said on Friday.

An indictment against Mr Kurz, his former chief of staff, Bernhard Bonelli, and another unidentified person was filed at the state court in Vienna, the prosecutors office that investigates corruption cases said in a statement.

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The court said Mr Kurz will go on trial on October 18.

Former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has been charged with making false statements to a parliamentary inquiry into a scandal that brought down his first government, prosecutors said (Lisa Leutner/AP)

The charges result from an investigation that was launched in 2021, when Mr Kurz was still chancellor.

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It centres on his testimony to a parliamentary probe that focused on alleged corruption in his first government, a coalition with the far-right Freedom Party, which collapsed in 2019.

Mr Kurz pulled the plug on that government after a video surfaced showing the vice chancellor and Freedom Party leader at the time, Heinz-Christian Strache, appearing to offer favours to a purported Russian investor.

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In the corruption case, Mr Kurz is accused of giving false evidence regarding his role in the setting up of a holding company, OeBAG, which administers the states role in some companies.

Mr Kurz has denied wrongdoing, a stance he reiterated in a series of posts on Twitter that anticipated the charges.

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He wrote: The allegations are false and we are looking forward to the truth finally coming to light and the accusations also turning out to be unfounded in court.

Former Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz has denied the claims (Kirsty OConnor/PA)

He said it was unsurprising that prosecutors had decided to file charges despite 30 exonerating witness statements.

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A few months after the collapse of his first government, Mr Kurz returned to power in a new coalition with the environmentalist Greens in early 2020.

However, he resigned as chancellor in October 2021 to defuse a political crisis triggered by prosecutors announcement that he was one of the targets of a second investigation into suspected bribery and breach of trust.

The Greens had demanded his replacement and Mr Kurz denies any wrongdoing in that case too.

In the second case, Mr Kurz and his close associates were accused of trying to secure his rise to the leadership of his party and the country with the help of manipulated polls and friendly media reports financed with public money.

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Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said the charges were an opportunity to clear this up'(Heinz-Peter Bader/AP)

Mr Kurz became the leader of his Austrian Peoples Party and then chancellor in 2017, when he was only 31.

A few weeks after he quit as chancellor, Mr Kurz announced that he was leaving politics altogether.

Karl Nehammer then became chancellor and leader of the Peoples Party.

Austrias next national election is due next year and recent polls have shown the Freedom Party in the lead.

News of the indictment broke as Mr Nehammer was holding a news conference in Salzburg with visiting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Asked about the news, Mr Nehammer replied: If that is the case, then there is finally the possibility to clear this up now.

The court on Friday identified the third person charged as Bettina Glatz-Kremsner, the former head of Casinos Austria, who is accused of making false statements regarding the appointment of a board member at that entity.
Law enforcement officials were investigating threats related to former President Donald Trump's election interference probe in Georgia, after the names and addresses of grand jury members were shared online, the local sheriff's office said.

"Our investigators are working closely with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to track down the origin of threats in Fulton County and other jurisdictions," the Fulton County Sheriff's Office said in a statement on Thursday.

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Fulton County contains Atlanta, Georgia's largest city and the state capital.

Trump was hit with a sweeping fourth set of criminal charges on Monday when the Georgia grand jury issued an indictment accusing him and others of efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

Earlier this month, following an indictment by U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith on his efforts to overturn his election defeat, Trump lashed out on his Truth Social media site, saying, "IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I'M COMING AFTER YOU!"

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The 98-page Georgia indictment listed 19 defendants and 41 criminal counts in all. Echoing his criticism of the other investigations he faces, Trump has called the indictment a political "witch hunt."

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NBC News and CNN reported that names, photographs, social media profiles and the home addresses purportedly belonging to members of the Fulton County grand jury were shared online and threats were made against the jurors following Trump's indictment.

"We take this matter very seriously and are coordinating with our law enforcement partners to respond quickly to any credible threat and to ensure the safety of those individuals who carried out their civic duty," the local sheriff's office said.

An indictment in Georgia that is available as a public record includes the names of grand jurors but not their addresses or any other personally identifiable information.

A woman from Texas was charged earlier this month with threatening the federal judge overseeing Trump's separate criminal case in Washington, in which he is accused of attempting to overturn the 2020 election results.




South Korea's defense authorities on Friday endorsed a plan to mass-produce medium-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) through 2028 to bolster the Air Force's surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, the state arms procurement agency said.







The Defense Project Promotion Committee approved the plan in the latest progress in the country's 980 billion-won ($732 million) development project for the unmanned aircraft, which first began in 2006, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA).







DAPA said it expects the aircraft to allow intelligence gathering and reconnaissance missions on targets deep inside North Korea, and provide the groundwork for the development of the country's unmanned aircraft projects.







It did not disclose the number of UAVs to be built under the project.







The committee also approved a basic plan for performance upgrades for the Navy's 1,800-ton KSS-II submarines by replacing their aging combat and sonar systems with the latest homegrown equipment.







The 800 billion-won project, set to run from 2025 through 2036, is expected to enhance the submarines' survivability and stealthiness, and strengthen their monitoring and deterrence capabilities against potential threats, DAPA said. (Yonhap)


A Brazilian hacker has claimed at a congressional hearing that then-president Jair Bolsonaro wanted him to hack into the countrys electronic voting system to expose its alleged weaknesses ahead of the 2022 presidential election.

Walter Delgatti Neto did not provide any evidence for his claim to the parliamentary commission of inquiry.

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But his detailed evidence raises new allegations against the former far-right leader, who is being investigated for his role in the January 8 riots in the capital city Brasilia.

Delgatti told legislators he met in person with Mr Bolsonaro on August 10 2022 for between 90 minutes and two hours at the presidential residence.

He said he told the leader he could not hack into the electronic voting system because it was not connected to the internet.

The Associated Press asked for comment from Mr Bolsonaros lawyers, but they had not responded.

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Mr Bolsonaro has denied any wrongdoing.

Mr Bolsonaros political nemesis, leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, won the October 30 2022 election with just 50.9% of the votes.



Brazils President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (Eraldo Peres/AP)

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Delgatti said Mr Bolsonaro wanted the attempted hack to show voters that Brazils voting system was not reliable.

He said that after he explained why he could not hack into the electoral system, the Bolsonaro campaign asked him to tamper with a borrowed voting machine to make it appear, less than a month before the elections first round, that the machine had been successfully hacked and results could be compromised.

The fraudulent hack was to be shared with news media, Delgatti said, but it was cancelled.

When the conversation got too technical, Delgatti said, Mr Bolsonaro referred him to the Ministry of Defence, which the president had told to prepare a report listing potential weaknesses in the voting system for the body that supervises elections.

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Delgatti said he met with Ministry of Defence technical experts to discuss the electronic voting system on five occasions.

The first time, he said, was right after meeting with Mr Bolsonaro, when he was driven from the presidential residence to the Ministry of Defence, entering through the back entrance.

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Mr Bolsonaro long stoked belief among his hardcore supporters that the nations electronic voting system was prone to fraud, though he never presented any evidence.

In June, a panel of judges concluded that Mr Bolsonaro abused his power to cast unfounded doubts on the countrys electronic voting system and barred him from running for office again until 2030.

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Delgatti, who rose to fame in 2019 for leaking messages from several prosecutors involved in an anti-corruption probe that put dozens of top politicians and businessmen behind bars, told the commission that he spoke to Mr Bolsonaro one more time, over the phone.

During the call, he said, Mr Bolsonaro told him the phone of Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes had been tapped and asked him to claim ownership of the tapping in case authorities investigated the case.



Jair Bolsonaro (Michael M Santiago/PA)

Mr de Moraes, who at one point also led the top electoral court that supervised the election, was a recurring target of Mr Bolsonaro and his supporters.

They argued that Mr de Moraes and the rest of the court were biased against Mr Bolsonaro and favoured his main opponent, Mr Lula.

Delgatti said Mr Bolsonaro promised him a presidential pardon in case he ended up being investigated for his actions.

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During Thursdays hearing, Mr Bolsonaros allies in the commission questioned Delgattis credibility.

In 2015, Delgatti was jailed for lying about being a federal police investigator.

Two years later, he was investigated for allegedly forging documents, which he denies.

Several people have also accused him of embezzlement  allegations that resurfaced during Thursdays hearing.

In Brazil, witnesses caught lying before a parliamentary commission of inquiry  more commonly known under its Portuguese acronym CPI  can be imprisoned, according to Luis Claudio Araujo, a law professor at Ibmec University in Rio de Janeiro.

Members of parliamentary commissions have the power to investigate, but also pass on information to prosecutors and federal police, Prof Araujo said.

The congressional hearing adds to the numerous legal headaches facing Mr Bolsonaro for activities during his term in office.

Federal police earlier this month alleged that Mr Bolsonaro received cash from the nearly 70,000 dollar (55,000) sale of two luxury watches he received as gifts from Saudi Arabia while in office.

Officers raided the homes and offices of several people purportedly involved in the case, including a four-star army general.

Mr Bolsonaro has denied any wrongdoing involving the gifts.
An emergency official who defended a decision to not sound outdoor alert sirens on Maui as a ferocious fire raged has resigned.

Herman Andaya, Mauis emergency management agency administrator, had said this week that he had no regrets about not deploying the system because he feared it could have caused people to go mauka, a Hawaiian term that can mean toward the mountains or inland.

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If that was the case, then they would have gone into the fire, Mr Andaya explained.



Members of an Urban Search and Rescue Task Force are seen along Front Street destroyed by the West Maui Fire, in Lahaina (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

He stepped down Thursday, just a day later.

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The decision to not use the sirens, coupled with water shortages that hampered firefighters and an escape route clogged with vehicles that were overrun by flames, has brought intense criticism from many residents following the deadliest wildfire in the US in more than a century.

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With the death toll at 111, the search for the missing moved beyond the devastated town of Lahaina to other communities that were destroyed.

Teams had covered about 58% of the Lahaina area and the fire was 90% contained as of Thursday night, Maui County officials said.

Mayor Richard Bissen accepted Mr Andayas resignation effective immediately, the County of Maui announced on Facebook.

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Mr Andaya cited unspecified health reasons for leaving his post, with no further details provided.

In a statement, Mr Bissen said: Given the gravity of the crisis we are facing, my team and I will be placing someone in this key position as quickly as possible and I look forward to making that announcement soon.



Emergency teams had covered 58% of the Lahaina area and managed to contain around 90% of the fire (Jae C Hong/ AP)

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The lack of sirens has emerged as a potential misstep, part of a series of communication issues that added to the chaos, according to reporting by The Associated Press.

Hawaii has what it touts as the largest system of outdoor alert sirens in the world, created after a 1946 tsunami that killed more than 150 on the Big Island.

Its website says they may be used to alert for fires.

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On Wednesday, Mr Andaya vigorously defended his qualifications for the job, which he had held since 2017.

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He said he was not appointed but had been vetted, took a civil service exam and was interviewed by seasoned emergency managers.

Mr Andaya said he had previously been deputy director of the Maui county department of housing and human concerns and chief of staff for former Maui county mayor Alan Arakawa for 11 years.



Herman Andaya says that while he was not appointed to his former role, he had been vetted and had experience and qualifications (Mike Householder/AP)

During that time, he said, he often reported to emergency operations centres and participated in numerous trainings.

So to say that Im not qualified I think is incorrect, he said.

Mr Arakawa, who noted Mr Andaya was scrutinised for the job by the countys personnel service, said he was disappointed by the resignation because now we are out one person who is really qualified.

He added: He was trying to be strong and trying to do the job. He was very, very heartbroken about all the things that happened.

Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez said that an outside organisation will conduct an impartial, independent review of the governments response and officials intend to facilitate any necessary corrective action and to advance future emergency preparedness.

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The investigation will likely take months, she added.



Search and rescue team members work in the area devastated by the wildfire (Jae C Hong/ AP)

Corrine Hussey Nobriga said it was hard to lay blame for a tragedy that took everyone by surprise, even if some of her neighbours raised questions about the absence of sirens and inadequate evacuation routes.

The fire moved quickly through her neighbourhood, though her home was spared.

One minute we saw the fire over there, she said, pointing toward faraway hills, and the next minute its consuming all these houses.

Displaced residents are steadily filling hotels that are prepared to house them and provide services until at least next spring.

Brad Kieserman, vice president for disaster operations with the American Red Cross said that authorities hope to empty crowded, uncomfortable group shelters by early next week.

Hotels also are available for eligible evacuees who have spent the last eight days sleeping in cars or camping in parking lots, he said.



Evacuees, including those who have lost their homes, will be able to seek refuge in hotels, which will provide meals, counselling, financial assistance and other disaster aid until at least the springtime (Rick Bowmer/AP)

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Contracts with the hotels will last for at least seven months but could easily be extended, he said.

Service providers at the properties will offer meals, counselling, financial assistance and other disaster aid.

Governor of Hawaii Josh Green has said at least 1,000 hotel rooms will be set aside.

In addition, Airbnb said its non-profit wing will provide properties for 1,000 people.

The governor also has vowed to protect local landowners from being victimised by opportunistic buyers.

Mr Green has instructed the state attorney general to work toward a moratorium on land transactions in Lahaina, even as he acknowledged that would likely face legal challenges.

Since the flames consumed much of Lahaina more than a week ago, locals have feared a rebuilt town could become even more oriented toward wealthy visitors.

The cause of the wildfires is under investigation, but Hawaii is increasingly at risk from disasters, with wildfire rising fastest, according to an AP analysis of FEMA records.
The tension between NSW police and rappers largely based in western Sydney has been reignited following the cancellation of two upcoming shows by The 046, a group of four rappers from the citys southwest.

The 046 was set to perform at Wollongongs UniBar on August 19, and Sydneys Oxford Art Factory on August 25, as part of their national Rhythm & Gutta Tour.

Members of Western Sydney hip hop group, 046. The group has cancelled shows in Sydney and Wollongong following police advice to venues.

Both shows have since been cancelled after venues received advice from NSW police regarding the need for additional security and an increased police presence.

Due to reasons beyond our control, our upcoming Sydney and Wollongong shows have been cancelled due to NSW police putting additional security costs to the point where we would be losing significant money by going ahead with the show, the band said in a statement.
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 Matt Okine is ready for the haters. The fact of the matter is we didnt tape over the originals, he says. They still exist. And they are still brilliant. And people can absolutely, and I suggest should, go and watch them. Hes talking about his highly anticipated reboot of the beloved Australian sitcom Mother and Son  a show thats either a canny update or a waste of space, depending on who you believe online. Denise Scott and Matt Okine as the new Maggie and Arthur in the reboot of Mother and Son. Were not trying to be better than the original. Were trying to make a different show from a seed that was grown from the same tree, says Okine, the writer and comedian who is the driving creative force behind the reboot. So bring it on [the criticism]. Were not doing a disservice to the original and I think a lot of people can, and will, like both. The original, which ran from 1984 to 1994, starred Garry McDonald and Ruth Cracknell as Arthur and Maggie, who lived together after the collapse of Arthurs marriage. She was constantly meddling in Arthurs business, while his philandering brother Robbie (a superb Henri Szeps) was always side-stepping any responsibility for his elderly mother. Constant re-runs made it a viewer favourite and you can bet most people who watched it can clearly hear Cracknells voice in their head as Maggie says, I say, Arthur. Ruth Cracknell and Garry McDonald as the original Maggie and Arthur in Mother and Son. In the reboot, Okine plays Arthur, an aimless sad sack who is trying to launch a website, while stand-up comedian Denise Scott plays Maggie, who met her late husband Leo while protesting in Ghana in the 1960s and wafts about the house in kaftans. The biggest tweak is to the role of Robbie, who is now Arthurs older sister (played by Angela Nica Sullen) and married to the disapproving Liz (Virginia Gay).

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When the series premieres next week, it also comes with added poignancy  Scott was diagnosed with breast cancer a couple of weeks before shooting began in Padstow, in Sydneys south-west. The 68-year-old underwent chemotherapy while filming  and still has surgery, radiation and more chemotherapy to come but says the prognosis is good  but she was determined to see it through. Denise Scott was diagnosed with breast cancer just before filming started. Of all the times  because Ive waited, really, my whole career to be in a show where Im the lead, the co-lead along with Matt, its a stand-up comics dream  my ego just went, Finally, yes! says Scott. And then to be diagnosed with breast cancer and doing full-on chemo! It was really quite ironic  finally, Im in a show where Im in every scene, virtually 12-hour days, and I get to dance and sing and I get to be drunk, to be angry, and I get to be sad, I get to be everything and travelling alongside that, having cancer. It was full on. So why reboot a classic  why not make something new without the baggage? Its a question that was also posed by Geoffrey Atherden, who created the original and who Okine had to seek approval from to get the reboot off the ground. Look, I just wanted people to have to change their way of thinking, says Okine. One of the first things that Geoffrey asked me when we met for the first time was, Why dont you just make a show thats like this, but call it something different? And I really wanted to make sure that this was Mother and Son because I wanted to give a really good snapshot of how our life has changed from 1983 to 2023.

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And people think its just a cultural difference, thats part of it  some households and families might look different now than they did in 1983, often they dont  but so much has changed since Arthur and Maggie lived together in 1983. The Maggie that we have now grew up during a sexual revolution, shes a different person. Her attitude to work is different. Her attitude to being a mother is different. Her attitude to ageing is different. Arthurs attitude to living with his mother is different. Theres so much that has changed that I get frustrated when people think this is just a diversity grab. And what frustrates me the most is that I dont think the haters realise I am behind it, that it was my idea. They think someone wanted to remake Mother and Son and just threw a brown guy in there to try and be diverse. So when theyre saying, Oh, this is ridiculous, you know, its a diversity grab, what youre actually doing is just offending who I am and what my house looks like. Its a really ignorant criticism. As for Scott, did she ever think twice about doing it? To be honest, when I look back, I think I was in such shock, she says. Because [the diagnosis] was two and a half weeks before I was due to move to Sydney and start on the show. And the sort of breast cancer Ive got  its HER2-positive breast cancer  it means you have to start chemo within days, you cant muck around.

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And Im thinking, But Ive got to move to Sydney, Ive got to do this. I really didnt know what to do. And to not do it meant a whole production was going to be shut down for at least a while. And it occurred to me, I didnt know when I would be able to do it. And a bit of me did think, F--- it, Ive waited my whole career for this, Im going to try and do this. Her oncologists in Sydney and Melbourne  while giving her a look that said, You are crazy, says Scott, laughing  gave her the go-ahead, so she sallied forth, using body doubles when she needed to and resting as much as possible between takes. Loading It became an almost meditative exercise, says Scott. I dont know how else to describe it, but I would do nothing if the camera wasnt rolling. I would just sit and conserve everything I had so when the camera rolled I could do it and then resume sitting. Imagine how much fun it was for Matt! There was no fun banter. For Okine, who always had Scott in mind for Maggie, the experience only deepened their relationship, on and off-screen. My mum died of cancer as well, says Okine. So there was always that fear in the back of my mind. Im fully aware that things can go bad quite quickly. There was never a day where I thought its all going to be OK. And I dont mean in just the show sense, for her health. Shows come and go, but theres only one Denise. Mother and Son premieres on the ABC on August 23 at 8.30pm. The original Mother and Son can be streamed on Stan and ABC iview.
Standing in front of the shelves of male toiletries at the supermarket, there is an unambiguous image at play: masculinity in Australia is about power and strength.

I thought, naively, that we had left behind these images of the singlet-wearing Aussie bloke who proudly crushes empty cans of beer with one hand and communicates in monosyllables, but it seems not. Real men sweat, and they need toiletries befitting the image.

The tradie stereotype has a stronghold when it comes to male toiletries. Credit: Louise Kennerley

It seems male toiletries are either intent on meeting what is arguably an outdated standard of what being an Australian male looks like, or are constructing an image of what they believe masculinity should look like.

Take, for example, Tradie Stallion Deodorant Body Spray. It comes in the kind of black can that could contain paint thinners. Nothing sissy about this, it says. Tradies are the personification of real men doing real work, the peak of masculinity.
Concerned doctors at the Sydney Childrens Hospital at Randwick say a NSW government decision to only perform cardiac bypass procedures at Westmead will deprive their hospital of the ability to offer life-saving procedures and put patients at risk.

Health Minister Ryan Park wrote to staff at the end of July informing them of his decision to allow only low complexity surgeries at the hospital, while high complexity heart surgeries  including cardiac bypass  would only be performed at the Sydney Childrens Hospital at Westmead.

Doctors at the Sydney Childrens Hospital at Randwick have raised concerns about a decision to only perform cardiac bypass procedures at Westmead. Credit: Isabella Porras

In response, the hospitals medical staff council wrote a letter to Park saying they were extremely saddened by the decision to strip Randwick of its ability to perform heart surgeries on paediatric patients and further concentrate resources at Westmead.

Cardiac bypass surgery is rare, and the procedure has not been performed at Randwick in two and a half years.
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 Ian Cady is used to people disliking his suburb. Even former premier Dominic Perrottet memorably singled it out for criticism, saying the best thing about Zetland is that it eventually ends. Cady, who like Perrottet grew up in Pennant Hills, understands the impulse. Friends who dont know the place, who know it from [driving past on] the freeway, speak quite negatively of it, he says. But then when they come over, theyre kind of surprised how nice it is. Zetland and Waterloo are the heart of what City of Sydney council calls the Green Square urban renewal area, a multi-decade project to build Sydneys highest density residential precinct over 278 hectares of former industrial land. Anyone who has driven from Sydney Airport on Southern Cross Drive to the city over the past 20 years will have noticed the dramatic transformation from old car yards to high-rise housing. By the citys latest estimate, 36,000 people live in Green Square, and by 2036, it will be as high as 70,000. The project was started by the state government, but it has become the City of Sydneys baby, and indeed Lord Mayor Clover Moores legacy. Her overriding goal was to make a sustainable, walkable, beautiful urban village; to show Sydney that density done well is possible. But did she succeed? Now that this megaproject is roughly two thirds complete, is it working out? And what lessons are in it for Sydney, which Premier Chris Minns says must build up, not out? Weve done it despite the state, really, rather than because of it: Lord Mayor Clover Moore in Green Square. Credit: Janie Barrett

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A recent survey of 2000 Green Square residents conducted for the UNSW City Futures Research Centre found 79 per cent agreed it was a good place to live, though that was lower than in prior years. Seventy per cent of households with children said it was a good place to raise a family. Proximity to the CBD and public transport is Green Squares main drawcard, and people like the parks and green spaces. None more so than the jewel in the crown, Gunyama Park Aquatic and Recreation Centre, which opened in the heart of Zetland in early 2021. Waterloo resident Ellen Smith, 33, says the facility has been an absolute game changer during her second round of maternity leave. It has a really accessible creche, she says. I can put my kids in for an hour a day and do a workout. Its a real hub for our community. The most common gripes expressed by Green Square residents in the survey were the impact of construction, followed by the areas density. They also wanted greater opportunity for neighbourhood socialising, including restaurants, cafes and bars, and more nightlife. A map of the Green Square urban renewal area, which runs from Waterloo in the north to Beaconsfield and parts of Rosebery in the south. Credit: City of Sydney Smith says she goes to Surry Hills or Redfern for restaurants and Erskineville for the pubs. But she and Cady both believe local amenities will keep improving as more people move in. There were signs of that happening when the Herald walked around Green Square on a Wednesday night in August, with people dancing to live music at the library bar, Noun, which does Brazilian Wednesdays and salsa Sundays. Restaurants in the East Village shopping centre in Zetland were lively, as were the Asian restaurants that line Gadigal Avenue.

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Theres starting to be restaurants and pubs in those precincts, says the City of Sydneys planning director Graham Jahn. Its a slow burn, and it takes time for those uses to catch on. Youve got to make sure the space is there [so] when theyre ready to come, theres somewhere for them to go. The councils chief operating officer Kim Woodbury adds that there are many cool bars in nearby Alexandria, probably the trendiest bars in Sydney. Yullis Brews, a brewery in nearby Alexandria. The industrial precinct is becoming a location for hospitality. Credit: Cole Bennets Grand designs

Moore and Jahn are most proud of the way they have managed space in Green Square. While it is dense, it doesnt feel that way, largely because the buildings are spaced out and setback from the streets. That lets a lot of sunlight into the precinct, but means it loses the compact village vibe of Surry Hills or Newtown. Green Square was the brainchild of the Carr Labor government, and was originally in the remit of the South Sydney Development Corporation, established by then planning and housing minister Craig Knowles in 1996. The City of Sydney took control of planning and infrastructure delivery in 2006, describing the project as virtually moribund. Landcom and Mirvac said they needed more density to make it financially viable, and Moore, early in her mayoral career, acquiesced  though she was hesitant.

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The entrance to Green Square library. It won a prize for public architecture from the Australian Institute of Architects in 2019. Credit: Janie Barrett We had to pay in advance for all the facilities and public works, and then recoup it from developers as we negotiated each development, she says. It was quite complex and really challenging. Moore is highly critical of the early parts of Green Square, north of Lachlan Street, planned by Landcom with Meriton. But she believes even Meritons billionaire founder Harry Triguboff has come leaps and bounds on quality design; she is full of praise for the developers forthcoming project on the former Suttons car yard site in Zetland. Its fantastic, isnt it? Its sustainable, recyclable water, affordable housing, car share. And so it should be, Moore says. He [Triguboff] has come on a journey with us, and its great. Meritons proposal for about 800 apartments on the Suttons site recently attracted significant opposition from neighbours across Southern Cross Drive in Kensington because of layout changes that will allow a 25-storey tower. Dogs on the Drying Green in Green Square, with Crown Groups Infinity building behind. Credit: Janiet Barrett The City of Sydney approved the plans in June. Moore said it was absolutely extraordinary for Kensington residents to start complaining now given how long Green Square had been underway.

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When we started and those developments started going up along South Dowling Street, Id look over at Kensington  theyre all two storey houses  and think, Whats Kensington going to think? she said. We havent heard a peep from Kensington until the Suttons [site]. It was very, very strange. I think it was whipped up by some Greens pre-election. Plenty more development is yet to take place. A new primary school, jointly funded by the state government and the council, is being built in the heart of Green Square. More residential and commercial buildings will soon go up near the library, and Deicorp last year bought a 28,000 square metre site, with planning approval for eight towers, next to the aquatic centre. Meanwhile, a 1.7 hectare property on ODea Avenue is back on the market following the collapse of Crown Group, developer of the Koichi Takada-designed Infinity building near Green Square station. Lord Mayor Clover Moore and City of Sydney senior design manager Chris McBride at Green Square Library. Credit: Janie Barrett The council has to date spent $700 million on public infrastructure at Green Square. Its insistence on design excellence has been recognised with a bundle of honours. The library and plaza claimed prizes for public architecture and urban design at the Australian Institute of Architects national awards in 2019, when the project caught the attention of judges for preserving breathing space in the dense area. The aquatic centre was recognised for public architecture at the institutes awards in 2021. Transport woes

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Students have been caught cheating their way into the University of Sydney using fake high school diplomas and English language tests, prompting the institution to consider stricter intake rules for Chinese nationals.

An internal report has revealed a surge in fraudulent admissions at the university in 2022, when more than 250 prospective or enrolled students were found to have provided fake applications, up from just 15 detections in 2021. There have been 64 cases detected so far in 2023.

The University of Sydney detected a surge in fraudulent admissions last year, stemming mostly from Chinese international students. Credit: Peter Braig

The rise in detected fraud was typically connected to Chinese residents or those of a Chinese background, according to the university report.

A substantial chunk of the cases was linked to a scam involving fake high school diplomas from the Canadian province of Ontario, the report said, while there was also an increase in fake English language tests detected.
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 This story is part of the August 19 Edition of Good Weekend. See all 14 stories .

Warning: this article contains graphic content. Bridget. Bridget. Dinner is ready. Bridgets mother raises her voice above the din around the family dinner table. Her 15-year-old is locked in her bedroom, ignoring the plea to join the rest of the family. But what Bridgets mother doesnt know is that, on the other side of that bedroom door, her smart, kind and sassy daughter is naked, tears trickling down her cheeks as she performs sex acts on herself, in full view of her laptop camera. Her tormentor is online. He is issuing directions. Do this. Do that. You dont want your parents to know about this, or the whole world, do you? She knows this because he told her last night, and the night before, that if she doesnt acquiesce, use her school ruler in this way and her hand in that way, what shes now doing will be plastered all over the web. This crime of sextortion, a combination of the words sex and extortion where a victim is blackmailed to pay their attacker in one of two ways  with more-detailed sexual content or with money  has reached epidemic proportions, fuelled by both serious sex offenders and organised scammers targeting the most vulnerable. Up to 70 per cent of all new online sexual content police investigators are seeing is victim-produced, and much of it follows the same script. A child produces content for an adult who has tricked them into thinking they are a celebrity or influencer or someone just like them. The adult abuser then sextorts or bribes the child for more lewd content, or money delivered as gift cards, cryptocurrency, vouchers or online gaming credits. In Australia, according to eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, 75 per cent of those cases where the abuser is after more sexual content will involve tween and teen female victims. In those cases where offenders are chasing money  financial sextortion  teen boys are overwhelmingly being targeted. While most male victims are between 15 and 24 years of age, some are as young as 10. In at least one case, a teen handed over $10,000 to his tormentors. Across both forms of sextortion, the victims are often vulnerable boys and girls, looking for connection. Loading

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Teen victims feel trapped, unable to tell their parents about their initial bad decisions to trust a person masquerading as someone else and to provide that first image. They find themselves doing more and more on the orders of their tormentor. They make more videos, or they send the money demanded  and their persecutors then insist on even more because they know their victim can get it. The victims are everywhere: in small, remote outposts and big cities in Australia, and all over the rest of the world. In many cases, when investigators find the online content, they cannot find the victim; they are not sure where he or she might live. Australia receives many of its tips about online sex abuse from the Virginia-based National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). Thats because US laws oblige tech providers to report suspicious online child abuse activities, including sextortion, to the centre. Michelle DeLaune is NCMECs president and CEO. She provides this real-life example to highlight the speed with which teens, especially boys, are being trapped. Lets call this teen boy Tom. 8.07pm: Offender makes initial contact with Tom, who is a teenager. 10.07pm: Tom shares sexually explicit imagery. 10.23pm: Offender sends blackmail message, threatening he will release imagery unless Tom pays money. Two hours later, Tom expresses suicidal ideation and stops messaging. A few hours later, the offender contacts Toms girlfriend, shares the images and asks if she knows him. She responds that its her boyfriend and asks when the picture was taken. The offender says he will ruin her boyfriends life with the picture. 12.03pm: Only 16 hours after the initial contact, the girlfriend responds that her boyfriend has killed himself.

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DeLaune says such bribery attempts tend to quickly follow a teens decision to provide an image. And its very aggressive, she says. It can happen in a matter of minutes, from the moment that a photograph is sent until the blackmail. Outside the bedroom doors of so many teens like Bridget and Tom, parents are lost. Why has their happy, gregarious teen become so withdrawn? Why are they refusing to attend school? Why arent they eating? Educators, too, are finding more and more of the school day being taken up with what they see as a new, industrial-scale crime targeting tweens and teens. A multitude of platforms, including Facebook, Skype, Kik, Tinychat, Omegle, Wattpad and Snapchat, are being used. Its not a matter of if, its when your child will be contacted by a paedophile online. Susan McLean, former Victorian police officer And what worries Susan McLean, a former Victorian police officer of 27 years, is that the reported figures are just a microscopic indicator of how big the problem is. She believes less than a quarter of targeted minors alert authorities, an estimate that is widely supported. The risk is enormous, she says. Its not a matter of if, its when your children will be contacted by a paedophile online. McLean, who now educates parents, teachers and students about cyber safety, says every image will come from a bedroom or a bathroom: And they are the two places that digital devices and cameras should never, ever be allowed. I see what happens and none of these kids who are being extorted are anywhere other than there. Detective Inspector Jon Rouse, who recently announced his retirement from the Queensland police force after three decades of globally recognised work with his Taskforce Argos team, just shakes his head at the rise of sextortion. If youve seen what Ive seen, you would not allow your child to take their phone into their bedroom, he says firmly. Sextortion is now the number one issue for online child sex crime fighters, and it is close to rivalling online bullying in schools. Indeed, it is now becoming so common that its splitting investigative resources dedicated to other serious online child sex abuse. Up to a million users or members are believed to have joined clubs hidden deep inside the world wide web to trade and chat about child sex abuse.

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So how is someone like Bridget or Tom drawn in to the point where they will remove their clothes and take orders from a stranger who might be in Africa or Europe or the US? The answer is grooming. This is the first step in a child being extorted, and it simply means that the paedophile or scammer makes contact with a child and befriends them. Lets take the case of a teen girl  because this script is playing out, repeatedly, across Australia today. Loading Jon Rouse says at first, the perpetrator might spam 100 kids in the hope that maybe five or 10 or even one or two will engage with them. Theyll choose those with accessible friends lists on any of a dozen or so social media platforms, so they can claim to know other people their target knows, and they will try to befriend several of them in case they need to point to mutual friends as part of their fake story. Most times this is not a difficult task for the perpetrator. A big proportion of tweens and teens have publicly accessible friendship lists, and it is uncommon  in many of their circles, its almost improper  to turn down a friend request from someone who says they know someone who knows someone else. In the case of a teen boy, the photograph of an attractive girl might pop up in the same way, and after a vague, Hi, we know a few of the same people, they click as online friends. Then, with a connection made, they start talking online. Often, the groomer will talk about popular bands and use language that mirrors that of their prey. Theyll find common interests and build trust. In real life, the new connection is not Gracie, a 15-year-old from Melbourne, or Bill, who goes to a private school in the same city. It might be a 52-year-old male in the United States with a family in the next room, a convicted paedophile in Europe looking for a new target, or a 45-year-old teacher in Asia with a decade-long criminal secret. What is consistent, though, is

that it will be a fake profile, and almost always, in the online space, the offender will be male  irrespective of whether their targets are teen boys or girls. Its natural to be curious, especially when tween girls believe they are talking to another tween girl. The talk will be teen talk. Often, it will touch on body parts and the idea of having sex. Its natural to be curious, especially when tween girls believe they are talking to another tween girl about what sex might be like, or how her breasts are oddly shaped. Boys, often excited that a girl  who is really an adult male predator  has shown interest in him and wants to show him her breasts, will consider reciprocating.

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Perpetrator: Have u ever had sex? Girl: I soo so so wish I could have sex it sound so jucy [sic] but weird. With the conversation ongoing and the grooming complete, the fake profile then moves to stage two: convincing his prey to send a naked photograph or even a video. Often, he will suggest they talk somewhere else, on another platform  one that, as it happens, also allows videos to be passed back and forth, and where images can be freely swapped. As they chat, the online predator, masquerading as a peer, might send a photo of a young girls breasts, claiming they belong to him; or a photo of a penis  it all depends on who he is targeting. Once his prey has been groomed and holds no suspicions about their new online friend, hell ask: Why dont you send me something. Well be even then, and no one will ever know. Loading A boy might send what is widely known as a dick pic, believing it is being received by the cute girl he is now considering meeting; his school formal is next year, so perhaps he could ask her to that, too. Similarly, a girl might think shes chatting with a new peer friend. How refreshing to be able to talk to someone about this stuff, she thinks. See, mine are smaller than yours, she might caption a photo, sent from the privacy of her bedroom. As the chat goes on, she might even provide more intimate content. And this is the point where the disguised predator catches his prey. He might keep the ruse going for a bit longer, to get a close-up, or more detail, or a movie. I want to see more of you, he might say, or, I like your body. But he doesnt really need anything else. He has a photograph and/or video of a young Australian tween or teen, male or female. And that will be the basis of his blackmail. In some instances, offenders doctor images to make the victim appear to be in an even more compromising position.

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Police have arrested four people  including members of the Finks motorcycle gang  in a series of raids over a string of firebombing attacks on tobacco and vape stores across Melbourne and regional Victoria.

The Age can also reveal detectives are examining links between the recent spate of arson attacks and the execution murder of notorious gangland figure Mohammed Akbar Keshtiar in South Yarra earlier this month, according to a legal source familiar with the investigation but not authorised to speak publicly.

Keshtiar  known as Afghan Ali  died in hospital after being shot multiple times on August 4 while walking along Almeida Crescent with an associate after a training session at a nearby gym. Keshtiar had become a major player in the illicit tobacco trade before his murder.

Officers from the arson and anti-gang squads swooped on a series of properties in Heidelberg, Kilmore, Flemington, Derrimut, Broadmeadows, Pascoe Vale and Glenroy on Friday morning, and arrested four people believed to be connected to the tit-for-tat arson attacks.
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, right, looks around a hillside park in Seoul's Sillim district, Friday, the day after a man assaulted and raped a woman there. Yonhap



The 30-year-old man accused of assaulting and raping a woman on a hiking trail in Seoul has said he used two brass knuckles when beating her, police officials said Friday.



The suspect surnamed Choi was put under police custody the previous day shortly after he allegedly beat and raped the victim he randomly picked on a hillside trail in the Sillim district in southwestern Seoul at 12:10 p.m.



The woman was immediately transported to a hospital but remains unconscious.



The suspect told police the previous day that he "wore brass knuckles on both hands and assaulted the victim," police officials said.



He also admitted to assault and rape charges, the officials said, quoting him as saying, "I committed the crime because I wanted to rape."



According to officials, Choi arrived at the hillside park about an hour before the crime and looked for a victim. "I chose the place for a crime because I went there often and knew it has no CCTV cameras," police quoted Choi as saying.



Alcohol and drug tests conducted on him the previous day were negative.



Police sought a warrant Friday to formally arrest him on charges of rape and assault, while an inspection is under way into his medical and mobile phone records to determine whether he has medical history of mental illness. (Yonhap)


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 They stand largely empty, hiding in plain sight, their little-used classrooms scattered through office buildings all over Melbournes CBD. In the exploding foreign education industry, they call them ghost colleges. There are often several in lower-price office blocks. At 190 Queen Street, there are 20 different colleges where students can choose from 200 different courses. Stand out the front of that Queen Street office tower, though, and you wont see many students coming and going. In the foyer of some buildings, handwritten signs point students to the institute or academy within, offering training. Yet months of visits to many of these colleges found a near total absence of students. At some, the lights werent even on. On paper, this burgeoning industry is providing tens of thousands of international students with an education  particularly students from India and Nepal. In reality, many of the colleges are near deserted. Some dont expect students to turn up, noting that the law does not require them to enforce attendance and pointing to other similarly deserted colleges. After a law change in July, students are limited to online learning for a maximum of one-third of their classes  the rest must be done in person. So where are they?

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University of Sydney academic Salvatore Babones says they are likely at work  as these supposed students had always intended to be. They are not genuinely studying. They are simply overpaying for a work visa, he said. Loading Last year, Babones published a book on Australias incredible international student growth and argues that in some cases, the countrys student visa is really playing the part of a low-skill work visa and has become a money spinner for education providers. If Australia wants to import low-skill labour from South Asia, it should do it in an honest way, Babones said. Charge a reasonable visa fee and admit them to work. Experts such as Babones say the explosion in international student numbers has made a mockery of both our education and immigration systems. This year, Australia hit half-a-million international students arriving a year for the first time.

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A decade ago, Australia welcomed 32,000 international students and their families from India and Nepal. By June this year, that had risen to 143,000. China went from 54,000 a decade ago to 99,000 this year. The growth this year from India alone has been ferocious: applications for tertiary education jumped from 3000 a month in March to 8000 by June. Babones argues that while most students willingly enrol at training colleges that did not necessarily require attendance, they were still victims. Their visas, which are in effect work visas, nonetheless require them to subsidise Australian universities and colleges under the pretence that they are actually here to study. Salvatore Babones says while most students willingly enrol at training colleges that did not necessarily require attendance, they were still victims. Credit: Steven Siewert The unprecedented boom in students from India, Nepal and China has led to the proliferation of ghost colleges across Melbournes city centre where there are just under 300 private vocational colleges. On Queen Street alone, there are 70 private colleges registered with the federal government. There are now so many colleges that other education providers who do expect their students to attend are struggling to compete. If you put pressure on students to attend, they switch to a college where there wont be pressure and they can work, said Rajeev Minhas, who runs a reputable college training students in automotive mechanics. Both cookery and auto mechanics are popular certificate courses right now because they offer a pathway to permanent residency.

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Minhas has been in the vocational education sector since 2007 when, he says, colleges were able to compel students to attend classes. Now, it was near impossible to compete against colleges that offered the same course but did not expect students to show up, he said. Home Affairs Minister Clare ONeil is well aware of the issues surrounding international education, with a spokesman saying the federal government has inherited a migration system shot-through with rorts and completely failing to deliver for our national interest, for local workers or for people coming to this country. Minister for Home Affairs Clare ONeil. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen A new migration strategy will be released later this year which will attempt to address issues in international education. These have been publicly highlighted both by a parliamentary inquiry that began this year and is due to report soon, and by former Victoria Police chief commissioner Christine Nixons review of the immigration system  prompted by reporting late last year by The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and 60 Minutes. Weeding out the disreputable providers and [education] agents is going to take determination and tough decisions, said federal Labor MP Julian Hill, who is on the inquiry and is the former head of international education for the Victorian government. Hill says many vocational colleges offer high-quality teaching to a diversity of students and make a critical contribution to skills shortages plaguing the overheating economy in the post-pandemic recovery. But at the bottom end, the concerns raised by reputable providers are deeply worrying. There is unacceptable behaviour and manipulation of the migration system by some private vocational colleges and dodgy agents, he said.

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According to a government source not authorised to speak publicly, it is likely the federal government will implement reforms later this year including cracking down on onshore education agents, potentially making it more difficult for students to transfer between universities and colleges, and giving more resources and power to the Australian Skills Quality Authority and the universities regulator. The authority regulates private colleges and has three inspectors in Victoria who can make unannounced visits to colleges. It says on-the-ground inspectors are not required to assess whether a college is complying with the rules. We effectively target risks to quality [vocational colleges] and are not constrained by the site location of our staff, a statement from the authority said. Education agents make their living arranging visas for students to come to Australia. Global Reach agent Ravi Lochan Singh has recruited students to Australia for 32 years and says many who enrol in universities and then move to colleges are in reality workers  not students. He says some private colleges target university students to drop out of the degrees in favour of low-cost and highly flexible diplomas. This means that often, universities recruit students from their home country, especially India, and then lose thousands of them to the vocational sector. International Education Association of Australia chief executive Phil Honeywood has been heavily involved in previous attempts to better regulate education agents.

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This is discrimination against women, prominent surgeons say. They are campaigning for states where it is restricted, or considered cosmetic, to review elective surgery policies and restrictions on breast reduction, based on health evidence. Associate Professor Nicola Dean, president of the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons, said Medicare data shows demand has tripled in 20 years, but public hospital provision of breast reduction is declining. This amounts to arbitrary discrimination by state health systems, she said. Its one thing to have elective surgeries restricted by the available resources, but its a different thing to have it restricted by a specific policy which seems to embed a level of discrimination, she said.

Breast reduction is as potentially life and health-changing as other elective surgeries, including bariatric surgery (also known as a gastric bypass), or hip replacement, said Dean, and to limit its availability is neither fair nor evidence based. Restrictions on its provision leave women who cannot afford the $10,000 cost of private surgery in pain, and often experiencing poorer mental health. Recent Australian research also showed the surgery to be highly cost-effective, Dean said. The push comes after Flinders University research, published this week, found women with very large cup sizes were less likely to do high-intensity or group exercise, but those who had undergone breast reduction were able to participate in healthier lifestyle practises. Reduction has direct and indirect benefits on improving peoples health; pain levels improve almost straight after the surgery, but it also has the indirect effect of improving peoples fitness and health generally, she said.

Loading It probably also indirectly affects cardiovascular health because if you cant exercise, youre not going to have good cardiac health. David Morgan, specialist plastic surgeon and head of the Alfred Hospitals Maxillofacial Surgery Unit, said breast reduction surgery was considered cosmetic in the public system, meaning women have been largely precluded from even getting on waiting lists, let alone getting off waiting lists for it. We know it is not a cosmetic procedure, it is eminently functional, with significant psycho-social benefits, said Morgan, who also performs reduction surgeries. It is included on the MBS, which by definition means its functional.

That some states impose body mass index requirements before they will allow women to queue for it is also a harmful barrier, Morgan said, because giving them the ability to move more easily helps them exercise. Lili Pingiaro said her neck and back pain vanished, and her confidence and quality of life increased, after she had breast reduction surgery about eight weeks ago. Credit: Joe Armao It can be a self-perpetuating cycle: they cant lose the weight because of their heavy bust, so theyre not going to qualify on a weight issue alone ... if you do it [the surgery] at the beginning or early on in their weight loss journey, it encourages them continue, Morgan said. He agreed that state policies should be reviewed quickly, to improve fairness in the long term. Dean said she recognised backlogs due to the pandemic meant changes would take time to implement. Flinders University senior medical scientist Dr Tamara Crittenden said high-quality data showed the health improvements of bilateral breast reduction in women with hypertrophy (excessive breast tissue growth), as the condition carried a significant health burden across all areas.

These included physical function, bodily pain, general health and mental health and social function. We know it is not a cosmetic procedure, it is eminently functional. David Morgan, specialist plastic surgeon We found surgery was so effective it had removed the health deficits associated with this condition, and [after it] levels of quality of life were equivalent to women in the general population in all areas, she said. It showed the clinical effectiveness in removing often chronic pain also meant because the improvements were so dramatic, it was very cost-effective. Kate Johnston-Ataata, policy manager at Womens Health Victoria, said the Flinders University research supported other findings that women who undergo breast reduction report improved psychosocial wellbeing post-operatively.

Increasing access to breast reduction surgery will have important implications for improving the quality of life and mental health and wellbeing of women with larger breasts, she said. The findings regarding the impact of large breast size on exercise may be of particular importance for mature-aged women, as only half of women at this age are reported to be sufficiently active. The organisation supports Nicola Deans call for an immediate policy review in states where breast reduction is considered cosmetic or aesthetic, including Victoria. A spokesperson for the Victorian Department of Health said: We know that womens health has been under-diagnosed for too long  its why were providing significant funding to overhaul the way womens health issues are treated in Victoria. The department is building 20 womens health clinics across the state to give womens health issues the attention they deserve.
The Oxford-educated grand-niece of former Victorian premier Sir Rupert Dick Hamer is weighing a bid to be the Liberal candidate for Kooyong, as former treasurer Josh Frydenberg mulls a tricky call to win back the seat he once held.

Several senior Liberal sources  who, like others in this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity to detail tightly held plans  said Amelia Hamer, 30, had in recent weeks held discussions with local party members about a potential run.

Amelia Hamer would start as rank underdog should Josh Frydenberg, who now works in the private sector, return to the political fray. Credit: Eamon Gallagher, Instagram

However, she has not made a final decision to nominate for the inner-eastern Melbourne seat that the party had held from its inception until it was caught up in the teal wave at the 2022 election, when independent Dr Monique Ryan ousted Frydenberg.

Hamer would start as rank underdog should Frydenberg, who now works in the private sector, return to the political fray. While some associates of Frydenberg believe he will run, he has told some friends he is more likely not to despite the urging of many local Liberals for another tilt.
London: A British nurse who wrote a note stating I am evil was found guilty on Friday of murdering seven newborn babies and trying to kill another six in the neonatal unit of a hospital in north-west England where she worked.

Lucy Letby, 33, was convicted of killing five baby boys and two baby girls at the Countess of Chester hospital and attacking other newborns, often while working night shifts, in 2015 and 2016.

Lucy Letby being taken in custody by police in Chester, near Liverpool. Credit: Reuters

The verdict, following a 10-month trial at Manchester Crown Court, makes Letby one of Britains most prolific serial child killers. She was found not guilty of two attempted murders while the jury was unable to agree on six other suspected attacks.

Prosecutors told the jury during the trial that Letby poisoned some of her infant victims by injecting them with insulin, while others were injected with air or force-fed milk, sometimes involving multiple attacks before they died.
An extremely rare collection of 160-million-year-old sea spider fossils from Southern France are closely related to living species, unlike older fossils of their kind.

These fossils are very important to understand the evolution of sea spiders. They show that the diversity of sea spiders that still exist today had already started to form by the Jurassic.

Lead author Dr Romain Sabroux from the University of Bristols School of Earth Sciences, said: Sea spiders (Pycnogonida), are a group of marine animals that is overall very poorly studied.

However, they are very interesting to understand the evolution of arthropods [the group that includes insects, arachnids, crustaceans, centipedes and millipedes] as they appeared relatively early in the arthropod tree of life. Thats why we are interested in their evolution.

Sea spider fossils are very rare, but we know a few of them from different periods. One of the most remarkable fauna, by its diversity and its abundance, is the one of La Voulte-sur-Rhone that dates back to the Jurassic, some 160 million years ago.

Unlike older sea spider fossils, the La Voulte pycnogonids are morphologically similar (but not identical) to living species, and previous studies suggested they could be closely related to living sea spider families. But these hypotheses were restricted by the limitation of their observation means. As it was impossible to access what was hidden in the rock fossils, Dr Sabroux and his team travelled to Paris and set out to investigate this question with cutting-edge approaches.

Dr Sabroux explained: We used two methods to reinvestigate the morphology of the fossils: X-ray microtomography, to look inside the rock, find morphological features hidden inside and reconstruct a 3D model of the fossilised specimen; and Reflectance Transformation Imaging, a picture technic that relies on varied orientation of the light around the fossil to enhance the visibility of inconspicuous features on their surface.

From these new insights, we drew new morphological information to compare them with extant species, explained Dr Sabroux.

This confirmed that these fossils are close relatives to surviving pycnogonids. Two of these fossils belong to two living pycnogonid families: Colossopantopodus boissinensis was a Colossendeidae while another, Palaeoendeis elmii was an Endeidae. The third species, Palaeopycnogonides gracilis, seems to belong to a family that has disappeared today.

Today, by calculating the difference between the DNA sequences of a sample of species, and using DNA evolution models, we are able to estimate the timing of the evolution that bind these species together, added Dr Sabroux.

This is what we call a molecular clock analysis. But quite like a real clock, it needs to be calibrated. Basically, we need to tell the clock: we know that at that time, that group was already there. Thanks to our work, we now know that Colossendeidae, and Endeidae were already there by the Jurassic.

Now, the team can use these minimal ages as calibrations for the molecular clock, and investigate the timing of Pycnogonida evolution. This can help them understand, for example, how their diversity was impacted by the different biodiversity crises that distributes over the Earth history.

They also plan to investigate other pycnogonid fossil faunae such as the fauna of Hunsruck Slate, in Germany, which dates from the Devonian, some 400 million years ago.

With the same approach, they will aim to redescribe these species and understand their affinities with extant species; and finally, to replace in the tree of life of Pycnogonida all the pycnogonid fossils from all periods.

Dr Sabroux added: These fossils give us an insight of sea spiders living 160 million years ago.

This is very exciting when you have been working on the living pycnogonids for years.

It is fascinating how these pycnogonids look both very familiar, and very exotic. Familiar, because you can definitely recognize some of the families that still exist today, and exotic because of small differences like the size of the legs, the length of the body, and some other morphological characteristics that you do not find in modern species.

Now we look forward to the next fossil discoveries - from the Jurassic and other geological periods - so that we can complete the picture!

Paper:

New insights into the sea spider fauna (Arthropoda: Pycnogonida) of La Voulte-sur-Rhone, France (Jurassic: Callovian) by Romain Sabroux et al in Papers in Palaeontology.
New faculty member brings exclusive 3M award to UB

This award is a testament to Luis promise as an emerging scientist in his field. 

Luis R. De Jesus Baez, assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry, is UBs first recipient of a 3M Non-Tenure Faculty Award (NTFA).

The NTFA was created more than 25 years ago to encourage the pursuit of new ideas among tenure-track university professors. The awards, which include $45,000 in funding over three years, are given by 3M as part of the companys support of innovative research in higher education.

3M is very pleased to support Professor De Jesus Baez and his research at the University at Buffalo, said Darren Castro, 3M vice president for research and development, and NTFA committee chair. 3Ms NTFA program is designed to recognize outstanding faculty who are leading compelling research projects. The award is intended to support their research and, ultimately, help them achieve tenure.

We were thrilled to host Dr. De Jesus Baez and the other NTFA recipients at 3Ms corporate headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota, at the 2023 3M NTFA Symposium, where the awardees presented their work and had the opportunity to interact with 3Mers and other NTFA awardees, Castro said.

The awards are intended to provide support in the form of unrestricted research funds to assist non-tenured faculty who have demonstrated a prolific record in research and academic leadership. To be considered, faculty must be nominated by 3M scientists, fostering an on-going relationship with the company.

This award is a testament to Luis promise as an emerging scientist in his field, says Javid Rzayev, professor and chair of the Department of Chemistry. We are both lucky and proud to have Luis as the newest member of our faculty in the Department of Chemistry, and we will continue to support Luis on his scientific journey.

De Jesus Baez joined the UB chemistry faculty in 2022. His research interests include inorganic and solid-state materials synthesis of novel layered materials. He uses a combination of X-ray characterization techniques to study the fundamental changes that occur in solids when they are subjected to stress, strain and high entropy.

Prior to coming to UB, he served as a Provost Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2022, he was named a Scialog: Negative Emission Science Fellow and an NSF-AGEP Lighthouse Beacon Fellow.

It was a surreal moment when I received the notification of the (3M) award, says De Jesus Baez. This will truly support our efforts to understand new ways to tailor properties in solids.
By Preeti Singh



Barclays Plc named new executives to its top management in India, a major overseas market for the lender.

Pramod Kumar will be the new Chief Executive Officer, replacing Ram Gopal who is retiring after leading the bank in the country for nearly six years, according to people familiar with the matter. The British bank also hired Suneeta Shetty from HSBC Holdings Plc as its India Chief Operating Officer, the people said, asking not to be identified as the developments are not public yet.

These changes are happening in one of the most important overseas markets for Barclays. Among Barclays global units, India ranked fourth by revenue last year, trailing only the UK, US and Ireland. The firms turnover in India has more than tripled in almost 10 years, outshining the performance of other key markets in Asia like Singapore or Hong Kong. The India business, which also includes corporate and private banking, was more than twice the size of Singapores and Japans last year.





New Executives

Kumar joined Barclays almost 12 years ago and is currently its head of banking under its investment bank division in the country, according to his LinkedIn page. A Mumbai-based spokesperson for Barclays declined to comment, when asked by Bloomberg News about the management moves.

Also Read Barclays and Yes Bank raise India's inflation forecast as prices jump HSBC planning to add 30 private bankers in fresh India wealth push HSBC Holdings to buy Silicon Valley Bank's UK arm for 1 in tech repreive HSBC Holdings brushes aside Hong Kong investor's Asia spin-off proposal Widespread cereal shortages may further fuel India's inflation, says HSBC Abu Dhabi's TAQA is not in talks for $2.5 billion investment, says Adani Jio Financial Services set to be listed on stock exchanges on August 21 Corporate India's deal activity jumps 58% to $3.1 bn in Jul: Report NCLAT allows Go First lessor to conduct inspection, modifies NCLT order Abu Dhabi's TAQA may invest up to $2.5 bn in Adani's power units: Report

Shetty has been at HSBC for more than 17 years, her role as group head of transaction monitoring operations and center director at GSC Krakow in Poland being her most recent position, according to her LinkedIn page.

Barclayss Asia Pacific head Jaideep Khanna is based in the country, helping to maintain close ties with Indias growing ranks of corporate giants and wealthy. The banks revamped India team will have to grapple with intensifying competition from rivals such as HSBC and HDFC Bank Ltd., which are beefing up their local operations, as well as the turmoil surrounding a key client, the Adani group.

The management changes are also the latest in a series of moves made by the bank after several senior executives recently left.

Taranjit Jaswal, India head of corporate banking, has left the firm after eight years to pursue his entrepreneurial ambitions, Bloomberg News reported, citing a internal memo earlier this month. Sandeep Das, its head of private clients in the country, has also departed to pursue another opportunity, according to a separate memo. Earlier, Ashish Jhaveri, head of mergers and acquisitions for India, exited the bank to join Jefferies Financial Group Inc., people familiar with the matter had said.

Barclays hired Nitin Singh as its new private bank head in Asia, with the newly created role based in Mumbai and bringing the India and Singapore operations under him, according to a memo. Vijay Santhanam will take over as corporate banking head and Chintan Thattey was named head of Risk Solutions Group for the country.
Byjus has handed the pink slip to 100 employees in a fresh round of layoffs, post a performance review. However, according to a media report, the edtech company has sacked about 400 people.

As part of a periodical performance review, 100 individuals who did not meet expectations after a performance improvement plan, were let go with proper procedures, said the Byjus spokesperson.

He added, Please note, this measure is firmly rooted in performance-based considerations and is not in any way a cost-cutting endeavour.

Byjus also said that there are no fresh layoffs in the post-sale division.

In fact, during the past two months, as part of our commitment to augment this division, Byjus has recruited 200 new professionals, said the spokesperson.

Earlier this year, Byjus handed the pink slip to 900-1,000 employees in a fresh round of layoffs, according to media reports.

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However, sources in the company said the move was part of the optimisation strategy that the edtech giant had announced last year. This included sacking 2,500 workers.

Last year, Byjus laid off about 600 at its group companies  WhiteHat Jr and Toppr. It said this was a move to drive cost efficiency.

The new development comes at a time when Byjus appointed veteran Infosys HR leader Richard Lobo as exclusive advisor to help transform its HR function.

This strategic move underscores Byjus commitment to fortify its employee-centric culture.

Lobo joins Byjus after a 23-year stint at Infosys, where he held various leadership roles. Most recently, he served as its executive vice-president and head of human resource.

Lobos appointment comes at a time when Byjus, once the most-valuable edtech company, has been in the news for the wrong reasons. These include sacking employees, alleged harsh and abusive work culture. These also include due diligence and corporate governance issues, the inability to file financials, legal battles with lenders, challenges in raising fresh capital, and a markdown in its valuation by investors.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) recently scrutinised the financial disclosures of the edtech company due to a 22-month delay in the submission of its financial reports.

The ministry of corporate affairs has also initiated an inquiry against the company. This scrutiny may also bring the role of the auditor under question as Byjus is yet to file its results for 2021-22. Even the 2020-21 (FY21) results were delayed.

According to the latest available financial report, Byjus booked losses of Rs 4,588 crore in FY21. The losses were 19 times more than the preceding year. The firm earned Rs 2,428-crore revenue in FY21.

On July 22, Byjus auditor Deloitte Haskins & Sells resigned from its role as the company was delaying filing financial results.

Following the auditors resignation, the firms top-three investors  Prosus, Peak XV Partners, and Chang Zuckerberg Initiative representatives  also resigned.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Friday said the continued attacks on Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan navy shows the Union government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was "weak".

Chairing a fishermen's welfare conference here, he reiterated that retrieval of Katchatheevu, an island ceded to Sri Lanka by way of mutual agreements in 1974, was the permanent solution for the plaguing fishermen issue.

Stalin, who is the ruling DMK President, also said his father and late chief minister M Karunanidhi had provided a report that Katchatheevu belongs to India.

The Chief Minister's reference regarding the ceding of the island comes days after PM Modi said it was the Indira Gandhi government which gave the Katchatheevu Island to Sri Lanka in 1974.

Modi had also said the current DMK government in Tamil Nadu keeps writing to him urging to retrieve the island.

Stalin further alleged attacks on Indian fishermen from the state by the Lankan navy has increased during the current NDA regime.

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The conference condemned the harassment of and attacks on Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan navy.
India's space agency launched its homegrown Chandrayaan-3 moon mission from the southeastern island of Sriharikota at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on July 14 at 2:35 pm local time (09:05 GMT).

Built on a budget of just under Rs 615 crore, Chandrayaan  "moon vehicle" in Sanskrit  will attempt to land a rover on the Moon and establish India as a formidable force in space exploration.

As the spacecraft is headed towards the Moon, here are ten facts that you might not have known about it:

1. Chandrayaan-3 is the third Moon exploration project undertaken by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), and commenced from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre located in Sriharikota, India.

2. The lunar mission is expected to incorporate several improvements based on the lessons learnt from the Chandrayaan-2 voyage.





Also Read: Chandrayaan-3: Vikram Lander successfully separates from propulsion module 3. Chandrayaan-3 is looking to achieve a groundbreaking feat as the first mission to softly land in close proximity to the lunar south pole, unlike all previous spacecraft that landed a few degrees north or south of the lunar equator.

4. Chandrayaan-3 features a Lander Module (LM), a Propulsion Module (PM), and a rover. The LM will facilitate a soft lunar landing, while the PM will handle propulsion and control. The rover's job will be to explore the lunar surface and collect scientific data.

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5. The lander and rover are specifically designed to function for a single lunar daylight period. This is equivalent to approximately 14 Earth days.

6. In homage to the celebrated Indian scientist Vikram Sarabhai, the lander for the Chandrayaan-3 mission is named "Vikram."

7. The rover accompanying the Chandrayaan-3 mission is aptly named "Pragyan," derived from the Sanskrit word meaning "wisdom."

8. Chandrayaan-3 marks the fourth mission of the GSLV Mk III or LVM3 rocket, which will be responsible for taking the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft weighing 3,900 kg (3.9 tonnes) to the Moon.





Also Read: Latest LIVE: Vikram lander to be deboosted today, to get closer to Moon 9. Chandrayaan-3 aims to explore the lunar surface, conduct scientific experiments, and gather valuable data to enhance our understanding of the Moon's geology and its evolution.

10. To date, only three countries have successfully achieved lunar landings  the United States, the former Soviet Union, and China. India is aiming to be the fourth.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, speaks to reporters in front of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office, Aug. 18. Yonhap



Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung returned home early Friday after more than 13 hours of questioning by prosecutors over suspicions surrounding a land development project in Seongnam, located just south of Seoul, during his previous term as the city's mayor.



Lee of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is facing allegations that he facilitated business favors for a private developer in connection with a property development project in Seongnam's Baekhyeon-dong district during his term as mayor in the mid-2010s.



The so-called Baekhyeon-dong scandal centers on allegations that the municipal government of Seongnam gave special treatment to the private developer, named Seongnam RD PFV, in connection with the project to develop the former site of the Korea Food Research Institute in the district into apartment complexes between 2015 and 2016. The firm allegedly earned windfall profits of 318.5 billion won ($237.4 million) as a private partner of the project.



Lee emerged from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office shortly after midnight, about 13 hours after he presented himself before prosecutors for questioning.



About 10 DP lawmakers, including members of the party's supreme council Reps. Jung Chung-rai and Seo Young-kyo, and other supporters cheered as Lee waved his hand and gave them a thumbs-up.



"This is a matter that could not constitute a problem if objective facts were considered, but I cannot shake off the impression that prosecutors had a preset goal and tried to patch together facts and incidents accordingly," Lee told reporters.



Prosecutors plan to review whether to seek an arrest warrant for Lee in consideration of the gravity of the case and the outcome of the questioning. (Yonhap)


An organised cyberattack campaign by hacktivists targeted more than a 1,000 Indian websites during the countrys Independence Day celebrations, said a report on Friday.

The campaign was driven by political and religious motives and targeted websites and digital infrastructure across sectors that included government departments, education, BFSI (banking, financial services, and insurance), and small businesses, said the report by CloudSEK, a digital risk management company.

Government and BFSI sectors bore the brunt of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, which work by directing high volumes of internet traffic towards targeted servers. Education and small businesses suffered bulk defacement attacks that typically alter the appearance of a website or web page and access panel takeovers whereby cyber criminals take ownership of online accounts.

The campaign by hacktivist groups in various countries used DDoS attacks, defacement, and user account takeovers under hashtag 'OpIndia', said CloudSEK.

Hacktivism, a form of cyberattack carried out in support of a social cause, is becoming a proxy for state-sponsored cyberattacks. Hacktivists use their technical skills and cyber tools to protest and raise awareness about causes they support. Hacktivist attacks increased during the first quarter of 2023 and India was their primary target. Israel, Poland, Australia, and Pakistan were other major targets.

Despite their current limitations, these (hacktivist) groups could become a significant threat to countries in the near future. The rise in collaboration and easy access to attack tools and data, combined with potential support from state-sponsored hackers, might amplify their impact, said Abhinav Pandey, cyber threat researcher at CloudSEK.

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Hacktivist groups in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and other nations targeted Indian websites, but CloudSEK's research indicated that claims of DDoS attacks and user account takeovers were exaggerated for attention and fame. These claims, often made in internal communication channels, have not been fully verified by CloudSEK.

On popular days, like Independence Day, hacktivists resort to such activities to gain fame or spread propaganda. On most occasions, it is also done for scare mongering and spread of misinformation, said the report.

CloudSEK said hacktivist groups used methods like using open-source HTTP flooding tools and proxy services to temporarily overwhelm website servers in DDoS-like scenarios. Other methods were sourcing compromised credentials from publicly available information and exploiting websites with weak security.

CloudSEK said it has informed all organisations and companies in India targeted by hacktivists.
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Shares of Gautam Adani group companies were in focus and rallied up to 12 per cent backed by heavy volumes on the BSE in Fridays intra-day trade in an otherwise weak market.Adani Power (up 12 per cent at Rs 321), Adani Green Energy (10 per cent at Rs 1,025), Adani Energy Solutions (9 per cent at Rs 894.35) and Adani Enterprises (Rs 2,665), Adani Wilmar (Rs 393.55) and Adani Total Gas (Rs 676.70) were up 7 per cent on the BSE in intra-day trade. Adani Ports, ACC, Ambuja Cements and New Delhi Television were up in the range of 2 per cent to 5 per cent. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.35 per cent at 64,922 at 12:13 PM.According to reports, Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. PJSC (TAQA) is looking to double down in India and is evaluating a large exposure in the expansive power businesses of Gautam Adani that span thermal generation to transmission, clean energy and green hydrogen.TAQA is keen to deploy $1.5-2.5 billion in Adani Group firms or in a single entity, said the sources mentioned above. However, both sides believe there is maximum synergy between TAQA and Adani Energy Solutions, formerly Adani Transmission, to forge a strategic alliance and work together on projects in North Africa and West Asia, newspaper Economic Times reported on Friday.Among individual stocks, Adani Power soared 12 per cent to Rs 321 in intra-day trade today. The stock of Adani Group integrated power utilities company was quoting at its highest level since January 2023. In past two days, the counter has rallied 15 per cent after Australia-listed investment firm, GQG Partners, invested $1.1 billion (Rs 9,000 crore) in Adani Power on acquiring 8.1 per cent stake from the Adani family via multiple block deals.Adani Power has installed capacity of 12,450 MW (which includes 40 MW solar power project) at multiple locations i.e. Bitta, Mundra, Kawai, Tiroda, Udupi, Raipur, Raigarh. The company sells power under long term Power Purchase Agreement (PPAs), medium term PPAs, short term PPAs, on merchant basis and also engaged in trading, investment and other business activities.The company, together with its subsidiaries currently has multiple power projects located at various locations with a combined installed and commissioned capacity of 14,450 MW and another 800 MW under commissioning as of year end. The Company, together with its subsidiaries sells power generated from these projects under a combination of long term Power Purchase Agreements (PPA), medium term PPAs, short term PPAs and on merchant basis, Adani Power said in its FY23 annual report.Demand for electricity in India is expected to grow at a sustained pace given the governments massive push towards Make-In-India, PLI (Production Linked Incentive) Scheme, increasing industrialization, improving incomes and standards of living, and push for increasing the penetration of electric vehicles in the transportation sector, among others, Adani Power said.Meanwhile, Adani Enterprises on Thursday after market hours announced that Mundra Solar Energy Limited (MSEL), a step down subsidiary of the company has received the commercial operational date (COD) certificate from Solar Energy Corporation of India for Solar PV Cells and Solar PV Modules manufacturing plant located at Mundra in the State of Gujarat. The plant has a capacity of 2.0 GW per annum. Adani Enterprises holds 74 per cent shares of MSEL through its wholly-owned subsidiary i.e. Adani Tradecom Limited.
Investor Warren Buffett has donated Berkshire Hathaway stock worth $ 27 million to an unnamed charity.

Buffett disclosed the gift of 50 Class A shares of Berkshire stock in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission late Wednesday.

This donation is in addition to Buffett's annual gifts to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and four smaller foundations run by his family that he has been making since 2006. Buffett has said that more than 99% of his nearly $ 118 billion fortune will eventually go to charity, and he has gradually been giving it away over time. He has given those five foundations stock worth roughly $ 50 billion over the years.

Buffett didn't identify the charity that received his latest donation this week.

Even after this latest donation, Buffett still holds 218,237 Class A shares of Berkshire stock, which are the most expensive shares on the market. Thursday morning, the shares were up $ 2.183 to sell for $ 539,680 apiece.

Berkshire does have a more affordable Class B share that offers a fraction of the voting rights of the A shares. Those Class B shares were selling for $ 355.95 Thursday morning.

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Buffett's Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate owns dozens of businesses including Geico insurance, BNSF railroad and several major utilities. It also owns an eclectic assortment of manufacturing and retail companies. In addition to the companies it owns outright Berkshire holds a $350 billion stock portfolio with major stakes in Apple, Bank of America, Coca-Cola and American Express, among other stocks.
Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend next week's summit of the BRICS nations in Johannesburg, to be followed by a state visit to South Africa, the Foreign Ministry said Friday.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying also said in a statement that during his August 21-24 visit to South Africa, Xi will co-chair the China-Africa Leaders' Dialogue with his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa.

China is a core member of the BRICS nations, which also include Brazil, Russia and India.

The grouping was predicated on linking the interests of the world's leading emerging economies but has sought to expand into other civil and governmental fields.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided not to attend the summit because of an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for him, according to South African authorities.

The development could be viewed as embarrassing for Putin, who is expected to be the only leader of a country in the bloc not to attend.

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Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Putin has decided to take part in the summit via video link, without confirming if he had intended to attend in person.

The BRICS summit is the first to be held in person since 2019 and comes as the bloc seeks new relevance amidst Russia's war in Ukraine, South Africa's crashing economy and sharpening competition between Asian giants China and India.

Brazilian President Luiz Incio Lula da Silva has said that he supports more countries joining the group and intends to raise the topic at the summit.

Around 20 countries have formally applied to join, Brazilian Foreign Affairs Minister Mauro Vieira said following the comments by Lula, who since taking office has repeatedly bucked the existing Western-dominated international structure. Among the hopefuls are Argentina, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Iran and Venezuela, Vieira said.

Facing isolation by the US and European Union, China and Russia have sought to expand their economic influence in developing countries.

Beijing has done so partly through the Chinese-backed New Development Bank, commonly known as the BRICS bank, which is funding infrastructure projects in Brazil and elsewhere in the developing world.

Asked at a daily briefing about China's expectations for the summit, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said BRICS had been "taking on increasing international influence," but did not mention the issue of expansion.

He said China looks forward to working with South Africa to jointly pursue development and revitalisation and make a positive contribution to a multipolar world and greater democracy in international relations.

All sides will have an in-depth exchange of views on prominent global challenges, enhance coordination and cooperation in international affairs, and inject stability and positive energy into today's world, Wang said.
Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda" on Friday said that his government plans to increase the export of electricity to neighbouring India from 450 MW to 10,000 MW in the next 10 years and the two nations have already signed a preliminary bilateral agreement for it.

Addressing the 38th anniversary of the Nepal Electricity Authority here, Prachanda said that Nepal is transforming in the sector of hydropower and it will further create a conducive environment for attracting foreign investment.

"Our country is preparing and waiting with keen interest for larger economic transformation through speedy development of hydro-electricity and its maximum internal consumption in the coming decade," he said.

"Though Nepal is currently exporting around 450 MW of electricity to India we are aimed at taking the power export to 10,000 MW in the next ten years period for which Nepal and India have already signed a preliminary bilateral agreement," Prachanda said.

Prachanda also mentioned that during his recent visit to India, he had a discussion with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on clean energy.

The understanding we had during my meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India as a milestone towards achieving long-term power trade to have access to the international market for our surplus electricity," he pointed out.

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This has been regarded as an important milestone in the area of the power sector in the South Asian region. This has not only created a more conducive environment for attracting foreign investment in the hydropower sector but also encouraged for construction of international transmission networks to facilitate long-term power trade and to formulate reliable work plans, for which we need collaboration among the concerned ministry and all other concerned agencies, he further said.

Prachanda also said that to give a concrete shape to agreements reached with India, the authorities from both sides are in constant touch.

"Our concerned bodies are regularly in touch and in coordination with the Indian side. Besides, to achieve this objective necessary works for planning and construction of international transmission lines are in progress from both countries, he said.

Necessary works have been expedited from both countries towards the completion of the 400 KV Butawal- Gorakhpur transmission line in the near future and I have also given instructions to formulate plans for the construction of additional two 400 KV transmission lines, Inaruwa Purniya and Dodhara Bareilly within two months by activating energy-secretary level mechanism, he said.

Prachanda also said that Nepal will come up with a policy soon on the production and utilisation of green energy.

Prachanda also said that final preparations are underway for signing an agreement among the concerned agencies of Nepal, India and Bangladesh with the aim of starting Nepal-Bangladesh power trade within this rainy season.

"A situation has arisen in which Nepal and Bangladesh can enjoy a substantial amount of power trade through forging a trilateral agreement for constructing international transmission lines, he said.

We are also planning to have a connection with Northern neighbour China through the construction of 220 KV Chilime- Kerung transmission line and we are moving towards implementing the project after completing its feasibility study, Prachanda said.

The Prime Minister has also expressed confidence that during his upcoming China visit in September, long-term and significant agreements will be signed on the power sector.

Prachanda will visit the US and China, towards the end of September.

Prachanda will first visit the US to participate in the 78th General Assembly of the United Nations, which is scheduled to take place towards the third week of September.

After his address to the UN General Assembly, Prachanda will leave for China, according to informed sources close to the prime minister.
Pakistan has appointed Mushaal Hussain Malik, wife of the jailed Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik, as a special advisor to the country's newly appointed caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar.

Her name was included in the five Special Advisor to Prime Minister (SAPM) list unveiled late on Thursday night after President Arif Alvi administered an oath to the 19-member caretaker Cabinet at Aiwan-e-Sadr, the presidential house.

Mushaal, a Pakistani national married to Malik, was appointed special advisor to the caretaker Prime Minister Kakar on human rights and women empowerment.

A special advisor has a lower status than a junior minister but provides assistance to the prime minister on key relevant issues.

Among other four special advisors, Jawad Sohrab Malilk has been appointed SAPM for overseas Pakistanis, vice admiral (retired) Iftikhar Rao as an advisor on maritime affairs, TV anchor and writer Wasih Shah on tourism, and Syeda Arifa Zehra as an advisor on federal education and professional training.

Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin married Pakistani artist Mushaal in Rawalpindi in 2009. The two met while Yasin was on a tour of Pakistan in 2005.

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Mushaal and her daughter reside in Islamabad. Born in 1985, Mushaal graduated from the London School of Economics.

Yasin was sentenced to life imprisonment by a trial court in a terror funding case in May.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has approached the Delhi High Court seeking the death penalty for Yasin, who is serving his sentence in Tihar Jail in Delhi.
Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend next week's summit of the BRICS nations in Johannesburg, to be followed by a state visit to South Africa, the Foreign Ministry said Friday.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying also said in a statement that during his Aug 21-24 visit to South Africa, Xi will co-chair the China-Africa Leaders' Dialogue with his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa.

China is a core member of the BRICS nations, which also include Brazil, Russia and India.

The grouping was predicated on linking the interests of the world's leading emerging economies but has sought to expand into other civil and governmental fields.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided not to attend the summit because of an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for him, according to South African authorities.

The development could be viewed as embarrassing for Putin, who is expected to be the only leader of a country in the bloc not to attend. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Putin has decided to take part in the summit via video link, without confirming if he had intended to attend in person.

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The BRICS summit is the first to be held in person since 2019 and comes as the bloc seeks new relevance amidst Russia's war in Ukraine, South Africa's crashing economy and sharpening competition between Asian giants China and India.

Brazilian President Luiz Incio Lula da Silva has said that he supports more countries joining the group and intends to raise the topic at the summit.

Around 20 countries have formally applied to join, Brazilian Foreign Affairs Minister Mauro Vieira said following the comments by Lula, who since taking office has repeatedly bucked the existing Western-dominated international structure. Among the hopefuls are Argentina, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Iran and Venezuela, Vieira said.

Facing isolation by the US and European Union, China and Russia have sought to expand their economic influence in developing countries. Beijing has done so partly through the Chinese-backed New Development Bank, commonly known as the BRICS bank, which is funding infrastructure projects in Brazil and elsewhere in the developing world.
The O-RAN ALLIANCE, fulfilling its mission to transform Radio Access Networks to be open, intelligent, virtualized and fully interoperable, today announced that it has approved four new Open Testing and Integration Centres (OTIC) in North America. OTICs are vendor-independent, open, and qualified labs approved by the O-RAN ALLIANCE that issue awards in the O-RAN Certification and Badging Program, so that operators can deploy products at scale and with confidence.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230817436719/en/

North American OTIC in the Boston Area (Northeastern University)

The OTIC at the Institute for the Wireless Internet of Things (WIoT) at Northeastern University promotes research, development, and testing of next-generation intelligent Open Radio Access Networks (Open RAN). The OTIC within the Open6G hub is a resource for industry, academia, and government toward multi-vendor interoperability and validation of end-to-end control logic for programmable networks, including artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) algorithms. The OTIC provides testing equipment and services to validate disaggregated base stations and RAN Intelligent Controllers (RICs), including custom applications (i.e., xApps and rApps). Applications can be tested against different RAN implementations (including commercial and open-source stacks), in emulated or over-the-air environments. The OTIC platforms include Colosseum, the worlds largest wireless network emulator with hardware-in-the-loop, already showcased as a digital twin for multiple Open RAN tests and trials.

Northeasterns Open6G is at the forefront of innovation in Open RAN testing, architectures, algorithms, software, and experimentation. Together with our partners, we are creating an innovation and testing ecosystem that will continue to serve government, industry, and academia, says Tommaso Melodia, Director of Northeastern Universitys Institute for the Wireless Internet of Things.

North American OTIC in Central Iowa (ARA)

North American OTIC in Central Iowa (ARA) is hosted by the Center for Wireless, Communities, and Innovation (WiCI) at Iowa State University (ISU). It uses the newly deployed NSF funded ARA rural wireless platform and provides services for testing and integrating O-RAN technologies using state of the art wireless equipment and with the addition of agricultural and rural setting and equipment. To facilitate experimentation, ARA-OTIC has deployed multi-modal, long-distance, and high-capacity wireless x-haul platforms ranging from free space optical to mmWave and microwave bands, as well as advanced wireless access platforms such as low-UHF massive MIMO systems, software-defined-radio (SDR) and programmable commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) 5G systems, and open-source 5G-and-beyond software platforms to integrate modeling and simulation environments as well as management and decision systems. ARA-OITC is fully committed to promoting the openness of O-RAN in research and innovation by providing a unique platform.

We believe ARA-OTIC offers a unique platform for testing O-RAN equipment and services that will bring wireless innovation to AgTech and other rural industries, said Professor Hongwei Zhang, Director of North American OTIC in Central Iowa (ARA).

North American OTIC in Salt Lake City (POWDER)

North American OTIC in Salt Lake City (POWDER) supports end-to-end Open RAN testing in lab and field scenarios and has developed a Testing Orchestration and Testing Automation (TOTA) framework to provide streamlined, on-demand testing capabilities. OTIC services provided by POWDER include interoperability and end-to-end testing, badging and certification. The OTIC offers additional Open RAN related services including use case and proof-of-concept development and evaluation, functional testing in lab and field environments, and Open RAN intelligent ecosystem research, testing and development.

We are very pleased with POWDERs OTIC designation, said Kobus Van der Merwe, Professor in the Kahlert School of Computing and Director of the POWDER platform and the North American OTIC in Salt Lake City (POWDER). Being an OTIC will allow POWDER to provide 5G/6G and specifically Open RAN testing, development and certification services, and form the basis for continued collaborative research efforts with industry partners. POWDERs automated testing and lab-as-a-service features and the fact that POWDER provides both indoor and outdoor facilities are unique capabilities in this domain.

North American OTIC in Washington, DC/Arlington, VA

The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) xG Testbed at Virginia Tech, in partnership with AT&T, DISH Network, and Verizon, emphasizes programmability and interoperability, relying when possible on open interfaces and open-source software. Key capabilities include securing 5G and next-generation mobile networks, AI assurance, multi-vendor interoperability, conformance and performance testing, and an end-to-end intelligent RAN control-loop supported by an AI/ML framework. CCIs OTIC features indoor and outdoor testing environments, which can validate disaggregated RAN components  O-RAN Centralized Unit (O-CU), O-RAN Distributed Unit (O-DU), O-RAN Radio Unit (O-RU)  Over-The-Air (OTA) across locations and transport networks. Researchers can test RAN components interaction with Radio Intelligent Controllers (RICs) and microservices/applications that are AI/ML-based (i.e., xApps and rApps). Related services include use case and proof-of-concept development and evaluation.

The Commonwealth Cyber Initiative is committed to securing the next generation of wireless network technologies, said Aloizio P. DaSilva, CCI xG Testbed director, North American OTIC in Washington, DC/Arlington, VA. By conducting interoperability, conformance and performance tests as an OTIC site, we will identify and address key gaps, spurring innovation and early adoption in the wireless marketplace.

The O-RAN ALLIANCE welcomes four additional OTICs to North America, bringing the worldwide total to 15, said Alex Jinsung Choi, Chairman of the Board, O-RAN ALLIANCE. The essential function of OTICs to certify and badge products complements the work of our operator members and contributing vendors to continuously develop products and operationalize O-RAN specifications.

About O-RAN ALLIANCE

The O-RAN ALLIANCE is a world-wide community of more than 300 mobile operators, vendors, and research & academic institutions operating in the Radio Access Network (RAN) industry. As the RAN is an essential part of any mobile network, the O-RAN ALLIANCEs mission is to re-shape the RAN industry towards more intelligent, open, virtualized and fully interoperable mobile networks. The new O-RAN specifications enable a more competitive and vibrant RAN supplier ecosystem with faster innovation to improve user experience. O-RAN based mobile networks at the same time improve the efficiency of RAN deployments as well as operations by mobile operators. To achieve this, the O-RAN ALLIANCE publishes new RAN specifications, releases open software for the RAN, and supports its members in integration and testing of their implementations.

For more information, please visit www.o-ran.org.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230817436719/en/
Park Ku-yeon, the first deputy chief of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, speaks at a daily briefing, Aug. 18. Yonhap





Korea has not made a request to Japan for the early release of contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, an official said Friday, denying a news report the request was aimed at minimizing the potential impact on next year's general elections.



Earlier, Japan's Asahi Shimbun newspaper had reported that the Seoul government and the ruling party had approached Tokyo with a proposal through unofficial channels to initiate the release plan as early as possible, prior to next April's parliamentary elections.



"It is untrue that our government has sought the early release from the Japanese side," said Park Ku-yeon, the first deputy chief of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, during a daily briefing on the Fukushima issue.



Park also said Korea has requested Japan to provide advance notice before the release when the two countries held a third round of director-general-level talks on Wednesday via video conference to deliberate on specifics of Seoul's requests regarding the release plan.



"One of the key agenda items discussed in the working-level consultations was the need for ample time prior to the release and for notification to be given to our side," Park said.



Park also announced that the government would disclose the outcome of the talks within the upcoming week.



The two countries have held three rounds of talks to discuss follow-up measures after President Yoon Suk Yeol asked Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to include Korean experts in monitoring the Fukushima water release.



During the meeting held on the sidelines of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Lithuania in July, Yoon also asked that the discharge be stopped immediately if the concentration of radioactive material in the water exceeds standard levels and that Japan promptly inform Korea. (Yonhap)


Lee Dong-kwan, the nominee for the chief of the Korea Communications Commission, answers questions from lawmakers in a parliamentary confirmation hearing, Aug. 18. Yonhap



A confirmation hearing was held Friday for the nominee for chief of the state broadcasting watchdog, with the rival parties debating sharply over alleged school bullying involving his son and suspicions that he exercised undue influence over media firms.



Lee Dong-kwan, a former journalist who served as a senior secretary for press affairs during the Lee Myung-bak administration, was nominated as the chief of the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) late last month. His nomination came after the former chief, Han Sang-hyuk, was dismissed in May after being prosecuted for charges he was involved in the score rigging of renewing the license of a conservative cable channel.



The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has strongly objected to Lee's nomination over allegations he exercised undue influence in personnel affairs at state broadcaster KBS when he was serving as a press affairs official at the presidential office from 2008-2011.



He also came under attack over allegations that his son bullied fellow students in high school in 2011.



During Friday's hearing, DPK lawmakers took issue with the two issues.



They claimed Lee's son physically abused and stole money from other students, but received a light punishment thanks to his father's influence, citing media interviews of teachers who worked at the school.



"The school violence issue alone is a disqualification for serving as a high-ranking government official. Despite the fact there was bullying, the school violence committee did not open, and he was only transferred to another school. It shows he was given privilege," Rep. Jang Kyung-tae said.



The ruling People Power Party (PPP) defended Lee, saying his son and the bullied students reconciled, and some of the details regarding his son's bullying are not true.



The two parties also debated over Lee's alleged interference in KBS' personnel affairs.



The DPK claimed Lee abused his power at the presidential office to sway media coverage in favor of the then government, while the PPP refuted such claims, saying Lee only did his job as the secretary of press by correcting "distorted" reports.



By law, the nomination of the KCC chief is required to undergo a parliamentary confirmation hearing, but consent from the National Assembly is not mandatory for the formal appointment of the nominee. (Yonhap)


CJ Logistics delivery worker hands over a parcel to customer in Seoul, March 28. Korea Times file



By Kim Jae-heun



CJ Logistics, the country's largest logistics firm, has been losing market share as Coupang's logistic unit caters to more and more online shoppers, according to industry officials, Thursday.



CJ has seen its market share decline since 2021 when Korea's largest e-commerce firm established Coupang Logistics Service (CLS), which was registered as its proprietary courier business with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport.



CJ's market share fell from 50.1 percent in 2020 to 48.3 percent in 2021, 45.7 percent in 2022 and 44.3 percent, last year, according to the logistics company.



Even though Coupang CLS declined to disclose its market share, it is said to be the second-largest delivery firm, according to many industry officials. In 2022, the number of parcels delivered by Coupang CLS reached 1.3 billion, which accounts for 36.1 percent of the total 3.61 billion parcels delivered in the country.



"We saw our market share fall slightly (in the first half of this year) due to our efforts to improve profitability. After calculating the cost efficiency of some businesses, we decided to give up those that display low returns," a CJ Logistics official said.



"Also, we deliver multiple items in bundles if they are purchased with the same seller or fall under the same product category. However, in the case of one company, I believe they deliver one item in a plastic bag individually, which increases the number of parcel shipments."





Coupang's delivery trucks are parked at the company's logistics center in Seoul, in this 2021 file photo. Yonhap
Director General of Bureau of Resources Industry Policy at Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy Yu Beop-min, center, speaks during a meeting with oil industry officials at the headquarters of Korea Petroleum Association in Seoul, Friday. Courtesy of Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy



By Kim Jae-heun



Local refiners are under pressure to join government efforts to stabilize fuel prices amid its decision to extend the petroleum tax reduction period until the end of October, an industry official said, Friday.



The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy held a meeting with officials from oil refiners to check fuel market trends at the headquarters of the Korea Petroleum Association in Yeouido, Seoul.



"As the government has decided to extend the tax cut period until October to reduce the nation's burden, we ask the companies to work with us in stabilizing domestic fuel prices  particularly, by not raising them more than the recent increased rate of international petroleum," Yu Beop-min, the ministry's director general of the bureau of resources and industry policy, said.



Yu added that the government will continue to closely monitor fuel prices until they stabilize in the future. He also requested cost-effective gas station operators to "play a more leading role in stabilizing fuel prices."



"Refiners and gas station operators will take the government's request without much resistance as they can lower fuel prices in accordance with tax reduction. It is a matter of paying more tax or not," a local refiner official said.



On Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho revealed that the government will extend the deadline for the petroleum tax cut period for two more months.



In addition, the Ministry of Economy and Finance forecasted legislative amendments to the Enforcement Decrees of the Transportation, Energy and Environment Tax Act and the Enforcement Decree of the Individual Consumption Tax Act. As a result, the price of gasoline, diesel and LPG butane will be lowered by 205 won (15 cents), 212 won and 73 won per liter, respectively, until October.



Dubai crude oil, the standard for imported petroleum prices, has surpassed $80 per barrel as of August.


500 Words Essay on Nag Panchami 2023 For Students: Revering Serpents in Hindu Culture

Millions of people around the world have a particular place in their hearts for Nag Panchami, a significant Hindu festive that is celebrated with fervor and reverence. This ancient festival glorifies snakes, which have long served as a cultural and symbolic element in Hinduism. It is commemorated on the fifth day of the bright fortnight of the lunar month of Shravana, which usually falls in July or August.

Nag Panchami is a celebration of a natural phenomenon, but it is also a reflection of the intricate web of Hindu traditions, folklore, and beliefs. The festival of Nag Panchami is going to be held on August 21, 2023.

The Indus Valley Civilization, which practiced serpent worship, is where Nag Panchami's origins can be found. Hindu mythology places a lot of importance on the snake, which frequently represents both good and evil. Serpents are frequently represented on the body of Lord Shiva, the destroyer in the Hindu triad. Vasuki, the serpent around his neck, represents cosmic energy and time. Lord Vishnu, the preserver, is a notable deity connected to snakes. In his cosmic nap, Lord Vishnu is frequently seen reclining on the serpent Shesha. These depictions emphasize the intricate interplay of cosmic, divine, and natural elements.

Nag Panchami embodies the peaceful coexistence of respect for the natural world and devotion to the sacred. Families come together to pray to serpents on this day in Nepal and India. Women prepare offerings of milk, flowers, and rice to be given to snake idols or pictures drawn on the ground, while homes are cleaned and decorated with elaborate rangoli patterns. The most well-known snake deity temples are the Subramanya Swamy temple in Andhra Pradesh and the Nag Nathaiya temple in Mathura, both of which are frequented by devotees. These acts of worship serve as more than just expressions of religious convictions; they serve as a reminder of the interdependence of all living things and the value of preserving harmony with nature.

Nag Panchami has significant cultural and social ramifications in addition to its spiritual significance. As families gather to rejoice and take part in traditions, the festival fosters harmony and a sense of community. No matter how tiny or seemingly inconsequential they may seem, it cultivates a feeling of humility and respect for all living things. The festival also promotes ecological balance and raises public awareness of its significance. Snakes serve as natural predators that assist keep the ecological balance and regulate rodent numbers. People are reminded of their duty to the environment and the necessity of preserving all life forms through Nag Panchami.

The modern world presents difficulties for Nag Panchami as it does for many other ancient holidays. Fear or ignorance-based indiscriminate killing of snakes endangers the sensitive environment. To dispel misunderstandings and advance conservation efforts, education, and awareness initiatives have become essential. Furthermore, Nag Panchami's spirit can occasionally be lost in the age of urbanization and globalization. To maintain the festival's authenticity and relevance, its practices must be modified to fit the times while still upholding its essential principles.

In a nutshell, Nag Panchami is a fascinating fusion of spirituality, culture, and environmental awareness. It is a festival that connects the physical and ethereal worlds and serves as a reminder of the interconnection of all things. It is crucial to preserve the core of Nag Panchami while adjusting to the requirements of modernity as society changes. By doing this, we not only uphold a long-standing custom but also reaffirm our dedication to the environment and the peaceful coexistence of all living things.
At Delhi University (DU), the 2023-2024 academic year has officially begun. As of August 15, 64,288 students had confirmed their enrollment. Professor Yogesh Singh, the vice chancellor, sent greetings to the freshmen and assured them of a friendly, courteous, and ragging-free environment in DU's top academic institutions.

Celebrating Highs In Admission

In the first round, the top five universities with the most admissions were Dyal Singh College, Hansraj College, Gargi College, Ramjas College, and Kirori Mal College. In the second round, Swami Shraddhanand, Deshbandhu College, and Zakir Hussain College took the lead.

The outstanding faculty and wide variety of courses offered at these universities, according to Professor Haneet Gandhi, dean of admissions at DU, are responsible for this achievement.

In-Demand Courses

Professor Gandhi added the disciplines that most students had signed up for to the exciting news. The BCom and BA courses, particularly BCom (Hons), BCom, BA (Hons) Political Science, BA (Hons) Economics, and BA (Hons) English, attracted the most attention.

Breakdown Of Choices

Professor Gandhi went into detail about the preferences of the students, saying that 30,627 of the applicants preferred to freeze their admission and 29,217 to upgrade. Around 8,010 and 5,560 individuals, respectively, received first and second preferences.

Empowering Through Education

Professor Yogesh also spoke about the favorable gender distribution that was seen during the admissions process. The ratio of female students, who made up more than half of the admissions, was 53%, while the percentage of male students was 47%.This demonstrates DU's dedication to educating women for empowerment and putting the nation on the path to a future with equality for men and women.
Feature: Native Hawaiians frustrated with federal government over deadly wildfire

16:47, August 18, 2023 By Hazel Reyes ( Xinhua

HONOLULU, United States, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Spray-painted "X"s now marked both buildings and vehicles along Front Street, the once vibrant heart of Maui island's Lahaina, just 10 days after a devastating wildfire razed the historic town to the ground.

The "X" marks, stark against the backdrop of smoldering ruins, carried a heavy message: the haunting prospect of human remains concealed within with their identities shrouded until advanced forensic tools or the keen senses of cadaver-sniffing dogs could be employed.

Amid the acrid remnants of destruction, an atmosphere laden with grief enveloped Front Street as the odor of charcoal assaulted the nostrils of relief workers and returning residents.

Lahaina, once the crown jewel of Maui's tourism trade, stands no more, while more questions are raised by local residents, most of them being Native Hawaiians, as to where are aids from the federal government and if they can trust Washington's promise, among others.

Frazzled nerves and exhaustion are taking a toll on the countless volunteers who provided food and supplies donated in the first few critical days of the worst natural disaster in modern Hawaiian history.

Nearly 100 percent of the food, water and supplies collected were privately donated and those desperately needed necessities were delivered by privately owned Hawaii Food Alliance (HFA) trucks, according to local residents.

For years, Chad Buck, owner of HFA logistics, has been cautioning against Hawaii's unpreparedness for a disaster. Tragically, his concerns were validated on Aug. 8 with Maui's wildfire catastrophe, which claimed at least 111 lives by Thursday.

Buck's trucks became a lifeline, shuttling pallet after pallet of vital supplies to the perilous and restricted zones on the island's west side -- the areas most desperate for aid. However, most of the supplies were not provided by government agencies which have been accused of incompetence.

It's fortunate that local government agencies reached out to Buck nearly immediately for help and his reputation in the community smoothed the way to get things done quickly with multi-layers of quick-moving cooperation not usual in laid-back Maui.

In an interview with Xinhua on Wednesday, Buck attributed the success of his efforts to the community, acknowledging their contributions in providing the supplies his trucks have delivered to those in dire need.

"This was Ohana to Ohana," he told Xinhua using the Hawaiian word for "family" to emphasize that the entire rescue operation sprung up naturally among those from a community where the Aloha Spirit of love, kindness and care shines through every hardship.

However, the government or well-known charitable agencies were still hardly to be found since the catastrophe occurred, said Kai Lenny, a world-renowned professional surfer, who was on the ground and verified the concerns voiced by Maui residents across the island.

"It was just like, day after day, 'Where are they?'" said Lenny. "I haven't seen one state, one county, one federal official at any one of the donation hubs where people are most suffering. People are sleeping in their cars. People are asking for specific items now."

Emotions and frustration reached a breaking point among Hawaiians and volunteers, days after leadership teams from the federal government and independent charitable organizations arrived and wielded authority and exerted influence over local government and regional counterparts.

Coupled with a storied past with the U.S. federal government because of the colonization and the annexation of the Hawaiian islands to the United States in 1898, even the most enthusiastic native Hawaiian supporters of America harbor some hesitancy in trusting Washington.

Still, many expressed hope that U.S. President Joe Biden's promises of help and the Federal Emergency Management Agency's arrival on the scene will bring real assistance to the former capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii and the island of Maui.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Starbucks Korea CEO Son Jung-hyun, left, poses with Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs Park Min-shik, center, and President of Korea National Council on Social Welfare Kim Soung-yee at Starbucks Korea's sixth community store in Jongno-gu, Seoul, Friday. Courtesy of Starbucks Korea



By Kim Jae-heun



Starbucks Korea has refurbished its Dongnimmun Station branch in Jongno-gu, Seoul, as its sixth community store and revealed plans to support descendants of national merit, Korea's largest coffee chain said Friday.



The community store is a profit-sharing shop that Starbucks Korea has been introducing since 2014 as part of its social contribution efforts to support non-governmental organizations. The coffee franchise donates 300 won (22 cents) per product sold at its community stores.



As the sixth community store aims to support descendants of national merit, the renovated store was selected near Dongnimmun Station, where the country's independence gate is located.



"The Starbucks Community Store contributes positively to the community and demonstrates our mission to create infinite possibilities for human relationships," Michael Conway, group president of International and Channel Development at Starbucks International, said.



"We are proud that these community store models enable Starbucks partners around the world to create an environment that can contribute to the local communities and get closer to them."



Prior to the opening of Starbucks's Dongnimmun Station renovated branch, the company signed a three-way business agreement with the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs and the Korea National Council on Social Welfare.



Under the agreement, Starbucks Korea will provide a total of 300 million won in scholarships to young descendants of independence fighters over the next three years. It will also donate profits created at sixth community stores to support families of national merit.



Starbucks Korea has already delivered a total of 766 million won in scholarships to 383 descendants since 2015. The coffee franchise also plans to recruit them as baristas at Starbucks stores in collaboration with the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs.



"The support from Starbucks Korea and the Korea National Council on Social Welfare will be a great help for the descendants of national heroes, who have devoted themselves to protecting the country. The government will also make more efforts to honor and support them," Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs Park Min-shik said.


Mitsubishi has named its new compact crossover the Xforce. Rolling out for the Indonesian market first, but confirmed for the Philippines as...
Lee Chan-hee, center, head of Samsung's compliance committee, answers questions from reporters before attending a meeting to discuss Samsung affiliates rejoining the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), at Samsung Life Insurance's headquarters in Seoul, Friday. Yonhap



SK, Hyundai Motor, LG likely to follow suit soon



By Baek Byung-yeul



Samsung Group is expected to rejoin the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) next Tuesday as its compliance committee recommended five affiliates to become members of the business lobby group once again.



But the affiliates have been instructed to immediately withdraw from the federation if it colludes with political circles, according to the committee, Friday. SK, Hyundai and LG will likely follow suit in the near future.



The committee held a meeting earlier in the day to discuss a request by the FKI for Samsung Electronics, Samsung SDI, Samsung Life, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance and Samsung Securities to rejoin the lobby group. The FKI is attempting to reform the organization and refresh its reputation which was tainted by involvement in a bribery scandal involving impeached former President Park Geun-hye in 2016. Due to the criticism, the lobby group lost its major member conglomerates including Samsung, SK, LG and Hyundai Motor Group.



Samsung's compliance committee had initially held a meeting on Wednesday to discuss the return of Samsung affiliates but was unable to reach a conclusion and had another meeting on Friday. After the two meetings, the committee recommended that if the Samsung affiliates companies rejoin the FKI, they should immediately withdraw from the organization if the FKI's cronyism continues.



The committee also recommended that Samsung's affiliates conduct thorough internal reviews of due process to ensure transparency in the FKI's operations and accounting, before deciding to return.



"We made a clear recommendation that there should never be any political intervention under any pretext regarding the FKI's human resources affairs and operations," Lee Chan-hee, head of the compliance committee, told reporters after the meeting.



"We believe that one of the most important things that can break the cycle of cronyism between the political circle and business circles is strong compliance oversight, and we are confident that at least under compliance controls and oversight, interventions will not be as easy as they have been in the past," Lee added.



The decision to rejoin the FKI is now in the hands of Samsung Group affiliates. Samsung will hold a board meeting to make a final decision on whether to rejoin.



It was reported that the five Samsung affiliates will hold a board meeting on Aug. 21 to decide on the issue, but a Samsung Electronics spokesman said "no board meeting has been scheduled yet."



If Samsung, the largest conglomerate here, decides to rejoin the FKI, it is expected that SK, LG and Hyundai Motor, which left the FKI, would also rejoin.



The FKI will hold a general meeting on Aug. 22 to rebrand its organization, nominate Ryu Jin, chairman of Poongsan Group, as its new chairman and accept new members.


UK Government announces new AI funding for carbon intensive sectors

18 August 2023

The UK government has announced GBP3.75m (US$4.78m) in new funding for artificial intelligence (AI) solutions to accelerate industrial decarbonisation across the country. Twelve green AI initiatives will receive a share of GBP1m to decarbonise and boost the generation of renewable energy, contributing to the countrys net zero goal by 2050.

A further GBP2.25m has been allocated to support further AI innovations, with the aim of cutting emissions specifically in energy sectors. In addition, the governments Digital Catapult agency has received GBP500,000 to launch the UKs first Centre for Excellence on AI innovation for Decarbonisation (ADViCE). The centre is designed to bring together businesses, academics and experts to advance research into AI solutions that will help industries cut emissions.

The ADViCE programme will drive forward AIs integral role in solving critical decarbonisation challenges, said Dr Jeremy Silver, CEO of Digital Catapult. The programme partners sit at the heart of the UKs dynamic AI ecosystem and are perfectly placed to forge collaborations between the technology community and some of our most carbon intensive sectors.

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Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the joint press conference of the China-Central Asia Summit in Xian, Shaanxi province, China, May 19. Reuters-Yonhap



China's President Xi Jinping will attend the BRICS leaders' meeting and visit South Africa on Aug. 21-24, the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday.



Leaders from the five BRICS countries of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa meet in Johannesburg next week from Aug. 22 to discuss how to turn a loose club of nations accounting for a quarter of the global economy into a geopolitical force that can challenge the West's dominance in world affairs.



Russian President Vladimir Putin, who faces an international arrest warrant over alleged war crimes in Ukraine, will dial in by video call instead of attending in person.



Expansion is expected to be high on the agenda, as some 40 nations have shown interest in joining, either formally or informally, according to South Africa. They include Saudi Arabia, Argentina and Egypt.



China, seeking to expand its geopolitical influence as it tussles with the United States, has said it "welcomes more like-minded partners to join the 'BRICS family' at an early date."



Russia also supports expansion, while Brazil resists it, fearing the already unwieldy club could see its stature diluted by it. India is on the fence.



Besides attending the BRICS meeting, Xi will also co-chair the China-Africa Leaders' Dialogue with his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa, the Chinese foreign ministry said. (Reuters)




A contentious violation was presented Thursday morning at the beer board meeting against Shadys Corner, 1402 Cemetery Ave., for operating a disorderly place, and the bar wound up with a controversial three-day penalty over an upcoming holiday weekend.

The bar owner, James Heely, renovated a run-down building to use for a bar and deli after the city changed the zoning to UGC, Urban General Commercial. The Chattanooga beer code requires that no business selling beer can be within 500 feet from door to door to a church. The UGC zoning eliminates that requirement. It also reduces the required number of parking spaces for a business. In this case, Shadys Corner has just seven spaces and so parking for the business is along the streets and in lots of businesses that are closed at night, surrounding the bar with permission of those owners.

The Beer Board originally denied a beer permit in respect to the Islamic Center at 1410 Cemetery Ave., which has been in the same building for 39 years. It also owns a building next door that was previously a Baptist Church. Shadys Corner is six feet away from the mosque. The denial was appealed and a beer permit was later given to the bar that opened in April. Representatives from the mosque came to the Beer Board meeting on Aug. 3 with complaints that the bar has been disrupting the neighborhood and prayer at the mosque. And Gary Rudolph, whose house is 10 feet from the bars parking lot, came with complaints that neighbors have been disturbed day and night.

The city of Chattanooga charged Shadys Corner with two separate violations of operating a disorderly place in the past two weeks. On Thursday, Mr. Rudolph, told the board members that since the bar opened it has been a nuisance and torture for his family. He has had a brick thrown through a window, he and other neighbors have to block the street with garbage cans to reserve a place to park, Loud music with a lot of bass rattles his windows and the noise keeps him awake at night. He said he has found broken bottles under his tires; people urinate on the hedges and employees and customers of the bar disrespect him. He has called the police 10 times or more with complaints and he said he has kept video and audio recordings to document what has gone on.

After Mr. Rudolph and two members of the Mosque that is next door to Shadys Corner complained to the Beer Board at the meeting on Aug. 3, the city asked beer inspector Sergeant Jason Wood to go back and review past reports.

He found one disorder from May 24 when response had been made to a simple assault. The victim had a minor injury with no medical attention needed. The dispatch records showed the call came from a cell phone, not from Shadys Corner, around 2 a.m. Police had responded but there is no indication if the incident took place inside the bar or outside.

Bar owner Heeley told the board he was not aware of this incident. If he is aware of a any disorder, he said, it is reported whether it happens inside or out. He told the board that he has called the police numerous times for real disorders and from a landline. He said police are our friends. At Unknown Caller, the other bar he owns on Cherry Street, there have been zero violations in five years, he said. Because no one knew what happened and there was not evidence to hold the bar responsible, the Beer Board members did not sustain this charge of operating a disorderly place.

A second charge of operating a disorderly place on Aug. 4 originated with the complaints from the Islamic Center and Mr. Rudolph at the Beer Board meeting the day before. Again, a search of reports back to the opening of the bar on April 7 found 10 calls to complain about noise. They all came from the same person, Gary Rudolph, the next-door neighbor.

No decibel meters were ever used to measure the claims of noise, and there was no evidence about the decibel levels. Assistant City Attorney David Schmidt told board member Dan Mayfield that information can come from any police officer and they can use any information to make a determination if the business is disorderly. Attorney Charles Gilbreth, representing Shadys Corner, commented that the decibel level has to be determined before the process can even begin.

Sgt. Wood said since then he performed a bar check one Sunday evening around 9 p.m. He saw cars parked on the street but none blocking driveways and he saw no other traffic problems. People could be heard talking but they could not be understood and he heard the low rumbling of music. He told the board he did not have a decibel meter. He said he has driven by several other times and has not seen anything that was outside of the city ordinances and it was not unreasonably loud.

Because the city has not actually measured the sound volume, Mr. Heeley told the board that he bought a decibel meter and said he has measured sound every night at six locations around the bar during peak hours from 10-11 p.m. Readings are consistently 50-60 at the doors, so he said it could not be above that at the house next door. There have been two times since the opening that noise has exceeded the limit, he said, and he apologized and took responsibility for the mistakes . Mr. Heeley said, We have a target on our backs so everything we do has to be right.

The only other incident that Sgt. Wood found involving the bar was with a shooting, but it did not take place at Shadys Corner. The call to 911 came from somewhere on East 14th Street from a cell phone and the victim went to Shadys Corner for help. The employees called police dispatch.

Board member Mayfield said the whole reason for this conflict is because the location of Shadys Corner was spot zoned by the city and a solution could be to revisit the zoning. Any business needs to be a good neighbor, he said. Mr. Heeley has invested a lot of money and has a lot of employees who should know that they are working in a residential district and they should be as considerate of the neighbors as they can be. "Put yourself in that position, and bend over backward to educate your employees," he said to Mr. Heely. When they leave work, they should go to their cars quietly and just leave, he stated.

The decision of the board was to give Shadys Corner a three-day suspension of its beer license for this second charge from Aug. 4. The suspension will begin in two weeks on August 31, which is Labor Day weekend.

Mr. Heeley and his attorney came to the meeting with a petition they said was signed by 2,000 people in the community and six letters of endorsement from other neighbors of Shadys in support of the bar. And about 30 employees from both Shadys Corner and Unknown Caller came to the meeting and spoke after the penalty had been decided. They all said Mr. Heeley is known for doing everything the right way and that the board made a decision based on one mans word rather than considering that there are many in the community who like the business and the owner. Many faulted the city for giving the penalty on a holiday weekend, which they said would hurt the 50 employees by taking away the $1,000 they were each counting on making during those three days. Most speakers said the board made the wrong decision made worse by giving the same penalty of a three-day suspension for a noise violation which is what they had just given for a serious fight at Westbound Honky-Tonk where a police officer was hurt.




Scenic City Womens Network announces Amanda Jelks, attorney, Jelks Law, PLLC, as guest speaker for the August Marketplace Luncheon Thursday, Aug. 24 at noon, at Mountain City Club, 729 Chestnut St. in Chattanooga. A buffet and dessert will be served.Registration is $25 and open to the public. Space is limited and registration ends Aug. 22. Register online at SCWN.org or call 423-698-6262.Registration link: August Marketplace Luncheon: https://www.scwn.org/events/august-luncheon About Amanda JelksAmanda is a Chattanooga native who attended the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga for undergrad and the University of Memphis for law school, both on academic scholarships.She had the distinct pleasure of working with the corporate legal department of Pinnacle Airlines (now known as Endeavor Air).She founded Jelks Law in the summer of 2015. Her practice focuses primarily on providing peace of mind to entrepreneurs and small business owners through her business legal services and estate/succession planning. As a business owner, she understands the legal concerns of business owners and has a real world view of what it takes to operate a successful business.A motivational speaker, since 2001, Amanda has given motivational talks to diverse audiences at schools, colleges, churches, and nonprofits to help individuals overcome tremendous odds to reach their maximum potential.She serves on the board of directors for the City of Chattanooga's Health, Educational and Housing Facility board, Chattanooga Women's Leadership Institute and the Tennessee Law Association for Women. Amanda has also served on the advisory boards for the Diversity and Inclusion Committee of the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce and the MOMentum Network. From 2013 to 2016, Amanda served on the board of directors for Chattanooga Room in the Inn, a homeless shelter for women and children which supplies women with the resources necessary to end the cycle of homelessness. She is also a former board member of the Chattanooga Theatre Centre.
Governor Bill Lee has appointed Molly Anderson of Chattanooga to a three-year term on the Tennessee Council on Developmental Disabilities, representing the Southeast development district.

The Council on Developmental Disabilities is a state government agency that works to improve services and supports to make life better for people with developmental disabilities and their families.

I got connected with the Council through my advocacy work, Ms. Anderson said. I was interested in the Council because it helps bring a systemic change.

Ms. Anderson has a nonverbal disability and uses assistive technology and American Sign Language to communicate. She previously worked for the Arc of Tennessee and currently is the director of Peer Support for Family Voices, a program of the Tennessee Disability Coalition. She also serves on the Chattanooga Mayors Council on Disability.

Senator Becky Massey (R-Knoxville) has worked with Anderson on several issues. Governor Lee could not have appointed a better person than Molly Anderson to serve on the Council on Developmental Disabilities, Senator Massey said. I have known Molly for years and have worked with her on passing legislation and policy to assist Tennesseans with disabilities.

We first worked to pass a bill to allow American Sign Language as a foreign language credit in Tennessee high schools. Then, due to a bill she helped with, we were able to get policy in place for citizens who are not able to verbally call 911 to be able to text their emergency. Molly is a passionate advocate and will be a great addition to the Council.

Ms. Anderson says her perspective on disability is broader than just communications issues. I want to see systemic change to norms within the disability community, she said. We can work, be married, have kids.

Ms. Anderson is married to Josh Anderson and has a daughter, Lucy, age two. The couple is now expecting their second child. In her free time, Ms. Anderson loves to run and kayak.

Ms. Anderson will meet with the full Council on Development Disabilities quarterly in Nashville and will serve as a representative in the local community. Her role will connect the Councils statewide work to the needs in Hamilton and surrounding counties. The Council on Developmental Disabilities work focuses on building bridges between the experiences of real people with disabilities and the policies and service systems that affect their lives.

This Council is important to me because it brings various perspectives on the disability community and collaborates on change, Ms. Anderson said.

Council Executive Director Lauren Pearcy welcomed Ms. Andersons appointment. Molly has been a powerful disability advocate for many years. She is a 2022 graduate of our Partners in Policymaking leadership program and has worked on important legislation and program improvements for people with disabilities. Those experiences and her perspective as an active member of the Chattanooga community will be invaluable in our work to understand barriers and create real solutions. I know she is going to be an important resource for our Council and for the Southeast Tennessee district she is representing. We are lucky to have her.
The Lee University School of Music will present the Kokocelli Duo, featuring Kristen Holritz, flute, and Kaitlyn Vest, cello, in a faculty recital on Monday, Aug. 28, at 7:30 p.m.

The recital, Living Voices of the Americas, will highlight music from across North and South America from some of todays most remarkable living composers. The performance will feature works by Amaya, Basulto, Hoyos, Leiter, and Srinivasan.

I began compiling a list of solo and chamber music in 2019 written for flute by underrepresented composers, said Ms. Holritz. In doing so, I fell in love with many new-to-me artists. Our program for this recital came entirely from this project, and we look forward to sharing these works in the greater Chattanooga area this fall.

Noted for her beautiful tone and vibrato, Ms. Holritz makes her home on stage as a versatile flutist. In the fall of 2013, she was appointed principal flute with the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera and performs regularly with Nashville Opera and as a substitute musician with Nashville Symphony, Alabama Symphony, and Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra.

Ms. Holritz serves as adjunct flute professor at Lee University, Southern Adventist University, and temporarily joined the faculty at Vanderbilt University as adjunct instructor of flute for the fall of 2022. She is a faculty artist for the Bay View Music Festival, a collegiate chamber music experience focused on wind quintet repertoire found along the coast of Northern Michigan.

Ms. Holritz holds a Master of Music in Flute Performance from The Juilliard School and a Bachelor of Music in Flute Performance from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.

A section cellist with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra and Huntsville Symphony Orchestra, Ms. Vest plays with the Nashville Opera Orchestra, Chattanooga Symphony and Opera, Memphis Symphony, and other regional ensembles. In her exploration of non-traditional chamber music settings, she performs with Nashville-based ensembles Intersection and Chatterbird.

Ms. Vest is the adjunct instructor of cello at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and the visiting cello instructor at Sewanee: The University of the South. She is also a teaching artist at Bay View Music Festival and was previously the chamber music coordinator for the String Academy at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival.

She received her Master of Music from Carnegie Mellon University and her Bachelor of Music from the University of Memphis.

The recital will take place in Squires Recital Hall, located in the Humanities Center on Lees Campus. The event is free, non-ticketed, and open to the public. Livestream viewing will be available at leeu.live/.

For more information about this or other Lee concerts, contact the Lee University School of Music at music@leeuniversity.edu or call 614-8240.




When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle left the royal family, it was international news. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex had created major waves by choosing to disassociate from Harrys relatives, and even celebrities were getting in on the story.

Though the situation has been anything but funny for the royals, Prince William and Kate Middleton were once at an awards show when Margot Robbie cracked some jokes about Harry and Meghans royal exit  and the prince and princess couldnt help but laugh.

Margot Robbie | Mike Marsland/WireImage

Margot Robbie once joked about Megxit at the 2020 BAFTA Awards

Back in February 2020, William and Kate attended the BAFTA Awards as special guests, and for most of the night, they were sitting in the audience just like the other celebrities. At one point, Margot Robbie took the stage to accept Brad Pitts award for Once Upon a Time  In Hollywood because Pitt couldnt attend the show and Robbie had starred alongside him. When Robbie took the stage, she said she was given some words to say by Pitt  and a joke about Harry and Meghan was one of them.

He [Brad Pitt] says that hes going to name this Harry because hes really excited about bringing it back to the states with him, she said. His words, not mine! Of course, the joke hit much harder since the audience knew William and Kate were in the crowd. And, naturally, the camera panned to them. Thankfully, the two were seen laughing and could at least make light of the situation in some way. The resurfaced clip recently appeared on TikTok.

Prince William and Kate Middleton at the 2020 BAFTA Awards | Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty Images

Users react to the resurfaced Margot Robbie clip

If you sit and analyze the video, Williams smile maybe looks a bit forced, but Kate certainly seemed to be enjoying the moment, interestingly enough. And users took to the comments section to discuss how they felt about not only the joke but also William and Kates reaction.

Users agreed with Kates seemingly natural reaction to the joke: Kates enjoyment of that did not need to be faked, one user commented, with the comment receiving plenty of likes.

Another user called William and Kate good sports for laughing at the joke, but some were confused as to whether the joke was meant to offend Harry or the royal family. The consensus was that the joke wasnt actually meant to genuinely offend anyone  it was rather just making light of the whole situation.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle officially stepped back from their roles as senior royals the month after the BAFTA Awards, in March 2020. The two have hardly visited the United Kingdom since, though they have made their way over there for certain special events. The couples two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, seemingly have no relationship with their royal relatives, with Lilibet never having met any of Harrys family. Its unclear if the two couples will reconcile at any point, though things unfortunately dont seem to be heading in that direction. At least William and Kate could share a laugh at a tense situation.
SPOKANE - An effort started by a group working with Alaska Airlines will soon be made available to all airlines at Spokane International Airport.

The Fallen Soldier Group at Alaska Airlines is a group of volunteers who ensure the fallen men and women of the military are treated with honor and respect when being transported by Alaska Airlines.

This year the procession will be escorted by the Washington Patriot Guard riders according to Chuck Lashley, Assistant State Captain of the riders.

The group will travel nearly 500 miles between September 15 and 16.

We are always doing what we can to ensure lost soldiers are honored and treated with respect during transport, Lashley said. Now there is a cart that will be taken to Spokane International Airport to be utilized by the airlines.

It is their goal to make the military escorts and families of the fallen as comfortable as possible during their trip on Alaska Airlines aircraft.

Lashley also said the group will travel hundred of miles across eastern Washington to visit area cemeteries, and then on to Lincoln County for a special presentation.

A network of volunteers are contacted when a Fallen Soldier will be transported by Alaska Airlines.

After notification the process begins and the Alaska Airlines Fallen Soldier Protocol is followed.

Part of the process is the respectful transfer of the fallen to and from the aircraft.

Volunteers in Seattle are building a patriotic baggage cart for the Spokane International Airport. The cart will travel from SeaTac, WA. to Spokane, for a presentation and delivery to Spokane International Airport where it will be available for use by all airlines.

On September 16th 2023 at 10:45 AM the Fallen Soldier Cart procession will stop at the Reardan City Park 205 S Oak St, Reardan WA.

There the group will conduct a heroes presentation in the honor of Reardans own World War Two Medal of Honor recipient Joe Mann.
Cherokee Nation Wildlife Conservation Manager Lane Kindle visits with a 2021 controlled hunt participant. The CN will host its third annual controlled deer hunts in 2023.
Lately, progressives in Connecticut and across the nation have taken aim at individual property rights. Of course, they set the stage with popular (but still bad) ideas like going after rich property managers from out-of-state. Connecticut progressives have also shown an equal disdain for landlords in their own state, whom they accuse of profiting from the misery of their tenants.

This is a clever strategy. Who doesnt feel sympathy for seniors on fixed incomes or want to feel as if they are helping the poor? Do not be fooled. Progressives are not motivated by helping folks who are struggling. Rather, they hide behind it to further their true intention of minimizing individual freedom in favor of state control.

In this instance, property managers and landlords will not be the only individuals in the crosshairs. Soon, Connecticut Democrats will be knocking on all our doors to dictate what we can do with our property.

Yes, this is a bold statement. It is also a statement rooted in fact. There have been several bills in the Connecticut legislature in recent years that seek to impose this government force on private property owners. This past year, multiple new restrictions on housing providers (landlords) were passedas well as more far-reaching policies like rent control, price caps, preventing reasonable evictions, and creating local bureaucracies designed to interfere in the marketplace called Fair Rent Commissions.

Make no mistake. These are terrible and un-American ideas. Worse, they will not help a single person. Perhaps a few isolated individuals will make out (at someone elses expense), but any benefit will be short-lived. These changes will soon hurt the market itself and will result in even fewer options for those in need.

One such bill that passed this year was S.B. 988, which aims to fully undermine the property and ownership rights of one singular class of property owner  those who own mobile home parks.

Since the bill received little to no media coverage, heres the idea: The government is now dictating who a park owner may sell to (even if they already have an agreement with a willing buyer), that they may have to wait up to six months for a matching offer, and even who determines the price of the park in certain situations (someone other than the parks owner).

The impact of these provisions is more far-reaching than at first imagined. Park owners effectively lose their property rights under this new law. When someone else can determine the value of your property and how and when you can dispose of it, is it really yours anymore?

I was shocked to not only see progressive Democrats, but also a few of my Republican colleagues rushing out to support this tragic, divisive, and misguided law.

I was proud to stand in opposition to this harmful measure on the Senate floor for more than two hours, offering multiple amendments as alternative solutions, hoping to preserve the rights of private property owners and protect the interests of unit-owners at the same time. Unfortunately, each of my amendments were rejected along party lines. That the Democrat-majority in Hartford said no to these commonsense ideas illustrates how far the legislature has drifted from the values of freedom, personal responsibility, hard work, accountability, equal protection, and justice itself.

It is wholly immoral to use government, and the force of law to deprive someone of the value of property they own for your own benefit. This is a key example of what is wrong with government in general. Growing government means increasing the power of politicians to engage in policymaking that results in unequal treatment - for their own political benefit.

How can our American principles be preserved? As I always say, Connecticut residents must get more involved and begin holding their elected officials accountable. Dont assume how they are voting. You owe it to yourself, and to future generations, to take an interest.

Connecticut State Sen. Rob Sampson represents the 16th District. You can reach Senator Rob Sampson at www.senatorsampson.com.
When a family member breaks up with someone they brought around the family for years, it can affect a lot of people.

One woman has become a parental figure for her sons high school girlfriend and keeps inviting her to family events even though hes now happily married to someone else.

She and her husband have a son who was with his girlfriend, Sabrina, for a long time. He started dating Sabrina in high school, and they broke up during their college years. Over the years they dated, Sabrina became a member of their family.

She is, in my eyes, our daughter, she explained.

Her family [members] are awful people, and she sees us as her parental figures. She even is planning to have my husband walk her down the aisle when she gets married.

When Sabrina and their son broke up, she and her husband refused to cut contact with Sabrina since they saw her as their daughter. Since then, shes invited Sabrina to all kinds of family events despite the break-up. Her son wasnt thrilled about it, but hes since moved on.

Her son is 27 and got married to his wife, Bethany. Sabrina moved on as well and is currently engaged.

Unfortunately, she hasnt connected with her new daughter-in-law as much as she has with Sabrina. Anytime shes tried to get close to Bethany, Bethany doesnt reciprocate the same desire.

We never clicked, she said.

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It started with a post on X (formerly Twitter)an expression of Christianity with the brevity the sites format demands: Theres no hope for any of us outside of having faith in Jesus Christ alone. The poster in question was Lizzie Marbach, whose X bio describes her as a Republican political activist who lives in Ohio.

Marbachs post easily could have gone unnoticed outside her own following. But then a member of Congress decided to share itand not just to share it but to dunk on it, hard, to an audience nearly ten times the size of Marbachs own.

This is one of the most bigoted tweets I have ever seen, the congressman wrote. Delete it, Lizzie. Religious freedom in the United States applies to every religion. You have gone too far.

As angry replies accumulated under both posts, another, better-known member of Congress came to Marbachs defense.

No! Stating the core beliefs or principles of your faith isnt bigoted, the congresswoman tweeted, rebuking her colleague. Its religious freedom and no one should be scolded for that. Its also wrong to speak about religious freedom while simultaneously harassing people who freely express their beliefs.

If youre already imagining these latter two characters, my guess is youre imagining incorrectlyjust as I probably would if I didnt know the details here. The representative who dunked on Marbach is a fellow Ohio Republican, Rep. Max Miller. Hes a Marine veteran who served as a special assistant to former President Donald Trumpand he told 50,000 people that Marbach was a bigot for believing Jesus is the only hope of the world.

And the lawmaker who rebuked him and defended Marbach? That was Rep. Ilhan Omar, the Minnesota Democrat widely known for her membership in the Houses progressive Squad.

The unexpected casting of this little internet drama caught my eye and got me thinking (again, as this is a topic I find endlessly fascinating) about the strange place religion takes in American public life today. Recent decades rapid decline of Christian religiosity in the USby which I mean not only sincere faith and practice but also basic cultural familiarity with the stories and habits of the churchis the context that made this episode possible.

Its a context I always keep in mind, as both a Christian and a journalist, whenever I write for mainstream audiences. I cant assume the public understands what Im talking about when I speak of Jesus, church life, or the core tenets and demands of Christianity. (A few years ago, my mother met someone whod lived her whole life in the United States, surrounded by churches, and yet was under the impression that Jesus was burned at the stake.)

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But its also a context I think every American Christian would do well to mull over from time to time. Without a foundational understanding of religions changing place in our country, well be ill-equipped to talk about faith with our neighbors of other religions or none at alland well be unprepared for responses like Millers dunk.

The dunk itself was revealing, as was the subsequent apology in which Miller said hed conveyed a message [he] did not intend without specifying which part of his first tweet was misleading and what message hed actually like to convey.

I dont think Miller, who describes himself on X as a proud Jew, has any animus toward Christians or people of faith more generally. His reaction, I suspect, was to the exclusivity of Marbachs claim and the exacting demand it implies for all who read it. If theres no hope apart from faith in Christ, the clear suggestion is that each of us should have faith in Christand thats no small proposal.

Or, at least, it shouldnt be. And that expectation is precisely the aspect of faith which is ever more incomprehensible in much of American society. Rapid, large-scale dechurching is but a visible symptom of our nations deeper shift toward the secularism philosopher Charles Taylor famously described in his landmark work, A Secular Age. This isnt secularism in the sense of opposition to religion but in the sense that faith is a real choice we must make, just one option of many, and not a universal norm or obligation.

That shift in our thinkingwhich I find in my own mind, even though Ive made my choicehas pushed religion out of a special category concerned with ultimate questions of who we are, how we should live together, and what God wants of us. Instead, religion is often bumped down to a lower level among hobbies and sports: nice and engrossing but nonessential, something to do in your leisure time when youre not at work or dealing with basic necessities like food and sleep and childcare.

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This reframe was perfectly encapsulated by a 2020 comment to The Washington Post from a Harvard epidemiologist, Ranu S. Dhillon, which Ive shared at CT before.

Protesting against systemic injustice that is contributing directly to this pandemic is essential, Dhillon said. The right to live, the right to breathe, the right to walk down the street without police coming at you for no reason  thats different than me wanting to go to my place of worship on the weekend, me wanting to take my kid on a roller coaster, me wanting to go to brunch with my friends.

I understand the distinction Dhillon was drawing between fundamental rights to life and liberty and more frivolous activities. Its a good distinction to make, especially in an emergency. Dhillon simply drew the line in the wrong place: Worship isnt like brunch. Its more like breathing.

Or, at least, thats the Christian perspective and, I expect, the perspective of anyone serious about the practice of any faith. But this is an increasingly uncommon perspective. The demands, assumptions, and language of religion are growing stranger by the year through sheer loss of familiarityto the point, it seems, that a Republican member of Congress briefly thought a single-sentence expression of Christian belief in public amounted to a bigoted violation of others religious rights.

And maybe the fact that Omar was the one to push back on Millers dunk shouldnt surprise us after all. She habitually wears a hijab as a sign of her Muslim faith. Its a decision which probably has her regularly thinking about the uncertain new place of religion in American public life, too.
In 1817, the Romantic poet and critic Samuel Taylor Coleridge famously defined the imagination as the imago Dei at work in every human mind, helping us first to perceive the world around us and then to creatively reimagine it. For Coleridge, himself a Christian, people think in images because we were first thought into an image of God by God himself.

In The Evangelical Imagination: How Stories, Images, and Metaphors Created a Culture in Crisis, Karen Swallow Prior examines the history of the imagination alongside the history of evangelicalism, exploring how the two converge.

Prior warmly welcomes readers into this book as she would students into her classroom. She owns a long and distinguished career as a popular professor of literature and as a prolific writer on the intersection of faith, reading, and culture. Her chief area of academic interest lies with Britains Victorian period (Queen Victoria reigned from 1837 to 1901) and its influence on contemporary culture.

Victorian mores, ideals, and developments play major roles in The Evangelical Imagination. Yet Priors work ranges widely, arising from years of reading, teaching, writing, researching, worshiping, and studying. As she notes, There is no limit to the things that fill the evangelical imagination. And there is, of course, no one evangelical imagination.

As creatures made in Gods image, we are necessarily spiritual thinkers. When we fail to cultivate thoughtful faith and faithful thought, we ourselves wither, and we risk corroding others. Prior therefore urges us to examine how we think alongside what we thinkand, ultimately, forwhom we think.

All these questions point back to our imaginations, both in a personal sense and in a broader, more communal sense. This is where many of our deepest beliefs are rooted, often without any tangible awareness of the influences that helped them take root. The problem, she writes, isnt so much that a great deal of human experience and understanding depends on interpretation but that we dont always recognize that it does.

Prior thus positions her book as a wake-up call to thoughtful evangelicals. Wrong interpretation is dangerous, and we must strive to avoid it, she warns. But lack of awareness that one is interpreting and that one interprets in community, within a tradition, is more dangerous.

The Evangelical Imagination serves the work of thoughtful interpretation by considering the most powerful motifs feeding the current evangelical movement, many of which date back to the Victorian period or before. Prior describes the Victorian age as a heady one marked by rapid change, optimism, prosperity, and progress. It was also shaped by an increasingly influential evangelical faith inherited from the previous century.

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From the vantage point of the Victorian period, we can see the reservoir of images inherited by the evangelical imagination and trace their influence down to the present day. As Prior argues, many defining characteristics of American evangelical culture might be less Christian than Victorian.

Over the course of her survey, Prior appeals to literature, visual art, philosophy, psychology, and even pop culture. Her illustrations, taken from both the Victorian age and more recent periods, are remarkably wide ranging. We see, for instance, the everyman allegory from John Bunyans Pilgrims Progress explored alongside Warner Sallmans 1940 Head of Christ painting, an enduringly popular piece of devotional art. We see incisive analysis of such trends as the evangelical appropriation of self-help culture and the proliferation of end times literature like the Left Behind series.

Prior organizes her book around ten central metaphors, all of which have biblical roots, even if those roots have gotten entangled in cultural weeds: awakening, conversion, testimony, improvement, sentimentality, materiality, domesticity, empire, reformation, and rapture. As Prior argues, each of these metaphors underwent a specific cultural transition during the Victorian period. And each has flowed into the modern evangelical imagination, in ways both helpful and not so helpful.

In discussing the awakening metaphor, Prior considers how dreams lead to truth. This theme runs through Scripture and in turn through the larger Christian literary tradition, where visions often precede spiritual awakenings. In 18th-century America, the image of waking from spiritual sleep helped fuel a series of revivals fittingly known as the Great Awakenings. Closely related is the idea, as Prior puts it, that the trap of an immoral lifestyle can awaken a spiritual hunger. She examines 19th-century interest in this connection through William Holman Hunts 1853 painting The Awakening Conscience, which depicts stirrings of spiritual insight alongside personal responsibility.

Today, of course, one prominent echo of awakening to spiritual and moral truth is the language of being socially and politically wokelanguage that divides evangelicals as surely as it divides America at large. For Prior, one need not embrace a comprehensive progressive agenda to find value in the idea of waking up to a new reality, such as when we develop compassion and awareness by looking at ones self through the eyes of others, in words she borrows from W. E. B. Du Bois. She worries that too many evangelicals, often asleep to injustice, are guilty of weaponizing wokeness as a slur. To destroy a metaphor, she observes, is to destroy more than a word.

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Next, Prior takes on another metaphor central to the evangelical imagination: conversion. She cites Henri Nouwens characterization of true Christian conversion as the individual equivalent of a revolution. Yet despite the Bibles command to make disciples of all nations, our emphasis on the language of being born again has overshadowed the importance of nurturing the life of faith. Put another way, there is so much fuss over the wedding that once the confetti is thrown and the champagne runs dry, we cant be sure the newlyweds know how to live together in relationship. Woe to us, Prior warns, if we fail to see what exactly we are asking people to convert to.

Another chapter examines how the ideal of domesticity assumed its place in modern evangelical culture. As Prior explains, the kind of domestic vision encouraged by Victorian evangelicalism was bolstered by the Industrial Revolution. With the rise of the middle class came a dramatic shift from rural to urban living, which gave the notion of home a more self-contained feel, characterized by individual apartments and anonymous dwellings. Any man could now have his castle, with a wife to make it his refuge. And improvements in reducing child mortality birthed a cult of the child, driven by educational philosophies and literature geared toward their flourishing.

With a culture of domesticity came a culture of sentimentality, something Prior blames for the shallowness of much evangelical art. Sentimentalism aims at comfort rather than correction; it softens edges rather than clarifies them. Drawing on Flannery OConnors memorable comparison, Prior likens sentimentality to pornography, both of which sever the experience (emotional in the first case, sexual in the latter) from its meaning and purpose. Echoing the poet John Keats, she concludes: In reality, you cant have beauty apart from truth. Beauty apart from truth and goodness is mere sentimentality.

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Priors chapter titles can appear whimsical, in that they rely on unlikely groupings. (Her conversion chapter, for instance, promises an analysis of Language, Dr. Pepper, and Ebenezer Scrooge.) At worst, they can seem intended for shock value. (Her chapter on sentimentality carries the subheading Uncle Tom, Sweet Jesus, and Public Urination.) But as you read each chapter, you come to appreciate a host of profound connections. A butterfly effect runs through the book: One seemingly disparate thing evokes and affects another.

Undergirding Priors consideration of individual metaphors is a comprehensive metaphor. If evangelicalism is a house, as she supposes, then these unexamined assumptions are its floor joists, wall studs, beams, and raftersholding everything together but unseen, covered over by tile, paint, paper, and ceilings. What we dont see, we dont think about. Until something goes wrong and something needs replacement. Or restoration.

How do we go about repairing todays evangelical house? How do we distinguish cultural Christianity from the genuine article? For Prior, this begins with a renewed commitment to taking every thought captive and making it obedient to Christ (2 Cor. 10:5).

She thereby challenges us to see things anew: to look with reopened eyes upon metaphors that are richly laden yet buried beneath the rubble of familiarity. But ultimately, she argues, we must ask God for the kind of deep healing that only arises from faith. And faith, essentially, is an imaginative act, wherein God opens our eyes and we truly see.

In Art and Faith: A Theology of Making, Makoto Fujimura explains the centuries-old Japanese art of kintsugi, which involves repairing beloved but broken pottery. Fractured areas are mended with a precious lacquer containing gold, silver, or platinum.

For Fujimura, kintsugi offers a metaphor for Gods redemptive work: Our brokenness is veined through by the blood of Christ. The result is not merely restoration but new creation, on both an individual and a cultural scale. Priors book helps us see that our own house can be salvaged. Beauty indeed comes from ashes.

Reading The Evangelical Imagination is akin to enjoying a lively conversation over a cheering yet bracing cup of tea. I can imagine gathering with Prior around our Fathers table, in our Fathers houseeach with our cracked cups threaded through with gold and made more valuable for the repair.

Carolyn Weber is a professor at New College Franklin in Franklin, Tennessee. She is the author of the memoirs Surprised by Oxford and Sex and the City of God.

Have something to add about this? See something we missed? Share your feedback here.
This week on The Bulletin, hosts Mike Cosper and Nicole Martin talk with New York Times columnist David French about former president Trumps fourth indictment and the unfortunate fame of Tiffany Gomas, the subject of an inadvertently viral TikTok video. The trio reaches deep beyond the headlines to coax out the fears we bring to the voting booth (if we show up at all) and the hope that is possible when we reject conspiracy theories in favor of the fruit of the Spirit. CTs global managing editor, Morgan Pomaikai Lee, joins the conversation to talk about the recent Maui fires and how music offers connection and solace for communities through hard times.

Joining us this week:

David French joined The New York Times as an Opinion columnist in January 2023. Before that, he was a senior editor at The Dispatch, which he helped start, and a contributing writer at The Atlantic. He spent most of his career as a practicing lawyer, working in both commercial and constitutional litigation. In his late 30s, he joined the United States Army Reserve as a judge advocate general. David deployed to Iraq in 2007 and served in Diyala Province, where he was awarded a Bronze Star. During his legal career, he litigated in federal courts from coast to coast and served as a lecturer at Cornell Law School. He is a former president of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. Davids most recent book is Divided We Fall: Americas Secession Threat and How to Restore Our Nation.

Morgan Pomaikai Lee serves Christianity Today as global managing editor, where she leads teams of writers from around the world. She is the former host of CTs inaugural podcast, Quick to Listen.

Resources Referenced:

Hoonani I Ka Makua Mau Doxology Lyric Video

The Daily Briefing  CT Newsletters | Christianity Today

Maui Fires Burn Site Where Hawaiian Queen First Brought Christianity to the Island

The 6 Hymns Tim Keller Picked for His Memorial Service

Read more from Christianity Today about todays topics :

Trumps Georgia Election Meddling Didnt Just Look Wrong. It Was Wrong. | Christianity Today

Trumps Indictment Demands a Distinctly Christian Response

When Revival Swept Hawaii | Christian History

Billy Graham in Hawaii | Christianity Today

We Can Reach Conspiracy Theorists for Christ. Heres How. | Christianity Today

Jesus Cares About Your Conspiracy Theory | Christianity Today

The Bulletin is a production of Christianity Today

Executive Producer: Erik Petrik

Producer: Clarissa Moll and Matt Stevens

Associate Producer: Azurae Phelps

Editing and Mix: TJ Hester

Music: Dan Phelps

Show Design: Bryan Todd

Graphic Design: Amy Jones

Social Media: Kate Lucky
Willie McLaurin, the acting president of the Southern Baptist Conventions Executive Committee, resigned suddenly on Thursday after admitting he had falsified his resume.

While considering McLaurin as a candidate for Floyds permanent replacement, the SBC Executive Committees Presidential Search Team discovered disqualifying information during their process of vetting and due diligence, said Philip Robertson, chairman of the SBC Executive Committee, in a statement. McLaurins education credentials that he presented in his resume are false.

The statement quoted from McLaurins resignation letter, saying he admitted falsifying his resume.

In a recent resume that I submitted, it included schools that I did not attend or complete the course of study, McLaurin reportedly said in resigning.

According to Baptist Press, an official SBC publication, McLaurin claimed that he had degrees from North Carolina Central University, Duke University Divinity School, and Hood Theological Seminary on his resume. When presidential search committee members attempted to confirm those degrees, they learned he did not hold those degrees.

McLaurin had been interim president and CEO of the Executive Committee since February 2022 and had worked for the Executive Committee since 2020. The committee oversees the business of the nations largest Protestant denomination between the SBCs annual meetings.

McLaurin had been in the running for the permanent role as Executive Committee president after the committee rejected a different candidate. If he had been named to that post, McLaurin would have been the first Black leader to head a major Southern Baptist entity.

His departure marks another leadership challenge for the Executive Committee. McLaurin became interim president after Ronnie Floyd, the previous president, resigned in October 2021 after months of controversy over the SBCs sex abuse crisis. Floyds predecessor, Frank Page, resigned in 2018 due to misconduct.

The Southern Baptist Convention has seen a series of leaders resign in recent years, often in controversy.

Among them: former SBC president Paige Patterson, who was fired for mishandling the investigation of a sexual assault at a seminary he led; David Platt, former president of the SBCs International Mission Board, who resigned after a troubled tenure that included the loss of nearly 1,000 missionaries due to budget cuts; Russell Moore, former president of the SBCs Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, a critic of former president Donald Trump who had forced unwelcome discussions in the SBC on sexual abuse; and Adam Greenway, who resigned last fall from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary after concerns about the schools finances.

To the Southern Baptists who have placed their confidence in me and have encouraged me to pursue the role of President & CEO of the SBC Executive Committee, including pastors, state partners, entity servants, colleagues, and SBC African American friends, I offer my deepest apologies, McLaurin said in his resignation letter, according to Baptist Press. Please forgive me for the harm or hurt that this has caused.

Robertson asked for prayer in dealing with the fallout from McLaurins departure.

In a commitment to transparency we will be issuing further updates related to next steps to the presidential search team and SBC Executive Committees staff leadership in the near future, Robertson said.

This is a breaking story and will be updated.
Christian preschools claim Colorado pre-K program forces them to contradict religious beliefs

Multiple Christian preschools in Colorado allege that the state's requirements to participate in a government funding program would force them to hire people who do not uphold their religious teachings on sexuality and marriage.

St. Mary Catholic Parish in Littleton and St. Bernadette Catholic Parish in Lakewood operate preschool programs in the Denver area. The parishes have a preference for admitting Catholic families, and they also have religious expectations of their staff.

In a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday in Colorado, the Catholic institutions allege that the state has excluded religious schools from participating in the Colorado Universal Preschool Program Act. The 2022 legislation established a system of state funding for preschool services.

The plaintiffs represented by the Becket Law are the two Catholic parishes and the Archdiocese of Denver. The Colorado Department of Early Childhood Executive Director Lisa Roy and the director of Colorado's Universal Preschool Program, Dawn Odean, are named as the defendants.

According to the complaint, St. Mary's and other archdiocesan preschools, including St. Bernadette's, sought information about the program as they intended to participate.

However, after learning more about the program, the plaintiffs allege that the Department of Early Childhood had implemented requirements that would exclude all Catholic preschools within the Archdiocese of Denver due to the Church's "sincere and long-held religious beliefs."

"Specifically, the Department is purporting to require all preschool providers to accept any applicant without regard to a student or family's religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity, and to prohibit schools from "discriminat[ing] against any person" on the same bases," the lawsuit reads.

The Colorado Department of Early Childhood and Colorado's Universal Preschool Program did not immediately respond to The Christian Post's request for comment.

The plaintiffs argue that the requirements conflict with their religious beliefs. The lawsuit notes that the parishes require staff to sign contracts on an annual basis to affirm their commitment to upholding the denominational teachings on abortion and sexuality.

"Abiding by Catholic teaching on these issues would violate the Department's ban on sexual-orientation and gender-identity 'discrimination,' though Plaintiffs do not believe adhering to these beliefs constitutes discrimination," the complaint reads.

Tracy Seul, director of development and preschool at St. Mary Catholic School, said in a Wednesday statement that her preschool "exists to help kids harness the skills they need to flourish and grow into individuals prepared to serve others in hope, joy, and love."

"We are called to offer this ministry to every parent who wants to provide their child with an authentic Catholic education," Seul said.

Becket Counsel Nick Reaves emphasized that the state's funding program is supposed to be universal, highlighting the parents who may need help sending their kids to a preschool that reflects their values.

"We are asking the court to stop Colorado's campaign against preschoolers and the schools that want to serve them," Reaves stated. "Families should be free to choose the private school that best meets their needs  whether it is secular or religious."

The Darren Patterson Christian Academy in Buena Vista leveled similar accusations against the requirements for participating in the preschool funding program. The academy is represented by the legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom.

In a June lawsuit, the religious institution argued that the program mandates that it hire people that don't uphold its values and alter school policies for handling students who express a desire to identify as the opposite sex. According to the complaint, the school has segregated bathrooms for girls and boys, and, in keeping with its Christian beliefs, it does not use pronouns that do not reflect a person's biological sex.

Last month, ADF filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to enjoin Roy from requiring that the academy abide by the program provisions and continuing to deny participation due to the institution's "religious character and exercise."

"Religious schools have a right to be religious," Jeremiah Galus, senior counsel for ADF, told CP in a Friday statement.

"We're hopeful that the judge will agree that the government cannot force religious schools to give up their religious beliefs and character in order to participate in a public benefit like everyone else."

According to ADF, the hearing for the preliminary injunction in the DPCA case is set for Oct. 5.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against states that have prevented Christian school participation in secular tuition and aid programs.

"[W]e have repeatedly held that a State violates the Free Exercise Clause when it excludes religious observers from otherwise available public benefits," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the 2022 majority opinion in a case against Maine's tuition funding program.

"As noted, a neutral benefit program in which public funds flow to religious organizations

through the independent choices of private benefit recipients does not offend the Establishment Clause."
Ohio Right to Life fires communications director after viral 'faith in Christ alone' post

An Ohio pro-life group has dismissed its communications director after a Jewish Republican Congressman whose wife sits on the organization's board criticized her for tweeting that "there is no hope for any of us outside of having faith in Jesus Christ alone."

Elizabeth Marbach, the now former communications director of Ohio Right to Life, became the center of national media attention this week after Rep. Max Miller criticized her Tuesday post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

Miller, who is Jewish, called the tweet "one of the most bigoted" tweets he had ever seen even though Miller's sentiment is a mainstream belief of Christianity. Miller's wife, Emily Moreno Miller, serves as a board member of Ohio Right to Life, a state-level group that educates the public about abortion and advocates for pro-life legislation.

Marbach told The Sentinel in a Thursday statement that she was let go from her position with Ohio Right to Life. Internal communications reviewed by the newspaper suggest that Marbach was given the opportunity to resign or enter a transitional period before dismissal but she declined.

The group assured that Marbach wasn't terminated because of "any single event."

"Ohio Right to Life can confirm that Elizabeth 'Lizzie' Marbach is no longer employed at Ohio Right to Life," Ohio Right to Life CEO Peter Range wrote in a statement. "This decision was not based on any single event as some on social media claim. We appreciate Lizzie's service and wish her the best in future endeavors."

Marbach, a former Trump campaign and Ohio Republican Party staff member, told the newspaper that she "absolutely" does not regret her social media post because "now millions have read the gospel message." She expressed hope that God would use the situation to "bring glory and honor to his name."

"Preborn lives are being slaughtered every day, and Ohio Right to Life is one of the few organizations in a position to stop it," she said. "I hope and pray that they would prioritize abolishing abortion in Ohio going forward and not be distracted by politics."

The dismissal reportedly came after a senior Ohio Right to Life member expressed concerns about the tone of a tweet Marbach published on Aug. 10, according to The Sentinel.

In response to an abortion advocate's tweet about a state constitutional amendment that pro-lifers believe will allow for unregulated abortions in Ohio, Marbach called the abortion proponent a "murderous liar."

Ohio Right to Life did not immediately respond to The Christian Post's request for comment.

In an email to CP earlier this week, the pro-life advocate said that she wrote the tweet after what she described as a "long day at work."

"I have had many upset over my 'unpopular' and 'harsh' posts I had recently made, and I wanted to show some positivity that we can all unite behind," she stated.

She did not expect Miller's response calling her post "bigoted."

"God says that Jewish people are the chosen ones, but yet you say we have no hope," Miller wrote in a follow-up tweet. "Thanks for your pearl of wisdom today."

Rep. Casey Weinstein, a Democratic lawmaker from Ohio, quote tweeted Miller's post, joining the Republican Congressman in calling for Marbach to delete her tweet. The Democratic lawmaker's now-deleted post was captured via a screenshot and shared on social media.

In response to Miller's post, Marbach quoted John 14:6: "Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'"

Later Tuesday, Miller apologized to Marbach, writing, "I posted something earlier that conveyed a message I did not intend. I will not try to hide my mistake or run from it. I sincerely apologize to Lizzie and to everyone who read my post."

The Republican's wife tweeted on the same day that her husband was wrong to tell Marbach to "stand down" from her religious views. However, the board member argued that asking Jewish people to "back down" from their faith was also wrong.

"And we never will," she wrote.
Target quarterly report reveals drop in sales amid backlash to LGBT products

Major retail chain Target has reported a decline in quarterly sales for the first time in six years as the company faced backlash after promoting LGBT related products during pride month.

Target, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, released its second-quarter earnings report Wednesday, which details the company's sales for the three-month period that ended on July 29. The data included in the report compares the retailer's financial situation this year to the revenue it brought in at the same time last year.

In the three-month period ending on July 29, 2023, Target amassed a total of $24,384,000 in sales. In the three-month period ending on July 30, 2022, Target sold $25,653,000 in goods. The company's sales in the second quarter of fiscal year 2023 amount to a 4.9% drop compared to its earnings from the same time period in fiscal year 2022.

Target brought in $49,332,000 in sales during the six-month period ending on July 29, 2023. In the six-month period that concluded on July 30, 2022, Target sold $50,483,000 in merchandise. The company witnessed a 2.3% decrease in sales in the first six months of fiscal year 2023 compared to the first six months of fiscal year 2022.

"Given recent sales trends, the Company lowered its full-year sales and profit expectations," the earnings report stated. "The Company now expects comparable sales in a wide range around a mid-single digit decline for the remainder of the year."

While acknowledging the decline in sales for the second quarter of fiscal year 2023 and the likelihood that the drop in revenue will continue for the foreseeable future, Target Corporation Chief Executive Brian Cornell maintains full confidence in his company.

"Our second quarter financial results clearly demonstrate the agility of our team and the resilience of our business model, as we saw better-than-expected profitability in the face of softer-than-expected sales."

"With the benefit of a much-leaner inventory position than a year ago, the team was able to quickly respond to rapidly-changing topline trends throughout the second quarter, while continuing to focus on the guest experience," he added. "We continue to take a cautious approach to planning our business, and have therefore adjusted our financial guidance in anticipation of continued near-term challenges on the topline."

Target's second-quarter earnings report comes as the company faced boycott calls in recent months after promoting LGBT-related merchandise. Specifically, the retailer came under fire earlier this year for selling "tuck-friendly" swimsuits, women's swimsuits designed to enable trans-identified biological men who wear them to hide their genitalia more easily.

The company's embrace of LGBT-related merchandise produced by a company known for making products with satanic imagery led to calls for boycotts from conservative activists. Target lost billions in market value, and the corporation's shares decreased by more than 25% over the past year.

In response to the declining sales, the company pointed to declines in "discretionary" merchandise, which comprised a large percentage of Target's inventory. Discretionary products include non-essential items such as clothing, home decor, electronics, toys and party supplies. The company reports "continued growth in frequency businesses (Essentials & Beauty and Food & Beverage)."

"Inventory at the end of Q2 was 17 percent lower than last year, reflecting a 25 percent reduction in discretionary categories, partially offset by inventory investments to support frequency categories, and strategic investments to support long-term market-share opportunities," the report noted.

Walmart, one of Target's major competitors, witnessed an uptick in sales as its rival struggled.

In its second-quarter earnings report, released Thursday, Walmart recorded $110.9 billion in net sales during the second quarter of fiscal year 2024 at its U.S. stores. This marked a 5.4% increase from the $105.1 billion in net sales the company amassed during the second quarter of fiscal year 2023.

The report indicated that Walmart's "sales strength" came from "grocery and health & wellness, while general merchandise sales declined modestly."
Willie McLaurin resigns as interim SBC Executive Committee president over false credentials

Willie McLaurin, the interim president and CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, has stepped down from the position after it was revealed that he had false credentials on his resume.

McLaurin, who had claimed on his resume that he held degrees from North Carolina Central University, Duke University Divinity School and Hood Theological Seminary confessed to SBC EC leaders on Thursday that this was untrue.

According to a statement shared with Baptist Press, the SBC's official news service, SBC EC Chairman Phillip Robertson and EC Presidential Search Committee Chairman Neal Hughes noted that the discovery came after weeks of investigations launched by search committee members. The aforementioned institutions confirmed that McLaurin never graduated from their respective schools.

In addition to resigning from his interim position, which he had been in since February 2022 year, McLaurin will also no longer be considered a candidate for the position of SBC EC president.

In a resignation letter, McLaurin apologized for his actions, imploring SBC members to "forgive me for the harm or hurt that this has caused."

"To the Southern Baptists who have placed their confidence in me and have encouraged me to pursue the role of President & CEO of the SBC Executive Committee, including pastors, state partners, entity servants, colleagues, and SBC African American friends, I offer my deepest apologies," wrote McLaurin, as quoted by BP.

"I am thankful for the trust that Southern Baptists placed in me to serve as Interim President & CEO. Now, I am trusting Southern Baptists to pray for me and my family as we navigate this part of the journey."

Jonathan Howe, vice president of communications for the SBC EC, tweeted on Thursday, "Today has been an incredibly hard day for our Southern Baptist family."

"The past few years have been extremely taxing on your [SBC EC] staff and trustees; however we continue to hold firmly to Psalm 103. Please keep us in your prayers."

In February 2022, McLaurin was selected to serve as interim SBC EC president following the resignation of former SBC President Ronnie Floyd, who had stepped down from his position amid the investigation into how the denomination was handling sexual abuse allegations.

Before becoming a member of the SBC EC in January 2020, McLaurin served on the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board for 15 years, as well as executive pastor at Greater Missionary Baptist Church in Clarksville, Tennessee, and senior pastor at Greater Hope Baptist Church in Union City.

"I want to express deep appreciation to Chairman Rolland Slade and the Executive Committee officers for entrusting me with the opportunity to serve," McLaurin had stated last year.

"It is an honor to partner with Southern Baptists in advancing the mission of winning the world to Jesus."

The Executive Committee is slated to meet again on Sept. 18-19 in Nashville.
DC authorities 'selectively enforced' defacement ordinance against pro-lifers but not BLM rioters: court

A federal appeals court issued a free speech ruling in a case concerning the prosecution of pro-life activists arrested in August 2020 for using non-permanent chalk to write Black Preborn Lives Matter on a sidewalk outside a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Washington, D.C., while allowing BLM rioters to deface buildings with spray paint.

Alliance Defending Freedom, a legal nonprofit specializing in religious freedom cases, represented members of the Frederick Douglass Foundation and Students for Life of America, contending that authorities unfairly treated the pro-lifers.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled in a 3-0 decision that authorities selectively enforced defacement ordinances due to disagreement with the viewpoints of the two groups. The appeals court determined that this selective enforcement violated the First and Fifth Amendments, reversing a lower courts decision to dismiss a lawsuit brought by SFLA and the Frederick Douglas Foundation.

According to the ruling, the District engaged in viewpoint discrimination by enforcing a defacement ordinance against the pro-life advocates who wrote Black Pre-Born Lives Matter on the sidewalk in 2020 but not against protestors and rioters who chalked Black Lives Matter and spray painted anti-police messages on streets, sidewalks and buildings in the nation's capital.

The courts ruling highlighted how, throughout the summer of 2020, protestors covered sidewalks and storefronts with paint and chalk in response to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in May 2020.

The opinion noted that the markings were in open violation of the defacement ordinance, but none of the protestors were arrested. Some rioters also used yellow paint to write Defund the Police messages on a mural that Mayor Muriel Bowser commissioned in June 2020.

The government may not enforce the laws in a manner that picks winners and losers in public debates, the court wrote in its opinion. It would undermine the First Amendments protections for free speech if the government could enact a content-neutral law and then discriminate against disfavored viewpoints under the cover of prosecutorial discretion.

ADF Senior Counsel Erin Hawley, vice president of the ADF Center for Life and Regulatory Practice, championed the right of every American to make their voices heard on cultural and political issues.

Washington officials cant censor messages they disagree with. The right to free speech is for everyone, and were pleased the D.C. Circuit agreed that the Frederick Douglass Foundation and Students for Life should be able to exercise their constitutionally protected freedom to peacefully share their views the same as anyone else, Hawley stated.

J.R. Gurley, president of the Frederick Douglas Foundations Virginia chapter, also expressed satisfaction with the decision, asserting that the city cannot selectively determine which groups are allowed to participate in a public forum.

The First Amendment protects our right to peacefully share our pro-life message in Washington, D.C., without fear of unjust government punishment and thankfully, the D.C. Circuit agreed, Gurley added.

SFLA President Kristan Hawkins called the courts decision which favored pro-life students encouraging.

Viewpoint discrimination is un-American, and, as the case proceeds, we look forward to learning more about how D.C. officials picked winners and losers in their enforcement, Hawkins said in a statement shared with The Christian Post. Free speech rights youre afraid to use dont really exist, and we will keep fighting for the rights of our students to stand up for the preborn and their mothers, and against the predatory abortion industry led by Planned Parenthood.

As The Christian Post previously reported, SFLA and the Frederick Douglas Foundation filed a lawsuit against Washington, D.C., in 2020 after two pro-life advocates were arrested in front of a local Planned Parenthood clinic for writing in chalk on the sidewalk outside of the facility.

SFLA argued that it had obtained a permit to write messages in temporary paint after the city mayor painted a public street. According to a now-deleted SFLA petition, six police cars were outside the D.C. Planned Parenthood when pro-life advocates arrived.

The police threatened members of SFLAs team with arrest if they painted BLACK PREBORN LIVES MATTER with the temporary paint that police had requested they use, according to the pro-life group.

When we asked if we could at least use sidewalk chalk to chalk our anti-violence message on the streets, the police threatened to arrest us, SFLA stated.

Police arrested a man and woman on Aug. 1, 2020, for chalking on the sidewalk outside the abortion facility, eventually releasing the pair and issuing citations to them both.
California college professors sue over DEI mandates: 'Totalitarian triple-whammy'

California community college professors are seeking to invalidate new requirements to include concepts related to "diversity, equity, and inclusion" in their course content, insisting that they are being forced to teach politicized viewpoints they disagree with.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, formerly known as the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, filed a lawsuit on behalf of six professors at three Fresno-area community colleges Thursday. The professors claim that state regulation requiring the teaching of "diversity, equity, and inclusion" violate their rights under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

FIRE reports that more than 54,000 California community college professors are subject to requirements mandating them to incorporate "anti-racist" viewpoints into their lessons. The legal group contends that faculty performance and tenure will be evaluated based on professors' promotion of the government's viewpoints.

Plaintiffs James Druley, David Richardson, Linda de Morales and Loren Palsgaard teach at Madera Community College. Meanwhile, plaintiff Bill Blanken teaches at Reedley College and plaintiff Michael Stannard works at Clovis Community College.

The defendants named in the lawsuit are State Chancellor of California Community Colleges Sonya Christian, the members of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, Chancellor of State Center Community College District Carole Goldsmith and the Board of Trustees of the State Center Community College District.

"These regulations are a totalitarian triple-whammy," said FIRE attorney Daniel Ortner in a statement. "The government is forcing professors to teach and preach a politicized viewpoint they do not share, imposing incomprehensible guidelines, and threatening to punish professors when they cross an arbitrary, indiscernible line."

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California Fresno Division, contains a lengthy appendix outlining the amendments to "Title 5 of the California Code Regulations, to Include Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion standards in the Evaluation and Tenure Review of District Employees."

Specifically, Title 5 states, "The evaluation of district employees must include consideration of an employee's demonstrated, or progress toward, proficiency in diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility DEIA-related competencies that enable work with diverse communities."

"Faculty members shall employ teaching, learning, and professional practices that reflect DEIA and anti-racist principles, and in particular, respect for, and acknowledgment, of the diverse backgrounds of students and colleagues to improve equitable student outcomes and course completion," the amended regulations proclaim.

In a statement, Blanken questioned how he could incorporate "anti-racist principles" into his classroom instruction as a "professor of chemistry," asking, "What's the 'anti-racist' perspective on the atomic mass of Boron?"

To comply with additional requirements by the new guidelines, professors must "promote and incorporate culturally affirming DEIA and anti-racist principles to nurture and create a respectful, inclusive, and equitable learning and work environment." The guidelines also order professors to "respect and acknowledge the diversity of students and colleagues."

In addition, the appendix provides a link to a "Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Glossary of Terms" designed to "serve as a reference guide of DEI terms that are critical to our shared understanding for the need to advance efforts to address systemic racism in our system." The glossary describes the aspiration for "color-blindness" as an idea that "perpetuates existing racial inequities and denies systemic racism."

The glossary's definition of "Merit" condemns the "concept that at face value appears to be a neutral measure of academic achievement and qualifications" as "embedded in the ideology of Whiteness." It contends that merit "upholds race-based structural inequality" and "protects White privilege under the guise of standards."

Additionally, the complaint elaborates on how the new guidelines will impact the plaintiffs' academic freedom, noting that they are all being evaluated based on their inclusion of DEIA concepts in their classrooms as of Aug. 7, 2023.

"Because of the DEIA Rules and the Faculty Contract, Druley will avoid voicing his opinions on controversial DEIA topics, use vague and indeterminate language, walk on eggshells when discussing race, and may feel compelled to avoid assigning controversial or challenging readings about race," it maintains.

"Stannard believes that the use of 'culturally affirming language' that speaks to people differently based on their race or ethnicity is patronizing, offensive, and isolates students based on race or ethnicity. He will not use it," the lawsuit added. "The principles of anti-racism embedded in the DEIA Rules violate de Morales's deeply held moral and religious beliefs regarding the need to treat everyone equally in a color-blind manner."

All of the plaintiffs worry that they will face professional repercussions because they do not want to incorporate principles of DEIA into their classroom instruction.

The lawsuit asks a federal judge to declare that "the provisions of Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations added or amended by the DEIA Rules" as well as the "provisions of the Faculty Contract implementing the DEIA Rules" are "facially unconstitutional." The plaintiffs ask the judge to prevent the defendants from enforcing the rules.
Jason Jimenez details the significant role of forgiveness for healing, restoration

Are you struggling to forgive? Jason Jimenez breaks down what the Bible says about forgiveness and explains why it's an essential part of a Christian's life.

Jimenez, the founder and president of Stand Strong Ministries and a faculty member at Summit Ministries, told listeners of his podcast "Challenging Conversations" on edifi that he was concerned that "a lot of times when people say I'm sorry, in their mind, they believe that that's true forgiveness."

When somebody has wronged someone," Jimenez said, "and they do not own up to it, and then you're the person who's always trying to reconcile, work things out, or to forgive, to say that's water under the bridge, I think that that can also be a form of not only manipulation, deception, but also abuse."

It can be very toxic, and it causes a lot of people's relationships to never be fruitful and therefore never feel like this relationship is of the Lord, that it's God honoring. Forgiveness, no question, is a crucial concept in the Bible. And it does play a significant role in the Christian faith.

A Christian should know that an important factor of forgiveness is knowing that the ability to do so doesnt come from within themselves, Jimenez noted.

We don't have the ability within ourselves as fallen, sinful people to forgive. Forgiveness is rooted in God's character." he said.

"When you look at the Bible, you see from Old Testament to the New Testament, you see that God forgives His people. He is a forgiving God. You see that in Psalm 86:5. We see that He demonstrates His compassion and His mercy toward sinners way back in Exodus 34:6-7."

Jimenez said forgiveness is central to His redemptive plan and what God is doing to and for humanity. The ability to forgive should stem from the fact that God has first forgiven humanity, and that forgiveness has a "sacrificial component."

Forgiveness goes beyond just the words Im sorry, Jimenez said, because forgiveness must be "clearly demonstrated through people's actions.

You could forgive people, but that doesn't mean that that relationship has been reconciled. Because, maybe, that other person doesn't see things the way that you see them. And this is where things get very murky and muddy, Jimenez said.

This is where a lot of Christian relationships never again reach that platitude of fruitfulness and trustworthiness and dependability. Because over time, that person has taken advantage of your emotions."

Jimenez explained that sometimes a wrongdoer keeps "ignoring it or blaming you as though you're the problem or knowing that you'll be the one who will work things out along the way, but they never take responsibility."

"That's not going to be true reconciliation, the pastor said, adding that Jesus modeled true forgiveness by taking death on a cross as to serve as the atoning sacrifice for sinners.

When you look at the concept of atonement in the Old Testament, this is where we begin to see, quite frankly, direct understanding of forgiveness, because that's what it really is at the heart of it. The shedding of blood, that's the sacrifice, Jimenez said.

That's why Jesus is not only a sacrifice for you and me on the cross, but He's sacrificial in that unconditional love. This goes back to Leviticus 17:11, that there needs to be the shedding of blood in order for there to be forgiveness of sins."

When Jesus sacrificed Himself, Jimenez said, it was "the ultimate act of forgiveness" and "the ultimate act of atonement," because He served as a mediator for the lost.

"We also see that God takes the initiative in offering forgiveness to humanity through His grace. So there's an initiative in forgiveness, Jimenez said.

Jimenez added that true forgiveness is usually followed by reconciliation, although "there are times when you genuinely wanted to pardon and forgive someone of wrong that they've done to you. And they take it, but they still need to get their act together."

They still have manipulation or deception, Jimenez said. "They're still, let's say, toxic, and they haven't really matured through that. And so, they validate that, they're appreciative of that, that you forgave them and you're very gracious to them. But that doesn't actually change their overall behavior.

Jimenez said that reconciliation involves a change in the disposition towards one another.

"If somebody, let's say, is very impatient or lazy or filled with anger. And that type of behavior, that type of temperament, obviously, we clearly see the Bible forbids us to follow that example. But rather to walk in meekness, clothe ourselves in humility, and to forgive one another, Jimenez noted.

Instead if somebody is hot tempered, and they are very hostile, there is going to be an estrangement. You're not going to be in a harmonious relationship with this person, because reconciliation has to do with peace.

A crucial step in forgiveness is empathize with people who have offended you, Jimenez stated, asking his listeners if they are "willing to let go of the resentment?"

"If forgiveness is not being released, if that is not your effort, if that isn't your goal, and asking God to work in your heart, then reconciliation will never be attainable. It will never be achieved," he said.

Jimenez noted that he can struggle with forgiving someone who can "never see the error of their ways" and "have made life difficult," but noted that one thing that "has helped me is praying for the offender."

In an interview with The Christian Post last November, the late Pastor Timothy Keller explained that he believed young Americans were becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the idea of forgiveness.

"They dont know how to forgive, and theyre not even sure they should," Keller said at the time. "We live in a culture that is very fragmented, polarized, there's an awful lot of anger, and people are really after each other. Forgiveness is not in the air."

"Instead of saying, I can forgive or pursue justice, no, you need to forgive in order to pursue justice, because if you don't forgive all, you'll be pursuing his vengeance ... And if that's the main reason you're going to try to do justice, I think you will overreach."
Truly evil, wicked: Journalist exposes medical horror, dangers of gender ideology

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful. I know that full well."  Psalm 139: 14-15

Genesis teaches us that God created humanity, male and female, in His image and likeness, leaving us with two different genders divinely separated.

If we truly believe what these passages from the Old Testament say, then why do we as a nation find ourselves seemingly trapped in the grip and sway of gender ideology? Consider these startling statistics:

The Williams Institute at the UCLA Law School reports that the number of young people identifying as transgender has doubled in the last few years and that one out of five people who identify as transgender are between the ages of 13 and 17 years old.

The number of minors in America receiving a diagnosis of gender dysphoria tripled from 2017 to 2021. In total, more than 42,000 people received this diagnosis in 2021.

The hashtag #trans has registered more than 50.2 billion views and has nearly doubled within the last year.

Christian Post journalist Brandon Showalter and Summit Ministries president Dr. Jeff Myers believe we face an unprecedented coupling of post-modernist academic theory with an internet-fueled social contagion targeting vulnerable boys and girls struggling with their God-given sex.

"The reason transgenderism has taken over is because it is top-down social engineering," says Showalter. "This is not a grassroots organic movement. There are truly evil, wicked people in high places that have set this child abuse scourge, this medical horror in all of the tops of the institutions throughout all of culture, especially throughout the medical arena and universities, throughout our government and in popular culture."

Listen to this fascinating episode of the "Crossmap Podcast."

In their new book, Exposing the Gender Lie: How to Protect Children and Teens from the Transgender Industry's False Ideology, Showalter and Myers unpack and explain transgender ideology to reveal its shocking history and its distortion of common sense ideas.

"This is not about gender-insecure people," Myers points out. "There are a lot of insecure people. There are a lot of insecure people who are teenagers. It's very normal for a teenager to feel uncomfortable in their body. What is new is that we have an ideology and an industry saying to these young people, 'We know what your core problem is, and we have the solution if you will buy our medicine."

Showalter and Myers join us on "The Crossmap Podcast" to discuss why transgender ideology has taken the world by storm over the past decade.

Listen as they share some practical ways parents can equip their children with the truth about their God-given gender and how to expose the lies that come from transgender ideology.
Nicaraguan court orders seizure of top Jesuit-run university and its assets

A Nicaraguan judge ordered the confiscation of all assets belonging to the Central American University, a highly regarded Jesuit-run institution. The seizure occurs amid escalating government action against Catholic clergy and church-related organizations.

The university, one of Central America's top private educational facilities, announced the court's decision in a letter dated Tuesday. The 63-year-old UCA informed the university community that all its assets would be transferred to the government, Reuters reported.

The UCA was accused of being a "center for terrorism organized by criminal groups," a claim the institution denies. The campus served as a hub for 2018 protests against the government of President Daniel Ortega.

The Central American leadership of the Jesuit religious order in El Salvador referred to the seizure as "part of a series of unjustifiable attacks" and called for the reversal of what it labeled a "drastic, unexpected and unfair" judicial order.

The school's seizure drew condemnation from the U.S. State Department.

"The Ortega-Murillo seizure of the Jesuit-run Universidad Central Americana represents the further erosion of democratic norms and a stifling civic space," State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said Thursday in response to a question from EWTN.

"This is a premier center of academic excellence, independent inquiry, and a hope for [the] future in Nicaragua."

Although the government claimed to guarantee all educational programs, the university suspended all classes and administrative activities without a resumption date.

The confiscation is not an isolated event.

More than two dozen universities have faced similar seizure orders by the Ortega government, but UCA is the most prominent. It is the alma mater of several student leaders active in the 2018 anti-government protests.

Last week, authorities froze the university's bank accounts.

Previous actions against the university included budget cuts and the targeting of its leaders, such as UCA rector and Jesuit priest Jose Idiaquez, who was barred from returning to Nicaragua last year after traveling to Mexico.

The latest seizure follows the trend of increasing tensions between the Nicaraguan government and the Catholic Church, which played a mediation role in the aftermath of the 2018 protests.

Nicaragua ranks 50th on Open Door U.S.'s World Watch List for extreme Christian persecution, with Roman Catholic churches particularly susceptible to government opposition.

The government's hostility towards churches has been especially targeted at those that provided aid during the 2018 protests.

Ongoing retribution includes slander and surveillance, with recent elections and law changes being used to label church leaders as terrorists who want to overthrow the government, leading to increasing restrictions.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom report for 2022 detailed how President Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo ordered the arrest, forced exile and verbal attacks on priests and bishops, labeling them "criminals" and "coup-plotters." Police forcibly detained clergy, expelled Catholic personnel, and forced others into exile. A human rights organization in October stated that the violence had caused the exile of at least 55 priests.

Further anti-Catholic activities reported include death threats, theft of religious items and unlawful entry into churches.

The National Assembly ordered the closure of another university critical of the government earlier this year, and the government revoked the broadcasting licenses of Catholic Church-operated media outlets.

Earlier this year, a Nicaraguan court sentenced Catholic Bishop Rolando Alvarez, a prominent Ortega critic, to over 26 years in prison and stripped him of his citizenship.
Ohio Jewish lawmakers slam pro-life activist for 'faith in Christ alone' post Trump 'loyalist' later apologizes for calling Gospel message 'bigoted'

Is it bigoted to say that Jesus is Lord?

A now-viral post on X from an Ohio pro-life activist which stated, Theres no hope for any of us outside of having faith in Jesus Christ alone was met with criticism and accusations of bigotry from two state lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle.

Elizabeth Marbach, director of communications for Ohio Right to Life, wrote the biblical truth on Aug. 15 after what she called a long day at work.

I have had many upset over my unpopular and harsh posts I had recently made, and I wanted to show some positivity that we can all unite behind, Marbach told The Christian Post via email Thursday.

What she didnt expect was a biting response from Congressman Max Miller of Ohios 7th District.

Miller  a Republican whom Politico once described as a loyalist of former President Donald Trump  called Marbachs post one of the most bigoted hes ever seen and told her to delete it, adding, You have gone too far.

This is one of the most bigoted tweets I have ever seen.



Delete it, Lizzie.



Religious freedom in the United States applies to every religion.



You have gone too far. https://t.co/QCx8oAT1Kr  Max Miller (@MaxMillerOH) August 15, 2023

Shortly after, Miller replied to Marbach, God says that Jewish people are the chosen ones, but yet you say we have no hope. Thanks for your pearl of wisdom today.

Around the same time, Rep. Casey Weinstein, a Democratic lawmaker from Ohios 34th District, quoted Miller's post and added, "We may be on opposite sides of the aisle, but I stand right with Max on this. Delete it, Lizzie."

Weinstein later deleted his post, but not before it was captured and shared on social media.

In response, Marbach  who admitted she was completely shocked by Millers post given that his wife, Emily, sits on the board of trustees for Ohio Right to Life  quoted John 14:6: Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Miller later apologized to Marbach, writing, I posted something earlier that conveyed a message I did not intend. I will not try to hide my mistake or run from it. I sincerely apologize to Lizzie and to everyone who read my post.

Marbach said while she wasnt surprised by such a response, it nonetheless points to a much larger spiritual truth.

I think his accusation of bigotry points to the eternal truth of the Gospel message itself, she said. Jesus tells us that the world will hate us because they first hated him. The Gospel message is offensive to those who are not in Christ, and Millers response is just the latest example of this.

But alongside that spiritual truth, she added, is a political reality in which, said Marbach, Republicans are growing increasingly tone-deaf and even hostile toward constituents who identify as followers of Christ.

I think his pushback speaks to a greater problem looming within the Republican Party as a whole. And that is the hatred of their own Christian base, she said.

Most Republican leaders today despise Christianity and traditional values themselves.

Despite Millers apology, Rep. Weinstein did not issue any apology, and later suggested he posted the statement in response to what he said was a wave of antisemitism. He did not provide any further details.

According to Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Weinstein, who previously served in the U.S. Air Force, is the son of Mikey Weinstein, the founder of Military Religious Freedom Foundation, a secular advocacy organization that has sought to challenge religious speech among the ranks of the U.S. military.

In January, Weinstein and the MRFF successfully lobbied to remove a massive painting of Jesus walking on water at the United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) in New York.
SBC Executive Committee names interim president amid fallout from attorney-client privilege vote

Willie McLaurin has been selected as the interim president and CEO of the Southern Baptist Conventions Executive Committee amid an investigation on how the leadership body handled sexual abuse reports.

Executive Committee officers announced the selection of the 48-year-old McLaurin on Tuesday, according to Baptist Press, the official news service for the SBC.

McLaurin served on the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board for 15 years before joining the Executive Committee in January 2020, where he serves as the vice president for Great Commission relations and mobilization. He also served as executive pastor at Greater Missionary Baptist Church in Clarksville, Tennessee, and senior pastor at Greater Hope Baptist Church in Union City.

Our EC staff is committed to serving our Convention well, McLaurin stated. Jesus last words to us in Acts 1:8 should be our first priority as a network of churches. My prayer is that we will continue to put a laser-sharp focus on cooperation and collaboration.

I want to express deep appreciation to Chairman Rolland Slade and the Executive Committee officers for entrusting me with the opportunity to serve, he added. It is an honor to partner with Southern Baptists in advancing the mission of winning the world to Jesus.

The move comes as the Executive Committee is undergoing an investigation into whether leaders mishandled sexual abuse complaints within the denomination.

Last October, former SBC President Ronnie Floyd resigned from his position as head of the Executive Committee in opposition to the committees decision to waive attorney-client privilege as part of the investigation.

The committee voted 44-31 on Oct. 5 to allow Guidepost Solutions, which is conducting the investigation into how the convention handled sexual abuse claims within SBC churches, to review privileged communications between committee members and others as requested by SBC messengers and the Sexual Abuse Task Force.

What was desired to be leveraged for the advancement of the Gospel by those who called me here, I will not jeopardize any longer because of serving in this role, stated Floyd in a letter sent to the committee.

Due to my personal integrity and the leadership responsibility entrusted to me, I will not and cannot any longer fulfill the duties placed upon me as the leader of the executive, fiscal and fiduciary entity of the SBC.

Other members of the committee also resigned in response to the vote, as did the SBCs general counsel, attorneys James Guenther and James Jordan of the law firm Guenther, Jordan & Price.

We simply do not know how to advise a client, and otherwise represent a client, with the quality of advice and representation the client must have, and in keeping with the standard of practice our firm tries to uphold, when the client has indicated a willingness to forego this universally accepted principle of confidentiality, stated the legal team.

The investigation was prompted by a 2019 report from The Houston Chronicle documenting hundreds of abuse cases in Southern Baptist churches over decades. In September, the Executive Committee voted to fund the investigation up to $1.6 million.

Some committee members expressed concern about waiving attorney-client privilege for the investigation, citing risks to the conventions insurance and that it could make the denomination susceptible to lawsuits.

The committees attorneys warned that maintaining local church autonomy would protect the SBC. Jordan and Guenther argue that the committee voted to waive the privilege without understanding the effect it could have on the convention.

The attorney-client privilege has been portrayed by some as an evil device by which misconduct is somehow allowed to be secreted so wrongdoers can escape justice and defeat the legal rights of others, the attorneys wrote. That could not be further from the truth.

In his comments to Baptist Press, McLaurin said he hopes to restore trust to the committee, adding that No network of churches is without challenges.

Slade, elected as the first black chair of the Executive Committee in 2020, told Baptist Press that McLaurins focus will be to regain the sense of trust of Southern Baptists.
School board member sues after being punished for Facebook post about trans bathroom policy

A Virginia school board member has filed a lawsuit claiming that her colleagues censured her for posting a critique of the district's transgender bathroom policy on social media.

Angela Allen, vice chairwoman of the Goochland County School Board, filed the lawsuit Monday with the help of the Founding Freedoms Law Center.

Filed in the Circuit Court for Goochland County, Allen accuses her fellow school board members of defamation and civil conspiracy.

"Given the vitriol that four members of the Goochland School Board expressed against Angela Allen when she announced the school's policy on bathroom use, parents have reason to wonder what else may be intentionally hidden from them," Victoria Cobb, president of the Family Foundation and Founding Freedoms Law Center, told The Christian Post in a Thursday statement.

In January, Allen posted a statement about the school district's transgender restroom policies in a Facebook post that also emphasized her "duty" to represent the district community's interests. The lawsuit contends that the social media post was "neutral," stating that it requested information and offered community members a chance to comment.

"This week I learned that [Goochland County Public Schools] students are allowed to use restrooms different from their biological sex. Is this our community's expectation?" Allen wrote.

The board vice president published the Facebook post after a "concerned citizen" whose relative attended Goochland Middle School informed Allen that the school allowed students to use restrooms that do not align with their biological sex. The report contradicted what Allen had previously been told: that the school district did not have a policy permitting students to use whatever bathroom they wanted if they identified as trans.

After asking the defendants named in the suit whether they were aware of the district's policy on the issue, one of Allen's colleagues reportedly berated her for asking questions. The same board member allegedly confirmed that she was aware of the district's actual bathroom policy.

After the social media post, community members began attending board meetings in February and March to express their "dismay and disapproval" of the policy during the public comment portion. In addition, board members received dozens of emails from constituents about the transgender bathroom policy, according to the lawsuit.

Despite assurances that she would not face any action from the board in response to her post, four board members expressed disapproval and officially censured Allen during a May school board meeting.

The lawsuit alleges that the defendants worked secretly to silence Allen for communicating with the community about the district's policy. The document accuses the four board members of trying to harm Allen's reputation, which the suit noted could ruin her chances of re-election to the GCSB.

Allen reportedly was unaware of the intention to censure her until the board meeting on May 9. According to the suit, the censure resolution was made a public record and presented during a public meeting in front of an in-person and virtual audience.

The resolution accused the GCSB vice president of violating the school board's ethics code, federal law and the Constitution, claiming that the Facebook post offered a "distorted characterization" of the district's policies.

The GCSB responded to a Thursday inquiry from CP by attaching a statement drafted by all four school board members. The four members wrote that Allen's lawsuit is "meritless" and accused her of attempting to "intimidate the members of the School Board into silence."

In a statement provided to CP, Josh Hetzler, legal counsel for Founding Freedoms Law Center, insisted that the board members should face "accountability" for "wrongfully attacking Ms. Allen and for harming her reputation."

"The defendants made knowingly false statements against Ms. Allen to disparage her reputation all because she exposed a policy they apparently wanted to remain hidden from their Constituents," Hetzler said.

Allen stated that her integrity and "accountability" for the school board members mentioned in the lawsuit are her primary concern with this case. She maintained that the board members had lied about her because she told the truth about the district's bathroom policy.

"In other words, they punished me for doing exactly what I was elected to do," Allen said. "Ultimately, if they can get away with this without consequences, then this can happen to any school board member in any district, so I feel I have a responsibility to stand up to it."

The lawsuit is not the first time a Virginia school district has attracted controversy for lack of transparency concerning transgender bathroom policies.

In May, the U.S. Department of Education announced that it had launched an investigation into Loudoun County Public Schools over concerns about how it handled two separate sexual assault incidents carried out by the same male student in 2021.

During the first assault, which occurred at Stone Bridge High School on May 28, 2021, a male student wore a skirt and assaulted a girl inside the girls' restroom. The male student was subsequently transferred to Broad Run High School, where he sexually assaulted another girl on Oct. 6, 2021.

Superintendent Scott Ziegler told parents in June 2021 that "we don't have any records of assaults occurring in our restrooms." Ziegler made the statement in response to concerns about Policy 8040, which would allow students to enter bathrooms that do not correspond with their biological sex. The district later approved the policy in August 2021.

As a special grand jury report noted, the superintendent's statement was a "bald-faced lie," and the report also noted that LCPS's "lack of curiosity and adherence to operating in silos" allowed the second sexual assault to occur.
Adrian Rogers' pastoral legacy: Passing on dedication to an inerrant Holy Scripture and equipping of local church pastors

Earlier this week I had the privilege of attending a special and important event in Memphis. Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary was hosting the Adrian Rogers Preaching Conference, a three-day meeting (Aug. 14-16) that featured worship, workshops, and sermons from prominent, mostly Southern Baptist pastors and ministers.

The event also celebrated the formal installation of Dr. David Allen, a prominent Southern Baptist scholar and homiletician (and leading advocate of text-driven preaching), as professor and dean of the Adrian Rogers Center for Biblical Preaching.

Dr. Adrian Rogers (1931-2005) was one of the MOST prominent leaders of the Conservative Resurgence in the Southern Baptist Convention. Dr. Rogers had risen to prominence as the remarkably capable and inspirational pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis where he served from 1972 to 2005, during which time the church grew from 9,000 to 29,000 members. He was the first person the Conservative Resurgence elected Convention president in 1979.

Dr. Rogers also served as president again of the Convention from 1986-88. The admiration and trust which Adrian Rogers generated among rank and file Southern Baptists is illustrated by the fact that he was selected to serve as chairman of the committee elected by the Convention to recommend the revisions to the Baptist Faith & Message (the Southern Baptist confessional statement) which were overwhelmingly approved in June 2000 and has been known ever since as the Baptist Faith & Message (2000).

Dr. Rogers was a remarkably gifted preacher who was committed both to the inerrancy of Scripture and to expository preaching (preaching sermons based upon the exposition of biblical passages). Dr. Rogers also had an often-expressed deep burden for investing in future generations of preachers and instilling in them a deep respect for the inerrancy of the Bible and the zealous exposition of the Holy Scripture.

In one of the last public addresses Dr. Rogers delivered before his untimely demise at the age of 74, he warned pastors of the mortal threat presented to their ministries by the sins of lust and pride. Then, as he was exiting the podium, he paused and came back to the lectern to add that if they neglected their responsibilities as husbands and fathers they would also disqualify themselves for ministry (I Tim. 3: 1-8).

As this story was retold during the conference this week, I was reminded of a sermon I heard over half a century ago while I was a ministerial student at New Orleans Baptist Seminary. An older, retired pastor was speaking in chapel. Ascending to the pulpit, he looked all around that beautiful chapel, then after a dramatic pause, declared, Eighty percent of you will have your ministry compromised or destroyed by one of three things  love of money, seeking denominational prominence, or inappropriate relationships with women other than your wife.

I am confident that I can speak for most of us in attendance that day in saying that we were shocked by the stark and emphatic nature of that statement and most of us thought that it was at the very least, an exaggeration. However, I suspect that most of us remembered it and we have lived to see too many of our fellow ministers have their ministries seriously compromised or even destroyed by some variation of those three moral pitfalls.

As I experienced the 2023 Adrian Rogers Preaching Conference I was reminded once again of the tremendous challenges that church pastors face in seeking to pastor local congregations in the moral turmoil that constitutes American society in the year of our Lord 2023.

When Mike Huckabee was running for president he was challenged about the wisdom of an ordained minister running for president. His reply, I felt, was quite apt and appropriate. Huckabee explained that there was not a crisis impacting the American people  whether it was divorce, illegitimacy, abortion, domestic abuse, drug addiction, suicide, rape, incest, poverty, racial bigotry, sexism, etc.  that a local pastor could not put a human face on it because he has dealt with it up close and personal.

I was also reminded of how lonely it can be and how much pastors need the fellowship and encouragement of fellow pastors. Having been a pastor, I can testify that is truly vital to have access to fellowship with fellow pastors on a regular basis.

I truly enjoyed both the edifying and inspirational nature of the conference presentations, but the lively discussions and fellowship that occurred over meals and in hallways and spontaneous, serendipitous small groups sometimes just involving two pastors sharing with each other, each knowing the unique challenges of the local pastorate, were clearly invaluable.

It is vitally important for Christian institutions such as Mid-America Baptist Seminary to provide resources such as the Adrian Rogers Preaching Conference to facilitate continuing fellowship and support for these dedicated men of God who are contending for the faith and seeking to shepherd Gods people in local congregations in an increasingly post-Christian culture.

I am truly grateful that Mid-America Seminary has committed to making this conference an annual event. Lord willing, I will be attending every year until the Lord decides that my earthly ministry is done and He calls me home to be with Him. (Yes, I am certain that I will be spending eternity with Him, not because of any goodness inherent in me, but because of the promises He made to me when I confessed my sins to Him and accepted His promise to save me and that someday I would be with Him for eternity (John 3:16).

I hope and pray that other institutions will follow Mid-Americas example and provide local, regional, and national opportunities for pastors to come together for these critically needed times of encouragement, edification and encouragement.

As Dr. Michael Spradlin, Mid-Americas president expressed it, our seminary wants to do everything it can to call out the called, edify and equip them for ministry, and encourage them along the way. That is exactly what all our seminaries and all our denominational entities should be doing much more often than we do.

I hope and pray that Mid-Americas example will inspire and encourage others to do more than they are doing. I am confident that Dr. Rogers is smiling down from Heaven as he sees how his legacy continues to edify and fortify the Lords churches.

Lastly, please allow me to encourage all the readers of this column to commit to praying for the pastors of our local churches, starting with your pastor. And if possible, tell your pastor you are praying for him and thank him for his ministry in you and your familys life. I can promise you it will be much appreciated, and your Heavenly Father will bless you for having done so.

(In the interest of full disclosure, I knew and admired Dr. Adrian Rogers for many years. I also served with him on the Baptist Faith & Message revision committee that produced the Baptist Faith & Message that was overwhelmingly approved by a vote of the Convention in 2000. I also was privileged to be Dr. David Allens professor when he was an undergraduate at Criswell College. David was in six of my courses during his four-year undergraduate experience and I must say he was the most gifted student I have had the privilege of teaching during my half-century of teaching ministerial students.)
1,000 Christians forced to sleep rough after mob violence in Pakistan

A thousand Christians have fled their homes and are now sleeping rough after they were targeted by rampaging mobs.

Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) reports that the level of destruction in Jaranwala, near Faisalabad, has been "down to the last lightbulb".

Churches have not been spared in this week's wave of violence. According to ACN, the number of churches and chapels targeted has risen to 21, with one source in the country who cannot be named for security reasons saying that many of them were set on fire and "nothing is left".

The source told ACN that up to 1,000 Christians were forced to sleep in sugar cane fields after narrowly escaping rampaging mobs.

"They had been running away, trying to find somewhere where they could rest," they said.

"Some of them went back to their homes desperate for something to eat but when they got home, they found everything destroyed  nothing to sit on, nothing to drink out of, not even a lightbulb."

They added, "As we travelled round the area, we could see how the Christians' homes were scattered  50 or 60 here, two or three over there and yet every Christian home has been targeted, nothing left."

Churches of all denominations have been targeted.

The source described the carnage: "In the churches they have attacked, everything is destroyed ... the altar, statues  nothing is left. What they did to the statues of Jesus and Mary I cannot begin to describe."

In a letter to ACN, Pakistani Archbishop Benny Travas criticised the government and authorities for failing to protect Christians.

He said that the violence showed that Christians in Pakistan are "in reality second-class citizens to be terrorised and frightened at will".

"Once again, we have the same old condemnations and visits by the politicians and other government officials expressing their solidarity with the Christian community and that 'justice will be done' but in reality nothing materialises and all is forgotten," he said.

Archbishop Joseph Arshad of Islamabad-Rawalpindi, and President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference, condemned the "abhorrent" violence.

"I urgently call upon the Punjab Government to take swift, decisive and resolute action against those responsible for perpetrating this heinous act. The culprits must be identified, apprehended and brought to justice," he said.

A partner of Release International who cannot be named for security reasons reports that many Christian families have sought refuge outside the city and are relying on the support of friends and relatives.

The partner said: "It is deplorable to see the peace-loving Pakistani Christian community once again being collectively punished at mere unsubstantiated allegations of blasphemy.

"We are appalled by the lack of response by the Pakistan government despite the sheer magnitude of this violence."

The Moderator of the Church of Pakistan, Bishop Azad Marshall tweeted: "Words fail me. We, bishops, priests and lay people are deeply pained and distressed at the Jaranwala incident.

"A church building is being burnt as I type this message. Bibles have been desecrated and Christians have been tortured and harassed, having been falsely accused of violating the Holy Koran.

"We cry out for justice and action from law enforcement and those who dispense justice and the safety of all citizens to intervene immediately."
Deuteronomy and the balance of power

Jewish academic and Hebrew scholar Irene Lancaster explores the division of power in Deuteronomy.

Many years ago when I was living in Israel, I was approached at Haifa University by a leading academic. On behalf of a cross-party and cross-religious group of public intellectuals, lawyers and academics, he wanted to pick my brain on the British system of power. More specifically, he was interested in the role of Church, State and monarchy, and also how in the UK power was distributed between them.

I asked him why this was, and he said that most people were of the opinion that the judiciary in Israel was becoming far too strong and one-sided. Therefore, without either a constitution or a two-Party system, successive Israeli governments were finding that they were unable to govern properly and this was having repercussions both in Israel and in the wider world.

This was in 2007. So, I sat down and talked to him about what my father, a judge originally from Poland, had always told me was one of the glories of the British system. This was the distribution of power between the judiciary, the executive and the legislature. And as I spoke I realized that I knew more about our own system than I had thought, and was truly surprised that the consortium was really most interested in the role of the Queen. Did she have real power, or was it simply authority?

Fast forward to 2023 and the world is, as usual with 'the Jewish question', wading into a situation it does not understand, The State of Israel came into existence via emergency legislation, and never had time to sort out what has taken England over 1,000 years of trial and error, with regicide, religious discrimination and devolution along the way. Not to mention the French Revolution and its own bloody repercussions ...

But Shabbat's Torah reading, called Shoftim, (Deuteronomy 16:18  21:9), anticipates these very same problems of power and suggests one way of dealing with them.

The answer to power which corrupts is checks and balances. Therefore, towards the end of his life, Moses gives the Children of Israel instructions on how to separate King, judiciary and legislature.

Later the King would become what we now call the executive, but the Torah regards the institution of monarchy with  at best  ambivalence. Kings are not really a good thing. And therefore we can only try and curtail their sense of absolute entitlement by sugaring the pill. If we must have a monarch, at least this should be the will of all the people and he should be chosen by G-d.

This is absolutely not the 17th century 'divine right of kings', or Louis XIV's 'l'etat, c'est moi.' This is, to be honest, far more like the American 'we the people ....' The king must not self-aggrandize. He must not accumulate horses, wives or money. On the contrary, he should read the Torah daily, and this includes all the commentaries, addenda, and loop-holes, including arguments against. The monarch, in other words, mustn't throw his power around or curry favour. He should be extremely well read and be able to deal with affairs of state through piety. He must see all points of view and defer to the better educated, experienced and qualified in matters outside his remit.

The priestly class is the one closest to what we now call the legislature. They are learned in deriving laws from original principles, thus anticipating the later rabbinic system which replaces them. Their tribe of Levi is not apportioned any territory in the Promised Land: for sustenance, they have to depend on their brothers. As Levi is given to zealotry, it is felt that they are best placed to concentrate on Temple rites and practices. In this way their own power will be channelled away from the mess of everyday life.

The judiciary are the ancient judges of old. They have to be impartial and not take bribes. They must exclude themselves from cases where necessary.

So, what we have in Shoftim is a three-fold system of independent judiciary, divinely sanctioned king, and class of lawmakers. And limitations are put on all three in order to avoid abuses of power.

There is a higher authority over all three, and this is G-d Himself. To acknowledge G-d is to understand that the only way to avoid the opposite of what G-d wants is that the organs of government, religion and law have to be separate - there is no other way. And Kings have to remember that they are not G-d and are only there by the will of the people  all the people.

And what if it all goes wrong? What happens then? The answer lies in the book of Job. In Job 12: 17-25, it states of G-d:

'He leads counsellors away stripped; and makes fools of judges. He loosens the bonds of kings and binds up their loins with a girdle. He leads priests away stripped, and the mighty he overthrows. He removes the speech of those who are trusted, as well as the sense and sensitivity of the elders. He pours contempt upon princes and loosens the belt of the strong. He uncovers deep things out of the darkness and brings to light the shadow of death. He increases nations and then destroys them. He enlarges nations and then leads them away. He removes the heart of the chiefs of the people of the land and makes them wander around in Tohu  no way. They grope in the dark without light. He makes them stagger like drunks.'

But our Torah reading on division of powers into three, coinciding with the beginning of the contemplative month of Ellul, does not include the obvious choice of the Book of Job as the accompanying Haftorah. Instead, to complement the Book of Shoftim, on the importance of checks and balances, we have the words of Isaiah (51: 12 - 52:12):

It is I, I am He Who comforts you. Who are you who should be afraid of a mortal man who will die and the son of man who will be set as grass? Have you forgotten the Lord, your maker.... Wake up!... How beautiful upon the mountains are the footsteps of the bearer of good tidings ... Burst forth and sing together ... for the Lord shall comfort His people ...'

As we have seen, the Torah cannot be taken out of context. And how the early rabbis (meeting in hiding from their Roman overlords), managed to set out the order of the readings for our synagogue services, is a miracle in itself. The fact that they chose these passages from Isaiah as comfort at this time of year, just before the Days of Awe, is also, though, nothing less than a miracle. It is the miracle of people living in danger, but steeped in Torah learning and in the art of argument, who at the end win the day and are still going strong. For, where are the Romans today?

Many have stated that the 5th Torah Book, Deuteronomy, (Devarim in Hebrew), is the key to Jewish learning. But to unlock the door, we need the assistance of the very people to whom the Torah was intended. Reading without action isn't really reading. And this is why Moses tells the Jewish people on the cusp of entry into the Promised Land  without him  that any King, any executive leader, must continue to read all his life and not just read, but act on this reading. Because reading is not only therapeutic - at best it is a call to action  to right action. The action that makes things come right  for this moment, at least.

For that is the best any mortal can do.
Pastor indicted alongside Trump in Georgia election meddling case

The latest chapter in Donald Trump's ongoing legal drama played out on Monday evening, as a grand jury in Georgia indicted the former president and 18 others as part of a sweeping probe of alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state.

While most of those indicted are lawyers or people with close connections to Trump, at least one is a faith leader: an Illinois pastor and former police chaplain charged in connection with efforts to intimidate Georgia election workers.

The indictment singles out the Rev. Stephen Cliffgard Lee, a pastor within the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod denomination, alleging he and 18 others "unlawfully conspired and endeavored to conduct and participate in criminal enterprise in Fulton County, Georgia, and elsewhere." Among the specific charges levied against Lee: attempting to influence witnesses and conspiring to solicit false statements and writings.

Lee's involvement revolves around his efforts to contact Georgia election worker Ruby Freeman in December 2020. Lee appeared at the election worker's door roughly two weeks after Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea "Shaye" Moss, were falsely accused by Trump of pulling fake ballots from suitcases in Georgia, with Trump suggesting they committed election fraud.

According to the indictment and Reuters' reporting, Lee knocked on Freeman's door, left and later parked his car in her driveway. Alarmed, Freeman called the police. Police body cam footage uncovered last year by Reuters shows an officer approaching Lee's car, at which point Lee identified himself as a faith leader.

"I'm a pastor, and I'm also working with some folks who are trying to help Ruby out  and also get to some truth of what's going on," Lee says in the video.

Lee acknowledged he had knocked on Freeman's door, noting he is also "prior law enforcement," saying he was a "sergeant out in California." According to Reuters, Lee served as a police officer in California and provided chaplaincy support to police officers in places such as New York City. However, an NYPD spokesperson clarified to Religion News Service on Wednesday that Lee "has not been employed as an NYPD Chaplain."

Later in the body cam video, Lee encouraged the officer to let him speak with the election worker, suggesting he and his cohorts have some "pro-bono service for her."

According to Reuters, Freeman responded to the offer in a separate body cam video.

"I'm not interested," she said. She later added: "I have a pastor."

The indictment alleges the door-knocking incident was part of a broader effort to "influence (Freeman's) testimony in an official proceeding in Fulton County, Georgia, concerning ... the November 3, 2020, presidential election in Georgia." Prosecutors allege Lee worked with Willie Lewis Floyd III, the head of Black Voices for Trump, and publicist Trevian Kutti to try to influence Freeman. Floyd and Kutti are also among those indicted.

According to the indictment, Lee contacted Floyd after Freeman rejected his offer, with Lee allegedly telling Floyd the election worker wouldn't talk to him because he was white.

Their efforts culminated a few weeks later on Jan. 4, 2021, when Kutti met with Freeman. The Chicago-based publicist, who also represented rapper and vocal Trump supporter Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, threatened Freeman with jail time unless she provided information on election fraud. The meeting was also captured on police body cam footage.

Up until at least this weekend, Lee served Living Word Lutheran Church in Orland Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. He preached at the church as recently as Sunday, when he delivered a sermon focused on the Book of Job.

Reached by Religion News Service on Tuesday, a representative for Living Word said Lee was working at the church in an interim capacity but is no longer the pastor. The representative declined to offer any statement regarding Lee's indictment.

Mike Behr, head of communications for the LCMS, confirmed Lee is a pastor in the denomination but described him as retired, saying, "His status is emeritus." Behr declined to discuss the indictment, citing a policy of not commenting on ongoing investigations.

Freeman's daughter, Moss, testified last year before the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. The committee also released Freeman's full testimony on the topic.

"I've always believed it when God says he will make your name great, but this is not the way it was supposed to be," Freeman said.

 Religion News Service
Progressive religion may be dying but the Gospel is thriving

The headline was stark and unnerving: "'Religion Is Dying': Same-Sex Blessings Allowed but Is It Too Little Too Late for the Church's Shaky Future?"

But was it a true and accurate statement? Is "religion"  meaning the Christian religion  dying worldwide?

And is the Church's only hope the embracing of same-sex "marriage" and other "progressive" theological positions?

Actually, true religion  meaning a vibrant, Jesus-centered, biblically-based, compassion-filled, Spirit-empowered, no-compromise expression of the Christian faith  is thriving worldwide. In stark contrast manmade religion  meaning a me-centered, rationally-based, (per)version of the faith that substitutes affirmation for transformation  is dying worldwide.

In short, the headline has turned things upside down.

As for the quote in the headline, it was excerpted from this unattributed post on Twitter (now X): "Too little too late. Now that religion is dying, they want to bless us."

To be sure, the Church of England seems to be dying.

Already in 2013, an article on the Conversation website began with these ominous words:

"Like an Old Testament prophet telling the Israelites that they were doomed, Lord Carey has been warning Anglicans for years of their possible annihilation. The Church is 'one generation away from extinction,' he declares. The reality is less dramatic, but the story is not altogether wrong.

"Young adults in Britain are far less likely than their parents and grandparents to have a religious identity. The Church of England in particular has been squeezed hard by the trend away from religion. This is well illustrated by the graphic below which shows religious affiliation by year of birth. In the oldest group polled, one in two identified as members of the Church of England  among the youngest that figure falls to one in 20."

What a precipitous decline! And that was in 2013.

More recently, as reported by Church Times in 2022, "The Church of England faces extinction within 40 years because the faith it proclaims is not 'contagious' enough, a new study reports.

"The study was compiled by Dr John Hayward, a mathematician at the University of South Wales and the founder of the church-growth modelling site. He analysed data from 13 denominations to calculate their R-rate  a technique more usually associated with calculating the spread of disease.

"For a virus such as Covid-19, an R number of more than one indicates that the disease is spreading rapidly, while an R-rate of less than one points to its dying out. Dr Hayward has now applied the same model to church attendance."

Based on this model, the future of the Church of England is bleak. "Extinction" is a very strong word.

But this is not because the Church of England became too progressive too late.

It is the precise opposite. The decline is largely because the Church departed from its biblical and historic roots, becoming like the world in order to win the world. This is always a counsel of despair. (For my strong message to the Church of England posted February 11, 2023, see here.)

In stark contrast, and from a global perspective, a 2015 report stated that "one quarter of the two billion Christians in the world are Pentecostal or Charismatic. Pentecostalism is the fastest growing religion in the world."

And note carefully: the report did not say that it was not just the fastest growing branch of Christianity but rather the fastest growing religion in the world. This has actually been the case for decades.

That's why a 2020 study spoke of "the unprecedented numerical growth of the Spirit-Empowered Church" (another way of describing the Pentecostal-Charismatic movement), offering these salient points:

From 1900-2020, Spirit-Empowered Christianity grew at nearly four times the growth rate of both Christianity and the world's population;

Currently, Spirit-Empowered believers comprise one quarter of the entire Christian community, which is expected to grow to one third by the year 2050;

Asia and Oceania experienced the most rapid growth of Spirit-Empowered Christianity. However, the Spirit-Empowered population in Africa is expected to grow more quickly within the next 30 years;

Afghanistan and Cambodia, where Christianity remains relatively new, are the countries currently experiencing the fastest upsurge in Spirit-Empowered Christianity

And what do these church movements have in common, aside from their emphasis on encountering God in the power of the Spirit? They all tend to hold to traditional biblical values when it comes to sexuality and marriage.

Put another way, they are the opposite of "progressive."

So, go ahead and do the math.

In England, over 2,000 churches have closed in the last decade, with a high percentage of them being Church of England congregations. Progressive religion is dying indeed.

In contrast, around the world, a conservative, Bible-based, Spirit-empowered faith is growing so quickly that the big problem is how to disciple and ground all the new converts.

In sum, the "religion" that tries to bring the standards of God down to accommodate people is dying. The "religion" that, through the cross and by God's grace, seeks to bring people up to the standards of His Word, is thriving.

This doesn't mean that every Anglican church is about to shut down, nor does it mean that every Pentecostal-Charismatic church is exploding in numbers. But it does tell us which "tree" is alive and healthy and which tree is dying. (For this trend within America, see here.)

To repeat, go ahead and do the math.

Dr. Michael Brown (www.askdrbrown.org) is the host of the nationally syndicated Line of Fire radio program. His latest book is Why So Many Christians Have Left the Faith. Connect with him on Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube.
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With four high-performance data centers, including facilities in Cologne, Dusseldorf and two in Hamburg, plusserver is well known for its ability to address the most demanding data sovereignty needs in Germany and throughout Europe  a fact underscored earlier this year when it earned the VMware Sovereign Cloud distinction. The company is also a distinguished participant in the VMware Zero Carbon Committed initiative, an effort plusservers CPO Severin Braun says addresses another important component of an effective IT strategy.

Customers are increasingly dealing with questions that focus not only on data management issues like efficiency, sovereignty and security, but also sustainability, says Braun. Migrating to cloud-based infrastructure saves 59 million tons of CO2 emissions per year and is the equivalent of taking 22 million cars off of the road, all while bringing unprecedented compute and networking power to bear in the fight to lower emissions. The cloud therefore is essential in efforts to achieve climate goals and to bring about greener technological transformations. That is why data issues and climate issues are increasingly related and intertwined.

In addition to offering pluscloud VMware, a fully sovereign cloud based on VMware technologies and managed by a fully vetted team of German experts, plusserver also offers a full suite of public and hybrid cloud solutions and services, including ones that optimize the clouds of all of the major hyperscalers. The companys comprehensive approach is relied on by government agencies and leading companies across industries, including those in highly regulated sectors like energy and utilities, financial services, and healthcare.

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With an evolved understanding of everything from cloud-native to legacy architectures, we can provide comprehensive advice to our customers and meet them where they are in their IT modernization journey, adds Braun. Increasingly, in almost all cases, that journey includes addressing the carbon footprint of their own operations.

He notes that due to the growing demand for energy, the scarcity of resources, and evolving legal requirements, every organization will have to answer questions on how to achieve the sustainable modernization of existing IT systems. That includes addressing concerns related to a singular topic of concern  on-premises data centers and the significant investments required to make them energy efficient and environmentally friendly.

We see increasing pressure being placed on our customers to take action on sustainability measures, he says. With new regulations companies now have to focus not only on their own footprint, but also on inspecting their supply chains. This is apparent in the call for tenders from organizations that want to ensure that they work with partners who promote sustainable business practices. By using green cloud services, these companies can score twice, as demand-based usage from a partner who has invested in data centers powered by renewable sources is not only more sustainable, but also much more economical that operating a private on-premises facility.

Helping customers achieve sustainability goals starts at home

In its quest to help its customers gain the benefits of a more sustainable, environmentally friendly operation, plusserver started with its own operation, an endeavor that resulted in the four state-of-the-art data centers the company operates. All of them are powered by 100% renewable energy sources.

We have relied on green energy for a long time and continuously work to optimize our energy efficiency, says Braun. For instance, we use the waste heat from our data centers to heat adjacent office spaces, and we ensure that hardware can be reused as much as possible. We also tirelessly strive to increase the power density of our servers. We know that when our customers rely on our professional cloud solutions instead of operating their own data centers, it benefits the sustainability efforts of all parties involved.

Braun is also quick to point out that every effort helps. As a company, plusserver also recycles across its operation, oversees the proper disposal of old systems, and encourages earth-friendly transportation, including the use of electric vehicles and bike leasing. Its an effort Braun and the employees at plusserver take personally.

The effort to radically lower carbon emissions is a responsibility of our generation for the next, he says. We must ensure that our actions today ensure a world worth living in for future generations. Digitalization is part of the solution, not  as is often claimed  the problem. I believe in the positive influence of technology on our sustainability efforts. With cloud solutions from professional data centers and through efforts like the VMware Zero Carbon Committed initiative, we can significantly contribute to this cause.

Learn more about plusserver and its partnership with VMware here.
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Vice President Constantino Chiwenga has told his party supporters that Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) president Nelson Chamisa is possessed by evil spirits, and they should not vote for him.

He told party supporters at Maungwa Business Centre, Gutu last Friday, that Chamisa is his nephew and the only way to save him is by performing a cleansing ceremony.

The entire Zanu PF Masvingo province leadership, Gutu chiefs, headmen and thousands of supporters bused from Gutu, Zaka, and Bikita attended the rally.

Chiwenga said Chamisa invited sanctions and is therefore responsible for the sufferings of the masses.

I heard Chamisa saying he will call Biden to fix all problems in the country. He also said he would call the whites back to Zimbabwe.

If you want to defend our heritage and want development and democracy, then vote for President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Chamisa is my nephew. I am telling you to go and brew beer to cleanse him of evil spirits. He is possessed, said Chiwenga.

He said Zanu PF is the only party that can develop Zimbabwe. He promised the supporters a vocational training centre in Maungwa next year.

He also said that 4 000 hectares will be under irrigation in the district, and they will rehabilitate all neglected roads. These include Maungwa to Chiwara, Gutu to Kurai, Pfungidzo to Hundudzo, Chiwara to Makwirivindi and Nerupiri to Mpandawana. Masvingo Mirror
YELLOWKNIFE, Northwest Territories (AP)  Residents of the capital of Canada`s Northwest Territories began fleeing an approaching wildfire Thursday in long convoys while air evacuations were underway for those who could not leave by road, the latest chapter in Canada`s worst fire season on record.

The fire was within 16 kilometers (10 miles) of the northern edge of Yellowknife, and people in the four areas of the city of 20,000 at highest risk were told to leave as soon as possible, Fire Information Officer Mike Westwick said.

Residents in other areas should be out by noon Friday, because strong north winds could push the fire toward the highway needed for evacuation, Westwick said. Although some rain was forecast for the region, first responders were taking no chances.

I want to be clear that the city is not in immediate danger and theres a safe window for residents to leave the city by road and by air, Shane Thompson, a government minister for the Territories, told a news conference. Without rain, it is possible it will reach the city outskirts by the weekend.

Authorities said the intensive care unit at a Yellowknife hospital would close within 24 hours as the Northwest Territories health authority starts to reduce its services, the Health and Social Services Authority said on its website.

It said in-patient units from Stanton Territorial Hospital would be moved in the coming days, if required, and that most long-term care patients had been transferred to institutions to the south.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was expected to convene an urgent meeting with ministers and senior officials Thursday to discuss the evacuation.

Canada has seen a record number of wildfires this year  contributing to choking smoke in parts of the U.S  with more than 5,700 fires burning more than 137, 000 square kilometers (53,000 square miles), according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. As of Thursday, 1,053 wildfires were burning across the country, more than half of them out of control.

In the Northwest Territories alone, 268 wildfires have already burned more than 21,000 square kilometers (8,100 square miles).

Officials said evacuations from the Northwest Territories have so far been safe and orderly, and that evacuees from the capital who cant find their own accommodations can get support in three centers in the nearby province of Alberta that were expected to open by noon Thursday. The closest of those centers is more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) by road from Yellowknife.

Only those without the option of leaving by road should register for the evacuation flights, officials added. People who are immunocompromised or have a condition that puts them at higher risk also were encouraged to sign up.

Were all tired of the word unprecedented, yet there is no other way to describe this situation in the Northwest Territories, Premier Caroline Cochrane posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. She urged residents to obey emergency management officials, traffic control devices and posted speed limits. The country is watching, and our neighbours are keeping us in their thoughts and prayers.

The evacuation order issued Wednesday night applies to the city of Yellowknife and the neighboring First Nations communities of Ndilo and Dettah. Eight communities totaling nearly 6,800 people, or 15% of the Northwest Territories population, have already left, Mike Westwick, the regions fire information officer, said earlier in the day.

The U.S. has also seen devastating wildfires, including one on the Hawaiian island of Maui, which killed more than 100 people and destroyed a historic town.

Rural areas near Californias border with Oregon were placed under evacuation orders Wednesday after gusty winds from a thunderstorm sent a lightning-sparked wildfire racing through national forest lands, authorities said.

Top photo: Hay River, N.W.T. fire evacuees Tanisha Edison and her boyfriend Mason Bruneau go through their belongings at the evacuee centre in St. Albert, Alta. on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023. (Jason Franson /The Canadian Press via AP)

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Workplace shootings, more common than ever now, may happen in the course and scope of employment. But do they have to be work-related to make the victims eligible for workers compensation benefits?

Thats the question that a Florida appeals court wants the state Supreme Court to answer in a closely watched case that, potentially, could overturn years of precedent.

In Normandy Insurance Co. vs. Mohammed Bouayad and Value Car Rental, a panel of Floridas 1st District Court of Appeals on Wednesday set aside an administrative law judges award of benefits to the claimant. But the panel also took the unusual step of asking the high court to answer a question of great public importance: When an act of a third-party tortfeasor is the sole cause of an injury to an employee who is in the course and scope of employment, can the tortfeasors act satisfy the occupational causation element  necessary for compensability?

The claimants lawyer, Michael Winer, of Tampa, said he plans to ask the full, 13-judge appeals court to rehear the case. Short of that, he will join in asking the Supreme Court to weigh in. If it stands, the appellate courts reasoning would create two standards  one for assaults and one for accidents, Winer said Wednesday.

Thats just absurd, he said.

Under the DCA panels opinion, employee injuries and deaths from mass shootings, such as those at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland in 2018 and at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando in 2016, would likely not be compensated, Winer said. Thats contrary to multiple court rulings through the years, he argued.

William Rogner, attorney for Normandy Insurance, said the Bouayad decision is not revolutionary, and simply underscores statutory and case law that has long held that injuries from workplace violence are not compensable if the incident is not work-related. Robberies, assaults by co-workers or customers are usually covered.

Its no different than many other cases that have been decided by the court, Rogner said. For example, if its a disgruntled lover that comes to the jobsite and shoots or stabs the worker, thats not covered.

The Bouayad case was complicated by the fact that the shooter was never identified, and questions remain about his motives.

The shooting happened in June 2019. Bouayad was the general manager for Value Car Rental at the Orlando International Airport Holiday Inn. At the end of his shift late one night, he was walking from the rental car kiosk to an outside office when a man emerged from a darkened area and shot Bouayad at least seven times at close range, the court opinion explained.

Security video showed the assailant did not attempt to rob the victim. When a hotel guest came to Bouayads aid, Bouayad told the guest that Robert shot me, and to warn police to be on the lookout for a blue Ford Mustang car.

Bouayad survived but suffered severe injuries to his arms, leg, stomach and brain. He later had several strokes, lost a kidney and part of his vision.

He filed a claim for workers compensation medical and wage-replacement benefits. But Boca Raton-based Normandy Insurance, the rental car companys comp carrier, denied the claim. The insurer argued that the shooting stemmed from a simmering conflict between a man known as Robert Aponte and Bouayads son. The day before, Bouayads son and the youths mother had been physically confronted by Aponte and another person over an alleged debt, the court wrote.

But police never arrested Aponte in connection with the shooting and witnesses did not identify him as the shooter seen in the video. At the trial, Bouayad changed his story, contending that Robert was not the shooter and the attack was actually work-related. Three employees of the rental firm had been fired in the weeks preceding the shooting.

The claimants attorney also presented expert witnesses who testified that the crime rate was higher near the hotel than in Bouayads neighborhood, but Normandys expert said the opposite. Bouayad was a victim of targeted, premeditated violence, not a robbery, the insurer insisted.

The judge of compensation claims found that the evidence did not establish the identity or motive of the assailant, but the judge noted that the claimants employment substantially contributed to the risk of injury, above what Bouayad would have seen outside of work. Upon rehearing, the compensation judge said that the assault was a targeted attack, but most likely related to the termination of another employee.

Normandy Insurance appealed to the 1st DCA, where workers comp appeals are heard. The court explained that under Floridas compensation statutes the injury must arise out of work and be performed in the course and scope of employment.

And, crucially, the employee has the burden to show that both requirements are met, according to previous court decisions, one dating back to 1941.

The worker and the employer/carrier agreed in court proceedings that the shooting injuries occurred in the course and scope of employment. But Bouayad did not prove that the incident was work-related, the appellate judges found, and the employer did not have to show that the shooting was personal in nature.

The workers compensation statute does not cover workplace injuries, reads the DCA opinion, written by Judge Lori Rowe. It covers work-caused injuries.

Previous case law has established that in most injuries caused by accidents at work, the claimant needs to show only that he was engaged in some type of exertion at work, such as walking. But in the shooting scenario, its a little different, the court said.

It is unreasonable to suggest that the mundane exertion of walking to get around work can be causally connected with an injury from a shootingunless perhaps the employee is working at a gun range, Rowe noted. Even with the any exertion test, the claimant must still show a causal connection between the exertion and the injury.

Winer, the claimants attorney, said such reasoning creates a double standard. For accident-caused injuries, the injury is almost always considered compensable.

However, for assault cases, claimants are now given the impossible task of establishing a work-related motive for the assault, which means that you have to locate the assailant, and then get him to testify, against his right against self-incrimination, that the reason for the attack was work-related, Winer said.

Judge Thomas Winokur wrote a concurring opinion, noting that the law requires a claimant to prove the injury was caused by work, and the crime risk at a premises is irrelevant.

Judge Susan Kelsey dissented from the DCAs majority opinion, suggesting it runs contrary to the legislative intent to make the comp system quick and self-executing.

The majoritys arising out of analysis makes two mistakes we have rejected before, she wrote. First, the majority asks whether the criminal had a work-related motivewhether the crime was work-relatedthen denies compensability because that is impossible to prove here.

Neither the workers comp act nor Florida case law has ever required a claimant to show an assailants work-related motive, Kelsey wrote. To the contrary, where assailants have injured claimants who were at work and working, we have consistently found compensability without evidence of the assailants work-related motive.

Winer added that if the Supreme Court declines to answer the certified question, or sides with the DCA panels majority, it essentially would mean that theres no remedy allowed under the workers compensation system. That could open the door for Bouayad and other workplace shooting victims to file tort suits against employers  litigation that the grand bargain of workers comp was designed to prevent. Workers comp insurers may benefit, but employers could face expensive negligence lawsuits.

Meanwhile, Bouayad has been left without workers compensation coverage for his medical treatment and home care for the past four years, Winer said. Without comp benefits, the cost will shift to taxpayer-funded programs, such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security disability, or to private insurance plans to provide for his care, he argued.
A California appellate court revived two whistleblower lawsuits filed by Allstate against a Los Angeles-area business owner who has no medical license but allegedly operated medical practices that referred auto and workers compensation claimants to radiologists in order to send inflated bills to insurers.

A panel of the 2nd Appellate District on Tuesday reversed a Los Angeles County Superior Court judges decision to dismiss Allstates lawsuits. The court rejected Judge William Faheys finding that the lead defendant, Sattar Mirtabatabaee, provided only managerial or administrative services, not medical care.

Matthew J. Smith, executive director of the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, said the ruling affirms that the California Insurance Fraud Prevention Act can be used to shut down the illegal corporate practice of medicine by non-physicians. He said the Coalition filed an amicus brief with the appellate court because insurers have seen a nationwide surge in medical corporations guiding treatment for business purposes rather than patient care.

The vast majority of medical practices are doing a fabulous job for their patients, Smith said. What we are talking about here, and what the Coalition is focusing on, is the fraudsters and the scammers. They are realizing that the quicker they can run up the bills, the more money they can make before someone looks into it.

Allstate alleges that Mirtabatabaee (also known as Sattar Mir) owns three medical corporations that hold themselves out to be providers of radiology services but actually act as brokers that refer patients to radiology facilities under contract with Mirs companies. The insurer filed two qui tam lawsuits against Mirtabatabaee and physicians whom Allstate says pretend to be the owners of the medical corporations.

The California Insurance Fraud Prevention Act allows whistleblowers who file such lawsuits to collect three times the amount that was fraudulently billed, even if those bills were never paid.

Allstate filed one lawsuit against Discovery Radiology Physicians in La Palma and another against OneSource Medical Diagnostics in Bellflower. Radiologists Amjad Safvi and William Ira Feske were also named as defendants in the Discovery case. Safvi and radiologist Sana Khan were named as defendants in the OneSource case.

Allstate alleged that Mirtabatabaee owned and controlled both businesses even though physicians names were placed on the registration records filed with the California Secretary of State. The lawsuits say the corporations referred patients to contract facilities and radiologists in exchange for kickbacks or a fee-split and then marked up the costs of medical services when submitting bills to insurers, including Allstate.

The companies billed ten times the amount that they paid the radiologists, the civil complaint says. The inflated bills also served to increase the value of personal injury claims.

Judge Fahey granted Discoverys and OneSources motion to dismiss, called a demurrer in California. He found that Allstate had not included enough specific details about the alleged fraud to back up its claims. The judge also found that Mirtabatabaee was not illegally practicing medicine because he provided only administrative or management services.

The 2nd Appellate District panel disagreed on both points. The panel said it could not find any appellate decisions that addressed the issue, but noted that the state Attorney General had issued an opinion that a corporation owned by a non-physician cannot indirectly practice medicine by engaging [physicians] to perform professional services for those with whom the corporation contracts to furnish such services.

Whats more, guidance by the California Medical Board states that decisions regarding coding and billing and the selection of medical equipment and supplies cannot be made by non-physicians.

The authorities discussed above make clear that a non-licensed individual need not examine a patient or render a medical diagnosis to engage in the unlicensed practice of medicineto the contrary, a non-physician unlawfully practices medicine if he or she exercises undue control over a medical practice, the opinion says.

Ryan M. Fawaz, an attorney who wrote the anti-fraud coalitions amicus brief, said the appellate panels decision does not break new ground exactly, but continues an evolution of case law that has made the Insurance Fraud Prevention Act a powerful fraud-fighting tool.

This opinion crystalizes and brings legal principles together from case law, from the Attorney Generals opinions, from the Medical Board, said Fawaz, who is with the Katten Muchin Rosenman law firm in Irvine. They rely on very different sources to reach the conclusion that they did.

The appellate panel reversed the Superior Courts decision and remanded the case with instructions to rule against the demurrers and reinstate Allstates lawsuits.
BEREA, Ohio -- The sound of thunderous beats echoed from inside the Berea Library Thursday (Aug. 17) as the Yume Daiko Japanese Drum Group shared the rhythms of wow with a large, appreciative crowd.

Father and son drummers Matt and Kai Richards performed as part of the Summer Artist Demonstration Series, a partnership between the Berea Fine Arts Club and Cuyahoga County Public Library.

They exhibited great passion as they played several songs. Everything in the large conference room vibrated with each pounding beat.

Yume means dream, and Daiko means drums, Matt explained, pausing to catch his breath after the intense opening song.

We formed this group in 2009  and both Kai and I learned to play the drums in Japan.

They brought with them a collection of drums and bachi, which are Japanese drumsticks, to the performance.

Matt said he first began drumming in 1996 in Japan, where he lived for 15 years. Kai was born there in 1996 and has been yielding the sticks since he was very young.

Kai Richards performed a drum song that required lots of endurance and physical strength. (Beth Mlady/special to cleveland.com)

Both of them wore Tabi -- Japanese socks with a seam separating the big toe and second toe for the wearing of thonged footwear -- while performing. They wore theirs without shoes, but with rubber soles.

They have performed at concerts, festivals, weddings and other special events, but never directly expose their instruments to rain. Water is the enemy, because the drums risk being damaged if they get wet, Matt emphasized.

Japanese drums have been around for a long, long time, he said. One of my drums came from Asano Taiko, which is probably the premier drum maker in Japan. That company just celebrated its 475th anniversary.

Matt Richards shared a laugh with his son Kai during a demonstration of how to tighten and tune a Japanese drum. (Beth Mlady/special to cleveland.com)

Matt added that the drums have been used through the ages in Japan for artistic performances, as communication devices, in shrines, at festivals and during battles to intimidate the opposition.

What I like to teach everybody in the group is that theres a certain passion to playing this drum, he said.

My playing this drum is really cool. My son playing this drum is really cool. He and I playing drums together for you, or just enjoying it, thats a whole nother thing.

Theres an energy going on.

Read more stories from the News Sun.
BRUNSWICK, Ohio -- To say that this years Business at the Barn event was a success would be an understatement: The Northern Medina County Chamber Alliances annual event reached new heights.

What started many years ago as Bring on Brunswick, with tables in the hallways of Brunswick High School, has transformed into a very popular way for area businesses to showcase their goods and services.

MDG Flooring America is the events presenting sponsor.

On Wednesday (Aug. 16), nearly 90 vendors stood at decorated tables throughout the two-story barn at Mapleside Farms. Fourteen local restaurants and caterers also brought a taste of the area.

With exhibits and networking spilling over into the new silos adjacent to the barn, the weather cooperated fully. Guests could stop for a drink and listen to the music performed live by Rolandos Music Boutique.

The participants represented many longtime businesses, including Homestead Insurance, Diamond Event Center and Mack Industries, as well as many fairly recent arrivals to the area.

Several service-related agencies and government-based groups were in attendance, and all provided information. Free bags given by several of the vendors made it a lot easier to hold all the promotional goodies.

One of the most unusual items came from Cuyahoga Community College, whose University Center in Brunswick is gearing up for the fall semester. Students in the culinary program at Tri-C in Cleveland made up a special spice blend and bottled it as a giveaway.

The chamber alliances executive director, Debbie Boehmke, could be seen literally running from place to place as guests began to arrive. The first two hours were open for invited guests, VIPs and networking. The doors opened to the general public after that.

Chamber alliance board members were greeting visitors, providing information and beaming about the events success.

For more information about the alliance and its programs, visit https://nmccalliance.com/.

Read more from the Brunswick Sun.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Chef Anthony Zappola is a well-established culinary figure in Cleveland. With restaurant concepts like Lox, Stock, and Brisket and the Rice Shop around for a few years, Zappolas craft style of cooking is familiar to Northeast Ohioans.

Zappola also has a distinct style of doing business  a slow burn. He isnt one to over-hype and under-deliver. Its why he quietly opened the doors for his latest concept, Tripi, in Ohio City at the end of June 2023. There was no social media or marketing campaign for Tripis opening.

Rather, Zappola wanted to gradually and organically introduce the neighborhood to his version of classics, like pepperoni bread and Italian subs. After just a few weeks of being open, Tripi has developed its own in-the-know fan base.

Best Italian sub in the city, a Tripi customer commented to Zappola amid his interview with Cleveland.com. Apparently, that reaction isnt uncommon.

Tripi Italian Specialities is located at 3928 Lorain Ave., Cleveland. Alex Darus, cleveland.com

Tripi Italian Specialties has been 12 years in the making for Zappola, a Cleveland native who has worked at top restaurants across the U.S. Its the first restaurant he ever wrote a business plan for. However, whenever the opportunity arose for him to start a new concept, the location never felt like the right fit for Tripi. That is until the new building appeared on the corner of Lorain Avenue and W. 41st Street in Ohio City.

It was a blessing in disguise that it didnt open initially, Zappola said. He believes he had time to make mistakes as a business owner with his other restaurants to prepare for his baby Tripi that he dreamt of for years. Now, its such a home base that the chef lives in the apartments right above his latest restaurant.

Tripi is also special to Zappola because of his background. Hes Italian-American and went to culinary school in Italy. The restaurant is named after the small town in Sicily that his great-grandfather was from. Its hard not to feel Zappolas personal connection to the restaurant that is decorated with old-school pictures of himself and his family members.

The Papa Tony is the house Italian sub at Tripi in Ohio City. Alex Darus, Cleveland.com

The casual concept serves what Zappola calls a fundamental Italian American lunch with everything made from scratch. Bread for subs and pizza dough is made fresh daily. The staff, which includes four other people aside from Zappola, makes the sauce and rolls out fresh meatballs daily. The star of the menu is the Papa Tony, Tripis take on an Italian sub that is named after his grandfather.

Zappola explained that the menu is designed to be recognizable. It is full of items that most people have probably tried before, just not his exact version. Im not here to overthink it, he said. Its all about execution.

The current menu is only the beginning. Part of Zappolas business strategy with a slow opening was to establish a core menu of items that the kitchen executes perfectly every time. After the summer ends, Zappola has plans to expand the menu with hearty items like lasagna, ravioli, and Italian beef sandwiches. The heavier menu items will also come after Tripi recently expanded its business hours to offer dinner.

Pizza made on homemade dough from Tripi Italian Specialties in Ohio City. Alex Darus, cleveland.com

Im just focused on getting the core things down, Zappola explained of his gradual process. If you try to do too many things great, nothing comes out good.

Zappola is playing the long game with Tripi. He expects it to be the neighborhood spot that will be around for years to come. He is working on expanded seating and offering a grab-and-go market in the front with select specialty items.

The excitement around the future also comes at a time whene Zappola can focus. He moved back to Cleveland six years ago and, for the majority of that time, at least one of his restaurant concepts was undergoing construction. Now, he feels confident with his entire team at all of his restaurants and is ready for all of them to level up a notch.

For the first time in a really long time I feel no pressure and none of that outside noise, Zappola explained. This restaurant has been a long time coming. It just finally is here.

If You Go:

Location: Tripi, 3928 Lorain Ave., Cleveland

Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday

Menu: tripicleveland.com/
CLEVELAND, Ohio A federal appeals court on Friday rejected former Cleveland City Councilman Ken Johnsons attempt to overturn his corruption convictions.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found no merit to any of Johnsons arguments that his convictions for fleecing taxpayers and refusing to pay his taxes should be overturned.
Taylor Swift will be in Scotland for three shows in June 2024, and third-party ticket websites have you covered when it comes to seats!

Swift is performing at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, Scotland on June 7, June 9 and June 9 in 2024.

WHERE TO BUY TICKETS TO FRIDAY, JUNE 7, 2024 SHOW: Vivid Seats | StubHub | TicketCity

WHERE TO BUY TICKETS TO SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 2024 SHOW: Vivid Seats | StubHub | TicketCity

WHERE TO BUY TICKETS TO SUNDAY, JUNE 9, 2024 SHOW: Vivid Seats | StubHub | TicketCity

Swift will be back on the stage in less than a week for the Latin America part of The Eras Tour, which runs from Aug. 24 until Nov. 26. Tickets for Swifts first shows of that tour leg in Mexico City are available. Tickets for shows that follow Mexico City  Argentina, Brazil, Australia, Singapore, Paris, Sweden, Portugal and Spain  are available too!

Tickets for her North America 2024 tour stops  Miami, New Orleans, Indianapolis and Toronto  are also on sale.

Swift announced her re-recorded 1989 (Taylors version) on Twitter Aug. 10.

Surprise!! 1989 (Taylors Version) is on its way to you ! The 1989 album changed my life in countless ways, and it fills me with such excitement to announce that my version of it will be out October 27th. To be perfectly honest, this is my most FAVORITE re-record Ive ever done because the 5 From The Vault tracks are so insane. I cant believe they were ever left behind. But not for long! she tweeted on Aug. 16.

Kaylee Remington is the commerce reporter for cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. Follow her for deals, trends and breaking news in the shopping, sports and entertainment industries. Read her work online.
TOLEDO, Ohio  A woman opened fire on her granddaughter because she was slashing the tires of the grandmothers vehicle, with a passing vehicle being hit by a bullet and both women ending up in police custody, reports say.

Jackie Chandler-Davis, 55, is charged with felonious assault and discharge of a firearm, while her granddaughter, Christina Wallace, 19, is charged with property damage, WTVG Channel 13 reports. Chandler-Davis was released after posting bail.

Police tell WTOL Channel 11 the women were fighting at Chandler-Davis home just after 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. Wallace is accused of slashing the tires of her grandmothers vehicle during the argument.

Chandler-Davis reportedly told her granddaughter to stop damaging the tires and fired a warning shot. When Wallace continued to slash the tires, Chandler-Davis fired two shots at Wallace, police tell WTOL.

One of the shots fired by Chandler-Davis struck a passing vehicle. WTVG reports a woman and her niece were in the passing vehicle but were not injured.
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PLEASANT HILL, Missouri  A man who was sworn in as a police officer on Monday was out of a job by early Wednesday morning after city officials were made aware of the mans racists and homophobic posts recently made on social media.

The Pleasant Hill Police Department and the city released a statement admitting that they did not do a thorough job of reviewing the social media history of Jacob Smith. A person who saw pictures of Smith on social media being sworn in called city officials attention to his posts, which had been made as recently as a month ago, reports say.

Smith was placed on administrative leave almost immediately after the meeting in which he was sworn in, then resigned by 1 a.m. Wednesday, Yahoo! News reports.

There is no excuse for racism, insinuation of violence, or any form of hate in our community, the citys statement says. Our hiring process failed to identify the social media posts of this individual prior to being hired and it was discovered after the fact, but still allowing the city the opportunity to take administrative action before this individual was released to full-duty.

Smiths posts included homophobic memes and a racist post that alluded to decapitation of Black people, Fox 4 reports.

Our hiring process within the police department would typically include a social media background check evaluating rhetoric or conduct that is unbecoming of law enforcement officers. Unintentionally, this step was overlooked, the citys statement says. It is important for us to identify when mistakes are made and own up to them.

John E.P. King, the citys mayor, said in the statement that he hopes residents will not hold the incident against other officers.

It is an unfortunate truth that in my 30-plus years as a firefighter, I have seen how one employee can derail the trust and integrity of the best organizations, King said. The police officers, sergeants, and leadership of the Pleasant Hill Police Department work hard every day to provide this community with the safety and protection at the highest level of service. ...

Please do not let one individual detract from the work they have accomplished in the last few years to make the Pleasant Hill Police Department what it is today.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  Cleveland Metroparks has backed away from a plan to restore and maintain the East Cleveland portion of Forest Hill Park.

Metroparks CEO Brian Zimmerman notified East Cleveland Council President Juanita Gowdy of the decision on Monday.
COLUMBUS, Ohio  Gov. Mike DeWine and Cleveland Bishop Edward Malesic are headlining an upcoming fundraiser in the Cleveland area to benefit the campaign opposing the abortion-rights ballot issue that Ohioans will vote on in November.

The Aug. 29 fundraiser will be held at the Gates Mills home of Umberto Fedeli, a prominent local businessman and major GOP political donor, according to an event invitation obtained by cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.

The invitation says attendees must give $500 to get in, although guests can give up to $50,000 each to be designated as an official event host. Proceeds will go to Protect Women Ohio, the campaign group working to defeat a November ballot issue that would add legal protections for abortion to Ohios constitution. The amendment would nullify the states heartbeat law that bans abortion as early as six weeks into pregnancy, although the law has been on hold for nearly a year due to an ongoing court challenge.

Lt. Gov. Jon Husted also is a headlining guest, while a number of other groups and Republican politicians also are featured guests, including Ohio Right to Life, the Center for Christian Virtue, U.S. Rep. Max Miller, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bernie Moreno, Attorney General Dave Yost and State Auditor Keith Faber.

The event illustrates how DeWine and the Catholic Church each plan to take a hands-on role in opposing the abortion amendment after remaining in the background of the campaign for Issue 1, a related measure that voters soundly rejected earlier this month.

READ MORE: Abortion rights amendment proposal qualifies for November ballot in Ohio

DeWine publicly supported Issue 1, but kept a lower profile than some other state Republicans during the campaign, leading to criticism from some abortion opponents after Issue 1s defeat. DeWine signaled to reporters last week he plans to speak often against the abortion amendment in the coming weeks, calling it too liberal for Ohio. He declined to elaborate on Thursday, but a spokesperson emphasized the governors past comments that he plans to be in the public eye when it comes to the issue.

The Ohio Catholic Conference, the organization that represents Ohios Catholic bishops, meanwhile, officially was neutral on Issue 1, although some church officials, like Columbus Bishop Earl Fernandes, urged parishioners to vote for the measure. Issue 1 would have made it harder for the November abortion amendment and other constitutional amendments in the future to pass by requiring a 60% supermajority vote instead of a 50% majority.

The Ohio Catholic Conference has said it will oppose the November abortion-rights amendment, though, writing in an open letter in February that the measure threatens the dignity of life in its earliest stages. The Catholic church has been a major opponent to abortion proposals in other states, giving at least $6 million to an unsuccessful effort to oppose a similar amendment in Michigan last year.

OTHER COVERAGE: Coverage of the Ohio abortion rights

Conference officials werent available for comment for this story, but executive director Brian Hickey told Crux, a Catholic publication last week that the church plans to have priests speak about the issue from the pulpit, among other initiatives. Amy Natoce, a spokesperson for Protect Women Ohio, said the group is thrilled to have the Catholic churchs backing.

Certainly, having their support is crucial, Natoce said.

Its no surprise to see a politician trying to insert government into personal decisions that should be between a family, said Gabriel Mann, a spokesperson for Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights, the campaign backing the abortion-rights amendment.

The Dioceses and archdioceses in Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus directly gave a total of $900,000 to Protect Women Ohio earlier this year, state campaign-finance records show.

Abortion-rights supporters so far have outraised abortion opponents $9.7 million to $5.3 million. Amendment backers have said they plan to raise and spend as much as $35 million to help pass the amendment.

The proposed amendment would generally guarantee that patients could make their own reproductive decisions, including birth control, fertility treatment, continuing a pregnancy, or abortion and miscarriage care up until viability, which is around 22 to 24 weeks.

After that point, the state could regulate abortion. However, abortions after that cutoff could be permitted if in the professional judgment of the pregnant patients treating physician it is necessary to protect the pregnant patients life or health.

As they did in Michigan last year, opponents have said the amendment allows for legal abortion too late into a pregnancy, applies to minors, and that the life or health exemption is too broad.

Supporters have described the language as like the standard under Roe v. Wade. The exact effects of the amendment wont be clear until they get decided by courts, if the measure passes, although the Ohio Supreme Court has given significant weight to how amendment campaigns described their intended effects to the public when interpreting potentially vague amendment language.

Abortion-amendment opponents also have said the measure could allow children to get gender reassignment surgeries without their parents knowing or consenting, a claim independent legal experts have described as a stretch at best.

Andrew Tobias covers state politics and government for cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer
COLUMBUS, Ohio  Ohio voters will get to decide on Nov. 7 whether to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes. But if they approve a proposed state law, they shouldnt expect product to be for sale on shelves the very next day.

Expect recreational marijuana sales to begin in 2024, possibly 10 months after the the proposal goes into effect, said Tom Haren, a Cleveland attorney who is part of the campaign backing the adult-use proposal.
MIAMI  As summer winds down, the back-to-school season is just about here for students of all ages.

For those seeking higher education, there are a number of Ohio schools  big and small, two-year and four-year programs and more  to consider. But which are the best community colleges, specifically?

Northwest State Community College in Archbold, Ohio, located about 50 miles southwest of Toledo, is the best community college in Ohio, according to WalletHubs 2023 Best & Worst Community Colleges rankings. NSCC topped the list of 15 Ohio community colleges included in WalletHubs rankings, which considered a total of 668 American Association of Community Colleges member schools.

RELATED: Northwest Ohio city is No. 1 in the U.S. for high-quality retirement; three Buckeye State cities make Top 10

Lakeland Community College in Kirtland, Ohio, located about 20 miles northeast of Cleveland, ranked second amongst Ohio community colleges. Founded in 1967, LCC had 4,414 students during the spring 2023 semester, according to the schools website, and offers a number of masters programs in partnership with Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio.

The rankings were conducted by measuring and comparing three equally weighted categories: Cost & Financing, Education Outcomes, and Career Outcomes. The three categories considered a number of metrics, including cost of in-state tuition and fees; average amount of grant or scholarship aid received; per-pupil spending; first-year retention rate; graduation rate; median salary after attending; and more.

Notably, Edison State Community College in Piqua, Ohio, and Eastern Gateway Community College in Steubenville, Ohio, were ranked in the bottom three in per-pupil spending at No. 666 and No. 668, respectively. EGCC was also ranked tied for last in faculty-to-student ratio, and 665th overall among the 668 schools considered.

Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland, Ohio, meanwhile, ranked 14th among 15 Ohio schools included in WalletHubs rankings.

RELATED: Ohios most educated cities, ranked

Here are the top 15 community colleges in Ohio, in descending order, followed by their overall placing and score in WalletHubs rankings:

Northwest State Community College in Archbold, OH (410th overall, 52.44 score) Lakeland Community College in Kirtland, OH (431st, 52.1) James A Rhodes State College in Lima, OH (511th, 50.12) Columbus State Community College in Columbus, OH (520th, 49.9, 520th) Owens Community College in Perrysburg, OH (532nd, 49.64) Marion Technical College in Marion, OH (535th, 49.42) Terra State Community College in Fremont, OH (551st, 48.72) Hocking College in Nelsonville, OH (571st, 47.81) Belmont College in St. Clairsville, OH (573rd, 47.67) Edison State Community College in Piqua, OH (585th, 47.31) Stark State College in North Canton, OH (598th, 46.79) Washington State Community College in Marietta, OH (599th, 46.79) Southern State Community College in Hillsboro, OH (603rd, 46.63) Cuyahoga Community College District in Cleveland, OH (605th, 46.45) Eastern Gateway Community College in Steubenville, OH (665th, 37.58)

WalletHubs full rankings of 2023s Best & Worst Community Colleges can be found online.
MIDDLEBURG HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Police at 6 a.m. Aug. 11 received a call about a vehicle that had gone off the roadway, through a fence and into a Ragall Parkway back yard.

They found the pickup truck in the back yard with parts of it scattered on the ground. There were also pieces of a wooden fence around it. Skid marks marred the grass.
COLUMBUS, Ohio  Northeast Ohioans who won class action lawsuit settlement awards in connection with a massive political bribery scheme say their $10 to $20 winnings are effectively stranded in digital payment form.

Instead of checks or credits on their electric bills, the class members received their money via an email from a third party that many found suspicious. The lawsuit closely followed the now-substantiated criminal allegation that FirstEnergy bribed ex-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder to pass legislation that bailed out nuclear plants owned at the time by a company subsidiary.

Since Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer wrote about the first funds from the $49 million settlement flowing out the door, several readers have reached out to say their money is stuck in purgatory. Most received around $8. Because many online vendors wont allow users to split a bill over multiple forms of payment, the plaintiffs cant buy much online that costs less than your average burrito.

Others noted that the award came from email domains affiliated with Tremendous, a company administering the settlement, making them think it was a scam. The suspicion grew widespread enough that the Better Business Bureau issued a public notice that the emails are not a scam but the real deal.

Dennis Murray Jr., counsel for the plaintiffs, said class members will be notified if they have not drawn down their funds in a month or so, and once more after that. He said the overseeing lawyers are also looking at changing the email and sender to make it feel less spammy.

The digital payment format, he said was the product of compromise. FirstEnergy adamantly refused to apply the money as credits to bills, as it would have required them to file a new rate case at the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, which would have caused more delay. Cutting checks instead of offering digital payments would have eaten into the settlement distributions, he said.

The challenge with smaller distributions is that small checks are often ignored and it costs something like $1.50 to get a check cut and mailed, he wrote in an email. With 2 million class members, that is a lot of money that could be going to the class instead. The experience of my co-counsel and the class administrator is that we ultimately will get more money to more class members using digital payments than we would checks.

There is an option to receive an alternative form of payment at the bottom of the email. The simplest way to use these funds is to add them to a prepaid card such as at Amazon or to use Apple Pay. You are right, most on-line retailers dont accept split payments, just as some stores dont but more stores do that online retailers.

Jennifer Young, a FirstEnergy spokeswoman, declined to comment directly on the claim that the company adamantly refused to apply the money to bill credits.

While the plaintiffs lawyer is not able to access customer bills to apply credits, it is otherwise their discretion how to implement the settlement funds, he said.

PUCO spokesman Matt Schilling said if a given utility company wanted to apply credits to customers bills, it would need permission from the regulators. However, the process is much simpler than a rate case, as commissioners only would need to determine if the decreased rates are just and reasonable.

FirstEnergy paid $37.5 million to settle the case, with Energy Harbor (formerly a subsidiary of FirstEnergy) paying $11.5 million. Of that sum, plaintiffs attorneys took home more than $13 million.

Plaintiffs had sued FirstEnergy days after federal prosecutors accused ex-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and four conspirators in connection with a bribery scheme bankrolled by FirstEnergy. The class plaintiffs alleged they overpaid on their bills to fund a $60 million racketeering scheme deployed to pass House Bill 6, which was worth about $1.3 billion to the company.

Several readers have reached out voicing frustrations with the settlement, including Carla Vondrak.

I got $7.89. Must be used for online purchase and must pay purchase in full. Cannot be combined. That will be difficult, she said in an email. How about the people with $1? I would have preferred a statement credit to my FirstEnergy bill. Bottom line, very few people will be able to use their settlement.

Vincent Fiordalis, a self-identified senior citizen [whos] not too computer savvy, said he doesnt know why his $7.29 wouldnt just be credited to his FirstEnergy bill.

It seems to me that that would be the way to do it, he said. Who thinks up these email refund notifications?

Michael OBoyle, a retired community college professor, wondered where his check is.

My question: where is the email that I am supposed to be receiving from the settlement? And is the amount (paltry as it may be) going to be somehow embedded in that email? Or sent by another means? he said. I hope that you stay on this case so that we poor residential customers can get some answers to these questions.

Jake Zuckerman covers state politics and policy for Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  During his last semester on the Ohio University campus, Terrance Reynolds was near the Office of Global Affairs and decided he should go inside.

Stopping at the front desk, he asked someone behind the counter: What do you have for me?

His was a question not often heard from the mouth of a Black male.

In some ways, it made Terrance, then 20, a unicorn or, perhaps, a black rhino the rarest of the rare: a youthful Black man who wanted to trot the globe. Such a man is rarer still when his roots were planted here, because most males who look like him have more pedestrian aspirations.

But dream big he dared do, a dream he etched in bold lettering onto the bucket list in his mind, so it wouldnt get lost amid the helter-skelter of trying to live a fulfilling life.

Inside Global Affairs, Terrance discovered he had two options: Hong Kong and Singapore. He picked Hong Kong, the cheapest of the two.

The months he spent there opened his eyes to the world. He reached out and tried to put his hands around global citizenship.

I went to the Philippines. I went to Japan and Macau, said Terrance, a self-taught developer. After doing that, I wanted to continue traveling. So, after graduation, I moved to another country, and that was Japan.

He stood out there the way a Black man does at a Hells Angels gathering.

Being Black in Japan or being Black in Asia certainly comes with its hurdles, he said. But it also comes with its upside.

The upside is what makes Terrances experiences there the most rewarding. He finds his Blackness serves him well.

Japan and Southeast Asia are acquainted with Black culture. From hip-hop to sneakers, Blackness, a cultural currency of sorts, brings instant cool, he said. It gives him cultural cache.

People in Japan approach Terrance with an expectation; they seem to follow a blueprint in judging him. He sees their prejudgments, however, as benign compared to how malignant his Blackness tends to be among white folk in his homeland.

Hes found the former liberating, as if he had been freed from the dungeons that limited or caged him for his 20-plus years on earth. He has been freed  freed to dream about more than his Americanness.

My options arent limited to America, he said.

The world is what confines a true global citizen, which is how Terrance sees himself these days. He can work and play and love and marry and cry and hurt and build wealth in whatever place he decides to make his home.

Terrance isnt necessarily saying he wont return to the United States to live and work. He has time to figure his future out, and he sees no reason to make a final decision on it today. Frankly, hes too at peace with the life he has created as a Yankee abroad to fret about what his next destination might be.

Yet to call his possibilities endless would be accurate.

I dont think Im gonna be here for the rest of my life, Terrance said. Part of me considered moving to Europe after this  or another country in Asia, because, I dont know, we can.

It feels pretty awesome to do that.

Justice B. Hill grew up on the East Side of Cleveland and still lives there. He practiced journalism for more than 20 years and later taught journalism at Ohio University. Since his retirement in May 2019, hes been devoting his time to travel and freelance writing.
PANAMA CITY, Panama  An airline pilot who started having medical issues during a flight from Miami to Santiago, Chile, died shortly after the plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Panama, reports say.

LATAM Airlines released a statement to USA Today confirming the pilot died after Flight LA-505, a Boeing 787-9, landed Monday in Panama City. The pilots identity was not released but the statement said he had worked for the airline for 25 years.

The pilot was a member of a three-man crew, NBC News reports. According to the Aviation Herald, the pilot went to the restroom during the flight but did not return to the cockpit.

The Herald reports members of the planes crew tried to resuscitate him until the plane landed in Panama.

All the necessary protocols were followed during the flight to safeguard the life of the affected pilot. Unfortunately, after landing and receiving further medical assistance, the pilot passed away, the airline said in a statement to Fox Business.
COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA - AUGUST 5: Former President Donald Trump pauses for cheers from the crowd before speaking as the keynote speaker at the 56th Annual Silver Elephant Dinner hosted by the South Carolina Republican Party on August 5, 2023 in Columbia, South Carolina. President Trump was introduced by South Carolina's Governor Henry McMaster. (Photo by Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images)

Former President Donald Trump, the front-runner in polls for the 2024 Republican nomination, is seeking to delay his federal trial on charges related to his efforts to stop the peaceful transfer of power and retain the White House following his 2020 election loss.

In a court filing Thursday, Trump's attorneys suggested starting the trial in April 2026, more than two years after prosecutors are seeking to get the trial underway.

The election interference case brought against Trump in the nation's capital by special counsel Jack Smith is one of four criminal cases Trump is now facing, and one of two brought at the federal level by Justice Department prosecutors.

In a packed second-floor courtroom just a few hundred feet from the U.S. Capitol, Trump pleaded not guilty earlier this month to four charges in the case: conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction; and conspiracy against the right to vote and to have one's vote counted.

U.S. District Judge Tonya Chutkan  who warned Trump that he is a "criminal defendant" who has "restrictions like every other defendant"  had asked each side to propose trial dates.

In a filing last week, Smith's team requested that jury selection begin in December and that the trial start just after the holiday break, on Jan. 2, 2024. That date, Senior Assistant Special Counsel Molly Gaston wrote, "would vindicate the public's strong interest in a speedy trialan interest guaranteed by the Constitution and federal law in all cases, but of particular significance here, where the defendant, a former president, is charged with conspiring to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election, obstruct the certification of the election results, and discount citizens' legitimate votes."

Chutkan is expected to set a trial date at a hearing on the matter on Aug. 28. Trump is not required to attend the hearing in person.

Trump had telegraphed a plan to delay the trial until after the 2024 election and has said that he will try to have the case moved out of Washington, D.C., even though that's where most of his alleged criminal activity took place. In case after case, federal judges in Washington, including Chutkan, have rejected requests from Jan. 6 defendants to move their cases out of the district.

"Courts routinely conclude that defendants can receive a fair trial in the location where they committed their crimes, even though some members of the community were victimized," Chutkan ruled in the trial of a Jan. 6 defendant last year. Chutkan said she was "not persuaded that no impartial jury can be empaneled here," saying that the court process would filter out potential jurors who were unable to set their feelings aside.

"In any U.S. jurisdiction, most prospective jurors will have heard about the events of January 6, and many will have various disqualifying biases," she wrote. "The appropriate way to identify and address those biases is through careful voir dire that asks, among other things, whether prospective jurors can 'lay aside [their] impression[s] or opinion[s] and render a verdict based on the evidence presented in court.'"
The U.S. stands out in a bad way when it comes to paid time off laws, and as for vacations, it's the second-worst around the world for offering the fewest days.

Nationally, the average American gets 10 vacation days  all public holidays like Memorial Day and Thanksgiving  after a year of service. When left up to businesses, the average American worker gets another 11 days of paid vacation in their first year at a company.

Meanwhile, workers in many countries around the world, particularly in Europe, are known to take vacations for months at a time. For many, that's thanks to the European Union Working Time Directive, which passed in the early 1990s, and requires at least 20 working days of paid vacation in all EU countries.

Several countries offer even more by law, giving workers more than a month of business days in vacation time per year. That doesn't include paid public holidays, which, in some countries like Spain, can mean up to an additional 14 paid days off from work every year.

Here are nine European countries that give workers more than a month of paid vacations a year, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development:

France: 30 days of paid vacation per year

United Kingdom: 28 days of paid vacation per year

Austria: 25 days of paid vacation per year

Denmark: 25 days of paid vacation per year

Finland: 25 days of paid vacation per year

Norway: 25 days of paid vacation per year

Spain: 25 days of paid vacation per year

Sweden: 25 days of paid vacation per year

Portugal: 22 days of paid vacation per year

Given the culture of rest prioritized around Europe, many workers get even more days off from their company.

Kimberly Sorce, 32, grew up in New Jersey but moved to Sweden, and works for a tech company. While Swedes are guaranteed 25 paid vacation days by law, her employer adds a few extra days to bring her up to 30 paid vacation days a year.

Some businesses require their employees to take a certain number of days off to ensure they're taking breaks from work. In Norway, Lene Vindenes, 28, gets 25 paid vacation days per year, and her company requires her to take three weeks of vacation during the summer between June and August.

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Check out: 28-year-old social media manager in Norway is required to take 3 weeks of vacation in summer: 'Work is not everything'
Search and rescue crews look through the remains of a neighborhood on August 17, 2023 in Lahaina, Hawaii.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is deploying a team that includes an electrical engineer to investigate the origins of the catastrophic Hawaii wildfires, as the local power company faces growing scrutiny over whether downed electric poles triggered the blaze.

The ATF has deployed a national response that includes an electrical engineer, three fire investigators, and an expert from the bureau's arson and explosives group, according to an agency statement late Thursday. The team will assist Maui County fire officials in their investigation.

The wildfires have left at least 111 people dead, with the death toll expected to rise as search dogs comb the devastated town of Lahaina for others who perished. The blaze is the deadliest wildfire in the U.S. in more than a century and the worst disaster in Hawaii state history.

Hawaiian Electric has faced growing scrutiny for not shutting down power lines despite warnings from the National Weather Service that high winds from Hurricane Dora and drought conditions in the state created a high fire risk.

Hawaiian Electric is already facing four lawsuits from Maui residents alleging that the power company's lines played a role in the fires.
Most stocks don't outperform Treasury bills. And only a handful of stocks have accounted for the bulk of wealth creation in the stock market in the last 30 years. That's the conclusion of a recent academic study that has been stirring up interest in investing circles, and with good reason. The paper, " Long-Term Shareholder Returns: Evidence from 64,000 Global Stocks ," by Hendrik Bessembinder and three other authors, looked at the performance of roughly 64,000 publicly traded common stocks worldwide between 1990 and 2020. Of those, 17,776 were stocks that traded in the United States. The paper was published through the CFA Institute's Financial Analysts Journal. The good news: U.S. companies are far and away the biggest drivers of stock wealth creation in the last 30 years. No other country is remotely close. The bad news: Most stocks, regardless of what country they are domiciled, have been terrible performers over the last 31 years. Of the 46,723 non-U.S. stocks studied, only 42.6% generated buy-and-hold returns measured in U.S. dollars that exceed one-month U.S. Treasury bill returns. The U.S. was no exception. Of the 17,776 U.S. firms studied, only 44.8% outperformed Treasury bills. Stock market wealth is highly concentrated How can this be? It is well documented that, long-term, a broad portfolio of stocks outperforms Treasury bills. The trick to understanding this is that the market is typically defined by indexes such as the S & P 500 , which is weighted by market capitalization (price x shares outstanding = market capitalization). Thus, the winners that keep advancing have a greater influence on the index than those that are not advancing. This creates the illusion that because the index is advancing (the S & P 500 typically advances roughly 10% a year, including dividends), then most of the stocks in the index are advancing. But that is not necessarily true. First, there is survivorship bias in the indexes. They throw out the losers and add the winners. Second, only a small number of the winners account for the bulk of the gains: "[T]he positive mean excess long-run returns observed for stock portfolios are driven by very large returns to a relative few stocks," the authors point out. How few? Very few. What matters: Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, and Tencent The authors conclude that just five firms ( Apple , Microsoft , Amazon , Alphabet , and Tencent ) account for 10.3% of the $75.66 trillion in global public stock market net wealth creation in their sample over that 31-year period. Think about that. Just five stocks accounted for 10% of global net stock market wealth creation over 31 years. That is 0.008% of the total universe. It doesn't change dramatically if you just look at U.S. stocks. 44 companies (0.25% of the sample) account for 44.3% of the gains. % of U.S. net stock wealth creation (1990-2020, 17,776 companies) % of companies % of total % of net wealth creation 44 0.25% 44.3% 174 1% 70.2% 867 5% 99% Pages 23, 46 Here's the top 10 firms, ranked by how much market capitalization increased over the 31-year period from January 1990 to December 2020. Top 10 Global Firms: the biggest wealth creators (wealth created, January 1990-December 2020) Apple $2.67 trillion Microsoft $1.91 trillion Amazon $1.56 trillion Alphabet $979 billon Tencent $691 billion Tesla $639 billion Walmart $568 billion Facebook $533 billion Samsung $540 billion Johnson & Johnson $535 billion U.S. tech rules the world A few observations: 1) It's amazing how dominant U.S. companies, and particularly U.S. tech companies, are in wealth creation. Only two of the top 10 are non-U.S. based (Tencent and Samsung), and only six of the top 20 are non-U.S. based (the other non-U.S. based firms in the top 20 are Taiwan Semiconductor, Nestle, Roche, and China alcohol beverage producer Kwiechow Moutai). 2) Many of the top 20 were not even public for the entire period. Amazon went public in 1997, and both Alphabet and Tencent went public in 2004. Tesla only went public in 2010. 3) There's a lot of "creative destruction" going on in the stock market. A lot of companies fail or merge. The U.S. sample size consisted of roughly 17,000 listed stocks over the 31-year period. There are not 17,000 stocks currently trading in the U.S.: The sample size includes many companies that have folded or merged in that time period. It also includes many tiny stocks. The authors did exclude any stock with a market capitalization below $1 million or if its share price dropped below one cent What does it mean? Passive investing wins again So why doesn't everyone just buy stocks that are winners? Because no one knows who will be long-term winners or losers. The authors readily admit that anyone who could identify which stocks would go up would obviously have a huge advantage. The authors diplomatically avoid saying who might have this advantage: "Of course, our study does not clarify which, if any, investors possess the requisite comparative advantage." Right, and that is the problem. Nobody (or almost nobody) possesses the "requisite comparative advantage." That's clear in one of the only recommendations contained in the study: "The results reinforce the desirability of investing in a broad passive index." Nicholas Colas, co-founder of DataTrek Research, also reviewed the paper and came to the same conclusion: "The truth is a handful of truly stellar companies generate persistently strong returns over a long period of time. Those create all the value and are the reason equities generate higher returns than risk-free bonds. The right way to think about stocks is that 'equity indices usually go up, and only because of a small group of names.'" Why do people continue to try to pick stocks? These findings reinforce decades of studies about the perils of picking stocks and the value of owning a broadly diversified portfolio. Larry Swedroe is director of research for Buckingham Strategic Wealth. He has studied market returns for decades. In reviewing an earlier version of this paper, Swedroe summarized the main problem for investors: "Owning individual stocks [is] much riskier than most investors believe," he said. The reason, as this paper demonstrates, is that stock returns are not normally distributed over time. Aggregate stock returns do not look like a bell curve: Most stocks will decline in value, and only a few offer superior long-term returns. If that is true, why do investors persist in trying to pick small groups of stocks? Swedroe believes much of the problem lies in the way our brains are structured. Individuals display biases that affect their ability to make money, let alone outperform the market . For example, investors fail to understand the value of diversification and how many individual stocks are needed for a truly diversified portfolio. In my book, "Shut Up and Keep Talking: Lessons on Life and Investing from the Floor of the New York Stock Exchange," I listed many of the dozens of biases that investors exhibit that cloud their ability to make sound investment decisions. For example, investors: 1) are overconfident and believe they possess superior stock-picking skills; 2) overestimate the value of the information they possess, not understanding that this information is already publicly known; 3) blindly follow what others are doing (herd behavior); 4) select information that supports their own point of view, while ignoring information that contradicts it (confirmation bias); 5) believe that because a stock has done well in the past it will continue to do well in the future (the gambler's fallacy); 6) overreact to certain pieces of news and fail to place the information in a proper context (availability bias); 7) rely too much on a single (often the first) piece of information as a basis for picking a stock, which becomes the reference point for future decisions without considering other pieces of information (anchoring bias). These and other biases all combine to make many investors willing to roll the dice with their money in hopes of hitting an imaginary jackpot. "They are willing to accept the high likelihood of underperformance in return for the small likelihood of owning the next Google," Swedroe said. "In other words, they like to buy lottery tickets." The bottom line, Colas notes: To generate returns that match the S & P 500, you need to pick the stocks that actually drive the performance. But guessing those that drive the performance is exceedingly difficult, which is why indexing works: "The market gets things wrong, but human judgement often makes even more errors," Colas said.
Since launching Wayve in 2017, CEO Alex Kendall has often felt like the self-driving car industry's mostly ignored little brother. For years, Kendall and co-founder Amar Shah pitched their London-based autonomous driving software company as a "contrarian" alternative to companies like Alphabet and Tesla. Wayve focused entirely on artificial intelligence, while most of the industry used devices like cameras, radar and laser-powered lidar sensors. Then, AI hype exploded, bringing Wayve along with it. The company impressed Bill Gates during a London "test ride," partnered with Microsoft on AI development, and landed more than $200 million in new funding from investors including Microsoft and Virgin. Its valuation is likely above $1 billion, CNBC reported last year. (Wayve declined to confirm the figure.) Now, Kendall feels less like an outsider, and Wayve's future looks a bit more mainstream, he says. "For the last five years, we've been pursuing this approach and it's been met with skepticism, and it has been a contrarian way of thinking about the problem [of autonomous driving]," Kendall, 29, tells CNBC Make It. "It's almost like everything has changed this year. End-to-end deep learning and AI is not some crazy, far-out technology." Of course, that means investors, competitors and a curious public are now watching Wayve more closely. And each obstacle  including some big ones, when it comes to putting self-driving cars on public roads  gets magnified.

'A completely new way of thinking'

Kendall was raised on New Zealand's mountainous South Island. As a student, he built one of his country's first homemade drones, scraped together from "a bunch of things you could get from the local electronics shop," he says. In 2017, Kendall got a Ph.D. in deep learning and computer vision at the University of Cambridge. While there, he helped develop a deep learning algorithm for a computer vision concept called "semantic segmentation." It was, essentially, groundwork for Wayve: Semantic segmentation helps machines identify and label each tiny pixel in an image in real time. When applied to self-driving technology, it can help a car process its environment, from following the path of a road to identifying other vehicles nearby.

A delivery van outfitted with Wayve's autonomous driving software is part of the fleet of vehicles making grocery deliveries across London. Source: Wayve

The approach, called AV2.0, differs from most of the self-driving car industry  which uses some combination of AI systems, cameras, radar and lidar sensors to create 3D maps of driving environments, and then plan out autonomous routes. Wayve's goal is to build an AI system advanced enough to not need a 3D map at all. If successful, it could make human-like decisions in real time without a pre-planned route, and lower the cost of the cars by reducing the amount of high-end equipment required. Tesla's current full self-driving package, for example, costs an additional $15,000. "The implications [are] enormous: It lets you build vehicles that are affordable, that don't have hundreds of thousands of dollars of sensing and [computing power] on them," Kendall says.

The world's first successful test of its kind

Shah also has a Ph.D. from Cambridge, in machine learning. When he and Kendall launched Wayve, "many of the big technology giants had just put billions of dollars of funding into building autonomous vehicles," Kendall says. The pair rode the coattails of that wave to land roughly $3 million in venture capital money, renting a residential home near the university to serve as their headquarters. "The small bedroom was our server room, the large bedroom was our boardroom," Kendall says. "And we all, sort of, worked and lived and ate together, and [we] prototyped the first vehicle in the garage." At first, Shah was CEO and Kendall was CTO. They built a prototype in the garage in less than six months, outfitting an electric Jaguar I-PACE SUV with autonomous tech for a test drive "around the block" Kendall says. It was the world's first successful test of an AI-powered car driving an unmapped route using end-to-end deep learning tech, he adds: "We threw one of the biggest parties I've ever had in my life in the house that day." In 2019, Wayve landed $20 million in funding from a group led by the venture firm Eclipse. The company moved into an office in London, and started hiring more aggressively. Shah departed in 2020, and Kendall took over as CEO. Earlier this year, the company kicked off an autonomous delivery program  including human safety drivers onboard  with Asda one of the U.K.'s largest grocery companies. The yearlong trial will reach more than 170,000 residents in different parts of the city, Kendall says. "Every day, we do different routes we've never done before," he says. "And that kind of thing is only possible with AV2.0 technology."

Technological challenges and well-funded rivals
Modelo Especial's U.S. owner and distributor wants to emphasize that the brand's rise to the top of the country's beer market didn't happen overnight.

"The fact that we became the No. 1 beer in America due to a competitor's moves is not accurate," said Jim Sabia, executive vice president and managing director of Constellation Brands ' beer division.

"We've planned on becoming the No. 1 beer in America over the next couple of years; it just happened quicker than we anticipated," he said.

Sabia said the company estimated that Modelo Especial would be the No. 1 beer in the U.S. by 2025. Bud Light's sales slump changed that.

Modelo Especial took over's Bud Light's top spot in the U.S. beer market in May and has held onto the title ever since, according to Nielsen IQ data analyzed by the investment firm Wedbush Securities. The data shows that on the four weeks ended on May 20, Modelo's share of total beer sales grew to 10.7%, while Bud Light's fell to 9.6%.

Analysts say Modelo's rise was accelerated by conservative backlash against Bud Light and its parent company, Anheuser-Busch InBev , after it partnered with transgender activist and influencer Dylan Mulvaney the month prior. But Modelo was gaining ground in the U.S. beer market for years.

"This was long a matter of, if not when. These trends have been building for a long time," said Bart Watson, chief economist for the Brewers Association. "Modelo has been on a rise and Bud Light's been on a decline as we've seen overall shifts in the beer market in the last 10 years."

Now, it's unlikely Modelo will yield the top spot back to Bud Light.

"Now that Modelo has overtaken Bud Light, the growth for Modelo likely will remain stronger," said Gerald Pascarelli, senior vice president of equity research at Wedbush Securities. "There's really no scenario at this point where you would see Bud Light regain its No. 1 position."

Constellation says it saw Modelo Especial's potential as early as the 1980s, when the company's beer division was just the U.S. importer for Modelo, Corona and other Mexican beers in the brand family.

"We introduced Modelo Especial into the U.S. in 1982 and it has grown double digits in 37 of 41 years, which is kind of incredible," said Greg Gallagher, vice president of brand marketing for Modelo at Constellation Brands.

"This isn't a phase. This isn't a flash in the pan. This is a long history of significant steady growth. So we've proven we can do this over the long term," he added.

Mexican beer has steadily grown more popular in the U.S. over the years. Its dominance shows across multiple brands beyond Modelo. Here are the overall sales, and market rankings, for Mexican brands in the 12 weeks ended July 15, according to NielsenIQ and Wedbush Securities:

No. 1: Modelo Especial, $1.02 billion

No. 6: Corona Extra, $571.6 million

No. 16: Pacifico, $97.9 million

No. 17 Dos Equis, $96.6 million

No. 19 Coronita Extra $80.2 million

No. 20 Corona Familiar $72.3 million

Mexico sends more beer to the U.S. than any other country does. Between 2013 and 2023, U.S. beer imports from Mexico more than doubled, according to data from the Beer Institute.

But when it comes to success in the Mexican beer market, Constellation is relatively untouchable.

"Constellation Brands is kind of the only game in town when you look at core Mexican imports," said Pascarelli. "They are very much a unique brand just given that they have the two largest Mexican imports in the United States."

According to data from Circana, Constellation's sales account for 92.5% of dollar shares of the entire Mexican import category.

Watch the video to learn more.


Hunter Biden looks on during the annual Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, April 18, 2022.

A federal judge in Delaware formally dismissed misdemeanor tax charges against Hunter Biden on Thursday, but the president's son is expected to face the same charges  or new ones  in the near future.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika had been expected following a failed plea agreement last month between federal prosecutors and President Joe Biden's son.

Special counsel David Weiss' office moved to dismiss the charges last week, citing venue problems that would not have been an issue had Biden pleaded guilty, as initially expected.

Biden had agreed this year to plead guilty to misdemeanor charges related to his failure to pay income taxes in return for prosecutors' recommending a sentence of probation. But the agreement fell apart over confusion at the plea hearing about a separate gun charge and questions the judge had about the deals.

As the U.S. attorney for Delaware. Weiss was the main prosecutor at the time. He has since been named special counsel.

"After the hearing, the parties continued negotiating but reached an impasse. A trial is therefore in order," prosecutors said last week.

They indicated they would most likely charge Biden in California or Washington, D.C. "The Government, in the exercise of its prosecutorial discretion, is considering what tax charges to bring in another district and may elect to bring the same charges set forth in the instant information or different ones," the filing said.

Biden attorney Abbe Lowell said Friday in an interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that if the special counsel does anything other than refile the same misdemeanor tax charges in a jurisdiction that has venue, "then people should ask themselves the following question: After five years and all the things that were investigated, if anything changes in what happens next, then people should ask it has to be something other than the facts or the law that has been infecting the process at this point."

The judge has not ruled on an issue involving the separate gun charge, a felony alleging Biden illegally owned a Colt Cobra .38 Special handgun during a period when he was using drugs. Under the terms of the scuttled plea deal, the charge would have been dropped in two years had Biden honored the terms of a diversion agreement with prosecutors.

Biden's attorneys said last week they consider that deal  which included a passage protecting him from some other possible charges  was still in effect because both sides had signed it.

Prosecutors say the deal was not in effect, because the agreement also needed to be signed off on by the probation office and it had not been.

One of Biden's lawyers, Chris Clark, moved to withdraw from the case during the back and forth, saying he expected to be called as a witness in the dispute. Noreika signed off on his withdrawal in a separate order late Thursday.




Apple will "comply" with European Union regulation that requires electronic devices to be equipped with USB-C charging, said Greg Joswiak, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing. That will mean Apple's iPhones, which currently use its proprietary Lightning charging standard, will need to change to support USB-C.

The next iPhones, expected in September as usual, could have a feature that no iPhone has ever had: a generic charging port.

The new iPhone models could include a USB Type-C charger port on the phone's bottom, according to analysts and media reports. That's the same charging port that's used on nearly every laptop sold in the past few years, as well as Android phones, iPads, and other gadgets from Kindles to headphones to drones and heated blankets.

The USB-C connector would replace Apple's proprietary port, the Lightning port, which has graced the bottom of every iPhone model released since 2012.

The shift would be one of the biggest improvements to the iPhone in years for consumers.

IPhone users would no longer need to bring two different cables for their phone and other gadgets while traveling. Android users could borrow chargers from people who own iPhones. IPhone users could borrow chargers from anyone using a newer laptop. Schools and businesses could standardize on one type of charger for their entire fleet of devices. USB-C could even allow iPhones to access faster charging speeds.

While Apple hasn't confirmed that its new iPhones will feature a USB-C charging port, and didn't respond to a request for comment, the change is bound to happen.

A new regulation passed by the European Union last year requires USB-C ports on new smartphones by 2024. Apple is unlikely to produce an iPhone model solely for the European market. "Obviously, we'll have to comply," Greg Joswiak, Apple's chief marketer, said last year.

Consumer benefits, like the reduced "lock-in" to a single manufacturer, helped form the reasoning behind the new regulations. The EU estimates the rule could save Europeans 250 million euros per year on chargers. The EU also said old chargers account for about 11,000 tons of e-waste per year in the region.

Apple opposed the law. In a 2021 letter, Apple said that the regulation would hamper future charging innovation, could require it to take devices off the market early, and could confuse consumers with additional information.

"We are concerned that regulation mandating just one type of connector for all devices on the market will harm European consumers by slowing down the introduction of beneficial innovations in charging standards, including those related to safety and energy efficiency," Apple said in the letter.
Former Elle magazine advice columnist E. Jean Carroll watches as Joe Tacopina, lawyer of former U.S. President Donald Trump, makes closing arguments during a civil trial where Carroll accuses Trump of raping her in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s, and of defamation, New York, May 8, 2023.

WASHINGTON  A U.S. federal judge on Friday denied former President Donald Trump's fourth attempt to delay the trial date in a defamation case against him brought by the writer E. Jean Carroll.

U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan, in a 17-page order, said Trump's request to stay the case while he appealed a previous ruling from the same court failed to meet any of the criteria under which a delay would typically be granted.

Kaplan's opinion clears the way for the trial to begin in January, likely within days of the Iowa caucus, where Trump hopes to emerge victorious in a crowded Republican presidential primary field.

The trial is currently set to begin on Monday, Jan. 15, the same day as the first-in-the-nation nominating contest in Iowa. But a federal holiday, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, also falls on the 15th next year.

If the current timeline holds through January, then the trial in federal district court in the Southern District of New York will most likely begin the following day, Jan. 16.

Carroll, 79, first sued then-president Trump for defamation in 2019, based on public statements he made after she alleged that he sexually assaulted her in the mid-1990s in a department store.

Responding to the allegation, then-president Trump denied ever meeting Carroll, accused her of using the allegation to sell books and suggested she was a Democratic party operative.

As the defamation case wound its way through the legal system, Carroll sued Trump again in 2022 under a different statute, accusing him of both sexual abuse and defamation.
In this image taken from video, Maui Emergency Management Agency Administrator Herman Andaya speaks during a news conference in Wailuku, Hawaii, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023.

The head of Maui County's emergency management agency resigned on Thursday, a day after he defended his decision to not activate sirens during catastrophic wildfires that have taken more than 100 lives.

Maui Emergency Management Agency administrator Herman Andaya cited health reasons for his resignation, which took immediate effect.

Andaya was asked Wednesday whether he regretted not activating emergency sirens as wildfires spread across West Maui: "I do not," he said at a press conference

Andaya said the sirens are mainly used for tsunamis and the public is trained to seek higher ground. Escaping to higher ground would have been dangerous during the wildfires, he said.

"We were afraid people would have gone 'mauka,'" Andaya said, using a Hawaiian word for mountainside. "And if that was the case they would have gone into the fire."

Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen said he would announce a replacement for Andaya soon: "Given the gravity of the crisis we are facing, my team and I will be placing someone in this key position as quickly as possible," Bissen said in a statement Thursday.

At least 111 people have perished in the blaze as of Wednesday, with the death toll expected to rise as search dogs continue to comb the wreckage of the devastated historic town of Lahaina. The inferno is the deadliest wildfire in the U.S. in more than a century and the worst disaster in Hawaii state history.

State and local emergency management officials face growing scrutiny over whether they did enough to alert the public as the wildfires spread.

Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez announced on Thursday that she will tap an independent investigator to review the state and local response to the wildfires.

"This will be an impartial, independent review," Lopez said in a statement.

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said Wednesday the review is not a criminal investigation.

"It's not a criminal investigation in any way," Green said. "Right now we are working to find out how we can make sure it's safe as we go through hurricane season, as we deal with the reality that there will be fires month in and month out for the decades to come."
Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.

Strategic Education  The education stock advanced 3% following an upgrade to buy from neutral by Bank of America. The firm said the company could have strong earnings ahead.

Xpeng  The electric car maker stock declined 5% after the company reported a larger-than-expected loss in the second quarter. XPeng reported a loss of 2.8 billion yuan, while analysts polled by Refinitiv had forecasted 2.13 billion yuan. The company did, however, meet expectations for revenue with 5.06 billion yuan.

Ross Stores  The discount retailer popped 6% following its earnings beat after the bell Thursday. Ross Stores reported second-quarter earnings per share of $1.32, beating the $1.16 expected from analysts polled by Refintiv. Revenue came in at $4.93 billion, versus the consensus estimate of $4.75 billion.

Blue Bird  Stock in the school bus manufacturer added 4% after Bank of America initiated coverage of the company with a buy rating. The firm highlighted Blue Bird's potential to emerge as a leader in bus electrification.

Keysight Technologies  Shares fell 12% after a weak fiscal fourth-quarter outlook. The electronic design company forecasted adjusted earnings per share in the range of $1.83 to $1.89 with revenue of $1.29 billion to $1.31 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet, meanwhile, are forecasting an adjusted $2 per share on $1.39 billion in revenue.

Estee Lauder  The cosmetics company pulled back about 2% after issuing lower-than-expected guidance. The company expects an adjusted loss of 31 cents to 21 cents per share in its fiscal first quarter. Analysts polled by FactSet had estimated earnings of 98 cents per share.

Nvidia  The chipmaker and artificial intelligence favorite slipped 1% in midday trading. Nvidia will report quarterly results next Wednesday, and analysts polled by FactSet are forecasting an adjusted $2.08 cents per share on $11.1 billion in revenue.

Alibaba, JD.com, PDD, Nio  A slew of China-based companies were trading lower as Wall Street contends with the country's shaky economic footing due to property market trouble. Alibaba dipped close to 3%, while JD.com fell about 5%. Nio slipped 5.9%. PDD fell nearly 4%.

Deere  Shares of the farm equipment giant slid more than 3%, even as the company posted beats on the top and bottom lines for the fiscal third quarter. Deere reported earnings of $10.20 per share on revenue of $15.8 billion. Analysts polled by Refinitiv called for earnings of $8.20 per share and revenue of $14.25 billion.

 CNBC's Alex Harring and Michelle Fox contributed reporting
Netherlands' Air Force F-16 jetfighters take part in the NATO exercise as part of the NATO Air Policing mission, in Alliance members' sovereign airspace on July 4, 2023.

The United States has given its approval for the Netherlands and Denmark to deliver F-16s to Ukraine, officials in Washington and Europe said Friday, in a major gain for Kyiv, even though the fighter jets are unlikely to affect the war any time soon.

It was not immediately clear when the first F-16s might enter the conflict, but Ukrainian pilots will first have to undertake at least six months of training on the aircraft, according to officials.

Ukraine has long pleaded for the sophisticated fighter to give it a combat edge. It recently launched a long-anticipated counteroffensive against the Kremlin's forces without air cover, placing its troops at the mercy of Russian aviation and artillery.

Even so, Air Force Gen. James Hecker, commander of U.S. air forces in Europe and Africa, told reporters in Washington he did not expect the F-16s to be a game-changer for Ukraine. Getting F-16 squadrons ready for battle could take "four or five years," he said.

But in eastern Ukraine, attack helicopter pilots welcomed the news. They said Russia has a clear advantage in the skies, but the introduction of better fighter jets could dramatically shift the balance of power Kyiv's way.

Ukrainian air forces supporting infantry are using decades-old Soviet-era planes, which are vulnerable to air-to-air missile attacks from Russian fighter jets, Capt. Yevgen Rakita, a spokesman for the 18th Army Aviation Brigade, told The Associated Press.

"A modern war cannot be won without aviation" capabilities, Rakita said.

In making the decision on F-16 deliveries, Washington aims to ensure warplanes can be provided to Ukraine as soon as its pilots complete training, according to a U.S. administration official who was not authorized to comment and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken sent a letter to his Dutch and Danish counterparts earlier this week, offering formal assurance that the U.S. would fast-track approval of all requests from third parties to transfer F-16s to Ukraine.

Danish Defense Minister Jakob Ellemann-Jensen said Friday that the training of Ukrainian pilots is starting this month.

A coalition of 11 Western countries  the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden and the United Kingdom  pledged in July to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16s.

Denmark will hand over some of its F-16s only after receiving its new F-35 jet fighters. The first four F-35s are due to be delivered on Oct. 1.

Washington's blessing for the plane donations to other countries is needed because the aircraft are made in the United States.

Ukraine's Western allies have at times moved slowly on granting Kyiv the military support it has requested.

President Joe Biden's authorization last May for allies to train Ukrainian forces on how to operate the warplanes, and eventually to provide the aircraft themselves, was preceded by months of debate in Washington and quiet talks with allies, officials said.

The administration had concerns that the move might escalate tensions with Russia. Also, U.S. officials argued that learning to fly and logistically support the advanced F-16 would be difficult.

Though delivery is likely months away, Washington says the F-16s  like the advanced U.S. Abrams tanks  will be crucial for Ukraine's long-term security.

Ukraine has been relying on older aircraft, such as Russian-made MiG-29 and Sukhoi jets. F-16s have newer technology and targeting capabilities. They are also more versatile, experts say.

In other developments:

 Russian air defenses stopped drone attacks on central Moscow and on the country's ships in the Black Sea, officials said Friday, blaming the attempted strikes on Ukraine. It was not possible to verify the claims.

 A Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship that set sail this week along a temporary Black Sea corridor established by Ukraine for merchant shipping safely reached the coast of Istanbul on Friday. The voyage was closely watched to see whether the Russian navy would allow the Joseph Schulte container vessel to pass unmolested.
US President Joe Biden, Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol pose for photos ahead of their trilateral meeting during the G7 Leaders' Summit in Hiroshima on May 21, 2023. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP) (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images) Brendan Smialowski | Afp | Getty Images

A U.S. summit with Japan and South Korea will lay out "ambitious" steps to bolster trilateral security ties in the Indo-Pacific region, a senior Biden administration official said, adding its also aimed at deterring China's growing aggression. President Joe Biden will unveil the measures with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol at Camp David on Friday, said Kurt Campbell, the White House coordinator for Indo-Pacific affairs. "This is the first visit of foreign leaders to Camp David in the last several years since President Biden came to office," Campbell said in a preview of the summit at a Brookings Institution event on Wednesday. "I think we all understand the significance when a meeting is held there. It's meant to signal with deep symbolism the importance that we attach to this momentous moment. What you will see on Friday is a very ambitious set of initiatives that seek to lock in trilateral engagement both now and into the future." The summit at Camp David will be the first standalone meeting between the three countries as Washington seeks to capitalize on rapidly improving ties between its two closest security alliances in Asia. Plans will also be announced to make it an annual event and to invest in technology for a three-way hotline, Campbell added, to allow the governments to communicate during a crisis.

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The summit is a "big deal" and happening now because the geopolitical situation "is just so uncertain and unstable," said Victor Cha, senior vice president and Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "The war in Ukraine has had the effect of reducing the gap between the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific theaters, and causing countries to think  to prioritize national security over other issues that might sometimes get in the way," he told a press briefing this week. Beijing's assertive posture has added to "this uncertainty and brought it even closer to home," Cha added, as well as North Korea's hostile behavior in the region.

At a regular media briefing Tuesday, China's foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Beijing "opposes relevant countries assembling exclusionary groupings, and practices that intensify antagonism and undermine the strategic security of other countries."

Wary over Beijing

Campbell noted that countries in the Indo-Pacific understand the critical role the U.S. plays in maintaining peace and stability in the region and are looking to counter Chinese pressure. "I don't think many countries accept the idea that this is somehow a noose or effort to contain China," he said. Most countries in the region have "deep, profound economic and political interests," and a "steady and stable relationship" with China, Campbell added. "What they sense and what they witness is a China whose actions have demonstrably changed in recent years in ways that threaten their security and that raise larger concerns both nationally and in the region." U.S.-Chinese relations recently hit their lowest point in years. Tensions escalated over a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon which flew over the United States.

China, basically, in the region will never win the award for the good neighbor policy. This region is desperate for more of America... China is unanchored, untethered, is a risk to the region." Rahm Emanuel U.S. ambassador to Japan

Earlier this month, Biden slammed China's economic situation as "a ticking time bomb," his latest dig at Beijing even as his administration tries to soothe relations with what it calls Washington's top competitor. The battle for technological supremacy between the two economic superpowers has also led to punitive measures like trade and investment restrictions. Indo-Pacific nations are "desperate" for an increased U.S. presence in the region, said Rahm Emanuel, the U.S. ambassador to Japan, at the same Brookings Institution event. "China, basically, in the region will never win the award for the good neighbor policy," he said. "This region is desperate for more of America  China is unanchored, untethered, is a risk to the region." Beijing will look "on warily as Biden, Kishida, and Yoon meet, having tried unsuccessfully to resurrect its own trilateral summits with Japan and South Korea, which last occurred in December 2019," Eurasia analysts wrote in a note.

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China has "warned Tokyo and Seoul against pursuing greater trilateral security cooperation with Washington, but its diplomatic pressure is backfiring," they added.

Japan-South Korea ties

The summit will be seen as a major victory for the White House, which has been urging Tokyo and Seoul to move beyond their longstanding issues over Japan's wartime behavior. Biden and his senior team have supported this effort "the entire time that we've been in office," said Campbell, through "private, discreet dialogues" with both countries. The Biden administration "deserves a lot of credit," noted Cha from CSIS. The summit is "a culmination of a lot of hard work by people inside the administration for over a year now," he said. Campbell also praised the political courage of Yoon and Kishida in mending ties fraught with historical baggage, calling it "a breathtaking kind of diplomacy." "What President Yoon and Prime Minister Kishida have done has defied expectations. They have sometimes against the advice of their own counselors and staff, taken steps that elevate the Japan-South Korean relationship into a new plane," he added. In March, Yoon's government announced a landmark agreement over compensation payments for South Korean victims of Japanese wartime forced labor. It enabled both two sides to resume shuttle diplomacy and normalize a military intelligence-sharing agreement.

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South Africa will be hosting the fifteenth edition of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg from August 21. The event, which will be presided over by South African Prime Minister Cyril Ramaphosa, will be attended by 40 participants, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The expansion of the BRICS membership will be the primary focus of this edition of the summit.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend the BRICS summit virtually due to arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Former Ambassador Rajiv Bhatia, in an interview with CNBC-TV18, highlighted that the five governments have, in principle, agreed to expansion. However, they are currently completely focused on developing criteria that will really define the characteristics and features of new members.

The criteria for BRICS expansion is being finalised and the expansion will come only thereafter, Bhatia said.

Katherine Hadda, Senior Visiting Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told CNBC-TV18 that the BRICS members need to have an agreement on key issues before agreeing to or implementing the expansion of the grouping.

China, Russia and South Africa are keen on expanding while India and Brazil are seemingly in slight disagreement on expansion, she informed.

Any reaction from the US on expansion of the BRICS would come as surprise as it is still a very aspirational organisation, Hadda added.

Brahma Chellaney, Strategic Affairs Expert, pointed that before expanding an important initiative like BRICS, the countries should build a cohesive position on key issues. He also stressed that existing BRICS economies have so far failed to come up with a unified position on many key issues which will make it very difficult for 28 countries to come together on issues.

BRICS Unified Currency system

There is an increasing cooperation in trade, investment and other financial domains but the common BRICS currency is not on the agenda, Bhatia stated.

"There is hardly any possibility on BRICS leadership agreeing on a common currency because the common currency is the end product of a very close and very sophisticated financial integration in the economies of the five member countries," Bhatia said.

Rajiv Bhatia said that the BRICS countries are trying to use more and more national currency in their bilateral trade transactions and that is certainly bound to increase.

The New Development Bank is crucial for the success of BRICS, he informed CNBC-TV18.

"The New Development Bank is important with the total capital base of $100 billion of which a significant amount has already been allocated for various projects," Bhatia said further.

The focus should be more on the recapitalisation of the New Development Bank that also brings into context the question of BRICS expansion.

Meanwhile, Katherine Hadda also stressed that India does not seem to be in favour of unified currency system as the world has changed significantly since the BRICS came together 15 years ago.

Hadda pointed out that India is very concerned about Chinas role in global financial system and may oppose anything that gives prominence to Chinese Yuan.

Watch video for full interview
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 18)  Torbjrn "Thor" Pedersen, a man who visited 203 countries in nearly a decade without boarding a plane, has now returned to his family in Denmark.

Speaking to CNN Philippines' The Final Word on Friday, Pedersen said he initially thought he could finish his journey in four years.

He also shared that his longing for adventure was his inspiration behind his historic journey.

"It was something which I had never done before," Pedersen said. "I stumbled upon that in 2013 and I was intrigued. I just wanted to sit down, meet people, and see the world."

The Philippines was among the last countries the 44-year-old Danish visited in 2019 and where he stayed for about three weeks.

Through a ferry, Pedersen went to Zamboanga and travelled up to Cebu and Manila. He was also able to visit Marinduque and Siquijor.

When the pandemic broke out, Pedersen said he was on board a ship in the North Pacific to do four days of transit in Hong Kong  where he ended up staying for two years due to travel restrictions.

He also disclosed that during his journey, he faced numerous issues with visa issuance and travel documentation.

"I have been to every country in the world that has armed conflict.," related Pedersen, who returned to Denmark by ship. "I have been at gunpoint a few times and I had cerebral malaria."
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 18)  The House of Representatives on Thursday ordered the detention of Cagayan Governor Manuel Mamba after he failed to attend numerous hearings on his alleged public spending violation during the election period.

With no objection, the House joint panel approved Antipolo 2nd District Rep. Romeo Acop's motion for Mamba's detention during the House committee on public accounts, and committee on suffrage and electoral reforms hearing.

"May we respectfully move that Governor Mamba be detained pursuant to our rules and be meted out the penalty that is supposed to be meted out pursuant to our rules?" Acop asked.

According to Acop, the governor failed to attend hearings for the past three months. Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Adiong echoed Acops motion, adding that the committee gave Mamba enough chances to present himself.

"If individuals continue to deliberately fail to honor the invitation of this committee, that is in violation of the Constitution which gives this committee the power to investigate. said Adiong.

In 2022, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Second Division disqualified Mamba as a candidate in the Cagayan gubernatorial polls, which he won in May, for violating the election ban on public fund use.

He was accused of engaging in vote buying activities in the guise of cash aid distribution.

READ: Comelec division disqualifies Cagayan governor Mamba

The Comelec reversed its previous ruling a year after citing that it was belatedly filed and no longer falls under the poll body's jurisdiction.

Mamba won the gubernatorial race with 52% of the votes against his opponent Ma. Zarah Rose De Guzman Lara (47%).
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 18)  Authorities on Thursday seized several items, including almost 7 million in cash, in a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hub in Pasay City that was raided early this month.

Also confiscated were 24,000 pre-registered SIM, over 9,000 cellphones, passports, credit cards, and documents like contracts from 32 vaults in SA Rivendell Gaming Corporation, an alleged scam hub fronting as a POGO.

Winston John Romero Casio, senior technical adviser and liaison officer of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), said most of the SIM were not yet opened. He added that they already reached out to the telecommunication firm involved, which was also clueless on how the SIM were pre-registered.

Hundreds of workers were found operating illegal activities such as love scams, illegal gambling, and cryptocurrency scams in the POGO hub this month.

"'Yung kanilang operation po is napaka-segregated, napaka-silo na hindi alam ng ibang nagtatrabaho dito na they are actually in a scam," Department of Information and Communications Technology Cybercrime Investigation Office Director Rojun Hosilis said.

[Translation: Their operation is segregated, isolated that some of the workers here do not even know they are actually in a scam.]

Twenty-eight foreign nationals were detained and are facing criminal charges for violation of the Securities Regulation Code and Cybercrime Prevention Act.

Additional charges will be filed against them for violation of the SIM Registration Act, PAOCC said.

Authorities said the scam hub is the smallest and just one of those related to the POGO.

To avoid being tangled in illegal activities, Casio cautioned Filipinos to be wary of job opportunities they see.

"If the offer appears to be too good to be true, please don't bite the bullet," he said. "Let us help the government by not working for scam hubs anymore."
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 18)  The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is looking into reports that a Filipino is among those who died in the Maui wildfires.

"Alfredo Galinato is among the first five names/casualties identified but he's not in our passport/dual citizenship database. Possibly, he renewed passport/reacquired elsewhere. We will conduct further research," DFA Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said, citing the Philippine consul general in Hawaii.

De Vega told CNN Philippines that it's also possible the 79-year-old Galinato is of Latino heritage.

Galinato's public social media profile, however, shows he is from Vigan, Ilocos Sur.

According to a release from Maui County, at least 111 deaths have already been confirmed in the wildfires. Authorities warned that the death toll will likely continue climbing.

CNN Philippines has reached out to Galinato's family for comment.

This story will be updated.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 18)  The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has intercepted a female victim of human trafficking at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) who was ordered by her recruiter to use a wheelchair to avoid strict inspection.

Authorities caught the victim who was attempting to leave the country on a flight bound for Thailand on Thursday, the BI said on Friday.

It also said the victim had inconsistent statements when further examined but later admitted she was hired to work as a household service worker in Lebanon.

She admitted that her recruiter instructed her to feign sickness so she can use a wheelchair," the BI said. "The victim stated that she was instructed to delete all conversations with her recruiter on her mobile phone.

The victim said she was also promised that she will be sent to Hong Kong to search for another job if her Lebanon visa will be denied, it added.

Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco warned that human traffickers will go to great lengths to convince prospects to leave illegally but they will disappear once victims encounter distress.

The victim was directed to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) for assistance and further probe against her recruiter, the BI said.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 18)  A construction worker died and three others were injured in the collapse of a concrete wall that was being demolished at the Quezon City Hall, local authorities confirmed Friday.

Officials said the incident happened at around 10:09 p.m. on Thursday at the Civic Center B Building construction site.

According to the city's engineering department, the victims were demolishing the concrete wall to make way for the construction of an elevator.

"Hindi siya nag-collapse by itself. 'Yan ang gusto namin linawin. Hindi siya collapse, but rather dine-demolish talaga yung pader," QC engineering department head Dale Perral said.

[Translation: It did not collapse by itself. That's what we want to clarify. It didn't collapse, but rather the wall is really being demolished.]

Authorities said the wall was to be taken down in a week and should be removed piece by piece to avoid a large section of hollow blocks collapsing.

The victims, who were all workers of MRB II Construction Corporation, were rushed to the East Avenue Medical Center.

Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte instructed concerned city offices to extend financial aid to the family of the dead and provide medical assistance to the injured as she ordered an extensive investigation into the accident.

"Isa sa mga unang aalamin ang sistemang pinaiiral ng kontratista sa construction site, at kung binigyang-halaga ba ang aspeto ng occupational safety para sa kanilang manggagawa," Belmonte said.

[Translation: One of the first things to find out is the system implemented by the contractor at the construction site, and whether the aspect of occupational safety for their workers has been given importance.]

The city's top engineer emphasized that the incident is "a clear case of accident in a construction site" as he stated that authorities' initially found that the project contractor lapsed in ensuring occupational safety and health standards.

"Hindi pa natin masabi kung ano yung specific lapses pursuant to existing guidelines pero definitely yung occupational safety and health guidelines," Perral said. "Kaya yan inenact ng DOLE (Labor Department) to avoid these kinds of accident and the fact that this accident occurred eh merong posibleng violation."

[Translation: We cannot yet say what the specific lapses are pursuant to existing guidelines, but definitely the occupational safety and health guidelines. That's why the DOLE enacted it to avoid these kinds of accident and the fact that this accident occurred means there is a possible violation.]

Stopping the construction project is not advisable, according to Perral, as he said that it would further expose the site to hazards.

The city's top engineer said the investigation will continue to find out possible remedies the government could enforce.

The Quezon City Police District earlier said a joint investigation with the local government will look into possible violations of the building code.

"Definitely may mananagot dito, be it criminal or civil alamin na lang natin sa lalabas sa imbestigasyon sa mga susunod na araw," QCPD chief Nicolas Torre III said in a press briefing.

[Translation: Definitely someone will be held responsible for this, be it criminal or civil, we'll find out in the course of the investigation in the next few days.]
The head of Colorado's Republican Party did something earlier this month that political bosses rarely do when he publicly unveiled the state party's strategy for the 2024 election more than a year before voters will begin casting ballots.

It's not like state GOP Chairman Dave Williams revealed any deep, dark secrets when he announced which Democrats the Republicans intend to target next year  anyone could have compiled a similar list by reviewing the results of the last election  though it's unusual to outline a detailed strategy while the opposition is watching.

But that's what Williams did on Aug. 5 at a special meeting of the state Republicans' central committee.

The nearly eight-hour meeting, held at a church in Castle Rock, mostly generated news in its final minutes, when the central committee voted down a measure that would have paved the way to exclude unaffiliated voters from next year's GOP primary. The defeat of the controversial proposal  which would have changed party rules to count no-shows as votes in favor of canceling next June's primary  likely dashes Williams' and other party leaders' plans to consider the question at another meeting in late September.

At the same meeting, Republicans elected Hope Scheppleman, the La Plata County GOP's secretary, to fill the vacant state vice chair position. She replaces Priscilla Rahn, who resigned this summer to run for Douglas County commissioner.

The central committee also heard an update on a lawsuit the party recently filed that aims to overturn Proposition 108, the 2016 voter-approved ballot measure that allows Colorado's unaffiliated voters to cast ballots in either the Democratic or Republican state-level primaries.

During a lull in the proceedings, Williams revealed what he described as the state party's "game plan for 2024."

"We all come from different backgrounds, and I think success lies in recognizing the diversity within our ranks," Williams told the hundreds of Republicans. "Our partys a tapestry of voices united by our conservative principles."

Then he got down to brass tacks.

"We have suffered devastating losses, and if we're going to come out of this, it's going to be because we're working together," he said, alluding to the string of thumping losses Republicans have suffered in Colorado in the last three general elections. Since 2018, Democrats have swept every statewide office, won five of the state's eight congressional seats and taken historic majorities in both chambers of the legislature, leaving the GOP with less power than it's held in nearly 100 years.

"What weve already achieved towards building winning coalitions is making a historic deal with Libertarians to stop them from running spoiler candidates in our competitive races," Williams said, describing a pact he inked with the state's largest minor political party earlier this summer.

The Libertarians have agreed that they won't run candidates in battleground races if Republicans can guarantee they'll nominate candidates who pass muster on a set of issues the Libertarians released this week. While some of the points have raised eyebrows  including working to abolish national intelligence agencies and supporting a presidential pardon for the founder of a marketplace on the dark web that facilitated the sale of narcotics  Williams told Colorado Politics he expects enough Republicans will participate to make the accord worthwhile.

Williams told state Republicans in Castle Rock that he's on the verge of expanding the plan.

"I'm also pleased to announce that we're very close to making a similar deal with the American Constitution Party," he said to cheers, referring to the state's fourth-largest minor political party.

For years, Republicans have maintained that conservative third-party candidates drain votes that would otherwise go to Republicans, costing victories in close races when Democrats win by narrow pluralities. While available data doesn't necessarily support that contention, Williams argues that keeping third-party candidates out of targeted races will increase chances Republicans can win some of them.

That's where something Williams calls the Freedom Initiative comes in.

"The goal of the Freedom initiative is to compete in at least 10 targeted districts with conservative candidates who share our free market, free people and limited government values," Williams said.

"I thought it best to share with you the targeted seats we are making a top priority," Williams said as an array of 11 Democratic incumbents appeared on screen behind him.

"This is the Colorado GOPs Most Wanted Democrats," he said, pausing to soak in the applause.

The priority seats included Democrats representing one U.S. House district, one state Senate district and nine state House districts.

At the center of the screen was U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo, the Thornton pediatrician who won election last year by just under 1 percentage point in the 8th Congressional District, Colorado's newest district.

In that race, a Libertarian nominee, Richard Ward, pulled nearly 4% of the vote, fueling Republicans' contention that the third-party candidate cost them the election. An analysis of the voted ballots in Adams County, which makes up nearly two-thirds of the district, suggests otherwise. The anonymous, individual ballots  available for anyone to review on the county clerks' website  show that voters who picked the Libertarian in the congressional race voted for the Democratic governor and U.S. Senate candidates by overwhelming margins, challenging the assumption that Ward took more votes from Kirkmeyer than Caraveo.

Nonetheless, it's no surprise Caraveo held a prime position on Williams' display  her district has been targeted by both national parties and ranks as a toss-up on lists compiled by every election forecaster.

Radio host Scott James, a former chairman of the Weld County GOP, is so far the only Republican running for the seat. First-term state Rep. Gabe Evans, R-Hudson, has been circling the race and is expected to announce his intentions within weeks.

Although she didn't appear on the Most Wanted list, Williams assured the Republicans that the party also plans to put effort into protecting U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, the Silt Republican who won reelection last year to a second term in the 3rd Congressional District by an even slimmer margin than Caraveo won her first term.

Boebert is already facing multiple challengers, including Adam Frisch, the Democrat who came within 546 votes of unseating her. This week, Grand Junction Republican Jeff Hurd jumped in the GOP primary.

The legislators on Williams' target list included several who won with pluralities in three-way races against a Republican and Libertarian, though a few won their their last elections by relatively wide margins:

 State Sen. Chris Kolker, D-Centennial, in Senate District 16, won his first term in 2020 by 11 points but will be running next year in a redrawn district that's less favorable for Democrats

 State Rep. Stephanie Vigil, D-Colorado Springs, in House District 16, won by about 2 points in a race where the Libertarian got slightly more votes than Vigil's winning margin

 State Rep. Marc Snyder, D-Manitou Springs, in House District 18, won by more than 8 points while the Libertarian got about 3%

 State Rep. Jennifer Parenti, D-Longmont, in House District 19, beat a Republican incumbent by just over 3 points with the Libertarian getting nearly as many votes as her margin

 State Rep. Tammy Story, D-Evergreen, in House District 25, also beat a Republican incumbent by just over 1 point, with the Libertarian getting slightly more than her margin

 State Rep. Meghan Lukens, D-Eagle, in House District 26, won by 7 points without a Libertarian on the ballot

 State Rep. Robert Marshall, D-Highlands Ranch, in House District 43, beat the Republican by just under 1 point

 State Rep. Mary Young, D-Greeley, in House District 50, won by nearly 2 points, with the Libertarian getting just over 3% of the vote

 State Rep. Elizabeth Velasco, D-Glenwood Springs, in House District 57, beat the Republican by more than 7 points without a Libertarian on the ballot

 State Rep. Eliza Hamrick, D-Centennial, in House District 61, won by about 3 points, with the Libertarian taking about 2%

The opposition greeted Williams' target list with derision when it appeared on social media.

His counterpart across the aisle, state Democratic Chair Shad Murib, responded succinctly on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter: "lol"

"Gee, it's so flattering to be wanted...even by the GOP," tweeted Marshall, who surprised nearly everyone by winning a seat in traditionally Republican Douglas County last year, adding: "Funny part is even if in some fantasy land they could conceivably win all 9 targeted seats . . . they would still be a minority in the state house...."

Democrats hold a 46-19 majority in the House, leaving Republicans 14 seats short of winning the gavel.

Ernest Luning has covered politics for Colorado Politics and its predecessor publication, The Colorado Statesman, since 2009. He's analyzed the exploits, foibles and history of state campaigns and politicians since 2018 in the weekly Trail Mix column.

Colorado Republicans clash over proposal to boot unaffiliated voters from GOP primaries | TRAIL MIX Colorado Republicans are preparing to again decide whether to cancel the upcoming primary election in order to prevent unaffiliated voters fro
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Im seeing two conflicting trends at the moment: office buildings are being turned into apartment buildings because of excess vacancies due to work-from-home practices, and companies like Zoom are demanding that employees come back to the office  even if it isnt in the firms best interest.

Employees mostly still want to work from home, and staffing shortages still largely give them a lot of say as to where they work. So why are companies now balking at employees working remotely? Generally, its because managers still havent been trained or given the tools they need to manage remote employees.

The employees who do want to work in the office tend to be those who are new to the organization, particularly those coming right out of school. This, too, is partially a management problem. Companies often dont provide onboarding tools that help new employees feel like they are part of a company and that they have the same advantages as those who have been with the firm longer or go into the office regularly.

This week I want to focus on the last part of the problem  the need for new employees to feel like they are part of the company. To fix that problem, we need the old Facebook.

Facebook? Hear me out

Im talking about the early version of Facebook that Mark Zuckerberg created as a Harvard student. This social networking tool was designed to help new students create relationships and to better connect them to the school so they felt like they belonged. This is the identical problem that new employees are facing, particularly those who are just out of school and have never worked for a firm before.

Granted, this app would need to have better controls (such as the ability to prevent an upset employee from sharing their feelings with the entire company) and ideally include some AI capability to advise in engagements between employees. Trolls and employees who behaved badly on the app could be terminated for cause, since the app would provide all the evidence needed to support the termination.

Generative AI would be an ideal addition to the app, because it is conversational and would respond to employees consistently and without judgment. It could answer their questions about the company, point them to company resources, and conceivably replace other HR tools, like static websites, that today do a poor job of onboarding employees.

The AI could also be used to flag behavior that could indicate that an employee is being abused, is under high stress, or has become very sick. It would be triggered by both content and the amount of use the app is getting over time. An issue for remote employees, particularly those who are single or single with kids, is the potential to have a personal crisis overlooked by co-workers or managers when it might have been picked up if they were in the office  or failed to show up. The perception that no one cares can lead to depression, behavioral problems, and/or quitting  quiet or otherwise. If managers are made aware that an employee might be headed down this path, they can try to head off a dire outcome.

Management would, of course, also be active in the app, both as observers and as mentors. Frequent interactions with their remote employees in the app would help make both the managers and the employees feel comfortable with their remote working relationship.

A new and improved social app for employees

A big reason why new employees seem to want to go back into the office  and managers want employees to return  is a lack of engagement. A tool like the old Facebook coupled with generative AI and trained to help both managers and employees interact would go a long way toward making both more comfortable with work-from-home.

In addition, it would better protect the remote employee from making career-ending mistakes and help form a friendship circle of mutually supported employees, creating far better camaraderie  potentially even better than they might have had in the office.

We can fix this problem, but only if we focus on it and execute.
145 arrests in Pakistan over the burning of 20 churches, 86 houses of Christians after blasphemy rumour

Mob attacks on churches and houses of the Christian community in the Punjab province of Pakistan have resulted in 145 arrests, according to a preliminary police report submitted to the government today. The report said that at least 20 churches and 86 houses of Christians were burnt down by mobs.

One of the churches burned by an Islamist mob in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Photo courtesy: X/@BishopAzadM

The unprecedented attacks took place on Wednesday, just two days after Pakistan celebrated its independence day on August 14. According to the police report, the rampant violence was triggered by rumours that two Christians had desecrated the Quran.

The report indicated that several of these assailants could have been instigated and led by extremist elements from Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan, a hardline Islamist organisation. The damaged places of worship and residence were in Jaranwala tehsil of Faisalabad district, 130 km from Lahore.

At least 20 churches and 86 houses of Christians were burnt down by the mob in Jaranwala. Two Christians who were accused of desecrating the Quran have also been arrested. Besides, a cleric who made announcements from five mosques inciting people to attack Christian homes and churches is among 145 suspects arrested so far, said the Punjab Police report.

Earlier in the day, the police produced 127 suspects before an anti-terrorism court in Faisalabad and obtained their two-day physical remand.

The police had also arrested two prime suspects involved in the attacks, said caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi of Punjab province. Major breakthrough in the Jaranwala incident  both main accused now in CTD Custody. Appreciation for Chief Secretary Punjab and IG Punjab for their relentless efforts..., posted Naqvi on the social network X, formerly known as Twitter.

Meanwhile, the Christian families started returning to their houses only to find their dwellings in ruin. They blamed the government for failing to provide security to their lives and properties in the face of radical Islamists onslaught.

All educational institutions, markets and business establishments remained closed in Jaranwala today. Naqvi said that the government would restore all churches in Jaranwala by next Tuesday and give financial compensation to the Christian families whose homes had been damaged. More arrests are underway and every culprit will be brought to justice, he said at a press conference.

Archbishop Sebastian Francis Shaw said that the Christians might get compensation but what about the fear instilled in them by this ghastly incident? He said that the government would have to take practical steps for the protection of the minority community. Radical Islamists had made four attempts on the life of Christian Assistant Commissioner Shaukat Masih of Jaranwala but he luckily survived, added Shaw.
Russia reports attempted drone attack from 'Kiev Regime' in Moscow, no casualty

The Russian Defence Ministry said a drone, which was aiming to hit Moscow, was shot down on Friday.

A night view of Moscow city. Photo Courtesy: Pixabay

After the drone was shot down by the Russian air defences, it fell near Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment, located in Presnensky District of Moscow.

No casualty was reported after the incident.

"At around 4:00 a.m. Moscow time, the Kiev Regime attempted to carry out another terror attack with the use of an unmanned aerial vehicle, which targeted facilities in Moscow and the Moscow Region," the ministry was quoted as saying by TASS news agency.

"After being hit by the air defences, the drone changed its flight path and fell on a non-residential building near Moscows Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment," it said. "[The incident caused] no damage or fire," the Ministry said.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin reported earlier on Friday that a drone had been shot down while flying towards the Russian capital.

Its fragments fell on the premises of the Expocenter exhibition complex in downtown Moscow, causing no significant damage to the building.

Emergency services told TASS that a section of the buildings outer wall had collapsed at an area of around 30 square meters.

Meanwhile, the US has approved sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine from Denmark and the Netherlands as soon as pilot training is completed, media reports said.

According to reports, the information was given by US State Secretary Antony Blinken in a letter.

I am writing to express the United States full support for both the transfer of F-16 fighter aircraft to Ukraine and for the training of Ukrainian pilots by qualified F-16 instructors, Blinken said in the letter as quoted by Reuters.

Meanwhile, arms and ammunition transfers to Ukraine have increased rapidly in recent months, alongside concerning reports of deliveries of banned cluster munitions, the UNs top disarmament official told the Security Council on Thursday.

The influx of weapons and ammunition into any armed conflict can contribute to the escalation and presents significant risks of diversion and proliferation even after the conflict has ended, Izumi Nakamitsu, the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, told the Council, briefing on the latest developments in the context of Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Information through open sources on governments recent arms transfers to Kyiv include such heavy weaponry as battle tanks, armoured combat vehicles, combat aircrafts, helicopters, large-calibre artillery systems, missile systems and uncrewed combat aerial vehicles.

Also included in the stockpile are remotely operated munitions, small arms and light weapons, and their ammunition, she said.

Since her June briefing, she said reports show that some nations are transferring or planning to transfer weapons, including uncrewed combat aerial vehicles and ammunition, to Russian armed forces for use in Ukraine.
Comic book characters get stale after a while. It's true, it happens. Peter Parker can't be an awkward high school student forever, right? We get that. We understand that, occasionally, the powers that be need to shake things up a little bit and change some stuff around to keep their characters fresh. Sometimes, like with the new gun-toting Captain America reboot, it's fucking awesome.

But other times, it's... well, this list.

5 Wonder Dog Goes on a Rampage (Teen Titans ) The Character: Equal parts Astro and Scooby Doo, Wonder Dog is the loyal, harmless sidekick to the Super Friends circa 1970. The Plan: "Let's slide Wonder Dog into a modern setting in Teen Titans. But let's make him edgy and tough, for teenagers! Scooby Doo is for babies!" Advertisement The Problem: In case you're not immediately familiar with 1970s superheroes, we'll give you a crash course. The Super Friends were a conglomeration of superheroes and Wonder Dog was a dog. The poor man's Wonder Twins to Wonder Dog's poor man's Gleek came in the form of two kids named Marvin and Wendy, whose super powers included "taking care of Wonder Dog" and "not having any superpowers."

If the dog you're "taking care of" has superpowers, your only responsibility is cleaning up his shit. Advertisement Recently, the writers of Teen Titans decided to reintroduce Marvin and Wendy as the caretakers of the Titan's secret hideout: a giant building shaped like a T, (for "Titan." Or "Teen." Or "ReTarded."). Because no one wants to watch two irritating, non-fucking teenagers in a cartoon about superheroes, Wonder Dog was re-introduced as Marvin and Wendy's adorable pet.

Little known fact: "Muh muh" is the only sound one can make when faced with pants-shitting terror. Advertisement Advertisement Now, if you compare this photo to the one above, clearly there are a few differences right off the bat. First, you can tell that Wendy's doing her nails differently, and that Marvin got rid of that awful haircut. Also, Wonder Dog turned into the Hound of the Fucking Baskervilles and ripped out Marvin's sternum, murdering him in the process. Apparently in this version, Wonder Dog was invented by an evil mastermind to use his adorable lovability to win his way into the hearts of the Teen Titans immediately before tearing them out. This character reboot is a rare case that seems like it was brought on for absolutely no one. Who would want this? Nostalgia-loving fans of the original dog will be heartbroken to see a piece of their childhood distorted so profoundly, and the kids who actually read Teen Titans will be traumatized beyond pissing their pants. They'll have transcended straight on through to a new level of fear wherein they piss their own souls. Advertisement Why would anyone want that?

4 Santaman! (Superman: At Earths End) Advertisement The Character: Superman, arguably the most famous comic book character of all time, is an orphaned alien who stands for Truth, Justice and the American Way. He embodies an ideal man in his morals, dependability and convictions--the kind of person every American should strive to be like. Advertisement The Plan: "It's the 90s and Superman's morals, dependability and convictions are starting to look dated. Let's sacrifice all of that for a badass and tough Superman that doesn't take any shit!" The Bonus Plan: "Also, let's give him a crazy beard so he looks like Santa!" The Problem: Oh, gosh, where to begin? Probably with the general creation of this story. As stated, it was the 90s when this comic was written. Alan Moore and Frank Miller's darker, grittier comics were already huge in America. Everyone was more inclined to damn The Man and less inclined to salute him, and so Superman's principles of justice and truth and whatnot were looking more and more old fashioned every day. Instead of stepping up to defend, you know, the law, the creators decided to toughen/crazy Superman up by moving him into the future. In a post-apocalyptic Gotham, where children are hunted by robots, Superman shows up angry and beardy and ready to fight. The robots were created by "The DNA Diktators," designed to wipe out the human race so we can start over. These Diktators have also taken to cloning the late Batman's DNA so, in addition to child-murdering robots, there are a bunch of evil Batman-clones flying around, and none of this is sitting too well with the newly re-vamped version of homeless Superman.

"A Superman," we wish he'd said. Advertisement Advertisement So, Superman heads underground to track down the DNA Diktators and stop them, as the Man of Steel is wont to do. Spoiler alert: The DNA Diktators are twin clones of Hitler. Not only did this comic decide to clone Hitler (twice), but they also decided to retcon American History by saying that these clones had been alive for hundreds of years and, as a result, WWII never officially ended. Advertisement Advertisement It's actually sort of a powerful moment. Superman has a fairly strict no-killing policy, as that would interfere with his ironclad moral code, it's sort of what makes him who he is. On the other hand, it is the future and he's faced with two clones of arguably the most evil man on the planet, and also he has a beard. This is, we can say, the toughest and beardiest test of Superman's willpower. Will he stick to his code and turn the Hitlers over to the authorities to make sure that justice is done? Advertisement No. He finds the biggest most impractical gun in the world and shoots the piss out of them. Like, right out of them. And the shit frosting that tops off this abortion cake? He celebrates his victory against the Hitlers by retrieving Batman's corpse... Advertisement ...and cremating himself. Yep. No more Truth, Justice and the American way. The creators felt that Superman's moral, by-the-books boyscout routine was getting a little hokey, so they went ahead and violated everything that Superman stood for by having him grow a wicked beard, go shithouse-crazy on a couple of Hitlers and burn himself alive, and it was still one of the worst comics of all time. Advertisement

3 Iron Man becomes Nazitron (Civil War) The Character: Tony Stark, the brilliant billionaire, is also Iron Man, the invincible super hero, which makes him more likely to get ass than you on no less than two levels. Advertisement Advertisement The Plan: "Let's get Iron Man out of crimefighting and into ridiculous bureaucratic political bullshit!" The Problem: What, the plan didn't tip you off? Alright, then let's start at the beginning. Regular comic-readers already know what we're about to say: Iron Man (the movie) was the best thing to happen to Iron Man (the comic) ever. Ever. Robert Downey, Jr. is a suave, quick-witted and charming son of a bitch; the kind of guy it's impossible not to like, and he brought a lot of that to Iron Man. If you didn't know any better, you just might think that Tony Stark was a likable, lady-killing badass. Advertisement But you do know better, don't you Comic Book Nerd? To the comic-reading audience, Iron Man was always sort of a massive tool; a bland billionaire who built a super-suit because one day he decided he was bored of just spending his days sitting atop a giant pile of money with many beautiful women. He was Batman without any of Batman's cool edge or interesting flaws or troubling homoerotic undertones. Sure, he had his alcoholism, but that just sort of enhanced his dickishness. The folks behind Marvel needed something more. So gradually, they started shifting Iron Man's priorities away from supervillains and towards international affairs. He held a political office, ignored supervillains and had entire comics where he just sat around talking to Professor X and Dr. Strange. Advertisement Advertisement Stark's political arc hit a fever pitch in the Marvel crossover event Civil War, which involved a new law that required superheroes to register themselves, including their secret identities, or face the consequences. Iron Man, not content with the level of dickishness inherent to being born into wealth, decided to head up the task force charged with apprehending superheroes who refused to reveal their secret identities--willingly. He chased down his former friends and tried to arrest them on the grounds that they were bad for America even if the guy he was arresting was, for example, Captain America. But he didn't do it alone, he created and hired The Thunderbolts, a group that was exclusively made up of supervillains that lived in a hollowed out mountain with their own personal army. And since that wasn't nearly insane enough, he made Norman Osborn (the Green Goblin) their overseer. It went about as well as you would expect. Advertisement It gets worse. Once Tony and his army of hired supervillains rounded the heroes up, guess where he put them. Prison? No. Protection? Nope. He permanently interred them in an extra-dimensional concentration camp in "The Negative Zone," a dimension of infinite evil revolving around the Giant Vortex of Doom. No trial, no bail, no chance of ever leaving, which makes Iron Man sort of like Hitler, but in a giant metal suit. Advertisement And this comic was done because the old Iron Man was so bland and boring and, apparently, un-Hitler-like.

2 Geriatric Spiders and Poison Semen (Spider-Man: Reign) Advertisement The Character: Spider-Man is the witty, likable goofball that nerds everywhere can relate to. He's clumsy and has been dealt a few rough hands in his life, but he still fights the good fight with a smile on his perpetually young face. The Plan: "Let's fast forward to when Spider-Man is 60-years-old, so we can watch him fight crime as an old man after he's already retired from being a superhero. We'll set it in a bleak, ruined, twisted version of New York. It'll sort of be like Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, except it will also be exactly like that." Advertisement The Problem: Advertisement Here's what happens in a typical Spider-Man comic: Goofy-yet-lovable Peter Parker dresses in bright red tights, fights similarly ridiculous-looking villains and suffers from a genetic condition that forces him to make retarded quips and jokes every five seconds. Now, here's what happens in Reign: Peter Parker wakes up, vomits, cries, hallucinates and gets fired from his job as a florist. No more humor, no more trademark witty mid-battle banter. Why? Because he's old and miserable. Why is he miserable? Because he killed Mary Jane with his radioactive semen. Advertisement Advertisement Now, there's nothing wrong with dark and gritty superhero stories, we love The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen. But when you take the humor and heart away from Spider-Man and stick him in a terrifyingly grim future that finds him heartbroken, you take away everything that attracted Spider-Man readers in the first place. And, sure, guilt has been a hallmark in the Spider-Man comics forever, but when you have a comic where Parker accidentally fucks Mary Jane to death, you've officially crossed the line. At some point, you're straight up torturing Peter Parker. No one wants to watch a bitter, depressed old Spider-Man humorlessly fight bad guys in a perpetual state of mourning. If Spider-Man fans wanted to read The Punisher, then they would read The Punisher. Advertisement Advertisement Still not convinced that Reign is the worst and weirdest thing to happen to Spider-Man? A little girl gets needlessly and viciously murdered by the police and, at one point, Spider-Man is carried to a cemetery by the robotic arms of the now-deceased Dr. Octopus (while the corpse is still fucking attached). How about now?
Why is everyone laughing?! I travel to your court to enlist your help in capturing the cunning and colossal beast thats been terrorizing my village for years  and all you can do is laugh?

Look, I know it looks cute in my illustration, but trust me, this creature is a ruthless killer! Its devoured more than a hundred of my kinfolk! It tears out the throats of men, women and children alike! It crushed a mans head as if it were a watermelon!

Thats no smile, sir, its the wicked grin of the devil himself! And I most certainly did not draw a fuzzy widdle guy giving mama a kiss. This creature attempted to rent in twain the skull of the innkeepers wife with its dreadful maw!

This is no scrunkly doggo. This is the Beast of Gevaudan!

12 A Trucker Bought a Jackson Pollock for Five Bucks In 1991, big rig trucker Teri Horton bought the dumpiest piece of art she could find at a thrift store, intending to give it as a gag gift. Someone told her it looked a whole lot like a bona fide Jackson Pollock, and she later had it confirmed by a forensic art expert. She was offered as much as $9 million for it, but held out for something closer to $50 million. Horton passed away in 2019 without ever striking a deal, but instructed her son: Sell that damn painting, but dont you dare give it away. (Source)

11 Rest Easy, Elon Musk: Google Had the Lamest Name in Tech History Back when it was still just a little passion project, Larry Page and Sergey Brin referred to their search engine as, ugh, BackRub. Imagine a world where instead of googling stuff, we all casually announce that were gonna rub one out. It was a reference to back links, the count of links to a given website from other places on the internet, which was the secret sauce of their budding search technology. To their credit, they decided to change the name the second they realized they might have a viable product on their hands. (Source)

10 Trying to Suck Water from an 11-Meter Tube? Good Luck With That, Buddy First of all, your puny mouth muscles could never form a vacuum tight enough to pull off a stunt like that. But say you want to use the natural force of siphoning: Its impossible to siphon water with a tube any longer than 10.3 meters, because the water pressure becomes so low that it instantly boils. Now, obviously, degassing the water before siphoning can prevent cavitation, but whos got the time for that? (Source)

9 2007 Was a Banner Year for Websters Dictionary Websters announces 10 Words of the Year each year, and they were really feeling their oats in 2007, with bangers like: #8 Pecksniffian (adjective): Hypocritically benevolent.

#6 sardoodledom (noun): A play with an overly contrived and melodramatic plot.

#1 w00t (interjection): Expressing joy. ( Source ) Advertisement Advertisement

8 Its Not Technically Illegal to Escape Prison in Some Countries Sweden, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Austria all see the desire for freedom as a fundamental part of human nature. If you escape from prison, theyll obviously, ya know, try to get you back. But the justice system tends to see the whole ordeal as egg on their face, and they wont legally penalize you for the escape itself. (Source)

7 A Big Spooky Puppy Dog Terrorized France for Three Years in the 18th Century The Beast of Gevaudan was most likely an especially huge and vicious wolf, but people at the time couldnt decide whether it was a cow-sized dog, a freak hyena, a straight-up werewolf or maybe just a really sick bear. It attacked hundreds of villagers, and when it killed, it did so with remarkable brutality. Were talkin skull crushing, decapitation, and when it was finally taken down, an autopsy reportedly found its last victim had been swallowed whole, Big Bad Wolf-style. (Source) Advertisement Advertisement

6 Alan Shepard Took a Dollar Bill to Space to Prove He Was the Same Guy The Federation Aeronautique Internationale is pretty hung up on being able to confirm that the person who steps out of a spaceship is the same one who stepped in, for the sake of record-keeping. But in 1961, they didnt have the technology to track it definitively, or the means to travel from the lift-off to the touch-down locations in the 15 minutes the spaceship was flying. They decided to just give Alan Shepard a dollar bill, and make sure the serial number matched when he climbed out. (Source)

5 Fish Sperm Is Fireproof Other publications will lead with a headline like Your DNA Is Fireproof! But we want to make sure you know whats really going on. If a scientist ever tells you DNA can be considered as a natural flame retardant and suppressant, what they mean is: They slathered a cotton ball with herring sperm and failed to light it on fire. (Source) Advertisement Advertisement

4 You Cant Smell Water, But Elephants Can Sure, you can smell the ocean, and maybe you can tell if theres a stagnant pond nearby. But elephants have a distinct type of scent detection that you dont have, which allows them to detect chemicals. They can smell H2O from about 12 miles away. (Source)

3 Snails Have Teeth  More Than You Want to Know About Sorry to be the ones who have to tell you this, but snails can have up to 15,000 teeth jangling around in their horrid, mucous-y little orifices. (Source) Advertisement Advertisement

2 A Sewer Worker Failed to Meet His Robin Hood Moment In 1836, a guy was rooting around in the poop chutes of London when he realized he could access a gold vault deep in the bowels of the Bank of England. Instead of single-handedly redistributing Englands wealth, he told the bank directors hed meet them in the vault at a designated time, and sure enough, popped up out of the floorboards and scared the bullion out of them. They rewarded his honesty with a gold bar or two, and then continued hoarding the worlds wealth. Great work, buddy! (Source)
We regret to inform you that the doctors charging exorbitant prices to play Mr. Potato Head with your ass every few months for the rest of your life may not have your best interests at heart. Dont get us wrong  cosmetic surgery isnt all about vanity. Correcting deviated septums, alleviating chronic jaw pain and a little post-pregnancy abdominal tune-up are all procedures that can dramatically improve a persons quality of life. After all, the discipline has its roots in allowing victims of war crimes to move freely in polite society.

But the reality is that most people who go ham on their honkers and donkers today do it because they want to look hotter. Thanks to advances in technology, the rise of social media and a little thing called medical tourism, its never been more accessible  and the booming cosmetic-surgery industry stands to gain from your insecurity.

Here are three hard truths you should know about getting work done

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3 Business Has Doubled Since the Pandemic Began The American Society of Plastic Surgeons says that, once facilities were able to accept patients again, they saw a massive influx of people trying to fix up a very specific region of their body  from the neck on up. Weve all spent upwards of three years staring at our own ugly mugs in Zoom meetings; aside from likely having less-than-optimal lighting and equipment, were also watching ourselves age in real time. We as a society are getting swept away by a perfect storm of vanity and boredom. Advertisement

2 Animal Plastic Surgery Is Alarmingly Legal Tail docking has been a common, if controversial, practice on some dog breeds for a long time. But there are more frivolous and invasive trends among modern pet owners: cat tattoos, dog facelifts, nipple augmentation They even make truck nuts for dogs now. Seriously! You can get false testicles implanted into your dogs floppy scrote after getting him neutered. The most high-profile case of animal plastic surgery gone wrong is probably Saudi Arabia's 2021 camel beauty contest, wherein 40 contestants (camels) were disqualified for getting Botox injections in their humps. Advertisement Advertisement
Count Ricky Gervais nan among the people hes seemed to have rubbed the wrong way over the years. If the Hollywood elite, the trans community, the Royal Family and the Catholic Church find him abrasive, why should his own family be any different?

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Gervais recently revealed on X what his grandmother thought of his early ambitions to entertain the masses. When I was 8 years old, my Nan asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, he xeeted. I said, An international superstar. She smiled sweetly & said, Youll probably die poor in an underfunded hospital like grandad, you ambitious little c***.

Before you clutch your pearls in horror, lets cut ol Nan some slack here. While the c-slur is almost never acceptable in the United States and other countries, its considered more or less an average swear word in the U.K., akin to bastard or arsehole. Gervais himself recently used the epithet to xeet an insult at an injured Spanish bullfighter: Good. Hope you ruined your tights. Now stop torturing Bulls, you sadistic, sequinned, c***. When a grandmother uses it, especially when aimed at an obnoxious 8-year-old like Gervais, it can almost be interpreted as a term of endearment.

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Gervais, for his part, didnt take offense. Instead, the slap-down was probably what spurred me on. Cheers Nan.

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To rub it in his (presumably) dead relatives face, Gervais posted a picture of a massive crowd from his current Armageddon Tour. Not sure if theres X in heaven, hell or whatever limbo Nan exists in now, but Gervais message likely got through to her, inspiring deep shame over her doubts about Lil Ricky and his comedy dreams. In your face, Nan!

But who knows? Many rich superstars have died in the poorhouse, despite early success. Marvin Gaye, Judy Garland and Sammy Davis Jr. all reportedly passed away owing millions, despite playing before large crowds like the ones in the picture posted by Gervais. Fingers crossed, Nan, there might be hope for your prediction yet!
It appears that Americas movie critics have had Strays circled on their calendars for months, saving up their most labored pooch puns to create tortured headlines. (Spoiler alert: The comedy featuring foul-mouthed dogs voiced by Will Ferrell and Jamie Foxx made most critics want to push the paws button. GET IT?) Rounding up and ranking the headlines that elicit the most groans seemed like the leash we could do.

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8 All Bark and No Bite  Cultured Vultures Cultured Vultures goes for quantity here, noting the film gave them paws for concern, was missing its funny bones, and represented a curious cinematic crossbreed. The review gets a little dark with its final doggy double entendre: Its about as funny as a dogs final visit to the vets. Yipe yipe yipe!

7 A Dog Gone Good Time  Variety Foul-Mouthed Dogs Teach Humans a Few New Tricks raves Variety, one of the few publications to praise Strays for being a good boy.

6 A Raunchy Comedy Goes to the Dogs  New York Times The snooty Times apparently has little time for Strays many intestinal, fecal and urinal gags.

5 Will Ferrells Dog Comedy Mostly Plays Dead  A.V. Club Despite A.V. Clubs critic complaining that Strays mostly chases its tail, the film still somehow manages a C+. Its like watching an episode of South Park where the sum total of the social commentary is that dogs love the taste of poop. Advertisement Advertisement

4 Will Ferrells Feral Comedy  The Wall Street Journal Leave it to the venerable Wall Street Journal to point out one comics last name is a homophone for feral, meaning not domesticated or cultivated. Bunch of English majors over there, apparently.

3 An Amusingly Dirty Dog-Com  The Hollywood Reporter The Hollywood Reporter knows that Strays has everything dog lovers are looking for in a feature film: Dogs peeing, dogs pooping, dogs humping, dogs puking, dogs talking dirty, dogs getting high, dogswell, you get the idea. Sofia Vergara is singled out for her performance as a seductive couch.

2 A Raunchy Dog Comedy That Puts the 'R" in 'ARF!'  Cap Times No publication worked harder for an out-of-the-box dog pun than The Cap Times. The movie is pretty funny, says the review, though not as hilarious as an actual dog just sitting there doing dog things.
Number of traders net-short has decreased by 34.52% from last week.

SYMBOL TRADING BIAS NET-LONG% NET-SHORT% CHANGE IN LONGS CHANGE IN SHORTS CHANGE IN OI France 40 BEARISH 50.18% 49.82% 21.14% Daily 95.56% Weekly -12.33% Daily -34.52% Weekly 1.78% Daily -1.72% Weekly

France 40 Mixed Data provided by of clients are net long. of clients are net short.

Change in Longs Shorts OI Daily -2% 40% 18% Weekly 50% -14% 5%

France 40: Retail trader data shows 50.18% of traders are net-long with the ratio of traders long to short at 1.01 to 1. In fact, traders have remained net-long since Jul 11 when France 40 traded near 7,245.50, price has moved 0.93% lower since then. The number of traders net-long is 21.14% higher than yesterday and 95.56% higher from last week, while the number of traders net-short is 12.33% lower than yesterday and 34.52% lower from last week.

We typically take a contrarian view to crowd sentiment, and the fact traders are net-long suggests France 40 prices may continue to fall.

Our data shows traders are now net-long France 40 for the first time since Jul 11, 2023 when France 40 traded near 7,245.50. Traders are further net-long than yesterday and last week, and the combination of current sentiment and recent changes gives us a stronger France 40-bearish contrarian trading bias.
An Australian woman has revealed the long list of activities and foods she's excited to be reunited with after a year of travelling through Europe.

Lauren, from Sydney, travelled around various 'dream' places like England, Greece, Italy, and more during her year abroad.

But the traveller's mind kept coming back to home and all the things she'd been missing since she left.

Her list included Red Rock Deli chips, high-quality Australian coffee, spending time at the fresh fruit and vegetables section at Coles, walking through the aisles at Kmart, and eating chicken salt.

She also missed iconic Aussie Tim Tams and Bunnings snags - and swore to visit her nearest location for a sausage sizzle as soon as she touched down.

Adding to the list of foods, Lauren missed chugging a lemon lime and bitters 'in three seconds', eating a Woolworths chocolate mud cake, and 'clearing the whole bakery of every sausage roll and meat pie'.

There were also several other aspects of her Euro trip that shocked her.

The Sydney woman shared that female sanitary products overseas felt like they were from the 'medieval times' and didn't work properly - which made much of her trip uncomfortable.

Public etiquette was also extremely different - with Lauren being unaware of the fact that people walk on different sides of the road.

'I miss having a designated walking side and saying hello to everyone I pass,' she wrote.

Many other expats and travellers shared their own lists of Aussie favourites.

'I've been in the UK for four years without lemon, lime and bitters - it's been hell,' a woman said.

Lauren's list included Red Rock Deli chips, high-quality Australian coffee, spending time at the fresh fruit and vegetables section at Coles, walking through the aisles at Kmart

'I have dreams about the Woolies mud cake sometimes,' another wrote.

'I miss having a designated side of the pathway to walk on - I'm constantly getting shoulder checked in London,' a Melbourne woman said.

'Oh, I miss a Woolies chook so badly and all the dips - where is the spring onion or spicy capsicum in the UK?' another asked.
King Charles has had a 'blinder' of a first year, but he has been helped by his own angry critics who set the bar so low, he was almost bound to succeed, says historian Gareth Russell

Speaking to True Royalty TV's The Royal Beat, Mr Russell said: 'All Charles really had to do was not burn the house down, and he would have exceeded the expectations they set for him.

'So, I think in some ways this is a big rebuttal of critics who said he was going to be a complete disaster.'

Mr Russell, author of several royal books praised the Prince and Princess of Wales for paying attention to all parts of the country.

King Charles III wearing the Imperial State Crown on the Buckingham Palace balcony after his coronation on May 6, having ascended to the throne in September 2022

'William and Catherine, whilst they have been doing a lot of travel across the rest of the Commonwealth recently, [have been] making sure they go to all four countries within the United Kingdom.

READ MORE: King Charles hands one of Harry and Meghan's biggest hate figures Sir Edward Young the rare honour of becoming his Permanent Lord in Waiting Advertisement

'As William launched his Homewards initiative to combat homelessness in Britain, he made sure to pick from Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and England equally.

'The union is not as strong as it was under Elizabeth II so they have to be seen to uphold that,' he said.

With Prince William topping a recent American poll of 15 prominent figures, The Mail on Sunday's Assistant Editor Kate Mansey said he can expect a warm welcome get when he visits New York next month for to promote his Earthshot environmental prize.

'They will welcome him with open arms and he knows that, in order to save the planet in his big quest, he is going to have to have America on side.

'It's a global project so he'll be thrilled that he's so high up the polls, and such a prestigious poll as well.'

The Prince of Wales will also undertake a number of engagements in New York City on September 18.

The Prince of Wales during a visit to the East Belfast Mission at the Skainos Centre, Belfast, as part of his tour of the UK to launch Homewards, aimed at ending homelessness, in June
She's also spoken out about the rules they have to follow regarding sex

The Brooklyn-based mom has dished on what they can eat and wear

An Orthodox Jewish mother has become a viral sensation for sharing a very honest look into her life while raising four daughter in the religious group - including how they find 'modest' bathing suits to wear at the beach and what she's allowed to tell her kids about sex.

Miriam Malnik-Ezagui, a labor and delivery room nurse and budding social media star from Brooklyn, New York, has racked up more than 1.9 million followers on TikTok for posting a slew of videos that give an intimate glimpse into what it's really like to be an Orthodox Jew.

Miriam has opened up about everything from what being kosher really means and what foods the family can eat to why women have to cover their hair and go to a spa to 'cleanse' themselves after their periods.

In one video, Miriam - who described herself as Jewish by blood, but Orthodox by choice - explained that Orthodox Jewish women don't show their hair after marriage as an indication to other men that they're unavailable.

An Orthodox Jewish mother has become a viral sensation for sharing a very honest look into her life while raising four daughter in the religious group

Miriam Malnik-Ezagui, a labor and delivery room nurse from Brooklyn, New York, has posted a slew of videos that give an intimate glimpse into what it's really like to be an Orthodox Jew

Miriam has opened up about everything from what foods the family can eat to why women have to cover their hair and go to a spa to 'cleanse' themselves after their periods

@miriamezagui Replying to @lalavaughn1 Intimacy talk within the framework of Orthodox Judaism.  original sound - Miriam Ezagui

She admitted that it was really hard for her to have to 'say goodbye' to her locks, so she often wears wigs when out in public.

She's also dished on how they find 'modest' bathing suits to wear at the beach and what she's allowed to tell her kids about sex

'Wearing a wig is permissible because it's not my own hair. The only hair that I'm not allowed to share is the hair growing out of my own head,' she shared.

Orthodox women are not allowed to wear pants, and their skirts and dresses must be longer than their knees, even when sitting.

They're also required to wear clothes with high-cut necklines and sleeves longer than the elbow.

'I choose to dress modestly, not because I have a fear of being sexualized, but because I love and respect my body,' Miriam explained.

'My body is beautiful, it's the house to my soul. When I meet someone for the first time, I want them to focus on who I am on the inside.'

Miriam added that even when they go swimming they still have to dress 'modestly.'

She documented her quest to find appropriate swimwear for her four young daughters - Naomi, 10, Zahava, seven, Aviva, four, and Dassy, 20 months - and it racked up hundreds of thousands of views.

In one video, Miriam explained that Orthodox Jewish women don't show their hair after marriage as an indication to other men that they're unavailable, but she wears a wig in public

As for why they dress so 'modestly,' she explained, 'My body is beautiful, it's the house to my soul. When I meet someone for the first time, I want them to focus on who I am on the inside'

In one video, she documented her quest to find appropriate swimwear for her four young daughters - Naomi, 10, Zahava, seven, Aviva, four, and Dassy, 20 months

They had to go to a special store designed specifically for Orthodox Jewish kids, where the girls picked dress-like bathing suits that they loved.

When asked by a follower if she ever 'gets offended' when she sees women wearing bikinis at the beach, she explained that she would never 'judge other people' for what they wear.

'I think this is where a lot of religious trauma stems from. People judge other people according to their standards and it's not fair,' she said.

'The way I dress myself, that's my own standards. I don't judge other people for the way they want to represent themselves.

'So if someone shows up in a string bikini to the beach and they feel beautiful, I respect them for that.

'At the end of the day, we all want to be loved and respected for who we are and judged by other people.

'So do I show up to the beach in a full length dress with my head covered? You bet. But I would never judge somebody for dressing however they felt most comfortable.'

In another TikTok, Miriam spoke out about her recent trip to a mikvah - which she described as a 'Jewish bathhouse' that women are required to visit one week after they finish their periods.

'During menstruation, a woman becomes spiritually impure because it's a potential loss of life,' she explained.

'In Judaism, there's a concept called tumah, which translates to impurity. But it's not physical dirtiness, tumah effects our souls.

'To cleanse these impurities, you go to mikvah, which is like a Jewish bathhouse. It kind of feels like a spa-like experience.'

They had to go to a special store designed specifically for Orthodox Jewish kids, where the girls picked dress-like bathing suits that they loved

When asked by a follower if she ever 'gets offended' when she sees women wearing bikinis at the beach, she explained that she would never 'judge other people' for what they wear

In another TikTok, Miriam spoke out about her recent trip to a mikvah - which she described as a 'Jewish bathhouse' that women are required to visit one week after they finish their periods

While at the mikvah, women take turns getting into the water without clothes so that there's 'no separation between the body and the mikvah waters,' and they dunk at least three times.

'Using the mikvah is a physical experience but we aren't washing the body, we're cleansing the soul. It's a special time for us to pray and connect with God,' she shared.

'During menstruation, a woman becomes spiritually impure because it's a potential loss of life,' she explained. 'To cleanse these impurities, you go to mikvah, which is like a Jewish bathhouse. It kind of feels like a spa-like experience.' She's seen at a mikvah

The mother-of-four has also posted numerous videos detailing what she and her family eat.

They are kosher, which means they can only consume land animals that have split hooves and eat grass and seafood that has fins and scales. In addition, meat and dairy can not be eaten together.

The family eats tons of vegetables, most of which they grow themselves.

When it comes to getting intimate, Miriam explained that it's forbidden to have sex until marriage - but insisted that Orthodox Jews do have sex for 'pleasure' and 'not just baby making.'

'I want to stress, Judaism does not view intimacy as something dirty. It's one of the most holy things that two people can engage in,' she dished.

She added that schools don't teach kids about sex at all - so it's up to the parents to decide what they tell their children.

'Because intimacy is prohibited prior to marriage, most Orthodox Jewish day schools do not offer it as part of the curriculum,' she continued.

The mother-of-four has also posted numerous videos detailing what she and her family eat. The family eats tons of vegetables, most of which they grow themselves

They are kosher, which means they can only eat land animals that have split hooves and eat grass and seafood that has fins and scales. In addition, meat and dairy can't be eaten together

@miriamezagui Replying to @who_cares80 i thibk a lot ir people have religious trauma because of the judgement of other people. How indress are my own standards and i dont hold people to them. If they feel beautiful, i love and respect then exactly as they are. #modesty #religioustrauma #modesty #beach #respect  original sound - Miriam Ezagui

'I think parents need to do more when it comes to education [about sex] for their kids starting at a young age - like, teaching their children the correct anatomical terms for their body parts.

When it comes to getting intimate, Miriam said it's forbidden to have sex until marriage - but insisted that Orthodox Jews do have sex for 'pleasure' and 'not just baby making'

'Not every child within the Orthodox Jewish system stays Orthodox, and there's an injustice being done by not giving them proper education.

'Just because intimacy is prohibited prior to marriage, doesn't mean it's not happening.

'These individuals deserve the right to understand what safe intimacy is. STDs, consent, pregnancy prevention, all of these things aren't going to be taught in schools so they should really be taught at home, by the parents.'

She explained that there is a class offered to two Orthodox Jews after they get engaged that teaches them the 'laws surrounding intimacy.'

While chatting with People about her newfound internet fame, Miriam explained that she 'never expected' to get so much attention with her videos.

She told the outlet that she was inspired to start speaking out about her experiences online after Whoopi Goldberg made a controversial remark that the Holocaust was not 'about race' in January 2022, which the star later apologized for.

She added that schools don't teach kids about sex at all - so it's up to the parents to decide what they tell their children

While chatting with People, Miriam said she hope that being so open about her religious practices will show people who aren't Jewish that they are a lot more similar than they'd think

'What pushed me was that somebody on her level of a platform didn't understand some of these things,' explained Miriam.

'I don't think she was coming from a place of hatred. I think she was just coming from a place of lack of knowledge and there are probably so many other people out there that just don't know, not because they're antisemitic but because they're just not educated.

'That was what stemmed me to make my very first post and it was well-received and it encouraged me to share more.'

The nurse said she hope that being so open about her religious practices will show people who aren't Jewish that they are a lot more similar than they'd think.

'I think that's one of the things that my channel brings is that they can see that aspect of, "I'm a working mom, I'm still home making dinner and doing all the regular family things that moms do,"' she concluded.

'One of the things that I am trying to do is share my life so people can see the differences, but also how we're the same because there are a lot of similarities.

'I think some people feel like a connection is seeing that we're just not from some storybook.'
Jacqueline Wilson isn't a huge fan of David Walliams' work - despite the British comic's work being a huge hit with children, it seems.

Walliams has written a slew of children's books in recent years - including Gangsta Granny, Billionaire Boy and his latest, The World's Worst Monsters - making him one of the UK's best-selling children's authors.

However, celebrated British novelist Wilson has admitted that his work isn't her cup of tea.

Speaking to The i newpaper, Tracy Beaker author Dame Jacqueline said the Little Britain star's books were 'farty, vulgar and silly'.

Celebrated children's author Jacquline Wilson has admitted she's not a huge fan of David Walliams - saying she's only read one of his books and wouldn't have read his work if he was around when she was a child

The 77-year-old writer told the newspaper: 'Ive only read one David Walliams. I dont think they are the sort of books I would have wanted [to read as a child] because theyre humorous, but farty and silly and vulgar.'

However, the former Children's Laureate conceded that he's very good at what he does, saying: 'Hes incredibly successful. And if he gets particularly little boys chortling and reading, good thing.'

Earlier this week, Wilson called for a stop on 'meddling' with books that are no longer considered appropriate, saying that while many of the themes in classic literature can seem out of place in modern society, they should be left alone.

She cited the 'mad woman in the attic' in Jane Eyre as an example, saying someone with serious mental health issues would not be depicted in the same way now.

Walliams has been compared to Roald Dahl, but Wilson said she was impressed by his

But Dame Jacqueline added that she was for editing some children's books because youngsters 'still haven't got the power to sort things out and have a sense of history'.

It comes after she admitted she would not have her written her 2005 book Love Lessons about a 14-year-old girl falling in love with her art teacher, who reciprocates.

Dame Jacqueline has spoken out about censorship and cancel culture in recent days while promoting her new book 'The Best Sleepover In the World', out on Thursday.

On ITV's Good Morning Britain (GMB), presenter Richard Madeley spoke to her about 'publishers who are altering the text of books because they think that times have changed so much that it's sort of damaging for children to read how we lived then'.

Asked for her view, Dame Jacqueline responded: 'I'm a kind of middle of the road person, I think it depends how it's done.

'There are some things I think that would make us a bit worried if we returned to our old children's favourites and read them with fresh eyes, we might be a bit surprised.

'I think with children, they often absorb texts, they still haven't got the power to sort things out and have a sense of history.

'However I'm very against meddling with adult classics. I was just thinking about Jane Eyre the other day, I mean with the 'mad woman in the attic' and the way she's depicted.

'You'd never find that sort of treatment of people with serious mental health problems. And yet, you know, I would be absolutely at the forefront of people saying no, leave it alone, it's my favourite book. So I think it depends.'

Dame Jacqueline Wilson with her partner Trish at The Savoy Hotel in London in July 2017

Among the well-known books censored in recent years to remove language now deemed inappropriate have been Agatha Christie's novels, titles by Roald Dahl, Enid Blyton's Famous Five and Malory Towers books and Ian Fleming's James Bond series.

Dame Jacqueline was also asked about cancel culture on GMB today, and said: 'I'm of the old school. I think why can't everybody just talk things over, discuss things? You don't have to agree with someone, but I think it's more helpful to actually get to the bottom of what's making people so angry.

Dame Jacqueline Wilson with Danielle Harmer, who played Tracy Beaker in the BBC TV adaptation of her 1999 book, The Story of Tracy Beaker

'But whether I'd feel that in the midst of a baying crowd or not, I don't know. I mean, life's changed so much. It's good that people can make it clear what they feel, but I do think a little bit of discussion...'

She also backed recent calls for children to develop their 'oracy', which aims to help them become more articulate, and assemble their ideas and express them.

Dame Jacqueline's comments today came after she gave an interview to The Guardian last week in which she spoke of her concerns over her book Love Lessons.

The book sees 14-year-old Prue fall in love with an art teacher  before they kiss, and he says he loves her as well.

Tracy Beaker was a huge hit for BBC children's television and spawned a number of spin-offs

Asked if she would write the book today, she said: 'No. It's so different now. Well, I did have my doubts then.'

And when the interviewer pointed out that Prue would now be seen as a victim and the teacher as a paedophile, Dame Jacqueline said: 'Yes, that's very true. And it does change things around so much.'

It comes after research by the UK's Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals released in April found that a third of librarians had been asked by members of the public to censor or remove books, particularly on themes involving empire, race and LGBTQ+ themes.

There is a similar issue in America, where writers' organisation Pen America said in the same month that book bans in US public schools rose by 28 per cent in the first half of the 2022/23 academic year. Again, race and LGBTQ+ themes were prominent in many of the banned books.

Former Children's Laureate Dame Jacqueline has sold more than 40 million books.

Last year she published The Magic Faraway Tree: A New Adventure, a re-imagining of Blyton's story about three children who discover enchanted lands at the top of an enormous tree.

Her latest book is The Best Sleepover in the World, a sequel to her 2001 bestseller Sleepovers.
Dr Charlotte Proudman asks directly what I think of her hair these days. 'I think it's a good look. What do you think?' she says.

The temptation is to enquire, albeit in jest, if she'd ask a male journalist such a thing. He would surely sweat a bit if she did. Dr Proudman is, after all, a feminist campaigner who positively revels in calling people out (men, mostly) for being sexist clots, for saying inappropriate things, for shoring up the patriarchy with their everyday micro-acts of aggression.

Safe(r) in the Sisterhood, I find myself telling her that her hair is lovely, and the look is much more relaxed than when she had her famous take-no-prisoners bob, which was quite sexy-severe, no?

A man would be cancelled right now, surely, but she just ponders this. 'Do you think? Yeah, no, maybe. I was going more for 'sharp'. It was all in the fringe with that bob, but I couldn't be bothered with the upkeep. It needed a lot of trimming.'

Her hair now is long, blonde, carefree, but it turns out this is a feminist statement in itself.

Dr Charlotte Proudman (pictured) is a feminist campaigner who positively revels in calling people out (men, mostly) for being sexist clots, for saying inappropriate things, for shoring up the patriarchy with their everyday micro-acts of aggression, writes Jenny Johnston

'I don't even have to style it, just brush it. I do think I'd be taken more seriously in court with the bob. This is a more feminine look, which is actually, when you think about it, the opposite of how you'd expect a barrister to look. So it's breaking some of the norms associated with being in a masculine elitist institution.'

Gosh, it must be exhausting being Dr Proudman. Little wonder that she had no time for fringe maintenance.

It is eight years since this astonishing woman burst into public consciousness. Then 27, and a rookie barrister, she made headlines when she made public a screenshot of a message she had received from a much older, married, solicitor on LinkedIn, praising her stunning profile picture (complete with sharp bob).

Yes, it was a wholly inappropriate message to send on a professional platform. Even Alexander Carter-Silk, who sparked the controversy, said: 'I appreciate this is probably horrendously politically incorrect...', before blundering in. But her response was brutal. 'The eroticisation of women's physical appearance is a way of exercising power over women. It silences women's professional attributes as their physical appearance becomes the subject,' she said, when the silly sod had probably been expecting a simpering 'thank you'.

Then she advised Carter-Silk to 'think twice before sending another woman (half your age) such a sexist message'. Boom! Suddenly, everyone had an opinion on this audacious young woman.

Some cheered her bravery in laying bare rampant misogyny; others concluded that she was the dangerous little Missy here, turning a man's clumsy attempts at flattery into something akin to a hanging offence. Within the legal profession, there were raised eyebrows. She was warned, she says, that she was committing 'career suicide' by rocking the boat.

That turned out not to be the case. 'Although I really don't think it did my career any favours,' she says today. 'There were people who refused to give me work.'

Dr Proudman made headlines when she made public a screenshot of a message she had received from a much older, married, solicitor on LinkedIn, praising her stunning profile picture (complete with sharp bob)

The biggest legacy from those days? She was called a 'Feminazi' by this paper's Sarah Vine, which would have had most women hiding under the bed for the rest of their lives. Dr Proudman is not most women.

'Oh no, I have Sarah Vine to thank for that,' she beams. 'I should have had merchandising made.' Her friend did give her a mug with FEMINAZI emblazoned on it, which she still uses, proudly. Eight years on, and only 35, she's still rocking that boat: sometimes in ways that are indisputably laudable  she champions domestic abuse victims  sometimes in more contentious areas.

She has an astonishing ability to call out sexism in places where most of us never thought to look.

This week, she spied sexism on the hallowed lawn at her old Cambridge college, where she did her PhD in female genital mutilation.

She was at King's College for an exhibition to mark 50 years since the first female students had been admitted. Her portrait  in which she was wearing her barrister robes, but also a cropped top  had made her mum cry, in a good way. 'I was only the second person in my family to go to university,' she explains. Wasn't your mum bothered you had your midriff out? 'No. She was very proud and loved it.'

Afterwards, her cousin wanted to take photos of her on the lawn, which is a big deal at King's because undergraduates aren't allowed on the grass, yet certain senior members of the college are. She even checked with a friend 'before setting foot on the bloody lawn'.

While larking for the camera, however, she was yelled at by 'a young white male'. 'If they catch you, you'll be chucked out,' he shouted. She tweeted about this in outrage, accusing him of 'male entitlement'. Eh?

But boom, again! Another sexism row, with some praising another takedown of the patriarchy, but others accusing her of being a fruit-loop. How does she do it?

Actually, when you hear the full story, you have more sympathy for her position. She tells me that there had been others  'middle-aged men'  on the lawn too, and they had not been challenged.

Her hair now is long, blonde, carefree, but it turns out this is a feminist statement in itself

'When it comes to these sorts of sexist micro-aggressions, I always ask myself: 'Would a man have been treated like that?' '

What to make of Dr Proudman? In conversation, she is softer and more compromising than her image suggests. She's funnier, too. On Twitter she can come across as humourless and far too in love with herself. 'Yes I do love myself,' she repeats today, but with a smile. 'I think women should love themselves more, don't you?'

She caused another Twitter storm recently by suggesting that new mothers should give their children their surname, celebrating the maternal line rather than automatically accepting the tradition of the patriarchy.

'This is something that has become more acute for me because I've seen in the family courts that many women have been coerced into giving their children the father's name.

'It does grate on me that my friends are getting married and having babies and even the ones who call themselves feminists are taking their husband's name, embracing this tradition which is rooted in patriarchy and ownership and property.'

Many women agree. A poll on Good Morning Britain this week suggested an almost even split, with 47 per cent of women questioned agreeing that their babies should have the maternal surname, which astonished even her.

Her views on marriage are bracing. No, she certainly will not be marrying her partner, whom she has been with since university, 'but maybe we'll consider a civil partnership, who knows'.

Will they have children, or is that none of my business?

'It's none of your business,' she says, before conceding that if they do, she'd quite like to combine the paternal and maternal surnames in a Brangelina-esque way.

There could be a touch of personal in the political in her interest in names. Proudman isn't her birth name. Until she was in her early 20s she was Charlotte Bailye. She took the surname of her maternal great-grandmother, who had been a Suffragette, in an act of 'respect for the maternal line'. 'I didn't want to see it die out. And it's a cool name.'

Her father died in a car crash when she was four. Hers was a family of strong women. Her mother, a teacher, was her biggest influence. 'Education was the thing with her. And she taught me to challenge authority, not to be cowed by it.'

Another huge influence was a teacher 'who looked like Pamela Anderson but was obsessed with Karl Marx. I thought she was amazing'. It was a working-class upbringing in Staffordshire, far removed from any hallowed grass. She did her first degree at Keele, so she could stay at home. She worked in the Co-op. Getting accepted to Bar School in London was exhilarating, but an eye-opener. 'People there didn't know where Staffordshire was. They commented on my accent, the way I said cook and look.'

She planned to be a solicitor, then saw a female barrister in action. 'She was amazing. Blonde hair, this amazing pink and grey suit, Louis Vuitton bag. She didn't take any c**p from the men. I thought: 'I can do that'. '

Over a decade on, does she have the Louis Vuitton bag? 'No. Only a fake, but I did recently buy my first Alexander McQueen suit. Big shoulders, statement-ey.'

She hates how she has to dress in court, would scrap the wigs and the ruffles. 'It harks back to a time when women weren't even allowed to be lawyers. I say we should make new traditions.'

Like what? Barristers in crop tops? 'No, but there should be room for individuality.'

The legal world is stuffy in more serious ways, she says, rife with sexism and misogyny.

Many men seem to hate Dr Proudman. There is a parody account of her on Twitter which is followed by learned colleagues from within the profession.

She claims she has been the subject of countless acts of sexism, and has put complaints in writing to the Bar Standards Board of more than 50 largely male barristers. 'And I still haven't even had a response, almost 12 months later, which tells you everything about how seriously I have been taken.'

'Just the other day a fellow barrister, who is also a (part-time) police officer, called me a 'w***er' on Twitter.

'If that was a layperson you could go 'here we go again' but this is a barrister, whom I could see in court. Some of this abuse is coming from part-time judges. I feel that in court some judges have tried to bully me. I won't stand for it. What's the alternative to speaking out? I wouldn't be much of an advocate if I was silent, would I? And if I can't speak out, who can?'

And yet she herself has been guilty of silence  arguably in a situation where she absolutely should have made a stand.

She relates the story of, just last year, confiding in an older male member of the Bar about her frustrations over how her complaints about bullying from other barristers were being ignored. This is a man, she points out, who was almost twice her age, married, with children older than she is. He had been a great friend, confidant, supporter for a decade.

'I was vulnerable, in tears. He said 'Oh sweetie' and stood up to give me a hug,' she explains. A hug turned into a grope, she alleges.

'He took the opportunity to place his hands on me. On my waist at first. Hmmm, but then they moved down to my buttocks.'

There is no room for misinterpretation here? 'I wish. But no, we know what it means. It was awful, and I'm ashamed of how I responded because I said nothing. Me, this feminist who speaks out. I made my excuses and left.'

They have not spoken since. What did you wish you'd said?

'I actually wish I'd slapped him,' she says. 'I should have said 'How dare you touch me in that way. I thought of you as a father figure'.

She is furious but says she won't report this or name the man.

'Can you imagine the consequences?', she says sadly.

Which just goes to show that even a 'Feminazi' feels as though she has her limits.
Australians looking to enter the property market in a cost-of-living crisis are turning to a little-known regional town where homes are available for less than $200,000.

The town of Peterborough, in South Australia, has seen its median sale price increase by 45 per cent in the last year - but it's still just $145,000.

With a population of just 1,504 people, the town is just under 250km north of Adelaide towards the Flinders Ranges.

Jeff Oakley, an agent with Nutrien Harcourts, who has lived in Peterborough for 30 years, said at the turn of the 20th century the town had a population of 5,000.

That's when it earned the name 'Steamtown', from a time when 100 trains a day would pass through, bound for all parts of the growing nation.

The rural South Australian town of Peterborough has seen a huge increase in Aussies moving to escape the cost of living pressures of big cities and settles in a quiet community

The quaint country town has seen a whopping 45 per cent increase in median sale price in the past year however the figure still only sits around $145,000

However, as the railway industry became less important for Australia and stations closed, residents started moving on, and house prices started to drop.

But now they are coming back. Those priced out of the cities or just seeking a tree change in a tight-knit community are finding Peterborough's house prices tempting.

Kerrin Lansdown moved to Peterborough from Adelaide last year with her family because they wanted a rural setting to slow down and enjoy the next stage of their lives.

'Peterborough had the house I fell in love with at a very affordable price and the town and people were so beautiful and friendly,' she told FEMAIL.

Irene Limburg, who was 'born and bred' in Peterborough, said she had noticed lots of new 'townies' moving in.

With a population of just 1,504, it is just under 250km north of Adelaide and brimming with potential as a rural hub by the scenic Flinders mountain Range

Another new resident said she moved to the own three months ago from Cairns to retire and 'enjoy the peace and quiet nature of the place'.

Another said they moved two and a half years ago and have 'never looked back'.

'Love the community. Very friendly people that live here in Peterborough, most people wave. Would not change it for anything,' she said.

Mr Oakley said he's now selling homes to investors or owner-occupiers from 'every state in Australia'.

'Return on investment for rentals has been the highest in the state for some years,' he said.

'Rentals range from $180 to $250 a week, so when you're working on a low base, $200,000 house will return about $230 a week.'

Real estate agent and Peterborough local Jeff Oakley said before the recent interest, the town's house prices dropped after the town's railway industry dwindled

While the homes he listed used to sit on the market for eight to 12 months, they're now being snapped up in just a few weeks.

Mr Oakley said potential buyers shouldn't be fooled by the low house prices, with many of those on the market being solidly built and well maintained for more than 100 years.

A three-bedroom home built in 1900 is on sale for just $185,000. While the home is in need of some TLC, it has many well-preserved, original details like the ornate art-deco fireplaces, picture hooks and a wood-fired stove in the kitchen.

At the other end of the price scale is a historic home build at 40 Railway Terrace. The home has beautifully restored with hardwood floors, a modern kitchen and bathroom. It is on the market for $270,000.

A decade ago a similar home would have sold for between $75,000 to $80,000, Mr Oakley said.

A 1900-built three-bedroom home, currently for sale for just $185,000, needs a little bit of TLC but has aged well and preserved original details like the ornate art-deco fireplaces

While the agent said Peterborough's affordability was a 'big ticket', it is also a 'great place to live' with a tight-knit community typical of many small Aussie country towns

While the agent said the Peterborough's affordability was a 'big ticket', it is also a 'great place to live' with a tight-knit community typical of an Aussie country town.

'It's country living but we have all the services you need in the township,' he said.

The regional town is set in grassy landscapes peppered with century-old stone houses and is the last major hub before Broken Hill.

Rustic period buildings, including a 'haunted' pub, line the main drag and make visitors feel like they've stepped back in time to when the town was first settled.

In the past year, 46 properties have been sold in Peterborough and the median house price jumped by 45 per cent in the past 12 months and a 12 per cent growth in the last quarter according to Domain's June 2023 house Price Report.

Rustic period buildings line the main drag and make visitors feel like they've stepped back in time to when the town was first settled

The homes are primarily owned by people aged between 60 and 69 or childless couples and the average mortgage repayment is only $300 - $449 per month.

Even the median rent price sits at just $250 a week, which is up by almost 30 per cent over the past year.

Andrew Milne of Future Realty SA said Peterborough's popularity grew over Covid.

'[Families] can get a bigger property for a cheaper price and a better lifestyle. Lots of interstate people have looked over this way, realising that South Australia has a lot of bargains. It's a big place with lots of land,' he explained.

Andrew has also seen retirees basing themselves in Peterborough as somewhere to return to after their caravanning adventures around the country.
Daily Mail Australia was offered to trial the car for review; it is not an ad

It was the perfect car for a road trip and I was impressed with the features

Daily Mail Australia trialled Mitsubishi's new Outlander Plug-In EV. The new car gives you an electric driving experience, with the reassurance of a hybrid petrol engine, plus the power of both when needed. Owners can also power a range of domestic, office, industrial and leisure appliances via its power outlet, which uses its drive battery as a power source.

I was recently lucky enough to try out Mitsubishi's new hybrid Outlander for a planned family road trip down Sydney's east coast.

And having spent 12 hours in this car with two kids, I can confidently say we would embark on more long trips if this was our 'forever' vehicle.

From the moment I saw the new Outlander model I was impressed with its two-toned, sophisticated paneling. Even my notoriously picky four-year-old yelled out 'now that's a cool car' when he spotted it.

His tween sister was pleased with how 'comfy' it was, thrilled by the heated massage chairs and took charge of the sunroof and music controls immediately.

Now, to be completely transparent, it is important for you to know I rock around in a 2011 Corolla day-to-day.

I took the new Mitsubishi Plug-in Outlander Hybrid EV out for a weekend

The car felt stylish for a seven-seater and was super comfortable to drive

I have always loved it for its fuel efficiency and because it is easy to park in Sydney's chaotic eastern suburbs.

Anything slightly fresher with a few more mod-cons is likely to impress me - but having driven and tested many different cars, this is the smoothest yet.

I have also embarked on road trips all over Australia, including in my beloved sedan, and know that the right car makes all the difference.

The 'plug-in' hybrid Outlander is priced from $61,000, the model I tested was top of the range and worth $76,600. These prices are subject to change and reflect the recommended cost of display models.

It took a little while to get used to being so high, but the sensors made all the difference and I felt safe and in control from the moment I jumped behind the wheel.

The boot is so big I decided I didn't need to play Tetris to pack it in and the back seat had plenty of room for passengers and their things to fit comfortably

I have also embarked on road trips all over Australia, including in my beloved sedan, and know that the right car makes all the difference

Pros

Mileage

I drove 630km in this car and didn't even use half of the tank. The car figures out which energy source to use - and lets you know what it is drawing from in a simple dial on the dash.

We went down to Ulladulla on the south coast and took the scenic, very windy route through Cambewarra and the Southern Highlands on the way home.

The battery charges when braking which is a great feature. I was going to try to charge it up with the house cables or at the service station but it seemed redundant as it still had power and petrol when I delivered it back to base.

Power and handling

The hybrid Outlander picked up when I wanted it to, and was the perfect car for long stretches of highway driving.

I switched on the cruise control and let the car do the work but it didn't disappoint on the curly bits either.

The south coast has some pretty narrow roads, some of them with gaping pot holes, wildlife and steep drops.

The dual colour paneling looks very cool

The speed limiter was a great option here because I could control the lower speeds without having to worry about cracking the limit.

When you do, the acceleration is limited and the car beeps to let you know you've surpassed the limit.

The car stuck to the road and when I had to move quickly to avoid a wombat I did so with ease; it felt like a zippy city car in so many ways.

When it started raining the car held true, all that changed was the need for wipers.

Parking

For a big car, this was far too easy.

The display shows you a bird's eye view of your car and the spot, which was pretty unusual, but once I got used to it I loved it.

The usual assisted parking sensors helped too and my fears about finding a spot to park in the city were quickly alleviated.

I think it could still be a struggle to fit in some areas of the eastern suburbs in summer but the bells and whistles help.

Style and capacity

I was impressed with how roomy this car felt on the inside. I struggled to reach back to get dropped toys and I feel like I can touch the entire back floor of my Corolla.

No problem with that though as it meant everyone had their own space and breathing room on the long journey. Anyone with kids knows the 'THEY ARE IN MY SPACE' complaint.

The heated massage chairs were also a big hit and a nice treat for a long drive

The power plugs in the back of the car would be handy for camping tips - we planned on blowing up some inflatables with out big pump but the rain put a dampener on the idea

Read more: The incredible new Toyota that Australians will not be allowed to buy Advertisement

There's also the option to pop up another row for more people or so everyone can have an empty seat beside them.

There was so much room in the back I didn't even try to pack our luggage neatly as there was no need - for once, a game of boot Tetris wasn't needed.

I just threw it in - scooters and all.

The dual-colour leather interior inside looks just as luxe as the outside and the built in window shades in the back along with the skylights were the perfect finishing touches.

It felt like every detail was taken care of and the entire experience was exactly what I'd hope for in a car of this standard.

Now for the cons

I only had two complaints.

The wireless charger

I have been in a few cars where the centre console acts as a wireless charger. It is a nifty accessory and handy when your cable is out of reach or in use by another passenger.

But in this car it just didn't function as well as I'd have liked.

The phone needed to be placed in the perfect position to charge, if it moved at all in transit it would stop and only begin again if it happened to shift back into place.

I haven't encountered this problem in cars with similar features and if I hadn't have noticed early on I would have been pretty disappointed if my phone died on me half way through the trip.

If I owned this car I would have to make sure I had a cord plugged in at all times, because I can't afford to have my battery run flat.

The car has car play the wireless charging is in the cosnole under the sound system controls

About the Hybrid Outlander's bi-directional charging  Bi-directional charging is the next evolution in the interaction between electric vehicles and energy infrastructure, allowing two-way transfer into and out of the EV or PHEV vehicle's on-board battery storage system. This enables the user to deploy the stored energy in several ways; for mobility; to supply their home (V2H) or business (V2B); or to supply energy back to the grid (V2G).  A bi-directional charger works similarly to a conventional DC charger, converting AC electricity from the grid to the DC electricity required by EV batteries, but it is also capable of converting this electricity back from DC to AC. As a result, the stored energy can be drawn from the vehicle's battery and supplied externally.  The new Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-in Hybrid EV and Eclipse Cross Plug-in Hybrid EV models are bi-directional capable as standard, via their CHAdeMO DC charging ports.  Vehicle to Grid, or V2G, is when a bi-directional charger is connected to an EV Battery allowing electricity from the battery to be supplied to the grid, or to supply a home or building connected to the grid.  V2G has the potential to assist with grid stability during supply and demand fluctuations and with congestion management (store during low demand and supply during high demand). It can also be used for price arbitrage (buy low/sell high).  All of these use cases have the potential to unlock new value streams for the user, while offering wider benefits to all grid users, such as increased grid reliability, increased renewable energy mix, and cheaper energy prices.  Vehicle to Grid technology has the potential to transform the way we utilise vehicles, transport and energy in our day-to-day lives. What is Vehicle to Load?  Similar to the All-new Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, the 23MY Eclipse Cross PHEV now features Vehicle-To-Load (V2L) capability.  Accessed via a three-pin 240-volt power outlet (same as you find at home) and with a total 1500W output, owners can power a range of domestic, office, industrial and leisure appliances via this power outlet, which uses vehicle's drive battery as a power source.  The outlet is accessibly placed in the rear luggage compartment on Eclipse Cross PHEVs, while Outlander PHEVs receive a secondary outlet on the rear of the centre console.  V2L capability is fitted as standard to 23MY Eclipse Cross ASPIRE and EXCEED variants. Advertisement

The car has two power plugs for electricity on one side of the car and a normal petrol tank on the other

Fingerprints and dust

Whether or not it was due to detailing methods I can't be sure but I did notice this car became unclean quicker than expected.

Finger marks seemed to show up on the leather interior more than I've noticed before and were quite difficult to wipe away.

The dirt from the road and rain also seemed to stick and dull the car's shine. Again, this could have been due to chemicals used in detailing.

But all in all the Outlander felt like the perfect family road trip car.

My four-year-old couldn't believe the 'ugly, old white car' was back after our getaway and demanded what had happened to the 'lovely big, fast' car.

I give it a confident 4.5 stars overall and would be delighted to get back behind the wheel any day.
A single woman has revealed her frustration with dating culture in Australia, complaining that she's still often disappointed despite her standards being 'extremely low'.

Danielle, from Sydney, shared that dating as a millennial is equivalent to the bar being 'in hell'.

The late-20s woman has been on several failed dates with men from her city and Down Under in general.

Danielle revealed that she was recently 'floored' when a man opened the car door for her on a first date overseas, and how she could never expect such chivalry from Aussie men.

'I'm seriously struggling to date in this generation,' the frustrated woman said.

Danielle shared her exasperation in a now-viral video.

'I don't know if it's a whole generation thing or it's just the men in my city or the men in Australia,' she said.

'I went on a date overseas and I was absolutely floored when this man came to pick me up, he got out of his car and opened the door for me to get into the passenger side.'

She added, 'I sat with that for a little bit. How low are my f**king standards that that excited me? It's really sad!'

Danielle shared that the man 'turned out to be a wanker', but she was still glad he made the effort to open the car door for her.

'We're taking baby steps,' she said finally.

Many men were offended by Danielle's statements, and shared their opinion on the matter.

'Personally, as a man, I've learned the harder I try for someone, the more it pushes them away. Dating isn't worth it these days,' one wrote.

'Why is it that every date I go on, I always pay for everything and then get ghosted? It feels so exploitative,' another said.

'Some of us still hold chivalry to be a value, but many of us have had it burnt out of us,' a man revealed.

'Everyone is happy raising awareness to each other's 'red flags' rather than spending that time working on themselves,' a fourth wrote.

Danielle, from Sydney, shared that dating as a millennial is equivalent to the bar being 'in hell'

But other women agreed with Danielle, and similarly slammed Australia's dating scene.

'I was impressed an English guy didn't try and sleep with me right away,' a Melbourne woman shared. 'He actually wanted to spend time with me first - the bar is low indeed.'

Another Aussie woman said, 'I went overseas and men came crawling out of the walls to buy every woman drinks. Back home, they'd make me pay for the first round.'

'Yup, Australian men really suck. Every man in Europe I have dated has been incredible. I refuse to date Aussies. The bar is so low here,' a woman wrote.
Glasses designed to filter out blue light from screens might be a waste of money, research has suggested.

Blue light pumped out by computers, tablets and phones is said to be ruining our eyesight by causing us to strain.

But academics from Britain and Australia claim the spectacles, sold at the likes of Specsavers, 'probably' make no difference.

And their review of 17 trials rubbished marketing claims that such glasses protect against damage to the retina, the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye.

Warnings over potential dangers of blue light have seen the glasses increasingly prescribed since the early 2000s.

Blue light pumped out by computers, tablets and phones is said to be ruining our eyesight by causing us to strain. Warnings over potential dangers of blue light have seen the glasses increasingly prescribed since the early 2000s. Hard-sell tactics have also seen sales of the lenses surge in recent years, particularly in the early days of the pandemic when screen-time imploded. Office workers have also been encouraged to buy themselves a pair, which can cost as little as 8 up to a staggering 280

Academics from Britain and Australia claim the spectacles, sold at the likes of Specsavers, 'probably' make no difference. Their review of 17 trials rubbished marketing claims that such glasses protect against damage to the retina, the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye

Hard-sell tactics have also seen sales of the lenses surge in recent years, particularly in the early days of the pandemic when screen-time imploded.

Office workers have also been encouraged to buy themselves a pair, which can cost up to 280. Some sunglasses also have blue-light coating.

But lead investigator Professor Laura Downie, of the University of Melbourne, said: 'People should be aware of these findings when deciding whether to purchase the spectacles.

'Our findings do not support the prescription of blue-light filtering lenses to the general population.'

Some research has suggested that exposure to blue light late at night can disturb sleeping patterns.

Studies have shown that cutting back on it can improve sleep quality, concentration and mood, while reducing eye strain.

But Professor Downie said: 'We found there may be no short-term advantages with using blue-light filtering spectacle lenses to reduce visual fatigue associated with computer use, compared to non-blue-light filtering lenses.

'It is also currently unclear whether these lenses affect vision quality or sleep-related outcomes.

'And no conclusions could be drawn about any potential effects on retinal health in the longer term.'

She added: 'The outcomes of our review, based on the best available evidence, show that the evidence is inconclusive and uncertain for these claims.'

The amount of blue light given off by screens is tiny compared to sunlight.

Specially designed lenses only filter out a maximum of 25 per cent of the light, too, experts say.

The review, which spanned six countries and involved hundreds of participants, was published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.

Trials assessed lasted for up to five weeks.

The research team, which included experts at City, University of London and Monash University, acknowledged they couldn't consider 'potential longer-term outcomes'.

Dr Sumeer Singh, fellow author, said more studies are needed.

He added: 'The amount of blue light our eyes receive from artificial sources, such as computer screens, is about a thousandth of what we get from natural daylight.

'It's also worth bearing in mind that blue-light filtering lenses typically filter out about 10 to 25 per cent of blue light, depending on the specific product.

'Filtering out higher levels of blue light would require the lenses to have an obvious amber tint, which would have a substantial effect on colour perception.'
Dental hygienists could be handed new powers under plans to tackle the growing dental crisis engulfing Britain.

As part of the Government's long-awaited recovery plan, hygienists and therapists may be allowed to give certain medicines without unnecessary admin.

Health minister Neil OBrien said the proposal  if given the go ahead  could help free up dentists 'to carry out vital services'.

Millions of Brits have struggled to get an NHS appointment in the past year. Out of desperation, some have resorted to pulling out their own teeth at home.

Ways of how therapists and hygienists can 'provide additional care to patients and reduce unnecessary delays' will be discussed in a consultation.

Official health service data, which records the number of adults seen by NHS dentists in 24 month periods shows the drastic decline in the number of people seeing a dentist since the pandemic. While people struggled to access NHS dentistry services before Covid due to a lack of appointments, the situation has deteriorated further with 6million fewer people seen compared to pre-pandemic levels

Millions of people have been left without access to dental care after the number of NHS dentists fell to their lowest level ever last year

Some regions in England are far worse than others for access to NHS dentistry. It is poorest in the North West, South West and Yorkshire and the Humber where 98 per cent of practices won' accept new patients. This was followed by the East Midlands with 97 per cent, the South East with 95 per cent, the East of England with 93 per cent, and the West Midlands with 84 per cent. London was the best performer for NHS dental care, but even in the nation's capital over three quarters (76 per cent) of practices were not accepting new patients

Department of Health bosses are expected to publish a full dental recovery plan in the coming weeks.

It follows a report by the Health and Social Care committee that called for 'urgent and fundamental reform'.

However, a professional body called for 'real reform' of NHS dentistry.

Dental therapists can already carry out fillings and extract teeth.

Many also administer medicines to patients but they currently have to ask a dentist to assess the patient first.

Sometimes they also need a dentist to sign documentation to confirm a patient has been assessed  otherwise known as patient group direction or patient specific direction.

But the new move could scrap some of the bureaucratic hurdles.

Eddie Crouch, chair of the British Dental Association, said: 'Barely a week goes by without government re-announcing the same tweaks to a failed contract.

'Dental hygienists and therapists make a vital contribution to patient care.

'But theres no army waiting in the wings to work under a broken NHS system.

'Millions are struggling to access needed care. Our patients deserve real reform, not more tinkering at the margins.'

A damning report earlier this year revealed that ten per cent of Britons admitted to attempting 'DIY dentistry'.

More than half (56 per cent) of the group carried out their own procedures in the last year and 20 per cent said they did so because they could not find an NHS dentist.
I am a civil engineer who has renovated a few properties in the past. I know that there are many empty properties around, which is a shame to people who are looking for homes and for neighbours/people who live near by.

I want to set up a non-profit homeless business, will this work? Dave Fishwick replies

I have an idea for a nonprofit homeless business but it would require a lot of organisations/people to work together, but I think it would be beneficial for everyone within a community.

I am not saying it is going to be easy and not entirely sure if it would work but with a lot of hard work and working together I am sure it is something that can be done.

So in a nutshell the idea is to buy empty properties, renovate them by maybe using unemployed, low skilled, ex offenders, young people who have left school early etc Thus turning unsightly buildings back into homes.

Like I have said previously its an idea I have had for a while but not sure where to start and how to go forward.

Ideally I would like to leave my job and be employed in some way in the new venture. Any help/thoughts would be gratefully received. via email

Dave Fishwick, This Is Moneys business doctor replies: I think it's a great idea with potential benefits both for people struggling to get a foot on the property ladder and local communities suffering the adverse effects of empty properties in their midst.

Many areas in the North of England have rows of vacant homes. Some coastal areas of Lancashire and the North East are particularly severely affected, at least in part, by a lack of quality local employment and other social issues.

I left school with no qualifications. However, I got a job on a building site as an apprentice builder, which gave me some excellent experience and skills that helped me later in life.

After making my original money in the vehicle industry, I started to reinvest some of that money in low-cost properties in Nelson and Burnley. I started buying terraced houses for under ten thousand pounds, and hundreds were available then.

I would renovate and rent the houses out, proving your theory works if you can secure the correct funding and backing from the councils, which I fear could be very difficult.

This was some years ago when I was buying and selling properties. However, more recently, I made a TV series for Channel 4 called "Can Property Pay Your Wages," and I proved you can still make money from property and my series is now showing on Amazon Prime.

Given the massive rise in property values over the last couple of decades, it's surprising that there are still so many empty homes.

People living in and around the capital might be surprised how cheap properties can be bought for in some of these areas up in the North.

The most significant hurdle to this idea would be the cost.

If this were to be achieved country-wide, it would need government involvement; few other bodies have the funds required.

Private companies with deep enough pockets can achieve better returns developing more significant sites than get involved with individual low-cost homes.

It would be much easier to start on a smaller local level, preferably with the cooperation of the local council.

Unfortunately, in my experience, local councils don't always tend to be very helpful where empty property is concerned. I once approached a council to discuss renovating a row of empty houses that were owned by the local authority. Their representative said they'd already had several such offers and were uninterested.

In some areas, if a project like this were to happen, it may have to be without help from the local council, which is a shame.

Someone I know in my local area recently bought a property to renovate and received a council tax bill for 5000 for the year, three times the average rate for the property.

That's not a great incentive to invest in the area and bring neglected homes back into habitable condition, providing much-needed housing.

One way you could start this is if you get a group of interested people together to buy a single neglected property, renovate it and use it as a case study showing how it could be done.

This would be a big step towards proving you have the know-how and documenting the costs involved.

You could use this first property to raise publicity in your local area and maybe more widely.

You could then either sell the property and put the profit towards reinvesting in other neglected properties, snowballing it into a larger scale, or perhaps offer the property to a charity or other good cause at cost price or discounted rent to show the potential benefits of what you're doing.

From recent experience and speaking to other business owners, your ideas on recruiting low-cost labour could prove more difficult than you think, even if you're prepared to offer training and experience to young people whose careers have gone off track.

The cost of living is a significant factor here, of course.

Still, I think cultural changes, less than perfectly thought-through education and social media promises of being able to leave school straight into the high life of an 'influencer' are all to blame, too.

If you can crack this nut, you'll have already achieved far more than you ever set out to.

I think the properties used to house people without homes could benefit society but would involve additional challenges.

Homelessness is a complex, multifaceted problem that stems from more than just a lack of affordable housing, though it's significant. Working with a specialist charity in the sector might be necessary to understand the issues and challenges.

As I've found in the past, the biggest challenge I think you'll face is convincing those in a position of power and funding to back you that your plan is feasible and deliverable.

Despite the various challenges involved, I think your ideas and instincts are good, and your experience with property and your background in engineering would be a great help.

Perhaps initially, you could speak to a charity that works in the housing sector - they're usually willing to provide information on what they do.

Maybe actively getting involved with or taking a job in the charitable housing industry first could help you gain experience in the fundraising side of the project and how it could be organised and funded on a larger scale.

Who knows where your ideas could lead. I wish you the best of luck.
The US chip designer which tried to buy British rival Arm, and is popular among some of the UK's leading stock pickers, has seen its shares almost triple in value so far this year.

This has made Nvidia the best-performing stock in the S&P 500. So there will be much interest when it publishes its second-quarter results on Wednesday  particularly among investors who own the stock through funds such as Bailie Gifford American and Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust.

One of the so-called Magnificent Seven alongside fellow American corporate giants Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft and Tesla, Nvidia has helped drive a substantial portion of stock market gains in the US this year.

As such, expectations are high, with revenues expected to come in at around 8.6billion, well above sales of 5.3billion in the same period last year. Boss Jensen Huang will be eager not to disappoint.

'The frothier valuation does increase the chance of disproportionate reactions should there be any disappointment from next week's results,' warns Sophie Lund-Yates at Hargreaves Lansdown.

Analysts are expecting third-quarter sales of 9.3billion, up from 4.6billion a year earlier.

For much of the past 30 years, Nvidia's success has come from computer games, with its chips featuring in the likes of Call Of Duty. But its chips are also a favourite for Artificial Intelligence, or AI, and when OpenAI released ChatGPT last year it contained more than 20,000 graphics processors made by Nvidia.
Wilko, founded 97 years ago in Leicester, has become the latest retail casualty. Will the main beneficiary of its demise now be FTSE 100 member B&M, the discount variety goods chain born in Blackpool in 1978, but nowadays based in Liverpool?

Deutsche Bank considers that this could be the outcome, setting a new 680p target for B&M shares, although they have already risen by 32 per cent this year to 559p.

Deutsche argues that the 'current valuation is too cheap for the asset', pointing to higher sales and profit margins, and more payouts for shareholders.

Some will feel this seems too good to be true, like one of the giveaway lines in a B&M store.

But since the forward price-earnings (p/e) ratio  a measure of the expensiveness of a company's shares  is 14.5 times, slightly below the historic average, it is worth taking a look. This is especially so if, like me, you are trying to add UK shares to your portfolio in the belief that our markets offer more dash for less cash.

Brothers in business: Simon and Bobby Arora own B&M stores

Poor management meant that Wilko failed to capitalise on the cost of living crisis.

But B&M has been more deftly positioned for a tough economic climate in which people still wish to spend on themselves, their homes and their pets, but within a tight budget, particularly for groceries. B&M sells food in its own stores and through its Heron Foods arm, which operates 325 stores.

The company was originally known by the names of its founders  Billington and Mayman. It then became B&M which some say stands for Bargain Madness. This may sum up the B&M cut-price offer, but not the retailer's carefully-devised strategy with its huge range of merchandise, much of it directly sourced from its own Asian-based buying operation. This gives it an edge on design and value.

Alex Russo, B&M's chief executive talks of 'a relentless focus on price, product and excellence'.

Russo took over a year ago from Simon Arora who bought the ailing B&M in 2005 with his brother Bobby, a product-sourcing supremo. Although a billionaire, Bobby will remain as trading director for the next three years.

Meanwhile the Arora family continues to hold 7pc of the company through a Luxembourg vehicle.

The careful choice of store location has fuelled B&M's ascent. Simon Skinner, head of European investments at the fund manager Orbis which has a large stake in B&M, says: 'Wilko stores were mostly on the High Street, but B&M has been prioritising convenience, putting stores where consumers want to be, which is on retail parks.'

The perfect B&M site is close to the discount supermarkets Aldi or a Lidl. As data firm Kantar's figures showed this week, Aldi and Lidl are winning market share.

Some of this is thanks to the bargain-hunting middle classes who fill a trolley with Lidl 'dupes'  copies of household brand foods  and then drop by B&M.

Many of these customers developed the B&M habit during lockdown when the 707 UK stores were open. The reach of the group has also been extended to a younger clientele through Tik Tok on which shoppers show off their B&M cosmetic and homeware dupe  or duplicate 'hauls'.

The formula works equally well in France where the company has 105 outlets following the acquisition of the Babou chain in 2018. Most of these shops bear the bold blue and red B&M logo.

Views differ on whether B&M can continue to expand. The ambition is to have 950 UK stores. Skinner argues that it will be able to exploit the weakness of other retailers who will struggle because they cannot 'execute', that is, perform in the current environment.

But Jonathan De Mello, boss of the JDM Retail Consultancy, wonders whether B&M is 'running out of runway' on out-of-town store openings, given the risk that a new outlet can cannibalise the trade of a nearby store.

He believes that B&M should apply its skills to the High Street, where it has only a small presence, snapping up some of the larger Wilko premises. This could win over a new set of customers to the B&M proposition. Many consumers in their 20s, attracted to such B&M specialities as Barbie biscuits and decor accessories, do not have access to a car.

The question mark as to whether B&M can sustain its growth helps explains why eight of the analysts who follow the company rate the shares a 'hold'. Another seven are evidently as enthusiastic as Deutsche and have issued 'buy' recommendations.

My conviction late last year that Marks & Spencer shares were undervalued has been repaid with an 80 per cent bounce. The possibility that M&S could return to the FTSE 100 could provide a further fillip. Now I am going to be a buyer of B&M, regretfully giving up on the idea that a period of weakness would turn the stock into an even bigger summer bargain than anything in its stores.
In this series, we bust the jargon and explain a popular investing term or theme. Here it's Gamma.

Concerns: An increase in volatility is often a sign that confidence in the outlook for share prices is waning, as investors turn fearful

Something from a sci-fi novel?

Nothing so exciting. But this options market metric, which takes its name from the third letter of the Greek alphabet and is an indicator of share price volatility, has been appearing more frequently in stock market reports.

This reflects concerns that Wall Street's unexpected bounce this year  the S&P 500 index is up by 18 per cent since January  could be running out of steam.

An increase in volatility is often a sign that confidence in the outlook for share prices is waning, as investors turn fearful.

This is why some analysts at major banks and brokers are looking very closely at the gamma positions of option traders.

Remind me. What are options?

Options are financial derivatives. You buy a 'call' option if you want to acquire the right to buy a certain share at a fixed price at some point in the future. If you want to sell that share, you buy a 'put' option.

Options trading, an activity with huge risks, has doubled since 2020, with 10billion contracts in the US alone last year.

This was partly the result of the greater involvement of private investors, which began during the pandemic. But many are now participating less, having either made losses  or found the jargon, including terms such as gamma, incomprehensible.

What is the significance of gamma in options trading?

Gamma is one of the 'option Greeks'. These are the metrics used by traders to gauge the factors that may influence an option's value  and so discover whether they are going to make or lose money on the contract. The key metrics are delta, gamma, theta and vega.

Delta is an estimate of how much an option's value may change given a move of 1 or $1 either up or down in the value of the underlying share. The gamma shows the rate of change between an option's delta and the price of the underlying share.

The theta should show by how much the value of an option should decline as the expiry date approaches, while the vega should give a picture of the influence of large ups and downs in the price of that underlying share.

These calculations are carried out by computers rather than humans.

This is still all Greek to me

It is less important to understand the mathematics behind the calculations of gamma than to be aware of the role that this and other metrics are playing, behind the scenes, in the direction of stock markets.

Some Wall Street analysts even use their estimates of the gamma exposure of the option traders as a basis of share recommendations. If these traders believe that they are about to lose money on a contract, they will buy the underlying share, which may drive up its price. This phenomenon is called a 'gamma squeeze'.

In 2021, a fund manager at a division of Morgan Stanley concluded that gamma estimates suggested that stocks would hold steady and did a series of lucrative deals based on that assumption, earning this individual the nickname the Gamma Hammer. It all suggests that options trading is a highly complex matter. You may conclude it's best left to the professionals.
A Qatari sheikh whose son is bidding for Manchester United is thinking about selling two West London properties for a total of 370m.

Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani  known as the 'man who bought London'  is planning to sell his One Hyde Park penthouse in Knightsbridge for 220m as well as a property near Belgrave Square for 150m.

It is understood the sheikh, who has a net worth of around 892m, could decide not to sell if bidders snub his hefty asking prices, Bloomberg reported.

Between 2000 and 2013, the 63-year-old billionaire oversaw a series of high-profile investments in the capital, including Harrods and the Shard.

His son Sheik Jassim, 44, recently made a last-ditch fourth offer for Manchester United.

Realm: Sheikh Hamad and One Hyde Park

A friend of King Charles, Al Thani was embroiled in a royal scandal last year after it emerged he donated 2.5m in cash to the then-prince in cash between 2011 and 2015.

Clarence House said donations from the sheikh were passed immediately to one of Charles's charities and all processes were above board.
Nine babies might have been saved or escaped harm had hospital managers and doctors not missed vital opportunities to stop Lucy Letbys killing spree.

On up to ten occasions, suspicions were raised or events happened that linked her to the spike in deaths or collapses on the Countess of Chester Hospitals neo-natal unit.

Crucially, doctors failed to appreciate the significance of blood test results from two baby boys  treated eight months apart  which proved that someone on the ward was poisoning children with insulin.

When consultants finally became suspicious and demanded Letby be removed from her frontline job, hospital bosses refused to believe she was to blame.

Desperate to protect the reputation of the trust, bosses moved her into an office job. But they fought to get her reinstated onto the neo-natal unit  even insisting senior medics write her a letter of apology when a formal employment grievance she pursued apparently found little evidence she had done anything wrong.

A staff chart showed that Lucy Letby was present at every chilling incident involving children on the ward

Letby, pictured here holding a baby on the ward, went on a year-long killing spree at the Countess of Chester Hospital

Tony Chambers (pictured) stepped down as the Chief Executive of the Countess of Chester Hospital after the police launched an inquiry into the baby deaths

Medical director Ian Harvey receiving a retirement gift in 2018

In the end, consultants were so terrified about having her anywhere near their patients that they demanded CCTV be installed on the unit. They eventually persuaded executives to go to police in May 2017 and blocked her return.

Last night Dr Stephen Brearey, the consultant paediatrician in charge of the unit, accused hospital management of a cover-up.

His colleague, TV medic Dr Ravi Jayaram, said lives could have been saved had managers acted on their concerns sooner and accused them of failing to act to protect the hospitals reputation.

Dr John Gibbs, another consultant paediatrician at the hospital, said: In the 11 months before the police got involved, after we raised concerns, senior managers were extremely reluctant to involve police, to discuss what was happening. We had to keep insisting the police be involved.

Missed chance 1

The trial was told that the link between Letby and the unexpected collapses and deaths was first made as early as June 2015 when three babies died and another had to be resuscitated within the space of a fortnight. Dr Brearey was so worried he decided to carry out an informal review into the deaths of the infants, known as Babies A, C and D, and the unexpected collapse of Baby As twin sister, Baby B.

Eirian Powell, the neo-natal unit manager, also examined who was on duty during the four events. A meeting was held between Dr Brearey, Mrs Powell, and Alison Kelly, the then director of nursing, when it was noted that Letby was the only employee on duty when each baby collapsed.

But no-one took the threat seriously at that stage. Dr Brearey said he even made the remark: It cant be Lucy, not nice Lucy.

However, he discussed the meeting with colleagues including Dr Jayaram, the consultant in charge of the childrens ward. All eyes were on Letby from that point onwards, Dr Brearey said.

Missed chance 2

Around six weeks later, doctors failed to spot that someone had poisoned a premature twin boy, Baby F, with insulin.

Letby murdered his twin brother, Baby E, in the early hours of August 4 by injecting air into his bloodstream. However his death was put down to natural causes. The following day she poisoned bags of nutrients being fed to his brother with the drug, which lowers blood sugar.

Baffled when treatment to raise Baby Fs blood glucose failed to work, doctors sent samples of his blood to a specialist laboratory in Liverpool for analysis. The results, which showed he had off the scale levels of manufactured insulin in his blood, were telephoned through to the laboratory at the Countess several days later on August 13.

But by then Baby Fs blood sugar had stabilised and he had been transferred to a different hospital closer to his parents home.

One of the consultants, who was not named in court for legal reasons, realised the results were abnormal. She even looked to see if any other babies on the unit were being given insulin at the same time  which they werent. But she did not suspect foul play. She failed to flag the results to Dr Brearey or any other colleagues and they were effectively ignored.

Alison Kelly was the director of nursing and quality and had been on a salary of 130,000 at the time Letby went on her killing spree

A chilling green post-in note was found by police. On it Letby had written 'I AM EVIL, I DID THIS' in capital letters

Missed chance 3

Almost three more months passed, during which time Letby attacked another baby girl before she murdered her fifth patient. The infant, another premature baby girl, known as Baby I, died on October 23. Later that day consultants on the neo-natal unit decided to flag their concerns again in an email to Mrs Kelly.

However Dr Jayaram said they were fobbed off and Letby was allowed to continue working.

Missed chance 4

All the signs missed by hospital bosses that a killer was murdering newborn babies Hospital chiefs at the Countess of Chester ignored crucial warnings killer nurse Lucy Letby was targeting newborn babies. Two doctors carried out reviews following the deaths of three babies died in the space of two weeks in June 2015. Despite Letby being on duty when the babies died, nobody took the threat she posed seriously. The second missed chance to stop Letby was around six weeks later when doctors failed to spot someone had poisoned a premature twin boy, Baby F, with insulin. Hospital chiefs 'fobbed off' an email from consultants over concerns following the death of Baby I. An independent review by neonatologist Dr Nim Subedar raises concern about Letby on February 8, 2016, but the nurse continued to work at the hospital. In February 2016 Letby was interrupted tampering with the breathing tubes of a premature baby girl. Letby was doing nothing to help the baby, even though the newborn's oxygen levels were plummeting. Despite this, the doctor on duty failed to confront Letby or make a note of her inaction. Hospital bosses ignored a request for an urgent meeting about Letby from a consultant for three months. By then five babies had been murdered and six harmed by Letby in nine months. Letby was moved onto day shifts but two days after the move, in April 2016, she poisoned a second twin boy, Baby L, with insulin. Again, for a second time, doctors failed to pick up on his abnormal blood test results when they were returned. Baby L's notes by a junior doctor who didn't flag them to the consultants or realise their importance. Two babies were murdered by Letby in the space of 24 hours. Calls were made for Letby to be removed from the ward immediately. But again, managers failed to act. Advertisement

Soon afterwards, Dr Brearey commissioned an independent neonatologist to carry out a thematic review of deaths on the unit. Dr Nim Subhedar, who was based at the Liverpool Womens Hospital, reported his findings on February 8, 2016.

Although Dr Subhedar found no explanation for the increase in deaths, Dr Subhedar also flagged that Letby was the only nurse on duty during each event. He had been unaware of the association that had been made previously, Dr Brearey said.

Missed chance 5

In the same month Dr Jayarams suspicions heightened when he believed he interrupted Letby tampering with the breathing tube of a very premature baby girl, known as Baby K.

He claimed he found Letby stood next to the babys incubator doing nothing even though her oxygen levels were dropping and she had begun to collapse. Baby K was transferred to Arrowe Park, where she died three days later. Letby was charged with attempted murder of Baby K but the jury failed to reach a verdict in her case.

Dr Jayaram admitted he failed to confront Letby, make a note of his suspicions in Baby Ks medical notes, or put in a formal report or complaint. He explained medics were thinking the unthinkable and insisted hospital management were aware of his and his colleagues concerns. But another chance was lost.

Missed chance 6

Around this time, Dr Brearey demanded an urgent meeting with the hospitals executive team.

However, his request was ignored for another three months and Dr Jayaram said medics faced pressure... not to make a fuss. Dr Jayaram said: I wish we had bypassed [the managers] and gone straight to the police. We by no means were playing judge and jury at any point but the association [with Letby] was becoming clearer and clearer.

Missed chance 7

Also in February 2016 the hospital was inspected by the independent heath watchdog, the Care Quality Commission.

Sources told the Health Service Journal that concerns were raised about the high mortality rate on the unit, and of the difficulties faced by consultants in getting managers to take their concerns seriously.

Although the CQC report raised issues around staffing levels and the skill-mix on the neo-natal unit, both childrens and maternity services overall were rated good.

The regulator also praised the Trusts overall culture, saying it was very positive and that staff were able to raise concerns.

The CQC said it informed Mr Harvey at the time about the consultants claims around raising concerns, but insisted it had no record of any problems being flagged about high death rates.

Missed chance 8

By February five babies had been murdered by Letby in nine months. Doctors had noted a lot of the collapses and deaths had taken place on night shifts, when parents were less likely to be around and fewer staff were on duty.

Mrs Powell was asked to move Letby onto days but, on a day shift just two days later, she poisoned a second twin boy, Baby L, with insulin and tried to kill his twin brother, Baby M, by injecting him with air.

Again, doctors failed to pick up on his abnormal blood test results when they were returned. Dr Gibbs said the test results were entered into Baby Ls notes by a junior doctor who didnt flag them to consultants or realise their importance.

Missed chance 9

In May, Dr Brearey finally got the meeting with management he had been requesting since February. He told the BBC the executives present, who included medical director Ian Harvey and Mrs Kelly, appeared in denial. Again, they refused to act and Letby was allowed to continue working.

Chief executive Tony Chambers told the Mail there was no evidence, other than coincidence and a gut feeling that Letby was behind the attacks.

Missed chance 10

In early June, Letby attacked another premature boy, Baby N, who had been born with the blood clotting disorder haemophilia.

However, the tipping point came a few weeks later when she returned from holiday and murdered two of three triplets in the space of 24 hours.

The boys were considered in a good condition for triplets when two of them, Babies O and P, suddenly collapsed and died.

Karen Moore was one of Letby's direct line managers. She was the former head of nursing for urgent care in 2015. She is pictured at her retirement party in 2018

Ruth Millward (pictured) was in charge of risk and patient safety whilst the babies were being harmed

Court artist sketch of Letby sobbing. She denied murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six others in the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016

How Letby's close friend broke down in tears as she recalled feeling the final heartbeat of her first victim By Nigel Bunyan One of Lucy Letby's closest friends broke down during the trial as she recalled feeling the final heartbeat of the killer's first victim. The nurse, who had mentored Letby from her days as a student, was giving chest compressions to Baby A as a team of medics fought desperately to save his life in June, 2015. But unknown to her, the colleague she had worked alongside for more than three years had furtively injected the infant with air. Nurse A was shift leader on the unit when Baby A suddenly collapsed. As medics crowded around, she was given the role of reaching into the incubator to deliver gentle chest compressions. At the same time a paediatrician was administering tiny doses of adrenaline one by one. After each dose, all of those involved in the resuscitation listened for signs of a response. Finally, they realised they could do no more to help him. 'There was nothing,' the nurse said in tears. 'Just one more heartbeat'. Nurse A had chosen to give her evidence from behind a screen rather than catch sight of the woman in the glass-panelled dock a few yards away. She told the jury she had never seen a neonate look the way Baby A did that day. 'He looked very ill. He had a discolouration pattern I've never seen before. He was white with sort of purply blotches. He looked cyanotic. It was these purple blotches with white that I'd not seen before, all over his body'. Asked where in particular on his body, she replied: 'Everywhere. Maybe more torsono, I can't remember clearly. I just knew it was very unusual. 'It had come on very suddenly. It was just so unusual and very unexpected'. Nearly three months later same nurse appears to have almost stumbled on an explanation for the first three murders. She told Letby in a WhatsApp about the death of Baby D: 'There's something odd about that night and the other 3 that went so suddenly'. Letby responded: 'What do you mean?' Nurse A: 'Odd that we lost 3 and in different circumstances' But then she pulled back. 'Ignore me,' she wrote a few moments later. 'I'm speculating'. Advertisement

Their brother survived after his parents demanded he be transferred to a specialist unit. Following the death of Baby P, on June 24, Dr Brearey was so concerned he telephoned Karen Rees, a senior nurse in urgent care, and demanded Letby be removed from the ward immediately.

But Mrs Rees refused Dr Breareys request, saying there was no evidence Letby was responsible. Letby was allowed to work the following day and, during this shift allegedly tried to murder her final victim, Baby Q, leaving him with brain damage. The jury failed to reach a verdict in his case.

Letby worked three more day shifts that week until she was finally stopped from nursing patients on the unit on June 30. Managers redeployed her into a clerical role, telling her the move was temporary while an external review was carried out.

Five days after Baby P died, consultants again emailed Mr Harvey urging him to call in police.

But, according to the BBC, he replied: Action is being taken and All e-mails cease forthwith.

Instead, Mr Harvey invited the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Heath (RCPCH) to review the unit. He also asked Dr Jane Hawdon, a premature baby specialist in London, to review the medical notes of babies who had died on the neonatal unit.

In the meantime, Letby had been re-deployed in the Risk and Patient Safety Office, which gave her access to sensitive documents relating to the neonatal unit and some of the senior managers whose job it was to investigate her. But she hated the job, so in September she launched a formal grievance against the hospital in a bid to get back to frontline nursing.

The RCPCH completed its report in November 2016, recommending a thorough external independent review of each death. Dr Hawdons report also recommended four of the baby deaths be forensically investigated.

However the four deaths were never examined and, when Mr Harvey presented the reports to the board of directors, in January, it is alleged there was no mention of a need for further investigations.

The internal grievance procedure also found no evidence Letby had done anything wrong and, at a meeting in January 2017, Mr Chambers told them: Im drawing a line under this, you will draw a line under this, and if you cross that line, there will be consequences.

Managers ordered the consultants to apologise to Letby for the victimisation she had suffered or face a referral to medical watchdog, the General Medical Council.

Dr Gibbs told the Mail: The managers decided Lucy Letby had done nothing wrong, that our concerns were unfounded and that she would be coming back to work and we had to apologise to her. We felt very uncomfortable that the problems were not being addressed.

The doctors wrote the apology but, fearful Letby could soon be back treating babies, refused to back down, eventually attending a meeting with Mr Chambers and a panel which included a senior police officer.

As soon as the police officer heard that a member of staff might be involved he said this has to go to the police, Dr Gibbs added.

Dr Jayaram, who was also at the meeting, added: I could have punched the air.

The next day, Cheshire Police launched a criminal investigation into the suspicious baby deaths.

WATCH THE MAIL'S LUCY LETBY DOCUMENTARY IN FULL HERE

Hospital bosses were warned on several occasions about the worrying spike in infant deaths on the neonatal ward - and the link with Letby. But a court heard these warnings were 'fobbed off'. Pictured is the Countess of Chester Hospital's neonatal unit
Lucy Letby was suspected of having a secret affair with a married doctor who became her 'best friend' while she was murdering babies at work.

The nurse and the medic went on day trips to London, met for walks and meals together in their free time away from the hospital and swapped hundreds of messages on Facebook, often late into the night.

Letby insisted they were 'nothing more' than 'trusted' friends and denied being 'in love' with the doctor, who applied for anonymity at the start of the trial and cannot be identified for legal reasons.

But she called him 'sweetie' in messages and broke down in tears and tried to leave the dock when the father-of-two betrayed her by coming to court to give evidence against her.

Letby admitted he had visited her home, where she lived alone, and the content of many messages, simply described as 'of a social nature', that were recovered by police from her mobile phone and exchanged between the pair, often for hours at a time, were not shown to the jury.

The doctor told Letby she was 'one of a few nurses I would trust with my own children' and, even after her eventual removal from the unit, he spent a weekend in London with her and joined her on numerous trips around Cheshire.

He once sent her the message: 'If you've any doubt about how good you are at your job  stop now'.

Lucy was suspected of having a secret affair with a married doctor who became her 'best friend' while she was murdering babies at work

A note where Letby appeared to declare her love for her married colleague

Texts between Letby and the unnamed doctor were read out in court. They appeared to show the doctor comforting the killer nurse as she feigned upset after the death of one of her victims

And in another exchange over WhatsApp, Letby appeared to chat about her blossoming friendship with the doctor - who prosecutors said she had tried to impress by creating 'crisis situations' where they could work alongside each other to save the babies she had poisoned

He only joined the unit in the autumn of 2015, but they quickly became friends. He would go to her home or else they'd meet for meals and coffees. Sometimes they'd go for walks or visit the Cheshire Oaks designer outlet.

The relationship between the paediatric registrar and the nurse he so admired was an uncomfortable, and on one occasion ridiculous, thread that ran through the entire nine-month trial.

Prosecutor Nick Johnson KC repeatedly referred to him as Letby's 'boyfriend' and during one particularly testy exchange during her cross-examination she appeared to concede that was the case.

Mr Johnson suggested she was so infatuated with him that  in at least four of the cases - she attacked and murdered babies knowing the medic would be the one crash bleeped to come and help.

She created the 'crisis situations' because she wanted to get his attention, to work with him so they could try to save the babies together, Mr Johnson said. It also gave her something to talk to the older doctor, who is 17 years her senior, about afterwards.

The unsuspecting medic even provided a shoulder for Letby to cry on and comforted her, telling her what a good nurse she was when she feigned upset after murdering two brothers  identical triplets  on consecutive shifts, in June 2016.

Their closeness was certainly noticed by colleagues at the hospital and Letby's friends teased her about their 'flirty' relationship.

In one text message, she protested: 'I don't flirt with him! Certainly, don't fancy him ha ha just a nice guy.'

But on notes discovered at her home Letby had written his name repeatedly next to doodles of love hearts and other phrases, including: 'My best friend...LOVE...I loved you and I think you knew that...I wanted you to stand by me but you didn't.'

Now a consultant at a different hospital elsewhere in the country, the doctor and Letby regularly exchanged messages when they were both on duty in different parts of the Countess of Chester Hospital.

Letby also made references to his wife of 25 years, and their teenage children, in conversations and searched for his spouse multiple times on Facebook.

On the first day the doctor gave evidence, he chose to do so from behind a screen. Letby appeared to have no idea this was about to happen, and his decision sent her into an emotional spiral, rushing tearfully towards the side door of the glass-panelled dock.

The trial heard that the medic began messaging Letby regularly via Facebook after asking her for a 'favour' on June 2 2016.

It prompted Letby to WhatsApp one of her close nursing friends while she was working a night shift that same evening  just hours before she attacked and tried to kill her 13th victim, a premature baby with haemophilia, known as Baby N.

She wrote: 'Had strange message from (doctor) earlier.'

Her friend replied jokingly: 'Did u? Saying what? Go commando? '

The nurse and her medic 'boyfriend' went on day trips to London, met up for walks and meals together in their free time away from the hospital. Letby is pictured in a court sketch

The unsuspecting doctor gave Letby (pictured) a shoulder to cry on when she feigned upset after murdering two brothers  identical triplets  on consecutive shifts, in June 2016

Letby said: 'Asking when I was working next week as wants to talk to me about something, has a favour to ask..?'

Her friend added: 'Think he likes u too. Hmm did u not ask what it was?

Letby said: 'No just said when I was working and he said wants my opinion on something. Hmm... Do you think he's being odd?'

Her friend replied: 'Thought as flirty as u.'

Letby said: 'Shut up! I don't flirt with him! Certainly don't fancy him haha just nice guy.'

She later claimed in cross-examination that she didn't know what 'go commando,' a phrase used to refer to wearing no underwear, meant.

In other messages sent on another shift two weeks later, after Letby tried to murder the same baby twice more on the same day, the pair discussed her upcoming annual leave and holidays in Cockington, Devon.

The nurse described him as a 'sweetie' when he bought her chocolate to cheer her up and offered her his car so she didn't have to walk home from work after the stressful shift, during which Baby N nearly died and had to be transferred to a specialist hospital, in Liverpool.

In one message, sent two and a half hours after the second alleged attack on Baby N, Letby told the doctor about the baby's problems, before adding: 'Sat having a quiet moment and want to cry.'

Police seized a number of handwritten notes made by Letby after she was arrested, including this one where she has circled the word 'hate'

Letby used to create 'crisis situations' so she could spend time with the doctor. Pictured is the Countess of Chester Hospital's neonatal unit where Letby went on a killing spree

He replied: 'Oh Lucy, poor little thing and you Are you ok? Have a cry, you'll feel better for it I'm sure.

'You're welcome to take my car home if you're too tired to walk. I'll sort out picking it up in the morning. So sorry you've had a rubbish day.'

He asked Letby about a holiday she was due to go on to Devon with her parents the following month, adding: 'I haven't been back to Torbay for a few years - must be nearly three. I'm always surprised by how little it changes when I go back. Happy memories (smiley face emoji).

'I used to love Cockington in the summer - it always looked so pretty when the flowers were out (flowers emoji).'

Letby replied: 'Cockington is gorgeous!! We always go there for afternoon tea. Dad was offered a job in Paignton many moons ago, it could have been a very different childhood growing up by the sea. Looking forward to going back.

Letby's (pictured) had denied killing seven babies and attempting to murder six others while serving as a neonatal nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital

'You are a sweetie. Thank you.'

She also thanked him for some chocolate he had left for her, which the medic said was 'well deserved.'

'Chocolate makes the bad days a little better,' he said. 'Hope you like it (smiley face emoji).'

The two of them had been undoubtedly close. So close professionally that when Dr A was trying desperately to save Baby O, she was at his side. What he didn't know was that she had already sabotaged the baby, so all his efforts would be in vain.

At one point in the trial Nick Johnson KC, prosecuting, suggested the nightmare scenario that Letby carried out some of her later attacks specifically to bring Dr A onto the unit - just she could work alongside him.

He was soon called to help when Baby O collapsed and, although the messages stopped as the crisis unfolded, the pair continued their Facebook conversation later on that evening, after Baby O died. The messages went back and forth over several hours, with Letby asking when he would next be back on the neo-natal unit, until they said goodnight at 1.30am.

He was also working when the second triplet, Baby P, was murdered the following day - after which he offered her a lift because she knew he had fainted.

During a text exchange with a friend, Letby denied she and the male doctor were flirting. Letby is pictured pulling a face on a night out

Court artist sketch of Letby sobbing. She denied murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six others in the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016

Letby was the nurse allocated to look after Baby P on the day of his death and, following his collapse, on the morning of June 24, another registrar Dr Tony Ukoh gave evidence that one of the nurses - he couldn't remember exactly which one - specifically asked if the unnamed doctor could attend to help as well.

He was duly bleeped and arrived soon afterwards. Letby and the doctor, plus other colleagues, spent the day giving Baby P repeated CPR as his condition deteriorated before he passed away that afternoon.

'Did you enjoy being in these crisis situations with (unnamed doctor)?' Mr Johnson asked Letby.

'No,' she replied.

Mr Johnson said: 'Did it give you something to talk to him about and message him about?'

'No, he was a friend,' she said.

'Something in common you could share?' the barrister probed.

'No,' Letby insisted.

WATCH THE MAIL'S LUCY LETBY DOCUMENTARY IN FULL HERE

In another note, Letby had scribbled a jumble of words, with phrases like 'love', 'I can't do this anymore' and 'help me' written on it

And in one particularly chilling correspondence, Letby wrote a sympathy letter to the family of one of the children she had murdered

Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of Letby at the start of the cross examination by barrister is Nicholas Johnson KC, during her murder trial at Manchester Crown Court

Unlike his consultant colleagues, Letby's doctor friend was not suspicious of her and told her he thought they had worked well together to try and save the triplets.

He remained loyal even after the brothers' deaths, sharing confidential details of a debrief between doctors and hospital executives when she was moved off the unit - and urged her not to worry because she had done her job 'perfectly.'

'You are one of a few nurses across the region (I've worked pretty much everywhere) that I would trust with my own children,' he wrote. He even offered to write her a 'statement' if anyone suggested the care she had provided was 'not good enough' or inadequate, such was his faith in her.

The doctor was such a 'trusted' friend of Letby that even after her eventual removal from the unit he spent a weekend in London with her and joined her on numerous trips around Cheshire.

They met up several times over the following 12 months, including five times in May and June 2017, when they visited Hartford, a small town around 16 miles outside Chester and the Cheshire Oaks shopping centre, in nearby Ellesmere Port

They also met for a meal at Hickory's, an American-themed restaurant by the River Dee in Chester and at Starbucks, before visiting the capital.

Letby insisted they never stayed overnight together in London and that a second trip, planned for September was cancelled because the doctor had a medical appointment to attend.

Killer nurse Letby would often pull funny faces for photos while out with friends. Two of her murders took place shortly after returning from a week-long holiday to Ibiza

Oblivious to the sadism she was hiding 'in plain sight', the doctor gave Letby emotional support just as the net was finally closing in on her. He told her he was 'proud' of the care she had given both O and P and assured her there was 'absolutely nothing for you to worry about'.

He then told her the detail of a review carried out into the triplets' deaths on July 5  not knowing that years later the entire conversation would be played out in a courtroom.

'You need to keep this to yourself,' he told her in the early hours of the following morning. 'We reviewed everything. Room/meds/medical reviews and actions. We looked at all documentation med & nur'.

At 12.58am he sent the message: 'If you've any doubt about how good you are at your job  stop now'.

Over the next few minutes he told her that her documentation had been 'perfect:' and that 'everybody commented about the appropriateness of your request for a review of Baby O'.

Another element of the documentation had been 'faultless' and there was 'absolutely nothing for you to worry about'.

Eventually, the doctor turned his back on Letby and she told the court their friendship 'fizzled out' at the beginning of 2018, around six months before her first arrest.
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Parents of babies murdered and maimed by Lucy Letby today described their 'eight years of torture' after she was convicted of killing seven newborns - as more families were warned their children could be victims of the pure evil nurse with police now reviewing the care of 4,000 babies admitted to NHS wards where Letby had worked.

The neonatal nurse, 33, now replaces Myra Hindley and Ian Brady as the most prolific child killer in modern British history after a jury found her guilty of murdering seven premature babies and attempting to murder six more. Letby was also found not guilty of two attempted murder charges but the jury could not reach verdicts on six further counts of attempted murder.

She will be sentenced on Monday. But the cowardly killer refused to return to the dock yesterday to hear the last of the guilty verdicts - with the judge admitting he has no power to make her to come up from the cells. Calls are now deafening for a new law to force criminals to face their punishment - and the families of their victims - in court.

In a statement read outside Manchester Crown Court today, the victims' families said: 'We are quite simply stunned. To lose a baby is a heartbreaking experience that no parent should ever have to go through, but to lose a baby or to have a baby harmed in these particular circumstances is unimaginable. Over the past seven to eight years, we have had to go through a long, torturous and emotional journey.

'From losing our precious newborns and grieving their loss, seeing our children who survived, some of whom are still suffering today, to being told years later that their death or collapse might be suspicious, nothing can prepare you for that news.'

Letby, who faces a whole life term meaning she will die in prison, murdered five baby boys and two baby girls and attempted to murder four boys and two girls between June 2015 and June 2016. She preyed on babies small enough to fit in the palm of her hand by injecting air or insulin into their bloodstreams or feeding tubes, causing them to collapse and die. In other cases she rammed medical equipment down their throats, causing them to bleed profusely as they lay in their cots.

Among her victims were twins and two boys in a set of identical triplets who she murdered within 24 hours of each other after returning from a week-long holiday to Ibiza. Letby would comfort the parents of children she killed - even sending them sympathy cards after their funerals. Before attacking innocent newborns as young as 23-weeks she had told mothers and fathers: 'Trust me, I'm a nurse'. After she killed one child she texted a colleague and said: 'Dad was on the floor crying, saying please dont take our baby away when I took him to the mortuary, its just heart-breaking. It was the hardest thing Ive ever had to do'.

After each of her murders, Letby appeared 'animated and excited', offering to bathe, dress and take photographs of her victims' bodies. Due to her lack of contrition, her motive remains unclear, but the prosecution believes she got a 'thrill' out of 'playing God'. They also suggested she had been trying to impress a married doctor, knowing he'd be the one to come and help if she hurt children in her care.

Police are now reviewing the care of 4,000 babies Letby may have come into contact with during a spell at the Countess of Chester Hospital from January 2012 to the end of June 2016 and two work placements at Liverpool Women's Hospital in 2012 and 2015.

More families have already been warned their children may be victims during her five-year NHS career. Detective Superintendent Paul Hughes, the senior investigating officer in the case, today admitted he could not say how many other active cases there are but added: 'There are cases where we've told parents.'

Of those 4,000 children, only cases highlighted as medically concerning will be investigated further. The review at Liverpool Women's Hospital does not involve any deaths. This afternoon the Department of Health heeded families' calls for an independent public inquiry. It said this will examine 'the circumstances surrounding the deaths and incidents, including how concerns raised by clinicians were dealt with'.

Children's nurse Lucy Letby (pictured in a custody photo, left; and while working in hospital, right) went on a year-long killing spree while working at the Countess of Chester Hospital

Police Family Liaison Officer Janet Moore (right) reads out a family statement outside Manchester Crown Court today. Also pictured is Pascale Jones from the CPS and DCI Nicola Evans

Members of the Cheshire Police investigation team embrace following this afternoon's verdicts - which came after a ten-month trial

Letby - wearing a blue hoodie with the strings covered in pink glitter - is taken from her house in handcuffs after being arrested by Cheshire Police in July 2018

Letby steps into the police car - telling officers to be careful because she had just had knee surgery

Letby being quizzed in July 2018 by an officer about the rise in deaths on her watch. Letby replies: 'They told me there had been a lot more deaths and I'd been linked as someone who had been there for a lot of them.' Asked if she was concerned about the rise in mortality, Letby says - meekly - 'yes'

Letby cries as she listens to the first guilty verdicts being read out by the foreman of the jury at Manchester Crown Court

An artist's sketch of empty chairs inside the court after Letby refused to go into the dock to hear the further verdicts against her

A note found in Letby's house that had the word 'hate' circled and added: 'I am evil I did this'

Letby's parents, Susan and John, arrive at Manchester Crown Court on August 18. The couple supported her every day in court. A source told the Mail that Letby's mother was distraught when her daughter was arrested  wailing and crying, even telling police: 'I did it, take me instead,' in a desperate bid to protect her

Today Lucy Letby has been convicted of being one of the worst serial killers in British history. Her bosses at the time face serious questions after her 10-month trial, Britain's longest ever murder case, heard how hospital executives initially refused to remove her from the unit - even after paediatricians raised their suspicions during her year-long killing spree.

Consultants demanded Letby be removed from her frontline job but for a time incredulous hospital bosses steadfastly refused to believe she was to blame, claiming she was too nice to carry out such despicable crimes.

WHAT WAS LETBY CONVICTED OF? Count 1 - Murder of Baby A on June 8, 2015 - GUILTY Count 2 - Attempted murder of Baby B between the June 8, 2015 and June 11, 2015 - GUILTY Count 3 - Murder of Baby C on June 14, 2015 - GUILTY Count 4 - Murder of Baby D on June 22, 2015 - GUILTY Count 5 - Murder of Baby E on August 4, 2015 - GUILTY Count 6 - Attempted murder of Baby F on August 5, 2015 - GUILTY Count 7 - Attempted murder of Baby G on September 7, 2015 - GUILTY Count 8 - Attempted murder of Baby G on September 21, 2015 - GUILTY Count 9 - Attempted murder of Baby G on September 21, 2015 - NOT GUILTY Count 10 - Attempted murder of Baby H on September 26, 2015 - NOT GUILTY Count 12 - Murder of Baby I on October 23, 2015 - GUILTY Count 15 - Attempted murder of Baby L on April 9, 2016 - GUILTY Count 16 - Attempted murder of Baby M on April 9, 2016 - GUILTY Count 17 - Attempted murder of Baby N on June 3, 2016 - GUILTY Count 20 - Murder of Baby O on June 23, 2016 - GUILTY Count 21 - Murder of Baby P on June 24, 2016 - GUILTY Advertisement

Letby cried in court as the first of the guilty verdicts were returned last week following a ten-month trial. Her mother broke into a series of anguished sobs which continued even after she had left the court. At one point she cried out: 'You can't be serious. This cannot be right'. This week she refused to be in the dock.

Inside her messy, childlike home, police found a Post-it note on which she had scrawled: 'I am evil, I did this.'

In one case, a senior nurse on duty had to repeatedly tell Letby to come out of a room where a grieving couple were spending their last moments with their infant son.

The father said Letby came in with a ventilated basket and told them: 'You've said your goodbyes. Do you want me to put him in here?' This prompted his wife to tell her: 'He's not dead yet.'

The nurse, a seemingly 'goofy', 'innocent' young woman who had Disney cuddly toys on her bed, found different ways to inflict indescribable, inhuman levels of pain, with some of her victims breaking into tortured screams that experienced paediatricians had never heard before. Several had to take time off work to recover from the trauma.

She got away with her killing spree despite consultants repeatedly trying to blow the whistle to managers about the spate of deaths on her watch. Dr Ravi Jayaram, a TV medic who appears on This Morning, said he was 'fobbed off' by nurses after his email warning about Letby prompted the response: 'It's unlikely that anything is going on, we'll see what happens'.

None of the parents had any idea their children had been the victims of foul play until they were visited by police up to three years later.

Janet Moore, family liaison co-ordinator at Cheshire Constabulary, read out a joint statement on behalf of the families on the steps of Manchester Crown Court.

It said: 'Today justice has been served and the nurse who should have been caring for our babies has been found guilty of harming them. But this justice will not take away from the extreme hurt, anger and distress that we have all had to experience.

'Some families did not receive the verdict that they expected and therefore it is a bittersweet result. We are heartbroken, devastated, angry and feel numb. We may never truly know why this happened.

The family said they would 'forever be grateful' to jurors who had to sit through 145 days of 'gruelling' evidence.

In a joint statement read outside court, they also thanked the team of family liaison officers, the investigation and prosecution teams.

They also expressed their gratitude to medical experts, consultants, doctors and nursing staff who came to give evidence during the trial, which they described as 'extremely harrowing and distressing' at times to listen to.

'The search for the truth has remained at the forefront of everyone's minds and we will forever be grateful for this,' they said. 'We would now ask for time in peace to process what has happened as we come to terms with today's verdict.'

Letby attacked several babies by shoving hard plastic or wire tubes down their throats. Another suffered a ruptured liver  a violent injury likened by experts to injuries seen only in road accident victims.

Letby is Britain's most prolific child killer of modern times The seven murder convictions make Letby Britain's most prolific child killer of modern times. In the 1960s Moors Murderers Myra Hindley and Ian Brady tortured, sexually assaulted and killed five children aged between 10 and 17. Fred and Rose West raped, tortured and murdered at least ten girls and women - five of whom were between the ages of 15 and 18 - over the course of 20 years from 1967. Nurse Beverly Allitt killed four of her child patients in 1991, while Robert Black raped and murdered four young girls in the early 1980s. Letby also becomes the second worst female serial killer of all time behind West, who is serving a whole life tariff . Advertisement

Like fellow nurse Beverley Allitt - who was convicted of murdering four infants at two Lincolnshire hospitals in Lincolnshire - Letby used insulin as one of her attack methods.

On one occasion it was also claimed she murdered a tiny, ten-week premature baby boy because she was angry that one of her friends she was texting did not understand why she was upset at being given a break from working in intensive care following the death of another baby.

In several of the cases, it was suggested Letby attacked the babies because she wanted a married paediatrician, who she insisted was just a close friend but was suspected of having an affair with, to be crash called to the neonatal unit so they could try to save the children together, talk about treatments and sympathise with each other after their deaths.

Professor David Wilson, a leading criminologist, told the Mail that this desperation to be acknowledged at work were signs of a 'hero complex,' and narcissism in Letby's personality.

Placing herself at the centre of a crisis was also indicative of the mental condition, Munchausen's, he said.

Pascale Jones, a senior crown prosecutor, said parents had been exposed to her 'morbid curiosity and her fake compassion'.

She said: Lucy Letby was entrusted to protect some of the most vulnerable babies. Little did those working alongside her know that there was a murderer in their midst.

'She did her utmost to conceal her crimes, by varying the ways in which she repeatedly harmed babies in her care. She sought to deceive her colleagues and pass off the harm she caused as nothing more than a worsening of each baby's existing vulnerability. In her hands, innocuous substances like air, milk, fluids or medication like insulin would become lethal.

'She perverted her learning and weaponised her craft to inflict harm, grief and death. Time and again, she harmed babies, in an environment which should have been safe for them and their families. Parents were exposed to her morbid curiosity and her fake compassion.

'Too many of them returned home to empty baby rooms. Many surviving children live with permanent consequences of her assaults upon their lives. Her attacks were a complete betrayal of the trust placed in her.

'My thoughts are with families of the victims who may never have closure, but who now have answers to questions which had troubled them for years.

Letby appeared 'animated and excited' after each murder, offering to bathe, dress and take photographs of her victims' bodies

The nurse was a seemingly 'goofy', 'innocent' young woman who kept Disney cuddly toys on her bed at home and posters with feel good slogans on the walls

While Letby's motive is not clear, the prosecution suggested she got a 'thrill' out of 'playing God'. She is pictured on a night out

Tragically, among the survivors of Letby's attacks are children who will spend the rest of their lives needing round-the-clock care.

Manchester Crown Court was told that doctors repeatedly went to hospital managers to blow the whistle but it wasn't until the deaths of two identical triplets in 23 hours in June 2016 that she was finally removed from the ward and the unexpected deaths and collapses stopped.

Even after paediatricians raised their suspicions about her activities, hospital executives initially refused to remove her from the unit. When they eventually did so they chose to give her a desk job in the patient safety department.

It is understood Letby was suspended from work when she was arrested in July 2018, but remained on full pay, receiving her estimated 30,000-a-year salary, or a total of around 75,000, until she was sacked when she was charged in November 2020.

A nurse on the unit described the crying of one of Letby's victims as 'relentless, almost constant and with no fluctuation'.

Letby, who joined her colleagues on work social events, carried out her first murder the day after returning from a hen do in York.

She also struck before and after a holiday to Ibiza, telling colleagues she was 'back with a bang'.

After her eventual removal, she went on holiday to Torquay with her parents. She put them through the ordeal of attending each and every day of her trial and then witnessing her eventual conviction.

Mostly, Letby chose to inject babies with air while her colleagues' backs were turned or they'd briefly popped out to look after another baby.

Sometimes it was an overdose of milk, fed via a tube directly into their stomachs.

Her modus operandi would change according to the opportunities she could create for herself.

Tragically, she learned what police came to know as they investigated her litany of crimes  that it takes both very little time, and very little movement, to cause catastrophic harm to a premature baby.

Letby attacked so frequently, and seemingly so casually, that she didn't always remember her victim's name.

To help her remember, she took home scores of confidential medical sheets  not, as she claimed, because she liked to collect paper, but as a trophy so she could put a name to a murder.

In part she was able to go undetected for so long because her colleagues  most of whom innocently counted her as a trusted friend and confidante  could not imagine that a fellow nurse might by killing the babies they were trying to raise from prematurity.

A glance at her 2016 diary  a little girl's affair with a 'cute' doggie picture on the front cover and flower doodles inside  shows she was constantly busy.

Texts between Letby and the unnamed doctor were read out in court. They appeared to show the doctor comforting the killer nurse as she feigned upset after the death of one of her victims

And in another exchange over WhatsApp, Letby appeared to chat about her blossoming friendship with the doctor - who prosecutors said she had tried to impress by creating 'crisis situations' where they could work alongside each other to save the babies she had poisoned

There were references to the long shifts she liked to do because she 'so wanted to help', to salsa classes with her friends, or else meals followed by late-night cocktails at a bar in Chester.

Amelia Dyer, a Victorian baby farmer, murdered infants in her care over a thirty-year period and is estimated to have had hundreds of victims.

A new investigation will be focused mainly on Liverpool Women's Hospital, where Letby attended a training course in 2015.

But detectives are also likely to review the records of babies born at the Countess of Chester Hospital where she is already known to have attacked babies in the year from June 2015 to June 2016.

Letby started work there after finishing her nursing degree at Chester University.

The court heard suspicions were first raised about Letby when three babies died in just over a fortnight, in June 2015, a full 12 months before she was eventually removed from the unit.

During a text exchange with a friend, Letby denied she and the male doctor were flirting. Letby is pictured pulling a face on a night out

Killer nurse Letby would often pull funny faces for photos while out with friends. Two of her murders took place shortly after returning from a week-long holiday to Ibiza

Letby - who grew up with two loving parents - is pictured as a young girl

Managers repeatedly refused to believe Letby was to blame and even tried to have her reinstated on the ward  months after doctors insisted she be removed from frontline duties.

Only when police were eventually called in was Letby finally arrested.

A source told the Mail that Letby's mother was distraught  wailing and crying and even telling police: 'I did it, take me instead,' in a desperate bid to protect her.

During the course of their investigation officers discovered two baby boys, from separate sets of twins, had been 'deliberately' poisoned with insulin eight months apart.

The results of their blood tests had been missed by doctors who had no idea there was a 'poisoner at work'.

Both Baby O, a triplet, and his brother, Baby P, were murdered after four paediatricians raised their suspicions about the link between the nurse's presence and the deaths they had already witnessed.

Letby texting a colleague after the death of Baby A

After the deaths of Baby A and Bay C, says: 'There are no words, it's been awful'

In this string of messages, Letby tries to suggest the babies' deaths was linked to health problems

The nurse describes 'crying and hugging' the parents of Baby E, who died in her care

Letby celebrated a winning bet on the Grand National shortly after she attempted to murder twin boys

The texts end with Letby crowing that police 'have nothing or minimal on me'

READ MORE - Detectives launch new investigation reviewing cases of babies treated by Letby Advertisement

And even when the lead consultant, Stephen Brearey, went back to management in the hours after Baby P's death on June 24, 2016, his request to have Letby taken off the neonatal unit was turned down flat.

Letby, whose duvet bore the childlike motif 'Sweet Dreams', came to court most days with a comfort blanket and clutched a small, stress toy in her hands while in the witness box.

Over 12 months she murdered five boys and two girls at the Countess, often attacking her victims at night, when there were less staff on duty or their parents had reluctantly left their children's bedsides to get some food or sleep.

After killing the newborns, the court heard Letby appeared animated and excited, offering to bathe, dress and take photographs of the deceased infants for their distraught and unsuspecting parents.

She also revelled in their grief, searching for them on Facebook  not only in the immediate aftermath but sometimes months and even years later.

It was a bonus if she could 'help' bereaved parents by preparing a memory box for them  hand and foot prints of their lost baby, a photograph of two dead twins laid out in a Moses basket, a condolence card for another baby in time for the funeral.

Calculating Letby covered her tracks by altering handwritten nursing charts or making false entries in the computerised nursing notes to make it seem like a baby was deteriorating or that she was feeding or administering medication to other children in a different part of the unit when her victims collapsed.

She also gas-lighted her colleagues, feigning upset when babies died, or suggesting medical reasons for their collapse or death to deflect blame from her murderous acts.

This diary - as well as the Post-it note inside, was found in a chest of drawers at Letby's home

The inside of the diary, which was decorated with flowers and pictures of stuffed animals

In one particularly chilling correspondence, Letby wrote a sympathy letter to the family of one of the children she had murdered

In another note, Letby had scribbled a jumble of words, with phrases like 'love', 'I can't do this anymore' and 'help me' written on it

READ MORE - How Letby's parents watched their only daughter every day in court Advertisement

And when doctors became suspicious, she even tampered with the care of a baby, not involved in the case, so she could make a fake formal complaint to bosses and give herself an 'insurance policy.'

A 'treasure trove' of more than 250 confidential nursing handover sheets and handwritten notes of resuscitations were found stashed under her bed by police when they searched her home, which was around a mile from the hospital.

A 'confession' in which she described herself as 'evil' and wrote: 'I am awful, I did this' was also discovered by officers hidden in a 2016 diary.

Photographs of a sympathy card she sent to the parents of a three-month-old baby girl she murdered and a thankyou card received by nurses on the unit from another twin boy she killed were also found by investigators  years after the babies died - on her mobile phone.

READ MORE - Chilling moment Letby maintains her innocence in first police interview - as video shows arrest Advertisement

Although her motive remains unclear, the prosecution suggested she got a 'thrill' out of murdering the children  who were attacked when she was caring for them alone, or when the nurse allocated to look after them was on a break, or doctors were busy with other emergencies.

Police and experts believe she thrived on the power of 'playing God' with the lives of the vulnerable infants, enjoying the attention and drama their collapses brought to the neonatal unit.

During her defence, Letby insisted many of the babies had been born on the 'cliff-edge' of life due to their extreme prematurity.

She blamed their deaths and collapses on the medical incompetence of her colleagues, under-staffing and filthy conditions on the unit and said a 'gang of four' senior consultants at the hospital 'apportioned blame' on her to cover up for the hospital's failings.

During the trial the jury were shown a striking chart highlighting the 38 nurses who worked on the unit, correlated with 25 'events' - significant collapses or deaths of babies.

It showed a long column of 'x's' below Letby's name, indicating she was the only one on duty for all 25 incidents. By comparison, no other nurse was present on more than seven occasions.

Police recovered a series of scrawled notes that Letby wrote during her killing spree

On other notes she wrote 'I can't do this anymore' and 'everything is manageable'

Another piece of paper - which appeared to be an official document - was dotted with love hearts

A corridor within the Countess of Chester Hospital's neonatal unit, where Letby worked

Undated handout photo issued by Cheshire Constabulary of a cot where a baby referred to as Child G in the Lucy Letby court case. The black circles were added by the police

What is Munchausen's syndrome? Criminologist Professor David Wilson noted Letby's desire to place herself at the centre of a crisis and said this was indicative of Munchausen's syndrome. This is a psychological disorder where someone feigns illness, injury, abuse, or psychological trauma so that people care for them and they are the centre of attention. Munchausen's syndrome is named after a German aristocrat, Baron Munchausen, who became famous for telling wild, unbelievable tales about his exploits. Munchausen's syndrome is complex and poorly understood. Many people refuse psychiatric treatment or psychological profiling, and it's unclear why people with the syndrome behave the way they do. Advertisement

Statistics also revealed that the number of deaths on the unit fell back to 'normal' or average levels once Letby was shifted into an admin role, in July 2016.

Whereas four babies died in the Countess's neonatal unit in 2013 and in 2014, the number of deaths more than doubled to nine in 2015 and eight babies died in 2016.

By comparison, the number of deaths fell back to four in 2017 and reduced even further to two in 2018 after Letby was removed from the ward.

None of the parents had any idea their children had been the victims of foul play until they were visited by police up to three years later.

Mr Justice Goss warned Letby he was considering a full life tariff when she is sentenced.

Mr Hughes said he was 'very happy' for the parents of Letby's victims that justice had been done.

But he added: 'The only thing that would make me happier is if Lucy Letby would tell them why, and reveal some motive for what she's done because that's the only time they will really be able to understand.

'The phrase, ''it's every parent's worst nightmare' is often thrown around, but this really is every parent's worst nightmare.'

Detective who interviewed Letby says she was 'cool and devoid of emotion' Letby was 'cool' and devoid of 'emotion' when talking about the murder of babies in her care, the police officer who interviewed her told the Mail today. Detective Sergeant Danielle Stonier said questioning Britain's most prolific baby killer was 'surreal' and 'intense' at times. And she said that she believed the calculating neo-natal nurse only spoke to police because she wanted to know what evidence they had against her, so she could try to outsmart them. Advertisement

'Monster, it fits her, because I can't think of anything worse. But I don't want to make today about her because she gets that notoriety and thrives off that. This day is about the parents and getting a foundation to try and move on.'

Mr Blackwell said he couldn't rule out more charges being brought in the future but dismissed the assertion that today's convictions were the tip of the iceberg.

'I am confident in our investigation to date, but we need to satisfy ourselves and the public and any future families that nothing has been missed,' he added.

'There are other aspects to this - a number of cases in the coroner's system have been paused pending the outcome of our criminal investigation, there may well be inquests or further reviews, there could even be potential for other independent inquiries that our team would need to support or inform.

'In terms of what should have been done, or could have been done, or the time before the police were involved.

'We would support and aid any further investigation and any lessons that need to be learnt. But that's for another day and another decision maker in the appropriate Government or authority position.'

He said it would be 'understandable' if some of the families of Letby's victims were angry that the hospital failed to act and remove her from frontline nursing sooner and said the police would support any further enquiries.

'I would thoroughly support any requests for information because what we all need is for the families to get justice and (to make sure) people are confident in the neonatal care that is supplied by the Countess of Chester and across the NHS,' Mr Blackwell added.

Letby struck before and after a holiday to Ibiza. Pictured is a bag she brought home from the trip

Letby kept souvenirs from parents, including this card thanking her 'for looking after us when were at Chester'

Mr Blackwell agreed what Letby had done was 'beyond comprehension' and 'pure evil.'

'These are defenceless premature babies, they are the most vulnerable people in our society, days, weeks old, they cannot defend themselves,' he said. 'It is beyond comprehension and pure evil.'

How Letby's close friend broke down in tears as she recalled feeling the final heartbeat of her first victim By Nigel Bunyan One of Lucy Letby's closest friends broke down during the trial as she recalled feeling the final heartbeat of the killer's first victim. The nurse, who had mentored Letby from her days as a student, was giving chest compressions to Baby A as a team of medics fought desperately to save his life in June, 2015. But unknown to her, the colleague she had worked alongside for more than three years had furtively injected the infant with air. Nurse A was shift leader on the unit when Baby A suddenly collapsed. As medics crowded around, she was given the role of reaching into the incubator to deliver gentle chest compressions. At the same time a paediatrician was administering tiny doses of adrenaline one by one. After each dose, all of those involved in the resuscitation listened for signs of a response. Finally, they realised they could do no more to help him. 'There was nothing,' the nurse said in tears. 'Just one more heartbeat'. Nurse A had chosen to give her evidence from behind a screen rather than catch sight of the woman in the glass-panelled dock a few yards away. She told the jury she had never seen a neonate look the way Baby A did that day. 'He looked very ill. He had a discolouration pattern I've never seen before. He was white with sort of purply blotches. He looked cyanotic. It was these purple blotches with white that I'd not seen before, all over his body'. Asked where exactly on his body, she replied: 'Everywhere. Maybe more torsono, I can't remember clearly. I just knew it was very unusual. 'It had come on very suddenly. It was just so unusual and very unexpected'. Nearly three months later same nurse appears to have almost stumbled on an explanation for the first three murders. She told Letby in a WhatsApp about the death of Baby D: 'There's something odd about that night and the other 3 that went so suddenly'. Letby responded: 'What do you mean?' Nurse A: 'Odd that we lost 3 and in different circumstances' But then she pulled back. 'Ignore me,' she wrote a few moments later. 'I'm speculating'. Advertisement

One father, whose twin sons were attacked but survived, said: 'The (hospital) management, they need to be held accountable. The doctors raised their concerns, and they didn't act upon them, they dismissed them. It could have been prevented.

'If they'd (hospital chiefs) acted on the initial suspicions, then definitely they could have stopped any more babies being attacked. It would have prevented multiple deaths. Investigations could have started and she would have been off the unit.'

He also said he hoped Letby would receive a whole life tariff and never be freed from jail.

Detective Chief Inspector Nicola Evans, the deputy senior investigating officer, added: 'I hope today's verdict provides some of the answers to the families and goes some way to providing peace of mind as to what happened to their babies. It's unimaginable what they are going through, the courage and strength they've shown is really overwhelming.

'Lucy Letby was operating in plain sight, she abused the trust of the people around her, not just the parents, but also the nurses she worked with and regarded as friends.

'She violated their trust, in their unit, in their profession and ultimately that's been laid out for everybody to see.'

The Government said an inquiry will now investigate the circumstances behind the crimes to ensure 'vital lessons are learned'.

It will also look at the handling of concerns raised by staff at the hospital and what action was taken by regulators and the wider health service.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay said: 'I would like to send my deepest sympathy to all the parents and families impacted by this horrendous case.

'This inquiry will seek to ensure the parents and families impacted get the answers they need. I am determined their voices are heard, and they are involved in shaping the scope of the inquiry should they wish to do so.

'Following on from the work already underway by NHS England, it will help us identify where and how patient safety standards failed to be met and ensure mothers and their partners rightly have faith in our healthcare system.'

An inquiry chairman will be appointed in due course.

City of Chester MP Samantha Dixon had called for a 'full, independent and public inquiry' into the case.

Her statement said: 'The families that have endured this unimaginable suffering deserve to know exactly what happened, and those who use our NHS services need the reassurance that it can never happen again.

'Too many people now live with the consequences of the catastrophic harm caused by Letby.'

Rob Behrens, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, said: 'We know that, in general, people work in the health service because they want to help and that when things go wrong it is not intentional.

'At the same time, and too often, we see the commitment to public safety in the NHS undone by a defensive leadership culture across the NHS.

'The Lucy Letby story is different and almost without parallel, because it reveals an intent to harm by one individual. As such, it is one of the darkest crimes ever committed in our health service. Our first thoughts are with the families of the children who died.

'However, we also heard throughout the trial evidence from clinicians that they repeatedly raised concerns and called for action. It seems that nobody listened and nothing happened.

'More babies were harmed and more babies were killed. Those who lost their children deserve to know whether Letby could have been stopped and how it was that doctors were not listened to, and their concerns not addressed, for so long.'

A police car outside the Women & Children's Building at the Countess of Chester hospital when Letby was arrested

Mr Behrens said that 'patients and staff alike deserve an NHS that values accountability, transparency and a willingness to learn'.

He added: 'Good leadership always listens, especially when it's about patient safety. Poor leadership makes it difficult for people to raise concerns when things go wrong, even though complaints are vital for patient safety and to stop mistakes being repeated.

'We need to see significant improvements to culture and leadership across the NHS so that the voices of staff and patients can be heard, both with regard to everyday pressures and mistakes, and, very exceptionally, when there are warnings of real evil.'
Lucy Letby wrote a 'confession' in which she described herself as a 'horrible evil person' and said: 'I DID THIS.'

The note was discovered in her diary by police when they raided her home following her arrest.

On the green Post-it, found in a 2016 diary in her bedroom, she wrote: 'I killed them on purpose because I'm not good enough. I will never have children or marry or know what it's like to have a family.'

Other strange and chaotic writings were also recovered from her handbag and garage.

She insisted that the green note was not evidence that she had killed and harmed the children, but that she had written it when she was 'struggling' mentally because she thought she could have made mistakes at work and had accidentally hurt the babies.

But the jury dismissed her claims and agreed with the prosecution that it should be read 'literally.'

Last night handwriting expert Adam Brand, who analysed Letby's notes for the Mail, said her writing style was evidence of a 'manipulative and dishonest' individual.

Homicidal nurse Lucy Letby wrote a 'confession' in which she described herself as a 'horrible evil person' in a series of handwritten notes found after she went on a killing spree

In one 'confession' in which she described herself as an 'awful person' before writing 'I AM EVIL I DID THIS' (pictured)

In other notes seized by police, Letby had written 'hate my life', 'can't do this anymore' and 'HELP'

Handwriting expert Adam Brand, who analysed Letby's notes for the Mail, said her writing style was evidence of a 'manipulative and dishonest' individual. In this, he breaks down what her writing represents

Other features of her handwriting, however, indicated she could also be 'charming' and 'kind' at the same time, he said.

Mr Brand said Letby was a fascinating case because her writing style displayed traits of antisocial behaviour disorder  impulsiveness, dishonesty, rejection of discipline and manipulation  while it also showed she was capable of 'integrating' into society and making friends.

He said the handwriting in Letby's 2016 diary, which was recovered by police, was ordered and appeared to be written by someone in control. But it was in great contrast to the other coloured notes, which were all shown to the jury and appeared to be much more chaotic and disturbed.

'Her writing shows she is a charming person who can do some terrible deeds,' he said.

Mr Brand likened Letby to Jeffrey Dahmer, the US serial killer who murdered and dismembered 17 men over 13 years in Milwaukee, USA.

'He has been described as an integrated anti-social and I see her like that,' he said. 'She is somebody who can occasionally be very friendly, other times manipulative, secretive and cold.'

Mr Brand highlighted several 'disturbances' in her handwriting style.

The way she had written HATE, PANIC, FEAR, LOST on the green 'I am evil' note could be viewed as attention seeking, it suggested she wanted to be listened to and not ignored, he said.

While the 'continuous loopings' on the yellow note and repetition of her name or signature on the white A4 note, both showed she was obsessive, Mr Brand said.

The way her writing does not slant one way or the other  it doesn't lean to the right or the left consistently but has a varying slant  and sometimes 'suddenly' changes direction in the middle of a word, is highly unusual and demonstrates she suffered 'horrific' mood swings and had difficulty fitting into a team, Mr Brand said.

Last night handwriting expert Adam Brand, who analysed Letby's notes for the Mail, said her writing style was evidence of a 'manipulative and dishonest' individual

He said the handwriting in Letby's 2016 diary, which was recovered by police, was ordered and appeared to be written by someone in control.

Mr Brand likened Letby to Jeffrey Dahmer, the US serial killer who murdered and dismembered 17 men over 13 years in Milwaukee, USA.

Police recovered a series of scrawled notes that Letby wrote during her killing spree

On other notes she wrote 'I can't do this anymore' and 'everything is manageable'

'Mood swings are shown by sudden changes of slant, you go from left slant to right slant,' Mr Brand said.

'This is a clear mood change, you can feel that change of emotion, it is very rapid when it is within a word itself.'

The lack of consistency in the height of her letters also suggested she has self-esteem issues, while 'hooks' at the start of vowels was symbolic of evasiveness, Mr Brand said.

Shaded boxes and grid doodles also signified repressed anger and that she felt trapped, he added. Anger was also evident in the slashes which she used instead of dots to 'dot her i's', he said.

While the 'overlapping' of words and sentences symbolised an inability to plan or think clearly, Mr Brand added.

Referring to the back of one of the yellow notes, Mr Brand said: 'If you look at the doodling that's going on, it's quite remarkable. Incredibly heavy, you can see the anger, the anxiety, the stress. Another thing you see is the constant circling - there's a compulsion in the writing, that compulsiveness you see in another of the sheets where her name is constantly being written, all over the place.

'It is full of repetition and compulsion which means there is some disturbances going on.

'The trapped feeling of the squares, the anxiety of that, the compulsion of the circles, the fact that the lines overlap, very unclear thinking. No margin, so you can see this person is invasive, you don't even have to look at the content, from a graphological point of view these things hit you, it says, 'there is trouble here.'

Speaking of Letby's notes, Mr Brand added: 'Her writing shows she is a charming person who can do some terrible deeds.'

Mr Brand likened Letby to Jeffrey Dahmer, the US serial killer who murdered and dismembered 17 men over 13 years in Milwaukee, USA

Other features of her handwriting style demonstrated she had dishonest personality traits, Mr Brand said. 'The other issue that comes through strongly is the fact that her writing is dishonest,' he added. 'Letters that look like other letters and missing letters within words themselves. 'b's' that have an open bottom and look more like 'h's' - it is the symbolism, it says, 'I can't be bothered.'

'Then there are little, tiny movements, which are slightly worrying. Such as a 'shark's tooth', which happens when you have an 'm' where the final stroke is a 'c' shape, that is somebody able to manipulate, abuse and use people. The other one is known as a 'spoon e,' that again is an ability to manipulate and use people.

'Her forms of connection  how you connect letters together  are all so inconsistent.'

Letby's thread, or the way she joins letters together, indicate cunning, while the angle of her writing suggested someone who could be cold and persistent,' Mr Brand added.

The arcade or bridge of her letters, for example the way she writes an 'm' is also indicative of secrecy or scheming, he said.

But the 'garlands' or 'bowls' of her handwriting, found in the 'w's' and 'l's', indicated she could be both lazy but also kind, he added.

'Here we have somebody who occasionally can be very friendly, draw people in and cooperate, at other times she is scheming, secretive, sometimes very cold and at other times quite persistent,' Mr Brand said.
The police force that finally brought serial baby killer Lucy Letby to justice launched an entirely new investigation into her murderous activities long before her current trial had even begun, MailOnline can reveal today.

For months a team of officers have been working on the huge task of reviewing thousands of medical files at two hospitals before deciding how many to examine in microscopic detail.

Some parents have already either come forward with suspicions themselves or else been contacted by detectives.

A number have already had specialist family liaison officers assigned to them. These officers will now help guide them through the complexities of an investigative process that may take years to reach a point where Letby can be brought to a second trial.

In the meantime, senior detectives are expected to approach the killer in prison to see whether she is ready to confess to other crimes against newborn babies  most likely of attempted murder.

For months a team of officers have been working on the huge task of reviewing thousands of medical files at two hospitals Letby worked at

However, the reality is that Letby  now recognised as Britain's most prolific serial killer of babies in modern times  harmed infants so frequently and sometimes so randomly that even she may not know.

The new investigation will be focused mainly on Liverpool Women's Hospital, where Letby attended a six-month training course.

But detectives are also likely to review the records of all babies born at the Countess of Chester Hospital where she is already known to have attacked babies in the year from June 2015 to June 2016.

Letby started work there in January 2012 after finishing her nursing degree at Chester University. Previously she had visited the neonatal unit on work experience.

Det Supt Paul Hughes, the senior investigating officer of Operation Hummingbird, said: 'We are committed to a thorough investigation across the entire footprint of Lucy Letby while she was employed at the Countess of Chester Hospital and on placements at the Liverpool Women's Hospital.

'That investigation is ongoing, and in the cases identified so far the families have been contacted and are being supported.

'We will give an update on that particular part of the investigation when we can. The investigation needs to go on'.

He said his team was not investigating the actual deaths of babies. It was impossible to give any numbers for other attacks the killer may have carried out.

'We're not looking at deaths at LWH. We're looking at an overall time. Obviously there are a lot of years to go through, a massive amount of medical records, so it would just be unfair to speculate on that at the moment. But we are looking at a greater period of time'.

The new investigation will be focused mainly on Liverpool Women's Hospital, where Letby attended a six-month training course

He added: 'All I can say at the moment is what I've said. We are committed to investigating all of the times that Lucy Letby has been employed as a nurse and has had access to neonatal units.

'We are at the early stages of that investigation because obviously we don't have unlimited resources'.

Asked whether his officers had identified any suspicious elements in the new cases so far, Det Supt Hughes replied: 'I can't answer that at the moment'.

The force's priority has been to prepare for the trial at Manchester Crown Court and to see it through to its conclusion.

Officers have been left exhausted and emotionally drained by the rigours of Operation Hummingbird, but are determined to drive the new investigation forward.

Det Chief Insp Nicola Evans emphasised that parents with concerns about Letby's past involvement with their children could reach out to her team.

'We've set up our own reception team during this trial, so that if anybody does have concerns about their own child, wherever that hospital may be, if they contact Cheshire Police they will be put through.'

During Letby's nine-month trial, it emerged that she took home scores of confidential medical notes as 'souvenirs' of her reign of terror on the neonatal unit.

Detectives are also likely to review the records of all babies born at the Countess of Chester Hospital

Prosecutors suggested she used them to trigger memories of attacks she had carried out. In one memorable moment, Nick Johnson KC, prosecuting, asked her to spell the surname of one of the babies.

When she failed, he put it to her that she had managed to key it in accurately whilst carrying out a Facebook search because she must have had the medical note in front of her at the time.

The historic nature of the new investigation means that similar documents are unlikely to be found. It may also be that Letby only began to collect such souvenirs and reminders later in her criminal career.

Detectives are likely to want to speak to colleagues who worked alongside Letby as long ago as 2012. Some may already have suspicions about her behaviour as a fledgling nurse, or even while she was studying for her degree at Chester University.
Lucy Letby's parents, John, 77, and Susan, 63, were a constant presence during her trial - attending every day of the ten-month proceedings at Manchester Crown Court.

In fact, they were so determined to hear all the evidence against their daughter that they relocated to Manchester from the cathedral city of Hereford, on the England-Wales border.

A source told the Mail that Letby's mother was distraught when she was arrested  wailing, crying and even telling police, 'I did it, take me instead,' in a desperate bid to protect her.

Retail boss John and Susan, an accounts clerk, raised Letby as an only child in a 1930s semi-detached home in a cul-de-sac.

Creatures of habit, they still live in the same house - which they bought shortly after their marriage - and holiday in Torquay three times a year, taking Letby with them right up until she was arrested in July 2018.

Nothing suggests Mr and Mrs Letby were anything but caring parents who showered their daughter with love from the moment she was born - five months after they married in July 1989.

Letby's parents, Susan and John, arriving at Manchester Crown Court yesterday. The couple supported her every day in court. A source told the Mail that Letby's mother was distraught when her daughter was arrested  wailing and crying, even telling police, 'I did it, take me instead,' in a desperate bid to protect her

Growing up, Letby was a 'delight' to her parents - neighbours remembered.

She had a part-time job at WH Smith in the city, and her parents were immensely proud when she became the first in their family to go to university.

When she attained her honours degree they marked her graduation, in December 2011, with an announcement in their local paper, the Hereford Times.

Alongside a picture of her wearing a mortarboard and clutching her degree certificate, they wrote: 'Letby Lucy BSc Hons in Child Nursing. We are so proud of you after all your hard work. Love Mum and Dad.'

A similar announcement, with an accompanying photograph of Letby as a young child, was also placed in the same newspaper to mark her 21st birthday.

But texts Letby exchanged with colleagues hinted she sometimes felt smothered by her mother and father and guilty about moving away. She explained they missed her and hated her living alone.

She appeared to speak or text them every day and described them as 'suffocating at times'. She told one doctor friend who was considering moving to New Zealand that she could never do that as it would 'completely devastate' them.

'Find it hard enough being away from me now and it's only 100 miles,' she said.

In a message to another friend, she wrote: 'My parents worry massively about everything & anything, hate that I live alone etc.

Nothing suggests Mr and Mrs Letby were anything but caring parents who showered their daughter with love from the moment she was born - five months after they married in July 1989

Letby's parents marked her graduation by posting a notice in the local newspaper

'I feel bad because I know it's really hard for them especially as I'm an only child, and they mean well, just a little suffocating at times and constantly feel guilty.'

Mrs Letby sometimes broke into tears in court during the trial and appeared anxious during breaks when her daughter was undergoing particularly tough periods of questioning by the prosecution.

Investigators suspect Letby had told them scant detail of the horrific nature of the crimes she was being accused of before it was laid out in front of them in court.

As the guilty verdicts were returned, Mrs Letby broke into a series of anguished sobs which continued even after she had left the court. At one point she cried out: 'You can't be serious. This cannot be right.'

Letby is likely to spend the rest of her life in prison.
A twelve-year-old girl who took her own life died due to neglect and a series of failures on the part of an NHS trust.

Allison Aules, from Redbridge, east London, committed suicide on July 18 2022 after suffering from mental health issues.

The schoolgirl had never had a face-to-face appointment with a mental health nurse and waited nine months before being finally assessed on the phone with her mother in March 2022, an inquest heard.

Just three months before she took her life, she was discharged and referred back to a school counsellor, despite evidence that her state of mental health was worsening, Walthamstow Coroners Court was told.

Summing up the case on Thursday, HM Coroner Nadia Persaud said that the North East London NHS Foundation trust had failed to give Allison adequate care.

Allison Aules, 12, took her own life as a result of neglect on the part of an NHS mental health trust, an inquest found

She said that the trust had not spotted red flags in Allison's behaviour and had wrongly identified her case as being 'low risk', despite evidence of low moods, bedwetting and her getting just five hours of sleep per night.

She said: 'I found that the quality of the assessment on April 1 2022 was poor.

'Despite reporting a worsening in Allison's symptoms, no further assessment took place.

'It was not in my view reassuring that Allison was having low moods.

'The assessment on April 1 2022 did not assist in determining the cause of Allison's presentation.'

Ms Persaud said it was also unacceptable that Allison was not given a safe space to talk about her mental health to a psychiatrist on her own.

'Allison's voice was never heard. She had no opportunity to discuss or explain her difficulties.'

She continued: 'The case was closed without a discussion from a mental health team. The plan to leave her risk management plan to a school counsellor was poor.

'A person who is going to commit suicide is not going to say that they are going to commit suicide. We need to assess the person in a safe space and this was not done.'

'A school counsellor could not have been expected to provide support for all of the areas covered by a mental health team.'

Ms Persaud concluded: 'I am therefore satisfied that the tests for neglect have been met.'

The Coroner also said she would issue recommendations at a national level with the aim of preventing further similar deaths.

Wellington Makala, the Chief Nursing Officer at the trust, admitted that members of staff were having to act up in the absence of more senior consultants. He said that another full time consultant would join the organisation next year.

He told Allison's family: 'There is nothing I can say which will bring your daughter back.

'Mistakes were made with the delivery of care and for that we are very sorry.'

Allison was pronounced dead at Whipps Cross University Hospital in Leytonstone

Allison was first referred to the mental health service after 'worrying behaviour' including self harm was detected by her school.

Concerns over her mental health had been noted as far back as nursery, and her parents had found 'dark stories' in her bedroom.

Police had also found online search history for suicides, as well as evidence that Allison was exposed to pornography.

Days after her school broke up for the summer holidays, Allison killed herself and was pronounced dead at Whipp's Cross University Hospital, Leytonstone.

Duncan Harding, a consultant psychiatrist, told the inquest that the closure of Allison's case 'made no sense to him' while her symptoms were clearly worsening and when she was refusing to go to school.

He added that there were a number of 'missed opportunities' to help Allison and that her case should never have been listed as 'routine'.

Allison's cause of death was recorded as 'suicide contributed to by neglect'.
Covid booster vaccines will soon be available for the public to buy after private jabs were greenlit by health officials.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) indicated it was happy to allow paid-for shots in another step towards normalising the disease.

Tens of millions of people who aren't eligible for jabs on the NHS will soon be able to purchase them themselves on the High Street, with interest already shown by some pharmacists and clinics.

Until now, Covid vaccinations have only been available to select groups through the health service free at the point of delivery.

Private shots could be for sale by next spring, but not before this year's autumn booster push.

Private Covid booster vaccines could soon be available as early as next year after the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) indicated that it was happy to allow them

Unlike previous doses with come from vials, paid-for jabs could be administered using ready filled syringes - a move which would take time to roll out, the Times reported.

Around 12 million less people will qualify for a booster jab on the NHS this autumn, after the minimum age was raised from 50 to 64, leaving a potential gap to be filled by private vaccines.

Officials have warned, however, that private shots would likely cost more than the flu jab, which is around 15 to 20.

A UKHSA spokesperson said that it would welcome the development, and that the ball is in the manufacturers' court to make them available.

Moderna, a major vaccine supplier, said it was working on jabs for the private sector, while maintaining that supporting the NHS was its priority.

Its chief executive Stephane Bancel said that it expects to sell private vaccines for around $130 in the US, with low demand contributing to the high price.

Professor Adam Finn of Bristol University said in a personal capacity that paid-for vaccines would provide an option for those not covered by the current scheme but want the added protection.

Interest from pharmacy leaders and travel vaccine providers is spurred by the NHS now paying them less to administer shots.

Data from late July shows that Covid rates are rising, with hospitalisation increasing to 1.97 per 100,000 from 1.47 the previous week.

The most recent Covid data from July shows rates and hospitalisations are rising, but they remain well below peak levels

This is still a long way from the peak of January 2021 when hospital admissions reached around 36 per 100,000.

However Professor Lawrence Young of the University of Warwick said that the concern with private jabs was that they would be unaffordable for many people.

He added that younger age groups already accept that shots will be restricted to those that most need them, in the same way that flu jabs are.

But he criticised the decision to cut the number of people eligible for free boosters, saying that it would increase infections requiring treatment amid waning immunity.

A spokesperson for the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said that there would be no need for covid vaccines that are already used to be approved again for private use.

Philippa Harvey, the director of the Covid vaccine unit at UKHSA, said that even though they currently aren't available for purchase, there was no blanket ban on vaccines being sold privately in the UK.
Anthony Albanese hit back at the ABC's chief political correspondent after she questioned whether his Government was ambitious enough.

Laura Tingle grilled the Prime Minister on the ABC's 7.30 program on Thursday night, hours after he addressed the Labor party faithful at its national conference in Brisbane.

The overwhelming message from your own party is that you arent doing enough, whether it be on housing, climate, energy,' said Ms Tingle.

'Should voters be wondering whether you are ambitious enough with what you are trying to achieve in Government?

Mr Albanese batted back the first salvo with his customary calm, claiming his Government had 'implemented almost every one of the policies that we took to the election'.

But Ms Tingle pressed him further, asking whether any of the measures his administration had brought in had 'really reset policy discussion, whether it be on 'climate, national security or defence'.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese kicked off the national conference with a call to arms ahead of the Voice to Parliament referendum and a scathing takedown of the Liberal party for having a 'pathological problem with ever saying the word Yes

'The memorable ALP conferences that every one gets sentimental about really saw the Government driving the party to change its positions and you're basically fending off the party trying to change your positions,' said Ms Tingle.

The Prime Minister snapped back: 'I don't think that's right, Laura' before reeling off a list of policy achievements relating to climate targets, funding for manufacturing, childcare provision and the upcoming Voice referendum.

While Labor hold a national conference every three years, this is the first in more than a decade in which Labor have been in power

'If you look across the economic, social and environmental agenda, ours is a Government with a sense of purpose that is delivering on what we took to the Australian people in 2022,' said Mr Albanese.

His comments followed his keynote address at Labor's national conference at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre where he issued a scathing takedown of the Liberal party.

He accused the former Liberal party, who he branded the 'Noalition', of having a 'pathological problem with ever saying the word Yes'.

'Never again can the Liberals call themselves the party of fiscal responsibility, when all they left behind was $1 trillion of debt.

'Never again can the Liberals pretend that they support jobs aspiration when all they did was hollow out manufacturing and hold down wages as a deliberate policy.

'Never again, can the party of Robodebt pretend that they care about battlers.

'Because they will stand condemned forever for the illegal hounding of hundreds of thousands of the most vulnerable Australians.'

Mr Albanese revealed his hope to lead a 'long-term government' which 'shapes the future' of Australia.

'We are here to work for Australia, and on behalf of our Labor government, I say to every Australian; we are here to work for you.

'Labor wants to ensure that no-one is left behind. It is what we do, it is part of our character.'

Over the next three days, Labor politicians, business leaders, union members, activists and everyday members will mingle with one another and debate the framework of the government's agenda.

The first day was rocked by protests by a construction union calling for action on the housing crisis and environmentalists.
A passenger who put her feet up on a seat while travelling on a train during peak hour has been slammed by a fed up commuter.

The irate passenger was travelling on a train from Cronulla in Sydney's south to Bondi Junction in the city's eastern suburbs when she noticed the disgusting act.

The commuter said the woman had put her feet up on the opposite seat while there were other passengers on the packed train that needed to sit down.

A passenger who put her feet up on a seat while travelling on a train during peak has been slammed for the inconsiderate act

Fed up with the woman's inconsiderate act, the passenger who witnessed the incident took a photo and posted it on Facebook calling the woman out.

'Please note that it is not right to place your feet on the seat opposite yours,' she said.

'You kept your feet on and were reluctant to put them down when another lady needed to sit down.

'You then placed them next to her'.

The woman's post in the Essential Sutherland Shire Facebook group continued: 'I'm sorry but this is just wrong.'

'It's not your lounge room.'

The commuter said she decided to post the image of the woman because she didn't think saying anything to her would change her behaviour.

A spokesperson for Transport for NSW told Daily Mail Australia that people will be pulled up by authorities if they are found to be putting their feet up on seats.

'Authorised Transport Officers can issue fines and cautions for a range of offences under the Passenger Transport Act and Regulations,' the spokesperson said.

'NSW Police can also issue fines for offences on public transport'.

The offence is one of the many fine and penalties commuters can face by public transport officials.

The woman placed her feet up on the seat opposite her which was noticed by another passenger who was travelling on the peak hour service from Cronulla to Bondi Junction in Sydney's east

Passengers who put their feet up on seats while travelling on trains face hefty fines for the offence.

In NSW, commuters can be fined $100 for the act.

Offenders could also be slapped with a maximum fine of $1,100.

In Victoria, adults will be fined $288 for the offence, while even children who put their feet up on seats are handed a $96 fine.

In Queensland, $275 fines apply.

Thousands of fans were stranded at Olympic Park on Wednesday night following the Matildas semi-final game against England after a signal failure caused travel chaos

The incident comes after Sydney's train system made the headlines this week when thousands of fans were stranded at Olympic Park following the Matildas semi-final clash against England on Wednesday night.

The massive disruption to late-night train services after Australia's loss to England was caused by a signal failure at a railway station in Sydney's inner west.

Two homeless men cut open wires inside the relay room of the station, causing the travel chaos and forcing NSW Premier Chris Minns to apologize to passengers.
A 20-year-old McDonald's worker who owns four properties has shared his top tips on how young Aussies can get ahead with their finances.

Max Jennings began working at McDonald's at Noarlunga in Adelaide's south in 2016 when he was a 14-year-old.

Mr Jennings said he made a point to save whatever money he could as an investment in his 'future' self.

'I was working after school, every weekend, and public holidays to save as much money as possible. I sat down with my mum, created a budget and a savings goal,' he told The Advertiser on Friday.

Now at almost 21-years-old, Mr Jennings owns two residential and two commercial properties in regional South Australia.

Adelaide man Max Jennings (above) has bought four properties as a 20-year-old McDonald's worker

Mr Jenning's property portfolio consists of two residential properties and two commercial properties in regional South Australia (stock image)

READ MORE: Aussie landlord with 78 investment properties reveals plan to expand to 100 homes by next year Advertisement

He bought his first home at just 18-years-old.

'Combined, they cover my living expenses each week which has been my goal since I bought the first property,' he said.

He contributes his success to hard work having started as a crew member at McDonald's and working his way up to department manager over six years.

His next goal is to take on a leadership role as assistant restaurant manager with the fast food chain.

For young Aussies looking to get into the property market, Mr Jennings has four tips.

The first is to consider savings as an investment in 'future you' and store the money in a high interest bank account.

Mr Jennings said he got to where he is today by working hard, sticking to a budget and savings goal

The second is to avoid getting into debt that doesn't 'make money' by only borrowing money to invest in assets.

Next, Mr Jennings advised Aussies to make a budget and savings goal and stick to it.

The last tip is to ask successful people for advice and avoid being afraid to ask questions.
Thieves in San Francisco have been caught on camera cruising the street in a Lexus before stopping at parked cars to smash the windows in and steal goods inside.

The brazen thefts were seen in footage obtained by local news station KTVU on Thursday afternoon.

Henry Lee, KTVU's crime reporter, filmed the scene in Fisherman's Wharf - the heart of San Francisco's tourist district - in broad daylight, and shared it on Twitter.

One SUV even had a person sitting in the back when the windows were smashed, but the thief still snatched the victim's bag before escaping in the waiting Lexus.

Lt. Tracy McCray told The New York Post the smash-and-grab technique was known in the Bay Area as 'bipping and boosting'.

'It really exploded during the pandemic - so much so that someone told me that the sidewalks are glistening and sparkling [with glass from windows] where cars are broken into left and right,' she said.

San Francisco had nearly 1,670 car break-ins in the past 30 days, according to the latest data tracked by the San Francisco Police Department.

Thieves in San Francisco are seen getting into a white Lexus on Wednesday, having smashed windows in parked cars and stolen goods inside

These guys in Lexus bipped cars all over SFs Fishermans Wharf, one by one. I started following them, and they just didnt care, obviously, that they were being followed or not, and it kept happening, witness tells me. @SFPD @SFPDCentral pic.twitter.com/WzKacoRFGl  Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) August 16, 2023

There has been nearly 10,000 thefts from vehicles in the city so far this year.

Signs can be seen throughout the city warning residents and tourists not to leave anything inside their cars, but the crime rate has remained stubbornly high.

Tourist areas such as the North Beach, Japantown and Presidio have the highest rate of break-ins in cars per 10,000 residents.

Last year, McCray, president of the San Francisco Police Officers Federation, fell victim to the crime herself.

Her car was parked on the 1200 block of Franklin Street, in between the Tenderloin and Japantown, on March 23, 2022, while she visited a relative at the CPMC Van Ness Campus hospital.

McCray said she was parked for less than 30 minutes, but still her car was broken into.

She wrote a blog post entitled: 'Hell - they got me, too!'

The white Lexus waits with its door open as the thief gets to work. The thief grabs bags, then runs back to the waiting car

McCray wrote: 'I had officially become a casualty of the auto burglary epidemic!

'Fortunately, nothing was stolen from my vehicle - not even my dog's dirty towel I use to wipe him down after playing at the beach, however it still managed to rankle me.

'Like the countless victims of this 'victimless crime' I knew that I now had to devote time to get the window repaired and pay for an unexpected expense.

'It is all annoying as hell as that broken and loose glass remains days and months later!

'After mentally sorting through the repair process my next thought turns to the dilemma of: to report or not to report?

'I, of all people, know the probability of this type of crime being solved in this city with someone being held responsible.

'So, I think to myself, 'Screw it,' I am one of thousands of people in San Francisco that will not report a crime.

'The reality is, with our limited resources, there are much more serious crimes in need of attention and my broken window is not one of them.'

McCray said residents have been so frustrated by the thefts that they leave notes for would-be burglars.

'People are even leaving notes on their car saying, 'Hey, I have nothing inside. Just don't break my window.,'' she said.

'It's really sad to think about that because you just want to come in and enjoy the city, but you have to worry about something like that happening.'

San Francisco is reeling from soaring crime, an emptying downtown, and residents moving away to safer, cheaper areas

Supervisor Dean Preston, whose district includes several hot spots for car break-ins in neighborhoods such as Alamo Square and Japantown, last month called for a hearing with the Mayor's Office, police, Municipal Transportation Agency and a other city departments to explain to the Board of Supervisors what is being done about the problem.

'Despite many announcements, the city has made no noticeable progress in addressing this persistent issue,' he said.

'It's time to let the public know what's been working and what hasn't, and what can be done collaboratively to finally reduce car break-ins.

'Meanwhile, residents continue to deal with broken car windows, stolen possessions, and shattered glass on streets and sidewalks, while visitors are left with trauma, financial loss, and less-than-ideal memories of their visits.'

A police spokesman told The San Francisco Standard that they were working to identify members of criminal gangs.

'We understand that perpetrators are organized and often come from outside the city to prey on the residents and the many visitors to our city,' said Robert Rueca.

'We are working to identify these networks of criminals and we're making arrests.'

The startling car-theft footage came shortly after workers in the main federal building in San Francisco were ordered to work from home indefinitely, due to conditions in the surrounding Downtown area.

The stay-home order was sent to staffers in the 18-story Nancy Pelosi Federal Building - which cost taxpayers $144million to construct - on August 4

The area outside the building is now considered the biggest of all the open-air drug markets across the city, after suddenly sprouting up earlier this year. Today, somewhere between 50 to 100 dealers operate on the street daily, usually doing so undeterred and in broad daylight

The federal government issued the stay-home order in a memo to staffers in the 18-story Nancy Pelosi building on August 4.

The building - which cost taxpayers $144million to create - houses the former House speaker's office, as well as various agencies operating under President Joe Biden.

Opened in 2007 and renamed after Pelosi this year, it sits adjacent to the city's Tenderloin District - which, set in the center of the city's Downtown, has become a haven for open-air drug use and often violent criminals.

Cheryl Campbell, the first woman of color to be sworn in as the Department of Health and Human Services' assistant secretary for administration, sent the memo on August 4.

'In light of the conditions at the [Speaker Nancy Pelosi Federal Building] we recommend employees  maximize the use of telework for the foreseeable future,' the administrator said.

The rest of the city, meanwhile, is not faring much better - especially other parts of the Downtown area, which has surfaced as the biggest problem spot as it experiences an unprecedented homeless and crime crisis.

It has lead to a mass exodus of retailers such as Whole Foods, Anthropologie, Old Navy, AmazonGo, Saks Off Fifth, and Office Depot.

The site where the building sits has proved particularly troublesome in terms of security - as it has become a point of congregation for countless dealers who routinely plant themselves outside or across the street from the property

The government reportedly advised federal workers to stay home 'for the foreseeable future', due to the dangers that come with commuting to the now overrun neighborhood

The filth and squalor at the junction of Jones and Eddy Streets in San Francisco's Tenderloin District, a couple blocks from federal building, is seen here

A woman lies passed out in front of a children's play area. Even upscale areas such as Russian Hill, which is part of the cable car route along Hyde Street, and tourist hotspots like the Golden Gate Bridge have been affected

Since the start of the pandemic - which for months left the Bay Area at the mercy of homeless tent encampments and bands of career criminals - more than 95 retailers including Brooks Brothers, Ray Ban, Christian Louboutin, Lululemon, and Marmot have packed up and left the city.

Industry groups have noted that there is an issue with theft, with the National Retail Federation saying that organized retail crime is setting stores back around $100 billion a year, according to a 2022 survey.

In 2021, retailers saw a 27 per cent increase in theft carried out by organized criminal rings, the survey found.

To tackle the issue, they invested more money in safety and security measures to protect employees, customers and merchandise.

Despite official reports that San Francisco's crime rate is on the way down, one former prosecutor claimed in May that the city's liberal district attorney's decision not to prosecute many crimes skewed those numbers.

Almost 7,000 households a month also fled the city at its peak in August 2020, as soft-on-crime policing and facilitation of widespread homelessness sparked backlash.

The crisis has now seemingly spread to the city's real estate market, as Lendlease's executive general manager Arden Hearing said he would be 'pausing construction on Hayes Point until markets normalize and we're able to bring in early tenancy commitments, or a capital partner, or both.'

Hayes Point was one of the few remaining construction projects underway in San Francisco, and its halting comes as a major upset to city officials, after they introduced measures to revive the downtown area around it.
Killer dad Chris Watts has been spending his time in a Wisconsin maximum-security prison working as a custodian while exchanging letters with female pen pals.

On August 13, 2018, Watts strangled his wife Shanann - who was 15 weeks pregnant with their son - inside the couple's Frederick, Colorado, home. He later smothered their daughters, Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3.

The 36-year-old is serving serving five life sentences plus 48 years in prison without the possibility of parole at the Dodge Correctional Institution in Waupun, Wisconsin.

Not only does Watts work as a custodian, he maintains active correspondence with several women, many of whom believe he's innocent, according to Inside Edition.

'In my <3 you're a great guy,' writes Candace. 'If you do write me back, I'd be the happiest girl alive, that's for sure.' She punctuated the note with '#TEAMCHRIS,' '#CHRISISINNOCENT,' '#ILOVEHIM' and '#TOOCUTE.'

Convicted murderer Chris Watts - currently serving serving serving five life sentences plus 48 years in prison without the possibility of parole - now works as a custodian while trading details of his killings with female pen pals

Watts was convicted of murdering his pregnant wife Shanann and their two daughters Bella and Celeste in 2018

'In my <3 you're a great guy,' writes Candace. 'If you do write me back, I'd be the happiest girl alive, that's for sure.' She punctuated the note with '#TEAMCHRIS,' '#CHRISISINNOCENT,' '#ILOVEHIM' and '#TOOCUTE'

In just a few weeks in prison, Watts received close to 60 letters from complete strangers that expressed both love and hatred for the murderer.

Tatiana writes: 'I found myself thinking a lot about you,' in addition to a photograph of herself in a bikini.

Kim told Watts she was 'hoping to brighten your days' while Hannah said 'I feel this connection to you.'

Women have written Watts in the past, with the killer even sharing the gory details of the murders.

Cherlyn Cadle appeared in a new episode of Lifetime's Cellmate Secrets to share personal details from letters she exchanged with Watts.

Cadle, a Midwest author and grandmother of 12, asserted that the murders were premeditated based on what he'd told her from behind bars.

'He told me he would daydream about killing Shanann,' Cadle said. 'She would be yelling at him or be upset about something and he wouldn't fight back, but he would just stand there and just daydream about what it would be like to kill her.'

Cadle told Fox News she wrote to Watts in prison after watching his first interview on TV.

In just a few weeks in prison, Watts received close to 60 letters from complete strangers that expressed both love and hatred for the murderer

Kim told Watts she was 'hoping to brighten your days' while Hannah said 'I feel this connection to you'

Many of the women sighned their letters with hearts and x's and o's

Cherlyn Cadle, 67, (left) appeared in a new episode of Lifetime's Cellmate Secrets to share personal details from letters she exchanged with family killer Chris Watts (right)

Cadle wrote her first letter to Watts in February 2019. In a matter-of-fact tone, she laid out her intentions to write a book, saying she had never been in doubt of his guilt. Eventually they built up a correspondence, with Watts telling her about his life and the murders. Pictured: Watts writing to Cadle in April 2019

'When I saw his first interview, I don't know, I looked at him that morning and I just felt something really spoke to me,' she said. 'It was like a calling for me to contact him and see if he would share his story with me.'

'I knew he was guilty. You could tell by the way he was talking, the body language,' Cadle added. 'But it was just one of those things where I really felt like I was supposed to do it.'

Watts eventually replied to Cadle after her third letter at the beginning of 2019.

'He was receptive from the very beginning,' Cadle recalled. 'He said that God told him to respond. I think because I was a mother and grandmother, he didn't feel any kind of threat.'

When Watts sent her a 12-page letter outlining details of each murder, Cadle immediately grew emotional.

'I just broke down and started bawling,' Cadle admits. 'I cried and cried. I just couldn't believe what he did to those girls It was a real shock to read his letter.'

'I knew in my heart right then and there that this was the real and true confession. He said it was planned right away,' she added. 'It was premeditated. And he wanted to clear the slate. He wanted to start over. He didn't want to bring any baggage into the new relationship. And there was a good-sized insurance policy It changed everything for me.'

Calde also mentioned that Watts was already getting a 'lot of fan mail from women who were sending him pictures of themselves in bikinis' who stated their love for him.

Watts strangled Shannan and put her body and their two daughters in his truck and drove to isolated oil storage tanks owned by Anadarko. Above, in court three days after the murders

After exchanging multiple letters and speaking to him on the phone several times a week, Cadle agreed to meet Watts in prison.

'I hate to even admit this because he is a murderer and what he did is so horrendous, but when I first met him, he had this boyish demeanor,' she said. 'He was gentle, soft-spoken and just appeared as a nice guy. And he remained that way throughout our communications. That changed when he started talking about the murders.'

It does not appear that Watts wrote back to any of the other women based on follow-up notes from a few of the senders, who often included more photos and expressed their love for the felon and belief that he was innocent of all crimes.

Watts killed Shannan after she came home from a business trip to Arizona in 2018.

He strangled her in bed and then put her body and their two daughters in his truck and drove to isolated oil storage tanks owned by Anadarko Petroleum, where he worked.

He buried his wife in a shallow grave and then smothered his two daughters and placed their bodies inside the storage tanks.

For two days Watts claimed that he had nothing to do with his family's disappearance and went on television to plead for them to come home.

After his arrest he initially claimed that Shanann had killed the girls after he had told her he wanted a separation, and then he had strangled her in anger.

At his trial, he pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty, which has since been abolished in Colorado.

He is serving five life sentences plus 48 years in prison without the possibility of parole at the Dodge Correctional Institution in Waupun, Wisconsin.
He was renowned for his good looks - but a recreation of Bonnie Prince Charlie's face suggests the 18th century pretender to the British throne was not as handsome as history suggests.

New renditions of the Jacobite suggest his allegedly boyish looks were marked with pimples and his hair was a mess of dirty blonde ringlets beneath the powdered wigs he was so commonly depicted wearing.

It puts paid to the idea that the 'bonnie prince' was a handsome charmer - despite his nickname.

The render, created by the University of Dundee's Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification, is based on 3D scans of Charles Edward Stuart's 'death mask' - a cast made of a person's face after they have died, often for the creation of posthumous portraits.

It shows him with blond ringlets, wearing a white shirt, and with blotchy patches on his skin, as he would have looked at the time of the Jacobite rising - his unsuccessful attempt to restore his father, James Francis Edward Stuart, to the British throne.

Created by a team from the University of Dundee, it is said to be the most lifelike depiction of Prince Charles Edward Stuart during the Jacobite uprising

Prince Charles Edward Stuart planned an invasion of England so that his father could de-throne George II

A master's student working on the project said she hoped the de-aged face would make people think of the prince 'as a person, instead of just legend'

Barbora Vesela, a master's student who started the project, said she found the process moving.

She added that she hoped the de-aged face would make people think of the prince 'as a person, instead of just legend'.

She said: 'There are moments, when you are working with the masks, that it suddenly strikes you that this was once a living person.

Who is Bonnie Prince Charlie? Prince Charles Edward Stuart was born in Rome on December 31, 1720 to his father King James Edward Stuart. In 1745 he led the Jacobite uprising - the attempt to restore his family to the British throne. Known as the Young Pretender, the prince had a daughter with his mistress, Clementina Willeinshaw, in October 1753, but the relationship ended in 1760. In 1772 he married a 19-year-old woman, but this later broke down and she joined a Convent. From 1783, he was ill and was nursed by his daughter until he died in Rome in 1788. Advertisement

'We don't tend to think about the age of people when we study history, but Prince Charlie was just 24 years old when he landed in Scotland and to visualise how young he was at this pivotal moment in history is fascinating.

'He has some interesting features. Beauty is a very subjective thing, but Bonnie Prince Charlie does have distinctive features, such as his nose and his eyes, that encourage you to study him.

'Hopefully this recreation encourages people to think about him as a person, instead of just a legend.

'At the same time, it is important not to romanticise him or the era of history.

'There are many accounts of him but having a face to look at helps us to view him as a human and not just a name from history.'

Researchers examined copies of Charles' death masks at Inverness Museum and Art Gallery, and The Hunterian at the University of Glasgow, creating a composite over several months.

Ms Vesela took photographs from all around the masks and used photogrammetry software to establish a 3D model using almost 500 images.

'Age regression' techniques were then used to digitally de-age him from 67, the age at which he died, to around the age of 24, at the time of the Jacobite uprising.

The 3D scans will feature as part of the University of Dundee's annual Masters Show, which opens to the public on Saturday.

Tobias Houlton, who specialises in craniofacial identification and forensic imaging, said: 'This has been a hugely exciting project.

'Through many hours of hard work, Barbora has given us an exciting new insight into European history.

'This recreation will undoubtedly fascinate the public and the added dynamic of using artificial age regression to bring him back to the Jacobite era, when he was most famous, showcases the range of expertise we have here at the University of Dundee.'

The Jacobite revolution saw Charles attempt to restore the British throne for his father, the exiled Stuart king James III of England and Ireland and VIII of Scotland.

As tensions mounted between Protestant England and Catholic and Jacobean communities in Scotland and France, the young pretender led the uprising in 1745.

The Battle of Culloden saw the remnants of the Jacobite uprising fall in just 40 minutes. Charles then fled to the Isle of Skye, inspiring the Skye Boat Song

Andrew Gower as Bonnie Prince Charlie in TV series Outlander, which perpetuated the idea that the Jacobite pretender was boyishly handsome

Bonnie Prince Charlie bidding farewell to co-conspirator Flora MacDonald, who helped him flee to Skye in 1746 after the Jacobite uprising failed

He planned an invasion of England so that his father could dethrone George II, and was believed to be fluent in reading English, French and Latin by the age of six.

After failing to gain support in France, the prince took to Scotland where he quickly bolstered support and successfully fought General John Cape's men.

Following the victory at the Battle of Prestonpans, Charles and his army attempted to continue to London but were forced to retreat amid reports of huge armies prepared to defend the city.

He did not give up completely and continued to lead his men into battle, until the fateful 40-minute defeat at Culloden Moor on April 16, 1746, at the hand of William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland.

Charles fled to the Isle of Skye - later inspiring the Skye Boat Song, which served as inspiration for the theme song to TV fantasy series Outlander.

The prince appeared in the books that inspired the TV series, written by Diana Gabaldon, and was played in the show by actor Andrew Gower.

In the series, he recruited protagonist Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) as a co-conspirator in his ill-fated bid to claim the British throne.

He later fled to France, where he was initially protected, until the country exiled him in 1748, and he moved around Europe until his death in 1788.

His legend endures to this day, despite his attempt to take the British throne.
A fight over nuclear submarines and Palestinian statehood will engulf the Labor Party as delegates go head to head at its primary policy conference.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong will lead Friday's debate about recognising Palestine as a state, something which is already party policy but has no timeline attached.

Australian Palestine Advocacy Network vice president Nasser Mashni told Labor delegates recognition was 'the least we can do'.

'Recognising Palestine uplifts the community and empowers them to take their place in this beautiful multicultural country and allows them to sit as equals with every other immigrant community,' he said on the sidelines of the national conference.

While successful motions moved by Labor delegates become binding party policy, it remains up to the parliamentary wing to determine how and when they are implemented.

Anthony Albanese is pictured with his partner Jodie Haydon at the Labor party conference

The outcome of Friday's AUKUS debate is less certain with unions and left-wing delegates pushing to strip mention of the pact from the policy platform.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese signalled he could take part in the debate, and said he was not concerned by some party members speaking out against the deal.

'We're a democratic party, and the difference between us and the Liberal Party is they hold conferences and no one focuses on anything they're talking about because they're essentially just fundraisers,' he told ABC 7.30.

'The message of the conference is that we're working for Australia, that what we've done is implement almost every one of the policies that we took to the election.'

Mr Albanese said there would be no imminent announcement about the treatment of nuclear waste from future submarines.

Defence Minister Richard Marles, who is attempting to counter dissent within the party, will introduce a 32-paragraph statement outlining how the pact fits with Labor's values and will protect Australian interests.

His statement includes assurances about local jobs and manufacturing.

'Labor will uphold its proud history of championing practical disarmament efforts, its commitment to high non-proliferation standards and its enduring dedication to a world without nuclear weapons,' it reads.

Labor Against War national convenor Marcus Strom says the pact, which outlines a pathway to Australia acquiring nuclear-powered submarines, goes against Labor's traditional anti-nuclear stance.

The government is adamant the submarines are in line with non-proliferation restrictions and will not lead to a civil nuclear industry or weapons.

Mr Marles' statement is not an amendment to the party's platform, something some unions and delegates are seeking.

It remains unclear what will make it to the floor as any debate on Friday needs to be decided by the agenda committee.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the prime minister wanted to shut down debate about nuclear power to avoid 'a bloodbath on the floor of the conference' as he pushes for the government to consider a civil nuclear energy industry, which it has expressly ruled out.

He also accused the government's of being 'dictated to' by unions on key policy.

'Australians saw the influence of the unions on the Labor Party and and I'm pleased that we don't have that influence on our party,' he told the Nine Network.

'We want the jobs but we don't want the unions running the show.'

The three-day national conference in Brisbane continues until Saturday.
After being chased through the streets of a country town, Nicholas Henry jumped out of his van and tried to run away.

But the 18-year-old never stood a chance.

The three men, who had forced his van off the road to hunt him down, bashed Mr Henry after he fell to the ground.

As he lay there, defenceless and alone, the group took out a knife and stabbed him to death in Morwell in Victoria's Gippsland region in February 2021.

Brothers Corey and Brayden Smart and friend Abraham Abas, who all pleaded guilty to manslaughter, learnt their fate at the Supreme Court in Melbourne on Thursday.

Prosecutors could not establish who out of the three men wielded the knife, but they all pleaded on the basis of complicity.

Nicholas Henry was 18 when he was stabbed to death by three men in Morwell

Corey Smart (second right) was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years on Thursday. The judge told the court Corey played the most 'significant role in the offending'

The group's attack was 'haphazard and chaotic' lasting less than a minute, Justice Jane Dixon said.

'It was clear that Nicholas Henry was deeply loved by family and friends,' she said.

'The grievous loss of a young man's life ... is a terrible thing.'

The group were motivated by revenge, believing Mr Henry had broken into Corey's girlfriend's car earlier, outside an RSL, on February 20, 2021.

Corey Smart gathered his brother and Abas and drove them to hunt for Mr Henry, who was living in his van, finding him and then following him through Morwell.

He forced Mr Henry's van off the road, it mounted a gutter and crashed into a fence on Buckley Street.

Mr Henry got out and tried to flee but the three men chased after him and began assaulting him when he fell to the ground.

'You dog, you rat,' a neighbour heard one of the three offenders yell.

Brothers Brayden and Corey Smart, and Abraham Abas were sentenced on Thursday

They stabbed him eight times across his back, thigh and bottom, leaving him bleeding profusely.

He was taken to hospital, where he died a few hours later.

Justice Dixon found the three killers had suffered from difficult childhoods, including Abas whose mother had fled with him from Sudan after his father and grandmother were killed by rebels.

She said their rehabilitation prospects were good and their guilty pleas 'very valuable' as they had avoided a four-week trial.

Nicholas Henry was chased down across Morwell in Victoria's southeast in February 2021, before being cornered and surrounding by three men who stabbed him eight times

She jailed Corey Smart for eight years and six months, as he had played the most 'significant role in the offending'.

His brother and Abas were each handed seven-and-a-half year sentences.

Corey Smart will be eligible for parole after serving five years, while his brother and Abas can apply after four years and six months.

They have each already served more than two years and four months.

The three men smiled and embraced each other after hearing their sentences, with supporters telling them 'see you soon' and 'love youse boys' outside the court room as they were escorted by custody officers.
The judge ruled sending Barclay to prison would not end the long legal battle

Sir Frederick Barclay was spared the threat of jail yesterday after a judge ruled he had no means of paying 245,000 to his ex-wife.

High Court judge Sir Jonathan Cohen said it was 'extraordinary' that one of Britain's most successful businessmen was now unable to make payments in a 100million divorce settlement.

But he ruled that sending the 88-year-old former publishing tycoon to prison would not end the long-running legal battle over his divorce from Lady Hiroko Barclay.

He appealed to the couple's nephews, who now control the family's fortune, to help their aunt and uncle with their finances.

Sir Frederick and his twin brother Sir David built a vast business empire which included the Ritz hotel, the Telegraph newspapers, the Spectator magazine, and retail and delivery firms.

Sir Frederick Barclay was spared the threat of jail yesterday after a judge ruled he had no means of paying 245,000 to his former wife

But they placed their wealth in a complex structure of family trusts, which are now largely controlled by three of Sir David's sons, Aidan, Alistair and Howard.

It has left Sir Frederick and his former wife entirely dependent on their adult daughter Amanda, who is also a beneficiary from the trusts.

The judge said Lady Barclay, who is also in her eighties, was in a 'dire' financial position, more than two years after Sir Frederick was ordered to pay her 100million.

He said: 'She is hanging on by a thread, not knowing from one month to the next whether she will be able to pay her bills.

'It is extraordinary to think that the former wife of one of the country's most successful businessmen is in this position, and that the Barclay family have allowed this to transpire.'

In the latest round of court hearings in the long-running dispute, Lady Barclay had asked the judge to jail her former husband for breaching court orders to pay her 245,0000.

Her lawyers had asked for the committal order to be suspended for a week to give Sir Frederick time to pay.

But the judge, who had already found Sir Frederick to be in contempt of court, ruled that a suspended committal order would not help the former billionaire to find money to pay his ex-wife.

Sir Jonathan said: 'I have no evidence that Sir Frederick has access to any material funds, despite the great wealth that Sir David and Sir Frederick built up.

'They placed it in structures that deprived them of ownership and control. It was all part of their financial planning in 2014.

'No doubt there were fiscal reasons for it. But, sadly their arrangements never contemplated firstly, divorce, and secondly, a family schism.'

A lender who had previously agreed to loan 10million to Sir Frederick had withdrawn the loan, the court was told.

The judge questioned why the tycoon had been unable to call upon his 'range of business contacts' for help.

He said he had heard evidence from two of Sir Frederick's nephews, Aidan and Howard, about their uncle's predicament.

Sir Frederick and his twin Sir David built a business empire which included the Ritz hotel and Telegraph newspapers but put their wealth in family trusts

Sir Jonathan said Aidan had 'seemed quite unconcerned', but that Howard had told him he considered it 'a priority'.

The judge said: 'Sir David's children have benefited not just from what their father created, but half of what their uncle created.

'The decisions that they have taken in managing the family businesses have had the effect of stopping the flow of funds to their uncle.'

He went on: 'It would strike me as very disappointing if they did not come up with a solution... it would be a sad reflection on the family if this priority was not satisfied.'

The judge warned that the case would come back to court if Lady Barclay was not paid her full 100million settlement, plus interest and legal fees.
Anthony Albanese's plan to subsidise home purchases for low and middle-income earners will only push up prices with new figures showing immigration soaring to a record high, a leading economist says.

The Prime Minister on Thursday unveiled a plan at Labor's national conference in Brisbane where the government would contribute 40 per cent equity for new homes and 30 per cent for existing homes to eligible applicants.

The Help to Buy Scheme, capped at 40,000 places, was announced as new official data revealed 353,670 migrants moved to Australia in 2022-23.

This was slightly below Treasury's May Budget forecast of a record 400,000 new arrivals for the same period but it was the highest ever for a financial year, surpassing the level of 2008-09.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics figures showed 1,003,590 permanent and long-term arrivals in the year to June 2023, which included skilled migrants, family reunions and international students.

This was offset by 649,920 permanent and long-term departures.

Economist Saul Eslake, the principal of Corinna Economic Advisory, said the Help to Buy Scheme, which Labor promised ahead of the 2022 election, risked pushing up prices during a time of high immigration.

'The risk with schemes like this, unless they're limited in number as well as having strict eligibility criteria, is that they push up the price of housing,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

Anthony Albanese's plan to subsidise home purchases for low and middle-income earners will only push up prices with new figures showing immigration soaring to a record high (the prime minister is pictured at Labor's national conference in Brisbane)

READ MORE: Australia's new average salary revealed An Australian now needs to earn more than $95,581 a year to be an above-average income earner - with men now typically on six-figure salaries for the first time ever. The average, full-time salary, before bonuses and overtime, rose by 3.9 per cent in the year to May, up from $92,030 before tax. Advertisement

'We have almost 60 years of history that tells us that anything that allows Australians to buy more expensive houses results in more expensive houses rather than more people owning houses or apartments.'

Mr Eslake said Labor's plan to subsidise new houses with a 40 per cent equity stake would push up prices as supply failed to keep pace with strong population growth.

'If the supply of housing isn't sufficiently responsive, the likelihood is in a market where prices are no longer falling, and where there is excess demand for housing because of strong population growth, $500,000 houses become $600,000 houses,' he said.

'That is one of the costs of a high immigration intake along with congestion on roads and extra demand for places in schools and hospitals and so forth, I wouldn't deny that but I think immigration also addresses skills shortages and is a key factor sustaining economic growth.'

Without Labor's scheme, a middle-income earner on a $65,000 salary would be in mortgage stress buying a $500,000 home with a 20 per cent mortgage deposit of $100,000.

That's because the $400,000 loan would be 6.2 times what this individual earned before tax, which is above the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority's 'six' threshold for mortgage stress.

Under the Help to Buy Scheme, the government would contribute 40 per cent equity, or $200,000.

This middle-income earner with a mortgage deposit of $100,000 would then only owe the bank $200,000, yielding a low debt-to-income ratio of 3.1.

'The amount you have to borrow is significantly less,' Mr Eslake said.

'Hence the serviceability of a mortgage, it's like a much bigger deposit.'

When this home was sold, if the government contributed a 40 per cent stake, they would get back 40 per cent of the sale price should it go up in value.

'The catch is you have to repay it when you sell the property including any share of capital gain that you make.'

An eligible home buyer under this scheme could buy a house at Salisbury in Adelaide's north where the median house price is $501,808 or an apartment at St Kilda in Melbourne's bayside where the mid-point price is $537,922, CoreLogic data showed.

Economist Saul Eslake, the principal of Corinna Economic Advisory, said the Help to Buy Scheme, which Labor promised ahead of the 2022 election, risked pushing up prices during a time of high immigration (pictured is Sydney's Wynyard train station)

Both sides of politics went to the last election with plans to subsidise housing.

Former Liberal prime minister Scott Morrison promised a First Home Guarantee Scheme where a property newcomer could buy a home with a five per cent mortgage deposit with taxpayers underwriting the rest of the usual 20 per cent deposit.

Labor agreed with this policy and it has continued with a change of government.

Mr Albanese on Wednesday promised to build 1.2million homes over five years, from July 1, 2024, after meeting with state premiers and territory chief ministers in Canberra.
The boyfriend of a murdered Maryland mother-of-five has expressed relief after police identified her suspected killer almost two weeks after she was brutally killed.

Rachel Morin, 37, set out on August 5 for a hike and left her car at the Williams Street trailhead in the center of Bel Air, 20 miles north east of Baltimore.

Richard Tobin, her 27-year-old boyfriend, called police that evening when she failed to return. He told them he had found her car where she left it at the trailhead.

Her body was discovered the day after she disappeared naked and beaten in a tunnel along the scenic Ma & Pa Heritage Trail.

On Thursday, Harford Sheriffs Office shared footage of a Hispanic man they believe murdered her, showing a clip of him leaving a house 3,000 miles away in LA which he had broken in to and attacked a young girl. He was connected to Morin's murder by DNA.

Tobin, who according to The Baltimore Banner had given investigators a DNA sample and handed over his cell phone, said: 'I hope they found this scum of the earth, justice for Rachel. Rip, love you Rach.'

She had only recently publicly declared her relationship with Tobin on Facebook, and it was unclear how long they had been together.

Rachel Morin had recently announced on Facebook that she was in a relationship with Richard Tobin (the couple are seen together). On August 5 she said she was going for a walk, and when she failed to return home Tobin reported her missing: her body was discovered the next day

Court records show Morin, who ran a home cleaning company, had a history of litigation with her romantic partners, leading to speculation online about her killer.

After numerous people on social media expressed suspicions of Tobin, who has a lengthy criminal history, he took to Facebook to declare his innocence and wrote that he loved Morin and 'would never do anything to her.'

He said: 'I love Rachel. I would never do anything to her, let the family and I grieve. Yes, I have a past but I also have 15 months clean and have changed as a person. Please.'

Tobin has been arrested 14 times since 2014 on a variety of charges including drug dealing, assault, disorderly conduct and refusing arrest.

His lengthy rap sheet includes two arrests for criminal second degree assault, violating restraining orders, drug possession, and malicious destruction of property.

Tobin also has a number of traffic offenses, a fugitive from justice offense, resisting arrest, and disorderly intoxication and conduct marks on his record, documents show.

The unidentified Hispanic man, aged between 20 and 30, is wanted for questioning in connection with Morin's murder.

He is described as being approximately 5ft 9 tall, weighing around 160lbs, and being of muscular build.

Harford sheriffs on Thursday released this footage of a man they want to speak to leaving a house in Los Angeles which he had broken into, and attacked a young girl inside

The man can be seen walking away from the house in Los Angeles. His DNA was linked to the LA home invasion and the body of Morin

Morin's new boyfriend - who has a criminal past took - to social media to insist he had nothing to do with her killing, and express relief that the suspected killer had been identified

'We believe this was a person that Rachel didn't know, potentially a random act of violence,' said Colonel William Davis, speaking at a Thursday evening news conference.

'We know nothing more about him other than he was in L.A. in March and we believe him to be the murderer.'

Davis said they are not looking for any accomplices, and told local people to be on their guard.

'We believe the suspect acted alone and, he does not represent the entire Hispanic community of Harford County, who we are now partnering with to identify this suspect,' he said.

Morin was last seen on August 5 at around 6pm leaving her house to take a hike on the Ma and Pa Trail

'I know I can speak for the sheriff when I say we are very proud of this community.'

Sheriffs said the Los Angeles home invasion, shown in doorbell camera footage, was carried out in March.

'He is believed to have ties to the Los Angeles area, and may have been involved in violent crimes in other states,' they said.

Sheriff Jeff Gahler said that 10 deputies are working to solve the case, and they have received more than 100 tips - but he urged people to send in more, even if the information seemed inconsequential.

Local man Michael Gabriszeski had joined the search for Morin along with his stepdaughter Cecilia - who was friends with Morin - and her friend Evan, when he claims he came across her remains on August 6.

In an interview with DailyMail.com, Gabriszeski, a Native American tracker, said the pair had decided to check two drainage tunnels on the trail in Hartford County after noticing 'disturbances' on the ground close to the track where the fitness buff had taken a walk that night.

Michael Gabriszeski, along with his stepdaughter and her friend, had joined the search for missing mom Rachel Morin, 37, on the Ma & Pa trail in Bel Air, Maryland when the trio came across her remains, he claims

Police have declined to comment on how Morin died or the type of injuries she sustained, but according to Gabriszeski, the 37-year-old was fully naked and appeared to have suffered 'brutal head trauma'

Grabiszeski said he felt compelled to check out the drainage tunnels on the trail after noticing 'disturbances' on the ground near the track where Morin had gone on a walk

'Cecilia was the first person to see the body,' he said.

'She was hyperventilating really, really bad. And then the police told her to sit down.

'When she sat down, she realized she was sitting in a big pool of blood.'

'She was laying on her back, fully naked, and she had brutal head trauma...it looked like her head had been smashed in with a rock.

'There was a 15 to 20-foot blood trail. So, it looked like she had been beaten and dragged into that position.'

'It looked like (the killer) was trying to erase her identity,' the 48-year-old added.

'The right side of her face was gone.'

A separate source close the family had earlier told DailyMail.com that the young mother had suffered serious head trauma.

'The injuries were so horrific that there won't be an open casket (at her funeral),' the source said.

The witness described seeing 'a 15 to 20-foot blood trail' near Morin's body and said it seemed like her 'head had been smashed in with a rock'

No suspects have been arrested in Morin's murder as of yet but a homicide investigation is ongoing

Locals were seen participating in a community walk along the Ma and Pa Trail, Bel Air amid the investigation

A spokeswoman for Harford County's Sheriff's Office declined to comment on the nature of how Morin was killed.

Meanwhile, police have reached out to obtain any footage from people who were on the trail over the weekend.

Harford County Sheriff's Office wrote in a statement: 'Detectives are asking your your help.

'If you were on the Ma & Pa Trail on Saturday (August 5), or near the trail or trail heads and took photos or video, we are asking if you would please share them with investigators.

'There could be something helpful in one of your photos that might bring us one one more piece of the puzzle.

'As of this morning, we have already received nearly 90 tips from concerned community members in reference to the murder of Rachel Morin.

'Thank you for all the support you have given.'

Local police declined to comment on how Morin died or the type of injuries she sustained.

Her family say she did not 'go willingly' and that her death was 'not accidental'.
A family of six who suddenly became 'disgustingly sick' after moving into their new rental home were shocked to learn it was riddled with methamphetamine.

Queensland mum Emily Thornton said she became suspicious something toxic was in her family's Sandstone Point home in Brisbane's north shortly after moving in.

She decided to get the house tested after talking to neighbours who were suspicious of previous tenants but was told by her landlord she'd need to pay for it.

After forking out $500, the horrified mother learned her home contained almost three-times the safe amount of methamphetamine contamination.

The safe level of meth residue is below 0.5 micrograms per 100 sq cm - the family's home contained 1.3 micrograms per 100 sq cm.

Emily Thornton (pictured right outside the home with her children and husband) said she discovered her new rental home in north Brisbane contained almost three-times the safe amount of meth residue after paying for a test herself

It's alleged the previous tenants of the home ran a meth lab.

Meth contamination can cause extreme sickness and even death - especially in young children.

Ms Thornton said the residue was found all over the family's home including in the children's playroom.

The landlord has offered to clean the home but the family will need to pay for their own emergency accommodation in the meantime.

'We're not allowed in there, basically, we're starting from scratch  we've got nothing, absolutely nothing at all,' Ms Thornton told 7News.

'They've told us just to get out, we've just taken what we've got and walked out the door.'

She and her husband said they cannot afford to find temporary accommodation and don't know where they will go.

'We just don't know what we're going to do. We don't have the money to pay for it,' Ms Thornton said.

The family of six have been told to organise their own emergency accommodation, which they cannot afford, while the meth is cleaned from the home (pictured, a positive meth test done at the house)

Australian Meth Alerts spokesperson David Pie said the drug's residue is invisible and odourless so often goes undetected in standard tenancy change checks.

However, he said meth contamination is a 'well-known' problem in the real estate industry and called for regular detection tests to become mandated.

'It's out of control and it's just getting ignored,' he said.
More than a third of repeat knife offenders are escaping jail due to an 'increasing tolerance' in courts, new figures from the Ministry of Justice display.

From January until March 2023, 37 per cent avoided prison which is the highest proportion since a law was introduced in 2015 stating that a court must jail any repeat offender convicted of a second knife offence.

This has risen from 27.8 per cent in 2019 and comes after figures revealed that knife possession offences hit a record high in September 2022, according to the Telegraph.

Rory Geoghegan, a former Downing Street adviser on crime, said: 'Those who carry knives repeatedly won't be deterred by a criminal justice system that seems to have an increasing tolerance for them.

'Parliament was clear in 2015 that repeat knife carriers should be jailed, yet more than 1,600 repeat knife carriers dodged a prison sentence last year, the highest number since records began.'

More than a third of repeat knife offenders are escaping jail due to an 'increasing tolerance' in courts [File image]

It comes as knife possession offences hit a record high in September 2022 [File image]

Data shows 12,786 knife offences were carried out in London over the year leading to March 2023, which is a 16 per cent rise from the year before, according to the Office for National Statistics.

READ MORE: Crime hits its highest level IN TWENTY YEARS with sharp rises in violent attacks, fraud and rape Advertisement

While sex attacks in England and Wales have jumped by 20 per cent since 2019/20, there has been a 'six-fold increase' in advance fee fraud, in which victims are duped into paying upfront for services and goods that never materialise.

It follows a 20-year high for crime reported last year for similar offences, which has now risen by a further 400,000 offences since last year.

The total number of crimes recorded by police in England and Wales stood at 6.7 million in 2022/23, compared with 6.3 million in 2021/22.

However the ONS said this is 'unlikely to reflect a genuine increase in crime' because the rise was largely influenced by increases in the offence categories, which are 'most subject to changes in reporting and recording practices'.

Nick Stripe, from the ONS' Centre for Crime and Justice, said: 'Some crime types are returning to their pre-pandemic levels, while others may have been affected by changes in people's behaviour during the pandemic and the subsequent lifting of social restrictions.

'Overall crime continues to be well below levels seen before the pandemic. This is in large part due to sharp falls in theft and criminal damage.'
The move leaves the President's son vulnerable to new potentially more severe charges as special counsel David Weiss continues the probe

Hunter Biden's tax charges have been dismissed by a federal judge in Delaware after his so-called 'sweetheart' plea deal dramatically fell through.

After the collapse of the deal earlier this month prosecutors asked District Judge Maryellen Noreika to dismiss the charges in Delaware, so new charges could potentially be brought in California or Washington DC.

Hunter Biden's lawyers did not contest the move and Judge Noreika approved the request on Thursday.

The dismissed charges were two tax misdemeanors for failing to pay taxes on time in 2017 and 2018.

Without a plea deal Hunter may now face more serious charges brought by newly appointed special counsel David Weiss.

Hunter Biden's tax charges have been dismissed by a federal judge in Delaware after his so-called 'sweetheart' plea deal dramatically fell through

Judge Maryellen Noreika dismissed the charges in Delaware after requests from the prosecution

Biden arriving at court in Wilmington, Delaware, last month. He had been expected to plead guilty to two misdemeanor charges, but the plea deal collapsed in spectacular fashion

The president's son may still be able to salvage a separate plea deal related to a felony gun possession charge, but it is not yet clear.

The charge, which Hunter's lawyers claim is still binding but prosecutors say never went into effect, would allow the gun charges to be dropped in two years if Biden stayed out of legal trouble and passed drugs test.

The agreement on the gun charge also contains an immunity clause against federal prosecutions for some other potential crimes.

In another recent twist Biden's defense attorney on the case, Christopher Clark, filed to withdraw from the case on Tuesday.

Clark said that he could be called as a witness over the negotiation and drafting of the deal and cannot also act as his lawyer. He has been replaced by another Hunter Biden attorney, Abbe Lowell.

Attorney General Merrick Garland's surprise announcement last week of Weiss as special counsel raised fresh questions about the case ahead of the 2024 election. Hunter Bidens history of drug use and financial dealings have trailed the political career of his father.

The case comes against the backdrop of the Justice Departments indictments against former President Donald Trump - Joe Biden's chief rival in next year's election.

The case against Hunter appeared to be drawing to a close when both sides announced they had reached a deal in June.

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

But it fell apart at a hearing last month that was expected to end with Biden escaping jail time in return for pleading guilty to failing to pay taxes on over $1.5 million in income in both 2017 and 2018.

The two sides appeared to have different views of how the deal was to work, and the judge refused to sign off without more clarity.

Weiss said one of the problems was that Biden and his attorney appeared to be saying he was pleading guilty because of promises that had not been included in the deal.

'This was a problem entirely of their own making and not one that resulted from the drafting of the proposed plea or diversion agreements,' he said.

Rather than disappearing, it means the case now hangs over the president as he campaigns for reelection next year.
An Irish TikToker whose mother smuggled a capybara into Northern Ireland from Cambridgeshire has sparked a Brexit border row.

Three people have been convicted of charges relating to smuggling the animal from England to Northern Ireland.

Zena Foord, the mother of TikToker Kyle Thomas, contacted County Antrim pet shop owner Michael Dickinson.

Dickinson then arranged for James Hammond to pick up the animal and transport it over from Cambridgeshire - where they can be kept as pets legally.

The capybara made itself at home in Foord's household - where it soon became an online star in Mr Thomas's videos.

An Irish TikToker whose mother smuggled a capybara into Northern Ireland from Cambridgeshire has sparked a Brexit border row

The capybara made itself at home in Foord's household - where it soon became an online star in Mr Thomas's videos

Mr Thomas would film clips of himself and the capybara, which he named Queen Elizabeth, according to The Telegraph.

The videos wracked up a whopping 35million followers on TikTok.

Things took a turn when the animal became unwell last year and needed to be taken to the vets.

The practice alerted the authorities to the fact Foord did not have a vets health certificate and had not declared the imported animal.

The animal died last year.

Foord, Dickinson and Hammond were arrested and all pleaded guilty at Lisburn Magistrate's Court this week. They were given two-year conditional discharged, so will not face further punishment. It does however mean they now have a criminal record.

Things took a turn when the animal became unwell last year and needed to be taken to the vets

The capybara sparked a Brexit border row as Dickinson claimed pet traders were being treated 'the same as rapists and paedophiles'.

In order to prevent a hard border with the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland continues to follow EU rules on animal health. This results on checks on goods and animals exported from Britain to Northern Ireland.

Barry Gibson, who defended Hammond in court, said that before Brexit the trio would not have committed a crime and blamed their convictions on the changing regulations.
An employee at a factory in western Sydney was rushed to hospital after allegedly being stabbed in the neck by another man.

Police were called to a warehouse on the Enterprise Circuit industrial estate in Prestons in Sydney's west just before 8am on Friday after reports a man had been attacked.

The injured man, believed to be in his late forties, was taken to hospital in a stable condition.

Police were called to a warehouse on the Enterprise Circuit industrial estate in Prestons in Sydney's west just before 8am on Friday after reports a man had been attacked (pictured)

A man who had been allegedly stabbed in the neck was taken to Liverpool Hospital in a stable condition

'About 7.50am today (Friday 18 August 2023), emergency services responded to reports of an assault at a business on Enterprise Circuit, Prestons,' said an NSW Police spokesperson.

'Police have been told a man was allegedly stabbed in the neck by another man.

'The injured man was treated at the scene by NSW Ambulance paramedics before being taken to Liverpool Hospital in a stable condition.'

A crime scene has been established and officers are currently investigating the incident.

Officers from Liverpool City Police Area Command have established a crime scene and are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident (pictured)

Photos from the scene showed police tape blocking off the entrance to the Industry Glass Pty Ltd warehouse.

The company has no contact details online.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Liverpool Police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Four Aussie surfers who spent 36 hours missing at sea after their boat capsized off Indonesia in bad weather made a harrowing decision to separate from their crew in a desperate effort to get help sooner.

Elliot Foote, girlfriend Steph Weisse and friends Will Teagle and Jordan Short were stranded in waters off the Indonesian island of Sumatra after their wooden longboat ran into rough conditions on Sunday night.

They were stranded at sea in the middle of the ocean for almost two days until they were finally rescued on Tuesday morning.

Mohammad Iqbal and a second Indonesian boat crew member on board the stricken boat were also rescued.

However, the miraculous rescue is tinged with sadness that the group's guide, Fifan Satrio, is still missing.

The rescued Aussie surfers are heartbroken their Indonesian guide Fifan Satrio (pictured) still hasn't been found

After almost 24 hours lost at sea, Mr Iqbal recalled how the Aussies paddled ahead in the desperate quest to find help.

He and the other crew member stayed behind with Mr Satrio, who wasn't a strong swimmer and couldn't keep up with the group.

READ MORE: The moment Peter Foote found out his missing son Elliot and his three friends were found Advertisement

'The foreigners paddled very quickly but we couldn't keep up and we had to look after Fifan,' Mr Iqbal told The Australian.

'I tried to give Fifan a lot of encouragement. I reminded him to tie his surfboard to his body so whatever happened  if he felt dizzy or passed out  he would not sink to the sea.

'I told him if he didn't do that and he passed out, he might not be found.'

Mr Iqbal last saw Mr Satrio on Monday afternoon, clinging to a surfboard and life jacket undone.

The search for Mr Satrio continues but is expected to be called off on Sunday.

Mr Satrio's mother issued a tearful plea for the search to continue at a local service attended by the four Aussies on Thursday night.

The Aussies are delighted to be back on dry land but are heartbroken their Indonesian guide remains lost at sea.

Elliot Foote (with girlfriend Steph Weisse) paid tribute to their missing guide on Thursday

the four Aussie surfers (pictured with friends back on dry land) paddled ahead of their Indonesian crew members in the hope of getting help sooner

Elliot Foote and his mates (pictured) remain in Indonesia to celebrate his 30th birthday

'We had a great service last night with Fifan's family and the locals here - that was really special for us and special for them,' Mr Foote told the Today show on Friday.

'We are just so stoked and grateful for everyone and everything that happened, but we're still mourning, though, we're still upset at the end result but also happy to be here. '

It comes hours after Mr Foote broke his silence about the ordeal where he paid tribute to the group's missing guide.

'My deepest thoughts are with the family of Fifan. Our joyful young guide who hasn't been found,' Mr Foote posted earlier on Thursday.

'I wish there was more we could have done to help you, and that will stay with me as a burden to bear.'

'I understand the loneliness you must've felt in those hours by yourself, and my condolences to your family.'

Mr Foote's thoughts are with the family of Fifan (pictured), the group's joyful guide who hasn't been found

Aussie surfers Steph Weisse, Elliot Foote, Will Teagle and Jordan Short (pictured, left to right) spent 36 hours lost at seas before they were finally rescued

The four surfers and their crew had chosen to push on through the rough weather on Sunday night while a group of eight of their friends took shelter on Saran Alu.

Mr Foote went on to say the experience was 'something that I cannot comprehend'.

'My emotions are incredibly mixed; elation, guilt, complete adrenaline, anxiety, pure joy and happiness,' he said.

'From the moment the boat went under until the time we were reunited on Pinang Island, uncertainty was the only certainty.

'I didn't know if my eight friends had made it to the island on the Sunday night before us, if my girlfriend Steph, Will and Jordan had been found and rescued before me or if I needed to get out there and find them.'

Meanwhile back home in Australia, the surfers' families have set up an online fundraiser to support Mr Satrio and the Haloban village that rallied together to search for the missing tourists.

This is the incredible moment Steph Weisse, Will Teagle and Jordan Short and an Indonesian crew member were located after 36 hours lost at sea

Elliot Foote (pictured with girlfriend Steph) has thanked everyone involved in the search

'The funds aims are: to assist and support the family and community of the one crew member who is still missing, to compensate the people who committed their time and resources to the rescue effort, and to help ensure nothing like this happens again,' the page states.

'We also seek to extend gratitude and recompense to the individuals, businesses, and organisations who took part in the ongoing search and rescue operation. These teams volunteered their resources, time, and efforts without a second thought, and where possible, we will use these funds to relieve the financial burden of their rescue effort.'

The fundraiser has already raised more than $30,000 which includes a significant donation from Mr Foote's father Peter.
The head of Maui's Emergency Management Agency resigned on Thursday night, citing 'health reasons'.

It comes a day after Chief Herman Andaya faced fierce backlash by saying he did not regret not activating warning sirens as the wildfire swept across the island.

Andaya said he opted to send out alerts via mobile devices, radio waves, television and the county's opt-in resident alert system - but not via siren.

Despite the claim the warning sirens could have saved hundreds of people, Andaya argued the systems are generally used for tsunami warnings and Hawaiians are trained to seek higher ground when they go off, which would have led them toward the blazing inferno.

It has since emerged that the official has a history of downplaying the importance of the island's siren systems.

Governor Josh Green said he expects the official death toll will rise by about 10 people per day for the next week - officials have not said what they believe the final figure will be

Andaya also claimed that even if the sirens had sounded, there would have been significant swaths of land where there are no sirens and people would therefore not have been hypothetically saved by them

Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen said in a statement on Thursday that he had accepted Andaya's resignation.

'Given the gravity of the crisis we are facing, my team and I will be placing someone in this key position as quickly as possible and I look forward to making that announcement soon,' Bissen said.

Andaya defended his experience and qualification for office during the mid-week press conference held by Governor Josh Green.

'Had we sounded the siren that night, we're afraid that people would have gotten mauka [toward the mountains] and if that was the case, then they would have gone into the fire,' he said.

'I should also note that there are no sirens mauka, or on the mountainside, where the fire was spreading down. So even if we sounded the siren, we would not have saved those people out there on the mountainside.'

The response came after a reporter said that several survivors of the fire - which claimed the lives of at least 111 people - said their neighbors and loves ones may have been saved if the sirens had gone off before they noticed the 1,000-degree flames rolling toward their houses.

Andaya had a pattern of downplaying the importance of the island's siren system in the year's leading up to the tragedy, NBC News reported.

In meetings dating back to 2019 he repeatedly called sounding the civil service sirens 'a last resort,' according to meeting transcripts of the county's public safety commission.

People walk past destroyed by wildfire in Lahaina - search teams have covered an estimated 38 percent of the impacted area

Maui Mayor Richard Bissen defended Andaya at Wednesday's press conference alongside Governor Green

Search operations continue in Lahaina, as hope fades that any survivors will be found - though some 1,300 people remain missing

Lahainas banyan, near the town's historic courthouse building, is known as the oldest living banyan tree in the US. Both the tree and the courthouse have been severely damaged.

Andaya made the remarks to commissioners in recent years after monthly tests found some were not working and, in one case, after a false alarm, the publication reported.

A reporter at Wednesday's conference also seemed to question Andaya's resume, and how he's had no prior experience in emergency management before taking on his current role in 2017. He was chief-of-staff to a former mayor.

The member of the press then asked if he would consider handing further responsibility off to someone else.

Andaya said the claim he didn't have experience before assuming his current position is 'not true.'

He argued his employment history includes time in the housing department, and as a staffer in the mayor's cabinet, during which time he 'reported to the emergency operation centers.'

'To say that I am not qualified, I think is incorrect,' he added.

Both Governor Green and Maui Mayor Richard Bissen defended Andaya against the journalist's quasi-accusations. Green agreed his reaction to hearing the sirens would be to expect a tsunami.

Governor Green confirmed Wednesday the death toll had risen to 110, though search teams have canvassed just 38 percent of the impacted territory.

The Maria Lanakila Catholic Church in downtown Lahaina is seen still standing amidst the rubble

Carole Hartley, 60, from Alabama, was one of the first wildfire victims to be identified

Clyde Wakida is pictured with his wife of 46 years, Penny. He died trying to save the house they built together 35 years ago

Franklin 'Frankie' Trejos, 68, died trying to shelter Sam, a golden retriever. Both was found dead inside a car

Officials, including Green, have said the death toll will likely continue to climb in the next few weeks.

There is increasing concern that numerous children, who were at home because schools were closed and parents were at work, are among the dead.

'Our parents work one, two, three jobs just to get by and they can't afford to take a day off,' Jessica Sill, a kindergarten teacher at Lahaina's King Kamehameha III Elementary School, told the Wall Street Journal. 'Without school, there was nowhere for [kids] to go that day.'

The death toll has now grown to at least 111 people and there is growing fear that many children are among the dead - as they were left home alone when schools delayed opening due to power outages before the storm.

A kindergarten teacher in Lahaina said that a seven-year-old boy - who is the cousin of two of her former students - was found dead alongside his family in a burned out car.

Jessica Sill, who teaches at King Kamehameha III Elementary School, told the Wall Street Journal: 'Our parents work one, two, three jobs just to get by and they can't afford to take a day off.

'Without school, there was nowhere for [kids] to go that day.'

Public schools on Maui have started the process of reopening and traffic has also resumed on a major road, in signs the painful recovery process is underway.
Asks if independent senator will apologise or pay reparations

Lidia Thorpe's Indigenous clan were allegedly responsible for a massacre that claimed the lives of dozens of Aboriginal people, according to Sky News host Andrew Bolt.

The Sky News pundit branded Senator Thorpe's National Press Club address on Wednesday 'dangerous and deceitful' and claimed she was 'pushing her inflammatory history of Australia'.

The former Greens Senator, who identified herself as a member of the Gunnai Gunditjmara Djab Wurrung clan, said her ancestors lived in peace until European settlers landed on Australia's shores.

The former Greens Senator (pictured), who identified herself as a member of the Gunnai Gunditjmara Djab Wurrung clan, said her ancestors lived in peace until European settlers landed on Australia's shores during her National Press Club address on Wednesday

'My grandmother's country had 70 clans living in peace and harmony pre-colonisation,' Senator Thorpe told journalists.

But Bolt poured cold water on the claims, alleging that 'Thorpe's old tribe was itself guilty of massacres'.

'The Gunnai were guilty of one of the worst massacres of Aborigines known to early colonialists,' claimed the Sky News host.

Bolt claimed that the Gunnai were responsible for what has become known as the Warrowen massacre which allegedly took place in the 1830s and saw around 70 members of the Bunurong clan killed.

Warrowen translates as 'place of sorrow' or 'incessant weeping'.

William Thomas, an early settler who represented the Aboriginal people in various roles in Port Phillip, later recorded the massacre based on testimony from Indigenous sources.

In an 1840 letter, Mr Thomas wrote that 'about four years ago 77 people were killed at Little Brighton not nine miles from Melbourne'.

The events were also allegedly recorded by George Henry Haydon, a writer and artist who emigrated to Melbourne in 1840, in his book 'Five Years' Experience in Australia Felix' which claimed the alleged massacre 'nearly annihilated a whole tribe'.

'One of the old warriors of this tribe, who had escaped the massacre, said that his people were laying about the country like dead kangaroos,' wrote Haydon.

Historian Marie Hansen Fels, who wrote 'I Succeeded Once'  The Aboriginal Protectorate on the Mornington Peninsula, 1839-1840, claims the atrocity was 'commonplace information in early Melbourne history'.

The alleged Warrowen massacre was recorded by William Thomas, an early settler who represented the Aboriginal people in various roles in Port Phillip (pictured)

Ms Fels idenitifes the locations of the massacre with Landcox Park and Hurlingham Park in present-day Brighton East in south-east Melbourne.

In her National Press Club address, Senator Thorpe called for reparations for Indigenous people.

'There is a lot of money owed to first peoples. I mean, look at the resources that have been extracted over 200 years,' Ms Thorpe said.

'You know, we don't want to send the country broke. I'll put that out there now. Otherwise, we could with what is owed.'

'You look at the Victorian Parliament  That is stolen sandstone that built the Victorian Parliament.

'I could send Daniel Andrews a bill as a traditional owner. But I'll save him from that.'

But Bolt pointedly asked whether Senator Thorpe would apologise for the Warrowen massacre, allegedly committed by her clan.

'Will Lidia Thorpe apologise for that massacre of Aborigines by her old tribe?', he said.

'Will she pay reparations? Or are massacres of Aborigines only bad if they were done by whites?'

Daily Mail Australia approached Senator Thorpe for comment.
A Melbourne woman who killed a grandfather in a crash and then tried to blame a group of African men is headed back to prison with her newborn baby to join her.

Alisha Fagan was jailed for at least six months on Thursday after killing a beloved father and grandfather in a horror crash in Sunshine West in June last year.

The 22-year-old's case faced delays in the Victorian County Koori Court while Judge Scott Johns questioned what options were available for her to give birth in jail, or have her child with her in custody.

Details of her pregnancy were suppressed by the court while her case was heard and Thursday's sentence had been put off until after she gave birth in July.

Her baby daughter was in the courtroom as she was sentenced to a total two-and-a-half years behind bars after she pleaded guilty to driving and bail offences.

Alisha Fagan was sentenced on Thursday over the fatal crash in Sunshine West in June 2022

Fagan was on four sets of bail for driving offences when she hit and killed 69-year-old grandfather Sedat Hassan on June 9, 2022.

Judge Johns said Fagan, a suspended learner driver, had an appalling driving record before the fatal smash and a history of driving at outrageous speeds.

She had been drinking and was speeding 28km/h over the speed limit in a residential street when she failed to give way at an intersection, ploughing into Mr Hassan's car.

Fagan's passengers fled but she waited for emergency services to arrive and then gave police a false name.

She claimed four African men she didn't know were in the car with her, and that one of them had been the driver.

Judge Johns said the depth of the grief of Mr Hassan's family could not be put into words.

He said Fagan had suffered a lot over the past 14 months but had grown and shown genuine remorse and her circumstances were deserving of leniency and mercy.

Fagan was on four sets of bail for driving offences when she hit and killed 69-year-old grandfather Sedat Hassan on June 9, 2022 (aftermath of the crash is seen here)

Ms Fagan, wearing a face mask, was supported by family as she arrived for sentencing at the Melbourne County Court

Ms Fagan's application to participate in the Corrections Victoria Living With Mum program, which allows women to maintain their bond with their children in custody, was approved. (Pictured: a woman, believed to be a family member, pushes a pram outside court)

Judge Johns said Fagan's lifestyle before the crash was erratic and she had taught herself to drive because there was no one else.

He said she struggled with anxiety and accepted the 76 days she spent in custody before being bailed last year were 'terrifying and traumatic'.

Judge Johns took into account the additional punishment she received though media coverage of her offending and comments by social media users about her actions.

A medical expert said Fagan had a deep desire to be a loving provider for her child, and wanted to keep her baby with her in custody.

The judge accepted that she had been under stress about what would happen with her child, and noted removal of children from Indigenous parents was an ongoing issue and trauma.

Melbourne grandfather Sedat Hassan, 69, (pictured) was killed in the horror crash

Her application to participate in the Corrections Victoria Living With Mum program, which allows women to maintain their bond with their children in custody, was approved.

Fagan previously read a letter of apology to Mr Hassan's family, saying she took full responsibility for her actions as a severe alcoholic with no impulse control and no understanding of consequences.

'Please know that who I was then and who I am now are not the same person,' she said.

Fagan's licence was also cancelled for two years. With time served, she'll be eligible for parole later this year.

13YARN 13 92 76

Aboriginal Counselling Services 0410 539 905
A man dressed in pajamas has jumped to his death from the roof of the 750ft Deutsche Bank Center - before plunging through the front of the Mandarin Oriental.

The victim was sliced in half before hitting the busy New York City sidewalk outside the apartment complex where Jay-Z, Cynthia Nixon and Gisele owned apartments.

The incident occurred at the prestigious right-hand tower of 80 Columbus Circle, formerly the Time Warner Center, address in Midtown at 9:06pm according to police.

'The marquee cut him in half,' a building employee said, who added the man was dismembered with an arm found across the street.

A person has died after falling to their death from the 750 feet tall Deutsche Bank Center roof before plunging through the Mandarin Oriental Hotel

The unnamed man was sliced in half before hitting the busy New York pavement outside the apartment complex where Jay-Z and Tom Brady live

The Mandarin Oriental Hotel Marque is believed to have cut the victim's body in half

The incident occurred on Thursday at the twin luxury glass tower building where apartments can sell for $19 million

A police officer at the scene said the man was wearing pajama bottoms, a print T-shirt and slippers.

But he is not believed to have been a guest at the hotel, which lies on the top 19 floors of the 55-storey Deutsche Bank Center tower, yet is understood to have taken a service elevator to the roof before jumping, police sources revealed.

The unidentified man was pronounced dead at the scene. Grisly images showed the body covered in a blanket on the sidewalk.

Glass and debris could be seen around the corpse, which lay on the street outside the twin luxury glass tower building which used to host CNN's newsrooms and where apartments can now sell for $19 million.

The New York Police Department told DailyMail.com the victim's identity was not yet known and that the investigation is still ongoing.
A 21-year-old tradie facing life in prison if convicted of supplying almost 1kg of ice found in Woolworths shopping bags in the back of a ute has successfully pleaded for bail to see his newborn son.

The plasterer, from the NSW Central Coast, was released on bail after a plea from his girlfriend, also 21, described giving birth to their child with only one call from behind bars because the prison iPad stopped working.

Rhani Hyde described the labour as 'the scariest moment of my life' and how she needs her partner Jackson Stone to support her and their son.

Stone, from the suburb of Erina, was arrested in May after police allegedly found a large commercial supply of methamphetamine among power tools in a locked toolbox in the back of a ute.

The drama unfolded on the afternoon of May 9 in Fairfield West, in Sydney's western suburbs around 2.30pm.

According to police facts tendered in court, officers were called to a report of gunfire coming from a residence and observed Stone and another man, Dylan Shaw, running from a white Toyota Hilux parked outside.

With the Police Air Wing overhead filming the scene, officrs followed the men and told them to lie on the ground and arrested them. Officers searched the vehicle and, the facts allege, found a lockable tool box that 'contained two Woolworths bags holding two vacuum sealed bags containing methylamphetamine'.

After the bags were weighed and analysed, they were found to allegedly contain a total of 912.92 grams of of the drug.

Stone, who had celebrated a baby shower with his partner just two weeks earlier, was refused bail and has been held in Parklea and Bathurst prisons ever since.

Rhani Hyde's affidavit to the Supreme Court to support Jackson's release on bail after he was arrested two weeks after her baby shower described the 'scary' the birth of their first child with him only able to communicate via faulty prison iPad

Rhani Hyde and Jackson Stone (above) were looking forward to the birth of their son, but Stone missed it when he was arrested and charged with the alleged supply of almost $1kg of ice

Stone allegedly had the keys to the ute in his pocket when police finally arrested the pair.

He is charged with supplying a large commercial quantity of prohibited drugs, and knowingly take part in the supply of a large commercial quantity of drugs.

His girlfriend Rhani Hyde, who was heavily pregnant with Stone's child when he was arrested, wrote an affidavit pleading to the court for his release.

Ms Hyde, also 21, described her 'whirlwind romance' with Stone before becoming pregnant last September, and giving birth to their son Kash on June 5 'without Jackson by my side - it was the scariest moment of my life'.

The young couple had videoed their gender reveal, and posted it online last November and were counting down the days to the arrival of their baby son.

On April 24, they held a baby shower and posted on Facebook 'such a special day celebrating our boy', but Stone missed the birth after being taken into custody on May 9.

Jackson Stone, 21, and his girlfriend Rhani Hyde were expecting the arrival of a baby son when police made a dramatic arrest and locked up on alleged ice supply charges

Ms Hyde said that giving birth without Jackson there was 'devastateing' and he 'was only able to make one call to me during about because it was lock in and the iPad was not working.

'I know he has struggled a lot ... missing the birth of our son and carries a lot of guilt for this'.

Stone's father owns a gyprocking business near Terrigal where Jackson works as a plasterer, and also supplied the NSW Supreme Court with an affidavit to support Jackson's release on bail.

Justice Hament Dhanji told the NSW Supreme Court on Friday said there were some very significant hurdles to releasing Stone on bail, including the allegation that he and his co-accused had fled the scene.

The accused Jackson Stone and his partner Rhani Hude (left) at their baby shower two weeks before his arrest and (right) at the (blue) gender reveal last year

'The real issue is the strength of the Crown case which is (Stone) appears to have been driving the vehicle which belonged to a relative, with his co-accused a passenger to a location where (there were) gunshots which led to the attention of the police.'

Justice Dhanji said police alleged Stone and the other man attempted to run from the scene and a search of the vehicle revealed the locked box with the two bags full of the 912.92g of a substance which was allegedly identified as methamphetamine.

His Honour said the case against Stone would depend on 'even if the accused can be inferred to know about the prohibited drug, whether he knew of the quantity involved'.

Stone will face trial at a later date.
Two women have described 'excruciating' attacks launched by an inmate jailed for beheading her mother in a frenzied attack involving more than 100 stab wounds.

Jessica Camilleri was jailed for 16 years for brutally killing her mother in western Sydney in 2019.

The 29-year-old was found guilty of manslaughter over the bloody attack, in which she stabbed her mother at least 100 times, carved up her face, and decapitated her with a flurry of blows.

She was sentenced to spend more than two decades behind bars at Silverwater Prison, where she subsequently attacked and wounded two corrective services officers.

Jessica Camilleri who has been jailed for murdering her mother, attacked two officers while in prison at Silverwater Prison

Camilleri appeared in the NSW District Court on Friday after admitting to two counts of assaulting a law enforcement officer and inflicting actual bodily harm.

She had her dark hair pulled into a round bun on one side of her head and appeared impassive as her victims described the impact of her attacks.

Prison guards were leaving the inmate's cell in August 2021 when Camilleri rushed towards the closing door and slipped through the opening, the police facts state.

She was told to return to her cell and started to edge back towards the door when one prison officer turned her head to speak to another inmate.

A video of the incident shows Camilleri reaching out and grabbing the woman's hair and pulling a fistful of hair from her scalp before being restrained by three officers.

The prison officer was left with a long bald patch on her scalp, where her hair had been forcefully yanked from its roots.

She sobbed hysterically as she told the court about the devastating impact of the 'excruciating' attack.

'I felt lost and violated for weeks after the assault,' the woman said through tears.

'It has caused me pain and ongoing sadness and I often find myself crying at work or when by myself.'

Camilleri appeared in the NSW District Court on Friday, after pleading guilty to assaulting a prison officer

The long serving corrections officer told the court she struggles with post traumatic stress disorder, hypervigilance, and heightened anxiety due to Camilleri's assault.

'I strongly believe (the attack) will remain with me for the rest of my life,' she explained while crying.

When interviewed about the painful attack, Ms Camilleri admitted she had pulled the officer's hair but said she thought it was 'just a few strands'.

'I don't like (her),' she told police two days after the assault.

I just wanted to give (her) a little bit of the taste of (her) own medicine for the s*** they've been doing to me ... since I've been here.'

Less than two months later, the 29-year-old attacked a second prison officer in the yard in a similar manner.

While officers were trying to take her back to her cell, body worn video footage showed her grabbing a chunk of the second officer's hair and forcefully yanking it.

The woman screamed out in pain but Ms Camilleri did not let go until she was restrained by a third officer.

The prison officer lost a worrying amount of her hair during the 'detrimental' attack, which left two bald patches on her scalp, the court heard.

'The consequences of this assault have had lasting and profound effects on my life,' she told the court.

'I am filled with sadness and anger that this assault occurred.'

The long serving prison guard said she had endured anxiety, depressive episodes, PTSD, and terrifying nightmares in the wake of the attack.

The 29-year-old attacked another prison officer less than two months later after she attacked a female prison officer by pulling her hair

'I truly believe the price I paid for this incident was the deterioration of my mental health,' she told the court in a powerful address.

She cautioned Camilleri had developed a 'noticeable pattern of behaviour' in attacking guards and called for better protection for officers.

'Correctional officers are not punching bags,' the woman said.

Both officers said they had suffered ongoing pain and psychological trauma as a result of the attack.

READ MORE: Woman who decapitated her own mum and dropped her head in the street after stabbing her 100 times in 'gruesome and brutal' attack has her sentence reduced
The Northern Territory police have located two teenagers who had gone missing during a school camp in Kakadu National Park on Thursday night.

The police have reported that the two teenagers were located safe and in good health on Friday afternoon.

It comes following a request for assistance from the public regarding any information about the teenagers' location

The two Taminmin College high school students didn't return to campground in Jabiru on Thursday night.

The boy and girl, both aged 15, were last seen around 9.30pm.

The teens were on a school camp 200km away from home at the time.

The teens vanished while on a school camp in the remote Top End town of Jabiru

Jabiru is in Kakadu National Park 256km from Darwin

Taminmin College principal John Harris addressed the incident in a school newsletter on Friday.

'Police have been notified and are working with the families to find the two missing students and return them home,' Mr Harris wrote.

'The other students who attended the camp have returned to the school and will be supported by staff and the school's counsellor.

'Our school is working with the families of the missing students and also acknowledge(s) this incident may be distressing to others, so please reach out to me if you feel your child/ren needs further support.'

Located 256km south of Darwin, Jabiru is the main township in Kakadu National Park.
A rare Holden Commodore SS V8 Ute which was clocked travelling at an astonishing 253km/h on a major motorway has been crushed by police.

Tarelle Lewis Charles Power-Williams, 20, was on his L-plates when he was caught speeding on the North South Motorway in South Australia.

The young father-of-two was driving so fast that his gearbox blew up.

Police applied to seize the unregistered vehicle as part of their case - and opted to publicly crush it on Friday as a method of disposal.

Pictures from the crushing show the prized car being pounded in a scrap yard.

Defence lawyer Andrew Williams said the father-of-two (pictured) had become trapped in 'a self-destructive cycle' of economic disadvantage, mental health challenges and ongoing unemployment

A Holden Commodore Ute, clocked at 253km/h on a major South Australian motorway, has been crushed by SA Police in a warning to other dangerous drivers.

Some Aussies commended the police for crushing the car.

'Very satisfying to watch,' one person wrote.

'Good, I would of taken him to watch the show,' a commenter quipped.

But Holden lovers couldn't believe their eyes as they watched the prized car get brutally destroyed.

'Awful to watch such a nice car,' another added.

'Should have asked for parts out first,' a car-lover commented.

Power-Williams, 20, was slapped with a jail sentence for his menacing driving behaviour in July.

Magistrate Benjamin Sale described him as 'the most dangerous man in the state' during the height of his speeding offences at the same court earlier in the month.

The magistrate said Power-Williams appeared to have 'no regard for his safety or anybody else's' with the court hearing during an earlier appearance that he 'aggressively' careered across three lanes.

'This is not just being, as he's described it "a d****head", but this seems to be offending that often only ends up in one way... if he keeps doing it that he will kill himself or he will kill somebody elsem' Magistrate Sale said.

'On the occasions that he was driving in the fashion that I have heard, he was probably the most dangerous person in the state for those minutes that he was driving.'

Defence lawyer Andrew Williams told the court the young man was ashamed of his behaviour and had taken the risks without thinking of the consequences.

But Magistrate Sale asked Mr Williams why his client made a conscious choice to drive at extreme speeds.

'Does he simply not care about his own life or the lives of others?' he asked.

Mr Williams told the court his client had become trapped in 'a self-destructive cycle' of economic disadvantage, mental health challenges and ongoing unemployment.

He added Power-Williams had been influenced by drugs, alcohol and negative peer-pressure.

A psychological report revealed to the court found Power-Williams had a difficult upbringing tainted by his parents' drug use that desensitised him.

Mr Williams said his client was young and immature which then led the magistrate to say his client would likely be 'a risk to the community for many years to come'.

The court heard in sentencing on Thursday that Power-Williams had told a psychologist 18-months ago that he was finished with crime and dangerous driving.

Magistrate Sale said that Power-Williams had failed to match his actions with his words.

The young man was sentenced to one year and four months behind bars, with a non-parole period of seven months.

He was disqualified from driving for a minimum of six years.

SA Police Traffic Services Branch officer-in-charge Darren Fielke said the crushing serves as a warning.

'This is what motorists driving at extreme speed on our roads can face; jail; having your vehicle crushed and sold for scrap metal; and a disqualification from driving,' Mr Fielke said.

'This is a warning for all motorists - be responsible on our roads. It will save lives, keep you out of jail, and you'll be able to keep driving your vehicle.

'The behaviour of every motorist impacts the safety of every other road user. Road trauma has catastrophic effects on families and communities, and we cannot tolerate drivers who blatantly disregard that responsibility.'

Power-Williams (pictured) was sentenced to one year and four months behind bars, with a non-parole period of seven months

Power-Williams was sentenced to one year and four months' prison in July, with a non-parole period of seven months - he was also disqualified from driving for an indefinite period.

Seventy-four people have been killed on SA roads so far in 2023 - compared to 46 people at the same time in 2022.

Tarelle Lewis Charles Power-Williams (pictured), 20, was been banned from driving and will spend time behind bars

The young man was caught speeding in a black holden ute (pictured) that was unregistered on the North-South Motorway at Waterloo Corner in Adelaide on January 30

SA Police Minister Joe Szakacs said it justified crushing the Commodore.

'Hooning is not an innocent act,' he said.

'This is stark reminder of this fact is seen in the state's road toll.'

'The easiest way to keep the keys to your car is to not drive in a dangerous way. Lives are at stake.

'Idiotic and selfish risk-taking on South Australian roads puts all that use our roads in unnecessary danger.'

The ruins of the car will be sold for scrap, with the proceeds going to the Victims of Crime Fund.
Donald Trump's biggest GOP rivals are descending on Atlanta for a conference just days after the former President's latest indictment was handed down in Fulton County, Georgia.

It could be difficult for the six candidates to escape Trump's shadow at a conference set in the city where the frontrunner was just indicted in a racketeering scheme along with 18 other co-defendants.

Conservative radio personality Erick Erickson is hosting six candidates at the Grand Hyatt Buckhead for The Gathering, a two-day event starting on Friday morning. Noticeably absent from the lineup is Trump, who was not invited.

Even if he was welcome at the conference, if the four-times indicted ex-President does cross into Georgia state lines, there are sputterings that he could legally be arrested and arraigned. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis gave Trump and his co-defendants until August 25 at noon to voluntarily turn themself over.

'The former president isn't going to be here,' Erickson said when opening the conference on Friday morning. 'And it kind of works out because under Georgia law  you know what the DA is going to want to do.'

Trump also has the option of timing his Georgia arraignment to coincide with the first Republican presidential debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Wednesday  an event he has consistently said he will skip.

Candidates appearing on Friday at Forward: Which Way include Sen. Tim Soctt (R-S.C.), former Vice President Mike Pence, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley. On Saturday former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy will speak.

Six Republican presidential candidates will appear at conservative radio host Erick Erickson's The Gathering in Atlanta, Georgia on Friday and Saturday. Pictured top row from left: Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. Pictured bottom row from left: Former Vice President Mike Pence, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and Vivek Ramaswamy

Former President Donald Trump was not invited to the conference  and could be arrested if he steps foot in Georgia following his fourth indictment there just days earlier. The fourth indictment carries 41 counts and names 18 other individuals in the plot to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia

'Georgia is the swingiest swing state in the nation,' Erickson said in a statement on his conference. 'It makes sense to get candidates to the state, put them on stage, and ask them questions about the future direction of the GOP and their vision for a United States headed into an ever more uncertain world.'

Erickson says he wants candidates to speak on their 'vision for the future.'

Conference attendees are representing 47 different states, according to Erickson's press release.

The candidates are converging just 10 miles from the jail where Trump must surrender before next Friday on racketeering charges related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia.

Six of the top 2024 rivals to Trump are scheduled for onstage interviews with Erickson, who will also speak to other conservative figures and politicians.

Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp is speaking on Friday, along with former Sen. Kelly Loeffler and ex-Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. Saturday's lineup will see former Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.), Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

The timing of the conference sets up one more example of the struggle Trump's GOP opponents face: He dominates the primary polls and media attention even as he faces multiple criminal indictments for alleged actions before, during and after his presidency.

While they carry immense legal jeopardy, the four indictments seem to have bolstered Trump's support among core GOP voters, even as a majority of Americans disapprove of him. And many Republican Party loyalists who say they are open to alternatives still don't want to hear criticisms of Trump.

'The former president isn't going to be here,' Erickson said when opening the conference on Friday morning (pictured). 'And it kind of works out because under Georgia law  you know what the DA is going to want to do'

The conference is at the Grand Hyatt Buckhead, which is just 10 miles from the Atlanta-area Fulton County jail where Trump and his 18 co-defendants must turn themselves in

The Friday and Saturday conference is in Atlanta neighborhood of Buckhead, a Republican-leaning enclave in an otherwise Democratic-dominated city.

Each candidate will join Erickson for a Q&A, with the host promising a focus on their goals and issues, including artificial intelligence, Christian nationalism in America, and dealing with China as a global U.S. rival.

In his previews, Erickson has not mentioned Trump, though his chosen theme for the conference - 'Forward: Which Way' - nods at how he wants to define the moment for Republicans.

Trump was uninvited from Erickson's The Gathering conference in 2015 after the then candidate made controversial comments about Megyn Kelly, a Fox News anchor at the time, for having 'blood coming out of her eyes' while questioning him at a debate.

Of the candidates appearing with Erickson, though, only Christie has consistently blasted Trump for alleged acts contained in the indictments. The rest typically echo in some fashion Trumps counterassaults against a 'witch hunt,' while avoiding details of the cases.

Addressing reporters in the early primary state of New Hampshire, DeSantis said he had not 'had a chance to read' the Georgia indictment, a sweeping 98-page case in which District Attorney Fani Willis invoked state racketeering laws used to prosecute organized criminal networks. DeSantis instead attacked Atlanta itself and, implicitly, the Black prosecutor Trump has labeled as 'racist.'

'I will tell you,' DeSantis said, 'Atlanta has huge problems with crime right now, and there has been an approach to crime which has been less than exacting.'

He offered no supporting evidence for that deflection, which was reminiscent of Trump lashing out at civil rights icon John Lewis in 2017. The late Atlanta congressman had declared Trump was 'not a legitimate president' and refused to attend his inauguration. Trump answered that Lewis district, which still includes downtown Atlanta and Buckhead, was 'falling apart (and) crime infested.'

Leading Republicans say GOP candidates have few practical options other than to campaign on Trumps terms - or at least sidestep him whenever possible.

Erickson uninvited Trump from his conference in 2015 after the then-candidate made comments claiming that Megyn Kelly had blood coming from her eyes during questioning of him at a debate

Whit Ayres, a national pollster based in Virginia, handicapped the GOP electorate as 10-15% 'Never Trumpers' - those who might gravitate to Christie for his attacks on Trump - and 35% or so 'die-hard MAGA Trump supporters,' referring to Trump's 'Make America Great Again' slogan.

The rest, half or a slim majority of the party, 'have doubts about his electability' in a general election but are still 'reliable Republicans who voted for him twice,' Ayres said. Trumps rivals cannot win over that remaining faction by 'going after him frontally,' the pollster argued.

As a Republican, 'you cant call him unfit for office,' Ayres said. 'Thats basically requiring half the party to admit they screwed up and put someone unfit for office into the Oval Office. Thats just a psychological step too far for most people.'

Erickson this week tacitly acknowledged the dynamics. He spent significant time on his radio show dissecting Trumps legal peril and pushed back at some Trump supporters reactions, albeit gingerly. A former practicing attorney, Erickson rebutted online memes and conservative social media conversations that have dismissed the indictment because it includes defendants actions that appear to be routine political activity.

'Trump supporters believe the 2020 election was stolen from him. The district attorney in Georgia says actually it was Donald Trump who was trying to steal the election,' Erickson said. 'Whether you believe it or not, whether you believe its political or not, thats what the indictment is about.'

Perhaps the best Trumps rivals can do - in Atlanta, the first primary debate next week and going forward - is maintain a foothold in the quiet hopes that one of the pending trials takes place and damages the former president before he secures another GOP nomination.

'This race may appear frozen,' Ayres said. 'The surface of the ocean looks calm, but there are all kinds of currents underneath that could disrupt the surface.'

Yet a former Trump ally like Lathan demonstrates the challenge for his opponents.

She said she is alarmed by the Florida indictment on allegations that Trump wrongly kept classified material at his Mar-a-Lago residence. But the other cases, she added, are evidence of 'Democrats and the Biden administration' targeting him.

And if Trump wins the nomination, she said: 'I'm there. Game on.'

Trump has 'taken more arrows than anyone who has ever held that office,' Lathan argued. 'There are a lot of Republicans who will break back to him because of this. I mean, do all these `get Trump people not realize theyre just making him stronger?'
A new suspected Ukrainian kamikaze drone strike led to a major explosion at Moscow's main exhibition centre.

Russian officials claimed a UAV exploded after it was disrupted from another target by air defences.

The drone hit and damaged the Moscow Expo Centre on Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment, on the edge of the city's skyscraper zone which was previously targeted by Ukraine.

A video from Mash media outlet shows an explosion and flash as the drone hit the low building which is close to the main White House building of the Russian government.

All major airports in the city were temporarily closed.

A new kamikaze drone attack led to a major explosion at Moscow's main exhibition centre, and the temporary closure of all the city's main airports

The explosion is seen in this security cam footage

Damage at the expo centre is seen this morning

Office workers stand in a gathering area outside an Expocentre building following a drone attack in Moscow on August 18, 2023

Moscow mayor Sergey Sobyanin said air defences had 'destroyed' the drone and wreckage had fallen which caused 'no significant damage' to the exhibition pavilion.

But the footage showed a main explosion at the Expo Centre, around one mile from the British Embassy in Moscow.

A wall collapsed at the pavilion.

A resident named Maria said: 'We live in the tower opposite, on the 68th floor. We heard a bang and saw a flash.

'At first we thought it had hit the Federation Tower [skyscraper], but it turned out to be the Expo Centre. We could see a column of smoke from our windows.'

Another witness said: 'We were sitting on the embankment at the time - we didn't see the drone itself, but we heard a very loud noise, then smoke was billowing from the other side.'

A resident said: 'My windows overlooking [the strike] were open.

'I felt a blast wave - it became hot right in my flat. I'm in shock.'

The drone attack led to the temporary closure of Vnukovo international airport, used by Vladimir Putin and other top Russian officials, as well as other major airports Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo and Zhukovsky.

It is the latest example of Putin's much-vaunted air defences failing to prevent strikes on his capital city.

The Expo Centre in Moscow

This photo shows the damaged Expocentre building following a drone attack in Moscow on August 18, 2023

The Expocentre building (foreground) is seen past residential buildings following a drone attack in Moscow on August 18, 2023. Russia's defence ministry said its air force downed a Ukrainian drone over the capital at about 4am

People and workers stand in line to enter a building of Expocentre following a drone attack in Moscow on August 18, 2023

The Russian defence ministry portrayed the 4am drone strike as a 'another terrorist attack using an unmanned aerial vehicle against targets in Moscow'.

A statement said: 'The UAV changed its flight trajectory after being hit by air defence weapons and crashed into a non-residential building near Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment in Moscow.

'There were no casualties or fires.'

Reports later said the damage covered some 325 square feet.

Initial reports suggested the drone had come close to the 1,226ft Federation Tower, the Russian capital's tallest tower, part of the Moscow City business and residential skyscraper zone, a district earlier targeted.

Separately, Russia admitted a Ukrainian attack on vessels of its Black Sea Fleet some 147 miles southwest of naval base Sevastopol in annexed Crimea.

'In the course of repelling the attack, the unmanned boat of the enemy, without reaching the target was destroyed by fire from onboard weapons of the Black Sea Fleet ships,' said a Russian defence ministry statement.

The incident involved the patrol ships Inquisitive and Vasily Bykov.

Kyiv did not immediately comment on the Russian statement. Russia also said it had repelled a Ukrainian drone attack in the southern Belgorod region.
A distraught mother has revealed her son was only being treated with paracetamol in hospital despite severe and painful injuries suffered in a motorcycle crash in Bali.

Sue Doger from Melbourne has flown to the Indonesian tourist spot to be at her son Billy's bedside but was shocked to learn he was only being given the over-the-counter medicine because his treatment was not paid for upfront.

The accident on August 15 left Billy suffering bleeding on the brain, 10 broken ribs, bruised and damaged lungs, a broken foot, a broken collarbone, eye socket damage, and other injuries.

But Billy was only moved to intensive care after Sue scraped together $12,000 to pay the hospital.

She claimed he had been lying in the emergency department receiving almost no treatment despite his critical injuries.

The mother of a Victorian man involved in a scooter crash in Bali (pictured) has issued a plea after the hospital refused to treat him until they paid the medical bills upfront

READ MORE: Scooter crash cost Aussie tourist $370,000 Advertisement

Billy will need multiple operations over a week which the hospital has warned will cost Sue about $130,000 - but they will not proceed until they are paid upfront.

Ms Doger said she was appalled her son had only been given paracetamol to treat his painful injuries.

His worried family has now turned to GoFundMe for help because Billy made the mistake of not getting travel insurance before his trip.

'His condition is critical... This has left us in a desperate and heart-wrenching position, as we are unable to provide the immediate financial means required to secure the medical interventions he urgently needs,' Sue revealed.

'We are reaching out to this compassionate community in the hopes of receiving some assistance.'

Ms Doger has warned others to ensure they get travel insurance before going to Bali, saying that even if a patient is critical they won't receive proper care without payment.

She hopes partial insurance included on an international bank card Billy obtained before his trip can cover part of the costs but has si far had no confirmation.

According to the official advice of the Australian Consulate-General in Bali, the Indonesian island does have a main provincial public hospital, RSUP Sanglah.

Billy needs multiple surgeries over a week and then about a month of recovery before he can be transferred to Australia

However, the consulate says difficult or critical cases are usually transferred to one of the other hospitals, which are private and require payment.

Medical evacuations back to Australia are also not covered by any public health system and have to be done through a travel insurance company.

'If patients are not insured, the Consulate General can assist them to arrange their own medical evacuations,' says the consulate.

'There is no charge for the Consulate's services but the patient must pay all costs associated with the evacuation.

'Uninsured patients must fund their evacuation before any arrangements can be confirmed'.
Edinburgh Fringe fans criticised the festival today and said the obscene cancelling of Father Ted writer Graham Linehan was a 'black mark' on its long history of supporting stand-up and free speech.

Linehan cried last night as he vowed to defeat 'evil trans activists' during a defiant street performance after two venues cancelled an Edinburgh Fringe show over his gender critical views.

His supporters have questioned how Scottish shock stand-up Frankie Boyle was able to joke about Katie Prices disabled child and raping and killing Holly Willoughby but has always been welcome at the Fringe. They have renamed the festival the 'Edinburgh Cringe' and vowed to boycott it.

Linehan, who said last year he had 'lost everything' because of his transgender views, has been axed because of his insistence that women cannot have a penis and 'anyone who believes this is an extremist'.

He drew a large crowd of fans to his Comedy Unleashed show outside the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood last night in a show of defiance after Leith Arches in Edinburgh cancelled it over his opinions on transgender ideology.

Audience member Angela told MailOnline it was 'obscene' that he had been 'cancelled for views the majority of the population has'. She added: 'If there are protests I think we'll carry on. We're quite used to this sort of nonsense from children. I think it's really about supporting free speech in general because if we cancel comedy, where do we go next?'

Father Ted writer Graham Linehan vowed to defeat 'evil trans activists' as he broke down in tears after defiantly performing on the street after two venues cancelled an Edinburgh Fringe show over his gender critical views

Linehan drew a large crowd of fans to the Comedy Unleashed show outside the Scottish Parliament last night

Supporters of Linehan have said the Fringe has lost its credibility

Another supporter of the IT Crowd creator said: 'We're here for support and solidarity and hopefully a bit of drink. We're calling it "Edinburgh Cringe". It's pathetic, it's censorship. Frankie Boyle was here, was disgusting, but we wouldn't want him cancelled. It's so embarrassing, the Edinburgh Fringe used to push the boundaries and be edgy and now it's not. I'll be boycotting the Edinburgh Fringe from now on.'

READ MORE: Graham Linehan went from creating Father Ted and IT Crowd and helping to make Alan Partridge a huge success to losing his marriage, fortune and family because of his stance on trans issues Advertisement

Writing in The Spectator, Brendan ONeill said there was hypocrisy in the way Frankie Boyle, who is described as a 'notorious cracker of misogynistic gags', gets 'the red carpet rolled out for him at the Fringe, while Graham Linehan, whose chief thoughtcrime is to understand what a woman is, has just been ruthlessly cancelled'.

The blacklisting of Linehan is a black mark on the Fringe. A once edgy festival seems to be morphing into conformity where only those who obediently bow to the new orthodoxies are welcome. Its not funny, he said.

Around 100 people turned up to see him, along with almost as many photographers.

Despite fears that the show would be disrupted by protests from transgender groups, the act went ahead smoothly.

Following a warm-up act for his Edinburgh Fringe show, Linehan took to the stage.

He said to cheers: I keep asking people what Ive said wrong and what Im saying wrong about womens spaces, about children being mutilated and sterilised and about the women who are being harassed and threatened.

Comedy is my first love, but Ive not been allowed to do that for five years. This is what I decided to do to keep my toe in the water and they cant even let me do that.'

The comedian told MailOnline afterwards that trans rights activists 'need to be defeated completely' after revealing he had to go on anxiety medication due to 'painful, horrible and unpleasant' backlash against him and his family.

He added: 'I don't feel broken, I'm so used to this weird life that they can't really hurt me anymore.

'The time they were able to hurt me was when I was still married. When they were coming after my family, that was when it was painful, horrible and unpleasant. I had to go on anxiety medication.

'When enough of that happened and they broke us up, then they couldn't hurt my wife and kids any more.

'I think trans-rights activists are the most evil people in the world and I do love making them angry because they're terrible people.

'I want to to make it clear, I'm not talking about trans people, I'm talking about trans rights activists. Two very distinct groups that often have nothing to do with each other. I just think they need to be defeated completely.'

Leith Arches, the original venue for Linehan's show, took the decision to cancel the booking earlier this week, saying the Irishman's views did not 'align' with its overall values.

Graham Linehan performs outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh after the comedy show he was performing in was cancelled by two different venues

Graham Linehan seen before his performance in Edinburgh outside the Scottish Parliament - after a second venue cancelled the Father Ted writer following outrage at the axing of the original show over his gender-critical views

Linehan, who also wrote the TV sitcom Black Books, is a vocal critic of the trans rights movement.

Andrew Doyle, who organised Linehan's Comedy Unleashed, said that after Leith Arches pulled the plug and a new venue was organised, the replacement host also cancelled. He tweeted at 7.15pm: 'Our replacement venue for Comedy Unleashed at the Edinburgh fringe has now also cancelled on us.

'So @Glinner [Graham Linehan] and the other acts will do the gig on a small stage outside the Scottish parliament at Holyrood at 7.30pm.

'This show is happening, whether these activists approve or not.'

Linehan welled up as he concluded his performance, telling the audience: 'I've never seen anything as insane as the last two days.

'And I keep asking people what I've said wrong and what I'm saying wrong in this fight about women's spaces, about children being mutilated in and sterilised in gender clinics and about the women who are being harassed and threatened for standing up.'

As the audience broke into applause, a fan shouted from the crowd: 'We've got your back Graham'.

To the sound of cheering, Linehan responded: 'I know you do and it really helps.'

When asked how he thought his show went, Linehan said: 'Wel,l I don't know. It was weird. Some of those jokes were sure-fire wins, but they didn't land tonight. It was a bit of a strange atmosphere.

'I think the important thing was to do it. So I'm glad I can say I've played the Fringe. I was kind of dependent on the audience's goodwill. I don't want to do that, I want to be funny.

'I was nervous, but not so much of the audience but of the whole situation. It's like, "What's going to happen?" It's insane.

'I'm all protested out. If something had happened I would have just gone to the pub. Yeah, I think they pulled off something great here.'

Original venue Leith Arches cancelled its booking of Linehan earlier this week, saying the Irishman's views did not 'align' with its overall values

Linehan is best known as the creator of the still hugely popular Father Ted Channel Four series

Andrew Doyle, who organises Comedy Unleashed, said that after Leith Arches pulled out, the replacement venue also cancelled, tweeting: 'Our replacement venue for Comedy Unleashed at the Edinburgh fringe has now also cancelled on us. 'So @Glinner [Graham Linehan] and the other acts will do the gig on a small stage outside the Scottish parliament at Holyrood at 7.30pm'

Graham Linehan holds the award in the Comedy category for The IT Crowd at the 36th International Emmy Awards in November 2008 in New York

Leith Arches said on Wednesday: 'It was brought to our attention at the very last minute of the very controversial line-up.

'We work very closely with the LGBT+ community, it is a considerable part of our revenue, we believe hosting this one-off show would have a negative effect on future bookings.'

Earlier this week, Linehan told TalkTV's Julia Hartley-Brewer he would consider suing Leith Arches for cancelling his gig if it refused to take him back.

He said: 'It was a sell-out. But you do get used to this kind of thing after a while. It never really makes you feel good.

'If they apologise and put the gig on, I'll say no more about it, but otherwise I'll be looking at legal action.'

People online have called for Leith Arches to be boycotted over its cancellation of the show.

Helen (left), with whom Linehan created the hugely popular comedy series Motherland, was threatened and her address released online. They separated during lockdown

Linehan was set to join a comedy night at the Leith Arches venue (pictured) on Thursday as part of a line up put together by comedian Andrew Doyle

The venue's statement appeared to say the decision was a purely commercial decision

Comedian Andrew Doyle, who is due to appear alongside Linehan at another scheduled Comedy Unleashed show in London next month, said: 'It is astonishing that a comedy night at the largest arts festival in the world should be prevented from going ahead, simply because activists are offended.

'The comedy industry is in a dire state. It's about time that promoters, venues, comedy critics and comedians made a concerted effort to support free expression in the arts.'

Leith Arches insisted earlier this week its decision to cancel Thursday's booking was not influenced by activists.

It said: 'The decision was not influenced by the pressure of online activists, but by our regular community who use this space on a daily, weekly and [monthly] basis.'
The son of the original Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs director has blasted Disney's 'pathetic' live-action 'radical' remake of the movie, accusing the company of having no respect for classics.

David Hand, 91, whose father of the same name directed the original 1937 animation, rebuked Walt Disney Studios for pursuing an 'insulting' and 'woke' remake of the movie that sought to 'destroy' its predecessor.

He said the new adaptation would have both his father and Walt Disney himself 'turning in their graves' as he slammed the upcoming movie starring Rachel Zegler as the titular character.

This is just the lasted Disney remake in a long string of live-action 'reimaginings' that has seen 20th century classic animations rewritten for today's audience.

It comes after several videos emerged online of Zegler, 22, trashing the original movie - saying she 'hated' it and thought it was 'extremely dated'.

Snow White's seven 'magical creatures' can be seen in these behind-the-scenes pictures after bosses changed the characters amid criticism of the out-of-date portrayal of the film

David Hand, 91, whose father of the same name directed the original 1937 Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs animation (pictured), rebuked Walt Disney Studios for pursuing an 'insulting' and 'woke' remake of the movie

Rachel Zegler attends the Los Angeles Premiere of Warner Bros.' 'Shazam! Fury Of The Gods' at the Regency Village Theatre on March 14, 2023 in Los Angeles

Mr Hand told The Telegraph that many younger people had not even seen the film and so 'don't know what they're talking about'. He said their views 'misunderstand' the film.

He said the information known so far about the new movie, set to be released in March 2024, was proving to be a 'whole different concept'.

'I know my dad and Walt would also very much disagree with it,' he told the publication, adding that the first movie was produced in 'good taste'.

Mr Hand added that it was 'pathetic' that people needed to feel animosity towards the picture which is soon approaching nine decades old.

Amid the outcry about other Disney remakes - including this year's The Little Mermaid - Mr Hand rebuked the company for feeling it needed to recreate classic movies.

He called their thoughts 'radical' and said he was afraid to see what they would continue to do with other early films, adding that it was a 'disgrace'.

Mr Hand said some of the remakes had been changed so much that the characters and the original stories weren't the same anymore.

He said they were 'making up new woke things' and that they have 'no respect for what Disney did and what my dad did'.

David Hand said the new adaptation of Snow White would have his father and Walt Disney (pictured in 1960) 'turning in their graves'

Rachel Zegler will play the Disney princess in the upcoming live action remake

A stand in actress is pictured in Snow White's outfit in the latest pictures from the set of the film in Bedfordshire, UK

Rachel Zegler attends as SAG-AFTRA members hold 'Rock The City For A Fair Contract' rally in Times Square on July 25

While Disney has focused on remaking live-action versions of its classic films in recent years, he called on bosses of the company to turn their focus on new original ideas.

Mr Hand said they should create new characters and not destroy a classic.

It comes after Zegler said she thought the Prince in the 1937 animation was a 'stalker', whose 'weird' storyline won't feature in the new remake.

The West Side Story actress also said her character would be 'a fantastic leader' amid speculation the film won't be the classic love story.

Zegler told Variety in an interview: 'She's not going to be saved by the prince and she's not going to be dreaming about true love.'

Mr Hand said the original voice actor for Snow White, Adriana Caselotti - whom Mr Hand said he met multiple times - said she would be 'terrified' of suggestions that her character wasn't a feminist.

Zegler stars alongside Gal Gadot who will take on the role of the Evil Queen

In an interview with Variety, Zegler (left) also said she would not be portraying the beloved character the way she was seen in the 1937 cartoon

Other changes to the new production include seven dwarfs being replaced by 'magical creatures'. The characters all appear to be a mix of genders, ethnicities and heights.

Disney made the decision that the seven dwarfs would be replaced in the new version to 'avoid reinforcing stereotypes' after Game of Thrones actor Peter Dinklage criticized the 'f****** backwards story' last year. Given the changes to the characters, the film is set to be called Snow White, dropping the seven companions from the title.

There are also suggestions that the classic song 'Someday My Prince Will Come' has also been scrapped.'

MailOnline approached Disney for comment but they did not immediately respond.
Law enforcement officials are investigating threats targeting members of the grand jury that indicted former President Donald Trump and 18 of his allies, after names and addresses of jurors were leaked online, a sheriff's office said.

The Fulton County Sheriff's Office said: 'Our investigators are working closely with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to track down the origin of threats in Fulton County and other jurisdictions.'

It comes after several users on Trumps social media platform Truth Social posted the names and addresses of the court's jurors, according to The Independent.

Posts were also found with violent rhetoric against Fani Willis, the Fulton County district attorney, who oversaw the more-than-two-year investigation of a suspected scheme by Trump and 18 others to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Advance Democracy president Dan Jones, whose organisation uncovered some of the leaks, said: 'Statements by Trump and his allies continue to inspire violent language and threats online.

Law enforcement officials are investigating threats targeting members of the grand jury that indicted former President Donald Trump (pictured) and 18 of his allies

It comes after several users on Trumps social media platform Truth Social posted the names and addresses of the court's jurors. Pictured: Lewis R. Slaton Courthouse and Superior Court of Fulton County

'The latest threats against jury members shows you don't have to be a politician or government official to be the target.

'It is critical that the Fulton County Sheriff's Office take this matter seriously. Equally important is that political leaders on the right denounce these threats and the statements that inspire them.'

Fulton County contains Atlanta, Georgia's largest city and the state capital.

This month, following an indictment by U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith on Republican Trump's efforts to overturn his election defeat to Democrat Joe Biden, Trump lashed out on his Truth Social media site, saying, 'IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I'M COMING AFTER YOU!'

The 98-page Georgia indictment on Monday listed 19 defendants and 41 criminal counts in all.

Echoing his criticism of the other investigations he faces, Trump has called the indictment a political 'witch hunt.' Trump is the front-runner for the Republican nomination to run for president in the 2024 election.

'We take this matter very seriously and are coordinating with our law enforcement partners to respond quickly to any credible threat and to ensure the safety of those individuals who carried out their civic duty,' the sheriff's office said.

An indictment in Georgia that is available as a public record includes the names of grand jurors but not their addresses or any other personally identifiable information.

A woman from Texas was charged this month with threatening the federal judge overseeing Trump's separate criminal case in Washington about the 2020 election.

Reports by Advance Democracy, which conducts public interest investigations, this week found posts by users on at least four social media websites targeting the grand jurors that 'often included violent rhetoric.'

'These jurors have signed their death warrant by falsely indicting President Trump,' one report quoted a poster as saying.
Mason Greenwood running out onto the pitch of Old Trafford would make the club toxic and 'destroy' Manchester United's community, a supporters' group has warned.

The 21-year-old has not played for the Premier League giants since his arrest in January 2022 for attempted rape, assault and coercive control.

Those charges were dropped in February, though he is still suspended by United pending the result of an internal investigation.

But last night Natalie Burrell, founder of Manchester United's Women's Supporters' Club, said in her opinion he should not be welcomed back.

She said: 'I've been going to this club since I was a little girl. It's such an important part of my life.

Greenwood has not played for the Premier League giants since his arrest in January 2022 for attempted rape, assault and coercive control. Charges were later dropped.

Riley, who is a well-known United fan, felt she would be 'unable' to support her club if Greenwood returned

'It's a community, it's everything, it's where I get a lot of my social life, a lot of my friends.

'It would just destroy that. It's destroying it now there's massive divides and protests.

'It's going to make it toxic if he does run out at Old Trafford, people are going to be booing him.

'Some might be supporting him and saying we should carry on supporting, but you can't support someone like that. I think it's all because they've not got a lot of striking options and this is an easy way to get someone in who's talented', she added in the interview with Newsnight.

It comes after Countdown co-host Rachel Riley, who is a well-known Red Devils fan, insisted she would stop supporting the club if Greenwood was brought back.

The club's final decision is yet to be made public but his reintegration into the first team remains an option, which would be highly controversial given the circumstances of the case amid fan protests over the issue.

Riley tweeted to her 684,000 followers saying: 'I won't be able to support United if Greenwood remains at the club.'

On Greenwood, Manchester United's women's side have reportedly voiced their concerns about his returning to the club's Carrington training ground.

Ahead of United's men team's season opener against Wolves, fans protested against his potential reintegration, labelling the club 'spineless' and urging them not to leave the decision up to the women's team, opening the women's stars up to vile abuse.

Riley insists she will stop supporting Man United if they bring back Mason Greenwood

United supporters protested about his potential return to the first-team squad on Monday

On Wednesday, United released a statement saying: 'Following the dropping of all charges against Mason Greenwood in February 2023, Manchester United has conducted a thorough investigation into the allegations made against him.

'This has drawn on extensive evidence and context not in the public domain, and we have heard from numerous people with direct involvement or knowledge of the case.

'Throughout this process, the welfare and perspective of the alleged victim has been central to the clubs inquiries, and we respect her right to lifelong anonymity.

'We also have responsibilities to Mason as an employee, as a young person who has been with the club since the age of seven, and as a new father with a partner.

'The fact-finding phase of our investigation is now complete, and we are in the final stages of making a decision on Masons future.

'Contrary to media speculation, that decision has not yet been made and is currently the subject of intensive internal deliberation.

'Responsibility ultimately rests with the Chief Executive Officer. Once made, the decision will be communicated and explained to the clubs internal and external stakeholders.

The forward, 21, has not played for the Premier League giants since his arrest in January 2022 for attempted rape, assault and coercive control

'This has been a difficult case for everyone associated with Manchester United, and we understand the strong opinions it has provoked based on the partial evidence in the public domain.

'We ask for patience as we work through the final stages of this carefully considered process.'

The forward has been training alone and is still being paid his 75,000-a-week salary in full.

Greenwood was due to stand trial in November but prosecutors discontinued the case in February, citing the withdrawal of key witnesses.
The family of one of eight passengers who died when a private jet flying from a luxury holiday island crashed and exploded in a huge fireball on a busy Malaysian road yesterday has revealed the man's tragic final selfie.

Shaharul Amir Omar, 49, was travelling in the jet alongside Johari Harun, a politician in charge of housing and environment for Pahang state who had organised the flight as a treat for his employees.

Their plane nosedived onto the tarmac in the town of Elmina in Shah Alam, Selangor province, shortly before 3pm local time after departing from the holiday island of Langkawi, killing all eight on board and two unfortunate motorists.

Now Amir's sister Norsyahirah, 29, has questioned whether her brother knew he was going to die, explaining that he rarely sent selfies to their family group chat.

'He has never shared so many of his selfies before in our family WhatsApp chat group,' she told Malaysian outlet The Star.

'He normally sends photographs of the places he visits... Maybe he knew his time was coming to an end.'

The names of the other passengers who perished in the crash were revealed as Shahrul Kamal Roslan and Heikal Aras Abdul Azim - the two pilots - and Kharil Azwan Jamaludin, Mohamad Naim Fawwaz Mohamed Muaidi, Muhammad Taufiq Mohd Zaki and Idris Abdol Talib, according to The Star and Asia News Network.

Shaharul Amir Omar, 49, sent a selfie to sister Norsyahirah, shortly before his death

Dashcam footage captured the moment the plane slammed into the concrete and exploded

Malaysian officers of Fire and Rescue Department inspect the scene of light aircraft crash in Elmina, state of Selangor, Malaysia, 17 August 2023

Fire and Rescue Department officers look at plane debris at the scene of light aircraft crash in Elmina, state of Selangor, Malaysia, 17 August 2023

Shocking video of yesterday's crash showed how the plane immediately erupted into flames as it smashed into the concrete, while a clip of the aftermath saw the wreckage billowing black smoke after it veered off the road and onto the nearby grass verge.

Shah Alam district police chief Mohamad Iqbal Ibrahim confirmed that all the passengers on the plane had perished, as well as a pair of motorists.

'For now, I can say at least 10 people were killed in the plane crash. Two passing motorists - one in a car and one on a motorcycle - also perished together with the eight on board the plane,' Ibrahim declared.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke said Friday that the cockpit voice recorder (CVR), which was found Thursday night, was being analysed and that the incident would be investigated.

The CVR records what happens in the cockpit, including the final conversations of the flight crew and other sounds.

'I have instructed for investigations to be sped up and done thoroughly. We will make the results public as soon as possible once analysis is concluded,' he told reporters.

Like some other small planes, the aircraft was fitted with only a CVR, and did not have a flight data recorder, Malaysian police chief Razarudin Hussein said.

He said search operations were '95 percent complete' and were expected to wrap up within the day.

'We have also found 10 bodies and five body parts. This means we have completed our search for the victims.

'The bodies and body parts will be sent to the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital in Klang for post-mortem,' Hussein told reporters at the scene.

Disturbing photographs from the scene showed how the plane had partially disintegrated after the brutal impact, with the charred wreckage of the stricken motorcycle pictured lying in the street.

Malaysia Royal Police officers guard the area where one motorcyclist (down, R) was killed after a light aircraft crashed in Elmina, state of Selangor, Malaysia, 17 August 2023

A private jet flying from a luxury holiday island in Malaysia crashed on a road this afternoon

Members of the fire and rescue department inspect the crash site of a plane in Shah Alam

Family and relatives react at the scene of the light aircraft crash in Elmina, August 17

Family and relatives react at the scene of the light aircraft crash in Elmina, August 17

District police chief Ibrahim said the flight took off at about 2.08pm from Langkawi - 250 miles to the north of the crash - and was scheduled to land at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang at 2.49pm.

But it crashed into the road before reaching its destination, colliding with a motorcycle rider - killing them instantly - along with a second car driver.

Civil aviation authority chief Norazman Mahmud said: 'No mayday call was made.'

Security cameras at a nearby dental clinic captured the impact.

A dentist working there said they were 'still traumatised by the sound of the plane passing by and crashing'. They added: 'The sound was so loud and it shook the whole building. It was like a rocket exploding.'

Footage shows smoke billowing from the wreckage as locals rushed to help. The motorcycle rider's body was also engulfed in flames.

Onlookers said the aircraft - a Beechcraft Premier 1 with the tail number N28JV - initially crashed onto the road but continued onto the grass verge.

A local resident said: 'The pilot and a passenger were dead at the scene. It crashed onto the road and then went towards the grass.'

Security camera footage in a nearby park captured the explosion from afar

The aircraft is seen (top) in CCTV footage seconds from impact as it nose-dived towards the busy road below on Thursday

Malaysia's King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah (centre) arrives at the scene of light aircraft crash in Elmina, state of Selangor, August 17

Authorities inspect the scene of the plane crash in Shah Alam, Malaysia, August 17

Members of the fire and rescue department inspect the crash site of a plane on a street in Shah Alam, Malaysia's Selangor state on August 17

Parts of the plane are seen scattered across the road in Malaysia, August 17

Pictured: A Beechcraft Premier 1. It is understood this is the model of the plane that crashed

Authorities inspect the scene of a plane crash in Shah Alam, Malaysia August 17, 2023

Members of the fire and rescue department inspect the crash site of a small plane in Shah Alam district, Malaysia, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023

Malaysia Royal Police officers guard the area where one motorcyclist (down, R) was killed after a light aircraft crashed in Elmina, state of Selangor, Malaysia, 17 August 2023

Malaysian officers of Fire and Rescue Department inspect the scene of light aircraft crash in Elmina, state of Selangor, Malaysia

Mohamad Syahmie Mohamad Hashim, a former member of the Malaysian air force, said he saw the plane flying erratically.

'Not long after that I heard a loud boom,' he told reporters.

'I sped towards the location and saw the remains of an aircraft. I also saw (a) human body on fire. I couldn't do anything,' he said.

The cause of the crash is currently unknown.

Selangor police chief Omar Khan said: 'No emergency call was made by the aircraft which had already been given clearance to land. The plane was two minutes away from landing.

'We have the flight manifest but we cannot disclose any details at this point in time.'
In Kelowna, about 1,200 miles south of Yellowknife, thousands more have been evacuated after a separate wildfire jumped a lake and destroyed properties

Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes across several sections of Canada after a series of wildfires which threatened to blanket the US in dangerous smog.

In Yellowknife, the capital of the Northwest Territories, more than 20,000 people have been ordered to flee their homes amid 'out of control' wildfires that now threaten to cut off access to the only highway out of the affected city.

Meanwhile, there were terrifying scenes 1,200 miles south in Kelowna, British Columbia, after another fire jumped Lake Okanagan and consumed several properties.

The infernos, which have come during Canada's worst fire season on record, also threaten to send enormous plumes of toxic smog over the United States. An official forecast map shows smoke is expected to be blown south eastwards throughout Friday and over the Midwest into the eastern United States.

Thousands evacuated Yellowknife on Thursday as wildfires burned across the region, forcing convoys of vehicles to snake south to safety on the only open highway.

Terrifying images of the fire from Okanagan lake. The whitecaps on the water indicate just how much the wind is fanning the flames. #BCWildfires pic.twitter.com/eJsPSKio5k  Coleen Christie  (@coleenchristie) August 18, 2023

Video recorded from a boat on Lake Okanagan shows the terrifying scenes as a wildfires spread around Kelowna, British Columbia

A smoke forecast indicates that toxic plumes from wildfires across Canada could sweep over the United States on Friday

Fires burn in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. Thousands have been ordered to flee wildfires advancing on one of the largest cities in Canada's far north

Thousands evacuated Yellowknife on Highway 3, Thursday, as wildfires burned across the region, forcing convoys of vehicles to snake south to safety on the only open highway

Evacuation flights also took off from Yellowknife Airport in the latest chapter in a terrible summer for wildfires in Canada - the worst fire season on record. Residents of the regional capital have been given until noon Friday to leave.

Emergency responders were constructing firebreaks, installing sprinkler lines and water cannons, and laying fire retardant in an effort to prevent the blaze from reaching the city - which remains a real possibility in coming days, officials said.

Strong northern winds could push the flames toward the only highway leading away from the fire, officials warned, which was choked with long caravans of cars.

Northwest winds over the next two days will send the fire 'in directions we don't want,' said Mike Westwick, Northwest Territories' fire information officer.

Across the wider territory, 6,800 people in eight other communities were also forced to evacuate their homes, including the small community of Enterprise, which was largely destroyed.

Ten planes left Yellowknife on Thursday with 1,500 passengers and 22 more are expected to leave on Friday with 1,800 more passengers.

'I want to be clear that the city is not in immediate danger and there's a safe window for residents to leave the city by road and by air,' Shane Thompson, a government minister for the Territories, told a news conference.

'Without rain, it is possible (the fire) will reach the city outskirts by the weekend.'

'We're all tired of the word unprecedented, yet there is no other way to describe this situation in the Northwest Territories,' Premier Caroline Cochrane posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

A state of emergency was declared in Kelowna early Friday, a city about a four-drive drive from Vancouver with a population of about 150,000.

'Residents under Evacuation Alert are advised to be ready to leave their home at a moment's notice,' the City of Kelowna said in a statement early on Friday, adding people should prepare to be away from their home for an extended period of time.

The evacuation orders were issued after wildfires that were discovered on Tuesday jumped Lake Okanagan, sparking spot wildfires in Kelowna.

Canada has seen a record number of wildfires this year - contributing to choking smoke in parts of the US - with more than 5,700 fires burning more than 137,000 square kilometres (53,000 square miles) from one end of Canada to the other, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.

As of Thursday evening, 1,046 wildfires were burning across the country, more than half of them out of control.

In the Northwest Territories, 268 wildfires have already burned more than 21,000 square kilometres (8,100 square miles).

In British Columbia in western Canada, an evacuation order was put in place for the city of West Kelowna, which was under threat of a different fire.

Heeding the evacuation order in Yellowknife, Tiffany Champagne was one of many who crammed into the airport awaiting flights.

'I have asthma and the wildfire smoke was making it increasingly difficult to do anything,' Champagne, wearing a face mask, told public broadcaster CBC.

Wildfires also raged in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, Thursday. This has been the worst wildfire season on record for Canada

Vehicles line-up for fuel at Fort Providence, Northwest Territories, on the only road south from Yellowknife, Thursday

People line up outside of a local school to register to be evacuated, as wildfires threatened Yellowknife

People line up outside of a local school to register to be evacuated, as wildfires threatened the Northwest Territories town of Yellowknife, Canada, Thursday

Members of the First Canadian Ranger Patrol group based out of Yellowknife, debrief at a local school, where people waited in a school gym to be evacuated from wildfires

Passengers from Yellowknife deplane after being evacuated from wildfires threatening the Northwest Territories town of Yellowknife on Thursday

A family of evacuees arrive in the airport in Edmonton, Alberta, as wildfires threaten their home town of Yellowknife

Officials update the crowd waiting outside a local school, to get registered for an evacuation flight, as wildfires threatened the Northwest Territories town of Yellowknife

A satellite image shows wildfires burning northeast of Yellowknife as thousands are ordered to flee wildfires advancing on one of the largest cities in Canada's far north

Smoke is seen rising from wildfires near Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. Residents were ordered to evacuate their homes amid the oncoming wildfires

Yellowknife Mayor Rebecca Alty warned drivers being led out in kilometers-long convoys that the flames were skirting the edges of highways and they would encounter limited visibility as thick smoke turned the sky orange.

Crews scrambled to erect fire barriers as one blaze got to within 9 miles (16 kilometers) of Yellowknife. Water bombers were seen flying low over the city, and swooping in to fill up at a nearby lake.

Resident Sylvia Webster said 'a lot of trees were cut down and sprinkler lines were set up around the city' to bolster its defenses.

'We might still lose everything, but that's okay,' she told AFP. 'As long as our loved ones are safe, we can move on from there.'

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau interrupted his summer vacation Thursday to convene an incident response group.

Several military aircraft have already been dispatched, along with more than 120 soldiers to help beat back the flames.

In what had already been declared the Northwest Territories' largest-ever evacuation, the emptying of Yellowknife now means half the population of the near-Arctic territory will soon be displaced.

Several towns and Indigenous communities were already under evacuation orders.

On Monday, the Canadian military started airlifting residents of smaller far-flung communities in the region to safety after roads were engulfed in flames.

For many, it was the second time in recent months that residents were forced to evacuate.

Images shared on social media and on Canadian television showed large swaths of blackened forests. Evacuees reported seeing abandoned vehicles and burned carcasses of wildlife, including bears, on roadsides.

People waited in line for evacuation flights which took off from the local airport in the latest chapter in a terrible summer for wildfires in Canada - the worst fire season on record

People sit in the airport, as residents prepared to be evacuated from wildfires threatening the Northwest Territories town of Yellowknife

Yellowknife residents wait in line at the airport, as they prepare to be evacuated from wildfires threatening the Northwest Territories town

People wait in a school gym, after registering to be evacuated from wildfires threatening Yellowknife

A family arrive in Edmonton, Alberta, to head to Red Deer to stay with relatives

A general view of the wildfire in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, Thursday

Smoke rises during the wildfire in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. This is the latest chapter in a terrible summer for wildfires in Canada

A helicopter carrying a water bucket passes a sign that reads Forest Fire Smoke as wildfires threatened the Northwest Territories town of Yellowknife

Cars and trucks arrived at evacuation centers in Alberta - at least 1,150 kilometers away - with melted headlights and peeling paint.

Nadia Byrne, 24, considered turning back but worried she might run out of gas and become stranded.

'I don't really know where to go... Everyone's just kind of scrambling right now,' she told AFP.

Evacuee Julie Downes, reached by telephone, described big plumes of smoke along a 'gridlocked highway.'

'It's scary to say but myself and other northerners are now climate change refugees,' she said.

Scientists say human-caused global warming is exacerbating natural hazards, making them both more frequent and more deadly.

The evacuation of Yellowknife is the second time a sizeable Canadian city has been cleared due to wildfires since 100,000 residents of Fort McMurray in Alberta's oil and gas producing heartland were forced out in 2016.

Earlier this year, suburbs of Halifax on the Atlantic coast were also evacuated.

Fires this season have spread across Canada with remarkable intensity, scorching 13.7 million hectares (33.9 million acres), according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. Four people have died so far.
More than half a month's rain could fall within a couple of hours this afternoon, leading to flooding and major traffic disruption, the Met Office has warned.

Irish weather service Met Eireann has designated the incoming weather front Storm Betty - the second named storm of the season.

An existing yellow weather warning has been in place since 6am for an area stretching from Birmingham in the north to Bath in the west, covering the entire south coast up to the Thames estuary.

But conditions are now expected to deteriorate further with additional weather warnings issued by the Met Office.

Commuters on the A3 Kingston bypass in south-west London faced drizzly conditions ahead of the arrival of Storm Betty

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning covering an area stretching along the south coast, through London and up to Birmingham in the north and Bristol in the west. A second weather warning was issued for the Irish sea, northern Ireland and South western Scotland

According to the Met Office: 'A line of thunderstorms are expected to develop during Friday morning and move gradually northeast before weakening into the afternoon.

'Whilst most places will only see a short period of heavy rain, a few places may see 30 to 40 mm of rain in less than 2 hours. In addition to heavy rain, some thunderstorms may produce frequent lightning.'

As well as flooding, the Met Office has warned thunder and lightning could lead to power cuts.

Anyone travelling ahead of the weekend has been warned their journeys could face disruption and have been advised to leave plenty of time.

The spokesperson said: 'There is a good chance driving conditions will be affected by spray, standing water, leading to longer journey times by car and bus.

'There is a chance of flooding of a few homes and businesses, leading to some damage to buildings or structures

A lifeguard prepared a flag on Hove Beach as holiday makers retreated away from the sea front

Met Eireann named the incoming weather front Storm Betty which is set to cause massive disruption

In London, tourists used umbrellas to protect them from the elements, less than 24 hours after clear skies and warm sunshine

These three women were less well prepared as they made their way down Oxford Street

'A chance of some damage to a few buildings and structures from lightning strikes, as well as short term loss of power.'

It is predicted that strong winds will come from the east, leading to the possibility of fallen trees or damage to temporary structures such as marquees and tents.

Tomorrow, weather warnings have been issued in Scotland as the inclement conditions head further north.

According to the Met Office: 'A period of heavy rain is expected to affect many parts of Scotland through the first part of Saturday.

'Totals of 20-30mm could fall quite widely within the warning area, with the highest rainfall totals expected over east-facing high ground in the Angus Hills and the Grampian Mountains where 40-60 mm could accumulate in one or two spots, and much of the rainfall will occur in a relatively short period time, typically 3 to 4 hours.

'Strong and gusty southeasterly winds will accompany the rain, with gusts perhaps as high as 40 mph around some exposed coasts and hills in the east.'

Earlier, retailers said unpredictable weather during the summer has hit their margins.

The Met Office has warned that conditions in London and the South East will deteriorate over the coming hours with a second yellow weather warning issued for the west coast

In Reading, a Land Rover Discovery splashed through a puddle in Reading town centre

The Met Office has warned people to take extra care during the expected storms which could lead to localised flooding and damage to trees and temporary structures
A division of China's People's Liberation Army that oversees the Taiwan Strait has released a video which appears to show its troops practising a coastal invasion of the self-governing island.

The PLA's Eastern Theatre Command published the clip, which features a montage of soldiers storming beaches and driving tanks on dirt roads to a country-style Chinese ballad, on WeChat yesterday.

Though the post did not directly mention Taiwan, the Eastern Theatre Command regularly conducts military drills in the Taiwan Strait.

Meanwhile, the song featured in the video and the accompanying WeChat post were littered with evocative lyrics and phrases like 'go over the city gate and the high wall' and 'no matter how dark it is, don't be afraid... chase and win the warmest years'.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sees Taiwan as a renegade province to be brought back under Beijing's control - something the authoritarian president Xi Jinping has said he's willing to do by force.

But Taiwan's elected Democratic Progressive Party steadfastly argues it presides over a self-governing, democratic, capitalist society with overwhelming support from its people.

It comes as Russia and China launched warships to conduct patrols in the Pacific Ocean and perform rescue training and drills for countering air strikes, Moscow's defence ministry said Friday.

The PLA's Eastern Theatre Command published the clip, which features a montage of soldiers storming beaches and driving tanks on dirt roads to a country-style Chinese ballad, on WeChat yesterday

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sees Taiwan as a renegade province to be brought back under Beijing's control

The clip featured soldiers storming beaches and driving tanks as a fleet of helicopters roared overhead

Video released by Russian state news agency TASS showed nine large vessels sailing in a diamond formation as crew members stood to attention on deck.

The drills also included practising the 'replenishment of fuel reserves by ships and the transfer of cargo on the go', the defence ministry said, adding that the joint detachment of ships had covered more than 6,400 nautical miles since the start of the exercises.

'A detachment of ships of the Russian Navy and the PLA Navy is currently operating in the waters of the East China Sea,' said the ministry, referring to China's People's Liberation Army.

'During this period, the sailors of the two countries conducted anti-submarine exercises, repulsed an air strike by a mock enemy, conducted rescue training at sea, and perfected the skills of taking off and landing helicopters on the decks of warships,' the statement read.

Ties between Moscow and Beijing have grown closer in recent years, as prolonged fighting in Ukraine has shattered Russia's relationship with Western governments.

A Chinese defence ministry spokesperson said on Monday that naval fleets of the two countries were conducting maritime patrols in western and northern regions of the Pacific Ocean.

'These actions are not aimed at a third party and are not related to the current international and regional situation,' the spokesperson added.

Last month, Taiwan held military and civilian conflict preparedness drills of its own as tensions with Beijing continue to mount.

The Han Kuang defence drills have been held annually since 1984, but this year's war games were more intense than ever before.

In a blatant show of force ahead of Taiwan's drills, China sent 37 aircraft and seven navy vessels around the island, according to the defence ministry in Taipei.

Among them were J-10 and J-16 fighters and H-6 bombers, and 22 of the detected warplanes crossed the midline of the Taiwan Strait - an unofficial boundary that had been considered a buffer between the island and mainland - or entered Taiwan's air defence identification zone.

China sent dozens of warplanes, including fighter jets and bombers, toward Taiwan, the island's Defence Ministry said Saturday, July 22, 2023 (FILE PHOTO: Chinese J-10 fighter jets)

A view of soldiers on top of M60A3 tanks during a drill rehearsal in New Taipei City, Taiwan July 20, 2023

A soldier rappels down a Black Hawk helicopter during a drill rehearsal in New Taipei City, Taiwan July 20, 2023

Self-ruled Taiwan holds frequent defence drills for its military, but the Han Kuang preparation efforts also extend to its civilian population, with authorities stepping up drills in cities, citing lessons learned from Russia's invasion of Ukraine where the street-to-street warfare appears to be part of the defence strategy playbook.

Residents in seven counties across northern Taiwan were subjected to emergency scenarios as part of Taiwan's 'Wan An' air defence exercises, which translates to 'everlasting peace'.

As the sirens sounded in Neihu to signal an incoming missile attack, volunteers guided residents to nearby underground evacuation shelters, where they crouched to the ground and covered their eyes and ears.

In Taipei's southeastern Nangang district, firefighters simulated putting out a blaze caused by a missile attack on a train station, aiming their hoses at the building, and then rescuing a civilian from it.

Government employee Wu Kai-te, who had hidden in an underground parking lot as part of the drill, said these exercises were necessary because of China's military threats.

In Taipei's southeastern Nangang district, firefighters simulated putting out a blaze caused by a missile attack on a train station

Rescue workers take part in an emergency response exercise for civilians, providing simulation capabilities at the tactical level of war on July 24, 2023 in Taipei, Taiwan

Taiwanese people take cover inside of a basement shelter during a Wanan air raid drill in Taipei, Taiwan, Monday, July 24, 2023

'Taiwan's international situation is more special because of the China factor,' the 37-year-old told AFP.

'It's very practical for the public and it teaches us the right poses to take to avoid more damage during a missile attack.'

Taiwan's army, navy and air force are among some of the most highly trained, technologically advanced and well equipped in the world.

But China's massive population and vast resources mean Beijing's military holds the advantage across every conceivable metric.

In terms of sheer numbers, China currently maintains a whopping 2 million active service personnel, far outnumbering Taiwan's comparatively paltry 170,000-180,000 troops, according to the latest 2023 figures published by Global Firepower.

Taipei does maintain a substantial reservist force, and in December president Tsai Ing Wen announced a revamp of her country's defence policies to extend mandatory national service and beef up military reserves amid Chinese aggression.

But Beijing's active service personnel still outnumber Taiwan's entire military and reserve forces combined. And of course, the CCP has more than 600 million citizens of military age, fit-for-service citizens from which it could theoretically source new troops endlessly.

In the air and sea, it's the same story.

China's fleet of military aircraft totals 3,166 of which more than 1,000 are dedicated fighter aircraft, while Taiwan can only muster 737 aircraft in total.

And Beijing can deploy 730 naval vessels, including two huge aircraft carriers from which they can launch aerial assaults, 78 submarines and 50 destroyers.

Taipei in comparison has just four destroyers and submarines.

A jet fighter takes off from China's Shandong aircraft carrier, over Pacific Ocean waters, south of Okinawa prefecture, Japan, in this handout released by the Joint Staff Office of the Defense Ministry of Japan April 10, 2023

Air Defense and Missile Command of Taiwan Air Force takes part in a military exercise, at an undisclosed location in Taiwan in this handout picture provided by Taiwan Defence Ministry and released on April 9, 2023

Beijing's incessant war games in the Taiwan Strait and Xi's recent declaration that 'China will never renounce the right to use force' to bring the island under the control of the mainland suggest the CCP is laying the groundwork for a military operation.

'The wheels of history are rolling toward China's reunification [with Taiwan]', Xi said in October at the Communist Party Congress.

And earlier this year Xi made perhaps his strongest statement yet, declaring his military must prepare for 'real combat' after it conducted war games in the seas around Taiwan.

China's leader said the People's Liberation Army, which is now the second largest force in the world, must conduct 'military struggles firmly and with flexibility'.

'You must strengthen real combat military training,' he said in a statement carried by state news agency Xinhua, adding that the military must 'resolutely defend China's territorial sovereignty and maritime interests, and strive to protect overall peripheral stability'.

Taiwanese and US defence officials have in recent months warned they expect the PLA to be ready to launch an attack on the island well before the end of the decade.

CIA Director William Burns in February claimed US intelligence suggests Xi has instructed his country's military to 'be ready by 2027' to invade Taiwan.

'We do know, as has been made public, that President Xi has instructed the PLA, the Chinese military leadership, to be ready by 2027 to invade Taiwan, but that doesn't mean that he's decided to invade in 2027 or any other year as well,' Burns told CBS' 'Face the Nation.'

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu have since concurred with the Director's assessment.

But for all of Xi's posturing and declarations that Beijing will not renounce the right to use force to 'reunite' the island with the mainland, China has shown in recent decades it is very reluctant to fight a war.

Beijing last engaged in a large-scale military operation in Vietnam in 1979 which failed just as the US effort had four years prior - and the CCP has plenty to lose in a war with Taiwan.

The conflict would be widely condemned by its Western trading partners, and Xi has the hindsight of watching the damaging economic response levied by Western powers on Russia following Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

And launching an invasion would run the risk of triggering a military response from the only world power whose armed forces have the might to overcome the sheer size of the People's Liberation Army - the United States.
The former Proud Boys leader and one of his top lieutenants both face up to 33 years in prison, according to court documents.

The Justice Department is seeking 33 years for Enrique Tarrio, 38, and Joseph Biggs, a self-described Proud Boys organiser.

Tarrio was convicted of seditious conspiracy in one of the most serious cases to emerge from the Jan 6 attack on the US Capitol in 2021.

The sentence, if imposed, would be the longest punishment that has been handed down in the huge Jan 6 prosecution.

Tarrio, who once served as national chairman of the far-right extremist group, and three lieutenants were convicted by a Washington jury in May of conspiring to block the transfer of presidential power in the hopes of keeping Republican Donald Trump in the White House after he lost the 2020 election.

Tarrio (pictured) was convicted of seditious conspiracy in one of the most serious cases to emerge from the Jan 6 attack on the US Capitol in 2021.

The sentence, if imposed, would be the longest punishment that has been handed down in the huge Jan 6 prosecution. Pictured: Biggs, left

Tarrio, who was not at the Capitol riot itself, was a top target of what has become the largest Justice Department investigation in American history.

READ MORE: Jan 6 Capitol rioter pictured with his feet on Nancy Pelosi's desk is jailed for four years Advertisement

He led the neo-fascist group - known for street fights with left-wing activists - when Trump infamously told the Proud Boys to 'stand back and stand by' during his first debate with Democrat Joe Biden.

During the month long trial, prosecutors argued that the Proud Boys viewed themselves as foot soldiers fighting for Trump as the Republican spread lies that Democrats stole the election from him, and were prepared to go to war to keep their preferred leader in power.

'They unleashed a force on the Capitol that was calculated to exert their political will on elected officials by force and to undo the results of a democratic election,' prosecutors wrote in their filing. 'The foot soldiers of the right aimed to keep their leader in power. They failed. They are not heroes; they are criminals.'

They are asking the judge to impose a 30-year prison term for Zachary Rehl, who was president of the Proud Boys chapter in Philadelphia; 27 years in prison for Ethan Nordean of Auburn, Washington, who was a Proud Boys chapter president; and 20 years for Dominic Pezzola, a Proud Boys member from Rochester, New York. Pezzola was acquitted of seditious conspiracy but convicted of other serious charges.

Prosecutors argued that the Proud Boys viewed themselves as foot soldiers fighting for Trump as he spread lies that Democrats stole the election from him. Pictured: Insurrectionists loyal to President Donald Trump breach the Capitol in Washington on Jan 6, 2021

Tarrio wasn't in Washington on Jan. 6, because he had been arrested two days earlier in a separate case and ordered out of the capital city. But prosecutors alleged he organized and directed the attack by Proud Boys who stormed the Capitol that day.

Defense attorneys argued there was no conspiracy and no plan to attack the Capitol, and sought to portray the Proud Boys as an unorganized drinking club whose members' participation in the riot was a spontaneous act fueled by Trump's election rage. Tarrio's lawyers tried to argue that Trump was the one to blame for exhorting a crowd outside the White House to ' fight like hell.'

READ MORE: Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes jailed for 18 years over Capitol riot Stewart Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years in prison for his involvement in the January 6 riots Advertisement

Attorneys for the Proud Boys say prosecutors' proposed sentences are extreme. Noting that the chaos on Jan. 6 was fueled by Trump's false election claims, a lawyer for Biggs and Rehl told the judge that 'believing the commander in chief and heeding his call should yield some measure of mitigation.'

'The defendants are not terrorists. Whatever excesses of zeal they demonstrated on January 6, 2021, and no matter how grave the potential interference with the orderly transfer of power due to the events of that day, a decade or more behind bars is an excessive punishment,' attorney Norm Pattis wrote.

Like in the case of Rhodes and other Oath Keepers, prosecutors are urging the judge to apply a so-called 'terrorism enhancement' - which can lead to a longer prison term - under the argument that the Proud Boys sought to influence the government through 'intimidation or coercion.'

US District Judge Amit Mehta agreed with prosecutors that the Oath Keepers' crimes could be punished as 'terrorism,' but still sentenced Rhodes and the others to prison terms shorter than what prosecutors were seeking. Prosecutors had asked Mehta to sentence Rhodes to 25 years behind bars.

Tarrio, of Miami, and his co-defendants will be sentenced before US District Judge Timothy Kelly in a string of hearings starting later this month in Washington's federal court.

It's the same courthouse where Trump pleaded not guilty this month in the case brought by special counsel Jack Smith accusing the Republican of illegally scheming to subvert the will of voters and overturn his loss to Biden. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.

Tarrio and three of his lieutenants were also convicted of two of the same charges Trump faces: obstruction of Congress' certification of Biden's victory, and conspiracy to obstruct Congress.
A man has been found dead about 18km off the coast of Western Australia after a boat capsized.

The man was found dead in water alongside two other men, who were rescued after being found near the upturned vessel.

Western Australia Police said the boat was about 18km from Alkimos, north of Perth.

Senior Sergeant Jamie Brennan said the men were on a fishing trip when they ran into trouble.

A man has been found dead about 18km off the coast of Western Australia after a boat capsized (file picture)

'The two survivors and the deceased were returned to the shore and the capsized vessel was also towed back here where it was seized and part of the ongoing investigation,' Snr Sgt Brennan said.

'Interim information received would indicate that the vessel was anchored, they came into some difficulty, and shortly thereafter, the vehicle capsized.

'They did have emergency equipment on board and the survivors were wearing life jackets and an orange smoke flare was deployed.'

Snr Sgt Brennan said he'd spoken to the two survivors.

The man was found dead in water alongside two other men, who were rescued after being found near the upturned vessel.

'They're obviously shaken as one would expect, having lost one of their friends, however physically they appear to be okay,' he said.

'There was a fair bit of swell out there today ... the sea can be an unforgiving environment.'

A report will be prepared for the coroner.
This is the moment a tourist couple on a quayside were filmed screaming and begging for a cruise ship captain to wait for them as fellow passengers watched on.

Footage shows two travellers at the port of Bari in south-eastern Italy on August 15 as the MSC Splendida was departing for its nine-day tour of the Mediterranean.

The couple missed the scheduled departure time, and when they arrived at quay 11 the gangway of the 1,100ft ship had already been removed.

The man was heard repeatedly shouting and pleading: 'Is the captain there, please?' He later added: 'Captain, wait for us, please. You can do it if you want to.'

One of the more than 4,000 passengers on board filmed the scene and could be heard chuckling in the background.

The couple (pictured) missed the scheduled departure time and when they arrived at quay 11 the gangway of the 1,100ft ship had already been removed. One of the more than 4,000 passengers on board filmed the scene and could be heard chuckling in the background over the couple's persistence

Footage uploaded to TikTok shows two travellers at the port of Bari in south-eastern Italy on August 15 as the MSC Splendida (pictured) was about to depart

The man was heard repeatedly shouting and pleading: 'Is the captain there, please?' He later added: 'Captain, wait for us, please. You can do it if you want to.' He was caught on camera pacing up and down while the woman stood and looked at the cruise ship

The woman filming said to another passenger: 'What is he saying? What does it mean? Oh maybe he missed the cruise.'

A British guest on board, who said her family had spent 8,000 for the cruise, slammed the ship's crew for abandoning the couple.

She told MailOnline: 'I was on that cruise with my family when it happened. We were at lunch when they made only one announcement for two Italian-sounding names and then nothing further.

'The cruise didn't leave even a minute over time. We felt there was little to no effort to find those people whether they were there or not.'

Ugo Patroni Griffi, president of the Port System Authority of the Southern Adriatic Sea, told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica: 'They tried to ask the ship to turn back, or at least to stop operations.

'Obviously it is impossible for cruise ships that have limited times and are also very expensive operations.'

Other reactions to the video included one user saying: 'I understand that the fault lies with the gentleman, unfortunately if you do it once then everyone demands it.

'The cruise has timetables and they must be respected. But, guys, let's put ourselves in their shoes! We would all have been desperate!

The MSC Splendida weighs 137,936 tons. The ship by MSC Cruises has 18 decks on which 4,363 passengers and about 1,370 crew members can stay.

It also has a sprawling theatre, a casino and a dance club. In addition to four swimming pools, a jogging track, a squash court and a gym it also has a spa

Guests can enjoy meals in one of the seven restaurants and drinks in one of the eight bars and lounges on board

'Suitcases, money, paid cruise, and then you stay ashore.'

Most others seemed to agree with him, with another commenting on the 'hilarious' video: 'If they go over by even 10 minutes they have to pay for the mooring for a whole day...

'If you arrive late, take the ship to the next port.'

The MSC Splendida weighs 137,936 tons. The ship owned by MSC Cruises has 18 decks on which 4,363 passengers and about 1,370 crew members can stay.

Its nine-day cruise departed on August 15 and is due to take in the likes of Mykonos, Istanbul and Corfu before returning to Bari.

It also has a sprawling theatre, a casino and a dance club. In addition to four swimming pools, a jogging track, a squash court and a gym it also has a spa.

Guests can enjoy meals in one of the seven restaurants and drinks in one of the eight bars and lounges onboard.

MailOnline has contacted MSC Cruises for comment.
The woman at the centre of the mushroom poisoning which killed three people has lashed out at media with an ominous warning posted on the gate of her rural Victorian property.

Police said Erin Patterson, 48, is a person of interest in their investigation into the deaths of her parents-in-law Don and Gail Patterson and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson after they fell ill following a July 29 lunch she hosted.

Ms Patterson has now had a legal notice put up on her front fence warning that journalists and 'anyone contracted to any media organisation' will be reported to the police for trespassing if they set foot inside the boundary of her Leongatha property.

It is understood she has recently returned to her hobby farm after briefly being in Melbourne where she owns an eastern suburbs villa worth more than $1million.

The mother-of-two previously complained she was frustrated that her privacy was being encroached upon by the intense media interest following the fatal lunch.

Erin Patterson (pictured) is a person of interest in a police investigation into the suspected poisoning of four people at a lunch she hosted

A sign was posted on the fence of the newly built Leongatha property (pictured) warning media they will be reported to police if the set foot inside the boundary

The only other guest, Heather's husband Ian Wilkinson, also fell seriously ill and is fighting for life in hospital.

Ms Patterson said she was upset she had lost her parents-in-law, while her children had lost their grandparents, and she had been 'painted as an evil witch'.

'The media is making it impossible for me to live in this town,' Ms Patterson said.

'I can't have friends over. The media is at the house where my children are at. The media are at my sister's house so I can't go there. This is unfair.'

No charges have been laid. It is not suggested that Ms Patterson intentionally poisoned the Pattersons or the Wilkinsons.

Read the warning posted on the gate outside Erin Patterson's home LEGAL NOTICE Please be advised that the owner of this property hereby gives notice to all members of the media or any person employed or contracted to any media organisation, that you are not permitted to enter any part of this property as marked by the boundary fence. If you do so enter then you are committing the offence of trespass (see section 9 of the Summary Offences Act) and will be reported to the police. Advertisement

Victorian Deputy Police Commissioner Wendy Steendam warned the investigation would be lengthy as police try to determine the circumstances around the suspected poisoning.

A letter written by Ms Patterson and provided to police, seen by The Age and the ABC, reportedly contains a details of how Ms Patterson obtained the mushrooms used in the meal she prepared.

She said the letter was to explain her side of what happened after she gave an initial 'no comment' interview to police and the media had portrayed her as anything but an innocent party.

The dried mushrooms were bought from an unspecified Asian grocer in a Melbourne suburb months ago and were hand-labelled, according to Ms Patterson.

She also claimed to have told the Department of Health this and they had visited the shop to get samples.

A food dehydrator that police found in rubbish she had discarded 'out of panic' when her husband questioned if she had poisoned her guests, she said.

'I really want to repeat that I had absolutely no reason to hurt these people whom I loved,' she wrote.

Heather Wilkinson died after she attended the lunch while her husband Ian remains in a serious condition in hospital (pictured together)

Don and Gail Patterson died after eating the beef wellington meal (pictured together)

Her two children had been at the movies during the lunch, contrary to early media reports which claimed they were there, but they did eat leftovers with the mushrooms scraped off because they didn't like them.

They did not get sick but Ms Patterson said she ate the beef wellington at the lunch and had gastro symptoms, causing her to go to the local hospital and she was then transferred to Monash Medical Centre in Melbourne on July 31.

Deputy Commissioner Steendam clarified the letter was not an official police statement but was a letter provided by Ms Patterson lawyers.

She added: 'It is an active matter and when we have more to say publicly, we'll do that. But I think to speculate or to talk about the aspects of the investigation in detail is unhelpful.'
The father of 10-year old Sara Sharif is being sought by police in Pakistan who want to ask him about her death - with detectives there making a series of attempts to find him.

Malik Urfan Sharif, 31, left the UK along with two other people a day before the youngster's body was discovered.

She was found dead at her father's home in the village of Horsell, near Woking, Surrey in the early hours of last Thursday morning.

Mr Sharif's brother, Imran Sharif told MailOnline he arrived at the family home in the city of Jhelum last week and that it had also been raided by police looking for him.

He said: 'After reaching Pakistan he came to us and instantly disappeared. He did not bring his family to our home. Some people say he is hiding somewhere in Jhelum in a rented house, but others said he may be gone to Mirpur where his in laws are living.'

Sara Sharif, aged 10, was found dead at her home in Horsell, near Woking, in the early hours of last Thursday morning - triggering an international manhunt for three men

Malik Urfan Sharif (pictured), father of Sara Sharif, left the UK along with two other people a day before the youngster's body was discovered. He is now wanted by police

The main gate of the house, left, is where Urfan was supposed to be hiding. It was raided by the local police station Chotala, Jehlum Cantt

Mr Sharif, who is Malik's younger brother added: 'Police has raided our home twice during the last week and took pictures of Urfan and other family members. We have been warned to inform police immediately soon after receiving his whereabouts.'

Mr Sharif's brother, Imran Sharif (pictured) told MailOnline that he arrived at the family home in the city of Jhelum last week

A spokesman for Chotala Police Station in Jhelum, which is co-ordinating the manhunt confirmed: 'We have been asked by the senior officers to arrest Urfan Sharif who recently came from England. The FIA (Federal Investigation Agency) has sent a draft to district police officer to arrest him immediately.'

Another official added: 'We are actively looking for Sharif and are confident that we will find him. We believe he is in the Jhelum or Mirpur area and have raided a number of properties. It is only a matter of time before we find him.'

Today's revelation comes as politicians in the UK demanded urgent action from the Pakistani authorities to apprehend the wanted fugitives.

Jonathan Lord, Conservative MP for Woking, told MailOnline he wanted the Government to leave 'no stone unturned' in its efforts with Pakistani officials. 'I'll be badgering ministers to make sure this man can be brought back here, if that's what the situation deserves,' he added. 'I'm going to be in very close contact with appropriate ministers, including the Foreign Secretary. 'As the local MP I will lobby furiously for that to happen.'

Labour MP Khalid Mahmood, a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Pakistan, also called for action from Foreign Office officials in the Asian country and for representations to be made to the interim government in Islamabad to 'put this right'.

'All of us on the APPG for Pakistan would certainly push as much as we can the Pakistan government,' he told MailOnline.

Sara Sharif, pictured with her mother Olga Sharif, was found dead in her father's home - and was alone when the police arrived

Police officers in the village of Horsell, near Woking, where the 10-year-old girl's body was found

'I for one would be happy to lobby the Pakistan government directly. Any way I can help or speak to any individuals, different politicians that we've met... certainly people in the interior ministry in Pakistan and make our views clear to them that this is a very important issue for us to deal with.'

Mr Mahmood said he 'couldn't understand' why there wasn't a full extradition treaty with Pakistan already in place.

He added: 'At the moment, we have a treaty to be able to send asylum seekers and people who served prison sentences back to Pakistan.

'So I don't know why we're not solved the opposite way around either. I think that's a failure of Government.

'And I think what the Government has to do is look at that very seriously. And I would urge them to to put this in place and if they did put it in place I'd be very happy to support that.'

A local travel agent revealed he was contacted by someone known to her wanting plane tickets for three adults and five children.

Tickets to Islamabad costing more than 5,000 were booked on August 9, hours before Sara's body was found alone by Surrey Police.

Mr Sharif moved into the three-bedroom 550,000 council house in the quiet village of Horsell, near Woking, in April with his wife Beenish and children.

His younger brother continued: 'I was not on good terms with my brother Urfan. He married a Polish lady earlier.

'When he came last, he told parents that he is living with some European people. Later, we got information he got married a Polish woman. In fact, we had no idea that he has fled England.'

A post-mortem examination performed on Tuesday concluded that the cause of death for 10-year-old Sara was 'still to be established'.

A cordon was set up by officers as police began a murder investigation into the circumstances of the girl's death

Locals have described their trauma and paid their respects after the tragic death of the 10-year-old

British detectives are still looking to speak to three people who were known to the victim and who are understood to have travelled to Pakistan on August 9, a day before the girl's death was discovered.

Detective superintendent Mark Chapman said at a media briefing at Surrey Police headquarters that officers are not looking to identify anyone else in connection with the murder probe.

He added they are working with international partners.

However, there is no formal extradition treaty between the UK and Pakistan which could prove a hurdle investigators will need to overcome.

The British government does have the option of issuing memorandum of understanding to have wanted UK fugitives returned to Britain to face justice.

But this can take years for anything to happen. Such an order was used to bring killer Zafar Iqbal to justice after he throttled his 'defenceless' wife Naziat Khan in August 2001 before fleeing to Pakistan.

Iqbal strangled his wife to death in a so-called 'honour killing' after she asked to divorce him, murdering the 38-year-old in front of her children.

Iqbal carried out the killing 'for no better reason' than that he could not face the cultural shame that would follow from his wife's demand for a divorce, the Old Bailey heard.

Zafar Iqbal, 62, (pictured) throttled Naziat Khan, 38, with her own scarf in front of their three young daughters at her home in Norbury, south-west London, in August 2001 before fleeing to Pakistan

The court heard about repeated incidents of domestic violence leading to Ms Naziat Khan (pictured) initiating Islamic divorce proceedings in June 2000

Once the killer fled his home in Norbury, south-west London, he spent almost 20 years evading justice in Pakistan before he was eventually extradited and charged with murder in September 2021. He was jailed for life in December and must serve a minimum of 19 years behind bars.

And in April a 74-year-old man was extradited from Pakistan to be charged with the murder of West Yorkshire police officer PC Sharon Beshenivsky, who was shot dead in Bradford in 2005.

Piran Ditta Khan was brought back to the UK and taken into custody at a West Yorkshire police station, where he was charged with killing the 38-year-old officer. He is also charged with robbery, two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, and two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon.

However, lawyer Adam Rasul, chief executive of Holborn Adams, said the suspects being sought in connection with the death of little Sara would be extradited far sooner than those involved in the deaths of PC Beshenivsky and Ms Naziat Khan.

The top lawyer, who is an expert of international extradition and previously worked on the case to release controversial social media influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan after the pair were jailed in a Romanian prison and placed under house arrest, said numerous law enforcement agencies would be involved.

Speaking to MailOnline, he predicted the 'horrific' death of the 10-year-old and media scrutiny surrounding it would prompt officials in Pakistan to act 'swiftly' to detain the suspects and agree to send them back to the UK.

'Irrespective of the fact theres no official agreement, I will be really surprised if there isnt a swift return in this case,' he said.

'I would like to think and trust the process there would be an expediated mutual, succinct and swift decision.

Olga Sharif, 36, with a picture of her beloved daughter Sara, who she would like to lay to rest in Poland

Tributes have poured in for the 'lovely' Sara, with flowers and notes left outside her family home. A mourner is pictured leaving flowers outside the property on Friday

'Because of the interest to try and help justice and the family, I truly believe media pressure would get this over the line.'

He added the extradition of Iqbal proved there was strong precedent of suspects being returned from Pakistan to the UK.

Sara's father Urfan, 41, had full custody of his daughter and his 13-year-old son.

However, the girl's mother Olga Sharif said her daughter's behaviour changed as her ex-husband influence on her life increased.

Ms Sharif said she married Urfan in November 2009, but the marriage ended in 2017. She claims she was only allowed to see her children twice in the past four years.

Ms Sharif, who now lives in Somerset, hopes to bury Sara in her native Poland.

The heartbroken mother has described Sara as 'an amazing child'. She said: 'She was so beautiful. I can't believe she's dead.'

Locals spoke of their shock and fear the day after the 10-year-old's body was discovered.

Many of the flowers left on the pavement outside the house had heartfelt messages written by local families attached, while one person left a stuffed unicorn.

One note read: 'Sweet girl, I'm so sorry that your sparkle was put out too soon.'
A mother-of-two died in a botched operation after going to Turkey for gastric stomach sleeve surgery, an inquest has heard.

Janet Savage, 54, had travelled to the Ozel Rich Hospital in the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya where it can cost between 2,000 and 6,000 to have the slimming procedure - and it often includes a hotel stay in Turkey.

But tragically, the glamorous mother from Bangor, North Wales, never woke up after undergoing the cosmetic surgery in August.

An inquest opening heard that during the slimming procedure, surgical implements were placed inside Mrs Savage and her aortic artery was ruptured. Her condition deteriorated before she bled to death at 7.45am on August 6.

The inquest in Caernarfon, North Wales, was told Mrs Savage was identified by her husband Andrew.

Janet Savage (pictured) died in a botched operation after going to Turkey for gastric stomach sleeve surgery, an inquest has heard

An inquest opening heard that during the slimming procedure, surgical implements were placed inside Mrs Savage (pictured) and her aortic artery was ruptured

Her body was later repatriated and a post mortem examination was carried out at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd hospital in Bodelwyddan, Denbighshire in Wales.

A pathologist gave her provisional cause of death as 'acute blood loss due to an injury to the abdominal aorta (repaired)'.

Assistant North West Wales Coroner Sarah Riley adjourned the hearing to a date to be fixed.

Mrs Savage had been employed by the Driving and Vehicles Standards Agency and was based in Bangor as an examiner. She had passed hundreds of drivers in her eight years as a driving test examiner.

In May, she had been promoted to 'recruitment ambassador' as an executive officer with the Government agency.

In a tribute following her death, Caernarfon Driving School said: 'Just heard the sad news that Jan Savage one of our examiners at the Bangor Test centre has passed away.

'Our thoughts are obviously with her family at this upsetting time.'

Just last month, a mother-of-three also died in a Turkish hospital after flying out for a 2,000 gastric sleeve surgery.

The mother had travelled to the Ozel Rich Hospital in the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya where prices for such surgeries are advertised online as costing between 2,000-6,000 - and often include a hotel stay in Turkey

Leanne Leary, 38, suffered two heart attacks and died after undergoing gastric sleeve surgery in Istanbul on July 1.

If successful, the procedure would have seen Ms Leary remove 80 per cent of her stomach.

After several hours without contact following the operation, Ms Leary's family were told by hospital staff, that the 38-year-old had suffered a heart attack but was in a stable condition.

It is believed that her parents flew out to Turkey the next day but upon arrival they were told that she had suffered another heart attack which had proved fatal.

And in April, 28-year-old Shannon Bowe also tragically died while undergoing gastric band surgery - also in Turkey.

She is understood to have travelled to the Middle Eastern country to undergo the surgery. It is unclear at which medical facility she received the operation or what complications led to her death.

Leanne Leary (pictured), 38, suffered two heart attacks and died after undergoing gastric sleeve surgery in Istanbul on July 1

Shannon Bowe (pictured), 28, passed away in April while undergoing gastric band surgery in Turkey

The NHS warns travellers to be extra cautious if making plans to have surgery abroad.

In a post online, it says: 'Be cautious of websites selling cosmetic surgery as part of a holiday.

'If you're looking at holiday packages: make sure you have a consultation with the surgeon (avoid meetings only with sales people).

'Do not pay for a hospital you have never seen.

'Do not pay to see a surgeon you have not met

'While it's possible to have a holiday before surgery, it's unrealistic to have one straight after as this can increase the risk of things going wrong.

'You need to rest. You should not drink alcohol, lie in the sun, go sightseeing or go in the water.'
More than 130 sewage leaks have been found in Government buildings over the past 12 months, new data has revealed.

Trade union leaders have warned of civil servants being put at risk due to the 'disgraceful' state of offices.

As well as the leakages, there have also been reports of Legionella bacteria being discovered in water supplies and bug infestations.

According to information obtained through written questions to ministers, the vast majority of the 138 sewage leaks took place at Ministry of Defence (MoD) buildings.

There were 102 incidents at MoD sites, including at Royal Naval airbase Culdrose, Cornwall, and RAF Henlow, Bedfordshire.

More than 130 sewage leaks have been found in Government buildings over the past 12 months, new data has revealed

The Liberal Democrats, who obtained the figures, compared the leak problems in Government buildings to sewage issues faced by users of Britain's beaches

Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services union, said the state of Government buildings was 'a disgrace'

The Department for Work and Pensions recorded 25 minor leaks, which ministers said were 'generally relating to individual toilets and blocked pipes'.

Four small-scale leaks occurred in buildings under the Cabinet Office's stewardship, with two leaks in London and another two in York.

The Cabinet Office also manages the Prime Minister's office, but said no leaks had occurred there in the last 12 months.

The Department for Education and Department for Transport reported sewage leaks, but several other departments - including the Department for Health and Social Care, and the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs - recorded no sewage leaks in their estate over the past year.

Others including the Home Office and Ministry of Justice did not provide the information, as requested by the Liberal Democrats, citing costs.

According to The Times, Government buildings have also recently suffered from other issues.

It reported that Legionella bacteria was recently discovered at an HMRC building in Liverpool and dealt with, and several floors of Department for Energy Security and Net Zero in London were closed last month for deep cleaning after an insect infestation.

Last week, the first group of asylum seekers put on board the Bibby Stockholm barge in Dorset were disembarked following the discovery of Legionella in the vessel's water supply.

One source told the newspaper: 'When I saw what happened to those people on the barge I was aghast.

'Fifteen people were marched straight off the boat - rightly - but you've got over 1,000 civil servants left in the building while you flush the system.'

Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services union, which represents civil servants, said: 'The state of Government buildings is a disgrace, outdone only by the way the Government treats the people who work inside them.

'The situation in Liverpool is indefensible. The Government has finally accepted the danger to people on the Bibby Stockholm from legionella, yet refuses to act to protect its own staff.'

Asked by Sky News whether the sewage leaks meant Government buildings were unsafe for civil servants, health minister Neil O'Brien said: 'It is safe for them to get back to work. We have very high standards.

'I have worked in lots of different Government departments and the buildings are held to a high standard, but we do have a very cautious approach and that is why we monitor all these things.

'We would never expect anyone to work in an unsafe environment. I work in the same environment and we all want the same things.'

A Government spokesperson said: 'We manage a large, complex property estate which has over 140,000 buildings, many of which are of historical importance.

'As it is always the case with managing any large property portfolio, issues do arise with maintenance.

'That's why we have invested 56million in improving and maintaining buildings, including fitting new and greener boilers and windows and making health and safety improvements.'

Lib Dem chief whip Wendy Chamberlain MP said: 'Westminster has long been known for its many leaks, but these latest sewage revelations make for unpleasant reading.

'This is another reminder of just how badly the Government has failed to tackle the sewage being pumped into our rivers, lakes and coastlines.

'Water firms have repeatedly got away with polluting our treasured wildlife while sealing off beaches from the public.

'Whether it's a Government building or Blue Flag beach, I think it's time ministers got a grip of sewage.'
A luxury British hotel chain has suspended a manager who allegedly stopped a worker from visiting her dying mother - then threatened to sack her for attending the funeral.

The HR boss at the InterContinental Khao Yai Resort - part of the International Hotel Group - allegedly denied a request from Kodchakorn Tongbangprong to visit her dying mother Pranee Tongon on her deathbed in Buriram, Thailand, on August 15.

Kodchakorn claims she instead was forced to make a harrowing video call to her sick mother just six hours before she passed away.

She claims that the manager Nonglak Wongkha then told her she would have to resign if she wanted to go to her mother's funeral.

The supervisor allegedly told her: 'Are you saying you are quitting the job? Once you're done with your personal business, drop by and sign your resignation letter.'

HR boss at the InterContinental Khao Yai Resort - part of the International Hotel Group - allegedly denied a request from Kodchakorn Tongbangprong (right) to visit her dying mum Pranee Tongon on her deathbed in Buriram, Thailand

Kodchakorn's mother Pranee Tongon (pictured) died just six hours after her daughter called her in the hospital

Kodchakorn was not permitted to see her mother (pictured) before she died, having to settle for a heartbreaking phonecall

Kodchakorn claims her manager Nonglak Wongkha (pictured) told her she would have to resign if she wanted to go to her mother's funeral

Kodchakorn complained to local media and on Thursday the hotel's social media pages were bombarded with scathing reviews from furious locals.

A spokesman for the InterContinental Khao Yai Resort said that Nonglak - the manager - has now been suspended while they investigate the issue. They also said they had visited the employee Kodchakorn and assured her that her job was safe.

The firm said: 'Following the recent incident that has been widely reported on social media we have suspended a member of staff from the resort while we continue the investigation into a manager's conduct.

'One of our colleagues has recently lost her mother and we want to express our profound sympathy and support for her and her grieving family. They are not alone; we stand by them during this trying time with unwavering compassion.

'The well-being of our colleagues is a priority etched in our hearts. Within the resort, we hold steadfast to IHG Hotels & Resorts' values, which underscore doing what's right and genuinely caring. These principles illuminate our path and define our every endeavour.'

Kodchakorn Tongbangprong showed screenshots of a chat conversation between herself and the boss in which she asked for permission to leave to visit her critically ill mother.

However, Nonglak's response was a refusal, accompanied by an order for Kodchakorn to return to work immediately - or visit her mum but return later and hand in her resignation.

Government officials are now investigating the case.

InterContinental Khao Yai Resort is pictured

The funeral scene for Kodchakom's mother is pictured

Kodchakorn was told her job was safe by hotel authorities

Labour Minister Suchart Chomklin said he had ordered staff from the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare to interview those involved.

Officials summoned the hotel executive for a hearing on August 21 to discuss regulations concerning leave policies.

Regional government labour chief Nisai Sukhara said that employees are entitled to personal leave for significant matters, spanning a minimum of three days.

He said that employers have the authority to fire staff but they are obligated to provide severance pay, with certain exceptions.

Nisai said: 'In the current scenario, I have not been informed of the employee's termination. As such, I am awaiting the scheduled meeting with the hotel executive on August 21 for more insight.'

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) is a British multinational hospitality company headquartered in Windsor, England.

It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. It is also a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
A much-loved shih tzu pup was killed instantly after an XL bulldog locked its jaws around his throat - in a shocking attack that has left his owner 'devastated' and unable to sleep.

Nine-year-old Oscar was attacked as he and fellow shih tzu Ollie, five, were walked by owner Paul Regan in Marton, Middlesbrough earlier this week.

A large bulldog-type dog slipped from its harness as it and another large dog were walked by a man, lunging at Oscar and sinking its teeth into the helpless smaller animal's throat.

Heartbroken Mr Regan, 41, could only watch as the bigger dog brutalised his beloved pet - and by the time the savage animal was wrenched away, Oscar was already dead.

He has since reported the incident to the RSPCA and the police, fearing the killer dog could strike again if its owner fails to keep it under control.

Nine-year-old shih tzu Oscar was killed in a brutal attack after an XL bulldog-type animal 'darted' at him

Heartbroken owner Paul Regan with Oscar (left) and younger pup Ollie

Mr Regan told Teesside Live the 10-minute ordeal 'felt like an eternity' and was the most horrific thing he has ever witnessed.

He recalled: 'He [the bigger dog] just absolutely darted at us. Within seconds he had a hold of Oscar's throat.

'The owner did try to help but couldn't get him off. He let go of the other dog's lead and he started to attack as well.

'I was able to grab the lead and pull it off. The owner tried to get him off Oscar but it looked like he killed him almost straight away.

'After 10 minutes we managed to get him out of his jaws. Someone in the house opposite came out with a towel and someone else started the car up and we drove him to the vets.

'They came out straight away and told us he had already gone. I knew he was gone but I felt like we had to try.'

Mr Regan and his partner Gemma Heppenstall rushed Oscar to the vets - but tragically there was nothing medics could do.

The tragedy unfolded on Tuesday at around 6.30pm, on a path near Ormesby Beck between Marton Station and James Cook University Hospital station.

The dad-of-three says he's reported the incident to the police and the RSPCA and fears what the 'dangerous' dog could go on to do.

He added: 'The man has been in touch with my partner saying "sorry" and it's "devastating".

'But we're worried about what that dog could do in the future to someone else. He couldn't control it, it's too strong for him and he couldn't get it off.'

In a letter from Vets for Pets, a veterinary surgeon said: 'Oscar's wounds were assessed and these are amongst the most severe injuries of a dog attack my team and I have ever seen, the most severe of which was the neck injury.'

Graphic pictures of the injuries, not released, show deep gouges to Oscar's neck and body.

Mr Regan, a heating and ventilation engineer, says he and his family are struggling to sleep after the tragic loss.

'I haven't slept for two days now. I've never seen something so brutal in my life,' he continued.

'The kids would call him grandad dog cause he slept a lot. He always just wanted to be next to you.

'He always wanted to be in your legs or lay up against you. He wasn't really that bothered about playing, he would be happy to just cuddle you all day.

'Ollie is completely different: he doesn't want to cuddle he just wants to play.

'I know they're trying to ban [that type of dog] and put them on the list. How brutal that was, it's life-changing seeing something like that.'

Mr Regan said Oscar (right) had been a gentle pup, nicknamed "grandad dog" by his children

The attack happened on a path near Ormesby Beck (approximate location pictured)

Cleveland Police has confirm the dog attack has been reported and officers are speaking with the reporting person for further information.

Officers are appealing for witnesses to come forward and call 101 quoting incident number 162500 with information.

XL bulldogs are linked to an increasing number of dog attacks in the UK, with experts calling for the breed to be controlled by law.

Two in four fatal dog attacks in the UK in 2021 involved the breed - rising to six in ten in 2022, including high-profile incidents that killed children Jack Lis, 10, and Bella-Rae Birch, 17 months.

Bella-Rae was pronounced dead shortly after the attack in March 2022, which involved an American Bully purchased 'for buttons' a week before.

Jack's death in November last year, in which he suffered 'severe' head and neck injuries, has sparked a campaign by his mother Emma Whitfield to bring in tougher penalties on irresponsible dog breeders.

Dog behaviour expert Stan Rawlinson told MailOnline earlier this year: 'I wouldn't go near one. I've been around all sorts of dogs, even the most dangerous. But these XL Bully dogs are very reactive.'
This is the incredible moment Ukraine's armed forces blasted a Russian attack helicopter out of the sky, sending it crashing to the ground.

In the latest humiliation for Vladimir Putin and his generals, a video taken from the ground shows the Russian Ka-52 Alligator being shot down over the battlefield near Robotyne, in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region.

A second, not seen in the clip, was also reportedly shot down in the same region.

The dramatic war footage shows the Ka-52 flying with another helicopter over the region, when without warning it erupts into a ball of black smoke.

The damage appears so severe that the chopper makes no attempt to stay in the air, instead instantly plummeting towards the ground at speed as a piece of the aircraft flies off in another direction.

This is the incredible moment Ukraine's armed forces blasted a Russian attack helicopter out of the sky, sending it crashing to the ground

Pictured: A thick plume of smoke is seen rising into the sky after the chopper hit the ground

The camera tracks it all the way to the ground where it falls below a treeline.

After a split-second delay, a huge fireball is seen erupting from where it landed, before more thick black smoke is seen rising into the sky.

Seeing the fate of his fellow airmen, the pilot of the other two helicopter flies forward at speed to get out of the dangerous area.

The fate of the pilot in the first chopper was unclear.

It was not clear if the other helicopter seen in the first clip was the same second chopper that was reportedly shot down later by Ukraine's forces.

Another clip appeared to confirm one was downed with a portable air-defence missile system, fired by Ukraine's 47th Mechanised Brigade.

In the second clip, black smoke was seen rising from the shot-down helicopter after it crashed in the field.

A video carries a voice saying 'We've got it, got it.' followed by expletives.

The commander of Ukraine's air force, Mykola Oleshchuk claimed a second near blitzkrieg town Bakhmut in Donetsk region.

He posted: 'One less Russian Ka-52 on the Bakhmut front this morning.

'Thanks to the air defence unit of the Air Force for a successful combat operation.'

The Ka-52 is boasted by the Kremlin as 'the world's best helicopter gunship', and they caused Ukraine headaches in the early days of the war.

However, Kyiv's forces quickly adapted and have since claimed to have shot many out of the skies, with a number of clips emerging of their destruction.

According to the military blog Oryx, which counts Russian and Ukrainian losses based on visual confirmation, Moscow has lost 41 of its Ka52s since Feb. 2022.

The helicopters cost 12.5 million.

Pictured: Smoke is seen rising from the wreckage of the helicopter after it was downed in the Robotyne area, Zaporizhzhia, by Ukrainian forces fighting in the region

The Ka-52 is boasted by the Kremlin as 'the world's best helicopter gunship', and they caused Ukraine headaches in the early days of the war. However, Kyiv's forces quickly adapted and have since claimed to have shot many out of the skies

Neither side has been able to gain air supremacy over the other in the 18 months of war on account of both Ukraine and Russia boasting significant air defences.

Ukraine has been pleading with western nations to send F-16 fighter jets to help it push on with its on-going counteroffensive against the invaders.

On Friday, the Dutch defence minister announced that the United States has given the country approval to deliver the fighter jets to Kyiv.

The decision represents a major gain for Kyiv, even though the fighter jets won't have an immediate impact on the almost 18-month war.

'I welcome the US decision to clear the way for delivery of F-16 jets to Ukraine. It allows us to follow through on the training of Ukrainian pilots,' Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren said in a message on X, formerly known as Twitter.

'We remain in close contact with European partners to decide on the next steps.'

Ukraine has long pleaded for the sophisticated fighter to give it a combat edge. It recently launched a long-anticipated counteroffensive against the Kremlin's forces without air cover, placing its troops at the mercy of Russian aviation and artillery.

Apart from delivering the warplanes, Ukraine's allies also need to train its pilots. Washington says the F-16s, like the advanced U.S. Abrams tanks, will be crucial in the long term as Kyiv faces down Russia.

The Netherlands is part of a Western coalition that also includes Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden and the United Kingdom that in July pledged to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16s.

Washington must give its blessing because the planes are made in the United States.

Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said in a message on X that U.S. clearance to send F-16s to Ukraine 'marks a major milestone' in Ukraine's defense.

It was not immediately clear when the first F-16s could be delivered to Ukraine.

Pictured: Another clip appears to show the moment the Russian helicopter was downed

As well as the Netherlands, Denmark said in June that training Ukrainian pilots had started and the country was considering delivering jets to Kyiv.

However, the pilots will need six to eight months of training before a possible donation of aircraft can become a reality.

In a statement to Danish media, Defense Minister Jakob Ellemann-Jensen said that the government has several times said that a donation was 'a natural step after the training.'

Meanwhile, Russian air defenses stopped drone attacks on central Moscow and on the country's ships in the Black Sea, officials said Friday, blaming the attempted strikes on Ukraine.

Defense systems shot down a Ukrainian drone over central Moscow early Friday and some fragments fell on an exhibition center, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

It said the drone was shot down about 4 a.m. (0100 GMT) and there were no injuries or fire caused by the fragments.

However, flights were briefly suspended at all four major Moscow airports.

Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said some of the fragments fell on the grounds of the Expocentre, an exhibition complex adjacent to the Moscow City commercial and office complex that was hit twice by drones in the past month.

Pictured: A Russian Ka-52 Alligator helicopter is seen in 2017 (file photo)

The area is about 2.5 miles west of the Kremlin. The defense ministry called the latest incident 'another terrorist attack by the Kyiv regime.'

Naval forces also destroyed a Ukrainian sea drone that attempted an attack on Russian ships late Thursday in the Black Sea, about 150 miles southwest of Sevastopol, the ministry said.

The drone was taken out by fire from a patrol boat and a corvette, it said.

It was not possible to verify the claims.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk is rumoured to have bought a 13th century Italian castle, reports suggest.

The Castello di Bibbiano, near Val d'Orcia, a UNESCO heritage site, in Tuscany, Italy, was rumoured to be bought by Musk in 2022.

The castle includes a moat around its main building, as well as a huge second residence with dozens of rooms, a well, outbuildings, stables and cypress trees.

Pictures show the property surrounded by bricks and roof tiles, suggesting it might be in the process of being renovated.

Currently open to the public, a sign for tourists explains the history behind the castle going back to the 13th century.

The Castello di Bibbiano (pictured), near Val d'Orcia, a UNESCO heritage site, in Tuscany, Italy, was rumoured to be bought by Musk in 2022

The castle includes a moat around its main building, as well as a huge second residence with dozens of rooms

Pictures show the property surrounded by bricks and roof tiles, suggesting it might be in the process of being renovated

Currently open to the public, a sign for tourists explains the history behind the castle going back to the 13th century

Pictured: Cypress trees and haybales line the path leading up to the historic castle

The property is also nearby to the 'Castiglion del Bosco', named as the best hotel in the world by Travel + Leisure Magazine in 2022, and where Elon Musk once stayed in 2021.

Musk 'might have grasped the beauty of the village during his stay in Castiglion del Bosco', one article suggested.

Last week, Musk hinted that his showdown with Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg would occur at Rome's Colosseum.

The X - formerly known as Twitter - owner tweeted Friday morning that a locale had been agreed up after previously tweeting 'Gladiator' aside of two sword emojis.

'The fight will be managed by my and Zucks foundations (not UFC),' the Tesla mogul tweeted.

'Livestream will be on this platform and Meta. Everything in camera frame will be ancient Rome, so nothing modern at all.

'I spoke to the PM of Italy and Minister of Culture. They have agreed on an epic location.'
This is a bizarre moment a frustrated easyJet passenger starts tearing his own luggage apart - in a bid to avoid paying excess baggage fees.

In a clip that has since gone viral, the man can be seen ripping the wheels and the handle off of his small suitcase, in a bid to make it fit into the smaller of two frames used to assess the size of cabin bags.

easyJet allows all jetsetters to take one piece of small cabin luggage with a maximum size of 45 x 36 x 20cm on board for free, but it must fit under their seat.

Larger cabin bags measuring up to 56 x 45 x 25cm, to be stowed in the overhead lockers, can be booked on board in advance for an additional fee starting from 5.99 - but the charge rises to 48 for anything not booked before arriving at the terminal.

The man seems to be doing anything he can to avoid the surcharge as he waits to board a flight from Palma airport in Mallorca, Spain - pulling his suitcase to pieces in an attempt to cram it into the smaller of the two guides.

The man is seen tearing the suitcase to pieces as amused passengers look on

He plants his foot on his suitcase in order to tear off the carry handle and wheels

He struggles to rip the handle off in a bid to avoid paying a hefty excess baggage fee

Success! The carry handle and the wheels come away from the case with a bit of effort, leaving the suitcase smaller but slightly mangled

He successfully crams the now slightly ruined suitcase into the smaller of easyJet's two measuring frames for cabin baggage

He plants his foot firmly on the centre in order to give himself leverage as he yanks the carry handle and the wheels clean off.

He then slips the mangled bag into the smaller of the two frames, seemingly satisfied with his efforts.

The video was filmed on Monday August 14 by Kimberly Standen, who was waiting to board the same flight home after spending a long-weekend in Mallorca with her 35-year-old boyfriend David.

easyJet cabin bag rules: What can you take on board for free? easyJet's website outlines when flyers can take bags onboard for free - as well as which bags must be paid for, either in advance online or at the terminal. Online Terminal Small cabin bag(25 x 36 x 20cm) FREE FREE Large cabin bag(56 x 45 x 25cm) From 5.99 N/A Hold luggage (up to 15kg) From 6.99 N/A Hold luggage(up to 23kg) From 9.49 40 Fixed fee for oversized cabin bags N/A 48 Additional weight for pre-booked hold bags 15 per 3kg 12 per kg Source: easyjet , correct as of August 18 2023 Advertisement

The 29-year-old said the frustrated passenger spent around 15 minutes 'smashing' his bag on the floor of the terminal to make it fit in the small cabin bag checker.

Kimberly, from Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, East Anglia, said: 'I don't think there had been any confrontation before this point [between him and an easyJet representative].

'We were in the queue to board and I assume he hadn't paid for a large cabin bag so the bag needed to fit under his seat [as it was the free option].

'He was bashing the bag on the floor trying to snap off the wheels.

'I only managed to film the end of it but before this he had been kicking it, throwing it about, smashing the wheels on the floor and because airports have stone floors the noise just echoes.

'He did this for at least 10 or 15 minutes. Everyone was really pleased that he managed to get the bag in [the small cabin measurer].

'Some people cheered and a lot of people were laughing and were flabbergasted at what they witnessed.'

easyJet introduced new charges for cabin baggage in early 2021, bringing it into line with other no-frills airlines such as Ryanair and Wizz.

The airline claimed the move would 'improve boarding and punctuality', but was slated by customers as a cash grab.

Kimberly said the policy had been widely advertised throughout the airport terminal in Mallorca - meaning it should have come as no surprise to her fellow flyer.

The logistics administrator added: 'I don't know the man's financial situation and he may have just been annoyed and out of principle wasn't going to pay [for a bigger bag].

'What I do know is that when you book a flight [with easyJet] you know what luggage you pay for.

'If you take the risk and take a suitcase that isn't these [the correct] dimensions you're aware that you may be stopped and asked to pay for it.

'Who knows. Whether it is right that the airline charges or not, the luggage allowance is well advertised.'

Kimberly Standen with boyfriend David on holiday in Mallorca

Kimberley in a selfie taken on holiday on Mallorca - before her encounter with the short-tempered traveller

easyJet passengers boarding a plane. Kimberley said signs advertising the airline's luggage policy were 'plastered' across the terminal

She added: 'You know what you're paying for and if they ask you to pay for it [if your bag is over the dimensions] you have to be able to take that.

'The advertisements about baggage dimensions are plastered where you check your luggage in and security.

'It is so well advertised all over the airport and I think this was a bit of an overreaction.

'I wonder if he was having a bad day.'

Since sharing the post on her TikTok page, the video has received more than 400,000 views and nearly 5,000 likes.

Whilst some viewers sympathised with the passenger's actions to avoid luggage costs, others were shocked by the lengths he went to avoid the fee.

One person commented: 'Bless him. I understand his frustration. It's getting ridiculous.'

Another person added: 'There is always a way to beat the system. Love it'

A third said: 'But they literally post their baggage size online and people still don't read.'

A fourth commented: 'Great effort mate!'

An EasyJet spokesperson said: 'Customers' cabin bags must be within the maximum dimensions to safely and securely fit where they need to be stowed in the cabin.

'We clearly inform customers of maximum cabin bag dimensions when booking, via email before they travel and it is also clearly displayed on boarding passes.'

It's not the first time air passengers have taken bizarre steps to avoid paying excess luggage fees when travelling.

One couple tried wearing all of their clothes to avoid excess weight charges, while another fed-up flyer invented a jacket allowing them to wear laptops, jumpers and cameras.
In total, the family are seeking damages totaling $25 million according to the suit

A Michigan mom is suing a school and it's principal after her daughter committed suicide after being sent home from school.

Maisoon Renick's 14-year-old daughter Selena Perez died by suicide in May after school authorities sent her home alone under the influence of drugs.

Perez had been a freshman at Annapolis High School in Dearborn Heights and had been sent home by Principal Aaron Mollett and District Superintendent Tyrone Weeks for misbehavior and 'tossing bottles'.

The two have now been named as defendants in lawsuit filed by Renick who are being sued for wrongful death and gross negligence

The suit claims the district and the principal failed to enforce the school's code of conduct which should have involved a 10-day suspension and parental notification.

Selena Perez, pictured here, had been a freshman at Annapolis High School in Dearborn Heights when she took her own life

Maisoon Renick, pictured here, is now suing the school and its principal in relation to the death of her daughter

The suit claims the district and the principal failed to enforce the school's code of conduct which should have involved a 10-day suspension and parental notification

In court filings seen by DailyMail.com, the lawsuit says that Mollett contacted Renick by phone to report her daughters behavior which included 'tossing bottles' in class.

It also claims that Mollett 'willfully and intentionally failed to report that Perez was under any influence of Marijuana' to her mom.

The filings continued: 'Mollett allowed Selena to leave school premises without seeking medical treatment, without advising her parental guardians of the actual circumstances surrounding her altered mental and physical state, or reporting anything to the local authorities.

'Selena walked home alone, in an altered state of mental health and within a short period of time after arrival, committed suicide in the basement of her residence, resulting in her death.'

Thirty minutes after Perez's passing, Mollett and Weeks appeared at the family home without invitation.

The suit claims they did so 'under the guise of expressing condolences on the passing of Selena' and then informed her mom of her being under the influence.

It continues : 'The mere arrival of Mollett and Weeks in such close proximity to Selena's death raises genuine concerns on how they developed knowledge of Selena's passing.

'Who they obtained that information from, the content and substance of their electronic communications with Selena and the nature of their relationship with Selena.'

Mollett is also claimed to have told Renick about her daughter using marijuana, before trying to backtrack on his statement, according to the suit.

The family of Perez are seeking $25 million dollars in damages and asserts that Mollett and Weeks knew Selena was suicidal when she left the school

The suit claims that Mollett, pictured here, 'willfully and intentionally failed to report that Perez was under any influence of Marijuana' to her mom

District Superintendent Tyrone Weeks, pictured here, is also being sued for in the suit

Perez had been a freshman at Annapolis High School in Dearborn Heights, Michigan, pictured here

In total, the family of Perez are seeking $25 million dollars in damages and asserts that Mollett and Weeks knew Selena was suicidal when she left the school.

Renick previously told CBS News: 'She had a warm heart and a wonderful soul. I want to know if he could have prevented this.

'If there was any communication between him and Selena because [she] did trust him a lot.

'If she had gone to him and said something and he didn't notify us, I want to know about that.'

Mollett was placed on paid leave after the death of Perez, he then resumed work until the end of the term and again was placed back on leave.

Weeks was removed from his position on May 17 and is the subject of three Title XI complaints, a state civil rights complaint, several union grievances and unfair labor practice charges, according to the Michigan Education Association.
Tenerife has become the latest European region to be hit by wildfires, following mass evacuations from the Spanish island.

The fire has spread more than 3,270 hectares since it started in a nature reserve on the evening of Tuesday August 15.

Six municipalities have now been evacuated as the fire continues to rage through a forested area in steep ravines.

But where exactly are the wildfires in Tenerife? Which parts of the island are affected by the blazes?

Read on below for everything you need to know about where the wildfires are in Tenerife.

Where are the wildfires in Tenerife?

Pictured: a map of where the wildfires are occurring in Tenerife, with the worst of the blazes currently raging in northeastern and central areas

The fire has spread more than 3,270 hectares since it started in a nature reserve on the evening of Tuesday August 15. Six municipalities have now been evacuated as the fire continues to rage through a forested area in steep ravines. Pictured: Military firefighters battle a forest fire on August 17 2023 raging in the northeastern part of the island

The blazes have been burning in a forested area with steep valleys - which has meant firefighters have faced difficulties controlling the fires - in the north-east of the island in the municipalities of Arafo, Candelaria, El Rosario, La Orotava, Santa Ursula, La Victoria, El Sauzal and Tacoronte.

Some 250 firefighters, as well as members of Spain's emergency military unit, have been tackling the fire, which is a mere 12 miles away from the islands main town of Santa Cruz.

Authorities have warned that the rapidly-spreading fires could lead to further evacuations and confinement, with people being advised to keep an eye on public service alerts.

So far, more than 3,000 individuals have been evacuated, with 3,820 people being ordered to remain at home until Saturday August 19, said civil protection chief Montse Roman

The islands tourism office reiterated that the main tourist areas and cities of the island are away from the fire in a statement released on the afternoon of Thursday August 17.

Is it safe to travel to Tenerife?

The UK government has not updated its travel advice for Spain in light of the wildfires currently raging through Tenerife, with no international restrictions in place regarding travel.

As a result, you can still travel to the island - which is one of the most popular holiday destinations in Europe for British tourists.

Currently, Tenerife's North and South airports have not seen any arrival or departure flights delayed due to the wildfires.

forest firefighters work during the extinction of the forest fire in Arafo on August 16 2023

Much of the tourist trade across the island has continued as normal, across beaches and other tourist sites located in central and north-eastern areas, the tourist office said.

However, the Teide National Park - one of the most-visited tourist attractions in Tenerife - will be closed to the public on Thursday August 25 from 6pm local time (5pm GMT) until further notice, said the Canary regional government.
Fantastic Four star Ioan Gruffudd won a major court victory Thursday against his ex-wife Alice Evans in their bitter tug of war over custody of their two young daughters.

A Los Angeles judge granted the Welsh actors request for the appointment of a child psychiatrist to referee the warring couples increasingly hostile battles over Ella, 13, and Elsie, nine.

Evans, 55, had vehemently opposed appointing a child custody evaluator, saying it wasnt necessary, claiming that Gruffudd, 49, hasnt seen or called the girls for almost three months and denying his accusations that shes abusing their daughters, causing them serious emotional harm.

But after a hearing Thursday that neither Gruffudd nor Evans attended, LA Superior Court Judge Josh Freeman Stinn issued a brief order saying, The petitioners (Gruffudd) request for the appointment of a child custody evaluator is granted.

The judges ruling came after Gruffudd filed a new 34-page written document - found by DailyMail.com - in which he blasted Evans, accusing her of calling daughter Ella a f---ing bitch and telling the teen she would be getting a new father soon.

Fantastic Four star Ioan Gruffudd won a major court victory Thursday against his ex-wife Alice Evans in their bitter tug of war about custody of their two young daughters

Welsh Fantastic Four star Ioan Gruffudd said in court documents his ex Alice Evans 'has continued to inflict serious emotional harm' on their two daughters, Ella and Elsie

Gruffudd has been dating Bianca Wallace since his separation from Evans in 2021. He is requesting more time with his daughters, claiming his ex has kept him from seeing them for most of the past year

Evans latest statements opposing the evaluator and criticizing her ex, are false or grossly misleading, said Gruffudd in his new declaration to the court.

Circumstances with our daughters Ella and Elsie, and my relationship with them are not as Alice describes.

Alice has stated in her own words in multiple postings on social media that I have been trying to get at least 50/50 custody of Ella and Elsie and that she does not want this and/or is actively working to preventing it.

I believe it is imperative that a specific evaluator be appointed at the hearing on August 17 in order to avoid further and potentially significant delays in getting this important process started.

Gruffudd pointed out that although Alice argues that no child custody evaluation is necessary, the girls court-appointed attorney and their most recent therapist both support appointing an evaluator.

And he added, the therapist wrote,  I feel that it would be in the best interest of your daughters for Elsie to continue psychotherapy with me and Ella to be evaluated by a child psychiatrist.

Evans, 55, had vehemently opposed appointing a child custody evaluator, saying it wasnt necessary and claiming that Gruffudd, 49, hasnt seen or called the girls for almost three months and denying his accusations that shes abusing their daughters

Gruffudd pictured with Wallace pictured walking their dog as they hit up a local store for Oreo cookies and popcorn before heading back home

The feuding exes were declared legally divorced in July  two years after the actor filed after 14 years of marriage

Gruffudd expressed concern that Evans has taken Elsie out of a school shed been in since kindergarten and placed her in a new school, defying a court order saying she couldnt change the kids schools without his agreement. I did not agree, he said.

Talking again about the serious emotional harm he believes Evans is inflicting on their daughters, Gruffudd went on, Alice regularly berated, verbally abused and threatened me during our marriage and after separation, often in the presence of Ella and/or Elsie.

Among other things, Alice told me she had been miserable for years and wanted a divorce, attacked my appearance and my career, threatened to call the police on me and told Ella she would be getting a new father soon..

I believe it was unhealthy and distressing to the girls to witness this behavior and I believe Alices conduct was abusive not only to me, but to the girls as well.

Gruffudd - now with 31 year-old girlfriend Bianca Wallace - recounted an incident on Ellas 11th birthday when Elsie sent me a video of Ella arguing with Alice. Ella said she was upset because Alice had broken her promise not to drink alcohol and she begged Alice to stop bringing me up in every conversation.

Alice screamed at Ella and called her a fing bitch and Ella screamed at Alice, Just be a mother!

A Los Angeles judge granted the Welsh actors request for appointment of a child psychiatrist to referee the warring couples increasingly hostile battles over their daughters, court documents show

After a hearing Thursday that neither Gruffudd nor Evans attended, LA Superior Court Judge Josh Freeman Stinn issued a brief order saying, The petitioners (Gruffudd) request for the appointment of a child custody evaluator is granted'

The judges ruling came after Gruffudd filed a new 34-page written document - found by DailyMail.com - in which he blasted Evans, accusing her of calling daughter Ella a f---ing bitch and telling the teen she would be getting a new father soon'

Evans has denied all of her exs abuse allegations and has not responded - so far - to Judge Freeman Stinns new ruling against her

He added, (Alice) has made thousands of disparaging, abusive and threatening posts about me since we separated.

Evans has denied all of her exs abuse allegations and has not responded - so far - to Judge Freeman Stinns new ruling against her.

Gruffudd - who met Evans when they co-starred in the 2000 Disney movie, 101 Dalmatians - filed for divorce in March 2021, shortly after the blonde-haired actress claimed on social media that her husband of 14 years was walking out on her and their two daughters.

Their divorce was final just last month. But the issues of spousal and child support - as well as child custody - still need to be resolved.
Bryan Kohberger is in court in Idaho today for a hearing where his attorneys and prosecutors will debate the legitimacy of his alibi - that he was driving around on the night of the murders he is charged with - and discuss when he will go to trial.

Kohberger appeared in Latah County Court, Idaho, at 10.30am P.T. wearing a suit and tie - an unusual step for a defendant before trial, but one which legal experts say is an attempt by his team of lawyers to humanize him amid a swell of public interest in the case.

The hearing is the latest step in the ongoing legal preparation for Kohberger's trial, which has been slated for October.

He has not yet waived his right for a speedy trial, which puts pressure on prosecutors to gather a case and present it within six months of an arrest.

Today, prosecutors are expected to demand more specificity from defense attorneys about how they intend to argue his alibi.

They say the fact he was 'driving in the area' does nothing to exonerate him, and in fact places him at the scene.

Bryan Kohberger is due back in court today in Idaho. He is shown on June 27 during his last appearance

Kohberger is accused of murdering students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and her boyfriend Ethan Chapin

Kohberger is accused of murdering students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and her boyfriend Ethan Chapin.

Police say DNA found on a knife sheath that was left at the gruesome scene was a 99.9 percent match to Kohberger and his father.

He was arrested in Pennsylvania on December 30 after driving back from Idaho, where he was studying a criminology PhD, to his parents' house in the Poconos.

The hearing today will be live streamed online.

Earlier this month, his attorneys submitted the alibi for the first time. '

"Mr. Kohberger has long had a habit of going for drives alone. Often he would go for drives at night.

Kohberger is shown in his white Hyundai Elantra, the car he was driving on the night of the murders

'He did so late on November 12 and into November 13, 2022,' they said.

The two key pieces of evidence that link him to the crime is the DNA on the knife sheath and the fact his white Hyundai Elantra was seen in the area.

His attorneys are expected to also attempt to cast doubt on the genetic genealogy methods used to identify him.

Police had to work backwards from the DNA sample found at the scene to build a profile of hundreds, if not thousands, of people who could have matched it.

They then honed in on Kohberger, who was living nearby and who had the same car as witnesses had seen.

One of the surviving roommates who was not attacked also said she saw the killer, and that he had 'bushy eyebrows' - another feature of Kohberger's appearance.

Kohberger isn't claiming to be in any specific location at any specific time, according to the document, and may have witnesses who can corroborate that he wasn't at the home where the students were killed.

His defense team is still going over transcripts of grand jury testimony and other evidence from the investigation, his attorneys wrote, so it is too soon to detail exactly who those witnesses might be and what they might be able to testify about.
A woman who posed as a man to prey on a short-sighted teenager has avoided jail for sexually assaulting her female victim.

Georgia Bilham was sentenced to community service after being told by a judge she had mounted a 'carefully crafted deception' to 'take advantage' of her victim's 'naivety'.

Chester Crown Court heard she contacted her 19-year-old victim using a fake Snapchat profile under the name 'George Parry' and fooled her into believing they were 'in love'.

Bilham, 21, disguised herself by wearing boys' clothes and kept her hood up to hide her long blonde hair, even when the pair were in bed together, claiming to be 'paranoid' because of supposed ties to an Albanian drugs gang.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, the teenage girl said she'd been left 'sick', 'scared' and 'embarrassed' by what happened and 'blamed' herself.

Georgia Bilham, 21, was cleared by a jury of all but one of the 17 alleged offences after about three hours of deliberations following an eight-day trial at Chester Crown Court last month (she is pictured on August 18)

She said her mental health had suffered and she had lost two stone.

The victim said: 'I thought we were in love but I feel like it was nothing but a joke to Georgia.'

She added that what she found with Bilham 'wasn't love, wasn't normal'.

Bilham denied nine counts of sexual assault and eight counts of assault by penetration between May and August 2021.

But a jury at Chester Crown Court found her guilty of one sexual assault by kissing in June following a ten-day trial. She was cleared of the other 16 charges.

Sentencing, Judge Michael Leeming described Bilham's actions as 'a carefully crafted deception in which you create an entirely false persona'.

He said: 'You took advantage of the complainant's naivety and she was completely taken in by you.'

Judge Leeming added Bilham had 'repeatedly lied' about her identity, even when her victim became suspicious and confronted her.

The judge handed her a 24-month community order, a sexual harm prevention order and a restraining order in relation to her victim, who can't be named for legal reasons.

As part of her sentence, Bilham must also sign the sex offenders' register for five years and she was ordered to carry out 150 hours unpaid work and 35 rehabilitation days.

Appearing at the same court on Friday, Bilham, of Alpraham, Cheshire, was said to have created a 'carefully constructed deception' by Judge Michael Leeming, as he sentenced her to a 24-month community order

Georgia (pictured dressed as 'George') was cleared of a further 16 allegations of sexual assault relating to further sexual contact

Bilham's trial was told she created an online Snapchat persona in the name of George Parry to trick the now 20-year-old complainant into thinking she was a man.

'George' always wore a hood over his head  even in bed  while with the teenager, who, the court was told, is severely short-sighted.

Bilham said she believed her cover was blown after crashing her mother's car into a hedge while out for a drive with the teenager on May 11, 2021.

Jurors convicted her of sexually assaulting the teenager by kissing her that evening.

Bilham told jurors she believes a police officer called to the scene revealed her true identity to the complainant after checking her driving licence.

The defendant admitted being caught up in a 'web of lies', but denied getting a 'buzz' out of deceiving the teenager  maintaining throughout that she thought the woman she had sex with believed she was a female.

Asked during her trial why she set up the fake Snapchat account pretending to be a boy, Bilham replied: 'I just was not happy in myself. I just it was just more like an escape. I don't know.

'I was not confident in myself. It was a stupid thing to do. It was a way of not being me.'

Bilham had denied nine sexual assaults and eight counts of assault by penetration, all between May to August 2021.

In a victim impact statement read to the court by prosecutor Anna Pope, the complainant said the ordeal she had been through had left her suffering nightmares, unable to eat properly and feeling scared in her own home.

The statement said: 'This has stopped me being able to go out with my friends. I suffer with panic attacks. I'm scared because she has shown no remorse for what she has done to me.

Georgia Bilham denied getting a `buzz out of deceiving the teenage complainant

Bilham is pictured posing in a bikini on holiday in Spain. She set up a fake Snapchat account pretending to be a boy, duping a young woman

'I am embarrassed about what I have been through. I have a constant battle with myself, fighting not to fall into the black hole I fought to get out of. I still can't comprehend it.

'I hate myself for what I put up with. I let someone take my sight so they could feel comfortable.

'I feel so stupid and disgusted in myself. It makes my skin crawl. I don't think I will ever come to terms with what has happened.

'I am grateful for the guilty verdict because after everything she has put me through, I want her to get the help and support she needs.'

Speaking to MailOnline, the victim - whom we called 'Bella' - says she still struggles to come to terms with Bilham's lies.

'I opened myself up to this person, but everything they told me was a lie, and nothing was real,' she said.

'Most of all, I will never understand why she did what she did. I've asked myself every question under the sun about what happened, but I am no closer to working it out.'

That ongoing bewilderment is a sentiment shared by the public who followed the seven-day trial at Chester Crown Court, during which Georgia would turn up every day, with her long blonde hair and feminine clothes, to answer intimate details about the relationship she had with Bella.

Throughout the relationship the victim (pictured) believed Georgia to be a boy called George Parry

Earlier the court was told Bilham sent text messages, mocked up here, to the alleged victim

Bella still struggles to settle on the right terminology to refer to her former lover. On occasions she calls Georgia 'the perpetrator'; on others 'they' or 'them.'

Inevitably, though, the masculine pronoun creeps in. 'I still call them 'him' sometimes,' she says. 'Because that's who George was to me.'

Mitigating for Bilham, Martine Snowdon said it was clear there had been 'deception' but said there was no evidence the defendant had pursued the relationship with the intention of committing a sexual offence.

She said: 'They had a close relationship and they supported each other. She clearly knew how wrong her behaviour was. She feels guilty, and she felt guilty at the time.

'It was a mutually supportive relationship  she is not a sexual predator. She worked as a care worker and has a very caring side.

'She has always genuinely regretted this behaviour. She was aware she was doing something wrong and she had a sense of relief when it all came out into the open because it got her out of a situation of her own making that she could not get out of herself.'

Sentencing Bilham, who sat in the dock wearing black and looked at the ground for most of the hearing, Judge Leeming said: 'You took advantage of the complainant's relative naivety. She was taken in by you.

'You presented as a boy, wore male clothing with a hood up to cover your hair. You always wore a hood up, come rain or shine.

Bilham (pictured on holiday) grew up in a peaceful Cheshire backwater renowned for its canal and unusual 'staircase' locks

Bilham pictured with her father Peter Bilham, 60, on June 13 walking outside court during her trial

'The complainant was attracted to you, as a male.

'The complainant was short-sighted  you knew that and removed her glasses.

'The complainant never gave her true consent to being kissed by you because it was on the basis that you were male.

'She had been deceived as to your true identity.

'You continue to deny your behaviour was sexually motivated.

'You are said to express regret and relief that this is out in the open.

'You must bear your responsibility for the embarrassment and distress you have caused.'

Following the jury's verdicts, the Crown Prosecution Service said Bilham had deprived the victim of the choice to agree to the activity and had left her 'devastated'.

Martine Snowdon, defending, insisted there was no evidence Bilham had acted as a 'sexual predator' and characterised the relationship as one of 'emotional support'.

As well as the community order, Bilham must carry out 150 hours of unpaid work and take part in 35 rehabilitation days.

She was also given a restraining order, must sign the sex offenders' register for five years and was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order, also for five years.
Facebook has found itself in hot water after wading into the debate over whether off-shore wind farms are responsible for a surge in whale deaths across the east coast.

Environmentalist Michael Shellenberger has accused the internet giant of censoring accurate information after it slapped a content warning on a post about the beaching of 300 whales since 2017.

Officials admit there has been an 'unusual mortality event' on the east coast in the last six years with strandings reported from New York to North Carolina, but have insisted the string of new wind farms are not responsible.

The controversy blew up days after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was threatened with contempt of Congress amid claims the social media firm removed posts at the direction of the Biden White House.

Facebook is censoring accurate information about the relationship between industrial wind energy development and the increase in whale deaths off the East Coast, Shellenberger said.

Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg has been accused of deleting Facebook posts on White House orders

Environmentalist Michael Shellenberger triggered the fact checkers at Facebook when he linked the latest east coast whale death to wind farms

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration tracks humpback and right whale deaths. These are some of the locations they have washed ashore since December, with some seeing multiple beachings

Why is Facebook censoring accurate information and spreading disinformation?

Construction is underway on two new wind farms off Rhode Island and Massachusetts after the White House pledged to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030, enough to power 10 million homes.

Two are already operating off Rhode Island and Virginia Beach despite fury from conservationists and commercial fishing operators, and the $10billion Virginia development is expected to feature more than 175 wind turbines by 2026.

In January, the Clean Ocean Action environmental group asked President Joe Biden to step in and halt the wind farm projects, saying there was evidence it was related to the whale deaths.

'We've gone too far, too fast,' Clean Ocean Action executive director Cindy Zipf said.

'Over 2.2 million acres is being allocated to offshore wind and 10,000 miles of cables.

'This alarming number of deaths is unprecedented in the last half century, the only unique factor from previous years, is the excessive scope, scale, and magnitude of offshore wind powerplant activity in the region.

The latest dead whale washed ashore on Takanassee Beach in New Jersey on Saturday, and this year is on course to be the worst on record for fatal strandings on the east coast.

Environmentalist Michael Shellenberger claims he Facebook boss is helping government officials distort the truth about whale deaths

More than 175 wind turbines are planned for the development off Virginia by 2026.

One of the dead humpback whales is removed from New York's Lido Beach after being washed up in January

Shellenberger has called the issue the biggest environmental scandal in the world and delivered a series of angry posts to his thousands of Facebook followers this week.

The government says its not because of the wind industrys high decibel pile driving and boat traffic in previously pristine waters, he wrote.

Theyre lying. And now we have the proof.

That triggered Facebook watchdogs to slap a warning, claiming the post was missing context and could mislead people.

It also linked to an article by Facebook partner Factcheck.org insisting there is no reason to believe wind farms are to blame.

Several factors, experts and officials have said, could be increasing the risk of these hazards, the checkers wrote.

For one, climate change is warming oceans and changing the distribution of prey that marine species depend on.

As a result, whales are altering their migration routes and moving out of protected areas and closer to the shores, where they are more vulnerable to ship strikes and entanglement with fishing gear.

It pointed to autopsies carried out by the official National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration suggesting that 40 per cent of dead humpbacks were killed by hitting boats or getting tangled in ropes.

But they admit: The causes for the other 60 per cent have been inconclusive, in part, officials say, because the carcasses decompose quickly, making it difficult to determine a cause of death.

Facebook automatically moves reduces the visibility of posts flagged by its fact-checking partners, including AFP, reducing the visibility of false or misleading content.

But earlier this month its parent company Meta changed its settings allowing users to partially disable the fact-checking that they see.

We're giving people on Facebook even more power to control the algorithm that ranks posts in their feed, a Meta spokesman told AFP.

Right whales are among the species which have been washing up dead on east coast beaches

Some environmental groups have blamed the deaths on off-shore wind turbines. A whale is pictured beached on Seaside Park in New Jersey in March 2023

We're doing this in response to users telling us that they want a greater ability to decide what they see on our apps.

For the last 20 years, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said that his social media company is the digital equivalent of a town square, committed to factual accuracy, and protecting the natural environment, Shellenberger said.

Facebook knows its fact checks are just their opinion.

Thus, labeling FactCheck.org, which in this case is simply repeating US government misinformation, as a fact-checker is disinformation.
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Maui authorities are dramatically underplaying the number of people known to have died in the inferno that ripped through Lahaina last week - with locals telling DailyMail.com that the actual death toll is at least 480 and that morgues had run out of body bags.

The figure is quadruple that of the official number of 111 - and some of the relatives of the victims have been left to uncover the remains of their loved ones themselves due to the glacial progress of the search and recovery operation.

On Tuesday, Maui mayor Richard Bissen said just 25 per cent of the stricken town had been searched, although he expected that figure to increase to 85 per cent by Saturday.

But DailyMail.com photos taken on Wednesday showed hundreds of cars and vehicles still unsearched  with just a handful marked with an orange X to show they'd been looked at.

Maui residents say the actual wildfire death toll so far is likely closer to 480 and reveal the MPD's morgue office (pictured) ran out of body bags in the early days of the ongoing search and recovery operation in Lahaina

The soaring death toll means authorities have also had to bring in mobile morgues with five refrigerated trucks parked outside the Maui Police Department morgue office to store the remains of fire victims. DailyMail.com photos shown an aerial view of a body bag being loaded into a refrigerated truck at the MPD Morgue Office on Thursday

Officially, the death toll from the Maui wildfire has reached at least 111 as of Thursday, but locals claim the true number is four times that

For Allisen Medina, 24, who has lived in Maui for five years and has spent the past two weeks making perilous trips into Lahaina to help burned out residents, that is still too slow.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, she said: 'People have been doing their own recovery.

'I know there are at least 480 dead here in Maui and I don't understand why they're [the authorities] not saying that. Maybe it's to do with DNA or something.

Allisen Medina, who has spent the past two weeks helping out displaced wildfire victims in Lahaina, said some have discovered the charred remains of their own loved ones

'I do know they ran out of body bags by the first or second night and had to ship some in from the mainland.'

Allisen says the slow recovery process has led to family members being left to find the charred corpses of their loved ones themselves, including a friend of hers who lost four family members.

She told DailyMail.com: 'I have a personal friend who lost her parents, sister and her 10-year-old nephew. She went in [to Lahaina] and saw them there.'

She added: '100 percent not enough is being done so people are doing it themselves. The Government, relief organizations  they're not doing anything.'

She added: 'We have the right to know what's going on. FEMA came here to help with the recovery [process] but we don't see them.

'We're only 100 miles from Oahu which has several military bases. Why is the response so lacking? Why are they doing so little? Why is nothing else being done?'

Allisen also hit out at emergency services boss Herman Andaya who made the decision not to sound Maui's emergency sirens  telling a press conference that they are associated with tsunamis and not fires.

She said: 'Why didn't they turn on the sirens? They're not just for tsunamis  go to their website and it says they're for fires, other disasters, everything.

'What he said is so disgusting and disrespectful  does he really think people would run towards fire, that they wouldn't have looked out and seen it?'

Authorities had set up a mobile morgue to allow bodies to keep cool while they try to identify the remains

Recovery teams can be seen sifting through scorched debris throughout Lahaina in search of the one thousand people that remain accounted for

Cars and buildings marked with an X can be seen throughout the city to indicate that they have been searched, but hundreds more remain to be inspected

The bodies that have been recovered were burnt beyond recognition and authorities are now asking friends and family of missing people to submit their DNA so the remains of their loved ones can be identified

Workers, including members of the Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team stand in front of refrigerated trucks at the MPD Morgue Office in Maui

Other stories that back up Allisen's account have also come to light with Southwest flight attendant Sarah Trost, 30, of Sacramento, California, posting a video to TikTok on Tuesday sharing details of a conversation with a part-time morgue worker who drove her shuttle from the airport to her hotel that day.

Trost said the man had also told her that 480 people have been confirmed dead as Allisen claims, and that authorities have actually only searched 13 percent of Lahaina so far.

The morgue worker, who is volunteering in the search, also described finding scores of bodies, adding that many were families  including young children - who had died at their homes in each other's' arms, unable to escape the flames.

'He found so many children, children and moms holding each other. Infants, toddlers, the unimaginable. Husbands and wives, whole entire [families] in a room just huddling together, burning to death,' Trost said.

'It's all bones. So he's grabbing the bones with the ash shoveling them into body bags. They have no more room on the island in the morgue so they're shipping in containers to hold those body bags.'

Many of the bodies have been left unrecognizable by the fire with authorities asking friends and family of the more than 1,000 people still missing to submit their DNA so the remains of their loved ones can be identified.

Recovery teams have arrived with cadaver dogs to search areas destroyed by last week's wildfire in Lahaina

The Mayor of Maui said just 25 per cent of the stricken town had been searched but he expected that figure to increase to 85 per cent by Saturday

The slow recovery process, however, has led to family members being left to find the charred corpses of their loved ones themselves, according to residents

As of Thursday, just five people had been formally identified, with only two named publicly after their families were informed: Robert Dyckman, 74, and Buddy Jantoc, 79, both of whom had lived in Lahaina.

The soaring death toll means authorities have also had to bring in mobile morgues with five refrigerated trucks parked outside the Maui Police Department morgue office to store the remains of fire victims.

DailyMail.com photos taken Thursday show bodies are still being brought in from the wreckage of Lahaina with eight body bags seen arriving during the morning.

Allisen says the challenge facing locals like her is now how to help fire victims who have lost everything while also allowing islanders time to grieve.

She has made multiple runs into Lahaina with supplies for burned out families but said she is fed up with FEMA and the American Red Cross who aren't distributing items quickly enough and 'are adding red tape to everything'.

She said: 'The Red Cross arrived four days late and they're not doing anything. They're supposed to help and not just stand around.

She added: 'We don't want you here adding red tape to everything. FEMA are saying they don't have the means to distribute everything that's been donated. They're stockpiling the same things we have been distributing.'

Andaya made the remarks to commissioners in recent years after monthly tests found some were not working and, in one case, after a false alarm, the publication reported. A reporter at Wednesday's conference also seemed to question Andaya's resume, and how he's had no prior experience in emergency management before taking on his current role in 2017. He was chief-of-staff to a former mayor. The member of the press then asked if he would consider handing further responsibility off to someone else. Andaya said the claim he didn't have experience before assuming his current position is 'not true.'

Both Governor Green (Pictured) and Maui Mayor Richard Bissen defended Andaya against the journalist's quasi-accusations. Green agreed his reaction to hearing the sirens would be to expect a tsunami. Governor Green confirmed Wednesday the death toll had risen to 110, though search teams have canvassed just 38 percent of the impacted territory. Officials, including Green, have said the death toll will likely continue to climb in the next few weeks. There is increasing concern that numerous children, who were at home because schools were closed and parents were at work, are among the dead.

Allisen hopes support and recovery operations will now be sped up so locals get a chance to grieve but also said she would like to see the outpouring of sympathy from around the world result in continued help through the rebuilding process.

She said: 'We're getting a lot of support now but this will be a long road. People come here from all around the world.

'If they want to come here, I hope they will continue to support us in the long run.'

She added: 'I'm in no way a victim but I have a platform and it's my responsibility to share what I have seen.

'It's not about me but I want to do everything I can to help.'
A mass brawl broke out between guests and staff at a Turkish hotel, with both sides hurling chairs and throwing punches at each other, shocking footage has shown.

The fight allegedly occurred late last month (July 31) at the Mirage World Hotel in Icmeler, Turkey, and is said to have involved British holidaymakers.

The shocking footage shows the holiday-goers in a mass brawl with hotel staff.

According to posts online, guests claimed there was a dispute between a British man and a staff member involving a young relative, leading to the man starting a fight.

This then led to a mass of ten hotel staffers attacking the Englishman  with one even launching a chair at him - the violent clip shows.

A mass brawl broke out between guests and staff at a Turkish hotel, with both sides hurling chairs and throwing punches at each other, shocking footage (pictured) has shown. Left: A topless man is seen bringing a chair down on a member of staff's head. In the right picture, a member of staff is also seen wielding a chair over his head

The fight allegedly occurred late last month (July 31) at the Mirage World Hotel in Icmeler, Turkey, and is said to have involved British holidaymakers. Pictured: Staff, seen wearing white, are seen clashing with the holiday makers - mostly in swimwear - believed to be British

The shocking footage, captured by an unknown Brit on a balcony, shows a group of holidaymakers screaming as a member of staff can be seen landing a punch on a holiday-goer  all in front of a man believe to be the hotel manager.

The song Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine by James Brown can be heard blaring in the background as the fight escalates.

The pair are seen brawling inside a circle of both holiday-goers and staff as the fight continues to get heated, with more members of staff jumping in to the fray.

Angry guests can be seen pushing the pair to the side as well as others who appear to have joined in whilst another member of staff can be seen getting pulled away from the middle of the chaos by a guest.

The fight appears to calm for a second until a member of staff charges into the man, before his colleagues jump in - savagely taking turns to land punches.

Meanwhile, the cameraman appears to be savouring the chaotic scenes as he laughs at the sight, repeatedly saying 'Oh yeah' as the fight ensues.

A member of staff then pulls out a black chair and swings it over his head, throwing the chair into the chaotic mass of brawlers.

The cameraman can be heard saying: 'Oh, chair's out.'

A guest then returns fire, throwing a chair back in the direction of the staff member, leading to a slew of furniture being thrown around as others scream at the terrifying situation.

According to posts online, guests claimed there was a dispute between a British man and a staff member involving a young relative, leading to the man starting a fight

Staff wearing white are seen surrounding the holiday makers and throwing punches

The initial fighting holiday-goer then raises his arms to goad the staff on, who appear to be walking away.

However, other guests attempt to further defuse the situation, pushing him away in the other direction

One man - who looks to be younger than the others - appears to be falling unconscious as a result of the fight while a friend tries to hold him up.

The cameraman remarks: 'Someone knocked out.'

One mediating member of staff - who earlier was hit by a chair - appears to come over to check that the man is okay as the fight ends and everyone disperses.

The footage was shared on Facebook by Sean Reay on August 5.

'Check out how this escalates and how managers do nothing. This was this week; I'd be asking questions with your travel agent if coming here,' he wrote.

The post received over 4,800 likes and 4,000 comments as many outraged viewers were quick to share their horror at the brutal fight.

Mark Chamberlain wrote: 'Hope they're all sacked.'

Pictured: A man is seeing being led away from the brawl, which appeared to take place next to a stage at the Turkish hotel

One man, who could have been a teenager, was shown wobbling on his feet after the clash, and soon fell over on the brink of unconsciousness

Pictured: The scene is viewed from a distance where the footage was filmed from

Eddie Smith said: 'The music! 'Stay on the scene like a sex machine.'

Emma-Marie King commented: 'The poor boy at the end couldn't even stand.'

June Bellenie added: 'Every one of them - waiters or workers - involved in that needs to be sacked. They would be out that gate bag and baggage if I was boss.'

MailOnline has contacted travel agency TUI, which counts Mirage World among its holiday destinations, as well as the hotel for comment on the incident.
A Canadian zoo has urged the public to stop showing gorillas their phones as it's 'upsetting' them and 'affecting their relationships.'

Toronto Zoo have taped a sign to the glass of their gorilla enclosure, reminding people of the rule.

It reads: 'For the wellbeing of gorilla troop, please refrain from showing them any videos or photos as some content can be upsetting and affect their relationships and behaviour within their family.'

This comes after videos have gone viral of gorillas being enthralled by mobile phone screens as guests show them pictures.

Maria Franke, Toronto Zoo's director of wildlife conservation and welfare, told The Toronto Star that one of the gorillas called Nassir is particularly affected - becoming 'enthralled' by gadgets and phones.'

Nassir the gorilla (pictured) is particularly affected - he is 'enthralled' by gadgets and phones'

A Canadian zoo has urged the public to stop showing gorillas their phones as it's 'upsetting' them and 'affecting their relationships'

Toronto Zoo have taped a sign to the glass of their gorilla enclosure, reminding people of the new rule

Members are guests would put their phones up to the glass to show him videos.

She said 'It was causing him to be distracted and not interacting with the other gorillas. He was just so enthralled with gadgets and phones and the videos.'

On the zoo's website, 13-year-old Nassir is described as 'truly the epitome of a teenager, fascinated by videos and screen time would dominate his life if he had his way.'

However, it's not just Toronto Zoo that is facing this problem, videos are emerging from a number of zoo's of guests showing the primates their devices.

In one video taken at Louisville Zoo, we see Jelani the gorilla watching a guest swipe through pictures on their phone.

We see him sit next to the glass of the enclosure, fascinated by the device as he watches the guest swipe through photos and ask 'do you like those?'

Jelani has become famous for his obsession with visitors showing him their phones - particularly photos of other gorillas, including female and baby gorillas.

The animal even uses a swiping motion to tell visitors that he wants to see a new image.

Hollie Ross, the behavioural husbandry supervisor at Toronto Zoo, told Canadian broadcaster CP24: 'We just want the gorillas to be able to be gorillas'.

She added 'When our guests come to the zoo, we want them to be able to see gorillas in a very natural state, and what they would be doing naturally  to sort of connect with them on that level.

However, it's not just Toronto Zoo that is facing this problem, videos are emerging from a number of zoo's of guests showing the primates their devices

The zoo does let its gorillas watch videos of other animals and nature documentaries, which Ms Ross said they really like

The zoo does let its gorillas watch videos of other animals and nature documentaries, which Ms Ross said they really like.

She said the zoo just want to know what content the animals are being shown: 'Very much like managing an account for a child or something, you want to make sure that your parental controls are on, and that you're in control of what the content is that they're seeing.'

Another zoo in Chicago was forced to put up a rope line a few feet away from the glass partition of its gorilla enclosure to stop people from showing the animals their phones.

According to the Chicago Sun Times, an ape called Amare became so distracted by the gadgets that officials started seeing behavioural changes.

He was 'glued to a cell phone' when another gorilla 'rushed him'.

When asked if this could make Amare an easy target for bullying, Stephen Ross, director of the zoo's Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes, said: 'It's within the realm of possibility and something we really want to get ahead of.'

The zoo want to make sure 'everyone is doing what's best' for the animals, so it's a possibility that we could see more changes in other zoo's in the future regarding mobile phones if it catches on.
British UN peacekeepers were assaulted as they tried to prevent a group of Turkish Cypriots building an unauthorised road through a UN-managed buffer zone in ethnically divided Cyprus, the UN has said.

The attack occurred when peacekeepers parked their cars and linked arms to prevent crews from building a road linking the village of Arsos in the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north with the mixed Greek Cypriot-Turkish Cypriot village of Pyla.

Greek Cypriots perceive the road construction as a move with a military purpose at a sensitive spot along the buffer zone, which runs for 120 miles.

The road would scythe through the zone, which aims to prevent conflict between Turkish Cypriots in the north and Greek Cypriots in the south where the internationally recognised government is based.

Shocking video footage showed how Turkish Cypriots - some of whom were allegedly military or police officers in plain clothes - used bulldozers, diggers and tractors to smash and drag UN vehicles away from the planned route.

Others were seen punching and shoving the peacekeepers, who attempted to hold building crews back, but did not retaliate with force. The UN said three of the peacekeepers needed medical treatment, with one receiving a broken nose.

Several of the vehicles battered away by the heavy machinery were left completely undriveable.

Shocking video footage showed how Turkish Cypriots - some of whom were allegedly military or police officers in plain clothes - used bulldozers, diggers and tractors to smash and drag UN vehicles away

Others were seen punching and shoving the peacekeepers, who attempted to hold building crews back, but did not retaliate with force

The attack occurred when peacekeepers parked their cars and linked arms to prevent crews from building a road through UN controlled territory

UN vehicles are removed from the route by bulldozers

The attack occurred when peacekeepers parked their cars and linked arms to prevent crews from building a road linking the village of Arsos in the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north with the mixed Greek Cypriot-Turkish Cypriot village of Pyla

Cyprus: The moment of attack by Turkish Cypriots with bulldozers against UN forces According to an announcement by the UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), the incidents took place within the buffer zone near Pyla as UN peacekeepers obstructed unauthorized construction pic.twitter.com/zT1o9Pf2IJ  Greek City Times (@greekcitytimes) August 18, 2023

Some two dozen Turkish Cypriots were said to have been involved in the incident, outnumbering the small group of UN peacekeepers, the Cyprus Mail reported.

The violence constitutes a serious escalation of tensions not seen on the island in years.

'Threats to the safety of UN peacekeepers and damage to UN property are unacceptable and constitute a serious crime under international law which will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,' the peacekeeping force, known as UNFICYP, said in a statement.

UNFICYP spokesman Aleem Siddique said the UN won't back down from continuing to 'block or frustrate construction of the road by non-violent means.'

He said construction of the road would violate the force's mandate of maintaining the status quo inside the buffer zone.

Meanwhile, EU Council President Charles Michel and the bloc's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, both condemned the assaults and urged a de-escalation of the situation.

The embassies of the UK, France and the United Nations also issued a joint statement expressing 'serious concern' over construction of the road and condemned the assaults as 'completely unacceptable', while urging for an immediate halt to the work.

'We call upon the Turkish Cypriot authorities to refrain from any further escalatory actions that risk undermining prospects for a return to settlement talks, and to immediately cease any form of violence against the UN peacekeepers deployed to the area', they said.

Cyprus government spokesman Constantinos Letymbiotis condemned what he called the 'organised violence,' adding that the government was in touch with the UN, the EU and other governments to prevent 'Turkish designs'.

The situation is likely to hamper the Cypriot government's efforts to restart negotiations to resolve the island's division.

Several of the vehicles battered away by the heavy machinery were left completely undriveable

The island was divided by a UN-controlled buffer zone after Turkey invaded in 1974 following a coup by a Greek junta to reunite the island with Greece

Maintaining the status quo of the buffer zone is enshrined in the UN mission's mandate since 1974, when Turkey invaded after the Greek junta in Cyprus staged a military coup, aiming to unite the island with Greece.

Fearing the elimination of the Turkish Cypriot minority's rights and security, Turkey intervened on July 20, 1974, with a military operation codenamed Operation Attila.

The Turkish invasion led to a rapid occupation of the northern part of Cyprus, as violent clashes displaced thousands of people before a ceasefire was eventually brokered.

Since then, the island has been divided into a Turkish-controlled north and a Greek-controlled south, with a United Nations buffer zone established between them to maintain the peace.

In 1983, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) declared independence, although it is only recognised by Turkey.

The southern Republic of Cyprus meanwhile is recognised internationally, but the government only has control over the Greek majority area of the island south of the UN buffer zone.

The buffer zone, known as the Green Line, remains a stark reminder of the division, separating the two sides and restricting movement between them.

And despite some interactions and initiatives to build trust, the division has led to a deeply entrenched separation of communities, with limited economic, social, and political co-operation between the north and south.

The UN says there have been numerous infringements of the buffer zone by both sides over the years.

But the latest attempt by Turkish Cypriots to construct a road through the buffer zone is seen by the Cypriot government as 'an attempt at a very serious violation of the status quo'.
A young Gold Coast man is being remembered as fun-loving and good natured before his life was tragically cut short in an alleged 90-second bar fight.

Dylan McPadden, 26, was in the outdoor smoking section of RQ's Tavern at Robina on the Gold Coast about 10.15pm Thursday night when a man and woman walked in.

Words were exchanged between the two men, who are understood to be known to each other, before the man allegedly pulled a knife and stabbed Mr McPadden once in the chest before he and the woman fled.

Paramedics rushed to the scene and treated Mr McPadden before he was transferred to Gold Coast University hospital where he sadly died.

A 26-year-old man has been arrested and charged with one count of murder after police raided a unit in the neighbouring suburb of Mermaid Beach about 2am Saturday.

'Several' knives were allegedly seized in a search of the unit, police said.

Dylan McPadden (pictured) sadly died after suffering an alleged stab wound to the chest in a 90 second bar fight on the Gold Coast

Just a few days ago the 'happy-go-lucky' Mr McPadden had written on social media about how content he was in what would turn out to be his tragic last post.

'Yesss, today feels like a day to dance,' he wrote.

He had also recently posted about achieving a long term goal he'd been working towards and being unsure about what to focus on next.

A group of friends gathered back at RQ's Tavern on Saturday afternoon to share a drink in honour of their mate and 'wish him well', as more friends took to social media to express their shock.

'Rest in Paradise Dylan McPadden. Thank you for all the fun memories during our high school years,' friend Rachel Wright said.

'You always have and always will be such a light in everyone's life. Your presence here will be missed but certainly not forgotten. Fly high Dyl,' she added.

Another friend Lisan Ferguson wrote: 'Another legend lost too soon. you'll be missed.'

One pal told reporters outside the tavern on Saturday that Mr McPadden was 'not a man to get into altercations like this.'

'He's a happy dude that keeps himself out of situations like this'.

Dylan McPadden (pictured) was a 'happy-go-lucky' guy who kept himself out of 'situations like this' said his friends

Detective Sergeant Mark Proctor from Queensland Police said on Saturday it was a tragic example of the dangers of knives.

'That's what knife crime does, it turns minor incidents into major incidents and it wrecks lives'.

'The fight started in that area pretty much straight away.'

'As a result of that argument, (the suspect allegedly) produced a knife and stabbed the person once in the chest,' he said.

'The whole incident occurred within minutes, approximately 90 seconds.'

'It's just such a waste. I understand the young man was a regular at that tavern, so (staff) would have known him.'

Police at the pub on Thursday after the alleged fight. Mr McPadden was a regular

Homicide detectives are investigating the fight outside RQ's Tavern on the Gold Coast

He said forensic teams were assessing the knives seized at the Mermaid Beach unit.

'We'll have to determine through scientific means which knife was used if in fact it was any of those seized or one we're still looking for.'

The accused man remains in custody.

Detectives want to speak to any witnesses and anyone with relevant footage regarding the incident.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) reacted to his appearance on The View by saying he 'looks forward' to conflict but dissed Joy Behar for skipping out on his interview despite her comments bringing him to the table.

The 2024 GOP candidate referenced claims that Behar darkened her skin during Halloween in the 1970s when she dressed as an African woman. Speaking to a crowd of conservatives in Atlanta on Friday, Scott called the talk show host 'Joy Blackface Behar.'

Scott, the only black Republican U.S. senator, is one of six 2024 hopefuls at conservative radio personality Erick Erickson's The Gathering conference He continued to push his message that black Americans are not at a disadvantage and said U.S. schools need to ditch teaching Critical Race Theory.

'It was a fascinating experience for them, and it was an interesting experience for me,' Scott said when asked about appearing on The View in June. 'People think because I'm optimistic and positive that maybe I'm just a nice guy and that's all. The truth is that, when you say something that is disgusting, offensive and undeniably wrong, I'm the guy you don't want to watch.'

South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott slammed The View host Joy Behar for not appearing on his episode where he went on in order to address her criticisms that he wouldn't be a Republican if understood race issues in the U.S.

Scott called the host Joy 'Blackface' Behar is reference to criticisms she received for a 1970s Halloween costume where it appeared that she darkened her skin when dressing as an African woman

'And going on The View to have a conversation about their comments and going toe-to-toe with Whoopi and the rest of the hosts  unfortunately, Joy 'Blackface' Behar did not decide to show up for the conversation she started,' Scott said to some cheers, sneers and laughs.

'I look forward to that kind of conflict because I want to resolve the issue,' he added. 'You don't have to be an exception if you're an African American to succeed in this world. All you have to do is go as high as your character and your grit and your hardwork will take you.'

Scott's appearance on The View came after Behar said on the show earlier in the summer that he wouldn't be Republican if he really understood race issues.

The senator didn't appreciate those comments and decided to go on the show to present his message and describe why he's a Republican and why he doesn't feel like black people are at a disadvantage in the country.

But Behar didn't go head-to-head with Scott because she was not on the episode where the 2024 hopeful appeared since she usually takes off on Mondays.

Erickson mentioned that his appearance on The View was the biggest chatter among conference attendees who were able to submit questions online before the event.

Scott went on The View in June to talk about being a black conservative in America after Behar said he didn't understand race issues

Scott gave his mother Frances Scott, who was in the audience, a big hug at the top of his Q&A with Erickson on Friday morning.

While Scott admits that his grandfather and mother lived during times where they had to be the 'exception' to be successful as black Americans, he said we live in a different, evolved America now.

'I, born in the 1960s  our country has evolved so far that listening to the women of The View tell me that I don't know what it means to be black in America, tell me that you have to be an exception and not just the rule to succeed in this nation. Don't get me fired up about defending the nation I love.'

He also expressed the Critical Race Theory must be eliminated from any U.S. curriculum. CRT is widely opposed by Republicans who claim it teaches that America is an inherently racist country.

'We should spend less time in the rear view mirror and more time with the big windshield of the future of this nation,' Scott said on Friday. 'Let's define and decide the future for ourselves.'

'Let's empower our kids not with indoctrination but with education. Let's get back to the good ole fashion A, B and C and let's eliminate CRT. Those thoughts ruin the left,' he lamented.

Scott is the only candidate that has been called out by America's first and only black President Barack Obama. He detailed that the criticism was because Obama and others on the radical left don't like his optimistic message for black Americans.

Scott said during a conservative conference in Atlanta, Georgia on Friday that it 'ruffles feathers' that he has an optimistic message for black Americans because it ruins their narrative

'That kind of ruffles the feathers of the left,' he described. 'Their entire identity politics falls apart when we recognize that we've come so far as a nation that our future will be determined by the quality of our education That's America's future. They can't hardly stand it. They do not like the truth spoken.'

The South Carolina senator also went on the attack against President Joe Biden.

'We elected the wrong guy,' Scott said of the President when asked why he went on record to say that American doesn't have the weapon power needed to defend ourselves after supply so much munitions to Ukraine in it's war with Russia.

'Here's my wrap-up  it's time to fire Joe Biden, it is time to fire Merrick Garland and it's time to fire Christopher Wry. We need to clean out the entire DOJ, we need to clean out the White House staff, we need to clean out all the political appointees so we can restore confidence and integrity for the American people.'

He also said: 'We restore confidence and we get rid of the problems and the confusions that we are seeing from President Biden by having a president that can walk and chew gum at the same time. Pun not intended.'
Officials in Bali have seized and destroyed dozens of sex toys belonging to tourists arriving at the Indonesian island's airport.

Customs officers destroyed a total of 27 colourful phallic objects as well as a motorised thrusting dildo machine deemed too explicit to be brought into the country.

As well as the selection of rubber penises, officials also displayed butt plugs during a press conference addressing the recent contraband.

Some 4.3 million illegally imported cigarettes were also set ablaze and numerous bottles of booze were destroyed.

The Ngurah Rai Customs Office in Bali said they destroyed goods worth a total of around 175,000 (3.4 billion Indonesian Rupiah).

Customs officers destroyed a total of 27 colourful phallic objects as well as a motorised thrusting dildo machine (left) following a press conference in Bali

Some 4.3 million illegally imported cigarettes were set ablaze (pictured) and numerous bottles of booze destroyed

Confiscated objects belonging to tourists arriving in Indonesia were destroyed by officials

The items were seized from tourists entering the Indonesian provinces of Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, and East Nusa Tenggara, between January and July this year.

Customs officials displayed the sex toys and contraband at a press conference before setting them alight.

Customs Chief, Susila Brata said: 'At almost every airport customs office, there is usually a confiscation of sex toys.

'They are usually brought by passengers heading to Bali.'

Although most sex toys are not explicitly banned in Indonesia, many of them are deemed too racy for the country's norms and traditions. The country - which has the largest Muslim population in the world - has strict anti-pornography laws and anyone caught viewing porn can face years in jail.

As a result of the strict legislation, sex toys have become easy targets for customs officials to confiscate at ports of entry.

This is not the first time customs officers have rounded up a collection of sex toys and banned contraband in front of a press conference. They conducted a similar event last year, torching swathes of colourful intimate objects.

Amid the recent seizure, one local resident joked: 'Why destroy the dildo machine? It is good for drilling walls.'

As well as the selection of rubber penises, officials also displayed butt plugs and vircators during a press conference addressing the recent contraband

Officials in Bali disposed of bottles of confiscated alcohol following the press conference

Customs officers are pictured holding a selection of seized items including alcohol and cigarettes, as they stand in front of confiscated sex toys

Customs officials displayed the sex toys and contraband at a press conference before setting them alight

Users online expressed their bewilderment at the sheer number of dildos displayed by the customs officers.

The largest sex toy caught particular attention, with one user noting: 'The black mamba dildo stands firm.'

Another said amid the bizarre press conference: 'The officials' faces seem very happy.'

One other commenter joked: 'I'm not sure that everything that was confiscated was destroyed. There must have been a few people sneaking in to take them.'

'From what was shown, the rest were resold or distributed among relatives,' another jeered.
Bodycam footage captured the laughable moment a businessman feigned shock after being caught over a law firm bomb plot.

Businessman Jonathan Nuttall, 50, has been found guilty at the Old Bailey of plotting to plant two explosives in London's legal district.

Video showed the moment he was arrested in his palatial 1.5million manor as he took police through the sprawling property.

As he sat in a chair in his bedroom he was told he was being arrested and elicited an unconvincing high-pitched 'what!' to the officers.

Nuttall dreamt up the plan over a 1.4 million legal wrangle with the National Crime Agency.

He recruited Michael Broddle, 47, to plant two packages resembling explosive devices at Gray's Inn barristers chambers on 14 September 2021.

Andrew Sutcliffe, KC, and Anne Jeavons had both acted for the National Crime Agency in the recovery of assets from Nuttall's wife Amanda in 2019.

Shel had won 2.4m the lottery but the NCA suspected the couple of money laundering.

The former Marine set off smoke grenades causing buildings to be evacuated.

Jonathan Nuttall who has been found guilty at the Old Bailey of plotting to plant two bombs in London's legal district over a 1.4 million legal wrangle with the National Crime Agency

He recruited Michael Broddle, 47, to plant two packages resembling explosive devices at Gray's Inn barristers chambers on 14 September 2021. Broddle is pictured here

The packages were not real explosives and vibrated because a nose and ear trimmer had been placed inside.

He filmed himself wearing a white faceless horror mask as he printed out notes addressed to Mr Sutcliffe, including a photograph of the barrister alongside Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Broddle ran a security and surveillance company called Cheat Seekers.

He claimed he had provided private security work to former England international footballers including Rio Ferdinand.

Broddle admitted two counts of placing an article with intent and possession of an explosive substance.

Nuttall and his driver Michael Sode, 59, denied but were convicted of two counts of conspiracy to place an article with intent to induce the belief it would explode or ignite after a four month trial at the Old Bailey and 25 hours and 13 minutes of deliberation.

The jury found the businessman guilty by a majority of 10 to two.

Nuttall and his driver Michael Sode, 59, denied but were convicted of two counts of conspiracy to place an article with intent to induce the belief it would explode or ignite. Sode, seen here

Screen grab taken from body worn camera footage dated 17/3/2022 issued by Metropolitan Police of the arrest of Jonathan Nuttall

Broddle's sons Joshua, 21, and Charlie, 19, denied and were cleared of the same charges.

Joshua and another son of Michael, 25-year-old George Gray, denied and were cleared of conspiracy to transfer criminal property.

Nuttall and Sode were convicted of the offence.

Charlie sobbed in the dock as his father and brother sighed in relief as the boys were cleared of the charges.

A total of 12,070 was transferred from Sode to Broddle between 30 September 2021 and 23 January 2022, the court heard.

One device was left near a bench on the Gray's Inn estate while the other was left outside 3 Verulam Buildings.

Buildings were evacuated, roads cordoned off while 85 police officers were called to the heart of London's legal district.

Screengrab taken from CCTV dated 14/9/2021 issued by Metropolitan Police of Michael Broddle leaving after planting a device which spewed smoke in Gray's Inn in London

Jonathan Nuttall, 50, dreamt up the plan over a 1.4 million legal wrangle with the National Crime Agency

The packages addressed to Mr Sutcliffe were not real explosives and vibrated because a nose and ear trimmer had been placed inside.

Receptionist Erin Goldson told the court she was 'petrified' when she saw smoke rising outside the office.

Mr Sutcliffe was upstairs in his office when he was told the building needed to be evacuated.

Giving evidence the barrister told the court it was the first time he had been in chambers for six months due to the pandemic.

'I had returned to my chambers from Yorkshire the day before. It was the first time I'd been in chambers for some time, because I'd spent the pandemic at home in Yorkshire.

'I happened to be in the clerk's room when the chamber's administrator came up and said to all of us that we had to evacuate the building.

'So I went back to my room, collected my keys and mobile phone and I left the building.

'We were directed into Gray's Inn Square and I was there for about three hours.

'Some members of chambers just went home but I needed to get back into chambers, I had some work to do, so I stayed until I was able to get back.

He said the next day a detective came to see him at chambers.

'I was very surprised he wanted to talk to me because I thought that I had nothing to tell.

'I'd simply been in chambers the day before with everyone else and had simply evacuated as everyone else had.

'He showed me his laptop which contained a photograph of a note left with the device which was addressed to me.'

The note referred to Mr Sutcliffe using his nickname 'Sooty'.

The deputy High Court judge explained: 'I was in the army for a short time at the end of the 1970s and for whatever reason my fellow army officers referred to me by that nickname.

'It is not a nickname anybody else has given me and that was now over 40 years ago.

'So I was frankly amazed to see that name had been used on that document because I couldn't see how anyone who had been in the army with me could have been party to this document.

'I was dumbfounded, frankly.'

The note also made some scandalous accusations about Mr Sutcliffe which were not read out in court.

Mr Sutcliffe said of the allegations: 'I was obviously very shocked. I was totally shocked.'

The barrister was shown a video of a note being printed outside his London flat.

The note was addressed to his daughter and said: 'Hi [Mr Sutcliffe's daughter]. Either Sooty QC stops digging his own grave or you will be raped whilst we dig up your brother's grave.'

Mr Sutcliffe said he had a son who was born in June 1991 and died in November 1992 from septicaemia when he was just 17 months old.

Jurors were shown a video of a Broddle wearing a white faceless horror mask and a black hood as he breathed heavily and filmed himself printing out a note on a handheld printer.

The note finished with a photograph of Mr Sutcliffe's parents and the photo of the lawyer posing with then Chancellor Rishi Sunak, which had appeared in the local press in Yorkshire.

Nuttall had recruited Broddle for a 'targeted campaign of intimidation and public embarrassment' against Mr Sutcliffe, said prosecutor Catherine Farrelly.

He had photographs of the homes of Mr Sutcliffe, his family and Anne Jeavons.

On 19 February 2021, Broddle and his son Joshua packed a sleeping bag, warm clothing and camping gear and travelled towards Sutcliffe's home in Yorkshire and stayed overnight.

Police later recovered a surveillance report from Michael Broddle's laptop named 'Op Epic' including three photographs of Mr Sutcliffe's home and reports of attempts to gain access to the property.

A to-do list Broddle wrote on 18 May 2021 said: 'Spend more time at Sooty's family and friends.

'Surprise [Mr Sutcliffe's daughter] and remember to put condom on and smile...'

He also said he would visit the grave of Mr Sutcliffe's son for 'digging practice'.

Broddle also wrote a vile note addressed to Mr Sutcliffe's daughter which said: 'Either Sooty QC stops digging his own grave or you will be raped whilst we dig up your brother's grave.'

Ms Farrelly said the devices planted by the former Marine were designed to cause serious panic, thereby drawing significant attention.

'Andrew Sutcliffe was the clear target of the events at Gray's Inn that afternoon.

'The significant attention that surrounded those events was designed not only to cause widespread alarm but it was intended to specifically cause him alarm, distress and public and professional embarrassment.

'Whoever was behind such an attack had clearly considered and planned it carefully.

'Such a person must have had a deep-seated grudge against him and it would have required the means in which to execute such a bold and targeted strike against him.'

The National Crime Agency had been investigating Nuttall since 2011 on suspicion of money laundering and in April 2019 the 1.4m assets recovery order was made.

More than 25,000 in cash was found in his London flat and his home Embley Manor in Hampshire when he was arrested.

Mr Sutcliffe and Ms Jeavons both told police they thought Nuttall could be responsible for planting the fake bombs, saying it had been an 'adversarial' case.

He had made a 40 page complaint about the NCA and the lawyer's conduct which the lawyer's said contained untrue allegations, the court heard.

Nuttall said he was accused by the NCA of plotting to sell his hotel, The White Horse in Romsey.

He claimed he had attempted to refinance the hotel because of the disruption caused to his finances by the NCA action.

He claimed the allegations made by the NCA mirrored those made by his estranged brother, who he said was trying to blackmail the family because of his gambling debts.

Charlie Broddle was accused of waiting nearby and filming the arrival of police on his mobile while his father left the devices.

Joshua was accused of provided the packing for one of the devices in an envelope he handed to his father before they set off that day.

He claimed he had no knowledge of the planting of devices and had simply provided an empty envelope at his father's request.

He said he would often go with his father on trips, sometimes in connection with surveillance work his father undertook, but he had no knowledge of Mr Sutcliffe or Ms Jeavons.

He said he went to Yorkshire because he loved spending time with his dad.

Charlie also said he didn't know what his dad was doing that day.

In a text to an employer, Broddle said, 'If I tell my kids to jump they'll jump. I was made a widow, I'm from the royal marines. I'm a disciplinarian.'

If I tell my kids to write down that f-king God is a f-king football player, they'll write it down. Know what I mean?'

Michael Broddle served as a Royal Marine commando for more than 11 years after joining in 1994 at the age of 17 and received training on improvised explosive devices.

But he was not prepared to identify the person or persons who instructed him to plant the fake bombs.

The judge had warned Broddle that the jury may draw a negative inference if he refused to answer a question, before asking him again.

'I was given instructions by a voice,' Broddle replied.

Nuttall also denied but was convicted of three counts of failing to comply with a notice by failing to disclose the PIN or passcode of phones and devices to police.

He was cleared of a further two counts.

Sode denied but was convicted of two one count of the same charge and was cleared of another.

They had claimed they were unable to remember the codes.

Nuttall, of Embley Lane, Romsey and Sode, of Fusion Apartments, Lewisham, denied but were convicted of two counts of conspiracy to place an article with intent to induce the belief it would explode or ignite.

Joshua and Charlie both of White Bear Lane, Hounslow, denied and were cleared of the two charges.

Michael Broddle, also of White Bear Lane, Hounslow, admitted the two counts and possession of an explosive substance.

Nuttall, Sode, Michael Broddle, denied but were convicted of conspiracy to transfer criminal property.

Joshua and Gray, of Harrow Road, Wembley, denied and were cleared of the charge.

They will be sentenced on a date to be fixed.
Sotheby's in New York is set to sell a 1962 250 Ferrari GTO for an estimated $60 million this fall, which is one of only 34 ever made.

The race car, which is due to go up for grabs as part of the auction houses major fall sales series, is one of two GTO models raced by Ferrari's own team, Scuderia Ferrari.

GTO models are coveted by collectors of classic cars due to their history, Gord Duff, head of global auctions for RM Sotheby's told the Wall Street Journal.

With an asking price of around $60 million, the car had initially sold for $6,000 in 1964, the equivalent to around $59,000 today.

In 1985, it was then purchased for around $500,000, around $1.4 million today, by Ohio man Jim Jaeger, 75.

The race car, which is due to go up for grabs as part of the auction houses major fall sales series, is one of two GTO models raced by Ferrari's own team, Scuderia Ferrari

With an asking price of around $60 million, the car had initially sold for $6,000 in 1964, the equivalent to around $59,000 today

Jaeger told the outlet he had been looking for the ultimate Ferrari during the 1980s and realized that he wanted a GTO.

After scouring Europe for one of the rare models, he bumped into someone who knew an owner selling the exact model he wanted.

The car was located just hours from his home in Cincinnati in Detroit, paying around half a million for it.

He told the WSJ: 'After looking over the car and driving it, I knew that this was the one. It was a car that could also be enjoyed around town.'

Jaeger added: 'This car strikes every nerve in your body when you drive it.'

Alongside the promotional content for the car, Sotheby's added that the car is the only factory owned GTO that had been raced by Scuderia Ferrari.

The car came 2nd overall during the 1962 Nurburgring 1,000km race, and was driven at the 1962 Les Mans.

Last May, Sotheby's sold a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Coupe for $142 million, which is currently the most expensive car ever sold at auction.

The car was one a kind and never intended to be sold on the open market, unlike the GTO.

Sotheby's added that the car is the only factory owned GTO that had been raced by Scuderia Ferrari

The car came 2nd overall during the 1962 Nurburgring 1,000km race, and was driven at the 1962 Les Mans

Ferrari only ever made 34 of the coveted cars, which is expected to sell for $60 million

Duff said that the sale of the Mercedes last year proved to the house that it wasn't just car collectors who were interested.

He said: 'We wanted to be able to expose this car not just to the collector car market, but to the entire market of collectible items.'

Ferraris remain one of the most sought-after race cars in the world, and among the most exclusive.

In July of this year, a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTE with missing seats, holes in the floor and in general poor condition was auctioned off for 110,000 ($140,000).

The 250 GTO comes with documentation, including factory build sheets and magazine features

GTO models are coveted by collectors of classic cars due to their history

The car had been stored in a leaking barn in west Wales, United Kingdom, for 40 years when it was discovered.

Inside, the car was missing two front seats and its gearbox, the carpet had deteriorated and the radio and control column was hanging off, leaving wires exposed.

Due to the poor state of the barn it had been kept in, the outside blue body of the car was covered in a combination of rust and lichen.
The grand jury indictment that Fulton County DA Fani Willis announced Tuesday included reference to 30 unindicted conspirators who took part in many of the events alleged, but managed to avoid charges.

The defendants, including former President Donald Trump and 18 others  plus 'unindicted co-conspirators Individual l throughIndividual 30'  'constituted a criminal organization,' according to the indictment, which charges the 19 with conspiring to overturn the election results in Georgia.

Among them are people in Trump's orbit and who were advising him on Election Night 2020, when he said 'frankly, we did win this election.'

Boris Epshteyn

Epshteyn, a lawyer who continues to advise Trump, as been identified as Individual 3, CNN reported.

He appears in the indictment as the recipient of an email from indicted Trump lawyer John Eastman, who is accused of joining Trump on a call pushing Vice President Mike Pence to refuse to accept electoral votes certified by states.

'Better to act boldly and to just be challenged,' Eastman wrote him, in an email uncovered by the House January 6 Committee that appears to ID him as the unindicted co-conspirator.

The longtime Trump aide was reportedly interviewed by Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigators.

Longtime Trump advisor Bori Epshteyn was present during the Nov. 19 presser at the Republican National Committee that is cited in the indictment. He has been identified as unindicted 'Individual 3'

Bernard Kerik

Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik has been identified as unindicted co-conspirator 5.

His lawyer, Tim Parlatore, who previously represented Trump, confirmed that Kerik appears to be the person mentioned  but blasted the DA for including him as part of a conspiracy.

'What they are alleging there was a legislative hearing that he watched. There was a meeting that he was at. Theres an email that he was ccd on. Thats it. That is not a coconspirator,' he told DailyMail.com.

Kerik is a longtime associate of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who was the second person named in the criminal indictment. He was once a top official at Giuliani partners.

He spoke to investigators for Special Counsel Jack Smith, Parlatore said. But he never testified in Fulton County because Willis 'never asked.'

The indictment refers to the official attending meetings with state legislators where Trump and his allies were pushing audits and seeking to overturn the results.

Trump pardoned Kerik in 2020. A decade earlier, Kerik was sentenced to four years in prison on charges related to failure to pay tax and lying to government officials during during a political nomination vetting.

Kerik reporredly met with Jack Smith's prosecutors. He was a former partner of Giuliani's

Former President Donald Trump railed against the indictment as a witch hunt, but cancelled a scheduled Monday press conference rebutting it

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis announced the indictment of Trump and 18 other people this week. It lists 30 alleged conspirators who were not charged

Tom Fitton

Fitton, the president of Judicial Watch, has been identified as unindicted co-conspirator 1. He penned an Oct. 31, 2020 memo with draft language for Trump to declare victory before Election Day, and calling it 'lawless' to count votes that arrive after Election Day. 'The voters have spoken,' he urged Trump to say.

Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, offered draft text to a Trump aide about declaring victory before all the votes were counted

Phil Waldron

A House January 6 Committee report describes a Nov. 25, 2020 White House meeting that appears to out Waldron's identity as unindicted coconspirator 6.

The retired Army colonel and bar owner was subpoenaed by the Committee.

In the days after the elections, he promoted a variety of conspiracies about the vote count, working with Giuliani and others.

Individual 6 is identified as attending a meeting with Arizona legislators in Phoenix along with Giuliani and Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis.

Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones

The indictment also appears to reference a tweet by the sitting Georgia Lt. Governor, Burt Jones.

A Georgia state agency said a special prosecutor will be named to probe Jones, after a judge called out Willis for probing him having donated to his Democratic opponent.

Jones was one of 16 Republican electors who served as 'fake' electors, in a central element of the prosecution's case. The former state senator also pushed a special session that could have helped overturn Joe Biden's win in Georgia.

CNN identified Georgia state party official Vikki Consiglio as among the unindicted coconspirators

The Post identified former surfer Conan Hayes (l) got an email from the COO of data forensics firm SullivanStrickler,

Blue Crush: Conan Hayes is seen at the Billabong Pro May 14, 2003 at Teahupoo, Tahiti. He allegedly got an email about voting data from Coffee County

Coffee County voting machine scheme and Georgia party officials

Meanwhile, the Washington Post identified several people who appear to be involved in the effort to extract voting information from Coffee County, Georgia voting machines, a key episode outlined in the indictment.

It cites a Georgia lawsuit to determine that Alex Cruce was 'Individual 24' who flew from outside Atlanta to an airport there 'for the purpose of assisting with the unlawful breach of election equipment,' according to the indictment.

The Post identified former pro surfer Conan Hayes, 48, as receiving an email from the COO of data forensics firm SullivanStrickler saying he would get data from the voting machines.

Information about an email that lawyer Ken Chesebro sent to Georgia officials, combined with January 6 evidence, appears to point to state party officials including former first vice chair Carolyn Fisher party treasurer official Vikki Consiglio.
A group of professors has sued California's community colleges for making them teach 'diversity, equity, and inclusion' (DEI) ideas they don't agree with, saying it violates their First Amendment rights.

The six professors at three Fresno-area colleges say they have to 'teach and preach' austere 'anti-racist' views, under rules affecting more than 54,000 educators and some 1.8 million students.

Their papers were filed this week by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (Fire), a free speech group.

Fire lawyer Daniel Ortner called the state's DEI rules a 'totalitarian triple-whammy.'

California professors Linda De Morales and Bill Blanken say they're forced to 'teach and preach' an austere form of 'anti-racism' at their community colleges

The rules dictate what some 54,000 professors must relay to 1.8 million students. Pictured: Students at Madera Community College

'The government is forcing professors to teach and preach a politicized viewpoint they do not share, imposing incomprehensible guidelines, and threatening to punish professors when they cross an arbitrary, indiscernible line.'

Professors who don't follow the rules will struggle to get promoted and could lose tenure, court papers show.

The college system has not yet commented on the case.

Advocates of DEI schemes say they tackle longstanding racist and sexist discrimination in schools and workplaces, but critics say they end up stoking divisions between groups and marginalizing white men.

The professors are James Druley, David Richardson, Linda de Morales, and Loren Palsgaard of Madera Community College; Bill Blanken of Reedley College, and Michael Stannard of Clovis Community College.

Their suit takes aim at the 'new diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility rules,' which the academics say they have to 'teach and preach.'

Under the system, educators must promote 'anti-racism' and 'acknowledge' the 'multiple axes of oppression that people from different racial, ethnic, and other minoritized groups face.'

The case refers to an official glossary of DEI terms, which covers everything from 'color blindness' to 'covert racism,' 'implicit bias,' 'privilege,' and 'white immunity.'

According to the glossary, there's no such thing as 'reverse racism.'

Professors Loren Palsgaard (left) and David Richardson are also object to the stringent guidelines

The case takes aim at California Community Colleges Chancellor Sonya Christian (left), State Center Community College District Chancellor Carole Goldsmith, and others

That term was 'created and used by white people to erroneously describe the discrimination they experience' when minorities call them out, it says.

The glossary also takes aim at the concept of 'merit' and college testing systems.

This is not a 'neutral measure of academic achievement' but part of an 'ideology of whiteness' designed to keep minorities down, it says.

In a separate California DEI document, professors are told not to take academic freedom too far.

They should not 'weaponize' academic freedom to 'inflict curricular trauma' on students, says the document.

Palsgaard, an English professor at Madera Community College, said this is problematic for teachers who try to present contrasting views.

'Hearing uncomfortable ideas is not curricular trauma, and teaching all sides of an issue is not weaponizing academic freedom,' said Palsgaard, one of the plaintiffs.

'That's just called education.'

Another plaintiff, Blanken, of Reedley College, said he struggled to cram DEI ideas into his chemistry classes.

'What's the anti-racist perspective on the atomic mass of boron?' he said.

The professors' 219-page complaint was filed at the US District Court in Fresno this week.

They want the DEI rules declared unconstitutional and ended.

They also want their costs and legal fees paid.

The papers name the college system's Chancellor Sonya Christian, the State Board of Governors, the State Center Community College District Chancellor Carole Goldsmith, and the District Board of Trustees.

Melissa Villarin, a spokeswoman for the college chancellor's office, said they do 'not have any comment on this pending litigation at this time.'

'Our response opposing the plaintiffs' request will be in court filings expected to be filed in the next day or so,' she told DailyMail.com.

The case is just the latest example of educators complaining of bullying by education chiefs into parroting DEI principles they don't agree with  and of struggling to get hired or getting sacked when they don't.

For some, DEI schemes are important and necessary, as they can help to overcome historical racism and sexism and make it easier for people of all backgrounds to get ahead in education and work.

But many conservatives say DEI is a form of reverse discrimination that unfairly blows back on white men.

Others say DEI schemes may be well-intentioned, but seldom achieve their desired goals and often make things worse by stirring up divisions in offices and classrooms.

DEI staff now make up more than 3.4 positions for every 100 tenured professors, according to nationwide research by The Heritage Foundation, stoking fears of a ballooning sector that some say is no more than a woke box-ticking exercise.
The stepfather of a missing 11-year-old girl has insisted he does not know where she is, a court heard.

Christopher Palmiter, 61, said he didn't know where stepdaughter Madaline Cojocari was, who vanished in Cornelius, North Carolina, on November 21 2022.

Palmiter and the girl's mother Diana Cojocari, 38, were charged with failure to report a missing child on December 17 the same year, after waiting nearly a month before alerting authorities to her disappearance.

Appearing in court nine months after she vanished, Palmiter's attorney Brandon Roseman said he wanted to bring Madalina home as much as 'everyone else' but he didn't know where she was.

He pleaded not guilty to the charge and the judge agreed to lower his bond from $200,000 to $25,000, continuing to be held at the Mecklenburg County jail where he has been since December.

Christopher Palmiter (pictured), 61, said he didn't know where stepdaughter Madaline Cojocari was, who went missing in Cornelius, North Carolina, on November 21 2022

Palmiter and the missing girl's mother Diana Cojocari, 38, were charged with failure to report a missing child on December 17. Pictured: Madaline Cojocari

Cojocari, who pleaded not guilty to the charge against her at an earlier hearing on Thursday, will continue to be held at the jail on a $200,000 bond.

Palmiter's actions are a large part of the reason Madalina cannot be located, according to the prosecuting attorney.

The state cited the fact that Palmiter worked remotely from home several days a week, and should've been well aware that Madalina vanished.

The idea that he could've been in the home for three weeks and not known is laughable, the state told the judge.

But Palmiter has specifically asked for evidence that would lead to the prosecution of his wife, documents show.

His defense believes the State has possession of documents that show Cojocari orchestrated and executed a plan to hid Madalina without his involvement, according to the US Sun.

In December last year, Dailymail.com revealed Madalina's parents were seen lighting a fire and torching couch cushions and other items in their backyard days after she disappeared.

Neighbors recalled seeing flames and smoke billowing from the yard of the Victoria Bay Drive home in late November, prompting calls to police and the fire department in Cornelius, North Carolina.

It wasn't until December 15, two weeks after the fire, that the girl's mother, Diana Cojocari, reported her daughter missing.

Police later searched the property for evidence, joined by FBI agents scouring the yard for debris.

A neighbor who saw investigators searching the home earlier this week told DailyMail.com that they spent hours outside.

'They took all kinds of samples from the fire pit area,' he said. 'I guess they were trying to figure out if they burned anything of substance there.

'It's a gross feeling to know something like this happened in your neighborhood,' he added.

'It's very suspicious that the mother didn't report the girl missing for two weeks.'

At 11.30am on November 24 Diana Cojacari claimed she went to check on Madalina to find she was no longer in her bedroom

Another neighbor told DailyMail.com that the fire wasn't such a big deal at the time because nobody knew the girl was missing.

'If you don't know the context that a girl was missing, it's kind of a nothing burger of a call,' he said. 'At the time, it was more of a fire safety or a permit type of issue.'

Police also posted information to Facebook earlier this year with reports that Madalina's mother had driven to a remote area in the mountains of Madison County after she was last seen, but before she was reported missing.

Cornelius police believe she traveled to the area, which is located deep in the Appalachian Mountains on the Tennessee border, after Madalina was last seen on November 21, but before she was reported missing on December 15.
Groves allegedly sent the sick snaps to her transgender girlfriend at the time, former Democrat lawmaker Stacie Marie Laughton, 39, of Nashua, NH

A daycare worker is set to be released on bail today despite being accused of taking explicit photos of toddlers and sending them to her transgender girlfriend for her 'sexual gratification'.

Lindsay Groves, 38, is charged over snapping nude images of children aged three and four in a bathroom at Creative Minds Early Learning Center in Massachusetts - before sending them to former Democrat lawmaker Stacie Marie Laughton, 39.

Laughton represented District 31 in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, as a representative-elect from 2020 to 2022, until she resigned in December of that year after being charged with stalking Groves.

The duo, who were romantic partners at the time, allegedly shared more than 2,500 messages between June 2022 and June 2023, including at least four sexually explicit images of children.

Laughton, of Nashua, New Hampshire - the first openly transgender person to have been elected to state legislature - and Groves, of Hudson in the same state, were indicted on three counts each of sexual exploitation of children.

Lindsay Groves, 38, charged over snapping nude images of children aged three and four in a bathroom at Creative Minds Early Learning Center in Massachusetts between June 2022 and June 2023, is set to be released on bail today

The sick photos were allegedly sent to former Democrat lawmaker Stacie Marie Laughton, 39, of Nashua, New Hampshire, who was Groves' girlfriend at the time

As part of her conditional bail, Groves is barred from going within the vicinity of her former workplace, Creative Minds Early Learning Center in Tyngsborough, Massachusetts - around 35 miles north of Boston

Groves is expected to be released today on the condition she lives with her parents while she awaits trial, and that no children under the age of 18 can visit the home.

She is also barred from using a phone, accessing the internet, or going within the vicinity of her former workplace in Tyngsborough, around 35 miles north of Boston.

On July 13, Groves filed a motion for pretrial release, which was granted last Friday by Chief Magistrate Judge Donald L. Cabell.

Cabell recognized that Groves 'would pose a risk of danger to another or to the community' if released - but decided to grant bail with conditions he said would 'reasonably assure the safety of the community'.

'The weight of the evidence against the defendant is strong, and the nature and circumstances of the offense charged involve minor victims,' he wrote in the ruling.

'These factors underscore the risk of danger to the community if the defendant is released.

'Critically, however, the court finds that conditions of release can be fashioned to address this risk and reasonably assure the safety of the community.'

Groves and Laughton, pictured together, were reportedly in a relationship. The former lawmaker was previously arrested for stalking her

Laughton, a former New Hampshire House representative who is transgender, has a lengthy criminal history dating back to 2002

Cabell said Groves' parents would serve as 'third-party custodians' who would ensure she stuck to the conditions of her temporary freedom.

'In addition, the defendant has lived with her parents for most of her life in their Hudson, New Hampshire home,' he added.

'These strong family and community ties along with the defendants minimal criminal record, further bolster the courts conclusion.'

Groves appeared before a judge and parents of the victims for the first time in June, at Moakley Federal Courthouse in Boston.

Chaos erupted in the courtroom as one furious mother began yelling at Groves as she was led away at the end of the hearing.

'I want to f****** kill that b****,' said an unidentified tearful mother from the gallery, as reported by the Boston Herald.

'You need to rot in jail!'

The photographs were sent to Laughton for her 'sexual gratification', according to court documents.

Before making headlines for all the wrong reasons, Laughton was believed to be the first transgender person elected to state legislature in 2012.

Despite her criminal past, Laughton still ran for a second term in 2022 and was elected to represent Nashua, New Hampshire, and won - until she was forced to resign over her ex's stalking claims

Laughton has blamed her past criminal behavior on mental illness and untreated conditions.

But a laundry list of previous offenses ranging from identity theft and falsifying evidence left her unable to serve - due to state laws prohibiting convicted felons from holding office until the final discharge of their sentence.

She was then forced to resign and begin a 10 years probation sentence stemming from a 2008 felony conviction for credit card fraud.

Other infractions include one for domestic violence/criminal mischief in 2002 and as well as a sexual assault charge against a woman - when Laughton had still been identifying as a man - in 2003.

She was also arrested in 2015, records show, for making a bomb threat against the Southern New Hampshire Medical Center.

In 2021, she was cuffed for misusing the state's 911 texting system.

Despite her criminal past, Laughton successfully for a second term in 2022, elected to represent Nashua's Hillsborough 3 district along with Democrats Cote and Fred Davis. Republican Joost Baumeister lost one of the seats by just 100 votes.

She successfully ran again in 2020 and was re-elected in 2022, until resigning in December after being jailed on the charges related to Groves.

Since her most recent arrest, Laughton has blamed her past criminal behavior on mental illness and untreated conditions. When she resigned her House seed in 2022, she posted a video to social media about her issues vowing to run for a third time.

'As of today, Im no longer a state representative which is very disappointing, but Im going to come back to it,' Laughton said, according to the New Hampshire Union Leader.

The charge of sexual exploitation of children can lead to a sentence of up to 30 years in prison

'I will be attending mental health court and getting some counseling and trying to get my life back on track. Im not perfect.

'Even in the future I still wont be perfect but I will be a better version of myself and better able to handle situations that come my way. In two years, the next state election, I will run for state representative again.'

Authorities investigation into both women, meanwhile, is still ongoing. They are urging any others with knowledge on the duo's alleged actions come forward and report them to the State of Massachusetts.
A mother has said she fears Lucy Letby spiked her baby's insulin levels in revenge for a complaint she made after the killer nurse told her 'not to get her hopes up', as she was today found guilty of seven murders and six attempted murders.

Lynsey Artell gave birth to her son Asa in March 2016, during nurse Letby's killing spree in the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital, where she was also a nurse.

Letby today became the most prolific baby killer in modern British history after a jury found her guilty of murdering seven premature babies and trying to take the lives of six more between June 2015 and June 2016.

She said that Letby made an 'inappropriate' comment as she was discussing the health of her premature baby, who was not a victim in the court case, telling the mother 'we never know what could happen at this stage'.

The next day Ms Artell returned to the hospital to find doctors giving her son urgent treatment after he had a huge spike in his insulin levels. She now fears that Letby was responsible for nearly killing her son, who was 'half an hour way from death', in an act of revenge.

Children's nurse Lucy Letby (pictured in a custody photo) today became the most prolific baby killer in modern British history

She was guilty of murdering seven premature babies and trying to take the lives of six more between June 2015 and June 2016

Ms Artell told Sky News that she was having a conversation with her husband about how their son was getting on when Letby, who had overheard the conversation, came over.

She said while Letby was not Asa's nurse and was covering another person on break, she interrupted their conversation.

The killer nurse told them: 'I don't like parents getting their hopes up because we never know what could happen at this stage.'

Ms Artell said: 'As a parent I absolutely erupted and was like furious. I was like "how dare you take that hope away from me".

'And then as a professional, I'm saying to the matron and to herself that it was competely inappropriate. You can't speak to people like that.'

The next day she returned to her room after going to grab a coffee and was told that her three-day old baby had a huge spike in his insulin levels and was receiving urgent treatment.

She was told that, as an insulin diabetic herself, that could be the reason behind her child's sudden collapse.

But she said she now has doubts over whether this was the case. 'He was starved of oxygen and he was three days old. How would he have insulin levels so high when I'm not passing him anything?'

Letby - wearing a blue hoodie with the strings covered in pink glitter - is taken from her house in handcuffs after being arrested by Cheshire Police in July 2018

Letby steps into the police car - telling officers to be careful because she had just had knee surgery

'I know that the blood gases that were done on Asa, he wasn't getting anything from the placenta from me and hadn't been for a long time.

'I stopped taking insulin on the day he was born and three days later he's got a level of someone who's just taken insulin. How has that happened?'

The trial heard that Letby used insulin as one of her attack methods.

Police investigated the incident 'a couple of times' but 'couldn't find any evidence of malpractice'.

Ms Artell said that she would like the case to be looked into again by police.

Police announced there will be a review of the 4,000 babies Letby cared for during her nursing career, as the government confirmed an urgent enquiry is to take place in the case.

But Ms Artell is now 'extremely suspicious' that Letby may have tried to harm her son in revenge for complaining about her comments the day before.

She said that she thought the killer nurse seemed 'odd' and a 'bit of a loner' and refused to Letby take care of her child after the incident.

Ms Artell thinks that there are still a lot of people like her whose children may have also been harmed by Letby and while today's verdict 'is great' for the families invovled, 'it does not bring anyone back'.

Letby being quizzed in July 2018 by an officer about the rise in deaths on her watch. Letby replies: 'They told me there had been a lot more deaths and I'd been linked as someone who had been there for a lot of them.' Asked if she was concerned about the rise in mortality, Letby says - meekly - 'yes'

Letby appeared 'animated and excited' after each murder, offering to bathe, dress and take photographs of her victims' bodies

Ms Artell said she also feels 'guilty' that she may have 'driven her on' to attack her son 'out of anger'.

'It's horrific to think of because you wouldn't think that anybody would be capable of that.'

Seven years on after the incident, Asa is now happy and healthy, but Ms Artell admitted that she feels a sense of 'survivor's guilt' because of this.

'You feel almost ashamed to say how you feel because they're alive.

'We were lucky and we should be lucky because they're alive. And I know that. But it still affects you.'

Police are now reviewing the care of 4,000 babies Letby may have come into contact with during a spell at the Countess of Chester Hospital from January 2012 to the end of June 2016 and two work placements at Liverpool Women's Hospital in 2012 and 2015.

Cheshire Police emphasised that only those cases highlighted as medically concerning would be investigated further and said the review at Liverpool Women's Hospital does not involve any deaths.

Detective Superintendent Paul Hughes, the senior investigating officer in the case, said: 'This does not mean we are investigating all 4,000.'

He admitted he could not say how many other active cases there are but added: 'There are cases where we've told parents.'

Letby was initially praised by doctors as good in a crisis - but they soon grew concerned

Letby used to create 'crisis situations' so she could spend time with a doctor who she was said to be having an affair with (Pictured is the Countess of Chester Hospital's neonatal unit where Letby went on a killing spree)

Police Family Liaison Officer Janet Moore (right) reads out a family statement outside Manchester Crown Court today. Also pictured is Pascale Jones from the CPS and DCI Nicola Evans

Members of the Cheshire Police investigation team embrace following this afternoon's verdicts - which came after a ten-month trial

Letby's parents, Susan and John, arrive at Manchester Crown Court on August 18

In a statement responding to the verdict earlier today, medical director at the Countess of Chester Hospital, Dr Nigel Scawn, said: 'I speak for the whole Trust when I say how deeply saddened and appalled we are at Lucy Letbys crimes.

Letby becomes the worst baby killer in modern British history Letby's crimes put her close to the top of the list of notorious serial killers  ahead of Moors murderers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, who killed five children in Manchester in the early 1960s; nurse Beverly Allitt, who killed four of her child patients in 1991, and Robert Black, who raped and murdered four young girls in the early 1980s. She also becomes the second worst female serial killer of all time behind Rose West, who is serving a whole life tariff for the murders of 10 young girls, including her eight-year-old step-daughter. Amelia Dyer, a Victorian baby farmer, is estimated to have killed 400 infants over a 30 year period. However, she was only ever found guilty of one murder. The UK's worst ever serial killer was Dr Harold Shipman, who used his position as a family GP to murder an estimated 250 patients. Advertisement

'We are extremely sorry that these crimes were committed at our hospital and our thoughts continue to be with all the families and loved ones of the babies who came to harm or died. We cannot begin to understand what they have been through.

This case has had a profound impact on our patients and our local community and also our staff - who come to work every day determined to provide safe and high-quality care for our patients.

'Our staff are devastated by what happened and we are committed to ensuring lessons continue to be learnt.

'We are grateful for the cooperation of our staff, especially those who have maintained the utmost professionalism whilst giving evidence in the trial, sometimes on multiple occasions.

'We will continue to support them and other staff to ensure they receive the care and support they need.

'We would like to extend our thanks to Cheshire Police for their extensive investigation and the work they did to bring this case to trial.

'Wed also like to thank them for the comprehensive support they have provided to all of the families.

'Since Lucy Letby worked at our hospital, we have made significant changes to our services. I want to provide reassurance that every patient who accesses our services can have confidence in the care they will receive.

'And, most importantly, our thoughts are with all the families and loved ones at this very difficult time.'

After deliberating for more than 110 hours, the Letby jury found her guilty of the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of six more.

They were unable to reach a verdict on counts relating to four babies: babies H, J, K and Q.

After Lucy Letby was found guilty of offences at the Countess of Chester Hospital neonatal unit in 2015 and 2016, the families of her victims released a joint statement.

It was read out by police family liaison co-ordinator Janet Moore outside Manchester Crown Court, and this is it in full: 'Words cannot effectively explain how we are feeling at this moment in time. We are quite simply stunned.

'To lose a baby is a heart-breaking experience that no parent should ever have to go through. But to lose a baby or to have a baby harmed in these particular circumstances is unimaginable.

'Over the past seven/eight years we have had to go through a long, torturous and emotional journey.

Letby in the dock at Manchester Crown Court on the morning of August 10

A note found in Letby's house which read in capital letters: 'I AM EVIL I DID THIS'

In another note, Letby had scribbled a jumble of words, with phrases like 'love', 'I can't do this anymore' and 'help me' written on it

While Letby's motive is not clear, the prosecution suggested she got a 'thrill' out of 'playing God'. She is pictured on a night out

'From losing our precious new-borns and grieving their loss, seeing our children who survived - some of whom are still suffering today, to being told years later that their death or collapse might be suspicious. Nothing can prepare you for that news.

'Today, justice has been served and a nurse who should have been caring for our babies has been found guilty of harming them. But this justice will not take away the extreme hurt, anger and distress that we have all had to experience. Some families did not receive the verdict that they expected and therefore it is a bittersweet result.

'We are heartbroken, devastated, angry and feel numb. We may never truly know why this happened.

'Words cannot express our gratitude to the jury who have had to sit through 145 days of gruelling evidence, which has led to today's verdict - we recognise that this has not been an easy task for them and we will forever be grateful for their patience and resilience throughout this incredibly difficult process.

'The police investigation began in 2017 and we have been supported from the very beginning by a team of experienced and dedicated family liaison officers. We want to thank these officers for everything they have done for us.

'Medical experts, consultants, doctors and nursing staff have all given evidence at court, which at times has been extremely harrowing and distressing for us to listen to.

'However, we recognise the determination and commitment that each witness has shown in ensuring that the truth was told. We acknowledge that the evidence given by each of them has been key in securing today's verdict.

'Finally we would like to acknowledge and thank the investigation team and, more recently, the prosecution team who have led the trial to a successful conclusion.

'The search for the truth has remained at the forefront of everyone's minds and we will forever be grateful for this.

'We would now ask for time in peace to process what has happened as we come to terms with today's verdict.'

The Government has now ordered an independent inquiry into the circumstances behind the murders and attempted murders of babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital after the conviction of Letby.

The Department of Health said the inquiry will investigate the wider circumstances around what happened at the hospital, including the handling of concerns and governance, and will also look at what actions were taken by regulators and the wider NHS.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay said: 'I would like to send my deepest sympathy to all the parents and families impacted by this horrendous case.

'This inquiry will seek to ensure the parents and families impacted get the answers they need. I am determined their voices are heard, and they are involved in shaping the scope of the inquiry should they wish to do so.

'Following on from the work already underway by NHS England, it will help us identify where and how patient safety standards failed to be met and ensure mothers and their partners rightly have faith in our healthcare system.'
Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries is planning to have a talk with Rep. Dean Phillips about the free-wheeling Minnesota Democrat's criticisms of President Biden.

Phillips, 54, praised Biden's record to the Washington Post - but cited the president's age and low poll numbers and said it's time for him to step aside.

'I want him to preserve his legacy, not to compromise it,' Phillips said. 'And this is exactly why I'm asking  pass the torch, open the stage.'

'We're at grave risk of another Trump presidency,' the Democrat went on. 'I'm doing this to prevent a return of Donald Trump to the White House.'

Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries is planning to have a talk with Rep. Dean Phillips about the free-wheeling Minnesota Democrat's criticisms of President Biden

Phillips, 54, praised Biden's record to the Washington Post - but cited the president's age and low poll numbers and said it's time for him to step aside

Jeffries' spokesperson Christie Stephenson said the minority leader plans to meet with Phillips this week in an effort to get him to tone down his criticisms.

'Joe Biden has been a transformational president. Leader Jeffries strongly supports his candidacy and intends to do everything in his power to make sure that President Biden is re-elected to a second term,' Stephenson said in a statement.

Stephenson hinted Phillips could face more trouble from his colleagues when Congress returns in September.

'Dean Phillips was independently elected to a leadership position in the House Democratic Caucus. He is ultimately accountable to his House colleagues, who have not been bashful in sharing their views.'

Phillips could not be reached for comment about the veiled threat from Jeffries' office.

Phillips has made the rounds on the TV circuit actively calling for Biden to face a primary in the 2024 election

Phillips serves as co-chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee (DPCC). The DPCC is tasked with developing messages to unify Democrats and draw contrast with the GOP.

Phillips has made the rounds on the TV circuit actively calling for Biden to face a primary in the 2024 election.

Currently self-help author Marianne Williamson and environmental attorney and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are Biden's only challengers.

On NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday Phillips claimed a majority of people want to move on from Biden.

'I'm actively inviting, encouraging  to some degree, imploring  that people who are ready and know it's probably time to do so, take the chance,' Phillips said.

The Minnesotan hasn't ruled out running for the high office himself - but said he would prefer a moderate governor jump into the race.

'If, and only if, the president doesn't pass the torch, if his numbers continue to look like they do right now, and nobody is willing to be an alternative, then I will be making a really important decision, and I have not made that yet,' Phillips said.
A consultant whose evidence helped convict killer Lucy Letby says he believes several babies' lives could have been spared if hospital bosses had acted on his suspicions sooner, after she became the UK's most prolific child murderer.

Dr Ravi Jayaram, senior paediatrician at the Countess of Chester Hospital, said he and other doctors warned NHS managers of concerns about Letby months before police were called.

He said executives ordered him to 'draw a line' under his worries and he was even told to apologise to Letby in a mediation meeting, ITV News reports.

Dr Jayaram said: 'I do genuinely believe that there are four or five babies who could be going to school now who aren't.'

Doctors were advised to apologise or face a possible referral to the general Medical Council.

ITV News has seen a letter to Letby, which consultants allegedly wrote under duress: 'Dear Lucy, we would like to apologise for any inappropriate comments that may have been made during this difficult period. We are very sorry for the stress and upset that you have experienced in the last year. Please be reassured that patient safety has been our absolute priority during this difficult time.'

Dr Ravi Jayaram (pictured) said concerns were reported to NHS bosses at Countess of Chester Hospital months before police were called

Children's nurse Lucy Letby (pictured in a custody photo, left; and while working in hospital, right) went on a year-long killing spree while working at the Countess of Chester Hospital

Letby was convicted of seven charges of murdering infants between 2015 and 2016 at Countess of Chester Hospital

Speaking outside the Countess of Chester hospital on Friday, medical director Dr Nigel Scawn said: 'I speak for the whole trust when I say how deeply saddened and appalled we are at Lucy Letby's crimes'

READ MORE: PARENTS OF BABIES MURDERED BY LUCY LETBY SPEAK OF 'EIGHT YEARS OF TORTURE' Letby - wearing a blue hoodie with the strings covered in pink glitter - is taken from her house in handcuffs after being arrested by Cheshire Police in July 2018 Advertisement

Police were eventually contacted by the hospital trust nearly two years after the deaths of the first of the seven babies Letby was found guilty of murdering.

Following Letby's conviction of seven murders and six attempted murders, which makes her the worst child killer in the UK's modern history, the government has ordered an independent inquiry into the circumstances behind the horrific murders.

Medical Director Ian Harvey is said to have clamped down on doctors who raised suspicions, telling them via email that there was 'no smoking gun' as Letby was allowed to return to the ward.

Dr Jayaram described how he was forced by managers to endure a mediation session with the killer nurse whom he still regarded as dangerous.

He told ITV News: 'I've been a paediatrician since 1992 and I have never in my career seen anything like this.'

He described how doctors initially felt relief that Letby was working when babies began crashing: 'Initially there was this feeling of thank goodness Lucy is on - she's good in a crisis.'

He described the moment he realised there might be a killer on the unit as 'chilling'.

Describing a meeting with the Chief Executive of the hospital, the experienced doctor said: 'The very first thing that Tony Chamber said to us... was 'I can see how that might be a very convenient explanation for things.'

'He'd already decided that wasn't going on and this was just us trying to cover up.'

Both Baby O, a triplet, and his brother, Baby P, were murdered after the 'Gang of Four' consultants raised their suspicions about the link between the nurse's presence and the deaths they had already witnessed.

The unit's lead consultant Stephen Brearey even went back to management in the hours after Baby P's death on June 24, 2016, begging them to take Letby off the ward. They refused.

Once police were finally called, after consultants demanded to speak to management face-to-face, Dr Jayaram told ITV it was only then that concerns were taken seriously.

During the course of their investigation officers discovered two baby boys, from separate sets of twins, had been 'deliberately' poisoned with insulin eight months apart.

The results of their blood tests had been missed by doctors who had no idea there was a 'poisoner at work'.

Speaking outside the hospital on Friday, medical director Dr Nigel Scawn said: 'I speak for the whole trust when I say how deeply saddened and appalled we are at Lucy Letby's crimes.

'We are extremely sorry that these crimes were committed at our hospital and our thoughts continue to be with all the families and loved ones of the babies who came to harm or died. We cannot begin to understand what they have been through.

'This case has had a profound impact on our patients and our local community and also our staff, who come to work every day determined to provide safe and high quality care for all of our patients.

'Our staff are devastated by what has happened and we are committed to ensuring that lessons continue to be learned.

'We are grateful for the co-operation of our staff, especially those that have maintained the utmost professionalism while giving evidence in this trial.'

Dr Scawn walked away without answering as a journalist asked him: 'Why did hospital managers try to stop Lucy Letby from being investigated?'

Two babies died on the unit in 2013 and there were three deaths in 2014.

Letby sat in the dock wearing a black jacket as she listened to the prosecution lay out their case in Manchester Crown Court

WHAT WAS LETBY CONVICTED OF? Count 1 - Murder of Baby A on June 8, 2015 - GUILTY Count 2 - Attempted murder of Baby B between the June 8, 2015 and June 11, 2015 - GUILTY Count 3 - Murder of Baby C on June 14, 2015 - GUILTY Count 4 - Murder of Baby D on June 22, 2015 - GUILTY Count 5 - Murder of Baby E on August 4, 2015 - GUILTY Count 6 - Attempted murder of Baby F on August 5, 2015 - GUILTY Count 7 - Attempted murder of Baby G on September 7, 2015 - GUILTY Count 8 - Attempted murder of Baby G on September 21, 2015 - GUILTY Count 9 - Attempted murder of Baby G on September 21, 2015 - NOT GUILTY Count 10 - Attempted murder of Baby H on September 26, 2015 - NOT GUILTY Count 12 - Murder of Baby I on October 23, 2015 - GUILTY Count 15 - Attempted murder of Baby L on April 9, 2016 - GUILTY Count 16 - Attempted murder of Baby M on April 9, 2016 - GUILTY Count 17 - Attempted murder of Baby N on June 3, 2016 - GUILTY Count 20 - Murder of Baby O on June 23, 2016 - GUILTY Count 21 - Murder of Baby P on June 24, 2016 - GUILTY Advertisement

No babies died between when Letby was removed from the unit in July 2016 and when police were called in by the hospital in May 2017.

During this period, the trust chief executive was Tony Chambers and the medical director was Ian Harvey.

Dr Jayaram said Chambers held a meeting with consultants in January 2017 in which he stated: 'I'm drawing a line under this, you will draw a line under this, and if you cross that line, there will be consequences for you.'

Hospital executives are alleged to have doctors they would face 'blue and white tape' all over the ward if they followed their suggestion of calling police.

When Letby was eventually removed from the unit, she even had the audacity to launch a grievance against the trust.

The grievance found that medics had made comments which were 'unsubstantiated' and were accused of 'bullying' Letby.

Doctors were advised to apologise or face a possible referral to the general Medical Council.

ITV News has seen a letter to Letby, which consultants allegedly wrote under duress: 'Dear Lucy, we would like to apologise for any inappropriate comments that may have been made during this difficult period. We are very sorry for the stress and upset that you have experienced in the last year. Please be reassured that patient safety has been our absolute priority during this difficult time.'

Mr Harvey retired in August 2018 - a month after Letby was first arrested - after he reportedly notified Mr Chambers at the start of that year of his intention to retire.

He had held other managerial roles within the trust and was medical director for six years.

Mr Chambers served six years in his post before he resigned in September 2018.

He said he made the decision to 'allow the trust to focus on its future' as the police investigation continued.

Former director of nursing Alison Kelly left the Countess of Chester in 2021 and works in a similar position at the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Salford Royal Hospital and Royal Oldham Hospital.

At the Countess of Chester in 2015 and 2016, there was a significant rise in the number of babies who suffered serious and unexpected collapses in the neonatal unit.

Letby's presence when collapses took place was first mentioned to senior management by the unit's head consultant in late June 2015.

Concerns among some consultants about the defendant increased and were voiced to hospital bosses when more unexplained and unusual collapses followed, the court heard.

But Letby was not removed from the unit until after the deaths of two triplet boys and the collapse of another baby boy on three successive days in June 2016. Letby was confined to clerical work and in September 2016 registered a grievance procedure.

It emerged during legal argument in the trial - in the absence of the jury - that the grievance procedure was resolved in Letby's favour in December 2016.

Letby was due to return to the neonatal unit in March 2017, but the move did not take place as soon afterwards, police were contacted by the hospital trust.

She was suspended on full pay from the moment she was arrested in July 2018. It is understood she was sacked when she was charged in November 2020.

Dr Scawn (pictured) walked away without answering as a journalist asked him: 'Why did hospital managers try to stop Lucy Letby from being investigated?'

Letby's parents Susan and John Letby arrive at Manchester Crown Court this morning

Even after paediatricians raised their suspicions about her activities, hospital executives initially refused to remove her from the unit. When they eventually did so they chose to give her a desk job in the patient safety department.

It is understood Letby was suspended from work when she was arrested in July 2018, but remained on full pay, receiving her estimated 30,000-a-year salary, or a total of around 75,000, until she was sacked when she was charged in November 2020.

The court heard that concerns were first raised about Letby's association to an increase in baby collapses in June 2015 by Dr Stephen Brearey.

Dr Jayaram told the court he had 'significant concerns from the autumn of 2015' following the death of a baby girl.

He added: 'As clinicians, we put our faith in the system, in senior management to escalate concerns and investigate them. The initial response was 'it's unlikely that anything is going on. We'll see what happens'.'

Fellow consultant Dr John Gibbs told the court that a 'tipping point' was reached in June 2016 with the deaths of two triplet boys, Child O and P, on successive days.

He said: 'I remember feeling uncomfortable when I arrived on the unit and saw (Child O) and I thought 'Oh no, not another one'.'

Dr Gibbs told the court that consultants had to 'resolutely resist' attempts by management to return Letby to the unit up to the point when police launched an investigation in May 2017.

He said the doctors demanded the installation of CCTV in each room in the unit if she was permitted to nurse again but hospital bosses were 'extremely reluctant' to involve the police.

A nurse on the unit described the crying of one of Letby's victims as 'relentless, almost constant and with no fluctuation'.

Letby, who joined her colleagues on work social events, carried out her first murder the day after returning from a hen do in York.

She also struck before and after a holiday to Ibiza, telling colleagues she was 'back with a bang'.

After her eventual removal, she went on holiday to Torquay with her parents. She put them through the ordeal of attending each and every day of her trial and then witnessing her eventual conviction.

Mostly, Letby chose to inject babies with air while her colleagues' backs were turned or they'd briefly popped out to look after another baby.

Sometimes it was an overdose of milk, fed via a tube directly into their stomachs.

Her modus operandi would change according to the opportunities she could create for herself.

Tragically, she learned what police came to know as they investigated her litany of crimes  that it takes both very little time, and very little movement, to cause catastrophic harm to a premature baby.

Letby attacked so frequently, and seemingly so casually, that she didn't always remember her victim's name.

To help her remember, she took home scores of confidential medical sheets  not, as she claimed, because she liked to collect paper, but as a trophy so she could put a name to a murder.

In part she was able to go undetected for so long because her colleagues  most of whom innocently counted her as a trusted friend and confidante  could not imagine that a fellow nurse might by killing the babies they were trying to raise from prematurity.

A glance at her 2016 diary  a little girl's affair with a 'cute' doggie picture on the front cover and flower doodles inside  shows she was constantly busy.

Texts between Letby and the unnamed doctor were read out in court. They appeared to show the doctor comforting the killer nurse as she feigned upset after the death of one of her victims

And in another exchange over WhatsApp, Letby appeared to chat about her blossoming friendship with the doctor - who prosecutors said she had tried to impress by creating 'crisis situations' where they could work alongside each other to save the babies she had poisoned

There were references to the long shifts she liked to do because she 'so wanted to help', to salsa classes with her friends, or else meals followed by late-night cocktails at a bar in Chester.

Amelia Dyer, a Victorian baby farmer, murdered infants in her care over a thirty-year period and is estimated to have had hundreds of victims.

A new investigation will be focused mainly on Liverpool Women's Hospital, where Letby attended a training course in 2015.

But detectives are also likely to review the records of babies born at the Countess of Chester Hospital where she is already known to have attacked babies in the year from June 2015 to June 2016.

A government inquiry will now seek answers for the parents of the murdered infants, exploring the wider circumstances around what happened at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay said: 'I would like to send my deepest sympathy to all the parents and families impacted by this horrendous case.

'This inquiry will seek to ensure the parents and families impacted get the answers they need. I am determined their voices are heard, and they are involved in shaping the scope of the inquiry should they wish to do so.

'It will help us identify where and how patient safety standards failed to be met and ensure mothers and their partners rightly have faith in our healthcare system.'

An inquiry chairman will be appointed in due course.

City of Chester Labour MP Samantha Dixon had called for a 'full, independent and public inquiry' into the case.

Her statement said: 'The families that have endured this unimaginable suffering deserve to know exactly what happened, and those who use our NHS services need the reassurance that it can never happen again.

'Too many people now live with the consequences of the catastrophic harm caused by Letby.'

Letby started work there after finishing her nursing degree at Chester University.

The court heard suspicions were first raised about Letby when three babies died in just over a fortnight, in June 2015, a full 12 months before she was eventually removed from the unit.

During a text exchange with a friend, Letby denied she and the male doctor were flirting. Letby is pictured pulling a face on a night out

Killer nurse Letby would often pull funny faces for photos while out with friends. Two of her murders took place shortly after returning from a week-long holiday to Ibiza

Letby - who grew up with two loving parents - is pictured as a young girl

Managers repeatedly refused to believe Letby was to blame and even tried to have her reinstated on the ward  months after doctors insisted she be removed from frontline duties.

Only when police were eventually called in was Letby finally arrested.

A source told the Mail that Letby's mother was distraught  wailing and crying and even telling police: 'I did it, take me instead,' in a desperate bid to protect her.

Letby texting a colleague after the death of Baby A

After the deaths of Baby A and Bay C, says: 'There are no words, it's been awful'

In this string of messages, Letby tries to suggest the babies' deaths was linked to health problems

The nurse describes 'crying and hugging' the parents of Baby E, who died in her care

Letby celebrated a winning bet on the Grand National shortly after she attempted to murder twin boys

The texts end with Letby crowing that police 'have nothing or minimal on me'

READ MORE - Detectives launch new investigation reviewing cases of babies treated by Letby Advertisement

Letby, whose duvet bore the childlike motif 'Sweet Dreams', came to court most days with a comfort blanket and clutched a small, stress toy in her hands while in the witness box.

Over 12 months she murdered five boys and two girls at the Countess, often attacking her victims at night, when there were less staff on duty or their parents had reluctantly left their children's bedsides to get some food or sleep.

After killing the newborns, the court heard Letby appeared animated and excited, offering to bathe, dress and take photographs of the deceased infants for their distraught and unsuspecting parents.

She also revelled in their grief, searching for them on Facebook  not only in the immediate aftermath but sometimes months and even years later.

It was a bonus if she could 'help' bereaved parents by preparing a memory box for them  hand and foot prints of their lost baby, a photograph of two dead twins laid out in a Moses basket, a condolence card for another baby in time for the funeral.

Calculating Letby covered her tracks by altering handwritten nursing charts or making false entries in the computerised nursing notes to make it seem like a baby was deteriorating or that she was feeding or administering medication to other children in a different part of the unit when her victims collapsed.

She also gas-lighted her colleagues, feigning upset when babies died, or suggesting medical reasons for their collapse or death to deflect blame from her murderous acts.
A victim of the Maui wildfires has tearfully criticized the lack of aid for people affected by wildfires on the Hawaiian island and questioned why President Joe Biden has still not visited.

Ella Sable Tacderan is currently sheltering 23 relatives at her home after many were displaced by the fires. She said 'the community has been a big part of my family's survival', referring to the heroic work of locals to support each other in the wake of the devastation.

But Tacderan added: 'Without them we wouldn't be where we are right now in regards to sanity, as well as our survival mode...

'My parents received a check for $700, which was a slap in the face. This $700 was given by the government and I feel like it's not enough. Living in Hawaii, everything is so expensive. Groceries can be as much as $700 just for one grocery run.

'And it is not enough. And right now, the Maui community is helping the Maui community. And it's really affected me, because, where is the president?'

Ella Sable Tacderan asked: 'We are part of the united States, Why are we getting put in the back pocket?'

An aerial view of Lahaina shows the sheer scale of destruction that the wildfires have caused in Hawaii

In the CNN interview, she added: 'Aren't we Americans will too? We are part of the united States, but why are we getting put in the back pocket? Why are we being ignored?'

She said families were being turned away for aid because applications have not been approved or are still pending.

The president has faced accusations of a lackluster response to the tragedy. He was also criticized after appearing to forget the name of Maui during recent remarks about the fires, referring to it as 'the one where you see on television all of the time'.

The head of Maui's Emergency Management Agency, Chief Herman Andaya, resigned on Thursday night, citing 'health reasons'. It comes a day after he faced fierce backlash by saying he did not regret not activating warning sirens as the wildfire swept across the island.

Biden has promised to offer assistance to Maui for 'as long as it takes' ahead of his trip to the island where devastating wildfires have killed at least 111.

'The entire nation is with you as you recover, rebuild and grieve,' Biden said in a recorded message given Thursday to Good Morning America.

The wildfire that broke out August 8 in the town of Lahaina is now the deadliest in more than a century, and the fifth-deadliest on record for the U.S.

'We'll be with you for as long as it takes, I promise you,' the president added.

He noted the federal government has already taken action to send hundreds of emergency personnel and thousands of meals and supplies to the tourist town ravaged by flames.

Hours later, a reporter asked Biden at the White House: 'Can you tell us about your Hawaii trip?'

'No, not now,' Biden said, adding that he would be there on Monday.

Some 2,200 buildings have been decimated by the inferno and around 1,300 people remain missing.

Crews are expected to continue searching the charred debris and have deployed cadaver dogs to search for survivors.

The president is set to take a trip to Maui on Monday with First Lady Jill. He was criticized by Republicans for not addressing the crisis sooner.

First asked about the blaze on Sunday, the president told a reporter 'no comment' as he lounged on the beach near his Delaware vacation home.

The 'no comment' remark prompted outrage from even some of his Democratic allies.

Search operations of areas damaged by wildfires in Lahaina Town destroyed in the Maui wildfires in Lahaina, Maui, August 15

Member of the National Guard walks through a charred neighborhood in the aftermath of the Maui wildfires in Lahaina, Hawaii, on August 16

Some 2,200 buildings have been decimated by the blaze

'I campaigned for you,' said former Hawaii legislator Kaniela Ing on Monday on X. 'Now, when I lose dozens of my friends, family, and neighbors. This?'

Biden will jet over to Maui from Lake Tahoe - where he arrives Friday for a vacation. The president had originally been planning to spend six days at the ritzy Nevada vacation spot but opted to cut the trip short amid criticism.

More than 3,000 people have registered for federal assistance, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and that number is expected to grow.

FEMA is providing $700 to displaced residents to cover the cost of food, water, first aid and medical supplies, in addition to qualifying coverage for the loss of homes and personal property.

The Biden administration is also seeking $12 billion more for the government's disaster relief fund, as part of its supplemental funding request to Congress.

Before Biden announced his visit, Republicans compared it to his lack of a visit to East Palestine, Ohio - where a train derailed and spilled toxic chemicals, displacing 100s. Biden had promised to visit the Ohio town but never did.

'President Biden completely ignored the people of East Palestine. Now, he's giving the people of Maui the same treatment,' Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Burnt out cars are seen on Wahikuli Terrace in Lahaina on Tuesday

An aerial view of Lahaina shows the sheer scale of destruction that the wildfires have caused in Hawaii

A fire sparked by a downed powerline on the morning of Tuesday, August 8 is believed to have developed into the conflagration which destroyed Lahaina. Officials initially brought the fire under control, but a flareup quickly spread

'Hey, maybe if we change the name of Maui to Ukraine, maybe they will pay attention to us,' said former Democratic Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, arguing a one-time $700 payment pales in comparison to the tens of billions the U.S. has spent defending Ukraine against Russia.

Meanwhile the Maui County Emergency Management Agency has also come under attacks for its response to the fire and how citizens were alerted of the danger.

Before his departure, the agency's administrator Herman Andaya defended the department's decision not to sound Lahaina's alarm system, arguing the alarms are typically used for tsunamis and citizens would have been trained to run for the hills - where the fire was closing in from.

Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen said in a statement on Thursday that he had accepted Andaya's resignation.

'Given the gravity of the crisis we are facing, my team and I will be placing someone in this key position as quickly as possible and I look forward to making that announcement soon,' Bissen said.
A Pennsylvania state lawmaker has proposed a change of legislation that would implement a four day workweek.

State Representative G. Roni Green says she hops to reduce the standard workweek from 40 hours to 32 hours per week.

The change would impact only businesses that have more than 500 employees and ensure there is no reduction in pay for workers and exclude local and mid size businesses.

Green, who serves on the House Labor & Industry Committee, said in her memorandum: 'Workers deserve to have a weekly schedule that respects a balance of work and personal responsibilities.

'A four-day workweek would provide hardworking individuals with more time for rest, family obligations, and focus on both physical and mental health. '

Representative G. Roni Green, pictured here, said she hopes to reduce the standard workweek from 40 hours to 32

The change would impact only businesses that have more than 500 employees and ensure there is no reduction in pay for workers

Local and mid sized businesses would be excluded from the legislation also if it was passed

Her memo continues: 'Rested, happy and healthy workers in turn can better focus on work and accomplish more in a workday.'

In a similar fashion, Democrat Dave Madsen, who is a state representative for Philly, also has a bill that would create a pilot program for 70 state businesses.

The bill would cost $15 million, but Madsen says recent studies have shown good results for businesses and employees.

Republican Representative Dawn Keefer said the move being pushed by Madsen would be the Government 'interjecting itself in an area where I dont think we belong.'

With regards to the four day work week, Keefer told abc: 'The government continues to give you more and incentivizes you not to work, I think we create the problem.'

Fellow Democrat Dave Madsen, pictured left, has already planned a similar bill like the one proposed, which Republican Dawn Keefer, pictured right, does not agree with

A four-day workweek study in the United Kingdom surveying 61 companies and 2,900 workers found several benefits for employees and businesses.

Of the 61 companies that participated, 56 are continuing the four-day workweek trend.

The study found 39% of employees were less stressed, 71% had reduced levels of burnout, and turnover dropped 57% during the trial.

The report concluded: 'While companies, through their leaders, have expressed that they are extremely pleased with performance, productivity, and their overall experience, it has been a similar case for employees themselves too.

'The four-day week, simply put, is a popular policy for those who work it.'
Hunter Biden secretly hid out at the White House two weeks after making a plea deal for his tax and gun crimes, according to a report.

The president's scandal-plagued 53-year-old son spent two weeks in the executive mansion beginning on June 21 - the day after he reached the now-defunct plea bargain with US Attorney David Weiss, the Washington Post reported.

The deal would have seen Hunter avoid jail time for failing to pay taxes and lying about his drug habits on a gun form - but it blew up when the judge informed Hunter he could still be prosecuted other crimes in the future.

Most of Biden's aides were unaware of Hunter's extended stay on the premises - which overlapped with cocaine being found at the White House on July 2, a White House state dinner with India's prime minister, two Biden family trips to Camp David and an Independence Day bash.

Hunter Biden secretly hid out at the White House two weeks after making a plea deal for his tax and gun crimes, according to a report

Hunter, his wife Melissa and son Beau left the White House on July 5.

The report notes that Biden's aides 'strenuously avoid' discussing Hunter and his ongoing legal woes because they believe their 'contributions and ideas would not be welcome.'

Hunter's lengthy visit is a reminder of his continued closeness to his prominent father, despite the 'toll' his scandals take on the president. That closeness will surely be used against Biden in the 2024 election as Republicans have gone to great lengths to try to prove Joe was involved in Hunter's business deals.

On July 26, the day Hunter was set to enter a plea deal, White House aides left intentionally left space in the president's schedule so he could follow along with the court appearance. Some worried about exposing the president to the press while the hearing unfolded, and Biden made no public appearances that day.

When the plea deal collapsed, aides became concerned that the president's primary support system - his wife - was traveling out of the country that day.

The president has previously stood by his son - even contradicting the terms of the original plea deal by claiming he did nothing wrong.

'My son has done nothing wrong,' Biden said in a May interview on MSNBC. 'I trust him. I have faith in him. And it impacts my presidency by making me feel proud of him.'

Joe, Jill, Hunter and Beau Biden (left to right) pictured watching July 4th fireworks during Hunter's extended stay

Hunter, Joe and Beau arrive at Fort McNair in Washington

Biden family watches fireworks on July 4 - right are Naomi Biden's husband Peter Neal and Hunter's wife Melissa Cohen

On Friday, the president was asked to react to U.S. attorney David Weiss being appointed special counsel over Hunter's case. This time, he held back.

'I have no comment on any investigation that's going on. That's up to the Justice Department, and that's all I have to say,' Biden said after he briefly chuckled at the question about his son.

House Republicans seized on testimony from Hunter's associate Devon Archer who claimed Joe had been in contact with Hunter's business partners around 20 times over 10 years.

Joe Biden has made closeness to his family a key tenet of his public brand - and has repeatedly said he tries to speak to all of his kids and grandkids every day. Hunter's 29-year-old daughter Naomi and her then-fiance Peter Neal were living at the White House ahead of their nuptials on the property last year. It's not clear if they still reside there.

People close to the Biden family told the Post they fear the ongoing scrutiny of Hunter, a recovering drug addict, may lead him to make 'damaging' decisions.

The first son has kept a relatively high profile even as the legal troubles pile up. He accompanied Biden on a trip to Ireland on Air Force 1 in April and attended state dinners at the White House.
Families of four babies who Lucy Letby allegedly attacked have been left waiting for answers as the jury was unable to reach verdicts on all counts.

On Friday, the jury at Manchester Crown Court was discharged having found her guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six more.

But, after more than 110 hours of deliberations, the jury was unable to reach verdicts on six charges of attempted murder.

In a statement read outside court, family liaison co-ordinator Janet Moore said: 'Some families did not receive the verdict that they expected and therefore it is a bittersweet result.'

After the jury confirmed they were unable to reach verdicts in relation to four babies, the relatives of one of the infants stormed out of court.

The jury failed to reach a verdict on a count of attempted murder of Child H and cleared Letby of a second charge of the same offence against the baby girl.

Children's nurse Lucy Letby (pictured in a custody photo, left; and while working in hospital, right)

Pascale Jones from the Crown Prosecution Service , Det Ch Insp Nicola Evans from Cheshire Constabulary and Janet Moore, the family liaison co-ordinator, speaking to the media outside Manchester Crown Court after nurse Lucy Letby, 33, was found guilty of the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of six others at the Countess of Chester Hospital

Prosecutors alleged Letby sabotaged the care of the baby in some way which led to two profound oxygen desaturations, but the defence said elements of Child H's care were suboptimal and there could be innocent explanations for the episodes.

The jury was unable to agree whether Letby was guilty of the attempted murders of Child J, Child K and Child Q.

In the case of Child J, no specific form of harm was identified by the prosecution but they said Letby did something to cause the collapse of the baby girl.

The defence said infection could not be ruled out as the cause.

Letby was alleged to have deliberately dislodged a breathing tube in the case of Child K, but the defence said the baby girl was extremely premature and had experienced suboptimal care.

She was accused of injecting Child Q with liquid, and possibly air, down his feeding tube.

But, the defence said the baby boy became unwell due to a natural health issue.

The jury also failed to agree on two counts of attempted murder of Child N, but found her guilty of a third count.

Mr Justice Goss has given the prosecution in the trial 28 days to consider whether to request a retrial on the remaining counts.
A white Starbucks manager who was fired after two black men were refused access to a Philadelphia store bathroom was awarded $2.7million to cover the legal fees associated with her wrongful termination lawsuit.

Shannon Phillips claimed she was used as a 'scapegoat' by Starbucks after she was fired when the coffee chain found itself at the centre of racial controversy when two black men were arrested on the premises of a cafe in Philadelphia in 2018.

It comes after Ms Phillips won her lawsuit against the coffee giant in June and was handed $25million in punitive damages and $600,000 in compensatory damages.

The saga unfolded when an employee at Starbucks Rittenhouse Square location in Philadelphia called 911 on April 12, 2018, after two black men  Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson  were denied access to the bathroom because they werent paying customers.

Mr Nelson and Mr Robinson then refused to leave, claiming they simply sat at a table waiting for a potential real estate business partner to arrive. But when police arrived, the men were arrested for trespassing.

Shannon Phillips (left) was awarded $2.7million to cover the legal fees associated with her wrongful termination lawsuit

The arrests - which Ms Phillips was not involved with - prompted widespread outrage and protests after footage of the incident emerged - and Starbucks was accused of racism and boycott threats.

Ms Phillips, who oversaw the location as well as about 100 others and would have been paid up to $200,000, was quickly fired but in 2019 sued the coffee chain claiming it was due to racial bias.

Following her victory on Monday her lawyer Laura Carlin Mattiacci (pictured) said they were 'very pleased' with the verdict

Following her victory on Monday her lawyer Laura Carlin Mattiacci said they were 'very pleased' with the unanimous verdict.

She said that 'she proved by 'clear and convincing evidence that punitive damages were warranted' under the New Jersey law.

In the lawsuit, Ms Phillips - who worked for Starbucks for 13 years - claimed she had nothing to do with the arrests but was still fired from her job a month later.

Cell phone footage of the arrests went viral after it showed Mr Nelson and Mr Robinson being detained inside the store after they sat without ordering anything.

The arrests sparked protests and prompted more than 8,000 locations to shut so the company's 175,000 employees could undergo racial-bias training.

Ms Phillips said she worked 'tirelessly' to help repair community relations in the wake of the controversy, according to the lawsuit.

In her role as regional manager, Phillips said she oversaw around 100 stores across Philadelphia, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland.

The highly-publicized arrests sparked protests outside the store (above) and prompted more than 8,000 locations to shut so the company's 175,000 employees could undergo racial-bias training

She claimed Starbucks started punishing white employees who weren't involved weeks later in a bid to publicly prove they were handling the incident.

Ms Phillips alleged the firm ordered her to put a white male manager, who had worked for the company for 15 years, on administrative leave because of a race discrimination allegation against him.

The allegation was based on complaints non-white employees at that manager's store were paid less than white workers.

Ms Phillips said she argued the male manager didn't have a say in wages. The lawsuit also said Ms Phillips objected to suspending him because she said the manager wasn't racist and she had never seen him exhibit discriminatory behavior.

She argued, in comparison, the black manager of the store where the arrests were carried out did not face any disciplinary action.

Ms Phillips said the black manager's subordinate was the one who called 911 after the two men sat down and refused to leave after being told they couldn't use the bathroom without purchasing something.
Lucy Letby today became the most prolific child killer in modern British history after she was found guilty of murdering seven innocent babies and trying to take the lives of six more.

The distraught parents of the babies killed described their 'eight years of torture' after a jury convicted her of a horrifying hospital killing spree.

But as Letby preyed on babies by injecting air into their bloodstreams or feeding tubes and poisoning them with insulin, causing them to collapse and die, she was sending disturbing messages that would ultimately play a key part of evidence against her.

The 33-year-old killer messaged her colleagues after murdering little babies, feigning heartbreak and innocence. Other nurses often replied with sympathy and concern, although one or two did raise questions over the deaths with Letby.

The shocking texts show how Letby would offer to work extra shifts on the neonatal intensive therapy unit - and how she reacted as suspicions grew over the spike in the deaths of babies.

At the same time, she was pursuing a close relationship with one of the hospital doctors, a married man who she would message for reassurance and support.

The callous killer even bragged about how any enquiry would have 'minimal' on her, so confidant was she that she would not be caught in a long chain of messages which would ultimately play a large role in her conviction.

Letby - wearing a blue hoodie with the strings covered in pink glitter - is taken from her house in handcuffs after being arrested by Cheshire Police

Letby denied all the allegations as she gave evidence in the witness box

While Letby's motive is not clear, the prosecution suggested she got a 'thrill' out of 'playing God'. She is pictured on a night out

June 9, 2015

On June 8, Letby killed her first victim, Baby A. Returning to work after a trip away, she took over care of Baby A from fellow nurse Melanie Taylor.

Within 90 minutes of her arriving on the ward, Baby A is pronounced dead. Baby A's twin remains on the ward.

The day after murdering Baby A, Letby messages her colleagues to say that she does not want to return to the nursery and see the parents - who also had a twin on the unit, Baby B - who she attacked sometime before June 11.

Ms Taylor sends a WhatsApp message to Letby: 'I hope you are OK, you were brilliant.'

Texting colleagues, Letby writes: 'It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do.'

'Just a big shock for us all. Hard coming in tonight & seeing the parents x x.'

Continuing to message one of the nurses the day after the killing, she adds: 'I just don't know how I'm going to feel seeing parents.

'Dad was on floor crying Saying [sic] please don't take our baby away when I took him to the mortuary, it's just heartbreaking.'

Letby then arrives for a night shift that evening.

June 10, 2015

Letby attacks Baby B despite not being her designated nurse. Baby B deteriorates rapidly just 28 hours after her twin's death. After intervention, Baby B is saved and is now aged eight.

June 11, 2015

Three days later she messages one of her managers on the ward, requesting to be put back in charge of care and work more shifts.

'From a confidence point of view I need to take an ITU baby soon X.'

June 13, 2015

Letby becomes frustrated with her manager after demanding to be allowed back to work in intensive care.

Letby: 'I just keep thinking about Mon [death of Baby A]. Feel like I need to be in [nursery] one to overcome it... to get the image out of my head. It probably sounds odd but that's how I feel.'

Colleague: 'Well it's up to you but don't think it's going to help. It sounds very odd and I would be complete opposite. Can understand [shift leader] she's trying to look after you all.'

Letby: 'Well that's how I feel, from when I've experienced it at the Women's I needed to go straight back and have a sick baby otherwise the image of the one you lost never goes.

'Don't expect people to understand but I know how I feel... Anyway forget it. I can only talk about it properly with those who knew him... I'll overcome it myself. You get some sleep x'.

Colleague: That's a bit mean isn't it. Don't have to know him to understand we've all been there. Yep off to bed now x.'

Letby: 'I don't mean it like that, just that only those who saw him know what image I have in my head X. Forget it. I'm obviously making more of it than I should.'

'Sleep well xx',

The conversation ends at 11.09pm. Six minutes later, Baby C falls critically ill.

June 14, 2015

Baby C dies after Letby fed air into his stomach.

Letby texts her colleague: 'Sorry if I was off just wasn't a great start to the shift byt sadly it got worse. X'

'I was struggling to accept what happened to Baby A. Now we've lost Baby C overnight and it's all a bit much.X'

Colleague: 'Hoping [you're] going to be ok. This isn't like you. Sending you biggest hugs. Xx'

Letby: 'I Just keep seeing them both [Baby A and Baby C]. No one should have to see and do the things we do. It's heart-breaking. But it's not about me. We learn to deal with it. Thank you xxx'

'It's not about me or anyone else, it's these poor parents who have to walk away without their baby. There are no words, it's been awful.'

June 21, 2015

Baby D dies. Letby waits until the following morning to get in touch with her colleagues.

June 22, 2015

Letby: 'We lost Baby D.'

Colleague: ' What!!!! But she was improving. What happened.'

'Wanna chat? I can't believe you were on again. You having such a tough time.'

Later, Letby says: 'On a day to day basis it's an incredible job with so many positives. But then sometimes I think, how do such sick babies get through and others just die so suddenly and unexpectedly? Guess it's how it's meant to be.

'I think there is an element of fate involved. There is a reason for everything.'

On the same day, Letby tells a second colleague: 'I can't talk about it now, I can't stop crying. I just need to get it out of my system.'

June 30, 2015

One of Letby's colleagues raises concerns about the babies' deaths in a text to her.

Nurse: 'There's something odd about that night and the other 3 that went so suddenly.'

Letby responds: 'What do you mean?'

Nurse A: 'Odd that we lost 3 and in different circumstances ignore me, I'm speculating'.

Letby: 'Well Baby C was tiny, obviously compromised in utero. Baby D septic. It's Baby A I can't get my head around.'

August 4, 2015

Baby E dies in the early hours of the morning. His twin brother, Baby F, is still on the ward.

A colleague texts Letby and asks if she has been caring for them.

Letby: 'News travels fast. Who told you?'

'Yeah I had them both. Was horrible.'

The nurse later replied: 'I just really feel for his parents but for you too. You've had some really tough times recently.'

Before Letby returns to work she texts a second colleague, who tells the killer she has had some 'very bad luck'.

Letby: 'Not a lot I can do really. He had massive haemorrhage could have happened to any baby x.'

August 5, 2015

Baby F falls seriously ill, less than a day after his brother died.

Letby texts a colleague: 'Wonder if Baby F has an endocrine problem then. Hope they can get to the bottom of it. On way home from salsa. Feel better now I've been out.'

August 9, 2015

Letby: 'I said goodbye to Baby F's parents as Baby F might go tomorrow. They both cried and hugged me saying they will never be able to thank me for the love and care I gave to Baby F and for the precious memories I've given them. It's heartbreaking.'

Colleague: 'It is heartbreaking but you've done your job to the highest standard with compassion and professionalism.[...]'

The nurse describes 'crying and hugging' the parents of Baby E, who died in her care

Letby: 'I just feel sad that they are thanking me when they have lost him and for something that any of us would have done. But it's really nice to know that I got it right for them. That's all I want.'

September 21, 2015

Letby attempts to kill Baby G.

September 26, 2015

Letby appears to reference criticism or suspicion amongst her colleagues after receiving a supportive message from her manager.

She writes: 'That's really nice to hear as I gather you are aware of some of the not so positive comments that have been made recently regarding my role which I have found quite upsetting.

'Our job is a pleasure to do and just hope I do the best for the babies and their Family [sic].'

September 27, 2015

Letby messages a colleague: 'It's all just so rubbish lately isn't it. And always seems to happen at night when less people.'

She later adds: 'This is what we do, as sad and as hard as it can be.'

October 14, 2015

Baby I falls critically ill. Overnight, on October 13, Baby I rapidly deteriorated and was resuscitated. Letby texts a colleague to inform them of the incident.

She then texts the shift leader asking for Baby I not to be transferred to another nurse: 'I'd like to keep her please'.

Baby I was reallocated but died a week later when Letby was again on a night shift.

The next few months

Over several months more babies under Letby's care fall ill. She complains to colleagues in various text messages about understaffing and volunteers to take on more shifts.

She attempted to kill both Baby L and M, who are twins. Shortly afterwards, she strikes up a conversation online with a doctor at the hospital.

Letby in the dock at Manchester Crown Court on the morning of August 10

Letby's parents, Susan and John, arrive at Manchester Crown Court on August 17. The couple supported her every day in court. A source told the Mail that Letby's mother was distraught when her daughter was arrested  wailing and crying, even telling police: 'I did it, take me instead,' in a desperate bid to protect her

A note found in Letby's house which read in capital letters: 'I AM EVIL I DID THIS'

In another note, Letby had scribbled a jumble of words, with phrases like 'love', 'I can't do this anymore' and 'help me' written on it

Letby, from Hereford, at her graduation following a three-year nursing degree

June 23, 2016

Lucy Letby murders Baby O.

June 24, 2016

Letby murders Baby P. At some stage, a doctor begins asking questions after yet another child collapses and has to be resuscitated.

June 25, 2016

Letby messages her doctor friend, who is was rumoured she was having an affair with, asking for reassurance.

Letby: 'Do I need to be worried about what Dr Gibbs was asking?'

Doctor: 'No. He was asking to make sure that normal procedures were being carried out.'

Texts between Letby and the unnamed doctor were read out in court. They appeared to show the doctor comforting the killer nurse as she feigned upset after the death of one of her victims

WHAT WAS LETBY CONVICTED OF? Count 1 - Murder of Baby A on June 8, 2015 - GUILTY Count 2 - Attempted murder of Baby B between the June 8, 2015 and June 11, 2015 - GUILTY Count 3 - Murder of Baby C on June 14, 2015 - GUILTY Count 4 - Murder of Baby D on June 22, 2015 - GUILTY Count 5 - Murder of Baby E on August 4, 2015 - GUILTY Count 6 - Attempted murder of Baby F on August 5, 2015 - GUILTY Count 7 - Attempted murder of Baby G on September 7, 2015 - GUILTY Count 8 - Attempted murder of Baby G on September 21, 2015 - GUILTY Count 9 - Attempted murder of Baby G on September 21, 2015 - NOT GUILTY Count 10 - Attempted murder of Baby H on September 26, 2015 - NOT GUILTY Count 12 - Murder of Baby I on October 23, 2015 - GUILTY Count 15 - Attempted murder of Baby L on April 9, 2016 - GUILTY Count 16 - Attempted murder of Baby M on April 9, 2016 - GUILTY Count 17 - Attempted murder of Baby N on June 3, 2016 - GUILTY Count 20 - Murder of Baby O on June 23, 2016 - GUILTY Count 21 - Murder of Baby P on June 24, 2016 - GUILTY Advertisement

Letby: 'We've lost two babies I Was caring for and now this happened today, makes you think 'am I missing something/good enough'.

Doctor: 'If anybody says anything to you about not being good enough or performing adequately I want you to promise me that you'll give my details to provide a statement.'

Letby: 'Well I sincerely hope I won't ever be needing a statement. But thank you, I promise.'

Doctor: 'You are one of a few nurses across the region (I've worked pretty much everywhere) that I would trust with my own children.'

She also tells a colleague: 'I keep thinking of them both in the cot together - so peaceful yet beyond words for how awful it is. So sad. The family all thanked me when I took Baby P in dressed.'

July 6, 2016

The doctor reveals details of a meeting over the deaths of Baby O and Baby P, telling Letby: 'You need to keep this to yourself.

'There is absolutely nothing for you to worry about. Please don't.

'There are going to be some recommendations based on staffing / kit but there was no criticism of either resus.'

He then shares an email confirming the deaths will go to an inquest.

July 7, 2016

Doctor: 'I know you won't say anything - this email has to stay between us, is that ok?'

Letby: 'Of course. 100%'.

July 15, 2016

All staff are emailed to be informed they will undergo clinical supervision ahead of an external review into deaths at the unit.

July 16, 2016

Letby texts a colleague: 'I've done a timeline of the year. Hoping to get as much info together as possible - if they have nothing or minimal on me they'll look silly, not Me.'

And in another exchange over WhatsApp, Letby appeared to chat about her blossoming friendship with the doctor - who prosecutors said she had tried to impress by creating 'crisis situations' where they could work alongside each other to save the babies she had poisoned

At the same time Letby was embarking on her killing spree, she was also attempting to impress the doctor and create 'crisis scenarios' so they could work together.

Her behaviour was noted by other colleagues on the ward, who even accused the nurse of 'flirting' with him.

In an undated exchange with a colleague, Letby asked: 'Do you think he's being odd?'

Her colleague replied: 'Thought as flirty as u'.

Letby replied: 'I don't flirt with him!' before adding: 'Certainly don't fancy him haha... just nice guy.'

After deliberating for more than 110 hours, the Letby jury found her guilty of the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of six more.

They were unable to reach a verdict on counts relating to four babies: babies H, J, K and Q.

Letby came to court most days with a comfort blanket and clutched a small, stress toy in her hands while in the witness box, watched on by her parents who were there every day of the case.

Over 12 months she murdered five boys and two girls at the Countess, often attacking her victims at night, when there were less staff on duty or their parents had reluctantly left their children's bedsides to get some food or sleep.

After killing the newborns, the court heard Letby appeared animated and excited, offering to bathe, dress and take photographs of the deceased infants for their distraught and unsuspecting parents.

Letby, from Hereford, at her graduation following a three-year nursing degree

She also revelled in their grief, searching for them on Facebook  not only in the immediate aftermath but sometimes months and even years later.

What motivated Disney-loving 'ordinary woman' to become a serial killer? By Nigel Bunyan Psychologists will puzzle for decades over what darkness drove Lucy Letby to furtively murder and maim a succession of tiny, defenceless babies. On the surface she seemed entirely innocuous  a single woman going out to salsa sessions with her friends and returning to a suburban semi where she kept Disney-style cuddly toys on her bed and slept beneath a duvet bearing the similarly childlike motif 'Sweet Dreams'. But it appears that each and every day she set off for work as a nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital she did so wanting to inflict unimaginable pain on the very infants she was supposed to be caring for. She did so 'in plain sight' and yet felt protected from every being unmasked because neither the friends she worked alongside, nor the parents of her victims, could even contemplate the idea that a neonatal nurse might be a serial killer. While the doctors and nurses around her were doing their level best to save babies, she was trying to exploit every opportunity she had to harm them. No one was immune from her vicious betrayal. Not her best friend, a fellow nurse on the unit. Not even the married male registrar she was supposedly infatuated with. Just like everyone else in her orbit, they were there to be unwittingly choreographed as she set about 'playing God' with the lives of babies so small they could fit inside the palm of her hand. By the time she was caught she had killed seven of them. Tragically, even among the survivors there are children, now aged seven or eight, who will spend the rest of their lives needing round-the-clock care. She denied it, of course, just as she denied everything else, but there were suggestions throughout the trial that she derived a sickening pleasure from her attacks. Whether the babies lived or died, she felt a thrill to have caused them to collapse. It was a bonus if she could 'help' bereaved parents by preparing a memory box for them  hand and foot prints of their lost baby, a photograph of two dead twins laid out in a Moses basket, a condolence card for another baby in time for the funeral. The detectives who led the investigation have such contempt for Letby that they will never deign to speak to her. Even as she begins her lifetime in prison, they want the babies and their parents to be uppermost in the thoughts of families around the world. Not Letby, never Letby, is the unspoken thought. Like the serial killer Harold Shipman two decades before her, Lucy Letby is a narcissist. Shipman, a GP from Hyde, Greater Manchester, got almost a sexual buzz from sitting some of his victims down, injecting them with diamorphine, and then quietly watching them die in front of him. Prosecutors are convinced that Letby felt 'excited' by the pain she caused and the way she was able to manipulate the unwitting players  adults and babies alike  in her sinister, depraved drama. Letby, now 33, would have been easy to miss in a crowd in either Chester, where she presented herself as a 'dedicated' nurse, or Hereford, where she had grown up in a quiet cul-de-sac and attended the local sixth form college. While completing a three-year nursing degree at Chester University she went on placement at the local hospital where she would later kill or maim her victims. A glance at her 2016 diary  a little girl's affair with a 'cute' doggie picture on the front cover and flower doodles inside  shows she was constantly busy. There were references to the long shifts she liked to do because she 'so wanted to help', to salsa classes with her friends, or else meals out at Las Iguanas followed by late-night cocktails at the Kuckoo bar in Chester. Advertisement

It was a bonus if she could 'help' bereaved parents by preparing a memory box for them  hand and foot prints of their lost baby, a photograph of two dead twins laid out in a Moses basket, a condolence card for another baby in time for the funeral.

Calculating Letby covered her tracks by altering handwritten nursing charts or making false entries in the computerised nursing notes to make it seem like a baby was deteriorating or that she was feeding or administering medication to other children in a different part of the unit when her victims collapsed.

She also gas-lighted her colleagues, feigning upset when babies died, or suggesting medical reasons for their collapse or death to deflect blame from her murderous acts.

After Lucy Letby was found guilty of offences at the Countess of Chester Hospital neonatal unit in 2015 and 2016, the families of her victims released a joint statement.

It was read out by police family liaison co-ordinator Janet Moore outside Manchester Crown Court, and this is it in full: 'Words cannot effectively explain how we are feeling at this moment in time. We are quite simply stunned.

'To lose a baby is a heart-breaking experience that no parent should ever have to go through. But to lose a baby or to have a baby harmed in these particular circumstances is unimaginable.

'Over the past seven/eight years we have had to go through a long, torturous and emotional journey.

'From losing our precious new-borns and grieving their loss, seeing our children who survived - some of whom are still suffering today, to being told years later that their death or collapse might be suspicious. Nothing can prepare you for that news.

'Today, justice has been served and a nurse who should have been caring for our babies has been found guilty of harming them. But this justice will not take away the extreme hurt, anger and distress that we have all had to experience. Some families did not receive the verdict that they expected and therefore it is a bittersweet result.

'We are heartbroken, devastated, angry and feel numb. We may never truly know why this happened.

'Words cannot express our gratitude to the jury who have had to sit through 145 days of gruelling evidence, which has led to today's verdict - we recognise that this has not been an easy task for them and we will forever be grateful for their patience and resilience throughout this incredibly difficult process.

'The police investigation began in 2017 and we have been supported from the very beginning by a team of experienced and dedicated family liaison officers. We want to thank these officers for everything they have done for us.

'Medical experts, consultants, doctors and nursing staff have all given evidence at court, which at times has been extremely harrowing and distressing for us to listen to.

'However, we recognise the determination and commitment that each witness has shown in ensuring that the truth was told.

'We acknowledge that the evidence given by each of them has been key in securing today's verdict.

'Finally we would like to acknowledge and thank the investigation team and, more recently, the prosecution team who have led the trial to a successful conclusion.

'The search for the truth has remained at the forefront of everyone's minds and we will forever be grateful for this.

'We would now ask for time in peace to process what has happened as we come to terms with today's verdict.'

The Government has now ordered an independent inquiry into the circumstances behind the murders and attempted murders of babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital after the conviction of Letby.

The Department of Health said the inquiry will investigate the wider circumstances around what happened at the hospital, including the handling of concerns and governance, and will also look at what actions were taken by regulators and the wider NHS.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay said: 'I would like to send my deepest sympathy to all the parents and families impacted by this horrendous case.

'This inquiry will seek to ensure the parents and families impacted get the answers they need. I am determined their voices are heard, and they are involved in shaping the scope of the inquiry should they wish to do so.

'Following on from the work already underway by NHS England, it will help us identify where and how patient safety standards failed to be met and ensure mothers and their partners rightly have faith in our healthcare system.'

WATCH THE MAIL'S LUCY LETBY DOCUMENTARY IN FULL HERE
She claimed to only wish to hospitalize him, and claimed he was abusive to her and his son during their relationship

A Las Vegas woman has been charged with murder after allegedly beheading her boyfriend when she claims he tried to force her to perform a sex act on him.

Devyn Michaels, 45, was arrested on August 15 after the mother of her boyfriend Jonathan Willette, 46, discovered his headless body in his bed the week before.

Cops found the body was still 'smoking' and smelled of chemicals, believed to be bleach and ammonia, when they entered the room on August 7. An investigation was launched into the grisly death, and Michaels was brought in for questioning.

She initially denied the killing, and claimed that she left his home the night of his death. She later admitted to striking him on the head with a wooden stick after refusing his advances, allegedly saying she only wanted to hospitalize him.

She also claimed that Willette was abuse towards her, and alleged that he would have his oldest child take showers in front of him, according to an arrest report obtained by 8News Now. According to social media, it appears that Michaels may have been his ex-girlfriend, and Willette's Facebook profile shows him engaged to someone else.

Devyn Michaels, 45, was arrested on August 15, a week after the headless body of Jonathan Willette, 46, was discovered in his Las Vegas home

Michaels allegedly told police Willette (pictrued) was abusive to her, although a woman claiming to be engaged to him said he 'did his best to create a happy world'

Willette's headless body was discovered by his mother at around 8:40am on August 7, and police rushed to the scene to find the remains in the 46-year-old's bed.

His head was not immediately located, and cops say there was a chemical smell around the body likely to be bleach and ammonia, which appear to have been used on the remains as there was 'smoke' coming from it, police said.

The victim's mother told police that the last time she saw her son was around 10pmn the night before, when he was with his girlfriend, Michaels.

At around 1am, she said she saw Michaels downstairs in the kitchen washing dishes. Michaels told her boyfriend's mother that Willette was drunk and had gone to bed, and they planned to leave early the next day to register their kids to school.

The mother said she went back upstairs without seeing her son, before being woken up at around 3am by the sound of dogs barking. While thinking this unusual, she decided to go back to bed and didn't investigate the commotion.

After she woke up next around 8am, the victim's mother said she found the dogs locked outside her home and her son's truck parked outside. When she went to look for him, she made the nightmarish discovery of his headless body.

Police called Michaels in for questioning, and she told them that she didn't live with Willette but were thinking of moving in together for their children.

Their relationship was complicated, however, as she lived with Willette's son, who was not on good terms with his father and was not happy at the prospect of having to move out if he moved in, police said.

Michaels was also married, and told investigators she did not have an intimate relationship with Willette but was only married for medical reasons.

According to a fundraiser set up to pay for his funeral expenses, Willette worked on the Las Vegas strip for over 20 years. When the pandemic struck, he started a moving business, and would often be seen in 'his truck and trailer all around the Las Vegas valley.'

Michaels initially denied being in the home at the time of the killing, but later allegedly told police that she struck him on the head after refusing sex with him

Willette worked for 20 years of the Las Vegas strip, and recently started his own moving company when the pandemic struck

When quizzed about the grisly death, she initially said she left Willette's home after she spoke with his mother in the kitchen.

But after investigators reportedly found Willette's wallet, keys, social security card and blood-covered phone in Michael's home, she was given a polygraph test that allegedly found she had a 'significant reaction' to a question about her participation in his death.

Police say she then claimed Willette was abusive, including an allegation that he would force his oldest child to shower in front of him. His alleged behavior escalated on the night of his death, she said, as he allegedly tried to force her to preform a sex act on him.

She said while he was laying face down and rubbing her back, she grabbed a wooden stick and struck him on the back of the head.

His arms and legs went limp from the force of the impact, but Michaels told police she only meant to hospitalize him for long enough to figure out what to do with her children.

She never admitted to decapitating him, and it is unclear whether his head has been located.

While Michaels claimed Willette was abusive, tributes have also poured in for him describing the 46-year-old as 'too good for this world'

While Michaels claimed Willette was abusive, a woman listed as engaged to him on Facebook paid a heartbreaking tribute to him, saying her 'body feels like it's been ripped to shreds.'

'I am grateful to John for the last five years,' she continued. 'He was too good for this world. He did his best to create a happy world. And enjoyed baking.'

Willette's step sister Valerie Rivera said in a fundraiser to pay for his funeral expenses that he was 'loved by so many people.'

'Johnathan had the personality and charisma that attracted everyone to him,' the fundraiser read. 'Working on the Las Vegas Strip for 20 plus years, Johnathan touched so many peoples lives.

'Rest in Peace Johnathan, we all love you.'
Just over nine months ago, the trial of a neonatal nurse accused of the most heinous crimes began.

This afternoon, the nation was rocked as 33-year-old Lucy Letby was found guilty of murdering seven innocent babies and attempting to take the lives of six more.

The story of how the church-going nurse became the most prolific child killer in modern British history has now been unveiled in a documentary by the Mail.

Our reporters attended courtroom seven at Manchester Crown Court every day for almost a year - as jurors, prosecutors and the defence pored over crucial Post-it notes, disturbing text messages and photos among other damning evidence.

After the groundbreaking success of the Mail's The Trial of Lucy Letby podcast, we now bring you the inside story of one of the most shocking trials in British history - and how the jury convicted a killer who told a worried mother: 'Trust me, I'm a nurse.'

WATCH THE MAIL'S LUCY LETBY DOCUMENTARY IN FULL HERE

The Mail documentary unveils the story behind Britain's worst child serial killer in modern history

Our reporters were at Manchester Crown Court every day for the trial, bringing daily coverage as Letby was accused of the most heinous crimes

The Mail brings you the inside story of one of the most shocking cases in modern British history

Jurors, prosecutors and the defence pored over crucial Post-it notes, disturbing text messages and photos among other damning evidence
A NYPD cop has been charged with racketeering after helping her gangster boyfriend flee to the Dominican Republic before her colleagues in the force could arrest him for murder.

Gina Mestre, 33, started dating Andrew 'Caballo' Done, 24, in the summer of 2020 while working as a cop out of the 52nd Precinct in the Bronx.

He was the leader of the Shooting Boys, a notorious gang whose members have been charged with murder, attempted murder, heroin and cocaine dealing and other crimes.

Enthralled with her new love, she not only helped him evade arrest for a broad daylight shooting, but also told members of his gang who had been informing against them which led to violent assaults.

Prosecutors say she also warned them that a grand jury indictment against the gang was being prepared so they could take steps to conceal their crimes.

Gina Mestre, 33, started dating Andrew 'Caballo' Done, 24, in the summer of 2020 while working as a cop out of the 52nd Precinct in the Bronx

In November 2020, Done was caught on surveillance camera footage killing a member of a rival gang.

His girlfriend was part of the police force tasked with identifying him and finding him.

Instead, she sent him a copy of the video and told him he was 'hot'. It gave him enough time to flee to the Dominican Republic.

Mestre stayed in New York and continued working with the force until her involvement with the gang became public in March 2022.

It coincided with the arrests of several gang members, according to US prosecutors who charged Mestre yesterday.

Now, Mestre is facing up to 60 years behind bars. Done was arrested in the Dominican Republic last year and returned to the US, where he remains in custody.

Done was caught on surveillance camera footage murdering a rival gang member in November 2020. He shot the other man through the windshield. His girlfriend tipped him off, allowing him to flee to the Dominican Republic

Mestre was fired last year. She has since been charged and released on a $250,000 personal recognizance bond.

As he announced the indictment against Mestre, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: 'As alleged, Gina Mestre shamelessly exploited her position of public trust to assist gang members in her own NYPD precinct that were terrorizing the Bronx by committing robberies, murders, drug trafficking, and other acts of violence.

'The Indictment unsealed today alleges that the defendant abused her position as an NYPD police officer by, among other things, obstructing a federal grand jury investigation into the gang and assisting the gangs leader in evading capture for a cold-blooded murder committed in broad daylight.

'The defendants alleged conduct violates the oath she swore to protect the public  as well as her fellow NYPD officers  from the type of criminal activity she helped the gang commit.

'This Indictment makes clear that my Office and our law enforcement partners will remain vigilant in fighting all forms of police corruption.'

Mestre pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Done was found guilty of murder and sentenced to 35 years in prison in February.
Horrified witnesses described hearing a 'loud crash' and seeing severed body parts strewn across the street after a man dressed in pajamas leapt from the roof of the 750ft Deutsche Bank Center.

The victim was sliced in half when struck the marquee of the Mandarin Oriental hotel before hitting the busy Manhattan sidewalk outside the apartment complex where Jay-Z, Cynthia Nixon and Gisele owned apartments. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Some witnesses said his arm was found next to blood-splattered scaffolding on the other side of the road.

One woman who lives in an apartment complex next door to the hotel said residents could hear the marquee smash from inside their living rooms.

'We just heard a loud crash, so we came out to see what had happened,' she told DailyMail.com.

Hollowed out glass panes show where a man crashed through the marquee of a luxury Manhattan hotel after jumping from the top of the 750ft Deutsche Bank Center

His body severed on impact with the front of the Mandarin Oriental hotel

The incident occurred on Thursday at the twin luxury glass tower building where apartments can sell for $19 million

'The body had already been covered. But the head was separated from the torso. The arm was somewhere else. It was horrible.'

A guest at the hotel said the crash was heard from inside the lobby, with residents who rushed out to see what had happened met with the horrific scene of shattered glass, blood and the victim's dismembered body.

The man's identity has not been released, but police sources said he was believed to be in his 30s or 40s.

He is not thought to have been a guest at the hotel, which lies on the top 19 floors of the 55-storey Deutsche Bank Center.

The man is understood to have taken a service elevator to the roof before jumping at 9.06pm on Thursday night, police sources revealed.

'He is seen on video walking into the hotel, then takes the elevator to the top, makes his way to the roof and jumps from the roof,' said NYPD spokesman Lt. Thomas Antonetti.

Antonetti told People there didn't appear to be anything that had happened outside the hotel that contributed to him going to the roof, 'like an argument on the street'.

Shocking images from the scene Friday morning show two hollowed out panes of glass where the body smashed through the marquee. A third pane is shattered but still intact.

An overnight clean up operation had swiftly cleared distressing signs of blood and the body had been removed. A cordon had been set up beneath the marquee to keep passersby safe from falling splinters of glass.

The incident occurred at the prestigious right-hand tower of 80 Columbus Circle, formerly the Time Warner Center.

Some witnesses said his arm was found next to blood-splattered scaffolding on the other side of the road

One woman who lives in an apartment complex next door to the hotel said residents could hear the marquee smash from inside their living rooms

The Mandarin Oriental hotel lies on the top 19 floors of the 55-storey Deutsche Bank Center tower

The unnamed man was sliced in half before hitting the busy New York pavement outside the apartment complex where Jay-Z and Tom Brady live

The dismembered body was quickly covered with sheets as witnesses crowded the scene

Grisly images showed the body covered in a blanket on the sidewalk.

Glass and debris could be seen around the corpse, which lay on the street outside the twin luxury glass tower building which used to host CNN's newsrooms and where apartments can now sell for $19 million.

The New York Police Department told DailyMail.com the victim's identity was not yet known and that the investigation is still ongoing.
Joe Rogan has warned that China is infiltrating universities in the US to 'siphon data and information' using students who study abroad.

The podcaster spoke about the double standards when viewing America and China with former CIA officer Mike Baker on the latest episode of The Joe Rogan Experience which was released on Wednesday.

He claimed the country could influence universities in the US by sending hundreds of thousands of students here to study.

Rogan, 56, said they then collect information and sometimes get caught but nothing is done about it.

US intelligence officers have long warned that the country is at risk of Chinese people spying and stealing secrets.

Joe Rogan has warned that China is infiltrating universities in the US to 'siphon data and information' using students who study abroad

US intelligence officers have long warned that the country is at risk of Chinese people spying and stealing secrets

'China has so much influence on America, it's crazy how different the playing field is between what we're allowed to do,' Rogan said.

'Like, Americans can't own businesses in China, they can't own land in China, they can't buy property - but China can do all those things here.

'They can influence our universities, they bring their students over here, their students siphon up data and information and oftentimes get caught, its kind of crazy.'

There were nearly 300,000 Chinese students studying at American universities in the 2021-2022 academic year.

Current and former US intelligence officers, lawmakers and experts have warned that Beijing is leaning on its scientists, business and students to infiltrate and gain information.

Former CIA Director Gina Haspel warned in 2019 that China intends 'to diminish US influence to advance their own goals'.

The intelligence community's World Wide Threat Assessment released in 2021 said: 'We assess that Chinas intelligence services will exploit the openness of American society, especially academia and the scientific community, using a variety of means.'

Concerns have been raised for more than 10 years about US universities being soft targets for foreign intelligence services that use students and staff to access emerging technologies.

Instead of using trained spies, Chinese intelligence services are said to have utilized students to act as 'access agents' or 'covert influencers', Joe Augustyn, a former CIA officer revealed.

In October 2021, the Department of Justice charged four Chinese nationals with conspiracy.

Rogan claimed China could influence universities in the US by sending hundreds of thousands of students here to study and collect information

Current and former US intelligence officers, lawmakers and experts have warned that Beijing is leaning on its scientists, business and students to infiltrate and gain information

It claimed they worked to recruit university professors federal law enforcement officers and state homeland security officials to work for the Chinese government as agents.

A 29-year-old UCLA mathematics student was arrested in 2020 on suspicion of attempting to conceal his ties to the Chinese government.

He was suspected of transferring sensitive software to the Chinese military.

The National Institute of Health issued a warning to education institutions over the threat of undercover espionage in 2018.

'Threats to the integrity of U.S. biomedical research exist. NIH is aware that some foreign entities have mounted systematic programs to influence new researchers and peer reviewers,' it wrote.

'This kind of inappropriate influence is not limited to biomedical research; it has been a significant issue for defense and energy research for some time.'

One of the US Navy sailors charged with spying for the Chinese did so because his mother urged him to get a proper job, prosecutors have claimed.

Jinchao Wei, 22, was allegedly told that passing secrets to Beijing about American military strategy and technology would help him get a job with the Chinese Communist Party when he left the Navy.

Chinese born Wei was serving on the USS Essex based in San Diego when he was arrested along with Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, 26, on August 2 under the Espionage Act.

The pair are said to have made up to $15,000 each from passing dozens of photos and technical manuals to Chinese intelligence for more than a year.

Assistant US Attorney Fred Sheppard told a bond hearing that Weis mother encouraged him to betray the US when he went home to Wisconsin for Christmas.

Jinchao Wei was serving on the USS Essex while reportedly selling its secrets to Chinese intelligence

Assistant US Attorney Fred Sheppard said Wei was encouraged to betray the US while serving on the USS Essex

Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, 26, reportedly passed over secrets for nearly two years before his arrest earlier this month

Chinese spies have been an issue in the UK with claims that China sent a spy to infiltrate a House of Commons briefing by Hong Kong dissidents.

A man claiming to be a tourist tried to gatecrash the private event on the top floor of the high-security Palace of Westminster in July.

He attempted to enter a meeting addressed by Finn Lau and Christopher Mung to an audience of around 50 journalists, peers and MPs. He left after a brief stand off.

Mr Lau and Mr Mung are among three exiled Hong Kong activists who have 100,000 arrest bounties put on their heads by the city's Beijing-controlled police.

Pro-democracy campaigners accused the gate-crasher of being a Chinese Communist Party informer intent on filming, stalking and harassing those at the event.

It was investigated by parliamentary bosses and the issue of Chinese spies was discussed in the House of Commons.

At least 50 Chinese students left the UK between 2020 and 2022 after Britain tightened its procedures to stop sensitive academic research from being stolen.

The head of the UK's spy agency MI5 said it had 'more than doubled' its effort against Chinese activity as part of a joint warning with the FBI.

He added that the 'most game-changing challenge' came from an 'increasingly authoritarian Chinese Communist party' that was setting its sights on secrets and intellectual property across the west.
A seafood giant has collapsed in Tasmania, leaving customers shocked.

Huon Valley Seafoods, based in Huonville in the south east of the island, has entered liquidation.

The company not only sources and processes seafood but also distribute and exports it.

Huon Valley Seafoods, based in Huonville in the south east of the island, has entered liquidation (file picture)

Louisa Sijabat was appointed as liquidator on July 24.

She told 7News that the company that 'operations have declined in the last couple of years'.

She said the firm had been sold to investors in Melbourne but then the former owners of the company had 'fallen out' with the new directors.

The Huon Valley Seafoods website has since been deleted.

Customers were gutted to see the company go under.

'Very sad now the company is in liquidation. The seafood was amazing and fresh,' one said.
Former U.S. Senator James Buckley, a premier conservative voice in Washington in the 1970s who successfully challenged limits on spending by political candidates while championing student privacy rights, died in Washington on Friday at age 100.

He died at Sibley Memorial Hospital following complications related to a fall, according to his nephew Christopher Buckley, the author and political satirist.

Buckley served in a high office in all three branches of the U.S. government and was a hero to many in the conservative movement, but his career was overshadowed by his brother William F. Buckley Jr., the renowned conservative commentator.

He served a single term in the Senate from New York from 1971 to 1977 under the banner of the Conservative Party - winning a three-way race that ousted an incumbent Republican.

Republican Senator James Buckley at a press conference in New York on February 14th, 1974

Publisher-columnist William F. Buckley Jr. joins in rejoicing over the victory in New York's Senatorial race by his brother, James Buckley, (right), at the latter's campaign headquarters here November 3rd. The conservative party's senator elect scored a decisive win over Republican and Democratic opponents

In 1975, Buckley led a court challenge to a campaign finance reform law imposing limits on the amount of money political candidates could spent on campaigns and the amount individuals could donate to candidates.

The law was passed by Congress after the Watergate corruption scandal that in 1974 led Richard Nixon to become the first U.S. president to resign.

Buckley asserted that the law's limits on campaign spending violated the right to free speech outlined in the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment.

In its landmark 1976 ruling in the case known as Buckley v. Valeo, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down limits on expenditures by candidates and their committees but upheld limits on contributions to candidates.

Critics of the ruling argue that it augmented the corrosive effect of money in U.S. politics and helped lead to the extravagantly expensive nature of American political campaigns.

Buckley left his mark on the issue of student privacy. Congress in 1974 passed his legislation, commonly called the Buckley Amendment, that limits access to student records without parental consent in colleges, high schools and elementary schools. The measure also guarantees that parents can see their child's educational records.

Buckley's first involvement in politics came in 1965 when he managed his brother's unsuccessful campaign for New York City mayor.

Buckley first ran for office in 1968 as the Conservative Party nominee, losing a New York U.S. Senate race to Jacob Javits, the Republican incumbent.

'VERY STRANGE THINGS'

He declared after that loss that he would not run again but changed his mind because he was disturbed by events unfolding in America during the turbulent Vietnam War era.

'In the next couple of years, in 1969 and 1970, some very strange things started happening in the United States. I refer to the campus violence, the anti-war protests, the bombings and flag-burnings, the rejection of traditional standards that dominated the headlines during that period,' Buckley said in a 1995 interview.

He ran for the Senate in 1970, winning with just 39% of the vote in a three-way race against incumbent Republican Senator Charles Goodell and Democrat Richard Ottinger. As a senator, Buckley closely aligned himself with the Republicans.

James Buckley at a Senate hearing

Buckley gives the thumbs-up sign as he claims victory over Democratic candidate Richard Ottinger and incumbent Republican Charles Goodell for the U.S. Senate from New york State. Buckley was the first third-party senator in 30 years

James Buckley, United States Senator

Buckley lost his re-election bid in New York in 1976 to Democrat Daniel Patrick Moynihan. In 1980 he lost a run for the Senate from Connecticut to Democrat Christopher Dodd.

Buckley opposed abortion, gun control and a constitutional amendment guaranteeing women equal rights. He warned about excessive government interference and federal spending.

In 1976, Buckley briefly mulled becoming a candidate to be the Republican presidential nominee in a race in which former California governor Ronald Reagan was challenging incumbent President Gerald Ford for the nomination.

Jesse Helms, one of the most conservative Republican senators, urged Buckley to enter the race after Reagan dismayed fellow conservatives by designating moderate Senator Richard Schweiker as his running mate if he won the nomination. Ford won the nomination but lost the election to Democrat Jimmy Carter.

Buckley served as a senior official in the U.S. State Department after Reagan was elected president in 1980. He was the chief defender of the Reagan administration's policy of making weapons more available for sale to U.S. allies overseas.

He then served Reagan in Munich from 1982 to 1985 as the head of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty - two Cold War era U.S. agencies that broadcast news and information to the Soviet Union and Soviet bloc countries.

In 1985, Reagan named Buckley to serve as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the most influential U.S. court apart from the Supreme Court. He heard cases until 2000.

He had six children with his wife, Ann Frances Cooley.
A police officer lost his laptop and notebook as he drove along the motorway after leaving them on the roof of his car - in the fourth data breach by a single force.

The PSNI said it is investigating after a senior officer revealed sections of the lost notebook remain outstanding.

The latest revelation comes just a week after the force suffered a major data breach when the personal details of more than 10,000 officers and staff were mistakenly released.

Assistant Chief Constable Chris Todd said: 'It is believed the material fell from a moving vehicle on the foreshore stretch of the M2 motorway on Thursday August 17, around 4.15pm.

'The laptop was immediately deactivated and has been recovered. Sections of the notebook remain outstanding.

A police officer lost his laptop and notebook as he drove along the motorway after leaving them on the roof of his car. This is the fourth data breach by a single force (File image)

'Inquiries are under way to establish the contents of the notebook.'

They added: 'We will be liaising with the Office of the Information Commissioner and have advised the Northern Ireland Policing Board and the Department of Justice.

'Anyone with information or who recovers any material is asked to contact police on 101.'

Meanwhile, a man has been arrested in Co Londonderry by detectives investigating potential criminality linked to last week's major data breach.

The 50-year-old was detained under the Terrorism Act following a search in the Dungiven area on Friday. He is being questioned at Musgrave Serious Crime Suite in Belfast.

Detective Chief Superintendent Andy Hill said officers are investigating the sharing of information from the data breach.

He said: 'We continue to work toward establishing those who possess information relating to last week's data breach, and will take action to ensure that any criminality identified is dealt with robustly to keep communities, and our officers and staff who serve them, safe.'

Earlier this week, a 39-year-old man was detained following a search in Lurgan, Co Armagh, as part of the same investigation.

The latest revelation comes just a week after the force suffered a major data breach when the personal details of more than 10,000 officers and staff were mistakenly released (File image)

He was questioned on suspicion of collection of information likely to be of use to terrorists, and later released on bail to allow for further police inquiries.

Last week the PSNI revealed a document had mistakenly been shared online in response to a freedom of information request.

Details released included the surname and first initial of every employee, their rank or grade, where they are based and the unit they work in.

This week PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne said he believed the information was in the hands of dissident republicans.

It followed the posting of documents from the leak on a wall near a Sinn Fein office in Belfast.

READ MORE: Outrage at massive police data breach that saw the personal details of more than 10,000 PSNI officers and staff accidentally published online Advertisement

Many officers have expressed concern for their safety in Northern Ireland, where police are under threat from terrorists - with the current level of threat assessed as severe, meaning an attack is highly likely.

Earlier this year, dissident republicans were blamed for the attempted murder of senior PSNI detective John Caldwell.

The Policing Board, which has oversight of the PSNI, is to hold a follow-up meeting next Tuesday to receive an update on the data leak and to consider further actions necessary.

A spokesperson said: 'Members will also have the opportunity to question other data loss incidents that have been reported over the course of the last week.'

Last week the PSNI also revealed that in a separate incident, a document containing the names of officers and staff was stolen along with a police-issue laptop from an officer's car on July 6.

The Northern Ireland Policing Board is to hold an additional meeting over last week's major PSNI data breach

A spokesperson for the board, which oversees policing in the region, said members will receive an update from PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne and consider any further actions necessary.

'The Northern Ireland Policing Board will hold a follow-up meeting on Tuesday August 22 with the chief constable to receive an update on issues arising from the August 8 data breach and consider any further actions necessary,' they said.

'Members will also have the opportunity to question other data loss incidents that have been reported over the course of the last week.'
Tickets for this year's Burning Man are selling at steep discounts, as longtime fans of the desert festival express frustration for a number of reasons.

Burning Man is set to run from August 27 to September 4 in the temporary Black Rock City erected in the desert near Gerlach, Nevada, and tickets normally cost $575, on top of the $150 parking pass.

But as of Friday, resellers were offering tickets as cheap as $139, with parking passes marked down to $105, as an apparent glut of unwanted tickets hit the market.

According to SFGate, its not unusual to see a flurry of tickets appear on resale channels in the days leading up to Burning Man -- but the steep discounts on offer this year appear unusual.

Longtime 'Burners,' as participants are known, told the outlet that a number of factors are discouraging attendance this year, including weather concerns, recent tech layoffs, and an influx of influencers and 'annoying' electronic music at the festival.

Last year a dust storm hit the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, where Burning Man has been held since the early 1990s

A huge line of cars is seen following last year's festival, when some Burners said they had to wait up to 12 hours to exit the event

As well, last year was the first Burning Man after a two-year pandemic hiatus, and attendance surged to a record high as fans flocked back to the event.

Since many Burners like to take years off between attending, the pandemic pause may have reset the cycle and teed up 2023 as an off-year.

Several Burners also cited weather concerns, after last year's event suffered through temperatures as high as 103F, and strong winds blasted the festival, piling up dunes that made travel by bike difficult.

'Last year's Burn was hot and difficult, which is part of the trendline the Earth is on,' longtime Burner Linda Williamson told SFGate.

Williamson first attended Burning Man in 1997 but won't be going back this year, citing a logistical nightmare last year that resulted in a 10-hour traffic jam to return to civilization after the event.

'You have to devote an entire day just to the process of getting to the pavement,' Williamson said. 'I would love to be able to go, but I would also love to be able to leave.'

Last year, some Burners reported that they waited as long as 12 hours to get away from the camp, and photos from the event show monster traffic jams stretching across the desert.

Last year was the first Burning Man after a two-year pandemic hiatus, and attendance surged to a record high as fans flocked back to the event

Paris Hilton is seen at Burning Man last year. Since many Burners like to take years off between attending, the pandemic pause may have reset the cycle and teed up 2023 as an off-year

Burners who are selling their tickets also cited financial concerns as a reason for backing out this year, following widespread layoffs in the tech sector

According to the San Francisco Standard, Burners who are selling their tickets also cited financial concerns as a reason for backing out this year.

Burning Man has longstanding ties to the Bay Area and its tech industry -- in fact, the event was first held on a San Francisco beach in the 1980s, when it originated as a small bonfire ceremony for the summer solstice.

The tech industry has been hard-hit by layoffs in recent months, with more than 227,000 technology sector workers laid off globally this year, according to tracking site Layoffs.fyi.

Other Burner complaints include an influx of social media influencers at the event, which some might argue goes against Burning Man's 'no spectators' mandate, which requires all who attend to participate and contribute in some way.

As well, some are annoyed with the proliferation of loud, pulsating electronic music at Burning Man, turning the experiential art encounter into something more like a rave.

Still, Burners have lamented for decades that the festival has lost its soul and isn't what it used to be.

At the 2011 iteration of the event, longtime attendee Brian Doherty noted in an AP interview that the literal lawlessness that had marked Burning Man's early years in the Nevada desert has tamed.
President Biden is facing growing criticism due to his nonchalant responses to the devastating wildfires in Maui that have killed at least 111.

First asked about the blaze on Sunday, the president told a reporter 'no comment' as he lounged on the beach near his Delaware vacation home. His response prompted outrage by Republicans and from even some of his Democratic allies.

And while on a leisurely bike ride along the Delaware coast, Biden simply replied he's 'looking at it' when asked by another reporter about whether he wanted to discuss the tragedy in Maui.

On Tuesday, Biden appeared to forget the name Maui, referring to the island in a speech in Milwaukee as 'the one where you see on television all the time.'

Later in the speech, Biden cleaned up his language and said he and First Lady Jill would visit Hawaii 'as soon as we can' but didn't want to 'get in the way' of recovery efforts as the death toll grows.

The White House officially announced on Wednesday the president and Jill will travel to Maui on Monday 'to meet with first responders, survivors, as well as federal, state, and local officials, in the wake of deadly wildfires.'

The 80-year-old smiled as he got into his waiting motorcade, but refused to answer questions about Hawaii

'Can you tell us about your Hawaii trip?' asked a reporter on Thursday curious to get more details about the planned stop.

'No, not now,' Biden responded, earning him even more backlash.

Biden will jet over to Maui from Lake Tahoe - where he arrives Friday for a vacation. The president had originally been planning to spend six days at the ritzy Nevada vacation spot but opted to cut the trip short following blowback.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was also grilled inside the White House briefing room about why Biden hadn't addressed the matter at length or announced a trip.

She pushed back at criticism of the president's handling of the wildfires in Maui, insisting on Wednesday before the official announcement, 'we are taking this incredibly seriously.'

'You're going to continue to hear from the president. He's eager to head out to Maui, to see for himself,' she told CNN's This Morning.

The president also ignored multiple shouted questions by reporters throughout the week, who wanted an update on the federal response to the disaster.

He quickly ran past the pack of White House reporters and ignored questions about the fire response while walking across the South Lawn to Marine One on multiple occasions throughout the week.

On Friday at Camp David, Biden ignored questions after a photo op with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President President Yoon Suk-yeol.

The leaders are expected to sign a new security pledge, agreeing to consult one another should a crisis arise in the Pacific, a plan that China roasted as forming 'exclusive groups and cliques' and comes as North Korea is expected to test a new round of missiles.

Biden's initial 'no comment' remark prompted outrage from even some of his Democratic allies.

'I campaigned for you,' said former Hawaii legislator Kaniela Ing on Monday on X. 'Now, when I lose dozens of my friends, family, and neighbors. This?'

Instagram influencer Rogan O'Handley wrote on Twitter, now known as 'X,' that the more we learn about Hawaii, 'the more we learn why Joe Biden has consistently responded with 'no comment.'

'There is something REAL fishy going on here,' he continued.

'President Biden completely ignored the people of East Palestine. Now, he's giving the people of Maui the same treatment,' Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, wrote on X.

Before Biden announced his visit, Republicans compared his lack of a visit to East Palestine, Ohio - where a train derailed and spilled toxic chemicals, displacing 100s. Biden had promised to visit the Ohio town but never did.

'Hey, maybe if we change the name of Maui to Ukraine, maybe they will pay attention to us,' said former Democratic Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, arguing a one-time $700 payment pales in comparison to the tens of billions the U.S. has spent defending Ukraine against Russia.

Following the criticism, President Biden promised to offer assistance to Maui for 'as long as it takes' ahead of his trip to the island.

'The entire nation is with you as you recover, rebuild and grieve,' Biden said in a recorded message given Thursday to Good Morning America.

The wildfire that broke out August 8 in the town of Lahaina is now the deadliest in more than a century, and the fifth-deadliest on record for the U.S.

'We'll be with you for as long as it takes, I promise you,' the president added. He noted the federal government has already taken action to send hundreds of emergency personnel and thousands of meals and supplies to the tourist town ravaged by flames.

Some 2,200 buildings have been decimated by the inferno and around 1,300 people remain missing.

Crews are expected to continue searching the charred debris and have deployed cadaver dogs to search for survivors.

More than 3,000 people have registered for federal assistance, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and that number is expected to grow.

FEMA is providing $700 to displaced residents to cover the cost of food, water, first aid and medical supplies, in addition to qualifying coverage for the loss of homes and personal property.

The Biden administration is also seeking $12 billion more for the government's disaster relief fund, as part of its supplemental funding request to Congress.

Joe and Jill Biden are seen on Sunday enjoying the beach with friends

An urban search and rescue crew searches for human remains at a home destroyed by the West Maui Fire, in Lahaina on the island of Maui, Hawaii Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023

Some 2,200 buildings have been decimated by the blaze

Meanwhile the Maui County Emergency Management Agency has also come under attacks for its response to the fire and how citizens were alerted of the danger.

The agency's administrator Herman Andaya defended the department's decision not to sound Lahaina's alarm system, arguing the alarms are typically used for tsunamis and citizens would have been trained to run for the hills - where the fire was closing in from.

'The public is trained to seek higher ground in the event that the siren is sounded,' Andaya said during a press conference.

'Had we sounded the siren that night, we're afraid that people would have gone mauka [to the mountainside] and if that was the case then they would have gone into the fire,' Andaya said.

But Andaya resigned Thursday following backlash to the botched response.
The father of 10-year-old Sara Sharif is being sought by detectives investigating her murder in Woking last week, along with his partner and his brother, Surrey Police said.

It comes as MailOnline exclusively revealed that local police are hunting for Malik Uran Sharif, 31, in Pakistan.

Detectives have now identified three people they would like to speak to as part of the investigation into the murder of 10-year-old Sara Sharif in Woking, the force said.

They are Sara's father, Urfan Sharif, 41, his partner Beinash Batool, 29, and Urfan's brother, Faisal Malik, 28.

The force said: 'It is believed Urfan travelled to Islamabad, Pakistan, in company with his partner and his brother on Wednesday August 9. There were five children with them aged between a year and 13 years old.

'Our enquiries remain ongoing to locate them and we are continuing to work with international agencies, including Interpol, the National Crime Agency and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to progress our enquiries with the Pakistani authorities.'

Sara Sharif, aged 10, was found dead at her home in Horsell, near Woking, in the early hours of last Thursday morning - triggering an international manhunt for three men

Malik Urfan Sharif (pictured), father of Sara Sharif, left the UK along with two other people a day before the youngster's body was discovered. He is now wanted by police

Detective Superintendent Mark Chapman, from the Surrey Police and Sussex Police Major Crime Team, said: 'Firstly, on behalf of Surrey Police, I would like to express my heartfelt condolences following Sara's tragic death.

'Our thoughts are with her mother at this difficult time. We also fully appreciate the impact this devastating incident will have had within the local community.

'While the post-mortem has not provided us with an established cause of death at this time, the fact that we now know that Sara had suffered multiple and extensive injuries over a sustained and extended period has significantly changed the nature of our investigation, and we have widened the timescale of the focus of our enquiry.

'As a result, we are trying to piece together a picture of Sara's lifestyle but we cannot do this without the public's help.

'That is why we are appealing for anyone who knew Sara, had any form of contact with her, or has any other information about her, no matter how insignificant it might seem, to come forward as soon as possible.'

He added: 'In the meantime, I would like to reassure you that we are doing everything possible, including working with our partners and international agencies, to ensure that those responsible for Sara's tragic and untimely death are brought to justice.'

Mr Sharif left the UK for Pakistan along with two other people a day before the youngster's body was discovered.

Sara Sharif was found at her home after officers were called from Pakistan by Sara's father, Urfan Sharif, at around 2.50am on August 10, Surrey Police said.

The discovery at the semi-detached property in Hammond Road sparked a murder probe.

Detective superintendent Mark Chapman, from the Surrey Police and Sussex Police major crime team, said Mr Sharif, his partner, Beinash Batool, and his brother, Faisal Malik, are wanted for questioning in the investigation.

He said it is believed Mr Sharif travelled to Islamabad on August 9, a day before Sara's death was discovered, with his partner Ms Batool, and his brother Mr Malik.

They travelled with five children aged between one and 13-years old, he added.

A post-mortem examination, which took place on Tuesday, did not establish the cause of Sara's death and further tests are being carried out.

But the force said the examination revealed the child had suffered "multiple and extensive" injuries, which are likely to have been caused over a "sustained and extended" period of time.

There is no formal extradition treaty between the UK and Pakistan, but Mr Chapman said that people have been extradited from the Asian country before.

Police are working with the Crown Prosecution Service, Interpol, the National Crime Agency and Foreign Office to carry out their investigation and to liaise with Pakistani authorities.

Officers are not looking to identify anyone else in connection with the investigation, Mr Chapman said.

Sara Sharif, aged 10, who was found murdered at her home in Horsell, near Woking, in the early hours of Thursday morning

The main gate of the house, left, is where Urfan was supposed to be hiding. It was raided by the local police station Chotala, Jehlum Cantt

Another brother, Imran Sharif told MailOnline he arrived at the family home in the city of Jhelum last week and that it had also been raided by police looking for him.

He said: 'After reaching Pakistan he came to us and instantly disappeared. He did not bring his family to our home. Some people say he is hiding somewhere in Jhelum in a rented house, but others said he may be gone to Mirpur where his in laws are living.'

Mr Sharif, who is Malik's younger brother added: 'Police has raided our home twice during the last week and took pictures of Urfan and other family members. We have been warned to inform police immediately soon after receiving his whereabouts.'

Mr Sharif's brother, Imran Sharif (pictured) told MailOnline that he arrived at the family home in the city of Jhelum last week

A spokesman for Chotala Police Station in Jhelum, which is co-ordinating the manhunt confirmed: 'We have been asked by the senior officers to arrest Urfan Sharif who recently came from England. The FIA (Federal Investigation Agency) has sent a draft to district police officer to arrest him immediately.'

Another official added: 'We are actively looking for Sharif and are confident that we will find him. We believe he is in the Jhelum or Mirpur area and have raided a number of properties. It is only a matter of time before we find him.'

Today's revelation comes as politicians in the UK demanded urgent action from the Pakistani authorities to apprehend the wanted fugitives.

Jonathan Lord, Conservative MP for Woking, told MailOnline he wanted the Government to leave 'no stone unturned' in its efforts with Pakistani officials. 'I'll be badgering ministers to make sure this man can be brought back here, if that's what the situation deserves,' he added. 'I'm going to be in very close contact with appropriate ministers, including the Foreign Secretary. 'As the local MP I will lobby furiously for that to happen.'

Labour MP Khalid Mahmood, a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Pakistan, also called for action from Foreign Office officials in the Asian country and for representations to be made to the interim government in Islamabad to 'put this right'.

'All of us on the APPG for Pakistan would certainly push as much as we can the Pakistan government,' he told MailOnline.

Police officers in the village of Horsell, near Woking, where the 10-year-old girl's body was found

'I for one would be happy to lobby the Pakistan government directly. Any way I can help or speak to any individuals, different politicians that we've met... certainly people in the interior ministry in Pakistan and make our views clear to them that this is a very important issue for us to deal with.'

Mr Mahmood said he 'couldn't understand' why there wasn't a full extradition treaty with Pakistan already in place.

He added: 'At the moment, we have a treaty to be able to send asylum seekers and people who served prison sentences back to Pakistan.

'So I don't know why we're not solved the opposite way around either. I think that's a failure of Government.

'And I think what the Government has to do is look at that very seriously. And I would urge them to to put this in place and if they did put it in place I'd be very happy to support that.'

A local travel agent revealed he was contacted by someone known to her wanting plane tickets for three adults and five children.

Tickets to Islamabad costing more than 5,000 were booked on August 9, hours before Sara's body was found alone by Surrey Police.

Mr Sharif moved into the three-bedroom 550,000 council house in the quiet village of Horsell, near Woking, in April with his wife Beenish and children.

His younger brother continued: 'I was not on good terms with my brother Urfan. He married a Polish lady earlier.

'When he came last, he told parents that he is living with some European people. Later, we got information he got married a Polish woman. In fact, we had no idea that he has fled England.'

A post-mortem examination performed on Tuesday concluded that the cause of death for 10-year-old Sara was 'still to be established'.

A cordon was set up by officers as police began a murder investigation into the circumstances of the girl's death

Locals have described their trauma and paid their respects after the tragic death of the 10-year-old

British detectives are still looking to speak to three people who were known to the victim and who are understood to have travelled to Pakistan on August 9, a day before the girl's death was discovered.

Detective superintendent Mark Chapman said at a media briefing at Surrey Police headquarters that officers are not looking to identify anyone else in connection with the murder probe.

He added they are working with international partners.

However, there is no formal extradition treaty between the UK and Pakistan which could prove a hurdle investigators will need to overcome.

The British government does have the option of issuing memorandum of understanding to have wanted UK fugitives returned to Britain to face justice.

But this can take years for anything to happen. Such an order was used to bring killer Zafar Iqbal to justice after he throttled his 'defenceless' wife Naziat Khan in August 2001 before fleeing to Pakistan.

Iqbal strangled his wife to death in a so-called 'honour killing' after she asked to divorce him, murdering the 38-year-old in front of her children.

Iqbal carried out the killing 'for no better reason' than that he could not face the cultural shame that would follow from his wife's demand for a divorce, the Old Bailey heard.

Zafar Iqbal, 62, (pictured) throttled Naziat Khan, 38, with her own scarf in front of their three young daughters at her home in Norbury, south-west London, in August 2001 before fleeing to Pakistan

The court heard about repeated incidents of domestic violence leading to Ms Naziat Khan (pictured) initiating Islamic divorce proceedings in June 2000

Once the killer fled his home in Norbury, south-west London, he spent almost 20 years evading justice in Pakistan before he was eventually extradited and charged with murder in September 2021. He was jailed for life in December and must serve a minimum of 19 years behind bars.

And in April a 74-year-old man was extradited from Pakistan to be charged with the murder of West Yorkshire police officer PC Sharon Beshenivsky, who was shot dead in Bradford in 2005.

Piran Ditta Khan was brought back to the UK and taken into custody at a West Yorkshire police station, where he was charged with killing the 38-year-old officer. He is also charged with robbery, two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, and two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon.

However, lawyer Adam Rasul, chief executive of Holborn Adams, said the suspects being sought in connection with the death of little Sara would be extradited far sooner than those involved in the deaths of PC Beshenivsky and Ms Naziat Khan.

The top lawyer, who is an expert of international extradition and previously worked on the case to release controversial social media influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan after the pair were jailed in a Romanian prison and placed under house arrest, said numerous law enforcement agencies would be involved.

Speaking to MailOnline, he predicted the 'horrific' death of the 10-year-old and media scrutiny surrounding it would prompt officials in Pakistan to act 'swiftly' to detain the suspects and agree to send them back to the UK.

'Irrespective of the fact there's no official agreement, I will be really surprised if there isn't a swift return in this case,' he said.

'I would like to think and trust the process there would be an expediated mutual, succinct and swift decision.

Olga Sharif, 36, with a picture of her beloved daughter Sara, who she would like to lay to rest in Poland

Tributes have poured in for the 'lovely' Sara, with flowers and notes left outside her family home. A mourner is pictured leaving flowers outside the property on Friday

'Because of the interest to try and help justice and the family, I truly believe media pressure would get this over the line.'

He added the extradition of Iqbal proved there was strong precedent of suspects being returned from Pakistan to the UK.

Sara's father Urfan, 41, had full custody of his daughter and his 13-year-old son.

However, the girl's mother Olga Sharif said her daughter's behaviour changed as her ex-husband influence on her life increased.

Ms Sharif said she married Urfan in November 2009, but the marriage ended in 2017. She claims she was only allowed to see her children twice in the past four years.

Ms Sharif, who now lives in Somerset, hopes to bury Sara in her native Poland.

The heartbroken mother has described Sara as 'an amazing child'. She said: 'She was so beautiful. I can't believe she's dead.'

Locals spoke of their shock and fear the day after the 10-year-old's body was discovered.

Many of the flowers left on the pavement outside the house had heartfelt messages written by local families attached, while one person left a stuffed unicorn.

One note read: 'Sweet girl, I'm so sorry that your sparkle was put out too soon.'
An MP has called for action to be taken to stop a highly-addictive amphetamine-type stimulant already popular in the Middle East from 'infecting the UK'.

Alicia Kearns, chairwoman of Britain's parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, told MailOnline today that 'we should be very concerned' that captagon could travel through 'significant trafficking networks' to the UK unless stopped in its tracks.

The Conservative MP for Rutland and Melton said the drug was being used as 'a form of blackmail' by Syrian President Bashar Al Assad's regime to 'leverage and secure their interests', with devastating consequences for local populations.

As authorities in Europe also report record hauls of the drug, Ms Kearns warned that the illicit economy was 'allowing these terrorist actors to finance themselves and secure their interests'. Experts believe the trade could be worth as much as $57 billion - three times the combined trade of the Mexican cartels.

Ms Kearns called for 'the UK to sanction the members of the Assad family explicitly involved in this illicit family-trade, including one member of the family who regularly travels to the UK' and said 'we need to ensure that our Border Force and other agencies are aware of captagon and working to prevent it reaching our shores'.

Selling for $3 to $25 per tablet, the pill is mainly produced and trafficked by groups tied to Bashar al-Assad and Lebanese ally, Hezbollah. Dubbed the 'poor man's cocaine', captagon causes bursts of energy, wakefulness and euphoria, and is also associated with delusions, depression, convulsions and breathing difficulties.

'It is a relatively cheap drug, and easy to hide and transport, and we do not want more drugs infecting the UK,' MP Alicia Kearns told MailOnline

Captagon's mainstream production ceased in the late 20th century but experts warn Bashar Al Assad's regime in Syria is profiting from allowing the trade to thrive once again

Speaking to MailOnline, Ms Kearns urged that more be done to counter the drug's supply overseas.

She said: 'The US has recently launched the Global Coalition on Synthetic Drugs, which the UK has joined.

What are the risks associated with captagon? While there is no extended scientific research into fenethylline's pharmacology and toxicity, some early studies point to potentially fatal risks associated with the drug. A 2014 study into heart failure and captagon use concluded that users had 'higher risk of in-hospital death' (7 per cent versus 4 per cent for non-users) and recurrent admission with heart failure (35 per cent versus 24 per cent). Captagon use was 'found to be an independent risk factor of death and other morbidities' in patients facing cardiomyopathy and heart failure. While a small amount of the drug can improve mental and psychomotor performance, and is considered to have less potential for abuse than amphetamine, intravenous administration has caused seizures in animals. Long term use was also associated with depression, lethargy, insomnia, heart palpitations, blood vessel toxicity and malnutrition. Some regular users have suffered blurred vision, breathing difficulties, irregular heartbeat, muscle and joint pain, cramping, mood swings, confusion and irritability. Experts also warn of the consumption of counterfeit pills containing other stimulants - all with their own risks. Advertisement

'This is an important initiative, but we need to counter the drugs at source as well.

'The reality is that a good deal, if not the vast majority when it comes to fentanyl, of the pre-cursor products to produce synthetic drugs, come from China, and the Chinese Communist Party could choose to significantly reduce the spread of these materials to limit and reduce the impact of these drugs.

'I have been raising my concerns about captagon for over a year, and recently held a hearing of the foreign affairs committee explicitly on narco-diplomacy and captogan to help raise the issue up the agenda.'

In June, the Foreign Affairs Committee held a hearing, focusing on how the Syrian economy had become reliant on its trade and how the UK might respond to global drug trafficking.

The UK and the US also this year imposed sanctions on those responsible for the illicit drug trade 'fuelling Assad's war machine'.

The Home Office acknowledged in February that police have made a seizure of Fenethylline (street name captagon) in the UK within the last five years.

Concerns on the continent have primarily been accelerated by hauls of the drug in southern Europe in recent years.

In 2020, authorities in Italy seized more than 14 tons of the drug, and raids on warehouses in the north and centre of the country have continued to return results.

Officials in the US have taken additional measures to catch the trend before it hits the North American continent.

In this year's defence budget, Congress passed the Captagon Act, a strategy 'to deny, degrade, and dismantle Assad-linked narcotics production and trafficking networks'.

French Hill, a Congressman and lead sponsor of the Act, told The National that he 'absolutely has concerns' about the drug reaching the west next.

He said: 'Drug traffickers are always looking for new markets and the top non-state actor in the Captagon trade is [] Hezbollah.

'Hezbollah has had a presence in the Western Hemisphere for more than 10 years.'

He added: 'I can assure you [captagon] is a priority.'

The pill is mainly produced and trafficked by groups tied to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (pictured) and Lebanese ally Hezbollah

Captagon was originally prescribed as a treatment for ADHD and narcolepsy, produced in 1961 by German company Degussa AG.

Pills contain fenetylline, a synthetic drug from the same family as amphetamine.

Fenetylline was included in Schedule II of the 1971 UN Convention of Psychotropic Substances in 1986 and its use discontinued worldwide.

But while mainstream production has ceased, remaining stocks were largely smuggled out of eastern Europe and into the Middle East.

Authorities in Turkey and the Balkans have clamped down on large-scale laboratories in the years since, but experts warn of a revival of sorts in Syria.

Damascus denies its involvement in the trade, but western powers fear President Bashar Al Assad to be profiting from allowing the drug's production and smuggling.

The drug is often exported for weapons and cash, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime expects Islamic State and Nusra Front to be facilitating the smuggling of chemicals for its production.

A report by New Lines Institute last year warned that production was expanding, with patterns 'shifting in Syria from smaller, fragmented operations in rebel-held areas to industrial, containerised operations in territories held by the regime of President Bashar al Assad'.

The summary concluded that 'elements of the Syrian government are key drivers of the captagon trade, with ministerial-level complicity in production and smuggling, using the trade as a means for political and economic survival amid international sanctions.'

The Institute urged that widespread captagon consumption poses 'a potential serious public health threat in Syria and beyond due to the lack of adequate public health and drug treatment services and the ever-changing chemical composition of the drug'.

Adeem Azhar, clinical pharmacist and co-founder of Core Prescribing Solutions, told MailOnline the fears of captagon reaching British shores 'appear to be justified'.

He said: 'There are signs of an uptick in captagon use in Europe.

'While Britain has not yet seen a major captagon haul, other European countries have reported significant seizures.

'For instance, authorities in the Italian port of Salerno seized a substantial amount of captagon in 2020.

'Additionally, there have been reports of captagon labs and smuggling operations in Germany and Austria.

'The increasing transnational nature of the drug's trade and its potential to penetrate new markets, especially in Europe, make it a timely and pressing concern.'

The pharmacist warned that captagon use could 'lead to health complications, dependency issues and social problems', with risks including cardiovascular issues, psychosis, addiction, and cognitive impairment.

'It's important to note that the effects of captagon can vary based on the dosage, the individual's health, and whether other substances are used concurrently. Always consult with a healthcare professional regarding concerns about drug use or its effects.'

Mr Azhar told MailOnline that Britain is 'showing signs of proactivity' in preparation to deal with a possible captagon health crisis.

'The UK Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee has already hosted a hearing on the captagon trade.

'Both London and Washington are ramping up legislative attention on the trade, indicating a recognition of the potential threat and a willingness to address it.

'However, the article does not provide explicit details on Britain's healthcare infrastructure or addiction treatment readiness specifically for captagon.'

A world record seizure of a 14-ton haul of captogan, in the form of around 84 million tablets, reportedly produced in Syria by Islamic State, hidden in containers found in Salerno in 2020

Image shows the haul of captogan tablets recovered by authorities in Salerno in 2020, valued at over one billion euro

Reports say captagon has been used by students in order to stay awake before final exams and by women trying to lose weight.

Authorities in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar - some of the countries worst hit by the trade - note prevalent use among younger, more affluent citizens.

A drug control officer in Homs, Syria, described clashing with protesters under the influence of the drug: 'We would beat them, and they wouldn't feel the pain [] many of them would laugh while we were dealing them heavy blows.'
Airport admits the gate has problems after Jones told police he had 'just his breaking point'

A senior airline pilot, only years short of his retirement, had just hit his breaking point when he carried out a prolonged ax attack on a car park barrier that would not open.

United Airlines pilot Kenneth Jones, 63, has been suspended by his employers and charged with criminal mischief after flying off the handle at Denver International Airport in Colorado.

Airport video footage shows the uniformed pilot striding towards the barrier in the staff car park carrying an ax which he is thought to have had in his vehicle.

As motorists look on open-mouthed he vigorously swings the ax at the gate 23 times until it finally flips off its hinge, leaving the exit open.

Police deputies in Adams County say he told them he 'just hit his breaking point', and was trying to get rid of issues for everyone.

The pilot took 23 vigorous swings at the gate that had infuriated him



Authorities at the airport admitted to CBS News Colorado that there was an issue with delays at the gate because many users do not have the correct permit.

Jones told police he launched his August 2 attack after seeing six cars in line at each of the three exit gates as he was trying to leave.

The airport footage shows a man in a high-visibility jacket grappling with the pilot in a different area of the car park before successfully wrestling the ax off him.

A second man intervenes before police catch up with the pilot in a field by the runway and march him in handcuffs to their vehicle.

Jones was caught on camera marching purposefully towards the gate at Denver International Airport with the ax swinging from his right hand

Jones marched off after the gate finally yielded to the blows and flew off its hinges

It took two civilians to disarm the pilot before he was arrested by police and marched off

Jones has qualifications to fly some of the biggest passenger aircraft including Boeings 767 and 757.

While the senate is currently considering raising the retirement age of pilots from 65 to 67 - a measure that has already passed a vote in congress - the international retirement age for pilots is currently 65. It is unclear if 63-year-old Jones will see his pension impacted by his erratic outburst.

He does not have a criminal record in Colorado and the video shows him being released from custody,

But he is due to face an arraignment hearing in Adams County Court on September 25.

He was removed from the schedule and is on leave while United conducts an internal investigation, a spokesman for the airline said.
The founder of pro-Ron DeSantis political action committee Never Back Down told DailyMail.com that he doesn't view Sen. Tim Scott or Vivek Ramaswamy as threats to the Florida Governor.

Ken Cuccinelli, who was a top Homeland Security aide under Donald Trump, defected from the ex-President and is now helping back DeSantis' bid for the White House.

While DeSantis consistently polls in a distant second place to Trump, some other candidates in the crowded field are gaining some ground on him with Scott and Vivek often trading off for third place  but Cuccinelli isn't concerned.

Rather, he says that the 'oxygen keeps getting sucked out of the room' every time Trump is handed down a new indictment.

Founder of pro-Ron DeSantis Never Back Down PAC Ken Cuccinelli told DailyMail.com that Vivek Ramaswamy and Sen. Tim Scott don't pose a 'threat' to the Florida governor's campaign

Cuccinelli said the debate on Wednesday will help DeSantis (pictured Friday) gain ground with American voters who haven't been able to see him without the media lens on

Cuccinelli said the debate on Wednesday will help DeSantis gain ground with American voters who haven't been able to see his personality with their own eyes and not through a media lens.

Speaking with DailyMail.com in Atlanta, Georgia, which is both the home of Never Back Down's headquarters and where the former President received his fourth and latest indictment, Cuccinelli said DeSantis' team is faced with juggling frequent attacks but also breaking through the Trump news cycle.

Sen. Scott (R-S.C.) and biotech millionaire Ramaswamy are both vying to dethrone DeSantis from his No. 2 spot behind Trump.

Cuccinelli came on to lead Never Back Down PAC as a way to encourage DeSantis to run for president before he announced his bid in May.

While he claims that Democrats think they've 'stumbled on gold from their radical, wacky left wing perspective' with their indictments against Trump, he said the continued focus on the ex-President is 'not good for America.'

'[DeSantis] is taking all the incoming, you know, attacks,' Cuccinelli said. 'But that tells me who everybody sees as the threat. And he's got staying power and he's resilient. He has a great work ethic. He's having more fun on the trail, which builds stamina.'

When asked if either Scott or Vivek could surpass DeSantis, Cuccinelli wasn't convinced that they pose a threat to the campaign.

'I don't think that is necessarily where the threat comes from,' he told DailyMail.com. 'It's personality and who's going to do what.'

Cuccinelli said Scott is so 'nice' that he doesn't even attack Democrats and that Ramaswamy is a hypocrite who preaches not to attack other GOP candidates but then goes on to attack DeSantis

Cuccinelli, a former Trump Homeland Security aide, said Trump continues to 'take the oxygen out of the room' with his continued legal woes. It comes after Trump was handed his fourth indictment on Monday, which carries 41 counts and names 18 other individuals in the plot to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia

'Vivek likes to get on TV and say, 'You know, we all need to not attack each other after he's spent five days in a row attacking DeSantis,' he said.

'It's just one after the other. And it does get very old and I'll be honest part of the reason it get old is because you guys don't hold him accountable at all,' he added, claiming that media outlets need to point out the hypocrisy.

Scott, on the other hand, doesn't attack political adversaries enough, Cuccinelli said.

'I've never seen Tim Scott attacking anybody, including Democrats,' he said. 'And you have to be a pugilist to win. He's a super nice guy.'

Scott and Cuccinelli both spoke at conservative radio host Erick Erickson's conference in Atlanta, Georgia on Friday. Ramaswamy will also speak at The Gathering on Saturday.
A disabled military veteran has claimed he was mocked by Dallas police officers after he wet himself when he was not allowed to use the bathroom of a restaurant.

DyNell Lane said employees at Serious Pizza refused to let him use the restroom on June 10 before two off-duty cops, who were working security, refused to look at his medical paperwork.

The former army sergeant, who was wounded during deployment in Afghanistan and Kuwait, ended up urinating on himself and he later called 911.

Two on-duty police officers arrived after the incident and bodycam footage appears to show the four cops mocking Lane with one slapping his knee as he laughed.

Lane reported the incident and spoke at a Dallas police oversight board meeting on August 8 saying they 'discriminated against me and declined to assist me'.

A disabled military veteran has claimed he was mocked by Dallas police officers after he wet himself when he was not allowed to use the bathroom of a restaurant

DyNell Lane said employees at Serious Pizza refused to let him use the restroom on June 10 before two off-duty cops, who were working security, refused to look at his medical paperwork

In the video, one of the officers who arrived later laughs and says: 'So you guys made a guy pee himself?'

One of the off-duty police officer replies 'yes' while smiling and the other slaps his knee and starts laughing out loud after the male officer says Lane called 911.

'He got mad you guys wouldn't let him use the restroom and then he calls back and said it's okay he doesn't need to pee anymore because he soiled,' the on-duty female officer says before the video cuts off.

The off-duty police officers have been named in an internal affairs document as James Smith and Juan Figueroa Lua. But the on-duty cops have not been named.

Lane told the Dallas police oversight board: 'The Dallas Police Department failed me.

'Two Dallas police officers discriminated against me and declined to assist me in bridging the gap between myself and the Serious Pizza manager.

'I had higher expectations from the city. Please hear me when I ask all to make change so no one with a disability will endure what I had to endure.'

Board member Jonathan Maples served in the US Marine Corps and said: 'That absolutely turned my stomach.

'It's absolutely appalling to treat one of our veterans that way.'

Derric Pegram, who also sits on the board, pointed to Dallas police code of conduct which says officers should not ridicule, mock, taunt or belittle anyone on or off duty.

'If he had not even shown the card, he is still a person,' he said. 'He didn't need to talk about his disability.'

In the video, one of the officers who arrived later laughs and says: 'So you guys made a guy pee himself?'

One of the off-duty police officer replies 'yes' while smiling and the other slaps his knee and starts laughing out loud after the male officer says Lane called 911

Lane reported the incident and spoke at a Dallas police oversight board meeting on August 8 saying they 'discriminated against me and declined to assist me'

Lane had surgery on his lower extremities after he was hurt during deployment. He told the oversight board he was medically evaluated out of combat and does not live a regular life

States like Texas have a restroom access law known as 'Ally Law' which says people who are lawfully on the premises of a business should be granted access to a bathroom if they provide evidence they have a medical condition where they need immediate toilet access.

Lane said: 'If a retail establishment chooses to ignore a person who is trying to present such documents, they should be held accountable, for this is why [the Americans With Disabilities Act] is in place.'

He has a state and federal identification card and legal documents.

Lane had surgery on his lower extremities after he was hurt during deployment in Afghanistan and Kuwait.

He told the oversight board he was medically evaluated out of combat and does not live a regular life.

'My life has changed, drastically changed, and has been a constant fight having to explain myself about my disability just to get assistance,' he said.

'This battle leaves me in a constant depression and suicidal at times because of the shame of asking strangers for help while in public.'

The restaurant told The Dallas Morning News that its owner is also a veteran and was not aware about the details of the incident until the bodycam footage was released.

'We are sad and disappointed to have learned about the way he was treated in the vicinity of our restaurant,' it said in a statement.

'We are disheartened that we didn't have the opportunity to resolve the situation in real time.'

An internal affairs administrative investigation is ongoing, police said.
Firefighters in the Canary Islands are still battling dense smoke and high temperatures to control the worst wildfire in decades on Tenerife, officials said Friday.

About 450 firefighters and soldiers backed by 16 aircraft were battling the blaze which has so far destroyed some 3,800 hectares (9,400 acres).

Regional President Fernando Clavijo said today's efforts would be crucial to containing the fire as the air quality in several municipalities remains hazardous.

Some 4,500 people have been evacuated and thousands more advised not to leave their homes since the fire started in the north of the island late on Tuesday.

Television images and videos posted on social media have shown flames coming down a hill close to houses and a massive cloud of smoke rising from the area.

Candelaria mayor Maria Concepcion Brito Nunez told Spanish National Television that firefighters complained that the water being dumped on the flames was evaporating before hitting the ground because of the high temperatures.

No injuries have been reported so far.

Military firefighters battle a forest fire on August 17, 2023 raging in the northeastern part of the Canary island of Tenerife

Residents of the town of Aguamansa watch the wildfires rage out of control on the island of Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain August 17, 2023

The army's Military Emergency Unit said that dense clouds of smoke were impairing visibility for firefighters and preventing many water-carrying aircraft from getting close.

Army Capt. Rafael San Jose told Spanish National Television that some progress had been made overnight in stopping the fire's spread but that rising temperatures during the day would increase difficulties.

The fire is located in a steep and craggy mountain area with pine trees, with several municipalities on its flanks, including El Rosario, Arafo and Candelaria to the east, and La Orotava to the west.

Access for firefighters is extremely difficult, but favourable conditions Friday in El Rosario let authorities lift the confinement call for half of the 3,800 residents there.

The Canary Islands have been in drought for most of the past few years, just like most of mainland Spain.

The islands have recorded below-average rainfall in recent years, because of changing weather patterns impacted by climate change.

The north of the island was forecast to have a maximum temperature of 30 degrees Celsius (84 F) Friday with light winds, (20 kph/12 mph) but temperatures were set to rise over the weekend.

Regional government meteorologist Vicky Palma told reporters that temperatures of up to 34 degrees Celsius (93 F) will be reached Saturday in the wildfire area, and temperatures will continue to rise on Monday and Tuesday.

The flames cover a perimeter of 40 kilometers (25 miles) encircling some 4,000 hectares (10,000 acres) of land.

Nearly 600 firefighters and Spanish army soldiers are in the area, which is in the northeast of the island, some 20 kilometers (12 miles) away from its main town, Santa Cruz.

Tenerife is one of Europe's main tourist destinations. Its tourism office stressed Thursday that the most important tourist areas are far from the fire.

Business continues as usual in accommodation establishments, beaches and other tourist sites near the coast and in the midlands, the office said.

But access to the Teide National Park, the most important tourist attraction in Tenerife after the beaches, was closed Thursday evening and all tourist facilities around the Teide volcano area, including accommodation, were to be evacuated.

Clavijo claimed the fire was the worst in 40 years. He said the combination of extreme temperatures and the fire had turned the area into a virtual oven.

A helicopter drops water on the flames as the fire advances through the forest toward the town of El Rosario in Tenerife, Spain on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023

Smoke covers La Orotava Valley as the forest fire affecting the area continues to burn land, in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, 18 August 2023

Tenerife wildfires are burning 'out of control' forcing officials to close off a top tourist area and evacuate more villages and holiday homes. Pictured: Firefighters work to extinguish the forest fire burning across the hills of the Canary Island of Tenerife on 16 August

The seven-island archipelago is located off the northwest coast of Africa and southwest of mainland Spain.

More than 2,000 people were evacuated in a wildfire on the nearby La Palma island last month that affected some 4,500 hectares (11,000 acres).

According to the latest figures from the European Forest Fire Information System, Spain heads the list of EU countries affected by wildfires so far this years, with 75,000 hectares ( 185,000 acres) burned, ahead of Italy and Greece.

Spain accounted for almost 40% of the nearly 800,00 hectares (2 million acres) burned in the European Union in 2022, the EU agency said.
He faces four murder charges over the grisly 2022 University of Idaho killings

A relative of slain University of Idaho student Kaylee Goncalves was allegedly seen taunting Bryan Kohberger with a pro-death penalty t-shirt during his latest court appearance on Friday.

The hearing saw the alleged quadruple murderer's defense team justify the alibi presented this month - that he was out driving alone on the night of the murders - and to lay out challenges to the techniques used by authorities to gather DNA evidence.

During a break in the proceedings, one of Goncalves' family members was seen wearing a t-shirt promoting the firing squad death penalty, according to investigative reporter Kevin Fixler.

In June, prosecutors indicated they would pursue the death penalty against Kohberger, and the nation's struggles to obtain lethal injection drugs could mean he is given death by firing squad.

Fixler added that Kohberger appeared 'relaxed' during the proceedings, and even smirked as witnesses joked over scientific terms in the hearing.

Kohberger faces four first-degree murder charges for the November 13 killings of Goncalves, 21, and her friends Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, in their off-campus home near the University of Idaho.

Kohberger appeared in court Friday in a suit and tie, a move that legal experts said may be an attempt by his lawyers to humanize him before trial

In June, prosecutors indicated they would pursue the death penalty against Kohberger, pictured in court on Friday

Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson speaks during Friday's hearing

A relative of Kaylee Goncalves (pictured) reportedly taunted Kohberger at Friday's hearing with a pro-firing squad t-shirt

Kohberger is accused of murdering students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and her boyfriend Ethan Chapin

At his latest hearing on Friday, Kohberger's lawyers laid out arguments on six motions, including the state's demand that he produce evidence of an alibi for the killings.

Prosecutors have also insisted he provides witnesses that can support his alibi, however his defense said that 'at this time there is not a specific witness to say precisely where Mr. Kohberger was' on the night of the murders.

'He was out, driving during the late night and early morning hours of November 12-13, 2022,' attorneys said, adding that he 'is not claiming to be at a specific location at a specific time.'

Prosecutors have demanded more specifics over his alleged alibi, and say that 'driving in the area' does not exonerate him and instead places him at the scene.

Ahead of his trial in October, the hearing saw both sides discuss several other points of contention, including a request from Kohberger's team to compel prosecutors to disclose the DNA profiles they will use in court.

His defense also filed a request to delay the court proceedings to allow time to investigate potential procedural issues with the grand jury, which indicted him in May.

Alongside insisting upon his alibi, prosecutors also countered with a request to keep DNA profiles protected, while also filing motions over issues in the timeline of Kohberger's upcoming trial.

Kohberger's defense say his alibi is that he was 'driving alone' on the night of the murders, which prosecutors said does not exonerate him and argued it places him at the scene

Deputy Attorney General Ingrid Batey and Deputy Attorney General Jeff Nye talks during the hearing

Kohberger is seen looking to Judge John Judge during the hearing on Friday, August 18, 2023

No motive has been produced for the slayings, which stunned the nation and left investigators baffled as they took over a month to make an arrest. Pictured: Kernodle and Mogen

Kohberger wore a suit to Friday's hearing, an unusual step, as he would typically be in a prison uniform, which legal experts say is an attempt by his team of lawyers to humanize him amid a swell of public interest in the case.

Genetic genealogy surrounding the DNA evidence in the case was one of the chief issues being heard, with a member of Kohberger's defense team spending around 30 minutes explaining why the way in which police find the material is crucial to its legitimacy.

A genetic genealogy expert was also called to testify, as Kohberger reportedly seemed intent and focused on the witness testimony before him.

His star defense lawyer, Ann Taylor, exchanged words with the alleged murderer, and Fixler said he cracked a smile while witnesses joked about the spelling of scientific terms.

Goncalves' family members' taunting t-shirt comes ahead of Kohberger's highly anticipated trial, in which prosecutors have said they will pursue the death penalty against him.

He has pleaded not guilty to the killings, and his attorneys say he is 'looking forward to clearing his name.'

If found guilty, however, he could face a firing squad after Republican lawmaker Rep. Bruce Skaug introduced a bill that would allow the punishment in the state.

Kohberger was arrested on December 30, a month after he allegedly murdered four University of Idaho students in Moscow, Idaho. He is pictured after his extradition on January 3, 2023

The six-bedroom and three-bedroom home where the four college students lived, and were killed, is set to be demolished after his trial

The hearing is the latest step in the ongoing legal preparations for Kohberger's trial, and prosecutors have been facing mounting pressure to compile their case and present it within six months as he has not yet waived his right for a speedy trial.

Prosecutors are set to lay out a slew of evidence over the alleged crimes, including his DNA police say they found on a knife sheath that was left at the gruesome scene.

Police claim the DNA was a 99.9 percent match to Kohberger and his father, possibly leading to his defense's focus on the legitimacy of processes used by authorities to gather such material during Friday's hearing.

The other key piece of evidence prosecutors hope will convince a jury is Kohberger's white Hyundai Elantra car, which was seen in the area in CCTV surveillance footage.

One of the surviving roommates who was not attacked also said she saw the killer, and that he had 'bushy eyebrows' - another feature of Kohberger's appearance.
A childhood friend of Lucy Letby has told how there were no clues the 'goofy', 'kind' woman was an evil serial killer after she was today found guilty of seven murders and six attempted murders.

Letby is now the UK's most prolific child killer as the government announces an independent inquiry into the deaths at the Countess of Chester Hospital in Cheshire, with police to look at up to 4,000 children who she had a role caring for.

But despite her heinous crimes, childhood friends of the nurse, who they describe as 'the kindest person [they've] ever met' continue to stand by her and refuse to believe she has done any harm to any babies.

Dawn, a friend who has known Letby since they attended Aylestone Secondary School in Hereford together, told BBC Panorama all of her friends are supporting her.

She said: 'Unless Lucy turned around and said Im guilty I will never believe that shes guilty.'

Children's nurse Lucy Letby went on a year-long killing spree while working at the Countess of Chester Hospital

Letby's childhood friend Dawn (pictured) told Panorama she still stands by the killer, who she described as the 'kindest person' she'd ever met

Letby - wearing a blue hoodie with the strings covered in pink glitter - is taken from her house in handcuffs after being arrested by Cheshire Police

The jury spent more than 110 hours deliberating the charges against Letby, but her friends believe police were 'looking to find someone culpable' for the rising mortality rate at the hospital.

Letby refused to enter the courtroom to hear the final verdicts on Friday, where she has been resolutely supported by her parents throughout the 10-month trial.

Her mother was said to have been so distressed upon her arrest that she begged officers: 'Take me instead'.

Dawn said: 'We know she couldnt have done anything that shes accused of, so without a doubt we stand by her.

'I grew up with Lucy and not a single thing that Ive ever seen or witnessed of Lucy would let me for a moment believe she is capable of the things shes accused of.

'It is the most out of character accusation that you could ever put against Lucy. Think of your most kind gentle soft friend and think that theyre being accused of harming babies.'

Dawn told BBC journalist Judith Moritz that Letby had always wanted to be a nurse and had had a difficult birth herself.

She said it was the only career her friend had ever mentioned, adding: She was very grateful to be alive to the nurses who helped save her life.'

She also accused police of 'trying to build a case, to find someone culpable to find someone to blame' as she maintained Letby's innocence.

The serial killer was described as appearing shy and reserved, but would 'let her hair down' and be 'goofy' and 'bubbly' when around close friends - who she told not to come to court to support her.

It came as the parents of twin boys, Baby E and Baby F, told the programme Letby is a 'hateful human being' who 'feeds off others' pain.'

Letby was described as 'goofy' and someone who would make her friends laugh

Dawn said she would never believe Letby's guilt unless she admitted it herself

Letby in the dock at Manchester Crown Court on the morning of August 10

Childhood friend of murderous nurse Lucy Letby says there were no clues her 'goofy' friend was Britain's worst child serial killer

WHAT WAS LETBY CONVICTED OF? Count 1 - Murder of Baby A on June 8, 2015 - GUILTY Count 2 - Attempted murder of Baby B between the June 8, 2015 and June 11, 2015 - GUILTY Count 3 - Murder of Baby C on June 14, 2015 - GUILTY Count 4 - Murder of Baby D on June 22, 2015 - GUILTY Count 5 - Murder of Baby E on August 4, 2015 - GUILTY Count 6 - Attempted murder of Baby F on August 5, 2015 - GUILTY Count 7 - Attempted murder of Baby G on September 7, 2015 - GUILTY Count 8 - Attempted murder of Baby G on September 21, 2015 - GUILTY Count 9 - Attempted murder of Baby G on September 21, 2015 - NOT GUILTY Count 10 - Attempted murder of Baby H on September 26, 2015 - NOT GUILTY Count 12 - Murder of Baby I on October 23, 2015 - GUILTY Count 15 - Attempted murder of Baby L on April 9, 2016 - GUILTY Count 16 - Attempted murder of Baby M on April 9, 2016 - GUILTY Count 17 - Attempted murder of Baby N on June 3, 2016 - GUILTY Count 20 - Murder of Baby O on June 23, 2016 - GUILTY Count 21 - Murder of Baby P on June 24, 2016 - GUILTY Advertisement

Letby murdered Baby E before attempting to kill his twin just 24 hours later. Luckily, Baby F survived but he now has lifelong, complex needs due to the attack Letby inflicted upon him.

The twins' mother said Letby was 'faffing about' and told her 'don't worry' after she heard one of her babies screaming and saw him with blood around his mouth before his death on August 4.

She said Letby told her the registrar had been called and 'not to worry', before telling her to return to the ward.

Baby E's father initially tried to calm his wife and reassured her that the staff caring for their baby were experts.

He became scared when a second phone call told him to 'get here now', before a third in which staff informed him that a priest had been called.

He said: 'I knew. You dont call a priest unless someones dying.'

Doctors initially said that Baby E died of a bowel condition exacerbated by his premature birth - and his death was not believed to be suspicious so no post-mortem took place. But during the trial medical experts concluded differently, saying he died of internal bleeding and air being injected into his bloodstream.

The babies' mother, who attended court throughout the trial, told how the courtroom was 'such a highly emotional and charged place to be in and sit in.'

She added: 'I think shes feeding off it, I think shes feeding off other peoples pain.'

Baby E was the fourth of seven killed by Letby from June 2015 to June 2016 - she attempted to murder six other babies.

Since the verdicts, which also included clearing Letby of three counts of attempted murder, criticisms have been raised after it was reported medics raised concerns about her possible link to the deaths as early as summer 2015.

The trial was told that 'an association' with Letby being on shift when babies collapsed or died was first made as early as June 2015, after the first three infants were killed. Concerns were raised with Ms Kelly again four months later, in October, and then raised again with her, and medical director Ian Harvey, in February 2016.

TV medic Dr Ravi Jayaram, who regularly appears on the BBC's One Show and ITV's This Morning, told the jury that he and his fellow consultants were 'fobbed off' by management and nothing was done.

While Letby's motive is not clear, the prosecution suggested she got a 'thrill' out of 'playing God'. She is pictured on a night out

A note found in Letby's house which read in capital letters: 'I AM EVIL I DID THIS'

In another note, Letby had scribbled a jumble of words, with phrases like 'love', 'I can't do this anymore' and 'help me' written on it

Even in June 2016, following the deaths of Baby O and his fellow triplet Baby P, hospital bosses initially refused to intervene.

READ MORE: Revealed: The disturbing text messages Lucy Letby sent at the time she was murdering and harming innocent babies Advertisement

The neonatal unit's lead paediatrician, Stephen Brearey, rang Karen Rees, the duty executive in urgent care, to say he didn't want Letby to come into work the following day, but she turned him down.

She was later taken off active care for three months after a group of clinicians continued to try and speak with bosses about their concerns, before they were even made to apologise to Letby.

Late in 2016, she had been due to return to the intensive care ward in just six days when police were finally called about the string of deaths.

Dr Ravi Jayaram, senior paediatrician at the Countess of Chester Hospital, said he and other doctors warned NHS managers of concerns about Letby months before police were called.

He said executives ordered him to 'draw a line' under his worries and he was even told to apologise to Letby in a mediation meeting, ITV News reports.

Dr Jayaram said: 'I do genuinely believe that there are four or five babies who could be going to school now who aren't.'

Doctors were advised to apologise or face a possible referral to the general Medical Council.

Dr Ravi Jayaram (pictured) said concerns were reported to NHS bosses at Countess of Chester Hospital months before police were called

No babies died between when Letby was removed from the unit in July 2016 and when police were called in by the hospital in May 2017.

During this period, the trust chief executive was Tony Chambers and the medical director was Ian Harvey.

When police raided her home, they found piles of medical notes and documents, as well as multiple notes in which Letby wrote frantic comments including 'I killed them' and 'I haven't done anything wrong'.

They also recovered a substantial number of messages from Letby's phone which showed she regularly sent texts to colleagues after the baby deaths, while also pursuing a close relationship with one of the doctors on the ward.

Dr Jayaram said Chambers held a meeting with consultants in January 2017 in which he stated: 'I'm drawing a line under this, you will draw a line under this, and if you cross that line, there will be consequences for you.'

Hospital executives are alleged to have doctors they would face 'blue and white tape' all over the ward if they followed their suggestion of calling police.

Speaking outside the hospital today, medical director Dr Nigel Scawn said: 'I speak for the whole trust when I say how deeply saddened and appalled we are at Lucy Letby's crimes.

'We are extremely sorry that these crimes were committed at our hospital and our thoughts continue to be with all the families and loved ones of the babies who came to harm or died. We cannot begin to understand what they have been through.

'This case has had a profound impact on our patients and our local community and also our staff, who come to work every day determined to provide safe and high quality care for all of our patients.

'Our staff are devastated by what has happened and we are committed to ensuring that lessons continue to be learned.

'We are grateful for the co-operation of our staff, especially those that have maintained the utmost professionalism while giving evidence in this trial.'

WATCH THE MAIL'S LUCY LETBY DOCUMENTARY IN FULL HERE
As the deadline for Donald Trump to surrender for booking in Georgia looms, online sportsbooks are going wild with proposition bets on everything from his tie color to his body weight at booking.

One bookmaker site, Antigua-based BetOnline, on Friday offered an over/under of 273.5 pounds for Trump's weight upon his surrender to authorities in Fulton County, noted gambling news Instagram account TheJuice.

Over/unders, which are also often used to bet on the point total of a sporting event, allow the gambler to select whether they believe the outcome will be higher or lower than amount selected by oddsmakers.

According to BetOnline employee Dave Mason, 77 percent of gamblers have taken the over bet on Trump's weight so far, spurring the sportsbook to increase the total by eight pounds.

That might rankle the former president, who on Thursday lashed out at Fox News, accusing the network of using unflattering photographs that make him look 'big' and 'orange' with his 'chin pulled way back'.

Antigua-based BetOnline on Friday offered an over/under of 273.5 pounds for Trump's weight upon his surrender to authorities in Fulton County, noted TheJuice

Trump on Thursday lashed out at Fox News , accusing the network of using unflattering photographs that make him look 'big' and 'orange' with his 'chin pulled way back'

'Why doesn't Fox and Friends show all of the Polls where I am beating Biden, by a lot,' Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. 'Also. they purposely show the absolutely worst pictures of me, especially the big 'orange' one with my chin pulled way back.'

A spokesperson for Fox News had no immediate comment. The network is hosting the first GOP presidential primary debate next Wednesday, which Trump seemingly plans to skip.

Meanwhile, for gamblers looking to cash on Trump's weight, it's worth noting that the current over/under on BetOnline is set far above any weight that has been recently reported for the former president.

When he was booked in Manhattan on New York state charges earlier this year, 76-year-old Trump reportedly told officials he stood six-foot-two and weighed 240 pounds -- though those measurements were self-reported and not verified.

In 2020, White House physician Sean P. Conley listed Trump as being six-foot-three and weighing 244 pounds on his annual physical.

That was up one pound from his previous physical released in February 2019, which showed his weight as 243 pounds. In 2018, he weighed in at 239 pounds.

Other prop bets offered on BetOnline include whether Trump will be smiling in his Georgia mugshot.

Currently, the bookmaker heavily favors no mugshot smile, offering odds of 2-11 that the mugshot will remain dour.

On the subject of tie color, red is the favorite at 4-9 odds, or an implied probability of 69 percent. 'No tie' is the second favorite option at 17-4 odds, while 'green' offers the longest odds at 25-1.

Another online sportsbook, Curacao-based Bovada, is offering odds on whether Trump will be wearing a MAGA hat in his Georgia mugshot -- an outcome listed on Friday at 25-1 odds.

In the US, online betting laws vary by state, and gamblers are advised to check local regulations before placing any bets.

In Georgia, Trump is charged over an alleged scheme to overturn the state's 2020 election results.

A sheriff's deputy stands guard near the Fulton County Courthouse. Trump and his 18 co-defendants in the Georgia case have until noon on August 25 to surrender there

Trump and his 18 co-defendants in the Georgia case have until noon on August 25 to surrender, after which will each appear in court to hear the formal reading of charges and to enter a plea.

Trump has pleaded not guilty in the New York case, in which he was charged with falsifying business records related to hush money payments prior to the 2016 election.

He has also pleaded not guilty in two federal criminal cases, one stemming from classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago, and another tied to the alleged scheme to overturn the 2020 election.

Trump is currently the heavy favorite to win the Republican presidential nomination, based on polling nationwide and in early primary states.

The latest RCP polling average for the 2024 general election shows President Joe Biden narrowly ahead of Trump in a hypothetical matchup, with Biden polling at 44.4 percent to Trump's 44.0 percent.
The widow of murdered Microsoft executive Jared Bridegan will support the death penalty for his ex-wife if she is convicted of the brutal slaying.

Kirsten Bridegan, 32, was speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com one day after Shanna Gardner Fernandez, 34, was arrested and charged with first degree murder, conspiracy, solicitation and child abuse.

In an emotional interview Kirsten, who was joined by her husbands brother, Adam, 36, told of her satisfaction at Thursday's development.

There is satisfaction in knowing that the person I believe was the driving force behind this doesnt get the privileges that she allegedly took from Jared,' she said.

My personal thought is that I trust [the prosecutors] to make the best decision for the case and if that is the death penalty then we support that.

Speaking to DailyMail.com Kirsten Bridegan said she will support the death penalty foor her husband's ex-wife if she is convicted oof his murder

DailyMail.com spotted Jared Bridegan' s ex Shanna, 35, wearing a t-shirt bearing the slogan, 'It's fine. I'm fine. Everything is fine' just a couple of months after her first husband's murder. She has now been charged with killing him

Jared and Kirsten met on a dating app when she was living in North Carolina and he was in Florida. They got married in 2017 and are shown on their wedding day with the kids from his first marriage

Florida State Attorney Melissa Nelson made it clear when she announced Gardner Fernandezs arrest at a press conference on Thursday that she will be seeking the death penalty.

Gardner Fernandezs arrest came 547 days after the father-of-four was killed execution style just minutes from his ex-wifes home. And his widow and family have counted every last one.

He was shot multiple times at close range in what police described as an ambush and targeted attack. Speaking at the time Jacksonville Beach Police Chief Gene Paul Smith said that when Bridegan stepped out of his car he was gunned down in cold blood.

Today, Kirsten said, For the last what is now 548 days, we were waiting for arrests. We wanted the people that evidence indicated were involved to be arrested and put behind bars, so we didnt have that concern of them walking free, possibly not facing justice.

Now that three of those individuals are behind bars the next chapter is hoping and praying that the justice system works, that we get convictions and not just arrests and that true justice, as much as you can get for what was done, is upheld.

Gardner Fernandezs husband Mario Fernandez-Saldana, 35, was arrested in March. He has been charged on the same four counts as his wife and pleaded not guilty. He too faces the death penalty.

His arrest followed that of his former tenant Henry Tenon, 62, who has since pleaded guilty for his role as triggerman in the alleged plot that saw the young father-of-four lured out into the road and gunned down at point blank range while his then two-year-old daughter Bexley was strapped in her child seat in the back of the car.

At the time of his murder on February 16, 2022, Bridegan was locked in a deeply acrimonious custody wrangle with his ex-wife  the battle had raged almost unabated since their divorce in 2015 and centered over twins Liam and Abby, now ten.

Bridegan had repeatedly expressed unease over Fernandezs presence in the twins lives and his behavior to and around them.

A key part of the custody agreement, and a part on which Bridegan would not negotiate despite his ex-wifes repeated attempts to have it changed, was that the children should not be at home alone with Fernandez overnight if Gardner Fernandez was unable to be there at a time when the twins were in her care.

Should that happen, Bridegan insisted he get first refusal on the option of having the twins with him and Kirsten instead.

As part of the custody agreement the twins spent one week with their mother and her new husband and one with their father, his wife and their half-siblings Bexley, now four, and London, now two.

Its been a very long 18 months, just feeling every emotion and asking yourself, Is there anything else that I could be doing to help? Is there anything I havent done yet?' said Adam Bridegan

Shanna's new husband, Mario Saldana-Fernandez, was charged earlier this year and is awaiting trial. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in his case too

The Microsoft executive was found 2.2 miles from Shanna's home after dropping off the kids on February 16. It was on a quiet patch of road, where there were no security cameras

Shanna married Mario Fernandez three years after her divorce from Jared Bridegan. They are pictured with her twins Liam and Abby

On the Wednesday of each week the parent who did not have custody had a date night with the twins.

It was shortly after dropping his children back at their mothers on such a date night that, police believe, Bridegan was lured out of his car by a tire left in the middle of a poorly lit, secluded part of road in a quiet Jacksonville Beach neighborhood known as The Sanctuary.

Henry Tenon has admitted that he was lying in wait, ready to execute Bridegan when he stepped out to remove the obstacle from the road.

Speaking Thursday afternoon State Attorney Nelson made it clear, Henry Tenon did not act alone. Mario Fernandez did not plan alone. Shanna had a central and key role in the cold, calculated murder of Jared Bridegan.

In the fall-out of the tragedy, Bridegans widow has previously told DailyMail.com, how her children and their half-siblings were ripped apart, with the twins being taken to the other side of the country by their mother who is originally from Utah and who was living in West Richland, Washington, at the time of her arrest.

On Friday Kirsten took the opportunity to plead with Gardner Fernandezs family to allow the children to reconnect and communicate with each other  pleas that she made continually to their mother and that fell on deaf ears.

Hitman Henry Tenon confessed to the plot earlier this year and faces 15 years in jail

She said, The last communication I had with Shanna was April 2022 when she informed me that the girls would no longer be able to speak to Liam and Abby and I pushed back and said, Will you at least allow us to say Happy Birthday on their birthday? Which she agreed.

After that I wasnt getting further communication. I was blocked, Ive sent emails to her and havent gotten a response from her since then.

Attempts to contact her parents, Sherri and Sterling Gardner have gone similarly without response.

And while the Gardners entirely blocked Kirsten and her girls from their lives, they took numerous exotic holidays including a trip to Hawaii and a spring break at Club Med in Sandpiper Bay in Florida, from which they posted apparently carefree pictures just one month after Bridegans death.

Kirsten admitted: Their actions were so bizarre, and it just ate away at me that Liam and Abby were subjected to that. That is not a normal way to grieve and help children through  acting like everyone is fine.

Everyone grieves in their own way but that is not how Id go about it. A lot of emotion [through all this] has been just heartache for them, especially since we cant be there to comfort them.

I would like to reiterate publicly that we would like to speak to Liam and Abby and at least let the siblings speak to each other and I would appeal to the Gardners who are now taking care of them to make that happen, to make the kids a priority.

Were still fighting for them. We will always fight for them. But I wish it didnt have to be a fight. I wish it could be co-operation.

It was clear, as they sat side by side, that Kirsten and Adam, the older of Bridegans two brothers, are exhausted by the toll of their grief and their pursuit of justice.

Adam said, Its been a very long 18 months, just feeling every emotion and asking yourself, Is there anything else that I could be doing to help? Is there anything I havent done yet? Any action I havent taken?

You feel that sense of urgency to do everything in your power to help and you have to learn how to be patient and to wait and know that there is a system.

With extraordinary fortitude they have tried to draw something positive out of their tragedy, some light out of the darkness.

Jared Bridegan, 33, was killed in February 2022 as he picked his two children up from his ex-wife's home in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, to drive them home to St. Augustine

Jared was lured oout of his car on a quiet patch of road by a tire that had been left in the middle of the road

Kirsten Bridegan is looking for justice for her slain husband Jared. 'The next chapter is hoping and praying that the justice system works, that we get convictions,' she told DailyMail.com

Kirsten has started the Bexleys Boxes initiative which will see boxes containing toys and essential comfort items sent to police departments across the country so that they have the basics to care for traumatized children, caught up in tragedy

They have established a charitable foundation in Bridegans name and Kirsten has started the Bexleys Boxes initiative which will see boxes containing toys and essential comfort items sent to police departments across the country so that they have the basics to care for traumatized children, caught up in tragedy and brought in under the worst possible circumstances, just as Bexley was 18 months ago.

Today, Kirsten says: Bexley is resilient. She doesnt speak about that night much anymore, I know she still remembers it but now she just talks about having fun at school, going on play dates, having fun in the park.

Its been such a blessing to see that shes been able to move forward. She still asks about Liam and Abby and when well be able to talk to them, or hear from them, but overall, shes doing the best anyone could ever have hoped for.

The family strive to keep Bridegan alive for London, who was just a babe in arms when he was killed.

Kirsten said, We have photos of Jared and Liam and Abby throughout our house. She knows their names and who they are and as she gets older, well share more pictures and memories with her to help share the true love and character of all three of them, and hopefully shell be able to build a relationship with Liam and Abby.

For now, the family are, they say, going to try to heal. Adam said, Theres a healing process thats going to take place knowing that the truth will come out and were going to get answers, knowing theres not any danger out there that has not been uncovered, give us a sense of peace moving forward and knowing that they will be successful in their prosecution.

We have a lot to look forward to in that and hopefully theres a lot of healing. We will always try to look on the positive side with the foundation and ways that we can bless the lives of others, but its been a very long road.

For more information about the work of the Bridegan Foundation visit www.brideganfoundation.org
'I make - I have no comment on any investigation that's going on. That's up to the Justice Department. And that's all I have to say,' Biden said

President Joe Biden gave a 'no comment' when asked Friday for his reaction to Attorney General Merrick Garland elevating the U.S. attorney charged with the Hunter Biden investigation to special counsel.

Garland's announcement came last Friday, but the president has avoided being in situations where reporters could ask him questions this week.

But on Friday, Biden had gathered Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol for a historic trilateral summit at Camp David, which concluded with the traditional press conference.

'I make - I have no comment on any investigation that's going on. That's up to the Justice Department. And that's all I have to say,' Biden said.

An American reporter had snuck in a question about Hunter Biden after asking each of the trio of leaders about regional issues.

President Joe Biden (center) was asked about the Hunter Biden probe during his historic summit with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol (left) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (right) on Friday

Garland held a press conference a week ago and announced that Delaware's U.S. Attorney David Weiss would be elevated to special counsel.

Weiss, a Trump appointee, had already been charged with the investigation.

But those credentials didn't appease Republicans, especially after IRS whistleblowers alleged Weiss didn't have full authority to carry out the tax and gun investigation into the first son.

Garland said that Weiss himself had requested the designation, which is usually undertaken to ensure protections from political pressure or the appearance of pressure.

'In his judgment, his investigation has reached a stage at which he should continue his work as a Special Counsel, and he asked to be appointed,' Garland said.

GOP lawmakers also pointed to what they considered a sweetheart plea deal that the first son was receiving.

Hunter Biden's plea deal officially fell apart last Friday.

Several Republicans suggested that Weiss' promotion was a move to obstruct current GOP Congressional investigations into the Biden business deals.

'This action by Bidens DOJ cannot be used to obstruct congressional investigations or whitewash the Biden family corruption,' said House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Sen. Chuck Grassley - an Iowa Republican who previously led an investigation into the Biden business deals - first reacted positively to the development.

'It's about time,' he told DailyMail.com as he toured the Iowa State Fair last Friday.

Upon hearing Weiss was elevated as opposed to a new individual being appointed, Grassley grew more skeptical.

'Did they appoint him special counsel so he doesn't have to testify before the Congress of the United States?' he mused. 'If that's your game - then I'd say there's ulterior motives.'

He also pointed out that the way the Senate confirms U.S. attorneys from each state is that the state's senators have to sign on, meaning two Democrats green-lit Weiss' appointment during the Trump years.

'What I know today, I don't want say what he did in his job, but you can see this plea agreement that the judge didn't take raises a lot of questions about him,' Grassley said. 'Didn't you have the government and the guilty ones on the same sides of the table?'
Canadian wildfires that have already forced tens of thousands of people from their homes and even jumped a lake amid gale-force winds are continuing to spread at an alarming rate with no signs of stopping.

Hundreds of fires classed as currently 'out of control' - mostly larger than 1,000 hectares in scope - are raging across the North American nation, official trackers show.

The Canadian Wildland Fire Information System (CWFIS) indicates that while hundreds of blazes that broke out over the past 24 hours are now 'under control', at least double the number have ignited to replace them.

It comes after horrific wildfire scenes in Maui, Hawaii, where 111 people have been recorded as dead and hundreds are still missing - and Lahaina locals told DailyMail.com the death toll has been underplayed and is in reality at least 480.

Residents said the situation was so dire that morgues had run out of body bags.

Canadian wildfires that have already forced tens of thousands of people from their homes and even jumped a lake amid gale-force winds are continuing to spread at an alarming rate with no signs of stopping

Hundreds of fires classed as currently 'out of control' - mostly larger than 1,000 hectares in scope - are raging across the North American nation, official trackers show

In one of the worst-hit areas of West Kelowna, British Columbia, 43mph winds fanned flames over Lake Okanagan and consumed several properties on the way.

A local state of emergency has been declared in Kelowna after the fires forced evacuations in the Clifton area of the city on Friday morning.

In the past 24 hours, fires in the city have grown a hundred times bigger as they spread from the north-west of the city, with BC Wildfire Service saying they have now burned through 6,800 hectares of territory.

Some of the hills around the city blazed in the predawn light after wildfires that had been burning since Tuesday jumped Lake Okanagan and spread into parts of Kelowna.

'We fought hard last night to protect our community,' Jason Brolund, West Kelowna fire chief, told reporters on Friday. 'Night turned to day because of the orange glow of the clouds and the fire.'

Videos and photographs from the area show apocalyptic scenes.

Daytime shots show homes and woodland burning beneath amber skies filled with dense clouds of suffocating smoke.

In other videos, the skyline is barely visible as smoke descends from all directions towards people huddled on the side of a road in West Kelowna as they hopelessly watch their hometown burn.

Firefighters can be seen tackling monster blazes that dwarf their water hoses by comparison in the same region.

More than 2,400 properties were evacuated, officials said, and thousands more are on alert to leave with little notice if necessary.

In one of the worst-hit areas of West Kelowna, British Columbia, 43mph winds fanned flames over Lake Okanagan and consumed several properties on the way

Some of the hills around the city blazed in the predawn light after wildfires that had been burning since Tuesday jumped Lake Okanagan and spread into parts of Kelowna

The Canadian Wildland Fire Information System (CWFIS) indicates that while hundreds of blazes that broke out over the past 24 hours are now 'under control', at least double the number have ignited to replace them

Similar scenes have torn through land close to Yellowknife, the capital of the Northwest Territories, where more than 20,000 people have been told to flee their homes.

'Out of control' fires are threatening to cut off access to the only highway out of the city and officials have warned that without a much-needed downpour the blaze would reach the city by the weekend.

Evacuation flights also took off from Yellowknife Airport as residents of the regional capital were given until noon Friday to leave.

Emergency responders were constructing firebreaks, installing sprinkler lines and water cannons, and laying fire retardant in an effort to prevent the blaze from reaching the city - which remains a real possibility in coming days, officials said.

Strong northern winds could push the flames toward the only highway leading away from the fire, officials warned, which was choked with long caravans of cars.

Northwest winds over the next two days will send the fire 'in directions we don't want,' said Mike Westwick, Northwest Territories' fire information officer.

Across the wider territory, 6,800 people in eight other communities were also forced to evacuate their homes, including the small community of Enterprise, which was largely destroyed.

Ten planes left Yellowknife on Thursday with 1,500 passengers and 22 more are expected to leave on Friday with 1,800 more passengers.

Northwest winds over the next two days will send the fire 'in directions we don't want,' said Mike Westwick, Northwest Territories' fire information officer

Around 65 percent of the 46,000 total population of Northwest Territories are expected to be evacuated

Experts say climate change has exacerbated the wildfire crisis, as it comes after much of Canada has seen abnormally dry conditions

'I want to be clear that the city is not in immediate danger and there's a safe window for residents to leave the city by road and by air,' Shane Thompson, a government minister for the Territories, told a news conference.

'Without rain, it is possible (the fire) will reach the city outskirts by the weekend.'

'We're all tired of the word unprecedented, yet there is no other way to describe this situation in the Northwest Territories,' Premier Caroline Cochrane posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The infernos, which mark the latest chapter in a terrible summer for wildfires in Canada - the worst fire season on record - also threaten to send enormous plumes of toxic smog over the United States in echoes of similar scenes earlier this summer.

An official forecast map shows smoke is expected to be blown south eastwards throughout Friday and over the Midwest into the eastern United States.

Around 65 percent of the 46,000 total population of Northwest Territories are expected to be evacuated.

Firefighting teams were cutting down vegetation to create fire breaks, setting up sprinkler systems and setting deliberate fires to eliminate fuel before the bigger blaze approaches, the fire service said.

Experts say climate change has exacerbated the wildfire crisis, as it comes after much of Canada has seen abnormally dry conditions.

Drought and high temperatures have contributed to the number and intensity of this year's fires.
He reportedly crossed into the US through El Paso, Texas, in January and 'self-surrendered' to authorities before he was released

Maria Gonzalez, 11, was found strangled to death under her bed in Pasadena, Texas

The main suspect in the murder of an 11-year-old girl found strangled to death under her bed in Texas is a Guatemalan immigrant who entered the US in January, police said on Friday - revealing that a key left behind in the little girl's home was a vital piece of evidence.

Maria Gonzalez's body found by her father at their home in Pasadena, Texas, on Saturday, August 12, when he returned home from work. She had also been sexually assaulted, police said.

Pasadena Police Department on Friday named Juan Carlos Garcia-Rodriguez, 18, as a 'person of interest' and the main suspect in the case.

He 'was residing at the same apartment complex where the victim was found but has since left', police said. He was there for several weeks, and last seen at the complex two days after her killing. Garcia-Rodriguez is now being hunted by cops.

Garcia-Rodriguez is believed to have entered the US in January. He crossed the border in El Paso, Texas. After he 'self-surrendered', it is believed the teenager, who was 17 when he crossed, was then let free.

Maria Gonzalez's body was found by her father at their home in Pasadena, Texas, on Saturday, August 12. The 11-year-old was found strangled under her bed

Pasadena Police Department on Friday named Juan Carlos Garcia-Rodriguez, 18, as a 'person of interest' and the main suspect in the case

In a press conference on Friday - six days after the murder - Pasadena Police Chief Josh Bruegger named Garcia-Rodriguez as a 'person of interest'

Detectives have released a photograph of Garcia-Rodriguez with their appeal and also offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to his arrest or charges.

Sources in the Department of Homeland Security told NewsNation that it's believed he may have fled to Mexico.

Garcia-Rodriguez had been released after entering the US because he had a sponsor in Louisiana. A sponsor typically agrees to provide housing or financial support to a migrant while they are processed and their status is determined.

Maria's father had called police at around 3pm on August 12 and said he had found his daughter's lifeless body under her bed.

Her body was stuffed in a trash bag that was placed inside a clothes hamper, which was put under a bed.

Paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene.

Police say the girl's father, Carmelo Gonzalez, 32, found her after returning home from work. She had been sexually assaulted and killed.

Detectives initially said they had no suspects in the case and urged anyone with information which could catch Maria's killer to come forward.

In a press conference on Friday - six days after the discovery - they named Garcia-Rodriguez as a 'person of interest'.

Pasadena Police Chief Josh Bruegger said that detectives found at key at the crime scene which did not match any locks at the property.

They discovered it was in fact linked to another address in the apartment complex where Garcia-Rodriguez was staying.

Carmelo Gonzalez said he left for work at around 10am on August 12 and communicated with his daughter over the phone a little later. That is when she told him a stranger was knocking at the door

Maria and her father Carmelo had been had been living in the apartment complex for about three months, after stints in Florida and Austin, Texas. The girl's mother lives in Guatemala

'We have turned over quite a bit of evidence to the Institute of Forensic Sciences,' he said, adding that DNA evidence would be processed.

Police have a DNA sample for Garcia-Rodriguez, he said.

'He was last seen at the apartment complex at 4pm Monday (August 14),' said the chief. 'His whereabouts are not known.'

Chief Bruegger said that detectives spoke to Garcia-Rodriguez at the apartment complex on Monday, before he was a suspect. The picture released by officers on Friday was a still from bodycam footage of the interaction.

He was residing at a property with two others who are also from Guatemala.

On the day Maria was discovered, her father had left their apartment for work at about 10 am and had been in communication with his daughter over the phone.

Shortly after leaving, Carmelo said he received a message from Maria telling him someone had been knocking at the front door.

On Tuesday, Bruegger had revealed Carmelo then called family members who resided in the same apartment complex to check on his daughter.

Family members were not able to find her, according to authorities. That was until her father came home and found her body.

Her official cause of death was ruled as asphyxiation due to strangulation and blunt force head and neck trauma.

Additional investigation determined she had also been sexually assaulted.

Pasadena Police Chief Josh Bruegger said the Guatemalan was a 'person of interest' and the main suspect in Maria's murder

Maria and her father had lived at the relatively quiet apartment complex for about three months when the murder occurred

Law enforcement officials said there was no forced entry into the home.

The father and daughter had been living in the apartment complex for about three months. The girl's mother lives in Guatemala.

Maria and her father lived in Austin, Texas, and Florida before Pasadena. Maria was not enrolled at Pasadena ISD, police said.

'Whoever saw something just after 10am on Saturday at that particular apartment, we're asking them to come forward with the information they might have,' said Bruegger.

'We're doing our level best to get out and solve this crime.

'As a parent of an almost-10-year-old myself, it certainly is a cause for concern.'

Police have taken DNA samples from some people living in the complex, but they say getting cooperation has been challenging.

Tens of thousands of migrants have entered the US through El Paso this year.

The crisis has been ongoing for several years but reached its peak in around December 2022 as the government prepared to end covid-era Title 42 rules that made it harder to enter the country.

Many present to authorities and are processed before they are released.

Most are expected to appear in court at a later date for a process to determine their status.
The father of the boyfriend murdered by Ohio teen Mackenzie Shirilla in a 100mph crash has said she needs help and not a life sentence.

Shirilla, 18, could face life with no possibility of parole until 2055 when she is sentenced in court on Monday for the murder of boyfriend Dominic Russo, 20, and passenger Davion Flanagan, 19.

She was driving the car at terrifying speed at 5.30am when it hit the wall of a building in the Strongsville suburb of Cleveland, Ohio on July 31 last year.

All three had been smoking marijuana and cops also recovered magic mushrooms from the scene.

She's just a kid, her familys destroyed too, Dominics father Frank Russo, 61, told NBC News Friday.

Shirilla and Dominic Russo, the boyfriend she murdered. His father Frank Russo said she had ruined her family's life too

What remained of the car driven by Shirilla after the 100mph crash that killed its passengers

The moment Shirilla learned she had been convicted of murder

Prosecutors argued, and a judge agreed, that it was a deliberate act of murder by Shirilla, who was in a turbulent relationship and who'd been overheard threatening her boyfriend in the past.

She and her family insisted it was an accident and that she lost control of the car.

The court was shown a text she had sent to Dominics mother saying she would needed hypnotism to remember it, NBC affiliate WKYC of Cleveland reported.

'I remember turning onto the street and then my vision fades to black. It really kills me not being able to remember anything,' it read.

'Ive been asking my therapist why I dont remember and she said its because of trauma but Im gonna try to go get hypnotized and make myself remember.'

Mr Russo said she should stop pretending she does not remember the crash.

'I wish she would just tell us what exactly happened and Id be willing to reduce the sentence.'

But Dominic's eldest sister Christine Russo had less sympathy for Shirilla's family.

Shirilla boasted about her drug-fueled exploits on social media, but they led to the deaths of passenger Davion Flanagan as well as her boyfriend

Dominic Russo (left) with Shirilla and her family

The crash site showed the aftermath of he 100mph impact

'All I have to say is that shes breathing,' she said.

'They can call her, they can tell her they love her. I would consider them lucky. Were not.'

She described her brother as a fashion lover who doted on her children.

'In every picture, hes hugging and kissing the kids, he loved them so much,' she said.

'Hes already so missed. I would do anything to bring him back really. It all sucks really bad. Its really really tough.

'Justice was served, when you do something intentionally you have to pay for your actions.

'But at the same time its even more terrible now that its in stone, that my little brother, his life was stolen, was taken intentionally,' she added.

Flanagans mother, Jaime Flanagan, told WKYC after the verdict: 'Theres not a day that goes by that we dont miss our son, and justice was served for him today.

'But honestly theres no winners here. Theres no winners here today.'

His father, Scott Flanagan insisted their family did not want 'vengeance'.

'Only justice for our son who was nothing more that an innocent passenger looking for a ride home.'

Since Monday's verdict, Shirilla's attorney James McDonnell has repeatedly declined to comment.

Her mother, Nathalie, said she 'completely disagrees' with the judge, and hopes McDonnell will file an appeal on behalf of her daughter.

During the trial, Nathalie testified that Mackenzie suffers from postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, a condition that causes dizziness.

The condition, commonly abbreviated POTS, is one of a group of conditions that reduces the volume of blood that reaches the heart after an individual stands up.

The most common symptom is light-headedness or dizziness.

When asked if that could have caused the crash, her mother said: 'It could be.'

Mackenzie's aunt also testified in her defense.

She refuted claims by Dominic's family that the relationship was turbulent, telling the court instead that the two youngsters were very much in love.

In the months immediately after the crash, the Shirilla family left emotional tributes to Russo on an online obituary.

'She loved you, we loved you. My whole family loved you. Forever in our hearts...forever,' they wrote.

She too left her own tributes.

'I miss you nug. I still feel like your [sic] just going to walk in the door any second.

'I miss your laugh your perfect smile.

Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Nancy Margaret Russo convicted her on Monday, calling her 'literal hell on wheels' who was on a 'mission of death'

'I feel your energy around me every day I just wish it was physical.'

But the court heard previous recordings of her threatening to key Dominic's car and was told the pair had become particularly acrimonious in the weeks leading up to the crash.

As for Flanagan, Dominic's friend who was also killed, prosecutors said he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Police said there was extensive evidence of reckless driving on Mackenzie's social media pages, where she posed with cigarettes or alcohol behind the wheel.
The mother of convicted child killer Lucy Letby broke down in court as the guilty verdicts were returned, crying out: 'You can't be serious. This cannot be right.'

Investigators suspect Letby had told them scant detail of the horrific nature of the crimes she was being accused of before it was laid out in front of them in court.

But Letby's parents, Susan, 63, and John, 77, were a constant presence during her trial, attending every day of the ten-month proceedings at Manchester Crown Court.

A source told the Mail that Letby's mother was distraught when she was arrested in 2018  wailing, crying and even telling police, 'I did it, take me instead,' in a desperate bid to protect her.

At the time of Letby's arrest, her parents' neighbours told The Times the family were devastated. One was reported as having said: 'She's an only child. Do I have to say anymore? I just feel for them so much. I feel so helpless that there is nothing we can do.'

John and Susan Letby, parents of Lucy Letby, arriving at Manchester Crown Court for their daughters murder trial on 21 October 2022

Letby's parents marked her graduation by posting a notice in the local newspaper

Retail boss John and Susan, an accounts clerk, raised Letby as an only child in a 1930s semi-detached home in a cul-de-sac.

They still live in the same house - which they bought shortly after their marriage - and holiday in Torquay three times a year, taking Letby with them right up until she was arrested in July 2018.

Nothing suggests Mr and Mrs Letby were anything but caring parents who showered their daughter with love from the moment she was born - five months after they married in July 1989.

Growing up, Letby was a 'delight' to her parents - neighbours remembered.

She had a part-time job at WH Smith in the city, and her parents were immensely proud when she became the first in their family to go to university.

When she attained her honours degree they marked her graduation, in December 2011, with an announcement in their local paper, the Hereford Times.

Alongside a picture of her wearing a mortarboard and clutching her degree certificate, they wrote: 'Letby Lucy BSc Hons in Child Nursing. We are so proud of you after all your hard work. Love Mum and Dad.'

A similar announcement, with an accompanying photograph of Letby as a young child, was also placed in the same newspaper to mark her 21st birthday.

But texts Letby exchanged with colleagues hinted she sometimes felt smothered by her mother and father and guilty about moving away. She explained they missed her and hated her living alone.

She appeared to speak or text them every day and described them as 'suffocating at times'. She told one doctor friend who was considering moving to New Zealand that she could never do that as it would 'completely devastate' them.

'Find it hard enough being away from me now and it's only 100 miles,' she said.

In a message to another friend, she wrote: 'My parents worry massively about everything & anything, hate that I live alone etc.

Letby's parents, Susan and John, arriving at Manchester Crown Court yesterday. The couple supported her every day in court. A source told the Mail that Letby's mother was distraught when her daughter was arrested  wailing and crying, even telling police, 'I did it, take me instead,' in a desperate bid to protect her

Nothing suggests Mr and Mrs Letby were anything but caring parents who showered their daughter with love from the moment she was born - five months after they married in July 1989

'I feel bad because I know it's really hard for them especially as I'm an only child, and they mean well, just a little suffocating at times and constantly feel guilty.'

Mrs Letby sometimes broke into tears in court during the trial and appeared anxious during breaks when her daughter was undergoing particularly tough periods of questioning by the prosecution.

Investigators suspect Letby had told them scant detail of the horrific nature of the crimes she was being accused of before it was laid out in front of them in court.

As the guilty verdicts were returned, Mrs Letby broke into a series of anguished sobs which continued even after she had left the court. At one point she cried out: 'You can't be serious. This cannot be right.'

Letby is likely to spend the rest of her life in prison.

WATCH THE MAIL'S LUCY LETBY DOCUMENTARY IN FULL HERE
Nobody but Lucy Letby knows what drove her to kill and attack premature babies in her care. Police found nothing in her background or upbringing, or any event that may have triggered her killing spree which began in June 2015.

Evidence that she became animated and excited after the babies deaths, enjoyed the drama of the emergencies when infants collapsed and was quick to tell her colleagues in texts when something unusual and tragic had happened on her shift, pointed to her revelling in the attention, they said.

Letby was psychologically assessed and deemed fit to stand trial, but this desire to be at the centre of a crisis could be a symptom of the mental disorder Munchausens syndrome, one leading criminologist told the Mail.

However, in the absence of a clear motive, Detective Superintendent Paul Hughes, who led the investigation for Cheshire Police, said he believed Letbys confession note provided the only explanation for why she became Britains most prolific child killer in modern times.

She clearly loves the attention, I think she loved the attention of a trial as well, DS Hughes said.

But if we are looking for why shes done this, then to re-use her own words, she is evil and she did this. Without her telling us why, if were looking for why, then she wrote it down in that note. The green Post-it note was discovered in her diary when police searched her home after she was arrested in July 2018. It was headed: NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

Lucy Letby wrote in her diary: 'I killed them on purpose because Im not good enough for them and I am a horrible evil person. I dont deserve Mum and Dad. World is better off without me.

Undated handout photo issued by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) of a note found in the house of Lucy Letby

As well as writing, I AM EVIL, I DID THIS in capital letters, Letby also scrawled: There are no words. I am an awful person  I pay every day for that. I cant breathe. I cant focus. Kill myself right now. Overwhelming fear/panic. Ill never have children or marry. Ill never know what its like to have a family. NO HOPE.

I havent done anything wrong. Police investigation forget slander. Discrimination. Victimisation. All getting too much everything taking over my life. Hate myself so much for what this has . . . I feel very alone and scared. What does the future hold. How can I get through it. How will things ever be like they used. HATE. PANIC. FEAR. LOST. I dont deserve to live. I DID THIS. WHY ME. I killed them on purpose because Im not good enough for them and I am a horrible evil person. I dont deserve Mum and Dad. World is better off without me.

Letby claimed the note was not a confession and that she wrote it after being moved off the unit, in July 2016, because she was struggling with being blamed for something she hadnt done.

But the prosecution urged the jury to read it literally and Mr Hughes said it was his view that Letby deliberately left the note for police to find. He said that, by May 2017, she was aware police were investigating and, although she had a shredder at her home address in Chester, she did not destroy the note, nor did she get rid of other incriminating papers, nursing handover sheets and medical documents, which were found stashed under her bed.

In my view, she wrote it down and left it for us to find, Mr Hughes said. She knew the police were investigating, she knew that shed been moved and therefore was not a criminal suspect, but a community suspect.

She knew her colleagues had been spoken to by the police.

It was in the newspapers in May 2017 that Cheshire Police were investigating the circumstances around neonatal mortality. She knew at some point we would be speaking to her, so either recklessly or intentionally she wrote it down to be found.

Photo issued by Cheshire Constabulary of the front of a diary, along with a Post-it note which was found inside the diary, recovered from the home of Lucy Letby in Chester

Lucy Letby has a headshot taken while in police custody in November 2020

Mr Hughes said Letby was not stupid and speculated whether she left the notes because she wanted notoriety.

What her writing reveals about her state of mind Handwriting expert Adam Brand, who analysed Lucy Letbys notes for the Mail, said her writing style was evidence of a manipulative and dishonest individual. Other features of her writing indicated that she could also be charming and kind. He said her style displayed traits of antisocial behaviour disorder  impulsiveness, dishonesty, rejection of discipline and manipulation  while it also showed she was capable of integrating into society. He said the handwriting in Letbys 2016 diary, which was recovered by police, was ordered and appeared to be done by someone in control. But it was in great contrast to the coloured notes, which were shown to the jury and appeared to be much more chaotic and disturbed. Her writing shows she is a charming person who can do some terrible deeds, he said. He likened Letby to Jeffrey Dahmer, the US serial killer who murdered and dismembered 17 men in 13 years. He has been described as an integrated anti-social and I see her like that, he said. She is somebody who can occasionally be very friendly, other times manipulative, secretive and cold. Mr Brand highlighted several disturbances in her handwriting, although it wasnt part of the prosecution case. The way she had written HATE, PANIC, FEAR, LOST on the green note could be viewed as attention-seeking. It suggested she wanted to be listened to and not ignored, he said. The continuous loopings on a yellow note showed she was obsessive. The way her writing does not slant one way or the other is highly unusual and suggests she suffered horrific mood swings and had difficulty fitting into a team, said Mr Brand. The lack of consistency in the height of her letters also suggested she has self-esteem issues, while hooks at the start of vowels was symbolic of evasiveness. Shaded boxes and grid doodles also signified repressed anger and that she felt trapped, he said. Advertisement

Shes intelligent and articulate, she did well on her scores [as a nurse], she was good at what she did when she wanted to do it correctly, he added. You could see that in the way she wrote her hospital records. Furthermore, you could tell the way she intentionally misled doctors on hospital notes just how smart she was.

To be able to mislead doctors into believing that a child was coming towards a collapse, to intentionally mislead clever doctors and colleagues. Did she want it [the note] found? Did she just want to write it down or did she just want to tell the world that she was evil, and she did this? Did she want the notoriety that shes got? Without telling us why, then the motive was right in front of us for us to find.

Asked whether he thought Letby became a nurse to kill or whether the profession gave her the chance to become a killer, Mr Hughes said: I dont think she went into nursing to kill children, but nursing gave her the opportunity to be around the most vulnerable in society. Once she saw what happened and the attention she received, that lit something inside of her that she continued with. Criminologist David Wilson said Letbys desire to be at the centre of a crisis was indicative of the mental disorder Munchausens syndrome. She is creating a crisis around her, which is a form of Munchausens, he said.

Extraordinary stories are being told about what happens when she is on shift. Shes saying, Look at all the things that occur when Im around.  Mr Hughes said it was unclear exactly why Letby had targeted certain children, other than having the opportunity, perhaps because she was alone with them as their allocated nurse, or their parents had temporarily nipped away to get some sleep or food. But once she had chosen a victim there had been a determination to harm and kill, he said. The same children were repeatedly attacked. Some died, others were saved only when they were moved to a different hospital.

[Once] shes decided to attack a victim, shes gone back to the same victim, he said. So when shes chosen, shes got a determination to really try to kill them until she either does or circumstances change that stop her. She controls. Once shes decided to do it, if the outcome is not what shes wanted, shes gone again and again and again to try to do it, which brings us back to her being controlling and manipulating.

The officer agreed she was a monster who not only killed her vulnerable victims, but also made them suffer. Monster, it fits, because I can think of nothing worse, Mr Hughes added.

DCI Nicola Evans, the deputy senior investigating officer in the case, said being unable to tell the parents of Letbys victims exactly why she had attacked their babies was really hard and difficult.

I couldnt put my finger on what her motive was and, ultimately, only Lucy Letby can answer that, DCI Evans said. Shes had the opportunity during the trial and her interviews, and has continually denied the offences.

Its my view that she will continue to deny them, so we might never get that answer. Our objective was to tell the families what happened and one of the things we havent been able to do is tell them why. As a police officer, thats really difficult.

John and Susan Letby, parents of Lucy Letby, arriving at Manchester Crown Court for their daughter's murder trial, 21 October 2022

On a human level, everyone tries to figure out why and [says] there must be something in her background, or thats happened to her, thats led to these crimes. But I think that makes this more shocking, that we havent found anything that could point towards a reason why.

Im not sure anything explains these crimes and Im not sure there is anything we could have found that would lead me to understand why shes done it because its so unimaginable.

Criminologist Dr David Wilson said Letby's desire to be at the centre of a crisis was indicative of the mental disorder, Munchausen's syndrome.

'She is creating a crisis around her, which is a form of Munchausen's,' he said. 'Extraordinary stories are being told about what happens when she is on shift. She's saying, 'look at all the things that occur when I'm around.'

Baby killer Letby, pictured centre, enjoys a night out with friends and appears happy and relaxed

Criminologist Dr David Wilson said Letby's desire to be at the centre of a crisis was indicative of the mental disorder, Munchausen's syndrome. Letby is pictured

Mr Hughes said it was unclear exactly why Letby had picked on or targeted certain children, other than having the 'opportunity,' perhaps because she was alone with them as their allocated nurse, or their parents had temporarily nipped away to get some sleep or food. But once she had 'chosen' a victim there had been a determination to harm and kill, he said. The same children were repeatedly attacked. Some died, others were only saved when they were moved to a different hospital.

'(Once) she's decided to attack a victim, she's gone back to the same victim,' he said. 'So when she's chosen, she's got a determination to really try to kill them until she either does or circumstances change that stop her.

'She controls. Once she's decided to do it, if the outcome is not what she's wanted, she's gone again and again and again to try and do it, which brings us back to her being controlling and manipulating.'

The officer agreed she was a 'monster' who not only killed her vulnerable victims, but also made them suffer.

Letby created 'crisis situations' to get the attention of a married doctor Letby was suspected of having a secret affair with a married doctor who became her 'best friend' while she was murdering babies at work. The nurse and the medic went on day trips to London, met up for walks and meals together in their free time away from the hospital, and swapped hundreds of messages on Facebook, often late into the night. Letby insisted they were 'nothing more' than friends and denied being 'in love' with the doctor, who applied for anonymity at the start of the trial and cannot be identified for legal reasons. Advertisement

'Monster, it fits, because I can think of nothing worse,' Mr Hughes added.

Detective Chief Inspector Nicola Evans, the deputy senior investigating officer in the case, said being unable to tell the parents of Letby's victims exactly why she had attacked their babies was 'really hard and difficult.'

'I couldn't put my finger on what her motive was and ultimately only Lucy Letby can answer that,' Mrs Evans said.

'She's had the opportunity during the trial and her interviews, and she has continually denied the offences, it's my view that she will continue to deny them, so we might never get that answer.

'Our objective was to tell the families what happened and one of the things we haven't been able to do is tell them why. As a police officer, that's really difficult.

'On a human level everyone tries to figure out why and (says) there must be something in her background, or that's happened to her, that's led to these crimes. But I think that makes this more shocking, that we haven't found anything that could point towards a reason why.'

But she added: 'I'm not sure anything explains these crimes and I'm not sure there is anything we could have found that would lead me to understand why she's done it because it's so unimaginable.'

Psychologists will puzzle for decades over what darkness drove Lucy Letby to furtively murder and maim a succession of tiny, defenceless babies on a neonatal unit.

On the surface she seemed entirely innocuous  a plain, single woman going out to salsa sessions with her friends and returning to a suburban semi where she kept Disney-style cuddly toys on her bed and slept beneath a duvet bearing the similarly childlike motif 'Sweet Dreams'.

Letby's room was filled with teddies and a duvet that had 'sweet dreams' written on it

Psychologists will puzzle for decades over what darkness drove Letby to furtively murder and maim a succession of tiny, defenceless babies on a neonatal unit

But it appears that each and every day she set off for work as a nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital she did so wanting to inflict unimaginable pain on the very infants she was supposed to be caring for.

She did so 'in plain sight' and yet felt protected from every being unmasked because neither the friends she worked alongside, nor the parents of her victims, could even contemplate the idea that a neonatal nurse might be a serial killer.

While the doctors and nurses around her were doing their level best to save babies, she was trying to exploit every opportunity she had to harm them.

She became so practiced a murderess that she routinely created alibis for herself, perhaps by creating false documents, perhaps by using WhatsApp and Facebook messages to set up a false narrative so that when a baby collapsed she could point to some explainable reason.

No one was immune from her vicious betrayal. Not her best friend, a fellow nurse on the unit. Not even the married male registrar she was supposedly infatuated with.

Just like everyone else in her orbit, they were there to be unwittingly choreographed as she set about 'playing God' with the lives of babies so small they could fit inside the palm of her hand.

By the time she was caught she had killed seven of them and tried to kill seven more. Tragically, even among the survivors there are children, now aged seven or eight, who will spend the rest of their lives needing round-the-clock care.

She denied it, of course, just as she denied everything else, but there were suggestions throughout the trial that she derived a sickening pleasure from her attacks. Whether the babies lived or died, she felt a thrill to have caused them to collapse.

In public, Letby would pose and smile for photos. But in the neonatal ward where she worked, she plotted murder

It was a bonus if she could 'help' bereaved parents by preparing a memory box for them  hand and foot prints of their lost baby, a photograph of two dead twins laid out in a Moses basket, a condolence card for another baby in time for the funeral.

The detectives who led the investigation have such contempt for Letby that they will never deign to speak to her.

Even as she begins her lifetime in prison, they want the babies and their parents to be uppermost in the thoughts of families around the world. Not Letby, never Letby, is the unspoken thought.

Like the serial killer Harold Shipman two decades before her, Lucy Letby is a narcissist. Shipman, a GP from Hyde, Greater Manchester, got almost a sexual buzz from sitting some of his victims down, injecting them with diamorphine, and then quietly watching them die in front of him.

Prosecutors are convinced that Letby felt 'excited' by the pain she caused and the way she was able to manipulate the unwitting players  adults and babies alike  in her sinister, depraved drama.

Letby, now 33, would have been easy to miss in a crowd in either Chester, where she presented herself as a 'dedicated' nurse, or Hereford, where she had grown up in a quiet cul-de-sac and attended the local sixth form college.

While completing a three-year nursing degree at Chester University she went on placement at the local hospital where she would later kill or maim her victims.

She also worked at Liverpool Women's Hospital at times that will now become a major focus for the new, ongoing investigation into her murderous activities.

A glance at her 2016 diary  a little girl's affair with a 'cute' doggie picture on the front cover and flower doodles inside  shows she was constantly busy.

There were references to the long shifts she liked to do because she 'so wanted to help', to salsa classes with her friends, or else meals out at Las Iguanas followed by late-night cocktails at the Kuckoo bar in Chester.

WATCH THE MAIL'S LUCY LETBY DOCUMENTARY IN FULL HERE
Ministers tonight ordered an urgent inquiry into the shocking failings that allowed an 'evil' killer nurse to murder seven premature babies on an NHS hospital ward.

Lucy Letby's crimes make her the worst child killer in British history.

The 33-year-old faces dying behind bars after being convicted of murdering the infants and trying to kill six more during a deadly 12-month spree at the neo-natal unit of Cheshire's Countess of Chester Hospital, where she worked. After the guilty verdicts:

Senior doctors who flagged concerns insisted babies' lives would have been saved if hospital bosses had acted sooner;

Up to ten chances were missed to stop Letby harming and killing children;

Police said the care of 4,000 babies was now being reviewed and that more charges could follow;

The babies' families said 'hateful' Letby had 'taken everything' from them;

They demanded a public inquiry so hospital bosses would be compelled to explain why she was allowed to kill for so long;

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman said 'significant improvements to culture and leadership' in the NHS were needed;

Letby will be sentenced on Monday and faces a whole life tariff, meaning she will never be freed;

The Government pledged to change the law after it emerged Letby will refuse to come up from the cells to hear her fate;

Mystery remains over her motive, with experts suggesting she had a 'hero complex' and harmed the babies to impress a married doctor she was suspected of having an affair with.

Ministers tonight ordered an urgent inquiry into the shocking failings that allowed 'evil' killer nurse Lucy Letby (pictured) to murder seven premature babies on an NHS hospital ward

Immediately after the guilty verdicts were announced, Health Secretary Stephen Barclay (pictured) announced a non-statutory inquiry to examine why Letby was allowed to get away with murder for so long.

Manchester Crown Court was told that Letby attacked her tiny victims 'in plain sight'  injecting air into their bloodstreams or feeding tubes, causing them to collapse and die. She also poisoned them with insulin, overfed them milk and rammed hard plastic tubes or medical instruments down their throats. One infant suffered a ruptured liver at her hand  a violent injury likened by experts to injuries seen in road accident victims.

Doctors repeatedly went to managers to try to blow the whistle but their concerns were dismissed. It wasn't until the deaths of two identical triplets in 23 hours in June 2016 that Letby was finally removed from the ward and the unexpected deaths and collapses stopped.

Tonight paediatrician and TV medic Dr Ravi Jayaram said lives could have been saved if hospital bosses had acted sooner.

'I do genuinely believe that there are four or five babies who could be going to school now who aren't,' he told ITV. Dr Jayaram said executives warned medics the reputation of the hospital would be damaged if they went to police, and consultants were even ordered to apologise to Letby for 'victimising' her  or face being referred to the doctors' watchdog, the General Medical Council.

His colleague, Stephen Brearey, head of the neo-natal unit, accused bosses of attempting a 'cover-up'. Immediately after the guilty verdicts were announced, Health Secretary Stephen Barclay announced a non-statutory inquiry to examine why Letby was allowed to get away with murder for so long.

The minister said it would look at the handling of concerns raised by staff and what action was taken by regulators and the wider health service to ensure 'vital lessons are learned' and get 'parents and families the answers they need'.

But families insisted a full public inquiry, which has the power to compel witnesses to attend, was needed to ensure the hospital bosses, some of whom have retired or left the NHS, were forced to explain why they failed to act sooner.

One father, whose twin sons were attacked but survived, said: 'The (hospital) management, they need to be held accountable. If they (hospital chiefs) had acted on the initial suspicions, they could have stopped any more babies being attacked. It would have prevented multiple deaths.'

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Rob Behrens also called for 'significant improvements to culture and leadership' following the guilty verdict.

Killing spree comes to an end: Lucy Letby, in a tracksuit, opens the door to police officers at 6am on July 3, 2018

Handcuffed: Letby is led away from her three-bedroom home in Chester, which is two miles from the hospital

Driven away: The killer nurse is placed in the back seat of a police car as officers searched her home

He added: 'Those who lost their children deserve to know whether Letby could have been stopped and how it was that doctors were not listened to and their concerns not addressed for so long.' Police said their inquiries were ongoing and Letby could be charged with more crimes.

According to the BBC, Letby was on duty for another six baby deaths at the Countess, not included in the trial, and two babies also died while she was working at Liverpool Women's Hospital. One source close to the investigation told the Mail: 'We don't believe that Baby A, the first victim in the charges, was the first child attacked.'

The trial, which ran for more than ten months, is thought to be the longest murder trial in British criminal history. The jury heard that, over the course of 12 months, between June 2015 and June 2016, at least ten chances were missed to stop Letby's killing spree.

Crucially, doctors failed to appreciate the significance of blood test results from two baby boys  treated eight months apart  which proved beyond doubt that someone on the ward was poisoning children with insulin.

THE CHARGES AND THE VERDICTS Count 1 Murder of Baby A  Guilty, majority verdict Count 2 Attempted murder of Baby B  Guilty, majority verdict Count 3 Murder of Baby C  Guilty, majority verdict Count 4 Murder of Baby D  Guilty, majority verdict Count 5 Murder of Baby E  Guilty, majority verdict Count 6 Attempted murder of Baby F  Guilty, unanimous Count 7 Attempted murder of Baby G  Guilty, majority verdict Count 8 Attempted murder of Baby G  Guilty, majority verdict Count 9 Attempted murder of Baby G  NOT guilty Count 10 Attempted murder of Baby H  NOT guilty Count 11 Attempted murder of Baby H  Hung Count 12 Murder of Baby I  Guilty, majority verdict Count 13 Attempted murder of Baby J  Hung Count 14 Attempted murder of Baby K  Hung Count 15 Attempted murder of Baby L  Guilty, unanimous Count 16 Attempted murder of Baby M  Guilty, majority verdict Count 17 Attempted murder of Baby N  Guilty, majority verdict Count 18 Attempted murder of Baby N  Hung Count 19 Attempted murder of Baby N  Hung Count 20 Murder of Baby O  Guilty, unanimous Count 21 Murder of Baby P  Guilty, majority verdict Count 22 Attempted murder of Baby Q  Hung Advertisement

Letby denied killing or attacking any children. She said it was just an 'innocent coincidence' that she was on duty each time a baby collapsed or died and claimed a 'gang of four' senior consultants, including Dr Brearey and Dr Jayaram, conspired to blame her to cover up for failings at the NHS Trust.

But the jury of seven women and four men disagreed. They took more than 110 hours to convict her. Their verdicts were delivered over a period of ten days, but the trial judge imposed reporting restrictions, meaning they could only be reported yesterday.

Cowardly Letby, an only child, was not in the dock when the final verdicts were revealed, having refused to come up from the cells. However, she previously broke down in tears and sobbed when the foreman delivered the first guilty verdicts on August 8.

She later stared at the floor, while her mother, Susan, 63, cried and wailed 'You can't be serious' and 'this can't be right', when more guilty verdicts, including the first murder conviction, were returned three days later. Letby's retired retail manager father, John, 77, comforted his wife, then held his head in his hands.

Yesterday it emerged ministers plan to introduce new laws forcing offenders to be present in court for their sentencing after Letby indicated to her legal team that she would also not be in the dock to hear Mr Justice Goss deliver her fate on Monday. Her absence also means she will avoid hearing the victim impact statements from the babies' parents, who are expected to explain how her crimes have destroyed their lives.

In a joint statement, read on their behalf yesterday by Janet Moore, a police family liaison officer, the parents said they were 'heartbroken, devastated, angry and numb'. 'To lose a baby is a heart-breaking experience no parent should ever have to go through, but to lose a baby or to have a baby harmed in these particular circumstances is unimaginable.'

Calculating Letby covered her tracks by altering nursing notes. She also gaslighted her colleagues, feigning upset in text messages when babies died, or suggesting medical reasons for their collapse to deflect the blame.

She also took home souvenirs of her killing spree. A treasure trove of more than 250 confidential nursing handover sheets and handwritten notes of resuscitations were found stashed under her bed when police searched her house.

Officers also discovered a 'confession' on a green Post-it note, which said: 'I am evil, I did this,' and 'I will never have children or marry or know what it's like to have a family'. Photographs of a sympathy card she sent to the parents of a three-month-old baby girl she murdered, and a thank you card from the mother and father of another twin boy she killed, were also found by investigators  years after the babies died  on her mobile phone.

During the trial the jury was shown a chart highlighting the 38 nurses who worked on the unit, correlated with 25 'events'  significant collapses or deaths of babies. It showed a long column of 'x's' below Letby's name, indicating she was the only one on duty for all 25 incidents. By comparison, no other nurse was present on more than seven occasions.

The number of deaths on the unit fell back to normal or average levels when Letby was shifted into an administration role, ironically in the risk and patient safety office, in July 2016.

In total, Letby, of Hereford, was convicted of 14 charges  seven of murder and seven of attempted murder  against 13 victims. She was cleared of two attempted murder charges, relating to two different baby girls, Baby G and Baby H. And the jury failed to reach verdicts on another six attempted murder charges relating to four babies. None of the babies or their parents can be named for legal reasons.

Detective Superintendent Simon Blackwell, of Cheshire police, said what Letby had done was 'beyond comprehension' and 'pure evil'.

Pascale Jones, a senior lawyer with the Crown Prosecution Service, said Letby 'weaponised' her nursing skills to repeatedly attack and kill. She 'betrayed' the trust of the children's parents and deceived her hospital colleagues, who had no idea there was a 'murderer in their midst'.

Dr Nigel Scawn, medical director at the Countess of Chester Hospital, said: 'We are extremely sorry that these crimes were committed at our hospital and our thoughts continue to be with all the families and loved ones of the babies who came to harm or died.'

WATCH THE MAIL'S LUCY LETBY DOCUMENTARY IN FULL HERE
Former President Donald Trump is not planning to attend the first Republican primary debate and will likely sit down for an online interview with former Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson instead.

The New York Times reported Friday on Trump's plan to try to upstage the GOP primary field in the Fox News-sponsored debate by sitting down with the conservative network's renegade ex-anchor.

Carlson was pushed out of the network, and his popular primetime show, in late April, and has been broadcasting using Twitter ever since.

For months Trump has suggested he would snub the first debate - arguing that he's polling way ahead of any of his competitors.

'Many people are asking whether or not I will be doing the DEBATES?' he posted to Truth Social Friday. 'People know my Record, one of the BEST EVER, so why would I Debate? IM YOUR MAN. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!'

Former President Donald Trump (left) is not planning to attend the first Republican primary debate and will likely sit down for an online interview with former Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson (right) instead

Trump slightly left the door cracked open Friday to appear at Wednesday's debate in Milwaukee, but The New York Times reported that he'll likely not go

In the same post, Trump said that 'ALL AMERICANS have been clamoring for a President of extremely High Intelligence.'

'As everyone is aware, my Poll numbers, over a "wonderful" field of Republican candidates, are extraordinary,' he continued. 'In fact, I am leading the runner up, whoever that may now be, by more than 50 Points.

'Reagan didn't do it, and neither did others,' Trump also said.

Trump was referring to Reagan's decision in 1980 to skip the Des Moines Register's Republican debate - which was the first televised GOP debate ever.

In Reagan's case the decision briefly backfired.

George H.W. had a good night and eventually won the Iowa caucuses.

Former President Donald Trump participated in all but one of the GOP primary debates during the 2016 cycle

Reagan, however, became the eventual nominee and made Bush his running mate.

During the 2016 campaign Trump skipped a primary debate in Iowa as well, becuase he was - like he is now - feuding with Fox News Channel over the network's inclusion of moderator Megyn Kelly.

The New York Times' sources said Trump is likely to skip the second GOP presidential debate as well.

It will be held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.

The library's prominent speaker series has snubbed Trump but invited critics, including former Rep. Liz Cheney, one of two now former GOP lawmakers to serve on the House select committee on January 6.
During the early hours of July 19, 2003, a young woman found herself alone and at the mercy of a predator by the side of the M61 near Bolton. She had decided to walk home in the darkness following a row with her boyfriend.

But at 4.30am he received a chilling text message from her, saying a man had threatened her and shouted at her to 'come into the bushes' because 'I have a gun pointed at your head'.

She was then stalked for nearly a mile, along the route of the motorway, before being grabbed from behind, throttled and left for dead.

The victim, a 33-year-old mother, scrambled down the embankment, bleeding and bruised, and after regaining consciousness tried to flag down passing cars.

Her cheekbone was broken, one eye was too swollen to open and a nipple was partly severed from a bite. She could not remember if she had been raped but a medical examination confirmed she had.

Who was the rapist? According to the police, it was Andy Malkinson, a security guard at a nearby shopping centre, who was arrested two weeks later. At his trial the following year, he was portrayed as a 'monster' who posed a 'high risk' to women. There was cheering from the public gallery when he was jailed for life.

Jobless and homeless: Andy Malkinson is staying with friends in Holland

Andrew Malkinson, who served 17 years in prison for a rape he did not commit, outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, after being cleared by the Court of Appeal on July 26

Outside the courthouse in Manchester, the detective who led the investigation said his officers 'had to rely on old-fashioned police work to catch Malkinson'. They did. But not in the way he meant.

Their old-fashioned approach, we now know, had more in common with the Life On Mars era of policing in the 1970s, which resulted in a string of notorious miscarriages of justice such as the Birmingham Six and Guilford Four.

What happened to Andy Malkinson was equally shocking in its own way.

Many of you will have seen his face on the TV news and newspaper front pages after he was cleared by the Court of Appeal last month after spending 17 years behind bars for a crime he didn't commit. He was 38 when his cell door slammed shut behind him. He is 57 today.

Only now, though, has the full extent of the scandal, involving failings at every level of the criminal justice system, become apparent.

DNA evidence that could have potentially quashed Andy Malkinson's conviction was discovered five years into his jail stretch, it was revealed this week.

The police knew about it. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)  over which Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer then presided  knew about it. The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC)  the very body responsible for exposing miscarriages of justice  knew too.

It took a small legal charity called Appeal, which looked at the case in 2017, to uncover the truth.

'There is a need for a statutory public inquiry into the role of all state agencies in my case,' Mr Malkinson told the Mail. 'This inquiry needs the power to compel disclosure, so that I can fully understand what went so wrong.'

It is hard to believe, given the shameful shortcomings which have already emerged, that such a Kafkaesque travesty could have occurred in modern Britain.

Mr Malkinson  who grew up in Grimsby, leaving school at 16 to work on the docks  was nothing more than a convenient fall guy. His itinerant lifestyle, having just returned to Britain after ten years abroad, made it easy for the prosecution to paint him as a bit of a loner and a drifter.

SPECIAL INVESTIGATION by Paul Bracchi

On the night of the rape, he was staying with a colleague who worked in security with him at the Ellesmere shopping centre in Walkden, a mile from where the victim was attacked. The colleague said he could not remember much about the evening and could not say if Andy spent all night on the sofa downstairs because he was asleep upstairs.

So, in the police's eyes, Malkinson did not have an alibi that would stand up in court.

But he had no convictions for violence. Apart from incurring a fine for breaking a pane of glass as a teenager and committing a passport offence while backpacking in Thailand in 2001  misdemeanours not exactly indicative of a sexual predator  he had a clean record.

Nevertheless, Mr Malkinson, who protested his innocence from the outset, became the prime and only serious suspect because two PCs remembered his face from pulling him over for riding on the back of an off-road motorbike the previous month and thought it matched the description of the rapist.

Yet from the start, there was a mass of conflicting 'evidence'.

THE INCONSISTENCIES

The victim said she left a 'deep scratch' on the rapist's right cheek with her left hand shortly before she fell unconscious. Mr Malkinson did not have any scratches when he reported for work the next day.

She said the attacker was about 5ft 8in. Mr Malkinson is nearly 6ft.

The victim said the rapist had a local Bolton accent but Mr Malkinson grew up nearly 100 miles away in Grimsby and had spent much of the previous decade in Holland.

The attacker was smartly dressed. Mr Malkinson typically wore scruffy shorts and T-shirts. None of the clothes described by the victim were found where Andy was staying.

The attacker took off his shirt during the assault. He had no chest hair. Mr Malkinson has chest hair and prominent tattoos on his arms. The victim made no mention of tattoos.

But on August 2, a fortnight after the rape, Andy was arrested.

Flawed i.d. parade

Shortly afterwards, the victim and a so-called witness were brought to a late night video line-up. What followed was reminiscent of a scene from a thousand TV police dramas.

Victim and witness were driven to the station in the same car, a clear breach of identity parade guidelines, because of the obvious risk of the witness influencing the victim and vice versa.

It was not the only breach. The victim picked out Andy Malkinson even though he did not match the description she gave to the police, but the witness chose another man before leaving the room with a police officer, then returning to identify Andy Malkinson as the rapist.

DODGY WITNESSES

The witness's partner also picked him out six months later. They were in a car on the fateful night, he said, and claimed they recognised Andy Malkinson having seen him in a darkened street in the vicinity of the M61 through the window of the vehicle.

The whole case hung on their testimony. Their integrity was never questioned. Indeed, the judge stressed they were honest.

But evidence uncovered by Appeal showed the pair had 16 convictions for 38 offences between them, including offences for dishonesty, which were not disclosed to the jury. The couple only came forward after police began calling their sources for help in the case.

At the time of the ID parade, the male witness, who was also a long-term heroin addict, was facing charges of motoring offences, for which he was said to have received lenient penalties.

MISSING PHOTO

The victim said she had broken her fingernail inflicting that 'deep scratch' on the rapist's cheek before passing out. A doctor testified (incorrectly) that the nail was not broken, leading the judge to raise the possibility that she could have misremembered the scratch, which left the jury in doubt.

But Greater Manchester Police had a photograph supporting the victim's account, showing she did have a broken fingernail. Again, this was not disclosed to the jury.

Andrew Malkinson's half-sister Sarah, hugs her brother after he was cleared

Andy Malinson's mother Tricia outside the courts after her son was cleared of a rape he did not commit

IGNORED DNA

During the attack, the victim had suffered a bite mark which partly severed her nipple and left saliva staining on her vest above the left breast. DNA samples recovered from this item of clothing were preserved in an archive.

In 2007, a nationwide review of the forensics in historic rape and murder cases was undertaken.

Fresh testing, following scientific advances, found that the DNA on the top did not belong to the victim's then boyfriend, nor did it match Andy Malkinson's profile.

An internal log of a meeting between the police and prosecutors revealed they realised the significance of the discovery. 'If it is assumed that the saliva came from the offender, then it does not derive from Malkinson,' said the then head of the CPS's complex case work in Manchester. 'This is surprising because the area of clothing [above her left breast] that the saliva was recovered from was crime specific.'

However, he said 'he did not see that there was a need to do any further work on the file' unless the case was brought to appeal, and then his focus would be on 'bolstering' the case against Malkinson. The document, among a cache of case files released to his legal team at Appeal as he fought his conviction, paints a damning picture of a justice system that was prepared to ignore evidence that, potentially, allowed an innocent man to remain in prison and a guilty man to remain at large.

The CPS is supposed to write to the Criminal Cases Review Commission at the earliest opportunity about any case in which there is doubt about the conviction.

WHAT PRICE JUSTICE?

The CCRC only became aware that there was 'crime-specific' DNA that was not a match for Andy Malkinson in 2009, but it did not consider this fact worthy of a referral to the Court of Appeal.

In 2012, his case was dismissed for the second time because there was 'no realistic prospect' that further testing would yield a searchable profile 'capable of being compared with the national DNA database'. But the CPS had already been informed by scientists that it was 'searchable'.

Either way, didn't the CCRC have a duty to put the new evidence  that traces of DNA from another man had been found on the victim's vest  before the Court of Appeal?

The grossly underfunded CCRC told Mr Malkinson the cost of an investigation was not 'its overriding consideration'. The internal case log, though, includes comments such as 'the cost cannot be ignored' and 'further work would be extremely costly'.

Further work was carried out by Appeal and, in 2019, DNA on the victim's vest was matched to another man on the database.

The 48-year-old, who lived near the scene of the rape and can be identified only as 'Mr B', was arrested in Exeter. He has been interviewed twice and a file has been sent to the CPS.

In 2020, the CCRC dismissed Mr Malkinson's application for the second time.

He was released from prison in the same year for good behaviour. He would have been freed much sooner but for his steadfast refusal to admit his guilt.

Assistant Chief Constable Sarah Jackson (pictured) issued a public apology after Andrew Malkinson's acquittal

THE COMMISSION

The miscarriage of justice watchdog, which is now carrying out a review of its own performance, only decided to refer the case to the Court of Appeal in January.

Mr Malkinson's conviction was finally quashed last month on three grounds: the new DNA evidence, the crucial photograph showing the victim's broken nail and the previous convictions of the supposedly reliable and upstanding witnesses.

All of this was uncovered by the campaigning legal charity Appeal.

'Andy has been calling for an external, independent review of the CCRC's handling of his case since his conviction was overturned and more than 144,000 people have backed his petition on this,' said Emily Bolton, Appeal founder and director. 'We are pleased Andy's request for an independent review has been heard.

'However, the CCRC's announcement comes without an apology from that body's chair [Helen Pitcher]. If she is waiting for the outcome of an independent review, which could take many months to complete, it is clear she does not recognise the very obvious failings in this case.'

Today, Andy Malkinson is jobless and homeless and staying with friends in Holland.

'I was 38,' he says. 'I am 57 now. Those years are gone.'

Additional reporting: TIM STEWART
The recent decision of the British Museum director to resign was prompted by the loss of priceless antiquities, staff have claimed.

Hartwig Fischer, who has been in the role for seven years, announced last month he would be leaving in 2024.

There is reportedly a growing belief among staff that his decision was a result of the disappearance of valuable items from the museum, including jewellery, gems and precious metals spanning more than 3,000 years.

Treasures worth up to 50,000 were advertised on eBay for just 40, it was reported this week. Peter Higgs, 56, a curator of Greek collections, was sacked in July after an internal investigation into the missing items.

Mr Fischer announced his departure later the same month.

The British Museum worker, Peter John Higgs (pictured), was sacked in July over missing priceless treasures

The recent decision of the British Museum director to resign was prompted by the loss of priceless antiquities, staff have claimed. Pictured: The Great Court of The British Museum

According to The Telegraph, an independent investigation into the thefts has been given correspondence from February 2021 which shows Jonathan Williams  Mr Fischer's deputy  being alerted over the missing objects.

One senior source at the museum said that staff were shocked Mr Higgs was being held responsible, saying that trustees 'needed someone to blame'.

Another source from the art world said: '[Mr Fischer] was sent on his way with flying colours.

'This is how it is done in the establishment. But for the sake of the museum he should go now. The museum deserves better management than it has at present.'

Other sources have disputed the theory that the director decided to leave due to the missing artefacts.

Experts have meanwhile warned that the debacle has strengthened Greece's argument for the return of the Elgin Marbles to Athens.

Greek culture minister Lina Mendoni said: 'It is very sad and very serious the incident that the British Museum announced recently.

'The ministry is closely monitoring the developments.'

Mr Higgs had worked there for 35 years until earlier this year

Born and raised in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, he studied archaeology at the University of Liverpool before joining the British Museum. Higgs' family insist he will be cleared

The 2,500-year-old Parthenon Marbles were taken from Athens by Lord Elgin more than 200 years ago then sold to the UK Government in 1816.

They have been housed in the British Museum ever since, despite repeated calls for their return by the Greek government and campaigners.

Rishi Sunak has followed his predecessors by vowing to keep the marbles in Britain, claiming they remain a 'huge asset' to the UK.

Among the arguments put forward in declassified government papers was that the marbles are safer in Britain than they would be in Athens, though the British Museum has distanced itself from this position.

Art expert Christopher Marinello said that following this week's revelations about missing artefacts, this 'patronising argument' was now 'dead in the water'.

'We should now focus on the more important issues as to why the marbles should be returned,' he said.

A British Museum spokesman said: 'We have conducted a thorough investigation, identified the person we believe to be responsible, and that person has been dismissed.

'We are also taking further robust action to ensure this can never happen again.'

British Museum (pictured) on Wednesday said it had dismissed a member of staff after items from its collection were found to be 'missing, stolen or damaged'

The museum also said it was wrong to suggest there was any link between Mr Fischer's resignation and the thefts, and 'categorically' rejected any allegation of a cover-up.

Mr Higgs's son, Greg, insisted his father was innocent.

The 21-year-old said: 'He's lost his job and his reputation and I don't think it was fair.'

No arrests have been made and it is understood no interviews under caution have taken place.
Angela Rayner yesterday boasted of being 'proud' of 12-hour-plus 'rave' sessions and drinking super-strength booze  and admitted that she lives on unhealthy foods and has an addiction to vapes.

Labour's deputy leader made light of her lifestyle as she acknowledged that her personality clashed with that of leader Sir Keir Starmer's, whom she described as being like a civil servant.

Speaking to the comedian Matt Forde at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Ms Rayner said that she had just returned from a holiday in Spain where she had been drinking from mid-afternoon to sunrise the next morning with little food and only the occasional glass of water.

The 43-year-old said: 'The girls I was raving with are half my age, and I was like "I'm a grandma". I was proud of that. 4pm I started, and I got home at six o'clock in the morning when the sun was shining and I was like, 'Yes, I can do it'.'

Asked if she did it 'with or without chemical support', she said she just had vodka.

Deputy Labour Leader Angela Rayner (pictured) yesterday boasted of being 'proud' of 12-hour-plus 'rave' sessions and drinking super-strength booze

Speaking about her drinking habits Ms Rayner (pictured) said that she lets her hair down when she's at home

'You've got to go with the music, the vibes. You've got to be in the moment and it takes you.' Mr Forde said: 'That really sounds like you've done drugs. That's the druggiest answer I've ever heard.'

Speaking about her heavy drinking habits, she said that 'I let my hair down at home' by inviting friends round and making a 'lethal' cocktail called Venom.

The cocktail, she said, is made using a bottle of vodka, a bottle of Southern Comfort, ten bottles of Blue WKD and a litre of orange juice.

She said: 'If you're ever having a crowd of you at home get that out and everyone will have a good time.

'I invited my two youngest kids' headteacher from primary school and he had to take his wife home because she'd had some Venom.

'One of my local councillors, I found her curled up in the dog's bed with the dog.'

Referring to a recent supermarket trip she had made, she said: 'I was ashamed the other day because I got three bottles of wine and eight packs of Juul2 vapes and that was it, that's all I had in my basket and I did actually think 'I need to put some fruit in there'.'

She said her children call her 'The Vape Dragon' because she cannot give it up. She added: 'Vaping is probably really bad for you and I will find out one day, but yeah I enjoy a good vape.'

Describing the difference between her and Sir Keir, she said that she is 'more bombastic and in your face' while he takes a strategic approach, and described him as 'the ultimate civil servant/public servant'.
Erin Patterson had a collection of books about mushrooms which she kept at her home where her fatal beef wellington lunch took place, Daily Mail Australia has been told.

A friend claimed the shelves of her family home at Leongatha included books about delicious yet potentially deadly fungi.

Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday reported Ms Patterson, 48, was an 'experienced forager' who - like many families in the area - picked mushrooms when they were in season.

The friend said she had a number of books on the subject in her library.

A friend told Daily Mail Australia Erin Patterson had a collection of books about mushrooms she kept at her home

The Leongatha home where the now notorious lunch took place

Erin's former parents-in-law Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson died after eating a beef wellington prepared by Ms Patterson on July 29.

Heather's pastor husband Ian survived but remains in a critical condition in hospital.

It is believed the meal included deadly death cap mushrooms.

And on Friday, a false claim that Erin's own parents had died due to poisoning was exposed as a lie. The pair actually died of natural causes.

According to a neighbour of Ms Patterson's mother, the death of Dr Heather Scutter from cancer in 2019 was not quick.

'It took her slowly. She went to Melbourne for treatment and came back. Then she died,' a neighbour told Daily Mail Australia.

Her husband had died in 2011 after his own battle with cancer - with his ashes sprinkled on the beach.

Gail and Don Patterson died after eating the beef wellington

The multi-million dollar home of Erin Patterson's mother before she 'died slowly'

The beachfront property has sweeping ocean views

Ms Patterson's mother was a noted children's literature professor who left a house on the South Pacific Ocean headland at Eden in her will to her two daughters when she died in early 2019.

A copy of the will obtained by Daily Mail Australia on Friday shows she left her entire estate in equal shares to her daughters.

Since her inheritance, Ms Patterson has bought three properties including a house now infamous for having her children's 'Satanic' scrawlings on the wall and the land on which she built the Leongatha house where she held the mushroom pie lunch.

Investigating police have said Ms Patterson is a person of interest in the three deaths.

She has denied any wrongdoing and Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting she intentionally poisoned her four relatives.

Her ex-husband Simon Patterson was inivited to the lunch but luckily pulled out at the last minute.

Mr Patterson himself spent 21 days in intensive care after collapsing from a mystery stomach illness at his home in May 2022.

Throughout his stay in hospital, Ms Patterson kept his worried friends updated about his condition on social media.

Ms Patterson this week confirmed she had dumped a lawyer she initially engaged after police declared her a 'person of interest' in the deaths of her in-laws.

Simon Patterson, pictured leaving his home, luckily pulled out of the fatal lunch

A man acting for Erin Patterson's original lawyer tried to get a note to her after police confiscated her phone and computers

The 48-year old told the ABC she had voluntarily provided a statement to police after realising she had made a 'serious mistake' providing a no comment interview to investigators on advice from her lawyer, whom she promptly dumped.

Ms Patterson is now represented by a prominent Melbourne criminal barrister..

On Thursday, Victoria Police Deputy Police Commissioner Wendy Steendam told ABC radio Ms Pattersons lengthy written account may have hindered the investigation.

'What I would say is that anything thats in the media  working on an investigation through the media is unhelpful to our investigation, Ms Steendam said.

'The matter needs to be dealt with by us, looked at [by] us, and determined by us thoroughly whats actually occurred, and using the evidence that we have to determine and understand exactly whats happened and if we can explain what caused the deaths.'

Police have all but shut down commenting on the ongoing investigation, which Ms Steendam said be 'lengthy'.

'I dont think its helpful to actually comment further on this investigation,' she said.

'It is an active matter and when we have more to say publicly, well do that. But I think to speculate or to talk about the aspects of the investigation in detail is unhelpful.'
Neptune, the eighth and final planet from the sun, is known for its trails of wispy white clouds made up of crystals of frozen methane.

Strong winds whip these clouds across the ice giant at speeds of more than 1,200 mph  the fastest recorded anywhere in the solar system.

But a new study shows they have now all but vanished, in a development that briefly baffled scientists.

Experts have since discovered that the clouds disappear and reappear according to where the sun is in its 11-year cycle - when its magnetic field flips.

They discovered this after studying images from the Hubble Space Telescope dating back to 1994.

It was in 1989 that NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft provided the first close-up images of linear, bright clouds - reminiscent of cirrus clouds on Earth - high in Neptune's atmosphere. Pictured, a view of Neptune from Voyager 2, 1998

For the first time in nearly three decades of observations, clouds seen on Neptune have all but vanished. This sequence of Hubble Space Telescope images chronicles the waxing and waning of the amount of cloud cover on Neptune

Neptune: The most distant planet in our solar system Dark, cold, and whipped by supersonic winds, ice giant Neptune is the eighth and most distant planet in our solar system. More than 30 times as far from the Sun as Earth, Neptune is the only planet in our solar system not visible to the naked eye and the first predicted by mathematics before its discovery. In 2011 Neptune completed its first 165-year orbit since its discovery in 1846. NASA's Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to have visited Neptune up close. It flew past in 1989 on its way out of the solar system. Source: NASA Advertisement

A new study describing the findings  led by astronomers at the University of California, Berkeley  has been published in the journal Icarus.

'I was surprised by how quickly clouds disappeared on Neptune,' said Imke de Pater, emeritus professor of astronomy at UC Berkeley.

'We essentially saw cloud activity drop within a few months.'

Neptune, the fourth largest planet in our solar system, is an ice giant  a huge planet made up of a thick soup of water, methane and ammonia, which scientists refer to as 'ices'.

Above this, in its upper atmosphere, are the planets distinctive swirling clouds, which reflect all the colours of the spectrum in the sun's light, making them white.

It was in 1989 that NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft provided the first close-up images of these bright clouds  reminiscent of cirrus clouds on Earth  high in Neptune's atmosphere.

Wrapped in teal- and cobalt-colored bands of clouds, the planet looked like a blue-hued sibling to Jupiter and Saturn, the blue indicating the presence of its methane.

To monitor the evolution of Neptune's clouds, researchers analysed images from Hubble.

They also studied data from California's Lick Observatory between 2018 and 2019 and the Keck Observatory in Hawaii from 1994 to 2022.

They found an abundance of clouds normally seen at the icy giant's mid-latitudes started to fade in 2019  and since then they haven't gone back to how they were.

From late 2019 onwards, only the south pole showed cloud activity.

'Even now, four years later, the most recent images we took this past June still show the clouds haven't returned to their former levels,' said Erandi Chavez at Harvard's Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

A nearly-30-year-long set of observations shows that the number of clouds grows increasingly following a peak in the solar cycle - where the sun's level of activity rhythmically rises and falls over an 11-year period. The sun's level of ultraviolet radiation is plotted in the vertical axis. The 11-year cycle is plotted along the bottom from 1994 to 2022. The Hubble observations along the top, clearly show a correlation between cloud abundance and solar peak of activity

Pictured, images from Keck Observatory (top two rows) and Hubble (bottom row) that display Neptunes characteristic appearance throughout the three decades worth of data

READ MORE Neptune is even COLDER than we thought Researchers from NASA analysed thermal infrared images of Neptune Advertisement

'This is extremely exciting and unexpected, especially since Neptune's previous period of low cloud activity was not nearly as dramatic and prolonged.'

Data also revealed a connection between Neptune's disappearing clouds and the solar cycle  the period when the sun's magnetic field flips every 11 years, causing levels of solar radiation to fluctuate.

This was surprising because Neptune is the farthest planet from the sun and doesn't receive much sunlight  around only 1/900th of the sunlight we get on Earth.

The team found that two years after the solar cycle's peak, an increasing number of clouds appear on Neptune.

It's thought the sun's UV rays, when strong enough, may be triggering a photochemical reaction that produces Neptune's clouds.

The team further found a positive correlation between the number of clouds and the ice giant's brightness from the sunlight reflecting off it.

When the planet's reflectivity reached its lowest level ever observed in 2020, most of the clouds went away.

The study heavily suggests Neptune's global cloudy weather is driven by solar activity and not the planet's four seasons, which each last approximately 40 years.

The Hubble telescope was launched on April 24, 1990, via the space shuttle Discovery from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida

More than 30 times as far from the sun as Earth, Neptune is the only planet in our solar system not visible to the naked eye

The data revealed an intriguing pattern between changes in Neptune's cloud cover and the solar cycle - the period when the sun's magnetic field flips every 11 years, causing levels of solar radiation to fluctuate

'Our data provide the strongest evidence to date that the discrete cloud coverage appears correlated with the solar cycle,' the team say in their paper.

Further observations of Neptune are also needed to see how long the current near-absence of clouds will last, they add.

This may help deepen understanding not only of Neptune but also of exoplanets  planets outside of our solar system.

This is because exoplanets are thought to have Neptune-like qualities, such as a rocky core surrounded by a thick atmosphere of hydrogen and helium.

Professor Pater also said by studying weather and climate on other planets we will deepen our understanding of weather and climate on our own planet.
When you hear the phrase Apollo 11 - you often think of the iconic American space mission that saw astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin land on the moon.

But the man that doesn't always come to mind is Michael Collins, who famously never set foot on the moon despite piloting the successful spaceflight that enabled Neil Armstrong to become the first person to walk on the moon.

Once completing the first successful human expedition to the moon, you'd think the trio would be revered upon arrival - but Collins reveals the shocking measures they took upon their arrival.

Before his death in 2021, he told 60 Minutes Australia: 'We were put into quarantine for two weeks. Some of our scientists were worried about the pathogens that we might have brought back from the moon, they possibly would be dangerous to humankind.

The legendary astronaut added: 'So, their solution to that was to put us inside a hermetically sealed container with a gigantic colony of white mice.

But the man that doesn't always come to mind is Michael Collins, who famously never set foot on the moon despite piloting the first ever successful spaceflight

He suffered a blow to his confidence the year before when NASA rejected him as one of nine astronauts for their 1962 Gemini programme

Once completing the first successful human expedition to the moon, you'd think the trio would be revered upon arrival - but Collins reveals the shocking measures they took upon their arrival

Pictured are the trio in a mobile quarantine facility, visited by President Nixon 'We were put into quarantine for two weeks. Some of our scientists were worried about the pathogens that we might have brought back from the moon, they possibly would be dangerous to humankind'

He explained the odd measures: '[If] the white mice lived we were okay, [if the] white mice died we were in deep trouble.

READ MORE: Mission incredible! Stunning new graphics show exactly how Apollo 11 undertook its mammoth journey 50 years on from the event that enthralled the world Advertisement

'Of course, I was checking on them - there were too many of them to give names to but they became my friends'.

Luckily, the mice survived - and so did the trio.

Collins was adamant that he was fine with less recognition than his equally legendary peers.

He said: 'To be any small part of that [mission] suited me very, very well.

The astronaut joked: 'And, besides, I was their ticket home  they couldn't get home without me'.

He refuted claims of loneliness, telling NPR the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11: 'I mean, loneliness - some people are loneliest - lonely for a lifetime or a month or a year. I mean, for eight days to and from, I don't think loneliness really comes into the equation, except it seemed to in the minds of the press at the time'.

But he admitted in his autobiography Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut's Journeys: 'I know that I would be a liar or a fool if I said that I have the best of the three Apollo 11 seats'.

When you hear the phrase Apollo 11 - you often think of the iconic American space mission that saw astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin land on the moon

His crewmates spent time collecting moon rock, in total awe, while Collins chose to orbit the moon alone for almost 28 hours, in complete darkness

And shockingly, Collins was on a measly $17,000 a year despite being one of NASA's best-trained command module pilot who risked his life to make history

He told The New York Times of the pressure the trio faced: 'We were our nation's envoys, and it would be a national disgrace if we screwed up'

Adding: 'But I can say with truth and equanimity that I am perfectly satisfied with the one I have,' he said in his autobiography.

His crewmates spent time collecting moon rock, in total awe, while Collins chose to orbit the moon alone for almost 28 hours, in complete darkness.

Collins graduated with a degree in military science from the United States Military Academy, in 1952, following the footsteps of his father and elder brother.

He then joined the US Air Force as a test pilot, before being handpicked by NASA's prestigious Apollo programme in 1963.

But he wasn't always so optimistic.

He suffered a blow to his confidence the year before when NASA rejected him as one of nine astronauts for their 1962 Gemini programme.

Collins said: 'With one part shrewd logic, and nine parts blind luck, I had qualified'.

Like Armstrong, Collins was just 38 when he completed the spaceflight.

And shockingly, he was on a measly $17,000 a year despite being one of NASA's best-trained command module pilot who risked his life to make history.

Collins joked: 'And, besides, I was their ticket home  they [Aldrin and Armstrong] couldn't get home without me'

Apollo 11 was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon

Like Armstrong, Collins (pictured left) was just 38 when he completed the spaceflight

He told The New York Times of the pressure the trio faced: 'We were our nation's envoys, and it would be a national disgrace if we screwed up'.

Interestingly, the 1969 landing was not Collins' first chance at success - but an untimely back operation left him unable to partake in the Apollo 8 orbit during Christmas 1968.

Apollo 8 orbited the moon a total of 10 times, without even landing - but astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders became the first humans to photograph earthrise.

It was the first crewed spaceflight mission in NASA's Apollo programme.
Classics like BLT and prawn mayo top the charts followed by ham and cheese

A new study has revealed a list of sandwiches with the worst carbon footprint

Whether it's slashing our rainforests or burning coal, there are numerous culprits to blame for Earth's climate change problem.

But a new study claims there's another unexpected factor at play - and you may be surprised to know that it's sandwiches.

Researchers at 100Green have revealed a top 10 list of the worst carbon-emitting meal deals in a bid to help Brits have a 'greener' lunch.

Believe it or not, prawn mayo with crisps and a drink is the worst of them all - pumping out the same carbon footprint as driving 53miles from London to Brighton (14.82kg of CO2).

The beloved BLT (bacon, lettuce, and tomato) was a close runner-up, emitting the same volume of carbon produced by a 100W blub left on for almost 220 hours (9.34kg).

Researchers at 100Green have revealed a top 10 list of the worst carbon-emitting meal deals in a bid to help Brits have a 'greener' lunch

A new study by 100Green has revealed a list of sandwiches with the worst carbon footprint

And if you thought ham and cheese was a simple but safe combination, think again, as this meal deal ranked third with 8.63kg of carbon produced.

READ MORE: How meal deals can be more calorific than a Big Mac and fries: Researchers analyse 550,000 sandwich, drink and snack combos sold on high street... so how bad is YOUR favourite? The most calorific combinations can contain above 1,200 calories  more than a Big Mac, regular fries and Coca Cola from McDonald's, which has 1,000 calories  according to MailOnline's analysis Advertisement

'As busy people, one of our biggest challenges is acknowledging the trade-off between convenience and sustainability,' researchers said.

'But lets face it, when were tired and hungry, we tend to reach for the easiest option. Usually the one with convenient, disposable packaging that needs no preparation to consume.

'Whilst we acknowledge that there are many sustainable considerations to be had when choosing your lunch (Vegan? Line caught fish? Recycled packaging?), we were keen to keep our calculations as straightforward as possible, with the simple objective to make us stop and consider the impact that our lunch choices have on the environment.'

As part of their calculations, researchers collated data on the most popular sandwich and wrap choices across the UK.

For the sake of easy comparisons, these were combined with Walkers crisps and Coca Cola in every case, which are thought to be the nation's favourite snacks.

Chicken and bacon, ham, and all day breakfast also ranked fourth to sixth respectively, pumping out more than 5kg of CO2 in all cases.

Though researchers claim that chicken and avocado were actually the most sustainable ingredient options available - producing 2.8kg of CO2 per meal deal.

This comes at a time when avocadoes are at the centre of debate, with experts often pointing to the sheer volume of water it takes to produce them.

The beloved BLT (bacon, lettuce, and tomato) was a close runner-up, emitting the same volume of carbon produced by a 100W blub left on for almost 220 hours (9.34kg)

Though in 2021, the World Avocado Organisation slammed British chefs who had sought to veto these beloved fruits, stressing that meat is far worse for the environment.

'Youd still have to have your lightbulb on for 66 hours to clock up the same emissions though, just over a weekend,' 100Green said.

'But that is a far more respectable 2.7 solid days of leaving your lightbulb on, compared to over two weeks (14.3 days) for the prawn mayo sandwich filling.'

To be more sustainable at lunch time, researchers recommend planning your food shops ahead of time and eating leftovers instead of classic meal deals.

'Not all of us can finish our lunch sometimes, and if we dont want to save it for later, it is essential to know where to dispose of our leftovers,' they added.

'The UK wastes 6.6 million tonnes of food every year, and 4.5 million tonnes of it is wasted due to either lack of knowledge around proper food disposal, lack of time and lack of understanding of the impact.'
Tori Spellings ex-husband has laid bare the moment the actress broke down in tears after finding out that her famed TV producer father Aaron Spelling was leaving the vast majority of his fortune not to her, but to her estranged mother Candy.

The late TV producer passed away in 2006 from stroke complications, famously leaving the majority of his estimated $600 million fortune to his wife Candy Spelling, while Tori, now 50, received a relatively meager sum of just $800,000.

Now, in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, Charlie Shahnaian - who was in a relationship with Tori from 2002 to 2005 - has recalled Tori's devastated reaction to the news that her father was not passing down his vast wealth to her.

According to Charlie, 58, Tori learned about her father's plans for his will several years before his death, with the former actor recalling how his then-girlfriend broke down sobbing when she got the news.

When she found out about the will, and the terms of the will, she was so upset,' he recalled.

According to Charlie, much of Tori's devastation over the will came because she knew that it meant her mother would be able to exert 'control' over her life via her finances.

'She was crying and feeling upset, not about the money, but about what it meant that was structured in such a way,' he went on.

Tori Spellings ex-husband Charlie Shahnaian has revealed the actress's tearful reaction to her father's will

Aaron Spelling, pictured with Tori and his wife Candy Spelling in 2006, was a legendary Hollywood producer with an estimated $600 million fortune

In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, Charlie recalled the moment that Tori began sobbing when she learned that she wouldn't inherit millions from her TV mogul father

Charlie recalled how he reminded Tori that they had discussed living a simple life away from the bright lights in an attempt to reassure her that the money wasn't something she needed.

'I said, Remember, you once said you would live with me in a log cabin in Montana. Shes crying and she says, I know, but I thought I'd do it with my money. She had a great sense of humor about it, yet there's a real pain in there about that.

Reflecting on the way that the Beverly Hills, 90210 producer chose to structure his will, Charlie - who never saw the will - added: 'From what I understand, it was his hope was that it would bring Tori closer to her mom because it would require a connection between them.

While Tori did not inherit her father's fortune, Candy has since claimed that she's set up trust funds for her daughter's children - and Charlie says he believes there is a trust set up for the actress and her brother Randy that they will one day inherit, but only when Candy gives the go-ahead.

He noted that the pair will only receive what is left 'remaining' in the trust, suggesting Candy still has control over that money, too.

And from my understanding of it, the money is in a trust and she still gets it someday,' Charlie continued. 'Her and her brother will still get what's remaining in the trust.'

The former actor also opened up about Tori's struggles with her perception as a rich heiress, recalling a moment when the actress 'collapsed crying' when the doorman at her home made a joke about Charlie's 'beat-up old car'.

'I was driving a beat-up old Nissan Sentra and we were out on a date,' he explained. 'We were coming back to the house in my car and the doorman opened the door and said something like, "Miss Tori, what are you doing in this car? You should be in a limousine.

'I kind of took it for the joke it was meant to be but it really angered her and hurt her. She just completely collapsed crying.

'It was so much bigger than this [one moment]. It was like this cathartic cry of just, "This is my life. This is going to ruin our relationship. This is what everyone thinks of me. That I'm this person and I'm not.

'It really, really hurt her.'

The actors comments come as it has been reported that Tori has fallen on hard times amid her split from her husband-of-18-years, Dean McDermott.

The star was also recently forced out of her home due to mold in May, before DailyMail.com exclusively revealed that she'd been spotted living in an RV with her five children in recent weeks, having previously spent the night in a $100-a-night motel.

Tori had a rocky relationship with her author, theater producer, and philanthropist mother Carole Gene 'Candy' Spelling, and acclaimed film and TV producer dad Aaron

Tori's family famously owned the second largest home in Los Angeles - a 56,500-square-foot estate that had a total of 123 rooms - including 14 bedrooms and 27 bathrooms

It also had a 20-seat movie theater, gym, bowling alley, game room, nightclub, wine cellar, and barbershop and sat on five acres of land

Looking back to Toris troubled relationship with money during their four years together, Charlie explained: When we were together, she didn't really have a team of people handling things for her. On her own, she isnt good with money. I'm sure she's grown in that regard but it was something that she was not trained to do.

He then explained: What people don't appreciate about Tori is that since she was 15 years old, she supported herself. Sure, she had help getting the job but now we look around and everybody has help in Hollywood getting jobs.

'She only lived in The Manor as a teenager for two years, if that. She supported herself since. She was out on her own working. She worked on 90210 for 28 episodes a season and she made at least one TV movie every year.

'She worked hard, she worked her little butt off. She didn't save any of the money, because she wasn't brought up to understand that.

Charlie then joked about the simple ways in which the star would blow through money as he recalled: She knew that she had terrible spending sprees. We had racks of clothes everywhere.

'Some of them would be clothes that designers sent, but they don't send it to you for free. You have to send it back if you don't want it. But she never sends it back and then we would get charged for them.

Indeed, Tori has previously been open about racking up tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt, which she attributed to 'bad shopping habits.'

She then explained the source of her financial struggles in her 2013 book, Spelling It Like It Is.

'It's not my fault I'm an uptown girl stuck in a midtown life. I was raised in opulence. My standards are ridiculously high. We can't afford that lifestyle, but when you grow up silver spoon it's hard to go plastic,' she wrote. 'It's no mystery why I have money problems. I grew up rich beyond anyone's wildest dreams. I never knew anything else.'

The mother-of-five continued: 'Even when I try to embrace a simpler lifestyle, I can't seem to let go of my expensive tastes. Even when my tastes aren't fancy, they're still costly. I moved houses to simplify my life, but lost almost a million dollars along the way.'

Back in April 2020, the star had money 'seized' from her bank account in April 2020, after being ordered by a court to pay more than $88,000 in unpaid credit card debt.

Charlie was in a relationship with Tori from 2002 to 2005; pictured with their dog Mimi in Massachusetts

The pair tied the knot in July 2004 during a million dollar wedding held at the family's mansion; pictured at their bridal shower in Massachusetts

Looking back to Toris troubled relationship with money during their four years together, Charlie explained: On her own, she isnt good with money'; pictured together in Hawaii

Now reports claim the star been forced the star to downgrade her summer vacation plans with her children due to financial strains.

The Beverly Hills, 90210 alum was photographed exiting an RV at a campground in Ventura County, California with her kids, Liam, 16, Stella, 15, Hattie, 11, Finn, 10, and Beau, six, last week.

It also came after they were first pictured staying in a $100-a-night roadside motel earlier this month.

Charlie insisted the fact Tori and her brood were living in a trailer was a sign of the stars resilient nature when it came to tackling challenges in life.

Toris got an incredible resilience, he began. If things get down, she works that phone, she works those emails. I think she knows that about herself, that she thrives in those circumstances.

Charlie continued: I don't think she's got this fear that I won't survive, that I will end up at rock bottom. I think she says, I'll do what it takes and I can do it. She's not afraid to make a deal. She'll take that challenge and almost immediately finds the way to work it.

He then added: She knows how to make lemonade out of lemons.

As for the speculation that Tori might have deliberately set up the RV situation to help make a return to reality TV, Charlie admitted he found it hard to believe she would be doing it as a publicity stunt.

Tori and her children have been pictured staying in a camper van parked off a busy road in California

It came after the brood were spotted spending time at a $100-per-night motel

Tori has been making the best of things, amid reports of financial difficulties that culminated in the actress taking her five kids on an RV vacation this summer

The Beverly Hills, 90210 alum has been sharing pictures from the trip with her kids, Liam, 16, Stella, 15, Hattie, 11, Finn, 10, and Beau, six

He stated: I wouldn't call it a stunt. I would think that she's been incredibly smart. I think she has inherited her dad's ability to tap into what makes good television. He did it in nighttime soap opera, dramatic form and she's been really successful doing it through reality programming. If that is what she wants, I think she's smart for doing it.

I don't know if that's what she's doing but she's been very comfortable about opening up her life to others. If this is what's really happening in her life I don't think she would manufacture this, take her kids out of the home and put them in an RV, unless it was what was the best thing for them at that time.

He added: Going into an RV might be just a fun vacation. It might be a fun way to make the best of a bad situation.

Tori tied the knot with actor and writer Charlie in July 2004 during a million-dollar wedding held at the family's mansion - but after a year of marriage, the relationship came to a screeching halt amid rumors that she had cheated on her husband with Dean McDermott.

The actress and Dean met on set of the Lifetime movie Mind Over Murder in 2005, while he was also married to someone else, and she later confessed to having an affair with him.

She and Charlie separated in October 2005, and their divorce was finalized in April 2006. Within one month, she and Dean got married.

On June 16, Dean revealed in a since-deleted Instagram post that he was parting ways with Tori after 18 years of marriage.

Charlie admitted he had been 'surprised' that the pair's relationship appeared to be ending after so many years together.

Tori and Charlie separated in October 2005 amid rumors that she had cheated with Dean McDermott; pictured together on holiday

On June 16, Dean revealed in a since-deleted Instagram post that he was parting ways with Tori after 18 years of marriage

He stated: 'My reaction to it is that, unless things are so horrible for both of them, I really hope they can work it out because there are five kids and some of them are quite young. I hope that they wouldn't enter this lightly.

'In regards to how it started out, I know the question that people have is, "do you think this is karma?" I don't believe in karma, I believe in grace. I believe that grace is undeserved. Although I do believe that if you live a certain way, certain things are bound to happen. But I don't believe it's a spiritual karma on her.'

Sharing his message of support for his famous ex, Charlie stated: 'I'm rooting for Tori. I want her to know that I'm rooting for her. Just because things don't end well in a relationship with time and with healing, and in my case, with faith, you can come to a place where that love is all that remains.

'I'm rooting for her success. I know she's got it in her to rise up to another level, and to use her circumstances to create something wonderful.'
EASTENDERS

Sometimes as a soap viewer, you're called upon to suspend your disbelief for the greater good. So we're pleased that EastEnders ripped off the big Cindy Beale plaster in one go a few months back, with an episode full of exposition about her missing years which basically reset the Beale family ready for a new run of dramas.

In fact, her return from the dead now feels more believable than the honking great coincidence that Cindy's secret family (ex-partner George and their daughters Gina and Anna) from her witness protection life are now living some ten yards from Cindy's old house in Walford.

But if it weren't for coincidences, 50 per cent of soap plots would fall at the first hurdle.

This week, Cindy's comeback kicks off in earnest as we head to France (looking suspiciously like a Hertfordshire rental with a couple of baguettes and a bottle of Le Piat d'Or plonked on the side. BBC budgets ain't what they used to be).

Cindy's son Peter intercepts a text to her from Anna, leaving his dad Ian forced to spill the beans on Cindy's other family  and the sisters Peter's never met.

Peter was last seen skipping town with the contents of the Beale business accounts, so is hardly flavour of the month with half-brother Bobby

Faster than you can say 'a single to London please', Peter's on the Eurostar. He'd better hope for a warm welcome from his new family, as he doesn't get it from the one he already has.

Peter was last seen skipping town with the contents of the Beale business accounts, so is hardly flavour of the month with half-brother Bobby or his Uncle Ben, who's soon squaring up to him.

But Peter has more to worry him when he spots the attraction between his new sister Anna and Bobby.

They're not blood related (Bobby's mum was Laura Beale, Ian's third wife), but Peter's out to stop any sibling revelry. Meanwhile, the real fun starts when Cindy gets wind of her son's trip

Elsewhere this week, soap's most obvious stalker, teacher Theo, is now targeting Eve, convinced that she is the obstacle to him winning Stacey's love  when, in fact, he's just creepy and Stace would rather do double maths every day than take lessons in love from him.

DYNASTY CATFIGHT

Gillian Taylforth (Kathy) has filmed heated scenes with her nemesis Michelle Collins (Cindy). 'It reminds me of the Dynasty days,' laughs Gillian. 'If there was a pool we'd have been in it!'

CORONATION STREET

Troubled Ryan has been hiding away, and it's a shame he didn't use some of that time to tune in to EastEnders. Maybe he would have learned a lesson in the perils of online pay-per-view modelling, and not headed down the dark path he does this week.

With the likes and comments on his fitness posts lifting his self-esteem, which has been at rock-bottom since his scarring in the acid attack, Ryan finds himself tempted when an offer comes in to provide more... erm... private pictures, especially with Carla and Peter strapped for cash.

As Ryan's trousers drop, his bank balance rises and subscribers come flooding in. But for every crop of positive comments comes a negative one. This, combined with the effects of his steroid abuse, sees him go off the deep end at Carla. Will she twig that he's got deeper troubles than she realised? We can but hope so.

Elsewhere, the atmosphere between George and Todd is chillier than Shuttleworth mortuary, after George's young protege jumps ship to rival company RestEasy. Is their friendship really six feet under?

As Ryan's trousers drop, his bank balance rises and subscribers come flooding in. But for every crop of positive comments comes a negative one. This, combined with the effects of his steroid abuse, sees him go off the deep end (pictured) at Carla

Bethany's on her way back home

Poor Sarah Platt has had a tough year, but at least there's good news on the horizon with rumours that her daughter Bethany is to return to the Street.

Lucy Fallon played the character for five years before quitting the soap in 2020, and is reported to be returning to filming later this year. Lucy's certainly had her hands full during her time away  she gave birth to a son, Sonny Jude, earlier this year.

EMMERDALE

Mack and Charity can't resist each other

Call me a soap cynic, but I had a feeling it wasn't all over for Mack and Charity. While Caleb and Charity getting it on was intriguing (and not just because they're cousins, that's practically a requirement of entry for the Dingle family), their romance felt like a misdirection before we got to the main event.

This week, we're finally on the starting blocks, as Mack and Charity have an afternoon romp.

I mean, we know Charity has just saved the day at little Reuben's christening by offering the Woolie for the reception, but there's saying 'thank you', Mack, and there's saying 'THANK YOU!' As Mack scurries off in a state of confusion, Charity feels a reunion is on the cards. Mack was fortunate to get away unscathed from spurning Charity once but we very much doubt he'll be so lucky a second time

This week, we're finally on the starting blocks, as Mack and Charity have an afternoon romp (pictured)

Elsewhere, Rhona is fed up with everyone blithering and sets up a 'face your fears' day, where Marlon, Mary and Paddy confront the matters daunting them. Let's hope this isn't a regular thing. If everyone in soap started to face up to their problems, we'd have wound up the plots by Tuesday of most weeks.
Blue Beetle (12A, 127 mins)

Verdict: Different - until it's not

Rating:

Strays (15, 93 mins)

Verdict: New dogs, old tricks

Rating:

They've done Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. Even Aquaman and Shazam. But now, in DC Comics' ongoing struggle to have a cinematic universe to rival Marvel's, it is finally the turn of Blue Beetle. You know, the one who's blue. And a beetle.

Who am I kidding? Being one of those cool, attractive, literary sorts who reads a lot of comics, I know perfectly well who Blue Beetle is. But I imagine others might be in a different position, so here's an explainer.

In this incarnation of the character, Blue Beetle is a 20-something guy called Jaime Reyes who's been bonded with an alien artefact, the scarab, that gives him terrific strength, dexterity, durability, weaponry, the power of flight  all the usual. And, yes, when dressed in his amazo-suit, he is blue. And he does look rather like a beetle.

Now, in DC Comics' ongoing struggle to have a cinematic universe to rival Marvel's, it is finally the turn of Blue Beetle. You know, the one who's blue. And a beetle

In a way, the most significant thing about him might be that surname: Reyes. Blue Beetle is a Mexican superhero in a world where Mexican superheroes are outnumbered by ones from the planet Krypton

In this incarnation of the character, Blue Beetle is a 20-something guy called Jaime Reyes who's been bonded with an alien artefact, the scarab, that gives him terrific strength, dexterity, durability, weaponry, the power of flight

But, in a way, the most significant thing about him might be that surname: Reyes. Blue Beetle is a Mexican superhero in a world where Mexican superheroes are outnumbered by ones from the planet Krypton.

When Jaime returns home from university at the beginning of the film, he and his family switch unthinkingly between English and Spanish  with subtitles phasing in and out accordingly. It really shouldn't be one of the most startling things that's ever happened in a superhero movie. But it is.

The relationship between Reyes (played with laidback charisma by Xolo Mariduena) and his family is at the heart of the movie.

We meet his mum, dad and sister, but the standouts - even if they sometimes stand out a little too loudly - are Nana Reyes (Adriana Barraza) and cuddly paranoiac Uncle Rudy (George Lopez).

They've all been given a kicking by society, though they're handling it defiantly - 'Batman is a fascist!' cries Uncle Rudy - until the scarab rattles into their lives.

Then the security state, in the form of Kord Industries, decides to give them a kicking, too. They want the alien tech for themselves so that  yadda, yadda, yadda.

Classic film on TV - The Elephant Man David Lynch's moving 1980 film about John Merrick, the 'sideshow freak' with the ruined face and the gentle soul, stars John Hurt, Anthony Hopkins and Anne Bancroft. 11.15pm, Monday, BBC2 Advertisement

It's such a shame when that yadda, yadda, yadda intrudes on Reyes and his family. It's when Blue Beetle starts to feel just like every other superhero movie. There's an insipid love interest. A baddie whose grand plan isn't nearly as horrific as Susan Sarandon's gawping, gurning performance as that same baddie. And a henchman who turns into a big robotic thing that can almost match Blue Beetle jump for jump, beam for beam and grunt for grunt.

It all ends, of course, in a big CGI scrap featuring wall-busting punches that somehow feel like nothing. Batman, a fascist? Maybe. But what does that make all these copy-cats? Sorry, copy-beetles.

As Scooby-Doo would say: ruh-roh. Anyone going into canine movie Strays expecting Lady And The Tramp be warned: tonally, it's closer to Reservoir Dogs. A sweary, gross-out comedy whose trailer didn't just make it look painfully unfunny  but like another step on the way to the end of civilisation.

As Scooby-Doo would say: ruh-roh. Anyone going into canine movie Strays expecting Lady And The Tramp be warned: tonally, it's closer to Reservoir Dogs

The story concerns a dog called Reggie (voiced by Will Ferrell) who believes that his heavy-drinking, heavy, er, self-pleasuring owner, Doug (Will Forte), actually cares about him

Yet, now that I've actually seen it, Strays isn't as bad as all that. In parts, it's even  good? A three-minute trailer could never capture its delights. You need to spend time with these dogs to get their deal and become inured to their base brand of humour.

And, oh, my gosh, it really is base. The story concerns a dog called Reggie (voiced by Will Ferrell) who believes that his heavy-drinking, heavy, er, self-pleasuring owner, Doug (Will Forte), actually cares about him.

Until, that is, Doug dumps Reggie miles from home, leaving him with Bug (the excellent voice of Jamie Foxx) and a bunch of other street pooches. Together, they hatch a plan for Reggie to get his revenge - by biting off Doug's  wotsit.

The gags come constantly. And given how many of them involve sick and other bodily excretions, gag truly is the word. But there are a few gems among them, including one delirious, drug-induced sequence in which our strays tear apart a pile of rabbit soft toys  or are they?

Doug dumps Reggie miles from home, leaving him with Bug (the excellent voice of Jamie Foxx) and a bunch of other street pooches

Weirdly, though, the most impressive thing about Strays is how seriously you take these mutts. Whatever tech has merged real dogs with moving mouths and computer-drawn acrobatics, it's a miracle. You'll believe a dog can cuss.

In fact, it's only when the swearing stops that Strays' real problems begin. Like most modern American comedies, it wants to have its cake and spew it up, too - with a lot of moralising and sentimentality in between all the penis jokes. Friendship is good, it turns out, as is being true to yourself. Who knew?

Still, Strays does have at least one useful moral, so perhaps we can forgive it: sometimes, in life, you really do have to bite a guy in the  attitude problem.

Forbidden love in Cognac country? Cue a Gallic shrug...

Lie With Me (15, 98 mins)

Verdict: L'opera de soap

Rating:

The Idiots (18, 117 mins)

Verdict: Shock and awe

Rating:

Serpico (15, 130 mins)

Verdict: Pacino's best

Rating:

A middle-aged novelist returns to the Cognac-distilling pastures of his youth, where he reflects on an old tryst and the passage of time and all that.

So far, so standard. And so, so French. Except there's a twist in Lie With Me, of sorts. The tryst was a gay one, conducted when both the novelist, Stephane Belcourt, and his lover were 17 - and now, some 35 years later, the former lover's son works for the Cognac house where Belcourt's doing a speaking gig.

The film has two time periods. There's the past, where younger Belcourt makes gooey eyes at the father (Julien De Saint Jean). And there's the present, where older Belcourt makes - at first, it seems - gooey eyes at the son (Victor Belmondo).

So far, so standard. And so, so French. Except there's a twist in Lie With Me, of sorts. The tryst was a gay one, conducted when both the novelist, Stephane Belcourt, and his lover were 17

Now, some 35 years later, the former lover's son works for the Cognac house where Belcourt's doing a speaking gig

Both Belcourt actors, Guillaume de Tonquedec (the elder) and Jeremy Gillet (the younger), wring charming performances out of what could be unforgiving material. Though you can't help but wonder: in service of what? Lie With Me has some piercing things to say about homophobia and expectations in rural France, but for the most part it feels like a slightly elevated form of soap opera.

In the end, it's hard not to respond as they might in Cognac itself. With a Gallic shrug.

Larsvon Trier's The Idiots was shocking when it first came out, in 1998. It could be even more shocking on its re-release in 2023. Von Trier's faux-documentary style is pretty standard nowadays. But his subject matter - a commune of people who pretend to be mentally ill - is, er, not. Why do those people do it? Money, activism, friendship, easy - and, here, famously unsimulated - sex? Or all of the above?

The Idiots neither confirms nor denies, instead preferring to blur every line there is. The result is a movie that's shocking in a way that makes us see things differently, rather than just shocking for shocking's sake

For those who prefer their classics to be rather more classical, there's another restored re-release this week: Sidney Lumet's 1973 masterpiece Serpico

The Idiots neither confirms nor denies, instead preferring to blur every line there is. The result is a movie that's shocking in a way that makes us see things differently, rather than just shocking for shocking's sake - like much of Von Trier's later stuff. (Up to and including his online plea, this week, for a new 'girlfriend and muse'.)

For those who prefer their classics to be rather more classical, there's another restored re-release this week: Sidney Lumet's 1973 masterpiece Serpico.

Sure, Al Pacino's brilliant in The Godfather and Dog Day Afternoon, but, for my money, it's his performance here - as Frank Serpico, the real-life, hard-edged crusading cop with a soft, hippyish exterior - that's his finest.
Kourtney Kardashian shared a series of throwback snaps to her Instagram account on Thursday afternoon.

The 44-year-old reality television personality left little to the imagination of her 224 million followers as she donned a revealing outfit while she posed for the shots.

The entrepreneur, who was recently enjoyed a movie date with her youngest child, wore a pink and black slip dress that showed off much of her upper chest during her photoshoot.

The lower portion of Kardashian's dress exposed her impeccably toned legs as she spent time in front of the camera.

The social media powerhouse completed her look with a pair of jet-black high-heeled shoes and sparkling earrings.

Her formerly bleached blonde hair was partially tied back into a bun and paired well with the tones of her outfit.

The entrepreneur has not been shy about showing off her figure on social media in the past, and she has recently shared several photos to showcase her growing baby bump.

The reality television mainstay recently snapped a shot of her stomach while spending time with her family in Montecito, California.

She also prominently displayed her baby bump in a set of photos shared on her account earlier this month, in which she donned a form-revealing bikini.

Kardashian will share her soon-to-arrive baby boy with her husband, Travis Barker.

The entrepreneur and the musician had been friends for several years before they began dating in early 2021.

The reality television personality was previously in a long-term relationship with Scott Disick, with whom she shares three children named Mason, Penelope and Reign, aged 13, 11 and eight.

Kardashian and Barker, 47, went on to begin seeing each other and went Instagram official with their relationship in February of 2021.

Letting everyone see: The entrepreneur has not been shy about showing off her figure on social media in the past, and she has recently shared several photos to showcase her growing baby bump

Baring it all: She also prominently displayed her baby bump in a set of photos shared on her account earlier this month, in which she donned a form-revealing bikini

Proud parents: Kardashian will share her soon-to-arrive baby boy with her husband, Travis Barker

Making it known: Kardashian revealed that she was pregnant with the couple's child during a Blink-182 concert that took place this past June

It was announced that the happy couple had become engaged during a trip to Montecito that took place in October of that year.

The two tied the knot the following May, and they held a larger wedding ceremony in Italy that same month.

Kardashian revealed that she was pregnant with the couple's child during a Blink-182 concert that took place this past June.

The reality television personality held a gender reveal party the following month, when she announced that she would be having a boy.
Jennifer Garner was the picture of summer as she stepped out in Los Angeles' Brentwood neighborhood on Thursday afternoon.

The Dallas Buyers Club star, 51, was captured enjoying a brisk walk with one of her gal pals.

The Houston native trekked down the street in a pair of red running sneakers styled with white jeans and a black T-shirt.

With the sun glaring down on this hot day, Garner made sure to rock a pair of designer shades as well as a stylish white hat.

The two ladies spent much of their time together talking and laughing, all while powering forward to help build up their cardio endurance.

Summertime: Jennifer Garner was the picture of summer as she stepped out in Los Angeles' Brentwood neighborhood on Thursday afternoon

Garner lives a very active lifestyle as a single mom to the three kids she shares with ex-husband Ben Affleck.

Back in April, the star appeared on The Drew Barrymore Show and revealed how she incorporates jogging into her daily routine.

'What I do in the morning is I work out,' she told host Barrymore, who looked surprised, and replied: 'Every day?! Oh God.'

Garner insisted that 'hard cardio' is the key to staying trim and fit.

The 13 Going On 30 star believes that daily body movement is also incredible for the mind and spirit.

Though she understands it can be hard to stick to a workout routine, Garner encouraged her fans to discover an exercise that they find fun.

Over the weekend, Garner was spotted on an early morning jog with her boyfriend John Miller.

This was a rare sighting of the couple, who have dated on/off since 2018.

The 45-year-old businessman kept up with Garner as they ran along the streets near her lavish Brentwood home.

Garner and Miller  who is an attorney that's worked at Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals as the VP of intellectual property  have yet to make their red carpet debut.

A source recently dished to Us Weekly that Miller isn't interested in the glitz and glamour of Hollywood and prefers a low-key lifestyle.

'[Garner] loves how little he cares for the limelight or the whole Hollywood scenester stuff,' the insider said.

Catching up: The Dallas Buyers Club star, 51, was captured enjoying a brisk walk with one of her gal pals

The Houston native trekked down the street in a pair of red running sneakers styled with white jeans and a black T-shirt

She met Miller three years after separating from her ex-husband Ben Affleck in 2015 after 10 years of marriage.

The Hollywood A-listers met in 2004 and wed the following year. They welcomed three children: Violet, 17, Seraphina, 14, and Samuel, 11.

Garner officially filed for divorce in April 2017 and it was finalized in November 2018.

Affleck sparked controversy last year after saying her felt 'trapped' in his union with Garner.

Fans accused him of 'blaming' his addiction struggles on Garner and ignoring how she'd been there for him even after their divorce.

But Affleck insisted that he was taken out of context and that he'd never 'say a bad word' about Garner.

The Argo star, 51, has since re-married Jennifer Lopez, who he'd been engaged to prior to his relationship with Garner.
Chrissy Teigen was spotted while running errands in Los Angeles on Thursday afternoon.

The 37-year-old television personality cut a very casual figure as she stepped out and made the most of the pleasant summer weather.

The cookbook author, whose youngest daughter was recently featured in a heartwarming video, wore a slightly oversized navy blue sweater on top of a black sleeveless shirt during her outing.

Teigen also donned a pair of black leggings that clung tightly to her sculpted form, as well as fuzzy brown sandals.

The model accessorized with a pair of aviator-style sunglasses that gave her pared-down outfit a bit of metallic shine.

Out and about: Chrissy Teigen was spotted while running errands in Los Angeles on Thursday afternoon

Her beautiful light brunette locks were held back by a clip for the length of her errand run.

Teigen shared a selfie that had been taken during a mammogram appointment on her Instagram account on Thursday morning.

In the snap, the author covered her upper chest as she rested prior to having her breasts checked by a medical professional.

The entrepreneur also wrote a humorous message in her post's caption to ask her fans: 'When else do you get to see your boob as a one inch steak!?'

She also explained that she had an ultrasound performed, and expressed that the procedure 'also comes with free t**** lotion good for the entire day!!'

Several of Teigen's followers praised her for promoting regular checkups in her post's comments section.

The social media personality has been open about her health in the past, and she recently let her fans know that she had underwent a colonoscopy last month.

The cookbook author shared several videos on her Instagram Story to let her fans know that she had been advised by her doctor to have the procedure performed in order to look for any potential signs of cancer, according to People.

Layering up: The cookbook author wore a slightly oversized navy blue sweater on top of a black sleeveless shirt during her outing

Completing the look: The model accessorized with a pair of aviator-style sunglasses that gave her pared-down outfit a bit of metallic shine

Hair care: Her beautiful light brunette locks were held back by a clip for the length of her errand run

Letting everyone see: Teigen shared a selfie that had been taken during a mammogram appointment on her Instagram account on Thursday morning

Being open: The social media personality has been open about her health in the past, and she recently let her fans know that she had underwent a colonoscopy last month

Teigen also spoke about why she felt as if young adults should be willing to undergo the procedure.

'Soon there's going to be a very large jump in people my age and even a little younger getting colon cancer because we don't get checked,' she stated.

The social media personality went on to discuss her view of why younger individuals put off their colonoscopies until later in life.

She remarked: 'We don't get checked because we're not told to. You think that your parents are the ones that get checked'
Kyle Sandilands was nowhere to be seen (or heard) on The Kyle and Jackie O Show this morning.

The radio host, 52, was missing in action but his co-host Jackie 'O' Henderson, 48, gave the inside scoop on where he went.

'Kyle's still sick unfortunately,' Jackie said, before detailing a mystery illness that seems to be 'going around big time.'

Newsreader Brooklyn Ross said that he had been sick on Monday and wondered if he had given Kyle the 'superbug.'

'I reckon you've given it to him because he's got exactly what you had,' said Jackie O before asking Brooklyn to list symptoms.

Kyle Sandilands (pictured) was nowhere to be seen (or heard) on the Kyle and Jackie O Show this morning but his co-hosts gave the scoop on his illness

'Just a general cold,' he said.

Jackie wondered whether a cold is really bad enough to be taking time off work.

'You guys need to toughen up, I tell you,' said Jackie.

Brooklyn suggested that the drug pseudoephedrine was ineffective against the symptoms of the 'super cold' so he couldn't come into work.

Newsreader Brooklyn Ross (pictured) said that he had been sick on Monday and wondered if he had given Kyle the 'superbug'

Co-host Pedro Vitola, filling in for Kyle, speculated that the illness might be related to Jackie O's earlier condition, where she had her own bizarre symptoms.

On Tuesday's show she complained about her ailments to Dr Sam Hay, also known as Dr KIIS, detailing symptoms such as a blocked nose and a loss of smell and taste.

Kyle had earlier joked to Dr Hay that Jackie was suffering common symptoms of menopause.

Jackie 'O' Henderson (pictured) wondered whether a cold is really bad enough to be taking time off work. 'You guys need to toughen up, I tell you,' she said

However, Dr Hay pointed out that Jackie's other symptoms didn't match up with the diagnosis of menopause.

'It's not necessarily [relevant]. We don't lose our sense of smell when it comes to the menopausal stuff,' he explained.

Jackie went on to reveal she'd been dealing with itchy and runny eyes.

'She might have hayfever, or she might have a sinus infection that's irritating those nose nerves,' he speculated.

'Kyle's still sick unfortunately,' Jackie said, before detailing a mystery illness that seems to be 'going around big time'

Kyle joked that Jackie had given herself a sinus infection by snorting illicit drugs during her visit to the trendy Clovelly Hotel in Sydney over the weekend.

Aghast, Jackie confirmed she wasn't doing drugs at the venue, adding: 'I am not doing that! Oh my god, I was there with my daughter as well... that makes no difference because I don't do that.'

Dr Hay also suggested Jackie could have caught Hand, Foot and Mouth disease - a viral inflection that usually affects children but can be spread to adults.

Kyle eagerly volunteered to check Jackie's feet for symptoms such as flakey skin and a rash.

'[Jackie has] pretty nice feet. I've always looked at them, but never look at them that close... they've got the white toenails and everything,' he enthused before confirming that she wasn't displaying symptoms of the disease.
Majjd Mehdizadeh-Valoujerdy has revealed that he has landed a new role in the upcoming series of Doctor Who.

The former Hollyoaks star, who portrayed Jesse Donovan on the soap from 2016 before he was killed off in 2020, will star alongside the new Time Lord Ncuti Gatwa.

Taking to Instagram on Thursday, Majjd shared the exciting news with fans and gushed that is it an 'absolute privilege and honour' to land the role.

The TV star penned: 'It is an absolute privilege and honour to be joining the Whoniverse for BBC Doctor Who Season 14.

'So excited to tune in and to be a part of such an iconic series!

'It is an absolute privilege': Former Hollyoaks star Majjd Mehdizadeh-Valoujerdy revealed he has landed a new role in BBC's Doctor Who

'Russell T Davies and co are absolutely smashing it. Watch watch watchit will be worth the wait.'

Doctor Who's executive producer and returning showrunner Russell T Davies commented: 'Come ON Majid!!' as he showed his support.

While Majid will feature in the fourteenth series, Gemma Arrowsmith and Mary Malone are joining the cast for the Christmas specials.

Executive producer Phil Collinson told Doctor Who Magazine: 'It's a delight to welcome two more names on board, with Gemma Arrowsmith and Mary Malone... and you won't have to wait long to find out how they connect to the Doctor and Ruby Sunday.'

In 2020, Majjd's Hollyoaks character Jesse was tragically killed after binge drinking on his wedding day.

But in real life, Majid is much happier and tied the knot with his former co-star Daisy Wood-Davis last year after getting engaged in 2019.

Daisy played the role of Kim Butterfield, the sister of infamous glove-handed killer Lindsay who framed her for the murders, in Hollyoaks from 2014 to 2018.

Majjd, who was professionally known as Luke Jerdy, shared his real name with his followers and revealed the reason why he was pressured to change it in the first place.

In January, he revealed that his birth name is actually Majid Mehdizadeh-Valoujerdy, and that he was pressured into changing it while at drama school.

Amazing: The actor portrayed Jesse Donovan on the soap from 2016 before he was killed off in 2020 after binge drinking on his wedding day

Incredible: Taking to Instagram on Thursday, Majjd shared the exciting news with fans and gushed that is it an 'absolute privilege and honour' to land the role

Exciting: It was recently announced that Sex Education star Ncuti Gatwa will be taking over from Jodie Whittaker to become the show's 14th Doctor

He explained on Instagram: 'During my time at drama school I was fortunate enough to receive the Laurence Olivier bursary.

'I was honoured to be invited to collect the award in London. There were several distinguished British actors there.

'I got chatting to one of the older actors, keen to soak up his wisdom.

'After a few minutes he leaned down close to my ear and said conspiratorially, 'I'd think about changing my name if I were you. You'll confuse casting directors. They will get you in expecting one thing and then you'll turn up'.'

He concluded: 'I've decided to change my professional name back. I felt relieved. I felt like myself again. My name is Majid Mehdizadeh-Valoujerdy. I am half British and half Iranian. You can call me Maj.'

It was recently announced that Sex Education star Ncuti Gatwa will be taking over from Jodie Whittaker to become the show's 14th Doctor.

The 29-year-old becomes the fourth Scot to take up the post, following on from Sylvester McCoy, fellow Royal Conservatoire graduate Tennant and Peter Capaldi.

Loved-up: Majid tied the knot with his former co-star Daisy Wood-Davis, who played Kim Butterfield, last year after getting engaged in 2019

Showrunner Chris Chibnall, who cast Whittaker as the first female Doctor, is leaving to be replaced by Davies, who was behind the programme's 2005 revival and left in 2009.

Tennant and Tate's collaborations extend beyond Doctor Who. They worked on a stage version of Much Ado About Nothing together in 2011, with Tennant also cropping up on Tate's sketch show The Catherine Tate Show.

A synopsis teasing their Doctor Who return mentioned Donna's memory wipe to save her life, adding that the Doctor had 'left her family with a warning: if ever she remembers, she will die'.

It adds: 'But with the two coming face to face once more, the big question is, just what brings the Doctor and Donna back together?'
Kerry Katona has said she is 'begging' her daughter Lilly-Sue to go on Love Island and set an example to young girls.

The Atomic Kitten star, 42, who shares her daughter with ex-husband Brian McFadden, 43, explained how Lilly-Sue could bring some normality to the ITV programme as 'she doesn't give a flying f***.'

Lilly-Sue has turned down Love Island twice after being approached to enter the villa.

Appearing on Slingo's Getting Lippy Gossip Show on Friday, alongside host Emma Conybeare and MailOnline's Rebecca Lawrence, Kerry praised her daughters' relaxed approach to life.

'Theyre a different generation but my Lilly doesnt give a s****. She got offered to Love Island twice I'm like "Lilly please do it."'

Praise: Kerry Katona, 42, has said she is 'begging' her daughter Lilly-Sue to go on Love Island and set an example to young girls

She explained: 'Not just because I wanted to make loads of money and give half to me. Because Lilly's one of these who wont shave her armpits, she'll sit there smoking a rollie, she's a very natural beautiful looking girl.

'She won't shave her legs. Teenage girls need to see that you know it's not you don't have to look perfect all the time give two flying f****.

Speaking about her own fitness journey, Kerry explained the importance of making 'appearance tweaks' for yourself.

She added: 'My message to younger people is if you're feeling good in your head and heart everything else will fall into place and don't ever go and try and change yourself for somebody else, its the biggest mistake you can make.

'I'm going to get something done I'm going to get it done for me I don't rely on Ryan [fiance] for my happiness he enhances it.'

Last month, Kerry blasted Love Island as she revealed why her daughter turned the opportunity down.

In an interview with The Mirror, Kerry said that she feels Love Island is 'fake' and is 'shocked' the show is still running, and she wanted her daughter to enter the villa to bring in a bit of normality.

She said: 'Love Island  Bore Island, it's wrong, I can't believe it's still going, our Lilly got asked to do it twice.'

Good example: The Atomic Kitten star, who shares her daughter with ex-husband Brian McFadden , 43, explained how Lilly-Sue could bring some normality to the ITV programme

Natural beauty: 'She won't shave her legs. Teenage girls need to see that you know it's not you don't have to look perfect all the time give two flying f****,' Kerry explained

'It's fake and foggy, it gives young kids the wrong impression and wrong idea. I've not watched it, I can't believe it's still going  I think it's shocking.'

Lilly-Sue turned down the show twice because she felt she wasn't one to just stroll around in a bikini.

Kerry and her daughter share an open and honest relationship with Lilly-Sue revealing that Kerry's OnlyFans is empowering, after the pair discussed her mother's X-rated content.

She argued that her mum was taking back control of her body by publishing content on the site and said she 'absolutely loves' it.
Jackie 'O' Henderson recently made a discovery every parent dreads.

The 48-year-old radio host revealed on The Kyle and Jackie O Show on Friday she suspects her 12-year-old daughter Kitty may have taken up smoking.

'I went into her bedroom and I could smell cigarette smoke,' admitted the mother-of-one.

'And I just was like, "how am I smelling this in her bedroom, this can't be right,"' said Jackie. 'I thought I was imagining it.'

She then admitted she confronted the tween she shares with her ex-husband Lee Henderson.

Jackie 'O' Henderson is experiencing every parent's nightmare. The 48-year-old radio host revealed on The Kyle and Jackie O Show on Friday she suspects her 12-year-old daughter Kitty may have taken up smoking. Both pictured in May

'I actually asked her, I did, I said, "the other day I went into your bedroom and I could smell cigarette smoke, just in the corner of the room."'

However Kitty forcefully denied the allegations, replying, 'As if I would do that! Disgusting.'

However newsreader Brooklyn Ross wasn't buying it, calling Kitty's reaction 'the ultimate ruse.'

Jackie has previously admitted to both smoking and vaping in the past.

She then admitted she confronted the tween she shares with her ex-husband Lee Henderson

When pressed as to whether she had searched the room for contraband cigarettes, Jackie said she hadn't.

'I'm not a snoop,' she explained. 'See, I grew up with my mum being a snoop... and I vowed never to be like that.'

The revelation comes after Jackie and co-host Kyle Sandilands played a prank on her mother Julie on last week's show.

The radio presenters decided to test out just how believable AI (Artificial Intelligence) voices are and Jackie's sweet mum Julie was the guinea pig.

When pressed as to whether she had searched the room for contraband cigarettes, Jackie said she hadn't. 'I'm not a snoop,' she explained. 'See, I grew up with my mum being a snoop.' Jackie and Kitty pictured with mum Julie

As there are thousands of hours of Jackie and Kyle's voice online, the AI technology used these recordings to create an artificial version of their voices and anyone can put in any sentence to make it sound like they said it.

The duo called Julie and asked her to urgently dog sit Jackie's pooch using the AI voice.

Although it did sound like Jackie, it was pretty robotic, so she and Kyle were shocked when her mother actually fell for it.

Pictured: Jackie and her father Tony pictured with an infant Kitty

'Hi mum, it's Jackie,' the AI voice said. 'Can you come down and look after the dog next week?'

When she said yes, the voice then said: 'Oh great when can you come down?'

Her mother was none the wiser, and said she of course could do that but she was slightly suspicious of why it was so urgent.

The AI Jackie then said: 'Please mum I have a lot going on' before Julie gave in saying she could travel to Sydney from The Gold Coast on Friday.

It was then that the real Jackie intercepted and she was delighted she fooled her mother.

Kyle then apologised to Julie for pranking her, saying: 'I'm sorry this is your stupid daughter's idea, that was an AI version of your daughter it wasn't her.'

An upset Julie then said: 'I thought it sounded slightly stilted. And you knew I would be a mug?'
She turned two in March.

And Bindi Irwin's daughter Grace Warrior is growing up fast.

Australia Zoo posted another video of the sweet toddler attending a business meeting at the zoo with her mother earlier this month.

Fans of the Irwins couldn't help but comment about how big the tiny tot was getting.

'I cant believe how fast Grace is growing up ,' one wrote, while another said 'They grow up so fast!

Fans have been left stunned at how big Bindi Irwin's daughter Grace Warrior, two, is getting as her mother's mini-me attended an Australia Zoo meeting with the Wildlife Warrior earlier this month

'She is so adorable! I can't believe how fast she is growing' yet another said.

In the video, Bindi couldn't wipe the smile off her face as she held her only child up in front of the zoo's employees so she could congratulate them on a job well done.

Grace was seen sweetly asking her mother: 'Can we do staff meeting?'

Bindi happily agreed before carrying her tot, who she shares with husband Chandler Powell, into the Crocoseum for an early morning meeting with staff.

Australia Zoo posted another video of the sweet toddler attending a business meeting at the zoo with her mother earlier this month

'We are very excited because today Grace requested to come to our staff meeting. So she's joining us in the Crocoseum to say a few words,' Bindi said in the video.

She then joked: 'To be honest, it's Grace who runs the zoo and makes all the big decisions.'

As Bindi stood in front of her team seated in the stands, all dressed in the iconic khaki uniforms, Grace shyly greeted them all with a microphone her mother held.

'Do you want to say, "Thank you for your hard work?"' Bindi added.

In the video, Bindi couldn't wipe the smile off her face as she held her only child up in front of the zoo's employees so she could congratulate them on a job well done

Grace was also seen sweetly asking her mother: 'Can we do staff meeting?'

'Thank you for hard work,' Grace mimicked as the staff members exclaimed in adoration.

Bindi continued: 'These school holidays were crazy busy, and you guys handled things so effortlessly. So thank you.'

But there was one thing sweet little Grace didn't want anyone to forget, promptly leaning over to interject and say, 'And koalas,' into the microphone.

'And koalas are great too,' Bindi said to a chorus of laughter.

'And that's about it I think. Grace has about covered it. So, we love you guys, and have a lovely afternoon.'

Grace has clearly inherited the Irwin family's love of wildlife as she is often seen going on walks through the zoo or along the beach with her mother.

Last month, the tot was heard saying she is 'like a turtle' as she walked across shallow water on the beach with the help of grandmother Terri and uncle Robert.
Heidi Klum was spotted looking her usual chic self while stepping out in Beverly Hills on Thursday afternoon.

The 50-year-old fashion industry icon flashed a wide smile as she left a fitting and spent some time in the warm summer sun.

The supermodel, who recently enjoyed a getaway in Italy, donned a flowing black dress that covered up her sculpted form as she took a stroll.

She also wore a matching pair of leggings that conformed tightly to her toned legs, and she paired them with leather flats.

The America's Got Talent judge accessorized with a fashionable leather bag and a pair of dark sunglasses.

There she is: Heidi Klum, 50, was spotted while stepping out in Beverly Hills on Thursday afternoon

Her gorgeous blonde locks were partially tied back and contrasted perfectly with the dominant tone of her clothing.

Klum recently sported a form-revealing outfit in a video shared to her Instagram account on Thursday afternoon.

In the clip, the catwalk star showed off her chest in a pattered bikini top and matching bottoms.

The television star accessorized with several articles of jewelry, and her gorgeous blonde hair fell onto her shoulders and chest.

She tagged her husband Tom Kaulitz in her video, and she described him as her 'love' in the caption.

Klum and her spouse were first linked when they were spotted in each other's company in 2018.

She was previously married to stylist Ric Pipino from 1997 until 2002.

She was then briefly involved with Flavio Briatore, with whom she shares her daughter Leni, 19.

Keeping it consistent: The supermodel donned a flowing black dress that covered up her sculpted form, as well as matching lettings as she took a stroll

Baring it all: In the clip, the fashion industry personality showed off her upper chest as she wore a pattered bikini top and a matching bottom

Staying close: She tagged her husband Tom Kaulitz in her video, and she described him as her 'love' in her caption

Heidi subsequently tied the knot with Seal in 2005, and they share sons Henry, 17; Johan, 16; and their daughter Lou, 13.

The pair remained together for nearly a decade before ending their marriage in 2014.

Klum eventually began seeing Kaulitz, and the happy couple got engaged in December of 2018.

The happy couple went on to hold a wedding ceremony in Italy the following year.
Raquel Leviss' claims about Tom Sandoval being 'rewarded' by Bravo for his role in their cheating scandal are now being refuted by the network.

The Vanderpump Rules star, 28, spoke about the aftermath of 'Scandoval' in-depth on Bethenny Frankel's Just B podcast this week.

She told host Frankel that her ex-flame Tom, 40, had managed to gain 'editing rights' to a scene they'd previously shot together by 'boycotting' the rest of the shoot.

Raquel also alleged that Bravo offered Tom a producer credit for season 11 and suggested that the affair may have been 'fabricated' for views.

In a statement to ET, the network responded: 'Tom Sandoval was never offered a producer credit on Season 11 and had absolutely no creative control over editing during any season of Vanderpump Rules.'

Not so fast! Raquel Leviss' claims about Tom Sandoval being 'rewarded' by Bravo for his role in their cheating scandal are now being refuted by the network

In the interview, Bethenny asked Raquel to share whether or not Tom was involved in the show's production side  which opened the door for her bombshell claims.

She seemingly suggested Tom may have had some influence because although 'he's not technically a producer, he's been on the series from day one, season one.

'I don't know if I'm even able to disclose this information, but he did tell me that for negotiations for season 11, he was offered a producer credit for season 11,' she alleged.

'I think he was being rewarded for the Scandoval of it all, and to me, that's just kinda gross because it seems, it makes me skeptical.

'Was this really just something that was fabricated for this end result?'

During the tell-all, Raquel had also hinted that she would not being returning to Vanderpump Rules for season 11, which is currently in production.

And Thursday, ET reported that Raquel  who is now going by her birth name of Rachel  had in fact 'decided against' appearing in the next season.

The insider explained that the star was concerned a possible return would adversely impact all the progress she has made on her mental health this past year.

'Rachel will not be returning for season 11 of Vanderpump Rules. There was a possibility up until recently she'd be returning for the new season, but ultimately decided against it,' a source told the outlet.

'Rachel is focused on her mental health journey and knew going back to the show would open her up to trauma she's been working on healing. Rachel is looking forward to what the future holds for her.'

It has been a tumultuous year for Raquel after she became embroiled in one on of the biggest scandals to hit reality television.

It was exposed in March that Raquel had engaged in a months-long affair with co-star Tom, resulting in the end of his nine-year long relationship with Ariana Madix.

Tell-all: The Vanderpump Rules star, 28, spoke about the aftermath of 'Scandoval' in-depth on Bethenny Frankel's Just B podcast this week

In control? She told host Frankel that her ex-flame Tom, 40, had managed to gain 'editing rights' to a scene they'd shot together by 'boycotting' the remainder of the shoot

Raquel also alleged that Bravo offered Tom a producer credit for season 11 and suggested that the affair  that ended his relationship with Ariana Madix  may have been fabricated

'I feel like I've been portrayed as the ultimate villain. My mistakes that I've made on camera live on forever,' she told Bethenny of the experience.

'And you mentioned something about the addiction of doing reality TV and the way that they always dangle that carrot in front of you, like, 'Well, you need to tell your side of the story otherwise it's gonna be written for you.'

'And that's terrifying. So I almost went back, I know just because of that.'

She did not expand further on what she meant by 'almost went back' but the star has remained in her home state of Arizona - while filming for season 11 of the highly-popular Bravo reality series has been underway since late June.

Smiling Rachel looked healthy and in good spirits after recently checking herself into a mental health facility after facing the wrath of her co-stars during the show's three-part reunion that taped in March.

She since checked out of the facility in mid-July and has reportedly to be staying with family in Arizona.

Opening up about why she chose to take a step back from the public eye , the Bravo star told Bethenny: 'Its been a whirlwind, its been chaos. But Ive taken some time to myself to reflect and try to understand my actions. And I finally have come to the place where it makes sense to me.

'Part of the reason why I wanted to take some time away is just because it was so chaotic and loud, and there was such vitriol online.'

The reality star then explained that she chose to spend time in a treatment facility in an attempt to 'understand my behaviors'.

She stated: 'But then the other part of the reason why I wanted to go to a treatment facility was to understand my behaviors and my goal was to really get down to the bottom of, "OK why am I choosing men that are unavailable, why do I keep finding myself in unhealthy relationships, what are the things that I need to change about my behavior."

'And in knowing that I needed to make a change, I first had to know what leads to those behaviors.'

In a statement to ET , the network responded: 'Tom Sandoval was never offered a producer credit on Season 11 and had absolutely no creative control over editing during any season of Vanderpump Rules'

Raquel suggested to Bethenny that Tom may have had some influence over the storyline because although 'he's not technically a producer, he's been on the series from day one, season one'

'I don't know if I'm even able to disclose this information, but he did tell me that for negotiations for season 11, he was offered a producer credit for season 11,' she alleged

Bethenny explained that she had felt sympathy for Rachel while witnessing the Scandoval backlash and stated that she felt the star's life was being 'exploited' without compensation.

The former RHONY star stated: '[The backlash] seemed disproportionate to me. I was watching clips on social media and hearing about this Scandoval  that had a name, was being marketed and it was being pumped through the PR machine. And I did say  "Everybodys gonna be more well known than they were before because of this."

'And my mind was, "Theyre on a reality show. Its set in a bar, is what I think. Its fueled by alcohol and partying and multiple affairs. So what respectfully, what the hell is the big deal that everyones talking about?"  And I said your name just as an example of what I imagined to be somebody who had been exploited. And for the rest of your life, that content will be out there without compensation.'

Thankful Rachel responded: 'Its so nice to have you validate that experience because for a moment I thought I was going crazy. And its true, reality TV is edited, it is contrived to create a certain storyline. So its not all factual.

'As a viewer tuning in, its easy to get wrapped up in that. Then the concept of an affair hits really hard to a lot of people. So I think there was a lot of projection happening, a lot of emotions that came up for people, and unfortunately I was the punching bag for a lot of that.'

The TV star made it clear that she understood why there was so much rage from both her co-stars and viewers as she continued: 'I do want to take a moment though to just acknowledge the hurt that I brought to a lot of people. I was not careful in my actions and I was not thinking long-term. I was completely wrapped up in heartbreak and wanting to get certain needs met.'

Reflecting on the true reason for her behavior, she claimed: 'Looking back now, I can see that I was still healing from a relationship from someone I thought I was going to marry. And in ending that, I still havent healed yet.'

Rachel then confirmed that she had been turning to alcohol to try and get through the tough time, something she stated was not the best solution to her problem.

'When I was filming, I was drinking a lot to ease that anxiety and in a reality TV environment, I wasnt getting that safe space for me to express my emotions in a healthy way.'

Villain: 'I feel like I've been portrayed as the ultimate villain. My mistakes that I've made on camera live on forever,' she told Bethenny of the Scandoval experience

On Thursday, ET reported that Raquel  who is now going by her birth name of Rachel  has 'decided against' appearing in the next season of VPR; seen with Tom and co-star Brittany Cartwright in 2022

When Bethenny stated that viewers - and Bravo producer Andy Cohen - had no true understanding of what it feels like to be part of a big reality show scandal that continues to manufactured unrealistic scenarios, Rachel agreed.

The reality star then breathed an audible sigh of relief over getting the chance to share her side of the story and she told Bethenny: 'It feels like I have this opportunity to share how much I've grown, and how hard I'm trying to be a better person.

'That person that I saw watching back on my TV is someone who is completely out of character from who I truly am. I feel like having this opportunity to represent myself in a way that I feel like is true to who I am is all I could ever ask for'.

The star took time to explain her name changes as she stated: 'I changed my name Raquel in first grade, there was a few other Rachel's in my class and I wanted to be special. I also feel like, deep down, I wasn't comfortable in my own skin and I wanted to be somebody better - in my eyes.'

She claimed changing the name allowed her to 'be that person' but confirmed that her family never stopped calling her 'Rachel'.

Rachel explained that her therapist told her that she was Rachel 'to her core' but put up a wall by being called Raquel.

The star explained that this persona may have manifested due to her long-term struggles with 'social anxiety' and being judged by other people.

She explained that she is now introducing herself by her birth name as a way to return to her roots.
Former Bachelorette star Lee Elliott has been threatened with a gun over a dispute involving a DJ deck.

The 42-year-old, who is married to Georgia Love, shared a screenshot of the threatening exchange on Instagram on Thursday.

It's unclear exactly what happened, but it appears that a disgruntled buyer is demanding a refund from Lee after purchasing a DJ deck for $2,600 on either eBay or Gumtree.

In the messages, Lee insists that he's already issued the refund via PayPal and is just waiting for the buyer to accept it.

'It's there for you to accept!! It's already out of my account!!' Lee insists.

Former Bachelorette star Lee Elliott has been threatened with a gun over a dispute involving a DJ deck. Lee is pictured with wife Georgia Love

Clearly enraged, the buyer responds 'no it has not' before sending a photo of a pistol to Lee.

'Give me my f***en refund or else,' the buyer threatens.

Lee posted the screenshot to Instagram with his own caption, writing, 'After weeks of threats and harassment from this crazy on PayPal, Ebay, Gumtree, email and texts and reporting it to PayPal, Ebay, Gumtree, numerous times and them doing absolutely nothing, he now sends me a photo of a gun.'

He continued, 'And again after reporting it I've heard absolutely nothing back!!! Do better!!!'

It's unclear exactly what happened, but it appears that a disgruntled buyer is demanding a refund from Lee after purchasing a DJ deck for $2,600 on either eBay or Gumtree

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Lee for comment.

Lee, a plumber from Sydney, shot to fame on the second season of The Bachelorette in 2016.

He won the series and eventually married leading lady Georgia Love in March, 2021.

The handsome tradie currently has his own line of men's activewear called Lineate.
Kylie Minogue has sold out the second run of dates for her upcoming Las Vegas residency.

Tickets for the 10 new dates sold out in 30 minutes, besting the four-and-a-half hours it took to sell out the original shows.

The 55-year-old has now sold out all 20 dates in the 1,000-capacity Voltaire club at The Venetian.

According to the Las Vegas Journal, Minogue may extend her Vegas run yet again due to popular demand.

'The 55-year-old pop superstars popularity is already leading to industry buzz that she will add more dates,' writes the publication.

Kylie Minogue has sold out the second run of dates for her upcoming Las Vegas residency in just thirty minutes

'Officials familiar with the production have not ruled out a longer run.'

Tickets aren't cheap for the star's residency, beginning at $200 for general admission standing room at the back, and then beginning at $1000 for a table of two.

Fans were distraught to miss out on the second batch of dates for Kylie's show, with many taking to X (formerly Twitter) to express their disappointment.

'Didn't get Kylie Minogue Vegas residency tickets for a second time,' wrote one fan, along with a photo of a sad clown sitting at a computer.

'More dates again please Kylie!' pleaded another. 'So many of us still desperate for tickets. Round three pretty please!'

Devastated fans took to social media to complain about missing out on tickets to the second run of dates

The residency will run on select weekends from November 2023 through to May 2024.

The venue seats roughly 1,000 people and the first show will be on November 3, which will also be the opening night for the Voltaire club itself - the smaller venue plans to provide a more intimate experience.

Speaking to Hello Magazine, Minogue explained why it's the perfect time in her career for a residency.

The star has now sold out all 20 dates in the 1,000-capacity Voltaire club at The Venetian

She said: 'I think if I had done this earlier in my career it might have been too early. If I'd done it too much later I'd regret it being too much later.

'Right now, in my life, in my career, it feels like the perfect point, the perfect moment where, I've got the catalogue, I've got the history, but I've also got the drive and the ambition to go so much further.'

The show will reportedly feature not only tracks from her upcoming album, but all of her number one hits such as Can't Get You Out Of My Head and Spinning Around.

With Kylie Minogue as it's first exclusive headliner, Voltaire has promised DJs, cabaret and burlesque 'by an incredible cast of performers and headline talent.'
Despite the chilly 12C weather in Broken Hill, 1,500 people stripped down to their jocks at the Mundi Mundi Bash festival.

On day two of the three-day event, revellers raised a staggering $37,000 for the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) as part of the Mundi Undi Run.

The sold-out festival, which only started last year, has brought in an impressive crowd of 12,000 people, most of which are camping in tents and vans on the festival grounds.

At 10am on Friday, 1,500 campers put on their very best underwear and costumes and ran 1km on the Mundi Mundi red plains to have some fun, put a smile on other festival-goers' faces, and raise much-needed funds for an important cause.

While event organisers stressed it was a family-friendly run, some participants went racier than others, with some stripping right down to their jocks and others sporting colourful Budgie Smugglers.

Despite the chilly 12C weather in Broken Hill, 1,500 people stripped down to their jocks at the Mundi Mundi Bash festival (pictured)

Some festival-goers dressed up in whacky outfits, including Adam and Eve, various superheroes, Buffalo Bill, and bizarre naked blow-up outfits.

It wasn't just a day for humans to strip down or dress up in creative costumes, but a fashion show for Mundiville's four-legged friends also took place.

The Doggie Fashions on the Plains competition saw judges looking at all the festival's furry attendees to crown a select few the best-dressed dogs in the desert.

On day two of the three day event, revellers raised a staggering $37,000 for the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS)

And at 10am on Friday, 1,500 campers put on their very best underwear and costumes and ran 1km on the Mundi Mundi red plains

While event organisers stressed it was a family-friendly run, some participants definitely went more racy than others, with some stripping right down to their jocks and others sporting colourful Budgie Smugglers

Some festival-goers dressed up in whacky outfits, including Adam and Eve, various superheros, Buffalo Bill, and bizarre naked blow up outfits

While it was chilly on Friday morning, that didn't stop revellers taking part in the charity run

Some people dressed up as superheroes, and matched their furry friends

Some of the best looks included doggy tutus and tiaras and matching overalls between owners and their precious pups.

Festival-goers came out in their droves for the early morning events, despite rocking out on Thursday night for the first day of the bash.

Day one saw legendary Aussie rockers Hoodoo Gurus get the 12,000-strong crowd hooting and howling as they performed their classics including Whats My Scene and a special version of the iconic Monday, Monday tailored to Mundi, Mundi.

It was the bands second time playing a Bash event following their debut appearance at Mundi's sister event, the Birdsville Big Red Bash in July.

Some of the best of the Undi Run got on stage in their stripped-down outfits

Participants of the festivals Mundi Undi Run

While many stripped down for the fun run, others dressed in whacky costumes

While the day started with some rain, a squall hit the Mundi Mundi Plains on Thursday night with no warning and the big bang frightened some of the crowd- but not enough for them to stop dancing.

The Hoodoo Gurus did have to cut their set one song short due to the inclement weather, however, it passed as quickly as it had blown in, and Furnace and the Fundamentals closed out the night with an energetic performance.

Day two will see Jack Jones, Mi-Sex, Dragon, Kate Ceberano, The Angels, and ICEHOUSE take to the stage while Thirsty Merc, Pete Murray, and Human Nature will close the festival on Saturday.
Vince Colosimo's rarely-seen daughter Lucia looked unrecognisable when she stepped out in Melbourne earlier this month following her dad's recent legal woes and ice addiction confession.

She was dressed down in a pair of sporty leggings and a tight midriff top with no bra underneath.

The OnlyFans model, who is only 21, had a pair of white sneakers on her feet to keep comfortable and tucked her hair into a blue beanie.

The brunette was completely makeup-free and clutched a can of soda tightly in her hand.

She was walking briskly and was accompanied by a male companion, who was carrying some shopping bags.

Vince Colosimo's rarely-seen daughter Lucia (pictured) looked unrecognisable when she stepped out in Melbourne earlier this month

With no makeup on and casual clothes, Lucia looked completely different compared to her usual sultry style

Lucia's father Vince Colosimo is pictured leaving court last year over unpaid traffic fines after admitting to being an ice addict

READ MORE: Vince Colosimo puts his troubles behind him to appear as speaker for National Bullying Prevention Week

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While her father continues to make headlines for his court battles, Lucia has remained largely out of the spotlight.

However, Instagram photos suggest she is quite the social butterfly and likes to party at Melbourne's hottest nightspots.

One photo shows her smoking a vape, while others show her posing in skimpy attire alongside friends.

Back in 2021, Lucia joined her soap actress mother Jane Hall for a glamorous photo shoot for The Australian Woman's Weekly.

In the accompanying interview, Hall described how her 'beautiful' daughter, then 19, was 'living her best life' after taking a gap year from her psychology and criminology degree.

'On Christmas Eve she'll be out at some sort of party rather than hanging out with her mother,' Hall was quoted as saying.

'But that's as it should be. She's almost 19 and pretty much grown up. So I'm happy for her.'

It comes after her famous father avoided coughing up $61,858 in unpaid fines after convincing a magistrate he is mentally ill, flat broke and about to become homeless.

Colosimo fronted the Melbourne Magistrates Court via videolink in July after failing to pay the mountain of fines.

The court heard Colosimo claimed he had suffered from the hideous affect of methamphetamine for the duration of his offending, which dates back to 2012.

The OnlyFans model, who is only 21, had a pair of white sneakers on her feet to keep comfortable and tucked her hair into a blue beanie

The brunette was completely makeup-free and clutched a can of soda tightly in her hand

She walked briskly with a male companion by her side, who was carrying a bag of groceries

The pair appeared to be in a hurry as they pounded the pavement in the early morning

Represented by top silk Julia Munster, the disgraced thespian was accused of racking up the whopping debt from 169 traffic fines, mostly while disqualified from driving.

About 150 of those fines were issued through the traffic camera office, with the court hearing a folder containing summaries of those incidents ran for 68 pages.

The majority of fines related to driving an unregistered vehicle on tollways and speeding, with at least two fines for failing to vote and blocking someone's driveway.

Lucia gives two middle fingers to the camera as she poses with a female friend

The brunette is usually far more glamorous and is known for her good looks

Lucia vapes alone in a messy bedroom in this photo from social media

Magistrate Guillaume Bailin said under the Fines Reform Act he could only discharge Colosimo's fines if the actor proved 'special circumstances' existed.

The court heard Colosimo's barrister claimed her client suffered from a 'profound mental illness'.

Mr Bailin revealed Colosimo had told the doctor he had been abusing the deadly drug ice for more than a decade.

'(The doctor) concludes he has ADHD, major depressive disorder, general anxiety disorder and a stimulant use disorder as what I would term as a coping mechanism while also having the PTSD symptoms,' he said.

'What (the doctor) apines is that during the infringement conduct the applicant's diagnosis was present ... those disorders were present, they have not only been present during the infringement conduct but have been continuing and the subject of treatment.'

Ms Munster submitted two psychiatric reports to the court, compiled in May and July, which went to explaining how and why Colosimo came to incur the fines.

'He admits liability for all of the unpaid infringements,' Ms Munster conceded.

The court heard the struggling actor had obtained government payments throughout the Covid pandemic, but had managed to repay just $6,025 of his fines with money he borrowed.

Mr Bailin outlined the former Hollywood star's dire financial situation, which had left him with no assets to his name.

'Mr Colosimo has no assets, he has effectively no capacity to meet any of the financial commitments if there was a stay or otherwise ... His rental and work situation remains precarious.'' he said.

Colosimo (pictured) was recently issued 169 traffic fines while disqualified from driving

Ms Munster suggested Colosimo was on the verge of homelessness.

'He's living a meagre lifestyle with very limited financial capacity to really to meet his current obligations let alone anything else,' she said.

'Your honour can see the very difficult financial situation he is in and that is a relevant consideration when your honour is considering what disposition to make.'

Under any payment plan, Colosimo would have had to have worked one hour for every $40 he owed - about 64 full days working 24-hours a day.

In handing down his sentence, Mr Bailin addressed the shocking impact drugs had on the drug addled has been.

The court heard Colosimo's barrister claimed her client suffered from a 'profound mental illness' and ice addiction

'Illicit drug use contributed to emotional dysregulation, cognitive difficulties and generally added to the instability of the lifestyle and instability that Mr Colosimo was insufficiently equipped to manage,' he said.

'This culminated in the disregard of obligations with a range of infringements from parking to speeding to not voting.'

However, he ordered Colosimo was capable of performing 101 hours of unpaid community work over the next year, meaning Colosimo got out of paying $58,000.

During his time as a successful actor, Colosimo was famed for his roles in films like Underbelly, Chopper, and the hit crime series Underbelly.
While best friends Jodee McKenzie and Lorna Sanders started going on adventures together when they became single, they do allow one man to go on road trips with them - Jodee's green-cheeked conure Philly.

The Queensland natives have been best friends for almost 20 years and began going to festivals together over six years ago.

Jodee, who works in the disability sector, and landscaper Lorna both took a month off work to travel Australia together in their campervan.

It took them a full week to travel the 2,000km from their home in Hervey Bay to the Mundi Mundi Bash Festival, which is located just outside Australia's oldest mining town Broken Hill in the NSW outback.

'We are best friends who travel together, we have a month off at the moment and this is the start of it,' Jodee told Daily Mail Australia as her 12-year-old bird Philly - who is disabled and can't fly - perched on her shoulder.

While best friends Jodee McKenzie and Lorna Sanders (both pictured) started going on adventures together when they became single, they do allow one man to go on road trips with them- Jodee's green-cheeked conure Philly

'We have known each other for 19 years, we don't have partners so we just are best friends who go on adventures together.'

Lorna agreed with her friend that getting rid of the men was key to their spontaneous adventures, as she added: 'Every time you have a partner you do less, so if you get rid of the partner then you do more!'

The Queensland natives arrived in style for the festival which saw 12,000 people descend to the Mundi Mundi plains - which is situated just 10km from the tiny town of Silverton that has a population of just 50 people.

The Queensland natives have been best friends for almost 20 years, and began going to festivals together over six years ago

The Queensland natives arrived in style for the festival as they wore custom matching yellow and blue shirts that had their names, Philly's name, and their favourite acts from the festival stitched onto them

They wore custom matching yellow and blue shirts that had their names, Philly's name, and their favourite acts from the festival stitched onto them.

Jodee and Lorna met 19 years ago because of their joint love of adventure. They hit it off after being introduced to one another by their friends in a four-wheel drive club.

'We travel to lots of motorbike, four-wheel drive and campervan trips, whatever comes up,' Lorna said.

'I do all the navigation and most of the driving and between us we are so opposite but we work together somehow, it's awesome.'

On their way to the festival from Hervey Bay, the women did a massive pub crawl- stopping in all the most interesting spots on their 2,000km journey.

'We drove all the way with the bird, we did a big pub crawl,' Lorna said.

'The people we met here on the way we have actually met in here at the festival, they are like family, we cuddle now when we see each other.'

The friends said they love attending festivals because they are big music fans, but also it's a way to escape from their lives at home and meet some amazing people.

Jack Jones (pictured) took to the stage at the sold-out festival on Thursday

Lorna and Jodee said they were so excited for all the bands, including MI-SEX (pictured)

As the Mundi Mundi bash is in such a remote area, there is no signal and people can only get internet access by paying $10 a day and standing in a certain area.

This doesn't bother Lorna and Jodee though, as they are more than happy to switch off for a few days and just enjoy the music, some beers, and introducing Philly the bird to some new people.

'Out here we are with real people, in the city, it feels very fake, since Covid people are different,' Lorna said.

Jodee agreed, adding: 'Everybody needs to have a digital detox, they put a thing where you can stand and get on your phone and I wanted to yell "Get out of there, just live!"'
Alessandra Ambrosio was feeling nostalgic this Thursday for her recent Ibiza trip - so she scratched the itch with a throwback Ibiza album on Instagram.

The 42-year-old supermodel, who achieved worldwide recognition as a Victoria's Secret Angel, put her knockout bikini body on display.

She could be seen kayaking at sunset with her children Anja, 14, and Noah, 11, whom she shares with her ex-fiance Jamie Mazur.

They were joined at sea by Alessandra's close pal, hairstylist Dominick Pucciarello, who helped little Noah row his boat.

'Chasing sunsets,' wrote the Brazilian bombshell in her caption, adding a string of hashtags: '#kayaking #sunsetlovers #tbt'.

Memories: Alessandra Ambrosio was feeling nostalgic this Thursday for her recent Ibiza trip - so she scratched the itch with a throwback Ibiza album on Instagram

Use it or lose it: The 42-year-old supermodel, who achieved worldwide recognition as a Victoria's Secret Angel, put her knockout bikini body on display

During her glamorous jaunt to the hot spot island, she enjoyed an excursion to Ibiza, where she indulged in such delights as a yacht party, cocktails and shellfish.

She was surrounded by pals like Dominick, who could be glimpsed in one of her Instagram albums pulling goofy faces with her in an elevator.

Once she returned to Los Angeles earlier this month, however, she evidently threw herself quickly back into her workout regimen.

Her Insta Stories last week included a video of serving up a generous dose of cleavage as she posed with her dog Cinnamon after an exercise session.

Not pictured in Alessandra's new album was her model boyfriend Richard Lee, with whom she has traveled to exotic locales including her native Brazil.

Alessandra confirmed her romance with Richard when they were spotted on a romantic dinner date in February 2021.

She was previously involved with Italian fashion designer Nicolo Oddi, who founded the brand Alanui with his sister Carlotta.

Alessandra shares her two children  Anja, 14, and Noah, 11  with her ex-fiance Jamie Mazur, who co-founded RE/DONE.

Mommy and me: She could be seen kayaking at sunset with her children Anja, 14, and Noah, 11, whom she shares with her ex-fiance Jamie Mazur

Who's who: They were joined at sea by Alessandra's close pal, hairstylist Dominick Pucciarello (right), who helped little Noah row his boat

Living the life: 'Chasing sunsets,' wrote the Brazilian bombshell in her caption, adding a string of hashtags: '#kayaking #sunsetlovers #tbt'

Jamie and Alessandra were together for a grand total of 13 years and were even engaged before their eventual split in 2018.

Alessandra gave birth to both of her children in Florianopolis and frequently takes trips there, making sure to post jealousy-inducing snaps to her Instagram.

GAL Floripa, the swimwear line she was plugging in her new modeling shots from Utah, takes the second part of its title from a nickname for Florianopolis.

In an interview with the Telegraph a few years ago, she revealed that she keeps a summer home in Florianopolis, which she named as her favorite place in Brazil.

'My entire family congregates there for the holidays,' shared Alessandra, who enjoys a warm relationship with her parents and sister.
Summer House star Kyle Cooke has branded former Bravo star Bethenny Frankel a 'hypocrite' and accused her of cashing in on her tell-all interview with Vanderpump Rules star Rachel Leviss as Frankel has lead a crusade against reality star 'mistreatment' and unfair compensation.

The 41-year-old television personality Cooke pulled no punches after it was revealed that Leviss made $380k off last season of hit show despite claims she 'hasn't received a single' penny since Scandoval erupted during her bombshell interview with Frankel.

'The irony of it all,' he commented on an Instagram post from Two Judgey Girls on Thursday, August 17, as reported by Us Weekly. 'Bethenny cashing in ads as she "exposes Bravo's exploits" and gives Rachel "a voice." She literally has more ad spots than any other podcast I've ever listened to. Rachel won't see a dime lol. I bet she had to pay her way to fly to B just to record this.'

Cooke, 41, added, 'If this was a true PSA it would be ad free.'

Scandalous: Summer House star Kyle Cook claims Bethenny Frankel is cashing in on her interviews with Rachel Leviss through ads, all while she reportedly 'exposes Bravo exploits'



But a source close to Frankel told The Messenger that she was actually the one who 'flew out west on her own dime to do the interview', and then followed up by declaring that it is 'iHeart controls the ads, Bethenny has nothing to do with them.'

During her tell-all interview with Frankel, Leviss shared about her stay at a mental health treatment at a center in Arizona for the first time.

Sharing her motivation for the sit-down, the reality star maintained she choose to go on Frankel's podcast because shes using 'her case as an example of exploitation' in the world of reality TV.

'[The backlash] seemed disproportionate to me,' Frankel told Leviss in regards to her months-long affair with Tom Sandoval.

'I was watching clips on social media and hearing about this Scandoval  that had a name, was being marketed and it was being pumped through the PR machine. And I did say "Everybodys gonna be more well known than they were before because of this,"' the original cast member of The Real Housewives Of New York City explained.

She continued, 'And my mind was, "Theyre on a reality show. It's set in a bar, is what I think. Its fueled by alcohol and partying and multiple affairs. So what respectfully, what the hell is the big deal that everyone's talking about?  And I said your name just as an example of what I imagined to be somebody who had been exploited. And for the rest of your life, that content will be out there without compensation.'

Frankel has since she brought up the idea of reality TV stars asking for more residuals and better working conditions with the threat of going on strike.

Leviss went on to claim that the Bravo network has been banking the profits earned from the success of the show in the wake of the scandal.

War of words: Cook claimed 'Rachel won't see a dime lol. I bet she had to pay her way to fly to B just to record this,' but a source close to Frankel told The Messenger that she was actually the one who 'flew out west on her own dime to do the interview'

Motivation: Sharing her motivation for the sit-down, Leviss maintained she choose to go on Frankel's podcast because shes using 'her case as an example of exploitation' in the world of reality TV

Emotional: The Sonoma, California native was visibly upset during the interviews

Scandoval: Leviss, 28, opened up to Frankel for the first time since she completed mental health treatment at a center in Arizona' she is pictured with Tom Sandoval

'I haven't seen a single penny the Sonoma, California native maintained, before adding that 'it's not fair' she doesn't get a piece of the profits off the drama.

And I feel like Ive been portrayed as the ultimate villain. My mistakes that I've made on camera live on forever,' Leviss, 28, explained. 'And you mentioned something about the addiction of doing reality TV and the way and the way that they always dangle that carrot in front of you, like, "Well, you need to tell your side of the story otherwise its gonna be written for you." And that's terrifying. So I almost went back, I know just because of that.'

Frankel, 52, believes Leviss deserves a bump in pay after all the money her affair has brought the network.

So now you have one of the three characters that cant even afford to pay for your treatment that you just went through' the Skinnygirl founder said. 'Because its my understanding that you get paid in a year less than my interns get paid.'

Lisa Vanderpump has since shot down Leviss claims, telling TMZ on Thursday that she earned $361,000 for season 10.

A source told The Messenger Leviss will not be returning to the show next season.

Meanwhile the shoot for season eight of Bravo's Summer House is well underway.

Filming kicked-off in July with Cooke, Lindsay, Paige, Amanda, Ciara Miller, Carl Radke, Danielle Olivera and Gabby Prescod hasall returning for another round of summer drama as part of the main cast.
Coleen Rooney sparked a social media frenzy when she graced the cover of British Vogue's digital September issue, ending her years-long silence on her 3 million libel case with Rebekah Vardy.

The WAG, 37, channelled her Scouse roots with a jaw-dropping shoot in her native Liverpool, with the publication cheekily branding her 'wife, mother, detective, superstar' on their front page.

Following the cover's release, Rebekah hit back by blasting her rival as 'boring' and 'publicity-seeking' as she argued with fans in a string of comments on a bikini-clad Instagram post.

Coleen's shoot, which has since gone viral with fans declaring that 'Hun culture has peaked', is packed with secret references, with every detail of the cover pored over by followers of the Wagatha Christie scandal.

So, as Rebekah shares her fury at Coleen's interview, MailOnline takes a look at the secret meanings of her stunning cover...

Iconic: From her 'detective' trench coat to posing with the legendary Royal Liver Building... MailOnline takes a look at the secret references in Coleen Rooney's British Vogue shoot

THAT Dior coat

Coleen sparked a social media firestorm back in 2019 when she accused Rebekah Vardy's Instagram account of leaking stories about her to The Sun.

She shared she secretly came up with a plot to foil the person who had been leaking stories, by planting false stories to her private account and only making them visible to Rebekah's account.

And Vogue heavily leaned into Coleen's sleuthing skills by dressed her in a classic detective trench coat, though her look was far chicer thanks to a piece from Dior.

One user also suspected the iconic Instagram account Loveofhuns of being responsible, tagging them in a comment that read, '@loveofhuns Have you infiltrated Vogue?'

Her 'detective' moniker

Legendary: Given her new investigative status, Vogue were quick to lean into the online excitement, branding Coleen a 'wife, mother, detective, superstar'

Given her new investigative status, Vogue were quick to lean into the online excitement, branding Coleen a 'wife, mother, detective, superstar' on the magazine's cover.

Coleen's followers were quick to laud the cheeky reference, with one even joking she should land a role in the seventh series of Line Of Duty.

One tweeted: ''Wife, mother, detective, superstar'' I am screaming!' while another added: 'Hun culture has peaked with this Coleen Rooney British Vogue cover. 10/10 no notes.'

A third posted: 'I cannot BELIEVE Coleen Rooney is on the cover of the SEPTEMBER ISSUE of British Vogue, I'm gagged ''detective''.

'Coleen Rooney on the cover of British Vogue being described as a ''detective'' and styled as Inspector Gadget feels absolutely correct to me,' one fan posted.

The Royal Liver building

Together: Coleen (pictured with her children in Liverpool) showed her Scouse roots in the Vogue shoot

With the River Mersey visible behind her, Coleen's Liverpudlian roots were on full display as she posed in front of the iconic Royal Liver Building for Vogue's cover.

The historic site is a landmark in the city, and is one of Three Graces that sit side by side on the waterfront.

The building was occupied by the Royal Liver Assurance Group from 1911 until 2011, and remains a huge tourist attraction.

Given Coleen and her husband Wayne's affiliation with Liverpool, the cover perfectly emulates their spouse roots.

Sharing images of the shoot on Instagram, Coleen shared her pride that she was able to pose for the shoot in Liverpool, writing: 'most amazing day ... in my home city.'

Liver birds

Vogue completed Coleen's idyllic cover by surrounding her with the mythical Liver birds, which have been an emblem for the northern City for over 800 years.

Along with gracing the crest of the beloved Liverpool FC and the city's coat of arms, the birds stem from a popular legend that they could be seen flying around the River Mersey skyline where the Liver Building was erected.

Local legend also states that the birds face away from each other, for if they were to mate and fly away, the city would cease to exist.

Hours after Coleen's cover was released, Rebekah made a number of digs in the comments section of an Instagram post, accusing her rival of seeking out 'publicity' with her bombshell Vogue interview as she argued with fans in a string of comments.

Coleen broke her silence on their 3 million libel case in the interview and branded Rebekah as 'odd' after maintaining a dignified silence on the court case.

And in the comments section of her post, Rebekah did not shy away from hitting out at Coleen for her Vogue interview as she slammed her comments as 'boring'.

Her fuming words came in response to a fan who commented: 'I reckon vogue mag being a superstar n all that,' in reference to Coleen's interview.

Rebekah then replied: 'Boring now isn't it,' with the fan then adding: 'Desparate.'

The wife of Jamie Vardy then continued to rage as she slammed Coleen by writing: 'Don't give me publicity I'm private but please give me publicity.'

Doubling down, she went on: 'What I don't get why you would want to keep bringing it up. It's boring now! The public doesn't care and neither do I. She won that's the end of it! Be happy move on because I know I have x'

Drama: Following the cover's release, Rebekah hit back by blasting her rival as 'boring' and 'publicity-seeking' as she argued with fans in a string of comments

Another fan hit out at Rebekah as they said: 'You dragged her through the courts to hang yourself so she has a right to tell her side tbh. You made the mistakes here, not her!'

Prompting her to protest her innocence as she argued back: 'What a year later! Give me a break! And yes I did because I don't do anything wrong! And I'll take that to my grave! If I had done it believe me I would have flicked the middle finger and said yeah and what!'

The Instagram user then replied: 'You were found guilty though by the top suits and you can't really preach innocence now can you? I know you'd rather it go away but she still has a right to tell her side and her experience of this ordeal too and people want to listen.'

But Rebekah went on: 'I've preached innocence from day one and that won't change! And are you telling me they don't get things wrong because I have a very long list that they fucked up! But it doesn't suit the narrative! It's fine I'm cool with being the bad guy! Maybe I'll just start playing up to that now.'

She also hinted at the drama in her caption as she wrote: 'take a chill [peace out emoji].'

Rebekah lost her libel case against Coleen in July 2022, was ordered to pay up to 1.5million towards Coleen's legal fees after losing the case, but she still continues to insist she was not the culprit.

Despite the viral frenzy towards Coleen's cover, fashionistas are less enthralled, and are having fainting fits over decisions made by departing British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful.

'It's blowing everyone's mind,' a source told the Daily Mail. 'Miriam Margolyes was the cover in June, Maya Jama from Love Island in August - and now Wayne Rooney's wife!

'People are joking that he's doing it on purpose, as revenge on Anna [Wintour, Vogue's head honcho]. What's next? Holly Willoughby and Rylan Clark?'
The broadcaster who has died aged 88, previously revealed he should have been 'more courteous' during his infamous interview with Meg Ryan,

'I wish I hadn't lost my temper with Meg Ryan. I wish I'd dealt with it in a more courteous manner,' Sir Michael Parkinson told Radio Times in 2021.

'I was quite obviously angry with her and it's not my business to be angry towards the guests. I came across as kind of pompous and I could have done better.'

The infamous interview is among the no-nonsense broadcaster's best-known moments.

In 2003, Sleepless in Seattle star gave a series of short answers, whilst promoting her film 'In the Cut' on Sir Michael Parkinson's BBC talk show.

The talk show veteran told Australia's Stellar magazine that he believed Meg Ryan (right) was icy in her 2003 interview because her 'In the Cut' film was performing poorly. He also told Australia's Stellar Magazine that she was rude to his guests

The Hollywood actress seemingly desired to be elsewhere while promoting her film 'In the Cut'.

During the icy discussion, Parkinson asked if her apprehension of journalists gives her insight into what they want, Ryan defensively replied: 'Now that I am wary of them?'

Parkinson answered: 'Yes, you are wary of journalists, you are wary of me, you are wary of the interview. You don't like being interviewed.

He later asked: 'If you were me, what would you do now?', to which Ryan ordered him to 'Just wrap it up.'

Parkinson branded 'beautiful Meg' as an 'unhappy woman', while she hit back labelling him a 'nut'.

He also later claimed in an interview with Australia's Stellar Magazine that she was impolite to the guests on his show.

The talk show veteran boiled Ryan's irritated facial expressions and stand-off-ish behaviour down to her film's poor performance.

in 2020, the iconic journalist stated: 'There was very good reason; she was in a film that didnt do very well and was at the end of a long tour and couldnt wait to get home.'

'I wish I'd dealt with it in a more courteous manner': Parkinson regretted losing his temper with the Sleepless in Seattle star.

The Sleepless in Seattle Star (pictured) labelled Sir Michael Parkinson 'a nut' and also stated that he spoke to her like 'a disapproving father'

But in a chat with Marie Claire, the star of When Harry Met Sally placed the blame on Parkinson for the frosty interview.

She stated that she felt Parkinson was criticising her for being nude in the movie, saying that she was 'so offended by him'.

In 2006, Ryan said: 'I don't even know the man. That guy was like some disapproving father! It's crazy. I don't know what he is to you guys, but he's a nut.

'He said something like, You should go back to doing what you were doing. I thought, Are you like a disapproving dad? Back off, buddy. I was so offended.'

Whilst the Sir Michael had previously jested the pare don't get in touch during the festive season, there is no deep-rooted hatred there either.

When questioned about what interview he would re-do given the chance, the broadcasting juggernaut told Good Morning Britain:

'I would like to get the Meg Ryan one right. I mean we were both in a fairly grim mood I think.'

'There was another way to handle that and extract more fun from it.'

The presenter who hosted his own show for nearly two decades shared he would have been axed off air in the present 'ultra sensitive world'.

He stated: In this ultra-sensitive world I doubt I could do an interview nowadays without being sent off. There are so many pitfalls and booby traps.
Alice Eve kept it casual as she donned the double denim look while out and about in West London on Thursday.

The Star Trek actress looked to be in her own world as she headed out on a walk with her beloved pooch as she grabbed a coffee at a local Starbucks.

The 41-year-old paired an oversized denim jacket with a paler colour of denim jeans which were frayed and turned up at the hem.

Adding a pop of colour to the outfit she completed the outfit with a pair of bright red shoes.

The star went barefaced as she let her blonde locks flow naturally over her shoulders while her four-legged friend looked up at her lovingly.

Fashionable: Star Trek's Alice Eve, 41, donned double denim as she walked her pet pooch in London on Thursday

Double denim: The 41-year-old paired a oversized denim jacket with a paler colour of denim jeans which were frayed and turned up at the hem

The snaps come after Alice reportedly split from her aristocrat boyfriend Pete Czernin back in April.

The actress is said to have ended her romance with the movie producer, 57, after nearly two years together, and turned to celeb dating app Raya.

Alice - who is the daughter of Waking The Dead star Trevor Eve and actress Sharon Maughan - is said to be single and ready to mingle following their break-up.

A source told The Sun: 'Alice realised they wanted different things. She's feeling fun and flirty and ready to meet someone.'

The blonde bombshell spent the majority of lockdown with her other half whose family reportedly owns 92 acres of Central London.

Discussing her ideal man Alice confessed: 'A kind man is most important, especially if you want a family.

'Having seen my friends go through having kids, a good husband who's understanding and there is necessary.'

The star appeared to stand in solidarity with fellow film stars in July as she posted a picture to her Instagram to show her support for The Screen Actors Guild strikes.

Members of SAG-AFTRA went on strike on July 14 over an ongoing labour dispute with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

Heartbreak: It was revealed in April that Alice has reportedly split from her aristocrat boyfriend Pete Czernin, 57, after nearly two years together

Next: The actress is said to have ended her romance with the movie producer and now be searching for love on celeb dating app Raya

Standing in solidarity: Alice showed her support for The Screen Actors Guild strikes with her Instagram post in July

In role: Alice starring as Starfleet science officer Carol Marcus in Star Trek Into Darkness in 2013

The union cited several issues in negotiations, including 'economic fairness, residuals, regulating the use of artificial intelligence and alleviating the burdens of the industry-wide shift to self-taping.'

Earlier in July Oppenheimer stars Matt Damon, Florence Pugh, Emily Blunt, and Robert Downey Jr were among the A-listers who boycotted the premiere of their widely-praised drama Oppenheimer in New York City amid the strike.

After the strike was announced Universal Pictures announced the cancellation of the premiere's red carpet, but would still be moving forward today with a screening honouring those who worked behind-the-scenes on the movie.

'In support of the ongoing SAG strike, the filmmakers of 'Oppenheimer' will not be proceeding with the NY premiere as originally planned, and will instead screen the movie to celebrate the crew and craftspeople who contributed to making this landmark film,' Universal Pictures said in a statement.
Will Young and Jessie Wynter looked loved-up as they packed on the PDA after a boozy night at a PrettyLittleThing party in London on Thursday.

The former Love Islander, 23, staged yet another fake proposal when he was pictured with his Australian girlfriend, 26, outside the venue.

The couple put on a racy display as Will lifted up Jessie in his arms and later leaned in for a sweet kiss.

Jessie put on a stylish display in a camouflage cargo co-ord, while Will looked dapper in a black shirt and trousers.

She showcased her washboard abs in the tiny bralette and peeked her ample cleavage as she posed for a picture next to Will.

Hilarious: Love Island's Will Young 'proposed' to Jessie Wynter before picking her up and packing on the PDA after a boozy night at a PrettyLittleThing party in London on Thursday

Wedding bells? The former Love Islanders looked loved-up as they packed on the PDA after a boozy night outside

The couple, who met on last year's winter Love Island, looked trendy in their matching trainers for the event.

It's not the first time that Will got down on one knee to ask for Jessie's hand in marriage as he took to Instagram to show off the previous times.

It appears Jessie has got used to Wills tricks as she brushes it off when he gets down to propose during pictures.

In a video he posed to Instagram, Will shared the moments of the fake proposal with a tribute message to Jessie, who previously appeared in Love Island Australia season two.

He wrote: 'Making new memories all the time, if its on the farm, in the city, in Tasmania or anywhere in the world, you will always be home.'

Jessie recently showed off her toned figure in a series of throwback holiday photos in August.

She put on a busty display as she slipped into a floral pink bikini and relaxed on the sun lounger.

Jessie and her farmer beau Will Young captured viewers hearts on Love Island UK earlier this year.

Loved-up: Jessie put on a stylish display in a camouflage cargo co-ord, while Will looked dapper in a black shirt and trousers

PDA: The couple's relationship appeared to be going from strength to strength as they were pictured kissing after the event

Sweet: The couple, who met on last year's winter Love Island, looked trendy in their matching trainers for the event

Happy: She showcased her washboard abs in the tiny bralette and peeked her ample cleavage as she posed for a picture next to Will

Hilarious: It's not the first time that Will got down on one knee to ask for Jessie' hand in marriage as he took to Instagram to show off the previous times

And now the couple have revealed their surprise baby plans while sharing intimate details about their whirlwind romance during an exclusive interview with Daily Mail Australia.

'My family adore Will, he's just slotted in so perfectly,' Jessie, 26, said as she described his bond with her family.

'He's spent the last week playing FIFA with my two brothers and my dad and not being giving me attention.'

Will, 23, chuckled and added, 'I've just being chilling with the family, to be quite honest. And then Jessie will like waddle up to me at the end of the day and be like, "give me attention. You haven't given me any attention all day.''

Hobart-born Jessie, who also starred on Love Island Australia back in 2019, confessed her fears about maintaining a long-distance relationship when Will returned to the UK.

'But he surprised me with flights to Australia and here he is,' she said.

As for pressures to maintain their post-show romance, both Jessie and Will were emphatic their relationship is real and deeply committed.

'We're soulmates,' Jessie said, sharing how inseparable they have become since leaving Love Island Villa.

Cute: Hobart-born Jessie confessed her fears about maintaining a long-distance relationship when Will returned to the UK to go back to his farming job

'We're together all the time and we don't really want to be apart at all.'

The couple also divulged the secret to nurturing their romance - focusing on their relationship over their jet-setting party life.

Will shared their plans for the future, revealing the couple are planning on getting married and having children.

'I've got plans for marriage, for kids, proposing. I've got plans for it all,' he said.

'No, this is the real deal. We are like inseparable,' Jessie added.
Devon Windsor has admitted that she has had a difficult time losing the baby weight.

In an Insta Story posted on Thursday, the Victoria's Secret model was asked if it is harder to lose the post-partum extra pounds with the second child.

The 29-year-old blonde answered yes, that she has not shed the pounds that fast.

Devon posted a topless photo from just after welcoming her first child, daughter Enzo Elodie, two years ago. The image was taken right after delivery.

And she said now she is not even that slender, even though it has been 15 weeks since she welcomed her second daughter, Celine Blue.

She stands at 5ft11in and is reportedly 124lbs with measurements of 34-24-35 before she became a mother.

The father is her husband Johnny Barbara.

She looks amazing though! Devon Windsor has admitted that she has had a difficult time losing the baby weight; this image was shared in late July but may be a throwback

Slender: Here she is seen modeling one of her bikinis for Devon Windsor Swim. She stands at 5ft11in and is reportedly 124lbs with measurements of 34-24-35 before she became a mother

However, the cover girl has looked incredible in recent Instagram posts.

She has had a small waistline while modeling strappy bikinis from her line, Devon Windsor Swim. Most women would be thrilled with her shape. But Devon is likely used to a slimmer frame.

The Model Squad star made her engagement to Barbara officially public knowledge in 2018.

Devon married her businessman fiance in a beachside St. Barts ceremony in 2019.

Two years after they tied the knot, the Brawl in Cell Block 99 star gave birth to their first child in September 2021, a girl they christened Enzo Elodie Barbara.

The hard-working model mom announced her second pregnancy back in November 2022.

She gave birth to her second daughter, Celine Blue Barbara, in early May 2023.

Discovered at the age of 14, Devon has been a professional model ever since.

Frank talk: In an Insta Story posted on Thursday, the Victoria's Secret model was asked if it is harder to lose the baby weight with the second child. The blonde answered yes, that she has not shed the pounds that fast. Devon posted a topless photo from just after welcoming her first child, Enzo, two years ago. The image was taken right after delivery

Hard: And she said now she is not even that slender, even though it has been 15 weeks since she welcomed her daughter Celine Blue. The father is her husband Johnny Barbara

In a cover up: She has been posting photos to Instagram to plug her swim line but had added skirts to hide her tummy

The Missouri-born beauty has walked in fashion shows for major lines like Chanel, Tom Ford, Versace, Armani and more.

She earned her first pair of Victoria's Secret Angel wings after walking the famous Victoria's Secret Fashion Show for the second time in 2014.

Although the Devon Windsor swimwear line founder has a flourishing career as a model and entrepreneur, it's evident her two daughters are her top priority.

'My whole world,' Devon wrote in the caption under a heartwarming photo of her holding her newborn baby Celine.

A 10! She still looks drop dead gorgeous in swimsuits, however

Family of four: Here Devon and her husband Johnny are seen with their two children

In another funny post Devon posted a cute picture of her second daughter with the caption. '2 under 2,' with a hiding face behind hands emoji.

While Celine and Enzo are Devon's first true loves, the top model made sure to dedicate some love for her husband and her own dad on Father's Day.

'Happy Fathers Day to the two best fathers I know! Johnny, Enzo and Celine are so lucky to have you as their dad!' the model wrote lovingly of her husband of four years.
Kendall Jenner displayed her endless legs as she arrived at Robata Bar in Santa Monica on Thursday.

The reality star, 27, wore a fitted yellow mini dress with spaghetti straps and her hair slicked back into a braided ponytail.

She exuded A-list status as she emerged from her vehicle with a helpful gentleman holding the door open for her.

The Harper's Bazaar cover girl opted for peep toe slides and slung a sleek black leather handbag over her shoulder.

Her stunning face was done up with a hint of blush, lip tint, and her sunglasses added an edgy touch.

No missing her! Kendall Jenner displayed her endless legs as she arrived at Robata Bar in Santa Monica on Thursday

The catwalk queen has been making moves in her modeling career and recently appeared on the cover of Harper's Bazaar Icons issue.

The reality TV star - who is currently dating Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny - told the publication that she is passionate.

'I love really hard, and I love without apology,' she said. 'I don't like goodbyes, and I will fight to not have to say goodbye. I will always fight for relationships.

'I've been that way since I was little, although I was shy and sometimes very closed off,' she continued.

'I don't give up on anything. Some people aren't willing to meet me at that level. But that's okay. I'd rather do that than shut myself off to something and not give it a proper chance.'

And she said she is growing up. 'I feel like I am coming into my womanhood,' she shared.

'And having so many strong women around me has helped shape my sense of worth.'

On remembering her childhood as a place where she created spaces for sanctuary: 'I just kind of kept to myself,' she said. 'I loved hiding out in my room and doing my own thing or riding my horses.'

Style icon: The reality star, 27, wore a fitted yellow mini dress with spaghetti straps and her hair slicked back into a braided ponytail

A step at a time: She slipped her feet into stylish black peep toe slides

Cover girl: Jenner recently appeared on the cover of Harper's Bazaar ICONS issue

On her therapy journey: 'I feel really balanced right now,' Jenner said.

'I started my therapy journey a year and a half ago. I meet with my therapist once a week, so every week I'm learning something new. I'm constantly evolving and just excited to do that.'

Kris Jenner, on her daughter's power: 'She's always been very definite about who she was.

'Her superpower is knowing when it's too much or when it's not enough. She's a lot smarter at that than I am, and she kind of taught me a thing or two about it.'
Netflix's notorious cat expert, Carol Baskin, has urged Britons not to run if they happen to come face-to-face with the big cat.

The animal rights activist also maintained that it was 'very likely' that the Beast of Smallthorne is in fact a black leopard.

This comes shortly after documentary makers discover the 'clearest photo ever' of the mysterious beast.

The CEO of Big Cat Rescue skyrocketed to infamy after she was featured on Netflix's hit-show Tiger King.

Baskin, 61, was famously accused by Tiger King, of murdering her ex-husband Jack 'Don' Lewis by Joe Exotic.

Lewis mysteriously disappeared in 1997, but Baskin referred to a Homeland Security document which supposedly proved he was alive in Costa Rica and her innocence.

Speaking with Jeremy Kyle Live, Baskin stressed that whilst the mysterious beast will have plenty of prey it's important not to flee if you find yourself in it's presence.

Tiger King star, Carole Baskin said she thinks the Beast of Smallthorne (pictured) is 'very likely' a black leopard. Pictured: image of what documentary makers claim is the clearest ever photo of a big cat prowling the British countryside

Carole Baskin (pictured) also warned Brits not to run if they find themselves in the presence of a black leopard.

She said: 'If you were to find yourself face to face with a cat, dont run, because then you're going to look like prey.

'So you should try to make yourself look as big as possible.'

The Tiger King star shared that when she approaches one of her big cats she will take a step in their direction to assert dominance.

Baskin added: 'Even though theyre so much bigger and stronger than I am, they must think theres something wrong with me for doing that and theyll kind of like, back off.'

However, the big cat activist strongly advised against doing this if you run into any big cat, including the assumed black leopard.

Discussing her reasoning on why she believes the animal featured in the archived image taken in Smallthorne, Staffordshire is probably a black leopard, Baskin stated:

'Ive worked with big cats for the past 40 years and the smartest cats bar none are the leopards and the black leopards just disappear into the landscape.

'By the time you get your camera up, theyre gone. They can be right in front of you and you wouldnt even know they were there.'

Baskin did put the mind of pet-owners to rest, revealing there was no need for them to worry.

The animal rights activist stated pet owners should not worry as a 'yappy little dog' will be more trouble than it's worth for a big cat. Pictured: A large muscular black cat lying in long grass in Smallthorne, Staffordshire

She said: 'No leopard wants to get into it with a house cat because they recognise thats going to be a fight.

'They dont want some yappy little dog because thats more trouble than they need.'

Baskin also remarked that the UK was '50 years smarter' than the US, as the Dangerous Animals Act was brought into law on the island in 1976.

Baskin explained: 'We just passed ours last December so finally its illegal to own big cats but people will still break the law.'

She explained they get 'all kinds' of reports on loose black leopards in the USA, adding: 'Once those cats get to be adults, they cant handle them any more.

'And if theyre close to them, if they raised them, they bottle raise them, they dont want to kill them, they dont want to admit they broke the law and so they just turn them loose.'
No wonder she turned into a Hollywood star.

Paris Hilton was already treated like an A-lister when she was a small child.

On Thursday the 42-year-old reality TV veteran was seen riding in a limousine with balloons at her feet and fresh flowers behind her as her father Richard Hilton filmed her with a camcorder.

It was quite the image of a spoiled little rich girl, something she has discussed in her book Paris: The Memoir.

The wife of Carter Reum was celebrating her father Rick's 68th birthday with the throwback image shared to Instagram.

Early days: No wonder she turned into a Hollywood star. Paris Hilton was already treated like an A-lister when she was a small child. On Thursday the 42-year-old reality TV veteran was seen riding in a limousine with balloons at her feet and fresh flowers behind her as her father filmed her with a camcorder

Haute as ever: Here the pinup was seen in a pink bikini during her vacation in Greece; later she was slammed for vacationing in Hawaii

'Happy birthday Dad! You've been my role model and biggest supporter since day 1! Thank you for always being there for me and inspiring me! I love you so much,' wrote the perfume mogul in her caption.

Paris' younger sister Nicky added, Happy Birthday Dad!'

Hilton was born in 1981, in New York City, to Rick - Richard Hilton - and Kathy Hilton, a former child actress who sisters are Kyle and Kim Richards of RHOBH.

Paris' paternal great-grandfather was Conrad Hilton, who founded Hilton Hotels.

The model was raised between New York and The Hamptons and Beverly Hills.

In LA she attended the Buckley School and St. Paul the Apostle School. She went to Marywood-Palm Valley School in Rancho Mirage, California.

At 15, she attended Professional Children's School.

She has said she was raised in a 'conservative' way with no dating or makeup. She described it as 'very proper, very prim, almost like a Stepford wife' to be introduced to the high society lifestyle.

When back in NYC as a teen she partied a lot.

Family: Hilton was born in 1981, in New York City, to Rick - Richard Hilton - and Kathy Hilton, a former child actress who sisters are Kyle and Kim Richards of RHOBH. With sister Nicky

Old school: Paris' paternal great-grandfather was Conrad Hilton, who founded Hilton Hotels. The model was raised between New York and The Hamptons and Beverly Hills

At 16, to a series of boarding schools for emotionally troubled teens, including Provo Canyon School, where she says that she was mentally and physically abused by the staff.

Her memoir came out on March 14

In her documentary This Is Paris, Hilton and other former students from Provo Canyon School recall the abuses they faced, including solitary confinement, forced medication, restraint, battery and strangulation.

She attended Provo for 11 months and was released in 1999 when she turned 18.

Hilton has a habit of posting images from her childhood.

When promoting her book she took a trip down memory lane.

She posted photos from her childhood up to her wedding to symbolize her evolution and life story that she unveils candidly in her new memoir.

Teenage years: At 16, to a series of boarding schools for emotionally troubled teens, including Provo Canyon School, where she says that she was mentally and physically abused by the staff

Wild child: In another shot, Hilton was seen partying in a short pink bustier-style dress

There was a black and white image of herself in grade school, followed by shots of her over the years, including one in 2004 when she released her first book, Confessions of an Heiress.

In January, Paris shocked fans when the reality star revealed that she had become a first-time mother.

Hilton told People that she and her husband had welcomed a son via surrogate.

'It's always been my dream to be a mother and I'm so happy that Carter and I found each other,' she told the publication.

'We are so excited to start our family together and our hearts are exploding with love for our baby boy,' said Paris.
Sofia Vergara kept it casuals but hip as she joined friends for some retail therapy on Thursday.

The actress, 51 has been getting support from her close pals amid her divorce from Joe Manganiello, 46.

The America's Got Talent judge stepped out in a bright yellow crop top and a loose fitting pair of cargo jeans with an elastic waist for her shopping trip in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles.

Instead of high heels, the Modern Family star wore white sneakers.

Her long, brown hair was styled straight and she wore natural looking makeup with a bold red lip. The Strays star accessorized with a large gold watch and a gold bracelet.

Retail therapy: Sofia Vergara kept it casuals but hip as she joined friends for some retail therapy Thursday, stepping out in a bright yellow crop top and a loose fitting pair of cargo jeans with an elastic waist for her shopping trip in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles

She carried a black Chanel shoulder bag and covered up in dark sunglasses.

Sofia shared some photos from inside the high end shop on social media.

'Family y friends' she wrote next to a photo carousel that included confidants Margarita Heilbron, Marisol Gtz. de Pineres, Alejandro Asen, her son Manolo and her niece, Claudia Vergara.

Sofia even photobombed a selfie of Claudia, a fashion blogger, as she modeled a purse.

The influencer looked comfortable in a sleeveless white T-shirt and low rise jeans.

The group later enjoyed a delicious lunch of pasta and wine.

The posting got more than 80 thousands likes, as fans showed their continued support for the Hot Pursuit star and producer as she goes through her divorce.

Sofia and her soon-to-be ex announced they were going their separate ways a month ago after seven years of marriage.

Sneakers: Instead of high heels, the Modern Family star wore white sneakers. Her long, brown hair was styled straight and she wore natural looking makeup with a bold red lip

Confindants: 'Family y friends' she wrote next to a photo carousel that included this snap with confidants Margarita Heilbron, Marisol Gtz. de Pineres

The multi-talented actress and entrepreneur recently launched her own line of sun care products.

Toty was created in collaboration with Cantabria Labs, the company that makes the Heliocare brand from Spain Sofia used for years.

'I wanted to bring something like Heliocare to the United States,' the influencer said in an interview with Bazaar.com.

'Weve had a million meetings to create something that will protect the skin and also fit the U.S. guidelines.'

The products include sunscreen, skincare, makeup and wellness supplements. All are listed as vegan and cruelty-free.

Mother and son: Sofia's son Manolo, 31, and family friend Alejandro Asen waited patiently in chair as Sofia shot a selfie of the group

Photo bomb: Sofia even photobombed a selfie of her niece Claudia Vergara, a fashion blogger, as she modeled a purse

Pasta: After their shopping excursion, the group enjoyed a delicious pasta lunch

The brand name comes from the nickname the Colombian beauty's brother had for her as a child.

'In Latin America, everybody has a nickname, and so that was mine,' she explained.

'It came from my brother who was two years older than me. They used to call me Sofi, and he couldnt say Sofi, so he would say "Toty." Only the people from Barranquilla call me like that, so if you say "Toty" and I turn around, Im always thinking Im going to see someone from Barranquilla.'

When it comes to fashion and makeup, the entrepreneur said she doesn't 'need to be wearing over-the-top fashion, just to be in.'

'I wear the style that I know that for my figure, with the big boobs and whatever, is going to look good on me. I dont care what anyone says. Thats what makes me feel comfortable and confident. So I think you need to find the things that make you feel comfortable, and then thats all you need.'
Sami Sheen is not afraid to show a little skin and seemed excited to share behind-the-scenes images from her first modeling campaign.

The teen star shared a series of images and a short video from her Alexander Wang bodywear shoot to her Instagram Story on Thursday.

In the photos, the 19-year-old modeled two different lingerie sets for the brand's new lingerie collection.

Sami - who recently posed in saucy pink lingerie - rocked her voluminous platinum blonde hair with matching bleach blonde eyebrows.

In one photo, she stares into the mirror with a shocked look on her face. 'This was me not recognizing myself at first,' she wrote.

Model: Sami Sheen has been seen in new images where she wears lingerie for Alexander Wang

BTS: And she also posted behind-the-scenes snaps on her social media accounts

And she wasn't wrong. She looked like an entirely different person with the way her hair was styled, the dramatic makeup and the bleached brows.

A short video clip showed off Sami's toned backside as wind was blown towards her to make her hair fly.

In the final images, she posed in a white lingerie set in front of a large fan.

In the second image, she donned a black lingerie set and struck a pose in a black bumper car.

The tag line for the campaign is 'whenever. whatever.'

When she was done with the glamorous shoot, she went out for some ice cream.

The modeling gig comes after Sami was the brunt of some family drama after she exposed her nipples in her 'riskiest content' for OnlyFans, which caused her father Charlie Sheen, 57, to go ballistic.

'This is my riskiest content so far,' wrote alongside the sultry snap with her nipples censored. 'Fully see-through top... I know u wanna see em.'

Source told Radar that Charlie 'thought Sami would have learned from his mistakes and is convinced Denise should have done more to steer her away from such a sleazy career.'

Mom Denise Richards, 52, for what it is worth, supports her daughter.

'All I can do as a parent is guide her and trust her judgment, but she makes her own choices,' the reality TV personality told In Touch Weekly in June 2022.

Bumper car: In the second image, she donned a black lingerie set and struck a pose in a black bumper car. The tag line for the campaign is 'whenever. whatever.'

Transformation: Sami Sheen isn't afraid to show a little skin and was excited to share behind-the-scenes images from her first modeling campaign

Va-Va-Voom: She shared a series of images and a short video from her Alexander Wang bodywear shoot to her Instagram Story on Thursday

Glamorous: In the photos, the 19-year-old modeled two different lingerie sets designed by Alexander Wang for the new lingerie collection

Lovely: She shared behind-the-scenes shots of the getting ready process

Sweet treat: And after she was done, she went out for ice cream.

Sami - who calls herself a 'sex worker' - has been accused of starting her OnlyFans 'to bother her father,' according to a report from People.

After Sami launched her OnlyFans page last year, Charlie told E! News: 'I do not condone this, but since I'm unable to prevent it, I urged her to keep it classy, creative and not sacrifice her integrity. She is 18 years old now and living with her mother. This did not occur under my roof.'

Denise - who previously bared it all for Playboy - told the same outlet: 'Sami is 18, and this decision wasn't based on whose house she lives in. All I can do as a parent is guide her and trust her judgement, but she makes her own choices.'

In fact, Denise approved so enthusiastically of Sami's decision to join OnlyFans that she has followed in her daughter's footsteps and launched a page there as well.
Lil Tay's mother has broken her silence as she has come to an agreement with the father of the social media star after years of feuding with the new $275K agreement showing the embattled sides finally have a legal understanding regarding who has custody of the social media star, and where she will live.

The young influencer, who was the victim of a cruel hoax alleging she and her brother had died after her social media accounts were hacked, will live with her mother Angela who will have sole decision-making power according to a statement released on her behalf via social media.

The Lil Tay Instagram account released a statement on Friday from their legal team Lorne MacLean K.C and Fraser MacLean of MacLean Law on behalf of Tay's mother Angela.

In the statement it said that the teen's father Christopher Hope will pay $275,000 in back child support and continue making monthly payments until she reaches adulthood.

Tay, 14, who was born Claire Hope, rose to fame at age nine by flashing stacks of cash, using inflammatory language, and starting feuds with other social media stars.

Custody: Lil Tay's mother has broken her silence as she has come to an agreement with the father of the social media star after years of feuding with the new $275K agreement showing the embattled sides finally have a legal understanding regarding who has custody of the social media star, and where she will live

The Lil Tay Instagram account released a statement on Friday from their legal team Lorne MacLean K.C and Fraser MacLean of MacLean Law on behalf of Tay's mother Angela

In 2018, her dad got a court order requiring her to stop making online content and return to her native Vancouver, BC in Canada.

The MacLean law statement began by saying: 'We have been aske to clarify media confusion as to the current state of the family law proceedings, including custody, child parenting and child support.'

The statement also seems to reveal that Lil Tay's career can finally resume with Angela in sole control as it read: 'MacLean Law successfully obtained orders for our client that have enabled her daughter to advance her career.'

It went on the go into a bit more detail of Angela's involvement as it read that one of the orders is: 'Sole day-to-day and final decision-making powers and responsibilities in the best interest for Tay Tian for Ms. Tian.'

In an interview with Hollywood Life back in October 2018, Tay's father Christopher said, 'Everyone else involved in this situation is motivated by money and the possibility of making money off of my daughter.

'I am not fighting about money; I am fighting for my daughter  for her happiness and her future.'

Since that time, Tay's social media accounts have been dark.

Her older half-brother Jason, now 21, was credited with directing the foul-mouthed videos that catapulted her to internet fame.

Child support: Tay's dad, Christopher Hope, will pay back child support and provide monthly payments until she reaches adulthood. In 2018, he got a court order requiring the then nine-year-old to return to her native Vancouver, BC

Fame: Tay, 14, who was born Claire Hope, rose to fame at age nine by flashing stacks of cash and using inflammatory language in videos directed by her brother, Jason, now 21,

In 2020, the court allowed the teen to move back to Los Angeles.

Of the latest legal victory, Angela, 45, a former realtor, told TMZ on Friday, 'I have been financially ruined fighting for my daughters rights and freedom which should have never been taken away to begin with.'

'We have won our case in court and my children and I can finally move on from this nightmare,' she said.

The change in custody indicates Tay may be back on social media soon.

'My daughter can pursue and achieve her dreams on her own terms,' Angela claimed,' and we are finally a happy family again, together.'

When asked about the custody ruling, Christopher had no comment.

Chuck Wigg, who has been dating Angela, told DailyMail.com the teen has been living in Los Angeles for several months, working on her music career.

'Tay is gifted. If anyone can make it, it's her,' he said.

Dreams: Tay's mother Angela, said the custody agreement means 'My daughter can pursue and achieve her dreams on her own terms'

'She's been focused on her music, singing and acting, she can play the piano and guitar. She speaks and sings in Mandarin.'

Illinois recently enacted a law designed to protect child influencers, such as Tay, and the children of adult influencers who appear in their parents content, according to Salon.

The law requires a portion of the earnings from using a minor's 'likeness, name, or photograph of the minor' be put in a trust for them to access when they are of legal age. Other states could follow suit.
Christopher Walken, 80, made a rare public appearance on Thursday as he attended Robert De Niro's star-studded 80th birthday bash in NYC.

The iconic actor, who starred alongside DeNiro in 1978 film The Deer Hunter, cut a dapper figure as he attended the party at restaurant Locanda Verde alongside wife Georgianne, 79, who he wed in 1969.

The Sleepy Hollow star wore a black tee, navy blazer and baggy trousers, teamed with sneakers.

He appeared in relaxed spirits as he was asked for autographs on his way into the soiree alongside his wife.

The Deer Hunter was a critical success, which saw Walken win a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as troubled Vietnam war veteran Nick Chevotarevich. DeNiro would be nominated for Best Actor but ultimately lost out.

Outing: Christopher Walken, 80, made a rare public appearance on Thursday as he attended Robert De Niro's star-studded 80th birthday bash in NYC

Icon: The iconic actor cut a dapper figure as he attended the party at restaurant Locanda Verde alongside wife Georgianne, 79, who he wed in 1969

Walken will next be seen on screen in Dune: Part Two and currently plays Burt Goodman in TV series, Severance.

Longtime friends Walken and DeNiro would reunite onscreen in 2020 for critically panned comedy, The War with Grandpa.

A glittering array of showbiz figures attended Thursday's party - including Uma Thurman, Paul McCartney, Martin Scorsese, Alec Baldwin, George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola.

De Niro and Chen were both dressed remarkably casual for the event, considering the starry guest list.

They welcomed their daughter Gia on April 6 but refrained from announcing her arrival until early May, sending shock waves through the public.

Now a father of seven - with children raging in age from 51 years to four months - Robert welcomed a glittering guest list to a swanky Italian eatery.

Locanda Verde, his venue of choice, is located in TriBeCa, the neighborhood where Robert helped found a film festival of the same name in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.

Scorsese, who has directed Robert in 11 movies including the upcoming Killers Of The Flower Moon, could also be glimpsed entering the fete.

Onscreen: The iconic actor starred alongside De Niro in 1978 film The Deer Hunter (Walken and DeNiro seen center)

Oscar-winner: He appeared in relaxed spirits as he was asked for autographs on his way into the soiree

Sighting: The screen icon is one of the most successful movie stars in history

In demand: The star was surrounded by autograph hunters on the day

For he's a jolly GoodFella: Robert De Niro's girlfriend Tiffany Chen, 45, was spotted Thursday arriving at his 80th birthday party with their baby in tow

Family: Stars galore flooded into Locanda Verde, including Uma Thurman, who brought her father Robert Thurman along to enjoy the fun

Arm in arm: The guest list for Thursday's bash included none other than Paul McCartney, 81, who attended on the arm of his third and latest wife Nancy Shevell, 63

Details: The couple welcomed their daughter Gia on April 6 but refrained from announcing her arrival until early May, sending shock waves through the public

Robert's past year has been a personal rollercoaster, from the joy of his daughter's arrival in April to the death of his 18-year-old grandson Leandro in July.

Leandro's mother Drena, who is Robert's firstborn child, announced that her son had been sold pills laced with fentanyl, tragically claiming his life.

He was discovered dead in his $950,000-dollar Wall Street apartment on July 2, sitting in a chair with white powder nearby.
Amanda Lamb looked incredible as she shared some photos from her recent trip to Greece this week.

The presenter, 51, who recently teased a possible return to A Place In The Sun, stunned in a plunging black bikini.

Going makeup free for the selfie she showed off her youthful good looks, and slicked her wet hair back.

Amanda, who starred on the show from 2001 to 2009, flashed a big smile while enjoying a boat ride through the Mediterranean.

Posing for another photo, she snapped a close up of her makeup free face and reflected on her trip to Spinalonga Island.

Stunning: Amanda Lamb, 51, looked incredible as she shared some photos from her recent trip to Greece this week

Speaking about her time on the show, the TV personality, hinted as a possible return to A Place In The Sun.

When asked if she would like to return, Amanda told Express.co.uk: 'I might be doing something with them this year, but I cant say any more than that!'

'A Place In The Sun was amazing, and I had so much fun doing it.

'I do miss it, of course I do. There's nothing better than waking up in the morning and looking out to a beautiful beach.'

Earlier this week, her former co-star Jonnie Irwin was inundated with well wishes from fans after sustaining an injury.

The A Place In The Sun host, who is battling terminal cancer after being diagnosed in 2020, took to Instagram on Tuesday to share a snap of his foot as he rested an ice pack on it.

Television presenter Jonnie has been having building work carried out at his home as the property undergoes a renovation.

And the star suggested he'd twisted his ankle after forgetting the builder had got to work on one particular area of his house.

The presenter, who recently teased a possible return to A Place In The Sun, stunned in a plunging black bikini

Painful: Earlier this week, her former co-star Jonnie Irwin, 49, was inundated with well wishes from fans after sustaining an injury

He captioned a picture of himself resting his foot: 'When you forget the builder has removed your door step.'

Jonnie's followers were quick to take to the comments section to wish him a speedy recovery.

One person wrote: 'Oh FFS!!! If you keep wearing those silly stilettos,' while someone else posted: 'Ouch! Hope your ankle feels better soon.'

Someone else commented: 'Lots of ice Jonnie... You don't need this that's for sure!!!'
Ariana Madix will have her say in a new book headed for publication just in time for Christmas.

The Vanderpump Rules star, 38, who is still sharing the home she and ex-Tom Sandoval, 40, bought together, announced her latest project in a lengthy post on social media Friday.

'These last few months have been a whirlwind and though Im in a better place now, having my personal devastation unfold so publicly was painful,' she began.

The reality star said she would 'forever be grateful' to her fans and friends for continuing to support her through much talked about ordeal dubbed the 'Scandoval'.

'But now is the time that Im fully telling my side of the story,' she revealed, and it will unfold in 'my new book, SINGLE AF COCKTAILS.'

Her side: Ariana Madix, 38, is out to set the record straight in a new recipe book/ memoir, describing the publication as 'my breakup album'; seen in May

Ariana said 'each cocktail' in the upcoming Single AF Cocktails, 'tells part of the story of what happened, in my own words.' The book will be published December 5

The drink master described the tome as 'my breakup album.'

Penguin Random House described the various 'tracks' as being 'Cleverly categorized into relationship-inspired sectionsHoneymoon Phase, Betrayal, Devastation, Resilience, and Ad Astra.'

Ariana said that 'bartending will always be my thing' and 'each cocktail tells part of the story of what happened, in my own words.'

According the the publisher's website, drink recipes include 'Rumors, with dark creme de cassis that floats on top of the drink before bleeding into the spirits below, the way lies may find their way into your relationship.'

Another called We Ride at Dawn, features, 'a big, bold mezcal margarita thats equal parts power and healing.'

The Dead End actress said she was inspired to tell her story, 'because I heard from so many of you that you could put yourself in my shoes.'

In turn, she wanted to be able to help others going through their own heartbreak.

'You have all given me hope in my darkest times and my wish is that if any of you relate to this story at all, youll feel less alone.'

Grateful: Ariana wrote she would be 'forever be grateful' to her fans and friends for continuing to support her through much talked about 'Scandoval' following the revelation her former partner Tom Sandoval, 40, had cheated on her (Pictured in Los Angeles in June 2022)

Not returning: Rachel Leviss, 28, revealed she will not be returning to Vanderpump Rules for season 11

Villain: In an interview with former reality star Bethenny Frankel on her Just B with Bethenny Frankel podcast, the former beauty queen said 'the concept of me being the ultimate reality-TV villain just blows my mind'

Ariana's announcement got lots of support from her pals.

Her new beau, Daniel Wai, wrote of the book's cover, 'If this is what it looks like when you throw a drink, throw them all on me!!!!'

Fellow VPR cast mates Katie Maloney and Scheana Shay showed their support, commenting, 'Cant freaking wait! So proud of you! ' and 'A TRUE QUEEN' respectively.

The book will find its way to store shelves December 5.

On set: Ariana was spotted wearing a white and black sleeveless polka dot crop top and wide leg black cargo pants Friday as she arrived on the set of Vanderpump Rules

Comfy: The mixologist looked comfortable in white and gray sneakers and styled her blonde hair in a low bun with loose tendrils around her face. She appeared to be wearing natural makeup and donned rose colored sunglasses

Ariana was spotted wearing a white and black sleeveless polka dot crop top and wide leg black cargo pants Friday as she arrived on the set of Vanderpump Rules.

The mixologist looked comfortable in white and gray sneakers and styled her blonde hair in a low bun with loose tendrils around her face while paying for parking.

She appeared to be wearing natural makeup and donned rose colored sunglasses.

Rachel Leviss, 28, who has been mostly out of sight since the infamous affair with Tom Sandoval, has said she will not be returning to VRP for season 11.

In an interview with former reality star Bethenny Frankel on her Just B with Bethenny Frankel podcast, the former beauty queen said 'the concept of me being the ultimate reality-TV villain just blows my mind.'

It appeared Rachel will soon explore other ways to tell her side of the story, revealing in the same interview she is 'taking the steps to start' her own podcast.
Robert De Niro's daughter Drena attended her father's 80th birthday celebration in NYC on Thursday - seven weeks after the tragic death of her son Leandro aged 19.

Leandro De Niro Rodriguez was discovered dead in his $950,000-dollar Wall Street apartment on July 2 - autopsy results revealed that the young man had fentanyl, bromazolam, alprazolam, 7-aminoclonazepam, ketamine and cocaine in his system when he died. The medical examiners ruled the death an 'accident.'

Drena, 51, wore a cream strapless top, slacks and black pumps as she attended the bash.

Her locks were pulled back into a bun and she sported tinted shades as she walked into the soiree at restaurant Locanda Verde.

Following Leandro's unexpected death, his mega-star grandfather, De Niro issued a statement in reaction to the tragic news.

Sighting: Robert De Niro's daughter Drena attended her father's 80th birthday celebration in NYC on Thursday - seven weeks after the tragic death of her son Leandro aged 19

Accidental death: Leandro De Niro Rodriguez was discovered dead in his $950,000-dollar Wall Street apartment on July 2 - autopsy results revealed that the young man had fentanyl, bromazolam, alprazolam, 7-aminoclonazepam, ketamine and cocaine in his system

'Im deeply distressed by the passing of my beloved grandson Leo. Were greatly appreciative of the condolences from everyone. We ask that we please be given privacy to grieve our loss of Leo,' he told Page Six at the time.

Leandro's mother, Drena De Niro, 51, wrote in a tribute to her only child: 'You have been my joy my heart and all that was ever pure and real in my life. I wish I was with you right now. I wish I was with you. I dont know how to live without you.'

De Niro adopted Drena in 1976 when he married her mother, Diahnne Abbott. The pair divorced in 1988 after welcoming another child.

The Oscar winner has five other children, including a baby girl named Gia he welcome in April with girlfriend Tiffany Chen, 44, with whom he has been linked since summer 2021.

Leandro was found unresponsive in a $1million home with a white powdery substance on a plate near his body, police told DailyMail.com.

He'd lived alone in the upscale sixth-floor apartment, renting the unit for less than a year. The apartment is located in the same stone building as Cipriani, a luxury venue for events.

In July a woman was arrested in connection to the overdose death for allegedly selling him fentanyl-laced pills.

Aspiring actor and director Leandro was following in his mother and grandfather's career footsteps, and had landed a small role in 2018's A Star Is Born as the son of Bradley Cooper's best friend, George 'Noodles' Stone, played by Dave Chappelle. He also appeared in Cabaret Maxime in 2018.

Tribute: Drena posted a loving message to her father on his milestone birthday

At the time, his mother and father, renowned graffiti artist Carlos Rodriguez, 58, shared a statement: 'It is with immeasurable shock and sadness that we say goodbye to our beloved son Leo. We thank you for the outpouring love and support and ask that we are given privacy this time to process this inconsolable grief.'

A glittering array of showbiz figures attended Thursday's party - including Uma Thurman, Christopher Walken, Paul McCartney, Martin Scorsese, Alec Baldwin, George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola.

De Niro and Chen were both dressed remarkably casual for the event, considering the starry guest list.

They welcomed their daughter Gia on April 6 but refrained from announcing her arrival until early May, sending shock waves through the public.

Now a father of seven - with children raging in age from 51 years to four months - Robert welcomed a glittering guest list to a swanky Italian eatery.

Robert De Niro (right) pictured alongside late grandson Leandro De Niro Rodriguez (left) and Drena De Niro (center)

Locanda Verde, his venue of choice, is located in TriBeCa, the neighborhood where Robert helped found a film festival of the same name in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.

Scorsese, who has directed Robert in 11 movies including the upcoming Killers Of The Flower Moon, could also be glimpsed entering the fete.

Robert's past year has been a personal rollercoaster, from the joy of his daughter's arrival in April to the death of his 18-year-old grandson Leandro in July.

Leandro's mother Drena, who is Robert's firstborn child, announced that her son had been sold pills laced with fentanyl, tragically claiming his life.

He was discovered dead in his $950,000-dollar Wall Street apartment on July 2, sitting in a chair with white powder nearby.
It was a The Connors/Roseanne reunion on the SAG-AFTRA and WGA picket line as CBS Radford studios in Studio City on Friday.

Sara Gilbert, 48, John Goodman, 71, and Tom Arnold, 64, all made appearances on the picket line.

The Talk co-host wore a blue chambray shirt, white pants and a grey hat and carried a WGA sign.

The Righteous Gemstones actor wore tan cargo shorts and an orange t-shirt with a red plaid shirt open over it.

Goodman had on a yellow cap and also carried a sign for the WGA that said 100 days stronger.

On Strike: It was a The Connors/Roseanne reunion on the SAG-AFTRA and WGA picket line as CBS Radford studios in Studio City on Friday

The WGA went on strike 108 days ago on May 2.

Meanwhile, the FUBAR actor was not photographed carrying a sign but he conversed with other people on the picket line good naturedley.

He wore jeans with a black t-shirt that said You Would Have No Chance on the front.

The three actors all starred together on the original Roseanne series that ran from 1998 to 1997.

Arnold was also married to Roseanne Barr from 1990 to 1994.

Gilbert and Goodman returned for the reboot of the series in 2018 which became The Connors after Barr was fired after she posted a racist tweet.

The tweet was about Valerie Jarrett, a Black woman who was a senior adviser to Barack Obama throughout his presidency.

Barr is a vocal supporter of Donald Trump.

Chatty: Tom Arnold was not photographed carrying a sign but he conversed with other people on the picket line

The Talk: The Talk co-host wore a blue chambray shirt, white pants and a grey hat and carried a WGA sign

Union strong: The Righteous Gemstones actor wore tan cargo shorts and an orange t-shirt with a red plaid shirt open over it

Reunion: Sara Gilbert, 48, John Goodman, 71, and Tom Arnold, 64, all made appearances on the picket line

Smiles: He wore jeans with a black t-shirt that said You Would Have No Chance on the front

Solidarity: Goodman had on a yellow cap and also carried a sign for the WGA that said 100 days stronger

Co-stars: The three actors all starred together on the original Roseanne series that ran from 1998 to 1997

Righteous: Goodman is currently starring on the popular Max series The Righteous Gemstones

The Connors: Gilbert and Goodman returned for the reboot of the series in 2018 which became The Connors after Barr was fired after she posted a racist tweet

The show went on to run for five seasons, four and a half of those without its original co-creator and star.

SAG-AFTRA, the union that represents actors, has been on strike since June 14th.

They joined the writers' union, WGA, in fighting for better residuals for streaming content, protection from A.I. and other critical issues.

Talks between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers re-started late last week.
Kendall Jenner had fun on Thursday evening.

The 818 Tequila founder wore a chartreuse green sleeveless dress as she dined at Mon Ami in Santa Monica, California with her pals Fai Khadra and Michael Kives.

The 27-year-old reality TV star was also with her 818 Tequila team ahead of the brand's third annual namesake holiday: 8.18.

Kendall enjoyed 818 Tequila cocktails, including the Santorini, La Provencal, 818 Negroni, and Eight Reserve by 818 neat pours.

The brand was coupled with dishes from Mon Amis Mediterranean-inspired menu.

They had the Mezze Platter, Lobster Alla Catalana Pasta, 7 Spice Chicken and Loukoumades for dessert.

Green is good: Kendall Jenner had fun on Thursday evening. The 818 Tequila founder wore a chartreuse green sleeveless dress as she dined at Mon Ami in Santa Monica, California

That glow: She had her black hair worn back in a braid as she showed off a French manicure

Produced using traditional methods in Jalisco, Mexico at a family-owned-and-operated distillery, 818 Tequila has won 43 blind tasting awards across 12 major industry competitions.

Made from one hundred percent Weber Blue agaves and sustainably produced, 818 Tequila features four variations  a Blanco, Reposado, an Anejo and their newest expression, Eight Reserve by 818, an ultra-premium Anejo Reserve  painstakingly crafted for appreciation.

This comes after she appeared on the front of the Harper's Bazaar Icons issue in a shoot by Mario Sorrenti.

The reality TV star - who dates Bad Bunny - told the publication that she is passionate.

'I love really hard, and I love without apology,' she said. 'I don't like goodbyes, and I will fight to not have to say goodbye. I will always fight for relationships.

'I've been that way since I was little, although I was shy and sometimes very closed off,' she continued.

Pals: The star was with her pals Fai Khadra and Michael Kives and the 818 team

Speeches! The reality TV star was celebrating the brand's third annual namesake holiday: 8.18. Kendall enjoyed 818 Tequila cocktails, including the Santorini, La Provencal, 818 Negroni, and Eight Reserve by 818 neat pours

'I don't give up on anything. Some people aren't willing to meet me at that level. But that's okay. I'd rather do that than shut myself off to something and not give it a proper chance.'

And she said she is growing up. 'I feel like I am coming into my womanhood,' she shared.

'And having so many strong women around me has helped shape my sense of worth.'

On remembering her childhood as a place where she created spaces for sanctuary: 'I just kind of kept to myself,' she said. 'I loved hiding out in my room and doing my own thing or riding my horses.'

On her therapy journey: 'I feel really balanced right now,' Jenner said.

She loves hard: The Keeping Up With The Kardashians vet appeared on the front of the Harper's Bazaar Icons issue in a shoot by Mario Sorrenti

Lucky dude: The reality TV star - who dates Bad Bunny - told the publication that she is passionate. 'I love really hard, and I love without apology,' she said; seen with Bad Bunny at Drake's concert this weekend

For CK: 'I don't give up on anything. Some people aren't willing to meet me at that level. But that's okay. I'd rather do that than shut myself off to something and not give it a proper chance,' she enthused; seen in a Calvin Klein ad

'I started my therapy journey a year and a half ago. I meet with my therapist once a week, so every week I'm learning something new. I'm constantly evolving and just excited to do that.'

Kris Jenner, on her daughter's power: 'She's always been very definite about who she was.

'Her superpower is knowing when it's too much or when it's not enough. She's a lot smarter at that than I am, and she kind of taught me a thing or two about it.'

'I think when things appear to come very easily to people, there's a lot of criticism,' says casting director (and Harper's BAZAAR contributing editor) Anita Bitton, who cast Jenner in her first Marc Jacobs show in 2014.

'But in order to maintain all of that stuff, there's a certain degree of rigor that's involved, and Kendall has that rigor,' explained Bitton. 'Kendall Jenner is her own person.'
Cate Blanchett looked effortlessly chic on Friday as she relaxed during her sun-soaked holiday to Ibiza with husband Andrew Upton.

The Australian actress, 54, cut a stylish figure in a cream striped shirt dress while enjoying a day out with her playwright husband, 57, and other pals.

Cate flashed a glimpse of her toned legs in the long-line dress which featured a split at the back, teaming the outfit with white trainers.

Further accessorising her holiday look, the Carol star added a chic straw hat and beige sunglasses, while storing her days essentials in a quirky, red fabric bag.

Cate looked in good spirits as she was seen chatting to her husband Andrew after swapping their farm house in Crowborough, East Sussex for the White Isle.

Here she is: Cate Blanchett looked effortlessly chic on Friday as she relaxed during her sun-soaked holiday to Ibiza with husband Andrew Upton

Style: The Australian actress, 54, cut a stylish figure in a cream striped shirt dress while enjoying a day out with her playwright husband, 57, and other pals

Andrew, who married the star in 1997, cut a casual figure in a red polo shirt, teamed with burgundy shorts, a straw hat and brown leather sliders.

Cate, Andrew and the rest of the group had seemingly arrived to enjoy some time on the main land, having before walked across the jetty after arriving via a motorised boat.

They had arrived to their destination via a small yacht, before climbing the rocks and continuing their sun-soaked break.

It comes after Cate revealed there is a downside to being a world famous actress, at least when it comes to her homeland of Australia.

The Oscar winner told the Courier Mail that she feels embarrassed to admit what she does for a living when she's in the country.

'The worst thing for us as an actor in Australia is getting in the back of the cab and a cabbie asking "what do you do?" Because you think, "Oh, God"' she said.

'You're constantly having to fight for the space or to justify the fact that you have the right to actually be an artist in Australia.'

The blonde beauty added that actors are more appreciated overseas, and she gains an appreciation for Australia's many talented stars with an outside perspective.

Holiday: Cate is enjoying some downtime from her busy schedule with a trip to the Spanish island

Leggy: Cate flashed a glimpse of her toned legs in the long-line dress which featured a split at the back, teaming the outfit with white trainers

There she goes: The star looked on good form as she made her way across the rocks

Beauty: Cate swept her blonde locks into a simple low bun while appearing to go make-up free for the outing

Couple: Cate looked in good spirits as she was seen chatting to her husband Andrew after swapping their farm house in Crowborough, East Sussex for the White Isle

Vacation attire: Andrew, who married the star in 1997, cut a casual figure in a red polo shirt, teamed with burgundy shorts, a straw hat and brown leather sliders

Follow me: Cate stayed close behind her husband as they walked across the jetty

Gorgeous: She was bound to turn heads with her chic holiday attire

'Yet overseas, our culture is celebrated and sung and praised but we don't often do it internally,' Cate told the publication.

'We don't often know what we have here. And living and working overseas, I can see absolutely objectively what we have here.'

A bonafide A-lister, the Tar star first rose to prominence with her star-making performance in the 1998 historical drama, Elizabeth.

Cate's portrayal of Queen Elizabeth I was critically acclaimed  garnering her her first ever Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.

Although the Elizabeth star would go on to play Galadriel in all three Lord of the Rings films, she wouldn't win her first Academy Award until 2005.

Day out: Cate, Andrew and the rest of the group had seemingly arrived to enjoy some time on the main land, having before walked across the jetty after arriving via a motorised boat

All aboard: They had arrived to their destination via a small yacht, before climbing the rocks and continuing their sun-soaked break

Water girl: Cate looked on good form as she arrived by boat

Travels: The couple were surrounded by several of their friends

Fun times: The group looked in good spirits on their holiday

You and me: The married pair sat side-by-side in the boat

Easy does it: The film star was given a helping hand as she disembarked the boat

I've got you: Cate reached out to help her husband as they stepped onto dry land

Adult time: The couple were enjoying a holiday away from their four children

Companion: The couple were making the most of their free time as they hung out with pals in Ibiza

Adventure: The group climbed up the rocks and headed towards the road

Candid: It comes after Cate revealed there is a downside to being a world famous actress, at least when it comes to her homeland of Australia

Oh no; The Oscar winner told the Courier Mail that she feels embarrassed to admit what she does for a living when she's in the country

Awkward: 'The worst thing for us as an actor in Australia is getting in the back of the cab and a cabbie asking "what do you do?" Because you think, "Oh, God"' she said

Experience: 'You're constantly having to fight for the space or to justify the fact that you have the right to actually be an artist in Australia'

She finally earned her first Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the 2005 film The Aviator.

The 54-year-old actress ironically won for portraying a famous American actress in The Aviator film  Katharine Hepburn.

Her first Oscar win made Cate the only actress to ever win an Academy Award for playing another actress in a film.

After her first Oscar, the Carol star has gone on to be nominated for an Academy Award eight times.
Kristen Bell isn't concerned about criticism of her parenting style.

The actress, 43, who shares daughters Delta, eight, and Lincoln, nine, with her husband, actor Dax Shepard, revealed last month that she allows her daughters to drink non-alcoholic beers, and now Kristen insists that she doesn't worry about any criticism that has come her way.

During an August 14th appearance alongside Shepard, 48, on the Armchair Expert podcast, Bell explained: 'What's so cute about you to me is that you are so logical and fact-driven and evidence-based  but if people want to be angry about something, they're going to be angry about it.

'When they have tried to order [non-alcoholic beers] at a restaurant or something, it's because of a very specific connection to you. Because first of all, they're educated on addiction and what substances are and how they affect your body and how scary they are and what they can do to you,' she said, referencing her husband's past struggles with addiction.

Shepard launched the Armchair Expert podcast in February 2018 and co-hosts the weekly podcast with its co-creator, the actress and producer Monica Padman.

It's her parenting style: Actress Kristen Bell won't let any criticism or backlash she faces over her parenting style impact the way she raises her children; seen with husband Dax Shepard and daughters Delta and Lincoln

The non-alcoholic beer issue: During a recent appearance on her husband Dax's Armchair Expert' podcast, Bell defended her parenting style from criticism over allowing their two daughters to drink non-alcoholic beer; seen in November 2022 in Hollywood

During the August 14 episode, Shepard also insisted that he won't change his ways based on the criticism.

'If anyone has a problem that I let my kids drink NA beer sometimes, that's fine with me. I'm not going to change based on what anybody else says because this is our family and not your business,' Shepard declared.

In July, Kristen admitted that she allows her daughters to drink non-alcoholic beers.

The blonde beauty  who has been married to Dax since 2013  said on The Kelly Clarkson Show: 'We've been at restaurants where she's said, "Do you have any non-alcoholic beer?" And I'm like, maybe we just keep that for home time.

'But then I'm sort of like, you can judge me if you want, I'm not doing anything wrong. That's your problem,' she said.

The former Veronica Mars star also explained how her husband would often have a bottle of non-alcoholic beer while taking care of Lincoln, their older daughter, when she was an infant.

'[Dax is] a recovering addict, but he likes non-alcoholic beer, so he'd pop one open, he'd have [Lincoln] on his chest, and we'd walk and look at the sunset,' Bell recalled.

'As a baby she was pawing at it, and sometimes she'd suck on the rim of it. So I think it feels to her like something special, something daddy, something family.'

Bell's and Shepard's defense on their parenting style comes a few weeks after the couple claimed that they, along with their daughters and a group of close friends, were 'kicked out' of Boston's Logan International Airport.

Confession: Bell's revelation about allowing her daughters to drink non-alcoholic beer came in an appearance last month on The Kelly Clarkson Show

Airport story backlash: Bell's and Shepard's defense on their parenting style comes a few weeks after they claimed that they, along with their daughters and a group of close friends, were 'kicked out' of Boston's Logan International Airport

Makeshift beds: Both Bell and Shepard humorously documented their late-night adventure on their Instagrams, which included purchasing $600 worth of pillows and sheets to create makeshift beds

The group was stranded at the airport due to their scheduled flight being pushed back to the next day. Both Bell and Shepard humorously documented their late-night adventure on Instagram stories on their individual Instagram accounts, which included purchasing $600 worth of pillows and sheets to create makeshift beds.

The couple received huge backlash after some social media accusers accused them of lying and exaggerating the whole ordeal.

The celebrity couple also addressed the criticism on the August 14 episode of the Armchair Expert podcast, in which Shepard expressed his confusion over the angry comments.

'The thing I got worried about when it got on the news is like, I would hate for people to think that we were upset or complaining about the experience... I just thought it was novel and funny,' the 48-year-old shared.
Paul McCartney and his glamorous wife Nancy attended the star-studded birthday party for Robert De Niro in New York City on Thursday.

The Beatles legend, 81, looked dapper in a true blue blazer over a cobalt shirt, tucked into a charcoal pair of jeans that complemented his dark aviators.

About a decade ago, Paul wrote the Golden Globe-nominated ballad (I Want To) Come Home for the 2009 film Everybody's Fine, starring Robert.

Meanwhile, Nancy was agelessly stylish in a clinging black top that fell off the shoulder and emphasized her petite frame.

She teamed the top with a fluttery floral skirt that fell past the knee and lent the ensemble a dash of glitz with earrings and a pendant.

Couple: Paul McCartney and his glamorous wife Nancy attended the star-studded birthday party for Robert De Niro in New York City on Thursday

Dapper: The Beatles legend, 81, looked dapper in a true blue blazer over a cobalt shirt, tucked into a charcoal pair of jeans that complemented his dark aviators

Nancy married Paul in 2011 three years after his $48.6 million divorce settlement with his previous wife Heather Mills, who famously has a prosthetic leg.

Robert's girlfriend Tiffany Chen, 45, was spotted Thursday arriving at his 80th birthday party with their baby in tow.

The couple welcomed their daughter Gia on April 6 but refrained from announcing her arrival until early May, sending shock waves through the public.

Now a father of seven - with children raging in age from 51 years to four months - Robert welcomed a glittering guest list to a swank Italian eatery.

Locanda Verde, his venue of choice, is located in TriBeCa, the neighborhood where Robert helped found a film festival of the same name in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.

Tiffany cut a casual figure in a hoodie and sweats as she pushed little Gia's stroller up onto the sidewalk and then crossed toward the restaurant.

Warding off the summertime rays with a sleek pair of sunglasses, she swept her dark hair up into a ponytail for her beau's birthday bash.

Tiffany, who has been romantically involved with Robert since 2021, opted for a summery white top featuring a trendy v-neck.

As the party wound down, she could be glimpsed emerging from the restaurant and spilling out onto the sidewalk with none other than Robert himself.

The GoodFellas icon wore a loose, comfortable-looking tan polo shirt beneath a stylish charcoal blazer for his evening out on the town.

Tiffany trailed closely behind him as he stepped out of Locanda Verde and headed toward the car that would whisk him off.

Strutting her stuff: Nancy was agelessly stylish in a clinging black top that fell off the shoulder and emphasized her petite frame

Love life: Nancy married Paul in 2011 three years after his $48.6 million divorce settlement with his previous wife Heather Mills, who famously has a prosthetic leg

Career: About a decade ago, Paul wrote the Golden Globe-nominated ballad (I Want To) Come Home for the 2009 film Everybody's Fine, starring Robert

Stars galore flooded into Locanda Verde, including Uma Thurman, who brought her father Robert Thurman along to enjoy the fun.

Robert, a former Buddhist monk who is now a scholar of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, stayed close to Uma as they crossed the street together toward the restaurant.

Uma modeled a stylish fern green coat and a sleek pair of fashionably faded cutoff jeans, burnishing her screen siren features with naturalistic makeup.

Meanwhile her father wore a classic black suit but jazzed up the look with a splashily colorful floral shirt and a snazzy pair of burnt-orange shades.

Over the past three decades Uma and Robert have starred in two films together - Mad Dog And Glory in 1993 and The War With Grandpa in 2020.

Robert's birthday festivities also played host to Francis Ford Coppola, who directed him to his first Oscar in The Godfather Part II nearly half a century ago.

Francis, 84, exuded an air of old-fashioned elegance in a cream suit worn over a striped blue shirt and a complementary tie.

George Lucas, appearing much more causal in an untucked short-sleeved shirt, was also on hand for Thursday's celebration.

As he arrived at Locanda Verde, the Star Wars impresario found himself getting thronged by fans who were possibly hoping for autographs.

Music mogul Tommy Mottola, who discovered Mariah Carey and became her first husband, looked strikingly youthful for his 75 years as he swung by the party.

The widely garlanded painter Julian Schnabel went for nautical chic in blue and white, adding the eye-catching touch of a flower in his hat.

Lorne Michaels, the creator and longtime producer of Saturday Night Live, was similarly dapper as he headed to the beano in a tan suit.

Saturday Night Live has a long professional history with Robert, who first hosted the program in 2002 but made cameos as early as 1992.

For he's a jolly GoodFella: Robert's girlfriend Tiffany Chen, 45, was spotted Thursday arriving at his 80th birthday party with their baby in tow

Place to be: Now a father of seven - with children raging in age from 51 years to four months - Robert welcomed a glittering guest list to a swank Italian eatery

Family: Stars galore flooded into Locanda Verde, including Uma Thurman, who brought her father Robert Thurman along to enjoy the fun

Date night: Among the controversial attendees were Alec Baldwin, 65, a little under two years out from the Rush shooting, and his wife Hilaria, 39

Among the striking attendees of the birthday party was none other than the disgraced ex-New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

During his polarizing handling of the COVID-19 pandemic as governor, he enjoyed vocal public support from Thursday's birthday boy.

Among the controversial attendees were Alec Baldwin, 65, a little under two years out from the Rush shooting, and his wife Hilaria, 39, who near the end of 2020 was exposed for faking Spanish heritage.

Martin Scorsese, who has directed Robert in 11 movies including the upcoming Killers Of The Flower Moon, could also be glimpsed entering the fete.

Robert's past year has been a personal rollercoaster, from the joy of his daughter's arrival in April to the death of his 18-year-old grandson Leandro in July.

Leandro's mother Drena, who is Robert's firstborn child, announced that her son had been sold pills laced with fentanyl, tragically claiming his life.

He was discovered dead in his $950,000-dollar Wall Street apartment on July 2, sitting in a chair with white powder nearby.
Forced conversions spark concerns in India and Pakistan. The well-being and rights of all individuals, regardless of their faith, must be ensured

Forced conversions of women have emerged as a pressing issue in both India and Pakistan, casting a shadow over the principles of individual freedom, religious choice, and societal harmony. As the spotlight intensifies on these disconcerting practices, civil society activists, legal experts, and concerned citizens are grappling with the complexities surrounding this contentious matter.

In India, the focal point of concern revolves around the conversion of women from the majority community, stirring restiveness among various segments of the population. Activists, while recognizing the sacrosanct right of individuals to alter their faith, invoke the provisions of the Special Marriage Act, which legally sanctions interfaith unions. Indian courts have generally upheld the rights of couples choosing diverse religious paths. However, across the border in Pakistan, the scenario is marred by a polarizing debate over the legitimacy of conversions.

Pakistan witnesses a parallel but distinct narrative. Here, activists and lawyers are increasingly raising their voices against the conversion of women hailing from minority communities. These women, often hailing from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, find themselves with limited agency in these life-altering decisions. The dilemma faced by courts in Pakistan is rooted in the absence of pertinent legal frameworks and the paradox of converted women claiming contentment when produced in court.

Civil society activists in both countries underscore the bewildering disarray caused by the relatively small number of interfaith unions and conversions. The stark numerical disparities further highlight the disproportionate social turmoil emanating from these cases. Pakistan's demographic composition portrays a mere three per cent representation of Hindus and Christians, while in India, Muslims account for 15 per cent of the populace. Astonishingly, despite their numerical insignificance, these conversions incite significant societal disruptions.

The paradox is striking. India has seen the emergence of controversial "anti-love jihad" statutes and laws aimed at criminalizing the conversion of Hindu women to Islam and their subsequent marriages with Muslim men. Meanwhile, in Pakistan, the discourse predominantly revolves around the conversion of women from Hindu and Christian minorities. Astonishingly, instances involving Hindu men converting to marry Muslim women, or vice versa, remain virtually non-existent in both countries.

The legal frameworks governing these issues also diverge. In India, the Special Marriage Act offers a legal avenue for couples to retain their respective faiths while solemnizing their unions, safeguarding the bedrock of personal freedom and choice. On the contrary, Pakistan's legal landscape remains devoid of comparable legislation, rendering converted women with limited legal recourse.

M. Shoaib Ashraf, a human rights activist and advocate at the Pakistan Supreme Court, emphasizes that authentic religious conversion must emanate from sincere belief, untainted by ulterior motives.

A watershed moment in India came through the historic ruling delivered by Chief Justice of Indian Supreme Court Justice DY Chandrachud, unequivocally affirming the indomitable prerogative of individuals to select life partners, irrespective of religious affiliations. This judgment underscored the impervious realm of personal privacy and the Constitution's unwavering defence of religious liberty.

Similarly, the Lahore High Court in Pakistan acknowledged religion as a deeply personal conviction, refraining from overstepping into these matters.

Despite this, both countries have, unfortunately, witnessed instances of subterfuge and deceit in the context of forced conversions, often culminating in tragic consequences.

Recent developments in India have ushered in the Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance in Uttar Pradesh. This legislative initiative has culminated in numerous arrests, with a predominant number of cases involving Muslim individuals, who are accused of luring and coercing women into conversion.

The most recent legislative addition making waves is the Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion (Amendment Act), 2022. This freshly minted legal framework, duly passed by the Uttarakhand assembly, introduces significant revisions to the preexisting Freedom of Religion Act of 2018. The crux of this amendment lies in its stance against coercive or deceptive conversion practices.

Under the new amendments, any individual found attempting to induce religious conversion through methods involving "misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement, or fraudulent means" could face a hefty penalty of Rs. 50,000. This legal stride is accompanied by the categorization of such actions as both cognizable and non-bailable offences. If proven guilty, the offender could be sentenced to a minimum of 3 years in prison, with a potential extension of up to 10 years. Moreover, the amendment introduces the requirement for the convicted individual to provide compensation of Rs. 5 lakhs to the aggrieved party, adding a financial dimension to the consequences.

Contrastingly, the Jharkhand Freedom of Religion Act, 2017, takes a distinct approach. It levies a milder penalty for converting adults from upper castes, encompassing a three-year imprisonment term or a fine of Rs. 50,000, or potentially both. Conversely, conversion involving individuals from Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), women, or minors is met with more stringent punishment, carrying a four-year prison sentence and a fine of Rs. 1 lakh, or both.

Similarly, the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religious Ordinance, 2020, underscores a focus on heightened penalties. It places an emphasis on safeguarding lower castes, Adivasis, minors, and women from undue influence, enacting penalties of greater severity for those involved in their conversion.

The first anti-Conversion bill that was passed by the Odisha government in 1967, Cynthia Stephen in her EPW paper Anti-Conversion legislation in Karnataka notes when the state passed the bill, the Christian population of the state was around 2 lakhs, 1.1% of the population in comparison to 1.7 crores Hindus. Madhya Pradesh also followed the Odisha line and in 1968, passed its first Freedom of Religion bill. Notably, as per the 2011 census the Christian population in Madhya Pradesh stands at 0.29%.

In essence, these recent legislative moves reflect a commitment to curbing undesirable religious conversion practices, while simultaneously aiming to maintain a balance between religious freedom and the prevention of coercive or deceptive tactics.

Pakistan, grappling with the absence of a specialized legal framework against forced conversions, has compelled affected families to resort to existing laws about abduction, forced marriages, child marriages, and the rape of minors to seek justice. Activists underline the misleading nature of a victim's proclamation of voluntary conversion and stress the necessity of nuanced consideration in such intricate situations.

Jibran Nasir, an advocate, and lead campaigner, accentuates the intricate nature of consent in such cases, contending that apparent satisfaction may belie underlying coercion. Data emanating from the Center for Social Justice in Pakistan unveils the highest reported instances of alleged forced conversions in Punjab (52%) and Sindh (44%) between the years 2013 and 2020.

Regrettably, despite the clarion directives emanating from the Supreme Court of Pakistan, endeavours to enact comprehensive legislation against forced conversions have faltered repeatedly at both the provincial and national levels. Frustratingly, even in cases where legislative frameworks have been drafted, their passage has been hamstrung, despite unambiguous directives from the apex court.

In Pakistan, a provision allowing courts to provide victims with a respite in "darul aman" (places of safety) has been incorporated to facilitate contemplation in such circumstances. However, the overarching absence of well-rounded legal measures continues to loom large over addressing this intricate matter, intertwining the fundamental tenets of freedom, consent, and justice. As India and Pakistan grapple with these weighty issues, it remains imperative for societies to engage in a thoughtful and nuanced discourse to ensure the well-being and rights of all individuals, regardless of their faith.

(Banerjee is Political Editor, The Pioneer Lucknow, while Lubna is a senior journalist based in Karachi)
Nushrratt Bharuccha believes in picking up scripts that resonate with her and the actor says she is not averse to playing a "damsel in distress" if it is backed by a good story.

The actor, known for her roles in films such as "Pyaar Ka Punchnama", "Aakash Vaani", "Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety", "Chhorri" and "Dream Girl", said there are films and stories where somebody comes to save the girl and they are equally interesting.

"I find that journey and that story of how she gets saved by someone also very interesting. It's just about the story... If the story appeals to me, I'm happy to be a damsel in distress and (wait for) a hero coming and saving me. It's absolutely fine," the actor told PTI in an interview.

In her upcoming "Akelli", Bharuccha plays Jyoti, a woman who gets stuck in war-torn Iraq and attempts to make her way back to India to reunite with her family. The story is about a woman's fight for survival in an extremely difficult situation, which instantly hooked the actor.

"How she is stuck, where she's stuck and how she's trying to go back to her loved ones in India... In such situations, somebody would've given up. They would have said it is daunting and too big a thing. But she fought for it. So her entire story was very interesting to do," Bharuccha said.

Scheduled to be released in theatres on August 25, "Akelli" is directed by first-time filmmaker Pranay Meshram.

Bharuccha said the film was narrated to her three years ago but she declined the offer as she felt it was not the "kind of film I want to do right now".

But the team stuck around and approached her casting director Vicky Sidana to convince the actor.

"I think what happened was the whole team came together with the right intention of wanting to make a good film and telling this story as honestly and truthfully as possible.

"When I met them a couple of times, I was like, 'These are a bunch of good guys who want to make a good film.' Very rarely you see actors taking that leap of faith when there is a new director, new producer and new team," Bharuccha said.

"Akelli" is her third film as the main lead after "Chorri" (2021) and "Janhit Mein Jaari" (2022).

Bharuccha said her confidence in carrying a film on her shoulders has definitely grown but she believes an actor can only do so much.

"Maybe the confidence has gone up where I know that I will deliver the performance and the story that I've been given. But that's actually all an actor can do. If the director, producer or the person selling the film don't know their jobs, I can't correct that," she added.

The person who is the face of the film has a very small role to play in its success, according to Bharuccha.

"There's a lot of other machinery and parts that are working in cohesion for that whole thing to happen and get the right result. If one thing or another goes up or down, it will all fall on my face. But that's the truth of it. I can only do so much," she said. Going forward, the actor said she will continue to take up projects that will appeal to her, otherwise she will say no to them.

"As actors, we are accustomed to hearing a no, that 'you don't fit into this part', 'hi, we've cast somebody else', or 'you just don't work for this part anymore'. But they should be open to hearing a no from us as well. So if I don't like it, I'm saying no," Bharuccha added.

"Akelli" is produced by Dashami Studioz' Nitin Vaidya, Ninad Vaidya, Aparna Padgaonkar along with Vicky Sidana and Shashant Shah.

Israeli actors Tsahi Halevi and Amir Boutrous, best known for featuring in the series Fauda, are making their Indian film debut with the project.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and former Chief Minister of Bihar Lalu Prasad has landed in trouble as Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has challenged his bail in alleged fodder scam in the Supreme Court. The SC will hear the matter on August 25.

The Jharkhand High Court had granted bail to the RJD president in four cases relating to multi-crore fodder scam (Dumka, Chaibasa, Doranda, Deogarh treasuries).

Lalu was convicted in the cases and his appeals lay pending in various courts. CBI has sought that the Supreme Court cancels Lalus bail. The 950-crore fodder scam relates to withdrawals made from multiple Government treasuries for cattle fodder.

Allegedly fake bills had been issued by the Animal Husbandry Department to facilitate this.

A special CBI court had held Lalu guilty in the Doranda treasury case related to the fodder scam in February this year.

In July, the CBI had filed a chargesheet against the RJD chief, his wife Rabri Devi and their son and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav in the alleged land-for-jobs scam.

Investigating agencies have alleged that people were given employment in the Indian Railways from 2004 to 2009 - when Lalu was the Railway Minister - in return for land parcels being gifted or sold at cheap rates to the Yadav family.

Lalu and Tejashwi have been at the forefront of efforts to unite the Opposition and played a key role in organising the first mega meet of 16 Opposition parties that was held in Patna on 23 June. The parties were joined by 10 others in Bengaluru for a second meeting on 17-18 July, where the coalition named itself the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).
In a positive development for India regarding the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, a US court has denied the writ of habeas corpus filed by Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana. This paves the way for US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to issue a certification for him to be extradited to India where he is sought for his involvement in the 2008 terror attacks.

In a major victory for Indias fight in bringing the perpetrators of the 26/11 terror attacks to justice, a US court approved 62-year-old Ranas extradition to India in May.

In June, Rana, who is detained at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Los Angeles, filed a writ of habeas corpus challenging the court order that acceded to the request of the US that the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks accused be extradited to India.

The court has denied Tahawwur Ranas petition for writ of habeas corpus by a separate order, Judge Dale S Fischer, Central District of California, wrote in his order on August 10.

However, Rana has filed an appeal against the order and sought a stay on his extradition to India till the time his appeal in the Ninth Circuit Court is heard. Rana faces charges for his role in the Mumbai attacks and is known to be associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.

Judge Fischer in his order said Rana has only made two basic arguments in the writ. First, he claims that, pursuant to the treaty, he cannot be extradited because India plans to prosecute him for the same acts for which he was charged and acquitted in a United States court. Second, he argues that the Government has not established that there is probable cause to believe that Rana committed the Indian offences for which he is expected to stand trial, the judge said. He denied both arguments.

Given that, even if (David) Headleys testimony were the entire basis for the probable cause finding, it would be sufficient for the purposes of habeas review because it constitutes some competent evidence supporting the finding. For the reasons stated above, Ranas petition for a writ of habeas corpus is denied, the judge wrote.

Following Judge Fischers order, Patrick Blegen and John D Cline, Ranas two attorneys filed an appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from the Order entered on August 10, 2023, for denying his petition for writ of habeas corpus.

In a separate appeal, Blegen has filed a petition for a stay of extradition pending his appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from the courts order denying his petition for a writ of habeas corpus.

As set forth in the accompanying memorandum, petitioner submits that a stay of extradition pending appeal is appropriate because he has made a strong showing that he is likely to succeed on the merits of his non-bis in idem claim; he will suffer irreparable harm if he is extradited, potentially including the death penalty; a stay pending appeal will not substantially injure the Government; and the public interest favours a full review of Ranas non-bis claim before he is sent to a country that seeks to execute him, Ranas attorney wrote on August 14.

In June, the Biden administration urged the court to deny the writ of habeas corpus filed by Rana. The United States respectfully requests that the court deny Ranas petition for a writ of habeas corpus, said E Martin Estrada, US attorney for the Central District of California, in his petition filed before the US District Court for the Central District of California.

India filed a complaint on June 10, 2020, seeking the provisional arrest of Rana with a view towards extradition. The Biden administration supported and approved his extradition to India.

Filing the writ of habeas corpus through his attorney, Rana challenged his extradition by the Government of India. Ranas extradition would violate the United States-India extradition treaty in two respects, his attorney argued.

First, Rana has been tried and acquitted in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois for charges based on the identical conduct for which India seeks to prosecute him.

He argued that extradition is, therefore, barred under Article 6(1) of the Treaty, which declares that extradition shall not be granted when the person sought has been convicted or acquitted in the Requested State for the offence for which extradition is requested.

Second, the material submitted by the Government of India -- consisting principally of transcripts and exhibits from Ranas trial in the Northern District of Illinois -- fails to establish probable cause that he committed the offences for which India has charged him. The Indian governments extradition request thus fails to satisfy Article 9.3(c) of the Treaty, the attorney said, adding the court should grant the writ of habeas corpus, deny extradition and order Ranas release.

However, the US Government has said that Rana be extradited to India. In his submission to the US Court on June 23, the US attorney argued that Ranas claims about the legitimacy of his business in Mumbai fall flat.

The evidence does not support Ranas assertion that the Mumbai office conducted legitimate business, but even if it did, the engagement of legitimate business activities does not preclude a finding that Ranas business also served as a cover for Headleys terrorism-related activities in Mumbai.

Ranas claims about who funded the Mumbai office also do not relate to whether Rana lacked knowledge of and support for Headleys activities. Similarly, even if Rana hoped to continue business operations in Mumbai, the evidence reveals that neither Rana nor Headley renewed the business lease that expired approximately two weeks before the start of the Mumbai attacks, Estrada argued.

Indias National Investigation Agency (NIA) is probing Ranas role in the 26/11 attacks carried out by terrorists of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group. The NIA has said that it is ready to initiate proceedings to bring him to India through diplomatic channels.

A total of 166 people, including six Americans, were killed in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in which 10 Pakistani terrorists laid a more than 60-hour siege, attacking and killing people at iconic and vital locations of Mumbai.
Newly appointed Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai on Friday said that former party chief Rahul Gandhi will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha election from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.

Additionally, his sibling and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has the freedom to choose her constituency within the State and may consider challenging Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat, he said.

Rahul will definitely contest the Lok Sabha election from Amethi, the people of Amethi are here, Rai said, addressing reporters in Varanasi shortly after his arrival from Delhi.

Rai also claimed that if Priyanka expresses her interest, she can stand for election in Varanasi or any other suitable location.

If Priyanka has the desire to fight from Varanasi, every single worker will work wholeheartedly for her, said the Uttar Pradesh Congress president.

There is a buzz in the Congress circle that Priyanka might may contest from the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituency, currently represented by her mother, former Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

This speculation arises due to Sonias possible retirement from active politics due to health concerns.

Amethi, a longstanding stronghold of the Gandhi family, saw a shift in the 2019 general election when BJPs Smriti Irani defeated Rahul, who had represented the seat since 2004. Rahul is currently an MP from Wayanad in Kerala.

Sonia remains the only Congress parliamentarian from UP, representing Rae Bareli.

After the State polls last year, the partys presence dwindled to just two seats out of the 403-member UP House.

Ajay Rai, an upper-caste Bhumihar, had previously contested against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He was appointed as the UP Congress chief, replacing Dalit leader Brijlal Khabri.

When asked about his appointment in relation to his previous contests against Narendra Modi, Rai responded, This is the result of my continued struggle, someone who went to jail, who has been continuously exposing the wrong, Ajay Rai is the sipahi of Rahul Gandhi. This struggle will be fought all over the State.

Referring to Irani, who defeated Rahul in the last election, Rai said that she appears frustrated. He reminded her promise made by her to the voters of Amethi to provide sugar at Rs 13 per kg.

Did she manage it? People from Amethi are here, ask them, he said.
The Supreme Court on Friday overturned the acquittal of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and former Member of Parliament (MP) Prabhunath Singh in a double murder case from 1995.

Currently serving a life imprisonment term for another murder case, Singh was pronounced guilty by a trial court in 2017 for his involvement in the 1995 murder of legislator Ashok Singh. The latter had triumphed over Prabhunath in the 1995 Bihar Assembly election, leading to threats of elimination within 90 days of the election.

A panel of justices comprising Sanjay Kishan Kaul, AS Oka, and Vikram Nath convicted Prabhunath, a former three-term Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) and one-time RJD MP from Maharajganj, in the double murder case.

The court found sufficient evidence linking him to the murders of Rajendra Rai, aged 18, and Daroga Rai, aged 47, near a polling booth in Chhapra in March 1995.

These three persons were fatally shot as they did not cast their votes according to Singhs instructions. After concerns were raised about witness intimidation and influence, the case was transferred from Chhapra to Patna. In December 2008, the trial court acquitted Prabhunath due to insufficient evidence. This acquittal was upheld by the Patna High Court in 2012. The Supreme Court intervention was prompted by the challenge made by Rajendra Rais brother against the acquittal.

Justice Nath, while delivering the verdict, stated, We set aside the impugned order of the Patna High Court and convict respondent no 2...Prabhunath Singh, under Section 302 (murder) for the murders of Daroga Rai and Rajendra Rai. We direct the home secretary of...Bihar and the director general of police of the State to arrest Prabhunath Singh and produce him before this court in custody on the next date of hearing to be heard on [the] argument of [the] sentence.

The court upheld the acquittal of six other co-accused and scheduled September 1 as the next date to determine the quantum of punishment for Prabhunath Singh. The sentence for murder could entail either life imprisonment or a death penalty.

Prabhunath Singh initially joined the Janata Dal in 1995, subsequently becoming a JD(U) member before joining RJD in 2010 after a fallout with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday attacked the BJP-led Centre, saying the Ordinance on Services was brought as money power and the threat of the ED and the CBI failed in Delhi. Kejriwal stressed that the next election would be fought on the issue of full statehood for Delhi. Replying to a debate in the Delhi Assembly on the GNCTD (Amendment) Bill, Kejriwal claimed that the BJP was set to lose all seven Lok Sabha seats in the national Capital. The AAP Convener also claimed that the BJP had brought the Sanghi model of democracy through the Services Bill and asserted that the 2024 Lok Sabha elections would be fought on the issue of full statehood for the national Capital.

In a scathing attack on the BJP-led Government at the Centre, Kejriwal said the rights of Delhiites were taken away by enacting a law, but he would not let the work being done in Delhi by his Government stop under any circumstances and promised that he would get the rights of the people back.

Kejriwal said, The democratic rights of the people of Delhi were trampled through the Ordinance and the Bill. There are several styles of democratic systems like the Westminster style and parliamentary style. These people (BJP) have brought the Sanghi style of democracy through this Bill, he said. The Ordinance on Services was brought because money power and the threat of the ED and the CBI failed in Delhi.

He added that recently, someone from the BJP had threatened him, saying, We will make you bow. But I want to tell them that no power can make Kejriwal and the two crore people of Delhi bow. Earlier, speaking on the issue, Delhi Services Minister Atishi criticised the BJP for its disruptive efforts to diminish the powers of the elected Government of Delhi with the GNCTD (Amendment) Bill. The BJPs manifestos from 1989-2014 claimed that the party would get Delhi full statehood, but they forgot their own promises after 2014, why? the Minister questioned.

Atishi said that just as the Viceroy ruled over India during colonial times, regardless of the peoples wishes, the BJP has done the same by imposing the LG on the people of Delhi and the elected Government. The BJP was scared that if CM Arvind Kejriwal gets complete power the nation would witness the pace and efficiency with which work for the public is done. The BJP oppressed Delhiites and took away their power to vote. The people will give BJP a stern response in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, Atishi added.

The BJP reacted sharply to Kejriwals scathing criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the recently-enacted GNCTD Amendment Act, saying corruption, inaction and nepotism of his Government will pave its exit in 2025.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva challenged Kejriwal to call a session of the Assembly for a debate to compare development works done by his Government and the Modi Government in Delhi. Since the 2020 elections, people of Delhi have seen the real face of Kejriwal through communalism, inaction, corruption and nepotism and they will shunt him out of power in 2025, Sachdeva said. He also said the AAP national convener was deft in playing the victim card and diverting issues.

Kejriwal has mastered the art of playing the victim card for political benefit. Time and again the people of Delhi have seen that whenever the issue of corruption and nepotism in his governance becomes a topic of discussion, he tries to raise the issue of power and rights of his Government to divert public attention, Sachdeva charged.
With the objective of encouraging millet consumption and boosting farmers income, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to incorporate millets in the form of bajra khichdi in the mid-day meals provided to children.

This is a very significant decision for the millet-growing farmers, considering the number of children in Uttar Pradesh who receive mid-day meals. The government is already procuring maize and bajra at the minimum support price (MSP) and has decided to purchase jowar along with paddy at MSP starting this Kharif season, an official of the Agriculture department said.

The decisions made by the state government will have a significant impact. After the inclusion of bajra in the mid-day meal, its consumption and demand will also increase. The government will have to increase the purchase of bajra directly from the farmers to meet the spurt in demand.

Due to this, the farmers will get better prices for bajra in the open market as well, and better prices will also encourage farmers to produce more. Overall, it will be beneficial for the health of the common man and will also bring prosperity to the farmers, the official said.

In the future, the same situation may also happen to jowar. Millets are also good for the environment. They require less water than other cereals and can thrive without fertilisers or pesticides in poor soils. As a result, they are a good crop for farmers in dry regions dealing with the effects of climate change.
Uttar Pradesh Congress called the Yogi Adityanath governments direction of regulating media as an attack on democracy and to harass the journalists exposing the corruption and failure of the double engine government on all fronts.

Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson Sanjay Singh here on Friday strongly condemned the Yogi governments order to curb the freedom and impartiality of the media by writing a letter to the district magistrates of the state.

He said that Bharatiya Janata Partys conspiracy to weaken the fourth pillar of democracy would never be successful and the Congress had been fighting against the Hitlerite attitude of the Yogi government and would continue to fight.

Singh further said that after assuming power at the Center in 2014, the BJP government has curtailed press freedom, and now the Yogi government has ordered a complete media takeover.

The Modi government at the Center and the Yogi government in the state are determined to undermine the free press and are working to end democracy, he said.

Sanjay Singh said that the Congress Party strongly opposed the order issued by the government to curb the media.

Now with written orders, it will be difficult for the media to write against the chief minister or his administration. He claimed that the Yogi government now wants to silence all those journalists, who expose the corruption and failure of his government in front of the public, he said.

This order will act as a complete curb on the media and along with taking legal action against whoever raises voice against their system, the government can also take bulldozer action, he added.

Citing the letter, Singh said, The government asked all the officers to pay special attention to the anti-government news published in the media.

Those publications which tarnish the image of the state and the government by publishing negative news should be issued a notice and an immediate response should be sought. This order is enough to tell that the Yogi government no longer wants to listen to its criticism, he alleged.
The Congress on Friday launched scathing attack on the alleged corruption of the ruling BJP government in Madhya Pradesh. The Congress unit in Madhya Pradesh launched a 50% commission anti-corruption campaign against the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government of MP. Former Madhya Pradesh CM and Congress MP president Kamal Nath and party workers divulged banners that read Ghotala hi ghotala; Ghotala seth, 50% commission rate [Corruption galore; corrupt sir's rate is 50%.]"

While talking to media persons here at thPCC Headquarters, Kamal Nath said, "Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan has cheated farmers, youth, businessmen, and others in the state. There won't be a single person in the state who would not have been either a victim of corruption or have witnessed corruption happening around him."

On Thursday, the former CM said, "Gaushala Peti Contractor Sangathan of Rewa has written a letter to the Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court, Jabalpur, alleging that 50% commission is being consumed in government works. The contractors released the statement publicly and also pointed out that many others like them are suffering from the '50% commission raj'. The Indian judiciary has a dignified tradition of taking suo motu cognizance in such serious matters.

I request the honourable court to take cognizance of this contractor's letter, provide him security, and save Madhya Pradesh from the termites of corruption, he added.

The Congress has been charging the BJP ministers in Madhya Pradesh with demanding 50% commission from workers for hire to pay for development and different works. Sharing a newspaper cutting, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra posted on X (previously Twitter): " The union of contractors in Madhya Pradesh has written to the High Court Chief Justice, complaining that payment for government work is received only after paying 50% commission."

"The corrupt BJP government in Karnataka used to collect 40% commission. In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP has gone ahead and broken its own record of corruption. The people of Karnataka ousted the government with 40% commission; now, the people of Madhya Pradesh will remove the BJP government of 50% commission," she added. Responding to the post, the BJP recorded a complaint against Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, blaming her for leveling out misleading claims against the party. He said that the letter that Priyanka looked to refer to was a fake one.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar will directly engage with beneficiaries of the Bhavantar Bharpayee Yojana through an audio conferencing session scheduled for August 19 at 5 pm, said the official spokesperson on Friday. He said that this interaction is a part of the Chief Minister's dedicated discussion programme, providing a platform for beneficiaries to share their experiences and challenges encountered while availing the benefits of the scheme.



As a recurring practice, the Chief Minister initiates direct interactions every Saturday, targeting various segments of the state's population. This distinctive approach involves engaging with beneficiaries of different public welfare programmes implemented by both Central and State Governments, aiming to assess the on-ground execution of these initiatives.



The spokesperson further said that the Bhavantar Bharpayee Yojana was introduced to safeguard farmers in Haryana from the risk of crop loss due to natural calamities. Under this, farmers are compensated by the government for getting low prices for their produce in the market. In this upcoming dialogue session, the Chief Minister will directly connect with approximately 10 to 15 thousand beneficiaries of this scheme.



A notable feature of these discussions is the participation of Deputy Commissioners from respective districts and senior officials from concerned departments. The Chief Minister ensures prompt action in addressing any gaps or shortcomings identified during these conversations, reinforcing his commitment to efficient scheme implementation, he added.






Haryana Chief Secretary Sanjeev Kaushal on Friday said that the State Government will host the fourth meeting of the G-20 Sherpa Group at Nuh from September 3 to 7.



Kaushal presided over a meeting to review the arrangements with Additional Chief Secretary of Industries and Commerce, Health, Director General, Information, Public Relations, Language, and Culture, Engineer in Chief, PWD and Director General of Foreign Cooperation, Special Secretary of the Human Resources Department, Director General of Police and Deputy Commissioners, Gurugram and Nuh districts and other senior officers.



The Chief Secretary emphasized the magnitude of this event as a matter of immense national pride and underscored the importance of meticulous planning and attention to detail. Under the leadership of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the G20 has been organizing meetings on various subjects across the country. Gurugram has already successfully hosted three prior meetings of the G20's Anti-Corruption Working Group, Startup 20, and discussions on crime and security related to NFT, AI, and Metaverse, showcasing its capability to host significant gatherings.



Kaushal stressed the need to enhance beautification efforts, aiming to leave a lasting and positive impression on foreign delegates. This approach effectively highlights the unique characteristics of Gurugram and Nuh districts, and Haryana.



Dr Amit Agrawal, Director General of the Information, Public Relations, Language, and Culture Department, informed that cultural programs are scheduled for the second day of the meeting, specifically on September 4. These programs are thoughtfully curated to introduce foreign delegates to the rich tapestry of Haryanvi art and culture.



Deputy Commissioner, Gurugram Nishant Kumar Yadav, presented a progress report outlining ongoing efforts to prepare the venue for the fourth Sherpa meeting. The presentation highlighted substantial repair and enhancement activities along the main roads from the Delhi border to the event site, with projected completion within the next week. To extend warm hospitality to foreign guests, Liaison Officers comprising HCS and Trainee IAS officers will be appointed to facilitate their seamless participation.
Panipat gears up for Teej Festival celebrations; CM Khattar to honour 101 extraordinary women



Chandigarh: Panipat is geared up for a magnificent celebration of the Teej festival, set to be commemorated on a grand scale by the state government. The Haryana government is orchestrating the festival at Shri Guru Tegh Bahadur/Huda Maidan in Panipat on Saturday, dedicated it to the women of the state. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar will be chief guest at the event, where he will also honor 101 exceptional women who have made an extraordinary mark across various domains. A grand pavilion and 101 swings have been installed at the venue. The festivities will also feature an extensive exhibition presented by numerous self-help groups from the state. The Chief Minister extended his warmest greetings to the people of the state on the occasion of Hariyali Teej.



Hry Home Minister asks DGP to submit report of cases pending for more than 1 yr



Chandigarh: Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij on Friday directed the Haryana DGP to submit a report within 15 days on the cases that have been pending for more than one year. In a letter addressed to the DGP, Vij stated that there are about 3,229 cases pending in various districts of the state, which is a serious matter. He asked the DGP to explain the reasons for the delay in the investigation of these cases and to submit a detailed report with the reasons given by the concerned officers. Vij also said that a review meeting of the Police Department was held on May 8, 2023, during which reports of pending cases in various districts were presented. He asked the DGP to take necessary action to ensure that all pending cases are investigated and disposed of expeditiously.



Haryana to launch special campaign to combat child malnutrition: CS



Chandigarh: Haryana Chief Secretary Sanjeev Kaushal on Friday said that the state government will launch a special campaign aimed at improving the health of malnourished children through the Women and Child Development Department. He said that this initiative will focus on addressing factors such as underweight and stunted growth that impact the lives of children from birth to 6 years of age.



Patiala MP visits protesting farmers of Shutrana, along with NHAIs Special Team



Patiala: Former Union Minister and Patiala MP Preneet Kaur on Friday visited the protesting farmers of Shutrana for the second time in four days. This time, Preneet also took along with her a special central team of NHAI to meet the farmers and resolve their demands, who have been sitting on a protest at Rasoli road, Shutrana, for the past one month. Farmers have been staging a protest from last one month against construction of Jammu-Katra National Highway which is passing through the villages of Phagopatti, Dera Gobindpura, Rasouli, Matouli etc which played a havoc as it blocked the flood water of river Ghaggar in the area and devastated the fieldsthey are demanding that this Highway road, from Burji No. 141 to 145, should be constructed on pillars so that in future the water may crossover through them, she said.
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
Delhi Water Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj on Friday alleged that L-G VK Saxena was responsible for the recent floods in the national Capital as the latter had directed an innovative method called partial gravitational desilting of drains which caused huge quantities of silt to be deposited in the Yamuna riverbed.

Responding to a letter from Raj Niwas, the Delhi Government claimed these projects worth several crores were unscientific and illegal, and were not approved by the Minster. Various desilting and drain/riverbed cleaning projects were being executed under the direction of the LG without sharing any details with the Minister and the elected Government of Delhi, Bhardwaj said in a statement.

Bhardwaj said that the Haryana Government had already accepted that their engineers did not maintain the ITO Barrage and had suspended the Chief Engineer.

The HOD of the IFC department was hiding the fact from the Government that the ITO Barrage gates were jammed. It would be interesting to see if the LG would initiate any action against the officer. Also, the Haryana Government sent huge quantities of water towards Delhi through the Hathnikund Barrage while keeping the Eastern Yamuna canal dry, just to save UP from flooding, Bhardwaj listed the reasons for the cause of floods and sought an explanation from the Raj Niwas.

Some facts are conveniently concealed regarding various obstructions in river Yamuna that have been created by Central agencies in the name of various road/railway construction projects like the RRTS. Ideally, they should have been removed before the monsoon season. Your good self forgot to mention how huge quality of water was diverted to Yamuna River in Delhi while the Eastern Yamuna canal was kept dry to save UP from flooding. Large quantity of water was diverted towards Delhi despite the fact that the River Yamuna in Delhi was flowing above danger mark, he said, targeting the LG.
Continuing its tirade against rampant corruption in State, the BJP state president and former Chief Minister Babulal Marandi today addressed a rally at Sahibganj. Marandi termed the JMM/Congress alliance government as a corrupt government and said that Congress, JMM and RJD parties together made Jharkhand hollow. These parties have looting with open hands. Money being sent by the Prime Minister is also being misappropriated. He said that Hemant Soren is MLA from Barhait but the condition of this district is worse.

He said that Prime Minister Modi sent food grains during Covid pandemic but it was also not properly distributed. Action is not being taken against those who steal food grains being sent for the poor because the commission goes to the Chief Minister. Stone, sand, coal, iron are all being sold by brokers and middlemen. But the lease was not given to the tribals. He resolved to overthrow the corrupt Hemant government in the coming times.

He said that we have to take a pledge to do development work in Jharkhand, remove poverty, illiteracy, displacement and overthrow the corrupt Hemant government. He said that whenever the government was formed under the leadership of BJP, the development work in the state has progressed rapidly. He said that by making a successful Prime Minister who cares for the poor as the Prime Minister for the third time in 2024, your unfulfilled dreams will be fulfilled. We have to strengthen the hands of the Prime Minister by winning the Rajmahal seat.

Addressing the gathering, Marandi said that the Prime Minister worries about the poor and the Chief Minister worries about saving the family, brokers, corrupt officials. He said that action is not being taken against those who commit murder and rape in the state. Hemant Soren has engaged the policemen who have been following the law in brokerage and extortion. He said that the Prime Minister has said that corruption has to be ended, but in Jharkhand only corrupt people are sitting in power.

Marandi said that the demography of Sahebganj Pakur is changing. Bangladeshis are being settled in these areas. He said that if the BJP government is formed, Bangladeshis will be thrown out selectively. At the same time, he said that those who have done the work of resettlement will be sent to jail. Thousands of people including MLA Anant Ojha, District President Ram Daras Yadav participated in the meeting.
The BJP on Friday lashed out at the ruling AAP dispensation claiming its members were not allowed to speak in the Delhi Assembly on the Dwarka Expressway issue and termed it as murder of democracy.

Leader of Opposition Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said the BJP legislators were not granted permission to speak despite being present during a discussion on the Dwarka Expressway in the CAG report.

Addressing a Press conference Bidhuri and other BJP MLAs said Deputy Speaker Rakhi Birla acknowledged that along with Bidhuri, Mohan Singh Bisht would participate in the discussion on this matter.

All BJP legislators were present in the House during the discussion, but they were not allowed to speak. Bidhuri stated that expressing opposition through a walkout and participating in the discussion are rights of a member. Bidhuri said regarding the CAG report being discussed in the House, all BJP members wanted to dispel any misconceptions. In fact, the CAG report mentions a cost of Rs 250 crore per 1 km of road, which is not just a 1 km road but a 5,000 km long project that is being funded with Rs 91,000 crores. The road mentioned in the report is also an approximately 17 km-long elevated road.

It is the first time in India that an 8-lane elevated road is being constructed on a single pillar. The project for this road was awarded at Rs 5,269 crore which is estimated to be 12 per cent lower than the projected cost.

The project includes the construction of four-level interchanges for the first time.
A mother-son duo was killed while five other family members were injured in a cylinder blast at their house in Lakhimpur Kheri on Friday morning.

According to reports, Mohammad Nabi aka Nanhe (40) of Dabora village of Shahjahanpur, lived on rent in Babbus house in Jang Bahadurganj along with his wife Halima (30) and son Zeeshan (14). There was a sudden explosion at around 6 am on Friday, following which the house collapsed.

The blast was so strong that a neighbouring house also suffered damage. Several members of both the families found themselves buried under the debris. Neighbours and locals started the rescue operation and also informed police.

The police reached the spot and with the help of the people, pulled out the people from under the debris. They were sent to a hospital, where doctors declared Halima and Zeeshan brought dead.

Mohd Nabi, landlord Babbu, his wife Peer Bano, daughter Alina and Mohd Shamshad were among those injured.

In another incident in Mirzapur, a brother-sister duo and their nephew died in a dumper-car collision near Samogra of Dehat Kotwali on National Highway (NH) 135.

Four other family members were injured in the mishap. They were admitted to the District Hospital from where two of them were referred to Varanasi as their condition was stated to be critical.

Reports said Amarnaths wife Kalavati, a resident of Sherpur Mohammadabad village in Chakia area of Chandauli, expressed her desire to visit Maihar to worship the goddess. Amarnath, along with his son Vikas, daughter-in-law Jyoti Vishwakarma, elder daughter-in-law Kusum Vishwakarma of Chandauli and brother Muneeb Vishwakarma, sister-in-law Laxmina Vishwakarma and nephew Roshan Vishwakarma (all of Morri in Kaimur, district Bhabua, in Bihar) took a car to visit Maihar Mata.

On Thursday night, they left for Madhya Pradesh, with Vikas Vishwakarma driving the vehicle. As the car reached near Samogra village of NH 135, a speeding tanker collided with the car in which Kalavati and her brother Muneeb were killed while other family members were critically injured and were shifted to the hospital.

Meanwhile two minor sisters died under mysterious circumstances on Thursday allegedly after consuming toffees in a village in Kaushambi district, police said. The incident took place in the village under Kada Dhaam police station area, they said.

Circle Officer Awadhesh Vishwakarma said, Sadhna (7) and her sister Shalini (4) became unwell after consuming some toffees in the morning. They were rushed to a hospital by the family members, but they succumbed during treatment.

Two other girls, Versha (7) and Arushi (4), who lived in the neighbourhood, also consumed the toffees and were admitted to a hospital, police said.

According to the complaint lodged by the father of Sadhna and Shalini, the toffees were given by a neighbour. We have registered an FIR and investigations are on, the CO said.
The Samajwadi Party, desperate to craft a credible narrative ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, is organising cadre training camps and has stepped up attacks on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The SP has so far organised training camps at Banda and Fatehpur districts and also intends to intensify the campaign for caste-based census.

SP president Akhilesh Yadav is taking on the Hindutva agenda of the BJP and also questioning the role of the RSS in the freedom struggle.

RSS, the mother organisation of the BJP, had opposed the call for Quit India Movement in 1942. To hide their dark deeds of the past, the BJP had called for hoisting the flag at each household, Akhilesh Yadav said in Fatehpur on Friday.

The RSS had not cooperated with Mahatma Gandhi and socialists spearheading the freedom movement, he added.

Akhilesh also reminded the BJP that along with the history of temples, there is also the history of our syncretic culture of Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb and if we do not wake up, the BJP will push everyone into an uncertain darkness.

Speaking at a cadre training camp in Banda on Thursday, Akhilesh said: When we talk of the history of Bundelkhand, we remember the contribution of Rani Lakshmibai first. She stood here against the British for her rights, as did Jhalkaribai. When we remember Chitrokoot, the first name that comes to our mind is Bhagwan Ram. We cant forget Goswami Tulsidas.

The SP president said, All the Samajwadis here think of Hanuman Chalisa too. Some people have it memorised. The history is also of the cannon burst that left Sher Shah Suri wounded. I understand that history keeps moving ahead. Where there is the history of temples here, there is also the history of our Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb.

Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his Independence Day speech, Akhilesh said: You should tell him that he should hear his earlier speeches from the Red Fort. He had said he would double the income of farmers. Has that happened?

Claiming that all the 80 Lok Sabha seats of Uttar Pradesh would be won by the opposition alliance INDIA in 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Akhilesh said: INDIA and PDA (Pichda, Dalit and Alpsankhyak) together will be winning 80 out of the 80 seats. We are going to win as the BJP failed to fulfill its promises. Missiles were not made, tanks were not made, water never reached here (in Bundelkhand), stray animals have not gone, migration hasnt stopped, there is massive unemployment, there is no drought relief, no help in flood, and no work has been completed.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections , the SP won only five seats. It failed to make headway in the 2019 polls, winning five seats in the state despite having an alliance with the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party.

In the 2022 assembly polls, the SP failed to unseat the BJP from power in Uttar Pradesh and could win only 111 of the 403 seats despite forging a rainbow coalition. The SP leaders are, however, optimistic that the tide will turn in the next years Lok Sabha elections, with the training programme playing a key part.

The party says the idea behind a training workshop is to train workers in how to communicate with people before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The BJP can turn lies into truth. We are teaching them to be ready to take on any challenge in the coming year or so, a party leader said.

Along with Akhilesh Yadav, state unit president Naresh Uttam Patel, party general secretary Shivpal Yadav, and other prominent leaders such as Lalji Verma, Ram Achal Rajbhar, and Arvind Singh Gop are scheduled to speak at these programmes.
An American woman was arrested by police when she was allegedly trying to cross over to Nepal illegally through the Indo-Nepal border on Thursday night.

According to police, the woman, who was illegally staying in India for some time, was trying to cross over to Nepal when she was apprehended. Acting on a tip-off, a joint operation was launched by the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) Police and Immigration team in which Colleen Patrice Lynch (26) was arrested.

Nautanwa Circle Officer, Abha Singh said, Lynch had been residing in India without proper authorisation for an extended period after her visa was invalidated.

On Thursday, she was trying to flee to Nepal from India, using a counterfeit Aadhaar card. During the security check, the woman was stopped at Sunauli border. Presently, she is in police custody. As the issue is sensitive, we are trying to check her background and the other details, Singh said.

He added that upon searching Lynch, officials found a counterfeit Indian Aadhaar card and her expired American passport. Subsequently, a case was registered against her under sections 467 and 14 of the Foreigners Act.

During interrogation, Lynch said that she came to India from Switzerland and was en route to Nepal. Nautanwa confirmed that legal proceedings were underway to ensure the background of the arrested American woman.

The incident came shortly after an Uzbekistani woman was arrested on August 15 at the same Sonauli border point, attempting to cross over to Nepal using a forged Indian Aadhaar card.
A 22-year-old youth committed suicide by consuming poisonous substance after sending selfie with poison in Ayodhya Nagar; police have started investigation.

Sandeep Meena took a selfie with poison to his brother-in-law. In which the caption was written that I am drinking this... will never meet again. In the matter, the police have started an investigation. After the PM, the body was handed over to the relatives on Friday.

Sandeep Meena of Ahmedpur, Sehore came to Bhopal three months ago in search of work. Used to do private driving here.

His relative Kesar Meena told that Sandeep sent three selfies to his brother-in-law Ashok Meena on Thursday night. In which he wrote the caption that I am drinking this... will never meet again. Brother-in-law lives in the village itself.

At this time I was in Bhopal, he immediately called me and told me to check Sandeep.

Family member reached Sandeep's Bhavani Dham room located in Ayodhya bypass. The gate was opened with the help of neighbors and found inside that Sandeep was lying unconscious on the ground. He was taken to the hospital, where he died during treatment.

The younger brother of the deceased, Anil Meena, works as a farmer in the village itself. Sandeep had come to Bhopal three months ago with the dream of becoming a big man. Earlier, he used to do farming in the village itself. He got a job in Bhopal and why he took this step could not be revealed. He never even mentioned any tension with his family members.<

Ritesh Sharma, station in-charge of Ayodhya Nagar, said that the reasons for the suicide could not be disclosed at the moment. No suicide note has also been found. The relatives have also not given any concrete reason for the suicide. All possible angles are being investigated.
A 24-year-old youth was stabbed to death while his brother escaped with injuries at Kajli Kheda Kolar area after having a fight over setting up a vegetable stall with a local shopkeeper.

In the incident one youth died while the condition of the other is critical. He has been admitted to a private hospital. Kolar police have registered a case of murder and started investigation. At present, both the accused are absconding.

Police found there was a dispute between the two sides for the last 3 years regarding the stall in front of the shop and when there was a dispute between them on Thursday, the accused attacked a young man with a knife in his stomach and chest while his brother was attacked in the neck.

Viram Tomar of Ahmedpur Road, Charnal Berasia. For 15 years, Kajali Kheda lived with his family in his own house near PNB Bank, Kolar, Bhopal. There is a shop in his house which is given on rent. For the last few days, two youths used to stand in front of the shop with a vegetable cart in the evening. For some days they were ignored. But when he was asked not to set up a stall in front of the shop, the accused started abusing and threatening him.

Due to the cart standing in front of the shop, the customers used to have difficulty in parking their vehicles. This started affecting the customer base of the mobile shop. The shopkeeper continuously refused to park the cart in front of the shop. On Thursday night too, there was a dispute between the shopkeeper and the two youths who were setting up carts regarding the same thing.

Kolar police station in-charge Ashutosh Upadhyay said that a case of murder has been registered in the matter. At present, one accused has been identified.
Its time to bid farewell to the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), relics of the British colonial era, writes Rakesh Kumar Singh

The Modi governments decision to repeal the British era laws--Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860, Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), (1898), 1973 and Indian Evidence Act, 1872, is a step aimed at removing colonial imprint from the criminal justice system.

The Indian Penal Code, 1860 will be replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill, 2023, the Criminal Procedure Code, 1898 will be replaced by the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita Bill, 2023 and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 will be replaced by the Bharatiya Sakshya Bill, 2023.

Complex procedures of IPC, CrPC, and Indian Evidence Act have led to, a large number of pending cases in courts, inordinate delay in delivery of justice, deprivation of poor and socio-economically backward communities in getting justice with low conviction rates, overcrowding in jails and a large number of undertrial prisoners.

The I{PC and CrPC, relics of the British colonial era, have shaped India's legal landscape for decades. While these legal frameworks were significant achievements during their time of enactment, the evolving socio-political context of modern India has led to calls for their repeal and replacement. Advocates for this change argue that a contemporary, just, and relevant legal framework is necessary to address the complex challenges of today's society.

The IPC and CrPC were crafted to serve the interests of the colonizers rather than the needs of an independent India. Modern and assertive India needs a legal framework that should reflect its cultural, social, and political identity. A legal system rooted in the colonial past could not effectively address the contemporary challenges facing the nation.

Decades of amendments have led to a convoluted legal structure that often confounds legal practitioners, the judiciary, and the public alike. The complexity and ambiguity in interpreting the laws can undermine access to justice and hinder the efficient resolution of disputes. A revised legal framework could alleviate these concerns, promoting clarity and transparency.

Critics have pointed out the gender-biased nature of the IPC, which inadequately addresses crimes against women and marginalized genders. A comprehensive revision can ensure that the legal system offers equal protection to all citizens, irrespective of gender, promoting gender justice and equality.

The digital age has introduced new dimensions to crime, such as cybercrimes and data breaches. The IPC and CrPC were drafted at a time when these challenges were inconceivable. A revised legal framework would enable the incorporation of provisions that address modern forms of criminality, ensuring that the law keeps pace with technological advancements.

Contemporary legal systems emphasize restorative justice and rehabilitation over punitive measures. Repealing the IPC and CrPC offers an opportunity to integrate these principles into the legal framework. By focusing on the holistic well-being of victims and offenders, the revised system could foster social cohesion and reduce recidivism.

Certain provisions within the IPC and CrPC might not align with contemporary cultural and social norms. The revised legal framework seeks to acknowledge the diversity and pluralism of Indian society, ensuring that the law is sensitive to the cultural sensitivities of all communities.

The Bhartiya Nagrik Surkasha Sanhita will have 533 sections (in place of 478 sections of CrPC). As many as 160 sections have been amended, nine new sections have been added and nine sections have been repealed/deleted.

The Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita will have 356 sections (in place of 511 sections of IPC).

A total of 175 sections have been amended and eight new sections have been added and 22 sections have been repealed/deleted.

Bhartiya Sakshya Adhiniyam will have 170 sections (in place of the original 167 sections), A total of 23 sections have been amended, one new section has been added and five sections have been repealed/deleted.

Colonial words removed from the proposed laws are 'Parliament of the United Kingdom', 'Provincial Act', 'London Gazette', 'Jury', 'Barrister' 'Lahore', 'Commonwealth,'' United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,' 'Her Majesty's Government,' 'Possession of the British Crown' and 'Court of Justice in England'. The words 'Her Majesty's Dominions' have been omitted from the Act.

Aiming to increase the use of technology and expand the definition of documents in the Bhartiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, terms like electronic and digital record, email, server logs, documents available on the computer, smartphone or laptop messages, website, locational evidence, mail messages available on digital devices have been included.

From FIR to case diary, case diary to charge sheet, and judgment will be digitized.

The use of technology will find emphasis in the issuance and servicing of summons and warrants and their execution besides examination of the complainant and witnesses. Recording of evidence in investigation and trial and litigation and all appellate proceedings in the High Court will also see usage of technology

A register shall be maintained by all police stations and courts containing email addresses, phone numbers, or any other such details.

Summons will be duly sent by electronic means. Search and seizure operations will also see the usage of technology. The entire process of police searching or seizing any property will be videographed through electronic devices. Such recording shall be sent by the police to the concerned magistrate without any delay.

On the forensic side aimed at achieving a conviction rate above 90 percent plus, reforms in investigation, prosecution, and forensics by the police are envisaged. The proposed law provides for the mandatory use of forensics in all States/UTs.

The use of forensic experts will be mandatory in all cases of offences punishable with imprisonment of seven years or more.

Necessary infrastructure in the States/UTs will be created within five years.

Citizen-friendly measures included in the Bills are 'Zero FIR' - outside the limits of that police station but within the State, provisions for e-FIR, and stipulation that the State Government will designate a police officer in every district and every police station, who shall give notice of the arrest of any person.

It also provides that police officers will inform the victim of the progress of the investigation within 90 days, including through digital means.

In case of sexual violence, the statement of the victim will be recorded by a woman judicial magistrate. It would be desirable to record the statement of the victim of sexual assault in the presence of a lady police officer at her residence.

While recording such statements, the parent or guardian of the victim may be present.

Where the government wants to withdraw the prosecution in cases of imprisonment of seven years or more, the aggrieved party will be given an opportunity of being heard.

The Bills have provided for repealing the sedition/treason. Hatred, contempt, and disaffection against the government was an offence under British rule.

For the first time, community service has been introduced as a new form of punishment.

Simplification of procedures has been provided in the Bills and now petty cases will be expedited by summary trial.

A summary trial has been made mandatory for less serious cases, such as theft, receiving or possessing stolen property, house trespass, breach of the peace, and criminal intimidation among others.

In cases where the punishment is up to 3 years (earlier 2 years), the Magistrate may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, conduct a summary trial in such cases.

After the filing of the charge sheet, if further investigation is required, it will be completed in 90 days, Any extension of time beyond 90 days will be granted only with the permission of the court.

In the case of a warrant, a provision has been made that a time limit of 60 days has been prescribed from the date of the first hearing on the charge for framing of charge by the court.

The accused person can appeal for release within 60 days from the date of notice of framing of charge.

After the conclusion of arguments, the judge shall give a decision as soon as possible within 30 days, which may be extended up to 60 days for specific reasons.

A maximum of two adjournments can be granted by the court after hearing the objections of the other party and for specific reasons to be recorded in writing.

The competent Authority will decide on sanction for prosecution in 120 days against civil servants, failing which it will be presumed that the permission has been granted.

Evidence Civil Servants, Experts, Police Officers, and the person holding charge thereof may give testimony on such document or report.

The words 'surety' and 'bond' have been clearly defined.

For unburdening the agony of under-trial prisoners, a person who is a first-time offender, and has served 'one-third of the imprisonment', will be released on bail by the court.

Where the undertrial prisoner has completed 'half or one-third of the term', the Jail Superintendent shall forthwith make an application in writing to the court.

Remission will not be considered for an undertrial prisoner sentenced to life imprisonment or death sentence.

The Bills also provide for a new witness protection scheme.

The State Government will prepare a witness protection scheme for the State and will also be notified.

In cases of punishment of 10 years or more or imprisonment for life or the death penalty, the convict can be declared a proclaimed offender.

In cases of proclaimed offenders, a new provision has been made for the attachment and confiscation of property outside India.

Terrorism has been defined for the first time in the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita.

A new section relating to organized crime has been added.

Unlawful activity done by syndicates has been made punishable.

New provisions have been added for armed rebellion, subversive activities, separatist activities, or acts threatening the sovereignty or unity and integrity of India.

A new offence has been included for making sexual relationships based on the false promise of marriage, employment, and promotion or fake disclosure of identity.

Now there will be a provision of 20 years of imprisonment or life imprisonment in all cases of gang rape.

But in the case of girls below 18 years of age, provision has been made for life imprisonment or the death penalty.

New provision for mob lynching: A new provision has been included for the crime related to murder based on race, caste, and community among others for which provision of a minimum of seven years, imprisonment or life imprisonment or death penalty has been made.

A new provision for snatching has also been provided.

Severe injury leading to almost incapacitation or permanent disability will attract more stringent punishment.

Provision for a minimum of seven to 10 years of imprisonment has been made for the person who gets the crimes committed through children.

The fine was very low ranging between Rs 10 to Rs 500. These fines and punishments for various offences have now been rationalized in the new Code.

A provision has been inserted wherein whosoever is responsible for the death of a person by any rash or negligent act, and escapes from the scene of the offence and does not present himself before the police/magistrate and fails to disclose the incident,shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to 10 years, which shall be in addition to the fine imposed on the accused.

Remissions of punishment have been rationalized like commutation of the death sentence to life imprisonment, commutation of life sentence to imprisonment for a term of seven years, and commutation of the sentence of seven years imprisonment to three years imprisonment.

A new provision has been incorporated for trial in the absence of the proclaimed offender.

A new section has been added regarding attachment and confiscation of property related to the proceeds of crime.

A large number of case properties are lying in the police stations of the country. Provision has been made for speedy disposal of such properties after preparation of details of assets and photography /videography by the Court or Magistrate, during investigation.

Undoubtedly, repealing the British-era IPC and CrPC is a bold step toward crafting a modern, just, and relevant legal framework that caters to the needs of contemporary India. While such a process is complex and challenging, it offers the potential to address human rights concerns, promote gender justice, embrace technological advancements, and reflect the values of a diverse and evolving society. By acknowledging the limitations of the colonial legacy and striving to create a legal system that aligns with India's aspirations, the nation can pave the way for a brighter, more equitable future.
(): China has urged South Asian countries to get on board its express train and receive a share of the dividends of its economic growth. Chinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi said this on Wednesday while addressing the opening ceremony of the 7th China-South Asia Expo in Kunming, the capital of southwest Chinas Yunnan Province.

Wang, Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs noted that this year marks the 10th anniversary of the expo and also the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the neighbourhood diplomacy featuring amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness - both proposed by President Xi Jinping.In the past decade, China and South Asian countries have consolidated solidarity and cooperation, advanced Belt and Road cooperation, deepened friendly exchanges and created a new chapter of China-South Asia friendship for the new era, Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the ruling Communist Party of China Central Committee, was quoted as saying by Chinas foreign ministry spokesperson on Thursday.China welcomes South Asian countries to get on board the express train of Chinas development and share in the dividends of Chinas development, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin quoted Wang Yi as saying. The gross domestic product (GDP) of China, the worlds second-largest economy, reached 59.3 trillion yuan (about USD 8.3 trillion) in the first half of 2023, up 5.5 per cent year on year, data from the NBS said in June.

We stand ready to work with South Asian countries to seize historic opportunities, enhance solidarity and coordination, grow new dynamism for development, build a community of development and contribute to the long-term peace, stability and prosperity in the region, Wang Yi said.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, Lao Vice President Pany Yathotou, Nepalese Vice President Ram Sahay Prasad Yadav, and Vietnams Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang attended the opening ceremony of the five-day expo which will conclude on Sunday. It was not known if Indian businesses were participating in the expo.

The event is a shining name card of exchanges and cooperation between China and South Asian countries and the wider world, Wang Wenbin said.

Wang Yi stressed that China stands ready to work with South Asian countries to strengthen solidarity and coordination, foster new development drivers, build a community of development, and contribute to enduring peace, stability and prosperity in the region.

Wang Yi also made suggestions on cooperation in four areas: deepening strategic mutual trust, deepening connectivity, deepening economic and trade cooperation, and deepening people-to-people exchanges, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

This years Expo, themed Solidarity and Coordination for Common Development, attracted representatives from 85 countries, regions and international organisations as well as more than 30,000 exhibitors online and offline, covering all South Asian and Southeast Asian countries and members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

Since the first China-South Asia Expo was held in 2013, the annual event has played a decisive role in connecting multisector businesses across borders, and dialled-up overall trade momentum between China and South Asia, state-run China Global Television Network reported.

Last year, the aggregate trade volume between China and South Asia bordered nearly USD 200 billion, clocking an annual growth rate average of over 8 per cent, it said. This is a marked uptick from 2013, when total trade stood under USD 100 billion, only to witness impressive growth with the onset of the first-ever China-South Asia Expo a decade ago, the report added.
Nigeriens are preparing for a possible invasion by countries in the region, three weeks after mutinous soldiers ousted the nations democratically elected president.

Residents in the capital, Niamey, are calling for the mass recruitment of volunteers to assist the army in the face of a growing threat by the West African regional bloc, ECOWAS, which says it will use military force if the junta doesnt reinstate deposed President Mohamed Bazoum.

ECOWAS has activated a standby force to restore order in Niger after the junta ignored a deadline to release and reinstate Bazoum. The initiative, spearhead by a group of locals in Niamey, aims to recruit tens of thousands of volunteers from across the country to register for the Volunteers for the Defence of Niger. The group would fight, assist with medical care, and provide technical and engineering logistics among other functions, in case the junta needs help, Amsarou Bako, one of the founders, told The Associated Press on Tuesday.Its an eventuality. We need to be ready whenever it happens, he said.The recruitment drive will launch Saturday in Niamey as well as in cities where invasion forces might enter, such as near the borders with Nigeria and Benin, two countries that have said they would participate in an intervention.

Anyone over 18 years old can register and the list will be given to the junta to call upon people if needed, said Bako. The junta is not involved but is aware of the initiative, he said.

Regional tensions are deepening as the standoff between Niger and ECOWAS shows no signs of defusing, despite signals from both sides that they are open to resolving the crisis peacefully. Last week the junta said it was open to dialogue with ECOWAS after rebuffing the blocs multiple efforts at talks, but shortly afterwards charged Bazoum with high treason and recalled its ambassador from neighbouring Ivory Coast.ECOWAS defense chiefs are expected to meet this week for the first time since the bloc announced the deployment of the standby force.Its unclear when or if the force will invade, but it would probably include several thousand troops and would have devastating consequences, conflict experts say.

A military intervention with no end in sight risks triggering a regional war, with catastrophic consequences for the vast Sahel that is already plagued by insecurity, displacement and poverty, said Mucahid Durmaz, senior analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, a global risk intelligence company.Niger was seen as one of the last democratic countries in the Sahel region south of the Sahara Desert, and a partner for Western nations in the effort to beat back growing jihadi violence linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.France, the former colonial ruler of Niger, and the United States have approximately 2,500 military personnel in the region that train Nigers military and, in the case of France, conduct joint operations. Since the coup, France and the US have suspended military operations and jihadi attacks are increasing. At least 17 soldiers were killed and nearly two dozen wounded in an ambush by extremists in the Tillaberi region, said the Ministry of Defense on state television on Tuesday.

The attack occurred Tuesday afternoon when a military detachment was travelling between Boni and Torodi villages.

The wounded were evacuated to Niamey. It was the first major attack against Nigers army in six months and is a worrying sign of potential escalation, said Wassim Nasr, a journalist and senior research fellow at the Soufan Centre.

What we are witnessing today is both jihadi warring factions, the Islamic State group and (al-Qaeda affiliate Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin), marking their territory because of the security void caused by the coup. This definitely should be seen in the context of the ongoing war between the two groups, he said.

Analysts say the longer the coup drags on, the less likely an intervention will occur as the junta cements its grip on power, likely forcing the international community to accept the status quo. United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday there was still room for diplomacy to return the country to constitutional rule and said the US supported ECOWAS dialogue efforts, including its contingency plans.

The new US ambassador to Niger, Kathleen FitzGibbon, is expected to arrive in Niamey at the end of the week, according to a US official.

The United States hasnt had an ambassador in the country for nearly two years. Some Sahel experts say this has left Washington with less access to key players and information.

The US is in a difficult situation with no good choices, said Michael Shurkin, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and director of global programs at 14 North Strategies, an Africa-focused risk advisory.It either sticks to a principled position and pushes for democracy while alienating the junta and risk pushing it into Russias arms, or we give up on principle and work with the junta in the hope of salvaging a productive working relationship.

While regional and western countries scramble for how to respond, many Nigeriens are convinced theyll soon be invaded. The details of Nigers volunteer force are still vague, but similar initiatives in neighbouring countries have yielded mixed results.

Volunteer fighters in Burkina Faso, recruited to help the army battle its jihadi insurgency, have been accused by rights groups and locals of committing atrocities against civilians.

Bako, one of the heads of the group organising Nigerien volunteers, said Nigers situation is different.

The (volunteers in Burkina Faso) are fighting the Burkinabe who took weapons against their own brothers ... The difference with us is our people will fight against an intrusion, he said.
An 18-member Cabinet of Pakistans newly appointed caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar took oath on Thursday to run the cash-strapped country until the general elections and ensure a seamless transition of power.

President Arif Alvi administered an oath to the caretaker Cabinet, Radio Pakistan, the national public broadcaster for radio, reported.

Former foreign secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani has been appointed as Foreign Minister, Sarfaraz Bugti as Interior Minister, Shamshad Akhtar as Finance Minister, Lt Gen (retired) Anwar Ali Haider as Defence Minister and senior journalist Murtaza Solangi as Information Minister.

Khalil George took the oath as Minister for Minorities, industrialist Gohar Ijaz as Minister for Industries, academic Dr Umar Saif as Minister for Information Technology, Ahmad Irfan Aslam as Law Minister, renowned actor Jamal Shah as Minister for Culture Aniq Ahmad as Religious Affairs Minister.

Akhtar is the only woman in the Cabinet. The oath-taking ceremony began with the recitation of the Holy Quran at the Presidents House in Islamabad. The swearing-in of Cabinet ministers completed the process of government formation in the country, which is facing its worst economic crisis. Under the Constitution, a caretaker government should be appointed to provide a neutral administration for holding the elections in a fair and transparent manner. Pakistans National Assembly was dissolved on August 9, ending the tenure of the government led by Shehbaz Sharif and paving the way for installing a caretaker setup.

The general elections in Pakistan are expected to be held within 90 days but the election commission may take more time if it organises delimitation on the basis of a new census.
Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD  Get Free Report) VP William R. Boyd sold 10,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.83, for a total transaction of $678,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,684,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,267,096.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Boyd Gaming Stock Performance

Shares of BYD traded down $1.25 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $64.75. The company had a trading volume of 889,747 shares, compared to its average volume of 860,318. The firm has a market cap of $6.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.37, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.76. The business has a fifty day moving average of $68.84 and a 200-day moving average of $66.41. Boyd Gaming Co. has a 12 month low of $46.10 and a 12 month high of $73.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

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Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $916.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $910.59 million. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 19.61% and a return on equity of 41.56%. The companys revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.48 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Announces Dividend

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Boyd Gaming

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be given a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 14th. Boyd Gamings payout ratio is presently 9.26%.

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BYD. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 15.0% in the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,575 shares of the companys stock valued at $109,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 25.1% in the second quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 78,433 shares of the companys stock valued at $5,441,000 after acquiring an additional 15,745 shares in the last quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department grew its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 4.5% in the second quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department now owns 54,970 shares of the companys stock valued at $3,813,000 after acquiring an additional 2,378 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming in the second quarter valued at about $612,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming in the second quarter valued at about $951,000. 68.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BYD. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $76.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. Argus upped their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $80.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, April 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $77.00.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on BYD

About Boyd Gaming

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Boyd Gaming Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a multi-jurisdictional gaming company in Nevada, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. It operates through three segments: Las Vegas Locals, Downtown Las Vegas, and Midwest & South.

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Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL  Get Free Report)s stock had its outperform rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Telsey Advisory Group in a research note issued on Monday, August 14th, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $210.00 price target on the stock, down from their prior price target of $250.00. Telsey Advisory Groups price objective indicates a potential upside of 34.02% from the companys previous close.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Piper Sandler lowered Estee Lauder Companies from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and lowered their price target for the company from $265.00 to $195.00 in a report on Monday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Estee Lauder Companies from $305.00 to $265.00 in a report on Thursday, May 4th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Estee Lauder Companies in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Estee Lauder Companies from $290.00 to $265.00 in a report on Thursday, May 4th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price target on Estee Lauder Companies from $246.00 to $214.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $229.67.

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Estee Lauder Companies Stock Down 3.3 %

Shares of NYSE:EL opened at $156.69 on Monday. Estee Lauder Companies has a 1 year low of $149.45 and a 1 year high of $283.62. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $184.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $214.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.00 billion, a PE ratio of 56.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.97 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE:EL  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 18th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.11. Estee Lauder Companies had a return on equity of 21.79% and a net margin of 6.32%. The business had revenue of $3.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.48 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Estee Lauder Companies will post 3.63 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc. now owns 1,356 shares of the companys stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 714 shares of the companys stock valued at $177,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 1.2% in the first quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,500 shares of the companys stock valued at $863,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. CNB Bank grew its holdings in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. CNB Bank now owns 2,018 shares of the companys stock valued at $501,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connecticut Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Estee Lauder Companies by 3.7% in the first quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,167 shares of the companys stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.81% of the companys stock.

About Estee Lauder Companies

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The Estee Lauder Companies Inc manufactures, markets, and sells skin care, makeup, fragrance, and hair care products worldwide. It offers a range of skin care products, including moisturizers, serums, cleansers, toners, body care, exfoliators, acne care and oil correctors, facial masks, cleansing devices, and sun care products; and makeup products, such as lipsticks, lip glosses, mascaras, foundations, eyeshadows, nail polishes, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools.

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KB Home (NYSE:KBH  Get Free Report) EVP Brian J. Woram sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.80, for a total value of $2,112,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 158,654 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $8,376,931.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

KB Home Stock Down 5.8 %

Shares of NYSE KBH traded down $3.01 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $48.47. 2,542,864 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,665,088. The company has a market capitalization of $3.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.67. KB Home has a 52-week low of $25.31 and a 52-week high of $55.37. The companys 50-day simple moving average is $52.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.35.

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KB Home (NYSE:KBH  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 21st. The construction company reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.61. KB Home had a return on equity of 20.85% and a net margin of 10.98%. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.43 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.32 EPS. KB Homes revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that KB Home will post 6.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KB Home Increases Dividend

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. This is a positive change from KB Homes previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 2nd. KB Homes dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.17%.

KBH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Credit Suisse Group increased their price objective on KB Home from $42.00 to $51.00 in a report on Thursday, June 22nd. Raymond James raised KB Home from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $61.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, July 14th. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on KB Home from $29.00 to $43.00 in a report on Thursday, June 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective on KB Home from $51.00 to $56.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 24th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on KB Home in a report on Thursday. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $52.27.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on KBH

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KB Home

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in KB Home during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $135,000. GTS Securities LLC bought a new position in KB Home during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,154,000. Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new position in KB Home during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $328,000. State of Tennessee Treasury Department bought a new stake in shares of KB Home in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,206,000. Finally, Jupiter Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of KB Home by 257.7% in the 2nd quarter. Jupiter Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,600 shares of the construction companys stock worth $962,000 after buying an additional 13,400 shares during the last quarter. 96.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About KB Home

(Get Free Report)

KB Home operates as a homebuilding company in the United States. It operates through four segments: West Coast, Southwest, Central, and Southeast. It builds and sells various homes, including attached and detached single-family residential homes, townhomes, and condominiums primarily for first-time, first move-up, second move-up, and active adult homebuyers.

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O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. grew its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG  Free Report) by 15.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,635 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc.s holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $400,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PG. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 161,843,254 shares of the companys stock worth $24,064,473,000 after buying an additional 2,157,319 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Procter & Gamble by 1.1% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 46,754,131 shares of the companys stock worth $6,936,343,000 after buying an additional 510,559 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Procter & Gamble by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 44,320,700 shares of the companys stock worth $6,717,246,000 after acquiring an additional 4,959,527 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Procter & Gamble by 96,526.4% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,535,557 shares of the companys stock worth $5,840,449,000 after acquiring an additional 38,495,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Procter & Gamble by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 33,776,598 shares of the companys stock valued at $5,022,242,000 after purchasing an additional 547,738 shares during the period. 64.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Procter & Gamble Stock Performance

PG traded down $1.10 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $152.11. 6,041,904 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,400,067. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 1-year low of $122.18 and a 1-year high of $158.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $358.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 0.42. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $151.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $148.23.

Procter & Gamble Dividend Announcement

Procter & Gamble ( NYSE:PG Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 28th. The company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.05. Procter & Gamble had a return on equity of 32.88% and a net margin of 17.87%. The business had revenue of $20.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.21 EPS. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.39 earnings per share for the current year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 21st were paid a dividend of $0.9407 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 20th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.47%. Procter & Gambles dividend payout ratio is currently 63.73%.

Insider Activity

In other Procter & Gamble news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,629 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.19, for a total transaction of $1,985,152.51. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,051 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,051,486.69. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Ma. Fatima Francisco sold 8,387 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.87, for a total transaction of $1,315,668.69. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,908.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,629 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.19, for a total transaction of $1,985,152.51. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,051 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,051,486.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 54,038 shares of company stock worth $8,460,839 over the last quarter. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on PG shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, July 31st. StockNews.com began coverage on Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday. They issued a buy rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Raymond James increased their price target on Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Sunday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, April 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $164.82.

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Procter & Gamble Company Profile

(Free Report)

The Procter & Gamble Company provides branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. It operates through five segments: Beauty; Grooming; Health Care; Fabric & Home Care; and Baby, Feminine & Family Care. The Beauty segment offers conditioners, shampoos, styling aids, and treatments under the Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Pantene, and Rejoice brands; and antiperspirants and deodorants, personal cleansing, and skin care products under the Olay, Old Spice, Safeguard, Secret, and SK-II brands.

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StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of PolyMet Mining (NYSEAMERICAN:PLM  Free Report) (TSE:POM) in a research note published on Monday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the basic materials companys stock.

PolyMet Mining Price Performance

NYSEAMERICAN:PLM opened at $2.09 on Monday. The stocks 50 day moving average price is $2.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $2.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $406.38 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.09 and a beta of 0.56. PolyMet Mining has a 12-month low of $0.75 and a 12-month high of $3.43.

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PolyMet Mining (NYSEAMERICAN:PLM  Get Free Report) (TSE:POM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 10th. The basic materials company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PolyMet Mining

About PolyMet Mining

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PLM. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD bought a new position in PolyMet Mining during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in PolyMet Mining during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. UBS Group AG increased its stake in PolyMet Mining by 70.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 10,704 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 4,410 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in PolyMet Mining by 38.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 44,540 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 12,456 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC bought a new position in PolyMet Mining during the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 4.99% of the companys stock.

(Get Free Report)

PolyMet Mining Corp., through its subsidiary, Poly Met Mining, Inc, engages in the exploration and development of natural resource properties. Its primary mineral property is the NorthMet project, a polymetallic project that hosts copper, nickel, cobalt, platinum, palladium, gold, and silver mineralization covering an area of approximately 5,980 acres located in northeastern Minnesota, the United States.

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Resources Investment Advisors LLC. lifted its stake in CVS Health Co. (NYSE:CVS  Free Report) by 2,616.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 694,704 shares of the pharmacy operators stock after purchasing an additional 669,126 shares during the quarter. CVS Health comprises 1.2% of Resources Investment Advisors LLC.s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Resources Investment Advisors LLC.s holdings in CVS Health were worth $51,623,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CVS. Boston Research & Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CVS Health by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Boston Research & Management Inc. now owns 61,832 shares of the pharmacy operators stock worth $4,594,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the period. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of CVS Health in the 1st quarter worth $1,532,000. South Dakota Investment Council raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 133.6% in the 1st quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 51,413 shares of the pharmacy operators stock worth $3,821,000 after acquiring an additional 29,400 shares in the last quarter. Mendel Money Management raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 16.6% in the 1st quarter. Mendel Money Management now owns 15,392 shares of the pharmacy operators stock worth $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rench Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of CVS Health by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Rench Wealth Management Inc. now owns 70,503 shares of the pharmacy operators stock worth $5,239,000 after acquiring an additional 1,568 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.96% of the companys stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on CVS Health from $102.00 to $91.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on CVS Health from $114.00 to $106.00 in a research report on Friday, July 7th. StockNews.com began coverage on CVS Health in a research report on Thursday. They issued a buy rating for the company. Truist Financial reduced their target price on CVS Health from $103.00 to $98.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on CVS Health from $107.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $100.56.

CVS Health Trading Down 8.5 %

CVS stock traded down $6.17 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $66.55. 38,280,642 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,156,596. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.48 billion, a PE ratio of 29.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.63. CVS Health Co. has a 1-year low of $64.62 and a 1-year high of $104.89.

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS  Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The pharmacy operator reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $88.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $86.41 billion. CVS Health had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 0.86%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.40 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that CVS Health Co. will post 8.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CVS Health Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 21st were given a dividend of $0.605 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 20th. This represents a $2.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. CVS Healths dividend payout ratio is currently 106.14%.

Insider Transactions at CVS Health

In related news, SVP James David Clark sold 25,759 shares of CVS Health stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.92, for a total value of $1,929,864.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,698 shares in the company, valued at $351,974.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.25% of the companys stock.

CVS Health Profile

(Free Report)

CVS Health Corporation provides health services in the United States. It operates through Health Care Benefits, Pharmacy Services, and Retail/LTC segments. The Health Care Benefits segment offers traditional, voluntary, and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services. It serves employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, health care providers, governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups, and expatriates.

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Value Exchange International, Inc. (OTCMKTS:VEII  Get Free Report)s stock price shot up 200% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $0.18 and last traded at $0.18. 100 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 99% from the average session volume of 13,009 shares. The stock had previously closed at $0.06.

Value Exchange International Trading Up 200.0 %

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $0.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $0.09.

Value Exchange International Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Value Exchange International, Inc provides customer-centric technology solutions to the retail industries in the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and the Philippines. The company offers credit and debit card processing services to multinational retailers. It also provides systems maintenance and related services, including software patches and software code revisions; installing, testing, and implementing of software; training of customer personnel for the use of software; and technical support for software systems.

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Vestor Capital LLC lessened its stake in shares of McDonalds Co. (NYSE:MCD  Free Report) by 0.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,336 shares of the fast-food giants stock after selling 334 shares during the quarter. McDonalds comprises 1.7% of Vestor Capital LLCs portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Vestor Capital LLCs holdings in McDonalds were worth $14,354,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MCD. MAI Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of McDonalds by 2.1% during the first quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 128,864 shares of the fast-food giants stock worth $36,032,000 after purchasing an additional 2,682 shares in the last quarter. Bfsg LLC grew its holdings in shares of McDonalds by 2.1% during the first quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 9,985 shares of the fast-food giants stock worth $2,792,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. BIP Wealth LLC bought a new stake in McDonalds in the 1st quarter worth approximately $362,000. Disciplined Investments LLC lifted its position in McDonalds by 42.4% in the 1st quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 188 shares of the fast-food giants stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, L & S Advisors Inc bought a new stake in McDonalds in the 1st quarter worth approximately $6,555,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.08% of the companys stock.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McDonalds news, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 2,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.07, for a total value of $570,140.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 1,929 shares in the company, valued at approximately $549,900.03. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 3,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.52, for a total value of $868,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,605 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $464,679.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 2,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.07, for a total value of $570,140.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 1,929 shares in the company, valued at $549,900.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,974 shares of company stock worth $4,082,530. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCD has been the subject of several recent research reports. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on McDonalds from $327.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 18th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on McDonalds from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, July 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on McDonalds from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on McDonalds from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on McDonalds from $319.00 to $343.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $320.55.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on MCD

McDonalds Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE MCD traded down $2.59 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $282.81. 1,226,153 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,535,737. The stock has a market capitalization of $206.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.64. The companys 50 day moving average price is $292.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $283.87. McDonalds Co. has a 12 month low of $230.58 and a 12 month high of $299.35.

McDonalds (NYSE:MCD  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The fast-food giant reported $3.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.40. McDonalds had a negative return on equity of 139.57% and a net margin of 33.06%. The company had revenue of $6.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $6.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.55 EPS. McDonaldss revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that McDonalds Co. will post 11.49 EPS for the current year.

McDonalds Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 1st will be issued a $1.52 dividend. This represents a $6.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 31st. McDonaldss dividend payout ratio is 55.93%.

About McDonalds

(Free Report)

McDonald's Corporation operates and franchises McDonald's restaurants in the United States and internationally. The company's restaurants offer hamburgers and cheeseburgers, chicken sandwiches and nuggets, fries, salads, shakes, frozen desserts, sundaes, soft serve cones, bakery items, soft drinks, coffee, and beverages and other beverages, as well as breakfast menu, including muffins, Sausages, biscuit and bagel sandwiches, oatmeal, hash browns, breakfast burritos and hotcakes.

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Vantage Consulting Group Inc grew its holdings in shares of American International Group, Inc. (NYSE:AIG  Free Report) by 17.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,792 shares of the insurance providers stock after purchasing an additional 698 shares during the period. Vantage Consulting Group Incs holdings in American International Group were worth $241,000 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 business. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of American International Group by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 16,933 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $852,000 after purchasing an additional 594 shares in the last quarter. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its stake in American International Group by 7,358.0% during the first quarter. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 3,729 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $188,000 after buying an additional 3,679 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund purchased a new stake in American International Group during the first quarter valued at about $1,331,000. Pictet Asset Management SA lifted its stake in American International Group by 1.5% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management SA now owns 377,973 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $19,035,000 after buying an additional 5,752 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keybank National Association OH lifted its stake in American International Group by 8.3% during the first quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 6,701 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 516 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.18% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AIG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of American International Group from $73.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Friday, June 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of American International Group from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of American International Group from $76.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 23rd. Credit Suisse Group reissued a neutral rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of American International Group in a research report on Friday, April 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of American International Group from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, American International Group presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $68.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at American International Group

In other American International Group news, Director William G. Jurgensen sold 475 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.03, for a total transaction of $26,139.25. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,025 shares in the company, valued at $56,405.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder International Group American sold 74,750,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Monday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.25, for a total value of $1,214,687,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 426,395,000 shares in the company, valued at $6,928,918,750. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director William G. Jurgensen sold 475 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Monday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.03, for a total transaction of $26,139.25. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,025 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,405.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 85,739,975 shares of company stock worth $1,395,423,079 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.49% of the companys stock.

American International Group Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of AIG stock opened at $58.06 on Friday. American International Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $45.66 and a 12 month high of $64.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The businesss 50 day moving average is $58.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.95. The company has a market cap of $41.33 billion, a PE ratio of 9.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.13.

American International Group (NYSE:AIG  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The insurance provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.21. American International Group had a return on equity of 9.28% and a net margin of 8.94%. The company had revenue of $13.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that American International Group, Inc. will post 6.71 EPS for the current year.

American International Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. American International Groups dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.37%.

American International Group Profile

(Free Report)

American International Group, Inc offers insurance products for commercial, institutional, and individual customers in North America and internationally. It operates through General Insurance, and Life and Retirement segments. The General Insurance segment provides commercial and industrial property insurance, including business interruption and package insurance that cover exposure to made and natural disasters; general liability, environmental, commercial automobile liability, workers' compensation, excess casualty, and crisis management insurance products; and professional liability insurance.

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Visa (NYSE:V  Get Free Report) and Funding Circle (OTCMKTS:FDCHF  Get Free Report) are both financial services companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares Visa and Funding Circles net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

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Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Visa 51.94% 49.42% 20.24% Funding Circle N/A N/A N/A

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Visa and Funding Circle, as reported by MarketBeat.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Visa 1 1 14 0 2.81 Funding Circle 0 0 0 0 N/A

Insider & Institutional Ownership

Visa presently has a consensus price target of $272.48, indicating a potential upside of 14.57%. Funding Circle has a consensus price target of $70.00, indicating a potential upside of 8,663.14%. Given Funding Circles higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Funding Circle is more favorable than Visa.

84.9% of Visa shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Visa shares 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.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Visa and Funding Circles top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Visa $31.83 billion 13.90 $14.96 billion $7.88 30.17 Funding Circle N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

Visa has higher revenue and earnings than Funding Circle.

Summary

Visa beats Funding Circle on 7 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Visa

(Get Free Report)

Visa Inc. operates as a payments technology company worldwide. The company operates VisaNet, a transaction processing network that enables authorization, clearing, and settlement of payment transactions. It also offers credit, debit, and prepaid card products; tap to pay, tokenization, click to pay; Visa Direct, a real-time payments network; Visa B2B Connect, a multilateral B2B cross-border payments network; Visa Treasury as a Service, a cross-border consumer payments business; and Visa DPS that provides a range of value added services, including fraud mitigation, dispute management, data analytics, campaign management, a suite of digital solutions, and contact center services. Further, the; company provides Cybersource, a payment management platform; and risk and identity solutions, such as Visa Advanced Authorization, Visa Secure, Visa Advanced Identity Score, and Visa Consumer Authentication Service; and Visa Consulting and Analytics, a payments consulting advisory services. It provides its services under the Visa, Visa Electron, Interlink, VPAY, and PLUS brands. The company serves consumers, merchants, financial institutions, and government entities. Visa Inc. was founded in 1958 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

About Funding Circle

(Get Free Report)

Funding Circle Holdings plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides online lending platforms in the United Kingdom, the United States, and internationally. The company offers small business loans, recovery loan schemes, and business finance solutions to small and medium enterprises. It also provides flexipay and flexipay card solutions. The company acts as a special purpose bankruptcy remote entity that issues loan payment dependent debt securities to accredited investors. The company was incorporated in 2010 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.

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Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co boosted its position in AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO  Free Report) by 100.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 176 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Cos holdings in AutoZone were worth $433,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZO. Shelton Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 860.0% during the 4th quarter. Shelton Capital Management now owns 1,200 shares of the companys stock worth $2,959,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075 shares in the last quarter. Mirova boosted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 25.8% during the 4th quarter. Mirova now owns 278 shares of the companys stock worth $686,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC boosted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 15,314 shares of the companys stock worth $22,008,000 after acquiring an additional 3,288 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 109.0% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 38,783 shares of the companys stock worth $95,646,000 after acquiring an additional 20,230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oversea Chinese Banking CORP Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of AutoZone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $390,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.36% of the companys stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

AZO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Northcoast Research began coverage on AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, June 28th. They set a neutral rating on the stock. UBS Group raised AutoZone from a neutral rating to a buy rating and upped their target price for the company from $2,800.00 to $2,900.00 in a research note on Friday, June 16th. Truist Financial upped their target price on AutoZone from $2,878.00 to $2,886.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on AutoZone from $2,899.00 to $2,840.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on AutoZone from $2,750.00 to $2,975.00 in a research note on Friday, May 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $2,716.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Charles Pleas III sold 4,200 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,546.55, for a total value of $10,695,510.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,425 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $8,721,933.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Charles Pleas III sold 4,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,546.55, for a total value of $10,695,510.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,721,933.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Domingo Hurtado sold 90 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,376.49, for a total value of $213,884.10. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $653,534.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,535 shares of company stock worth $21,414,854 over the last ninety days. 2.59% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

AutoZone Trading Down 1.3 %

AZO stock opened at $2,457.28 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $44.62 billion, a PE ratio of 19.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.67. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $2,477.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2,508.08. AutoZone, Inc. has a 12-month low of $2,050.21 and a 12-month high of $2,750.00.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO  Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 23rd. The company reported $34.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $30.84 by $3.28. AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 62.38% and a net margin of 14.45%. The business had revenue of $4.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $29.03 EPS. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that AutoZone, Inc. will post 130.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AutoZone Company Profile

(Free Report)

AutoZone, Inc retails and distributes automotive replacement parts and accessories. The company offers various products for cars, sport utility vehicles, vans, and light trucks, including new and remanufactured automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories, and non-automotive products. Its products include A/C compressors, batteries and accessories, bearings, belts and hoses, calipers, chassis, clutches, CV axles, engines, fuel pumps, fuses, ignition and lighting products, mufflers, radiators, starters and alternators, thermostats, and water pumps, as well as tire repairs.

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StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Banco Santander-Chile (NYSE:BSAC  Free Report) in a report released on Thursday. The brokerage issued a sell rating on the banks stock.

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Banco Santander-Chile from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, August 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $18.33.

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Banco Santander-Chile Trading Down 2.2 %

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banco Santander-Chile

Shares of Banco Santander-Chile stock opened at $18.41 on Thursday. Banco Santander-Chile has a 1 year low of $13.37 and a 1 year high of $21.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.98, a quick ratio of 2.05 and a current ratio of 1.85. The company has a market capitalization of $8.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.96, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.75. The companys fifty day moving average is $19.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.45.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BSAC. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Banco Santander-Chile by 19.7% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 32,084 shares of the banks stock valued at $725,000 after buying an additional 5,280 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Banco Santander-Chile during the first quarter valued at approximately $423,000. APG Asset Management N.V. purchased a new position in shares of Banco Santander-Chile during the first quarter valued at approximately $936,000. Thomas White International Ltd. raised its stake in Banco Santander-Chile by 14.9% during the first quarter. Thomas White International Ltd. now owns 150,003 shares of the banks stock worth $3,389,000 after purchasing an additional 19,423 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in Banco Santander-Chile during the first quarter worth approximately $7,510,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.47% of the companys stock.

Banco Santander-Chile Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Banco Santander-Chile, together with its subsidiaries, provides commercial and retail banking products and services in Chile. It operates through Retail Banking, Middle-Market, Corporate Investment Banking, and Corporate Activities segments. The company offers debit and credit cards, checking accounts, and savings products; consumer, automobile, commercial, mortgage, and government-guaranteed loans; and Chilean peso and foreign currency-denominated loans to finance various commercial transactions, trade, foreign currency forward contracts, and credit lines, as well as mortgage financing services.

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Bank of Hawaii raised its stake in Koninklijke Philips (NYSE:PHG  Free Report) by 61.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 38,122 shares of the technology companys stock after buying an additional 14,542 shares during the quarter. Bank of Hawaiis holdings in Koninklijke Philips were worth $700,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Perpetual Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Koninklijke Philips during the first quarter worth $46,993,000. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI increased its position in Koninklijke Philips by 26.7% in the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI now owns 8,687,852 shares of the technology companys stock worth $130,231,000 after purchasing an additional 1,832,561 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in shares of Koninklijke Philips by 59.6% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,430,980 shares of the technology companys stock worth $135,277,000 after purchasing an additional 1,655,150 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Koninklijke Philips by 3,812.0% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,636,961 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $24,538,000 after buying an additional 1,595,116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mondrian Investment Partners LTD grew its stake in shares of Koninklijke Philips by 306.4% in the 4th quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 1,944,063 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $29,142,000 after buying an additional 1,465,665 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 6.58% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PHG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Koninklijke Philips in a research note on Wednesday, July 12th. They issued a buy rating for the company. TheStreet raised shares of Koninklijke Philips from a d+ rating to a c- rating in a research report on Monday, July 24th. Societe Generale raised Koninklijke Philips from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 25th. StockNews.com started coverage on Koninklijke Philips in a report on Thursday. They set a buy rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Koninklijke Philips to 19.00 ($20.65) in a research report on Friday, July 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Koninklijke Philips has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $17.06.

Koninklijke Philips Trading Up 3.8 %

Shares of Koninklijke Philips stock opened at $22.20 on Friday. Koninklijke Philips has a 1 year low of $11.75 and a 1 year high of $23.30. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $21.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.20.

Koninklijke Philips (NYSE:PHG  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Sunday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.08. Koninklijke Philips had a negative net margin of 10.84% and a positive return on equity of 7.95%. The company had revenue of $4.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.15 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Koninklijke Philips will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Koninklijke Philips

(Free Report)

Koninklijke Philips N.V. operates as a health technology company in North America, the Greater China, and internationally. It operates through Diagnosis & Treatment Businesses, Connected Care Businesses, and Personal Health Businesses segments. The company provides diagnostic imaging solutions, includes magnetic resonance imaging, X-ray systems, and computed tomography (CT) systems and software comprising detector-based spectral CT solutions, as well as molecular and hybrid imaging solutions for nuclear medicine; echography solutions focused on diagnosis, treatment planning and guidance for cardiology, general imaging, obstetrics/gynecology, and point-of-care applications; integrated interventional systems, and interventional diagnostic and therapeutic devices to treat coronary artery and peripheral vascular disease; proprietary software to enable diagnostics and intervention; and enterprise diagnostic informatics products and services.

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Bank of Hawaii reduced its holdings in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO  Free Report) by 14.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 271 shares of the companys stock after selling 46 shares during the quarter. Bank of Hawaiis holdings in AutoZone were worth $666,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Western Financial Corp CA increased its position in shares of AutoZone by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 580 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,426,000 after purchasing an additional 4 shares during the last quarter. Eudaimonia Partners LLC grew its position in AutoZone by 1.2% during the first quarter. Eudaimonia Partners LLC now owns 338 shares of the companys stock valued at $831,000 after acquiring an additional 4 shares during the last quarter. Ellevest Inc. raised its stake in shares of AutoZone by 7.4% during the first quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 58 shares of the companys stock worth $143,000 after acquiring an additional 4 shares in the last quarter. Coastal Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Coastal Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 340 shares of the companys stock worth $836,000 after acquiring an additional 4 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 1,225 shares of the companys stock valued at $3,021,000 after purchasing an additional 5 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.36% of the companys stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on AZO shares. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Thursday. They issued a buy rating for the company. 3M restated an upgrade rating on shares of AutoZone in a report on Thursday, June 1st. Northcoast Research began coverage on AutoZone in a research note on Wednesday, June 28th. They issued a neutral rating on the stock. 51job reissued a maintains rating on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Thursday, May 11th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of AutoZone from $2,878.00 to $2,886.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $2,716.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at AutoZone

In other news, VP Domingo Hurtado sold 90 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,376.49, for a total value of $213,884.10. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 275 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $653,534.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Charles Pleas III sold 4,200 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,546.55, for a total transaction of $10,695,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,425 shares in the company, valued at $8,721,933.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Domingo Hurtado sold 90 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,376.49, for a total transaction of $213,884.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $653,534.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 8,535 shares of company stock valued at $21,414,854. Corporate insiders own 2.59% of the companys stock.

AutoZone Stock Down 1.3 %

NYSE AZO opened at $2,457.28 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.62 billion, a PE ratio of 19.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.67. The stocks 50 day moving average is $2,477.32 and its 200 day moving average is $2,508.08. AutoZone, Inc. has a twelve month low of $2,050.21 and a twelve month high of $2,750.00.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 23rd. The company reported $34.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $30.84 by $3.28. AutoZone had a net margin of 14.45% and a negative return on equity of 62.38%. The firm had revenue of $4.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $29.03 EPS. The companys revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that AutoZone, Inc. will post 130.7 earnings per share for the current year.

About AutoZone

(Free Report)

AutoZone, Inc retails and distributes automotive replacement parts and accessories. The company offers various products for cars, sport utility vehicles, vans, and light trucks, including new and remanufactured automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories, and non-automotive products. Its products include A/C compressors, batteries and accessories, bearings, belts and hoses, calipers, chassis, clutches, CV axles, engines, fuel pumps, fuses, ignition and lighting products, mufflers, radiators, starters and alternators, thermostats, and water pumps, as well as tire repairs.

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BIP Wealth LLC bought a new position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO  Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 10,033 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $448,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. ICW Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 23,654 shares of the companys stock worth $1,055,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in Altria Group by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,853,423 shares of the companys stock worth $82,700,000 after buying an additional 142,897 shares during the last quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 9,136 shares of the companys stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares during the period. JT Stratford LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 40.3% during the 1st quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 8,856 shares of the companys stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 2,543 shares during the period. Finally, Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Altria Group by 124.3% during the 1st quarter. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 10,287 shares of the companys stock valued at $459,000 after purchasing an additional 5,700 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.38% of the companys stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Altria Group in a research note on Thursday. They set a buy rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $46.00.

Altria Group Price Performance

Altria Group stock opened at $42.57 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.52. The company has a market cap of $75.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.59. Altria Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.35 and a 52-week high of $51.57.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts consensus estimates of $1.31. The business had revenue of $5.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.43 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 225.61% and a net margin of 27.40%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.26 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Altria Group, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Altria Group

(Free Report)

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.

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BlackRock Debt Strategies Fund, Inc. (NYSE:DSU  Get Free Report) shares passed above its 50-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of $9.84 and traded as high as $10.01. BlackRock Debt Strategies Fund shares last traded at $9.97, with a volume of 135,264 shares changing hands.

BlackRock Debt Strategies Fund Price Performance

The firms fifty day moving average is $9.84 and its 200-day moving average is $9.69.

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BlackRock Debt Strategies Fund Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 15th will be issued a $0.0911 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 14th. This represents a $1.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.99%.

Institutional Trading of BlackRock Debt Strategies Fund

BlackRock Debt Strategies Fund Company Profile

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its position in BlackRock Debt Strategies Fund by 9.8% in the 2nd quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,452 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $122,000 after acquiring an additional 1,111 shares in the last quarter. Melfa Wealth Management LLC grew its position in BlackRock Debt Strategies Fund by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Melfa Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,889 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $547,000 after acquiring an additional 1,148 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock Debt Strategies Fund by 2.9% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 46,160 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $439,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC grew its position in shares of BlackRock Debt Strategies Fund by 2.1% during the first quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC now owns 63,672 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $606,000 after buying an additional 1,333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of BlackRock Debt Strategies Fund by 6.0% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 28,799 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 1,623 shares in the last quarter. 29.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

(Get Free Report)

BlackRock Debt Strategies Fund, Inc is a closed ended fixed income mutual fund launched by BlackRock, Inc The fund is managed by BlackRock Advisors, LLC. It invests in fixed income markets of the United States. The fund primarily invests in a diversified portfolio of companies' debt instruments, including corporate loans, which are rated in the lower rating categories of the established rating services (BBB or lower by S&P's or Baa or lower by Moody's) or unrated debt instruments, which are in the judgment of the investment adviser of equivalent quality.

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Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its holdings in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM  Free Report) by 535.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 311,551 shares of the semiconductor companys stock after purchasing an additional 262,556 shares during the quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LPs holdings in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing were worth $28,980,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of TSM. Key Financial Inc boosted its position in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 666.7% during the 1st quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 345 shares of the semiconductor companys stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. America First Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC acquired a new position in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its position in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing by 71.4% during the 1st quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 365 shares of the semiconductor companys stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hall Laurie J Trustee acquired a new position in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. 16.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Price Performance

NYSE:TSM traded down $1.08 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $90.56. The companys stock had a trading volume of 4,053,304 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,733,962. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.93. The company has a market capitalization of $469.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.12, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 2.04. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited has a twelve month low of $59.43 and a twelve month high of $110.69.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Cuts Dividend

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing ( NYSE:TSM Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The semiconductor company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.07. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing had a return on equity of 32.08% and a net margin of 43.31%. The firm had revenue of $15.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.52 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.4724 per share. This represents a $1.89 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 14th. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturings payout ratio is 22.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on TSM. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from $128.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a positive rating in a research note on Friday, July 14th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from $118.00 to $115.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Wednesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $108.33.

Read Our Latest Analysis on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing

About Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing

(Free Report)

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, packages, tests, and sells integrated circuits and other semiconductor devices in Taiwan, China, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Japan, the United States, and internationally. It provides complementary metal oxide silicon wafer fabrication processes to manufacture logic, mixed-signal, radio frequency, and embedded memory semiconductors.

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Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR  Get Free Report) Director Leslie A. Brun sold 2,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.20, for a total value of $362,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 72,430 shares in the company, valued at $13,124,316. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:BR opened at $178.58 on Friday. Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. has a 52-week low of $131.35 and a 52-week high of $184.10. The stock has a market cap of $21.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.76 and a beta of 1.02. The businesss 50 day moving average is $166.77 and its 200 day moving average is $153.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

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Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 8th. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.11. Broadridge Financial Solutions had a return on equity of 42.09% and a net margin of 10.40%. The company had revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.65 earnings per share. Broadridge Financial Solutionss revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Increases Dividend

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 5th. Investors of record on Friday, September 15th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. This is a boost from Broadridge Financial Solutionss previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. Broadridge Financial Solutionss dividend payout ratio is 54.82%.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Broadridge Financial Solutions from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $169.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $183.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $170.00.

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Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 8,155 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $1,270,000 after acquiring an additional 788 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its position in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 15,625 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $2,433,000 after acquiring an additional 992 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its position in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 126.2% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 3,384 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $527,000 after acquiring an additional 1,888 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 1,851.9% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 527 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in Broadridge Financial Solutions by 13.2% during the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 12,722 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $1,981,000 after acquiring an additional 1,487 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.05% of the companys stock.

About Broadridge Financial Solutions

(Get Free Report)

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc provides investor communications and technology-driven solutions for the financial services industry. The company's Investor Communication Solutions segment processes and distributes proxy materials to investors in equity securities and mutual funds, as well as facilitates related vote processing services; and distributes regulatory reports, class action, and corporate action/reorganization event information, as well as tax reporting solutions.

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Burney Co. raised its position in Molina Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:MOH  Free Report) by 1.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 40,740 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the period. Burney Co. owned about 0.07% of Molina Healthcare worth $10,898,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Molina Healthcare by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 1,651 shares of the companys stock worth $551,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its holdings in shares of Molina Healthcare by 496.1% during the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 11,534 shares of the companys stock worth $3,848,000 after purchasing an additional 9,599 shares during the period. Prudential PLC acquired a new stake in Molina Healthcare during the 1st quarter worth approximately $422,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Molina Healthcare by 10.1% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 1,296 shares of the companys stock valued at $432,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. Finally, Mackay Shields LLC acquired a new position in Molina Healthcare during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,814,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.09% of the companys stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MOH has been the topic of a number of research reports. Credit Suisse Group raised their target price on shares of Molina Healthcare from $347.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Friday, April 28th. StockNews.com started coverage on Molina Healthcare in a report on Thursday. They set a strong-buy rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Molina Healthcare from $365.00 to $335.00 in a research report on Monday, May 8th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Molina Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, June 20th. They set a neutral rating and a $310.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Molina Healthcare from $340.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $350.92.

Molina Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MOH traded up $3.87 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $313.67. 44,782 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 508,692. Molina Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $256.19 and a twelve month high of $374.00. The firm has a market cap of $18.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.82, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.69. The stocks 50 day moving average price is $300.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $290.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.52.

Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 26th. The company reported $5.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.60. Molina Healthcare had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 35.87%. The business had revenue of $8.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.55 earnings per share. The companys quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Molina Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.78 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Molina Healthcare

In other Molina Healthcare news, insider Jeff D. Barlow sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.77, for a total transaction of $3,784,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 64,973 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $19,671,875.21. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jeff D. Barlow sold 12,500 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.77, for a total transaction of $3,784,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 64,973 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,671,875.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Marc Russo sold 2,523 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.72, for a total transaction of $788,992.56. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 37,093 shares of the companys stock, valued at $11,599,722.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,246 shares of company stock worth $5,247,256 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Molina Healthcare

(Free Report)

Molina Healthcare, Inc provides managed healthcare services to low-income families and individuals under the Medicaid and Medicare programs and through the state insurance marketplaces. It operates in four segments, Medicaid, Medicare, Marketplace, and Other. The company served in across 19 states. The company was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Long Beach, California.

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Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (NYSE:CM  Get Free Report) (TSE:CM) has been given a consensus recommendation of Hold by the eight research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $67.25.

Several research firms recently weighed in on CM. CIBC raised shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 9th. StockNews.com started coverage on Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in a report on Thursday. They set a hold rating for the company. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, May 10th.

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Check Out Our Latest Analysis on CM

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Price Performance

NYSE CM opened at $39.77 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.98. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce has a 52-week low of $39.40 and a 52-week high of $53.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market cap of $36.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.04, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.00.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (NYSE:CM  Get Free Report) (TSE:CM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 25th. The bank reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $4.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.15 billion. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce had a net margin of 11.14% and a return on equity of 14.13%. Analysts anticipate that Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 28th were given a $0.642 dividend. This is a positive change from Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerces previous quarterly dividend of $0.64. This represents a $2.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.46%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 27th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerces dividend payout ratio is presently 64.65%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CM. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,652 shares of the banks stock valued at $809,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Glassman Wealth Services raised its holdings in shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce by 49.8% during the 4th quarter. Glassman Wealth Services now owns 659 shares of the banks stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 13,607 shares of the banks stock valued at $581,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. VAUGHAN & Co SECURITIES INC. raised its holdings in shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. VAUGHAN & Co SECURITIES INC. now owns 14,024 shares of the banks stock valued at $595,000 after buying an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ClariVest Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC now owns 89,260 shares of the banks stock valued at $3,766,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. 37.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Company Profile

(Get Free Report

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, a diversified financial institution, provides various financial products and services to personal, business, public sector, and institutional clients in Canada, the United States, and internationally. The company operates through Canadian Personal and Business Banking; Canadian Commercial Banking and Wealth Management; U.S.

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Capula Management Ltd cut its stake in shares of Tri Pointe Homes, Inc. (NYSE:TPH  Free Report) by 58.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,920 shares of the construction companys stock after selling 32,300 shares during the quarter. Capula Management Ltds holdings in Tri Pointe Homes were worth $580,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Tri Pointe Homes during the first quarter worth $1,368,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Tri Pointe Homes by 167.5% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 215,774 shares of the construction companys stock worth $5,463,000 after acquiring an additional 135,096 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Tri Pointe Homes by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 175,772 shares of the construction companys stock worth $4,451,000 after acquiring an additional 6,532 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Tri Pointe Homes in the 1st quarter valued at about $239,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Tri Pointe Homes during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,867,000. Institutional investors own 98.53% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

TPH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush boosted their price target on Tri Pointe Homes from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 1st. Wolfe Research raised Tri Pointe Homes from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $38.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Tri Pointe Homes from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Friday, July 28th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Tri Pointe Homes in a report on Thursday. They set a hold rating on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Tri Pointe Homes in a report on Wednesday, May 31st. They set a buy rating and a $42.00 price objective for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Tri Pointe Homes has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $33.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Glenn J. Keeler sold 21,413 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.01, for a total value of $706,843.13. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 102,194 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,373,423.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CFO Glenn J. Keeler sold 21,413 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.01, for a total transaction of $706,843.13. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 102,194 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,373,423.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Lawrence B. Burrows sold 7,677 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.48, for a total value of $241,671.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 86,891 shares in the company, valued at $2,735,328.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.00% of the companys stock.

Tri Pointe Homes Stock Performance

NYSE TPH opened at $30.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 2.18 and a quick ratio of 2.18. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $32.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.10. Tri Pointe Homes, Inc. has a 1 year low of $14.59 and a 1 year high of $34.04. The firm has a market cap of $2.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.33, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.48.

Tri Pointe Homes (NYSE:TPH  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The construction company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $819.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $703.67 million. Tri Pointe Homes had a net margin of 11.71% and a return on equity of 17.37%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Tri Pointe Homes, Inc. will post 3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Tri Pointe Homes Company Profile

(Free Report)

Tri Pointe Homes, Inc engages in the design, construction, and sale of single-family attached and detached homes in the United States. The company operates through a portfolio of six regional home building brands comprising Maracay in Arizona; Pardee Homes in California and Nevada; Quadrant Homes in Washington; Trendmaker Homes in Texas; TRI Pointe Homes in California, Colorado, and the Carolinas; and Winchester Homes in Maryland and Northern Virginia.

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Payden & Rygel grew its holdings in shares of Chubb Limited (NYSE:CB  Free Report) by 2.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 178,170 shares of the financial services providers stock after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the quarter. Chubb accounts for about 2.0% of Payden & Rygels investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Payden & Rygels holdings in Chubb were worth $34,597,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CB. Burney Co. lifted its stake in Chubb by 2.4% during the first quarter. Burney Co. now owns 6,293 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $1,222,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Resources Investment Advisors LLC. lifted its stake in Chubb by 138.7% during the first quarter. Resources Investment Advisors LLC. now owns 8,514 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $1,653,000 after purchasing an additional 4,947 shares during the last quarter. MAI Capital Management lifted its stake in Chubb by 2.3% during the first quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 131,369 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $25,509,000 after purchasing an additional 2,920 shares during the last quarter. Concorde Financial Corp lifted its stake in Chubb by 46.3% during the first quarter. Concorde Financial Corp now owns 17,165 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $3,343,000 after purchasing an additional 5,433 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Hawaii lifted its stake in Chubb by 7.1% during the first quarter. Bank of Hawaii now owns 4,123 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $801,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. 87.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Chubb Price Performance

NYSE:CB traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $200.48. 203,513 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,812,399. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $195.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $198.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.34 billion, a PE ratio of 14.36, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.64. Chubb Limited has a 1-year low of $173.78 and a 1-year high of $231.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Chubb ( NYSE:CB Get Free Report ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $4.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $4.41 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $10.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.24 billion. Chubb had a return on equity of 13.56% and a net margin of 12.47%. Chubbs revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.20 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Chubb Limited will post 18.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chubb declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, June 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the companys leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Chubb Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 6th. Investors of record on Friday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. Chubbs payout ratio is currently 24.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Annmarie T. Hagan sold 1,187 shares of Chubb stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.81, for a total transaction of $251,418.47. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 13,234 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,803,093.54. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Theodore Shasta sold 699 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.94, for a total value of $141,156.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,930,351.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Annmarie T. Hagan sold 1,187 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.81, for a total value of $251,418.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 13,234 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,803,093.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,534 shares of company stock valued at $2,635,175 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.37% of the companys stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on Chubb from $229.00 to $235.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. StockNews.com started coverage on Chubb in a research report on Thursday. They issued a buy rating on the stock. JMP Securities reaffirmed a market outperform rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Chubb in a research report on Wednesday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Chubb from $192.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Chubb from $248.00 to $237.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $242.79.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Chubb

Chubb Company Profile

(Free Report)

Chubb Limited provides insurance and reinsurance products worldwide. The company's North America Commercial P&C Insurance segment offers commercial property, casualty, workers' compensation, package policies, risk management, financial lines, marine, construction, environmental, medical, cyber risk, surety, and excess casualty; and group accident and health insurance to large, middle market, and small commercial businesses.

Further Reading

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Shares of Companhia Brasileira De Distribuicao (NYSE:CBD  Get Free Report) traded up 3.9% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $4.00 and last traded at $3.99. 108,567 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 1,178,197 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.84.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America lowered shares of Companhia Brasileira De Distribuicao from a buy rating to an underperform rating and decreased their price target for the company from $5.00 to $2.80 in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Companhia Brasileira De Distribuicao in a research note on Thursday. They issued a hold rating for the company.

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Read Our Latest Stock Report on CBD

Companhia Brasileira De Distribuicao Price Performance

Institutional Trading of Companhia Brasileira De Distribuicao

The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The companys 50 day moving average price is $4.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $3.45.

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Banco BTG Pactual S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Companhia Brasileira De Distribuicao by 820.0% in the 2nd quarter. Banco BTG Pactual S.A. now owns 1,840,093 shares of the companys stock worth $7,084,000 after buying an additional 1,640,093 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Companhia Brasileira De Distribuicao by 59.3% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,414,300 shares of the companys stock worth $4,384,000 after buying an additional 526,393 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Companhia Brasileira De Distribuicao by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,200,339 shares of the companys stock worth $3,529,000 after buying an additional 56,860 shares during the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda boosted its holdings in shares of Companhia Brasileira De Distribuicao by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda now owns 1,153,228 shares of the companys stock worth $3,575,000 after buying an additional 80,763 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Companhia Brasileira De Distribuicao by 2,166.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,032,896 shares of the companys stock worth $5,205,000 after buying an additional 987,314 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 4.83% of the companys stock.

Companhia Brasileira De Distribuicao Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Companhia Brasileira de Distribuicao engages in the retail of food, clothing, home appliances, and other products through its chain of hypermarkets and supermarkets. It operates through the Food Retail, and Cash and Carry segments. The Food Retail segment sells food and non-food products to individual consumers.

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Delaney Dennis R grew its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS  Free Report) by 0.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,671 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 220 shares during the quarter. Novartis accounts for approximately 2.6% of Delaney Dennis Rs holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Delaney Dennis Rs holdings in Novartis were worth $3,006,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,488,196 shares of the companys stock valued at $588,609,000 after buying an additional 377,693 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,568,714 shares of the companys stock valued at $389,426,000 after buying an additional 41,253 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 102,209.0% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,522,057 shares of the companys stock valued at $410,241,000 after buying an additional 4,517,637 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Novartis by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,131,935 shares of the companys stock valued at $362,577,000 after buying an additional 35,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Novartis by 153.4% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,127,082 shares of the companys stock worth $374,409,000 after purchasing an additional 2,498,355 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 8.07% of the companys stock.

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Novartis Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE NVS traded down $0.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $101.20. The companys stock had a trading volume of 449,848 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,983,710. The stock has a market cap of $214.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Novartis AG has a one year low of $74.09 and a one year high of $105.61. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $101.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.90.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Novartis ( NYSE:NVS Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 19th. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $13.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.32 million. Novartis had a net margin of 14.76% and a return on equity of 25.12%. Novartiss revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.56 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Novartis AG will post 6.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NVS has been the topic of several analyst reports. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of Novartis in a report on Friday, July 14th. They issued a buy rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Novartis from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Novartis in a report on Thursday. They set a strong-buy rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $82.25.

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About Novartis

(Free Report)

Novartis AG researches, develops, manufactures, and markets healthcare products in Switzerland and internationally. The company operates through two segments: Innovative Medicines and Sandoz. The Innovative Medicines segment offers prescription medicines for patients and physicians. It also provides cardiovascular, ophthalmology, neuroscience, immunology, hematology, and solid tumor products.

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StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Encompass Health (NYSE:EHC  Free Report) in a research note published on Thursday. The firm issued a buy rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Encompass Health from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. Credit Suisse Group lifted their price target on Encompass Health from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Encompass Health from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Encompass Health from $70.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 8th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Encompass Health from $69.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Friday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, Encompass Health has an average rating of Buy and an average target price of $77.60.

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Encompass Health Price Performance

Shares of EHC traded up $0.45 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $69.63. 45,341 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 729,613. The stock has a market cap of $6.98 billion, a PE ratio of 22.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $67.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.24. Encompass Health has a 12 month low of $45.11 and a 12 month high of $72.06.

Encompass Health (NYSE:EHC  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 1st. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.21. Encompass Health had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 18.26%. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.16 billion. Equities analysts expect that Encompass Health will post 3.45 EPS for the current year.

Encompass Health Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 2nd will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 29th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Encompass Healths dividend payout ratio is currently 19.29%.

Insider Transactions at Encompass Health

In other news, CEO Mark J. Tarr sold 25,330 shares of Encompass Health stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.06, for a total value of $1,799,949.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 497,405 shares in the company, valued at $35,345,599.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.90% of the companys stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Encompass Health by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,290 shares of the companys stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in Encompass Health by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 11,340 shares of the companys stock valued at $806,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in Encompass Health by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 4,692 shares of the companys stock valued at $280,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in Encompass Health by 38.2% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 658 shares of the companys stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Encompass Health by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,698 shares of the companys stock valued at $308,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.78% of the companys stock.

About Encompass Health

(Get Free Report)

Encompass Health Corporation provides post-acute healthcare services in the United States. It provides specialized rehabilitative treatment on an inpatient basis to patients who have experienced physical or cognitive disabilities or injuries due to medical conditions, such as strokes, hip fractures, and various debilitating neurological conditions.

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Everest Group (NYSE:EG  Get Free Report) is one of 90 publicly-traded companies in the Fire, marine, & casualty insurance industry, but how does it compare to its rivals? We will compare Everest Group to related companies based on the strength of its dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, valuation and risk.

Risk & Volatility

Everest Group has a beta of 0.61, indicating that its share price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Everest Groups rivals have a beta of 0.57, indicating that their average share price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500.

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Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Everest Group and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Everest Group 0 0 2 1 3.33 Everest Group Competitors 576 2945 2720 165 2.39

Valuation & Earnings

Everest Group currently has a consensus price target of $429.00, indicating a potential upside of 23.56%. As a group, Fire, marine, & casualty insurance companies have a potential upside of 2.97%. Given Everest Groups stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Everest Group is more favorable than its rivals.

This table compares Everest Group and its rivals revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

Gross Revenue Net Income Price/Earnings Ratio Everest Group $12.06 billion $597.00 million 11.57 Everest Group Competitors $14.83 billion -$203.03 million -22,889.26

Everest Groups rivals have higher revenue, but lower earnings than Everest Group. Everest 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.

Dividends

Everest Group pays an annual dividend of $6.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Everest Group pays out 22.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, Fire, marine, & casualty insurance companies pay a dividend yield of 1.3% and pay out 10.4% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

94.4% of Everest Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 55.1% of shares of all Fire, marine, & casualty insurance companies are owned by institutional investors. 1.4% of Everest Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 14.5% of shares of all Fire, marine, & casualty insurance companies are owned 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.

Profitability

This table compares Everest Group and its rivals net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Everest Group 9.14% 14.92% 3.26% Everest Group Competitors 2.17% -35.78% 0.13%

Summary

Everest Group beats its rivals on 12 of the 15 factors compared.

About Everest Group

(Get Free Report)

Everest Group, Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides reinsurance and insurance products in the United States, Bermuda, and internationally. The company operates through Reinsurance Operations and Insurance Operations segments. The Reinsurance Operations segment writes property and casualty reinsurance; and specialty lines of business through reinsurance brokers, as well as directly with ceding companies in the United States, Bermuda, Ireland, Canada, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The Insurance Operations segment writes property and casualty insurance directly, as well as through brokers, surplus lines brokers, and general agents in the United States, Bermuda, Canada, Europe, South America, France, Germany, Spain, Canada, Chile, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the Netherlands. The company also provides treaty and facultative reinsurance products; admitted and non-admitted insurance products; and property and casualty reinsurance and insurance coverages, including marine, aviation, surety, errors and omissions liability, directors' and officers' liability, medical malpractice, mortgage reinsurance, other specialty lines, accident and health, and workers' compensation products. In addition, it offers commercial property and casualty insurance products through wholesale and retail brokers, surplus lines brokers, and program administrators. The company was formerly known as Everest Re Group, Ltd. and changed its name to Everest Group, Ltd. in July 2023. The company was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.

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First National Advisers LLC increased its stake in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY  Free Report) by 8.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,082 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the period. Eli Lilly and Company accounts for 2.0% of First National Advisers LLCs portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. First National Advisers LLCs holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $1,745,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LLY. Oxler Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Oxler Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,050 shares of the companys stock worth $2,078,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Cora Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC now owns 956 shares of the companys stock valued at $328,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Sittner & Nelson LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the companys stock valued at $344,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Aries Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Aries Wealth Management now owns 3,701 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,271,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 397 shares of the companys stock valued at $136,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.25% of the companys stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LLY. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $500.00 to $600.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $565.00 to $633.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a hold rating to a buy rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $408.00 to $615.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 8th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $500.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an overweight rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $517.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Patrik Jonsson sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $429.46, for a total value of $2,576,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,941 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $15,864,681.86. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Patrik Jonsson sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $429.46, for a total value of $2,576,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,941 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $15,864,681.86. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Johna Norton sold 1,647 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.29, for a total transaction of $731,745.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,761 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $14,111,094.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 724,841 shares of company stock worth $360,357,419. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the companys stock.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Performance

LLY traded up $6.48 on Friday, reaching $544.14. The company had a trading volume of 1,343,930 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,062,423. Eli Lilly and Company has a fifty-two week low of $296.32 and a fifty-two week high of $552.87. The stock has a market cap of $516.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.35. The companys fifty day moving average is $466.57 and its 200 day moving average is $404.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.13.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 8th. The company reported $2.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.13. Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 22.01% and a return on equity of 65.00%. The firm had revenue of $8.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.25 EPS. The businesss revenue was up 28.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Eli Lilly and Company will post 9.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eli Lilly and Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $1.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 14th. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Eli Lilly and Companys dividend payout ratio is 62.87%.

Eli Lilly and Company Company Profile

(Free Report)

Eli Lilly and Company discovers, develops, and markets human pharmaceuticals worldwide. It offers Basaglar, Humalog, Humalog Mix 75/25, Humalog U-100, Humalog U-200, Humalog Mix 50/50, insulin lispro, insulin lispro protamine, insulin lispro mix 75/25, Humulin, Humulin 70/30, Humulin N, Humulin R, and Humulin U-500 for diabetes; and Jardiance, Trajenta, and Trulicity for type 2 diabetes.

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Global Business Travel Group, Inc. (NYSE:GBTG  Get Free Report) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $6.77, but opened at $6.60. Global Business Travel Group shares last traded at $6.78, with a volume of 20,657 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Credit Suisse Group raised their price target on shares of Global Business Travel Group from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, August 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Global Business Travel Group from $8.80 to $9.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, August 11th. Two 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, Global Business Travel Group presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $8.90.

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Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on GBTG

Global Business Travel Group Stock Performance

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Business Travel Group

The companys 50-day simple moving average is $7.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.36 and a beta of 0.26.

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Nuveen Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Global Business Travel Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $811,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its holdings in shares of Global Business Travel Group by 1,165.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 14,379 shares of the companys stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 13,243 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Global Business Travel Group by 12.7% in the 2nd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 24,377 shares of the companys stock worth $176,000 after purchasing an additional 2,754 shares during the period. Carronade Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Global Business Travel Group by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. Carronade Capital Management LP now owns 3,297,158 shares of the companys stock worth $23,838,000 after purchasing an additional 217,561 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Global Business Travel Group by 614.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 481,121 shares of the companys stock worth $3,479,000 after purchasing an additional 413,802 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 12.65% of the companys stock.

Global Business Travel Group Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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Two persons were killed and six others suffered injuries after a middle-aged man opened fire from his balcony in Madhya Pradeshs Indore, police said on Friday. The incident occurred in Krishna residential colony in Khajrana area of the city late on Thursday night following a scuffle between two men over a pet dog.



In a viral video, the accused -- a security guard at a bank -- can be seen firing furiously from the balcony of his house.



As per police, the accused identified as Rajpal Singh Rajavat was walking his pet dog on Thursday evening. Meanwhile, his neighbour also came out with his pet. The dogs got into a fight, leading to a scuffle between the owners.



Following a heated exchange from both sides, a livid Rajavat rushed to his home, came out with his license gun and started firing on his neighbours, killing two persons on the spot.



A man was walking his dog who got into a fight with his neighbour's pet. This led to a scuffle between the owners, some people gathered there because of the fight. The man suddenly went to his house and brought a gun and fired. In this incident, 2 people died while six are undergoing treatment. The person who fired the shot has been arrested and further investigation is on, ADCP Amarendra Singh said.






Globe Life (NYSE:GL  Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Morgan Stanley from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a note issued to investors on Friday, FlyOnTheWall reports.

GL has been the subject of a number of other research reports. StockNews.com began coverage on Globe Life in a research report on Thursday. They set a hold rating for the company. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Globe Life from $130.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Globe Life in a research note on Tuesday, April 25th. They set an equal weight rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $130.14.

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Globe Life Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:GL opened at $111.95 on Friday. Globe Life has a 52-week low of $96.23 and a 52-week high of $123.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.05 and a current ratio of 0.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.08 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $111.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $111.46.

Globe Life (NYSE:GL  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 26th. The company reported $2.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.04. Globe Life had a return on equity of 21.82% and a net margin of 15.91%. The company had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Globe Life will post 10.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Globe Life

In other news, CEO Frank M. Svoboda sold 12,500 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.57, for a total value of $1,419,625.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,370 shares in the company, valued at approximately $382,730.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Globe Life news, CAO Michael Shane Henrie sold 1,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.06, for a total value of $112,060.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 700 shares of the companys stock, valued at $78,442. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Frank M. Svoboda sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.57, for a total transaction of $1,419,625.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,370 shares in the company, valued at $382,730.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,191 shares of company stock worth $3,347,833 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 4.33% of the companys stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GL. Mendota Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Globe Life during the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Globe Life during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Globe Life by 56.0% during the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 273 shares of the companys stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Globe Life by 144.7% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 301 shares of the companys stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AM Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Globe Life during the 1st quarter worth approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.99% of the companys stock.

Globe Life Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Globe Life Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides various life and supplemental health insurance products, and annuities to lower middle to middle income households in the United States. The company operates through four segments: Life Insurance, Supplemental Health Insurance, Annuities, and Investments.

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Graham Capital Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Costamare Inc. (NYSE:CMRE  Free Report) by 130.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 170,057 shares of the shipping companys stock after purchasing an additional 96,247 shares during the quarter. Costamare makes up 2.3% of Graham Capital Wealth Management LLCs holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Graham Capital Wealth Management LLCs holdings in Costamare were worth $16,002,327,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Costamare by 840.4% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 2,113,399 shares of the shipping companys stock valued at $228,000 after acquiring an additional 1,888,662 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Costamare by 99.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,380,031 shares of the shipping companys stock valued at $23,529,000 after acquiring an additional 689,704 shares during the period. Penserra Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Costamare in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,661,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Costamare by 33.8% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 650,469 shares of the shipping companys stock valued at $6,036,000 after acquiring an additional 164,247 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Costamare by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,907,931 shares of the shipping companys stock valued at $100,733,000 after acquiring an additional 162,918 shares during the period. 22.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Costamare Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CMRE traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $10.84. 143,218 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 664,188. Costamare Inc. has a 1-year low of $7.71 and a 1-year high of $12.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 1.68. The company has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a PE ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.47. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $10.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.61.

Costamare Announces Dividend

Costamare ( NYSE:CMRE Get Free Report ) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 15th. The shipping company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts consensus estimates of $0.38. Costamare had a net margin of 44.93% and a return on equity of 14.08%. The firm had revenue of $248.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $227.06 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Costamare Inc. will post 2.32 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 20th were given a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 19th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.24%. Costamares dividend payout ratio is currently 11.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on CMRE shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Costamare from a buy rating to a hold rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $15.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Monday, April 24th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Costamare in a research report on Thursday. They set a hold rating on the stock.

Read Our Latest Analysis on CMRE

Costamare Company Profile

(Free Report)

Costamare Inc engages in owning and chartering containerships and dry bulk vessels that are chartered to liner companies providing transportation of cargoes worldwide. As of March 21, 2023, it had a fleet of fleet of 71 containerships and 45 dry bulk vessels. The company was founded in 1974 and is based in Monaco.

Further Reading

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StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Harmony Gold Mining (NYSE:HMY  Free Report) in a research note released on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the mining companys stock.

Separately, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Harmony Gold Mining from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report on Monday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold.

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Harmony Gold Mining Stock Performance

Institutional Trading of Harmony Gold Mining

Shares of Harmony Gold Mining stock traded down $0.04 during trading on Thursday, hitting $3.50. The stock had a trading volume of 1,406,145 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,825,958. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Harmony Gold Mining has a 12 month low of $1.93 and a 12 month high of $5.43. The businesss 50-day moving average is $4.22 and its 200 day moving average is $4.14.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HMY. Point72 Middle East FZE bought a new position in shares of Harmony Gold Mining during the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new position in shares of Harmony Gold Mining during the second quarter worth $104,000. Ergoteles LLC purchased a new position in shares of Harmony Gold Mining during the second quarter worth $93,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of Harmony Gold Mining by 537.8% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 15,843 shares of the mining companys stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 13,359 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new position in shares of Harmony Gold Mining during the second quarter worth $312,000. 35.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Harmony Gold Mining

(Get Free Report)

Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited engages in the exploration, extraction, and processing of gold. The company also explores for uranium, silver, copper, and molybdenum deposits. It has eight underground operations in the Witwatersrand Basin; an open-pit mine on the Kraaipan Greenstone Belt; and various surface source operations in South Africa.

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Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII  Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 786,200 shares, a decrease of 5.9% from the July 15th total of 835,900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 314,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on HII. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries in a research report on Thursday. They issued a buy rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries from $238.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, July 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $245.86.

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Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on HII

Insider Buying and Selling

Institutional Trading of Huntington Ingalls Industries

In related news, VP D R. Wyatt sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.19, for a total value of $113,595.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,320 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,616,500.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website . Company insiders own 2.30% of the companys stock.

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Imprint Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Huntington Ingalls Industries during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,092,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 219.2% in the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 830 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $189,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. GTS Securities LLC bought a new position in Huntington Ingalls Industries in the second quarter valued at approximately $282,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 7.4% in the second quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 117,944 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $26,844,000 after acquiring an additional 8,174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its stake in Huntington Ingalls Industries by 29.0% in the second quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 30,845 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $7,020,000 after acquiring an additional 6,925 shares during the last quarter. 87.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Price Performance

HII opened at $220.22 on Friday. Huntington Ingalls Industries has a one year low of $188.51 and a one year high of $260.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $225.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $214.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.93 and a beta of 0.65.

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The aerospace company reported $3.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.14 by $0.13. Huntington Ingalls Industries had a net margin of 4.77% and a return on equity of 15.13%. The business had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.44 earnings per share. Huntington Ingalls Industriess revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Huntington Ingalls Industries will post 14.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 25th will be paid a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 24th. This represents a $4.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Huntington Ingalls Industriess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.12%.

About Huntington Ingalls Industries

(Get Free Report)

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc engages in designing, building, overhauling, and repairing military ships in the United States. It operates through three segments: Ingalls, Newport News, and Mission Technologies. The company is involved in the design and construction of non-nuclear ships comprising amphibious assault ships; expeditionary warfare ships; surface combatants; and national security cutters for the U.S.

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NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE  Get Free Report) Director James Lawrence Camaren purchased 4,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 15th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $67.85 per share, with a total value of $271,400.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 8,000 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $542,800. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

NextEra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:NEE opened at $67.51 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $72.64 and a 200-day moving average of $74.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $136.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.17 and a twelve month high of $91.06.

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NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. NextEra Energy had a net margin of 30.05% and a return on equity of 12.25%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.81 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.11 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Announces Dividend

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 30th will be given a $0.4675 dividend. This represents a $1.87 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 29th. NextEra Energys payout ratio is currently 46.29%.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on NEE shares. Guggenheim dropped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Friday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $93.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 8th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of NextEra Energy from $95.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of NextEra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, June 7th. They set a buy rating and a $90.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of NextEra Energy in a research report on Thursday. They set a hold rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $91.36.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on NEE

Institutional Trading of NextEra Energy

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Appleton Partners Inc. MA grew its position in NextEra Energy by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA now owns 13,360 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $1,030,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Virginia VA boosted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. Trust Co. of Virginia VA now owns 8,776 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $676,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075 shares during the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. boosted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 5,511 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $425,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP boosted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 36,563 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $2,818,000 after acquiring an additional 3,230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PFG Advisors boosted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 30,032 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $2,315,000 after acquiring an additional 1,042 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.70% of the companys stock.

About NextEra Energy

(Get Free Report)

NextEra Energy, Inc, through its subsidiaries, generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electric power to retail and wholesale customers in North America. The company generates electricity through wind, solar, nuclear, coal, and natural gas facilities. It also develops, constructs, and operates long-term contracted assets that consists of clean energy solutions, such as renewable generation facilities, battery storage projects, and electric transmission facilities; sells energy commodities; and owns, develops, constructs, manages and operates electric generation facilities in wholesale energy markets.

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Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC cut its holdings in iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF (BATS:QUAL  Free Report) by 8.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,200 shares of the companys stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLCs holdings in iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF were worth $397,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of QUAL. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF by 16.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 15,119 shares of the companys stock worth $2,064,000 after buying an additional 2,119 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL raised its holdings in iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF by 143.9% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 10,830 shares of the companys stock worth $1,458,000 after buying an additional 6,389 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF during the 1st quarter worth about $397,000. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 49,277 shares of the companys stock valued at $6,634,000 after acquiring an additional 3,812 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AJ Wealth Strategies LLC grew its stake in iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. AJ Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 465,618 shares of the companys stock valued at $62,686,000 after acquiring an additional 18,557 shares in the last quarter.

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iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF Trading Down 0.7 %

BATS:QUAL traded down $0.89 on Friday, hitting $134.72. 1,886,930 shares of the companys stock traded hands. The company has a market cap of $30.47 billion, a PE ratio of 16.30 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $135.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $127.58. iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF has a 1 year low of $71.96 and a 1 year high of $88.63.

iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF Profile

The iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF (QUAL) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality index. The fund tracks an index of US large- and mid-cap stocks, selected and weighted by high ROE, stable earnings growth and low debt\u002Fequity, relative to peers in each sector.

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Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund acquired a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST  Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,634 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock, valued at approximately $913,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pictet Asset Management SA increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.4% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management SA now owns 34,056 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock worth $11,799,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services during the first quarter worth approximately $228,000. Keybank National Association OH increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 2.6% during the first quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 86,986 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock worth $30,138,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176 shares during the period. Tredje AP fonden increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 4.0% during the first quarter. Tredje AP fonden now owns 18,963 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock worth $6,570,000 after purchasing an additional 729 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 42.9% during the first quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 89,030 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock worth $30,846,000 after purchasing an additional 26,733 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.36% of the companys stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp increased their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $375.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, July 28th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a report on Thursday. They issued a buy rating on the stock. Stephens increased their price target on West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $420.00 in a research note on Monday, July 17th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their price target for the company from $390.00 to $405.00 in a research note on Friday, June 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $350.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Stock Performance

WST stock opened at $392.87 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $376.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $347.74. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $206.19 and a 1-year high of $408.57. The company has a current ratio of 3.66, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market cap of $29.02 billion, a PE ratio of 57.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.94 and a beta of 1.10.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.16. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 22.36% and a net margin of 18.10%. The firm had revenue of $753.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $755.71 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.47 EPS. The businesss quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at West Pharmaceutical Services

In other news, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 1,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.05, for a total value of $343,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $627,438.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other West Pharmaceutical Services news, SVP Silji Abraham sold 8,160 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $397.18, for a total transaction of $3,240,988.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,209 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,671,730.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Charles Witherspoon sold 1,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.05, for a total value of $343,050.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,829 shares of the companys stock, valued at $627,438.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,275 shares of company stock valued at $20,859,943. Corporate insiders own 1.13% of the companys stock.

West Pharmaceutical Services Company Profile

(Free Report)

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells containment and delivery systems for injectable drugs and healthcare products in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It operates in two segments, Proprietary Products and Contract-Manufactured Products.

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Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund purchased a new position in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG  Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 7,309 shares of the business services providers stock, valued at approximately $988,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Pictet Asset Management SA increased its stake in Republic Services by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management SA now owns 8,078,135 shares of the business services providers stock worth $1,092,325,000 after purchasing an additional 738,378 shares during the period. Tredje AP fonden grew its position in shares of Republic Services by 11.2% in the 1st quarter. Tredje AP fonden now owns 38,202 shares of the business services providers stock worth $5,166,000 after buying an additional 3,845 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Republic Services by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 203,596 shares of the business services providers stock worth $27,522,000 after buying an additional 5,747 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its position in shares of Republic Services by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 744,334 shares of the business services providers stock worth $100,649,000 after buying an additional 144,721 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hartford Investment Management Co. grew its position in shares of Republic Services by 15.7% in the 1st quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co. now owns 17,646 shares of the business services providers stock worth $2,386,000 after buying an additional 2,388 shares during the last quarter. 64.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Activity at Republic Services

In related news, CFO Brian M. Delghiaccio sold 5,500 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.65, for a total transaction of $823,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 5,071 shares in the company, valued at $758,875.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Brian M. Delghiaccio sold 5,500 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.65, for a total transaction of $823,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 5,071 shares in the company, valued at $758,875.15. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Amanda Hodges sold 2,712 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.66, for a total value of $403,165.92. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 4,969 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $738,691.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Republic Services Stock Down 1.3 %

RSG stock opened at $145.79 on Friday. Republic Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $120.58 and a 1-year high of $156.65. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $149.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $140.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.66.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.09. Republic Services had a return on equity of 16.53% and a net margin of 10.91%. The firm had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $3.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.32 earnings per share. The companys revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Republic Services, Inc. will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Republic Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 13th. Investors of record on Monday, October 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.535 per share. This represents a $2.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 29th. This is a boost from Republic Servicess previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Republic Servicess dividend payout ratio is 39.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Republic Services from $158.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Republic Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Raymond James lifted their price target on Republic Services from $154.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, July 21st. VNET Group restated a maintains rating on shares of Republic Services in a research report on Thursday, April 27th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Republic Services in a research report on Thursday. They set a buy rating on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $159.00.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on RSG

About Republic Services

(Free Report)

Republic Services, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, offers environmental services in the United States. It is involved in the collection and processing of recyclable, solid waste, and industrial waste materials; transportation and disposal of non-hazardous and hazardous waste streams; and other environmental solutions.

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Kentucky Retirement Systems lowered its position in shares of Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX  Free Report) by 0.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 140,657 shares of the oil and gas companys stock after selling 928 shares during the period. Chevron accounts for approximately 0.8% of Kentucky Retirement Systems investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Kentucky Retirement Systems holdings in Chevron were worth $22,950,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rebalance LLC bought a new position in Chevron during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its stake in Chevron by 52.3% during the 1st quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 195 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Artemis Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Chevron in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Worth Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Chevron in the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Red Tortoise LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Chevron in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors own 69.65% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CVX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised Chevron from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating and raised their target price for the company from $165.00 to $180.00 in a report on Thursday, June 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Chevron from $197.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Friday. HSBC raised their price objective on Chevron from $180.00 to $184.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Chevron from $196.00 to $188.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 13th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Chevron in a report on Thursday. They set a hold rating on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $190.28.

Insider Transactions at Chevron

In other news, VP Jeff B. Gustavson sold 3,750 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.88, for a total value of $603,300.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $276,391.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO Pierre R. Breber sold 25,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.00, for a total value of $4,100,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,021 shares in the company, valued at $987,444. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Jeff B. Gustavson sold 3,750 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.88, for a total transaction of $603,300.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $276,391.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the companys stock.

Chevron Stock Up 0.7 %

CVX traded up $1.18 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $160.93. 1,893,184 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,073,721. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.43. The companys fifty day moving average price is $157.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $160.87. The company has a market cap of $300.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.17. Chevron Co. has a one year low of $140.46 and a one year high of $189.68.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 28th. The oil and gas company reported $3.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.95 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $48.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48 billion. Chevron had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 13.54%. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 28.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.82 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Chevron Co. will post 13.24 EPS for the current year.

Chevron Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 18th will be paid a $1.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 17th. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.75%. Chevrons payout ratio is presently 38.30%.

Chevron Profile

(Free Report)

Chevron Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in the integrated energy and chemicals operations in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Upstream and Downstream. The Upstream segment is involved in the exploration, development, production, and transportation of crude oil and natural gas; liquefaction, transportation, and regasification associated with liquefied natural gas; transportation of crude oil through pipelines; and processing, transportation, storage, and marketing of natural gas, as well as a gas-to-liquids plant.

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Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their sector perform rating on shares of LTC Properties (NYSE:LTC  Free Report) in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a $32.00 price target on the real estate investment trusts stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on LTC. StockNews.com began coverage on LTC Properties in a research note on Thursday. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Barclays lowered their price target on LTC Properties from $35.00 to $34.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 3rd. TheStreet lowered LTC Properties from a b- rating to a c rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on LTC Properties in a report on Wednesday, April 19th. They set an equal weight rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on LTC Properties from $40.00 to $36.00 in a report on Friday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $35.33.

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LTC Properties Stock Up 0.2 %

LTC Properties Dividend Announcement

LTC Properties stock traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $31.89. The companys stock had a trading volume of 31,370 shares, compared to its average volume of 249,070. LTC Properties has a fifty-two week low of $30.87 and a fifty-two week high of $45.49. The company has a quick ratio of 13.18, a current ratio of 13.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $1.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.61 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.24.

The business also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 21st will be given a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 20th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.15%. LTC Propertiess payout ratio is 133.33%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Timothy Triche sold 6,000 shares of LTC Properties stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.03, for a total transaction of $198,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 39,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,302,207.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.00% of the companys stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in LTC Properties by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,736 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $412,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department grew its stake in shares of LTC Properties by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department now owns 28,470 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $1,012,000 after buying an additional 313 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P grew its stake in shares of LTC Properties by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 10,227 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 321 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its stake in shares of LTC Properties by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 11,274 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $422,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the period. Finally, Advisor Group Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of LTC Properties by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 10,662 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $378,000 after buying an additional 366 shares during the period. 70.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About LTC Properties

(Get Free Report)

LTC Properties, Inc is a real estate investment trust, which engages in managing seniors housing and health care properties. It operates through the Texas, Michigan, Florida, Wisconsin, Colorado, and Remaining States geographic segments. The company was founded by Andre C. Dimitriadis on May 12, 1992 and is headquartered in Westlake Village, CA.

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Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath on Friday termed Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan Thag-raj and accused him of tainting the state's clean image. While briefing the press at party headquarters here, the veteran Congress politician asserted that he had great regard for CM Chouhan until he was a Lok Sabha MP. This is not the Shivraj Singh Chouhan I used to know in Parliament in earlier days. He is 'Thag-raj,' who has turned Madhya Pradesh into a state of corruption, he said.



His (CM Shivraj) government has not spared anyone, including God (Mahakal Lok) and Gaushalas, when it comes to corruption.



Be it senior citizens, youth, women, government employees, entrepreneurs or anyone, everybody has become a victim of cheating under the BJP government. Now that the people have realised that Congress is going to form the government, they have started exposing the corrupt BJP government, he added.



The former chief minister further asserted that due to the image of corrupt state, Madhya Pradesh failed to attract investment. I have repeatedly said that investment cant be demanded, it has to be brought in. For the last several years, the BJP government has been mired in corruption and 50 per cent commission, which is why no one is willing to invest in the state, the Congress leader said.



He claimed during his chief ministership which lasted for 15 months, business houses had complained that they hesitate to invest their money in Madhya Pradesh due to a bad image. This is what the Shivraj Singh Chouhan

government has done in the last 18 years. If the state economy does not pick up, things will worsen and people of the state should understand it, Kamal Nath said.



Meanwhile, the MP Congress head along with party leaders and workers released a poster  Ghotala (corruption).



Kamal Nath said, "The people of Madhya Pradesh are either the victims of corruption or eyewitnesses. Am telling you today that more corruption of the BJP government will be exposed in the next three months.




MV Oil Trust (NYSE:MVO  Get Free Report) and Genel Energy (OTCMKTS:GEGYY  Get Free Report) are both small-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares MV Oil Trust and Genel Energys gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

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Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio MV Oil Trust $27.20 million 5.31 $25.53 million N/A N/A Genel Energy $432.70 million 0.79 -$7.30 million N/A N/A

MV Oil Trust has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Genel Energy.

Profitability

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets MV Oil Trust 93.03% N/A 364.12% Genel Energy N/A N/A N/A

Dividends

This table compares MV Oil Trust and Genel Energys net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

MV Oil Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.4%. Genel Energy pays an annual dividend of $0.21 per share and has a dividend yield of 17.2%.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for MV Oil Trust and Genel Energy, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score MV Oil Trust 0 0 0 0 N/A Genel Energy 0 0 0 0 N/A

Volatility & Risk

MV Oil Trust has a beta of 0.94, meaning that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Genel Energy has a beta of -0.05, meaning that its share price is 105% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

2.1% of MV Oil Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 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.

Summary

MV Oil Trust beats Genel Energy on 6 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About MV Oil Trust

(Get Free Report)

MV Oil Trust acquires and holds term net profits interests in the oil and natural gas properties of MV Partners, LLC. Its properties include approximately 860 producing oil and gas wells located in the Mid-Continent region in the states of Kansas and Colorado. The company was incorporated in 2006 and is based in Houston, Texas.

About Genel Energy

(Get Free Report)

Genel Energy plc, through its subsidiaries, operates as an independent oil and gas exploration and production company. It operates through two segments, Production and Pre-production. The Production segment holds a 25% working interest in the Tawke PSC; 44% working interest in the Taq Taq PSC; and 30% working interest in the Sarta PSC located in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). The Pre-Production segment holds a 50% working interest in Odewayne and 51% working interest in SL10B13 block located in Somaliland; and 75% working interest in Lagzira block in Morocco. Genel Energy plc is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

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Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of Getty Realty Corp. (NYSE:GTY  Free Report) by 42.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 25,179 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock after purchasing an additional 7,462 shares during the quarter. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLCs holdings in Getty Realty were worth $907,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GTY. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Getty Realty by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 17,093 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $579,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Getty Realty by 2.7% in the first quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,510 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $415,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in Getty Realty by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 8,267 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $280,000 after buying an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Getty Realty by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 14,337 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $491,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA boosted its holdings in Getty Realty by 4.0% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 13,284 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $352,000 after buying an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.52% of the companys stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Getty Realty in a research note on Thursday. They set a hold rating for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $33.33.

Getty Realty Price Performance

Shares of GTY stock opened at $30.12 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.16 and a beta of 0.86. Getty Realty Corp. has a 12-month low of $25.49 and a 12-month high of $36.49. The company has a quick ratio of 3.39, a current ratio of 3.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $33.03 and a 200-day moving average of $33.98.

Getty Realty (NYSE:GTY  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $43.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.09 million. Getty Realty had a net margin of 39.48% and a return on equity of 8.51%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Getty Realty Corp. will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Getty Realty Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.71%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 27th. Getty Realtys payout ratio is presently 124.64%.

Getty Realty Profile

(Free Report)

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GTY? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Getty Realty Corp. (NYSE:GTY  Free Report).

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StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of NNN REIT (NYSE:NNN  Free Report) in a research report released on Thursday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the real estate investment trusts stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on NNN. B. Riley lowered their target price on NNN REIT from $50.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 8th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on NNN REIT from $54.00 to $49.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 8th. Janney Montgomery Scott raised NNN REIT from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $48.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 28th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of NNN REIT in a research report on Wednesday, June 14th. They set an underperform rating and a $42.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of NNN REIT from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $47.00.

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NNN REIT Trading Up 0.2 %

NNN REIT Increases Dividend

NYSE NNN traded up $0.06 on Thursday, hitting $38.72. The companys stock had a trading volume of 994,044 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,145,282. NNN REIT has a 52-week low of $38.05 and a 52-week high of $48.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The companys 50-day simple moving average is $42.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.40. The firm has a market cap of $7.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.96, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.88.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 31st were given a $0.565 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 28th. This represents a $2.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.84%. This is an increase from NNN REITs previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. NNN REITs payout ratio is presently 110.78%.

Institutional Trading of NNN REIT

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its stake in NNN REIT by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 11,437 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $489,000 after purchasing an additional 479 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in shares of NNN REIT by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 4,843 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $207,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Allie Family Office LLC increased its holdings in shares of NNN REIT by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Allie Family Office LLC now owns 16,939 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $725,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares in the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of NNN REIT by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 10,349 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 740 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goodman Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of NNN REIT by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Goodman Financial Corp now owns 234,113 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $10,018,000 after purchasing an additional 5,757 shares in the last quarter. 87.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About NNN REIT

(Get Free Report)

NNN REIT invests primarily in high-quality retail properties subject generally to long-term, net leases. As of March 31, 2023, the company owned 3,449 properties in 49 states with a gross leasable area of approximately 35.3 million square feet and with a weighted average remaining lease term of 10.3 years.

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Nomura cut shares of Kansai Paint (OTCMKTS:KSANF  Free Report) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report issued on Thursday morning, FlyOnTheWall reports.

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Kansai Paint from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, July 20th.

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Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on KSANF

Kansai Paint Stock Performance

Kansai Paint Company Profile

Shares of KSANF stock opened at $16.84 on Thursday. Kansai Paint has a 52 week low of $12.42 and a 52 week high of $16.84. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $15.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.42.

(Get Free Report)

Kansai Paint Co, Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells paints and coatings in Japan, India, Asia, Africa, Europe, and internationally. The company offers decorative coatings for protecting exterior and interior of buildings; protective coatings; automotive refinish coatings; automotive coatings; and industrial coatings that are used in construction machinery, industrial vehicles, steel furniture, external building materials, electronics, and internal coatings and external designs of beverage cans.

Further Reading

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StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Nu Skin Enterprises (NYSE:NUS  Free Report) in a report published on Thursday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the stock.

NUS has been the topic of several other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Nu Skin Enterprises from $43.00 to $35.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of Nu Skin Enterprises from $38.00 to $29.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $36.00.

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View Our Latest Report on Nu Skin Enterprises

Nu Skin Enterprises Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE NUS traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $24.41. The companys stock had a trading volume of 251,067 shares, compared to its average volume of 596,618. Nu Skin Enterprises has a 52 week low of $23.82 and a 52 week high of $46.90. The company has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a PE ratio of 17.16 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The companys 50-day simple moving average is $30.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.23.

Nu Skin Enterprises (NYSE:NUS  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.01. Nu Skin Enterprises had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The business had revenue of $500.26 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $512.35 million. Research analysts anticipate that Nu Skin Enterprises will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nu Skin Enterprises Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 25th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 24th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.39%. Nu Skin Enterprisess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 110.64%.

Insider Transactions at Nu Skin Enterprises

In other news, Director Andrew D. Lipman sold 2,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.12, for a total transaction of $64,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 60,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,947,275. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Andrew D. Lipman sold 2,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.12, for a total transaction of $64,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 60,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,947,275. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Emma S. Battle sold 1,272 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.15, for a total transaction of $33,262.80. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,619 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $199,236.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,272 shares of company stock worth $224,043 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.00% of the companys stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Nu Skin Enterprises in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC grew its stake in Nu Skin Enterprises by 37.1% in the 2nd quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 809 shares of the companys stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Nu Skin Enterprises by 118.2% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,150 shares of the companys stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 623 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. purchased a new position in Nu Skin Enterprises in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in Nu Skin Enterprises by 135.8% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,646 shares of the companys stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 948 shares in the last quarter. 89.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Nu Skin Enterprises

(Get Free Report)

Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops and distributes various beauty and wellness products worldwide. It offers skin care devices, cosmetics, and other personal care products, including ageLOC LumiSpa and ageLOC LumiSpa iO, ageLOC Body Spa; and nutricentials skin care products.

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Payden & Rygel purchased a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH  Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 37,450 shares of the medical research companys stock, valued at approximately $8,592,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WealthPLAN Partners LLC bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 45.6% in the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 131 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on LH. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $277.00 to $257.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 16th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $290.00 to $270.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $285.00 to $260.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $251.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Laboratory Co. of America

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 212 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total value of $50,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 7,605 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,825,200. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 5,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.57, for a total value of $1,057,850.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 15,275 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,231,731.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 212 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total transaction of $50,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,825,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.65% of the companys stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE LH traded up $1.69 during trading on Friday, reaching $214.59. 113,205 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 728,952. The firm has a market cap of $19.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.02 and a beta of 1.07. The stocks 50-day moving average price is $220.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $226.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a fifty-two week low of $166.93 and a fifty-two week high of $222.33.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The medical research company reported $3.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $3.47 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.77 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 5.89% and a return on equity of 14.62%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.96 EPS. Analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 13.68 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 8th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 7th. Laboratory Co. of Americas payout ratio is currently 31.07%.

About Laboratory Co. of America

(Free Report)

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.

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StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Perusahaan Perseroan (Persero) PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk (NYSE:TLK  Free Report) in a research note published on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the utilities providers stock.

Perusahaan Perseroan (Persero) PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:TLK traded down $0.05 during trading on Thursday, reaching $24.38. The stock had a trading volume of 178,447 shares, compared to its average volume of 209,272. Perusahaan Perseroan has a 52 week low of $23.02 and a 52 week high of $31.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.60.

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Perusahaan Perseroan (Persero) PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 15th were paid a $1.1296 dividend. This is an increase from Perusahaan Perseroan (Persero) PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbks previous annual dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 14th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.7%. Perusahaan Perseroan (Persero) PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbks dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.43%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Perusahaan Perseroan (Persero) PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk

About Perusahaan Perseroan (Persero) PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TLK. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Perusahaan Perseroan (Persero) PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk by 0.9% during the second quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 58,569 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $1,562,000 after buying an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Perusahaan Perseroan (Persero) PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk by 5.3% during the second quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 21,924 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $585,000 after acquiring an additional 1,113 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its holdings in shares of Perusahaan Perseroan (Persero) PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk by 5.9% during the second quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 183,398 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $4,891,000 after acquiring an additional 10,198 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Perusahaan Perseroan (Persero) PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk by 11.1% during the second quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 22,080 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $589,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC bought a new position in shares of Perusahaan Perseroan (Persero) PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk during the second quarter valued at $102,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 3.92% of the companys stock.

(Get Free Report)

Perusahaan Perseroan (Persero) PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk provides information and communications technology, and telecommunications network services worldwide. The company operates through mobile, consumer, enterprise, Wholesale and International Business, and Other segments. The Mobile segment offers mobile voice, SMS, value added services, and mobile broadband services.

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Shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.  Petrobras (NYSE:PBR  Get Free Report) shot up 3.9% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $13.97 and last traded at $13.96. 7,225,296 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 21,894,014 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.43.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.  Petrobras from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, August 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.  Petrobras from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $15.00 to $14.50 in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Bradesco Corretora reiterated a neutral rating and issued a $10.00 price objective on shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.  Petrobras in a report on Thursday, July 27th. Citigroup cut shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.  Petrobras from a buy rating to a neutral rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $14.00 in a report on Thursday, August 10th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.  Petrobras in a research note on Thursday. They issued a buy rating on the stock. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $13.78.

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Read Our Latest Analysis on Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.  Petrobras

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.  Petrobras Trading Down 0.8 %

The stock has a market cap of $89.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The businesss 50 day simple moving average is $13.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.15.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.  Petrobras (NYSE:PBR  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $22.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.71 billion. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.  Petrobras had a net margin of 26.86% and a return on equity of 40.65%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.39 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.  Petrobras will post 3.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.  Petrobras Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a  dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 23rd will be paid a $0.2353 dividend. This represents a yield of 26.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 22nd. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.  Petrobrass dividend payout ratio is currently 19.91%.

Institutional Trading of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.  Petrobras

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PBR. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.  Petrobras by 166.3% during the 4th quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 1,313,417 shares of the oil and gas exploration companys stock worth $13,923,000 after buying an additional 820,172 shares during the last quarter. Stonnington Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.  Petrobras during the 1st quarter worth about $238,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.  Petrobras by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,000 shares of the oil and gas exploration companys stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.  Petrobras by 44.6% during the 1st quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 17,316 shares of the oil and gas exploration companys stock worth $181,000 after buying an additional 5,338 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its stake in shares of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.  Petrobras by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 5,000 shares of the oil and gas exploration companys stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.09% of the companys stock.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.  Petrobras Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Petroleo Brasileiro SA  Petrobras explores, produces, and sells oil and gas in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through Exploration and Production; Refining, Transportation and Marketing; and Gas and Power. It also engages in prospecting, drilling, refining, processing, trading, and transporting crude oil from producing onshore and offshore oil fields, and shale or other rocks, as well as oil products, natural gas, and other liquid hydrocarbons.

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StockNews.com started coverage on shares of PLDT (NYSE:PHI  Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday. The firm issued a buy rating on the technology companys stock.

PLDT Stock Performance

Shares of PLDT stock traded up $0.07 on Thursday, reaching $21.26. 25,651 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 63,143. PLDT has a 52 week low of $20.20 and a 52 week high of $30.90. The company has a 50 day moving average of $23.23 and a 200 day moving average of $23.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a PE ratio of 21.96, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.33.

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PLDT Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 16th will be given a dividend of $0.639 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 15th. PLDTs dividend payout ratio is currently 131.96%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

About PLDT

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in PLDT in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its holdings in PLDT by 79.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 1,790 shares of the technology companys stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 790 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC bought a new position in PLDT in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC bought a new position in PLDT in the 1st quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in PLDT by 1,869.6% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 2,265 shares of the technology companys stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 2,150 shares during the period. 2.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

(Get Free Report)

PLDT Inc provides telecommunications and digital services in the Philippines. The company operates through three segments: Wireless, Fixed Line, and Others. It offers cellular mobile, Internet broadband distribution, operations support, software development, and satellite information and messaging services; and sells Wi-Fi access equipment.

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PropertyGuru Group Limited (NYSE:PGRU  Get Free Report)s share price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $4.20, but opened at $4.38. PropertyGuru Group shares last traded at $4.40, with a volume of 1,924 shares trading hands.

PropertyGuru Group Trading Up 0.2 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $4.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4.53.

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PropertyGuru Group (NYSE:PGRU  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 23rd. The company reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter. PropertyGuru Group had a negative return on equity of 2.15% and a negative net margin of 11.66%. The company had revenue of $24.48 million for the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.90) earnings per share. Analysts expect that PropertyGuru Group Limited will post -0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

About PropertyGuru Group

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PGRU. Royal Bank of Canada acquired a new stake in shares of PropertyGuru Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $42,000. Leo Brokerage LLC acquired a new stake in PropertyGuru Group in the first quarter valued at $50,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in PropertyGuru Group in the first quarter valued at $100,000. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd increased its position in shares of PropertyGuru Group by 617.0% in the first quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 34,352 shares of the companys stock valued at $171,000 after buying an additional 29,561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of PropertyGuru Group during the 1st quarter worth $253,000. 61.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

(Get Free Report)

PropertyGuru Group Limited operates digital property classifieds marketplaces that connects homeowners and tenants with verified home service providers in Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. The company offers digital and marketing services, and sales process and workflow automation software for developers.

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StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Provident Financial Services (NYSE:PFS  Free Report) in a report published on Thursday. The firm issued a sell rating on the savings and loans companys stock.

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Provident Financial Services from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Monday, July 31st.

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Provident Financial Services Stock Up 1.6 %

Provident Financial Services Announces Dividend

Shares of Provident Financial Services stock traded up $0.27 during trading on Thursday, hitting $17.04. 104,267 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 502,720. The stock has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.60 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. Provident Financial Services has a twelve month low of $14.54 and a twelve month high of $25.32. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $17.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.81.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 25th. Investors of record on Friday, August 11th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 10th. Provident Financial Servicess payout ratio is 43.44%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Provident Financial Services by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 98,728 shares of the savings and loans companys stock valued at $1,894,000 after acquiring an additional 8,174 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in Provident Financial Services by 57.5% in the 1st quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 25,474 shares of the savings and loans companys stock worth $489,000 after buying an additional 9,300 shares during the period. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. increased its position in Provident Financial Services by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 12,875 shares of the savings and loans companys stock worth $275,000 after buying an additional 2,181 shares during the period. Kistler Tiffany Companies LLC increased its position in Provident Financial Services by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. Kistler Tiffany Companies LLC now owns 128,699 shares of the savings and loans companys stock worth $2,468,000 after buying an additional 14,506 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in Provident Financial Services by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 20,179 shares of the savings and loans companys stock worth $431,000 after buying an additional 703 shares during the period. 70.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Provident Financial Services Company Profile

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Provident Financial Services, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of banking services to individual and corporate customers in Northern and Central New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania. The company was founded on January 15, 2003 and is headquartered in Jersey City, NJ.

Further Reading

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PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk (OTCMKTS:BKRKF  Get Free Report) shares traded down 3.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $0.34 and last traded at $0.35. 13,732 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 53,462 shares. The stock had previously closed at $0.37.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. HSBC lowered PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk in a research note on Tuesday, May 2nd. They issued a buy rating for the company.

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PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk Price Performance

PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk Company Profile

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $0.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $0.34.

(Get Free Report)

PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk provides various banking products and services in Indonesia, the United States of America, Singapore, Timor-Leste, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. The company offers savings, time deposit, and current accounts; mortgage, working capital, investment, franchise, and cash collateral loan, as well as supply chain financing and bank guarantee; and micro, consumer, small and medium, program, and other loans.

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CAVA Group, Inc. (NYSE:CAVA  Free Report)  Investment analysts at William Blair boosted their Q3 2023 EPS estimates for shares of CAVA Group in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, August 16th. William Blair analyst S. Zackfia now anticipates that the company will post earnings of ($0.01) per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of ($0.03). William Blair currently has a Outperform rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for CAVA Groups current full-year earnings is ($0.08) per share. William Blair also issued estimates for CAVA Groups Q4 2023 earnings at ($0.01) EPS, FY2023 earnings at $0.01 EPS, Q2 2024 earnings at $0.09 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $0.04 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at ($0.02) EPS, FY2024 earnings at $0.03 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $0.07 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $0.17 EPS.

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CAVA Group (NYSE:CAVA  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 15th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $172.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $163.21 million. The firms quarterly revenue was up 27.2% on a year-over-year basis.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on CAVA. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of CAVA Group from $48.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of CAVA Group from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of CAVA Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of CAVA Group from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of CAVA Group in a research report on Monday, July 10th. They set an overweight rating and a $45.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $51.00.

Read Our Latest Analysis on CAVA

CAVA Group Trading Down 9.7 %

Shares of CAVA Group stock opened at $42.37 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $46.56. CAVA Group has a 52-week low of $36.45 and a 52-week high of $58.10.

Insider Activity

In other CAVA Group news, Director Theodoros Xenohristos acquired 4,500 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $22.00 per share, with a total value of $99,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the companys stock, valued at $99,000. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Kenneth Robert Bertram bought 2,295 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $22.00 per share, for a total transaction of $50,490.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 1,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Theodoros Xenohristos bought 4,500 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 20th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $22.00 per share, with a total value of $99,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $99,000. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 9,295 shares of company stock valued at $204,490 in the last ninety days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CAVA Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Glassman Wealth Services acquired a new position in shares of CAVA Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in CAVA Group during the second quarter worth $40,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in CAVA Group during the second quarter worth $74,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in CAVA Group during the second quarter worth $102,000. Finally, Cypress Wealth Services LLC acquired a new position in CAVA Group during the second quarter worth $202,000.

About CAVA Group

(Get Free Report)

CAVA Group, Inc owns and operates a chain of Mediterranean restaurants. The company offers salads, dips, spreads, toppings, and dressings. It sells its products through whole food markets and grocery stores. The company also provides online food ordering services. Cava Group, Inc was founded in 2006 and is based in Washington, District of Columbia.

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StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Sabine Royalty Trust (NYSE:SBR  Free Report) in a research note released on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the energy companys stock.

Sabine Royalty Trust Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:SBR traded down $0.22 during trading on Thursday, hitting $66.37. 29,936 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 68,452. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $66.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.71. The company has a market cap of $967.67 million, a PE ratio of 8.46 and a beta of 0.53. Sabine Royalty Trust has a 12-month low of $62.37 and a 12-month high of $91.10.

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Sabine Royalty Trust Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.299 per share. This represents a $3.59 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 14th. Sabine Royalty Trusts dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.20%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sabine Royalty Trust

About Sabine Royalty Trust

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Sabine Royalty Trust in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in Sabine Royalty Trust by 6,062.5% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 493 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates acquired a new position in Sabine Royalty Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Sabine Royalty Trust in the 1st quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Sabine Royalty Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 14.62% of the companys stock.

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Sabine Royalty Trust holds royalty and mineral interests in various producing oil and gas properties in the United States. Its royalty and mineral interests include landowner's royalties, overriding royalty interests, minerals, production payments, and other similar non-participatory interest in certain producing and proved undeveloped oil and gas properties located in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.

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Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM  Get Free Report) had its price target decreased by research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $105.00 to $100.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an outperform rating on the basic materials companys stock. BMO Capital Markets target price indicates a potential upside of 58.73% from the stocks previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on SQM. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile from $97.00 to $93.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 21st. HSBC dropped their price objective on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile from $134.00 to $90.50 in a research report on Thursday, July 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile in a research report on Friday, May 19th. They issued a sell rating and a $60.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile in a research report on Thursday. They issued a hold rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $85.06.

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Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile Price Performance

Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile stock opened at $63.00 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $18.00 billion, a PE ratio of 4.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 0.97. Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile has a 52-week low of $60.21 and a 52-week high of $115.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The companys 50 day moving average is $72.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.48.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (NYSE:SQM  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 16th. The basic materials company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $2.62 by ($0.59). Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile had a return on equity of 82.96% and a net margin of 35.24%. The business had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.01 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile will post 12.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SQM. D.A. Davidson & CO. acquired a new stake in shares of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile in the 1st quarter worth $626,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile during the 1st quarter valued at $48,000. Accel Wealth Management purchased a new position in Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile by 266.7% in the 1st quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 6,006 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $486,000 after acquiring an additional 4,368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile in the 4th quarter worth about $549,000. 17.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile Company Profile

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Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile SA produces and distributes specialty plant nutrients, iodine derivatives, lithium derivatives, potassium chloride and sulfate, industrial chemicals, and other products and services. The company offers specialty plant nutrients, including potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate, sodium potassium nitrate, specialty blends, and other specialty fertilizers.

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StockNews.com started coverage on shares of EMCOR Group (NYSE:EME  Free Report) in a report published on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a strong-buy rating on the construction companys stock.

EMCOR Group Price Performance

Shares of EME stock traded up $1.22 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $213.19. 28,408 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 374,747. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.29. The companys 50 day moving average price is $193.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $171.88. EMCOR Group has a 12 month low of $112.85 and a 12 month high of $223.49. The company has a market cap of $10.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.07 and a beta of 1.12.

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EMCOR Group (NYSE:EME  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The construction company reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.58. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. EMCOR Group had a net margin of 4.13% and a return on equity of 24.20%. The firms revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.99 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that EMCOR Group will post 11.01 earnings per share for the current year.

EMCOR Group Announces Dividend

Insider Transactions at EMCOR Group

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 20th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 19th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. EMCOR Groups dividend payout ratio is presently 7.16%.

In related news, CEO Anthony Guzzi sold 11,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.37, for a total value of $2,160,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 224,722 shares of the companys stock, valued at $44,128,659.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 22,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,196,296. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EMCOR Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EME. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its stake in EMCOR Group by 2.2% in the second quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 2,413 shares of the construction companys stock worth $446,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of EMCOR Group by 1.4% during the second quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,286 shares of the construction companys stock worth $792,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its holdings in EMCOR Group by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 1,350 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $249,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of EMCOR Group by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,552 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in shares of EMCOR Group by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 6,867 shares of the construction companys stock worth $1,017,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. 96.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

EMCOR Group Company Profile

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EMCOR Group, Inc provides electrical and mechanical construction, and facilities services primarily in the United States and the United Kingdom. It offers design, integration, installation, start-up, operation, and maintenance services related to electrical power transmission, distribution, and generation systems; energy solutions; premises electrical and lighting systems; process instrumentation in the refining, chemical processing, and food processing industries; low-voltage systems, such as fire alarm, security, and process control systems; voice and data communications systems; roadway and transit lighting, signaling, and fiber optic lines; heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration, and geothermal solutions; clean-room process ventilation systems; fire protection and suppression systems; plumbing, process, and high-purity piping systems; controls and filtration systems; water and wastewater treatment systems; central plant heating and cooling systems; crane and rigging services; millwright services; and steel fabrication, erection, and welding services.

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Shares of Stora Enso Oyj (OTCMKTS:SEOAY  Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of Moderate Buy from the eight analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $14.50.

Several brokerages have weighed in on SEOAY. DNB Markets lowered Stora Enso Oyj from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, June 15th. BNP Paribas lowered Stora Enso Oyj from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, June 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Stora Enso Oyj from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 2nd.

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Stora Enso Oyj Stock Performance

SEOAY stock opened at $11.62 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $12.14 and a 200-day moving average of $12.95. Stora Enso Oyj has a 12-month low of $11.06 and a 12-month high of $15.68. The firm has a market cap of $9.16 billion, a PE ratio of 15.03 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Stora Enso Oyj (OTCMKTS:SEOAY  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 21st. The basic materials company reported ($0.29) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.48). Stora Enso Oyj had a net margin of 8.10% and a return on equity of 4.66%. The firm had revenue of $2.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Stora Enso Oyj will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current year.

About Stora Enso Oyj

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Stora Enso Oyj provides renewable solutions for the packaging, biomaterials, wooden constructions, and paper industries in Finland and internationally. It operates through Packaging Materials, Packaging Solutions, Biomaterials, Wood Products, Forest, Paper, and Other segments. The company's Packaging Materials segment offers virgin and recycled fiber replace fossil-based materials with low-carbon, renewable and recyclable packaging materials for food and beverage, pharmaceutical, and transport packaging.

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Summit X LLC decreased its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO  Free Report) by 5.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,539 shares of the medical research companys stock after selling 154 shares during the period. Summit X LLCs holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $1,464,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Silicon Valley Capital Partners purchased a new position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. OLD Mission Capital LLC purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Live Oak Investment Partners purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Thermo Fisher Scientific in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.33% of the companys stock.

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Insider Activity at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.60, for a total value of $880,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 135,330 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $74,512,698. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.60, for a total value of $880,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 135,330 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $74,512,698. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $549.00, for a total transaction of $5,490,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 141,330 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $77,590,170. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,700 shares of company stock valued at $14,125,960 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.32% of the companys stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TMO has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $670.00 in a report on Thursday, July 27th. Credit Suisse Group upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and set a $620.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 13th. StockNews.com started coverage on Thermo Fisher Scientific in a report on Thursday. They set a hold rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $662.00 to $698.00 in a report on Thursday, July 27th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $700.00 to $650.00 in a report on Thursday, April 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $633.50.

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Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock traded down $4.09 on Friday, reaching $531.87. 558,244 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,498,537. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 1-year low of $475.77 and a 1-year high of $609.85. The company has a market cap of $205.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stocks 50 day moving average price is $534.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $546.06.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 26th. The medical research company reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $5.43 by ($0.28). Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 18.59% and a net margin of 13.14%. The company had revenue of $10.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.51 earnings per share. The businesss quarterly revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 22.37 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientifics payout ratio is 9.57%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Company Profile

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Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc provides life sciences solutions, analytical instruments, specialty diagnostics, and laboratory products and biopharma services in the United States and internationally. The company's Life Sciences Solutions segment offers reagents, instruments, and consumables for biological and medical research, discovery, and production of drugs and vaccines, as well as diagnosis of infections and diseases; and solutions include biosciences, genetic sciences, clinical next-generation sequencing, bio production to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agricultural, clinical, healthcare, academic, and government markets.

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Summit X LLC reduced its position in iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (NYSEARCA:IJR  Free Report) by 35.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,379 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after selling 6,366 shares during the quarter. Summit X LLCs holdings in iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF were worth $1,100,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its stake in iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 78,641 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $8,484,000 after purchasing an additional 6,036 shares in the last quarter. United Bank increased its stake in shares of iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF by 5.6% in the first quarter. United Bank now owns 27,546 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $2,972,000 after acquiring an additional 1,456 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF by 67.2% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 52,705 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $5,686,000 after buying an additional 21,177 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its position in iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF by 4.8% during the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 24,791 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $2,674,000 after buying an additional 1,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its position in shares of iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF by 19.7% in the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 8,847 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $954,000 after purchasing an additional 1,455 shares during the last quarter.

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iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF Price Performance

Shares of NYSEARCA IJR traded up $0.66 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $98.87. The company had a trading volume of 2,283,448 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,957,606. The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $100.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $98.46. iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF has a 12 month low of $86.40 and a 12 month high of $108.24. The firm has a market cap of $69.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.11 and a beta of 1.15.

iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF Profile

iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF, formerly iShares S&P SmallCap 600 Index Fund, seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Standard & Poors SmallCap 600 Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of publicly traded securities in the small-capitalization sector of the United States equity market.

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Teradata Co. (NYSE:TDC  Get Free Report) insider Margaret A. Treese sold 14,592 shares of Teradata stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.74, for a total transaction of $652,846.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 86,169 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,855,201.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Teradata Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Teradata stock opened at $43.90 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.97. The company has a fifty day moving average of $52.39 and a 200 day moving average of $44.95. Teradata Co. has a fifty-two week low of $28.65 and a fifty-two week high of $57.73.

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Teradata (NYSE:TDC  Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 7th. The technology company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $462.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $445.09 million. Teradata had a net margin of 3.21% and a return on equity of 32.47%. Teradatas quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.03 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Teradata Co. will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on TDC. Craig Hallum lifted their target price on shares of Teradata from $50.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Teradata from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Tuesday. Guggenheim raised shares of Teradata from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $62.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, May 1st. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Teradata from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 8th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Teradata from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $54.00.

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Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TDC. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in Teradata in the 1st quarter worth $231,000. Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its stake in Teradata by 46.7% in the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 21,282 shares of the technology companys stock worth $1,049,000 after purchasing an additional 6,779 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in Teradata by 21.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 10,977 shares of the technology companys stock worth $546,000 after purchasing an additional 1,916 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in Teradata by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 302,170 shares of the technology companys stock worth $14,894,000 after purchasing an additional 947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its stake in Teradata by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 39,764 shares of the technology companys stock worth $1,960,000 after purchasing an additional 3,791 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.89% of the companys stock.

Teradata Company Profile

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Teradata Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides a connected multi-cloud data platform for enterprise analytics. The company offers Teradata Vantage, a data platform that allows companies to leverage their data across an enterprise, as well as connects various sources of data to drive ecosystem simplification and support customers on their journey to the cloud through an integrated migration.

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Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR  Free Report) had its target price upped by Truist Financial from $71.00 to $77.00 in a report released on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the real estate investment trusts stock.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on EQR. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Equity Residential from $72.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Friday, May 19th. TheStreet raised Equity Residential from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research note on Monday, July 17th. Piper Sandler raised Equity Residential from an underweight rating to a neutral rating and raised their target price for the stock from $63.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Friday, June 9th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $71.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $69.31.

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Equity Residential Price Performance

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

Equity Residential stock opened at $63.76 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.85, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Equity Residential has a 52-week low of $54.60 and a 52-week high of $80.89.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 26th were given a dividend of $0.6625 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 23rd. This represents a $2.65 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.16%. Equity Residentials dividend payout ratio is currently 119.91%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.04, for a total transaction of $165,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 22,844 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,508,617.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.69% of the companys stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Residential

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Roger Wittlin Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 2.1% in the second quarter. Roger Wittlin Investment Advisory LLC now owns 7,544 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $498,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 13,757 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $908,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Equity Residential by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,128 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $1,688,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,114 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $205,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Finally, Veritable L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Veritable L.P. now owns 3,851 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $254,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.52% of the companys stock.

Equity Residential Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Equity Residential is committed to creating communities where people thrive. The Company, a member of the S&P 500, is focused on the acquisition, development and management of residential properties located in and around dynamic cities that attract affluent long-term renters. Equity Residential owns or has investments in 304 properties consisting of 80,212 apartment units, with an established presence in Boston, New York, Washington, DC, Seattle, San Francisco and Southern California, and an expanding presence in Denver, Atlanta, Dallas/Ft.

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Moran Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH  Free Report) by 5.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 51,637 shares of the healthcare conglomerates stock after buying an additional 2,689 shares during the quarter. UnitedHealth Group makes up approximately 0.9% of Moran Wealth Management LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Moran Wealth Management LLCs holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $24,403,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Chelsea Counsel Co. acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. 25 LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Freedom Wealth Alliance LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Kalos Management Inc. acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 216.7% in the 1st quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 76 shares of the healthcare conglomerates stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 1.0 %

UnitedHealth Group stock traded up $4.98 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $498.94. 1,055,917 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,522,602. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $487.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $486.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $462.17 billion, a PE ratio of 22.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.66. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 12-month low of $445.68 and a 12-month high of $558.10.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

UnitedHealth Group ( NYSE:UNH Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 14th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $5.92 by $0.22. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 6.06% and a return on equity of 26.72%. The company had revenue of $92.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.57 earnings per share. The firms quarterly revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 24.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 19th were given a dividend of $1.88 per share. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 15th. This is an increase from UnitedHealth Groups previous quarterly dividend of $1.65. UnitedHealth Groups payout ratio is currently 33.65%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $564.00 to $555.00 in a report on Monday, July 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and upped their target price for the company from $595.00 to $603.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $616.00 to $561.00 in a report on Thursday, July 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $527.00 to $532.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Monday, July 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $592.00 to $572.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $577.53.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on UnitedHealth Group

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, CEO Andrew Witty sold 4,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $506.19, for a total value of $2,024,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 78,573 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,772,866.87. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.35% of the stock is owned by insiders.

UnitedHealth Group Profile

(Free Report)

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated operates as a diversified health care company in the United States. It operates through four segments: UnitedHealthcare, Optum Health, Optum Insight, and Optum Rx. The UnitedHealthcare segment offers consumer-oriented health benefit plans and services for national employers, public sector employers, mid-sized employers, small businesses, and individuals; health care coverage, and health and well-being services to individuals age 50 and older addressing their needs; Medicaid plans, children's health insurance and health care programs; and health and dental benefits, and hospital and clinical services, as well as health care benefits products and services to state programs caring for the economically disadvantaged, medically underserved, and those without the benefit of employer-funded health care coverage.

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Shares of V2X, Inc. (NYSE:VVX  Get Free Report) were up 3.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $53.31 and last traded at $53.31. Approximately 20,046 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 73,771 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.58.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VVX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of V2X from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of V2X from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th.

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Check Out Our Latest Analysis on V2X

V2X Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The firm has a market cap of $1.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -35.71 and a beta of 1.01. The companys 50-day moving average is $49.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.05.

V2X (NYSE:VVX  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 8th. The company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $977.85 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $898.53 million. V2X had a negative net margin of 1.12% and a positive return on equity of 12.75%. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 96.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.41 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that V2X, Inc. will post 4.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On V2X

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Camarda Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in V2X in the 2nd quarter valued at about $637,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. purchased a new stake in V2X in the 2nd quarter valued at about $371,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in shares of V2X by 56.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 5,876 shares of the companys stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 2,131 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in V2X by 179.5% in the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 58,023 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,876,000 after purchasing an additional 37,265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenland Capital Management LP bought a new position in V2X during the second quarter valued at $1,008,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.20% of the companys stock.

About V2X

(Get Free Report)

V2X, Inc provides critical mission solutions and support services to defense clients in the United States and internationally. It offers a suite of integrated solutions across the operations and logistics, aerospace, training, and technology markets to national security, defense, and civilian clients.

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Vantage Consulting Group Inc boosted its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Free Report) by 18.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,648 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after buying an additional 576 shares during the period. Vantage Consulting Group Incs holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $253,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,873,696,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 114,228.7% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,469,785 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $1,544,751,000 after purchasing an additional 21,451,006 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 31.1% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 18,080,568 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $1,252,480,000 after purchasing an additional 4,286,479 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 12,074,501 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $833,986,000 after purchasing an additional 863,174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,207,099 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock valued at $806,351,000 after purchasing an additional 70,887 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.57% of the companys stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. 51job reissued a maintains rating on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Friday, April 28th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $64.00 to $62.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $78.00 to $65.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 28th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 28th. Finally, SVB Securities initiated coverage on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Monday, July 10th. They issued a market perform rating and a $66.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $71.14.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Performance

Bristol-Myers Squibb stock opened at $62.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.28. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 1-year low of $59.71 and a 1-year high of $81.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.42. The companys 50-day moving average is $63.12 and its 200 day moving average is $66.77.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.99 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $11.81 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a return on equity of 50.51% and a net margin of 17.62%. The businesss revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.93 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 7.48 EPS for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 7th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 6th. Bristol-Myers Squibbs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.64%.

Insider Transactions at Bristol-Myers Squibb

In other news, EVP Robert M. Plenge sold 732 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.14, for a total transaction of $44,754.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,584 shares of the companys stock, valued at $402,545.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the companys stock.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Profile

(Free Report)

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company discovers, develops, licenses, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products worldwide. It offers products for hematology, oncology, cardiovascular, immunology, fibrotic, and neuroscience diseases. The company's products include Eliquis, an oral inhibitor for reduction in risk of stroke/systemic embolism in NVAF, and for the treatment of DVT/PE; Opdivo for anti-cancer indications; Pomalyst/Imnovid indicated for patients with multiple myeloma; Orencia for adult patients with active RA and psoriatic arthritis; and Sprycel for the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia.

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Shares of Various Eateries PLC (LON:VARE  Get Free Report) dropped 2.7% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as GBX 30.65 ($0.39) and last traded at GBX 30.65 ($0.39). Approximately 6,400 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 94% from the average daily volume of 99,998 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 31.50 ($0.40).

Various Eateries Trading Up 1.6 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 329.99, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market cap of 28.48 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -290.91 and a beta of 0.18. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of GBX 33.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of GBX 34.68.

Various Eateries Company Profile

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Various Eateries PLC, together with its subsidiaries, owns, develops, and operates restaurant and hotel sites in the United Kingdom. It operates in two segments, Restaurant and Hotel. The company operates two brands across 15 locations, which include Coppa Club, a multi-use, all-day concept that combines restaurant, terrace, cafe, lounge, bar, and workspaces; and Tavolino, a restaurant for Italian food.

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Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC  Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 8,800 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $732,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKC. SVB Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 3.0% in the first quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 3,937 shares of the companys stock worth $393,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 2.6% in the first quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,680 shares of the companys stock worth $389,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 2.9% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,204 shares of the companys stock worth $350,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 15.2% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 923 shares of the companys stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ellevest Inc. boosted its position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 3.1% in the first quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 4,362 shares of the companys stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. 79.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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McCormick & Company, Incorporated Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of MKC traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $85.39. 87,006 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,423,449. The firm has a market cap of $22.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.85, a P/E/G ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $88.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $83.71. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 12-month low of $70.60 and a 12-month high of $94.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Announces Dividend

McCormick & Company, Incorporated ( NYSE:MKC Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 29th. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a net margin of 10.74% and a return on equity of 14.76%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.48 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 10th were given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 7th. McCormick & Company, Incorporateds dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MKC shares. TheStreet raised shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research report on Friday, June 23rd. Bank of America raised shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from an underperform rating to a buy rating and lifted their price target for the company from $75.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 6th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated in a research report on Thursday. They set a hold rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 6th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $77.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Sunday, July 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, McCormick & Company, Incorporated currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $83.40.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on MKC

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McCormick & Company, Incorporated news, Director Jacques Tapiero sold 5,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.88, for a total value of $449,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,612 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,006.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other McCormick & Company, Incorporated news, Director Jacques Tapiero sold 5,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.88, for a total value of $449,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,612 shares in the company, valued at $2,302,006.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Jeffery D. Schwartz sold 3,600 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.48, for a total transaction of $314,928.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 57,174 shares in the company, valued at $5,001,581.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 11,200 shares of company stock worth $998,380. 19.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Company Profile

(Free Report)

McCormick & Company, Incorporated manufactures, markets, and distributes spices, seasoning mixes, condiments, and other flavorful products to the food industry. It operates in two segments, Consumer and Flavor Solutions. The Consumer segment offers spices, herbs, and seasonings, as well as condiments and sauces, and desserts.

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Keysight Technologies (NYSE:KEYS  Get Free Report) had its price target lowered by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $200.00 to $175.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, FlyOnTheWall reports. Wells Fargo & Companys price objective would indicate a potential upside of 16.63% from the stocks current price.

KEYS has been the topic of several other reports. Citigroup dropped their price target on Keysight Technologies from $200.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Friday. Barclays lowered Keysight Technologies from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and dropped their price target for the company from $204.00 to $144.00 in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Keysight Technologies from $184.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Monday, April 24th. VNET Group reissued an initiates rating on shares of Keysight Technologies in a research report on Friday, June 30th. Finally, Bank of America lowered Keysight Technologies from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and dropped their price target for the company from $163.00 to $148.00 in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and nine 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 price target of $181.00.

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Keysight Technologies Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE KEYS opened at $150.05 on Friday. Keysight Technologies has a 12 month low of $139.63 and a 12 month high of $189.45. The company has a market cap of $26.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 3.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $163.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $160.87.

Keysight Technologies (NYSE:KEYS  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 16th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.17. Keysight Technologies had a return on equity of 31.75% and a net margin of 21.11%. The business had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.68 earnings per share. Keysight Technologiess revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Keysight Technologies will post 7.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Kailash Narayanan sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $82,500.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 26,169 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,317,885. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Soon Chai Gooi sold 29,139 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.95, for a total transaction of $4,719,061.05. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 227,874 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,904,194.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kailash Narayanan sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $82,500.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 26,169 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,317,885. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.51% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Keysight Technologies

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KEYS. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its position in shares of Keysight Technologies by 22,598.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 59,271,518 shares of the scientific and technical instruments companys stock worth $9,925,016,000 after acquiring an additional 59,010,391 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Keysight Technologies by 1,242.2% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,939,449 shares of the scientific and technical instruments companys stock worth $48,469,000 after acquiring an additional 3,645,946 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Keysight Technologies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $265,043,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Keysight Technologies by 110,226.3% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,500,438 shares of the scientific and technical instruments companys stock worth $256,680,000 after acquiring an additional 1,499,078 shares during the period. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Keysight Technologies in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $103,365,000. Institutional investors own 84.08% of the companys stock.

Keysight Technologies Company Profile

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Keysight Technologies, Inc provides electronic design and test solutions to commercial communications, networking, aerospace, defense and government, automotive, energy, semiconductor, electronic, and education industries in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. Its Communications Solutions Group segment provides electronic design automation (EDA) software; radio frequency and microwave test solutions, and related software; hardware and virtual network test platforms and software applications, including data center, routing and switching, software defined networking, security, and encryption; oscilloscopes, logic and serial protocol analyzers, logic-signal sources, arbitrary waveform generators, and bit error rate testers; and optical modulation analyzers, optical component analyzers, optical power meters, and optical laser source solutions, as well as resells refurbished used Keysight equipment.

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Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd. (TSE:WDO  Free Report)  Equities research analysts at National Bank Financial cut their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for Wesdome Gold Mines in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, August 15th. National Bank Financial analyst D. Demarco now expects that the company will post earnings of $0.85 per share for the year, down from their prior forecast of $0.90. The consensus estimate for Wesdome Gold Mines current full-year earnings is $0.03 per share.

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Separately, Canaccord Genuity Group set a C$8.00 target price on Wesdome Gold Mines and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Monday, June 19th.

Wesdome Gold Mines Price Performance

Shares of WDO stock opened at C$6.83 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of C$6.94 and a 200 day moving average price of C$7.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.74. The firm has a market cap of C$1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -45.53 and a beta of 0.55. Wesdome Gold Mines has a 12 month low of C$6.00 and a 12 month high of C$10.45.

About Wesdome Gold Mines

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Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd. explores and develops of gold deposits in Canada. The company produces gold in the form of dore bars, as well as silver as a by-product. It holds interest in the Eagle River Mine and the Mishi Mine in Ontario; and the Kiena Mine in Quebec. The company was formerly known as River Gold Mines Ltd.

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Stasi commissars and Bolshevik troops were regaled at this years woke Marxist Edinburgh Fringe Festival of Soviet Non-Comedy. The humourless coterie of performers all abided by strict puritanical communist regulations that completely kill any form of comedy.

Comrades, thank you for attending this years Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It is good to see you all wearing your Soviet caps and drab green uniforms. We have a wonderful set of performers this year who will all be performing the same things as each other with the same humourless non-comedy woke salad shite. If we see anyone laugh or look happy, they will be sent to a fucking gulag. Enjoy the show, comrades, a Stasi official announced.

According to the regulations and diktats of the heavily censored event, any performer who dares to even think of having a mind of their own, or an opinion that is not in line with woke communist ideology will be cancelled, ejected from the show and sent to a gulag somewhere in Glasgow.

Comrade Nadine McManus, from Dunfermline, praised one of the woke communist performances.

I enjoyed the show and everyone clapped on cue. The soviet dancing performance was wonderful. Afterwards we were treated to a few chapters of Lenins book The State and Revolution. I saw someone who was not clapping in time, so I reported them to the Commissar, who thankfully took action immediately and removed them. I cannot wait to come back next year.

Another attendee from Islington, London was Comrade Marcus Stallin, who watched a performance of soviet school children playing guitars uniformly and with perfect timing.

It was truly magnificent. The children played perfectly. I suppose the teacher standing behind them with a bull whip had something to do with it. Not bad for a bunch of four-year-olds.
News

Hyderabad: Ketamine, commonly known as a date rape drug, which is supplied to users in Hyderabad city, is usually transported from Mumbai, Goa and sometimes Bengaluru. However, with increased surveillance of police and other law enforcement agencies on these routes, drug traffickers have moved to other routes to traffic this drug into the city, suspect the cops.

In all the cases related to Ketamine detected in the past, these three cities have been a source of supply for the peddlers and it was from these cities, ketamine was trafficked into the city. But in one of the recent cases, it was found that the peddlers trafficked Ketamine from Odisha. Some districts of Odisha are known for supplying Ganja, but Ketamine trafficked from there is a new area of concern for them, an official said.

There are possibilities that this synthetic drug landed in the hands of Ganja suppliers in Odisha in exchange for Ganja. There are also chances that to dodge police and enforcement agencies, the peddlers have adopted this route, they opined.

Usually, foreign nationals visiting cities like Goa lookout for Ganja, but since Ganja supply is relatively less in Goa in comparison with synthetic drugs, the peddlers procure Ganja from Ganja suppliers in exchange for Ketamine.

The Ganja peddlers also sometimes supply synthetic drugs to their consumers, creating a new market all together, said officials.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin (PTI)

Ramanathapuram: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Friday said the continued attacks on Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan navy shows the Union government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was "weak". Chairing a fishermen's welfare conference here, he reiterated that retrieval of Katchatheevu, an island ceded to Sri Lanka by way of mutual agreements in 1974, was the permanent solution for the plaguing fishermen issue.

Stalin, who is the ruling DMK President, also said his father and late chief minister M Karunanidhi had provided a report that Katchatheevu belongs to India.

The Chief Minister's reference regarding the ceding of the island comes days after PM Modi said it was the Indira Gandhi government which gave the Katchatheevu Island to Sri Lanka in 1974.

Modi had also said the current DMK government in Tamil Nadu keeps writing to him urging to retrieve the island.

Stalin further alleged attacks on Indian fishermen from the state by the Lankan navy has increased during the current NDA regime.

The conference condemned the harassment of and attacks on Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan navy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (PTI)

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that India is making remarkable progress towards achieving equitable and collective prosperity. Citing two reports, the Prime Minister also said that the country is standing on the cusp of a new era of economic prosperity and is on course towards fulfilling our dream of "viksit Bharat" by 2047.

In a post on LinkedIn, Modi pointed out that he recently came across two insightful research pieces that will interest all those passionate about India's economy  one from SBI Research and another by journalist Anil Padmanabhan.

"These analyses shed light on something that should make us happy -- that India is making remarkable progress on achieving equitable and collective prosperity," the Prime Minister said.

Sharing highlights from the two reports, Modi noted that SBI Research has pointed out (based on ITR returns) that the weighted mean income has made a commendable leap over the last nine years, from Rs 4.4 lakh in assessment year 2014 to Rs 13 lakh in financial year 2023.

Posting several data points from the two reports, the Prime Minister said that these findings not only reflect India's collective efforts but also reiterate its potential as a nation.

"Growing prosperity augurs well for national progress. Undoubtedly, we are standing on the cusp of a new era of economic prosperity and are on course towards fulfilling our dream of viksit Bharat by 2047," Modi said.

In his 2022 Independence Day speech, the Prime Minister had unveiled five resolutions. Making India a developed country by 2047, when the country will celebrate 100 years of Independence, was one of them.

In his post, the Prime Minister said that Padmanabhan's study of ITR data suggests a widening tax base across income brackets and each of them has seen a minimum threefold increase in tax filings, some even achieving a nearly fourfold surge.

"The research highlights the positive performance in terms of the increase in income tax filings across states. When comparing ITR filings between 2014 and 2023, the data paints a promising picture of increased tax participation across all states," Modi said.

The Prime Minister pointed out that the ITR data analysis shows the state of Uttar Pradesh has emerged as one of the top-performing states when it comes to

ITR filings. "In June 2014, Uttar Pradesh reported a modest 1.65 lakh ITR filings, but by June 2023, this figure had skyrocketed to an impressive 11.92 lakh," he said.

The Prime Minister further noted that the SBI report also brings forth an encouraging aspect  the smaller states and that too from the Northeast, namely Manipur, Mizoram, and Nagaland, have exhibited an admirable growth of over 20 per cent in ITR filings over the past nine years.

"This shows that not only have incomes risen, but so has compliance. And this is a manifestation of the spirit of trust that the people have in our government," the Prime Minister added.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi. (PTI)

Lucknow: The newly appointed Uttar Pradesh Congress president, Ajay Rai, has stated that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will once again contest from Amethi, while Priyanka Gandhi has the flexibility to choose her preferred constituency, even suggesting Varanasi, with full support from Congress workers for her victory.

Rai spoke to reporters, affirming, "Rahul Gandhi will contest from Amethi. Priyanka ji can contest from Varanasi if she wishes to do so." It's important to recall that Rahul Gandhi was defeated by BJP's Smriti Irani in the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency in 2019. The UP Congress chief expressed confidence in the party's resurgence in the upcoming general election.

Addressing a potential contest between Rahul Gandhi and Smriti Irani, Ajay Rai commented, "Ask her whether she could make sugar available at `13 per kg as she had promised. She must answer to the public where did that sugar go." In the 2019 elections, Rahul Gandhi had contested from two constituencies: Amethi in UP and Wayanad in Kerala. While he was defeated by BJP's Smriti Irani in Amethi, he emerged victorious in Wayanad. The recently appointed UP Congress Chief aimed to motivate the beleaguered Uttar Pradesh Congress members.

Reflecting back to 2019, during a period of intense speculation about the likelihood of Priyanka Gandhi challenging Modi in Varanasi, a last-minute decision led to Ajay Rai's nomination as the candidate from the same constituency. It's worth noting that in the 2014 elections, Ajay Rai had also contested from Varanasi but faced defeat both times.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar (PTI)

Bengaluru: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Thursday said it will request the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) to reconsider its decision on sharing water with Tamil Nadu.

Shivakumar said the CWMA has instructed the Karnataka government to release 10,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu over the next 15 days at a time when the state was grappling with water shortage.

Speaking to ANI, Deputy CM Shivakumar said, "We received an instruction that we have to release 10,000 cusecs of water (from Cauvery) for 15 days. We are aware that the state is currently grappling with a water crisis. We are facing severe drought in some areas."

"Still, in compliance with the Supreme Court directive, we have released the water (from the Cauvery) over the last four to five days. However, we urge the authority to reconsider the decision (to release water to Tamil Nadu) as it might have a direct impact on the availability of potable water here in Karnataka," the Deputy CM added.

Meanwhile, weighing in on the issue, former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday said the Congress government has betrayed farmers in the state as it did not put forward their plight before the Cauvery Water Management Authority.

"Congress govt has betrayed the farmers, especially those inhabiting the Cauvery river basin. They did not fight their case before the CWMA. Now, they should stand up for our farmers before the Supreme Court and argue our case on merit rather than meekly surrendering to the authority and giving away water (to Tamil Nadu). This is dhokha (betrayal) with our farmers," former CM Bommai said.

Earlier, on Monday, deputy chief minister Shivakumar said Tamil Nadu need not worry about the release of Cauvery water.

"We respect the court's Distressed Water Sharing Formula with regard to the Cauvery. There is no need for the people of Tamil Nadu to approach the Supreme Court in such a hurry. We have to work together to cater to the interests of both the states," he said.

The Kaveri is an interstate basin that originates in Karnataka and passes through Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry before draining into the Bay of Bengal.

The total watershed of the Cauveri basin is 81,155 sq km, of which the rivers catchment area is about 34,273 sq km in Karnataka, 2,866 sq km in Kerala and the remaining 44,016 sq km in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry.
mobilezone holding ag / Key word(s): Half Year Results

Group strengthens market position despite slight decline in sales



18-Aug-2023 / 06:45 CET/CEST

Release of an ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 LR

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.



PRESS RELEASE Ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 LR Rotkreuz, 18 August 2023 Currency-adjusted sales of CHF 491 million (previous year: CHF 500 million)

Operating profit (EBIT) of CHF 28.1 million (previous year: CHF 34.7 million)

Net profit of CHF 20.9 million (previous year: CHF 26.0 million) Markus Bernhard, CEO of the mobilezone Group, says: "In the first half of 2023, mobilezone's Swiss business was particularly convincing. The market position as well as the MVNO business in the two markets Switzerland and Germany were further expanded, which is very pleasing for us. In the MVNO business with HIGH, TalkTalk and Digital Republic, the sustained growth was more than confirmed with a net increase in the first half of 2023 of +50,200 (+24 per cent) to a portfolio of 260,300 mobile postpaid subscriptions. The integration of Digital Republic (Switzerland), SIGA (Germany) and the telecommunications business of ENO (Germany) went according to plan and within the acquisition targets. In the German online business, mobilezone recorded a decline in sales figures due to dampened consumer sentiment. The company is optimistic about the second half of the year. The focus is on increasing profitability with a sustainably reduced cost base for the year. Sales amounted to CHF 474 million (previous year: CHF 500 million), of which 69 per cent were achieved in Germany and 31 per cent in Switzerland. Adjusted for currency effects, sales amounted to CHF 491 million. This decline is mainly due to the drop in sales and turnover in the German online business. Sales of CHF 173 million (previous year: CHF 204 million), or 36 per cent of sales, were generated "online" with the company's own platforms. The EBIT was CHF 28.1 million (previous year: CHF 34.7 million) and the EBIT margin was 5.9 per cent (previous year: 6.9 per cent). Adjusted for the negative currency effect of CHF 0.6 million, EBIT for the reporting year was CHF 28.7 million, whereby the decline is due to the business in Germany, while in Switzerland EBIT was marginally higher. One-time charges from cost-cutting measures and additional, first-time depreciation from the purchase price allocation of the acquisitions had a negative impact of CHF 0.9 million on the first half of the year. Investments of CHF 8.0 million were made in customer acquisition in the MVNO area and in particular the acquisition of a customer base in Germany. Key figures at a glance Organic sales decline of CHF -15 million (3.0 per cent) from CHF 500 million to CHF 485 million. Taking into account the negative currency effect of CHF -17 million (3.4 per cent) and the first-time sales contribution of Digital Republic and SIGA of CHF 6 million (1.2 per cent), Group sales amount to CHF 474 million (-5.2 per cent).

The pleasingly significant increase in MVNO revenue of 35 per cent to CHF 30 million could not fully compensate for the decline in the German online business.

Operating profit (EBIT) of CHF 28.1 million (previous year: CHF 34.7 million) with an EBIT margin of 5.9 per cent (previous year: 6.9 per cent), with Switzerland contributing 53 per cent (previous year: 41 per cent) and Germany 47 per cent (previous year: 59 per cent).

Financial expenses increased by CHF 1.2 million to CHF 2.2 million (previous year: CHF 1.0 million).

Although the net profit of CHF 20.9 million was below the record result of the previous year (CHF 26.0 million), it is the second-best result of the Group.

Net working capital was CHF 105 million as of 30 June 2023 compared to CHF 124 million at the end of December 2022.

Financial liabilities totalled CHF 202 million compared to CHF 149 million at the end of December 2022.

Net debt amounts to CHF 107 million (30.06.2022: CHF 71 million). In the first half of 2023, there were cash outflows totalling CHF 72 million for the dividend payment (CHF 39 million), acquisitions and the takeover of a customer base in Germany for the indirect B2B business (CHF 32 million).

The ratio of net debt to EBITDA was 1.46 (0.84).

Equity in the individual financial statements of mobilezone holding ag amounted to CHF 126 million (31.12.2022: CHF 147 million).

Earnings per share amounted to CHF 0.48 (previous year: CHF 0.59).

The share price was CHF 13.72 on 30 June 2023 compared to CHF 15.32 at the end of December 2022.

The number of employees as of 30 June 2023 totalled 1,017 (previous year: 995), with a decrease of 34 employees excluding acquisitions. Market area Switzerland Business in Switzerland developed well in all areas. In the first half of 2023, the retail and B2B businesses were able to confirm the best result in the company's history achieved in the previous year.

Sales increased from CHF 141 million to CHF 151 million, or 7.1 per cent.

The EBIT amounted to CHF 15.1 million (previous year: CHF 14.8 million), which corresponds to a return on sales of 10.0 per cent (previous year: 10.5 per cent).

The number of shops was 126 (31.12.2022: 124).

The number of negotiated contracts (postpaid, internet and TV) increased by 6.9 per cent to 217,000 (previous year: 203,000).

Service sales (fleet management, data transfer, smartphone set-up and other services) amounted to CHF 3.8 million (previous year: CHF 3.8 million).

Accessories sales increased by 15.2 per cent to CHF 12.1 million (previous year: CHF 10.5 million) and account for 8.0 per cent (previous year: 7.4 per cent) of sales in Switzerland.

Sales at the MVNO TalkTalk and Digital Republic amounted to CHF 15.4 million (previous year: CHF 11.9 million). Continued growth (+20%) was shown in the mobile postpaid area with a net increase of +22,600 mobile postpaid subscriptions. Mobile postpaid subscriptions: 135,200 (31.12.2022: 112,600). Market area Germany In B2B trading and in the MVNO business, the first half of the year went very well. In the online market, cautious consumer sentiment and reduced investments by business partners led to 15 per cent lower sales figures during the first 5 months. In the local currency, sales in the German organisation decreased by 5.5 per cent. In the reporting currency CHF, sales decreased from CHF 358 million to CHF 326 million, or 8.9 per cent.

The EBIT amounted to CHF 13.2 million (previous year: CHF 20.3 million), which corresponds to a return on sales of 4.0 per cent (previous year: 5.7 per cent). Adjusted for currency effects, the EBIT was CHF 13.8 million.

The volume in the online business of mobile phone contracts decreased by 14.6 per cent to 269,000 (previous year: 315,000).

In B2B trade, 232,000 (previous year: 222,000) mobile contracts were concluded; this corresponds to an increase of 4.5 per cent.

In total, 501,000 (previous year: 537,000) mobile telephony contracts were concluded "online" and in B2B trade, which corresponds to a decrease of 6.7 per cent.

Sales at the MVNO HIGH amounted to CHF 14.6 million (previous year: CHF 10.3 million).

With a net increase of +27,600 mobile postpaid subscriptions, continued growth (+28 per cent) was shown. Mobile postpaid subscriptions: 125,200 (31.12.2022: 97,600). Ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 LR (PDF) Contact for Analysts, investors, and media representatives Markus Bernhard Andreas Fecker Chief Executive Officer Chief Financial Officer mobilezone holding ag mobilezone holding ag mobilezoneholding@mobilezone.ch mobilezoneholding@mobilezone.ch About mobilezone

With a turnover of CHF 1.0 billion and consolidated net profit of CHF 54.5 million in the 2022 reporting year, mobilezone holding ag, founded in 1999, is the leading independent Swiss and German telecom specialist. The registered shares of mobilezone holding ag (MOZN) are traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange AG.



The mobilezone Group employs around 1,000 staff at its sites in Rotkreuz, Urnasch, Cologne, Bochum and Munster. The services and products offered by the Group include a full range of mobile phones and tariff plans for mobile and fixed-line telephony, digital TV and internet from all providers. Independent advice and services for private and business clients, repair services and supply to retailers complete the offering. These services and products are offered online via various web portals and in over 125 mobilezone shops in Switzerland.

www.mobilezoneholding.ch Agenda 18 August 2023 9.15 a.m.: Video-conference on Half-Year Reporting 2023 for investors, analysts and media representatives via registration link 13 September 2023 Investora, Dubendorf 8 March 2024 Publication of Annual Report 2023 and Sustainability Report 2023 8 March 2024 Video-conference on annual report 2023 for investors, analysts and media representatives 3 April 2024 Annual General Meeting 2024

End of Inside Information
Representational Image

Bhopal: A rape convict, who had secured relief in his sentence for his good behaviour in jail a year and half ago, allegedly raped a minor girl in Satna in Madhya Pradesh, police said on Thursday.

The accused Rakesh Verma (35) lured the alleged victim, a five-year-old girl, by offering her candies at around five pm on Wednesday and took her in an auto to an isolated place to rape her, Satna city superintendent of police Mahendra Singh Chouhan said.

The accused was arrested on Thursday under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under Protection of Child from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, police said.

According to the police, the grandmother of the alleged victim had noticed the accused taking the girl with him in an auto and raised an alarm.

Later, police reached the spot and searched for the girl.

The minor was found lying in the spot of the crime bleeding profusely after a two-hour-long search, police said.

She was rushed to the local government hospital and later referred to the district hospital in Rewa in Madhya Pradesh when her condition worsened, police said.

According to Mr Chouhan, the accused was arrested on charges of raping a four and half years old girl 12 years ago and later sentenced to 10-year-jail term by the court in the case.

He was however given a relief in his sentence term and released a year and half ago after spending seven years in jail.
TPCC president A. Revanth Reddy (DC)

Hyderabad: The absence of security cover to the high-profile TPCC president A. Revanth Reddy kicked up a row on Thursday, and Congress leaders alleged that it was a deliberate attempt by the BRS government to leave him open to danger.

It all started with the gunmen allotted to Revanth Reddy, who is also Malkajgiri MP, abstaining from duty over a couple of days, after his controversial remarks that a few top officials were working for ruling party leaders and suppressing Congress leaders and workers. Scores of cases have been filed against Revanth Reddy for allegedly demoralising of the force. The gunmen apparently were asked to stay away till the PCC chief tendered an apology.

"Though it is not clear on whose instructions the gunmen stayed away, the police will not take such decisions without instructions from the political bosses," sources close to Revanth Reddy pointed out. The Rachakonda commissionerate which oversees the security for the MP was tight-lipped about the incident. A senior official denied withdrawing security but refused to answer a question on how Revanth Reddy was left security personnel.

The Revanth Reddy camp claimed that one gunman turned up on Thursday and this angered the TPPC chief, who sent him back.

Revanth Reddy was provided heavy security before the state bifurcation till he was caught in the cash for vote scam. Attempts were made a couple of times to either withdraw or drastically bring down the security cover, forcing the Congress leader to approach the High Court.

"During his padayatra, the government informed the High Court that more than 25 personnel were put on round-the-clock duty for Revanth Reddy," said a Congress leader, adding that the affidavit filed by the government was indicative of the security threat that Revanth Reddy faced. Congress leaders alleged that the BRS top leadership was indulging in mind games to cow down the Congress' star campaigner just when the elections were approaching. "This is a clear indication of the desperation of BRS leadership which sees the writing on the wall," they said.

The Congress also questioned the haste exhibited by the government in providing security to BJP MLA Etala Rajendar when he complained of receiving threats. There were reports that minister K.T. Rama Rao spoke to Rajendar and assured him that his security cover would be increased, even before the Centre provided Y category security.

The Revanth Reddy camp was also upset over the government constantly increasing security cover to ruling party MLAs like in the case of P. Rohit Reddy who was caught misusing the facility.
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its holdings in Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:ORA  Free Report) by 7.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,642 shares of the energy companys stock after buying an additional 1,706 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYSs holdings in Ormat Technologies were worth $2,004,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Ormat Technologies in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Ormat Technologies in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Ormat Technologies in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in Ormat Technologies by 375.7% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 823 shares of the energy companys stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ormat Technologies by 43.0% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,008 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. 88.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ORA shares. Roth Capital upgraded Ormat Technologies from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note on Monday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ormat Technologies from $86.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. Roth Mkm upgraded Ormat Technologies from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $92.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, August 7th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Ormat Technologies in a research note on Thursday. They set a sell rating for the company. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on Ormat Technologies in a research report on Monday, May 22nd. They set an equal weight rating and a $89.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ormat Technologies currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $92.29.

Ormat Technologies Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE ORA opened at $75.93 on Friday. The stocks 50 day moving average is $81.35 and its 200 day moving average is $84.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Ormat Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.56 and a 12 month high of $101.81. The stock has a market cap of $4.58 billion, a PE ratio of 48.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.44.

Ormat Technologies (NYSE:ORA  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 2nd. The energy company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $194.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $196.74 million. Ormat Technologies had a return on equity of 5.17% and a net margin of 11.74%. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.22 EPS. Research analysts predict that Ormat Technologies, Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ormat Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 16th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 15th. Ormat Technologiess dividend payout ratio is currently 30.97%.

Ormat Technologies Company Profile

(Free Report)

Ormat Technologies, Inc engages in the geothermal and recovered energy power business in the United States, Indonesia, Kenya, Turkey, Chile, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Ethiopia, New Zealand, Honduras, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Electricity, Product, and Energy Storage. The Electricity segment develops, builds, owns, and operates geothermal, solar photovoltaic, and recovered energy-based power plants; and sells electricity.

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Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lessened its holdings in shares of Warrior Met Coal, Inc. (NYSE:HCC  Free Report) by 1.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 54,693 shares of the companys stock after selling 588 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS owned 0.11% of Warrior Met Coal worth $2,008,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Warrior Met Coal during the first quarter worth $235,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Warrior Met Coal by 2.8% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 624,104 shares of the companys stock worth $23,161,000 after purchasing an additional 16,725 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in shares of Warrior Met Coal by 9.7% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 46,040 shares of the companys stock worth $1,709,000 after purchasing an additional 4,079 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of Warrior Met Coal by 502.1% during the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 80,742 shares of the companys stock worth $3,031,000 after purchasing an additional 67,332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Warrior Met Coal by 59.4% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 27,476 shares of the companys stock worth $1,020,000 after purchasing an additional 10,240 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.66% of the companys stock.

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Warrior Met Coal Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE HCC opened at $39.71 on Friday. The companys fifty day moving average is $39.37 and its 200-day moving average is $37.64. The stock has a market cap of $2.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 1.10. Warrior Met Coal, Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.37 and a twelve month high of $44.82. The company has a quick ratio of 8.68, a current ratio of 9.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Warrior Met Coal Announces Dividend

Warrior Met Coal ( NYSE:HCC Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $2.02 by ($0.39). The firm had revenue of $379.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $407.47 million. Warrior Met Coal had a return on equity of 31.67% and a net margin of 28.47%. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 39.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.87 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Warrior Met Coal, Inc. will post 8.33 EPS for the current year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 7th were given a dividend of $0.07 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 4th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. Warrior Met Coals dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3.14%.

Warrior Met Coal Company Profile

(Free Report)

Warrior Met Coal, Inc produces and exports non-thermal metallurgical coal for the steel industry. It operates two underground mines located in Alabama. The company sells its metallurgical coal to a customer base of blast furnace steel producers located primarily in Europe, South America, and Asia. It also sells natural gas, which is extracted as a byproduct from coal production.

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Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. grew its stake in BILL Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BILL  Free Report) by 2.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,987 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.s holdings in BILL were worth $405,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Utah Retirement Systems boosted its position in BILL by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 17,610 shares of the companys stock worth $1,919,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of BILL by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 10,538 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,148,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Toroso Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of BILL by 15.3% during the 1st quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 1,049 shares of the companys stock valued at $238,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of BILL by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 3,834 shares of the companys stock valued at $311,000 after buying an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of BILL by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,150 shares of the companys stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.03% of the companys stock.

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BILL Stock Performance

NYSE BILL opened at $101.52 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $10.80 billion, a PE ratio of -36.52 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. BILL Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.30 and a twelve month high of $179.85. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $116.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.19.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BILL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America decreased their target price on BILL from $130.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded BILL from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Sunday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley downgraded BILL from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, June 12th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on BILL from $110.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Monday, July 10th. Finally, Mizuho reissued a neutral rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of BILL in a research note on Monday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $133.25.

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Insider Transactions at BILL

In related news, CEO Rene A. Lacerte sold 32,649 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.62, for a total transaction of $3,742,228.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 86,902 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,960,707.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Rene A. Lacerte sold 32,649 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.62, for a total transaction of $3,742,228.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 86,902 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,960,707.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Rene A. Lacerte sold 9,102 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.07, for a total value of $901,735.14. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 104,551 shares of the companys stock, valued at $10,357,867.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 59,172 shares of company stock worth $6,517,549. 5.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BILL Company Profile

(Free Report)

BILL Holdings, Inc provides cloud-based software that simplifies, digitizes, and automates back-office financial operations for small and midsize businesses worldwide. The company provides software-as-a-service, cloud-based payments, and spend management products, which allow users to automate accounts payable and accounts receivable transactions, as well as enable users to connect with their suppliers and/or customers to do business, eliminate expense reports, manage cash flows, and improve office efficiency.

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Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lowered its stake in shares of Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP  Free Report) by 67.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,312 shares of the local business review companys stock after selling 21,145 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltds holdings in Yelp were worth $317,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in Yelp by 1.0% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 335,598 shares of the local business review companys stock worth $10,201,000 after purchasing an additional 3,308 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Yelp by 40.5% during the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 143,602 shares of the local business review companys stock valued at $4,409,000 after purchasing an additional 41,363 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Yelp during the first quarter valued at $434,000. Royce & Associates LP boosted its stake in shares of Yelp by 42.4% during the first quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 49,310 shares of the local business review companys stock valued at $1,514,000 after purchasing an additional 14,676 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Yelp during the first quarter valued at $1,719,000. Institutional investors own 88.46% of the companys stock.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CTO Sam Eaton sold 18,850 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.51, for a total transaction of $857,863.50. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 216,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,837,669.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CTO Sam Eaton sold 18,850 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.51, for a total transaction of $857,863.50. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 216,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,837,669.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Joseph R. Nachman sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.68, for a total value of $202,080.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 321,487 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,827,682.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 107,735 shares of company stock worth $4,554,979. Corporate insiders own 7.20% of the companys stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on YELP shares. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Yelp from $26.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, August 7th. Credit Suisse Group boosted their target price on shares of Yelp from $43.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Yelp from $32.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, July 25th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Yelp in a report on Thursday. They issued a strong-buy rating for the company. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Yelp from a c+ rating to a b rating in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Yelp currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $39.56.

View Our Latest Analysis on Yelp

Yelp Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE YELP opened at $41.27 on Friday. The businesss 50 day moving average price is $39.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.89. The firm has a market cap of $2.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.78 and a beta of 1.49. Yelp Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.30 and a 52 week high of $47.59.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The local business review company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.06. Yelp had a return on equity of 6.46% and a net margin of 3.38%. The business had revenue of $337.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $325.96 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Yelp Inc. will post 1.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Yelp Company Profile

(Free Report)

Yelp Inc operates a platform that connects consumers with local businesses in the United States and internationally. The company's platform covers various local business categories, including restaurants, shopping, beauty and fitness, health, and other categories, as well as home, local, auto, professional, pets, events, real estate, and financial services.

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A man has been remanded in custody at Derry Magistrate's Court today for what a barrister described as 'a dreadful series of allegations' in which he is accused of assaulting his former partner and her 10-year-old child.

Owen Gallagher (31) of Clon Elagh in Derry appeared charged with assaulting a female occasioning her actual bodily harm, assault on the same woman on August 16 with both offences aggravated by domestic abuse.

He was also charged with entering a premises as a trespasser and stealing cigarettes and money valued at 38 on the same date.

Gallagher was also charged with threatening to kill the same female on August 17 and using the communication network to send threatening messages as well as a charge of assault on a child.

A police officer connected the accused to the charges and opposed bail.

The court heard that police were alerted by a third party to a domestic incident.

They attended and the alleged victim, a female, spoke to them and was 'distressed' with swelling on her face.

She said the defendant had entered her home without permission after taking a key she knew nothing about.

The woman said Gallagher had punched her several times to the face and her children were present.

She later told police that she had received numerous calls from the defendant.

Police were later called on August 17 with the woman stating that at 7am she had woken up with the defendant standing at the bottom of her bed.

Her two children were in bed with her at the time.

The woman said he had punched her in the face and pulled her by the arm to the kitchen.

The woman got her 10-year-old to go for help and said that Gallagher punched her in the face again.

A neighbour then arrived and shouted at Gallagher that she was phoning the police.

Gallagher was said to have left taking money and cigarettes.

The woman said that in the next hours she received calls from the defendant claiming he would 'cut her throat' and he was also said to have claimed 'I stabbed my mate last night and I will stab you.'

Later that afternoon police were contacted by Social Services who told them the child had also been assaulted.

The 10-year-old told police he had tried to intervene when his mother had been assaulted and was pushed away banging his head against the wall.

The child also said that Gallagher told him to get his father here and he would fight him.

Gallagher was also alleged to have said 'your mother's dead and I will be back.'

When Gallagher was arrested he denied being near the address and denied making any calls stating it was his mother's phone.

Bail was opposed due to risk of re-offending and the fact there was no suitable address.

Defence counsel Stephen Mooney said that he would be proposing the accused could be released on bail to an address approved by the PSNI and outside the city.

He said Gallagher had a 'modest record' and it would be sometime before the case is dealt with.

The barrister accepted there was a 'formidable case' against his client.

District Judge Barney McElholm said that there was a risk of re-offending and interference with evidence.

He said that no address 'in or near this city' would be acceptable and refused bail.

Gallagher was remanded in custody to appear again on September 14.
A man has been jailed for 9 months at Derry Magistrate's Court today for assaulting his former partner and stealing her mobile phone.

Kiral Cian McGilloway (34) of Crawford Square in Derry admitted a series of offences that occurred on November 24 last year.

The court heard that the injured party drove to the Strand Road station and alerted police her partner the defendant had assaulted her.

She had redness and scratches on her neck.

She told police that she was in bed with the defendant but left as he was being aggressive accusing her of being unfaithful.

She said she drove to Muff for fuel and received messages from the defendant threatening to burn her belongings if she didn't return.

She went back to the house but sat outside talking to McGilloway on the phone.

He came out but had no belongings with him and he tried to get into the car but she had locked it.

She opened the window to talk to the defendant and he tried to pull her towards him.

When she tried to close the window she accidentally opened it and he dived in and opened the doors and McGilloway climbed into the back seat and tried to pull her in.

In the course of this he tore a hoodie she was wearing and then managed to grab her phone.

She told police that McGilloway had grabbed her clothes and she was 'gasping for air' and he told her 'I would like to kill you.'

When he left the vehicle she drove straight to the PSNI Station to report the incident.

McGilloway was interviewed but made no admissions and denied stealing the phone or damaging her clothes.

He said he was aware there had been a Restraining Order in force.

Defence counsel Stephen Mooney said McGilloway had spent a short period in custody but he accepted these were 'serious offences aggravated by domestic abuse.'

District Judge Barney McElholm said that a Restraining Order had been imposed which McGilloway had not honoured.

He said that offences aggravated by domestic abuse was something that was taken 'very seriously in this city.'

He jailed McGilloway for 9 months and ordered him to pay 720 in compensation.
All the tweaks, tests and training have been completed for the new American mobile Iron Dome system. A year ago, the U.S. Marine Corps successfully tested Israels Iron Dome Tamir missiles as part of its mobile MRIC (Medium-Range Intercept Capability) system. Existing Iron Dome missile launchers hold 20 Tamir missiles. Each 160mm diameter Tamir weighs 90 kg (200 pounds) and is three meters (nearly ten feet) long. Tamirs guidance system has a radar and a proximity fuze which detects the size and speed of a nearby target and detonates the warhead only if the right type of target (UAV, cruise missile or rocket) is detected. Because of added U.S. features (for destroying cruise missiles and UAVs), the cost per Tamir missile went from $50,000 to nearly $150,000. MRIC uses its Tamir missiles in conjunction with a U.S. Marine radar and command and control system. For MRIC the U.S. will also manufacture Tamir missiles but rebrand them as Skyhunter missiles.

The U.S. Army's HEMTT (Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck) is used to carry a mobile Iron Dome system for use by the army and the marines. HEMTT is also known as the M-977. These vehicles have a diesel-electric drive so there is plenty of power for the radar and electric motors used by an anti-aircraft system. The 8x8 HEMTT trucks are built for cross country operations and were able to keep up with armored formations during the 1991 and 2003 wars. Most of the 13,000 army HEMTT normally haul nine tons of cargo or 2500 gallons of fuel. Thats enough capacity for a mobile Iron Dome. The HEMTT began to enter service in the late 1980s, and cost about $200,000 each depending on special equipment and configuration. Starting in 2004, the HEMTT fleet began a refurbishment program, at about half their original purchase cost, to give the trucks another ten years of life. This included development of a version that used the diesel-electric drive. When HEMTT vehicles wear out, the army buys new ones. So far the army has purchased over 35,000 of these vehicles and production continues.

Meanwhile, in 2020 Tamir proved its ability to down cruise missiles and UAVs using the Iron Dome radar and fire control system. In that test Iron Dome systems on land and Israeli ships were integrated into a multi-layer air defense system that included Davids Sling (similar to Patriot) and the Arrow ABM (anti-ballistic missile system). MRIC can use other air defense search, fire control and targeting management systems. With that Israel began offering the Tamir missiles and launchers for customers like the American MRIC.

Continuous Israeli upgrades of Iron Dome enabled it to shoot down various types of UAVs. This required some software modifications and was done at the request of the U.S. Army. Iron Dome was already capable of shooting down aircraft and helicopters. The UAVs were often much smaller, but so are the rockets and mortar shells Iron Dome can knock down. The United States has contributed over a billion dollars to development and procurement of Iron Dome. Periodically adding new features like this helps export sales.

The U.S. Army was impressed and that led to developing MRIC to support mobile combat units. Iron Dome has been in service since 2011 and has proven itself in combat. Iron Dome uses two radars to quickly calculate the trajectory of the incoming rocket and do nothing if the rocket trajectory indicates it is going to land in an uninhabited area. But if the computers predict a rocket coming down in an inhabited area one (or often two to be sure) $50,000 Tamir guided missiles are fired to intercept the rocket. This, and the fact that the Iron Dome fire control system can track hundreds of incoming missiles at once, makes the system cost-effective. So far Iron Dome has shot down over 800 rockets, which is about 85 percent of the rockets it calculated were headed for a populated area. The Tamir missiles are effective against rockets, mortar shells and artillery shells up to 155mm. Iron Dome can also shoot down aircraft and helicopters at altitudes up to 10 kilometers/32,000 feet. Iron Dome is Israels principal defense against short range rockets fired from Gaza or Lebanon. Work is underway to increase the Iron Dome range from 70 to over 200 kilometers but that is stalled because of budget shortages.

The MRIC radar operates differently to determine which incoming threat justifies an interceptor missile. In a combat situation, the areas to be defended often change. MRIC provides marines or soldiers moving into a new area with protection against the most threatening rocket, artillery or mortar fire. This gives the advancing forces an edge and demoralizes defenders.

Israel initially designed Iron Dome to only defend stationary targets. By 2014 Israel had fifteen batteries of Iron Dome and over 2,000 Tamir missiles. That was enough to shut down the Hamas effort to hit Israel with thousands of rockets. Each battery has radar, fire control equipment, and 3-4 missile launchers (each with 20 missiles) and cost about $37-50 million for the basic (no anti-aircraft capability) depending on how many missiles it is shipped with. With the new system, a battery with two radars and three launchers costs about $100 million and can protect an area of about 150 square kilometers.

In 2014 the U.S. Army purchased an Iron Dome anti-rocket battery from Israel, mainly to determine if Iron Dome would be worth getting for deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan where American troops were still stationed. This American purchase was the first export sale of Iron Dome. The U.S. bought two more batteries in 2020 and 2021. Israeli efforts to export their Iron Dome anti-rocket system were slow initially but eventually succeeded with Azerbaijan, India and several other counters placing orders. The Israeli manufacturer of Iron Dome thought this would make Iron Dome a hot export item. After all, Israel is one of the top ten weapons exporters in the world. This is because the Israeli system works well and is usually combat tested. Although the Iron Dome system had succeeded in shooting down about 85 percent of the rockets headed for Israeli populated areas, that was a unique situation. Continued success eventually made Iron Dome exportable, especially after the anti-aircraft, UAV and cruise missile capabilities were added. The U.S. was willing to buy more Iron Dome systems but wanted access to the fire control source code. Israel refused because American security is less strict than Israels and a leak of that source code would enable an enemy to determine exploitable weaknesses in Iron Dome. This software dispute was eventually resolved.

The main problem is that Iron Dome was designed to deal with an enemy that is a terrorist organization (Hamas) operating out of an area (Gaza) that is basically home for Palestinian refugees who have been there for over 60 years and want nothing less than the destruction of Israel. A similar organization (Hezbollah) controls southern Lebanon and is also dedicated to the destruction of Israel, using 40,000 unguided rockets they received from Iran. This is the unique situation that Iron Dome was designed to deal with. When faced with a massive launch of rockets at once, Iron Dome is unable to shoot down all of those headed for populated areas. While the intercept rate is lower, Iron Dome has shown it can still reduce Israeli casualties and property damage. Iron Dome recently added a high-powered laser device that can knock down many rockets but at shorter ranges. MRIC may also receive the laser weapon as well but it will require a large generator on the MRIC to supply the power.
Storm Betty is set to bring strong winds and trigger heavy rain on Friday in the second named storm in August.

Met Eireann have named the storm as a low-pressure system which is also triggering warnings in the UK.

Storm Betty is to hit the Republic of Ireland, before it moves from the south of Ireland to the north on Friday and into Saturday, the forecasters say.

Met Office chief meteorologist Jason Kelly said: Friday and Saturday will see unseasonably wet and windy conditions for much of the UK.

While Storm Betty will have higher impacts in Ireland, exposed Irish Sea coasts of the UK could see gusts in excess of 70mph, with around 50mph more widely.

Storm Betty is also bringing some large accumulations of rainfall for the time of year, with some spots of Northern Ireland seeing around 80mm of rain, though between 15-25mm is expected more widely. Parts of Scotland could see similarly high accumulations, especially over higher ground.

Betty is the second storm named in August, following Storm Antoni which occurred earlier this month.

This is the second time since storm naming was introduced in 2015 that two storms have been named in August, following Ellen and Francis in August 2020.

A yellow weather warning for wind, from Friday at 6pm to noon on Saturday, said people should be aware that the very strong and gusty winds, associated with Storm Betty, could bring some disruption to transport, travel and temporary infrastructure.

It covers north-west England, Northern Ireland, south-west Scotland, Lothian Borders, south-west England and Wales.

It states: Storm Betty is expected to bring a swathe of very strong and gusty winds to the Isles of Scilly early Friday evening, quickly transferring north across many western parts of the UK overnight and into Saturday morning. Strongest winds will be along south to south-west-facing coasts where gusts of 60-70mph are possible, whilst gusts of 45-55 mph are possible elsewhere.

The Met Office has also issued yellow weather warnings for rain in Northern Ireland from Friday at 9pm through to Saturday at 6am.

Mr Kelly added: While many within the thunderstorm warning areas may see relatively little rainfall, there is the potential for a few places to see around 20-40mm of rain within an hour, and possibly around 40-60mm over three hours.

Large hail and frequent lightning are additional hazards for the likely overnight thunderstorms in eastern areas of England.

Storm Bettys arrival on Friday through to Saturday morning may bring quite intense thunderstorm activity with associated impacts of hail, intense rain and lightning strikes, according to Met Office spokesman Graham Madge.

He added: In addition, the way the winds are circulating around Storm Betty in an anti-clockwise direction is encouraging warm air from the continent to be filtered in to parts of the south and east of England and that warm air will be quite humid.

This will be a trigger for quite intense thunderstorm activity anywhere from Hampshire, Dorset, north and east London, east Anglia and east Midlands.

It is expected that by Saturday morning all of those weather systems, at least for the southern part of the UK will calm right down but Scotland will still be impacted by Storm Betty to some extent bringing reasonably strong winds and heavy rain for some, he added.
Swimmers have been warned to be wary of the Lion's Mane jellyfish after the Irish Coast Guard received reports of swimmers suffering painful jellyfish stings.

There are five native jellyfish species in Ireland: Barrel, Blue, Common (Moon), Compass and Lions Mane

According to the HSE: "The Lions Mane is the most serious jellyfish in Irish waters".

The sting from a Lion's Mane jellyfish is the worst of the native jellyfish.

According to the HSE, the Lions Mane jellyfish prefers the cooler waters of the Irish Sea and especially the waters off Dublin.

"Recently an increase has been seen in waters off the East Coast and some very large jellyfish have been observed on beaches in this area," the HSE states.

All jellyfish possess stinging cells, stingers, on their tentacles, HSE information outlines.

"Brushing against tentacles can cause the release of these stingers which contain venom (poison). Depending on the type of jellyfish, the stingers may not be sharp enough and long enough to pierce the skin and the skin forms a natural barrier to most stings. More delicate areas, such as the eyes and lips, might be more easily pierced.

"However, the Lions Mane stinging cells are much sharper and can pierce skin easily resulting in a painful sting. Jellyfish stings in Ireland are not usually life threatening and just require basic first aid and simple pain relief," the HSE says.

A sixth type (Pelagia noctiluca) occasionally makes an appearance in Irish coastal waters, the HSE also outlines.

"There have been rare reported sightings of the Portuguese Man OWar in Irish waters. The Portuguese Man OWar is not a true jellyfish but is closely related to the jellyfish family and can give a bad sting," according to the HSE.
Between the years 2014 and 2022, the shipment of phones made in India has crossed the 2 billion mark. This feat has landed India the title of the second-biggest mobile phone-producing country. India crossed the 2 billion Made in India phone shipment mark between the years 2014 and 2022. This achievement has gotten India the title of the second biggest phone producing country.

Counterpoint Research suggests that the reasons behind this include huge internal demand, increasing digital literacy and government push. Various government schemes including Phased Manufacturing Program (PMP), Production Linked Incentive (PLI) and Atma-Nirbhar Bharat (Self-Reliant India) could have possibly pushed towards this achievement too.

Also read: iPhone 15 production starts in Tamil Nadu's Foxconn factory: Report



The Counterpoint Research further reveals that the growth in local manufacturing also shows a steady growth. Earlier, it stood at 14% in 2014 and in 2022 the growth reached a whopping 98%. This statistic indicates that 98% of the phones that were shipped in India were indeed made in India as well.

In recent years, many big names have set up their manufacturing plants in India too. Lets talk about South Korean brand Samsung for instance. Samsung has its second largest manufacturing facility in the world here in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. Its biggest R&D centre is in Bengaluru.

Also read: Samsungs new manufacturing plant in Noida is the largest mobile phone factory in the world

Apple on the other hand has a large market in India and is also setting up a manufacturing unit. But it has a few assembly plants. However, Tata will become the company to manufacture iPhones after its deal with Wistron.

Xiaomi is another example. It has multiple manufacturing units in India, including one exclusively for smart TVs. Even Oppo has a manufacturing unit in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
Leading Chinese scholar Wei Shaojun proposes new chip architecture for AI applications

At a time when China's tech companies are frantically scrambling for Nvidia's high-end GPU chips to catch generative AI business opportunities, Wei Shaojun, a professor at Tsinghua University and an academician at the International Eurasian Academy of Sciences, emphasized at Intel's 2023 China Academic Summit that future AI technology needs to start from the end application -- define software by application first and then define the chip by software.

Wei Shaojun, as quoted by Chinese media China Electronic News, proposed a new chip architecture that the semiconductor industry in China is pursuing today, which not only requires strong software programmability but also strong hardware programmability.

He believes that as the scale of computing power continues to expand and the demand for computing power continues to rise, the new challenge for AI development is how to more efficiently allocate, share, schedule, and release more computing power.

This challenge is especially urgent for the Chinese industry, which is facing the US government's clampdown on the supply of AI chips, especially when there is no lack of concepts and actions to advocate the aggregation of computing power in China, said Wei. He also analyzed the shortcomings of different currently available architectures of chips used for AI applications.

1. CPU, GPU, and other processors, which have strong flexibility in software programmability, but are weaker in hardware.

2. ASICs and SoCs, which are weak in software programmability and the hardware cannot be changed once the chip is completed.

3. Programmable logic devices represented by FPGAs and EPLDs (Erasable Programmable Logic Devices), which are highly flexible in terms of hardware programmability, but weak in terms of software programmability, as well as costly and expensive.

Wei pointed out that the core of implementing AI lies in the software, and the foundation of supporting AI is the chip. Under such circumstances, Wei pointed out that AI still faces two practical problems: one is the continuous evolution of algorithms, as there will always be new algorithms. Secondly, since there is no unified algorithm, a specific algorithm goes with a specific application.

In this regard, he proposes that deep learning is in need of an intelligent computing processor that can be programmable for various applications and can realize the ability to migrate data from the cloud to the edge. Wei said the aforementioned new chip architecture can solve the problems.

From the view of resource limitations, the concept of the aforementioned new architecture actually stems from China's difficulty to obtain AI chips. Wei Shaojun was expressing an urgency for China to develop a new architecture due to current limitations.

However, how to implement that design and from where to start remains to be seen.
Google Gemini challenges ChatGPT

Ed H. Chi, a distinguished researcher associated with Google, participated in a press conference held in Taiwan. He is actively engaged in the development of the conversational AI, Bard, and underscored Google's robust commitment to the advancement of AI software and hardware. Google employs its proprietary Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) for in-depth exploration of deep learning products.

Originally hailing from Taiwan and based at Google's headquarters in the United States, Ed H. Chi leads the machine learning division at Google DeepMind. The team's focus spans large language models (LLM), neural network recommendation systems, Bard, and associated research.

Chi's academic accolades encompass securing bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees from the University of Minnesota in a span of just six and a half years. Since 2013, he has made significant contributions, spearheading over 700 enhancements spanning diverse Google services, including YouTube, news, advertising, and the Google Play store.

In February 2023, Google unveiled Bard, a dynamic conversational AI, progressively enhancing its features over time. Bard's functionalities encompass supporting programming, furnishing location-specific insights (with responses potentially differing by location), and accommodating more than 40 languages.

Nonetheless, certain observers find Google Bard comparatively less impressive in contrast to OpenAI's ChatGPT. These observers are inquisitive about Google's strategic initiatives to fortify its position within the domain of AI.

Although Bard is presently accessible for utilization, it is currently designated as an experimental feature rather than an official product. The team is enthusiastically seeking a deeper comprehension of user expectations. The training and inference procedures for Bard and its associated LLM, virtually all products related to deep learning, harness Google's exclusive TPUs.

Google introduced TPUs into their data centers in 2016. On the mobile front, integration of TPUs commenced with the debut of the Pixel 6 series in 2021, marking a departure from the prior utilization of Qualcomm Snapdragon chips.

Google unveiled its PaLM 2 and Gemini models during its I/O conference in May. It was specifically highlighted that PaLM 2 supports enhancements across 25 products, including Bard. Meanwhile, the Gemini model is still undergoing training and is poised to eventually accommodate multimodal applications and divergent parameter configurations. Noteworthy is Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis' earlier assertion that Gemini's capabilities will outpace the models employed in ChatGPT.

Ed H. Chi stressed the pivotal role of the Gemini model as a cornerstone project within DeepMind, destined to shape Google's LLM strategy and provide support for Bard. Nevertheless, the formal emergence of Gemini as a product is yet to be realized.
Huawei rumored to be testing 5G chip and SoC, targeting flagship handset market

As Huawei's Executive Director and CEO of the Consumer Business Group, Richard Yu, loudly declared in early August that "Huawei's flagship smartphones are making a comeback," the announcement has led to speculations of Huawei's imminent return to 5G smartphone market.

Furthermore, Chinese media previously quoted industry sources indicating that Huawei's 5G smartphones are expected to start shipping around the end of 2023, with the earliest possible launch in October. All these indications seem to suggest that Huawei's return to the 5G smartphone market is on the horizon.

Recent reports from Chinese media have also revealed that a certain company is testing 5G baseband chips and SoCs with the integrated performance of these SoCs aiming to be just slightly below flagship level. The model featuring these chips may be positioned as a flagship handset. This testing company is speculated to be Huawei.

On the other hand, during Qualcomm's latest earnings conference call, the company's management team clarified that they have not received permission to supply 5G chips to Huawei. In the foreseeable future, the revenue from selling 5G chips to Huawei is expected to remain at zero.

This statement by Qualcomm aligns with previous comments from Huawei's Richard Yu to Chinese media First Financial. He had stated that Qualcomm had not resumed supplying 5G chips to Huawei.

Given that external procurement is not feasible, Huawei has no choice but to be self-sufficient. Reuters, Nikkei, and other media outlets have been citing unnamed research institutions since July, reporting that Huawei is partnering with SMIC to develop chips. This further strengthens the rumors of Huawei's return to the 5G smartphone market.

Now, with news of Huawei testing 5G modem chips and SoCs, it seems to confirm the speculation that Huawei is indeed preparing to re-enter the 5G smartphone market.

As early as September 2019, Huawei unveiled the flagship Kirin 990 5G chip at IFA. The SoC was manufactured using TSMC's 7nm process and integrated a 5G modem chip called Balong.

With Huawei returning to the 5G smartphone market, and the option of procuring Qualcomm chips unavailable, whether or not Huawei reintroduced Kirin SoCs or integrates 5G Balong modem chips separately from APs, Huawei's subsidiary HiSilicon's capabilities in IC design remain strong. However, Huawei can only rely on SMIC for production.

It's worth noting that due to SMIC's yield rate and production capacity at the 7nm node, the industry estimates that Huawei's 5G smartphone shipments could be around 2 to 3 million units.

However, if Huawei truly overcomes the challenges of the Chinese supply chain and successfully brings 5G smartphones back into the market, its strategic impact might be even more impressive than selling millions of 5G smartphones.
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The largest Russian military open air storage site for military equipment is at Vagzhanovo in eastern Siberia, between Lake Baikal and the Mongolian border. This site has seen a lot of activity because of the war in Ukraine. In 2021 the site contained nearly 4,000 armored vehicles, most of them Cold-War era models. In a national emergency most of these vehicles would be returned to operational status and those that could not used as a reserve of spare parts for equipment that was no longer no longer manufactured.

Because it was out in the open, in a remote region where clear skies were present about half the time, commercial satellite photos showing activity in Vagzhanovo were not frequent. It was eventually noted that in early 2023 that 40 percent of the armored vehicles stored at Vagzhanovo had been removed after being refurbished enough to make them operational and sent to Russian forces in Ukraine. The tanks were largely T-62s, a model that ceased production in 1975. The other armored vehicles were early model BMP tracked IFVs (Infantry Fighting Vehicles) and even older wheeled IFVs. The infantry used the T-62s as assault guns, providing direct (at targets the tank gunner could see) artillery fire for infantry attacks. The infantry were often advancing in IFVs and would leave those vehicles only when they were very close to enemy positions. These are classic mechanized infantry tactics and Vagzhanovo was able to replace the large quantities of modern tanks and IFVs the Russians lost during the first months of the invasion. Russia had underestimated the effectiveness of the thousands of man-portable ATGMs (Anti-Tank Guided Missiles) NATO had supplied the Ukrainian defenders with. Russia has since modified its mechanized infantry tactics but has not been able to replace all the modern tanks and IFVs lost and wont be able to do so for years, perhaps a decade. It took over a decade for Russia to produce the 2,000 modern tanks and IFVs they lost in Ukraine. The usefulness of storage sites like Vagzhanovo was proven once more and will continue to be a Russian practice.

The United States maintains similar storage sites, but for aircraft rather than armored vehicles. The retired armored vehicles are stored at numerous smaller sites. Most of the retired aircraft are at one site; AMARC. Since World War II, most military aircraft ended up being scrapped, not shot down. In the last 70 years, the United States was the major user of aircraft while the Russians depended on armored vehicles.

While Russia has a lot of retired armored vehicles, the Americans have similar quantities of useful aircraft. The United States uses a site similar to Vagzhanovo, but for military aircraft. The United States calls this site AMARC (Aerospace Maintenance and Recovery Center). This facility, out in the Arizona desert, stores nearly 5,000 military aircraft no longer needed for active service. Every year, some are recalled, refurbished and sent back to work. But most get "harvested" for spare parts, until what's left is sold for scrap.

AMARC isn't the only storage site, just the largest (in the world). Many other air bases in dry climates have room for some aircraft that might be needed again. The U.S. Marine Corps recently took an old AV-8 Harrier vertical takeoff fighter that had been in storage for sixteen years at one of its air bases, and restored it to duty as a two seat trainer. The marines didn't think they would need that old AV-8. But the new F-35B, which is to replace the AV-8, is late in arriving, and operations in Afghanistan have worn down the existing AV-8s. So reinforcements have been called up from storage sites.

This points out one of the major problems with modern warplanes; that some models have remained in service far longer than anyone expected. This happened partly because modern aircraft are built to last, and used engineering advances that worked out better than expected. Engineers tend to overbuild when they can.

Commercial transports are very sturdy beasts, as they have to fly up to 12 hours a day for weeks at a time. Military aircraft fly less often, although their sturdiness is also meant to deal with the violent maneuvers of combat. But heavy bombers and transports can go on and on, as they don't fly as much as the civilian transports and the basic technology they are based on hasn't changed much. The best example is the B-52 bomber, which entered service half a century ago and the ones still flying were built forty years ago. There are also over a hundred, 70 year old, DC-3 civilian transports still in the air as well.

Most warplanes are in production for a decade or less. Once the manufacturing stops, it starts to become difficult to get spare parts. The tools and equipment used to make the aircraft components are usually scrapped. Making the parts from scratch is so expensive that it is often cheaper to scrap aircraft and buy a new design. But a new aircraft is often more than the budget can bear as well. The solution to this problem is cannibalization. That is, using some aircraft, either those wrecked in accidents or older models retired to the "bone yard", just for spare parts. This has been a practice in combat from the very beginning of military aviation. Especially during the first World War, when more aircraft were lost to bad landings and takeoffs than to enemy action, the wrecks became a source of replacement parts for airframes and engines of aircraft still in service. The most efficient boneyard in the world is America's AMARC. While some of the aircraft stored there are recalled to active service every year, all are liable for disassembly to provide parts for aircraft that are still flying.

Over 4,500 aircraft are stored at AMARC, and 500-2,000 spare parts orders are filled each month. Not just for American military aircraft, but for those of allies as well. Australia keeps its 1960s era F-111's flying with spare parts from old U.S. and British F-111s stored at AMARC. The U.S. Air Force A-10, built in the 1970s, and not a popular air force candidate for a new model, is kept flying because it's so damn useful, with parts from AMARC. Even when parts are still in production, a wartime surge, as was experienced during the Afghanistan campaign, will outstrip the manufacturers ability to produce them. In this case, AMARC delivered parts for the F-18.

AMARC was set up in 1985, consolidating bone-yard operations there and from other locations in the United States. In that first year, it delivered spare parts worth half a billion dollars. While the airframes, stripped of all their more valuable parts, are worth only about 25 cents a pound as scrap, some of the parts are worth their weight in gold. Engines, which often comprise a third (or more) of an aircraft's value, are the most valuable single items. And each engine consists of thousands of parts, some of which are worth quite a bit, even if the engine is no longer in use by any aircraft. Other nations cannibalize their retired or obsolete warplanes, but few have organized the operation as efficiently as the United States.
M&M aims to double exports in 3 years with new OJA platform

By Aniket Gupta

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), the leader among Indias tractor industry companies, has set its sights on a remarkable goal. It aims to double its exports from India within the next three years.

This ambitious plan will gain momentum from the introduction of its innovative platform, OJA, which was recently unveiled in Cape Town, South Africa.

Mahindra Tractors is a part of the groups farm equipment division of the $19.4-billion Mahindra Group, and the flagship unit of the division.

During the year ended 31 March 2023, the Mahindra Group exported 18,104 tractors. Hemant Sikka, president of the farm equipment segment, aims for a substantial leap, aspiring to raise this figure to 36,000 tractors by fiscal 2025-26.

With the introduction of the OJA lineup, M&M is embarking on an expansion into a dozen new markets. This initiative includes the establishment of a new office in Thailand, which will serve as a strategic base for accessing the ASEAN markets.

The company's sights are set on European markets as well, with special focus on countries renowned for vine cultivation, such as Germany, Italy, and Spain. Sikka emphasized that M&M currently lacks a footprint in both regions, ASEAN and Europe.

What about the American market? Growth there has been slow, but Sikka anticipates this is a temporary situation.

In Brazil, M&M has already achieved a remarkable feat by increasing its market share from 3.5 per cent to an impressive 7.2 per cent in the past two years.

Distinct sub-platforms

Comprising four distinct sub-platforms  sub-compact, compact, small utility, and large utility  the OJA platform is a comprehensive family. At present, the sub-compact tractor range is earmarked exclusively for international markets and will not be offered in India. Special attention will be paid to the American market, according to Sikka.

However, Sikka has noted that if there is a demand for the sub-compact category within India, its introduction in India too would be considered.

Beginning in January 2024, M&M is set to initiate the export of the sub-compact series within the OJA tractor range. On the other hand, the introduction of the expansive utility platform is reserved for a later timeframe, anticipated around the fiscal year 2025-26. This forthcoming platform is created to serve both the domestic Indian market and international export markets.

What about pricing? The Mahindra OJA 27 HP tractor will be priced at Rs 5.64 lakh, and the OJA 40 HP tractor at Rs 7.35 lakh.
Hawaii wildfire  serious allegations against Hawaiian Electric

By Aniket Gupta

The fire that engulfed Lahaina, in the Maui County of Hawaii, the United States distant island state in the Pacific Ocean, has caused great devastation along the coast. Reports say that over 111 people were killed in last weeks conflagration catastrophe. And it is feared that the death toll will rise, as officials fear that over 1,000 people were missing.

Attention has shifted towards Hawaii's largest electrical utility, Hawaiian Electric as the cause of the fires. Questions have been asked about whether the company took sufficient measures to anticipate the wildfire as strong winds that swept across Maui last week.

Attorneys representing Lahaina residents who are pursuing legal action against Hawaiian Electric argue that the company's power infrastructure lacked the necessary resilience to endure powerful winds. They claim that the company should have proactively deactivated the power supply prior to the onset of the windy conditions.

Experts in wildfires who have examined the devastating fires in California throughout the last two decades also identify deficiencies in the actions taken by Hawaiian Electric.

However, even a week after the wildfires rampaged through Lahaina, authorities at both the state and local levels had still not identified the origin of the fire. However, the turbulent circumstances bore resemblance to situations observed elsewhere across the nation where electrical apparatus triggered wildfires: arid vegetation, strong winds, and aging infrastructure.

On Saturday, both the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Pacific Disaster Center, a Hawaii-based firm specializing in disaster-related analysis, reported that the fires on Maui had resulted in the damage or destruction of over 2,000 structures. Their projections indicated that the reconstruction process would likely carry a price tag of $5.52 billion.

One analyst, quoted by The New York Times, has suggested that Hawaiian Electric's responsibility for fire-related damages could surpass $4 billion. As of the end of June, the company held $314 million in cash reserves.

Local and state authorities have provided little information regarding the potential origins of the fire that ultimately swept through Lahaina on the afternoon of 8 August. Earlier on the same day, Maui County had declared successful containment of a minor fire initially reported that morning. However, later, they subsequently declared a seemingly sudden flare-up leading to the closure of a major roadway and immediate evacuation orders.

On 12 August, class action lawsuits were filed in state courts, aiming to include numerous Hawaii residents impacted by the catastrophic fires, which resulted in the displacement of thousands and the destruction of Lahaina.

In one of the lawsuits, Lahaina residents have claimed that Hawaiian Electric bears responsibility for the fires, alleging negligence in not deactivating power lines despite alerts from the National Weather Service regarding the potential of strong winds causing these lines to topple and initiate rapidly spreading wildfires.

The company has refrained from making statements regarding ongoing legal proceedings.

But Jim Kelly, a company vice president, had told CNN that the origin of the fire had yet to be discovered, and that the company would collaborate with state and county officials during their investigation. Kelly is reported to have admitted that Hawaiian Electric lacked a formalized shutdown protocol.
STUDENT accommodation will now have certain standards it has to meet as per government criteria, including that of affordability, as per a new plan.

Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris TD and Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Darragh OBrien TD announced their joint plan to develop design standards for Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) in Ireland.

The Residential Construction Cost Study, which was published by Minister OBrien in May of this year, recommends the development of a standardised specification for purpose built student accommodation.

The first step will be to conduct a study to examine international best practice and flexibility of design to establish appropriate standards in the delivery of affordable accommodation.

Speaking on the day of the announcement (August 17), Minister Harris said: For the first time in history, the State is investing in building student accommodation, a plan which is an important part of our Housing for All strategy.

Already, we have helped to fund the construction of 1,100 beds, with many more on the way. This project will examine how best we can increase the supply of accommodation but also improve affordability too.

Minister OBrien said: "Housing for All commits to the development of Purpose Built Student Accommodation in Ireland as part of the broader strategy towards overall diversification and, particularly in this case, the increased availability and affordability of rental stock.

Recently, 62 million in funding was allocated and work is under way to plan student accommodation across the higher education sector.

This new PBSA study will interrogate how increased standardisation of design and specification can maximise delivery and affordability in Ireland. As such, it is a key component of the Government's broader strategy to deliver across all tenures and housing types under Housing for All.

The project will commence immediately with the appointment of a cross-departmental project group chaired by the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research Innovation and Science followed by a request for tender for an expert consultant to undertake the study.
Four retailers in Dundalk are among 98 retailers across the country that have been approved for funding under the Online Retail Scheme (ORS), which is administered by Enterprise Ireland.

This latest call under the scheme sees the 98 retailers approved for funding of 2.3 million, with 79% of successful companies based outside of Dublin.

The businesses will receive grants ranging from a minimum of 10,000 to a maximum of 25,000. The scheme was open to retailers who already have an online presence and a physical store, to help enhance their online capability and attract new customers.

The four retailers in Dundalk who have been approved for under the Online Retail Scheme are:

CTI Business Solutions Ltd

David Lally Service Centre Ltd trading as Lallys Electrical

Gerry Matthews Engineering Ltd trading as Toolfix

Hillcastle Sales Ltd trading as The Gift and Art Gallery

Welcoming the funding announcement, Minister Richmond said: "I want to congratulate the 98 retailers across Ireland who will benefit from this funding. Retailers are at the heart of our communities across the country and the government is delighted to support them in their transition to online retail.

"An online presence allows retailers to improve their service for existing customers, attract new customers at home and abroad, as well as future-proof their operations. Moving online is a complement, rather than a replacement to physical stores. Through the Online Retail Scheme, we are enabling established retailers with a store to expand their market presence beyond their community, and even the country, with an increased online presence.

Teri Smith, Manager of Retail, Consumer and Online, Enterprise Ireland said: "To date the Online Retail Scheme has supported more than 850 projects that are delivering real benefits to retailers and customers across Ireland.

"Innovative Irish retailers are increasingly looking for ways to adapt their traditional retail model to reflect the growing demand for online shopping from consumers and this latest funding round will help 98 retailers in that ambition.

"In this funding call we specifically sought applications from businesses which hadnt previously benefitted from the scheme, and were delighted that a large number of first-time applicants engaged with the scheme this year."
RTE has announced there are no plans for Ryan Tubridy to return to his presenting role at the Irish national broadcaster following a controversy over the under-declaration of his salary.

Director-general Kevin Bakhurst said negotiations with Tubridy about returning to his radio show had concluded after stating that trust between the parties had broken down, but added the door is still open for a future return.

Mr Bakhurst said he was particularly disappointed with Tubridys response to a highly-anticipated report into the presenters earnings, which the director-general claimed questioned corrected figures for the period of 2020 and 2021.

Tubridy has been off-air since June 22, when controversy over the under-declaration of his salary was first revealed by the RTE Board.

Mr Bakhurst said: We went into negotiations with Ryan in good faith and in the hopes of reaching an agreement that would see Ryan return to his RTE Radio 1 show.

I have decided not to continue with negotiations and, as such, there are no plans for Ryan to return to his presenting role with RTE at this time.

Despite having agreed some of the fundamentals, including fee, duration and hours, regretfully, it is my view that trust between the parties has broken down.

On Wednesday, following the publication of a report into Tubridys earnings, the former Late Late Show host said he wanted to re-establish trust with listeners.

However, his response to the report also drew some questioning from RTE as he maintained the review made it clear that his actual income from the broadcaster in 2020 and 2021 matches what was originally published in February as his earnings for those years.

RTE had chosen to upwardly revise its publicly stated figures for those years after it emerged Tubridy was paid additional money for a commercial arrangement with Renault, that was also underwritten by the broadcaster with fees being paid to the presenter through a UK barter account.

In his statement announcing the end of negotiations, Mr Bakhurst said: Public statements made without consultation appear to question the basis for the necessary restatement of fees paid for services for 2020 and 2021.

As I set about a programme of recovery from this crisis, it is imperative that all parties are aligned in one key respect: the mis-statement of fees should never have happened; and the correct re-statement of those fees is accepted by all.

I have been clear since I took up the role of director-general of RTE that I am absolutely committed to restoring trust in this organisation following a shameful period in our history. To achieve this, and fully draw a line between our recent past and present, we must acknowledge and accept the issues that have arisen.

Who knows what the future holds, but for now I am concluding the negotiation with Ryan, and focusing on delivering a range of important changes to the operation and culture of this organisation as part of the essential work to restore trust in RTE.

Speaking to RTE News, Mr Bakhurst said he was particularly disappointed with Tubridys statement and that he had spoken to the presenter about his decision.

He added: I would say he was shocked and disappointed. It was a difficult conversation.

The director-general said RTE was in a good place in negotiating his return when the statement came out.

He said: We had a core agreement for Ryan to come back and the statement issued, which, you know, once again, questioned the newly-stated salaries which are correct.

I just think for the sake of rebuilding trust, which is my focus with the organisation, we cant afford to be questioning the facts that are out there.

He added: I dont actually feel Ryan was best served by the people around him who advised him on making that statement.

Asked about the potential for Tubridy to return in the future, Mr Bakhurst said: Now is not the right time for Ryan to come back, we need to focus on rebuilding trust with the audience. But the door is not shut forever.

A spokesman for a media agency representing Tubridy told the PA news agency he was not making any comment on the matter.

The RTE board said it notes the decision of Mr Bakhurst regarding Tubridy.

In a statement, it said: The Board supports the ongoing work of the Director General and his interim leadership team.

The Board fully accepts the findings of both Grant Thornton reports. We will be making no further comment on this matter.

In a statement from her Department, Media Minister Catherine Martin noted the decision.

The Department said it was an operational and editorial decision for the director-general to make, adding and it would not be appropriate for the minister to comment on the matter given the editorial independence of RTE.

However, the statement added: What remains of utmost importance is that RTE concentrate its efforts on restoring the trust and confidence of the public, and fulfilling its important role as a public service broadcaster.

Restoring this trust requires continued full and open co-operation with the independent reviews established by Minister Martin, as well as the inquiries of the Oireachtas, and a tangible commitment to reform.

The RTE chair and DG have committed to full co-operation and taking immediate steps to address the failings in internal controls and governance, which is to be welcomed.

The minister has ordered reviews into RTEs governance in the wake of the scandal.

Tubridy, who had been the stations highest-paid employee prior to his decision to leave the flagship Late Late Show earlier this year, had said he wished to return to presenting his radio programme but was awaiting a decision from Mr Bakhurst regarding his future.

In his Wednesday statement, he said: I am committed to re-establishing the confidence and trust of my colleagues and listeners, and I hope that any fair assessment of the findings of todays report will help in this regard.

He added: I want to acknowledge the huge support that I have received in recent weeks from people across the country; many cards and letters, greetings on the street and words of support from people I bumped into meant an awful lot to me and I appreciate them all very much.

Tubridy, who spent hours appearing before parliamentary committees probing the payments scandal alongside his agent Noel Kelly, first appeared on RTE as a child reviewing books and films in the 1980s.

The 50-year-old went on to have a varied career at the broadcaster, reporting for radio programmes before eventually presenting a Saturday-night talk show and ultimately taking over as host of the broadcasters flagship talk serial the Late Late Show.

The position also saw the Dublin native hosting the annual Late Late Toy Show special featuring anticipated toys for Christmas and, in recent years, a major charity drive.

After 14 years at the helm, Tubridy announced he would step down from the position earlier this year but continued to present his daily radio show until the payments controversy emerged.

The crisis at the broadcaster has since widened beyond Tubridys pay to RTEs internal financial, accounting and governance practices and its expenditure on corporate hospitality for advertising clients.
Father Ted writer Graham Linehan has performed a comedy routine outside the Scottish Parliament after two venues in Edinburgh refused to host him.

The Irishman spoke to crowds from a podium outside Holyrood after the original venue for his planned show, Leith Arches, and a second unnamed venue cancelled the show he was due to appear in.

Linehan was said to be welling up with tears as he wrapped up his routine, reportedly telling his audience: Comedy is my first love, its the thing I love to do, but I have not been allowed to do that for five years.

Leith Arches took the decision to cancel their booking of Linehan earlier this week, saying his views did not align with their overall values.

People gathering for to oddest gig at the #EdFringe @UnleashedComedy pic.twitter.com/13PAAdATkN  The Andy Bore (@AndyShaw1) August 17, 2023

Linehan, who also wrote TV sitcoms The IT Crowd and Black Books, is a vocal critic of the trans rights movement.

Leith Arches said: We work very closely with the LGBT+ community, it is a considerable part of our revenue, we believe hosting this one-off show would have a negative effect on future bookings.

Comedy Unleashed said it did find a second proper venue to host Linehans performance but it too decided to pull the show.

Our replacement venue has cancelled on us too, but were still going ahead tonight at 7.30!Ticket holders have been emailed with the new location. https://t.co/QpxDYVRyI3  Comedy Unleashed (@UnleashedComedy) August 17, 2023

The club said on X, the micro-blogging site formerly known as Twitter: Our replacement venue has cancelled on us too, but were still going ahead tonight at 7.30!

Earlier this week, Linehan told TalkTVs Julia Hartley-Brewer he would consider suing Leith Arches for cancelling his gig if it refused to take him back.

He said: If they apologise and put the gig on, Ill say no more about it, but otherwise Ill be looking at legal action.
Star presenter Ryan Tubridy was due to return to hosting his RTE radio programme in September before he appeared to question the organisations statements on his previous earnings, according to the head of the national broadcaster.

The details of Tubridys mothballed return emerged after director-general Kevin Bakhurst announced trust had broken down and there are now no plans for him to resume presenting at RTE.

Tubridy, who was the highest earner at the national broadcaster, has been off since June 22 after a scandal emerged that RTE had understated his earnings.

According to revised figures from RTE, Tubridy earned as much as 545,000 euros in 2019 and earned 515,000 euros in 2022.

Reports into how figures for his fees had been mis-stated found that Tubridy had no involvement and there was no wrongdoing on the part of the presenter.

Mr Bakhurst, who started as director-general at the height of an ever-expanding scandal at the broadcaster, continued negotiating Tubridys return to his daily radio programme until Wednesday.

Critically, the talks were thrown into crisis after Tubridy released a statement which appeared to question RTEs decision to restate his earnings for 2020-2021 following a highly anticipated report into the matter.

RTE had upwardly revised the publicly stated figures on Tubridys earnings for that period after it emerged he was paid additional money for a commercial arrangement with a sponsor.

However, Tubridy said on Wednesday the original figures were correct.

It is understood he felt the original figures for his RTE payment were correct as the fee for the commercial arrangement was paid by Renault and a UK barter account for the years RTE had chosen to underwrite the deal.

Speaking to RTEs Prime Time current affairs programme, Mr Bakhurst said a number of thorny issues had been overcome in negotiating Tubridys return.

He said this included his salary and the repayment of 150,000 euros which was paid to Tubridy as part of RTEs decision to underwrite unfulfilled commercial commitments.

Mr Bakhurst said Tubridy had planned to return the money.

Asked when Tubridy was due to return, Mr Bakhurst said: The plan was to get him back on September 4 on to his show on Radio One.

Also, part of the deal under discussion was about Ryan doing a podcast as well.

He said the agreement involved Tubridy, who was previously the organisations highest earner, returning on 170,000 euros per year.

However, Mr Bakhurst said he was particularly disappointed with Tubridys statement.

Speaking to RTEs Nine OClock News, he said: I just think for the sake of rebuilding trust, which is my focus with the organisation, we cant afford to be questioning the facts that are out there.

He added: I dont actually feel Ryan was best served by the people around him who advised him on making that statement.

However, the director-general said the door is still open for a future return for Tubridy.

Separately, Mr Bakhurst said Tubridys planned fee reduction was part of a wider strategy to lower the amount paid to the broadcasters presenters when their contracts come up for renegotiation.
All questions around the Omagh bomb atrocity can only be answered by holding a public inquiry on both sides of the Irish border, a lawyer representing some bereaved families has said.

John McBurney urged the Irish Government to reconsider its position after a minister indicated this week that there is no new evidence which would warrant holding a public inquiry in the Republic of Ireland.

Twenty-nine people, including a woman pregnant with twins, were killed when a massive car bomb exploded in the Co Tyrone town in 1998, the worst loss of life in a single incident in Northern Irelands troubled past.

It came just months after the historic Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.

No-one has ever been criminally convicted of the attack.

In 2021, High Court judge Mr Justice Horner recommended the UK Government carry out a new investigation into the Omagh bombing, and urged the Irish Government to do likewise, after finding plausible arguments that there had been a real prospect of preventing the atrocity.

Earlier this year, Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris announced that an independent statutory inquiry would be carried out.

Peter Burke, Irish Minister for European Affairs and Defence, said this week during an interview with the BBC that a number of investigations, including the Nally Report, had already been carried out in Ireland into the bombing.

He said that the Nally Report had found no significant new evidence which warranted the establishment of a public inquiry, adding that is our position at the moment.

Mr Burke stressed that the Irish Government would cooperate fully with the UK inquiry in an attempt to ensure there are no unanswered questions left about the atrocity.

Mr McBurney, who represents some families in the Families Moving On victims support group, said: On behalf of my clients I wish to convey the sense of surprise and disappointment felt on hearing the indication by Minister Burke during the BBC interview.

He added: With respect, it is submitted that the position outlined by Minister Burke is entirely unsatisfactory.

The Nally Report which he referred to throughout the interview did not have the necessary powers to fully probe all matters and therefore many aspects remain to be inquired into.

Lord Justice Horner made it quite clear in a very detailed judgment that full investigation in both jurisdictions was necessary in order to fully deal with the matter.

Mr McBurney continued: It is essential that the Irish Government must reflect urgently on how disrespectful and unsatisfactory it is to ignore the obvious need, in tandem with a statutory inquiry in Northern Ireland, to properly investigate by public inquiry all matters outstanding as elucidated in the judgment of Lord Justice Horner.

The call is now for reconsideration of the negative position outlined by Minister Burke and an indication that a tandem inquiry will be launched in the Republic of Ireland.

It is difficult to see how all aspects can be properly probed by any other arrangement.

The Irish Government has been approached for a response.

On Tuesday, a number of families who lost loved ones in the 1998 attack gathered and laid flowers at the spot where the bomb exploded to mark the 25th anniversary.
MBABANE - The first tracks from House on Fires pan-African music project CollaboNation have officially been released today.

Seksedvute by Thobile Makhoyane (Eswatini) featuring The Hood Brodz (Mozambique), and Chisimo by Mokoomba (Zimbabwe) X Morena Leraba (Lesotho) are now available as audio tracks on all streaming platforms, as well as the MTN Bushfire website, www.bush-fire.com/collabonation, The music videos, including their MTN Bushfire 2023 performances, can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/@collabonation. Produced by Bushfire Records, the tracks have been released globally via the partnership with independent European-based distribution company Paradise Worldwide. The 2023 CollaboNation tracks speak to hope and heritage, reflecting the values of the House on Fire and the MTN Bushfire festival.

These are the first tracks produced by CollaboNation, an annual project that aims to create dynamic new content, support arts mobility in Africa and expand the reach of artist brands through the cross-pollination of fan-bases, said Jiggs Thorne, Creative Director of House on Fire and MTN Bushfire.

Mokoomba and Morena Lerabas song Chisimo, means Riddle in Luvale (or Chiluvale), one of the Bantu languages found in some regions of Zimbabwe, Zambia and Angola. Mokoomba and Morena Leraba describe the song as a musical marriage that then becomes a journey of affirming and discovering similarities and connections within our Bantu languages. In an ever-changing global culture, where colonialism (in Africa and other regions) shaped many of our institutions, it is crucial to safeguard and preserve our indigenous languages, especially when the idea of decolonization is presented.

The songs have already attracted good reviews from notables in the music industry, with veteran Johannesburg-based DJ, podcaster, editor and journalist Charles Leonard describing Chisimo as, Evocative and tightly produced, the intro already forces you to put down everything else - then the horns kick in! Morenas superb voice is an instrument on its own. Its completely modern while proudly positioned in the Southern African regions roots. SADCs finest show how you can sound! They really put the collab in CollaboNation!

Nicky Blumenfeld (Nicky B), from the Kaya FM World Show, had this to say of Chisimo: A truly special encounter between Lesotho and Zimbabwe that echoes across Africa, connecting the continent through a deeply rooted but futuristic interpretation of desert blues. Conceptually, lyrically and melodically, this is a powerful song on so many levels!

She goes on to describe the second CollaboNation release, Seksedvute, as A well-produced interplay of Mozambique Electro with Swati spirituality. Ritualistic Afro-tech at its best! Seksedvute, meaning it is close in siSwati, is driven by an irresistible dance beat interlaced with Thobile Mokhoyanes clear soaring voice. Mozambican Electronic duo Hood Brodz describe it thusly: This song reveals the dream that we all have inside of us; that one day we can wake up in the middle of accomplishments.

The live-performance videos available on YouTube have been released along with the tracks, and were filmed at the 2023 edition of the MTN Bushfire Festival in Eswatini. The artists debuted the songs at the festival to hugely appreciative crowds. The first year of CollaboNation has been funded by the Sound Connect Fund, an initiative by the Music In Africa Foundation (MIAF) and Goethe-Institut. The Sound Connect Fund is made possible with funding from the ACP-EU Culture Programme, a project implemented by the Secretariat of the African.
MBABANE  His Majestys Correctional Services (HMCS) has been reported for allegedly violating a transgender woman and forcing her to stop hormonal therapy.

A transgender woman is someone who was born a male but identifies as a female. A transgender persons gender identity is not the same as the sex recorded on their birth certificate. The Eswatini Commission on Human Rights and Public Administration stated that it had noted that the country was still lagging behind in addressing the issues faced by key populations as well as people in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) community.

Human Rights Defender Nelisiwe Zwane, from the Human Rights Commission, was speaking during an event that brought together government departments as well as non-governmental organisations. The aim of the event was to have a multisectoral conversation around laws and access for key populations. During the event, different stakeholders had an opportunity to explain their role in advancing an enabling environment for key populations. During a panel discussion, the human rights defender gave an insight of the role that had been played by the commission in creating an enabling environment for key populations as well as the LGBTQI community in the country.

Zwane said the commission received complaints from key populations, more especially the LGBTQI. She said there was a particular case, where a transgender woman reported human rights violation at the hands of HMCS officers. She said the complaint included harassment and being degraded among other issues. Zwane said the transgender woman reported that when she was admitted to the HMCS, she was searched by warders instead of being searched by wardresses. Zwane said the reason the complainant felt she had to be searched by wardresses was because she identified as a woman, besides being born a biological man.

During the search, Zwane told the meeting that the transgender woman said the officers made a mockery of her. In addition, she said all the officers in the facility were called to look at her and made funny and derogative statements about her gender and how she looked. Zwane added that the transgender woman also stated that she found herself being punished for a number of issues. During her admission to the facility, Zwane said the transgender woman was on feminising hormone therapy. Upon admission, Zwane said the transgender woman was prohibited from taking the treatment.

She was stopped from taking the treatment because the service said they would not promote the demonic activity, she said. Further, Zwane said the commission made its own findings and made recommendations to HMCS. She said the commission indeed uncovered that the transgender womans rights were grossly violated.

Uncovered

Furthermore, Zwane said the commission uncovered that key populations in Eswatini were not involved in decision making that affected them.

She also highlighted mental health challenges that were channelled by the discrimination they faced in their families and communities.

Zwane also highlighted the danger that some transgendered people went through as they went through hormonal therapy. She said since hormonal injections or medication was prohibited for people whose gender was transitioning, some of those individuals resorted to black market products.

Zwane said black market products were endangering the lives of transgender people, because that sector was not regulated.

She added that gender identity markers were still a challenge because a number of them faced challenges when travelling. She said that was a challenge for mostly transgender people as well as gender non-binary individuals. She explained that transgender people found themselves being searched in a manner that would be violating and harsh as compared to cis-gender people. A transgender womans passport may refer to her as a man yet she would be looking like a man and the similar case to transgender man, she said. She said the officials normally gave transgender people a hard time because they would want to confirm if they were indeed the owners of the passport, for that reason they found themselves undergoing uncomfortable inspections, of which some of them would be humiliating.




Tell us a little bit about yourself: My name is Lynda Mc Sweeney, and I am the Head of Education for Fota Wildlife Park. I am originally from Carrigrohane on the outskirts of Cork City and I went to school in Scoil Mhuire on Wellington Road!

Animals have always been an integral part of my life and I graduated from UCC in 1992 with a BSc in Zoology. In 1995, after spending an additional two years conducting research for an MSc, I made the decision to pursue a business qualification which offered candidates a six-month internship in a relevant organisation . I had the good fortune to secure an internship in Fota, and the rest, as they say, is history!

In my capacity as Head of Education, I am responsible for devising and implementing all of the parks formal educational initiatives as well as the interpretive signage and displays seen throughout the park. Beyond the park, my responsibilities also include serving as an assessor for heritage education on behalf of the Sandford Heritage Education Trust in both Ireland and the UK and I am the BIAZA (British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquaria) Regional Co-Ordinator for conservation education in Ireland.

Since 1999, I have been a member of the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibitions Social and Behavioural Sciences judging panel!

My role offers me a lot of variety which is something I really love and appreciate! This year is particularly exciting as Fota is due to unveil its most recent development, its Education, Conservation and Research Centre (ECRC) which is due to be completed in early November. I cant wait to see it come to fruition as it will offer state of the art educational and conferencing facilities as well as an opportunity to provide both schools and colleges with additional educational services.

I met my husband in UCC in 1992, Andrew was completing his doctorate in environmental science in the Zoology Department, and we married in 1998. We have two daughters , Ava and Clara both of whom are avid animal lovers! Ava is in her final year in college while Clara is awaiting her Leaving Cert results!

In 1999, Andrew and I moved to Whitegate in East Cork, and we have been fortunate to have made great friends in the local area. Whitegate and its surrounding area, with its diverse native wildlife, provides nature lovers such as myself with endless opportunities to explore and appreciate whats on our doorstep!

What is your ideal way to spend a Friday night?

Friday evening offers me an opportunity to wind down and spend time with either family or friends. We normally eat out in a local restaurant and catch up on what has been happening during the week!

I really look forward to Friday evenings and not having to cook is an added bonus! I have to admit that I am a homebird, I am more than happy to spend the weekend pottering around the house, working at my own pace!

Lie ins or up with the lark.. which is it for you?

Definitely up at the crack of dawn during the week, and depending on what has to be done, I may occasionally sleep in on the weekends. Additionally, rising with the larks gives you the chance to enjoy a leisurely breakfast and plan out your day. There are certainly times when getting out of bed early may require a little additional work, but with a family of five cats and two dogs, I can always count on one of them to wander into the bedroom to remind me of my motherly responsibilities!

Does work creep into your weekend at all?

Yes, work can sometimes creep into my weekend. Depending on the time of the year or whether there is a big event on the horizon, there might be situations where I need to work on weekends to meet deadlines, address urgent issues, or handle unexpected tasks. However, it doesnt happen too often and when it does, I am fortunate to work with a great team that are always ready and willing to offer their support and assistance!

Overall, it's all about maintaining a healthy work-life balance and making the most of every situation.

If money was no object where would you head to on a weekend city break? And who would you bring with you?

I would love to visit Vienna to see the famous Lippanzer Horse show! The Lipizzaners are known as the dancing white horses of Vienna. The only school in the world to have been teaching classical riding for more than 450 years is Vienna's Spanish Riding School, where they study and perform. That would be an absolutely incredible experience, and I really hope to get there someday! Its definitely on my bucket list!!

Closer to home, is there some place you like to head to recharge the batteries? Rostellan Woods and Ballybrannigan beach are my two favourite places that are both within a two mile radius from where I am living! Our dogs arent fussy as to where we take them as long as its somewhere that offers them an opportunity to roll and meet other canines!

Saranna Curran, Trainee Ranger and Eimear Thornton, Educational Assistant at Fota Wildlife Park with a stick insect, one of the many rare and interesting invertebrates which will be on display at the Bug Bonanza Weekend from 12noon to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday (August 19 and 20) in the Marquee at Fota Wildlife Park. Picture: Darragh Kane

Do you like to catch up with family/friends at the weekend?

The vast majority of my friends work full-time so they find themselves in a similar situation to myself whereby weekends are often spent catching up on household tasks! In recent years, I have begun to make more of an effort to ensure that we set time aside to catch up with friends and family. I am fortunate that both of my siblings, Niall and Nicola also live in Cork with their families which makes meeting up so much easier!

Do you get to indulge any hobbies? Even as a spectator?

Horses have always been a passion of mine from a very young age. Thankfully, my two daughters also share a love of them and about 11 years ago they persuaded my husband and I to buy them a pony (Bud)! Well 11 years later, he is now retired and living the dream with his 16.2hh girlfriend who never leaves his side. In fact, I think when I appear at weekends, she appears a little miffed to say the least and isnt remotely impressed by my presence. So, for the foreseeable future hes my hobby, I have to admit whatever stresses have accumulated over the course of the week, quickly dissipate when in the presence of a horse!

Entertain or be entertained? If it's the latter do you have a signature dish?

Who doesnt like to be entertained!! I am fortunate that I have several friends that live close by that are happy to share their culinary expertise with my husband and I on a regular basis. The favour is reciprocated but perhaps not quite to the high standards that they have set. My signature dish is potato gratin with chicken stuffed with blue cheese, sundried tomatoes and Parma ham. Either way, its an opportunity to meet up and share a meal and some laughs with good friends and family!

We have so many places to eat out in Cork - where are your go to spots for coffee/ lunch/ special meal?

Living in East Cork means that I am spoilt for choice in relation to eating out! When in town, Luigi Malones and Isaacs Restaurant are two of my favourites!

I love the atmosphere of the city, the hustle and bustle and watching people pass by  yes, I am one of those voyeurs!!

Sunday night comes around too fast.. how do you normally spend it?

Usually Sunday is spent doing the last of the jobs around the house in preparation for the week ahead. When my daughters were still in school, organising uniforms and lunches were jobs left for Sundays. Thankfully, my youngest daughter just completed her Leaving Certificate in June so my Sundays will probably be less stressful going forward!!

What time does your alarm clock go off on Monday morning?

My alarm goes off at 6am on weekday mornings! I have a close relationship with my mop and hoover which means I cant leave the house without cleaning and hoovering every morning!! To me it appears perfectly normal, but my colleagues and friends would suggest otherwise! I have been known to talk extensively about hoovering while in a recovery ward a few years ago!

BUG BONANZA THIS WEEKEND

Fota Wildlife Park Education Department is headed by Lynda McSweeney and they are hosting a Bug Bonanza at Fota this weekend on Saturday August 19 and Sunday August 20 which will feature an array of rare and interesting invertebrates from around the world. Visitors will get the chance to get up close with some creepy crawlies and learn about their anatomy and adaptations with some of the zoologist team onsite.

See www.fotawildlife.ie
CORK-born author, Jacqueline OMahonys second novel, 'Sing, Wild Bird, Sing', is inspired by a devastating true story that happened during the Famine in the west of Ireland.

For Jacqueline, originally from Farmers Cross in Cork and now living in London, the tragedy is a very good story from my point of view. I know that sounds a bit cold-hearted, but its a story that needs to be told and onto which you can hook a narrative.

The tragedy happened in March, 1849, in Doolough, County Mayo, when approximately 600 starving people journeyed through terrible weather to seek help from their English landlord, but were turned away.

They walked 12 miles to the landlords house in Doolough, but to no avail, and had to walk back to Louisburg. Most of them died from starvation and the harsh conditions, says Jacqueline.

It was snowing because it was unseasonably cold weather. I spoke to some local people who said theres a very unusual microclimate in the area.

Apparently, a wind came up and just blew many of the people (including babies and the elderly) into the Black Lake. The lake has dark waters and sandy banks. Some died on its banks.

Recently, the bones from some of the victims were spotted exposed on the banks of the lake. A priest went there and did a blessing. It was decided to leave the bones where they were found.

Its almost like a living graveyard. Its a very powerful place, says Jacqueline.

The novel explores the historical connection between the Irish people and the Indigenous people of America. During the Famine, which happened at the same time as the mass displacement of the Plains tribe called the Trail of Tears, the Choctaw people sent money to the Irish, despite being very poor themselves. (This act of generosity is commemorated by an outdoor sculpture in Midleton called Kindred Spirits).

In 2020, this country donated 2.5million to the Hopi and Navajo peoples when they needed it most, having been badly hit by the Covid pandemic. The walk at Doolough and the Trail of Tears are inextricably connected.

Jacquelines book focuses on a fictional character, Honora ONeill, born under a curse, who is attuned to the natural world, and used to fending for herself by foraging.

She is 19 when the book starts (and newly-married, only to lose her husband). Honora survives the walk and emigrates to America where she gets a job as a scullery maid in New York. She eventually goes west and ends up in a pioneer town in the Oregon territory. There, she meets an Indigenous man and the story is about her relationship with him.

Honora was born when a robin flew through the house.

That is supposed to bring bad luck. Honoras mother died while giving birth to her. Honora was always an outsider in her village. She had to look after herself from a very young age and live outdoors.

She developed skills. She was stronger than the average person at the time when a lot of people would have developed typhoid fever.

I wanted a resilient character, adds Jacqueline. She has a stillbirth on the walk and becomes infertile. I was inspired by Eavan Bolands poem, The Famine Road.

What was interesting to me was that a lot of women during the Famine became infertile. With the lack of nutrition, their bodies didnt develop.

There is an acutely dark side to this novel, which explores what immigrant Irish women in America had to do to survive. But Honora keeps battling on.

Because so many terrible things have happened to her, she is determined not to be stopped. In a way, she sees herself as the sole representative of all the people who didnt make it. She wants to bear witness to what happened.

This is Jacquelines second novel, her first one having been set during the War of Independence and the Civil War. A full-time writer and mother-of-three, she used to work as a journalist and editor with Conde Nast. She then worked as an arts editor with Associated Newspapers.

I went on maternity leave after the birth of my son and I never went back to newspapers, Jacqueline says. I dont really miss them. When I started writing, I thought you had to be a journalist to be a writer. But its a different form of writing; you use a different part of your brain.

She always wanted to be a writer. When she was 14, she won a young writer of the year award and was interviewed by the Irish Examiner.

I always compared writing with being able to run or sing or something, she says.

Jacqueline attended Christ the King secondary school, followed by a BA at UCC, an MA at the University of Bologna and a doctorate in history at Boston College. She was a Fulbright scholar at Duke University, and gained a Masters in creative writing from City University in London in 2015.

It was great to be actually taught how to write a book in the creative writing masters, says Jacqueline. I had a particularly good teacher, Jonathan Meyerson, who I still work with. He knew how to break down a book and explain its structure.

Jacquelines interest in historical fiction comes from a love of history and a curiosity that makes her try to imagine the lives of people from long ago.

But finding information on the background to the Famine Walk was challenging.

It was like a thing that wasnt spoken about.

In true immersive style, Jacqueline completed the Famine Walk herself. With 40,000 downloads of her book within the first five days of publication, she has clearly tapped into a story that resonates, particularly in America.

Sing, Wild Bird, Sing, by Jacqueline OMahony is published by Lake Union at 8.99.
IT has been said that mentoring is less about mentoring, and more about helping people to discover whats inside themselves.

This is easily applied to The Young Playwrights programme, a Graffiti Theatre initiative, run in partnership with The Everyman Cork and supported by Fighting Words Ireland.

In the programme, eight lucky participants receive such mentorship in writing from established Cork playwrights Katie Holly and John McCarthy, who have both been there from the start, back in 2018.

Their time together culminates in a reading of their work on The Everyman stage by professional actors and theatre directors on Sunday, August 20.

The Young Playwrights Programme participants of 2023; Aobha Lynch, Kellie-Anne Holmes, Michael Corbett, Anna Gaytan, Anna Dunlea, Shiv McGrath and Eimear Sheehan and Elsa Forrest. Picture: Celeste Burdon

I sat down with the two passionate mentors as well as their deserving mentees: Shiv McGrath, Anna Gaytan, Eimear Sheehan, Elsa Forrest, Anna Dunlea, Aobha Lynch, Kellie-Ann Holmes, and Michael Corbett.

That sense of self-discovery and collaboration permeated our chat about their time together. The programme seems to be far more about learning together than any kind of one-way instruction from John and Katie.

High Quality

This might have something to do with how good the young writers are before the programme even starts, as mentioned by both mentors. The chosen eight came from an open submission call. It was a tough process, according to John, an experienced playwright from and based in Cork.

We got a really incredible response this year. Over 40 people applied so it was hard to pick the top 15, never mind the top eight. The standard was really high. We each looked at the applications and then came together to make the tough decisions.

Four people were involved in sifting through the applications, mentors John and Katie, alongside the Artistic Directors of the Everyman Theatre and Graffiti Theatre, Sophie Motley and Niall Cleary. Kel Menton, coordinator with Fighting Words, also played a vital role.

We each shortlisted according to our subjective criteria and then came together to define what we were looking for. We focused on the theatrical nature of the programme; people who wrote sample scenes fared best.

Alongside the mentoring process, through which they have been given an opportunity to road test their ideas, the lucky group have enjoyed attending shows on the Everyman stage, including exciting new work such as Mark O Hallorans Conversations After Sex. Theatre is absoltutely at the heart of the programme, from start to finish.

Mentor Katie Holly.

Writer Feedback

Although the competition is open to young people aged between 15-22, this years group range in age from 16-19 and live in Cork, bar Anna Dunlea, who is from Killarney. For this sole Kerry participant, the structure of the programme has been ideal.

It has really changed how I think about my writing and I learn a lot in each session. In between the workshops, I have time to work on my pieces and edit/improve sections. The feedback from the workshops is invaluable. Its really fun and I look forward to each one. Attending the plays has also been a huge opportunity and we learn a lot from seeing different productions on stage and discussing them.

Another participant, Anna Gayton, had a unique experience applying to the programme. For her, there was another challenge in being chosen  the 16-year-old had never written in English before.

I originally shared the application with a friend, who is a talented young writer, and decided to try it too.

I didnt think I would actually succeed, because it was my first time writing in English, but Im happy I did.

Aobha Lynch finds the opportunity to share work particularly useful: When other people read out my script, it is very scary but it is interesting to hear others actually say the words [Ive written], it makes me realise Im writing an actual play.

Elsa Forrest references the same opportunity, and the difference between writing for oneself and writing for others.

During this programme, Ive had to keep in mind that my piece isnt just for me. My piece has evolved into a piece of fiction, which (hopefully) does the events and people that inspired it justice. Constraint is too strong a word, but its been interesting to see how I adapt my characters and plot to be more suitable for an audience instead of just for myself.

The young writers are also building a sense of community around their writing, realising that the same challenges arise for all writers.

Kellie-Anne says: Ive learned that, although everyone has their own unique writing style, writers all go through the same occasional struggles, such as writers block or struggling to fully realise an idea. Once I learned this, it made me feel comforted to know that its normal to feel completely stuck now and again!

Mentor John McCarthy picks up on this as we chat.

One thing myself and Katie noticed this year was that the group clicked really quickly. We didnt have to teach them how to give constructive feedback; they did it naturally. Very quickly, they became a peer network for each other. They became a group of writers supporting each other in a very nurturing, evolved way. It has been really inspiring to see that and it meant that we could step back a bit.

Both mentors were very impressed with what they saw.

Katie and I always find that we are inspired and intimidated in equal measure. It is amazing to watch, that thing that is very hard to explain, how quickly writers can make dialogue sing on the page.

I ask Katie if there was anything like this programme available when she was young.

Absolutely not, no. Now, I was more interested in acting at their age. I sort of fell out of love with that later and started writing, probably in my late twenties. But as far as I know there was nothing like this around for young writers then.

Katie feels her work as a mentor greatly enriches her own writing practice.

They have such a fresh and unique way of being in and looking at the world. Theyll come up with things I never would have thought of, or theyll look at archetypes or stories in a new way. Its really enriching to be around.

Final Thoughts

For Michael Corbett, the oldest member of the group, attending the shows at the Everyman has been hugely enriching and the idea of putting on his own work on the same stage is truly exciting.

For me, the opportunity to see professional plays in the Everyman has been so important and rewarding. Not a show went by that I wasnt writing the whole night after, high on inspiration, desperate to follow! Being in the Everyman working with actors and our director will be so surreal. I cant wait, he enthuses.

Eimear not only praises the programme, she is keen to promote writing; Things I see every day inspire me to write, simple things. I would absolutely recommend other young people write. It can be a vessel for creativity and self-expression and you can create something amazing.

Chatting with this inspiring, energised group leads me to believe this wonderful programme will be around for years to come, thanks to the dedication of all involved.
Waterstones Cork will host 'An Evening with John Connolly', a world-renowned author primarily known for his Charlie Parker novels, on August 30.

His new book, The Land of Lost Things, is not a Parker novel but rather a sequel to The Book of Lost Things which was published 17 years ago and is his favourite example of his work.

John Breen of Waterstones Cork said they want as many customers as possible to be able to enjoy the evening with John Connolly.

He added they have hosted events with him in the past.

John is a very entertaining speaker, so this really is an evening not to be missed, stated Mr Breen.

John will travel to Reading, Cardiff, Liverpool, Dundee and Durham after his Cork stint.

An Evening with John Connolly starts at 6.30pm on August 30 in Waterstones on Patrick Street.
A CHARITY shop owner is appealing for the return of vital funds from their cash box following a shocking theft that has left her both hurt and reeling.

Fiona Corcoran from the Greater Chernobyl Cause is urging the customer who stole more than 200 from a cash box kept behind the counter to come forward and do the right thing.

The charity founder, who set up the organisation in response to the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl and also helps victims of war located in Cork and Ukraine, said they are willing not to press charges if the cash is returned in an envelope. This can be done either anonymously or in person at the Merchants Quay store.

Gardai had been assisting Fiona following the theft which occurred last Saturday at 3.40pm. However, the culprit has yet to be identified. Ms Corcoran said their concern is more about the principle than the amount of money that was taken.

As a charity, we try to help people so our first thought was that the person who did this might need help too, she told The Echo.

This is the first time we have encountered anything like this. Whats ironic is that this is happening at a time when we need the funds more than ever. 200 might not sound like a lot to some people, but it could potentially feed an elderly couple for four weeks in war-torn Ukraine. The amount could also feed a family in Ukraine for three or four days.

She described how vital the store is to the charity.

The shop is our main source of funding at the moment so we were very upset to think that someone would steal from it.

"We operate on a shoestring budget in a place that is run by volunteers so everyone is really saddened by what happened.

She hopes that the thief will come forward in time.

They can ring us and make the donation anonymously if they wish or hand it back in an envelope. We are willing to forgive if this person would just come forward.

Gardai confirmed they are investigating.

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A REFUGEE was conned out of all her savings after being promised a room to rent as part of a cruel scam targeting vulnerable foreign nationals in Cork.

The woman had recently arrived in Cork with just 400 worth of savings to her name which she had put aside to begin a new life. She responded to an advertisement relating to a house share in the city. After exchanging messages with an individual posing as a landlord she agreed to offer up a deposit to secure the room.

However, she was both shocked and devastated to discover the house share had never existed.

The woman was referred to Nasc from another organisation in a desperate attempt to seek out advice and source alternative accommodation.

Staff from the Cork-based migrant rights centre assisted her in finding a place to stay.

Nasc CEO Fiona Hurley said the experience severely impacted the womans confidence at a time when she was already vulnerable.

She explained that her story is just the tip of the iceberg as more refugees and migrants become a target for con artists.

Off the top of my head, I can definitely recollect people who were relatively newly arrived here and didnt understand the protections that should be in place, she said.

They might have met someone through Facebook advertising a room and paid them money only to later find it had been taken from them.

These people had no way of getting back in contact with the person advertising the property. In the case of the woman who handed over 400, it was unfortunate that it was a scam.

They had been so desperate for accommodation that they acted very fast when handing over the money.

She described the victim of the latest scam as a vulnerable young woman.

She was completely alone in Ireland and they got the entirety of her savings. Life was already really difficult for her and what happened really undermined her confidence.

It also seriously undermined her trust in people in the community. The lack of faith in people after that must have been really hard for her.

Ms Hurley said that the repercussions for people affected by crime are not just financial.

This would seriously undermine anyones confidence in their ability to survive and thrive in Ireland.

She added that the woman who had her savings stolen is by no means alone in her suffering.

She never got the money back, even though we were eventually able to source her alternative accommodation.

There are so many similar stories out there and we wouldnt necessarily hear all of them.

Fiona described why foreign nationals can be particularly vulnerable.

Even if its 400 they may have budgeted to pay for a deposit. In many cases they wont have a single other friend or family member in the country they can contact to help them replace or borrow the money. This is very much pushing people into desperate situations afterwards.

Not everyone has the ability to try to start work immediately and find employment to earn money.

If you have only recently arrived in the country, it can take weeks for a residence permit to come through and you may not have access to any other funds."
CORK County Council is preparing to welcome its first female temporary chief executive following Tim Luceys departure in October.

Valerie OSullivan formerly served as a director of services in the city council. Her career saw her fill a number of roles relating to everything from recreation and amenity to housing and corporate affairs. She transferred to Cork County Council in 2020 after being appointed divisional manager for the south Cork division. Ms OSullivan had been tasked with responsibility for planning, roads, and municipal districts.

Her tenure as a temporary chief executive will begin on October 2. It will be the first time in history that Corks two local authorities have female chief executives at the helm. Ann Doherty is the current chief executive of Cork City Council after becoming the first female to take on the position in 2014.

It comes after the news of Mr Luceys upcoming resignation as he prepares to take on a role as head of the Irish Greyhound Board. He will finish up in the role on September 29. Mr Lucey has been in the position for more than nine years after working in numerous roles including in what was formerly known as the Southern Health Board and Skibbereen Urban District Council. He went from the role of a clerical assistant with Cork County Council in 1982 to the CEO of the organisation. He left the position of divisional manager in 2010 after being appointed Cork city manager. However, he returned to his previous workplace of Cork County Council in 2014 as its new CEO.

A Cork County Council spokesperson confirmed news of Ms OSullivans appointment to The Echo. They said: Valerie OSullivan, divisional manager, southern division, is to be appointed as Cork County Council chief executive, temporarily with effect from October 2, 2023, until a permanent appointment to the office is made.
A CORK-based charity, which has been responding to the needs of young women who have experienced difficult times for almost three decades, recently held a special event to celebrate receiving 37,500 from the RTE Toy Show Appeal grant.

The grant allocated to Wellsprings, located on Wandesford Quay, will fund a vital project in the outreach component of the Wellsprings service called Breaking the cycle; Engaging children and families with a care history in therapeutic supports and providing children and teenagers with prosocial connections.

This funding will facilitate the enhancement of work with children of women accessing Wellsprings outreach service, who as children and teenagers themselves lived in care.

Sharon Horan and Zoe O'Donovan. Picture: David Creedon

It will allow for the recruitment of a dedicated family support worker who will work directly with the children and link them to funded sessions with a therapeutic practitioner.

The project will provide children and parents access to sessions with a creative arts therapist/play therapist and music therapist to guide and support them in how best to respond to challenges, understand diagnosis and cope with stress in a more adaptive way.

The funded family support worker will meet with the children and parents regularly and link the children to positive activities.

Siobhan Tobin and Audrey Jeffery. Picture: David Creedon

On Tuesday, Wellsprings held a barbecue event to celebrate the funding allocation.

Speaking at it, the Lord Mayor of Cork Kieran McCarthy, said it was a great honour to be present.

He paid tribute to the staff at Wellsprings lauding their pursuit of caring and helping people on their journey through life.

Cathal Geraghty, Cork ETB Youth Services, Fiona Quinn, Local Creative Youth Partnership and Amanda Foster Outreach Worker. Picture: David Creedon

What youre doing here really matters, in helping people and what I call saving peoples souls, he continued. He described the receipt of funding as a milestone in the charitys history.

It is about your good selves embarking on another quest to improve the wellbeing of citizens of this city. Thats a very, very noble and very, very important quest.

The grant to Wellsprings is one of 147 RTE Toy Show Appeal grants this year which were made possible by the generosity of viewers of last Novembers Late Late Toy Show. Charity partner Community Foundation Ireland manages the grant process on behalf of RTE and its viewers.

Amy and Tadhg Tracey. Picture: David Creedon

Director of the Wellsprings board, Pat Mullins, described what receiving the grant means to the charity.

Today is a great day for the service because we can expand and we can develop more and theres lots more Wellsprings would like to do, theres lots more that wed like to get involved in, he said.

Founded in 1995 by Sister Joan OLeary, Wellsprings responds professionally to the needs of young women who have experienced difficult times, through offering a bespoke 24/7 safe home-like environment and continues to support young people in their onward journey.

The residential component caters for adolescents and women aged from 16 to 24 years and the aftercare outreach component provides a wraparound service of lifelong supports.

Juliet Obonugo and Jaden Ojugbeu. Picture: David Creedon

Speaking at the event on Tuesday, Finance Minister Michael McGrath particularly praised this aspect of the charity.

I think what sets Wellsprings apart is the fact that the service is a lifelong service, that while women would spend perhaps a year, two years, maybe longer in the residential service, the support is lifelong.
Iarnrod Eireann has awarded a substantial contract of 78.5 million to Alstom for a major signalling upgrade project on the Cork commuter rail network, to treble the number of trains which can operate between Cork and Cobh, Midleton and Mallow.

The contract  part of an overall signalling investment of 180 million - will deliver all the signalling, electrical and telecommunications enhancements under the Cork Area Commuter Rail (CACR) Programme, a series of interrelated projects being undertaken by Iarnrod Eireann.

The Cork Area Commuter Rail Programme will deliver the heavy rail proposals contained within the Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy (CMATS), developed by the National Transport Authority.

Phase 1 of the programme is largely funded under the EUs Recovery and Resilience Facility (EURRF). The signalling works are set to commence later this year and be complete by mid-2026.

The design and build contract awarded to Alstom will aim to ensure the delivery of a more efficient, sustainable, low-carbon and climate-resilient heavy rail network for the Cork region.

Signalling Solution

The new signalling solution will facilitate the proposed capacity and service frequency increases, with the potential to treble existing service frequency to a 10-minute frequency on all routes in the future.

It will include a new computer-based signalling system across the three main Cork routes, including the Mallow, Cobh and Glounthaune to Midleton Lines.

It will also improve the reliability of the signalling system and enhance railway safety systems and provide the capability of being managed centrally via the new National Train Control Centre at Heuston Station in Dublin, when operational, ensuring a more efficient and resilient service for all rail users.

Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan welcomed the investment, saying: "The re-signalling of the Cork Commuter rail network will provide for improved service reliability, frequency and capacity benefits, as well as electrified operations in the long-run, helping to transform rail transport for commuters. I was delighted to secure 164m in EU Recovery and Resilience Facility funding for this project in 2021 and am pleased to see continued progress with the awarding of the signalling contract today."

Minister for Finance Michael McGrath TD added:

This is a significant milestone for the commuter rail network in Cork.

"The investment is one of many planned projects planned to boost Corks rail offering and public transport network.

"Upgrading Corks signalling system is a crucial step forward to facilitate the proposed capacity and service frequency increases planned for the region and will be of considerable benefit to users of the rail network."

'Pave The Way For Improvements'

Anne Graham, Chief Executive of the National Transport Authority said: I welcome the progress being made with this project which will pave the way for improvements in rail services in Cork in the years ahead. Investment in rail is a key component in the CMATS strategy, and todays announcement represents a clear signal of intent on the part of NTA and Iarnrod Eireann that delivering for the people of Cork by implementing the Strategy is now the priority.

Iarnrod Eireann Chief Executive Jim Meade added: I commend our Cork Area Commuter Rail team in ensuring that all three elements of the CACR Programme are progressing so swiftly. New signalling, our new platform, and twin-tracking of Glounthaune to Midleton are set to transform the capacity of our Cork Commuter rail network and position us well to move forward with other rail projects under the CMATS strategy, including the critical delivery of new stations.

Alstom Ireland Managing Director, Piers Wood, stated: By drawing on Alstoms global experience, innovative technology and working practices, along with a deep understanding of Ireland's unique context, we are wholly committed to deliver sustainable transport solutions, creating lasting value and making a positive impact for Ireland, its people and the communities we serve, while contributing to a cleaner and more sustainable tomorrow.

"Through the CACR project, we will revolutionise passenger journeys on key commuter routes in the Cork area, while prioritising sustainability and the environment.

Cork Area Commuter Rail Programme

The Cork Area Commuter Rail programme is a transformative rail improvement programme for the Cork rail network. Delivering increased train capacity and frequency, providing for more connected communities and a more sustainable transport network, the project represents the largest ever investment in the Cork network and will deliver the vision set out by the National Transport Authority (NTA) in the Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy (CMATS).

Under CMATS the rail network will be developed to include train frequency and capacity to build to 16 million passenger journeys per annum, support modal shift from the private car and provide a high frequency north-east connection through the city. The Cork Area Commuter Rail Programme is being progressed through a number of separate but interrelated projects which will be delivered in specific work packages.

The construction of a new through platform at Kent Station to facilitate through running services from Mallow to Cobh/Midleton. The construction contract has been awarded and advanced enabling works have started on site.

Signalling and communications upgrades will facilitate the proposed capacity and service frequency increases. These works will commence in 2023.

Upgrading of the Glounthaune to Midleton line to a twin track configuration. The Railway Order for this project was lodged at the end of 2022, with An Bord Pleanala having undertaken an Oral Hearing as part of its assessment of the Railway Order from 26th June to 3th July.

Work is underway to appoint a multi-disciplinary consultant to complete detailed design and statutory approval for the proposed eight new stations, a new fleet depot, electrification of the network, upgrades to existing stations and associated per way and civil works on the network.
The Gum Litter Taskforce took to the streets of Fermoy this week as a part of its summer roadshow.

The interactive roadshow works with local authorities and communities across the country to carry out engaging education and awareness initiatives.

These initiatives demonstrate the proper means of gum disposal and raise awareness of the environmental and fiscal impacts of gum litter.

Now in its sixteenth year, the campaign is a collaboration between Food Drink Ireland, the chewing gum industry, and local authorities.

Welcoming the roadshow to Fermoy, Mayor of the County of Cork Cllr Frank OFlynn said: We are delighted to welcome back the Gum Litter Taskforce to Cork County.

"The roadshow is a fantastic way to show people about the importance of disposing of gum litter responsibly.

This campaign has seen a visible reduction of gum litter on our streets since it first began, and the roadshow is an important reminder to the whole community that we must continue to reduce our litter and protect our environment.

Research published recently to coincide with the national launch of the 2023 Gum Litter Taskforce campaign revealed that 87% of people now report proper gum disposal.

This is compared to just 9% when the campaign began in 2007.

The increase of 77.5%, demonstrates the positive impact the campaign has had on attitudes towards gum litter.

Peer pressure was found to be the key contributor to this shift in attitudes, followed by knowledge of the 150 fine.

However, work remains to be done to further reduce this figure, as only 46% of people can still claim to have never dropped gum on the ground, demonstrating the continued importance of the awareness and behavioural change campaign.

Speaking at the launch of this years roadshow, Minister Ossian Smyth welcomed the latest research and said:

Each cycle of the campaign has delivered demonstrable progress in reducing gum litter on our streets, showing the impact that cross-collaborative initiatives such as this one can have.
A 43-YEAR-old Cork man, accused of the sexual assault of a female almost eight years ago, was arrested at Dublin Airport on Wednesday on foot of an European Arrest Warrant.

The man, who cannot be named, was formally arrested by gardai and appeared at Clonakilty District Court the following day.

Det Gda Brian Murphy of Watercourse Garda Station in Cork city told Judge John King that he arrested the accused at the airport on foot of two arrest warrants dating from 2018 and 2020. He was later conveyed to Gurranabraher Garda Station where he was charged and made no reply after caution.

The court was told that the director of public prosecutions has indicated trial on indictment to the two charges which are alleged to have occurred on dates unknown between the start of the school year on September 1st and December 12th 2015.

Det Gda Murphy said gardai had no objection to bail subject to certain conditions which were agreed to by his solicitor, Cillian McCarthy, who said his client had been working in a bar abroad.

These conditions include that he reside at an address given to gardai, sign on twice a week at a garda station and surrender his passport and all travel documents and to not apply for any new documents.

Judge King also said the accused must not leave the jurisdiction, provide gardai with an Irish mobile number and to have no contact directly or indirectly with the alleged injured party or her family. He also imposed reporting restrictions on naming the accused.

The judge remanded him on bail in his own bond of 600 with no cash required to appear at Cork city district court on September 20.
MANZINI  SWAGAA was called to intervene after a teacher brutally battered a nine-year-old boy and further allegedly denied him his right to access medical care.

The incident took place over the past weekend at Mpompotha, under Sithobelweni Constituency, in the Lubombo Region. The matter is currently being dealt with by the Swatini Action Group Against Abuse (SWGAA), the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) and Social Welfare Department, which is under the Deputy Prime Ministers (DPM) Office. According to a source close to the matter, the teacher in one of the schools in the Manzini Region, who is the boys father, allegedly visited his home at Mpompotha on Saturday night and found his son asleep.

It is alleged that he woke him up from his sleep and demanded to know where he was when he visited home on a previous occasion. The source claimed that this was because in his last visit, the educator did not find his son home. He also claimed that the child was not at home at that time because he was running away from his father as he alleged that the father abused him.

Questioning

While questioning the boy, the source alleged that the educator started beating him with open hands on the face and all over the body. He claimed that he also used his belt and sticks and battered him all over the body in the middle of the night. Some neighbours, who heard the child shouting Inyandzaleyo (yelling for help) and pleading for forgiveness from his father, wanted to go out to assist him, but they feared being attacked by the educator, the source alleged. The sourced alleged that the father battered his son until he was satisfied as no one came to intervene.

He alleged that on the following day, after seeing the injuries on his sons face and body, he made arrangements to take him to one of his relatives in the Hhohho Region for reasons known to him. The source added that the child was not taken to hospital because they would have demanded information on the cause of the injuries. Later on, around Tuesday, a concerned citizen, who was aware of the matter and the fact that the child had been taken to the Hhohho Region, reported it to SWAGAA. The concerned citizens also informed the organisation that the child was kept in the Hhohho Region and assisted them to trace the exact location.

On the very same day, officers from SWAGAA travelled to the Hhohho Region and found the child groaning in pain, as he had not been taken to hospital. They rushed him to a clinic and engaged the police and Social Welfare Department. A case was then opened with the police. The source said the child had serious assault wounds on the head, left eye, and all over the body. SWAGAA Communications and Advocacy Officer Sakhile Dlamini, confirmed the matter. She said the act of taking the child to the Hhohho Region instead of rushing him to hospital was cruel. She recounted how they had tried to get hold of the father, but their efforts were in vain.

Investigation

On the same note, Deputy Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Inspector Nosipho Mnguni, also confirmed the matter. She said the matter was reported at Buhleni Police Station and the officers had already launched an investigation. She also highlighted that the police had tried to get hold of the father, but failed. However, she was not on their wanted list yet because they were still exhausting other means of getting hold of him.

This publication also made efforts to get his comments, but were in vain as his cellphone number was not available on the MTN Eswatini network on Wednesday and yesterday.
Update 9pm: The status orange rainfall warning in place for Cork has been extended and will now remain in effect until 1am tomorrow.

The weather warning, issued by Met Eireann, had been due to be lifted at 11pm.

The warning is in place for Cork in addition to Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Wicklow, Kerry, Tipperary and Waterford.

 Status Orange Rain Warning Updated 



Location: Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Wicklow, Cork, Kerry, Tipperary, Waterford.



Potential Impacts:

 Localised flooding. 

 Difficult travelling conditions.   

 Wave overtopping on coasts. https://t.co/Xg3aMJlyuS pic.twitter.com/iDtrvPVMWE  Met Eireann (@MetEireann) August 18, 2023

Earlier: Localised flooding has occurred in areas of Cork this evening with a slew of events cancelled due to the inclement weather conditions.

Earlier today Cork City Council had advised that some roads and parking areas along low-lying quays in the city centre would likely suffer some localised flooding during this evenings high tide that will occur shortly before 7.50pm.

Areas of the city centre, such as South Terrace and Rutland Street, have already began to experience levels of surface water pooling as heavy rainfall continues.

Elsewhere in the city, areas such as Rochestown Rd and the N27 have also reportedly suffered localised flooding, as have some areas in the county.

#CorkTraffic Heavy flooding, inbound, on the N27 South City Link, near the Turners Cross exit. Take care on approach. pic.twitter.com/JiMUiQCdew  Cork Safety Alerts (@CorkSafetyAlert) August 18, 2023

Flooding has also occurred in Carrigaline.

Cork County Council said its Severe Weather Assessment Team convened earlier this afternoon in response to the weather warnings and to review preparations.

It said council response crews and contractors have been put on notice and are on standby.

Cork City Council earlier said it is continuing to monitor the situation closely and that crews are also on standby.

It comes as Met Eireann issued multiple weather warnings as Storm Betty is set to hit the country.

#StormBetty is on the way 



Orange level winds over land and red level storm winds at sea are expected from 21:00



Potential Impacts:

 Falling trees

 Travel disruption.

 Power outages.

 Localised flooding

 Wave overtopping.



Stay Updated https://t.co/Xg3aMJlyuS pic.twitter.com/7x9cfqGeEG  Met Eireann (@MetEireann) August 18, 2023

A status orange rainfall warning remains in place until 11pm tonight, with the national weather forecaster advising that potential impacts could include localised flooding, difficult travelling conditions and wave overtopping in coastal areas.

Meanwhile a status orange wind warning is due to come into effect at 9pm and will remain in place until 3am tomorrow.

Late this evening and tonight, Storm Betty will bring south to southwest gales with "severe gusts of up to 130 km/hr" leading to potential structural damage, falling trees, travel disruption and power outages.

Due to very adverse weather conditions this eve, Friday 17 Aug, I must cancel the walking tour at the top of St Patricks Hill.

The weather is supposed to be good for Sat 18th & Sun 19th Aug, for Douglas & Tramore Valley Park resp. Full details here: https://t.co/ofFOJatOhc pic.twitter.com/kkPLMk1BnJ  Lord Mayor of Cork Cllr Kieran McCarthy (@cllrkmac) August 18, 2023

A status yellow wind warning will remain in place for Munster until 6am tomorrow.

The weather has already caused disruptions to travel and planned events in Cork.

Among the events cancelled is a Cork City FC game against Waterford which has been rescheduled to Monday at 7.45pm, in addition to outdoor activities that had been planned as part of Cork on a Fork Fest and a historical walking tour the Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Kieran McCarthy, had planned.

Services between Cork/Cobh and Midleton are suspended until further notice due to reports of flooding on the line - MH  Iarnrod Eireann (@IrishRail) August 18, 2023

Rail services are also experiencing disruption this evening. Iarnrod Eireann is issuing updates on Twitter advising of such disruptions, including a suspension of services between Cork/Cobh and Midleton until further notice due to reports of flooding on the line.
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.

A boat stuck in the dried-up bank of a canal at the Umm El Wadaa marsh, southeast of the Iraqi city of Nasiriyah in the southern Dhi Qar province, on Aug. 16, 2022. ASAAD NIAZI / AFP via Getty Images

One fourth of the planets population in 25 countries experiences extremely high water stress annually, using nearly all of their available water supply on a regular basis, according to new data from the World Resources Institute (WRI)s Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas.

Additionally, about four billion people live in conditions where they have high water stress for a minimum of one month out of the year, a report from WRI said.

High water stress puts the lives, food, jobs and energy security of people in peril, as water is necessary for the essentials of human survival like agriculture, electricity production and the maintenance of human health. It is also important for promoting fair societies and meeting climate goals.

The smaller the gap between supply and demand, the more vulnerable a place is to water shortages. A country facing extreme water stress means it is using at least 80% of its available supply, high water stress means it is withdrawing 40% of its supply, the report said. Without intervention  such as investment in water infrastructure and better water governance  water stress will continue to get worse, particularly in places with rapidly growing populations and economies.

Water demand worldwide is more than twice what it was in 1960, and throughout the globe, demand is exceeding supply.

Water use policies that are not sustainable, lack of water infrastructure investment and variations in supply caused by climate change all contribute to availability of water.

Water is how climate change most directly impacts people around the world, said Charles Iceland, global director of water with WRIs Food, Forests, Water, and the Ocean Program, as CNN reported.

Even a drought that doesnt last long is dangerous for places that are under extremely high water stress each year, as they may run out of water, the WRI report said.

The five countries in the world with the most water stress are Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon and Oman. These countries experience so much water stress due to low supply along with agricultural, industrial and domestic demand.

The planets regions that are the most water-stressed are North Africa and the Middle East; 83 percent of these regions populations experience extremely high water stress. In South Asia, 74 percent of the population is exposed to extreme water stress.

According to the report, another one billion people are projected to be exposed to extremely high water stress by 2050, even if the world manages to keep the global average temperature increase to between 1.3 and 2.4 degrees Celsius by the year 2100.

Water is arguably our most important resource on the planet and yet were not managing it in a way that reflects that, said Samantha Kuzma, Aqueduct data lead from WRIs water program and one of the authors of the report, as reported by CNN.

Ive been working in water for close to 10 years, and unfortunately, the story has been the same almost the entire 10 years, Kuzma told CNN.

Water demand around the world is predicted to climb by 20 to 25 percent by mid-century, and the amount of watersheds that vary highly from year to year is projected to increase by 19 percent, the report said.

This means that by 2050 the entire population of North Africa and the Middle East will have to endure extremely high water stress, which will not only affect consumers and industry, but the political stability of these regions.

Water demand in sub-Saharan Africa is growing faster than any other region on Earth, and by 2050 it is predicted to rise by 163 percent. Thats four times faster than Latin America, which is the second-highest at a predicted water demand increase of 43 percent.

In the richer countries of Europe and North America, demand for water has plateaued.

Water fixed firmly in international trade, to high income countries from lower to middle income countries, will contribute more and more to increasing water stress in the lower to middle income countries, even as water-use efficiency helps to reduce water use inside the borders of countries with a high average income.

As water stress increases, it poses a threat to global food security and the economic growth of nations throughout the world.

The data from Aqueduct said that by 2050, $70 trillion  31 percent of the global gross domestic product (GDP)  will have exposure to high water stress. Thats a big increase from the 24 percent of global GDP in 2010. By 2050, four countries  Turkey, Mexico, Egypt and India  will account for more than 50 percent of susceptible GDP.

WRI emphasized that water stress doesnt always mean water crisis. Places that live with water scarcity can use water-saving techniques like wastewater treatment and reuse, desalination and grass removal.

It would take just one percent of the GDP to tackle water challenges worldwide with the proper financial support and political action, according to WRI research.

Some important strategies for reducing water stress and improving water management are using incentives to improve the efficiency of water use in agriculture and restoring and protecting wetlands, forests and mangroves to build flood and drought resilience, which saves on water treatment costs and improves water quality.

Policymakers can also make wind and solar energy a priority in order to avoid power outages due to water shortages.

Every level of government, as well as communities and businesses, must step up to build a water-secure future for all. The world will ultimately require an all-of-the-above approach, as well as solutions specific to individual catchments and regions, the WRI report said. These findings may be daunting, but with the right management, every country can prevent water stress from turning into water crisis.




Brazilian chicken production set to sustain accelerated pace amid global glut



Amid the ongoing challenge of a global chicken oversupply, Brazilian chicken production is poised to maintain its accelerated trajectory until at least the conclusion of 2024, said the Brazilian Association of Animal Protein (ABPA), a prominent lobby group representing chicken and pork processors, Yahoo! Finance reported.

The saturation of the chicken market has had a notable impact on the earnings of Brazilian meatpackers in recent quarters. It has prompted actions such as capacity closures by major firms like Tyson Foods in the US.

ABPA, which represents industry giants including JBS SA and BRF SA, unveiled its forecast indicating that the country's chicken output for the year 2023 could potentially witness a growth of up to 3%, reaching a substantial 14.95 million tonnes by year-end.

Looking forward, the following year may witness an even higher expansion, with chicken production anticipated to escalate by as much as 4.5%, resulting in a total of 15.5 million tonnes.

Brazil, recognised as one of the world's major chicken producers, alongside China, the US, and the European Union, had previously been expected to generate 15 million tonnes of chicken in the current year, according to Ricardo Santin, the President of ABPA.

Santin elaborated that the newly unveiled projections already account for a gradual reduction in Brazil's output, thereby contributing to an enhanced equilibrium between supply and demand in the latter half of the year compared to the initial months.

Due to the substantial scale of Brazil's production and exports, Santin underscored the nation's influential role as a driver of both prices and volumes in global markets.

Brazilian chicken exports, which constitute 35.6% of the world's chicken supplies, are also poised to witness an upward trajectory. ABPA's estimations place Brazilian chicken exports between 5.1 million and 5.2 million tonnes by the conclusion of 2023, potentially reflecting an increase of up to 8% from the preceding year.

Looking ahead to 2024, the export figures might escalate by as much as 5%, reaching 5.35 million tonnes, as outlined by ABPA.

China, one of the prime destinations for Brazil's chicken exports, notably elevated its import of Brazilian chicken by 33% within a specific timeframe. ABPA anticipates China to continue procuring substantial volumes from Brazilian suppliers, given expectations of a reduction in China's domestic chicken output.

Notable importers of Brazilian chicken during the initial seven months of 2023 included China, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, and Saudi Arabia.

- Yahoo! Finance




Canada's new Fisheries Minister urged to review salmon farming policy in British Columbia province



Diane Lebouthillier, Canada's recently appointed Fisheries Minister, is facing calls to review salmon farming policies in British Columbia province, Fish Farmer reported.

Lebouthillier assumed the role from Joyce Murray just three weeks ago as part of a significant cabinet reshuffle orchestrated by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Joyce Murray, who had intended to halt open pen salmon farming in British Columbia, encountered extensive opposition from the industry. However, now, Timothy Kennedy, chief executive officer and president of the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance, has issued a statement urging the new minister to review this stance.

In extending his congratulations to Lebouthillier for her appointment, Kennedy said that salmon farming in British Columbia has encountered notable policy challenges in recent years, leading to reduced food production, job loss, and elevated food prices for Canadians.

He expressed optimism for a fresh perspective under the new minister, with a focus on innovative and pragmatic approaches to harnessing Canada's ocean resources' competitive advantage.

Kennedy highlighted the potential of evidence-based science and forward-looking policies to foster sustainable aquaculture production in Canada. He said that a robust, innovative aquaculture sector in Canada can yield affordable, healthy, low-carbon, and sustainable food, while contributing to conservation efforts and creating numerous jobs to support vibrant rural, coastal, and Indigenous communities.

Kennedy said that the escalating domestic and international demand for seafood cannot be met solely by wild catches. As a response, aquaculture has gained significant traction globally, with an anticipated annual demand growth rate of 6.90% (CAGR 2023-2028). Nations like Norway, the UK, Iceland, Chile, and the US have substantially expanded their aquaculture capacity in response to this trend.

He said that the new minister has an opportunity to forge a modern policy and regulatory framework to realign Canada's course, adding that Canada's aquaculture sector operates within stringent regulatory confines while continuously pushing the boundaries of innovation.

- Fish Farmer
LUANDA, ANGOLA - His Majesty the King has said SADC cannot expect the government of Eswatini to dialogue with terrorists.

He said the Southern African Development Community (SADC) should, instead, condemn all forms of terrorist activities wherever they existed because they caused untold suffering and resulted in the loss of lives. Speaking during a closed session of the SADC Troika yesterday, the King raised concern about what appeared to be a predetermined approach to dealing with political and security issues in Eswatini. The concern arises from the fact that the report presented to Troika does not seem to take into consideration that the country had since returned to normalcy, thanks to its own efforts.

His Majesty said any assistance given to any member State must be based on the facts as they obtained on the ground, rather than a dogmatic adherence to a predetermined approach.

In this way, we would be able to genuinely assist each other and not allow subjective intent to interfere with the pursuit of peace, he said.

The King said the country was appreciative of the aims and ambitions of the Organ Troika and was also proud of her heritage as a peace-loving nation, which had structures and systems designed to protect and entrench that peace. He recalled that when the country attended the SADC Summit in August last year in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the request made was that SADC assist Eswatini with curtailing the terrorist outbreak that had befallen the country.

It was with great surprise that instead of assistance being given to Eswatini to curb these activities, we were effectively told that we should negotiate with the perpetrators of violence. The question that arose in our minds was, where else in Africa has a government been told to negotiate with terrorist entities? The King said emaSwati were always happy to dialogue with those they disagreed with, within the provisions of the Constitution, but not with terrorists. This was a very peculiar position and one that we were, in all honesty, disappointed with. The Kingdom of Eswatini thus makes the second of our two requests and respectfully asks that we be removed from inclusion in upcoming agendas for the Troika as we too should not be held to a pre-determined process that is no longer fit for purpose, he said.



DIALOGUE AFTER ELECTIONS



Speaking of the proposed national dialogue, the King said, although the discussion of the day focused on the SADC Advisory Council (SEAC) Pre-election Assessment Mission Report, Eswatini made her position on the national dialogue explicitly clear. The dialogue will take place after our national elections in conformity with our constitutional and legal dictates. Our response should, therefore, not be misunderstood to have been limited to a particular context.

We believe, therefore, that any issue that may have arisen regarding the date for the dialogue, the form of the dialogue or the substance of that dialogue, will be properly elaborated once our elections have been completed, His Majesty said. He said while being extremely appreciative of efforts by SADC in providing the country with a draft framework, the kingdom stood guided by the Constitution on such matters. His Majesty further raised concern that the extracts from the SEAC Pre-Election Assessment Mission appeared to have been selectively chosen to fit a narrative that the kingdom was still in need of a particular form of intervention.

He highlighted the fact that it was clear from the report itself that the mission observed a general calm, people going about their daily lives, voter registration going about in an orderly manner, a very successful one at that, yet they reported negatively about the general security environment. This has led us to observe that the report has become convoluted to try and get them to fit particular narratives, even though the observed facts on the ground tell a different story, he said.

He said he was pleased to report to the Troika that the country had since been able to restore peace on our own. He further brought to the fore that over and above the positive reports from the SEAC team, the country had, in recent months, hosted a number of international festivals, summits and meetings, some attended by the heads of State and governments. We said there was a full programme of events and activities planned out for the upcoming months.

Life has returned to normalcy in the Kingdom of Eswatini. It is puzzling, therefore, to note that SADC would continue acting based on an alternate narrative contrary to what prevails on the ground. We wish that this be placed on record. We must be wary of reigniting tensions through misaligned approaches, he cautioned.
GNAAS hopes to become a '24/7 service'

The Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) has recruited a new doctor to its critical care team in the hopes of expanding and becoming a 24/7 service.

Last year, the charity began a long-term trial to transfer seriously injured or unwell patients by helicopter from the Isle of Man directly to the UK for emergency medical treatment.

The new recruit, Dr Paddy Duncan, has joined the charity at a crucial time and will join the other team of 35 doctors that work for the organisation across the North East of England and Cumbria.

Dr Duncan, who currently works at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle as an anaesthetics registrar, said: I am thrilled to be working with GNAAS and I am really looking forward to continuing my training with some of the best doctors and paramedic I have ever worked with.

These guys strive for excellence and everyone from the operational team to the fundraising staff are all driving the charity forward and supporting one cause.
Tinder is losing the tool it uses for background checks Garbo didnt want to be relegated to a piece of big corporations marketing goals.

The background-checking tool used by Match Group to offer a safety feature for Tinder users is shutting down. The non-profit and female-founded Garbo, which the dating app conglomerate has partnered with since 2019, will shut down its consumer tool at the end of August. Most tech companies just see trust and safety as good PR, Kathryn Kosmides, Garbos founder and CEO, told The Wall Street Journal, which published a report on the severed partnership. Id rather Garbo shift focus to our other efforts than allow the vision of Garbo to be compromised and relegated to a piece of big corporations marketing goals.

A Match Group spokesperson supplied a statement to Engadget. Match Group has made significant investments to enhance safety across our platforms over the last few years and we will continue to do so. From features like Are you Sure? and Does this bother you? to background checks, we have created tools and made investments that no other dating apps offer. We are committed to continuously investing and building industry-leading features that give users more information and control over who they choose to connect with on our platforms.

The company suggests its in the process of finding a replacement partner to check for histories of violence. While we are disappointed that we were unable to come to an agreement, we are in advanced conversations with alternate providers and will announce a new partnership soon, the spokesperson wrote.

Dating apps owned and run by Match Group include Hinge, Tinder, Match, OkCupid and Plenty of Fish (among others). SOPA Images via Getty Images

Kosmides told the WSJ that Garbos decision to suspend the tool spawned from disagreements with Match Group and difficulties getting platforms to pay for its services. She described internal disputes within Match Group brands about how to make the tool work.

Tinder leaders reportedly pushed for a system that would encourage users to run background checks on themselves to receive a badge on their profile, described as a way to engage those who are less likely to run [background checks] themselves (predominantly men) and highlight the majority of people that are good, an internal document viewed by the WSJ read. Garbo rejected the idea, and Kosmides told the paper, You cant white-list someone or give them a good guy, bad guy identity verification.

Public and regulatory interest in dating app safety rose in 2019 when ProPublica published a widely circulated story about sex offenders using dating apps. A Match Group spokesperson was quoted in the story as telling Columbia Journalism Investigations, There are definitely registered sex offenders on our free products. The uproar led to increased scrutiny from Capitol Hill. U.S. Reps. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Ann Kuster (D-NH) sent a letter in 2020 to Match Group inquiring about protecting users from registered sex offenders. The pair sent a follow-up letter this July, noting that the dating company no longer discloses the size of its trust and safety team.

The intensified public and political interest heightened pressure on Match Group to do something, and its leadership reportedly saw Garbo  a new and untested product still under development at the time  as a novel solution. The dating conglomerate announced its $1.5 million partnership with the group in 2021 and launched a consumer tool the following year  with the company paying to offer two free background searches for Tinder users. Some criticized the move for providing a false sense of security, although Match Group cautioned not to view it as an all-in-one fix.

This summer, with Match Group and Garbo failing to agree on funding terms, the latters board met and voted to terminate the tool. Garbo, which also partnered with smaller firms, says it will shift back to being volunteer-run beginning on September 1st. The organization says it will refocus our efforts on further ways to directly empower individuals with new and innovative tools to protect themselves from gender-based violence and other interpersonal harms in the digital age.

Undeterred from its core mission, it adds, We also plan to continue fiercely advocating for reforms in the criminal justice and public record systems to protect victims and hold bad actors accountable.

All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. All prices are correct at the time of publishing.
Aspiring for an intellectually illuminating and socially cohesive education, an academician treads into the profession with passion and value-laden beliefs to reach out to the hearts of young minds and connect with their brains to explore the world of wisdom. However, the ever-increasing trend of bureaucrats leading educational institutions or non-bureaucrats adopting bureaucratic strategies to run these institutions shatters the thread of headheart connections of academicians and limits their ability to explore new heights of wisdom. The widespread commercialisation of education in the private sector and the forthcoming financial disengagement of public-funded autonomous institutions, while maintaining stringent administrative control, are all set to strike the very spirit of academic culture, posing newer threats for financial stability. Self-sustenance is desirable in todays competing and globalising world, but it demands reasonable flexibility against the shackles of power and control. However, nuances of academic bureaucratisation seek to inculcate a compliance-oriented work culture which does not allow academicians to think freely and act diligently as it may possibly lead to psychological insecurity in the minds of the bureaucratic heads of academic institutions.

Academic bureaucracy refers to the administrative systems and structures within higher education institutions (HEIs). It is responsible for the establishment of policies, procedures, and hierarchies to ensure an organisations smooth functioning in compliance with government regulations and institutional policies. However, many a times, heads of academic institutions fail to understand when this systematisation of academic affairs transitions to the micromanagement of routine faculty affairs and

centralisation of decision-making power, warranting everyone to comply with their whims and fancies. They cannot resist their temptation of exercising power and control to manage things in a way that they perceive as correct and desirable. The very pursuit of academics rests on freedom of thought and action. This undesirable exercise of power can sometimes be seen as burdensome and hinders the flexibility and autonomy of academic institutions. As a result, it can lead to the stifling of creativity, innovation, and independent thinking, which are some of the most essential ingredients of academic competency.
The Anna Bhagya scheme, an initiative of the Karnataka government, is aimed at providing 10 kilograms (kg) of grain per month to the below-poverty-line families. However, the scheme hit a roadblock when the Food Corporation of India (FCI) halted the sale of rice to several states governments under its Open Market Sale Scheme (Domestic). While the Congress-led Karnataka government pointed fingers at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led union government, accusing it of maliciously blocking rice supplies even after the FCI had issued a commitment letter, the BJP countered it by saying that it is already providing 5 kg rice to these families under the National Food Security Act, 2013 and cited rising prices for excluding states from open FCI sales. This development is reminiscent of the S R Bommai v Union of India case, which dealt with the misuse of Article 356 and the imposition of Presidents rule in Karnataka. The current rice dispute, while not involving Article 356, is a reflection of the tension that can arise in a federal structure when the union and state governments have divergent interests.

In the case of the Anna Bhagya scheme, cooperative federalism necessitates that both the union and state governments work in collaboration to provide foodgrains to the beneficiaries of the scheme in Karnataka. However, the opposite seems to have happened. Accusations have been hurled, with each side blaming the other, and the people, for whom the scheme was intended, have been caught in the crossfire. It was reported that if the state government resorted to the procurement of rice from the open market, then it would be much costlier than the FCIs price, which is pegged at `36.6 per kg. Even at FCI rates, the scheme would cost the states exchequer around `10,000 crore annually. This financial burden, coupled with the resentment between the union and state governments, could have serious repercussions for the development of Karnataka. The potential for increased costs not only jeopardises the availability of essential foodgrains but could also hinder the allocation of resources to other developmental projects and initiatives by the state government.
SHREVEPORT, La. - Doctors say a surge of COVID is working its way through Shreveport.

The increase is not as big as the prior three summers, but it is still causing concern.

The Northwest Louisiana Office of Public Health says Louisiana averages about 700 cases per week but recently has seen more than 3,000 cases.

That strand is still Omicron and not causing many hospitalizations.

A new variant is also on the rise called EG.5 and is an Omicron offshoot. About 17% of new COVID cases in the U.S. are EG.5 related.

Reportedly, wearing a mask can reduce your risk of COVID by 90%.

I want people to be aware that it is still out there and that it is something that you need to just protect yourself from. Be aware of it. Make sure that you're taking good care of yourself, said Dr. Martha Whyte, Regional Medical Director at Office of Public Safety in Northwest Louisiana.

If you are at high risk, doctors are recommending wearing a mask, social distancing and getting the vaccine.

With kids back in school, doctors are saying to not let the fear of COVID stop students from attending classes and to remind children to wash their hands and keep their distance from sick students to help reduce the risk of COVID.
Fairfield, MT (59436)

Today

Light rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers in the afternoon. High 69F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Locally heavy rainfall possible..

Tonight

Partly cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 57F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.
Marion County Record publisher Eric Meyer praises KBI director Tony Mattivi for helping arrange the return of newspaper property. (Sherman Smith | Kansas Reflector)

TOPEKA, Kansas  Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach says state authorities reviewing alleged crimes associated with the raid of a Marion newspaper are interested in whether someone breached the Kansas Criminal Justice Information System.

Police raided the Marion County Record last week after the newspaper received information from a confidential source about the criminal history of a restaurant owner who wanted a liquor license.

In an interview with reporters Wednesday, Kobach said county officials asked the Kansas Bureau of Investigation to get involved after news of the raid brought widespread attention and scrutiny.

The KBI was not, of course, involved in these searches and was not notified of the searches prior to their taking place, Kobach said.

He said the KBI agreed to review the case because there were allegations of improper access to information in the KCJIS, and the KBI is the custodian of that system.

KCJIS is a secure system of connected data sources that supports the electronic exchange of information for local, state and national criminal justice interests. Access to KCJIS is restricted to authorized criminal justice agencies and non-criminal justice agencies with a need and right to know.

That was another reason the KBI responded affirmatively to get involved, Kobach said. Their role, as I understand it, is not an evaluation of constitutional claims about the raid, he added.

Marion County Record publisher Eric Meyer praised KBI director Tony Mattivi for his efforts to coordinate the return of property taken from the newspaper office. The computers, cellphones, hard drivers, router and other materials were signed over Wednesday afternoon to a forensic expert who is working for the newspaper. Meyer said he wanted to know whether authorities had accessed those devices after confiscating them in the Aug. 11 raid.

Magistrate Judge Laura Viar signed the search warrant that Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody used to seize the newspapers equipment, records about the restaurant owner, utility bills and other materials. Police who searched Meyers home also took photos of his personal bank records. He lived with his 98-year-old mother, who co-owned the paper. The stress of the raid contributed to her death a day later, Meyer said.

On Wednesday, county attorney Joel Ensey said he had determined there was insufficient evidence to support the search and seizure.

PEN America, which advocates for free speech, said in a statement that the prosecutors decision and the return of newspaper property was a first step toward accountability in this unconscionable breach of press freedom.

Local police tragically cannot undo the death of the newspapers 98-year-old co-owner, Joan Meyer, who collapsed and died after police rifled through papers and seized materials from her home, the organization said. Nor can the police reverse the damage that has resulted to the newspaper staff, its confidential sources, and the chill on press freedom writ large from the raid.

State and federal law protects journalists and news organizations from police raids. Journalism advocates couldnt find another example of police raiding a newsroom anywhere in the United States.

It still isnt clear what evidence Cody provided to support the search warrant, or why Viar signed it.

Topeka resident Keri Strahler has filed a formal complaint against Viar with the Kansas Commission on Judicial Conduct, which has the authority to investigate allegations of judicial misconduct or disability in state courts.

Her complaint notes the legal protections for journalists and Enseys finding of insufficient evidence for the search.

I humbly beg for your attention to Judge Laura Viars mental capacity in her decision to seemingly circumvent federal law, Strahler wrote in the complaint.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Wednesday that the raid on the Marion County Record office raises a lot of concerns and a lot of questions for us.

She said freedom of the press is the core value when we think about our democracy. When you think about the cornerstone of our democracy, the freedom of press is right there.

Well continue to reaffirm and protect this fundamental right enshrined in the First Amendment, Jean-Pierre added. And so, you can certainly count on us to continue to do that.

This story was originally produced by the Kansas Reflector which is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus, including the Daily Montanan, supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.

The post Kansas Bureau of Investigation looking into possible data breach in Kansas newspaper case appeared first on Daily Montanan.
UPDATE, AUG. 20:

The pre-evacuation warning in place for the Niarada Fire has been lifted and residents are allowed to bring livestock back home.

All pre-evacuation warnings for Elmo and Big Arm have been lifted and operations are switching from active suppression to repairing the impacts of the efforts used to stop the fires which once threatened nearly 400 homes in the Elmo and Big Arm area, according to the CSKT Division of Fire.

The Niarada Fire is reportedly getting closer to containment, and that the Mill Pocket is 100% contained.

UPDATE, AUG. 19:

A community meeting with updates on the Big Knife Fire is being held at the Arlee Community Center at 34086 Pow Wow Rd. on Monday, Aug. 21 at 7:00 pm.

Big Knife Fire - 7,152 acres, 7% contained

Fire activity on the Big Knife Fire was milder than predicted.

On the north edge of the fire, along S. Canal Road crews are continuing to mitigate hazards by removing snags inside the fire perimeter at least a tree length from the line.

Crews patrolling the area observed the fire backing down into the bottom of the Gold Creek drainage.

On the south end of the fire in the Agency Creek drainage, crews are continuing to patrol and monitor fire activity.

On the east side of the fire near Jocko Lookout, crews will continue monitoring the pumps and sprinkler systems and monitoring the fire growth in the primitive area.

Niarada - 20,365 acres, 90% contained

Crews were fighting against high winds, with the eastern portion of the Niarada Fire closest to elmo seeing the bulk of the effort as crews worked to cool lingering heat source utilizing some of the four miles of hose lays that have been installed in the area. These efforts will be ongoing for the next several days.

Mill Pocket 1,869 acres, 95% contained

Crews on the Mill Pocket Fire are working on suppression repair and minimal mop up.

UPDATE, AUG. 18 AT 3:37 PM:

Due to fire conditions near the East Fork Fire, the Flathead County Sheriff Brian Heino has issued a mandatory evacuation for residents and visitors in the following areas:

North of mile marker 142 on Highway 93 to mile marker 157.9 -- Lincoln/Flathead County line

Residents of Good Creek Road, and those who access Good Creek west to the Lincoln County line

All pre-evacuation notices issued Aug. 17 are still in effect including in Olney.

UPDATE Aug. 18, 9:34 a.m.

The Lincoln County Emergency Management Agency (LCEMA) is alerting power service through the Lincoln Electric Cooperative (LEC) may be affected by the East Fork Fire.

The following is a Facebook post by LCEMA:

Alert: Evacuation warning notices have been issued by Lincoln County Sheriff's Office to residents in the Striker area of Lincoln County that may be impacted by the East Fork Fire.

Additionally, LCEMA has been made aware of changing fire conditions that could affect the Northeast area of Lincoln County with power service through Lincoln Electric Cooperative, Inc. (LEC).

Informational: The USFS Incident Management Team on the North Fork fire communicated that they have established an advanced action point for the East Fork Fire. If fire activity reaches that advanced action point, LEC and Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) will be placed on standby. At that time, LCEMA will initiate a CodeRED notification to all residents in the potentially impacted area. In addition, LEC will send automated calls to members to be prepared for the POTENTIAL of a system-wide outage.

The Length of the possible outage would be based on fire conditions and damage assessments.

If an extended outage is anticipated, LCEMA will work to coordinate sheltering and support to critical facilities.

Both Lincoln Electric and BPA have NO plans to de-energize any of their facilities, UNLESS they receive a specific request to do so by incident command in the interest of safety.

Action: Evacuation Warning (Yellow) begins when there is a possibility of a need to evacuate. During this phase, contacts and briefings with area residents is completed. Movement of persons requiring Access and Functional Needs or extraordinary care, large mobile property and livestock (if feasible) is recommended.

Be prepared for the POTENTIAL of an area power outage.

Sign up for CodeRED to get immediate emergency information notification: https://public.coderedweb.com/CNE/en-US/BFD8675274C8

LCEMA is working with the USFS, IMT, partners and monitoring this situation. updated information will go out as it becomes available. Check back by going to https://www.facebook.com/LC.EMA.MT

Lincoln Electric Cooperative

https://www.facebook.com/lincolnelectriccooperative

U.S. Forest Service - Kootenai National Forest

https://www.facebook.com/kootenainf

A closure order is still in effect for roads in the vicinity of the East Fork Fire. To view, please visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/kootenai/alerts-notices/

For updated East Fork Fire information, please visit

https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident.../mtknf-east-fork-fire...

UPDATE Aug. 17, 8 PM:

East Fork Fire

Due to hot, dry, and windy conditions the fire has grown to 2,600 acres overnight and throughout the day.

Pre-evacuation orders have been set in place because of the possibility the fire has of spreading, this order allows time for residents to make plans for their homes, family, livestock, and pets in the event of an evacuation.

The pre-evacuation area includes Highway 93 north beginning at Mile Marker 142 north to Flathead/Lincoln County line. Crossroads and affected addresses can be found on the Flathead County Website.

This is not a mandatory evacuation order but in the event of a mandatory evacuation, local Sheriff's Office personnel will conduct door-to-door notifications of residents in the affected area.

Evacuation notices will also be announced/published on radio, tv, online, social media, and through our Emergency Notification System, Code Red.

UPDATE, AUG. 17:

A CSKT Type 3 Incident Management Team, headed by Rob Berney, has taken command of the Niarada and Mill Pocket fires as the Northern Rockies team has timed out.

On the Big Knife Fire, Brad Bergmans Incident Management Team 8 assumed command.

Big Knife Fire - 6,275 acres, 7% contained

On the southwest edge of the fire, crews are assessing the fires progress as it moves down the slopes to control lines. Firefighters are preparing canal roads for better access and removing vegetation around power poles.

On the south end of the fire in the Agency Creek drainage, crews will patrol and monitor fire activity. With pumps and hoses in place, they will continue to work on hotspots within the perimeter. Crews will be monitoring the pumps and sprinkler systems installed to protect infrastructure on the east side of the fire as well as Jocko Lookout which has water systems in place as well as a fire-resistant wrap around the base.

Niarada Fire - 20,365 acres, 85% contained

The Niarada Fire remained relatively quiet Wednesday as crews continued to focus on building line as direct as possible along the fires eastern edge closest to Elmo and mopping up from previous firing operations. Crews continue to assess and patrol and mop up (cool areas containing heat) around much of the remaining fire perimeter. Suppression repair work has begun in these areas, including pulling in dozer line berms and blading roads.

Structure protection crews remain outside Elmo near Big Arm, testing sprinkler systems and pumps while working with landowners on additional vegetation management around structures.

Mill Pocket - 2,135 acres, 90% contained

The majority of the Mill Pocket Fire is in mop-up status as crews work to ensure the fires edge are cool and pose little to no threat to containment.

UPDATE, AUG. 16:

Fire activity greatly increased in the Big Knife Fire Tuesday, whereas, the Niarada and Mill Pocket fires remained relatively quiet.

Big Knife Fire

The Big Knife Fire is sized at approximately 6,106 acres, 1,154-acre increase from Monday, and is 7% contained.

The fire moved east up to the drainage toward the Tribal Primitive Area and away from Jocko, Francis and Arlee.

According to CSKT Division of Fire's Facebook post, the persisting hot and dry weather with increased winds is expected to produce more smoke and fire growth Wednesday.

Crews are monitoring the fire's progress as it shifts down to the control lines near the southwest edge, according to CSKT Division of Fire's Facebook post.

Firefighters are getting canal roads ready to improve access and clearing out vegetation around power poles.

The Craig Angency Hotshot Crew went direct along the fire's edge on the south side of the fire in the Agency Creek drainage. They will keep working up canyone and tie into scree slopes with pumps and hose set up.

There are pumps and sprinkler systems to protect infrastructure east of the fire and at Jocko Lookout--which also has fire-resistant wrap around the base.

Niarada Fire

The Niarada Fire is burning 20,370 acres and is 81% contained as of Wednesday morning.

Fire activity kept fairly quiet Tuesday--crews were still building a line as direct as possible to the fire's eastern edge nearest to Elmo.

The smoke increase is likely interior pockets of vegetation burn out due to increased temperatures and drier weather, according to CSKT Division of Fire's Facebook post.

Crews are still assessing, patrolling and mopping up the remaining fire perimeter. Crews have started suppression repair work in these areas.

There are still structure protection crews outside Elmo near Big Arm.

Mill Pocket Fire

The Mill Pocket Fire is burning 2,135 acres and is 89% contained.

The Mill Pocket Fire is still in mop-up status, and crews are working to make sure the fire's edge stays cool and no danger to containment.

CSKT Division of Fire's Facebook post said there is still some heat in steep scree slopes on the northwestern side--firefighters are still putting out hotspots by dropping water via helicopter where necessary.

CSKT Division of Fire says the following in its Facebook post in regard to closures, evacuation statuses and fire restrictions:

"Several areas near the base of the mountains west of the Big Knife Fire remain in PRE-EVACUATION WARNING by order of the Lake County Sheriff. See the map for those locations in yellow (Jocko, Canal, Francis). In the Tribal Primitive Area, Belmore Slough and Burnt Cabin Roads are closed.

Near the Niarada Fire, the Lake County Sheriffs Office has a PRE-EVACUATION WARNING in place for the area that includes Alexander Road, Early Dawn Road, Spring Lane Road, Walking Horse Lane, Windward Heights Road, Wildhorse View, Buffalo Bridge Road, Saddle Drive, Island Butte Lane, Bridle Path, Ten Deuce Way, Cliffview Drive, and Ricketts Road. The remainder of the town of Elmo is in READY status.

A PRE-EVACUATION WARNING means you may be in your home. However, as there still is a risk from both fires, those in this status should not bring back evacuated livestock until the area is downgraded to READY status.

A temporary flight restriction (TFR) is in effect around both fire areas. Do not fly unmanned aircraft (drones) near the fire areas, as that is hazardous for pilots, and the firefighters on the ground who rely on aircraft support. Remember, if you fly, we cant!

Stage 2 fire restrictions are in place across the Flathead Indian Reservation. No campfires are allowed, no smoking outside of vehicles, no operating combustible engines from 1 p.m. to 1 a.m., no operating vehicles off designated roads and trails. Residents and visitors are encouraged to visit www.MTFireInfo.org for more fire information across Montana."

UPDATE, AUG. 15:

Fire crews are continuing to battle the Big Knife, Niarada and Mill Pocket fires in northwest Montana Tuesday.

A release from Northern Rockies Team 3 said the Big Knife fire, located 5 miles east of Arlee, is 4,952 acres large and 7% contained Tuesday.

The Niarada Fire, located near Elmo, located 12 miles west of Elmo, is 20,365 acres large and 81% contained Friday.

The Mill Pocket Fire, located 3 miles west of Highway 28, is 2,135 acres large and 89% contained.

Big Knife Fire

Big Knife fire activity grew amid increasing temperatures and lower humidity levels.

Helicopters used water to check the fire's edge on the north side in the Gold Creek drainage.

Crews will keep requesting aircraft for water drops, reconnaissance flights and sling loads.

Crews are monitoring fire progress on the southwest if it moves down the slopes to control lines. To improve egress, crews are preparing canal roads and clearing vegetation near power poles.

The Craig Mountain Interagency Hotshot Crew (CMIHC) started to finish hazard tree mitigation and looked for opportunities to go direct on the south end of the fire in the Agency Creek drainage, according to the release from Northern Rockies Team 3.

CMIHC set up pumps and hoses to several key scree slopes and will keep working the fire's edge.

Sprinkler systems and pumps are set up around several spots of infrastructure and the Jocko lookout east of the fire--the lookout is covered in fire-resistant wrap.

Niarada Fire

Smoke is expected to increase as interior pockets of vegetation burnout due to increasing temperatures and drier weather.

Northern Rockies Team 3 said in the release strategic firing operations were effective for the Niarada fire Monday--firefighters burned approximately 50 acres to establish indirect lines on the south side.

Although the firing operations create a considerable amount of smoke, they cut the longevity of the fire and reduce long-term damaging impacts, according to the release.

Crews are still assessing, patroling and mopping up a lot of the remaining fire perimeter.

Structure protection crews are testing sprinkler systems and pumps and collaborating with property owners on further vegetation management around structures outside Elmo toward Big Arm.

Mill Pocket Fire

On the Mill Pocket fire, a lot of the perimeter that's still there is in mop-up and patrol status.

There's still seat in steep scree slopes, and firefighters are still cooling hotspots with water drops on the northwestern side.

An excavator is pulling in dozer lines to help with suppression repair, and the equipment is used to overturn bigger stumps to reduce remaining heat.

UPDATE, AUG. 14:

The following is a Facebook post by CSKT Division of Fire in regard to the Niarada Fire:

"Fire personnel will be using tactical firing operations on the southeast corner of the Niarada Fire this afternoon. The objective of this operation is to clean up unburned fuels between the fire perimeter and containment lines. Removing available fuel reduces the chances of a wind driven fire crossing existing containment lines.

Tactical firing operations or burn outs are one tool often implemented in the suppression of a wildfire. This technique is the coordinated and intentional application of fire to secure otherwise inaccessible portions of line, clean up portions of line where fuels were not fully consumed or attempt to steer the main fire away from communities, critical infrastructure or other values at risk. Managers implement firing only after opportunities for a more direct approach have been thoroughly explored.

Before any firing operations are conducted, there are extensive preparations made to ensure the greatest possibility for success such as brushing back roads, building handline or mechanical line or ensuring natural features such as rivers, creeks or rock screes are sufficient to secure the fires edge.

After all prep work is completed and personnel are in place, firefighters will only engage in firing operations if weather conditions are in their favor.

While these operations can put substantial smoke in the air, they ultimately reduce the duration of the fire and long-term harmful impacts. Firing operations result in low to moderate intensity fire effects and often mimic the positive impact of natural fire on the landscape."

UPDATE, AUG. 13:

Fire managers with the Incident Management Team, BIA, and CSKT are having extensive conversations about long-term planning for the Big Knife Fire.

The CSKT Division of Fire reports the weather is getting hotter and drier, which will increase fire activity.

Discussions include balancing protecting homes, infrastructure, and cultural resources, with the risk to firefighters and the likelihood of success.

The following is information on the actions made against the Big Knife Fire from the CSKT Division of Fire:

Helicopters have been doing water drops to minimize the fire's spread into Gold Creek on the northern perimeter. Crews have completed a fuel break along the Jocko Canyon Road and line preparation and vegetation reduction along the Jocko S Canal Road. Equipment operators and crews finished control lines along the fire's southwestern edge to Agency Creek. Firefighters are monitoring the fire in these areas and are prepared to act if the fire moves down toward the lines.

On the south side, firefighters are working to keep the fire north of Agency Creek. Helicopters have dropped water to cool the edge, and sawyers have been cutting down hazard trees to allow safe access. Additional crews will be inserted in this area to finish hazard tree mitigation and evaluate opportunities for digging handline and going direct on the fires edge.

To the east of the fire, crews finished installing sprinkler systems and pumps around several pieces of infrastructure and the Jocko Lookout. The lookout has been covered with a fire-resistant wrap. Fire managers are discussing the next steps for this area, balancing the benefits of fire on the landscape, the risk to firefighters and pilots, and the values threatened.

On the Niarada Fire, crews have worked hard to reach containment around a large portion of the fire perimeter the past two weeks.

According to the CSKT Division of Fire, the following is being done:

Along the southeastern and southwestern sides, crews continue to work directly along the fires edge to eliminate heat and build firelines. Several Type 1 Interagency Hotshot Crews have been improving firelines and preparing for a strategic firing operation on the southwest side.

This operation will be done during favorable conditions to secure portions of the indirect line where its unsafe for firefighters to go direct. Fire managers planned to implement other firing operations, but those operations have been deemed unnecessary because the weather moderated fire behavior which allowed crews to go direct.

Structure protection crews continue to work outside Elmo toward Big Arm, testing sprinkler systems and pumps while working with landowners on additional vegetation management around structures.

Containment of the Mill Pocket Fire continues to increase. Much of the remaining perimeter is in mop-up and patrol status. However, heat remains in steep scree slopes on the northwestern side. Helicopters continue to drop water as needed, and crews are mopping up hot spots where they can access them.

UPDATE, AUG. 12:

Crews on the Niarada Fire are pushing hard toward containment, and much of the fire's northern and western perimeter is now in mop-up and patrol status, according to the CSKT Division of Fire.

Crews will continue progressing along the eastern and southeastern fire perimeter, building more direct lines and working off the fire's black edge.

Some indirect line will remain the only viable option around the fire's southerly perimeter, where terrain is treacherous and fuels are heavy.

An update from CSKT Division of Fire says strategic firing operations will likely be necessary during favorable conditions to secure those portions of indirect line.

Specialized crews of skilled sawyers continued cutting fire-killed snags (dead-standing trees) south of Highway 28, enabling safe access for hand crews to previously hazardous areas.

Structure protection crews continue to work outside Elmo towards Big Arm.

Due to current conditions and progress, a night shift is no longer deemed necessary, however, it could be reinstated if conditions change.

Much of the Mill Pocket Fire is in mop-up and patrol status, and helicopters are still dropping water while crews work along the fires northwestern perimeter near Mill Creek.

On the Big Knife Fire, a warming and drying trend resulted in smoldering fuels in lower to mid-elevations burning more actively again.

Aircraft were used to drop water on hot spots in the Agency Creek, Jocko Canyon, and Big Knife Creek drainages Friday.

Line preparation and vegetation reduction has been completed along Jocko Canyon/Canal Road.

Equipment operators and crews completed control lines along the fire's southwestern edge to Agency Creek. They will continue working southward if the fire moves in that direction, CSKT Division of Fire reports.

On the fire's eastern side, crews began performing structure and point protection measures in South Fork Jocko River.

Some measures included strategically wrapping Jocko Lookout and placing pumps and sprinklers around other resource values at risk.

A specialized assessment team continues evaluating the long-term potential fire growth of the Big Knife Fire.

UPDATE, AUG. 11:

Crews are continuing to battle the Big Knife, Niarada and Mill Pocket fires Friday burning in the Mission Valley.

Big Knife Fire

The Big Knife Fire currently sized at an estimated 4,952 acres and is 5% contained.

CSKT said in a release even with the recent precipitation, the Big Knife Fire is anticipated to warm and dry over the course of the upcoming days.

With that, fire managers are examining its possible long-term fire increase due to fire seasons historically lasting through fall.

Heavy equipment operators are still tying road prisms to constructed firelines along the southwestern perimeter.

Crews are mopping up the edge of a strategic firing operation they managed last week to keep the fire north of Agency Creek, CSKT said in the release.

Aircraft are helping as long as conditions allow them, and helicopters dropped water on hot spots in the Agency Creek drainage.

Niarada Fire

The Niarada Fire, burning west of Elmo, is currently 20,365 acres big and is 47% contained as of Friday.

CSKT said in their release fire crews battling the Niarada Fire took advantage of the recent rainfall Wednesday.

Expert sawyers are cutting down dead trees south of Highway 28 to allow hand crews to work directly along the eastern and southeaster edge where they possibly can.

Firefighters are preparing lines in locations of the Niarada Fire that may require strategic firing operations later on.

CSKT said in the release crews will begin the strategic firing operations once conditions improve.

Structure protection crews are still working outside Elmo towards Big Arm, and a night crew is monitoring the fluctuating conditions and the fire.

Crews are continuing mop-up on the north perimeter near the Cromwell Creek Road and looking at areas of unburned vegetation west of the line to decipher if it is concerning for containment.

Mill Pocket Fire

The Mill Pocket Fire, burning 3 miles west of Highway 28, is currently 2,135 acres big and is 51% contained.

CSKT said in their release the Mill Pocket Fire is in mop-up and patrol status, but crews are still battling the fire in the northwestern perimeter--mopping hot spots where they can in the steep scree slopes.

Helicopters are still providing support to crews and dropping water to put out hot spots win dangerous or inaccessible areas.

CSKT said the following in their release in regard to closures and evacuation status:

"The Lake County Sheriff has placed several areas near the base of the mountains west of the Big Knife Fire in PRE-EVACUATION status. See the map for those locations in yellow (Jocko, Canal, Francis). In the Tribal Primitive Area, Belmore Slough and Burnt Cabin Roads are closed.

The Lake County Sheriffs Office is downgrading those in EVACUATION status near the Niarada Fire in Lake County to a PRE-EVACUATION WARNING. This area includes Alexander Road, Early Dawn Road, Spring Lane Road, Walking Horse Lane, Windward Heights Road, Wildhorse View, Buffalo Bridge Road, Saddle Drive, Island Butte Lane, Bridle Path, Ten Deuce Way, Cliffview Drive, and Ricketts Road.

A PRE-EVACUATION WARNING means you may return to your home. However, as there is still a potential threat from the Niarada Fire, please do not bring back evacuated livestock until the area is downgraded to READY status. The remainder of the town of Elmo is in READY status.

A temporary flight restriction (TFR) is in effect around both fire areas. Do not fly unmanned aircraft (drones) near the fire areas, as that is hazardous for pilots, and the firefighters on the ground who rely on aircraft support. Remember, if you fly, we cant!

Use extreme caution when driving on Highway 28. Firefighters and equipment are still working in the area.

FIRE RESTRICTIONS

Stage 2 fire restrictions are in place across the Flathead Indian Reservation. No campfires are allowed, no smoking outside of vehicles, no operating combustible engines between 1PM-1AM, no operating vehicles off designated roads and trails. Residents and visitors are encouraged to visit www.MTFireInfo.org for more fire information across Montana."

UPDATE, AUG. 9:

A community meeting is being held Wednesday night at the Elmo Community Center starting at 6:00 pm for the Big Knife, Niarada and Mill Pocket fires.

If you cant make it, the meeting will be live-streamed via the CSKT Division of Fire Facebook page.

Another meeting will also be held Thursday, Aug. 10 at the Arlee Community Center at 6:00 pm.

As of Wednesday, the Northern Rockies Team 3 reports the Big Knife Fire is 4,864 acres large and 5% contained; the Niarada Fire is 20,365 acres large and 25% contained; and the Mill Pocket fire is 2,135 acres large and 51% contained.

So far, four structures have been lost to these fires.

several areas near the base of the mountains west of the Big Knife Fire in pre-evacuation status by the Lake County Sheriffs Office.

Those evacuated due to the Niarada Fire in Lake County have been allowed to go home and are now in pre-evacuation warning status. This area includes Alexander Road, Early Dawn Road, Spring Lane Road, Walking Horse Lane, Windward Heights Road, Wildhorse View, Buffalo Bridge Road, Saddle Drive, Island Butte Lane, Bridle Path, Ten Deuce Way, Cliffview Drive, and Ricketts Road.

UPDATE, AUG. 7

The Flathead County Sheriff's Office has announced they are lifting the evacuation notice on the Niarada Fire from Browns Meadow Pass to Highway 28; this includes Kofford Ridge Road and Battle Butte Road.

They also said in a press release they are lifting the pre-evacuation warning for Mill Pocket Fire, Hubbart Damn Rd/NF-544 from the intersection of Crossover Road South to Highway 28.

Keep in mind,t he decisions to lift or expand evacuation areas is made based on current or predicted fire conditions.

Flathead CSO says they are thankful for the cooler weather and higher humidity this past weekend to help with fighting the fire.

UPDATE, AUG. 6:

The Lake County Facebook reports the Red Cross at Polson High School is moving into standby at this time.

Evacuations are still in place at this time.

UPDATE, AUG. 6:

The 12,700-acre Middle Ridge fire is now 51% contained as of Sunday morning.

CSKT Division of Fire reports smoke may be visible interior of the fire containment line where the fire is still smoldering.

The Holmes Creek Fire is 45 acres large and 0% contained.

The Mercer Fire, which was burning about a mile and a half from Evaro, is 2 acres large and 100% contained.

People are being reminded of Stage 2 Fire restrictions in place across the Flathead Indian Reservation, which restricts campfires, smoking outside of vehicles, operating combustible engines between 1:00 pm and 1:00 am and operating vehicles off designated roads.

UPDATE, AUG. 5

The CSKT Division of Fire reports the Niarada Fire was extremely active Friday on the south and southeast sides. It is reported to be 17,024 acres large.

About 150 residents were evacuated due to the fire by the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

In the Tribal Primitive Area, Belmore Slough and Burnt Cabin Roads are closed.

The following residences near the Niarada are under evacuation status:

Alexander RoadEarly Dawn Road, Spring Lane Road, Walking Horse Lane, Windward Heights Road, Wildhorse View, Buffalo Bridge Road, Saddle Drive, Island Butte Lane, Bridle Path, Ten Deuce Way, Cliffview Drive, and Ricketts Road.

The remainder of the town of Elmo is in ready status.

The Flathead County Sheriffs Office has issued a pre-evacuation warning for Hubbart Dam Rd/NF-544 from the intersection of Crossover Rd South to Hwy 28.

Crews working the Big Knife Fire continue to try to flank the fire, implement structure protection measures along Canal Road and the fires western edge, and monitor the southwest edge.

The Big Knife Fire is 4,636 acres large according to the CSKT Division of Fire.

Several areas near the base of the mountains west of the Big Knife Fire are in pre-evacuation status as of Saturday.

In the Tribal Primitive Area, Belmore Slough and Burnt Cabin Roads are closed.

UPDATE, AUG. 4

The Lake County Sheriffs Office is evacuating residents south of Highway 93 from Alexander Lane to Walking Horse Lane.

This includes the following roads:

Alexander Lane

Early Dawn Road

Spring Lane Road

Walking Horse Lane

Windward Heights Road

Wildhorse View

Buffalo Bridge Road

Saddle Drive

Island Butte Lane

Bridle Path

Ten Deuce Way

Cliffview Drive

Ricketts Road

If you were evacuated due to the fire, Red Cross has opened a shelter in Polson.

The shelter is located at the Polson High School, 1712 2nd St. W, and will provide a safe place to stay, meals, and access to community resources.

UPDATE, AUG. 4:

More accurate mapping has the Middle Ridge Fire sized at 12,700 acres and 25% containment Friday morning.

The Communication Butte Fire is 1,423 acres and is now 100% contained with crews continuing to monitor the area.

No containment is reported on the Holmes Creek Fire east of Polson, which is estimated at 41 acres large.

Smoke jumpers and heli-repellers are working the fire with air support from a type 1 helicopter dropping water with buckets.

The CSKT Division of Fire reports fire resources from the CSKT division have been successfully responding to new fires as well as continued mop-up along the Middle Ridge and Communication Butte fires.

UPDATE, AUG. 4:

The Niarada and Big Knife fires increased in size overnight Thursday.

The Niarada Fire is an estimated 14,816 acres with 0% containment Friday morning.

The Big Knife Fire is an estimated 4,412 acres with 0% containment Friday morning.

UPDATE, AUG. 3:

A community meeting regarding the Big Knife, Niarada, and Mill Pocket fires is being held Thursday at 6:00 pm in Arlee at the Arlee Community Center, 34086 Pow Wow Rd.

If you cant make the meeting, it will be broadcast live on the CSKT Division of Fire Facebook.

A second meeting will also be held on Friday, Aug. 4 at 6:00 pm in Elmo at the Elmo Community Center, 47088 Cemetery Rd.

Depending on internet connectivity, the meeting will either be streamed live like the Arlee meeting, or recorded and posted to Facebook afterwards.

As of Thursday morning, the Big Knife Fire is 2,710 acres large and 0% contained.

The CSKT Division of Fire reports the fire was active Wednesday ,with a spot fire south of Big Knife Creek burning eastward into the South Fork Jocko Tribal Primitive Areas.

Strategic firing operations may be necessary to prevent spread to the west toward the valley and aircraft are helping crews as conditions allow.

The Niarada Fire is reported to be 10,400 acres large and is 0% contained.

This fire was also reported to be active Wednesday, spreading both to the northeast and southeast.

Crews, heavy equipment, engines, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft continue to work the fire, building firelines from safe anchor points and protecting structures in the area.

Weather is anticipated to be hot and dry through Friday ,with the potential for thunderstorms and light precipitation by late weekend.

The CSKT Division of Fire shared the following closure information:

The Lake County Sheriff has several areas near the base of the mountains west of the Big Knife Fire in pre-evacuation status.

In the Tribal Primitive Area, Belmore Slough and Burnt Cabin Roads are closed. Near the Niarada Fire, the Lake County Sheriff has placed the Walking Horse Lane area is in pre-evacuation status, and the town of Elmo is in ready status.

The Flathead County Sheriffs Office has issued a pre-evacuation warning for Hubbart Dam Rd/NF-544 from the intersection of Crossover Rd South to Hwy 28.

A mandatory evacuation remains in place from the top of the Pass on Browns Meadow Road South to Hwy 28, Nirada. This mandatory evacuation also includes Kofford Ridge Rd.

Use extreme caution when driving on Highway 28. Visibility is very poor, and the speed limit has been reduced to 45 miles-per-hour.

UPDATE, AUG. 2:

The CSKT Division of Fire shared that favorable weather conditions and terrain have allowed for firefighters to make great progress across the Communication Butte and Middle Ridge fires.

Both fires have a secured line around them.

The Middle Ridge Fire is estimated at 13,000 acres, 20% containment.

After making a hard push Tuesday, firefighters were able to hold the fire at Tower Rd., and crews have been working to secure line around the fire using dozers and firing operations for the past several evenings, to create containment.

Mop-up on the Middle Ridge Fire will begin Wednesday, with crews putting out any hot spots along the entire fire line.

The Communication Butte Fire is estimated at 1,423 acres, 30% containment.

Crews made progress putting in a containment line.

Mop-up will begin along the entire fire line, starting on the east and west side of the river, 10 to 30 feet interior, firefighters will put out any hot-spots within the secure line. Six engines and staff are assigned to the fire and will also be available if any new starts occur.

On the Holmes Creek Fire, no containment is reported and the fire is estimated to be 36 acres.

Single-engine air tankers were used to drop water on it throughout Tuesday.

Stage 2 fire restrictions are in place across the Flathead Indian Reservation.

No campfires are allowed, no smoking outside of vehicles, no operating combustible engines between 1:00 pm to 1:00 am, no operating vehicles off designated roads and trails

UPDATE, AUG 2:

The Big Knife Fire is burning 2,000 acres with containment remaining at 0% Wednesday morning.

Evacuation warning is in place for those who live in Jacko Canyon and other nearby areas.

For the more updated information on wildfires in Montana, visit mtfireinfo.org.

The following is a Facebook post by CSKT Division of Fire:

More crews and equipment have arrived on the reservation in support of fire suppression efforts and more. Many of the fires have seen extreme growth with the low fuels moisture and high temperatures. A Complex Incident Management Team will arrive tonight to take command of multiple fires, bringing more support staff for the increase in fire resources arriving. Mapping of the fires has been postponed because of limited visibility from smoke.

Fire restrictions are in place with no campfires allowed within the boundaries of the reservation.

#NiaradaFire  Eleven miles west of Elmo, MT, estimated to be over 5,000 acres. Smokejumpers, a 20 person crew, single-engine air tankers, helicopters and heavy equipment have been responding to this fire. The fire is burning in very steep and rugged terrain heading north and east. Winds coming from the west/southwest continue to push the fire north/northeast. The fire had four single-engine air tankers, very large air tanker, five large air tankers, supporting ground resources all day.

#BigKnifeFire - East of Arlee, MT, 1,991 acres. Over 100 fire fighters and overhead have made progress on a containment line on the western edge. This line is holding well. A Complex Incident Management Team will assume command of this fire Aug. 2.

#MiddleRidgeFire - Southwest of Sloans Bridge, estimated over 10,970 acres. Fire fighters and heavy equipment with limited air support have managed to put in containment line and secure the south end of the fire in the area of Little Bitteroot Road. The north end of the fire is the most active and the priority focus today.

#CommunicationButteFire - North of Dixon, Mont. in Ferry Basin, approximately 1,500 acres. The fire is burning in grass and timber, crews have made a lot of progress putting in containment lines today. The terrain is very steep and difficult to access. It did jump the Flathead River last night. Some air support.

#MillPocketFire  West of Niarada, 600 acres. Dozers are assigned and it has been receiving air support. The fire is progressing east and has moved to the canal.

Evacuation Information

Currently there are NO new evacuations, evacuations in Moiese community have been lifted, Browns Meadows in Flathead County is still under evacuation orders. The public is encouraged to be prepared if they are asked to leave by emergency responders.

Fire Restrictions  No campfires are allowed, no smoking outside of vehicles, no operating combustible engines between 1pm-1am, no operating vehicles off designated roads and trails.

Re-Opened

The Bison Range is open with regular operating hours.

Highway 28 is open with speed restrictions. Advising the public to be prepared for potential stops and long wait times.

UPDATE: Monday at 1:22 p.m.

Firefighters are continuing to battle the multiple fires in the Mission Valley area Monday.

Communication Butte Fire

The Communication Butte Fire is burning an estimated 400 acres north of Dixon in Ferry Basin.

CSKT Division of Fire said in a Facebook post the terrain is very steep and hard to access.

Firefighters and aircraft will resume examining and engaging the fire where they can safely, CSKT Division of Fire said.

Niarada Fire

The Niarada Fire is now sized at 5,000 acres west of Elmo.

The Niarada Fire crossed Highway 28 Sunday and largely drifted northeast.

Fire crews and equipment are working on the fire with air support, weather dependent, CSKT said via Facebook.

Middlge Ridge Fire

The Middlge Ridge Fire, located west of Sloans bridge and Ronan, is burning an estimated 7,000 acres, according to CSKT's Facebook post.

Big Knife Fire

The Big Knife Fire, located east of Arlee, was showing severe fire behavior Sunday night, according to CSKT's Facebook post.

The Big Knife Fire is burning an estimated 3,000 acres.

CSKT Division of Fire said crews are centering their attention on securing the line on the west edge of the fire near homes and are making good progress.

Mill Pocket Fire

The Mill Pocket Fire, located west of the Niarada Fire, is burning an estimated 100 acres.

UPDATE AT 5:00 PM:

The CSKT Division of Fire announced that due to the Communication Butte Fire, the Bison Range is temporarily closed.

As of Sunday afternoon, the fire is about 255 acres and is being driven toward the Flathead River by wind.

The Middle Ridge Fire southwest of Sloans Bridge is over 500 acres as of Sunday morning.

The Niarada Fire crossed the highway Sunday afternoon and is estimated at about 200 acres.

RONAN, Mont. - Multiple fires were ignited following a lightning storm that passed through Mission Valley and surrounding areas Sunday morning.

The biggest fire, named Middle Ridge, is about 500 acres large and two air tankers are responding with six water tenders and six skidgens.

North of Dixon in Ferry Basin, the Communication Butte fire is about 100 acres large and is burning in grass and timber with a 20 person crew responding.

The Niarada Fire is 11 miles west of Elmo and is about five acres large. Four single-engine air tankers, one helicopter for air support, three fire boss single-engine air tankers and eight smoke jumpers are responding.

All three fires are burning in steep terrain.

As of Sunday morning no structures are threatened and no evacuations have been ordered.

People who are in the area are advised to be aware of emergency vehicles on roads as well as very dry grasses.
UPDATE, AUG. 20:

Expected precipitation over the Colt Fire area combined with highs in the 70s are leading officials to predict low fire behavior.

Closures on the Rainy Lake Campground and access road as well as on the Alva Lake Campground and access road will be lifted Monday. All other forest closures, including Lakeside Campground, remain in place.

Wyoming Team 4 Type 3 team took command of the Colt Fire Saturday evening.

UPDATE, AUG. 19:

Firefighters on the Colt Fire are taking advantage of limited fire activity to patrol and mop up hot spots. Containment on the fire is now at 51%.

Wyoming Team 4 Type 3 will take command of the fire at 8:00 pm Saturday.

Temperatures around the fire area are expected to be moderate over the weekend with precipitation possible on Sunday, with tropical moisture from Hurricane Hillary expected to make its way into the area at the beginning of next week.

UPDATE, AUG. 18:

A more accurate assessment of the perimeter of the Colt Fire shows the fire has burned 7,154 acres as of Friday morning. The fire is 46% contained.

Limited fire activity was reported on the southern portion of the fire Thursday, allowing crews to strengthen fire lines.

Crews on the north and east edges continue their mop-up efforts and pull hose from sections of the fire line where it is no longer needed.

A red flag warning is in effect starting at 3:00 pm Friday, to midnight Saturday morning as strong, gusty winds are anticipated to pick up at the mountain ridges.

The following are planned actions for Friday on the Colt Fire:

In areas of containment, crews collected hose lays and equipment will be collected and ready for reuse. Helicopters and crews are available respond to potential new fire starts.

Crews are continuing to mop-up residual heat along the fires perimeter.

The majority of the fires heat remains on the fires southwestern edge. Chipping operations will continue on the southern and eastern perimeters.

UPDATE, AUG. 17:

Firefighters on the Colt Fire were treated to an Ice Cream Social at Fire Camp, hosted by the Seeley Lake Leo's Club.

After a long hot day, the firefighters appreciated the cold, sweet treat. Thank you to the Leo's Club for showing their support, the Northern Rockies Incident Management Team 5 said.

The following are the planned actions for Thursday:

Chipping operations on will continue along the eastern and southern fire perimeter. Firefighters will continue to seek out and mop up pockets of heat, assisted by data from the UAS, which can detect heat using infrared technology.

Some crews are still constructing hand line along the fires edge in areas where the fire burned in patches, leaving some areas burned and others not.

Crews will continue to remove pumps and hoses along the contained areas around the fire.

Aerial resources will be available to assist firefighting efforts, as conditions allow.

UPDATE, AUG. 16:

The Colt Fire is still reported to be 7,202 acres large and 45% contained as of Wednesday morning.

An update from the Northern Rockies Team 5 says crews will remove hoselays and pumps from the Beaver Lake area, where they are no longer needed.

Unmanned aerial system operations will continue their detection of hot spots inside and outside the fire perimeter.

Crews will mop-up residual heat along the fires perimeter through the fire area.

Along the fires eastern and southern edge, chipping operations will continue.

No evacuation orders or warning are in effect due to the Colt Fire

UPDATE, AUG. 14:

Evacuation warnings for the Colt Fire have been lifted Monday, according to the Missoula County Sheriff's Office.

The cancellation is due to more containment, resources assigned and moderated fire behavior.

The areas where the evacuation warnings are lifted are:

Beaver

Rovero Flats East

Rovero Flats West

North Inez

South Inez

The Missoula County Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook cards placed by law enforcement are now okay to remove at this time.

UPDATE, AUG. 13:

In the area of the Colt Fire, southwest of Beaver Lake, a specialized crew of firefighters successfully felled hazardous trees using explosives.

Crews continued to pro-actively search for areas of heat to mop-up along the fires eastern edge, an update from the Northern Rockies Team 5 said.

Even though smoke is not visible in this area, there are areas of ground that remain hot and have the potential to reignite.

Crews searched out these hot spots and cooled them by mixing in cold dirt and water.

Planned actions for Sunday include:

Crews will mop-up residual heat interior to the completed handline, dozer line, and roadson the fires southwest edge. They will use hose lays and pumps to assist with the mop-up process.

Throughout the fire area, crews will continue to mitigate areas with hazard trees as needed to ensure crew safety while working.

To the south and east of the fire area, crews will begin chipping operations.

Firefighters chip wood to limit the concentrations of heavy fuels in and around the fire area. Essentially, by chipping the wood, it becomes less of a fire hazard.

The unmanned aerial system (UAS) assigned to the fire will continue mapping hot spots on the fires northern flank.

UPDATE, AUG. 12:

Handline connecting to Sunset Ridge has been successfully completed by crews on the Colt Fire.

Northwest of Sunset Ridge, crews are continuing to construct line in the most active area of the fire.

Along the fires eastern edge, crews have collected all water equipment, such as pumps and hoses, and will now begin the process of inventorying all supplies, the Northern Rockies Team 5 said in an update Saturday.

One of the aircraft assigned to the fire assisted Flathead National Forest in successfully putting out a new fire start west of Lindberg Lake.

Lake Alva Campground, Lake Inez Campground, and Rainy Lake Campground remain closed at this time due to firefighter activity in the area.

The following are the planned actions for Saturday:

Crews are beginning the mop-up process along the fires southwest edge as they finish constructing handline in the area. They will be installing temporary hose lays and pumps to assist in efforts to extinguish heat along the fires perimeter.

Crews determined a few hazardous trees on the southwestern edge of the fire were too dangerous to fell with a chainsaw. For this reason, a specialized crew will be on the fire line tomorrow to fell these trees using a tool called a Fireline Explosives Blaster (FLEB). The FLEB assures the safe and effective felling of hazardous trees using specialized explosives.

UPDATE, AUG. 11:

A weather trend of rising temperatures may bring more active fire behavior on the Colt Fire, according to an update from the Northern Rockies Team 5.

Currently, the fire is mainly burning in dead standing or downed trees, however, as fuels dry out it is expected that other fuels, such as huckleberry bushes and other shrubs, may ignite more readily.

Heavy equipment will continue to improve existing roads in the fire area to allow for better firefighter access to the fires southern flank Friday.

The update says crews will spend the next few days completing handline on the southwest edge of the fire.

Once the handline is completed, crews plan to begin the mop-up process in the area. In order to facilitate this effort, a helicopter crew brought supplies (such as hose lays and pumps) into the southwest area of the fire.

While mopping up, crews will use these supplies to cool hot spots along the fires edge.

UPDATE, AUG. 10:

The Colt Fire is 7,202 acres large and 45% contained Thursday.

An update from the Northern Rockies Team 5 says crews are expected to need three more days to complete the handline from the south flank of the fire to Sunset Ridge.

This will connect their handline with the existing line constructed by heavy equipment along the ridgeline.

Crews on the southwest end of the fire continue to construct handline along the fires edge, however, progress is slowed by steep terrain and hazardous trees. Heavy equipment is assisting crews by improving existing roads in the fire area.

The temporary flight restriction for the fire area has been extended to a full 24-hour restriction as the UAS will be mapping out the southern edge of the fire as conditions permit.

UPDATE, AUG. 9:

Containment on the Colt Fire has grown to 45%, with the majority of added containment being on the southern edge, the Northern Rockies Team 5 reported.

As crews continue to mop-up the southern and northern edges, they work east to west to increase containment in the coming days.

More showers are expected over the fire area Wednesday evening with warm, dry weather anticipated for Thursday.

UPDATE, AUG. 8:

Containment on the Colt Fire has increased to 39% as crews were able to take advantage of quieted fire behavior from the moisture and mop-up on residual heat on the northeast and eastern edges.

The current size of the fire is 7,179 acres with 506 total personnel working to fight the fire.

Air operations will be using two unmanned aerial systems (UAS drones) over the coming days to map out areas of heat within the fire area.

The UAS aircraft is best able to pick up areas of heat within the fire late at night and early in the morning due to lower air temperatures at these times. For this reason, the temporary flight restriction (TFR) for the fire area (FDC 3/7867) has been extended from 8am-10am to a full 24-hour restriction.

Today, crews will continue to mop-up remaining residual heat along the fire's northern and eastern edges between Colt Lake and Beaver Lake.

They will also continue to construct lines west to Sunset Ridge on the south flank and heavy equipment will assist crews with additional line construction on the northwest corner of the fire.

UPDATE, AUG 7:

The Colt Fire remains at 25% contained as of Monday morning at 9:22am.

Northern Rockies Team 5 sent out a press release saying while rainfall in the area decreased fire activity, it also limited firefighters' ability to access roads in certain areas of the fire.

Crews were able to mop-up some residual heat from much of the fire's northern and eastern edges.

Right now, crews are continuing to mop-up residual heat.

Heavy equipment will search for opportunities to construct line further along the fires southwest edge near Sunset Ridge.

Hand crews will again be in the area, searching for a path to continue the line beyond the ridge.

Along the southern edge of the fire crews will continue to construct handline above West Fork Clearwater River.

Aircrafts will be available to assist firefighters as needed as long as conditions allow.

The release says showers and thunderstorms may return this afternoon, bringing with them a risk of heavy downpours, lightning, and gusty outflow winds.

While the rain has lessened fire activity for the time being, fire activity is expected to increase later in the week as temperatures rise and relative humidity's decrease.

This incoming warm weather with possible gusty winds will increase the chances of larger fuels burning, as the dryness of these fuels is still near record lows.

UPDATE, AUG. 6:

The Colt Fire is now 25% contained as of Sunday morning.

Crews are working to mop-up residual heat along the fires north perimeter from Beaver Lake to Colt Lake.

On the east side of the fire, heavy equipment will begin constructing line from Sunset Ridge east, continuing the progress of the line constructed by hand crews.

Firefighters will continue constructing handline along the south edge of the fire Sunday, as weather permits.

The fires forward progression has been slowed by recent rain, with growth mainly contained to the southwestern portion of the fire.

While the fire will likely exhibit creeping and smoldering behavior in the coming days, single tree torching is possible if the fire burns into large areas of unburned ground fuels, the Northern Rockies Team 5 reported.

As the weather warms towards the middle of the week, with less precipitation anticipated, an increase of fire activity is expected.

UPDATE, AUG. 5:

The Northern Rockies Team 1 transitioned command of the Colt Fire to the Northern Rockies Team 5 Saturday.

Monsoonal moisture in the upper atmosphere and cloud cover of the fire area subdued fire activity Friday, however, persistent dry conditions at the surface keep the potential for fire spread high.

Cooler temperatures and higher humidity with a chance of rain are being forecasted for the weekend.

Acreage was reportedly added to the fire Friday, however, there was no overnight infrared mapping flight to verify the increase.

The following are the planned actions Saturday:

In the southwest corner of the fire heavy equipment and crews will continue to construct indirect control lines.

Along the west side, crews will prepare roads and handlines and use hose lays to secure and mop up the fire edge.

On the north and east sides of the fire, personnel will patrol, hold, and mop up where needed.

Crews that have been working from east to west on the south side of the fire north of the West Fork of the Clearwater River will continue handline construction.

The crews are working in steep terrain and the handline construction is slow and steady.

Helicopters will be used to cool hot spots and slow fire spread.

Operations personnel from both teams will work together on all sides of the fire to transfer knowledge and situational awareness to provide for a safe and efficient team transition.

The Missoula County Sheriffs Office has issued the following evacuations and closures:

Residents on Beaver Creek Road (near the summit) are under an Evacuation Warning.

Mile marker 31 (Beaver Creek Road at the intersection of Hwy 83) south towards Seeley Lake to mile marker 27, and including residences in Rovero Flats, are under an Evacuation Warning.

Residences beginning at mile marker 27, south end of Rovero Flats, to mile marker 25.5 (the intersection of the West Fork of the Clearwater Road and Hwy 83) are under an Evacuation Warning.

Residences on the north and south ends of Lake Inez are under an Evacuation Warning. The east side of Lake Inez, along Hwy 83, is not under any Warning or Order.

UPDATE, AUG. 4:

The Colt Fire is burning an estimated 7,179 acres and is 23% contained as of Friday morning.

Fire activity was the highest in the southwestern corner due to persistent dry conditions over the area, the Northern Rockies Team 1 reports.

Cooler temperatures, higher humidity and a chance of rain are forecasted for the area in the coming days.

Crews on the southwest corner of the fire are working to keep the fire north of Sunset Ridge.

Engines are patrolling, holding and mopping up along the north and east side of the fire.

Helicopters are being used to cool hot spots and slow fire spread.

The Structure Protection Group will continue structure protection assessment work in the Lindbergh Lake area and will be patrolling the Highway 83 corridor and other identified structure zones.

The following evacuation and closures are in pace according to the Missoula County Sheriffs Office:

Residents on Beaver Creek Road (near the summit) are under an Evacuation Warning.

Mile marker 31 (Beaver Creek Road at the intersection of Hwy 83) south towards Seeley Lake to mile marker 27, and including residences in Rovero Flats, are under an Evacuation Warning.

Residences beginning at mile marker 27, south end of Rovero Flats, to mile marker 25.5 (the intersection of the West Fork of the Clearwater Road and Hwy 83) are under an Evacuation Warning.

Residences on the north and south ends of Lake Inez are under an Evacuation Warning. The east side of Lake Inez, along Hwy 83, is not under any Warning or Order

UPDATE, AUG 3:

The Colt Fire is now 6,860 acres large and 19% contained as of Thursday morning.

The Northern Rockies Team 1 says fire personnel in the southwest corner will be re-evaluating the locations planned for indirect control line construction and adjusting those actions based on where the spot fire moved.

On the forest road systems west of the fire, heavy equipment and crews will work on linking roads and control lines together forming indirect control lines.

Along the north side, east side (Forest Road 646), and southeast corner firefighters will continue to hold and mop up along the line.

On the south side, and north of the West Fork of the Clearwater River, four crews will continue to build fire control line moving from east to west. These crews may camp closer to the line to decrease travel time.

Helicopters and airplanes will continue to be used to keep the fire checked up on the west side and southwest corner.

The Lindbergh Group will continue structure assessments as well as look for indirect control line opportunities that would have the highest opportunity for success ahead of the fire.

A night shift of engines will patrol and monitor fire conditions.

The following evacuation and closures are in pace according to the Missoula County Sheriffs Office:

Residents on Beaver Creek Road (near the summit) are under an Evacuation Warning.

Mile marker 31 (Beaver Creek Road at the intersection of Hwy 83) south towards Seeley Lake to mile marker 27, and including residences in Rovero Flats, are under an Evacuation Warning.

Residences beginning at mile marker 27, south end of Rovero Flats, to mile marker 25.5 (the intersection of the West Fork of the Clearwater Road and Hwy 83) are under an Evacuation Warning.

Residences on the north and south ends of Lake Inez are under an Evacuation Warning. The east side of Lake Inez, along Hwy 83, is not under any Warning or Order

UPDATE, AUG. 2 AT 11:14 A.M.:

The evacuation orders in the areas of Rovero Flats East and Rovero Flats West have been lifted Wednesday, the Missoula County Sheriff's Office posted on Facebook.

Those areas are now under evacuation warning.

MCSO said residents may notice law enforcement taking down the red order cards and replacing them with yellow warning cards.

MCSO shared a map reflecting evacuation status in the identified zones: Red means the zone is under evacuation order, yellow means warning and green means pre-identified zones in the event the fire approaches those areas.

Currently, there are more zones that have been pre-identified and are in green: Fawn, 83 N, 83 S, Boy Scout N, and Boy Scout S.

For the more updated information on wildfires in Montana, visit mtfireinfo.org.

UPDATE, AUG 2:

The Colt Fire is burning 6,860 acres with containment at 19% Wednesday morning.

The Northern Rockies Team 1 reports a high-pressure ridge weather system is keeping smoke from nearby and far away wildfires in the area.

In addition, the ream is reporting warm, dry weather could lead to active fire behavior, Wednesday.

The following actions are planned for the day:

On the southeast corner and east side along Forest Road 646 (Colt/Uhler Road) firefighters will continue to hold and mop up along the line. Patrol and mop up will also continue in areas on the north side of the fire.

In the northwest corner crews will continue to construct indirect line working to connect between Colt and Beaver Lakes.

Along the west side crews and equipment will access the area and start working to prepare Forest Road 9570 as an indirect control line. Access routes have been found and an attempt will be made to bring equipment into the southwest corner if fire activity safely allows. Helicopters will continue to be used to keep the fire checked up on the west side and southwest corner.

On the south side, and north of the West Fork of the Clearwater River, crews will move from east to west working on fire control line construction. These crews will start to spike camp closer to the line to decrease travel time. The night shift of engines will patrol and monitor fire conditions.

Evacuation warnings and orders:

Residents on Beaver Creek Road (near the summit) are under an Evacuation Warning.

Mile marker 31 (Beaver Creek Road at the intersection of Hwy 83) south towards Seeley Lake to mile marker 27, and including residences in Rovero Flats, are under an Evacuation Order.

Residences beginning at mile marker 27, south end of Rovero Flats, to mile marker 25.5 (the intersection of the West Fork of the Clearwater Road and Hwy 83) are under an Evacuation Warning.

Residences on the north and south ends of Lake Inez are under an Evacuation Warning. The east side of Lake Inez, along Hwy 83, is not under any Warning or Order.

The list of current closures includes:

Forest Road 906 (closed at Highway 83)

Rainy Lake Campground access road 4357 (closed at Highway 83)

Rainy Lake Campground

Alva Lake Campground access road (closed by gate at Highway 83)

Alva Lake Campground

Lakeside Campground access road (closed by gate at Highway 83)

Lakeside Campground

Lake Inez Campground

Forest Road 646 (closed at the junction of FSR 552; FSR 4354; Forest Road 552 (beyond the turn off to west side Lake Inez access

Forest Road 5407 and 463 closed beyond the West Side snowmobile trailhead (these roads access the Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks Marshall Wildlife Management Area and Lake Marshall)

Temporarily closing the Forest System Road loops of the Clearwater (FSR 4370 and 4353) and Richmond (FSR 667 and 720)

For the more updated information on wildfires in Montana, visit mtfireinfo.org.

UPDATE, AUG. 1:

The Colt Fire grew an additional 527 acres, burning 6,704 acres total with containment increased to 8%.

According to Inciweb, fire activity continued Monday due to increasing temperatures and decreasing relative humidity.

Fire crews continued holding efforts on all sides of the fire.

Crews held the fire line and looked out for hot spots on the southeast corner, helicopters cooled hot spots where necessary.

On the east side, personnel mopped up and put effort into raising containment along Forest Road 646, Colt/Uhler Road. Firefighters will resume holding, securing and mopping up Forest Road 646, Colt/Uhler Road.

Crews on the north side, crews and equipment worked to hold along the existing fire lines and resumed building control lines. Crews will work a mix of indirect line preparation along Forest Road 906, holding the existing lines and looking out for fire spots.

Crews on the west side took the chance on working on a direct fire line upslope from Colt Lake.

Aircraft dropped fire retardant to slow fire spread on the southwest corner, and will continue to be used in this area if necessary.

On the west side of the fire, there is a plan in place for access and indirect control line building on the west side of the fire, and according to Inciweb, "These plans will start to be implemented as crews can be shifted from other parts of the fire area."

On the south side, crews will be working on direct control line moving east to west while north of the West Fork of the Clearwater River.

A group will resume evaluating structure protection.

Evacuations and closures:

The Missoula County Sheriffs Office Evacuation Warning and Order summary:

Residents on Beaver Creek Road (near the summit) are under an Evacuation Warning.

Mile marker 31 (Beaver Creek Road at the intersection of Hwy 83) south towards Seeley Lake to mile marker 27, and including residences in Rovero Flats, are under an Evacuation Order.

Residences beginning at mile marker 27, south end of Rovero Flats, to mile marker 25.5 (the intersection of the West Fork of the Clearwater Road and Hwy 83) are under an Evacuation Warning.

Residences on the north and south ends of Lake Inez are under an Evacuation Warning. The east side of Lake Inez, along Hwy 83, is not under any Warning or Order.

If conditions rapidly change an Evacuation Order may be issued with no prior notice or warning. Home and property owners in the surrounding area should remain vigilant and prepared. Have an evacuation plan for family, pets, and livestock; sign up for emergency alerts at Smart911.com; and be familiar with the Missoula County evacuation process and what an order and warning means by clicking on the following link: https://www.missoulacounty.us/government/publicsafety/officeofemergencymanagement/evacuationinformation. For evolving Evacuations and Warnings please visit the Missoula County Sheriffs Office Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/MissoulaCountySheriffsOffice .

The Lolo and Flathead National Forests have closed several forest roads, areas, and campgrounds near the fire area for public safety. The list of current closures includes:

Forest Road 906 (closed at Highway 83)

Rainy Lake Campground access road 4357 (closed at Highway 83)

Rainy Lake Campground

Alva Lake Campground access road (closed by gate at Highway 83)

Alva Lake Campground

Lakeside Campground access road (closed by gate at Highway 83)

Lakeside Campground

Lake Inez Campground

Forest Road 646 (closed at the junction of FSR 552; FSR 4354; Forest Road 552 (beyond the turn off to west side Lake Inez access

Forest Road 5407 and 463 closed beyond the West Side snowmobile trailhead (these roads access the Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks Marshall Wildlife Management Area and Lake Marshall)

Temporarily closing the Forest System Road loops of the Clearwater (FSR 4370 and 4353) and Richmond (FSR 667 and 720)

UPDATE, JULY 30:

Containment on the Colt Fire grew to 6% by Sunday morning. Fire growth was reported, however, the exact figure is unavailable.

Moderate growth is expected Sunday with the fire moving through the heavy dead and down surface vegetation.

The following are the planned actions for Sunday, according to the Northern Rockies Team 1 update:

On the southeast corner of the fire personnel will continue firing operations and secure the line north of the West Fork of the Clearwater River and tie in with Forest Road 646 (Colt/Uhler Road).

Crews will continue to hold and mop up along the eastern control lines along Forest Road 646.

On the north side, crews will hold and secure the fire along Forest Road 4356 and look for opportunities for fire control line from Colt Lake to Beaver Lake.

North and South Structure Protection will assist with burning operations and holding operations on the east and southeast sides of the fire.

Structure Group remains ready to respond for structure protection as needed.

A night shift of engines and personnel will patrol and monitor fire conditions. Helicopters and airplanes will be used to drop water and retardant on the fire as needed.

The Missoula County Sheriffs Office has the following evacuations and closure orders in place:

Residents on Beaver Creek Road (near the summit) are under an Evacuation Warning.

Mile marker 31 (Beaver Creek Road at the intersection of Hwy 83) south towards Seeley Lake to mile marker 27, and including residences in Rovero Flats, are under an Evacuation Order.

Residences beginning at mile marker 27, south end of Rovero Flats, to mile marker 25.5 (the intersection of the West Fork of the Clearwater Road and Hwy 83) are under an Evacuation Warning.

Residences on the north and south ends of Lake Inez are under an Evacuation Warning. The east side of Lake Inez, along Hwy 83, is not under any Warning or Order.

UPDATE, JULY 29:

The Colt Fire is 5,475 acres large and 3% contained as of Saturday morning.

Fire behavior is expected to be moderate with the active fire edge moving through the heavy dead and down surface vegetation.

On Saturday, crews will hold and secure the eastern control lines along Forest Road 646 (Colt/Uhler Road) as well as on the north side of the fire where burning operations have taken place, according to the Northern Rockies Team 1.

On the southeast corner, crews will continue burning operations and work on securing that area and tying in with Road 646.

On the south side, crews will look for potential control features north of the West Fork of the Clearwater River.

To the north, the Heavy Equipment Task Force will continue working on control line preparation along the Beaver Creek Road.

South Structure Protection will conduct structure assessments and protection work at Lake Inez.

A night shift of engines and personnel will patrol and monitor fire conditions. Helicopters and airplanes will be used to drop water and retardant on the fire as needed.

The following evacuation and closures are in place by the Missoula County Sheriffs Office:

Residents on Beaver Creek Road (near the summit) are under an Evacuation Warning.

Mile marker 31 (Beaver Creek Road at the intersection of Hwy 83) south towards Seeley Lake to mile marker 27, and including residences in Rovero Flats, are under an Evacuation Order.

Residences beginning at mile marker 27, south end of Rovero Flats, to mile marker 25.5 (the intersection of the West Fork of the Clearwater Road and Hwy 83) are under an Evacuation Warning.

Residences on the north and south ends of Lake Inez are under an Evacuation Warning. The east side of Lake Inez, along Hwy 83, is not under any Warning or Order

UPDATE, JULY 28:

Pilots are being reminded of a Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) in the area of the Colt Fire.

The closure is for firefighting aircraft to safely work the fire. In addition, the Condon air strip has been closed for general aviation as it is being used as a firefighting helicopter base.

Overnight, the Colt Fire was estimated to have grown to 5,252 acres, according to an update from the Northern Rockies Team 1.

Fire behavior Friday is expected to be low to moderate with the active fire edge moving through the heavy dead and down surface vegetation. Torching and spotting are possible in the subalpine fir and lodgepole pine.

Fridays planned actions include:

Crews will continue burning operations along Forest Road 646 (Colt/Uhler Road) to secure the north and east flanks of the fire.

On the south side, crews will continue to secure the spot fires, construct direct hand line towards the west, and assess road systems for potential control features near the West Fork of the Clearwater River.

A Heavy Equipment Task Force and crews will continue working on vegetation removal and control line preparation along the Beaver Creek Road on the north side of the fire.

South Structure Protection will continue structure assessments and protection work at Lake Inez.

A night shift of engines and personnel will patrol and monitor fire conditions. Helicopters will be used to drop water on the fire as needed and where they can be most effective

The following are current evacuations and closures from the Missoula County Sheriffs Office:

Residents on Beaver Creek Road (near the summit) are under an Evacuation Warning.

Mile marker 31 (Beaver Creek Road at the intersection of Hwy 83) south towards Seeley Lake to mile marker 27, and including residences in Rovero Flats, are under an Evacuation Order.

Residences beginning at mile marker 27, south end of Rovero Flats, to mile marker 25.5 (the intersection of the West Fork of the Clearwater Road and Hwy 83) are under an Evacuation Warning.

Residences on the north and south ends of Lake Inez are under an Evacuation Warning. The east side of Lake Inez, along Hwy 83, is not under any Warning or Order.

UPDATE, JULY 27 AT 9:56 AM:

The Colt Fire has grown more than 500 acres since Tuesday, for a total of 4,937 acres burned. Fire containment is at 0% Thursday.

An update from the Northern Rockies Incident Management Team 1 says fire activity remained moderate on Wednesday even as temperatures started trending a few degrees warmer and relative humidity levels started dropping a few points lower.

Temperatures in the area of the fire are expected to range from mid60s to high70s Thursday depending on the location of the fire, with relative humidity levels as low as 20%.

Fire behavior is expected to be moderate.

Crews will be doing the following planned actions Thursday, according to the update:

Crews will continue to secure the spot fires on the east flank of the fire and continue to burn ground vegetation in select locations between the fires edge and Forest Road 646 (Colt/Uhler Road).

On the south side, crews will work to hold fire spread by constructing direct hand line where appropriate and continue to assess road systems as potential control features near the West Fork of the Clearwater River.

On the north side of the fire a Heavy Equipment Task Force and crews will continue working on vegetation removal and control line preparation along the Beaver Creek Road.

The north and south Structure Protection Groups will conduct structure assessments, remove fuels, and install water handling equipment where needed. Helicopters will be used to drop water on the fire and have been very effective when needed.

As fire suppression work continues, firefighter and public safety remain the number one priority.

The following evacuations and closures are in place by the Missoula County Sheriffs Office:

Residents on Beaver Creek Road (near the summit) are under an Evacuation Warning.

Mile marker 31 (Beaver Creek Road at the intersection of Hwy 83) south towards Seeley Lake to mile marker 27, and including residences in Rovero Flats, are under an Evacuation Order.

Residences beginning at mile marker 27, south end of Rovero Flats, to mile marker 25.5 (the intersection of the West Fork of the Clearwater Road and Hwy 83) are under an Evacuation Warning.

Residences on the north and south ends of Lake Inez are under an Evacuation Warning. The east side of Lake Inez, along Hwy 83, is not under any Warning or Order.

UPDATE, JULY 26 AT 9:55 AM:

A dry cold front along with cooler temperatures and lighter winds provided for moderate fire activity in the area of the Colt Fire the last couple of days.

An update on the size of the fire was not provided Wednesday morning as cloud cover prevented an overnight infrared mapping flight from gathering information.

Fire behavior is expected to be moderate Wednesday as personnel continue working on securing spot fires on the east flank and begin to burn ground vegetation in select locations between the fires edge and Forest Road 646 (Colt/Uhler Road), an update from the Northern Rockies Incident Management Team 1 said.

At this time, the following forest roads, areas and campgrounds near the fire area have been closed:

Forest Road 906 (closed at Highway 83)

Rainy Lake Campground access road 4357 (closed at Highway 83)

Rainy Lake Campground

Alva Lake Campground access road (closed by gate at Highway 83)

Alva Lake Campground

Lakeside Campground access road (closed by gate at Highway 83)

Lakeside Campground

Lake Inez Campground

Forest Road 646 (closed at the junction of FSR 552; FSR 4354; Forest Road 552 (beyond the turn off to west side Lake Inez access

Forest Road 5407 and 463 closed beyond the West Side snowmobile trailhead (these roads access the Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks Marshall Wildlife Management Area and Lake Marshall)

Temporarily closing the Forest System Road loops of the Clearwater (FSR 4370 and 4353) and Richmond (FSR 667 and 720)

The Missoula County Sheriffs Office has issued the following evacuation warnings and orders:

Residents on Beaver Creek Road (near the summit) are under an Evacuation Warning.

Mile marker 31 (Beaver Creek Road at the intersection of Hwy 83) south towards Seeley Lake to mile marker 27, and including residences in Rovero Flats, are under an Evacuation Order.

Residences beginning at mile marker 27, south end of Rovero Flats, to mile marker 25.5 (the intersection of the West Fork of the Clearwater Road and Hwy 83) are under an Evacuation Warning.

Residences on the north and south ends of Lake Inez are under an Evacuation Warning. The east side of Lake Inez, along Hwy 83, is not under any Warning or Order.

UPDATE: Tuesday, July 25 at 2:19 p.m.

The Colt Fire is burning an 4,390 acres as of Tuesday and remains 0% contained.

Fire personnel will be leading a public meeting Tuesday from 78 p.m. at the Seeley Lake Elementary School gym.

The meeting will be streaming online via the Colt Fire Facebook page.

UPDATE: Monday, July 24 at 11:08 a.m.

The Colt Fire has nearly doubled in size Monday, now burning nearly 3,000 acres.

According to Inciweb, the Colt Fire is 2,927 acres big and is still zeropercent contained as of Monday morningthe size of the fire grew by 1,352 acres within two days.

The fire is lightningcaused.

Sunday fire activity was moderate with faint winds and stable air in the area, according to Inciweb.

More fire crews and equipment are responding to the fire.

Crews resumed placing an indirect fire line along Forest Road 646, northeast area of the fire, by clearing out brush and ground vegetation.

In the south, west and north areas, personnel were scoping out road systems for access and opportunities to build direct or indirect fire lines.

The Structure Protection team were doing assessments and preparations for sturcture protection along Highway 83 and near the lakes south and east of the fire.

Air crews were scooping water on areas of the fire.

The National Weather Service put out a Red Flag warning in place from 2 p.m. to midnight Mondaypilots and public boaters on Seeley Lake and Lindbuergh Lake are asked to keep away from firefighter aircrafts when they are scooping water from lakes.

Inciweb said crews finished clearing brush ground vegetation and improved access along Forest Road 646.

Crews will be working on the north and south parts of the fire to open existing roads and start building fire lines in places with high chances of containing the fire.

According to Inciweb, north side of the fire is demonstrating more difficulties for access the Structure Protection team is continuing structure assessments and preparations.

Aircraft will keep scooping water depending on if the flying conditions are still safe.

With the Red Flag warning in place, fire personnel will be assessing escape routes and safety zones with an increased awareness of fluctuating weather and fire activity.

Weather conditions are forecasted with low humidity levels at 30 percent and strong winds of 20 milesperhour with 30 mileperhour wind gusts blowing over the fire area.

The following evacuations are in place, according to Inciweb:

Residents on Beaver Creek Road (near the summit) are under an Evacuation Warning.

Mile marker 31 (Beaver Creek Road at the intersection of Hwy 83) south towards Seeley Lake to mile marker 27, and including residences in Rovero Flats, are under an Evacuation Order.

Residences beginning at mile marker 27, south end of Rovero Flats, to mile marker 25.5 (the intersection of the West Fork of the Clearwater Road and Hwy 83) are under an Evacuation Warning.

Residences on the north and south ends of Lake Inez are under an Evacuation Warning. The east side of Lake Inez, along Hwy 83, is not under any Warning or Order.

The following closures are in place:

Forest Road 906 (closed at Highway 83)

Rainy Lake Campground access road 4357 (closed at Highway 83)

Rainy Lake Campground

Alva Lake Campground access road (closed by gate at Highway 83)

Alva Lake Campground

Lakeside Campground access road (closed by gate at Highway 83)

Lakeside Campground

Forest Road 646 (closed at the junction of FSR 552; FSR 4354; Forest Road 552 (beyond the turn off to west side Lake Inez access

Forest Road 5507 and 463 closed beyond the West Side snowmobile trailhead (these roads access the Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks Marshall Wildlife Management Area and Lake Marshall)

Temporarily closing the Forest System Road loops of the Clearwater (FSR 4370 and 4353) and Richmond (FSR 667 and 720)

UPDATE: Monday, July 24 at 9:29 a.m.

Smoke was moving through several valleys Sunday night and into Monday morning due to the Colt Fire burning northwest of Seeley Lake.

Air quality is at unhealthy conditions from Lake Inez through Condon Monday morning.

Missoula CityCounty Air Quality Specialist Sarah Coefield said in a release air quality in Seely Lake is overall moderate to unhealthy for sensitive groups.

The smoke drifted all the way down to the Potomac Valley where air quality is at unhealthy for sensitive groups, and reached the Mission Valley where air quality sits at unhealthy for sensitive groups.

"Due to overhead smoke mixing down to the valley floors, air quality for those near the Colt Fire may get a bit worse this morning before it gets better," Coefield said in the release.

However, Coefield said the air quality is expected to get better by Monday afternoon.

"The high pressure ridge that caused our hot temperatures these last several days is breaking down and that will create a turbulent atmosphere, which means air will be more capable of moving up and down and shaking it all around. For the short term, this is good, because it means smoke should easily lift out of the valleys by this afternoon and folks should see decent air quality."

But, Cofield said there will be heavy winds a significant portion of Monday afternoon and a lot of Tuesday.

A red flag warning is in place over the Colt Fire, with winds picking up over the course of Monday from the south, southwest and west.

Coefield said fire activity and a big column of smoke is expectedfast winds may be heading towards the Bob Marshall Wilderness.

Smoke is expected to impact the Highway 83 corridor, and northwest breezes are expected to push smoke to Seeley and Salmon lakes. Southerly winds are likely to spread the fire north bringing more overnight smoke into the Swan Valley, Coefield said.

In Missoula, Frenchtown, Lolo, air quality improving is based on how the weather affects the fires in Idaho.

"One of the smoke models thinks the Little Bear Fire is going to get feisty and send smoke to Lolo. The Little Bear Fire has been slowly fiddling around in a previously burned over area, but based on heat detections, it has started picking up acreage. It may see enough wind and activity today to send smoke our way, so keep an eye out," Coefield said.

The Little Bear Fire has been increasing acreage, and there may be enough wind to push smoke towards the Missoula area.

Coefield said the general haze throughout Missoula County is due to fires burning in the region and is fluctuating air quality from good to moderate Monday morning; but, Coefield said the air quality should not be a huge worry by Monday afternoon.

UPDATE, JULY 23:

Another 500 acres have been burned by the Colt Fire overnight Saturday, making the fire a total of 1,575 acres in size.

As of Sunday afternoon, containment on the fire is still at 0% and the fire is active on all sides.

Brent Olsons Northern Rockies Complex Incident Management Team 1 assumed command of the fire Sunday morning and additional fire personnel and equipment have been arriving and are being integrated into fire operations.

The National Weather Service has issued a Fire Weather Watch for Monday, July 24.

The Northern Rockies Complex Incident Management Team 1 warns that hot, dry, and windy conditions may lead to critical fire weather conditions on existing or new fires.

The Missoula County Sheriffs Office have issued the following evacuation warnings and evacuation orders:

Residences on Beaver Creek Road (near the summit) are under an Evacuation Warning

Mile marker 31 (Beaver Creek Road at the intersection of Hwy 83) south towards Seeley Lake to mile marker 27, and including residences in Rovero Flats, are under Evacuation Order

Residences beginning at mile marker 27, south end of Rovero Flats, to mile marker 25.5 (the intersection of the West Fork of the Clearwater Road and Hwy 83) are under Evacuation Warning. USFS has issued emergency closures of Rainy Lake Campground and the main Lake Alva Campground and Lakeside at Alva

Residences on the north and south ends of Lake Inez are under an Evacuation Warning. The east side of Lake Inez, along Hwy 83, is not under any Warning or Order

The Red Cross shelter at the Ovando church is going on standby.

If you are evacuated due to the Colt Fire and need shelter, you can call the Red Cross at (406) 2151514.

The following are the planned actions for Sunday according to the Northern Rockies Complex Incident Management Team 1:

Crews will work on clearing vegetation along the Colt and Beaver Creek Roads to improve fuel break areas. On the south and east areas of the fire, personnel and crews will be looking for direct and indirect opportunities to prepare containment lines and fuel breaks. Direct and indirect fire suppression tactics will be assessed and prepared to be implemented as fire conditions allow. Structure protection assessments and preparations will continue. As new crews arrive, they will be safely orientated to the fire area and begin working where safe to do so. Firefighter and public safety are the number one priority as this fire response transitions into longer duration suppression work. Air resources will be used as needed to slow fire spread and cool down areas of heat.

UPDATE, JULY 22 AT 5:00 PM:

An evacuation warning has been issued for residents on the east side of Lake Inez, specifically those residences on Beargrass Ln. and West Lake Way.

Residents are being warned that due to the possibility of rapidly changing conditions, an evacuation order may be issued with no prior warning.

The Missoula County Sheriffs Office is asking people to not stop along Highway 83 for the safety of firefighters and first responders.

Missoula County 911 reports that the Red Cross shelter at the Ovando church is on standby due to lack of demand.

If you are evacuated due to the Colt Fire and need shelter, you can call the Red Cross at (406) 2151514.

UPDATE, JULY 22 AT 10:38 AM:

Overnight, the Colt Fire has grown to about 1,000 acres as active fire behavior continues on all sides.

Predicted burning conditions anticipate the fire to continue to grow, the Montana DNRC reported.

Ground crews are continuing to perform structure protection northeast of the fire while aviation resources continue suppression efforts by cooling hotspots and slowing the fires rate of spread.

An Evacuation Order is still in place for residents along Highway 83, between mile marker 27 and 31(Rainy Lake to Summit Lake).

An evacuation warning has also been issued for residents along Highway 83, between mile marker 15.5 and 27.

Those evacuated due to the fire can go to a Red Cross shelter that has been set up at the Blackfoot Community Bible Church in Ovando at 209 Birch St..

A Complex Incident Management Team will be inbriefed Saturday to assume command of the fire Sunday.

Multiple aviation resources including four CL415 super scoopers,one very large air tanker, and multiple large air tankers. Fire managers are using all available tools to suppress the, for lives, homes, property.

People are being reminded to not fly drones while crews are working on a fire after a drone incursion happened in the area Friday.

It is a criminal misdemeanor in Montana to fly drones that interfere with fire suppression efforts, with a fine of up to $1,500 and the potential of being charged with firefighting costs.

According to the Montana DNRC, the following are the planned actions for Saturday:

Crews will continue working along Colt Road, clearing vegetation, and creating a stronger fuel break.

Engine crews will continue structure assessment in the Summit Lake housing area.

Incoming resources will start clearing vegetation along the Beaver Creek Rd.

Aviation resources will continue suppression efforts by cooling hotspots and slowing the fires rate of spread.

The Missoula CityCounty Health Department is donating air purifiers to daycare, nursing homes and community businesses as the fire season begins.

UPDATE, JULY 21 AT 6:00 PM:

Red Cross has been contacted and is working to secure a location for those evacuated by the Colt Fire, according to the Missoula County Sheriff's Office.

If you have questions, you may contact them at 1800REDCROSS or, in Montana, at 4062151514.

UPDATE, JULY 21 AT 3:45 PM:

Residents along Highway 83, between mile marker 27 and mile marker 31 (Rainy Lake to Summit Lake) have been ordered to immediately leave the area.

The Missoula County Sheriff's Office is reporting incident conditions present an immediate threat to people in the area.

For evacuation information, you can call 2584636.

UPDATE, JULY 21:

An evacuation warning has been issued for residents along Highway 83, between mile marker 27 and mile marker 31 (Rainy Lake to Summit Lake) due to the Colt Fire.

The Missoula County Sheriff's Office is warning the conditions can change quickly and that if fire activity increases, emergency personnel may not be able to make personal notifications.

InciWeb is reporting the Colt Fire grew to about 200 acres Friday due to late afternoon fire conditions.

Crews reengaged the fire Friday morning after having to back off due to the increased activity.

A Complex Incident Management Team has been ordered to manage the fire and will be debriefed Saturday and take formal control of the fire Sunday.

As of Friday afternoon, the fire is not contained and is active.

SEELEY LAKE, Mont. - A 15 acre fire is burning in dense timber northwest of Seeley Lake.

The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation reports the Colt Fire was detected July 18 and is burning about 15 miles northwest of Seeley Lake. It was reportedly started by lightning.

At this time, the fire is on land managed by the Lolo National Forest but under Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation fire protection and is currently 0% contained.

Firefighters are working the perimeter of the fire with chainsaws to create a break in fuels (saw line)and finding success with aerial resources committed to the fire.

No structures are threatened and no evacuations are in place, however, the public is being told to avoid the Beaver Lake and Colt Lake areas where crews are actively working.
Jane Ciabattari at Literary Hub:

Lydia Kieslings first novel, The Golden State, begins with her stressed-out narrator Daphne grabbing her toddler from day care and taking off from her job at the Al-Ihsan Institute in Berkeley. She drives to the mobile home her late grandparents left her in Alta Vista in the high desert of Northern California, where she encounters a neighbor aligned with the radical right State of Jefferson movement and a sympathetic older woman who has spent time in Turkey. Meanwhile, Daphnes husband is in immigrant limbo at his mothers house in Istanbul after being tricked into giving up his green card. Based on this multi-textured and sparkling debut, Kiesling was a 2018 National Book Foundation 5 under 35 honoree.

Kieslings new novel, Mobility, also tracks a single narrator on a journey. When we first meet Bunny Glenn she is a bored, boy-crazy fifteen year old diplomat brat living in Baku, on the oil-rich Caspian Sea, after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Her travels as she comes of age and becomes an aspirational worker in the oil industry carry her around the globe, ultimately back to Baku.

More here.
Over 600 visitors made the trip to visit the Logan Familys Gold Cup Open Day, held in northern Ayrshire last week.

Holehouse Farms isnt necessarily the typical type of farm associated with dairy farming, let alone a Gold Cup winning dairy farm, given its location in a testing region of the country.

Open to the elements, the farm has adapted to ensure it can continue dairy farming in a sustainable, progressive and profitable way.

Visitors on the day were able to hear from industry specialists who have played key roles in this success through a series of talk stations.

Michael Fallon, MBM Veterinary Group, who is the farms clinical director, outlined how the herd has evolved genetically over time and how this process has been closely linked with genomic testing.

Whilst specific to individual farms he outlined what breeding aims the Logans look for to ensure their cows are as successful as possible.

Rhona McAlister, from animal health company Zoetis, discussed how to breed for a sustainable dairy herd.

She explained how initially you need to look at your breeding concepts, all of equal importance, and that, if implemented correctly all contribute to the desired outcome  keeping only healthy heifers who will be profitable to your business.

Rearing costs  replacements and therefore heifer rearing, is the second or third largest variable cost to a dairy business  with it often taking until second lactation for a heifer to pay back her rearing costs, says Ms McAlister.

She continued: Because a dairy cow typically needs to make it to peak milk in second lactation before her cull value exceeds her development costs, cattle that lack genetic potential dont stay in the herd long enough to recover raising costs, so we need to focus on longevity-driven profit.

Heifer genomics contribute greatly to overall profitability and sustainability and allows farms to make decisions earlier with more targeted investment into other resources then being possible.

By accurately describing genetic potential differences genetic selection decisions are more likely to impact profitability and allowing the herd to make the most out of its best animals.

As explained by Ms McAlister it is clear to see the increase in the rate of genetic improvement when both sire and female genomics are used.

A selection index brings simplicity and convenience to multi-trait breeding goals by creating one value for producers, weighting each trait, and combining information on a number of traits accounting for the relationship between traits.

To allow you to make strategic breeding decisions you need to be ranking animals for selection. This can split into three parts, looking at what animals you want, which matings you need to make and how many progeny you want from the specific animal  preferentially allocating the best semen to your best heifers and cows and beef semen to your worst.

Summarising, Ms McAlister went on to say that using data from genomics strategically supports the decisions made on farm, to ensure profitability, sustainability and the correct animal health choices are made.

Other speakers included CowManagers European account manager, Marc van Mensvoort, who highlighted the benefits of monitoring your herd with software, if you want to improve overall efficiency and performance.

He focused on explaining how the smallest of signals can be indicators of greater problems  and without the use of herd software would go unnoticed.

What many people dont know is that when a cow gets an infection, blood from the animals ear moves to the vital organs, creating a dip in the temperature of the ear explained Mr Mensvoort.

By using our software this can be instantly picked up and the farmer notified  being able to act quickly, and in the early stages of the problem, is a vital element to the ongoing and efficient running of your business.

With less time being wasted trying to detect illnesses and cow health problems this software takes away that element by monitoring animals 24/7  this accurate real-time data improves breeding success.

RABDF managing director, Matthew Knight, said it was a great day for the industry, celebrating the best of the best when it comes to dairy businesses.

It was humbling to see such a great crowd of people turning up on the day to support the Logan Family and the industry.

"With the ever-increasing challenges facing us as a sector its important to remind ourselves we are stronger if we work together.
The wildfires raging across the world are "alarming evidence" of climate change.

Wildfires are 'alarming evidence' of the impact of climate change

Europe's top space official Josef Aschbacher has called on politicians not to abandon European leadership in combating the issue of global warming because it causes "enormous changes" to the planet.

Wildfires have been burning in Portugal, Tenerife and Canada and over 100 people have died after devastating blazes in Hawaii in recent days.

Spanish authorities ordered the evacuation of four villages in Tenerife on Wednesday (16.08.23) after a fire broke out in a nature park near the Mount Tiede volcano.

The fire raged through a forested area in northeastern Tenerife, making it more difficult for firefighters to deal with.

The inferno comes after the Canary Islands were hit by a heatwave that left several areas tinder-dry.

Meanwhile, in Canada's Northwest Territories, a state of emergency due to wildfires has destroyed a remote community and poses a danger to the territorial capital Yellowknife.

Wildfires have hit parts of almost all 13 Canadian provinces and territories this year - forcing home evacuations and disrupting energy production.

The World Meteorological Organisation has said that July had the highest global average temperature on record.

Aschbacher, director general of the European Space Agency, said: "This is really alarming.

"It just confirms that climate change is the biggest threat to our planet, to humankind, and will remain so for the next decades and we do need to do everything we can to mitigate the effects."
David Harbour says the ending of 'Stranger Things' is "very, very very moving".

David Harbour has revealed he knows how Stranger Things ends

The actor has appeared in all four seasons of the hit Netflix show and he'll be a part of series five when it starts filming - and he's now revealed he's seen the script and insisted fans have a lot to look forward to.

Speaking on the 'Happy Sad Confused' podcast - believed to have been recorded prior to the Hollywood actors strike - David explained: I know what it [the ending] is. I know where we net out and its very, very moving. That is the term I will use."

He also revealed the fifth season will pick up in a "different place" following the end of series four last year. David added: "After where season four ended - when you watch us on that hill looking at the ash and the smoke fires - were going to start somewhere after that. So youve gotta imagine the world is a different place."

David concluded: "Its a hell of an undertaking, too. I mean, the set pieces and the things in the scripts that we saw are bigger than anything weve done in the past."

The final series of 'Stranger Things' had been due to start filming in May, but it was postponed following the announcement of strikes by the Writers Guild of America. It's now likely to be delayed further after actors unions joined the industrial action.

At the time the writers strike was announced, 'Stranger Things' creators Matt and Ross Duffer addressed the issue in a statement posted on Twitter, writing: "Duffers here. Writing does not stop when filming begins. 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."
Jerry Moss has died at the age of 88.

Jerry Moss dead at 88

The music mogul - who worked with business partner Herb Alpert to turn A M Records into one of Americas leading independent record labels - died Wednesday (16.08.23) in Los Angeles.

His family said in a statement: "They truly dont make them like him anymore and we will miss conversations with him about everything under the sun. The twinkle in his eyes as he approached every moment ready for the next adventure."

UMG CEO chairman Sir Lucian Grainge paid tribute to Moss, saying: "Jerry Moss was one of musics true pioneers and great entrepreneurs with a unique vision for what a label should be and how to build trusting long-term relationships with artists. The independent spirit he and Herb Alpert championed at A M Records is foundational to the culture that powers UMG today. On behalf of everyone at UMG, we offer our deepest condolences to his family."

Rachel S. Moore, president-CEO of the Music Center said: Jerry was dedicated to giving back to the community by supporting arts experiences that resonate in the hearts and minds of all Angelenos and meaningfully impact their lives. His artistic influence and business savvy, along with the opportunities he provided for numerous extraordinarily talented artists, changed the course of music forever. That was his gift to us all. We offer our heartfelt sympathies to Tina and the entire Moss family.

Moss and Alpert went on to release music by artists including Herb Alpert the Tijuana Brass, Burt Bacharach, the Carpenters, Quincy Jones, Liza Minnelli, Cat Stevens, Joe Cocker, Procol Harum, Fairport Convention, Joan Armatrading, Janet Jackson, The Police, the Human League, and many more throughout their career.

Following the sale of A M to Polygram in 1989, they founded a new imprint, Almo Sounds.

They were both inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.

Moss' last public event, in January 2023, was a tribute concert at the Mark Taper Forum.

Performers included Pete Frampton, Sting, Rita Coolidge and Amy Grant., David Foster hosted the concert and Alpert made a speech.
Pamela Anderson has relished going against the "grain" with her fresh-faced look.

Pamela Anderson has revealed her beauty secrets

The 56-year-old actress has embraced a fresh-faced beauty style in recent years, and Pamela has found it to be really "freeing".

Speaking to ELLE about her style, Pamela explained: "I think we all start looking a little funny when we get older. And Im kind of laughing at myself when I look at the mirror. I go, Wow, this is really ... whats happening to me? Its a journey."

Despite this, Pamela admitted to being in a "good place" at the moment.

The 'Baywatch' star - who became a global sex symbol in the 90s - shared: "I feel rooted for. I feel good. Im in a good place."

Earlier this year, meanwhile, Pamela hit out at the makers of 'Pam and Tommy'.

The biographical drama series explored Pamela's whirlwind romance with music star Tommy Lee, and the actress admitted to being frustrated by the Hulu show.

Speaking to the Guardian newspaper, Pamela asked: "How are they allowed to do that?"

Lily James played Pamela in the show, but the blonde beauty doesn't blame the British actress for agreeing to star in the series.

Pamela - who was married to Tommy between 1995 and 1998 - said: "I heard shed been nominated for an Emmy, but maybe that was a joke.

"Its not her fault; its a job. But whoever created it - well, it just feels like something else stolen."

Lily, 34, underwent a dramatic transformation in order to play Pamela in the TV series.

The actress would spend up to four hours a day getting her hair and make-up done - but she still relished the experience.

Lily shared: "Thats whats so cool about being an actor, is you get to do these polar opposites. Like I had brown frizzy hair and no make-up [in Yesterday], and then all of a sudden Im transformed after four hours of this incredible hair and make-up team.

"It was great, Im so lucky. Its like playing make-believe the whole time."
The Toyota dealership where Katharine McPhee and David Fosters nanny died has called her death a "heavy burden".

Toyota dealership where Katharine McPhee's nanny was killed calls death a 'heavy burden to bear'

Yadira Colito, 55, was reportedly killed at a Toyota dealership in San Fernando Valley, California earlier this month while waiting for her car to be serviced, after an elderly woman accidentally drove into a customer reception

Megan Maybee, the Hamer Toyota dealership's director of communications, told Us Weekly in a statement: "We extend our deepest condolences to Yadiras family, friends, and loved ones during this incredibly difficult time. The loss of such a vibrant life in such tragic circumstances is a heavy burden to bear, and we share in their grief.

TMZ previously reported that an 84-year-old woman drove her white Toyota RAV4 into the covered service bay driveway, with authorities at the scene apparently saying the driver mistakenly hit the accelerator instead of the brake.

Yadira was reportedly pinned under the SUV and dragged for about 20 feet before bystanders came together to help free her from under the car.

She was rushed to the hospital in critical condition where she was later pronounced dead.

Two others were also injured in the crash, but are expected to make full recoveries.

The driver has not been arrested.

Yadira was a nanny for 39-year-old Katharine and 73-year-old David's son Rennie, two.

Following the incident, Katherine announced she had to rush home from her and her husbands tour in Asia due to a horrible tragedy.

She told her Instagram followers: Dearest Jakarta fans, its with heavy heart I announce I have to miss our final two shows of our Asia run.

David and I have had a horrible tragedy in our family and at least one of us need to get back home to our family.

Please know how sorry I am and how much I wish to return one day and perform for you all. Love Katharine.

David was still able to take the stage for the final two shows on their tour, and shortly after Katherine post it emerged the tragedy she was referring to was the death of their nanny.

Katherine and David married the knot in 2019 before having Rennie in 2021.

David is also the father of daughters Allison, 52, Amy, 49, Sara, 41, Erin, 40, and Jordan, 36, from previous relationships.
Catherine, Princess of Wales was "nervous and apprehensive" before her first music festival, according to a royal expert.

Duchess Catherine's festival fun

The 41-year-old royal is reported to have danced the night away at the 24-hour Houghton Hall event after dining with her Norfolk friends, the Marquess and Marchioness of Cholmondeley, David and Rose, last weekend.

Catherine's trip to the music festival came after her husband Prince William enjoyed a night out in Koko club in Camden recently.

Speaking on the 'Palace Confidential' podcast, the Daily Mail's diary editor Richard Eden said: "I think Catherine may have thought, 'If [William] is going for a night out with his mates, why can't I'?'

"They've probably reached a point where they're getting a bit nostalgic."

Catherine is not known to have previously attended a festival, but enjoyed herself at Houghton Hall.

A reveller told the London Evening Standard: (Catherine) was in high spirits, ordering spicy margaritas, eating affogato (an Italian coffee-based dessert), and speaking affably with the other members of her party.

Her companions apparently carted in a huge, balthazar-sized bottle of AIX rose and, together with Kate, left the festival restaurant staff a 700 tip.

A balthazar is a 12-litre bottle and is said to be worth at least 500.

Catherine was also said to have avoided the festival food trucks, instead apparently opting for the on-site Turntable and Napkin restaurant where guests pay 60 a head for a four-course feast.

Acts that played the festival included DJ Stingray, DMX Crew, Shanti Celeste, and Radioactive Man.

A source told the Daily Mail about Catherines decision to party at the festival: After dinner, one of the guests suggested that Catherine go to the festival.

Catherine was nervous about the idea, but, after much discussion with her protection officers, she went with lots of security. William wasnt there.

The upmarket Houghton Hall festival is billed as Britain's only 24-hour music festival and was created by DJ Craig Richards, who launched the event in 2017.

More than 200 artists performed across 13 stages this year, with music playing somewhere on the Houghton Estate site at all times.

More than 12,000 revellers were estimated to have attended.
Medium-term projections for the developed economies have been reduced for developed countries, according to Fitch Ratings quarterly Global Economic Outlook report. The agency has reduced its future potential gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate estimates for the UK, Germany, and Japan by 0.2 percentage points to 1.2 per cent, 1.1 per cent, and 0.5 per cent, respectively.

The new figures reflect a sustained negative impact from recent adverse economic shocks, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the European gas crisis. The agency expects these events to have a lasting effect on the supply-side productive potential of the economies, leading to slower capital accumulation and a reduction in capital deepening and labour productivity growth.

Medium-term GDP projections for developed economies have been reduced by Fitch Ratings, lowering growth rates for the UK, Germany, Japan, and the US. Italy and France saw slight raises in estimated GDP growth. The changes reflect sustained impacts from COVID-19 and the European gas crisis, with long-term 'scarring' most profound in the UK at 5.2 per cent.

Particularly in the US and the UK, a continued drop in labour force participation rates relative to pre-pandemic trends is projected. The US potential growth has been lowered by 0.1 percentage point to 1.7 per cent, partially due to slower capital deepening, as per Fitchs report.

On a more optimistic note, the estimates for Italy and France have been slightly raised by 0.1 percentage points to 0.7 per cent and 1.2 per cent, reflecting improved investment trends in Italy. The growth projections for Australia, Canada, Switzerland, and Spain remain unchanged from the previous assessment in November 2021 at 2.1 per cent, 1.5 per cent, 1.4 per cent, and 1.4 per cent, respectively.

The report also introduces downwards 'levels shock' adjustments to the historical level of potential GDP for 2020, 2021, and 2022 in the UK, Spain, and Italy, and for 2022 in Germany. Taking both these adjustments and revisions into account, Fitch Ratings projects the level of potential GDP by 2027 to be around 2 per cent below the pre-pandemic path.

The latest figures imply deeper long-term 'scarring' from recent shocks than previously estimated. The scarring is projected to be the most profound in the UK at 5.2 per cent, followed by Spain at 3.9 per cent and Germany at 3.5 per cent. In the US, the expected scarring is considerably smaller, at 1.7 per cent.

GDP in the largest developed economies will not return to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic path, even in the medium term, said Brian Coulton, Fitch Ratings chief economist.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DP)
Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma have always served a couple of goals every time. Now and then they keep sharing pictures from their vacation and it is all heart.

Virat Kohli took to social media today as he shared a picture with Anushka Sharma as he recommended a cafe in Barbados they had just visited.

He captioned it with, "Must visit in Barbados @cafealamer18 some of the best food we ever ate." They were all smiles as they happily posed.

See Also: "Major missing - London city & coffee walks," says Anushka Sharma, sharing shots with Virat Kohli
Huang Zhixue, a native of Shaanxi province, made the "foreign land" of Henan province his home after he undertook a mission to protect the crested ibis and help ensure the survival of the species in Central China. In the 1980s, a team from the Institute of Zoology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences spent three years in Shaanxi's Yangxian county looking for the rare birds, but only found traces of seven. The situation had hardly changed by 1990, when Huang, then 27, joined a group of conservationists working to protect the species in Yangxian. The Yangxian native worked as a field monitor when he graduated from high school. In the wild, crested ibises live in deep forests, so he and his colleagues were on duty day and night near the nesting area, and they took the chicks to the local shelter to care for them. In 1994, Huang was transferred to a breeding center in Shaanxi, where he helped raise and care for several new generations of the birds. In 2007, the Dongzhai National Nature Reserve in Xinyang, Henan, received central government approval to conduct off-site conservation work. Huang was invited to work on the project. Today, thanks to decades of hard work by him and his peers, the number of crested ibises in the wild around Luoshan county, Henan, has risen to more than 400. Seventeen crested ibises arrived at Dongzhai in 2017: the first four were brought from the Beijing Zoo, while 13 were returned from Japan. From 1998 to 2018, China gave seven crested ibises to Japan, so those bred there are all descendants of the Yangxian wild crested ibises. To prevent inbreeding, Huang decided to pair mature male birds from Beijing with females that had been brought back from Japan. The keepers worked hard to get two pairs of newly matched crested ibises to breed, but a sudden heavy snowfall interrupted the plan. "The weather was abnormal that year. It snowed heavily in the mountains for more than 20 days," Huang said, adding that the temperature fell far below freezing and the snow was more than 30 centimeters deep. The 13 birds from Japan were especially afraid of animals and humans, and several were injured in fights among the birds, Huang said. To protect them, Huang laid plastic film on the exterior of their cage and placed infrared lamps inside to keep them warm in the cold weather. In 2008, six eggs were harvested, five of which were fertilized under the keepers' care. Huang mixed loaches, egg yolks, apples and insects with a meat sauce, which was then thinned and fed to the young birds via a straw. The keepers fed the birds every two hours and cleaned and tidied their incubation room every 90 minutes. Now, dozens of birds are born at the facility every year. "During the incubation period, the smell in the feeding room is very unpleasant," Huang said, adding that working in such an environment for a long time makes the keepers feel dizzy and upsets their stomachs. He and his colleagues provide rudimentary survival skills to help the ibises adapt to life in the wild and enable them to thrive in the natural environment. The birds are trained for at least seven months in a field covering more than 2,000 square meters, and Huang's team helps them perfect their ability to perch in the upper branches of high trees  which helps to ensure their safety in the wild  and their ability to fly long distances. Factors that affect the survival of crested ibises in the wild include predators, disease, bad weather and difficulty in foraging. Since 2013, the Dongzhai National Nature Reserve has been releasing crested ibises, which are then monitored by satellite positioning, radio telemetry and human tracking methods. From March to June every year, the birds' breeding season, Huang's team searches in the wild for nests and protects the chicks. Four staff members usually check five nests a day, with the farthest being more than 100 kilometers from their workstation. Huang, who is proud of his role in helping to protect the birds, lives in Xinyang with his family. Both of his daughters have married and settled in the area. "I didn't think too much back then (in the 1990s) about moving to another place. No matter where I live, it is important that I can still take care of the birds," he said. Next, he wants to see the birds spread across a wider area, such as Hubei and Anhui provinces. He also hopes that more people, especially those who live near the birds' habitats, will become more aware of the rare species and help protect the birds by reporting each and every sighting.
The much-awaited comedy drama, Dream Girl 2 is making all the noise for the right reason. After the fascinating trailer, the makers treated the audiences with two songs 'Dil ka Telephone' and 'Naach' and both are ruling the charts. Recently, The cast Ayushmann Khurrana, Ananya Panday, and Manjot Singh started a promotional tour, with Indore City and received tremendous love from the audience. Continuing the promotional spree, the lead cast has now visited a college in Chandigarh and witnessed a crazy amount of love from the crowd for Pooja.

As Dream Girl 2 visited Chandigarh, a fashion show was organized in the college where more than 50 girls were seen in the red saree and the idea behind this was to recreate the most famous Pooja's character. The excited fans and the audiences were all cheered up for Pooja and the cast Ayushmann Khurrana, Ananya Panday, and Manjot Singh was welcomed with love by everyone.

With its multi-city promotional tour, Dream Girl 2 is making its reach to top cities of the country, which includes cities like Indore, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, and Pune. This has indeed piqued the audience's anticipation for the release of the film.

Dream Girl 2, helmed by director Raaj Shaandilyaa and brought to life by Ektaa R Kapoor and Shobha Kapoor, features Ayushmann Khurrana and Ananya Panday in lead. The ensemble cast also includes Paresh Rawal, Rajpal Yadav, Asrani, Seema Pahwa, Vijay Raaz, Manjot Singh, Abhishek Banerjee, Ranjan Raj, Manoj Joshi, and Annu Kapoor in significant roles. Mark your calendars as this much-anticipated film is set to grace the silver screens on August 25, 2023.
In a heartwarming gesture, acclaimed actor Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor has humbly responded to a recent post by esteemed director Hansal Mehta, expressing his appreciation for his debut film Mirzya. The Bhavesh Joshi Super Hero took to social media to share his gratitude, captioning,

"What a lovely surprise this is  Such a huge admirer of your work sir.. Mirzya was a labour of love for all of us we poured our heart and souls into it.. it will age well I hope just like bhavesh"

What a lovely surprise this is  Such a huge admirer of your work sir.. Mirzya was a labour of love for all of us we poured our heart and souls into it.. it will age well I hope just like bhavesh https://t.co/qGn7JS2kGt  Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor (@HarshKapoor_) August 17, 2023

Fans and the film industry have been moved by the genuine warmth of the interactions between Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor and Hansal Mehta. Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor's commitment to his craft and his ability to impress his contemporaries with his legacy is unwavering. The actor is gearing up for his next film, where he will be seen playing the titular role of the Olympic Gold Medalist and Padma Bhushan Awardee, Abhinav Bindra on the silver screen.
Rhea Kapoor's upcoming project, "Thank You For Coming," has taken the cinematic realm by storm, marking another stride in Rhea Kapoor's journey as a producer. With an impressive track record in the world of cinema, AKFC's foray into production has been characterised by bold and daring portrayals, particularly in championing women-centric narratives as collectively chosen Rhea Kapoor and AKFC.

Anil Kapoor took to Instagram to announce this new collaboration between him, Rhea Kapoor and Ekta Kapoor by revealing the poster of the film. In his recent social media posts, he also celebrated the indomitable spirit of his daughter. He expressed immense pride in watching Rhea carve her unique path in the film industry with her choices alongside her husband, Karan Boolani, whose visionary approach adds an unparalleled flair.

This project embodies Rhea Kapoor's passion and determination, and the film's ensemble cast of exceptional women adds layers of complexity to its narrative. The collaborative effort of AKFC and Balaji Telefilms, will defy industry norms and provide women-centric stories more visibility.

Rhea Kapoor's journey as a producer is underscored by her refusal to conform to stereotypes. Her filmography showcases a trajectory of risk-taking, challenging the status quo, and pushing boundaries. The remarkable choice of projects, ranging from the stylish world of "Aisha" to the irreverent charm of "Khoobsurat" and the poignant narrative of "Veere Di Wedding", reflects her commitment to promoting diverse and unique storytelling.

The film features Bhumi Pednekar, Shehnaaz Gill, Kusha Kapila, Karan Kundrra, Shibani Bedi, Dolly Singh, Pradhuman Singh Mall in key roles and Anil Kapoor in a Special Appearance. The film is a coming-of-age comedy directed by Karan Boolani and written by Radhika Anand and Prashasti Singh.

The fact that "Thank You For Coming" has been selected to premiere at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is a resounding validation of the team's relentless hard work. The legacy of Ekta Kapoor and Rhea Kapoor as producers continues to be one of courageous choices, empowered narratives, and a celebration of the timeless art of storytelling.
Blue Beetle Leaked: Blue Beetle is a superhero movie based on DC Comics that was released on August 18. Directed by Angel Manuel Soto, the film stars Xolo Mariduena, who plays Jaime Reyes, a recent college graduate who heads back to his hometown of Palmera City.

However, destiny takes an unexpected turn for Jaime as he becomes connected with the Scarab, an ancient extraterrestrial bio-tech device. This union grants him a powerful exoskeleton armour, leading to his transformation into the superhero known as Blue Beetle.

As the film created a significant buzz amongst people, there is a disappointing update for superhero film fans. Unfortunately, Blue Beetle has been leaked online after hours of its release on various illegal sites and Telegram channels.

Blue Beetle Full Movie Leaked Online In HD For Free Download

Also starring Adriana Barraza, Damian Alcazar, Raoul Max Trujillo, Susan Sarandon, and George Lopez in important roles, Blue Beetle, as per reports, has been leaked online in HD and is now available for streaming as well.

Red, White & Royal Blue Full Movie Leaked Online In HD For Free Download Soon After OTT Release

Blue Beetle can be accessed easily on multiple websites, such as Pagalworld, Filmyzilla, Openload, etc. Meanwhile, its pirated versions are available in HD in several good quality formats, like 720p HD, 1080p, 480p, and more.

Popular keywords with which people are searching for the film to stream and download for free include Blue Beetle Full Movie Download, Blue Beetle Tamilrockers, Blue Beetle Movie Download Filmyzilla, and others.

Despite taking strict action and blocking such illegal sites, these websites bounce back again with full force and continue with the malicious practises harming the movie making business. Several movies earlier have been victims of piracy, such as Mission Impossible 7, Barbie, and Oppenheimer, amongst others.

Blue Beetle synopsis read: "Jaime Reyes suddenly finds himself in possession of an ancient relic of alien biotechnology called the Scarab. When the Scarab chooses Jaime to be its symbiotic host, he's bestowed with an incredible suit of armour that's capable of extraordinary and unpredictable powers, forever changing his destiny as he becomes the superhero Blue Beetle."

Depp v Heard Full Series Leaked Online In HD For Free Download Within Hours Of Its Release On Netflix

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.
Kshetrapathi Opens Today: Directed by Srikant Katagi, 'Kshetrapati' is a Kannada drama film that features Naveen Shankar and Archana Jois in prominent roles.

Jailer: Shiva Rajkumar Earns Applause With Captivating Presence; Fans Demand More 'Shivanna' Magic!

The movie also includes a strong ensemble cast, with Achyuth Kumar, Rahul Ainapur, Krishna Hebbale, Shailashree Urs, Natya Ranga, Harsha Arjun, and more in supporting roles. The musical score is composed by Ravi Basrur, while YBV Shiva Sagar handles the cinematography.

Kshetrapathi Plot

In 'Kshetrapathi,' Basavaraj (Naveen Shankar), a final-year engineering student, envisions a future in the US. However, his aspirations shatter when he learns of his father's tragic suicide. Returning to his village, he confronts the harsh reality that his father's fate mirrors the plight of countless farmers amidst a severe agrarian crisis. The pervasive grip of systemic corruption and the looming threat of corporate influence push Basava to a pivotal juncture. He must take a stand and lead a battle against the forces of darkness. Can he, armed with limited support, make a solitary stand? Or will the adversary prove insurmountable in his pursuit?

Kshetrapathi: Cast and Crew

The film features a talented ensemble cast, including Naveen Shankar, Archana Jois, Achyuth Kumar, Rahul Ainapur, Krishna Hebbale, Shailashree Urs, Natya Ranga, and Harsha Arjun, among others.

The creative team behind the movie comprises writer and Director Shrikant Katagi, with Music composed by Ravi Basrur and Background Score by the same; Cinematography expertly handled by Y V B Shiva Sagar; Editing by Manu Shedgar; and production by Ashraga Creations.

King Of Kotha Advance Booking: A Regal Rush To Secure Dulquer Salmaan's Gangster Flick

The eagerly awaited release of "Kshetrapathi" is here, bringing joy to film enthusiasts. Watch out for insightful Twitter reviews as audiences share their thoughts on this drama film, promising an entertaining cinematic journey.
Bigg Boss 7 Tamil Official: After keeping the Bigg Boss fans waiting for a long time, Vijay TV has come up with an official announcement today.

Kamal Haasan Again In Bigg Boss

While Kamal Haasan has been hosting Bigg Boss from the first season to the 6th season, Vijay TV released a new promo video today revealing that Kamal Haasan is all set to host the 7th season as well.

Even though there are many movies lined up like Indian 2, Kalki, KH233 with H Vinod and Mani Ratnam's KH234, it is certain that Kamal is going to host Bigg Boss as well. Bigg Boss Season 7 will soon be released on Vijay TV and Disney Plus Hotstar. In this case, the official promo video that is released today featuring Kamal Haasan is making Bigg Boss fans happy.

On the other hand, the list of rumored Bigg Boss Season 7 Tamil contestants is going viral on social media. Vijay TV's Jacqueline, actor Babloo Prithviraj, Rekha Nair, Shakila's daughter Mila, Vichitra, Ma Ka Pa Anand, VJ Bhavana and Bayilvan Ranganathan are some of the names mentioned in the list. Soon the information about the confirmed competitors will be announced officially by the show organizers.

Fans Request KH Not To Support Contestants Like Azeem

Bigg Boss is expected to start in September. In this case, Vijay TV and Disney Plus Hotstar have started the Bigg Boss promotions from today. Fans are expressing their opinion about the new promo video. One of them said, "Why he is promoting the rising sun in Bigg Boss Show?" It is because the promo was shot in a way that Kamal Haasan is revealing the Bigg Boss Season 7 new logo on a fine evening time of sunset.

Another fan commented, "Nice to see Mr. Kamal Hassan. Hope he doesn't support contestants like Azeem this time." Even though Bigg Boss contestants have been embroiled in a lot of controversies, many contestants have made good use of this platform and are creating achievements in cinema as well.

It is noteworthy that many people like Kavin, Harish Kalyan, Shivani Narayanan, Samyuktha, Imman Annachi, Losliya, Janani, Maina Nandhini, Rachitha Mahalakshmi are getting good opportunities in cinema and small screen after Bigg Boss.
Bigg Boss 17 Update: After entertaining viewers for eight weeks on Jio Cinema, Salman Khan-hosted Bigg Boss OTT 2 bid adieu to viewers earlier this week with Elvish Yadav announced as the winner. The YouTuber walked away with the winner's trophy and a prize money of Rs 25 lakh after beating Abhishek Malhan aka Fukra Insaan.

AISHWARYA SHARMA'S KKK 13 CO-CONTESTANTS IN BIGG BOSS 17?

While Bigg Boss OTT 2 fans are still missing seeing their favourite contestants daily, the latest rumours suggest that the seventeen season of Colors TV's Bigg Boss is likely to premiere very soon. As reported earlier, Bigg Boss 17 might get launched next month. While the makers are yet to make an official announcement, there are speculations about Ghum Hai Kisikey Pyaar Meiin and Khatron Ke Khiladi 13 star Aishwarya Sharma being a part of BB 17.

While the actress is yet to reveal her association with Bigg Boss 17, the latest reports suggest that the makers of India's biggest reality show have approached two of her popular Khatron Ke Khiladi 13 co-contestants for Salman Khan-hosted series. Well, we're talking about Arjit Taneja and Dino James. Yes, you read that right!

Will Elvish Yadav Participate In Bigg Boss 17 After Winning BB OTT 2? He Says 'Iss Baar Wale Mei...'

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Wondering When Bigg Boss 17 Will Get Launched After Bigg Boss OTT 2 Grand Finale? Here's What We Know

DINO JAMES AND ARJIT TANEJA APPROACHED FOR BIGG BOSS 17?

According to a Tellychakkar report, Dino James and Arjit Taneja are currently in discussions regarding their potential participation in Bigg Boss 17. While there is no official confirmation yet, the possibility of them joining is being explored.

Both Dino and Arjit are among the strongest contestants of Khatron Ke Khiladi 13 and share a great equation with each other. While their fans would love to see them locked inside the Bigg Boss house, it'll be interesting to see if they'll give their nod to the show or not.

For those who are unaware, Bigg Boss 16 ended in February this year with MC Stan talking away the winner's trophy beating other finalists Shiv Thakare, Priyanka Chahar Choudhary, Archana Gautam, and Shalin Bhanot.

Keep watching this space for more updates!
Kalabhavan Mani

Kalabhavan Mani was a popular actor and comedian, who shot to fame with the Malayalam movie Vasanthiyum Lakshmiyum Pinne Njaanum. He won several awards for his outstanding acting skills, including a National Film Award and a Kerala state film award. After achieving a successful acting career in Malayalam cinema, Kalabhavan who made his debut as a junior artist in Tamil cinema with 'Captain Prabhakaran'. He grabbed everyone's attention after he essayed a lead role as the villain in the movie Gemini which featured Vikram in the lead role.





Apart from this, he also acted in more than 25 Tamil films in lead and supporting roles. Many of his films were declared box-office hit and he earned a huge fan following in the industry in a short span of time.


Ottawa, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - August 17, 2023) - Mayo Lake Minerals Inc. (CSE: MLKM) ("Mayo") is pleased to announce that it has entered into a non-binding letter of intent dated August 2, 2023 (the "LOI") with WestMountain Gold, Inc. ("WestMountain"). The LOI outlines the proposed terms and conditions of a possible transaction pursuant to which Mayo and WestMountain would negotiate to seek to effect a three-cornered amalgamation of a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mayo and WestMountain that would result in Mayo indirectly acquiring all of the outstanding share capital of WestMountain (the "Contemplated Transaction"). The combined entity resulting from the Contemplated Transaction would continue to carry on the combined businesses of Mayo and WestMountain.

The Contemplated Transaction remains subject to Mayo and WestMountain negotiating and entering into a definitive agreement and the receipt of all regulatory and shareholder approvals. In the event a definitive agreement is reached, Mayo will issue a comprehensive press release pursuant to the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange. THIS RELEASE IS NEITHER AN OFFER OF SECURITIES NOR A SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO PURCHASE SECURITIES.

Information regarding WestMountain may be obtained at: https://www.westmountaingold.com/company

Mayo's Properties :

Mayo has five properties covering 244 square kilometres where it has completed exploration over the last 12 years. Mayo plans to drill prospective gold targets within the Anderson Gold Belt and to trench its Carlin West and AJ targets at its Carlin-Roop property in September.

The reader can access a number of maps and Mayo's history in addition to property news and descriptions and the current private placement Term Sheet that it has in place seeking to complete this year's exploration at https://www.mayolakeminerals.com

Dr. Vern Rampton P. Eng., President & CEO of Mayo stated, "The Contemplated Transaction would result in a diversified set of prospective gold properties led by Mayo. Mayo would hold an advanced-stage project with an attractive resource and prospective projects in the pipeline that are open to the discovery of upper-tier mineral deposits."

Dr. Rampton continued, "WestMountain's properties exhibit numerous favourable characteristics, including extensive historical data and well-defined drill targets. We believe WestMountain has the potential to be a significant gold-producing asset."

Mr. Rick Bloom, President & CEO of WestMountain commented, "We have been waiting to team up with the right partner for a number of years and only recently were introduced to Mayo, which we believe has the ideal professional group with an experienced professional understanding of the Yukon-Alaska regional mineralization, extensive work in a harsh environment and a strong commitment to environmental matters. Mayo's executives have a combined track record of successful exploration and development that underlines their capacity to unlock the significant potential of the combined company's projects."

Contemplated Transaction - Key Items :

The LOI contemplates that Mayo would issue WestMountain shareholders that number of Mayo common shares at a deemed value of CDN$0.08 per share equivalent to 50% of the shares issued and outstanding on a fully diluted basis at the time of closing of the Contemplated Transaction, exclusive of the Merger Offering discussed in the 'Mayo Financings' below. As additional consideration, Mayo would issue two tranches of common warrants on a pro-rata basis, each tranche equal to 10% of the issued and outstanding common shares of Mayo at the time of closing calculated on a fully diluted basis. Each warrant would be exercisable for five years from the date of issuance at the market price of Mayo's common shares at the time of such closing. Each tranche would also be exercisable when the following thresholds are met: (a) delineation of a compliant gold resource relating to WestMountain consisting of a minimum of two million inferred or better ounces; and (b) a further delineation of a compliant gold resource consisting of a minimum of three million, inferred or better ounces.

The Mayo board of directors would be reconstituted and consist of three directors nominated by current Mayo shareholders and two directors nominated by current WestMountain shareholders.

Mayo would assume a principal amount of US $3 million of WestMountain secured notes and accrued interest maturing on February 7, 2025.

Mayo Financings :

Mayo is currently advancing its previously-announced (April 5, 2023) private placement of common share units ("CS Units") $0.06 per CS Unit and flow-through units ("FT Units") @ $0.08 outside of the U.S. for aggregate gross proceeds of up to CAD$1,400,000 (the "Offering").

Subsequent to the completion of Mayo's current private placement, Mayo intends to conduct a second private placement outside of the U.S. for minimum gross proceeds of CAD$1,400,000, and a maximum of CAD$2,800,000 (the "Merger Offering").

FURTHER DETAILED INFORMATION REGARDING THE MERGER AND FINANCINGS MAY BE OBTAINED AT: https://www.mayolakeminerals.com/uploads/1/4/1/8/141817088/summary_of_mayo_lake_minerals_inc__announces_loi_with_westmountain_gold_aug_17_2023.pdf

and https://www.westmountaingold.com

Statement of Qualified Person :

The technical and scientific information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Dr. Vern Rampton, P.Eng., a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standard of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101").

About Mayo Lake Minerals Inc. :

Mayo is actively engaged in the exploration and development of five precious metal projects in the Tombstone Gold (Plutonic) Belt of the Tintina Gold Province (Figure One and Table One). The properties cover 244 square kilometres in the Yukon's Mayo Mining District and lie within the traditional territory of the Na-Cho Nyak Dun First Nation. Mayo is presently focusing on its two significant properties; the Carlin-Roop Silver Project lying within the Keno Hill Silver District and the Anderson-Davidson gold property. Two active mines, the Victoria Gold's Eagle Gold Mine and Hecla Mining's Keno Silver Mine, are nearby.

For additional information, please contact :

Vern Rampton, Ph.D., P.Eng. President & CEO; vrampton@mayolakeminerals.com

Tyrell Sutherland, M.Sc., P. Geo., VP Exploration; tsutherland@mayolakeminerals.com

Darrell Munro, BB.A, LL.B Corporate Administrator; dmunro@mayolakeminerals.com

About WestMountain Gold, Inc. :

WestMountain is a junior mineral exploration and development company that is seeking to explore and develop its current prospective advanced-stage gold project in Alaska consisting of 339 unpatented lode mining claims and five unpatented lode mining claims.

For additional information, please contact :

Rick Bloom, President & CEO: rick@westmountaingold.com

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements other than statements of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are based on certain expectations and assumptions made by management of Mayo and WestMountain.

Forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of providing information about the current expectations and plans of management of Mayo and WestMountain. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such statements and information may not be appropriate. Since forward-looking statements and information address future events and conditions, by their very nature, they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could, and often do, differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks, many of which are beyond the control of Mayo and WestMountain. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this news release. Because Mayo and WestMountain have entered into a non-binding letter of intent, there is no assurance whatsoever that the Contemplated Transaction will occur. Further, there is no assurance that Mayo will be able to raise the necessary capital to proceed with the Contemplated Transaction. Both Mayo and WestMountain have limited capital. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and no undertaking is given to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

THIS RELEASE IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

Table 1. Tintina Gold Belt Intrusion Related Gold Deposits Deposit and Owner Resources Donlin (NovaGold Resources/Barrick Gold) Measured and Indicated: 39.0 million ounces at 2.2g Au/t 1. Livengood (International Tower Gold) Measured and indicated resources: 13.6 million ounces gold at 0.6g Au/t 2. Fort Knox (Kinross Gold) Estimated Production to 2020; 8.7  million ounces gold; continued production forecast to 2030 3. Golden Summit (Freegold Ventures) Indicated: 12.7 million ounces at 6.90g Au/t; Inferred 8.6 million ounces at 0.86g Au/t 4. Pogo (Northern Star Resources) Indicated: 3.4 million ounces at 10.9g Au/t;

Inferred: 3.8 million ounces at 10.7g Au/t; Commenced production 2006. 5 Dublin Gulch Eagle (Victoria Gold) Measured and Indicated resources: 4.4 million ounces at 0.6g Au/t; Inferred 0.5 ounces at 0.5g Au/t 6. Coffee (Newmont Gold) Measured and Indicated 2.1 million ounces at

1.2 g Au/t; Inferred 0.3 million ounces at

1.00g Au/t 7. Rogue (Snowline Gold) DHV-23-034 -418.3m at 1.88g Au/t; inc. 216m at 3.1g Au/t and 121m at 4.1g Au/t ; DHV23-029-553.8m at 2.48g Au/t, inc. 132.0m at 4.89g Au/t 8. Whistler (US Gold Mining) Indicated: 3.0 million ounces at 0.79g AuEq/t;

Inferred: 6.5 million ounces at 0.63g AuEq/t 9. Estelle (Nova Minerals) Measured and Indicated: 3.4 million ounces at 0.52g Au/t;

Inferred: 6.5 million ounces at 0.3gAu/t 10. AurMac (Banyan Gold) Inferred: 6.2 million ounces at 0.6g Au/t 11. Casino (Western Copper and Gold) Measured and indicated: 12.9 million ounces at 0.2g Au/t; Inferred: 6.1 million ounces at 0.14g Au/t12.

1novagold.com; NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Donlin Gold Project, Alaska, U.S.A., prepared by Rick Hanson, Michael Woloschuk, Henry Kim, Wood Canada Ltd; June 1, 2023.

2ithmines.com; NI 43-101. Livengood Gold Project NI 43-101 Technical Report on Pre-feasibility Study, prepared by Colin Hardie, Jeffrey Cassoff, Melanie Turgeon, Ryan Baker, Michael Levy and Scott Wilson, Resource Development Associates; December 17, 2021.

3kinross.com (2023); Wikipedia web-site. Estimates of produced ounces.

4freegoldventures.com; NI 43-101. Updated Mineral Resource Estimate, prepared by Greg Mosher and Maurice Marks, Tetra Tech Canada; February 21, 2023.

5nsrltd.com; JORC Compiled Resource Estimate, prepared by Jabulin Machukera, Jeff Brown; November 2022.

6vgcx.com; NI 43-101 Technical Report, Eagle Gold Mine, Yukon Territory, Canada, prepared by Nico Harvey, Paul Gray, Jeff Winterton, Marc Jutras and Michael Levy; December 31, 2022.

7newmont.com; news-release/news-detail/2023/Newmont-Annouras-increased-2022-Mineral Reserves-of-96-million-gold ounces-and-68-million-gold-equivalent ounces/default.aspx; December 31, 2022.

8snowlinegold.com/news.

9usagoldmining.us; NI 43-101, Mineral Resource Estimate of the Whistler Project, prepared by Sue Bird, Kirstin Girdner and Arthur Baines, Moose Mountain Technical Services; June 11. 2021.

10wcsecure.weblink.com.au/pdf/NVA/02665881.pdf; JORC. Robust Phase 2 Scoping Study for the Estelle Gold Project, prepared by Jonathan Abbott, Matrix Consultants, September 20, 2022.

11banyangold.com; NI 43-101. Technical Report AurMac Property, Mayo Mining District, Yukon, Canada, prepared by Marc Jutras (Gino Consulting), Tawnya Thornton (JDS Energy & Mining Inc) and Deepak Malhotra (Forte Dynamics); May 18, 2023.

12westerncopperandgold.com; For NI 43-101 F1 Technical Report Feasibility Study Yukon, Canada, prepared by Daniel Roth, Mike Hester, John M. Marek, Laurie M. Tahija, Carl Schulze, M3 Engineering & Technology Corp in association with Independent Mining Consultants, Knight Piesold Ltd., Aurora Geosciences and Hemmera; August 8, 2022.

Figure 1



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NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR

FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/177659
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - August 17, 2023) - Kuya Silver Corporation (CSE: KUYA) (OTCQB: KUYAF) (FSE: 6MR1) (the "Company" or "Kuya Silver") announces it intends to complete a non-brokered private placement of up to 2,777,777 units (each a "Unit") at CAD$0.27 per Unit for gross proceeds of up to CAD$750,000 (the "Offering"). Each Unit comprised of one (1) common share in the capital of the Company (each a "Common Share") and one-half of one (1/2) transferable Common Share purchase warrant (each a "Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles the holder to acquire one (1) Common Share at CAD$0.50 for two (2) years from the date of issuance. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Offering for general working capital purposes. All securities issued under the Offering, including securities issuable on exercise thereof, will be subject to a hold period expiring 4 months and 1 day after issuance, in accordance with the rules and policies of the Exchange and applicable Canadian securities laws, except for those issued to investors in foreign jurisdictions. In connection with the Offering, the Company may pay certain eligible finder's a fee equal to 6% of the gross proceeds from the Offering and issue Warrants, equal to 6% of the total number of Units sold.

About Kuya Silver Corporation

Kuya Silver is a Canadian-based mineral exploration and development company with a focus on acquiring, exploring, and advancing precious metals assets in Peru and Canada.

For more information, please contact:

David Stein, President and Chief Executive Officer

Telephone: (604) 398-4493

info@kuyasilver.com

www.kuyasilver.com

Reader Advisory

This news release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking information," including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs, and current expectations of the Company, its directors, or its officers with respect to the future business activities of the Company. The words "may," "would," "could," "will," "intend," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "must," "next," "propose," and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company or its management, are intended to identify such forward-looking information. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing statements, the proposed use of the proceeds of the Offering is forward-looking information. Investors are cautioned that statements including forward-looking information are not guarantees of future business activities and involve risks and uncertainties, and that the Company's future business activities may differ materially from those described in the forward-looking information as a result of various factors, including but not limited to fluctuations in market prices, successes of the operations of the Company, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market, and business conditions. There can be no assurances that such forward-looking information will prove accurate, and therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of the risks and uncertainties. The Company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking information except as required under the applicable securities laws.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES. ANY FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THIS RESTRICTION MAY CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF U.S. SECURITIES LAWS.



To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/177688
MIAMI, FL / ACCESSWIRE / August 17, 2023 / The Law Offices of John Leon, a Miami based full-service civil litigation firm founded by John Leon, has expanded its Crisis Management portfolio to include the Caribbean and South America. The "Next Great Hispanic Attorney" award recipient has chosen to branch out into markets where a bilingual practice aims to make a difference on the ground.

The Law Offices of John Leon has lent its legal experience to networks and news platforms as a television analyst and legal authority in both English and Spanish. The firm's website is offered in English and Spanish to help solidify its commitment to its international clientele.

Over the past two decades, The Law Offices of John Leon has worked directly with many clients based outside of the United States. The firm believes crisis management is mitigated in global courtrooms and the worldwide court of public opinion. Preemptive Crisis Management is used to deter encroachment in vulnerable areas.

With only 40% of South American companies tooled with a crisis management plan - and only 50% in the Caribbean - The Law Offices of John Leon has an opportunity to spread the knowledge and experience gained over the last two decades in medical malpractice defense, insurance defense, commercial litigation, employment law, regulatory matters, administrative law, governmental procurement, federal and legislative affairs, land use, and zoning matters to a new market.

With several multinational Fortune 100 and 500 companies in its portfolio, representing such organizations during crises abroad is one side of the coin that this expansion reveals. The ability to litigate against similar sized organizations for individual clients is the other side of the coin that isn't often acknowledged.

The Law Offices of John Leon advises companies and individuals on navigating complex scenarios in an efficient manner. Being experienced in the legal complexities of international jurisprudence hinges on the firm's comprehension of the relationship between law, public relations, crisis communications, and risk management.

From transparent communication strategies and media interactions to trial counsel and negotiations, the firm is able to draft thorough roadmaps for a variety of scenarios prior to the potential event using a coined process call Pre-emptive Crisis Management that is consistent across the board.

Common mistakes that Caribbean and South American businesses make during a disaster are not having a plan, not communicating effectively, and not being transparent. The law office has developed strategies domestically that proactively address these issues and can be customized to fit variations in national and local laws.

Legal publications and peers have acknowledged the Law Offices of John Leon as one of the top 2% of litigators in the multicultural Sunshine State. The firm has received a collection of honors including the Excellence in Legal Services Award and entry into the Who's Who Registry which helps to legitimize the practice with international clients.

Crisis management procedures have been featured in respected publications like USA Today and American Lawyer, bolstered by accolades from Hispanic American Magazine to help bridge cultural legacies. With over half of the South American continent speaking Spanish - the Caribbean almost two thirds - and to a lesser degree English, the law office sees many opportunities in the region for experienced bilingual counsel.

The Law Offices of John Leon has gained worldwide exposure from podcasts, news features, and television interviews. The firm considers the 2024 Ted Talk to be an additional springboard for propelling international expansion in the field of crisis management.

About The Law Offices of John Leon

The Law Offices of John Leon, a Miami based full-service civil litigation firm founded by John Leon, has a strategic focus on Crisis Management, Corporate Law, Healthcare, and Personal Injury Law. The firm has decades of experience in medical malpractice defense, insurance defense, commercial litigation, employment law, regulatory matters, administrative law, governmental procurement, federal and legislative affairs, land use, and zoning. The company portfolio includes Fortune 500 and 100 companies across the United States, South America and the Caribbean. John Leon, Esq. is an award winning attorney that infuses the firm's ethos with the phrase "Diligent. Committed. Capable."

For additional information about The Law Offices of John Leon visit the company website or contact:

John Leon, Esq.

305.827.9983

jleon@johnleonlaw.com

SOURCE: The Law Offices of John Leon

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/775036/The-Law-Offices-of-John-Leon-Expands-Crisis-Management-Focus-Internationally
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (CLF) said Thursday that it received the assignment of the United Steelworkers' (USW) right to bid under their Basic Labor Agreement with United States Steel Corp. (X). Cliffs said that, with the exclusive assignment, it is the only realistic buyer able to acquire the totality of U.S. Steel. Furthermore, Cliffs has agreed to assume, upon closing of a transaction, all of the agreements between U.S. Steel and the USW that are applicable to the U.S. Steel employees. As per the terms of the USW's collective bargaining agreement with U.S. Steel, a potential sale of the whole company or USW-represented assets could not be consummated without the support of the USW. The assignment transfers to Cliffs the USW's right to bid on such potential transactions. The USW's transfer and assignment only applies to Cliffs. On Sunday, United States Steel rejected a $7.3 billion takeover offer from Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (CLF). U.S.Steel said it was unable to properly evaluate the proposal because Cleveland-Cliffs refused to engage in the necessary and customary process to assess valuation and certainty unless U.S. Steel agreed to the economic terms of the proposal in advance. U.S. Steel then said it cannot determine whether Cleveland-Cliffs' unsolicited proposal properly reflects the full and fair value of the company. It has no choice but to reject the unreasonable proposal. Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / August 17, 2023 / Fisher Mortgage Group, a home loan originator agency under UNMB Home Loans Inc., has recently reported that it has achieved over $1 Billion USD in closed-end mortgage loans. Over the past ten years, the agency has worked with over 2,000 families to help them become homeowners. The agency specializes in helping underserved and underrepresented communities throughout the nation with the largest percentage of clients being Spanish-speaking residents.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development identifies some of the barriers that underserved communities face on the path to homeownership including a lack of capital for down payments and closing costs, as well as a lack of understanding about the homebuying process, especially for families that speak English as a second language.

By working with these communities and providing bilingual services to better serve families, Fisher Mortgage Group has helped reduce common barriers to entry. The agency has families explore their buying options by providing residential mortgage financing through qualified and non-qualified mortgage loan programs, such as FHA, Conventional Loans, DSCR, and Bank Statement Mortgage Loans.

Mark Steven Fisher, founder of Fisher Mortgage Group and Regional Vice President of UNMB Home Loans Inc., comments, "It's important to maintain open and strong dialogue with realtors, attorneys, and borrowers throughout the entire transaction process to keep things moving smoothly. Don't be afraid to turn down a deal if it isn't doable as it can save everyone involved time and stress. This is where many originators go wrong."

One of the ways that Fisher Mortgage Group was able to connect with these families was through the agency's virtual home buyer seminars. These seminars are conducted in both English and Spanish and give attendees an understanding of what they need to acquire a mortgage, help attendees determine their current readiness to buy a house, discuss current market conditions, and break down what's involved with pre-approval benefits.

Because the current buying market can be difficult to navigate, Fisher Mortgage Group has been refining these seminars to reach a broader client base and to keep generations of prospective homeowners informed. The agency is set to host another seminar in August 2023.

ABOUT FISHER MORTGAGE GROUP

For over ten years, Fisher Mortgage Group has helped over 2000 families achieve their goal of homeownership, totaling over $1B in closed loan volume. The company offers mortgage service in English and Spanish to service a broad spectrum of underserved and underrepresented communities in the Bronx and the greater New York area. The company was founded by Mark Steven Fisher, a Fordham University Gabelli School of Business alumnus and Regional Vice President of UNMB Home Loans Inc. who accredits his success to three key things: Relationships, Communication, and Honesty.

ABOUT UNMB HOME LOANS INC.

Trusted since 1979, UNMB Home Loans Inc. is one of the nation's best-managed mortgage banks. The mission of our licensed mortgage loan originators is to educate our clients on their home financing options so they can make an informed decision and receive the loan program that best meets their needs. For over 40 years, we have thrived through adversity and economic storms. We remain committed to building relationships, streamlining processes and embracing technology in order to deliver impeccable service.

To learn more about the company, visit the official Facebook page , or contact:

Mark Steven Fisher

+1 (718) 540-4810

mfisher@unmb.com

Mark Steven Fisher at UNMB Home Loans Inc.

SOURCE: FISHER MORTGAGE GROUP

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/766765/Fisher-Mortgage-Group-Crosses-1-Billion-in-Closed-Loan-Volume
Travel App Visited Compiles Users' Data to Determine the Most Visited Countries for Swiss Travelers, along with other travel trends

TORONTO, Aug. 18, 2023by Arriving In High Heels Corporation has published a list of the top 10 most visited countries for Swiss travellers. Swiss travelers are the most well-traveled group in the world, with an average traveler visiting 22 countries, according to the Visited app, which has over 1.78 million users.



Visited app, allows users to map their travels, see most popular destinations by category, create personalized travel plans and see the percentage of the world that they have been to. The map feature allows users to map the countriesthey have been to or want to visit, as well as map regions and cities. Travel lists help users get inspired by adding new destinationsby interest or experiences. While the travel planner sorts the countries the users still wish to visit by counting the number of sights on their wish list, the feature also allows users to swipe pictures to discover new places.

The top 10 most visited countries for Swiss travelers include:

Italy France Germany Spain United Kingdom Austria United States Greece Netherlands Portugal

"Despite being the most travelled people in the world, Swiss travellers are more likely to travel to destinations near the border or taking the short-haul flight. Like other European travellers, Swiss travellers dream of going to Australia, Iceland and Japan as their top wished for destinations," said Anna Kayfitz, founder of the Visited App.

To see more travel trends on global users download the travel report: https://visitedapp.com/travel-report-results/

About The Visited App:

Visited App, is a travel app which allows users to map their travels, discover new destinations and plan their future travels. Providing users with data on their top wished for destinations, their personal travel stats and popular places, users can make informed decision on where to next.

Popular travel lists include destinations by: popular beach destinations, ancient sites, capitals of the world, world wonders, ski locations and art museums.

To see more rankings of the most popular travel destinations, users can download Visited on iOSor Android .

To learn more about the Visited app, visit https://visitedapp.com .

About Arriving In High Heels Corporation

Arriving In High Heels Corporation is a mobile app company with apps including Pay Off Debt, XWalk and Visited , their most popular app.

Contact Information

Anna Kayfitz
18 August 2023: Hexagon Composite ASA has decided to initiate a buyback of up to 2,000,000 of its own shares for an amount up to NOK 50 million. The buyback program may be carried out in the period from this announcement and until 31 October 2023. The[DB1] purpose of the program is to fulfil the Company's obligations under its incentive programs.



Hexagon Composites has engaged a third party to carry out the share buybacks in the market. The third party will make its trading decisions independently of, and uninfluenced by the Company. The share buybacks will be made in accordance with the authorization granted to the Board of Directors by the Company's Annual General Meeting held on 26 April 2023.



Transactions will be conducted in accordance with the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 ("MAR") and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 2016/1052 ("Safe Harbour Regulation").

Hexagon Composites holds 9,473 own shares as of the date of this announcement.

For more information:

Ingrid Aarsnes, VP Investor Relations and ESG, Hexagon Composites ASA

Telephone: +47 950 38 364 | ingrid.aarsnes@hexagongroup.com

About Hexagon Composites ASA

Hexagon delivers safe and innovative solutions for a cleaner energy future. Our solutions enable storage, transportation, and conversion to clean energy in a wide range of mobility, industrial and consumer applications. Learn more at www.hexagongroup.com and follow @HexagonASA on Twitter and LinkedIn.

This information is made public by Hexagon Composites pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation and subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.







@Ingrid Aarsnes- can we put a future date that already goes into MAR 30 day/ 14 day (Q1/Q3) close period? [DB1]






Juniper Group is a distinguished portfolio company of Vela Software and one of the esteemed operating groups of Constellation Software Inc., a TSX-listed publicly traded company.

Juniper Group is excited to announce the successful acquisition of Vervotech, a tech start-up making significant strides in the Travel Industry with innovative products, particularly hotel mapping and room mapping solutions.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230817434096/en/

Vervotech Becomes Part of Juniper Group (Photo: Business Wire)

Vervotech's flagship product, Vervotech Mappings, has gained widespread recognition in the travel sector for its ability to ensure consistency and accuracy in hotel data. This strategic addition complements Juniper's powerful booking engine, setting the stage for a synergistic collaboration that aims to revolutionize the industry.

With this acquisition, Vervotech gains access to Juniper's extensive resources and vast industry knowledge. This empowers the company to enhance the capabilities of its products, making them more intelligent and efficient, while also investing further in research and development to remain at the forefront of cutting-edge travel technology.

"Joining forces with Juniper is an incredible opportunity for Vervotech to impact the global travel industry. By combining our expertise with Juniper's industry-leading booking engine, we'll deliver unparalleled value to our customers and partners," said Sanjay Ghare, Co-founder and CEO of Vervotech. "Leveraging Juniper's network and resources, we aim to establish a strong foothold in Europe, North America, and the Middle East, providing cutting-edge solutions to a diverse range of travel companies and enhancing their business performance."

With this acquisition, Vervotech will continue to operate independently, driven by the same passion and dedication that has made them a leading force in the travel technology sector. This will enable Vervotech to integrate with more tech partners, alongside Juniper Travel Technology, allowing the company to serve more customers around the world.

"We are excited to welcome Vervotech to the Juniper family," said Jaime Sastre, CEO at Juniper Group. "Their mapping products and solutions perfectly align with our vision of driving transformation in the travel industry through advanced technology. With Vervotech's expertise, we are confident in providing our customers and our travel technology companies with even more comprehensive and reliable mapping solutions, empowering them to thrive in today's competitive landscape."

About Juniper GroupJuniper Group, an operating portfolio of Vela Software and Constellation Software (TSX: CSU) focused on acquiring, managing, and building world-class businesses forever, is a fast-growing family of Vertical Market Software companies operating in travel, aviation, banking, insurance, healthcare, public sector and oil gas verticals.

About Vervotech Vervotech is a tech start-up known for its ground-breaking products, including Vervotech Mappings, which has gained recognition in the travel industry for its data accuracy and consistency. Vervotech's solutions empower travel companies to streamline hotel data and elevate their customer experiences.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230817434096/en/

Contacts:

For media inquiries and further information, please contact:

Anurag Mittal

CMO, Vervotech

anurag@vervotech.com
About SciBase and Nevisense SciBase is a global medical technology company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, that has developed a unique point of care platform for the non-invasive detection of skin cancer and other skin conditions. SciBase is a pioneer within augmented intelligence, combining artificial intelligence with Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) to provide objective information that assists dermatologists and others in clinical decision-making. SciBase's products include Nevisense and Nevisense Go and to date the platform addresses the areas of melanoma detection, non-melanoma skin cancer detection and skin barrier assessment. Nevisense is the only FDA-approved device for the detection of melanoma and the only MDR-approved technology for skin cancer detection in Europe. SciBase's technology is based on more than 20 years of academic research at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. For more information please visit www.scibase.com . All press-releases and financial reports can be found here : http://investors.scibase.se/en/pressreleases

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
LONDON, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Beny, a frontrunner in sustainable EV chargers, proudly announces the endorsement of its flagship, the Beny OCPP intelligent EV chargers, by the esteemed UK Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV). This recognition underscores Beny's steadfast dedication to innovation, quality, and environmental sustainability, marking a significant milestone in its journey within the intelligent charging sector.

The Beny OCPP intelligent chargers provide personalized charging experiences through its smart customization solutions. This goes beyond addressing individual needs, creating an intelligent and efficient charging spectrum that resonates with both residential users and commercial clients. This dynamic momentum drives the progress of sustainable transportation.

Among these innovative features, key aspects are:

Advanced Connectivity: Beny OCPP EV chargers surpass standard functions, seamlessly linking users via mediums (Wi-Fi, Ethernet, 4G), integrating with the smart grid. Real-time access to status, energy use, and remote control heightens the experience.

surpass standard functions, seamlessly linking users via mediums (Wi-Fi, Ethernet, 4G), integrating with the smart grid. Real-time access to status, energy use, and remote control heightens the experience. Bluetooth Integration: With Bluetooth connectivity, the Beny OCPP chargers offer a comprehensive app solution. For those not using OCPP cloud services, Bluetooth mode is available, allowing functions like charge regulation, fault queries, scheduled charging, and historical data retrieval. This robust Bluetooth suite streamlines charge control.

a comprehensive app solution. For those not using OCPP cloud services, Bluetooth mode is available, allowing functions like charge regulation, fault queries, scheduled charging, and historical data retrieval. This robust Bluetooth suite streamlines charge control. Optimized Scheduling: Timed charging plans consider power demand fluctuations. Users can strategically set optimal charging times via the app, aligning with grid dynamics for efficient energy use and grid operation.

Smart Load Management: Intelligent power allocation is a core facet. The Beny OCPP EV chargers employ an advanced load management system that monitors and adapts charging power based on grid load. This ensures optimal charging speed while preventing grid overload, preserving stability.

employ an advanced load management system that monitors and adapts charging power based on grid load. This ensures optimal charging speed while preventing grid overload, preserving stability. Solar Compatibility: As a cornerstone of eco-friendly travel, photovoltaic energy takes center stage. The Beny EV chargers seamlessly integrate with diverse photovoltaic systems, offering exclusive solar charging, advancing green travel.

seamlessly integrate with diverse photovoltaic systems, offering exclusive solar charging, advancing green travel. Enhanced Safety: The Beny OCPP chargers' fault detection system excels in identifying and isolating neutral line disruptions (PEN faults) during charging. This dynamic intervention mitigates electrical risks, ensuring user and grid safety.

"We're proud of OZEV's endorsement for our OCPP intelligent EV chargers. This acknowledgment highlights exceptional performance and our commitment to intelligent charging," said Tim Wu, Deputy GM at Beny. Simultaneously, we achieve ETSI EN 303 645 and PAS 1878 certifications for the Beny OCPP AC chargers. These underscore our unwavering dedication to security, reinforcing user trust in our charging equipment for an elevated experience.

For a comprehensive understanding, explore www.evbeny.com. Let's champion intelligent, eco-responsible travel.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2188971/image_5027850_10429141.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/uks-ozev-endorsement-beny-ocpp-smart-charging-takes-the-helm-in-intelligent-charging-301904373.html
VIRGINIA BEACH, VA / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2023 / Ayujoy Herbals Ltd. (OTC PINK:AJOY) ("Ayujoy" or the "Company") announced a change of control earlier this year and that it would seek the support of strategic partners to assist in achieving its growth aspirations, explore the option for direct investment or potential financing alternatives, and build its brand portfolio to support potential for revenue growth.

Since announcing the change of control, Ayujoy has moved its head office to Virginia and has looked at several acquisition targets and business opportunities. The Company would like to announce its acquisition of the URL www.Interbrands.com. Ayujoy will continue towards acquiring or developing a broader portfolio of products and aligned brands.

Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements - This document contains forward-looking statements. In evaluating these forward-looking statements, readers should consider various factors, including the Company's ability to change its direction, its ability to keep pace with new technology and changing market needs, and the competitive environment of its business. These and other factors may cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statement.

Contact:

ir@ayujoy.com

ir@interbrands.com

8942 Quioccasin Road, Suite 109

Henrico, VA 23229

www.interbrands.com

1-866-661-2082

Contact Information

Ron Loudoun

Secretary

ron7373@gmail.com

17788397373

SOURCE: Ayujoy Herbals Ltd.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/775008/Ayujoy-Herbals-Ltd-Provides-Shareholder-Update
SHANGHAI, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Recently, YuanTech Solar, a new PV manufacturer in China, announced that with excellent product quality and service, the company signed an agreement with a well-known distributor in Valencia, Spain, to supply N-type TOPCon high-efficiency photovoltaic modules.

Spain has abundant solar energy resources and Valencia is known as the "Sunshine City" in Europe. Driven by multiple factors such as advantages in light resources, low-carbon development and electricity demand, Spain is vigorously promoting the development of solar energy. According to SOLARPOWER, Spain is the largest European market with annual installation of 8.4 GW in 2022.

Considering local market characteristics and technical trends, the Spanish distributor chose 72-cell and 54-cell all-black module of TOPCon series. With advantages such as high efficiency, low degradation, low temperature coefficient, better week-light response, the modules can be applied to all kinds of distributed projects.

Mr. Antonio Vivas, CEO of the Spanish distributor, said that it is a great honor to have the opportunity to cooperate with YuanTech Solar, which has always maintained international professional standards from product quality to service. In the future, the company also hopes to cooperate with YuanTech Solar again in other Spanish PV projects that can be facilitated to achieve a win-win.

"Spain is a very important European market for us, and we will strive to seize the development opportunities of renewable energy, constantly improve product quality and services, increase market expansion efforts to serve more customers and end users." Said Mr. Xie Jian, CEO of YuanTech Solar.

About YuanTech Solar

YuanTech Solar is a technology company focusing on the R&D, manufacturing, sales and services of new-generation N-type TOPCon photovoltaic products. The company was established in January 2022, and plans to invest 1.5 billion yuan (approx. US$224 million) to build a 5GW PV module production facility in Chuzhou, Anhui Province. The company is committed to becoming a world-class clean energy provider, by adhering to a market-oriented approach and taking technological innovation as its driving force, in an effort to boost the transformation towards clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient energy.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1960403/YT_logo_Logo.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/yuantech-solar-delivered-its-first-topcon-shipment-to-spain-301904244.html
The global machine control system market is driven by factors such as increase in requirement for precision in heavy equipment control and navigation has led to an upsurge in the demand for machine control systems.

PORTLAND, Ore., Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, " Machine Control System Market by Type (Laser Scanners, Sensors, Global Navigation Satellite Systems, and Total Stations), End User (Infrastructure, Industrial, Residential, and Commercial), and Equipment (Paving Systems, Graders, Excavators, Loaders, Dozers, and Scrappers): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2032 ". According to the report, The global machine control system market size was valued at $4.6 billion in 2022, and is projected to reach $12.2 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 10.6% from 2023 to 2032.

Request PDF Brochure: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/32023

Prime Determinants of Growth

The global machine control system market is driven by factors such as surge in demand for safety concern associated with workers and heavy construction machinery. In addition, the installation of machine-guided technology on construction equipment fuels the demand for machine control systems. However, the requirement for high initial equipment hampers market growth to a certain extent. Moreover, the surge in demand for 3D modeling and scanning across industries provide lucrative opportunities for the market growth.

Report Coverage & Details:

Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 2022-2032 Base Year 2022 Market Size in 2022 $4.6 billion Market Size in 2032 $12.2 billion CAGR 10.6 % No. of Pages in Report 421 Segments covered Type, End-User, Equipment, and Region. Drivers The installation of machine-guided technology on particular construction equipment. Surge in demand for safety concern associated with workers and heavy construction machinery Opportunities Rise in demand for 3D modeling and scanning across industries Restraints Requirement for high initial equipment

Covid-19 Scenario

The COVID-19 epidemic significantly changed the dynamics of the supply chain, raised demand for e-commerce packaging, and brought attention to health and safety precautions, all of which influenced the machine control system market.

Many businesses had to swiftly adjust to the growth in e-commerce by developing packaging that can endure the rigours of shipping and handling.

The pandemic had intensified the attention on sustainable machine control system solutions as people looked for eco-friendly choices.

The Global Navigation Satellite Systems Segment to Maintain its leadership Status Throughout the Forecast Period

Based on type, the global navigation satellite systems segment held the highest market share in 2022, accounting for more than two-fifths of the global machine control system market revenue and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period, machine control systems incorporate transmitters that track numerous GNSS constellations at the same time. These systems improve location accuracy, availability, and dependability by integrating signals from several systems such as GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and BeiDou, especially in challenging circumstances with barriers or signal interference. However, the total stations segment is expected to witness the highest CAGR of 11.2% during the forecast period.

The Infrastructure Segment to Maintain its Leadership Status Throughout the Forecast Period

Based on end user, the infrastructure segment held the highest market share in 2022, accounting for more than two-fifths of the global machine control system market and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period. Machine control systems are widely employed in infrastructure projects' earthmoving and grading activities. They provide precision control and steering of heavy machinery such as bulldozers, excavators, and graders, assuring perfect grading, slope uniformity, and cut/fill balance. However, the industrial segment is expected to witness the highest CAGR of 11.2% during the forecast period.

Buy This Report (421 Pages PDF with Insights, Charts, Tables, and Figures) @ https://bit.ly/3P2NOhU

The Excavators Segment to Maintain its Leadership Status throughout the Forecast Period

Based on equipment, the excavators segment held the highest market share in 2022, accounting for around one-third of the global machine control system market and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period. Excavators are increasingly being integrated with GPS and GNSS technology to provide more accurate location and steering. This interface enables real-time locator monitoring, correct excavation within design parameters, and automated machine control based on digital design data.However, the dozerss segment is expected to witness the highest CAGR of 12.5% during the forecast period.

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 half of the global machine control system market revenue and is likely to dominate the market during the forecast period. The machine control system market in North America has grown significantly, owing to a variety of factors that have propelled the adoption of these systems in construction and earthmoving operations. The rise in desire for greater productivity and efficiency in the construction sector is one of the primary factors that drives the machine control system in North America. However, the Asia-Pacific region is expected to emerge as the fastest-growing region with a CAGR of 11.7% during the forecast period.

Leading Market Players: -

Topcon Corporation

Eos Positioning Systems, Inc. (Eos)

Komatsu Limited

Hexagon Ab

Caterpillar Inc.

Moba Corporation

Hemisphere Gnss, Inc.

Trimble Inc.

Mobile Automation

Andritz Ag

The report provides a detailed analysis of these key players in the global machine control system market. These players have adopted different strategies such as new product launches, collaborations, expansion, joint ventures, agreements, and others to increase their market share and maintain dominant shares in different regions. The report is valuable in highlighting business performance, operating segments, product portfolio, and strategic moves of market players to showcase the competitive scenario.

Want to Access the Statistical Data and Graphs, Key Players' Strategies: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/machine-control-system-market/purchase-options

Key Benefits For Stakeholders:

This report provides a quantitative analysis of the market segments, current trends, estimations, and dynamics of the machine control system market analysis and machine control system market outlook from 2021 to 2031 to identify the prevailing market opportunity.

The market research is offered along with information related to key drivers, restraints, and opportunities.

Porter's five forces analysis highlights the potency of buyers and suppliers to enable stakeholders make profit-oriented business decisions and strengthen their supplier-buyer network.

In-depth analysis of the market segmentation assists to determine the prevailing market opportunities.

Major countries in each region are mapped according to their revenue contribution to the global market.

Market player positioning facilitates benchmarking and provides a clear understanding of the present position of the market players.

The report includes the analysis of the regional as well as global machine control system market trends, key players, market segments, application areas, and market growth strategies.

Machine Control System Market Key Segments:

By Type

Laser Scanners

Sensors

Global Navigation Satellite Systems

Total Stations

By Equipment

Paving Systems

Graders

Excavators

Loaders

Dozers

Scrappers

By End User

Infrastructure

Industrial

Residential

Commercial

By Region

North America (U.S., Canada, Mexico)

(U.S., Canada, Mexico) Europe (UK, Germany, France, Rest of Europe)

(UK, Germany, France, Rest of Europe) Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, India, South Korea, Rest of Asia-Pacific)

(China, Japan, India, South Korea, Rest of Asia-Pacific) LAMEA (Latin America, Middle East, Africa)

Buy this Research Report @ https://bit.ly/3OECE1o

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About Us

Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of " Market Research Reports " and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.

We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Allied Market Research CEO Pawan Kumar is instrumental in inspiring and encouraging everyone associated with the company to maintain high quality of data and help clients in every way possible to achieve success. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.

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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/machine-control-system-market-to-reach-12-2-billion-globally-by-2032-at-10-6-cagr-allied-market-research-301904442.html
On 7 August, Pan African Resources (PAF) announced FY23 production of 175,209oz, which was within 0.1% of its guidance of 175,000oz on 26 May. It also indicated all-in sustaining costs (AISC) of US$1,325-1,350/oz (at ZAR17.77/US$), reiterated output guidance of 178-190koz for FY24 and reported net senior debt of US$18.9m as at end-June (cf US$49.9m as at end-H123). In response to the announcement, we have reduced our FY23 normalised HEPS forecast for PAF by 8.3%, from 3.82c/share to 3.50c/share to reflect dollar costs, which were stickier at higher levels than we had hoped. However, our forecast remains above the market consensus. Moreover, our life-of-mine valuation of the company remains almost completely unchanged at 34.24c/share (see Exhibit 7 for full explanation), notwithstanding recent rand strength.

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.
Data Centre Magazine has launched its Top 100 Companies supplement, ranking the world's best data centre companies from Edge Centres and NTT to AWS.

LONDON, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Data Centre Magazine is thrilled to announce the highly-anticipated launch of its prestigious Top 100 Companies supplement, which celebrates the world's most influential data centre companies.

The collection of 100 industry players - including the likes of Amazon Web Services (AWS), DataBank, VIRTUS Data Centres, Green Mountain, and Ark Data Centres - stands as a tribute to the achievements of the top data centre companies, boasting adept teams and visionary leaders. Together, they are forging a path toward a future marked by heightened efficiency, seamless connectivity, and unwavering commitment to sustainability.

For further details on the Top 100 Companies supplement and to explore the incredible journeys of these global data centre leaders, click HERE .

"It's fantastic to showcase all the leading companies across the data centre industry and how they are driving innovation - many of which are also championing sustainability and working to make the world a more connected and accessible place," says Maya Derrick, Editor of Data Centre Magazine.

"Being involved in the wider data centre community and an industry publication that highlights its positive impact is a pleasure and a privilege, and I look forward to seeing what the future holds for the sector as a whole."

Glen White, Founder and CEO of BizClik says - "The Data Centre industry pivots heavily on the future of the cloud and cloud-based services. The industry shows unprecedented signs of growth and 'The Top 100 Data Centre Report' 2023 is an amazing collaboration from our super talented 'Cloud & 5G' team at BizClik of the very best companies operating data centres globally."

"A big well done to my team at Data Centre Magazine and the whole crew at BizClik; the work they are doing is simply 'best in class' across digital media."

Data Centre Magazine , a BizClik brand, is a leading data centre publication that connects the world's leading data centre executives with news, feature articles, interviews and the latest industry trends. It is the established and trusted voice on all aspects of Data Centres, Hyperscale, Cloud & 5G, Sustainability, Infrastructure and Tech & AI.

You can read the latest news in Data Centre Magazine by clicking HERE .

You can also now sign up for Cloud & 5G LIVE , an exclusive two-day virtual event which takes place on 11 and 12 October 2023. Click HERE .

About BizClik

BizClik is one of the UK's fastest growing media companies with a global portfolio of leading industry, business and lifestyle digital communities.

BizClik's expanding portfolio includes Technology, AI, FinTech, InsurTech, Supply Chain, Procurement, Energy, Mining, Manufacturing, Construction, Healthcare, Mobile, Data Centre, Cyber, and Sustainability.

For more information, please visit https://www.bizclikmedia.com/

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/technology-magazine-bizclik-brand-launches-top-100-companies-2023-301904454.html
LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2023 / TELF AG, a prominent full-service international commodities trader with over three decades of experience, has reaffirmed its commitment to fostering global trade connections that empower businesses worldwide. The recent article "Navigating Global Trade: TELF AG's Dedication to Connecting Businesses Worldwide" sheds light on its customer-centric approach and unwavering dedication to facilitating seamless international trade.

According to TELF AG, their extensive network and presence in key markets position them as a leading player in the global trade landscape. As per TELF AG's article, their global reach uniquely equips them to identify emerging needs, capitalize on opportunities, and expertly navigate the complex intricacies of international regulations. This capability enables TELF AG to connect producers with a diverse array of buyers, empowering them to access markets irrespective of their geographical location.

As per TELF AG's insights, customer satisfaction is at the heart of their business philosophy. TELF AG's dedicated team of experts understands each producer's distinct requirements and challenges. This understanding forms the basis of strong relationships built on trust and collaboration. TELF AG explores this philosophy by developing bespoke solutions that optimize various aspects of their clients' trading journeys, from crafting efficient marketing strategies to streamlining financing and logistics.

"TELF AG's customer-centric approach is what truly sets us apart in international trade," states TELF AG's Communications Director. "We believe that success is born out of strong partnerships, and our focus remains steadfast on exceeding expectations at every juncture. Our commitment to personalized service ensures that producers can confidently concentrate on their core activities, knowing that their trading needs are being expertly managed by a team that prioritizes their interests."

About TELF AG: TELF AG is a full-service international physical commodities trader with over 30 years of experience in the industry. Headquartered in Lugano, Switzerland, the company operates globally, serving customers and providing solutions for commodities producers worldwide. TELF AG works in close partnership with producers to provide effective marketing, financing, and logistics solutions, enabling suppliers to focus on their core activities and access far-reaching markets wherever they may be.

Contact:

TELF AG

Rick DeOliveira

press@telf.ch

https://telf.ch/media/

SOURCE: TELF AG

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/775138/TELF-AG-Explores-Customer-Centric-Approach-in-Global-Trade-Connections-in-Latest-Article
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2023 / Further to his prior press releases dated May 22, 2023, June 7, 2023, June 15, 2023 and August 4, 2023, concerned shareholder Grant Sawiak (the "Concerned Shareholder") has already proposed an alternate slate of directors for election at the annual meeting of Northwest Copper in order to stop the massive erosion of shareholder value as reflected in the over 60% decrease in the NWST share price in the past year. If you want to rescue your investment Mr. Sawiak encourages you to read this press release to understand how you can help yourself by replacing the NWST board.

Mr. Sawiak's plan for turning NWST around is contained in his press releases of May 23 and August 4, 2023 which can be found on the SEDAR + website www.sedarplus.ca. The Concerned Shareholder is soliciting proxies pursuant to the public broadcast exemption as described below.

IF YOU WISH TO VOTE WITH MR. SAWIAK TO CHANGE THE BOARD OF NWST YOU MUST CONTACT HIM BY:

1. CALLING HIM AT 1-416-917-2816; OR

2. EMAILING HIM AT gvsawiak@hotmail.com

ON OR BEFORE SEPTEMBER 11, 2023.

Information in Support of Public Broadcast Solicitation

The Concerned Shareholder is relying on the exemptions contained in Section 9.2(2) and Section 9.2(4) of National Instrument 51-102 - Continuous Disclosure Obligations to solicit proxies from no more than 15 securityholders and by soliciting proxies by broadcast, speech or publication. The Concerned Shareholder may also choose to file a dissident information circular in due course in compliance with applicable securities laws. A copy of the press release and the Nominating Shareholder Notice which collectively contains all information on the Concerned Shareholder's Nominees as required by National Instrument 51-102 and Form 51-102F5 were filed on SEDAR+ on August 4, 2023 and are available for viewing there.

The information contained herein, and any solicitation made by the Concerned Shareholder in advance of the Meeting, is or will be, as applicable, made by the Concerned Shareholder and not by or on behalf of the management of NWST. All costs incurred for any solicitation will be borne by the Concerned Shareholder and by Mr. John Kimmel (the "Solicitors"), provided that, subject to applicable law, the Solicitors may seek reimbursement from NWST of the Concerned Shareholder's out-of-pocket expenses, including proxy solicitation expenses and legal fees, incurred in connection with a successful reconstitution of the Company's board of directors. Other than in respect of their beneficial ownership, control or direction of securities of the Corporation described above, none of the Solicitors or any of their associates or affiliates has any material interest, direct or indirect, by way of beneficial ownership of securities or otherwise, in any matter to be acted upon at the Meeting other than the election of directors.

The Concerned Shareholder has engaged Shorecrest Group Ltd. to act as proxy solicitor in respect of this matter and will incur expenses of up to $120K plus out of pocket expenses. The Concerned Shareholder may engage the services of one or more other agents and authorize other persons to assist in soliciting proxies on behalf of the Concerned Shareholder. Any proxies solicited by or on behalf of the Concerned Shareholder, including by any other agent retained by the Concerned Shareholder, may be solicited in any other manner permitted under Canadian corporate and securities laws. Any such proxies may be revoked by instrument in writing executed by a shareholder or by his or her attorney authorized in writing or, if the shareholder is a body corporate, by an officer or attorney thereof duly authorized or by any other manner permitted by law.

The head office of NWST is located at Suite 1900, 1055 West Hastings Street Vancouver, British Columbia V6E 2E9. A copy of this press release may be obtained on NWST's SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.com.

For more information contact:

Grant Sawiak

416.917.2816

SOURCE: Grant Sawiak

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/774997/Northwest-Copper-Corp-TSXVNWST-Concerned-Shareholder-Grant-Sawiak-Announces-How-Shareholders-Can-Vote-With-Him-To-Replace-the-Current-Board-at-the-September-19-Annual-Meeting
MAJORICA announces the opening of its inaugural store in the U.S. on the Upper Level in Aventura Mall in Miami. MAJORICA is known for the invention of a perfect Mallorca pearl and exquisite fine jewelry, along with 130 years of innovation.

MIAMI, FL / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2023 / MAJORICA, the heritage Spanish brand, continues to captivate the world by infusing its designs and perfect pearls with the brand's very soul, essence, and cherished values. The distinguished Spanish jewelry brand renowned for its exquisite pearls and timeless designs proudly announces the grand opening of its inaugural U.S. store, situated in the Upper Level of Aventura Mall.

Classic Meets Everyone

Created by a scientist and fueled by over 130 years of innovation, MAJORICA remains unwavering in its commitment to delivering perfect pearls and jewelry that transcend time. As the brand takes this monumental step to expand in the U.S., it brings with it the same captivating essence that has enthralled global audiences for generations.

"After meticulous market research and in-depth data analysis, we have strategically selected Miami, Florida, as the inaugural hub for expanding MAJORICA's distribution across the United States. Aventura Mall stands as an ideal gateway, granting us access to a dynamic blend of guests who already hold a keen appreciation for our brand," reveals Elena Stungis, Vice President of Sales for the U.S., Canada, and TR Americas. "With great enthusiasm, we are excited to offer our extensive assortment of more than 700 items, tailored to cater to the diverse tastes and preferences of pearl aficionados. We have even created an exclusive necklace just for the Aventura Mall store opening."

For further insights into MAJORICA, kindly visit our store located in Upper Level at Aventura Mall, Miami, or our website https://us.majorica.com.

ABOUT MAJORICA

MAJORICA has skillfully conveyed the soul, essence, and values of our brand through the elegant designs and the inimitable pearls. Beauty, elegance, character, sensuality, strength - these elements form a unique tapestry that embodies the personality of our jewelry. With more than 130 years of history, MAJORICA remains grounded in its origins, while embracing a classic yet modern, traditional yet innovative approach. Our MAJORICA pearls traverse the globe, all while embracing the present like never before.

ABOUT AVENTURA MALL

Aventura Mall is the premier shopping destination in Miami and South Florida, and one of the top shopping centers in the U.S. Anchored by Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's, the center is highlighted by a mix of over 300 stores from luxury fashion brands to shopper favorites. Aventura Mall also features more than 50 eateries and restaurants, including Treats Food Hall; The Aventura Farmers Market, which showcases dozens of farmers and artisans; and the experiential Arts Aventura Mall program highlighting 20+ museum-quality pieces in a range of mediums, which visitors can enjoy via a self-guided ArtWalk audio tour.

Contact Information

Elena Stungis

VP of Sales, US, Canada, Travel Retail Americas

estugis@majorica.com

917-654-1873

Natalie Lubensky

Assistant Store Manager

nlubensky@majorica.com

201-243-8418

Related Files

MAJORICA Press Release.docx.pdf

SOURCE: MAJORICA USA

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/775083/MAJORICA-Iconic-Spanish-Pearl-Brand-Debuts-the-First-US-Store-at-Aventura-Mall
MANILA, Philippines, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading Philippine digital solutions platform Globe has released its revised Environmental Sustainability Policy, underscoring the importance of circularity as it promotes mindful consumption, sustainable production, carbon reduction, resource efficiency, and comprehensive waste management strategies.

The enhanced policy supports the Philippines' Extended Producer Responsibility Act of 2022, which mandates large companies to recover 20% of the plastic they release into the market in 2022. This target recovery rate will increase to 80% by 2028.

"Globe stands at the forefront of adopting sustainable practices in our operations. We are taking this a notch higher with an enhanced environmental policy on circularity which aligns our processes and products with the call for more responsible consumption," said Yoly Crisanto, Chief Sustainability and Corporate Communications Officer, Globe Group.

"Our circularity initiatives will include our ecosystem of brands to help habituate our customers to sustainable practices. This has the potential to further grow sustainability practices among Globe users, making it part of their daily lives," she added.

Here are some of the company's initiatives to promote circularity:

Deployment of the Eco-SIM, which is made from 100% recycled materials, for new postpaid accounts in 2022;

Replacement of nearly five million traditional tarpaulins with the more environment-friendly material, stone paper; and

Launch of the new packaging design for Globe's GFiber Prepaid WiFi product line, with the goal of transitioning the rest of their Globe At Home products to more recyclable and upcyclable materials. The innovative packaging can be repurposed into a laptop stand to extend its lifespan, and was ensured to have been made as environmentally-responsible as possible.

Globe has also implemented the following measures to reduce plastic and paper waste:

"'Wag sa Single-Use Plastic" (WasSUP) program - advocating plastic reduction among its employees and concessionaires in its offices:

Standardizing cashless transactions using GCash



Working to incentivize employees who adopt reusable containers in the company's cafeteria



Encouraging concessionaires to avoid using single-use plastics wherever possible (i.e. incorporating biodegradable options for utensils or opting for more reusable options)

Introduction of e-business cards for employees

Globe also recently contributed to the GSMA's Strategy Paper on Circular Economy for Mobile Devices. The company's E-Waste Zero Program collected and recycled more than 191,000 kilograms of electronic waste in 2022, bringing the total to over 1.8 million kilograms since 2014. This year, Globe established a partnership with CompAsia which allows for old employee service units to be remarketed rather than discarded.

Understanding that it takes collective action to be able to truly take care of the environment, Globe launched the online learning platform Camp Kalikasan, in collaboration with WWF-Philippines. It offers interactive exercises and learning modules that encourage responsible environment practices - covering topics like waste management, energy efficiency, climate change, and biodiversity.

"Our approach to climate action is all about collaboration," Crisanto said. "More than digital solutions, we give our customers and other stakeholders the tools and knowledge to continue to practice sustainability."

Globe urges everyone to actively engage in mindful consumption and sustainable production practices. Be part of Camp Kalikasan and take the Waste Management Module to learn more about plastic and proper waste management. Donate your old mobile phones and broadband devices through the E-Waste Zero Program of Globe. Locations of the bins are found here.

For more information about Globe, visit www.globe.com.ph.

About Globe

Globe is a leading full-service telecommunications company in the Philippines and publicly listed in the PSE with the stock symbol GLO. The company serves the telecommunications and technology needs of consumers and businesses across an entire suite of products and services including mobile, fixed, broadband, data connectivity, internet and managed services. It has major interests in financial technology, digital marketing solutions, venture capital funding for startups, and virtual healthcare. In 2019, Globe became a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact, committing to implement universal sustainability principles. Its principals are Ayala Corporation and Singtel, acknowledged industry leaders in the country and in the region.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/globe-releases-enhanced-environmental-policy-takes-strong-stance-on-circularity-and-responsible-production-and-consumption-301903614.html
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Simplilearn, the world's #1 online bootcamp for digital economy skills training, hosted the 4th convocation ceremony with Caltech CTME for 600 program graduates. Co-hosting the event were Dr. Rick Hefner, Executive Director, Caltech Institute of Technology and Management Education,and Dr. Will Lin, Chief Marketing Officer, Simplilearn. As CTME Executive Director, Dr. Hefner oversees professional development programs for technology-driven organizations and individuals. He has over 40 years of experience in systems development, organizational management, and education. He has helped guide technology adoption in over 30 aerospace, communications, electronics, and health sciences companies. Dr. Hefner is credited with over 200 presentations and publications and is active in several professional societies.

The online convocation ceremony was held to recognize the hard-won achievements of program participants in their advanced learning. It was a joint celebration by Caltech CTME and Simplilearn on the successful completion of various post-graduate level certificate programs (PGP) across 36 cohorts, including PGP in Cloud Computing, PGP in DevOps, PGP in Full Stack Development, PGP in AI & Machine Learning, and PGP in Data Science.

Dr. Will Lin, Chief Marketing Officer of Simplilearn, congratulated the graduates, acknowledging their dedication,"Your commitment to achieving your academic and professional goals is inspiring. On behalf of Simplilearn, we commend your steadfast pursuit of knowledge. As you forge ahead, continue to foster curiosity and innovation to make a meaningful impact."

The ceremony was a vibrant celebration, filled with eager learners ready to apply their newly-acquired skills.

Dr. Rick Hefner, Executive Director, Caltech CTME, also shared words of encouragement, "Congratulations to all the graduates successfully completing various programs today. Your achievements are proof of your unwavering dedication. The skills and knowledge gained will undoubtedly propel your career forward. This convocation marks the start of a journey filled with success, fulfillment, and boundless opportunities. Best wishes for your future endeavors."

One of our graduates, Nitin Tandon, shared, "I am writing to express my sincere gratitude for the opportunity to have attended the online convocation with Caltech CTME and to earn my professional certificate course. I remember my weekend days attending the live classes, which was an incredibly rewarding experience. I have learned so much from my tutors and peers particularly while delivering the Capstone master projects, which gave me the chance to apply my knowledge and skills in real-time live projects. I am really grateful to have attended the professional course in Cloud Computing and am confident that my education there has prepared me for success in my future. Thank you again for this opportunity."

Caltech CTME and Simplilearn remain committed to providing a world-class education that empowers learners to excel in their careers and transform their lives.

About Caltech CTME

Caltech's Center for Technology and Management Education (CTME), a department of the Division of Engineering and Applied Science of the California Institute of Technology, is at the forefront of executive and professional education. With an innovative blend of specialized knowledge and practical application delivered by our eminent educator team, we equip professionals with industry-leading skills through workshops, short courses, and certificate programs. Our interactive, collaborative learning environment fosters networking and enhances the learning experience. The global impact of our learners stands as a testament to our success. Caltech CTME and Simplilearn have teamed to bring technology-centric programs to global learners since 2020.

About Simplilearn

Founded in 2010 and based in San Francisco, California, and Bangalore, India, Simplilearn, a Blackstone portfolio company, is the world's #1 online Bootcamp for digital economy skills training. Simplilearn offers access to world-class work-ready training to individuals and businesses worldwide. The Bootcamps are designed and delivered with world-renowned universities, top corporations, and leading industry bodies via live online classes featuring top industry practitioners, sought-after trainers, and global leaders. From college students and early career professionals to managers, executives, small businesses, and big corporations, Simplilearn's role-based, skill-focused, industry-recognized, and globally relevant training programs are ideal upskilling solutions for diverse career or/and business goals.

For more information, please visit www.simplilearn.com/

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1100016/4169121/Simplilearn_Logo.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/simplilearn-and-caltech-ctme-celebrate-the-achievements-of-600-certificate-learners-301904466.html
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2023 / My Green Lab, the world's leading nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the sustainability of scientific research, today announces a renewed partnership with the United Nations High-Level Climate Champions. Supporting the United Nations' Race to Zero Campaign, which aims to halve global carbon emissions by 2023, this renewed collaboration will empower more organizations than ever to achieve their carbon commitments through My Green Lab's programs and research.

Building on the success of the current partnership in advancing the biotech and pharma industry's commitments, the renewed partnership will more broadly address the healthcare value chain. My Green Lab's VP of Investments and Partnerships, Ryan Arnold, has been appointed the Health Sector Lead at the High-Level Climate Champions. "Biotech and pharma play a huge role within the sector, but there are more opportunities across the healthcare value chain where My Green Lab's tools can help drive systemic change," says Arnold.

My Green Lab Certification was selected as a Race to Zero Breakthrough Outcome in 2021, establishing a target that 95% of labs in biotech and pharma achieve Certification at the highest level by 2030. Over 2,000 labs and 24,000 scientists from 45 countries have engaged with the program, including 35 of the largest biotech and pharma companies. Currently, 71% of companies in the sector with over $1 billion in revenue that have joined the Race to Zero are working on a My Green Lab Certification. The rapidly growing program is recognized as the gold standard for laboratory sustainability best practices worldwide.

In addition to ensuring the adoption of My Green Lab Certification in laboratories, the renewed partnership will build upon My Green Lab's groundbreaking report on the carbon impact of biotech and pharma that tracks the industry's progress to net zero carbon.

"With only seven years until 2030, we must urgently accelerate the decarbonization of all parts of the economy. My Green Lab has been our key partner since 2022 to align the pharma and biotech sector with the goals of the Paris Agreement. This year, we're thrilled to expand our partnership to the whole health sector and focus on both decarbonization and resilience in the frame of the 2030 Breakthroughs and the Sharm El Sheikh Adaptation Agenda, with expected highlights at COP28," says Emmanuelle Pinault, Director of Systems Transformation, High-Level Climate Champions.

For more information, contact ryanarnold@climatechampions.team.

Learn more about My Green Lab at www.MyGreenLab.org.

About My Green Lab

My Green Lab is a nonprofit environmental organization with a mission to build a global culture of sustainability in science. The organization is the world leader in developing internationally recognized sustainability standards for laboratories and laboratory products-bringing sustainability to the community responsible for the world's life-changing medical and technical innovations. Laboratories are some of the most resource-intensive spaces in any industry, but they don't have to be. By introducing a new perspective and proven best practices within a carefully crafted framework, My Green Lab has inspired tens of thousands of scientists and lab professionals to make positive changes in their labs by reducing the environmental impact of their work.

About the High Level Climate Champions

The UN Climate Change High-Level Champions engage non-State actors to support governments in delivering the goals of the Paris Agreement. Working with the Marrakech Partnership - a global alliance of more than 320 major initiatives and coalitions - the High-Level Champions enhance the ambition of cities, regions, businesses and investors and other non-State actors, to collectively race towards a fair, resilient and zero carbon world.

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from My Green Lab on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: My Green Lab

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/my-green-lab

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: My Green Lab

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/775151/My-Green-Lab-Renews-Partnership-With-the-United-Nations-High-Level-Climate-Champions-To-Accelerate-Healthcare-Sectors-Carbon-Reduction-and-Resilience-Efforts
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - President Joe Biden will host a trilateral summit at Camp David Friday to shore up Washington's alliance with its two strongest Asian allies to counter the threats from China and North Korea. The meeting between Biden, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio at the US presidential retreat will be the first of its kind. The three leaders of the world's major economies are scheduled to meet at 11 AM ET. 'Our three countries will announce significant initiatives on Friday which will help cement our trilateral cooperation going forward,' White House National Security Adviser John Kirby said. The leaders will address the media at a joint press conference after the trilateral summit at 3 PM. 'These initiatives will take our trilateral relationship to new heights as we work together to deliver benefits for our people and for people across the region,' Kirby told reporters. 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.
PARK CITY, UT / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2023 / NRP Stone, Inc. (Symbol:NRPI), a pioneering force in space innovation through its subsidiary Uplift Aerospace, Inc., today announced significant changes to its corporate structure, following recent shareholder approval.

Corporate Restructuring

On August 8, 2023, a majority of the shareholders approved an amendment and restatement of the Articles of Incorporation. Pursuant to this amendment:

All convertible and preferred shares were canceled. This included the cancellation of all Series B Convertible Preferred Shares previously issued to Mr. Joshua Hanes.

In exchange for the 95 canceled Series B shares and Mr. Hanes's return of 40,000,000 Common Shares, the Company issued Mr. Hanes 40,000,000 Common Series B Shares, as authorized by a majority of shareholders.

The Common Series B Shares are equal in ownership to Common Shares and hold 20:1 voting rights for eight years. After this period, they will have the same 1:1 voting right as Common Shares.

Additionally, the Company has provided revised incentive rights for Mr. Hanes through an amendment to the original Acquisition Agreement, tied to the Company's market value.

These incentive rights, as approved by a majority of shareholders and agreed upon between the Company and Mr. Hanes, are detailed as follows:

1. Should the Company reach a market value of One Billion Dollars ($1,000,000,000), Mr. Hanes shall be awarded 5% of the outstanding shares of the Company's common stock.

2. Should the Company reach a market value of Two Billion Dollars ($2,000,000,000), Mr. Hanes shall be awarded an additional 5% of the outstanding shares of the Company's common stock.

3. Should the Company reach a market value of Ten Billion Dollars ($10,000,000,000), Mr. Hanes shall be awarded an additional 85% of the outstanding shares of the Company's common stock.

This authorization, issuance of Common Series B Shares, and the amendment of the Articles of Incorporation were approved by the Board of Directors and a majority of shareholders. The Company has authorized counsel to effectuate the change with the Nevada Secretary of State.

Annual Shareholder Meeting

NRP Stone, Inc. will be holding an annual shareholder meeting on September 14, 2023, at 7:30 PM EDT. The meeting agenda includes discussing the recent corporate restructuring, the current state of the company, and the 5-year strategic plan.

About NRP Stone, Inc.

NRP Stone (Symbol:NRPI) runs its businesses through its wholly owned subsidiary, Uplift Aerospace Inc. Uplift offers manufacturing & logistic services for brands & creators to build innovative products in space. Our integrated services include in-space manufacturing, university research partnerships, and spaceflight mission operations. Learn more at www.upliftaerospace.com.

Over the past two years, Uplift Aerospace has secured agreements with NASA, Blue Origin, Orbital Reef Space Station, University of Arizona, University of Wisconsin, and the University of Central Florida. The ultimate objective of the Company is to run its businesses in order to create shareholder value, while exercising sound corporate governance to ensure the interests of the Company's management and shareholders are completely aligned.

MEDIA CONTACT: press@upliftaerospace.com

Symbol:NRPI

For the latest updates, visit upliftaerospace.com and follow @upliftaerospace on Facebook , Instagram , and Twitter .

Disclosures and Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements: This release contains forward-looking statements, which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Expressions of future goals and similar expressions reflecting something other than historical fact are intended to identify forward-looking statements, but are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including the timely development and market acceptance of products and technologies, economic and market factors, successful integration of acquisitions, the ability to secure additional sources of financing, the ability to reduce operating expenses and other factors. The actual results that the company achieves may differ materially from any forward-looking statements due to such risks and uncertainties. The Company, its management, or affiliates, undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this release.

SOURCE: NRP Stone, Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/775168/NRP-Stone-Announces-Major-Corporate-Restructuring-and-Upcoming-Annual-Shareholder-Meeting
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2023 / Seven small business owners in Upstate New York, located in the Mohawk Valley region, got a boost from KeyBank and The Genesis Group. The seven owners were awarded grants varying from $2,000 to $750 as part of The Genesis Group Small Grants Program. KeyBank provided $5,000 to assist with the third round of funding.

The program provides grants and incentives to help support the needs of area small businesses and non-profit organizations with fewer than 50 employees in the Mohawk Valley region.

"Strong small businesses are the heart of thriving communities," said Ron Klein Jr., Senior Area Retail Leader for KeyBank's Central New York region. "The seven businesses awarded serve a wide variety of customers and have unique needs. We're proud to provide support for them and further enrich our region with healthy businesses."

Klein was also part of a selection committee to award the small businesses with grant funds.

Winners from the third round included:

Bloom Nutrition Solutions

Skye Financial Services

She Fancy

United Way 211

Air Well

TrainQuality Fitness & Yoga

Mallory's Hair Utopia

"The Small Business Assistance Program is designed to assist the needs of area small businesses and non-profit organizations in our region. We appreciate our partners especially KeyBank for stepping up to provide funding and assistance for this latest round. Together, we are making a positive impact in the business community," said Raymond J. Durso, Jr., President and CEO of the Genesis Group.

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from KeyBank on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: KeyBank

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/keybank

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: KeyBank

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/775170/KeyBank-Helps-Support-Small-Businesses-in-Upstate-New-York
The rapid growth of solar power installations, environmental concerns and climate change, and an increase in electricity demand are some prime determinants that drive the growth of the global solar cables market.

PORTLAND, Ore., Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Solar Cables Market by Material Type (Copper, Aluminum, Others), by Type (Solid, Stranded), by End-Use (Residential, Commercial, Industrial): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2032". According to the report. The solar cables market was valued at $0.9 billion in 2022 and is estimated to reach $2.9 billion by 2032, exhibiting a CAGR of 12.4% from 2023 to 2032.

Request PDF Brochure: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/3207

The solar cables market is experiencing robust growth, driven by the increasing shift toward renewable energy sources. As businesses increasingly embrace solar power solutions to meet their energy needs, the demand for high-quality and efficient solar cables has risen significantly. These cables play a critical role in ensuring seamless energy transfer from solar panels to distribution systems, making them a vital component in the solar infrastructure. With sustainability at the forefront of business strategies, the solar cables market presents lucrative opportunities for manufacturers and suppliers to cater to the growing demand, while also contributing to the broader environmental and economic goals of the renewable energy sector.

Prime determinants of growth

The rapid growth of solar power installations, environmental concerns and climate change, and an increase in electricity demand are some prime determinants that drive the growth of the global solar cables market. However, high initial cost and competition from other renewable sources, and intermittent and seasonal variation restrict the market growth. Moreover, rural electrification and off-grid solutions, and energy storage solutions in emerging markets present new opportunities in the coming years.

Report coverage & details:

Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 2023-2032 Base Year 2022 Market Size in 2022 $0.9 billion Market Size in 2032 $2.9 billion CAGR 12.4 % No. of Pages in Report 280 Segments covered Material Type, Type, End-Use, and Region. Drivers Rapid growth of solar power installations Environmental concerns and climate change Increase in electricity demand Opportunities Rural electrification and off-grid solutions Energy storage solutions in emerging markets Restraints High initial cost and competition from other renewable sources Intermittent and seasonal variation

Impact Scenario

The Russia-Ukraine war reverberated across sectors, notably impacting the solar cables market.

Global financial markets, including solar cables, faced uncertainty and volatility due to the conflict.

Ukraine holds a key position in the European solar cables market, linked to its industrial emissions profile.

Disruptions to Ukraine's industries or energy infrastructure from the war disrupted solar cables' production and demand.

Confidence of the investors seemed to wane amidst political instability and conflict, affecting the solar cables sector.

Extended conflict dampens enthusiasm for solar cables, casting an uncertain shadow on the market.

The war's geopolitical repercussions rippled into climate change cooperation, influencing emissions reduction efforts.

Economic downturns also had diverse effects on the solar cables market.

Uncertainty and market instability during economic crises led to heightened price volatility for solar cables.

Fluctuating demand gave way to price swings in the solar cables sector.

Economic crises often triggered market consolidation within solar cables.

The copper segment to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period

Based on material type, the copper segment held the highest market share in 2022, accounting for more than half of the global solar cables market revenue, and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period. The increasing adoption of rooftop solar installations is one of the key trends in the copper solar cables market. As more residential and commercial properties embrace solar energy to reduce electricity costs and promote sustainability, the demand for copper solar cables for rooftop applications has surged. However, the others segment such as cadmium copper and tin-plated copper are projected to manifest the fastest CAGR of 12.9% from 2023 to 2032. Tin-plated copper photo voltaic cables are gaining a reputation due to their enhanced corrosion resistance, making them well-suited for outside and harsh environments, thereby extending the lifespan of solar installations.

Procure Complete Report (280 Pages PDF with Insights, Charts, Tables, and Figures) @

https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/checkout-final/solar-cables-market

The stranded segment to hold the lion's share throughout the forecast period

Based on type, the stranded segment held the highest market share in 2022, accounting for nearly three-fourths of the global solar cables market revenue, and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period. As solar power installations continue to expand globally, there is an increasing demand for reliable and efficient solar cables that withstand the environmental challenges associated with outdoor use. However, the solid segment is projected to cite the fastest CAGR of 13.1% from 2023 to 2032. The rise in the demand for distributed solar power generation and rooftop installations drives the demand for these cables.

The commercial segment to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period

Based on the end-use, the commercial segment held the highest market share in 2022, accounting for more than two-fifths of the global solar cables market revenue, and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period. The rising global focus on sustainability and renewable electricity is driving the adoption of solar energy systems in commercial & industrial establishments, spurring the demand for solar cables. However, the residential segment is projected to cite the fastest CAGR of 12.7% from 2023 to 2032, owing to the rising global focus on renewable energy and sustainable practices. This in turn led to the increasing demand for residential solar installations.

For Purchase Inquiry: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/solar-cables-market/purchase-options

Asia-Pacific to maintain its dominance by 2032

Based on region, Asia-Pacific held the highest market share in terms of revenue in 2022, accounting for more than two-fifths of the global solar cables market revenue, and is likely to dominate the market during the forecast period. Furthermore, the same region is also expected to witness the fastest CAGR of 12.8% from 2023 to 2032. The increasing commitment of governments to renewable energy targets and climate change mitigation has increased the number of solar installations. China and India, in particular, have ambitious solar capacity expansion plans. Technological advancements and cost reductions in solar equipment, including solar cables, also contribute to market growth. The increase in investment toward renewable energy sources is the major factor that is anticipated to offer new growth opportunities for solar cables in Asia-Pacific during the forecast period.

Leading Market Players: -

Prysmian Group

Lapp Group

Nexans S.A.

Leoni AG

Helu Kabel GmbH

Top Cable

Kei Industries Limited

Havells India Ltd

Belden Inc.

Jainflex Cables Pvt. Ltd.

The report provides a detailed analysis of these key players in the global solar cables 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.

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We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Allied Market Research CEO Pawan Kumar is instrumental in inspiring and encouraging everyone associated with the company to maintain high quality of data and help clients in every way possible to achieve success. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.

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NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2023 / GRI's investment in the United States continues, as additional experience and skills have been added to the team to increase our impact and support in the Region. The GRI North America team continues to grow with the addition of 4 new resources. Two senior, experienced sustainability practitioners, and two full time interns.

Andres Machado and Gina Lee join the team in strategic roles supporting standards development and uptake, as well as, relationship and services management, respectively.

Andres has 10 years of experience in stakeholder engagement, global convening, and ESG/ sustainability standards development and management. Gina brings 15 years of relationship and program management, partnership development, and business development experience to the work of GRI in North America.

With the addition of these strong individuals, the GRI North America team is even better prepared to address the pressing needs of our stakeholders in the Region.

In addition, GRI continues its commitment to help bring the next generation of sustainability experts into the market, fully informed on the content and value of GRI and the GRI standards. To that end, we have recently expanded our internship program and we are delighted to add both Leah Goryachkovsky and Noah Curry to the team. Leah is currently a student at Columbia University and Noah comes to GRI with several years of work experience. Both Leah and Noah will jump right into the work of the team, supporting all aspects of outreach, research, and delivery. We are delighted to continue our internship program and to provide this opportunity to future leaders in the field.

With these additions, GRI is strengthening our commitment to the region and recognizes the need to be a more present and active force in the sustainability field in the Region. We are excited to be part of this critical work and will continue to build our capacity to serve all of our stakeholders.

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from GRI in North America on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: GRI in North America

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/gri-north-america

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: GRI in North America

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/775188/GRI-in-North-America-Is-Growing
Former Prime Minister to be the 40th recipient recognized with prestigious award

TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2023 / The Churchill Society for the Advancement of Parliamentary Democracy announced today that the 20th Prime Minister of Canada, the Right Honourable Jean Chretien, will be the 2023 recipient of the Society's Award for Excellence in the Cause of Parliamentary Democracy.

"In his maiden speech 60 years ago Mr. Chretien dedicated himself to the ideals of parliamentary democracy by pledging that "even though we occupy the government benches we must give the members of this house the assurance that we will give our point of view on every matter raised before the House of Commons" remarked Cameron MacKay, Chair of the Churchill Society for the Advancement of Parliamentary Democracy. He guarded that flame throughout his remarkable parliamentary career and it never dimmed, and for that we honour him" added MacKay.

Jean Chretien was elected in 1963 as the Member of Parliament for Saint-Maurice-Lafleche and served in the House of Commons for more than 36 years until his retirement in 2003. Mr. Chretien was a member of the cabinet from 1967 until 1984, serving in Finance, Justice and External Affairs, and was elected Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada in 1990. In October 1993, Jean Chretien was elected Prime Minister at the head of a Majority Liberal Government and was re-elected in 1997 and 2000 with two more majorities. He retired as Prime Minister in 2003.

As Minister of Justice in the government of Pierre Trudeau, Mr. Chretien helped negotiate the patriation of the Canadian constitution and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. As Prime Minister, Mr. Chretien led the federalist forces to a victory in the Quebec separatist referendum and in 1998 produced Canada's first budgetary surplus in nearly thirty years. Under Mr. Chretien, Canada joined the coalition war in Afghanistan but did not join the United States in the war in Iraq. In 2003 Mr. Chretien introduced legislation to change the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples.

Mr. Chretien has been awarded fourteen honourary degrees from Canadian universities and was named a Companion of the Order of Canada in 2007.

Mr. Chretien will be the 40th recipient of the Churchill Society's Award of Excellence and sixth Canadian Prime Minister to receive the award. This year's Award Dinner will be held at 6:00 pm at the Arcadian Court in downtown Toronto on November 29, 2023. This year's dinner will feature a fireside-style discussion between author and journalist Ron Graham and Mr. Chretien.

The Churchill Society for the Advancement of Parliamentary Democracy is a non-partisan, charitable organization that honours the life of Sir Winston Churchill by facilitating education, discussion and debate about Canada's parliamentary democracy.

Dinner event information is available here.

Contact: info@churchill.org

SOURCE: Churchill Society for the Advancement of Parliamentary Democracy

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/775194/Hon-Jean-Chretien-to-Receive-Award-of-Excellence-for-Parliamentary-Service


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. Air Force has awarded a contract to JetZero to develop the next phase of a blended-wing body aircraft prototype.



JetZero's BWB aircraft is designed to reduce fuel consumption, cut emissions and noise, and provide an improved airline passenger experience.



The JetZero Blended Wing is the biggest leap in commercial aircraft architecture since the dawn of the jet age and the first step toward the goal of zero-carbon emissions aviation.



Under the terms of the award from the Defense Department's Defense Innovation Unit, JetZero will receive $235 million over a four-year period, with the prototype expcted to be ready by the first quarter of 2027.



For the military, projected BWB fuel savings of 30% over traditional aircraft would help mitigate logistics risks and enable critical capabilities such as increased range, loiter time, and offload capabilities,' Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks said in a statement.



JetZero said the aircraft will launch in 2030 with 100 percent SAF compatibility, and the internal volume to accommodate zero-carbon emissions hydrogen.



JetZero is collaborating with Northrop Grumman and Scaled Composites to build and test the full-scale demonstrator.



'The BWB is the best first step on the path to zero carbon emissions. It offers 50% lower fuel burn using today's engines and the airframe efficiency needed to support a transition to zero carbon emissions propulsion in the future,' said JetZero CEO Tom O'Leary, 'No other proposed aircraft comes close in terms of efficiency.'



JetZero is leading efforts to expand BWB technology and demonstrate its capabilities for the future of aviation and the climate for both military and commercial markets.



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Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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Open House Provides Opportunity for Teens and Families to Take a Tour and Speak With Clinicians

EL MONTE, CA / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2023 / Insight Treatment, which offers teen treatment for self-harming behaviors, mental health struggles, and similar concerns, will hold an open house at its El Monte location. On Friday, Aug. 25, from noon to 4 p.m., teenagers as well as their families can tour the location, ask questions, and more.









Located at 10942 Klingerman St., Unit A, South El Monte, CA 91733, Insight El Monte was specifically designed to be a "clubhouse" space. The fundamental belief among staff at Insight is that teenagers need to feel that they belong to a community of their peers. Teens are most likely to open up and express their emotional pain and challenges in an environment they genuinely want to be in.

During the open house, parents and teens can speak to Insight El Monte's team of clinicians and counselors. Clinical Director of both Insight El Monte and Insight Santa Clarita, Karissa Provost, LMFT, will be on hand to answer questions.

The Insight El Monte open house is an opportunity for families to learn more about Insight's IOP (Intensive Outpatient Program/Partial Hospitalization Program) and PHP (Partial Hospitalization Program).

Insight's PHP/IOP is designed to empower adolescents (ages 13-18) who are struggling with mental health issues, behavioral problems, depression, etc. Clinicians and counselors create an individual plan for the teen, including teen support groups, therapy, activities, and more, all to help develop important life skills. The IOP offers flexible scheduling for teens throughout the week.

A therapeutic, drug- and alcohol-free day school for students who would best benefit with time away from a traditional school setting, Insight's PHP makes it possible for students to continue their education through fully accredited learning programs. While students are in the PHP, Insight counselors and tutors communicate with the students' schools, so as to meet their educational needs and graduation requirements.

Light refreshments will be provided at the open house. Those interested in the Insight El Monte open house should RSVP with Genevieve at genevieved@insighttreatment.com.

Contact Information

Ezekiel Hernandez

Communications Director

213-332-9255

SOURCE: Insight Treatment

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/775078/Insight-Treatment-El-Monte-Location-to-Host-Open-House-on-Aug-25
Rightmove Plc - Transaction in Own Shares

PR Newswire

LONDON, United Kingdom, August 18

18 August 2023

Rightmove plc

Share buy-back programme

Rightmove plc - transactions in own shares

Rightmove plc ('Rightmove'), announces that today it purchased 124,000 of its 0.1p ordinary shares at a volume weighted average price paid per share of 547.113p. The highest price paid per share was 550.000p and the lowest price paid per share was 541.000p. Rightmove purchased these shares through Numis Securities Limited.

The number of shares purchased represented 0.0152% of the voting rights attributable to the total ordinary shares in issue prior to such purchase. The purchased shares will be cancelled.

Since announcing a share buy-back programme on 28 December 2007, Rightmove has purchased in aggregate 493,349,568 ordinary shares.

The total number of ordinary shares in issue (excluding treasury shares) following this announcement is 813,706,086. Rightmove holds 11,998,426 shares in treasury.

In accordance with Article 5(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 (the Market Abuse Regulation) as amended by The Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (the "UK MAR"), the schedule below contains detailed information about the purchases made by Numis Securities Limited on behalf of the Company as part of the buyback programme.

Contact: Michelle Palmer, Assistant Company Secretary

CompanySecretary@rightmove.co.uk

Schedule of Purchases - Individual Transactions
Finsbury Growth & Income Trust Plc - Transaction in Own Shares

PR Newswire

LONDON, United Kingdom, August 18

For immediate release

18 August 2023

FINSBURY GROWTH & INCOME TRUST PLC

(the "Company")

MARKET PURCHASE OF COMPANY'S OWN SHARES

The Company announces that it has today purchased 125,000 of its own shares ("Ordinary Shares") at a price of 851.74 pence per Ordinary Share. Such shares will be held in treasury by the Company.

The transaction was made pursuant to the authority granted at the Annual General Meeting of the Company held on 17 January 2023.

Following this transaction, the total number of Ordinary Shares held by the Company in treasury is 18,495,544; the total number of Ordinary Shares that the Company has in issue, less the total number of Ordinary Shares held by the Company in treasury following such purchase, and therefore, the total number of voting rights in the Company is 206,495,759.

The figure of 206,495,759 may be used by shareholders as the denominator for calculations of interests in the Company's voting rights in accordance with the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

For and on behalf of

Frostrow Capital LLP

Company Secretary

For further information, please contact:

Victoria Hale

Frostrow Capital LLP

Tel: 020 3 170 8732
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2023 / Lenovo



From Typing to Telepathy

How human beings have interfaced with computers has steadily evolved over the decades and is now becoming extraordinary. Actually, it all started with zero user-to-computer contact. Once upon a time in a computer age long ago, IBM punch cards were stacked and delivered by programmers or users to computer operators, specially designated people with unique access to the mainframe. Then, with the invention of the PC, users got hands on with keyboards, mice, the ThinkPad TrackPoint, touchpads, digital pens, and touch screens. Today, people even just talk to computers to make them follow commands, or even use their eyes and hand gestures to use augmented (AR) and virtual reality (VR) headsets like the ones offered by Lenovo ThinkReality.

What's next? Some people are now just simply thinking and the computer is responding directly to sensors interfacing with the user's brain and body. Brain-Computer-Interfacing (BCI) is a technological frontier that has been explored for decades by the scientific community. The technology holds promise for therapies and remedies for people with a broad range of physical impairments, researchers trying to better understand the mind, and possibly many more applications, including helping improve human cognition.

Innovation Dedicated to Opening Minds

Lenovo recently began collaboration with OpenBCI, a pioneer in the wearable BCI field. OpenBCI creates open-source tools for biosensing and neuroscience with the goal of lowering the barrier to entry for brain-computer interfacing.

OpenBCI's latest project is called Galea; a hardware and software platform merging next-generation biometrics with mixed reality. Galea is the first device that integrates EEG, EMG, EDA, PPG, and eye-tracking into a single headset. By combining a multi-modal sensor system with the immersion of augmented and virtual reality, Galea gives researchers, developers, and creators a powerful new tool for understanding and augmenting the human mind and body.

Galea is already producing amazing results.

Christian Bayerlein is a German technologist and disability rights activist living with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a genetic disease that affects the motor neurons that control voluntary muscle movement. During TED2023, Christian and OpenBCI founder Conor Russomanno demonstrated how residual muscle activity from Christian's body could be repurposed to control and fly a drone.

Learning to Fly

The TED Talk and demonstration are part of OpenBCI's larger "NeuroFly" project which will culminate in the release of a documentary and open-source software toolkit for replicating the demonstration.

OpenBCI worked with Christian to identify the four muscle groups that he could most reliably activate and placed electrodes on these muscles. OpenBCI's hardware and software were used to translate each muscle's activation into digital sliders that Christian learned to control. Signal processing and fine-tuned filtering helped eliminate false-positives and enable the thresholds of the joystick to adapt specifically to Christian and to variations across sessions. These sliders were then mapped to a new digital joystick. With practice, Christian was able to learn how to use the new controls to gain full control over the drone. By connecting the drone's camera to a VR headset, Christian was able to fly in first person over the TED audience.

The process is like learning how to use a keyboard for the first time; with practice the brain adapts and learns how to use the new controls effortlessly. The same sensors and interaction methods used for NeuroFly could be applied to control a range of physical or digital tools.

OpenBCI tested many different machine learning and data processing pipelines while developing NeuroFly and the project was made possible in part through resources and expertise donated by Lenovo Workstations. The final demonstration used relatively simple signal processing techniques, but having access to cutting-edge computational, CPU, Memory & GPU horsepower, greatly accelerated OpenBCI's ability to explore different engineering paths and process the range of data generated by Galea's numerous sensors. Lenovo ThinkStation and ThinkPad P Series Workstations have the unique characteristics of being able to support these intensive workstreams without support from the cloud because of their large number of compute cores, fast processor clock speeds, huge memory capacity and bandwidth. Being able to run the powerful Varjo VR headset, while simultaneously streaming and running AI models on Galea's data was a boon for the development of NeuroFly.

My Brain Has an App for That

The applications of Galea and other BCI technology seem nearly limitless. Galea's list of early users includes companies in consumer technology, automotive, aviation, healthcare, neuroscience, simulation and training, and gaming. The project originally started as a collaboration with gaming giant Valve. In general, BCI technology has the potential to help restore lost motor and communication capabilities, unlock human's ability to quantify cognitive and emotional states, and power new forms of AI-assisted human-computer interaction tailored to an individual's specific mind and body.

"Ultimately, I see the combination of neurotechnology and mixed reality as the future of personal computers," says Russomanno. "Spatial computing, BCI, and AI will converge this decade, resulting in quite possibly the greatest technological inflection point humanity ever experienced. It is going to be remarkable."

Within a decade or more, PC users could start having a lot more intuitive computing experiences. Based on data from technology like Galea and other sources, as well as new AI-enabled applications, computers will understand, predict and respond to individual's needs based on biometric data and other inputs. For example, if a user is tired or distracted, audio or video feedback could slow down or pause to help the user stay on track. Or game designers and players could optimize settings based on player's physical and emotional reactions to enhance gameplay, like make scenarios less or more frightening, exciting or soothing, depending on user preferences.

This convergence of smarter technologies and human experiences is resulting in transforming the philosopher Rene Descarte's insight "I think, therefore I am" to the more practical notion "I think, therefore I do."

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Lenovo on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Lenovo

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/lenovo

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: Lenovo

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/775223/Keystroke-Double-Click-Swipe-Right-No-Just-Think-It
EQS-Ad-hoc: Global Fashion Group S.A. / Key word(s): Miscellaneous

Global Fashion Group S.A.: GLOBAL FASHION GROUP AGREES TO REPURCHASE A PORTION OF ITS OUTSTANDING CONVERTIBLE BONDS DUE 2028 (ISIN: DE000A3KMT51)



18-Aug-2023 / 22:14 CET/CEST

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.



NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION IN OR INTO, OR TO ANY PERSON LOCATED OR RESIDENT IN, THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ITS TERRITORIES AND POSSESSIONS, ANY STATE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA OR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA (THE "UNITED STATES") OR IN OR INTO ANY OTHER JURISDICTION WHERE SUCH DISTRIBUTION WOULD BE PROHIBITED BY APPLICABLE LAW. Disclosure of an inside information according to Art. 17 Sec. 1 of the Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 (Market Abuse Regulation - MAR) GLOBAL FASHION GROUP S.A.: GLOBAL FASHION GROUP AGREES TO REPURCHASE A PORTION OF ITS OUTSTANDING CONVERTIBLE BONDS DUE 2028 (ISIN: DE000A3KMT51) Luxembourg, 18 August 2023 - Global Fashion Group S.A. (the "Issuer" or "GFG") announces that it has agreed today to repurchase EUR 74.6 million in aggregate principal amount of its outstanding convertible bonds due 2028 (ISIN: DE000A3KMT51) (the "Bonds") from certain institutional investors. The outstanding principal amount of the Bonds not held by the Issuer is EUR 279.9 million as of today. The repurchased Bonds represent approximately 27% of the outstanding principal amount. The purchase price per EUR 100,000 nominal amount will be EUR 73,000. In addition, the Company will pay interest accrued on the Bonds from and including the immediately preceding interest payment date to but excluding the settlement date of the repurchase, which amounts to EUR 553.67 per Bond. The repurchased Bonds may be cancelled by the Company or held and resold. Following the settlement of the repurchase which is expected to occur on or around 25 August 2023, an aggregate principal amount of the Bonds of EUR 205.3 million will be outstanding and not held by the Issuer. GFG continues to look at opportunities to reduce its outstanding Bonds. Person making the notification: Claire Higgins, Group Senior Legal Counsel. For inquiries, please contact: Press / Communications

Jovana Lakcevic, PR & Communications Director

press@global-fashion-group.com Investor Relations

Saori McKinnon, Investor Relations & Strategy Manager

investors@global-fashion-group.com

DISCLAIMER This announcement contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements should not be construed as a promise of future results and developments and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Various factors could cause actual future results, performance or events to differ materially from those described in this announcement, and neither the Company nor any other person accepts any responsibility for the accuracy of the forward-looking statements contained in this announcement or the underlying assumptions. This announcement may not be published, distributed or transmitted, directly or indirectly, in the United States (including its territories and possessions) or any other jurisdiction where such an announcement would be unlawful. The distribution of this announcement may be restricted by law in certain jurisdictions and persons into whose possession this document or other information referred to herein comes should inform themselves about and observe any such restriction. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. This announcement does not contain or constitute or form part of, and should not be construed as, an offer or invitation to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe for, any securities to any person in the United States or in any jurisdiction to whom or in which such offer or solicitation is unlawful. The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), or the laws of any state within the United States and may not be offered or sold in the United States, unless registered under the Securities Act or offered and sold in a transaction exempt from, or not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act. There will be no public offer of the securities referred to herein in the United States. About Global Fashion Group Global Fashion Group is the leading fashion and lifestyle destination in LATAM, SEA and ANZ. From our people to our customers and partners, we exist to empower everyone to express their true selves through fashion. Our three ecommerce platforms: Dafiti, ZALORA and THE ICONIC connect an assortment of international, local and own brands to over 800 million consumers from diverse cultures and lifestyles. GFG's platforms provide seamless and inspiring customer experiences from discovery to delivery, powered by art & science that is infused with unparalleled local knowledge. Our vision is to be the #1 fashion & lifestyle destination in LATAM, SEA and ANZ, and we are committed to doing this responsibly by being people and planet positive across everything we do. (ISIN: LU2010095458) For more information visit: www.global-fashion-group.com



End of Inside Information



18-Aug-2023 CET/CEST The EQS Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.

Archive at www.eqs-news.com


TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2023 / AI/ML Innovations Inc. (the "Company") (CSE:AIML)(OTCQB:AIMLF)(FWB:42FB), a leading company committed to acquiring and advancing Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning technologies that address urgent societal needs, reports that it has issued a total of 450,000 options pursuant to its incentive stock option plan ("Plan") to management and consultants. Each option entitles the holder to subscribe for one common share of the Company for $0.20. The options have an exercise period of 5 years, subject to the terms of the Plan.

Additionally, the Company reports that the Market Awareness Agreement between the Company and Octagon Media Corp, as announced in a press release dated July 31, is currently being restructured to ensure compliance with the current CSE policies which came into effect April 3, 2023.

About AI/ML Innovations Inc. https://aiml-innovations.com/

AI/ML Innovations Inc. has realigned its business operations to capitalize on the burgeoning fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), with an initial investment focus on emerging digital health and wellbeing companies that leverage AI, ML, cloud computing and digital platforms to drive transformative healthcare management solutions and precision support delivery across the health continuum. Through strategic partnerships with Health Gauge (95.2% owned by AIML), Tech2Heal (up to 22% ownership rights, with 12.44% currently owned by AIML), AI Rx Inc. (70% owned by AIML) and other planned accretive investments, the Company continues to capitalize on expanding growth areas, to the benefit of all the Company's stakeholders. AI/ML's shares are traded on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol "AIML", the OTCQB Venture Market under "AIMLF", and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under "42FB".

On behalf of the Board of Directors

Tim Daniels, Executive Chairman

For more information about AI/ML Innovations :

For detailed information please see AI/ML's website or the Company's filed documents at www.sedar.com.

For further information, contact: Blake Fallis at (778) 405-0882 or info@aiml-innovations.com.

Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For AI/ML Innovations Investors

Certain statements made in this press release that are not based on historical information are forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. This press release contains express or implied forward-looking statements relating to, among other things, AI/ML Innovations' expectations concerning management's plans, objectives and strategies, including strategies for defending the Company's intellectual property. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees but are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in these forward-looking statements. Existing and prospective investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. AI/ML Innovations Inc. undertakes no obligation to update or revise the information contained in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or circumstances or otherwise except as expressly required by applicable securities law. Further information regarding the uncertainties and risks can be found in the disclosure documents filed by AI/ML with the securities regulatory authorities, available at www.sedar.com.

SOURCE: AI/ML Innovations Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/775221/AIML-Innovations-Inc-Announces-Option-Grant-and-IR-Agreement-Restructuring
The obsession to look beautiful, age notwithstanding, is appalling. Apparently, embrace with grace doesnt apply when it comes to age. For many, its still not a number, they wish to look youthful, and Botox is the go-to procedure for that. And after the release of the Hollywood blockbuster Barbie, TikToks latest beauty obsession is called Barbie Botox.

A content creator speaks up

A story by CNN quoted a content creator named Isabelle Lux saying, I was thinking the whole time, If it goes right, this is going to be great and I cant wait to share it (online). If this goes wrong, I better warn people. So basically I figured no matter what happens, Im going to tell people. And God, I just prayed it went well.

Side-effects of the procedure

Dr. Parisha Acharya, lead cosmetic doctor at the London medical aesthetics clinic Waterhouse Young, told CNN, When Botox is injected into a muscle, it stops the connection to the nerve. Over time it leads to a weakening and paralysis of the muscle. Indirectly, the muscle shrinks away.

Popularity of Barbie Botox

The hashtag #BarbieBotox has over 7 million views on TikTok. Acharya takes the credit for the hashtag and says, It came from the idea that you would look more like a Barbie when you get it done, which I dont think is a bad thing. It elongates the neck, slims the shoulders and creates a very delicate physique when its done properly.

She added, I think that you need to go to a surgeon or a medical doctor. If youre not able to get it done at the right place, I would say its honestly not worth it.

Barbie burns the box-office

Greta Gerwig should be feeling closer to fine these days. In just three weeks in theaters, Barbie sailed past $1 billion in global ticket sales, breaking a record for female directors that was previously held by Patty Jenkins, who helmed Wonder Woman.

As distribution chiefs, were not often rendered speechless by a films performance, but Barbillion has blown even our most optimistic predictions out of the water, said Jeff Goldstein and Andrew Cripps, who oversee domestic and international distribution for the studio, in a joint statement.
In just over a fortnight from now, India will hold the Group of Twenty (G20) summit in New Delhi. Since assuming the G20 presidency last December, India has organised multiple meetings across several states and Union Territories on diverse geopolitical issues.

India announced, in the beginning, it would be the voice of the Global South during its tenure. Our G20 priorities will be shaped in consultation with not just our G20 partners, but also our fellow-travellers in the Global South, whose voice often goes unheard, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said last December.

The Indian government has since then ensured to walk the talk with its focus on raising concerns of the Global South, especially in the aftermath of Russias invasion of Ukraine.

What is Global South? How is India fulfilling its promise of serving as its voice? We explain.

Global South

Global South is used to refer to developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, while economically developed countries such as the United States, Canada, Europe, Russia, Australia and New Zealand constitute Global North.

India has flagged the issues plaguing the Global South countries on international forums, including at the United Nations meetings and conferences, many times before.

In the years following its independence, India pioneered the Non-Alignment Movement to ensure more room to manoeuvre and wider options for developing countries to avoid becoming embroiled in the great power politics of the time, while championing third world solidarity, Shairee Malhotra, Associate Fellow, Europe with global think tank Observer Research Foundations (ORF) Strategic Studies Programme, wrote in her February article.

New Delhis close relations with countries in the Global North, and its similar challenges to those of the Global South, puts the Asian country in a unique position, Malhotra further noted.

As Ashok Malik, a former adviser to the Indian foreign ministry, told Deutsche Welle (DW) that India has a deep intersection with the West in terms of strategic goals and values. But, he added that it also has deep roots in the Global South. So what India has tried to do is to be a bridge between the G20 members of the developed world, as it were, and the Global South.

With India at the helm of G20, it has continued to make efforts to bring the Global North and South  which often do not agree on key policy areas  to the table.

Indias focus on Global South in G20

In January, India convened a virtual summit titled Voice of the Global South Summit of leaders and ministers of developing countries. New Delhi aimed to consult countries not represented in G20 about their developmental priorities and their expectations from India during its presidency, reported Hindustan Times (HT).

Prime Minister Modi in his inaugural address to the summit on 12 January called for a global agenda of 4Rs  Respond, Recognise, Respect and Reform.

Explaining further, the Indian leader, as per The Diplomat magazine, said that this meant responding to the priorities of the Global South, recognising the principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities, respecting the sovereignty of all nations, and reforming international institutions to make them more relevant.

Billed as the largest digital conference, the summit saw the presence of 125 countries, including 29 from Latin America and the Caribbean, 47 African nations, seven countries from Europe, 31 Asian countries, and 11 countries from Oceania, reported HT.

Calling for a human-centric globalisation Modi told the summit that Indias G20 presidency will attempt to voice the views of the Global South on important issues.

Later in June, India held a two-day event on international taxation in Maharashtras Nagpur, along with South Centre, a Geneva-based intergovernmental policy research think-tank of 55 developing countries. In a press release at the time, the finance ministry said, Under the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has strived to champion the concerns and aspirations of the Global South during its G20 presidency. The focus of this event was to address the pressing tax challenges emerging from the digitalisation of the global economy and explore solutions that promote inclusivity and fairness.

ALSO READ: Why Indias G20 presidency is significant

India to push for AU membership in G20

According to The Hindu report, India is placing its bets on making its presidency a success by pushing for the membership of the African Union (AU) in the G20.

The report says that there is much support for Indias AU proposal because of two reasons. Firstly, this is the first time that the G20 troika  Indonesia, India and Brazil  consists of three developing and emerging economies.

Secondly, the present G20 is seen as over-representing Europe, as the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and the European Union (EU) make up a quarter of the grouping.

While Russia and China, who want no reference to the Ukraine war in a G20 document, are already posing a challenge for Indias presidency to bring all leaders on board to forge a joint statement, the induction of AU members can prove a bright spot for the country, the newspaper noted.

With inputs from agencies
Himachal Pradesh is reeling from death and devastation caused by torrential rains which triggered landslides and flooding in several areas. At least 74 people have lost their lives in rain-related incidents since Sunday (13 August). The renowned Kalka-Shimla Railway (KSR) has also sustained damage, with a 50-metre bridge being swept away near Shimlas Summer Hill on Monday amid the deluge. This left a section of the track hanging between the Jutogh and Summer Hill stations.

As per PTI, the over 120-year-old Kalka-Shimla heritage line has been damaged in five or six places, the most affected being the stretch between Shimla and Shoghi.

The scenic railway regarded as an engineering marvel has a rich history. As it comes into focus again, lets take a look at how the track came to be.

Tracing KSRs history

Shimla was declared the summer capital of India by the British Raj in 1864. With this, the viceroy and his council used to shift office from Calcutta to the hill station for seven months every year, as per an Indian Express report.

However, this was an arduous 1,600-km journey by horse, elephant and bullock cart. Thus, the British conceived to build the Kalka-Shimla Railway.

In 1889, Delhi-Umballa-Kalka Railway Company signed an agreement to construct the railway line. As per the contract, the rail line was to be built without any pecuniary aid or guarantee from the government. The land was, however, provided free of charge to the company. The estimated cost of Rs 86,78,500, doubled during execution of the project, Indian Express reported citing the PhD thesis The Development of Mountain Railways in India: A Study of R Priya of Chennais Ethiraj College for Women.

Initially planned as a 2-foot narrow-gauge railway, the line was later expanded to a wider 2 feet 6 inches gauge, as per the newspaper.

In narrow gauge, the distance between the two rails, or the track gauge, is generally between 1 foot 11 inches and 3 feet 6 inches, noted Indian Express.

The story of Baba Bhalku

Baba Bhalku, a local holy man, is considered to have played a key role in the construction of the Kalka-Shimla Railway.

According to The Better India article, Bhalku assisted British engineer HS Harrington to build the longest tunnel  known as the Barog Tunnel today  of the railway track.

Bhalku used his wooden staff to tap the walls of the mountain and listened to the sounds. He would then mark the points that helped the British engineers, who were unfamiliar with the terrain, to dig.

The British employed Bhalkus skills to construct the rest of the tunnels on this route, the article added.

In 2011, the Himachal government named a museum in Shimla after Baba Bhalku acknowledging his efforts towards KSR.

One of the plaques at Baba Bhalku Museum notes Lieutenant Colonel H Moores high praise for Balkoo. All I can say is that I have known Balkoo for the last 14 years; that he is not only an excellent public servant but a highly esteemed and excellent man, whose charity and benevolence is known throughout the hills to all, the plaque dated 17 October 1875 reads, as per The Better Indian.

ALSO READ: Himachal Pradesh death toll rises: What is behind the hill states recent spell of rains?

The iconic KSR

The railway line finally opened in 1903 to connect Shimla with the northern plains. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008, the train line connects Kalka in Haryana with Himachal Pradeshs capital.

The track gains an altitude of about 1,590 metres, and has 919 curves.

The 96.6 km long narrow-gauge Kalka-Shimla Railway, often called the toy train line, traverses through 18 stations, 102 tunnels, and more than 988 bridges.

KSR is much longer than most narrow-gauge railway lines across the world. They (the other railways) are roughly ten kilometres long, whereas the KSR is around 100 km long, with a total level difference of around 1,500 m, Indian Express reported citing a 2008 paper by the Paris-based International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS).

The longest tunnel on the line  the Barog Tunnel (number 33)  lies between the Dagshai and Solan stations.

The most architecturally complex bridge is bridge number 226 which spans a deep valley that is enclosed on two sides by steep peaks. This bridge was constructed in five stages with each level having its own stone arched tier, Indian Express cited Priyas PhD paper as saying.

During the nearly five-hour journey which begins at Kalka, travellers witness majestic views of valleys engulfed with pine, oak, and deodar trees along the route.

According to a Himahc Pradesh governments 2018 report, KSR has a Guinness Book of World Records for its 96 kilometers steepest rise in altitude with crossover of 800 bridges and viaducts.

After the current damage, it remains to be seen when the heritage line will become operational again. As per NDTV, it would take at least a month to complete all the repair work on the tracks, which could cost about Rs 15 crore.

With inputs from agencies
The monsoon havoc continues in the hill state of Himachal Pradesh  the death toll from rain-related incidents, which include landslides, has risen to 74. Authorities peg that nearly 650 roads have been blocked, 10,714 houses have been completely or partially damaged, 1,135 transformers and 285 water supply schemes have been disrupted. According to Principal Secretary (Revenue) Onkar Chand Sharma, the monsoon seasons losses have reached around Rs 7,500 crore.

Amid this death and destruction, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has come under fire for a reference he made to Bihari construction workers.

What did he say and how did the Opposition, namely the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), react to Sukhus remark.

The CMs Bihari remark

As the state grapples with the unprecedented damage and destruction, Himachal Pradesh chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that it wasnt just unnatural rains which are a result of climate change that his state was suffering.

He blamed faulty structural design, indiscriminate construction work and migrant architects for the destruction faced by his state this week. Speaking to Indian Express, Sukhu said: People construct houses without applying scientific methods. In recently made buildings, the drainage system is very poor. They believe they are draining the water without knowing that water is going nowhere but into the hills, making them fragile.

Shimla is more than one-and-a-half century old, and its drainage system was excellent. Now there are buildings in the nullahs (runlets). The houses which are collapsing these days have not gone through the standards of structural engineering. The migrant architects (masons), whom I call Bihari architects come here and construct floor on floor. We do not have local masons.

See how vulnerable these hills are. These houses in Shimla just collapsed today like cards. Prayers  pic.twitter.com/jkR035IEo4  Parveen Kaswan, IFS (@ParveenKaswan) August 15, 2023

He also blamed faulty cutting of rocks to widen highways as a reason for landslides. Its important to note here that the hill state has already witnessed 113 landslides in 55 days since the onset of monsoon, as per data provided by the state emergency operation centre.

Also read: Death and destruction in Himachal Pradesh: Why the area is so prone to landslides

The chief minister said, There is a way to cut the hills. Hills are always cut in slopes at an angle of 45 degree, 60 degree, etc but not at 90 degree, as was done at many locations between Kalka and Shimla.

Moreover, Chief Minister Sukhu blamed indiscriminate construction for the devastation witnessed by the state. The river didnt enter homes, the homes entered the river.

Opposition speaks up

Soon after the CMs statements were reported, the AAP and the BJP came down heavily on Sukhu, calling his remarks irresponsible and insensitive.

Union minister Anurag Thakur, who is also the MP from Hamirpur in the state, said: What has people of Bihar got to do with what is happening in Himachal? The state (Bihar) has played a big role in nation-building with its labourers as well as people who have occupied prominent positions across the country, whether as IAS or IPS officers. This comment by the state government reflects the mindset of the Congress party.

He also added that now was not the time to play the blame game and the focus should be on providing relief to the afflicted citizens. There are many people who have lost their lives and livelihood. The focus of any and every government should be to ensure maximum rescue and relief operations right now. This is not the time to play the blame game, Thakur told News18.

The minister further stated that we should wait for the detailed report on this regard before jumping the gun.

Thakurs fellow BJP colleague Suresh Bhardwaj, who is a senior leader in the state, also came down heavily on Sukhu for his remarks. When the state is reeling under a disaster, we cant fault labourers, mistris. They are here to earn a livelihood. Instead of blaming others, especially the poor, the CM should focus on relief work and devise a mechanism for more scientific development, he was quoted as saying.

And even though the AAP is a part of the 26-party Opposition bloc, INDIA, the partys spokesperson from the hill state also criticised the Congress chief minister for his remarks. AAP as a party condemns this statement, which shows the Congress mentality of dividing the country. We are all Indians first. If the structural guidelines are being violated, its the failure of the government; how can you blame such a hardworking community, said Malwinder Singh Kang.

Sukhu earning criticism from all sides, tried to distance himself from his previous remarks. Speaking to news agency ANI, the chief minister said: I did not say anything as such. The people of Bihar were also stuck here. I got them evacuated by helicopters. Around 200 people from Bihar are still stuck here. They are like our brothers. It is the fault of our structural engineering, they are just labourers.

Himachal Pradesh rain fury

Heavy rains in the state of Himachal have caused untold devastation, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) stating that it has received 43 per cent excess rainfall since 1 June.

Also read: Himachal Pradesh death toll rises: What is behind the hill states recent spell of rains?

The state emergency operation centre has recorded that while 74 people have died in the recent rain-related incidents, a total of 214 deaths have been recorded in the state since 24 June and another 38 people are still missing.

Rescue efforts continue at landslide sites in Shimla and the Indian army, Air Force and other personnel have evacuated 309 people from flood-affected areas in Kangra district's Fatehpur and Pong Dam in Indora. In total, 2,074 individuals have been rescued over the past three days.

Visiting the rain-affected areas on Thursday, CM Sukhu also said that rebuilding efforts will take over a year and he described the entire process to be a mountain-like challenge.

The reconstruction and relief operations are also being hampered owing to the continuous rainfall; the IMD has predicted scattered rains for the state for the next four-five days.

With inputs from agencies
Parts of India are experiencing heavy rains and destructive landslides, which is causing a lot of trouble and inconvenience. Heavy rains have stranded hundreds of trucks carrying fuel and essential items to the violence-hit state of Manipur, police said on Thursday, after heavy rains caused devastation that killed at least 84 people.

Heavy rain has caused many landslides along the National Highway-37 in Manipurs Noney district, delaying the supply of the essential commodities. According to reports, the NH-37 is one of Manipurs two lifelines and has been closed since the afternoon of the Independence Day.

Rocks and mud engulfed part of a highway near Imphal, the capital of Manipur, following Wednesdays rains, police said, adding that incessant rain was hampering efforts to clear the road.

Nearly 500 vehicles, including 200 loaded Imphal-bound trucks, are stranded in Jiribam district bordering Assam, as per an Indian Express report.

The landslides happened between Irang and Awangkhul part 2 and Irang and Khongsang. Massive stones are obstructing the highway in Awangkhul. However, the police said that the work to clear the debris is continuing 247 to ensure movement of traffic on the highway by Friday.

Strict security measures have been implemented in all vulnerable locations, and security convoys have been provided in sensitive stretches to ensure free and safe movement of vehicles, according to a police control room statement quoted by Indian Express.

Manipur is trying to restore peace after it was hit by deadly ethnic violence that began in May, killing at least 180 people and driving tens of thousands from their homes.

Landslides across the country

Torrential rains that officials blame on climate change, coupled with unabated construction over the past few years in the mountainous Himalayan region, have also led to frequent flash floods and landslides in neighbouring Pakistan and Nepal.

Hundreds of structures have also crumbled down the mountains this week in landslides in Himachal Pradesh, killing at least 68 people with about 15 missing, disaster management official Praveen Bhardwaj said.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu told the Indian Express that indiscriminate construction and improper structural design were among the reasons for the destruction.

In the neighbouring state of Uttarakhand, at least 16 people died in landslides this week with 15 missing by Wednesday, government figures showed.

Heavy seasonal monsoon showers since 1 June have brought rains exceeding the normal by 45 per cent and 18 per cent respectively in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, weather officials say, following significant volumes last month.

At least 88 people died in rain-related incidents in Himachal Pradesh last month, with 74 dying since June in Uttarakhand in events triggered by natural disasters, official data shows.

With inputs from Reuters
Scientists have reconstructed a famous Pink Floyd song by using brain waves.

Researchers at the University of California, Berkley, used Artificial Intelligence to reconstruct a cover of Another Brick in the Wall Part 1 by listening to neural patterns of patients listening to music.

Experts say the development gives those that are unable to communicate due to neurological conditions hope for the future.

Lets take a closer look:

What happened?

As per Daily Beast, scientists developed a machine-learning model that could decode brain activity.

The research was published on Tuesday in the journal PLoS Biology,

They attached 2,668 electrodes directly to the brains of 29 patients who were listening to the song from the 1979 Pink Floyd album.

The brain activity of patients, who were undergoing epilepsy surgery, was then recorded and analysed, as per The Guardian.

Scientists then put artificial intelligence to work  first to decode the recordings and then to reproduce the sounds and words.

The team said they were able to recreate a rough copy of the song, as per the Daily Beast.

They also discovered that the more data they fed into the model, the better the end result.

Scientists said the All in all its just another brick in the wall phase is recognisable and that the songs rythms remain intact.

It sounds a bit like theyre speaking underwater, but its our first shot at this, Robert Knight, a neurologist and UC Berkeley professor of psychology at the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, was quoted as saying by EuroNews.

We reconstructed the classic Pink Floyd song Another Brick in the Wall from direct human cortical recordings, providing insights into the neural bases of music perception and into future brain decoding applications, Ludovic Bellier, a computational research scientist at UC Berkeley, said in a press release.

Knight and Bellier led the study.

According to Financial Times, researchers found certain areas of the brain identify rythm.

Parts of the auditory cortex, located just behind and above the ear, respond to a voice or synthesiser while others respond to sustained vocals.

The study also gave a fillip to the scientific ideas about the right brain and left brain.

Knight said that though the two work jointly, the left side handles language, while music is more distributed, with a bias towards [the] right.

What do experts say?

That we are in a brave new world  and that this discovery could ultimatelyend up benefitting people with impaired speech.

Knight told New Scientist, For those with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis [a condition of the nervous system] or aphasia [a language condition], who struggle to speak, wed like a device that really sounded like you are communicating with somebody in a human way, Knight said. Understanding how the brain represents the musical elements of speech, including tone and emotion, could make such devices sound less robotic.

Its a technical tour de force, Robert Zatorre, a neuroscientist at McGill University in Canada, told The New York Times.

Shailee Jain, a neuroscientist at the University of California, San Francisco, told Scientific American, These exciting findings build on previous work to reconstruct plain speech from brain activity. Now were able to really dig into the brain to unearth the sustenance of sound.

Dr Alexander Huth, University of Texas, told The Guardian, This [new study] is a really nice demonstration that a lot of the same techniques that have been developed for speech decoding can also be applied to music  an under-appreciated domain in our field, given how important musical experience is in our lives, Huth said.

Huth, who led a team of researchers who this year translated brain activity into text using MRI scan data, added, While they didnt record brain responses while subjects were imagining music, this could be one of the things brain machine interfaces are used for in the future: translating imagined music into the real thing. Its an exciting time.

Its a wonderful result, Knight added, as per EuroNews.

One of the things for me about music is it has prosody and emotional content. As this whole field of brain machine interfaces progresses, this gives you a way to add musicality to future brain implants for people who need it, someone whos got ALS or some other disabling neurological or developmental disorder compromising speech output. It gives you an ability to decode not only the linguistic content, but some of the prosodic content of speech, some of the affect. I think thats what weve really begun to crack the code on.

With inputs from agencies
Days after a first-year student was found dead allegedly due to ragging by his seniors, Kolkatas Jadavpur University (JU) has announced new measures, including making identity cards mandatory and planning to install CCTVs at strategic points. This comes in the wake of widespread condemnation of the death of the 17-year-old Bengali (Honours) student last week.

So far, the West Bengal police have arrested nine people in connection with the case. The incident has snowballed into a huge political row in the state, with parties blaming each other.

What happened at Jadavpur University? What steps have the authorities introduced after the tragedy? Why has the incident triggered a political slugfest in West Bengal? We explain.

The JU ragging horror

The fresher was subjected to intense ragging for 120 minutes on the night of 9 August before he fell from the second-floor balcony of the JUs Main Hostel, which is located outside the campus, Times of India (TOI) reported citing the police.

As per the report, the first-year student was summoned to room 104 on the fourth floor of the A-2 block after 9 pm and forced to sign a letter that framed another student, not a resident of the hostel, for ragging.

The letter was then written by two seniors. One of the main accused claimed that the signature on the letter was that of the deceased minor student. However, we have our doubts about it, a police official, who is involved in the investigation, told The Quint.

As per TOI, around 10 pm, the minor was summoned to another floor, leading to his eventual fall. During the night, the first-year student was made to go to three different rooms where he was ragged.

The accused seniors allegedly told the undergraduate student that he was gay and that they wanted to liberate him from homosexuality, reported The Quint.

Speaking to the digital news outlet, the police officer revealed, As the ragging continued, the student was brought down to the third floor where he was forced to give an introduction. He was told (by the seniors) that he was gay.

He was asked to submit evidence against this claim. Then, at around 11.30 pm, he was taken back to room number 70 where he was forcibly undressed.

The minor was allegedly forced to strip and asked to take the towel off and parade and run through the balcony naked, as per The Quint report.

The boy fell from the balcony around 11. 45 pm and succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment at a hospital the next day, reported news agency PTI.

The police have filed a murder case on the basis of the complaint filed by the victims father.

Nine arrested

Out of those arrested, four are former students of JU and the rest are currently studying in the university. They have been remanded to police custody until 28 August, reported The Quint.

Alumni Sourav Chakraborty, Saptak Kamilya, Suman Naskar and Asit Sardar; second-year students Deepsekhar Dutta (19) and Manotosh Ghosh (20); third-year students Md Arif and Ankan Sardar; and fourth-year student Md Asif Azmal have been arrested in the case, according to the TOI report.

The police said that it was Sourav (the prime accused) and Saptaks idea to force the victim to write the letter, the newspaper report added. However, the first-year student could not write it.

The victim, a resident of Bagula in Nadia district, had joined the hostel on 6 August but had quickly asked his father to take him back, as per Frontline magazine. My son had told me that they were scaring him. I had decided to bring him back on Friday (11 August), but they ended his life before that, the deceased students father was quoted as saying by the magazine.

JU introduces measures

On Thursday (17 August), the varsity authorities issued a circular introducing various measures to tighten security on the campus.

Identity cards, issued by the university, have been made compulsory for entering the campus from 8 pm to 7 am to curb the entry of outsiders, as per Indian Express.

In the case of no college-issued ID card, people have to furnish valid proof of identity and provide details of the individual they will visit inside the campus, reported India Today.

Vehicles, including two-wheelers and four-wheelers, have to bear the stickers issued by the university from now.

Registrar (JU) Snehamanju Basu said that CCTVs will be installed at the different entry and exit points for monitoring. CCTVs will be installed at certain strategic points, which will include several entry and exit gates. However, since the electrical engineering department will take a call on the issue of installation with the firm under contract, the entire exercise will take some time, she was quoted as saying by PTI.

However, Basu said that any call to install CCTVs throughout the campus and in hostel compounds can only be taken by JUs Executive Council (EC), the body responsible for key decision-making in the varsity. The ECs work has halted in the absence of a vice-chancellor for months, reported the news agency.

The use of alcohol and narcotics has been banned inside the JU campus. Use of narcotics/alcohol or other illegal substances and any illegal acts in any part of the campus is strictly prohibited. If anyone is found with such activity, he/she will be prosecuted as per law, Indian Express cited the circular as saying.

Political blame game

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has blamed the Left, reportedly calling JU atankapur (terror house), for the incident.

They dont allow the police inside; they dont allow CCTV cameras to be installed The boys father had told me when I had called up, that he used to cry and tell him that he was being tortured Who are these people? They are Marxists. They sometimes ally themselves with the BJP, and sometimes with the Congress. They are still Trinamools number one enemy. They have no shame, no conscience, she was quoted as saying by Frontline.

On 17 August, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) government set up a four-member fact-finding committee in connection with the minors death. The panel will submit its report within two weeks.

West Bengal Govt has constituted a 4 member fact-finding committee in connection with the death of a student of Jadavpur University. The committee will submit their report within two weeks. pic.twitter.com/l1kdwCx7Gr  ANI (@ANI) August 17, 2023

Refuting the allegations, CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty hit out at the chief minister, saying, The unfortunate events at Jadavpur are regrettable. Stringent measures should be taken against ragging. Why hasnt her (Banerjees) government taken any action against it? During the Lefts tenure, anti-ragging laws were in place. Why has she destroyed all those laws?

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has targeted the state government and university administration over the incident, while the Congress has reportedly alleged a lack of law and order and administration in the state.

The tragedy also triggered protests from various student bodies in Kolkata.

JU under scanner

The West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights (WBCPCR) pulled up JU authorities for allegedly trying to shirk responsibility for the first-year students death.

The Commission feels that this response reflects the gross insincerity of the University administration where they have tried to shrug off all responsibilities of the said incident instead of accepting and acknowledging their failure and failing to chart out a road map towards systemic reforms in order to eradicate ragging and other malpractices from the University campus, PTI quoted the statement as saying.

The Commission is extremely unhappy with the reply sent by the Registrar of Jadavpur University to the show-cause notice sent by the Commission regarding the recent incident of the death of the minor student in the main boys hostel of the University, it added.

Meanwhile, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has also reprimanded JU for submitting a generic report on the death of the student. The report was found to be generic in nature. It basically mentioned the reactive approaches adopted in the matter rather than proactive measures taken to curb the menace of ragging, a source told PTI. It has sought a compliance report from JU authorities.

With inputs from agencies
Edtech company Unacademy is currently facing criticism for letting go of an educator.

The action was taken in response to a viral video in which a professor by the name of Karan Sangwan advised his students to vote for educated candidates in the upcoming elections.

Along with netizens, politicians have also expressed their opinions strongly over the dispute.

Lets take a closer look at the matter.

Also read: YouTube set to enter the Indian EdTech space with a new service, to take on Byjus, Unacademy

The controversial video

Sangwan was talking about the most recent criminal law replacement bill that the central government has submitted to the Lok Sabha.

He said that the name change rendered all of his notes on criminal law worthless.

I dont know whether to laugh or cry because I have a lot of notes, bare acts and caseloads that I had prepared. But remember one thing, the next time you vote, choose an educated candidate so that you do not have to suffer all this (ordeal) again in life Elect someone who is educated and understands things. Dont elect someone who only knows changing names. Decide properly, Karan Sangwan, an educator with Unacademy, told his students.

Karan Sangwan from Unacademy urged his students not to vote for an illiterate person next time. Bhakts abused him saying that he is targeting Modi. Reportedly, he has been terminated from Unacademy for sayings whats right. Shocking if true. pic.twitter.com/XV2j8CekTm  Nimo Tai (@Cryptic_Miind) August 17, 2023

After a video of these remarks went viral on social media and sparked a debate, the e-learning company fired Sangwan on the grounds of contract breach.

These remarks sparked a heated debate on social media. Although Sangwan did not specifically mention anyone, many believed that the BJP government was his target.

Unacademy was accused by some social media users of promoting an anti-Modi agenda. While a number of others responded to those remarks and supported Sangwan.

Thank You @unacademy for terminating Karan Sangwan. he should have focused on putting more effort into the betterment of students instead of ranting. A teacher must remember that his task is to teach and not to preach. Let democracy and the people of India decide their leaders. pic.twitter.com/lb4eLg1wT4  Sonu Nigam (@SonuNigamSingh) August 17, 2023

Wow! Unacademy sacks teacher who urged students to vote for educated candidates!

It should rename itself as Unlearning Academyhttps://t.co/ezfHAX5ifP  Prashant Bhushan (@pbhushan1) August 18, 2023

Also read: A whole new world: How an Indian EdTech platform is betting big on classrooms in the Metaverse

Unacademy sacks Sangwan

The e-learning platform sacked Sangwan after the uproar. According to the online learning platform, his remark was both a breach of contract and a violation of its code of conduct.

We are an education platform that is deeply committed to imparting quality education. To do this, we have in place a strict Code of Conduct for all our educators with the intention of ensuring that our learners have access to unbiased knowledge, Co-founder of Unacademy Roman Sainy said on X.

Our learners are at the centre of everything we do. The classroom is not a place to share personal opinions and views as they can wrongly influence them. In the current situation, we were forced to part ways with Karan Sangwan as he was in breach of the Code of Conduct, Saini added.

We are an education platform that is deeply committed to imparting quality education. To do this we have in place a strict Code of Conduct for all our educators with the intention of ensuring that our learners have access to unbiased knowledge. Our learners are at the centre of  Roman Saini (@RomanSaini) August 17, 2023

Tutoring platform criticised

Widespread criticism followed Unacademys decision to fire a teacher. Many people, including leaders of the Opposition, criticised the action, calling it inappropriate, and said that the platform was stifling free speech.

In response to news of Sangwans dismissal, Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi and the national convenor of the AAP, questioned whether it is unlawful to urge people to support educated candidates.

Is it a crime to appeal to vote for educated people? If someone is illiterate, personally I respect him. But peoples representatives cannot be illiterate. This is the era of science and technology. Illiterate public representatives can never build the modern India of the 21st century, Kejriwal wrote on X.

           ?    ,                      21             https://t.co/YPX4OCoRoZ  Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) August 17, 2023

Prashant Kanojia, the head of the Rashtriya Lok Dal, said that a teacher had been punished for speaking the truth.

He said dont vote for the illiterate and the people of BJP have accepted that this is an attack on Modi means BJP people also believe that Modi is illiterate and do nothing except changing his name? he wrote on the micro-blogging platform.

                                            ? pic.twitter.com/ClbCQkCh8f  Prashant Kanojia (@KanojiaPJ) August 17, 2023

Congress leader Supriya Shrinate criticised Unacademy founders and wrote, Sad to see such spineless and weak people run an education platform. Those who cower under pressure and get bullied can never help nurture citizens who stand up against all odds to take on this world.

Those who cower under pressure and get bullied can never help nurture citizens who stand up against all odds to take on this world. Sad to see such spineless and weak people run an education platform. Care to explain this though @RomanSaini @gauravmunjal pic.twitter.com/XFUdI5YJ8m  Supriya Shrinate (@SupriyaShrinate) August 17, 2023

Congress Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Singh Hooda described the incident as unfortunate, while Priyanka Chaturvedi, a member of the Shiv Sena (UBT), questioned how expressing a vote for literate politicians could be construed as having a biased opinion.

Also read: Explained: How are Bengalurus super-rich escaping floods?

Sangwans response

Sangwan has now started his own YouTube channel and responded to the controversy saying his students preparing for Judicial Service examinations are facing a lot of consequences.

As you all know I have been fired from Unacademy for just doing my job. I didnt breach any code of conduct as mentioned by Unacademy but still I did pay a price for speaking the truth to power. I will not back down, Jai Hind  pic.twitter.com/YNOzs2CrwE  Karan Sangwan  (@ZackRhea) August 18, 2023

For the past few days, a video has been going viral, due to which I am in controversy and because of that controversy, several of my students who are preparing for judicial services examinations are facing a lot of consequences. Along with them, I also face consequences, Sangwan said.

He added that he would share additional information regarding the controversy on Saturday.

With inputs from agencies
Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, the caretaker prime minister of Pakistan, announced the formation of a new cabinet on Thursday as he prepares to steer the nation through difficult times until a new administration is established following general elections.

Mushaal Hussein Mullick, the wife of Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik, was one of the faces in the government that attracted attention.

She will serve as the Prime Ministers Special Assistant on human rights, not as a full-time minister. Special assistants can be dual nationals, however full or deputy ministers must be Pakistanis.

Notably, this is the first time a politician from Pakistani-occupied Kashmir (PoK) has been a part of the federal cabinet.

Also read: Explained: The 2017 terror-funding case in which Kashmir separatist leader Yasin Malik is sentenced to life

About Mushaal Hussein Mullick

According to Wion News, Mushaal, an alumnus of the London School of Economics, tied the knot with Yasin Malik, the leader of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), on 22 February 2009, in Rawalpindi.

Some of Pakistans top political figures at the time reportedly attended the wedding festivities.

The duo met during one of Maliks trips to Pakistan in 2005.

Rehana Mullick, Mushaals mother, was the secretary general of the womens section of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (PML-N).

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Mushaal Hussein Mullick (@mushaal_hussein_mullick)

News18 reported that the first Pakistani to serve on a Nobel Prize jury was Mushaals father, MA Hussein, an international economist who oversaw the economics programme at the University of Bonn.

Her brother Haider Ali Hussein Mullick, a foreign policy expert with a base in Washington, DC, currently is a lecturer at the Naval Post Graduate School. While her sister Sabien Hussein Mullick is a social worker.

Mushaal resides with her daughter Raziyah Sultana, 12, in Islamabad, reported Wion News.

Also read: Explained: The abduction of Rubaiya Sayeed in 1989 and the connection to JKLF chief Yasin Malik

Yasin Malik serving a life sentence

Yasin Malik was found guilty on 19 May 2022, by a court in the National Capital in a case involving alleged terrorism and secessionist actions in the Kashmir Valley in 201617. He received a life sentence.

Malik entered a plea of guilty to the accusations brought against him. He informed the court that he was not contesting the charges brought against him under sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 124-A (sedition) of the IPC as well as sections 16 of the UAPA (terrorist act), 17 of the UAPA (raising funds for the terrorist act), 18 of the UAPA (conspiracy to commit terrorist act), and 20 of the UAPA (being a member of a terrorist gang or organisation).

In May this year, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) approached the Delhi High Court seeking the death penalty for Malik, who is currently lodged in Tihar jail, as per Hindustan Times.

Malik, who was born in April 1966 in Srinagars Maisuma, is also currently facing trial for the 1989 kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed, the daughter of the then-Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, as well as the 1990 JKLF militant attack in Srinagar that resulted in four fatalities and numerous injuries as well as the abduction of IAF personnel.

Also read: Pakistan: How Kakars appointment as caretaker PM will further strengthen Army stranglehold

Interim Pakistan PM Kakars 19-member cabinet takes oath

Pakistans National Assembly was dissolved on 9 August, ending the tenure of the government led by Shehbaz Sharif and paving the way for installing a caretaker setup.

A 19-member Cabinet of Pakistans newly appointed caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar took oath on Thursday to run the cash-strapped country until the general elections and ensure a seamless transition of power. President Arif Alvi administered an oath to the caretaker Cabinet at Aiwan-e-Sadr, the presidential house.

According to an official statement, 16 federal ministers and three advisers are part of the Cabinet.

Former foreign secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani has been appointed as Foreign Minister, Sarfaraz Bugti as Interior Minister, Shamshad Akhtar as Finance Minister, Lt Gen (retd) Anwar Ali Haider as Defence Minister and senior journalist Murtaza Solangi as Information Minister.

Khalil George took the oath as Minister for Minorities, industrialist Gohar Ijaz as Minister for Industries, academic Dr Umar Saif as Minister for Information Technology, Ahmad Irfan Aslam as Law Minister, renowned actor Jamal Shal as Minister for Culture, Aniq Ahmad as Religious Affairs Minister.

Akhtar is the only woman in the Cabinet.

The oath-taking ceremony began with the recitation of the Holy Quran at the Presidents House in Islamabad.

Pakistans constitution mandates a neutral caretaker administration for overseeing national elections, which are expected to take place within 90 days of the dissolution of the lower house of parliament, likely by early November.

But the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday decided to conduct a fresh delimitation of the constituencies, making it almost certain that general elections may not be held within the stipulated period of 90 days.

Earlier this month, the Council of Common Interests (CCI) approved the results of the 2023 digital census, making it compulsory for the ECP to conduct fresh delimitation, a process that will take nearly four months.

According to a schedule issued by the ECP, the electoral watchdog will complete the delimitation exercise by mid-December.

Pakistan is currently in the throes of an economic crisis.

The Pakistan government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reached a long-awaited staff-level agreement on 29 June to inject a US $3 billion Standby Arrangement (SBA) into the ailing economy after months-long negotiations that pushed the country to the brink of default.

With inputs from agencies
A journalist in Bihar was shot dead by unidentified assailants in the Araria district.

Vimal Kumar Yadav was killed at his home in Premnagar village.

But what happened? And what do we know about Yadav?

Lets take a closer look:

What happened?

Yadav, 35, worked as a local journalist for the Dainik Jagran newspaper, as per NDTV.

The Bihar police posted on social media that the assailants knocked at the gates of Yadavs home around 5.30 am.

They opened fire as soon as he opened the gates, they added.

According to Free Press Journal, the four assailants, who were on bikes, fled the scene.

Yadav died on the spot and his body was taken to the Araria Sadar Hospital.

Ashok Kumar Singh, Superintendent of Police, Araria, was quoted by ANI as saying, In the Raniganj Bazar area, a journalist namely Vimal Kumar Yadav was shot dead by unidentified miscreants. A post-mortem is underway. The dog squad has been called to the murder spot. An investigation is on.

According to Business Standard, an old enmity with the neighbours could be the motive for the killing.

According to The Wire, Yadav was the only witness in the case of his brother Kumar Shashibhushan being shot dead a few years ago.

According to NDTV, police suspect that Yadavs murder might be linked to the ongoing case.

Yadav had reportedly received multiple threats warning him not to testify in the case of the death of his brother  a sarpanch.

Yadav is survived by his wife, 15-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter, as per Free Press Journal.

As per The Wire, 194 journalists, including seven women journalists, were targeted across the nation in 2022.

The outlet, quoting data from the Rights and Risks Analysis Group (RRAG), stated that journalists were singled out by state agencies, non-state political actors, criminals, and armed Opposition groups.

The most journalists were targeted in Jammu and Kashmir (48) and Telangana (40).

These were followed by Odisha (14), Uttar Pradesh (13), Delhi (12), West Bengal (11), Madhya Pradesh and Manipur (six each), Assam and Maharashtra (five each), Bihar, Karnataka, and Punjab (four each), Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Meghalaya (three each), Arunachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu (two each), and Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tripura, and Uttarakhand (one each).

While 103 journalists were targeted by the state actors, 91 journalists were targeted by non-state actors including political activists, the data showed.

CM says probe on, Oppn slams govt

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, queried about the incident in Patna, I felt really sad and immediately asked officials concerned to look into the incident.

#WATCH |  Its an unfortunate incidentI have told officers to look into it, says Bihar CM Nitish Kumar on the murder of Journalist in Araria https://t.co/7zNL6yi9bL pic.twitter.com/WSluebjGKH  ANI (@ANI) August 18, 2023



The matter is being probed and the culprits will be brought to book, Nitish vowed.

The incident comes just a day after the chief minister claimed Bihar was witnessing recording fewer crime cases than other states.

The crime incidents are under control and the numbers of crimes are reducing. Look at the figures of crime incidents in Bihar it is much lower than the other states, IANS quoted him as saying.

However, the Opposition lashed out at the government and claimed the incident showed democracy is in danger in Bihar.

Criminals are roaming freely while innocent citizens, including journalists, and even police personnel are being killed in Bihar, alleged state BJP president Samrat Choudhary.

What has happened in Araria is, indeed, tragic. But such incidents have become the norm since the ghamandia (arrogant) Mahagathbandhan, led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, formed the government in the state, said the BJP leader whose party shared power in the stage till a year ago.

Former Lok Janshakti Party president Chirag Paswan, who has realigned with the BJP-led NDA, said, Nitish Kumar and his allies keep shouting that democracy is under attack in Bihar. But they are unable to protect the fourth estate.

Referring to the killing of a police officer recently in Samastipur, Paswan said, The common Bihari gave up all hopes from Nitish Kumar long back. But his government cannot protect even the police and the press.

With inputs from agencies
Stressing that affordable healthcare for all is the basic foundation of life, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that good health should be at the centre of all government decisions in our country as well as across the world. The Prime Minister was virtually addressing the inaugural session of the G20 Health Ministers Meet being held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

We must be ready to prevent, prepare, and respond to the next health emergency. The Covid-19 pandemic has reminded us that health should be at the centre of our decisions. This is especially important in todays interconnected world. We saw during the pandemic, how health issues in one part of the world can affect all other parts of the world in a very short span of time, PM Modi said.

It is the basic right of citizens to have access to facilities provided by the government, the Prime Minister said underscoring the need to stop the flourishing nexus between private doctors and pharma firms.

The Prime Minister also recited a Sanskrit shloka that roughly translates into: Health is ultimate wealth and with good health every task can be accomplished.

Recalling how the Covid-19 pandemic had taught the world the value of international cooperation, PM Modi said resilience was one of the biggest lessons learnt during the pandemic. He highlighted the Indian governments massive humanitarian initiative to provide Covid-19 vaccines to countries all over the world. He pointed out that under the Vaccine Maitri initiative, India had delivered 300 million vaccine doses to more than 100 countries, including many in the Global South.

The Prime Minister said that India believes in following a holistic and inclusive approach that would enable the government to eventually enhance the resilience of every citizen. He outlined the work being undertaken by the Union government to expand health infrastructure in the country, the efforts being made to promote traditional systems of medicine and the eventual goal of affordable healthcare for all.

Addressing health ministers from several G20 nations, the Prime Minister emphasised that health and environment are organically linked, and clean air, safe drinking water, sufficient nutrition, and secure shelters are major factors contributing to good health. He congratulated the dignitaries at the meet for the steps they had taken towards the launch of the Climate and Health Initiative. He also lauded the steps taken to address the threat of Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR).

PM Modi said AMR remains a serious threat to global public health and all modern pharmaceutical advancements so far. He praised the G20 Health Working Group for prioritising the initiative of One Health, and for working to fulfil the vision of One Earth, One Health.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and other officials from the health department are also scheduled to address the health ministers meet. In attendance are the Health Ministers of Indonesia and Brazil among dignitaries from a host of other G20countries. The event will also include a session on Health Emergencies Prevention, Preparedness and Response (with a focus on One Health and AMR).
A male passenger seated on the first row of a Delhi-Mumbai SpiceJet flight has been accused of harassing a woman flight attendant and a woman co-passenger. The person reportedly clicked the pictures of the cabin crew who was seated on the jump seat at the time of take-off.

Confirming the incident, the airline said the passenger later deleted the pictures of the flight attendant from his phone and also apologised for his action.

A passenger seated in the first row of SpiceJet flight SG157 operating from Delhi to Mumbai on 2 August was found clicking pictures of cabin crew, while she was seated on the jump seat at the time of take-off, a spokesperson for the airline said.

The spokesperson further informed that the passenger was confronted by the crew members. He deleted the pictures from his phone and apologised for his action. The passenger also gave a written apology, the statement by SpiceJet said.

The alleged incident took place on SpiceJet flight No 157 which was flying to Mumbai from Delhi.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) took suo-moto cognizance of the incident and has initiated action after the alleged video of the incident went viral on Instagram.

It is alleged in the viral video that a passenger was trying to click obscene pictures of a woman flight attendant and his woman co-passenger. It has been stated that when his mobile phone was checked, objectionable pictures of the women onboard the plane were found on his mobile, the notice said.

         Flight Attendant     videos                   ,      DGCA      ! pic.twitter.com/y4aiE9fdqi  Swati Maliwal (@SwatiJaiHind) August 18, 2023

The Delhi Police has been asked by the DCW to provide details by 23 August on the action taken against the accused.

"This is a very serious matter. In view of the above, please provide the following information to the Commission. Copy of FIR registered in the matter. Details of the accused arrested. If the accused has not been arrested, please inform the reasons for the same," the notice read.

With inputs from agencies
Bengaluru law enforcement has successfully dismantled a sextortion ring operated by a woman who enticed men and coerced them into parting with large sums of money.

While three gang members have been apprehended, the prime suspect  a woman at the center of the operation  remains at large.

The main accused, identified as Neha, also known as Meher, along with her associates, allegedly reached out to men using Telegram, a messaging platform, and invited them to her residence for intimate encounters.

Nehas accomplices would secretly film her engaging in these activities with the men. They would then exploit the recorded footage to blackmail the victims, according to reports.

The victims faced a harrowing choice: either marry Neha and convert to Islam or provide her with money.

Over the course of approximately eighteen months, the gang managed to extort more than Rs 35 lakh through their blackmail tactics.

Authorities have thus far retrieved Rs 60,000 from the gang. Payments were facilitated using Paytm.

Reportedly, Nehas whereabouts have been traced to Mumbai.

The full extent of the gangs illicit activities is still under investigation. Current estimates suggest that over 50 men have fallen victim to their extortion schemes.

A First Information Report (FIR) has been lodged at Puttenhalli Police Station. The charges include Wrongful Confinement to Extract Confession (Section 348) and Cheating (Section 420) of the Indian Penal Code.

Investigators are also exploring the angle of the victims possibly being coerced into undergoing circumcision as part of the gangs intimidation tactics.
Union Minister Nityanand Rai on Friday said that law and order has failed in Bihar and blamed the state government and JD(U) and RJD members for providing protection to miscreants.

Bihar journalist Vimal Kumar Yadav was shot in the chest by four men who walked into his Raniganj residence in Bihar Araria district.

The assailants knocked at the gates of Yadavs house around 5.30 am and opened fire as soon as he opened the gates, the Bihar Police tweeted.

Yadav died on the spot.

Its very sad. Journalist Vimal Kumar has been murdered by the miscreants. I would like to pay homage to him. Law and Order have failed in Bihar. Miscreants are not scared of anything as they are getting protection from the state government and the members of the JDU and RJD parties, said the Union Minister.

#WATCH | Patna: Its very sad. Journalist Vimal Kumar has been murdered by the miscreants. I would like to pay homage to him. Law and Order have failed in Bihar. Miscreants are not scared of anything as they are getting protection from the state government and the members of the pic.twitter.com/ZwjlUJUsev  ANI (@ANI) August 18, 2023

He said that Vimal Kumar, who was a journalist with Dainik Jagran, was the only witness to his brothers murder which took place a few days ago.

A few days ago, his brother had been murdered and he was the only witness to his brothers murder. Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav have some shame and take action against the culprits, said Rai.

Earlier in the day, LJP chief Chirag Paswan, who has realigned with the BJP-led NDA, also attacked the Nitish Kumar government for not being able to provide safety to journalists and police in the state.

Addressing a press conference, Paswan said, They say that democracy is being murdered, but they themselves are not able to protect the pillars of democracy. In your (Nitish Kumars) state, neither the journalist nor the police are safe.

VIDEO | They say that democracy is being murdered, but they themselves are not able to protect the pillars of democracy. In your (Nitish Kumars) state, neither the journalist nor the police are safe, says LJP chief @iChiragPaswan in a press conference. pic.twitter.com/dIeprtLERa  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 18, 2023

He said that if the government cannot protect journalists and police, you can imagine what could happen to a common man in the state.

Meanwhile, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar termed the incident as unfortunate.

It is saddening that this has happened with a journalist. I have instructed the officials to look into it, said the Chief Minister.

VIDEO | It is saddening that this has happened with a journalist. I have instructed the officials to look into it, says Bihar CM @NitishKumar on the murder of a journalist in Araria. pic.twitter.com/bQd66Gd0K3  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 18, 2023

With inputs from agencies
Hours after a journalist was shot dead by unidentified miscreants in Bihars Araria district, the NDA ally on Friday attacked the Nitish Kumar government for not being able to provide safety to journalists and police in the state.

Addressing a press conference on Friday, LJP chief Chirag Paswan said, They say that democracy is being murdered, but they themselves are not able to protect the pillars of democracy. In your (Nitish Kumars) state, neither the journalist nor the police are safe.

VIDEO | They say that democracy is being murdered, but they themselves are not able to protect the pillars of democracy. In your (Nitish Kumars) state, neither the journalist nor the police are safe, says LJP chief @iChiragPaswan in a press conference. pic.twitter.com/dIeprtLERa  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 18, 2023

He said that if the government cannot protect journalists and police, you can imagine what could happen to a common man in the state.

Early today, a local journalist was shot dead by unidentified miscreants in the Raniganj Bazar area of Bihars Araria district, police said.

The victim, identified as Vimal Kumar Yadav, was shot in the chest by four men who walked into his Raniganj residence around 5:30 am.

In the Raniganj Bazar area, a journalist namely Vimal Kumar Yadav was shot dead by unidentified miscreantspost-mortem is being done, dog squad has been called to the murder spot, said Ashok Kumar Singh, SP, Araria.

Singh said that the investigation is on and efforts to arrest the culprits are underway.

Meanwhile, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar termed the incident as unfortunate.

#WATCH |  Its an unfortunate incidentI have told officers to look into it, says Bihar CM Nitish Kumar on the murder of Journalist in Araria https://t.co/7zNL6yi9bL pic.twitter.com/WSluebjGKH  ANI (@ANI) August 18, 2023

Its an unfortunate incidentI have told officers to look into it, said Kumar.

With inputs from agencies
National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams on Friday continued their search and rescue operations for the fifth consecutive day at the landslide-hit Summer Hill in Shimla, with Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu all set to issue a notification declaring the monsoon fury in Himachal as a state disaster.

#WATCH | Himachal Pradesh: NDRF teams continue search & rescue operations at the landslide-affected area of Shimla. (17.08) pic.twitter.com/a6tsFWpCyb  ANI (@ANI) August 17, 2023

So far as many as 13 bodies among the 21 people who went missing after the massive landslide have been recovered, said the NDRF on Thursday.

This is the fifth day of rescue operationsNDRF, army team, and SDRF are involved in the operationswe have searched 80 per cent of the areamachines cant reach interior parts, we have to do the ops manually, said NDRF inspector Naseef Khan.

#WATCH | This is the 5th day of rescue operationsNDRF, army team, and SDRF are involved in the operationswe have searched 80% of the areamachines cant reach interior parts, we have to do the ops manually: NDRF Inspector Naseef Khan pic.twitter.com/gF7RNnOGRX  ANI (@ANI) August 18, 2023

Meanwhile, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Friday reiterated that there have been damages worth Rs 10,000 crore in the state.

VIDEO | There have been damages worth Rs 10,000 crore in Himachal Pradesh. Today, we will declare it as state disaster and a notification will be released as well, says CM @SukhuSukhvinder on monsoon fury in the state. pic.twitter.com/kVXbIBEPRj  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 18, 2023

Today, we will declare it as state disaster and a notification will be released as well, said the Chief Minister on monsoon fury in the state.

As of Thursday, the death count from the monsoon rains in the state climbed to 74, as rescue workers pulled out another body from the rubble of a Shiva temple in Shimlas Summer Hill while two more were killed in Chamba.

Twenty-one people died in three major landslides in Shimla, including the one at the Shiva temple in Summer Hill.

The state has been hit by 113 landslides in the 55 days since the monsoon began, causing losses of Rs 2,491 crore to the Public Works Department (PWD) and Rs 1,000 crore to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

On Thursday, Public Works Minister in Himachal Pradesh Vikramaditya Singh informed that the Central Government has approved Rs 2643.01 crore for the upgradation of 254 roads in rural areas for the year 2023-24 under Batch-1 of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY-III).

The Minister has expressed gratitude to the Central Government and especially to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh and also thanked the Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu for constantly raising the issues of state interests before the Centre.

With inputs from agencies
Two people were killed and six others injured after a man opened fire on neighbours following an argument over pet dogs in Madhya Pradeshs Indore on Thursday.

The accused, who works as a security guard at a city bank, has been identified as Rajpal Rajawat and the deceased have been identified as Rahul and Vimal, who died on the spot.

Police said the incident took place around 10 pm in Krishna Bagh colony under the jurisdiction of Khajrana police station.

VIDEO | The incident took place around 10 pm in Krishna Bagh colony under Khajrana police station area. Initially, pet dogs of two neighbours started fighting, following which people gathered. Subsequently, the argument between the neighbours escalated and one of them, who is a pic.twitter.com/ml18oSIXkM  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 18, 2023

Initially, pet dogs of two neighbours started fighting, following which people gathered. Subsequently, the argument between the neighbours escalated and one of them, who is a guard at a bank, identified as Rajpal Rajawat, first fired shots in the air and then on the people standing below. Six people were injured and two were killed in the shooting, said Amrendra Singh, Additional DCP, Indore.

The accused has been arrested and his gun was seized, said the police.

With inputs from agencies
Jammu and Kashmirs Sopore Police on Friday arrested two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) Over Ground Workers (OGWS) and recovered eight rounds of pistols, grenades and other incriminating material from them.

Jammu & Kashmir | Sopore Police arrested two LeT (Lashkar-e-Toiba) OGWS (Over Ground Workers). 8 rounds of pistols & grenades were recovered from their possession. An FIR has been registered & investigation is underway: Sopore Police pic.twitter.com/nHqJyzHRty  ANI (@ANI) August 18, 2023

The accused have been identified as Manzoor Ahmad Bhat and Tanveer Ahmad Lone, both residents of Darnambal Tarzoo.

A joint naka was established at Sher Colony Tarzoo by Sopore Police and 52 RR. During naka checking, a suspicious movement of two persons coming from Ningli towards Sher Colony by foot was observed, police said in a statement.

While seeing police party and security forces, the said persons tried to flee from the spot but alert naka party apprehended them tactfully, the statement added.

Police said an FIR has been registered and investigation is underway.

With inputs from agencies
Drones have become the weapon of choice in the conflict in Ukraine. In the past week, there have been drone strikes on Ukrainian grain silos and also deep into Russia on a Moscow skyscraper. The proliferation of drones on the battlefield is rising. Ukraine is losing 10,000 of them per month while defending itself from Russia, according to the Royal United Services Institute think tank. In their conflict with Hamas, in May 2021, the Israel Defence Forces became the first military to use a drone swarm in combat. This drone swarm struck dozens of targets. Flooding the battlefield with a large number of drones, especially those able to fly in a coordinated fashion, is a threat the US military is now seriously trying to address, says the Pentagon.

The Mehar baba competition of Indian Air Force (IAF) actually ushered in the drone swarm revolution in the country. In November 2021, Indias Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) showcased the armed swarm drone technology to Indian Army (IA) at an event in Jhansi. The 25 drone swarm flew with minimal human intervention, and was capable of identifying & striking targets. A dazzling 10 minutes choreographed drone lightshow of 1000 indigenous drones was made at the Beating the Retreat ceremony in January 2023 at New Delhi. China has demonstrated the launch of over 200 swarm drones from a 48-tube launcher from a helicopter, and the drones switched between formations and conducted reconnaissance and attack missions. Most major countries have showcased drone swarm capabilities.

Understanding the drone swarm

The Mahabharata to Mongols to Napoleon all used human swarm formations to inundate the enemy through numbers and are the forebears of modern drones. A drone swarm is an autonomously networked small unmanned aerial systems (UAS) operating collaboratively to achieve common objectives with or without an operator being in the loop. Members of a swarm perform complex twisting and turning manoeuvres, changing direction, altitude and speed in flight. High-speed computations, complex algorithms and host of sensors make it possible. The mutual coordination is through their own artificial intelligence (AI) and constantly communications using interconnecting data-links. Drone swarms draw inspiration from the nature, and fly and manoeuvre somewhat like the Starling murmurations. Depending on size, type, mission and task, the swarms could comprise a few hundred to many thousands. They are autonomous and take own collective decisions. They use sensors and intelligent algorithms to fly flight paths and avoid collisions among themselves. Sensors allow accurate knowledge of own position, separation distances, and ability to predict neighbours future position. Communications could be through radio frequency (RF), cellular or satellite communications. Each member of the swarm or groups could have their own tasks. Members or groups may detach from the main swarm to take-on different tasks in different directions and locations. While the drones are autonomous, they could be connected to a ground control station (GCS), for possible en-route change of assignment.

Drone swarms could have civilian applications, but currently militaries are doing leading research. The swarm could act as an electronic sensor wall, used for weapons saturation, or as loitering munitions against airborne or surface targets. Drone swarms could also be used to counter adversary drone swarms. The drone swarm technology concept could also be used on land to create a force of robot-soldiers for land warfare, or mini-submarine swarms to tackle sea-surface or submarine threats. Scientists in China have unveiled a drone swarm capable of navigating through a dense bamboo forest without human guidance.

Coordinated UAS strikes are not swarms

Drone strike to drop bombs or munitions, firing missiles, or making a kamikaze attack into a target. These strikes could be by one or more drones through ground coordination. The US armed forces have made a significant number of such strikes in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen. Stand-alone drones were extensively used in the contested Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. Drones are also being used in the Ukraine conflict.

The USA also used drones for targeted killings. More famous of these were the January 2020 drone strike that killed Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani, at Baghdad International Airport, and assassination of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, on 31 July 2022 in Kabul, Afghanistan.

The attack on Saudi Aramco oil facilities at Abqaiq and Khurais on 14 September 2019, using many drones too were coordinated UAS strikes and could not be termed as a drone swarm attack.

Drone swarm deployment mechanics

A drone swarm has a designated leader or group of leaders. Specific group members may be authorised to assume drone control if the swarm leader gets disabled. The drones are being classified based on their specialised tasks. The physical composition of types in a drone swarm will be based on the mission tasks and objectives. The drone swarm for suppressing enemy air defences (SEAD) will be different from the swarm that will attack a concentration of troops or multiple targets on an airfield. Drones in a swarm could carry kinetic weapons or electronic attack devices. Loitering drones could carry anti-tank smart munitions.

Drone swarm offensive operations

The drone swarms allow more daring concepts of operation (CONOPs). They will be used in all kinds of classic offensive air missions that have often been termed dangerous. Drone swarms will be employed for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR), SEAD, and offensive counter-air (OCA). They will also be able to saturate the defences. These missions will be much less expensive in terms of loss to platforms and humans.

A large drone swarm could be flown into an airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft or a flight refuelling aircraft (FRA). A drone swarm positioned on the approach and take-off path could stop all air operations. Similar one flown into an area of combat air patrol would divert the attention of the fighter crew from the primary task.

Drone swarms have a great role in Counter Surface Force Operations (CSFO), especially Air Interdiction or Deep Air Support (DAS). Interdiction of high priority targets such as command posts, communications equipment, and radars. A drone swarm can also carry out huge damage to the structures and systems, and aircraft aboard a ship. Swarms can strike launching sites of ballistic missiles.

Drone swarm defensive operations

Drone swarms can act as fences around a Vital Area (VA) and Vital Point (VP). A drone swarm laden with small munitions can be made to hover in the general areas of ingress of adversary strikes. They could do the role of IR flares and radar deflecting chaffs. They could make great decoys to divert adversary air effort. A large mother drone in the swarm could carry air defence missiles. Onboard electro-optical drone jammers could collectively jam the attacking aircrafts sensors and foil the attack. Drone swarms could take on anti-drone or anti-swarm roles.

Drone swarms and military logistics

Drones swarms would have a great role in military logistics. They will be used as aerial convoys to deliver munitions and other sustenance supplies like food, water, and medical items to troops engaged in combat. They will be able to move fast and to places not connected by roads. They will replace the mountain mules in high altitude areas in the Himalayas and even in the Siachen glacier.

Drone swarm vulnerabilities

One critical element are the drones handling intra and inter drone communications. They not only ensure swarm integrity, but serve as an external link with mother aircraft, ground stations or other swarms. They are vulnerable to electronic warfare. Jamming of communications could send the swarm into disarray and there could be collisions. During adversary communications jamming, the communications drones have ability to pass emergency instructions through back-up frequencies to abort the mission or take fall back positions. Such drones have higher capacity battery power packs.

Manned-Unmanned aircraft teaming

Manned-Unmanned Teaming (MUM-T) combines the strengths and fire power of a manned aircraft, and numbers and autonomy of cheaper unmanned aerial platforms to enhance mission effectiveness. Drones would lead the team and provide real-time situational awareness. The crew in the manned aircraft would support decision-making and operational flexibility. The combine which exploits human intelligence and AI reduces uncertainty and increases fire power.

The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agencys (DARPA) X-61A Gremlin air launched drones could have the C-130 cargo aircraft as its mother-ship to launch and retrieve the swarms of small drones. The Russian S-70 Okhotnik UCAV has been tested in a loyal wingman role and could be employed with the Su-57 Felon. Chinas AVIC 601-S Anjian is also a loyal wingman. Pakistan is trying to seek Chinese help to fine-tune drone swarm technology.

Counters to drone swarms

There are many counter UAS (C-UAS) measures and systems. The swarm may use satellite navigation like GPS. That could be susceptible to jamming. But use of combination of inertial navigation, ground image matching, and relative position in swarm may reduce GPS usage. Intra swarm communications between drones is a continuous process. These signals can be detected by using space-based or airborne SIGINT platforms. The swarm could then be attacked using electronic or cyber means.

Disrupting the drones RF signal could send it out of control. There are means to dazzle and blind the EO/IR drone payloads. It is also possible to take control of such sensors through more powerful signal links. There are also hard-kill options such as sniper rifles, and anti-drone drones. Kinetic measures could also include deploying nylon streamers or firing nets to clog the drone rotors. There are also counter-swarm swarms.

Some companies are working on Electro-Magnetic Pulse (EMP) and High-Power Microwave (HPM) emitters for drone and drone-swarm counters. Modern ground-based solid-state amplifiers can transmit significant directed energy against drone electronics. C-UAS is a multi-system approach.

Operational costs and flexibility advantages

Fractional low costs allow affording much larger numbers vis-a-vis manned aircraft. Numbers help overwhelm the adversary. Absence of humans on board allows the commanders to take higher risks and attempt more daring missions. Larger demand is bringing the cost down and allowing mushrooming of innovative designs.

Employment doctrine, scaling and air space management

Drone swarm doctrines and tactics are evolving. For current technological limitations, and legal, ethical, and political issues, full autonomy will be restricted. Since all the services will be requiring harnessing advantages of aerial drones swarms, a joint approach would bring higher dividends. There will also be a need for much greater inter-service coordination for employing drone swarms in operations in the Tactical Battle Area (TBA). Air space management will require a fresh approach. Chinas PLA which has one of the largest UAV fleets, has already evolved the UAV unit structure. There will be a need for mission program specialists, drone technicians, launch and recovery operators, communication experts among others.

Drones swarms and terrorism

Terrorists and other militants can easily acquire the not so expensive small drones or swarms loaded with weapons and pose threat to military and the civil population. They could be used to strike large gatherings like a market place, a political or religious gathering. They could be used for assassination. They could be used to down an aircraft by flying into it on approach path. Greater policing and local intelligence would have to cater for such a threat.

India is pushing ahead, but has long distance to cover

As many as 75 indigenously designed drones were flown in an asymmetric drone swarm during the Army day parade, on 15 January 2021. It was evolved jointly between India Army (IA) and the Bengaluru-based start-up NewSpace Research and Technologies.

Among the top listed drone companies in India are Infoedge India, Zomato Ltd, Paras Defence & Space Technologies, Zen Technologies Limited, RattanIndia Enterprises, and DCM Sriram Industries. There are also about 134 drone startups in India as of early 2022. These include Vizzbee Robotic solutions, The eplane company, Thanos Technologies, Skylark Drones, Redwing Aerospace Laboratories, Drona Aviation, among many others.

According to the Civil Aviation Minister, by 2026, the Indian drone industry will achieve a turnover of over Rs 15,000 crore and will be a global drone leader by 2030. Drone Federation of India (DFI) chief Smit Shah is more optimistic and says Indias drone market can grow to Rs 50,000 crore in 5 years.

In July, DRDO successfully test flew a flying-wing UCAV meant for IAF. It was a major milestone. Indian armed forces meanwhile await the larger UAVs like DRDOs TAPAS BH-201 and Ghatak class combat UAVs. The DRDO must accelerate its programs. The HALs Air Launched Flexible Asset (ALFA -S) air-launched swarming drones will be part of the proposed Combat Air Teaming System (CATS). The USAFs Air Force Research Labs is also collaborating with HAL for the ALFA-S.

The Indian Air Forces Mehar baba competition was a good initiative. The governments Production-Linked Incentive scheme announced last year provides for funding 20 percent of the value addition made by the company during the next three years. The first Drone India 2021 exposition was held in Greater Noida. In May last year PM Modi inaugurated Bharat Drone Mahotsav 2022, Indias biggest drone event. The Fourth Drone International Expo 2023 was held at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi on 26 July 2023.

Way ahead

The era of drone swarms has just begun. John Boyd provides a framework of observe, orient, decide, act cycle (OODA loop), that provides a method to amplify drone swarms through positive feedback loops. Drone swarms are becoming a disrupting military capability, and even few getting through can have lethal impact. Operating the swarm has dynamic challenges. Getting the right mix of the types and numbers of drones in the swarm will decide the overall operational capability. Complexities increase as the swarm enters the tactical area during operational missions. Simulation and war-gaming of drone swarms can fine tune the capabilities.

An offensive drone swarm could pose serious challenges for defending high-value targets, as also countering massed drone attacks. India would also have to prepare defences against drone swarms. The sector requires investments in research and development. Drone swarms are both an asset and threat. Is India ready? For India, the time to act is now, lest it gets left behind.

The writer is Director General, Centre for Air Power Studies. Views expressed are personal. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.

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The Indian States relationship with Hindus and Muslims often reminds us of the tumultuous times a typical middle class parent would have in handling a well-behaved elder brother and a relatively unruly, defiant younger one. While the elder is expected to act decently, and is often taken for granted for his goodness, the younger one gets away with his mistakes and is often pampered to avoid tension in the house.

Jawaharlal Nehru displayed this characteristic soon after Independence when he showed great strength and courage in getting the Hindu Reform Bill passed, but accepted the policy of laissez faire where the Muslims and other minorities were concerned, as MC Chagla, noted jurist and a member of the Nehru Cabinet, wrote in his memoirs, Roses in December. Chagla was actually horrified to find that while monogamy has been made the law for the Hindus, Muslims can still indulge in the luxury of polygamy.

The minority appeasement scaled new heights in the coming decades, especially as the term secularism found itself inserted into the Constitution through the 42nd constitutional amendment in the time of Indira Gandhis Emergency. This happened much against the wishes of the fathers of the Constitution who had discussed in detail why secularism should not be given a space in the hallowed book. Over the decades, the Hindus became  to use Anand Ranganathans words in his new book Hindus in Hindu Rashtra  eighth-class citizens and victims of State-sanctioned apartheid.

Terms like eighth-class citizens and State-sanctioned apartheid may seem too harsh, but when one examines the data, looks at the numbers and goes through the examples put in by Ranganathan, it appears to be a tragic reality of post-Independence India. After all, its one thing to appease a particular community, and absolutely another to legally and constitutionally discriminate against another. The first one can still be acceptable, but how can a community be discriminated against institutionally, constitutionally and legally?

The State control of Hindu temples, for instance, not just violates the idea of secularism that was put with so much fanfare in the Preamble of the Constitution in 1976, but also disdainfully discriminates against the majority community. As Ranganathan states, Governments of just 10 states control more than 110,000 Hindu temples. Tamil Nadu Temple Trusts own 478,000 acres of temple land. The Tamil Nadu government alone controls 36,425 temples and 56 mutts; for Karnataka, the figure is 34,563. Even the Kerala government, currently run by Godless communists, for whom religion is the opium of the masses, manages 3,058 temples!

Historically, every invader wanting to destroy India and dismantle Hinduism first targeted Hindu temples. Though eminent historians led by Mohammed Habib, father of Irfan Habib, peddled economic reasons for temple destruction, the fact is they were targeted and destroyed primarily because Hindu temples had been more than just centres of worship; they actually patronised education, art, dance, trade, economy, et al. It was this temple ecosystem that ensured Hindu society was only marginally affected by the vagaries of political instability.

The State control of Hindu temples is also one of the biggest scams in the country. TR Ramesh, who has been fighting the temple war for decades now, says that the Tamil Nadu government, which should be earning at least Rs 6,000 crore per annum from the 2.44 crore sq ft of temple land it controls, earns just about Rs 58 crore. Worse, most of the temple lands across states are being encroached upon by land mafia, of course with political support and connivance.

No doubt, the current government at the Centre has done a yeoman job in renovating some of the most sacred Hindu temples, whether in Kashi or in Ujjain, but one wonders how many temples Hindus could have renovated themselves had they controlled their own temples. So, what differentiates the current dispensation from its predecessors is the degree of sympathy: While the governments before 2014 largely saw Hindu temples with distrust, in the past nine years, this distrust has given way to sympathy. But not sympathetic enough to leave the cash cow which Hindu temples are for the government of the day.

The institutional indifference, if not discrimination, isnt just confined to the legislature and the executive; the judiciary too is a party to this. Writes Ranganathan, A petition by Swami Parmatmananda and Swami Dayananda Saraswati has been pending in the Supreme Court since 2012. For more than 10 years. They can allow midnight hearings for granting mercy to terrorists but cannot spare time for this. Swami Dayananda Saraswati passed away in 2015 without ever seeing the judiciary entertaining his plea.

However, the State discrimination vis-a-vis Hindu temples is not all. What the grand old party did in 1959 by introducing a legislation to largely overturn a Supreme Court judgement to bring Hindu temples under State control, the Congress-led UPAs Right to Education (RTE) Act in 2009 has done exactly the same for Hindu educational institutions. Like the State control over temples, the State interference with Hindu schools remains a sad reality, nine years after the Modi government came to power with a thumping majority in May 2014.

As per the RTE, which doesnt apply to minority schools, a privately-run educational institution, indeed Hindu, has to reserve 25 percent of its seats for poor and disadvantaged students. This means only the privately-run Hindu schools have the onus to serve poor students.

These Hindu schools arent just expected to reserve 25 per cent seats for children belonging to the economically weaker sections (EWS), but also shell out for their textbooks, uniforms, transport, etc. Theoretically, the government compensates these schools for the financial losses. But, a 2017 CAG report revealed that the government took as much as 307 days to release these funds to schools. No wonder, a recent report estimates that the RTE is responsible for the shutting down of more than 10,000 Hindu-run schools. Yes, more than 10,000 schools! And the Hindutva government has been silent about it for the past nine years!

The governments silence over the Places of Worship Act, 1991 is equally disconcerting. The Act prohibits conversion of any place of worship and provides for the maintenance of the religious character of any place of worship as it existed on the 15th day of August 1947, and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. In 2019, the Supreme Court, in its Ayodhya judgement, as Ranganathan writes, wilfully ratified this Act that obligates maintaining all religious places, except Ram Janmabhoomi, as they were on 15 August 1947  a 75-year-old date in an 8,000-year-old civilisation. The Act is discriminatory in a very fundamental manner: It takes away the basic right of an aggrieved citizen to appeal to the court of the law if he believes his place of worship had been vandalised and destroyed. There is no legal recourse left for him now.

Its, however, the Waqf Act of 1995 that is scariest of all. It threatens to turn this country into what Ranganathan calls the Islamic Republic of India. First, the part-petrifying, part-stupefying trivia: That Waqf is the third largest landowner in India, after Defence and the Railways; that 77 per cent of Delhi is Waqf land, including Delhi High Court, Central Vista, CGO (Central Government Offices) Complex, and Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium; even Mukesh Ambanis house is on Waqf land; that the 1,500-year-old Manendiyavalli Chandrashekhara Swami Temple in Tamil Nadu is on Waqf land  interestingly, Islam is 1,300 years old!

What makes the Waqf Board lay such bizarre claims?

Waqf means the permanent dedication by any person, of any movable or immovable property for any purpose recognised by the Muslim law as pious, religious or charitable. Once a Waqf land, it is always a Waqf land. It can never be gifted, inherited or even sold.

Ranganathan explains in detail how legally and institutionally the Waqf Board is being helped into turning this country into the Islamic Republic of India. Section 4 of the Waqf Act, 1995, for instance, bestows on the Waqf survey commissioner the authority and power like that of a civil court. Besides, the entire cost of surveying is to be borne by the State. So, in essence, a Hindus property, once declared a Waqf property, wholly arbitrarily, will be surveyed by Waqf, and the cost incurred on this count will be paid for by the Hindu taxpayer. Interestingly, the Waqf Boards are headed and constituted only by Muslims.

Then there is Section 40 of the Waqf Act, which gives the Waqf power to decide if your land is Waqf or not. In fact, if your property is laid claim to by Waqf, it is your responsibility to disprove its claim. And till such time you disprove it, it is Waqf land.

Even more inexplicable is Section 107 of the Waqf Act, which ensures that the Statute of Limitation does not apply to Waqf. This means that the Waqf, unlike others, doesnt have to worry about the passage of time for laying claim to and recovering any property. Given these discriminatory institutional and legal advantages given the Waqf Boards, one wonders why only 77 per cent of Delhi is being claimed by them. Maybe in a few decades, the entire Delhi will be on Waqf land, and the country can qualify to be the Islamic Republic of India! Maybe then The New York Times and the ilk would stop crying majoritarianism.

In his seminal work, 1984, author George Orwell wrote: War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. One can add a line to this  majoritarianism is minorityism  and Indias post-Independence saga can be aptly summed up.

(This is the concluding part of the two-part series. Click here for Part 1)

Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.

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Syurpriz (surprise), kamufliazh (camouflage), demonstrativnye manevry (manoeuvres intended to deceive), skrytie (concealment), imitatsia (the use of decoys and military dummies) and dezinformatsia (disinformation). Maskirovka (masking) is the overarching Soviet/Russian military doctrinea time-tested battlefield strategy for centuries.

Prince Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy and his 50,000 soldiers used Maskirovka to clobber the 1,50,000 Tatar-Mongols led by commander Mamai in the Battle of Kulikovo to defeat on 8 September, 1380.

The Soviets used the strategy in the Battle of Stalingrad (1942-43), the Battle of Kursk (1943) and the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962).

Several years later, Vladimir Putin used it in the Russo-Georgian War (2008), the annexation of Crimea (2014), and recently in Ukraine to bamboozle NATO, especially the United States (US).

The Russian presidents latest use of Maskirovka started with twin moves in June. First, he claimed to have deployed tactical nukes in Belarus. Second, he staged the fake Wagner Group coup around one week later, flummoxing NATO, the US, the CIA, the MI6 and military experts into believing that Yevgeny Prigozhin had challenged him.

The mainstream media too reacted in the typical way by splashing headlines and filling airwaves that Putin could use nukes in the Ukraine war and the coup was the most devastating blow to his imperium.

Undeniably, Putins special military operation in Ukraine hasnt turned out to be as planned. The Russian blitzkrieg made quick gains in the early weeks of the war in the northeast and southapproximately 16,000 square miles.

However, Moscow encountered stiff resistance as Ukraine received increasing Western military aid. According to the think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Ukraine had reclaimed about 54 per cent of the lost territories by the end of 2022. In fact, the ISW said in July that Ukraines counteroffensive, despite being slower, is better than the failed Russian winter offensive.

Left with no option, Putin has resorted to diversionary tactics. More than one month later, he has taken Maskirovka one step further. Military experts and the media are now consumed by the fear that Russia will invade Poland and ultimately declare war on NATO.

Gauging Putins unpredictability and next military manoeuvre in the Ukraine war is impossible. But the broad contours of his Maskirovka moves since 2008when he occupied Georgias South Ossetia and Abkhaziashow that he is on a sinister mission to challenge NATO by creating a fear psychosis of dragging the world to the precipice of Armageddon or launching a full-scale invasion of Poland.

He has triggered paranoia and created the hypothesis of a Russia-NATO confrontation by challenging the military bloc in the Baltic.

Russian nukes in Belarus

Russia has the highest number of nukes at 5,889, of which around 1,816 are tactical. Putins deliberate flip-flop on using nuclear weapons in the Ukraine war has kept the West on edge. While military experts have repeatedly stressed that he only resorts to nuclear blackmailing and wont use nukes, the Russian leader has often said its not a bluff.

On 21 September last year, he warned the West, This is not a bluff. And those who try to blackmail us with nuclear weapons should know that the weathervane can turn and point towards them. One week later, he said that Russian land would be defended with all the powers and means at our disposal.

One month later, Putin somersaulted. We see no need for. There is no point in thatneither political nor military.

In December, he was back to nuclear sabre-rattling. It is all based around the so-called retaliatory strikewhen we are struck, we strike in response.

Neither the US, Russia or other nuclear powers will use N-weapons, merely deterrents to strike fear into enemies.

So, why Putin deployed tactical nukes in Belarus in June?

In his March announcement, he gave the reason that Britain decided to supply depleted uranium munitions to Ukraine. Nothing stops Putin from deploying N-arms in friendly nations considering that NATO has them in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France, Turkey, the Netherlands, Greece and Belgium.

The deployment of nukes, which President Alexander Lukashenko has claimed to have a yield of about 48-63 kilotons eachthree times more devastating than the Little Boy and Fatmanat Lida air base (40 km from the Lithuanian border), N-capable Iskander SRBMs and the modification of Su-25s to carry such weapons in Belarus is to frighten and deter NATO from crossing the Rubicon.

Putin wont use the nukes, if deployed at all, but he has rattled the West by hinting at a nuclear nightmare on NATOs eastern flank.

His assertion also becomes significant after a RAND Corporation report this year pointed out that a long conflict in Ukraine should be avoided to prevent a nuclear or Russia-NATO war.

Besides, the US Director of National Intelligences 2023 Annual Threat Assessment report stated: Heavy losses to its [Russias] ground forces and the large-scale expenditures of precision-guided munitions during the conflict have degraded Moscows ground and air-based conventional capabilities and increased its reliance on nuclear weapons.

In case, the Ukraine conflict reaches a nuclear confrontation, Russia would have the advantage of using the N-weapons in Belarus with no NATO nukes in any of the neighbouring bloc membersPoland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. The nukes can hit Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Romania, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Finland.

The other question is, has Putin really deployed nukes in Belarus or is it another Maskirovka trick?

Though NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg didnt see any changes in the nuclear posture after Russias June announcement, it is difficult to track the delivery of tactical nukes as they are compact, can be transported secretly and dont emit radiation.

Even senior Defence Intelligence Agency officials told CNN last month that it would be difficult to track their delivery even via satellite imagery though they had no reason to doubt Putins claim of sending nukes to Belarus.

Putins got what he wanted by claiming to have deployed N-arms in Belarusconsternation. After requesting NATO to include it in the Nuclear Sharing Programme, which allows non-nuclear members to host nukes as deterrence, in October 2022, Poland made a similar request in June this year.

Since Russia intends to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, we again call on all of NATO to take part in the Nuclear Sharing Programme, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on June 30. We do not want to sit idly by while Putin escalates all sorts of threats.

Wagner stratagem in Poland, Suwalki Corridor

Putins Wagner coup drama, in which Prigozhin and Lukashenko played the second and third lead, respectively, was a masterstroke that baffled NATO and unsettled its eastern flank, especially Poland. While the world saw it as the subservient Putins chef rebelling against his master, the duo fooled NATO, military experts and the media.

In one of his shrewdest moves, the Russian president staged the coup, dubbed it treason and threatened to punish Prigozhin and his men. However, Putins vassal Lukashenko suddenly appeared to strike a deal allowing an unscathed rebellious Wagner to relocate to Belarus.

In mid-July, Putin told the Russian daily Kommersant that Prigozhin rejected his offermade five days after the rebellionof Wagner men serving in Russia under their commander Andrey Sedoi (grey hair) Troshev, a veteran of the Soviet-Afghan, Chechen and Syria wars and close aide of the groups founder Dimitriy Utkin.

The theatrics was evident. A convict-caterer-turned-mercenary financier propped up and financially backed by the Kremlin to fight its proxy wars rejecting Putins offer was not only suicidal but illogical and ridiculous.

Putins biggest military stratagem was disbanding Wagner. Wagner does not exist. There is no law on private military organisations, Putin told the newspaper. However, the Russian Constitution doesnt prohibit private military companies (PMCs). Clause 5 of Article 13 only prohibits the creation and operation of public associations whose goals or actions are aimed at forcibly changing the foundations of the constitutional order and violating the integrity of the Russian Federation, undermining the security of the state, creating armed formations, inciting social, racial, national and religious hatred.

The reality is Wagner is indispensable to Putin in his Ukraine operation. The mercenaries were part of the Little green mencomprising Russian Special Operations Forces, Spetsnaz GRU units and 45th Guards Spetsnaz Brigade of the VDVwho occupied the Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and defeated Ukraine in the Battle of Bakhmut this year.

What appeared to be a Hollywood potboiler for the Russian public, NATO and Ukraine was a cunning strategic move in the battlefield. Wagners recent activities in Belarus prove it.

First, Belarus put up camps for 10,000 Wagner men. By the last week of July, its mercenaries had started training Belarusian armed forces at the Brest military range, only 5 km east of the Polish border. In the same week, Lukashenko apparently joked, The Wagner guys have started to stress us. Lets go on a trip to Warsaw and Rzeszow.

Second, Warsaw panickedthats what Putin wanted.

At July-end, an alarmed Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that more than 100 Wagnarites were moving towards Grondo, a city in western Belarus close to the Suwalki Corridor. He also suspected that the mercenaries could enter Poland disguised as Belarusian border guards to destabilise the country.

The Suwalki Gap is a 96-km strip of land strategically located between Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, which joins the Baltic to other NATO members. It is the only land access between NATO members Poland and Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

Poland had already moved 1,000 troops to its border with Belarus in July. After accusing a Belarusian Mi-8 and Mi-24 of violating its airspace earlier this month, Poland rushed 1,000 more troops to its east. A few days later, Warsaw rushed 8,000 additional troops.

The Wagner group is extremely dangerous and they are being moved to the eastern flank to destabilise it, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said after meeting Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda in Polands Suwalki Gap this month.

 PM @MorawieckiM: We warn against provocations from Russia & Belarus. The Wagner Group may carry out sabotage actions, and anyone who plays down this threat may be responsible for further provocations and intrigues. pic.twitter.com/tB2GIWtPXg  Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland (@PremierRP_en) August 3, 2023

Presence of Wagner mercenaries in Belarus is an additional security risk factor for Lithuania and Poland, Nauseda tweeted.

Productive meeting with  PM @MorawieckiM at the Suwaki corridor to discuss security situation at our borders. Presence of Wagner mercenaries in Belarus is an additional security risk factor for  & and NATO allies. We stay vigilant & prepared for any possible scenario. pic.twitter.com/9hTF814UHK  Gitanas Nauseda (@GitanasNauseda) August 3, 2023

Polands fears are not unfounded. Earlier this month, a series of Wagner recruitment posters in English appeared on the streets of the Polish city of Krakow. An online video posted on Xformerly Twittershowed a poster with a QR code inside a Polish bathroom.

Putin is using a three-pronged Maskirovka to ratchet up the tension to divert NATOs attention and resources from Ukraine, especially on its eastern and southern borders, to Poland.

The first part is creating a hysteria that Wagner will attack Poland and its Suwalki Corridorthough it might. The group was disbanded with this objective in mind.

Russian lawmaker Andrey Kartapolov suggested on Russia-1s Evening with Vladimir Solovyov in July that Wagner was expelled to attack Poland, especially the Suwalki Gap. Should anything happen, we need this Suwaki Corridor very much  a strike force is ready to take this small corridor in hours, he said.

Mercenaries from PMC "Wagner" were moved to Belarus to attack Poland and seize the Suwalki corridor, Russian MP Kartapolov reveals Putin's brilliant plan pic.twitter.com/B7WNn3FfYA  TheKremlinYap (@TheKremlinYap) July 15, 2023

As Daniel Fried, former US ambassador to Poland, told Newsweek that Kartapolovs remarks were apocalyptic fascist hysteria to frighten the West. But he didnt discount the possibility of a Wagner attack. This is not serious except as an indication of a rather bloodthirsty and sick strategic culture in Moscow, he said adding that Russia could launch a lightening attack if Poland and NATO were not prepared.

If Wagner attacks the sparsely populated territory, Putin would immediately wash his hands off saying he had disbanded the group and banished its rebellious leader. The situation would resemble the 2014 scene in Crimea, where Prigozhin and his men were actively involved in the annexation but were never recognised by Russia.

According to NATOs Article 5,  an armed attack against one or more of them [members] in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and the members will assist that nation or countries individually and in concert with the other members, including the use of armed force.

Article 5 cant be invoked against Russia since the Kremlin has severed its ties with the Wagner. Neither can it be invoked against Belarus since it will be not be directly involved in such an invasion.

The second part of the strategy is to divide the Polish-Ukrainian unity through the fake news that Poland wants to seize parts of Ukraine. As NATO kicked off its Lithuania summit in early July, Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told Al Jazeera that there is now an obvious desire of Poland to invade the western part of Ukraine, without providing evidence.

Besides Zakharova, several other Russian officials, including Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) director Sergei Naryshkin and Security Council secretary Nikolai Patrushev, have outlandishly suggested that Poland wants to seize parts of Ukraine it held before World War II.

A Russian plan to instigate Poles to participate in a Crimea-like referendum in Ukrainian areas held by Poland before WW II cant be ruled out.

The third part of the strategy is to deter NATO from attacking Belarus if it directly assists Wagner or is part of a plan to target Poland.

At a meeting of the Security Council in July, Putin made the same bizarre claim. Suggesting that Poland and Lithuania are planning to seize parts of Ukraine, he said, Unleashing aggression against Belarus will mean aggression against the Russian Federation. We will respond to this with all the means at our disposal.

Logically, the idea of Putin attacking Poland or only the Suwalki Gap is absurd considering he is stuck in the Ukraine quagmire and any such misadventure would trigger Article 5NATO vs Russia.

However, the only way Putin could target Poland and divert NATO from Ukraine is by using Wagner without getting directly involved. Unconfirmed reports based on Kremlin insiders of Wagnerites leaving Belarus with Lukashenko refusing to finance the group has made affairs murkiera clear Maskirovka tactic.

The writer is a freelance journalist with two decades of experience and comments primarily on foreign affairs. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the writer. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.

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Media organisations regularly condemn attacks on free speech in our country, as they should. But by expressing deep concern over the ongoing targeted campaign against the news web portal Newsclick and its founders, the Press Club of India, the Indian Womens Press Corps, the Delhi Union of Journalists and the Press Association have erred grievously. For action against a media platform suspected of links with an enemy nation cannot be called an assault on press freedom.

I am a member of the two of these bodies  the Press Club of India and the Press Association.

Shockingly, the four organisations have resorted to whataboutery, If the sources of funding for Newsclick are under scrutiny, the same transparency should extend to supporters and backers of various other portals aligned with the establishment. It is imperative for the interests of complete transparency that the sponsors and funding sources of all such portals be disclosed. Without such disclosure, the recent actions targeting Newsclick could rightly be characterized as a witch-hunt.

This is also how Amitabh Bachchan defended his own criminality in Deewar  Pehle uske sign lekar aao The drafters of the letter forgot Shashi Kapoors repartee to the whataboutery: Doosron ke paap ginane se tumhare apne paap kam nahi ho sakte.

The New York Times recently published a report after investigation and found a lavishly funded influence campaign that defends China and pushes its propaganda. At the center is a charismatic American millionaire, Neville Roy Singham, who is known as a socialist benefactor of far-Left causes.

What is less known, and is hidden amid a tangle of nonprofit groups and shell companies, is that Singham, who is based in Shanghai, works closely with the Chinese government media machine and is financing its propaganda worldwide, it added.

The report said that, as per corporate filings, Singhams network financed a news site, Newsclick, that sprinkled its coverage with Chinese government talking points. Chinas history continues to inspire the working classes, one video said.

All this for a country that is the worlds biggest and most dangerous rogue state! It is a well-known fact that China supports other rogue states, terrorises its neighbors including India, shields global terrorists, ensnares smaller nations into a debt trap, and weaponises its businesses and supply chains. In the early days of Covid-19, it also ensured the export of the novel coronavirus all over the world; and it was assisted by its lackey, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Singhams enterprise seems to be part of the unrestricted warfare that Beijing has waged against the US in particular and democracies in general for global hegemony. In a 1999 book, Unrestricted Warfare, two Peoples Liberation Army colonels Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui argued that China should not fight a stronger enemy like the US with conventional military means; so, it should take recourse to non-military means.

The two colonels went on to describe the means and methods used to fight a non-military war, some of which already exist and some of which may exist in the future. Such means and methods include psychological warfare (spreading rumors to intimidate the enemy and break down his will); smuggling warfare (throwing markets into confusion and attacking economic order); media warfare (manipulating what people see and hear in order to lead public opinion along); drug warfare (obtaining sudden and huge illicit profits by spreading disaster in other countries); network warfare (venturing out in secret and concealing ones identity in a type of warfare that is virtually impossible to guard against); technological warfare (creating monopolies by setting standards independently); fabrication warfare (presenting a counterfeit appearance of real strength before the eyes of the enemy); resources warfare (grabbing riches by plundering stores of resources); economic aid warfare (bestowing favor in the open and contriving to control matters in secret); cultural warfare (leading cultural trends along in order to assimilate those with different views); and international law warfare (seizing the earliest opportunity to set up regulations), etc.

There is a mountain of evidence to suggest that the Chinese Communist Party is already fighting a non-military war all over the world on various fronts.

Notice the width of the gamut of actions that the two PLA colonels recommended. Also, notice the actions that the CCP has been supporting all along. Evidently, Singham orchestrates many of them in the Western countriesand perhaps also in India.

Newsclick has reportedly received funds from organisations linked with Singham. There is nothing wrong if the Indian agencies probe into the funding of Newsclick.

One may or may not be satisfied with the Narendra Modi governments record in upholding free speech, but this doesnt mean that its probe into the activities of a suspicious website should be trashed as an attack on the press.

Ravi Shanker Kapoor, a freelance journalist, is the author of There Is No Such Thing As Hate Speech: A Case for Absolute Freedom of Expression (Bloomsbury, 2017). Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.

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Jewish writer and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, in his 1986 Nobel Lecture, said, There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest. His words aptly encapsulate the endeavours of Kashmiri Pandits for their rights and justice. Since the 1990 ethnic cleansing, the Pandits, individually and collectively, never stopped speaking about the atrocities faced in Kashmir and protested the injustices meted out by successive governments.

The State Investigation Agency (SIA) of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) in a public notice dated 7 August 2023, sought information from the people to unearth the larger criminal conspiracy in the case of the killing of retired Sessions and District Court judge, Neelkanth Ganjoo, by terrorists on 4 November 1989 in Srinagar. In 1968, Ganjoo sentenced J&K Liberation Front (JKLF) founder Maqbool Bhat to death for the murder of J&K Police (CID) officer Amar Chand in 1966. The Supreme Court of India upheld the death sentence for Bhat in 1982. Subsequently, Bhat was hanged in Delhis Tihar jail in 1984.

Maqbool Bhat was the torchbearer of Islamist terrorism in J&K, and his organisation, JKLF, spearheaded the insurgency against India with support from Pakistan. The JKLF, like many other terror groups, targeted Hindu Pandits leading to their forced exodus from Kashmir in 1990.

Ganjoos murder was one of the initial targeted killings of Pandits by the Islamist terrorists in Kashmir in 1989-90. Among others, terrorists killed Tika Lal Taploo, Lassa Kaul, Prem Nath Bhat, Sarwanand Kaul Premi, Bal Krishna Ganjoo, Sarla Bhat, and Girija Tickoo.

The reopening of the investigation in Ganjoos case is a welcome step by the J&K administration. This case should be the beginning of the process of justice for the beleaguered community and not merely a one-off move. Justice for Pandits ought to be the first and foremost step  the return and rehabilitation of Pandits later with a concrete plan (not merely an employment package that turned out to be a failure).

In July 2017, the Supreme Court rejected a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking a fresh probe into the killings of Kashmiri Pandits. The apex court said, We decline to entertain this petition under Article 32 of the Constitution of India, for the simple reason that the instances referred to in the present petition pertain to the year 1989-90, and more than 27 years have passed by since then. No fruitful purpose would emerge, as evidence is unlikely to be available at this late juncture. This was followed by the rejection of the review petition in October 2017.

Although the Supreme Court closed its doors for Kashmiri Pandits, it did not stop the Government of India from addressing the issues faced by the community. The Narendra Modi government has the mandate and the might to rectify horrific wrongdoings in J&K, including justice for Pandits. The Modi government displayed sheer audacity by invalidating Article 370 of the Constitution of India on 5 August 2019. The government can show the same boldness for justice to the Pandits whose right to a home in Kashmir is still lost.

Notwithstanding the socio-political climate in India, Pandits have not let the Islamist project reach finality in Kashmir. When the narrative builders kept brewing falsehoods to obscure the gory reality about Kashmir, the Pandits kept disproving those falsehoods. The most prevalent untruth was/is that then J&K governor, Jagmohan Malhotra, was responsible for the exodus of Pandits from Kashmir. Such barefaced lies originated from the Muslim society of Kashmir and got backed by the intelligentsia and commentariat of India.

When the voices from Kashmir, the old and the new, obfuscate on jihad that has engulfed thousands of lives  Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs  in Kashmir, it is the resurfacing of the same propensity that suppressed the story of Pandits in the last three decades. They, however, forget that Pandits have always sought refuge in Goddess Saraswati  more so in trying times. It has given Pandits the fortitude to dispel myths about Kashmir despite most of the political-academic-media ecosystem working against them.

Since Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came into power in 2014, the question of justice for Pandits remains unaddressed. Assurances are given to the minority community from time to time, though. The politics in J&K and the ensuing optics have taken precedence over justice for Pandits. BJP must keep political compulsions at bay if it is serious about providing justice to Pandits.

It is high time the Government of India appoints a commission to set the official record straight about what happened to Kashmiri Pandits in Kashmir. How many Pandits were killed by the terrorists in Kashmir? There is not any definite answer. The official record still says that only 219 Pandits got killed in Kashmir from 1989 to 2004. The community estimates put the figure at more than 1,000. Also, the killings after 2019, in post-370 Kashmir, are a new addition to this indeterminate list. It is the responsibility of the government to remove any room for ambiguity.

American writer James Baldwin says, If one really wishes to know how justice is administered in a country, one does not question the policemen, the lawyers, the judges, or the protected members of the middle class. One goes to the unprotected  those, precisely, who need the laws protection most!  and listens to their testimony. The Pandits are still alive to present testimonies even though a generation is lost and another is on the verge of fading away.

Postscript: The Modi government introduced the J&K Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill 2023 in the Lok Sabha on 26 July 2023. It states that a large number of people migrated from their ancestral places of residence and migrants were moved to Jammu apropos ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pandits. Did Pandits migrate from Kashmir? No, they were driven out at gunpoint by the Islamist terror groups. Were Pandits moved to Jammu? No, Pandits were not moved to Jammu  there was no state support. Why is the governments language so shoddy?

The author is a writer and political commentator. He is the co-editor of book on Kashmirs ethnic minority community titled A Long Dream of Home: The Persecution, Exodus and Exile of Kashmiri Pandits, published by Bloomsbury India. He tweets @VaradSharma. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.

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Microsoft is gearing up to launch a fresh version of Databricks software. This nifty software is all about assisting customers in crafting AI applications for their businesses. The inside scoop comes from folks in the know about the plan.

This, given Microsofts investment in OpenAI is a bit puzzling, as collaborations such as these are likely to hurt OpenAIs prospects.

The development was first reported in an article by The Information.

Databricks is a data analytics platform that taps into the power of artificial intelligence. Microsoft is planning to sell this through its Azure cloud-server division. This tech wizardry helps companies cook up AI models from scratch or repurpose open-source ones. Its like a clever way to sidestep using OpenAIs proprietary models, as mentioned in the report.

Back in July, Microsoft spilled the beans on their ambitious spending plan. Theyre really going all out to cater to the demand for their AI services. Theyre sprinkling AI magic across their products like Azure, Microsoft 365, GitHub, and a bunch of developer tools. Its all part of their grand plan.

Back in January this year, Microsoft announced that it will invest another $10 billion dollars in OpenAI, on top of what they had already invested and strengthen its commitment to seeing its AI bots go mainstream.

Microsoft hoped that OpenAIs ChatGPT is developed in a manner that would allow them to integrate the AI chatbot across various programmes that Microsoft offers, including the Office suite, as well as the Bing search engine.

Microsoft for long has hoped that with ChatGPT they can revolutionise internet searches and how people browse the web in a manner that Google hasnt been able to crack so far, and in the process, dethrone Google as the de facto search engine and Chrome as the de facto web browser.

Furthermore, Microsoft has also allocated OpenAI with a supercomputer that will be dedicated to training and developing OpenAIs GPT large language models.
Just a few weeks back, the whole world was caught off guard by some pretty bold claims about a room-temperature superconductor. This discovery could potentially shake up modern physics in a big way. Now the lead author of the viral paper has been accused of academic fraud.

Although not exactly false, those claims turned out to be inaccurate. In fact, it was a team of Indian researchers who first demonstrated that the material in question, LK-99 wasnt showing the properties of a superconductor at room temperature as it should have.

To know more why this discovery made the kind of waves it did, watch this video:

Now, a South Korean university is diving into this mess. Korea University, is looking into a complaint made against the professor who published the paper

Professor accused of academic fraud

According to Bloomberg, Professor Young-Wan Kwon, supposedly published the paper about this superconductor breakthrough without getting the green light from his co-authors.

Kwon went ahead and shared a sneak peek of his findings, calling the superconductor LK-99, on Cornell Universitys arXiv server in late July. Now, his colleagues from Korea University are on the case, saying its serious enough to warrant a six-month-long investigation.

Kwon and his team from Korea Universitys Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology are staying quiet and have refused to speak on the matter with the press.

Kwon uploaded the paper on July 22 along with his co-authors Sukbae Lee and Ji-Hoon Kim. A few hours later, Lee and Kim put up another paper on arXiv, but this time there were four additional co-authors, and Kwons name was nowhere to be seen. Apparently, this was their way of hitting back after Kwons original manuscript went up.

About LK-99

The alleged room-temperature superconductor that the South Korean team developed is a special mix of copper, lead, phosphorous, and oxygen.

These researchers claimed that this compound could act like a superconductor up to scorching temperatures of 260 degrees Fahrenheit (thats around 127 degrees Celsius). But other scientists tried to replicate their results and got inconsistent results that refuted their claim.

Despite that, this whole drama got the science communitys gears turning.

Why a superconductor is such a big deal

A room-temperature superconductor could have some serious implications on how we get power. Superconductors let electricity flow without any resistance. Conventionally made superconductors need to go to very low temperatures and extreme pressure to be able to perform that way.

Thats why theyre mostly found in laboratory conditions. If we could pull this off at room temperature! It could change everything, from how we power our cities to how we get around.

This isnt the first time that scientists have gotten this hyped up about superconductors. Earlier this year, in March, a team at the University of Rochester claimed they cracked the code on a room-temperature superconductor too.

They put it out there in a paper published in Nature. However, the New York Times reported that their paper is getting yanked from the journal. And one of the authors is in some hot water too, facing allegations of not-so-great research conduct.
Special public prosecutor of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack case Ujjwal Nikam on Friday said the possible extradition of accused Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana is now a question of a few months.

Nikams statement came on the heels of US State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patels remarks to call for those involved in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks to be brought to justice.

Patel, however, said that the extradition process of Tahawwur Rana is a pending matter.

A US court on Thursday denied the writ of habeas corpus filed by Tahawwur Rana, paving the way for US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to issue a certification for him to be extradited to India, where he is facing charges of his involvement in 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

On the US court denying the writ of habeas corpus, Ujjwal Nikam said, Indeed its a great success for India and I have no hesitation to say that because of the good relations between the US government and Indian government, the US administration had correctly declared that in any case whosoever the offender in the 26/11 terror attack case on Mumbai they should be punished according to law.

It would all depend now on the US administration as to when Tahawwur Rana is to be sent back to India for trial. The moot question is where he will be tried, whether in the NIA court at Delhi or elsewhere, those questions will be decided by the investigating agency, the special public prosecutor of the 26/11 case added.

Tahawwur Rana is not the first person who is currently serving time in a US jail after being accused of being part of the 26/11 attack conspiracy. Before Rana, David Coleman Headley was also arrested by the US.

Headley struck a plea bargain with the US government to avoid being extradited to India. His statement was however recorded by Nikam who had cross-examined him in an open court through a virtual conference.

When asked if he sees any major development if Tahawwur Rana is brought to India and is examined as a witness or accused, Nikam said, Indeed because that Rana is basically Pakistan national born person and later on he accepted the US governments citizenship and thereafter staying even in the US he was indulging in these terrorist activities.

Now it is more than clear that David Headley was his left and right-hand person and with the connivance of Rana, he opened the immigration office in Mumbai. So David Headley had visited India before the terror attack of 26/11 even after the terror attack similarly Tahawwur Rana had also visited Mumbai.

In response to a question on how much time it could take to extradite Rana to India, Nikam said that both US and Indias diplomacy will work out on this issue because ultimately, according to US law also they have to give all opportunity to a criminal to defend himsefl.

After availing all the opportunities, Im sure very soon. Because now it is a question of a few months because Tahawwur Rana has lost his habeas corpus for the petition and according to my knowledge, now he has no option Nikam said.

US State Department on Thursday said that Washington is committed to confronting terrorism across the world and continues to call for those involved in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks to be brought to justice.

What I can say is that we are committed to confronting terrorism across the world and we continue to call for those involved in the 2008 Mumbai attacks to be brought to justice, said State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel.

During the recently concluded monsoon session of the Indian parliament the Home Minister Amit Shah had informed the House that Tahawwur Rana would face the Indian judiciary soon.

Tahawwur Rana was arrested in the US on an extradition request by India for his role in the Mumbai attacks that killed 175 people, including six Americans.

Indian authorities allege that Rana conspired with his childhood friend David Coleman Headley to assist the Pakistani terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba in orchestrating the terror attacks. David Headley had pleaded guilty and testified against Rana.
The United States, Japan and South Korea have agreed to a new security pledge committing the three countries to consult with each other in case of a security crisis or threat in the Pacific, according to US administration officials.

On Friday, details about the new duty to consult commitment emerged as President Joe Biden welcomed South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for a summit at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland. Before the three met for the summit, Biden met with Yoon and then Kishida separately at about midmorning.

The agreement is one of several joint efforts that the leaders are expected to announce at the daylong summit, as the three countries look to tighten security and economic ties amid increasing concerns about North Koreas persistent nuclear threats and Chinas provocations in the Pacific.

Suffice it to say, this is a big deal, Bidens national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Friday shortly before the start of the summit. It is a historic event, and it sets the conditions for a more peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific, and a stronger and more secure United States of America.

Kishida, before departing Tokyo on Thursday, told reporters the summit would be a historic occasion to bolster trilateral strategic cooperation with Seoul and Washington.

I believe it is extremely meaningful to hold a Japan-US-South Korea summit where leaders of the three countries gather just as the security environment surrounding Japan is increasingly severe, he said.

Before it began, the summit drew harsh public criticism from the Chinese government. The international community has its own judgment as to who is creating contradictions and increasing tensions, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters Friday.

Attempts to form various exclusive groups and cliques and to bring bloc confrontation into the Asia-Pacific region are unpopular and will definitely spark vigilance and opposition in the countries of the region, Wang said.

Sullivan pushed back against the Chinese concerns.

Its explicitly not a NATO for the Pacific, Sullivan said. This partnership is not against anyone; it is for something. It is for a vision of the Indo-Pacific that is free, open, secure and prosperous.

The duty to consult pledge is intended to acknowledge that the three countries share fundamentally interlinked security environments and that a threat to one of the nations is a threat to all, according to a senior Biden administration official. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the coming announcement.

Under the pledge, the three countries agree to consult, share information and align their messaging with each other in the face of a threat or crisis, the official said.

The summit is the first Biden has held during his presidency at the storied Camp David. The three leaders met for talks on Friday and were scheduled to hold a press conference later. Biden was hoping to use much of the day with the two leaders as a more informal opportunity to tighten their bond.

The US president planned to take Kishida and Yoon on a walk on the picturesque grounds and host themand a few senior aides for a lunch.

The retreat 65 miles (104.6 kilometres) from the White House was where President Jimmy Carter brought together Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in September 1978 for talks that established a framework for a historic peace treaty between Israel and Egypt in March 1979. In the midst of World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met at the retreat  then known as Shangri-La  to plan the Italian campaign that would knock Benito Mussolini out of the war.

Bidens focus for the gathering is to nudge the United States two closest Asian allies to further tighten security and economic cooperation with each other. The historic rivals have been divided by differing views of World War II history and Japans colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

But under Kishida and Yoon, the two countries have begun a rapprochement as the two conservative leaders grapple with shared security challenges posed by North Korea and China. Both leaders have been upset by the stepped-up cadence of North Koreas ballistic missile tests and Chinese military exercises near Taiwan, the self-ruled island that is claimed by Beijing as part of its territory, and other aggressive action.

Yoon proposed an initiative in March to resolve disputes stemming from compensation for wartime Korean forced labourers. He announced that South Korea would use its own funds to compensate Koreans enslaved by Japanese companies before the end of World War II.

Yoon also travelled to Tokyo that month for talks with Kishida, the first such visit by a South Korean president in more than 12 years. Kishida reciprocated with a visit to Seoul in May and expressed sympathy for the suffering of Korean forced labourers during Japans colonial rule.

The effort to sustain the trilateral relationship wont be without challenges.

Beijing sees the tightening cooperation efforts as the first steps of a Pacific-version of NATO, the transatlantic military alliance, forming against it. U.S. officials expect that North Korea will lash outperhaps with more ballistic missile test and certainly blistering rhetoric.

The three leaders are also expected to detail in their summit communique plans to invest in technology for a three-way crisis hotline and offer an update on progress the countries have made on sharing early-warning data on missile launches by North Korea.

Other announcements expected to come out of the summit include plans to expand military cooperation on ballistic defences and to make the summit an annual event. Sullivan said the leaders would commit on Friday to a multiyear planning process for joint military exercises.

The leaders are also likely to discuss the long-running territorial conflicts in the disputed South China Sea involving China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei.

Earlier this month, the Philippine government summoned Chinas ambassador and presented a strongly worded diplomatic protest over the Chinese coast guards use of water cannons in a confrontation with Philippine vessels in the South China Sea.

That tense hours-long standoff occurred near Second Thomas Shoal, which has been occupied for decades by Philippine forces stationed onboard a rusting, grounded navy ship.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to South Africa next week, the foreign ministry said Friday, while confirming the president will attend the BRICS summit in Johannesburg.

Africa has emerged as a renewed diplomatic battleground, with the West, Russia and China vying for influence amid heightened competition for minerals and international divisions fostered by the war in Ukraine.

At the invitation of President of the Republic of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa, President Xi Jinping will attend the 15th BRICS Summit to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa and pay a state visit to South Africa from August 21 to 24, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in an online statement.

This will be Xis second international trip of 2023, after paying an official state visit to Russia in March.

The heads of Brazil, China, India and South Africa plus Russias top diplomat will gather on August 22-24 under the theme BRICS and Africa, South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said earlier this month.

Questions had swirled over whether Russian President Vladimir Putin  sought by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his role in the Ukraine war  would attend this years BRICS conference in South Africa, which is a signatory of the ICC.

But a spokesman for Ramaphosa last month said Putin would not attend by mutual agreement.

Xi previously visited South Africa in 2018 as he sought to enhance his countrys diplomatic and economic ties with the continent.

On the agenda at this years Johannesburg summit will be the possible future expansion of BRICS membership.

Several African countries have previously expressed a desire to join the bloc, including Algeria, Egypt and Ethiopia.

In July, China hosted Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune in Beijing, hailing its ties with Africa and calling for closer cooperation.

China welcomes Algerias positive intention to join BRICS, and supports Algerias efforts to achieve this goal, a joint statement released at the time said, adding that Tebboune had invited Xi to visit Algeria.

A total of 69 countries have been invited to the summit in South Africa, including all African states.

BRICS, a loosely-defined group that sees itself as a counterweight to Western economic domination, derives its name from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The bloc has previously indicated it is open to expansion.
The Chinese embassy expressed its heartful appreciation to the Indian Coast Guard for successfully conducting the medical evacuation of a Chinese national aboard a Panama-flagged research vessel, MV Dong Fang Kan Tan No 2, around 200 Kms in the Arabian sea off Mumbai.

The evacuation was carried out on the intervening night of 16 and 17 August amidst challenging weather conditions.

The vessel was enroute to UAE from China when the Chinese national had reported chest pain and showed symptoms of cardiac arrest.

Our heartful appreciation to @IndiaCoastGuard for the timely and professional medical evacuation of a Chinese citizen in Arabian sea off Mumbai, Chinese Embassy in India said.

Our heartful appreciation to @IndiaCoastGuard for the timely and professional medical evacuation of a Chinese citizen in Arabian sea off Mumbai. pic.twitter.com/e5VLzy3yQD  Embassy of The Peoples Republic of China in India (@China_Amb_India) August 17, 2023

On Wednesday, the Indian Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, Mumbai, received information that one of the crew members of the vessel had a cardiac arrest with high BP and required urgent medical attention.

Immediately, communication was established with the vessel and necessary telemedicine advice was provided. Considering the best feasible options for speedy evacuation and subsequent medical management, the patient was airlifted by CG ALH MK-III safely. He was administered first aid and later transferred to the agent of the vessel for further medical management.

In a daring operation, @IndiaCoastGuard #ALH MK-III evacuates a #Chinese national from MV Dong Fang Kan Tan No 2 around 200 Km mid-sea amidst challenging night conditions & extreme weather. Patient was reported chest pain &cardiac arrest symptoms.#SAR #ArabianSea#MaritimeSafety pic.twitter.com/THG0nBZjhi  Indian Coast Guard (@IndiaCoastGuard) August 17, 2023

The operation was undertaken by CG ALH and CGAS Daman during the dark hours enabled saving the life of a foreign national at sea. It also reaffirms the Indian Coast Guards commitment to the motto "We Protect".

With inputs from agencies
Alexander Khodakovsky, the commander of the Vostok Battalion, has put forth a proposal to halt the conflict in Ukraine, advocating for a freeze along the existing frontlines.

This idea revives a perspective that had been largely dormant since Yevgeny Prigozhin led an armed rebellion.

Khodakovsky said that Russia will not be able to topple Ukraine militarily in the near term and that Russian forces are unlikely to easily occupy additional Ukrainian cities, echoing comments Prigozhin had made in April 2023, the Institute for the Study of War quoted (ISW) him as saying.

Khodakovsky said that Russia will likely have to come to a truce and that it may enter a phase of neither peace nor war with Ukraine, ISW quoted him as saying.

Khodakovsky suggested that Ukraine would be sufficiently weakened in this state of frozen conflict and that Russia would be able to exert more influence over Ukraine in such a situation.

In an essay dated April 14, Prigozhin put forward the notion of Russia putting a halt to the conflict in Ukraine. The purpose behind this move would be to establish favourable conditions for an eventual triumph without the need for negotiations.

Similar sentiments have been sporadically expressed by Russian sources, indicating the existence of a faction within the Kremlin that finds merit in the idea of freezing the war along the present frontlines.

This perspective stems not only from strategic considerations but also from concerns regarding internal political stability and the potential adverse economic repercussions of the ongoing conflict.

However, discussions regarding this perspective have diminished notably since Prigozhins reduced public statements subsequent to the Wagner Groups uprising on June 24, along with the apprehension of fervent ultranationalist Igor Girkin. The latter figure consistently urged the Kremlin to resist the faction advocating for a frozen conflict.

It appears that Khodakovsky might be resurfacing this narrative within the Russian information sphere, potentially acting on behalf of the faction purportedly interested in a war freeze. Nevertheless, Khodakovskys influence on the broader Russian leadership is likely circumscribed.

In the region along the Donetsk-Zaporizhia Oblast border, Khodakovsky commands the forces responsible for defence. His recent remarks regarding the possibility of freezing the ongoing conflict come on the heels of Ukraines successful capture of Urozhaine on August 16.

This development hints at the potential erosion of confidence within the Russian defensive position across the broader expanse of southern Ukraine.

Khodakovsky has previously drawn attention to pressing issues linked to the Russian defence in the border region between Donetsk and Zaporizhia. He specifically highlighted concerns about deficient Russian counterbattery capabilities, substantial losses suffered by Russian forces, the evident fatigue among these forces, and the scarcity of reserves available.

As early as August 13, Khodakovsky had advocated for a temporary operational pause, aiming to afford Russian forces the opportunity to amass resources for a forthcoming military action.

The shift from Khodakovskys initial call for an operational pause to his current proposal of freezing the conflict likely stems from his direct involvement in recent and strategically significant advancements made by Ukrainian forces, coupled with the observable weakening of Russian defending units in the Urozhaine region.
Irans foreign minister met Friday with Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as part of his visit to the kingdom, a sign of how the two countries are trying to ease tensions after years of turmoil.

Images of Irans top diplomat, Hossein Amirabdollahian, sitting with Prince Mohammed would have been unthinkable only months earlier, as the longtime rivals have been engaged in what officials in both Tehran and Riyadh have viewed as a proxy conflict across the wider Middle East.

The prince even went as far as to compare Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to Adolf Hitler at one point in 2017.

But since reaching a Chinese-mediated detente in March, Iran and Saudi Arabia have moved toward reopening diplomatic missions in each others countries. Saudi King Salman has even invited Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, a hard-line protege of Khamenei, to visit the kingdom as well.

Challenges remain, however, particularly over Irans advancing nuclear program, the Saudi-led war in Yemen and security across the regions waterways.

Meanwhile, the U.S. is still trying to finalize a deal with Iran to free detained American citizens in exchange for the release of billions of dollars frozen in South Korea, while also bolstering its troop presence in the Persian Gulf.

Saudi state television aired images of Prince Mohammed sitting with Amirabdollahian in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah.

The state-run Saudi Press Agency offered few substantive details of their conversation, saying merely that they reviewed relations and future opportunities for cooperation.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Amirabdollahian said the two men talked for 90 minutes at their meeting in Jeddah.

Honest, open, useful and fruitful talks based on neighbourly policy, the foreign minister wrote in his post. Through the wills of heads of the two countries, sustainable bilateral ties in all fields have persisted. We agree on security and development for all in the region.

Amirabdollahian arrived Thursday in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, for meetings with his counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan. The kingdom broke ties with Iran in 2016 after protesters invaded Saudi diplomatic posts there. Saudi Arabia had executed a prominent Shiite cleric with 46 others days earlier, triggering the demonstrations.

The kingdom also initially backed rebels trying to overthrow the Iranian-backed president of Syria, Bashar Assad, while also opposing the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Since the U.S. unilaterally withdrew from Irans nuclear deal with world powers in 2018, Iran has been blamed for a series of attacks. Those assaults include one targeting the heart of Saudi Arabias oil industry in 2019, temporarily halving the kingdoms crude production.

But after the coronavirus pandemic and the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, Gulf Arab nations including Saudi Arabia have begun reassessing how to manage relations with Iran. Prince Mohammed as well wants a peaceful Middle East with stable oil prices to fuel his own grand development plans for the kingdom costing billions of dollars.

In March, the kingdom and Iran reached an agreement in China to reopen embassies.

Before Amirabdollahians visit, the last Iranian foreign minister to visit Saudi Arabia on a public trip was Mohammad Javad Zarif, who travelled to the kingdom in 2015 to offer condolences for the death of King Abdullah.

The visit comes as Saudi Arabia is still struggling to withdraw itself from its yearslong war in Yemen against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who hold the capital, Sanaa. Amirabdollahians visit coincides with a new visit by Omani mediators there to try to reach a peace agreement.
A US court has denied the writ of habeas corpus filed by Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana, paving the way for US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to issue a certification for him to be extradited to India where he is facing a trial for his alleged involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

The court has denied Tahawwur Ranas petition for writ of habeas corpus by a separate order, Judge Dale S Fischer, United States District Judge, Central District of California, wrote in his order on 10 August.

However, Rana has filed an appeal against the order and sought a stay on his extradition to India till the time his appeal in the Ninth Circuit Court is heard.

In June this year, Rana had filed writ of habeas corpus challenging a court order that acceded to the request of the US government that the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks accused be extradited to India.

Judge Fischer in his order said Rana has only made two basic arguments in the writ.

First, he claims that, pursuant to the treaty, he cannot be extradited because India plans to prosecute him for the same acts for which he was charged and acquitted in a United States court. Second, he argues that the government has not established that there is probable cause to believe that Rana committed the Indian offenses for which he is expected to stand trial, the judge said.

He denied both arguments of Rana.

Given that, even if (David) Headleys testimony were the entire basis for the probable cause finding, it would be sufficient for the purposes of habeas review because it constitutes some competent evidence supporting the finding. For the reasons stated above, Ranas petition for a writ of habeas corpus is DENIED, the judge wrote.

Following Judge Fischers order, Patrick Blegen and John D Cline, Ranas two attorneys filed an appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from the Order entered on August 10, 2023, for denying his petition for writ of habeas corpus.

In a separate appeal, Blegen has filed a petition for a stay of extradition pending his appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from the courts order denying his petition for a writ of habeas corpus.

As set forth in the accompanying memorandum, petitioner submits that a stay of extradition pending appeal is appropriate because he has made a strong showing that he is likely to succeed on the merits of his non bis in idem claim; he will suffer irreparable harm if he is extradited, potentially including the death penalty; a stay pending appeal will not substantially injure the government; and the public interest favors a full review of Ranas non bis claim before he is sent to a country that seeks to execute him, Ranas attorney wrote on 14 August.

In June, the Biden administration had urged the court to deny the writ of habeas corpus filed by Rana.

The United States respectfully requests that the court deny Ranas petition for a writ of habeas corpus, said E Martin Estrada, US attorney for Central District of California, in his petition filed before the US District Court for the Central District of California.

In May, Rana had filed writ of habeas corpus challenging the court order, which acceded with the request of the US government that the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks accused be extradited to India.

Filing the writ of habeas corpus through his attorney, Rana challenged his extradition by the government of India.

Ranas extradition would violate the United States-India extradition treaty in two respects, his attorney argued.

First, Rana has been tried and acquitted in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois for charges based on the identical conduct for which India seeks to prosecute him. He argued that extradition is, therefore, barred under Article 6(1) of the Treaty, which declares that [e]extradition shall not be granted when the person sought has been convicted or acquitted in the Requested State for the offense for which extradition is requested.

Second, the material submitted by the GOI consisting principally of transcripts and exhibits from Ranas trial in the Northern District of Illinois  fail to establish probable cause that he committed the offenses for which India has charged him. The Indian government extradition request thus fails to satisfy Article 9.3(c) of the Treaty, the attorney said, adding the court should grant the writ of habeas corpus, deny extradition and order Ranas release.

However, the US government has said Rana be extradited to India.

In his submission to the US Court on June 23, the US attorney argued that Ranas claims about the legitimacy of his business in Mumbai fall flat. The evidence does not support Ranas assertion that the Mumbai office conducted legitimate business, but even if it did, the engagement of legitimate business activities does not preclude a finding that Ranas business also served as a cover for Headleys terrorism-related activities in Mumbai.

Ranas claims about who funded the Mumbai office also do not relate to whether Rana lacked knowledge of and support for Headleys activities. Similarly, even if Rana hoped to continue business operations in Mumbai, the evidence reveals that neither Rana nor Headley renewed the business lease that expired approximately two weeks before the start of the Mumbai attacks, Estrada argued.

He said the fact that Rana received a warning before the attacks does not preclude a finding of probable cause.

In the fall of 2008, when Headley learnt that Rana was going to travel to China and India, he decided to warn Rana that an attack may be forthcoming through a co-conspirator, Estrada said.

While the details of the conversation between Rana and the co-conspirator are unknown, a September 7, 2009, FBI intercept reveals that Rana told Headley that their co-conspirator had warned him (Rana) that the Mumbai attacks were imminent. Contrary to Ranas claim, the co-conspirators warning does not suggest that he was unaware of the upcoming attacks, the US attorney argued.

Instead, it merely suggests that Rana was not aware of the date of the attack, which is consistent with the fact that Headley had informed Rana earlier that the attack plans were being delayed, he said.

Estrada said RANAs claim that he did not review Headleys visa application is unsupported by the evidence. Rana does not dispute that Headleys visa applications contain false information; rather, he claims that it is unlikely that [he] checked [the applications] for accuracy because he would have corrected a statement indicating that Headley worked for First World Immigration, instead of Immigrant Law Center.

While Immigration Law Center is a DBA for Raymond J. Sanders, RANAs business partner, that business and First World Immigration shared the same address and telephone number. Significantly, India issued Headley a business visa, even though he wrote First World Immigration on his 2006 visa application and the accompanying support letter from Mr. Sanders referred to the employing entity as Immigration Law Center. Thus, Ranas claim does not undermine probable cause and is not persuasive, the US attorney said.
Wife of a civil judge in Islamabad, Pakistan was accused of allegedly torturing her house help on a daily basis.

The victim identified as Rizwana, officially gave her account to the Islamabad police on Friday.

The incident came to public attention on July 25 when Rizwana was transported to a Lahore hospital due to severe injuries.

Reacting promptly to the reports, the police have registered a case against the civil judges wife for purportedly brutalizing the 14-year-old girl, who worked as a household assistant in their residence.

A day earlier, it was reported that not only the wife, but also the civil judge himself, subjected the 14-year-old domestic helper to mistreatment, as accused by Rizwanas grandmother.

Today, in her statement given to the police, Rizwana alleged that the judges wife, Somia, used to hit her with sticks, iron rods, and various objects.

The lady of the house used to kick and slap her out of anger, stated the police, citing the minors account. She would also grab her hair and forcefully bang her head against the wall.

Rizwana additionally revealed in her statement that whenever the judges family left the residence, she would be confined to a room for days without any food or water.

I was never allowed to meet my parents, stated Rizwana. Whenever I spoke to my parents on the phone, the judges wife would stand beside me.

The young girl further disclosed that Somia would threaten and intimidate her into not revealing the intense mistreatment to her parents.

They didnt even provide basic care for my wounds, she asserted.

According to the police, the civil judge was yet to appear before a collaborative investigation team.

Its worth noting that the civil judge was removed from his position and designated as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) by the Lahore High Court Chief Justice, Muhammad Ameer Bhatti.

As indicated in the FIR, the complainant had sent his 14-year-old daughter to work as a domestic helper for a monthly wage of 10, with the recommendation of an acquaintance named Chaudhry Mukhtar, seven months ago.

The girls parents discovered her ordeal at the judges residence on July 23 when they paid her a visit.

Its worth mentioning that the victims parents revealed that they hadnt physically met their daughter during these seven months but had spoken to her on the phone occasionally.

When we [the complainant, his wife, and her brother] entered the premises, we heard our daughter crying. That sound deeply concerned us, prompting us to approach the room, where we found our daughter in a wounded state [], the complainant detailed in the FIR.

He alleged that the judges wife had subjected his daughter to severe abuse, with signs of torture visible all over the childs body.

Upon inspecting her condition, the parents noted numerous injuries on the girls body, including severe wounds on her head that were infested with maggots.

The significant injuries described by the complainant included swollen lips and eyes, fractured teeth, as well as marks of strangulation on her neck.

According to the FIR, the complainant accused Somia of mistreating and illegally detaining his daughter since her first day of work at the judges residence, and demanded action be taken regarding the matter.
US President Joe Biden on Friday will announce new security cooperation at a first-of-a-kind three-way summit with the leaders of Japan and South Korea, hoping to send a message of strength to China which has already made clear its displeasure.

The summit at the Camp David presidential retreat in the mountains west of Washington would have been unimaginable until recently, with the two treaty-bound US allies at loggerheads for decades over the legacy of Japans harsh 1910-1945 occupation of the Korean peninsula.

But South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, taking political risks at home, has turned the page by resolving a dispute over wartime forced labor, instead calling Japan a partner at a time of high tensions with both China and North Korea.

Biden, Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will agree to a new three-way crisis hotline and regular military drills and will agree to hold trilateral summits each year, US officials said, hoping to institutionalize the progress.

We have created something that is exactly what China was hoping would never happen, said the US ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel.

Our message is we are a permanent Pacific power and presence, and you can bet long on America, he said at the Brookings Institution.

China, Emanuel said, should understand: We are the rising power; they are declining.

China has flexed its muscle both at home and in Asia under President Xi Jinping, exerting disputed maritime claims and carrying out major exercises near Taiwan, the self-ruling democracy claimed by Beijing.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged the two economically developed Northeast Asian democracies instead to work with Beijing to revitalize East Asia.

No matter how blond you dye your hair or how sharp you shape your nose, you can never become a European or American, you can never become a Westerner, he said in a video shared on official media.

We must know where our roots lie, he said.

Eye on China and beyond

Chinas pressure tactics have led to a sharp deterioration in its favorability in Japan and South Korea in recent years.

But unlike Emanuel, a blunt-talking former congressman, the Japanese and South Korean leaders are expected to tread more cautiously in public remarks on China, which is not expected to feature overtly in a joint statement.

Kurt Campbell, who heads Asia policy at the White House, said however that the three leaders are expected to discuss Taiwan and preserving international law at sea.

We can imagine a future with more ambition, Campbell said.

Cooperation in the past has been largely centered on the mutual threat of North Korea, which again in recent months has carried out a slew of missile tests.

South Korean intelligence believes Pyongyang is preparing to test launch an intercontinental ballistic missile to coincide with the Camp David summit, Yonhap news agency reported Thursday, in a show of defiance against the trilateral meeting.

US officials hope to move beyond a focus on North Korea or even just Asia, with Tokyo and Seoul the most prominent non-Western nations to support Ukraine after the Russian invasion.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he saw a new era in trilateral cooperation.

Japan and South Korea are core allies  not just in the region, but around the world, Blinken said.

It will be the first time the three countries leaders meet outside the context of a larger summit and the first diplomatic event since 2015 at Camp David, famous for Middle East peacemaking.

Surprise at public support

Campbell acknowledged that a future leader could reverse the three-way initiatives but said, We are going to try to embed this in our politics in such way that it will be hard for any leader, in either of the three countries to move back.

Despite some protests against Yoon over Japan, polls in both South Korea and Japan has been more upbeat than expected, said Mira Rapp-Hooper, senior director for East Asia and Oceania on the National Security Council.

Both Japanese and South Koreans feel that there are a number of fundamentally aligned values and interests that should bring them together, she said.

Yoon, a conservative, has quickly become a close US ally, with Biden welcoming him for a rare state visit in which the South Korean leader regaled the audience by singing American Pie.

Scott Snyder, a Korea expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, said that domestically Yoon has already paid the political down-payment on reaching out to Japan and could move securely ahead.

But Yoon is constitutionally prohibited from serving more than a single term, which ends in 2027.

On the South Korean side, the focus really is likely to be on pushing forward and trying to institutionalize as much as possible in order to hedge against the risk of reversal in the event that President Yoon is not succeeded by a like-minded president, Snyder said.
Japan has expressed its serious concern following the close passage of Chinese and Russian naval vessels near its southern islands on Thursday.

The development came just a day prior to its leader is expected to participate in a summit with counterparts from South Korea and the United States, where discussions about escalating tensions in the Indo-Pacific are on the agenda.

A fleet of six Chinese ships, including missile destroyers, along with five Russian vessels, some of which were also destroyers, traversed the waters between Japans Okinawa Island and Miyako Island. Subsequently, the flotilla proceeded towards the East China Sea, as reported by Japans defence ministry.

Notably, this marks the first instance of Russian and Chinese naval vessels jointly navigating through this specific maritime route. It is important to underline that the ships did not violate Japans territorial waters.

Meanwhile, against the backdrop of heightened concerns over Russian and Chinese military activities in the region, a collaborative naval exercise involving the United States, Japan, and Australia is scheduled for Wednesday. This initiative is being undertaken as tensions continue to escalate in the South China Sea.

China is renewing its criticism of this weekends summit among the leaders of the U.S., Japan and South Korea, saying no country should seek its own security at the expense of the security interests of others and of regional peace and stability.

The international community has its own judgment as to who is creating contradictions and increasing tensions, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters at a daily briefing Friday.

Attempts to form various exclusive groups and cliques and to bring bloc confrontation into the Asia-Pacific region are unpopular and will definitely spark vigilance and opposition in the countries of the region, Wang said.

The summit at the rustic Camp David presidential retreat seeks to further tighten security and economic ties between Japan and South Korea, two nations whose historically frosty relations have rapidly thawed over the last year as they share concerns about Chinas assertiveness in the Pacific and North Koreas persistent nuclear threats.

China is extremely sensitive to any moves it perceives as seeking to contain its rise to dominance in Asia and has traditionally counted on the historical enmity between Tokyo and Seoul to keep its rivals divided and weaken the U.S. system of regional alliances.

Beijing has made clear the current rapprochement between the two was something it very much did not want to see and its top diplomat, Wang Yi, last month made a clumsy and much-criticized appeal to racial-cultural similarities between Chinese, Japanese and Koreans as an alternative to partnering with the West.

No matter how yellow you dye your hair, or how sharp you make your nose, youll never turn into a European or American, youll never turn into a Westerner, said Wang, a former foreign minister who now heads the ruling Communist Partys foreign affairs commission.

One needs to know where ones roots are, Wang added.

President Joe Biden is looking to use the summit to urge South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to firmly turn the page on their countries difficult shared history.

The Japan-South Korean relationship is a delicate one because of differing views of World War II history and Japans colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula. Past efforts to tighten security cooperation between Seoul and Tokyo have progressed by fits and starts.

Expected major announcements include plans to expand military cooperation on ballistic missile defences and make the summit an annual event.

In the face of deteriorating ties with Washington, Seoul and Tokyo, China has grown closer to Russia, with whom it declared a no-limits partnership just prior to President Vladimir Putins full-on invasion of Ukraine last year.

Japans Defense Ministry on Friday said it scrambled fighter jets after spotting two Russian IL-38 reconnaissance aircraft flying back and forth over the Tsushima Strait in southwestern Japan.

A day earlier, the ministry said Japan spotted a fleet of 11 Chinese and Russian navy ships crossing waters between the southern Japanese islands of Okinawa and Miyako.

The fleet comprised six Chinese and five Russian warships, many of which had taken part in what they called a joint patrol in July when they sailed through the Soya Strait between the northern main island of Hokkaido and Sakhalin, the Japanese Defense Ministry said Thursday. The ministry views the repeated joint military activities by the two countries around Japan as aimed at demonstrating their combined threat against Japan, and expressed concern to both China and Russia, Kyodo News reported.

Asked about the activities, Wang said, It conforms to international law and international practice for the Chinese and Russian vessels to conduct normal patrols.

China has also sought stronger relations with developing nations in Africa and Central and South America and President Xi Jinping will be attending next weeks summit in Johannesburg of the BRICS bloc linking Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

With inputs from agencies.
In what could only add to Russias troubled war efforts in Ukraine, the United States has approved sending state-of-the-art F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine from Denmark and the Netherlands, Reuters reported.

The US assured the transfers will go through as soon as pilot training was completed.

We welcome Washingtons decision to pave the way for sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said on messaging platform X, formerly Twitter.

Many thanks to Secretary Antony Blinken for the good and swift cooperation. Now, we will further discuss the subject with our European partners, he added.

This marks a major milestone for #Ukraine to defend its people and its country. 2/2  Wopke Hoekstra (@WBHoekstra) August 17, 2023

Hoekstra also called the decision as marking a major milestone for Ukraine to defend its people and its country.

Ukraine has been actively seeking the US-made F-16 fighters to counter Russian air dominance.

The Reuters report also said that Washington has given Denmark and the Netherlands official assurances that America will expedite approval of transfer requests for F-16s to go to Ukraine when the pilots are trained.

Denmark and the Netherlands had recently asked for those assurances. The US must approve the transfer of the military jets from its allies to Ukraine, the report said.

A coalition of 11 countries was due to start training Ukrainian pilots to fly the F-16 fighter jets this month in Denmark.

Denmark's acting Defense Minister Troels Poulsen said in July that the country hoped to see "results" from the training in early 2024.

NATO members Denmark and the Netherlands have been leading international efforts to train pilots as well as support staff, maintain aircraft and ultimately enable Ukraine to obtain F-16s for use in its war with Russia.
US Congresswoman Ilhan Omars controversial visit to Pakistan-occupied part of the disputed region of Kashmir or PoK as it is called in 2022 was actually funded by the Pakistani government, an annual House financial disclosure report revealed on Friday.

Omar, a prominent Democrat known for her anti-India stance on various issues had made a rare visit by a US lawmaker to PoK in 2022 and had said at that time that the dispute should get more attention from the United States, prompting an angry response from India.

The disclosure shows that Islamabad had sponsored Omars visit from 18th to 24th of April, 2022which included lodging as well as food.

According to United States protocol, if a citizen holds a public office or happens to be a peoples representative at the seat of power then he/she is bound by law to make a disclosure of foreign trips undertaken during that period in office. The disclosure includes making public who has sponsored foreign trips undertaken by the peoples representative.

According to a News18 report, Omar during her trip to Pakistan was taken on a tour of Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir by regional authorities and also met Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other political leaders. It is a well-known fact, that Omar has been critical of India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi several times in the past including just ahead of PM Modis state visit to the United States. Though she portrayed she was neutral at that time, the disclosure has revealed that Omar is very much sympathetic to the cause of Pakistan and the disputed region of PoK. It would also not be far from the truth to point out that the US lawmaker is a part of the Pakistani ecosystem and diaspora that exists in the United States.

The disclosure once again proves that the verbal attacks on PM Modi were orchestrated by Pakistan from behind the scenes and the US lawmaker may well have been a puppet doing Pakistans bidding, according to media reports.

At a time when Pakistan is begging all over the world for money, Islamabad allegedly has the funds to sponsor the visit of a US lawmaker.to actually visit the region and carry out anti-India propaganda. I wish they would utilise the money available to then for b better purposes that could actually benefit their own country, said Sushant Sareen, Senior Fellow, ORF. The research scholar also pointed out that the propaganda carried out by Omar at the behest of Pakistan would actually not be able to cause a dent in Indias armour, while reacting to the recent disclosure.

I dont believe that it (Kashmir) is being talked about to the extent it needs to in Congress but also with the administration, Omar had told reporters after visiting the de facto border dividing the disputed territory between Pakistan and India in 2022.

Omar, a Somali American who belongs to President Joe Bidens Democratic Party, is the first naturalised citizen of African birth to sit in the US Congress.
At a Camp David summit on Friday, the United States, South Korea and Japan will deepen military and economic ties as the allies seek to project unity in the face of Chinas rise and nuclear threats from North Korea.

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told a Camp David news briefing the meeting would announce significant steps to enhance trilateral security cooperation, including a commitment to consult each other in times of crisis.

Sullivan said the steps would include a multi-year military exercise plan, deeper coordination and integration on ballistic missile defense and improved information sharing, crisis communication and policy coordination that goes along with responding to contingencies in the Indo-Pacific.

He said the leaders would also unveil new economic and energy security initiatives including an early warning mechanism for supply chain disruptions.

The commitments, which fall short of a formal alliance, will be the centerpiece of US President Joe Bidens first Camp David summit for foreign leaders and represents a significant move for Seoul and Tokyo, which have a long history of mutual acrimony and distrust.

Biden is welcoming South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to the mountainside presidential retreat, where they are expected to have several hours to strategize over how to manage tensions in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.

The summit is expected to produce a series of joint statements, including commitments to establish a crisis hotline, work together on emerging technologies and to meet annually.

The meeting is freighted with symbolism: with Washingtons encouragement, Tokyo and Seoul are navigating their way past disputes dating to Japans 1910-1945 occupation of the Korean Peninsula.

Those disputes are among the reasons the leaders would not now consider a mutual-defense pact along the lines of what the United States has separately with both South Korea and Japan  who are not themselves formal allies  according to US officials who declined to be identified while previewing the summit.

What we have seen over the last couple of months is a breathtaking kind of diplomacy, that has been led by courageous leaders in both Japan and South Korea, said Kurt Campbell, Bidens coordinator for Indo-Pacific affairs.

They have sometimes gone against the advice of their own counsellors and staff and taken steps that elevate the Japan-South Korea relationship into a new plane, Campbell said.

CHINA VIEWS SUMMIT WARILY

No specific action by the trio in Camp David is expected to sharply increase tensions with China, though Beijing has warned that U.S. efforts to strengthen ties with South Korea and Japan could increase tension and confrontation in the region.

While South Korea, Japan and the United States want to avoid provoking Beijing, China believes Washington is trying to isolate it diplomatically and encircle it militarily.

Responding to a question about charges levelled by China, Sullivan said the aim was explicitly not a NATO for the Pacific and also said a trilateral alliance had not been set as an explicit goal.

We have not set an endpoint of a formal trilateral alliance, Sullivan said, while adding that the commitment to consult was a very significant step because it means that the three countries recognize their common interest in having a coherent and coordinated response to any security contingency.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told MSNBC the summit was not about containing China despite charges to that effect from Beijing.

Its about dealing with a wide set of threats and challenges and quite frankly opportunities in that part of the world, he said.

Tensions in the South China Sea have flared between U.S. ally the Philippines and China over a grounded warship that serves as a Philippine military outpost in the strategic waterway, a major global trade route.

North Koreas military said it had scrambled jets after a US reconnaissance aircraft intruded into its economic zone off its east coast, state news agency KCNA reported on Friday.

Biden, an 80-year-old Democrat seeking another four-year term in the 2024 presidential election, faces a likely opponent in Republican former President Donald Trump, who has voiced scepticism about whether Washington benefits from its traditional military and economic alliances.

South Korea has legislative elections next year and Japan must hold one before October 2025, and what analysts see as a still fragile rapprochement between the two nations remains controversial among the countries voters.

The White House, conscious of the electoral clock, wants to make the progress between South Korea and Japan hard to reverse, including by establishing routine cooperation on military exercises, ballistic missile defense, the economy, and scientific and technological research.
United States counterintelligence agencies on Friday warned the American space industry to guard against efforts by foreign intelligence entities to steal research and trade secrets as they try to boost their own countries space programs.

We anticipate growing threats to this burgeoning sector of the US economy, a US counterintelligence official told Reuters, adding that China and Russia are among the leading foreign intelligence threats to the US space industry.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National Counterintelligence and Security Centre (NCSC) and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) issued a two-page bulletin, saying unspecified foreign entities were using cyberattacks and techniques such as strategic investment through joint ventures and acquisitions to gain access to the US space industry.

The move is the latest push by Washington to raise awareness about an issue that has long vexed counterintelligence officials and has become a higher priority as the US space industry spends billions of dollars developing new rockets and related technology.

The document warned companies to be on guard for facility visit requests, and attempts to gather confidential information at conferences. It also said individual employees were at risk of recruitment efforts through offers of travel abroad or consultancy work and payment for proprietary information. It urged companies to contact the FBI or AFOSI with any concerns of being targeted, as well as to track peculiar incidents and establish insider threat programs as part of vetting individuals in sensitive positions.

US authorities have for years said Chinese hackers are targeting US space know-how, including having accessed computers at the NASA Goddard Space Center and Jet Propulsion Laboratory, as well as numerous companies involved in aviation, space and satellite technology.

In 2019, Chinese national Tao Li was sentenced to 40 months in prison for conspiring to illegally export military and space grade technology to China, including radiation-hardened power amplifiers and circuits.

China says its space program is for peaceful purposes, but US military officials say Beijing sees space as crucial to its military strategy.

The US warned this year that China seeks to match or surpass it as a leader in space by 2045.
Indias first 3D-printed post office has been inaugurated in Bengalurus Cambridge Layout, marking a significant stride in innovative construction techniques. The project, which was virtually inaugurated by Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister for Railways, Communications, Electronics, and IT.

Constructed by Larsen & Toubro Limited in collaboration with IIT Madras, the 3D-printed post office was completed in a short span of 43 days, well ahead of the designated timeline.

Indias first 3D printed Post Office at Cambridge Layout, Bengaluru

The project leveraged 3D concrete printing technology, where a robotic printer deposited layers of concrete according to approved designs. This not only accelerated construction but also showcased the potential of such techniques in the construction industry.

Regarding the construction at short duration, George Abraham, Head of Operations (south and east), L&T, said,

It is because of the robotic intervention that involves pre-embedded designs, that we were able to complete the entire construction activity in a period of 43 days as compared to about 6-8 months taken by conventional method.

The 1,021 sq ft post office boasts seamless construction with no vertical joints, and the flexibility of the 3D printing technology allowed for curved surfaces and adaptations to site dimensions.

With no constraints of plane walls, the technology enabled continuous reinforced concrete footing and three-layer walls. This achievement highlights the efficiency, reduced material wastage, and customization potential of 3D printing in construction. The first 3D-printed post office in the country opens the door for more research into this construction technology.

Regarding the inauguration, the Prime Ministers post on X says,

Every Indian would be proud to see Indias first 3D printed Post Office at Cambridge Layout, Bengaluru. A testament to our nations innovation and progress, it also embodies the spirit of a self-reliant India. Compliments to those who have worked hard in ensuring the Post Offices completion.

Regarding the inauguration, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister for Railways, Communications, Electronics, and IT said,

Bengaluru always presents a new picture of India. The new picture that you saw today in terms of this 3D-printed post office building, thats the spirit of India today. Thats the spirit with which our country is progressing today.

Source
"In the live streaming room, we have over 40 different job types currently open for recruitment. We warmly welcome friends from all around the country to submit applications and make your choices." On the evening of August 15th, after a six-month hiatus, the Hefei Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security once again held a special live recruitment event for BYD (Hefei) in the "Community Quick Recruitment" Alipay live streaming room. The Hefei Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security continuously innovates and optimizes the employment service model. It has collaborated with third-party human resources service agencies to carry out online recruitment activities for BYD (Hefei) on four major platforms, including the Hefei Human Resources Douyin account, 'Community Quick Recruitment' Alipay mini-program, Alipay Life, etc. These activities aim to build a new bridge for key employers and job-seeking residents, alleviate the "difficulties" in recruitment for enterprises, and solve the "challenges" in employment for residents. At 7 p.m. on the 15th, the live recruitment event for BYD (Hefei) officially started. Through the pre-broadcast announcements and sharing, tens of thousands of job seekers flocked to the live streaming room to watch the event. This live recruitment event featured more than 40 types of positions from BYD's 11th business division, FinDreams Powertrain Co., Ltd., FinDreams Precision, FinDreams Technology, and the logistics department. The recruitment aimed to fill nearly 3,000 positions and mainly targeted groups such as migrant workers under the age of 48 who return to their hometowns, laborers facing employment difficulties, retired soldiers, and college graduates nationwide, with a large employment gap. The live recruitment event lasted for two hours, and the total number of viewers in the live streaming room exceeded 170,000. Over 600 resumes were received, and many job intentions were generated. The event not only met the employment needs of residents but also eased the recruitment difficulties for key enterprises, receiving positive feedback from both companies and job-seeking residents. Previously, the Hefei Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security conducted live recruitment for BYD factory through "Community Quick Recruitment" in the Alipay job live streaming room. During the three live broadcasts, they attracted over 120,000 viewers, with 60% of the applicants coming from other provinces. This expanded BYD's cross-provincial recruitment channels and achieved cost reduction and efficiency improvement.

Source: Anhuinews.com
Sursa foto: Inquam Photos/ Octav Ganea

Ponta, dupa ce a fost numit consilierul lui Ciolacu: Back in business! Daca am ocazia sa fac ceva concret, nu ma multumesc sa stau pe margine imbosumflat si sa critic tot
On a wider scale, theyll also make their way through every possible sexual partner at a party or in town until they find one who will hook up with them. Its likely the word is also linked to a shifty person i.e. someone whose behaviour is pretty dodgy and weird - source: my brain.
felicilin at 18-08-2023 09:57 AM (3 days ago) (f)

A lion has torn apart and eaten an employee of a game reserve in South Africa after the man took an ill-advised night-time stroll.

A lion has torn apart and eaten an employee of a game reserve in South Africa after the man took an ill-advised night-time stroll.



At some stage in the night, the big cat pounced on the unsuspecting employee, ripping him from limb in a merciless attack.



Stomach-churning images of the grisly scene, which we wont publish, showed how the flesh was torn from Matshes skull while his boot-clad leg bone lay twisted in the grass.



Reserve spokesman Hartogh Streicher revealed that it was an unfortunate operations manager who stumbled upon the human remains at 10:37 on Monday morning.



Streicher made it clear that wandering the reserve after sunset was strictly forbidden. As he extended condolences to Matshes grieving family, he solemnly reminded everyone of the peril facing those who do not abide by the reserves safety rules.



Lions are nocturnal animals, driven by their natural instinct and hunting patterns, and may perceive a person as a normal prey species, he said. At some stage in the night, the big cat pounced on the unsuspecting employee, ripping him from limb in a merciless attack.Stomach-churning images of the grisly scene, which we wont publish, showed how the flesh was torn from Matshes skull while his boot-clad leg bone lay twisted in the grass.Reserve spokesman Hartogh Streicher revealed that it was an unfortunate operations manager who stumbled upon the human remains at 10:37 on Monday morning.Streicher made it clear that wandering the reserve after sunset was strictly forbidden. As he extended condolences to Matshes grieving family, he solemnly reminded everyone of the peril facing those who do not abide by the reserves safety rules.he said.

Post Reply Posted: at 18-08-2023 09:57 AM (3 days ago) | Addicted Hero
Debloat Windows 11: Microsoft Unlocks More Inbox Apps That Users Can Uninstall To Reduce OS Bloatware Features oi -Alap Naik Desai

Microsoft is actively testing a new experimental build of Windows 11, which allows users to uninstall several in-built apps. This is a progressive step as users can easily debloat Windows OS, without resorting to Registry hacks and other risky tricks to achieve a leaner Windows OS installation.

Microsoft Windows Operating System (OS) ships with several applications or apps. But not all are useful to every user. Microsoft Windows 11 Canary Channel testers received a new build that has several unlocked apps which can be installed via official channels.

Can Uninstalling Windows 11 "Inbox Apps" Help Users Debloat Windows?

Microsoft Windows OS is one of the simplest to adopt and use. However, ever since Windows 10, Microsoft has been bundling an ever-growing number of applications or apps.

While the majority of Windows apps are useful, not all users need all the apps all the time. Additionally, several Windows PC users want a leaner and cleaner installation with a few apps they need regularly.

The apps which Microsoft bundles with the Windows 11 OS are called "Inbox Apps". The company has been gradually allowing users to uninstall more of them. Starting from a few Windows Cumulative Feature Updates ago, Windows 11 can remove most of the apps freely, without breaking the installation or abrupt shutdowns.

It is, however, important to note that the majority of the apps Microsoft allows users to uninstall aren't huge. In other words, Windows 11 PC users aren't going to save lots of disk space by uninstalling them.

Still, having the option to uninstall many Windows Inbox Apps completely should help make the Windows PC feel a little less bloated. Uninstalling these apps could, however, save some RAM as a few apps start working right from the boot process. Uninstalling them could also make the startup process a little faster.

Which Microsoft Windows 11 Apps Can Users Uninstall Without Breaking The OS?

Microsoft recently discontinued Cortana, its in-house developed "Smart Assistant". This app can now be safely uninstalled.

Additionally, participants of the Windows 11 Canary Channel beta testing group can uninstall the Camera app, the Photos app, the People app, and the Remote Desktop (MSTSC) client.

Treat please: the ability to uninstall onedrive, edge, and all inbox modern apps. In all SKUs where they are included.  D K is looking for IT/cyber/privacy work in BKK (@kln_nurv) October 29, 2022

Only Windows 11 beta testers currently have the ability to uninstall the abovementioned apps. Microsoft is expected to release its next big Windows 11 update in September 2023. It is possible these apps will be unlocked for easy uninstallation after this update

Additionally, the upcoming Windows 11 September Cumulative Feature Update could include native support for RAR and 7-Zip files, early access to Windows Copilot, a new Settings homepage, and an improved volume mixer.

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Microsoft's New Xbox Enforcement Strike System Announced: Combatting Toxic Conduct Among Players News oi -Kabir Jain

In a move to foster a healthier gaming environment, Microsoft has unveiled a fresh enforcement program for Xbox that squarely targets toxic behavior exhibited by players. The company's proactive approach to curbing such conduct was detailed in a comprehensive blog post.

This significant step not only aims to make Xbox gaming more enjoyable for all but also demonstrates Microsoft's commitment to responsible gaming communities.

A Systematic Approach

Addressing Toxic Behavior

Microsoft's initiative centers on tackling toxic conduct among players. This encompasses a range of actions, including the use of offensive language, hateful behavior, and threats of violence. Recognizing the negative impact such behavior can have on the gaming community, Microsoft's enforcement program aims to establish a sense of accountability.

Reporting Mechanism

Under the new program, players who come across instances of toxic behavior can report them, triggering a response from the moderation team. This empowers the community to actively participate in maintaining a respectful gaming environment.

The Enforcement Process

Investigation and Penalties

Upon receiving a report, the moderation team initiates an investigation to assess the situation. Depending on the severity of the offense, players found in violation will receive strikes. These strikes serve as a form of penalty, with the maximum number capped at eight. Penalties escalate with each strike, leading to varying degrees of suspensions from Xbox multiplayer services, including messaging and voice chat.

Clear and Progressive Penalties

To ensure clarity and consistency, Microsoft has outlined a clear progression of penalties. Offenses such as using offensive language or cheating during gameplay result in single strikes. The first and second strikes lead to one-day bans, while the third strike results in a three-day suspension. The enforcement diagram provides a concise visual representation of this escalation.

Preventive Measures

Microsoft acknowledges that players make mistakes but emphasizes the importance of learning from them. To facilitate this, every player will start with a clean slate devoid of any strikes.

Transparency and Accountability

Appeal Mechanism

Players have the option to appeal any sanctions imposed on them. This ensures that decisions are open to review and that fairness is maintained.

Via

Source

Image Credits: Xbox

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India emerges as second-largest phone maker of with 2 billion shipments between 2014  2022 News -Kuldeep Singh

India's mobile phone manufacturing industry reportedly produced over 2 billion phones cumulatively between 2014 and 2022, making it the second largest mobile manufacturing country in the world.

This growth can likely be attributed to several factors, including the government's 'Make in India' initiative, which has provided incentives for local manufacturing, and the increasing demand for mobile phones in India.

Reasons for the Growth

According to a report by Counterpoint Research, between 2014 and 2022, India's mobile phone production grew at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 23 percent. Made in India mobile phone shipments crossed 2 billion cumulative units over this period.

In 2014, only 19 percent of domestic shipments were locally made, as compared to the 98 percent registered in 2022, the report said. Increasing internal demands followed by increasing digital literacy and government incentives to manufacturers are reportedly the major reasons for this growth.

The report adds that initiatives like the Phased Manufacturing Program (PMP), Make in India Production Linked Incentive (PLI), and Atma Nirbhar Bharat (Self Reliant India) contributed to increasing local mobile phone manufacturing with perceivable results.

Expert Analysis

Counterpoint's Research Director Tarun Pathak said that local value addition now stands at more than 15 percent, compared to the single digits in 2014. This has reportedly led to growing investments, increasing jobs, and overall ecosystem development.

Pathak added that the government intends to capitalize on this progress by aiming to make India a semiconductor manufacturing and export hub. The country might see increasing semiconductor production, especially for smartphones, as India is attempting to bridge the urban-rural digital divide while also trying to become a mobile phone exporting powerhouse.

The report quoted Analyst Prachir Singh, who stated that the government is also focused on making India a semiconductor hub. It has proposed a semiconductor PLI scheme, which would provide financial incentives to companies that set up semiconductor manufacturing plants in India.

Government Plans

The government is reportedly also investing heavily in infrastructure with $1 trillion (roughly Rs. 83,21,600 crore) to further fuel these plans. These measures are expected to further boost mobile phone manufacturing in India and are aimed at making it a global hub for semiconductor production.

Source

FAQ's What was the growth rate of India's mobile phone manufacturing industry between 2014 and 2022? India's mobile phone manufacturing industry grew at a CAGR of 23% between 2014 and 2022.

How many mobile phones did India's mobile phone manufacturing industry produce between 2014 and 2022? India's mobile phone manufacturing industry reportedly produced over 2 billion mobile phones cumulatively between 2014 and 2022.

Which country is the second largest in terms of mobile phone manufacturing? India is the second largest mobile manufacturing country in the world.

In what time period were these production numbers achieved? The production numbers were achieved between the years of 2014 and 2022.

What is the cumulative number of mobile phones produced by India's mobile phone manufacturing industry? Over two billion mobile phones were cumulatively produced by India's mobile phone manufacturing industry from year to year, spanning from 2014 to 2022.

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U.S. Forces provide assistance to Somalia National Army

By U.S. Africa Command Public Affairs , United States Africa Command Stuttgart, Germany Aug 17, 2023

At the request of the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. Africa Command conducted a collective self-defense airstrike in a remote area near Cali Heele, approximately 244 kilometers North East of Mogadishu, Somalia against al-Shabaab terrorists on August 15.

The airstrike was in support of Somali National Army forces who were engaged by the terrorist organization.

Working with the Somali National Army, U.S. Africa Command's initial assessment is that the U.S. airstrike killed 5 al-Shabaab terrorists and that no civilians were injured or killed.

U.S. Africa Command takes great measures to prevent civilian casualties. Protecting civilians remains a vital part of the command's operations to promote a more secure and stable Africa.

Al-Shabaab is the largest and most kinetically active al-Qaeda network in the world and has proved both its will and capability to attack partner and U.S. forces and threaten U.S. security interests.

Somalia remains key to the security environment in East Africa. U.S. Africa Command's forces will continue training, advising, and equipping partner forces to give them the tools that they need to degrade al-Shabaab.

U.S. Africa Command will continue to assess the results of this operation and will provide additional information as appropriate. Specific details about the units involved and assets used will not be released in order to ensure operations security.



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August 17, 2023

Transcript

Elizabeth Foster, Executive Director, Office of Force Resiliency and Sexual Assault Prevention Response Office, and Dr. Andra Tharp, Senior Prevention Advisor for the Department's Office of Force Resiliency and SAPRO, Off-Camera, On-the-Record Media Roundtable

STAFF: Hi, everyone. We're going to get started. I am going to pass this briefing over to Ms. Elizabeth Foster and Dr. Andrea Tharp. If ma'ams, if you want to start.

ELIZABETH FOSTER: Great. Thanks so much, Jade, and  and good afternoon, everyone. I've got a few opening comments that I'm going to start with, and then we'll dive into the slide deck and into the briefing.

Today, the Department of Defense is releasing the 2023 On-site Installation Evaluation Report for the Military Service Academies. The Secretary of Defense announced today that this moment must serve as a turning point for the military service academies in their fight against sexual assault and harassment, and he has instructed the military departments to swiftly implement all immediate, intermediate, and long-term recommendations outlined in the report.

(ZOOM): Recording in progress.

MS. FOSTER: Sorry about that.

As a reminder, the Secretary directed the department undertake these visits after a March 2023 report revealed a disturbing increase in the prevalence of sexual assault and harassment at the military service academies. To get at the root of what was driving this increase in sexual assault, the department followed a very specific on-site installation evaluation methodology which differentiates this look from prior visits at the academies. We not only looked at sexual assault, but also overall climate challenges, prevention capabilities and upstream risk factors that may be driving a range of harmful behaviors, to include not only sexual assault and harassment, but also suicide, retaliation, domestic violence, and child abuse.

As we'll discuss in more detail today, this comprehensive look revealed that the training environment and overall climate at the academies are undermining their ability to prevent harmful behaviors. In many cases, there are great programs in place, but our analysis reveals that unless some of these more structural and foundational issues are addressed within the training environment, these problems are going to persist.

The Secretary's announcement today is another example of Secretary Austin's following through on his commitment to leave no stone unturned in the department's fight against sexual assault, just as he did with the Independent Review Commission on Sexual Assault in the Military.

As stated in the Secretary's memo released today, the SecDef is a proud academy grad. This is personal for him. And this, is why the Secretary has charged the highest leaders of the department with leading on this issue. The Secretary will remain personally engaged on implementation, and the department is building a robust infrastructure to ensure expedient and thoughtful implementation.

Military service academies are critical and storied institutions, and these cadets and midshipmen are some of this country's very best and brightest. These are also our future military leaders, and we need to ensure that they have the tools necessary to build healthy climates and culture. The readiness and resiliency of our future force depends on this.

So, what we're going to do today is walk you all through the summary of the findings of our visits. We'll talk a bit about some of the recommendations that the Secretary has directed in this space, and then we'll talk through next steps and what the next phases of implementation look like. And what I want to emphasize as we dive into the findings of our report is that we're going to talk about this, you know, pretty broadly. While we observed common themes across all three military service academies, the severity or to  degree to which some of those themes were observed varied pretty considerably across each institution. You know, these are very unique environments and ecosystems, and so some of that nuance we're going to draw through in our presentation today, and you'll also find it in  in our recommendations. But a lot of those details are also available in our report.

So, with that, I'm going to turn it over to Dr. Andra Tharp, who is going to  oh, actually, I apologize. Just quickly, if folks look at slide three in our  our presentation, what you'll see here  this is not new data; this is data that was included in the report that we released in March 2023 that I referenced in my statement. We included it here as a reference point for folks if they want to be reminded of some of the  the data and some of the concerns that we had leading into these visits.

So, with that, now I will turn over to  to Dr. Tharp to talk through the findings of the visit.

DR. ANDRA THARP: Great, thank you, and good afternoon. So, to start, we'll talk through the strengths of  that we observed at the service academies. These are high-performing institutions with many exceptional students, so of course, we found some strengths, and even though that's not the primary focus of what we'll be talking through today, it is important to note.

So, the strengths draw out a couple of key things that are pertinent to our findings. The first, as was mentioned before, is that there's tremendous variation and nuance across the different academy environments.

The second is that there are a lot of activities and programs underway that support cadets and midshipmen. So, for example, at the U.S. Military Academy they have embedded military and family life counselors. They also train cadets to be resources for multiple prevention and response programs to help point their cadet peers in the right direction. At the Naval Academy, there are working groups that bring together different programs to help ensure a unity of effort, and at the Air Force Academy, there are peer groups and affinity groups that are highly regarded and numerous research-based prevention programs that are underway.

So, these are all good things, and these are the areas that the department has highlighted as advancements over the past several years. However, what we have found across the on-site installation evaluations that we have conducted over the past couple of years, the 40-plus site visits, to include the military service academies, is that there is an interplay between prevention activities and climate.

So, you can be doing a lot of good activities, but if they are implemented in unhealthy or toxic climates, it will degrade the effectiveness of those efforts. The reason for that is that when cadets and midshipmen learn one thing about leadership or prevention in the classroom but don't see that reinforced in other settings, it sends mixed messages about healthy norms and expectations for how they are to treat each other.

So, our findings and recommendations don't only focus on training or activities but also on the climate underlying these efforts, which requires structural and foundational changes. Without looking at those underlying structures that may be maintaining unhealthy climates, we might ask, if they're doing all of these good things, why are the rates increasing?

So, moving to the next slide, our findings unpack that a bit. So as was mentioned, we applied a rigorous methodology, and we assessed three primary metrics in the areas of protective environments, integrated prevention, and stakeholder engagement.

And when we took all of the data that we collected on-site with all of the other department data that helps us understand the academies, we identified a chain of events or circumstances that gives us opportunities for positive change.

So, I'm going to walk through this graphic that depicts our assessment of what is happening at the service academies. Our data  starting with the incoming students, our data tell us that more cadets and midshipmen than in previous years are coming into the service academies and have experienced sexual violence or sexual harassment prior to their military service. So, more students are coming in with these experiences prior to their military service.

And this is consistent with other data that we see across the United States, where we see increases in things like adverse childhood experiences and other difficult experiences during childhood and adolescence.

So, we don't know why there is this increase. There's some evidence that there was an increase in violence in  in the homes during COVID, but  but regardless of what's causing it, there is a changing demographic of today's youth, and institutions must be attuned to  ensure that they thrive.

However, what we saw is that these young  as these young people came in to these settings, which are stressful, four year environments, the structures are not necessarily set up to help them thrive. And we certainly understand why military training environments need to be stressful, to build resilience and other important factors, and many people even find a  institutions of higher education to be stressful environments, and here you have both  both the military training environment and an institution of higher education.

So what we found was that the skills that those leaders closest to the cadets and midshipmen, these peer leaders who may be one or two years older, who have a leadership role over cadets and midshipmen, as well as the professional officers, such as TAC officers or AOCs, are not sufficiently equipped, and in some cases, the peer leadership structure was actually creating unhealthy power dynamics that lead to hazing, that further exacerbated this risk.

And as was mentioned, this played out differently across the different service academies, and I'll provide some examples. So, for example, elements of the fourth class system at the U.S. Air Force Academy, where cadets are not acknowledged as cadets and subjected to practices and mistreatment  so these may be intended to create a bond within the class but that's certainly not everyone's experience. And instead, they carry these negative experiences and unhealthy norms about how you treat others through their time at the service academy and into the force.

On the other hand, what we saw at the Naval Academy was peer leaders who just didn't know what to do. They said "I  I didn't know what to do when I became a peer leader, so I just treated the midshipmen that I led the way that I was treated." And in some cases, that was probably a good thing, and in other cases, they might not have been the most healthy way to treat people.

And then at the U.S. Military Academy, what we saw is cadets who had been out into the operational force and had been exposed to other leaders, more seasoned leaders, and other training environments, and they said "that's what I want. I want this more seasoned mentor rather than somebody who's, you know, a year older than me and expected to be my mentor. I want this training that others in the Army are getting."

So, an example of a TAC officer or AOC, this  this  professional officers, what we found is that these leaders are seen primarily as disciplinarians, which is certainly an appropriate role, but they didn't know when or how to prioritize cadet and midshipman's wellbeing over that discipline.

So in one instance, a cadet or a midshipman had experienced a family tragedy and they had sought mental healthcare off the installation because the  there was some stigma about seeking help on the installation of  at the academy, but they weren't actually allowed to get the help because they weren't allowed to leave the base because their unit had  had a minor violation the week before.

So, the influence of that event wasn't just about that cadet or midshipman not getting the help they needed at that moment, but it sent the message to them and their peers that this is how you lead, this is how you care for people, and they took that out into the force.



So, while these structures  these peer leadership structures may have been effective in the past, our findings suggest they may need some adjustment now because the culmination of all of this was a climate of cynicism, distrust, and stigma.

The cynicism and distrust really came from mixed messages that what was communicated and taught was a little bit different from what was modeled and reinforced. In terms of accountability, there was a sense that it was not consistently or transparently handled, in terms of violations were handled. There was stigma around help seeking and fears around the impact that help seeking would have on commissioning or career choice. And all of this was driven by unchecked and misinformed influencers, which could be peers, social media, or other voices in the cadet and midshipman's ears.

So, it was interesting because when we briefed the  the academy leadership on our findings, they really underscored that much of what the cadets and midshipmen had told us were simply misperceptions. They thought that they needed an escort to get help when they didn't. They thought that there were only certain factors that went into their class ranking when there weren't.

And we asked ourselves how could this be, that they had such bad information? And it really took us back to the  the issue before, that those closest to them were unequipped with the right information and they had all of these other inputs in  kind of feeding the narrative that either had misinformation or not current information.

And a critical piece of this is that the misperceptions were driving behaviors. So, whether or not their beliefs about how you treat each other or what's acceptable, how and when you get help was right or wrong, it was driving the behavior of the cadets and the midshipmen, and it must be corrected.

So, all of this together, means that these leaders, these leaders of character are going out into the force, and many of them are then still dealing with the negative experiences that they had while at the academies. Others are leaving, thinking that that's how military training works, when in other settings, what happens at the academies would be totally unacceptable in other military training environments. And many are simply graduating without tools to foster healthy climates in the units that they will lead, which has a direct impact on mission readiness.

So, our recommendations, going to the next slide, are really tied to our findings. So as was mentioned, we used the very data-driven process, so the recommendations are broken into the three areas that we assessed with our metrics. And I'll note that the recommendations are written in an intentionally-high-level manner to allow the service academies to shape them to fit their unique circumstances, our findings, which was mentioned, was  was varied across the service academies, and to help meet their unique needs.

So, I'll walk very briefly through the recommendations and hit them at a high level, and then we'll talk through next steps, but we're also happy to expand on any of these.

So, in terms of the first area and the areas of prolonged stress, which we assessed through metrics that assess protective environments, there are two main themes with these recommendations. The first is developing communication tools to address the climate issues. So, for example, improving the access and options to help-seeking and where possible, increasing the transparency of the actions that are taken to prevent harm and hold individuals appropriately accountable, and also identifying those mixed messages that are driving that sense that, you know, what is taught is not reinforced, and actively addressing that.

Now, the  the mixed messages were a little bit different at the different academies, which is why it's important that they identify where the origins of those are and  and how best to present the counternarrative to the cadets and midshipmen.

In terms of the other bucket of recommendations in this area, our  our most significant recommendations really get at strengthening the peer leadership structure, and these are these structural changes that we're recommending. And again, they vary across the different service academies based on the severity of issues that we identified.

In terms of the Air Force Academy, we're recommending that they adjust the fourth-class system to stop the cadet hazing. In terms of the Air Force Academy and the Naval Academy, we're recommending that they add seasoned officers and NCOs to support the other officers and NCOs that are there to provide more mentorship opportunities and supervision so that those peer leaders simply have more resources to grow into those leadership roles with more support.

And then finally, at the Military Academy, we're recommending that they simply review how they are preparing peer leaders, enhance it as is needed to meet the needs of these incoming cadets, but also look for additional opportunities to prepare these peer leaders with those kind-of experiences that they're asking for.

In terms of the second area that we assessed, the climates of cynicism, distrust and stigma, these recommendations really focus on communications and climate and dispelling the  that misinformation, particularly as it applies to the cyber domains. So more so at the service academies than at civilian universities, we noticed that social media plays a big role in their  it could be leveraged, you know, to encourage...

(BREAK)

STAFF: We can't hear you, ma'am...

STAFF: Please hold on one second.

DR. THARP: Jade  Jade, can you hear us now?

STAFF: We can hear you.

DR. THARP: Great. OK, thank you all so much. Sorry about that.

So, the  one of the key recommendations in this area really focuses on social media and ensuring that social media is not a source of misinformation and bullying. There  there are certain applications and approaches that just kind of are used more at the service academies than we see at civilian universities, so it's a key opportunity to stop that misinformation.

And then finally, the  the area that assessed prevention through the service academy lifecycle, we noted that prevention programs and activities that are offered are typically offered outside of the school sometimes, Friday night or Saturday mornings, and what we learned from the cadets and midshipmen is that what matters is what's graded and what's required. So, one recommendation is to incorporate these  these classes that will build their required leadership competencies that we have in policy, these  incorporate them into the cadet and midshipmen curriculum. But to do that, they also have to integrate across their prevention programs, their character development and their leadership development. So, all of the academies have these capabilities, but too often, they're operating in silos and  and not really leveraging the benefit of better integrating their messages and their activities.

So, with that, I'm going to turn it back to Ms. Foster to talk through the next steps.

MS. FOSTER: Great, and before I dive in, I do think we've got a hot mic out there, so if  if you could just please mute  mute, that would be great.

So, there are several next steps in this space that are outlined in Secretary Austin's memo, but I will touch on each of them briefly here.

So, the first is that the Secretary is requiring that each of the service secretaries develop a plan of action as to how they will implement the immediate, intermediate, and long-term recommendations outlined in the report. Those plans of action are due to the SecDef by October 31st. This is a really critical step, and as I mentioned at the beginning, what this demonstrates is that the Secretary is elevating this to the highest levels. Our most senior leaders at the department need to own and be engaged in this problem if we are going to resolve this, and so that's what you see illustrated with this first action.

The second action is that the Secretary is directing P&R to stand up the Service Academy Climate Transformation Task Force. And really, the  the genesis of this task force is that we found throughout a lot of our other efforts, when it comes to sexual assault or suicide, is that we need to develop an infrastructure that allows for collaboration, but also continued oversight, build some checks and balances into the process and create an environment in which senior leaders can continue to stay engaged and are shaping this process.

And so that's exactly what you'll see with this Climate Transformation Task Force. They'll play a critical role in helping the service  the service secretaries develop those plans of action but then they'll continue to stay engaged with both the military departments and the service academies as they implement these plans, to ensure that everything is staying on track and that we are implementing this swiftly and with fidelity.

Finally, the last measure directed in  by Secretary Austin is that we have to rigorously evaluate and measure the programs we're putting in place, right? This has been an essential component of the work that we've done to implement the Independent Review Commission on Sexual Assault in the Military recommendations. We have to be able to see what's working, what isn't, and course-correct if we're not seeing the expected change or outcomes.

So I'll just quickly go to the last slide on key takeaways and  and sort of wrap up where I started here and just emphasize that, you know, we believe that this  these actions are essential to implement at the service academies not only because it's essential for our cadets and midshipmen and their life at the academies but because this is critical for their knowledge as future military leaders. This is critical to the readiness of the units that will eventually  they will eventually lead.

The other thing I'll emphasize is, as I've said before, is that  that really one of the things that differentiates this is the comprehensive approach that we've taken and that we're really looking at making some foundational changes so that we can ensure some of these programs can actually be effective and  and take root.

And then it  as I emphasized on the previous slide, this change is only going to be possible if there is  continues to be engagement from the highest levels of the department, and we're building the infrastructure to support and facilitate that. That is how we're going to get this work and this critical change done.

So with that, Jade, I'm going to turn it back over to you. And happy to take questions and look forward to discussing this more.

STAFF: OK. Yes ma'am. We have Mike Glenn from Washington Times.

QUESTION: Hello, thanks a lot. I was just wondering how  and actually, I  I have a  I have a few questions but I  but I know everyone else does  so how  I don't know, I really don't see how you are sort of connecting a  really, a stressful plebe  you know, the fourth-class system with the  with the rise or alleged rise of sexual assault and sexual harassment in the service academies. I don't  I don't see that  I mean, where  you know, because the system has always been  you know, it's always been that  that way. In fact, it's  it's less stressful than it has been historically in the past. But I was wondering, I mean, how you sort of make that connection, that the one naturally involves the other?

MS. FOSTER: Yeah, Mike, that's a great question, and I'll make a couple comments and then turn it over to Dr. Tharp. I think what we really emphasize in this report is that what we're seeing is that what may have been very effective in the past is now having some unintended consequences because of this changing demographic and the changing cohorts that we're seeing coming into the academy due to broader national trends.

Dr. Tharp, do you have more you want to add there?

DR. THARP: Sure. What  what we observed was that, you know, the first experience this first year that  that the cadets have at the academy, the message they get through the fourth-class system is this is how you treat other people, right, that  that you exert power when you need to exert power, you don't acknowledge folks when you don't want to, and that they  some of  of them carry that through the rest of their four years  so this  this unhealthy perspective of what's acceptable in terms of how to treat each other.

So you can imagine how those power dynamics, when taken to the extreme, can really play into things like sexual assault and harassment and bullying. So, some of that, you know, may happen as part of the  the fourth-class systems, like, you know, the hazing and the  and the bullying, but really what was striking was that the message was "this is OK here and this is how we treat each other." And unfortunately, that didn't stop once they left their  their freshman year.

STAFF: Mike, did you have a follow-up? You said ...

QUESTION: Yeah, I just  yeah, I  I was just wondering if  if you've had any reaction from the alumni over this  over this  this evaluation? How are they taking it? And that's it for me.

MS. FOSTER: Yeah, thanks, Mike. So, the  we've had some engagements throughout the department as we've rolled out this report and actually have had a lot of really valuable engagements with the academies and with the military departments that have helped shape these recommendations and the content in the report.

And I think what  what you'll hear from everyone is everyone wants to urgently get after this problem. Folks are very focused on driving down this upward trend, and  and so folks are leaning into that. Certainly, we look forward to continuing to have more engagements as this report is released to the public and  and showing them the data and the information that we have that  that supports the findings in our report.

STAFF: OK. Tom Vanden Brook?

QUESTION: Hi, thanks for doing this. You mentioned that senior leaders need to take ownership of this and be engaged. If things don't change, how are they going to be held accountable for this?

MS. FOSTER: Tom, I  what I would say is that  that certainly that's a  that's a question above my pay grade, but  but what I will say is that  that we are building a system of accountability and we're building a system in which the Secretary is going to be personally engaged in following up with his senior leaders on this issue, and if  if he's not getting the outcomes that he  that he needs from them, then that's a conversation that he can have through some of those forums and those engagements.

I think what we also need to be cognizant of, is that a lot of the changes that we are recommending here are going to take  not only are they going to take time to implement but cultural change does take time, and that is precisely why we're building the  this data infrastructure and  and evaluating and measuring these programs, so that we can have some nearer-term indicators that tell us if this is working or if this isn't, because frankly we do expect that it is going to take some time before we see that  that ultimate behavior shift.

STAFF: OK. Alexandria?

QUESTION: Yeah, hi. I have two questions. My first question is, in terms of your report saying that there was greater instances of sexual harassment, sexual assault for incoming midshipmen and cadets, are you able to in any way figure out how much of that is more reporting and how much of it is an actual increase?

MS. FOSTER: Yeah, absolutely. Let me turn it over to Dr. Tharp for that question.

DR. THARP: Yeah, it's  it's a great question, and one that we get a lot because there is a sense that it's  you know, that times have changed a bit and it  it is safer and  to talk about these things and to report them.

Importantly, we asked the questions the same ways over time, so that helps control for kind of how folks may be interpreting it or the emotions that they bring to answering those surveys. There have been other efforts across the country when organizations have seen increases. For example, CDC, in one of their surveys, they saw an increase and they thought, "Is this  is this driven by the Me Too movement? Can we kind of explain that the folks are simply more comfortable reporting versus actually tapping into prevalence?" And what they found through their analysis is that that really wasn't driving what they were seeing. They still felt like it was tapping into an increase of the behavior. Now certainly, that could be playing a role, but it doesn't appear to be driving the increases in incidents that we're seeing.

QUESTION: OK, thanks very much. And I had one other quick question. Are you tracking this at all, across ROTC programs as you, you know, continue your studies of the academies?

DR. THARP: So, at this time, the  the ROTC programs are not part of what we're assessing through the on-site effort, but we have other efforts to stay synched up with those ROTC programs and ensuring  and  and also, learning kind of, what are they doing that's similar or different from the service academies? So, there's definitely some  some discussions and learning going on between the two, but we haven't specifically included ROTC in our visits primarily because our visits right now are to Department of Defense  you know, active duty or reserve component locations, which ROTC, they're not and  and  and you know, the individuals, the cadets in those programs are not.

QUESTION: Right, thank you.

STAFF: Luis Martinez, ABC?

QUESTION: Hi. Can you hear me?

STAFF: Yes, sir.

DR. THARP: Yup, we can hear you.

QUESTION: OK. All right, thank you. Just the  the graph, the first slide that you have that shows the number of cadets experiencing unwanted sexual contact over time, I mean, we've seen those dips over the years. What do you  what do you attribute those dips to? I, I think we can explain the  why they're going up, but why were those dips  why do we see them on the graph?

DR. THARP: Yeah, Lou, it's a  it's a great question, and the  the short answer is we don't fully know. It's hard to isolate those decreases to one specific cause. What I will say is  is what  what we do know is in 2014, there was a significant amount of action and activity around preventing sexual assault at the academies and so perhaps what you're seeing is  is an outcome of that. But it's  it's difficult for us to say.

QUESTION: Thank you.

STAFF: And the last person is Rick Hutzell?

QUESTION: Hutzell.

STAFF: Hutzell

QUESTION: Hutzell  close enough.

STAFF: OK, thanks.

QUESTION: Specific to Annapolis, Admiral Davids' confirmation as the first woman superintendent of the Naval Academy is held up in the Senate by Senator Tuberville. How do you expect that to impact implementation of this specifically in Annapolis?

MS. FOSTER: Yeah, that's a great question, and I  I think, look, it's  it's going to be hard not to have a confirmed superintendent in place, someone that is  is truly empowered to take and drive action on this. You know, that absence is  is certainly going to be felt. What I will say is that the Navy has taken steps to ensure that there is steady leadership at the helm at the academy while we are still in  experiencing these  these GO/FO holds. But  but steady leadership and  and empowered leadership is  is important to solving this problem.

QUESTION: And the second question is how will the changes you're talking about be impacted by the president's signing an order that changes the structure of Military Uniformed Code of Justice and chain of command? I think that was last month.

MS. FOSTER: Yeah, absolutely. It's a great question, and  and certainly, I  you know, I think our look was really more focused on these  on  on these on-site installation evaluations, was focused more on kind of prevention and those leading risk factors that may ultimately lead to  to sexual assault. But accountability is a key piece of this, and  and so we're  we know that the academies are working hard, the military departments are working hard to implement some of the most significant military justice changes that have happened in, you know, many decades.

What we think is really critical to that and what we saw in our visits is how quickly, as Dr. Tharp articulated, misperceptions can spread, and how quickly  how important it is, to communicate ground truth to cadets and mids.

And so one of the things and one of the efforts that the Secretary announced in March that we're going to be focused on is communicating to the cadets what this new Office of Special Trial Counsel means to them, how that will change their life, impact this space for them because we want them to understand it from the outset so that  that we're not allowing some of these misperceptions to spread.

QUESTION: Thank you.

STAFF: Hey, ma'am, we've got one more question: Ellie, CBS.

QUESTION: Hi. Thanks for doing this. When the prevalence survey came out in March, I think in the briefing you guys talked about how half of the instances, about half, included alcohol. Did your site visits address alcohol use? Are there any findings about alcohol use? And then in this slide deck, the specific app Jodel is mentioned. Can you explain what that is? I don't know that social media app.

MS. FOSTER: Yeah, absolutely. Let me turn it over to Dr. Tharp to tackle those questions.

DR. THARP: Sure, thank you. So, in terms of alcohol, it  it did come up across some of our findings, and in some cases in  in good ways, that the cadets and midshipmen commented on the  the programs that are in place to help address that. But I think it goes back to one of our key findings, that we can implement all the alcohol and substance misuse prevention or responsible drinking as much as we want, but if  if it's not required, if it's not graded and it's implemented in a toxic climate, it's just not going to have the intended impact. So that's why we're recommending both to address those climate factors and the structures that may be maintaining them, but also implement within that cadet curriculum skills that are essential to leadership competencies, and these are  these are life skills: stress management, right? Because folks are drinking for a reason. So, is it stress? Is it, you know, other reasons? And some of these prevention approaches can get at those root causes of the alcohol use. But it has to be done in the concert with  in concert with these other changes, otherwise, it  we aren't going to see the kinds of impact that  that we're intending to see.

In terms of the application Jodel, this is a  a place-based application, and the real  the thing that makes it so pernicious is that it's anonymous. So, you have to be within the geographical area of an institution to pick up on that particular social media presence on Jodel, and then the dialogue can unfold completely unfettered.

And what our teams  as  as we went to the academies, we  we joined these networks to  to observe the discussion that was going on, and there is just a lot of misinformation. You know, when somebody says, you know, "I think I need to get help, I think I need to talk to somebody," you may have voices that are deterring that.

Now, you may also have voices that are encouraging that and saying "well, go to  go to this person and talk to this person," but really, actively trying to address some of that misinformation  and unfortunately, sometimes bullying that happens  is needed, but it's just so difficult because it's an anonymous app.

STAFF: Thanks so much for joining us today. The embargo breaks after this call. If you have any updated questions, feel free to reach out to us on that distro list that you agreed to the embargo, and we will answer your questions. That's it. Thank you.

https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/3497193/

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August 17, 2023

Release

Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks Statement on Blended-Wing-Body Aircraft Prototype

Attributable to Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks:

Yesterday the Department of Defense awarded a contract to JetZero for the next phase of a blended-wing body aircraft prototype.

The contract is the result of a collaborative effort between the U.S. Air Force and the Defense Innovation Unit, with assistance from DoD's Office of Strategic Capital, and represents an important milestone in the development of a potentially transformational technology.

For the military, projected BWB fuel savings of 30% over traditional aircraft would help mitigate logistics risks and enable critical capabilities such as increased range, loiter time, and offload capabilities. A successful BWB would be good news for the Department, our warfighters, the U.S. aerospace industry and the American taxpayer.

We look forward to seeing the prototype as early as 2027.

https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3496004/

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Manila risks becoming 'bridgehead' of US' anti-China push with new national security policy

Global Times

By GT staff reporters Published: Aug 17, 2023 12:15 AM

Highlighting potential "military conflict" across the Taiwan Straits and strategic challenges in the South China Sea due to "divergences of claims," the Philippines published its new six-year national security policy seeking to bolster its ability to address "external threats" and strengthen ties with alliances. Chinese analysts warned Wednesday that such a document could indicate that Manila has increasingly become a bridgehead in Asia for the US' anti-China push, at the cost of its own security and interests.

The 48-page National Security Policy (NSP) 2023 to 2028 document was rolled out on Tuesday, after approval by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, stating that "any military conflict in the Taiwan Strait would inevitably affect the Philippines given the geographic proximity of Taiwan to the Philippine archipelago and the presence of over 150,000 Filipinos in Taiwan."

Including the so-called cross-Straits concern in the NSP document is an indication that the Philippines has in fact taken sides with the US-led West that is trampling on China's core interests, some experts said. "Using the Taiwan question to legitimize strengthening military ties with allies and interfering in China's internal affairs would only further destabilize the cross-Straits situation," Chinese military expert Song Zhongping told the Global Times on Wednesday.

The Philippine government is eyeing a visiting forces agreement (VFA) with an Asian ally "near China," Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said on Tuesday at the House Committee on Appropriations hearing, local media reported.

"We are considering other possible similar arrangements with other friendly partners for countries who wish to do so. And in fact, we are in discussion now with one country, a major partner near China," Manalo said.

The Philippines has a visiting forces agreement with the US and a status of forces agreement with Australia. These provide for joint exercises and training between the Philippines and the two countries.

Observers warned that inviting the US-led West and even NATO to the region would turn the Philippines into the frontline for the US' anti-China push.

Geographically close to China, bases of the Philippines that Manila allows the US-led Western forces to use to attack China if a cross-Straits conflict breaks out, would inevitably become battlefield, Song warned, questioning "is this Manila's best strategic choice to secure itself? Or it would work the opposite."

The Philippines' NSP document also points to the strategic rivalry between the US and China as a factor adding to the tensions in the region. Special attention is focused on food and energy security priorities, noting that the South China Sea "remains a primary national interest."

"The divergences of claims, as well as the claimants' methods of asserting their positions, continue to pose strategic challenges, endangering not only the country's territorial integrity, but also the Filipino people's exercise of legitimate rights and their safety and well-being," the document read, which came amid a rift with China at Ren'ai Jiao in the South China Sea.

Analysts said they are worried the document signals that the Philippines, encouraged and pressured by the US, would create new rounds of frictions in the South China Sea in other sites such as Zhongye Dao, increasing tensions in the South China Sea and destabilizing the region.

Dai Fan, director of the Center for Philippine Studies in Jinan University in South China's Guangdong Province, told the Global Times on Wednesday that the NSP document would serve as a guidance for the Marcos Jr government's major diplomacy adjustments in the next five to six years. We can tell from the document that Manila is preparing to strengthen its security and diplomatic ties with the US by stressing the urgency of addressing threats related to cross-Straits and South China Sea issues, Dai said.

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26th MEU(SOC) Bravo Command Element and Italian San Marco Brigade Marines Strengthen Interoperability in the High North

US Marine Corps News

17 Aug 2023 | 1st Lt. Stephanie Downing 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit

SETERMOEN, Norway -- Elements of the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group and 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit's (Special Operations Capable) Bravo Command Element are training alongside Norwegian Soldiers, from Brigade North, and Italian Marines, from San Marco Brigade, during a Norwegian bilateral training exercise.

The training event began with the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship, USS Mesa Verde's (LPD-19) arrival in Narvik, Norway to offload the 26th MEU(SOC)'s Bravo Command Element personnel and equipment for the upcoming training in Setermoen, Norway.

After arriving in Setermoen, 26th MEU(SOC) Bravo Command Element welcomed Italian Marines from San Marco Marine Brigade. The Italian Marines will be fully integrating into the Navy and Marine Corps team throughout the course of the ARG/MEU's deployment commencing with the Norwegian bilateral training, which marks the first scheduled U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Africa/Sixth Fleet operation, activity, investment (OAI) for the ARG/MEU.

The exercise will provide the BAT ARG/26th MEU(SOC) an opportunity to exchange tactics, techniques, and procedures, while participating in multiple integrated live-fire events, battle drills, patrols, and long-range hikes to strengthen the long-standing relationship with our NATO Ally and partner.

Prior to the arrival of the Norwegian Soldiers from Brigade North, the Marines of "Cold Steel" Battalion Landing Team 1/6 had the opportunity to work side-by-side and interoperate with the Italian Marines from San Marco Marine Brigade.

"Successfully integrating the Italian Marines from the San Marco Brigade into our formation with the Marines of Charlie Company, BLT 1/6 and conducting integrated training with Norwegian Soldiers from Brigade North was easy, and truly showcases our interoperability and interdependence with our Allies and Partners within the Sixth Fleet AOR." Sampson concluded.

The Italian San Marco Brigade Marines were divided and integrated into each platoon of Charlie Company to form one cohesive unit.

For most of the Marines, this is the first time they will have the opportunity to work and integrate with our NATO Ally and partners.

"For the platoon, I would say this is a unique experience. This is the first time for a lot of the Marines to train with someone who did not receive the same training as them," said 1st Lt. Blake Gratton, Charlie Company, 1st Platoon Commander. "Working with the Italians Marines went very well. Our Marines had to be concise and clear in communicating due to a slight language barrier, but as a whole, the Italian Marines were seamlessly able to operate with us at the squad level and below," Gratton continued.

"To have the opportunity to be a part of the 26th MEU(SOC) allows us to share our tactics, techniques, and procedures, integrate effectively, as well as, to improve partnership with the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Navy," said 1st Lt. Emilio Iusto, Liaison Naval Officer with San Marco Marine Brigade. "The Marines are really enjoying the experience to train. For some of them, it's their first time working with a company of U.S. Marines, and now to become a part of Charlie Company. It is very cool, and they are very happy to train with the U.S. Marines," Iusto continued.

The 26th MEU(SOC) serves as one of the United States premier crisis response forces capable of conducting amphibious operations, crisis response, and limited contingency operations, to include enabling the introduction of follow-on-forces and designated special operations, in support of theater requirements of the Geographic Combatant Commander. Coupled with the USS Bataan ARG, the 26th MEU(SOC) serves as a premier stand-in force with a full complement of all-domain capabilities to operate persistently within the littorals or weapons engagement zones of an adversary.

The Bataan ARG and embarked 26th MEU(SOC), under the tactical command and control of Task Force 61/2, is on a scheduled deployment in the U.S. Naval Forces Europe area of operations, employed by U.S. Sixth Fleet to defend U.S., allied, and partner interests.

Headquartered in Naples, Italy, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa operates U.S. Naval Forces in the U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command areas of responsibility. U.S. Sixth Fleet is permanently assigned to NAVEUR-NAVAF and employs maritime forces through the full spectrum of joint and naval operations.

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Omani delegation in Yemen to revive truce negotiations

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 17 August 2023 9:24 PM

An Omani delegation has arrived in the Yemeni capital to potentially revive talks aimed at the extension of a truce between Sana'a and a Saudi Arabia-led coalition, which invaded the Arab world's poorest country in 2015.

The Omani team reached Sana'a on Thursday, Mohammed Abdul-Salam, head of the Yemeni national negotiating delegation, was quoted by Yemen's al-Masirah television network as saying.

"The Omani delegation will consult with the Yemeni leadership, assess the current situation, and resume negotiations," the Yemeni official noted.

Saudi Arabia and some of its allies began the invasion in March 2015 after the Yemeni popular resistance movement of Ansarullah took control of Yemen's affairs in the absence of a functioning government.

The invaders, which have enjoyed full-on arms, logistical, and political support on the part of the United States, have been seeking to restore Yemen's power to its former Riyadh- and Washington-friendly officials.

Although the coalition has failed to achieve any of its goals, the war has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Yemenis and turned the entire country into the scene of what the United Nations has described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

A UN-brokered truce entered into force in Yemen last year, prompting the country to enjoy a six-month-long lull. The agreement, however, was not renewed after it expired on October 2.

"The visit by the Omani delegation to Sana'a is among efforts to continue moving negotiations with the US-Saudi aggression," Abdul-Salam said.

He, meanwhile, asserted that "negotiations must start with humanitarian issues..."

"If negotiations do not start with solving humanitarian crises, it is not possible to expect positive intentions from the US-Saudi aggression on other issues."

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West African bloc ECOWAS threatens to launch military intervention in Niger

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 17 August 2023 4:15 PM

The West African bloc has conveyed its readiness to intervene militarily if diplomatic efforts fail to reverse the military coup that toppled the government of pro-West President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26 in Niger.

In a meeting of army chiefs held on Thursday in Ghana, a senior official said that the Economic Cooperation of West African Nations (ECOWAS) is ready to military intervene in Niger.

ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security Abdel-Fatau Musah accused the Nigerien Army generals who ousted Bazoum of "playing cat-and-mouse" with the bloc by refusing to meet with envoys and seeking justifications for the takeover.

"The military and the civilian forces of West Africa are ready to answer to the call of duty," he told assembled chiefs of defense staff from member states.

Musah listed past ECOWAS deployments in Gambia, Liberia and elsewhere as examples of readiness.

"If push comes to shove we are going into Niger with our own contingents and equipment and our own resources to make sure we restore constitutional order. If other democratic partners want to support us they are welcome," he added.

Niger's neighbor Nigeria has warned of military intervention, saying it would "practically exacerbate the crisis and inflict further suffering on the innocent people in the Niger Republic and the wider region."

Mali and Burkina Faso have said an intervention would be tantamount to a declaration of war on them.

The ousted Niger president has been in military detention for more than three weeks now.

Thousands of anti-West protesters took to the streets last week to protest against plans by West African nations to deploy a military force to the country.

The protesters surrounded a French military base in Niger, protesting against years of military intervention by the European country in the West African nation.

Protesters rallied near the army base on the outskirts of the capital Niamey on August 11, shouting, "Down with France, down with ECOWAS."

The Niger Army has accused the African nation's former colonizer France of being the force behind ECOWAS' determination to restore Bazoum to office to serve the West's interests.

France was a colonial power in West Africa until 1960. Since independence, the European country has maintained trade relations and a military presence in the region. It has 1,500 soldiers in Niger. American and European soldiers are also stationed in Niger.

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China's newly built Paracels airstrip could host drones, analyst says

Satellite photos show a 600-meter airstrip was constructed on Triton Island over the last month.

By RFA Vietnamese 2023.08.17 -- A newly built airstrip on a disputed island in the South China Sea is only long enough for China to stage patrol aircraft, but it could still boost Beijing's ability to collect intelligence over an area that includes Vietnam's exclusive economic zone, a security analyst told Radio Free Asia.

Satellite photos from Earth imaging company Planet Labs PBC this week showed that a 600-meter (2,000-foot) airstrip was built on Triton Island in the Paracel chain between July 12 and Aug. 15.

At that length, fighter jets and bombers couldn't use the airstrip, according to Raymond Powell, from the Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation in Stanford University.

But medium-sized drones and small manned turboprop aircraft could operate from the island, which would help China assert its jurisdiction over the area, he said.

The images also show vehicle tracks across much of the island, as well as containers and construction equipment, according to the AP.

But another analyst, Greg Poling of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, said the long line seen on the image probably isn't an airstrip.

"It appears to be a berm, or an elevated roadway, with spurs leading off to two new areas on which buildings are being constructed," he said. "We won't know more until the construction advances a bit."

The Paracel Islands, or Xisha Islands in Chinese, are claimed by China, Vietnam and Taiwan but occupied entirely by Beijing since 1974 after the Chinese Navy defeated the then South Vietnamese Navy in a brief sea battle that killed more than 50 South Vietnamese sailors.

Triton is the closest island in the chain to Vietnam. If China decides to permanently station patrol aircraft there, it would be difficult for Vietnam to match with an equal presence, Powell said.

"China has had years of practice in the development of its maritime military bases," he told RFA. "It's not surprising that this airfield is progressing rapidly."

Woody Island's missiles

Woody Island - also in the Paracels - serves as the headquarters for Sansha City, which China established in 2012 to administer all the islands it claims in the South China Sea and their surrounding waters.

In January, RFA reported that satellite imagery showed a Chinese air defense facility, with silos for permanent surface-to-air missiles, on Woody Island, which is about 160 km (100 miles) northwest of Triton.

"With its nearby airbase at Woody Island already fully functional, reclaiming land to build out the Triton airfield to the point where China could station combat aircraft would be very provocative," Powell said.

"Beijing has probably determined what it would gain in combat capability is not worth the political and financial costs it would incur to do so," he said.

China also occupies some of the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands in Chinese) in the South China Sea that are claimed by some other neighboring countries such as Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

The new airstrip on Triton doesn't have any real implications for the Philippines, according to Powell.

While many nations have claims to the South China Sea with its busy shipping lanes, teaming fisheries and the likelihood of vast petroleum reserves, the dispute is especially intense between Vietnam and China.

On Thursday, a Chinese Coast Guard ship entered a Vietnamese oil and gas field, Powell wrote on Twitter. The same ship patrolled the area to assert China's claimed jurisdiction on July 27-28 and Aug. 8-9, he said.

Over the past few months, China has repeatedly sent Coast Guard, militia and survey vessels to waters under Vietnam's jurisdiction.

Edited by Matt Reed and Joshua Lipes.

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 August 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.

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Taliban Bans Political Parties In Afghanistan After Declaring Them Un-Islamic

By RFE/RL's Radio Azadi August 17, 2023

Afghanistan's hard-line Islamist Taliban rulers have banned all political parties, saying there is "no justification" for them under Shari'a law.

"Political parties are banned completely, we will not permit any political party to operate in the country," Abdul Hakim Sharaee, the Taliban's de facto justice minister, said during a news conference on August 16, one day after the Taliban marked two years of rule since international troops withdrew from the country.

"Political parties have no justification in Islamic Shari'a law and they are not in the best interest of our nation," he added, claiming political parties have been the main factor causing turmoil in Afghanistan for decades.

The ban is the latest Taliban restriction on political activities after dozens of political parties were registered after the militants were ousted in 2001 from their previous stint as rulers.

Since returning to power in 20221, the ultraconservative militants have monopolized power by giving all major government leadership posts to Taliban leaders while muzzling the press and abolishing democratic institutions.

No country has officially recognized the Taliban administration and its strict rule, which has also severely cut basic freedoms in most facets of daily life, from banning women and girls from schools to outlawing music.

The fear of Taliban persecution, assassination, and arrests has driven Afghanistan's once-vibrant civil society and political class out of the country. Political leaders living inside the country live under strict Taliban supervision and are mostly not allowed to travel abroad.

The political party ban is expected to complicate reconciliation efforts among Afghans seeking to initiate a dialogue between various political factions. The international community has supported such a dialogue with the aim of eventually forming a broad-based government in the war-torn nation.

The Taliban government operates without a constitution even after some Taliban members, such as Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, a former Taliban diplomat, called on the group to adopt a document.

"Forming a constitution is important to preserve Afghanistan's sovereignty," he said in a recent interview. "It will determine the destiny of our people, outline the power of the people [in the government] and how to interact with the world."

Political parties made a limited comeback in Afghanistan after the demise of the first Taliban government in 2001.

Anemic political organization continued to be dominated by former anti-Soviet guerrilla commanders from the 1980s and the communists who fought them.

Most Taliban leaders were educated in religious madrasahs in neighboring Pakistan. Most of the religious schools are run by clerics associated with Jamiat Ulema-e Islam (JUI), a major Islamist political party. JUI participates in elections and often joins alliances with secular political parties.

In the mid-1990s, the Taliban emerged as a ragtag student militia opposed to Islamist and former communist factions engaged in a civil war. These groups evolved from within the leftist and right-wing Islamist political factions that emerged in the 1960s when Afghanistan first attempted to develop its democracy.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/aghanistan-taliban-bans- political-parties/32552632.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.

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ECOWAS Chiefs of Staff Meet in Ghana to Finalize Niger Intervention Plan

Sputnik News

20230817

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - An emergency meeting of the chiefs of staff of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Ghana from August 17-18 will mainly focus on finalizing the plan for the military intervention in Niger, a French news agency reported on Thursday, citing sources.

An unnamed officer of the ECOWAS standby force told the broadcaster that no order had been given to stop the deployment, so the activation of the troops was still in force, despite diplomatic measures taken by the community.

A military takeover took place in Niger on July 26. President Mohamed Bazoum was ousted and detained by his own guard, led by Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani. Following the takeover, ECOWAS suspended all financial aid to Niger, froze rebels' assets and imposed a ban on commercial flights to and from the country. In early August, during a summit in the Nigerian capital of Abuja, ECOWAS leaders agreed to activate a standby force to potentially compel the Nigerien military to reinstate Bazoum.

 Sputnik

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Daniel Endres, Humanitarian Coordinator a.i. for Afghanistan, Hails Aid Workers and Calls for Continued Support to Vulnerable Afghans

UNOCHA - United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Kabul, 17 August 2023: In two days' time, on 19 August, we will commemorate World Humanitarian Day - a day in which we recognize the dedication and bravery of aid workers around the world and honour their service and sacrifice in helping the most vulnerable. This year, World Humanitarian Day marks the twentieth anniversary of the deadly bombing of the United Nations Headquarters in Iraq which killed 22 of our colleagues, including UN Special Representative Sergio Vieira de Mello. It was a tragic day and one that serves as a constant painful reminder of the risks that humanitarians face when going about their daily work.

Since assuming the role of Humanitarian Coordinator, a.i, for Afghanistan in June, I have been humbled by the dedication shown by all humanitarian personnel in Afghanistan, not least our Afghan women colleagues who have been increasingly prevented from participating in the aid operation in the manner that they should and need to if we are to be able to reach all populations equally. Women humanitarian workers play a vital role in the delivery of assistance globally - often serving as the only lifeline for women and girls - and their unique contribution cannot be undertaken or replaced by others.

Humanitarian workers in Afghanistan - particularly our national women staff - have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to assisting vulnerable Afghan communities and families, reaching more than 26 million people across all of the country's 401 districts in 2022 with aid. This year, they have continued in their effort, reaching more than 23.6 million people, including 12 million women and girls, with at least one form of assistance.

Over the past two years, large-scale humanitarian assistance has kept a significant proportion of the Afghan population alive, ensuring that they have enough food on the table to eat, are able to access basic health services and clean water, and have a roof over their heads during the harsh winter months. So far in 2023, some 20.1 million people have received food assistance, 8.4 million people have benefited from health services, and 3.1 million children have received life-saving preventive and curative nutrition treatment.

However, massive funding cuts are forcing life-saving programmes to close at an alarming rate. Already, the number of people targeted for food assistance has been slashed from 13 million at the beginning of the year to nine million in March, and 5 million people in May. Additionally, more than 260 static and mobile health facilities have had to discontinue their services, limiting access to primary health care for 2 million people. Many more activities are affected, with further disruption and closure of programmes inevitable should no additional funding be received.

In 2023, a staggering 29.2 million people in Afghanistan - more than two-thirds of the population - require humanitarian assistance to survive, a 480 per cent increase in just five years. Yet, the 2023 Afghanistan Humanitarian Response Plan is currently only 25 per cent funded and experiencing critical shortfalls amounting to US $1.3 billion, leaving vulnerable Afghan families staring down the barrel of hunger, disease and even potential death as winter approaches.

We simply cannot allow this to happen. Communities around the world are depending on humanitarians to step up when others can't or unwilling - no matter who they are, no matter where they are, no matter what.

We thank the world for having stood in solidarity with the Afghan people over the past years. However, with the country at the frontline of climate change and still reeling from decades of conflict, humanitarian aid is for many the only hope left. We once again, urge the world to stand behind the Afghan people at this critical time and prevent the situation from descending into a humanitarian catastrophe.

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Military Sealift Command's USNS Millinocket Aids Vessel In Distress

US Navy

17 August 2023

From Grady Fontana Military Sealift Command Far East

TIMOR SEA -- Military Sealift Command's (MSC) expeditionary fast transport USNS Millinocket (T EPF 3) rendered assistance to a distressed small leisure boat in the vicinity of Darwin, Australia, Aug. 8.

Millinocket was operating near Darwin, Australia, in support of Exercise Talisman Sabre 2023 (TS 23).

"Millinocket responded to a distress signal from a small leisure craft," said civilian mariner Capt. Erwin F. Lao, USNS Millinocket's master. "We were in transit when we received the distress message about four miles away from our position while underway. The location of the distress boat was about 35 miles off the coast, northeast from Port of Darwin."

The signal was initially received by the Australian harbor patrol and Millinocket responded since it was only four nautical miles from the signal.

The team on the Millinocket maneuvered the vessel toward the distressed craft prior to launching its fast rescue boat.

Millinocket's fast rescue boat, manned by MSC civilian mariners Boatswain Mate Casimer Nowakowski, 3rd Assistant Engineer Noah McNair and Able-Bodied Seaman Frank Watkins, rendered assistance to the small craft in distress.

The small boat, with its five occupants, was disabled for a few hours at sea.

Millinocket provided the small vessel with fuel and remained in its vicinity until the Australian authorities arrived.

The Millinocket is a 338-foot-long aluminum catamaran designed for rapid inter-theater troop transport and sea basing. The ship can transport about 600 tons of military troops, supplies and equipment for 1,200 nautical miles at an average speed of 35 knots on jet propulsion.

TS 23 is the largest bilateral military exercise between Australia and the United States advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific by strengthening relationships and interoperability among key allies and enhancing our collective capabilities to respond to a wide array of potential security concerns.

MSC Far East ensures approximately 50 ships in the Indo-Pacific Region are manned, trained, and equipped to deliver essential supplies, fuel, cargo, and equipment to warfighters, both at sea and on shore. U.S. 7th Fleet is the U.S. Navy's largest forward-deployed numbered fleet, and routinely interacts and operates with allies and partners in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

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Russo-Ukraine War - 17 August 2023 - Day 540

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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 despite the consistent pressures of war, Ukrainian efforts to build up fuel stockpiles will likely be successful in ensuring that it will have sufficient fuel reserves during the approaching winter period.

Ukraine has been effective in mobilising its mining sector to maintain output, ensuring a continuous supply of coal is available for thermal power and heating plants in the winter, with substantial gas stocks providing a further reserve.

Despite Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure likely continuing this winter, Ukraine demonstrated last winter that it has the skilled workforce and expertise needed to operate and maintain the power network, even in wartime conditions.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that during the day of August 17, Russian forces launched 4x missile and 37x air strikes, 27x MLRS attacks at the positions of Ukrainian troops and various settlements. Unfortunately, the Russian terrorist attacks have killed and wounded civilians. Residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure have been damaged.

The likelihood of missile and air strikes across Ukraine remains high.

During the day of August 17, there were 24x combat engagements.

Volyn and Polissya axes: no significant changes.

Sivershchyna and Slobozhanshchyna axes: the Russian invaders fired mortars and artillery at more than 20x settlements, including Klyusy, Yeline, Tur'ya (Chernihiv oblast), Rozhkovychi, Iskryskivshchyna, Uhroidy (Sumy oblast), Ohirtseve, Hatyshche, Vovchans'k, Pokalyane (Kharkiv oblast).

Kup'yans'k axis: the Russian invaders conducted unsuccessful offensive operations in the vicinity of Syn'kivka (Kharkiv oblast). The Russian adversary launched air strikes in the vicinities of Petropavlivka and Kucherivka (Kharkiv oblast). The settlements of Petropavlivka, Podoly, Kyslivka, Kotlyarivka, Tabaivka, Cherneshchyna (Kharkiv oblast) and Nadiya (Luhansk oblast) came under artillery and mortar fire of the Russian adversary.

Lyman axis: the Russian adversary conducted offensives in the vicinity of Bilohorivka (Luhansk oblast), to no success. Russian forces launched air strikes in the vicinities of Bilohorivka (Luhansk oblast), and Terniv, Yampil', Sivers'k (Donetsk oblast). About 20x settlements, including Nevs'ke, Dibrova, Bilohorivka (Luhansk oblast), Tors'ke, Yampil', Sivers'k, Verkhn'okam'yans'ke (Donetsk oblast), were shelled with artillery.

Bakhmut axis: Russian forces conducted unsuccessful offensives in the vicinity of Bohdanivka and Bila Hora (Donetsk oblast). The Russian invaders launched air strikes in the vicinities of Spirne and Vasyukivka (Donetsk oblast). More than 20x settlements, including Klishchiivka, Bila Hora, Dyliivka, Oleksandro-Shul'tyne (Donetsk oblast), suffered from Russian artillery shelling.

Avdiivka axis: the Russian occupiers conducted offensives in the vicinity of Keramik (Donetsk oblast), to no success. Russian forces launched air strikes in the vicinities of Novokalynove and Avdiivka (Donetsk oblast). The Russian invaders fired artillery at more than 10x settlements, including Oleksandropil', Keramik, Novokalynove, Avdiivka, Sjeverne, Nevel's'ke (Donetsk oblast).

Mar'inka axis: the Ukrainian Defense Forces continue to hold back the Russian offensive in the vicinities of the cities of Mar'inka and Krasnohorivka (Donetsk oblast). Russian forces launched an air strike in the vicinity of Krasnohorivka (Donetsk oblast). The invaders fired artillery at more than 10x settlements, including Krasnohorivka, Mar'inka, Pobjeda, Novomykhailivka, Kostyantynivka, Katerynivka (Donetsk oblast).

Shakhtars'ke axis: Russian forces made attempts to regain the lost position in the area of Urozhaine (Donetsk oblast), to no success. More than 10x settlements, including Vodyane, Bohoyavlenka, Vuhledar, Prechystivka, Velyka Novosilka, Blahodatne (Donetsk oblast), came under artillery shelling.

Zaporizhzhia axis: Russian forces launched an air strike in the vicinities of Robotyne (Zaporizhzhia oblast). More than 20x settlements suffered from Russian artillery shelling, including Bilohir'ya, Novodanylivka, Novoandriivka, Shcherbaky, Novoyakovlivka, Stepove (Zaporizhzhia oblast).

Kherson axis: Russian forces fired artillery at more than 15x settlements, including Novoberyslav, L'vove, Ponyativka, Mykil's'ke, Sadove (Kherson oblast), and the city of Kherson.

At the same time, the Ukrainian Defense Forces continue to conduct the offensive operation on Melitopol' and Berdyans'k axes, consolidating their positions, and conducting counter-battery fire.

During the day of August 17, Ukrainian Air Force launched 7x air strikes on the concentrations of troops, weapons, and military equipment, as well as 2x air strikes on the anti-aircraft missile systems of the adversary. Also, the Ukrainian defenders intercepted 2x Ka-52 attack helicopters of the Russian forces.

During the day of August 17, Ukrainian missile and artillery troops hit 4x artillery assets at their firing positions, 2x ammunition supply points and 1x electronic warfare station of the Russian invaders.

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that in Donetsk direction, units of the Yug Group of Forces, in close cooperation with aviation and artillery, repelled four attacks by Ukrainian Armed Forces near Zaliznyanskoye, Staromikhailovka, and Krasnogorovka (Donetsk People's Republic). In addition, the assault detachments of the Russian grouping of forces conducted successful offensives and improved the situation along the front line.

A missile strike on the Mezhevaya station (Dnepropetrovsk region) destroyed a military echelon with ammunition.

The enemy lost up to 310 Ukrainian personnel, a tank, three armoured fighting vehicles, nine motor vehicles, and a D-20 artillery in this direction throughout the day.

In Kupyansk direction, units of the Zapad Group of Forces improved the situation along the front line in the course of active operations with the support of aviation and artillery fire.

During the day, six attacks by assault groups of the 14th Mechanised, 25th Airborne, and 95th Air Assault brigades of the AFU were repelled in the areas of Olshana, Sinkovka (Kharkov region) and Novosyolovskoye (Lugansk People's Republic).

During the day, up to 125 Ukrainian personnel were eliminated, as well as two armoured fighting vehicles, two pick-up trucks, one Tyulpan self-propelled mortar, one M777 artillery system, and one U.S.-made M109 Paladin self-propelled artillery system.

In Krasny Liman direction, units of the Tsentr Group of Forces repelled an attack by an assault group of the AFU 42nd Mechanised Brigade near Kuzmino.

In addition, comprehensive fire damage was inflicted on the enemy close to Kremennaya and Chervonaya Dibrova (Lugansk People's Republic).

Up to 55 Ukrainian troops, two armoured fighting vehicles, three vehicles, one Akatsiya self-propelled artillery unit, and two D-30 howitzers were destroyed.

In the South Donetsk direction, professional actions by units of the Vostok Group of Forces, air strikes and artillery fire inflicted a comprehensive fire defeat on the enemy near Priyutnoye (Zaporozhye region), Staromayorskoye and Rovnopol (Donetsk People's Republic).

More than 175 Ukrainian soldiers were neutralised, as well as two tanks, three armoured fighting vehicles, two motor vehicles, one D-20 howitzer, and two Gvozdika self-propelled artillery units.

In Zaporozhye direction, units of the Russian grouping of forces, supported by aviation, artillery, and heavy flamethrowers, repelled an enemy attack and inflicted a comprehensive fire defeat on the assault detachments of the 46th AFU Airmobile Brigade close to Rabotino (Zaporozhye region).

The enemy losses totalled up to 195 Ukrainian troops, four Stryker armoured personnel carriers, two infantry fighting vehicles, three motor vehicles, one U.S.-made M777 artillery system, a UK-made FH-70 gun, as well as two Msta-B and one D-20 howitzers.

In Kherson direction, Ukrainian units lost up to 30 troops, three motor vehicles, and one D-30 howitzer as a result of a fire attack.

Operational-Tactical and Army aviation, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Group of Forces have engaged AFU manpower and hardware in 138 areas during the day.

Two AFU drone control points were hit in the areas of the settlements of Lastochkino (Donetsk People's Republic) and Ivanovskoye (Zaporozhye region). A command and observation post of a unit of the AFU 67th Mechanised Brigade and an ammunition depot were hit near Serebryanka (Donetsk People's Republic).

Russian air defence forces have intercepted one HIMARS MLRS projectile during the day.

In addition, 18 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were intercepted in the areas of Zhitlovka (Lugansk People's Republic), Soledar, Nikolayevka, Zarya, Orlinskoye (Donetsk People's Republic), Mirnoye, (Zaporozhye region), and Olshana (Kharkov region).

In total, 459 airplanes and 246 helicopters, 5,805 unmanned aerial vehicles, 431 air defence missile systems, 11,349 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,144 combat vehicles equipped with MLRS, 5,918 field artillery cannons and mortars, as well as 12,289 units of special military equipment have been destroyed during the special military operation.





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Foreign National Sentenced to Over 21 Years for Mailing Ricin to President of the United States in 2020

Thursday, August 17, 2023

For Immediate Release

Office of Public Affairs

Defendant Also Mailed Threatening Ricin Letters to Texas Law Enforcement Officials

Pascale Cecile Veronique Ferrier, 55, a dual citizen of Canada and France, was sentenced today to 262 months in prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release, for sending threatening letters, containing homemade ricin (a toxin), in September 2020, to then-President Donald J. Trump at the White House, and to eight Texas State law enforcement officials.

Ferrier pleaded guilty on Jan. 25 to prohibitions with respect to biological weapons in two separate criminal cases. One case was brought in the District of Columbia, and the other was brought in the Southern District of Texas and transferred to the District of Columbia for purposes of plea and sentencing.

According to court documents, Ferrier admitted that she made ricin at her residence in Quebec, Canada, in September 2020. Ricin is a deadly poison made from castor beans. Ferrier placed the ricin toxin in envelopes containing letters she wrote to then-President Trump at the White House and to eight Texas State law enforcement officials.

Ferrier had been detained in the State of Texas for approximately 10 weeks in the spring of 2019, and she believed that the law enforcement officials were connected to her period of detention. In early September 2020, Ferrier used the Twitter social media service to propose that someone should "please shoot [T]rump in the face." The letters in the envelopes contained threatening language, and the letter addressed to then-President Trump instructed him to "[g]ive up and remove [his] application for this election." Ferrier mailed each of the threatening ricin letters from Canada to the United States. Ferrier then drove a car from Canada to the Peace Bridge Border Crossing in Buffalo, New York, on Sept. 20, 2020, where border patrol officials found her in possession of a loaded firearm, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and other weapons, and arrested her. Ferrier has remained in custody.

Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department's National Security Division, U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia and Assistant Director Susan Ferensic of the FBI's Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate made the announcement.

The FBI Washington and San Antonio Field Offices investigated the case. Assistance was provided by the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael J. Friedman for the District of Columbia; Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rob Jones, David Coronado and David Lindenmuth for the Southern District of Texas; and Trial Attorney David Smith of the National Security Division's Counterterrorism Section prosecuted the case.

Topics: Counterterrorism

National Security

Components: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

National Security Division (NSD)

USAO - District of Columbia

Press Release Number: 23-886

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Final Defendant Sentenced in South Carolina's Largest RICO Conspiracy

Thursday, August 17, 2023

For Immediate Release

Office of Public Affairs

The 40th and final defendant prosecuted as part of the District of South Carolina's case against the Insane Gangster Disciples (IGD), a branch of the nationwide Folk Nation gang, was sentenced today.

"The incarcerated leadership of the IGD maintained the gang's lucrative drug enterprise by ordering murders and terrorizing neighborhoods throughout South Carolina," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Justice Department's Criminal Division. "This vertical prosecution of 40 gang leaders, members, and associates has disrupted the criminal enterprise both inside and outside of prison. The case demonstrates the Department's resolve to pursue and dismantle these organizations wherever they operate."

According to court documents, the IGD was a sprawling criminal enterprise that included inmates within the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) who were gang leaders and used contraband cell phones to orchestrate murders, kidnappings, gun trafficking, and an international drug operation. James Robert Peterson, 35, of Gaffney; Edward Gary Akridge, 31, of Greenville; Matthew J. Ward, 39, of Lexington; and Juan Rodriguez, 43, of Woodruff, orchestrated the crimes from inside SCDC where they were inmates. IGD also included non-incarcerated members who committed crimes outside the prison system. In South Carolina, IGD was divided into three primary "sets," each with its own leader.

"Contraband cellphones allowed gang leaders to perpetuate violence, traffic guns, and run an international drug operation from behind bars," said U.S. Attorney Adair F. Boroughs for the District of South Carolina. "Through a years-long, multi-agency partnership with state, local, and federal law enforcement, we have dismantled this criminal enterprise and held accountable both the incarcerated defendants and those who enabled them. We will continue to vigorously investigate and prosecute inmates who use contraband phones to continue their criminal conduct from prison."

Since the initial indictment in this case, all charged defendants have pleaded guilty to conspiracy under the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, the Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering (VICAR) statute, or to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute narcotics (including methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl). Ten defendants were charged with either VICAR murder or kidnapping resulting in death - all of whom pleaded guilty as charged.

Nineteen of the 40 defendants in the case were sentenced on racketeering charges to the following prison terms:

Peterson, the leader of a gang set within IGD, was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy and kidnapping resulting in death.

Ward, the leader of a gang set within IGD, was sentenced to 23 years in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.

Akridge, the leader of a gang set within IGD, was sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading to RICO conspiracy and VICAR murder.

Aaron Michael Carrion, 31, of Lexington, a member of and enforcer for IGD, was sentenced to 35 years in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy and VICAR murder.

Aaron Corey Sprouse, 31, of Gaffney, a member of IGD, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy and VICAR kidnapping.

Arian Grace Jeane, 29, of Greenville, a member of IGD, was sentenced to over 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy and aiding and abetting VICAR murder.

Cynthia Rooks, 55, of Lexington, an associate of IGD, was sentenced to over 11 years in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.

Lisa Marie Bolton, 35, of Dallas, North Carolina, an associate of IGD, was sentenced to over 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.

Jonathan Eugene Merchant, 30 of Laurens, a member of IGD, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to aiding and abetting VICAR murder.

Joshua Lee Scott Brown, 25, of Greenville, a member of IGD, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to aiding and abetting VICAR murder.

Alex Blake Payne, 31, of Greenville, a member of IGD, was sentenced to over nine years in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.

Virginia Ruth Ryall, 46, of Gastonia, North Carolina, an associate of IGD, was sentenced to 17 years in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.

Sally Williams Burgess, 40, of Greenville, an associate of IGD, was sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.

Jennifer Sorgee, 39, of Easley, an associate of IGD, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.

Heather Henderson Orrick, 36, of Greenville, an associate of IGD, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.

Crystal Nicole Bright, 43, of Lexington, a member of IGD, was sentenced to over five years in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.

Lisa Marie Costello, 46, of Gaffney, an associate of IGD, was sentenced to over four years in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.

Amber Hoffman, 39, of Lexington, an associate of IGD, was sentenced to over five years in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.

Clifford Kyzer, 38, of Lexington, an associate of IGD, was sentenced to over 11 years in prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy.

Twenty-one other defendants in this case have also been sentenced to charges stemming from the IGD's far-reaching narcotics organization after pleading guilty to narcotics distribution conspiracy, possession with intent to distribute narcotics, and/or firearms offenses and related charges. The following are those defendants and their prison terms:

Rodriguez was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.

Samuel Dexter Judy, 31, of Lexington, was sentenced to 13 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.

Kelly Jordan, 37, of Williamston, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.

Richard Ford, 65, of Lexington, was sentenced to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and related charges.

Brian Bruce, 51, of West Columbia, was sentenced to four years of supervised release after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.

Montana Barefoot, 28, of Lexington, was sentenced to five years of supervised release after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.

John Johnson, 39, of Gaston, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.

Kelly Still, 46, of Windsor, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.

Benjamin Singleton, 49, of Lexington, was sentenced to over nine years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.

Kyla Mattoni, 41, of Lexington, was sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, felon in possession of a firearm, and related charges.

Alexia Youngblood, 41, of Lexington, was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.

Rebecca Martinez, 36, of Lexington, was sentenced to five years of supervised release after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.

Mark Edward Slusher, 49, of Lexington, was sentenced to over seven years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.

Robert Figueroa, 46, of West Columbia, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.

Britney Shae Stephens, 35, of Anderson, was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.

Matthew Edward Clark, 44, of York, was sentenced to three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.

Catherine Amanda Ross, 31, of Gaffney, was sentenced to over 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to aiding and abetting kidnapping.

Brandon Lee Phillips, 39, of Gaffney, was sentenced to time served after serving approximately four years in prison, followed by two years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.

Billy Wayne Ruppe, 58, of Gaffney, was sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.

Windy Brooke George, 24, of Gaffney, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.

Tiffanie Brooks, 39, of Columbia, was sentenced to over three years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.

In connection with the investigation and prosecution of this case, law enforcement seized approximately 40 kilograms of methamphetamine, more than 130 firearms, and various quantities of heroin and fentanyl.

"ATF joined our local, state, and federal partners in a very dedicated and focused effort to make a long-lasting impact on the level of gun violence and gang activity in South Carolina," said Acting Special Agent in Charge Brian Mein of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). "We brought some extremely dangerous individuals to justice and recovered over a hundred firearms from a criminal organization intent on harming our communities. Disrupting these major criminal networks will have a significant impact on public safety across the state."

"This sentence marks the end of an era for a violent organization responsible for a multitude of criminal activities across South Carolina that negatively impacted the way of life for many communities," said Special Agent in Charge Steve Jensen of the FBI Columbia Field Office. "The FBI and our law enforcement partners are committed to dismantling complex criminal enterprises and ensuring that our communities are safe and secure."

The case is the result of a multi-agency effort to dismantle the IGD by the ATF, FBI, Lexington County Sheriff's Department, Lexington County Multi-Agency Narcotics Enforcement Team SCDC, Greenville County Sheriff's Office, Anderson County Sheriff's Office, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, Cherokee County Sheriff's Office, Laurens County Sheriff's Office, and Richland County Sheriff's Department. The South Carolina Attorney General's Office, Fifth Circuit Solicitor's Office, Eighth Circuit Solicitor's Office, Eleventh Circuit Solicitor's Office, and Thirteenth Circuit Solicitor's Office provided valuable assistance.

Trial Attorney Rebecca Dunnan and Principal Deputy Kim S. Dammers of the Criminal Division's Organized Crime and Gang Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Holloway for the District of South Carolina prosecuted the case. Attorneys Brandon B. Hinton, formerly of the U.S. Attorney's Office, and Lisa K. Man, formerly of the Organized Crime and Gang Section, also assisted with the case.

This case was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Justice Department's violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

Topics: Project Safe Neighborhoods

Violent Crime

Drug Trafficking

Components: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

Criminal Division

Criminal - Organized Crime and Gang Section

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

USAO - South Carolina

Press Release Number: 23-887

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Nevada Air Guard helps battle western wildfires

Published Aug. 17, 2023

By Senior Master Sgt. Paula Macomber,

152nd Airlift Wing Public Affairs

NEVADA AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Nev. (AFNS) -- The Nevada Air National Guard will support wildland firefighting operations in several western states at the request of the National Interagency Fire Center.

The NIFC asked the Nevada Air Guard to provide one C-130 Hercules equipped with Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System.

The 152nd Airlift Wing aircraft will replace the 153rd AW out of the Wyoming ANG from Cheyenne, Wyoming, and join the 302nd AW, Air Force Reserve Command, Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado, which were both working with the USDA Forest Service and other state and federal agencies fighting wildfires across the west since Aug. 3.

All MAFFS units are based out of the Klamath Falls Airtanker Base in Klamath Falls, Oregon.

Having military C-130s that can be converted into airtankers provides a critical "surge" capability to bolster wildfire suppression efforts when commercial airtankers are fully committed or not readily available.

A long, wet winter made conditions ripe for a late fire season this year, and the "High Rollers" are ready.

"The 152nd Airlift Wing, Nevada Air National Guard, proudly supports the aerial firefighting mission," said Lt. Col. Patrick Sargent, 192nd Airlift Wing commander. "We've dedicated people, aircraft and training to this mission and we are determined to help the nation and assist with this effort."

First Air Force - Air Forces Northern headquartered at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, U.S. Northern Command's Air Component Command, is the Defense Department's operational lead for the aerial wildland firefighting military efforts. The team is committed to excellence through training and interagency relationships.

So far this fire year, 85 fires have burned 546,988 acres in 12 states, according to the NIFC website.

The initial request lasts through the end of August. The "High Rollers" initially activated last firefighting season from Sept. 6-14, 2022, flying four sorties, accomplishing five drops and accumulating 8,087 gallons of fire retardant.

Air tankers help build lines of containment with retardant to help reduce the intensity and slow the growth of wildland fires. Dispatch centers deploy aircraft to drop fire retardant based on requests from civilian incident commanders.

The MAFFS aircraft can drop up to 3,000 gallons of fire retardant in less than 10 seconds across a quarter-mile line. The system slides into the back of the military aircraft, and retardant is released through a nozzle on the rear left side.

NIFC is the nation's support center for wildland firefighting. It includes the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, National Weather Service, U.S. Fire Administration, National Association of State Foresters, and state emergency response agencies.

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Belarus: Statement by PACE rapporteur on the occasion of the 3rd anniversary of the presidential elections

Council of Europe

Parliamentary Assembly

Strasbourg

17 August 2023

"The 3rd anniversary of the fraudulent presidential elections of 2020 in Belarus is a moment to mark our solidarity with all those Belarusians who have chosen freedom, human rights, democracy, and the rule of law," said Kimmo Kiljunen (Finland, SOC), rapporteur on "Call for a national political reform process in Belarus".

"The regime in Minsk has responded to the peaceful pursuit of democracy with brutal repression that has shown no sign of slowing down. Civil society and free media have been systematically destroyed. The campaign to erase all political opposition continues. More than 1 500 political prisoners are held in inhuman conditions, with health care withheld, communication with their families blocked, and access to lawyers denied.

I use this opportunity to call for the immediate and unconditional release and rehabilitation of all political prisoners, and for the cessation of repression.

After contesting elections, the place of a politician is in parliament - not in prison.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has called on the authorities in Belarus to fully adhere to the principles of democracy and the rule of law, the respect of human rights, and act in compliance with international law and Belarus' own commitments. This includes, first and foremost, ceasing its collaboration in Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.

I hail the resilience, courage and determination of Belarusians who are fighting for democracy to prevail in their country, and the efforts of the Office of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the United Transitional Cabinet of Belarus, the Coordination Council and other opposition figures. I welcome measures taken by Council of Europe member States to support these efforts, and encourage further steps to support Belarusians in exile."

"The Assembly will continue its efforts to support Belarusian democratic forces and to stand by the people of Belarus for a democratic, independent, sovereign, prosperous and peaceful future," Mr Kiljunen concluded.

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Chinese defense minister visits Belarus to enhance ties

Global Times

Strengthened 'fraternal bonds' to offset strategic imbalance facing the world

By Deng Xiaoci Published: Aug 17, 2023 10:17 PM

China and Belarus share the same vision of the world order, and military cooperation between Belarus and China is not intended to target any third country, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he met with visiting Chinese State Councilor and Minister of National Defense Li Shangfu in Minsk on Thursday.

Chinese observers hailed Li's visit to Belarus as one that would help further boost defense ties and overall relations between the two countries, which carries great strategic value in offsetting the challenge of the world losing strategic balance, as the US-led West is increasingly attempting to achieve an imbalanced strategic pattern that only benefits itself.

Li arrived in Minsk on Wednesday from Russia where he participated in the 11th Moscow Conference on International Security held in Patriot Park near the Russian capital. This is the first high-level visit of China-Belarus military cooperation in the past five years. Defense officials from the two countries are expected to outline areas of cooperation for the near future and exchange views on the current international and regional security situation, TASS reported.

"We are absolute supporters of a multipolar world, territorial integrity and unity of the borders and territories formed after World War II. We stay committed to non-interference in the internal affairs of states. In short, the whole palette on which China's foreign policy is based is similar to ours. You should know that for more than 30 years we have always supported China in all its aspirations, because we consider the domestic and foreign policy of the People's Republic of China absolutely fair, aimed at peaceful resolution of any disputes and conflicts," the Belarusian leader emphasized, according to the Belarusian state news agency Belarusian Telegraph Agency (BelTA) on Thursday.

Li Shangfu praised Belarus' great successes in its development and the role of the Belarusian head of state in this achievement. "Let me express my sincere and deep respect for your high contribution to peace and development in the world," the Chinese defense minister said.

"The purpose of my visit to Belarus is the implementation of important agreements at the level of heads of state and further strengthening of bilateral military cooperation," Li said.

Accocrding an official release by the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, Li conveyed President Xi Jinping's warm greetings to Lukashenko.

Li said that under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, China-Belarus relations have been elevated to a comprehensive strategic partnership of all-weather cooperation.

China is willing to work together with Belarus to continuously deepen and solidify mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation, and better benefit the people of both countries. The military cooperation between China and Belarus has steadily developed, achieving fruitful results in strategic communication, joint training, and joint exercises. Both sides will make joint efforts under the guidance of the two heads of state to continuously advance the military relationship, the Chinese defense minister said.

"In recent years, under the leadership of Aleksandr Lukashenko and Xi Jinping, relations between Belarus and China have been continuously strengthening, steadily developing and moving forward. Last year we received a new status for our relations - it is an all-weather and comprehensive strategic partnership," Li said on Wednesday during his meeting with Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin in Minsk on Wednesday, BelTA reported.

This shows that we now have truly fraternal relations, Li noted.

According to the Chinese Minister of National Defense, China is currently Belarus' second biggest partner in terms of bilateral trade. "Last year, mutual trade grew more than 30 percent. In January-May 2023, trade between Belarus and China also showed very good growth," Li added.

Belarus said on Wednesday that diplomatic relations with China had reached an "unprecedented high level of cooperation."

Khrenin said that "over 31 years of diplomatic relations, through traditional friendship and mutual respect, our countries have achieved a comprehensive strategic partnership."

Khrenin added that the friendly relations between Belarus and China had formed a basis for developing cooperation between the two countries.

"Despite external factors, our deep and special relations allow us to move toward creating a community of common interests and a common destiny," he said.

The Belarusian defense minister added that his Chinese counterpart's visit would help strengthen military relations and understanding between the two countries' armed forces and offer "excellent prospects for the development of relations in the trade, economic, scientific and technical fields."

Li last met with his Belarusian counterpart at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Defense Ministers' Meeting in April.

Military exchanges are an indicator of a relationship between two countries. Military exchanges are built on a high level of mutual trust, and only when both countries perceive each other as trustworthy can they let down their guard and engage in deep military exchanges, Cui Heng, an assistant research fellow from the Center for Russian Studies of East China Normal University, told the Global Times on Thursday.

"Currently, Europe as a whole is strategically imbalanced, and the US-led West is attempting to achieve an imbalanced strategic pattern that only benefits itself. Against this backdrop, it is quite urgent and necessary for non-Western countries to strengthen their connections and cooperation at the strategic level, ensuring global strategic stability and balance to ensure that different civilizations, political and social systems around the world can pursue their common goal of development," said Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University.

Chinese analysts also pointed out the urgency of strengthening military cooperation between China and Belarus, given the uncertainty in global and European security prospects due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict as well as the penitential of further deterioration in major power relations.

Strengthening military cooperation between China and Belarus would help resolve crises not only in Europe and Eurasia, but also in the Pacific and Atlantic regions in a constructive manner when they occur, offering different ways to resolve them than in a biased and coercive manner that discriminates against and pressures non-Western countries, Li Haidong explained to the Global Times on Thursday.

Military cooperation between China and Belarus also serves as a demonstration for other parties, and plays a role in strategic deterrence, Cui noted. "The military cooperation and cooperation in the field of security between China and Belarus are not targeted at any third party, but are aimed at safeguarding their own national interests."

The background of the meeting between the Chinese Minister of National Defense and his Belarusian counterpart is the possible spillover of the Russia-Ukraine conflict to Belarus. Belarus has been under significant internal and external pressure, especially since the 2020 election. The visit by the Chinese Minister of National Defense also expresses political support for Belarus, Cui said.

After a five-year hiatus, military cooperation and exchanges between China and Belarus are sure to be further enhanced and developed under the promotion and impetus of high-level military officials, Song Zhongping, a military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Both China and Belarus are peace-loving countries and hope to maintain regional peace and stability and safeguard genuine multilateralism, Song said. "Regarding the Russia-Ukraine crisis, both countries play important roles in promoting peace talks."

The cooperation between China and Belarus is multifaceted, and the scope of cooperation is very broad. The military cooperation between the two sides is likely to involve exchanges of military personnel, mutual exchange of weapons, and possibly mutual learning of military doctrines and understanding of strategic theories, Li Haidong said.

When asked where the cooperation between China and Belarus lies, Song responded that Belarus could further import defensive weapons and equipment from China, expanding on the previous cooperation in military equipment.

Also, it is necessary to strengthen military exchanges and exercises between China, Belarus, and Russia. At the same time, it is also possible to consider incorporating Belarus into various regional international organizations established by China and Russia, he added.

Belarus aspires to become a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the BRICS mechanism, which indicates its desire to strengthen cooperation with like-minded countries. This is especially important for maintaining the multilateral system and a multipolar world, analysts pointed out.

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Belarus Decides to Nix Defense Industry Cooperation Deal With Ukraine

Sputnik News

20230817

MINSK (Sputnik) - The government of Belarus has decided to denounce the agreement with Ukraine on defense industry cooperation, according to a resolution of the Belarusian Council of Ministers, published on the national legal Internet portal.

"To denounce the agreement between the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus and the government of Ukraine on military-technical cooperation, signed in Minsk on December 16, 1994," the document says.

The Belarusian government also denounced an intergovernmental protocol on amending that agreement, which was signed in 2003.

The resolution came into force on August 15.

Ukraine has recently been regularly reporting withdrawal from agreements with Belarus. Minsk, in turn, formalizes the termination of these documents at the national legal level.

A Sputnik

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PLA Eastern Theater Command releases video on combat readiness amid secessionist Lai Ching-te's 'stopovers' in US

Global Times

By Liu Xuanzun and Guo Yuandan Published: Aug 17, 2023 07:33 PM

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command on Thursday released a video displaying its combat readiness in a move experts said sends a stern warning to "Taiwan independence" secessionist forces amid US "stopovers" by the island of Taiwan's deputy regional leader Lai Ching-te.

Titled "Reviewing the Straits," the music video shows the hot-blooded feelings and responsibilities of the frontline officers and soldiers who are preparing for combat with training, the PLA Eastern Theater Command said in a press release on Thursday.

All members of the PLA Eastern Theater Command are waiting to fight at all times and will resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, the press release said.

The video features footage of the PLA Eastern Theater Command's training exercises.

Steel torrents of tanks and armored vehicles, swarms of helicopters are seen pushing forward, as infantry and special forces march on beachheads, before engaging in mountain operations and urban warfare.

The aircraft carrier Shandong, H-6K bombers escorted by fighter jets, soldiers parachuting from a Y-20 transport aircraft, DF-15 ballistic missiles moving into position, and Type 05 amphibious armored vehicles being released from amphibious landing ships, also appear in the video.

It also shows a PLA Air Force Su-30 fighter jet flying with the Central Mountain Range of the island of Taiwan in its background and PLA Navy vessels monitoring warships of the island of Taiwan.

The video showed a scene in which the PLA Eastern Theater Command was expelling a US Navy EP-3E electronic reconnaissance aircraft.

The US spy plane is seen from the perspective of a PLA aircraft, as the PLA states in a radio communication that the US aircraft must leave immediately as it has entered a PLA exercise zone.

Elements in the video, including amphibious landings, parachuting, urban warfare, precision strikes and expelling US forces, are strongly pointed to that the exercises were about the island of Taiwan, a Chinese mainland military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Thursday.

The video was released at a time when Lai, also a candidate of the separatist Democratic Progressive Party for the 2024 Taiwan regional leader election, is returning on Friday from his trip to Paraguay, during which he made two "stopovers" in the US.

The timing for the release of the video is very sensitive and is very clearly targeted to send a strong warning to "Taiwan independence" secessionist forces, particularly with the word "Straits" in the title referring to the Taiwan Straits, an expert on the Taiwan question who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Thursday.

When Taiwan regional leader Tsai Ing-wen made "stopovers" in the US in a similar manner in April, the PLA Eastern Theater Command held combat alert patrols and "Joint Sword" exercises encircling the island of Taiwan in waters to the east of the island.

China is closely following the developments of the situation and will take resolute and strong measures to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity, said Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin at a regular press conference on Tuesday, in response to a question whether China plans to launch new war games or major military exercises once Lai returns to Taiwan island on Friday.

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China's countermeasures on US' Section 232 tariffs a legitimate response: MOFCOM

Global Times

Washington obstructs WTO ruling, ruins global multilateral trade system

By Qi Xijia Published: Aug 17, 2023 10:54 PM

It is the US that has ruined the global multilateral trade system with the WTO at the core, and China's countermeasure against US tariffs on steel and aluminum products is a "self-defensive" move that follows international practice, Chinese observers and officials said, following US trade office's groundless accusations against China's duty measures on Wednesday.

Dismissing a statement from the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), China's Commerce Ministry late Wednesday said that China's countermeasures against the US Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum, which was imposed in 2018, are a legitimate act to safeguard its own rights and interests.

The response comes after a World Trade Organization (WTO) panel issued a report on Wednesday regarding China's countermeasures. The USTR cited the ruling, claiming Chinese measure "has caused grave systemic damage to the WTO."

An official from the China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said the ministry has taken note of the WTO panel report on Wednesday. It is studying the report and will follow up on it in accordance with the WTO rules.

The root cause of the problem in this case is the unilateral and protectionist moves of the US, the official said, adding that China's countermeasures were taken in accordance with the law and are legitimate actions to safeguard the country's legitimate rights and interests.

"The US insisted on going its own way, obstructed the entry into force of the expert panel's ruling, evaded its obligations, and refused to cancel the illegal tariff measures," the official said.

In December 2022, the WTO ruled the US Section 232 tariffs imposed on steel and aluminum products in 2018 on the grounds of national security contravened the organization's regulations, recommending the US to bring its actions into conformity.

In 2018, the former Donald Trump administration used "national security" as a pretext to wave its tariff stick, including imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum products, which caused outrage among the international community. Many countries at that time filed lawsuits in the WTO, and the WTO made the ruling in 2022 as a response. But the US has not carried out any actions to implement the ruling to date.

"China demands that the US immediately cancel the steel and aluminum Section 232 measures that violate WTO rules and work with other WTO members in the same direction to maintain the rules-based multilateral trading system together," the MOFCOM official said.

Tian Yun, a veteran economist based in Beijing, said that because the US' actions have infringed upon China's legitimate interests, it is entirely reasonable and lawful for China to counteract through the WTO platform using relevant rules.

Tu Xinquan, dean of the China Institute for WTO Studies at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, said that China is not the only country taking action as several other countries and economies, including the European Union, have also implemented retaliatory measures.

Chinese observers and officials also criticized the US for abusing national security and undermining the authority of the WTO and global trade system while shifting the blame onto China

It is clear that the US' misuse of national security to impose unlawful trade restrictions goes against WTO principles. The US' failure to comply with WTO rulings and its continued abuse of national security measures have seriously undermined the rules and authority of the WTO, Tu said.

According to him, the fundamental purpose of the US imposing Section 232 tariffs is to implement its trade protectionism, develop and protect its domestic industries, and revive its manufacturing sector.

Since the beginning of the trade war launched by the Trump administration in 2018, the US has unilaterally imposed sanctions on countries including China, which posed a serious challenge to China's legitimate industrial rights and the fairness of WTO rules, Tian told the Global Times on Thursday.

By treating China as its main enemy and seeking confrontational behavior within the WTO, the US is effectively dividing the organization and posing a significant threat to the global trade system, Tu added.

The WTO's Appellate Body has been paralyzed since December 11, 2019 after the US blocked the appointment of new members, dealing a heavy blow to the multilateral trading system.

The possibility that the US has deliberately hindered the functioning of the WTO's Appellate Body to delay the ruling cannot be ruled out, which is why it has taken more than four years for the WTO to rule against the US' Section 232 tariffs, Bai Ming, deputy director of the international market research institute at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times on Thursday.

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China's FM refutes claims of lack of transparency in suspending youth jobless data

Global Times

By Global Times Published: Aug 17, 2023 10:12 PM

China's Foreign Ministry on Thursday pushed back against foreign media claims of China lacking transparency after the country suspended releasing unemployment figures for those aged 16 to 24 years old, saying some indicators are usually adjusted or removed when improving statistical work.

At a regular press briefing, Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for the ministry, was asked by a foreign media outlet to comment on claims that the decision shows a lack of transparency.

In response, Wang said that China has been open and transparent about its economic data, and has kept releasing various statistical data, which is highly recognized by parties including international organizations. In recent years, in light of progress in economic and social development, the authorities concerned have continued to reform and improve statistical systems and methods, he added.

"In so doing, new indicators that speak to the high quality development of the economy have been added and at the same time some statistical indicators that no longer reflect the reality have been adjusted and removed. This is what often happens when the statistical work is being improved," the spokesperson said. "China is committed to greater openness and transparency of our statistical work and has actively responded to issues of interest to the public."

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on Tuesday that China will suspend releasing jobless data for the youth starting from August, as labor market statistics work needs improvement amid economic and social development.

"Along with social and economic development, our statistics work and the survey and statistics of labor force need to undergo continuous improvement," Fu Linghui, spokesperson of the NBS, said at a press conference.

Fu explained that the number of students on campus continues to increase, and as their main goal is to study, rather than looking for jobs, there are different views on whether students starting to look for jobs before graduation should be included in labor force survey. Further study is underway to determine the issue, he said.

China's s urban surveyed unemployment rate stood at 5.3 percent in July, up 0.1 percentage points from June, according to data from the NBS.

Stabilizing employment is a top priority for Chinese policymakers. Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Wednesday said that efforts should be made to create more employment channels, as he presided over the second plenary meeting of the State Council, the cabinet, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Meanwhile, Chinese central authorities and local governments have been rolling out sweeping measures to stabilize and promote the nation's employment, especially targeting the youth.

For instance, South China's Guangdong Province announced to pay subsidies of 1,000 yuan ($138) per person to companies that hire young people aged 16 to 24 from January 1 to December 31, 2023, in an effort to encourage the employment of young people, local authorities said in a statement on Wednesday.

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China is assessing impact of US high-tech investment restrictions, may take countermeasures: Commerce Ministry

Global Times

By Global Times Published: Aug 17, 2023 05:20 PM

China is conducting comprehensive assessment of the impact of the US investment restrictions on high-tech sectors in China, the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) told a press conference on Thursday, noting that it will take necessary measures based on the result of the appraisal.

Shu Jueting, a MOFCOM spokesperson, said that the ministry recently held talks with Chinese high-tech enterprises to get to know the actual impact of the US executive order signed by US President Joe Biden.

Shu noted that the MOFCOM is evaluating the impact based on the talks with Chinese companies and it will take necessary measures to response to the US executive order.

Shu's remarks came after Biden signed the order on August 9, banning new US investment spanning key technology sectors in China, including semiconductors and other microelectronics, quantum computing systems and artificial intelligence.

On August 10, the MOFCOM said in a statement on its website that the US' move seriously violates the principles of market economics and fair competition, which will affect business operations and decision-making, in addition to damaging international trade rules and disrupting global industrial and supply chains.

"It is hoped that the US can respect the rules of the market economics and principles of fair competition, and refrain from purposely hindering global economic and trade exchange and cooperation by setting barriers for the global economic recovery," the statement noted.

In addition to suppressing investment in China's high-tech sector, some US politicians continue to ramp up their smearing campaign against China.

According to media reports, at a recent hearing held by the US House of Representatives, some US politicians alleged that China is acquiring US tech data and intellectual property "by force" or through mergers and acquisitions so as to help Chinese firms replace US firms.

In response, Shu said the allegations made by US officials are falsified. The essence of economic and trade cooperation between China and the US is of mutual benefit and win-win, and China welcomes enterprises from all countries, including US companies, to succeed in their development in China, and strives to create a market-oriented, law-based and internationalized business environment for all kinds of enterprises.

"The acquisition of technology and intellectual property rights through mergers and acquisitions among enterprises is a normal act of commercial cooperation. China always opposes forced transfer of technology, let alone the forced acquisition of technology to help Chinese enterprises replace American firms," Shu said.

Meanwhile, China is highly concerned that the US is forcing enterprises to sell assets and transfer technology to the US, which is typical forced technology transfer. The US should treat Chinese enterprises fairly and equitably and provide them with equal treatment in trade and investment cooperation in the US, Shu noted.

In terms of the reported visit of US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Shu said that China and the US is maintaining close communication on the issue.

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China urges US to lift Section 232 tariffs on Chinese steel, aluminum products

Global Times

By Global Times Published: Aug 17, 2023 02:05 AM

An official from China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) on Wednesday urged the US to immediately lift its Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum which violate WTO rules. The remarks come in response to a WTO panel report regarding the dispute.

The official said that the root cause of this case lies in US unilateralism and protectionist actions. China's countermeasures are a legitimate response to safeguard its own legitimate rights and interests.

Since March 2018, the US has imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum products from multiple WTO members, including China, on the basis of so-called "security concerns." The move has caused widespread dissatisfaction. China and some WTO members have turned to the WTO dispute settlement mechanism to address the issue, the official said.

In December 2022, a WTO ruling said that the US tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum products were in breach of its rules. The 25 percent taxes on steel imports and 10 percent import tariffs on aluminum imposed under former US president Donald Trump violate WTO rules, according to the ruling.

However, the US has consistently rejected the ruling and refused to remove the tariffs. China demands that the US immediately lift the tariffs that violate WTO rules and work with other WTO members to uphold the rules-based multilateral trading system, the official said.

Chinese industry associations and experts also urged the US to correct its wrongdoing.

The WTO panel's ruling is solemn proof that the US is practicing unilateralism and protectionism in the name of national security, which has seriously undermined the rules-based multilateral trading system, the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) and China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association said in December. They urged the US to correct its wrongdoing and create a good international trade environment.

Chinese experts also said the US' selfish and arrogant attitude has seriously disrupted the functioning of the global trading system.

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Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin's Regular Press Conference on August 17, 2023

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China

Reuters: According to South Korean media reports, buses were spotted crossing the border from China into the DPRK. Could you share some information on that? When will the border between China and the DPRK reopen?

Wang Wenbin: Regarding what you asked about, I have no information to share at the moment.

Shenzhen TV: On August 16, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs Wang Yi attended the opening ceremony of the seventh China-South Asia Expo in Kunming and addressed the event. Director Wang Yi, upon request, met with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, Lao Vice President Pany Yathotou, Nepalese Vice President Ram Sahay Prasad Yadav, and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang who are attending the Expo in China. Can you give us more information?

Wang Wenbin: The seventh China-South Asia Expo is being held in Kunming, Yunnan from August 16 to 20. The event is a shining name card of exchanges and cooperation between China and South Asian countries and the wider world. This year's Expo, themed "Solidarity and Coordination for Common Development", attracted representatives from 85 countries, regions and international organizations as well as more than 30,000 exhibitors online and offline, covering all South Asian and Southeast Asian countries and RCEP members. Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs Wang Yi attended and addressed the Expo opening ceremony. Director Wang Yi, upon request, met with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, Lao Vice President Pany Yathotou, Nepalese Vice President Ram Sahay Prasad Yadav, and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang who are attending the Expo in China.

Director Wang Yi stated in his speech that this year marks the 10th anniversary of the Expo's launch and of the Belt and Road Initiative and our neighborhood policy of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusivenessaboth proposed by President Xi Jinping. In the past decade, China and South Asian countries have consolidated solidarity and cooperation, advanced Belt and Road cooperation, deepened friendly exchanges and created a new chapter of China-South Asia friendship for the new era. China welcomes South Asian countries to get on board the express train of China's development and share in the dividends of China's development. We stand ready to work with South Asian countries to seize historic opportunities, enhance solidarity and coordination, grow new dynamism for development, build a community of development and contribute to the long-term peace, stability and prosperity in the region.

Director Wang Yi made a four-point proposal for deepening cooperation between China and South Asian countries. First, we need to deepen strategic mutual trust, support each other in international and regional affairs, work together to advocate open regionalism, pursue closer regional cooperation, jointly safeguard the interests of developing countries, and defend international fairness and justice. Second, we need to deepen connectivity, advance the building of key routes, including the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and China-Nepal cross-border railway, speed up the building of key routes, key junctions and major projects, and ensure unimpeded and upgraded regional economic circulation. Third, we need to deepen economic and trade cooperation, further enhance trade facilitation and harmonize systems and standards, promote win-win investment and cooperation through mutual efforts, and make the global industrial and supply chains more closely connected. Fourth, we need to deepen people-to-people exchanges, pull countries closer to each other, strengthen traditional friendships and build a social foundation for regional cooperation with greater cohesion and diversity.

Participating parties stated that South Asian countries actively promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation with China and have reaped fruitful results. The theme of the Expo follows the trend of the times and responds to countries' development needs. They thanked China for forging an effective cooperation platform and welcoming South Asian countries aboard the express train of China's development. They look forward to bolstering solidarity and coordination with China and contributing to the openness and inclusiveness, peace and stability and common development in the region.

The Expo consists of 15 exhibition halls and will host 14 events. We believe that through the Expo, participants will find more cooperation opportunities, achieve more cooperation results and jointly promote development and revitalization of Asia.a

AFP: According to reports, a delegation of DPRK athletes arrived in China yesterday, and they will attend an event in Kazakhstan. Can you confirm that? If so, could you share some details?

Wang Wenbin: I have nothing to share on that.a

Bloomberg: Regarding Argentina's presidential front-runner candidate Javier Milei, he said in an interview with Bloomberg that he did not want to promote ties with those who don't respect freedom. Does the Chinese foreign ministry have a comment on the remarks by the presidential front-runner in Argentina Javier Milei?

Wang Wenbin: Freedom is an important aspect of the common values of humanity and core socialist values. China is a country governed by law. Personal freedom of Chinese citizens, sacred and inviolable, is protected by our Constitution. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, China has created the two miracles of rapid economic growth and long-term social stability, and people enjoy a growing sense of happiness and security. I believe that if Mr. Milei can come to China and see the country for himself, he will find a totally different answer to the question of "whether or not Chinese people are free and China is safe."

China News Service: It is reported that TEPCO recently has confirmed a leak of the nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant caused by a ruptured hose used to transport the nuclear-contaminated water. What is your comment?

Wang Wenbin: We noted the reports. The legitimacy and safety of Japan's ocean discharge plan have long been questioned by the international community. The latest reported leak of the nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has again heightened international concerns over the competence of TEPCO and the lack of effective regulation from the Japanese government.

People in Fukushima have pointed out many times that since the nuclear plant accident, TEPCO's handling of the aftermath has been highly problematic. There have been several revelations about TEPCO's covering up or tampering with data. People are questioning TEPCO's ability to properly handle the nuclear-contaminated water. Can TEPCO handle the waste water in a safe and responsible way throughout the process? Can it manage the 30-year-long discharge without mistakes and errors? Can it ensure the long-term effectiveness and reliability of the treatment facility? Can it conduct waste water sampling and monitoring activities in strict compliance with the rules? The international community is very much doubtful about that.a

China again urges Japan to take seriously the legitimate concerns of the international community and the people in Japan, stop pushing through the ocean discharge plan, have full, sincere communication with neighboring countries, dispose of the nuclear-contaminated water in a truly responsible way, and accept rigorous international oversight.

AFP: China recently decided to suspend releasing unemployment figures for those aged 16 to 24 years old. Some think this lacks transparency. What is your response?

Wang Wenbin:aThe spokesperson of the National Bureau of Statistics responded to the same question earlier. You may refer to that.

Let me say that China has been open and transparent about its economic data. We have kept releasing various statistical data, which is highly recognized by parties including international organizations. In recent years, in light of progress in economic and social development, the authorities concerned have continued to reform and improve statistical systems and methods. In so doing, new indicators that speak to the high quality development of the economy have been added and at the same time some statistical indicators that no longer reflect the reality have been adjusted and removed. This is what often happens when the statistical work is being improved.

China is committed to greater openness and transparency of our statistical work and has actively responded to issues of interest to the public. We have released more statistical data and promptly added indicators that people need to know. For example, the statistics released this August includes an indicator for services retail sales, which effectively meets the public need for data in this regard.

CCTV: According to reports, Moody's Analytics said that due to a surging demand for electric vehicles (EV) and China's edge in EV production costs, China is on course to become the world's top auto exporter by the end of 2023. What is your comment?

Wang Wenbin: We noted the reports. The global presence of Chinese new energy vehicles is an excellent result of China's transition to green growth.

In recent years, China has been transforming and upgrading its social and economic development, adding a green touch to its high-quality development. In the first half of this year, 109 gigawatt of installed renewable energy capacity was added across China, accounting for 77 percent of the total newly installed capacity. Total installed capacity for renewable energy reached 1.322 terawatt, surpassing that for coal-fired power, which is a historic achievement. In July this year, on a year-on-year basis, new energy vehicle production increased by 24.9 percent, solar battery production grew by 65.1 percent and charging pile production was up 26.6 percent. China is building a modern industrial system, transforming and upgrading traditional industries with new technologies and new business models. The number of coal-fired boilers and kilns has dropped from nearly 500,000 to under 100,000 across the country, and the use of fire coal was reduced by over 400 million tonnes. Energy consumption per unit of the added value for industrial enterprises above designated size decreased by more than 36 percent over the past decade.

China's green economic growth has contributed to global transition to green development. According to the report on the development of China's green trade 2022, in 2021, with green trade volume standing at USD 1,161.09 billion, China became the world's largest economy in terms of green trade. And China's production and sales of new energy vehicles have topped the world for eight years in a row. China is the world's biggest renewable equipment manufacturer, including for wind and solar power generation. China produces more than 70 percent of the world's polysilicon, silicon wafers, batteries and modules. Over the past decade, China manufactured more than two thirds of the world's wind power equipment, and the products were exported to 49 countries and regions globally. In the first half of this year, China accounted for more than 40 percent of the world's newly installed wind power capacity. By setting up with cooperation partners the BRI International Green Development Coalition, which is committed to cooperation on transition to green, low-carbon development, we have provided a cooperation platform for in-depth exchanges on green development for countries along the Belt and Road.

Promoting green development is the common cause of all humanity. China will continue to uphold the innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared new development vision, accelerate modernization with man and nature coexisting in harmony, promote higher-quality, more efficient, fairer, more sustainable and safer development, and contribute more "green energy" to global sustainable development and building a clean and beautiful world.

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China slams UK fast-track visa for Hong Kongers as 'interference' in its affairs

Immigrants are 'deluded' and have 'hard life' on arrival, Chinese Embassy official says.

By Amelia Loi for RFA Mandarin 2023.08.17 -- China has criticized the British government's new fast track visa service for emigrating Hong Kongers, accusing London of "manipulation" through its immigration policy.

"China has all along been opposed to the U.K.'s manipulation of the BNO visa scheme, which interferes in Hong Kong-related affairs and China's internal affairs," an embassy spokesperson said in a statement.

"We urge the U.K. to ... stop staging its hypocritical shows, stop misleading people from Hong Kong and stop interfering in China's internal affairs," the Aug. 15 statement said.

The British Home Office on Aug. 14 launched a Priority Visa service for applicants to the British National Overseas visa scheme, which has offered a pathway to permanent residency and citizenship to millions of Hong Kongers since the Chinese Communist Party began a political crackdown in the city.

"From today, we are introducing a new Priority Visa service for our Hong Kong BN(O) route which will see visas processed in just 5 working days for those who need to travel urgently," it said.

"It continues the U.K.'s unwavering commitment to the people of Hong Kong."

'Lifeboat'

The London-based rights group Hong Kong Watch welcomed the fast-track option, because it helps those who "urgently need to leave the city."

But it said more needs to be done to offer a further "lifeboat" to those Hong Kongers who are ineligible for the BNO visa.

The group's Chief Executive Benedict Rogers dismissed the Chinese Embassy statement as "aggressive and mendacious."

He said the visa scheme was the "right step" in response to a draconian national security law imposed on Hong Kong by the Chinese Communist Party from July 2020.

"This latest new measure is a further very welcome effort to help Hong Kongers who need to get out quickly," he said. "No amount of completely disproportionate fury from [China's] 'wolf warrior' diplomats will change that."

He said it is unclear whether the British government announced the move in response to any move by the Hong Kong authorities.

Luke de Pulford, executive director of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, also welcomed the fast-track visa.

"There have been long and extremely inconvenient delays imposed upon Hong Kongers, some of [whom] have needed to leave Hong Kong very quickly, or have come to the U.K. and have found themselves in limbo while they've been waiting for their visa," de Pulford told Radio Free Asia.

"But the fact this has been opened now, when the applications to the visa scheme are slowing down, may indicate that something is wrong," he said.

Crackdown

Three months after the BNO scheme launched, Hong Kong's government amended the city's immigration laws to enable security chiefs to bar passengers from taking any form of transport in or out of the city, sparking concerns that it could be used to prevent people from leaving amid an ever-widening crackdown on public dissent and peaceful political opposition.

"It could be the U.K. government has realized the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government may be moving to try to prevent people from traveling," de Pulford said. "We don't know that, but there might be more to it than meets the eye, and we should all be on our guard."

The Chinese embassy spokesman said the fast-track visa option was aimed at "smearing and disrupting Hong Kong," calling those who had come to the U.K. on the scheme so far "deluded."

The British government said in March it had received 172,500 applications for the BNO visa, which prompted China to de-recognize the BNO passport in protest in January 2021.

Hong Kong Watch has since said that Hong Kong banks are deliberately withholding up to US$2.4 billion in mandatory pension savings from Hong Kongers who have used the scheme.

The Chinese Embassy spokesperson claimed that Hong Kongers who do emigrate to Britain are having a hard time.

"Some deluded people left their home in Hong Kong and came to the U.K. only to find themselves facing a hard life full of discrimination," the spokesperson said. "There are a large number of such cases around."

'Living in misery'

Chung Kim-wah, a former Hong Kong sociologist now living in the United Kingdom, said the Chinese Embassy's bad-mouthing of those who flee Hong Kong is part of a broader attempt by Beijing's propaganda machine to curb mass emigration from the city.

"[Local media] have reported claims from time to time that Hong Kongers are living in misery here, or are discriminated against," Chung said. "However, these statements aren't new."

He said that he has heard occasional complaints from Hong Kongers about their employment situation, but he hasn't heard of anyone who regrets making the move.

Nearly one in four Hong Kongers who fled to the United Kingdom have said they still suffer from symptoms of post-traumatic stress syndrome linked to the violent crackdown on the 2019 protests and the subsequent fear engendered by the national security law, according to a survey by the Hong Kongers in Britain advocacy group in May 2022.

Net departures of permanent residents from Hong Kong totaled 113,000 for the whole of 2022, prompting calls from media backed by the Communist Party for the government to act to stem the brain drain.

The city's government has been handing out free plane tickets to visitors and offering work visas to attract professionals to replace those who have left, many of them from mainland China. The city's population saw a sudden uptick in the year to the end of June, rising by 2.1%.

Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.

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 August 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.

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Retired party school professor plotted 'violent attack,' security ministry now claims

The accusation is the latest example of a propaganda drive to track down spies.

By Kai Di for RFA Mandarin, Yitong Wu and Chingman for RFA Cantonese 2023.08.17 -- The ruling Chinese Communist Party is making a political example of a retired party school professor who called on President Xi Jinping to resign, accusing him of contacting 'hostile' overseas groups, buying weapons and recruiting members of a "suicide squad."

It's the latest example of a government propaganda drive to track down alleged spies and foreign agents, with the idea that everyone's help is needed to locate them.

Anyone who doesn't go along with the campaign could be viewed as disloyal.

Zi Su, a former former Communist Party school professor, was taken away from his home in Sichuan's provincial capital Chengdu on Apr. 28, 2017, after he posted an open letter online calling on Xi to step down as head of the party in favor of Hu Deping, son of late ousted Premier Hu Yaobang, whose death in 1989 sparked the student-led Tiananmen Square protests.

He was initially held on suspicion of "incitement to subvert state power," but the charge was changed to the more serious "subversion of state power," for which he has already served jail time.

He was released from prison in 2021, taking into account time served in pretrial detention, according to rights activists.

Now, the ministry of state security is accusing Zi of being in contact with "hostile organizations" overseas, planning to buy weapons and of recruiting people to carry out a suicide attack similar to a 2013 attack in the Libyan city of Benghazi, according to an official document warning people about the dangers of foreign-linked agents in their midst.

Anti-espionage campaign

The warning comes amid a political "anti-espionage" campaign that the ministry for state security, which heads the country's state security police, says will need the whole of society to mobilize.

"[Zi Su] took the initiative to contact key members of overseas hostile organizations, planned to purchase weapons from abroad, recruited a so-called suicide squad in China and conspired to carry out violent actions, naming the operation the 'China's Benghazi Project' in an attempt to subvert state power," the ministry said in an Aug. 15 statement.

"Political security is directly related to the security of the regime and the survival of the system," it said.

"It is the most fundamental need of a country and the basis for its survival and development. Without political security, there is no point in talking about national security," it said, repeating Beijing's claim that waves of mass popular protests in Hong Kong in recent years were the work of "some Western countries" trying to instigate a revolution in the city.

"For a long time, various hostile forces have been trying to foment a 'color revolution' in our country in an attempt to subvert the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party and our country's socialist system," the statement said, calling for a "protracted battle" against such conspiracies.

Elastic definition

The allegations against Zi also come after the National People's Congress passed amendments to the Counter-Espionage Law in April, broadening the scope of material that can be used to back up allegations of spying.

The Chinese authorities have typically employed a highly elastic definition of what constitutes a state secret, and national security charges are frequently leveled at journalists, rights lawyers and activists, often based on material they posted online.

Zhou Fengsuo, executive director of the U.S.-based rights group Humanitarian China, said via his X - formerly Twitter - account that the main reason Zi - who was honored with a China Human Rights and Freedom Award in 2020 - is being targeted is that he called for Xi Jinping's resignation.

New York-based lawyer Gao Guangjun said the public denunciation of Zi and the warnings of "color revolution" are intended to send a "very clear message."

"China wants to govern the country using espionage and intelligence," Gao said. "On the one hand, it will deploy large numbers of spies and intelligence agencies, and their powers will continue to broaden."

"On the other, they will be arresting 'spies' on a huge scale and people will be expected to find 'spies,' as if counterespionage were the responsibility of the whole population," he said.

The state security document appeared to back this up, saying the general public are "the fundamental starting point and foothold for national security work."

"Everything depends on the people," it said.

Gao said espionage claims are now more likely to be used to target peaceful critics of the regime like Zi.

"They will use it as a pretext to suppress them - this may be what's happening to Zi Su," he said.

'Sense of insecurity'

Independent Chinese PEN prison writers' coordinator Zhang Yu, said the government has used allegations of spying, or collusion with "hostile foreign forces," against several dissidents in recent years, citing the cases of Taiwanese publisher Li Yanhe and former Guangming Daily editor Dong Yuyu.

"They have always sought to project any conflict outwards, claiming it is the work of those conspiring with 'hostile foreign forces,'" Zhang said. "They use 'endangering national security' to target critics with any overseas ties or connection with foreign media."

Wang Tiancheng, who heads the New York-based Institute for China's Democratic Transition, said the denunciation of peaceful critics shows how insecure the government feels.

"It's clear that the Chinese Communist Party has a strong sense of insecurity," Wang said. "Looked at more broadly, China is merely treading a path taken by many authoritarian countries."

But he said the current economic slump paradoxically makes a democratic transition "more likely than ever."

Current affairs commentator Cai Shenkun said via his X account that the allegations against Zi meant the government is trying to distract people from the state of the economy and the flooding in northern China.

"Ever since the Chinese Communist Party was set up, it has sought out various types of 'enemies' to intimidate the people, whenever it is facing political, economic or international pressure and challenges," Cai wrote.

"[Zi Su] is just an ordinary party member who openly supports democratic constitutionalism," he said.

Since his release, Zi has been subject to close surveillance and controls by the Chengdu police department's "stability maintenance" operations, Cai said.

Translated with additional reporting by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.

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 August 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.

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Hong Kong Seeks Public Help in Purging Library Books

By Cindy Sui August 17, 2023

An invitation from Hong Kong authorities for citizens to report public library books that "endanger national security" has sent chills through the port city, analysts and some residents say. Some worry authorities are adopting tactics similar to those used in China and during the Cultural Revolution, others say the move will only further harm the city's already tarnished image as a place that's no longer free.

In 2021, Hong Kong Public Libraries (HKPL) began reviewing books for potential breaches of the national security law (NSL) imposed by Beijing in 2020 to restore order in the city, which was rocked by weeks of sometimes violent protests in 2019 against a proposed, then rescinded, extradition bill that would have allowed suspects to be sent to China for trial.

In April, the government announced the library system had completed a preliminary review of its extensive collection, which has more than 15 million books and other items.

No data was provided on how many books had been removed, but hundreds of titles are reported to have been gotten rid of according to Hong Kong's Ming Pao newspaper, which has been tracking the purge.

In July, the government took the campaign one step further by inviting library users to help rid shelves of books violating the security law and setting up new channels for such reporting, including through emails and online or paper forms.

The law penalizes secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, with penalties as severe as life imprisonment.

Chen Daoyin, a political scientist formerly with the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law who now lives abroad, says the move shows how Hong Kong is learning from China.

China "recently passed an anti-spying law. It encourages children to report on parents; pedestrians, teachers, students and spouses to report on each other; and passengers to report on taxi drivers," Chen said. "It's going back to the Cultural Revolution days."

China's Cultural Revolution was a period of tremendous social upheaval that turned friends, families, colleagues and neighbors against one another.

Chen said the call for public help could be a sign Beijing is not confident the book purge has been carried out comprehensively.

"The government entities might go along with the policy, but individuals (who work there) might not cooperate, so that's why they want people to report," he told VOA in a telephone interview.

A search this week through catalogs on HKPL's website found no results for works by some pro-democracy activists and lawmakers, works by a satirical cartoonist or books about Hong Kong's anti-extradition law protests and only two results about the June 4, 1989, crackdown on demonstrators on Tiananmen Square in Beijing.

But bookshelves at one big library this reporter visited still contained books that could be considered by Beijing to be problematic as they promote political reform in China. They were placed in obscure places.

"It's a weak people's way of rebelling - by not abiding. Hong Kong people are used to freedoms, they will naturally not obey, albeit in small ways," Chen said.

The Leisure and Cultural Services Department, which runs Hong Kong's 71 libraries and 12 others that are mobile, would not answer VOA's questions on how many reports have been made by the public since the channels were set up.

It did provide a written response.

"Freedom of speech and publication is protected under the Basic Law [Hong Kong's mini constitution] .. it is the Government's duty and responsibility to safeguard national security and effectively prevent any act or activity endangering national security, as well as to promote positive values and desirable notions," the response said.

"Therefore," it continued, "the Government shall ensure that all public library materials are in full compliance with the laws of Hong Kong, not contrary to the interests of national security, and serve the interests of Hong Kong."

Library patrons interviewed this week said they will not use the channels.

"Absolutely not!" said one woman who is from China who and has lived in Hong Kong for two decades. "There should be freedom of expression, including through books. Otherwise, we hear only one perspective."

Like other interviewees, she refused to be named for fear of retribution.

"Different people's voices should be heard. Of course, some could be jarring noise to you, but that's natural. Even in a jungle, you hear different voices. Crows might not sound nice, but even they need to yell. You can't forbid it from talking," she said.

A young man said he no longer goes to the library or even large bookstores for "sensitive books." Instead, he gets them from small, independently run shops.

"This is of course not good. If you don't have these books, then how can you say you're a free society?" he asked.

He lamented that even cooking, travel and nonpolitical books written by democracy advocates have been removed. A look in the catalog, however, showed some such books were still there, suggesting the process of review may be fluid and ongoing.

An elderly man who brought his granddaughter, relative and her friend visiting from China to the Central Library said he was not worried about the book purge or the security law.

"Things are much better now than in 2019 when it was so dangerous that I didn't dare to go out," he said. "Hong Kong is a lot freer than the mainland. As long as you don't violate the law, there's no problem with freedom of expression. If the government is wrong, I also criticize it."

His relative from China, a recent high school graduate, however, knew nothing of the 1989 protests in Tiananmen Square or the June 4 crackdown, in which hundreds and perhaps thousands of protesters were killed by troops.

"June 4? What is that? Did it happen during the Cultural Revolution?" she asked.

A Hong Kong mother, rushing off with her child, said she was not worried that having fewer books in the library, meant her child would grow up not knowing history.

"Parents can supplement their children's knowledge," she said.

However, Chen, the political scientist, said the same knowledge gaps seen among mainlanders will likely occur in Hong Kong if the current trend continues.

"Hong Kong will become more mainlandized. ... In the mainland, those born after 1990 don't know about June 4. Hong Kong will definitely become like this," he said.

Asked why Beijing and Hong Kong's governments are employing such tactics even though the city has been calm in the past three years and even as they try to rebuild its image as an Asian financial and tourism center, Chen said it was insecurity following the widespread and disruptive protests in 2019.

"Any blowing of the wind and movement of the grass will make them feel insecure," he said. "This won't pass. The overseas Hong Kong activists will do something, then Hong Kong's government will step up its controls, and the activists will step up their actions. It's a cycle."

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South Korean Intel Claims North Korea to Resume Missile Launches, Spy Satellite Program

Sputnik News

20230817

Ian DeMartino

In May, North Korea attempted to launch its first military spy satellite. Known as Malligyong-1, it fell into the sea after North Korean media said it lost thrust following separation during the first and second stages. Parts of the object were recovered by South Korea for study.

The South Korean spy agency has reportedly claimed that North Korea is planning more long-range missile tests and will continue its attempts to launch a spy satellite.

The South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) further told lawmakers in the country that North Korea is facing food shortages and an ailing economy, which is chalked up to UN sanctions and the COVID-19 pandemic. While the NIS' track record for reporting on North Korea has been notoriously spotty, there are signs from within North Korea that at least elements of the report have merit.

North Korean state media appeared to admit to some issues with crop production in recent articles. One touted "efforts" to "improve growth state of crops" in four North Korean provinces as well as in the Pyongyang and Nampho municipalities. Another article mentioned steps to "protect crops" in the North Hwanghae Province.

A third article described events held in rural areas around the country in which "Party information workers and lectures" gave "intensive lectures and information activities" designed "to encourage the agricultural workers to become patriotic peasants supporting the Party with rice, bearing deep in their mind the great benevolence of the Party Central Committee."

In one province it reportedly included an "art performance with songs and poems to rev up the zeal of agricultural workers."

According to North Korean media, the crop issues are due to "natural disasters" and "disastrous abnormal weather," and the NIS admits there are no signs of famine or large-scale unrest in the country.

The missile tests and launches ordered by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have been increasing, most in response to or as a warning ahead of joint military exercises held by the United States and South Korea.

The military exercises were once a regular feature around the peninsula but were paused when former US President Donald Trump and former South Korean President Moon Jae-In began negotiations with North Korea in 2018. That year saw both a reduction of joint military exercises and no missile launches by Pyongyang; however, after talks broke down in February 2019, the missile tests resumed.

After current US President Joe Biden and current South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol took office in 2021 and 2022 respectively, both the joint military exercises and missile launches increased exponentially.

In May 2022, Yoon lifted the suspension of joint military exercises as one of his first acts of office. Months later, South Korea and the United States announced the largest joint exercises between the countries in five years.

In March of this year, the US and South Korea held their largest-ever joint military exercises and another large-scale set of exercises will begin over 10 days starting August 21.

In July, the nuclear-capable USS Kentucky submarine stopped in South Korea's largest port, Busan, for the first time in 42 years in what the South Korean Ministry of National Defense openly touted as a show of the alliance's "overwhelming capabilities and readiness."

Meanwhile, North Korea launched a record number of missile launches and tests, 69, in 2022, easily topping the previous record of 25. The tests have continued into 2023, and North Korea is openly talking about its plans to launch a military spy satellite, something it attempted to launch in May. That test resulted in the satellite falling into the ocean after liftoff, but the NIS says the North may try again in the coming weeks.

Last week, Kim ordered an increase in munition production during a recent military factory inspection tour. He was reported by North Korean state media as saying that the Korean People's Army (KPA) needs an "overwhelming military force" to deter its enemies from "daring" to attack, adding that soldiers need to be prepared to "go to war at any moment" and be able to "surely annihilate" their enemies if they do attack.

During his last year in office, Moon called on the Biden administration to learn from both the successes and failures of Biden's predecessor, urging shortly before Biden's inauguration to restart negotiations by using Trump, Moon and Kim's first meeting as a starting point. "The dialogues can pick up the pace if we restart from the Singapore declaration and seek concrete measures in the negotiations."

A Sputnik

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The UK urges the DPRK to prioritise the well-being of its citizens over the development of its illegal weapons programmes: UK statement at the Security Council

Statement by Ambassador James Kariuki at the UN Security Council meeting on North Korea.

17 August 2023

Thank you, President, and I thank High Commissioner Turk, and Special Rapporteur Salmon for their briefing. I also, like others, pay tribute to Mr Kim for his powerful testimony and I welcome the presence of the Representative of the Republic of Korea for this meeting.

President, the United Kingdom remains deeply concerned by the appalling human rights situation in the DPRK. It is clear that human rights violations remain widespread, systematic and completely lacking in accountability. So I also thank Albania, Japan, the Republic of Korea and the United States for bringing this issue back to the Council for the first time since 2017. Human rights in the DPRK and international peace and security are inextricably linked. The DPRK authorities divert resources from peoples' basic economic needs toward their illegal nuclear and ballistic weapons programme. These illegal weapons are financed through forced labour, with workers sent overseas, often under modern slavery conditions. I urge all UN Member States, especially the DPRK, to fully implement resolution 2397, including on overseas workers, and end this exploitation.

The DPRK regime continues to reject UN resolutions on the situation of human rights in North Korea. It refuses to cooperate with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights or with the UN Special Rapporteur. The regime fails to acknowledge the 2014 UN Commission of Inquiry Report that concluded wide-ranging human rights violations taking place in the country may amount to "crimes against humanity".

The United Kingdom also recognises the suffering of other nationals who have been abducted by the DPRK and we call for their return. Forced repatriations, state-sponsored abductions and enforced disappearances demand action.

We remind all Members to respect the principle of non-refoulement and not forcibly return those who have escaped the DPRK to face threats to their safety and human rights.

Colleagues, the human rights situation has not improved while the Council has remained silent.

We urge the DPRK to prioritise the well-being of its citizens over the development of its illegal weapons programmes.

We remind the DPRK that its restrictive Covid-19 measures must be proportionate, not used as a tool to further constrain the freedom of its citizens or to restrict the ability of the international community to engage with authorities in Pyongyang.

We urge them to engage in a genuine and positive spirit with the UN Special Rapporteur to bring around permanent change and improvements for the people of North Korea.

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'Increasing militarisation' of DPR Korea fuelling rise in human rights violations

17 August 2023 - Continuing 'severe, widespread and long-standing" violations against citizens of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) by their own Government, must not be viewed in isolation from wider peace and security issues on the Peninsula, said the UN human rights chief on Thursday.

Briefing the UN Security Council, Volker TArk ran through a long list of rights abuses, saying that many "stem directly from, or support, the increasing militarisation of the DPRK."

His argument was reinforced by the UN independent human rights expert Elizabeth SalmAn who told ambassadors that leaders of the DPRK - more commonly known as North Korea - have repeatedly demanded citizens "tighten their belts" to the point of starvation in some cases, "so that the available resources could be used to fund the nuclear and missile programmes."

Weapons over rights

High Commissioner TArk noted how the widespread use of forced labour, including in political prison camps, by children forced to collect harvests and the confiscation of overseas workers' wages, all support Pyongyang's imperative to "build weapons."

The Council met just over a month ago to discuss the "alarming and unsustainable" situation across the Peninsula, which is also impacting nearby countries such as Japan, following what was DPRK's fourth intercontinental ballistic missile launch of the year.

The UN rights chief began his briefing noting the dire state of human rights there, which underpin not only security, but humanitarian action and development.

Rarely has DPRK been more "painfully closed" to the outside world than it is today, triggered by border closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Information gathered by his office, OHCHR, "including through interviews and from public information issued by the Government itself, indicates increasing repression of the rights to freedom of expression, privacy and movement; the persistence of widespread forced labour practices; and a worsening situation for economic and social rights due to the closure of markets and other forms of income generation."

Since the shutdown, "only a handful" have managed to leave the North, he said.

Help 'rebuffed'

Although DPRK has said it is open to international cooperation to help end a food supply and nutrition crisis, offers of humanitarian support "have been largely rebuffed" said Mr. TArk.

The UN Country Team remains barred amid the border closures, along with almost all other foreign nationals. He said the return of the Country Team and new partnership framework, "would be crucial to advancing coordinated work to address the suffering of the people".

He called for accountability for victims of rights abuses, both via the International Criminal Court and via "truth-telling, the recovery of remains and reparations programmes.

Thousands of North Koreans remain at risk of being repatriated involuntarily, he said, where they may face torture and arbitrary detention. He urged all States not to send citizens home, "and to provide them with the required protections and humanitarian support."

"Sustainable peace can only be built by advancing human rights, and its corollaries: reconciliation, inclusion and justice", he concluded.

Crucial role of women for peace

The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in DPRK, Ms. SalmAn, highlighted the precarious situation of women and girls there, beginning with vulnerability to starvation, disease, and lack of available healthcare.

"Women are detained in inhuman conditions and are subjected to torture and ill-treatment, forced labour and gender-based violence by State officials", she told ambassadors in the Council.

She said they needed to consider peacemaking "beyond the absence of violence or fear of violence."

"The preparation for any possible peacemaking process needs to include women as decisionmakers and this process needs to start now."

She said "clear benchmarks" on human rights were an essential element of any negotiations.

"I call upon the Security Council to place the protection of human rights at the centre of a reinvigorated peace and security agenda."

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UN Rights Chief: Many North Korean Rights Abuses Linked to Pursuit of Nukes, Missiles

By Margaret Besheer August 17, 2023

The U.N. human rights chief said Thursday that many of the severe and widespread rights violations in North Korea are directly linked to the regime's pursuit of nuclear and ballistic missile technology.

"Many of the violations I have referred to stem directly from, or support, the increasing militarization of the DPRK," High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker TArk told a special meeting of the Security Council on human rights in North Korea.

"For example, the widespread use of forced labor - including labor in political prison camps; forced use of schoolchildren to collect harvests; the requirement for families to undertake labor and provide a quota of goods to the government; and confiscation of wages from overseas workers - all support the military apparatus of the state and its ability to build weapons," he said.

TArk noted the notoriously repressive nation has become even more so since the borders were shut early in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in Asia. The high commissioner said measures, including strict controls on travel within North Korea, the closure of markets and domestic forced labor, have all contributed to a worsening situation for economic and social rights in the country.

"Militarization also promotes the systematic exploitation of the population," added Elizabeth Salmon, U.N. special rapporteur for the situation of human rights in North Korea. "The leadership in the DPRK continues to demand its citizens to tighten their belts so that the available resources could be used to fund the nuclear and missiles program."

DPRK is the abbreviation for the North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The United States holds the 15-nation Security Council's rotating presidency this month and called for Thursday's meeting along with Albania and Japan. It is the first time since 2017 that the council is holding a public session on the rights issue in North Korea and its link to international peace and security.

"Colleagues, we cannot have peace without human rights," Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told council members. "And the DPRK is a case in point."

Defector's story

North Korean defector Ilhyeok Kim told council members he was forced to do unpaid farm labor from an early age instead of going to school. His family risked their lives and fled to South Korea in 2011 when he was a teenager.

"The North Korean government has no policy to help us; the government turns our blood and sweat into a luxurious life for the leadership and missiles that blast our hard work into the sky," he said. "We used to think that the money spent on just one missile could feed us for three months, but the government doesn't care, and is only concerned with maintaining their power, developing nuclear weapons and creating propaganda to justify their actions."

China and Russia both regularly object to the discussion of North Korea's human rights in the Security Council, saying there are other U.N. forums for such conversations. China's envoy said the meeting was "irresponsible, unconstructive and an abuse of the council's power," while Moscow's deputy ambassador said it was a "cynical and hypocritical" attempt by the U.S. and its allies to pressure Pyongyang.

North Korea's ambassador did not attend the session, but its foreign ministry put out a statement two days ahead of the council meeting criticizing it.

"The DPRK resolutely denounces and rejects the despicable 'human rights' racket of the U.S. as a wanton infringement and a grave challenge to the dignity and sovereignty of the DPRK," said the statement from Kim Son Gyong, vice minister for international organizations.

Following the meeting, the U.S. envoy was joined by delegates from more than 50 nations and the European Union in a joint statement calling on countries to hold Pyongyang accountable for its rights abuses and urging full implementation of existing council resolutions on North Korea's illicit weapons programs.

Pyongyang has launched scores of ballistic missiles and several intercontinental ballistic missiles this year. It regularly blames the tense situation on the Korean Peninsula on joint military exercises that the United States and South Korea carry out and says its missile program is meant to deter and "strike fear" into its enemies.

In 2014, the U.N. Commission of Inquiry found that North Korea's rights violations had risen to the level of crimes against humanity. The panel's report found the regime had used "extermination, murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, forced abortions and other sexual violence, persecution on political, religious, racial and gender grounds, the forcible transfer of populations, the enforced disappearance of persons and the inhumane act of knowingly causing prolonged starvation."

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Tehran, Riyadh seeking new chapter in bilateral relations: Saudi FM

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Aug 17, 2023

Riyadh, IRNA -- Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan says that his country and Iran are looking forward to a new chapter in their bilateral relations, based on brotherhood, mutual respect, and shared interests.

During a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian on Thursday, following a private meeting in the Saudi capital, Bin Farhan expressed Saudi Arabia's determination to improve relations with Iran.

He stated that their meeting focused on expanding bilateral ties in various areas, building on previous efforts to ensure regional security.

Bin Farhan also announced that, as part of the expansion of bilateral ties and the promotion of regional stability, the two countries have reopened their diplomatic posts.

Stressing the need for pursuing previous agreements in different security and economic areas, Bin Farhan said that he and Amirabdollahian discussed the need for further negotiations.

He also referred to King Salman's official invitation of President Raisi to pay a visit to Riyadh, noting that Saudi Arabia expects a visit to the country by the Iranian president in the near future.

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Supreme Leader: Enemy seeking to tarnish image of IRGC

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Aug 17, 2023

Tehran, IRNA -- Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has warned of enemy plots to tarnish the image of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) due to its tremendous influence.

"One of the most important parts of the enemy's activities is to try to tarnish the image of the IRGC and the Basij [volunteer forces]," Ayatollah Khamenei said during a Thursday meeting with a group of IRGC commanders in Imam Khomeini Husseiniya, Tehran.

"Why?" he continued. "Because the IRGC is attractive. The Basij is attractive. This attractiveness makes them worried and overwhelmed."

Therefore, they are forced to resort to fake news, rumors, lies, and all sorts of trickeries and deceits in order to tarnish the image of the IRGC, he maintained.

They want to curb its far-reaching impact, he added.

Biggest anti-terror organization in world



Elsewhere in his remarks, the Supreme Leader noted that the IRGC was a phenomenon unprecedented in the great revolutions of history and was unlike other military organizations formed after those revolutions, which were "destructive, arbitrary, undisciplined, and lacked adherence to principles."

"Throughout the country's history, I know of no military group that had such spiritual, moral and political health," he said of the IRGC.

According to Ayatollah Khamenei, the IRGC did not stop in its path and move forward to become the greatest, most equipped anti-terror organization in the world.

"Today, the IRGC is the biggest anti-terror organization in the world," he said. "It is a well-equipped military organization. It is an efficient and independent organization that can do things that many big armies in the world cannot do."

'Do not make mistake in recognizing enemy'



Ayatollah Khamenei also cautioned against mistakes in recognizing the enemy, recalling that the late founder of the Islamic Revolution Imam Khomeini would urge others to direct all their anger at the United States.

He then said all Iranian authorities have the duty to work hard day and night.

"Our duty today is to help the people, especially the lower classes," he said, before lauding the IRGC's activities and constructions throughout the country.

"We have few organizations that have been able to do this amount of work with lower costs than usual and at a faster speed than usual in the infrastructure of the country, roads, highways, dams, refineries and so forth," said the Supreme Leader.

Pointing to the public services of the IRGC, Ayatollah Khamenei said, "The IRGC stood by the people in different sectors. In the health sector, which is very important, the IRGC was able to do great things. It provided essential help in natural disasters and calamities such as earthquakes, floods, coronavirus, and so forth."

He added that the elite military force has also done extensive works in fighting deprivation, most of which have remained unknown so far.

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President Raeisi, Putin discuss Iran's BRICS membership, bolstering ties

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 17 August 2023 6:59 PM

Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, have discussed Iran's future membership of the BRICS grouping of emerging economies and possible ways to strengthen economic cooperation.

Russian state news agency TASS, citing the Kremlin, also reported on Thursday that both head of state also reaffirmed their support for further developing bilateral ties in trade, transport and logistics, and energy.

The phone conversation comes as Iran is looking to join BRICS, the influential group of developing economies consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

As chair of the group of five countries seen as an alternative to the Western hegemony, South Africa will host the annual BRICS summit in Johannesburg on August 22-24.

The 15th summit of BRICS heads of state will be held next week, with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in attendance.

According to South Africa, some 40 nations have shown interest in joining, either formally or informally, including Saudi Arabia, Argentina and Egypt.

China wants to enlarge BRICS quickly, saying it "supports progress in expanding membership, and welcomes more like-minded partners to join the 'BRICS family' at an early date." Russia is also keen to bring in new members.

The South African and Iranian foreign ministers recently signed a cooperation deal ahead of the BRICS summit in Pretoria.

The top Iranian diplomat urged South Africa to support Tehran's bid for membership. Pandor expressed support for Iran's bid.

"We hope to obtain the opportunity of accelerated membership under the strong support we hope to receive from South Africa," Hossein Amir-Abdollohian said at a briefing in Pretoria.

Pandor, for her part, discussed the current political and security situations of African countries. She stressed Pretoria's support for the Palestinian people and said the United Nations showed disregard for the Palestinian people's choices.

Last week, Amir-Abdollahian at a ceremony in Tehran highlighted the significant role of BRICS in driving global economic growth, saying the Islamic Republic can be a "reliable and influential" partner of the five-member bloc.

The Iranian foreign minister emphasized that interaction with multilateral institutions has always been a key priority for the Islamic Republic.

The BRICS group of fast-developing economies is often seen as an alternative development partner to the Western economic and political hegemony.

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Iran FM holds 'important' talks on first visit to Saudi Arabia in years

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 17 August 2023 4:14 PM

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says he held "fruitful and important talks" in Riyadh Thursday, marking the first trip to the kingdom by Tehran's top diplomat in years.

Amir-Abdollahian touched on economic and security cooperation between Iran and Saudi Arabia, saying that ties between the two countries "are progressing in the right direction".

He is reciprocating a visit by his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan in June, part of a rapprochement process which began in March when the two nations reached an agreement to mend fences with Chinese mediation.

"Our meeting today is a continuation of steps taken towards implementing the agreement to resume diplomatic relations, which represents a pivotal platform in the history of the two countries and the path of regional security," Prince Faisal said at a joint news conference with Amir-Abdollahian on Thursday.

Amir-Abdollahian's trip to Riyadh comes as the two nations are reopening diplomatic missions in each others' countries. He was accompanied by Alireza Enayati, Iran's new ambassador to the kingdom.

"Iran and Saudi Arabia are two important countries in the region of Western Asia and the Islamic world. Both sides are determined to expand our relations in all fields," the Iranian foreign minister said.

"Fortunately, today's relations between the two countries are in the right direction and progress is being made."

Amir-Abdollahian said the two countries have a consensus on implementing existing agreements between the two countries, including in the areas of security, trade, economy and other topics of interest.

"We are in agreement to define a format and framework where the foreign ministries of the two countries will follow up relations through the formation of various technical and specialized committees."

The top Iranian diplomat highlighted that the Islamic Republic believes security in the region must be ensured through reliance on local capabilities, stating that Iran stretches out a hand of cooperation to neighboring countries.

"Within such a framework, we have planned promotion of solid relations with other countries like Iraq, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates apart from restoration of ties with the friendly and neighboring Saudi Arabia.

"We believe that the idea of achieving security and development in the region is an idea that cannot be fragmented. We believe the issue of aaregional security and development is interrelated and belongs to all actors in the region," Amir-Abdollahian said.

'Monitoring movements of Zionist entity'

The top Iranian diplomat said Tehran and Riyadh believe the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has the capacity to act as an important actor in the international community.

Iran, he said, is determined to continue support for Palestine. "We do not have any doubt that the Zionist entity is seeking to spread division, hostility and to occupy our region," he said.

"We continue to monitor the movements of the Zionist entity with vigilance and awareness," he added.

The Iranian foreign minister also pointed to the desecration of the Holy Qur'an in Europe, saying Iran and Saudi Arabia, along with other Muslim countries, share positions regarding lamentable insulting of Islam's most revered book.

He also extended Iran's profound gratitude to Saudi Arabia for cooperation and services to Iranian pilgrims during the Hajj pilgrimage, hoping that the minor Hajj pilgrimage will also resume in the near future.

President Raeisi's visit to Saudi Arabia

Thursday's meeting in the Saudi foreign ministry's Islamic Solidarity Hall "will be a prelude to the meeting of the heads of the two countries", Amir-Abdollahian said.

"We are sure that these meetings and cooperation will help the unity of the Islamic world," he added, proposing a "regional dialogue".

Prince Faisal said the kingdom hoped to see Iran's President Ebrahim Raeisi visit the kingdom following King Salman bin Abdulaziz's invitation, which he had communicated during the June visit. President Raeisi has said he would travel to the kingdom at the "appropriate time".

Prince Faisal said the kingdom was keen to follow through with all main points of the China-brokered deal whether economic or political, adding the countries' ambassadors will start in their positions in their respective embassies after their reopening.

In June, Iran officially reopened its embassy in Saudi Arabia and Iranian media reported earlier this month that the kingdom's embassy in Tehran had resumed operations.

Prince Faisal confirmed on Thursday that the Saudi embassy in Tehran has also resumed operations, which he described as "another step in the development of relations between the two countries".

"We look forward to a new phase in our relationship based on our Islamic brotherhood and work towards common interests," he said, adding that he welcomed Iran's endorsement of Riyadh's bid to host Expo 2030.

Earlier in the day, Amir-Abdollahian and his Saudi counterpart discussed the relations between Tehran and Riyadh, issues of mutual interest concerning the Muslim world, as well as regional and international developments.

Heading a delegation, Amir-Abdollahian has traveled to Riyadh for an official visit at the official invitation of the Saudi foreign minister.

Enayati, Iran's new ambassador to Saudi Arabia, is accompanying the foreign minister in the trip and is scheduled to officially start his mission in the Saudi capital.

Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed in Beijing on March 10 to resume relations and reopen diplomatic missions within two months.

In a joint statement after signing the agreement, Tehran and Riyadh highlighted the need to respect the national sovereignty of one another and refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of the respective countries.

They also agreed to implement a security cooperation agreement signed in April 2001 and another accord reached in May 1998 to boost economic, commercial, investment, technical, scientific, cultural, sports, and youth affairs cooperation.

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Ayatollah Khamenei warns of enemies' plot to tarnish image of IRGC, Basij volunteer forces

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 17 August 2023 8:29 AM

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei warns of enemies' attempts to tarnish the image of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and Basij volunteer forces.

"One of the main parts of the enemy's activities is to tarnish the image of the IRGC and that of Basij [volunteer forces]. Why is that? Because the IRGC is awe-inspiring, Basij is impressive, which makes them (enemies) worried and anxious," the Leader stated.

The Leader made the remarks in a meeting with the Supreme Assembly of Commanders of the IRGC in Tehran on Thursday.

The last meeting between Ayatollah Khamenei and senior IRGC commanders was held some four years ago with the presence of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, Iran's top anti-terror general who was assassinated by the United States a few months after the meeting.

Enemies have no avenue to tarnish the reputation of the IRGC other than through "false news, rumors and all kinds of tricks and ploys," the Leader added, praising the IRGC elite force as "the world's biggest anti-terrorism organization."

"It is a well-equipped military organization. It is an efficient and independent organization capable of carrying out tasks that many of the world's major militaries cannot accomplish," Ayatollah Khamenei added.

Ayatollah Khamenei further expounded on how the IRGC stood apart from other forces that emerged in the early stages of big revolutions such as the French Revolution and the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia.

Those forces often exhibited destructive tendencies, disorderliness, and a lack of discipline, whereas the IRGC was structured "under the central authority" of the Islamic Revolution from the beginning, the Leader pointed out.

Ayatollah Khamenei pointed to a summit of senior officials from the US, UK, France, and Germany on the French island of Guadeloupe just before the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, adding that at that point they had concluded it was "impossible" to save the US-backed Pahlavi regime in Iran.

Nevertheless, they adopted a strategy of "sequential crises," in the hope of destabilizing any new government in Iran, the Leader said, recounting the series of crises, riots, security threats, and extensive acts of terrorism that marked the early phase of the Islamic Revolution.

Ayatollah Khamenei highlighted that evidence obtained from the former US embassy in Iran, known as the "Den of Espionage," also revealed that these incidents aligned with the West's deliberate strategy of instigating consecutive crises within Iran.

The Leader commended the IRGC for its exceptional efforts, noting that the elite force effectively thwarted all those crises, safeguarding the Iranian people from their repercussions.

Ayatollah Khamenei elaborated on the enemies' plot to undermine the Islamic Revolution by orchestrating ongoing crises and ultimately dismantling it through a maneuver akin to the 1953 Iranian coup d'Atat, referred to in Iran as the 28 Mordad coup.

However, the IRGC successfully countered the coup scheme in Iran and this achievement is the root cause of the enemies' grudge against the elite force, the Leader noted.

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Iran Detains Prominent Women's Rights Activists As Anniversary Of Amini's Death Nears

By RFE/RL's Radio Farda August 17, 2023

Iranian security forces have detained nine prominent women's rights activists in various cities in the northern province of Gilan as authorities continue a crackdown ahead of the first anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini while in police custody for allegedly violating the country's head scarf law.

Among those arrested on August 16 were Matin Yazdani, Forough Sami'nia, Yasmin Hashdari, Jelve Javaheri, Zahra Dadras, Negin Rezaei, Shiva ShahSiah, and Vahehdeh KhoshSirat, activists reported on social media.

The exact reasons for the arrests and the whereabouts of the detainees have not been disclosed and officials have not commented publicly on the matter.

Speaking to RFERL's Radio Farda, women's rights advocate Mansureh Shojaee said the detentions appear to be part of a broader strategy by the Islamic leadership to manage the first anniversary of Amini's death on September 16. She emphasized that many of those detained, including Javaheri, Sami'nia, and Yazdani, have been champions of the women's rights movement for more than two decades.

At least 500 people have been killed since protests broke out following the death of Amini, an Iranian Kurdish woman who was arrested while visiting Tehran for allegedly violating the country's hijab law.

The protests began as a rebuke against the brutal enforcement of the mandatory head scarf legislation, but soon snowballed into one of the most sustained demonstrations against Iran's theocracy since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Officials have blamed the West for inciting the protests and vowed to crack down even harder on the demonstrations.

Several thousand people have been arrested, including many protesters, as well as journalists, lawyers, activists, digital rights defenders, and others.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-detains-womens- rights-activists-amini-anniversary/32552780.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.

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NATO Mission Iraq takes on additional advisory and capacity-building tasks

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

17 Aug. 2023

Following a request from the Iraqi authorities and a decision by the North Atlantic Council on Thursday (17 August 2023), the scope of NATO Mission Iraq will also include advisory and capacity-building activities in support of the Iraqi Ministry of Interior and Federal Police Command.

This additional activity will be conducted in complementarity with support offered by other nations and international organisations. All of NATO's activities are carried out at Iraq's request and in full respect of the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Established in 2018, NATO Mission Iraq advises Iraqi defence and security officials in the Ministry of Defence, the Office of the National Security Advisor, the Prime Minister's National Operations Centre, and now also the Ministry of Interior and Federal Police Command. The mission also advises Iraq's professional military education institutions in the greater Baghdad area.

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Astana Says Company Sanctioned By U.S. Over North Korea, Russia Deals Defunct Since 2021

By RFE/RL August 17, 2023

Kazakhstan says the company sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) this week over its ties with arms deals between North Korea and Russia has been defunct for more than two years.

OFAC said on August 16 that it had imposed sanctions on Defense Engineering Limited Liability Partnership, registered in Kazakhstan, Limited Liability Company Verus registered in Russia, and Versor, a company registered in Slovakia for their involvement in circumventing international sanctions on Russia imposed over Moscow's ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine, launched in February 2022.

OFAC also said that in March it had designated Slovak national Ashot Mkrtychev for attempting to facilitate arms deals between Russia and North Korea. Mkrtychev is the president of Versor, the founder and owner of Verus, and the sole director of Defense Engineering.

The Kazakh National Economy Ministry said in a statement on August 17 that the operations of Defense Engineering had been suspended in Kazakhstan since February 14, 2021, adding that the addition of the company to the U.S. sanctions list is just "a technicality."

"According to data from the Industry and Infrastructure Ministry of Kazakhstan, the named company had not been provided with license to transport specific goods. We link the addition of the company to the sanctions list with its owner Ashot Mkrtychev's being under the U.S. sanctions," the statement said, stressing that Mkrtychev is not a resident of Kazakhstan.

OFAC said that through his negotiations with North Korea and Russian officials, Mkrtychev had organized potential plans to transfer more than two dozen types of weapons and munitions to Russia in exchange for a range of goods, including raw materials and commodities, to North Korea.

Mkrtychev has coordinated with North Korean procurement officials and used Versor to conduct negotiations with companies abroad, OFAC said.

The sanctions freeze all property and interests in property that the designated entities have in U.S. jurisdiction. OFAC's regulations also generally prohibit all dealings by U.S.-based persons that involve any property or interests in property of designated entities.

With reporting by Tengrinews and KazTAG

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/kazakhstan-company- sanctions-north-korea-russia/32552315.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.

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Displaced Burmese want Thailand to set up safe zone as sanctuary from fighting

A Thai lawmaker has suggested that the area should stretch 5 kilometers into Myanmar.

By RFA Burmese 2023.08.17 -- Burmese citizens displaced by fighting and who have sought refuge on both sides of the Thai border want Thai lawmakers to approve a proposed safe zone to protect them from daily air raids and artillery attacks by Myanmar's military, refugees and aid workers said.

The IDP Assistance Committee in Kayah state's Hpruso township said internally displaced civilians need the zone initiated to provide adequate aid and safety.

Lawmakers in Thailand's lower house on Aug. 10 proposed the implementation of the safe zone on the Thai border in the south of Myanmar as a refuge for those who from Kayah and Kayin states who have been repeatedly displaced by fighting between junta and rebel forces.

Kanawee Suebsaeng, an MP from Thailand's Fair Party, suggested that the zone be established 5 kilometers (3 miles) into Myanmar from the Thai border.

"This area could lessen the impacts on the Thai people along the border as well as on the evacuees who enter the area so they can stay safely," he said.

About 300,000 internally displaced people are living next to the Thai border in Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son, Tak, Kanchanaburi and Ranong districts, according to the lawmaker.

The Karen Human Rights Group and Karenni Human Rights Group estimate that more than 200,000 people in Kayah state and nearly 600,000 in Kayin state have been displaced since the coup.

Others have lost their lives as a result of fleeing the fighting, including 141 such deaths in Kayah state as of July, according to the Progressive Karenni People's Force, an ethnic political organization.

Refugees and aid workers support the measure given the growing intensity of the armed clashes since the Myanmar military seized power from the democratically elected government in a February 2021 coup.

'No safety and security'

A displaced person from Kayin's Myawaddy township who now lives in a camp that is a temporary home to about 600 refugees, said residents are not safe in their present location.

"There is no safety and security in our area," she said, adding that 100 people came to the camp for shelter following recent fighting in Let Khet Taung near Myawaddy. "The sound of the battle is getting closer. We have to run away."

Nearly the entire population of adjacent Kayah state, which also borders Thailand, have fled their homes due to fighting.

An official from the Hpruso West Refugee Assistance Committee said a safe zone would be convenient for displaced people who are constantly worried about artillery shells and air strikes.

When RFA contacted Kanawee Suebsaeng on Wednesday, he said Thai lawmakers would push for humanitarian aid for Myanmar refugees. He also said hat next week he and others would submit a letter to the house speaker detailing the issue and propose that top government officials issue a comprehensive outline of solutions.

Thai officials must consider practical factors before implementing a safe zone, said Saw Nanda Hsue, spokesman for the Karen Human Rights Group, an independent community-based organization working to improve the human rights situation in Myanmar.

"The questions of how long-term it will be, how many years it will accept refugees, and whether there are already donors to support refugees in the safe zone are major considerations," he said.

Aung Thu Nyein, the Thailand-based communications director for Myanmar's Institute for Strategy and Policy, said it may not be easy to establish the safe zone which requires approval from Thailand's national security council led by military authorities.

"Even if the Thai parliament approves the implementation of the safe zone, the Thai government will have to have discussions and negotiations with the Myanmar military," he said.

RFA could not reach the Thai Embassy in Myanmar for comment.

Kyaw Zaw, spokesman for Myanmar's National Unity Government, said the shadow government has urged the international community to help establish a safe zone and to provide cross-border assistance to Burmese IDPs.

Translated by Myo Min Aung for RFA Burmese. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.

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 August 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.

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Junta offensive in Myanmar's Shan state prompts fear of expanded conflict

The military is targeting two ethnic armies amid a breakdown in peace talks.

By RFA Burmese 2023.08.17 -- Myanmar's junta has launched offensives on ethnic armed rebels in Shan state amid a lack of progress on peace talks, prompting fear among residents of widespread fighting in the region.

Clashes between junta troops and the Shan State Progressive Party/Shan State Army, or SSPP/SSA, in southern Shan's Laihka township, and the Ta'ang National Liberation Army, or TNLA, in northern Shan's Muse, Lashio and Kutkai townships since late last month are the military's first orchestrated attacks against the groups since its 2021 coup d'etat.

Analysts said the offensives suggest the junta is trying to cut off the flow of weapons from the two groups to the armed resistance in lower Sagaing and Magway regions.

Following pressure from the junta on SSPP/SSA troops to withdraw from Laihka, fierce fighting broke out between the two sides on Aug. 6, prompting around 1,000 ethnic Ta'ang and Shan people to flee area villages, according to SSPP/SSA spokesman Major Sai Phone Han.

"There has been news that all anti-junta forces will be driven out from the Laihka area," he told RFA Burmese, noting that the military had called in reinforcements of about 1,000 more soldiers, including members of the pro-junta Pyi Thu Sit militia. "[Anti-junta armed groups] in the south have tried to convince us to come to them, but we intend to stay here [to ensure the security of the area]."

In the meantime, residents of Laihka said they are frightened because of increased junta troop activity in the township.

"One side of the fighting has reinforced and the other side is trying to block them - it's worrying indeed, as the tension between them is high," said one resident, who declined to be named citing security concerns. "We saw two military junta helicopters hovering over our town today."

The resident said that the local community is worried that the fighting will reach the seat of Laihka township, noting that those displaced by earlier clashes have yet to return home.

In Muse, Lashio and Kutkai townships, junta troops and TNLA forces fought "nearly everyday" from July 23 to Aug. 12, with the military deploying attack helicopters in Lashio during the last two days, TNLA spokesman Lieutenant Col. My Aik Kyaw told RFA.

"We don't know what they aim to achieve in their offensives," he said, adding that at least a dozen battles took place over the period.

RFA attempts to reach junta Shan state spokesman and economic minister Khun Thein Maung regarding the situation in the region went unanswered Thursday.

RFA contacted junta Shan State Security and Border Affairs Minister Colonel Sein Win by telephone, but he declined to comment, saying he was in a meeting.

Targeting flow of weapons

Than Soe Naing, a researcher of Myanmar affairs, told RFA he believes the junta is putting pressure on ethnic armies in Shan state to stop the flow of weapons to the armed resistance in other parts of the country.

"[The military] assumes that the weapons flowing into Sagaing and Magway are coming from the Ta'ang region, so blocking the Ta'ang region is an important task for them," he said. "No matter how many political discussions they hold with the ... armed groups [in Shan], including the Ta'ang, they cannot help but interfere militarily. That's why they will continue to fight."

He said that the junta wants to remove the SSPP/SSA from Laihka and replace it with a rival group, the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army, or RCSS/SSA, with whom it has a good relationship, and is willing to fight a protracted war to do so.

While the SSPP/SSA is not a signatory to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement, signed in 2015 and aimed at ending the country's long-running armed conflicts, it is among the groups that meet frequently in the capital Naypyidaw with the junta's Peace Delegation.

Two other rebel groups signed the agreement in 2018, bringing the number to 10. The signatories want a national military that cannot participate in politics and the formation of a federal democratic union in Myanmar.

The peace process was killed off when the Myanmar military seized power from the elected civilian-led government in a February 2021 coup, sparking new waves of violence with ethnic armies joining forces with anti-junta resistance fighters and engaging in insurgency and heavy clashes across the country.

TNLA leaders said that the situation in Shan state "depends on the military," and that fighting is likely to continue as the junta's offensive intensifies.

Translated by Myo Min Aung. Edited by Joshua Lipes.

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 August 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.

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Uncertainty looms over junta's plans to hold elections in Myanmar

Voting can't take place amid civil war, analysts say.

By RFA Burmese 2023.08.17 -- With the junta's extension of a national state of emergency in Myanmar, it has become increasingly uncertain whether the regime will hold general elections as it previously pledged, political analysts and election observers said.

Nearly a year has passed since Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, chairman of the State Administration Council, the junta's governing body, planned to hold an election. The general led the February 2021 coup d'Atat that seized power from the democratically elected government on the grounds of election fraud.

Results showed that the National League for Democracy, or NLD, had won Myanmar's 2020 general election with more than 80% of the vote.

Min Aung Hlaing extended emergency rule in Myanmar for another six months on July 31, thereby delaying the date by which elections must be held according to the country's constitution.

Previously, the junta said it planned to hold elections by August.

The military leader has said that he would hold elections and hand over power to the winning party, but the state of emergency that allows him to rule the country has been extended repeatedly.

Fierce fighting

Analysts say there is little chance of holding elections wracked by fighting - in Sagaing, Magway, Bago and Tanintharyi regions as well as in Kayin, Kayah, Chin and Mon states.

Myint Htwe, a National League for Democracy lawmaker from Ye-U township in Sagaing region, told RFA that the junta is citing the country's instability due to the fighting as an excuse to not hold elections and to continue its rule.

Western governments and international rights groups say that any election held under the junta is unlikely to be free or fair.

Though the ruling military council considers holding elections as a political exit for the junta, it will not solve Myanmar's current situation of turmoil and fighting wracking the country, said San Aung, executive director of the New Myanmar Foundation, an election monitoring group.

"Since they have already announced that an election would be held, they will try to hold one as a political exit, but if they think it won't politically benefit them much, then they won't," he said.

"But the political solution for the current situation is not an election," added San Aung, a former minister of health and education. "It is through dialogue and political negotiations."

Census incomplete

Neither the junta nor the shadow National Unity Government that emerged after the coup have discussed holding political negotiations.

Because of nationwide armed resistance to the junta, officials have not been able to complete a census - a major step in preparation for an election a though the regime claims it completed a count of 90% of Myanmar's populations of roughly 54 million people, RFA reported in June.

In the meantime, Min Aung Hlaing mentioned two possible election scenarios at a July 31 meeting of the National Defense and Security Council.

The first is to hold elections nationwide, while the second is to hold elections only in areas the military controls and to exclude politically unstable regions and states.

The military commander-in-chief did not decide on one or the other, but rather concluded his speech by saying that security must be increased throughout the country.

At a military council meeting in Naypyidaw on Aug. 7, Min Aung Hlaing said the 2023 election could be delayed if peace and law and order are disturbed.

'Political exit'

Aung Moe Zaw, chairman of the Democratic Party for a New Society, which opposed the military coup by not re-registering under the junta's new Political Parties Registration Act, said the military council could try to continue to hold power instead of holding elections. The act applies to political parties that wish to contest in 2023 elections, and those that fail to register are automatically de-registered or excluded from participating.

"They will hold an election at some point to try to make themselves legitimate at least to be recognized by neighboring countries and to make a good impression internationally," said Aung Moe Zaw. "That is their political exit."

As a consequence of staging the military coup, the junta has not been allowed to attend ministerial-level meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, and is under sanctions from the European Union and the United States.

The Union Election Commission under the junta also dissolved the NLD in March after its leadership chose not to re-register under the new registration law.

Aye Maung, chairman of the Arakan Front Party, said the junta appears to be trying to stabilize the country to hold voting within the next six months, in part by shifting around cabinet leaders earlier this month.

"We cannot hold an election without creating a peaceful environment," he said, adding that the junta may extend the state of emergency in another six months if there is no stability at that time. "The election is [Min Aung Hlaing's] ultimate goal."

The junta leader said that he would set aside six months to prepare for the election after the initial yearlong state of emergency the military declared following the coup and the two previous six-month extensions.

As of July 27, the junta's Union Election Commission has allowed 30 political parties to re-registered under the new law and five new ones to register for the elections.

Translated by Myo Min Aung for RFA Burmese. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.

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 August 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.

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Myanmar Shadow Government Official Apologizes to Rohingya

By Ingyin Naing August 17, 2023

In an interview with VOA, the humanitarian minister in Myanmar's anti-junta shadow government has apologized for failing "to bring justice to the Rohingya in northern Rakhine State," where Myanmar's military launched a brutal crackdown in August 2017.

Dr. Win Myat Aye served as social welfare minister in the administration of Myanmar's since-ousted de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi at the time of the crackdown, which was seen as a massive overreaction to attacks by Rohingya insurgents on government security posts.

The soldiers are accused of widespread atrocities including mass killings, sexual violence, and the burning of villages. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled across the border into Bangladesh where they have spent years living in squalid refugee camps, still fearing to return.

"As the civilian government, we could not administer justice when this occurred," Win said, referring to the 2017 operation to eradicate insurgents from among Rakhine's Muslim-minority Rohingya people. "I feel sorrow when I consider all of this. We apologize for that. It is now evident why we could not administer justice then."

Win's apology marks a reversal from his public position in a 2017 BBC interview, when he defended the crackdown as a necessary response to terrorism and responded "yes" when asked whether it was the Rohingya themselves who burned their villages.

"In the villages where the terrorists can't enter, there is no burning," he said at that time. "When terrorists come in, it burns." (( https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-41343887 ))

In his interview last month with VOA, Win said his administration had been misled by the military leaders behind the operation. "In the past, the military restricted access to accurate information ... restricted my ability to communicate openly with Rohingya victims," he said.

Reason for apology

During a July visit to the United States, Win told members of a Burmese community in Maryland that the Myanmar military is conducting the same kind of tactics again today, this time during what it calls "clearance operations" in the northwestern Sagaing Region.

Now, as in 2017, he said, the military is labeling an entire people as enemies based on the actions of a few.

"The Myanmar military attributed attacks on approximately 30 security outposts in northern Rakhine State on August 25, 2017, to [the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army], laying the blame solely on ARSA for these events," Win said.

"However, this incident led to the displacement of an enormous number of people, around 700,000, and the subsequent burning of numerous villages. A similar pattern seems to be unfolding in Sagaing Division," he said. "Local villagers opposing the military coup are being targeted. The military has labeled them as [People's Defense Forces] supporters, mirroring how they accused the Rohingya of collaborating with ARSA.

"The junta has used this flawed logic to justify targeting civilians in Sagaing, by claiming they are all combatants," he said. "This is another example of how, from the military's perspective, the people within the country are seen as enemies."

Win's account

Soon after the 2017 military operations began in northern Rakhine state, Aung San Suu Kyi dispatched Win to the area, where he saw security forces engage in what they called an anti-ARSA operation.

But upon arriving by helicopter, Win was shocked by what he saw. "We couldn't land due to the raging flames rising from the burning fields everywhere we looked," he said.

Asked why a high-level civilian minister was unable to confront the military's actions a characterized by many as genocide a Win pointed to the country's 2008 constitution, in which the long-ruling military ceded power to a civilian-led government but reserved substantial powers for itself.

"This constitution granted considerable influence to entities such as the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Ministry of Border Affairs, significantly impacting Rakhine State, where these incidents occurred," he said.

"The primary movement on the ground was orchestrated by individuals from the General Administration Department of the Ministry of Home Affairs, many of whom are former military members," he said. "When the events transpired, they were under the direct command of the military and overseen by the security forces responsible for the region. Those who carried out these actions are the ones who are responsible for what happened."

Rohingya reaction

Some Rohingya leaders, including Tun Khin, president of the Burmese Rohingya Organization U.K., have asked Win to testify before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is investigating allegations of genocide in Rakhine.

In a Zoom interview with VOA, Tun said he views Win's comments as a positive step toward reconciliation.

"I welcome what Dr. Win Myat Aye said. This is a good sign for all of us as we move towards the Spring Revolution and a federal democratic system that includes all ethnic groups in the future," he said. "His apology shows a sign of accountability and responsibility in Myanmar."

Tun himself pursued legal action against Myanmar's military in the Argentinian courts in 2019, alleging crimes against humanity during the 2017 crackdown. His case describes in detail gang rapes, beheadings and the slaughter of Rohingya civilians committed by Myanmar's military, known as the Tatmadaw.

He said Win's National Unity Government (NUG), comprising members of the ousted civilian administration and other elements of the anti-junta resistance, "should work together with the Rohingya community to bring an end to the history of negative propaganda about the Rohingya."

Shwe Maung, a Rohingya lawmaker in the former government who now lives in the United States, told VOA that Win also formally apologized to the Rohingya community during a two-hour meeting in Houston, Texas.

"The minister said he went to Rakhine State around 96 times concerning the Rohingya issue," said Maung via Zoom. "During that period, the ministries of home affairs, defense, and border affairs, controlled by the military, held sway and suppressed information. They had to work with them and, therefore, they were not able to do as much as they should have done."

Maung quoted Win as saying, "I apologize to the Rohingya community."

Maung added that the minister described how the NUG is engaging on this issue with international bodies such as the IJC and the International Criminal Court, both based in The Hague.

"Especially since they are the individuals responsible for making the cases before international courts ... they have a lot of evidence," he said. "At this time, they have to fight the common enemy a the military junta a and they have urged everyone to cooperate."

Changing stance

In 2022, NUG officials issued a declaration to the ICC, accepting the court's jurisdiction with respect to Myanmar, although the country is not itself a member of the court.

The NUG also withdrew preliminary objections to the ICJ's jurisdiction on its genocide case. When the court started its hearing process in 2019, Aung San Suu Kyi traveled to The Hague to defend Myanmar against the genocide allegations.

The NUG recently appointed Rohingya activist and adviser Aung Kyaw Moe as its deputy human rights minister. Maung told VOA that while the community welcomed the appointment of a Rohingya leader as a deputy minister in the NUG interim government, laws must be passed to guarantee the rights of the Rohingya in Myanmar in the future.

"The NUG doesn't consider these issues resolved, and neither do the Rohingya," Maung emphasized. "This is precisely why we have asked the NUG to legislate Rohingya rights to prevent such injustices in the future."

This story originated in VOA's Burmese Service.

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PACE's General Rapporteur for political prisoners strongly condemns Alexei Navalny's recent sentencing

Council of Europe

Parliamentary Assembly

Strasbourg

17 August 2023

"I strongly condemn Alexei Navalny's sentencing on 4 August to further nineteen years in prison under a special regime for 'extremism'-related charges, during a closed hearing in a penal colony," today said Sunna AvarsdAttir (Iceland, SOC), PACE's General Rapporteur for political prisoners.

Mr Navalny was sentenced on six counts, including inciting and financing extremism, creating an illegal NGO, the rehabilitation of Nazi ideology, and inciting children to dangerous acts.

"I have previously called for the release of Mr Navalny on a number of occasions, in line with the position of PACE Resolution 2446 (2022), the European Court of Human Rights and the Committee of Ministers, and I will continue to speak up for his rights, alongside the rest of the international community. He is a political prisoner who faces years of unlawful imprisonment, for the purpose of political repression. Through this additional sentence, it becomes even more difficult for Mr Navalny to communicate with the outside world and to exert his influence," Ms AvarsdAttir emphasised.

"The already dire conditions of his detention have now been exacerbated further. I call on the Russian authorities to respect international law and the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and provide Mr Navalny with regular access to legal advice, visits from his family and others, appropriate medical assistance and all necessary safeguards.

The arbitrary and unlawful detention of political prisoners in Russia not only entails an unjustified loss of liberty and breaches of fundamental rights such as freedom of expression or freedom of assembly, it also involves a serious risk of inappropriate conditions of detention which may amount to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment," she added.

"This decision comes just a few days after Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison this April on charges linked to his criticism of the war of aggression against Ukraine, had his appeal rejected by a Russian court on 31 July.

I once again call upon the Russian authorities to release Mr Navalny and Mr Kara-Murza without delay," Ms AvarsdAttir concluded.

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Anne Applebaum: Putin 'Is Really Destroying Modern Russia'

By Vazha Tavberidze August 17, 2023

Anne Applebaum is a U.S. Pulitzer-Prize winning author who has written several books on Russia and the Soviet Union, including Red Famine: Stalin's War On Ukraine.

In a recent interview with RFE/RL's Georgian Service, Applebaum said Western resolve to aid Ukraine in its battle against invading Russian forces remains strong and said the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has "adopted a mindset that it will be a long war." Applebaum also predicted that Russian President Vladimir Putin will be remembered for "destroying modern Russia."

RFE/RL: How united does the West remain in the face of Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine and the Russian leader's refusal to blink first. Is the dreaded war fatigue creeping in?

Anne Applebaum: So, much to my surprise, I would not describe the situation right now as war fatigue. We are lucky in that all of the most important European countries and both North American countries who are part of NATO remain committed to winning the war. And that wasn't something anybody predicted 18 months ago. Within each country, there are opponents of the war, and sometimes they're very loud.

But if you look at Germany, France, Italy, the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, Britain, Poland, Romania, Spain, you look down the list and what you see are all of the leaders of those countries are still supporting the war, and you don't hear any major cracks. There are no major breaks. It's true that, as I said, you know, inside French politics, inside German politics, inside U.S. politics, there are opponents. And there is a danger that if any of them were to win an election, then the situation could change. But right now -- the next really important election is the U.S. one next year -- right now, it doesn't look like that's going to happen.

It's true that, in Poland, we have a very transactional government running the country, and one that's very worried that it's going to lose the next elections a and Polish elections are in October. And although the winner will still support aid to Ukraine, because all major political parties in Poland do, the ruling party is a nationalist party and it has some voters who are skeptical of Ukraine. There is quite a lot of propaganda around old Polish-Ukrainian conflicts. And there is some fatigue with Ukrainian refugees. I mean, some of that is being pumped up on social media, I suspect by the Russians but maybe by others inside Polish politics as well.

So, yes, there is some friction in the Polish-Ukrainian relationship. But I don't think it's changed the overall picture. I don't think it alters Polish support for Ukraine, which is still absolutely in Poland the majority point of view.

RFE/RL: Putin seems to believe that it will be a long war. And the Ukrainians seem very willing to fight for as long as it takes to free their country. But has the West also come to terms with what could be a long war and adopted a similar mindset?

Applebaum: You could see the Americans have adopted a mindset that it will be a long war because they've been very slow about providing advanced weapons to Ukraine, and they seem willing only to do it at each stage when they think the Ukrainians are ready, when they're persuaded that it will be useful. I mean, it always feels to people on the ground like it's a few months too late. If the Ukrainians had F-16s (U.S. fighter jets) now and not a year from now or six months from now, it would make a really big difference in this summer's counteroffensive. But I don't feel in the Biden administration any doubt that they're going to continue going. And, as I said, there is a threat that the U.S. election campaign could complicate this. There is a part of the Republican Party in the United States which is not in favor of the war and which may well campaign against the war. I don't know if this will be a major issue in the campaign, but it could be. But I think we're still six months to a year away from that, and that's really a long time in this campaign.

RFE/RL: If Ukraine's counteroffensive doesn't end up being a resounding success that Western politicians can tout to their voters, what do you see as some of the possible scenarios playing out?

Applebaum: I'm not going to predict what will happen on the ground in Ukraine because there's too much that isn't known. You know, the Ukrainians who I talked to feel confident that they are successfully destroying enormous quantities of Russian weaponry. And that they've broken through some of the first layers of defense in a few places. I think the mining of massive amounts of territory in Ukraine was more than they expected. And that means they need more demining equipment; they don't have enough. And what the West was training them to do -- the combined arms operations -- that had assumed that mines would be gone. You can't bring massive numbers of tanks over fields that are full of explosive devices. So, I don't think it's being fought the way they expected it to be fought, but they seem to have some confidence that they're making progress.

RFE/RL: Before the counteroffensive you wrote in your column in The Atlantic that the Ukrainian counteroffensive needed to convince the Russians that the war is not worth fighting. How far do you think the Russians are from that realization?

Applebaum: The rebellion led by [former Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny] Prigozhin was an interesting indication that some part of the Russian security apparatus already feels the war isn't worth fighting. So, if you remember what Prigozhin said -- right before he made his quixotic trip from Rostov then more than halfway to Moscow -- what he said was, this war is being fought on false pretenses. It's a war for corruption. Russian oligarchs wanted it because they're greedy, and they wanted to steal Ukrainian companies and make money off of it. And that's not a war, you know, it's not worth people dying for something like that. So, if he said it, that means that others surely think it.

So, there is clearly a part of, as I said, the elite, the security apparatus, whatever you want to call it, who already think the war was a waste of time and a distraction. The question is, when does that number become sufficient to bring the war to a halt? When does it become possible to put pressure on Putin?

Again, there's so much that we can't see that I'm reluctant to make a prediction. I mean, it's something that could happen tomorrow, or it could happen in three months, or it could happen in six months.

I'm pretty confident that it will happen because you know, of course, it is a huge burden on Ukraine to continue fighting the war and a huge burden on Ukraine's allies, but it's also a huge burden on Russia. Some huge proportion of Russian resources are now being spent on the military. I mean, it's almost like Soviet days. And I'm convinced that there is a part of the country that doesn't want that, doesn't care about it, doesn't need it and will want to bring it to an end.

RFE/RL: I think it's safe to say that you are not a fan of making predictions, but I'm going to nevertheless ask you to make one about the future of Prigozhin. How crazy would you say I am if I were to say I see him running in presidential elections?

Applebaum: Oh, I think Prigozhin thinks of himself as a future leader of Russia. There's no question. I also think that Prigozhin's career is not over. It turns out that the Wagner Group is crucial to Russian foreign policy, especially in Africa, but not only. There may also be financial reasons why Prigozhin has support inside Moscow, inside the Kremlin even.

Remember that part of his activities in Africa involve exploiting mines and other natural resources. There may be direct lines of funding going from Africa to Moscow that people don't want to see eliminated. It's clear that he has some kind of loyalty and some kind of support or he wouldn't still be alive. So, I don't think it's wrong to guess that he might continue to play a role in Russia's future.

RFE/RL: Let me ask you, what does peace in Ukraine look like now? And let's look at it from three vantage points: one from Kyiv, one from Moscow, and one from the West. What does peace look like for each of them?

Applebaum: My problem is that I can really only envision peace in one way: It has to reflect a political change in Russia. In other words, the Russians have to understand that the war was a mistake, understand that Ukraine is a separate country. It's not going to be part of Russia, not now and not ever. And then they have to withdraw from all or most of Ukrainian territory that they've occupied.

I mean, I'm not going to have an argument here about what the final border of Ukraine will look like. But, you know, the Ukrainian position is that Ukraine has only one set of borders, and those are the international borders agreed to in 1991. Therefore, the Russians will have to leave, and we'll have to perhaps find there has to be a way for them to make amends or make up for the damage they've caused.

Any other scenario, you know, any kind of cease-fire or temporary cease-fire or anything that leaves the situation as it is now, is not a recipe for permanent peace. It's a recipe for a future war, which is what happened after 2014.

In other words, there was a line drawn, there was a negotiation, but the Russians didn't really ever say, "Right, that's it. This is all the territory we want and we're going home."

If you had had a moment like that, if you'd had a real a moment of reflection and reckoning, then the war might have been over. So, until that happens, the war is not over.

RFE/RL: When Russians say we've had enough? And if they say we've had enough but we're keeping what we've taken?

Applebaum: No, they can't keep what they've taken so far, because what they've taken is disputed, including by the people who are living there. So, no, it will have to involve withdrawal from all or most of the territory, as I said, and an acknowledgement that Ukraine is an independent country with a right to exist and that it's not Russia.

RFE/RL: Let's talk a bit more in depth about the person who'd be vehemently opposed to everything that you just described. And let me ask you this question as not only to a journalist, but as a historian: the way things are going, what place do you think will Putin win in the history books? Its widely believed he covets one, but what will the chapter look like, both in Russian and Western editions?

Applebaum: Some of that depends on who wins the war, because history is written by the victors, as we know. But I don't think there's any question that Putin will be remembered as the man who really set out to destroy his own country. And apart from what he did to Ukraine, apart from what he did to Georgia, apart from what he did to Chechnya, apart from what he did to Syria, you know, this is somebody who has worsened the living standards, and freedom, and culture of Russia itself. He doesn't seem to care about the well-being or prosperity of ordinary Russians. They're just cannon fodder to him.

He's not interested in, you know, Russian achievements in infrastructure or art or in literature and in anything else. He has impoverished Russians. And he's also brought back a form of dictatorship that I think most Russians had thought they'd left behind. Remember the Putin regime for the first decade that Putin was president had elements of freedom in it. It wasn't a totalitarian state. There was no thought police, no thought control of the kind people had known from the Soviet era. He is now slowly bringing that back. So, this is a crushing not just of dissent but a crushing of all politics, all imagination, all culture, all activity, anything independent. What he's really doing is really destroying modern Russia. And I think that's what he'll be remembered for overall.

RFE/RL: So no place for him in history books as the great modern-day tsar?

Applebaum: I think so, no, not certainly in the ones that are written with any kind of perspective.

RFE/RL: Let's move on to Georgia, as recently the 15th anniversary of the 2008 war with Russia was marked. What do you think is the legacy of that war and how significant?

Applebaum: I think it's got different legacies in different places. But clearly, in the Western world, it was a kind of warning shot, it was the first indication that Putin was not the democrat he pretended to be. And I actually recently had spent some time looking up things that he said in the first few years when he was in power. Also, when he was made the deputy mayor of St. Petersburg, he talked a lot about democracy and freedom and rule of law. And he fooled a lot of people.

And I think the invasion of Georgia was a kind of wake-up call. That was the moment when people realized that he's not going to be an easy neighbor that so many hoped. We let him get away with mass murder in Chechnya, that was seen as -- wrongly probably -- but it was seen as some kind of internal affair, not the business of the outside world. But clearly the invasion of Georgia was an aggressive act towards a sovereign neighbor. And I think that was the moment when perceptions of Putin really began to change. This is when people began to suddenly see Putin as a real problem.

RFE/RL: Was that a wake-up call loud enough for the West to properly wake up, or did it continue to sleep?

Applebaum: It began to change attitudes; it began to change the way that people saw Russia. But the implication of your question is right, it wasn't sufficient. It wasn't really until 2014 that people understood the degree to which Western financial institutions, Western companies, and Western trade was enabling this kind of aggression. That people began to understand that there was going to have to be a security shift, even a military shift in Europe.

Notably, it was after 2014, that [former U.S. President Barack] Obama, who got a lot of things wrong about Russia a but Obama first put American troops in Central Europe; there had been none up till then. And 2014 was the moment when suddenly people began to think maybe, you know, the Central European members of NATO aren't as safe as we thought they were. So, 2008 was the beginning of the awareness. And I think 2014 was when it really began to change. And then obviously, 2022 is the moment when Russia was excluded from European civilization.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/applebaum-interview- russia-putin-history-tavberidze/32552736.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.

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Citing Kremlin's 'Contempt For Human Rights,' U.S. Sanctions Four Russians Linked To FSB In Navalny Poisoning

By RFE/RL August 17, 2023

The United States has imposed sanctions on four Russians who it says were involved in the 2020 poisoning of Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny.

The U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement on August 17 that the four men are linked to Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB).

"Today we remind Vladimir Putin and his regime that there are consequences not only for waging a brutal and unprovoked war against Ukraine, but also for violating the human rights of the Russian people," said Brian Nelson, undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at the Treasury Department.

"The assassination attempt against Aleksei Navalny in 2020 represents the Kremlin's contempt for human rights, and we will continue to use the authorities at our disposal to hold the Kremlin's willing would-be executioners to account."

The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said the four men designated for sanctions are Aleksei Alexandrov, Konstantin Kudryavtsev, Ivan Osipov, and Vladimir Panyayev, saying all were involved in the poisoning of Navalny.

They were designated under the Magnitsky Law, which sets out sanctions for human rights violators in Russia.

The U.S. State Department also imposed visa restrictions on the four men "for their involvement in a gross violation of human rights," spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

"Today's actions are a reminder that there are consequences for violating internationally recognized human rights," Miller said. "We condemn the latest injustice against Navalny and renew our call for his immediate release."

The sanctions come three days ahead of the three-year anniversary of the day that Navalny fell violently ill while on a flight from Siberia to Moscow. After receiving emergency care in Omsk on August 20, 2020, he was medically evacuated to Germany, where he was treated for what Western doctors said was poisoning by a Soviet-era nerve agent.

The operation against Navalny reportedly involved multiple individuals who were on the ground in both Tomsk and Omsk, as well as operatives coordinating the situation from afar, the Treasury Department's statement said.

Those involved collaborated to surveil Navalny ahead of the attack and then broke into his hotel room and applied "the chemical weapon to his personal belongings." They then attempted to erase any evidence of their operation, the Treasury said.

Navalny was detained in January 2021 after returning to Moscow from Germany. The Kremlin denied any involvement in what happened to him.

Navalny, who investigated corruption in the highest echelons of the Russian government, was convicted earlier this month on extremism charges and sentenced to 19 years. Navalny was already serving a combined 11 1/2-year prison sentence on previous convictions. The judge ruled that the sentences will be served concurrently, meaning his prison term would end in 2040.

Navalny and his supporters have called all charges levied against him politically motivated.

The sanctions imposed against the four Russians on August 17 freeze all property and interests in property that they have in U.S. jurisdiction. The OFAC's regulations also generally prohibit all dealings by U.S.-based persons that involve any property or interests in property of designated entities.

With reporting by Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/navalny-poisoning-us- sanctions-russians-fsb/32552684.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.

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Russia's Tu-95 Bombers to Double Power Capacity in 2023

Sputnik News

20230817

SAMARA (Sputnik) - The power capacity of Russia's Tu-95 strategic bombers will be doubled in 2023, Russian Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Oleg Bocharov said on Thursday.

"Thanks to the technical, technological equipment of the Kuznetsov enterprise [part of Russia's United Engine Corporation], we provide almost the entire production of the state defense order. The combat power of our strategic bombers under the Tu-95 program will be doubled this year thanks to Kuznetsov," Bocharov told reporters during his visit to the enterprise in the Russian city of Samara.

The minister also recalled the production of the new Tu-160M aircraft.

"Of course, engines are also produced here, NK-32 [turbofan engines] of the second series. We already see reliability in this mass production, and the long-term programs provided by the Russian government have all been implemented," Bocharov added.

The official noted that the Kuznetsov company has "turned Samara into an aviation cluster."

United Engine Corporation Head Vadim Badekha told reporters that the enterprise had been solving the most serious problems from the first day of its existence.

"Of course, both spacecraft and long-range aviation do not stand still. We must not lag behind our competitors, and I can say with confidence that we are not inferior to them in terms of Kuznetsov products. Today, Russia's most advanced strategic missile carriers are equipped with the most modern, the most powerful and efficient engines, and they are produced at the Kuznetsov enterprise," Badekha stressed.

The Tu-95MS strategic bombers are part of the long-range aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces and a component of the Russian nuclear triad. They usually carry weapons like Kh-55 long-range cruise missiles.

A Sputnik

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Rosoboronexport Inks Arms Export Contracts Worth About $600Mln at Army-2023 Forum

Sputnik News

20230817

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport has signed several contracts on exporting weapons amounting to about $600 million at the Army-2023 International Military-Technical Forum, CEO Alexander Mikheev said on Thursday.

Since August 14 Kubinka's Patriot Russian Army Exhibition Park has been hosting the Army-2023 Military-technical Forum where representative of more than 80 foreign companies sign contracts and establish ties with Russian counterparts. The seven-days long event has brough together about 70 foreign delegations interested in military cooperation with Russia.

"We signed several export contracts worth about $600 million, discussed the development of bilateral military-technical cooperation with partners, and saw great interest in industrial partnership projects during the Army-2023 forum," Mikheev told reporters.

About 1,500 leading Russian military enterprises have presented their products on the sidelines of the forum, once again rendering Western ambitions to destroy Russian economy futile.

A Sputnik

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Treasury Targets Individuals Involved in the Poisoning of Aleksey Navalny

U.S. Department of the Treasury

August 17, 2023

WASHINGTON -- Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is once again taking action to hold the Government of Russia accountable for its poisoning of Russian opposition politician Aleksey Navalny (Navalny) three years ago on August 20, 2020. Russian authorities imprisoned Navalny upon his return to Russia in January 2021, and on August 4, 2023, a Russian court sentenced Navalny to an additional 19 years in prison on unfounded charges of so-called "extremism." The State Department is also announcing related visa restrictions on the individuals designated today.

"Today we remind Vladimir Putin and his regime that there are consequences not only for waging a brutal and unprovoked war against Ukraine, but also for violating the human rights of the Russian people," said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson. "The assassination attempt against Aleksey Navalny in 2020 represents the Kremlin's contempt for human rights, and we will continue to use the authorities at our disposal to hold the Kremlin's willing would-be executioners to account."

AUGUST 2020 POISONING OF ALEKSEY NAVALNY

Navalny came to prominence as a leading Russian anti-corruption activist more than a decade ago. ExposAs published by Navalny and his organization, the Anti-Corruption Foundation, have revealed the ill-gained wealth of Russia's elite politicians and their families, including, among others, President Vladimir Putin, former Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, and Kremlin spokesperson Dmitriy Peskov. As a vocal anti-corruption politician, Navalny has continued his fight against Russia's kleptocracy despite the Kremlin's attempts to silence him.

On August 20, 2020, approximately 30 minutes into a flight back to Moscow after campaigning in Tomsk and Novosibirsk, Navalny fell gravely ill, prompting an emergency landing in Omsk where Navalny was treated by local hospital staff. The U.S. government assesses that Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) officers used the nerve agent Novichok to poison Navalny. Novichok nerve agents were created by the Soviet Union, and Russia is the only known country to have used these chemical weapons. Russia previously used a Novichok nerve agent in the March 2018 attempted assassination of former Russian military intelligence officer Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, United Kingdom.

The Russian operation against Navalny reportedly involved multiple individuals who were on the ground in both Tomsk and Omsk, as well as operatives coordinating the situation from afar. These individuals collaborated to surveil Navalny ahead of the attack, break into his hotel room and apply the chemical weapon to his personal belongings, and they attempted to erase any evidence of their operation following the attack.

Today, OFAC sanctioned Alexey Alexandrovich Alexandrov (Alexandrov), Konstantin Kudryavtsev (Kudryavtsev), Ivan Vladimirovich Osipov (Osipov), and Vladimir Alexandrovich Panyaev (Panyaev), all of whom were involved in the poisoning of Navalny. Alexandrov, Kudryavtsev, Osipov, and Panyaev were designated pursuant to the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012 for having acted as agents of or on behalf of a person in a matter relating to extrajudicial killings, torture, or other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights committed against individuals seeking to expose illegal activity carried out by officials of the Government of the Russian Federation.

The majority of individuals implicated in Navalny's poisoning have been reported to have worked within or collaborated with the FSB Criminalistics Institute, an FSB sub-unit originally founded under the Soviet-era Committee for State Security (the KGB) as a specialized laboratory. The FSB Criminalistics Institute was designated on August 20, 2021 pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13382 for acting for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the FSB.

Alexandrov is an FSB Criminalistics Institute operative who has been reported to be one of the main perpetrators of Navalny's poisoning. Alexandrov also reportedly surveilled Nikita Isaev, another Russian anti-corruption activist, prior to Isaev's death on a train in Russia in 2019.

Kudryavtsev is another FSB Criminalistics Institute operative reported to be part of the group involved in Navalny's poisoning. Kudryavtsev admitted to his involvement in the cleanup operation following Navalny's poisoning. Kudryavtsev also reportedly was involved in surveillance of Russian opposition politician and Putin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza.

Osipov is an FSB Criminalistics Institute operative who has been reported to be one of the main perpetrators of Navalny's poisoning.

Panyaev is an FSB operative who reportedly tailed Navalny on multiple occasions prior to the attack.

Alexandrov, Kudryavtsev, Osipov, and Panyaev were previously designated on August 20, 2021 pursuant to E.O. 13382 for acting for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the FSB.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE ACTIONS

Today's designations are complemented by the Department of State's announcement of visa restrictions against Alexandrov, Kudryavtsev, Osipov, and Panyaev under Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act for their involvement in a gross violation of human rights. Pursuant to 7031(c), Alexandrov, Kudryavtsev, Osipov, Panyaev, and their immediate family members are ineligible for entry into the United States.

SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS

As a result of today's action, all property and interests in property of the persons above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. All transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or blocked persons are prohibited unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or exempt. These prohibitions generally include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any blocked person and the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.

For identifying information on the individuals sanctioned today, click here.

###

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US Sanctions 4 Russian Agents in Alexey Navalny Poisoning

By VOA News August 17, 2023

The United States on Thursday imposed new sanctions on four Russian security agents it accused of being involved in the 2020 poisoning of imprisoned opposition leader Alexey Navalny.

The Treasury Department said the four Russians are linked to Moscow's Federal Security Service. Treasury officials blocked any U.S. assets they may hold and prohibited them from conducting U.S. financial transactions, while the State Department ended the possibility of visa rights to enter the U.S.

In a statement, Treasury anti-terrorism official Brian Nelson said, "Today we remind Vladimir Putin and his regime that there are consequences not only for waging a brutal and unprovoked war against Ukraine, but also for violating the human rights of the Russian people.

"The assassination attempt against Alexey Navalny in 2020 represents the Kremlin's contempt for human rights, and we will continue to use the authorities at our disposal to hold the Kremlin's willing would-be executioners to account," Nelson said.

Navalny, a longtime Putin critic, was detained in January 2021 after returning to Moscow from Germany where Western doctors had treated him for what they said was poisoning by a Soviet-era nerve agent.

The Kremlin at one point accused Navalny of working with the CIA to undermine Russia. Moscow has denied any involvement in what happened to him and denies persecuting Navalny.

Navalny, 47, has become a target of Putin's crackdown on dissent. Navalny had been serving a nine-year sentence on fraud and embezzlement charges but was recently sentenced to serve another 19 years on extremism-related charges.

The Russian agents were identified as Alexey Alexandrovich Alexandrov, Konstantin Kudryavtsev, Ivan Vladimirovich Osipov and Vladimir Alexandrovich Panyaev.

Some material in this report came from Reuters.

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Treasury Sanctions Two Syria-Based Militias Responsible for Serious Human Rights Abuses in Northern Syria

U.S. Department of the Treasury

August 17, 2023

WASHINGTON -- Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating two Syria-based armed militias and three members of the groups' leadership structures in connection with serious human rights abuses against those residing in the Afrin region of northern Syria. An auto sales company owned by the leader of one of the armed groups is also being designated.

The Afrin region of Syria is largely controlled by a patchwork of armed groups, many of which use violence to control the movement of goods and people in their respective territories. These armed groups have exacerbated the suffering caused by years of civil war in northern Syria and hindered the region's recovery by engaging in serious human rights abuses against vulnerable populations.

"Today's action demonstrates our continued dedication to promoting accountability for perpetrators of human rights abuses, including in Syria," said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson. "The United States is committed to supporting the Syrian people's ability to live without fear of exploitation from armed groups and without fear of violent repression."

This action is being taken pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13894, which authorizes sanctions on persons whose actions or policies further threaten the peace, security, stability,

or territorial integrity of Syria, or who, among other things, commit serious human rights abuses.

Armed Syrian Militias

The Suleiman Shah Brigade is a prominent element of the armed opposition to the Syrian government and a component of the Syrian National Army, a coalition of Syrian armed opposition groups. The Suleiman Shah Brigade operates in the Afrin region of northern Syria, where it exerts significant control over the civilian population. The brigade subjects the populace of this area to abductions and extortion. The brigade has targeted Afrin's Kurdish residents, many of whom are subjected to harassment, abduction, and other abuses until they are forced to abandon their homes or pay large ransoms for return of their property or family members.

The Hamza Division, anotherarmed opposition group operating in northern Syria, has been involved in abductions, theft of property, and torture. The division also operates detention facilities in which it houses those it has abducted for extended periods of time. During their imprisonment, victims are held for ransom, often suffering sexual abuse at the hands of Hamza Division fighters.

The Suleiman Shah Brigade and the Hamza Division are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13894 for being responsible for or complicit in, or for having directly or indirectly engaged in, the commission of serious human rights abuses against the Syrian people.

Militia Leaders

Mohammad Hussein al-Jasim (Abu Amsha) is the leader of the Suleiman Shah Brigade. Under Abu Amsha's leadership, members of the brigade have been directed to forcibly displace Kurdish residents and seize their property, providing vacated homes for Syrians from outside the region who are often related to fighters in the brigade. Abu Amsha also ordered the brigade to kidnap local residents, demanding ransom in return for their release and confiscating their property as part of an organized effort to maximize the brigade's revenue, likely generating tens of millions of dollars a year. Abu Amsha allegedly raped the wife of a member of the brigade and threatened her and her family with harm if she did not remain silent.

Al-Safir Oto is a car dealership owned by Abu Amsha that provides an outlet for Abu Amsha to invest his income. Al-Safir Oto is headquartered in Istanbul and operates multiple locations in southern TArkiye that are managed by commanders of the Suleiman Shah Brigade. Abu Amsha allegedly owns Al-Safir Oto in partnership with the leader of the Syrian armed group Ahrar Alal-Sharqiya, Ahmad Ihsan Fayyad al-Hayes, who was previously designated pursuant to E.O. 13894 for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Ahrar al-Sharqiya.

Mohammad Hussein al-Jasim is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13894 for being responsible for or complicit in, or for having directly or indirectly engaged in, the commission of serious human rights abuses in relation to Syria. Al-Safir Oto is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13894 for being owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by Mohammad Hussein al-Jasim.

Walid Hussein al-Jasim is a younger brother of Abu Amsha who also holds a leadership role in the Suleiman Shah Brigade, including serving as the head of the brigade when Abu Amsha left Syria to fight in Libya. On multiple occasions, the Syrian Islamic Council leveled charges against Walid related to sexual assault against women. As part of the brigade, Walid Hussein al-Jasim coordinated abductions, muggings, and ransoms. In addition, Walid reportedly killed a prisoner who was unable to pay ransom in 2020 following a month of abuse.

Walid Hussein al-Jasim is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13894 for acting or purporting to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the Suleiman Shah Brigade.

Sayf Boulad Abu Bakr is the leader of the Hamza Division and its public face, appearing in numerous propaganda videos produced by the Hamza Division. While Abu Bakr has been commander, the Hamza Division has been accused of brutal repression of the local population, including kidnapping Kurdish women and severely abusing prisoners, at times leading to their death.

Sayf Boulad Abu Bakr is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13894 for acting or purporting to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the Hamza Division.

SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS

As a result of today's action, all property and interests in property of these persons and entities that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. OFAC regulations generally prohibit all dealings by U.S. persons or within the United States (including transactions transiting the United States) that involve any property or interests in property of blocked or designated persons.

The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from OFAC's ability to designate and add persons to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List), but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law. The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behavior. For information concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN List, please refer to OFAC's Frequently Asked Question 897.

Click here for identifying information on the individuals designated today.

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Coast Guard denies Taiping Island personnel have to use Chinese roaming service

ROC Central News Agency

08/17/2023 09:12 PM

Taipei, Aug. 17 (CNA) The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) has denied accusations that its personnel on Taiping Island in the South China Sea are unable to use Taiwanese cellular networks, and have to rely on roaming services from providers based in China.

At a press conference Thursday, the Taiwan Statebuilding Party played an anonymous voice recording from a person claiming to have been stationed on the island, which is controlled by Taiwan but also claimed by Vietnam, China and the Philippines.

In the recording, the person said that even before being sent to the island, he had been unable to reliably use Line to keep in contact with a friend there.

After being deployed there himself, he found that this was because the island has a weak cell phone signal and "extremely slow" internet service, he said.

As a result, the man said he signed up for a Chunghwa Telecom roaming plan covering China, Hong Kong and Macau, which solved the problem but nevertheless felt "strange" to him as a member of the armed forces.

Yang Pei-hua (Sa), head of the party's Kaohsiung branch, claimed that "almost all" Coast Guard personnel on the island use Chinese cellular networks, a situation she said is not only "absurd" but also a threat to national security.

In response to the allegations, the Coast Guard said in a statement that Pratas Island and Taiping Island have had 4G service since June 26, 2017.

"All personnel stationed on the islands can use Chunghwa Telecom base stations to call or send messages to their relatives on Taiwan's main island," the CGA said, adding that "there are no national security concerns."

The CGA said, however, that it will "continue to look at ways" to improve connectivity on the islands, together with the Ministry of Digital Affairs, the National Communications Commission and Chunghwa Telecom.

Chunghwa Telecom, meanwhile, said its 3G and 4G services on the two islands are relayed back to Taiwan via inter-satellite links, which have a limited frequency.

The company said it is planning to expand the existing frequency, including through the use of medium and low earth orbit satellites, to continue improving connectivity on Taiwan's outlying islands.

Taiping Island, also known as Itu Aba, is the largest of the naturally occurring Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands), and lies 1,600 kilometers southwest of Kaohsiung, which administers it as part of the special municipality's Cijin District.

(By Lin Ching-yin, Liu Chien-pang and Matthew Mazzetta)

Enditem/AW



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Poll shows 38% Americans back direct military intervention over Taiwan

ROC Central News Agency

08/17/2023 01:49 PM

Taipei, Aug. 17 (CNA) Only 38 percent of the U.S. public support the deployment of American troops to defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Thursday.

Reuters said the nationwide online poll, which was conducted online on Aug.14-15, showed that in the event of a Chinese military attack on Taiwan, slightly over 38 percent of respondents backed the deployment of U.S. troops, versus 42 percent who opposed direct U.S. intervention.

The result exposes "the political constraints facing any president seeking U.S. military involvement in a conflict involving China," Reuters said.

Meanwhile, half of respondents said that the U.S. should provide Taiwan with military equipment to stave off a potential Chinese military attack.

In addition, the Reuters poll showed 75 percent of respondents held a negative view of China, while 84 percent viewed Chinese President Xi Jinping (cea) "at least slightly unfavorably."

Regarding China's influence on the U.S. presidential election, some 66 percent of respondents said they favored a candidate who "supports additional tariffs on Chinese imports," with another 66 percent agreeing that Washington should make additional preparations to counter the military threat from Beijing.

(By He Hong-ju and Chao Yen-hsiang)

Enditem/ASG



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VP Lai lands in San Francisco on return leg of Paraguay trip

ROC Central News Agency

08/17/2023 11:30 AM

San Francisco, Aug. 16 (CNA) Vice President Lai Ching-te () touched down in San Francisco Wednesday afternoon local time, where he was welcomed by American Institute in Taiwan Chair Laura Rosenberger, during a brief stopover.

Lai, the Democratic Progressive Party's 2024 presidential candidate, was welcomed by Rosenberger and Taiwan's representative to Washington Hsiao Bi-khim () upon his arrival at San Francisco International Airport.

Lai posted a photo of himself with Rosenberger and Hsiao on social media shortly after being welcomed by dozens of Taiwanese expatriates outside the Hyatt Regency hotel near the airport.

The vice president captioned the photo by noting that he was looking forward to meeting with Taiwanese expatriates later the same day.

The vice president appeared undisturbed by the more than a hundred protesters advocating for Taiwan's unification with China and chanting such slogans as "Oppose Taiwan independence" from the street across the hotel.

Some of the protesters, who local law enforcement had penned in a designated area, had attempted to break the cordon several times but were stopped by the police.

The protest staged by the pro-China demonstrators did not dampen the enthusiasm of Taiwanese expatriates, either.

Wang Yi-shun, (), a member of the Taiwanese American Federation of Northern California, brushed off the protest and told CNA that he had joined the Taiwanese gathering to express support for Lai.

According to a notice issued by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in San Francisco, Lai will attend a dinner with an estimated 700 Taiwanese expatriates based in California at the Marriott Waterfront later the same day.

His less-than-10-hour transit in San Francisco is the last stop of his seven-day trip to the United States and Paraguay.

Lai will depart from the city at 1 a.m. on Thursday and is expected to arrive in Taiwan in the early hours of Friday (Taipei time).

(By Chang Hsin-yu, Yeh Su-ping and Teng Pei-ju)

Enditem/ASG

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DPP collusion with external forces will push Taiwan into abyss of disaster, mainland official says at flagship cross-Straits seminar

Global Times

By Wang Qi in Chengdu Published: Aug 17, 2023 09:29 PM

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities' collusion with external forces will only push Taiwan into the abyss of disaster, said a Chinese mainland Taiwan affairs official at the opening of a major cross-Straits academic seminar in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province on Thursday, alluding to the deputy leader of Taiwan island Lai Ching-te's provocative "transit" through the US.

Hosted by Cross-Straits Relations Research Center affiliated with the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council and with a theme of "cross-Straits relations and national rejuvenation," the two-day seminar has attracted more than 130 scholars and think tank experts from both sides of the Taiwan Straits. The 2023 seminar marks the biggest face-to-face gathering for scholars from both sides of the Taiwan Straits after the three-year COVID-19 pandemic.

Responding to Lai's "stopover" in the US, Pan Xianzhang, vice director of both the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said during the opening that the interests of Taiwan compatriots are damaged by each and every "stopover" in the US made by Taiwan secessionists.

The attempts by Taiwan secessionists to seek "independence" and create provocation in collusion with external forces in the name of making "stopovers" fully reveals that they are troublemakers undermining the peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits, Pan said.

Noting that at present, cross-Straits relations are faced with major choices - peace or war, prosperity or recession - Pan urged Taiwan compatriots to stand on the right side of history, uphold the 1992 Consensus, firmly oppose Taiwan secessionists and interference by external forces, and join hands with compatriots in the Chinese mainland to maintain peaceful development of cross-Straits relations and advance integrated development across the Straits.

Experts and scholars attending the seminar said that the DPP authorities' collusion with external forces to seek "Taiwan independence" and create provocation is "pushing Taiwan to the brink of war" and has seriously undermined the fundamental interests of the Chinese nation. With the 2024 Taiwan regional election looming, the two sides of Straits are standing at a crossroads.

Xie Yu, a Taiwan affairs expert at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said 2023 is the first year of the resumption of cross-Straits exchanges after the COVID-19 pandemic, and the demand for exchanges, cooperation and integration accumulated by people on both sides of Straits need to be released. However, collusion between Taiwan secessionists and external forces has strained cross-Straits ties.

"Taiwan island should not become a powder keg in Asia. It should not become an ATM for US arms dealers. It should not become a runway for Western politicians," Xie said. "The mainland's moves against secessionists and external interference are actually meant to safeguard the prospects for peace across the Taiwan Straits and the well-being of the people on both sides."

Li Peng, head of the Graduate Institute for Taiwan Studies of Xiamen University, said that the mainland has always emphasized that peaceful reunification is the first choice, and the mainland strives for the prospect of peaceful reunification with the greatest sincerity and efforts.

However, the strategic competition between the US and China has intensified, the collusion between secessionists and US has deepened, and cross-Straits exchanges have been hindered. If the DPP authorities and the US ignore the mainland's strategic patience and determination and continue to challenge its red line, the situation may go in a direction that no one is willing to go, Li said.

Liu Guoshen, head of the Collaborative Innovation Center for Peaceful Development of Cross-Straits Relation, told the Global Times on Thursday that the rapid development of the Chinese mainland has brought about a high degree of maladjustment in the US and Taiwan island, which then led to the appearance of "stress syndrome," and an "overly defensive mentality."

Over the past few years, every time the US played the Taiwan card, it gave the Chinese mainland an opportunity to leverage its power through countermeasures. The mainland is very clear where the line is, so if the US wants to play the Taiwan card constantly, the "Taiwan card" may be completely confiscated in the end, Liu said.

The Taiwan question needs to be resolved in line with the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, the ultimate resolution lies in the development and strength of the Chinese mainland, Liu noted.

There is absolutely no possibility of Taiwan's independence. For Taiwan island, its only way out is to find its own value and positioning during the process of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, the expert said.

Taiwan independence is a dead end facing the choice between war and peace. The two sides need to deepen integration and development, which can achieve the maximum well-being of Taiwan compatriots and protect their political, economic and security interests, said Yang Yizhou, a vice chairman of the All-China Association of Taiwan Compatriots.

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Lai's relying on US for 'Taiwan independence' cold-shouldered; Mainland has enough options to counter secessionist moves: analyst

Global Times

By Yang Sheng in Beijing and Wang Qi in Chengdu Published: Aug 17, 2023 11:41 PM

The separatist deputy regional leader of Taiwan island Lai Ching-te has been snubbed by the US, as he made a "stopover" in San Francisco on Thursday, his second during this trip, as his act of soliciting support from the US for "Taiwan independence" saw no participation of senior US political figures, with experts saying that the Chinese mainland has enough strength and options to take countermeasures against Lai's separatist acts, and these could be seen soon after Lai returns to Taiwan.

Lai, also a candidate of the separatist Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for the 2024 Taiwan regional leader's election, stopped briefly in San Francisco on his way back to Taipei and had a banquet with his supporters and some local guests in the US city during his short stay, during which he once again propagated his political view by crowing about "peace" and "democracy" to cover up his dangerous and unrealistic separatist stance.

The event was attended by Laura Rosenberger, chair of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), a US government-run institute that handles unofficial relations with the island. She was the most senior representative at the banquet.

This is truly embarrassing for Lai, said experts, as even those former senior officials who currently have no official title but previously showed high-profile encouragement to the separatist DPP authorities while in office, such as Nancy Pelosi and Mike Pompeo, did not show up to support Lai. This just proves that Lai was totally snubbed during his two "stopovers" in New York and San Francisco, analysts noted.

"The Biden administration is trying to focus on elections next year, and wants to stabilize China-US relations, so the US is temporarily restraining the separatist Lai at this moment," but cross-Straits tensions are caused by the major power competition launched by the US against China, so the future of the Taiwan Straits situation is not very optimistic, said Ting Shou-chung, a former Taiwan politician and chair of Bridge Across the Strait Foundation.

Ting, also a member of the Kuomintang, a major opposition party in the island, told the Global Times at a forum of cross-Straits studies held in Chengdu, Sichuan Province on Thursday that "we don't want Taiwan to be used by the US to serve its major power competition against China. If Lai gets elected and pushes his separatist ideas and triggers the danger of war, the US will turn the island into a powder keg. This is not what the people of Taiwan want to see."

Unwelcome troublemaker

Apart from receiving the cold shoulder from the US, Lai was also met with protests from locals who support the one-China principle and oppose US' interference in the Taiwan question, and also oppose Taiwan separatists who bring more problems to China-US tensions.

According to a report by World Journal, a major Chinese-language newspaper in the US, about 100 protesters made up of overseas Chinese and local Americans gathered outside the hotel where Lai held his event. They held banners carrying slogans such as "There is only one China in the world", "Oppose Taiwan independence!" and "Taiwan separatism is a dead end."

Some protesters who immigrated to the US decades ago told the media that they have always believed that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, and many overseas Chinese who came from Taiwan also support the one-China principle. They criticized Lai's activity in the US, saying it will further damage ties between the mainland and Taiwan.

Liu Baohai, one of the protesters, told the World Journal, "I hope China can be reunified peacefully" and said separatists like Lai will bring the danger of war to people on the island of Taiwan.

Richard Becker, a member of A.N.S.W.E.R (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism) Coalition, also joined to protest, and held a banner with the slogans "US hands off China" and "Stop China bashing." He told the media that they are concerned about a potential war between China and the US, and said that unfortunately, the US is using the Taiwan question against China.

He said the US act of arming Taiwan and helping Taiwan authorities to train its military forces violated the China-US Three CommuniquAs and offended China's sovereignty, according to the World Journal.

The Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco said in a statement released on Wednesday that Lai is using his "transit" as a pretext for activities in the US that are aimed at building momentum for his campaign for the Taiwan regional leader's election and seeking US support for "Taiwan independence."

"Driven by selfish purposes, he has gone so far as to betray the interests of the Chinese nation and the general public, and undermine peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits. As such, he is indeed a troublemaker," read the statement.

Mainland's countermeasures

To deter and counter Lai's separatist move in the US, the Chinese mainland will surely take actions, and "the mainland has plenty of measures and enough strength to effectively deter Taiwan separatists and the US' forces who stand behind them," said Zheng Jian, director of the National Taiwan Studies Association and chair professor at the Taiwan Research Institute of Xiamen University.

"We can see the countermoves soon, and it might happen in the next few days," Zheng told the Global Times at the forum in Chengdu on Thursday.

China's Ministry of Commerce on Monday announced that tariffs will be levied on polycarbonate (PC) imports from the Taiwan region starting from Tuesday as an anti-dumping measure, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

PC imports from Taiwan have engaged in dumping activities, causing concrete damage to the mainland's PC industry, the commerce ministry said in a statement, citing a preliminary investigation. PC can be used in a number of fields such as electronic appliances, automobiles, optics, packaging and medical devices.

On Thursday, China's Ministry of Commerce said, "A preliminary investigation shows that Taiwan region's restrictions on products from the Chinese mainland are suspected of violating the World Trade Organization rules."

The Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army on Thursday released a video about combat training titled "Inspecting the Straits," which included scenes of a massive amphibious landing operation. Experts on the Taiwan question told the Global Times that the purpose of releasing this video at this sensitive time is very clear - to show that the theater command has paid a great deal of attention to the relevant situation on the Taiwan question, and is a warning to Taiwan separatist forces that have acted frequently in recent days.

To those Taiwan separatists and foreign interference forces, the Chinese mainland has prepared everything that "they are afraid of," and "we will use these measures when the timing is appropriate, as we have enough capabilities in the fields of politics, economy as well as military," Zheng said.

Some extreme separatists like Lai understand how dangerous it could be if they continue heading toward the dead end of pursuing "Taiwan independence" and keep resisting China's reunification process, but they insist on making their dangerous moves to selfishly serve their own political interests, and this makes them not only "troublemakers" but also "disaster-makers," Zheng noted.

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Taiwan's Vice President Makes San Francisco Stop

By VOA News August 17, 2023

Taiwanese Vice President William Lai said Wednesday that U.S.-Taiwan relations are "unprecedentedly good" as he stopped in San Francisco on the final leg of a trip condemned by China.

Lai told supporters at an event that he wants to make Taiwan into Asia's Silicon Valley as he touted Taiwan's role in the global technology supply chain.

Laura Rosenberger, chair of the American Institute in Taiwan, a U.S. government-run nonprofit that handles unofficial relations, highlighted the Biden administration's support for boosting Taiwan's engagement with like-minded allies.

"Taiwan is a crucial partner in U.S. efforts to maintain global peace and stability, including in the Taiwan Strait," Rosenberger said.

Lai's trip included a stopover in New York on his way to Paraguay before going to San Francisco on his return trip to Taiwan.

China, which claims Taiwan as its territory, objected to Lai's U.S. stops, calling him a "troublemaker" and saying China would take "resolute and forceful measures to defend its national sovereignty and territorial integrity."

In San Francisco, supporters and protesters gathered outside of Lai's hotel.

"I learned from [the] newspaper that some Chinese groups would come to protest, so I and other young Taiwanese come to protect our fellow compatriots," Cooper Wang, a Taiwanese man working in the United States told VOA.

Among those protesting Lai's stopover, a Chinese woman who only gave her last name, Ms. Liu, told VOA: "I come here to convey that Taiwan is part of China. For me, any idea of Taiwan independence is not advisable."

VOA Mandarin service reporters Yi-hua Lee, Ning Lu and Mo Yu in San Francisco contributed to this story. Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.

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PM call with Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia: 17 August 2023

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke to the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, His Highness Mohammed bin Salman, earlier today.

17 August 2023

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke to the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, His Highness Mohammed bin Salman, earlier today.

He welcomed the opportunity to speak to the Crown Prince and looked forward to personally deepening the long-standing ties between the UK and Saudi Arabia, as the Kingdom continues to go through a period of profound social and economic transformation under Vision 2030.

The leaders discussed their commitment to further develop our trade and investment relationship, including by collaborating in new cutting-edge industries, and to strengthen our close cooperation on defence and security. The Prime Minister reiterated the UK's long-standing commitment to support Saudi Arabia's security and regional stability.

He also highlighted Saudi Arabia's constructive and positive leadership on Ukraine following the recent talks in Jeddah, and the leaders agreed on the importance of allies working together to end the bloodshed in Ukraine and support a just and lasting peace. The Prime Minister welcomed progress on the conflict in Yemen, where the UK will continue to back efforts to extend the ceasefire and alleviate the humanitarian crisis.

The Prime Minister and Crown Prince said they would continue working closely together to progress UK-Saudi cooperation and looked forward to meeting in person at the earliest opportunity.

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War in Ukraine - Military support for Ukraine

Germany - Federal Government

Germany provides support for Ukraine by supplying equipment and weapons, these come from supplies of the Federal Arms Forces and from deliveries from industry financed from the Federal Government's funds for security capacity building. An overview.

Thursday, 17 August 2023

This list provides an overview of military assistance provided by the Federal Republic of Germany to Ukraine. It includes deliveries from the Federal Armed Forces, from industry and assistance measures together with partners, which have, inter alia, been financed from Federal Government funds for security capacity building.

Funding for the security capacity building initiative amounts to 5.4 billion Euros for 2023 (after 2 billion Euros for 2022) and additional authorisations to enter commitments in the following years amounting to 10.5 billion Euros. These funds are to be used primarily for military assistance to Ukraine. At the same time, they will be used for re-filling Federal Armed Forces stocks for items delivered to Ukraine as well as for Germany's contributions to the European Peace Facility (EPF), from which costs incurred from providing military assistance to Ukraine can be re-imbursed to EU member states.

Delivered military support to Ukraine:

(Changes compared to the previous update in bold)

Armoured fighting vehicles

28 tracked all-terrain vehicles Bandvagn 206 (BV206)*

10 main battle tanks LEOPARD 1 A5*

138 MG3 for LEOPARD 2, MARDER and DACHS

ammunition for LEOPARD 1*

18 LEOPARD 2 A 6 main battle tanks with ammunition (German share in joint project with further LEOPARD 2 operators)

40 infantry fighting vehicles MARDER with ammunition (from Bundeswehr and industry stocks*)

50 MRAP vehicles DINGO

54 M113 armoured personnel carriers each with 2 MG* (systems of Denmark, upgrades financed by Germany)

Spare parts for LEOPARD 2 and MARDER

Air defence

2 IRIS-T SLS launchers*

2 PATRIOT launchers

46 self-propelled anti-aircraft guns GEPARD incl. 21,042 rounds of ammunition*

2 air surveillance radar TRML-4D*

2 air defence system IRIS-T SLM*

IRIS-T SLM missiles*

air defence system PATRIOT with missiles

55,000 rounds ammunitions for self-propelled anti-aircraft guns GEPARD

4,000 rounds practice ammunitions for self-propelled anti-aircraft guns

500 Man Portable Air Defense Systems STINGER

2,700 Man Portable Air Defense Systems STRELA

Artillery

17,000 rounds 155mm smoke ammunition (before: 12,461)

2 wheeled self-propelled howitzer Zuzana 2* (project jointly financed with Denmark and Norway)

15,510 rounds 155mm ammunition

155mm precision guided ammunition* (SMArt, VULCANO)

5 multiple rocket launchers MARS II with ammunition (German share in joint project with USA and Great Britain)

ammunition for multiple rocket launchers MARS II

14 self-propelled howitzers Panzerhaubitze 2000 (German share in joint project with the Netherlands)

20 rocket launchers 70mm on pick-up trucks with rockets*

counter battery radar system COBRA*

10 laser target designators and portable fire control modules for VULCANO artillery ammunition*

Military Engineering Capabilities

material for explosive ordnance disposal(from Bundeswehr and industry stocks*)

6 mine clearing tanks WISENT 1*

11 mine ploughs for T-72*

18 heavy and medium bridge systems and 12 trailers

5 bridges for bridge-laying tank BEAVER

10 bridge-laying tanks BEAVER*

15 armoured recovery vehicles Bergepanzer 2*

2 armoured recovery vehicles Bergepanzer 3

5armoured engineer vehicles DACHS*

3 mobile, remote controlled and protected mine clearing systems*

12 mobile and protected mine clearing systems Ahlmann*

Protective and Special Equipment

28 ground surveillance radars GO12* (before: 18)

182 border protection vehicles*

88 reconnaissance drones VECTOR*

1,288 binoculars

20,600 safety glasses (from Bundeswehr and industry stocks*)

5 mobile reconnaissance systems SurveilSPIRE*

47 mobile antenna mast systems*

20 reconnaissance drones RQ-35 HEIDRUN*

10 radio jammers*

57 anti-drone sensors and jammers*

2 spare part packages for VECTOR drones

93 drone detection systems*

40 frequency range extensions for anti-drone devices*

1 communications electronic scanner/jammer systems*

32 reconnaissance drones*

40 laser target designators*

10 unmanned surface vessels*

10 anti-drone guns*

28,000 combat helmets

1 radio frequency system

3,000 field telephones with 5.000 cable reels and carrying straps

353 night vision goggles*

12 electronic anti-drone devices*

165 field glasses*

38 laser range finders*

6 mobile decontamination vehicles HEP 70 including decontamination material

10 HMMWV (8x ground radar capability, 2x jamming/anti drone capability)*

1 high frequency unit with equipment*

Logistics

42 truck tractor trains 8x8 HX81 and 37 semi-trailers* (before: 38/33)

34 load-handling trucks 15t* (before: 26)

6 load-handling trucks 8x6 with 21 roll of containers*

14 tracked and remote controlled infantry vehicles THeMIS*

140 trucks Zetros*

288 vehicles (trucks, minibuses, all-terrain vehicles)

179 Pick-ups*

12 tank transporter tractor M1070 Oshkosh*

35 load-handling trucks 8x8

30 protected vehicles*

Combat Readiness and Survivability

100 machine guns MG5*

300,000 first aid kits*

44 ambulances*

8 dental sterilizers

107,712rounds ammunition 40mm*

11,000 group module rations

103,000 tourniquets

500 pistols SFP9*

2 hangar tents*

8 lift trucks*

295 generators

10 winter camouflage nets

168 mobile heating systems*

36,400 wool blankets

14,000 sleeping bags

Mi-24 spare parts*

spare parts for heavy machine gun M2

200 tents

116,000 winter jackets

80,000 winter trousers

240,000 winter hats

405,000 pre-packaged military Meals Ready

67 fridges for medical material*

3,000 anti-tank weapons Panzerfaust 3 with 900 firing devices

14,900 anti-tank mines (9,300* from industry stocks)

22 million rounds of ammunition for fire arms

50 Bunkerfaust with 15 firing devices

100 machine gun MG3 with 500 spare barrels and breechblocks

100,000 hand grenades

5,300 explosive charges

100,000 m detonating cord and 100.000 detonators

350,000 detonators

100 auto-injector devices

15 palettes military clothing

1,200 hospital beds

18 palettes medical material, 60 surgical lights

protective clothing, surgical masks

1 field hospital (project jointly financed with Estonia)*

medical material (inter alia back packs, compression bandages)

Diesel and gasoline*

10 tons AdBlue*

500 medical gauzes*

MiG-29 spare parts*

7,944 man-portable anti-tank weapons RGW 90 Matador*

Military support to Ukraine in planning/in execution

(due to security concerns, the Federal Government abstains from providing details on transportation modalities and dates until after handover)

Armoured fighting vehicles

60 infantry fighting vehicles MARDER*

36 tracked all-terrain vehicles Bandvagn 206 (BV206)*

66 Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC)*

100 LEOPARD 1 A5 main battle tanks* (project jointly financed with Denmark)

ammunition for LEOPARD 1*

ammunition for MARDER*

Air defence

PATRIOT missiles

6 air defence system IRIS-T SLM*

IRIS-T SLM missiles*

22 launchers IRIS-T SLS*

IRIS-T SLS missiles (from Bundeswehr and industry stocks*)

6 air surveillance radars TRML-4D*

6 self-propelled anti-aircraft guns GEPARD*

300,000 rounds of GEPARD ammunition

Artillery

25,500 projectiles 155mm*

18 wheeled self-propelled howitzers RCH 155*

14 wheeled self-propelled howitzer Zuzana 2* (project jointly financed with Denmark and Norway)

Military Engineering Capabilities

material for explosive ordnance disposal*

6 armoured recovery vehicles Bergepanzer 2*

7 mobile, remote controlled and protected mine clearing systems*

16 bridge-laying tanks BEAVER*

2 mobile and protected mine clearing systems Ahlmann*

36 mine clearing tanks WISENT 1*

2 heavy and medium bridge systems*

Protective and Special Equipment

80,000 safety glasses*

10 mobile reconnaissance systems SurveilSPIRE*

80 reconnaissance drones RQ-35 HEIDRUN*

340 reconnaissance drones VECTOR*

121 reconnaissance drones*

10 unmanned surface vessels*

20 ground surveillance radars GO12*

1 Satcom surveillance system*

2,000 portable light systems*

3 mobile antenna mast systems*

329 border protection vehicles*

vehicle decontamination system

11 communications electronic scanner/jammer systems*

Logistics

12 tank transporter tractor M1070 Oshkosh*

30 tank trucks (water/fuel)*

1 load-handling trucks 8x6 with 7 roll of containers*

48 heavy duty trailer trucks 8x8 HX81 and 53 semi-trailers*

2 tractors and 4 trailers*

10 protected vehicles*

52 trucks Zetros*

Combat Readiness and Survivability

18,000 man-portable anti-tank weapons*

5 ambulances*

2 dental sterilizers

108,288 rounds ammunition 40mm for grenade launchers*

continuing deliveries of medical material*

100 grenade launchers GMG*

200,000 first aid kits*

17 mobile heating systems*

field hospital (role 2)*

* Deliveries from industry stocks financed by German funds for security capacity building. Some of the deliveries require upgrades or productions is ongoing; also training measures take place.

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Russia thwarts Ukrainian attempt to cross into Bryansk region, says official

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 13:23, August 17, 2023

MOSCOW/KIEV, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments related to the Ukraine crisis:

Russian forces have prevented a Ukrainian sabotage group from crossing into Russia's western Bryansk region, Governor Alexander Bogomaz said Wednesday.

Bogomaz said that the units of Russia's Defense Ministry and the country's security forces had thwarted an attempt by six militants of a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group to cross into the Bryansk region on Wednesday morning.

Five of the militants have been killed, Bogomaz said in a Telegram post.

- - - -

Russia carried out two waves of drone attacks overnight Wednesday on the port infrastructure in Ukraine's southern Odesa region, according to regional authorities.

The combat drone strikes damaged warehouses and grain storage facilities in one of the ports on the Danube River, the Odesa regional military administration said in a statement on Telegram.

The fires caused by the attack have been extinguished, the statement said, and 11 combat drones were downed over the Odesa region overnight, it said.

Two other drones targeting port infrastructure in the region were downed in the neighboring Mykolaiv region, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. There were no reports of casualties in the attacks.

- - - -

Ukraine has lost up to 250 troops in the Donetsk direction over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

Over the past day, Russian armed forces have repelled five attacks by Ukrainian troops in the Donetsk direction, two in the Zaporizhzhia direction, nine in the Kupyansk direction and one in the Krasnyi Lyman direction, the ministry said, adding that Russian troops had conducted offensive operations and improved their position along the front line in the Kupyansk direction.

Moreover, Russian troops have hit a command post of the 72nd mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces near the village of Paraskoviivka, which is near the Russian-controlled city of Bakhmut, also known as Artyomovsk.

- - - -

Ukraine will not cede its territories to Russia to obtain NATO membership, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko said Tuesday.

"The talks about Ukraine joining NATO in exchange for giving up parts of Ukrainian territories are absolutely unacceptable," Nikolenko wrote on Facebook.

He emphasized that Ukraine is committed to further cooperation with NATO to achieve full membership in the alliance.

The statement came after a comment from Stian Jenssen, the director of the private office of the NATO Secretary General, who proposed that Ukraine cede part of its territory to Russia in exchange for NATO membership to end the war, the Ukrinform news agency reported.

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GCC says supports "peaceful efforts" to address Russia-Ukraine conflict

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 09:14, August 17, 2023

RIYADH, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi said on Wednesday that GCC member states support "peaceful efforts" aimed at resolving the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

In a phone conversation with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Albudaiwi also emphasized the significance of reviving the Black Sea Grain Initiative to facilitate the export of grains, essential food, and humanitarian supplies in order to improve the food security of affected countries, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The two sides also discussed the latest developments of the Ukraine crisis.

Albudaiwi said the GCC's stance on the Russia-Ukraine conflict is based on the principles of international law and the UN Charter, which underscores the importance of upholding the existing international order on the basis of respecting the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political independence of states, non-interference in their internal affairs, and the avoidance of using or threatening to use force.

The two officials also vowed to move forward toward drafting a joint action plan that includes significant issues serving the interests of both sides.

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'I Sent Tajik Men's Bodies From Bakhmut,' Central Asian Migrant Worker Claims

By Mumin Ahmadi August 17, 2023

A young Tajik migrant says hundreds of Central Asian workers were "forced" to fight in Ukraine alongside the notorious Russian mercenary group Wagner late last year.

Karim, a pseudonym used for security concerns, told RFE/RL on August 14 that he was able to escape from Ukraine and is now living abroad in fear for his life.

The 22-year-old said he arrived in eastern Ukraine in November last year after being hired by a Russian company to dig trenches in Luhansk, a Ukrainian region that has been almost completely occupied by Russian forces since 2014.

Karim said he was desperate for work after losing his job at a St. Petersburg shoe store that closed due to international sanctions against Russia over its all-out invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

"I saw an online job ad that offered about $60 a day to dig trenches in Luhansk. When I called the number in the advertisement, they told me to come to Moscow," Karim said.

The "well-paid" job did not require an official work permit. That made the job even more appealing to Karim, who had no money to renew his expired document.

"In Moscow, the recruiters assured me that the work will be in safe parts of Luhansk. I agreed because I was in a desperate situation," he said.

According to Karim, he was among some 200 workers from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan who arrived in the Russian-occupied parts of the Luhansk region on November 3.

The men would spend nights in a building that once was a kindergarten in the Russian-controlled village of Kalynivka, some 50 kilometers from the provincial capital, Luhansk. During the day they would be driven to the Zaporizhzhya Province for work, he said.

RFE/RL cannot independently verify his claims.

Karim showed several photos that show him and some other men inside half-built trenches.

One shows him standing in front of a tank with the letter "Z" -- a pro-war Russian symbol -- painted on it. He said the photos were taken while he worked in Zaporizhzhya in November.

"They used excavators to dig the trenches. Our job was to put duckboards to cover the bottom of the trenches," said Karim, describing the work the Central Asians performed.

The construction of the trenches was completed on November 20, Karim said. The following day the Central Asian workers had several visitors, including "representatives of the Russian Defense Ministry and fighters controlled by Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov," along with several Wagner militants, he claimed.

"The Wagner representatives told us that if we help them in the war in Ukraine they would give Russian citizenship to each of us and our family members," Karim said.

"No one among us agreed to join the war. Then they forced us at gunpoint to board buses. We asked where they were taking us but they said, 'We're going, that's it,'" he added.

Led by Yevgeniy Prigozhin, a billionaire who is a longtime friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Wagner has been linked to many atrocities in the war in Ukraine, including the massacre of civilians in the town of Bucha in March 2022.

Karim said the mercenaries brought the Central Asian men to Bakhmut, an eastern Ukrainian city that would eventually fall to Wagner after many months of bloody battle.

The migrant workers were given three days of training in how to use weapons, Karim claimed. On the fourth day they were each given weapons and ordered to join in battle alongside "thousands of violent [Wagner] fighters."

During the next few months, Karim allegedly worked for Wagner as a translator and guide for its new recruits from Central Asia.

"I would teach them about land mines, I would tell them how to distinguish deserters and kill or catch them," he told RFE/RL.

'Fair Trial'

Karim said many Wagner fighters, including the migrant workers from Central Asia, were killed in Bakhmut.

"I sent dead bodies [from Bakhmut] to Tajikistan five or six times," he claimed.

The number of Central Asian citizens killed in Bakhmut is unknown. Following the fall of the embattled city in May, Prigozhin admitted that 20,000 of his fighters had died in Bakhmut.

Karim managed to flee Ukraine in February after allegedly convincing a Wagner commander whom he had befriended to give him a few days off from fighting.

With about $1,000 left from his wages in his pocket, Karim fled to a country where he is currently hiding.

The Dushanbe native, who left Tajikistan for Russia in search of work in 2019, said he is too afraid to return to his home country.

Karim believes Tajik authorities are aware he was once a Wagner member because he had introduced himself when he contacted the families of the dead before sending their bodies to Dushanbe.

Tajik authorities have repeatedly warned their citizens against taking part in military conflicts abroad.

Two men were recently detained in Kyrgyzstan -- with one of them sentenced to prison -- for fighting as mercenaries in Ukraine.

"If I get a guarantee that I will be given a fair trial in Tajikistan, I will return home," Karim said. "I want to tell how and why I ended up in the Ukraine war fighting alongside Wagner."

Written by Farangis Najibullah in Prague based on reporting by RFE/RL Tajik Service correspondent Mumin Ahmadi.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/central-asia-migrant- worker-russia-bakhmut-ukraine/32552242.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.

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Ukraine Claims Recapture Of Southeastern Village, Russia Says Sea Drone Attack Foiled As Counteroffensive Grinds On

By RFE/RL August 17, 2023

Russia military officials claimed a new success in an offensive in the eastern Donetsk region and said two Russian war ships repelled a Ukrainian sea drone in the Black Sea late on August 17 as Ukrainian forces liberated a village amid a slow-moving, weeks-long counteroffensive that has worried some of Kyiv's Western backers.

The reports came on August 17 as NATO's secretary-general said it was up to Ukraine to decide when to join any peace negotiations following the Russian invasion. Jens Stoltenberg's comments appeared aimed at tamping down a furor that erupted earlier in the week when a senior colleague at the alliance suggested that Kyiv ceding territory to Russia in exchange for membership in the military alliance could be a way to end the war.

Two months into their long-awaited counteroffensive, Ukrainian forces have struggled to break through formidable Russian defensive lines in the southern Zaporizhzhya region and in the eastern Donetsk region.

Ukraine's Western backers have trained and supplied as many as nine new brigades, with the hope that Ukrainian forces could replicate earlier successes against Russian troops, such as the defense of Kyiv in the early weeks after the February 2022 invasion, or two successful advances in Kharkiv and Kherson in late 2022.

That hasn't happened, and without substantial battlefield success in the coming months, Ukraine could face mounting pressure from the United States or other Western allies to open negotiations with Russia.

Ukrainian forces this week claimed capture of Urozhayne, a village on the edge of Donetsk region. The claim could not be independently confirmed, though a Russian military commander and military bloggers appeared to corroborate the withdrawal of Russian forces from the area.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian military said in its evening summary on August 17 that Russian forces made unsuccessful attempts to regain Urozhayne. If Ukraine holds Urozhayne, it would be the first settlement Kyiv has retaken since July 27, a sign of the challenge that Ukrainian troops faces in trying to break through Russian defensive lines.

Other unsuccessful offensive actions took place near Kupyansk, Lyman, Bakhmut, and Avdiyivka, according to the summary.

It also said Ukrainian forces continue to conduct an offensive operation in the Melitopol and Berdyansk areas.

Meanwhile, Russia's Defense Ministry on August 17 said Ukraine had lost four Stryker armored vehicles near Donetsk, as part of a Russian offensive push.

It's first time Russia has claimed to hit the U.S.-supplied vehicles.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the thwarted attack by the sea drone occurred just before 11 p.m. local time on the Black Sea about 240 kilometers southwest of Sevastopol. The attack attempted to hit two Black Sea fleet warships tasked with overseeing navigation in the southwestern section of the Black Sea, the ministry said, according to TASS.

The unmanned boat was destroyed by fire from weapons mounted on the two ships -- one frigate and one patrol ship.

Russia controls nearly one-fifth of Ukraine, including Crimea, most of the Luhansk region and large tracts of the regions of Donetsk, Zaporizhzhya, and Kherson.

Earlier in the week, Stoltenberg's chief of staff, Stian Jenssen, said Ukraine may have to give up territory to Russia as part of a deal to end the war. He subsequently walked back his comments.

"It is the Ukrainians, and only the Ukrainians, who can decide when there are conditions in place for negotiations, and who can decide at the negotiating table what is an acceptable solution," Stoltenberg said, speaking at a conference in Norway on August 17.

Stoltenberg also said Russia's nuclear forces remain unchanged in their posture, despite months of nuclear saber-rattling by the Kremlin.

As the war has ground on, Russia has regularly issued threats to use nuclear weaponry in Ukraine, something that has alarmed both Ukrainians and their Western allies.

"We haven't seen any changes in their nuclear forces that trigger us to change our forces and the way those are arranged," he said. "So far we haven't seen anything that demands that from our side."

At its summit last month, NATO said it would extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the alliance when "members agree and conditions are met"-- a decision that was met with some disappointment in Kyiv.

In a meeting with military commanders on August 16, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine was ramping up production of aerial drones, which have played a major role in the conflict, for both Ukrainian and Russian forces.

He also suggested Kyiv's Western backers needed to increase supplies of the devices.

"Drones are the 'eyes' and protection on the front line... Drones are a guarantee that people will not have to pay with their lives when drones can be used," he said in televised remarks.

"In each combat brigade, warriors first ask about drones, electronic warfare, and military air defense," he said.

With reporting by Reuters and RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-recapture-urozhayne- counteroffensive/32551859.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.

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Russian Forces Thwart Ukrainian Drone Strikes in Black Sea, Belgorod Region

Sputnik News

20230817

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - A Ukrainian sea drone on Thursday tried to attack Russian warships in the Black Sea southwest of Sevastopol but was destroyed in a return fire, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

"Today at 22:55, [07:55 pm GMT] the armed forces of Ukraine made an unsuccessful attempt to attack ships of the Black Sea Fleet with a sea unmanned vessel, [Russian ships were] performing tasks to control navigation in the southwestern part of the Black Sea, 237 km [147 miles] southwest of Sevastopol," the ministry said in a statement.

"In the course of repulsing the attack, an unmanned enemy boat failed to achieve its goal and was destroyed by fire from the onboard armament of the ships of the Black Sea Fleet a the Pytlivyy guard ship and the Vasily Bykov patrol ship."

The Black Sea incident came just as the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed Russia's air defenses had downed a Ukrainian drone in the Belgorod Region that was intended to carry out a terrorist attack "by an aircraft-type drone." Officials indicated that the incident did not cause any damages or casualties.

A Sputnik

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Zelensky Extends Martial Law, General Mobilization in Ukraine for 90 Days

Sputnik News

20230817

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed laws to extend general mobilization and martial law in the country for 90 days, until November 15, Verkhovna Rada lawmaker Yaroslav Zheleznyak said on Thursday.

"The president has signed laws to extend general mobilization and martial law for 90 days, that is, until November 15. The laws will go into effect on August 18. Until then, the old ones will apply," Zheleznyak said on Telegram.

Ukrainian authorities introduced martial law in the country on February 24, 2022, the same day Russia launched its special military operation. The next day, Zelensky signed a decree on general mobilization.

Last month, the Ukrainian parliament extended martial law until November 15. Due to the extension of martial law, elections to the Verkhovna Rada, previously scheduled for late October, have been canceled, Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksiy Goncharenko said.

A Sputnik

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Kiev Loses Up to 310 Soldiers in Donetsk Direction in Past Day - MoD

Sputnik News

20230817

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Ukraine has lost up to 310 soldiers in the Donetsk region over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday.

The assault detachments of Russian troops carried out successful offensive operations and improved their position along the front line in the Donetsk direction. In total, they repelled four attacked by Ukraine in the Donetsk direction, one in the Krasny Liman region, six in the Kupyansk direction and one in the Zaporozhye direction.

"Enemy losses in this [Donetsk] direction per day amounted to 310 Ukrainian military, a tank, three armored combat vehicles, nine vehicles, and a D-20 howitzer," the ministry said in a statement.

Kiev also lost up to 125 military in the Kupyansk direction and up to 195 military in the Zaporozhye direction, the ministry said.

"In the South Donetsk direction, the professional actions of the units of the Vostok group of troops, air strikes and artillery fire inflicted a complex fire defeat on the enemy in the areas of ... the Donetsk People's Republic [DPR]. Enemy losses amounted to more than 175 Ukrainian military, two tanks, three armored combat vehicles, two vehicles, a D-20 howitzer, and two Gvozdika self-propelled artillery mounts," the statement read.

Additionally, Russian troops have hit two command posts of unmanned aerial vehicles of the Ukrainian armed forces a one in the DPR and one in the Zaporozhye region, the ministry said.

A Sputnik

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Russian Air Defenses Down Ukrainian Strike Drone Over Belgorod Region - MoD

Sputnik News

20230817

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian air defense systems have snuffed out a Ukrainian strike drone over the Belgorod Region at about 9 a.m. Moscow time (06:00 GMT) on Thursday, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

"Today, at about 9:00 Moscow time, an attempt by the Kiev regime to carry out a terrorist attack by an aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicle on objects in Russia was thwarted. By means of air defense, a Ukrainian strike UAV was detected and destroyed over the territory of the Belgorod region," the ministry said in a statement, adding that there were no casualties or damage.

According to the Defense Ministry, there were no casualties or damage as a result of the foiled attack.

Ukraine launched its much-touted counteroffensive in early June after multiple postponements. Citing the counteroffensive's needs, Kiev pushed its Western donors to step up the military and financial aid.

A Sputnik

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We are building the arsenal of the free world together - address by the President of Ukraine

President of Ukraine

17 August 2023 - 22:58

Good health to you, fellow Ukrainians!

A brief report on this day.

First. The frontline. I started the day with a conference call with the military, intelligence, and government officials. The situation on the frontline. Defense of positions, advancement - our offensive actions. Supplies for the warriors. We are actively shaping the content of new defense packages from our partners. More news to come.

Second. Today I would like to highlight our cooperation with Germany. Step by step, our agreements with Mr. Chancellor Scholz are being implemented. Two new IRIS-T launching stations have been delivered to Ukraine. This is a powerful and much-needed air defense system. Thank you, Germany, for your help in protecting us from Russian terror!

Third. Traditionally, in St. Sophia of Kyiv, I accepted credentials from new ambassadors who arrived in Ukraine. Germany, Indonesia, Sweden, Chile, Colombia, Peru. Of course, I spoke with all the new ambassadors today.

Fourth. Several substantive meetings with the government. A separate meeting with Prime Minister Shmyhal. Logistics for Ukraine, for our manufacturers. Export issues. Additional support for our defense. Strengthening Ukraine together with our neighbors in the European Union.

Then, an expanded meeting with the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Strategic Industries, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the relevant deputy heads of the Office. We discussed the Defense Industries Forum. We are planning this event for the autumn. It will be the first time such a large-scale event will be held at the state level. Ukrainian and foreign arms manufacturers. Our power. The power of our partners. The entire world, which is interested in ensuring that international law and humanity have an appropriate arsenal of defense against any terror... The world can be united by this format of cooperation as well.

We plan the forum to be the first track record of our defense industry. To demonstrate what we already know how to produce. To consider what we can add to our capabilities, in particular through the creation of new production facilities in Ukraine, through localization with partners. And, of course, we have to give a new security impetus to everyone in the world who values their statehood and freedom as much as we do. Nations have the right to defense. We are building the arsenal of the free world together.

The fifth one for today. As always. I am grateful to all those who are fighting for Ukraine and working for its defense. Thank you to each and every one! I would like to particularly mention the warriors of the 117th separate mechanized brigade. Orikhiv direction. Thank you for your strength, warriors!

There is much to be grateful for to the special forces who defend the northern regions of our country. Junior Sergeant Kyrylo Melnyk and Captain Artem Chastikov - thank you guys!

The 3rd operational brigade of the National Guard, the 66th separate howitzer artillery division of the 406th brigade and the 3rd artillery division of the 44th brigade. Thank you all, warriors, for your accuracy and ability to destroy the occupiers. And it is once again an honor for me to recognize the warriors of the 36th separate marine brigade. Thank you!

Glory to all our heroes!

And a few other things.

Today, by my decree, the NSDC's decision on the results of the inspection of military commissars and the work of recruitment centers in general has been put into effect. The leadership will be completely replaced. Warriors who have actually been in combat, who really understand how and who should be selected for our defense and security forces - these are the warriors who will manage the work of territorial recruitment centers. This system needs dignity. This system needs rationality. This system needs the ability to provide the frontline with people who can reinforce our defense.

In every combat brigade I visited this week - 16 in total - warriors talked about problems with recruitment. These problems begin with the way military enlistment offices work. Their work must change. And it will. Thanks to combat officers.

I have just signed one of the key laws that Ukraine needs to start negotiations with the European Union on our country's accession. Negotiations are to start this year. The law guarantees a transparent, professional and fair selection of judges of the Constitutional Court. Our country is one step closer to joining the European Union.

Glory to Ukraine!





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We are building the arsenal of the free world together - address by the President of Ukraine

President of Ukraine

17 August 2023 - 21:33

The Office of the President hosted a constituent meeting of the working group that will work on the implementation of the ninth point of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Peace Formula - "Preventing the escalation of war and the recurrence of aggression."

The meeting in a hybrid format was attended by ambassadors and authorized representatives of the embassies of the G7 countries, the European Union, and almost all countries that have already joined the Joint Declaration of Support for Ukraine on providing security guarantees to our country.

The Head of the Presidential Office thanked the participants of the meeting for their willingness to make joint efforts to implement the Peace Formula in the format of working groups, which will increase the efficiency of activities and allow focusing on such priority areas as security.

"The purpose of our meeting today is to develop a very specific and detailed agenda for the ninth point of the Peace Formula, as well as to work out practical expectations from its implementation," emphasized Andriy Yermak.

The Head of the President's Office thanked the G7 countries that adopted the Joint Declaration supporting security guarantees for Ukraine after the NATO Summit in Vilnius and stated that 15 more countries had joined the signatories of this important document within a month. He also noted that the Declaration is open for accession, and the number of signatories is constantly increasing.

"Many of the things we consider as preventive measures to prevent the recurrence of aggression in the future are laid down in the security guarantees for Ukraine," the Head of the Presidential Office said.

He also recalled the start of negotiations between Ukraine and the United States, as well as between Ukraine and the United Kingdom on the preparation of bilateral security agreements, and announced the launch of bilateral talks with a number of other countries, including the members of the G7, in the near future.

"Russia's aggression against Ukraine has shown that the existing global security system does not work. That is why Ukraine expects that the security guarantees we are working on together will become the basis for a new, much more effective security system," emphasized Andriy Yermak, adding that this is why Ukraine considers the security point of the Formula to be one of the most important.

"Your opinion, position and support are very important to us. We will listen to your advice. The implementation of the Peace Formula should be our common success," summarized Andriy Yermak and called on the participants to continue fruitful work on the implementation of the Peace Formula.

Deputy Head of the Office of the President Ihor Zhovkva informed in detail about Ukraine's vision of the implementation of the security point of the Peace Formula, its components and the procedure for further activities of the relevant working group.

"This working group is important because it is not only about security guarantees. It contains almost all the elements of the other points of the Peace Formula. This working group is about how to stop Russia's aggression against Ukraine, prevent escalation, and what preventive measures should be taken to prevent aggression in the future, after our victory," the Deputy Head of the Presidential Office emphasized.

Ihor Zhovkva also stated that the working group on the implementation of the security point of the Peace Formula should become a platform that will ensure coordination of all developments, exchange of views and proposals both on the conclusion of bilateral security agreements and on building a new security system in general.

The inaugural meeting of the working group established the current number of its members and the vision regarding its co-chairs, as well as agreed on further actions. The meeting participants positively assessed the launch of the security working group, expressed their readiness to involve new countries, in particular from the Global South, in its activities, and to work together to ensure the effective implementation of the ninth point of the Peace Formula.

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A90m boost to Ukraine's air defence capability as new contracts signed

It comes as delivery begins of a new package of drones to Ukraine, funded by the UK-administered International Fund for Ukraine

18 August 2023

Three contracts to deliver air defence equipment to Ukraine worth more than A90m have been signed by the Ministry of Defence on behalf of the International Fund for Ukraine (IFU).

These include a A56 million counter-uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) contract with Norwegian defence company Kongsberg and two further contracts to provide further air defence capabilities.

The contract with Kongsberg will purchase vehicle-mounted counter-drone systems to detect, track, destroy or disrupt UAS.

The CORTEX Typhon system is designed to be operated by as few as two users, and can be rapidly deployed and repositioned to maximise its operational effectiveness.

The system can operate individually, or as part of an integrated network, and will use a complex suite of sensors, cameras, radars, and electronic surveillance equipment to allow it to physically destroy or disrupt drones.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said:

These air defence systems have the capability and flexibility to be rapidly deployed to either protect Ukraine's civilian population and infrastructure, or be put to use on the frontline.

The International Fund for Ukraine highlights the unity and resolve of our Allies to work together to provide Ukraine with cutting-edge equipment to meet its capability requirements.

Awarded by the MOD's procurement arm, Defence Equipment & Support, these contracts are part of procurement packages announced by IFU defence ministers earlier this year to supply air defence capabilities, drones, radars, and electronic warfare systems to Ukraine.

The contracts come as a new delivery of aerial reconnaissance drones arrives in Ukraine, designed to carry out both land and sea-based reconnaissance missions.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine have already begun training on the systems, which will form a package of more than 100 drones.

The uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) delivery comprises multiple types of drone for different roles - including target acquisition, electronic warfare, guiding artillery, and night operations.

The IFU uses financial contributions from international partners to procure priority military assistance for Ukraine. This will ensure the continued supply of military support - lethal and non-lethal - to Ukraine through 2023 and beyond.

More than A770m has been raised through the IFU following contributions from the UK, Norway, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland and Lithuania.

The UK remains fully committed to supporting Ukraine, with A2.3bn already earmarked for further military support through 2023, with additional munitions and equipment to be delivered in the coming months. Further UK government assistance continues in the form of humanitarian support and economic aid.

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Russia Downs Ukraine Drone in Moscow

By VOA News August 18, 2023

Ukraine attempted to launch a drone attack on Moscow early Friday, but Russian forces downed the unmanned aerial vehicle.

After Russia shot down the drone, debris from the attack fell on Moscow's Expo Center, a massive exhibitions space, located less than 7 kilometers from the Kremlin.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram that the wreckage from the drone fell near the Expo Center but "did not cause significant damage."

Ukraine claimed Thursday that its counteroffensive had retaken parts of Russian-controlled land in the southeastern part of the country in a push beyond the newly liberated village of Urozhaine.

The advance is an attempted drive toward the Sea of Azov, an effort to split Russia's occupying forces in half.

"In the direction south of Urozhaine, [Ukrainian troops] had success," military spokesman Andriy Kovaliov said on national television. He gave no more details.

Urozhaine, in the eastern Donetsk region, was the first village Kyiv said it had retaken since July 27 in what has proved to be a difficult, grinding warfare in heavily mined Russian-controlled territory.

Urozhaine lies just over 90 kilometers north of the Sea of Azov and about 100 kilometers west of Russian-held Donetsk city.

Vladimir Rogov, a Russia-installed official in parts of Zaporizhzhia controlled by Moscow, said Urozhaine and the neighboring village of Staromaiorske were not under Ukrainian control.

Drone footage, however, of the intense fight for Urozhaine, has emerged in which dozens of Russian troops can be seen fleeing to the village's south.

Russia controls nearly one-fifth of Ukraine, including the Crimean Peninsula it annexed in 2014, most of Luhansk region and large tracts of the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.

Kyiv says its counteroffensive is advancing more slowly than it had hoped for because of vast Russian minefields and heavily fortified Russian defensive lines.

Russian attacks on Ukrainian grain facilities

Ukrainian officials said Wednesday that Russia damaged grain infrastructure at a port in the Odesa region in southern Ukraine as part of an overnight drone attack.

Andriy Yermak, chief of staff for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on Telegram that the attack targeted the port of Reni on the Danube River.

Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper said on Telegram that the attack damaged warehouses and grain storage facilities at the port.

Kiper said there were no reported casualties from the attack, and that Ukraine's air force had downed 11 Russian drones over Odesa. The Ukrainian military said its air defenses destroyed 13 drones overnight and that Russia had used Iranian-made Shahed drones to target Odesa and Mykolaiv.

Black Sea shipping

The Hong-Kong-flagged container ship Joseph Schulte left Ukraine's port of Odesa on Wednesday.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said the vessel was the first to set off down a temporary Black Sea corridor that Ukraine established for civilian ships following Russia's withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

The Joseph Schulte was carrying 30,000 metric tons of cargo, Kubrakov said. The vessel had been stuck in Odesa since Russian launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Russia has not said whether it will respect Ukraine's shipping corridor. On Sunday, a Russian patrol ship fired warning shots at a vessel after what Russia said was a failure by the captain to respond to a request for an inspection.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.

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Chicago, Aug. 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global Organic Pigments Market size was USD 5.5 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach USD 6.7 billion by 2026, projecting a CAGR of 4.0% between 2021 and 2026., as per the recent study by MarketsandMarkets. organic pigments are increasingly used for printing inks, paints & coatings, plastics and other applications. The increasing demand from automobile industry for sharper and brighter colors drives the demand for organic pigments. However, the outbreak of COVID-19 has created ripples across various application industries leading to reduced demand for organic pigments, but the market is seeing an upward curve and is expected to reach the pre-covid levels but the end of 2021.

Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=1076

Browse in-depth TOC on "Organic Pigments Market.

244 - Market Data Tables

53 - Figures

205 - Pages

List of Key Players in Organic Pigments Market:

BASF (Germany) Clariant (Switzerland) SI Group Inc. (U.S) DIC Corporation (Japan) Heubach GmbH (Germany) Sudarshan Chemical Industries Ltd. (India) Ferro Corporation (US) Trust Chem Co. Ltd (China) Dainichiseika Color & Chemicals Mfg. Co. Ltd. (Japan) DCL Corporation (Canada), Toyocolor Co. Ltd. (Japan)

Key Findings of the Study:

Synthetic based organic pigments comprises a major share of the organic pigments market in terms of value. The Azo Organic pigments accounts for the largest market share in the global organic pigments market during the forecasted period in terms of value and volume The printing ink application accounted for the largest market share in the global organic pigments market during the forecast period in terms of value and volume.

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The paints & coatings application is the fastest-growing one. This is attributable to the increasing interest of automobile companies towards paints & coatings based on organic pigments. The organic pigments offer increased lightfastness, temperature stability, and exceptional color texture & vividness. Due to these properties organic pigments are now used in automobile industry for coating and plastics. Last year nearly 55.8 million vehicles were sold, this gives a hint to the vast potential market of organic pigments in the automobile industry.

Organic pigments are used in various coating applications owing to their high-performance characteristics, which impart qualities, such as good weather-fastness, good lightfastness, low migration, and solvent & bleeding fastness, to the end-products. Paints & coatings is expected to be the fastest-growing application of organic pigments during the forecast period. Organic pigments are widely used in decorative coatings, marine coatings, automotive coatings, and industrial coatings sectors. The automotive coatings sector is the largest consumer, followed by industrial and decorative coatings. The use of organic pigments in decorative coatings is estimated to increase in the near future owing to the growth in the construction industry.

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The global organic pigments manufacturers have a good presence in APAC. These companies are investing and expanding their organic pigment production facilities in the region to cater to the increasing demand for organic pigments from customers. The demand for organic pigments is increasing, especially in the APAC market, because of the growing packaging industry. Globalization and economic growth in various sectors, such as food & beverage packaging, cosmetics packaging, and labeling, have driven the packaging printing market, thereby driving the organic pigments market.

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, several small players in the organic pigments market have terminated their business. The companies such as BASF and Clariant have also divested their pigments business globally. The market is moving towards oligopolistic state with very small number of players dominating the market with some barrier to entry/exit.

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Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Aug. 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Volt Lithium Corp. (TSX-V: VLT, OTCQB: VLTLF, FSE: S9G) (the Company or Volt) announced today the termination of two existing option agreements related to copper assets that were part of its predecessor companys portfolio and were not being pursued as part of Volts strategy. With the termination of these agreements, Volts asset base has been streamlined and offer investors exposure to a growing, pure-play lithium development and technology company aiming to be North Americas first commercial producer of lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonates from oilfield brine.



Details of the Terminated Option Agreements

The two terminated option agreements include: (i) the option to acquire a 100% interest in the Stateline Property, pursuant to an option agreement among Cloudbreak Discovery PLC, Cloudbreak Discovery (Canada) Ltd., Tarsis Resources US Inc., Alianza Minerals Ltd. and Volt dated February 9, 2022 (the Stateline Agreement); and (ii) the option to acquire a 100% interest in the Silver King Property, pursuant to an option agreement among Goodsprings Exploration LLC, Robert Cole, Lori Cole and 1269280 BC Ltd. (BCCo) dated February 10, 2021 (the SK Agreement).

The terms of the Stateline Agreement were announced in the Companys press release dated February 10, 2022. In accordance with the Stateline Agreement, the Company has given notice for the termination of the Stateline Agreement, which will be effective immediately. Upon termination, Volt is required to maintain the mineral claims that comprise the Stateline Property in good standing for a period of two years, which is expected to cost approximately $30,000.

The Company acquired the option underlying the SK Agreement when it acquired BCCo on October 27, 2021, pursuant to a three-cornered amalgamation in accordance with Section 260 of the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) (the RTO Transaction). Pursuant to the RTO Transaction, BCCo was amalgamated with 1303288 BC Ltd. (Volt SubCo), which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company. The terms of the SK Agreement were disclosed in the Companys filing statement dated October 18, 2021. In accordance with the SK Agreement, the Company, through Volt SubCo, has given notice for the termination of the SK Agreement, which will be effective immediately.

About Volt

Volt is a lithium development and technology company aiming to be North Americas first commercial producer of lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonates from oilfield brine. Our strategy is to generate value for shareholders by leveraging managements hydrocarbon experience and existing infrastructure to extract lithium deposits from existing wells, thereby reducing capital costs, lowering risks and supporting the worlds clean energy transition. With four differentiating pillars, and a proprietary Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology, Volts innovative approach to development is focused on allowing the highest lithium recoveries with lowest costs, positioning us well for future commercialization. We are committed to operating efficiently and with transparency across all areas of the business staying sharply focused on creating long-term, sustainable shareholder value. Investors and/or other interested parties may sign up for updates about the Companys continued progress on its website at www.voltlithium.com.

Contact Information

For Investor Relations inquiries or further information, please contact:

Alex Wylie

President and CEO

M: +1.403.830.5811



Forward Looking Statements

This news release includes certain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. When used in this news release, the words anticipate, believe, estimate, expect, target, plan, forecast, may, would, could, schedule and similar words or expressions, identify forward-looking statements or information. Statements, other than statements of historical fact, may constitute forward looking information and include, without limitation, the Companys obligation to maintain the mineral claims that comprise the Stateline Agreement in good standing for a period of two years. Forward-looking statements and forward-looking information also include any statements relating to future lithium production, liquidity, enhanced value and capital markets profile of Volt, future growth potential for Volt and its business, and future exploration plans. With respect to the forward-looking information contained in this news release, the Company has made numerous assumptions regarding, among other things, the price of lithium and other metals; no escalation in the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic; costs of exploration and development; the estimated costs of development of exploration projects; Volts ability to operate in a safe and effective manner and its ability to obtain financing on reasonable terms, that the geological, metallurgical, engineering, financial and economic advice that the Company has received is reliable and are based upon practices and methodologies which are consistent with industry standards. While the Company considers these assumptions to be reasonable, these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies and may prove to be incorrect. Additionally, there are known and unknown risk factors which could cause the Companys actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information contained herein. Known risk factors include, among others: fluctuations in commodity prices and currency exchange rates; uncertainties relating to interpretation of well results and the geology, continuity and grade of mineral deposits; uncertainty of estimates of capital and operating costs, recovery rates, production estimates and estimated economic return; the need for cooperation of government agencies in the exploration and development of properties and the issuance of required permits; the need to obtain additional financing to develop properties and uncertainty as to the availability and terms of future financing; the possibility of delay in exploration or development programs or in construction projects and uncertainty of meeting anticipated program milestones; uncertainty as to timely availability of permits and other governmental approvals; increased costs and restrictions on operations due to compliance with environmental and other requirements; increased costs affecting the metals industry and increased competition in the metals industry for properties, qualified personnel, and management. All forward-looking information herein is qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement, and the Company disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking information or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments, except as required by law.
Westford, USA, Aug. 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to SkyQuest's latest global research of the Hyper Converged Infrastructure market , increasing adoption of hybrid cloud models, growing demand for edge computing solutions, integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities, rising focus on data protection and cybersecurity, the emergence of hyper-converged infrastructure as a service (HCIaaS), expanding use of hyperconverged infrastructure in industries such as healthcare, retail, and finance, development of hyperconverged infrastructure solutions for specific workloads, integration of hyperconverged infrastructure with containerization technologies are the trends that aid in the market's growth.

Browse in-depth TOC on "Hyper Converged Infrastructure Market"

Pages - 157

Tables - 153

Figures - 78

Hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) is a software-defined IT infrastructure that virtualizes all of the elements of conventional "hardware-defined" systems. HCI includes, at a minimum, virtualized computing (a hypervisor), software-defined storage, and virtualized networking (software-defined networking). HCI typically runs on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) servers.

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Prominent Players in Hyper Converged Infrastructure Market

Cisco

Dell EMC

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Microsoft

VMware

NetApp

Nutanix

StorMagic

Huawei

IBM

Pivot3

Scale Computing

SimpliVity

Veeam

SUSE

Lenovo

NEC

Fujitsu

Inspur

Atos

Oracle

VxRail

Browse summary of the report and Complete Table of Contents (ToC):

https://www.skyquestt.com/report/hyper-converged-infrastructure-market

Software Component Demand to Grow Substantially in the Forecast Period

Software components dominated the global market owing to its high core functionality. It also enables scalability and flexibility in hyperconverged infrastructure deployments. It allows organizations to easily scale their infrastructure by adding or removing nodes, virtual machines, or storage capacity as per their changing needs. The software layer provides the necessary intelligence to optimize resource utilization and ensure workload performance.

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure is the Leading Application Segment

In terms of application, the virtual desktop infrastructure is the leading segment due to the demand for high scalability and performance. In addition, hyper converged infrastructure streamlines the management of VDI environments by consolidating compute, storage, and networking components into a single integrated system. This unified management approach simplifies deployment, configuration, and ongoing management tasks, reducing administrative overhead and improving operational efficiency.

North America is the leading Market Due to the Technological Advancements

Region-wise, North America is one of the largest growing markets with a huge emphasis on advanced technology. The region has a significant concentration of data centers, ranging from large-scale enterprise data centers to colocation facilities. Hyperconverged infrastructure offers benefits such as simplified management, scalability, and improved resource utilization, making it an attractive solution for data center operators in the region.

A recent report thoroughly analyzes the major players operating within the Hyper Converged Infrastructure market. This comprehensive evaluation has considered several crucial factors, such as collaborations, mergers, innovative business policies, and strategies, providing invaluable insights into the key trends and breakthroughs in the market. Additionally, the report has carefully scrutinized the market share of the top segments and presented a detailed geographic analysis. Finally, the report has highlighted the major players in the industry and their ongoing endeavors to develop innovative solutions that cater to the ever-increasing demand for Hyper Converged Infrastructure.

Speak to Analyst for your custom requirements:

https://www.skyquestt.com/speak-with-analyst/hyper-converged-infrastructure-market

Key Developments in Hyper Converged Infrastructure Market

Dell employs a collaborative method to include cyber resilience into its HCI offering. HCI security is a unique problem since it virtualizes the whole data centre, including storage, computing, networking, and management components. This implies that West and his security team must maintain security across the whole HCI portfolio rather than focusing on a particular type of information technology system. According to West, supply chain assaults are an excellent example of this complexity.

Key Questions Answered in Hyper Converged Infrastructure Market Report

What specific growth drivers are projected to impact the market during the forecast period?

Can you 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 might these differences shape the market's future growth?

Related Reports in SkyQuests Library:

Global NoSQL Market

Global Data Center Virtualization Market

Global Telecom Order Management Market

Global Wi-Fi Analytics Market

Global Knowledge Process Outsourcing Market

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TORONTO, Aug. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The travel app Visited by Arriving In High Heels Corporation has published a list of the top 10 most visited countries for Swiss travellers. Swiss travelers are the most well-traveled group in the world, with an average traveler visiting 22 countries, according to the Visited app, which has over 1.78 million users.



Visited app, allows users to map their travels, see most popular destinations by category, create personalized travel plans and see the percentage of the world that they have been to. The map feature allows users to map the countries they have been to or want to visit, as well as map regions and cities. Travel lists help users get inspired by adding new destinations by interest or experiences. While the travel planner sorts the countries the users still wish to visit by counting the number of sights on their wish list, the feature also allows users to swipe pictures to discover new places.

The top 10 most visited countries for Swiss travelers include:

Italy France Germany Spain United Kingdom Austria United States Greece Netherlands Portugal

Despite being the most travelled people in the world, Swiss travellers are more likely to travel to destinations near the border or taking the short-haul flight. Like other European travellers, Swiss travellers dream of going to Australia, Iceland and Japan as their top wished for destinations, said Anna Kayfitz, founder of the Visited App.

To see more travel trends on global users download the travel report: https://visitedapp.com/travel-report-results/

About The Visited App:

Visited App, is a travel app which allows users to map their travels, discover new destinations and plan their future travels. Providing users with data on their top wished for destinations, their personal travel stats and popular places, users can make informed decision on where to next.

Popular travel lists include destinations by: popular beach destinations, ancient sites, capitals of the world, world wonders, ski locations and art museums.

To see more rankings of the most popular travel destinations, users can download Visited on iOS or Android .

To learn more about the Visited app, visit https://visitedapp.com .

About Arriving In High Heels Corporation

Arriving In High Heels Corporation is a mobile app company with apps including Pay Off Debt, XWalk and Visited , their most popular app.

Contact Information

Anna Kayfitz
Geneva, Aug. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The investor group comprised of NewGAMe SA and Bruellan SA (the Group), which controls approximately 9.6% of the issued share capital of GAM Holding AG [GAM:SWX] (GAM), has offered bridge financing to GAM. The facility is intended to replace loans made by Liontrust to GAM in the event Liontrusts tender offer for the company is unsuccessful.

The bridge financing from NewGAMe ensures that GAM can continue to operate as a going concern when Liontrusts offer for the company fails, even if the amounts drawn by GAM under the Liontrust loans become repayable at short notice.

NewGAMe has written to GAMs board of directors to offer short-term funding by Rock Investment SAS or its parent company NJJ Holding SAS. The total amount would match the Liontrust loans of approximately CHF 20m and lending terms for the NewGAMe funding would reflect a transaction entered into at arm's length.

If GAM's board agrees to support NewGAMe's plans, the NewGAMe loan will be made available at very short notice upon the Liontrust offer being declared unsuccessful. The short-term funding would be repayable on the earlier of the date on which GAM receives the proceeds of the convertible bond that was proposed by NewGAMe, or 31 December 2023.

Albert Saporta, NewGAMe Director, commented: Todays actions continue to show that NewGAMe has a serious and credible plan for GAM and is ready to commit significant funding to ensure the company stays the course. Evidently, none of this would have happened if GAM and Liontrust had let the Liontrust offer fail on 25 July instead of dragging the process and playing with deadlines to avoid the inevitable reckoning with shareholders. We also expect that GAM's board will now work with us to ensure we can begin to turn the company around as soon as possible.

NewGAMe also has agreed to enter into equity swap transactions with a financial counterparty to increase its investment in GAM. Under the terms of those swap transactions, NewGAMe will be granted economic exposure to up to around 7.19m GAM shares, corresponding to 4.75% of the share capital of GAM.

A copy of the letter to GAM offering the funding can be found here: https://newgam.ch/assets/downloads/Letter_to_GAM_re_loan_-_17_August_2023.pdf

About NewGAMe

NewGAMe SA is a Geneva-based company owned by a number of investors with experience in the financial sector. It is controlled by Rock Investment, a French-incorporated entity that is owned by NJJ Holding, the personal holding company of Xavier Niel. Albert Saporta, a hedge fund industry veteran with 40 years experience in global financial markets, serves as the director of NewGAMe SA.

About Bruellan

Bruellan SA is an independent provider of global wealth management solutions. The company was founded in 1991 and is located in Geneva, Lausanne, Crans-Montana and Verbier.
18 August 2023: Reference is made to the announcement on 29 July 2020, in which Hexagon Composites ASA (the "Company") announced the provisional award of Restricted Share Units ("RSUs") under a Long-Term Incentive Program (LTIP) to align the interests of the participating employees with those of the Company's shareholders. Each vested RSU give the holder the right to receive one share in the Company at an exercise price corresponding to the par value of the shares being NOK 0.10.

The total program ended at 85,058 RSUs. The transaction is settled in treasury shares, and following the transaction, the Company holds 9,473 treasury shares.



For more information:

Ingrid Aarsnes, VP IR & ESG, Hexagon Composites Telephone: +47 950 38 364 | ingrid.aarsnes@hexagongroup.com

About Hexagon Composites ASA Hexagon delivers safe and innovative solutions for a cleaner energy future. Our solutions enable storage, transportation, and conversion to clean energy in a wide range of mobility, industrial and consumer applications. Learn more at www.hexagongroup.com (http://www.hexagongroup.com) and follow @HexagonASA on Twitter and LinkedIn.

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act
Dublin, Aug. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Food Dehydrator Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Technology (Horizontal Airflow), By End-use, By Energy Source, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2023 - 2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global food dehydrator market is poised for substantial growth, with a projected market size of USD 2.84 billion by 2030, advancing at an impressive compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.1% from 2023 to 2030.

The market's expansion is underpinned by escalating efforts to curb food waste generation and the surging consumer preference for dehydrated food products.

Food dehydrators have gained prominence for their ability to effectively eliminate moisture from food items, reducing their moisture content by approximately 98%. This process results in products that are desiccated and brittle, boasting an extended shelf life and heightened resistance to spoilage. With global concerns surrounding food scarcity mounting, the demand for longer-lasting food products has surged, further fueling the adoption of food dehydrators.

The inclination towards sustainable practices and the preservation of resources has positioned food dehydrators as a key solution to tackle the issue of food waste while also meeting the demands of a population seeking nutritious and durable food options.

Moreover, the market is characterized by growing technological developments such as dual-drying technology, and solar drying. Numerous key players are investing in energy-efficient product innovation and solar-powered food dehydrators are one such product. For instance, the Food Science for Relief and Development (FSRD) division of the Institute of Food Technologies introduced Dehytray, an innovative portable solar food dehydrator.



Additionally, the growing adoption of food dehydrators is anticipated to drive the growth of the market. A food dehydrator is used for dehydrating fruits, vegetables, meat, and seafood products. The growing food processing industry due to the rising demand for food products from the increasing population is expected to boost the market growth.



The COVID-19 outbreak led to a decline in the market growth of the food dehydrator. As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, demand for industrial and commercial food dehydrators decreased significantly due to government restrictions and lockdowns. Moreover, supply chain disruption also led to decreased sales of food dehydrators. Over the forecast period, the market is anticipated to witness a promising growth rate.



Key players in the industry are extensively focusing on the growth of the business through strategic mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures, partnerships, product innovations, and geographic expansions. For instance, in October 2022, Maan Global Industries launched a new innovative food dehydrator, which consumes 75% less energy compared to conventional products.



Food Dehydrator Market Report Highlights

The horizontal airflow technology segment led the global market by revenue, accounting for 74.1% market share in 2022. This is attributed to the extensive applications of horizontal airflow food dehydrators in industrial and commercial businesses

The residential segment is expected to witness a CAGR of 6.0% over the forecast period. The growing end-user product awareness is likely to contribute significantly to segmental growth

The solar segment by energy source is expected to register strong growth with a CAGR of 6.2% over the forecast period. The segment is likely to exhibit substantial growth owing to the growing importance of renewable energy sources and rising awareness regarding solar-powered devices

Asia Pacific is anticipated to witness a robust CAGR of 5.4% over the forecast period. Rising consumer affordability, and growing efforts to reduce food loss due to spoilage in the region are driving the growth of the market

In August 2022, COSORI, a home cooking essentials brand announced the launch of a new premium 10-tray food dehydrator for residential purposes. The product is constructed of stainless steel with a glass visible front door

Company Profiles

Tribest Corporation

Koolatron Corporation

Excalibur Dehydrator

National Presto Industries, Inc.

Lem Products Holding LLC

Hamilton Beach Brands, Inc.

The Sausage Maker, Inc.

Aroma Housewares Company

JBT Corporation

STX International

Avantco Equipment

National Enameling and Stamping Company (NESCO)

Vitality4Life Pty Limited

Kihara Works Co., Ltd.

Guangdong IKE Industries Co., Ltd.

Key Attributes:

Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 152 Forecast Period 2023 - 2030 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2023 $1991.37 Million Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2030 $2840 Million Compound Annual Growth Rate 5.1% Regions Covered Global

Key Topics Covered:



Chapter 1. Methodology and Scope



Chapter 2. Executive Summary



Chapter 3. Food Dehydrator Market Variables, Trends & Scope

3.1. Market Segmentation & Scope

3.2. Penetration and Growth Prospect Mapping

3.3. Industry Value Chain Analysis

3.4. Technology Overview

3.5. Regulatory Framework

3.6. Market Dynamics

3.7. Business Environment Analysis

3.7.1. Industry Analysis - Porter's

3.7.2. PESTEL Analysis

3.8. COVID-19 Impact Analysis



Chapter 4. Food Dehydrator Market: Technology Estimates & Trend Analysis

4.1. Technology Analysis & Market Share, 2022 & 2030

4.1.1. Market estimates and forecasts, 2018 - 2030 (USD Million)

4.2. Horizontal Airflow

4.3. Vertical Airflow



Chapter 5. Food Dehydrator Market: End-use Estimates & Trend Analysis

5.1. End-use Analysis & Market Share, 2022 & 2030

5.1.1. Market estimates and forecasts, 2018 - 2030 (USD Million)

5.2. Residential

5.3. Commercial

5.4. Industrial



Chapter 6. Food Dehydrator Market: Energy Source Estimates & Trend Analysis

6.1. Energy Source Movement Analysis & Market Share, 2022 & 2030

6.2. Electric

6.2.1. Market estimates and forecasts, 2018 - 2030 (USD Million)

6.3. Solar

6.4. Other



Chapter 7. Food Dehydrator Market: Regional Estimates & Trend Analysis

7.1. Regional Market Snapshot



Chapter 8. Food Dehydrator Market - Competitive Analysis

8.1. Key global players & recent developments & their impact on the industry

8.2. Key Company/Competition Categorization

8.3. Vendor Landscape

8.4. Public Companies

8.4.1. Company market position analysis

8.5. Private companies

8.5.1. List of key emerging companies and their geographical presence



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/telovx

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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.

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Dublin, Aug. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Shale Gas Market - Growth, Trends, and Forecasts (2023-2028)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global shale gas market is undergoing a significant transformation, poised to register a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of over 9% during the forecast period. This market, which experienced a paradigm shift with the advent of the shale boom in 2007, is now navigating the challenges and opportunities presented by evolving energy consumption patterns, technological advancements, and environmental concerns.

Driving Forces

1. Growing Oil Consumption: The escalating demand for oil and its derivatives, driven by industries dependent on oil-based products, acts as a robust growth driver for the shale gas market. The versatility of oil's applications, ranging from transportation to manufacturing, ensures a sustained demand that contributes to the market's growth.

2. Technological Innovation: Advances in shale gas extraction technology, particularly in horizontal drilling, are reshaping the viability of shale gas reservoirs. These innovations are making shale gas production more economically and environmentally feasible, presenting a potential growth avenue for industry players.

Market Restraints

1. Price Volatility: The shale gas market faces the challenge of oil price volatility, with instances of prices plummeting below the production cost of shale gas. This fluctuation impacts the profitability of market players and necessitates strategies to manage price-related risks.

2. Environmental Concerns: The extraction process of shale gas, notably hydraulic fracturing or fracking, has raised environmental concerns. Issues like methane gas emissions and improper disposal of chemically treated water pose potential air and water pollution risks. These environmental impacts have attracted the attention of regulatory bodies and environmental organizations.

Market Trends and Regional Dominance

1. North America's Hegemony: The United States emerges as the juggernaut in shale gas production, setting the global benchmark. While efforts to replicate the American shale boom have been attempted in various countries, the United States remains unparalleled in shale gas extraction efficiency.

2. Canada's Shifting Landscape: Historically a significant supplier of natural gas, Canada is now transitioning from conventional to unconventional sources due to the decline in conventional reserves. The exploration and development of shale gas in provinces like Alberta, British Columbia, Quebec, and New Brunswick aim to balance this transition.

Environmental Conundrums

1. Air and Water Pollution Concerns: The extraction process, especially fracking, has raised concerns over methane gas emissions and the potential for air and water contamination. The release of chemically treated water and its disposal pose significant environmental risks, leading to criticism and opposition from environmental protection organizations and local communities.

2. Water Strain: Hydraulic fracturing operations require substantial water resources, contributing to water scarcity concerns, particularly in regions susceptible to drought. This water demand intensifies the pressure on water supplies and heightens the importance of sustainable water management practices.

3. Seismic Activity: Shale gas activities have been associated with an increase in seismic activity, with some regions experiencing elevated earthquake occurrences. The correlation between hydraulic fracturing and seismicity has drawn attention from regulatory bodies and concerned communities.

Market Competitors

The shale gas market exhibits moderate fragmentation, with several companies operating within the sector. Key players include Chesapeake Energy Corporation, Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Exxon Mobil Corporation, PetroChina Company Limited, and ConocoPhillips. These players are navigating a complex landscape, marked by economic, technological, and environmental dynamics.

In conclusion, the global shale gas market's growth is driven by oil consumption trends and technological advancements. However, environmental concerns, price volatility, and complex regulatory challenges present considerable obstacles. North America, led by the United States, maintains its dominance, while Canada's transition to unconventional sources adds to the market's dynamism. The industry's trajectory hinges on its ability to innovate, address environmental challenges, and navigate the evolving energy landscape.

Key Topics Covered



1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Scope of the Study

1.2 Market Definition

1.3 Study Assumptions



2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY



3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY



4 MARKET OVERVIEW

4.1 Introduction

4.2 Shale Gas Production and Forecast in billion cubic meter (BCM), until 2027

4.3 Recent Trends and Developments

4.4 Government Policies and Regulations

4.5 Market Dynamics

4.5.1 Drivers

4.5.2 Restraints

4.6 Supply Chain Analysis

4.7 Porter Five Forces

4.7.1 Bargaining Power of Suppliers

4.7.2 Bargaining Power of Consumers

4.7.3 Threat of New Entrants

4.7.4 Threat of Substitutes Products and Services

4.7.5 Intensity of Competitive Rivalry



5 MARKET SEGMENTATION

5.1 Geography

5.1.1 North America

5.1.2 South America

5.1.3 Asia-Pacific

5.1.4 Europe

5.1.5 Middle-East and Africa



6 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

6.1 Mergers and Acquisitions, Joint Ventures, Collaborations, and Agreements

6.2 Strategies Adopted by Leading Players

6.3 Company Profiles

6.3.1 Antero Resources Corp.

6.3.2 Southwestern Energy Company

6.3.3 EQT Corporation

6.3.4 Equinor ASA

6.3.5 Repsol SA

6.3.6 SINOPEC/Shs

6.3.7 Chesapeake Energy Corporation

6.3.8 Royal Dutch Shell PLC

6.3.9 ExxonMobil Corporation

6.3.10 Chevron Corporation

6.3.11 PETROCHINA/SHS

6.3.12 ConocoPhillips

6.3.13 Pioneer Natural Resources



7 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AND FUTURE TRENDS

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/993w49

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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.

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Standard Uranium Ltd. (Standard Uranium or the Company) (TSX-V:STND) (OTCQB: STTDF) (Frankfurt: FWB:9SU) is pleased to announce the appointment of Sean Hillacre as President, provide a corporate update on its exploration projects including announcing the expansion of the 100%-owned Sun Dog and Atlantic Projects and the expansion of the Companys portfolio of highly prospective projects by the staking of the Corvo Project (the Project), totalling 3,711 hectares, in the eastern Athabasca Basin of northern Saskatchewan (Figure 1).



Jon Bey, CEO and Chairman for the Company, commented, This summer has been challenging for many uranium junior exploration companies and investors. I believe we are going to see a much stronger second half of this year and our team has been quietly building our portfolio of projects and working on completing joint venture deals with new partners. I would also like to congratulate Sean Hillacre on his new role, Sean is a valued member of our team, and he will make a great President.

With the addition of the Corvo Project (as described below) and expansion of the Sun Dog and Atlantic Projects, the Company now has ownership interests in seven projects, totalling over 176,969 acres across the uranium-rich Athabasca Basin. The Company continues to expand its set of high-potential assets across the Athabasca Basin to drive value and minimize dilution to shareholders through focused exploration and transactional success. The Company is seeking strategic partners to advance the projects through earn-in agreements that provide upside to shareholders through ongoing exploration and future discovery.

Figure 1. Overview map of Standard Uraniums seven Athabasca Basin projects. The newly staked Corvo Project is located 45 km northeast of the 92Energys Gemini Mineralized Zone (GMZ) and 60 km due east of Camecos McArthur River mine.

Corvo Project

The Corvo Project is situated 1.5 kilometres outside the current margin of the Athabasca Basin, approximately 50 kilometres southwest of Rabbit Lake mill facilities and 45 kilometres northeast of the Gemini Mineralized Zone (Figure 1).

The Corvo Project covers approximately 12 kilometres of two northeast trending magnetic low/electromagnetic (EM) conductor corridors (Figure 2). Data compilation by the Company is currently underway to identify target areas for high-grade1 uranium mineralization within metasedimentary and orthogneissic basement rocks (Figure 3). The Project will benefit from additional surface sampling and geophysical surveys to aid in drill target vectoring.

As our technical team continues to expand our strategic land holdings in the Basin, the Corvo Project provides another opportunity for the Company to create value for shareholders through exploration of shallow targets for high-grade uranium, said Sean Hillacre, President and VP Exploration for the Company. Located just outside the present-day Basin margin along Highway 905, the logistics and geological setting of Corvo are ideal for discovery of an accessible and economic uranium deposit.

The Company considers uranium mineralization with concentrations greater than 1.0 wt% U 3 O 8 to be high-grade.

Key Focus Points:

Newly staked Corvo Project contains two strong NE-SW magnetic low trends coincident with EM conductors and cross-cutting faults.

Historical surveys highlight geochemical anomalies along conductive trends and lithologic contacts observed in outcrop, including anomalous uranium values associated with elevated pathfinder and total rare earth elements (TREE).

Elevated radioactivity measured in boulders, outcrop, and drilled rock coupled with the geochemical anomalies present on the Corvo project indicate high potential for uranium mineralization.

Corvo is host to the previously discovered Manhattan Showing (Figure 2) having returned upwards of 59,800 ppm U with elevated Th, Pb, and TREEs and is in the vicinity of SMDI 2052 (0.137% U 3 O 8 and 2,300 ppm Th).

Figure 2. Plan map showing the magnetic low/EM conductor trends on the Corvo project highlighting historical samples and drill holes with anomalous uranium and/or radioactivity, with first vertical derivative magnetics in the background. The Manhattan showing is highlighted on the eastern Corvo claim block.

Figure 3. Plan map showing regional bedrock geology of the Corvo project area and highlighting EM conductors coincident with cross-cutting faults.

The Company believes the Corvo Project is prospective for the discovery of shallow, high-grade basement-hosted uranium mineralization akin to that recently discovered at the Gemini Mineralized Zone. The staking of the Corvo Project is part of the Companys strategy to increase its landholdings in the infrastructure-rich eastern Athabasca Basin of Saskatchewan, Canada. The project is also well positioned logistically, being road accessible via Highway 905 and proximal to other key infrastructure such as the Rabbit Lake Mill.

Atlantic Project

The Atlantic project consists of 7 mineral dispositions totalling 3,061 hectares, strategically located due west of IsoEnergys Hurricane Deposit (Figure 4). The project was acquired via staking in March 2019, and Standard Uranium holds a 100%-interest in the property. Atlantic has recently been expanded by 885 hectares, covering an additional 226 m of magnetic low/EM conductor strike length.

In June 2022, the Company completed a high-resolution ground gravity survey on the western claim block to identify subsurface density anomalies breaching the unconformity, potentially representing significant alteration zones. The Atlantic Project will require very little additional exploration before drill testing unconformity-related uranium target zones. Exploration efforts are focused on several high-priority target areas along several kilometres of mineralized conductors, coincident with cross-cutting faults and historical zones of elevated uranium in addition to favourable geochemical and geophysical anomalies identified through the current work.

Figure 4. Plan map showing regional magnetics of the Atlantic project area and highlighting EM conductors coincident with cross-cutting faults and uranium intersections. Density-low anomalies identified from the 2022 gravity survey are highlighted on the western claim blocks in addition to the newly staked expansion.

Sun Dog Project

Standard Uranium holds a 100%-interest in the 19,604-hectare Sun Dog project along the northwestern edge of the Athabasca Basin (Figure 5). The Sun Dog project is comprised of 9 mineral claims located near Uranium City, and contains the historic Gunnar uranium mine in the Beaverlodge district where uranium was mined between 1953 and 1982.

The Sun Dog Project has been expanded by 1,502 hectares, adding an additional 6.75 km of NE-SW trending conductor strike length and additional surface uranium occurrences (Figure 5). The Company has completed two reconnaissance-scale drill programs on the project totalling 2,469 metres of diamond drilling in the winter of 2022 and 2023. Work to date is highlighted by the first drill hole at the Haven discovery, SD-23-013, which intersected 1.5 m of elevated radioactivity up to 1,300 cps associated with a strong hydrothermal alteration halo. Assay results from the winter 2023 drill program are currently being processed and will be released upon final approval and compilation.





Figure 5. Plan map showing the expanded Sun Dog project area and highlighting EM conductors coincident with cross-cutting faults and uranium showings.

Davidson River Project

Davidson River is Standard Uraniums flagship property, located in the southwest Athabasca uranium district of the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan, and encapsulates the inferred extension of the structural trend that hosts Fission Uraniums Triple R deposit and NexGen Energys Arrow deposit (Figure 6). The project consists of 10 contiguous mineral dispositions totaling 30,737 hectares and lies approximately 25 to 30 km west of Arrow and Triple R, and 75 km south of the past producing Cluff Lake uranium mines.

The Company has completed 16,561 metres of diamond drilling in 39 drill holes on the Davidson River property since 2020, which has identified several zones of elevated uranium and clay-dravite alteration (Figure 7). Deep seated and strongly graphitic basement structures and favourable lithologies have been intersected across the four main trends on the property, emphasized by multiple stacked and reactivated graphitic shears and hydrothermal fluid flow on the Bronco trend, as well as a shallow highly prospective limonite-hematite redox alteration zone along the Thunderbird trend. Additionally, F3 Uraniums recently discovered high-grade JR Zone (also situated west of the Clearwater Domain), is 20 km northeast of these shear zones and positioned along a conductor parallel to those found on the Davidson River property. This highlights the potential for the Davidson River property to host significant basement-hosted uranium mineralization and supports the Companys theory that the uranium fertile conductors which host the Triple R and Arrow deposit are mirrored on the western side of the Clearwater Domain.

Figure 6. Overview map of Standard Uraniums Davidson River project in the southwest Athabasca Basin. Davidson River is located is located approximately 25 to 30 km due west of Fission Uraniums Triple R and Nexgen Energys Arrow deposits.

Figure 7. Plan map showing the expanded Davidson River project area and highlighting the local geology, EM conductors, dravite intersections, and anomalous uranium assays.

The Company believes the 2020-2022 diamond drilling programs have returned encouraging results on the property for uranium exploration in the emerging southwest Athabasca Basin district, and that the property contains several untested priority targets along the four major conductors that warrant further exploration. Data-driven analysis and anomaly matching of electromagnetic data by GoldSpot Discoveries has further refined the exploration strategy for high-grade basement hosted uranium mineralization on the property.

Canary Project

The Canary project comprises 2 mineral dispositions totalling 7,303 hectares, located along the Waterfound River in the Athabasca Basin. The project was acquired via staking in July 2020, and Standard Uranium holds a 100%-interest in the property.

Only one of the three conductive targets on the property has been tested by drilling, and results are considered highly anomalous. Historical drill-hole CRK-137 identified highly anomalous uranium enrichment near the unconformity with 10 ppm uranium over 7.4 metres in systematic composite sampling of the sandstone, and strong hydrothermal alteration was observed throughout the interval. Within this zone, a discrete 0.5 m sub-interval returned 103.1 ppm uranium; and a 1.0 m interval in the graphitic metasediments immediately below the unconformity returned 200 ppm uranium.

Exploration at the Canary project is early stage, and the project remains highly prospective for unconformity-related and basement hosted uranium mineralization. The ground-based DCIP resistivity survey completed by the Company in 2022 revealed several areas of low-resistivity anomalism paired with conductor disruptions, defining high-priority drill targets for an inaugural drill program on the project.

Ascent Project

Standard Uranium holds a 100%-interest in the Ascent project which straddles the eastern boundary of the Athabasca Basin. The project consists of a single mineral disposition totalling 3,737 hectares.

Regional prospecting by historical operators identified uranium enrichment in basement rocks located east of the Athabasca Basin edge, which support the exploration model for shallow sandstone and basement hosted uranium on the property. The high-resolution TDEM survey completed by the Company in 2022 has further resolved shallow geophysical conductors on the project, defining several priority drill targets for an inaugural drill program on the project.

The current exploration model for the Ascent project is analogous to that of the J-Zone and Roughrider deposits, that are located proximal to a similar airborne EM target that has dimensions of roughly 2-km long by 1-km wide. The Ascent EM target is interpreted by the Company to represent a shallow-dipping conductive system and will be the focus of future exploration programs, drawing on the analogy of the J-Zone and Roughrider uranium deposits.

Rocas Project

The Rocas project comprises 3 mineral dispositions totalling 3,152 hectares, located 75 kilometers southwest of the Key Lake Mine and Mill facilities along Highway 914, and approximately 72 kilometers south of the present-day margin of the Athabasca Basin. The project was acquired via staking in May 2023, and Standard Uranium holds a 100%-interest in the property.

The Project covers 5.5 kilometres of a northeast trending magnetic low/electromagnetic (EM) conductor corridor which hosts several uranium anomalies, including historical mineralized outcrop grab samples along approximately 900 metres of strike length, grading up to 0.50 wt. % U 3 O 8 . Notably, none of the historical uranium occurrences have been drill-tested. Data compilation by the Company has identified multiple target areas for shallow high-grade basement-hosted uranium mineralization within metasedimentary and orthogneissic basement rocks. The Project will benefit from additional surface sampling and geophysical surveys to aid in drill target vectoring.

Appointment of Sean Hillacre as President

The Company announces that Mr. Sean Hillacre, VP Exploration for the Company, has been appointed to President of the Company, effective July 1, 2023.

He will be working alongside Standard Uraniums CEO Jon Bey as the Company advances its uranium projects in the prolific Athabasca Basin in Saskatchewan, in addition to supporting the Company's financing and strategic activities on a day-to-day basis.

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release, including the sampling, analytical and test data underlying the technical information contained in this news release, has been reviewed, verified, and approved by Sean Hillacre, P.Geo., VP Exploration of the Company and a qualified person as defined in NI 43-101.

Non-Brokered Private Placement

The Company also advises that it will not be proceeding with the private placement previously announced on May 4, 2023.

About Standard Uranium (TSX-V: STND)

We find the fuel to power a clean energy future.

Standard Uranium is a uranium exploration company and emerging project generator poised for discovery in the worlds richest uranium district. The Company holds interest in over 176,969 acres (71,617 hectares) in the world-class Athabasca Basin in Saskatchewan, Canada. Since its establishment, Standard Uranium has focused on the identification, acquisition, and exploration of Athabasca-style uranium targets with a view to discovery and future development.

Standard Uraniums Atlantic, Canary, Ascent, Corvo, and Rocas Projects, in the eastern Athabasca Basin, comprise twelve mineral claims over 20,964 hectares. The eastern basin projects are highly prospective for unconformity related and/or basement hosted uranium deposits based on historical uranium occurrences, recently identified geophysical anomalies, and location along trend from several high-grade uranium discoveries.

Standard Uranium's Sun Dog project, in the northwest part of the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan, is comprised of nine mineral claims over 19,603 hectares. The Sun Dog project is highly prospective for basement and unconformity hosted uranium deposits yet remains largely untested by sufficient drilling despite its location proximal to uranium discoveries in the area.

Standard Uraniums Davidson River Project, in the southwest part of the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan, comprises ten mineral claims over 30,737 hectares. Davidson River is highly prospective for basement-hosted uranium deposits due to its location along trend from recent high-grade uranium discoveries. However, owing to the large project size with multiple targets, it remains broadly under-tested by drilling. Recent intersections of wide, structurally deformed and strongly altered shear zones provide significant confidence in the exploration model and future success is expected.

For further information contact:

Jon Bey, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman

1030 West Georgia Street, Suite 907

Vancouver, BC V6E 2Y3

Tel: 1 (306) 850-6699

E-mail: info@standarduranium.ca

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements or forward-looking information (collectively, forward-looking statements) within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as of the date of this news release. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding: the timing and content of upcoming work programs; geological interpretations; timing of the Companys exploration programs; and estimates of market conditions.

Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements contained herein. 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. Certain important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are highlighted in the Risks and Uncertainties in the Companys management discussion and analysis for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2022, dated August 26, 2022.

Forward-looking statements are based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company at this time, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies that may cause the Companys actual financial results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied herein. Some of the material factors or assumptions used to develop forward-looking statements include, without limitation: the future price of uranium; anticipated costs and the Companys ability to raise additional capital if and when necessary; volatility in the market price of the Companys securities; future sales of the Companys securities; the Companys ability to carry on exploration and development activities; the success of exploration, development and operations activities; the timing and results of drilling programs; the discovery of mineral resources on the Companys mineral properties; the costs of operating and exploration expenditures; 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); uncertainties related to title to mineral properties; assessments by taxation authorities; fluctuations in general macroeconomic conditions.

The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Any forward-looking statements and the assumptions made with respect thereto are made as of the date of this news release and, accordingly, are subject to change after such date. The Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable securities laws. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

Neither the TSX-V nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX-V) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7baa18c7-bb70-493a-a485-9d165fb85b48

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0508eaf6-37ca-4e20-aacb-758e25789130

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Dublin, Aug. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Connected Aircraft Global Market Forecast to 2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Global Connected Aircraft Market is poised for substantial expansion, with an estimated growth trajectory from USD 10 billion in 2023 to reach USD 16.5 billion by 2028, demonstrating a robust Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 10.6% during the forecast period. These connected aircraft serve as a conduit for real-time data exchange between aircraft and ground systems, empowering airlines to optimize and monitor flight operations. This capability leads to improved fuel efficiency, reduced maintenance costs, and overall operational enhancements.

The report dissects the Connected Aircraft Market across various dimensions. It categorizes the market by Type, Platform, and Connectivity, spanning regions like North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and the Rest of the World. The report's purview extends to comprehensive insights, encapsulating drivers, challenges, restraints, and opportunities that steer market growth.

Furthermore, the document undertakes an extensive examination of key players, encompassing business overviews, products, solutions, services, key strategies, recent developments, and new product & service launches associated with the Connected Aircraft market. Notably, the competitive landscape features industry stalwarts such as Honeywell International, Raytheon Technologies Corporation, Thales Group, Viasat Inc, and Gogo Inc, among others.

The Software segment is expected to grow the highest during the forecast period

Based on type, the software segment is projected to grow the highest in the Connected Aircraft Market during the forecast period. As aircraft become more connected, cybersecurity becomes a crucial concern. The software segment is witnessing growth as airlines and manufacturers invest in robust cybersecurity solutions to protect aircraft systems from potential cyber threats and attacks.

The Advanced Air Mobility segment is projected to have the highest CAGR in the market during the forecast period

Based on the platform, the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) segment is expected to have the highest CAGR in the market during the forecast period. AAM platforms heavily rely on advanced technologies, such as autonomous flight systems, electric propulsion, and advanced communication networks. Ongoing developments and innovations in these areas are driving the growth of AAM platforms.

In-flight connectivity is projected to lead the Connected Aircraft Market during the forecast period

Based on connectivity, the in-flight connectivity segment is projected to lead the Connected Aircraft Market during the forecast period. Technological advancements have made in-flight connectivity more reliable, faster, and cost-effective. The development of advanced satellite and air-to-ground communication systems has significantly improved the quality of in-flight internet services.

North America is expected to account for the largest market share in 2023

The Connected Aircraft market has been studied for the regions North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World. North America boasts a strong economy and a significant level of investment in research and development. This financial capacity allows airlines and aerospace companies to invest in advanced connected aircraft technologies.

The region fosters collaborations between technology companies, airlines, and aerospace manufacturers. These partnerships facilitate the development and deployment of innovative connected aircraft solutions.

The commercial aviation industry in North America is also robust and extensive, with major airlines, aircraft leasing companies, and a substantial fleet of operational aircraft. This sizable scale of operations presents a significant market for connected aircraft solutions.

Key Attributes

Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 235 Forecast Period 2023-2028 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2023 $10 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2028 $16.5 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 10.6% Regions Covered Global

Market Dynamics

Drivers Need for Optimum Airline Operations Increased Demand for In-Flight Connectivity Improved Airline and Passenger Safety Advancements in Communications Technologies

Restraints Limited Availability of Bandwidth Cybersecurity Risks

Opportunities Integration of Advanced Aircraft Solutions Emphasis on Predictive Maintenance

Challenges Lack of Skilled Labor Challenges Associated with Software Updates and Maintenance



Value Chain Analysis

Raw Materials

R&D

Component Manufacturing

Assemblers and Integrators

End-users

Ecosystem Mapping

Prominent Companies

Private and Small Enterprises

End-users

Key Stakeholders and Buying Criteria

Key Stakeholders in Buying Process

Buying Criteria

Technology Analysis

Robotics

Data Analytics

Use Case Analysis

Connected Aircraft Systems for Military Operations

Communications Systems for Aircraft

Premium Insights

Increasing Demand for Enhanced Passenger Experience

Commercial Aviation to Secure Maximum Market Share in 2023

Satellite Communications Systems to Record Highest CAGR Between 2023 and 2028

Germany to be the Fastest-Growing Country During Forecast Period

Other Key Insights

Impact of Recession on the Connected Aircraft Market

Trends/Disruptions Impacting Customers' Businesses

Porter's Five Forces Analysis

Pricing Analysis

Volume Data, by Platform

Tariff and Regulatory Landscape

Trade Analysis

Key Conferences and Events, 2023-2024

Companies Profiled

Key Players Gogo Inc. Honeywell International Inc. Raytheon Technologies Corporation Thales Group Viasat Inc. TE Connectivity Ltd. Cobham plc BAE Systems Panasonic Avionics Corporation Anuvu Kontron AG Astronics Iridium Communications Inc. Ramco Systems Garmin

Other Players Brotecs Apijet LLC Exsyn Aviation Solutions Flight Data Systems Jeppesen Fleetplan.net Bytron Aviation Systems Ultramain Flightman Donica International Inc.



Key Topics Covered

1 Introduction

2 Research Methodology

3 Executive Summary

4 Premium Insights

5 Market Overview

6 Industry Trends

7 Connected Aircraft Market, by Type

8 Connected Aircraft Market, by Platform

9 Connected Aircraft Market, by Connectivity

10 Connected Aircraft Market, by Region

11 Competitive Landscape

12 Company Profiles

13 Appendix

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/di6xd4

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
New York, Aug. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "High Performance Data Analytics Market Size & Share Analysis - Growth Trends & Forecasts (2023 - 2028)" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06483772/?utm_source=GNW

The High Performance Data Analytics Market size is expected to grow from USD 85.28 billion in 2023 to USD 215.14 billion by 2028, at a CAGR of 20.33% during the forecast period (2023-2028).



The ability of strong, high-performance computing (HPC) systems to process data at higher resolutions and the increasing adoption of big data analytics are the main factors driving the growth of the high-data performance analytics market.



Key Highlights

Many businesses are relying on large-scale data analytics to gain a deeper understanding of customer behavior, and these requirements are also expected to promote market expansion. Analytics and AI require increasingly powerful processing, networking, and storage infrastructure. Because of this, more companies are employing HPC solutions to boost AI-based innovation and productivity.

High-performance data analytics (HPDA) combines data analytics with high-performance computing to discover patterns and insights. High-performance cloud computing and data analytics have made it possible to analyze extremely large data collections in real time.

Hadoop and Spark are examples of large data analytics techniques that lack access to high-speed computing that has long been utilized for complex modeling and simulations. To prevent input/output bottlenecks, high-performance data analytics also offers the advantage of extremely quick communication between processing parts. Error detection, graph modeling, graph visualization, streaming analytics, exploratory data analysis, and architectural analysis are additional advantages of high-performance data analytics.

Corporations still run the risk of using personal data even if they are successful in protecting it from hackers and cyberattacks. Despite the presence of data privacy laws, there are still some unaddressed concerns about how businesses that have lawfully obtained data use it. Thus, customer data privacy breaching concerns restrict the market growth in many end-user organizations.

Data and analytics can offer clarity and support for clinical and operational decision-making in businesses. For instance, evaluating and validating the medicines required to treat patients with COVID-19 depends on real-world clinical data that may be shared among researchers. Many HPDA service providers have offered software solutions for health systems with free access to a COVID-19 data science workspace for academic projects to aid clinical researchers in their fight against the pandemic, which fueled the market growth during the pandemic.



High Performance Data Analytics Market Trends



Energy and Utilities Sector to Grow Rapidly



The energy and utility industries are also among the other sectors undergoing a large-scale transformation due to the advent of advanced technologies. One major technological driver impacting this industry is the emergence of Big Data and analytics.

For instance, in November 2022, Halliburton, a company that offers products and services to the energy sector, signed a new, multi-year partnership with Enverus, the most reputable energy-specific SaaS platform, to use Enverus software, analytics, and intelligence across its operations. The agreement highlights the significant role that technology and data analytics would play in the development of the energy industry.

The scarcity of fossil fuel is giving rise to alternate sources of energy such as solar, wave, and wind turbines, wherein consumption is increasing at a high pace. Thus, it has become imperative to use advanced tools that use high-performance data analytical tools to understand the behavior or adaption of these sources of energy. For instance, a French energy services company like Edelia launched a complex energy consumption monitoring and management solution which monitors energy usage in near real-time, enabling consumers to control consumption and reduce their carbon footprint.

Energy and utility organizations apply smart technology to their landscape, including sensors, cloud computing technologies, wireless, power planning, and network communication. These produce large data sets, which get collected over a period. Hence the need for quality information will also likely aid the market growth. For example, a utility company using smart meters and power can gather around three petabytes of data every 15 minutes for a year for about one million households.

Many large companies in the energy and utility sectors are developing in-house high-performance data analytics platforms to increase their operational efficiencies. For instance, in August 2022, Shell, a petrochemical producer, claimed that using data more effectively throughout the organization has improved operational efficiency. This has been made possible by the companys new Shell.ai platform, which, according to the internal data team, has enabled hundreds of engineers, scientists, and analysts to develop together by democratizing data analytics and artificial intelligence.



North America Expected to Continue to Dominate the Market



The North American region dominates the market in terms of demand, owing to the presence of major players. The high investment rate, the presence of active collaboration among different enterprises, and growing applications of HPDA in areas such as BFSI and Retail are among a few factors driving the regional market growth.

Data preparation, training, and deployment workflows for data analytics relied heavily on CPU computing, making them slow and laborious previously. The region consists of two developed economies, the USA and Canada, which have been adopting accelerated data science to improve end-to-end analytics workflow performance, accelerating value creation while cutting costs in various industries.

Utilizing the potential of high-performance data analytics, companies may create products more quickly, provide better customer service, and foster enterprise-wide innovation. Many companies in the region are developing HPDA software to be used across industries to enhance their data analytics ability. For instance, HPE, an American company, introduced an HPC as a service offering, which enables businesses to execute better simulations, data analytics, and artificial intelligence.

Data Analytics software providers in the region are extending their portfolio by including advanced capabilities in their solutions, such as HPC and AI. For instance, in December 2022, with the introduction of its next-generation Data Scale system from SambaNova, businesses could switch from tactical AI implementations to scalable, corporate-wide solutions, and organizations may achieve ROI with Data Scale more quickly.

Additionally, in December 2022, Stifel Financial Corp, an American full-service investment banking firm, selected KX to improve market data analytics and support real-time decision-making. KX created kdb+, the time series database, and a real-time analytics engine. Stifel would use the speed and scalability of kdb+ for data input and processing to enhance its trade execution analytics and operations and add value for its clients. Thus, the demand for HPDA software to increase business in the BFSI sector is driving the market in the region.



High Performance Data Analytics Industry Overview



The competitive landscape of the global high-performance data analytics market is fragmented due to the presence of many players. The key vendors are continuously innovating in the technology due to the vast array of prospects the market projects. The companies are undergoing mergers and acquisitions, spending vast sums of money on R&D activities, etc.



In November 2022, Panasas, a high-performance storage provider, announced adding additional data insight and mobility tools to its PanFS software lineup. The preview and PanMove software solutions have been intended to improve the visibility and portability of data assets at organizations deploying high-performance computing (HPC), high-performance data analytics (HPDA), and artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) workloads at scale. They bring data management and analytics tools to Panasas storage.



In November 2022, AWS added five new features to its database and analytics portfolios to let users handle and analyze data of a petabyte scale more quickly and easily. These new features for Amazon Document DB, Amazon OpenSearch Service, and Amazon Athena would make it easier for customers to operate high-performance database and analytics workloads at scale.



In October 2022, Striim introduced a High-performance integration software for BigQuery, which has been the first streaming SaaS solution that integrates and replicates data from enterprise-grade databases like Oracle, MS-SQL, PostgreSQL, MySQL, and others to Google Cloud BigQuerys enterprise data warehouse. It has been using change data capture (CDC) technologies and was an in-house development by the company. Customers might quickly set up a new data pipeline to transmit transactional data from hundreds of tables to BigQuery with sub-second end-to-end latencies to enable real-time analytics and handle time-sensitive operational concerns, which would create a demand for the HPDA software across various industries to analyze these huge data inputs.



Additional Benefits:



The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format

3 months of analyst support

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06483772/?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, Aug. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Barley Market Size & Share Analysis - Growth Trends & Forecasts (2023 - 2028)" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06483757/?utm_source=GNW

The Barley Market size is expected to grow from USD 23.51 billion in 2023 to USD 29.62 billion by 2028, at a CAGR of 4.73% during the forecast period (2023-2028).



Key Highlights

Barley is the fourth most important cereal crop in the world. Europe accounts for the majority of share in global barley consumption. China, Saudi Arabia, Canada, and Turkey are the major barley-consuming countries. An increase in the demand for barley as raw material for alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages is anticipated to drive the markets growth over the forecast period.

The European Union is the largest producer of barley, accounting for 34% of the global production, with 51.4 million metric ton in 2021. The barley market is anticipated to witness a surge in demand due to the growing requirement for breweries. This demand is also due to the increasing demand for several types of convenience food items, clean label trends, and emerging applications in food. Barley also has potential as a pharmaceutical product due to its many benefits. It is also used to treat digestive problems such as inflammatory bowel conditions.

In recent years, the governments in the food grain sector have largely been making progress due to an array of programs offered. For instance, to meet local demand and develop storage reserves, the Saudi government provides financial incentives to private-sector enterprises and individuals to produce strategic crops such as barley, soybeans, and yellow corn. It also credits interest-free loans and supports the growers financially. These factors have boosted the demand for barley, thus driving the market.



Barley Market Trends



Emerging Applications is Various Industries Led to Growth in Exports



In 2021, Australia was the major exporter of barley, with a volume of 8.7 million metric ton in 2021, followed by France, with 6.5 million metric ton. Rising awareness about the nutritional aspect of the consumption of whole grains is one of the major factors driving the barley market. Besides, the surging demand for including natural ingredients in snacks supports the barley markets growth. It is also preferred for the manufacture of non-alcoholic beverages. These factors are propelling the growth of the barley market across the world.



Traditionally, white barley has been the preferred animal feed. It is overwhelmingly considered a carbohydrate and protein source in livestock feed. Approximately 80% of imported barley is fed to sheep, camels, and goats in the Middle East without further processing in combination with green forage. The remainder is largely used as an ingredient in dairy feed processing. Dairy farms use limited quantities of barley in their feed formulations. When it is readily available at competitive prices, barley is often used in the place of forage in many countries.



An uptick in barley malt demand for alcoholic beverages is acting as a high-impact driver for the barley market. The heightened demand for different kinds of convenience food products, emerging applications in the F&B industry, clean-label trends, and escalating demand for natural ingredients also propels this market. Thus, these factors have led to increased barley exports across the globe from countries such as France, Russia, Australia, and Ukraine. Hence, these factors are anticipated to drive the market during the forecast period.



North America is Dominating the Market



The North American barley harvest area increased by 18.7% between 2018 and 2022. Canada is the largest producer of barley in North America. Growing economies are witnessing a high adoption rate of barley in the food and beverage industry. This factor may contribute to the expansion of the barley market in the coming years.



The United States is the worlds seventh-largest producer of barley. About three-quarters of the barley grown in the United States is currently used for malt production. The countrys producers harvested 2.2 million acres of barley in 2020 as it is widely used in soups, as an extender for vegetable proteins, and milled into flour. Barley flour contains gluten and cannot be used in gluten-free applications. It is used in the United States in baby food. Malt produced from barley is also widely used in the food industry in baked goods and flavorings.



With consumers becoming more health conscious, they are cutting back on the consumption of alcohol and spirits, restraining the demand for barley malt, which, in turn, is hindering the overall demand for barley. Other negative factors include declining soil fertility, pest and disease infestation, and drastic changes in the climate, which are affecting barley yields.



Barley Industry Overview



Additional Benefits:



The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format

3 months of analyst support

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06483757/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________
Ottawa, Aug. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global anesthesia monitoring devices market revenue is estimated to reach around USD 4,150 million by 2028, a study published by Towards Healthcare a sister firm of Precedence Research.



The anesthesia monitoring devices market refers to the global market for devices used to monitor patients' vital signs and anesthesia levels during surgical procedures. These devices play a crucial role in ensuring patient safety and optimizing anesthesia management. The market for anesthesia monitoring devices has been growing steadily due to factors such as the increasing number of surgeries, advancements in technology, and the rising focus on patient safety. Anesthesia monitoring devices are used in various surgical specialties, including cardiology, orthopedics, neurology, and general surgery.

The market is driven by the growing demand for efficient and accurate monitoring solutions, as well as the increasing adoption of minimally invasive surgical techniques. Anesthesia monitoring devices help anesthesiologists and healthcare professionals closely monitor vital signs, such as heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, and end-tidal carbon dioxide levels, ensuring the patient's well-being during surgery.

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The Role of Advanced Anesthesia Monitors

Advanced anesthesia monitors have indeed played a significant role in driving the growth of the anesthesia monitoring devices market. These monitors incorporate advanced technologies and features that enhance the accuracy, efficiency, and safety of anesthesia administration. They provide real-time monitoring of vital signs and anesthesia parameters, allowing healthcare professionals to make informed decisions during surgeries. The dominance of advanced anesthesia monitors in the market can be attributed to several driving factors. First and foremost, these monitors offer a higher level of precision and accuracy in monitoring patients' vital signs, such as blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen saturation, and end-tidal carbon dioxide levels. This accuracy is crucial for ensuring patient safety and optimizing anesthesia management.

In addition, the integration of advanced features and capabilities in anesthesia monitors has revolutionized the monitoring process. Features such as waveform analysis allow for detailed assessment of vital signs, while automated alarms provide immediate alerts in case of critical changes. The seamless integration of data with electronic medical records enables comprehensive patient monitoring and facilitates efficient data analysis for accurate diagnosis and treatment decisions. These advancements contribute to improved patient care by enhancing the accuracy, efficiency, and effectiveness of anesthesia monitoring procedures.

The growing acceptance of minimally invasive surgical approaches has significantly contributed to the demand for advanced anesthesia monitors. These procedures necessitate meticulous monitoring of the patients physiological parameters throughout the surgery. Advanced anesthesia monitors play a crucial role in providing real-time data on vital signs, such as heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, and end-tidal carbon dioxide levels, allowing anesthesiologists to adjust anesthesia levels accurately and promptly. By enabling precise monitoring during minimally invasive surgeries, these advanced monitors enhance patient safety, optimize anesthesia management, and improve surgical outcomes.

Moreover, the growing emphasis on patient safety and the need for continuous monitoring throughout the surgical process has fueled the demand for advanced anesthesia monitors. These monitors allow healthcare professionals to closely monitor patients, detect any changes or complications promptly, and take appropriate actions in real time, thereby enhancing patient outcomes.

In addition to these factors, advancements in technology, such as the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms, are further driving the development of advanced anesthesia monitors. AI-powered monitors can analyze patient data, identify patterns, and provide predictive insights, assisting healthcare professionals in making informed decisions and improving anesthesia delivery.

Thus, the dominance of advanced anesthesia monitors in the market is a result of their superior capabilities, enhanced accuracy, and the growing focus on patient safety. These monitors will continue to drive the growth of the anesthesia monitoring devices market as healthcare providers strive for more precise and efficient anesthesia management during surgical procedures.

The Role of Hospitals in the Anesthesia Monitoring Devices Market

Hospitals have indeed played a significant role in dominating the anesthesia monitoring devices market. The demand for anesthesia monitoring devices is primarily driven by the usage and adoption of these devices in hospitals, where a large number of surgical procedures take place.

In addition, hospitals have the necessary infrastructure and resources to invest in advanced medical equipment, such as anesthesia monitoring devices. These devices are considered essential for ensuring patient safety and optimizing anesthesia management during surgical procedures. Hospitals prioritize providing high-quality care to their patients and allocate budgets and resources to acquire and maintain state-of-the-art medical equipment, including anesthesia monitors. By investing in advanced technology, hospitals can enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of anesthesia monitoring, leading to improved patient outcomes and overall quality of care.

Furthermore, hospitals have a dedicated anesthesia department or anesthesia team responsible for managing anesthesia during surgeries. These professionals rely on anesthesia monitoring devices to assess and manage patients' vital signs, administer appropriate anesthesia levels, and ensure patient safety throughout the surgical process. Hospitals prioritize the availability of reliable and accurate monitoring devices to support their anesthesia teams in delivering optimal care.

Moreover, hospitals often handle a wide range of surgical specialties, such as cardiology, orthopedics, general surgery, and neurosurgery, among others. Each specialty may have specific requirements for anesthesia monitoring, which further drives the demand for a variety of anesthesia monitoring devices. Hospitals cater to these diverse needs and invest in a range of devices to support different surgical specialties. Hospitals serve as centers for medical research, education, and training.

Hospitals dominate the anesthesia monitoring devices market due to the high volume of surgical procedures, their commitment to patient safety, the availability of resources for investment, and their role as centers for medical research and education. The demand from hospitals is a significant driving factor for the growth and advancement of anesthesia monitoring devices in the market.

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The Role of Increasing Number of Surgical Procedures

The increasing number of surgical procedures is a significant driving factor behind the growth of the anesthesia monitoring devices market. Advancements in surgical techniques and procedures have expanded the scope of surgeries performed. Minimally invasive procedures, robotic surgeries, and complex surgeries that were once considered high-risk are now more accessible. With the growing range of surgical procedures, the demand for anesthesia monitoring devices to ensure patient safety during anesthesia administration has also increased.

Patient safety is a top priority in healthcare, and anesthesia monitoring devices play a crucial role in ensuring safe anesthesia administration. These devices monitor patients' vital signs, such as heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, and end-tidal carbon dioxide levels, in real-time. The emphasis on patient safety drives healthcare providers to invest in advanced anesthesia monitoring devices, leading to market growth.

Chronic diseases, such as diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular diseases, are on the rise globally. As of 2022, it is estimated that nearly 2.3 billion individuals, including both children and adults, were living with overweight and obesity globally. This significant number highlights the growing prevalence of this health concern, which can have various implications for individuals and public health systems worldwide. These conditions often require surgical interventions for diagnosis, treatment, or management. As the prevalence of chronic diseases increases, the demand for surgical procedures also grows, thereby driving the market for anesthesia monitoring devices.

Technological advancements in anesthesia monitoring devices have improved their accuracy, efficiency, and user-friendliness. Advanced monitoring systems offer features such as real-time data monitoring, integration with electronic health records, and advanced alarm systems. These advancements enhance patient safety and optimize anesthesia administration, making them increasingly valuable in surgical settings. The aging population is driving the need for surgical interventions. Older adults often require surgical procedures for various health conditions, such as cardiovascular diseases, joint replacements, and cancer treatment. The rise in the aging population contributes to the overall increase in surgical procedures and subsequently fuels the demand for anesthesia monitoring devices.

Thus, the increasing number of surgical procedures is driven by surgical advancements, the aging population, the prevalence of chronic diseases, technological advancements in monitoring devices, emphasis on patient safety, regulatory guidelines, and expanding healthcare infrastructure. These factors collectively contribute to the growth of the anesthesia monitoring devices market.

The Rising Demand for Non-Invasive Monitoring Augments the Market Growth

The rising demand for non-invasive monitoring is a significant driving factor behind the growth of the anesthesia monitoring devices market. Non-invasive monitoring refers to the collection of vital signs and other physiological data without the need for invasive procedures or devices that penetrate the patient's body. Non-invasive monitoring methods provide a safer and more comfortable experience for patients undergoing anesthesia. Traditional invasive monitoring techniques may involve the insertion of catheters, needles, or probes, which can be uncomfortable and carry a risk of complications. Non-invasive monitoring techniques, such as pulse oximetry, non-invasive blood pressure monitoring, and capnography, offer accurate measurements without invasive procedures, enhancing patient safety and comfort.

Invasive monitoring procedures carry a risk of introducing infections. By utilizing non-invasive monitoring methods, healthcare providers can minimize the risk of infections associated with invasive devices, such as catheter-related bloodstream infections. This is particularly important in surgical settings where maintaining a sterile environment is crucial. Non-invasive monitoring devices are generally user-friendly and accessible to healthcare professionals across different settings. They are often portable, compact, and easy to operate, allowing for seamless integration into various healthcare environments, including operating rooms, intensive care units, and outpatient settings. The ease of use and accessibility of non-invasive monitoring devices contribute to their increasing adoption. The shift towards outpatient surgical procedures and ambulatory care has increased the demand for non-invasive monitoring devices. As more surgeries and procedures are performed on an outpatient basis, non-invasive monitoring becomes crucial for ensuring patient safety and successful outcomes in these settings.

The rising demand for non-invasive monitoring in anesthesia is driven by factors such as patient safety and comfort, minimizing infection risks, continual monitoring, ease of use and accessibility, technological advancements, cost-effectiveness, and the growing emphasis on outpatient care. These factors contribute to the increasing adoption of non-invasive monitoring devices and drive the growth of the anesthesia monitoring devices market.

Impact of High Cost on the Anesthesia Monitoring Market

The high cost of anesthesia monitoring devices is a significant restraining factor in the market. These devices are typically sophisticated and technologically advanced, incorporating various sensors, monitors, and data analysis capabilities. The cost of research and development, manufacturing, and regulatory compliance adds to the overall price of these devices. The high-cost poses challenges for healthcare facilities, especially those with limited budgets or in resource-constrained settings. Acquiring and maintaining anesthesia monitoring devices can be a significant financial burden for hospitals and healthcare providers. It may require substantial capital investment, which may not always be feasible for smaller facilities or those with limited financial resources.

Additionally, the high cost of anesthesia monitoring devices can also impact patient affordability and access to healthcare services. In some cases, the cost may be passed on to patients, leading to higher healthcare expenses. This can be a deterrent for patients seeking anesthesia services, especially in regions where healthcare costs are already a concern. Furthermore, the cost of training healthcare professionals on the proper use and maintenance of anesthesia monitoring devices adds to the overall expenses. Ongoing training and skill development are necessary to ensure safe and effective utilization of these devices, but the associated costs can be a barrier for some healthcare facilities.

To address the issue of high cost, industry players and stakeholders are working on various strategies. These include efforts to streamline manufacturing processes, optimize supply chains, and explore cost-effective alternatives without compromising quality and performance. Additionally, collaborations between device manufacturers and healthcare providers can lead to cost-sharing initiatives and bulk purchasing agreements, making the devices more affordable and accessible.

Moreover, advancements in technology and innovations in anesthesia monitoring devices may contribute to cost reductions over time. As new technologies emerge, they have the potential to improve efficiency, simplify device design, and lower production costs. Additionally, increased competition in the market can drive manufacturers to offer more cost-effective options.

It is crucial for healthcare stakeholders, including manufacturers, healthcare providers, and policymakers, to address the issue of high costs in the anesthesia monitoring devices market. By focusing on cost optimization, fostering innovation, and exploring collaborative models, it is possible to make these devices more affordable and accessible, thereby facilitating their widespread adoption and improving patient care.

Related Reports:

Anesthesia Drugs Market: The global anesthesia drugs market is surging, with an overall revenue growth expectation of hundreds of millions of dollars during the forecast period from 2023 to 2032.



The global is surging, with an overall revenue growth expectation of hundreds of millions of dollars during the forecast period from 2023 to 2032. Blood Pressure Monitoring Devices Market: The global blood pressure monitoring devices market was estimated at USD 1.77 billion in 2022 and is anticipated to reach around USD 6.28 billion by 2032, registering a CAGR of 14.1% from 2023 to 2032.



The global was estimated at USD 1.77 billion in 2022 and is anticipated to reach around USD 6.28 billion by 2032, registering a CAGR of 14.1% from 2023 to 2032. Ambulatory Surgical Center Market: The global ambulatory surgical center market accounted for USD 92.79 billion in 2022 and it is projected to be worth around USD 152.6 billion by 2030, expanding at a CAGR of 6.4% from 2022 to 2030.



Regional Landscape of the Anesthesia Monitoring Devices Market

North America, particularly the United States, is a key market for anesthesia monitoring devices. The United States has a well-established healthcare infrastructure, advanced medical facilities, and a high volume of surgical procedures, contributing to the significant demand for anesthesia monitoring devices in the region.

The United States is known for its strong focus on healthcare innovation. The continuous advancements in technology, such as the integration of advanced sensors, wireless connectivity, and data analytics capabilities, have significantly enhanced anesthesia monitoring devices' functionality and accuracy. This drives the adoption of advanced devices in the market. The United States has a complex healthcare reimbursement system. However, favorable reimbursement policies and coverage for anesthesia monitoring devices encourage healthcare facilities to invest in these technologies. Reimbursement support enables hospitals and clinics to recover some of the costs associated with the devices, making them more accessible and affordable for healthcare providers.

Increasing Demand in Emerging Markets Creates Extensive Growth Opportunities

The increasing demand for anesthesia monitoring devices in emerging markets is creating significant growth opportunities in the industry. Emerging markets, particularly in regions like Asia-Pacific and Latin America, are experiencing rapid growth in their healthcare sectors. Factors such as rising population, improving healthcare infrastructure, increasing affordability of healthcare services, and government initiatives to enhance healthcare access are contributing to the growth of surgical procedures in these regions.

As surgical procedures increase, the demand for anesthesia monitoring devices also rises. Anesthesia monitoring devices play a crucial role in ensuring patient safety and optimizing anesthesia administration during surgeries. They help healthcare professionals monitor vital signs, such as heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, and respiratory rate, to ensure patients are stable and respond appropriately to anesthesia.

In emerging markets, there is a growing awareness among healthcare providers and patients about the importance of advanced monitoring devices in improving surgical outcomes and patient safety. As a result, the demand for anesthesia monitoring devices is on the rise. The increasing availability and affordability of healthcare services are driving more individuals to seek surgical treatments, including elective procedures. This further fuels the demand for anesthesia monitoring devices.

Moreover, the healthcare industry in emerging markets is undergoing digital transformation, with a focus on adopting advanced technologies and improving healthcare delivery. This creates an environment conducive to the adoption of innovative anesthesia monitoring devices. Manufacturers can leverage this opportunity by introducing technologically advanced and cost-effective devices tailored to the specific needs of emerging markets.

To capitalize on the increasing demand in emerging markets, manufacturers need to understand the unique requirements and challenges of these regions. Factors such as cost-effectiveness, portability, ease of use, and adaptability to local healthcare settings are important considerations. Building strong partnerships with local distributors, healthcare institutions, and regulatory bodies is also crucial for market penetration and sustainable growth.

Thus, the increasing demand for anesthesia monitoring devices in emerging markets presents significant growth opportunities for manufacturers and suppliers. By focusing on these markets, understanding their specific needs, and offering tailored solutions, companies can expand their customer base and contribute to improving surgical outcomes and patient safety in these regions.

Competitive Landscape

The anesthesia monitoring devices market is characterized by the presence of several global and local competitors, resulting in a fragmented market. Key players in the market include GE Healthcare, Philips Healthcare, Medtronic, Dragerwerk AG, Masimo Corporation, and Mindray Medical International Limited, among others. These players compete based on factors such as product innovation, advanced technologies, strategic partnerships, and customer-centric approaches. They aim to provide comprehensive anesthesia monitoring solutions that enhance patient safety and improve healthcare outcomes. The market is dynamic, with continuous advancements in technology and increasing emphasis on patient-centric care driving competition and innovation among the players.

Market Segmentation

By Product Type

Advanced Anesthesia Monitors



Anesthesia Gas Monitors Monitors Measuring the Depth of Anesthesia Standalone Capnography Monitors Others

Basic Anesthesia Monitors

Integrated Anesthesia Workstation



By End User

Hospitals

Ambulatory Surgical Centers (ASCs)

Specialty Clinics

Others

By Application

Cardiology

Neurology

Dental

Ophthalmology

Urology

Orthopedics

Others



By Geography

North America

Europe

Asia-Pacific

Latin America

Middle East and Africa



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New York, Aug. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "AI Image Recognition Market Size & Share Analysis - Growth Trends & Forecasts (2023 - 2028)" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06483734/?utm_source=GNW

The AI Image Recognition Market size is expected to grow from USD 4.39 billion in 2023 to USD 10.91 billion by 2028, at a CAGR of 19.94% during the forecast period (2023-2028).



Artificial intelligence (AI) is a technology field that uses technology to replicate the cognitive processes of human intellect. Since its inception, image recognition has long been recognized as one of artificial intelligences most lucrative and beneficial applications. Image recognition, closely related to computer vision, is an interdisciplinary area of computer science that deals with a computers capacity to recognize and comprehend the material within images.



Key Highlights

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been incorporated into many aspects of daily life, including language recognition software, AI-enhanced cameras for smartphones, financial transaction analysis in banks, and self-driving car algorithms. With the emergence of AI for numerous applications, from diagnosis to therapy recommendations, medical imaging is going through a fundamental transformation.

The adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) technology is rising due to its ability to enhance and automate operations and enrich the user experience. The increasing adoption of AI in the healthcare sector, such as in diagnostic radiology, is expected to fuel the growth of the AI market over the forecast period. The defense sector is expected to drive innovations in AI with huge budgets allocated for technology development.

Big data is being adopted widely in different industries. With robust internet penetration and new technologies, there is massive growth in the data generated globally. The technologies, such as the Internet of Things, Industry 4.0, and 5G, among others, encourage artificial intelligence. Massive growth in data generation due to technological advancements results in big data. AI simplifies big data analytics by automating and improving data preparation, data visualization, predictive modeling, and other complicated analytical operations that may otherwise be time-consuming and labor-intensive. AI speeds up analyzing massive, complex datasets and surfacing relevant user insights.

As AI and deep learning applications expand globally, from tech giants to small and medium-sized businesses, the need for artificial intelligence technicians has increased significantly. However, there has been a shortage of expert AI technicians.

COVID-19 positively impacted the market as few industries witnessed an increase in AI adoption; however, others faced a decline. The pandemic educated business executives with vital insights into digital transformation. The potential that data analytics and artificial intelligence bring to an organization is one of the most compelling teachings. For instance, AI aids push processes, people, and services online in the public sector and compel local, regional, and national governments to embrace AI. In a few months, governments globally have learned to use AI as a weapon to fight against the virus, from educating the public and screening patients to tracking and tracing contacts.



AI Image Recognition Market Trends



Healthcare Sector is Expected to Witness Significant Growth



The adoption of AI image recognition technology in the healthcare sector is rapidly growing globally, owing to a wide range of applications for artificial intelligence image recognition technology in CT scans, X-rays, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging. Furthermore, from improved security and patient identification to better patient monitoring and diagnosis, AI image recognition technology has helped improve the patient experience and reduce the workload for healthcare workers.

Additionally, AI image recognition models can assist in diagnosing various conditions. The models can be trained and deployed to scan images from MRI or X-ray machines and other visual outputs to detect, locate, and flag up medical abnormalities the model has been trained to identify. For instance, it can identify the number and exact locations of tumors within an image, helping to direct the medical practitioners attention to the malignant or cancerous elements.

Furthermore, AI image recognition models help retrieve information on similar conditions closely related to the patients results from a medical examination. MRI or X-ray scans are already implemented to provide medical teams with insightful images for various diseases and traumas, including cancer, broken bones, and many other conditions. Image similarity search can benefit this field by retrieving similar images, which can help doctors with an accurate diagnosis by supplying X-ray or MRI images of a similar physical appearance to those from the patient of concern.

Additionally, check-in and check-out processes are fundamental in the healthcare setup. AI image recognition technology can make them more accessible and faster, simultaneously decreasing the workload for hospital staff. By 2026, the value of the potential annual benefits of using robot-assisted surgery in healthcare settings globally was forecast to be approximately USD 40 billion. Furthermore, it was forecast that the annual value of using virtual nursing assistant AI applications would amount to USD 20 billion. When patients enter the facility, the face recognition system scans their faces and runs them against the hospital database. The patients identity is verified in real-time without paperwork or additional identification documents.

Furthermore, several factors simultaneously drive the integration of AI in radiology. First, in many countries, there is a shortage of doctors trained in radiology, which, considering the rising demand for diagnostic imaging, helps increase work efficiency and productivity.



Asia-Pacific is Expected to be the Fastest Growing Market



Adopting AI image recognition services in end-user industries like manufacturing, healthcare, retail, and e-commerce in nations like China, India, Japan, and others may be responsible for this market share rise in the Asian-Pacific region. The adoption of advanced technologies in this area has accelerated in recent years. The overall capacity of computing systems has increased along with data processing, storage, and availability.

According to a report by the Center for Security and Emerging Technologies (CSET), India is well-positioned to become a significant player and an essential partner in the AI ecosystem. According to research published by a US think tank, Indias AI policy is on the right track. Six more Indian technology start-ups have joined the Unicorn Club. India only produced seven unicorns in 2020 and six in 2019. Experts believe that by 2025, India is expected to have more than 150 unicorns.

Furthermore, the government and organizations are investing in the research and development of AI technologies for governance. The Chinese government announced the establishment of the Next Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan, which promises policy support, central coordination, and investments totaling more than USD 150 billion by 2030. By the end of this decade, Chinas AI business is expected to produce USD 160 billion in yearly revenues, with allied industries generating USD 1.6 trillion in annual sales.

The Asian Pacific regions market is expected to rise due to Chinas expanding use of face recognition in security and surveillance systems. As an illustration, the Chinese government has implemented real-name registration laws in the nation, mandating that residents link their online accounts to their official government IDs. These regulations have increased the use of image recognition throughout the country. This will drive the study market.

The e-commerce sector is now using AI image recognition as well. The market for visual search has grown significantly in the past. This is significant because todays consumers are more likely to look for products using product photos than words. The AI image recognition firms in the region are developing new products, and government bodies in the Asia Pacific are investing heavily to upscale the regions technological factors and enhance their digital transformation policies. Initiatives and developments like these will drive the study market in the area.



AI Image Recognition Industry Overview



The intense competitive rivalry in the market studied is high and expected to sustain itself over the forecast period. The key players in this market are innovating their products regularly, leading them to gain a sustainable competitive advantage. Due to this, there is always high competition between players to innovate and introduce new products. The intense competition will decrease prices and decrease the industrys overall profitability.



In August 2022, Clarifai, the leading AI platform for unstructured image, video, text, and audio data, launched a new free service, Clarifai Community, built on Clarifais platform. Data scientists and developers use it. It is easy for no-code business users to create models and workflows and share them with others globally, advancing the reality that all can use and benefit from AI.



In September 2022, the International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology (ISUOG) World Congress 2022 was to take place in London, United Kingdom, from September 16 to September 18. Samsung Medison, a leading medical equipment manufacturer and a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, will attend the function to demonstrate its high-end HERA W10 obstetric and gynecological ultrasound equipment. The HERA W10 system has Intelligent Assist (AI diagnostic solutions), V8, and V7. These two top-of-the-line ultrasound systems can be employed with premium AI diagnostic solutions in various medical specialties.



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__________________________
WHITEHORSE, Yukon, Aug. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Chartered Professional Accountants of Yukon (CPAYT) and the CPA Western School of Business (CPAWSB) congratulate Kyle Blahy and Marie-Alexis Dangreau for passing the multi-day national Common Final Examination (CFE) written in May 2023. The exam was administered by CPAWSB.



We are very proud of Kyle and Marie-Alexis for their tremendous achievement, said Peter Woodruff, CPA, CA, chair of CPA Yukon. Succeeding in the CFE is the result of hard work and focus. Were pleased to have Marie-Alexis and Kyle help lead the future of the CPA profession and wish them all the best.

In order to become designated, students must complete rigorous course work, pass the CFE, and fulfill relevant practical experience requirements. The national CFE ensures all Canadian chartered professional accountants meet the same high standards, which are recognized nationally and internationally.

I am immensely pleased with the two diligent candidates from the Yukon who successfully navigated the 2023 May CFE, showcasing both technical aptitude and professional skills that will be valuable throughout their careers," affirmed Yuen Ip, MBA, CPA, CMA, PMP, CEO of the CPA Western School of Business. "On behalf of our entire team at the School, I extend heartfelt congratulations and wish these dedicated individuals a prosperous journey in their career advancement.

CPAWSB delivers the nationally-developed CPA professional education program in Canadas western region. Throughout the program, CPA candidates develop the competencies expected of professional accountants, developing technical skills and enabling competencies as they grow in professionalism and leadership.

About CPA Yukon

The Chartered Professional Accountants of Yukon (CPAYT) is the governing, and regulatory body for over 200 members. The Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia (CPABC) is responsible for the regulating and professional development of CPAYT members, and the protection of the public through its ethical standards and discipline processes. CPAs are recognized internationally for bringing superior financial expertise, strategic thinking, business insight, and leadership to organizations.
Transaction in Own Shares

18 August 2023

               

Shell plc (the Company) announces that on 18 August 2023 it purchased the following number of Shares for cancellation.

Aggregated information on Shares purchased according to trading venue:

Date of purchase Number of Shares purchased Highest price paid



Lowest price paid



Volume weighted average price paid per share Venue Currency 18/08/2023 662,037 23.7400 23.3150 23.4945 LSE GBP 18/08/2023 - 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 Chi-X (CXE) GBP 18/08/2023 - 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 BATS (BXE) GBP 18/08/2023 968,571 28.1950 27.7350 27.9116 XAMS EUR 18/08/2023 - 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 CBOE DXE EUR 18/08/2023 - 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 TQEX EUR

These share purchases form part of the on- and off-market limbs of the Company's existing share buy-back programme previously announced on 27 July 2023.

In respect of this programme, Citigroup Global Markets Limited will make trading decisions in relation to the securities independently of the Company for a period from 27 July 2023 up to and including 27 October 2023.

The on-market limb will be effected within certain pre-set parameters and in accordance with the Companys general authority to repurchase shares on-market. The off-market limb will be effected in accordance with the Companys general authority to repurchase shares off-market pursuant to the off-market buyback contract approved by its shareholders and the pre-set parameters set out therein. The programme will be conducted in accordance with Chapter 12 of the Listing Rules and Article 5 of the Market Abuse Regulation 596/2014/EU dealing with buy-back programmes (EU MAR) and EU MAR as onshored into UK law from the end of the Brexit transition period (at 11:00 pm on 31 December 2020) through the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (as amended by the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020), and as amended, supplemented, restated, novated, substituted or replaced by the Financial Services Act, 2021 and relevant statutory instruments (including, The Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations (SI 2019/310)), from time to time (UK MAR) and the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1052 (the EU MAR Delegated Regulation) and the EU MAR Delegated Regulation as onshored into UK law from the end of the Brexit transition period (at 11:00 pm

on 31 December 2020) through the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (as amended by the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020), and as amended, supplemented, restated, novated, substituted or replaced by the Financial Services Act, 2021 and relevant statutory instruments (including, The Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations (SI 2019/310)), from time to time.

In accordance with EU MAR and UK MAR, a breakdown of the individual trades made by Citigroup Global Markets Limited on behalf of the Company as a part of the buy-back programme is detailed below.

Enquiries

Media International: +44 (0) 207 934 5550

Media Americas: +1 832 337 4335

LEI number of Shell plc: 21380068P1DRHMJ8KU70

Classification: Acquisition or disposal of the issuers own shares

Attachment
New York, Aug. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Submarine Optical Fiber Cable Market Size & Share Analysis - Growth Trends & Forecasts (2023 - 2028)" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06483719/?utm_source=GNW





Key Highlights

Growing investment in high-speed internet infrastructure is driving the growth of the submarine optical fiber cable market. The continuous increase in the generation and transfer of vast amounts of data worldwide is one of the primary drivers of the market. Hence, many internet backbone operators may invest in the submarine optical fiber cable market over the forecast period.

Submarine cable systems carry over 99% of intercontinental communication traffic, making them the invisible enabler of global connectivity. The regional telecom industry is advancing at a higher rate worldwide, led by countries like China and India. However, internet infrastructure is still a significant issue in many parts of the world.

As more and more people in developing areas of the world already have access to the internet, the next step in strengthening the cable network may be in emerging markets worldwide. Hence, many companies, including government agencies, see the submarine optical fiber cable market as an opportunity.

The rapid increase in mobile broadband penetration significantly contributes to the markets growth. The global demand for smartphones has been increasing due to several factors, like increasing disposable income, the advent of 5G, and the development of telecom infrastructure. For instance, according to Ericsson, the number of smartphone subscriptions worldwide amounted to 6,259 million in 2021, and the number is expected to reach 7,690 million in 2027.?

Although submarine cables are covered in silicon gel and wrapped in multiple layers of steep wires, plastic, copper sheathing, nylon yarn, and polyethylene insulator to protect these optical fibers from damage, periodic maintenance is still necessary to ensure their safety and longevity, which is expensive. The high installation and maintenance costs are expected to challenge the markets growth.

The outbreak of COVID-19 increased data usage, significantly driving the demand for submarine optic fiber cable networks. The pandemic has also significantly changed the consumption patterns of wider populations open to new technologies. This is expected to drive investments in the subsea cable network in the post-COVID period.



Submarine Optical Fiber Cable Market Trends



Growing Smartphone Penetration and Increasing Demand for Internet Bandwidth Drive the Market



The smartphone industry has witnessed unprecedented growth in recent years. The growing acceptance and prevalence of digital technologies, along with the mobile-first approach of companies, are among the major factors driving smartphone adoption. According to Ericsson, the global number of smartphone subscribers is expected to reach 7,790 million in 2028, from 6,260 million in 2021.

In a business environment such as e-commerce, as the business grows, the traffic or number of people trying to access the website at once increases as well, driving the amount of bandwidth required to accommodate this load. All these combined factors are expected to drive the markets growth during the forecast period.

Although the smartphone industry is approaching maturity in developed countries, emerging regions still offer huge growth opportunities. For instance, according to Ericsson, Northeast Asia was the leading region in terms of the number of smartphone subscribers (1,990 million in 2022), followed by China (1,570 million) and Southeast Asia & Oceania (910 million).

All these factors positively contribute to the growth of the market studied, as a higher smartphone subscription positively impacts internet consumption and the amount of data being generated, driving the demand for data centers and other digital infrastructures wherein high bandwidth connectivity is a crucial requirement.

Increased bandwidth, ultra-low latency, and faster connectivity are expanding civilizations, revolutionizing industries, and radically improving day-to-day experiences. E-health, networked vehicles and traffic systems, and advanced mobile cloud gaming were formerly considered futuristic.

Bandwidth demands typically grow significantly every year. These growth trends are more likely for networks that rely on services involving heavy workloads, such as streaming video services. As streaming video services have a growing number of 4K video content, gaming platforms are moving toward delivering new games first by download. Now, services such as Google Stadia are poised to deliver games as a streaming service. Hence, there is a constant trend toward higher bandwidth services.



Trans-Pacific Region is Expected to Lead the Market



Submarine cables carry over 97% of all internet traffic worldwide, and nearly everyone uses the internet for daily tasks. Due to the internets ability to connect people worldwide, international traffic is growing daily. Asia-Pacific accounts for about half of all internet traffic worldwide, which is increasing the demand for submarine communication cables. The lack of submarine communication cable systems in the countries is causing the need for faster internet services in the Trans-pacific region, which has prompted the World Bank and the Asia Development Bank to fund new cable systems.

In March 2021, Google, Facebook, and Pacific Light Data Communication (PLDC) submitted a revised proposal to connect North America and Asia via six new transoceanic cables. According to Facebook, the new cables will increase subsea capacity in the trans-pacific by about 70% while providing internet connection to locations lacking connectivity.

In December 2021, the United States, Australia, and Japan jointly funded the construction of an undersea cable intending to boost internet access in three tiny Pacific countries. The development of the cable will provide faster internet to Nauru, Kiribati, and the Federated States of Micronesia.

In February 2022, as per the recommendations of Team Telecom, the FCC approved Submarine Cable Landing License for the Pacific Light Cable Network (PLCN) system. PLCN connections from the United States to Taiwan and the Philippines are now in service commercially. Team Telecom entered the National Security Agreements with Google LLC and its subsidiary G.U. Holdings Inc. Meta Platforms Inc. (formerly Facebook Inc.) and subsidiary Edge Cable Holdings USA LLC protect data on the Pacific Light Cable Network (PLCN) system. This undersea fiber optic cable system will connect the United States, Taiwan, and the Philippines. Consequently, Team Telecom has FCC grant Google and Meta cable landing licenses for the PLCN system.

In July 2022, NTT Ltd Japan Corporation, Mitsui & Co. Ltd., PC Landing Corp., and JA Mitsui Leasing Ltd announced the launch of a new company, Seren Juno Network Co. Ltd (Seren), which was founded to construct and operate JUNO, the new and largest Trans-Pacific submarine cable system that will run between Japan and the United States.

In August 2022, N.E.C. Corporation announced that Seren Juno Network had selected the company to build a Trans-Pacific subsea fiber-optic cable, JUNO Cable System, connecting California in the United States. with Chiba prefecture and Mie prefecture in Japan. The cable will span over 10,000 km and is expected to complete by the end of 2024.



Submarine Optical Fiber Cable Industry Overview



The submarine optical fiber cable market is highly fragmented, with the presence of major players like Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.), NEC Corporation, Nexans SA, Fujitsu Ltd, and NTT Communications and Corporation. Players in the market are adopting strategies such as partnerships, mergers, innovations, and acquisitions to enhance their product offerings and gain sustainable competitive advantage.



November 2022 - Prysmian signed a EUR 220 million (USD 234.50 million) limited notice to proceed with Samsung C&T as part of its EPC consortium with Jan De Nul for the project, which is said to be the Middle Easts first-of-its-kind high-voltage, direct current (HVDC-VSC) subsea power transmission system. The company will design, supply, assemble, and test a symmetrical monopole system made up of four HVDC 320 kV single-core cables with XLPE insulation, as well as fiber optic cable systems, to connect the Al Mirfaonshore converter station to the Al Ghallanartificial island in the Arabian Gulf off the coast of Abu Dhabi.

October 2022 - NEC Corporation signed a four-year charter agreement with Global Marine Systems Limited in the United Kingdom for an optical submarine cable-laying ship. Through this contract, NEC will strengthen its submarine cable system provision and respond to the growing demand for submarine cables as global data traffic increases.



Additional Benefits:



The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format

3 months of analyst support

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06483719/?utm_source=GNW



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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, Aug. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The law firm of Kirby McInerney LLP is investigating potential claims against the board of directors of Altice USA, Inc. (Altice USA or the Company) (NYSE: ATUS). The investigation concerns whether members of Altice USAs board of directors or senior management failed to manage Altice USA in an acceptable manner, in breach of their fiduciary duties to Altice USA, and whether Altice USA and its shareholders have suffered damages as a result.



Altice USA operates as a telecommunication and media company, offering digital cable television, high-speed broadband and ultra-HD video, internet, local news and voice offerings, data, and digital advertising solutions.

On July 13, 2023, Altice USA co-founder Armando Pereira was detained in Portugal as part of a criminal investigation into alleged corruption, tax fraud, and money laundering. On July 15, 2023, Alexandre Fonseca, the Co-Chief Executive and chairman of Altice USA, resigned from the board of directors of Altice USA. On July 17, 2023, Fonseca suspended himself from all executive and non-executive duties at Altice USA. In addition, Altice USAs U.S. head of procurement, Pereiras son-in-law Yossi Benchetrit, was put on leave, along with about ten other employees.

If you still hold Altice USA shares purchased before July 2023, have information, or would like to learn more about this investigation, please contact Thomas W. Elrod of Kirby McInerney LLP by email at investigations@kmllp.com , or by filling out this contact form, to discuss your rights or interests with respect to these matters without any cost to you.

Kirby McInerney LLP is a New York-based plaintiffs law firm concentrating in securities, antitrust, whistleblower, and consumer litigation. The firms efforts on behalf of shareholders in securities litigation have resulted in recoveries totaling billions of dollars. Additional information about the firm can be found at Kirby McInerney LLPs website: http://www.kmllp.com .

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.

Contacts

Kirby McInerney LLP

Thomas W. Elrod, Esq.

212-699-1180

https://www.kmllp.com

investigations@kmllp.com




HONG KONG and TORONTO, Aug. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- This summer, the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) invited international actor Henry Golding, who rose to fame in 2018 starring in Crazy Rich Asians, to embark on an exhilarating trip to Hong Kong. Through his perspective, he explored and recommended popular attractions and hidden gems in the city to global audiences.

The Malaysian English superstar shared his feelings about re-visiting the energetic city, saying, Hong Kong has truly captured my heart. What I love most about the city is its pure diversity. Everybody says Hong Kong is such a melting pot of all of Asia, and it truly is. Every corner, every moment on the street, is a mix of old and new, from the buildings to the people and all walks of life. Hong Kong is so unique and unlike elsewhere of the world.

Embarking from the comfort of his hotel suite overseeing the breathtaking skyline of Victoria Harbour, Golding blazed through Hong Kong's iconic landmarks and hidden treasures in a flash, all within his tightly packed schedule. He embraced the diverse array of experiences that Hong Kong offers, indulging in delectable meals at luxurious restaurants, sipping classic cocktails at a bar to enjoy the citys vibrant nightlife, and immersing himself in the city's rich cultural heritage at temples and traditional barber shops.

As Golding ventured, he engaged in heartfelt exchanges with the locals, eagerly shared his reflections on the trip and invited travellers to uncover the off-the-beaten-path gems and unique offerings that make Hong Kong an unforgettable destination.

Stay tuned to Discover Hong Kongs social media channels and Henry Goldings Instagram (www.instagram.com/henrygolding) for his memorable journey in Hong Kong.

Images

Photo caption 1





Hong Kong Tourism Board invites Henry Golding to experience and share his unforgettable journey of Hong Kong with global audiences.

Photo caption 2





Golding explored the city, immersing himself in the electric energy of Hong Kong.

Members of the media can download photos from the following link:

https://assetlibrary.hktb.com/assetbank-hktb/action/browseItems?categoryId=1166&categoryTypeId=2&cachedCriteria=1

For media inquiries, please contact:

Jorge Lee

jorge.lee@hktb.com

Tel: (416) 366-2389 ext 206 Carol Lam

carol.py.lam@hktb.com

Tel: (416) 366 2389 ext 201

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at



https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1eccdb4d-e396-4a16-8237-d8a5c2e43055



https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/cf3619e6-e1ec-4999-8b64-f5ec1f54f38c






VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Newcore Gold Ltd. ("Newcore" or the "Company") (TSX-V: NCAU, OTCQX: NCAUF) announces the annual grant of equity incentive awards. Newcore has granted 1,540,000 stock options and 531,000 restricted share units (together the "Equity Incentive Awards") to employees, directors and executives of the Company. The stock options were granted at a price of $0.20 per share for a period of five years. The Equity Incentive Awards are subject to regulatory approval, are granted under the Companys long-term incentive plan and are subject to vesting provisions.



About Newcore Gold Ltd.

Newcore Gold is advancing its Enchi Gold Project located in Ghana, Africas largest gold producer (1). Newcore Gold offers investors a unique combination of top-tier leadership, who are aligned with shareholders through their 20% equity ownership, and prime district scale exploration opportunities. Enchis 216 km2 land package covers 40 kilometres of Ghanas prolific Bibiani Shear Zone, a gold belt which hosts several 5 million-ounce gold deposits, including the Chirano mine 50 kilometers to the north. Newcores vision is to build a responsive, creative and powerful gold enterprise that maximizes returns for shareholders.

(1) Source: Production volumes for 2022 as sourced from the World Gold Council

On Behalf of the Board of Directors of Newcore Gold Ltd.

Luke Alexander

President, CEO & Director

For further information, please contact:

Mal Karwowska | Vice President, Corporate Development and Investor Relations

+1 604 484 4399

info@newcoregold.com

www.newcoregold.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.
TORONTO, Aug. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FT Portfolios Canada Co. (First Trust Canada), announced today that the cap, buffer and dates for the next Target Outcome Period for the First Trust Cboe Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF  AUG (AUGB.F) (the fund or August Buffer ETF) are as follows:



TICKER CAP BUFFER OUTCOME PERIOD AUGB.F 18.70% (Gross) 10% 21/08/2023  16/08/2024



The previous Target Outcome Period for AUGB.F concluded on August 18, 2023 and the upside cap for the new Target Outcome Period has been reset to prevailing market conditions.

The fund seeks an outcome that provides investors with returns (before fees, expenses and taxes) that match the price return of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY or underlying ETF), up to a predetermined upside cap, while providing a buffer against potential SPY losses. The fund is managed and sub-advised by Cboe Vest Financial LLC (Cboe Vest) using a target outcome strategy or pre-determined target investment outcome.

If an investor purchases hedged units after the first day of the Target Outcome Period, they will likely have a different return potential than an investor who purchased hedged units at the start of the Target Outcome Period and the buffer the fund seeks may not be available.

First Trust Canada believes a buffer against a level of losses can help investors stay invested during volatile times. The fund offers a way to gain access to outcome-based investingspecifically to buffer against a level of downside risk while allowing growth to a maximum cap eliminating bank credit risk, in a convenient, flexible investment vehicle.

Karan Sood and Howard Rubin, of Cboe Vest, serve as a portfolio managers for the fund. The portfolio managers are jointly and primarily responsible for making investment management decisions for the fund.

For further information: Media Contact: Karl Cheong FT Portfolios Canada Co., 40 King Street West, Suite 5102, Email: karlcheong@firsttrust.ca, 1-877-622-5552.

About First Trust

First Trust Canada is the trustee, manager and promoter of the fund. First Trust Canada and its affiliates First Trust Advisors L.P. (FTA), portfolio advisor to the fund, an Ontario Securities Commission registered portfolio manager and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission registered investment advisor, and First Trust Portfolios L.P., a FINRA registered broker-dealer, are privately held companies that provide a variety of investment services. FTA has collective assets under management or supervision of approximately U.S.$200 billion as of June 30, 2023 through unit investment trusts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, mutual funds and separate managed accounts. For more information, visit www.firsttrust.ca .

About Cboe Vest:

Cboe Vest is the creator of Target Outcome Investments, which strive to buffer losses, amplify gains or provide consistent income to a diverse spectrum of investors. Today, Cboe Vests Target Outcome StrategiesTM are available in mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), unit investment trusts (UITs), collective investment trusts (CITs), and customizable managed accounts / sub-advisory services. For more information about Cboe Vest and the evolution of Target Outcome Investments, visit www.cboevest.com or contact Linda Werner at lwerner@cboevest.com or 703-864-5483.

There may be commissions, management fees and expenses associated with ETF investments. ETFs are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated. Please read the prospectus of the fund before investing. Contact FT Portfolios Canada at 1-877-622-5552 or visit www.firsttrust.ca to obtain a copy of the prospectus and ETF Facts for the fund.

Important Information

The information presented is not intended to constitute an investment recommendation for, or advice to, any specific person. Financial advisors are responsible for evaluating investment risks independently and for exercising independent judgment in determining whether investments are appropriate for their clients.

Cboe is a registered trademark of Cboe Exchange, Inc., which has been licensed for use in the name of the fund. The fund is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or marketed by Cboe Exchange, Inc. or any of its affiliates (Cboe) or their respective third-party providers, and Cboe and its third-party providers make no representation regarding the advisability of investing in the fund and shall have no liability as licensor in connection with the fund.

First Trust Advisors L.P. is the portfolio advisor to the fund. First Trust Advisors L.P. is an affiliate of FT Portfolios Canada Co., the trustee, manager and promoter of the fund.

Further information about First Trust Canadas ETFs can be found at www.firsttrust.ca .


VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Blender Bites Ltd. (the Company, Blender Bites or Blender), (CSE: BITE, FWB: JL4, WKN: A3DMEJ), a multi award-winning Canadian company involved in the development and marketing of a line of premium, frozen functional beverages, is thrilled to announce its US subsidiary, Blender Bites US Ltd., is launching at Walmart USA (Walmart), with product now ready to ship to approximately 1,600 Walmart locations across the U.S. This collaboration marks a significant milestone for the Company, catapulting the Blender Bites brand and placing it firmly on the map as a strong player in the frozen beverage category.



Blender Bites 1-Step Smoothies are a frozen innovation made to simplify the smoothie process, and are made with organic fruits, greens and functional ingredients such as probiotics and immune supporting vitamins and minerals. They are certified organic, gluten free, dairy free, soy free and contain no added sugars. Blender Bites 1-Step Frappes are a healthier take on the traditional Frappuccino and contain 50% less sugar, calories and carbohydrates. They are also dairy free, gluten free, and contain functional ingredients such as adaptogenic mushrooms and collagen. Both items can be made with the use of a blender or a shaker cup offering customers a convenient option to enjoy at home or on the go.

Walmart will carry three of Blender Bites 1-Step Smoothie SKUs including top sellers Liquid Sunshine with a good source of mood boosting Vitamin D, Daily Defen-C with immune supporting probiotics, and Power Berry with 7 organic greens and a good source of energizing B vitamins. Walmart has also listed two of the Companys 1-Step Frappes including Mindful Mocha with cognitive supporting lions mane mushroom and Caramel Collagen with skin, hair and joint supporting collagen.

With this launch, Blender Bites has transitioned from a thriving Canadian startup to a prominent household brand across North America. The Companys unwavering commitment to quality, innovation, and consumer satisfaction has been instrumental in launching at Walmart. As a female-founded and led company, Blender Bites takes pride in collaborating with Walmart.

Julianne Hough, the esteemed celebrity advocate for Blender Bites, has been instrumental in creating a seamless marketing push that perfectly aligns with this launch. The Company has been working with Walmart USA over the past 18 months to ensure that every aspect of the business is meticulously prepared for this major launch.

We are thrilled to bring Blender Bites to Walmarts vast network of stores across the U.S., says Chelsie Hodge, Blender Bites CEO and Founder. Walmart has shown incredible support of a diversity founded brand and has shown true collaboration over the past 18 months. This opportunity is by far the most significant in our Companys history, and it represents a transformative step towards our goal of becoming a household name in the frozen food and beverage category.

The Blender Bites team has spared no effort in scaling every aspect of the business to ensure a smooth and successful launch in collaboration with Walmart USA. Customers can expect to find Blender Bites products on Walmart shelves in the US starting from August 21st, 2023, as well as on walmart.com.

ABOUT BLENDER BITES

Blender Bites is a multi award-winning Canadian company involved in the development and marketing of a line of premium, frozen functional food and beverages. Blender Bites products are made with organic ingredients, non-GMO, gluten free, dairy free and soy free. Blender Bites was founded in 2016 and first launched to market in Western Canada in 2017 with a pre-portioned 1-Step Smoothie product that is free of any unnecessary inner plastic packaging. Blender Bites products are now distributed internationally across Canada and the US, and are currently sold in over 1000 stores, including Walmart, Sobeys, Loblaws, Safeway, Save on Foods, Real Canadian Superstore, Whole Foods Market, Buy-Low/Nesters, IGA, and Thriftys.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Blender Bites Limited

Chelsie Hodge, Chief Executive Officer

Email  chelsie@blenderbites.com

Telephone  236-521-0626

For further information, contact Blender IR Team at:

Email  investors@blenderbites.com

Telephone  1-888-997-2055

Media Contact  teamblenderbites@jonesworks.com

CAUTIONARY DISCLAIMER STATEMENT

This news release includes certain forward-looking statements under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon several estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to general business, economic, competitive, political, and social uncertainties, and uncertain capital markets. Readers are cautioned that actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
RADNOR, Pa., Aug. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The law firm of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP (www.ktmc.com) is currently investigating potential violations of the federal securities laws on behalf of investors of Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) (Discover Financial).



On July 19, 2023, Discover Financial disclosed in a statement that the company had misclassified some of its credit cards. Specifically, Discover Financial revealed that it misclassified certain credit card accounts into its highest pricing tier, starting in 2007, meaning merchants were charged more than they should have been to accept the cards for payment. Discover Financial indicated the company is discussing the matter with regulators and warned it could face future regulatory actions. Discover Financial also disclosed that it received a proposed consent order from the FDIC for a consumer compliance issue which is different than the misclassification matter. Following this news, the companys stock price declined over 14%, to close at $102.83 on July 20, 2023.

Then, on August 14, 2023, Discover Financial disclosed that Roger Hochschild was stepping down as President and CEO as well as giving up his position as a member of the companys board of directors. Following this news, Discover Financials stock price declined over 9%, to close at $92.96 on August 15, 2023.

If you are a Discover Financial investor and would like to learn more about our investigation, please CLICK HERE to fill out our online form or contact Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP: Jonathan Naji, Esq. (484) 270-1453 or E-mail at info@ktmc.com. You can also click on the following link or paste it in your browser: https://www.ktmc.com/discover-financial-services-investigation-2023?utm_source=PR&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=dfs&mktm=r

Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP prosecutes class actions in state and federal courts throughout the country involving securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duties and other violations of state and federal law. Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP is a driving force behind corporate governance reform, and has recovered billions of dollars on behalf of institutional and individual investors from the United States and around the world. The firm represents investors, consumers and whistleblowers (private citizens who report fraudulent practices against the government and share in the recovery of government dollars). For more information about Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP, please visit www.ktmc.com.

CONTACT:
VANCOUVER, Aug. 18, 2023 - Standard Uranium Ltd. ("Standard Uranium" or the "Company") (TSX-V:STND) (OTCQB: STTDF) (Frankfurt: FWB:9SU) is pleased to announce the appointment of Sean Hillacre as President, provide a corporate update on its exploration projects including announcing the expansion of the 100%-owned Sun Dog and Atlantic Projects and the expansion of the Company's portfolio of highly prospective projects by the staking of the Corvo Project (the "Project"), totalling 3,711 hectares, in the eastern Athabasca Basin of northern Saskatchewan (Figure 1).



Jon Bey, CEO and Chairman for the Company, commented, "This summer has been challenging for many uranium junior exploration companies and investors. I believe we are going to see a much stronger second half of this year and our team has been quietly building our portfolio of projects and working on completing joint venture deals with new partners. I would also like to congratulate Sean Hillacre on his new role, Sean is a valued member of our team, and he will make a great President."

With the addition of the Corvo Project (as described below) and expansion of the Sun Dog and Atlantic Projects, the Company now has ownership interests in seven projects, totalling over 176,969 acres across the uranium-rich Athabasca Basin. The Company continues to expand its set of high-potential assets across the Athabasca Basin to drive value and minimize dilution to shareholders through focused exploration and transactional success. The Company is seeking strategic partners to advance the projects through earn-in agreements that provide upside to shareholders through ongoing exploration and future discovery.

Figure 1. Overview map of Standard Uranium's seven Athabasca Basin projects. The newly staked Corvo Project is located 45 km northeast of the 92Energy's Gemini Mineralized Zone ("GMZ") and 60 km due east of Cameco's McArthur River mine.

Corvo Project

The Corvo Project is situated 1.5 kilometres outside the current margin of the Athabasca Basin, approximately 50 kilometres southwest of Rabbit Lake mill facilities and 45 kilometres northeast of the Gemini Mineralized Zone (Figure 1).

The Corvo Project covers approximately 12 kilometres of two northeast trending magnetic low/electromagnetic (EM) conductor corridors (Figure 2). Data compilation by the Company is currently underway to identify target areas for high-grade1 uranium mineralization within metasedimentary and orthogneissic basement rocks (Figure 3). The Project will benefit from additional surface sampling and geophysical surveys to aid in drill target vectoring.

"As our technical team continues to expand our strategic land holdings in the Basin, the Corvo Project provides another opportunity for the Company to create value for shareholders through exploration of shallow targets for high-grade uranium," said Sean Hillacre, President and VP Exploration for the Company. "Located just outside the present-day Basin margin along Highway 905, the logistics and geological setting of Corvo are ideal for discovery of an accessible and economic uranium deposit."

The Company considers uranium mineralization with concentrations greater than 1.0 wt% U 3 O 8 to be "high-grade".

Key Focus Points:

Newly staked Corvo Project contains two strong NE-SW magnetic low trends coincident with EM conductors and cross-cutting faults.

Historical surveys highlight geochemical anomalies along conductive trends and lithologic contacts observed in outcrop, including anomalous uranium values associated with elevated pathfinder and total rare earth elements (TREE).

Elevated radioactivity measured in boulders, outcrop, and drilled rock coupled with the geochemical anomalies present on the Corvo project indicate high potential for uranium mineralization.

Corvo is host to the previously discovered Manhattan Showing (Figure 2) having returned upwards of 59,800 ppm U with elevated Th, Pb, and TREEs and is in the vicinity of SMDI 2052 (0.137% U 3 O 8 and 2,300 ppm Th).

Figure 2. Plan map showing the magnetic low/EM conductor trends on the Corvo project highlighting historical samples and drill holes with anomalous uranium and/or radioactivity, with first vertical derivative magnetics in the background. The Manhattan showing is highlighted on the eastern Corvo claim block.

Figure 3. Plan map showing regional bedrock geology of the Corvo project area and highlighting EM conductors coincident with cross-cutting faults.

The Company believes the Corvo Project is prospective for the discovery of shallow, high-grade basement-hosted uranium mineralization akin to that recently discovered at the Gemini Mineralized Zone. The staking of the Corvo Project is part of the Company's strategy to increase its landholdings in the infrastructure-rich eastern Athabasca Basin of Saskatchewan, Canada. The project is also well positioned logistically, being road accessible via Highway 905 and proximal to other key infrastructure such as the Rabbit Lake Mill.

Atlantic Project

The Atlantic project consists of 7 mineral dispositions totalling 3,061 hectares, strategically located due west of IsoEnergy's Hurricane Deposit (Figure 4). The project was acquired via staking in March 2019, and Standard Uranium holds a 100%-interest in the property. Atlantic has recently been expanded by 885 hectares, covering an additional 226 m of magnetic low/EM conductor strike length.

In June 2022, the Company completed a high-resolution ground gravity survey on the western claim block to identify subsurface density anomalies breaching the unconformity, potentially representing significant alteration zones. The Atlantic Project will require very little additional exploration before drill testing unconformity-related uranium target zones. Exploration efforts are focused on several high-priority target areas along several kilometres of mineralized conductors, coincident with cross-cutting faults and historical zones of elevated uranium in addition to favourable geochemical and geophysical anomalies identified through the current work.

Figure 4. Plan map showing regional magnetics of the Atlantic project area and highlighting EM conductors coincident with cross-cutting faults and uranium intersections. Density-low anomalies identified from the 2022 gravity survey are highlighted on the western claim blocks in addition to the newly staked expansion.

Sun Dog Project

Standard Uranium holds a 100%-interest in the 19,604-hectare Sun Dog project along the northwestern edge of the Athabasca Basin (Figure 5). The Sun Dog project is comprised of 9 mineral claims located near Uranium City, and contains the historic Gunnar uranium mine in the Beaverlodge district where uranium was mined between 1953 and 1982.

The Sun Dog Project has been expanded by 1,502 hectares, adding an additional 6.75 km of NE-SW trending conductor strike length and additional surface uranium occurrences (Figure 5). The Company has completed two reconnaissance-scale drill programs on the project totalling 2,469 metres of diamond drilling in the winter of 2022 and 2023. Work to date is highlighted by the first drill hole at the Haven discovery, SD-23-013, which intersected 1.5 m of elevated radioactivity up to 1,300 cps associated with a strong hydrothermal alteration halo. Assay results from the winter 2023 drill program are currently being processed and will be released upon final approval and compilation.





Figure 5. Plan map showing the expanded Sun Dog project area and highlighting EM conductors coincident with cross-cutting faults and uranium showings.

Davidson River Project

Davidson River is Standard Uranium's flagship property, located in the southwest Athabasca uranium district of the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan, and encapsulates the inferred extension of the structural trend that hosts Fission Uranium's Triple R deposit and NexGen Energy's Arrow deposit (Figure 6). The project consists of 10 contiguous mineral dispositions totaling 30,737 hectares and lies approximately 25 to 30 km west of Arrow and Triple R, and 75 km south of the past producing Cluff Lake uranium mines.

The Company has completed 16,561 metres of diamond drilling in 39 drill holes on the Davidson River property since 2020, which has identified several zones of elevated uranium and clay-dravite alteration (Figure 7). Deep seated and strongly graphitic basement structures and favourable lithologies have been intersected across the four main trends on the property, emphasized by multiple stacked and reactivated graphitic shears and hydrothermal fluid flow on the Bronco trend, as well as a shallow highly prospective limonite-hematite redox alteration zone along the Thunderbird trend. Additionally, F3 Uranium's recently discovered high-grade JR Zone (also situated west of the Clearwater Domain), is 20 km northeast of these shear zones and positioned along a conductor parallel to those found on the Davidson River property. This highlights the potential for the Davidson River property to host significant basement-hosted uranium mineralization and supports the Company's theory that the uranium fertile conductors which host the Triple R and Arrow deposit are mirrored on the western side of the Clearwater Domain.

Figure 6. Overview map of Standard Uranium's Davidson River project in the southwest Athabasca Basin. Davidson River is located is located approximately 25 to 30 km due west of Fission Uranium's Triple R and Nexgen Energy's Arrow deposits.

Figure 7. Plan map showing the expanded Davidson River project area and highlighting the local geology, EM conductors, dravite intersections, and anomalous uranium assays.

The Company believes the 2020-2022 diamond drilling programs have returned encouraging results on the property for uranium exploration in the emerging southwest Athabasca Basin district, and that the property contains several untested priority targets along the four major conductors that warrant further exploration. Data-driven analysis and anomaly matching of electromagnetic data by GoldSpot Discoveries has further refined the exploration strategy for high-grade basement hosted uranium mineralization on the property.

Canary Project

The Canary project comprises 2 mineral dispositions totalling 7,303 hectares, located along the Waterfound River in the Athabasca Basin. The project was acquired via staking in July 2020, and Standard Uranium holds a 100%-interest in the property.

Only one of the three conductive targets on the property has been tested by drilling, and results are considered highly anomalous. Historical drill-hole CRK-137 identified highly anomalous uranium enrichment near the unconformity with 10 ppm uranium over 7.4 metres in systematic composite sampling of the sandstone, and strong hydrothermal alteration was observed throughout the interval. Within this zone, a discrete 0.5 m sub-interval returned 103.1 ppm uranium; and a 1.0 m interval in the graphitic metasediments immediately below the unconformity returned 200 ppm uranium.

Exploration at the Canary project is early stage, and the project remains highly prospective for unconformity-related and basement hosted uranium mineralization. The ground-based DCIP resistivity survey completed by the Company in 2022 revealed several areas of low-resistivity anomalism paired with conductor disruptions, defining high-priority drill targets for an inaugural drill program on the project.

Ascent Project

Standard Uranium holds a 100%-interest in the Ascent project which straddles the eastern boundary of the Athabasca Basin. The project consists of a single mineral disposition totalling 3,737 hectares.

Regional prospecting by historical operators identified uranium enrichment in basement rocks located east of the Athabasca Basin edge, which support the exploration model for shallow sandstone and basement hosted uranium on the property. The high-resolution TDEM survey completed by the Company in 2022 has further resolved shallow geophysical conductors on the project, defining several priority drill targets for an inaugural drill program on the project.

The current exploration model for the Ascent project is analogous to that of the J-Zone and Roughrider deposits, that are located proximal to a similar airborne EM target that has dimensions of roughly 2-km long by 1-km wide. The Ascent EM target is interpreted by the Company to represent a shallow-dipping conductive system and will be the focus of future exploration programs, drawing on the analogy of the J-Zone and Roughrider uranium deposits.

Rocas Project

The Rocas project comprises 3 mineral dispositions totalling 3,152 hectares, located 75 kilometers southwest of the Key Lake Mine and Mill facilities along Highway 914, and approximately 72 kilometers south of the present-day margin of the Athabasca Basin. The project was acquired via staking in May 2023, and Standard Uranium holds a 100%-interest in the property.

The Project covers 5.5 kilometres of a northeast trending magnetic low/electromagnetic (EM) conductor corridor which hosts several uranium anomalies, including historical mineralized outcrop grab samples along approximately 900 metres of strike length, grading up to 0.50 wt. % U 3 O 8 . Notably, none of the historical uranium occurrences have been drill-tested. Data compilation by the Company has identified multiple target areas for shallow high-grade basement-hosted uranium mineralization within metasedimentary and orthogneissic basement rocks. The Project will benefit from additional surface sampling and geophysical surveys to aid in drill target vectoring.

Appointment of Sean Hillacre as President

The Company announces that Mr. Sean Hillacre, VP Exploration for the Company, has been appointed to President of the Company, effective July 1, 2023.

He will be working alongside Standard Uranium's CEO Jon Bey as the Company advances its uranium projects in the prolific Athabasca Basin in Saskatchewan, in addition to supporting the Company's financing and strategic activities on a day-to-day basis.

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release, including the sampling, analytical and test data underlying the technical information contained in this news release, has been reviewed, verified, and approved by Sean Hillacre, P.Geo., VP Exploration of the Company and a "qualified person" as defined in NI 43-101.

Non-Brokered Private Placement

The Company also advises that it will not be proceeding with the private placement previously announced on May 4, 2023.

About Standard Uranium (TSX-V: STND)

We find the fuel to power a clean energy future.

Standard Uranium is a uranium exploration company and emerging project generator poised for discovery in the world's richest uranium district. The Company holds interest in over 176,969 acres (71,617 hectares) in the world-class Athabasca Basin in Saskatchewan, Canada. Since its establishment, Standard Uranium has focused on the identification, acquisition, and exploration of Athabasca-style uranium targets with a view to discovery and future development.

Standard Uranium's Atlantic, Canary, Ascent, Corvo, and Rocas Projects, in the eastern Athabasca Basin, comprise twelve mineral claims over 20,964 hectares. The eastern basin projects are highly prospective for unconformity related and/or basement hosted uranium deposits based on historical uranium occurrences, recently identified geophysical anomalies, and location along trend from several high-grade uranium discoveries.

Standard Uranium's Sun Dog project, in the northwest part of the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan, is comprised of nine mineral claims over 19,603 hectares. The Sun Dog project is highly prospective for basement and unconformity hosted uranium deposits yet remains largely untested by sufficient drilling despite its location proximal to uranium discoveries in the area.

Standard Uranium's Davidson River Project, in the southwest part of the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan, comprises ten mineral claims over 30,737 hectares. Davidson River is highly prospective for basement-hosted uranium deposits due to its location along trend from recent high-grade uranium discoveries. However, owing to the large project size with multiple targets, it remains broadly under-tested by drilling. Recent intersections of wide, structurally deformed and strongly altered shear zones provide significant confidence in the exploration model and future success is expected.

For further information contact:

Jon Bey, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman

1030 West Georgia Street, Suite 907

Vancouver, BC V6E 2Y3

Tel: 1 (306) 850-6699

E-mail: info@standarduranium.ca

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as of the date of this news release. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding: the timing and content of upcoming work programs; geological interpretations; timing of the Company's exploration programs; and estimates of market conditions.

Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements contained herein. 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. Certain important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are highlighted in the "Risks and Uncertainties" in the Company's management discussion and analysis for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2022, dated August 26, 2022.

Forward-looking statements are based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company at this time, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies that may cause the Company's actual financial results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied herein. Some of the material factors or assumptions used to develop forward-looking statements include, without limitation: the future price of uranium; anticipated costs and the Company's ability to raise additional capital if and when necessary; volatility in the market price of the Company's securities; future sales of the Company's securities; the Company's ability to carry on exploration and development activities; the success of exploration, development and operations activities; the timing and results of drilling programs; the discovery of mineral resources on the Company's mineral properties; the costs of operating and exploration expenditures; 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); uncertainties related to title to mineral properties; assessments by taxation authorities; fluctuations in general macroeconomic conditions.

The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Any forward-looking statements and the assumptions made with respect thereto are made as of the date of this news release and, accordingly, are subject to change after such date. The Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable securities laws. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

Neither the TSX-V nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX-V) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7baa18c7-bb70-493a-a485-9d165fb85b48

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DENVER, Aug. 18, 2023 - American Rare Earths (ASX: ARR | ADRs - OTCQX: AMRRY| Common Shares - OTCQB: ARRNF| FSE:1BHA) (ARR or the Company) is pleased to announce that Mr. Kenneth (Ken) H. Traub has joined the Board of Directors of the Company. Mr. Traub has over 30 years of experience as a CEO, chairman, director, investor and consultant in public companies with a successful track record of driving strategic, financial, operational and governance improvements to enhance shareholder value. His appointment to ARR's Board is a highly valued addition as the company expands its presence in the United States.



Since 2019, Mr. Traub has been serving as the Managing Partner of Delta Value Advisors, a strategic consulting and investment advisory firm, specializing in corporate governance and turnarounds. Mr. Traub also currently serves on the Board of Directors and is Chairman of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of Tidewater, Inc. (NYSE: TDW), the leading global owner and operator of offshore support vessels for the energy industry.

"We are excited to add Ken to our Board," says Creagh O'Connor, Chairman, American Rare Earths. "His widespread experience as a successful corporate leader where he has built significant shareholder value will be invaluable at this critically important time for our company. We are fortunate to have a leader with Ken's talents as we embark on our plan to become a leading US based supplier of rare earth elements." ARR's commitment to strengthening its position in the rare earths industry and expanding its presence in the United States has led to the decision to appoint three highly skilled and accomplished American-based directors to its Board.

"I am delighted to join the Board of Directors of American Rare Earths," stated Ken Traub. "Rare earth elements are essential components in key industries including electronics, renewable energy technologies and defense systems and the demand for these materials is growing rapidly. However, currently the market is dominated by China, accounting for approximately 85% of the global supply. American Rare Earths has the potential to become a leading domestic supplier of these critical materials, which is not only a significant and exciting business opportunity, but can be vital for American financial and national security interests."

Mr. Traub's extensive public company board experience includes: (i) American Bank Note Holographics, as President, CEO and director with over 1000% increase in shareholder value, (ii) Voxware, Inc., as cofounder, EVP, CFO and director with over 3000% increase in shareholder value for the original investors through IPO, (iii) MRV Communications, Inc., as Chairman of the Board, (iv) DSP Group, Inc., as Chairman of the Board, (v) Intermolecular, Inc., as Chairman of the Board, (vi) Phoenix Technologies, Inc., (vii) iPass, Inc., (viii) MIPS Technologies, Inc., (ix) Xyratex Limited, (x) Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation, (xi) Athersys, Inc., (xii) A. M. Castle & Co., (xiii) IDW Media Holdings, (xiv) Immersion Corporation, and (xv) Gulfmark, Inc.

Mr. Traub received the Certified Director designation from the National Association of Corporate Directors in 2023.

Mr. Traub is also active in the Young Presidents Organization and World Presidents Organization, leading global networks of business leaders, having served as Chapter Chairman and Education Chairman.

Mr. Traub received a BA from Emory College in 1983 and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1988.

This announcement has been authorized for release by the Board of American Rare Earths.

About American Rare Earths Limited:

American Rare Earths (ASX: ARR| ADRs - OTCQX: AMRRY| Common Shares - OTCQB: ARRNF| FSE:1BHA) is committed to becoming a top supplier of critical minerals. The company is a leading explorer of rare earth projects with a strong focus on developing sustainable and cost-effective extraction and processing methods. To meet the rapidly increasing demand for resources essential to the clean energy transition and US national security, American Rare Earths is engaged in advanced study and continued exploration of its 100% owned rare earth element projects rich in magnet elements of neodymium and praseodymium at Halleck Creek in Albany County, Wyoming and La Paz, Arizona. Both projects have the potential to be among North America's largest rare earth deposits. Halleck Creek deposit was recently identified by Mining.com as fifth in the world's top rare earth projects. A recently released maiden JORC Resource report for Halleck Creek shows 1.43 billion tonnes of in place TREO, 4.73 million tonnes TREO containing approximately 1.05 million tonnes of the highly desirable magnet metals neodymium and praseodymium oxide. The Halleck Creek deposit is located approximately 70km north-east of Laramie encompassing portions of Albany and Platte Counties in Wyoming. The Company continues to evaluate other exploration opportunities and is collaborating with US Government supported R&D to develop efficient processing and separation techniques of rare earth elements to help ensure a renewable future.

Head Office

Suite 706 Level 7, 89 York St.

Sydney, NSW 2000

Tel 612 8054 9779

GPO Box 1546

Sydney NSW 2001

US Mail

c/o Western Rare Earths

514 Grand Avenue #371

Laramie, WY 82070

info@americanrareearths.com.au

americanrareearths.com.au

For media inquiries, please contact:

Susan Assadi, sassadi@americanrareearths.com.au

347 977 7125

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2c29be07-02d1-493a-99ed-c9b6c4a5b091
Its not the similarity to the prison cell that Im trying to highlight, but the contrast, photographer Sara Bennett told the social journalism publication. They all have items on display that would have been contraband in prison.  Now these bedrooms are their own.Bennett, who worked for 30 years as a criminal defense attorney in New York, was talking about The Bedroom Project, a collection of photographs of women released after serving 15 to 35 years at a maximum security prison. Bennett photographed the women in their bedrooms as a way of humanizing them, as well as protesting long prison sentences and arbitrary parole denials.Tracy, who is shown above, served 24 years in prison. Today, she has her own apartment in Jamaica, N.Y.
Activists caution against gender bias in use of AI

Juliet Akyaa Safo & Diana Mensah Aug - 18 - 2023 , 06:20

Panellists at a workshop on artificial intelligence (AI) have called on the public to build their capacities to avoid being threatened by AI.

They explained that the existence of AI was to fine tune work and not put people out of jobs.

They, however, confirmed the existence of gender bias in the use of AI due to how data was collected and how AI models were designed.

The panellists were a Gender Inclusivity Officer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Dr Rita Udor; a Statistician at the Ghana Statistical Service, Selaseh Pashur Akaho; and an Machine Learning (ML) Researcher at Saarland University, Germany, Deborah Dormah Kanubala.

Workshop

They were speaking during a workshop organised by the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) to disseminate and discuss findings of a study on AI in Accra on Wednesday.

The study, conducted by AidData and CDD-Ghana was aimed at evaluating gender bias in AI applications in measuring wealth using data from the Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (DHS).

The study also utilised geospatial data and DHS data as its foundation, to look into the nuances of gender bias in wealth estimates generated by AI.

AidData was awarded funding for the project through USAID's Equitable AI Challenge, designed to fund approaches that will increase the accountability and transparency of AI systems used in global development contexts.

Findings from the study revealed that some Al Application models that use household survey data to generate results on wealth estimates, unintentionally disseminate results that were bias towards women.

Dr Udor stated the usefulness of AI for the countrys development but stressed that it must be used cautiously.

She said although there was currently no law regulating AI, some guidance was needed to prevent gender inequality from being amplified by AI.

We must work to make sure that whatever innovation coming up doesnt amplify inequality, she said.

Ms Kanubala commended the research team for considering local content in the research and said it was in the right direction.

Mr Akaho on the other hand emphasised the need to train people in how to work with AI model so they can read out results and make the needed change.

The Director of Research of CDD-Ghana, Dr Edem Selormey, said recent research has shed light on instances where AI systems inadvertently perpetuate ethnic, disability and gender biases, amplifying societal inequalities.

She said the workshop was significant as it provided a platform to explore the relationship between AI and gender bias as well as some of the tools needed to foster equitable and unbiased Al technologies.

From the study, while AI models demonstrate their strength and usefulness, any level of bias, no matter how small, can cast shadows on accuracy.

For instance, we notice that the digital realm can mirror and amplify the inequalities ingrained in our societies.

Gender bias is insidiously woven into the algorithms that underpin AI systems, she said.

She expressed the hope that AI would be harnessed for the betterment of all, and become a driving force for empowerment rather than one that perpetuates disparities.

A Research Scientist at AidData, Rachel Sayers, said with enough resources to measure outcomes, AI has helped predict the outcomes of data in other areas more frequently.

She called for such approaches to be implemented to evaluate the results of policies and programmes in the country.
At Defence chiefs meeting on Niger: We mustnt stifle democracy - Chairman of CDSs declares

Della Russel Ocloo Aug - 18 - 2023 , 07:43

The Chairman of the ECOWAS Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff (CDSs), General Christopher Musa, has said that democracy should not be stifled in the sub-region.

At the opening of a two-day meeting of ECOWAS military chiefs in Accra yesterday to plan a path to democracy in Niger, he said democracy was rather meant to be peaceful, hence the need for all parties to proactively chart a course that would promote democratic principles across the sub-region.

General Musa further called on both the military and civilian populations to build a more resilient ECOWAS that would not just limit its work to addressing the situation in Niger, but ensure stability and growth within the sub-region.

The meeting of the military chiefs was called to plan the path of action for an intended military operation to restore democratic rule in Niger, following the ousting of President Mohamed Bazoum last month.

Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Niger, which are under sanctions and have been suspended by ECOWAS for the military takeovers in recent times, were all absent.

Cape Verde and Guinea Bissau, officials said, were also absent with genuine reasons.

Democratic governance

Ghanas Minister of Defence, Dominic Nitiwul, urged military forces of nations in West Africa to allow the citizenry of their countries to choose their leaders and not interfere with democratic governance.

He said although the militaries across the sub-region had the right to ask their governments for logistics to defend their nations and territorial sovereignty to ensure they remained peaceful, democratic governance must be allowed to thrive.

Also the Member of Parliament for Bimbilla, the Defence Minister who opened the meeting of Chiefs of Defence Staff of ECOWAS member states, said the West African sub-regional bloc, once the toast of the international community and the investor world, was gradually sliding back to the days of coups and military takeovers.

Your presence here in Accra alone, for this very important meeting, gives a powerful message to the world that we are united in carrying out the directives of the Heads of State and Government, and I am hopeful that this meeting will put in place the necessary strategic plans to ensure the activation of the Standby Force towards the restoration of democracy in Niger, Mr Nitiwul said.

Mr Nitiwul said the sub-region was going through one of the most difficult moments after the challenges of the 1960s, 1970 and 1990s and it would be important for the military leaders to continue to be loyal to their Heads of State as well as the ECOWAS directives, so as to give effect that the days that coups detat enjoyed the support of our people are over.

The Defence Minister said the recent takeovers by military aides who held their presidents hostage was a demonstration that nobody is safe in the sub-region.

ECOWAS

The ECOWAS Commissioner in charge of Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Dr Abdel-Fatau Musah, said ECOWAS had a duty towards the people of the sub-region.

ECOWAS has a duty to protect its protocols which prohibit military intervention in politics, and the fact that we have had three successful coups in recent times does not mean we ought to go with the flow, Dr Musah said.

He emphasised that the justification of the coup using insecurity and economic conditions were unacceptable, considering that the aftermath of COVID-19 and the current global economic downturn was having a devastating impact on livelihoods across the world.

"Let no one be in doubt that if everything else fails, the various forces of West Africa are ready to answer the call to duty, as they have done it in the past and they will do it again, Dr Musah said.

He debunked suggestions that ECOWAS was being influenced by the West and France to undertake the deployment.

ECOWAS, Dr Musah added, was undertaking the deployment on its own resources and financial arrangements to make sure constitutional order was restored in Niger.

He stressed, however, that if other democracy loving partners want to support us, they are welcome to do so.

The Political Affairs, Peace and Security Commissioner also expressed worry at calls by persons within the sub-region against the deployment of the Standby Force, questioning why those calls were not made when similar deployments were made to the Gambia, Cote dIvoire, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea in the past.

Ghana

Ghanas Chief of Defence Staff, Vice Admiral Seth Amoama, said the scourge of terrorist armed groups (TAG) and violent extremist organisations attacks and activities had been a source of worry to every government in the sub-region as countries were paying heavy prices for the loss of human life, deterioration of critical infrastructure, school dropouts and lingering humanitarian crisis, among others.

He expressed the hope that the CDSs would put their rich experiences together to be able to activate the ECOWAS Standby Force to enable them to respond to the demands placed on the committee by the Heads of State.
BOST affirms profitability - Posts GH342m gains

Maclean Kwofi Aug - 18 - 2023 , 06:02

The Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Limited Company (BOST) has posted a profit after tax of GH342 million for last year, the second time in 11 years.

Up from the GH160.72 million recorded in 2021, the 112 per cent growth marks the state-owned companys second successive profit in two years after 10 previous years of losses.

This was on account of BOST's 169 per cent increase in revenue from GH3.02 billion to GH1.12 billion within the same period.

The Board Chairman of BOST, Ekow Hackman, at the second Annual General Meeting (AGM) of BOST in Accra yesterday, stated that the performance was in the context of a series of losses which had been recorded for more than a decade until 2021.

The AGM was attended by the Minister of Energy, Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh; the Minister of Public Enterprises, Joseph Cudjoe; the Director-General of the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA), Edward Boateng, staff of the company and representatives of partner companies.

Central to our transformation has been the restoration of our business model, which involves the effective utilisation of our strategically located fuel depots connected by a network of pipelines and barges, Mr Hackman said.

The revival of these assets has enabled us to deliver fuel products securely and cost-effectively to consumers across the country, he added.

Financial performance

On key financial contributors, the Board Chairman said revenue from fuel product sales increased by 387 per cent in 2022.

Revenue from gasoline sales increased by 224 per cent, from GH340.63 million to GH1.1 billion, while gas oil sales increased by 352 per cent, from GH331.1 million to GH1.5 billion.

Mr Hackman attributed the positive trading performance to improved financing arrangements, more effective customer engagement and retention initiatives as well as the prudent management of trading risks.

However, the contribution of the BOST margin to revenue declined by 10 per cent to GH343.26 million from GH380.42 million in 2021, while storage fees increased by 27 per cent from GH21.89 million in 2021 to GH27.72 million.

BOSTs rack fees also increased by 24 per cent, from GH30.75 million in 2021 to GH38.17 million in 2022.

During 2022, BOST consolidated its position as second among the depot operators nationwide and first outside the Greater Accra Region.

I am happy to inform you that as of May 2023, BOST is now the market leader, Mr Hackman said.

As a result, the Board Chairman said, the company had finally transitioned from a negative equity position of GH248.19 million in 2021 to a positive equity position of GH86.47 million in 2022.

Mr Hackman shared the sentiments of the board that the members expected that the declaration of profits by BOST would become an annual tradition to be celebrated by all.

Strategy

The Managing Director (MD), Edwin Provencal, said the companys five-year turnaround strategy journey which started in 2020 and focused on two key pillars had paid off.

The strategy seeks to enhance operational excellence and to aggressively grow the business which were fleshed into rebranding the corporate image and creating a great performance-based corporate culture, with measurable sub-targets.

I am happy to state that we have achieved our 2024 revenue target of GH3 billion in 2022.

We are on course to achieve the remaining targets by 2024, Mr Provencal said.

Last year, BOST provided world-class training for 431 of its staff, thus about 89 per cent of the human capital put in their all to implement the performance management system across the business, he said.

The Managing Director added that BOST also rolled out 22 new policies geared towards gradually improving the corporate culture.

Staff have come to accept that high performance will be rewarded with the commensurate bonus.

In line with this, employees received performance-based bonuses during the third quarter of 2022.

This culture has come to stay, Mr Provencal stated.

On the way forward, the MD of BOST said the company would continue to explore new markets within West Africa for petroleum products while preparing to transition from a purely oil and gas company to a full energy company.

In doing that, he said: We will seek to diversify our product mix by investing in the storage of new transition fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), blended ethanol, among others, Mr Provencal said.

He said BOST would also leverage modern trends, including Artificial Intelligence, to ensure that the company remained relevant in the market space.

Sound footing

The Minister of Energy said the positive performance now placed BOST on a sound footing to enable the company to pay dividends to the government.

I have had the opportunity to review the companys performance over the past year, and I must express my satisfaction and admiration for the financial accomplishments of the companys management within such a short time frame.

The progress made by BOST exemplifies the path we should continue to follow, and we encourage you to increase the momentum to sustain this performance and strive for even greater heights, Dr Prempeh said.

The story

For his part, Mr Cudjoe stated that the story of BOST was very different, and the problems of the past years had been surmounted.

It is also noteworthy that BOST recorded a positive equity of GH86 million; the first positive equity in the last 11 years.

As Minister for Public Enterprises, BOSTs turnaround is a significant development aligned with our goal of addressing long-standing challenges that have bedevilled state-owned enterprises and prevented them from fulfilling their full potential, the minister added.
Communities must derive maximum benefit from mining  Duker

Dotsey Koblah Aklorbortu Aug - 18 - 2023 , 07:09

Government has re-emphasised its unwavering commitment to putting mining operations in the hands of indigenous Ghanaians in mining regions for maximum benefit to the host communities.

It is not only providing the opportunities but the requisite training to ensure the objective is achieved.

Speaking at the opening session of a pilot training programme for District Mining Committees (DMCs) and selected small-scale miners, the Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, George Mireku Duker, said the training aligned with the Presidents goal of decentralising efforts to address the gamut of issues in the mining sector.

Fighting negative impact

The training, Mr Duker said, would address the ignorance in the sector and ensure that no player in the small-scale sector would claim they were not aware of the law governing the sector.

He said through formalisation of the sector, we can mitigate the negative impacts of illegal mining activities which continue to cause havoc and create a sustainable and inclusive industry for the environment and benefit of the people.

The government, through the ministry, is doing its part to put the mining sector on a sustainable and green path where the productive assets are in the hands of Ghanaians, especially the indigenes.

With the district mining Committees in place, Mr Duker said: I can say without fear of equivocation that this step of placing the regulation of mining operations in the hands of the local stakeholders will soon become another learning reference for other countries.

Knowledge gained

He urged the participants to ensure that the knowledge gained was shared among communities to protect the environment for the survival of the present and future generations as well as bridge the information gap.

The Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, said the Regional Coordinating Council would continue to support governments effort to rid the environment of illegalities.

The era where people claim ignorance of the law ends with the training and the training is aimed at equiping stakeholders  the committee members and assemblies, hence the need to take the training seriously.

He said due to the illegal and unregulated activities that had impacted the sector negativelypeople viewed mining as demonic.

With your training, the challenge is up to you to ensure that the message goes round to ensure mining is done safely, he added.

Some of the participants commended the government for the decision to train and equip the players with the requisite knowledge before the clampdown.
Freezing of Cecilia Dapaahs bank accounts - Court to deliver ruling on Aug 31

By Justice Agbenorsi Aug - 18 - 2023 , 06:56

The High Court in Accra will, on Thursday, August 31, this year, deliver its ruling on whether or not the Special Prosecutor should continue freezing the bank accounts of former Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources Cecilia Dapaah.

The court presided over by Justice Edward Twum, fixed the date after Dr Isidore Tuffour, who represented the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), moved the application in Court today.

Counsel argued that the confirmation application by the office of the special prosecutor was aimed at seizing $590,000 and GH 2,730,000 found in her home upon a search of three houses associated with her.

Dr Tuffour revealed that Cecilia Dapaah could not explain how she came by the funds and the ownership of the alleged stolen monies is in dispute.

He argued that there was no requirement for them to show grounds for suspicion that the accounts were tainted.

Opposition

But Counsel for Cecilia Dapaah, Victoria Barth, on the other hand, argued that the application for confirmation contravened the procedure outlined in the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959).

She contended that section 32(2) of Act 959 mandated the office to bring the application for confirmation within seven days after the seizure.

She argued that the application was filed after seven days had elapsed.

Ms Barth further argued that the fact that substantial amounts were found in the home of her clients does not justify the seizure of the property.

Counsel argued that the mere fact that their client was being investigated for corruption was not enough grounds for her accounts to be frozen.

According to her, the Special Prosecutor Act requires the applicant to demonstrate reasonable grounds for believing that the property is tainted and not just a mere assertion of the fact.

In her view, the OSP had not shown any grounds to prove that the monies found were tainted.

Husband

Before fixing the date, the presiding judge asked why Cecilia Dapaah was the only person being investigated when the alleged tainted money was found in her matrimonial home.

In his response, Dr Tuffour told the court that Cecilia Dapaahs husband had also been placed under arrest.

Background

On July 5, this year, police prosecutors arraigned two househelps working for Ms Dapaah and her husband, Daniel Osei Kuffour, at an Accra Circuit Court for allegedly stealing money and items worth millions of Ghana cedis from the couple's residence at Abelemkpe in Accra.

According to the charge sheet, the accused persons allegedly stole valuable items from the residence of Mrs Dapaah, including $1,000,000 and 300,000 belonging to the couple.

The OSP arrested the minister and commenced investigations into the matter.

In the application filed at the High Court, the OSP noted that Ms Dapaah stated in her initial complaint to the police that $800,000 of the amount reportedly stolen from her residence belonged to her deceased brother and GH300,000 was a contribution towards her mother's funeral, which was contained in a box.

The OSP added that Ms Dapaah, who later resigned, did not indicate who owned the remainder of $200,000.

After several media publications, Ms Dapaah issued a public statement claiming that there were noticeable inconsistencies between the amounts of money being discussed in the public domain and the thrust of the original complaint in the matter.

On July 22, this year, Mrs Dapaah resigned from her position as Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, which was subsequently accepted by the President.

On July 24, this year, the OSP arrested her on charges of corruption and corruption-related offences and subsequently conducted searches in three residential properties of Ms Dapaah at Cantonments, Abelemkpe and Tesano in Accra, leading to the new cash discoveries.

According to court documents, the OSP seized the discovered cash sums on grounds that they were suspected to be tainted property in accordance with section 32(1) of Act 959, hence the need to exercise the power of seizure to prevent concealment of the cash sums.

Circuit Court

Meanwhile, the father of one of the lead suspects has been freed.

Kwaku Botwe became a free man after police prosecutors filed a fresh charge sheet at the Circuit Court which excluded his name.

Botwe is the father of Patience Botwe, a former househelp of Ms Dapaah.

In the new charge sheet, Sarah Agyei and Patience Botwe have been charged with six counts of stealing, while Benjamin Sowah, Malik Dauda, Christiana Achab, Job Pomary and Yahaya Sumaila have been charged with dishonestly receiving stolen money.

Agyei and Achab, both lactating mothers, have been admitted to bail in the sum of GH1 million each, with three sureties to be justified by the court presided over by Afia Owusuaa Appiah.

Per the bail conditions, the sureties are to deposit their passports and Ghana cards at the court registry.

The prosecutor, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Emmanuel Nyamekye, told the court that investigations were ongoing.

Meanwhile, another suspect, Franklin Sarakpo, is currently on the run.

Hearing at the Circuit Court has been adjourned to Tuesday, August 22, this year.
Ghana Airport Company chair Paul Adom-Otchere refutes allegations of plot to remove MD

GraphicOnline Aug - 18 - 2023 , 16:35

The Chairman of the Board of Ghana Airport Company Limited, Paul Adom-Otchere has refuted allegations claiming his involvement in a purported scheme to remove the Managing Director of the company, Pamela Djamson-Tettey.

Amidst claims made by the Airport Workers Union asserting his role in the potential removal, Mr. Adom-Otchere has firmly denied any such intentions.

The controversy emerged as the Union accused Mr. Adom-Otchere of orchestrating the removal of Ms. Djamson-Tettey due to her refusal to align with him on specific operational decisions within the company.

Mr. Abdul-Issaka Bamba, the Divisional Chairman of the Public Service Workers Union at the Ghana Airport Company Limited, conveyed the Union's perspective, stating, "Our information is that the Board Chair [Paul Adom-Otchere] is championing the course of removing the MD and this is causing a lot of agitations in the industry".

The ongoing situation has reportedly generated considerable unrest among the staff, with Bamba noting that employees have been incessantly seeking information and expressing concerns.

In light of this, Mr. Bamba emphasized the importance of maintaining harmony among leadership to help facilitate the progress of the company and ensure operational stability.

Mr. Adom-Otchere, in response, expressed his lack of awareness regarding the specifics of the alleged plot.

In an interview with Joy News, he stated that the Union's communication did not offer concrete examples of the alleged scheme.

Mr. Adom-Otchere expressed his intention to meet with the Union to gain a better understanding of the situation, as he currently possesses no clarity on the matter.
Ghana Tourism Authority takes over the Tanoboase Sacred Grove for redevelopment

GraphicOnline Aug - 18 - 2023 , 12:43

The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) has announced the takeover of the Tanoboase Sacred Grove for redevelopment.

This marks a pivotal moment in the ongoing efforts to boost tourism development in the area and attract increased visitor interest.

In a brief ceremony held on at the Tanoboase Sacred Grove, the CEO of the Ghana Tourism Authority, Mr. Akwasi Agyeman, thanked the chiefs and people of Tanoboase for their cooperation and highlighted the importance of preserving cultural heritage sites like the Tanoboase Sacred Grove while embracing modernization and sustainable tourism practices.

He emphasized the critical role that such initiatives play in enhancing the nation's tourism sector and creating economic opportunities for local communities.

During the event, Mr. Agyeman also extended his sincere appreciation to the District Chief Executive, the Member of Parliament for the area, and all other stakeholders for their unwavering support and collaboration which Will make the project a reality.

The redevelopment of the Tanoboase Sacred Grove is expected to breathe new life into the site, making it a more appealing and accessible destination for both domestic and international visitors.

The GTA envisions that this project will contribute to an upsurge in tourism activities, stimulate economic growth, and provide opportunities for the local community to showcase their unique traditions and crafts.

The Authority will continue to work closely with relevant stakeholders to ensure that the project aligns with the GTA's mission of promoting Ghana as a premier travel destination, rich in cultural heritage and natural beauty.

Earlier in the week, the Authority had handed over the Salaga Slave Market in the Savanna Region and the Pikworo slave camp in the Upper East Region to contractors for development as part of the slave routes project.
Malaria elimination programme starts in Ghana

Doreen Andoh Aug - 18 - 2023 , 07:02

The country has now transitioned into a more aggressive phase to eliminate malaria, a leading cause of death.

The Ghana Health Service (GHS), which announced this yesterday, said the decision followed significant progress made in the control of the epidemic and lessons learnt over the years.

Malaria prevalence had reduced from 27.5 per cent in 2011 to 8.6 per cent in 2022, while mortality had reduced by 95 per cent between 2012 and 2022, representing a decline from 2,799 deaths in 2012 to 151 in 2022.

At a press conference in Accra yesterday, the Manager of the National Malaria Elimination Programme, Dr Keziah Malm, said elimination would be done by strengthening the interventions that had helped in the control of malaria over the years and the introduction of a few new ones.

Interventions

The new ones include mass drug administration, post-discharge malaria chemoprevention and scaling up malaria vaccination, as well as intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in schoolchildren.

Dr Malm also mentioned the conventional interventions to include larvae source management, distribution of long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito nets, social behaviour change campaigns and vector surveillance, as well as vaccination which was on a pilot basis.

The others are research and indoor residual spraying.

I know when some people hear about elimination, they say its not going to be possible but we believe its possible progressively, the Malaria Elimination Programme manager said.

Dr Malm added that the zero malaria targets were feasible as a lot had been achieved but more needed to be done because malaria remained a national risk, with an impact on social and economic development.

She said while malaria remained a public health concern and a leading cause of death, projections of the impact made by national interventions showed that elimination was very possible as a country.

Strides

Dr Malm said over the years, the country, under its defunct Malaria Control Programme, had been able to reduce prevalence and mortalities significantly, justifying the countrys potential to eliminate malaria.

The current elimination target is focused on reducing mortality by 100 per cent by 2028 and cases by 50 per cent using the 2022 figures as the baseline.

Malaria deaths have also reduced significantly over the last five years from 1.42 out of every 100,000 cases to 0.45 per 100,000.

Plan

Dr Malm said the new malaria elimination strategic plan had been developed to, among others, strengthen passive and active surveillance and monitoring evaluation systems; ensure that 100 per cent of all confirmed cases were appropriately, effectively and completely treated within 72 hours and ensure 100 per cent detection rate by 2028.

She said that the current National Malaria Strategic Plan, which spanned 2021 to 2025, had three main goals; which were to reduce malaria mortality by 90 per cent, reduce malaria case incidence by 50 per cent and achieve malaria pre-elimination in at least six districts by 2025 using 2019 as a baseline.
GTA commences work on Pikworo slave camp at Nania

Gilbert Mawuli Agbey Aug - 18 - 2023 , 05:41

The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) has commenced work to improve the state of the Pikworo Slave Camp at Nania, in the Kassena Nankana West District in the Upper East Region.

The GH1million project, which is expected to be completed within five months, includes the construction of an imposing frontage, landscaping of the camp, fencing of the entire site, mounting of signage, construction of washrooms, walling of captives graveyard and the construction of tombs.

The first phase of the project which had been completed involved the construction of a receptive centre where tourists and visitors to the facility would be received.

It is being funded through the Tourism Development Fund.

Agenda

At a ceremony to hand over the site to one of the contractors last Wednesday, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GTA, Akwasi Agyeman, said the project formed part of an agenda to transform tourist sites where captives were taken through before being shipped out of the country.

He said the story of the slave trade, though unfortunate, needed to be preserved, hence, the decision to properly develop such sites.

Mr Agyeman said: The focus of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, and GTA is to preserve such sites to tell a better story of what actually transpired so that history would not be lost.

Since the entire slave trade began from the Pikworo Slave Camp, we have decided to fully develop it to portray a clearer understanding of what transpired to tourists and patrons of the facility, he said.

Also, Mr Agyeman said similar projects were being carried out at the Salaga Slave Market and slave wells, as well as the introduction of sculpture pieces to bring those facilities to an appreciable level to attract more tourists.

It is about making sure that during the celebration of the Pan African Festival (PANAFEST) and Emancipation Day celebrations, the slave route tour is appropriately done to ensure patrons have a better insight into what happened, he said.

Mr Agyeman, however, said that the project would be carried out gradually as and when funds were available, adding as an authority, we do not intend to tackle many projects at the same time that we cannot ensure their completion within the next five years.

Attraction

The Upper East Regional Director of GTA, Wisdom Ahadzi, said tourism was all about what attracted people and gave them the reason to travel from a long distance to a site.

He expressed optimism that after the project had been completed, more tourists would visit the site regularly to boost the local economy.

The District Chief Executive (DCE) for the area, Gerard Ataogye, in an interview, expressed appreciation to the sector Minister, Dr Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, for redeeming his promise to develop the site during an official visit to the district in 2021.

Background

The Pikworo Slave Camp was founded in 1704 as a transit point where slaves were auctioned and later resold in the Salaga Slave Market.

The camp is endowed with trees and rocks where the slaves were tethered.
I'll demolish new BoG head office project if I had my own way - Dormaahene [VIDEO]

Biiya Mukusah Ali Aug - 18 - 2023 , 18:41

If I had my own way, I will demolish the new US$250 million Bank of Ghana head office building project which is under construction at Ridge in Accra, the Omanhene of the Dormaa Traditional Area, Osagyefo Oseadeeyo Agyemang Badu II has said.

He was speaking at the 2023 first general meeting of the Bono Regional House of Chiefs on Thursday [August 17] in Sunyani where he said the Bank of Ghana should be stopped from using US$250 million to construct a head office building.

Graphic Online's Biiya Mukusah Ali reports from Sunyani that, the Dormaahene, who is also the President of the Bono Regional House of Chiefs appealed to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to restrain the Bank of Ghana from spending the $250 million on the construction of its new head office building.

"As a matter of priority, we are appealing to the government of the Republic of Ghana to investigate the matter and stop them from further construction of the project. BoG is not totally independent, discuss with them to halt the development of the project," he said.

The [Bono Regional] House [of Chiefs] and its people are not happy about the development, how can the country go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for $3 billion and want to use $250 million to construct only one project.

Meeting

The House observed a minute's silence in honour of the late Omanhene of the Sunyani Traditional Area, Nana Bosoma Asor Nkrawiri II and Berekumhene, Daasebre Amankona Diawuo II.

Two new members; namely the Omanhene of Wenchi Traditional Area, Osagyefo Ampem Anye Amoampong Tabrako III and Kwatwomahene, Osabarima Asiedu Kotwi II were also sworn into office.

Dormaahene

Osagyefo Agyemang Badu II explained that the amount being used by the Bank of Ghana for the head office project could have been used to create job opportunities for the youth or shared among the 16 regions to embark on developmental projects to improve the regions.

He said he wished he (Osagyefo Agyemang Badu) had something to demolish the building to demonstrate his displeasure about the project.

Osagyefo Agyemang Badu also expressed concern about the BoG's GHC60 billion loss in 2022 and could not understand the situation that led to the loss.

"While we are about to recover from the shock, that same BoG came out with another shocking news of using $250 million to construct its office", he said.

Development fund

Osagyefo Agyemang Badu reiterated the house commitment to set up the Bono Development Fund to initiate programmes to promote development and reduce unemployment among the youth.

He said the house was expected to unveil the fund by the end of September 2023 to be used to create employment opportunities for the teeming unemployed youth, particularly graduates in the region.

Osagyefo Agyemang Badu, however, commended the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for reviving the Sunyani Airport, which was abandoned for several years.

He also thanked the president for giving approval for the upgrading of the Sunyani Regional Hospital to a teaching hospital.

Poor roads

However, he expressed concern about poor nature of road infrastructure across in the region and mentioned the Sunyani town roads, Sunyani-Chiraa road, Berekum-Sampa road, Nsawkaw-Samp road, Baakonieba-Berlin Top road and Odomase roads, as some of the roads in a deplorable state.

Osagyefo Agyemang Badu explained that several government budgets starting from the late former President Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings to President Nana Akufo-Addo had captured the Sunyani-Chiraa road but none of them constructed the road.

He said the road was crucial to the chiefs and people of the region and Ghanas neighbouring country Cote d'Ivoire and urged the Bono Regional Minister, Justina Owusu-Banahene, to lobby for the completion of the project.

Chieftaincy disputes

Osagyefo Agyemang Badu said about six paramount chiefs would soon join the house after the house had managed to resolve the disputes in their areas.

He said the house would not be completed without some paramount chiefs such as Wench Traditional Area and Kwatwomahene, explaining that they were focal in the creation of the erstwhile Brong Ahafo Region.

Appeal

For her part, Ms Owusu-Banahene pledged her commitment to push for the rehabilitation of the roads and appealed to the chiefs to support her efforts.

She appealed to the chiefs to work closely with government appointees in the region to facilitate development.

Ms Owusu-Banahene also appealed to the chiefs to desist from interfering in the planning schemes of the Municipal and District Assemblies (MADs).

She said despite the chieftaincy disputes in the area, the region was relatively claim and peaceful.

The Sunyani High Court Judge, Justice Harry Acheampong-Opoku, who swore in the two new members of the house, advised the house to learn the Chieftaincy Act and the culture of the land.

He urged them to always obey the laws of the country to avoid embarrassment, explaining that it was sometimes embarrassing to see a chief in court for a contempt case.
Navy to host maritime defence exhibition

Daily Graphic Aug - 18 - 2023 , 05:36

The Ghana Navy is to host the Third International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference (IMDEC 2023) at Burma Camp, Accra.

The high-profile event, which will feature local and international exhibitors from Tuesday, August 29, to Wednesday, August 30, 2023, is being organised by the Navy in partnership with Great Minds Events LLC.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will launch a National Integrated Maritime Strategy at the same event.

Event

A statement issued by Lieutenant Colonel Alfred Marteye of the Public Affairs Directorate of the Ghana Armed Forces said IMDEC 2023 would bring together regional and international Chiefs of Naval Staff to address critical issues surrounding maritime security on the continent.

The conference also aims at fostering dialogue and collaboration among key stakeholders to sustain a safe and secure maritime domain, focusing on consolidating the gains made in the Gulf of Guinea.

The exhibition, the statement added, would showcase cutting-edge technology in maritime security and come up with resolutions and recommendations to overcome the daunting challenges facing Africa's blue economy.

Defence suppliers

The statement further said that the event would bring the world's leading defence suppliers to Accra for communication technology, radars, satellite imagery solutions and vessels, among other key solutions vital for strengthening maritime defence capabilities of African Navies.

It will host more than 300 attendees from over 70 countries, with more than 12 Chiefs of Navy and over 35 speakers.

They will brainstorm on new ideas and discuss the roadmap for the future on how to sustain a safe and secure maritime domain.

The conference agenda includes panel discussions, breakout sessions and extensive site visits, making it the premier strategic gathering for Africa's navies, coast guards, port and coastal authorities, marine police, fisheries, related ministries, oil and gas, and other maritime industries, it added.
Presby Church elects new Moderator

Haruna Yussif Wunpini Aug - 18 - 2023 , 07:00

The Chairman of the Ga Presbytery, Reverend Dr Abraham Nana Opare Kwakye, has been elected Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG).

He takes over from Rt Rev. Professor Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante, who is ending his tenure on November 30.

The General Assembly of PCG elected Rev. Dr Kwakye yesterday at the Kwahu East District capital, Abetifi, in the Eastern Region.

The Moderator elect received 220 Yes endorsement as against six No by the General Assembly.

Rev. Dr Seth Kissi who received 54 nominations, and Rev. Dr Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong who also received 22, withdrew in support of Rev. Dr Kwakye who obtained 119 nominations to head for the endorsement alone.

Acceptance

In his acceptance speech, Rev. Dr Kwakye, who was very elated at his election, said the victory was a call by God to serve the church in a higher and more challenging capacity.

He called for support of PCG General Assembly and the members to enable him to succeed.

Rev. Dr Kwakye thanked all ministers of the church for the confidence reposed in him.

Profile

A graduate of the University of Ghana with a Bachelor of Arts and a Doctor of Philosophy, and the Trinity Theological Seminary, Rev. Dr Kwakye started his career as a Teacher at the Presbyterian Junior Secondary School, Agona Kwanyako in the Central Region after completing his professional teacher certificate at the Presbyterian College of Education.

An old student of Tema Secondary School, the Moderator elect was commissioned by the Presbyterian Church of Ghana into ministry in 1997 at Kaneshie and ordained in 1999 at Odumase Krobo.

After his Probation at the La Bethel Presby Church in 1997, he was posted to the Christ Congregation, Adentan in 1999 as the Minister in Charge as well as at the Calvary Congregation, Haatso.

Rev. Dr Kwakye also served as District Minister at Madina and Osu, the Minister in Charge of the El Shaddai Church at Tesa Adjiringanor and became the Chairperson of the Ga Presbytery in 2020, a position he served in until his election.

Apart from his congregational experiences, he also served the PCG in other capacities, including the Youth Coordinator of the Ga Presbytery, the Assistant National Secretary, PCG National Ministers Conference, the National Chaplain, National Union of Presbyterian Students of Ghana, as well as a member of the PCG Youth Education Committee.

Between 2013 and 2014, he was appointed an ESKAS Scholar (Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships) in the Faculty of Theology, University of Basel, Switzerland.

He assumed appointment as a Lecturer at the Department for the Study of Religions, University of Ghana, Legon in January 2014, and was promoted to the rank of Senior Lecturer in February 2020.

His research interests are in Church History, African Christianity and Missions.
Reserve 5% of gold for local production - Jewellers Association to stakeholders

Yaa Kuffour Senyah Aug - 18 - 2023 , 06:38

The Ghana Association of Jewellers (GAJ) has called for five per cent of gold produced in the country to be reserved for the local manufacturing sector.

This is to make available enough gold materials to the local sector for value addition and increase the production of gold products in the country.

The President of the GAJ, Jonathan Ababio, who made the call, stated that Ghana had cemented its place as the leading producer of gold in Africa.

However, the prices of its products were relatively high as compared to those sold on the international market.

That, he blamed on the export of all gold mined in the country overseas, leaving the local manufacturing sector hungry for materials to work with.

So once there is a continuous supply of all gold mined to jewellers down here I believe we would be at par with the western market based on prices to meet the needs of our customers he said.

Local industry starving

At the launch of the Gold Statement 2023 conference in Accra yesterday, Mr Ababio said in 2021, Ghana exported $5.29 billion of gold, making the country the 19th largest exporter of gold in the world.

In the second quarter of last year, the value of gold exports from Ghana reached about $1.64 billion, he quoted the Statista, a global statitical database platform.

The situation, the GAJ President indicated, had impacted production in the local industry, causing high production cost and price hikes due to the unavailability of the precious minerals.

The conference is an annual event to exhibit materials made from gold and other precious materials while holding a dialogue with stakeholders, including policymakers on the sustainable pathways to value addition of precious minerals mined in the country.

It is also to showcase and promote the craftsmanship of Ghanaian jewellers and goldsmiths to the public and possible investors.

This years four-day event is scheduled to start on Thursday, November 23, and climaxed with a gold gala on Saturday, November 25.

It is organised by Rapport Services in partnership with the GAJ and other participating sponsors.

Improvement

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Rapport Services, Judy Nakuor Crayem, said she was expectant that this years conference would be an improvement on the previous event as they had formed linkages with the African Minerals Development Centre (AMDC) who were coming on board, having been convinced by the significance of the conference to the industry.

She stated that participants from Eastern, Southern and Northern Africa, as well as West Africa would also be joining to showcase some of the most beautiful gemstones and jewellery from the continent.

As announced last year, the lapidary workshop structure for training of young women and men in the art of gemstone cutting and polishing would be completed by the end of this month.

The next step is to install the necessary equipment, she disclosed.

Mrs Crayem added that the construction of a Gold and Jewellery Park in Accra to serve as a centre for gold producers and the jewellery industry was in progress.

Ghana is well endowed with precious minerals and gemstones and we are making every effort to stamp our presence on the world's stage by growing the necessary linkages here in Africa, the Diaspora and the world at large, she said.

Standards

The CEO of the Ghana Standards Authority, Professor Alexander Dodoo, commended the organisers for their strides as he described it as a relentless battle in promoting the gold and jewellery industry in the country and across its borders.

He stated that through the industrys collaborative efforts and partnerships, the standards of testing gold and jewellery had been extended as he was looking forward to improvement.

So we are looking forward to having people come to Accra to buy gold rather than going to Dubai to buy Ghana gold so that we build our industry and be noticed all over the world for the finest gold and its pieces, Prof. Dodoo said.
2023 Voters registration begins Sept. 12 - EC targets 1.35m persons

Vincent Amenuveve Politics Aug - 18 - 2023 , 06:00

The Electoral Commission (EC) has targeted to register about 1.35 million people in the 2023 Voters Registration exercise which commences from September 12 to October 2.

This is based on the ECs projection that at least 1,350,000 persons might have attained 18 years since the last registration exercise in 2020.

The nationwide exercise will be conducted between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily, including Saturdays and Sundays.

Announcing the dates and procedures for the exercise at a press briefing dubbed Let the Citizen Know" in Accra yesterday, the EC Chairperson, Jean Mensa, indicated that at the time of the last registration exercise in 2020, the National Identification Authority (NIA) had registered over 10 million persons.

Indeed, some 10 million plus persons used the Ghana Card as proof of citizenship during the 2020 elections, she said.

She stated that, today the NIA has on its roll close to 18 million registrants; that is eight million more persons since the 2020 Voters' Registration exercise.

Per the 2021 census figures, 450,000 Ghanaians attain the age of 18 every year, and therefore qualify to be registered to vote.

The point we seek to make is that it is highly likely that most, if not all of these 1,350,000 persons, already have the Ghana Card, Mrs Mensa argued.

No disenfranchising

The EC chairperson said the commission did not believe that upholding the L.I. 2111 and enforcing the use of the Ghana Card to prove a person's citizenship would disenfranchise citizens as was being alleged by sections of our society.

Indeed, it is in the commission's interest to register all eligible voters and not exclude and disenfranchise them.

If any institution is keen to have a voters register that is credible and inclusive, it is the EC of Ghana," she further pointed out.

Mrs Mensa said the commission took pride in the fact that the 2020 Voters' Register duly met international standards for voters' registration, and that 55 per cent of the country's population was captured in it.

You will recall that in 38 days the commission registered 17 million and 270,000 persons out of a total population of 31 million per the 2021 census figures, the EC chair intimated.

Mrs Mensa, however, said the EC found it unfortunate that its efforts to strengthen the credibility and integrity of our voters' roll and by extension our elections by the introduction of this new draft C.I. did not receive the support of Parliament.

The new draft C.I. recommends the registration of voters on a continuous basis at all district offices of the EC and also proposes the use of the Ghana Card as the sole identification of a person's citizenship.

She expressed regret that Members of Parliament were of the view that the NIA should fully resume its registration exercise nationwide before the C.I. could be considered.

Sadly, Mrs Mensa explained that the NIA had not fully commenced its operations nationwide due to lack of resources.

That, she said, left the EC with no option than to rely on the current C.I. with its inherent weaknesses to conduct the voters' registration exercise until such time that the NIA would become fully operational.

Expungement

Mrs Mensa said experience from the 2020 registration exercise had shown that many minors and foreigners used the window of the guarantor system and their names were found on the voters register.

With the establishment of the District Registration Review Committees (DRRCs), she explained that 40,000 minors and foreigners were challenged during the registration exercise and 15,000 names were expunged from the voters register.

Modalities, legal framework

Touching on the modalities for the voters' registration exercise, the EC Chairperson said Article 42 of the 1992 Constitution conferred on every Ghanaian who was 18 years and above and of a sound mind the right to register and vote.

Article 45(a), she emphasised, also mandated the EC to compile the voters' register and at such periods that might be determined by law.

It is in the discharge of this mandate and as part of the EC's preparation towards the conduct of the 2023 DLE that it will undertake a Voter Registration exercise, Mrs Mensa stressed.

Proof of Eligibility

The EC Chairperson stated that registrants were required to show proof of identification by presenting the Ghana Card or the Ghana Passport, adding that those who did not have any identification documents must present two people who were already registered voters to vouch for their citizenship and age.

Procedure

On the procedure for registration, the EC Chairperson further said that registration would be done Online using the District Management System (DMS) and offline using the Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kit.

She explained that copies of daily reports of the registration exercise from the beginning to the end would be given to political party representatives at the various registration centres, adding that each political party would be allowed to present one representative to observe the exercise.

Touching on the replacement of lost ID cards, Mrs Mensa said voters would be required to pay GH10, stressing that, it is an offence for a person who has misplaced his or her card to register again".

On issues of challenging cases, she said the procedure was the same as what pertained in the C.I.91 as amended and the DRRCs would be reconstituted to sit on all challenges.

District Level Elections

Meanwhile, the District Level Elections (DLE) will be held on Tuesday, December 19, 2023 in the 6,272 electoral areas in all the districts, with the exception of Nkoranza North and South in the Bono East Region.

The DLE for the two districts were not held for security reasons but were conducted in April 2020, and the next one to be conducted for both districts will be in 2025.
Digitise asset declaration forms - Dormaa East MP to Auditor-General

Nana Konadu Agyeman Politics Aug - 18 - 2023 , 06:28

The New Patriotic Party Member of Parliament for Dormaa East, Paul Twum Barimah, has called on the Auditor-General to digitise the asset declaration forms to enhance the fight against corruption.

He said the current paper work required for public office holders to declare their assets was quite laborious, making it difficult for many government appointees and civil servants alike to comply with the law.

I am, therefore, calling on the Auditor-General to, as soon as practicable, move away from this paper work and digitise the process, he said.

That, he said, would enable public office holders to update their records, saying the digitisation process should be made in a way that one can only update but cannot be altered.

Easier process

Speaking to the Daily Graphic in an interview in Parliament, Mr Twum-Barimah said the digitalisation of the asset declaration forms should be akin to the visa application form that allowed applicants to update their details but could not alter it.

We should be able to update our asset declaration forms everywhere one finds himself or herself but we cannot alter them.

That is supposed to be the way because current paper work is becoming difficult.

The Dormaa East MP noted that public office holders who earned above a certain salary were required to declare their assets at a certain level.

To the contrary, he said many of such public servants at the various ministries, departments and agencies had not yet declared their assets due to the laborious processes associated with the process.

I know the A-G is in the process to digitalise asset declaration process but they must fast-track the entire process so that we will be able to make things easier for everyone, he said.

Mr Twum-Barimah particularly urged the A-G and the National Commission for Civil Education to begin educating people on why they should declare their assets.

Legal means

Reacting to the Minoritys statement that they would picket on the premises of the central bank to demand for the resignation of the Governor of Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Ernest Addison, Mr Twum-Barimah kicked against the decision.

He said if the Minority felt the governor had committed a crime or broken the law and an action needed to be taken, the law must be applied instead of resorting to picketing.

The Minority can also test the law because I think Act 918 that governs the BoG has stated clearly how you can remove a Governor of the BoG.

So, why are we not using that procedure? he asked.
I am driven by public service - Dr. Bawumia

GraphicOnline Politics Aug - 17 - 2023 , 19:40

The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia says the desire to serve and ensure the best and easy options for the people are his driving force in politics.

Addressing NPP party stakeholders in Donkorkrom, in the Afram Plains North constituency last Saturday, Dr. Bawumia told the gathering that his commitment to public service has increased his desire to offer himself to lead the country and contribute to the transformation of this country.

"I am always driven by public service, not the desire for personal gains," Dr. Bawumia said.

"It is the reason I am offering myself, first to be elected flagbearer of our party, and then I can offer myself to the people of Ghana so that I can continue to contribute towards the transformation of our country," he added.

Dr. Bawumia told the party faithful how as Vice President, aside from his main duties assisting the President, he had been able to spearhead many transformational policies in the past six and half years of the President Akufo-Addo administration.

"I have not been President, but as Vice President, I have worked so hard and contributed significantly to the development of our country through landmark policies I have initiated and spearheaded," Dr. Bawumia said.

Among policies he listed, as having contributed to included: One Constituency One Ambulance, Agenda 111 hospital, Digital Addressing System, digitisation of the ports, Passport offices, DVLA, ghana.gov payment platform, money interoperability and the e-Pharmacy platform.

Dr. Bawumia is among 10 people vying to be elected flagbearer of the NPP for next year's presidential elections.

Special delegates of the NPP will go to the polls on August 26, to whittle down the number to 5, before the party's Congress elects the flagbearer on November 4, 2023.
Earlier this month, Google pulled a fast one on us pretending it had scheduled a fifth Android 14 beta release all along, when last month it had heavily implied the fourth beta would be the last before the stable release. So we got Android 14 Beta 5.

Today, it's Android 14 Beta 5.1 releasing, and as the mild increment implies, this one is all about fixing bugs. Hopefully the last bugs. Hopefully the final release isn't far behind. We're hoping, but we wouldn't bet on anything right now, given how bumpy the Android 14 beta ride has been so far.

Four fixes are listed in the official changelog for this release, but more things could have been altered behind the scenes without a mention.

Here are the bugs that have been squashed: an issue that caused the system to stop detecting a SIM card if Fixed Dialing Number features were enabled; one that caused connectivity interruptions for devices with carriers using 5G standalone mode; one that displayed a blank home screen on some devices after unlocking; and finally, the "feather-styled" live wallpaper has been disabled temporarily, thus fixing a performance issue it was causing.

The live wallpaper in question will be re-enabled, Google promises, after the other underlying issues are fixed. So in Beta 5.2 then? We'll have to wait and see.

If your eligible Pixel device is enrolled in the Android Beta program, you will receive this update over-the-air shortly. If you want to enroll your device, just go to this page. After the enrollment, you'll get the latest build as an over-the-air update.

Source
The vivo X100 Pro+ will have three impressive cameras, a leakster on Weibo suggested earlier today. The upcoming flagship, expected in the upcoming months, is said to have a 50 MP main camera with the Sony IMX989 sensor that is 1-type - the same, used in the X90 Pro+. However, here well likely see a variable aperture, likely what Huawei did with the P60 Pro and its f/1.4-f/4.0 main cam.

Another improvement would be a so-called 200 MP telephoto lens, which will be a massive increase for such a camera in the smartphone world. Although this sounds impressive on paper, we believe it will be a 50 MP sensor with pixel-binning.

The portrait camera is said to be a 50 MP shooter as well, with a Sony IMX758 sensor behind the lens. This is the same one in the vivo X90 Pro+ and X90 Pro that have 2x optical zoom, AF and OIS for this particular cam.

The phone would have a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, meaning we wont see it until Qualcomm releases the chipset officially. Vivo will also equip the X100 Pro+ with LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 4.0 storage. The leakster also claimed IP68 water- and dust-proofing, as well as an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner underneath the screen.

All of these features mentioned above have been the industry standard for flagships for the past year, so we wont be surprised to see them in the X100 Pro+. The company would surprise us if it actually launched the Qualcomm-powered phone - something it hadnt done since mid-2022 when the vivo X80 Pro went international.

Source (in Chinese) | Via
Xiaomi first released its Android 14-based MIUI 14 beta back in May and today, the company is seeding a stable version of the software, but still beta, of course. After all, Google hasn't released an official and stable version of Android 14 to the masses.

Google achieved platform stability with its Android 14 Beta 5 update about a week ago and it seems like Xiaomi is done with most of the beta testing too. Notably, the most recent MIUI 14 stable beta update is based on that Android 14 Beta 5 we are talking about.

Even though Xiaomi 12T was part of the first Android 14 Beta release, Xiaomi has limited the latest release to just Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro.

It's also important to note that the update was spotted in China first but will eventually reach non-Chinese units too. Xiaomi is seeding it via OTA, for those of you participating in the beta program, of course.

Via
The office of Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero has claimed that the Legislature chooses hypocrisy over hard work according to the administrations news release on Aug. 17 in response to an amendment by Speaker Therese Terlaje for the budget bill.

Terlajes amendment initiated that fiscal year 2024 appropriations to the governors office will not be effective until the funds of FY 2023 are deposited to the Guam Department of Education in accordance with Public Law 37-5. The amendment passed with the approval of eight senators out of the eligible voting twelve.

In response, the Leon Guerrero-Tenorio administration noted that the Legislature was wrong on the facts and wrong on the law by ignoring its own conduct and the separation of powers.

Subsequent to the onset of Typhoon Mawar, the Legislature passed an additional law authorizing the governor to fund $50 million in Typhoon Mawar recovery from any available source. The governor acted as the Legislature authorized and has continued to provide the GDOE access to these funds, even when GDOE still had over $100 million in unspent federal money for school repairs, noted the administration. The Legislature passed bad law. Now, instead of admitting its error honestly, it is resorting to political extortion in a blackmail budget. This erosion of checks and balances is a threat to the democratic foundation of our government.

The administration also had numerous questions for Terlaje and Sen. Chris Barnett regarding their concerns about GDOEs funding.

Why did they secure a million-dollar budget increase for the Legislature in FY24 while at the same time saying our kids are suffering? Why have they allowed the Legislature to stash a million dollars or more in unspent, lapsed cash? And why do they run a branch that expends millions in taxpayer dollars without ever having to answer the public in an open hearing? questioned the administration.

The administration concluded that the timing of the constant debates should also lead to a question of the actions of the legislative branch.

At the same time that the Legislature shouts about failed GDOE procurement or the mystery of lapsed funds, the Legislature is seated in a lavish building filled with equipment bought because it is exempt from Guams procurement law and carries hundreds of thousands in lapsed funds whose expenses are never accountable to anyone.

The amendment was passed by Terlaje, Barnett and Sens. Chris Duenas, Frank Blas Jr., Telo Taitague, Sabina Perez, Joanne Brown and Jesse Lujan.

Terlaje justified her amendment by noting announcements from GDOE.

We heard an announcement that the funds that were appropriated to GDOE by P.L. 37-5 were taken and used for the executive branch instead, said Terlaje. If they dont get this money, they will not be able to certify funds to hire personnel or will have to choose between hiring or paying other critical needs of the agency.

Terlaje then noted in her closing statement that her bill to allow the governor to use $50 million for typhoon recovery was intended to be used in good faith.

Never did I imagine that the governor would say the only place we would get that money is from GDOE, who were struggling at that point even before the storm, noted Terlaje. The respectful ways that we have approached this did not work. We still have parents and teachers that are stressed to the top.

Brown stated that she has no problem standing her ground because the administration has continued to spend federal money without accounting for it.

They pretty much ran their show down there and pretty much ignored the Legislature, said Brown. While the amendment sends a bold message, we have to be ready for the consequences.

Sen. Joe San Agustin voiced his disapproval of the amendment in his senatorial role as he cited his experience on the Guam Board of Education and the legislative oversight chair on government appropriations.

I always fought for GDOE, but when I got into the Legislature, it always puzzled me how GDOE would always say Were short, noted San Agustin. Its all with management. Take a look at the record of how they spent the money. Did they fix the schools that we are now barking that they need to fix? No.

San Agustin added that hell continue to fight for the children, but he still cant support the amendment.

Ill fight for the children once management in GDOE starts doing their job. We need to go after GDOE first and find out where theyre at, added San Agustin. I cant support shutting down an office, especially the executive branch.

Vice Speaker Tina Muna Barnes shared her disapproval of the amendment as two wrongs dont make a right.

We just talked about respecting each equal branch of government, and now were going to do this? questioned Barnes. Thats not showing any respect. What are we trying to threaten or do? This is not good for the government of Guam as a whole.
Four people were sentenced to prison this week for their roles in an advance fee and money laundering scheme targeting people on Guam, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Shawn Anderson.

Members of the conspiracy obtained about $2.6 million by convincing people to pay bogus fees and other expenses associated with a multimillion-dollar inheritance before they could collect money that was promised to them.

Money was collected from people on Guam and sent to bank accounts in the U.S. and Nigeria, according to Anderson.

This far-ranging conspiracy preyed on 60 victims, nearly all of whom live in Guam, Anderson said in the release. These scams are difficult to investigate and prosecute due to the interstate and transnational nature of the criminal activity.

He said prosecutors will continue to try to collect restitution for victims.

Judge John C. Coughenour sentenced the defendants in the District Court of Guam.

Sally Cruz Roberto, 56, of Santa Rita-Sumai, was sentenced to 33 months imprisonment, three years supervised release, and ordered to pay $1,030,990 in restitution, a $3,900 mandatory assessment fee and a $1,030,990 forfeiture money judgment. She was sentenced on Tuesday after a jury found her guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and 38 counts of wire fraud. As part of the conspiracy, Roberto obtained $1,030,990 of victim funds and used her bank account to wire those funds to stateside bank accounts of other co-conspirators.

Monique Jones, 49, of Dallas, Texas, was sentenced to 48 months imprisonment, three years supervised release, ordered to pay $578,130 in restitution, a $2,700 mandatory assessment fee, and a $1,111,280 forfeiture money judgment. She was sentenced Tuesday after a jury found her guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 25 counts of wire fraud, and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments.

Mekayda D. Jones, 24, from Dallas, Texas, was sentenced to 36 months imprisonment, three years supervised release, ordered to pay $387,160 in restitution, a $1,600.00 mandatory assessment fee, and a $801,210 forfeiture money judgment. She was sentenced Tuesday after a jury found her guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 14 counts of wire fraud, and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. As part of the conspiracies, Monique and Mekayda Jones perpetuated the fraud by maintaining bank accounts in the names of shell corporations to receive, withdraw, and transfer victim funds to other co-conspirators in the United States and Nigeria. In exchange, they kept at least 10 percent of victim funds that flowed into bank accounts they controlled.

Okechukwu F. Iwuji, 38, a Nigerian citizen who previously lived in Orlando, Florida, was sentenced to 45 months imprisonment, three years supervised release, ordered to pay $475,710 in restitution, a $100 mandatory assessment fee, and a $475,710 forfeiture money judgment. He was sentenced on Thursday after previously pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. As part of the conspiracy, Iwuji obtained at least $475,710 of victim funds from Roberto and other co-conspirators and transferred some funds to third party-Nigerian bank accounts.

This sentence should make the public aware that these types of advanced fee, associated with inheritance scams, will be investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, said FBI Special Agent in Charge Steven Merrill. If it is too good to be true, it probably is.

Merrill said anyone who thinks they might have been scammed should call the FBI at 800-225-5324 (CALL-FBI) or report it to tips.fbi.gov.
To help answer questions from Guams constituents regarding federal matters or programs, the Office of Congressman James Moylan will be hosting a Mobile Office Hours event at the Guam Premier Outlets on Aug. 19 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. They will be set up in the kiosk near Tommy Hilfiger.

The office will also answer inquiries into the following federal programs:

Military Service Academy Nominations

Congressional App Challenge

Youth Congressional Award

Congressional Art Competition

Students seeking nominations to the United States Military Academy in West Point, United States Naval Academy, United States Air Force Academy and United States Merchant Marine Academy are required to have a nomination. Nominations are not required for the United States Coast Guard Academy.

The Service Academies are four-year colleges that offer a bachelors degree in exchange for five years of active military service. Following graduation from the academies, graduates will be commissioned as officers in the armed forces.

To apply for a nomination, candidates must meet the following basic eligibility requirements:

An applicant must be at least 17 years old, but not have passed his or her 23rd birthday.

An applicant must be a United States Citizen

No applicant can be married, pregnant, or have legal obligations to support children or other dependents.

An applicant must reside in Guam.

Applicants must meet the medical, physical, and academic requirements of the academy.

Students must include the following in their applications:

Current headshot.

Transcript from an accredited high school.

Scores from the American College Test Program and/or College Board Scholastic Aptitude Test Resume/CV of extracurricular activities.

An essay stating why the applicant wants to attend a service academy (500 words or less).

Minimum of three letters of recommendation.

Nominations to service academies are based on a whole person evaluation, factoring in several traits relating to academic achievements, extracurricular activities, leadership skills and roles, physical fitness, character, and motivations. These are all taken into consideration when reviewing applications. Additionally, requirements for each service academy may be different, so students are encouraged to review the specific admission policies for each academy.

As a Member of Congress, I have the distinct honor and privilege of nominating accomplished students to our nations service academies. Our island has a long history with the armed forces, said Delegate Moylan. If appointed, these future cadets and midshipmen will be prepared to serve our country with honor academically, physically, and mentally forge a new generation of patriots from Guam.

The youth of Guam are dedicated, hardworking, and resilient, Moylan added. They embody the best of our island and are the future leaders of our community. I look forward to meeting applicants and reviewing their applications.

For more information, applicants can visit Del. Moylans website, https://moylan.house.gov/, or call the Guam office at (671)922-6673.

The deadline for applications is November 3, 2023, and only physical applications are accepted. No applications filled out online will be accepted. Following the deadline, applications will be reviewed, and Delegate Moylan will be holding interviews with each of the applicants.




Haiti - Carrefour-Feuilles : Open letter from a youth association to the PM





The General Coordinating Office of the l'UNION des JEUNES, faced with the critical situation prevailing in Carrefour-Feuilles, sent an open letter on Thursday August 17, 2023 to the Prime Minister a.i. Ariel Henry urging him to take immediate measures to put an end to the insecurity that prevails in the Carrefour Feuilles district that we reproduce in full and that we invite you to read.



"Premier Dr. Ariel Henry,



Allow me to address this open letter to you with great concern and deep disappointment regarding the critical situation that has prevailed in the Carrefour Feuilles neighborhood for nine long months now. The population of this neighborhood, already hard hit by the growing insecurity, finds itself plunged into unprecedented distress while living in total insecurity.



We have watched helplessly as the criminal gangs who terrorize and sow terror among the residents of Carrefour Feuilles. In recent months, these gangs have extended their grip on the daily life of the population, making a normal existence impossible. The streets, once full of life and joy, are now the scene of relentless violence and constant fear.



Yet, despite repeated calls from the distressed population, requests for reinforcements to fight these gangs have gone unanswered. The people of Carrefour Feuilles have been left to fend for themselves, exposed to very real dangers, without any adequate protection from the government. This prolonged inaction has exacerbated the situation and caused many of them to leave their homes, seeking refuge in the streets to escape the violence that reigns supreme.



It is hard not to see these events as the result of a government plot to force people out of their homes. The absence of concrete measures to guarantee the safety of citizens leaves room for disturbing speculations about the motives and intentions of the government. The population's confidence in the authorities is now seriously shaken, leaving a feeling of abandonment and despair.



Mr. Prime Minister, it is imperative that you act quickly and firmly to restore security and tranquility in Carrefour Feuilles. The citizens deserve to live in a safe and serene environment, where they can go about their daily business without fearing for their lives. Your duty as a leader is to protect and serve the people, ensuring a better and safer future for all.



We urge you to take immediate action to end the prevailing insecurity in the Carrefour Feuilles neighborhood. Show leadership and empathy towards your fellow citizens who are suffering. The Nation is watching you, waiting for concrete and decisive actions to restore peace and stability.



We sincerely hope that you will respond to this call with the diligence and urgency it deserves. The people of Haiti deserve a better future, and that starts with ensuring their safety and well-being.



Looking forward to prompt and decisive action from you. 



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40281-haiti-flash-more-than-30-dead-in-the-attacks-in-carrefour-feuilles.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-40274-icihaiti-carrefour-feuilles-the-pnh-sends-reinforcements.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-40270-icihaiti-edh-the-carrefour-feuilles-substation-attacked.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-40266-icihaiti-insecuritymore-than-3-000-people-have-fled-carrefour-feuilles.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40194-haiti-news-zapping.html



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping...





At least 2,439 people killed in Haiti

"Between January 1st and August 15 of this year, at least 2,439 people were killed and 902 others injured," Ravina Shamdasani, the spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, revealed in Geneva.



Shooting in Delmas 31, at least 7 dead

On Wednesday August 16, at least 7 people were killed in a shooting in Delmas 31, not far from the Visa Lodge hotel, by armed individuals traveling in a Toyota brand vehicle. The victims were on board a tap-tap that was targeted for an unknown reason...



High tension in the Cul-de-sac plain

Thursday, August 17, 2023, was a tense day on the Cul-de-sac plain. Bursts of automatic weapons were reported in Rosemberg, Lilavois, Carrefour Marasa, Santo and Bon Repos. Panicked, residents have left their homes hastily to escape the armed men of Canaan who seek to control these neighborhoods. Public transport and commercial activities have been paralyzed.



The former DG of the PNH very worried

The former Director General of the National Police of Haiti (PNH), Mario Andresol, said he was very worried about the security situation in the country and the lack of action on the part of the authorities to rectify it. According to him, the possibilities of an internal solution to the security crisis will continue to reduce as the days pass.



Moise calls for general mobilization

Thursday, August 17, 2023, Moise Jean Charles, Secretary General of the radical opposition "Pitit Dessalin" Party, launched a call for general mobilization throughout the national territory from August 22 next B>. The objective is to denounce the growing insecurity in the country, in particular the problems of kidnapping, the high cost of living and unemployment.



Distribution of thousands of food kits

The Economic and Social Assistance Fund (FAES) through the "Panye Solidarite" Program, distributed 4,000 food kits in several neighborhoods known to be difficult to access located in the metropolitan region of Port-au-Prince, in particular in rue Tiremasse, Macajoux, Petion and at Carrefour Pean, Corridor Bastia. The departmental delegate of the West thanked Taiwan (Republic of China) which comes to the aid of Haiti by granting financial support to the "Kore Pep" Program.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Published on 2023/08/18 | Source

Korean movie "Black Summer" is available to preorder on DVD with English subtitles from YESASIA.

"Black Summer" (2017)

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Directed by Lee Won-young

With Woo Ji-hyun, Lee Gun-woo-I, Jung Won-chang,...

Synopsis

Ji-hyeon is a contractual employee in the film department at a local college. When time allows, he dedicates himself to writing and directing movies. He is grateful that he is able to do what he enjoys, and spends his days chronicling and archiving ordinary surroundings and occurrences. One day, Ji-hyeon is interviewing candidates for a male role in his next film, when he is reunited with Geon-woo, who attended the same university a few years behind him. As the two men become reacquainted, Ji-hyeon starts to feel a change in the wind; his heart is beating faster, his pinwheel is picking up speed. Ji-hyeon and Geon-woo sense newfound emotions beginning to take hold. In a twist, their relationship is exposed to the college community. Rather than jeopardize Geon-woo's future as an actor, Ji-hyeon makes a sacrifice. The two men must ultimately decide how they will react to both despair and hope.

Release date in Korea : 2019/06/20

DVD with English subtitles

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Published on 2023/08/17 | Source

Actors Sung Hoon and Jung Yoo-min meet in a romance revenge drama.

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MBN's "Perfect Marriage Revenge" is the story of Han I-joo (Jung Yoo-min), who chose a contract marriage to avenge her husband and family, and Seo Do-gook (Sung Hoon) who postpones a contract marriage to welcome her as his wife. It is based on a web novel of the same name.

Do-gook is the CEO of an interior platform company and the grandson of the founder of the Prince group. He has an attractive appearance that makes even passers-by look back. He shows his desperate innocence, saying that he is willing to be used for revenge to I-joo. I-joo is a painter and the adopted daughter of Han Jin-woong, chairman of Hanul Financial Group. After returning to the past, she changes her past, which was betrayed by her husband and family, and pioneers her fate to avenge them.

Kang Shin-hyo and Lee Min-young also aare on board. Kang Shin-hyo is Seo Jeong-wook, vice president of Prince Construction his half-brother to Do-gook. He uses his father's sympathy and the guilt of his country while wearing a pretentious mask for the position of corporate heir. Lee Min-young plays Lee Jeong-hye, an executive of Hanul Financial Group and CEO of Gallery Plus. She forcibly adopts I-joo and regards her as an eyesore, and devotes herself to her own daughter, Han Yoo-ra (Jin Ji-hee). Yoo-ra is a social media star and gallery leader. She tries to be at the center of everything by 'classifying' everything to herself.

It is made by Jidam Media, a production company of "Love ft. Marriage and Divorce" seasons 1 to 3 (2021-2022). Director Oh Sang-won of "Love ft. Marriage and Divorce 3" and writer Im Seo-ra of "Feel Good To Die" will work together. The first episode will be in October.
In fact well surely do more than any other government to date, he was quoted saying at a meeting of the National Coalition in Pori, Satakunta, by YLE. Ill say this once more as prime minister and chairperson of the National Coalition: I condemn racism.

PRIME MINISTER Petteri Orpo (NCP) has reiterated that his government intends to do its utmost to weed out racism and discrimination in Finland.

Disagreements between the ruling parties have nonetheless emerged over how to fund the effort to combat racism and discrimination.

Jani Makela, the chairperson of the Finns Party Parliamentary Group, stated on YLE A-studio on Wednesday that no new funding should be set aside for combating racism. Minister of Finance Riikka Purra (PS) similarly estimated recently that there is unlikely to be funding for the effort unless it is scraped together by abandoning certain ineffective projects.

Otto Andersson, the chairperson of the Swedish Peoples Parliamentary Group, has contrastively emphasised the need to sufficiently fund the effort, according to YLE.

Orpo on Thursday assured that funding is available and will be set aside for the effort.

The government will complement its statement [on promoting equality and non-discrimination] with an action plan that brings a concrete dimension to the statement. Well make sure that there are resources for implementing the measures, he said.

Well of course have to make sure theres funding for the measures so that theyre more than dead letters.

He offered the effort to improve the possibilities and young people to participate in sporting and cultural hobbies as one example of concrete measures to promote equality in the government programme.

Additional funding and resources are set aside in the government programme to make sure that everyone is able to have a hobby. Special attention will be paid to making sure immigrant children and youth, for example, have access to hobbies.

The premier also conceded that a single government statement will not bring about the necessary social change. Instead, a years-long effort will be required.

Racism in Finland has been a topic of public discussion practically throughout the summer, following reports about the racist comments and messages of Purra and Minister of Economic Affairs Wille Rydman (PS). While the Finns Party has argued that the media has treated it unfairly, Orpo on Thursday viewed that the discussion provoked by the reports has been necessary.

Its important that this repulsive phenomenon is part of public discussion, he said according to the public broadcasting company. Society will change when racism and discrimination are brought to the fore. Society will change when public discussion leads to policy action. The only way to tackle racism is to make it visible.

He also rejected the criticism levelled against his party by his predecessor, Sanna Marin of the Social Democrats.

Marin on Wednesday said the National Coalition has turned a blind eye to the racist statements emanating from its coalition partner in order to carry out its all-important fiscal adjustments and spending cuts.

The National Coalition has allegedly sacrificed its values on the economys altar. We havent done that, Orpo retorted.

A sustainable economy isnt a value but a tool for the National Coalition. A tool that enables us to carry out policies that align with our values. Build a Finland with freedoms, opportunities, education and well-being  where the weakest are looked after.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT
Stats are in: How N.C. fared during pandemic

Because Gov. Roy Coopers former secretary of health and human services, Mandy Cohen, is now the new director of the Centers for Disease Control, politicians and analysts are again debating how North Carolinians fared during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Defenders of Cooper and Cohen argue that their comparatively stringent regulations saved many lives when compared to states such as Florida where lockdowns were shorter and mandates less severe. Detractors argue that North Carolinians suffered greater economic pain, including lost jobs and incomes, than was necessary to combat the virus, and that the states decision to keep public schools closed longer than neighboring states was particularly indefensible.

I opined frequently about these issues during the pandemic, criticizing Coopers school closures and violations of the separation of powers. But I also urged everyone to try to keep a cool head, to recognize the unprecedented nature of the crisis and the difficult decisions our governor and other officials were compelled to make.

That being said, we have more data now than we did in 2020, 2021 or even 2022 to assess the effectiveness of policy responses to the pandemic. The clearest finding, in my view, is that closing public schools for more than a brief period in the spring of 2020 was a wrongheaded and counterproductive policy. Schoolchildren were at extremely low risk and didnt prove to be major vectors of transmission to vulnerable populations.

What about lockdowns, business closures, mask mandates, and other non-medical interventions? Some studies suggest the stringency of such regulations exhibited little correlation with the spread of the virus. Others, such as a major paper published in the British journal The Lancet this March, found that while regulatory stringency had some relationship to infection rates, it wasnt associated with death rates.

That latter COVID outcome measure was always the better one. Infection rates have more of a reporting bias. Places that test more will detect more infections, all other things being equal, while a death is a death, although some ambiguity about its cause may persist.

As for comparing the pandemic experience of North Carolinians to, say, Floridians, Im afraid that far too many politicians and activists continue to hurl accusations based on the wrong statistic. They use COVID deaths per capita without adjusting for preexisting risk factors such as age. Thats silly. Many of the same people would (properly) insist on adjusting for student characteristics when assessing school performance, for example.

When adjusted for age and comorbidities, Floridas COVID death rate from 2020 to mid-2022 was lower, not higher, than North Carolinas. The Lancet study ranked Florida as having the 12th lowest rate in the country. North Carolina was 27th.

On the other hand, many other states in the Southeast had worse death-rate rankings than we did, including South Carolina (35th), Tennessee (38th), and Georgia (43rd).

Still, the Lancet authors found no statistical association between the party affiliation of a state governor and cumulative death rates from COVID-19. To the extent there was a political explanation for differences in mortality, it had less to do with lockdowns and masks than with the uptake of vaccines. Republican-leaning places tended to have lower vaccination rates  and that translated into higher mortality for vulnerable populations.

Now, heres what I got wrong in 2020: I thought the economic damage from Coopers lockdowns would last longer than it did. While North Carolina did experience a worse-than-average drop in economic activity, we also bounced back faster. Big losses in employment, especially in restaurants and other service sectors, were very painful in the short run. Then loose eligibility standards for unemployment insurance induced some North Carolinians to stay out of the workforce for a while. When those standards tightened back up, most went back to work. (Many of those who didnt appear to have severe drug addictions or mental illnesses).

In most ways, North Carolinas experience with COVID was close to the national average. Unexciting but true.

* * * * *

John Hood is a John Locke Foundation board member. His latest books, Mountain Folk and Forest Folk, combine epic fantasy with early American history (FolkloreCycle.com).
Progressives pan County Commission's recognition of Robinson

Robinson

Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, appearing at a meeting of the Henderson County Board of Commissioners last week, touted the states $3 billion budget surplus as a chance to spur jobs and economic development.

Theres so much opportunity up here, he said afterwards in an interview. Theres opportunity in agriculture, theres opportunity in industry, theres opportunity in technology, and theres opportunity in tourism. What our job needs to be as elected officials is to come up to this area  dont do it back from Raleigh  and talk to the people here and ask them what they need in order to make sure that we are not supplanting the businesses that are already here but bringing in industry thats going to be able to be to coexist with those places to help these areas grow.

Theres a delicate balance here, he added. People love to come here for the scenery. People love to come here for the nature. We dont want to totally destroy it. We want to make sure that were bringing in industries theyll be able to coexist with our natural resources, and the businesses and agriculture and things that are already here.

Ive got mixed feelings about Ecusta Trail

On one intensely local subject, the Ecusta Trail, Robinson expressed misgivings.

Ive got mixed feelings about that because I really feel like if were going to try to grow some industry in this part, were going to need some rail service, he said, adding, I think theres a way we can figure out how both things can coexist.

The frontrunner to win the Republican nomination for governor in March, Robinson spent Aug. 7 in Henderson and Buncombe counties, hearing from farmers, visiting supporters and attending a fundraiser at Taylor Ranch in Fletcher.

Bub Hyder  hes a great supporter of mine, we love him, Robinson said of the large landowner, apple grower and developer from Edneyville. We see eye-to-eye on a number of things and hes a big supporter of mine.

Stein is too far left

Asked whether hes too far right to win a general election in North Carolina, Robinson pivoted to the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, the states attorney general.

My response to that is absolutely not. Who is too far is Josh Stein, he said. Josh Stein is too far to the left.

He also appeared to be recasting his more conservative positions as opinions that would not necessarily drive policy if he were to be elected governor.

The ideas that I espouse, my personal opinions  people may think those are too far to the right, he said. But what Ive been trying to impress upon people and what Ive been doing as lieutenant governor is showing people I dont govern by my opinions. We govern by consensus, and Im ready to partner with anyone who is willing to do the good work to take the state to the next level.

It doesnt matter to me if me and you disagree maybe about the issue of life or we disagree about some social issue, he added. If we see eye to eye on how we can raise the stature and status of people here in Western North Carolina or Eastern North Carolina  if those folks come to me with a great plan, full of purpose and full of principle, that I know those plans are going to work, Ill partner with those people in a heartbeat to make sure we get that work done.

Im convinced we have far more in common than we have in differences. Were allowing about five issues to keep us separated. We cant do that as North Carolinians.

Dont honor cancerous hate-filled resume

Robinsons appearance at the top of the meeting last Monday night, billed on the agenda as a recognition, was not universally applauded.

Three speakers during the boards public comment period questioned commissioners decision to grant him the floor, saying his cancerous hate-filled resume is unworthy of the honor.

When I saw that he was going to be here, I didnt have any idea what he was going to be recognized for, Peter Zimring said. I couldn't imagine what that would be. I asked my wife if I had missed something. Had he saved some children have a burning house? That would deserve recognition. I don't think he has earned recognition from this group or from us.

Joe Elliott said the community should condemn Robinsons positions on LGBTQ rights, climate change and public schools, not give them light.

He vigorously denies the effects of climate change, a denial that blindly ignores science, he said. His stance is particularly tone deaf given the unprecedented heat waves and forest fires with the accompanying poisoned air that have been with us this entire summer. He constantly spews vile, antisemitic garbage that amplifies the constant lies of the far right propaganda machine. He refers to black people as muddle-headed negros, apes and monkeys.  How can we suggest that the people Henderson County should recognize this man? His cancerous hate-filled resume does not align in any way with the good people of Henderson County.

In response to speakers assertions that the Board of Commissioners should not have invited Robinson and their comments expressing doubt that the all-Republican board would ever invite Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, or Josh Stein, the leading Democratic candidate for governor, to speak, board chair Rebecca McCall pushed back.

The lieutenant governor was not asked to come, she said. He asked to be allowed to speak while he was in the area. Also, this board met with Josh Stein a couple of months ago for over an hour talking about things that he had an interest in. And as far as I know, the governor has never requested to come.
Sheriff's office busts theft ring involving building supplies

The Henderson County sheriffs deputies arrested seven men and were searching for an eighth suspect for the theft of $180,000 worth of inventory sold from Cason Builders Supply without the owners knowledge.

The Sheriffs Office received a report from Cason on April 3 detailing a complex case of employee-related theft, a news release said. The Sheriffs Office Property Crimes Unit swiftly initiated an investigation that culminated in the identification and charging of multiple individuals allegedly involved in the scheme.

The investigation revealed a web of illicit activity orchestrated by former Cason employees Jose Ruben Huerta and Marcelino Huerta, who deputies say were discovered to be selling inventory from Cason Builders to various local businesses without the knowledge or consent of the supplier. The stolen inventory has an estimated value of approximately $180,000, underscoring the seriousness of the criminal operation.

After a meticulous and thorough investigation, detectives brought charges against:

Jose Ruben Huerta, charged with over 40 counts of felony larceny by employee and felony conspiracy.

Marcelino Huerta, charged with 18 counts of felony larceny by employee and felony conspiracy.

Jose Jiminez Rosales, owner of A&L Landscaping, charged with 6 counts of aid and abet larceny by employee and felony conspiracy.

Hugo Hernandez Castillo, owner of HH Concrete, charged with 5 counts of aid and abet larceny by employee and felony conspiracy.

Jose Salinas Ramirez, owner of Ramirez Landscaping, charged with 7 counts of aid and abet larceny by employee and felony conspiracy.

Primitivo Mejia-Juarez, owner of Primos Wall Masonry, charged with 10 counts of aid and abet larceny by employee and felony conspiracy.

Julio Cesar Luna Hernandez, owner of JHCC Construction, charged with 4 counts of aid and abet larceny by employee and felony conspiracy.

Warrants have been issued for Antonio Moguel-Aguilar, owner of Anthonys Landscaping, who is wanted on six counts of aid and abet larceny by employee and felony conspiracy. The Sheriffs Office encourages anyone with information regarding Antonio Moguel-Aguilar's whereabouts to come forward and assist in bringing this case to its rightful resolution.

Sheriff Lowell Griffin emphasizes that this case underscores the importance of collaboration between law enforcement and the local business community to prevent and address such criminal activities. The Henderson County Sheriff's Office remains dedicated to protecting the county's businesses and residents.
A CREAMERY in Nettlebed has partnered with Waitrose to produce a sparkling wine-infused cheese.

The Nettlebed Creamery, a family-run business owned by Rose Grimond, has launched Leckford Wash Cheese with rind washed in Leckford Estate Brut.

Ms Grimond, who set up the creamery in 2016, said the cheese was a spontaneous result of a work meeting.

She said: Last year, we had the development chef from the company visit us about product development and our supply as we already supply two cheeses to Waitrose.

We had a really fun time touring the creamery, cheese tasting and visiting the cows.

On the back table in the office we had compiled everything from figs and syrup and panettone to chocolate and honey and talked about how flavours go together.

They explained how Waitrose have a vineyard called Leckford where they make sparkling wine and we already make a wash rind cheese. They asked if I had ever done one in wine but I hadnt done it in about five years.

Way back before I started the creamery, I did experiment with cheese-making and washed rinds out of dregs of wine and beer we had in our fridge.

The tradition goes back hundreds of years and started when people were trying to understand how cheese works.

I said: Lets give it a go and did a few different iterations.

Waitrose take their supplier connections really seriously and come out often so it was a fortunate consequence of what was otherwise a work visit.

There is always that exciting and unique combination of characters and no two wash rind cheeses will ever be the same.

The Leckford wash for me has elements of floral aroma but it has also got a savouriness. Head cheesemaker Heather Taylor, who has worked at the creamery for three years, makes Leckford.

She said: In terms of the washing and aftercare, thats done by the whole team.

Weve had staff from Waitrose come in and look around and see us making it and washing it, so there is quite a strong connection there. Weve had Meet the maker events and its lovely to see Waitrose members of staff getting excited about what were doing and then doing all the marketing and things like that.

It has been a really cool process. Its a massive boost for us as a company and as a team to know that something as large as Waitrose chose us to work with them.

It is a massive achievement for the team here and for the cheese to have gone on the shelves and have quite a large launch has been a real perk.

I actually went to Waitrose the other weekend and saw it on the shelf for the first time and I just wanted to turn around to people and say: I made that.

Sarah Miness, a cheese buyer at Waitrose, said: Weve been selling our own label French cheese rind-washed in alcohol since 2013 when we launched Saint Vernier, washed in white wine followed by Berthauts Epoisses AOP, washed in Marc de Bourgogne. Being big supporters of British produce, we wanted to create a British rind-washed cheese to offer our customers variety for their cheese boards and what better way to wash the cheese in than our very own Leckford Sparkling Brut?

Will Torrent, senior development chef at Waitrose, said: We had fun with the team at Nettlebed experimenting with cheese and different flavour combinations. Wine and cheese are always a winning combination.

This cheese takes a total of three weeks to make and everything is done by hand, so you can be sure your cheese has been made with time, care and a little bit of love.

For best results, let the cheese soften up at room temperature, so the flavours and texture can develop and enjoy it by itself, or for a real treat eat it with a glass of Leckford to enhance the flavours even further.

The cheese costs 6.50 for 150g and is available to buy in 281 shops and online.
Joya Chatterjis latest book, Shadows at Noon: The South Asian Twentieth Century is an unusual, genre-defying and immensely readable historical account of post-1947 India and South Asia. Each of her earlier works (Bengal Divided, 1995, and Spoils of Partition, 2007) and essays is rigorously researched, her prose is lucid and her analyses of the unusual evidence she gathers is deserving of the appreciation and plaudits it has garnered. A tiranga rally in India. More of a social history, Joya Chatterjis Shadows at Noon also discusses art, theatre, cinema, sports, cuisines, family, household affairs, domestic help and their anxieties and vulnerabilities and slum-dwellers too. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo)

864pp, 999; Penguin

Her latest work, at times narrated by the author as an actor in and spectator of the events she describes, sometimes reads like a memoir. That doesnt make it any less of a work of history as the copious field notes, oral accounts, archival evidence and the deep engagement with secondary works indicate. Conventional historical accounts (post-1947) usually confine themselves to political, economic and administrative affairs. More of a social history, this book also discusses art, theatre, cinema, sports, cuisines, family, household affairs, domestic help and their anxieties and vulnerabilities and slum-dwellers too. As someone, who has been teaching postgraduate courses on the history of India post-1947 and has had to deal with the scattered nature of the information available, this is a useful book.

Conjectures about the central concern as well as the works subtext can be gleaned from the choice of the title itself. There have been at least two novels with the same title: Martin Goldsmiths speculative novel on what happens after Nazi bombing destroys New York appeared in 1943 while Margot Webbs 2019 novel dealt with Nazi oppression as experienced by a 10-year-old girl. And then theres Arthur Koestlers 1940 novel, Darkness at Noon, which exposed the Stalinist purge. Thus, the title forewarns us, not so implicitly, of South Asias rapid slide into electoral ethno-authoritarianism.

While the author doesnt shy away from exposing the failings and atrocities of the colonial state, she is quick to add that the post-colonial South Asian states continue to be as oppressive, violent, discriminatory, and filled with the arrogance of power and ethnocentrism. She has rightly touched on the point that such factors generate regional imbalance and secessionism. The menacing phenomenon of competitive subcontinental majoritarianism inherent in the discourse around citizenship has also been well brought out.

The seven chapters in the volume include one devoted to migration, displacement and the diaspora, which is Chatterjis special area of interest. While there is a lot of information here, there isnt much focus on the long distance nationalism that feeds into the jingoism and xenophobia prevalent across Pakistan, India and Bangladesh (Western historians prefer to call the region South Asia) and it leaves the reader wondering why emigrants tend to be more xenophobic.

In another chapter, Chatterji clarifies that the military preponderance in Pakistan emerged from the chaos of Partition. There were a mere 101 Muslim ICS officers of the colonial administration in the regions outside what was to become Pakistan. Of these, 95 opted for the new country. At Partition, only 1.5% of the Indian army was Muslim, mostly Pathan. In the newly created Pakistan Army, 72% were Punjabi though the ethnic group was 25 percent of the population; the Bengalis, who were 55% of the total population, had a negligible presence in the army, the consequences of which became evident in 1971. The civil-military composition, already skewed at birth, ensured that the army continues to dominate Pakistani affairs.

There are some inadequacies on certain themes in this 850-page volume. While Bangladeshs performance in rural development, particularly through micro-financing has been brought out and the point has been made that the country has been doing well at alleviating rural poverty, Indias efforts at delivering social justice through affirmative action to historically oppressed communities (though far from satisfactory, it is better than others in the region) have been ignored.

Another point of contention through the decades has been the gender-related reforms in the personal laws of Hindus and Muslims in the three countries. When these were carried out in the initial decades after Independence, there was internal resistance from religious reactionaries, especially on gender issues. The book mentions this aspect only in passing.

Author Joya Chatterji (The British Academy)

In terms of interpreting the character of the nation and the state through Hindi films, some of the most crucial research in this area has gone unnoticed in the book. Another omission is the creative literature of the three countries since 1947. At least some of fiction in the major languages of South Asia could have been analysed in a segment.

A little more fact checking was also necessary. The myth of 55 crore to be given to Pakistan as one of the reasons for the assassination of Gandhi has crept into this book. On the Shah Bano issue of 1986, Chatterji maintains that imminent elections were the populist consideration before the Rajiv Gandhi-led administration. The fact is the quinquennial elections were over three years away. Hopefully, these errors will be taken care of in subsequent editions.

In sum, this is a valuable addition to the literature on the Indian subcontinent. Written in captivating prose, it reads like a novel that you just cannot put down until its finished. In a gloomy era when the region is fast slipping into ethno-retrogression with states writing ideologically sanitized history textbooks, an immensely readable text by a highly accomplished historian that appeals to students, teachers and non-specialist readers alike, is of great significance.

Mohammad Sajjad is Professor of Modern and Contemporary Indian History, Aligarh Muslim University. He is the author of Muslim Politics in Bihar: Changing Contours (Routledge).
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Former Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday said he would talk to party MLA ST Somashekar Gowda after the latter called the state's deputy CM DK Shivakumar, a senior Congress leader, his guru. Gowda's remarks sparked talks in political circles that the saffron party is witnessing a rift from within. Former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai said he will talk to Gowda and sort out issues. (ANI)

The leader had said DK Shivakumar, who is also the president of the Congress' Karnataka unit, had played a key role in his growth in the cooperative sector.

If Ive grown in the cooperative sector, its because of my 'guru' DK Shivakumar who helped me. I wasnt given a JP Nagar block, DK Shivakumar made me joint secretary of JP Nagar. From there he gave me his support. He also made me the candidate for the Uttarahalli Assembly constituency, Gowda had earlier said.

READ | Karnataka to appeal to CWMA to reconsider decision on Cauvery water: DK Shivakumar

He is a former Congress leader who jumped boats along with 13 others in 2019, helping Lingayat strongman BS Yediyurappa form the BJP government in the southern state following the fall of JD(S)-Congress coalition government that year.

Amid speculations that Gowda will re-join the grand old party, he said, I have not spoken anywhere about going to Congress. I have not discussed any politics other than development of my constituency with D K Shivakumar (Deputy CM during recent meeting). I have never told my supporters that I will be going (to Congress). It's the creation of my opponents.

READ | Betrayal of Karnataka farmers: Ex CM Basavaraj Bommai attacks Congress on Kaveri issue

"I have told them (BJP leaders) that I don't have any disgruntlement with the state BJP and leadership...I have not been involved in any anti party activity, despite this no action is being taken against those who are functioning against me within the party in my constituency. When such is the case, how can I organise the party is my question," he added, while speaking to PTI.

When asked about Gowda's comments, senior BJP leader Bommai said he agreed that Gowda is a little agitated, and said, "See I'm telling you because of some local issues ST Somashekar is a little agitated, I agree, but it can be sorted out very quickly and I'm sure that I'll talk to him and see that all the issues are sorted out.

(With agency inputs)
The Congress government in Karnataka has ordered a judicial probe into the allegations of 40% commission paid on state contracts during the preceding Basavaraj Bommai-led Bharatiya Janata Party regime. Karnataka government orders probe into 40% commission row involving BJP leaders

The state government has constituted a committee under the leadership of retired High Court Judge Nagmohan Das to investigate the allegations made by D Kempanna, president of the Karnataka State Contractors Association.

Also Read - Bengaluru: HDK accuses Congress govt of graft, CM terms it baseless

In connection with the same, an order was issued by the Deputy Secretary of the Public Works Department to investigate the 40% commission case during the BJP government.

It has been mentioned in the order that a committee headed by Nagmohan Das should examine the location and documents in detail and submit a complete report to the government within the next thirty days.

Further, the necessary files and documents related to the investigation should be provided to the investigation committee by the officials of the respective concerned departments.

The public works department said in the order that the officials should be personally present during the site inspection and give full cooperation to the investigation.

The issue first emerged in April 2022, when Santosh Patil, a Belagavi-based contractor, died by suicide. In his suicide note, Patil accused then-state minister and BJP leader KS Eshwarappa of demanding a 40 per cent commission in order to clear a government project.

D Kempanna, president of the Karnataka State Contractors Association, had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2021, alleging that contractors had to shell out 40% commission for public projects, a charge which the Congress used as its key campaign issue to target the then incumbent BJP government.

While meeting the delegation of the Contractors' Association a week ago, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah promised the contractors that his government would initiate action to stop the commission menace.

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The Karnataka government has ordered a judicial inquiry into the allegations of demand for '40 per cent commission' for public projects during the previous BJP-led dispensation in the state. The ruling Congress on Thursday passed an order setting up the inquiry panel led by retired HC judge Justice Nagamohan Das.(St. Aloysius College)

Three months after coming to power, the ruling Congress on Thursday passed an order setting up the inquiry panel led by retired HC judge Justice Nagamohan Das, fulfilling one of its key promises made in the run-up to assembly polls.

ALSO READ | Karnataka ex-CM Bommai to talk to agitated leader Somashekar Gowda over remarks on DK Shivakumar

According to the order, the commission will inquire into the activities of the departments where large-scale public works are taken up.

The Karnataka State Contractors Association had written to the Prime Minister as well as the then CM about 40 per cent commission being charged on all public projects.

Even before the commencement of work, 25 to 30 per cent commission is paid to the public representatives while the remaining is paid after completion of work, the order explained.

However, no action was taken on these serious allegations at the government level. The new government wants to bring transparency in the administration at the initial level itself, it said.

ALSO READ | Karnataka govt to provide security to writers who received 'threat letters'

The commission will investigate whether administrative approvals were given as per rules and quality of works.

The probe panel will also ascertain whether the estimates were in accordance with the prevailing schedule of rates and necessity to revise estimates in the event of cost escalation.

During the inquiry, the departments concerned will have to submit their files to the panel, it said. During the election campaigning, the Congress raised the issue of '40 per cent commission' to target the BJP government.
The womens police here have arrested two persons, including a woman, on the charges of sexually assaulting a differently-abled minor girl. Karnataka: Two held for sexually assaulting differently-abled minor girl

Also Read - 5 minor boys gangrape 8-year-old girl in Karnatakas Kalaburagi: Police

As per a complaint lodged by girls mother, she had left her special child with the accused man who is known to her family and the woman, her relative, before leaving for Manjeshwar to enquire about an accident in which her brother was involved.

While she was away, the man allegedly sexually assaulted the minor girl with the help of the woman who was with him.

The accused have been identified as Abdul Haleem (37) of Mumbai and Shameena Banu, a native of Kulshekar in the city.

While the woman was arrested on Wednesday itself when the complaint was lodged, the accused man was arrested with the help of Goa police from a train at Madgaon while he was trying to escape to Mumbai.

A case has been registered under IPC Sections 376 (rape), 109 (abetment) and various provisions under the POCSO Act.

Both the accused were produced before the court and remanded to judicial custody. Women police station inspector A C Lokesh is leading the investigation team, sources said.

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A foreign terrorist, who was injured in an encounter with security forces in Rajouri district earlier this month, was found dead on Friday in Reasi district, officials said. A foreign terrorist, who was injured in an encounter with security forces in Reasi district earlier this month, was found dead on Friday. (Representational photo)

While one terrorist was killed, another was injured in the gunbattle in Khawas area of adjoining Rajouri district on August 5.

The body of the second terrorist injured in the encounter has been found by the special operations group at Dhakikot in Reasi district, said additional director general of police Mukesh Singh.

Two grenades, three AK magazines, 90 AK rounds, 32 pistol rounds and some other material were recovered from the spot.

On Friday morning, joint teams of police, army and paramilitary forces located the body of the terrorist from a gorge, where he fell while trying to escape, an official said.

Also read: Security forces seize cache of arms near LoC in J&Ks Kupwara district

The two terrorists seem to Pakistanis and were suspected to be involved in terror cases in the Rajouri-Poonch region, including the recent attack on security forces at Kesari Hill and the Dhangri attack, the police said in a statement.

The twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch witnessed three major terror attacks on January 1 at Dhangri, April 20 at Tota Gali in Poonch and May 5 in the Kandi forests of Rajouri.

In the three attacks, the terrorists killed 10 soldiers and seven members of the Hindu community.

J&K lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha had said that the spike in terror incidents in Rajouri and Poonch districts was a cause of concern for his administration. He had said that the security forces were working on a strategy, on the lines of Kashmir, to wipe out terrorism from the border districts of Jammu region.

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The demolitions of all 443 properties/structures in Nuh by authorities were post the July 31 violence, a report prepared by the state government reveals. The report was prepared on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana high court in which details of demolitions carried out in two weeks period around that time were to be listed. A bulldozer being used to demolish an illegally constructed hotel in violence-hit Nuh. (PTI)

The report also indicates that no property was demolished a week prior to the July 31 incident. However, prior notices were served. In Gurugram, only one property was demolished post violence.

The report was prepared in response to a suo motu PIL initiated by the high court on August 7. On that date, a division bench comprising justice GS Sandhawalia and justice Harpreet Kaur Jeewan had taken suo motu cognisance of the demolitions and observed that the law-and-order situation was being used as a ruse to pull buildings without due process.

The bench asked if the action was an exercise of ethnic cleansing by the state. It had then sought a report on the demolitions carried two weeks prior to August 7 and asked the government to clarify whether advance notices were given to the occupants of the buildings brought down during the drive.

The state government tried to submit the report during the hearing before the bench of chief justice, RS Jha in high court on Friday. However, the court adjourned the matter asking government to file it in registry.

After the hearing, additional advocate general, Haryana, Deepak Sabherwal told reporters that in Nuh since Muslim population is high80 (Muslims):20 (Hindus) as per 2011 census, the number of demolitions of illegal encroachments of Muslim community is high.

Still ratio is 70:30. 70 demolitions of encroachments from Muslim community and 30 from Hindu. There was no intention of the state to give data on religious lines. It was done as court had apprehension of ethnic cleansing, he said.

The report reveals multiple agencies had carried out demolitions and prior notices were given in most cases. Some demolitions have been attributed to court orders, others as regular exercise. No demolition was carried out without following the procedure of law. It is also pertinent to mention that the government while removing encroachments/ unauthorised constructions never adopted pick-and-choose policy and that too on the basis of caste, creed or religion. State government while collecting such information on encroachments does not collect any information with regard to caste, creed and religion and all the encroachers are dealt with in the same manner, affidavits of both the DCs of Gurugram and Nuh read.

25 properties razed in Gurugram, only 1 post violence

The affidavit by deputy commissioner, Nishant Kumar Yadav reveals that between July 3 and August 8 as many as 25 properties were demolished in Gurugram involving 116 acres in which 57 acres have been cleared. Post violence only one property has been demolished in Gurugram and all the properties demolished in Gurugram were of Hindus.

354 persons affected by drive in Nuh

The affidavit of Nuh deputy commissioner Dhirendra Khadgata says five departments carried out demolitions in the district in which 443 structures were demolished, of which 162 were permanent and 281 were temporary. The number of persons affected from the demolition drive were 354, of which 71 were Hindus and 283 Muslims. The report reveals that all the encroachments removed in Nuh were post violence.

The demolition exercise began in Nuh on August 3, three days after communal violence erupted in the district on July 31 during a Hindu religious procession, injuring several and killing at least five. The violence eventually spiraled and spread to neighbouring districts, including Gurugram, where mobs set afire a mosque and pillaged several shops and restaurants. The demolitions continued till the morning of August 7, when the high court intervened and questioned the government over the manner it was being carried out.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Surender Sharma Surender Sharma is a principal correspondent at Chandigarh. He covers Punjab and Haryana high court. ...view detail
Days after heavy rain wreaked havoc in the region, Yamunanagar deputy commissioner Rahul Hooda told Haryana governor Bandaru Dattatreya that work on developing a dam worth 7,000 crore to store Yamuna Water near Hathnikund Barrage is set to begin soon. As per a statement, when the governor asked the DC on how the water going towards New Delhi is being managed, he explained how rain water from the mountains comes to Hathnikund (ANI Picture Service)

The governor, who was in town to attend a Teej function, on Friday also visited the barrage.

As per a statement, when the governor asked the DC on how the water going towards New Delhi is being managed, he explained how rain water from the mountains comes to Hathnikund.

Here, when the water level goes above 1 lakh cusecs, the supply to Western Jamuna Canal (WJC) and Eastern Jamuna Canal (EJC) is stopped, while the water flows through Yamuna, thus leading to flooding in Delhi, the DC said.

To prevent future flooding in Haryana and Delhi, the state government is planning to construct a dam four kilometres behind the barrage, on which work will begin shortly. A preliminary report has been sent to Central Waters Commission (CWC). Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar has already approved this project, Hooda added.

Officials said the project will cost 7,000 crore and letters have been written to neighbouring states in this regard.

RS Mittal, superintendent engineer, irrigation department, said the dam also comes in the Himachal Pradesh region and will be constructed jointly by Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Rajasthan. The barrage was in the eye of the storm recently, with Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal alleging excess release of water, leading to flooding in Delhi. Haryana, however, refuted the allegation, claiming that it was only a barrage and not a dam, and it could not hold excess water after rain.

However, last week, Khattar suspended a chief engineer of irrigation department for negligence during recent floods in Delhi and a chargesheet was issued against three senior engineers.
A 14-year-old girl was kidnapped for ransom in east Delhis Shahdara on Wednesday by a man she had been in contact with on social media for the past two years, said police officers aware of the case, adding that the girl was rescued on Thursday and the suspect and his accomplice were arrested. One of those arrested told police that he wanted the ransom money to trade in the share market, and had planned the kidnapping a month ago. (Representational image)

The girl lives in Tahirpur in Shahdaras Seemapuri with her parents and studies in Class X, according to the police.

On Wednesday, the Shahdara police received a complaint from the girls father that his daughter had been kidnapped. The man told the police that his daughter went for tuition that day but did not return home, and her phone was turned off, said a police officer associated with the case. The man said that he and his wife searched the neighbourhood but could not find her, and later that night, he received a call from his daughters phone number from a man who said his daughter would be harmed if he did not pay 50 lakh as ransom, said the officer.

Based on his complaint, the police registered a first information report under Section 363 (kidnapping) of the Indian Penal Code and started an investigation.

Six teams were formed to work on the case as time is crucial in kidnapping cases. Footage from as many as 60-70 CCTV cameras were analysed, and we saw that the girl had gone towards Mansarovar Park Metro station, said deputy commissioner of police (Shahdara) Rohit Meena.

According to a police officer who asked not to be identified, the police checked the girls social media accounts  a routine matter in cases of kidnapping of women and children  and discovered that she was in touch with a man named Ravi right until the moment she went missing.

The suspect was identified as Ravi Kumar, 18, a resident of Loni, said DCP Meena.

We tracked Ravi through technical surveillance and apprehended him near Kashmere Gate bus terminus, where he was going to take a bus to Bihar, said the officer cited anonymously above.

Kumars interrogation revealed he had befriended the girl on a social media website at least two years ago. He said that he wanted the ransom money to trade in the share market, and had planned the kidnapping a month ago, said investigators. Kumar said that he learned from the girl that she was being pressured by her family to study science in Class XI, whereas she wanted to become a fashion designer, said investigators.

So, Ravi told her that he would take her to Nepal, where she could study fashion design, and asked her to meet him on Wednesday, said DCP Meena.

On Wednesday, the girl told her parents she was going for tuition, but instead she went to meet Ravi, who was waiting for her with his friend, Akash Kumar, 24.

However, instead of taking her to Nepal, the two took the girl to Akashs house in Loni, locked her in a room, and then called her parents, said investigators.

The police team carefully conducted a raid and rescued the girl on Thursday. We found her unconscious inside a locked room. She regained consciousness later, said DCP Meena, adding that Akash was arrested from the spot.
A 32-year-old PWD worker died, and another person was injured after a car rammed into a goods carrier parked near Yudhishthir Setu in Shastri Park area on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday. Representational image.

According to an FIR lodged at the Shastri Park police station, they received a call around 1.48 am about a speeding Mahindra Thar jeep hitting the goods carrier from behind, pushing it over the roads divider.

Sohan, a resident of Shalimar Village in Delhi and the owner-driver of the goods vehicle, was installing sign indicator notice boards on a pole on the divider when the incident took place.

He was crushed by the Chota Hathi goods carrier and died on the spot, the FIR stated.

Both the vehicles were severely damaged, and the driver of the car was also injured. The vehicles have been towed away from the scene.

The driver of the Thar jeep has not been arrested so far. Further investigation is in progress, the police said.

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The Delhi assembly was due to take up the undemocratic Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) Act, which handed over the control of the administration to the Union government despite ruling Aam Aadmi Partys (AAP) opposition, and alleged scam in the construction of the Dwarka Expressway for discussion on Friday. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was also likely to speak on the issue. (HT PHOTO)

According to the list of business, AAP lawmakers Sanjeev Jha, Bhavna Gaur, and Akhilesh Pati Tripathi will initiate the discussion on the undemocratic move of the Central Government in enacting the law to curtail the powers of the elected Delhi Government in violation of the constitutional provisions and Supreme Court rulings. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was also likely to speak on the issue.

Six Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmakers were marshaled out as tempers flared when AAP lawmaker Durgesh Pathak initiated in the Delhi assembly on Thursday a discussion on the ethnic violence in Manipur.

The Delhi government has challenged GNCTD Act in the Supreme Court even as AAP has maintained it will respect the legislation as long as it remains.

The control of bureaucrats has been at the core of the battles the Union and Delhis AAP governments have fought including in courts since 2015 when Kejriwal stormed to power.

A Supreme Court order on May 11 handed over the control of services to the elected government. On May 19, the Union government issued an ordinance to snatch back the control before the GNCDT Act was passed last week.

The Delhi House proceedings were scheduled to begin on Friday under Rule 280, which allows lawmakers to raise important matters related to their constituencies and to draw the attention of the government.

BJP leader Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said the AAP leaders were frustrated due to corruption charges against their government and leaders including Kejriwal. The AAP government is running away from discussing the scams which have taken under the AAP government such as the chief ministers bungalow scam... Their own lawmakers are questioning the failures of the AAP government. Kejriwal has done nothing for the people of Delhi.

Bidhuri said the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of Indias report on Dwarka Expressway has not analysed the reasons behind the increase in the cost, such as land acquisition cost escalation and additional constructions.

AAP held a protest on Wednesday at the under-construction expressway site in Najafgarh to highlight corruption in the key infrastructure project. AAP leaders cited the CAG report which said the project is being developed at a cost nearly 14 times the amount originally approved in 2017

The Dwarka Expressway project is a big scam by the Modi government, said AAP chief spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar. She alleged the project was approved at a cost of Rs18 crore per km but is being built at a cost of 251 crore per km without any prior approval.
New Delhi The next Lok Sabha elections in the Capital will be fought on the issue of getting Delhi full statehood, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Friday, accusing the Centre of trying to crush the democratic rights of the people and destabilising opposition parties. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal (PTI)

Speaking in the Delhi assembly, Kejriwal attacked a controversial new law that gave the Centre control over Delhis bureaucracy, exuded confidence that the Supreme Court would overturn it, and said the Centre was out to topple non-BJP governments across India using federal agencies.

Read here: In Delhi assembly, CM hits out at PM on Manipur violence

I strongly feel that in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the BJP will lose all seven seats in Delhi, and this election will be fought on the issue of getting Delhi full statehood, Kejriwal said. The BJP holds all seven Lok Sabha seats in the Capital. Though Kejriwals Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress are both part of the Opposition INDIA grouping, it is unclear whether they will fight in alliance.

AAP minister Atishi hit out at the BJP, saying that the party forgot its promise of full statehood after the Kejriwal-led government was elected in 2015.

In response, Delhi BJP leader Vijender Gupta accused the AAP government of spreading anarchy in the national capital.

BJP did promise full statehood till 2014 but when AAP came to power and showed its anarchist character everyone was of the firm view that in case Delhi gets full statehood and AAP is in power they may mar governance and spread anarchy in the national capital. Arvind Kejriwal who had threatened to disrupt the Republic Day parade, went to meet the LG and sat on a dharna inside his office for nine days cannot be trusted with full statehood in the Capital. AAP made full statehood the main issue in 2019, but people did not show much interest and defeated AAP on all seats. AAP does not have any worthwhile work to which it can use to contest the LS polls, that is why Kejriwal is trying to make full statehood an issue, Gupta said.

Full statehood has been a core political demand in the Capital, demanded at various times by the BJP, Congress and the AAP. In the aftermath of the Centres controversial decision to effectively bypass a Supreme Court verdict on Delhis bureaucracy and assume control of the citys services, the AAP has started raising the demand again. Full statehood, the argument goes, will not only accord more powers to the state government (which currently has no say over land, police, public order and services) but also possibly expand Delhis share in central taxes (full states get more money compared to Union territories).

In every election, the BJP promised to get Delhi full statehood, they even fought for this. What happened after 2014 that the BJP forgot their full statehood promise? The landslide victory of Arvind Kejriwal in the 2015 assembly election made them drop the idea of full statehood for Delhi, state minister Atishi said inside the House.

But full statehood is also a complex demand, and will require a constitutional amendment. In 2019, the AAP had included full statehood in its poll manifesto but ended up third in five of the Capitals seven Lok Sabha seats.

Leader of Opposition Ramvir Singh Bidhuri dismissed Kejriwals suggestion and said BR Ambedkar had once said that full statehood should not be granted to Delhi; and emphasised that there should not be two governments in the Capital.

The architect of the Constitution, Baba Bhimrao Ambedkar, had once spoken about not granting full statehood to Delhi and had emphasized that there should not be two governments in the capital. He had advocated for keeping Delhi as a centrally administered territory, Bidhuri said in a statement.

During his speech, Kejriwal also attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and alleged that the BJP crushed the democratic rights of the people of Delhi. The CM said that the Centre weaponised bureaucrats against the citys elected government and shunted out good officers while retaining those who stalled work.

They are out to topple non-BJP governments using either money or misusing ED [Enforcement Directorate] or CBI [Central Bureau of Investigation]... they used both weapons in Delhi but failed, Kejriwal said.

Modi is riding a new chariot driven by three horses  ED, CBI, and money, he added.

Kejriwal exuded confidence that the Supreme Court will strike down the new law, noting that the Constitution bench judgment earlier this year had ruled that the elected government was in charge of the bureaucracy, except in matters related to police, public order, and land. I assure the people of Delhi that I will get back your rights from the Supreme Court, and we will not let the work of Delhi stop under any circumstances even though the speed slows down, Kejriwal said.

Kejriwal also questioned the National Capital Civil Services Authority (NCCSA), which is chaired by the CM and has two senior bureaucrats as members. The final decision on the bureaucracy rests with the lieutenant governor, who reports to the Union home ministry.

Democracy has many models including Westminster model, presidential model, parliamentary model... I was wondering which model NCCSA falls under... this is Sanghi (RSS) model of democracy, Kejriwal said.

The victory chariot of Modi was stopped in Delhi. Modi took an oath to finish the AAP... but God had different plans. God made the AAP the third-largest party after the BJP and the Congress in just nine years, Kejriwal said.

He said despite the Centre stopping the Delhi governments work, the AAP managed to transform schools and hospitals, and provide free electricity and bus ride. Earlier Delhi was infamous for scams, now it is famous for zero electricity bills, good schools... If there was a Nobel prize for working the most, the people of Delhi would have got it, Kejriwal said.

Bidhuri, who was not present in the House when Kejriwal spoke, said later that the AAP government was opposed to the new law because it was neck deep in corruption.

Read here: LG gives 11 reasons why Delhi got flooded; water minister hits back

After the Supreme Court gave control over bureaucrats to the Delhi government, the Delhi government attempted to misuse the officers to cover up the cases of their corruption... It forced the central government to first issue ordinance and then enact laws to protect Delhi from corruption, Bidhuri said.

AAP MLA Sanjeev Jha termed the new services law undemocratic, unconstitutional, and black law.

Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said the new services law was unconstitutional. The central government can make laws but they should be within the basic principles of the Constitution, he said.
A Delhi court on Thursday granted bail to a de-rostered IndiGo woman pilot arrested last month along with her husband for allegedly physically assaulting a 10-year-old girl she had employed as an attendant for her child at her Dwarka home. The woman, Poornima Bagchi, 33, a former first officer for IndiGo airlines, and her husband, Kaushik Bagchi, were booked on July 19. (Representational Image)

Read here: 40-year-old IndiGo pilot dies at Nagpur airport 55 mins before take-off

The woman, Poornima Bagchi, 33, a former first officer for IndiGo airlines, and her husband, Kaushik Bagchi, who is a ground staff with Vistara airlines, were booked on July 19 after a video was widely shared on social media showing Bagchi being assaulted by a group of people who learned about the alleged mistreatment of the minor.

The video showed several women and girls, including the minors relatives, dragging Bagchi, who was in uniform, by her hair, slapping and punching her, even as she could be heard and seen apologising with folded hands. Her husband was seen attempting to protect his wife, but he, too, was dragged and assaulted by men from the crowd.

According to the police, the couple was injured in the assault.

Later, IndiGo said that it had de-rostered Bagchi from duties.

The couple were booked for voluntarily causing hurt, wrongful confinement, buying or disposing of any person as a slave, and cruelty to a child under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 323, 342, 370, 374 and 34, and sections of Juvenile Justice Act and Child Labour Act, in a case registered at Dwarka South police station. A separate first information report was filed against unidentified people for assaulting the couple under sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 341 (wrongful restraint) of the Indian Penal Code.

Considering the facts and that the accused has been in judicial custody for the last one month and there is no purpose in keeping her in custody, the application is hereby allowed, said additional sessions judge Vipin Kharb while granting bail to Bagchi.

Bagchi, being represented by advocate Tanveer Ahmad Mir and a team of advocates from Karanjawala and Co, had moved the bail application on the grounds that she had already been in custody for the last one month and was not required for any further custodial interrogation.

It was pointed out that the woman has a four-year-old child who is on constant medication for a life-threatening disease and that the child is currently living in Jharkhand under the care of his grandparents because the woman has no relatives in Delhi. It was argued that the child requires personal parental care, specifically the care of the mother, and that because both parents are in custody, she must be released on bail.

The womans attorney also said in court that she will not flee or induce or tamper with any witnesses or evidence.

Read here: IndiGo derosters pilot over allegations of hiring, torturing minor as domestic help

The court was also informed that all of the sections invoked against her are bailable, with the exception of Section 370 (human trafficking), which cannot be determined at the present stage based on the facts of the case.

The bail application was opposed by the additional public prosecutor as well as the counsel for the complainant, who argued that Bagchi had injured the child not only physically but also psychologically.

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On July 30, Asafak Alam, 29, was arrested for the rape and murder of a five-year old girl in Ernakulam, Kerala. It emerged that he was out on bail for the molestation of a Class 5 girl in Delhis Ghazipur in March 2018, a case that is pending trial. According to the data, a total of 12,667 cases are pending trial out of which 4,411 are pending for less than a year; 5,855 cases for 1-3 years; 1,947 cases for 3-5 years; 402 cases for 5-10 years; and 52 cases for more than a year. (Representational Image/Getty Images)

Read here: Principal, warden and seven students booked under Pocso Act: Cops

Thats a violation of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012, in spirit of not letter. According to the act, the evidence of the child shall be recorded within a period of thirty days of the Special Court taking cognizance of the offence and the Special Court shall complete the trial, as far as possible, within a period of one year from the date of taking cognizance of the offence.

But it turns out that Alams case is not an exception but the norm. A little over 65% of cases related to sexual offices committed against minors have been pending trial for at least a year, resulting in the release of several offenders on bail, according to data shared by Delhi Police.

Former chairperson, Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Anurag Kundu believes that background checks are important to keep sexual offenders away from children. If police and employers can conduct a strong background check on such offenders and keep them away from places such as schools, hospitals, clinics, playgrounds then the problem can be solved to a large extent - though not fully, he said. Technology can play an enabler role in ensuring robust background checks, he added.

According to the data, a total of 12,667 cases are pending trial out of which 4,411 are pending for less than a year; 5,855 cases for 1-3 years; 1,947 cases for 3-5 years; 402 cases for 5-10 years; and 52 cases for more than a year.

The situation at the national level is no different.

According to a 2022 report by Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, it takes one year and five months on average to depose a case against the one-year mandated period. Uttar Pradesh, according to the report, had the highest pendency at 77.7%.

Experts say delays in the completion of forensic reports and deposition of witnesses, and some victims being untraceable are the reasons for the pendency.

Advocate Rajiv Agnihotri who practices in the Supreme Court and has been a counsel in several Pocso cases said some victims do not even want to be part of the process.

There is social stigma involved when a woman or child is sexually assaulted or rape. In many cases, victims and their families relocate. In several cases, it takes time to convince them to come to court.

In some cases, he added, it takes more than two years for forensic reports to be completed.

Another important factor is witnesses taking months to come to depose. For instance, if a minor has been kidnapped from Delhi and is sexually assaulted in another city, her medical examination and recording of statement before the court takes place in the city where the assault is committed, but investigation will be carried out by Delhi Police. The doctor who conducted the medical examination in another city will be summoned to depose and in most cases, they take months to appear before the courts, he said.

Interestingly, there seem to be few delays at the level of the police.

Special commissioner of police (crime) Ravindra Singh Yadav said the police prepare charge sheets in 60 days in most cases. We take Pocso cases very seriously and barring a few exceptions, all the reported cases are chargesheeted within 60 days. And those exceptions also do not take not more another 30 days.

Delhi Police data shows that out of 1142 such cases reported in 2022, 1140 were chargesheeted; out of 1206 cases in 2021, charge sheets were prepared in 1204.

Delhi Police maintains and publishes registry of convicted sexual offenders for people for peoples safety. However, the viewership of the list is restricted to those who are aware and those who have access to technology.

A serving superintendent of Tihar prison who did not wish to be named said, The prison gives everyone a chance to get reformed but those who dont want to change themselves cannot be helped by any agency or medium.

Bharti Ali, activist and co-founder of HAQ Centre of Child Rights which had conducted a study on implementation of Pocso Act in Delhi, Assam and Haryana said pendency can be avoided if cases involving romantic relationships are decriminalised.

The courts are overburdened with Pocso cases involving love relationships which are not exploitative in nature and are mostly filed by parents of the girl. Such cases go on trial for years and take up a lot of time of the courts. Its important that adolescent consensual sexual relationships are decriminalised and the age of consent is reduced to 16 instead of 18 .

To be sure, repeat offences are also perpetrated by those that have served their sentence fully, pointing to the need to keep track of such criminals, the way some other countries do.

Read here: POCSO convict rapes 4-year-old in Madhya Pradesh a year after release from jail

On Thursday, in Bihars Satna, a five-year-old girl was allegedly abducted and raped by a man identified as Rakesh Verma who recently came out of jail after being imprisoned for 10 years for raping another minor.

And in Delhi in March this year, a 36-year-old man identified as Pervinder Singh allegedly killed a 15-year-old boy for resisting sexual abuse and then sodomised the corpse. , Singh was found to have raped a five-year-old boy in Haryanas Kundli , a case in which he was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in jail. But he filed an application in court for a review of his sentence, and during Covid-19 his sentence was suspended and he was freed.
Haryana chief secretary Sanjeev Kaushal on Friday conducted a review of the arrangements being made for the fourth meeting of the G20 Sherpa group to be held at Tauru in Nuh from September 3 to 7. Gurugram, India-August 09, 2023: People buy vegetables and medicines in the main market of Nuh during the three-hour relaxation in curfew in Nuh police station; after the communal violence the district administration has imposed curfew, in Gurugram, India, on Wednesday, 09 August 2023. (Photo by Parveen Kumar/Hindustan Times)

During the meeting, Kaushal said the event is very important from the national point of view and requires meticulous planning and attention to detail on the part of the host. He also stressed the need to enhance beautification efforts, aiming to leave a lasting and positive impression on the foreign delegates.

Kaushal also said that it was important to highlight the unique characteristics of Gurugram and Nuh districts during the event and ensure that the delegates took back a positive image of the region.

The G20 meeting in Nuh is significant because on July 31, the district witnessed large-scale communal violence, which led to the death of six persons. The violence in the next few days also spread to Gurugram, Sohna, Palwal and Tauru, and it was contained only after paramilitary forces were deployed in Nuh.

During the meeting, Gurugram deputy commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav, presented a progress report outlining the ongoing efforts to prepare the venue for the fourth Sherpa meeting.

The presentation highlighted substantial repair and enhancement activities along the main roads from the Delhi border to the event site, with projected completion within the next week.

To extend warm hospitality to the foreign delegates, liaison officers comprising Haryana Civil Services and trainee IAS officers will be appointed to facilitate their seamless participation.

Dr Amit Agrawal, director general of the information department, said that cultural programmes are scheduled on the second day of the meeting, specifically on September 4. These programmes have been thoughtfully curated to introduce foreign delegates to the rich tapestry of Haryanvi art and culture, he said.

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Two persons were killed and six people sustained injuries when a security guard of a bank opened fire on some of his neighbours after an argument over pet dogs in Madhya Pradeshs Indore. The accused, identified as Rajpal Rajawat, resides in the Krishna Bagh colony of the city. The victims, Vimal and Rahul.

Additional deputy commissioner of police (Khajrana police station) Amarinder Singh said the incident took place around 10:30pm on Thursday. Rajawat was walking his pet dog when Vimal, a resident of the area, threw a stone at the dog. This led to a heated argument between them.

As the argument escalated Rajawat went to the roof of his house and fired in the air and then at people standing below, Singh said. Rahul and Vimal died on the spot.

After the incident, panic gripped in the area and the family members of Rahul and Vimal came out in large numbers when Jyoti, Lalit, Kamal, Mohit and Seema got injured by the bullet pellets. The DCP said a total of six persons were injured.

Eight persons received the gunshots among whom two persons, namely Rahul and Vimal died on the spot. Six of them sustained injuries who are undergoing treatment at a hospital, the DCP said.

The accused has been arrested and his gun was seized, the police said.

According to the police, the deceased are brother-in-law in a relationship. Vimal has a salon in Nipania and married Rahul's sister Aarti eight years ago. He also has two daughters. Rahul works at a private company in Lasudia area.

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Lucknow: Opposition leaders in Uttar Pradesh on Friday assailed Bibek Debroy, chairman of the Prime Ministers Economic Advisory Council, over advocating a new Constitution. The Constitution of the country was a guarantee for its 140-crore poor, backward and neglected people of being humanistic and egalitarian, which was not liked by the selfish, narrow-minded, casteist elements, said Mayawati. (Pic for representation)

In a post on X (formerly twitter,) BSP chief Mayawati said advocating a new Constitution in the country by Bibek Debroy, chairman of the Economic Advisory Council, in his article was an open violation of his jurisdiction and the central government must take immediate cognizance and action, so that no one dared to talk like this again.

The Constitution of the country was a guarantee for its 140-crore poor, backward and neglected people of being humanistic and egalitarian, which was not liked by the selfish, narrow-minded, casteist elements. They talked about turning it into anti-people and pro- rich. To oppose this was everyones responsibility, she said.

Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Jayant Chaudhary and Samajwadi Party national general secretary, Swami Prasad Maurya also criticised Debroy.

In a post on X, Jayant said, I dont think the chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister is entitled to express any personal views. He has an audience at the highest levels and only due to his current post and responsibilities.

In a separate post, Maurya said people demanding a new Constitution and Hindu nation was an anti-national act. Strict legal action should be taken immediately against people who talked like this. The Indian Constitution was a symbol of feelings, faith, respect and self-respect of 140 crore people of the country. Those who talked about changing the Constitution must come out of their disgusting and cheap mentality and take care of the unity and integrity of the nation, he said.

Earlier, the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister had distanced itself from Bibek Debroys remark made in an opinion piece where he called for a new Constitution after pointing out that the present one carried the colonial legacy with it.
The Uttar Pradesh basic education department will distribute 2.36 lakh tablets to government school teachers soon. A proposal has been prepared by the department and will be sent for the state cabinets approval soon. It will help teachers carry out attendance of students and post the details on the site in real time so that officials may keep a track of students attendance. (For Representation)

As it has been decided that efforts will be made to encourage teachers, students and parents to make use of DIKSHA (Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing) portal/app, a need was felt to provide at least two tablets in each school.

There are about 6 lakh teachers in 1.3 lakh government schools. We are trying to cover all teachers in a phased manner. In the first phase, we plan to make available at least two tablets in each school so that teachers are able to carry out the academic work properly, said Vijay Kiran Anand, director general, school education.

It will help teachers carry out attendance of students and post the details on the site in real time so that officials may keep a track of students attendance. Department is working overtime to encourage teachers to make use of the DIKSHA app as much as possible. Last year, the half yearly exam was carried out on MCQ pattern through the app.

Through DIKSHA app, an additional digital learning material has been made available for the use of teachers and children so that classroom teaching can be made interesting and effective. About 6500 contents related to 77 ETB (energised textbooks) up to class 1-8 have been made available by the basic education department through DIKSHA, an official said.

To help teachers further, the department has uploaded over 4,000 video tutorials on DIKSHA app to achieve the desired learning outcome and improve competence of 1.90 crore students enrolled in government schools, an official said.
The Maharashtra cabinet on Friday sanctioned a move to scrap the Maharashtra Casino (Control and Tax) Act 1976, an act that was never implemented, bringing to an end decades of speculation whether gambling would be legalised in the state. The Maharashtra Casino (Control and Tax) Act 1976 was never implemented because of opposition and ambiguity. (File photo: REUTERS)

The 1976 act was never implemented because of strong opposition to it, lack of clarity about its provisions, and absence of rules pertaining to operating casinos.

The state governments decision to scrap the law comes despite a rising demand from tourism bodies and business houses for permission to operate casinos at Maharashtras tourism hubs .

The Act has specified the definition, restrictions, penalty, age of entry at casinos, (however) further details were not framed through the rules. The objections and criticism...may have delayed the compliance that needed to be followed, said an official from the home department who asked not to be named.

The official said that the decision to scrap the existing law was taken to end the ambiguity over the governments stand on it.

The permission to operate casinos had come up for discussion time and again and the government would drag its feet fearing a backlash. The finance and tourism departments had proposed permissions (be given) to (open) casinos as a source of income a few years ago. There are at least four such proposals pending with the tourism department (put up) by various operators citing the provisions in the Act. By deciding to scrap the Act, the Eknath Shinde government has clarified its stand and put a full stop on the possibilities of permissions to the casino, the official said.

Also Read: Lok Sabha passes GST Bills to levy 28% tax on e-gaming, casinos

The Maharashtra Navnirman Senas labour wing had also written a letter to chief minister Eknath Shinde last month, demanding that casinos be allowed in the state.

A second home department official, who also asked not to be named, said that operators interested in opening casinos in Mumbai were moving courts to be citing the provisions in the Act.

The scrapping will leave no room for any such litigation, he said.

Devendra Fadnavis, deputy chief minister and home minister, had said during the recently held monsoon session of the state assembly that the government would not allow casinos to operate in the state at any cost.

State government is against any such activity and no permission would be given to (open) casinos. The bill will be brought to scrap the existing Act, Fadnavis said in the last week of July.

The state government had announced plans to scrap the eight-page Act but it was not tabled in the session that ended on August 4, 2023.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Surendra P Gangan Surendra P Gangan is Senior Assistant Editor with political bureau of Hindustan Times Mumbai Edition. He covers state politics and Maharashtra governments administrative stories. Reports on the developments in finances, agriculture, social sectors among others. ...view detail
Mumbai: A special MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act) court on Friday acquitted four alleged members of the Chhota Shakeel gang after seven years for allegedly plotting the murder of the gangsters former associate Iqbal Attarwala over monetary issues. HT Image

As per the prosecution case and Attarwalas statement to the Mumbai police crime branch, Attarwala was going through financial problems in 2014 and had therefore contacted Razak Baloch  an absconding accused  for help. Baloch agreed to help him, but in return asked him to provide a bank account in Venezuela.

For this, Attarwala said that Baloch asked him to meet a person named Zulfikar, however, when Attarwala went to meet him, he said he did not know Baloch. Thus, Attarwala claimed he never received any money from Baloch.

He, however, claimed that a year later Baloch started to demand 4.5 crore from him at the instance of accused Chhota Shakeel. Rafiqali Sayyed, one of the accused, also went to meet Attarwala to collect the amount at Mira Road as it was demanded by Anwar, brother of Chhota Shakeel.

It was following this monetary dispute, Shakeel and his brother had allegedly hatched a conspiracy to eliminate him. However, before the accused could execute the plan, the crime branch apprehended three of them  Michael John Dsouza aka Raju Pille, Naim Faim Khan and Nitin Gopal Gurav  on April 19, 2016. The crime branch later arrested Sayyed.

All of them were then booked for hatching a plan to eliminate Attarwala. During the trial, the prosecution relied on the confessional statements of the accused and the recovery of the firearms from them. However, the accused retracted the statements, and the court refused to accept the prosecution case, primarily based on the confessions and acquitted the four accused.
PANAJI: The Bombay high court at Goa on Thursday set aside an order by the Goa State Information Commission that held the Archbishop Patriarch Of Goa, Daman & Diu was a public authority under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The information was sought on the ground that under the Portuguese civil code applicable in Goa, orders and judgements passed by the Patriarchal Tribunal (church courts dealing with marriages and divorces) have civil recognition. (File Image)

The high court order came on a petition by the Goa Archbishop that challenged the commissions directive to release information sought by a resident, Antonia Abel, such as copies of the appointment letters of the Archbishops of Goa and Bombay, accreditation letters sent by the Vatican and permission to inspect the marriage annulment registers.

Abel sought the information on the ground that under the Portuguese civil code applicable in Goa, orders and judgements passed by the Patriarchal Tribunal (church courts dealing with marriages and divorces) have civil recognition.

The act of giving recognition to the decisions and judgments of the Ecclesiastical Courts and Tribunals like the Patriarchal Tribunal is not the same thing as establishing or constituting the Ecclesiastical Courts or Tribunals like the Patriarchal Tribunal, the high court bench of justice MS Sonak said.

Similarly, the Canon Law or the Canonical Law cannot be regarded as the law made by the Parliament of India or the law made by the State Legislature. Merely because some of the decisions and judgments of the Ecclesiastical Courts and Tribunals constituted under the Canon Law may have acquired limited recognition under the State Law or the Parliamentary Law, that by itself would not be sufficient to hold that such Ecclesiastical Courts or Tribunals like the Patriarchal Tribunal are authorities or bodies established or constituted by a law made by the Parliament or the State Legislature, the high court also said.

The Goa Information Commission had ruled that the Archbishop, whether acting as a

Patriarchal Tribunal or otherwise, was a public authority under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act because his authority comes from the Pope at Vatican as ratified by the government through above decree (of the Portuguese civil code), according to which, the Portuguese Government had a Treaty with the Holy See (Vatican) under which the canonical marriage were solemnized by the Archbishop.

The high court said this reasoning could not be accepted and the information commission should have examined whether the petitioner, when acting in his capacity as a Patriarchal Tribunal, could be held to be an authority or body established or constituted by a law made by the Parliament or the State Legislature.

The impugned order is set aside, and it is held that the petitioner is not a public authority as defined under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act, the high court said.

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An inspector of the Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) died after he allegedly shot himself with his service rifle in Chhattisgarhs Bijapur district on Friday, police said. (Representative Photo)

Bijapur superintendent of police (SP) Ajany Varshney said the incident took place at the headquarters of the 170th battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in the district.

Inspector Safi Akhtar, belonging to CoBRA 210th battalion, shot himself with an AK-47 rifle on Friday noon. Upon hearing the gunshots, his colleagues rushed there, and found him seriously injured. He was rushed to the hospital, where he died, said the SP.

Police said they have launched an investigation to ascertain the reason behind the extreme step.

Akhtar, who was posted in the Mokur camp of CoBRA, had arrived in Bijapur and was scheduled to proceed to Delhi on leave, police said.

Prima facie the reason for suicide appears to be some family issues but no suicide note was found from the spot. We are investigating the case to find out the reasons, said a CRPF officer, preferring anonymity.

The CRPF and its elite jungle warfare unit CoBRA are extensively deployed in south Bastar which comprises three districts, including Dantewada, for anti-Naxal operations.
A mother-son duo, suspected of wildlife trafficking, has been arrested by Assam Polices Special Task Force (STF) and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) from Assam and Meghalaya. Pangolin scales seized during the operation against wildlife trafficking.

According to the STF officials, the mother Rindik Teringpi was arrested from West Karbi Anglong district of Assam, while her son Bidasingh Senar was arrested from Meghalayas Shillong on August 16.

The police recovered 7.60gm of pangolin scales and body parts of some other wildlife creatures during the search operation, which was linked with a case of tiger skin and bones recovery in Azara area near Guwahati on June 29.

The duo is part of an Assam-Meghalaya inter-state wildlife trafficking racket, and they were also involved in a June 29 case of smuggling tiger skin and bones, according to the police.

Kalyan Pathak, additional SP of the Assam STF, said four persons were arrested from Azara on June 29 and during investigation, it was found that they were involved in an inter-state poaching and smuggling of animal body parts racket that is active across the country.

The tiger skin and bones that were recovered in June were transported from Maharashtra and the gang revealed during probe that they poached the big cat in Maharashtras Gadchiroli, he said.

Pathak said that considering the well-organised network of smugglers, the case was handed over to WCCB on August 8 this year and the Guwahati bureau registered a case.

The case was registered under sections 9, 39, 40, 48A, 49B and 51 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. WCCB launched an operation in collaboration with Assam Police STF across the state and surrounding areas, Pathak said.

The STF coordinated with West Karbi Anglong Police and assisted WCCB in finding and apprehending the lady from Karbi Anglongs Gita Langkok village first. Following that, the team reached Meghalaya and arrested her son from Shillong, he informed.

According to the initial investigation, the STF found points indicating that the illegal trade of body parts of wild animals is not limited to the Indian territory, but has involvements from outside the border.

The mother-son duo was brought to Guwahati on Thursday afternoon and produced before the court in the evening, which sent them to three days WCCB custody.
Peace talks between the Centre, the Assam government and the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) will be held on Friday in New Delhi12 years after the group gave up arms and returned to the mainstream. Anup Chetia, general secretary of the pro-talks faction of ULFA (File Photo)

ULFAs pro-talk faction led by Arabinda Rajkhowa alongside other senior members of the group, including Sasadhar Choudhury and Raju Baruah are in the national capital to take part in the discussions with senior office bearers of the ministry of home affairs (MHA).

Union home minister Amit Shah and Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma could be part of the deliberations at a later stage.

We will start discussions on Friday, which could even extend till Saturday. While initially MHA officials would be part of the deliberations, HM Shah and Assam CM Sarma could join at the later stages, Anup Chetia, general secretary of the pro-talks faction of ULFA said.

Chetia said that the talks are a continuation of engagements that they have had with the Centre and the Assam government in past.

Most of the discussions would be centred on providing political safeguards to our members who have given up arms, Chetia added.

In April this year, the Centre sent a draft agreement to the pro-talks faction. This was the first such draft prepared after the group gave up violence in 2011 and agreed to sit for talks without any pre-condition.

Leaders of the group have refused to divulge details of the draft stating that its a confidential document and its contents cant be disclosed.

Insurgency in Assam began in April 1979 with the formation of ULFAas an offshoot of the anti-foreigners agitation against the inflow of illegal immigrants to the state from Bangladesh. The stated aim of the outfit was to create an independent Assam.

In February 2011, ULFA split into two groupsone led by Rajkhowa that decided to give up its violent past and sit for talks with the Centre without any condition and another led by commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah, which decided against talks and rebranded as ULFA-Independent.

Following their decision to sit for talks, the pro-talks faction of ULFA had submitted a list of demands seeking constitutional and political reforms, protection of identity and resources of indigenous people of Assam including their right to land.

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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
LUCKNOW A comprehensive security plan, valued at 39.2 crore, is set to deliver a substantial boost to the security of the upcoming Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir Teerth Kshetra in Ayodhya, which is projected to be inaugurated in January 2024. The plan has been chalked out in the wake of elevated threat perceptions. Under construction Ram Temple (HT File)

Read here: Ayodhya Haat to be another attraction in temple town

The government, in its August 11 order, authorised funds for the initial phase of security equipment installation, outlining the full spectrum of security features. These measures encompass CCTV systems for continuous surveillance, access control equipment (including drone cameras), X-ray baggage scanners, and protective gear such as bulletproof jackets, vehicles, dragon lights, binoculars, emergency alarm systems, and hooters.

In a video release dated August 4, Prashant Kumar, Special Director General of Uttar Pradesh Police for Law and Order, emphasised the implementation of advanced security measures and comprehensive crowd management systems prior to the temples anticipated opening next year. He underscored that the surveillance and access control strategy has been meticulously designed to anticipate a substantial surge in pilgrim footfall in Ayodhya, akin to the influx observed in Varanasi following the inauguration of the new Kashi Vishwanath corridor in 2022.

The recent order further details the supply, installation, testing, and commissioning (SITC) of surveillance/CCTV systems amounting to 10.97 crore, access control systems valued at 8.56 crore, protective equipment worth 3.38 crore, riverine equipment totalling 2.84 crore, along with various other components. The aggregate cost of these gadgets and equipment is 31.41 crore, inclusive of labour cess and contingency at a rate of 1%, as well as GST and government agency charges at 18% and 8%, respectively, attributed to the Uttar Pradesh Rajkiya Nirman Nigam overseeing the entire project.

The surveillance system roster encompasses five-megapixel or higher resolution bullet cameras, four-megapixel or superior resolution full high definition PTZ (Pan-Tilt-Zoom) infrared dome cameras, fixed or bullet outdoor infrared cameras for Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system, indoor infrared cameras with a minimum five-megapixel resolution, local processing unit for ANPR, PTZ controller with LED display, and 128 GB surveillance secure digital (SD) cards.

The access control system roster also incorporates drone cameras, X-ray baggage scanners, multizone door-fitted metal detectors, and handheld metal detectors. Additional security provisions encompass dragon lights, binoculars, hand grip megaphones, and emergency alarms with sirens. Beyond the surveillance and access control apparatus, the comprehensive security plan allocates 7.78 crore for riverine security equipment, encompassing motorboats and life jackets. This allocation is in consideration of events like melas and snans (ritual baths) organised during various religious occasions.

Read here: Ram temple trust seeks FCRA registration to accept foreign donations

In addition to the state police, specialised agencies such as the Special Task Force (STF) and the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) will be engaged for this initiative. The security strategy also involves deploying the state disaster response force at the ghats to mitigate drowning incidents.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Rohit Kumar Singh Rohit K Singh is a Principal Correspondent. He writes on crime, police and social issues ...view detail
Bihar Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar on Friday took strong exception to the education departments order on Thursday, stopping the salary of in-charge vice chancellor and pro-VC of BRA Bihar University (Muzaffarpur) and freezing financial powers and bank accounts of the varsity. Bihar Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar took strong exception to the education stopping the salary of vice chancellor (Agencies)

It is arbitrary and beyond jurisdiction. I am directed to convey that the above mentioned orders may be withdrawn and these types of unwarranted acts may be avoided in future, said the letter from Robert L Chongthu, principal secretary to the Governor, to the education department secretary, who had issued the order.

The state government, under section 54 of Bihar State Universities Act, 1976, has power to audit the universities, but could not but freeze its financial powers and bank accounts, the letter says.

The act is arbitrary and beyond jurisdiction. It seems to be an attack on autonomy of the University and you have encroached upon the powers of the Chancellor, says the letter, which has been seen by HT.

According to people familiar with the matter, Chongthu has also written to the banks not to implement the orders of the education department secretary till further communication in this regard from the Raj Bhawan.

The order by education department secretary Baidyanath Yadav was issued hours after both the officials of BRA Bihar University did not turn up for the pre-scheduled review meeting called by additional chief secretary (education) K K Pathak.

VKS University (Ara) VC Shailendra Kumar Chaturvedi has been holding the additional charge of BRABU VC since March this year.

There was no information about the steps taken to clear backlog of exams and streamline session, as per gazette notification. The meeting was called for overall review, but in the absence of VC and P-VC, it could not be completed. The power point presentation sent by the university reflects that there has been no inspection of university and colleges under it. It shows violation of the provisions under the varsity act, says the department order issued by secretary Baidyanath Yadav.

He has further written that the department has decided to get financial audit of the university done, as per the provisions laid down in the Act. Under these circumstances, the operation of its bank accounts has been withheld and till further orders, the salary of both in-charge VC and Pro-VC is stopped. They are also restrained from exercising their financial powers, said the order, with a copy marked to the district magistrate, who is also the treasury officer, besides registrars and financial advisers of the university.

Raj Bhawan had given additional charge of BRABU to Chaturvedi in March this year after the term of VC Hanuman Prasad Pandey ended. However, it was a purely temporary arrangement and Chaturvedi had been directed not to take any policy decision without the approval of Chancellor.

Soon after, the Federation of University Teachers Association of Bihar (FUTAB) also wrote to the Chancellor, describing Pathaks action to call VCs as transgression into the authority of the universities and Raj Bhawan.

It is merely a tactic to embarrass the person holding the highest academic position. If the ACS calls a meeting of the VCs, that is also against the protocol. If the ACS has any issue, he can only recommend it to the Chancellor through the education minister. VCs are answerable to the Chancellor. A VC can be called by only three authorities  Chancellor, chief minister and education minister, says a letter written by FUTAB working president KB Sinha and general secretary Sanjay Kumar, who is an MLC.

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Union power minister RK Singh on Friday asked the Bihar government to explain why it was still resorting to power-shedding, leading to police firing in Katihar, despite adequate availability of power in the state. Union power minister RK Singh asked the Bihar government to explain why it was still resorting to power-shedding (HT Photo)

Singh was speaking at the inauguration of the 660 MW unit 2 of stage-I of NTPCs Barh Super Thermal Power Project (STPP) in Barh subdivision of Patna district on Friday.

He said Bihar was among the three states in India that was still resorting to power-shedding, despite India having turned from a power-deficit to a power-surplus country over the last nine years.

On July 26 this year, two people were killed when a mob of 1,000 turned violent at the block office in Barsoi subdivisional headquarters of Katihar district to protest frequent power outages and poor quality of power.

The minister said the state was now getting around 7,100 MW power from the NTPC against its average daily demand of 7,000 MW, after the commissioning of the new unit on August 1. Mentioning about the monetary support from the Centre to the state for strengthening its distribution and transmission network, he urged the state government to flag to the Centre any issues it was facing in providing uninterrupted power to the people of the state.

He said the ministry of power (MoP) had asked states to explain reasons for power-shedding despite the country having a capacity to generate 4.21 lakh MW against its peak load demand of 2.34 lakh MW.

Sensitising people about their rights, he urged them to lodge a complaint with the Central Grievance Redressal Forum, and forward him a copy of it, if they felt the power distribution companies in the state were resorting to power-shedding.

The Barh Super Thermal Power Project, with an overall planned capacity of 3300 MW, consists of 1980 MW (3X660 MW) in stage I and 1320 MW (2X660 MW) in stage II. All the units are based on supercritical technology, which is an efficient technology for power generation.

Bihar will get approximately 2337 MW from the Barh project (1194 MW from stage-I and 1143 MW from stage II). Currently, NTPC Barh supplies 1935 MW to Bihar (792 MW from Stage I and 1143 MW from Stage II). The unit dedicated today by the Union power minister is the fourth 660 MW environment-friendly supercritical technology-based unit of Barh plant which has started commercial electricity generation from 1st August 2023, NTPC spokesperson, Vishwanath Chandan said.

The fifth and final unit will be ready next year.

Meanwhile, states energy minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav, who was supposed to preside over the event, did not attend the function.

Yadavs office said the minister was indisposed.

Aditya Prakash, managing director of the North Bihar Power Distribution Company Ltd., was the only senior representative from the states energy department.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ruchir Kumar Ruchir writes on health, aviation, power and myriad other issues. An ex-TOI, he has worked both on Desk and in reporting. He over 25 years of broadcast and print journalism experience in Assam, Jharkhand & Bihar. ...view detail
The High Court of Delhi has released the result for the Senior Personal Assistant (Open) Examination 2023. Candidates can download the result from the official website at delhihighcourt.nic.in or recruitment.nta.nic.in. The stage I examination for the Senior Personal Assistant (Open) was conducted on July 2. Candidates can use their application number and date of birth to check their results. The schedule for the Stage II Examination will be announced in due course. Delhi High Court releases results for Senior Personal Assistant Exam 2023

Result of Stage-I (Qualifying Stage), i.e., English Typing Test in respect of Senior Personal Assistant (Open) Examination  2023 held on 02.07.2023 reads the official notification.

Direct link to check the result

Delhi High Court Senior Personal Assistant stage I results 2023: Know how to check

Visit the official website at delhihighcourt.nic.in or recruitment.nta.nic.in

Next, click on the Result of Stage-I i.e. English Typing Test for the post of Senior Personal Assistant

Key in your login details

Your results will be displayed on the screen

Download the results and take print for future reference.

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Love is in the air for anime fans as, Blue Spring Ride, is making its way to the small screen in an exciting live-action adaptation. The highly-anticipated trailer for the TV series has just been released, giving fans a glimpse into the heartwarming story of Futaba and Kou. Beloved anime 'Blue Spring Ride' transforms to live-action TV, trailer released, showcasing heartwarming romance of Futaba & Kou.(Blue Spring Ride)

A sneak peek into Blue Spring Ride: The live-action drama

The trailer for Blue Spring Ride, also known as Ao Haru Ride, is here to tease the romantic rollercoaster that awaits. Natsuki Deguchi takes on the role of the charming Futaba, while Kaito Sakurai steps in as Kou Mabuchi. The chemistry between these two lead characters is undeniable as they bring this beloved romance to life on screen.

From page to small-screen: The journey of Blue Spring Ride

Originally created as a manga by Sakisaka in 2011, Blue Spring Ride quickly captured the hearts of readers. Its popularity soared, making it one of the best-selling manga titles in 2014. Following an equally successful anime adaptation, a live-action film brought the story to the big screen. And now, the love story returns with a TV series.

Also Read | Top romance anime of the Summer 2023 season to satisfy all hopeless romantics!

What is Ao Haru Ride about?

For those unfamiliar with Ao Haru Ride, get ready to immerse yourself in a heartwarming tale. The story follows Futaba, a high school student who once felt out of place due to her striking beauty. Attempting to blend in, she alters her appearance, but fate has other plans. When Kou Tanaka reenters her life after moving away during middle school, their complex relationship takes center stage. A captivating chemistry blossoms as they navigate the trials of high school and young love.

Ao Haru Ride live-adaptation release date

Blue Spring Ride is set to make its debut in Japan this September on WOWOW. While fans eagerly anticipate the U.S. premiere, you can catch the anime adaptation on streaming platforms like Hulu and Crunchyroll.
Ameesha Patel is soaking in the bumper success of Gadar 2 at the box office. In an interview with ETimes, when the actor was asked about the success of the film and whether she would like to change anything about the film, the actor had a very specific response revolving around the editing of the film. (Also read: Gadar 2 box office collection day 7: Sunny Deol's film collects 283 crore in 1st week, may cross 300 crore today) Ameesha Patel plays Sakeena in Gadar 2.

What Ameesha said

In the interview with ETimes, when Ameesha was asked about one thing that she wished to have done differently with Gadar 2, the actor said, "Nothing really but I wish I was the editor. I would have edited and re-edited few things and made it maybe crisper."

About Gadar 2

Gadar 2, helmed by Anil Sharma, stars Sunny Deol as Tara Singh and Ameesha as his wife Sakeena. It is set in 1971, and follows Tara's journey to Pakistan to rescue his son, Charanjeet Singh (Utkarsh Sharma), from the Pakistani Army. Anil Sharma had shared the 6-day total of the film on his X account and wrote, Mohabbatein jab milti hain .. aashirwad jab milta hai .. toh kamaal hota hai (amazing things happen when you receive love and blessings) .. 6th day .. collection never before like this .. GOD is very kind. The film collected 261 crore after six days of its release. The film recorded its highest single-day collection on the Independence Day by collecting 55.5 crore.

An excerpt from the Hindustan Times review of Gadar read, "Sunny Deol brings back the innocence of his character and his scenes light up the screen. If you look close, Tara is a peace-loving man who resorts to extremely violence only when needed. That's evident from the scenes where he punches a Pakistani cop in the face and doesn't even bother to pick the rifle that could have been of help later. Ameesha is just average and doesn't even try to do anything different than what she did in the first film. In fact, I found her rather bland and soulless. However, Tara and Sakeena's chemistry remains as sweet and pure as you'd expect. Wadhwa, as the antagonist, looks evil and has a strong screen presence."

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Actor Anupam Kher on Thursday went to catch a screening of Sunny Deol's Gadar 2 at Mumbai's popular single-screen theatre, Gaeity Galaxy. He kept his Twitter audience updated about his experience and also shared a detailed review of the film. While praising the film, Anupam called it a tsunami of emotions,' and gave the highest credit to Sunny. Also read: Gadar 2 Twitter reviews: Fans predict Sunny Deol and Ameesha Patel's 'zabardast entertainer' will surely break records Anupam Kher shared an old photo with Sunny Deol

Anupam Kher watches Gadar 2

Anupam tweeted about watching Gadar 2 and dropped a photo with Sunny. He wrote, Going to see my friend's @iamsunnydeol movie #Gadar2 in the cinema hall! Be victorious! #Excited. Sometime later, he updated, Watching #Gadar2 in a single screen theatre. It is houseful.

In a long note, Anupam wrote, Just watched #Gadar2 in Gaiety/Galaxy theatre in Bandra. Last time I went to this single screen theatre was for the premiere of my movie #Hum. #Gadar2 is a tsunami of emotions felt not only by the actors on screen but also by the audiences in the theatre. It takes you on a roller coaster ride of what it means to be a proud Indian. In fact it celebrates the multi culture/ multi religion facet of our country. It is cathartic. Crowds scream their guts out at every dialogue.

Anupam Kher on Sunny Deol

Coming to Sunny Deol, Anupam called him a cult figure and continued, @iamsunnydeol is not an actor anymore. He is cult in himself. He is on fire. And you feel the heat in your soul. @iutkarsharma is fantastic with great promise. @manishwadhwa as Pak general is superb. Thank you @Anilsharma_dir for taking me on this raw joyride in a cinema hall. Jai Ho! Previously, Akshay Kumar, Subhash Ghai, Madhur Bhandarkar, Salman Khan and Kangana Ranaut had praised the film.

Gadar 2

Directed by Anil Sharma, Gadar 2 features Ameesha Patel and Sunny Deol. Their 2001 film Gadar was one of the highest-grossing films in Bollywood history at that time.

The Hindustan Times review of Gadar 2 read, Sunny Deol brings back the innocence of his character and his scenes light up the screen. If you look close, Tara is a peace-loving man who resorts to extremely violence only when needed. That's evident from the scenes where he punches a Pakistani cop in the face and doesn't even bother to pick the rifle that could have been of help later. Ameesha is just average and doesn't even try to do anything different than what she did in the first film. In fact, I found her rather bland and soulless. However, Tara and Sakeena's chemistry remains as sweet and pure as you'd expect. Wadhwa, as the antagonist, looks evil and has a strong screen presence.

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Actor Hrithik Roshan, earlier on Friday, returned to Mumbai after a quick trip with his girlfriend Saba Azad. While fans were just recovering from their adorable PDA moments at the airport, the actor sent out a sweet surprise for the internet as he dropped a glimpse of his body transformation in recent pictures. One of the photos is seemingly clicked by Saba during their holiday. Also read: Hrithik Roshan calls Saba Azad winter girl as he shares picture from their Argentina vacation Hrithik Roshan has impressed his fans with his body transformation.

Hrithik Roshan's shirtless pics

Hrithik dropped before and after photos of himself. The first one had him flaunting his well-toned abs at a gym. This was followed by another one where he looked more handsome, featuring his even more chiselled abs, at a pool.

Internet react to Hrithik's pics

Sharing the photos, Hrithik wrote, Vacation over. Presenting before and after pics. See you in the gym. Responding to him, Rohit Bose Roy commented, You before pictures are better than most of our after pictures. Karan Wahi and Unni Mukundan too praised the actor.

A fan said, Most handsome man in India cinema ever. Bro you don't need the gym, the gym needs you, added someone. Another commented, Aging like fine wine.

Hrithik Roshan and Saba Azad return from holiday

Earlier in the day, Hrithik and Saba were seen walking out of the airport. A paparazzo video featured Hrithik holding Saba's hand. The couple seemed lost in a conversation as they didn't pose for photographers. Hrithik looked cool in an all-black look while Saba's airport outfit included comfy pants with a striped shirt. Both of them were wearing caps.

Fighter

Hrithik will be next seen in action flick, Fighter. On Independence Day, earlier this week, the makers of Fighter dropped a new motion poster. It had Hrithik Roshan, Deepika Padukone and Anil Kapoor.

The Fighter motion poster opened with a few fighter jets flying in the air. It was followed by shots of an Indian Air Force base. Hrithik, who is the lead of the film, emerged as a fighter pilot in the action film. Sharing the post, Hrithik wrote on Twitter, #SpiritOfFighter | Vande Mataram! See you in the theaters on the eve of Indias 75th Republic Day. Fighter releases worldwide on 25th January 2024. Fighter is directed by Sidharth Anand.

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Actor-turned-social activist Somy Ali recently praised Kangana Ranaut for her honesty. She said that she is the only actor who never lies. Also read: Saif Ali Khan's nonstop wit was nothing short of real-life standup comedy, says Somy Ali Somy Ali is all praises for Kangana Ranaut.

During an interview, Somy Ali said, Kangana Ranaut is the only actress who never lies. I bow down to her. She speaks the truth. Whatever injustice is done to her, she speaks to the camera and never hesitates. In all her interviews the way she carries herself with poise, the way she conveys the truth about how the industry functions and how they lie. She says it all!! I really respect her."

Somy Ali further mentioned it's a fact that the industry dislikes a person who is honest. Kangana Ranaut has always been vocal about her opinions on her social media and has given befitting replies and statements from time to time.

Reacting to Somys statement, Kangana took to her Instagram stories and wrote, I have the spirits and wings of all those who suffered silently before meI have your voice that was never raised I have your truth that was never told.

Somy was last seen on the silver screen in the 1997 film Chupp, after which she took to social activism for women's rights in South Asia. She established an NGO, No More Tears in 2006.

She was in a much-publicised relationship with actor Salman Khan in the 1990s.

Talking about Kanganas work front, she will be next seen in the film Tejas, which is all set to hit the theatres on October 20. Apart from that, she also has Emergency and Chandramukhi 2 in her kitty.
Sam Asghari has spoken out amid reports of his divorce from Britney Spears. A divorce petition that was recently filed cited "irreconcilable differences" between Sam, 29, and Britney, 41, according to the BBC. The two got engaged in September 2021 and tied the knot in June 2022. Britney Spears and Sam Asghari arrive for the premiere of Sony Pictures' "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood" at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California on July 22, 2019 (Photo by VALERIE MACON / AFP)(AFP)

After 6 years of love and commitment to each other my wife and I have decided to end our journey together, Sam wrote via his Instagram Story on Thursday, August 17. We will hold onto the love and respect we have for each other and I wish her the best always, he continued, adding sh** happens. Sam said that asking for privacy seems rediculous [sic], so he asks everyone including media to be kind and thoughtful.

(samasghari/Instagram)

Britney Spears third marriage ends with her divorce from Sam Asghari

Britney and Sam got married last year at the formers home in Thousand Oaks, California. The event was intimate but star-studded, with celebrities including Paris Hilton, Madonna and Drew Barrymore in attendance. With Britneys divorce from Sam, her third marriage ends.

Britney married her childhood friend Jason Alexander for 55 hours in Las Vegas in 2004 before it was annulled. Jason tried crashing Britneys wedding with Sam, and was previously also seen participating in the pro-Trump riot at the US Capitol in Washington DC in January 2021. He was subsequently charged with trespassing, vandalism and two counts of battery.

Britney then married rapper Kevin Federline, and their marriage lasted from 2004 to 2007. Kevin and Britney share two children, Jayden James and Sean Preston, who are under the sole custody of Kevin.

Britney is now preparing to publish her memoir, The Woman in Me, in October. The website britneybook.com says of the memoir, The Woman in Me is a brave and astonishingly moving story about freedom, fame, motherhood, survival, faith, and hope.

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After Bradley Cooper's prosthetic nose in the trailer for the upcoming Leonard Bernstein biopic Maestro stoked criticism of antisemitism, the conductor's children have come to the defense of the actor. The teaser trailer for Maestro, which Cooper directs and stars in, debuted Tuesday and offered the first close-up look at Cooper's makeup and performance as the great American composer and longtime music director of the New York Philharmonic. Cooper, who is not Jewish, dons a prosthetic nose as part of his transformation into Bernstein, who was. Also read: Its a jewface stereotype', Bradley Cooper in the eye of a storm with Maestro makeover Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein in the film Maestro.

To some, Cooper's nose in the trailer seemed like the kind of outsized caricature that has been a regular feature of Jewish portrayals throughout film history. The nonprofit group Stop Antisemitism called it sickening.

Hollywood cast Bradley Cooper  a non-Jew  to play Jewish legend Leonard Bernstein and stuck a disgusting exaggerated Jew nose on him, the group tweeted on X.

Leonard Bernstein's family defends Bradley Cooper

Bernsteins three children  Jamie, Alexander and Nina Bernstein  on Wednesday issued a statement supporting Cooper, saying they were touched to the core to witness the depth of (Cooper's) commitment, his loving embrace of our fathers music and the sheer open-hearted joy he brought to his exploration.

It breaks our hearts to see any misrepresentations or misunderstandings of his efforts," the statement said. It happens to be true that Leonard Bernstein had a nice, big nose. Bradley chose to use makeup to amplify his resemblance, and were perfectly fine with that. Were also certain that our dad would have been fine with it as well.

The Bernstein children added that strident complaints about this issue strike us above all as disingenuous attempts to bring a successful person down a notch  a practice we observed perpetrated all too often on our father.

A representative for Cooper declined to comment. Netflix, which is distributing the film, also wouldn't comment.

Maestro is set to premiere next month at the Venice Film Festival. Netflix will release it in select theaters Nov. 22 and on the streaming platform on Dec. 20.

The stereotyping debate

The Cooper-Bernstein situation is multilayered; it touches not only the issue of stereotyping but the larger question of casting when it comes to certain groups. In recent years, there has been much debate throughout the acting world over who can and should portray certain characters, particularly in an environment where some groups have struggled over the decades to get regular and substantive work in Hollywood.

Emma Stone was criticized over and apologized for playing a half-Asian character in Cameron Crowes 2015 film Aloha. Tom Hanks has said if Philadelphia (1993) was made today, it would star a gay actor, and rightly so. Some LGBTQ advocates have argued that trans roles like Jeffrey Tambor's in Transparent and Eddie Redmayne's in The Danish Girl ought to have been played by trans performers.

Those discussions have been largely focused on the authentic portrayals of ethnic minorities and LGBTQ characters, but some have argued the same perspective should also apply to Jewish characters. The stereotype of the large Jewish nose in particular has persisted in through centuries, from Shakespeare's Shylock to Nazi propaganda. While the hooked nose is but one antisemitic caricature of many, it is particularly pernicious in that it is assumed to be true, writes the Media Diversity Institute.

Jews Don't Count author David Baddiel earlier this year criticized the casting of Irish actor Cillian Murphy as Jewish physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer, along with the casting of Helen Mirren as former Israel Prime Minister Golda Meir in the upcoming film Golda.

Casting directors are now frightened to cast except in line with the minority they are casting," Baddiel told the Times. "But they are not so worried about Jews.

Others have argued that transformation is an innate aspect of acting. Mark Harris, the Hollywood author and journalist, dismissed the controversy. We are not going to start fall movie season with a stupid backlash controversy over an actor wearing makeup so that he can more closely resemble the historical figure hes playing, Harris wrote on X. That is what actors have done for decades and will continue to do.

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Rapper Young Capone, also known as Dopeboy Ra and RaRa, is reportedly dead after going missing last month. News surfaced recently that the 35-year-old Atlanta rapper was last seen in Chicago before his disappearance. Rapper Young Capone, also known as Dopeboy Ra and RaRa, is reportedly dead after going missing last month (aleeshacpr/Instagram)

Youngs publicist Aleesha Carter confirmed his death on Instagram. This is with a heavy heavy heart that Im even posting this. We made magic when we strategically put out projects, always. Young Capone aka Dopeboy Ra aka Rara was one of my first Hip Hop/ Rap clients, and I cant believe the news I just got of his unexpected passing! A frienda client and just huge in East Atlanta. This is not the easiest post at all. Rest easy, RIP, her post reads. A cause of death has not been revealed yet.

Young was born Rodriguez Smith and became popular in Atlanta's underground hip-hop scene in the mid-2000s. He notably worked with stars like Daz Dillinger and Jermaine Dupri. He eventually went on to earn a record deal with Dazs So So Def label, following which he released his famous track, Lights, Camera, Action, in 2006.

Young went to change his name to Dopeboy Ra, before which he shared two mixtapes  Look Whos Back in 2010 and Paper and Politics in 2011. Young collaborated with T.I.'s Hustle Gang, and was notably featured in We Want Smoke, the collective's 2017 album. He shared his project SlumMade 2.0 in December last year.

Fly high Ra

Tributes poured in on social media after Youngs death. Former Market Manager at Atlanta Falcons, Javi' Lewis, wrote on Facebook, This was our first video shoot ever. Access granted. Making Of Im Hot by Young Capone aka Rara bka we stayed up all night in PDE at my mom's house and I ended up getting food poisoning from KFC on Bouldercrest so I was sick to my stomach. Rara had just had my Goddaughter and I was holding her almost the entire shoot. It's crazy we were only 17 years old.

Another acquaintance of Young, Brandy Hambrick, wrote, I met you when we were label mates and you were Young Capone. Forever one of the dopest MCs in the South. You never got your just due and thats fxckin wit me. Last I seen you was 5years ago when we took this pic. I heard you were missing a few days ago. I was sure that you were good anywho I love you lil bro and May you Rise In Power like the GOD that you are. Fly high Ra.

Tip from Grand Hustle captioned a photo on Instagram, "Deeply saddened by the loss of an Atlanta/Trap Muzik Legend. Sending my sincerest condolences to his loved ones during this incredibly difficult time.
Superstar Rajinikanth on Friday reached Uttar Pradesh. Upon reaching the capital city Lucknow, the senior actor briefly interacted with the media and shared his plans to watch his film Jailer with the UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in the city. He also commented on the success of his film. Also read: Jailer box office collection day 8: Rajinikanth film remains strong in second week, aims for 250 crore Rajinikanth reveals his plans in Lucknow.

Rajinikanth to meet CM Yogi Adityanath

When asked about his upcoming meet-up with the CM, Rajinikanth told news agency ANI, Yes, I am going to watch my film (Jailer) with him. He also reacted to the massive response to Jailer and commented, Sab bhagwan ki dua hai (It's a blessing from God), before getting into his vehicle. Rajinikanth, who is currently travelling across cities, will seemingly visit across some spiritual places in Lucknow.

Rajinikanth in Jharkhand

Previously, Rajinikanth was in Ranchi. On Friday, he visited the Chhinnamasta Temple of the state and offered payers. He was snapped arriving at the Birsa Munda Airport. Talking to the media about his visit, he had said, "It felt great. I went to Chhinnamasta temple. I was thinking to visit the temple for many years, and this time I went there, it felt great. This is the third time I came here and will come every year.

He also spent an hour meditating at Yagoda ashram in Ranchi. This was followed by his meeting with Jharkhand Governor C P Radhakrishnan at the Raj Bhavan. Rajinikanth also visited Badrinath Dham to seek blessings after the release of his film.

Rajinikanth in Himalayas

Ahead of the Jailer releaser, the actor went for a spiritual trip to the Himalayas. He revealed that he used to visit the Himalayas often on several occasions. However, he was unable to visit the hills for the past four years due to various reasons, including the Covid pandemic.

He visited the Badrinath Temple in Uttarakhand recently and also meditated at a cave in Pandavkholi.

Jailer

Directed by Nelson Dilipkumar, Jailer stars Ramya Krishnan, Tamannaah Bhatia, Vinayakan and comedian Yogi Babu with Mohanlal and Jackie Shroff in cameo appearances. In the film, Rajinikanth portrays the father of a police officer. Released on August 10, the film stands at an 8-day total of 235.65 crore currently, as per a report of Sacnilk.com.

ott:10

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The fifth season of Fargo is here. The makers of the Emmy-winning anthology limited series unveiled a new cast of characters for its latest season on Friday. FX also released the first-look images from the new season and the plot details from the series created by Noah Hawley. (Also read: When Timothee Chalamet visited Greta Gerwig on Barbie set: I should have been in this) Juno Temple and Jon Hamm in Fargo Season 5.

About Season 5

Set in 2019 in Minnesota and North Dakota, Season 5 chronicles a Midwestern housewife named Dorothy Dot Lyon (Juno Temple), who gets embroiled with the authorities and has to confront her mysterious past. When local North Dakota sheriff Roy Tillman (Jon Hamm) enters the scene with his son Gator (Joe Keery), and drifter Ole Munch (Sam Spruell); he seeks out some answers.

More details

This leads to Dot's husband Wayne (David Rysdahl) and mother-in-law Lorraine Lyon (Jennifer Jason Leigh) who reveal more secrets. When Lorraine realizes that her family might be in some danger, she calls legal counsel (Dave Foley) for assistance. Meanwhile, Minnesota Police Deputy Indira Olmstead (Richa Moorjani) and North Dakota Deputy Witt Farr (Lamorne Morris) are also involved in the lookout for some answers in the mix.

Produced by MGM Television and FX Productions, and internationally distributed by Amazon & MGM Studios Distribution, Fargo Season 5 is executive produced by Joel and Ethan Coen, who made the Oscar winning film in 1996. The latest season, which is a spin-off from the Frances McDormand-starring film, is set in Minnesota and North Dakota in 2019. Season 5 has a total of 10 episodes and will release on November 21.

The past seasons of the acclaimed show has starred Kristen Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Jessie Buckley, Ben Whishaw, Carrie Coon and Timothy Olyphant.

Netflix's surprise element

Meanwhile, as per a report by Deadline, Netflix has said that it will ship subscribers to its DVD plan as many as 10 discs before it stops operations on September 29.

In an email that was received by the customers, the streaming service noted, "After 25 years of movies in the mail, were approaching the end of our final season. We really appreciate that youre sharing movie nights with us until the last day. Lets have some fun for our finale! If you click below by August 29th, you could find up to 10 extra discs in your mailbox. These finale discs will be sent out on September 29th, our very last shipping day. You wont know if any extra envelopes are headed your way until they arrive in your mailbox! U.S. only. Limited quantity. While supplies last. Dont forget to review your queue and move your must-watch movies to the top. We wish you happy viewing and truly thank you for being part of our final season. Enjoy each and every red envelope."

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Dubai-based Lebanese model and actor Jad Hadid rose to fame with his stint in Bigg Boss OTT season 2, which concluded with a grand finale episode recently, where Elvish Yadav was declared the winner. Although Jad never spoke about being in a relationship, while inside the Bigg Boss OTT 2 house, it is rumoured that he started dating after he came out of the house. A recent video of Jad and his girlfriend is doing the rounds on social media, where she spoke about actor Akanksha Puri. Also read: Internet reacts to Jad Hadid and Akanksha Puri kissing again in public Jad Hadid with his girlfriend (left). Jad and Akanksha Puri's kiss on Bigg Boss OTT 2.

Jad Hadid's girlfriend warns Akanksha Puri

In June, Akanksha Puri and Jad Hadid's on-screen 30-second kiss during a dare in an episode of Bigg Boss OTT 2 made headlines. Both Jad and Akanksha have spoken about it in various interviews after they were evicted from the reality show in August and June, respectively. Now, Jad's girlfriend has spoken about Akanksha in a paparazzi video.

Recently, Jad Hadid was spotted with his girlfriend and when the paparazzi asked them 'Where is Akanksha', his girlfriend looked at the cameras, saying, Akanksha Jad se durr rahein (Akanksha should stay away from Jad), okay?" Jad then said, Okay, and gave her a peck on her cheek. Jad also said that he will soon meet his daughter.

Jad and Akanksha's kiss

Akanksha Puri and Jad Hadid were schooled by actor-host Salman Khan on a Weekend Ka Vaar episode after their kiss made headlines. In July, shortly after her eviction from Bigg Boss OTT 2, Akanksha had opened up in a Pinkvilla interview about Jad Hadid calling her a 'bad kisser'.

She had said, Jad Hadid took it too personally, he wanted it to be like a proper kiss between two lovers where you have to have that passion, you have to move your lips, your tongue, your this and that. I didn't want to do that and that's why I didn't reciprocate the way he wanted me to, and that's why he felt, 'Oh my God, you are a bad kisser.' Excuse me! It was not about kissing and neither did I have a director here, who gave me a brief that 'Akanksha, it has to look in a certain manner.' It was just a task that I had to finish in 30 seconds, which I did and I won.

At an event in Mumbai recently, the duo kissed each other's cheeks, and their video was widely shared on social media, attracting mixed reaction from Bigg Boss fans. They had attended Bigg Boss OTT 2 contestant Palak Purswanis birthday celebration together on August 16.

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Guwahati/New Delhi Armed men killed three village patrol guards in a Kuki-dominated village in Manipurs Ukhrul district in the early hours of Friday, shattering the tenuous peace established over the last two weeks in the northeastern state that has been roiled by ethnic clashes for three months. People during a protest march against the violence, on Friday. (PTI)

State police said the killings occurred around 4.30am at Thouwai Kuki, a village inhabited by the Kuki tribal community around 47km from Ukhrul town, the headquarters of the district.

Read here: Renewed violence in Manipur as 3 members of Kuki community killed

According to our information, a group of armed miscreants approached the village from the hills located to the east of the village and started firing at village guards. Three people from the village have been killed in the incident. There are no reports of any injuries, said N Vashum, superintendent of police (SP), Ukhrul.

The village falls on the edge of the Naga-dominated Ukhrul district and the Meitei-dominated Imphal East district.

The three deceased were identified by the district administration as Thangkhokai Haokip, 35, Jamkhogin Haokip, 26, and Hollenson Baithe, 24.

Local residents said that the three men were on patrol duty at a bunker in a village where the 50 households took turns to volunteer as guards every night.

This Kuki village has around 50-60 houses. Though there was no violence in the village for the last three months, a bunker was set up in the village as a security measure. The three villagers were guarding the village when the armed militants caught them by surprise and shot at them, said David Paite, a resident of the village.

He said that the bodies bore stab marks. Baithe was a college student while the two other men were farmers.

The violence mark the first killings in the strife-torn state in 13 days, breaking the fragile peace established in a state where clashes between the dominant Meitei community and the tribal Kuki community has killed at least 160 people and displaced another 50,000 people. It comes nine days after Union home minister Amit Shah told Parliament on August 9 that the violence in Manipur was ebbing and ruled out a change of guard in the state, appealing to the warring communities to come to the negotiating table.

The SP said security measures were bolstered and joint operations by the state police and the Indian army were underway to nab the people involved in the murders.

A senior officer of the Assam Rifles said that an outpost was functioning 3km from the village earlier but was shifted weeks ago. There was another operation in which the team was needed so around three weeks ago, they were sent to another place, the officer said, seeking anonymity.

Chief minister N Biren Singh said the restoration of peace is of paramount importance.

Restoration of peace and normalcy in the state is of paramount importance. All should refrain from comments and engage in discussion that could be upsetting for another community, the CM said in Imphal on the sidelines of an event.

This is the first killing in the state since August 5, when five people  three Meiteis and two Kukis  were killed in separate incidents of shooting between the two communities at Bishnupur and Churachandpur districts.

According to the police, the attack was unprovoked and the armed men fired intentionally at the Kuki village guards. The killers took advantage of the dark and the trees in the jungle to flee the village. Most villagers were asleep when the attack happened, Paite said.

The killers fired the shots from the cover of trees almost 50-70 metres away from the bunker, he added.

Clashes in Manipur first broke out on May 3 in Churachandpur town after tribal groups called for protests against a proposed tweak to the states reservation matrix, granting scheduled tribe (ST) status to the Meitei community. Violence quickly engulfed the state where ethnic fault lines run deep, displacing tens of thousands of people who fled burning homes and neighbourhoods into jungles, often across state borders. The clashes have virtually partitioned the state between the dominant Meitei community that lives in the plains and constitutes 53% of the states population, and the tribal Kuki group, which lives in the hill districts and makes up 16% of the state.

The simmering violence sparked nationwide outcry last month after a 30-second video clip showed a brutal May 4 sexual assault where a group of men  a first information report (FIR) later identified them as Meiteis  were seen hooting and applauding while stripping two Kuki women and forcing them to parade naked. The barbaric clip prompted the Supreme Court to take cognisance of the case and announce that it will monitor all cases of violence against women during the ethnic clashes. The top court also ordered the setting up of a high-powered committee, comprising three retired women high court judges, that will visit the strife-torn state and report back on the efficacy of rescue, relief and rehabilitation measures.

Read here: On Kuki MLAs' letter to PM, Manipur CM says everyone entitled to speak freely

The recently concluded monsoon session was also deadlocked over the sexual assault, with the Opposition demanding Prime Minister Narendra Modi speak inside Parliament on the Manipur violence, and the government insisting that it was ready for a debate and that Shah will respond on the floor of the House. The Opposition even brought a no-confidence motion, which was eventually defeated, against the government largely hinged on the issue. On the final day of the debate, Modi told the House that the central and the state governments were working towards peace. I assure people of Manipur that peace will be restored soon. The country is with you. We will sit together and find a solution to the current challenge to restore peace and put Manipur on the path of development, he said.

The Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum (ITLF), a conglomerate of Kuki groups in Churachandpur district, condemned the killings and called it a pre-planned attack.

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Armed miscreants gunned down three members from the Kuki community in Manipurs Ukhrul district on Friday morning, officials confirmed. According to police, the incident took place around 4:30am at Thouwai Kuki, a village inhabited by Kuki tribals. (AFP file photo)

According to police, the incident took place around 4:30am at Thouwai Kuki, a village inhabited by Kuki tribals, located around 47km from Ukhrul town, the headquarters of the district, which is dominated by Tangkhuls, a Naga tribe.

According to our information, a group of armed miscreants approached the village from the hills located to the east of the village and started firing at village guards. Three people from the village have been killed in the incident. There are no reports of any injuries, said N Vashum, superintendent of police (SP), Ukhrul, confirmed.

Also Read: Manipur violence: Kuki MLAs seek posts similar to DGP, chief secretary

Following the incident, the SP said that the security measures have been beefed up and joint operations by state police and the Indian Army are underway to nab those involved.

On August 5, five persons, three Meiteis and two Kukis, were killed in separate incidents of shooting between the two communities at Bishnupur and Churachandpur districts.

Clashes in Manipur first broke out on May 3 in Churachandpur town after Kuki groups called for protests against a proposed tweak to the states reservation matrix, granting scheduled tribe (ST) status to the Meitei community.

Violence quickly engulfed the state where ethnic fault lines run deep, displacing tens of thousands of people who fled burning homes and neighbourhoods into jungles, often across state borders.

The clashes have claimed over 160 lives and displaced around 50,000.

Meiteis account for nearly 53% of the state population while Kukis comprise around 16%.

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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
Hindu right-wing outfits like Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) have welcomed DPAP chairman Ghulam Nabi Azad's statement that the majority of Indian Muslims have converted from Hinduism. Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) chief Ghulam Nabi Azad.(File Photo / PTI)

Bajrang Dal national convener Neeraj Douneriya said that Azad's statement is a favourable indication and in line with the stance of Hindutva outfits.

Ghulam Nabi Azads statement is a favourable indication as even Bajrang Dal, since a long time, has said that the Muslims and Christians in the country have converted from Hinduism, Douneriya told PTI.

Vinayakrao Deshpande, central organisation general secretary, VHP, said, I welcome Ghulam Nabi Azad's statement in which he said that the Hindu religion is older than Islam, and that Kashmiri Muslims were Hindus.

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Thursday said a majority of Indian Muslims have converted from Hinduism and an example of this can be found in the Kashmir Valley.

"Some BJP leader said some (Muslims) have come from outside and some have not. Nobody has come from outside or inside. Islam came to existence just 1,500 years ago. Hindu religion is very old. Around 10-20 of them (Muslims) must have come from outside, some were there in the Mughal army," the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) chief told a gathering in Doda district.

"All other Muslims converted from Hinduism in India. An example of this can be found in Kashmir. Who were the Muslims in Kashmir 600 years ago? All were Kashmiri Pandits. They converted to Islam. All are born into this religion," he added.

Senior BJP leader Kavinder Gupta agreed with Azad's remarks and said the people used to practise Hinduism before "invaders" brought in other religions.

"The timeline given by Azad about the inception of Islam in India is true," said Gupta, a former deputy chief minister.

Taking a dig at Azad's remark, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti said, I dont know how far back he went (in time) and what knowledge he has about his ancestors. I would advise him to go way back and maybe he will find some apes there in the ancestors.

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Patna: Bihar governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar on Friday took strong exception to the state education departments order stopping the salary of the in-charge vice-chancellor (VC) and pro-VC of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Bihar University (Muzaffarpur) and freezing its bank accounts. Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar (File)

The Raj Bhavan asked the department to withdraw its Thursday order, calling it an attack on the universitys autonomy. It also wrote to the banks not to freeze bank accounts of the university till further communication.

The act is arbitrary and beyond jurisdiction. It seems to be an attack on autonomy of the university and you have encroached upon the powers of the chancellor, Robert L Chongthu, principal secretary to the governor, wrote in a letter to the education departments secretary. I am directed to convey that the above-mentioned orders may be withdrawn and these types of unwarranted acts may be avoided in future.

The letter, seen by HT, further stated that the state government, under Section 54 of the Bihar State Universities Act, 1976 has the power to audit universities, but it could not freeze their financial powers and bank accounts.

Chongthu also wrote to the banks not to implement the education departments order to freeze the accounts of the university till further communication from the Raj Bhavan.

Veer Kunwar Singh University (Ara) VC Shailendra Kumar Chaturvedi holds the additional charge of BR Ambedkar Bihar University since March this year. Ravindra Kumar is the pro-VC of the Muzaffarpur-based university.

On Thursday, the education department issued the order, hours after both did not turn up for the pre-scheduled review meeting called by the additional chief secretary (ASC) (education), KK Pathak.

In the order issued by education secretary Baidyanath Yadav, he said that due to their absence, the pre-scheduled meeting to review exam backlog and other issues could not be completed.

There was no information about the steps taken to clear the backlog of exams and streamline sessions, as per the gazette notification. The meeting was called for an overall review, but in the absence of VC and pro-VC, it could not be completed, the order from the education department read. The PowerPoint presentation sent by the university reflects that there has been no inspection of universities and colleges under it.

Yadav further wrote that the department has decided to get the financial audit of the university done.

Under these circumstances, the operation of its bank accounts has been withheld and till further orders, the salary of both in-charge VC and pro-VC is stopped. They are also restrained from exercising their financial powers, said the order, a copy of which has been sent to the district magistrate-cum-treasury officer, registrars, and financial advisors of the concerned universities.

Raj Bhawan had given an additional charge of BR Ambedkar Bihar University to Chaturvedi in March after the term of Hanuman Prasad Pandey ended. However, it was a purely temporary arrangement and Chaturvedi was directed not to take any policy decision without the approval of the chancellor.

Meanwhile, the Federation of University Teachers Association of Bihar (FUTAB) has criticised the education departments order saying that the salary and pension payment in the universities is stuck for three months and the department should first look into it. It is merely a tactic to embarrass the person holding the highest academic position, it said.

Stopping the salary of a VC is not in the domain of the ACS [additional chief secretary]. If the ACS calls a meeting of the VCs, that is also against the protocol. If the ACS has any issue, he can only recommend it to the chancellor through the education minister. VCs are answerable to the chancellor. We have also apprised the governor regarding this, said FUTAB working president KB Sinha.

Maintaining that the education department officials are deliberately transgressing the autonomy of universities for publicity despite chancellors expressed views on this, FUTAB wrote that VCs being summoned by an official was highly objectionable.

If the VCs do not respond, the department cannot force them. A VC can be called by only three authorities  chancellor, chief minister and education minister. This is high time the chief minister and chancellor finally draw the line of demarcation between the chancellors office and the state education department, FUTAB general secretary Sanjay Kumar said.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Arun Kumar Arun Kumar is Senior Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times. He has spent two-and-half decades covering Bihar, including politics, educational and social issues. ...view detail
National General Secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Dushyant Kumar Gautam, taking a jibe at the Opposition's INDIA alliance, said on Friday that any alliance by opposition parties would not work anywhere. Nationa General Secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Dushyant Kumar Gautam (Screengrab)

Speaking to news agency PTI, Gautam said that the first meeting of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA)  which was held in Patna on June 23  was skipped by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and the second meeting  held on July 17-18  was skipped by Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar.

He said, I believe their (INDIA Bloc) alliance plan will fail soon who knows how many will skip the third one.

The Oppositions INDIA is set to meet in Mumbai to strategise their next course of action against the BJP-led Central government. The 26-party Opposition alliance, which has been formed to jointly take on the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections next year, is scheduled to meet in Mumbai on August 31 and September 1.

Gautam also attacked the Opposition parties for infighting and fighting against each other in Assembly elections. He said, In Punjab, they [AAP] will not give them [Congress] even a single seat. The situation is a bad in Delhi, that is why he [Arvind Kejriwal] might talk about sharing seats. The Trinamool Congress will not let Congress enter in West Bengal. They [Congress] are in a bad position in Maharashtra too.

Further Gautam attacked the INDIA bloc by calling them selfish and dramatic in nature.

He said, This alliance is a drama and is selfish in nature. Any work done with selfish intentions is never fulfilled. These people are anti-Modi. What are they offering people, even they don't know yet.

Opposition's Mumbai meet

A proposal for an awareness campaign about INDIAs essence of defending the Constitution will be discussed in the Mumbai meet, Communist Party of India (MarxistLeninist) Liberation leader Dipankar Bhattacharya said. He added, the campaign will help in educating people about the need for unity ahead of the 2024 national polls. Our primary aim is to spread the message that the opposition bloc has been formed to defend the constitution and to fight the BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] led NDA [National Democratic Alliance] government. ..a schedule [for the campaign] could be thrashed out [at Mumbai].

People aware of the matter said Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar held discussions with INDIA leaders on the agenda of the Mumbai meeting during his two-day visit to Delhi. A draft agenda of the meeting is under process. Talks were held between Congress, Kumar, and other leaders, said a person, requesting anonymity.

According to senior Opposition leaders, discussions will soon begin among INDIA constituents on the formation of four to five panels, including an all-important coordination panel, which will be announced in the Mumbai meeting.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday virtually addressed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Zila Panchayat Members Conference being held in Daman-Diu, during which he stressed the need for connecting with people on the ground level and strengthening ethics of good governance to make India emerge as a developed nation by 2047. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday virtually addressed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Zila Panchayat Members Conference (Twitter Photo)

Modi said that the BJP workers are the real strength of the party. The fundamental strength of the BJP is its worker, and worker is a party post (in BJP) who always remains with us, he said.

Addressing the two-day Kshetriya Panchayati Raj Parishad, PM Modi said the Zila Panchayat members should contribute to further development in the districts.

Modi added that the Panchayats are the pillars of the countrys democratic system and the BJP workers should work together towards resolving the problems of the common man.

The PM further suggested that the BJP workers equally distribute their workload among themselves and urged them to stay in connect and coordinate through Whatsapp.

I would want that all of you create a WhatsApp group and remain in touch with each other. Tell others what (development) is happening in your district and get to know about others too, Modi said.

The PM said that Zila Panchayat members should select three (social) problems in a year and give four months to each of them. You will see that you will end up solving 15 such problems easily in five years, he added.

We believe in organisation, we believe in values, we believe in dedication and we move forward with collective responsibility, Modi said.

Stressing on using part of the MGNREGA budget for asset creation, Modi said, Earlier, the grant used to be of Rs.70,000 crore, but it is now over Rs.3 lakh crore. We have built over 30,000 Zila Panchayat buildings.

He said that MNGREGA funds should be used for some developmental work, whether for building a pond or for earthwork of a road, or a plantation drive.

The conclave is being held at Dadar and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. BJP president J P Nadda was also present during the prime ministers address.

This is the third Panchayati Raj Parishad conference of the BJP in the last 15 days. The first meeting of BJPs Panchayati Raj Council was held at Surajkund in Faridabad, Haryana and the second meeting was held on 12 August in Howrah, West Bengal.
A bomb threat was reported on a Pune-bound Vistara flight from Delhi, forcing the evacuation of passengers and a thorough inspection of the aircraft. The incident caused a temporary disruption at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi. The bomb threat was received earlier today via a call made to the GMR call centre. The call was received at 7.30am when boarding was underway, according to people familiar with the matter. Vistara Airlines (REUTERS File Photo)

As a precautionary measure, passengers were swiftly deboarded from the aircraft and moved to a safe distance.

Passengers are calm and are being taken care of by the cabin crew with drinks and snacks, said a person familiar with the matter. The flight should take off immediately after a go-ahead from authorities, the person said, asking not to be named.

We confirm that the flight UK971, scheduled to fly from Delhi to Pune on 18 August 2023 is delayed due to mandatory security checks. We have been cooperating with the relevant security agencies for the same. In the meanwhile, we are making all efforts to minimize inconvenience to our customers including offering them refreshments. At Vistara, safety and security of our customers and crew is of utmost importance to us," a spokesperson for Vistara said in a statement.

As of now, authorities have not confirmed the credibility of the bomb threat.

(This is a developing story. Please check back for updates)

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New Delhi The Congress partys floor leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who was suspended from the Lok Sabha on August 10 pending a probe by the privileges committee, will depose before the panel on August 30, according to officials aware of the matter. Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury (ANI)

Read here: Never experienced before: Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on suspension

The Lok Sabha privileges committee met on Friday to discuss the case against Chowdhury, and though the charges against him are serious, the people cited above suggested he could be reinstated soon owing to his stature as a senior parliamentarian.

The House panel will try to give its report as quickly as possible. Chowdhury was suspended from the Lok Sabha on August 10 and the privileges panel held its first meeting on the issue in just eight days. The panel will meet again on August 30 and it might be the last meeting on this subject, said a senior Parliament official who asked not to be named.

The privileges panel goes strictly by the convention and rules of Parliament. As privileges charges have been moved against Chowdhury, he will be asked to depose before the privileges committee. He must get an opportunity to present his side to the panel, the official added.

A second Lok Sabha official said although he has been suspended for gross and deliberate misconduct, Chowdhury remains an important leader as the largest Opposition partys floor leader and the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee.

Chowdhury, a five-term MP, was suspended from the Lok Sabha on August 10 and a privilege motion was initiated against him for his gross, deliberate and repeated misconduct, hours after he tried to compare Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Dhritarashtra and suggest that the PM is Nirav (Bengali for silent) on Manipur.

According to parliamentary experts, Chowdhury became the first floor leader of the largest Opposition party to be suspended from the House.

After the lengthy debate on the no-confidence motion ended on August 10, parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi moved a resolution that said, This House, having taken note of the gross, deliberate and repeated misconduct of Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury in utter disregard of the House and authority of the chair, resolves that the matter of misconduct be further referred to the Committee of Privileges for further investigation and Chowdhury be suspended from service of the House till the committee submits its report.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla also took note of the days developments and observed that Chowdhurys behaviour during the debate was not appropriate.

Read here: Bid to throttle Oppn voice: Adhir attacks BJP over suspension

Two days after his suspension, Chowdhury addressed a press conference and claimed that he has been hanged and thereafter asked to face trial. He also said that the simple formula could have been to expunge his words but instead the government chose to suspended him from the House.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Saubhadra Chatterji Saubhadra Chatterji is Deputy Political Editor at the Hindustan Times. He writes on both politics and policies. ...view detail
The death, three days after he moved into the university hostel, of a first-year student at Jadavpur University, who was allegedly ragged and sexually harassed has laid bare the rampant culture of violence and persecution that freshers routinely face at the institution. SFI and other Left student organisations protest outside Jadavpur University. (ANI)

It is a culture that casually and routinely and wantonly continued to flout anti-ragging guidelines issued by the University Grants Commission in 2008 based on recommendations of the Supreme Court .

Read here: JU students death: University to strengthen campus security, install CCTVs

It is a culture where freshers were subjected to intense mental and physical harassment, usually at night, where they were asked to strip or dance in their undergarments, and where they were often paraded nude. If they failed or were too embarrassed to do so, punishment would follow, with their photographs and videos being shot so as to blackmail them.

Perhaps the clearest example of such a culture of toxicity and administrative laxity are the unfortunate events of August 9 when the first-year student, still a minor, died. Based on conversations with students, teachers, administrators, and police and government officials, HT has sought to piece together the unfortunate events of that night -- and the result is a story that shines a light on the distressing normal in the hostel of one of West Bengals most prestigious higher education institutions.

The 17 year-old boy (he will turn 18 on October 31 this year) from Bagula, a town in Nadia district was meant to begin classes on August 7, and begun staying in the hostel in block A2 from August 6.

At 8:30 pm on August 9, the victims parents began to worry when they had not heard from him; they called him on his mobile phone multiple times, but the calls were all unanswered. Half an hour later, his parents called Sourav Chowdhury, a former student who passed out in 2022 with MSc Mathematics, but had continued staying in the hostel in violation of the rules. They were told that their son was fine. He was just busy because some discussions were going on, the father says he was told.

A few minutes later, the family received a phone call from an unknown number. We could hear our son shouting in the background. He said he was not okay and that he was afraid, the father told HT. It was the last time they would hear his voice. His last frantic words to his parents, before the phone call was disconnected, were Ma, am I gay?

Police officials said that prima facie investigations have indicated that in the name of counselling and introductory sessions, the victim was allegedly taken to multiple rooms of the second and third floor of the hostel and ragged. He was asked to prove he was not homosexual. The torture started around 9 pm and some sessions were held in room number 68 on the second floor and 104 on the third floor. Monotosh Ghosh, a second-year student of sociology, was the occupant of room 104.

Officials said that the victim had applied for a hostel room but had not been allocated one during the selection process. This is not unusual, they said, for demand far outstrips supply. But the victims father had come across Chowdhury and Ghosh during the process; they had told him not to worry, and that until a room was found, they would find the freshman a place to stay as a guest of another boarder. Officials and students HT spoke to said this is a grey area, because guests are allowed in the hostel, and added that several take advantage of this loophole to live in the hostels at length. The guest is expected to pay the bills at the hostel canteen separately.

In any case, as he was being ragged in multiple rooms, police officials said that the victim was forced to sign a letter, written by second-year student Dipshekhar Dutta and Saptak Kamilya and Sourav Chowdhury, both ex-students. This letter alleged that a senior named Rudra Chatterjee (referred to as Rudra da) told the victim that seniors ask freshers to do certain tasks and if they dont obey they are threatened that they will be thrown from the rooftop. When HT checked withthe victims family, they said the name Rudra was unfamiliar to them.

Police officials said that it was unclear at this stage why the students forced the victim to sign this letter, that is dated August 10 (the victim died in the wee hours of August 10) and what they intended to do with it. The statements of some of the accused are not matching. We are verifying everything, said a senior officer.

At around 10:05 pm, the dean of students Rajat Roy received a phone call from a student who told him that another student, the victim, was facing politicizing. It was a term Roy did not understand and he asked the caller to explain. He said a student was being told that if one has to stay in the hostel, he needs to jump from the balcony. I asked him to inform the hostel superintendent. At 10:08pm I asked the superintendent to check. The next phone call I got was a little after midnight in which the superintendent informed me that a student had fallen from the balcony and I rushed to the hospital, Roy said.

Hostel superintendent Tapan Jana, who said he has in the past been manhandled and gheraoed by hostellers while trying to oust illegal boarders did not go up to the first and second floor. I went to the ground floor of the hostel. There was no problem. I found nothing (abnormal), said Jana, who is a contractual employee.

The victim then reportedly jumped around 11:45 pm, a full one hour and forty minutes after the Dean was warned , and in turned called the hostel warden. Both, as well as the registrar Snehamanju Basu, have been questioned since by the police.

Hassan Gayen, a PhD student who lives in an adjacent block, said he heard a loud commotion and saw a student jump from the balcony. He was one of the first to reach the spot. I was talking to my family on the phone and students shouting on the second floor of the block. I asked some students who live there what was going on and they said a general body meeting was being held. I went away for a while and while I was returning, the noise was even louder. I saw a student jump out. He was naked, and bleeding profusely, Gayen said.

The victims body was wrapped in a towel and rushed to the KPC Medical College in a taxi by some students where he succumbed to injuries around 4:30 am.

Police have learnt that soon after the student allegedly jumped, freshmen were asked to go inside their rooms while seniors and former students held a general body meeting to decide on what version of events would be presented to the media and the police.

At least four such meetings were held in the next 24 hours. One was held soon after the news reached that the victim has succumbed, said an officer.

Jayanta Kumar Pal, the gatekeeper who was on duty that night said, I could sense something had happened. There was a lot of chaos and students were rushing towards A-block. Students started coming to the gate in batches and asked me not to allow anyone inside.

Read here: UGC pulls up Jadavpur university over report into first-year students death

The police received a phone call from a hostel resident around midnight, but had to wait to enter the hostel for a few minutes, with the gates locked. A case has been registered under section 186 (Obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions) and 353 (Assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) of the Indian Penal Code, and 12 people, including six students, arrested.

On August 11, the administration shifted freshmen to a new hostel and put up an anti-ragging hoarding. On August 17, they decided to install CCTV cameras. The UGC guidelines have them all. During my tenure a decade ago, I had installed CCTv cameras and flood lights, the production of identity cards at gates was made mandatory. But soon after I stepped down, all these were removed, said Abhijit Chakraborty, former VC of the university.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Joydeep Thakur Joydeep Thakur is a Special Correspondent based in Kolkata. He focuses on science, environment, wildlife, agriculture and other related issues. ...view detail
The row over contesting on all seven constituencies in Delhi during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections continues. Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit on Friday clarified leaders in the party meeting at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters did not say they will fight on all seven seats, instead, they will prepare for the upcoming elections. Every party prepares irrespective of a coalition. (L) Pawan Khera. (R) Sandeep Dikshit(ANI)

We did not say that we will fight on all seven seats. We said we will prepare for the seven seatsOur meeting was to strengthen the party. We did not discuss coalition in the meeting, Dikshit told news agency ANI.x

He also said that matters related to seat sharing among allied parties in the I.N.D.I.A. coalition for the upcoming election will be decided by the central leadership.

Earlier, Congress leader Alka Lamba gave a statement after the party meeting on preparation for contesting the 2024 general election on all seats in Delhi which stirred a series of verbal spat between the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Leaders from AAP questioned the significance of I.N.D.I.A. bloc if the Congress contests on all Lok Sabha seats in the national capital.

Later, Lamba argued if she said anything about the alliance while giving her statement to a news agency. "Listen to my answer to ANI questions. Tell me where did I talk about having or not having an alliance with anyone?" she asked.

Dikshit further criticised AAP for reacting to the row without understanding what Lamba said in her statement. He also alleged AAP of being corrupt. Our stand is we cannot trust this party (AAP). There is corruption in their politics, he added.

Responding to the row, senior Congress leader Pawan Khera said discussion on such matters are held at party-level during meetings and there is no need to respond to these questions at a public forum.

Discussions keep happening for the betterment of the party and when discussions happen, different opinions are heard and after that, a decision is taken together, he said.
Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy has found an admirer in the world's richest Elon Musk, who deemed the Indian American a very promising candidate. Ramaswamy, who announced his 2024 presidential bid in February, has quickly moved toward the front of the chasing pack in the Republican party with his provocative rhetoric. With the first Republican primary debate less than a week away, the multimillionaire biotech entrepreneur has intensified his campaign with public meetings and interviews. Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy speaks at the Republican Party of Iowa's Lincoln Day Dinner in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., July 28, 2023.

Conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson shared the full interview of Ramaswamy on X (formerly Twitter) and said, " Vivek Ramaswamy is the youngest Republican presidential candidate ever. He's worth listening to."

Reacting to the post, Elon Musk, owner of X, said, He is a very promising candidate.

Musk's post has garnered over 16 million impressions at the time of writing this.

Ramaswamy has called China the biggest threat that the US faces and said that he would go for total de-coupling with Beijing if he comes to power. The Republican leader has also said that he would aim to completely re-enter the trade in the Pacific and enter trade relationships with countries like India, Japan, and South Korea.

Earlier, in an interview with Fox News, Ramaswamy said, Xi Jinping is the dictator and China is the top threat that the United States faces. I think I am the clearest candidate in declaring a clear path in declaring economic independence from China. That would be the first step in our policy.

He further said that he would go for a total de-coupling with China and ban most of the US companies from doing business in Beijing.

I would go for total de-coupling. I would ban most US companies from doing business with China, unless and until the CCP reforms its behaviourI think there would be short-term consequences, but I think we can make sacrifices if we know what we are sacrificing for. I also think that when you are most willing to make a sacrifice, you actually do not have to make one at all, Ramaswamy said.

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Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) chief Ghulam Nabi Azad has sparked a controversy by saying that a majority of Indian Muslims have converted from Hinduism, reported news agency PTI. Ghulam Nabi Azad(PTI)

Read here: Those opposing Article 370 abrogation ignorant of ground reality: Ghulam Azad

The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister was addressing a gathering in Doda district where he was making an observation about the historical context of religions in India.

"Some BJP leader said some (Muslims) have come from outside and some have not. Nobody has come from outside or inside. Islam came to existence just 1,500 years ago. Hindu religion is very old. Around 10-20 of them (Muslims) must have come from outside, some were there in the Mughal army," Azad said.

"All other Muslims converted from Hinduism in India. An example of this can be found in Kashmir. Who were the Muslims in Kashmir 600 years ago? All were Kashmiri Pandits. They converted to Islam. All are born into this religion," he added.

Naming different communities, Azad said all of them have made India their home. It is our home, we havent come from outside. We were born on this soil and will perish in it, he emphasised.

Azad said that when Hindus die, they are cremated. "They are burnt in different places. Their ashes are placed in the river which mixes the water, and we drink that water," he said.

"Similarly Muslims' flesh and bones become a part of the nation's soil. They, too, become a part of this land. Their flesh become a part of Bharat Mata's soil. Hindus and Muslims both merge into this land. What difference is there between them?" he said.

Meanwhile, senior BJP leader and former deputy chief minister Kavinder Gupta agreed with Azad's views and said the people used to practise Hinduism before "invaders" brought in other religions. "The timeline given by Azad about the inception of Islam in India is true," he said.

Gupta further said that unveiling the history of Kashmir would also reveal that around 600 years ago, there was no Muslim in Kashmir and everyone there was a Hindu.

However, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti took a dig at Azad and said, I dont know how far back he went (in time) and what knowledge he has about his ancestors. I would advise him to go way back and maybe he will find some apes there in the ancestors.

Further, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha opined, "Humanity should take precedence over all other considerations  whether it be religion, borders, nationality, or civilization."

Read here: Former J&K CM Ghulam Nabi Azad praises Sibals efforts in Supreme Court

On September 26, 2022, Azad launched his own political wing, the 'Democratic Progressive Azad Party,' following his departure from the Congress party after serving almost five decades. The former Congress leader has been criticising the grand old party ever since his resignation.

(With inputs from agencies)
Former Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday said he will hold discussions with party MLA ST Somashekar Gowda amid speculations over the latter joining the Congress. Former Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai said the Congress is spreading rumours about joining of leaders to divert public attention from corruption charges against its government. (PTI)

In the backdrop of such rumours, we have spoken to all those concerned and no one will make such a hasty decision. Congress is spreading such rumours to divert public attention from corruption charges against its government, Bommai said.

Speculations are rife at the Congress headquarters in Bengaluru that a few dissenting opposition BJP MLAs, who had earlier defected from the Congress, could return to the ruling party in Karnataka. A Congress leader claimed that four to five BJP MLAs are likely to shift to the Congress to boost the partys prospects in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The disagreement over fielding Somashekars son in the upcoming Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) elections might have triggered Somshekar reaching out to the Congress. Recently, at the inspection of the Kempe Gowda Layout in Bengaluru by deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar, Somashekar had said the KPCC chief was his political guru and appreciated his leadership.

Amid speculations, Gowda said, I have not spoken anywhere about going to Congress. I have not discussed any politics other than the development of my constituency with D K Shivakumar. I have never told my supporters that I will be going (to Congress). Its the creation of my opponents.

I have told them (BJP leaders) that I dont have any disgruntlement with the state BJP and leadership...I have not been involved in any anti-party activity. Despite this no action is being taken against those who are working against me within the party in my constituency, he added.

Shivakumar did not rule out an Operation Hasta (like BJPs Operation Lotus) ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Sometimes, the party wont have an existence. At such times, the party must be empowered. Many people are coming forward to join our party. Whatever is good for the party will be done, Shivakumar said.

Shivakumar said party workers have been given a free hand to do what is best. We have told party workers that local understanding will be required. Weve asked them not to be vengeful or hateful. Weve asked them to increase the partys vote share. And, it is up to local leaders to do whatever is necessary, he said.

Responding to him, CT Ravi said the BJP will not take these statements lightly. We had taken their PayCM campaign lightly because of which we have suffered (in the assembly election). We will take all the statements seriously and we will counter fiercely, reach out to people and focus on our strategy, he said.
Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday announced financial assistance of 15 crore for Himachal Pradesh which is currently hit by heavy rains and landslides. Taking to X (formerly known as Twitter), Gehlot wrote, To help the people suffering from the difficult situation created by heavy rains and landslides in Himachal Pradesh, an assistance of 15 crore will be given by the Rajasthan government We all Rajasthanis are standing with the people of Himachal in these difficult circumstances. I pray to God to keep everyone safe. Rescue workers remove the debris as a search operation continues in the aftermath of a landslide following torrential rain in Shimla(REUTERS)

Earlier in the day, Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel announced financial assistance of 11 crore to the flood-hit state.

Himachal Pradesh government on Friday declared the massive damage caused by heavy rains as a state calamity. "Monsoon has caused a lot of damage in the state. We are doing an analysis. Once the monsoon ends, we will start repairing the roads and will work to improve the connectivity," CM Sukhvinder Singh Sikhu said earlier. He added that the state government would require a year to rebuild the infrastructure damage caused by the monsoon. The death toll in rain-battered Himachal Pradesh has risen to 77. 23 of these deaths happened in the three major landslides in Shimla - at the Shiva temple in Summer Hill, in Fagli, and in Krishnanagar, Shimla SP Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi said.

Since the onset of the monsoon, the hill has been witnessing heavy rainfall. About 220 people died in rain-related incidents and a total of 11,637 houses were partially or completely damaged. Over 600 roads are still closed. About 408 transformers and 149 water supply schemes have been disrupted. The IMD has predicted scattered rainfall in the next four to five days and controlled rainfall in the state until August 25.

(With inputs from agencies)
The death toll in Himachal Pradesh rain-related incidents has jumped to 74 amid reports of fresh flash floods and landslides. Among those who died, 21 were killed due to major landslides at Shiva temple in Summer Hill, Fagli, and Krishnanagar. Eight people are still feared buried under the temple debris. Uttarakhand SDRF and NDRF conduct a search operation following a landslide due to rains at Gaurikund in Rudraprayag. (ANI Photo)

In Uttarakhand, the water level of the Pranmati river in Chamoli district saw a sharp increase following incessant rainfall in the state. Authorities have alerted the locals in the area to ensure the safety and well-being of the residents, officials said on Friday.

On Thursday, Himachal Pradesh chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu visited flood and severe rain-affected areas in Mandi district  Matehdi, Baldwara, Maseran and Jukain of Sarkaghat assembly.

Top rainfall updates from Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand:

In Uttarakhand's Rishikesh, the supportive wire on the Ram Jhula Bridge broke due to flooding over the Ganga river, forcing the authorities to stop the movement of two-wheelers. The Pauri Police administration has banned the movement of people and two-wheelers after the bridge of the famous Ram Jhula Bridge broke down in the pilgrimage city of Rishikesh due to the spate of river Ganga, an official said. The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) in Uttarakhand said on Thursday night that as excessive water filled houses in Kaluwala after heavy rainfall in Dehradun. The SDRF said it was constantly trying to help the affected people. In Himachal Pradesh, the rescue and search operation was underway on Friday in landslide-affected areas in Shimla. In Summer Hill Area, Disaster Response Forces were seen carrying out the operation. Sukhu said on Thursday some amount of relief funds from the central government were still pending. He said, The Union government's first instalment of interim relief was still pending. Out of the relief amount of Rs. 315 crore, which was pending for the last few years with the union government due to some audit objections, a sum of Rs.189 crore has been released whereas under the SDRF, a total of  360 crore is released to the State. The central government released the first instalment of  180 crore in June and the second instalment of  180 crore in advance, which was to be received in December. Thus the amount of  360 crore, received so far, was our righteous share, which otherwise is given to all the States. No separate financial assistance has been released so far. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Thursday said that light to very heavy rainfall was likely to occur over Uttarakhand on Friday as well as between August 21 and 23. Himachal IMD scientist Surender Paul said, Monsoon is on the higher side this time...If we see the data, there is 43% excess rainfall since June 1 in Himachal Pradesh. Scattered rainfall will occur in the next 4-5 days. There will be controlled rainfall in the state till August 25. Meanwhile, a road between Maithana and Pursadi on Shri Badrinath National Highway in Uttarakhand washed away on Thursday evening.

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NEW DELHI: India has continued its humanitarian assistance for the people of Afghanistan, ranging from the supply of wheat to cope with an unprecedented food shortage to the provision of materials for drug rehabilitation camps run by the UN. An Afghan man walks in his drought-hit wheat field in Nahr-e-Shahi district in Balkh province of Afghanistan (REUTERS FILE)

The assistance, including medical and food aid, has been provided in view of the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Afghanistan and urgent appeals by UN agencies, people familiar with the matter said. The Indian government has partnered with the United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP) for the internal distribution of wheat within Afghanistan.

Under this partnership, India has supplied a total of 47,500 metric tonnes of wheat as assistance to UNWFP centres across Afghanistan. While wheat was earlier sent to Afghanistan in trucks via Pakistan, through the Wagah-Attari land border crossing, recent shipments are being despatched through Irans Chabahar port and handed over to the UNWFP at Heart, the people said.

Indias contributions have been acknowledged by key stakeholders in Afghanistan, including UNWFP. For the first half of this year, 16 million people in Afghanistan received life-saving food from WFP. We are grateful for generous donors like India who make that happen, WFP Afghanistan said in a recent tweet.

The Indian side partnered with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) in Afghanistan to provide humanitarian assistance for the welfare of Afghan drug users, especially women, the people said.

Under this partnership, India supplied 1,100 units of female hygiene kits, blankets and medical assistance to UNODC in Kabul. These items will be used by UNODC in their drug rehabilitation camps for women across Afghanistan. India will also be providing further medical assistance for these camps.

India has also supplied a range of medical aid, including nearly 200 tonnes of essential medicines, Covid-19 vaccines, anti-tuberculosis medicines and medical and surgical items such as paediatric stethoscopes, mobile sphygmomanometers with paediatric blood pressure cuffs, infusion pumps, drip chamber sets, and nylon sutures.

The medical assistance was handed over to authorities at the Indira Gandhi Childrens Hospital in Kabul.

The Indian side has also continued its support for Habibia School in Kabul and sent assistance such as winter clothing and stationery for primary students.

The Indian government has allocated 200 crore for providing assistance to Afghanistan in the 2023-24 budget. However, the outlay was lower than the expenditure of 350 crore on aid for Afghanistan in the last fiscal.

This expenditure covered humanitarian aid provided in 2022 in the wake of the Taliban takeover of Kabul, including wheat, medicines and vaccines. The allocation for 2023-24 signalled the continuation of Indias special relationship with the Afghan people and the commitment to them, the people said.

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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
India is a step closer to extraditing Tahawwur Rana, who has been named as a conspirator in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, from the US with a court in California rejecting the Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman-doctors plea against his extradition even as Pakistan is learnt to have asked its consulate in Los Angeles to monitor the case. Tahawwur Rana has been named a conspirator in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. (ANI)

Rana, 57, challenged in June the order issued for his extradition in May. Judge Dale S Fisher of the Central California District on August 10 rejected the challenge. Officials in New Delhi called the order a positive development. The US government has backed Ranas extradition to India. He is trying to delay the process, but we believe he will be sent to India soon, said an official familiar with the matter.

Indian agencies have come across a letter the Pakistan embassy in Washington has purportedly written to the consulate in Los Angeles asking officials there to closely monitor the case and update the mission on any changes, including appeals current standing and next actions.

Fischer rejected Ranas arguments that he cannot be extradited because India plans to prosecute him for the same acts for which he was acquitted in the US and that the government has not established that there is probable cause to believe that he committed the offences for which he is expected to stand trial.

Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Chooljian of the Central California District in May ruled that Rana can be extradited to India, citing sufficient evidence to establish probable cause that he committed the offences for which the extradition has been sought.

Rana is accused of helping co-conspirator David Coleman Headley in reconnaissance of targets in Mumbai and allegedly planning the Pakistan-backed terrorist attack on Mumbai, which left 166 people dead.

American Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Rana in Chicago in October 2009 for providing material support to conspiracies to commit terrorist acts outside the US including in Mumbai and Copenhagen. He was convicted in 2013 of conspiracy to provide support to a plot to commit murder in Denmark, including beheading employees of the Danish newspaper Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten.

In June 2020, India sought Ranas provisional arrest for his extradition. The Biden administration supported it.

American prosecutors argued Rana was aware of his childhood friend Headleys involvement with Lashkar-e-Taiba. They added he was supporting the terrorist organisation and its associates by providing Headley cover. The prosecutors argued Rana knew of Headleys meetings, what was discussed, and the planning of the attacks.

The US government said Rana was part of the conspiracy and there is probable cause that he committed the substantive crime of commissioning a terrorist act

Former National Investigation Agency (NIA) chief Y C Modi said Pakistan has no locus standi in the matter. But we all know why they want to monitor the developments in this case. Ranas extradition to India will be a big catch for India. NIA teams have visited the US twice since 2018 for formalities for Ranas extradition.

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The Supreme Court on Friday gave Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) eight weeks to investigate whether there was a larger conspiracy behind the murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar after his children alleged that a common thread exists between his killing and those of three other public personalities, activist Govind Pansare, Kannada poet MM Kalburgi and journalist Gauri Lankesh. CBI also told the court that its investigations were carried out keeping in view the possibility of a larger conspiracy.

Read here: Cant restrain Bihar from releasing caste census data: Supreme Court

A bench of justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia passed the order while hearing a petition filed by Mukta and Hamid Dabholkar who approached the top court against an April 18 order of the Bombay high court refusing any further monitoring of CBIs investigation into their fathers murder. They had urged the high court to consider a larger conspiracy behind the murder as a similar modus operandi was adopted in killing three others, with all murders being carried out in a span of four years.

The petitioners have stated about the larger conspiracy. The accused in this case are facing trial. We want to know, according to you, is there no common thread with the other murders. Please look into it as that is what we want to know, the apex court told CBI.

Additional solicitor general (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati who appeared for CBI told the court that all the charge sheets in the other cases are yet to be examined. She added that in the case of the Dabholkar murder, however, the investigation is complete and a charge sheet was filed on May 31 with 20 witnesses already examined during the trial.

To be sure, there are enough links between the cases, even by the agencys own admission, although it has not filed any charges over a larger conspiracy.

An affidavit filed by CBI added: The murder of Govind Pansare is a connected case because of common conspirators. However, time and facts of the case are different. The agency further stated that monitoring of investigation into Pansares death will have no impact in the Dabholkar trial.

CBI also told the court that its investigations were carried out keeping in view the possibility of a larger conspiracy.

The petitioners pointed to more links.

Senior advocate Anand Grover who appeared for the Dabholkar children pointed to the presence of a 2018 charge sheet where the Maharashtra anti-terrorist squad (ATS) recovered a large haul of ammunition and weapons from Nalasopara in Mumbai. Grover said, The accused in the Nalasopara explosive seizure case are the accused in the Dabholkar, Kalburgi and Lankesh case.

The court permitted the petitioners to produce the Nalasopara chargesheet in the ongoing proceedings and said, The petitioners seek time to file certain documents to facilitate examination of larger conspiracy. CBI is granted further time to examine this aspect. List after eight weeks.

In their petition filed through advocate Krishan Kumar, the Dabholkars said: In the investigation by SIT, Karnataka of the murder of Gauri Lankesh, a diary was seized from one accused (Amol Kale) which revealed that 34 persons including the petitioners were on the hit list.

Dabholkar, a rationalist, was shot dead in Pune in 2013. Political activist Govind Pansare was killed in Kolhapur in 2015. The same year, Kannada scholar MM Kalburgi was murdered in Karnataka. In 2017, Gauri Lankesh, an outspoken critic of Hindutva, was murdered outside her house in Bengaluru

This is not the first time the court has sought to explore connections between the murders. In 2018, the top court while dealing with a petition filed by Kalburgis wife seeking independent probe by special investigation team (SIT) was told by the Karnataka police that there was a common link between the deaths of Kalburgi and Lankesh. The Pansare murder was probed by Maharashtra police while CBI took over Dabholkar murder probe in 2014.

Read here: SC denies relief to ex-MLA Shekhar, tells to be mindful of reach before posting on social media

CBI has invoked provisions under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the Dabholkar murder case as the action of the accused was intended to create terror in society. After taking over the case, CBI has filed three charge sheets naming Virendrasinh Tavade as the mastermind behind the killing of Dabholkar. The agency subsequently arrested Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar as the people who executed the killing. Subsequently, the agency named two others advocate Sanjiv Punalekar and his assistant Vikram Vinay Bhave in connection with the conspiracy to murder.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Friday successfully conducted its first de-boosting manoeuvre to reduce the velocity of the spacecraft so that it can make a soft landing on the surface of the moon. The development comes a day after the lander module of Chandrayaan-3 successfully separated from the propulsion module. (ISRO)

The development comes a day after the lander module (LM) of Chandrayaan-3, Indias third lunar mission, successfully separated from the propulsion module.

Chandrayaan-3 Mission: The Lander Module (LM) health is normal. LM successfully underwent a deboosting operation that reduced its orbit to 113 km x 157 km. The second deboosting operation is scheduled for August 20, 2023, around 0200 IST, ISRO posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The next de-boosting operation will be carried out on August 20, before the landing scheduled for August 23 between 5:30pm and 6pm.

Also Read: Propulsion module successfully separated from Chandrayaan-3s lander: ISRO

A follow-up mission to the 2019 Chandrayaan-2, the latest programme aims to achieve three objectives, to demonstrate safe and soft landing on the moon surface, which could not be achieved during Chandrayaan-2, to demonstrate rover abilities on the moon surface and to conduct in-situ scientific experiments.

Senior scientists from the department of space explained that Chandrayaan-3 consists of an indigenous lander module (LM), propulsion module (PM) and a rover, with an objective of developing and demonstrating new technologies required for interplanetary missions.

The lander will have the capability to soft land at a specified lunar site and deploy the rover, which will carry out in-situ chemical analysis of the lunar surface during the course of its mobility.

The space agency explained that after the lander module is separated from the propulsion module, the latter will continue its journey along the lunar orbit for at least six months. The propulsion module has Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) payload to study the spectral and Polari metric measurements of earth from the lunar orbit.

In simpler terms, the propulsion module will perform a spectroscopic study of the earths atmosphere and measure the variations in polarisation from the clouds on earth, to accumulate signatures of exoplanets that would qualify for our habitability.

Meanwhile, on the landing front, the space agency will be conducting a de-boosting manoeuvre on August 18 before the spacecraft attempts to land on the moons surface on August 23.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Soumya Pillai Soumya Pillai covers environment and traffic in Delhi. A journalist for three years, she has grown up in and with Delhi, which is often reflected in the stories she does about life in the city. She also enjoys writing on social innovations. ...view detail
Bengaluru: The Karnataka forest department has issued a notice to Kannada actor Ganesh, ordering an immediate halt to construction of a permanent structure in an eco-sensitive zone inside the Bandipur tiger reserve, officials familiar with the matter said. Karnataka forest department has issues a notice to Kannada actor Ganesh.

The department has also sought a report from the actor within seven days. The action comes in response to allegations of potential violations of construction norms in the delicate ecological area by the actor.

At the heart of the matter is Ganeshs building project located in Survey No. 105 of Jakkalli, Hangala Hobli, in Gundlupet taluk, encompassing 1.24 acres within the boundaries of the Bandipur reserve.

No new permanent structures to come up for whatsoever purpose within the ESZ stand and we cannot give and we cannot give any new permission for any new structure to the applicant, the notice read.

Although Ganesh initially secured permission from the Environment Sensitive Zone Monitoring Committee (ESZMC) on March 15 this year, the construction has raised concerns among environmentalists. The original permission was granted for a temporary structure designated for residential and agricultural purposes, with specific design criteria and a commitment to avoid disturbing local wildlife.

Reports from environmentalists indicate that the ongoing construction deviates from the initial plans. The incorporation of large concrete pillars, indicative of a more permanent structure, has caused unease. The installation of solar fencing implies a level of permanence that is incompatible with the eco-sensitive zones regulations.

Environmentalist Joseph Hoover said, This construction seems to disregard the guidelines of the environmentally sensitive zone. Adhering to proper procedures is vital to prevent irreversible ecological harm.

The construction of permanent structures and the fencing of properties have disrupted the natural movement patterns of wildlife, increasing the risk of conflict between humans and animals.

Responding to environmentalists concerns, forest officials have taken the matter seriously. The conservator of forests instructed the assistant conservator of forests (ACF) to conduct an on-site investigation. Subsequently, Ravindra, the ACF of the Gundlupet sub-division, submitted a comprehensive report to Bandipur Tiger Project director P. Rameshkumar.

The report said the construction project substantially violated the stipulations set by the Micro Sector Monitoring Committee and the directors office. Consequently, the report demanded an immediate halt to work and proposed legal actions against the owner, Ganesh, as recommended by the ACFs assessment.

The notice reads, It has been observed that the regulations presented in the Bandipur Environmentally Sensitive Zone monitoring committee meeting, and the conditions outlined in your covering letter, have been breached. Ganesh has been directed to submit all relevant construction documents, including approved blueprints, records from the revenue department regarding temporary construction, and other pertinent files within a week. Work has been suspended until further instructions are provided.

Ramesh Kumar has forwarded a detailed report on the issue to regional commissioner Prakash, who also chairs the Monitoring Committee of the Environmentally Sensitive Zone. The report underscores Ganeshs non-compliance with the committees communicated conditions and calls for a thorough examination of all associated documents. The focus is on determining whether the construction is genuinely temporary or, in fact, permanent. In case evidence supports the violation of conditions, the report advocates taking appropriate legal measures.

Associates of actor Ganesh, who didnt want to be named, said the actor plans to respond to the notice within the next two days.
The Karnataka government has ordered a probe into the allegations of 40 per cent commission demand for public projects during the previous Bharatiya Janata Party government. Three months after coming to power, the ruling Congress on Thursday passed an order setting up a committee headed by retired high court judge HN Nagamohan Das to probe the allegations made by state contractors association president D Kempanna against the BJP government, fulfilling one of its key promises made in the run-up to assembly polls. A Karnataka Contractors Association delegation with chief minister Siddaramaiah. The association had written to the Prime Minister about 40% commission being charged on public projects. (ANI)

The Congress government has asked the committee to submit a report within 30 days.

According to the order, the commission will inquire into the activities of the departments where large-scale public works are taken up.

The Karnataka State Contractors Association had written to the Prime Minister as well as the then CM about 40 per cent commission being charged on all public projects.

Even before the commencement of work, 25% to 30% commission is paid to the public representatives while the remaining is paid after completion of work. However, no action was taken on these serious allegations at the government level. The new government wants to bring transparency in the administration at the initial level itself, the order said.

The probe was ordered based on the letters submitted to the then Opposition leader and now chief minister Siddaramaiah in 2021 and 2022 by the contractors.

The commission will investigate whether administrative approvals were given as per rules and quality of work. The probe panel will also investigate whether the estimates were in accordance with the prevailing schedule of rates and the necessity to revise estimates in the event of cost escalation.

During the inquiry, the departments concerned will have to submit their files to the panel, the order said.

The decision comes after chief minister Siddaramaiah on June 27 had said the government would order comprehensive investigations into the major scandals that took place during the previous BJP governments four-year tenure.

Siddaramaiah said allegations of a 40% commission on government contracts, irregularities surrounding the recruitment of police sub-inspectors (PSIs), the BitCoin scandal, malpractices in the construction of four medical colleges and irrigation projects, and irregularities in medical procurements during the Covid pandemic would be probed.

During the election campaigning, Congress raised the issue of 40% commission to target the BJP government. Anti-incumbency was the biggest thrust of their campaign.

The 40% Sarkara taunt originated from the Karnataka Contractors Association, which asserted that members of the BJP leadership and officials extract a substantial 40% share from the tender amounts in return for facilitating state-funded infrastructure projects.

Later the Congress launched the PayCM campaign, playing on the name of the digital payment company Paytm. The campaigns visuals feature then CM Bommais visage embedded within a QR code. Scanning this code directs users to a webpage cataloguing instances of corruption allegedly involving the BJP. Notable among these cases is the death of a contractor who had accused former minister KS Eshwarappa of soliciting a bribe from him in April 2020.

Former CM Basavaraj Bommai didnt give an immediate reaction to the move. Earlier he had said: Let them do whatever they want. Let them launch or relaunch any probe. Let them probe whichever department. I welcome it.

On Friday, former home minister Araga Jnanendra said the BJP had promised to probe the matter but the contractors didnt cooperate, and now the contractors are joining hands with the Congress. When the allegations were made we told the contractors to provide proof to substantiate their claims and we would investigate, but they didnt. But now, when several contractors are claiming DK Shivakumar is seeking bribes, the association is coming to the support of the government, he said.
A 23-year-old male IT professional was arrested for allegedly entering a women's washroom wearing a burqa in Lulu Mall, a popular shopping complex, in Kerala's Kochi and recording their videos on his mobile phone. Abhimanyu works in a leading IT firm based at the Infopark, police said.

The Kochi Police said the man, identified as Abhimanyu, was arrested on Wednesday and later, sent to judicial custody. During the inspection, the phone was also found hidden in the toilet.

The accused, a B Tech graduate, was booked for the offences under sections 354(C) (Voyeurism) and 419 (Impersonation) of the IPC and Section 66 E of the Information Technology Act on the same day, news agency PTI quoted police as saying.

He was then produced before a local court which remanded the accused to 14 days in judicial custody, an officer of Kalamassery police station said.

Abhimanyu works in a leading IT firm based at the Infopark in the city, police said.

He wore a burqa and entered a women's washroom and placed his mobile in there. He then put his phone in a small cardboard box, put a hole in it for the camera to record visuals and stuck it to the door of the washroom, the police added.

How was he caught?

After placing the camera, he came out from there and stood in front of the main door of the washroom. Noting his suspicious behaviour, the mall's security personnel reportedly informed the police who reached the spot and questioned the accused.

Later, it was found that he had disguised himself as a woman and was recording the scenes in the washroom on his mobile phone, police said.

Subsequently, the burqa and the mobile phone of the accused were seized and he was taken into custody. The police are now trying to find out if the accused had carried out such acts in the past anywhere else.

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Union Minister and MP from Bihar's Ujiyarpur, Nityanand Rai on Friday hit out at chief minister Nitish Kumar over the killing of journalist Vimal Kumar. Nityanand Rai said that the state government was protecting the miscreants and that law and order had failed in the state under the Janata Dal United Chief. It's very sad. Journalist Vimal Kumar has been murdered by the miscreants. I would like to pay homage to him. Law and Order have failed in Bihar. Miscreants are not scared of anything as they are getting protection from the state government and the members of the JDU and RJD parties, he said. Union Minister Nityanand Rai(Santosh Kumar/HT Photo)

On being questioned about Nitish Kumar's statement over the low crime rates in Bihar, the Union Minister said told ANI, Nitish ji, your government completed one year tenure this August but more than 3,000 killings have happened in the state in this period and you talk about numbers? he questioned.

The state BJP president Samrat Choudhary also attacked the JD(U) leader over the incident. He said, "Criminals are roaming freely while innocent citizens, including journalists, and even police personnel are being killed in Bihar What has happened in Araria is, indeed, tragic. But such incidents have become the norm since the 'ghamandia' (arrogant) Mahagathbandhan led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad formed the government in the state."

Four unidentified assailants shot dead a 40-year-old journalist at Raniganj in Bihars Araria district on Friday morning. The journalist, Vimal, was a witness to the murder of his brother in 2019. Speaking about the incident Additional Director General of Bihar police, J.S. Gangwar said, "Journalist Vimal Yadav was shot by the unknown accused. After getting the information of the incident Raniganj police station sent the body for postmortem. Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) and dog squad are called to the incident site. From the information received through relatives we got to know that in 2019, Vimal's brother was also killed. The trial was ongoing and the deceased's testimony was yet to happen. Relatives are suggesting this as the reason for the murder. Araria police are on the site and doing the investigations."

(With agencies' inputs)

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Several states, largely Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, have been severely hit by incessant rainfall in last few days, leading to loss of lives and property. Opposed to what was largely predicted, the hill states have been facing the brunt of impending monsoon due to western disturbances. According to Union home ministry data, 12 districts in Himachal Pradesh and seven in Uttarakhand were hit by several calamities due to rain. People walk amid heavy rainfall.(MINT_PRINT)

The MeT deparment has predicted heavy rainfall in sub-Himalayan region including several districts of Himachal Pradesh in the coming days, and a yellow alert has also been issued.

Meanwhile, states in southern India, especially Kerala, is staring at the worst drought as there has been a significant deficit of seasonal rainfall in the region.

Himachal Pradesh government declared the massive damage caused by heavy rains as a state calamity. Several districts in Himachal Pradesh, including Shimla, hit by landslides leading to 23 deaths so far. A total of 77 people died in the state due to rainfall-related calamities. Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot announced  15 crore-worth of financial aid for Himachal Pradesh. Earlier, Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel announced a financial aid to the state of  11 crore. After being hit by landslide, administration in Uttarakhand's Pauri district asked resort owners and camp operators in Lakhman Jhula area to cancel booking till further orders. On Monday, debris of a landslide fell on a resort in the area which killed a family of six. A 10-year-old was lone survivor of the tragedy. As many as 80 people of 16 families were affected by landslide in Uttarakhand's Dehradun. 12 houses were damaged in the calamity. People affected have been moved to a temporary relief camp. According to home ministry data, 2,038 people in the country lost their lives since April due to floods, lightning and landslides this monsoon. Bihar reported the highest casualty with 518 deaths. 892 people drowned due to floods, 506 died due to lightning and 186 lost their lives due to landslides during this period. The local meteorological station on Friday issued a yellow warning for heavy rains, thunderstorm and lightning at isolated places in 10 districts of Himachal Pradesh on August 21 and 22 even as the monsoon activity remained subdued in the state. The sub-Himalayan districts of West Bengal are likely to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall from August 21-26, the Met Department said on Friday. The southern districts of the state, however, are expected to receive light rain during the period, it said.

(With agency inputs)

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The Congress on Friday released a Ghotala sheet listing the scams that allegedly took place under the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh in the last 18 years. Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath along with party supporters show posters alleging a 50% commission corruption charge against the state government.(ANI)

Soon, a google search for `scam' will throw up Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's image, said state Congress chief Kamal Nath at a press conference here. The Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in Madhya Pradesh has created a world record of scams during its 18 years' rule. The list is too long and the Congress has included some of its mega scams in the Ghotala (scam) sheet. The `50 percent commission raaj' has turned the state into a `Ghotala state', he said.

The day is not far when people will search for `scam' on Google and a photo of Shivraj Singh Chouhan will appear," quipped Nath, a former chief minister. When asked why his government did not probe any of these scams while in power between 2018 and 2020, Nath said, I am not a 2018 model. Now I am a 2023 model. He got only 15 months in power and two-and-a-half months were wasted because of the model code of conduct for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, he said. He was more focused on establishing Madhya Pradesh as an investment destination than the investigation of corruption scandals, Nath added.

READ | Congress charges at Modi govt over CAG report, AAP alleges 7.5 lakh crore scam

The `Ghotala sheet' published by the party listed 254 scams including the infamous Vyapam scam ( 2,000 crore), illegal mining ( 50,000 crore), e-tender scam ( 3,000 crore), RTO scam ( 25,000 crore), liquor scam ( 86,000 crore), Mahakal Lok ( 100 crore) and electricity scam ( 94,000 crore).

The tagline of the leaflet was Ghotala hi Ghotala, Ghotala Seth  50 per cent Commission Rate. The opposition party also announced a phone number on which people can give a missed call if they want to associate themselves with the campaign against the BJP government's `corruption'.

Reacting to the Congress's press conference, Madhya Pradesh BJP president Vishnu Dutt Sharma called the Congress leader Corruption Nath and said what is associated with him is a model of 1984 anti-Sikh riots and many other issues and not the 2023 model which Nath claims he is. The leaflet distributed by the Congress at the press conference does not have any credit line, Sharma said.

Assembly elections are due in the state by the year-end. The BJP on Thursday released its first list of candidates though the poll schedule is yet to be announced.

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A US court order has denied the writ of habeas corpus filed by Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana, paving the way for US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to issue a certification for him to be extradited to India where he is facing a trial for his alleged involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. However, Rana has filed an appeal against the order and sought a stay on his extradition to India till the time his appeal in the Ninth Circuit Court is heard. File Photo: Canadian businessman of Pakistani descent Tahawwur Rana is wanted in India for his alleged involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

US state department on Thursday declined to comment on whether Secretary Blinken has received a letter from Rana's lawyer asking to deny surrender certification. State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said that the extradition process of Tahawwur Rana is a pending matter.

When pressed again, Patel said Washington is committed to confronting terrorism across the world and continues to call for those involved in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks to be brought to justice.

So thisas you so note, is a pending extradition matter. And so, given the fact that it is pending, I don't have any specific comment to offerI'm just not going to comment on a pending extradition matter. I'm sure the Department of Justice can outline the specific steps that are required in an extradition matter, Vedant Patel said during a State Department briefing.

What I can say is that we are committed to confronting terrorism across the world and we continue to call for those involved in the 2008 Mumbai attacks to be brought to justice, Patel added.

Rana was arrested in the US on an extradition request by India for his role in the Mumbai attacks in which Pakistan-based terrorists killed over 160 people, including six Americans.

Indian authorities allege that Rana conspired with his childhood friend David Coleman Headley to assist the Pakistani terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba in orchestrating the attacks.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Days after Kuki MLAs of Manipur requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a separate chief secretary and DGP for the Kuki-dominated hills areas in the northeastern state, Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Friday asserted that everyone was entitled to speak freely in a democracy. Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh(ANI)

Ten Kuki MLAs, including seven from the BJP, submitted a memorandum to Modi on Wednesday, requesting that "posts equivalent to chief secretary and DGP" be established in five hill districts of the state to ensure "efficient administration" in the wake of the state's three-month ethnic violence.

The five districts for which they raised this demand are Churachandpur, Kangpokpi, Chandel, Tengnoupal, and Pherzawl.

"In a democracy, everyone is entitled to speak freely," the chief minister told reporters here after a programme on the occasion of Sadbhavna Diwas.

Though there were a number of MLAs at the function, none spoke to the media on the issue.

The Kuki MLAs, in their memorandum, claimed, "The IAS, MCS, IPS and MPS officers belonging to the Kuki-Zo tribes have been unable to function and discharge their duties..."

The Kuki-Zo MLAs have also demanded 500 crore from the PM's relief fund for the rehabilitation of people of the community who have lost their homes and livelihood because of the three-month-long ethnic strife in the state.

Earlier, the 10 MLAs had urged PM Modi to set up a separate administration for the tribal areas of Manipur.

In his Independence Day speech, CM N Biren Singh had said that certain misunderstandings, actions of vested interests and foreign plot to destabilise the country have led to the loss of precious lives and properties in the state.

He urged all to stop the violence and bring back the "rapid progress the state had witnessed earlier".

"Certain misunderstandings, actions of vested interests and foreign plot to destabilise the country has led to the loss of precious lives and properties and many are living in relief camps," the CM added.

Ethnic clashes broke out in the northeastern state on May 3, after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts 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. Tribals - Nagas and Kukis - constitute little over 40 per cent and reside in the hill districts.
A proposal for an awareness campaign about Opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA)s essence of defending the Constitution will be discussed at the third meeting of the grouping in Mumbai (August 31-September 1), a leader of the bloc has said. The second meeting of the Opposition parties was held in Bengaluru. (ANI)

Communist Party of India (MarxistLeninist) Liberation leader Dipankar Bhattacharya said the campaign will help in educating people about the need for unity ahead of the 2024 national polls. Our primary aim is to spread the message that the opposition bloc has been formed to defend the constitution and to fight the BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] led NDA [National Democratic Alliance] government. ..a schedule [for the campaign] could be thrashed out [at Mumbai].

People aware of the matter said Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar held discussions with INDIA leaders on the agenda of the Mumbai meeting during his two-day visit to Delhi. A draft agenda of the meeting is under process. Talks were held between Congress, Kumar, and other leaders, said a person, requesting anonymity.

Kumar, who returned to Patna on Thursday, said he visited Delhi for former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayees death anniversary and a check-up. He maintained his visit was not for discussions with the INDIA grouping. We keep talking with Congress and other leaders. We have the telephone talk.

A seat-sharing formula would be the main agenda in Mumbai. A second person aware of the matter said the arrangement being discussed would be mainly state specific with emphasis on putting one candidate against NDA nominees for as many seats as possible.

A Congress leader said the main factor of winnability will be taken into account for seat sharing even as hitches remained. The Left and Congress are, for instance, dominant in Kerala whereas the BJP is a distant third. Issues over seat sharing in Kerala are being looked into. We are hoping both Congress and the Left would transcend their differences, said a fourth leader.

In Bihar, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and Janata Dal (United) are keen on contesting 15 seats each, leaving around 10 seats for Congress and Left parties. The Congress wants 8-10 seats.

Bhattacharya said his party wants four seats but the decision on it would be taken collectively. The seat-sharing arrangement would be more or less state specific with emphasis on putting a candidate against the BJP and NDA.

BJP leader Nikhil Anand said there is no Opposition unity as they do not have a leader yet. By launching a national campaign, will they convince people that Article 370 [of the Constitution] will not be reintroduced which is the demand of the [Jammu and Kashmir parties] National Conference and People Democratic Party. In Karnataka, they want to repeal the anti-conversion law. In the name of protecting secularism, they only want appeasement and divisive politics.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Iran President Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi on Friday reiterated their commitment to bolstering bilateral cooperation and realising the full potential of Chabahar port as a connectivity hub. Prime Minister Narendra Modi (File photo)

These issues figured in a phone conversation between the two leaders ahead of an in-person meeting on the margins of the Brics (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) Summit in Johannesburg during August 22-24. Iran is among the guest countries invited to the Brics Summit by host South Africa.

Iran is among some 40 countries that are reportedly interested in joining Brics and the expansion of the grouping also figured in the conversation between Modi and Raisi, according to an Indian readout.

The two leaders discussed matters of bilateral and regional importance, the readout said. They reiterated their commitment to further strengthen bilateral cooperation including to realise the full potential of Chabahar port as a connectivity hub, it said without giving details.

The two leaders also discussed cooperation at multilateral forums, including expansion of Brics, and looked forward to their meeting on the margins of forthcoming Brics Summit in South Africa, the readout said.

Modi said the India-Iran relationship is underpinned by close historic and civilisational connections, including strong people-to-people contacts.

Also Read: NSA Ajit Doval meets Russian, Iranian counterparts in Johannesburg

The two leaders met for the first time on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Samarkand in September 2022 and discussed ways to boost cooperation in energy, commerce and regional connectivity. They had also reviewed progress in the development of Chabahar port.

In 2016, India, Iran and Afghanistan had signed an agreement to develop Chabahar port as a trade and transit hub. An Indian state-run company has taken over operations at Shahid Beheshti terminal at the port though work on the project has been affected by US sanctions on Iran and the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.

The Indian government made an outlay of 100 crore for Chahbahar port in its 2023-24 budget, the same level as the allocation in the past two fiscal years. This reflected the focus on connectivity projects, including the International North-South Transport Corridor.

India had earlier committed grant aid of $85 million and a credit facility of $150 million for developing Shahid Beheshti terminal, for which the US granted a special waiver from sanctions imposed on Iran.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday called on G20 nations to facilitate equitable availability of technology and open innovations, saying the global community must be ready to prevent and respond to the next health emergency. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the G20 Health Ministers Meet in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, via video message,(ANI/PIB)

Read here: PM urges G20 nations to open innovations for public good

Calling resilience one of the biggest lessons learnt during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Prime Minister said the period underscored the need for health to be at the center of decisions and demonstrated the value of international cooperation, whether in medicine and vaccine deliveries or in bringing people back home.

Modi was addressing the G20 Health Ministers meeting in Gandhinagar via video conferencing when he made the remarks.

Global initiatives on global health will bring together various digital health initiatives on a common platform. Lets open our innovations for public good. Let us avoid duplication of funding. Let us facilitate equitable availability of technology, he said.

Stressing on the role of digital solutions and innovations in making healthcare accessible, the Prime Minister said they are a useful means to make efforts equitable and inclusive, allowing patients from far and wide to receive quality care through tele-medicine.

Let us facilitate equitable availability of technology. This initiative will allow countries in the Global South to close the gap in healthcare delivery. It will take us one step closer to our goal of achieving universal health coverage (UHC), he said.

Modi said the Covid-19 pandemic taught the world that health issues in one part of the globe can affect every other part in a short period of time.

We must be ready to prevent, prepare, and respond to the next health emergency. This is especially important in todays interconnected world. As we saw during the pandemic, health issues in one part of the world can affect all other parts of the world in a very short time, he said.

Under the Vaccine Maitri initiative during the pandemic, the PM added, India delivered 300 million vaccine doses to more than 100 countries, including many in the Global South.

In India, we are following a holistic and inclusive approach. We are expanding health infrastructure, promoting traditional systems of medicine, and providing affordable healthcare to all. We believe that holistic health and wellness can help enhance everyones resilience, he said, as he highlighted the establishment of WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine at Jamnagar.

The Prime Minister also said that India will eradicate tuberculosis (TB) well before the global deadline of 2030. We have called upon the people of the country to be Ni-kshay Mitra or Friends for Eradication of TB. Under this, nearly one million patients have been adopted by citizens. Now, we are on our way to achieving TB elimination well ahead of the global target, he said.

Read here: PM Modi, Iran Prez Raisi discuss ties, Chabahar port, Brics expansion

Highlighting the importance of public participation as a key factor in the success of health initiatives, Modi said it was one of the main reasons for the success of Indias leprosy eradication campaign. The countrys ambitious programme on TB elimination also encourages public participation, he added.
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will make two foreign trips ahead of the G20 Summit that will take him to South Africa, Greece and Indonesia to participate in two regional summits and to revitalise relations between New Delhi and Athens. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will first travel to South Africa during August 22-24 to attend the Brics Summit andmake an official visit to Greece on August 25 on way back (AFP File Photo)

Modi will first travel to South Africa during August 22-24 to attend the Brics (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) Summit in Johannesburg. The visit is being closely watched in diplomatic circles for both a planned expansion of the Brics grouping and the possibility of a bilateral meeting between PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

On the way back from South Africa, Modi will make an official visit to Greece on August 25 at the invitation of his counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis. This will be the first visit to Athens by an Indian premier in 40 years, and the two countries are expected to upgrade their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership during the trip, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.

Immediately ahead of the G20 Summit to be hosted by India during September 9-10, Modi is expected to travel to Indonesia during September 6-7 to participate in the India-Asean and East Asia Summit, the people said.

In Johannesburg, Modi will join the leaders of Brazil, China and South Africa for the 15th Brics Summit. Russian President Vladimir Putin will join the meeting virtually while the Russian delegation will be led by foreign minister Sergey Lavrov.

This will also be the first in-person Brics Summit since 2019, and the meeting will be an opportunity to review progress of the initiatives launched by the grouping and identify future areas of activity, the external affairs ministry said in a statement on Friday.

Modi will also participate in a special event with the theme Brics  Africa outreach and Brics plus dialogue. This is being organised after the Brics Summit and will include dozens of countries, mostly from the African continent, invited by South Africa.

While in South Africa, Modi will hold bilateral meetings with some of the leaders present in Johannesburg, the external affairs ministry said without giving details. There was no official word from the Indian side whether the Chinese president will be among the leaders with whom Modi will hold talks.

Speculation about a Modi-Xi meeting has grown following a series of high-level contacts between India and China in recent weeks. Both National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and external affairs minister S Jaishankar have met top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi, who is currently the foreign minister, on the margins of multilateral gatherings in recent weeks.

The joint statement issued after the latest meeting between Indian and Chinese military commanders on the standoff on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) has also fuelled speculation about a Modi-Xi meeting in Johannesburg. The statement, issued after the talks held during August 13-14, had described the discussions as positive and constructive.

During the official visit to Greece, Modi will hold talks with Mitsotakis on ways to further deepen the relationship. He will interact with business leaders from both countries and with the Indian community in Greece.

India and Greece enjoy civilisational ties, which have strengthened in recent years through cooperation in areas like maritime transport, defence, trade and investments and people-to-people ties, the external affairs ministry said.

The people said India and Greece are expected to elevate their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership during the visit.

Then prime minister Indira Gandhi visited Greece in September 1983. Former Greek prime minister Andreas Papandreou visited India three times  in November 1984 for Indira Gandhis funeral, in January 1985 for a summit on nuclear disarmament, and in January 1986 as the chief guest for Indias Republic Day celebrations.

Minister of state for external affairs Meenakashi Lekhi visited Greece in January 2023, when the two sides discussed ways to expand relations in trade, economy, culture, people-to-people contacts and migration and mobility.

Modi is expected to visit Indonesia in early September to attend the India-Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and East Asia Summits in Jakarta. Modis meetings during this visit are expected to focus on ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific, including freedom of navigation and respect for sovereignty, the people said.

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Priyanka Chaturvedi of the Shiv Sena (UBT) lashed out at edtech platform Unacademy for sacking one of its teachers Karan Sangwan describing the move as shame as his opinion would positively influence young minds. Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi(Santosh Kumar/HTPhoto)

Referring to Sangwan's comments  vote for educated candidates and not for those who only change names  Chaturvedi questioned how this opinion could be considered biased.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), the Shiv Sena (UBT) MP wrote, How does saying vote for literate politicians a biased opinion? Doesnt that opinion positively influence young minds? Shame if merely expressing this view gets you to take someones job, Unacademy.

Dont understand why everyone felt Karan Sangwan, the professors opinion on educated leaders was about Mr. Supreme. Repeat of Kajol level trolling, but here it cost him his job, she added.

Earlier on Wednesday, Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national chief Arvind Kejriwal also criticised the edtech platform's decision and supported Sangwan's comments, saying People's representatives cannot be illiterate.

Is it a crime to appeal to educated people to vote? If someone is illiterate, personally I respect him. But people's representatives cannot be illiterate. This is the era of science and technology. Illiterate public representatives can never build the modern India of 21st century, Kerjiwal wrote on X.

Sangwan's comments quickly went viral on social media, following which Unacademy co-founder Roman Saini announced that the company was parting ways with him, citing a breach of the Code of Conduct.

Karan Sangwan to discuss controversy on Friday

Karan Sangwan, meanwhile, announced that he would talk about the controversy on his YouTube channel on Friday (August 19). Sangwan, an LLM in criminal laws, was apparently discussing the latest bill tabled in the Lok Sabha by the Union government to replace the British-era IPC, CrPC, and Indian Evidence Act during a lecture. He was expressing his disappointment that all the notes he had prepared on criminal laws became worthless.

Following his comments, many accused Sangwan of pushing political propaganda in the name of education.

Karan Sangwan an @unacademy faculty of Law is urging students not to vote for BJP again. Is this a revolution in Education Roman Saini talks about?? a user wrote on X.

Later,"#UninstallUnacademy" started trending on the microblogging site, with many users supporting his opinion on choosing educated political representatives.

What did Karan Sangwan say?

In a video clip, the educator can be heard saying, Even I don't know whether to laugh or cry because I also have a lot of bare acts, caseloads, and notes that I had prepared. It is hard work for everyone. You also got a job at your hand.

He further says, But keep in mind one thing. Next time vote for someone who is well-educated so you don't have to go through this (ordeal) again. Ok?

Sangwan adds, Aise insaan ko chune jo padha likha ho, jo samajh sake cheezon ko. Sirf aise insaan ko na chune jinko sirf badalna aata ho, naam change karna aata ho (elect someone who is educated, who understands things. Don't elect someone who only knows changing names) Make your decision properly.

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Rajasthan minister Pratap Khachariyawas has hit out at Bharatiya Janata Party over its allegations that late Congress leader Rajesh Pilot had bombed the Mizoram while flying for the Indian Air Force on March 5, 1966. Claiming that BJP leaders have no knowledge, Khachariyawas demanded the party's IT cell head Amit Malviya's apology. Rajasthan Congress leader Sachin Pilot and BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya.

On August 13, Malviya had claimed that Congress leaders Rajesh Pilot and Suresh Kalmadi were flying the IAF fighter.

"Rajesh Pilot and Suresh Kalmadi were flying the Indian Air Force planes that bombed Aizawl, the capital of Mizoram, on 5 March 1966. Later both became MPs on Congress tickets and ministers in the government. It is clear that Indira Gandhi gave a place in politics as a reward, and gave respect to those who carried out air raids on their own people in the Northeast," Amit Malviya wrote on X (formally Twitter).

Reacting strongly to Malviya's claim, Khachariyawas, who is considered a loyalist to Rajesh Pilot's son and Rajasthan Congress leader Sachin Pilot, said, BJP leaders do not have knowledge, so they tweet without any information. Amit Malviya's tweet regarding the late Rajesh Pilot is a sin. He along with the national leadership of BJP should apologise to the public and the Indian army as it is also an insult to them.

Rajesh Pilot was a brave pilot and is respected all over the country. It is also an insult to the entire country and an insult to the officers of the army. BJP leaders have become generators of lies and are spreading lies all over the country, the Rajasthan minister added.

Rejecting Malviya's allegations, Sachin Pilot said the BJP leader quoted wrong dates and facts on this incident, adding that his father was not commissioned into the Indian Air Force on March 5, 1966.

"You have the wrong dates, wrong facts. Yes, as an Indian Air Force pilot, my late father did drop bombs. But that was on erstwhile East Pakistan during the 1971 Indo-Pak war and not as you claim, on Mizoram on the 5th of March 1966. He was commissioned into the IAF only on 29th October 1966! (Certificate attached) Jai hind and a happy Independence Day," he wrote on X.

On Wednesday, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot came out in support of his former deputy Sachin Pilot and said the BJP insulted the sacrifice of the IAF.

"Congress leader Rajesh Pilot was a brave pilot of the Indian Air Force. By insulting them, the BJP is insulting the sacrifice of the Indian Air Force. The whole country should condemn this," Gehlot said.

Malviya's tweet came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his reply to the Opposition's motion of no-confidence in the Lok Sabha, recently said the Congress government, under then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, used air assets to bomb Mizoram in 1966.

"On March 5, 1966, Congress had the Air Force attack helpless citizens in Mizoram. The Congress should answer if it was India's air force or any other country's. Were those people of Mizoram not the citizens of my country? Was their security not the responsibility of the Union government?" Modi said.

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New Delhi Users of social media must remain mindful of its impact and reach, the Supreme Court stressed on Friday, offering no relief to actor, playwright and former legislator S Ve Shekher, who wanted to be let off in cases registered against him for sharing a derogatory Facebook post against women journalists in April 2018. The Supreme Court refuses to offer relief to playwright, former AIADMK MLA S Ve Shekhar in cases filed against him for sharing derogatory posts against women journalists in April 2018. (ANI)

Read here: Cant restrain Bihar from releasing caste census data: Supreme Court

Shekhar claimed before a bench, led by justice Bhushan R Gavai, that he had put eye drops on the date of the incident, leading to his mistake of sharing the offensive posts against women journalists without reading it or realising its content.

If he had allegedly put eye drops, he should have been more careful about what he was doing. It is not essential to use social media. Who forces you? But if one uses social media, then he should be more careful about its impact and reach, the bench, which also comprised justice Prashant Kumar Mishra, told senior advocate S Nagamuthu, who appeared for Shekher.

Nagamuthu submitted that Shekher is 73 years old and has already tendered his apology before the Tamil Nadu high court. Should at this age he goes to jail after he has expressed regret and apologised? He respects women and women journalists. It happened because of the eye drops. He never did anything like this before and it was one time thing that happened by mistake, argued the senior counsel, requesting the court to take a sympathetic view.

But the court pointed out that Shekher has a huge fan following on Facebook and across all social media platforms, requiring him to be careful about the consequences of his action.

You have such a huge fan following...Why do you take a chance of forwarding anything without reading it? If you find social media essential, then you face the consequences too. We cannot give special treatment to someone just because he can approach the Supreme Court, the bench told Nagamuthu.

Rejecting Shekhers appeal against the July order of the Madras high court, it said that the former AIADMK MLA, who later joined BJP, should enter the dock and put up arguments in his defence during the course of the proceedings before the trial court.

On a request made by Shekher to allow his appearance before four different trial courts through videoconferencing, the bench said that such a request needs to be made before the trial court concerned.

Shekher had in April 2018 shared an alleged derogatory post targeting women journalists, which was in response to a woman journalists complaint against the then Tamil Nadu governor Banwarilal Purohit of patting her cheek during a press meet.

By its order on July 14, the Madras high court refused to quash the criminal cases filed against Shekher in the courts of Chennai, Karur and Tirunelveli districts by the journalist association in 2018, noting that the message forwarded by him contained indecent and vitriolic attack on a particular woman and other women press reporters.

Hence, prima facie, the offence under Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act, 2002 is also cases made out. It is true that the petitioner removed the derogatory message from his Facebook account even on the same day and he also apologised for having forwarded the message. These acts, by themselves, do not help the petitioner from facing the consequences for forwarding a derogatory message. An offence has already been committed and the petitioner cannot now escape from the offence by merely coming up with an apology statement subsequently, said the high court.

Read here: Investigate if murders of 4 rationalists linked: Supreme Court to CBI

Shekhars act virtually painted the entire press and more particularly women reporters with vulgar comments, and when such a large body is affected due to his act, Shekher cannot be let away just because he tendered an apology, the high court added.

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The Supreme Court on Friday held Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and former Member of Parliament (MP) Prabhunath Singh guilty in a double murder case of 1995, reversing his acquittal. Prabhunath Singh is undergoing life imprisonment in another murder case. (ANI)

Singh is undergoing life imprisonment in another murder case. A trial court in 2017 found him guilty in connection with the 1995 murder of legislator Ashok Singh, who defeated Prabhunath Singh in the 1995 Bihar assembly poll. Prabhunath Singh had threatened to eliminate him within 90 days of the election.

A bench of justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, AS Oka, and Vikram Nath convicted Prabhunath Singh, a three-term Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) and one-time RJD MP from Maharajganj, in the double murder case saying there is sufficient evidence to show he murdered Rajendra Rai, 18, and Daroga Rai, 47, near a polling booth in Chhapra in March 1995.

The two were shot dead because they did not vote as per Singhs suggestion. The Patna high court transferred the case from Chhapra after the kin of those killed alleged that witnesses were being threatened and influenced. A Patna court in December 2008 acquitted Prabhunath Singh citing lack of evidence. The Patna high court upheld the acquittal in 2012. Rajendra Rais brother challenged the acquittal in the Supreme Court.

We set aside the impugned order of the Patna high court and convict respondent no 2...Prabhunath Singh, under Section 302 (murder) for the murders of Daroga Rai and Rajendra Rai. We direct the home secretary of...Bihar and the director general of police of the state to arrest Prabhunath Singh and produce him before this court in custody on the next date of hearing to be heard on [the] argument of [the] sentence, said Justice Nath, reading out the operative part of the judgment.

The court affirmed the acquittal of six other co-accused and fixed September 1 as the next date to hear Singh on the quantum of sentence. The punishment for murder can either be a life term or a death sentence.

Prabhunath Singh joined Janata Dal in 1995. He later became a member of JD(U) before joining RJD in 2010 after falling out with chief minister Nitish Kumar.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Utkarsh Anand Utkarsh Anand is Legal Editor at the Hindustan Times. He writes on law, judiciary and governance. ...view detail
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to list next week an appeal filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) challenging the bail granted to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Lalu Yadav in the fodder scam. RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav with JDU's Manoj Jha in Bengaluru to attend the opposition parties' meet in July (PTI File Photo)

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud agreed to list the agencys appeal on August 25 on an urgent mention by additional solicitor general (ASG) SV Raju.

CBI last year challenged the bail granted to the former union minister by the Jharkhand high court on April 22, 2022. Lalu Yadav has been convicted in five cases related to fraudulent withdrawal of money from state treasuries situated at Deoghar, Dumka, Chaibasa and Doranda during his tenure as chief minister in Bihar. The CBI plea has been tagged with another appeal filed by the Jharkhand government against bail granted to the former chief minister in April 2021.

The RJD was quick to attack the CBIs move to approach the court for an early hearing. Bihars deputy chief minister and Lalus son Tejashwi Yadav said that this was expected from the agency and such efforts by the probe agency will continue till the elections.

Their greatest fear is from Bihar and hence these things are happening. It will continue till the elections...We are not scared. We are clear about the way forward. We will fight and win, said Tejashwi Yadav.

The 75-year-old RJD supremo secured bail citing ill health.

The agencys plea was tagged last year in April with an appeal pending the top court by the Jharkhand government where an earlier order of bail granted to Lalu Yadav in April 2021 is under challenge.

The 950 crore fodder scam involved large disbursals from state treasuries based on fake bills during 1997 when Lalu was the chief minister and held the finance portfolio in the state.

CBI in its appeal told the apex court that the high court committed an error in concluding that Lalu had undergone half the sentence. According to him, Lalus sentence was to run consecutively, one after the other, which resulted in his sentence being 14 years. At the time of granting bail, Lalu had only undergone about one-year imprisonment, the CBI plea stated.
Ten Kuki lawmakers, including seven from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have written to Union home minister Amit Shah asking him to direct the state government against sending partisan police commandos to ethnic violence-hit Manipurs Kuki majority hill districts. The ethnic violence in Manipur has claimed around 160 lives and displaced over 50,000 people. (PTI)

Read here: 3 killed as ambush ends Manipurs fragile peace

The state government is hell-bent on trying to inject troops of the state commando unit into the hill border town of Moreh against the wishes of our people who hold them in great fear for their partisan credentials, the lawmakers said in their letter sent to Shah on Thursday, a copy of which HT has seen. We, therefore, request your high office to intervene and stop the state government from trying to forcibly station state police commandos in the hill areas.

Kuki groups have since last month been protesting against an alleged move to deploy additional state forces in Moreh near the Myanmar border in the Tengnoupal district.

The lawmakers expressed displeasure over the linking in Parliament of the ongoing clashes in Manipur to illegal migration from Myanmar. We urge the central government to come up with actual figures of illegal immigration and refugee influx due to the political turmoil in Myanmar. The legislators requested Shah to expedite a dialogue for the creation of a separate administration in areas where Kukis are in the majority for lasting peace.

The legislators on Wednesday submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking posts similar to the chief secretary and director general of police for efficient administration of five hill districts.

The lawmakers in their letter to Shah said they have agreed to his request during his visit to the state in May to remove blockades on National Highway (NH) 2 affecting the supply of goods to the Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley. Meitei groups have continued to block roads leading to the hill areas in Churachandpur, Chandel, and Tengnoupal districts, affecting the supply of essentials.

The lawmakers said they may no longer be in a position to persuade their people against any blockades they may impose in the future as they have felt let down due to the absence of any reciprocal gesture from the Meiteis. They added state government continues to attack their settlements.

Read here: On Kuki MLAs' letter to PM, Manipur CM says everyone entitled to speak freely

Committee on Tribal Unity, a Kuki organisation in Kangpokpi, on August 16 threatened to block sections of NH2 and NH37 leading to Imphal if essential goods did not reach Kuki areas within three days. The group earlier lifted a blockade of highways on Shahs request.

The ethnic violence between the dominant Metei and Kuki communities, which was triggered on May 3, has claimed around 160 lives and displaced over 50,000 people.

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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
Edtech platform Unacademy has sacked an educator, Karan Sangwan, who courted controversy by appealing to students to vote for educated candidates and not those who only know changing names. Unacademy co-founder Roman Saini said that Sangwan was in breach of the Code of Conduct and therefore the company had to part ways with him. Unacademy row: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal wondered whether asking people to vote for an educated person is a crime.

Saini said in a tweet that Unacademy is an education platform that is deeply committed to imparting quality education.

To do this we have in place a strict Code of Conduct for all our educators with the intention of ensuring that our learners have access to unbiased knowledge. Our learners are at the centre of everything we do. The classroom is not a place to share personal opinions and views as they can wrongly influence them. In the current situation, we were forced to part ways with Karan Sangwan as he was in breach of the Code of Conduct, Saini said.

Sangwan, meanwhile, announced that he would share the details about the controversy on his YouTube channel on August 19.

"From the past few days, a video has been going viral due to which I am in controversy and because of that controversy my several students who are preparing for judicial services examinations are facing a lot of consequences. Along with them, I have to also face consequences," Sangwan said.

What is the controversy?

In a video now viral on X (formerly Twitter), Sangwan was heard asking the students to elect well-educated politicians. The educator was apparently discussing the recent bills tabled in Lok Sabha by the BJP-led union government to replace British-era IPC, CrPC and Indian Evidence Act.

Lamenting that all the notes he had prepared on criminal laws became worthless, Sangwan says, Even I don't know whether to laugh or cry because I also have a lot of bare acts, caseloads, and notes that I had prepared. It is hard work for everyone. You also got a job at your hand."

He further says, But keep in mind one thing. Next time vote for someone who is well-educated so you don't have to go through this (ordeal) again. Ok?

He adds, Elect someone who is educated, who understands things. Don't elect someone who only knows changing names. Make your decision properly.

While Sangwan didn't take any names, many on social media drew an equivalence with AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal's recent statements targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

AAP, Congress react

Reacting to the reports of Sangwan's sacking, Kejriwal wondered whether asking people to vote for an educated person is a crime.

If someone is illiterate, personally I respect them. But public representatives cannot be illiterate. This is the era of science and technology. Illiterate public representatives can never build the modern India of 21st century, the Delhi chief minister wrote on X.

Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate hit out at Unacademy and posted screenshots of Saini's old tweets hailing demonetisation as a surgical strike on corrupt people and a selfie of Unacademy founder Gaurav Munjal with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Those who cower under pressure and get bullied can never help nurture citizens who stand up against all odds to take on this world. Sad to see such spineless and weak people run an education platform, Shrinate said.

Y Sathish Reddy, chairman of Telangana State Renewable Energy Development Corporation, also posted on X, With all due respect to #Unacademy, it is highly inappropriate to suspend a teacher who simply requested not to vote for illiterates. They are liable for a proper explanation! #UninstallUnacademy.

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Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday quelled apprehensions over the National Education Policy (NEP) amid opposition from non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ruled states such as Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, and said that the Centre will not impose NEP on all states and that they are free to adapt to it based on their requirements. Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan (left) and Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman launching the textbooks in Bhubaneswar, Odisha on Thursday.

Launching two books  Kui Primer and Desia Primer  in Bhubaneswar to simplify primary education for tribal children in Odisha, Sitharaman said NEP 2020 is a very progressive policy and is a result of extensive consultations.

NEP is a flexible policy. It is not something that the Centre decides and imposes on all the states. It is a broad framework, and the states are left to adapt it according to their requirements, she said, adding that when one learns, speaks and thinks in their mother tongue, theres a clarity of thought which can be used later. Thats why learning in the mother tongue is important.

Her observation came amid vehement opposition to the policy by Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah and DMK minister Udayanidhi Stalin in Tamil Nadu. On Monday, the Karnataka CM announced that the NEP will be scrapped from the next academic year in line with the Congress governments poll promise.

NEP must be abolished after making some necessary preparations. NEP is simultaneously opposed by students, parents, lecturers and teachers. The BJP has sacrificed the interest of the students of the country by implementing NEP in the state before implementing it in the rest of the country. NEP will continue this year as it should not affect students in the middle of an academic year, Siddaramaiah said.

Stalin, who is a minister in the DMK government, on Wednesday said any move to impose Hindi through NEP will be resisted.

Meanwhile, Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan who was also present at the meeting, took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to condemn the Karnataka governments decision, calling it politically motivated.

Education should be a beacon of progress and not a political pawn. Disappointed to learn about Karnataka CMs politically motivated decision to discontinue the National Education Policy 2020. Our education system needs evolution, not regression. NEP was a result of years of consultations, reflecting aspirations of all. This decision reveals the anti-reform, anti-Bharatiya Bhasha and anti-Karnataka character of the Congress. Karnataka deserves leadership that values progress and inclusivity and not petty politics. Lets put students first and stop the petty politics, Pradhan said.

Pradhan said the two books that were released will not only shape a strong educational foundation of children, but also preserve and foster the cultural, linguistic heritage and identity of tribal community of Odisha.

There are over 62 tribes covering 23% of Odishas population, so it becomes necessary to teach students with the help of pictures, stories and songs based on their local nature and culture to improve their speaking skills, learning outcomes and cognitive development, Pradhan said.
Union home minister Amit Shah on Friday said the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) are playing a key role in not only securing the country but also protecting the environment, as he planted a Peepal sapling in Greater Noida and helped the forces tree plantation drive across the country reach the 40th million mark. Union home minister Amit Shah being presented with a sapling by Central Reserve Police Force Director General Sujoy Lal Thaosen during an event, on Friday (ANI)

Shah also said that climate crisis and global warming were a reality, and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for taking initiatives that helped India become a leader in the fight to save the environment from toxic gases and human activities.

Read here: Shah lauds CAPFs, plants sapling to mark milestone of plantation drive

The Union minister was addressing a gathering after planting the Peepal sapling at the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)s Group Centre in Greater Noida.

Terming the plantation drive as the largest ever by security forces across the world, Shah said the CAPF seeks to plant a total of 50 million trees by the end of the year.

Its a legacy the CAPFs will be leaving for the new generations. Like the internal security challenge, the CAPF jawans treated tree plantation as their duty. They treated trees as their friends; took time out of their busy schedule and took care of them. I believe that we will be able to accomplish the target of five crore (50 million) tree plantation by the end of this year, he said.

Shah called the tree plantation drive a Maha Kumbh for environment protection.

The Union minister had launched the drive on July 12, 2020, and had set a target of 50 million plantations by December 2023. The CAPF comprises the CRPF, BSF, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and Assam Rifles.

When we plant a tree, we give oxygen to the new generation for years. The plant selection under this drive was done after proper research. We decided that trees which have a longer life span like Peepal, Bargad and Jamun should be planted, he said.

Shah said various initiatives steered or launched by Prime Minister Modi like the International Solar Alliance, Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) and as many as eight national missions for the environment were a testimony of his governments resolve for this subject (climate crisis). Due to these initiatives, the United Nations honoured PM Modi with the Champion of the Earth award, he said.

In a statement on Thursday, the ministry of home affairs (MHA) said the forces planted more than 35.5 million saplings collectively across the nation between 2020 and 2022.

The collective target of planting 1.5 crore (15 million) saplings by all central paramilitary forces was set for the year 2023, taking the total sapling plantation to 5 crore (50 million), which will be an exemplary contribution of the forces to the overall environmental protection efforts of the nation, the statement said.

It will also be a symbol of true gratitude to mother earth, it added.

A plan was chalked out on the plantation of appropriate species in specified sectors and a nodal officer was appointed for the purpose. It was decided that local species should be planted as much as possible, and at least half the total plantation should comprise long-lasting trees, with a lifecycle of 100 years or more. Besides, it was decided that medicinal and environment friendly trees should be preferred as much as possible, the statement said.

Read here: Should the Army be used in internal security situations?

The ministry also said that besides maintaining internal security and upholding the unity and integrity of the country, central forces reiterate their firm dedication towards aligning its future endeavours in tune with environment protection, conservation and preservation.

Meanwhile, Shah also virtually inaugurated 15 newly constructed buildings at eight different campuses of CRPF.
The Meerut unit of the Uttar Pradesh police's Special Task Force (STF) arrested a man, Kaleem Ahmed, on Thursday for allegedly having links with Pakistani intellegence agency ISI and several terror groups. Kaleem Ahmed was arrested on Thursday for allegedly having links with Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI. (ANI/Twitter)

The STF said in a statement, The accused used to send pictures of security establishments to Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI (Inter Services Intelligence) and militant groups.

Kaleem sent photographs and messages of security-related places in India to ISI and other terrorist organisations in Pakistan through WhatsApp, the STF said. The task force recovered two mobile phones and SIMs, which were issued on fake IDs, along with several papers in Urdu.

Kaleem was living in Mominpura, which came under the Kotwali police station area, in Shamli district and was collecting illegal weapons, for a militant organisation, for a criminal conspiracy.

Kaleem was brought to Meerut for interrogation where he revealed that he returned from Pakistan last week and was collecting weapons to supply them to different areas, ABP reported.

UP STF said that Kaleem, who had several relatives in Pakistan, used to visit the country regularly to meet them. The statement added that during one such meets, he met with one of his handlers.

As per the STF, Kaleem had recently visited Pakistan. During interrogation, he revealed that his handlers in ISI promised to give him money if he provides them information regarding security establishments in India.

By gather illegal weapons under the conspiracy, Kaleem and Pakistani intelligence agency were planning major incidents to disintegrate the unity, integrity, sovereignty and social harmony and damage the internal and external security of the country.

The task force had registered a case against Kaleem at the Kotwali police station under IPC sections  420 (fraud), 121-A (waging war against the country), 153-A (promoting enmity between two groups on the ground of religion), 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and sections of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The local police of the area have also launched an investigation into the matter.

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The Uttar Pradesh government has asked all divisional commissioners and district magistrates to collate and probe negative reports published by news outlets, saying it will seek explanations from media houses to explain if it is found that facts were twisted or falsified to mar the image of the state government. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath (ANI)

Read here: Trinity of demography, democracy and diversity makes India special: Yogi Adityanath

In an order dated August 16, principal secretary to the chief minister, Sanjay Prasad, said it was necessary to investigate the facts in negative news reports expeditiously because it hurts the image of the state government.

If the state government comes to know that the facts have been twisted or the negative report has been published on the basis of incorrect facts to malign the image of state government or district administration, the respective district magistrate will send a letter to the media group/newspapers management for clarification and a copy of the same will be marked to the information department, said the order written in Hindi.

The order further said that the negative news report would be registered and uploaded on the Integrated Grievance Redressal System (IGRS) portal and forwarded for action to the respective divisional commissioners, district magistrates and heads of department.

No interim report in this regard would be accepted, the order said, adding that district magistrates will send a letter to the respective department and the district magistrates office will upload a scanned copy of the letter on the IGRS portal.

While there have been some instances of FIRs being lodged or action taken against the journalists, this is the first time such an order has been issued in recent years.

The order, which comes less than a year before general elections, kicked up a political storm.

Samajwadi Party president and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav hit out at the BJP government.

Newspersons should be cautious, if you write anything against the government, then there will be action against you. This is a conspiracy to finish democracy. Imagine today they are gagging press freedom, tomorrow will stop people from speaking. Then by posting their person in the election commission will get one familys votes scattered to four to six booths. They are getting opposition leaders punished through courts, Yadav said at a press conference on the sidelines of his Lok Jagaran Abhiyaan in Fatehpur.

Uttar Pradesh Working Journalist Union president Haseeb Siddiqui said the issue was very sensitive. Who will decide whether a news is negative or positive? This will ultimately harm the state government, said Siddiqui.

Read here: Y20 Summit in Varanasi: Yogi Adityanath says youth the leader of today, builder of tomorrow

The standing chief counsel for Uttar Pradesh and former chairperson of the UP Bar Council Prashant Singh Atal said this is in no way an attack on freedom of the press. The intent of the chief minister is to enhance bureaucratic and police functioning and for that it necessary to bring all the negative news reports to the CMs knowledge.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday said they are monitoring a new variant of Covid-19 carrying a large number of mutations. The UN health agency said the variant, BA.2.86, has been detected in a handful of countries and more data are required to understand the strain and the extent of its spread. The WHO, however, stressed that the number of mutations warrants attention. Researchers attribute the recent surge in cases to the XBB.1.16 covid-19 variant.

WHO will update countries and the public as we learn more, the UN agency said, calling for better surveillance, sequencing, and reporting of Covid-19 as the virus continues to circulate and evolve.

The BA.2.86 strain was first reported on July 24 and was classified as a variant under monitoring on August 17.

The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) also confirmed it is also closely monitoring the variant, in a message on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. So far, the variant has only been detected in Israel, Denmark and the United States, according to CDC.

CDC is tracking a new lineage of the virus that causes COVID-19. This lineage is named BA.2.86, and has been detected in the United States, Denmark and Israel. CDC is gathering more information and will share more about this lineage as we learn it, it said in a post.

The WHO is currently tracking three variants of interest and seven variants under monitoring.

Dr S. Wesley Long, medical director of diagnostic microbiology at Houston Methodist, said the new lineage, with 36 mutations from the currently-dominant Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5, "harkens back to an earlier branch" of the virus, reported Reuters.

"My biggest concern would be that it could cause a bigger spike in cases than what we have seen in recent waves," Dr Long was quoted as saying. "The boosters will still help you fight off Covid in general."

Jesse Bloom, a virologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, in a slide deck published on Thursday, said the most likely scenario is this variant is less transmissible than current dominant variants.

"However, occasionally a variant has a sufficient combination of antigenic advantage and inherent transmissibility to spread widely. Whether this will happen can only be determined by waiting to see if more sequences are identified," the virologist said.

"Regardless, although we cannot reliably predict transmissibility, we can use deep mutational scanning to estimate how spike mutations affect antigenicity and ACE2 affinity. It is scientifically valuable to do this, even when there is not currently evidence a variant is spreading widely," he added.

(With inputs from agencies)

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YSR Telangana Party president Y S Sharmila was on Friday kept under house-arrest and prevented from going to Gajwel, the home constituency of Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, people familiar with the matter said. Sharmila, along with her party colleagues, sat on a day-long dharna in front of her residence and raised slogans against the state and the police. (HT Photo)

Sharmila was going to the town to allegedly look into the complaints of alleged irregularities in the implementation of Dalit Bandhu scheme. After Sharmila came out of her Lotus Pond residence in Banjara Hills, the police officials from Banjara Hills police station deployed there told her that she could not go to Gajwel.

They told her that local Bharat Rashtra Samithi workers were protesting in Gajwel opposing her visit; and that her visit may cause law and order problems.

Sharmila argued with the police and insisted that she had received a representation from Dalit families of Teegul village of Jagdevpur block about the large scale irregularities in the distribution of financial assistance under the scheme. But the police refused to allow the travel and said she would have to confine herself to her house and should not come out.

As a mark of protest, Sharmila offered aarti to the women cops who surrounded her and said she will pray... to give better wisdom to the cops, so that they wont work as an extended outfit of the BRS.

Slamming the state government for keeping her under house arrest, Sharmila said it was shameful on the part of chief minister Rao for continuing to target her. When the police can permit the BRS workers to stage a dharna and threaten me against visiting Gajwel, why are they stopping me from going there? she asked. She said the police should do their duty sincerely and adhere to the Constitution of India and not that of KCR. The chief minister is clearly rattled and is losing his position. He is scared that my visit will expose his misdeeds, she alleged.

Later, Sharmila, along with her party colleagues, sat on a day-long dharna in front of her residence and raised slogans against the state and the police.

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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
When Manek Pithawalla started working in the kitchens of the Sir Ratan Tata Institute (RTI) 30 years ago, Parsis would bring their own tiffin boxes to the Mumbai eatery, so they could pick up dhansak, khichdi and frilly fish cutlets to take home. Those who opted for the institutes packaging (aluminium boxes) had to bring the boxes back, washed and cleaned. PREMIUM The RTI Rewind menus have featured dishes such as Bharuchi Mutton, a slow-cooked stew made with cashew, milk and dry fruit.

Pithawalla is now 56. She still works at RTI, which is now 94, with seven outlets across Mumbai. The Institute was founded in 1928 by Navajbai Tata, wife of the first Ratan Tata (who was the son of Tata Group founder Jamsetji Tata). Its mission was to offer Parsi women a way to earn a living from their cooking, stitching and embroidery. The number of dishes on offer when RTI opened was about double whats on offer now, Pithawalla says. The women cooked gigantic portions without referring to any written recipes. Then tastes changed, demand for some dishes dwindled, competition grew, and the RTI menu was whittled down to a list of puffs, pastries and staples. Some of the older recipes, lost over time, are now being revived and archived, as well as served up on seasonal and monthly menus. Its a revival that began in the lockdown. As demand for comfort food shot up in early 2020, and help became harder to access, RTI began supplying meals to 22 Parsi baugs or colonies in Mumbai. It was a way to help out, and to keep going, using a new model of pre-orders and mass home delivery. To mix things up as the lockdowns stretched on, the RTI team began to pull out old recipes, says head of operations Shernaz Buhariwala, 56.

Kerwai, a fried plantain patty stuffed with dry fruit, featured on the second RTI Rewind menu, released in June 2022. A digital archive of all lost-and-found recipes is now in the works.

They began by putting together a list of 15 once-popular dishes that old clients had been asking for over the years. These included British-era Continental desserts and traditional Parsi dishes that combined, for instance, mango with meat. Its hard to say when these dishes were last made at RTI. But going by our clients and oldest women employees age, we would guess the dishes were forgotten about 30 to 40 years ago, says Kaiyosh Keravala, 53, head of marketing and sales.

RTI has sought help from members of the community too. Key contributors have included Daisy Mehta, 75, who studied at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, and her son Boman Mehta, 55, head of the Darashaw financial services company thats about as old as RTI. Daisy helped RTI revive an old bestseller, the French religieuse, a meringue cake made with puff pastry, almond cream and lemon curd. We have no idea how a French cake became so famous at RTI. Our best guess is the close relationship the Tatas had with Europe or the influence of a French chef, says Buhariwala. The Chicken Maivala, a sort of mawa chicken, turned out to have an even more surprising recipe. Most home chefs today make this dish with spices, but RTI used to make the Continental version, a baked chicken dish with cream, milk, dry fruit and egg whites made fluffy enough to be baked just right, says Arzaan Sabawalla, 30, head of the RTI food division. It took about 15 attempts to get the dish right. With the Kanda Keri Ma Ghosh (Mutton in Onion and Mango), the challenge was to choose the perfect Alphonso mangoes. Over time, the cooking team has nailed it and the mango suppliers have too, Sabawalla says. All the effort has culminated in an endearingly nostalgic annual RTI Rewind menu. The first was a list of seven dishes released in March 2021, to coincide with the Parsi new year. These included Popatjee, rose and saffron flavoured dough balls dipped in a sweet syrup; Kera-ni-Ghari, sweet, cardamom-spiced banana placed with dry fruit in pastry disc, then fried; Mutton Cottage Pie, with mushrooms and root vegetables; a buttery Danish swirl doused in honey, called Honey Twist; Bhaji Daana ma Ghosh, a Parsi winter stew made with slow-cooked lamb, leafy green vegetables and peas; the religieuse cake; and Chicken Maivala. The second Rewind menu, released in June 2022, featured six different heirloom recipes: Kerwai, a fried plantain patty stuffed with dry fruit; Kan-ni-Ghari, a flaky pastry stuffed with sweet potato, dry fruit, rosewater and cardamom; a lamb cottage pie; Papri ma Kebab, small mutton balls slow-cooked with broad beans; a baked chicken dish made with pineapple in a cheese sauce; a slow-cooked stew called Bharuchi Mutton, with cashew, milk and dry fruit; a fish Florentine topped with creamed spinach and finished with bechamel sauce and cheese; and the now-popular-again Kanda Keri Ma Ghosh. The recipes have been saved digitally, ahead of the archiving process. Work is also on to revive a new set of lost dishes for the 2023 rewind menu. Some suggestions are coming from the community. We are getting more requests now for forgotten dishes, Buhariwala says. The challenge, as always, is finding a recipe that works just right.

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I am driven into that space between Britain and India because I exist in that space, says journalist-turned-historian Anita Anand, 50. PREMIUM (Photo: Suki Dhanda)

She was born to first-generation Punjabi immigrants to the UK. Her late father Dr Chaitenya Anand, a general practitioner, raised her with a sense of how vital it was to know who you are. He encouraged me to examine our history, she says. Her mother Shashi Anand, a retired teacher, is the best storyteller, a fabulous mimic. I think my desire to tell stories comes from her. An inquisitive child, Anand wanted from an early age to be a journalist. She edited her school newspaper, won prizes for her writing, then graduated in English literature from Kings College London, and found her way into television. Initially, I thought I might be a war correspondent. Covering the Bhuj earthquake for Zee TV in 2001, she realised this could not be. She cried as she stood on a pile of rubble, amid photographs of children and pages of school books and a shoe. She segued into political journalism instead, which is close kin to history. Journalism and history are curious cousins, because it means that the mind has to ask similar questions such as: What happened? Why did it happen? And in some cases: How can one stop this from happening again? These questions have yielded three books so far, and the popular ongoing podcast Empire, which Anand co-hosts with the historian William Dalrymple. The turn to history, for Anand, began in 2009, with an old, black-and-white photograph reprinted in a local newspaper. It showed a young Indian woman handing out copies of a newspaper called The Suffragette in London, in the early 1900s, campaigning for the British womans right to vote. Anand was then on maternity leave for the first of her two children (Hari,12 and Ravi, 8) with husband Simon Singh, a scientist and science writer. She became intrigued by the rare and forgotten Indian suffragette in this old photo. Sophia Duleep Singh had this fascinating story, as the daughter of the last Sikh ruler of Punjab, Maharajah Duleep Singh  also the man who was compelled to hand over the Kohinoor to British forces. As a Punjabi myself, I felt I had to tell this story. It turned out to not be very hard to dig up unusual information on Singh. People didnt know anything about her. Everything was new. And I was very happy to find people who were still alive who had known her, Anand says. Those people brought to life what I was learning in dusty files and once-classified documents in British archives. Those people made her real. ***

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Anands debut book, Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary, was released in 2015. It drew attention around the world. In February this year, the British charity English Heritage announced that it will officially take note of Singhs contribution, dedicating one of its iconic blue plaques to her, so that she can be remembered among Englands most iconic suffragettes.

This is Anands mission, as she sees it: To serve as a record-keeper and record-corrector. Its a role she plays in her two other books, The Patient Assassin: A True Tale of Massacre, Revenge and the Raj (2019; released to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar), and Koh-i-Noor: The History of the Worlds Most Infamous Diamond (2017; co-authored with Dalrymple); and in her fourth, an upcoming work on Olive Christian Malvery (1871-1914), known as the worlds first woman undercover journalist. She was also of Indian origin. She exposed the terrible practices in work offices, factories, markets and anywhere women were employed and exploited. She was brave, intrepid and everything I like in a character, Anand says.

For the record: A Wknd interview with historian Anita Anand of Empire

While there are several things about being British that one can be proud of, for me it is vital to bring the other side of the story into the bright sunlight, she says. Historically, the ugly parts of colonialism arent mentioned. The British are shown as the heroes and the Indians were in the backdrop like furniture.

Anand works to tell the stories of some of those people in the backdrop, and to look at all the people in the scene anew, to examine what motivated them, what made them who they were. This is what makes Koh-i-Noor such a compelling read. One sees a different side to Shah Jahan, the great emperor so distraught over the death of his wife Mumtaz Mahal that he spends a fortune making a unique pair of emerald-lensed spectacles, believing they might bring him better fortune and protect his health. History isnt just about dates and events. Its about human beings doing things to other human beings and I am completely compelled by this, Anand says. Whats a detail that people would be surprised to know about her? I have a second career acting in movies and TV dramas, she says, laughing. I feature as a newsreader in the 2018 Hollywood film The Spy Who Dumped Me and in a 2019 episode of Black Mirror. I play myself in the 2022 drama series Slow Horses, about the British secret service. Who is her pick for most compelling personality in contemporary history? [Swedish climate activist] Greta Thunberg, for how she has mobilised young people since she was 15, Anand says. This fight is not easy. She is treated so badly by her critics and yet she keeps going. When historians of the future look back, she adds, I think they will not forgive us for being such poor custodians of the planet. I think they will also be astonished about this era of disinformation in a time when information is so readily available. Nobody trusts anybody at the moment and that is such a dangerous place to be. I think history books will be written about how the essential truths of our times were so easily subverted.

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Theres at least one kind of afterlife we can be certain of: the digital one. PREMIUM There is no logging out: A Midjourney rendering of evolving ideas of the digital afterlife.

We are all going to live on, in some form. What this means varies wildly, depending on whom one speaks to. For the average user of the internet, the idea of this afterlife is limited to search histories, social-media profiles, and possible memorial pages.

To the tech innovator, the answer is literally out of the dystopian near-future series Black Mirror. There, a person could be reanimated, with an android lookalike taught to speak as they might, using posts from their social-media feeds.

In the episode Be Right Back from Season 2, a pregnant woman loses her partner, and a friend orders her a replica in an attempt to help ease her grief. It starts out as an entity that texts in what could reasonably be the dead mans voice. Then, the grieving woman requests the company to upgrade her plan to enable phone calls.

Upon further payment, a package arrives at her door. Its a new him  one that cooks but doesnt eat, seems to know her well, but has nothing new to offer. He can never say anything to her that he hasnt already said; he also cannot register most emotions.

Eventually unnerved, she decides to distance herself from the android. And so it is that her child grows up thinking of the being in the attic as a friend to be visited on special occasions, like her birthday.

While this is a uniquely disturbing take, we are some way down an eerily similar road.

Todays inventors are viewing the afterlife through two lenses: ways to delay death, and ways to use artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) to keep a person who has died notionally alive.

OpenAI for longevity

The med-tech start-up Retro Biosciences, based in San Francisco, has a stated mission to add 10 years to a healthy human lifespan. Methods being explored to stall ageing, and perhaps reverse it, include cellular reprogramming (the idea that one can return an adult cell to a stem-cell-like stage, in a loop, thereby stalling damage and decay), autophagy (the process of reusing dead or damaged cells; something the body already does in a limited way) and plasma-inspired therapeutics (the rather scientifically shaky idea that infusions of younger blood can delay cell damage).

In March, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced that he was investing $180 million in Retro Biosciences. He called it OpenAI for longevity.

The company has said in statements that the molecules for its autophagy programme will likely enter the clinical-trials phase in about a year. The plasma programme, in two years.

The cellular reprogramming effort, it has said, holds out the most promise, but is farthest from proof-of-concept. We will work towards a clinical proof-of-concept over the next four years, the company said in a statement earlier this year.

Still here?

And then there is the virtual hereafter.

Eugenia Kuyda talks to her dead friend, Roman Mazurenko, regularly. He replies to every message. She tells him things she wouldnt have told him when he was alive, she told The Guardian in an interview in 2018.

Kuyda is the founder of Replika, a Russian start-up that uses an AI-driven neural network (so called because these programs are modelled on the human brains rapid-fire input and response mechanisms) to resurrect a version of a dead person as a chatbot.

Mazurenko was Replikas first project.

To create the virtual profile of her friend, who died in a car accident, she asked his friends and family to share old text messages they had exchanged with him. She fed the messages into her program, to create a personality and determine the tone of the chatbots replies.

There is an option to create an avatar too, with customisable hairstyles and outfits.

The Replika app is available for Android and iOS, and on the Meta virtual-reality platform Oculus. The company says it has had 10 million downloads.

A free version lets users chat with a default chatbot named Hope.

It bears mentioning here that there is very little in terms of legal frameworks globally to deal with the implications of a digital afterlife. Meanwhile, the number of services and the range of offerings is growing.

HereAfter AI, launched in 2022, allows people to create a digital legacy of their own. Users can set up an account, take a questionnaire (it covers childhood memories, family, relationships, like and dislike, personality traits, and career details, among other things), add photos, and eventually invite friends and family to access this archived version of who they were. The narrator is the user; visitors revisit memories guided by the person who has presumably departed (it would be exceedingly odd, even in our rather odd world, to invite people in while one was alive).

Start-ups such as SafeBeyond (launched in 2015) and GoneNotGone (2016) also allow people to record messages and videos that can be dispatched to loved ones after their death.

In a world that is already navigating vanishing lines between the real, the virtual and the imagined, the psychological implications of such services are vast.

They could cause more trauma than they ease; could serve to prolong grief; and lead to broader issues of immersion in a world that is essentially a trap of fabricated memory.

While AI cant eliminate that pain of loss, it can definitely make the memories last, is how Alexa senior vice-president Rohit Prasad put it in 2022, speaking during the Amazon re:MARS conference (focused on Machine Learning, Automation, Robotics and Space). He then unveiled a new Alexa feature that allows the virtual assistant to recite content in the voice of a lost relative.

Feed Alexa a short audio recording of grandma reading a book, and the bot can use it to have now-deceased grandma read little Ayesha bedtime stories every night.

They should have used that in Black Mirror.
Shakuntala Talwar was eight when her family fled Sindh during Partition. Travelling to Bombay on a chaotic passenger ship, our mother made a protective wall, arranging the suitcases and pickle bottles into a circle inside which we sat, she would later tell her niece, the author and oral historian Saaz Aggarwal. The anecdote is tucked into Aggarwals 2012 book, Sindh: Stories from a Vanished Homeland. PREMIUM The Sikkim dalle chilli pickle by NE Origins. Rewaj Chettri founded the startup in 2020 as a way to connect buyers from across the country with lockdown-affected entrepreneurs in remote parts of north-east India. (Manaen Lepcha)

The relationship we have with pickles is one that endures, Aggarwal says. People may leave home, their food habits may change and their cuisines may be altered over time (think of all the potato and green chilli in todays Indian meals). There is little reason to ever alter a pickle. Pickles are also convenient: they have a long shelf life, are ready to eat, one doesnt need too much. They can be eaten in a sandwich or a roll, with instant noodles, as an addition to a salsa or a dip. Across the country, homegrown enterprises are cottoning on to this, promoting unusual pickles as a gateway to unfamiliar cuisines.

The recipe for a perfect pickle is born of the rich culinary heritage that has been passed down and a great sense of discipline that goes into making it, says Kalpana Jha, who launched JhaJi in 2021. She uses local ingredients such as the hog plum or amra, which isnt widely available anymore. (Rajan Kumar)

In Darbhanga, Bihar, 52-year-old Kalpana Jhas JhaJi offers 20 traditional varieties (including yam, bitter gourd and jackfruit). Sheila Chacko Kallivayalil, 65, from Kerala runs Sheilas, with 14 varieties (prawn, different kinds of fish, brinjal, kandari chilli). NE Origins, a Gangtok-based startup run by Rewaj Chettri, 29, began operations in 2020 as a platform to connect lockdown-affected entrepreneurs in remote parts of north-east India. They offer pickles made using Nagalands king chilli, dalle chilli from Sikkim, bamboo shoot from Manipur and smoked pork from Nagaland.

Achaar, across communities, is an emotion. The recipe for a perfect pickle is born of the rich culinary heritage that has been passed down and a great sense of discipline that goes into making it, says Jha, who launched JhaJi in 2021. She uses local ingredients such as the hog plum or amra, which isnt widely available anymore. Some recipes are simple but ancient; JhaJi does a Bihari stuffed mango pickle thats just aam, yellow mustard seeds and black mustard seeds. These recipes are so old that its hard to track down their origins, my grandmother learned it from hers, says Jha.

A Bihari Lal Mirch Bharua or stuffed red chilli pickle being prepared by women at the JhaJi unit. (Rajan Kumar)

Chettri found it harder to promote his regional recipes, partly because they were less familiar to much of India. People were apprehensive about the bhut jolokia (I now get feedback saying the tanginess of this one goes perfectly with chips). Bamboo shoot, with its distinct earthy flavour, took some getting used to. But, he adds, people realise that a bamboo shoot pickle might be a smarter way of trying a north-eastern cuisine than a whole restaurant meal.

Brine fever As strong custodians of culture, pickles often take dying and forgotten traditions and stories forward, Aggarwal says. She recalls how many displaced Sindhis living in refugee camps struggled to find ways to sustain themselves. They sold pickles to richer Sindhi families who no longer made their own pickles, papads and homemade snacks in Delhi. Vendors from refugee camps would go from door to door, carrying large sacks filled with goodies, and were a welcome link to the lost homeland.

Exchanging preserves is a great way to exchange notes on culture, says Preetika Chawla, the founder of Pickle Shickle, who makes it a point to talk to her customers on the phone. (Karishma Bedi)

Some missions are more contemporary but also personal. Mumbais Gautam Agicha, 39, runs the food brand Gourmax with his mother Jyoti Motwani, 62, selling gourmet snacks, sweets and pickles since August 2020. He added a Sindhi mixed-vegetable pickle to the menu because he remembered what it had meant to him, growing up in boarding school. His mothers careful packages were his only way to escape the bland school dining-room fare. It is among Gourmax best-selling items, he says. Carrot, cauliflower, and dried dates are tossed in spices, mustard seeds and jaggery in this water-based pickle, making it a good mix of flavours that I loved even as a kid.

For Delhi-based sisters Preetika Chawla, 34, and Prerna Chawla, 38, their multi-cultural lineage inspired the birth of Pickle Shickle in 2017, which offers a range of pork, chicken, prawn, mutton, lotus stem, mushroom and jackfruit preserves, all made using a Coorgi-East Indian recipe created by their grandmother. Exchanging preserves is a great way to exchange notes on culture, says Preetika Chawla, who makes it a point to talk to her customers on the phone, making many new friends. One customer, Ateesh Chattopadhyay, 35, a sound designer, sent her his great-grandmothers recipe for kasundi as a thank-you, adding that she could use the mustard sauce in her preserves if she liked. Pickles show how India is truly one country, Aggarwal says. Every region has its specialty but the basic ingredients  a fruit or vegetable, oil, salt, flavourful spices, sunlight, leading to a long shelf-life  remain the same.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Anesha George Anesha is a features writer, sometimes a reader, who loves to eat and plan fitness goals she can never keep. She writes on food, culture and youth trends. ...view detail
I was at a preview of the stunning new Indian Accent in Mumbai (which may have opened to the general public by the time you read this), and as I tasted the food (on current form: better than the Delhi original), I thought back to the seminal role Indian Accent has played in the development of modern Indian cuisine. Indian Accents NYC outpost serves dishes such as the makhan malai with saffron milk and rose petals. (Images: Indian Accent, Rohit Khattar)

Indian Accents NYC outpost opened in 2016 and is flourishing.

But Khattar, who had studied hoteliering in America, was not content. Way back in the 1990s, when Indias restaurant scene was still fairly basic, Rohit wanted to open all kinds of new restaurants. He landed the contract to run the hospitality/hotel part of the soon-to-be-opened India Habitat Centre in Delhi and planned various then-novel concepts. Then, he was diddled out of the contract, he went to court and finally the Habitat Centre was forced to keep its commitment. Chef Manish Mehrotras pulled kathal tacos.

But it was the third one that really shook Delhi up. At that stage, we had lots of Chinese restaurants and a few Thai restaurants. But hardly anyone had attempted a pan-Asian restaurant before. Rohit opened Oriental Octopus and changed the rules. Now, India cant get enough of pan-Asian places. The saffron cheesecake at Indian Accent.

Thats when I first met Manish and ate his food. I knew right away that he was an exceptional talent but at that stage he was still an Oriental chef. A few months after it opened, Indian Accent was a hit. Manish was clearly the star.

When the Indian Accent story is told, everyone acts as though it was an overnight success. In fact, it did really badly in the early months. The Manor is tucked away in a residential colony, so you really have to want to go to any restaurant located there. That may have been why the early restaurants failed. The Mumbai Indian Accent serves classics such as Daulat-ki-Chaat.

Manishs forte was Thai food. And he was appealing to a largely Indian audience. So not only was his food different from what had come before, it was an uphill struggle to convince Delhi diners that something new and exciting was happening. The smoked eggplant with maple papdi, churan ka karela, papdi chaat and chole bhature are among the new additions at the Mumbai branch.

The rest, as the cliche goes, is history. Indian Accent went on to become the most influential modern Indian restaurant in recent memory. Chefs who trained there now run great Indian restaurants all over the world. Manish is a legend. The saag tart at Indian Accent.

Rohit has chosen an Art Deco look for the space, harking back to Mumbais jazz-age buildings. He says there was a time when Art Deco was a dominant theme in the citys architecture and Mumbai had more Art Deco buildings than most cities. That said, he has integrated the Art Deco elements with a sleek modern look.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Vir Sanghvi Why hide the papers? Why keep the conspiracy theories related to Netaji Subhas Boses death alive? And why deny India the truth about the death of one of its great freedom fighters? ...view detail
Hariyali Teej 2023: The auspicious festival of Hariyali Teej will be celebrated with pomp and pageantry on August 19 this year, marking the union of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. Women across India, especially in the northern states of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Haryana, both married and single, celebrate this significant Hindu festival. During the lunar month of Sawan, Hariyali Teej falls on the third day of Shukla Paksha. With a focus on wedded bliss and the well-being of one's spouse, the festival is dedicated to the worship of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. It is also a celebration of the beginning of the monsoon, which represents fertility, rebirth and growth. This year, Tritiya Tithi begins at 8 pm on 18 August and ends at 10.19 pm on 19 August. Happy Hariyali Teej 2023: Best SMS, WhatsApp messages, quotes, wishes, Facebook status to greet family and friends.(HT photo)

During Hariyali Teej, women observe fast, wear vibrant green costumes and participate in a variety of cultural and religious festivities. It is also the perfect opportunity to send heartfelt messages and photos to your loved ones via Facebook, WhatsApp and other social media platforms. So, if you want to make the day even more memorable for your beloved ones, check out our list of messages, status, wishes and greetings below. (Also read: Hariyali Teej 2023: From Alia Bhatt to Katrina Kaif, Bollywood celebs inspired stunning mehendi designs )

Hariyali Teej 2023 Wishes, Images, Greetings, Status and Messages:

This Hariyali Teej, may Mahadev and Parvati Ji destroy all your sorrows and eliminate all the troubles. Happy Hariyali Teej.

May the blessings of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati bring happiness, prosperity, and love to your life on this auspicious Hariyali Teej.

Hariyali Teej, also known simply as Teej, is a significant Hindu festival.(HT photo)

Wishing you a vibrant and joyous Hariyali Teej filled with laughter, love, and cherished moments with your loved ones.

The festival is dedicated to the worship of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati.(HT photo)

As you celebrate the beauty of nature and the bond of marriage, may your life be as colourful and joyful as the festivities of Hariyali Teej.

During Hariyali Teej, women typically observe fasting and dress in vibrant green traditional attire(HT photo)

Discover your hidden strengths and connect with the inner self as you meditate. May Lord Shiva and Maa Parvati bless you and your husband with everything you both have wished for. Happy Hariyali Teej.

It is especially celebrated in the northern states of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Haryana. (HT photo)

On this auspicious occasion of Hariyali Teej, may your relationship be as refreshing as the greenery around, and may your love story continue to blossom.

Hariyali Teej usually falls in the Hindu month of Shravana, specifically on the third day of the Shukla Paksha.(HT photo)

May your marriage be blessed with the same dedication and commitment that Goddess Parvati had for Lord Shiva. Happy Hariyali Teej to you and your partner!

Fasting, offering prayers, and performing rituals are common practices during Hariyali Teej.(HT photo)

May the swings of joy on Hariyali Teej carry you through a journey of happiness, health, and prosperity. Have a wonderful celebration!

The festival strengthens familial bonds as women receive gifts from their parents and in-laws, fostering harmony.(HT photo)

Warm wishes to all married women fasting on this auspicious day of Hariyali Teej! May Goddess Parvati accept your fasting.

I hope the deity accepts your prayers and you have a very happy and successful Teej filled with blessings. May your marriage last long and be filled with joy. Happy Hariyali Teej.
Developing a drug for an incurable disease is a remarkable achievement in itself but it's even rarer to witness the inventor benefiting from their own creation and embarking on a journey to recovery. Struggling with psoriasis since his teens, Ryan Moslin at the age of 43 is on cloud 9 seeing his psoriatic lesions getting better and the symptoms becoming more manageable. The autoimmune disease affected him from the time when he was in high school and the struggle continued throughout his growing up years as the rashes progressed from scalp to other areas of his body like torso and legs. However, what makes his journey unique is that he intensified his battle with the disease by helping invent a drug to treat it and now millions of people suffering with this incurable disease may benefit out of this new drug. (Also read: Plaque psoriasis: Causes, symptoms and treatments you must know) Moslin was in high school when he got diagnosed with the chronic skin condition psoriasis. (Bristol Myers Squibb)

Ryan Moslin's fight with psoriasis

"Moslin was in high school in Canada when his doctor diagnosed him with the chronic skin condition psoriasis. It began with just a few plaques on his scalp. Soon he had flaky patches on his legs, elbows and back. He stopped wearing shorts, and a few years ago jeans became too uncomfortable to wear when the lesions became itchy, said a Wall Street Journal report.

Ive had psoriasis for so long now that I dont know what it would be like not to live with the manifestations, he said.  When he decided to get married, Ryan took steroid injections for the nail on his ring finger, because he didnt want to look down at the symbol of his marriage and think about psoriasis. As the nail grew in with no patches, he said, I would find myself looking at it and feeling so good just to have that one tiny piece of normal.

How Moslin went on to become inventor of psoriasis drug

The WSJ report further mentions how Moslin decided to study chemistry in the college and completed postdoctoral research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He then joined pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb in 2010 as a senior research scientist. He along with his fellow scientists created and tested more than 6,000 molecules before synthesizing the drug, Sotyktu, in 2013.

Sotyktu got approval by Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of psoriasis last September. Once the approvals were in, Moslin's doctor prescribed the drug to him and the rest was history.

The report further added that Moslin now at the age of 43 is witnessing the shrinking of his lesions have shrunk and shares that they have stopped flaring or itching, and have become manageable.

It would have been wildly optimistic to believe what happened could happen, he said. It didnt become real until I got my first pills," he said.

Ryan has a unique perspective as both a patient and a researcher. As a researcher, I want to tell patients, Thank you for being so patient. We are working hard to deliver this and other medicines to help transform lives. 

What is Psoriasis

Psoriasis is a condition in which skin cells build up and form scales and cause itchy and dry patches. The most common symptom of psoriasis is a rash on the skin; it can also involve nails or joints.

How Sotyktu works for psoriasis

It is an oral treatment for adults with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. It is taken once every day.

Deucravacitinib is a once-daily oral medication with its clinical trials in moderate-to-severe psoriasis demonstrating superior efficacy to apremilast. Deucravacitinib works by selectively inhibiting TYK2, a protein found in immune cells and shown to be central to what causes psoriasis. This medication offers patients with psoriasis who are appropriate for systemic therapy a brand-new option that has very few side effects. Importantly, the results from the studies dont support the need to follow laboratory tests during therapy," shared Bruce Strober, M.D., Ph.D., a clinical professor in the department of dermatology at Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, and a board-certified dermatologist at Central Connecticut Dermatology Research in Cromwell, Connecticut.
Researchers at the University of Queensland revealed in pre-clinical studies that an injection of a certain blood factor can duplicate the positive effects of exercise on the brain. How platelets can replicate benefits of exercise in brain: Study(UNSPLASH)

Using old mice as a model, a team lead by Dr. Odette Leiter and Dr. Tara Walker from the University of Queensland's Queensland Brain Institute revealed that platelets, the tiny blood cells essential for blood clotting, release a protein that rejuvenates neurons in a manner comparable to physical activity.

ALSO READ: Deficiencies in blood: Experts reveal how to deal with them

We know exercise increases production of new neurons in the hippocampus, the part of the brain important for learning and memory, but the mechanism hasnt been clear, Dr Leiter said.

Our previous research has shown platelets are involved, but this study shows platelets are actually required for this effect in the aged mice.

The researchers focused on exerkines, the biological compounds released into the bloodstream during exercise, which are believed to stimulate the exercise-induced response in the brain.

We discovered that the exerkine CXCL4/Platelet factor 4 or PF4, which is released from platelets after exercise, results in regenerative and cognitive improvements when injected into aged mice, Dr Leiter said.

Dr Walker said the findings have significant implications for the development of drug interventions.

For a lot of people with health conditions, mobility issues or of advanced age, exercise isnt possible, so pharmacological intervention is an important area of research, she said.

We can now target platelets to promote neurogenesis, enhance cognition and counteract age-related cognitive decline.

The researchers said the next step is to test the response in Alzheimer diseased mice, before moving towards human trials.

Its important to note this is not a replacement for exercise, Dr Walker said.

But it could help the very elderly or someone who has had a brain injury or stroke to improve cognition.
Firefighters battled overnight to try to bring under control the worst wildfire in decades on the Spanish Canary Island of Tenerife, a major tourist destination, officials said Friday. Residents of the town of Aguamansa clean the surroundings of their houses due to the proximity of the fire, as wildfires rage out of control on the island of Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. (REUTERS/Borja Suarez)

The fire in the north of the island, which started late Tuesday, has forced the evacuation or confinement of nearly 8,000 people in eight municipalities.

Television images and videos posted on social media showed the flames coming down the hill close to houses in small neighborhoods and a massive cloud of smoke rising from the area.

The fire is located up in a pine wooded mountain area with several municipalities on its flanks, including Arafo and Candelaria to the east, and La Orotava to the west.

Army captain Rafael San Jose told Spanish National Television that some progress had been made overnight in stopping the fire's spread but that rising temperatures during the day would increase difficulties.

The Canary Islands have been in drought for most of the past few years, just like most of mainland Spain. The islands have recorded below-average rainfall in recent years, because of changing weather patterns impacted by climate change.

Canary Islands regional President Fernando Clavijo said late Thursday the blaze, which has scorched 3,200 hectares, or 7,900 acres, was still very virulent but that fortunately there had been no injuries so far.

He said Fridays efforts would be crucial to containing the fire.

The north of the island was forecast to have a maximum temperature of 30 degrees Celsius (84 F) Friday with light winds, (20 kph/12 mph) but temperatures were set to rise further over the weekend.

The flames cover a perimeter of 40 kilometers (25 miles) encircling some 4,000 hectares (10,000 acres) of land.

Nearly 300 firefighters and Spanish army soldiers are in the area, which is in the northeast of the island, some 20 kilometers (12 miles) away from its main town, Santa Cruz.

Tenerife is one of Europe's main tourist destinations. Its tourism office stressed Thursday that the most important tourist areas are far from the fire. Business continues as usual in accommodation establishments, beaches and other tourist sites near the coast and in the midlands, the office said.

But access to the Teide National Park, the most important tourist attraction in Tenerife after the beaches, was closed Thursday evening and all tourist facilities around the Teide volcano area, including accommodation, were to be evacuated.

Clavijo claimed the fire was the worst in 40 years. He said the combination of extreme temperatures and the fire had turned the area into a virtual oven.

The seven-island archipelago is located off the northwest coast of Africa and southwest of mainland Spain.

More than 2,000 people were evacuated in a wildfire on the nearby La Palma island last month that affected some 4,500 hectares (11,000 acres).

Wildfires have burned almost 64,000 hectares (158,000 acres) in Spain in the first seven months of the year, according to Spanish government data. Thats the third highest figure in the last decade.

Spain accounted for almost 40% of the nearly 800,00 hectares (2 million acres) burned in the European Union in 2022, according to the European Forest Fire Information System.
According to a new study, teeth may be capable of storing antibodies for hundreds of years, allowing scientists to investigate the history of infectious human diseases. In a study by iScience, antibodies extracted from 800 year-old medieval human teeth were found to be stable and still able to recognise viral proteins.(Unsplash)

Antibodies are proteins produced by the immune system as a natural response to infectious organisms like viruses and bacteria. Their job is to recognise those microbes so that the immune system can attack them and clear them from the body.

In the new paper, published by iScience, antibodies extracted from 800 year-old medieval human teeth were found to be stable and still able to recognise viral proteins.

The study, led by Professor Robert Layfield and research technician Barry Shaw from the School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, in collaboration with Professor Anisur Rahman and Dr Thomas McDonnell from the Department of Medicine at University College London, expands the study of ancient proteins, referred to as palaeoproteomics, potentially allowing experts to analyse how human antibody responses developed through history.

Palaeoproteomics can reach back into deep time with ancient proteins already successfully recovered and identified after preservation in 1.7-million year old dental enamel from an ancient rhinoceros and an ostrich eggshell more than 6.5 million years old. In this new study, the authors also found preliminary evidence that, like the medieval human teeth, mammoth bones nearly 40,000 years old appear to preserve stable antibodies.

Also Read | Popular acid reflux medicine linked to dementia risk: study

This science has previously been applied by the Nottingham team to the analysis of other disease-associated proteins recovered from archaeological human bones and teeth to allow identification of an unusual ancient form of the skeletal disorder Pagets disease.

Professor Layfield explained: In discovery science we come to expect the unexpected, but the realisation that intact, functional antibodies can be purified from skeletal remains in the archaeological record was quite astonishing. Some ancient proteins were known to be stable, but these tend to be structural proteins such as collagens and keratins, that are pretty inert.

Professor Rahman added: Antibodies are different because we are able to test whether they can still do their job of recognising viruses or bacteria even after hundreds of years. In this case we found that antibodies from medieval teeth were able to recognise Epstein-Barr virus, which causes glandular fever. In future it could be possible to look at how antibodies from ancient specimens react to diseases present during those periods, such as the Black Death.
The British Museum has launched an investigation after a few items from their collection went "missing, stolen or damaged." The matter is under investigation by the Economic Crime Command of the Metropolitan Police, and one of the staff members has also been dismissed. After the news about the stolen items was shared by the British Museum, many netizens have taken to social media to react to it. British Museum shared a press release where they reported that a few items have been stolen.(Unsplash)

A majority of the items that went missing were tiny parts that were kept in a storeroom. The stolen items consisted of gold jewellery and gems made of semiprecious stones and glass dating from the 15th century BC to the 19th century AD. They were retained exclusively for academic and research purposes, and none had lately been on display in public, reports a press release shared by the British Museum.

Hartwig Fischer, Director of the British Museum, said in the press release, This is a highly unusual incident. I know I speak for all colleagues when I say that we take the safeguarding of all the items in our care extremely seriously. The Museum apologises for what has happened, but we have now brought an end to this  and we are determined to put things right." (Also Read: New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art to return 15 smuggled sculptures to India)

He further added, "We have already tightened our security arrangements and we are working alongside outside experts to complete a definitive account of what is missing, damaged, and stolen. This will allow us to throw our efforts into the recovery of objects.

Former trustee Sir Nigel Boardman and British Transport Police Chief Constable Lucy D'Orsi will be in charge of an independent review. They will jointly investigate the situation and make suggestions for improved security measures at the Museum. Additionally, they will launch and support a strong program to locate lost objects.

Since the items were reported stolen, many people took to Twitter to share their reactions to it.

Here's what netizens on Twitter are saying about the items that have been stolen from the British Museum:

An individual wrote, "A taste of your own medicine @britishmuseum." A second shared, "Everybody whos previously defended the British museum by saying 'Oh but other countries couldnt take care of artifacts as they can' is now learning what everyone in the museum sector has known all along."

A third posted, "Since when did the British Museum think stealing was wrong?" "Shame when things go missing or stolen, isnt it, British Museum?" expressed a fourth. What are your thoughts on this incident?
A group of South Korean artists wowed people with their performance to a mashup of two Indian songs. They grooved to a remix of Oo Antava and Kaavaalaa that has left people amazed. The image shows a group of South Korean artists dancing to Oo Antava, Kaavaalaa mashup. (Instagram/@aoora69)

K-pop idol Aoora posted the video on his Instagram page. It shows him dancing with the members of the K-pop boy band Bz-Boys. Dressed in chic casualwear, they are seen enthusiastically grooving to the mashup. At one point, they also recreate hook steps from the song Kaavaalaa.

About the songs Kaavaalaa and Oo Antava

Oo Antava is a song from the 2021 film Pushpa featuring Allu Arjun and Samantha. Kaavaalaa is from the recently released Rajinikanth film Jailer and is picturised on Tamannaah Bhatia. This particular mashup of the two songs that the Korean artists performed on is created by a band that goes by @thisisfridayyy on Instagram.

Take a look at this video of Korean artists dancing to Kaavaalaa and Oo Antava mashup:

The video was posted on August 9. Since being shared, it has accumulated close to 5.8 lakh views, and the numbers are only increasing. Additionally, the share has gathered more than 96,000 likes. People posted varied comments while reacting to the video.

Heres how Instagram users reacted to this dance video by South Korean artists:

I am feeling proud that Koreans are dancing to Indian songs, thanks for giving love to India and Indian songs, posted an Instagram user. Fire dance, added another. Love from India, joined a third. I saw it more than 100 times, it's so nice, wrote a fourth.
More than 80 Christian homes and 19 churches in Pakistan were vandalised when a Muslim mob rampaged through the streets over alleged blasphemy this week, a top police official said Friday. Police and administration officials visit a church vandalised by a mob at Jaranwala, in Faisalabad(PTI)

Hundreds of Pakistan's Christian minority fled their homes Wednesday when an angry crowd of Muslim men tore through a neighbourhood in the city of Jaranwala in Punjab province, torching homes and churches.

"The events that unfolded were tragic. Violence like this can never be justified," Punjab police chief Usman Anwar told AFP.

Anwar said he personally interrogated the two Christian brothers accused of desecrating the Koran "to avoid accusations of torture".

Police said they have arrested an additional 128 people linked to the rampage, in which 87 homes were damaged in the Christian neighbourhood, their contents strewn all over the streets.

The angry mob of hundreds were ordered to protest by Muslim clerics, who used mosque loudspeakers to spread news of the allegations.

Muslims living in the predominantly Christian area gave shelter to their neighbours and pinned Koranic verses to the doors of Christian homes to prevent them from being targeted, residents of both faiths told AFP.

On Friday, 3,200 churches were guarded by police across Punjab province to provide reassurance to the Christian community, Anwar said, adding that he will travel to Jaranwala Sunday to show solidarity with the Christian community.

'Must be brought to justice'

Government and religious leaders have called for calm.

Christian groups have held a number of small protests across the country calling for greater protection.

"We hope that through this protest, the government must realise that this issue must be dealt with sternly and those who committed destruction must be brought to justice," Archbishop of Karachi, Benny Travis, told AFP at a small rally.

Punjab's caretaker chief minister Mohsin Naqvi expressed solidarity with Christians, adding that they would be compensated for their losses.

The provincial government has announced an inquiry into the violence.

Christians, who make up around two percent of the population, occupy one of the lowest rungs in Pakistani society and are frequently targeted with spurious blasphemy allegations.

Blasphemy is an incendiary charge in deeply conservative, Muslim-majority Pakistan, where even unproven allegations of insulting Islam and its Prophet Mohammed can provoke death at the hands of vigilantes.

Politicians have been assassinated, lawyers murdered and students lynched over accusations of blasphemy.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said the number and size of the attacks "appear to have increased in recent years".

In one of Pakistan's most high-profile cases, Christian woman Asia Bibi was at the centre of a decade-long blasphemy row, which eventually saw her death sentence overturned and ended with her fleeing the country.

Her case sparked violent demonstrations and high-profile assassinations while spotlighting religious extremism across wide sections of Pakistani society.

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In an interview with Tucker Carlson, GOP Presidential Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy delved into controversial topics such as the 9/11 attacks, government transparency, and the erosion of trust between the government and the public. Republican presidential candidate businessman Vivek Ramaswamy speaks at an event in St. Clair Shores, Mich., Monday, Aug. 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)(AP)

Ramaswamy reiterated his views that the U.S. government had not been entirely forthright about the events of 9/11, suggesting that federal bureaucracies had lied. He criticized the bipartisan consensus that the public cannot handle the truth and emphasized the importance of open dialogue.

I explicitly said that the government absolutely lied to us. The 9-11 commission lied. The FBI lied, Ramaswamy told Tucker claiming his campaign is not based on this idea. His clarification comes after fierce backlash from both left-leaning and right-leaning voices. where he was labeled a conspiracy theorist and a lunatic by some, even by those typically aligned with conservative viewpoints.

However he asserts that he doesn't claim government's 9/11 story is false whereas feels, 'If I'm asked a question and I answer honestly based on the facts, I don't think they would have come for me if this was false and ludicrous. Lying is never punished, but speaking the truths you're not supposed to speak is what attracts the immune response.'

Ramaswamy emphasized that speaking uncomfortable truths is often what attracts intense backlash. He argued that while lying often goes unpunished, it's the act of speaking out against the established narrative that garners strong negative reactions. I think there is a bipartisan consensus in this country right now that we, the people, can not handle the truth, he said.

Ahead of the much anticipated presidential debate GOP candidate highlighted the importance of transparency in various issues, including COVID-19 origins, vaccine information, and events like the January 6th Capitol incident. He underscored the public's right to know the truth, no matter how uncomfortable it might be.

'Covid-19, what was the origin? What did we know a bout the vaccines before we mandated them? What did we know about Hunter Biden's dealings before we systematically suppressed that story? What do we know about the truth of what happened on January 6? What do we know about that Nashville shooter manifesto, the transgender shooting individual who shot up a bunch of people in a Christian school?'

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Dinner-party conversations across Asia have often been animated by an old debate. In economic dynamism, the state of the urban fabric and the vibrancy of civic life, which city comes top: Hong Kong or Singapore ? Until not long ago, it was obvious to Banyan, who spent a decade working there, that Hong Kong won hands down. But recently the balance shifted. There is clearly no contest anymore. It is game over in favour of Singapore. As a consequence, Banyan has moved there. PREMIUM Staff lower Chinese national flag in front of screens showing the index and stock prices outside Exchange Square, in Hong Kong, China, August 18, 2023. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu(REUTERS)

Hong Kong and Singapore, once dirt-poor, have astonishing success stories to tell. Both are hubs for international finance, trade, transport and tourism. Both have attracted the brightest professional minds. Both built world-beating universities. Nothing tops the drama of Hong Kongs topographical setting. It is hard to think of a cleaner, greener city than Singapore.

The imposition of a draconian national-security law in 2020 marked the obvious break in Hong Kongs trajectory. The law ended any prospect of more representative government and curtailed the space for civic expression. Dozens of activists, lawyers and politicians are in jail. Stringent pandemic travel restrictions compounded the sense of claustrophobia. Some 200,000 expatriates have left Hong Kong in the past three years, along with even more Hong Kongers. By contrast, in 2022 the number of foreign professionals in Singapore grew by 16%, Banyan among them.

But a deeper divergence has occurred in economic performance, on which leaders in both places have always asked to be judged above all. In 1997, the year of Hong Kongs return to China, the two cities GDP per person was remarkably similar ($26,376 in Singapore, $27,330 in Hong Kong). Today Singapores is 1.7 times higher than Hong Kongs. Singapores economy has grown by one-seventh since 2017; Hong Kongs not at all.

In reality, Hong Kong was never as freewheeling as it claimed. Cartels or oligopolies operate in power, construction and supermarkets, among other sectors. Singapores economy is more innovative and diversified. Given Chinas economic slowdown, Singapore is now in a more vibrant region.

Yet the biggest divergence is in governancedefined by Donald Low at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, writing in Jom, a new Singaporean magazine, as the capacity to anticipate, plan and prepare for the future. By that test, Hong Kong fails dismally. The governments answer to poor job prospects is to urge Hong Kongs young to seek work across the border.

Its strict zero-covid policy, mimicking mainland China, undermined its standing as an international financial centre. Like the mainland, Hong Kong bungled, failing to vaccinate the old quickly enough. Excess deaths per 100,000 people were nearly three times higher than in Singapore.

Hong Kong is also a harder place to live in the literal sense. The presence of rich foreigners pushing up property prices calls for big public-housing programmes. Yet so strong is the grip of Hong Kongs property tycoons that less than 50% of the population lives in public housing, for which there is a six-year wait. In Singapore, the figure is over 80%. Private rents, high in both places, are even steeper in Hong Kong, for worse flats.

Singapore is no paradise. The pleasantness of its urban fabric is thanks mainly to the toil of the foreign migrant workers who make up nearly a third of the workforce. Their contribution is a curious blind spot. Meanwhile, politics is tightly constrained, as is civil society: you may be arrested for holding up a placard with a smiley face. The media is cloyingly tame, while foreign journalists, it is made clear, are here on sufferance. With nearly 500 executions in the past three decades, 70% of them for drug offences, Singapores use of capital punishment is grotesque.

Still, a far brighter future beckons for Singapores young than for their counterparts in Hong Kong. They are slowly pushing at Singapores rigid boundaries. This month, in a first, a few hundred activists gathered on Labour Day to call for greater rights for, among others, foreign workers. The launch of Jom reflects a growing desire for independent voices. In Hong Kong, by contrast, a transport-news website promoting road safety, of all things, this week became the latest target of the authorities and was forced to close. Singapore is at a crossroads. Hong Kong has hit a dead end.

Read more from Banyan, our columnist on Asia: Americas closest Indo-Pacific allies are cosying up (May 4th) On China, Japans PM wants diplomacy, not war (Apr 22nd) Michael Lipton: The big man of land reform (Apr 20th)

Also: How the Banyan column got its name

 2023, The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on www.economist.com
After the dreadful disaster in Hawaii in the United States, another North American country Canada is facing the threat of wildfires. Reportedly, more than 1000 active fires are burning across the country, including 265 in the Northwest Territories. TOPSHOT - This handout photo shows the town of Fort Smith, Canada during the wildfires, on August 13, 2023. Hundreds of people started to be airlifted to safety from remote villages threatened by wildfires in Canada's far north overnight Monday to Tuesday after Yellowknife, the largest city in the region, declared an emergency. (Photo by Handout / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / Dana Fergusson" - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS / TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY Genevive NORMAND "Military airlifts provide escape as wildfires sweep Canada's far north"(AFP)

According to a report by New York Post, the raging wildfires in the city of Yellowknife is just 10 miles northwest of the city and could reach its outskirts by Saturday.

Very tough days ahead  with two days of northwest to west-northwest winds on Friday and Saturday, which would push fire towards Yellowknife, the territorial fire service said in a statement on Facebook.

46,000 people are set to be evacuated amid the critical scenario. People have been fleeing the wildfires after an evacuation order was declared.

The urgency is, fire changes drastically  the conditions are in our favor right now, but that will change on Saturday, Shane Thompson, the territorial environment minister told the CBC.

In total, about 65% of the Territories population of 46,000 people would be evacuated, he said.

ALSO READ| World's Cheapest Home? Why this Michigan house is listed for sale at $1

Yellowknife Mayor Rebecca Alty informed that special teams were clear-cutting trees close to the city in a bid to prevent the flames from spreading.

Some of the people fleeing the wildfires are moving to the neighbouring province of Alberta where three official evacuee reception centers for those leaving by road has been established.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with the Incident Response Group to discuss the situation. Defense Minister Bill Blair also attended the meeting which comprised of senior officials and ministers.

Experts point to climate change for the drastic situation. This year, much of Canada has experienced abnormally dry conditions which contributed to the current problem.
US President Joe Biden and the leaders of Japan and South Korea said Friday they saw a "new chapter" of close three-way security cooperation as the Asian allies joined a first-of-a-kind summit that has already rattled China. US President Joe Biden(Bloomberg)

Going tieless at the bucolic Camp David presidential retreat, Biden praised the "political courage" of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in turning the page on historical animosity.

"Your leadership, with the full support of the United States, has brought us here because each of you understands that our world stands at an inflection point," Biden told a joint news conference in the wooded hills outside Washington.

Biden insisted the summit was not about China, which has been flexing its muscle both at home and in Asia under President Xi Jinping, including with major exercises around self-ruling Taiwan.

But in a joint statement, the three leaders said they opposed the "dangerous and aggressive behavior" of China in maritime disputes in the East and South China Sea.

"We strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the waters of the Indo-Pacific," it said.

The two US allies largely see eye to eye on the world -- and together are the base for some 84,500 US troops -- but such a summit would have been unthinkable until recently due to the legacy of Japan's harsh 1910-1945 occupation of the Korean peninsula.

But Yoon, taking political risks at home, has turned the page by resolving a dispute over wartime forced labor, and is now calling Japan a partner at a time of high tensions with both China and North Korea.

Yoon said he hoped to be "forward-looking" and called the summit a "historic day" in bringing a "firm institutional basis" to the three nations' joint relationship.

The three leaders also agreed to a multi-year plan of regular exercises in all domains, going beyond one-off drills in response to North Korea, and made a formal "commitment to consult" during crises, with Biden saying they would open a hotline.

The leaders also agreed to share real-time data on North Korea and to hold summits every year.

Camp David marks the first time the three countries' leaders have met for a standalone summit, not on the sidelines of a larger event, and is the first diplomatic event since 2015 at the resort, which is synonymous with Middle East peacemaking.

- 'You can never become a Westerner' -

Even if Biden said the summit did not target China, Rahm Emanuel, the blunt-speaking US ambassador to Japan, took another tone when he previewed the meeting, saying the three nations were defying China with the United States showing, "We are the rising power; they are declining."

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged the two economically developed Northeast Asian democracies instead to work with Beijing to "revitalize East Asia."

"No matter how blond you dye your hair or how sharp you shape your nose, you can never become a European or American, you can never become a Westerner," he said in a video shared on official media.

"We must know where our roots lie," he said.

But China's pressure tactics have led to a sharp deterioration in its favorability in Japan and South Korea, which have traditionally been more discreet than the United States in their comments.

Tensions have also risen with North Korea, which has launched a volley of missiles in recent months and is feared to respond to the summit with new action.

The leaders' joint statement renewed a call on North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons and urged all nations to enforce sanctions.

As the Camp David summit opened, North Korea said it had scrambled jets in response to what it called a US spy plane's incursion.

- Global allies -

The summit also set its focus beyond North Korea and even Asia.

Tokyo and Seoul have offered a major boost to Ukraine as major non-Western powers joining pressure against Russia's invasion.

Kishida said greater cooperation with South Korea was "almost inevitable" in light of the "crisis" in the world order.

"Due to Russia's aggression of Ukraine, the international order is shaken from its foundation. The unilateral attempt to change the status quo by force in the East and South China Seas are continuing and the nuclear and missile threats of North Korea are only becoming even greater," Kishida said.

The summit aims to institutionalize three-way cooperation to make it difficult for any reversal by a future leader -- a South Korean president who again seizes on hostility with Japan or, potentially, a return of Donald Trump, who has disparaged US troop commitments overseas as wasteful.

To the surprise of many observers, Yoon's embrace of Japan has drawn relatively muted protests at home.

Yoon, a conservative, has quickly become a close US ally, with Biden welcoming him for a rare state visit in which the South Korean leader regaled the audience by singing "American Pie."

But Yoon is constitutionally prohibited from serving more than a single term, which ends in 2027.

aue-sct/acb
A Canadian government minister on Friday demanded that Meta lift a ban on domestic news from its platforms to allow people to share information about wildfires in the west of the country. A helicopter battles the McDougall Creek wildfire as it burns in the hills West Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada,(AFP)

Meta started blocking news on its Facebook and Instagram platforms for all users in Canada this month in response to a new law requiring internet giants to pay for news articles.

Some people fleeing wildfires in the remote northern town of Yellowknife have complained to domestic media that the ban prevented them from sharing important data about the fires.

"What Meta is doing now is completely unacceptable ... we see that due to this ban, people do not have access to information that is absolutely crucial," Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguez told a briefing.

"I demand that Meta reverse this decision," continued Rodriguez, who in his previous role as heritage minister oversaw the legislation requiring payment for articles.

Chris Bittle, a legislator for the ruling Liberal Party, complained on Thursday that "Meta's actions to block news are reckless and irresponsible."

In response, a Meta spokesperson said the company had activated the "Safety Check" feature on Facebook that allows users to spread the word that they are safe in the wake of a natural disaster or a crisis.

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If you've been a Facebook user in the United States between May 24, 2007, and December 22, 2022, you have about one week left to file a claim in a data privacy settlement case. Meta, Facebook's parent company, agreed to a $725 million settlement to address privacy-related class action lawsuits. These suits alleged that Facebook allowed third parties to access users' private data without their consent, including data accessed by Cambridge Analytica during the 2016 Trump presidential campaign. FILE PHOTO: The Facebook logo is seen on a screen in this picture illustration taken December 2, 2019. (REUTERS)

Here's what you need to know if you're considering making a claim:

Eligibility and deadline:

Users falling within the specified time frame can file a claim. The deadline for online submissions is 11:59 pm PT on August 25. If filing by mail, ensure your envelope is postmarked by the same date.

Payment calculation:

The payment amount depends on factors like the number of claimants, your duration as an active Facebook user, and the net settlement fund after costs are subtracted. Each month of an active account gets one point. The total points are used to determine payment per month of activity. For instance, if the net settlement amount is $100, and the total points are 500, you'd receive 20 cents ($100/500) per month you were active. If your active period spanned 52 months, you'd get $10.40.

Also Read | Meta starts removing news content from Facebook, Instagram in Canada

Payment distribution:

The final approval hearing for settlement is scheduled for September 7. If approved, payments will be distributed once appeals are resolved. The exact payment date remains unclear.

Impact on lawsuits:

Joining the settlement class and claiming a payment forfeits your right to sue Facebook or participate in other lawsuits related to covered matters. The deadline for opting out of the settlement class has passed.

With the clock ticking, US-based Facebook users have a limited window to secure their claim in this significant privacy settlement. Make sure to file your claim by August 25 to potentially receive compensation for your years on the social media platform. For more details, visit the Facebook user privacy settlement website.
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khans nephew Hassaan Khan Niazi has been handed over to the military for trial over his alleged involvement in the May 9 violence, Dawn reported on Friday. Former Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan.(AFP)

According to the report, Hassaan has been named as the prime suspect in the Jinnah House attack that took place in Lahore during the May 9 violence  triggered after the arrest of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf chief.

The report added that the police had arrested Hassaan from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, after which he was handed over to the military at the commanding officer's request.

Hassaan Niazi, who is also the party chiefs focal person on legal affairs, was handed over to the Quetta police on August a day after his arrest late Sunday night from Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The development was confirmed by his father Hafeezullah Khan on his social media account.

However, the case in which Hassaan was apprehended remained unknown, as per The News International.

Earlier, the police had said that Hassaan was involved in May 9 riots and attack on sensitive military installations. Niazi is wanted by the Lahore police for his involvement in the attack on Jinnah House (Lahore's Corps Commander House), it added.

Hassaans father, had filed a plea for his sons recovery, demanding that he be produced before the court.

During the hearing on Friday, Additional Advocate General Ghulam Sarwar Nahang submitted the police report before Justice Sultan Tanveer Ahmed of the HC.

Nahang informed the court about Hassaans trial in a military court and his handover to the army. He also demanded Hassaans meeting to be arranged with his parents, upon which the court asked the law officer to inform them when the meeting could be held, The News International reported.

I can find out the procedures and rules in this regard, and inform accordingly, Nahang replied after which the court granted adjournment to clarify the procedures and rules.

Meanwhile, the ousted premier is behind bars at Attock Jail after a trial court in Islamabad found him guilty of concealing proceeds of Toshakhana (state depository) gifts that he received from foreign dignitaries as the prime minister of the country from 2018 to 2022, and sentenced him to three years in prison along with a fine of PKR 1,00,000.

Subsequently, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) disqualified him for five years from holding public office following his conviction.
After previously referring to GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy as a 'promising candidate,' Elon Musk has once again indirectly endorsed Ramaswamy's views, stating that he "states his views clearly." This second endorsement from Musk in a single day comes just one week before Ramaswamy is set to face off against his main rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, in the GOP presidential race. Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, speaks during the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort Hotel And Convention Center in Maryland. (AFP)

Ramaswamy took to social media platform X to share his perspectives on a range of topics, including God, gender, climate change, racism, and immigration. In response, Elon Musk commented, "he states his views clearly." It's worth noting that Musk's sentiment aligns with Tucker Carlson's assessment during an interview where he described Ramaswamy as "one of the best-versed voices in policy" he has engaged with.

In his social media post on platform X, Ramaswamy laid out his beliefs as follows:

'God is real.

There are two genders.

Human flourishing requires fossil fuels.

Reverse racism is racism.

An open border is no border.

Parents determine the education of their children.

The nuclear family is the greatest form of governance known to mankind.

Capitalism lifts people out of poverty.

There are three branches of the U.S. government, not four.

The U.S. Constitution is the strongest guarantor of freedoms in history'

Their first topic of conversation between Tucker Carlson and Ramaswamy was his recent comments questioning the official story of 9/11. He said, I didn't suggest it, I explicitly said the government absolutely lied, the 9/11 Commission lied, the FBI lied. Is this a core point of my campaign? No. Absolutely not. I went on a comedy show where the guy asked if the moon landing was fake, and I said it was real. Then he asked me if the government told the truth about 9/11 and I said no, they did not.

DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley are set to appear Friday in the Atlanta neighbourhood of Buckhead, a Republican-leaning enclave in an otherwise Democratic-dominated city. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy will speak Saturday.

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Russias invasion has hit this underworld with the force of an earthquake (see map 1). The vast majority of rock-hard Ukrainian mobsters have stopped collaborating with their Russian peers. We are thieves, we are against any state, but we decided we are for Ukraine, says one. Lucrative heroin-smuggling routes are being remapped, affecting prices and profits for criminal syndicates thousands of miles away. If the disruption proves lasting it could alter the face of global crime. It will also change Ukraine.

Aleksandr Otdelnov owns an unusual tourist attraction: a smuggling museum. Contraband has been flowing through his native OdesAa since the 18th century. Until it closed because of covid-19, the museum displayed everything from pearls and pistols sneaking into imperial Russia to more contemporary loot. Then came the war in February 2022. The port stopped working, and everything stopped, says Mr Otdelnov. It wasnt just the tourist flows that ended. Odesa had been a key node in a vast network of crime centred on Ukraine and Russia that reached from Afghanistan to the Andes. It was part of the strongest criminal ecosystem in Europe, reckons the Global Initiative against Transnational Organised Crime (GITOC), a think-tank.

The country has struggled with corruption ever since it left the Soviet Union in 1991. The Maidan revolution of 2013-14 overthrew a corrupt president and some of the oligarchy behind him. In 2019 Volodymyr Zelensky was elected as president on an anti-corruption platform and passed mafia-busting reforms. But at best it was a half-finished clean-up. Before the invasion, GITOC ranked Ukraine 34th-worst out of 193 countries on its criminality index, and third in Europe. Ukraine also scored notably badly on perceptions of corruption.

The underworld in the government-held parts of Ukraine before 2022 was intermittently, and violently, contested between different groups. Nonetheless, it had three facets that linked Ukraine to global criminal markets. First, a contraband superhighway linking Russia and Ukraine, passing through the parts of eastern Ukraine that were occupied by Russia in 2014. Second, global smuggling hubs in Odesa and the other Black Sea ports. And finally factories in Ukraine for the production of illicit goods for export.

This infrastructure supported different business models for different products. Ukraine was a growing spin-off transit route for heroin from Afghanistan, augmenting routes through the Balkans and the Caucasus (see map 2). Before the war it had the fourth-largest heroin seizures in Europe. Cocaine from Latin America flowed via the Black Sea. In the other direction, mobsters exported weapons to Asia and Africa, notably from Mykolaiv, a port. In 2020 Ukraine overtook China to become Europes largest source of illegal tobacco. The local manufacture of amphetamines was rising: 67 illegal laboratories were dismantled that year, the highest reported figure of any country.

The war has changed everything by creating an environment of unacceptable risk for international illicit trafficking, says a new report from Americas government. Black Sea ports have been closed or much restricted for shipping. The boundary between government-run Ukraine and the territories occupied by Russia is now a fortified series of killing fields, breaking the superhighway. Enlistment in Ukraine has deprived the underworld of manpower while martial law has stopped a wide range of criminal activity. Curfews make it harder to move around at night.

Ukrainian gangsters are also shunning their Russian counterparts. It is one thing to be called a criminal; quite another to be thought of as a traitor, says Mark Galeotti, author of The Vory: Russias Super Mafia. Loyalty to Ukraine is about risk control as well as patriotism. If we were annexed to Russia, many of the guys in prison might be transferred a long way away, explains one gangster. Russian guards are merciless. None of us need that. So well do the dirty work for Ukraine.

The knock-on effects are being felt globally as contraband networks are reconfigured to bypass Ukraine. Turkish customs officials say more heroin and methamphetamines are flowing across the border with Iran. Lithuanian border officials saw a fourfold year-on-year rise in illicit tobacco volumes in the first quarter of 2022. Estonian officials working with Europol, the EUs police agency, nabbed 3.5 tonnes of Latin American cocaine in the port of Muuga, worth roughly half a billion euros, last year. The blocking of Ukraines Black Sea ports and increased controls in western Europe may also explain large seizures recently in Russia. On April 10th the authorities seized almost 700 kilos of cocaine in Moscow. Russian wiseguys close to the border with Belarus, once marginal, are now profiting from the smuggling of luxury goods into Russia, especially fancy designer handbags.

The war has also meant new short-term opportunities for gangsters in Ukraine. One is people-smuggling. The un estimates that about 5m Ukrainian refugees are in temporary protection in Europe, and its statistical modelling of historical trends suggests perhaps 100,000 might become victims of people-trafficking. There is also a market for smuggling conscripts out of Ukraine. Sometimes this can be as simple as sneaking them past Ukrainian passport control. At least 8,000 have been caught trying to leave the country, mostly for Moldova or Poland. Smugglers reportedly charge from 5,000 ($5,500) to 10,000. Still, so far the scale of human-trafficking is not as bad as it could be. It happens, says a senior Europol official, but far less than we expected.

The long-term impact of the war on criminality in Russia is likely to be malign. The state has intensified links with organised criminals that were already established, though only occasionally exploited, according to Mr Galeotti. Russian mobsters operating outside the country have been required to deposit a share of their profits in so-called black accounts that can be accessed by Russias spies to cover their operating costs. Criminals have been recruited to act as Kremlin intelligence agents, notably to help obtain much-needed embargoed semiconductors for the war effort. The seizure of Western-owned firms in Russia by the Kremlin or its proxies will fuel a new era of cronyism, while the requirement to mask cross-border transactions or bypass the Western financial system will reduce transparency and accountability further.

For Ukraine, the long-run picture is less clear-cut. A frozen conflict could certainly create big risks. Before the invasion, Ukraine had somewhere between 7m and 9m legal firearms. There were perhaps as many illicit ones. The country is now even more awash with weaponry. History suggests that wars fuel arms-dealing: guns from Yugoslavia are used in violent crime across Europe. Interpols secretary-general, Jurgen Stock, has warned there could be a surge in the trafficking of small arms. So far, however, so good. We are not seeing arms-trafficking on a systematic or organised basis, explains the Europol official.

Domestic drug production could crank up again. Americas government recently reported the growth of more distributed networks of smaller drug laboratories in Ukraine which use the Internet for sales and the postal system for delivery. The biggest risk comes from the process of reconstruction. Last month the World Bank put the cost of rebuilding Ukraine at $411bn, including $92bn on transport and $69bn on housing. Such large-scale projects could easily be preyed upon by mafias, who rig public-procurement systems and bidding systems to gain access to land, subsidies and licences.

Still, there is an opportunity to make permanent the diminution of organised crime in Ukraine. The main effort must come from within the country. A draft law from December aims to reform urban planning: related government documents say the construction industry is prone to abuse of power, general corruption and avoidance of punishment. In January Mr Zelensky fired four deputy ministers and five regional governors for graft, according to Reuters. Any internal problems that interfere with the state are being cleaned up, he declared.

Outside pressure may help: those reconstruction funds are likely to come largely from foreigners and to have strings attached. Ukraines eventual membership of the EU is still many years away but the process of converging with eu norms is a lever with which to combat organised crime. The country was given candidate status back in June.

It is a truism among those who study organised crime around the world that war and social dislocation generate opportunities for gangsters and their white-collar collaborators. Yet there are unusual elements of Ukraines experience that might permit a different result. The war has severed the decades-old physical and social arteries between the country and Russias criminal networks, possibly for years to come. It has given the Ukrainian state further public legitimacy to combat oligarchy and may increase Western participation in, and scrutiny of, the economy. No one sensible thinks smuggling in Odessa will be relegated to a museum. But there is a chance that Ukraine could finally stop being a gangsters paradise.

 2023, The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on www.economist.com
Hurricane Hilary churned north toward California and Mexicos Pacific Coast, packing Category 4 winds after exploding in strength overnight. General view of the Medano beach before the arrival of hurricane Hilary at Los Cabos resort in Baja California state.(AFP)

Warm water fueled Hilarys winds, which were holding steady at 145 miles (233 kilometers) per hour as of 2 p.m. local time, according to a US National Hurricane Center advisory. Hilary is forecast to come ashore in Mexico over the weekend before lashing California and the US Southwest with flooding rains through Monday.

Tropical storm watches have been posted in California from the border with Mexico to Los Angeles and Orange counties, the hurricane center said. Hurricane and tropical storm watches and warnings have also been raised along much of Mexicos Baja California coastline, as well as parts of its mainland shore. Heavy rains that could trigger landslides from late Friday to Sunday are likely across the peninsula.

The storm could get even stronger, potentially even reaching the maximum Category 5 strength on the Saffir-Simpson scale before easing when it starts moving over cooler water, said Adam Douty, a meteorologist with commercial forecaster AccuWeather Inc.

By the time it gets close to land it should have lost a fair bit of intensity, he said.

As Hilary makes landfall in Mexicos Baja California, its winds should have weakened to about 75 mph, according to the hurricane center. Itll likely be at tropical storm strength as the storm moves into California late Sunday and weaken further when Hilary moves inland.

Downpours

Still, Hilary is expected to bring widespread heavy rain to California and the US Southwest, raising risks of power outages, mudslides and flooding along with disruptions to ground transportation and air travel. The rain could start in the region as early as Saturday, with the worst of it arriving late Sunday into Monday.

A wide area could get 2 to 4 inches, Douty said, which would be similar to the powerful winter storms that sometimes hit California and bring flooding. Desert communities, such as Palm Springs, as well as the many railroad lines that cross the area and pass through the mountains could also be imperiled, he said.

Some areas could get more rain than they normally receive in a year, Michael Brennan, the hurricane centers director, said in a video briefing. In the last 10 years, flooding from rains has been the leading cause of deaths from tropical systems, he said.

Flood watches cover parts of California, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah, including Los Angeles, San Diego and Las Vegas. Flooding could be worst across Southern California, especially around San Diego, the California Governors Office of Emergency Services said in a statement.

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Hurricane Hilary has intensified into a Category 4 storm off Mexico's Pacific coast, with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph. The storm is projected to head towards the central Baja California peninsula, potentially making landfall or staying just offshore. This storm has grabbed attention due to its rarity and potential impact on the US. This handout satellite image courtesy of NOAA taken on August 16, 2023, shows hurricane Hilary approaching Baja California, Mexico. Tropical Storm Hilary strengthened into a major hurricane in the Pacific on August 16, 2023 and was expected to further intensify before approaching Mexico's Baja California peninsula over the weekend, forecasters said. Heavy rainfall was also expected in the southwestern United States from Friday as the storm moves north, the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. (AFP)

Potential impact on Southern California

Hilary's path could lead to heavy rainfall in parts of Southern California as early as the weekend. The storm is expected to produce significant rainfall, with forecasts predicting 3 to 5 inches, and isolated amounts up to 10 inches. This is particularly concerning as the region hasn't experienced a tropical storm since 1939.

Unusual situation and possible flooding

While Hilary's weakening is anticipated before reaching Southern California, the sudden influx of heavy rain raises concerns about flooding. The parched Southwest could experience some relief from prolonged drought conditions, but the intensity of the rainfall might overwhelm waterways, potentially exacerbating the flood risk.

Relief and risks for drought-stricken areas

Drought conditions have been persistent across California, Arizona, and New Mexico. Hilary's arrival, however, offers a silver lining by potentially delivering multiple years' worth of precipitation to some of the driest regions. While this could help alleviate drought concerns, the concentrated rainfall may lead to dangerous flash flooding, as seen in the past.

Cooling effect and temperature relief

In addition to potential relief from drought, the Southwest might experience a temporary respite from scorching temperatures. The combined impact of rainfall and cloud cover could bring down triple-digit temperatures by as much as 20 degrees, offering a much-needed break from the extreme heatwave.

A rare and unpredictable storm

Hilary's projected path and impact on the US remain uncertain due to its rarity and potential for swift changes. Meteorologists are monitoring the situation closely to provide accurate forecasts and warnings to the affected areas. The unpredictability of the storm highlights the need for preparedness and vigilance among residents.

As Hurricane Hilary approaches, the Southwest US faces a mix of hope for relief from drought and concern over potential flooding. The region, unaccustomed to such tropical storms, must stay informed and ready to respond to the dynamic and ever-changing nature of this powerful weather phenomenon.
Ahead of the much-anticipated first GOP Presidential debate scheduled next week Indian American candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has been endorsed by two influential voices. Republican presidential candidate businessman Vivek Ramaswamy speaks at the Iowa State Fair Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP/PTI)(AP08_12_2023_000358A)(AP)

Impressed by his views on geo-politics Tucker called him one of the best-versed voices in policy' he has spoken with.

Tucker's views were also endorsed by Elon Musk who shared the interview video on his platform, calling Ramaswamy a very promising candidate. Interestingly Musk's tacit endorsement comes after he pitched for Ron DeSantis.

Interestingly Florida Governor had also chosen Twitter Spaces event to announce his presidential candidacy, speaking alongside Musk despite technical difficulties that overshadowed the launch.

Americans are expecting an exciting face-off between DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy who have been piggybacking on Trump's posturing to win over GOP support ahead of the primaries. With doubts over Trump's presence at the event all eyes will be on DeSantis and Ramaswamy.

Ramaswamy has rocketed up the polls since joining the field as a complete unknown and political novice. According to national polling averages, Trump has about 53 percent support, with DeSantis far behind at 15 percent and Ramaswamy in third at 7 percent.

DeSantis appears to see Ramaswamy as a threat, as leaked debate prep materials instruct the Florida governor to take a sledgehammer to the rival candidate. The pair will share a stage at the Aug. 23 debate in Wisconsin, the first of the campaign. Trump is not expected to attend

According to a Bloomberg report Ron DeSantis considers Ramaswamy as vulnerable for his ties to China and willingness to join a trans-Pacific trade deal. DeSantis' team has prepared a dossier against his political rival which claims CEO of Roivant Sciences in 2018, Ramaswamy partnered with a Chinese state-owned firm to start another company, Sinovant Sciences, and that he keynoted a conference in China.

The documents also target Ramaswamys stances on abortion and drug policy and link him to Democratic financier George Soros, a frequent target for Republicans. Ramaswamy received a Soros fellowship for new Americans over a decade ago.

(With Agency Inputs)

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A Ukrainian drone smashed into a building in central Moscow on Friday after Russian air defences shot it down, disrupting air traffic at all the civilian airports of the Russian capital, Russian officials said. Police officers stand guard at the scene of the wreckage of a drone at the "Moscow City" business district after a reported drone attack in Moscow, Russia on Friday.(AP)

A Reuters witness who was in the area described hearing "a powerful explosion". Reuters images showed workers and emergency workers inspecting a damaged roof of a non-residential building which the drone hit.

The Russian defence ministry and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said there were no casualties after air defences destroyed a drone which then fell on a non-residential building of Moscow's Expo Center complex in the early hours of Friday.

Watch | Russian forces blew up American stryker armoured vehicles first time in Ukraine

The Expo Center is a large spread of exhibition pavilions and multi-purpose halls, fewer than 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) away from the Kremlin.

"At about 4 am Moscow time, the Kyiv regime launched another terrorist attack using an unmanned aerial vehicle on objects located in Moscow and the Moscow region," the Russian defence ministry said.

There was no immediate comment from Kyiv.

Air-traffic was briefly suspended at four major airports around the capital - Vnukovo, Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo and Zhukovsky - though later they reopened.

Russia's air transport agency said seven flights were redirected to alternative airports.

Drone air strikes deep inside Russia have increased since a drone was destroyed over the Kremlin in early May. Civilian areas of the capital were hit later in May and a Moscow business district was targeted twice in three days earlier this month.

Both Ukraine and Russia deny targeting civilians and civilians infrastructure in the nearly 18-month war."

Ukraine typically does not comment on who is behind attacks on Russian territory, although officials have publicly expressed satisfaction over them.

The New York Times reported in May that United States intelligence agencies believed Ukrainian spies or military intelligence were behind the drone strike on the Kremlin.

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Councilwoman Inna Vernikov of New York City's 48th District was unexpectedly kissed by a stranger while being interviewed by CBS New York reporter Hannah Kliger in the Brighton Beach neighborhood of Brooklyn. The incident occurred on Thursday, catching both the councilwoman and viewers off guard. NYC Councilwoman Inna Vernikov was kissed by a stranger during a TV interview.(Twitter/@CBSNewYork)

Unwanted encounter in the streets

While Councilwoman Vernikov was engaged in a TV interview discussing local matters, a passerby leaned in and kissed her on the cheek before casually continuing on his way. The councilwoman's immediate reaction was captured on camera, as she exclaimed, "What the f---?" Vernikov swiftly turned her head to confront the stranger, expressing her clear discomfort.

Councilwoman's response

Councilwoman Vernikov responded sarcastically to the incident, commenting on a video of the encounter posted on social media by reporter Hannah Kliger. She wrote, "Not the kind of love I'd expect from constituents!" Vernikov later referred to the incident as "creepy." While the councilwoman expressed her unease, no official report has been filed with the New York City Police Department as of yet.

Support from fellow officials and public

Fellow city council member Lynn Schulman voiced her support for Vernikov on social media, condemning the incident. Schulman commented, "This is abhorrent and disgusting... Hope the assailant is found. Sadly, this type of unacceptable behavior typically happens to women, even in 2023. Am standing with you @InnaVernikov."

Also Read | NYC doctor accused of drugging and videotaping sexual assaults on patients

Online users also shared their thoughts on the incident, with some suggesting a more aggressive response from the councilwoman. Vernikov acknowledged these sentiments, stating that she was taken by surprise and didn't react in the moment.

This incident occurred during the same week when New York City Mayor Eric Adams made controversial remarks about "eye candy" in relation to signing an outdoor dining bill. While unrelated to the incident, Mayor Adams' comments have sparked discussions around gender-related remarks and behavior.

This incident serves as a reminder of the challenges women continue to face when it comes to unwanted attention and personal boundaries. As New York City officials address the matter, it underscores the importance of creating a safe and respectful environment for everyone in the community.
The United States on Friday extended its temporary protected status for Ukraine and Sudan nationals through the spring of 2025, citing ongoing conflicts in the two war-torn nations. A Ukrainian man seeking asylum in the United States holding his passport.(Reuters)

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, in separate statements, said it would extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for both countries for 18 months from Oct. 20, 2023, through April 19, 2025.

Homeland Security also announced changes that would enable additional eligible Ukrainian and Sudanese nationals to apply for the status, extending relief to citizens from both countries who are studying in the United States to maintain their student status even if they take fewer courses to work more.

READ | Immigrants with temporary status have grown deep roots in US

"Russias ongoing military invasion of Ukraine and the resulting humanitarian crisis requires that the United States continue to offer safety and protection to Ukrainians who may not be able to return to their country," Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas wrote. "We will continue to offer our support to Ukrainian nationals through this temporary form of humanitarian relief."

READ | Indians to benefit from this US visa policy change

The extension impacts about 26,000 current Ukrainian beneficiaries with TPS and makes an estimated 166,700 additional individuals eligible for the temporary status, the department said.

Department officials also cited Sudan's "eruption of violent clashes in April 2023 killing hundreds of have triggered political instability, violence, and human rights abuses against civilians."

About 1,200 Sudanese beneficiaries with current TPS status and would make an estimated 2,750 additional individuals eligible.
The leaders of the United States, Japan and South Korea said Friday that they oppose China's "dangerous and aggressive behavior" asserting maritime claims in the Indo-Pacific region. U.S. President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.(REUTERS)

In a statement from their summit in Camp David, Maryland, the three also stressed the need to maintain peace and stability in Taiwan, which China claims and is putting under increased political and military pressure.

"We strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the waters of the Indo-Pacific," the statement said, pointing to Beijing's militarization of small islands and reefs in the region.

"We reaffirm the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as an indispensable element of security and prosperity in the international community," it said.

"There is no change in our basic positions on Taiwan, and we call for a peaceful resolution of cross-strait issues," it said.
The New York Times is contemplating legal action against OpenAI over copyright issues. According to a report by npr.org, the newspaper might sue OpenAI to safeguard the intellectual property rights associated with its reporting. The New York Times Headquarters(Getty Images)

The New York Times is fearing that ChatGPT is kind of becoming its rival, by generating text which answers questions based on the original reporting by the newspaper's staff.

The report says that there have been negotiations between The New York Times and the maker of ChatGPT over the latter's incorporation of its stories in AI tools. However, after weeks of discussions, they have failed to strike a licensing deal under which OpenAI would need to pay New York Times for use of its intellectual property.

If the Times goes ahead with the lawsuit, it will mark a high-profile legal battle over copyright protection in the age of generative AI.

Reportedly, Microsoft has invested billions into OpenAI and is now using ChatGPT to power its Bing search engine. New York Times' concern is that if someone searches online, the user might get an answer which has been remodeled from its reporting. In such case, the user's requirement is met and the need to visit the Times' website is reduced.

ALSO READ| After Maui, wildfire impacts thousands in Canada

In June, the Times CEO Meredith Kopit Levien had talked about the alleged use of the newspaper's intellectual property by tech companies.

"There must be fair value exchange for the content that's already been used, and the content that will continue to be used to train models," said Meredith.

Daniel Gervais, the co-director of the intellectual property program at Vanderbilt University who studies generative AI, has weighed in on the situation.

"If you're copying millions of works, you can see how that becomes a number that becomes potentially fatal for a company," said Gervais.

"Copyright law is a sword that's going to hang over the heads of AI companies for several years unless they figure out how to negotiate a solution," added Gervais.
The Oliver Hotel, Oxford, formerly named Chancellor's House Hotel, unveils interior upgrades, three new food and beverage concepts, and an enhanced level of service for its guests. Following the recently announced rebrand of the historic hotel in Oxford, Mississippi, management company Oliver Hospitality's investment in the latest evolution of the property exemplifies its commitment to providing unparalleled hospitality experiences to guests and locals alike.

Led by Mey & Co Interior Architecture Design Studio, the thoughtful redesign of this Oliver Hotel now welcomes in with a completely new interior look. Custom furniture and modern art and accent pieces all demonstrate an upscale, sophisticated, yet inviting and playful, feel. As an ode to the history of the city and its flagship university, Ole Miss, guests will also notice a fresh color palette that fully embraces the spirit of Oxford. Expanding from 38 to 40 exquisitely appointed guest rooms, the property now offers four suites, 13 standard rooms and 23 premier rooms. All are upgraded with new bed frames, curtains, accent pillows, chairs and refinished furnishings. Additionally, all bathrooms received a refresh, with new wallpaper and American Medical-branded bath products.

The Oliver Hotel, Oxford now reflects even more the brand's desire to enhance the sustainability of the property, as Oliver Hospitality believes in caring for the planet. New sustainability initiatives not only help the earth, but they also provide a more upscale experience for guests. By partnering with Drop Water on the installation of refillable water stations and incorporation of glass bottles, the hotel is working to eliminate single use plastic. In the guest bathrooms, full size refillable shampoo, conditioner and body wash containers are provided and mounted in the shower for convenience. A newly implemented water conservation system will most notably benefit from changing guests' sheets and linens every two days, unless otherwise requested by the guest.

Coming soon, The Oliver Hotel will introduce three new food and beverage concepts. A tapas-style restaurant with patio dining, named Kingswood, will be situated off the lobby and offer seasonal menus with shared plates and Spanish flare. Also located in the lobby will be Nightbird, a cocktail parlor showcasing bold decor and featuring craft cocktails curated by exceptional bartenders. This intimate, yet inviting, experience for guests and locals will boast menus re-curated each season to reflect locally sourced ingredients and premium spirits. Finally, a rooftop bar will be added to the mix in 2024. Each of these additions will ultimately expand on the hotel's robust food and beverage program, embodying the contagious energy and rebellious spirit of the city of Oxford.

While some additions remain in progress, The Oliver Hotel, Oxford is fully open to the public and now accepting reservations. For more information on the hotel's transformation and to stay informed of upcoming announcements, visit www.oliveroxford.com.

Hotel website
Atrium Hospitality is ranked one of the nations largest hotel owners and operators. Headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia, the company oversees a portfolio of 82 hotels in 29 states, representing well-known brands such as: Hilton, Marriott, and IHG, among others. With nearly 10,000 passionate associates, Atrium operates 21,595 guest rooms/suites and approximately 2.3 million square feet of event space. Being a responsible community partner is a part of the Atrium culture, including supporting a range of civic and community activities. Atrium is proud to financially support the Clean the World initiative of shipping recycled hotel soap and plastic amenity bottles for distribution with humanitarian purposes in communities domestically and around the world. In addition, several Atrium properties nationwide participate in Project SEARCH, a nine-month school-to-work program for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
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A second Northern Berkshire Habitat for Humanity home on a parcel of land donated by the town at the corner of Cole Avenue and Maple Street in Williamstown is nearing completion. The first home, left, has been occupied since 2021.

Habitat for Humanity Making Plans for Williamstown's Summer Street Lot

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.  Northern Berkshire Habitat for Humanity is making plans to develop four single-family homes on a Summer Street residential lot the Affordable Housing Trust acquired in 2015.

To make the project work, the non-profit is hoping the trust can help pay for 300 feet of road to access the homes it wants to build.

Keith Davis of Habitat approached the trustees at their Wednesday meeting to make an initial pitch for $120,000 in financial backing to get the project going.

"The original proposal was two houses on that lot, but the lot is almost 1.75 acres," Davis told the board. "It's a huge lot. I was looking at that and saying there's absolutely no reason we shouldn't be able to put four houses in."

Davis said the next step for Habitat is to talk to a civil engineer about developing a site plan to make sure the lot can accommodate all four homes.

In terms of the road, Davis said the non-profit does not want to do a common driveway to the four homes but rather build a street that eventually can be accepted by the town, which would be responsible for maintenance and plowing.

Davis said the residences could legally be served by a common driveway, but there are practical considerations.

"The problem is who is going to pay to maintain it and plow it," he said. "It creates a multitude of problems having common driveways. We want not to be landlords. We want to turn it over when we're done.

"We don't want Habitat to have ownership in the development at all."

Davis referenced a previous Habitat project where the non-profit's board is dealing with disagreements among homeowners over a common drive years after the homes were occupied.

As for a Summer Street timeline, Davis said the non-profit would like to break ground as soon as 2024 if the engineering works out and the permitting is approved. He estimated that each of the four homes would take about two years to complete, making the last ready for occupation in about eight years, or 2032.

The trustees have talked about the Summer Street lot as having the potential for two homes, like a parcel it bought at the corner of Cole Avenue and Maple Street at the same time eight years ago.

Davis said one of the trustees asked him about putting duplexes or triplexes on the Summer Street lot to maximize its potential. But single-homes work better with the non-profit's process, he said.

"If we tried a two-unit or three-unit or four-unit house, it would take twice as long to get that house built," he said. "With the Habitat model, we have the owners chosen before the build, and they provide 250 hours of sweat equity. In some cases [with a duplex], you wouldn't be able to move in for four years."

Habitat has been on a two-year pace for its recent projects in town. The first home on the Cole/Maple lot was started in 2019 and finished in 2021; the second home, which will have a Maple Street address, should be ready to welcome a family of five in early October, Davis said on Wednesday.

Coincidentally, the $120,000 grant Davis suggested for the road matches the amount of Community Preservation Act funds town meeting granted to the Affordable Housing Trust in May. But Chair Andrew Hogeland noted that the trustees would have to get legal guidance on whether CPA funds can be spent on infrastructure, like a road, as opposed to the houses themselves. The trust originally bought the 1.75-acre lot in question with CPA money.

If there is a restriction in state law around using the CPA funds for that purpose, the board members noted they may have a workaround. Some of the Affordable Housing Trust's reserves in recent years has been replenished with American Rescue Plan Act funds through the action of the Select Board , and it was noted that ARPA funds can be spent on infrastructure.

While taking no action on Wednesday night, the four trustees in attendance seemed receptive to Davis' request and expressed their appreciation to the work of Northern Berkshire Habitat for Humanity as a partner with the trust in developing both lots the AHT acquired in 2015.

"I and the trust are thankful for the work you are doing now and will be doing," Thomas Sheldon said. "It's been a rich partnership. I mentioned before the meeting to Keith that I have a friend who works for Habitat in the Albany area. He has looked at what's been done here, and he's highly complimentary."

In other business on Wednesday, the trustees briefly addressed the current draft of the next townwide Comprehensive Plan. Hogeland prior to the meeting shared with his colleagues the current action plan" as drafted by the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee and asked them for any feedback they might want to give that panel.

"I thought there were some promising ideas in the diverse housing solutions section, as they called it," Sheldon said. "There were 12 of them, and a number of them seemed promising."

None of the trustees offered changes to suggest to the CPSC, which includes Daniel Gura, an Affordable Housing Trust board member who was unable to attend Wednesday's meeting.
Dalton Home Facing Condemnation

DALTON, Mass.  A residence located at 96 Anthony Road is facing condemnation unless the resident can make strides in cleaning the property to meet safety standards.

Despite having concerns, the Board of Health this week agreed to give Gary Dill an additional four weeks to clean the property.

The board previously approved a deadline of Aug. 14 to clean the kitchen, clear the egresses in all rooms, remove debris, repair the front stairs, and install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, Health Agent Agnes Witkowski said.

Due to an unexpected illness, cleaning of the property has been delayed, Dill said.

The property's owner, Sandy Dill, said she agreed with her brother that there aren't structural concerns for the house.

The town has been in communication with Dill for more than a year regarding the outside of the property. The shrubs are overgrown and a pine tree on the property is dead, Witkowski said.

The condition of the inside of the house was brought to the town's attention in June following an emergency call. The Fire Department determined that the state of the house was a safety concern for Dill and his wife.

The board was concerned about approving this extension. Dill assured that progress would be made during the extension period. Witkowski has visited the house numerous times and will continue to make inspections, saying some progress has been made.

The board will decide whether to condemn the property at its Sept. 13 meeting.
Cheshire Fire Getting $30K for AEDs

CHESHIRE, Mass.  The Cheshire Volunteer Fire Department is getting $30,075 to purchase automated external defibrillators and chest compression devices.

The funding comes from the latest round of the Fiscal 2022 Assistance to Firefighters Grants Program.

The award was announced on Friday by U.S. Sen. Edward J. Markey and is part of the more than $1 million in funding going to four Massachusetts fire departments.

"Massachusetts firefighters and emergency medical service providers are on the frontlines of protecting our friends, families, and neighbors," said Markey in a statement. "These investments provide our fire departments and emergency medical services with the equipment these heroes need to serve as a lifeline for the communities they serve."

The federal Assistance to Firefighters Grants Program has provided funding to local fire departments and emergency responders for more than 20 years. The grants allow for training and the purchase of such needed equipment as AEDs, protective gear and emergency vehicles.

The program, under the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has so far distributed 1,645 grants totaling $238.8 million for fiscal 2022, including $27,166 to the Dalton Fire District and $159,533 to the town of Sandisfield, both for operations and safety.

Also awarded in this round was the bulk of the funding, $921,943, for Ashland Fire Department to acquire firefighter breathing apparatuses and RIT packs as a regional award also supporting the Hopkinton and the Southborough fire departments; $47,619 to the South County EMS in Deerfield, Sunderland and Whatley to acquire cardiac monitors; and, $25,523 to the Westport Fire Department to acquire vehicle extrication equipment.

Subsequent rounds of fiscal 2022 funding remain forthcoming.




iciHaiti - Social : The Government assists the displaced people of Carrefour-Feuilles





Thursday August 17, 2023, Jerry Chandler the Director General of Civil Protection (DGPC), announced that measures have been taken at the level of several public entities to address the recent humanitarian crisis, resulting from the massive influx of internally displaced persons in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince during a press conference.



Through the DGPC, several emergency actions are underway with the help of partners, including the Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Communication, the Economic and Social Assistance Fund (FAES), the National Directorate of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DINEPA) the Ministry for the Status of Women and the Haitian Red Cross who participate, each at their level and according to the degree of responsibility, in the efforts aimed at supporting the displaced persons of Carrefour Feuilles and other areas of the country, while ensuring the availability of the mobile canteen, drinking water, basic sanitation services in order to avoid any spread of bacterial diseases including cholera, Chandler said.



IH/ iciHaiti


















MaxiLife, the visionary life insurance startup, commemorates its first-year anniversary of providing financial security to Filipinos. Over the past year, MaxiLife has achieved remarkable milestones and deserves recognition for the notable accomplishments attained in such a short period.

(L-R) MaxiLife president and CEO Jose Pastor Z. Puno, MaxiLife advisers to the board and vice chairman of Equicom Group Rene J. Buenaventura, and Maxicare president and CEO Christian Argos.

MaxiLife received its operating license from the Insurance Commission (IC) in July 2022. In a swift response, the company immediately assembled a team of key professionals and staff to spearhead its startup operations. In December 2022, the grand inauguration of the head office in the iconic BDO Equitable Tower, Makati City, marked a significant milestone for MaxiLife.

As 2023 unfolded, MaxiLife continued its upward trajectory. In January, the IC approved the first set of Group Life Insurance products offered by MaxiLife, enabling the company to provide this essential coverage to its corporate clients and group affiliates without delay. This approval solidified MaxiLife's commitment to protecting businesses and their employees from unforeseen risks.

By March 2023, MaxiLife achieved an extraordinary feat by being accredited as a Great Place to Work Certified company. This prestigious certification acknowledged MaxiLife's outstanding employee satisfaction, progressive work culture, and exemplary HR practices, all accomplished within a year of its establishment. This recognition not only reaffirmed MaxiLife's dedication to its employees' well-being but also showcased the company's commitment to providing the best possible service to its clients.

The crowning moment for MaxiLife came in July 2023 when it reached a significant milestone of reaching 350,000 insured lives. This remarkable accomplishment reflects the company's exponential growth and success in serving corporate clients and safeguarding countless individuals and families against life's uncertainties.

MaxiLife's impressive strides within the insurance industry have solidified its position as a reputable and rapidly expanding insurance provider in the Philippines. With an unwavering commitment to excellence, MaxiLife is set to continue its successful journey and embark on a trajectory of expansion and advancement.

As MaxiLife looks ahead to the future, the company remains focused on its core mission of providing innovative life insurance solutions and ensuring a simplified journey for all its valued stakeholders. With a team of dedicated professionals and a clear vision, MaxiLife is poised to shape the future of life insurance in the Philippines, providing a foundation for continued success and prosperity.
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The son of the animator who directed the original Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs has lambasted Disneys forthcoming live-action remake, which stars Rachel Zegler in the lead role.

Zegler, 22, has received criticism from some Disney fans after repeatedly suggesting that the original storyline was no longer fit for modern audiences.

The original cartoon came out in 1937, and very evidently so. Theres a big focus on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her. Weird! Weird! So we didnt do that this time, Zegler told ExtraTV in October 2022.

We absolutely wrote a Snow White that... shes not going to be saved by the prince, and shes not going to be dreaming about true love; shes going to be dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be, she added in another interview.

In an interview with The Telegraph, David Hand, whose father of the same name was one of the directors on Walt Disneys 1937 hit, said a lot of younger people have never seen the original and dont know what theyre talking about.

He said of the reimagining: I mean, its a whole different concept, and I just totally disagree with it, and I know my dad and Walt would also very much disagree with it.

The 91-year-old continued: They change the stories, they change the thought process of the characters theyre making up new woke things and Im just not into any of that.

I find it quite frankly a bit insulting [what] they may have done with some of these classic films Theres no respect for what Disney did and what my dad did I think Walt and he would be turning in their graves.

Rachel Zegler will portray Snow White in a live-action remake of the animated Disney classic (Left: YouTube/20th Century Studios  Right: YouTube/RKO Radio Pictures)

Zeglers comments have recently resurfaced on social media as some commentators accused her of pseudo-feminism.

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In a TikTok video with more than 10 million views, a user who goes by the handle @CosyWithAngie said: It is not anti-feminist to want to fall in love, to want to get married, to want to stay at home, to be soft, to want to be a homemaker. None of these things makes you less valuable as a person or a woman.

Criticising Disney princesses is not feminist. Not every woman is a leader. Not every woman wants to be a leader. Not every woman wants or craves power and thats ok, she continued.

Thinking that a woman is any less valuable because she falls in love or because she accepts help from somebody instead of girl-bossing her way through her problems is not feminist.

Representatives for Zegler did not respond to The Independents request for comment.

Zegler has not directly responded to the debate; however, posting on X (formerly Twitter) on 11 August, she wrote: I hope the world becomes kinder.

In a separate tweet, she added: I love you very much. forever and ever. remember to be kind. treat each other with patience and empathy. remember that you are loved unconditionally, no matter your mistakes, no matter your misunderstandings. you deserve it. you deserve love. you deserve to live without fear. x
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David Byrne has said he regrets the way Talking Heads disbanded in the early Nineties.

On Thursday (17 August), it was announced that the Psycho Killer band  fronted by Byrne  were reuniting for a Q&A with Spike Lee at this years Toronto International Film Festival following the premiere of A24s Stop Making Sense restoration.

The cult classic concert film, directed by Jonathan Demme (The Silence of the Lambs), is celebrating its 40th anniversary.

Speaking to People magazine about the reunion, 71-year-old Byrne took responsibility for the bands demise, saying: As a younger person, I was not as pleasant to be around. When I was working on some Talking Heads shows, I was more of a little tyrant.

And then I learned to relax, and I also learned that collaborating with people, both sides get more if theres a good relationship instead of me telling everybody what to do.

He continued: I think [the end] wasnt handled well. It was kind of ugly.

As far as were concerned, the band never really broke up. David just decided to leave, Frantz told the Los Angeles Times in 1992. We were never too pleased about the way David handled the situation.

David Byrne attends The 2023 Met Gala (Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue)

I have regrets on how that was handled. I dont think I did it in the best way, but I think it was kind of inevitable that would happen anyway, Byrne told People. We have a cordial relationship now. Were sort of in touch, but we dont hang out together.

Talking Heads formed in the 1970s, comprising Byrne on vocals, Chris Frantz on drums and Tina Weymouth on bass, after the three met at Rhode Island School of Design. They later added Jerry Harrison on keyboards and guitar.

They reached their commercial peak in 1983 with the Top 10 hit Burning Down the House from the album Speaking in Tongues.

Speaking to NME about a potential reunion last year, Frantz said: I did try it a couple of times and the last time was about 20 years ago, and after that, David just said: I never want you to ask me that question again. Im not going to address that matter. Its a shame and it is what it is.

Earlier this year, Byrne bemused Oscars viewers with a musical performance wearing sausage fingers. He sang This is a Life from Everything Everywhere All at Once, alongside Stephanie Hsu, one of the films stars.
Chinas flexible power sources will become more diversified, from the coal, gas and pumped storage hydropower of the past, to various regulatory resources including battery storage and hydrogen energy, say industry analysts and government officials.

By 2030, pumped storage hydropower will become the primary power source for adjusting the power balance thanks to its rapid output adjustment rate, according to a prediction by S&P Global Commodity Insights.

Electrochemical energy storage, on the other hand, will be playing a major role in flexibility regulation as early as 2040 and no later than 2050, thanks to its rapid adjustment response rate and relatively low cost, it added.

It can ensure stable grid operations by shaving peak and modulating frequency for the power system, as power consumption during off-peak hours has a relatively lower cost.

Han Bing, associate research and analysis director of S&P Global Commodity Power and Renewable Energy, said China currently has sufficient pumped hydro energy storage reserve projects to help make it a major flexible power source by 2030.

The nation currently sees pumped storage units with a total installed capacity of 130 gigawatts, either approved or under construction, Han said.

He estimates that the storage market mechanism of new energy will become more flexible by 2030, making it capable of participating in various power transactions, while new energy storage and hydrogen will also play a major role in balancing power supplies with higher performance and lower costs thanks to technological advances. By introducing hydrogen energy, China can reduce the installed capacity of fossil-fuel energy to around 600 GW by 2050, while raising that of new energy to approximately 800 GW, he said.

Lin Boqiang, head of the China Institute for Studies in Energy Policy at Xiamen University, said that developing technologies of new energy storage will not only reduce clean energy waste but also facilitate power demand at peak hours.

New energy storage has been one measure that China has taken to empower its green transition. It will become an important foundation for building a new power system in the country, Lin said.

He expects that the installed capacity of new energy storage, together with that of other regulatory power sources, will witness rapid development in the years to come.

To seize opportunities, many domestic energy companies are laying out plans to set up battery energy storage stations nationwide.

Located in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Chinas first megawatt-level iron-chromium flow battery energy storage project, composed of 34 domestically made Ronghe 1 battery stacks and four groups of storage tanks, will be put into commercial use soon, said its operator State Power Investment Corp.

An iron-chromium flow battery, a new energy storage application technology with high performance and low costs, can be charged by renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power and discharged during peak hours. The project can store 6,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity for six hours, it said.

New energy storage is an important foundation for building a new power system in China, enjoying the advantages of fast response, flexible configuration and short construction periods, said Li Jianwei, chief engineer of the company.

The National Development and Reform Commission has launched a series of policies to promote the development of various regulatory power resources including new energy storage and hydrogen energy in recent years.

The National Energy Administration said during a news conference on July 31 that Chinas installed capacity of new energy storage projects put into operation reached 8.63 million kilowatts in the first half, a multiyear record.

With the installed scale of renewable energys rapid growth, the power systems demand for various regulatory resources has been growing, leading to the accelerating development of new energy storage in the country in recent years, said Liu Yafang, an official with the administration, during the conference.
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China appears to be constructing a runway on a disputed island in the South China Sea, which has also been claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.

According to satellite images, a new airstrip appeared in early August on Triton Island  the southernmost of the Paracel Islands. The contested island is roughly equidistant from the coast of Vietnam and China's island province of Hainan.

So far China has built a 600-metre-long runway, enough to accommodate turboprop aircraft and drones, but not fighter jets or bombers, according to the Associated Press.

Beijing has asserted claims to the entire South China Sea as its own, denying the claims of other Southeast Asian countries and defying an international ruling. In order to assert its sovereignty, China continues to fortify islands in the disputed waters.

The work on Triton Island mirrors construction on seven human-made islands in the Spratly group to the east which have been equipped with airstrips, docks and military systems.

Apart from the airstrip, there is also the presence of large numbers of vehicle tracks running across much of the Triton Island, along with what appear to be containers and construction equipment.

A new building around was built at the same time as the runway around 100 metres to the south of the island and appears to be connected to it by a taxiway.

(L) Satellite image of the Triton Island in February 2023 with no airstrip and the image of the island from August with visible runway and other constructions (Planet Labs PBC / AP)

Beijing had a small harbor and buildings on the island for years, along with a helipad and radar arrays. Two large fields on the island sport a star from the Chinese flag and a hammer and sickle representing the ruling Communist Party.

Hunter Marston, a researcher and analyst at the Australian National University, told The Guardian that Vietnam appeared to perceive the developments on Triton Island with relative ambivalence and did not consider the islands to be an existential threat to Vietnams security.

Meanwhile, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi met his Vietnamese counterpart Tran Luu Quang on Wednesday in Kunming, Yunnan province.

Following the meeting, Mr Wang said China is willing to work with Vietnam to oppose interference from external forces and maintain the peace and stability of the South China Sea and the region".

Washington alleges it takes no stance on the sovereignty claims, but regularly sends navy ships on "freedom of navigation operations" near the islands.
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Three fresh deaths have been reported in Indias Manipur where ethnic clashes are brewing for months, taking the total death toll past 180, police officials said on Friday.

The latest deaths, coming after two weeks of stalemate, were reported from the northeastern states Ukhrul district. Three villagers were killed after a heavy gunfire erupted between the sparing local communities in Thowai village near Litan, reported Indian news channel NDTV.

Locals heard the gunfire in the morning and firing was stopped after the security forces reached the spot and intervened.

Thousands have been displaced from the remote Indian state bordering Myanmar witnessing rape, beheadings and violence between May and August this year. Thousands of homes have been torched and shops and businesses vandalised as two communities  Meitei and Kuki  have been up in arms against each other.

The fresh deaths come just two days after Indian prime minister Narendra Modi said peace was returning to the strife-torn state.

"For some days now, we are getting reports of extended peace. The country is with the people of Manipur. The country wants the people of Manipur to hold on to the peace of the last few days and take it forward," Mr Modi said in an Independence Day speech on Tuesday as he spoke from the ramparts of New Delhis Red Fort.

The state and federal governments are working very hard and will continue to work hard to resolve this peacefully, he said.

Mr Modis administration has rushed security forces to the hilly state to quell the violence, which comes as he is looking to secure a third term in a general election due by May next year.

The ethnic violence flared up in early May after a court order asked the state to consider extending economic benefits and quotas security in government jobs and education to the majority group of Meitei population, sparking uproar among the locals.

The state benefits were previously reserved for the minority tribal community of Kuki people, comprising nearly 84,000 in the state population of 3.2 million.

Nearly 1,519 miles (2444.5km) from New Delhi, Manipur has been the scene of near-civil war where mobs have been seen rampaging through villages and torching houses, and even parading women naked and sexually assaulting them. The death toll includes 21 women.

The state order, according to the minority hill community leaders, will benefit the Meitei community which is comparatively well-off. They argued that more privileges through the state order would be unfair.

The Meiteis say employment quotas and other benefits for tribes people would be protected.

In a severe backlash from opposition parties, the Modi administration has been accused of dividing the state and not doing enough to end the clashes.

The government rejected those accusations and defeated an opposition vote of no-confidence motion over the handling of the conflict in the parliament last week.
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Two Christian Pakistani nationals were arrested on charges of blasphemy, days after a Muslim mob burnt down houses and churches over the alleged desecration of the Quran.

The suspects were arrested after pages of the holy book were allegedly found tainted with derogatory remarks written in red, the local police said.

Blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan, and the suspects are often lynched by outraged mobs.

The arrest comes after at least 20 churches were vandalised in the city of Jaranwala in the district of Faisalabad earlier this week, in one of the deadliest incidents carried out against religious minorities in the country.

At least two dozen homes belonging to Christian families were torched or badly damaged during the riots.

A Christian graveyard was also desecrated, residents and community leaders said, adding that the mob had dragged belongings from Christians houses and set them on fire in the streets in an attack that lasted for more than 10 hours without any police intervention.

The police, however, have denied the accusation, saying that security forces prevented the situation from becoming even worse.

Onlookers and media representatives gather along a street in a Christian neighbourhood, a day after the church buildings and houses were vandalised by protesters in Jaranwala (Reuters)

Paramilitary troops have been pressed into action to guard minority settlements following the arson attacks.

Local police said on Thursday that more than 140 individuals had been arrested during overnight raids in relation to the violence.

Caretaker prime minister Anwar Ul Haq Kakar said on Friday that minorities have to be protected at all costs, as he promised to take action against those involved in the violence.

There wont be any favour. There wont be any fear, he said in his first cabinet meeting, which was broadcast live.

Thousands of Muslims led by local clerics were seen carrying iron rods, sticks, knives and daggers during the rioting, local people said. It is reported that hundreds of Christians who fled the settlement have now begun to return to their homes.

Mohsin Naqvi, the caretaker chief minister of Punjab, said that the Friday sermons in mosques would focus on the rights of minorities.

Amid challenging times, lets emphasise that such incidents should not be coloured by religion. Interfaith harmony is among the basic teachings of Islam, the chief minister wrote on Twitter/X.

The Punjabi government has vowed to restore all the vandalised churches and homes within the next three to four days, the Dawn newspaper reported.

The United States and rights groups have called on Pakistani authorities to ensure the protection of minorities.

The vicious mob attacks are just the latest manifestation of the threat of vigilante violence which anyone can face in Pakistan after a blasphemy accusation, Amnesty International said in a statement.

Pakistani authorities need no more evidence to see how dangerous the blasphemy laws are. The broad, vague and coercive nature of the blasphemy laws violates the human rights to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and freedom of expression.

They have long been misused to target some of the most marginalised people in society.
 Close Wildfire roars through Hawaiis historic Lahaina

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President Joe Biden is heading to Hawaii on Monday to survey the damage wrought by the devastating wildfires which have so far claimed 114 victims.

After facing criticism for his response to the disaster, the president and First Lady Jill Biden will travel from Nevada to Maui to meet with federal, state, and local leaders as well as survivors and first responders who battled the blaze.

Richard Bissen, the mayor of Maui said around 850 people are still missing.

The search to find and identify victims remains painstakingly slow  only 27 victims have so far been identified, with families of 16 of those yet to be notified.

While Maui turns to efforts to rebuild the community, locals are now bracing for potential storm effects as the remnants of post-tropical cyclone Fernanda head to the state.

Heavy rainfall is expected between Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning, according to the National Weather Service.

Questions continue to mount over why the sirens didnt sound to warn Lahaina residents about the wildfires  and whether this may have cost lives.
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A man who escaped the Maui fires by spending hours in the ocean has revealed harrowing details of how he survived one of the most terrifying natural disasters the country has seen in years.

The death toll from the Hawaiian wildfires has now climbed to 106, but officials expect that number to increase further as searchers sift through the toxic rubble for victims and around 1,000 people are still missing.

Only five of the deceased have so far been identified because the remains have been left unrecognisable by the blaze, according to Maui County officials

Local resident Mike Cicchino, who lived in one of Lahainas inland neighbourhoods with his wife, has spoken out about his terrifying escape from the deadly fires last week.

Mr Cicchino was driving to the hardware store last Tuesday for a generator when he was suddenly caught in a desperate fight for his life.

The neighbourhood quickly became engulfed in flames and it was like a continuous bomb going off, Mr Cicchino told NewsNation host Natasha Zouves.

Mr Cicchino raced back to his house and gathered his wife and the dogs they were watching and attempted to flee the area. The smoke was so thick and black, they eventually lost some of the dogs, he said.

Behind us, straight ahead, beside us, everywhere was on fire, Mr Cicchino said, adding that he made final phone calls to his loved ones fearing he would not escape alive.

His mother was on the phone to 911 at the time and told the couple to follow the traffic. But the endless line of cars were headed straight for the inferno, he said.

Their only option, as they could tell, was to jump into the ocean.

Do you want to get burned or take your chances and drown? he told NewsNation he had asked himself.

For the next five or six hours, Mr Cicchino said that he and his wife moved back and forth between the ocean and shore. When flames fell from the sky, they ducked beneath the surface of the water.

Charred remains of a burned neighbourhood is seen in the aftermath of a wildfire, in Lahaina (AFP via Getty Images)

There are points where we were starting to pass out and we were about to drown, Mr Cicchino said.

Then, we got to come to shore. The cars parked next to shore caught on fire or were exploding. It was a leapfrog of fire. Go out, were getting burned. Come in, go out. Everywhere, we were getting burned or we couldnt breathe.

Mr Cicchino broke down as he recounted seeing death unfold before his eyes while desperately trying to keep himself and his wife above water.

They saw several bodies slumped against a wall at the shoreline, he said.

Other people in the ocean desperately clung to their babies and small children as the water whipped them around for hours. When Mr Cicchino later returned with the US Coast Guard to help pull people out of the water, the babies were gone.

I saw babies out there that I never saw again, Mr Cicchino said, his voice breaking. When I came back, when I was doing a headcount of the kids, the babies werent there anymore.

He said the whole ordeal felt like a nightmare.

This cannot be real. This cannot actually be happening, he said. But then you realise youre burning. Im feeling pain, and I dont feel pain in nightmares.

It was a gruelling 12 hours before the US Coast Guard rescued Mr Cicchino and his wife at around 1am on Wednesday morning.

At times, I remember just telling her to make sure that she saves herself. Dont worry. If I start drowning out here, you save yourself. Its the most terrifying experience of our life, he said.

Maui resident Mike Cicchino has spoken out about his terrifying escape from the fires (NewsNation)

Mr Cicchino said the first thing he did was call his mother back.

When I spoke with her, I broke down. When she came and got me, I broke down again, he recalled. We couldnt stop hugging each other. We were afraid to stop hugging each other.

Mr Cicchino and others have said they received no warning at all before the fires and believe it could have been prevented.

The fires, which are believed to be the deadliest in the US in the last century, erupted last week on three of Hawaiis islands forcing visitors to flee and residents to seek emergency shelter.

Photos and videos from Maui show the destruction the fires have caused, with some neighbourhoods including the historic town of Lahaina, nearly burned to ash.

Search and recovery efforts then began as firefighters worked to contain and put out the fires. But the wildfires have sparked a frenzy of questions about how disasters like this can be prevented in the future.

Hawaiis Attorney General Anne Lopez said her office will be conducting a review of the decision-making and policies surrounding wildfires.
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Think of sparkling wine and the two names that will come to mind are Champagne from France and Prosecco from Italy.

The former is made from chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier and gets its fizz and flavour from fermentation in the bottle and long ageing  a minimum of 15 months.

While Prosecco, made from the native Italian grape glera, offers something a little more frivolous and affordable. But theres much more to bubbles than these two famous wines.

In France alone there are dozens of different types of fizz, some based on the Champagne model whereas others aim for something totally different. Then theres Cava from Spain, and Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and yes England all make excellent wines using the same grapes as Champagne.

Theres a wide world of fizz to explore. To set you off on your effervescent journey, weve picked three distinctive wines: a Cremant de Bourgogne, a sparkler from the Languedoc and a pink Cava. Read on to learn all about them.

Alternative Bubbles, case of 6: 86, Independent.co.uk

(The Independent/Honest Grapes)

These are all delightfully fresh invigorating wines that offer beautifully sophisticated flavours at a reasonable price. While they will certainly appeal to lovers of Champagne or Prosecco, they are three highly individual wines with plenty of character that deserve to be judged on their own merits. All of them are delicious sipped neat as an aperitif but theyre also brilliant food wines as we shall see.

Let Honest Grapes open your eyes to the sheer variety of fizz available. Heres our verdict on three offbeat sparkling wines.

Folie by Gassac NV

(Mas de Daumas Gassac)

Rating: 9/10

Size: 75cl

Pairs well with: Goats cheese tart or roast chicken cooked with lots of herbs

Review in brief: A creamy lightly-sparkling Chardonnay thats packed with floral, herbal and citrus notes with a long creamy finish. Totally Irresistible.

Heres something a bit unusual, a sparkling Chardonnay from one of the greatest names in the Languedoc in the south of France, Mas de Daumas Gassac. This estate is famous for its long-lasting red wines but it makes more affordable wines like Folie by Gassac. While it is made from a Champagne grape, it gets its fizz from a similar method to Prosecco, in a pressurised tank, but its not a lot like its Italian cousin either. This method known as Charmat means that the wine majors on fresh fruit flavours like lemons and apples but theres also a delightful richness and creaminess. Its almost like a slightly sparkling white Burgundy and its gentle fizz means its perfect for those who find Champagne too bubbly. They exist!

Buy now

Domaine du Bicheron Cremant de Bourgogne, Blanc de Blancs NV

(domaine du bicheron)

Rating: 9/10

Size: 75cl

Pairs well with: Shellfish or even fish and chip

Review in brief: Lean, elegant and lemony with delicate little bubbles and a long nutty finish

Blanc de Blancs means that this wine is made entirely from Chardonnay. Its also made using the same method as Champagne but this comes from Burgundy instead. This part of France has a long and proud tradition of making excellent sparkling wines which tend to be incredibly good value for money. Domaine du Bicheron is a family-owned quality producer in the south of the region which also makes some delicious still wines. Its Cremant de Bourgogne spends 18 months ageing on its lees (dead yeast cells) which gives it a creamy, nutty texture alongside its racy citrus fruit. Your guests will think this is much more expensive than it is and theres no better sparkling wine with oysters or other shellfish.

Buy now

Pares Balta Cava Pink NV

(Pares balta)

Rating: 8/10

Size: 75cl

Pairs well with: Excellent with salmon both smoked and fresh

Review in brief: Orange peel and toastiness on the nose, then on the palate its dry with notes of cherry and a brioche

The quality of Cava has come on in leaps and bounds in the past ten years, no longer is it the bargain basement alternative to better-known sparkling wines. At the forefront of the Cava revolution are premium producers like Pares Balta, based in Penedes near Barcelona, which is entirely organic. Like all Cava, this is made using the Champagne method so you get those toasty flavours from ageing but its made from native Catalan grapes. These are two classic Cava white varieties Parellada and Macabeo with around 30 per cent of the red grape garnacha (aka grenache and from Aragon originally) which gives this wine its pretty colour and red fruit flavour profile. The result is something elegant and complex, a world away from the budget Cavas of yore.

Buy now

Looking for a summer red? Pour a glass from our edit of the best chilled red wines
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The uptick of Covid transmissions this summer has raised questions about whether or not certain safety measures such as wearing masks should be brought back.

It is ticking up a little bit, but its not something that we need to raise any alarm bells over, Dr David Dowdy, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told the Seattle Times. Although many health experts like Dr Dowdy dont believe people have cause to worry, some have expressed their concerns.

While many people have forgone wearing masks, UC San Francisco infectious diseases expert, Dr Peter Chin-Hong, cautioned the Los Angeles Times that swearing off masks for good would put people at higher risk of contracting the virus, elaborating: Right now, when things are heating up all around the country with Covid, you might want to think about [masking at] public transit and airports.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the number of Covid hospitalisations has risen an estimated 12 per cent weekly over the course of the last three weeks. But, compared to the heights of the pandemic, these reported numbers are rather low. Covid-19 hospital admissions were at 9,056 for the week ending 29 July, a number that is marginally less than past peaks such as 44,000 weekly hospital admissions in early January, or during the omicron surge of January 2022, in which there were 150,000 admissions.

Its highly likely that, due to a lack of ongoing data collection nationally, the numbers may not truly reflect the number of people contracting Covid. Since President Joe Biden declared that Covid is no longer a national emergency in April, the majority of federal authorities have scaled back hypervigilance and data tracking, so the CDC and many states have not been tracking the number of positive test results since May.

Many health experts stress that people should remain vigilant.

Even though the declared emergency is over, Covid is still circulating - and it probably will be for quite some time. And so if you really dont want to get sick, you can protect yourself by wearing a mask when youre indoors, Dr Sara Cody, the Santa Clara County public health director and health officer, told the LA Times. But its, at this point, an individual decision.

Dr Cody said that wearing masks even only in a high-risk environment is better than nothing at all because the more people are together, the greater the chance that one of those people is going to be infectious and spread Covid to others.

Health experts also urged people to be respectful of those who choose to wear masks, especially since you never know their reasons for doing so. In Los Angeles, the Department of Health encouraged individuals to consider risk levels of close family or friends they spend time with, and the nature of the event or location when deciding whether or not to wear a mask.

If you are up to date on your vaccinations, the likelihood of you contracting coronavirus is lower, while those who have not received a booster shot since the September 2022 omicron surge are urged to schedule an appointment for overdue booster shots. Dr Chin-Hong suggests that, for those who are either immunocompromised or older, its better to get the 2022 boosters now rather than wait for the 2023 formula.

The 2023 version of the vaccine will be designed to combat the latest dominant Omicron subvariant, XBB.1.5, which according to The New York Times, has reportedly seen a wave in hospitalisations on the East Coast.
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A woman has recounted her experience nearly being denied boarding on a Delta flight because of how she was dressed.

Lauren Phillips posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, a recount of the situation in a thread. The power trip these employees have at@Delta is crazy! the tweet began. Here I am, first class and I get threatened by an employee that she wont let me on the plane because of the way Im dressed. Humiliates me in front of everyone! Ive never had a problem with what I wear with other airlines. Never again.

The tweet was shared to Phillips 40,000 followers on what she describes as her safe for work account. She also has a separate account, which she claims is not safe for work, with more than 500,000 followers.

In the thread, she then recalled how embarrassed she felt about being called out on her outfit choice. Here is the employee at Delta, the next tweet read as Phillips showed a clip of the flight attendant who allegedly made the comment about her outfit.

Phillips never said what she was wearing at the airport, but did share a photo captioned, What I wasnt wearing, in which she could be seen wearing a tank top.

According to Delta airlines Contract of Carriage, the airline may refuse to transport or may remove passengers from its aircraft if they are barefoot or when the passengers conduct, attire, hygiene or odour creates an unreasonable risk of offence or annoyance to other passengers.

Delta also tweeted once in 2017 that it doesnt have an item-specific clothing policy, but we encourage no swimwear, sleepwear or underwear as your outerwear.

In response to Phillips thread, many of her followers were apologetic for the way she was treated. Im sorry that happened to you. Truly unprofessional behaviour on her part, one reply read. Well, lets hope that the company sees this and reaches out to make amends with you. That should not happen. Sorry, that it did, another reply agreed.

This isnt the first time Phillips has gone after an airline publicly. Last year, she posted another video to X, complaining about how American Airlines treats animals. In the video, she explained that she was travelling with her service animal and paid for him to have extra amenities, claiming her animal was then denied them.

Sounds like animal cruelty to me, dont you think? she said in the video. American Airlines did end up responding to the tweet with the hopes of resolving the issue. Your comments concern us and wed like to look into this in more detail. Please DM what happened and the record locator, the airline replied.

The Independent has contacted Phillips and Delta for comment.
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This summer, the acronym LOL has gone out of style amongst Gen-Z-ers and has been replaced in popularity by IJBOL, which stands for I just burst out laughing.

With social media users crowning it as the superior acronym, the latest laughing online acronym has been brought to the forefront of pop culture. The acronym IJBOL describes the real-life reaction many have when they laugh. The acronym hones in on the type of laugh that would arise from either surprise or holding it in. Its relatability makes it unsurprising that the internet has taken to it.

When asked about her preference for IJBOL by the New York Times, a 25-year-old bank analyst named Ellie said that she made the transition to IJBOL because she felt it was more true to her experience while laughing behind the screen. She elaborated, saying: Im usually just quiet and then I let out a snort.

Others feel like its about time a new acronym replaced a slew of pre-existing acronyms like LMAO and ROFL. Another twentysomething, Micheal, a 27-year-old content creator, explained to the outlet: I dont LMAO. Its just not what I do.

He continued, I associate LMAO with millennial humor. But then I associate IJBOL with Gen Z humour, which is funnier.

Online, the acronym has been associated with gifs of famous faces like Nicki Minaj, who was captured on a livestream laughing so hard she fell back in her chair, or most notably, vice president Kamala Harris, who has become the unofficial face of IJBOL after many videos and gifs of her doubling over with laughter have gone viral online.

Its sort of like her meme-able factor, 20-year-old student Sebastian remarked to the New York Times. When IJBOL came out, people started to just like use her as a way to coincide the two together, because shes kind of like the perfect definition of IJBOL. Shes always laughing at everything.

While the acronym has been around since 2009, according to Mashable, the K-pop community injected new life into the acronym when they adopted it in 2021 to categorize their favorite idols according to their favorite internet acronyms.

In recent months, however, IJBOL moved from niche circles and fandom forums to the broader social media landscape when users began to use gifs and images of celebrities laughing and including IJBOL in the caption.

Professor Michelle McSweeney, who currently studies digital laughter at the CUNY Graduate Center, called niche corners of the internet like the K-pop community spaces of creativity. As the author of the book OK, which examines how technology shapes language, contextualizing and analyzing internet jargon like IJBOL is well within Professor McSweeneys area of expertise.

It so doesnt surprise me that it first started on K-pop Twitter, Professor McSweeney, continued to explain. Because thats also a pretty tight-knit community that communicates a lot with each other and creates these new norms.

The professor also noted that when outsiders adopt acronyms central to niche online circles, what made it so fun initially can get lost. The circulation of new lingo into the popular lexicon, she explains, is necessary.

You would totally use LOL with your boss. I will say that I have used LMAO with my boss, but like, thats as far as I escalate, said Professor McSweeney. Thats why we need to bring new terms into circulation, because youre not going to write to your best friend the same thing theyre going to write to your boss.
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Kevin Jonas and wife Danielle are contemplating adding another little Lovebug to their family of four.

The 35-year-old musician and his partner, 36, spoke to Today in an interview published on 17 August about the possibility of welcoming an additional Jonas baby. Kevin joked about expanding their family with more dogs, but Danielle seemed keener to have a child.

I would love another one, she admitted. Theres been a lot ... a lot going on with that, but I would love another [baby]. I love kids. Meanwhile, the bass player left the topic open for debate, in saying, You never know.

Kevin talked about how he and his two brothers Joe, 33, and Nick, 30, along with their spouses Sophie Turner, 27, and Priyanka Chopra, 40, all share a group message titled, The Jonas Family Chat. Here, the obsessed parents send pictures of their children back and forth every day. Joe was described to be the most proactive about capturing moments with his two daughters.

The band of brothers started their concert series named The Tour on 7 August and will continue traveling and performing until June 2024. Both Kevin and Danielles daughters, Alena Rose, nine, and Valentina Angelina, six, are known attendees at their dads shows.

Speaking with People in 2022, the eldest Jonas brother reflected on their first experience watching him perform live. The first time they ever saw a show was on the Happiness Begins tour, and having them in the audience and seeing them be a part of this part of my life is really cool, he confessed.

For so long, it wasnt something that Dad was doing. When theyre there, all Im doing is playing for them, Kevin continued.

Yet, as much as the Camp Rock star loves to play for his children, the work-life balance proves difficult sometimes, especially as both girls continue to grow. He proclaimed: I just want to be able to be present as much as possible and available as I can be even in the midst of being pulled in so many different directions with the challenges of our lifestyle.

Kevins said his parenting philosophy is to always try and be present when he can.

He and Danielle welcomed Alena in February of 2014 and had Valentina in October of 2016. The two A-listers met in 2007 when Kevin was on vacation with his family in the Bahamas. Danielle had no idea who the Jonas brothers were then but agreed to date the eldest. Two years later, Kevin popped the question on her doorstep in New Jersey. Their nuptials took place that same year in a large Long Island, New York castle.

Recently, Danielle opened up about how shes found being the wife of the rockstar difficult with the other two brothers married to already-famous women. She told LadyGang podcast about how shes felt less than when shes around Sophie and Priyanka.

Because the two boys married somebody who, theyre actresses, theyre out there, everyone knows them. And I feel like Im Danielle, you know, and its hard, the mother of two said. Its also that like Im out there celebrity-wise because Ive married you. And thats where its like: Oh, I wanna have something else to my name too.
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Raquel Leviss has admitted that she needed to get caught in her affair with Tom Sandoval so it didnt continue.

The 28-year-old Vanderpump Rules star recently spoke to Bethenny Frankel on her podcast, Just B, where she shared details of the secret affair she had with her co-star. I needed to get caught. I needed to because it would have just continued, and thats not who I want to be, Leviss said. This was the biggest wakeup call for me.

Frankel, 52, was quick to tell the reality star that she seemed to hit rock bottom but Leviss agreed with the podcast host. However, she explained how she sees a silver lining in the controversy because shes now able to help others who are trying to heal. Later in the episode, Leviss expressed no interest in ever returning to reality TV, replying hell no when asked by Frankel if she was returning to the Bravo series.

Sandoval, 40, was in a relationship with Leviss friend and co-star, Ariana Madix, when the affair started. Leviss admitted that she was really hurting by sneaking around with Sandoval, who had been in a relationship with Madix for nine years.

I wasnt happy. I was really hurting, she confessed. I dont ever want to be in a place like that again, and I will make sure that I dont put myself in a situation like that again.

After the affair was exposed, she ended all communication with the rest of the Vanderpump Rules cast. She revealed that Sandoval has only tried to contact her a few times since news broke of their split.

Towards the end of her discussion with Frankel, a former Real Housewives of New York star, Leviss offered an apology to those she hurt. I really just want to acknowledge that a lot of people were believing in me, and I feel like I was a disappointment to those people, she said. I know that there was a lot of trust that was broken between friendships and betrayal that happened. I look back at my actions, and Im disappointed in myself as well.

On 3 March, news of Leviss and Sandovals affair broke when TMZ reported that Madix, 37, found out she had been cheated on by Sandoval for at least six months. The same night that Madix was caught kissing Sandoval at a concert for his band, Tom Sandoval & the Most Extras, she reportedly found out about the infidelity.

According to People, Madix discovered a selfie video sexual in nature from Leviss on Sandovals phone  the same video Leviss is now accusing Sandoval of taking without her consent. She supposedly began scrolling and saw their history of inappropriate texts.

While Madix promptly ended her nine-year relationship with Sandoval, Leviss headed to a 90-day treatment facility after their affair was exposed.
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A Ryanair passenger was reportedly teased by the airline after he proposed to his girlfriend on a flight to Spain.

On 6 August, Lee Parsons, 29, was flying with his girlfriend Leah Louise King, 29, and decided to pop the question mid-flight. The Irish couple are known jet-setters, documenting their many travels on a joint YouTube account, Borders and Beyond.

Speaking with the MailOnline, Parsons confessed he had wanted to propose to King ever since they got back from a 2021 trip to South America. To him, the perfect time would be when they were sky-high, in this case, on the way to Spain.

Parsons devised a plan to hide the ring in his soon-to-be mother-in-laws carry-on bag. It was all carefully planned. I even paid attention when she was going to the toilet during the flight, he said.

The Ryanair flight attendants offered them two free bottles of Prosseco after King accepted the proposal, while other passengers on the aircraft cheered and congratulated them.

A few people even came up to congratulate us after having their passports checked, Parsons noted.

However, once the wheels touched down at their destination, the niceties were no longer existent. Instead, the airline supposedly took to X, formerly known as Twitter, teasing the newly engaged couple with a picture of them and the caption: Leah, blink twice for random seat allocation.

The tweet, which now has over 2.3m views, attracted social media users looking to poke fun at Parsons proposal. Many people joked about the risk Parsons took in assuming King would say yes, and how uncomfortable it would have been if she rejected him.

One individual asked: Did they charge you extra?

Ryanair sarcastically wrote back: Proposal fee.

Get her to a location she cannot say no, smart man, another person commented, while a third added: Proposing on a flight... thats ballsy to say the least.

Under Parsons original post  a picture of the two of them moments after he proposed - people insinuated that the airline had compensated him for asking on their aircraft. Ryanair paid you to do this, one person speculated.

Parsons responded: I wish. Wouldnt say no to free flights to be fair though.

The Independent has reached out to Parsons, King, and Ryanair for comment.
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A panel of experts that investigated harassment cases in Japan's military and Defense Ministry said Friday it found widespread coverups and reluctance among supervisors to deal with cases, and recommended fundamental improvements.

The investigation was commissioned by the ministry after a high-profile sexual assault case was brought by a former soldier.

The panel said about 80% of the reported cases involved abuse of power and that sexual harassment accounted for about 12%.

It said in a report that more than 60% of the victims in 1,325 cases reported to the panel never sought help from counselors in the military or ministry due to a lack of trust in the system or a fear of retribution.

The panel said many of the 400 people it interviewed who had sought help from supervisors or counselors said they did not receive appropriate help and faced coverups, pressure to drop cases, broken confidentiality or a lack of understanding.

The report urged the ministry and the military to raise awareness about harassment and introduce an appraisal system for those in supervisory positions that includes their handling of harassment cases, such as ensuring protection for victims and witnesses from retribution.

Several damage suits have been filed recently against the government by former and serving personnel who said their sexual harassment cases were covered up or mishandled.

Former soldier Rina Gonoi demanded publicly last year that the Defense Ministry reinvestigate her case, saying she was repeatedly assaulted by several servicemen, causing her to abandon her military career. The military had dropped her case when she initially filed a complaint in 2021, saying there was insufficient evidence.

The army acknowledged her mistreatment last September after an internal probe and apologized. Four of the five perpetrators personally apologized a month later to Gonoi. The ministry in December dismissed the five servicemen and punished four others.

Gonoi filed a damage suit against the five perpetrators and the government in January, saying she felt their earlier apologies were insincere. She is seeking 5.5 million yen ($37,800) from the perpetrators and 2 million yen ($13,740) from the government, saying it failed to prevent the assaults, properly investigate or respond appropriately.

Separately, an air force serviceperson filed a lawsuit in February against the government seeking about 11.7 million yen ($75,600) in damages, saying it had failed to protect her from verbal sexual harassment from a male colleague and covered up the problem for more than a decade.
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Five years before a Utah man was killed by authorities trying to arrest him on charges including threatening to assassinate President Joe Biden, he threatened and pointed a gun at utility workers who he thought were on his property.

Caiden Taylor, who was then working as a Google Fiber subcontractor, told KSL-TV he feared for his life during the August 2018 encounter outside Craig Robertson's home in Provo, Utah.

I was just there to do a job, Taylor said.

A Provo police incident report describes how Taylor and another worker rang Robertson's doorbell to tell him they planned to access the utlity pole via a public easement through his backyard. They proceeded to set up their equipment after getting no answer until Robertson came into the backyard waving a handgun at them, accusing them of trespass. They told the police that Robertson had pointed a gun at them  a charge he later denied to officers.

I was actually up on the power pole with a whole spool of cable when he came out, Taylor told KSL. And Ive never climbed down a ladder faster in my life.

The muzzle did cross both of our paths, he added.

The men ran to their truck, called police, and watched as a SWAT team arrived, he said.

Taylor recorded a video of police arriving, in which he can be heard describing Robertson as being locked in his house, according to KSL. The additional details add to an incident report released earlier this week to media outlets, including The Associated Press and KSL, in which officers described the encounter as a bit of a standoff.

The August 2018 incident provides context to the contrasting portraits of Robertson given by authorities and those who knew him. Officials described Robertson as dangerous to those he had threatened online while neighbors and family members described him as an elderly, churchgoing man who would do no harm.

Robertson was killed last Wednesday after officers arrived to arrest him at his home in Provo, hours before Biden was scheduled to arrive in Salt Lake City. In charging documents, authorities accused Robertson of making threats against Biden, high-profile Democrats and FBI agents, referencing assassination and posting pictures of weapons including long-range sniper rifles.

Though family members and neighbors rebuffed the idea that Robertson would or could have hurt anyone despite the threats, Taylor's recollections and the police report illustrate his willingness to brandish firearms.

Although drawing weapons in front of multiple people in an angry and threatening manner is a misdemeanor in Utah, Provo police ultimately determined Robertson was within his constitutional rights and he was not charged.
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The archbishop of Cologne, one of Germany's most important Catholic dioceses, on Friday expressed disappointment that employees used work computers to try to access pornographic websites.

The statement from Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki came after the city's Koelner Stadt-Anzeiger newspaper reported that a list from the archdiocese showed more than 1,000 attempts to access such sites from its computers. It said that dozens of employees, including senior clerics, had made such attempts.

The archdiocese confirmed the existence of a list. It said that its IT service provider routinely checks whether its firewalls fend off attempts to access sites with risky content such as violence, pornography and drugs, and that they are not meant to check individuals' usage habits.

It said that the check turned up no indications of criminally relevant behavior.

It disappointed me that employees tried to access pornographic pages with the help of devices that our archdiocese made available for their work  even though the firewalls kicked in, Woelki said.

To some, the consumption of pornography may appear harmless," he added. But I agree with Pope Francis, who condemns it and warns of its dangers, in particular the violation of human dignity.

The archbishop said he asked for the incidents to be examined as soon as he heard of them. He added that the archdiocese has many committed and reliable employees.

The archdiocese said its internal investigation had shown that Woelki himself wasn't one of the users of incriminated sites, German news agency dpa reported.

The issue came to light as the archdiocese experiences an unprecedented crisis of confidence centering on Woelki, a conservative who has become a divisive figure in the German church.

In 2020, Woelki kept under wraps a report he commissioned on how local church officials reacted when priests were accused of sexual abuse, citing legal concerns and infuriating many local Catholics. A second report, published in March 2021, found 75 cases in which high-ranking officials neglected their duties.

The report absolved Woelki of any neglect of his legal duty with respect to abuse victims. He subsequently said he made mistakes in past cases involving sexual abuse allegations.

Two papal envoys were dispatched to Cologne to investigate possible mistakes by senior officials in handling cases. Their report led the Vatican to give Woelki a  spiritual timeout  and criticize major communication errors.

In March 2022, after his return, the archbishop said he had submitted an offer to resign. Francis still hasn't acted on it.
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Serial killer nurse Lucy Letby was free to target babies for nearly a year after she murdered her first patient as hospital leaders repeatedly ignored concerns raised by whistleblowers, The Independent has learned.

Staff raised concerns over three unexplained baby deaths at the Countess of Chester Hospital in July 2015 but health chiefs failed to investigate the allegations, several hospital insiders have claimed.

Letbys murderous rampage had started the month before and she went on to target another 14 infants over the next 12 months. The former nurse, 33, has now been found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six others  becoming Britains most prolific child killer.

An external review into the hospital, set to be published after the trial, is expected to find multiple failures by the trusts leadership to act on warnings, The Independent understands.

The parents of one baby, Child L, who she attempted to murder with insulin, have also called for a public inquiry into the trusts failings.

Several hospital sources told The Independent:

Doctors alerted managers to three unexplained deaths in July and October 2015 but they were not investigated

Staff raised Letbys presence at a string of suspicious deaths  but hospital executives ignored the issue for three months and two more babies died

Another senior medic raised concerns over Letby in a formal meeting with executives in May 2016 but no action was taken

Some doctors were said to be suicidal because concerns were not being heard

Trust leaders allegedly told paediatricians not to go to the police because it will be bad for the trusts reputation.

Letby has been convicted of seven counts of murder (AP)

One senior source working at the hospital said: There was a run of three unusual deaths that happened out of the blue and in babies who were stable.

There was also one near miss with a baby who had an unexpected, unexplained collapse but recovered. In July 2015, these cases were reviewed, and it was flagged as unusual.

They added: Although the association with Letbys [presence] was seen, nobody was really thinking about somebody causing deliberate harm.

Months later, in October 2015, doctors flagged to senior managers that things were continuing to happen in the neonatal unit with no explanation. But that these were considered to be a blip, the source said.

Another source said: There was that lack of curiosity about examining their death and incident data; it was sitting there for everyone to see.

Nobody sought to understand it. By the time they got to October 2015, there was enough concerning data in that they had a number of deaths to explain and there was a lack of focus on incidents where babies had collapsed.

Letbys presence at time of deaths was noted early on (Chester Standard/SWNS)

Senior doctors carried out a review in February 2016 in which they could find no common medical reason for the unexplained deaths. But they noted Letby was present on each occasion.

A source with knowledge of that review said: As far as Im aware, those findings from that high-level review were not acted upon. I dont think the findings were shared at all.

A second source added: It was noted that the presence of Letby at all these times was there, but not [again], necessarily accusation of causality.

Doctors then requested a meeting with the hospital directors to discuss their concerns about the nurse but this did not happen until May, sources said  during which time two babies were murdered.

Defensive

Several sources described the behaviour of the senior executives  including then chief nurse Alison Kelly  as protective and defensive when concerns were raised by about the babies deaths and Letbys presence.

In May 2016, after doctors finally met executives, sources claimed no action was taken over Letby with leaders allegedly saying lets see how things go. She remained on frontline duties until June of that year when she was moved to an admin role.

Colleagues at Countess of Chester Hospital struggled to escalate concerns over Letby (AFP/Getty)

An insider said: Had that meeting with senior executives happened earlier in February 2016 rather than May, things might have been different.

Reputation

Throughout 2016, paediatricians continued to raise concerns, with one source describing some doctors as feeling suicidal because their concerns were not being heard.

It would not be until a year later in 2017 that doctors claim they were allowed to talk to the police about their concerns over the baby deaths and Letby. She was arrested in July 2018.

One source alleges paediatricians were told by trust leaders in late 2016  after the babies deaths  that if they reported concerns to the police thatll be the end of the unit and it will be bad for the trusts reputation.

The moment Letby was arrested over the baby deaths (Cheshire Police)

You cant mitigate for bad people, the source continued. Theyre from all walks of life, and theyre very good at hiding in plain sight. But, what you can mitigate for is when these people get spotted, what happens to the people who were trying to blow the whistle and you know, what are the responses of the people from the top?

Wider failings

Wider concerns were raised about the NHS and trusts approach to recording baby deaths at the time.

One source said a national database of Sudden Unexpected Death in Childhood was in use but that the babies deaths were not recorded under this.

The source said: It was around then when they should have said babies were dying and near dying here and we dont know why. Instead of being open and looking into that, they just blamed the people who were raising the concerns and its hard to understand why that is.

Letby killed several babies while hospital leaders ignored concerns (Cheshire Constabulary)

A review by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health was commissioned by the trusts medical director Ian Harvey in June 2016 to look at the cluster of deaths.

The report, finished in November 2016 and seen by The Independent, noted there were several areas where the trust failed to properly report neonatal deaths.

It also raised concerns that the deaths were not reported or picked up by the child death overview panel, which is a local authority-run service that investigates deaths in hospitals and communities.

The review noted that staff were distressed over the deaths and affected by the actions taken in response to concerns.

Several whistleblowers also highlighted a missed opportunity when concerns were raised to the Care Quality Commission which inspected the hospital in February 2016.

Sources said doctors told the CQC they had patient safety concerns and they were not able to get executives to take them seriously.

Dr Sean OKelly, CQCs chief inspector of healthcare, said the CQCs team received concerns from hospital staff about a lack of support from management when they tried to speak up and that inspectors directly highlighted the issue to senior trust staff.

Former chief executive Tony Chambers told The Independent that the February 2016 review did not identify any common themes, although some themes occured in more than one baby, which triggered a meeting with other senior hospital staff.

He said it was highlighted that Letby had been present in more cases than other staff, but he added: There was no evidence other than coincidence and what was described as gut feeling.

He added that there were unusual blood test results after the collapse of Baby L, but concerns were not raised. He said the result would have materially altered the focus of subsequent inquiries and actions if they had been raised with me or any other senior manager in August 2015.

Mr Chambers also told The Independent he is not aware the CQC raised any issue with him at the time. He said the serious allegations related directly to Letby were escalated to him for the first time in June 2016 and that action was taken.

Meanwhile, a trust spokesman said: Since Lucy Letby worked at our hospital, we have made significant changes to our services. I want to provide reassurance that every patient who accesses our services can have confidence in the care they will receive.

Alison Kelly said in a statement: It is impossible to imagine the heartache suffered by the families involved and my thoughts are very much with them.

These are truly terrible crimes and I am deeply sorry that this happened to them.

We owe it to the babies and their families to learn lessons and I will fully cooperate with the independent inquiry announced.
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Destinee Thompson was supposed to be on her way to lunch with her stepmother in August 2021 when Colorado police, mistaking her for a robbery suspect, fatally shot the pregnant mother as she fled in her minivan.

Frustrated by the district attorney's decision last year not to charge the officers, Thompson's family filed a wrongful death and excessive force lawsuit on Tuesday against five officers from the Denver suburb of Arvada who were present when she was killed.

I want their badges, said Francis Thompson, Destinees father. Shes 5-foot tall, seven months pregnant. ... Youre a grown man and youre threatened by that? You dont deserve to be able to wear a badge.

They allege Destinee Thompson's race  she's part Hispanic and part Native American  played a role in her being targeted. Officers were looking for a suspect described as white or Hispanic.

If this was a affluent white person getting into her vehicle, they would never have stopped her, said Siddhartha Rathod, an attorney representing her family.

In a statement Wednesday, the Arvada Police Department said the family's lawyer has mischaracterized the events surrounding Thompsons death, and the agency plans to mount a vigorous legal defense.

Police spokesperson Dave Snelling said the officers were justified in using deadly force because they believed Thompson's actions posed an imminent threat.

The episode took place on Aug. 17, 2021, when officers responded to a report of a woman who had stolen from a Target and brandished a knife at an employee. A witness followed the suspect to a nearby motel, where police arrived. Thompson was leaving that same motel to meet her stepmother, according to the lawsuit, which was first reported by The Denver Post.

While the description of the suspect included a white tank top  which Thompson was wearing  it also specified a chest tattoo, which Thompson did not have.

Officers noted that she didn't exactly match the description but decided to stop her to rule her out, according to the lawsuit. Thompson kept walking when police asked her to stop, told them she wasnt the person they were looking for, and said she didnt have an ID to show them.

The police spokesperson said the officers had reasonable suspicion to believe Thompson may have been involved in the robbery and were therefore justified in contacting her.

Thompson's family strongly disagrees.

Shes done nothing wrong ... and she is confronted by these policemen and doesnt want to talk to them, Rathod said. You have the right not to talk to police.

Thompson, sitting in her minivan and surrounded by five officers, locked the doors and refused to get out, repeating, It wasn't me, the district attorney wrote in the 2022 letter explaining their decision not to charge the officers.

One officer smashed the passenger window with a baton, and Thompson backed the car up, hitting a police vehicle parked behind her. She then drove forward over the curb and onto the road.

One officer began shooting, according to the district attorneys letter, because he believed another officer was struck by the car or being dragged under it, and eventually shot and killed Thompson. Her unborn child also died.

Thompson's family alleges the officer who fired could see that the other officer hadn't been hit or dragged by the car.

"Not a single one of the other officers thought it was necessary to shoot," added Rathod in an interview. This is a murder of a pregnant woman.

Snelling, the police spokesperson, said the department stands behind its officers' actions.

Thompson unfortunately chose to engage in conduct that the officer reasonably believed posed an imminent threat to the life of another officer," Snelling wrote. "He chose to use deadly force to stop that threat.

Snelling added that the agency later discovered Thompson had warrants out for her arrest and the autopsy found illicit drugs in her system.

Rathod and Francis Thompson dismissed the police mention of those warrants, saying it doesn't justify the officers' actions and that police at the scene didnt know about her background during the interaction.

All they knew was this woman didnt fit the description of the shoplifting suspect, Rathod said.

For Francis Thompson, who described his daughter as eager to help others and quick with a laugh, it feels like the police department is using Destinee's past to justify her death.

The grief hasnt abated, he said. Every day there are moments when he cries, he said. Its hard for me to find a purpose in a lot of things anymore.
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A Ukrainian artist who paints family portraits for refugees to give to their UK hosts said she feels she is doing something important by immortalising Britons generosity and the impact of the war.

Olha Son, 35, fled Ukraine and moved in with a host family in Cornwall, before beginning to accept commissions from Ukrainian refugees who wanted to thank their British host families with a painting.

Ms Son has created numerous artworks showing Britons sheltering Ukrainian refugees with an umbrella decorated with a Union flag, which she said makes almost 100% of the Brits cry.

She told the PA news agency: Its like immortalising this phenomena of a British family who made a decision to open their doors to strangers from a different country, a different culture, in order to help in such a devastating situation as the war.

Ms Son said she started painting five years ago when she was diagnosed with depression and initially painted still lifes, before receiving a message from a fellow Ukrainian refugee asking for a gift for their host family.

She brainstormed ideas for the painting, which was easy because she was in an identical situation as my customer and I knew what it feels like to feel what they feel.

She said: That Ukrainian lady picked up the idea where a girl in a grey coat is holding an umbrella with a British flag over a girl who is wearing clothes in the colours of the Ukrainian flag.

Ms Son posted a TikTok of her painting to her account, @olhason_art, and has received over 66.5k views and hundreds of comments because a lot of Ukrainians could relate to this painting.

She said: Since I started painting personalised umbrella [paintings], I receive a lot of messages like we all couldnt hold our tears back, it was such a heart-warming moment.

A British couple who received a painting from the Ukrainian family living with them said it was very moving and they got a bit teary to receive the group portrait.

Kevin Kennedy Ryan, 33, and Jessica Ryan Smith 32, based in Sheffield, took in a Ukrainian couple and their young son for several months.

Mr Kennedy Ryan said: We had a big dinner the night before they left and they gave us some gifts and obviously we gave them some gifts and we had a big cry.

The couple gave them a painting showing their two families, painted by Ms Son, which Mr Kennedy Ryan said left them speechless and drove home some of the reality of the situation.

During the months of cohabitation, the British couple hosted a magical Christmas dinner with their Ukrainian guests and watched the son walk his first steps, with Mr Kennedy Ryan saying it was really wonderful watching him grow.

The British couple offered their home to refugees before Russia invaded Ukraine and said: Its not necessarily about refugees from Ukraine or any one particular area. We all have this humanity that we share together.

Ms Ryan Smith said: These are people that are oftentimes fleeing horrendous situations and they dont really have many options and theyre probably one of the lowest points of their lives.

I feel like its one of those things that the least we could do is offer them a safe place to stay.

I hope that if I was ever in that type of situation, that somebody would extend the same gratitude to me.
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An MP has called on the Government to stage a public inquiry into the Lucy Letby case after the nurse was found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six others.

The jury delivered their verdict at Manchester Crown Court on Friday following 22 days of deliberations.

Letby, 33, stood accused of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder a further 10 when she worked at the Countess of Chesters neonatal unit between June 2015 and June 2016.

She had denied the charges and was not present in the dock.

The jury could not reach verdicts on six counts of attempted murder.

The families that have endured this unimaginable suffering deserve to know exactly what happened Samantha Dixon, MP

City of Chester MP Samantha Dixon has now called for a probe into Letbys crimes, which she said have caused unimaginable suffering.

Ms Dixon has written to Health Secretary Steve Barclay asking for a full, independent and public inquiry into the case.

Her statement said: The families that have endured this unimaginable suffering deserve to know exactly what happened, and those who use our NHS services need the reassurance that it can never happen again.

Too many people now live with the consequences of the catastrophic harm caused by Letby.

An attempt on a childs life is one of the most depraved acts a person can commit. And the death of a child is the hardest burden to bear.

To know such actions were caused deliberately is truly terrible. For the families at the heart of this, I feel intense sadness and stand beside them in their grief and sorrow.

Ms Dixon also paid tribute to Cheshire Police, adding: I know they have supported the families and those who have given evidence, throughout.

Following todays verdict, the time is right to seek the reassurance that no one could ever again perpetrate crimes as hideous as these.

The families whose children were killed and harmed, the community I represent and families across the country need to know their children are protected and safe.

The Government should now institute a full, independent and public inquiry into the circumstances in which these crimes were perpetrated.
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Child serial killer Lucy Letby has indicated she does not want to take any part in her sentencing hearing next week.

A reporting ban was imposed until the jury in her trial at Manchester Crown Court had returned all of its verdicts on the seven counts of murder and 15 counts of attempted murder the nurse faced.

Letby, 33, was in the courtroom on August 8 when the jury returned its first two guilty verdicts of attempted murder, and then again on August 11 when she was convicted of four murders and another two attempted murders.

However, at the end of the court day on August 11 the defendant did not return to the dock as the jury was sent home for the weekend.

The court has no power to force a defendant to attend at a sentencing hearing, therefore there is nothing I can do in relation to that Mr Justice Goss

Letby returned to court the following week but her made last appearance in Court Seven on the morning of August 16 when trial judge Mr Justice Goss sent the jury out to continue its deliberations.

More verdicts were returned later that day, in her absence, and again on August 17 when the court heard Letby had indicated to her legal team that she did not intend to return to the dock.

Letby continued to be produced at court from prison but would not come up from the cells.

Her parents, John and Sue, who had previously attended the trial every day, did not come to court on Friday as the trial ended.

Letby has also indicated she does not wish to follow Mondays sentencing hearing via videolink from prison, the court was told.

The reasons for her non-attendance have not yet been disclosed by the judge.

Mr Justice Goss said: The sentencing hearing will of course take place whether she is present or not.

The court has no power to force a defendant to attend at a sentencing hearing, therefore there is nothing I can do in relation to that.

Earlier this year, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk said the Government is committed to changing the law so criminals are compelled to attend their sentencing hearings.

It came after his predecessor, Dominic Raab, promised to act while under pressure over the non-attendance of the killers of Olivia Pratt-Korbel, Zara Aleena and Sabina Nessa to stop offenders convicted of the most serious crimes dodging court and avoiding facing justice.

Thomas Cashman was jailed for life imprisonment with a minimum term of 42 years for fatally shooting nine-year-old Olivia at her home in Dovecot, Liverpool, while pursuing a fellow drug dealer.

Sex attacker Jordan McSweeney murdered 35-year-old law graduate Ms Aleena as she walked home in Ilford, east London, and was jailed for life with a minimum term of 38 years.

Koci Selamaj received life with at least 36 years for murdering primary school teacher Ms Nessa after travelling to London to carry out an attack on a random woman.

Each refused to appear in court for sentencing, with their punishments being handed down in their absence.

We are committed to bringing forward legislation to enable offenders to be compelled to attend their sentencing hearings Justice Secretary Alex Chalk

Olivias mother Cheryl Korbel called for the law to be changed to make sure criminals are in court for sentencing, saying Cashmans absence was like a kick in the teeth.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak previously refused to say if the proposed legislation would be introduced before the next general election, which is anticipated to take place next year.

Mr Chalk is also yet to confirm when the proposals would be introduced to Parliament despite calls from Labour to act urgently, while campaigners have pressed ministers to put forward plans before the end of the current parliamentary session in the autumn.

Speaking at Commons justice questions in June, Mr Chalk said: We are committed to bringing forward legislation to enable offenders to be compelled to attend their sentencing hearings.

He said offenders whose crimes shatter families should be required to face the consequences of their actions and hear societys condemnation expressed through the sentencing remarks of the judge.

The Justice Secretary said he wants to know that when offenders are sitting in the cells trying to get to sleep that ringing in their ears are those words of condemnation from the judge, because there are victims who find it hard ever to recover; why should that defendant ever have to sleep soundly in their bed?.
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Police will review the care of 4,000 babies in hospitals where killer nurse Lucy Letby worked as the government announced an independent inquiry into how her murderous rampage went undetected.

It will look into the circumstances behind the murders of seven newborn babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital, after neonatal nurse Letby was found guilty on Friday, making her one of Britains most prolific child serial killers.

The 33-year-old deliberately injected infants with air or poisoned them with insulin between June 2015 and 2016. Other babies, who had been born prematurely or had specific vulnerable needs, were harmed by being fed excessive amounts of milk while one was physically assaulted.

Lucy Letby deliberately injected infants with air or poisoned them with insulin between June 2015 and 2016 (Cheshire Constabulary/AFP via Getty Images)

The cases under police review cover her spell at the Countess of Chester Hospital from January 2012 to the end of June 2016, and include two work placements at Liverpool Womens Hospital in 2012 and 2015.

Cheshire Police emphasised that only those cases highlighted as medically concerning would be investigated further, adding that the review at Liverpool Womens Hospital does not involve any deaths.

This does not mean we are investigating all 4,000, said senior investigating officer Detective Superintendent Paul Hughes.

It just means that we are committed to a thorough review of every admission from a medical perspective, to ensure that nothing is missed throughout the entirety of her employment as a nurse.

He added: We would be foolish if we were to think we have gathered all cases that Lucy Letby could have touched in one go. We are proud of our investigation but we are not that good to say we have got everything in one go.

The former nurses text messages showed she wanted to garner sympathy from colleagues after the childrens deaths, the trial heard (Elizabeth Cook/ PA)

So we are committed to doing an overarching investigation looking at every single babys admission into neonatal unit for the entire footprint that Lucy Letby has been employed.

There are some cases which have been initially highlighted to us at the moment as concerning by an independent review, and those parents have been informed about where we are with that investigation and are being supported.

Concerns were first raised in June 2015 after three babies died over a period of two weeks, with Letbys name first mentioned by paediatric consultants that October. However, she continued to work at the neonatal unit for months before being moved to clerical duties in July 2016.

Despite hospital bosses and the police conducting an investigation into the unexplained and inexplicable deaths, Letby was not arrested until July 2018, and was remanded into custody in 2020.

Letby was not in the dock when the jury returned their final verdicts on Friday, after 22 days and more than 100 hours of deliberation. While her parents were also absent from the court, families of the victims were in the public gallery.

Verdicts on 16 of the 22 counts she faced were returned by the jury on earlier days but could not be reported until now. She was found not guilty of two attempted murders and the jury could not reach verdicts on six counts of the same charge.

Police are reviewing cases at the Countess of Chester Hospital (Jacob King/PA)

When the first two guilty verdicts were returned, to two counts of attempted murder, on 8 August, Letby fought back tears in the dock and cried as she left the courtroom. After the jury confirmed they were unable to reach verdicts in relation to four babies, the relatives of one of the infants stormed out of court.

Letby will not attend court for sentencing on Monday and has indicated that she does not wish to follow the hearing via videolink from prison. The judge, Mr Justice Goss, said: The sentencing hearing will of course take place whether she is present or not.

Following the sentencing, health secretary Steve Barclay announced an independent inquiry which will seek to ensure the parents and families impacted get the answers they need.

The inquiry will help us identify where and how patient safety standards failed to be met and ensure mothers and their partners rightly have faith in our healthcare system, Mr Barclay said.

It will look at governance and how concerns were handled, and at what actions were taken by regulators and the wider NHS.

Steve Barclay has announced an independent inquiry (Jordan Pettitt/PA)

Countess of Chester medical director Dr Nigel Scawn said: I speak for the whole trust when I say how deeply saddened and appalled we are at Lucy Letbys crimes.

We are extremely sorry that these crimes were committed at our hospital and our thoughts continue to be with all the families and loved ones of the babies who came to harm or died. We cannot begin to understand what they have been through.

The case has had a profound impact on patients, the local community and on staff, who are devastated by what happened and we are committed to ensuring lessons continue to be learnt, Dr Scawn said.

We are grateful for the cooperation of our staff, especially those who have maintained the utmost professionalism whilst giving evidence in the trial, sometimes on multiple occasions. We will continue to support them and other staff to ensure they receive the care and support they need, he added.

Since Lucy Letby worked at our hospital, we have made significant changes to our services. I want to provide reassurance that every patient who accesses our services can have confidence in the care they will receive.

In a joint statement, families of the victims said: Words cannot effectively explain how we are feeling at this moment in time. We are quite simply stunned.

Lucy Letby was remanded into custody in 2020 (Cheshire Police)

To lose a baby is a heartbreaking experience that no parent should ever have to go through, but to lose a baby or to have a baby harmed in these particular circumstances is unimaginable. Over the past seven to eight years we have had to go through a long, torturous and emotional journey.

From losing our precious newborns and grieving their loss, seeing our children who survived, some of whom are still suffering today, to being told years later that their death or collapse might be suspicious, nothing can prepare you for that news.

Additional reporting by PA
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Video footage showing the moment killer nurse Lucy Letby was arrested at her home has been released.

The footage shows Letby answering the door to her home in Westbourne Road, Chester, just after 6am on July 3 2018.

It comes after she was convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill six others in the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

The 33-year-old used various ways to harm the babies including injecting air into the bloodstream, injecting air into the stomach, overfeeding with milk, physical assaults and poisoning with insulin.

The footage shows Letby answering the door wearing a blue hoodie and matching jogging bottoms and letting police inside the semi-detached property before being led outside in handcuffs 11 minutes later.

Letby is heard in the footage answering yes to confirm her name and allowing the police inside.

As she is led out of her home into the back of an unmarked police vehicle, she can be heard saying yeah Ive just had knee surgery after an officer says she will move the front passenger seat forwards.

Letby appears composed and not visibly upset as she is put in the back of the police car.

Video footage showing Letby being interviewed by police later the same day has also been released.

The video is time-stamped as 7.36pm on July 3 2018.

Asked by an officer if she had any concerns that there was a rise in the mortality rate, Letby replied yes.

Then asked what concerns she had, she said: Wed all just noticed as a team in general, the nursing staff, that this was a rise compared to previous years.

Letby, from Hereford, had denied all the allegations.

The jury could not reach verdicts on six counts of attempted murder.
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The parents of twin boys who Lucy Letby tried to murder have recalled how the killer nurse became angry and frustrated when their sons survived.

A jury at Manchester Crown Court on 18 August found 33-year-old Letby guilty of murdering seven newborn babies while working at the neonatal unit of a hospital between June 2015 and 2016.

The child serial killer was also convicted of attempting to murder six other infants, including Babies L and M, during her reign of terror at the Countess of Chester hospital.

On 9 April 2016, Letby tried to poison Baby L with insulin and also near-fatally injected his brother with air.

Their parents told The Telegraph Letby was calm and cool as doctors tried to save Baby M, and started acting hostile towards them after he survived.

After she was unsuccessful in killing my babies she was not responding to me, the mother told the newspaper.

She changed totally. I think she was very annoyed with us because she didnt succeed in killing our babies. She was very, very frustrated.

At the time, the couple had no idea that Baby Ls life had also been in danger, they revealed.

We only knew about Baby L when the police came to our house and said your second child is also involved with Lucy... We did know about Baby M but we hadnt a clue about Baby L, the mother said, adding we broke down after learning Letby had tried to murder both their children.

The couple said that the guilty verdict provides a bit of closure and that theyre hoping Letby receives a life sentence for her crimes.

The court heard prosecutors have been unable to say why Lucy Letby murdered seven babies (Elizabeth Cook/PA) (PA Wire)

During the trial, jurors heard how Letby texted her mother to place a bet on Grand National, shortly after trying to kill Baby L.

On the same day, Letby also sent WhatsApp messages to her friends about plans for a housewarming party.

Lucy Letbys reign of terror at the Countess of Chester Hospital went undetected initially (Jacok King/PA) (PA Wire)

The parents also told The Telegraph one of their sons, now seven, has suffered brain damage from what Letby did.

He may deviate from his peers. At the moment, if you look at him, hes just like a normal child so it is just something we will have to keep monitoring over the years as the years progress, the father explained.

The couple said they had tried talking to their sons about Letby, but that the boys were still too young to understand what had happened to them.

They make a joke, we will kick her, we will bite her, we will pull her hair, mummy. They dont understand yet, the mother said, adding she and her husband will explain the horrific ordeal to their sons again when they are older.

But its important that they know this happened to them and they dont hear it from a third party or something.

One of Britains worst criminals, Letby is due to be sentenced at Manchester Crown Court next Monday.
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Killer nurse Lucy Letby joins a grim list of medical professionals who exploited their position to harm the vulnerable patients they were supposed to care for.

Letby has been convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill six others, one of them twice, at a hospital neonatal unit.

Prosecutors said Letby, 33, was a calculated opportunist who used the vulnerabilities of premature and sick infants to camouflage her acts.

In 2015 and 2016, there was a significant rise in the number of babies who suffered serious and unexpected collapses in the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

Below, we look at the most notorious examples of Britains medical murderers.

Doctor Death

GP Harold Shipman was one Britains most prolific serial killers and is thought to have murdered hundreds of patients (PA Media)

Dubbed Doctor Death by the press, Harold Shipman was one Britains most prolific serial killers and is thought to have murdered hundreds of patients.

As a general practitioner in Greater Manchester, Shipman targeted elderly people after winning their trust.

His modus operandi, which consisted of injecting his victims with a fatal dose of drugs and then claiming they had died of natural causes, meant that he evaded capture throughout the 1990s. He was finally convicted of 15 counts of murder in 2000.

He began to attract suspicion after one of his patients, an 81-year-old woman, was discovered dead in her home only hours after Shipman had visited her in 1998.

After killing himself in prison in 2004, an official inquiry established that the extent of Shipmans crimes was far greater than initially thought, estimating that he had killed 250 people.

Beverley Allitt

Beverley Allitt is currently serving 13 life sentences (PA)

In a case with disturbing echoes of Letbys crimes, Beverley Allitt is currently serving 13 life sentences  one for each of the children she murdered or attempted to murder as a paediatric nurse in the 1990s.

Allitt attacked 13 children who had been admitted for minor injuries between February and April 1991 at Grantham and Kesteven Hospital, Lincolnshire, injecting some of them with dangerous amounts of insulin.

She succeeded in killing four of them, the youngest of whom, Liam Taylor, was just seven weeks old.

After the death of her fourth victim, 15-month-old Claire Peck, staff became suspicious of the number of cardiac arrests on the childrens ward and police began to investigate.

It was established that Allitt had been the only nurse on duty during the medical episodes, and she was found guilty in 1993 of four counts of murder, three of attempted murder, and a further six of grievous bodily harm.

Allitt, now 54, is currently imprisoned at Rampton Secure Hospital in Nottinghamshire.

Scotlands Angel of Death

Colin Norris was convicted of murder in 2008 (West Yorkshire Police/PA Wire)

Colin Norris, from Glasgow, was another nurse convicted of killing patients.

Called the Angel of Death, Norris was found guilty in 2008 of murdering four women, and attempting to murder another, by injecting them with insulin.

The four women who died  Ethel Hall, Bridget Bourke, Doris Ludlam and Irene Crookes  as well as the fifth woman, Vera Wilby  were all elderly inpatients on orthopaedic ward in Leeds where Norris worked as a nurse in 2002.

He was accused of injecting his victims with lethal amounts of insulin.

Now aged 47, Norris is serving a 30-year prison sentence at HMP Frankland.

He successfully had all five of his convictions referred to the Court of Appeal in 2021 after the Criminal Cases Review Commission concluded there was a real possibility they may be unsafe in light of new expert evidence.

Victorino Chua

Victorino Chua was found guilty of murdering and poisoning patients in Stockport (PA)

Father-of-two Victorino Chua was found guilty of murdering and poisoning patients at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport, where he worked as a nurse. He was jailed for a minimum of 35 years in 2015.

Chua, now 57, killed Tracey Arden, 44, and Derek Weaver, 83, and attempted to kill a third victim, Arnold Lancaster, 71, by injecting insulin into saline bags and ampoules.

Speaking after he was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court, Weavers sister, Lynda Bleasdale, described Chua as an evil and diabolical man who enjoyed watching people suffer.
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A nurse was unmasked as the worst serial killer of children in modern UK history on Friday after a jury found her guilty of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder six more while working on a neonatal unit.

Lucy Letby, 33, was working at the Countess of Chester Hospital when she carried out the string of attacks on tiny, premature babies between 2015 and 2016.

Jurors spent 22-and-a-half days deliberating before reaching their verdicts in one of the UKs most high-profile criminal trials.

The nurse, who is facing life behind bars, joins a list of the UKs most twisted child murderers.

Here the PA news agency looks at some of the notorious names whose company she has joined.

 Beverley Allitt

In a case with disturbing echoes of Letbys crimes, Beverley Allitt is serving 13 life sentences  one for each of the children she murdered or attempted to murder as a paediatric nurse in the 1990s.

Allitt attacked 13 children who had been admitted for minor injuries between February and April 1991 at Grantham and Kesteven Hospital, Lincolnshire, injecting some of them with dangerous amounts of insulin.

She succeeded in killing four of them. Her youngest victim, Liam Taylor, was just seven weeks old.

After the death of her fourth victim, 15-month-old Claire Peck, staff became suspicious of the number of cardiac arrests on the childrens ward and police began to investigate.

It was established that Allitt was the only nurse on duty during the medical episodes and she was found guilty of four counts of murder, three of attempted murder, and a further six of grievous bodily harm in 1993.

The 54-year-old is imprisoned at Rampton Secure Hospital in Nottinghamshire.

 The Moors Murderers

Ian Brady and his girlfriend Myra Hindley kidnapped, sexually assaulted and murdered children before burying their bodies on the moors above Manchester between 1963 and 1965.

Brady, then 28, was given three concurrent life sentences in 1966 for killing Edward Evans, Lesley Ann Downey and John Kilbride.

It was only in 1985 that he finally confessed to the murders of Pauline Reade and Keith Bennett.

The couples victims were aged 10 to 17 when they were killed.

Hindley received two life sentences plus seven years for harbouring Brady knowing he had murdered Kilbride.

The pair narrowly escaped the death penalty because it had been abolished a year before their trial concluded.

She died in prison of pneumonia in 2002 while he died in a psychiatric hospital in 2017 after going on hunger strike.

 Robert Black

Robert Black was a Scottish serial killer who was found guilty of murdering four schoolgirls in the 1980s.

He carried out his first known murder in 1981 when he abducted, sexually assaulted and killed nine-year-old Jennifer Cardy in Ballinderry in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

Five-year-old Caroline Hogg was his youngest victim, who disappeared while playing outside her Edinburgh home.

He took her to a nearby funfair before killing her and dumping her body more than 300 miles away.

He was also convicted of killing 10-year-old Sarah Harper, who was abducted while buying a loaf of bread in Leeds, and 11-year-old Susan Maxwell who vanished in the Scottish town of Coldstream in 1982.
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Killer nurse Lucy Letby has cemented herself as one of Britains worst criminals after being found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill six others.

Following a nine-month trial and over three weeks of deliberations, a jury found her guilty of 14 of the 22 counts she faced, after she embarked on a campaign of horror at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016. The jury found her not guilty on two counts of attempted murder and could not reach verdicts on a further six of the same charge.

During that period, she deliberately poisoned babies with insulin, overfed them with milk and fatally injected some with air while working as a nurse in the neonatal unit.

She is due to return for sentencing at Manchester Crown Court (PA)

While concerns were raised by surgeons as early as late June 2015, she remained in her role for another year until she was eventually removed from the ward and put on clerical duties.

Despite claiming she had been the victim of a conspiracy, her account was rejected by the jury and she was convicted of seven counts of murder and seven counts of attempted murder, making her one of the countrys most prolific child killers.

Letby has been remanded in custody to be sentenced on Monday, but the court was told she has said she will not attend court and does not wish to follow the hearing via videolink from prison.

The reasons for her refusal to attend have not yet been disclosed by the judge. Members of the victims families will attend the hearing to give victim impact statements.

For such horrific crimes, Letby can only receive a mandatory life sentence and will likely spend the majority of her life behind bars.

Letby is likely to be held at maximum security prison HMP Low Newton (Chester Standard/SWNS)

It is likely she will be placed in HMP Low Newton, a maximum security prison that is home to many of the deadliest female killers in recent history.

The jail, which was opened in 1965, has housed Britains youngest female murderer Sharon Carr, as well as Baby Ps mother Tracey Connelly. Dubbed The Devils Daughter, Carr murdered an 18-year-old woman after picking her out at random when she was just 12 years old.

The prisons most infamous inmate was House of Horrors killer Rosemary West, who sexually abused and murdered 10 women and children alongside her husband Fred West. She was eventually moved from HMP Low Newton in 2019, after another vicious killer, Joanna Dennehy, allegedly threatened to kill her.

Rosemary West was a former inmate of HMP Low Newton (PA)

Dennehy remains at the prison, where she is serving a sentence for the murder of three men following a two-week killing spree. She dumped their bodies in ditches outside Peterborough.

Located in the village of Brasside near Durham, the prison accepts female inmates from across the north of England and holds a number of lifers and juvenile prisoners.

An Independent Monitoring Board report, published in 2021, found that lessons and workshops had been axed due to problems with a leaking roof, while an entire block was due for demolition after failing health and safety checks.

Not all aspects of prison life were negative, however, with inmates able to enjoy DVD nights, and buy clothes from a fashion store. Staff were reported to be friendly.

HMP Low Newton has housed infamous killers such as Britains youngest female murderer Sharon Carr (@HMPLowNewton)

Even the food was reported to be nutritious, well cooked and of good variety, with inmates offered a selection of hot meals and packed lunches.

Violence occasionally breaks out among prisoners and staff, while the board expressed concern that around 40 per cent of inmates suffered mental health problems.

HMP Low Newton is also home to the Primrose Project, which is designed to treat women with dangerous and severe personality disorders, and is the only prison in the UK with such a unit.

The service has 12 places for female offenders who are at a high risk of harm in England and Wales but can only accommodate one restricted-status woman at a time.

Entry criteria include a current offence of violence against the person, presenting a high risk of committing another serious offence, and likely to have a severe form of personality disorder.

Among the treatment options are sessions with a psychiatrist, art therapy, and acupuncture.

The Primrose Service won World Health Organisation(WHO) award in 2009 for high quality of service provided to female prisoners.
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For a mother whose newborn was gravely ill in the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital, she was a ray of light: a calm, comforting nurse who guided her through her most desperate moments as her child lay listless in his cot.

Trust me, Im a nurse, she smiled at her, and the mother did, completely. But within hours, her baby boy was dead, and the nurse in whom she had placed so much trust, who had been by her side through the darkest time of her life, was responsible.

The baby, identified only as Child E, was one of the victims of Lucy Letby, who has been found guilty of seven counts of both murder and attempted murder over the course of 12 months, from June 2015 to June 2016. She was found not guilty of two attempted murder charges, and the jury could not reach verdicts on a further six counts of the same charge.

Letby, 33, was not in the dock at Manchester Crown Court on Friday when the jury was discharged after deliberating for 22 days in a trial that has lasted 10 months. They found that she had killed or tried to kill the babies she should have been caring for  by injecting them with air, poisoning them with insulin, and overfeeding them with milk.

But despite a lengthy trial that involved more than 240 witnesses, the families of her victims still have one haunting question left unanswered: why did she do it?

Another side that nobody saw

Throughout the trial, what has been notable is just how unremarkable Letbys life was: a normal nurse who had a normal upbringing. How I would describe her from my own experience in this investigation is beige, deputy senior investigating officer DCI Nicola Evans said. There isnt anything outstanding or outrageous that we found about her as a person, in that she was an average nurse.

She was a normal twentysomething-year-old, doing what she was doing with her career, her friends. But clearly there was another side of that, that nobody saw.

Letby was not short of friends, and pictures show a happy young woman enjoying life (Supplied)

Letby was brought up in Hereford as the only child of John and Susan Letby. She attended the local comprehensive and the family spent holidays in Devon. Jurors were shown pictures of her childhood bedroom, with two teddy bears placed on a duvet cover bearing the motif Sweet Dreams.

Framed pictures containing the slogans Shine bright like a diamond and Leave sparkles wherever you go appear on the bedroom walls, while a fluffy pink and white polkadot dressing gown hangs on the door. The images prompted a rare show of emotion, as Letby broke down in the dock.

Moving 100 miles from home to study at the University of Chester, she was seen as a studious type, never staying out late. On qualifying as a registered NHS nurse in 2011, Letby developed a reputation among her colleagues as reliable, hard-working and trustworthy.

Letby has a close relationship with her parents, who attended throughout the trial in support of their daughter (PA)

Two years later, she became the face of a campaign to raise 3m for the neonatal unit, and was a familiar sight in her neat uniform, her hair scraped back in a ponytail.

The unit, and the staff within it, became her world, and she described her colleagues as her family. When asked in court, witnesses agreed that she had appeared professional throughout her time there, using words such as knowledgeable and thorough to describe her approach to work.

Not short of friends, pictures of Letby on social media show a happy young woman enjoying life in her mid-twenties.

Holidays in Ibiza, sipping prosecco and vodka with friends to celebrate a win at the Grand National, and salsa classes with colleagues filled her social calendar. Shortly before she was moved from frontline duties in 2016, Letby travelled to Ibiza for a holiday with her girlfriends. Messages sent on 13 June showed a young woman groaning about packing and making jokes about Love Island.

Pictures of her childhood bedroom show a teddy bear and a poster on the wall with the motif Leave sparkles wherever you go (Cheshire Police)

After returning from the Spanish island on 22 June, she murdered two brothers from a set of triplets, Child O and Child P, on successive days.

It cant be Lucy

Letby had joined her colleagues in appearing horrified at the apparent run of bad luck the neonatal ward was experiencing.

In reality, however, the alarm had been raised after the string of inexplicable deaths had caught the attention of consultants. While premature babies are often vulnerable, a number of sudden deteriorations and bizarre skin discolourations had pointed to something far more sinister.

Letby operated in plain sight on the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital (PA)

As early as her third murder in June 2015, Letby was named as the common denominator, having been present at each incident.

A senior doctor, Dr Ravi Jayaram, testified that he had raised concerns about Letby to the hospital administration as early as 2015 after connecting her presence with a series of unexpected and inexplicable deaths and incidents.

Letby poses with baby clothing (Chester Standard/SWNS)

In one instance, he told jurors that he had observed Letby standing over an infant whose breathing tube had been dislodged. Despite the babys oxygen levels dropping, he claimed, Letby did not do anything until he intervened.

But others could not believe she might be the perpetrator.

It cant be Lucy, not nice Lucy, Dr Stephen Brearey told a fellow consultant during initial discussions about the deaths.

Her parents, too, were oblivious. Guess who will be coming home for Christmas xxx, Letby texted to them the day after killing a baby by injecting air into its bloodstream. Her mother replied: Thats fab I could cry x.

Text messages revealed the high regard in which she was held by her friends and colleagues, with one doctor writing Youre a fab nurse after a baby suffered two collapses. Another doctor wrote that she was one of the few nurses he would trust with my own children, when it became clear that her actions were under scrutiny.

One conversation involved a married male registrar. Letby denied he was her boyfriend, despite the two having travelled to London together and exchanged heart emojis in their text messages.

The former nurse has been convicted of seven counts of murder and seven counts of attempted murder (Cheshire Constabulary)

In texts read out by the prosecutor, Letbys nursing friend teased [I] think he likes u too and said that the registrar was as flirty as u. She replied: Shut up... I dont flirt with him! before adding: Certainly dont fancy him haha just nice guy. When he appeared in the witness box, she attempted to leave the dock in tears.

It was suggested that, desperate to gain his approval, she had sabotaged Child O deliberately to attract his attention and cause him to return to the hospital to help.

A prison van believed to contain Letby leaves Chester Crown Court on 13 November 2020 (Getty)

On a scribbled piece of paper found at his address, she had written a declaration of love next to his name, which cannot be published for legal reasons. Scrawled in black ink were the words I loved you and My best friend.

I killed them on purpose

The darker side of her character was revealed in a number of scribbled Post-it notes on which she wrote: I AM EVIL I DID THIS.

Other notes included the lines: I killed them on purpose because Im not good enough to care for them, and I am a horrible and evil person, and There are no words. I am an awful person. I pay everyday for that.

Police also recovered notes that included many protestations of innocence and phrases such as kill myself, No Hope, and HATE written in capital letters.

Police discovered notes in Letbys house that included the words I AM EVIL (PA)

Becoming emotional in the dock when talking about her forced departure from the neonatal unit, she said: At this point I didnt know what to do. It was having a massive impact on all aspects of my life.

It was emotionally very difficult. I was lonely, I was worried, I didnt know what was going on.

Her barrister, Benjamin Myers KC, described the notes as the anguished outpouring of a young woman in fear and despair who was facing multiple charges of murdering the babies it had been her duty to protect.

When the eight guilty verdicts were returned by the jury on Friday 11 August  four of murder and four of attempted murder  Letby was unmoved, but her mother Susan cried out: This cant be right, this cant be right. Sobbing uncontrollably, she was escorted from the courtroom by her husband.

Now found guilty of a total of seven murders and the attempted murders of six other babies, Letby is one of Britains most prolific serial killers of children, having taken advantage of the position of trust that she held to carry out a horrific campaign of attacks on the most vulnerable.

She abused the trust of the people around her, not just the parents who had trusted her with their babies but also the nurses she worked with, the people she regarded as friends, said DCI Evans.

Lucy Letby was operating in plain sight.
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Killer nurse Lucy Letby remained entirely emotionless as the jury returned guilty verdicts in the hospital baby poisoning trial that lasted nine months.

While Letby was unmoved, the nurses mother sobbed uncontrollably and wailed at the jury.

The 33-year-old serial killer has been unmasked as one of Britains worst child murderers, after injecting babies with air and poisoning them with insulin while working at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

Last Friday, the jury delivered eight guilty verdicts after 86 hours of deliberating, after being provided with a majority direction by the judge.

Susan Letby cried out This cant be right before sobbing uncontrollably (Getty Images)

Upon hearing that she had been found guilty of four murders and four attempted murders, Letby remained dispassionate with her head bowed.

Her mother, Susan Letby, was heard crying out This cant be right, this cant be right and sobbing uncontrollably, before being escorted from the courtroom by her husband John.

Three times a year John and Susan Letby would visit Torquay for their holidays and their only child Lucy often joined them.

In July 2018, they had returned from one such break and Mr Letby was staying overnight at his daughters semi-detached home in Westbourne Road, Chester.

She had bought the house two years earlier, within walking distance of her workplace, the Countess of Chester Hospitals neonatal unit.

She lived alone and doted on her two cats, Smudge and Tigger.

(Sky News)

At 6am on July 3 there was a loud knock at the front door.

When it was answered, police officers from Cheshire Constabulary filed in and told Letby she was being arrested on suspicion of multiple counts of murder and attempted murder.

She was taken to a nearby police station in handcuffs where she faced three days of questioning about babies in her care.

Further arrests followed in June 2019 and November 2020 when she had moved back in with her parents in her home city of Hereford.

The Letbys were a close-knit family and her parents were understandably proud when their daughter became the first in their wider family to go to university and move away from home.

But her trial heard that Mr Letby, now 77 and Mrs Letby, 63, came to hate it when she did not return home after her graduation and that made her feel constantly guilty.

Messaging a friend who had joked about emigrating to New Zealand, Letby said: I couldnt leave my parents. They would be completely devastated. Find it hard enough being away from me now and its only 100 miles.

I came here to uni & didnt go back. They hate it & I feel guilty for staying here sometimes but its what I want.

Letby told another friend: My parents worry massively about everything & anything, hate that I live alone etc.

I feel bad because I know its really hard for them especially as Im an only child, and they mean well, just a little suffocating at times and constantly feel guilty.

The guilty verdicts included the murders of Baby O and Baby P, two brothers in a set of triplets, who died in June 2016 after being injected with air.

She was also found guilty by a majority of 10 to one of murdering Baby C, who was killed after air was inserted into his stomach, and Baby I, who suffered extreme pain after air was injected into her bloodstream.
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Nurse Lucy Letby has been found guilty of murdering seven newborn babies on a neonatal hospital unit, making her one of Britains most prolific serial killers of children.

After a 10-month trial, during which jurors at Manchester Crown Court heard from more than 240 witnesses, Letby was found guilty of seven counts of murder and the attempted murder of six other babies.

The 33-year-old deliberately injected infants with air or poisoned them with insulin between June 2015 and June 2016 while working at the Countess of Chester Hospital in the North West. Other babies, some of whom had been born prematurely or had specific vulnerabilities, were harmed by being fed excessive amounts of milk, while one was physically assaulted.

Concerns were first raised about Letby in June 2015 after three babies died over a two-week period (Sourced)

Letby was not in the dock when the jury returned its final verdicts on Friday after 22 days and more than 100 hours of deliberation. Her parents were also absent from the court, but families of the victims were in the public gallery.

Following the verdicts, families of the victims described their eight-year wait for justice, saying in a statement: Words cannot effectively explain how were feeling at this moment in time. We are quite simply stunned.

To lose a baby is a heartbreaking experience no parent should ever have to go through, but to lose a baby or to have a baby harmed in these particular circumstances is unimaginable.

We are heartbroken, devastated, angry and feel numb. We may never truly know why this happened.

Verdicts on 16 of the 22 counts Letby faced were returned by the jury previously, but could not be reported until now. The jury was unable to reach verdicts on six counts of attempted murder, leading the relatives of one of the infants to storm out of court. When the first two guilty verdicts were returned on 8 August, in relation to two counts of attempted murder, Letby fought back tears in the dock and then cried as she left the courtroom.

Cheshire Police say they are continuing to review the care of some 4,000 babies who were admitted to the Countess of Chester Hospital during Letbys employment there from 2012  and also of patients at Liverpool Womens Hospital, where Letby held two work placements.

It has been announced that an independent inquiry will be held into the case, which will examine the circumstances surrounding the deaths and incidents, including how concerns raised by clinicians were dealt with, the Department of Health and Social Care has said.

As well as examining the handling of concerns raised by staff at the hospital, the inquiry will look at what action was taken by regulators and the wider health service.

The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, Rob Behrens, said: Those who lost their children deserve to know whether Letby could have been stopped, and how it was that doctors were not listened to, and their concerns not addressed, for so long.

Letby is due to be sentenced on Monday. She will not attend court.

Below we look at how her horrific killing spree unfolded.

Letby was a constant malevolent presence

Letbys mugshot after her arrest (Cheshire Constabulary)

The trial heard Letby was a constant malevolent presence when things took a turn for the worse for her victims, with seemingly healthy babies often deteriorating dramatically while in her care.

Concerns were first raised in June 2015 after three babies died over a period of two weeks, with Letbys name first being mentioned among a group of consultants.

Despite this, she continued to work at the unit for a further 12 months until she was moved to clerical duties in July 2016.

The court heard that, on one occasion, a doctor walked into the room while she was suspected of being in the process of trying to kill a premature baby in February 2016.

The former nurse during her police interview (Cheshire Police)

Having made the association between the deaths and collapses and Letbys presence, Dr Ravi Jayaram told jurors he was extremely uncomfortable at leaving her alone with the infant, and arrived to find that the babys breathing tube had been dislodged.

After the deaths of two male triplets in June 2016, Letby was named as the common denominator and became the subject of a hospital review. Cheshire Police were contacted in mid-2017 to assist with the investigation, and after they obtained expert advice, she was arrested.

Opening the case for the prosecution last October, Nick Johnson KC said: It is a hospital like so many others in the UK, but unlike many other hospitals in the UK  and unlike many other neonatal units in the UK  within the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital, a poisoner was at work.

Killer nurse Lucy Letby is arrested over baby deaths (Cheshire Police)

Babies who had not been unstable at all suddenly deteriorated. Sometimes babies who had been sick but then been on the mend suddenly deteriorated for no apparent reason.

Having searched for a cause, which they were unable to find, the consultants noticed that the inexplicable collapses and deaths did have one common denominator: the presence of one of the neonatal nurses  and that nurse was Lucy Letby.

On her conviction, crown prosecutor Pascale Jones said of Letby: Parents were exposed to her morbid curiosity and her fake compassion. Too many of them returned home to empty baby rooms. Many surviving children live with permanent consequences of her assaults upon their lives.

Her attacks were a complete betrayal of the trust placed in her.

Like the parents of hundreds of babies whom Letby cared for, one mother of newborn twins said she had completely trusted the nurse.

Letby, 33, murdered the womans son, Child E, with a fatal injection of air into his bloodstream, and the following day attempted to kill his twin brother, Child F, by insulin poisoning.

Giving evidence in the trial at Manchester Crown Court, the woman said she heard cries as she walked along the main corridor to the intensive care nursery. It was a sound that should not come from a tiny baby, she said. I cant explain what the sound was. It was horrendous. More of a scream than a cry.

The damning I did this notes

The nurse had written I AM EVIL I DID THIS on a Post-it note (PA)

Letby wrote a sympathy card to the parents of one of her victims, whom she had killed with an injection of air (PA)

Early on in the trial, the court was told of a disturbing discovery at her home.

A search of the property in Chester found a number of Post-it notes on which she had written: I killed them on purpose because Im not good enough, I am a horrible person, and I AM EVIL I DID THIS.

Other scribbled notes included the phrases Kill Me, Help Me, and I Cant Do This Any More. Police also discovered 257 handover notes containing medical details of her victims, including how many doses of adrenaline had been given to one child during his collapse.

Ben Myers KC, defending Letby, had insisted that the notes showed his clients anguish not guilt, telling the jury they were the outpouring of a young woman when she learnt she was being accused of killing children that shed done her best to care for.

Lucy Letby: Moment killer nurse arrested over baby deaths

A note of medications given to a baby boy as he fought back from the brink of death was among items found under Letbys bed. The record of emergency drugs provided to the infant was written on a paper towel during his 30-minute resuscitation as she gave him rescue breaths. Earlier she had injected air into Child Ms bloodstream, and had also poisoned his twin brother, Child L, with insulin.

Analysis of Letbys devices found that she had made a number of Facebook searches for the family members of her victims, and had become obsessed with one mother, searching for her on several occasions including on Christmas Day.

Letby tried to murder one infant, known as Child I, on four occasions by injecting air into her stomach and bloodstream. Described as calculated and cold-blooded, Letby sent Child Is parents a sympathy card after the infants death on 23 October, and kept a picture of it on her mobile phone.

Letby denied the charges. Her defence lawyer claimed that suboptimal care at the Countess of Chester had been a major factor, and accused hospital bosses of a conspiracy to cover up shortcomings on the neonatal ward.

Following the verdicts, Jones, who served as the Crown Prosecution Service reviewing lawyer, said Letby had brainwashed her colleagues at the hospital into thinking nothing sinister was happening on the neonatal unit.

The nice nurse who became a child killer in plain sight

Letby was described as a constant malevolent presence (Chester Standard/SWNS)

Nice Lucy, as one consultant called her, was born in Hereford in January 1990, the only child of John and Susan Letby, who attended court throughout their daughters trial.

After an unremarkable childhood filled with holidays to Devon, she attended the local comprehensive school before enrolling in a nursing course at the University of Chester, 100 miles from home.

One rare moment of emotion during her 10-month trial came when jurors were shown pictures of her bedroom in Hereford, which prompted Letby, 33, to break down in the dock.

The untidy room gave a childish impression of the serial killer, with two teddy bears placed on a duvet cover bearing the motif Sweet Dreams.

Framed pictures bearing the slogans Shine Bright Like a Diamond and Leave Sparkles Wherever You Go could be seen on the bedroom walls, while a fluffy pink and white polkadot dressing gown hung on the door.

John and Susan Letby, the parents of former nurse Lucy Letby, outside Manchester Crown Court ahead of the verdict (PA)

During her time at university in Chester, she was regarded as a studious type, never staying out late as she worked towards her goal. In fact, on qualifying as a registered NHS nurse in 2011, Letby developed a reputation among her colleagues as reliable, hard-working and trustworthy.

But her innocent exterior masked a terrifying truth, the trial heard.

Lucy Letby was operating in plain sight, said deputy senior investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector Nicola Evans. She abused the trust of the people around her, not just the parents who had trusted her with their babies but also the nurses she worked with, the people she regarded as friends.

Following the verdicts, Ms Evans said: I would describe Lucy Letby, from my own experience of this investigation, as beige. There isnt anything outstanding or outrageous that we found about her as a person. And I think that has come across during the trial, in that she was an average nurse ... But clearly there was another side that nobody saw  a massive deceit  and that we have unravelled during this investigation and during the trial.

Dr Dominic Willmott, a senior lecturer in criminology at Loughborough University, said Letby may have been motivated by a pathological desire for attention and sympathy.

However, detectives say the reasons why Letby murdered her victims may never be known. Speaking after the case, senior investigating officer Detective Superintendent Paul Hughes said: Ultimately, the only person who can answer the question Why? is Lucy Letby herself. I dont think well ever know unless she chooses to tell us.

Emotionless response in the dock

Jurors convicted Letby after a lengthy trial at Manchester Crown Court (PA)

For months during the trial, Letby had appeared a sullen, brooding presence in the dock. In the witness box, she cried on cue for her barrister, but appeared almost belligerent when cross-examined.

It didnt escape prosecutor Mr Johnsons attention that she claimed not to remember some of her victims. He noted, too, that she shed no tears for any of the babies. Those, he said, were reserved exclusively for Lucy Letby.

Upon hearing that she had been found guilty of the first four murders and four attempted murders, Letby remained dispassionate, with her head bowed.

Her mother was heard crying out This cant be right, this cant be right, and sobbing uncontrollably before being escorted from the courtroom by her husband.

Now finally convicted after a lengthy trial, Letby will be remanded in custody and sentenced on Monday.

She joins a list of Britains worst killers of children, alongside the likes of Myra Hindley and her partner Ian Brady. The Moors murderers killed five children in and around Manchester in the 1960s.

Nurse Beverley Allitt was convicted of killing four children in the 1990s by administering large doses of insulin at Grantham and Kesteven District General Hospital in Lincolnshire.

For her horrific crimes, Letby can only receive a mandatory life sentence. She is likely to spend the majority of her life behind bars.

Infamous across the country, it is likely she will be placed in HMP Low Newton, a maximum security prison that is home to many of the deadliest female killers in recent history.

Following the verdicts, families of her victims expressed their extreme hurt, anger and distress. Janet Moore, a family liaison coordinator at Cheshire Constabulary, read out a joint statement on behalf of the families, which said: We are heartbroken, devastated, angry and feel numb. We may never truly know why this happened.
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Scottish Secretary Alister Jack did not act irrationally when he called on never-before-used powers to block controversial gender reforms in Scotland, according to UK Government legal arguments published on Friday.

In April, Scotlands First Minister Humza Yousaf confirmed the Scottish Government would mount a legal challenge against the UK Governments use of Section 35 powers, which prevented the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill from gaining royal assent.

The legal challenge is due to be heard at the Court of Session in Edinburgh next month.

In a note of argument published ahead of the hearing, Lord Stewart KC, Advocate General for Scotland, said: The Bill modifies the law as it applies to the reserved matters specified in S1 of Schedule 2 to the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill (Prohibition on Submission for Royal Assent) Order 2023 (the Order).

In making the Order, the Secretary of State (Mr Jack) did not act irrationally on the basis of the evidence which was before him or by taking into account any irrelevant considerations.

The reforms aim to make it easier for trans people to self-identify and obtain a gender recognition certificate.

The powers under the Scotland Act  the legislation which established the devolved Scottish Parliament  had never been used before, with UK Government ministers arguing the gender legislation infringed on devolved equality laws.

Mr Yousaf previously said the legal challenge was necessary to defend the Scottish Parliaments democracy from the Westminster veto.

In the note of argument, Lord Stewart said the plain intent and purpose of the Scotland Act (SA) is that Section 35 should be exercisable by the Secretary of State in areas of devolved competence, provided only that specified preconditions are met.

He said: If that is so, there is nothing whatever to suggest that the UK Parliament intended some additional, unspecified constraint on the exercise of the power on the basis that the context involved a policy disagreement (as the issue is framed by the petitioners) between the UK and Scottish governments.

The existence of the power in Section 35 explicitly recognises the possibility that devolved policy may have an adverse impact on the operation of the law as it applies to reserved matters (as in the present case).

Lord Stewart also said: Section 35 exists as part of the devolution framework.

It forms part of a suite of carefully crafted checks and balances on the devolution of law-making power from the UK Parliament to the Scottish Parliament, which includes, but goes beyond, the question of competency alone.

In the note of argument, which responds to the petition from Scottish ministers (the petitioners), he said: The Secretary of State did not err in law in concluding that the provisions of the Bill listed in Schedule 1 to the Order modify the law as it applies to reserved matters.

The petitioners argument relies upon an incorrect, formalistic and unduly narrow interpretation of Section 35.

The legal argument also states the Scottish Government misinterpret the Section 35 order by suggesting a divergence exists between the schemes for gender recognition in Scotland and that of the rest of the UK.

But Lord Stewart argued: It is not the fact of divergence itself which is considered by the Secretary of State to be adverse, but rather the effect that particular examples of divergence would have on the operation of the law as it applies.

It comes after it emerged a senior judge has granted LGBT+ organisations permission to intervene in the legal challenge against the UK Governments block on the gender reforms.

Charities such as Stonewall, Gendered Intelligence and the Institute for Constitutional and Democratic Research (ICDR) will be able to present written evidence to the court on the adverse consequences of the UK Governments decision.
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A 31-year-old man who travelled almost 200 miles to attack Jewish people has been banned from contacting his victims for 10 years.

Abdullah Qureshi, 31, travelled from Dewsbury in West Yorkshire to Stamford Hill in east London, which has a large Jewish population, before assaulting three passers-by he believed were Jews because of the clothes they were wearing. .

He was sentenced at Wood Green Crown Court to a hospital order under the Mental Health Act as well as being banned from contacting his victims and entering the London borough of Hackney, where the attacks took place, for a decade.

He hit a teacher on the head with a bottle, attacked a 14-year-old boy on his way to school and punched a 64-year-old man on his way to a synagogue over a two-hour period on August 18 2021.

His third victim said the attack has left him with post-traumatic stress disorder.

I used to be walking the street tall and strong and confident and now Im just a cowardly wreck Jacob Lipschitz

His trial at Stratford Magistrates Court heard the defendant was playing Arabic music on his mobile phone before he hit teacher Chaine Greenfeld in the head with a bottle as he stood in the street at around 6.40pm.

I felt shocked, Mr Greenfield said while giving evidence from behind a screen.

He added: When I came home, I was quite traumatised and it traumatised my kids that their father was slapped like that in the road.

Asked why he thought he was attacked, Mr Greenfeld said: He wanted to attack me about Im another religion  that Im Jewish.

Qureshi slapped the 14-year-old, who cannot legally be named because of his age, as he walked to an orthodox Jewish school at about 7.45pm.

The teenager said in a statement read to the court: The man said nothing to me and just slapped me and walked away.

Thats not good for me or anyone who is Jewish or anyone else. That must not happen to anyone.

Jacob Lipschitz, then 64, was walking to the synagogue at about 8.30pm when he was punched on the ear with tremendous power by the defendant.

He hit his head on the wall of a building with such force it left him unconscious.

He was left with broken glasses, facial bruising, a sprained ankle and four breaks in his foot, which twisted as he collapsed.

Mr Lipschitz said he was traumatised by the attack and left with post-traumatic stress disorder.

He added: I used to be walking the street tall and strong and confident and now Im just a cowardly wreck. Any noise, I jump.

Asked why he believes he was targeted, Mr Lipschitz told the judge: I imagine he didnt like me, I will be honest with you, sir, because Im Jewish.

Qureshi told his trial it was just a coincidence his three victims were all wearing traditional orthodox Jewish clothing.

He was found guilty in November of inflicting religiously aggravated grievous bodily harm and two counts of religiously aggravated assault by beating.

The only thing which connected his victims was their Jewish faith Varinder Hayre

District Judge John Law said he was drawn to the inescapable conclusion that the defendant picked out his victims because of their faith.

Qureshi had pleaded guilty to two of the assaults without the religiously aggravated element, which was initially acceptable to the prosecution.

However, prosecutors were allowed to reinstate the original charges following complaints from campaigners.

Varinder Hayre, District Crown Prosecutor, and London Norths hate crime lead, said: Qureshi, who travelled from West Yorkshire, carried out a series of antisemitic attacks on the Jewish community.

The only thing which connected his victims was their Jewish faith.

Hatred of any kind has no place in society. This sentence should serve as a strong deterrent to those thinking of committing similar crimes.

I would like to thank the three victims for coming forward and supporting the prosecution.

I am very pleased that we have achieved justice for the victims who were badly affected by this unprovoked, antisemitic, religiously aggravated hate crime.

Indeed, no one in our society should be targeted because of who they are or what they do.

Hate crimes  including antisemitism  have a corrosive effect on society. We will always prosecute where there is sufficient evidence to do so.
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A senior judge has granted LGBT+ organisations permission to intervene in the legal challenge against the UK Governments block on controversial gender reforms.

Charities such as Stonewall, Gendered Intelligence and the Institute for Constitutional and Democratic Research (ICDR) will be able to present written evidence to the court on the adverse consequences of the UK Governments decision.

The three-day hearing is expected to begin at Edinburghs Court of Session on September 19, with the Scottish Government presenting its case first.

The Scottish Government is mounting a legal challenge over Westminsters decision to use Section 35 powers to prevent the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill from gaining royal assent.

The powers under the Scotland Act  the legislation which established the devolved Scottish Parliament  had never been used before, with UK Government ministers arguing the legislation infringed on devolved equality laws.

The gender reforms aimed to simplify the process for transgender people to self-identify and obtain a gender recognition certificate in their chosen gender.

But the Scottish Government has said the intervention gives the UK Government the ability to veto laws passed in Holyrood.

Colin Macfarlane, director of nations at Stonewall, said: The Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill was passed by an overwhelming majority of MSPs from across all the political parties in the Scottish Parliament.

The Bill, as passed, would mean the process that trans men and trans women use to update the sex recorded on their birth certificates would no longer be intrusive or dehumanising.

Interventions like this one are an essential way for civil society to ensure that the court has all the information it needs to make a proper decision Victoria Grace, IDCR

It would also bring Scotland into line with international best practice. More than 30 countries or territories around the world such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland have similar or more progressive laws and we want Scotland to join them so our trans friends, family and colleagues can live their lives with dignity.

Victoria Grace, chief operations officer of the ICDR, said: Constitutional questions like this one arent just between governments. They impact on every citizen.

Interventions like this one are an essential way for civil society to ensure that the court has all the information it needs to make a proper decision.

The ICDR is delighted to have the opportunity to join with other civil society organisations to assist the court in this manner.
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Hundreds of ULEZ cameras have been stolen or destroyed in London, amid ongoing backlash to the low emission scheme.

So far, the group has targetted 387 cameras installed by Transport for London (TfL) between April and mid-August.

It comes as vigilantes who oppose the expansion of the eco-scheme said they would not stop until they had removed every ULEZ in the capital.

Common methods employed by the Blade Runners include cutting the cameras wires, painting over the lens, or completely removing the device.

Metropolitan Police said there have been around 185 reports of destroyed cables, 164 stolen cameras and 38 obscured.

Dozens of numberplate reading cameras have also been vandalised or covered up, according to TfL.

Footage emerged last week of a masked Blade Runner using a tree lopper to cut a cameras cables before destroying another nearby.

Diners at the unknown location watched on as the hooded figure walked away with the pruning tool in-hand, leaving the camera dangling in the air.

In another recent incident, a fellow vigilante was filmed climbing up a traffic light pole with what appears to be a drill and unscrewing a camera in Bromley, south London.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan last month announced the ULEZ expansion which he hopes will boost air quality in the capital.

Vigilantes, who oppose the expansion of the eco-scheme, have targetted 387 cameras installed since April (PA Wire)

Launching on August 29, the new borders will reach Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey.

Mr Khan previously described his decision as very difficult but insisted it would see five million more Londoners being able to breathe cleaner air.

Some 1,900 cameras have been installed in outer London so far and a further 2,750 are being fixed in new areas to be covered by the expansion.

TfL reported criminal damage and theft of its cameras to Met Police, prompting the force to launch an operation in April.

The cameras are now being fitted with wires that offer extra protection, including through the use of black metal boxes.

Cmdr Owain Richards, of the Met, said: These are clearly unacceptable acts of criminality and we have a team of officers investigating and identifying those responsible.

We are providing a proportionate policing response, balancing these incidents against the wide range of operational demand and crime we must respond to across London.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan last month announced the ULEZ expansion which he hopes will boost air quality in the capital (PA Wire)

The force is working closely with TfL, alongside its investigation into previously committed offences, to identify new ways to prevent more cameras from being damaged or stolen.

We are continually reviewing where we need to focus our efforts and we will continue to do that over the coming weeks to ensure we are providing the service Londoners expect from us, Cmdr Richards added.

Scotland Yard released an image of a man they want to trace in connection with four camera offences in Hillingdon, Harrow and Uxbridge on June 17.

TfL said nine out of 10 cars seen driving in outer London on an average day comply with the Ulez standards.

Vehicles that do not meet minimum emissions standards are required to pay a 12.50 daily fee when used in the ULEZ zone, or face a fine.

Figures obtained by the RAC show more than 690,000 licensed cars in the whole of London are likely to be non-compliant.

This does not take into account other types of vehicles or those which enter London from neighbouring counties.

Motorcyclists opposed to the ULEZ expansion will ride together on the M25 on Sunday.

They will gather at six locations on the outskirts of the capital before descending on Surreys Box Hill.
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Glasses that filter blue light from screens probably make no difference to eye strain, eye health or sleep quality, a new study suggests.

Blue-light filtering lenses, also known as blue-light blocking spectacles, have been increasingly prescribed or recommended, often by optometrists, since the early 2000s, the researchers say.

They looked at the effects of the lenses compared with non-blue-light filtering lenses for improving visual performance, providing protection to the retina  the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye  and improving sleep quality.

The study found there may be no short-term advantages with using the lenses to reduce visual fatigue associated with computer use.

We found there may be no short-term advantages with using blue-light filtering spectacle lenses to reduce visual fatigue associated with computer use, compared to non-blue-light filtering lenses Laura Downie, University of Melbourne

They analysed data from 17 studies from across six countries, with the numbers of people in individual studies ranging from five to 156.

The period of time over which the lenses were assessed ranged from less than one day to five weeks.

Senior author of the review, associate professor Laura Downie at the University of Melbourne, Australia, said: We found there may be no short-term advantages with using blue-light filtering spectacle lenses to reduce visual fatigue associated with computer use, compared to non-blue-light filtering lenses.

It is also currently unclear whether these lenses affect vision quality or sleep-related outcomes, and no conclusions could be drawn about any potential effects on retinal health in the longer term.

People should be aware of these findings when deciding whether to purchase these spectacles.

However, the researchers say the quality and duration of the studies needs to be considered, she said.

The first author of the review, Dr Sumeer Singh, a postdoctoral research fellow in the Downie Laboratory at the University of Melbourne, said: High-quality, large clinical research studies with longer follow-up in more diverse populations are still required to ascertain more clearly the potential effects of blue-light filtering spectacle lenses on visual performance, sleep and eye health.

They should examine whether efficacy and safety outcomes vary between different groups of people and using different types of lenses.

How blue-light filtering lenses might be able to help with eye strain, sleep and protecting the retina is unclear.

The researchers suggest one basis for the claims may be that modern digital devices such as computers and smart phones emit more blue light than traditional lighting sources, and are being used for longer, and closer to bedtime.

Dr Singh said: The amount of blue light our eyes receive from artificial sources, such as computer screens, is about a thousandth of what we get from natural daylight.

Its also worth bearing in mind that blue-light filtering lenses typically filter out about 10-25% of blue light, depending on the specific product.

Filtering out higher levels of blue light would require the lenses to have an obvious amber tint, which would have a substantial effect on colour perception.

The study did not find any consistent reports of adverse side effects from using blue-light filtering lenses.

Any effects tended to be mild, infrequent and temporary, and included discomfort wearing the spectacles, headaches and lower mood.

It is suggested that these were likely to be related to wearing the glasses, as similar effects were reported with non-blue-light filtering lenses.

Prof Downie said: Over the past few years, there has been substantial debate about whether blue-light filtering spectacle lenses have merit in ophthalmic practice.

She added: The outcomes of our review, based on the current, best available evidence, show that the evidence is inconclusive and uncertain for these claims.

Our findings do not support the prescription of blue-light filtering lenses to the general population.

These results are relevant to a broad range of stakeholders, including eye care professionals, patients, researchers and the broader community.

The study, published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, was led by researchers at the University of Melbourne in collaboration with colleagues at City, University of London and Monash University in Melbourne.

Russell Foster, professor of circadian neuroscience at the University of Oxford, said that although the available data indicate that blue-light filtering lenses are not effective, we need better studies to make this statement definitive.
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Scientists are urging for Covid jabs to be made available to buy privately in Britain amid concerns over a new wave of the virus.

Vaccines are currently only available on the NHS, unlike flu jabs which can be purchased from high street pharmacies for around 15.

The government today told the Independent that pharmaceutical companies have been free for some time to offer private vaccines and that it will not stand in the way, provided they meet the NHS quota.

Experts have warned that the new Covid wave could add to autumn and winter pressures on the NHS if it continues to spread, following a rise in cases with the recent emergence of the new Eris variant.

However, no company currently offers private Covid vaccines that can be purchased - for example at private hospitals and pharmacies.

Virologist Lawrence Young, a professor of molecular oncology at the University of Warwick, said the issue of private access to vaccines is fraught with difficulties, particularly in relation to equity of access.

Speaking to The Independent, he added: Having said that, we accept every year that those who are not at high risk of serious complications can access a private flu jab so why should the covid jab be any different?

With the threat of new Covid variants and waning immunity in most of the population, we need to do everything we can to prevent the spread of the virus during the winter period.

It makes sense for the Covid booster vaccine to be more widely available so that people can choose to pay if they want but there should be some way of subsidising the cost to ensure that everybody has access.

Private flu jabs cost between 16 to 20. The fear is that as the mRNA vaccines will be much more expensive  around 100.

They will be unaffordable for many people particularly those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged who we know are most vulnerable to the severe effects of Covid.

The governments autumn booster programme this year is available to people aged 65 and over, as well as younger vulnerable groups, compared to the previous age limit of 50 ((Nick Potts/PA))

Professor Adam Finn, of the University of Bristol, also believes Covid vaccines should be commercially available and said employers might want to offer the jab to staff too.

The expert, who is also a member of the UKs Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), told the Guardian: I think it will be a good idea for vaccines to be made available to those that want them on the private market.

I dont really see any reason why that shouldnt be happening.

The latest data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) shows an increase in Covid cases in England from late July.

Infections and positivity rates, recorded through hospital testing, rose as well as hospitalisations which increased to 1.97 per 100,000 people compared to 1.47 the previous week.

Meanwhile, less people are eligible for the governments autumn booster programme which will be made available to people aged 65 and over, as well as younger vulnerable groups, compared to the previous age limit of 50.

Some pharmacists and private clinics have expressed interest in offering Covid vaccines for sale on the high street to the tens of millions of people no longer eligible on the NHS (PA)

Some pharmacists and private clinics have expressed interest in offering Covid vaccines for sale on the high street to the tens of millions of people no longer eligible on the NHS.

But while they are not prohibited from doing so, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), there is currently no such service available.

Prof Young said: The decision to axe free covid boosters for the 12 million people aged 50 to 64 is very short-sighted.

It will inevitably result in more infections requiring treatment as well as people having to take time off from work.

The sale of Covid vaccines could be offered in the same way as the sale of other private healthcare jabs, such as for seasonal flu.

But the government said getting such products to market is a matter for manufactuers and private healthcare providers to agree on.

Recent reports claimed pharmaceutical companies were suggeseting Covid jabs are still connected to government contracts.

There are currently no Covid vaccines available to purchase privately in the UK (PA Wire)

The UKHSA today told The Independent that while this is true, in that manufacturers are expected to deliver enough vaccines for its NHS programme, it will not stand in the way of any additional production.

So long as there are enough vaccines available for its NHS programme, it said companies are free to decide for themselves whether to produce more vaccines for the private market.

Philippa Harvey, Director of the Covid Vaccine Unit at UKHSA, said: The Covid-19 vaccine is not currently available to buy privately in the UK but there is no blanket restriction on private sales of licensed vaccines.

She further commented: The Covid-19 vaccination programme continues to target those at higher risk of serious illness in line with JCVI advice, as those groups are most likely to benefit from booster vaccination at this time.

UKHSA will continue to work with manufacturers to ensure there is sufficient vaccine supply available to the NHS programme.

The government said it has contracts with Covid-19 suppliers to deliver vaccines for NHS campaigns and to provide contingency, but that there is no blanket restriction on private sales of licenced vaccines.

Manufacturers would need to agree with private healthcare providers any future sale of vaccines to ensure providers can deliver these effectively and in line with clinical guidance, it explained.

It further reassured that contracts are in place to facilitate the delivery of the NHS Covid-19 booster programme this autumn.
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A watchdog has demanded a meeting with the immigration minister after potentially deadly bacteria was found on the Bibby Stockholm barge.

In a formal letter to the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) on Thursday, Labour called for an urgent inquiry to be triggered into why asylum seekers were put on the vessel on the same day test results found Legionella in its water system.

Shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock asked whether the process was dangerously accelerated for reasons of political presentation, at the start of the governments small boats week of announcements.

The Labour MP said the Home Office had not answered his questions, and instead engaged in a blame game over when it was informed that Legionella was present.

I am therefore asking you to open an independent investigation, as a matter of urgency, so you can cut through all the mixed messages and establish a single version of the truth, Mr Kinnock wrote.

I would ask that you specifically look into why the Home Office chose to board the asylum seekers before they had received the test results, given that the Legionella testing process was initiated on 25 July.

Chief inspector David Neal told The Independent he was pressing for a meeting with Robert Jenrick to discuss the issues, adding: I continue to closely monitor events surrounding the Bibby Stockholm.

I have read Mr Kinnocks letter and will consider his points carefully and respond appropriately. In the meantime, I continue to press for a meeting with the immigration minister to discuss.

The ICIBI has previously released a raft of scathing reports into the governments handling of English Channel crossings, small boat reception centres and accommodation for asylum seekers.

Inspections revealed that the Home Office was illegally housing child asylum seekers in hotels, wrongly detaining victims of torture and trafficking, missing security and vulnerability checks on small boat migrants and leaving thousands of refugees stranded in unsafe situations abroad.

The Bibby Stockholm remains empty amid work on its water system at Portland Port in Dorset (Getty)

The governments 1.6bn contract with barge operator Corporate Travel Management (CTM) requires a Legionella Report to be prepared, alongside other health and safety reports.

A company representative told The Independent a report was provided in advance of a contract being entered into as required but would not answer questions on when that was, why the results were, or why more tests were started last month.

Mr Kinnock said an inquiry must establish whether the Home Office knew about the presence of Legionella before asylum seekers were put on the Bibby Stockholm, and when more people were loaded on after an official was allegedly told about the results on 8 August.

Its clear that the governments handling of this scandal has been chaotic and begs the question as to whether the process was accelerated for reasons of political presentation. his letter added.

The barge has sat empty and unusable for 23 of the 28 days it has been docked in Dorset  by my calculations the vessel has already cost the taxpayer some 3m. This is a huge amount of money that has so far delivered no outcome.

The Home Office said it did not recognise the figures, and had scrutinised the accommodation sites value for money compared to hotels.

It hopes to house up to 500 men on the Bibby Stockholm, which only has 222 cabins, and has already seen a wave of legal letters challenging transfer notices over mental and physical health issues.

Inside the Bibby Stockholm' asylum barge

The Home Office dropped attempts to move more than 20 people last week but threatened other asylum seekers with the withdrawal of housing and financial support if they refused to live on the barge.

Most of those selected were not small boat migrants and claimed asylum after flying to the UK legally, The Independent revealed.

Rishi Sunak has committed to putting people back on the barge, and procuring others, as part of his plans for alternative accommodation to cut the 6m-a-day cost of asylum hotels.

But asylum seekers have been told they will not be moved back onto the Bibby Stockholm for weeks, amid ongoing work to flush and retest its water system.

A Home Office spokesperson said: The health and welfare of asylum seekers remains of the utmost priority.

The Home Office and our contractors are following all protocol and advice from Dorset Councils Environmental Health team, UK Health Security Agency and Dorset NHS who we are working closely with.
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Experts have warned it is reasonably certain the UK is in another wave of Covid-19  and suggested people should wear face masks again.

Hospital admissions for coronavirus have risen in recent weeks, just as the effectiveness of vaccines is wearing off, a new variant has emerged and ministers have decided Covid boosters will not be offered to nearly 12 million Britons this winter.

Without ramping up surveillance, and in the face of waning immunity, we are travelling into winter more vulnerable and with blinkers on, warned Christina Pagel, a member of the Independent Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies that advises on the virus.

Rates have risen since early July (Gov.uk)

Prof Pagel predicted the new wave could cause extreme pressure on the health service, with a repeat of last winters unprecedented NHS crisis of Covid, flu and respiratory virus that came all around the same time.

Any increase in hospital burden is bad news, given record waiting lists for diagnosis and treatment and persistently high waits in hospitals for admission, she wrote in the British Medical Journal.

Infection is also not harmless simply because its causing fewer hospital admissions  long Covid remains an ongoing significant problem, damaging peoples lives (eg through persistent fatigue or brain fog), as well as taking them out of the workforce.

And she warned that a new variant very different from previous strains could make hard-won protection much less protective.

Dr Trisha Greenhalgh, a University of Oxford healthcare expert and also iSage member, wrote on social media: My various science WhatsApp groups are buzzing I understand little of the detail but it looks like its once again time to MASK UP.

Asked whether people should wear them again, she added: In high-risk situations I personally would wear one, yes. More to the point, Im currently AVOIDING such situations eg not going to cinema.

The new Covid variant, Eris, emerged this summer as hospital admissions rose and estimated numbers of people with Covid jumped by almost 200,000 last month.

A descendant of Omicron, Eris, or EG.5.1, now accounts for between 10 per cent and 16.74 per cent of cases, and is the second-most prevalent strain in the UK, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).

Prof Pagel pointed out under-50s have not had a vaccine for 18 months, and most under-75s for a year.

She wrote: Protection from previous infection will also be waning in the absence of a large wave for several months.

It is thus likely that this wave is hitting a more susceptible population than the last few, and this might be enough to drive a large wave this September when coupled with return to school and work and more time spent inside, where the virus spreads most easily.

Latest cases data in England, as of 10 August (gov.uk)

There are no signs that Eris is more dangerous than other variants.

But Prof Pagel warned: Given few, if any, mitigations worldwide and much lower surveillance, such a variant could spread a long way before we realised it was a problem.

She also raised the alarm over a new  as yet unnamed  variant with many new mutations, detected in Israel and Denmark. It might fizzle out, but people are more vulnerable now, she said.

There are few ways to track the prevalence of Covid-19 in England since the end of wastewater monitoring last March, the end of Office for National Statistics Covid-19 survey in March this year, and gradual reduction of testing in hospitals.

Around 7 July, cases were thought to have fallen to their lowest since the summer of 2020. However, since the start of last month, daily hospital admissions have risen, and on 4 August were more than double the figure four weeks earlier.

On that date, the 1,802 patients admitted in the previous seven days represented a rise of 366 on the week before  a 26 per cent increase.

In all, 1,844 Covid patients were in hospital, in an increase thought to be driven partly by more social mixing indoors during wet weather.

This article was amended on 17 August 2023. It originally referred to the scientists as members of the official government advisory group, Sage, but this was incorrect. They are in fact members of Independent Sage, which is a group of scientists offering public advice on Covid-19.
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The former French ambassador to the UK has said it is delusionary to expect to stop all small boats crossing the English Channel.

Sylvie Bermann, who was in the post between 2014 and 2017, said previous efforts to prevent migrants using ferries, lorries and the Channel Tunnel had pushed them to find other routes.

The problem is that if you dont have legal processing or if it doesnt work people will try to cross the Channel illegally, she told BBC Radio 4s Today programme.

We have 150km (93 miles) of coast and so its very difficult to prevent everyone from going to the UK, in particular if some are desperate and you have smugglers. To expect that no one will cross the Channel is totally delusionary.

Rishi Sunak has made stopping the boats one of his five key pledges to the public ahead of the next general election, but has faced significant setbacks including a court ruling against the Rwanda deal and safety crises and delays to alternative accommodation for asylum seekers.

Channel crossings are currently 18 per cent down on this time last year, with around 17,300 people having made the journey, compared to over 21,000 by 18 August 2022.

But experts say the drop has been caused by unseasonably bad weather rather than the governments attempted deterrents, and warn that smugglers are launching large numbers of dinghies in groups to evade French authorities.

Ministers have signed a three-year deal worth 480m to increase security along the French coastline, but figures show a fall in the number of crossings prevented.

Official statistics published by The Telegraph show that 13,759  or 45.2 per cent  of migrants have been intercepted by French beach patrols since January, down from 17,032 (45.8 per cent) over the same period last year.

Ms Bermann said French police were doing what they can, but that France already had twice as many asylum seekers as Britain, adding: Now the port is sealed, the Tunnel is sealed, but of course they find other routes.

An official from the ISU, which represents Border Force workers and other staff responding to crossings in Kent, said smugglers were changing their behaviour.

Rishi Sunak insists Bibby Stockholm migrant barge is 'not a shambles'

Professional officer Lucy Moreton said boats were being bunched together in a phenomenon that may have contributed to Saturdays sinking that killed six Afghan refugees.

Everybody sets off at once on the basis that they can only stop some of them, not all of them, she told Today.

Where we would see boats going off singly and more slowly in a measured fashion, they now seem to be rushing to get off the beach and all going together in big groups.

Ms Moreton said that the last two decades of patterns in irregular migration to Britain showed that all you do when you make it more difficult to use one route is simply displace the traffic to another route.

I doubt its ever possible to stop 100 per cent of the boats, she added. Its a large and open section of coastline.

Ms Moreton said that the slow processing of asylum claims, taking up to six years in some cases, was a pull for people taking dangerous journeys to the UK.

The prime minister has vowed to clear a backlog of pre-June 2022 asylum claims by the end of this year, but The Independent revealed that most applications are being withdrawn by the Home Office for administrative reasons rather than being properly decided.

The tactic is leaving thousands of asylum seekers still in the UK without rights to government housing or financial support, and banned from working.

The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union, which represents almost 16,000 staff across different Home Office departments and Border Force, said the government would create safe and legal alternatives to small boat crossings if it was serious about stopping them.

This is the only way to prevent these dangerous crossings, head of bargaining Paul OConnor told The Independent. We agree that under the current arrangements it's delusional to say all boats can be stopped.

The total asylum backlog has hit a new record high (Home Office)

The Refugee Council charity said the creation of routes for asylum seekers, who must be physically present in the UK to make a claim but have no visa to reach the country under current laws, would be the most effective way of stopping the boats.

We all want to stop people from risking their lives in ill-equipped vessels to cross the Channel, a spokesperson added.

By putting in place safe routes and treating people fairly and with compassion when they reach our shores, well be closer to achieving this. The government can start by improving and investing in family reunion mechanisms, resettlement and a trial of refugee visas.

Afghans are now the most common nationality arriving in small boats, following the collapse in the number of refugees resettled directly from the country.

Last month, the government passed a raft of punitive asylum laws aiming to see small boat migrants detained and deported without having their claims considered.

However, the Illegal Migration Act cannot be implemented because there are no operational deportation agreements in place, with the 140m Rwanda scheme ruled unlawful by the Court of Appeal.

A Home Office spokesperson said: The unacceptable number of people risking their lives by making these dangerous crossings is placing an unprecedented strain on our asylum system.

Our priority is to stop the boats, and our Small Boats Operational Command is working alongside our French partners and other agencies to disrupt the people smugglers.

The government is going even further through our Illegal Migration Act which will mean that people arriving in the UK illegally are detained and promptly removed to their country of origin or a safe third country.
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A mother has reportedly been hospitalised after she was attacked by an American XL Bully while pushing her child in a pram.

The incident occurred in Askern, near Doncaster, on Thursday 17 August, police said, adding the dog had been seized by officers.

The 28-year-old woman was taken to a nearby hospital, where she remains in a stable but serious condition, South Yorkshire police said.

The woman, who hasnt been identified by police, was pushing the pram when an unaccompanied dog, thought to be an American XL Bully, attacked her.

She reportedly suffered serious injuries to her arms.

An eyewitness described the awful scene, adding the dog was all over her and she was screaming.

A spokesperson for South Yorkshire police told The Mirror: It is believed that the victim, a 28-year-old woman was walking her dog down the street, while pushing her child in a pram when she was approached by a loose dog.

The dog, believed to be an XL Bully breed, is alleged to have caused serious injury to the womans arms. She has been taken to hospital by ambulance, where she remains in a stable but serious condition. Firearms and dog officers attended the scene and seized the dog.

An eyewitness told the Doncaster Free Press: It was absolutely awful. The dog was all over her and she was screaming. It just kept going at her.

Earlier this year, a six-year-old boy was hospitalised with potentially life-changing injuries after he was attacked by an American Staffordshire terrier in Highfields, Doncaster.

In March last year, a newborn baby was mauled to death by her parents Siberian Husky during an attack in woodland at Ostlers Plantation near Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire.

Her parents Vince King and Karen Alcock were spared jail, as a judge at Lincoln Crown Court handed the pair suspended sentences.
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A drone display lit up the night sky of a coastal town with images of tanks, helicopters and soldiers to raise awareness of the dangers of military training land.

More than 100 drones took part in the display in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, to show how such areas can move from calm surroundings to combat zones.

Images changed from kites, mountain bikers and dogs into military helicopters and tanks as part of the Ministry of Defences Respect The Range safety campaign.

The campaign aims to raise awareness of the personal safety risks members of the public face when accessing military land, including live firing, unexploded ordnance and fast-moving vehicles.

There were around 3,000 incidents of people dangerously accessing the UK Defence Training Estate between September 2021 and September 2022, with almost 10% classed as near-miss incidents.

These included people walking across live-firing ranges and areas set up for pyrotechnics and explosives, dogs running into areas of training, and people picking up military debris.

Tenby was chosen for the drone display due to its proximity to the Castlemartin training area in Pembrokeshire.

Areas including Lulworth in Dorset, Longmoor in Hampshire, Barry Buddon in Scotland, Catterick in Yorkshire, Holbeach and Donna Nook in Lincolnshire, and Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire are also part of the campaign.

Brigadier Jonathan Bartholomew is the Defence Infrastructure Organisations (DIO) head of overseas and training region and the Defence Training Estate.

In the last two years alone, the threats and challenges our country faces have evolved, he said.

Our Armed Forces are central to protecting the UKs interests, especially at a time of heightened tensions across the globe.

Through the Respect The Range safety campaign, we are asking the public to help us to keep them safe when accessing training land, as well as ensuring our Armed Forces can carry out their vital training uninterrupted.

Members of the public are urged to check training and live-training times before they travel, stick to public paths, bridleways and byways, and observe safety information such as red flags, fences and signs.
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Labour has reportedly watered down its plans to strengthen rights for gig economy and precariously employed workers in a bid to woo business leaders.

The partys national policy forum last month agreed a series of changes to the Labour programme as Keir Starmers team firm up their policies ahead of an expected general election next year.

In 2021, Sir Keirs party pledged to create a single status of worker in employment law to stop gig economy giants like Deliveroo and Uber from using bogus self-employment to undermine conditions.

But the Financial Times reports that the partys policy documents now pledge only to consult on a simpler framework for differentiating the self-employed from workers.

This new policy would create a system that could properly capture the breadth of employment relationships in the UK and ensure workers can still benefit from flexible working where they choose to do so, the newspaper says.

Labour is also said to have refined a pledge to give workers full employment rights from day one, adding an explicit carve-out for probationary periods in which workers could still be sacked, according to people familiar with the text of the document.

The results of the National Policy Forum are not yet public and are due to be published ahead of the partys conference in autumn.

Other changes won by the leadership at the policy conference reportedly include dropping commitments to clean air zones, following Sir Keirs attempt to distance himself from the partys flagship policy in London under Sadiq Khan.

Labour has been castigated for a series of U-turns under Sir Keir, who has abandoned large parts of the programme on which he won the leadership.

The opposition leader has ditched promises to take water and energy into public ownership, to support EU free movement, and to abolish tuition fees. More recently, the party was criticised for watering down promises to invest 28bn a year in green jobs,

Asked about the reports on workers rights, a Labour source said the party has transformed its relationship with business.

Businesses are no longer running scared of us, but running towards us  whether thats donating money or sitting down with us to write our plans for growth, they added.

The source added that last months national policy forum endorsed Keir Starmers programme, his five missions for government and the fiscal rules that he and Rachel Reeves have set out.

Deputy leader Angela Rayner meanwhile said Labours policies would amount to the biggest levelling-up of workers rights in decades.

Posting on social media she highlighted pledges to ban zero-hours contracts and bringing in rules to end the practice of fire and rehire.
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Sadiq Khan has fired back at Lee Anderson after the senior Conservative branded the London mayor Dick Turpin and a modern day highwayman.

The deputy Tory chairman took aim at the Labour mayor over the controversial Ulez (Ultra Low Emission Zone) expansion, and the decision to charge drivers for using the Blackwall Tunnel.

Mr Anderson accused Mr Khan of act of robbery without violence and acting like a thief  comparing him to legendary Georgian-era gang leader.

Hes like a modern-day highwayman, he told GB News, The man is seen as a thief, and who can disagree with that? First we had the Ulez expansion, and now we have this.

Its like Dick Turpin, hes out robbing people on the highway. The poor motorists have enough to contend with in this country, and hes hammering them yet again.

Referring to the mayoral contest in May 2024, when Mr Khan goes up against the Conservatives Susan Hall, Mr Anderson added: Roll on next year, we need to get this man out.

However, Mr Khans spokesperson fired back at the senior Torys criticism over the Blackwall tunnel charge  pointing out that it was decided by Boris Johnson.

The introduction of a toll on the Blackwall Tunnel was confirmed by Boris Johnson when he was the mayor in 2012, they said.

Transport for London (TfL) confirmed this week motorists will likely start being charged to drive through the Blackwall Tunnel in 2025, when construction work is expected to end on the Silvertown Tunnel nearby.

The fee is being introduced to help pay back the construction cost for the 2bn project in Silvertown aimed at easing congestion in east London.

Khan has faced anti-Ulez protests (PA)

Back in 2012, the then-Tory mayor Mr Johnson accepted that a 2 charge would be needed for the new Silvertown tunnel, which TfL described as the most appropriate way of funding the infrastructure.

But motorists  already angry about the 12.50 Ulez charge aimed at combatting air pollution  have described the plan as another cash grab by the Labour London mayor.

Twitter user Siama Qadar, who described herself as a serial entrepreneur, condemned Mr Khan for another money-making scheme to batter motorists.

TfL said the toll will apply to both tunnels to help manage traffic levels. From 2025 drivers using either tunnel will have to pay an as yet undecided fee.

It comes as police revealed that nearly 300 Ulez cameras have been damaged or stolen police said. Vigilantes describing themselves as Blade Runners have cut the cameras wires or completely removing the devices.

Keir Starmer and Sadiq Khan at odds over Ulez (PA)

Earlier this week Keir Starmer offer his strongest criticism yet of Ulez, arguing that the scheme was disproportionately hitting hard-up Britons during the cost of living crisis.

But Sir Keir risked the wrath of a leading Labour donor Dale Vince  who said he was disappointed at the leaders change of heart on the issue.

Motorists can avoid the charge, now expanded to out London, by making sure their vehicle meets the minimum emissions standards. For petrol cars that means those generally first registered after 2005.

Rishi Sunak has pounced on the issue and sought to portray himself as on the side of motorists. The PM has ordered a review into low traffic neighbourhoods and other plans aimed at curbing pollution in city and town centres.

Nine out of ten cars seen driving in outer London on an average day are already ULEZ compliant and their drivers will not have to pay the charge, said a spokesperson for Mr Khan.

They added: For drivers of the most polluting vehicles, Sadiq has announced TfL is making major changes to the scrappage scheme from next Monday, to make every Londoner with a non-compliant car eligible for a 2,000 grant to replace their car  as well as doubling the grants for wheelchair accessible vehicles to 10,000 and increasing the scrappage payments and retrofit grants for vans.
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RTEs director-general has said there is a danger and a risk of legal action after talks were ended abruptly on its star presenter Ryan Tubridys return to the broadcaster.

Kevin Bakhurst said he had received internal and external legal advice before making the decision and said he hoped it does not come to legal action between RTE and Tubridy.

I dont think it will be a good thing for anybody. Clearly, theres always a risk, but we factored that in and considered that risk, and I still feel convinced it was the right decision for RTE and for audiences, he said.

Asked why the decision had been taken to end the talks, Mr Bakhurst said he did not believe that Tubridy, formerly RTEs highest-paid star, had owned his mistakes in relation to RTEs under-declaration of the presenters salary.

I do think that everyone has got to accept those reports in full and not in parts and not trying to spin their own narratives Kevin Bakhurst

Mr Bakhurst said that it had been agreed that Tubridy would return to his weekly RTE Radio show on a 170,000 euro fee, while also presenting a new podcast series.

It is the latest development in a controversy over RTEs under-declaration of his salary, which has widened out to probes launched into RTEs financial affairs, accounting practices, governance and spending on advertising clients.

The crisis has led to a significant drop-off in people buying TV licences, an obligatory 160-euro fee for people with televisions, which goes towards funding operations at the broadcaster.

Mr Bakhurst said negotiations with Tubridy about returning to his radio show had concluded after stating that trust between the parties had broken down, but added the door is still open for a future return.

Mr Bakhurst said he was particularly disappointed with Tubridys response to a highly anticipated report into the presenters earnings, which the director-general said had questioned corrected figures for the period of 2020 and 2021.

RTE had sought clarification from the presenter after he stated that the Grant Thornton report made it clear that his actual income from the broadcaster in 2020 and 2021 matches what was originally published in February as his earnings for those years.

Speaking to RTEs Morning Ireland programme on Friday, Mr Bakhurst said that to question the report into the under-declaration of Ryan Tubridys fees was counter-productive adding we cant be going around in circles arguing about this.

I do think that everyone has got to accept those reports in full and not in parts and not try and spin their own narratives.

Weve got a version, it fairly reflects overall what he was paid in lieu of those years and to start questioning that is counterproductive and we cant be going round in circles arguing about this.

Weve got to have (the) integrity to own our mistakes, he said.

When asked whether he believed Tubridy was doing that, he replied: No, I dont.

In his third interview with RTE in 12 hours, Mr Bakhurst said Tubridy was shocked and disappointed with the decision not to continue with negotiations, adding he did not think Tubridy saw the decision coming.

He said that RTE staff were strongly divided about whether Tubridy should return, but added that he is a hugely talented broadcaster and he felt it was the right thing to try to bring him back.

However, I feel there was an issue throughout about the need to accept your role in what has been a hugely damaging scandal for everybody involved, and particularly for RTE who need to take the vast majority blame, he said.

But there are others, including Ryan and his team, who should take some of the blame and take some responsibility, he said, adding that he did not believe he was aware of some significant resistance to his return.

He said the interim leadership team was consulted over the decision to end the talks and they agreed.

They realised like I did, it was a tough decision but they also realise weve got a job to do.
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President Joe Biden delivered a special message to the people of Maui on Thursday morning in a pre-recorded video aired on Good Morning America  but for some, the presidents effort was too little too late.

Mr Biden, who has recently made a concerted effort to speak about Hawaii and outwardly express his sympathy and dedication, promised the people of Maui to stand beside them.

Well be with you for as long as it takes, I promise you, Mr Biden said in the message. Thats why we took immediate action.

The President went on to list a few of the ways hes provided federal relief and assistance to Maui after wildfires left at least 111 people dead and thousands of others displaced.

On Monday, Jill and I will travel to Hawaii to convey, in person, our grief and solidarity and commitment to the people of Maui, Mr Biden said.

The message, which was part of Good Morning Americas Maui Strong broadcast, was a clear reminder from Mr Biden to people that his attention is directed toward Hawaii.

It is a strategic move by Mr Biden, who has faced backlash this past week over his public handling of the disaster.

Though the president has deployed federal assets and acted quickly in response to the deadly wildfires, his public-facing action came across to some as apathetic.

While rescue missions were underway in Lahaina this past weekend, Mr Biden was relaxing his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. When reporters questioned him about a planned trip to Hawaii, the president gave a vague response, saying he had no comment.

But in recent days, Mr Biden has publicly addressed Hawaii both on social media and in speeches hes given across the country. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre represented the Biden administrations efforts in Hawaii on CNN where she defended the president.

But online, some people called out Mr Biden for embarking on a PR campaign.

The medias willingness to assist Biden knows no bounds. Good Morning America broadcasts a "special message" from the President, Tom Bevan wrote.

Nobody forgets the no comment, another Twitter user said.

Mr Biden will be in Maui on Monday to meet with local officials, survivors, volunteers and more. The exact itinerary of his visit is unclear at this time.
 Close Neighbours speak out on disappearance of Katy Perry's songwriter

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California authorities have reassured the public that a thorough investigation is underway into the mysterious disappearance of musician Camela Leierth-Segura.

The 48-year-old Swedish native, who co-wrote the hit Katy Perry song Walking on Air, was last seen in the Beverly Hills area back on 29 June, according to the California Department of Justices missing persons page. Her friends told ABC7 they last heard from her on 30 June.

Seven weeks on from when she was last seen, the talented musician, her car and her 19-year-old pet cat Morris are still missing. Beverly Hills police told Fox News Digital in a statement that a missing persons report was not filed until 8 August.

The timing is especially crucial considering, the date she is stated to have gone missing compared to when it was reported to the police, the law enforcement said in an email.

Cecilia Foss, a longtime friend of Ms Leierth-Segura, told The Independent earlier this week that she fears someone has abducted the missing woman and is holding her somewhere.

My worst fear is that someone has her, and is hurting her, Ms Foss said, noting that it is extremely out of character for the musician to disappear.
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A new variant of Covid-19 that now accounts for almost one-fifth of cases in the United States is causing a small rise in hospitalisations, health officials have warned.

Officially known as EG5, the strain accounted for 17.3 per cent of American cases as of 5 August, up from 7.5 per cent in the first week of July and surpassing a number of Omicron descendants like XBB.1.16 (15.6 per cent of cases), XBB.2.23 (11.2 per cent) and XBB.1.5 (10.3 per cent).

The EG5 strains emergence comes at a time when the US is seeing an increase in hospital admissions with coronavirus, its first significant uptick since December 2022 .

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recorded a rise of 12.5 per cent for the week ending 29 July as 9,056 more people were taken ill with the respiratory disease nationwide, likely the result of increased summer socialising, waning immunity and precautions being allowed to lapse.

It is ticking up a little bit, but its not something that we need to raise any alarm bells over, Dr David Dowdy, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told the Associated Press.

The next tranche of biweekly figures from the CDC will shed further light on the extent of the spread when they are released in the coming days.

However, data is limited as many states stopped reporting positive case rates when the Biden administration ended the Covid public health emergency in May.

Around 500 to 600 people in the US have died each week from Covid since June, according to the CDC.

A social media thread by Professor T Ryan Gregory of the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, warning about the threat posed by a particular subvariant of the lineage, EG5.1, nicknamed it Eris and prompted a revival of concern about the prospect of a fresh surge in infections.

Professor Gregory said that EG5.1 isn't super notable in terms of specific mutations and is not even the fastest new XBB variant, but it is increasing quickly in frequency and is one to watch even if it's not expected to cause a large wave.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) only placed the EG5 lineage on its variants under monitoring list on 19 July and dates its earliest documented samples back to 17 February this year, underlining the relative swiftness of its emergence since its discovery in Indonesia that month.

Experts have suggested that the lineage is profiting from a slightly beneficial mutation that is giving it an advantage over its competitor variants as it seeks to spread.

An electron microscope image from the US National Institutes of Health shows the novel coronavirus emerging from the surface of cells (AP)

They also suggest there is little difference in symptoms and severity between the various strains currently doing the rounds while conceding that it has become increasingly difficult to distinguish subtle deviations because surveillance of the virus is so much less thorough than it was at the height of the pandemic.

In the UK, where Eris has also made ground, the Zoe Health Study has indicated its symptoms are similar to those of Omicron, which include a runny or stuffy nose, headaches, fatigue, sneezing, sore throats, coughing and changes in the patients sense of smell.

The CDCs advice on what to do if you should return a positive result on a lateral flow test has not changed, with citizens instructed to stay at home and isolate from others in a well-ventilated space, wear a mask when encountering others, practice good hygiene, get plenty of rest and seek out over-the-counter pharmaceutical treatments to help manage the symptoms.

It is also recommended that you keep up to date with vaccine and booster shots, which are again being modified to counteract the latest strains in time for the fall flu season.

While the emergency of Covid has been lifted and were no longer in a crisis phase, the threat of Covid is not gone. So, keeping up with surveillance and sequencing remains absolutely critical, Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHOs technical lead for the virus, said in a press conference on 26 July, a timely reminder that it still poses a danger, however much we might prefer to forget about it.
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A construction worker was apprehended by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while on the job in New Hampshire.

Earlier this week, on 14 August, former Brazilian military police officer Antonio Jose De Abreu Vidal Filho, 29, was arrested at the construction site in Rye by Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), a division of ICE.

He was named by Interpol in a Red Notice after a criminal court in Brazil convicted him of 11 murders and he was sentenced to 275 years and 11 months in prison in June for his part in a 2015 Brazilian massacre, according to ICE.

The incident has since been dubbed the Curio Massacre. He and three other Brazilian military police officers were convicted of 11 murder charges plus charges of attempted murder and physical and mental torture, the ICE release said.

Coworkers described the dramatic arrest to WCVB, saying the federal officials arrived on the scene with helmets, rifles and flash grenades.

Were just like, OK, OK, OK. We had nothing to do with it, Sammy Johnson told the outlet. Its a pretty epic way to start your Monday morning, you know?

Mr Vidal Filhos coworkers recalled he had informed them that he and his wife had come from Brazil to escape violence in the country and start a family in the US.

To hear that might not be the truth, its rather frightening that I believed him, another unnamed coworker told the station.

The apprehension of this very dangerous foreign fugitive is an outstanding example of the professionalism and expertise of the officers of ERO Boston, said ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd Lyons.

We are proud to have taken this notorious criminal convicted of participating in multiple heinous murders in Brazil, off our streets, Lyons added.

ICE said that Mr Vidal Filho will remain in its custody pending a hearing before a federal immigration judge.
 Close Arrest made in murder of Microsoft executive Jared Bridegan

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The widow of murdered Microsoft executive Jared Bridegan has spoken out about the last time she saw him alive as his ex-wife is fighting extradition to face charges over her murder.

Kirsten Bridegan told NewsNation that she said goodbye to him and their daughter Bexley as he went off on whats referred to as date night where he goes on his off weeks when the twins are with their mom.

She said they hugged and kissed and spoke later on the phone that night but that was the last moment they had in person together.

Bridegan, 33, was shot dead after dropping off his two children at his ex-wife Shanna Gardner-Fernandezs home near Jacksonville, Florida. Bexley was in the car at the time of the shooting and was uninjured.

Mario Fernandez, Ms Gardner-Fernandezs second husband, was arrested in March and charged with orchestrating the murder by hiring Henry Tenon, a tenant of one of his properties, to kill Bridegan. Mr Tenon has confessed to shooting Bridegan.

On Thursday, police announced Ms Gardner-Fernandez had been indicted on a first-degree murder charge and is accused of conspiring to have her husband killed. She is now fighting extradition to Florida.
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Two Nigerian brothers accused of driving an American teen to suicide over a sextortion plot have pleaded not guilty in federal court.

Samuel Ogoshi, 22, and Samson Ogoshi, 20, were arraigned on Thursday in US District Court in Marquette. The brothers were extradited to the US earlier this year after being accused by American prosecutors of posing as a woman and tricking 17-year-old Jordan DeMay into sending explicit photos.

The men allegedly blackmailed DeMay in March 2022 and told him they would send his nudes to his friends and family if he didnt send them $1,000. DeMay killed himself just six hours after he was first contacted by the Ogoshis and a third man whose extradition is still pending.

Both Ogoshis face charges of conspiracy to sexually exploit minors, distribution of child pornography and stalking. Samuel Ogoshi is also charged with sexual exploitation of a minor resulting in death and faces a minimum sentence of 30 years in prison if convicted.

US Attorney Mark Totten said in a news release that the brothers had pleaded not guilty to all the charges during their court appearance on Thursday. They are expected back in court again on 23 August for a detention hearing.

The Ogoshi brothers and Ezekiel Ejehem Robert allegedly convinced DeMay to send the explicit photos and then blackmailed him for $1,000.

I have screenshot all ur followers and tags can send this nudes to everyone and also send your nudes to your Family and friends Until it goes viral All youve to do is to cooperate with me and I wont expose you, Samuel Ogoshi allegedly wrote.

In a series of texts encouraging DeMay to kill himself after he only paid $300, Samuel Ogoshi allegedly responded: Good/Do that fast/Or Ill make you do it.

Jordan DeMay died by suicide last summer after he became the victim of a sextortion plot (Courtesy of family)

In May, the FBI issued a national public safety alert to warn parents after seeing a tenfold increase in online sexual blackmail cases. According to the bureau, 3,000 children were victims of sextortion plots that were connected to more than a dozen suicides in 2022.

These crimes have had devastating effects on children and their families, FBI San Francisco Acting Special Agent in Charge Sean Ragan said in the statement.
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Just thirty minutes after Carmelo Gonzalez left for work on 12 August, he received an alarming text from his 11-year-old daughter Maria saying that someone was knocking on the door of the apartment the two shared in Pasadena, Texas.

Mr Gonzalez warned his daughter not to open the door but he never got a reply to that final text. Worried that something might have happened, he asked his brother to go check on Maria, who was nowhere to be found.

When the father-of-two arrived at the home hours later, he discovered a disturbing scene in his daughters room. Maria had been strangled to death, her body wrapped inside two trash bags and stuffed in a laundry basket concealed under the bed.

They took my child, whom I loved the most, Mr Gonzalez said in Spanish during an interview with Univision. I left her alone in the apartment and she was sending voice notes saying that someone was on the door. I told her not to open the door and that I was leaving work.

A manhunt is now underway for the perpetrator of Marias brutal killing, with the Pasadena Police Department saying that theyre looking into suspects who may have known the familys routine and that Mr Gonzalez had left the home on the day of the killing.

Heres everything we know about the case:

Marias body was placed in a basket under her bed

Four years ago, Mr Gonzalez and Maria immigrated to the US from Guatemala, where Mr Gonzalezs wife and younger daughter still live. They had lived in Austin, Texas, and Florida before moving to Pasadena.

They had been living at the building complex on 1004 Main Street for just three months, and during the summer, Mr Gonzalez would leave for work while his daughter stayed at home.

She was well-behaved, respectful. She was a calm girl, the grieving father told Univision while holding a portrait with a picture of his slain daughter.

On the morning of the murder, Mr Gonzalez left for work around 9.45am, Pasadena Police Chief Josh Bruegger said at a press conference on Tuesday.

Maria Gonzalez, 11, was sexually assaulted and strangled to death in her home (Amador Saput/Facebook)

Shortly after, Maria told her father that there was an unknown person at the front door. That would be the last message Maria sent before she was killed.

Mr Gonzalez asked his brother Reginaldo Gonzalez, who lives in the area with his family, to check on Maria. Marias uncle did not find her when he looked for her across the house with his wife but became alarmed after seeing coffee and sugar scattered on the couch.

I felt something different immediately after opening the door, Reginaldo Gonzalez told Telemundo 47. I thought, What happened here?

Marias father then arrived at the home and joined the search, eventually suggesting that his daughter could be doing laundry because the laundry basket was gone.

He asked out loud, Why is not my laundry basket here? Reginaldo Gonzalez said. Then we found her. They put the girl inside a trash bag in the basket under the bed.

Why would anyone do something like this? She was just a little girl, Marias father also told Telemundo 47.

Marias father Carmelo Gonzalez found her body estuffed inside a laundry basket under the bed (Telemundo 47/Screenshot)

Police say girl was raped and strangled

The medical examiner determined that Maria was sexually assaulted.

Her cause of death was ruled asphyxiation due to strangulation and blunt force head and neck trauma.

Whoever saw something just after 10 am on Saturday at that particular apartment, were asking them to come forward with the information they might have, Pasadena Police Chief Josh Bruegger said on Tuesday.

Mr Bruegger said the door was locked when family members first arrived searching for Maria. He said the entrance did not appear to have been forced.

Its a fairly small complex ... it seems awfully suspicious that dad leaves for work and within 30 minutes, youve got someone knocking on the door, MrBruegger said when asked whether he thought the killer lived in the apartment building.

Authorities are interviewing residents of the apartment complex where Maria lived with her father (Univision)

Police have taken voluntary DNA samples from some residents in the complex, but Mr Bruegger said some were uncooperative. Mr Bruegger reassured the community that immigration status would not be a concern if they decided to come forward with information.

Authorities are also trying to process surveillance cameras installed on the complex, but there is concern that they may not be operational. The chief of police said his department is investigating similarities between Marias killing and recent crimes but has not found any links so far in the probe.

We dont have a suspect yet and we are doing all we can to solve this crime. As a parent of an almost 10-year-old myself, this is a cause for concern, Mr Bruegger added. 

Marias mother says shes run out of tears

Marias mother Ana Elizabeth Xitumul Saput told Telemundo 47 that she and her youngest daughter had stayed behind in Guatemala due to her heart issues. She said the tragic news had taken a huge toll on her and now just wants to see her daughter one last time.

I dont want to cry anymore ... I want justice. I need her killer to turn himself in and Im asking God that kind-hearted people help us bring our daughters remains back to Guatemala, the grieving mother said. This person has no feelings. Dont you have sisters, a mother?

Crime Stoppers is offering $5,000 for information that leads to the arrest of Marias killer. No suspects have been identified in the case.

Federal investigators are assisting in the investigation, according to local police.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Pasadena Police detectives at 713-475-7803 or 713-475-7878.
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Rachel Morin's boyfriend spoke up after the Maryland police found DNA evidence of a man they believe killed the mother-of-five.

The Harford County Sheriffs Office announced on Thursday that the DNA found at the scene of Morin's death matched with DNA found at the scene of a March home invasion in Los Angeles where a young girl was attacked.

Unfortunately that suspect has not been identified, but he did leave behind his DNA, Colonel Davis said.

Based on the DNA evidence, we consider the individual in the video we obtained from the Los Angeles Police Department to be the person that murdered Rachel Morin.

Police released a video of the individual, a shirtless man thought to be Hispanic and in his 20s, leaving the Los Angeles crime scene on a home security camera.

Following the announcement, Morin's 27-year-old boyfriend, Richard Tobin wrote on Facebook: "I hope they found this s*** of the earth, justice for Rachel. Rip. love you rach."

In a follow-up post he urged people to please help identify this scum bag.

According to The Baltimore Banner, Mr Tobin had given investigators a DNA sample and handed over his cell phone.

While he was never officially named as a suspect in Morin's death or accused of any wrongdoing. people on social media pointed fingers at him due to his arrest records.

Mr Tobin has two arrests for second-degree assault, and separate arrests for violating restraining orders, malicious destruction of property and drug possession dating back to 2014, court records show.

Mr Tobin has also faced charges of being a fugitive from justice, resisting arrest and disorderly intoxication, according to Maryland judiciary case search records.

Suspect in murder of Rachel Morin seen in video released by police (Screen grab)

He previously lashed out saying, he would "never do anything to her". "Yes I have a past but I also have 15 months clean and have changed as a person. Please," he wrote on social media.

Morin was last seen around 6pm on 5 August when she allegedly went out for a run on the Ma and Pa Trail in Bel Air. The 37-year-old failed to return home that night and her boyfriend reported her missing.

Just days before her murder, Morin and Mr Tobin had gone official on Facebook with their new relationship.
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The Harford County Sheriffs Office announced on Thursday it used DNA evidence to identify a potential suspect in the murder of Maryland woman Rachel Morin earlier this month.

Colonel William Davis said DNA found at the scene of Morins death was analysed by state police, turning up a match with DNA found at the scene of a March home invasion in Los Angeles where a young girl was attacked.

Unfortunately that suspect has not been positively identified, but he did leave behind his DNA, Colonel Davis said. Based on the DNA evidence, we consider the individual in the video we received from the Los Angeles Police Department to be the person that murdered Rachel Morin on August 5.

Suspect in murder of Rachel Morin seen in video released by police (Screen grab)

The individual, a shirtless man thought to be Hispanic and in his 20s, was recorded leaving the LA crime scene on a home security camera.

The deputy added that despite the match, police still dont have a clue where he could be.

In March he was in California, and here in August he was in Maryland, the officer said.

Because the suspect was still out in public, police urged community members to remain vigilant.

In the light of this new evidence, I urge our citizens to use caution while walking on our trials and through our community, Mr Davis said. Be alert. Walk with a friend. Dont allow yourself to be distracted by your cell phone or headphones.

The Harford County Sheriffs Office has engaged DNA specialists at the FBI for further assistance in using the new evidence to help catch the suspect.

Morin, a mother of five in Bel Air, Maryland, was last seen heading to the Ma & Pa Trail around 6pm on 5 August.

Her boyfriend Richard Tobin reporter her missing later that evening.

Morins body was found the following day, and her death is being investigated as a homicide.

Police have previously said a group of five witnesses were on the trail at the same time Morin was killed.

We are grieving. We need the time and space to grieve as a family. We have not forgotten our community, Morins mother wrote in a social media post this month.
 Close Rachel Morin: Maryland police release CCTV of suspect

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Rachel Morin was remembered over the weekend as hundreds of community members took part in a tribute walk along the Ma & Pa Trail in Bel Air, Maryland, where the mother-of-five was murdered.

The 5km walk, called Rachels last steps, was organised by Morins sister Rebekah and took place on Saturday.

Community members came out to pay tribute to the 37-year-old on the walk before then heading to the Flavor Cupcakery Bakery and Cafe, where 20 percent of its sales were donated to support Morins five children.

Morin was found dead on the trail on 6 August, after heading to the trail for a walk the evening before.

More than two weeks on, the killer remains at large.

Last week, the Harford County Sheriffs Office announced a major break in the case, revealing that DNA found at the scene of Morins murder had been matched to the DNA left at a home where an unknown man broke into a home in Los Angeles and violently attacked a young girl back in March.

The suspect, a Hispanic male aged 20-30, was caught on a home security camera leaving the LA home.
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A district attorney in Tennessee said his office has dropped dozens of cases involving the five former officers who have been charged in the beating death of Tyre Nichols.

Shelby County District Attorney Steven Mulroy released a statement Thursday saying the office reviewed more than 100 cases and that at least 30-40 have been dismissed.

Charges were also reduced in about a dozen other cases involving the former Memphis Police officers, the district attorneys statement said. Four cases were referred to the US attorneys office for allegations of excessive force.

The Memphis Police Department terminated five police officers in connection with the death of Tyre Nichols including Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills, Jr., and Justin Smith.

They were all charged with second-degree murder and plead not guilty.

The Memphis Police Department terminated five police officers in connection with the death of Tyre Nichols including Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills, Jr., and Justin Smith (Memphis Police Department)

The 7 January beating death of the 29-year-old Nichols was caught on video and was just one in a string of violent encounters between police and Black people that sparked protests and renewed debate about police brutality and police reform in the US.

The officers were part of a crime-suppression team known as Scorpion. They punched Nichols, kicked him and slugged him with a baton as he yelled for his mother.

Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn CJ Davis disbanded the Scorpion unit after Nichols death, though members of the unit have been moved to other teams.

Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice said it is investigating how Memphis Police Department officers use force and conduct arrests.
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As officials in Hawaii work to determine the identities of the over 100 people who died in the Maui wildfires, members of the community fear that children will make up a large part of that death toll.

When the fast-moving wildfires broke out on 8 August, many children were home from school because dangerous winds from a hurricane off the coast of Hawaii forced school closures.

But with no warning that fires near Lahaina were about to engulf the town, there was no time for people to conduct orderly evacuations to keep track of children and ensure they got to safety first.

Jessica Sill, an elementary school teacher at Lahaina King Kamehameha III, told The Wall Street Journal that she fears some children were home alone the day of the fires.

Our parents work one, two, three jobs just to get by and they cant afford to take a day off, Ms Sill said. Without school, there was nowhere for [children] to go that day.

Kelly Gallego, an eighth-grade teacher at Lahaina Intermediate School said her heart breaks thinking about missing families.

When it comes to thinking about some of those families not being thereI dont have words to express how much my heart is breaking now, Ms Gallego told WSJ.

Officials in Maui are still conducting searches of the burned area to determine how many people died in the wildfires. As of Friday morning, the death toll was 111 but Hawaii Governor Josh Green said he expects that number to go up.

While people try to locate missing loved ones, Maui officials are undergoing a process to identify the remains of some victims. Due to the extremely hot blaze, some victims need DNA samples to match with surviving family members in order to be named.

Among the dead is a seven-year-old boy who was found alongside three family members in a burned car. Seemingly, the family was trying to escape the flames.

The County of Maui has not officially named the boy or his family members as deceased, but their living family announced their deaths on social media and a GoFundMe page.

Ms Sill said two of her former students lost a seven-year-old cousin in the blaze and said shes worried for her students as they cope with the disaster.

We are so worried for them and we will do whatever we need to support them through this catastrophe, Ms Sill told WSJ.

This handout image courtesy of the US Army shows damaged buildings and structures of Lahaina Town destroyed in the Maui wildfires in Lahaina, Maui, August 15, 2023 (DVIDS/AFP via Getty Images)

Another elementary school teacher, Justin Hughey who works in special education, said he too is thinking about the aftermath of his students mental health.

We dont even know if our kids are still there, if the kids are still alive, Mr Hughey told Civil Beat. And then you gotta deal with all the trauma that the kids have gone through.
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New documents allege that state authorities in Hawaii delayed a water management company's request to divert water to Maui to help fight wildfires that ripped through the island earlier this month.

The allegations were reportedly detailed in a letter obtained by CNN.

Glenn Tremble of the West Maui Land Company  which manages the state's water supply companies  expressed his frustration in a letter to the Hawaii Commission on Water Resource Management, reportedly claiming the agency failed to approve his company's request to move water to reservoirs to help firefighting capabilities during the wildfire.

He was told that the company had to consider the impact such a diversion would take on downstream users, according to the report.

State officials announced they will investigate the emergency response to the wildfire, which killed more than 100 people earlier this month.

It is unclear if the diversion would have made a notable difference in the firefighting capabilities of responders battling the blaze.

An estimated 1,300 people are still missing in the wake of the fire, and the death toll is expected to climb as search crews comb through affected parts of the island. Maui County estimates that approximately 40 per cent of the sites where the fires burned have been searched.

"There will not be any survivors in the area left," Governor Josh green told CBS News. "Our hearts will break beyond repair, perhaps, if that means that many more dead. None of us think that, but we're prepared for many tragic stories."

Rescuers who helped search through the wreckage of the World Trade Center buildings after the 9/11 terrorist attack and recovery efforts following the Camp fire in California have been called to the island to assist in identifying the remains of victims.

County officials have encouraged residents to provide DNA samples to assist with the identification process.
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It was supposed to be a family meal where differences could be reconciled and future plans made for the sake of the estranged couples children.

Instead, it kicked off events that could have come straight out of a murder mystery novel or the board game Clue.

Four of the five people sat around the table fell gravely ill, three of them later dying with the fourth left fighting for his life.

The fifth, meanwhile, appeared to escape unscathed  curiously the very same person who prepared and cooked the meal for the other four guests.

What has since emerged is a bizarre case that continues to enthrall people all across the globe  involving mushroom poisoning, a series of deaths, a tearful interview and now reports of a past mystery illness.

It all began one fateful day on 29 July, when Erin Patterson prepared a special meal of beef Wellington with lots of mushrooms for lunch at her home in Leongatha, a rural town in the Australian state of Victoria.

Present at the church-mediated lunch  set up to sort out visitation rights for her two children  were her in-laws Gail and Don Patterson, both 70, Gails sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, and her husband Ian, 68.

All four of her elderly in-laws fell violently ill that night from suspected mushroom poisoning.

Gail, Don and Heather, all teachers, died in hospital days later, while Ian, a local pastor, has been left fighting for his life.

Erins estranged husband Simon Patterson had skipped out on the meal at the last moment, while the couples two children had also left their mothers home to see a movie just before the meat and pastry dish was served.

Victoria Police have since launched a homicide investigation, and at a press conference last week confirmed Ms Patterson is a suspect in the killings.

Erin Patterson sobs to the media about the deadly lunch (News International)

Erin, an experienced wild mushroom forager, reportedly told investigators she used dried fungi that she had purchased months earlier from an Asian grocery store and a fresh button variety bought recently from a local supermarket.

She later admitted lying to investigators about dumping a food dehydrator used to prepare the meal in a local refuse site after the deaths, according to the ABC.

In a statement obtained by the Australian public broadcaster, she said she was at the hospital with her children discussing the food dehydrator when her former husband asked: Is that what you used to poison them?

The 48-year-old mother-of-two has vehemently maintained her innocence, and in an interview this week claimed she is unfairly being painted as an evil witch.

As the poisoning mystery has shaken the small rural community 136kms southeast of Melbourne, and gripped Australian and international media, more disturbing details continue to emerge  with Simon Patterson now claiming that he once spent 16 days in an induced coma from a mystery gastro illness after eating food prepared by his wife.

Deadly dinner party

In a police statement obtained by the ABC, Erin reportedly told investigators that she had prepared a meal of beef Wellington with a lot of mushrooms.

Erin claimed she had purchased dried mushrooms from an Asian grocer several months ago, and button mushrooms from a local supermarket recently  using both in the dish.

Yet she reportedly could not remember exactly where she had bought them, according to the ABC.

She stated that she stored the dried mushrooms at a home she owns in Melbourne, before bringing them to the home in Leongatha.

I used the dried mushrooms as they been in my cupboard for some time and I wanted to use them up. I rehydrated them and put them into the dish with the mushrooms that I had bought at [the supermarket], according to the ABC.

Don and Gail Patterson died after eating poisoned mushrooms at Erin Pattersons home in Victoria, Australia, on 29 July. (Supplied)

Erin said she served the others and allowed them to select their own plates, before taking the last plate.

The two elderly couples fell violently ill that night and were taken to local hospitals before being transferred to a facility in Melbourne.

Gail and her sister Heather died on 4 August, while Don died the next day. Ian, a pastor from the local Baptist church in Korumburra, remains in critical but stable condition and is awaiting a liver transplant.

Police have said the victims symptoms were consistent with them having ingested death cap mushrooms, one of the deadliest fungi in the world that are usually found near oak trees.

Erin has said she also fell ill after eating the beef Wellington and was taken to Monash Medical Centre in Melbourne by ambulance for treatment.

She said her two children, who were initially thought to have been present at the lunch, had gone to the movies before the others ate.

When they returned that evening, she claimed that the two children did then eat the dish  but that she had scraped off the mushrooms as they didnt like them.

Then, after learning of her in-laws illness, Erin said she preserved the meal and handed it over to toxicologists. However she initially refused to speak to police.

Heather, 66, and Ian Wilkinson, 68, became ill after eating poison mushrooms at a lunch cooked by Erin Patterson. (The Salvation Army Australia Museum/Facebook)

In the statement, Erin has now said she had received advice immediately after the deaths to decline to speak to police.

I now very much regret not answering some questions following this advice given the nightmare that this process has become, she said.

Erin said she found the police interview terrifying and anxiety-provoking.

In another bizarre twist, Victoria police told NBC News that the police statement appears to have been provided to the ABC by Erins legal team, and did not come from them.

In response to a request for further details about the case, Sergeant Julie-Anne Newman told The Independent they were not expecting to be able to release more information about the case for some time.

A tearful interview

Speaking to reporters outside her home in Leongatha last week, the mother-of-two broke down as she said she was devastated by the deaths.

I didnt do anything, she insisted.

In a separate interview this week, the mother-of-two again protested her innocence.

I lost my parents-in-law, my children lost their grandparents, she told The Australian.

And Ive been painted as an evil witch. And the media is making it impossible for me to live in this town.

Erin Patterson insists her innocence (News International)

Police have said they are keeping an open mind about what happened.

I am now devastated to think that these mushrooms may have contributed to the illness suffered by my loved ones, Erin said in a statement provided to the ABC.

I really want to repeat that I had absolutely no reason to hurt these people whom I loved.

Past mystery illness

In yet another twist to the saga, it has now emerged that Erins estranged husband also reportedly once suffered a mysterious illness after eating his wifes food.

Erin and Simon Patterson separated amicably after living apart for several years, according to investigators.

But a mystery illness he suffered in 2022 is now forming part of the investigation into the poisoning.

Back in 2022, Simon allegedly spent 16 days in an induced coma after being served a meal by his wife.

Simon Patterson, estranged husband of homicide suspect Erin, reportedly fell gravely ill in 2022 after eating one of her meals. (Facebook / Simon Patterson)

According to The Herald Sun, Mr Patterson detailed the health scare in a post on Facebook,

I collapsed at home, then was in an induced coma for 16 days through which I had three emergency operations mainly on my small intestine, plus an additional planned operation, Mr Patterson wrote.

My family were asked to come and say goodbye to me twice, as I was not expected to live.

Experienced foragers

Speaking to The Independent last week, local mayor Nathan Hersey told of the utter shock, disbelief and grief reverberating throughout their close community and more widely in the wake of the tragedy.

Im hearing from people regularly about their shock and disbelief and how theyre coming to terms with such loss, he said. People so well connected, loved and respected in the local community have been struck down and died so suddenly.

Mushroom foraging is popular in the area even though theres risk involved, said Mr Hersey, adding that a lot of people would know what theyre looking for.

A friend of Erins told the Daily Mail this week that Erin and her family were all experienced mushroom foragers in the Gipplands area around her hometown.

In the ensuing fallout from the deaths, the Australian Mushroom Growers Association (AMGA) has also defended its supply chain and said there was no way poisonous mushrooms would be found on any commercial farms.

This fungus only grows in the wild, the association said. Commercial mushrooms are grown indoors in environmentally controlled rooms with strict hygiene protocols and food safety standards.

Erin Patterson sobs in interview (News International)

The only mushrooms you can be sure are safe are fresh, Australian-grown mushrooms bought from a trusted retailer.

As the community reels from what has happened, the Patterson and Wilkinson families said in a statement in a local newspaper on Sunday that they were grateful to our wider communities for their outpouring of love, support, and prayers.

This support extends not only to those we have tragically lost but also to our family member who continues to bravely fight for his life in the hospital, they added.

Mr Hersey said he had personally met the Wilkinsons, describing them as lovely and caring people with integrity.

He said a close friend of the couple had told him, Weve lost a real level of kindness in our community this week because of these deaths. But he added: The community is rallying around and supporting one another.

Death cap mushrooms

While toxicology reports have not conclusively proved what the three relatives died from, police have said the symptoms are consistent with death cap mushrooms.

Death caps, or amanita phalloides, usually grow up to round 15cm across and 15cm tall, have greenish caps and white stems, and are commonly fund near oak trees in summer and autumn.

The Death Cap mushroom kills 90 per cent of people who eat it (Getty Images)

The toxins are resistant to heat, so cooking does not reduce their deadly effects, and just half of one mushroom contains enough poison to kill a human being, according to the CDC.

Initial symptoms can include muscle weakness, agitation, rapid heart rate, and headaches, followed by nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps and diarrhoea.

In 2017, it emerged that 14 people had fallen ill after eating the death cap variety in California. Three required liver transplants, while an 18-month-old girl who consumed them has permanent neurological damage, according to a CDC report.

It is not yet clear if these mushrooms are the same type the victims ate at the family lunch in Victoria.

And if they are, there will be many more questions to answer.
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A woman shared a video on TikTok revealing the moment that she discovered that a man had been living under her house for months.

California resident Ashly Guardino shared the startling moment on the social media platform and the subsequent arrest of the man by police.

She says in the footage that she was awoken by odd sounds around her home and stepped outside to investigate, spotting a dirty arm coming out of a hole from under her house.

You know how creepy it is to see a f****** arm come out of this [hole] feeling around the side of the house? she told her viewers. There is a whole a** man living here for months, living under the house.

Two officers were then shown handcuffing the man and removing him from the property.

The incident took place last Saturday at her home in Lake Elsinore, southeast of Los Angeles.

When Ms Guardino heard the strange noises, she thought it was her landlord repairing the roof of the home that she shares with her fiancee and two children.

Imagine being half awake and seeing an arm, a dirty arm come out of this hole, the professional house cleaner said.

The practice of sneaking onto a strangers property and living there is known as phrogging, according to the New York Post.

Named after a frog hopping from pad to pad, the trend is reportedly an increasingly common problem for law enforcement.

In subsequent videos, Ms Guardino said hes a 26-year-old and on parole. Apparently, he burned his baby mamas house down.

She claimed that the man was a drug addict who had previously attempted to live under the homes of strangers. Ms Guardino discovered that the same man had lived under the house across the street from her own before being discovered and sent back to jail.

I dont really know how long he was [here], she said, guessing that he was there for about three months.

We remember hearing some knocking and whistling and different noises going on in the house, she said. But wed just brush it off thinking it was the TV, the wind or whatnot.

She said police threatened him using dogs and guns because he [wasnt] responding. He was just quiet.

And theyre yelling at him to come out, and hes ignoring the police, she added. He eventually came out after half an hour.

A number of commenters accused Ms Guardino of racism, with one writing Did dirty mean black? The Post noted.

Whether he was white, Black or Mexican, it doesnt really matter  his arm was dirty, and thats why I referred to his arm as dirty, she said in a subsequent post.
Donald Trump wants his federal trial for allegedly trying to subvert the 2020 presidential election to be postponed until April 2026, according to a court filing.

Lawyers for the former president asked Judge Tanya Chutkan to push the trial back more than two years later than special counsel Jack Smiths proposed date of January 2024.

Mr Trump is now facing four different trials, two at the federal level, one in Georgia and one in Manhattan, with prosecutors jostling for windows to prosecute the Republican frontrunner.

Earlier this month, Mr Trump pleaded not guilty to four charges in the case: conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction; and conspiracy against the right to vote and to have ones vote counted.

Last week, the special counsels office asked that jury selection in the case start in December and that the trial get underway on 2 January.

Senior Assistant Special Counsel Molly Gaston wrote that it, would vindicate the publics strong interest in a speedy trialan interest guaranteed by the Constitution and federal law in all cases, but of particular significance here, where the defendant, a former president, is charged with conspiring to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election, obstruct the certification of the election results, and discount citizens legitimate votes.

Judge Chutkan is expected to set a date for the trial at a hearing on 28 August, which Mr Trump is not expected or required to attend.

The move comes just days after Mr Trump was indicted in Fulton County, Georgia, for allegedly trying to interfere with presidential election results in the swing state, which was won by Joe Biden and paved his way to the White House.

District Attorney Fani Willis has proposed a 4 March trial date for Mr Trump, which would be just one day is one day before Super Tuesday, in which voters in more than a dozen states cast their primary votes for the GOP presidential nomination.

Mr Trump and his 18 associates who have also been charged in the case have been given until 12pm on Friday 25 August to voluntarily hand themselves in at the Fulton County jail.

Ms Willis has said that would see Mr Trump and the other defendants appear in court for a televised hearing during the week of 5 September.
Donald Trump should really keep his mouth shut.

Thats the advice that experienced litigators of all stripes are giving the former president as he faces a tide of criminal investigations into his conduct both as president and during the 2016 election.

Mr Trumps legal woes grew more serious this week with his fourth criminal indictment on charges of running a criminal conspiracy aimed at changing the 2020 election results in the state of Georgia. He now faces 13 state-level felony charges in addition to the more than 30 he already faced in New York. At least one, the RICO charge Mr Trump faces, carries a mandatory minimum incarceration period were he to be found guilty.

Donald Trump indicted for fourth time

Meanwhile, in Washington DC all indications are pointing to the former president going to trial for his broader effort to overturn the 2020 election nationally  and the resulting siege of Congress on January 6  before the general election begins next year.

All of this mounting pressure has spurred the twice-impeached ex-president to do what he does best: punch back in public statements, addresses and tweets , now filtered through the lens of his Truth Social platform rather than being sent out via Twitter/X. But that may soon change.

On Thursday, it was reported by ABC News that the former president was rethinking plans to hold a press conference responding to the charges laid out in his Georgia indictment. Such a development was notable if only because it would be the first confirmed example of Mr Trump actually taking his attorneys advice and not address his various enemies, imagined or real, in the public eye.

It isnt clear why Mr Trump is just taking this tactic now; he has already made gratuitous swipes at Judge Tanya Chutkan, the federal district judge overseeing his trial in Washington DC, and encouraged his allies in Congress to do the same. Judge Chutkan had already warned the Trump legal team about making statements that could affect the courts ability to put on a fair trial before Mr Trump blasted her as being very biased and unfair in a Truth Social posting. And now, a woman has been arrested and charged with making threats against the DC-based judge.

I caution you and your client to take special care in your public statements about this case, Judge Chutkan said on Friday. I will take whatever measures are necessary to safeguard the integrity of these proceedings.

Legal experts who have been watching the various cases say that Trump is pushing firmly into the territory of speech that could affect the sanctity of his legal proceedings  something Judge Chutkan and her colleagues around the country will likely not abide.

It would not surprise me if Judge Chutkan called a hearing, with Trumps presence, given his new remarks, wrote Neal Katyal, a lawyer with history arguing before the Supreme Court.

Some have speculated that Mr Trump is already pushing far into an area of leeway that Judge Chutkan is forced to give a presidential contender, given the especially sensitive idea of chilling or outright censoring the speech of a political candidate. But that leeway has limits, even for a former president.

He has been getting some leeway, but ... the judicial system is not going to give him an infinite amount of patience as he behaves outrageously, former White House ethics czar Norm Eisen told The Independent.

They're gonna give him enough rope, and then he's gonna find himself subject to a gag order, Mr Eisen predicted.

The question now is: where is the line? How much rope does a presidential contender get to question the legal integrity of (presumably) any judge selected to oversee criminal proceedings against them before that speech crosses the boundary of acceptability, or legality?

Hints of the answer to that question may actually lie in Mr Trumps third indictment. (If youre beginning to lose count, that one related to his campaign to change the election results and unleash a mob upon Congress.) Among the four felony charges was a count of witness tampering.

Experts who have followed Mr Trumps criminal proceedings say that public comments about named or unnamed witnesses in his cases would be an unmistakable red line, one that would trigger serious legal remedies being employed to restrict the ex-presidents words going forward. And Mr Trump has already broached that very boundary: on the afternoon of 4 August, he warned in a very simple Truth Social posting: If you go after me, Im coming after you.

Ex-Trump aide Alyssa Farah weighs in on Trump's use of word for racist dog whistle

This is the part where it gets really serious for the ex-president. Commenting about the supposed biases of a judge is one thing; intimidating or otherwise tampering with a witness is another, specifically another crime. And Donald Trump was very plainly warned against committing any further crimes between now and the beginning of his trial as part of the pretrial release guidelines set by the magistrate overseeing this portion of Mr Trumps third prosecution. Comments that cross this line wont just result in a chilling of his speech  he could go to jail.

If he stumbles and directly threatens a witness, that would cross the line, thats a condition of his release, Mr Eisen said, adding: He's using that leeway. But also the closer you get to the wants of the trial the less leeway there is.

Remarks that anger Judge Chutkan could fall short of violating his release conditions, Mr Eisen speculated, while still causing problems for Mr Trump in court. Were she to move his trial date up sooner, as she has already threatened to do, the ex-president could find himself at criminal trial before the 2024 primaries conclude.

He's digging his own grave on a speedy trial, Mr Eisen cautioned.

As of now, Mr Trumps trial for the third indictment is to be set at a hearing later this month. Well learn then, barring anything explosive before that date, what Judge Chutkan thinks of the ex-presidents efforts to disqualify her from the proceedings, and how far shell let him continue. But its clear that Mr Trumps own worst enemy going forward could very well be his own ability to leave a fight unpicked.
If mutinous soldiers who ousted Niger's President Mohamed Bazoum succeed, it will threaten democracy and security across the region and the continent, a high-ranking member of Bazoum's political party warned in an interview with The Associated Press.

Boubacar Sabo, deputy secretary general for the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism, said Bazoum had been kidnapped by members of the presidential guard who overthrew him on July 26 and have since kept him under house arrest.

What is happening in Niger, if it succeeds, is the end of democracy in Africa. Its over. ... If we fight today, it is to prevent these kind of things from happening and to ensure a future for our continent, Sabo said on Thursday.

In a region rife with coups, Niger was seen as one of the last democratic countries that Western nations could partner with to beat back a growing jihadi insurgency linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. The overthrow of the president nearly one month ago has been a big blow to the United States, France and other European nations, which have invested hundreds of millions of dollars of military assistance into training Niger's army and  in the case of the French  conducting joint military operations.

Since the military seized power, in what analysts and locals say was triggered by an internal struggle between Bazoum and the head of the presidential guard, Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, who says he's now in charge, it's been shoring up support among the population, exploiting grievances toward its former colonial ruler France and silencing opposers.

Sabo is one of the few openly outspoken critics of the junta still in the country and not in hiding.

Several ministers and high-ranking politicians are detained, with human rights groups saying they are unable to access them, while others have been threatened, he said. Sabo called the groundswell of support for the regime in the capital deceptive, because the junta was paying people to rally in its favor. Niamey was also never a stronghold for Bazoum and the junta is being opportunistic, he said.

Pro junta rallies happen almost daily with hundreds and sometimes thousands of people marching through the streets, honking cars and waving Nigerien and Russian flags and chanting down with France. The junta has severed military agreements with France and asked Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group for help.

But although there was real frustration from political parties and civil society organizations toward Bazoum's party, including disagreements with its military alliance with France, it's unclear how much genuine support the junta has in the capital and across the country, Sahel experts say.

While many of those protesters may support the transition, it is probably the case that a sizeable amount of them are present only for monetary reasons or out of curiosity and the thrill of being part of the crowd, said Adam Sandor, post-doctoral researcher at the University of Bayreuth.

The junta could face challenges with its support base across the country if it can't financially appease local elites and if the army continues to suffer losses from growing jihadi violence, he said.

Attacks by jihadis are increasing since the coup, with at least 17 soldiers killed and 20 injured earlier this week during an ambush by jihadis. It was the first major attack against Nigers army in six months.

Militants are taking advantage of a gap in support by France and the United States, which have both suspended military operations in the country, as well as Nigers distracted security forces, which are focusing on the capital and concerned about a potential invasion from regional countries, say conflict experts.

The West African regional bloc, ECOWAS has threatened to take military action if Niger doesn't release and reinstate Bazoum. It has activated a standby force and on Friday its defense chiefs are wrapping up a two-day meeting about next steps.

Meanwhile, in Niamey and across the country, a volunteer recruitment drive is expected Saturday where people can register to fight and help with other needs so the junta has a list in case it needs to call on people for help.

We know that our army may be be less in terms of numbers than the armies (coming), said Amsarou Bako, one of the organizers. Those who are coming, they have information about our army, he said.
An Oklahoma father killed his wife and three children, who are all under the age of 10, in what police are calling a massacre.

The Oklahoma City Police Department says that it responded to a domestic call at a property to find five people suffering from gunshot wounds. Three people were already dead when police arrived on the scene on Wednesday night.

The two who were still alive were suspected shooter Ruben Armendariz, 28, and one child. Although both were transported to nearby hospitals, they have since died, said investigators.

The police said they think Armendariz and victim Cassandra Flores, 29, were married but separated; investigators said that it looked like Armendariz shot the four victims before turning the gun on himself.

Police added that the investigation is ongoing, as they are trying to piece together the chain of events that led to the massacre.

The three children were identified as 9-year-old Hillary Armendariz, 5-year-old Damaris Armendariz, and 2-year-old Matias Armendariz.

Floress best friend, Jennifer Johnson, told News 9, Its just not real. I never expected that of Ruben at all. Like he was so quiet, but theyve been together since she was like 17, so you know theyve been together for a long time.

This investigation is in the very early stages, and detectives are currently trying to piece together the chain of events that led to the massacre, police said in a statement.
They were compared to drug dealers. They were flooded with racist abuse. The sitting president of the United States accused them of rampant fraud. People showed up at their homes. They were bullied, harassed, and forced to change their appearances and go into hiding.

The lives of two Black women in Georgia were turned upside down following an avalanche of threats and abuse over bogus conspiracy theories surrounding their work helping run the states elections.

A pressure campaign fuelled by false and inflammatory statements against Ruby Freeman and her daughter Shaye Moss implicates Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani and several Trump allies at the centre of a sweeping criminal indictment charging 19 people  including the former president  for crimes allegedly committed while he was in office.

All are charged under a sweeping anti-racketeering statute, but the charging document alleges 40 separate crimes and 161 different acts alleging that the defendants knowingly and willfully joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election to ensure Donald Trump remained in power.

The indictment is the fullest accounting yet of an alleged effort among Mr Trump and his allies to coerce officials into a fraudulent scheme to subvert the votes of millions of Americans. But several defendants in the case are accused of baselessly alleging the women committed election crimes  bogus claims repeated to state lawmakers in an alleged effort to persuade them to unlawfully change the outcome of Georgias elections.

They also travelled from out of state to harass Ms Freeman, intimidate her, and solicit her to falsely confess to election crimes that she did not commit, according to the indictment.

The indictment returned by the Fulton County grand jury this week serves as further evidence that election workers Ms Freeman and Ms Moss  while doing their jobs and serving their community  were targeted as part of a broad, coordinated conspiracy to undermine the results of the 2020 presidential election, attorney Von DuBose said in a statement to The Independent.

A harassment campaign at their doorstep

Then-President Trump falsely declared victory in Georgia on election night while election workers continued to process and tally up thousands of ballots. Mr Trump and his allies then focused their attention on ballot processing in Fulton County, where nearly all staff members at the countys elections department are Black.

Working out of Atlantas State Farm Arena, the womens actions were scrutinised by right-wing activists on surveillance video. They were accused of pulling ballots out of suitcases, a claim that spun out into a conspiracy theory that votes for Joe Biden were separately hauled into the vote count to manipulate the results. Those suitcases were bags from which ballots had been sealed and stored.

At a state legislative hearing on Zoom on 10 December, 2020, Mr Giuliani accused the women of quite obviously surreptitiously passing around USB ports as if theyre vials of heroin or cocaine to infiltrate voting machines. He accused them of surreptitious, illegal activity and suggested police search their homes for evidence.

'I've lost my name, I've lost my reputation': Voting official givers testimony at Jan 6 hearings

Five days later, Stephen Lee showed up at Ms Freemans house. She refused to let him in. Mr Lee, now among 18 defendants along with Mr Trump in the sprawling conspiracy case in Georgia, told police that he was a pastor who is working with some folks who are trying to help Ruby out, and also get to some truth of whats going on.

He enlisted the help of Harrison Floyd, a director with Black Voices for Trump who was fielding calls from attorneys involved with a spurious legal battle to challenge election results in battleground states that Mr Trump lost.

Mr Floyd recruited Trevian Kutti, a Chicago-based publicist who had previously represented Kanye West. She showed up at Ms Freemans house at 8.30pm on 4 January, two days before a joint session of Congress convened to certify the results of the election.

Two days before Ms Kutti arrived in Cobb County, Mr Trump called Georgias Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger urging him to find enough votes to secure his victory in the state, despite three counts that verified Mr Bidens decisive victory in the state.

Mr Trump mentioned Ms Freemans name 18 times on the call. He claimed that the women pulled out what looked to be suitcases or trunks that were stuffed with votes with a minimum of 18,000 ballots, all for Biden.

He called Ms Freeman a professional vote scammer.

There is nowhere I feel safe. Nowhere. Do you know how it feels to have the president of the United States to target you? Ms Freeman later told a House select committee investigating the events surrounding January 6. The president of the United States is supposed to represent every American, not target one. But he targeted me  a small business owner, a mother, a proud American citizen, who stepped up to help Fulton County run an election in the middle of the pandemic.

Rudy Giuliani (REUTERS)

On the night of 3 January, 2021, Mr Floyd repeatedly tried calling and texting Ms Freeman, according to the indictment. When she arrived at Ms Freemans home, Ms Kutti told a neighbour she was a crisis manager there to help Ms Freeman, the indictment states.

She then tried calling Ms Freeman and told her she was in danger and could help her. According to a police report, Ms Kutti said she was sent to Ms Freemans home by a high-profile individual and suggested Ms Freeman was in danger and had only 48 hours to get ahead of the issue before an unnamed threat showed up at her home.

An officer suggested they should move that conversation to a police precinct, where she spoke with Ms Freeman for more than an hour. Mr Floyd joined the meeting by phone, telling Ms Freeman that she needed protection and purported to offer her help, according to the indictment.

Mr Floyd, Ms Kutti and Mr Lee called one another 10 times that day, according to the indictment.

You are a loose end for a party that needs to tidy up, Ms Kutti allegedly told Ms Freeman.

Mr Floyd later said they were hoping to negotiate immunity for Ms Freeman. But Ms Freeman was not guilty of anything, let alone willing to admit guilt to something that never happened.

They are all charged under Georgias RICO statute and face felony counts of solicitation of false statements and writings and influencing witnesses.

A lot of them were racist. A lot of them were hateful

Ms Moss started a full-time role with the Fulton County Department of Registration & Elections in 2017, handling voter applications, requests for mail-in ballots, and helping process the vote count on Election Day. She loved her job.

Her mother, a retired local government worker at a centre coordinating 911 emergency calls for the county, had opened a small business selling fashion accessories.

Following a June primary election frustrated by the Covid-19 pandemic and technical difficulties, election workers had bolstered preparations for the major fall election. Ms Moss asked her mother to help. She signed up as a temporary worker.

By 10pm that night, after roughly 18 hours of work, with only a handful of election workers remaining at the State Farm arena, workers began packing up and sealing remaining absentee ballots into large plastic boxes for overnight storage until they could return the following morning.

With heightened scrutiny on the results, Mr Raffensperger and state elections director Chris Harvey called on Fulton County elections director Richard Barron to keep counting ballots. Under that order, Ms Moss pulled out the containers and election workers resumed the count under surveillance from an independent elections monitor and a state investigator, according to officials.

But Trump campaign attorneys later accused the women of committing fraud, triggering a right-wing media campaign against them, including segments on Fox News, One America News and The Gateway Pundit, which published a story identifying Ms Freeman alongside photos labelling her a crook.

The coverage ignited a firestorm of racist and hateful messages towards Ms Moss that turned her life upside down, she told the House select committee last year.

Election worker gives emotional testimony about threats by Trump supporters

I dont do nothing anymore. I dont want to go anywhere, she said. I dont go to the grocery store at all. I havent been anywhere at all. Ive gained about 60 pounds  I second guess everything that I do. Its affected my life in a major way, in every way, all because of lies.

She said that her Facebook Messenger app was loaded up with death threats and abuse telling me Ill be in jail with my mother, saying things like, Be glad its 2020 and not 1920.

A lot of them were racist. A lot of them were hateful, she said.

By 4 December, 2020, Ms Freeman had received about 300 emails, 75 text messages, a large amount of phone calls and multiple Facebook posts, according to a police incident report.

I should not be here, she said in a taped deposition to the committee last year. I signed up as an election worker because I believe in our democracy. I signed up to support my daughter, Shaye, whose entire professional career has been devoted to making sure that Fulton County elections are fair and that every vote is counted.

The women fled their homes on advice from FBI agents who suggested they remain in hiding until at least Inauguration Day.

Donald Trump indicted for fourth time

I felt horrible. I felt like it was all my fault, said Ms Moss, describing a wave of regret she felt asking her mother to work alongside her on Election Day.

I could have done anything else, but thats what I decided to do, and now theyre lying and spreading rumours and lies and attacking my mom, she said. I felt bad for my mom and I felt horrible for picking this job and being the one that always wants to help ... I just felt like it was my fault for putting my family in this situation.

Ms Freeman  known as Lady Ruby, a name emblazoned on a jacket she later refused to wear in public  told the committee that she spent the year that followed looking over her shoulder.

I get nervous when I bump into someone I know in the grocery store who says my name  Im worried about whos listening, she said. I get nervous when I have to give my name for food orders. Im always concerned of whos around me.

She lost her name, her reputation and her sense of security, she said, all because a group of people starting with No 45 and his ally Rudy Giuliani decided to scapegoat me and my daughter.

They were far from alone. Georgia elections official Gabriel Sterling told the committee that the straw that broke the camels back as the state was inundated with conspiracy theories and abuse was a threat against a contractor for a voting machines company accusing him of treason attached to a slowly twisting GIF of a noose.

I lost it. I just got irate, Mr Sterling said. Thats what prompted me to do what I did  I lost my temper, but it seemed necessary to do at the time.

In December 2020, he urged Mr Trump and his allies pushing voter fraud conspiracy theories to condemn growing threats of violence and abuse, or someones going to get hurt, someones going to get shot, someones going to get killed.

Threats to election workers and public officials are surging

Election disinformation and conspiracy theories fuelling political attacks against election administration have made election work unsustainable, according to annual surveys of election workers.

In the wake of the 2020 election, hundreds of election workers and administrators faced alarming levels of abuse, largely from baseless voter fraud conspiracy theories stemming from Mr Trumps campaign, according to reporting from the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law.

Threats to election workers and public officials have continued to surge, migrating from once-fringe corners of online spaces into daily life on- and offline, inflamed by conspiracy theories and increasingly volatile political rhetoric.

Shaye Moss giving evidence to the January 6 committee (AP)

Results from the Brennan Centers latest survey finds that 12 per cent of local election officials started their service after the 2020 cycle and another 11 per cent are unlikely to serve in the 2024 cycle, a turnover rate equivalent to one to two election officials leaving office every day since the 2020 election.

Republican threats to voting rights using baseless allegations of voter fraud are not necessarily new, but Mr Trump unleashed something new, and far scarier, according to the Brennan Center.

Unlike Republicans previous vague warnings about potential voter fraud, the Big Lie named names. It cast election officials as masterminds in a made-up crime against the state, according to the report. The wave of threats wont magically disappear. What Trump set loose, many subsidiary politicians have rushed in to exploit.

Nearly three in four election workers feel that threats against them have increased in recent years, and more than half are concerned that threats, harassment and intimidation will harm their ability to recruit and retain workers, according to the report. More than half are concerned for the safety of their colleagues, while roughly 30 per cent reported personally being abused, harassed or threatened because of their job.

More than half of election workers who responded to the survey are worried about politicians interfering in their work, and roughly one in nine are concerned about pressure to certify election results in favour of a specific candidate or party in future elections.

And nearly three-quarters of respondents dont believe their current budgets can handle concerns about election security and administration over the next five years, while an overwhelming majority believe their local and state or federal governments are failing to support them.

A major milestone for justice

More than two years after Ms Freeman and Ms Moss were bombarded with abuse, Georgias State Election Board completed its investigation into what amounted to bogus claims of election fraud at the State Farm Arena, finding that the claims were unsubstantiated and found to have no merit.

False claims and knowingly false allegations made against these election workers have done tremendous harm, Mr Raffensperger said in a statement following the report. Election workers deserve our praise for being on the front lines.

The women have sued the outlets and individuals that published false claims about them  including Mr Giuliani, who admitted in a court filing from his attorney that he made false statements that amounted to defamation.

Attorneys for Ms Freeman and Ms Moss said the filing from Mr Giuliani amounts to a major milestone in their fight for justice.
Donald Trump has abruptly cancelled his proposed news conference at which he claimed he was going to unveil a report that would clear him of any wrongdoing and charges he tried to interfere with the presidential election in Georgia.

The former president took to Truth Social on Thursday evening to say that he would not be going through with the Friday media event  scheduled for 11am est  at the advice of his lawyers.

Rather than releasing the Report on the Rigged & Stolen Georgia 2020 Presidential Election on Monday, my lawyers would prefer putting this, I believe, Irrefutable & Overwhelming evidence of Election Fraud & Irregularities in formal Legal Filings as we fight to dismiss this disgraceful Indictment by a publicity & campaign finance seeking D.A., who sadly presides over a record breaking Murder & Violent Crime area, Atlanta. Therefore, the News Conference is no longer necessary! he wrote on Truth Social.

Mr Trump had vowed to hold the press conference after being indicted this week on 13 felony counts in Georgia, where he and members of his campaign sought to alter the results of the 2020 presidential election and prove baseless claims of voter and election fraud.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, whose office is overseeing the prosecution of the former president in Georgia, has given Mr Trump a surrender date of no later than 25 August.

That would likely see Mr Trump and the other defendants appear in court in Atlanta during the week of 5 September.

The district attorneys office has proposed a 4 March trial date for Mr Trump, which would be just one day is one day before Super Tuesday, in which voters in more than a dozen states cast their primary votes for the GOP presidential nomination.

Mr Trump is now facing four different trials, two at the federal level, one in Georgia and one in Manhattan, with prosecutors jostling for windows to prosecute the Republican frontrunner.

He has pleaded not guilty to every charge in court and insisted on his innocence on social media.
 Close Donald Trump indictment - latest news

Donald Trump has confirmed he will be skipping the upcoming GOP presidential primary debate scheduled for Wednesday.

The announcement ahead of Trumps expected surrender to the Fulton County jail. The former president and 18 of his allies were indicted last Monday for allegedly running a criminal enterprise to try to thwart the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. The deadline for their surrender was set at 25 August.

The public knows who I am & what a successful Presidency I had, Mr Trump wrote on his social media site. I WILL THEREFORE NOT BE DOING THE DEBATES! His spokesman did not immediately clarify whether he plans to boycott every primary debate or just those that have currently been scheduled.

Mr Trump had been discussing a number of debate counterprogramming options, including sitting for an interview with ex-Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who has been hosting a show on X, the website formerly known as Twitter.

According to the New York Times the interview set to air on Wednesday has already been taped.
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Firefighters are battling to try to bring the worst wildfire in decades on Tenerife under control.

Fernando Clavijo, regional leader of the Canary Islands, said: "The fire and the weather have behaved in a more normal fashion after showing very unusual behaviour earlier. We've managed to work more intensely during the night... preparing containment lines on the ground," he told a news conference.

The fire in the north of the Spanish Canary Island, which started late on Tuesday, has forced the evacuation or confinement of nearly 8,000 people in eight municipalities.

"The good news is that there have been no new evacuations," added Mr Clavijo. He has called the wildfire the most complex the Atlantic Ocean archipelago has faced in 40 years, due to a combination of hot, dry and windy weather, as well as difficult terrain.

Images and videos posted on social media showed the flames coming down the hill close to houses in small neighbourhoods and a massive cloud of smoke rising from the area.

The fire is located up in a pine wooded mountain area with several municipalities on its flanks, including Arafo and Candelaria to the east, and La Orotava to the west.

Army captain Rafael San Jose told Spanish National Television that some progress had been made overnight into Friday stopping the fire's spread but that rising temperatures during the day was increasing the difficulty for those fighting the blaze.

The Canary Islands have been in drought for most of the past few years, just like most of mainland Spain. The islands have recorded below-average rainfall in recent years because of changing weather patterns impacted by the climate crisis.

Mr Clavijo said the blaze, which has scorched 3,200 hectares (7,900 acres), was still very virulent but that fortunately there had been no injuries so far. He said Friday's efforts would be crucial to containing the fire. He said the combination of extreme temperatures and the fire had turned the area into a virtual oven.

The north of the island was forecast to have a maximum temperature of 30C (84F) on Friday with light winds but temperatures were set to rise further over the weekend.

The flames cover a perimetre of 40 kilometres (25 miles) encircling some 4,000 hectares (10,000 acres) of land. Nearly 300 firefighters and Spanish army soldiers are in the area, which is around 20 kilometres (12 miles) away from its main town, Santa Cruz.

Tenerife is one of Europe's main tourist destinations. Its tourism office has stressed that the most popular tourist areas are far from the fire. Business continues as usual in hotels, beaches and other tourist sites near the coast and in the midlands, the office said.

But access to the Teide National Park, one of the biggest tourist attractions in Tenerife after the beaches, was closed on Thursday evening and all tourist facilities around the Teide volcano area, including accommodation, were to be evacuated.

The seven-island archipelago is located off the north-west coast of Africa and south-west of mainland Spain.

More than 2,000 people were evacuated in a wildfire on the nearby La Palma island last month that affected some 4,500 hectares (11,000 acres).

Wildfires have burned almost 64,000 hectares (158,000 acres) in Spain in the first seven months of the year, according to Spanish government data. That's the third highest figure in the last decade.

Spain accounted for almost 40 per cent of the nearly 800,00 hectares (2 million acres) burned in the European Union in 2022, according to the European Forest Fire Information System.

Associated Press
 Close Ukraine war: Footage appears to show moment drone attack hits building in central Moscow

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The Netherlands and Denmark will supply dozens of F-16s to Ukraine as they pledged unwavering support in a landmark announcement yesterday.

While Volodymyr Zelensky said his country would receive 42 jets in total, the two donor countries did not specify numbers in a joint statement confirming the deliveries.

Denmarks prime minister Mette Frederiksen said 19 jets will hopefully be sent to Kyiv, of which six will arrive around the new year, eight more next year and the remaining five will be sent in 2025 as he asked Ukraine to please take this donation as a token of Denmarks unwavering support for your countrys fight for freedom.

Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte said the Netherlands has 42 of the jets, but said some will be needed for training purposes.

Ukraine has been asking its allies for advanced fighter jets since the very beginning of Russias invasion, but its Western allies have been reluctant to provide military donations that could be used to strike deep inside Moscows territory.

It comes as nearly 50 flights to and from Moscow were disrupted after Russia said it foiled attacks by two Ukrainian drones in the city.
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Travelling by rail in Portugal just got cheaper with the introduction of a new pass that allows a months worth of unlimited travel on all regional trains.

The Passe Ferroviario Nacional, or National Rail Card, costs 49, can only be requested from the 21st day of each month and is then valid from the first to the last day of the following month.

Issued by the Comboios de Portugal national rail company, the pass is valid on almost all networks with no restrictions on the number of trips or the time the trip is taken. Its not valid on intercity trains, such as the Alfa Pendular, Intercidades, InterRegional and Internacional services, and it cant be used on the urban networks in Porto, Lisbon and Coimbra.

Its not immediately clear whether this scheme is open to foreign tourists due to the documents required for registration, though Euronews reports that visitors can take advantage. The Independent has contacted Comboios de Portugal for clarification.

With this new initiative, Portugal joins Germany in slashing the cost of rail fares this summer. In June, Deutsche Bahn, Germanys national rail operator, launched 9.90 tickets on some short-distance routes, in addition to the introduction of the Deutschlandticket in April, which provides unlimited travel by rail, tram and bus anywhere in the nation for 49 per month.

Deutschlandticket  or D-Ticket  subscriptions are open to foreign tourists.

To use Portugals National Rail Card, people must have a CP Card, which can be requested from any Comboios de Portugal ticket office.

According to the organisations website, to request a CP Card, applicants must provide a completed application form (available online), a citizen card, and an original colour passport photo. The cost of the CP Card is 6.
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A three-hour flight from Malaga to London is selling for more than a trip to Australia as demand for flights returning from Spain to the UK in the next two weeks is driving air fares to unprecedented levels.

As the summer holidays draw to an end, The Independent has been monitoring fares for families returning to the UK from Spain  the favourite overseas destination for British holidaymakers.

The most extreme example is on Thursday 31 August, when the cheapest flight from Malaga to London Heathrow is currently 714 (611)  with hand baggage only.

The afternoon trip, operated by Finnair for British Airways, is less expensive than a later BA departure on the same route. The early evening flight is selling at 916 (783) in economy class, though this includes a 23kg checked bag.

For comparison, on the same day China Southern is flying from Heathrow to Sydney via Guangzhou for 580, including two 23kg checked bags. The distance is over 10 times further than Malaga-London, and complimentary inflight food and drink is provided.

British Airways has a cheaper flight on the same day, from Malaga to Gatwick, priced at 387 (331) excluding checked baggage.

A spokesperson for BA said: We offer our customers a wide range of fares to give greater choice and value. We advise customers to book as far in advance as possible in order to take advantage of our lowest prices.

Like other airlines, our available ticket prices can fluctuate based on high levels of demand, and typically lower fares will normally be taken up first.

Budget airlines are also charging high prices. Fares on the Malaga-Luton route with easyJet peak at 515 (440) on Sunday 3 September, with a much smaller baggage allowance then British Airways permits..

A trip from Malaga to Bangkok on the same day on Etihad is six times further and one-fifth cheaper than easyJet to Luton.

On the corresponding easyJet flight one week later, the fare is almost halved.

A spokesperson for easyJet said: Over the next two weeks the average fare between Malaga and Luton is around 100 and in September fares start from just 29.92.

Prices increase as fewer seats are available and so we always recommend that customers aim to book as early as possible to secure the lowest rates.

On the Palma de Mallorca to Leeds Bradford route, Jet2s most expensive day for flying is also Sunday 3 September, when the lowest fare for the sub-three-hour flight is 484 (414).

In the opposite direction on the same day, the fare is just 56.

Ryanair is also capitalising on strong demand from Spain. On Sunday 27 August, the airline has two seats left from Alicante to Manchester at 310 (265). A later flight is selling at 427 (365).

For Ryanairs cheapest fare on the route for the rest of the year, 30 (26), travellers should book for 15 December.

Paul Charles, chief executive at the travel consultancy The PC Agency, said: Whod have thought it would ever cost more to get from Malaga to London than it would to get from London to Sydney?

Such are the high-cost times we live in that airlines are able to offer similar short-haul and long-haul fares, and some consumers will still pay whatever it takes to get to their destination. This more blended pricing will pay off for the airlines longer-term, as they will learn that consumers are forever prepared to fork out hundreds of pounds for sub three-hour flights.

The bargain short-haul flight is indeed dead.

Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive of the Advantage Travel Partnership, said: Air fares fluctuate all the time and can change significantly from day to day  particularly during peak travel periods such as a bank holiday.

Unfortunately, this can impact those who purchase their own flights and or accommodation separately. However, those who can book a package have their prices guaranteed at the point of booking which means no hidden surprises and complete peace of mind.

We would always recommend travellers and holidaymakers book through a travel agent to ensure they get the best deal and best prices.

By rail from Malaga to London, the lowest fare offered by Trainline for 31 August is 360. The 30-hour journey involves changes at Barcelona, Perpignan and Paris.

All fares researched on airlines own websites on Friday 18 August, and are for the lowest available prices
Footage appears to show dirt bike riders harassing police after driving dangerously through busy streets in Melbourne, Australia.

Officers were confronted by the group of 15 bikers on 29 July, with dashcam video from the highway patrol vehicle allegedly showing them doing wheelies and riding at high speeds.

Police can then be seen arresting a rider who fell off his bike in a residential area, while others circle the officers on their bikes.

Victoria Police are now on the hunt for the other riders.

The group of riders came back and circled police, riding on the wrong side of the road while spraying dirt and rocks on both officers and the police vehicle, the force tweeted.
Footage purports to show the moment a drone attack struck Moscow.

Russian officials accused Ukraine of launching an attack on a building in Moscows business district.

Unverified footage on social media appeared to show an explosion next to recognisable Moscow skyscrapers.

Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defences had shot down the drone with its debris falling on the citys Expo Center.

Ukraine did not confirm the attack, but officials in Kyiv have never formally acknowledged launching attacks on targets in Moscow.
Police in New Jersey are looking for a woman who appeared to throw a skee-ball that struck a child in the head at an arcade.

Cape May Police Department shared footage of the incident on Facebook, saying that the woman was involved in a disagreement with another man.

As a result, she throws a Skeeball at the other party that ends up striking a child in the back of the head, the force wrote.

The woman can be seen standing near the unidentified arcades skee-ball alleys, before launching the ball in the direction of a group standing close by.
Maryland police are appealing for help in identifying a man suspected of murdering Rachel Morin.

The Harford County Sheriffs Office has released CCTV footage of the man suspected of killing Morin on a Maryland hiknig trail.

On Thursday, 17 August, police announced that DNA found at the scene of Morins murder had been matched to DNA left at a home where an unknown man broke into a home in Los Angeles and violently attacked a young girl in March.

CCTV footage shows the suspect leaving the scene of that crime. He is believed to be a Hispanic male aged 20-30.
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History will be made today at Camp David, when President Joe Biden meets with President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan. Not only is it President Bidens first time hosting foreign leaders at the iconic presidential retreat in Maryland, but it marks the first time the leaders of the United States, Japan, and South Korea have met formally and exclusively as a tripartite group.

At issue is the increasing threat from China. While it is unlikely that a NATO-style alliance with a formal mutual defense pact will emerge, The New York Times reports that Biden administration officials said the leaders would sign off on a formal commitment to consult, an understanding that the three nations would treat any security threat to one of them as a threat to all of them requiring mutual discussion about how to respond.

To understand why this summit is so monumental, one must understand not only our own moment in history  one in which China is threatening regional security in the Asia-Pacific rim  but the unresolved tensions between Japan and South Korea stretching back decades. The past and the future will collide at Camp David, making this a pivotal day in the history of all three nations.

If the 20th century was largely defined by the conflict between communism and capitalism, the 21st century is being defined by the clash of authoritarianism and democracy. That clash is likely to play out not in Europe or the Middle East, but in Asia. And Washington understands this. Beginning with President Barack Obamas so-called Pacific pivot in the 2010s, the US has recognized that its national security and economic interests lie increasingly off its west coast, not its east. Both the Trump and Biden administrations have likewise understood this.

That is not without reason. China is the worlds second-largest economy, behind the United States, accounting for 18 percent of the global GDP last year. Even with its current economic slowdown, the general trajectory of China continuing to be an economic superpower shows no signs of stopping. It is the single largest manufacturing economy in the world, accounting for almost 29 percent of the global manufacturing output in 2019. At the same time, China has been beefing up its military to a point where it may soon outpace the United States. This year, it increased its military budget by 7.2 percent.

Meanwhile, China has become increasingly aggressive in the Pacific. Last year, US Indo-Pacific commander Admiral John C Aquilino warned that China had fully militarized three islands in the South China Sea. Just yesterday, The South China Morning Post reported that Beijing appears to be building a runway for small warplanes on an island also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan, while The Guardian reported on footage appearing to show Chinese military preparation for conflict in the Taiwan Strait.

A build-up of Chinese authoritarian, autocratic military power is obviously deeply concerning to democratic nations who have witnessed Chinas antidemocratic crackdown in Hong Kong, its detainment and harassment of dissidents last year, its continued crackdown on dissent this year, and its ongoing human rights abuses against the Uyghurs. This includes South Korea and Japan, which is why Yoon and Kishida have come to Camp David  and in doing so, marked a new era in East Asian relations.

Despite both being capitalist democracies with similar international interests, South Korea and Japan do not have the easiest relationship. The two nations have fought one another on and off since the 7th century. More recent developments have inflicted wounds that are incredibly slow to heal.

Occupying the peninsular nation in 1910, Japan would institute brutal colonial rule that would last until the end of the Second World War. This included forcing Koreans to work in factories or conscripting them, often against their will, into the Japanese military. Most famously and among the most horrific instances of Japanese oppression of its colonized peoples, tens of thousands of so-called comfort women were abducted from across Asia, including many from Korea, and forced into sex slavery by Imperial Japan.

South Korea has long demanded restitution and apology for these actions. Tokyo, for its part, has maintained that the 1965 treaty with Seoul which normalized relations settled the issue, and many Japanese leaders have been hesitant to even acknowledge such atrocities occurred.

For example, in 2015, after signing an agreement with South Korea on comfort women in which the Japanese foreign minister at the time acknowledged the issue of comfort women, with an involvement of the Japanese military authorities at the time, was a grave affront to the honor and dignity of large numbers of women, and the Government of Japan is painfully aware of responsibilities from this perspective. However, just three weeks later, then-Prime Minister Sinzo Abe told the National Assembly that there was no document found that the comfort women were forcibly taken away, undermining the very acknowledgement his own foreign minister had recently given.

That was then. This is now. The two nations seem to slowly be realizing that they cannot allow the past to prevent them from securing their mutual futures.

Recommended Biden administration sharply expands temporary status for Ukrainians already in US

Meanwhile, speaking in May at a bilateral summit between the two nations in Seoul, Kishida said he has strong pain in my heart as I think of the extreme difficulty and sorrow that many people had to suffer under the severe environment in those days. He and Yoon agreed to work on resolving these past animosities so they can better cooperate on present and future security matters, including North Koreas nuclear weapons program and the rising threat from Chinese autocracy.

So concerning is this warming of relations between the historic rivals that in July Chinas foreign minister advised Tokyo and Seoul to align themselves with Beijing. Today, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, in what can be interpreted as a swipe at the United States, said that the international community has its own judgment as to who is creating contradictions and increasing tensions and that attempts to form various exclusive groups and cliques and to bring bloc confrontation into the Asia-Pacific region are unpopular and will definitely spark vigilance and opposition in the countries of the region.

No doubt it will. That does not mean the Camp David summit should not occur, though. China has already demonstrated an increased belligerence in the region, one that should rightly concern every democracy in the Indo-Pacific.

Old animosities can no longer be allowed to prevent likeminded nations from working together to preserve a liberal and democratic international order. The free world must come together to stand up to autocracy and authoritarianism. This summit between the United States, Japan, and South Korea is a good start  and a welcome sign that the worlds leaders are finally waking up to the frightening realities of our new multipolar world order.
Jameson is no longer exported to Russia but businesses have sourced supplies in neighbouring states. Photo: Aidan Crawley/Bloomberg

Pernod Ricard, the French-headquartered alcohol conglomerate and owner of Irish Distillers, is preparing to permanently close its Russia representative office.

A report in the Russian business daily Kommersant yesterday said Laurent Pilet, who has run the operation since 2019, is being moved to another region. Ignaty Arakelyan, the former Armenian Agriculture Minister who has led the French conglomerates Yerevan Brandy Factory, will oversee the termination of the business.

Sources cited by Kommersant suggested most of the Pernod Ricard team have already left while the remaining employees may leave before the end of this month.

A Moscow market insider suggested that it was fraught with risks for the French conglomerate to retain an office in Moscow while sales of its Jameson, Chivas, Absolut and Beefeater are booming from parallel imports via third countries.

Its not a good look for these big Western multinationals to maintain boots on the ground in Moscow while all their product is coming in covertly via the back door, said the market insider.

A spokesperson for Pernod Ricard, told the Irish Independent he wasnt in a position to comment on local information.

In the context of the yearly internal moves, the former CEO of Pernod Russia has been appointed to a new role in another region, he said in an e-mailed statement.

Jameson owner Pernod Ricard resumed exports of its international brands into Russia but was forced to climb down in April this year following strong international condemnation.

However, a probe this month by the Irish Independent reveals that there are now large stocks of Jameson, Bushmills, Tullamore Dew, Baileys and other Irish spirits brands in all of Moscow's major supermarkets and off-licence chains. Guinness and Kilkenny are also back on draught at several of the citys famed Irish pubs after a hiatus of a year.

Photos sent this week by an Irish businessman from the upmarket Gastronom No. 1 at the GUM mall on Red Square showed a full array of Irish whiskey for sale, including Jameson, Bushmills and Teeling.

Supplies of Western spirits and beer are being sourced via neighbouring Kazakhstan and Georgia. Customs records from the Trade Data Monitor platform show that the amount of alcohol Georgia exports to Russia surged by more than 120% since the invasion of Ukraine.

Chris Weafer, the chief executive of the consulting firm Macro-Advisory, said the fact that Irish goods, supposedly not supplied to Russia, are still available is not because the manufacturers are avoiding sanctions or ignoring their own voluntary ban.

Moscow operates a so-called parallel import scheme which allows Russia importers to source products in other markets and to import them for sale in Russia, said Irishman Weafer, who lived and worked in Russia for 24 years. The scheme provides legal protection, in Russian courts, against any action, such as copyright infringement, by the manufacturer.
An aerial viewof a cleared forest area under development for palm oil plantations in Kapuas Hulu district of Indonesia's West Kalimantan province

The European Union has launched an investigation into whether Indonesia was circumventing EU duties on imports of biodiesel originating in the country by going through China and Britain.
Also reviewed this week: The Future Tense and Lie With Me

The blue what now? Recent DC and Marvel capers have trawled antique comics to dig up ever more obscure heroes, but are scraping the bottom of the barrel at this stage.

Blue Beetle (12A, 127mins)

A pulpy Fox Comics character from the late 1930s, the Blue Beetle was a kind of yellow pack Batman, a beat cop who developed superpowers after taking too many vitamins.

Revamped by DC in the 1960s and again in the early 2000s, the Beetle now gets his own movie, which at least gives its central character a backstory, and a bit of heart.

Jaime Reyes (Xolo Mariduena) hails from a poor quarter of the fictional American city of Palmera and returns home in triumph having completed his pre-law studies to discover that his family are about to lose their home.

His father (Damian Alcazar), mother (Elpidia Carrillo), grandmother (Adriana Barraza), uncle Rudy (George Lopez) and sister Milagro (Belissa Escobedo) all live there and if Jaime doesnt get a job soon, theyll be out on the street.

But Hispanics from his neighbourhood are not welcome among downtown Palmeras skyscrapers and finding employment wont be easy.

Director: Blue Beetle feels 'authentic' to Latin community

When Jaime and Milagro are cleaning the mansion of tech industrialist Victoria Kord (Susan Sarandon), they accidentally witness an argument between the tycoon and her niece Jenny (Bruna Marquezine) over the worryingly militaristic direction the company is taking.

After Jaime and Milagro are fired for eavesdropping, Jenny apologises and tells him to come down to the Kord HQ the next day and shell find him something to do.

When he does, he finds the skyscraper in lockdown and a harried Jenny gives him a fast-food burger box and tells him on no account to look inside. Needless to say, he does.

His family watches horrified as a metallic blue piece of biotech attaches itself to Jaimes face, enters his person by means best left unexamined and begins attaching itself to his nervous system.

This Scarab is an ancient piece of alien technology which bonds with hosts of its choosing and turns them into armoured warriors.

It will give him the power of flight and incredible strength, but has a mind of its own and will have to be accommodated if Jaime is to survive this transformation.

Directed by Angel Manuel Soto, Blue Beetle starts pretty brightly, as Jaimes histrionic family bicker and fret like the stars of a telenovela.

Their crosstalk is pretty funny and Milagro is very adept at bringing her dreamy brother down to earth.

Hes mooning after Jenny, or at least he would be if he didnt have a small army of SWAT troops on his tail, because Victoria Kord intends to create an invincible tech army, and the Scarab is central to her plans.

Eyes glazed, and muttering lines her mouth has no wish to be associated with, Sarandon seems strangely abstracted from the proceedings, almost as if she performed all her scenes in a soundproof booth and was beamed into the movie afterwards, like a hologram.

Shes not very good.

And nor, for all the positive energy generated by the Reyes household, is the last 40 minutes of this film, when Jaime dons the metallic suit and the mindless CGI brawls take over.

"People in giant suits punching each other through walls is pretty old at this stage, and has been done much more convincingly elsewhere.

People in giant suits punching each other through walls is pretty old at this stage, and has been done much more convincingly elsewhere.

DC have an uncanny knack for conjuring ugly CGI, and while the effects here are not as ghastly as they were in, say, The Flash, Blue Beetles climax is pretty wearing.

The idea of framing the story within the context of Latino America is a good one, and Alcazar gives a soulful turn as Jaimes wise and sickly father, but an attempt to add serious issues like child-soldiering into the mix seems a bit of a reach for this silly film, which starts well before entering a dizzy tailspin.

The DC Universe, for many years the poor relation of the mighty Marvel franchise, is about to enter a brief period of hibernation, as the studio puts the finishing touches to its much vaunted Superman reboot and begins a new phase of movies.

There is definitely room for improvement.

Rating: Three stars

The Future Tense. Photo: IFI

The Future Tense (No Cert, IFI, 89mins)

Desperate Optimists, aka Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor, the London-based Irish film-makers, have produced some fine psychological dramas in recent years, from Mister John (2013) to the excellent Rose Plays Julie (2019).

On the eve of the pandemic, they began making this playful and original documentary inspired by a personal quandary  whether or not the couple should move home to Ireland.

Theyve been in the UK for 30-odd years and had a daughter there, but as Brexit turned the national mood ever more jingoistic and ugly, Joe and Christine wondered if it might not be time to up sticks and return home.

Theyd originally intended to use actors, but Covid put paid to that, so the couple speak candidly themselves about their time in England, memories of Ireland, the differences between the two countries and the family stories that interconnect with their migrant experience.

In the films most moving scenes, Joe recalls his late mother, Helen, who lived with a serious mental illness.

He speaks to her and Helen seems to listen, courtesy of footage he took of her 20 years ago. Its an eerie moment in a thoughtful, funny and sometimes profound film that is bound to make you think.

Rating: Four stars

Guillaume de Tonquedec and Victor Belmondo in Lie With Me. Photo: TS Productions

Lie With Me (15A, 98mins)

A melodrama with hidden depths, Olivier Peyons Lie With Me stars Guillaume de Tonquedec as Stephane Belcourt, a celebrated writer who returns to his hometown in south-western France to give a lecture and sign some books.

Belcourt, who is gay, fled the Charente as soon as he was able, but is haunted by the memory of his first great love, a school classmate, Thomas Andrieu.

He has returned to mull over the embers of that affair, and to see if perhaps Thomas is still alive. Instead, by chance, he meets Thomass son Lucas (Victor Belmondo), and uncovers some painful truths.

While Stephane has lived openly, Thomas ran away from his homosexuality, marrying a Spanish woman and burying himself in farm work.

His inability to face his own essential truth has brought suffering to all around him, but the discovery of a lost letter presents a possibility to heal.

Unfussily made, Peyons film dips into sentimentality at times, particularly during a series of teenage flashbacks, but the films epiphany is genuinely moving.

De Tonquedec is very good as the rather self-involved writer and Belmondo is a ringer for his grandfather Jean-Paul, inheriting some of his charisma.

Rating: Four stars
New Zealand dairy farme hoses out the area after milking cows at night on a farm in Christchurch, New Zealand. Image: Getty

New Zealand farmers will have until the end of 2025 before they have to pay for methane produced by sheep and cattle, after the Labour government on Friday pushed back its plans to price agricultural emissions of greenhouse gases.

New Zealand, home to 5 million people, has about 10 million cattle and 26 million sheep and nearly half its total greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture, mainly methane.

It is one of the first countries to announce it will price agricultural emissions, but the government has faced criticism from parts of the farming community which is concerned about the cost. It has moved to address some of these concerns ahead of an October election, where it is trailing in the polls.

Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor said pricing of such emissions would start in the fourth-quarter of 2025, back from a previously planned start in the first quarter to give farmers more time to adjust.

"It's important the system to manage and price agricultural emissions is workable, effective, fiscally responsible and set up to last. That's why we're taking a measured approach," he said in a statement.

Scientifically validated carbon sequestration such as tree planting around waterways and indigenous forestry would be recognised in the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme, he added.

New Zealand's red-meat lobby groups said they were "dismayed" by the plan.

"There is no sound rationale for pricing when the sector is making good progress towards meeting emissions reduction targets," Kate Acland, chair of Beef + Lamb New Zealand, said in a statement.

The government says that along with meeting commitments to cut emissions, demand was growing from foreign buyers for agricultural products that have sustainability credentials.

National, the largest opposition party, says it will only look to price farm emissions by 2030.

Reuters
RTE boss ended talks after former Late Late Show presenter gave further views on hidden payments scandal

Ryan Tubridy was close to agreeing a new contract with RTE but remarks he made in a statement ultimately scuppered the deal. Photo: Steve Humphreys/file photo

RTE director general Kevin Bakhurst said he was was particularly disappointed that talks had ended over Ryan Tubridys return. Photo: Gerry Mooney

Ryan Tubridys big comeback on a two-year contract was scuppered at the last minute by a statement RTE bosses viewed as tone-deaf.

Sources on both sides of the controversy say a new deal was all but signed and would have seen the presenter back on RTE Radio 1 on September 4.

It would have involved Tubridy repaying 150,000 he received from RTE as part of a deal involving car maker Renault.

His new salary would have been 170,000, meaning his first year back would be close to cost-neutral for the cash-strapped broadcaster. He would also have hosted a new podcast.

However, Tubridys decision to issue a statement suggesting he still believes the money linked to that special deal did not amount to a salary top-up infuriated station chiefs.

New director general Kevin Bakhurst, who personally led the RTE side in the negotiations and took part in a number of one-to-one meetings, phoned the presenter to tell him the offer of a contract was being pulled.

He (Tubridy) had what he wanted and threw it all away at the last minute

I would say he was shocked and disappointed. It was a difficult conversation, Bakhurst said afterwards.

He did not feel Tubridy had taken enough personal responsibility for the payments scandal that has engulfed RTE.

One RTE source told the Irish Independent that Tubridys statement welcoming this weeks Grant Thornton report into the controversy was tone deaf in a situation where all sides had agreed on a fresh start.

He (Tubridy) had what he wanted and threw it all away at the last minute. Bakhurst gives people the benefit of the doubt, but dont cross him, the source said.

It is understood Tubridy did not give his ex-bosses notice of the statement.

RTE sought clarification about a line that read: It is also clear that my actual income from RTE in 2020 and 2021 matches what was originally published as my earnings for those years, and RTE has not yet published its top-10 earner details for 2022.

Ryan Tubridy was close to agreeing a new contract with RTE but remarks he made in a statement ultimately scuppered the deal. Photo: Steve Humphreys/file photo

In response, RTE contacted Tubridys lawyer, demanding to know what he meant by this. They argued that the clearest way to state the money given to the presenter for those years was to include the 75,000 payments under the Renault deal.

RTE says that while Tubridys published earnings for 2020 amounted to 446,250, his actual earnings were 522,500. And in 2021, his published earnings were 440,000 but in reality RTE gave him 515,000.

However, Tubridys lawyers did not budge from their position that the official payroll figures were the correct ones.

Announcing his decision to end contract negotiations, Bakhurst told staff: As I set about a programme of recovery from this crisis, it is imperative that all parties are aligned in one key respect: the misstatement of fees should never have happened, and the correct restatement of those fees is accepted by all.

Ryan Tubridy not returning to RTE airwaves

While only in the job for a matter of weeks, the decision will no doubt be a defining moment in the Englishmans tenure at Montrose.

He informed staff of the development shortly before 7.30pm yesterday, saying he entered talks with the former Late Late Show host in good faith.

We cant afford to be questioning the facts that are out there

I have decided not to continue with negotiations and, as such, there are no plans for Ryan to return to his presenting role with RTE at this time.

Bakhurst confirmed that RTE and Tubridy had agreed the fundamentals of a deal, including the fee, duration and hours.

But it was the director generals view that between the parties, trust has broken down.

He claimed the statement from Tubridy had muddied the water somewhat at a time when he was trying rebuild trust.

Asked on RTEs Nine News whether it was petty to terminate the talks over one line in a statement, Bakhurst replied: Id like to think its not petty. I was particularly disappointed. We cant afford to be questioning the facts that are out there.

Tubridy has not yet commented on the collapse of the deal. He had expressed a strong desire to get back on air, describing RTE as his home.

The board of RTE simply noted the decision made by Bakhurst.

The board supports the ongoing work of the director general and his interim leadership team, they said.

The decision to drop the broadcasters biggest name leaves a hole in RTE Radio 1s morning slot.

Comedian Oliver Callan has spent much of the summer filling in for the presenter, while another outside contractor, Brendan Courtney, is currently in the hot seat. However, a number of internal candidates are also thought to be interested in the position.

Names linked to the role have included GAA correspondent Marty Morrissey, Morning Irelands Rachel English, Rose of Tralee co-host Kathryn Thomas and Patrick Kielty.
Bank of Ireland CEO issues apology saying the bank fell well below the standards customers expect

After the IT glitch with Bank of Ireland ATMs, Finance Minister Michael McGrath said there had been too many technical issues for his liking. Photos: Brian Lawless/PA and Paulo Nunes dos Santos/Bloomberg

FINANCE Minister Michael McGrath warned that Ireland must never again witness the IT chaos which resulted in Bank of Ireland customers accessing cash from ATMs beyond what was in their accounts.

Mr McGrath stressed that Ireland's economy relies heavily on a dependable financial services system with secure IT networks and where the needs of customers come first.

The Cork TD admitted that Ireland has already seen far too many IT glitches within the financial services sector  and he would now be engaging with the Central Bank to understand how the latest issues arose and precisely what steps are being taken to ensure those problems never again arise.

An IT glitch allowed customers to overdraw from their accounts earlier this week  with the bank insisting the maximum amount was 500 though some reports claimed up to 1,000 was obtained in cases.

Gardai attended large queues at some ATMs as word spread of the Bank of Ireland systems glitch.

Bank of Ireland have since insisted the IT issue has been resolved and that any amounts withdrawn will be debited to customer accounts.

I think it is vital that people can have uninterrupted access to banking services and in recent years we have had a number of instances where system errors or system outages took place, Mr McGrath said.

That is why I have asked my own officials in the Department of Finance to engage with the Central Bank, with the Regulator, to gain an understanding of their assessment of the robustness of the systems being used by financial service providers, in particular those who are customer facing to make sure that services can continue unhindered.

Mr McGrath stressed that such IT issues have implications beyond the individual financial institution involved.

Because when you have outages like this it can cause real problems  very significant disruption  to peoples personal lives and also to the conduct of business. And it can have an impact on our economy.

I think the Bank of Ireland has responded swiftly and has dealt with the situation.

Obviously they will have to deal with the fallout of any transactions where funding was taken from accounts where the funding shouldnt have been in those accounts and that is an operational matter for the bank to deal with.

"From my perspective as Minister of Finance the most important thing is that we have a financial system that is reliable, where the needs of customers come first and where we see the necessary investment in the systems underpinning that interface with the public.

"That is the most important thing  that we have reliable services being provided by financial service providers across Ireland. And I will be engaging further now with the governor of the Central Bank generally to gain an understanding of their assessment and to make sure that we do understand fully what happened in this instancewhy it happened and how we can be reassured that it is not going to happen again.

Mr McGrath, speaking in Cork, stressed that there have been too many such instances over recent years for his liking.

 I want to be assured that the necessary investment is being put into systems where the public are interfacing with private companies in terms of accessing their own money in particular, he said.

And, of course, I acknowledge that we have an ongoing job of work to do on the public sector side as well, to invest in the HSE and a whole range of other public service bodies (in respect of IT systems).

I acknowledge that we have that responsibility and duty to provide the necessary funding to do that but I do expect regulated financial service providers to be at the leading edge in terms of service provision to their customers.

Meanwhile, Bank of Irelands chief executive Myles Grady has apologised for the tech meltdown, saying the bank fell well below the standards customers expect.

"I apologise sincerely for this, he said.

Banking is based on reputation and trust. We have damaged this with our customers and wider society. We are working to put things right.

The CEO said that when the tech outage occurred the bank made it a priority that all customers continued to have access to cash and could transact on their cards to manage their daily needs, in cash, online or in a shop, even though bank balance information was not available to customers.

He said a dedicated team is now working with customers who were affected.

Our focus this week is on restoring services, ensuring the stability of our systems, and helping customers. But, we know we need to do better in future. We continue to invest in our technology to ensure customers have the very best banking services, he said.
Irish News

New name for Ryan Tubridys old show as Oliver Callan says theres a sense of wrong in first programme since presenters axing
University Hospital Limerick is the most overcrowded hospital in the country, according to figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO)

University Hospital Limerick is the most overcrowded hospital in the country, according to figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO)

Nearly 27,000 people left University Hospital Limericks (UHL) emergency department without completing their treatment over the last four years, new figures have shown.

Between January 2019 and last month, 26,918 people who arrived at the hospital left before being discharged. The figures were released by the HSE.

More than 1,000 people left the hospitals emergency department in such circumstances last December, shortly before the hospital declared a major internal incident following a spike in patients seeking emergency treatment.

Figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) have again highlighted the challenges facing the most overcrowded hospital in the country. Yesterday morning there were 78 people on trolleys at UHL.

Sligo University Hospital recorded the second-highest number, with 35 people on trolleys during morning rounds yesterday.

UHL has the only emergency department in the midwest and serves a population of around 400,000 people.

Since 2009, ambulances have had to bring emergency patients to UHL rather than to St Johns Hospital in Limerick city or Ennis and Nenagh Hospitals.

Earlier this year, some non-urgent cases were brought to Ennis Hospital, Co Clare, instead of UHL. This was done in an attempt to ease pressure on the crowded emergency room.

Figures for people who left the hospital before completing treatment were released in response to a parliamentary question from Violet-Anne Wynne, the independent TD for Clare.

Last year, patients were more likely to leave the emergency department in the latter months of the year. In October, 1,033 patients left; the figure was 917 in November; and 1,034 left in December. 

Last Christmas, UHL was under severe pressure due to high numbers of patients attending the emergency department.

On January 2, it declared a major internal incident due to the overwhelming surge in patient numbers.

A spokesman for the hospital clarified that these figures meant a person had left the hospital before completion of treatment.

This may include patients who were triaged but left before seeing a clinician  also referred to as patients who did not wait.

Figures may also include patients who registered at an emergency department but were not triaged, people who were assessed but left against medical advice or patients who were assessed and left before being formally discharged.

Ms Wynne said it was simply inexcusable that nearly 27,000 people had walked out of the hospital in such circumstances. 

She added that the midwest needs another hospital offering 24/7 acute and critical care.

We are a county continually denied access to care, both in an acute and a primary setting, she said.

Lack of GPs and an out-of-hours service that is not fit for demand and overrun by locums means that, for many people, the only option is to present at A&E.

Until we improve access to primary care and care in the community, incredibly high levels of presentations to A&E will not abate.

A spokesperson for INMO said more than 66,000 patients have been admitted to UHL without a bed since January 1, 2019.

Patients are, unfortunately, waiting an unacceptable amount of time to be admitted to hospital, the spokesperson said.

In recent patient-experience surveys, University Hospital Limerick has scored low when it comes to hospital admission.

In the hospitals response to Ms Wynne, Professor Colette Cowan, the chief executive of the UL hospitals group, said UHL was working to balance the marked demand on emergency departments and the needs of patients with time-critical and elective surgeries.

We do everything possible to maximise patient flow and minimise wait times, she said.
RTE is still paying a salary to Ryan Tubridy amid fears of legal action from the presenter despite director general Kevin Bakhurst deciding yesterday that he would not be returning to the airwaves at Montrose.

A contract was being finalised for Tubridy to return to the broadcaster before negotiations collapsed. He was set to be paid 170,000 for his radio show and a new podcast.

Speaking to RTEs Morning Ireland, Mr Bakhurst said paying Tubridy while he was off air was the fair thing to do.

We would normally pay someone over the summer and it was our decision to take him off air for a while. We didnt pay him at the level they were seeking for him to be paid.

Asked whether Tubridy would continue to be paid, Mr Bakhurst said that was the next step in the process.

Ryan Tubridy not returning to RTE airwaves

We need to resolve that, thats the next step now.

Theres always that danger [of legal action] and I did consult our legal team and we took outside advice as well. I hope it doesnt, I dont think it would be a good thing for anybody but clearly thats always a risk, he said.

Mr Bakhurst said he did not expect Tubridy to repay the controversial 150,000 he got under a commercial agreement underwritten by RTE.

We didnt discuss that. I dont expect him to repay it. I made it clear to him throughout that I felt morally it was the right thing to repay it.

Tubridy had agreed to give back the money as part of the agreement of his return to RTE, but Mr Bakhurst said that position may change now talks have fallen apart.

Tubridy said he was shocked and disappointed by the decision, which was communicated to him over a difficult phone call with the director general.

Latest JNLR Figures show a fall for Ryan Tubridy Show

Mr Bakhurst said a huge amount of time had been spent negotiating for Tubridys return but the discussions werent straightforward.

I felt we got to a position where we were nearly there and nearly at a point where we could bring him back on.

I knew very well from talking to staff within RTE they were strongly divided as to whether we should bring Ryan back and the same with senior members of management and board. But I felt for a long period it was the right thing to try and do.

He said he wanted to be fair and do the right thing for the broadcaster, audience and Tubridy himself.

However, I felt throughout there was an issue about the need to accept your role in what has been a hugely damaging scandal for everybody involved, particularly for RTE who need to take the vast majority of the blame.

There are others, including Ryan and his team, who should take some of the blame and take some responsibility, he added.

Mr Bakhurst said he didnt think Tubridy was aware of the resistance within RTE against his return to the airwaves.

He said he had discussed the issue with members of the interim leadership team and they agreed with his decision to block Tubridys return.

Ive always said I think hes a hugely talented broadcaster and hes had a very long career at RTE, the director general added.

Discussions over Tubridys replacement on RTE Radio 1s 9am slot had already begun. Oliver Callan and Brendan Courtney had done a good job as fill-ins and been well received by the audience, Mr Bakhurst said.
Tributes have been paid to an eight-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl who died in separate road accidents in Cork and Limerick.

Andre Ladeiro (8), whose family are originally from Portugal, died five days after suffering critical injuries in a collision on Saturday morning in Carrigaline, Co Cork.

Savannah Barry Calvert (14) died after she was hit by a car in Limerick city centre on Wednesday evening.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar expressed deep concern at the growing number of deaths on Irish roads.

The Road Safety Authority (RSA) has already met with garda chiefs to discuss the increase, with deaths now running at more than 30pc above 2019 levels.

A total of 108 people have died on Irish roads so far this year, 14 more than in the same period last year.

Moving tributes were paid to Andre, who was fatally injured while crossing the road near the Ballinrea roundabout in Carrigaline .

He was with one of his parents and his younger sibling at the time.

Today's News in 90 seconds - August 18th

He was rushed to Cork University Hospital (CUH) and then airlifted to Temple Street Childrens Hospital in Dublin with head injuries.

Despite efforts by doctors to save him, he died on Wednesday evening with his family at his hospital bedside.

He was a pupil at Owenabue Educate Together National School, where a spokesperson said everyone was devastated by the tragedy.

Andre joined us in September 2020, the very first day the school opened, they said.

From the day he started his journey with us he brought joy into every room he entered. Andre was a bright, curious boy who, above all else, was unfailingly kind.

Andres smile and personality lit up every room, and every person he met was better for having met him.

We extend our deepest sympathies to his parents, Filipa and Cesar, his brother Tomas and all of Andres extended family and friends. You are all in our thoughts.

Andres family have requested that we all understand their need for privacy at this difficult time.

The school implemented its critical incident management plan, and psychologists from the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) are supporting and advising.

Andre died just days before he was due back in school. It is understood the family have lived in the Cork area for several years, and the childs parents work locally.

Tributes were also paid to schoolgirl Savannah by members of her family on social media.

Denika Calvert said everyone was left heartbroken by the tragedy.

I cannot believe it, my beautiful baby sister  why did it have to be you? What am I going to do without you? You are all I have, she wrote.

Channelle Calvert described Savannah as a youngster whose smile brightened the lives of everyone she met.

God, why did you have to take the most harmless child that would do anything for anyone. You did not deserve any of this  you are back with Nana Jackie now, she wrote.

Gardai in Limerick have appealed for information about the accident, which happened shortly before midnight near Limericks Bank Place.

A spokesperson said: The pedestrian, a female youth in her teens, was taken to University Hospital Limerick with serious injuries, where she has since passed away.

No other injuries to persons were reported during the course of this collision."
Im no fan of the Republican Party, but Im thankful that Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis is about to save it. America works better when it has two semi-functioning political parties, rather than what weve had since 2016  one traditional political party and one dumpster full of racist raccoons worshipping at the feet of Donald Trump.
I spent the best part of an afternoon and evening reading a fascinating essay, The Wires That Bind, by Australian-American engineer Saul Griffith. He is a MacArthur Grant recipient, inventor and policy-maker who has spoken to various American administrations in his time in the US. However, what really fascinated me was Griffiths return to Australia during the Covid pandemic.
The theft of the Irish Crown Jewels from Dublin Castle in 1907 was one of the worlds most notorious heists of all time. The story made the news headlines across the globe.

Presented by King William IV to Ireland in 1831, the collection contained 394 precious stones which were taken from the English Crown Jewels to create the set including the Most Illustrious Order of St Patrick.

The hunt for the thieves grabbed the nations attention with aristocrats being accused of the theft  right through to the use of psychics and even Sherlock Holmes author to help solve the story of who stole the Irish Crown Jewels.

Presenter Siobhan Maguire is joined by Sunday Independent columnist, Sarah Caden, who dons her detective hat to look back on the mysterious missing jewels.
Senior Cork garda warns rental scams are likely to surface again as pressure mounts on students to find accommodation.

Gardai have highlighted a number of incidents where people have been scammed out of money through accommodation fraud. They said the return to college time-frame (August to September) showed an annual spike in reported incidents.

WITH students gearing up for the return to third-level institutes across Cork, gardai have warned people to on their guard for unscrupulous scammers trying to dupe people out of their hard earned cash through accommodation scams

The warning has come after a north Cork-based Garda Superintendent recalled one recent incident where a female seeking to rent an apartment in Cork City was conned out of 1,000 by a scammer operating from abroad.

Supt Michael Corbett said that in this particular instance the lady had seen an advertisement for an apartment in the city on social media, contacted the person responsible online, gave her details and paid over 1,000 as a deposit.

It was only after this that she realised the money had been paid into French bank account and that the person she had paid it to was based in France, said Supt Corbett.

She subsequently discovered the property was up for sale, contacted the property agent who told her that the apartment had already been sold and they were not aware that any rental was in place.

Nor had they any contact with the person in France that she had paid over the deposit to, said Supt Corbett.

The rental market out there is extremely competitive at this time of the year and scammers are using this to their advantage, he added.

His comments were borne out by Garda figures that revealed the return to college time-frame (August to October) show an annual spike in accommodation fraud, with roughly one-third of all reported incidents taking place during August and September.

The figures showed a 38% increase in accommodation fraud in 2022 when compared to the previous year, more than half of victims were aged under 25 and 55% of victims were female.

It is estimated that more than 2 million has been stolen through accommodation frauds over the five-year period from 2019 to 2023.

Gardai have highlighted a number of incidents that have taken place over recent weeks, including one where a 25-year-old female responded to an ad regarding an apartment for rent.

She was given details of a Revolut account by email and transferred 1,200 for the first months payment. However, no keys were provided for the apartment.

In another reported incident a 30-year-old male was emailed what he believed was a contract for a property he had viewed on a digital letting agency , which he signed before paying over 4,000.

When he went to meet the landlord there was nobody there and has since been unable to contact them.

A 21-year-old female posted on Facebook that she was seeking accommodation in Cork and received correspondence from a third party regarded what she believed was a suitable apartment.

As per a request from the agent she handed over an 800 deposit to secure the property but never received keys to the apartments or any further correspondence from the agent.

Supt Corbett said that with the imminent return of third level institutions there will be a scramble for accommodation around Cork and it was likely these kind of scams will be tried again.

For example, it is very easy for a fraudster to simply lift a picture and details from a legitimate social media of property website site and put it on their own page, said Supt Corbett.

We saw this kind of this happen in past years and I have no doubt but that it will surface again, particularly with pressure already mounting for those starting off in college to find accommodation, he added.

He said that for people not to get duped out of their hard-earned cash they should carry out a thorough background check of any advert they may see on, particularly on social media platforms, before making any commitment.

They key here is to exercise due diligence. Make sure the apartment actually exists, that it is available to rent and the person you are paying a deposit over to actually owns it, said Supt Corbett.

One of the clear signs that it might well be a scam is if the person purporting to rent a premises says they are living overseas and cannot meet up face-to-face to show you the property. This is something that we have seen time and time again. The key here is to exercise due diligence to ensure you do not fall victim to a scam, he added.

Advice on steps to take to avoid being caught out by an accommodation scam, and action to take if you do fall victim to one, are available at www.garda.ie.
Just months on from the devastating fire which engulfed the hospital, there were major concerns at Wexford General yesterday (Thursday) as a huge plume of what appeared to be smoke was sent rising into the air from the front of the building.

Thankfully, on this occasion there was no fire, although it was an issue thats likely to carry a significant financial toll for Alliance Medical, the operators of the current, temporary MRI scanner on site.

Its understood that routine servicing was being carried out on the machine when an emergency quench button was activated, causing helium gas to be expelled from a vent at the top.

The gas would have given the impression of smoke and would have been enough to set hearts racing with memories of the hospital fire back in March still fresh in the memory.

Completely separate to Wexford General Hospital, the issue is one which rests completely with Alliance Medical, but one hospital source said it would be very costly and could run up to a couple of hundred thousand euro.

"Thankfully, it was nothing major to worry about from our point of view, the hospital source confirmed. Although if it wasnt a planned thing, it could be a costly one for Alliance Medical.

A spokesperson from Alliance Medical confirmed that during a routine maintenance procedure on the MRI scanner yesterday, the maintenance crew from the device manufacturer had problem which resulted in some helium gas being vented from the system.

"Helium gas is an inert naturally occurring gas. A passer-by will likely have seen a cloud of white smoke (helium gas) coming from the unit.

"As a consequence, our MRI service is currently out of action, however we are working to have the service back in action over the weekend.

Wexford General Hospital is still awaiting the installation of its own public MRI scanner, a piece of equipment that the people of Wexford fundraised 250,000 towards a number of years ago. On his latest visit to Wexford, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly vowed that it is something thats imminent.

"It is a priority, he said. I can tell you we will have diggers on site by the end of this calendar year, with a 12 month timeframe for completion.
The Arklow Maritime Museum will launch an exhibition dedicated to Arklow's ancient past on Wednesday, August 23.

The 402 Art Collective, in conjunction with Arklow Town Team, will invite the community to explore their town's hidden medieval history at Arklow Maritime Museum on Wednesday, August 23.

Join local historian Jim Rees and Wicklow Community Archaeologist Yvonne Whitty and inspect a collection of recent archaeological finds that unlock Arklows rich heritage.

The free event forms part of an exciting local Medieval Arklow Mural Project, which will take place on Abbey Lane over the coming weeks and is months funded by Creative Ireland, Wicklow County Council, Lawpro and SSE Renewables.

The 402 Art Collective celebrates diversity and fosters creativity through exhibitions, performances, and educational programs. It provides a platform for artists to showcase their work and connect with a broader audience, building an inclusive artistic community.

Speaking ahead of the Maritime Museum event, 402 Art Collective member Cllr Peir Leonard said: This is a very exciting project for Arklow, as some very significant findings were discovered on Abbey Lane last year.

All will be revealed next Wednesday night at the Arklow Maritime Museum. Its great to have our local museum open in the evenings now!

A massive thank you to Yvonne Whitty, our community archaeologist, and Jim Rees our local historian, who are doing really important work recording and opening up the doors on Arklow's hidden history.

The event will take place at Arklow Maritime Museum on Wednesday, August 23, from 7.30 p.m. to 9.30 p.m.

To register and reserve your spot, go to eventbrite.com. For more information, email collective402@gmail.com or visit their Facebook page.
Wicklow Green Party TD Steven Matthews has welcomed the inclusion of the Avonmore River in Wicklow in measures to restore water quality and improve the aquatic environment.

Speaking after the launch of the report, The Framework of Measures and Best Practice Guidance for High Status Objective Water Bodies, Deputy Matthews said: I studied water quality for many years and I am fully aware of the health and environmental impacts of deterioration in the quality of water in our rivers and lakes over the last 30 years. Of particular concern, is the loss of what are called high status waters and this project aims to address and reverse this trend.

I am delighted that our beautiful Avonmore River will be included and improved under this project. I want to thank my Green Party colleague Minister Malcolm Noonan for ensuring Wicklow is included.

The Avonmore River flows from Lough Dan in the Wicklow Mountains west of Roundwood in a generally southerly direction for approximately 30kms, before joining the Avonbeg at the Meeting of the Waters to form the River Avoca, which in turn discharges into the Irish Sea at Arklow.

It is one of six demonstration catchments in Ireland selected for the Waters of LIFE project last year, which is a 20million EU funded project. The aim of the project is to help reverse the ongoing deterioration in water quality in Irelands most pristine rivers.

High status water bodies provide important services to society and they support tourism and salmon and trout fishing, as well as providing sources of clean drinking water and a refuge for rare species and sensitive species. This ongoing loss of high-status waters is a worrying trend for overall water quality in Ireland. The protection and restoration of these waters is a key principle underpinning the EU Water Framework Directive.

Commenting on the report, Mr Noonan noted: High status water bodies are a precious resource and it is imperative that we not only halt, but reverse their decline. Todays report highlights new and valuable insights into our highest status waters, and we hope to see this knowledge put to good use, not just through the Waters of LIFE project but by farm advisors, landowners and all of the stakeholders working to improve water quality.

"The Results Based Payments Scheme offered as part of this project will support and reward efforts made by landowners including farmers and foresters to improve water quality in these five catchments.

"Weve seen the success of this model in other LIFE projects such as Wild Atlantic Nature LIFE IP which granted in excess of 2.4million in payments in 2022. I encourage eligible groups in the areas around those catchments to get involved in the project.

Deputy Matthews concluded: The natural environment across Wicklow is a fantastic source of recreation, encourages tourism and benefits the health and well being of residents and visitors. However many of natural amenities and habits are under threat from many sources and I am committed to ensuring we invest, protect and restore nature for all of our communities.
Rachel Riley has said she wont be able to support Manchester United if Mason Greenwood remains at the club (Peter Powell/PA)

Rachel Riley has said that she wont be able to support Manchester United if footballer Mason Greenwood remains at the club.

The 21-year-old player was suspended by the club on January 30, 2022 over allegations relating to a young woman after images and videos were posted online.

Greenwood was facing charges including attempted rape and assault until the Crown Prosecution Service announced six months ago that the case had been discontinued.

On Wednesday, Manchester United said that they were working through the final stages of their internal investigation into Greenwood, having completed the fact-finding phase.

Riley, 37, who is a co-presenter on Countdown, posted to the social media platform X, formally known as Twitter, to express her opinions on the matter.

She said: I wont be able to support United if Greenwood remains at the club.

As an example, when it comes to VAWG (Violence Against Women And Girls), less than 1% of rapes reported to police lead to conviction.

Weve all seen and heard enough. Pretending this is ok would be a huge part of the problem.

She added: It would be devastating for my club to contribute to a culture that brushes this under the carpet and send a message to perpetrators everywhere that you can continue to act as you wish with no consequences.

I really hope they do the right thing.

A club statement about the investigation read: Following the dropping of all charges against Mason Greenwood in February 2023, Manchester United has conducted a thorough investigation into the allegations made against him.

This has drawn on extensive evidence and context not in the public domain, and we have heard from numerous people with direct involvement or knowledge of the case.

Throughout this process, the welfare and perspective of the alleged victim has been central to the clubs inquiries, and we respect her right to lifelong anonymity.

We also have responsibilities to Mason as an employee, as a young person who has been with the club since the age of seven, and as a new father with a partner.

The fact-finding phase of our investigation is now complete, and we are in the final stages of making a decision on Masons future.
Pictured: Corrupt police worker who tipped off criminals betrayed her job, her colleagues and the public

Once we knew there was a leak we worked urgently to find out who it was

Natalie Mottram

Neil Fetherstonhaugh Fri 18 Aug 2023 at 22:52






The Indo Daily: The Gangland Trial of the Century (Part 1)  Unveiling the life and crimes of Gerry The Monk Hutch
A Texas woman was arrested and has been charged with threatening to kill the federal judge overseeing the criminal case against former president Donald Trump in Washington and a member of Congress.
India Introduces Taxation Changes for High-Premium Life Insurance Policies

India has recently introduced a new tax rule for life insurance policies that will have a significant impact on policyholders, especially those who have high-premium policies. Under the new rule, any amount received from a life insurance policy with an annual premium of over INR 500,000 will be taxable. This includes the sum assured, any bonuses, and other benefits. The new tax rule is likely to make traditional insurance plans less attractive to investors. These plans are typically purchased by risk-averse investors who are looking for a guaranteed return on their investment. However, with the new tax rule, the returns from these plans will be taxed, which could make them less appealing.

Recently, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has issued updated guidelines regarding the computation of income from life insurance policies with premiums surpassing INR 500,000. This new tax rule has substantial implications for policyholders, particularly those holding high-premium policies. Under this new regulation, any proceeds received from a life insurance policy with an annual premium exceeding INR 500,000 will be subject to taxation. As a result, section 10(10) of the Income Tax Act, previously offering exemptions, will no longer apply to policies with premiums surpassing this threshold. This revised tax rule for life insurance policies will be effective starting the financial year (FY) 2023-24.

Furthermore, in situations involving more than one policy, the same rule applies if the total annual premiums across all policies exceed INR 500,000 within a fiscal year. Consequently, the cumulative maturity amount from all combined policies would be subject to taxation.

Under the previous framework, section 10 (10) of the Income Tax Act extended exemptions to specific sums received from life insurance policies, encompassing bonuses, among others. However, these exemptions are rendered obsolete under the newly formulated CBDT guidelines.

Key exceptions notified in the amended taxation rule

Two prominent exceptions have been outlined within the revised taxation framework:

Policyholders demise : Tax exemption is granted for proceeds received in the event of the policyholders demise.

: Tax exemption is granted for proceeds received in the event of the policyholders demise. Unit-Linked Insurance Plans (ULIPs): ULIPs are not subject to the revised tax regulations, retaining their exemption status.

Impact of the new rule on traditional insurance plans

According to experts, these revisions could potentially have a negative impact on traditional insurance plans like endowment, money-back, and retirement plans. The new tax framework may make these plans, which are usually favored by risk-averse investors, less desirable.

Advantages of investing in ULIPs

A Unit-Linked Insurance Plan (ULIP) is a financial product that offers a combination of investment and life insurance coverage. It allows individuals to achieve long-term financial goals while also providing life cover for their families in case of unfortunate events. The premium paid towards a ULIP is divided into two parts: one part goes towards the life cover, and the other part is invested in a fund of the individuals choice, which could include equity, debt, or a mix of both funds based on their risk tolerance and goals.

The amount that can be invested in a ULIP relies on a number of variables, including the policy duration, insured amount, and policyholders age. If the total premium paid for all ULIPs in a financial year exceeds INR 250,000, the maturity proceeds from the ULIP will be taxed.

With the introduction of this new rule, ULIPs have become a more attractive investment option for taxpayers. Investing in a ULIP allows individuals to tailor their life insurance and investment strategy to their specific needs. It provides the flexibility to adapt to changing financial situations and goals while enjoying potential tax benefits.

Here are the benefits of investing in ULIPs:

Customizable life cover: ULIPs provide the flexibility to choose the desired amount of life insurance coverage. While the minimum life cover is typically set at 10 times the annual premium, individuals can opt for higher coverage based on the policy and insurance company, possibly up to 40 times the annual premium or even more.

ULIPs provide the flexibility to choose the desired amount of life insurance coverage. While the minimum life cover is typically set at 10 times the annual premium, individuals can opt for higher coverage based on the policy and insurance company, possibly up to 40 times the annual premium or even more. Investment choice: ULIPs offer a range of fund options, including equity funds, debt funds, and balanced funds that combine both equity and debt investments. Investors can align their investment strategy with their financial goals and risk appetite. For instance, those seeking capital appreciation and who are comfortable with higher risk can invest in equity funds, while those looking for steady returns can opt for debt funds.

ULIPs offer a range of fund options, including equity funds, debt funds, and balanced funds that combine both equity and debt investments. Investors can align their investment strategy with their financial goals and risk appetite. For instance, those seeking capital appreciation and who are comfortable with higher risk can invest in equity funds, while those looking for steady returns can opt for debt funds. Liquidity and partial withdrawal: ULIPs offer a partial withdrawal option, allowing policyholders to withdraw a portion of their invested money as needed. This feature is beneficial for covering immediate expenses like education fees or emergencies. Generally, partial withdrawals do not incur charges.

ULIPs offer a partial withdrawal option, allowing policyholders to withdraw a portion of their invested money as needed. This feature is beneficial for covering immediate expenses like education fees or emergencies. Generally, partial withdrawals do not incur charges. Goal-oriented planning: ULIPs are designed to assist in achieving specific financial goals, such as wealth creation, retirement planning, or funding education. By investing in ULIPs, individuals can work towards securing their long-term aspirations while knowing that their premiums contribute to these objectives.

ULIPs are designed to assist in achieving specific financial goals, such as wealth creation, retirement planning, or funding education. By investing in ULIPs, individuals can work towards securing their long-term aspirations while knowing that their premiums contribute to these objectives. Tax benefits: ULIPs come with tax advantages under the Income Tax Act of 1961, offering tax savings at various stages of the policy: Entry advantage: Premium payments are eligible for tax benefits under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act. Exclusive switching advantage: Switching between debt and equity funds within the ULIP is tax-free. Exit advantage: Maturity benefits are tax-free, subject to conditions outlined in Section 10(10D) of the Income Tax Act.

ULIPs come with tax advantages under the Income Tax Act of 1961, offering tax savings at various stages of the policy:
Ice Make Refrigeration Limited, a prominent manufacturer of more than 50 refrigeration equipment in India, said it registered strong financial results for the first quarter of FY 2024, ending on June 30, 2023.

In a strong display of growth for the Q1FY24, the Company posted a substantial 73.02% increase in consolidated net profit, reaching Rs 5.36 crore, compared to Rs 3.9 crore in the first quarter of the previous fiscal year.

The consolidated revenue witnessed a growth of 22.20%, soaring to Rs 79.31 crore from Rs 64.90 crore in the corresponding quarter of the last fiscal year.

Operating profits improved significantly as a result of cost control, better product mix and softening input prices. During the quarter the company recorded an EBITDA of Rs 8.34 crore up by 55.59%.

EBITDA margins also improved significantly to 10.52% in Q1FY24 as against 8.26% in the corresponding period last year.

The non-annualized earnings per share (EPS) stood at Rs 3.40, a significant rise from Rs 1.96 in the corresponding quarter of the last fiscal year.

Chandrakant Patel, the CMD of Ice Make Refrigeration Limited, shared his insights on the Company's success, "There are two key factors among others that are working in our favor. ICE Make has now been recognized as a well-established innovative brand with a growing market share, maintaining a remarkable Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of almost 50% in the last two years. Additionally, strong growth opportunities in India are fuelling the demand for our products."

Patel further emphasized, "Given the strong long-term growth opportunities, including increased attention on the manufacturing sector in India, the outlook for our business moving forward is promising. We currently boast a robust order book and leads totalling Rs 120 crore, positioning us to sustain an annual growth rate of 30% or higher."

The Company has recently achieved a significant milestone by securing its largest work order to date. The West Bengal Livestock Development Corporation Limited (WBLDCL), a government-owned entity dedicated to the development and promotion of livestock in West Bengal, has awarded Ice Make Refrigeration Limited a contract worth INR 65.48 Crore.

With a strong foothold as one of India's top RefrigerationSolution Provider and Machinery Manufacturers, this substantial work order marks a significant stride forward for ICE Make as an established brand. The Company's diverse product portfolio and business verticals continue to capture market share, complemented by the successful commissioning of our new manufacturing facility 'ICEBEST' in West Bengal. This state-of-the-art facility not only augments production capacity but also provides a substantial cost advantage in the market.

Patel concluded by highlighting the Company's comprehensive presence in all refrigeration segments, including Cold Room Storage, Ammonia Refrigeration, Industrial Refrigeration, Commercial Refrigeration, and Transport Refrigeration. He stated, "With a robust demand for innovative cooling and cold chain storage solutions, both in India and various overseas markets, Ice Make is strategically positioned to capitalize on these opportunities."
Mercedes-Benz GLC remains the automaker's best-selling SUV globally

Hyderabad: Mercedes-Benz has invested 12 million euros (Rs 100 plus crore) in to manufacture in India its best-selling five-seater SUV, the GLC.

Talking to reporters after the launch of the best-selling SUV, the most advanced GLC, here on Thursday, Mercedes-Benz India Managing Director and CEO Santosh Iyer said that there are 13,000 plus happy GLC customers in the country.

Across the globe, the model remains the most successful Mercedes-Benz SUV ever with 2.6 million units sold.

In H1 2023, six new Mercedes-Benz cars Iyer have been launched, Iyer said.

Women comprise 30 percent of Mercedes-Benz customers in Hyderabad, he said, adding that the city has the highest concentration of Mercedes-Benz luxury EV customers.

The automaker experienced 10 percent sales growth in H1 2023 in the city, and a 40 percent sales growth in TEV (top End Vehicle) in the same period.

Iyer said the company expects double-digit growth for this fiscal.

The all-new GLC comes with a powerful turbocharged four-cylinder engine with a second-generation integrated starter generator and 48-volt mild hybrid system, he said.

The luxury SUV comes with 2 power trains  GLC 300 4MATIC (petrol) and Diesel GLC 220d 4 MATIC (Diesel), he said.

The GLC 300 is priced at Rs 73.5 lakhs and the GLC 22od at Rs 74.5 lakhs (prices all-India ex-showroom).

The new GLC has garnered 1500 plus bookings across the country since the opening with 8 percent of the bookings from Hyderabad, he added.
Kolkata: Axis Bank on Thursday announced the launch of two lending products powered by the Public Tech Platform for Frictionless Credit (PTPFC), introduced by the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the RBI.

The RBI had earlier in the week announced the launch of the PTPFC, according to a media statement here.

Axis Bank will offer Kisan Credit Card (KCC) and unsecured MSME loans to small business customers, powered by the platform.

Both products will be offered in a completely digital manner and require no submission of documents by customers.

As a pilot, Kisan Credit Cards will be offered in Madhya Pradesh and will be available to customers for up to Rs. 1.6 lakh to start with.

MSME loans will be available across the country and will offer loans up to Rs 10 lakhs to customers.

As part of the pilot, Axis Bank will leverage the PTPFC for accessing data for customers in a fully consented and secure manner.

These include PAN validation, Aadhaar eKYC, Account Aggregator data, verification of land records and penny drop service to validate bank accounts.

Given that the data will come directly from authenticated sources, the bank expects to be able to offer faster and better credit services to customers.

Based on the learnings from this pilot, the Bank will expand the scale of existing products and launch new products on the platform in a calibrated manner.

The products will be available in both self-serve and assisted mode, to enable maximum reach and support to customers through the journey.

Commenting on the announcement, Axis Bank Deputy Managing Director Rajiv Anand said, This platform will bring immense efficiency in the lending process in terms of reduction of costs, quicker disbursement, and scalability.

Speaking on the launch, President & Head of Digital Banking and Transformation Sameer Shetty said, PTPFC will enable us to access a variety of data required for underwriting directly from authenticated sources in a fully customer consented and secure manner. This initiative by the RBI and RBIH will bring down costs of lending to the currently credit deprived segments while maintaining good credit quality.
Photo courtesy: wikipedia.org

Mumbai: Binny Bansal, who recently divested his remaining stake in the e-commerce giant Flipkart, is actively working on launching a new startup, Moneycontrol reported.

After earning approximately $1-$1.5 billion from his shareholding in Flipkart, Bansal is focusing on setting up a startup in the realm of cross-border e-commerce, said the report citing sources.

However, in contrast to his previous consumer-facing internet venture like Flipkart, this new startup aims to provide support in terms of design, product development, and human resources to both Indian and global e-commerce enterprises.

This endeavour comes shortly after Bansal exited Flipkart completely, a company he co-founded with Sachin Bansal in 2007 and later sold to Walmart in 2018 for an estimated $16 billion.

Bansal has also been an investor in various startups including Acko, Ather Energy, Curefoods, Cultfit, BrightChamps, Unacademy, and Yulu, among others. He has made investments in over 60 startups across diverse sectors, as indicated by Tracxn, a private market data provider.

Bansal is also involved with venture capital firms such as 021 Capital and Blume Ventures, and he supports these firms as a limited partner (LP).

His commitment to the startup ecosystem extends beyond just investments.

He co-founded xto10x along with Saikiran Krishnamurthy and Neeraj Aggarwal, former executives at EKart, Flipkarts supply-chain division.

The goal of xto10x is to mentor emerging startups and aid them in scaling their operations.

Binny Bansal operates his own VC firm called Three State Ventures, headquartered in Singapore, which focuses on investing in innovative companies.
Mumbai: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed a penalty of Rs 40 lakh on Axis Bank for its failure to inform the regulator about its acquisition of a stake in CSC e-Governance, media reports said.

The specific involved Axis Bank acquiring a 9.91 percent stake in CSC e-Governance, and this deal was finalized in November 2020, as confirmed by the

As per the regulatory requirements, Axis Bank was obligated to provide notification to the fair trade regulator regarding this transaction. However, it was found that Axis Bank did not meet this obligation, the order said.

"It is apparent that the acquisition of stake in CSC e-Governance by Axis Bank was neither solely as an investment nor can be considered to be in ordinary course of business.

"Therefore, the AxisCSC e-Governance acquisition is not eligible for the benefit of the Item 1 of Schedule I (combination regulation) and accordingly, it is immaterial whether the transaction led to acquisition of control or not," the regulator said.

In this context, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) determined that it was not necessary to assess whether the transaction resulted in the acquisition of control or not.

The CCI observed that Axis Bank did not comply with the regulations pertaining to the acquisition of CSC e-Governance.

The combination rules stipulate that for an acquirer to qualify for the benefits of these rules, certain conditions must be met.

These conditions include that the acquirer should not hold a position on the board of directors, should not have the right to nominate a director, and should not be involved in the management or affairs of the entity whose shares or voting rights are being acquired.

In the specific case of Axis Bank's acquisition of CSC e-Governance, it was noted that Axis Bank held a position on the board of directors of CSC e-Governance and also expressed the intention to secure representation on the company's board of directors and actively participate in its management and operations. Consequently, Axis Bank did not fulfill the conditions necessary to qualify for the benefits outlined in the combination rules.

As per the order issued on August 9, Axis Bank is obligated to pay the penalty amount within a period of 60 days from the date of the order.

Notably, CSC e-Governance Services India Ltd functions as a special-purpose entity established by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to supervise the implementation of the common services centre scheme.

Private lender Axis Bank informed, "The Competition Commission of India (CCI) vide its letter dated August 17, 2023, has imposed a penalty amounting to Rs 40 lakhs under Section 43A of Competition Act, 2002," the company said in a stock exchange filing on Friday.
Representational image of wildfire/courtesy: Unsplash

Okanagan (B.C.)/IBNS: Evacuation orders were reportedly issued after a wildfire jumped Lake Okanagan, sparking spot wildfires in Kelowna and forcing thousands of people to leave from their homes in British Columbia's Okanagan.

A state of emergency has been declared by Okanagan, which has a population of almost 150,000.

A local state of emergency was also declared Thursday night by the City of West Kelowna and the Westbank First Nation due to that same wildfire.

With more than 1,000 properties under evacuation orders, about 2,500 people have been impacted and officials estimate another 5,500 properties under alert.

Jason Brolund, chief of the West Kelowna fire department, was reported saying that the evacuation order area was likely to grow.

On Thursday, Brolund had warned that drought conditions could worsen the condition at a moment's notice. "It will take literally nothing to get a fire started," he said.

The province was experiencing the most critical portion of the wildfire season so far, with strong winds and lightning forecast for almost the entire area, officials have warned.

"We are expecting significant [wildfire] growth, and we are expecting our resources to be challenged from north to south of the province over the next 48 hours," Cliff Chapman, director of wildfire operations for the B.C. Wildfire Service was reported to say.

People had also been warned by Neal McLoughlin, a wildfire service forecaster, that people across the province, particularly in the southern and Interior regions, should be prepared to leave their homes.

As of Thursday afternoon, the most recorded land burned in the province's history amounts to more than 16,000 square kilometres of land burned in B.C.

B.C. had already received several dozen people on Thursday from N.W.T. Hospitals and care homes and is still struggling to help wildfire evacuees from the Northwest Territories, where Yellowknife is being evacuated.

(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)
Photo Courtesy: Supriyo Hazra/IBNS

Kolkata: US Consul General in Kolkata Melinda Pavek on Thursday said America has set a target to issue one million visas to Indian citizens in 2023.

Speaking at a session of the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce in the city, she said: "We set a goal to process at least a million visas in India in 2023 and we are on our way to do so."

She said at present more than 200,000 Indian students are studying in the USA.

She said the United States and India would continue to deepen bilateral cooperation and build economic relationships, including strong trade ties.

"India-US partnership has chartered a rising trajectory over the decades," Pavek said.

"In June President (Joe) Biden welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the USA. The two leaders affirmed a vision of India and the United States as among the closes partners in the world. A partnership of democracies looking into the 21st century with hope, ambition and confidence," she said.

Pavek said India and the USA are witnessing the results of the 'friendship' in every aspect of relationships.

"Our countries' defence industries are increasingly connected," she said.

"We have made substantial progress in building an advanced and comprehensive defence partnership in which militaries coordinate closely in all domains," she said.

She said the governments of India and the USA are resolved to strengthen maritime security cooperation.

"Through the launch of dialogues and new defence domains like space and Artificial Intelligence, we will look forward to enhancing capacity building, knowledge and expertise," she said.

"To accelerate defence-industrial cooperation, our leaders have agreed to adopt a roadmap which will provide policy direction to defence industries," she said.

She said India and the USA will work together to ensure prosperity for all.

"To set the stage for miracles for tomorrow, India and USA are engaging in critical and emerging technologies," the US official said.

Pavek said NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation are agreeing to develop a strategic framework for human-space-led cooperation by the end of the year.

"We will see NASA and ISRO astronauts and scientists working, exploring and training, side by side, deepening our understanding of space and the planet which we call home," she said.

She made the comment on a day when ISRO achieved a notable milestone in its Chandrayaan-3 mission by successfully detaching the spacecraft's propulsion module from the lander.

Speaking on cooperation in the telecommunication sector between the two nations, Pavek said: "Our leaders have envisioned an ambitious vision for 6G networks, including standards for operations, access to chipsets for system development and joint research and development projects."

"We are also creating secure and trusted telecommunication supply chains for telecom through two joint taskforces on advanced telecommunications," Pavek said.

She highlighted the various sectors in which India and the USA are planning to cooperate, including space and Artificial Intelligence.

"The strategic-trade dialogue is a crucial part of our technology vision, laying a future secure foundation for us to collaborate, innovate on space, semiconductors, artificial intelligence and more," she said.

Pavek said the US government is trying to reduce bureaucratic legislative and administrative hurdles in the upcoming months.

"We imagine a future in which India and USA's economic relationship becomes one of the most frictionless in the world," she said.

"We face the threat to human existence in the form of climate change. The impacts of it can already be felt globally and it can only get worst," she said.

"A clean environment and healthier planet will enable people to understand prosperity and peace," she said.

Pavek said the USA would aim to bring more American nationals to India to study and work in this country.

"We would love to bring more Americans to India to work and study and visit the country," she said.

(Reporting and Image by Supriyo Hazra)
Kolkata/UNI: West Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari on Friday alleged that he was suddenly attacked by a group of unknown assailants when he visited Jadavpur University on Thursday to attend an event organised by the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha.

Adhikari said, "Yesterday, I visited Jadavpur to attend an event organized by the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha. While exiting the venue, around 5:40 pm, I was suddenly attacked by a group of unknown assailants, who managed to breach security and were shouting slogans & brandishing black flags."

"I have lodged an FIR regarding this incident," he mentioned.

The unknown miscreants belonged to the Revolutionary Students Federation; an Ultra-Left frontal organisation of the banned Maoist outfit, he alleged.

"The attack appeared to be a response of the members of the said Organisation, who didn't like the fact that I minced no words in my speech and called out their hypocrisy," the BJP MLA from Nandigram stated.

These people are part of a group who have made Jadavpur University a den of anti national and anti social activities, he further alleged.

"They harbour anti-establishment and secessionist ideologies; who are always criticizing the Govt, but at the same time clinging on to the Institution, even after their formal association is over, to keep on enjoying the subsidised benefits meant for the students," he asserted.

The anti-crime wing of Kolkata Police arrested altogether nine accused present and former students in connection with the death of an eighteen-year-old newcomer, a student of Bengali (Honours), who allegedly fell fatally from the second floor in the hostel on August 9 night and succumbed on the following morning at a city hospital.

All have been sent to 12-day police custody by a local court on Wednesday.
Srinagar: Security forces arrested eight suspected militant associates of Lashkar-e-Taiba in Jammu and Kashmir border area of Uri in Baramulla district.

Senior Superintendent of Police Baramulla, Amod Nagpure said the accused from various areas of the district were involved in cross border smuggling of arms and ammunition at the behest of Pakistan based terror handlers and its further distribution to LeT terrorists for carrying out terror activities.

He said joint forces busted two modules of the group in Uri area in separate operations.

Giving details, police said on August 8, joint forces of Baramulla Police and Army's 16 SIKHLI during patrolling and area domination at Churunda Uri noticed one suspected person who was roaming in the area.

He tried to flee while noticing the patrolling party and was apprehended tactfully, police said.

During his personal search, two grenades were recovered from him and he was taken into custody. He was later identified as Showkat Ali Awan of Churunda Uri.

During further questioning he revealed the names of his accomplices Ahmad Din of Churunda Uri and Mohammad Sadeeq Khatana of Churunda who were questioned and upon their disclosure two grenades, a Chinese Pistol, a Pistol Magazine & four live rounds were recovered from them, police said.

In a separate operation, on August 11, joint forces of Baramulla Police & Army's 16 SIKHLI during naka checking at Powarian Thajal Uri signaled one vehicle Maruti Swift bearing number CHOID-9588 to stop, who was coming from Thajal to Uri.

The vehicle was stopped however the driver and other four persons boarding the vehicle insisted the naka party to allow them to proceed to the hospital due to certain medical emergencies upon which the naka party felt suspicious about them.

The Naka party immediately started search of the vehicle and during the search four hand grenades, 2 pistols, 2 pistol Magazines, 10 live rounds & cash 50K was recovered, police said.

Police said the car inmates were taken into custody immediately, who were later identified as Akhter Bhat of Tarzoo Sopore, Mohammad Aslam Khatana of Churunda Uri, Muneer Ahmad of Jabla Uri, Mudasir Yousuf Gokno of Krankshivan and Bilal Ahmad Dar of Hardushiva.

Police said cases under Indian Arms Act & UA (P) Act were registered in Police Station Uri and further investigation is underway.

(With UNI inputs)
Arvind Kejriwal speaking at Delhi Assembly/ courtesy: UNI

New Delhi/IBNS: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will fight next year's Lok Sabha polls on the plank of getting full statehood for Delhi, party supremo, and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Friday.

The party will fight the coming Lok Sabha election on the full statehood issue," Kejriwal said in the Delhi Assembly during a discussion on the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act, 2023.

Launching a scathing attack on the BJP, which spearheads the Centre's ruling dispensation over the new Act, Kejriwal alleged that the Centre took away the rights of Delhi people by enacting the law.

I assure the people of Delhi that I will get back your rights, we will not let the work of Delhi stop under any circumstances, he said.

Taking a dig at Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the Delhi CM said, I heard the whole speech of Amit Shah who spoke on GNCTD (Amendment) Bill for almost two hours, but he did not say anything about the benefit of the Bill for Delhiites.

The Centre initially brought an Ordinance and then passed the Bill in Parliament to control the officers' and bureaucrats' services and transfers in Delhi, which has now become the GNCTD Act after it was passed by both Houses.

The BJP-led government brought this Act with an intention to create obstacles in the development works of Delhi government, he alleged.

They brought the ordinance on services as the money power and threat of their agencies, Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had failed in Delhi, though they used these tactics to topple several state governments, Kejriwal said.

Within three months after the formation of our government in 2015, ACB and services were taken away by bringing a Bill. Their aim behind taking away the services was to stop the work of the Delhi government by threatening and twisting the neck of the officers, the CM said.

Attacking the previous Delhi governments, Kejriwal said, Delhi was earlier known for its scams like CWG and CNG, but now people talk about free electricity, better education, and development.

[With UNI inputs]
Image:  UNOCHA/Mahmoud Fadel-YPN

In briefings to the Security Council on Wednesday, two senior UN officials highlighted the need for progress towards peace in war-torn Yemen amid ongoing political, economic and humanitarian challenges.

UN Special Envoy Hans Grundberg provided an update on his mediation efforts, both in the country and abroad, while Edem Wosornu of the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, reported on access impediments and funding gaps affecting aid delivery to millions.

Yemen continues to face a protracted political, humanitarian and developmental crisis after more than eight years of fighting between pro-Government forces, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, and Houthi rebels.

An initial two-month truce signed in April 2022 expired that October after two extensions.

Translate willingness into action

Mr. Grundberg has continued engagements with the parties and with Saudi Arabia and Oman.

The sides continue to display general willingness to seek solutions, but this still needs to translate into concrete steps, in particular, a clear agreement on the way forward that includes restarting an inclusive Yemeni political process, he said.

He added that hostilities have not returned to pre-truce levels despite its expiration, and civilian casualties have significantly declined. However, sporadic fighting and exchanges of gunfire continue on some fronts, particularly in the governorates of Taiz, Marib, Dhale, Hodeida, Shabwa, and Saada.

Against this backdrop, there have been public threats to return to war. This rhetoric is not conducive to maintaining a fruitful mediation environment. he said, calling for restraint and dialogue.

Economic woes, power cuts

The envoy also addressed the dire economic situation in Yemen, where the warring parties continue to resort to antagonistic economic measures which are hurting civilians and fuelling mistrust.

He said the Yemeni Government is still being prevented from exporting petroleum products, its main revenue source, while trade remains curtailed due to restrictions, exorbitant fees and taxes.

Meanwhile, provision of basic services is deteriorating, with citizens facing electricity cuts lasting up to 18 hours in the summer heat. He welcomed a $1.2 billion Saudi pledge which will help to keep the power on and pay some public salaries.

Fertile grounds for violent extremism

Mr. Grundberg warned that political and economic instability are fertile grounds for violent extremist groups.

He expressed concern over reports of the recent increase in activities of violent extremists in Abyan and Shabwa governorates, saying this is yet another reminder of the consequences of the long-term absence of a political settlement to the conflict.

The UN envoy appealed for the continued unity and support of the Security Council and the international community for his mediation efforts.

The fragility of the situation and its impact on Yemeni women and men highlight the urgent need to reach a consensus on the way forward, he said.

My Office is working to convene the parties to address some of their immediate priorities to build confidence and move toward an inclusive and sustainable political settlement.

Aid access and funding

On the humanitarian front, both officials condemned the murder of World Food Programme (WFP) staff member Moayad Hameidi in Taiz governorate on 21 July.

This attack, and others like it, show just how real the threats to the safety and security of aid workers are - from violence to kidnapping, harassment, misinformation and disinformation, said Ms. Wosornu, OCHAs Director of Operations and Advocacy.

She added that access and funding are two of the most pressing issues facing humanitarians in Yemen, amid rising misinformation and disinformation. As a result, operations are becoming even more difficult and dangerous.

Aid workers continue to experience attempted interference in all stages of humanitarian activities, as well as extensive movement restrictionswhich particularly impact our women national staff and all those they serve, she said.

The UN and partners are aiming to reach more than 17 million people across Yemen this year. However, a $4.3 billion plan is only around 30 per cent funded, and she urged greater support from the international community.

Ms. Wosornu stressed that while a political resolution to the conflict is vital, it alone will not solve the humanitarian crisis.

Only when such progress is pursued together with improved economic conditions and the re-establishment of essential services will we see humanitarian needs begin to decrease, she said.
Photo Courtesy: UNI

Jerusalem/UNI: The Israeli Defense Ministry announced on Thursday that the United States has granted approval for the deal, which is valued at a record $3.5 billion, of Israel's Arrow 3 missile defense system to Germany.

"The US government has approved the historic procurement of the Arrow 3 defense system to Germany. [icons of the Israeli, US and German flags] The Israel Ministry of Defense, German Federal Ministry of Defense and IAI- Israel Aerospace Industries will sign the landmark $3.5 billion defense agreement, marking Israels largest ever defense deal," the ministry said on social media.

All the necessary details and approvals from the relevant ministries in both countries are expected to be finalized by the end of 2023, allowing the parties to sign the agreement by then, according to the statement.

Following the approval by the US government, senior officials from the Israeli and German defense minister will attend a ceremony to sign a letter of commitment that will mark the start of the agreement, the ministry said, adding that $600 million worth of commitments will facilitate the immediate start of the project.

In April, media reported that the defense ministries together with the IAI had begun talks on the procurement of the Arrow 3 systems. In February, Bloomberg reported, citing sources, that Berlin planned to spend about 17 billion euros ($18.5 billion) to strengthen the country's missile defense.

Apart from the Israeli system, Berlin was considering buying German-made IRIS-T and US-made Patriot systems as well.

The Arrow 3 missile defense system is designed to intercept ballistic missiles outside the Earth's atmosphere and play a central role in Israel's multi-layered missile defense system.

The Arrow 3 is designed and manufactured jointly with the US, so its sale to third countries requires Washington's approval.
A file photo of firefighters fighting to bring the flames under control. Photo Courtesy: Pixabay

At least nine people were killed and two others injured after a fire broke out early Friday at an inn in Liping County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, said the local emergency management authority.

The incident occurred at an inn with a brick-and-concrete structure at around 1:02 a.m. Friday in Zhaoxing Township, reports Xinhua news agency.

The fire was extinguished at around 1:35 a.m.

An investigation into the cause of the incident is currently underway.
Image: Unsplash

Washington: Leaders of the United States, South Korea and Japan, during their trilateral meeting in Camp David on Friday, will confirm their commitments to the security in the Taiwan Strait, a senior US administration official told reporters.

"There will be language in our joint statement which reaffirms and underscores our commitment to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait," the official said ahead of the summit.

He noted that the three sides pledged to establish a trilateral hotline to discuss possible crises in the time of uncertainty but declined to say if they would use this line to talk about a possible Chinese attack on Taiwan.

"The discussions that are undertaken between the three countries involve the security situations in the broader Indo-Pacific region," the official added.

The US-South Korea-Japan summit on Friday will be the first time the leaders of the three countries have met outside of a multilateral event. US President Joe Biden will host South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese leader Fumio Kishida at Camp David, the US presidential retreat located about 60 miles from Washington, D.C.

(With UNI inputs)
A Minority Rights March was organized by Pakistan Darawer Itehad on August 11 at Frere Hall, Karachi on the occasion of International Minority Day.

During the March, thousands of people from Hindu, Christian, Parsi and Muslim communities gathered.

The Chairman of Darawer Itehad, Shiva Kacchi demanded immediate notice from the government on the ongoing atrocities against the minorities communities through the following points:

Problem legislation should be done to solve the problem of abduction of minority girls and religious conversion.

Urgent restoration of Thar Express, removal of encroachment of temples, plots, cemeteries and religious places of minority communities.

Priya Kumari and all other hostages including children should be got released from the bandits.

Misuse of religious law should be stopped. Criminals should be punished by transparent investigation on religious matters and the innocent people imprisoned in jail should be freed.

There should be participation on the basis of equality in public and private institutions. Minority quota should be fully implemented.

Hateful and discriminatory behaviour should be stopped.

Bhagawad Geeta and Ramayana should be included in the educational curriculum.

There should be full freedom to worship and those who attack temples and churches should be severely punished. Full protection should be provided to temples and churches.
Who was the first ever Indian pilot?

Most people would say Mr. JRD Tata, but that answer is only partly right.

JRD Tata was the first civilian commercial pilot, not the first Indian to fly.

Who was it then?

If you Google it, depending on how you word your query, you will see various answers.

Some sites say Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata, some mention Shivkar Bapuji Talpade, and a few say Purushottam Meghji Kabali.

And all of them are wrong.

JRD got his licence, CPL no. 1, in February 1929, so we can assume his flying lessons began a few weeks before that. At best, we can say he first flew in 1928.

Now lets see if it was SB Talpade.

With full patriotic fervour, some claim that Talpade invented a flying machine based on Vedic scriptures, and flew a full 8 years before the Wright brothers.

I would be happy if someone could prove it, but the evidence is lacking. There is a movie made on him, but a movie can hardly be taken as evidence. Please see my post about the movie Bhuj - The Pride of India where they distorted history and sacrificed logic for commercial considerations.

As we learnt in school, any scientific experiment should be verifiable and repeatable.

Unfortunately, Talpades flight was neither recorded by the print media of the time, nor ever repeated, and there are doubts even about whether it was a manned flight or unmanned.

So that rules out SB Talpade, at least till we find more proof.

Purushottam Meghji Kabalis story asserts he is the first Indian pilotalthough he got his flying licence one year after JRDbecause JRD was a born-in-Paris Indian citizen with a French ancestry!

Would you agree with that logic?

In any case, there were other Indians in the air much earlier than both Kabali and JRD.

The first Indian pilot flew in 1916, when JRD was 12 years old.

And then he became a fighter pilot.

Since the First War of Independence in 1857, which they called the Sepoy Revolt, the British had been wary of Indian soldiers. The Great War forced them to recruit more and more Indians into the Army as soldiers, but not as officers.

Not heard of the Great War? You have, but by another name. After World War II began, the Great War (1914-1918) came to be known as World War I.

The Royal Air Force was in its infancy at the beginning of that war, and was called the Royal Flying Corps (RFC).

The average life expectancy of a fighter pilot on active duty in those days was barely 6 weeks, and they desperately needed pilots.

Yet the British denied the first Indians request to join, because they would have to grant him the rank of an officer, as all pilots then were, and still are, officers.

Eager to take part in the war, he joined the British Army, but on realising that he was already a trained pilot, they granted him a commission in the RFC in March 1917.

RAF Museum

In April 1918, he was posted to No. 23 Squadron, deployed at Bertangles, in France.

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On 27 June 1918, while he was attacking a German reconnaissance plane, a German fighter plane shot down his Sopwith Dolphin biplane, and he crashed at Peronne. Three days later, he died of his injuries.

RAF Museum

He was only 23.

He was born in Mumbai on 24 October 1894, and was studying history and law at the University of Cambridge in England.

Being an adventurer, while studying at Cambridge, he had also learned to fly, and had earned a certificate from the Royal Aero Club on 10 August 1916.

RAF Museum

Beyond any doubt, Lieutenant Shri Krishna Chanda Welinkar is the first Indian pilot.

And who were the other Indians flying at that time? Watch this space.

Map courtesy Google, and all photos thanks to RAF Museum.

The writer is a former fighter pilot of the IAF and is now a commercial airline pilot. He is the author of three novels and many blog posts, available at www.avinashchikte.com
Did you receive a text message on your smartphone yesterday at 1.35 pm IST stating there was an emergency? Turns out, that was the Indian government testing its emergency alert system.

The Department of Telecommunication began testing the feature yesterday and said that such tests would be carried out in different regions from time to time to see how effective it is in practice, NDTV reported.

Such emergency wireless alerts can help the authorities inform citizens during an emergency, including natural disasters. By sending out alerts in advance, many lives could be saved during an emergency.

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"This is a SAMPLE TESTING MESSAGE sent through Cell Broadcasting System by Department of Telecommunication, Government of India. Please ignore this message as no action is required from your end. This message has been sent to TEST Pan-India Emergency Alert System being implemented by National Disaster Management Authority. It aims to enhance public safety and provide timely alerts during emergencies," the test message yesterday read.

Also read: Eight Signs On Your Android Device That Point To A Malware Infection

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Usually, such emergency alerts are enabled by default. But in some cases, users might have to enable these alerts manually. Follow this guide to enable emergency alerts on your Android phone.

Turning on emergency alerts on Android

Under settings, scroll down and tap on the Safety and Emergency option. Here, tap on Wireless Emergency Alerts and make sure the alerts are turned on. There are numerous options under this that you can enable, including Extreme Threats, Severe Threats, and Test Alerts.

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That's all! Now, you will receive all emergency alerts on your Android smartphone in case of a disaster or calamity. Such alerts may also be used to share public information during a pandemic, like the one we recently recovered from.

What do you think about India's emergency system? Let us know in the comments below. For more in the world of technology and science, keep reading Indiatimes.com.
Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has issued a new advisory to employees regarding their office presence. He emphasized that employees failing to meet the forthcoming three-day-per-week mandate could face the risk of job termination.

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In an email sent by Lori Goler, who holds the position of "head of people" at Meta, employees were reminded that... "beginning September 5, people assigned to an office will need to spend at least three days per week in person to foster healthy relationships and strong collaboration," reported the New York Post.



As stated in the memorandum obtained by the Insider website, Ms. Goler mentioned that..."Managers will review badge and Status Tool information every month and follow up with those who didnt meet the requirement, subject to local law and works council requirements,"

"As with other company policies, repeated violations may result in disciplinary action, up to and including a Performance@ rating drop and, ultimately, termination if not addressed," the memo added.

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Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is currently undergoing a "year of efficiency" as per the directive of CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who aims to reduce costs and streamline the company's operations.



As part of these cost-cutting measures, approximately 21,000 employees, accounting for about a quarter of the total workforce at Facebook and Instagram, have been laid off.

A recent directive regarding office attendance pertains specifically to Meta employees assigned to physical office locations. Conversely, remote workers have been advised to limit their office visits to no more than four days every two months unless there is a compelling business reason.

inc/getty

A spokesperson for Meta emphasized the company's belief in the continued importance of distributed work, particularly as technology advances.



The company's current focus is on enhancing the in-person experience for those who work from the office while also making strategic investments in remote work.

Following a challenging 2022, Meta's stock has increased by over 120% since January due to improved financial results and investor optimism surrounding the company's cost-saving initiatives.

In June, Meta introduced a requirement for most employees to work from the office at least three days per week. Importantly, remote employees were confirmed to be exempt from this requirement.

Earlier in March, CEO Mark Zuckerberg encouraged employees to spend more time working on-site, citing performance data that suggested better outcomes for those who transitioned from in-person to remote work or remained in-person.

Meta is not the only major tech company implementing a return-to-office strategy. Amazon recently sparked controversy among its workforce by emailing employees that some were not meeting the expectation of working in an assigned office for a minimum of three days per week.

For more trending stories, follow us on Telegram.


The authorities are trying to use all the new evidence that comes to light , while also taking apart the mobile phones of the Croatian hooligans
Greek Foreign Ministry condemns the attacks  Attempting to create achievements within the dead zone is a flagrant violation of the status quo
Two young Muslims had made plans to massacre as many people as possible during an attack on the middle school in Bruck an der Mur where they both lived
Home Search ICH Question Everything! Click Here To Support Information Clearing House Zelensky holds court with Ukraines most notorious neo-Nazi By Alexander Rubinstein Tweet August 17/18, 2023 - Information Clearing House - " Grayzone " -- - Western media has dismissed evidence of neo-Nazi influence in Ukraine by citing President Zelenskys Jewish heritage. But new footage published by Zelensky shows the leader openly collaborating with a fascist ideologue who once pledged to lead the white races of the world in a final crusadeagainst Semite-led Untermenschen.



Ukrainian President Vlodymyr Zelensky has uploaded a video to his Telegram channel showing him holding court with one of the most notorious neo-Nazis in modern Ukrainian history: Azov Battalion founder Andriy Biletsky.



On August 14, just over an hour after Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced another $200 million in military aid to Kiev, Ukrainian President Vlodomyr Zelensky published the video depicting what he called an open conversation with Ukraines 3rd Separate Assault Brigade.



I am grateful to everyone who defends our country and people, who brings our victory closer, Zelensky wrote, following his encounter with the unit on the outskirts of Bakhmut.



While casual Western observers might not have realized it, the brigade Zelensky was addressing is actually the newest iteration of Ukraines neo-Nazi Azov Battalion.



The 3rd separate assault brigade, excellent fighters, Zelensky wrote days after the consultation, in a Twitter post which also alluded to a separate meeting with the Aidar Battalion, another neo-fascist outfit that has been accused of war crimes by Amnesty International. They have stopped the enemy from advancing towards Kostiantynivka and pushed the occupiers back up to 8 kilometers.



But the groups origins are no secret. Describing their most recent rebrand in a YouTube video released in January, the unit explained: Today we officially announce that the SSO AZOV is expanding to a brigade. From now on, we are the 3rd separate assault brigade of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Like its predecessor, the unit is led by Andriy Biletsky, who founded the Azov Battalion and has long served as a figurehead for the closely-aligned National Corps political movement. But in spite of Biletskys rich Nazi pedigree, the video Zelensky published shows him sharing a moment of bonhomie with a white nationalist militant who has described Jews as our enemy, or as the real masters of the oligarchs and craven politicians that have corrupted Ukraine. How could I be a Nazi? Zelensky asked on the eve of Russias invasion, pointing to his Jewish heritage. How could a people who lost eight million lives fighting Nazis support Nazism? Perhaps the question needs to be asked again of the Ukrainian president following the tribute he paid to his countrys top neo-Nazi ideologue. Ukraines Jewish leader meets The White Leader Since Russias military operations in Ukraine kicked off in 2022, Biletsky had taken pains to distance himself from his fascist past. He now claims that an infamous promise he made to rid the world of Semite-led untermenschen was actually fabricated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. But Biletskys most notorious screed against Jews was not an isolated outburst. Indeed, his record of Nazi-inspired tirades is extensive, and has been a matter of public record for decades. Biletskys college thesis was a defense of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, a group of paramilitary Nazi collaborators founded by Stepan Banderas Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists that carried out ethnic cleansings of more than 100,000 Jews and Poles. After leaving university, Biletsky quickly embedded with multiple fascist outfits, including the Stepan Bandera All-Ukrainian Organization Tryzub and the Social-National Party  not to be confused with the National Socialist Party of 1940s Germany. Biletsky left the Social-National Party in protest in 2004 as the group began to rebrand and move away from overt neo-Nazi symbolism. Two years later, he led an organization called Patriots of Ukraine, which has been linked to numerous mob assaults. One Patriot of Ukraine member has claimed the group was behind the seizure and torching of the headquarters of a political party during the US-backed Maidan coup in 2014. According to Ukraines Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, Patriots of Ukraine espoused xenophobic and neo-Nazi ideas, and was engaged in violent attacks against migrants, foreign students in Kharkiv and those opposing its views. Whats more, Biletsky and some other members were suspected of violent seizures of newspaper kiosks and similar criminal activities. For three years running, the organization has gained notoriety for its torch processions around student campuses in Kharkiv, Kyiv and Chernivtsi which fill foreign students studying in Ukraine with terror, the human rights group noted in 2008. During a Patriots of Ukraine general meeting in 2009, Biletsky raved: How can we describe our enemy? The authorities and the oligarchs. Do they have anything in common? Yes, they have one thing in common: they are Jews, or behind them are their real masters  Jews. In 2011, Biletsky was arrested for allegedly ordering Patriot of Ukraine members to kill a fellow ultranationalist inside the groups office following a dispute, and spent the following years in pre-trial detention. Thanks to a resolution passed by the Ukrainian parliament after the Western-backed overthrow of President Viktor Yanukovych, he would ultimately be released in 2014. But during his three years in custody, Biletsky managed to have a number of his fascist screeds published in a collection titled The Word of the White Leader. One essay in the collection, dated to 2007, rails against Jews and Black migrants, casually dropping the n- word in the process. Ukraine is the light of Europe! Our Nation still has enough strength to withstand this influx of foreigners, to cleanse our land and light the fire of purification throughout Europe! the essay concludes. In another essay outlining the ideology of Social-Nationalism, Biletsky praised National Socialism as a great idea, but criticized the Nazis as having been insufficiently eugenicist in their family welfare programs. He complained they supported parents with multiple children without considering the biological quality of each individual family. The result, he continued, was a significant increase in the birth rate, [but] a significant decrease in the percentage of the Nordic type in the population. Because these social benefits are aimed at the masses, they encouraged the worst human material to give birth to a child in the first place, the self-proclaimed White Leader lamented. A subsequent Biletsky manifesto entitled Language and Race  Primary Issues expanded on the social-nationalist concept: Ukrainian social-nationalism considers the Ukrainian Nation to be a blood-racial community Race is everything for nation-building  Race is the basis on which the superstructure grows in the form of national culture, which again comes from the racial nature of the people, and not from language, religion, economy, etc. As for the Russian-speaking population of Eastern Ukraine, Biletsky wrote, The issue of total Ukrainization in the future social nationalist state will be resolved within 3-6 months with the help of a tough and balanced state policy. Following his release from prison, Biletsky got his chance to carry out a campaign of violence against the ethnic Russians of eastern Ukraine. As war broke out in the country, with the Russian majority of the east seeking self-determination in the face of a nationalist post-coup government viewed as Western puppets, Biletsky dissolved the Patriot of Ukraine and formed the Azov Battalion to wage a war against the separatists. Around this time, he was also elected to the Ukrainian parliament, remaining in office until 2019. The new paramilitary outfit set up shop in Mariupol, using the port city as a staging ground for attacks on the Donbas, and violently crushing forms of feminist and liberal political expression on the citys streets. Meanwhile, the National Corps, a political party founded by Biletsky in 2016, has been described as a nationalist hate group even by the US State Department. The party has repeatedly incited violence against the Kiev Pride march, in 2018 calling on all concerned citizens of Ukraine to prevent the march from being held. In 2019, one National Corps leader had a more direct message: Stay home, and dont show up in public. Ever. That will make our life easier and keep you safe ;). In 2019, it seemed almost as though Biletskys influence was waning. An electoral coalition he formed with several other prominent neo-Nazis in Ukraine failed to gain enough votes to pass the threshold to gain any seats in parliament. Meanwhile, Vlodomyr Zelensky won the presidential election on a platform of making peace with Russia. But Biletsky still held on to a trump card as a nationally-recognized strongman. When a Ukrainian news channel announced a two-hour live studio TV bridge between Ukrainian and Russian civilians aimed at fostering a stronger mutual understanding, Biletsky seized the moment to issue a thinly-veiled threat against Zelensky if he did not have the event canceled in a days time. If Zelensky did not intervene, the answer to the Kremlins little green men will begin to be given by little black men, Biletsky said, referring to the black garb of fascist elements like Azov. Biletsky called on Zelensky to be The leader of a state at war, and, Not a clown, not an artist from oligarchic corporations, but the President. Zelensky responded within the timeframe of the ultimatum by denouncing the dialogue and seemingly offering a jab back at Biletsky, arguing that Ukrainians were being manipulated by politicians who really want to get into parliament. A few months later, the pair butted heads again after Zelensky ordered Ukrainian troops, including Azov fighters, to withdraw from a frontline town in the Donbas in an apparent effort to honor the terms of the Minsk Accords. Biletsky fired back with threats to dispatch thousands more troops in open defiance of the presidents orders. Zelenskys showdown with fighters refusing his orders culminated with the head of state nearly breaking down on camera and pleading to the militants: Im the president of this country. Im 41 years old. Im not a loser. I came to you and told you: remove the weapons. Just a few short years later, in the midst of a hot war with Russia, Ukraines Jewish president and Ukraines most famous living antisemite seem to have put aside their differences. As Shakespeare put it, misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows. 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 For more on this topic Search Information Clearing House The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House. Click Here To Support Information Clearing House Your support has kept ICH free on the Web since 2002. Click for Spanish , German , Dutch , Danish , French , translation- Note- Translation may take a moment to load.
By Daniel Davis

August 17/18, 2023 - Information Clearing House - " 1945 " -- As Part 1 of this series examining the past performance and current capacity of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) detailed, Kyivs troops in 2022 achieved some exceptional and major battlefield successes. Hope was high heading into 2023 that these wins would pave the way to ultimate victory in the war. Unfortunately, the Ukrainian senior leadership suffered from a combination of bad decisions, an overestimation of their own capacity, and  sadly  an overestimation of the efficacy of Western military gear.

As early as January 2023, Western media sources began talking about a Ukrainian spring offensive. At that time, the Russians had been badly mauled during battles over Ukraines Kharkiv and Kherson. Moscow was four months into its partial mobilization of 300,000 troops  but had stumbled badly at the outset in processing the new conscripts  and unconfirmed reports claimed that up to 700,000 young Russian men fled the country to avoid having to fight. Ukrainian morale was sky-high and Russian motivation was in the toilet.

While the quality of the early Russian conscripts was clearly lacking, as early as November the Kremlin plugged more than tens of thousands of them into the gaping holes created by Ukraines autumn offensive, which helped stem the tide. By January Putin increased the offensive operations throughout the 1,000km front line to keep pressure on the UAF, with an emphasis on the twin cities of Soledar and Bakhmut. As opposed to the Russian army generally, Putin chose to give that fight to the PMC Wagner Group  and it was here that Ukraine made its first major mistake of 2023.

Double Disaster at Bakhmut for Ukraine and Russia

Bakhmut was a medium-sized town of about 70,000. It had some tactical significance for whoever possessed it, but by itself cannot be considered critical at even an operational level. Ukraine had held the town, but by early March, Wagner reached the eastern outskirts of the city. The military necessity for Ukraine at that time was to withdraw from Bakhmut to the next defended line to the west.

From this new position, Ukraines ability to defend would have been stronger and Russias task to attack the new Ukrainian lines more difficult because the Ukraine side would have had the high ground and open fields of fire through which Russia would have to advance, making any assault extremely difficult and costly in terms of men and equipment. But by staying in Bakhmut, the task for the Russians was much easier. Now, Russia could move to within literal meters of the Ukrainian positions within Bakhmut without being seen. The Bakhmut defenders were at a disadvantage from that point forward.

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However, Zelensky chose to press the fight anyway. For months, senior U.S. leaders warned the Ukrainian president the battle was unwinnable and to move to other defensive positions. Not only did he refuse to withdraw to a superior fighting position, he ordered his men not to give up so much as a single building, forcing them to fight to the death. Month after month, Zelensky sent brigade after brigade to reinforce Bakhmut in an effort to reverse the tide.

Not only was it painfully obvious that military fundamentals made clear there was little rational hope of stopping Wagners drive to capture Bakhmut, but many of those brigades Zelensky sent in futile aid to help Bakhmut were also urgently needed in the upcoming spring and summer offensive. Two days after Bakhmuts fall, Zelensky was still defiant, claiming the city had not fallen. In 2022, Zelenskys tenacity and unwillingness to compromise resulted in blunting Russias invasion and then inflicting two major operational defeats.

But those successes bred hubris that in May 2023 led him to make very costly mistakes with strategic implications: not only did Ukraine spend irreplaceable resources on defending a strategically inconsequential city, but they also lost critically important brigades for their long-shot offensive that was to come. Unfortunately, once the offensive was launched in June, the mistakes continued.

Inadequate and Improper Training Paved the Way to Failure

Over many months prior to the offensive, many Western publications hailed the advanced training the Ukrainian Armed Forces were getting from a number of NATO countries. Concurrently, a number of Ukrainian brigades were also outfitted with modern NATO combat vehicles such as the Challenger and Leopard tanks, U.S. artillery systems, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, and Strykers. The combination of NATO technology with NATO training was expected to produce a quality offensive capacity that would penetrate Russian defenses and drive a wedge to the Azov coast, splitting the occupying forces in half.

Foreign Affairs, on the day the offensive started, published an analysis titled Ukraines Hidden Advantage: How European Trainers Have Transformed Kyivs Army and Changed the War. And yet as has been painfully observed now after almost three months of the operation, European and NATO training did not transform the UAF. As I argued months before the offensive began, it was nearly impossible for Ukraine to transform itself in a matter of weeks or a few months of training and a hodge-podge of NATO gear. The reasons are fundamental  and are no reflection on the Ukrainian troops, as American soldiers are equally constrained by these fundamentals.

In order to produce an effective field force capable of employing combined arms operations to defeat a major power that has prepared a multi-belt defensive system, you must first have a sizable number of fully manned combat brigades. The battalions and companies of each brigade must be staffed with platoon leaders and sergeants, company commanders, First Sergeants, Sergeants Major, and battalion commanders and operations officers with experience in conducting such operations. These leaders need experience of two to five years at the platoon level, 5 to 7 years at the company, and 15-20 years at the battalion and brigade levels.

Once the units are properly filled with educated and trained leaders, the next requirement is to develop proficiency in the individual soldier to do his skill (tank driver, Bradley gunner, infantry squad member, etc), then train crews to operate armored fighting platforms, then platoons to fight together, then the companies fight together, then battalions together at the brigade, and finally brigades and divisions in the theater army. All of this individual and collective training has to be done to produce a successful, coordinated combined arms operation. Ukraine had none of those prerequisites. It should have been no surprise, therefore, that the much-anticipated offensive ran into a brick wall from the outset.

Tactical Performance in the 2023 Ukraine Summer Offensive

I have previously covered in depth the detailed performance of the Ukrainian army in its offensive but will discuss here the key mistakes that were responsible for their lack of success. The first problem was the Ukrainian military and political leadership ordering the offensive to begin at all. Nearly a month after the start of the operation, Ukrainian commanding general Valery Zaluzhny argued in a Washington Post interview that it ****** me off when he hears complaints about the lack of progress.

Yet in the same interview acknowledge that without being fully supplied (for the offensive), these plans are not feasible at all. Key among his complaints was the absence of air superiority. NATO, he said, would never launch an offensive operation without air superiority. And he is right. But Zaluzhny had even more fundamentals against him.

Ukraine also suffers from a chronic lack of air defense capacity, inadequate numbers of howitzers and artillery shells, insufficient electronic warfare systems, a dearth of missiles, and perhaps most crucial of all, barely 25 percent of the de-mining capacity needed. Thus, when Ukraine launched its offensive across a broad front on June 5th, it should have surprised no one in Kyiv, Washington, or Brussels that they ran into a Russian buzzsaw.

Russias multi-belt defensive system relies heavily on mines to slow or channel Ukrainian troops into kill zones where Russian direct fire and artillery systems have pre-sited guns waiting. The first two weeks saw virtually every armored assault fail, gaining minuscule territory and none of operations value. The New York Times and other outlets claimed the UAF lost a staggering fifth of its entire offensive fleet in the first two weeks. It couldnt have been any other way.

If Russia has air superiority, strong air defense, an advantage in artillery shells, robust electronic warfare systems  to degrade Ukrainian communications and disable large numbers of UAF drones and missiles  and had six to nine months to prepare elaborate defensive works, it should have been clear beyond question that to send a partially armored force, partially trained, with limited experience conducting large-scale offensive operations, was to send large numbers of their men to certain death.

Since the first few bloody weeks, the Ukrainian side changed tactics to minimize armored vehicles and use of more infantry-centric actions. The UAF have, now in the third month, made halting progress in the Zaporezhia front  taking Staromaiorske, most of Urozhaine, and most of Robotyna  but have lost some ground in the north in the Kupyansk area. But they have lost tens of thousands of men to scratch out those few kilometers. The UAF doesnt have enough troops or equipment to continue this creeping pace. They will likely run out of men long before they reach even their intermediate objectives.

Ramifications

The cold, hard truth in the war between Russia and Ukraine today is that Ukraines last-gasp offensive has failed, and no amount of spin will change the outcome. The UAF failed for entirely predictable reasons, based on enduring combat fundamentals that are not subject to optimism, wishful thinking, or spin. The question, however, is what should the United States do now.

The policy employed by Washington from the beginning of the war has been supporting Ukraine for as long as it takes. Whether that was ever a good idea or bad, Ill leave to debate another time. What is important here is that the policy did not produce an outcome beneficial to either Kyiv or Washington and now must evolve to acknowledge new realities.

No one can claim the United States didnt give Ukraine every chance to find out if it could succeed on the battlefield, as we provided literally thousands of armored vehicles, millions of shells, missiles, and bombs, and training and intelligence support  along with scores of billions in other aid. But that help did not produce a Ukrainian victory and it is now time to set new policies in light of current realities. The last part of this series will explore what Washington can do now that can mitigate the failures and produce the best outcome possible for the United States and Ukraine.

Daniel L. Davis is a Senior Fellow for Defense Priorities and a former Lt. Col. in the U.S. Army who deployed into combat zones four times. He is the author of The Eleventh Hour in 2020 America. Davis is also a 19FortyFive Contributing Editor.
By Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies

August 17/18, 2023 - Information Clearing House - " Code Pink " -- President Biden wrote in the New York Times in June 2022 that the United States was arming Ukraine to fight on the battlefield and be in the strongest possible position at the negotiating table.

Ukraines fall 2022 counteroffensive left it in a stronger position, yet Biden and his NATO allies still chose the battlefield over the negotiating table. Now the failure of Ukraines long-delayed Spring Counteroffensive has left Ukraine in a weaker position, both on the battlefield and at the still empty negotiating table.

So, based on Bidens own definition of U.S. war aims, his policy is failing, and it is hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers, not Americans, who are paying the price, with their limbs and their lives.

But this result was not unexpected. It was predicted in leaked Pentagon documents that were widely published in April, and in President Zelenskyys postponement of the offensive in May to avoid what he called unacceptable losses.

The delay allowed more Ukrainian troops to complete NATO training on Western tanks and armored vehicles, but it also gave Russia more time to reinforce its anti-tank defenses and prepare lethal kill-zones along the 700-mile front line.

Now, after two months, Ukraines new armored divisions have advanced only 12 miles or less in two small areas, at the cost of tens of thousands of casualties. Twenty percent of newly deployed Western armored vehicles and equipment were reportedly destroyed in the first few weeks of the new offensive, as British-trained armored divisions tried to advance through Russian minefields and kill-zones without demining operations or air cover.

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Meanwhile, Russia has made similar small advances toward Kupyansk in eastern Kharkiv province, where land around the town of Dvorichna has changed hands for the third time since the invasion. These tit-for-tat exchanges of small pieces of territory, with massive use of heavy artillery and appalling losses, typify a brutal war of attrition not unlike the First World War.

Ukraines more successful counteroffensives last fall provoked serious debate within NATO over whether that was the moment for Ukraine to return to the negotiating table it had abandoned at British and U.S. urging in April 2022. As Ukrainian forces advanced on Kherson in early November, La Republicca in Italy reported that NATO leaders had agreed that the fall of Kherson would put Ukraine in the position of strength they had been waiting for to relaunch peace talks.

On November 9, 2022, the very day that Russia ordered its withdrawal from Kherson, General Mark Milley, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke at the Economic Club of New York, where the interviewer asked him whether the time was now ripe for negotiations.

General Milley compared the situation to the First World War, explaining that leaders on all sides understood by Christmas 1914 that that war was not winnable, yet they fought on for another four years, multiplying the million lives lost in 1914 into 20 million by 1918, destroying five empires and setting the stage for the rise of fascism and the Second World War.

Milley concluded his cautionary tale by noting that, as in 1914,  there has to be a mutual recognition that military victory is probably in the true sense of the word, is maybe not achievable through military means. And therefore, you need to turn to other means So things can get worse. So when theres an opportunity to negotiate, when peace can be achieved, seize it, seize the moment.

But Milley and other voices of experience were ignored. At Bidens February State of the Union speech in Congress, General Milleys face was a study in gravity, a rock in a sea of misplaced self-congratulation and ignorance of the real world beyond the circus tent, where the Wests incoherent war strategy was not only sacrificing Ukrainian lives every day but flirting with nuclear war. Milley didnt crack a smile all night, even when Biden came over to glad-hand after his speech.

No U.S., NATO or Ukrainian leaders have been held accountable for failing to seize that moment last winter, nor the previous missed chance for peace in April 2022, when the U.S. and UK blocked theTurkish and Israeli mediation that came so close to bringing peace, based on the simple principle of a Russian withdrawal in exchange for Ukrainian neutrality. Nobody has demanded a serious account of why Western leaders let these chances for peace slip through their fingers.

Whatever their reasoning, the result is that Ukraine is caught in a war with no exit. When Ukraine seemed to have the upper hand in the war, NATO leaders were determined to press their advantage and launch another offensive, regardless of the shocking human cost. But now that the new offensive and weapons shipments have only succeeded in laying bare the weakness of Western strategy and returning the initiative to Russia, the architects of failure reject negotiating from a position of weakness.

So the conflict has fallen into an intractable pattern common to many wars, in which all parties to the fightingRussia, Ukraine and the leading members of the NATO military alliancehave been encouraged, or we might say deluded, by limited successes at different times, into prolonging the war and rejecting diplomacy, despite appalling human costs, the rising danger of a wider war and the existential danger of a nuclear confrontation.

But the reality of war is laying bare the contradictions of Western policy. If Ukraine is not allowed to negotiate with Russia from a position of strength, nor from a position of weakness, what stands in the way of its total destruction?

And how can Ukraine and its allies defeat Russia, a country whose nuclear weapons policy explicitly states that it will use nuclear weapons before it will accept an existential defeat?

If, as Biden has warned, any war between the United States and Russia, or any use of tactical nuclear weapons, would most likely escalate into full-scale nuclear war, where else is the current policy of incremental escalation and ever-increasing U.S. and NATO involvement intended to lead?

Are they simply praying that Russia will implode, or give up? Or are they determined to call Russias bluff and push it into an inescapable choice between total defeat and nuclear war? Hoping, or pretending, that Ukraine and its allies can defeat Russia without triggering a nuclear war is not a strategy.

In place of a strategy to resolve the conflict, the United States and its allies harnessed the natural impulse to resist Russian aggression onto a U.S. and British plan to prolong the war indefinitely. The results of that decision are hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian casualties and the gradual destruction of Ukraine by millions of artillery shells fired by both sides.

Since the end of the First Cold War, successive U.S. governments, Democratic and Republican, have made catastrophic miscalculations regarding the United States ability to impose its will on other countries and peoples. Their wrong assumptions about American power and military superiority have led us to this fateful, historic crisis in U.S. foreign policy.

Now Congress is being asked for another $24 billion to keep fueling this war. They should instead listen to the majority of Americans, who, according to the latest CNN poll, oppose more funding for an unwinnable war. They should heed the words of the declaration by civil society groups in 32 countries calling for an immediate ceasefire and peace negotiations to end the war before it destroys Ukraine and endangers all of humanity.

Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies are the authors of War in Ukraine: Making Sense of a Senseless Conflict, published by OR Books in November 2022.

Nicolas J. S. Davies is an independent journalist, a researcher for CODEPINK and the author of Blood on Our Hands: The American Invasion and Destruction of Iraq.
The yellowed eyes of Phal Pen stared, unseeing, as he lay on his hospital bed, waiting for another scan at the Khmer-Russian Friendship hospital in Phnom Penh.

Since doctors diagnosed him at the end of 2022 with bile-duct cancer, Pen has been struck low by a constant pain in his abdomen. He could barely eat, let alone move.

His bed was one of several lining the hospitals open-air hallway, where weary patients waited, sweating it out in the humid Cambodian heat. Families surrounded him, women rubbing damp cloths over their loved ones foreheads and fussing over every pained expression. Bored children napped on the ground in quieter corridors while others entertained themselves by roughhousing one another.

In Cambodia, you need your family with you if youre hospitalized. You need somebody with the wherewithal to advocate for your care in a system where money talks, and where those who cannot afford to pay are overlooked. You need somebody for the most basic tasks: pushing your bed to the exam room, or walking you to the restroom. You need someone to bring you meals and small comforts like blankets and pillows  none of which the hospital provides.

But Pen, 48, is alone. Hes been alone since he was forcibly sent back in 2018 to Cambodia, a country he left when he was just six years old.

Pen and his family were among the more than 195,000 Cambodian refugees who resettled in the US between 1975 and 1999. Escaping the unrest left behind by the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime, these refugees were granted green card status as permanent residents, free from the harrowing violence that tore through the country of their ancestors.

Pen spent almost four decades in Modesto, California, where he grew into adulthood, raised four children as a single father, and opened an auto repair shop. He knew no other home than the one he and his family built from nothing in the US.

He was ripped from that home five years ago when he was deported to Cambodia, one of hundreds of wartime refugees the US has cast out over the past 21 years.

I was sent to Cambodia and abandoned, Pen whispered from his hospital bed. I have no family bloodline here. If I pass away, who is going to be at my funeral?

Since Cambodia and the US signed a repatriation agreement in 2002, opening a gateway for deportations, 1,033 individuals have been forced to leave their homes and completely rebuild their lives in a country foreign to them.

More than 76% of Cambodian deportations since 2002 were based on criminal convictions. As of March, there were 1,801 Cambodians with final orders of removal on the national docket for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice)  1,342 for past crimes.

The deportees had already repaid their full debt to society when they were sent back. Many had entered the prison system while still in their youth, leaving in their middle age.

While the crimes that led to these deportations vary  from drug possession to check fraud to murder  many of the former prisoners have gone through counseling, attended classes and participated in restorative justice programs. They either fulfilled their sentences or underwent the taxing process of getting approved for parole. But as theyre finally released  to reunite with their families and to rebuild the communities they played a part in shattering  the US is punishing them once more by exiling them from their home and loved ones.

They are, for all intents and purposes, handed a second sentence  this time for life.

Its made me feel like a lost cause, said Chamroeun Mich, who was deported in 2022. It was a strenuous process to get parole. It took years and years of discipline, of educating myself, of changing the way I thought, and then I had to go in front of a board of six to seven members who scrutinized everything that I did during my incarceration and my life prior to that. But even though I made it out of that strenuous process, the federal government decided, you know what, hes not rehabilitated. He cant be rehabilitated. Send him away. We dont want him.

Many were deported back to Cambodia with little to no memory of their homeland. They were just children when they arrived in the US as part of the wave of refugees that began in the late 1970s, when hundreds of thousands of Cambodians fled the region after surviving years of civil war, genocide and US-led bombings that decimated nearly a quarter of the countrys population. Others hadnt ever set foot in the country, having been born in refugee camps across the border in Thailand.

To be sent to a place that is so unfamiliar, without a support system, leads some to desperation. Drug and alcohol abuse is not uncommon within the returnee community; its a way to numb the crushing loneliness. The Khmer Vulnerability Aid Organisation (KVAO), a non-profit that helps returnees acclimate to their new lives, has found that about 8% of the 772 returnees in its program have died since 2002. In comparison, just 2% of parolees released from prison in California during that same time period have died. The causes of death among deportees range from traffic accidents to drug overdoses, according to the organization. Some were also suicides.

In November, the former prime minister of Cambodia, Hun Sen  a former Khmer Rouge soldier who had held his position of power for 38 years until this month  beseeched the US to reconsider its 2002 repatriation agreement with the country, in light of the humanitarian aspects of the issue.

Some of the deportees committed suicide and some have died of other causes, Sen said. Their families  parents, spouses and children  are all in the US.

Some returnees have made the best out of their new lives. Theyve launched non-profits, landed teaching jobs, opened new businesses and started families. But even the ones who have done well for themselves told the Guardian about an ache that persists. Knowing they can never return home to their family feels like a part of their soul has been torn from their bodies. They feel forever incomplete, forced to live a half-life with the missing piece of themselves firmly rooted thousands of miles away.

You see everyone else here with their families, and theyre so happy, said Phal Pen. For us deportees, we never get to have that again. We push day by day to put a smile on our face, but after that, you just start thinking: is this all its going to be?

Before ending up alone in a hospital in Phnom Penh, Pen followed a path in the US thats all too familiar among Cambodian Americans of his generation.

Pens parents had survived the terror of the work camps, losing three children to starvation before they were able to secure a way out for them and their two remaining sons in 1981  first to Chicago, then to Modesto, California.

As new immigrants with little money, Pen and his family had no choice but to move into a lower-income neighborhood. There, they found other displaced Cambodian refugees just like them  a community. But they also found themselves fighting for the same scarce resources alongside the Black and Latino populations that had occupied that space before them.

Pen and the other neighborhood Cambodian youth he grew up with were bullied by rival gang members, who were known to jump or beat up any Asian kid seen walking alone. Pen was 13 the first time he got jumped. It would not be the last time. In response, Pen joined a street gang made up of his childhood friends when he was 15. You had to protect yourself, Pen said. You had to have friends around you, to have your back.

Dispersed throughout lower-income neighborhoods in California, the east coast and Minnesota, much of Pens generation found themselves in similar situations: targeted by the other youth gangs and forced to form their own for protection. They were resettling in neighborhoods that had a long history of gangs already, said Kevin Lam, a Drake University urban and diversity education professor who studies Asian American youth violence. These were neighborhoods with a lot of folks who were struggling for a long time. You picked on the new kid in town.

Pens parents had broken up after having two more children, and he needed to find a way to help his single mother with the bills. As a poor kid growing up with other poor kids, he turned to a ready solution proffered to him by his gang: drugs. Pen began selling weed and crack cocaine, and started using the drugs he was selling.

Like the other Cambodian American gangs across the country at the time, Pens gang mirrored the aesthetic, violence and drug-dealing of the gangs that targeted him and his friends. They came together not just for protection, but for a sense of belonging they could not find elsewhere. Who else could comprehend the unspoken trauma of the killing fields and work camps, now made heavier by the new trauma of immigration, poverty and gang violence? It was a means for survival as well as a form of brotherhood, Lam said.

Lawmakers responded to the rise in gangs by enacting a number of laws that disproportionately punished youth of color, Lam said. States passed a form of three-strikes law in which individuals  juvenile offenders included  convicted of a third felony offense would receive an automatic lengthy prison sentence. The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 implemented mandatory minimum sentencing for drug offenses.

The result was that from 1977 to 1997, when the Asian population in the US tripled, arrests of Asian American and Pacific Islander youth increased by 726%.

Thats what they dont get, said Phoeun You, who was deported to Cambodia last year. The US came to my country, he said, referring to the US bombing of Cambodia to flush out communist forces  a military campaign that left the country in a chaos from which the Khmer Rouge rose to power. And because of that, I had to leave. Then they claimed to be our savior for bringing us to their country, but they dropped us off in the middle of the hood and forced us to fend for ourselves. And then theyre shocked when were not angels.

In 1996, amid Americas tough on crime era and push for tougher immigration policies, Bill Clinton signed into law the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act. The law expanded the criminal convictions for which legal permanent residents could be deported. Green card-holding refugees could now be sent back to a country many did not remember for crimes committed in their youth. We are still a nation of immigrants; we should be proud of it, Clinton said in his State of the Union address that year. But we are also a nation of laws.

Deportation would not have been possible had they become citizens, but as minors, they could only become citizens if their parents received citizenship  and many did not seek it, having had enough to grapple with trying to survive in a new country. For others, crimes committed in their youth meant they were barred from seeking citizenship.

Folks with old convictions, folks who had already paid their debt to society, who had already served their full sentence in jail and prison, were being targeted by immigration, said Elijah Chhum, the community engagement and advocacy director at the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants in Oakland, California. Even though they had businesses, families, homes, they were being targeted and ripped away from their children and wives and mothers and fathers.

The practice continues today. Phoeun You spent 26 years behind bars for killing a teenager at the age of 21 in a retaliatory drive-by shooting against a rival gang that had beaten up his nephew. He went straight from prison to immigration detention and on to an airplane in August 2022, escorted by three officers. He never got to see his family as a free man  he never got to tell his elderly parents goodbye.

Some of the earlier deportees were escorted on to the plane with nothing but the clothes on their back, while some spent years with the threat of deportation hanging over their heads. Others were fortunate enough to have had family track down relatives who could accept them, or had been able to raise enough funds for them to cushion their first arrival.

You ended up in transitional housing provided by KVAO. He got a room to himself, but the window had bars on it. It felt like I was back in jail, he said.

He could not get used to the heat at first. He woke up every two hours his first night, his back drenched in sweat. Then the depression hit like a punch to the gut. After a quarter of a century in prison, this foreign land where nothing was familiar felt overwhelming, overstimulating, too much all at once. He couldnt grasp the language fully, and nor could he read the signs written in Khmer script. He could not fathom how to even walk down the roads where motorbikes came from all directions, and tuk-tuks seemed to follow their own rules.

And no matter how hard they try to fit in, returnees stand out among the locals. The gloss of their time in the US never leaves them. The way you look, the way you dress, and then the smallest details, like your skins clear. Your teeth are a little bit whiter, You said.

That leaves many deportees feeling like outcasts in what is supposed to be their new home. But beyond feeling at odds with his surroundings, You has been plagued with a painful yearning ever since his arrival. Though his parents are still alive, they are 90 and 81 and cannot make the long journey to visit him. They will never get to truly experience the man hes worked so hard to become today. He will never have the chance to take care of them in their old age the way he knows a son should.

A few weeks after he landed in Phnom Penh, You connected with some family in the countryside, where he finally found a semblance of peace amid the turmoil roiling inside him. He was drawn to watching the fishermen casting their wide nets over the water, providing for their families and fishing in the way his ancestors had for generations before him.

Those fishermen were exactly where they were meant to be, You realized. And he was not.

Even before his cancer diagnosis, the depression was heavy for Phal Pen. He had worked hard to stay off drugs and away from crime, dedicating his life to raising his four children. But now without them, he felt bereft. Anchorless. Without a purpose.

Pens youth passed by in a haze of violence and drug use. He dropped out of school. He survived getting shot in a drive-by. He ran afoul of the law a number of times, serving time in jail for criminal threats and disturbing the peace. But during this period, he also met the mother of his children. His only daughter was born.

Then one night, during one of the many heated, drug- and alcohol-fueled arguments that marked their relationship, Pen grabbed his wifes arm. She called the police. He was high, and could barely remember the circumstances that led to that moment. But in the aftermath, he was sick with himself. Violence had been such an integral part of his life, but he had never let it near his family.

He pleaded guilty to domestic violence, just wanting to do what was necessary to get home. He served three days in jail for the offense. He began looking for an exit from the drugs and violence as he and his wife had two more children, both sons.

But he had trouble finding a job because of his criminal history. He worked for a short while at a warehouse, and was fired after they discovered his past convictions. By then, his wife was pregnant with their fourth child. He panicked about how he would provide for his growing family. I went back to what I knew, he said. He was convicted of drug possession for sale in 2001.

While he was serving his sentence, his wife ended their relationship, leaving his four children in the care of Pens mother. Pen was going to be a single father when he was released. He had a mission now: to get his life together for his kids.

The man who emerged from prison four years later was the man Pens children know as their father: a responsible, hardworking man who always put them first. Phollo Say, his youngest, was in the womb when Pen was incarcerated. He had never met his father before the day he returned from prison. Say, 22, described that day: My whole family was outside. We didnt know who he was. This buff Asian man just got out of the car, all tatted up. And he had the biggest smile on his face.

Pens four kids had been living with their grandmother in a two-bedroom apartment, stretched to house 10 people. Pen immediately went to work to get them out of there, taking on two jobs, one at a warehouse and another doing auto repair, and taking classes toward getting his GED. Within a few years, he moved them out of the neighborhood, away from the gangs that dominated his youth. Eventually, Pen would open his own auto repair business. His two youngest sons still speak proudly of the moment their father had finally earned enough money to buy a BMW  the first person they knew to own a luxury vehicle. My dad, he showed us that you can work hard, and whatever you want, if you put your mind to it, you can get it, Say said.

Pen saw his kids through elementary school and middle school, terrified that they would be separated again  he knew that with his criminal record, his parenting would be under extra scrutiny. Say said their father feared even allowing them to play sports, in case authority figures misconstrued any sort of boyhood bump or bruise. But Pen had remained hopeful. He attended his immigration hearings. He stayed as steady as he could, away from crime and the gang lifestyle that had ruled his existence before then.

But a lot of his friends were still involved in that life, his kids said. With the stresses of being a single father weighing on him, Pen relapsed back into drug use. One night, a gathering at his house brought the police, who found crystal meth. It was enough to draw the eye of immigration agents.

A number of returnees in Cambodia continue to actively campaign to end deportations and allow for their return home. They brainstorm with immigration attorneys in the US who work to secure their pardons, one of the few ways to reverse a deportation order based on a criminal conviction.

At the same time, the accepted wisdom passed around the returnee network is to accept what it is: this is your life now. Make the best of it.

Some manage to make a fresh start. KVAO, the non-profit funded in part by the US Agency for International Development, has a 73% employment rate for the returnees in its program. Of the 772 individuals in the program  there have been 789 total from the US who were deported based on past criminal convictions  168 are now teaching English, while 12 live and work abroad.

There are more than a few success stories. Chandara Tep, who is 50 and was deported in 2011, is one of them. At first, he ran a tattoo shop with an artist who specialized in Khmer art. For almost five years, he owned a restaurant  fellow returnees used to gather there to celebrate Thanksgiving. Hes now setting up his own chicken farm on a small plot of land outside Phnom Penh, all while working part-time as a nightlife guide for tourists.

Few people knew how heavily he used to drink up until just a few years ago. They dont know that even after more than a decade, he still retreats to a dark place during the holidays, and has to go on long drives to take his mind off the happy, raucous memories of Christmas mornings long past.

Being deported is like becoming a refugee again, Tep said. You arrive in a new country, unsure of anything. You seek out others who eat the same food as you do, who understand your traditions. You try to find that sense of belonging and home that was taken from you.

Even after all these years, when Tep thinks of home he thinks of Modesto, California. He thinks of the three children he left behind, now almost grown, and the backyard barbecues and ball games. He thinks of the life that could have been.

The criminal offense that led to Teps deportation occurred when he was a teenager: assault with a deadly weapon. In his familys first home in San Franciscos Tenderloin neighborhood, where drug deals still take place out in the open, he witnessed both his mother and father get mugged. They moved to Modesto when he was 12, and he became an outcast both in the predominantly Black neighborhood where his family lived and also at the school he attended in Chinatown, where his classmates considered him too dark to be accepted as one of their own.

He gravitated toward a group of other young Cambodian Americans for protection. We started meeting each other, standing up for each other, fighting for each other, everything, Tep said. It was like a pipeline to prison.

He was arrested when he was 17, convicted at 18. The original charge was attempted murder: Tep had been accused of firing into an inhabited dwelling while participating in a criminal street gang. But he pleaded to the lesser charge, and was released from prison after four and a half years. He returned soon after for being in possession of a firearm, a violation of his parole. During this stint behind bars, he began corresponding with the woman who would become his wife. And just like that, he was done with that life. When he was released at the age of 25, he knew he would do whatever it took to never go back to prison again.

For 13 years, Tep and his wife lived the American dream. Tep got a job as a laser machine operator, working his way from minimum wage to $30 an hour. He began pulling an income from his hobby of raising backyard chickens. They bought a house in Modesto, and his wife started her masters degree. They had three children, two sons and a daughter. Tep lived for their Sundays together, when hed pile all of them into his giant GMC pickup truck and take them to the Stanislaus River to go fishing.

Then one morning, he dropped his daughter off at kindergarten and returned home to find six officers with machine guns waiting for him.

In a statement, an Ice spokesperson said whether a person is deported is ultimately at the discretion of federal immigration judges in immigration court. But returnees and immigration reform advocates said it feels as if there is no rhyme or reason as to how Ice chooses the person to bring before the judge. Under the 1996 law, any immigrant with a criminal conviction that falls under the aggravated felony category  crimes that range from murder to fraud to drug trafficking  is subject to deportation. Yet some deportees have siblings who grew up similarly to them, racking up criminal convictions, and they still remain in the US. Some went straight from prison to Ice detention to Cambodia, while others were released and lived free before they were deported.

Tep had spent 110 days in Ice custody after his first stint in prison before he was allowed to go home. Though he did whatever he could to fight his deportation, consulting with attorneys and attending his immigration hearings, the possibility hung over his head like an ax. He used to return from working the graveyard shift to a quiet house, his whole world safe and asleep in their beds, and think to himself: Im going to lose this all one day.

He was pragmatic about it, however. He spent those 13 years of freedom saving up money for the day the worst-case scenario would come to fruition, and hit the ground running when he touched down in Phnom Penh. He dedicated his first two years in Cambodia to carving out a place for his family to eventually join him. He bought a five-bedroom house by the airport. He found a job for his wife, as a bank manager.

But the distance became too much for their marriage. Tep said it was his wife who one day decided she couldnt do it  she couldnt uproot her life and move across the world, even if it meant keeping their family together. (In a phone interview, his wife said it was Tep who decided that their children were more likely to get a better education in the US than in Cambodia.)

Tep began drinking more and more. His wife filed for divorce. And suddenly, his kids stopped returning his calls.

Tep believes it was his ex-wife who cut off contact between him and his children. His ex-wife said it was the childrens choice. Either way, despite his best efforts and attempts by his friends and family to reconnect them, he never spoke to his kids again.

Its been almost 12 years since his deportation. His kids are almost grown now  he keeps his social media open, in the hope theyll one day contact him. Though he hasnt been able to stay in touch, he knows everything about them, drilling his friends and family back home for the latest details. He knows they stayed with the after-school martial arts program he enrolled them in to keep them out of the trouble he got into as a kid. He knows his eldest was a star student, and is now studying at Stanislaus State. He knows his son sold the 64 Chevy Impala that Tep had fixed up and left for him  a piece of knowledge that hurt him to his core.

Not a day goes by when he doesnt wake up thinking about them  remembering their laughter, their silly reactions as he taught them to bait a worm for fishing. He remembers everything, but also far too little  he missed so much of their childhood, years he can never get back. I never got to fix my sons tie before prom, he said. I never got to give them advice.

Everybody thought I was fine, that I accepted it, because I had business after business after business [here in Cambodia] and was making it work, Tep said. But you always still have America in the back of your mind.

In the US, the same ache haunts the hearts of many of the deportees families. For these families, there will always be an empty seat at the table for family dinners. Mothers who dreamed of finally having all their children in one room again after years of incarceration must accept this will never happen. Children who longed to finally get to know their fathers have to pinch their pennies to afford the airfare to see them.

For Pens two youngest sons, Phollo Say and Phalvan Saypen, 23, each day is a struggle. For almost 10 years, they woke up each morning to their dads silly antics as he whipped open the blinds and danced around the room. To not have that, even after all these years, is jarring.

Since their father left, their lives have been aimless. They entered foster care for a short time before their uncle in Texas could take them in  a traumatic, emotionally scarring experience they both still struggle to talk about. After high school, they got jobs at the Tesla factory in northern California, following in their fathers footsteps in his passion for cars.

But to them, it was just a way to pay the bills, and just barely. They wanted to send their father financial help, but they were living paycheck to paycheck in San Jose, California, where the median rent is $3,175 a month.

At 22 and 23 theyre technically grown, but in so many ways, still in need of a parent. Phalvan Saypen described the past five years for the brothers as surviving  scraping together enough money to get through to the next day. He sees kids his age on social media moving back in with their parents to save up for the future, able to go to school and discover a purpose in their lives. They cant ever have that, he realized. They have no parent they can rely on in the US. We just have to basically figure out ways to do things on our own, Saypen said.

And then came their fathers cancer diagnosis.

In December 2022, a sudden pain in Pens abdomen stopped him in his tracks. His skin and eyes turned yellow. He couldnt catch his breath. It hurt to eat, and the formerly muscular man began dropping pounds at an alarming rate  yet his stomach swelled as if he were pregnant.

Pen sought medical treatment immediately, but so much was lost in translation, between the Khmer, the French in which Cambodian doctors are trained, and the medical jargon. Doctors told him at first that they had found meat in his liver  according to his medical records, it was a 1.4cm mass in one of the bile ducts that would steadily grow to 7cm in just a few months  a tumor.

They told him first that he had 20 days to live, then six months, then possibly years  only if he kept returning to the hospital for the costly treatment of getting his stomach drained of built-up fluid. Doctors needed to remove the mass in Pens liver  but they warned Pen that if he got the procedure done in Cambodia, he would probably die. They advised him to go to Thailand for treatment  westerners living in Cambodia are often advised to seek medical treatment in Thailand instead, as the countrys medical facilities do not meet international standards.

Pen did not have the money for that. It cost him $170 a night whenever he needed a hospital stay. He had to pay a friend of his family $150 a month to help care for him and to act as his family when he needed to go in for tests or treatments. It cost another $300 to drain his stomach.

As a security guard, he earned only about $350 a month, and once he got sick, he was too weak and in too much pain to continue working. His kids wanted to help, but there was only so much they could do. His youngest sons were living paycheck to paycheck. His daughter just had her third child, and his oldest son was struggling as well, dealing with a newborn with medical issues.

Looking back on his life, Pen regretted all his wrongdoings. But for the life of him, he could not think of any crime he committed that would have warranted such a torturous and painful sentence as this.

He had paid for all his crimes, serving time in prison and on probation. In deporting him, the US government sentenced him a second time  this time to death.

Phal Pen spent his 48th birthday in the hospital, calling his four kids on video chat from his hospital bed. His two oldest had their own cakes on the call to celebrate their father. Later, his grandson tried to feed him crackers through the screen, eliciting a wan smile across his gaunt face.

A few weeks later, Pen passed away in his sleep.

Pen had feared dying, but more than anything, he feared dying before he could be reunited with his children. He died yearning not for anything splashy like their summer vacations to Yosemite, but for everyday life with them; reminiscing about surprising them with fast food after school, and taking them shopping for essentials  the little things that dont mean anything until theyre gone.

He spent his last months alive in tremendous emotional and physical pain, wanting to go home and be with his children again.

In the end, Pen will get to do what so few deportees have been able to achieve. Once his kids raise the funds, they will fulfill their fathers dying wish to return home to the US  in the form of ashes to be divided between the four of them.

This reporting was supported by the International Womens Media Foundations Howard G Buffett Fund for Women Journalists
We seem to be in conflict everywhere, with no end in sight. Do we need a fundamental re-think of our foreign policy priorities?

By Matt Taibbi

August 17/18, 2023 - Information Clearing House - " On June 1, Harpers put out a cover story titled, Why are we in Ukraine? The authors were professor Christopher Layne, the Robert Gates chair of National Security at Texas A&Ms Bush School of Government, and Benjamin Schwarz, a onetime national and literary editor of The Atlantic and former analyst for the RAND Corporation. Both at times have been critical of the projection of American power, but both also have strong bona fides from within the world of American national security policy.

The authors didnt excuse Vladimir Putin or his invasion of Ukraine, writing that even if Moscows avowals are taken at face value, the countrys actions could be condemned as those of an aggressive and illegitimate state.

Much of the rest of the article, however, is a blistering history of how the United States constructed a radical new foreign policy posture after communisms fall, obliterating normal diplomacy among great powers and replacing it with rapid NATO expansion in all directions, in service of something like a global Monroe Doctrine. The justification for this new unipolar ideal, which was characterized by a cascading series of diplomatic ultimatums and regime change invasions for resisters, was best articulated in 1994 by former Senator Richard Lugar, who said, there can be no lasting security at the center without security at the periphery.

The Harpers piece doesnt blame the United States for war in Ukraine, but does tell a story about a foreign policy establishment that wriggled free of our more conflict-averse late seventies and eighties, and created a new expansionism that eschews diplomacy and generates military confrontation almost by design. Far from making the world safer by setting it in order, the authors write, we have made it all the more dangerous.

There was a time when avoiding war was a chief priority of American liberalism, which would have taken a story like the Harpers piece as a rallying cry. The issue containing the Layne-Schwarz story reportedly did brisk sales, but generated little discussion in media, beyond a tweet from Ann Coulter:

No offense to Coulter, but where are the antiwar liberals? They were numerous once. Recent polls about war and military spending show the same bizarre pattern of neatly reversed partisan attitudes weve seen with civil liberties and support of spy agencies.

A just-released CNN survey shows 55% of Americans opposed to more funding for Ukraine, including 71% of Republicans  but 61% of Democrats say we should do more. This comes as Joe Biden asked for another $24 billion in spending for Ukraine, and the White House has seemed peeved at questions about declining support.

We have we have seen throughout this war solid support from the American people, said National Security spokesperson John Kirby, adding: Were going to stay focused on that.

Its likely many who opposed the Iraq War would say Ukraine is very different, with the United States supplying arms to the innocent victim of a war of aggression, as opposed to being the country doing the senseless attacking. Thats a true statement. But the Harpers story persuasively argues Ukraine is part of a larger pattern of predictable disasters, caused by a policy change putting us on course for almost certain collision with Russia, China, and any other country disinclined to bend the knee.

Schwarz was at RAND during a key period in the nineties when plans for NATO expansion were being conceived. As he explains it, he was there when the old Sovietologists, whom he described as basically pro-detente liberals, were replaced with a younger new crew of liberal interventionists, some of whom would go on to have important positions in Bill Clintons administration, people like future Deputy National Security Director James Steinberg.

The old pragmatists were averse to re-provoking the Eastern foe, but the newer group seemed more worried about voices questioning NATOs existence after the end of the Cold War, and RAND became the intellectual heart of NATO expansion. Schwarz watched with alarm as the idea gained traction.

When they started talking about this, he says, I thought, Are you crazy? I couldn't believe it.

Schwarz put his thoughts on paper, publishing NATO at the Crossroads: Reexamining Americas Role in Europe in 1994. The text has a not-insignificant Nostradamus factor:

How, for instance, would an alliance with obligations to Ukraine respond if the discontented Russian minority declared its independence and sought annexation by Russia, and this was in turn followed by Ukraines forceful efforts to reassert control over its Russian minority? Who would be the aggressor? What borders should be defended? Moreover, in such situations, members may have divergent interests expansion could well lead to situations that would so exacerbate tensions and suspicions within NATO that the alliance would, in fact, crumble.

This wasnt an exact prediction, but Schwarz did anticipate the innumerable complications that would arise from any effort to bring Ukraine into the American security umbrella. Assuming responsibility for Western Europe alone already amounted to what Schwarz in 1994 called taking the wolf by the ears: When could America let go? Expanding that arrangement throughout the rest of Europe, he said, would require an an expensive  and eternal  commitment.

Americas new view of foreign policy ushered in a new take-it-or-leave-it script for any country resisting American influence. Instead of relations between great powers, wed construct a series of feudal arrangements that would be like the Hindu myth of infinite regression, i.e. turtles all the way down, except in our case it was vassal states all the way out. The plan was to push NATO out so far to eliminate potential resistance that Lugar couldnt see the nearest threat with a spyglass.

The problem was this plan of continually pacifying and expanding the periphery would inevitably run into nuclear-armed Russia and restore the atmosphere of the cold war to East-West relations, as diplomat and historian George Kennan put it. This, Kennan said, was the most fateful error of American policy in the entire post-cold-war era. The U.S. wasnt provoking Russia specifically, but every country generally, broadcasting through its embrace of its unipolar moment that it would no longer be bound by the norms implicit in great power politics, as Harpers put it.

In the early eighties, the idea of the United States engaging in military action was so exotic and remote that Hollywood was forced to make Clint Eastwood movies about the invasion of Grenada, which probably could have been conquered in an hour by a couple of Crip sets from Compton. The notion that presidents needed congressional (read: the populations) permission to go to war was so unquestioned that the major Washington scandal of the decade involved an attempt to secretly divert funds from arms sales to freedom fighters in Nicaragua.

Contrast that with our current experience. The average American has no idea where America is sending arms or troops. As Schwarz and Layne point out, NATO started training roughly ten thousand Ukrainian troops annually in 2014. Did you know? I didnt. Many Americans dont know where we have troops in battle these days.

Remember the La David Johnson fiasco, when a huge fuss was made over Donald Trump reportedly calling a slain soldiers family and telling a grieving widow, He knew what he was signing up for, but I guess it hurts anyway? An amazing part of that story was multiple U.S. Senators admitting unawareness that American troops were fighting in Niger, where Johnson was killed. I didnt know there was [sic] 1000 troops in Niger, said Senator Lindsey Graham, with John McCain and Democratic counterpart Chuck Schumer also expressing surprise.

Since the collapse of communism, the U.S. has pursued engagements all over the world, often following the same script. The public is told at least a half-lie to justify the commencement of hostilities, and only later do we find out the target country was effectively told to surrender in advance.

There were serious human rights abuses in Serbia ahead of the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999. However, the Rambouillet peace agreement  presented to American audiences as a friendly arrangement belligerently rebuffed, as in the Washington Post headline, Milosevic Says No to Peace Force  was a deal no leader could accept, forcing Belgrade to relinquish sovereignty over the province of Kosovo and allow free reign to NATO forces throughout Yugoslavia, as Harpers puts it.

From there weve had one lie-spun war after another. The real reason the United States under Bush wanted to invade Iraq was to effect regime change, but the public was told tall tales about WMDs. The British Chilcot report revealed Tony Blair saying later that obviously, if the U.S. and U.K. hadnt come with WMDs, you would have had to use and deploy different arguments. Ahead of NATO bombings in Libya that led to the deposing of Muammar al-Qaddafi, we spread porkies about Qaddafi forces being given Viagra to aid in using rape as a weapon.

In Syria, we even used the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force, which was supposed to be limited to permitting war operations against those responsible for 9/11, as legal justification for military actions against groups that didnt even exist when the towers fell. We changed the excuses for our presence in Afghanistan and adjusted supposed goals there so many times that by the time we left in 2021, most Americans werent even sure why were there, if they remembered we were there at all.

Theres been much eye-rolling in media of late about Republicans complaining about Ukraine aid after wildfires in Maui or the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, and maybe those complaints are just partisan potshots. But theres a real conversation about distribution of resources thats been dropped ever since Bill Clinton abandoned the idea of spending a Peace Dividend at home, as institutional Washington pressed for more funding for Pax Americana instead.

Schwarz, whos written about this subject numerous times, talks about how keeping national security spending high was a crucial policy goal after the collapse of communism. Although there was some hopeful talk among the few remaining Come home, America-type progressives, he says, it was soon very clear that, even without a Soviet enemy, the bipartisan foreign policy establishment thought the main contours of US national security strategy had to remain intact.

As a result, we have vast new Departments like Homeland Security and annual monster defense expenditures, but still no Department of Just Got Foreclosed On, or a Central Still Living With Your Parents at 40 Agency, or even a National You Can Clearly See I Cant Afford a Dentist Service. But were securing the hell out of the periphery.

A week ago, snippy Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said America has a lot of talented journalists, but since they unleashed this war against us, they absolutely live in a state of military censorship. This prompted an immediate fact check from Voice of America over which country really is living under military censorship (I would have fact-checked the lot of talented journalists part). Of course it isnt true that were living under literal military rule, in a state built for permanent war.

Still, look at our public conversation and our position around the world, and ask yourself: what would be different if we were?

Views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House.
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By Tom Feeley Tweet August 17/18, 2023 - Information Clearing House Our country is consumed by the greed and corruption of our government and culture. We wallow in our own little problems while doing nothing to change the causes of our dilemma. We are no more than rabid dogs in search of another fix to avoid looking at ourselves. The great majority of our citizens believe that they live in an exceptional nation, spreading democracy around the globe. With little knowledge of the plight of the million of people we have killed since 2001. While reality cries out "have some humility", We crave only one thing, that nobody wakes us from our government induced coma. Look folks, this not a game. Its not about winning, its about doing the right thing. We act according to our principles, standing with those around the world who we have been used as pawn on our grand chessboard. I'm totally against violence of any kind and what I'm, calling for is a revolution of the mind. My own life experience shows me that when I knew better, I did better. Our fellows are drowning in ignorance, they have no time to read an article. You and I have a responsibility to bang at the doors and invade their comfortable world on Tick Tock, Facebook, Instagram etc... will we succeed? Who cares? We do the right thing not because we will gain fame or fortune but because it's the right thing to do. We can do it one person at a time. I get many emails telling me how reading ICH over a period changed their world view. The efforts of the ICH community has been enormous and I have relied on that support to pay the bills. ICH is not a money making endeavor, we have never allowed advertising, we don't sell books or anything else. We don't invade your browsers with cookies or any form of tracking. I'm asking that you join me in this revolution to inform others and at least give them a choice as to what to think. Lets work to free them from the prison that confines their minds. Please post articles to your social media accounts, twitter; Facebook etc... There are many among our readers who have huge followings on social media and who regularly give interviews on TV and Youtube. I'm asking you in particular to join the revolution, include a link to one of our articles or just mention Information Clearing House. We have always been banned on Google news, Facebook...etc. Come on it's time to join the revolution..



The response to our appeal this month has been more than disappointing. It not enough to pay the bill for the company who sends out our newsletter. I can no longer afford to subsidize this effort from my own personal expenses. I am indebted to everyone who has supported ICH over the last 22 years. There are a few who have carried the burden with me and I will be forever grateful. I realize that everything has a beginning and an end.. Regardless of the response I will continue to try and pull back the curtains on the corruption of our government and culture. "Yes, I am calling for an intellectual revolution that sweeps away the corruption, absurdity and error, which prevail in morals, customs, traditions, and doctrines." - Ameen Rihani Thank you for taking time to read my rant. It's good to get it off my chest. Click Here To Support Information Clearing House Peace and joy Tom Feeley PS: Is there anyone in The Texas hill country, San Marcos, Wimberley who could help me set up some video equipment so that we can make our own channel. If so email me ichnewseditor@outlook.com. Please put video in the subject line. Thank you Tom is editor at Information Clearing House Click Here To Get Our FREE Newsletter 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 Search Information Clearing House The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House. Click Here To Support Information Clearing House Your support has kept ICH free on the Web since 2002. Click for Spanish , German , Dutch , Danish , French , translation- Note- Translation may take a moment to load.
Former Speaker of Kaduna State House of Assembly, Yusuf Ibrahim Zailani, has boasted that the All Progressives Congress (APC) would rule Nigeria for 60 years.

Zailani made this known on Thursday when he led a delegation of former members of the House of Representatives to visit the APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, at the partys national secretariat in Abuja.

Zailani remains optimistic about the APCs future under Gandujes guidance.

He said, We have no doubt in our mind that you (Ganduje) will lead this party to continuously forming government in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, for more than 60 years. We know you can do it and we have absolute confidence that you can do it. As you can see, we are representing the country because all six geopolitical zones are adequately represented here.

We may not be in the House of Representatives now. But we want to tell you that all of us have the energy, the vision and the interest of the party at heart, so we are offering ourselves for any party assignments.

With this, we know from one of us, that you may have a special place for either the legislators or former members of our forum because we saw what you have done with one of our members who was your immediate past commissioner for finance.

We want you to do more by possibly picking one of our ladies to work within the APC.

We will continue to pray for you to show our solidarity and our support.

READ MORE: Deputy Governors Are Seen As Spare Tyres  Ganduje

While appreciating the gesture, Ganduje charged the delegation on the need to consistently execute every constituency project promised to their people, stressing that they are the dividends of democracy that people at the grassroots often identify with.

It is your responsibility to consolidate the National Assembly, whether you are inside or outside. The psychological thing that binds you together should continue. That is why we are so happy with the legislative projects in their constituencies, even though some may ask why constituency projects. But an ordinary voter, even though your main function is to make laws and oversight functions, will like to see something on the ground.

He doesnt think how legislation is affecting his life or how oversight function is affecting his life. But he can easily see a constituency project whether it is a borehole, whether the building of a school building or clinic and so many other things. So we think it is very important, whether youre from third, fourth or fifth legislation, to see to your constituency project when you are elected. You will feel very happy and satisfied.
An affiliate of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Njiko Igbo Forum, has alleged that the Federal Government (FG) is still at war with the Igbos in Nigeria.

Okechukwu Obioha, President of the Forum who disclosed this in a statement made available to newsmen on Thursday, said people of the South-East region would not be fazed by the palliative being rolled out by the Federal Government to cushion the effect of the petrol subsidy removal.

The Convener/Chairman, South-East Equity Group, SEEP, said insensitive and discriminatory policies of successive administrations remained a gross abuse on the psyche of the Igbo man in the country.

According to him, several years after the civil war, the people of the South-East were still being treated as the vanquished.

Obioha identified the abandonment of the Eastern rail corridor as proof that FG was not ready to factor Igbos into its development plans.

There is no equity, justice and fairness.No amount of the so-called palliative from the Federal Government extended to the people of the South-East zone can assuage or compensate them enough, as long as the Eastern Corridors of the Railways remained recklessly abandoned.

READ ALSO: N10m Bribe: APC Warns Kano Govt. Against Interference In State Tribunal Judgement

From the days of Sure-P of the Obasanjo administration to the Buhari-led government, all other rail lines and even new ones, particularly that of the Katsina to Niger (another country) were constructed and made operational, except that of the Eastern Corridors running from Port-Harcourt to Enugu and then Makurdi  Maiduguri, he said.

He said the situation became more insulting when FG pulled off the rails/slippers all through these corridors, leaving no sign or trace of a former rail line, except grasses and trees that have grown thereby.

How else can this be explained except that the Federal government, by this obnoxious brazen dichotomy, is still at war with the Igbo of the South-East? Obioha queried.

The war is still on and as far as the average Igbo is concerned, the struggle to survive still continues unabated.

There is nothing like palliative to the Vanquished Nigeria Igbo, but to the Nigeria Victor, he added

Information Nigeria reports that in 2022, the government at the time, was left with no choice but to halt the ongoing construction of the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri Eastern Rail Line due to insecurity and incessant vandalism.
Controversial Nigerian socio-political writer, Reno Omokri, has expressed reservations over the N5 billion Federal Governments palliatives to each state to cushion the effect of the fuel subsidy removal.

Recall that the Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, announced the palliative during an interactive session with State House correspondents in Abuja on Thursday after the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting, chaired by Vice President, Kashim Shettima.

However, Omokri in his reaction, said the decision is a right step in the right direction, but it is a glaring injustice to give an equal amount to all states considering different population numbers.

The former presidential aide noted that the palliatives should have been provided to states according to their population, stressing the FG has succeeded in cheating states with large populations.

READ MORE: Fuel Subsidy Removal: FG Okays N5bn As Palliative For Each State, FCT

Reno further tasked President Tinubu to address the injustice, adding that the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria understands there is equality of states and not population.

He wrote on Twitter, The announced 5 billion subsidy removal palliative for each state is again a step in the right direction. However, the thinking behind it is very military era, arbitrary and not democratic. How can you give all states an equal amount of 5 billion when all states have different population numbers? It is not fair, right or just.

For example, you give Kano state, with a population of almost 20 million people 5 billion, and then give Bayelsa state, with a population of just above 2 million, the same 5 billion. Where is the equity? The idea should have been to provide states palliative money according to their population.

Even the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) understands that there is equality of states, but not equality of population. This is why Lagos has twenty-four House of Representatives members, due to its large population, while Ebonyi state has just six House of Representatives members.

What the Tinubu administration has just done is to cheat states like Lagos, Kano and Oyo and overcompensate smaller states with fewer citizens to cater for.

Mr President, please address this glaring injustice!
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has approved the immediate release of car loans for primary school teachers across all zones in the State.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria, coordinating director of the Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board, Jacob Dairo, made the disclosure in a statement.

He said the loan, which was to be disbursed in tranches, is coming as palliative to cushion the effects of the economic crisis in the nation on teachers.

Dairo stated that the Governor also directed that there should be no favouritism in the loan scheme.

The coordinating director advised the beneficiaries to use the loan for the intended purpose.

He said the facility, to be granted by financial institutions, is to be redeemed within 40 months.

READ ALSO: APC Will Rule Nigeria For Sixty Years- Ex-Kaduna Speaker

On his part, the State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Salihu Abdulwaheed, expressed readiness to work with all stakeholders in the education sector.

The commissioner gave the assurance when he visited the Directorate of the Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board on Thursday.

Abdulwaheed who said the state government would, in due course, recruit more teachers into the basic education sub-sector, added that the government would ensure staff training for all-round success.
Mr. Ossai Ovie Success, an aide to former Governor of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa, has vowed to take legal action against the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) if Nigerian Music star, Afeez Fashola better known as Naira Marley is seen smoking again after his visit to the agency.

Recall that Naira Marley on Thursday declared support for the agencys war against drug abuse among youth, teenagers, followers and Marlians.

READ ALSO: Naira Marley, NDLEA Partner To Tackle Drug Abuse

The agencys choice of Naira Marley has since sparked mixed reactions from social media users.

Ovie Success in a post on his Facebook page however wondered if the music star had stopped smoking before being considered by the NDLEA.

He stated, I will sue NDLEA if I see Nairamarley sm*king on his music video or on ground and if any of artistes signed to his record label are seen smoking.

I hope @officialnairam1 has stopped smoking before being paid by NDLEA to campaign against smoking and drugs

I am watching him carefully because I am happy with this campaign.
Yabagi Sani, the National Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), has faulted President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for assigning a Minister of State for Petroleum Resources from the oil-rich Niger Delta area.

Speaking on Channels Televisions Sunrise Daily on Thursday, the IPAC Chair insisted it is a wrong signal.

According to him, limiting the appointment to a specific State would trigger a sense of entitlement among the Niger Delta people.

Recall that Tinubu on Wednesday, released portfolios for 45 ministerial designates, appointing Heineken Lokpobiri, who is from Bayelsa, as Minister of State for Petroleum Resources but was silent on the portfolio of the Minister of Petroleum Resources.

READ ALSO: Were Ready To Invade Niger Republic  ECOWAS Force

Unfortunately, this sector [Niger Delta] has been made to look as if people that should be appointed to that ministry should come from Niger Delta.

It is a wrong signal because, when you now give people a sense of entitlement, their efficiency becomes something that is not given due attention to.

I think we must change that scenario, but if he must do that not because Im from the North Central, why dont you give the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to an indigene of North Central?  if you must be sensational about such a very important ministry, Sani added.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has warned the Kano State Government to desist from embarrassing Justice Flora Azinge, the Chairman of the National/State Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal, in the wake of an alleged N10m bribery offered to a member of her legal team.

Spokesman for Gawuna-Gari Campaign Council and ex-Governor Abdullahi Gandujes Commissioner for Information, Muhammad Garba in a Thursday statement, particularly frowned at the deliberate attempt by the Governor Abba Yusuf led administration to interfere in the decision of the Kano State election petition tribunal.

Justice Azinge had raised the alarm that some senior lawyers were attempting to bribe judges in her team.

According to her, it was the second time a judge was complaining about how some lawyers prosecuting election matters before her, tried to corrupt the system by offering bribes to her colleagues.

In the open court on Tuesday, she said that, money is flying, adding that its being rumoured that a staff collected N10 million.

However, the Kano State Government called on security agencies to dig deep into the allegation and bring the strong forces who are well-known for their corrupt attitude to book.

A statement signed by the States Commissioner of Information, Baba Halilu Dantiye, late Wednesday night, said the government viewed the allegation with a great concern as there was a strong rumour going round that some strong forces within the APC whose eyes are on Kano Election Petition Tribunals were bent on repeating what they allegedly did in 2019.

They are all out to use whatever means to sway justice as was done previously.

It is an open secret that these strong forces who are well-known for their corrupt attitude are working tirelessly to scuttle the hard earned mandate of the people of Kano state, Dantiye stated.

READ ALSO: Anambra Govt Shuts Down Orphanage For Allegedly Trading Babies For Cash

The Commissioner added that the influential APC member certainly feels emboldened by what is generally perceived as his unfortunate and undemocratic selection as APC chairman who is rumoured to be all out to influence the outcome of various Election Petition Tribunals in Kano in particular and other states in general.

The anti-corruption agencies are equally expected to swing into action, especially when this type of allegation was made in open court by a respected Judge, he said.

In reaction to the development, Garba, who is the Chief of Staff to Ganduje, APCs National Chairman, stated that the comment was a subtle attempt to denigrate the APC and the court.

According to him, the deliberate attempt to malign the tribunal chairman could have been spurred out of fear that the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP)-led government may not secure a favourable judgment.

Kano State Government is pre-empting the possible unrevealing of the actual bribe giver by the tribunal and therefore wanted to malign the judge. The made-up story, which is contained in a statement issued by the state commissioner for Information, Baba Halilu Dantiye, further indicated that the government is trying to vilify the tribunal before the judgment so that it draws sympathy from unsuspecting public in the event it is defeated.

With an apparent sign of victory on its side, the APC has not and will never offer any bribe to anyone involved in the case considering that it has presented facts and figures to prosecute the matter before the tribunal, Garba said.

He further observed that while the APC had presented all its witnesses during the proceedings of the tribunal, the NNPP government has failed to present any to defend its case.

The action of the State Government, he said, is nothing but gimmick and an attempt to disparage the APC.

He added that the ruling party will confidently keep working to seek legal redress to reclaim its stolen mandate in Kano.
Shehu Sani, former Kaduna Central lawmaker, has reacted to the Federal Governments approval of N5 billion for each State and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to enable them to procure food items for distribution to the poor in their respective states.

Recall that Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State on Thursday, disclosed the development at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, shortly after the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting.

The development comes in the wake of the hike in the cost of food items, and petroleum owing to the removal of subsidy on the commodity.

READ ALSO: Dont Renege On Fuel Subsidy Removal, Youre On Right Track  World Bank To Tinubu

In addition to the fund, Zulum said the Federal Government also released five trucks of rice each to the 36 State governors.

However, the socio-political commentator insisted that the funds be distributed equally irrespective of who their citizens voted for during State governorship polls.

He maintained that those who voted for the governor of the state and those who didnt must all be treated equally.

N5Billion as palliatives to the states;

There are people who voted for the Governors.

There are people who voted for other candidates.

Equity demands that the latter be treated equally, Sani wrote via X.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has said the challenges Nigerians are faced with following the removal of the petrol subsidy are for a better tomorrow.

Tinubu, represented by George Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), disclosed this on Thursday at the public presentation of Brutally Frank, an autobiography of Edwin Clark, convener of the Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF).

The President who compared the challenges caused by petrol subsidy removal to the pains of childbirth, noted that the pains are necessary for the birth of a new nation.

According to him, though the solutions to Nigerias problems may not be instant, it is important for everyone to be present and actively involved in the process.

He further assured that palliatives are being put in place to alleviate the impact on citizens, adding that 100 trucks of fertilizers and grains have been sent to the states, with more on the way.

And he (Tinubu) has also asked me to tell this gathering that we are going through a difficult phase in the history of this country.

READ ALSO: Fuel Subsidy Removal: FG Okays N5bn As Palliative For Each State, FCT

But these pains are pains of birth, the birth of a new nation. And that if you want to celebrate a child, a baby, then the mother must go through some pain. But at the end of the day, there is joy. There is merriment when the baby arrives. And we will certainly be there.

Solutions to problems can never be as instant as coffee. But we must certainly be there.

I know the removal of fuel subsidy has created some things. And that is why palliatives are being put in place; 100 trucks of fertilizers have been sent to the states.

One hundred trucks of grains have been sent and more are coming and more buses are also coming.

We can endure this for a moment. What were going through today is for a better tomorrow. Nations are great because citizens have hope. They have hope that tomorrow will be better than today, he said.

To keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done.

This country is complex, but can never be too difficult to manage. Our diverse cultures and religion constitute a source of our strength, the President added.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo state has urged Governor Seyi Makinde to stop further award of contracts at an alleged inflated cost and find ways of providing solutions to ease effects of hardship caused by fuel subsidy removal.

Reacting to an announcement that the state government had approved N3.35 billion for the purchase of Kia Rio cars as security vehicles and another N3.19 billion for the maintenance of street lights in the state, the party described it as a misplaced priority.

The party, in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, said: It has come to a point that we, as stakeholders in the affairs of the Pacesetters state, cannot continue to watch as the present PDP administration would not cease from plundering scarce resources.

We queried the wisdom behind spending billions of naira on the purchase of Kia Rio brand of luxury cars as security vehicles some years ago and we got vindicated as only a few number of those cars are seen around today.

The state government is now repeating the same sleaze with the Wednesday approval of N3.35 billion on another 105 units of the same fragile vehicle brand for security.

READ MORE: You Dont Need To Like Him, Just Support Him  Gov Makinde Tells Tinubus Critics

Apart from the fact that such a brand is not ideal for use as patrol vehicles by security agents, the price of each car is put at N32 million and this is unacceptable.

Also, on the issue of N3.19 billion approved for the maintenance of street light project which cost over N28 billion to be executed without accountability, we vehemently kick against it as there is no justification for spending such a stupendous amount on replacement of poles. We cannot continue like this.

Rather than create an avenue for a few privileged persons around the corridor of power to siphon scarce resources, Gov. Makinde should emulate some governors who have done so much in recent times to address the challenges in their respective states.

He should also address the plight of workers and pensioners in the state who came out a few days ago to lament high-handedness, deprivation and deceit from the PDP administration since 2019.
A popular Ilorin Isese devotee and activist Adegbola Abdulazeez, better known as Talolorun (Who is God), has been arrested and remanded in jail for defamation, in Kwara State.

Accoording to The Punch, Talolorun, was arrested for insulting the Emir of Ilorin among other offences.

A post on his Facebook page on Thursday, revealed that the popular Isese activist was arrested on August 16 in Ibadan and taken to a police station in Ilorin.

Taniolorun was arrested in Ibadan this evening (August 16) and taken to a police station in Ilorin, the post simply read.

Another post on August 17, disclosed that the activist had been charged to court, calling for support from other Isese practioners.

The post read: All Isese practitioners, meet Taniolohun in court in Ilorin. Very urgent.

READ ALSO: Police Stop Planned Isese Festival In Kwara

A Youtube video released on Thursday, also showed Talolorun discussing the outcome of a prior meeting between Isese practitioners, their lawyer and the police on the ban placed on Isese festivals in Ilorin.

To those who said we would not celebrate the Isese festival in Ilorinhave you all been served breakfast now?

We (Isese devotees) went with our lawyer to the police station in Ilorin and everyone involved in this case was served, including the Emir of Ilorin.

Isese devotees are peace-loving people, we are not troublemakers, we simply wanted to celebrate our festivals but were stopped and asked to seek permission. When Muslims want to celebrate Sallah, do they need permission to do this as well? Why demand that from Isese worshippers?

The commissioner of police, who said we do not have permission to celebrate our festivals in Ilorin, has also been served court papers, he should come out and explain where this was stated in the constitution of Nigeria.

Despite offering to change the location of our festival from the Yemoja river in the state to another, we were still denied this. Is the police not suppose(sic) to support and protect us? Now, the commissioner of police, the Emir of Ilorin, and everyone closely involved in this case have been served court papers.

The proposed August 20th Isese day will hold even though these emirs have connived with the police to stop the celebration. I received so many threats from online bullies unbeknownst to me, these alfas were conniving with the police to ensure the festival never holds.

You see at this point, those advocating for Isese devotees to stay away from Ilorin, need to stop. Is there another law besides the Nigerian constitution? We all have the right to worship.

At this point in this land of Ilorin, called the Emirate, the Isese worshippers will have the right to worship as well. Why is it so hard for the alfas to preach peace and allow everyone to celebrate how they wish? Shouldnt we all be preaching and seeking for peace to reign in the same state we all love? Talolorun asked.

A video by an admin on Taloloruns page on Friday also confirmed his arrest assuring supporters that the popular Isese advocate will regain his freedom.

Yoruba people celebrating the arrest of Talolorun, did you believe he would not be eventually arrested?

They have been trying to arrest him for a long time so his arrest did not come as a surprise to us.

He can not be killed because he did not kill anyone. He will be free. He did not rape anyone, he was only sharing his thoughts on the situation of things.

Arresting Talolorun does not mean the world will end. We are fighting for our ancestors. We are fighting for our culture and tradition not to go into extinction.

The economy of Nigeria has continued to dwindle yet none of you is fighting to save the country but when it comes to Isese worship, everyone suddenly has a voice.

A lawyer Abdulkadir Ademola Ajasa, speaking after the court session Thursday, shed more light on the reason behind Taloloruns arrest.

According to the Ajasa, This issue does not have relation to Isese. Before his arrest, the people of Isese visited the commissioner of police on Monday, seeking permission to celebrate the Isese festival in Ilorin.

The Commissioner of Police told them that if a permit is granted, it will cause a lot of damage. They were advised to visit other places in Kwara State to celebrate the festival.

The reason he was arrested is that he defamed the character of those mentioned earlier and he has always been inciting the public to go against Ilorin based on the atrocity he committed when he burned the Quran. If these things are not handled properly, it could lead to religious crisis.

Another cleric, who spoke in court also confirmed the lawyers statement saying Taniolorun insulted the Muslim leaders, an act that will not be tolerated.

Talolorun believes he knows it all. Our Emir and every other leader are not to be disrespected. This needs to be curtailed, he said.
Abdullahi Ganduje, National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), on Friday, said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will deploy high technology to address the growing menace of banditry which has taken root in some of parts of the country.

Ganduje disclosed this when he received a delegation of the North Central APC Elders Forum led by a former Military Governor of Katsina and Plateau States, Lawrence Onoja.

The APC Chair said: Pertaining to insecurity, the President has agreed to employ technology in the management of security in Nigeria, in particular our forests that have become cities for bandits.

Mr President is fully conscious of that; he is ready in order to make the institutions strong, the army, Air Force, the Navy, the DSS, Civil Defence, even the NIA. He is rejigging the institutions to ensure that we conquer insecurity in the country.

According to the former Kano State Governor, Tinubu would effectively manage Nigerias diversity and spread appointments across all parts of the Federation.

The North Central geopolitical zone is a good example of unity and diversity, and coincidentally, Mr President is the one who is an expert in managing diversities if you look at the composition of his cabinet when he was the Governor of Lagos. So, the issue of tribalism is put aside, the issue of ethnicity, the issue of religion is also put aside as he is muslim and his wife is a pastor, so he is living by example, as far as managing diversity is concerned.

We assure you, the government has taken every step to see that all ethnic nationalities are brought in, in the management of this country.

We have to thank him, for appointing the Secretary to the Government of the Federation from the North Central zone.

READ ALSO: Hardship: Tinubu Still Needs To Take Bolder Steps, Reconsider Abolition Of Fuel Subsidy  Doyin Okupe

As requested for inclusiveness in the appointment in agencies, i think the SGF is the focal person. We will rally round to ensure that we host different support groups, and that they get a big share of that distribution, Ganduje added.

Onoja who said the zone is happy with the emergence of Ganduje as National Chairman, also requested for more appointments of the people into boards of agencies, as well as the establishment of a development commission for the zone.

He said: Remember us in the zone with key appointments in Federal boards, Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies in line with the Federal character principle.

The North Central zone has witnessed the most prolonged state of insecurity experience in the fourth republic. This has been mainly in the form of terrorist and banditry attacks, with adverse consequences on the social cohesion of the people, Food Security and Education among others. We request that you use your good offices to help/encourage us to develop new strategies that will address the security challenges we face, once and for all.

As you are already aware, the North Central zone is the home of solid mineral deposits in Nigeria and the food basket of the country. We request the government under the leadership of our party to come up with policies that will encourage our patronage of local miners instead of patronizing foreigners.

We will need a Development Agency such as NDDC (in the South), North East Development Commission (in North East). Similarly, we will require a North Central Development Commission that will coordinate strategies for harnessing the rich agriculture, tourism, educational and human potentials of the zone in the interest of national development.
Popular Nigerian comedian, Lawrence Oluwaseyitan Aletile, also known as Seyi Law, has mocked the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, amidst anticipation of the ruling of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT).

Seyi, in a post on his Twitter page, made the mockery using a popular slang, supporters of the LP candidate use to stay hopeful in Obis quest to reclaim his stolen mandate.

Recall that the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, and Labour Partys flag bearer, Peter Obi are currently challenging President Bola Tinubus victory.

The legal teams of all the parties involved in the election tribunal had also earlier this month, gave their final submissions on their case after which, the PEPC led by Justice Haruna Tsammani, adjourned for judgement.

READ MORE: God Grant My Children Seyi Tinubus Character  Seyi Law Prays

Mocking the LP candidate as he awaits judgement, Seyi Law wrote: Peter Obi is coming. He is coming to Lagos soon.

Reacting to the backlashes that followed his tweet, he wrote: Of course, he is coming to Lagos. You did read the full tweet, Eeyahha
Police gather evidence at the scene where a 60-year-old man was found on the ground, bleeding from the head, after he had been carjacked. Read more

A pair of carjackers assaulted a man  who later died at a hospital  before fleeing the scene and taking his vehicle in Northern Liberties Thursday night, Philadelphia police said.

The attack occurred just before 10 p.m. on Third and Cambridge Streets, when two masked men pulled up on what a witness told police was a dirt bike. Then, the pair pulled a 60-year-old man from the drivers seat of a parked 2023 Toyota Highlander, according to the witness account that police relayed to reporters.

Police later identified the victim as Peter Chan of Chinatown.

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An altercation ensued before one of the masked men took off in the Highlander and the other took off on the dirt bike, according to police.

When officers arrived on the scene, they found the 60-year-old lying in the street as witnesses attempted to render aid.

He was bleeding from the head. He was semiconscious, Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small told reporters. He was unable to stand up.

Chan was transported to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead less than an hour later.

Small said a a relative of Chans arrived on the scene shortly after the man  who lived in Center City  was taken to the hospital.

We believe the 60-year-old man was waiting in the Toyota Highlander for this relative to show up, said Small.

Officers tracked the location of the Highlander to Camden, where it was recovered unoccupied by Camden police. The dirt bike was last seen traveling north on Third toward Girard Avenue Thursday night.

Small called the incident a robbery, carjacking, and a homicide. He said that several residential surveillance cameras captured parts of the incident.

Police are investigating.

At least 268 homicides have occurred in Philadelphia to date in 2023, according to police data, a 23% decrease from the year prior.

Staff writer Robert Moran contributed to this article.
Khasandra Franklin, 24, in a file photo from 2020, not long after she had gotten into a confrontation on the road with Assistant District Attorney Anthony Voci. Read more

A Philadelphia woman who received a $300,000 settlement from the city in 2021 over accusations that an off-duty prosecutor had her improperly arrested following a road rage dispute was sentenced Friday to 90 days in jail for a separate drunken driving offense.

Khasandra Franklin, 27, told Municipal Court Judge Wendy L. Pew that she was remorseful for the new incident, during which she drove the wrong way on I-76 in South Philadelphia and crashed head-on into another womans car in September 2022. That case is Franklins second DUI conviction since 2020; the earlier case had been pending when the city agreed to pay her to resolve her lawsuit.

Franklin said during Fridays hearing that the money from that windfall is gone, in part because she has paid for alcohol treatment. Pew gave her 20 days worth of credit for time she spent in an inpatient rehabilitation facility earlier this year, and imposed five years of probation.

You have a pattern of making some pretty bad mistakes, she said. Franklin declined to comment after the hearing, as did her lawyer, John Della Rocca.

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Franklin made news in September 2020 following a confrontation with Anthony Voci, then the chief of the homicide unit in the District Attorneys Office.

In a case that was widely covered, Voci said at the time that he had been driving his Harley-Davidson motorcycle home from the scene of a double murder when a car cut him off on Kelly Drive near Midvale Avenue and nearly ran him off the road. Voci said he swerved and braked to avoid being hit.

Police later traced the vehicle to Franklins East Mount Airy home, and Voci identified her as the driver. Franklin was arrested and initially charged with aggravated assault, though the case was quickly downgraded to reckless endangerment and reckless driving.

Franklin, meanwhile, accused Voci of calling her and her passenger Black bitches, an allegation that Voci  who is white  denied. Some critics, including David Fisher, president of the Greater Philadelphia Chapter of the National Black Police Association, contended that Voci had abused his power by seeking to have Franklin charged.

Weeks after the incident, in November 2020, Voci was transferred out of homicide and into a lower-profile unit handling insurance fraud cases.

Then, in February 2021, the state Attorney Generals Office  which prosecuted the case against Franklin because of Vocis ties to the DAs Office  withdrew all charges after she agreed to undergo a drug and alcohol evaluation.

Weeks after that, Franklin sued Voci and members of the Police Department, accusing them of false arrest, false imprisonment, and other misdeeds including assault, which Franklin said occurred when a sergeant struck her and knocked her phone to the ground during the arrest.

The city paid Franklin $300,000 to settle the suit in June 2021, according to city records.

Six months later, court records show, Franklin pleaded guilty in Montgomery County to DUI and disorderly conduct  charges that had been pending when she filed her lawsuit  and received up to six months probation.

In September 2022, court records say, Franklin was arrested for DUI, this time accused of driving while intoxicated and causing a head-on collision on I-76 near West Passyunk Avenue. State troopers in court documents also accused her of acting belligerently, including exhibiting fighting or threatening behavior.

That case is the one that led to Fridays sentencing. Franklin said in court that she no longer drinks alcohol, though she denied that she had been drinking during her first DUI case in Montgomery County, saying shed simply fallen asleep behind the wheel.

The woman whom Franklin collided with in her more recent case, meanwhile, told Pew and Deputy Attorney General Katherine A. McDermott that the crash has had a lasting impact on her, forcing her to buy a new car, impacting her credit, and causing her to have painful memories every time she drives by the scene of the crash.

It took a serious mental toll, said the woman, Danuta Coates. Weve got to own up to what we do.
Shattered glass is visible in the driver's side window of the gold Toyota Corolla Eddie Irizarry was driving as police investigators are on the scene in the 100 block of East Willard Street Monday. Contrary to initial statements by the police, Commissioner Danielle Outlaw later said Irizarry was in his car when he was fatally shot. Read more

Eddie Irizarrys car windows were rolled up when a Philadelphia police officer shot and killed him Monday as he sat in his car, according to two law enforcement sources and photos of the vehicle at the scene.

The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation, said body camera footage of the shooting appears to show that the windows to Irizarrys Toyota Corolla were rolled up as the officer  identified Thursday as Mark Dial  approached the car with his partner Monday afternoon.

Irizarry was sitting in the drivers seat as Dials partner  whom police have not identified approached the passenger side of the car and attempted to open the door. The officer then yelled that Irizarry had a weapon, police said.

Thats when Dial shot Irizarry multiple times, police said, firing at least one shot through the front windshield and then several others through the drivers-side window. Two knives were later observed in the car, police said.

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Irizarry, 27, was shot six times, according to his family. He was rushed to Temple University Hospital by police but died a short time later.

Photos captured at the scene show the window of the drivers-side door shattered, and a bullet hole through the windshield. The front passenger window appeared to be open just a crack.

 READ MORE: Man killed by Philadelphia police never got out of his car, didnt lunge with a knife, police say in new narrative

The new details add to mounting questions about the moments leading up to Irizarrys death and have led his family to question how officers could have believed he posed a threat that warranted deadly force.

They murdered my nephew ... cold blood, said Irizarrys aunt Zoraida Garcia. And I want answers.

Efforts to reach Dial were unsuccessful Thursday. Questions to the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 were directed to their lawyers, who could not be reached for comment.

The Police Department and District Attorneys Office declined to comment, citing ongoing departmental and criminal investigations.

The episode began shortly before 12:30 p.m. Monday, when Dial, a five-year veteran of the force, and his partner were patrolling the 24th Police District, which makes up parts of Kensington, Fairhill, and North Philadelphia. Police said the officers observed Irizarry driving erratically near B and Westmoreland Streets.

The officers asked over police radio whether there were any priority calls for a Toyota sedan, then followed Irizarry as he headed south, police said. Irizarry then pulled the wrong way onto the 100 block of East Willard Street and parked his car, police said.

The officers followed, and stopped their car in the middle of the street. Dial walked toward the drivers side of the car, police said, while his partner attempted to open the passenger door. The partner then yelled that Irizarry had a weapon, police said, and Dial opened fire.

Detective Peter Marrero, who is heading the internal investigation into the shooting, said two knives were found inside Irizarrys car: a kitchen-style knife and a serrated folding knife.

Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw declined to say whether Irizarry was holding a knife when he was shot. She also declined to say whether Dial gave any warning before firing and wouldnt specify the length of the interaction, or how many times Irizarry was shot.

According to an internal police email, Irizarry was shot in the face, chest, shoulder, and back.

Deputy Commissioner Christine Coulter said it was unclear whether the officers, who were in uniform in a patrol car, turned on their emergency lights or sirens before getting out of their cruiser to confront Irizarry. She said that by the time backup arrived a few minutes later, the lights were not on.

Police first said Irizarry, after fleeing a traffic stop, emerged from his car with a knife in his hand and lunged at police before Dial shot him multiple times.

After watching body camera footage of the episode, they said that account was wrong: Irizarry did not flee a traffic stop, never lunged at officers with a weapon, and was sitting in his car when he was shot.

On Wednesday, Outlaw acknowledged the concerns from Irizarrys family and the community after police changed their initial story of how events unfolded.

I understand and want to acknowledge the hurt and confusion that family and community members can experience when details of investigations change, and especially when they change in a very public way, she said at a news conference.

She pledged a thorough investigation of the case and said officials would be transparent about what they learned, even as they could not immediately share some details while internal and criminal inquiries were underway.

 READ MORE: Eddie Irizarrys family say they knew from the start that police lied. Now, they want accountability.

Irizarrys family has said they doubted the police narrative from the start.

Something didnt square with me from the beginning, said Irizarrys father and namesake, Eddie Irizarry.

He and his relatives questioned why Irizarry, whom they affectionately called Junito, would have tried to attack police. They said he had experienced mental health troubles, and was being treated for schizophrenia, but described him as quiet and withdrawn and said he was largely focused on his work as a mechanic.

My nephew was no harm to anyone, Garcia said. Never been incarcerated. Dont even have a traffic stop ticket in his record.

Irizarry, who moved to Philadelphia from Puerto Rico about seven years ago, did not speak or understand English, Garcia said. She wondered whether a language barrier might have created confusion in the moments before he was shot.

If the officer was saying anything to him in English, Im quite sure that he didnt even understood what was going on, she said.

The changing narrative and fresh detail that Irizarrys car window was closed added to the familys concern about what happened to him. They have hired a lawyer to investigate and have vowed to seek justice.

Staff writer Ryan Briggs contributed to this article.
Peng Chao, acting chief of charter schools in Philadelphia, presents to the Philadelphia school board about alleged lottery manipulation at Franklin Towne Charter High School at a meeting Thursday night. The board voted to begin the process of revoking the school's charter, likely to be a lengthy effort. Read more

Responding to allegations of lottery manipulation dating back at least four years, the school board on Thursday night began proceedings to revoke a top Northeast Philadelphia schools charter.

Officials at Franklin Towne Charter High School allegedly rigged its lottery to keep out students from certain zip codes and siblings of some students with academic and behavioral challenges.

And though the school has since made some changes, the Philadelphia School Districts charter office has said Franklin Towne should still be held accountable.

The board agreed, moving to take an action that acting charter chief Peng Chao said was very rare, not just in Philadelphia, but across the commonwealth.

After examining a city map that showed 17 zip codes where students were shut out of admission to Franklin Towne, which sits on the Frankford Arsenal campus in Bridesburg, board vice president Mallory Fix-Lopez said a few words came to mind.

Offensive. Redlining, Fix-Lopez said, calling out blatant racist practices that they have been on alert for for quite some time, and just choose to ignore.

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Board member Joyce Wilkerson characterized Franklin Townes actions as egregious, noncompliant practices, and board member Chau Wing Lam said the alleged manipulation was analagous to cheating, and its illegal.

Franklin Townes longtime chief academic officer told The Inquirer that he witnessed tampering in the schools January lottery, and an Inquirer analysis found that there was an astronomically small chance  1 in 1,296 trillion  the schools lottery results happened naturally.

The schools demographics do not represent the citys: 54% of Franklin Townes students are white, 23% are Hispanic, 12% Black, 8% multiracial, and 2% Asian. It had been called out by the charter office and former School Reform Commission for admissions issues in the past.

Pennsylvanias charter law requires that all students receive equal access to the schools, which are run with public funds. Franklin Townes alleged manipulation disadvantaged Black students.

 READ MORE: A Philly charter school manipulated its lottery to keep kids out, a top administrator says

Lam asked whether the charter office had investigated the admissions practices of Franklin Towne elementary school, which operates under a separate charter. Chao said it looked at the elementary school and found nothing that would warrant the level of concern that we have with the high school.

Several Franklin Towne faculty members asked the board to consider sparing the school.

We provide a high-quality education to all students regardless of their race, said Jennifer Clement, assistant principal, who underscored Franklin Townes status as a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence winner and its high test scores. Hundreds of Philadelphia families wish for their students to be educated at Franklin Towne.

Clement and Jonathan Dougherty, Franklin Townes principal, said the schools 1,300 students should not be punished for the actions of those who have since left. (Former chief executive Joseph Venditti, whom whistle-blower Patrick Field said engineered the manipulation, abruptly resigned in February, citing health issues.)

 READ MORE: Franklin Towne students would be collateral damage if Philly school board tries to close the charter, some advocates say

Dougherty said the school is dedicated to the students of Philadelphia. We will work with the School District of Philadelphia to correct any actions deemed necessary.

Though Dougherty, Clement, and other speakers who defended Franklin Towne said any wrongs were committed by people who no longer work at the school, the board indicated it wanted to probe more.

Given Franklin Townes demographics and its prior issues, if I were walking around that school, I would say, Something is wrong here,  board member Julia Danzy said.

The board ultimately voted 8-1 to begin revocation proceedings. Board member Cecelia Thompson was the lone no vote.

Board member Leticia Egea-Hinton voted yes, but was careful to say she didnt want to disregard the schools strong academics.

Its not something that I want to throw out the baby with the bath water, Egea-Hinton said.

The boards Thursday vote triggers a formal hearing, with evidence and witnesses presented by both Franklin Towne and the districts charter schools office. A hearing officer will then prepare a report for the school board, which will have to vote a second time on revocation.

The school is in no immediate jeopardy of closing, Chao emphasized that the boards vote was the start of a process.

Even if a hearing officer recommends closure and the board agrees, Franklin Towne could remain open if the school appealed to a state panel and then through the courts, a process that could take years.
Ustad Zakir Hussain (from left), Ganesh Rajagopalan, Shankar Mahadevan, John McLaughlin, and V. Selvaganesh are the current members of Shakti. The band sits at the intersection of jazz and Indian classical music is celebrating its 50th year. Read more

In February 1996, I was in the restroom during intermission at the Keswick Theatres Shakti show. There were three South Asian virtuosos on stage with John McLaughlin, but the demographic distribution in the restroom line was the opposite. Behind me, two McLaughlin fans were discussing the proceedings

John [was] on fire as usual. Who is that tearing up the mandolin though? That boy can play! Wow!

The boy was the late U. Srinivas, a member of the second incarnation of Shakti.

Twenty-seven years and a few incarnations later, Shakti returns to the Keswick on Aug. 22.

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Onstage will be McLaughlin (guitar), Ustad Zakir Hussain (percussion and tabla), V. Selvaganesh (percussion and kanjira), Shankar Mahadevan (vocal), and Ganesh Rajagopalan (violin).

Opening as a solo act is Bela Fleck. A longtime fan of Shakti, Fleck has collaborated with Hussain and Edgar Meyer on numerous projects.

After performing on Miles Davis In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew, McLaughlin turned down a permanent position in Davis band. Not finding the answers he was looking for in Western music, McLaughlin turned East in the belief that Indian classical music has always been inseparable from the ways of enlightenment.

Following a series of experiments with the Mahavishnu Orchestra, he formed Shakti, the genre-defying fusion group that sits at the intersection of jazz and Carnatic classical music in 1974.

While studying the veena at Wesleyan University in the early 1970s, McLaughlin connected with Shakti founding member L. Shankar through his guru, Ramnad Raghavan. He met Hussain at a music shop in New Yorks Greenwich Village. A subsequent jam session in San Francisco under the watchful eye of the late Ustad Ali Akbar Khan sealed the deal. T.H. (Vikku) Vinayakram joined soon after. The chemistry was undeniable; the group was born.

McLaughlin won a Grammy in 2018 for his solo on Miles Beyond from his album Live at Ronnie Scotts; Hussain won one for best classical crossover album in 2010. In 1992, he cocreated Planet Drum with the Grateful Deads Mickey Hart; it won the first-ever Grammy for best world music album. The musicians are now on their 50th anniversary tour, which started in India and has made its way through Europe, performing to sold-out audiences.

Held together by parampara, the idea of inheriting a legacy or succession, this tour stitches together generations of musical knowledge with a sound that is ever-evolving. A highlight of the tours India leg, Hussain said to The Inquirer, was the Mumbai concert where Vinayakram joined the group on stage. When Vikku-ji walked on stage and the audience stood up and started applauding, we were all caught up in that euphoria. We were transported back 50 years, Hussain said.

Over the last few decades, Philadelphia has long been a prized connection for Shakti.

I have been playing nonstop in Philly for the last 25-26 years, said Hussain. Selva bhai [V. Selvaganesh] has come with me to the [Painted] Bride to play. Planet Drum performed at the Keswick many moons ago. Selvaganeshs first Masters of Percussion tour stop was also in Philadelphia. Today, the percussionist performs regularly across the East Coast and runs a chapter of Vinayakrams JGTV School in New York.

For this [tour], we were in different places. Zakir bhai was in America and I was in India, explained Selvaganesh. Because of restrictions imposed by COVID  it was necessary for us to create arrangements [remotely], said Hussain. As opposed to the old Shakti, where we would sit in the studio and play a piece 5, 6, 7 times and then pick one that was the best.

Performing the pieces when they first got together in person was a challenge, Hussain said, but if audience recordings of previous tour stops are any indication, the kinks have been worked out.

If this is your first Shakti concert, be ready to witness virtuosity, onstage mirth, multi-genre layering, telekinetic improvisations, and pure, unbridled joy. Longtime fans can expect to hear familiar favorites and be wowed by the music that was composed for this tour.

The kind of musical traditions in and around the city [are] mind-boggling, Hussain said of Philadelphia. There is African, Afro Cuban, Arabic, Indian music and traditions. So to come there [to Philly] is to sample and be a part of that experience.

They are excited to perform in Philadelphia. This will be a concert to remember.

Shakti feat. John McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain with Bela Fleck. Aug. 22. 7 p.m., Keswick Theatre, 291 N. Keswick Ave., Glenside. https://www.keswicktheatre.com/events/detail/469985
Community College of Philadelphia incoming nursing students are among the recipients of Independence Blue Cross Foundation scholarship at the reception for the Healthcare Scholars on Thursday, Aug. 17, at IBC offices. Read more

The Independence Blue Cross Foundation will pay the tuition of 35 Philly-area high school students from underrepresented backgrounds to attend nursing school. The Healthcare Scholars gathered Thursday at IBCs offices in Center City for a reception.

The programs goal is to increase representation in the nursing profession, said Lorina Marshall-Blake, the president of the foundation. A more diverse nursing workforce could help narrow racial gaps in patient outcomes.

Research shows that outcomes are better when people get care from individuals they identify with, Marshall-Blake said.

Only 7% of registered nurses in the United States are Black, according to the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, while 14% of the population identifies as Black. Men account for less than 10% of the RN workforce.

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 READ MORE: Philly health systems and IBC are launching an effort against race-based medicine

The 35 students will attend 12 nursing programs in the region, including Temple University, Widener University, and the Community College of Philadelphia. Each student will receive a full-ride scholarship  four years for those who are pursing a bachelors degree and two years for an associates degree.

Students will also have access to tutoring and other academic resources through IBC.

More than money

When Andil Fatkonsi learned that he received the scholarship, he was so excited that he poured himself a glass of sparkling apple juice to celebrate. An immigrant from the West African country of Benin, Fatkonsi wants to be the first in his family to join a medical profession. He graduated from Samuel Fels High School in 2022 and enrolled in the Community College of Philadelphia. This fall, he will start the schools nursing program.

The scholarship lifts the financial burden of his education. Its going to help a lot, he said in an interview during the reception.

Monica J. Harmon, president of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Area Black Nurses Association, gave the keynote address for the gathering. She shared her path from a West Philly girl to a public health nurse, professor, and leader in the field. There were times throughout her career that she didnt get the respect she deserves because of her race, Harmon said. But she doesnt regret becoming a nurse.

 READ MORE: Lincoln University closes its nursing program, leaving a hole in the pipeline of Black nurses

She told the students that the field offers many career options and an opportunity to be leaders that advance the profession. But to achieve all that, she urged them to put aside feelings of impostor syndrome  the psychological sense of doubt in their own skills and ability  and believe in themselves.

I promise you, you are enough, Harmon said.

That message resonated with Raheim Grant, who recently graduated from the Philadelphia Performing Arts Charter School. The South Philly native, who is heading to Widener University, always had self-doubt. The email announcing the scholarship began to change that.

Im proud of myself, Grant said.
CAMP DAVID, Md.  President Joe Biden and the leaders of Japan and South Korea agreed Friday to expand security and economic ties at a historic summit at the U.S. presidential retreat of Camp David, cementing a new agreement with the allies that are on an increasingly tense ledge in relations with China and North Korea.

Biden said the nations would establish a communications hotline to discuss responses to threats. He announced the agreements, including what the leaders termed the Camp David Principles, at the close of his talks with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Our countries are stronger and the world will be safer as we stand together. And I know this is a belief that all three share, Biden said

The purpose of our trilateral security cooperation is and will remain to promote and enhance peace and stability throughout the region, the leaders said in a joint statement.

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Biden maintained, as have US, South Korean and Japanese officials, that the summit was not about China but was focused on broader security issues. Yet, the leaders in their joint summit concluding statement noted Chinas dangerous and aggressive action in the South China Sea and said they strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the waters of the Indo-Pacific.

Yoon noted in particular the threat posed by North Korea, saying the three leaders had agreed to improve our joint response capabilities to North Koreas nuclear and missile threats, which have become sophisticated more than ever.

He said as the three appeared before reporters that today will be remembered as a historic day, where we established a firm institutional basis and commitments to the trilateral partnership.

Japans Kishida said before the private talks that the fact that we, the three leaders, have got together in this way, I believe means that we are indeed making a new history as of today. The international community is at a turning point in history.

The visitors spoke in their home languages, their comments repeated by a translator.

The U.S., Japan and South Korea agreed to a new duty to consult security pledge committing them to speak with each other in the event of a security crisis or threat in the Pacific.

The pledge is intended to acknowledge that they share fundamentally interlinked security environments and that a threat to one is a threat to all, according to a senior Biden administration official. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the announcement.

Under the pledge, the three countries agree to consult, share information and align their messaging with each other in the face of a threat or crisis, the official said.

The Camp David retreat, 65 miles (104.6 kilometers) from the White House, was where President Jimmy Carter brought together Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in September 1978 for talks that established a framework for a historic peace treaty between Israel and Egypt in March 1979. In the midst of World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met at the retreat  then known as Shangri-La  to plan the Italian campaign that would knock Benito Mussolini out of the war.

Kishida and Yoon were mindful of Camp Davids place in U.S. and world history, making repeated references to its past and now their place in it during their comments at the news conference after the meeting with Biden. The leaders arrived in Washington on Thursday and, as guests of Biden, on Friday were flown separately to Camp David on U.S. military helicopters like the ones Biden uses.

Bidens focus for the gathering was to nu dge the United States two closest Asian allies to further tighten security and economic cooperation with each other. The historic rivals have been divided by differing views of World War II history and Japans colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

But under Kishida and Yoon, the two countries have begun a rapprochement as the two conservative leaders grapple with shared security challenges posed by North Korea and China. Both leaders have been upset by the stepped-up cadence of North Koreas ballistic missile tests and Chinese military exercises near Taiwan, the self-ruled island that is claimed by Beijing as part of its territory, and other aggressive action.

Yoon proposed an initiative in March to resolve disputes stemming from compensation for wartime Korean forced laborers. He announced that South Korea would use its own funds to compensate Koreans enslaved by Japanese companies before the end of World War II.

Yoon also traveled to Tokyo that month for talks with Kishida, the first such visit by a South Korean president in more than 12 years. Kishida reciprocated with a visit to Seoul in May and expressed sympathy for the suffering of Korean forced laborers during Japans colonial rule,

The effort to sustain the trilateral relationship wont be without challenges.

Beijing sees the tightening cooperation efforts as the first steps of a Pacific-version of NATO, the transatlantic military alliance, forming against it. U.S. officials expect that North Korea will lash outperhaps with more ballistic missile test and certainly blistering rhetoric.

Polls show that a solid majority of South Koreans oppose Yoons handling of the forced labor issue thats been central to mending relations with Japan. And many in Japan fear that bolstering security cooperation will lead the country into an economic Cold War with China, its biggest trading partner. Bidens predecessor (and potential successor) Republican Donald Trump unnerved South Korea during his time in the White House with talk of reducing the U.S. military presence on the Korean Peninsula.

If an ultra-leftist South Korean president and an ultra-right wing Japanese leader are elected in their next cycles, or even if Trump or someone like him wins in the U.S., then any one of them could derail all the meaningful, hard work Biden, Yoon and Kishida are putting in right now, said Duyeon Kim, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security s Indo-Pacific Security Program.
Elauda Seawright, 39, of Elkins Park, a Philadelphia police officer in the 16th District, takes a group photo with her daughters Elasia Grisson, 12, (left) and Ananda Grisson, 18, (right) at their new home in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2023. Seawright lost her home to an electrical fire in the basement of her house. Read more

Not all heroes wear capes, as the saying goes.

They cant always leap tall buildings in a single bound, either. What they do have is exceptional courage and the willingness to exercise it during times of crisis.

This is why, to me, Philadelphia Police Officer Elauda Seawright qualifies as one.

July 15 started out like any other summer evening. Seawright, 39, and her two daughters picked up takeout from the Willow Grove Mall before heading to their Mount Airy home for dinner and a show on Disney+. But during the wee hours when the family was asleep, a fire erupted in their two-story rowhome in the 8000 block of Fayette Street.

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 READ MORE: A stranger helped a woman deliver her baby on a North Philly street. After that, he kept helping. | Jenice Armstrong

Seawrights younger daughter, 12-year-old Elasia Grisson, noticed it first and woke up her mother saying she smelled smoke and could hear the fire alarm. Seawright sprang out of bed and raced to alert her other daughter, Ananda Grisson, 18, and 37-year-old Carmella, Seawrights sister, who also lived in the home.

I attempted to go downstairs but we couldnt, she told me. The smoke was too heavy. I went in my bedroom and I looked out of the window and I said, This is where weve got to go.

But the distance from the second-floor window was around 20 to 30 feet above the ground, seemingly too far to safely jump.

Seawright removed the top sheet from her bed and wrapped it around her forearm before instructing Elasia to hold onto the end of it. Seawright held tight as she carefully lowered the child out of the window. Next, she pulled up the sheet and handed the end to Ananda, and lowered her down the side of the house. Seawright then did the same for her sister. But the fire was building behind her, and as she attempted to lower Carmella to the ground, Seawright became overwhelmed by the heavy smoke. I cant breathe, she yelled, before losing her grip on the sheet.

Seawright could hear her sisters cries as she plummeted onto the concrete below, breaking her left leg in the process.

But Seawright couldnt dwell on that in the moment; the time had come for her to save herself.

There was no one to hold the sheet for her, so she decided to jump.

There was no one to hold the sheet for her, so she decided to jump. To avoid landing on her sister, who was lying on the ground directly below on their front steps, she propelled her body forward in a giant leap and managed to land nearby. She sprained her ankle but jumped right up and headed to a neighbors house to tell them what was going on.

First responders arrived quickly, but practically everything Seawright and her family owned  except for the pajamas they had on that night  was destroyed.

They were banged up and bruised, but alive. Superhero Seawright had saved her family.

After stumbling across a social media post about Seawright, I decided to meet her at the apartment in Elkins Park where she is staying temporarily.

We stood on her front porch as she walked me through the nightmarish details of that night. I got to see the lifesaving sheet that Seawright had used. Its light colored and covered with a French bulldog pattern since Seawright is a dog lover. She demonstrated how shed wrapped it around her arm and braced one foot next to her queen-sized bed and the other against the front wall as she lowered everyone to safety. She plans to frame pieces of it.

Seawright hopes to one day renovate and return to the home she purchased seven years ago; fire officials said that the blaze started because of an electrical fire in the basement. Meanwhile, members of the Police Department, where she is a 10-year veteran, and others have been to visit and drop off clothes, food, and other necessities to help her family rebuild. Her best friend, Officer Jeanette Meizinger, who is based with Seawright in the 16th District, created a GoFundMe.

Seawright and her relatives remain shaken up by what happened, but theyre grateful to be alive. Ananda left Thursday to start her first year at Penn State, her mothers alma mater.

Looking back, Seawright credits the quick thinking she learned in the police academy as well as a higher power for her heroic actions. God gave me wings, she said, but I just didnt know how to use them.

She does now.
Philly Proud Boys president Zachary Rehl, left, and Ethan Nordean, a regional leader of the organization, march toward the U.S. Capitol in Washington, in support of President Donald Trump, on Jan. 6, 2021. Read more

Zach Rehl, head of the Philadelphia chapter of the Proud Boys, could spend three decades in federal prison if prosecutors get their way later this month at his sentencing hearing.

The role that Rehl and three other leaders of the neofacist organization played in organizing the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol threatened the bedrock principles of our country and warranted the significant punishment, government lawyers argued in a court filing late Thursday.

Their recommendation of 30 years is considerably more than that of the most serious prison sentence imposed so far against a participant in the Capitol siege  the 18-year term given in May to Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes.

These defendants and the men in their command saw themselves as the foot soldiers of the right  they were prepared to use, and they did use, force to stop the traitors from stealing the election, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jason B.A. McCullough and Conor Mulroe wrote of Rehl and his codefendants. They failed. They are not heroes; they are criminals.

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Like Rhodes, Rehl, 37, of Port Richmond, and three codefendants  Enrique Tarrio, the Proud Boys national chairman; and regional leaders Ethan Nordean and Joseph Biggs  were convicted by a federal jury on seditious conspiracy charges, the most serious count levied against any of the more than 1,000 charged participants in the Jan. 6 riot and one that carries a prison sentence of up to 20 years.

 READ MORE: Proud Boys verdict: Who is Zach Rehl, the Philly leader of the right-wing group, convicted at Jan. 6 sedition trial

In their filings this week, prosecutors urged U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly to stack that maximum sentence on top of punishment for the other counts on which the Proud Boys leaders were convicted and impose an enhanced terrorism penalty.

Prosecutors also announced their intention to seek sentences of 33 years for Tarrio and Biggs, 27 for Nordean and 20 for Dominic Pezzola, a Proud Boys member from New York who was convicted alongside the others on less serious felonies but acquitted at trial of the sedition charge. All five defendants are set to be sentenced the week of Aug. 28.

McCullough and Mulroe painted the Proud Boys conduct as worse than their Oath Keepers counterparts.

Rhodes was convicted of stockpiling weapons and amassing a strike force outside of Washington in expectation of former President Donald Trump giving them the word to attack.

But by the time he and the other Oath Keepers began to mobilize toward the Capitol, a crowd of nearly 200 whipped up by the Proud Boys had already helped initiate the first breach of police lines that day.

Rehl and his codefendants, they said, stood at the vanguard.

F em. Storm the Capitol! he shouted in a cell phone video shot moments after that breach.

And within minutes, according to the footage presented by prosecutors during his trial, Rehl  a former Marine and the son and grandson of Philadelphia police cops  was deploying pepper spray against officers in his path.

They viewed themselves as revolutionaries, McCullough and Mulroe said, and they believed fully in their cause.

But Rehls attorney, Norman Pattis, maintained that his clients firmly held, if incorrect, belief that the 2020 presidential election had been stolen and that he was protecting democracy should prompt the judge to have mercy.

In his own sentencing recommendation, Rehls attorney urged the judge to release his client after the two and a half years hes spent in prison since his 2021 arrest.

These defendants are not terrorists, wrote Pattis, whose previous clients have included right-wing provocateur Alex Jones. Whatever excess of zeal they demonstrated on Jan. 6, 2021, and no matter how grave the potential interference with the orderly transfer of power due to the events of that day, a decade or more behind bars is excessive punishment.

Throughout the four-month trial that played out in Washington earlier this year, just steps from the Capitol, Rehl continuously sought to portray himself as an unwitting participant in an attack that caused millions of dollars in damage, injured scores of officers and threatened the peaceful transition of power.

Though he and the other Proud Boys leaders had spent weeks heeding Trumps call to gather in Washington Jan. 6 and organizing a crowd to march on the Capitol that day, Rehl maintained none of them anticipated the chaos that eventually erupted.

If I believe that I did anything wrong, he told jurors while testifying in his own defense, I really do truly apologize.

Prosecutors, however, quickly punctured that pretense using Rehls own words.

Rehl testified that, as head of the Proud Boys Philadelphia chapter, hed led a more disciplined and politically focused group than some other chapters, which had gained notoriety for street brawls with counterprotesters in incidents leading up to the Jan. 6 attack.

But text messages introduced by prosecutors showed Rehl valued members who could throw down and fast-tracked the membership of one man whom he described as ready to crack skulls.

In the run-up to Jan. 6, Rehl was one of several leaders of the organization handpicked by Tarrio to organize the Proud Boys actions. Hed endorsed on social media firing squads for the traitors that are trying to steal the election.

When confronted during his trial testimony with body camera footage that appeared to show him pepper spraying police during the riot, Rehl responded that he couldnt recall if hed assaulted an officer that day.

And once the Capitol was eventually cleared and recriminations had begun to set in, Rehl expressed regret that he and the mob he helped lead hadnt succeeded.

Looking back, it sucked, he texted other members of the Philadelphia chapter on Jan. 7. We shoulda held the Capitol.  Everyone shoulda showed up armed and took the country back the right way.

McCullough and Mulroe said Thursday that Rehls words should leave little doubt of his true intentions that day.

They unleashed a force on the Capitol that was calculated to exert their political will on elected officials by force and undo the results of a democratic election, they wrote.

Pattis, however, called for restraint, arguing that whatever his clients crimes hed already been sufficiently punished.

Rehl has spent most of the last two and a half years awaiting trial in solitary confinement. While in prison, he missed the birth of his second child and the high school graduation of his first. As a result of his conviction, the disability checks from his military service, which had supported his family, have been withdrawn.

We are a nation born in dissent; our politics has often been raw and raucous, Pattis wrote. The challenge in divided times is not to divide and conquer, but to build bridges between people who love this country, sometimes in shockingly different ways.
Co-owners of Cantina La Martina Mariangeli Alicea Saez (left), and Dionicio Jimenez (right), in front of their restaurant, in Philadelphia, Thursday, August 10, 2023. Read more

Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter

Happy Friday. It should be a mostly sunny day with a high of 83.

Dionicio Jimenez and Mariangeli Alicea Saez, co-owners of Cantina La Martina, the Mexican restaurant in Kensington, are committed to the neighborhood. From the beginning, their goal was to become an integral part of the community.

Since opening last year, the two have slowly learned that theres a cost to having a business at their location that sits across from the Somerset El station.

Our lead story explains why daily operations are a challenge for Kensington businesses.

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 Taylor Allen (@TayImanAllen, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

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In one year, Cantina La Martina earned several spots in local best-of lists and the chef was a 2023 James Beard finalist.

But the restaurant struggles behind the scenes to get and maintain reliable vendors. Citing safety concerns, companies started to cut ties last fall with Cantina La Martina and the cancellations have added up. When the owners can get alternatives, its usually more expensive. The phenomenon has been dubbed the Kensington tax.

Note: Kensington is the epicenter of one of the countrys largest open-air drug markets.

Cantina La Martinas experience isnt unique. Kensington Avenue business owners told The Inquirer that stagnant conditions like widespread homelessness, drug use and sales, and the subsequent gun violence make daily operations difficult.

Keep reading to learn what help these business owners want from the city.

This week, our political columnist better known as Clout has their eyes on Pennsylvanias 1st Congressional District.

A right-wing anti-abortion activist is running to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, and U.S. Scott Perry might have played a role.

Clout offers two potential explanations:

Perry encouraged Mark Houck, a political novice who gained fame after being acquitted earlier this year on federal charges for intimidating workers at a Philly clinic that performs abortions, to compete against Fitzpatrick in next years primary. Or, Perry was just supportive when Houck asked for advice about running but didnt specifically tell him he should do it.

Either way, Houck filed paperwork to challenge Fitzpatrick earlier this month.

Meanwhile, Democrat Ashley Ehasz  who lost to Fitzpatrick last year by nine points  is also vying for the seat.

Keep reading to learn what the Republican lawmakers camps had to say.

What you should know today

 Trivia time 

James Harden released his wines, aptly named J-Harden Wines, in China last week. It joins the United States, Canada, Japan, the Philippines, and Malaysia as countries that distribute it.

How many bottles did he sell in China within minutes?

A) 50,000

B) 15,000

C) 16,000

D) 17,000

Think you know? Check your answer.

What were...

 Wondering: Will the Georgia prosecutor who secured an indictment against former President Donald Trump and 18 others for allegedly scheming to keep Trump in office despite his 2020 election loss get the March trial date she wants?

 Congratulating: A 6-year-old boy from Montgomery County who won a national mullet contest.

 Unscramble the anagram 

Hint: Not the Jersey Shore

HEATHEN CABBY

Email us if you know the answer. Well select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Toby Allen, who correctly guessed Thursdays answer: Muddy Run Park.

Photo of the day

Thats all I have for today. Im wishing you a quick Friday so you can kick-start the weekend. Paola will be in your inbox on Sunday. 
SafetyCulture has an enormous client base and goes deep into lots of industry verticals including hospitality, construction, mining and aviation, said Frank Costigan (pictured above). What we want to do  and we're not there yet  but the reason why weve got actuaries and data scientists on the site is because we want to start getting insights from these organizations where we can see what they're doing.
In total, around 20,000 Yellowknife residents have been ordered to evacuate the city by noon. Residents in high-risk zones such as Ingraham Trail, Dettah, Kam Lake, Grace Lake, and Engle Business District were instructed to evacuate as soon as possible.
This is a recurring theme around the world and theres a need to adapt to the disasters of today, because were talking about climate change, and how its going to affect future catastrophes, and thats going to put even more pressure on the building stock, said Lorinc. Well need to prepare and invest into resilient building stock, and you can see that even now it cannot perform 100%.
The BMA and White Rock have jointly agreed to a course of action in the Supreme Court of Bermuda. The move is intended to pursue maximum recovery for insureds affected by alleged fraud involving Vesttoo and fake letters of credit (LOC), the BMA said in a news release on Friday.
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Police have changed their account of a fatal shooting by a Philadelphia officer earlier this week, acknowledging that the person was shot inside the car rather than outside and no longer saying that he fled a traffic stop and later lunged at at police with a knife.

Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said video on the body-worn cameras of both officers involved made it very clear that what we initially reported was not actually what happened.

I understand and want to acknowledge the hurt and confusion that family and community members can experience when details of investigations change, and especially when they change in a very public way that this has occurred, Outlaw told reporters Wednesday.

Police haven`t identified the officers involved and haven`t released bodycam video.

Outlaw said two investigations are underway, one involving the district attorneys office to determine whether officers followed the law and another internal affairs probe to determine whether they followed department policies and procedures

The shooting happened after officers spotted a car being driven erratically shortly before 12:30 p.m. Monday in north Philadelphia and the driver then headed south for several blocks before turning the wrong way down a one-way street, police said.

Police originally said Monday that officers tried to pull the driver over but he fled. Cpl. Jasmine Reilly also said at that time that he came out of the car with a knife and lunged at officers, ignoring commands to drop the weapon.

But in a new account of the shooting in a police statement Tuesday night, police did not say officers tried to stop the vehicle, only that they followed the driver until he stopped. Then, they said, an officer approaching the passenger side of the vehicle warned the other officer, who was approaching the driver`s side, that the driver had a weapon. As the male turned towards the officer on the driver`s side, that officer fired multiple times into the vehicle, the statement said.

The driver was shot several times and was pronounced dead at a hospital minutes later, police said.

During the press briefing at the scene on 8/14/23, the preliminary information indicated that the driver was outside of the vehicle at the time of the shooting,  police said in the statement, adding that now the evidence indicates that the male was seated inside the vehicle.

Christine Coulter, chief of detectives, said the report that the person was shot outside the vehicle was something called in to police radio, and officials are trying figure out who said it. The officer who shot the driver hasn`t yet been interviewed because department policy affords officers 72 hours after a shooting before that happens, she said.

Police in their revised account Tuesday said two knives were observed inside the vehicle but declined to say whether the driver was holding a weapon or was ordered to drop one. A detective said one appeared to be a kitchen-style knife and the other a serrated folding knife.

Outlaw acknowledged that the shifting accounts would make it a challenge to re- establish trust with the community, and will raise additional questions. However, she also said that officials had to protect the integrity of the investigation that also involves the district attorney.

Sometimes I feel like we take 20 steps forward and it just takes one incident, we take 50 steps backward, Outlaw said. I`m hoping that they see that this is a genuine effort to do everything that we can to share what we know when we have it as we receive it.

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Law Enforcement Personal Auto
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YouTube, Reddit and a body armor manufacturer were among the businesses that helped enable the gunman who killed 10 Black people in a racist attack at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket, according to a pair of lawsuits announced Wednesday.

The complementary lawsuits filed by Everytown Law in state court in Buffalo claim that the massacre at Tops supermarket in May 2022 was made possible by a host of companies and individuals, from tech giants to a local gun shop to the gunman`s parents. The suits were filed Tuesday on behalf of the son of a 65-year- old victim and a group of survivors who say they`re still traumatized more than a year later. Everytown Law is the litigation arm of Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund.

I still live with those images every day. Its a part of my life. For the rest of my life, I will have it in my mind, Fragrance Harris Stanfield, who was working that day at Tops, said at a news conference. She is among the 16 employees and other survivors who are plaintiffs in one of the suits.

The other lawsuit was bought on behalf of Wayne Jones, the son of Celestine Chaney, who was killed while shopping for strawberry shortcake ingredients with her older sister.

Payton Gendron was 18 years old when he opened fire at the Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo on May 14, 2022, killing 10 Black people and wounding three other people. He had driven 200 miles (322 kilometers) from his home in Conklin, New York, after conducting online research to choose a target.

The lawsuits accuse the defendants of helping provide motivation, equipment or knowledge to the gunman.

Buffalo Supermarket Shooting Victims Sue Facebook, Amazon, Other Tech Giants

RMA Armament is named for providing the body armor Gendron wore during the shooting. Vintage Firearms of Endicott, New York, is singled out for selling the shooter the weapon used in the attack. The lawsuit claims Mean LLC manufactured an easily removable gun lock, offering a way to circumvent New York laws prohibiting assault weapons and large-capacity magazines.

YouTube, named with parent companies Alphabet Inc. and Google, is accused of contributing to the gunman`s radicalization and helping him acquire information to plan the attack. Similarly, the lawsuits claim Reddit promoted extreme content and offered a specialized forum relating to tactical gear.

Paul and Pamela Gendron, meanwhile, abdicated their duties as parents of a son with history of disturbing behavior, the lawsuits allege.

We aim to change the corporate and individual calculus so that every company and every parent recognizes they have a role to play in preventing future gun violence, said Eric Tirschwell, executive director of Everytown Law.

Calls, emails and a text seeking comment were sent to the defendants or their attorneys.

A spokesperson for YouTube said they had the deepest sympathies for the victims and survivors.

Through the years, YouTube has invested in technology, teams, and policies to identify and remove extremist content. We regularly work with law enforcement, other platforms, and civil society to share intelligence and best practices, spokesperson Jose Castaneda said in an email.

The operator of Vintage Firearms texted that he had no comment.

Gendron is serving a prison sentence of life without parole after pleading guilty to crimes including murder and domestic terrorism motivated by hate. A federal criminal hate crimes case is still pending, as U.S. Justice Department officials consider whether to seek the death penalty if Gendron is convicted.

Multiple lawsuits have been filed in the shooting`s wake. Last month, victims` relatives filed a lawsuit claiming tech and social media giants such as Facebook, Amazon and Google bear responsibility for radicalizing Gendron.

Photo: Police walk outside the Tops grocery store May 15, 2022, in Buffalo, N.Y. The white gunman charged with killing 10 Black people in a racist mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket is scheduled for arraignment in federal court on Monday, July 18, 2022, on an indictment that could make him eligible for the death penalty if he is found guilty. (AP Photo/Joshua Bessex, File)

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits New York Gun Liability
Wildfires have forced an evacuation of Yellowknife, the capital of Canadas Northwest Territories.

Officials with the territorial government told residents in the highest-risk areas to evacuate immediately. Other residents have until 12 p.m. local time on Friday to leave the city of about 20,000

Depending on smoke conditions, those leaving by car will be escorted through the active fire zone, officials said. Residents who cant leave by road are being asked to register for evacuation flights.

The fires were about 17 kilometers (10.6 miles) from the city, Shane Thompson, the territorys environment minister, told reporters Wednesday evening. Without rain, it is possible it will reach the city outskirts by the weekend, he said.

For some, it will be the second exodus in recent days. Evacuees from the remote communities of Hay River and Fort Smith were already being housed in Yellowknife, according to an update Tuesday.

Yellowknife is about 1,400 kilometers north of Edmonton, Alberta.

Canada is experiencing the worst wildfire season on record. More than 1,000 active fires are burning across the country of which more than 670 are out of control, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. So far, 13.7 million hectares have burned, far exceeding the 1995 record of 7.1 million hectares.

Photograph: Wildfire smoke fills the air at Boundary Creek, Northwest Territories about 15 miles (25km) east of Yellowknife, on Tuesday Aug. 15 2023. Members of the Canadian Armed Forces mobilized in the Northwest Territories, as wildfires threatened communities including the territorial capital, and hundreds of people were airlifted to safety. (Bill Braden/The Canadian Press via AP)

Copyright 2023 Bloomberg.

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Wildfire Canada
Some regions of India are bracing for more torrential rain, raising the risk of further causalities after natural calamities such as floods and lightning killed 2,000 people during the current monsoon season.

Rains have affected about 500,000 hectares (1.24 million acres) of crops and damaged almost 90,000 houses since the start of the monsoon in early June, according to data compiled by the home ministry. Around 60,000 animals have also died, the figures show.

The June-September monsoon that irrigates about half of the countrys farm land is vital for Indias food production and economic growth, but also causes widespread damage and destruction. The weather office says that climate change is making the annual weather pattern more volatile, increasing the chance of both flooding and droughts.

Extreme weather hit Indias wheat crop last year and is threatening sugar output in 2023-24, prompting the government to take several measures to soften soaring food prices. The administration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is gearing up for elections in early 2024, has curbed exports of wheat, rice and sugar, and is selling grains from state reserves.

Further precipitation could also impact standing rice crops, which will be harvested in October. Several states, including Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh, are set to be lashed by heavy rains in the coming days, according to the India Meteorological Department. This risk of flash floods in some areas has also increased, it said on Friday.

The northern state of Himachal Pradesh in the Himalayas is bearing the brunt of extreme weather, with the death toll rising to more than 330 since the start of the monsoon. Some 500 people, who were stranded when a dam opened its gates on Monday night to avoid damage to its structure, were rescued by air force helicopters and other teams working in the area, according to the federal home ministry.

The Indian Army and the National Disaster Response Force rescued about 300 people on Thursday from some flood-hit villages of Punjab, a state in northern India, the Press Trust of India reported. Parts of mega cities Delhi and Mumbai, where millions of people live, were also flooded last month due to heavy rains for several days.

Photograph: Rescuers remove mud and debris as they search for people feared trapped after a landslide near a temple on the outskirts of Shimla, Himachal Pradesh state, Monday, Aug.14, 2023. Heavy monsoon rains triggered floods and landslides in Indias Himalayan region, leaving more than a dozen people dead and many others trapped, officials said Monday. (AP Photo/ Pradeep Kumar)

Copyright 2023 Bloomberg.

Topics Flood
Ryan Specialty Appoints Guerville to Chief Underwriting Officer of Ryan Specialty Underwriting Managers

Ryan Specialty, headquartered in Chicago, Ill. appointed Kathy Guerville to chief underwriting officer of its underwriting management specialty, Ryan Specialty Underwriting Managers.

Guerville has 15 years of insurance actuarial experience, including seven years with Ryan Specialty where she served in several roles, including senior actuary, actuarial director and deputy chief underwriting officer. Prior to joining Ryan Specialty, she was with Zurich Insurance Company in the US, Zurich and London.

Topics Excess Surplus Underwriting
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Business leaders think that the spread of remote work has had more negative effects than positive ones, but they also see the practice becoming ingrained, according to a new survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Roughly two-thirds of respondents said remote work had a negative impact in four areas: workplace culture, cohesiveness and team environment, communication among employees, and training and mentorship. The upside for employers: more than half said that work-from-home makes it easier to recruit staff, and more than two-thirds said it helps to retain them.

The study comes as high-profile companies from Citigroup Inc. to Amazon.com Inc. are pushing to get more of their workers back in the office. The shift to remote work during the pandemic is enduringly popular with employees, but corporate chiefs worry its making their businesses less productive. Commercial property markets, and downtown businesses like restaurants, have also taken a hit.

According to the New York Feds survey, 68% of employees at service firms work in-person all the time and 13% entirely remotely, while the other 19% have a hybrid status, averaging 2.2 days per week out of the office. That balance isnt seen changing all that much in the coming year. At manufacturing firms, 94% of employees work in-person.

The study found that 25% of business leaders have changed policies over the past year to require more in-person work, while 17% plan to do that in the coming year. Overall, service firms would prefer more than three-quarters of their workers to be fully on-site  9 percentage points higher than the current share.

Remote work is also changing the physical environment of the workplace. About one in eight service firms has reduced their office space over the past year, with an average reduction of 41%.

Photo: Photographer: Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg

Copyright 2023 Bloomberg.
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RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)  North Carolina Republican legislative leaders finalized on Wednesday their efforts to curb the appointment powers of the governor on several boards and commissions, extending a yearslong struggle with Democrat Roy Cooper over who controls key panels within state government.

The General Assembly, its leaders or other statewide elected officials would get to make many of those choices instead under the bill. The elected insurance commissioner would also appoint a member to the Coastal Resources Commission.

The GOP-dominated House and Senate approved separately their consensus measure on party-line votes, sending it to Cooper, who likely will veto it. Cooper and his allies have called versions of the bill earlier this year unconstitutional power grabs.

Republicans hold narrow veto-proof majorities in both chambers.

I know that this is a bill that were all not going to agree on, GOP Rep. Destin Hall of Caldwell County, one of the bill`s negotiators. He called the appointment shift a better way to do it because of the diversity in this body and across the state.

There are eight panels in the bill that are being changed in which currently Cooper`s picks or those of future governors compose all or a majority of the panel`s seats.

Only one of those eight  the Utilities Commission  would leave a majority of seats with the governor. But instead of picking all seven seats, the governor would over time get to choose just three seats for a reconstituted five-member commission.

And the legislature or its chamber leaders would choose a majority of positions on the Board of Transportation and the Economic Investment Committee, which award monetary incentives to companies that agree to invest and create jobs in the state.

Republican legislative leaders argue a rebalance of power is necessary to ensure differing viewpoints beyond those preferred by the governor. Democrats cite state court rulings going back 40 years addressing the separation of powers as evidence that the bill would be unconstitutional.

Consolidating power in this body is a bad, bad, bad idea, House Minority Leader Robert Reives of Chatham County said during debate. Weve got to support what government is supposed to be about. And I struggle to believe that continuing to consolidate power in this body is best for North Carolina.

Hall argued the bill is lawful, but other Republican colleagues have previously acknowledged that more litigation may be ahead to hash out the issue.

The final measure omits a provision in the House`s version that would have increased the number of voting members the General Assembly elects to the University of North Carolina Board of Governors from 24 to 28.

But it does add two more seats to the trustee boards of UNC-Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University that would be chosen by the legislature. The General Assembly would now appoint six of 15 trustee positions for each campus, with eight others still picked by the Board of Governors. The fifteenth trustee is the campus student government president.

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics North Carolina Oklahoma
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JACKSON, Miss. (AP)  A California-based company will pay just under $5 million in fines for discharging wastewater into a publicly owned sewage treatment plant in Mississippi without obtaining a valid state permit, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

View Inc., a glass-making firm headquartered in Silicon Valley, previously pleaded guilty to negligently discharging wastewater into a city sewer system from the company`s sole manufacturing facility in Olive Branch, Mississippi. That discharge endangered residents in the north Mississippi community and Memphis suburb of almost 40,000, federal prosecutors said.

When companies place profit and convenience above public safety, we will do all we can to punish that behavior and protect the public, U.S. Attorney Clay Joyner said in a news release. This illegal discharge of wastewater into the public treatment facility demonstrated a blatant disregard for the safety and wellbeing of citizens in our District.

In addition to the fines, U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock sentenced the company to a three-year term of probation.

The company discharges about 248,000 gallons of wastewater per day from glass- cutting, grinding, washing and polishing directly into the citys sewer system. But the company did so without a proper permit for years, prosecutors said.

Unpermitted discharges of industrial wastewater can pose a serious threat to our nations wastewater treatment systems, said Charles Carfagno, a special agent with the Environmental Protection Agency.

The company did not answer a call to its general line and did not immediately respond to a written request for comment.

The Mississippi glass plant opened by View Inc. was initially touted as a successful economic development project by former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour. In 2010, Barbour lured the company, previously known as Soladigm, to the state with a $40 million loan, according to The Commercial Appeal.

According to its website, the company makes smart windows that can lower energy costs and improve mental health. In July, the company reached a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for failing to disclose $28 million in liabilities to address a defect in its windows. In a news release, the agency said it decided not to impose civil penalties because the company self-reported its misconduct.

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Mississippi
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 A U.S. judge in Florida on Thursday declined to block the states law barring citizens of China and other countries of concern from owning homes or land in the state.

U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor in Tallahassee, Florida, said that because the ban is based on citizenship and not race or national origin, it likely does not violate the U.S. Constitution or a law banning housing discrimination.

Winsor, an appointee of Republican then-President Donald Trump, denied a bid by four Chinese nationals to block the law pending the outcome of their lawsuit filed in May.

Ashley Gorski, a staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union who represents the plaintiffs, said the group would appeal.

The Florida attorney generals office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Floridas law prohibits individuals who are domiciled in China and are not U.S. citizens or green card holders from purchasing buildings or land in the state.

It also bars most citizens of Cuba, Venezuela, Syria, Iran, Russia and North Korea from owning property near military installations and infrastructure such as power plants and airports.

The law has a narrow exception, allowing holders of non-tourist visas from these countries to own a single property that is at least five miles from critical infrastructure.

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is running for U.S. president, said when he signed the law in May that it would help protect Americans from the influence of the Chinese Communist Party.

The ACLU claims the law violates the U.S. Constitutions guarantees of equal protection and due process and the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA), which prohibits housing discrimination based on race and national origin.

The Biden administration filed a brief last month agreeing that the Florida law violates the FHA.

But Winsor on Thursday said because the law applies to anyone domiciled in China, it could apply to individuals who are not originally from China and therefore does not discriminate based on any protected traits.

Topics Florida Legislation Property China
California residents driven from their homes by one of the deadliest wildfires in recent history had one request before they would rebuild in the small mountain town of Paradise: warning sirens to bolster town emergency systems that failed some people before the fast-moving inferno that killed 85.

Town officials started testing the new sirens this summer after installation began in spring and as the five-year anniversary of the wildfire that wiped out much of the community approaches this November. There will eventually be 21 sirens erected throughout town that will emit one minute of loud, Hi-Lo warning sounds followed by evacuation instructions.

If youre going to come back to town, if youre going to be part of Paradise again, what would make you feel secure and happy and wanting to come back? What do you need? Paradise Mayor Greg Bolin recalled asking residents after the fire. Number one on that list was a warning system.

Tests of the sirens began in July and are run on the first Saturday of every month. Twelve sirens were ready for testing in early August, at locations ranging from Town Hall to police headquarters to remote intersections. The towns protocol says the sirens and messaging will sound for 10 minutes, followed by intervals of five minutes of silence and five minutes of warnings until the emergency has subsided.

Reliable, audible warning systems are becoming more critical during wildfires of increasing speed and ferocity, especially as power lines and cell towers fail, knocking out communications critical to keeping people informed. After 2017 fires that ripped through California`s wine country, killing dozens, residents complained they got little to no warning from officials, who used phone calls and other alert systems but did not deploy a widespread cellphone alert. Many residents of Paradise had the same complaint.

Even when siren systems are in place, officials must make the choice to activate them.

Officials in Hawaii failed to activate sirens last week, raising questions about whether everything was done to alert the public in a state that devised an elaborate emergency warning system for potential dangers that include war, volcanoes, hurricanes and wildfires. On Maui, a fast-moving wildfire has killed more than 100.

As in Paradise, some people tried to flee Lahaina but perished in their cars after getting stuck in traffic gridlock.

Many residents said they received no warning on their cellphones or landlines as the fire quickly spread their way. They jumped in their vehicles to escape only after seeing smoke and flames, or after relatives or neighbors knocked on their doors.

If that fire would have happened just a few hours earlier than what it did, we would have had hundreds of people die from that because theyd have been in bed,  Bolin said.

The new sirens, similar to a tsunami warning system, are being incorporated into the citys emergency services, which include mass cell notifications, an emergency call center for people to call, and an AM radio station to broadcast public safety information.

Paradise`s siren system can be controlled manually, over the internet, or by satellite. The towers` power is hard-wired underground, but each siren also has a solar panel that can store two weeks worth of power.

Weve got back-up after back-up on these, Bolin said.

University of California forest expert Yana Valachovic said the redundancy in emergency services is needed to address different scenarios.

We cannot guarantee that well have power and cellphone communication capacities so, every community needs a full toolbox of resources, she said.

Authorities also need to consider designating temporary refuge areas and practice evacuating their communities at different times of the day, she added.

As part of rebuilding Paradise, crews have removed thousands of trees, cleared defensible space around homes to slow down fires, buried power cables underground, and widened evacuation routes to handle more traffic, Bolin said.

Like Paradise, communities across California are coming up with systems to notify people in case of an emergency, from sirens to police patrol cars and other emergency vehicles to cellphone notification systems. In May, officials in Santa Rosa, where the wine country fires broke out, tested a new cellphone alert system. In March, Beverly Hills began installing 12 outdoor sirens. Sonoma County has installed a sophisticated fire camera system to detect blazes early.

The California Office of Emergency Services in 2019 issued alert and warning guidelines for counties. It warns sirens can have limited effectiveness because people inside well-insulated homes and buildings may not hear them well.

If a public siren is used for alert and warning, it should include an extensive public outreach campaign to train residents and visitors on what the siren means and the intended protective action, it says.

Jen Goodlin, a Paradise native and director of Rebuild Paradise who moved back after the fire to help with the reconstruction, said she supports the sirens because many in the community dont have easy access to the internet or media.

Having the sirens is a way to help them escape sooner. It makes me feel safer, Goodlin said.

Rodriguez reported from San Francisco.

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics California
AccuWeather on Friday issued an alert warning of the potential of a life-threatening, flooding disaster in the mountains and deserts of Southern California and far southwest Nevada due to Hurricane Hilary.

In the area, primarily east of Palm Springs and north toward Death Valley, 4 to 8 inches of rain is expected, which can quickly cause washouts and mudslides, according to AccuWeather.

AccuWeather said the rain has to potential to fall rapidly at times, putting significant strain on infrastructure including interstates and rail lines. That infrastructure may be unable to handle the historic rain amounts, the weather service added.

The impact from Hilary has the potential to be an extraordinary event, one that is rare and unprecedented, AccuWeather Director of Forecasting Operations Dan DePodwin said in a statement. In the interior of southern California, road closures due to washouts are likely. At the coast, coastal flooding can occur from Los Angeles to San Diego along with gusty winds that can cause power outages.

According to AM Best, the top homeowners multiperil insurers in California include:

State Farm Group (20.6%)

Farmers Insurance Group (14.5%)

CSAA Insurance Group (6.7%)

Liberty Mutual Insurance Cos. (6.4%)

Allstate Insurance Group (6.3%)

AccuWeather meteorologists first warned on Thursday that Hurricane Hilary was anticipated to bring heavy rain, flash flooding and strong winds to parts of California, Nevada and Arizona.

Topics California Flood Nevada
Source: Streetwise Reports

August 18, 2023 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Grounded Lithium releases PEA, continues record of success. Read on to see how this company is breaking the mold of lithium producers.

Grounded Lithium Corp. (GRD:TSX.V; GRDAF:OTCQB) has announced the filing of its preliminary economic assessment, "NI43-101 Technical Report: Preliminary Economic Assessment Kindersley Lithium Project- Phase 1." The report is dated August 9, 2023, and effective as of June 30, 2023. The PEA addresses only the first phase of 11,000 tons per year of battery-grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate (LHM) production from the Kindersley Lithium Project (KLP). The PEA and a corporate presentation detailing the PEA results are available on the company's website.

The highlights of the PEA include that the company has an after-tax net present value (NPV) of US$1.0 billion using an 8% discount rate and a capital investment of US$335 million, implying an after-tax profitability index (PI) of nearly 4X. A PI of nearly 4X suggests a highly accretive project with torque to the upside if current spot prices for battery-grade lithium material were modeled.

The project also has an after-tax internal rate of return (IRR) of 48.5%. The PEA makes a note of economic resiliency under a range of key project variables such as price, capital intensity, and operating costs. The PEA shows a payout of only 3.7 years, including a 1.5-year design and construction phase. This is very fast, given a project of this magnitude and scope.

The PEA takes into account the implementation of Koch Technologies Solutions' (KTS) proprietary lithium extraction technology called Li-ProTM. The company is working with KTS and others to develop a field pilot plan with associated commercial terms.

Demand for Lithium on the Rise

Demand for Lithium has been driven up continuously by the need for batteries to power electric vehicles (EVs).

According to Luke Laretive of Seneca Financial Solutions, "Over the last few years, most brokers and analysts forecast have underestimated actual lithium prices. This was epitomized in January of this year when lithium 'perma-bear' UBS upgraded its lithium price forecasts by up to 50%, admitting that they had previously underestimated demand from North Asian battery makers and electric vehicle buyers."

Lithium prices started trending up in China in June, driven by purchasing activity from cathode manufacturers. Cameron Drummond with Stockhead notes that lithium carbonate prices were up 5.5% and lithium hydroxide up by 4.4%.

An Opportunity to Look Out For

A recent report from Red Cloud Securities rated the company as a "Buy" and increased its target to CA$1.75 from CA$0.90 per share. It listed the completion of a field pilot plant in 2024, land acquisition, and continued well tests and commercial production as exciting catalysts that have the potential to raise the company's value.

Grounded Lithium was cited by Mark Zaret of Spartan Fund Management as an opportunity for investors.

According to the report, Zaret is interested in the company's Canadian projects "because most companies operating in this sector are based in South America and rely on evaporation ponds to extract lithium, whereas Grounded Lithium plans on utilizing an emerging technology called Direct Lithium Extraction."

Ownership and Share Structure

Management and insiders own 14% of the company.

Richard Gregg Smith owns 3.06% with 2.13 million shares, Greg G. Phaneuf owns 1.76% with 1.23 million shares, Lawrence Patrick Joseph Fisher owns 1.27% with 0.88 million shares, Wayne Gaskin owns 0.77% with 0.53 million shares, Ronald Schmitz owns 0.53% with 0.37 million shares, Mark Grant McMurray owns 0.34% with 0.24 million shares, John David Wright owns 0.28% with 0.19 million shares, Rose Zanic owns 0.14% with 0.10 million shares, and Dale Shipman owns 0.10% with 0.07 million shares.

17% of the company is held by institutional investors. Carret Asset Management LLC owns 0.04% with 0.03 million shares.

The rest is with retail.

There are 69.66 million shares outstanding and 63.91 million free-float traded shares. The company has a market cap of CA$7.78 million. It trades in the 52-week period between CA$0.14 and CA$0.50.

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Mobile low-skilled EU workers crossing borders for work are facing the same challenges as non-EU citizens in terms of poor employment prospects and low-quality jobs.

The EU has recently launched a new study on intra-EU seasonal workers conditions, a follow-up to a comprehensive 2016-2021 study as part of a plan to view the issues from a longer perspective.

The new report on intra-EU workers expands on the previous work, and will contain focused analysis on areas of seasonal work that MEPs said needed further scrutiny.

MEPs have sharpened their focus on the need to regulate and protect the rights of seasonal workers ever since the Covid-19 pandemic has heightened demand for these workers.

Around 800,000 to one million seasonal workers are hired in the EU each year, notably in the agri-food sector: 370,000 in Italy, 300,000 in Germany, 276,000 in France and 150,000 in Spain.

Earlier this year, MEPs in the EUs Civil Liberties Committee voted by 47 to 13 to back new draft legislation to speed up the issuing of work and residence permits for nationals of third countries and to improve their rights.

MEPs set a limit of 90 days for a decision on an application for a single permit, or 45 days if the applicant were selected through an EU talent partnership or already holds a single permit in another EU country.

The single permit should be issued in paper format and be accessible in electronic format. The draft also gave workers greater freedom to change employer, along with nine months of unemployment benefits while seeking a new job.

Javier Moreno Sanchez, a Spanish member of the Socials & Democrats group in the EU. He was the EU rapporteur for the meeting that approved a draft on the new single permit, improving protections for seasonal workers.

We are making the procedure for obtaining a single permit as simple and fast as possible. This way it can become a useful tool for companies and workers from third countries, responding quickly to the needs of the labour market and strengthening legal paths to reach Europe in search of work, said Javier Moreno Sanchez, EU rapporteur for the single permit meeting and a Spanish member of the Socials & Democrats group in the EU.

Secondly, we guarantee equal treatment of workers from third countries as compared to national workers, protecting them from exploitation and other illegal situations, while facilitating their full integration in our societies.

The EUs latest report on seasonal work will cover a longer timeframe than previous reports and it will aim to analyse the situation of intra-EU seasonal workers beyond the confines of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The 2016-2021 study found that inflows of working age movers at the EU and EFTA level declined by 21% and outflows decreased by 14%. Thus, the flows consisted in 2020 of 804,000 EU movers and 611,000 persons returning to their country of citizenship.

Some 57% of incoming EU movers at the EU and EFTA level were male. This proportion was particularly high in Eastern European countries, including Poland, Latvia, and Bulgaria. Only three member states (Italy, Greece, and Ireland) reported more working-age women than men moving into the country.

The 2016-2021 study of workers crossing borders also itemised work categories. In 2021, the most popular occupations among EU movers decreased at the EU level across all population groups, such as cleaners and helpers (9% of all EU movers), building and related trades workers (7%), personal service workers (6%), sales workers (6%), and labourers in mining, construction, manufacturing, and transport (5%).

Of course, the EU has always had a need and a welcome for seasonal workers  both intra-EU and non-EU  with rules governing the protection of their rights, and with a wealth of variant rules depending on country of origin.

For example, Turkish citizens enjoy the same conditions as EU nationals once they abide by these rules: After one years legal employment, Turkish citizens can renew their work permit at the same employer; after three years, they can change to another employer in the same field; after four years, they gain full employment right in that EU country.

Meanwhile, the EU has agreements that nationals of other third countries can enjoy the same work conditions as nationals of the host country. Those countries include Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Russia, Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Serbia, Ukraine, Andorra, San Marino and 79 other countries in the African continent as well as the Caribbean and Pacific group of states.

Meanwhile, the new study of intra-EU work trends will focus on how intra-EU seasonal workers conditions have changed over time.

Read More Business movers: People starting new jobs in Ireland

Key questions include:

How the position of seasonal workers has changed in terms of rights and conditions, both in the short term since COVID-19 and in a longer, ten-year perspective;

Whether the number of seasonal workers (and hence their importance for the economy) has increased;

The main risks and challenges faced by seasonal workers and what ongoing work is addressing these issues.

A final section considers how and whether the war in Ukraine has affected seasonal work in the EU.
The Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland (ASAI) has appointed Declan McLoughlin and Anne Parle-McDermott to its independent complaints committee and Amanda Zahringer as the new chair of the review panel.

The ASAI promotes high standards in advertising, promotional marketing and direct marketing to ensure communications are legal, decent, honest and truthful. Media are required to abide by the ASAI Code covering all media advertising, including digital (online banners, websites and social platforms), print, outdoor, radio, TV, leaflets/brochures and direct marketing.

Orla Twomey, chief executive of the ASAI, said: We are delighted to welcome, Declan, Anne and Amanda to their new roles. Each appointee brings individual areas of expertise to the organisation and a wealth of knowledge from their careers to date.

These insights will be welcome additions to the ASAI complaints committee and review panel. Their combined experience will provide expert guidance in the ever-evolving advertising industry.

Declan McLoughlin is the director of Online and Media Codes & Rules, Coimisiun na Mean. He has over 20 years experience of media regulation and is currently committed to developing Irelands first Online Safety Code along with updating media codes and rules for TV, radio and on-demand media services.

As a senior manager with the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI), Declan oversaw the BAIs work on environmental sustainability. He is vice-chair of the Broadcasting Sustainability Network. Declan is a graduate of All Hallows College, Dublin, IMI/UCCand has an advanced diploma in Social Media and Media Law from Kings Inns.

Anne Parle-McDermott is Professor and Principal Investigator of the Molecular Genetics Laboratory at DCU. She has 30 years of experience working within the science and education university sector in Ireland. She is a Professor of Genetics in the School of Biotechnology at DCU and has been an academic member of staff there for 17 years having previously lectured in TCD.

Anne completed her Ph.D. at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland which was awarded to her by Trinity College Dublin in 2000. Her research has also featured in numerous scientific publications globally.

The ASAI has also appointed a new chair of its Review Panel. Amanda Zahringer has worked as an international corporate lawyer and partner in London, Madrid and Dublin. She has over 20 years experience advising multinational companies on corporate and commercial matters, while cultivating trusted relationships as their strategic advisor.

Amanda currently chairs the board of Community Finance Ireland (UCIT Ireland); she is vice-chair of the board of Ulster Community Investment Trust Ltd. She is also a member of the Irish Times Training academic advisory group.

Amandas legal, strategy, fintech, financial and philanthropic expertise has enabled her to have a profound social and economic impact on communities and organisations both nationally and globally.

She is also an international keynote speaker and a guest speaker in executive leadership at the IMI.
Valencia. Adonis. Prince. Venezuela.

These are four of the six kids in At Home With The Furys (Netflix).

Theres a worry if you called your child Venezuela shed get bullied in school, but thats not an issue when your Dad is Tyson Fury, one of the most famous boxers in the world.

Here we get to see Tyson as the retired boxer, settling into family life with his wife Paris and the kids in a modern mansion in Morecambe.

After half an hour, I was bored. But in a good way. There was no staged drama or storm outs.

It was just another happy family, albeit one in a pleasant modern mansion with a few supercars in the drive.

They even had a chaotic school run, where one of the kids forgot their bag and the mum Paris had to come running out to hand it into the car.

That was the level of drama in the early stages, and I liked its soothing vibe.

And then the shark-approaches-beach music started.

The big event in the first episode was the youngest childs christening and its fair to say they went all out, it was a big day.

Halfway through the party in a local hotel, Tyson decided hed had enough and the show-makers added Jaws music to the soundtrack to signal he was going to blow.

In fairness, he just went home to walk the dog around Morecambe Bay. There was no blowout.

Paris, the breakout star here, explained that Tyson has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and there is no point in trying to talk him out of these dark moods and there is no need to judge him either because its not his fault.

Heres the real strength of the show. I couldnt resist judging him a small bit. That probably says more about me than it does about him, but he came across as a man-child sulking around Morecambe Bay with his dog, Tyson Fury emblazoned on his t-shirt in case people didnt know who he was.

This sucked me into the show. I dont know much about Tyson Fury, but now I want to watch more of the show to figure out what hes really like.

His kids give a clue. Despite the comedy names, they come across as incredibly normal, funny, bold kids, eye-rolling at their parents whenever they get a chance.

There is more shark attack music when Tyson crashes his Land Rover into the garage, but Paris shrugs off his ensuing sulk and asks if he really wants to spend time at home with his kids.

His answer is a hilarious no, as he storms out and says hed rather be beaten up by a heavyweight boxer.

That will resonate with any parent.

I really like living with the Furys. It makes you think about living with mental health. It opens the curtains on what it must be like when the crowds stop roaring your name.

And most of all, it makes you wonder what Tyson Fury is really like. Im going to keep watching until I find out.
Liz Dwyer was the first person in Ireland to get dermal fillers. In 1995, the beauty editor and co-founder of the Future Beauty Show had pig protein injected into her lips.

It was an unmitigated disaster and I looked weird, the now 45-year-old says.

But her experience didnt stop her from going back for more once the industry started using hyaluronic acid (HA) instead of pig protein.

As an avid follower of beauty trends, Dwyer predicts fillers will soon lose their popularity.

Once it became available, I had filler in my nose to straighten out a bump and now get filler in my cheeks and the laughter lines around my mouth every year, she says.

My face is skinny and can look gaunt when Im tired or stressed. Everyone knows that the fat in your cheeks goes as you age, and you dont get it back unless you get filler, which restores that more youthful look.

Sonya Lennon gets a HA-based treatment to support her skins texture and firmness.

Fashion designer, TV presenter and social entrepreneur Sonya Lennon is another person who has been won over by the latest iteration of dermal fillers. Ive done Profhilo [an injectable treatment made from HA] to support the texture and firmness of my skin, she says.

Its not because I want to hold back time. I definitely want to own my 54 years, but I also want to feel as good as I can, and my skin health is part of that.

Since 2015, when influencer Kylie Jenner went public about her use of fillers, full lips, sculpted cheekbones and a defined jawline, have become key to the modern beauty aesthetic, one which a growing number of younger women have sought to emulate.

While there are no official statistics relating to the number of filler treatments carried out here, research published by Cork University Hospital in 2017 found that Ireland was the global leader in online searches for lip fillers. It also noted a correlation between online searches for cosmetic procedures and the number of people getting cosmetic work done.

Look closely at celebrities and influencers on Instagram, and youll see that many have embraced the pouty-lipped look. The app even has filters that allow you to preview how such features might enhance your face.

Dr Sana Askary is the chief medical officer at Sitara Medical Clinic in Dublin, where she has seen a huge growth in the popularity of fillers since she started working in the field seven years ago.

Its boomed before my eyes with demand from women aged from their mid-20s to their 70s, she says. The younger ones primarily want filler to augment their lips and enhance their facial features while older people want to make up for lost volume in the face.

The pandemic increased demand even further. There was a sudden spike in interest post covid, Askary says. Maybe because people spent more time at home, looking in the mirror and at themselves on Zoom screens, nitpicking the things they wanted to change.

Restoring volume

Easy accessibility has led to a surge in demand. Its a non-surgical treatment for one, Dr Emma Sheehan, founder of Eden Medical Clinic in Dublin, says. Compared to surgery, aesthetic injections are small procedures that are quick, convenient and require little to no recovery time.

Because HA is naturally found in the body, filler is relatively safe, Askary adds. Its also good value, with most treatments costing a couple of hundred euros, making it affordable for most people. There arent many treatments on the market that can enhance features so effectively at that price. The fact its non-permanent and reversible makes it attractive too.

The impact of influencers is another crucial factor.

Information about fillers has spread faster and further due to celebrities and social media, Sheehan adds. They are seen as beauty icons and have generated a desire among the general public to achieve similar results.

Askary believes fillers have helped to democratise the beauty industry.

Nowadays, for the first time, treatments reserved for the wealthy are affordable to the average consumer, she says. Anyone can age like a celebrity now.

Altered images

Cork-based psychologist Sally OReilly says the ubiquity of filtered social media posts may influence how we expect to see ourselves in real life.

We can start to see these altered images as our ideal selves, she says.

Reality cant measure up and we can become dissatisfied with and critical of our appearance. This could drive us to seek out cosmetic treatments.

She refers to a phenomenon known as perception blindness. A 2020 study by researchers at the universities of Oxford and Bristol found that after looking at bodies that had been distorted to look unnaturally fat or unnaturally thin, participants perceptions of normal bodies were altered. Being presented with images of underweight bodies caused them to view normal bodies as fat.

OReilly worries if we become used to seeing full lips and sculpted cheeks, our natural features may seem disappointing in comparison.

What we might not initially approve of or even like can quickly become palatable and desirable through repeated exposure - just look at fashion trends, OReilly says. But theres a negative side to this. We can begin to find ourselves distasteful.

Normal changes like ageing can make some of us recoil in disgust.

With the pressure to look picture-perfect, celebrities can fall prey to such thinking. Actress Courtney Cox recently revealed that she looks back with disbelief on photos of herself taken when she had lots of dermal filler. She thought she looked great but now thinks she looked a bit off.

She was simply reacting to the mores of the time, OReilly adds.

Shes human and the influences around her were strong and unconscious, just like they are for the rest of us.

Liz Dwyer gets filler in her cheeks and around her mouth every year. Picture: Andres Poveda

Body dysmorphic disorder

Askary and Sheehan consider it their responsibility to monitor and manage peoples expectations of filler treatments carefully.

We often have people come in with photos of celebrities and if we know thats not achievable for them, we have to tell them before they have the procedure, Askary says.

They also try to screen for individuals suffering from conditions such as body dysmorphic disorder, a mental health condition characterised by an obsessive focus on flaws that are often unnoticeable to others.

According to Sheehan, cosmetic treatments are unlikely to help such patients as they will continue to find fault, which may drive them to have more and more procedures.

Identifying these people is crucial, Sheehan says. They are often the ones requesting excessive or unnecessary treatments or expecting unrealistic results. As doctors who have our patients best interests at heart, we have to be able to say no.

However, both doctors are concerned that the patients they turn away will seek help from less qualified therapists instead. Unlike Botox, which is considered a medicine and has to be injected by a medical professional, filler is categorised as a medical device. This means anyone can inject it and, says Askary, there are clinics where dermal filler treatments are carried out by people with minimal qualifications.

A study published in the Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery in July found that of 3,000 cosmetic clinics surveyed in Britain, 30% had no medical professionals on the staff.

Askary believes the situation is similar here, adding: An injection into the face should be treated as a medical procedure and should be regulated for the safety of patients as it can have devastating consequences if it goes wrong.

Current regulations mean anyone can buy and administer filler and there are reports of people buying it online to inject themselves. TikTok even has videos of people taking this DIY approach at home.

This worries Askary because only medical professionals can purchase hyaluronidase, the product used to reverse it. Untrained practitioners can end up injecting filler into blood vessels and cutting off blood supply to parts of the face and eyes. This can lead to permanent damage such as dead skin, scarring and even blindness if the filler isnt reversed within 24 hours, she says.

Sheehan recently saw a patient whose filler treatment had gone wrong. A non-medic had injected into a blood vessel, causing swelling, pain and discolouration, she says.

They had no access to hyaluronidase to dissolve the filler, so the patient came to us in a panic and thankfully, we were able to help in time.

This shows how essential it is that dermal filler treatments are performed by qualified medical professionals who have a thorough understanding of facial anatomy and injection techniques and how to handle potential complications should they arise.

Lack of regulation also means some therapists use dubious fillers. There are cheap knockoffs out there and you see more complications such as lumps and bumps and filler migration with those products, Askary says.

While we wait for legislation to catch up with countries like Spain, where only qualified doctors can inject fillers, many celebrities like Courtney Cox already appear to have had their fill of it. Kylie Jenner also has had hers removed.

Sheehan hasnt noticed a drop in demand for fillers, but says there is a move towards more natural-looking results and expects this to lead to an increase in people wanting their fillers dissolved. Aesthetic preferences change over time, she adds.

As an avid follower of beauty trends, Dwyer predicts that fillers will soon lose their popularity.

Its amazing how filler can change your face for the better but were moving towards more natural treatments like fat transfer, she says.

That will replace filler, and like most people, Ive got plenty of fat that Id like to redisperse, so as soon as fat transfer is a viable treatment, Ill be first in line to try it.

Heres what you need to know about dermal fillers:

Reputable filler products are made from hyaluronic acid. This substance occurs naturally in the body and organically breaks down over time, making it relatively safe to inject.

Injections are usually delivered in doses of 1mm or 2mm, depending on the part of the body being injected and the effect desired.

Filler is designed to be injected beneath the skins surface, and it has become the go-to treatment for restoring lost volume in the face, fullness to the lips, and definition and contouring to the jawbone.

Filler can be injected into the tear trough to restore volume and brightness to the under-eye area and into the nose to minimise any bumps or skin scarred due to acne.

Filler treatments usually last for less than 30 minutes and the results last for between six months and two years.

Prices can vary widely but reputable clinics run by specialist medical staff charge upwards of 200 for lip filler and from 300 for other parts of the face.

If you are unhappy with the results, an enzyme called hyaluronidase can be injected to dissolve the filler. This process is simple  you can expect the filler to fully dissolve within 48 hours.

Choose a clinic run by medical professionals. They have been trained in facial anatomy and know where to inject the filler so it doesnt block blood vessels. You can also rely on them to use high-quality filler product.

Avoid those who offer deals and discounts that appear too good to be true. Fillers and the expertise required to administer them safely come at a cost.

Steer clear of pop-up clinics or vendors who do not have a permanent address. If you have follow-up questions or concerns, they may be unavailable to help.
All questions around the Omagh bomb atrocity can only be answered by holding a public inquiry on both sides of the Irish border, a lawyer representing some bereaved families has said.

John McBurney urged the Irish Government to reconsider its position after a minister indicated this week that there is no new evidence which would warrant holding a public inquiry in the Republic of Ireland.

The scene of the Omagh bomb in 1998 (Paul McErlane/PA)

Twenty-nine people, including a woman pregnant with twins, were killed when a massive car bomb exploded in the Co Tyrone town in 1998, the worst loss of life in a single incident in Northern Irelands troubled past.

It came just months after the historic Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.

No-one has ever been criminally convicted of the attack.

In 2021, High Court judge Mr Justice Horner recommended the UK Government carry out a new investigation into the Omagh bombing, and urged the Irish Government to do likewise, after finding plausible arguments that there had been a real prospect of preventing the atrocity.

Earlier this year, Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris announced that an independent statutory inquiry would be carried out.

Peter Burke, Irish Minister for European Affairs and Defence, said this week during an interview with the BBC that a number of investigations, including the Nally Report, had already been carried out in Ireland into the bombing.

He said that the Nally Report had found no significant new evidence which warranted the establishment of a public inquiry, adding that is our position at the moment.

Mr Burke stressed that the Irish Government would cooperate fully with the UK inquiry in an attempt to ensure there are no unanswered questions left about the atrocity.

Mr McBurney, who represents some families in the Families Moving On victims support group, said: On behalf of my clients I wish to convey the sense of surprise and disappointment felt on hearing the indication by Minister Burke during the BBC interview.

Lord Justice Horner made it quite clear in a very detailed judgment that full investigation in both jurisdictions was necessary in order to fully deal with the matter.

He added: With respect, it is submitted that the position outlined by Minister Burke is entirely unsatisfactory.

The Nally Report which he referred to throughout the interview did not have the necessary powers to fully probe all matters and therefore many aspects remain to be inquired into.

Lord Justice Horner made it quite clear in a very detailed judgment that full investigation in both jurisdictions was necessary in order to fully deal with the matter.

Mr McBurney continued: It is essential that the Irish Government must reflect urgently on how disrespectful and unsatisfactory it is to ignore the obvious need, in tandem with a statutory inquiry in Northern Ireland, to properly investigate by public inquiry all matters outstanding as elucidated in the judgment of Lord Justice Horner.

The call is now for reconsideration of the negative position outlined by Minister Burke and an indication that a tandem inquiry will be launched in the Republic of Ireland.

It is difficult to see how all aspects can be properly probed by any other arrangement.

Minister of State for European Affairs Peter Burke (left) and Lord Jonathan Caine, representing the British government, following a service to mark the 25th anniversary of the bombing that devastated Omagh in 1998 (Brian Lawless/PA)

The Irish Government has been approached for a response.

On Tuesday, a number of families who lost loved ones in the 1998 attack gathered and laid flowers at the spot where the bomb exploded to mark the 25th anniversary.
The Department of Defence has been warned by an international recruitment company tasked with finding people for the Naval Service that the sector is "extremely competitive".

The Department of Defence appointed a consultancy firm, Flagship Maritime Consultants Ltd, last May to scour the maritime industry globally to see if it can find people with the necessary skills to fill vacancies in the navy.

There is a chronic shortage of qualified personnel in a number of key disciplines within the navy, such as marine officer engineers, engine room artificers (ERAs) and communications specialists. The technical experts are needed onboard ships so they can go out on sea patrols.

However, Flagship recently reported to the navy top brass, advising them: "The recruitment sector is extremely competitive at present given the lower rates of unemployment in Western economies and the post-covid economic rebound globally."

A navy spokesman confirmed this was the information received from the consultancy company. However, the spokesman added Flagship Maritime Consultants Ltd has said that its application process remains open and it is "receiving engagement" from some interested parties.

The navy is also short of other specialists such as operations officers, radio and radar technicians as well as electrical artificers and hull artificers.

The approaching critical shortage of such specialists had been flagged a couple of years ago by both the Defence Forces representative associations  PDForra for enlisted personnel and RACO for officers.

PDForra president Mark Keane, who works in the navy, said the news from the consultants doesnt appear good, but it has come as no surprise to his association as it is well known the British Royal Navy and Canadian navy are suffering similar shortages.

The cruise liner industry is also seeking such personnel and there are shortages in certain sectors of the global merchant navy.

We are competing against the private maritime sector and ironically we have previously seen a number of our members take up employment in this same sector, he said.

Mr Keane said the Department of Defence now needs to review the current package on offer if the navy is to fill these vacancies.

As it stands, the current package is not proving attractive. Needless to say, if we are to stem the tide of people leaving we need to address this issue with a degree of urgency, as time and tide waits for no one, he added.
The chief executive of Bank of Ireland has apologised for the technical glitch which led to chaotic scenes at ATMs earlier this week.

Myles O'Grady said the company "fell below the standards expected" due to the glitch on Tuesday.

Customers of the bank were unable to access their online banking or mobile app services, while ATMs were allowing some customers to withdraw up to 1,000 even if they did not have the funds available to do so.

Gardai were involved at one stage, with pictures and videos showing officers blocking access to ATMs around the country.

BOI confirmed that accounts were 'up to date' on Thursday morning.

Mr O'Grady said: "This was a Bank of Ireland issue and our customers were impacted badly by this failure. We fell well below the standards our customers expect of us and I apologise sincerely for this.

Banking is based on reputation and trust. We have damaged this with our customers and wider society. We are working to put things right.

He said the bank's priority in the immediate aftermath of the glitch was that customers would continue to have access to cash and could transact on their cards.

He said: "The challenge in doing this during an outage is that customers couldnt check their balance and some may now find themselves overdrawn. I encourage any customers who were impacted by this weeks incident to contact us so that we can work together to find an appropriate solution."

Mr O'Grady added there were a number of supports in place for customers affected, including interest-free temporary overdrafts.

He concluded: "Our focus this week is on restoring services, ensuring the stability of our systems, and helping customers.

"But, we know we need to do better in future. We continue to invest in our technology to ensure customers have the very best banking services."

Uninterrupted access is vital

The Finance minister has said there is a need to establish a full account of the Bank of Ireland outage because there have been too many such instances in recent years.

Speaking from Kent Station in Cork, Michael McGrath told reporters that it was vital that people have uninterrupted access to banking services.

"In recent years, we have had a number of instances where systems errors or systems outages took place.

"Thats why Ive asked my own officials in the Department of Finance now to engage with the Central Bank, with the regulator, to gain an understanding of their assessments of the robustness of the systems being used by financial service providers, in particular those that are customer facing, to make sure that services can continue unhindered.

"Because, when you have outages like this, it can cause problems: very significant disruption to peoples personal lives, to the conduct of business, and it can have an impact on our economy.

"I do think we have had too many such instances in recent years, and I want to be assured that the necessary investment is being put into systems where the public are interfacing with private companies, in terms of accessing their own money in particular."
Expanding the free flu vaccination programme to all people aged 50-64 over the coming winter is likely to only lead to a small reduction in pressure on hospitals, according to the States health watchdog.

An assessment by the Health Information and Quality Authority of providing the flu vaccine to those aged 50-64 living in the Republic for the 2023/24 flu season estimated it would cost 2.27m to achieve a vaccination target rate of 35%.

However, Hiqa calculated that achieving a 35% vaccination rate among that age group would only result in 77 fewer cases and a reduction in 136 flu-related bed days in hospitals with effective savings in costs of just 110,000.

There are approximately 900,000 people aged 50-64 living in Ireland.

Hiqa said the number of people aged 50-64 requiring a hospital stay with flu each year is relatively modest.

For that reason and the variability in the effectiveness of flu vaccines each year, it concluded that the potential for a reduction in demand for hospital care associated with an expansion of the programme is likely to be small.

A final decision on the issue will rest with the Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly.

Hiqa also acknowledged that the potential impact on health outcomes from an extension of the free vaccine to those aged 50-64 years was subject to considerable uncertainty. The provision of the flu vaccine free of charge to the 50-64 years age cohort as a temporary measure for the 2021/22 flu season was authorised by the Minister for Health to minimise the overall burden on hospitals dealing with viral respiratory infections during the covid-19 pandemic.

Certain other groups are already eligible to receive a free flu vaccine including those over 65 years, healthcare workers, pregnant women, carers, and those with certain medical conditions.

The uptake rate of the flu vaccine among such adults over the past two winters was approximately 28% but the figure excludes those who paid for the vaccine privately.

Hiqa acknowledged that an increase in the uptake could be modest unless supported by a public health information campaign.

Official figures show over 2,000 people aged 50-64 years in Ireland had a confirmed flu diagnosis last winter, although it is believed to be an underestimate of the true level.

Deaths

The Hiqa report reveals that a total of 17 flu-related deaths were recorded among that age group last winter, with 43 patients requiring ICU care and 544 being admitted to hospital.

It noted these numbers could include patients who were at increased risk of severe disease.

On average, 254 people in the age group are hospitalised each year with confirmed flu-related symptoms with an average of 26 requiring care in an intensive care unit.

An average of 12 people aged 50-64 in Ireland die from flu each year.

The average length of stay in hospital for patients confirmed with flu was six days but 14 days for those requiring stay in an ICU.

Hiqa said the impact of flu within the age cohort was greatest every year among those aged 60-64.

It noted that seven European countries provide free flu vaccines to part of the 50-64 age cohort, with five limiting them to those aged 60 years and over.

Those aged 50-64 living in the UK have received a free flu vaccine for the past three years but will not be eligible for one in future following a recent decision by the UK government.

The World Health Organisation has estimated that seasonal flu can account for between 290,000 and 650,000 respiratory deaths worldwide each year.
For a woman accused of such grave crimes, Lucy Letby cut an almost pitiable figure in the witness box at Manchester crown court.

Clutching a fluffy purple comforter out of sight of the jury, the nurse dissolved into tears at reminders of her home life.

The 33-year-old wept at any mention of her cats, Tigger and Smudge, and sobbed when the court saw a photograph of her childlike bedroom, with four fluffy toys laid across her sweet dreams duvet, fairy lights on her bedframe, and art saying leave sparkles wherever you go pinned to the wall.

Her tears at these points were in sharp contrast to her expressionless, impassive demeanour when the details of her alleged crimes were presented to the jury.

Nurse Lucy Letby, 33, was found guilty at Manchester Crown Court of the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of six others at the Countess of Chester Hospital

After the guilty verdicts, Letby ranks as one of the most persistent child killers in modern British history and one of the most notorious female murderers of the last century.

The description by the prosecutor, Nicholas Johnson KC, of Letby as a cold, calculated, cruel and relentless killer was almost word for word the phrase used by the judge who sentenced Myra Hindley for the Moors murders more than 50 years ago.

It was said of Hindley, and Rose West, that what made their crimes all the more shocking was that these women were so ordinary. Letby was the epitome of ordinary. She appeared conventional in every way.

DCI Nicola Evans, who spent six years analysing Letby as part of the police investigation, described her in one word: Beige.

There isnt anything outstanding or outrageous that we found out about her as a person, Evans said. She was an average nurse.

She was what you would say is a normal twentysomething-year-old  but clearly there was another side of that that nobody saw and that we have unravelled during this investigation.

Letby lived alone in a semi-detached home in the cathedral city of Chester in north-west England, on a quiet street of neat lawns and privet hedges.

Her neighbours were either retired or couples with children.

They would rarely see the young, blond woman who had moved into the house in March 2016  she worked nights at first, then soon moved to day shifts, when she would leave with her Morrisons bag for life before dawn and rarely return until late.

Her parents, who lived a couple of hours south, in Hereford, had helped Letby buy the smart 179,000 three-bedroom house.

It was a mile from the Countess of Chester hospital, where she worked, and the poky staff digs where she had lived until then.

Letby decorated her home with chintzy wall art  happy prosecco season and friends are angels in disguise  and cuddly toys.

In the kitchen, she had a happy birthday mummy note pinned to the wall from her cats, written by her mother. Another note read: No 1 godmother awarded to Lucy Letby.

A diary, along with a Post-it note which was found inside the diary, recovered from a chest of drawers at the home of Lucy Letby at Westbourne Road, Chester. Picture: Cheshire Constabulary/PA Wire

She was a fastidious diary-keeper, writing down work shifts in blue ink and social engagements in pink, ticking off items she had completed, including the delivery of a washing machine.

Letby went to the gym, did salsa classes most weeks and had quite an active social life, she told jurors, but her life appeared to revolve around her work.

She often volunteered for overtime and regularly worked weekends. She was quietly popular among some of her fellow nurses, two of whom she counted as best friends. It was her own little family, she said.

She was once chosen as the face of a fundraising campaign by the Nursing and Midwifery Council and appeared on a poster.

She featured in the Chester Standard several times as part of the newspapers support for the Babygrow appeal, aimed at raising 3m to build a new neonatal unit at the hospital.

In 2012, she appeared in a photo holding a baby as part of a story on a person who had donated money to the appeal.

And in 2013, she was the subject of a short interview about her job, in which she told the newspaper: I hope the new unit will provide a greater degree of privacy and space for parents and siblings. To others she was unremarkable.

She didnt stand out as a particularly bad nurse, she didnt stand out as a particularly good nurse, excelling in anything, said one senior colleague.

The Countess of Chester Hospital after nurse Lucy Letby, 33, has been found guilty at Manchester Crown Court of the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of six others at the hospital. Picture: PA Wire

Eirian Powell, the hospitals neonatal unit manager, was one of the first members of staff to notice that Letby was on duty when babies began deteriorating suddenly in June 2015.

Powell was fond of Letby and, unlike some colleagues, judged her an exceptional nurse who was extraordinarily hard-working, flexible and committed.

She was very particular with her attention to detail, she said.

Unlike with Hindley and West and some other serial killers, there was never a suggestion that Letby had suffered a brutal childhood. It was the opposite: her upbringing seemed positively idyllic.

She grew up in a pleasant middle-class neighbourhood in Hereford. She went to the comprehensive Aylestone school up to the age of 16, followed by Hereford sixth-form college, which includes pop star Ellie Goulding among its alumni.

A black bin bag which was shown in court at the Lucy Letby trial. It was found by police in the garage at Ms Letby, and contained a handwritten note. Picture: Cheshire Constabulary/CPS/PA Wire

Her parents, John and Susan Letby, clearly doted on her. She was their only child, and the first in the family to go to university.

Letby returned to her childhood home after she was arrested. They had hated that their only daughter stayed in Chester, 100 miles away from them, after university and worried that she lived alone.

A neighbour in Hereford said the local community had offered support to her parents where they could. Neighbours were surprised and just felt very sad for the Letbys, including Lucy, he added.

Detectives admit they may never know what turned this beige young nurse into a baby killer.

This is completely unprecedented in that there doesnt seem to be anything to say  that [explains] why she has committed these crimes, said Evans.

Being average has allowed her to go under the radar and its allowed her to operate in plain sight.

"Its allowed her to abuse peoples trust because nobody is looking at her because she is normal and average and she doesnt stand out in that crowd. She used that to abuse the trust of so many people around her.

Letbys mother and father attended every day of her 10-month trial, decamping from home to stay near Manchester, where the trial was held.

She tried to make eye contact with them in the public gallery, occasionally exchanging smiles.

Her parents, who still work for the familys radiator business, occasionally reproached journalists in court for what they felt was unfair coverage.

Letby seemed particularly close to her father. Documents seen by the Guardian show he forcefully defended her when executives at the Countess of Chester hospital removed her from the neonatal unit in July 2016, after the death of two triplet boys.

John Letby was convinced of his daughters innocence and received the backing of Tony Chambers, the hospitals chief executive, who decided that Letby should be allowed to return to the unit in January 2017.

When paediatric consultants angrily complained about his decision, Letbys father threatened to refer them to the General Medical Council.

John and Susan Letby, the parents of nurse Lucy Letby, outside Manchester Crown Court ahead of the verdict in the case. Picture: Peter Powell/PA Wire

They were forced to write her a letter of apology but maintained that she should not be allowed to return to the unit.

She was arrested little more than a year later, on 4 July 2018  and her father was there to witness it.

It was 6am on a clear blue July morning when Letby opened the door to a Cheshire police detective. Her instinctive smile dropped when the officer introduced himself.

Letby was led out of her Chester home in handcuffs 11 minutes later, looking ashen-faced, dressed in her nightie and a blue Lee Cooper tracksuit.

One of Lucy Letby's police interviews. Picture: Cheshire Constabulary/PA Wire

She told a female officer she had just had knee surgery as she was placed in the back of an unmarked police car. Her family had returned from a holiday in Torquay the day before and John Letby had stayed the night.

In court, she sniffed away tears as she said her father had made her bed after the arrest.

Lucy Letby had been reading two books when Cheshire constabularys investigation caught up with her. One was Never Greener by Ruth Jones, a novel about two people swept up in an adulterous affair.

The other, In Shock by Dr Rana Awdish, was a memoir by a doctor who suffered a haemorrhage when seven months pregnant, losing her first unborn child and having to spend months in the hospital where she worked.

The next time Letby would see her bedroom was five years later in police photographs shown in court.

Lucy Letby's bedroom at Westbourne Road, Chester, which was shown in court. Picture: Cheshire Constabulary/CPS/PA Wire

Letby had decided fairly early that she wanted to work with children, and after college studied nursing at the University of Chester.

She was known to be studious with a close circle of friends whom she continued to see before her arrest.

She qualified as a band-five nurse in September 2011, when she was 21, meaning she was able to care for babies in intensive care.

When she started working at the Countess of Chester hospital the following year, she was often placed with the most vulnerable babies in nursery one, the intensive care room.

Letby had been in custody for almost two years when her trial began in October 2022.

The case was thrown into doubt on the first day when it emerged that she had moved prisons days before, leaving many of her possessions and medication behind, and had found it highly damaging and traumatising.

Undated handout file photo issued by Cheshire Police/CPS showing nurse Ashleigh Hudson's recollection of the position of Child I's cot and the lighting in the nursery when she found her "pale and floppy", which was shown at Manchester Crown Court during the trial of nurse Lucy Letby. Picture: Cheshire Police/CPS/PA Wire

Her barrister, Benjamin Myers KC, said Letby was so shaken by the experience she was disoriented as a result  incoherent, she cant speak properly  and it had blown away any progress she had been making psychologically.

The trial eventually got under way a week behind schedule after Letby was assessed by psychiatrists.

In her first days in the witness box, she looked on edge. Her eyes darted nervously towards any unexpected noise  a cough, a dropped pen, or when the female prison guard beside her shuffled in her seat. She blinked rapidly.

The defendant, holding her comforter, told jurors she was easily startled and easily scared as a result of her traumatising arrests, for which she had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. She also took medication for depression and anxiety.

Under 11 days of cross-examination, her attention to detail became apparent. She occasionally pointed out ambiguities in medical evidence which she would read most nights in her cell.

She responded haughtily to Johnsons questioning, swatting down his remarks while staring straight ahead at the jury, never looking her interlocutor in the eye.

Lucy Letby listening to the verdicts being read at Manchester Crown Court. Drawing: Elizabeth Cook/PA Wire

Letby perhaps looked most uncomfortable when she was being asked about a senior doctor with whom the prosecutor suggested she was having an affair.

She collapsed in tears halfway through the trial when the married doctor, who cannot be named, came into court to give evidence for the prosecution.

Letby told jurors he had been her best friend although she had not worked with him for long.

His name was written on scrawled notes recovered from Letbys bedroom, alongside lyrics to a Craig David song that read: Love was all we needed / But time let us down.

The pair regularly exchanged Facebook messages, went for meals and walks, and he visited her home.

A hand written note which was shown in court at the Lucy Letby trial. It was found by police in Ms Letby's home at Westbourne Road, Chester. Picture: Cheshire Constabulary/CPS/PA Wire

After Letby was removed from the neonatal unit amid suspicions about her connection to unexplained deaths, she and the doctor went on a day trip to London and continued to meet regularly, exchanging text messages with love hearts.

He did not know it, but she had searched for his wife on Facebook.

The nature of their relationship was said to be significant: he was one of the doctors who would be called when babies suddenly deteriorated.

She harmed them, it was suggested during the trial, to get his personal attention.

Under cross-examination, Letby appeared to say she had a boyfriend but this came during a period of intense questioning about the married doctor with whom she denied having an affair.

It was not suggested that she was in a relationship with anyone else at this time, and no previous partners were mentioned during the trial.

Asked why their contact had dried up in early 2017, Letby told her barrister it had simply fizzled out.

The weakness of Letbys defence was exposed when she failed to produce any medical expert, colleague, family member or friend to testify on her behalf.

The only witness called by her legal team was a hospital plumber, who looked as bewildered by his presence in court as those watching on.

Lorenzo Mansutti, who had worked at the Countess of Chester since before Letby was born, was in the witness box for 25 minutes before the defendants barrister said, at 11.36am on day 129 of the trial: Thats the case for Miss Letby.

In the dock, Letby looked on impassively.

- Guardian
Were accustomed to abuses of power in Ireland, but when it comes to education, misuses of power are far more common  particularly among parents.

As the school year looms Id like to suggest that in one way, Irish parents overestimate their power; in another, they underestimate it.

Their overestimation of power takes the form of commentary on teachers and how they teach. Teacher jokes among parents have become cliches.

Teachers spot them a mile off, like a drunken lech making his approach across a bar. In it for the holidays, you say? Ha! Hilarious!

This is evidenced in class WhatsApp groups, buzzing with parents who seem to believe they have more knowledge, expertise, cop-on, and training than any professional paid to educate their child.

As a teacher, I can assure you that this is highly corrosive in a school community and causes relationships to suffer.

Its like a daily paper cut for teachers  no matter how thick their skin, eventually, the flesh breaks.

Our devastating teacher shortage is absolutely down to economic factors but anti-teacher nonsense adds oxygen and fuel to the fire.

Before the teacher-bashing descends, there can certainly be problems with individual teachers, as is the case with every profession. Where there is a real issue or concern about a teachers teaching, we need a far more transparent process for families, a topic Ive covered in some detail for this paper.

But aside from this, there is another aspect to this squandering of parent power that is arguably more damaging. This is when parents underestimate their power to change what goes on in schools beyond the actual teacher in the classroom and their teaching.

Its parent apathy.

Every year the same conversations are trotted out for back to school season. Should uniforms be changed? Do we need them at all? Should schools allow mobile phones? Should we have homework?

Its as if Irish parents imagine that teachers design uniforms and school policies themselves. In most schools, this is the preserve of internal school management, a handful of people, and the board of management made up of volunteers, usually with absolutely no expertise in education.

Its also as if parents believe that like the smoking ban, some minister will announce a huge societal shift in education and well all wake up to no homework, comfortable affordable uniforms, and a clear policy on mobile phones in all schools.

It will never happen on a national level.

Parents are key in bringing about change in their own communities because they are their childrens primary educators.

Too many parents have forgotten the consequences of that constitutional fact: that every school in Ireland works in its own small orbit, with an induvial board of management, and its own policies and approaches.

Parents in each and every school possess the power to change things such as uniforms and homework policies. The minister and the Department of Education, for this reason, will never change anything on a national level  they simply cant!

Take voluntary contributions. The minister has stated again and again that these should not be compulsory and yet schools every year present them as part and parcel of attending the school.

This is not because schools are cruelly manipulating parents. It is because they are absolutely broke and dont get enough funding from the State to cover basic costs.

There is a disconnect between the Department of Education and school communities that parents dont seem to grasp. Parents blame teachers and schools for shortcomings without a sense of the bigger picture and the power they possess as primary educators, and lets not forget, as voters too.

Parents must challenge issues on the ground in each and every school. They must prioritise education in the run-up to elections. Only then will the Government be forced to accept they are not spending enough, not nearly enough, on education. Change must come from the ground up, as it did with the free book scheme.

Because yes, the only reason we now have free primary school books is because parent groups and charities like Barnardos put continual pressure on the Government to change it.

In Northern Ireland parents didnt have to take on this fight; children there have had free books since 1947. But were different down south. Here, education is state-funded but in many ways, it is not state-run.

The State handed over control of education to the Church, which split the system into tiny planets in separate volunteer-based orbits.

Some parents are beginning to get the message and the blight of smartphones on young children has perhaps hastened this change.

Parents in Greystones, Wicklow, last May agreed a voluntary ban on smartphones among kids as part of their It Takes a Village scheme. The scheme empowered parents by removing the pressure to get their child a phone because everyone else has one.

Rather than being apathetic about technology and leaving it to the school to respond to issues inevitably cropping up for children, parents took the lead. They exerted their constitutional right and privilege appropriately.

We need more of it and thankfully schools are finally nudging parents to wake from their torpor. Waterford City and County has just released a powerful initiative. It has called it GEN FREE and the aim is to ensure that every child in Waterford has the opportunity to be free from smartphones, free from social media, free to be kids.

Schools across the county are inviting parents to sign a charter to display at home, pledging to keep their children off social media while respecting the age rating of video games.

Its a wonderful initiative brought about by collaboration between principals in the county to protect children. Schools are going above and beyond their role in reaching out to parents on this level. In future, we will need parents to take more of a lead.

Its happening in other areas too. A parent I spoke with this week in Cork City explained that she is looking to pass on her childrens formal school trousers, shirts, and ties. She needs to make room for their new gear: a non-gendered, affordable tracksuit with a stitched-on school crest.

The Parents Association in her school worked with the board of management and conducted a survey on parent attitudes to their uniforms. From September the childrens lives will change.

The Minister of Education has been recommending this type of uniform for years, but she will only ever make recommendations. It takes parents, not teachers, to get change over the line.

So, Irish parents, please leave the teaching to the teachers and respect their expertise in the field. Work on fostering a relationship that benefits everyone but especially your child.

The research on the impact of positive parent-teacher-child relationships is crystal clear.

Spend your time looking at the daily obstacles for your child that you have real power, and a constitutional duty, to change. These are not national conversations. They wont be solved by the media or the Government. The history of our State has produced an education system that is fragmented and convoluted but it has also given you more power than parents in other jurisdictions. Use it.
In France, the year 2022 saw the government repeatedly resort to Article 49.3 of the constitution to force unpopular reforms through parliament. The date of 16 March, in particular, marked the 100th time under Frances Fifth Republic that the executive chose to use these special powers.

With this in mind, many French people now perceive their political system as undemocratic. Elsewhere in Europe, several countries have gone on to develop more or less authoritarian political systems over the past two decades, notably Poland and Hungary. In almost every country on the continent, far-right parties are gaining momentum.

Alongside this, political elites, especially parliamentarians, are heavily criticised for being corrupt, too out of touch with their populations wants and needs, and incapable of passing effective legislation.

A number of countries have experienced youth revolts betraying social malaise, including France in its working-class suburbs. Terrorist attacks are also weakening European societies.

It therefore appears European democracies are in crisis. Beyond the events on which the media focus their attention, what can we learn about the values of Europeans and more particularly about their attachment to democracy?

A large number of European countries are members of the European Union. They are therefore expected to organise themselves in accordance with the fundamental principles set out in the Union treaties.

An anti-government march in Warsaw in June led by the centrist opposition party leader Donald Tusk in Poland who along with other critics accuses the government of eroding democracy. Poland's largest opposition party accused the country's right-wing government of eroding democracy and following Hungary and Turkey down the path to autocracy. Photo: AP/Czarek Sokolowski

According to Article 2: The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. These values are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail.

A fine programme, but surveys carried out among Europeans show that they are far from being as democracy-minded citizens as the treaties set them out to be. The collective research I have just overseen, Europeans and Their Values: Between Individualism and Individualisation clearly shows this.

It is based on an analysis of the results of the European Values Studies (EVS), a major survey carried out by European researchers every nine years to monitor changes in values in different parts of the continent (nearly 60,000 people interviewed in 34 countries between 2017 and 2020).

The data reveals that, contrary to what many people think, the values of solidarity are slowly gaining ground, notwithstanding temptations of individualistic withdrawal. Individuals desire for autonomy and freedom to choose their own lives is asserting itself strongly in the areas of the family, politics, work and even religion.

But Europeans attachment to democracy is less obvious, as our survey shows. Virtually all Europeans say they are supportive of the democratic system, and three quarters consider it important to live in a country organised on this basis. 57% would like to have a greater say in their needs at work and in their daily environment.

Expectations of democracy are therefore high. But criticism and dissatisfaction are predominant: only a third of Europeans believe that their country is governed democratically, and only 20% are satisfied with the way the political system works. This is a sign of a crisis in representation.

It is important that we put Europeans apparent enthusiasm for democracy into perspective. Indeed, for many, the choice of the democratic system is not exclusive.

52% of them would accept a government made up of experts who take decisions, 32% would welcome the power of an authoritarian leader and 14% might even support a military regime. In total, only 38% of exclusive democrats find democracy good but other systems bad.

In a fairly large part of the population, democratic values are not deeply rooted. Were a political crisis to occur, the pull toward an anti-democratic system may be strong.

While many Europeans view democracy positively, they do not all have the same conception of it. Central features of representative democracy (free elections, civil rights, equality of men and women) are considered essential by most.

Some are also attached to economic aspects. For them, help for the unemployed, redistribution through taxation and income equalisation are also essential aspects of a democracy. These economic expectations are higher in Southern Europe and Russia.

Finally, the survey tested three characteristics usually considered to be undemocratic: obedience to those in power, the army taking power, and the regulation of politics by religious authorities. Admittedly, these values are not often considered essential to a democracy.

But 57% of Russians and 45% of southern Europeans consider obeying those in power to be a strong feature of democracy. This principled obedience to those in power does not sit well with criticism or protest of those in power, both fundamental democratic rights.

There are far more exclusive democrats in the Nordic countries and in western and southern Europe than in the east of the continent, particularly in countries that joined the EU in the early 2000s. And the exclusive attachment to democracy does not seem to have changed much in 20 years.

According to the map, democracy appears to be fairly solid in the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Estonia, while it is much more fragile in Croatia and Romania (only 10% and 8% exclusive democrats respectively). This is problematic given that these two countries are members of the European Union and must therefore respect its values.

People take part in an Equality Parade in Warsaw, Poland, in 2021 after a pandemic-induced break the year before and amid a backlash in Poland and Hungary against LGBT+ rights. Photo: AP/Czarek Sokolowski

In Western Europe, the Germans and the Swiss are clearly more attached to democracy than the French. The French are hardly more exclusive democrats than the average European: while 89% think that democracy is a good system, 48% say the same for an expert-led government, 23% for the authoritarian power of a strongman and 13% for a government of the army.

In Russia, given Putins leadership, the survey results may come as a surprise. The level of exclusive democrats is as high in Russia (41%) as in several other European countries, notably France (40%). 81% of Russians consider democracy to be a good system. 32% would accept the government of an authoritarian leader and 19% of Russians would accept a military government.

The level of support for a regime of experts is particularly low compared with many countries: only 38% would accept it, which sounds like a disavowal of the technocrats in the presidential entourage, judged to be responsible for everything that goes wrong.

All in all, democracy in many EU countries is more fragile than many people might think. Politicians and civil society actors should consider ways of strengthening citizens attachment to the democratic system. In a context where elected representatives are heavily criticised, democracies need to re-legitimise themselves.
Briefly, it seemed the Grant Thornton report on Ryan Tubridy and RTE would bring clarity, if not closure.

Then came the bombshell from RTE director general Kevin Bakhurst, whose brief statement yesterday announced the end of negotiations with Mr Tubridy on returning to the air.

Media reports in recent days focused on the likely salary the former Late Late Show host could expect on his return, the kind of detail which usually precedes reinstatement.

Mr Bakhurst duly confirmed in his statement that there was general agreement between the relevant parties on the fundamentals of Mr Tubridys return.

However, the decision not to proceed further with negotiations, as outlined bluntly in the director generals statement, brings an end to the possibility of any such return for the foreseeable future.

Close attention will be paid to Mr Bakhursts comment that public statements being made without consultation appear to question the basis for the necessary restatement of fees  presumably a reference to Mr Tubridys statement last Wednesday, when he claimed that the Grant Thornton report showed his actual income from RTE in 2020 and 2021 matched what was originally published.

That statement is understood to have rankled with members of RTE management and offers some context to Mr Bakhursts comment that trust had broken down.

That Mr Tubridys comments became such a sticking point is significant, as the natural conclusion to draw from Mr Bakhursts statement is that if the presenter had remained silent, he might now be preparing to return to broadcasting.

In that case, could Mr Bakhurst truly claim to be drawing a line between RTEs recent past and present, per his statement?

There may be a twist or two left in this story yet (who knows what the future holds, says Mr Bakhurst) but the saga has gone on so long now it risks undermining RTE and Mr Bakhursts authority and ability to get on with the job at hand.

There will be other takers for Mr Tubridy, who is anxious to return to work and, should he join a rival, then RTEs abrupt conclusion of negotiations might eventually appear hasty.

It remains to be seen, however, whether Mr Tubridys exile persuades licence fee refuseniks to pay up. Winning back the public trust is likely to be a far longer negotiation for RTE.

Parents can effect change on smartphones Waterford primary schools are to ask parents to sign a charter before their children return to class in the next couple of weeks. The charter asks parents not to allow their child access to smartphones, social media, and age-restricted games while in primary school, and all schools in the city and county are to support parents with that decision. Smartphones provide constant distraction to adults and are no aid to concentration, but they are also a necessary part of modern life for many  an obvious example is the contemporary reliance on banking and finance apps to manage ones money, even if the recent controversy with Bank of Irelands online services shows that reliance has potential pitfalls. However, smartphones can have seriously adverse effects on children, with studies suggesting they can impair childrens learning ability and cognitive development and cause behavioural problems. What's your view on this issue? You can tell us here Some scientists suggest childrens moods and ability to learn can be affected if they use smartphones during school breaks, while the potential for cyberbullying via social media apps is another issue facilitated by smartphones. The first point worth making is that this worthwhile initiative has so much to recommend it that its strange it has not been mandated by the Department of Education for all primary schools in Ireland. Its difficult to see valid counter-arguments to a policy which, if implemented in all schools, would surely be welcomed by parents and teachers alike. However, should parents have to wait for change to emanate centrally from the department in the first place? As noted by Irish Examiner columnist Jennifer Horgan, the Waterford initiative follows a similar policy driven by parents in Greystones advocating for a smartphone-free school. More parents need to realise their own ability to effect change in our school system  change that will ultimately benefit their own children.

At his peak, Michael Parkinson was one of the big beasts of BBCs television schedule. Picture: PA

Parkinson show a pathway to fame

The wrangling over Ryan Tubridys future as a broadcaster was thrown into sharp relief with the news of Michael Parkinsons passing at the age of 88.

At his peak, Parkinson was one of the big beasts of BBCs television schedule, hosting a late-night chat show which was appointment viewing for millions.

It was a time of relatively few competing attractions, which meant Parkinsons show had a reach and status that could create instant fame.

In 1975, for instance, an obscure Scottish comedian popped up as a guest on the show, making a splash with his oversized personality and energetic delivery: Billy Connolly duly became a star overnight.

Not all of the interviews were as successful. A trawl through YouTube revives a toe-curling exchange as a smirking Parkinson questions young actress Helen Mirren about her figure. The best that can be said about the interview is that it belongs to the 70s.

Over the course of a lengthy career, Parkinson interviewed stars from Jimmy Cagney to George Best, but many will recall his encounters with Muhammad Ali with particular fondness.

The great boxers physical decline is an incidental revelation in the Parkinson interviews, as the witty, lively talker who lights up the early 70s show is eventually replaced by a slow-talking, reduced figure in a 1981 interview.

Still, Parkinson talking to Ali on a grainy TV screen is about as 70s as it gets. Rest in peace.
I don't know about anyone else but autumn gets me in the mood for hibernating.

Some people browse the stationery aisles as soon as August arrives  no matter how many decades have zipped by since they opened their Leaving Cert results  but give me a lookbook of duvet sets or bedroom furniture promising blissful relaxation any day (or night)  no smirking in the cheap seats, now.

Check out the Joules Thornton king-size bed frame in Festival Floral, 1,625, and storage ottoman in red ticking stripe, 649, both available exclusively at DFS.

Joules Hambledon king-size bed frame in blue ticking stripe.

The bed features an oversized statement headboard and Lou Petersen of DFS says: When it comes to styling your bedroom if you prefer a maximalist look then go for a patterned bed frame with a statement headboard, as its always going to be the most dominant piece of furniture in the space.

The Joules Thornton king-size bed frame in Festival Floral exclusive at DFS.

What if you want to go all-out and continue the country-house look this season? Lou says: Mixing plains, patterns and stripes is key to this trend, so try introducing a couple of accent pieces in a contrasting fabric to get this balance  it also helps you achieve that boutique country hotel feel.

And if you fancy dialling up the playfulness of this look, introduce an additional, contrasting shade  here, a rich sunshine yellow lifts the space and gives it a contemporary edge.

Read More Wish List: Zap for a nap in a bed that James Bond would love

The Joules Thornton bedroom range is available exclusively at DFS and includes a double, king and super-king bed frame, all available with or without ottoman storage, together with a storage ottoman footstool, and a range of scatter cushions.

Each piece in the range comes in a choice of Festival Floral print, blue ticking stripe, or red ticking stripe.

See Dfs

WONDER WALLS

Art lovers will have noticed a bit of action on Corks streetscape in time for the new school year: Ardu Street Art has returned to the streets of Cork for its 2023 edition, as the first artists take their positions to create a striking new large-scale mural for the city.

The mural, currently a work in progress on the corner of Bridge Street and Coburg Street, has been designed as a collaboration between co-organisers of Ardu Shane ODriscoll and Peter Martin.

Ardu Street Art, Cork.

Ardu is the brainchild of Shane and Peter. Shane is a visual artist from Cork and has painted in a number of street Art festivals throughout the country, as well as having two largescale murals in Cork City.

Ardu Street Art, Cork.

Peter Martin, also based in Cork, has worked predominantly in public art over the last few years where he creates large-scale figurative artwork in mediums such as murals, tiled mosaics, and stained glass.

History, culture, and identity feature strongly throughout his work, and he aims to create work which is a commentary and often a celebration of place.

Read More How Cork city murals became a global art phenomenon

Their mural design commemorates Tomas MacCurtain. The artists point out that this is a man that contributed so much not only to the revolution in Ireland and Cork over 100 years ago but also for his contribution to arts and culture in the city.

Shane and Peters creation is the culmination of a project with transition-year students from St Angelas and Christian Brothers College.

Ardu Street Art, Cork.

Ardu Street Art was established in Cork during the lockdown of October 2020, originally bringing seven of Irelands most respected and renowned street artists  Deirdre Breen, Maser, James Earley, Peter Martin, Shane ODriscoll, Aches, and Garreth Joyce  to create large-scale murals at key Cork city locations.

See Arducork

DANISH DESIGN

Danish homeware brand Jysk opened its third store in Cork this week as it flung wide the doors of its Ballincollig business on Thursday. This brings to 22 the number of Jysk stores in Ireland, as the Ballincollig premises joins the Youghal and Eastgate stores in the Rebel County.

Mason Roche at the opening of Jysk, Ballincollig, on Thursday. Picture: Gerard McCarthy

The Scandinavian-inspired retail store will create approximately 10 new jobs and the store will be managed by Karolina Kudtye.

The new store is located at Unit 4, Innishmore Lawn, Ballincollig, Cork, P31 D256, and is open from 10am to 6pm daily.
US President Joe Biden opened a historic summit with Japan and South Korea at Camp David on Friday, focused on strengthening security and economic ties at a time of increasing concerns about North Koreas persistent nuclear threats and Chinas provocations in the Pacific.

Our countries are stronger and the world will be safer as we stand together, and I know this is a belief that all three share, Mr Biden said at the start of the meeting with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida at the presidential retreat in Maryland in the US.

Addressing the men at what he called the first standalone summit of the three nations, Mr Biden said: I want to thank you both for your political courage that brought you here.

Mr Yoon said as they appeared before reporters that today will be remembered as a historic day, where we established a firm institutional basis and commitments to the trilateral partnership.

The summit is being held at Camp David (Andrew Harnik/AP)

And Mr Kishida said before the private talks that the fact that we, the three leaders, have got together in this way, I believe means that we are indeed making a new history as of today. The international community is at a turning point in history.

The US, Japan and South Korea have agreed to a new security pledge committing the three countries to consult with each other in the event of a security crisis or threat in the Pacific.

Details about the new duty to consult commitment emerged as the summit got under way.

Before the three-way talks, Mr Biden separately met Mr Yoon and then Mr Kishida. The visitors remarks were translated into English as they spoke to reporters.

The agreement is one of several joint efforts that they were expected to announce at the day-long summit.

Our countries are stronger and the world will be safer as we stand together, and I know this is a belief that all three share

Suffice it to say, this is a big deal, Mr Bidens national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Friday shortly before the start of the summit.

It is a historic event, and it sets the conditions for a more peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific, and a stronger and more secure United States of America.

Even before the summit began, it drew harsh public criticism from the Chinese government.

The international community has its own judgment as to who is creating contradictions and increasing tensions, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters on Friday.

Attempts to form various exclusive groups and cliques and to bring bloc confrontation into the Asia-Pacific region are unpopular and will definitely spark vigilance and opposition in the countries of the region, Mr Wang said.

Its explicitly not a Nato for the Pacific

But Mr Sullivan said: Its explicitly not a Nato for the Pacific.

This partnership is not against anyone, it is for something. It is for a vision of the Indo-Pacific that is free, open, secure and prosperous.

The duty to consult pledge is intended to acknowledge that the three countries share fundamentally interlinked security environments and that a threat to one of the nations is a threat to all, according to a senior Biden administration official.

The summit is the first Mr Biden has held during his presidency at Camp David.

The three leaders are also expected to detail in their summit communique plans to invest in technology for a three-way crisis hotline and offer an update on progress the countries have made on sharing early-warning data on missile launches by North Korea.
US President Joe Biden and the leaders of Japan and South Korea agreed on Friday to expand security and economic ties at a historic summit at the US presidential retreat of Camp David.

Their meeting and agreement come at a time that the three countries are at an increasingly tense point in their relations with China and North Korea.

Mr Biden said the three countries would establish a hotline to discuss responses to threats and announced the agreements, including what they have termed the Camp David Principles, at the close of his talks with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida.

The purpose of our trilateral security co-operation is and will remain to promote and enhance peace and stability throughout the region, they said in a joint statement.

Today, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the United States have committed to swiftly consult each other in response to threats against any one of our countries.



That means well have a hotline to share information and coordinate our response whenever theres a crisis in region.  President Biden (@POTUS) August 18, 2023

The three leaders agreed to improve our trilateral communication mechanism to facilitate regular and timely communication between our countries, including our national leadership, the statement said.

That will include yearly trilateral meetings between leaders, foreign ministers, defence ministers and national security advisers.

Opening the meeting, Mr Biden said: Our countries are stronger and the world will be safer as we stand together. And I know this is a belief that all three share.

Mr Yoon said as the men appeared before reporters that today will be remembered as a historic day, where we established a firm institutional basis and commitments to the trilateral partnership.

And Mr Kishida said before the private talks that the fact that we, the three leaders, have got together in this way, I believe means that we are indeed making a new history as of today. The international community is at a turning point in history.

Welcome to Camp David, President Yoon and Prime Minister Kishida. pic.twitter.com/tZ3IsNIQhP  President Biden (@POTUS) August 18, 2023

The US, Japan and South Korea agreed to a new duty to consult security pledge, committing the three countries to speak to each other in the event of a security crisis or threat in the Pacific.

The duty to consult pledge is intended to acknowledge that the three countries share fundamentally interlinked security environments and that a threat to one of the nations is a threat to all, according to a senior Biden administration official.

Under the pledge, the three countries agree to consult, share information and align their messaging with each other in the face of a threat or crisis, the official said.

Mr Bidens focus for the summit was to nudge the United States two closest Asian allies to further tighten security and economic co-operation with each other.

Beijing sees the tightening co-operation efforts as the first steps of a Pacific-version of Nato, the transatlantic military alliance, forming against it.

US officials expect that North Korea will lash out, perhaps with more ballistic missile tests and certainly blistering rhetoric.
The whereabouts of the owner and teachers of a private school in Mandalay remain unknown since they were arrested and detained on Wednesday for allegedly joining the civil disobedience movement, following a raid on Golden Gate Private High School by junta forces.

The school in Maha Aungmyay Township employed about 15 teachers, sources said.

Golden Gate is the first private school to be raided and sealed off since junta personnel began investigating private schools in Mandalay on July 27 for links to the civil disobedience movement.

Signs of an impending purge emerged in the third week of July when pro-regime Telegram channels called for investigations of private schools in Mandalay to root out teachers from the public system who were on strike to protest the coup.

The regime alleged that the school is linked with and has supported the parallel National Unity Government (NUG), its parliamentary wing, the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, and its armed wing, the Peoples Defense Forces (PDFs).

All three are labeled terrorist organizations by the junta.

General Administration Department officials, police and soldiers sealed off the school and office. I heard the school owner and teacher U Myat Kyaw and around 15 teachers were arrested, a teacher in Mandalay said.

We dont know their whereabouts, the source added.

Junta personnel began investigating private schools in Mandalay on July 27.

An official from Mandalay District said: We received information that the school employs [striking] teachers, supplies PDFs, and runs online classrooms in cooperation with the NUG. We made surprise checks and found that the information was true. So, we sealed off the school, and filed a lawsuit against the [teachers] in line with law.

Yangon, Mandalay and Pyin Oo Lwin are home to the majority of private schools in Myanmar. Mandalay Region reportedly has more than 240 private schools with about 140 being in the city.

Following the coup, the junta-controlled Education Ministry provided training for teachers at private schools, saying they must have relevant certificates to teach. Educators said the training was intended to bar striking teachers from the public system from working in private schools.

The regime has also required private schools to provide lists of their teachers and other staff along with their addresses to ensure striking teachers were not being employed at private schools.

Teachers working at NUG-linked schools have been arrested and jailed.

In March, the regime arrested Daw Ei Shwe Sin Myint, head of the Mandalay-based Federal School of Aung Myay Thar Zan in Aungmyaythazan Township, along with about 15 teachers aged between 20 and 40. A junta-controlled court in Mandalay handed her a 20-year prison sentence in July.

The regime also arrested two students, their father and two teachers at an NUG-linked online school on July 27.

Last year, CDM health staff were targeted. Hospitals and clinics were raided and clinics were sealed off. This year, they are targeting online schools and private schools. CDM schoolteachers need to exercise caution, a retired teacher said.

Teachers who joined the civil disobedience movement following the 2021 coup have opened schools for families that reject the juntas education system. While most CDM schools are online, students can study at community schools in some areas of Sagaing Region and ethnic-minority states where resistance forces have replaced the junta administration.
The leaders of three of Myanmars most powerful ethnic rebel groups fighting the junta recently claimed that the regime will be toppled soon as it is losing its multi-front war.

The junta is losing ground across the country, except in Rakhine State where the Arakan Army agreed a temporary ceasefire after intense clashes across the state.

Now the junta is losing bases in attacks by resistance groups and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the armed wing of the countrys oldest revolutionary group Karen Nation Union, and even around the capital, Naypyitaw.

The regime is also losing diplomatically with

increasing international pressure.

In a speech at the 75th anniversary of the Karenni Armed Force Day on Thursday, Major General Aung Myat, head of the Karenni Army (KA), the armed wing of the countrys second oldest ethnic rebel group, the Karenni National Progressive Party founded in 1957, said the anti-junta revolutions will win as the Bamar majority has joined the fight for the first time.

The Bamar majority did not back resistance to previous regimes in the past.

If we fail this time, we will always struggle as slaves, the general told the event.

Following the 2021 coup, the KA has provided military training to anti-regime activists and helped the formation of the Karen Nationalities Defense Force, which is attacking regime targets across Kayah State and neighboring southern Shan State.

In a letter to Karennis Armed Force Day, the civilian National Unity Government said the decisive period is coming to defeat a regime that is failing militarily, economically, politically and diplomatically.

General NBan La, chairman of the Kachin Independence Organization, the political wing of the powerful Kachin Independence Army (KIA), said at the 48th Kachin Martyrs Day on August 10 that the junta will fall soon.

He warned some organizations not to back a regime in crisis that is fighting the entire nation.

The KIA has also provided military training to thousands of anti-regime activities and fighting the junta alongside resistance groups in Kachin State, northern Shan State and Sagaing Region.

At a press conference on August 10, Brigadier General Saw Tamlar Thaw, the head of the KNLA, said the junta is changing its military strategy from offensive to defensive amid growing armed resistance.

The regime is unable to conduct offensives. Instead, it conducts artillery and airstrikes on civilian targets and residential areas, he said.

The KNLAs head said it has now managed to conduct more offensives to the west of the Sittaung River in Bago Region.

The KNLA has also provided training to several thousand anti-regime activists since the military coup in 2021.

It has conducted more offensives alongside resistance groups and taken control of land in Karen and Mon states and Bago and Tanintharyi regions.

Recently, the KNLA and resistance groups seized a junta outpost and attacked military units in the mountains to the east of Naypyitaw.
Two people, including a one-year-old, were killed by junta troops during a Thursday night raid in Khin-U town, Sagaing Region.

Around 50 junta troops and police raided homes in Ma Kan Thar ward after an alleged tipoff that resistance fighters were sheltering in the area.

One of the twin brothers and a 50-year-old man were shot dead during the raid, a resident said.

Ma Thidar Oo, the boys mother, the other twin and another man were reportedly detained by junta troops.

Their whereabouts are unknown.

Junta forces came to arrest the childrens father but he narrowly escaped when they raided his house, a resident said.

Sources said three neighbors sustained minor injuries during the raid.

Pro-junta Telegram channels reported that raid and posted photos of seized weapons, including a sniper rifle, but did not mention the two civilian deaths.

The channels said the suspect was

a member of the townships security team, which residents denied.

The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the reports.

Peoples security teams or Pa La Pha act as a police service in resistance territory in collaboration with the civilian National Unity Governments Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration.

Rural communities in Khin-U Township are also regularly targeted by junta raids and indiscriminate shelling.

Four people, including a 10-year-old boy, were injured by indiscriminate shelling on August 9.

Junta bombardment also killed five villagers, including a six-year-old boy, in July.

A woman was killed and nine people were injured by junta shelling during a raid on Te Su village in June.

Around 5,500 houses in 75 villages have reportedly been incinerated by the junta in the township.

Hundreds of villagers have been displaced in Khin-U and are taking shelter in monasteries and schools.
At least 25 Myanmar junta forces were killed in the last four days as Peoples Defense Force groups (PDFs) and ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) continued their attacks on regime targets across the country.

Incidents were reported in Sagaing, Magwe and Tanintharyi regions and Mon, Karen and Kachin states.

The Irrawaddy has rounded up the following reports of significant attacks from PDFs and EAOs.

Some military casualties could not be independently verified.

Military unit bombed in Sagaing



Resistance forces shell regime targets with improvised mortar rounds in Budalin Township on Thursday. / Ninja PDF

Local resistance group Ninja PDF said it and five other PDF groups used improvised mortar rounds to bomb a military unit raiding villages in Budalin Township, Sagaing Region on Thursday.

Military casualties were unknown.

Regime forces, military vehicle ambushed in Sagaing

At least four regime forces were killed in Shwebo Township, Sagaing Region on Tuesday when resistance groups ambushed two military units and a junta logistics vehicle in the township, said Black Wolf Army, which took part in the attacks.

First, the combined groups triggered land mines to ambush a military logistics truck leaving a junta base in Shwebo on that afternoon, killing three regime forces and injuring others.

The groups also attacked a military unit of 50 troops at the entrance of Shwebo town on the same afternoon, killing a soldier.

Another 50 military reinforcements were bombed by resistance drones while heading to the entrance to help the troops being attacked by the PDF groups, said the Black Wolf Army. Junta casualties as a result of the drone strikes were unknown.

Convoy transporting junta copper hit by mine in Sagaing



A convoy of trucks transporting copper for the junta face mine ambushes on a road in Sagaing Region. / BHA

Brave Heart Army said it and another resistance group triggered heavy land mines in four locations to ambush two convoys of trucks transporting copper from Monywa to Sagaing for the military on Monday and Tuesday.

Details of the damage were unknown.

Regime patrols killed in ambush in Monywa



Resistance members ambush a junta vehicle patrolling in Monywa Township on Monday night. / Naung Yoe PDF

Naung Yoe PDF said it and other resistance groups killed two soldiers and injured others when it ambushed a small vehicle carrying regime forces from close range in Monywa Township, Sagaing Region on Monday night. The regime forces were attempting to patrol unseen in an industrial zone with the vehicles headlights turned off.

Regime forces bombed in Sagaing

Shwebo District PDF Battalion 23 claimed its forces used three grenades to attack 12 junta troops who had just arrived and gathered at the entrance of a junta-controlled agriculture office in Shwebo town, Sagaing Region on Thursday afternoon.

In the attack, two troops were killed and five injured, said the resistance group, citing witnesses.

Regime forces killed in resistance attacks in Magwe



A drone drops a bomb on regime targets in a vehicle performing security duty on a road in Pakokku Township on Wednesday. / Myaing PDF

Myaing PDF said at least six regime troops including two pro-junta militia members were killed and many injured in Pauk and Pakokku townships, Magwe Region on Tuesday and Wednesday as it and other resistance groups conducted ambushes, drone strikes and mine attacks against regime targets.

Junta troops killed in resistance attacks in Tanintharyi



Resistance forces engage in a clash with a military unit in Dawei Township on Wednesday. / Dawei Collective Column

At least three regime forces were killed and two others injured in Dawei Township, Tanintharyi Region on Wednesday when fighters of Dawei Collective Column clashed with a military unit of 80 soldiers on a road, the resistance group said.

There were no resistance casualties.

Military base raided in Karen

At least four regime forces were killed in Kyainseikgyi Township, Karen State on Tuesday when the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the armed wing of the Karen National Union (KNU), attacked troops of Military Infantry Battalion 284 stationed at a police outpost in the township, said the KNU.

Military checkpoints attacked in Mon

Black Wolf Column said it coordinated with KNLA troops to attack a military checkpoint in Mokepalin Village in Mon States Kyaikhto Township on Wednesday, killing a military sergeant and injuring a police officer.

A video shows resistance fighters attacking the military checkpoint.

Military convoy attacked in Mon

The Defense Ministry of the civilian National Unity Government said three junta troops were killed in Kyaikhto Township, Mon State on Wednesday when combined resistance groups attacked a military convoy of six vehicles near a village.

Military flotilla ambushed in Kachin



A military flotilla comes under resistance attack in Shwegu Township, Kachin State on Wednesday. / Myo Hla PDF

Regime forces are thought to have been killed or injured in Shwegu Township, Kachin State on Wednesday when Myo Hla Peoples Defense Forces used 107-mm rocket bombs to attack a military flotilla of nine vessels traveling on the Irrawaddy River, said the resistance group.

Two vessels were hit in the attack.
Friday, Aug 18th, 2023 (11:11 am) - Score 1,416

Residents in the West Midlands city of Wolverhampton have been warned by the local city council to be on the lookout for doorstep scammers, some of which have recently been posing as council employees in an attempt to entice people to switch their ISP for free broadband.

The development comes only a day after we reported on the problem that TalkTalks door-to-door sales (cold calling) activity had caused in Newcastle (here), although in todays news were dealing with a much more overtly fraudulent activity around a different city.

Sadly, the Wolverhampton City Council has not provided much detail (i.e. no mention of any specific ISPs), and thus we dont know if these were merely dodgy sellers or scammers trying to steal personal financial details etc. In any case, the best response is always to politely decline any door-to-door sales activity.

Councillor Craig Collingswood said: Residents should note that we do not provide any service of this kind. Unfortunately, not everyone is trustworthy and some people will take advantage of others if they feel there is money to be made. Scams come in many different guises; before agreeing to an offer, give yourself time to think about it and have a chat with family, neighbours or friends. Most of all, if something doesnt seem right, then follow your instincts and remember that you can politely say No, thank you, and shut the door.

If you have encountered these doorstop sellers or have any further questions, please contact Wolverhampton Trading Standards through their partners at Citizens Advice Consumer Service by calling 0808 223 1133 or by email to tradingstandards@wolverhampton.gov.uk . The fact theyre redirecting people to those contacts, rather than the police, suggests that this may be a case of dodgy sellers.
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.
Today

Some clouds in the morning will give way to mainly sunny skies for the afternoon. High around 90F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight

Clear skies. Low 72F. Winds light and variable.

Tomorrow

Mainly sunny. High 99F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.
FILE - Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton makes a statement at his office, May 26, 2023, in Austin, Texas. Investigators leading the impeachment of Paxton have released nearly 4,000 pages of documents that reveal in new detail how the embattled Republican allegedly used multiple cell phones, aliases on ride-sharing apps to conceal an affair and pressured top aides to help a donor who is now facing criminal charges.
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( Tomdispatch.com )  Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, geographer Jared Diamond focused on past civilizations that confronted severe climate shocks, either adapting and surviving or failing to adapt and disintegrating. Among those were the Puebloan culture of Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, the ancient Mayan civilization of Mesoamerica, and the Viking settlers of Greenland. Such societies, having achieved great success, imploded when their governing elites failed to adopt new survival mechanisms to face radically changing climate conditions.

Bear in mind that, for their time and place, the societies Diamond studied supported large, sophisticated populations. Pueblo Bonito, a six-story structure in Chaco Canyon, contained up to 600 rooms, making it the largest building in North America until the first skyscrapers rose in New York some 800 years later. Mayan civilization is believed to have supported a population of more than 10 million people at its peak between 250 and 900 A.D., while the Norse Greenlanders established a distinctively European society around 1000 A.D. in the middle of a frozen wasteland. Still, in the end, each collapsed utterly and their inhabitants either died of starvation, slaughtered each other, or migrated elsewhere, leaving nothing but ruins behind.

The question today is: Will our own elites perform any better than the rulers of Chaco Canyon, the Mayan heartland, and Viking Greenland?

As Diamond argues, each of those civilizations arose in a period of relatively benign climate conditions, when temperatures were moderate and food and water supplies adequate. In each case, however, the climate shifted wrenchingly, bringing persistent drought or, in Greenlands case, much colder temperatures. Although no contemporary written records remain to tell us how the ruling elites responded, the archaeological evidence suggests that they persisted in their traditional ways until disintegration became unavoidable.

These historical examples of social disintegration spurred lively discussion among my students when, as a professor at Hampshire College, I regularly assigned Collapse as a required text. Even then, a decade ago, many of them suggested that we were beginning to face severe climate challenges akin to those encountered by earlier societies  and that our contemporary civilization also risked collapse if we failed to take adequate measures to slow global warming and adapt to its inescapable consequences.

But in those discussions (which continued until I retired from teaching in 2018), our analyses seemed entirely theoretical: Yes, contemporary civilization might collapse, but if so, not any time soon. Five years later, its increasingly difficult to support such a relatively optimistic outlook. Not only does the collapse of modern industrial civilization appear ever more likely, but the process already seems underway.

Precursors of Collapse

When do we know that a civilization is on the verge of collapse? In his now almost 20-year-old classic, Diamond identified three key indicators or precursors of imminent dissolution: a persistent pattern of environmental change for the worse like long-lasting droughts; signs that existing modes of agriculture or industrial production were aggravating the crisis; and an elite failure to abandon harmful practices and adopt new means of production. At some point, a critical threshold is crossed and collapse invariably follows.

Today, its hard to avoid indications that all three of those thresholds are being crossed.

To begin with, on a planetary basis, the environmental impacts of climate change are now unavoidable and worsening by the year. To take just one among innumerable global examples, the drought afflicting the American West has now persisted for more than two decades, leading scientists to label it a megadrought exceeding all recorded regional dry spells in breadth and severity. As of August 2021, 99% of the United States west of the Rockies was in drought, something for which there is no modern precedent. The recent record heat waves in the region have only emphasized this grim reality.

The American Wests megadrought has been accompanied by another indicator of abiding environmental change: the steady decline in the volume of the Colorado River, the regions most important source of water. The Colorado River Basin supplies drinking water to more than 40 million people in the United States and, according to economists at the University of Arizona, its crucial to $1.4 trillion of the U.S. economy. All of that is now at severe risk due to increased temperatures and diminished precipitation. The volume of the Colorado is almost 20% below what it was when this century began and, as global temperatures continue to rise, that decline is likely to worsen.

The most recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change offers many examples of such negative climate alterations globally (as do the latest headlines). Its obvious, in fact, that climate change is permanently altering our environment in an ever more disastrous fashion.

Its also evident that Diamonds second precursor to collapse, the refusal to alter agricultural and industrial methods of production which only aggravate or  in the case of fossil-fuel consumption  simply cause the crisis, is growing ever more obvious. At the top of any list would be a continuing reliance on oil, coal, and natural gas, the leading sources of the greenhouse gases (GHGs) now overheating our atmosphere and oceans. Despite all the scientific evidence linking fossil-fuel combustion to global warming and the promises of governing elites to reduce the consumption of those fuels  for example, under the Paris Climate Agreement of 2015  their use continues to grow.

According to a 2022 report produced by the International Energy Agency (IEA), global oil consumption, given current government policies, will rise from 94 million barrels per day in 2021 to an estimated 102 million barrels by 2030 and then remain at or near that level until 2050. Coal consumption, though expected to decline after 2030, is still rising in some areas of the world. The demand for natural gas (only recently found to be dirtier than previously imagined) is projected to exceed 2020 levels in 2050.

The same 2022 IEA report indicates that energy-related emissions of carbon dioxide  the leading component of greenhouse gases  will climb from 19.5 billion metric tons in 2020 to an estimated 21.6 billion tons in 2030 and remain at about that level until 2050. Emissions of methane, another leading GHG component, will continue to rise, thanks to the increased production of natural gas.

Not surprisingly, climate experts now predict that average world temperatures will soon surpass 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above the pre-industrial level  the maximum amount they believe the planet can absorb without experiencing irreversible, catastrophic consequences, including the dying out of the Amazon and the melting of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets (with an accompanying rise in sea levels of one meter or more).

There are many other ways in which societies are now perpetuating behavior that will endanger the survival of civilization, including the devotion of ever more resources to industrial-scale beef production. That practice consumes vast amounts of land, water, and grains that could be better devoted to less profligate vegetable production. Similarly, many governments continue to facilitate the large-scale production of water-intensive crops through extensive irrigation schemes, despite the evident decline in global water supplies that is already producing widespread shortages of drinking water in places like Iran.

Finally, todays powerful elites are choosing to perpetuate practices known to accelerate climate change and global devastation. Among the most egregious, the decision of top executives of the ExxonMobil Corporation  the worlds largest and wealthiest privately-owned oil company  to continue pumping oil and gas for endless decades after their scientists warned them about the risks of global warming and affirmed that Exxons operations would only amplify them. As early as the 1970s, Exxons scientists predicted that the firms fossil-fuel products could lead to global warming with dramatic environmental effects before the year 2050. Yet, as has been well documented, Exxon officials responded by investing company funds in casting doubt on climate change research, even financing think tanks focused on climate denialism. Had they instead broadcast their scientists findings and worked to speed the transition to alternative fuels, the world would be in a far less precarious position today.

Or consider Chinas decision, even as it was working to develop alternative energy sources, to increase its combustion of coal  the most carbon-intense of all fossil fuels  in order to keep factories and air conditioners humming during periods of increasingly extreme heat.

All such decisions have ensured that future floods, fires, droughts, heatwaves, you name it, will be more intense and prolonged. In other words, the precursors to civilizational collapse and the disintegration of modern industrial society as we know it  not to speak of the possible deaths of millions of us  are already evident. Worse yet, numerous events this very summer suggest that we are witnessing the first stages of just such a collapse.

The Apocalyptic Summer of 23

July 2023 has already been declared the hottest month ever recorded and the entire year is also likely to go down as the hottest ever. Unusually high temperatures globally are responsible for a host of heat-related deaths across the planet. For many of us, the relentless baking will be remembered as the most distinctive feature of the summer of 23. But other climate impacts offer their own intimations of an approaching Jared Diamond-style collapse. To me, two ongoing events fit that category in a striking fashion.

The fires in Canada: As of August 2nd, months after they first erupted into flame, there were still 225 major uncontrolled wildfires and another 430 under some degree of control but still burning across the country. At one point, the figure was more than 1,000 fires! To date, they have burned some 32.4 million acres of Canadian woodland, or 50,625 square miles  an area the size of the state of Alabama. Such staggering fires, largely attributed to the effects of climate change, have destroyed hundreds of homes and other structures, while sending particle-laden smoke across Canadian and American cities  at one point turning New Yorks skies orange. In the process, record amounts of carbon dioxide were dispatched into the atmosphere, only increasing the pace of global warming and its destructive impacts.

Aside from its unprecedented scale, there are aspects of this years fire season that suggest a more profound threat to society. To begin with, in fire terms  or more accurately, in climate-change terms  Canada has clearly lost control of its hinterland. As political scientists have long suggested, the very essence of the modern nation-state, its core raison detre, is maintaining control over its sovereign territory and protecting its citizens. A country unable to do so, like Sudan or Somalia, has long been considered a failed state.

By now, Canada has abandoned any hope of controlling a significant percentage of the fires raging in remote areas of the country and is simply allowing them to burn themselves out. Such areas are relatively unpopulated, but they do house numerous indigenous communities whose lands have been destroyed and who have been forced to flee, perhaps permanently. Were this a one-time event, you could certainly say that Canada still remains an intact, functioning society. But given the likelihood that the number and extent of wildfires will only increase in the years ahead as temperatures continue to rise, Canada  hard as it might be to believe  can be said to be on the verge of becoming a failed state.

The floods in China: While American reporting on China tends to focus on economic and military affairs, the most significant news this summer has been the persistence of unusually heavy rainfall in many parts of the country, accompanied by severe flooding. At the beginning of August, Beijing experienced its heaviest rainfall since such phenomena began being measured there more than 140 years ago. In a pattern found to be characteristic of hotter, more humid environments, a storm system lingered over Beijing and the capital region for days on end, pouring 29 inches of rain on the city between July 29th and August 2nd. At least 1.2 million people had to be evacuated from flood-prone areas of surrounding cities, while more than 100,000 acres of crops were damaged or destroyed.

Its not that unusual for floods and other extreme weather events to bedevil China, causing widespread human suffering. But 2023 has been distinctive both in the amount of rainfall its experienced and the record heat thats gone with it. Even more strikingly, this summers climate extremes forced the government to behave in ways that suggest a state at the mercy of a raging climate system.

When flooding threatened Beijing, officials sought to spare the capital from its worst effects by diverting floodwaters to surrounding areas. They were to resolutely serve as a moat for the capital, according to Ni Yuefeng, the Communist Party secretary for Hebei province, which borders Beijing on three sides. While that might have spared the capital from severe damage, the diverted water poured into Hebei, causing extensive harm to infrastructure and forcing those 1.2 million people to be relocated. The decision to turn Hebei into a moat for the capital suggests a leadership under siege by forces beyond its control. As is true of Canada, China is certain to face even greater climate-related disasters prompting the government to take who knows what extreme measures to prevent widespread chaos and calamity.

These two events strike me as particularly revealing, but there are others that come to mind from this record-breaking summer. For example, the Iranian governments decision to declare an unprecedented two-day national holiday on August 2nd, involving the closure of all schools, factories, and public offices, in response to record heat and drought. For many Iranians, that holiday was nothing but a desperate ploy to disguise the regimes inability to provide sufficient water and electricity  a failure thats bound to prove ever more destabilizing in the years to come.

Entering a New World Beyond Imagining

Half a dozen years ago, when I last discussed Jared Diamonds book with my students, we spoke of the ways civilizational collapse could still be averted through concerted action by the nations and peoples of the world. Little, however, did we imagine anything like the summer of 23.

Its true that much has been accomplished in the intervening years. The percentage of electricity provided by renewable sources globally has, for example, risen significantly and the cost of those sources has fallen dramatically. Many nations have also taken significant steps to reduce carbon emissions. Still, global elites continue to pursue strategies that will only amplify climate change, ensuring that, in the years to come, humanity will slide ever closer to worldwide collapse.

When and how we might slip over the brink into catastrophe is impossible to foresee. But as the events of this summer suggest, we are already all too close to the edge of the kind of systemic failure experienced so many centuries ago by the Mayans, the ancient Puebloans, and the Viking Greenlanders. The only difference is that we may have no place else to go. Call it, if you want, Collapse 2.0.

Copyright 2023 Michael Klare

Via ( Tomdispatch.com
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By Scott Lucas, University College Dublin | 

In north-east Syria, the 12-year conflict is far from over. Russian fighter jets buzz US surveillance drones, threatening to bring them down. Iranian-backed militias occasionally fire rockets at US positions. The Assad regime maintains that it will regain every inch of Syria, ending Kurdish autonomy in the north-east.

Meanwhile Turkey  considering the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) to be part of the Turkish Kurdish insurgency PKK  carries out periodic strikes, following its seizure of part of the border area in October 2019. And the Islamic State, expelled from its last village is March 2019, is still present. Its cells attack civilians and the Assad regimes military buses, killing at least 23 troops on August 11.

In a multi-sided confrontation where  amid the regimes deadly repression  no one has won, the headline is of a possible Russian-Iranian-US showdown. But that is a diversion from a local story where Syrias Kurds could be the biggest losers in the north-east.

On July 16, a Russian Su-35 fighter jet flew close to a US MC-12 turboprop surveillance aircraft, flying in support of operations against Islamic State cells. American officials said the MC-12s four crew members were endangered, and added that Russian harassment had complicated strike against an IS leader earlier in July. Moscow disregarded the message.

On July 23, another Russian fighter jet damaged a US MQ-9 Reaper drone, carrying our surveillance over northern Syria, when it flew within a few metres and one of its flares struck the Reapers propeller. A drone operator kept the Reaper in the air and guided it home.

Lt. General Alex Grynkewich, commander of the 9th Air Force, said: We call upon the Russian forces in Syria to put an immediate end to this reckless, unprovoked, and unprofessional behaviour. Some analysts seized on the incidents to declare imminent confrontation. Citing movements of Iranian-backed militia and Assad regime troops and equipment as well as Russian harassment, the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War declared: Iran, Russia, and the Syrian regime are coordinating to expel US forces from Syria.

Article continues after bonus IC video

RFE/ RL: Is This Really Me?: A Filmmaker On The Front Line In Syria With Female Kurdish Fighters

Despite a de facto deconfliction arrangement with US forces, Russia has discussed operations with Iran to prop up the Assad regime throughout the Syrian conflict. But ISWs assessment is hyperbolic. The chair of the US Joint Chief of Staff, General Mark Milley, said in July that additional military deployments were not needed to fend off Russian harassment: Theres been an uptick, but I wouldnt overstate it too much. Weve got adequate capabilities to defend ourselves.

Equally important, assessments such as ISWs play down  or even ignore completely  what is actually happening on the ground in Syria in favour of focusing on the interplay between foreign powers. Specifically, attention to a US-Russian-Iranian confrontation ignores the group at greatest risk in any showdown: Syrias Kurdish population.

A people without a home

In 2015, the prospect was of an Islamic State caliphate across northern Syria. IS controlled about one-third of the country, with the prospect of further gains. But the Kurds, backed by US military assistance, held out. They repelled a four-month siege of Kobane by IS in January 2015, at the cost of thousands of lives, and then began the fightback to reclaim territory.

Raqqa, Syrias seventh-largest city and the centre of the caliphate, was liberated in October 2017. The following September, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Council declared the establishment of a statelet, the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).

But autonomy would inevitably be tenuous for a Kurdish population  estimated at between 30 and 45 million  struggling for decades for a state in Syria, Iran, Iraq or Turkey. The Assad regime, which suppressed Kurdish protests in 2004-05, was anxious to regain authority that it had lost after nationwide demonstrations began in March 2011.

Tehrans regime not only chafed at US-supported Kurdish forces but also had its own problematic relations with Kurds in northwest Iran. Turkeys Erdogan government, because of its internal fight with the PKK, was also dedicated to breaking the Kurdish areas.

Ankara came close to doing so. Having already overrun the Afrin canton in north-west Syria in 2016, Erdogan sought an opening to advance in the north and north-east. He got it from Donald Trump, who offered in phone calls in December 2018 and October 2019 to withdraw all US troops. The Pentagon checked Trump on the first occasion, but Erdogan seized on the second green light to launch a cross-border invasion, occupying a strip along the border.

Do The Kurds Always Lose in the End?

In April 2013, at an international gathering in Oxford in the UK, a US military officer told me: I cant see us maintaining a presence. The Kurds always lose in the end.

More than a decade later, about 900 US troops remain in Syria, many of them working with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. But Erdogan is watching, waiting, and saying that the Kurds must capitulate. Assad still insists that he should be the leader of the north-east.

As Iran fences with the US over sanctions and Tehrans nuclear program, Iranian-backed militias occasionally fire rockets at US positions. And Russia  entangled in what appears to be Vladimir Putins losing gamble in Ukraine  pursues Syrian pinpricks against the Americans, hoping that Washington will finally abandon the Kurds.

On August 4, as political and military analysts were watching Russia and the US, there was another statement from northeast Syria. A day earlier, a Turkish drone strike on a car killed four members of the Syrian Democratic Forces and wounded two.

The Kurdish-led AANES called on the US to take a public position over the Turkish attacks which have killed dozens of Syrian Kurdish fighters this year. Washington must have a clear stance  regarding the targeting of our people and fighters.

There was no immediate reaction from either the US military or the Biden administration.

Scott Lucas, Professor, Clinton Institute, University College Dublin

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Newark, Del. (Special to Informed Comment: Feature)  On August 19, seventy years ago, the legitimate government of Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh was toppled in a coup jointly orchestrated by U.S. and British intelligence agencies and their Iranian collaborators. This article was first published in Persian in Iran in the journal Iran-e-Farda in February 1981. Every year, on the anniversary of the Coup in Iran, I write an article but this time, in memory of my late brother who passed away on October 16, 2023, I have decided to have his article translated.

 Fariba Amini

Distortion in History

By Mohammad Amini*

Fifty years after his passing, misinformation about Mohammad Mossadegh is still prevalent. There is an assertion that Mossadegh repeatedly rejected pragmatic solutions put forth by the United States and the United Kingdom to resolve the crisis, causing Irans economy to collapse and paving the way for the coup. This is one of the widely accepted misconceptions. The first error is to refer to Mossadeghs 80-hour talks with George C. McGhee, the US Assistant Secretary of State.

In October 1951, Mossadegh traveled to New York to speak up for Irans rights before the UN Security Council. Then he went to Washington, where, on the advice of Dean Acheson, President Trumans Secretary of State, he agreed to American mediation between Iran and the Anglo-Persian Oil Company and then he sat down to talk to McGhee. The truth is that following Lord Herbert Stanley Morrisons speech in the House of Commons, and then Prime Minister Winston Churchills letter to President Truman complaining about why he had invited Britains oil thief to the White House, it was clear that the British government had no intention of reconciling with Mossadegh.

Of course, Mossadegh was unaware of these issues and sat down to negotiate with the Americans in good faith. Unfair historians have claimed that Mossadegh, at the conclusion of his negotiations with McGhee, rejected all reasonable American offers to return victorious to his country. On the contrary, by the time the talks were over, according to Dean Acheson, it appeared that Mossadegh had agreed to all his proposals.

Mossadegh also appeared willing to have it operated by a neutral company-for instance, a Dutch company. Sometimes he would seem agreeable to the presence of a few Englishmen, sometimes not. Working from these premises the three [McGhee and his two assistants at the State Department] devised an ingenious scheme by which Anglo-Iranian would get Iranian oil for export on a basis that represented the same fifty-fifty profit division between government and company in effect elsewhere in the Persian Gulf [] Thinking that we had the makings of a deal, I set out for a series of foreign ministers, NATO, and General Assembly meetings in Europe [] Rowan [economic minister at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C.] decreed that Mossadegh, leading the attack on British foreign investments, had to fail, to be crushed and punished. This adamant British attitude ruled out further discussion or search for face-saving formulas of retreat for Mossadegh.[1]

Acheson added that Nitze and McGhee ended the negotiations on the ground that Mossadegh had never been definite enough on price to give the British a proposal capable of development.[2] However, Acheson was well aware that Mossadegh had discovered that these were mere ruses and that the failure of negotiations was due to the Anglo-Persian Companys defiance and Churchills support, rather than the fluctuating price of oil: they told me that Mossadegh never believed them. He knew that the British wanted a fight to the finish, and he took the declaration of a fight to the finish with dignity.[3] During an interview for the Truman Librarys oral history project, in response to a question about whether the British were obstinate, George McGhee stated:

Very. Anglo-Iranian [Company] was run by William Frasier, a Scotch accountant who didnt understand the modern world. His failure to understand the political forces in Iran helped create a very difficult problem for them. The company and the U.K. faced the possibility of a grave loss at a time when they badly needed the income from Iranian oil; so they played their hand pretty close. They missed a great opportunity. We warned them that we were offering fifty-fifty. They could perhaps have had a settlement at fifty-fifty, but they wouldnt offer it [] In the midst of the impasse, I suggested that Harriman go out together with a Britisher (the U.K. named Lord Stokes) to attempt to bridge the gap between the Iranian Government and the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, but they were unable to do so.

The truth is that twenty days after Mossadegh was elected Prime Minister, the British government and the Anglo-Persian Oil Company submitted a lawsuit to the International Court of Justice in The Hague to stop the nationalization of Irans oil industry, which was approved by the majority of the Iranian National Assembly. So, it was clear that four months after filing this lawsuit and during Mossadeghs visit to the United States, the British government and the Anglo-Persian Oil Company had no desire to reconcile with Iran.

Here, its important to clear up some misunderstandings about the British complaint to the International Court of Justice.

On May 26, 1951, the British government filed a complaint against Iran to the International Court of Justice.

On June 22, 1951, The Hague Tribunal set September 3 for the submission of the British Memoir and December 3 for the Iranian Counter-Memoir. Britain went even further, asking the Tribunal, on the same day, to stop the dispossession of the Anglo-Persian Company in Iran. The Tribunal decided to address this matter on June 30. Some historians have claimed that three Iranian parliament members rushed to The Hague in response to the same issue. This claim is made either out of ignorance of historical facts or to discredit Mossadegh. The Iranian government never responded to the British complaint, and there is no evidence of Irans response in The Hague Tribunals archives (in the section that relates to Irans case, pages 700-765). In July 1952, Ali Shayegan, Hasan Sadr, and Ali Asghar Parsa went to The Hague in response to an injunction order, not a British complaint. Ali Shaygan, a member of parliament, provided a report detailing the trips motivations after his return. On February 4, 1952, one week before the court deadline was set to expire, Hossein Navab, Irans ambassador to the Netherlands, presented Irans statement to The Hague Tribunal, denying the courts jurisdiction over the British complaint. The court granted Irans petition, which was based on the oil concession agreement of 1933 between Iran and the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. Mossadeghs trip to The Hague was not to appear at court but rather to declare that the tribunal lacked the authority to hear and decide the complaint.

The Court has arrived at the conclusion that it has no jurisdiction to deal with the case submitted to it by the Application of the Government of the United Kingdom dated May 26th, 1951. It is unnecessary for the Court to consider any of the other objections raised to its jurisdiction. Since the Court is without jurisdiction in the present case, it need not examine any arguments put forward by the Iranian Government against the admissibility of the claims of the United Kingdom Government.[4]

Article continues after bonus IC video

CNN from 10 years ago: CIA involvement in 1953 Iranian coup

Now, Ill go back to the subject of Mossadeghs stubbornness towards the proposal jointly made by the United States and the United Kingdom. The Churchill-Truman proposal was delivered to Mossadegh, in August 1952, a month after Britains defeat at The Hague Tribunal. According to McGhee, after the Washington talks failed in 1951, he had suggested that Stokes and Harriman mediate to resolve the issue and convince the Anglo-Persian Oil Company to take on the US offer. At the time, Britain hoped to win the case in court, so this proposal did not go anywhere; however, after Britains defeat in court, Churchill considered the US mediation.

Interestingly, the first paragraph of this proposal was to accept the World Courts arbitration in dealing with this issue, even though the Court had voted just one month ago to have no jurisdiction in this matter. Truman and Churchill made a passing reference in their proposal to a letter Mossadegh had sent to the British government through the British Embassy in Tehran in August 1951, requesting that the oil embargo on Iran be lifted. Mossadeghs reaction to this proposal, which was presented to the Iranian parliament, stemmed from his desire to defend Irans rights. He said that returning the case to the international court was unacceptable and that Iranian courts, which, after The Hague Courts ruling, were the only ones authorized to hear the companys claims, were ready to settle the two parties differences. He did, however, respond to Churchill and Truman by saying that Iran was even willing to accept the International Courts proceedings in certain circumstances:

To decide over the amount and compensation payments for the properties that the company had at the time of the nationalization of the oil industry in Iran, based on any laws, applied to the nationalization of industries in any countries, that the company is willing to accept. This will be the only compensation that Iran will pay, and the company will not have any other claim for compensation.

To deal with lawsuits and resolving disputes between 1933 and 1947 according to the 1933 agreement, and between 1948 and April 30, 1951 (the date on which the oil industry nationalization law was approved), according to the 1933 agreement and the supplemental Gass-Golshaian agreement that the company signed and approved, but the Iranian government and parliament do not believe it is sufficient for the realization of Irans rights.

To determine the amount of damage to the Iranian government because of the problems that the British government and the company have created for the sale of Iranian oil, as well as for the export of goods and Irans use of sterling funds.

The payment of 49 million sterling calculated on the companys 1950 balance sheet for the increase in royalties, taxes, and Iranian shares.

Mossadegh, who had accepted the US proposals more than a year before and had won The Hague Court case, had now presented some simple proposals to the British government. Of course, these proposals were not acceptable to a government that called Mossadegh the thief of British oil. Churchill and his administration had only one goal: to subdue Iran. Therefore, other proposals presented to Iran in late 1952 were not viable options. With Dwight Eisenhowers victory in the US presidential election in November 1952, a campaign to depose Mossadegh was launched, and the events of March 1953, particularly the murder of General Afshartous in April 1953, were part of this campaign.

Donald Wilber, the lead US planner of the coup, in his report says: British Intelligence representatives brought up the proposition of a joint political action to remove Prime Minister Mossadeq [] On the basis of the [] overture and other clear signs that determined opposition to Mossadeq was taking shape [], the US Government could no longer approve of the Mossadeq government [] it was authorized to consider operations which would contribute to the fall of the Mossadeq government.[5]

In the first few weeks following Eisenhowers inauguration, the campaign to overthrow the Iranian government started. Two weeks after the US election, Christopher Woodhouse, MI6 agent in Tehran before the British embassy was closed, and Sam Falle, the head of the MI6 station in Iran, left for Washington DC to meet with their American colleagues. In a secret meeting on December 2, Kermit Roosevelt joined them, and then this group met with the US Secretary of State and the head of the CIA. At this meeting, Roosevelt was tasked with leading the operation to overthrow Mossadegh. To survey the area and prepare the necessary information, Roosevelt sent Miles Copeland, one of the unknown CIA officers, to Iran. On April 16, 1953, the Eisenhowers administration prepared a relevant study titled Factors Involved in the Overthrow of Mossadegh, thanks to Copeland, Roosevelt, and their British counterparts, and the operation to overthrow Mossadegh officially began.

Therefore, those who believe that Mossadegh made a mistake by declining US-UK proposals in the final seven to eight months of his premiership and that his policy opened the door for the 1953 coup are either uninformed or aiming to reverse history. Because of the shift in US foreign policy under President Eisenhower, the British government, which had been considering overthrowing Mossadegh ever since he became prime minister, no longer felt the need to work with Iran to find solutions. The project to depose Mossadegh was underway, and he found himself alone, having lost many of his previous allies and being unable to stand up to the worlds most powerful intelligence organizations, as well as their Iranian associates.

*Mohamamd Amin Amini was a historian, a public intellectual and a formidable speaker of immense courage. Author of several books On Dr. Mossadegh and Ahmad Kasravi, he passed away in Irvine, California at the age of seventy-one. He was one of the founders of the Confederation of Iranian Students in the U.S. and the eldest son of Nosratollah Amini, a member of the National Front and the personal lawyer to Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh.

This article was translated by Mehdi Mousavi, my friend and colleague.

[1] Dean Acheson, Present at the Creation: My Years in the State Department, New York, 1969, pp. 510-511.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Anglo-Iranian Oil Co. Case (United Kingdom v. Iran) Preliminary Objection, Judgment of July 22nd, 1952, International Court of Justice, Reports of Judgments, Advisory Opinions and Orders, Leyden, 1952, p. 114.

[5] Donald Wilber, Regime Change in Iran: Overthrow of Premier Mossadeq of Iran, Spokesman, 2006, pp. 19-20.
Middle East Monitor )  In the intensive care room in the Bethlehem Arab Society for Rehabilitation (BASR) lies four-year-old Jibreel Sawarka. The Palestinian toddler is in an extremely critical condition after being hit in a car ramming attack by an Israeli settler in the Palestinian village of Kisan, east of Bethlehem in the Occupied West Bank.

Jibreel was playing near his house with his brother when the settler struck him with his car and then fled.

Jibreels father, Mohammed, said: My 13-year-old Yehya came holding his brother covered in blood  it was a very gruesome sight. Mohammed noted that the street where his son was attacked is used by both illegal Israeli settlers and Palestinians who live in Kisan. However, Palestinians are not allowed to drive down the road, instead they must walk the length of it. There have been multiple hit-and-run attacks on this stretch of road, and they have recently increased in frequency.

OCHA has documented 591 settler-related incidents resulting in Palestinian casualties, property damage or both in the first six months of 2023, reaching a monthly average of 99 attacks this year.

Settler terrorism has persisted in the occupied West Bank for years. The attacks have risen since Israel swore in its most right-wing government in December. Now, illegal settlers are in power in the Israeli Knesset and are working to legalise settler violence under the definition of self-defence, even as they incite violence and hate.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich outlined his Decisive Plan, a vision in which he called for victory through settlement. The plan, proposed and penned in 2017, would require the encouragement of tens and hundreds of thousands of residents to come live in Judea and Samaria, the Biblical name for the occupied West Bank, and almost double the number of settlers in the occupied territories.

The government has given Smotrich practically all control over the expansion of existing settlements.

During the past week alone, two Palestinian were executed by Israeli fire. In the town of Silwad, east of Ramallah, a 17-year-old Palestinian teenager succumbed to the wounds he sustained days before after an illegal Jewish settler opened fire at him while he was in a car near the illegal settlement of Ofra.

In a separate incident, armed Jewish settlers raided the Palestinian village of Burqa and opened fire at residents, executing 19-year-old Qusai Maatan. The teens father, Jammal, said: My son was defending us.

When he heard the screaming of the villagers during the invasion, he ran out quickly to confront the Zionist settlers and stop them. Qusai was the familys bread-winner.

We only have stones to prevent them from continuing to terrorise our people and razing our properties, Jammal said, adding that the settlers also set fire to two Palestinian vehicles. The settlers also brought their sheep to a plot of land in an apparent attempt to seize it for the benefit of establishing a pastoral outpost.

Israeli newspaper Ynet News reported that recent Israeli terror attacks can be described as premeditated and well-organised acts of provocation, specifically designed to target Palestinian civilians.

The settler who murdered Maatan had served as a spokesperson for a member of Israels Knesset who is a member of racist minister Otamar Ben-Gvirs Otzma Yehudit Party. He came from the illegal Ramat Migron outpost. After his arrest, he was released and the case was closed, with investigators convinced that the settler acted in self-defence. In a bold and clear statement, Ben-Gvir, Israels national security minister praised the murderer and indicated that he should get a medal of honour.

Haaretz also recently revealed videos of Israeli settlers, escorted by heavily armed occupation forces, invading Palestinian homes in the West Bank villages of Tuba and El-Abid in the southern Hebron Hills in the same week as the attack on Burqa. The video shows Israeli settlers ordering a Palestinian woman to open a storage closet in her home.

In another video, a settler is seen entering a home as a soldier stands at the entrance. Settler violence against Palestinians takes many forms, including setting fire to fields and livestock, physical violence, shooting, car rammings, theft and vandalism of property, trees and crops and intimidating farmers and their families, among other attacks.

This after less than a year of this right-wing government being in power, what awaits the Palestinian cause is extremely dangerous if the Israeli occupation authorities continue to fund and encourage the relentless Israeli settler violence and attacks.

Via Middle East Monitor
DENVER, Aug. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- American Rare Earths (ASX: ARR | ADRs - OTCQX: AMRRY| Common Shares - OTCQB: ARRNF| FSE:1BHA) (ARR or the Company) is pleased to announce that Mr. Kenneth (Ken) H. Traub has joined the Board of Directors of the Company. Mr. Traub has over 30 years of experience as a CEO, chairman, director, investor and consultant in public companies with a successful track record of driving strategic, financial, operational and governance improvements to enhance shareholder value. His appointment to ARRs Board is a highly valued addition as the company expands its presence in the United States.

Since 2019, Mr. Traub has been serving as the Managing Partner of Delta Value Advisors, a strategic consulting and investment advisory firm, specializing in corporate governance and turnarounds. Mr. Traub also currently serves on the Board of Directors and is Chairman of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of Tidewater, Inc. (NYSE: TDW), the leading global owner and operator of offshore support vessels for the energy industry.

We are excited to add Ken to our Board, says Creagh OConnor, Chairman, American Rare Earths. His widespread experience as a successful corporate leader where he has built significant shareholder value will be invaluable at this critically important time for our company. We are fortunate to have a leader with Ken's talents as we embark on our plan to become a leading US based supplier of rare earth elements. ARRs commitment to strengthening its position in the rare earths industry and expanding its presence in the United States has led to the decision to appoint three highly skilled and accomplished American-based directors to its Board.

"I am delighted to join the Board of Directors of American Rare Earths," stated Ken Traub. "Rare earth elements are essential components in key industries including electronics, renewable energy technologies and defense systems and the demand for these materials is growing rapidly. However, currently the market is dominated by China, accounting for approximately 85% of the global supply. American Rare Earths has the potential to become a leading domestic supplier of these critical materials, which is not only a significant and exciting business opportunity, but can be vital for American financial and national security interests."

Mr. Traub's extensive public company board experience includes: (i) American Bank Note Holographics, as President, CEO and director with over 1000% increase in shareholder value, (ii) Voxware, Inc., as cofounder, EVP, CFO and director with over 3000% increase in shareholder value for the original investors through IPO, (iii) MRV Communications, Inc., as Chairman of the Board, (iv) DSP Group, Inc., as Chairman of the Board, (v) Intermolecular, Inc., as Chairman of the Board, (vi) Phoenix Technologies, Inc., (vii) iPass, Inc., (viii) MIPS Technologies, Inc., (ix) Xyratex Limited, (x) Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation, (xi) Athersys, Inc., (xii) A. M. Castle & Co., (xiii) IDW Media Holdings, (xiv) Immersion Corporation, and (xv) Gulfmark, Inc.

Mr. Traub received the Certified Director designation from the National Association of Corporate Directors in 2023.

Mr. Traub is also active in the Young Presidents Organization and World Presidents Organization, leading global networks of business leaders, having served as Chapter Chairman and Education Chairman.

Mr. Traub received a BA from Emory College in 1983 and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1988.

This announcement has been authorized for release by the Board of American Rare Earths.

About American Rare Earths Limited:

American Rare Earths (ASX: ARR| ADRs - OTCQX: AMRRY| Common Shares - OTCQB: ARRNF| FSE:1BHA) is committed to becoming a top supplier of critical minerals. The company is a leading explorer of rare earth projects with a strong focus on developing sustainable and cost-effective extraction and processing methods. To meet the rapidly increasing demand for resources essential to the clean energy transition and US national security, American Rare Earths is engaged in advanced study and continued exploration of its 100% owned rare earth element projects rich in magnet elements of neodymium and praseodymium at Halleck Creek in Albany County, Wyoming and La Paz, Arizona. Both projects have the potential to be among North Americas largest rare earth deposits. Halleck Creek deposit was recently identified by Mining.com as fifth in the worlds top rare earth projects. A recently released maiden JORC Resource report for Halleck Creek shows 1.43 billion tonnes of in place TREO, 4.73 million tonnes TREO containing approximately 1.05 million tonnes of the highly desirable magnet metals neodymium and praseodymium oxide. The Halleck Creek deposit is located approximately 70km north-east of Laramie encompassing portions of Albany and Platte Counties in Wyoming. The Company continues to evaluate other exploration opportunities and is collaborating with US Government supported R&D to develop efficient processing and separation techniques of rare earth elements to help ensure a renewable future.

Head Office

Suite 706 Level 7, 89 York St.

Sydney, NSW 2000

Tel 612 8054 9779

GPO Box 1546

Sydney NSW 2001

US Mail

c/o Western Rare Earths

514 Grand Avenue #371

Laramie, WY 82070

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

americanrareearths.com.au

For media inquiries, please contact:

Susan Assadi, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

347 977 7125
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Leymah Gbowee on Friday said Liberia cannot move forward unless it prosecutes former war criminals, as survivors commemorated the anniversary of the peace accord that ended two brutal civil wars.

No war criminals have been prosecuted within Liberia since the two civil wars -- which left nearly 250,000 people dead, according to the United Nations -- came to an end in 2003.

That is despite a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) recommending a hybrid criminal court with Liberian and international judges and prosecutors in its final report in 2009.

Several war criminals have been prosecuted in the United States and in Europe.

"Today, Liberians continue to say we have peace without understanding that there is an urgency for us to tackle the issue of justice", said Gbowee, speaking at a ceremony in the capital Monrovia to commemorate the anniversary of the Accra Peace Agreement.

"Everything you see happening in this country is because of our attitude of impunity -- until we start dealing with those who gave us war on a silver platter, stop rewarding them with votes, until we make the justice issue key to our daily lives, we cannot see peace," the Liberian activist said.

Several people alleged to have committed atrocities still hold senior positions within the government, including senators Prince Johnson and George Borley, both of whom were among a long list of people named as perpetrators in the TRC report.

"We will continue to have toxic policy because we have not prioritised peace", Gbowee said.

- 14 years of bloodshed -

On December 24, 1989, Libyan-trained rebels led by Charles Taylor invaded Liberia.

Taylor's rebel faction, the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), fought against the government of then-president Samuel Doe.

Fourteen years of bloodshed ensued, with as many as seven armed groups fighting one another at its height.

"There has been no redress and there has been no accountability for what happened to us during the civil wars", said Peterson Sonyah, a survivor of the 1990 Saint Peter's Lutheran Church massacre, in which about 600 people were killed in one of the deadliest attacks in the West African nation's history.

"We lost our friends, fathers and mothers, but up to today there has been no judgment", Sonyah said.

In a speech at a separate commemoration event, President George Weah made no new or renewed commitments to prosecute war criminals or establish a war crimes court.

"The war came, all of us were innocent to that", he said. "It happened -- do we want to go back there? No."

Hassan Bility of the NGO Global Justice and Research Project suggested the long delay in seeking justice is a "tactic".

"You cannot wait until all the perpetrators or victims are dead before you want to set up a court", he said.

Liberia is due to hold presidential and parliamentary elections in October. Twenty presidential candidates have been announced, including Weah, who will be seeking a second term.
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HULIAIPOLE, UkraineThe slow start to Ukraine's counteroffensive spurred gloomy predictions that Kyiv's fight for freedom will bog down in an endless war of attrition. But having spent time talking to soldiers and commanders on the front lines, I find myself much more optimistic than I expected.

The level of commitment of frontline troops is astounding. Despite mammoth challenges, their outlook is far more positive than many Ukrainians I spoke with in big cities, who were deeply worried about the country's future.

These fighting men, nearly all volunteers, are driven by a fervent belief that they face one of two options: either a genocidal Russia destroys their country along with their children's future or they drive out the "Orcs"  their nickname for the Russian invaders, which is drawn from the monsters in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.

These are ordinary men who have become extraordinary heroes under pressure.

Their steadfastness  plus a revised Ukrainian strategy for the counteroffensive  convinced me that Kyiv can still win this war.

A new direction

I traveled about 11 hours by car from the Black Sea port city of Odesa, across the Dnipro River, to the Zaporizhzhia region in eastern Ukraine. There, about six miles from the zero line  the divider between Ukrainian land and Russian-held territory  I visited the 74th Battalion of the 102nd Brigade.

Zaporizhzhia contains the key front lines where Ukraine is slowly pushing forward to reach the Sea of Azov and cut off Russian supply lines to its occupation forces in southern Ukraine and Crimea.

The 74th Battalion is clearing and protecting villages and farmland that Ukraine is holding. When I was there late last month, the fighting was too intense to get any closer to the front.

For the last two hours of our journey, my interpreter and I wove through rural farmland, much of it carpeted with stunning five-foot-tall sunflowers. We bumped over narrow potholed roads twisting through villages whose bungalow-style homes with slanted roofs stood half-destroyed by Russian rockets.

Most soldiers from the battalion set up camp in abandoned houses, spread out over several mostly destroyed villages.

The fighters I met were not the same newly minted troops trained and armed in Europe by the U.S. and its allies for the start of a new counteroffensive in June that went poorly.

Whoever crafted that strategy, whether the NATO nations or Kyiv, made serious errors. NATO forces would never launch an offensive without strong air support. Yet Ukrainian forces were sent into battle despite having only limited cover from a small number of aging Soviet-era planes (in part because the U.S. is still slow-walking the delivery of F-16s  17 months after the start of the war).

Moreover, these new brigades lacked combat experience and had only brief training. They were sent into flat terrain that the Russians have filled with so many land mines that military experts say Ukraine is now the world's most mined country. It is also lined with rows of fortified trenches, which the Russians built while Ukraine waited for Western tanks to arrive.

The troops I met with were experienced fighters who have mostly served on the front line for the past 15 months, with no rotation. Army command apparently can't afford to spare them until it develops more cadres with extensive experience and raises new battalions.

So these men have held the line and bought time for the new brigades to get seasoned, some of them now moving forward to train alongside these blooded units.

They are fighting with 50-year-old Soviet-made tanks and archaic demining equipment. Their fight relies mostly on infantry and artillery (helped by new ammunition supplies and cluster munitions).

They badly need longer-range weaponry. They must raise money from friends and family to buy their own drones, as well as the used cars they drive around frontline roads.

In their "spare time," these fighters work on designing new weapons to compensate for their lack of critical items such as attack drones and advanced demining equipment.

Still, they are making slow progress in demining and clearing the way for the new Western-provided equipment to eventually break through.

These soldiers have made it possible for Kyiv to pursue its revamped strategy of moving forward much more deliberately while clearing mines and trenches.

They have also bought time for Kyiv to pursue a strategy of destroying Russian arms depots and other logistics centers behind enemy lines.

Using their own sea drones, Ukrainians recently hit two Russian ships, one near Crimea and one in the Russian port of Novorossysk. (If the White House would finally give the Ukrainians U.S.-made ATACMS long-range missiles, which travel further and carry a heavier payload, they could put all Russian-occupied territory, including Crimea, under the gun.)

The current goal, according to two high-level special operations officers whom I met with in a gloomy hotel lobby late one night in Zaporizhzhia, is for frontline troops in the region to gradually advance 30 miles south, possibly to the town of Tokmak. From there, Ukrainian fire can control the main coastal road and railroad line that link Russia to occupied southern Ukraine and the Crimean Peninsula. These links are known as the "land bridge," which is critical for resupplying occupation troops.

Ultimately, the Ukrainians want to move a further 30 miles southward to the Azov Sea, destroying the land bridge.

They also want to take out the Kerch Bridge, a long span linking Russian territory across the Kerch Straits to Crimea; Kyiv recently damaged a span of the Kerch Bridge with sea drones.

"Without resupplies, the Russian army cannot control the south and Crimea. They can last two to three months only," I was told by a special operations commander code-named Quadrat. "We want to force the Russians to retreat."

Toward that end, Ukrainian forces are also targeting smaller bridges in the towns of Henichesk and Chonhar that are already within their firing range and link Russian-occupied territory with Crimea.

"They have more people, a lot of rockets, and strong electronic warfare," said Quadrat's colleague, call sign NATO. "But we are stronger. We feel that."

If Ukraine had ATACMS, it could destroy the Kerch Bridge any time it chose. If it had F-16s now, it could range even further to attack Russian supply lines and bases in Crimea.

But with sea drones, ingenuity, and steadfast soldiers on the front line, I'm still betting on Ukraine, and hoping Washington will recognize the need to help it end this war now.

___

(COMMENT, BELOW)

Trudy Rubin

Philadelphia Inquirer

(TNS)

Previously:

 08/09/23: Lessons from a military funeral in Ukraine

 07/28/23: As Russian missiles again rain down on Odesa, Putin sneers at the UN and NATO allies

 07/24/23: Putin is playing a game of food blackmail. The West can't let him win

 07/19/23: Can Ukraine win the war against Russia? I'm traveling there to find out

 07/17/23: From hell to Harvard: One Ukrainian's escape and how you can help fulfill her dreams

 07/11/23: At the NATO summit in Vilnius: Will Biden seize or squander the chance to end Putin's war on Ukraine?

 04/21/23: The Pentagon documents leak will embolden Putin as he tries to outlast Ukraine

 03/22/23: The Russian attack on a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone underlines why we must help Ukraine win

 03/15/23: Will the White House have the courage to propel a Ukrainian victory this year?

 02/21/23: On the first anniversary of Putin's invasion, Ukraine fights on for its independence and for the security of the West

 02/17/23: A former Pakistani leader's death, and his wise peace plan that failed

 02/09/23: Earthquakes killed nearly 12,000 people this week. Three men are partly to blame

 01/24/23: As Russia murders civilians in Dnipro, why won't NATO send weapons that could end the war?

 12/28/22: What Zelensky worried about when he addressed a cheering Congress

 12/13/22: The US-China conflict to watch is the Chip War --- which centers on Taiwan

 09/14/22: Ukraine scores sudden breakthrough that should energize Western support

 09/09/22: Queen Elizabeth's death deprives Britain and the world of a rock of stability

 09/08/22: After Gorbachev's death, Putin wants the world to know he is the 'anti-Gorbi'

 08/26/22: 6 months after Russia's war vs. Ukraine began, the West still won't give Kiev the weapons to win

 08/15/22: Ukraine's civilian volunteers work to give aid and rebuild, even as Russia continues to bomb them

 08/08/22: A trip near the front lines finds Ukrainian troops ready for a battle that could decide the war

 06/13/22: The critical battles for Ukraine and for America are being fought right here, right now

 05/02/22: Save Odesa to save the world from hunger and high food prices

 05/02/22: Bloodless Ukrainian War, not utopian fantasy says one-time largest foreign investor in Russia

 04/11/22: The only way to end Putin's war crimes

 03/28/22: Don't let Putin's nuclear and chemical threats stop us from giving Ukraine what it needs

 03/24/22: An elegy for Mariupol, where I walked six weeks ago. Now razed by Russian bombs

 03/18/22: Zelensky's brilliant speech should impel Biden and Congress to protect Ukrainian skies

 03/11/22: Mariupol's bombed maternity hospital exemplifies why NATO should protect Ukraine's skies

 03/10/22: No 'no-fly zone'? Then NATO must find another way to protect Ukraine's skies

 03/07/22: The third World War has already started in Ukraine. Europe and the US should wake up

 03/04/22:Putin must be stopped from turning Kiev into Aleppo

 03/02/22:Why is Belarus helping Russia invade Ukraine? An explainer on the latest in the conflict

 02/25/22: What the UN should finally do about Russia

 02/24/22: Why Putin's Ukraine aggression will change the world --- an explainer on how we got here

 02/10/22: Ukrainian civilians train for war with cardboard guns: 'We are scared but we are ready

 01/13/22:Putin wants to reestablish the Russian empire. Can NATO stop him without war?

 12/10/21: Can Biden and NATO prevent Putin from invading Ukraine? Summit puts it to the test

 12/02/21: Boris Johnson stirs up new Irish Troubles for his own personal political gains

 11/22/21: Xi Jinping thinks America is on the rocks. Is he correct?

 08/18/21: President Biden, get our Afghan allies on evacuation planes

 08/18/21:The horror of Afghan women abandoned by Biden's troop pullout

 08/09/21:China is pushing a big COVID-19 lie that makes a new pandemic harder to prevent

 05/27/21: Punish Belarus leader for Ryanair hijacking before air piracy becomes dictators' new tool

 04/14/21: Can Beethoven temper the political tensions between US and China?

 06/01/20: US must stand with Hong Kong against Beijing's efforts to crush its freedoms

 05/20/20: COVID-19 offers a chance to halt Iran's hostage diplomacy

 05/21/14: Newscycle spurs visit to country my family fled

 04/21/14: Blind to Putin's strategy?

 12/24/13: Obama's Syrian indifference has led to more death and destruction. Meet some real heroes

 12/13/13: Where liberals have come to love the military

 12/09/13: The China strategy

 11/05/13: Return to Iraq is worth a close look

 10/01/13: Obama's call to Iran: Who was really on the line?

 09/11/13: How Obama got Syria so wrong

 07/24/13: It's time for Obama to tell Putin 'nyet'

 05/15/13: What Russia gave Kerry on Syria --- very little





Trudy Rubin is a columnist and editorial-board member for the Philadelphia Inquirer.
"Moving" experienced a slight setback with episodes 9 and 10. Following its successful premiere, viewers waited for a week to watch the succeeding episode of the Disney+ series. However, fans were disappointed due to the delay in release.

Initially, the show's two new episodes were scheduled to be released at 4 p.m. KST on August 16. Unfortunately, the webtoon-based K-drama aired the 9th and 10th episodes a little later than the scheduled time.

Ryu Seung Ryong Apologizes for Delay in 'Moving' Episodes 9 and 10 Release

On Ryu Seung Ryong's Instagram Stories, the actor reshared a series of posts relating to the K-drama "Moving." Along with it is an apology, addressing the issue regarding the delay in broadcast.

"There seems to be a serious error. If you press 'play next episode' on the play bar of episode 7, episode 8 will come up," the actor posted on his SNS.

Following this, an official statement from Disney+ was posted, also expressing their apology for the delay in the release of new episodes.

"We apologize for causing inconvenience to people who have been waiting for 'Moving'. We ask for your understanding," the streaming platform wrote, as obtained by a media outlet.

However, viewers were disappointed with this move of Disney+.

As mentioned in the same outlet, viewers were unhappy with how the streaming platform addressed the issue.

In the same outlet, fans criticized Disney+ for letting "the lead actor handle the issue himself."

Other comments include statements such as, "I went home and turned on Disney+ at exactly 4 p.m. but couldn't see any new episodes," while some noticed that Ryu Seung Ryong addressed the issue first instead of the drama officials or the platform.

"Ryu Seung Ryong posted about it first. Other actors didn't do anything," the comment said.

Despite the setback, "Moving" managed to air its 8th and 9th episodes, focusing on Han Hyo Joo, Jo In Sung, and Ryu Seung Ryong's story as secret agents.

Moreover, the new episodes also showcase the romance between Lee Mi Hyun and Kim Doo Shik amid their mission.

'Moving' Episodes 10 and 11: Release, Where to Watch

Viewers need to wait another week to see the new episodes of the webtoon-based K-drama.

"Moving" episodes 10 and 11 release date is scheduled for August 23, airing 2 episodes simultaneously.

The Disney+ original series regularly airs every Wednesday, with a total run time of 60 minutes per episode.

Besides the trio, the "Moving" cast also includes Cha Tae Hyun, Lee Jung Ha, Go Yoon Jung, Kim Sung Kyun, and more. This is helmed by "Kingdom" season 2 director Park In Je and written by Kang Full, who also wrote the original webtoon.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 'Moving' Lives Up to the Hype After Ranking 1st in 5 Countries

For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news, keep your tabs open here at KDramaStars.

KDramaStars owns this article

Written by Geca Wills
Delighting fans with their reunion, Cha Eun Woo and Park Gyu Young gave fans a glimpse of their chemistry with "A Good Day to Be A Dog" teaser poster.

Keep on reading for more details.

'A Good Day to Be A Dog' Teaser: Cha Eun Woo & Park Gyu Young Give Sneak Peek of Chemistry

On August 17, fans were in for a surprise after they getting a first look at Cha Eun Woo and Park Gyu Young's drama.

The romantic-comedy "A Good Day to Be A Dog" is adapted from a webtoon, penned by Lee Hey, the brilliant mind who also wrote the recently-adapted "See You in My 19th Life."

"A Good Day to Be A Dog" follows the story of Han Hae Na, a teacher who turns into a dog at midnight for six hours after accidentally kissing someone.

This transformation repeats until she kisses the same person. Jin Seo Won, her fellow teacher who hates dogs, accidentally kisses her and is the only person to solve the curse.

Who do I have to bribe for an official release date, poster, and teaser? Can Gyuyoung and Eunwoo leak the first episode? #AGoodDayToBeADog pic.twitter.com/FO0fS2NSs9  kdrama trash  (@tttalkskdrama) August 17, 2023

"A Good Day to Be A Dog" teaser poster is now making fans more excited. In addition, over Twitter, some clips of the teaser were posted as it was spotted at the International Broadcasting Video Marketing.

i'm screaming, a sneak peak of Park Gyuyoung and Cha Eun Woo in #AGoodDayToBeADog pic.twitter.com/UxIKBGkJUn   (@kdramatreats) August 17, 2023

This immediately circulated on social media and gave the viewers hope for the drama's romantic and comical theme.

Though these teasers from poster to trailer were not yet released on the broadcasting station's portals, many are already looking forward to the drama.

Cha Eun Woo and Park Gyu Young's "A Good Day to Be A Dog" is rumored to air on October 11 on MBC and might also be released on Netflix. However, nothing has been confirmed yet.

What's Next for Cha Eun Woo & Park Gyu Young?

While preparing for their first-ever team-up, Cha Eun Woo and Park Gyu Young are also busy with their solo projects.

The heartthrob is booked to work on his new revenge-thriller series "Wonderful World," where he will share the frame for the first time with veteran actress Kim Nam Joo. The cast already had their table reading, and production is expected to begin in the second half of 2023 with the goal of releasing the series in the first half of 2024.

Park Gyu Young, on the other hand, is packed with forthcoming projects. Following "Celebrity," she will return to Netflix with "Sweet Home" Seasons 2 & 3.

Adding to her work is the second installment of the megahit series "Squid Game."

What do you anticipate from Cha Eun Woo and Park Gyu Young's new series? Share your thoughts/replies in the comments!

For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news and updates, keep your tabs open here at KDramaStars.

KDramaStars owns this article.

Shai Collins wrote this.
Spawning salmon are seen making their way up the Adams River in Roderick Haig-Brown Provincial Park near Chase, B.C. Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2014. The run of pink salmon on British Columbia's Fraser River is exceeding expectations this summer. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Tom, a doctor friend, recently told me he was reprimanded by Michael, his hospitals medical chief of staff, after two patients lodged complaints against him.

One instance involved a man whom Tom informed of a cancer recurrence. When the man cried, Tom put his hand on the mans knee, attempting to comfort him. However, the man didnt find it comforting. He said nothing to Tom but complained to administration, stating that the touch was unwelcome and made him feel worse.

The other instance was with a woman whose abdomen he felt for an enlarged spleen. She seemed surprised, he recalled. I explained to her that this was a necessary part of her physical exam.

Michael told Tom, It was all I could do to keep the risk management team at bay. You need to understand, Tom, that its a different world now. People are edgy. And litigious. I wish it were otherwise.

Tom said, Are you kidding? Are you advising me not to touch my patients?

More than advising, Tom. Its not me, its the bean counters in the Chicago head office. We both know that their priority is keeping out of court. Im on your side; I probably would have touched those patients, too. Look: why dont you just ask first, like, Would it be okay if I touched you?'

Tom replied, Thats awkward. My patient was crying, and touching him was my spontaneous reaction. Im human, too. I wouldve felt awful holding back, acting against my feelings.

And that woman I examined. Doesnt she know doctors routinely touch people, even stick their fingers into them? Didnt she sign a form giving me permission to do whats necessary to diagnose and treat her? I mean, medical practice is necessarily intimate. I wouldnt invade her space frivolously, but asking if I can palpate her belly feels distancing, as though Im a total stranger.

Tom is sixty-three years old. He had planned on practicing well into his seventies, but now entertains misgivings.

An AMA report published in 2022 said that one in five physicians predicted theyd likely leave their practice within two years. This exodus, far greater than historical rates, isnt explicable either by more advanced age or the Covid pandemic. They cite burnout, pressured work atmosphere, inordinate paperwork, and creeping control of their relationship with patients.

All these problems are traceable to a single source, the medical professions hijacking by business interests. Almost three-quarters of doctors are now employees of profit-driven private equity firms whose members call the shots.

If Tom retires early, itll probably result from his anger at interference between him and his patients. It might seem that such overreach is illegal, and indeed, California law prohibits doctors employers from dictating medical procedures. But ironically, touching patients might be regarded as extraneous to standard practice.

When I was facilitating cancer support groups, I was directed to get malpractice insurance. I responded that I didnt feel I needed it. After all, I didnt make diagnoses or treat with medications or procedures. I only sat, listened, and offered an occasional question. Certainly, I concluded, that cant be construed as the practice of medicine. That reasoning found favor, so I was excluded from the requirement.

Actually, I didnt believe my argument. I believed, then and now, that sitting, listening, and asking the right questions is the absolute nucleus of medical practice.

Id like to urge my friend Tom to make the same argument with the bean counters in the Chicago head office, but I doubt theyd go for it.

Jeff Kane is a physician and is the author of Healing Healthcare: How Doctors and Patients Can Heal Our Sick System.
Local

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HAPPY TIMES

New marina on the horizon

Image provided by Google Maps Happy Landings Marina is scheduled open in late 2023. ROB ONEAL/Keys Citizen An old, stilted office complex is seen at the sight of the former dolphin show along North Roosevelt Boulevard in 2004. ROB ONEAL/Keys Citizen Located between the Lions Club and Roosevelt Annex on North Roosevelt Boulevard is the new, 75-slip Happy Landings Marina.

The former home of Flippers Sea School along North Roosevelt is set to debut as a boutique marina for boat owners with vessels up to 40 feet in length.

Happy Landings Marina, the brainchild of partners Daniel Robles and Sam Napp, is slated to offer 75 slips with boat lifts, beginning this fall.

The partners, both with private equity backgrounds in South Florida, have positioned themselves and their Tampa-based parent company, American Marina Properties, to launch a group of marinas in premiere boating destinations around the country.

According to their website, the Key West project is their first property.

If successful, the property fills a much-needed void in boat storage for the Lower Keys that started with the consolidation of Oceanside Marina and the Key West Harbor Yacht Club.

With those marinas targeting at high-end boat owners, Key West has seen a consistent decrease in affordable boat storage and working waterfront.

Most marinas  wet and dry storage  are fully subscribed, meaning boaters often have to store their vessels on trailers at their homes or on the side of the road. Some boat owners have to keep their craft as far north as Big Pine Key.

The property, which historically housed a marine mammal attraction, was owned by Dr. Richard Walker.

Walker, a long-time Key West obstetrician, had the site permitted as a marina focusing on small boats.

Robles said he and his partner are both very aware of the issues facing boaters in the Lower Keys.

They purchased the location in 2022 for $5.7 million.

We know it is a drop in the bucket, but it will be 75 more slips available to the public than there are currently, said Robles.

Plans include boat lifts capable of hoisting boats to 40 feet and 16,000 pounds out of the water.

The lifts will be owned by the marina and installed based on customer demand, then leased to tenants, Robles added.

Robles said that his company is not ready to effectuate leases for slips at this time and that rates have yet to be determined.

Plans also call for an office and clubhouse, including two apartments for rent. However, Robles said he didnt expect that project phase to be completed until the fall of 2024.

Robles said that despite depth constraints leading into the marina basin, they have no plans to apply for dredging permits.

We havent had any issues with water depth  even at low tide  for the size vessels we are targeting, he said.

For information or to be placed on a waiting list for a slip, visit http://www.happylandingsmarina.com.

ted.lund@keysnews.com
By Malik Fahad Jjingo

Soldiers under the Fisheries Protection Unit (FPU) of the Uganda Peoples Defense Forces (UPDF) have intercepted a truck loaded with immature fish worth Shs60 million.

According to Capt. Andrew Egibu, the commander of FPU in Masaka sub-region , a truck (Canter registration number UBJ 664E) was impounded at Nakaziba fishing village, in Mpigi district on Wednesday morning following a tip-off from informers.

He said the truck was loaded with over 114 boxes with each box containing at least 600 pieces of immature Nile Perch fish which was being transported to Bunagana Town on the Uganda-DRC border.

Mr Egibu said during the same operation, they recovered an under-seized boat and fish nets, motor engine, and empty jerrycans . He says both the driver and co-driver managed to evade the arrest.

Imagine if one mature Nile Perch can cost over 15,000 on the market then these people were carrying 144 boxes each loaded with over 600 immature fish how much do you think the country would generate from such a catch? This should be fought and reduced or even eliminated because its costing the country so much and this should be every citizens responsibility. Capt. Egibu said in an interview on Friday

Capt. Egibu says they have developed a system to track down all those involved in trading and transporting immature fish and advised the dealers to switch to other lawful businesses.

Southern regional police spokesperson, Mr. Twaha Kasirye, said they are going to ensure that the case file is worked on and submitted to the state for sanctioning so that the runway suspects are arraigned in courts of law.

Ever since President Museveni deployed soldiers to crack down on illegal fishing on Ugandas lakes in 2017, there has been a significant increase in fish stocks. However, the FPU soldiers have on several occasions been criticised over their high-handedness in dealing with people suspected of engaging in illegal fishing.

During FPU operations, many people suspected of selling immature fish have reportedly been tortured, some killed and several ungazetted landing sites destroyed along the shores of Lake Victoria, Kyoga and Albert.
Police Detective Gilbert Arinaitwe Bwana has been released on bail by Buganda Road Court Chief Magistrate Ronald Kayizzi over charges of aggravated trafficking.

Arinakiwe has been ordered to pay a cash bail of Shs2 million and to deposit his passport before court.

His three sureties which include his 68-year-old mother, a brother, and his friend were each ordered to execute a non-cash bond of Shs10 million and to ensure his return in court whenever needed.

Arinaitwe has been ordered to return to court on September 9, 2023, for hearing of the case.

Arinaitwe first appeared before court on August 10, 2023, and was remanded to Luzira prison for allegedly exploiting his housemaid sexually.

Arinatiwe rose to fame in 2011 when he was photographed holding a hammer smashing the rear windscreen of a car belonging to former Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) presidential candidate Rt. Dr. Kizza Besigye before spraying his eyes with pepper at Mulago roundabout.

Arinaitwe who is attached to the Crime Intelligence is alleged to have recruited, transported, and harbored a 23-year-old woman for purposes of sexual exploitation.

Prosecution states that on June 23, 2023, at his home in Nalumunye-Bandwe in Kyengera Town Council, Arinaitwe used various forms of deception, threats, and abuse of power to force the victim into involuntary servitude or debt bondage which is contrary to the Prevention of Trafficking Act ( 2009).
Kampala City Lord Mayor Mr. Erias Lukwago has tasked local and international technocrats to assure the public whether it is possible to turn Kampala into a modern city.

He made the remarks at the Kampala Capital City Authority politicians consultative meeting aimed at discussing the integrated urban development master plan for Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area held on Friday.

Lukwago says Ugandans are tired of being fed with empty promises of turning Kampala into a smart city. He said up to now, theres no developed standard plan to base on to transform Kampala into a modern city.

He further demanded that government gives Kampala an identity on whether it wants to turn the city into a commercial or administrative area.

Meanwhile, he tasked developers to ensure that cultural heritages within Kampala are preserved and separated from the central government as development plans are implemented.
Family Members of Kawempe North legislator Muhammad Ssegirinya have given parliament an ultimatum of one week to provide Shs80 million for the MPs medical bills or else they will make a public fundraising.

Ssegirinya was taken abroad for medication after his situation worsened beyond management in Uganda.

Addressing journalists in Kawempe, Ssegirinyas personal assistant, Mr. Alex Luwemba revealed that every day, bills accumulate, adding that they have resorted to giving away his property to money lenders in a bid to raise medical bills.

Luwemba says it is hurting for parliament to turn a deaf ear to Ssegirinyas sorry state yet it has been approving medical bills to other Members of Parliament who go abroad for medication.

They have vowed to write to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Martine Okoth Ochola, seeking permission to rally for support from the general public once the one-week ultimatum given to parliament elapses.

Bills are not easy to pay. The hospitals abroad are not like ours which are cheap. So he is currently being admitted to UMC Hospital in Netherlands. Were giving parliament an ultimatum of one week. If parliament does not respond by Friday, were coming up with a fundraising, Luwemba told journalists.

I am not in good shape. The doctors also found out that I have wounds on my lungs. I have difficulty breathing, and my stomach also hurts a lot. During the night, I feel so hot. I also have hypertension, Ssegirinya said early August.
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Students Ellen Doherty and Conor Farrell, both attending Teagasc Kildalton Agricultural College, and Wayne Smith and Rosie OBrien, students in Gurteen College, successfully participated in the Agro Challenge competition, which took place in Nitra, Slovakia from August 15th to 18th.

The first time a Teagasc team has competed in this event, Agro Challenge is a competition for full-time students of the green sector aged up to and including 25, who attend a school or institution that is a member of the national EUROPEA organisation.

Competing against 17 other teams from 16 different countries, tasks were completed across a range of disciplines; each task had a maximum allocated time of 15 minutes.

Competency in machinery skills was judged through tasks in stacking round and square bales, changing blades on a mounted disc mover, changing wheels, and tractor driving with both a trailer and water tank. Each teams attention to detail in animal husbandry was tested through animal assessments to determine live weight, the preparation of an animal ration, hand milking and a milk quality assessment. Furthermore, the students were required to carry out tasks in crop agronomy, focusing on identifying different crop plants and their seeds, and the identification of diseases, insect pests and weeds

The results of the competition were announced at an awards ceremony on Thursday, August 18th, where the Irish team won one silver and three bronze medals. The Irish team finished 10th overall.

Awards:

Silver medal  tractor driving with a water tank;

Bronze medal  hand milking;

Bronze medal  changing blades on a mounted disc mower;

Bronze medal  log splitting



The students were accompanied by team mentors Eva Hayes, Kildalton College, and Danielle Mulligan, Gurteen College, who offered their congratulations to the team. They said: We are delighted their hard work and preparation came to fruition. They represented Ireland and Teagasc so admirably and we are very proud of them.

The teams participation in the Agro Challenge was supported by the FBD Trust. Commenting on their performance, Michael Berkery, Chairman of FBD Trust, said: Congratulations to the members of team Ireland and their mentors on their great achievement at the 2023 Agro Challenge. They are fantastic ambassadors for Ireland and the Irish agri industry. On behalf of the team at FBD, I wish them every success in the future.

Congratulating the students on their excellent performance and thanking the FBD Trust for its continued support, Anne-Marie Butler, Teagasc Head of Education, said: International events like Agro Challenge offer our learners a new and international perspective to their learning journey. We look forward to future international events. Well done to Rosie, Ellen, Conor and Wayne who represented Ireland so proudly.
The Sound of Animation is the theme for this years Kilkenny Animated Festival taking place in the heart of Kilkenny City from September 29 - October 1.

Hosted by five-time Oscar-nominated animation studio, Cartoon Saloon, BAFTA-winning Lighthouse Studios, and Schweppe Curtis Nunn events, Kilkenny Animated is a celebration of the creativity and craft of animation set against the backdrop of medieval Kilkenny in the heart of Irelands Ancient East.

This years theme, The Sound of Animation, will explore the rich soundscapes of animation from sound design to voice acting, composing to foley recording. Audiences of all ages can look forward to an immersive programme of events comprising of workshops, panels, talks, gigs, screenings, sketching tours and more.

Kila, whose Irish folk music features in several Cartoon Saloon productions, including WolfWalkers and Song of the Sea, will kick festivities off on Friday night with a live gig in the Watergate Theatre that is sure to set the tone for a lively weekend.

Fans of the Star Wars:Visions Vol 2 series are sure to be out in force on Sunday. Audio guru and supervising sound editor for the series, Mac Smith (Skywalker Sound) will join Screechers Reach director, Paul Young (Cartoon Saloon), I am Your Mother director Magdalena Osinska (Aardman) and Aaus Song directors, Daniel Clarke and Nadia Darries (Triggerfish) to discuss the making of the episodes, each of which will be screened as part of the event.

Other events announced so far include special screenings of The Inventor and Philharmonia Fantastique, both presented by director, Jim Capobianco of Ratatouille fame, and a host of workshops including a session where members of the public can try out voiceover work led by casting director Louise Kiely (Normal People, The Banshees of Inisherin).

As well as this there will be talks exploring the creative processes of sound, from aspects of recording with Windmill Lane, Gorilla Post and Leo Pearson, to sound design and direction with animation studios Turnip and Duck, Pink Kong, Aardman and Triggerfish. Irish composers will be well represented over the weekend, including the Screen Composers Guild who will give audiences a rare fly-on-the-wall opportunity to see how composers respond to a creative brief, supported by the Screen Ireland Stakeholder Fund. Plus silent-movie score composer, Neil Brand, will take audiences through a whistle-stop history of animation through music.

For second and third-level students interested in a career in the animation industry, the Pathways to Animation strand will offer a suite of talks, portfolio clinics and workshops in partnership with the National Talent Academy for Animation, South East Technological University (SETU) and Technological University of the Shannon (TUS).

There will be an opportunity to spot new talent with the best of this years graduates in Irish animation showcasing their work. Kids and teens will enjoy getting stuck into lots of creative workshops, including sketching tours of Kilkenny, all led by artists from Cartoon Saloon and Lighthouse Studios. Both studios will also open their doors for guided studio tours to give audiences a glimpse of where the magic happens.

Kilkenny Animated is now in its fifth year, and the intimate festival has quickly established itself as one of the key events on the Irish animation calendar. Its charm lies in its ability to cater to audiences of all ages, and while full programme details are yet to be finalised, it promises to be an action-packed weekend for families, students, creative professionals, and the animation-curious!

Keep up to date with all programme announcements over on the Kilkenny Animated website kilkennyanimated.com.

Kilkenny Animated is core funded by Failte Ireland and Kilkenny County Council and supported by Animation Ireland, Screen Ireland/Fis Eireann and the Creative and Cultural Industries Skillnet.
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.
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(Kitco News) - AMG Critical Materials (EURONEXT: AMG) announced Thursday that AMG Brazil has signed an exclusive memorandum of understanding with Grupo Lagoa, which operates a pegmatite mine supplying the Portuguese ceramic and glass industry since 1984.

In a press release, the company said the intention of the partnership is to concentrate the lithium minerals contained in the pegmatite to produce commercial grade spodumene concentrate.

To date, we have performed comprehensive metallurgical tests on a laboratory scale and have confirmed a viable mineral processing route to convert a representative sample of 1.1% Li2O yielding an output of 5.6% Li2O spodumene concentrate at 15.5% mass recovery and 76.2% metallurgical recovery, it added.

The company said that basic engineering of a sizeable pilot plant with a capacity to process up to 80,000 tonnes per annum of pegmatite has been initiated.

Additional geological studies, including diamond drilling, are currently being conducted to confirm present estimates of the size and quality of the resources which the company believes will support an industrial spodumene operation similar in size to its existing Brazilian operations.

AMG said the industrial plant will be pursued subject to permitting from the relevant Portuguese authorities and other concerned stakeholders, the successful operation of the pilot plant, and confirmation of the available resource base.

Fabiano Costa, President of AMG Brazil, commented, The intended joint venture is targeting the development of a lithium operation similar to AMG Brazil. Producing spodumene concentrate in Europe is a key part of AMG Lithiums overall integration strategy.

AMG is focused on the production and development of energy storage materials such as lithium, vanadium, and tantalum. In addition, AMG's products include highly engineered systems to reduce CO2 in aerospace engines, as well as critical materials addressing CO2 reduction in a variety of other end use markets.
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(Kitco News) - Credit card giant Mastercard has created a new partnership program to explore the benefits and limitations of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) with seven prominent crypto and FinTech firms, it announced on Aug. 17.

Mastercard said that while 93% of the worlds central banks are working on CBDCs, but their efforts havent captured the publics attention  for better or, more recently, for worse  like cryptocurrencies have. But the payment giant said that CBDCs are gaining momentum and have the potential to have an even bigger impact on our everyday lives.

Jesse McWaters, head of global regulatory advocacy at Mastercard, said there are many questions that central banks need to consider, including the role of the private sector in CBDC issuance, security, privacy and interoperability [] what specific challenges CBDCs would solve and whether theyre even the right tool for the job.

To address these questions, Mastercard has formed a CBDC Partner Program with leading blockchain technology and payment service providers to foster collaboration with key players in the space so they can drive innovation and efficiencies.

We believe in payment choice and that interoperability across the different ways of making payments is an essential component of a flourishing economy, said Mastercard's head of digital assets and blockchain Raj Dhamodharan. As we look ahead toward a digitally driven future, it will be essential that the value held as a CBDC is as easy to use as other forms of money.

The seven initial partners joining Mastercard in the program are CBDC platform Ripple, blockchain and Web3 software company Consensys, multi-CBDC and tokenized assets solution provider Fluency, digital identity technology provider Idemia, digital identity consultant Consult Hyperion, security technology group Giesecke+Devrient and digital asset operations platform Fireblocks.

Mastercard said that there are plenty of issues for the new partnership to explore as the technology continues to mature. For one thing, CBDCs have yet to gain wide acceptance, they wrote. While BIS expects as many as 24 central bank digital currencies to be circulating by decades end, more than two-thirds of central banks say theyre unlikely, in the near term, to issue a digital currency people can use for everyday purchases.

Among the key problems yet to be resolved is how central banks will balance privacy and transparency. Privacy is extremely important to users, said Jerome Ajdenbaum, head of digital currencies at Idemia, citing a recent European Central Bank survey on the digital euro. Its really the No. 1 topic.

Ajdenbaum said that its essential that central banks and their technology partners actually demonstrate to end users that their privacy is protected, not just that we promise.

McWaters said that CBDCs shouldnt be adopted in a vacuum, and the Mastercard CBDC Partner Program will help central banks understand how to develop a CBDC that adds something new and valuable to their economy. Its more important to get it right than to be first, he said.

By assembling the strengths, deep expertise and different capabilities of these partners, we can drive innovation in the central banking community and along the CBDC value chain as the space continues to evolve, Dhamodharan added.

Mastercard has been active in the CBDC space in the last year. Last November, the credit card giant participated in the New York Feds 12-week CBDC pilot project to test technical feasibility, legal viability, and business applicability of distributed ledger technology on a regulated liability network (RLN).

The NYIC looks forward to collaborating with members of the banking community to advance research on asset tokenization and the future of financial market infrastructures in the U.S. as money and banking evolve," said NYIC Director Per von Zelowitz at the time.

The pilot tested an RLN design that operates exclusively in U.S. dollars where banks issue simulated digital money or tokens  representing the deposits of their own customers  and settle through simulated central bank reserves on a shared multi-entity distributed ledger.

The project also tested the feasibility of a programmable digital money design that is potentially extensible to other digital assets, and it will test the compatibility of the RLN with existing laws and regulations and include dialogue with the broader U.S. banking community, including community and regional banks.
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(Kitco News) - According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the domestic uranium mines produced 194,000 pounds of uranium concentrate (U3O8) in 2022, a significant increase from the 21,000 pounds produced in 2021 as production resumed at White Mesa Mill in Utah.

According to the report, uranium concentrate (U3O8) production in the United States increased in 2022 partly as a result of higher uranium prices.

However, EIA said U.S. U3O8 production remained near historic lows despite operations resuming at the White Mesa Mill, the United States only operating conventional uranium mill.

The uranium material used in U.S. nuclear power reactors is largely imported because it is more abundant and cheaper to produce in other countries, the report found. In 2022, 95% of the uranium purchased by U.S. nuclear power plant operators originated in other countries.

Canada, which has large, high-quality uranium reserves, was the largest source of uranium purchased by U.S. nuclear power plants in 2022 at 27%. Kazakhstan was the second-largest source at 25%, followed by Russia at 12%, the analysts said.

Importantly, EIA noted that the U.S. Department of Energy has announced its aim to increase domestic uranium production to reduce reliance on uranium imports.

In 2020, Congress established a strategic uranium reserve, a stockpile of domestically produced uranium that serves as backup supply for U.S. nuclear power plants and incentivizes domestic uranium production.

Moreover, at the end of 2022, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded the first U3O8 supply contracts for the reserve, including one to White Mesas operator, Energy Fuels.
By Fabian Cambero

SANTIAGO, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Chilean state-run copper miner Codelco expects it will take until 2030 to recover production capacity of 1.7 million metric tons per year, outgoing chief executive Andre Sougarret said on Friday.

The comments come as the mining giant faces challenges on various fronts, with copper production at a 25-year low and the government charging Codelco with leading talks with private lithium companies to shift to a state-led public-private model.

Sougarret will step down at the end of the month after announcing his resignation in June,

citing "complexities " in running the world's largest copper producer.

During a presentation on Friday, he defended key expansion projects, including at the El Teniente mine, and said their completion was " undebatable ."

He also stressed that there was about $15 billion left to complete the expansion projects.

Delays have plagued several projects, including the underground Chuqui mine.

However, Sougarret said he expected the mine to reach its production goal in the coming years, which will help lower costs.

Meanwhile, he added the company will use "alternative actions" to extract materials from the El Teniente mine following expansion delays there.

(Reporting by Fabian Cambero, Writing by Isabel Woodford; Editing by Anthony Esposito)
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...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM CDT THURSDAY... * WHAT...Dangerously hot conditions with heat index values up to 117. * WHERE...Portions of south central, southwest, and west central Illinois. Portions of central, east central, northeast, and southeast Missouri. * WHEN...Until 10 PM CDT Thursday. * IMPACTS...Heat related illnesses increase significantly during extreme heat and high humidity events. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles under any circumstances. Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When possible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing when possible. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent rest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location. Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1. &&
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...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 10 PM CDT THURSDAY... * WHAT...Dangerously hot conditions with heat index values up to 114 expected. * WHERE...Portions of south central, southwest, and west central Illinois. Portions of central, east central, northeast, and southeast Missouri. * WHEN...From Noon today to 10 PM CDT Thursday. * IMPACTS...Heat related illnesses increase significantly during extreme heat and high humidity events. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles under any circumstances. Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When possible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing when possible. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent rest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location. Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1. &&
COLUMBIA  A Columbia woman is suing the city of Columbia over the handling of her son's death investigation in July 2020.

Doressia McKee's lawsuit against the city and one police officer includes six counts and requests $25,000 for each. The counts allege intentional racial discrimination, equal protection violations under the 14th Amendment and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

On July 12, 2023, Doressia McKee filed a lawsuit within the Circuit Court of Boone County for damages in regards to the alleged mishandling of her 37-year-old son's death investigation. A motion was granted to move the case to federal court on Aug. 11.

Freddie McKee was found dead outside of a home on Switzler Street three years ago. Medical examiners initially determined the cause of death was due to a drug overdose.

After the initial investigation, Doressia McKee filed a complaint to the Columbia Police Department in April 2021 regarding the alleged mishandling of the investigation. She alleged that police did not do their due diligence in speaking with enough witnesses and documenting the physical injuries the medical examiner found.

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On Oct. 7, 2022, then-Columbia Police Chief Geoff Jones responded with a statement, saying he found the accusations to be unfounded.

After that, Doressia McKee appealed Jones' statement to the Citizens Police Review Board where the board reviewed a document she and her lawyer provided.

Doressia McKee referenced that her son had several scrapes, bruises, contusions and a torn fingernail, and that his smartphone and one of his shoes remain unaccounted for.

Doressia McKee also referred to two toxicology studies that did not match with each other. One report found that Freddie McKee had no drugs in his system and the other discovered signs of drug use.

The Citizens Police Review Board recommended police reopen the investigation after reviewing the appeal. Jones reopened the investigation in January 2022.

When asked for a statement on the lawsuit, a city spokesperson said the city does not comment on pending litigation. The police department said it could not comment if the death investigation is still open.

A hearing has not yet been scheduled in the U.S. District Court. Doressia McKee is representing herself in the civil case.
Hua Hong Semiconductor (OTCMKTS:HHUSF  Get Free Report) and Infineon Technologies (OTCMKTS:IFNNY  Get Free Report) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and dividends.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Hua Hong Semiconductor and Infineon Technologies revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Get Hua Hong Semiconductor alerts:

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Hua Hong Semiconductor N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Infineon Technologies $14.32 billion 3.18 $2.19 billion $2.49 14.02

Infineon Technologies has higher revenue and earnings than Hua Hong Semiconductor.

Analyst Ratings

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Hua Hong Semiconductor 1 1 3 0 2.40 Infineon Technologies 0 3 5 0 2.63

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Hua Hong Semiconductor and Infineon Technologies, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

Hua Hong Semiconductor currently has a consensus price target of C$29.00, suggesting a potential upside of 820.63%. Infineon Technologies has a consensus price target of $43.35, suggesting a potential upside of 24.18%. Given Hua Hong Semiconductors higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Hua Hong Semiconductor is more favorable than Infineon Technologies.

Profitability

This table compares Hua Hong Semiconductor and Infineon Technologies net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Hua Hong Semiconductor N/A N/A N/A Infineon Technologies 19.17% 23.28% 13.18%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

0.2% of Infineon Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. 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.

Summary

Infineon Technologies beats Hua Hong Semiconductor on 7 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Hua Hong Semiconductor

(Get Free Report)

Hua Hong Semiconductor Limited, an investment holding company, manufactures and sells semiconductor products. The company provides embedded non-volatile memory, standard logic and mixed-signal, radio frequency, power management integrated circuits, power discrete, and automotive solutions. It also offers foundry services; and design services comprising standard and customized IP development, full-custom layout design, and customer-specific integrated solutions, as well as design support and tape out services. In addition, the company provides multi-project wafer services; mask making services; and backend services, such as in-house testing, backside processing and dicing, and backend turnkey services, as well as assembly and testing services. Further, it engages in real estate development. Its products are used in consumer electronics, communications, computing, industrial, and automotive markets in the People's Republic of China, North America, Europe, Japan, and other Asian countries. The company was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Shanghai, the People's Republic of China. Hua Hong Semiconductor Limited is a subsidiary of Shanghai Alliance Investment Ltd.

About Infineon Technologies

(Get Free Report)

Infineon Technologies AG designs, develops, manufactures, and markets semiconductors and related system solutions worldwide. Its Automotive segment offers automotive microcontrollers; 3D ToF, magnetic, and pressure sensors; discrete power semiconductors; IGBT modules; industrial microcontrollers; power and radar sensor ICs; transceivers; SiC diodes, MOSEFTs, and modules; and voltage regulators for use in assistance and safety systems, comfort electronics, infotainment, powertrain, and security products. The company's Industrial Power Control segment provides bare dies, discrete IGBTs and driver ICs; SiC diodes, MOSFETs, and modules; and IGBT modules and stacks for home appliances, industrial drives, industrial power supplies, industrial robotics, industrial vehicles, and traction, as well as for energy generation, storage, and transmission. Its Power & Sensor Systems segment offers gas and pressure sensors, and MEMS microphones chips; 3D ToF sensors; control ICs; discrete low-, mid-, and high-voltage power MOSFET; customized chips; GaN power switches; GPS low-noise amplifiers; low-voltage and high-voltage driver ICs; radar sensor ICs; RF antenna switches and power transistors; transient voltage suppressor diodes; SiC diode and MOSFETs; and USB controllers for use in audio amplifiers, automotive electronics, BLDC motors, cellular communications infrastructure, electric vehicle charging stations, human machine interaction, IoT, LED and conventional lighting systems, microinverter, mobile devices, power management, and special applications in harsh environments. The company's Connected Secure Systems segment provides connectivity solutions, embedded security controllers, microcontrollers, and security controllers for authentication, automotive, consumer electronics, government identification document, IoT, mobile communication, payment system, ticketing, access control, and trusted computing applications. Infineon Technologies AG is headquartered in Neubiberg, Germany.

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Medical Properties Trust (NYSE:MPW  Get Free Report) and Extra Space Storage (NYSE:EXR  Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, dividends, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Medical Properties Trust and Extra Space Storages revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

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Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Medical Properties Trust $1.54 billion 2.91 $902.60 million $0.11 68.18 Extra Space Storage $1.92 billion 8.87 $860.69 million $6.13 20.63

Medical Properties Trust has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Extra Space Storage. Extra Space Storage is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Medical Properties Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Medical Properties Trust 2 5 3 0 2.10 Extra Space Storage 1 4 3 1 2.44

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Medical Properties Trust and Extra Space Storage, as reported by MarketBeat.

Medical Properties Trust currently has a consensus target price of $12.25, suggesting a potential upside of 63.33%. Extra Space Storage has a consensus target price of $165.43, suggesting a potential upside of 30.84%. Given Medical Properties Trusts higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Medical Properties Trust is more favorable than Extra Space Storage.

Dividends

Medical Properties Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 15.5%. Extra Space Storage pays an annual dividend of $4.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Medical Properties Trust pays out 1,054.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Extra Space Storage pays out 65.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Medical Properties Trust has raised its dividend for 8 consecutive years. Medical Properties Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares Medical Properties Trust and Extra Space Storages net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Medical Properties Trust 5.07% 0.84% 0.37% Extra Space Storage 41.53% 20.69% 6.92%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

74.3% of Medical Properties Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.8% of Extra Space Storage shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.2% of Medical Properties Trust shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Extra Space Storage shares 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.

Risk and Volatility

Medical Properties Trust has a beta of 0.99, suggesting that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Extra Space Storage has a beta of 0.54, suggesting that its share price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Extra Space Storage beats Medical Properties Trust on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Medical Properties Trust

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Medical Properties Trust, Inc. is a self-advised real estate investment trust formed in 2003 to acquire and develop net-leased hospital facilities. From its inception in Birmingham, Alabama, the Company has grown to become one of the world's largest owners of hospital real estate with 444 facilities and approximately 44,000 licensed beds in ten countries and across four continents. MPT's financing model facilitates acquisitions and recapitalizations and allows operators of hospitals to unlock the value of their real estate assets to fund facility improvements, technology upgrades and other investments in operations.

About Extra Space Storage

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Extra Space Storage Inc., headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, is a self-administered and self-managed REIT and a member of the S&P 500. As of March 31, 2023, the Company owned and/or operated 2,388 self-storage stores in 41 states and Washington, D.C. The Company's stores comprise approximately 1.7 million units and approximately 180.0 million square feet of rentable space. The Company offers customers a wide selection of conveniently located and secure storage units across the country, including boat storage, RV storage and business storage. The Company is the second largest owner and/or operator of self-storage stores in the United States and is the largest self-storage management company in the United States.

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Vestas Wind Systems A/S (OTCMKTS:VWDRY  Get Free Report) and SGS (OTCMKTS:SGSOY  Get Free Report) are both large-cap oils/energy companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Vestas Wind Systems A/S and SGS, as provided by MarketBeat.

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Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Vestas Wind Systems A/S 1 3 3 0 2.29 SGS 4 0 3 0 1.86

Vestas Wind Systems A/S presently has a consensus price target of $173.67, indicating a potential upside of 2,191.12%. SGS has a consensus price target of $937.20, indicating a potential upside of 10,109.15%. Given SGSs higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe SGS is more favorable than Vestas Wind Systems A/S.

Dividends

Volatility & Risk

Vestas Wind Systems A/S pays an annual dividend of $0.01 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. SGS pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Vestas Wind Systems A/S pays out -4.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Vestas Wind Systems A/S has a beta of 1.17, meaning that its stock price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SGS has a beta of 0.72, meaning that its stock price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Vestas Wind Systems A/S and SGSs revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Vestas Wind Systems A/S $15.27 billion 1.50 -$1.66 billion ($0.24) -31.58 SGS $6.96 billion 2.47 $616.16 million N/A N/A

SGS has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Vestas Wind Systems A/S.

Profitability

This table compares Vestas Wind Systems A/S and SGSs net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Vestas Wind Systems A/S -5.19% -23.76% -3.85% SGS N/A N/A N/A

Summary

SGS beats Vestas Wind Systems A/S on 7 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Vestas Wind Systems A/S

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Vestas Wind Systems A/S engages in the design, manufacture, installation, and services of wind turbines the United States, the United Kingdom, Denmark, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Power Solutions and Service. The Power Solutions segment offers onshore and offshore wind power plants, wind turbines, development sites, etc. The Service segment engages in the sale of service contracts, spare parts, and related activities. The company was founded in 1898 and is headquartered in Aarhus, Denmark.

About SGS

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SGS SA provides inspection, verification, testing, certification, and quality assurance services in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Americas, and the Asia Pacific. It operates in five segments: Connectivity & Products, Health & Nutrition, Industries & Environment, Natural Resources, and Knowledge. The company provides laboratory testing, product inspection and consulting, process assessment, technical and transactional assistance; and automotive, connectivity, and softlines and accessories, as well as hardgoods, toys, and juvenile products. In addition, it offers a range of testing, inspection and certification solutions for the crop science, food, health science, and cosmetics and hygiene industries; field services, technical assessment, and advisory services; and services related to industrial, public health and safety, environmental testing, and public mandates. Further, it provides certification, assessment, auditing, supply chain assurance, training, technical consulting, and sustainability assurance services; agricultural commodities, geochemistry, laboratory testing petroleum and chemicals, metallurgy and consulting, mineral and metal commodities, and oil, gas, and chemical commodities; and sustainability solutions. The company serves the agriculture and food, chemical, construction, consumer and retail, energy, industrial manufacturing, life sciences, mining, oil and gas, public, and transportation sectors. SGS SA was founded in 1878 and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

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Deutsche EuroShop AG (ETR:DEQ  Get Free Report)s stock price was up 1.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as 24.35 ($26.47) and last traded at 24.30 ($26.41). Approximately 21,204 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 222,238 shares. The stock had previously closed at 23.85 ($25.92).

Deutsche EuroShop Stock Performance

The stocks 50-day moving average is 21.68 and its 200-day moving average is 20.70. The stock has a market cap of $1.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 24.40 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 61.62, a current ratio of 6.28 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

About Deutsche EuroShop

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Deutsche EuroShop is the only public company in Germany to invest exclusively in shopping centers in prime locations. The company currently has investments in 21 shopping centers in Germany, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. The portfolio includes the Main-Taunus-Zentrum near Frankfurt, the Altmarkt- Galerie in Dresden and the Galeria Baltycka in Gdansk, among many others.

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StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Genworth Financial (NYSE:GNW  Free Report) in a report issued on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the financial services providers stock.

Genworth Financial Stock Performance

NYSE GNW traded up $0.06 during trading on Thursday, hitting $5.81. 649,003 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,476,756. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.99 and a beta of 1.00. Genworth Financial has a 12-month low of $3.44 and a 12-month high of $6.40. The business has a 50 day moving average of $5.56 and a 200-day moving average of $5.59.

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Genworth Financial (NYSE:GNW  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 8th. The financial services provider reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.01. Genworth Financial had a net margin of 6.39% and a return on equity of 5.31%. The company had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.35 earnings per share.

Insider Activity

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

In other news, CEO Thomas J. Mcinerney sold 125,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.52, for a total transaction of $690,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,649,974 shares in the company, valued at $25,667,856.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link . In related news, CEO Thomas J. Mcinerney sold 200,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.01, for a total transaction of $1,202,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,470,010 shares in the company, valued at $20,854,760.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link . Also, CEO Thomas J. Mcinerney sold 125,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.52, for a total value of $690,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 4,649,974 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,667,856.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . 0.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GNW. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Genworth Financial by 60.7% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 62,634 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 23,663 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in Genworth Financial in the first quarter valued at $40,000. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in Genworth Financial by 5.3% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 589,415 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $2,228,000 after purchasing an additional 29,834 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Genworth Financial by 58.2% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 78,974 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 29,046 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Genworth Financial in the 1st quarter worth about $265,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.96% of the companys stock.

About Genworth Financial

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Genworth Financial, Inc provides insurance products in the United States and internationally. It operates in three segments: Enact, U.S. Life Insurance, and Runoff. The Enact segment offers mortgage insurance products primarily insuring prime-based, individually underwritten residential mortgage loans; and pool mortgage insurance products.

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Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX  Get Free Report) EVP Timothy D. Roberts sold 127,578 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.68, for a total transaction of $14,885,801.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 77,313 shares in the company, valued at $9,020,880.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Phillips 66 Price Performance

PSX stock opened at $113.59 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $50.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.93, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Phillips 66 has a 12-month low of $74.02 and a 12-month high of $117.29. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $102.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.47.

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Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $3.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.54 by $0.33. Phillips 66 had a net margin of 6.81% and a return on equity of 26.25%. The business had revenue of $35.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.77 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Phillips 66 will post 14.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Phillips 66 Announces Dividend

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Phillips 66

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 17th. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.70%. Phillips 66s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.22%.

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Capital Advisors Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Phillips 66 in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora acquired a new stake in shares of Phillips 66 in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Country Trust Bank raised its holdings in shares of Phillips 66 by 1,315.8% in the 2nd quarter. Country Trust Bank now owns 269 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Phillips 66 in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new stake in Phillips 66 in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.52% of the companys stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on PSX shares. Argus increased their price target on shares of Phillips 66 from $125.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Phillips 66 from $118.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America lowered shares of Phillips 66 from a buy rating to a neutral rating and raised their target price for the company from $132.00 to $141.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Phillips 66 from $111.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Phillips 66 in a research report on Thursday. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $127.07.

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About Phillips 66

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Phillips 66 operates as an energy manufacturing and logistics company in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Midstream, Chemicals, Refining, and Marketing and Specialties (M&S). The Midstream segment transports crude oil and other feedstocks; delivers refined petroleum products to market; provides terminaling and storage services for crude oil and refined petroleum products; transports, stores, fractionates, exports, and markets natural gas liquids; provides other fee-based processing services; and gathers, processes, transports, and markets natural gas.

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Central Japan Railway (OTCMKTS:CJPRY  Get Free Report) and Vossloh (OTCMKTS:VOSSF  Get Free Report) are both transportation companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, valuation and institutional ownership.

Dividends

Central Japan Railway pays an annual dividend of $0.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Vossloh pays an annual dividend of $0.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Central Japan Railway pays out 6.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Vossloh pays out -3.8% 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. Vossloh is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

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Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Central Japan Railway and Vossloh, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Central Japan Railway 0 0 0 0 N/A Vossloh 0 0 0 0 N/A

Insider and Institutional Ownership

33.5% of Vossloh shares are held by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Central Japan Railway and Vosslohs net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Central Japan Railway 17.60% 7.06% 2.80% Vossloh N/A N/A N/A

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Central Japan Railway and Vosslohs revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Central Japan Railway $10.36 billion 2.47 $1.62 billion $0.97 12.80 Vossloh N/A N/A N/A ($13.01) -3.94

Central Japan Railway has higher revenue and earnings than Vossloh. Vossloh is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Central Japan Railway, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Central Japan Railway beats Vossloh on 6 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Central Japan Railway

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Central Japan Railway Company engages in the railway and related businesses in Japan. The company operates through Transportation, Merchandise and Other, Real Estate, and Other segments. It primarily operates Tokaido Shinkansen, a transportation artery that links metropolitan areas of Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka, as well as a network of 12 conventional lines centered on the Nagoya and Shizuoka areas. The company also provides bus, logistics, travel agency, advertising, linen supply, track maintenance, construction and construction consulting, and contracted accounting and financial services; and manufactures and maintains railway rolling stock and machinery. In addition, it is involved in the operation of a department store; wholesale and retail sales business; sale of food and beverages; leasing and sale of real estate; hotel business; and development, improvement, and maintenance of computer systems. The company was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Nagoya, Japan.

About Vossloh

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Vossloh AG offers rail infrastructure products and services worldwide. It operates through three divisions: Core Components, Customized Modules, and Lifecycle Solutions. The Core Components division develops, produces, and markets rail fastening systems for heavy-haul and high-speed lines, as well as urban transport applications. This division also manufactures concrete ties, switch ties, and concrete elements for slab tracks and level crossing systems. The Customized Modules division manufactures, installs, and maintains switches and crossings, as well as related control and monitoring systems for light-rail and high-speed applications. The Lifecycle Solutions division engages in rail trading, long-rail unloading at construction sites, welding new rails, reconditioning old rails, on-site welding, rail replacement, rail grinding/milling, rail inspection, and construction site supervision activities. This division also organizes and monitors rail shipments to construction sites; and enables on-site availability of the unloading systems. The company was founded in 1883 and is headquartered in Werdohl, Germany.

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Bank of Hawaii lessened its position in shares of Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON  Free Report) by 19.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,716 shares of the industrial products companys stock after selling 1,171 shares during the quarter. Bank of Hawaiis holdings in Sonoco Products were worth $288,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 65,349 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $4,088,000 after purchasing an additional 7,130 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 8.2% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 14,286 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $894,000 after buying an additional 1,087 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its stake in shares of Sonoco Products by 22.6% during the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 23,239 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $1,454,000 after buying an additional 4,281 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Sonoco Products by 164.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 43,701 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $2,744,000 after buying an additional 27,157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in Sonoco Products by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 274,058 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $17,145,000 after acquiring an additional 3,941 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.74% of the companys stock.

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Sonoco Products Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Sonoco Products stock opened at $55.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $58.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.26. The stock has a market cap of $5.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.68. Sonoco Products has a 1-year low of $53.78 and a 1-year high of $65.86.

Sonoco Products Announces Dividend

Sonoco Products ( NYSE:SON Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 31st. The industrial products company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.50 by ($0.12). Sonoco Products had a return on equity of 26.15% and a net margin of 6.89%. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.76 EPS. Analysts predict that Sonoco Products will post 5.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 10th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 9th. Sonoco Productss payout ratio is currently 41.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Sonoco Products from $70.00 to $68.00 in a report on Monday, July 10th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Sonoco Products in a research note on Thursday. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Bank of America cut their price objective on Sonoco Products from $80.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Monday, July 10th. Argus downgraded Sonoco Products from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Sonoco Products from $61.00 to $55.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sonoco Products currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $62.17.

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Sonoco Products Profile

(Free Report)

Sonoco Products Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells various engineered and sustainable packaging products in North and South America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company operates through two segments: Consumer Packaging and Industrial Paper Packaging.

Further Reading

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SON? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON  Free Report).

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Spouting Rock Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Olo Inc. (NYSE:OLO  Free Report) by 54.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 26,215 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 9,233 shares during the quarter. Spouting Rock Asset Management LLCs holdings in OLO were worth $214,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Credit Suisse AG raised its stake in OLO by 10.9% in the first quarter. Credit Suisse AG now owns 89,029 shares of the companys stock valued at $726,000 after buying an additional 8,772 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of OLO in the first quarter worth about $84,000. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of OLO by 22.7% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 56,723 shares of the companys stock worth $463,000 after purchasing an additional 10,496 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of OLO by 23.7% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 442,398 shares of the companys stock worth $3,610,000 after purchasing an additional 84,782 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of OLO by 45.8% in the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 22,187 shares of the companys stock worth $181,000 after purchasing an additional 6,968 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.50% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OLO has been the subject of several recent research reports. BTIG Research initiated coverage on OLO in a research report on Thursday, June 15th. They set a neutral rating for the company. StockNews.com initiated coverage on OLO in a research report on Thursday. They set a hold rating for the company. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on OLO from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on OLO from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on OLO from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Four 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.com, OLO has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $10.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at OLO

In other news, CEO Noah H. Glass sold 8,334 shares of OLO stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.28, for a total value of $60,671.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 302,546 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,202,534.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Noah H. Glass sold 8,334 shares of OLO stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.28, for a total value of $60,671.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 302,546 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,202,534.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CRO Diego Panama sold 37,766 shares of OLO stock in a transaction on Monday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.41, for a total value of $279,846.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 637,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,721,911.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 59,706 shares of company stock worth $440,324. 39.12% of the stock is owned by insiders.

OLO Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE:OLO opened at $6.50 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $6.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $7.35. Olo Inc. has a 1 year low of $5.74 and a 1 year high of $9.55.

OLO (NYSE:OLO  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of ($0.05) by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $55.25 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $53.22 million. OLO had a negative return on equity of 4.19% and a negative net margin of 26.19%. On average, equities analysts expect that Olo Inc. will post -0.15 earnings per share for the current year.

About OLO

(Free Report)

Olo Inc operates an open SaaS platform for restaurants in the United States. The company's platform enables on-demand digital commerce operations, which cover digital ordering, delivery, front-of-house management, and payments. Its solutions include Order, a suite of solutions powering restaurant brands' on-demand commerce operations, enabling digital ordering, delivery, and channel management through ordering, dispatch, rails, switchboard, network, virtual brands, kiosk, catering, and sync modules; Engage, a suite of restaurant-centric marketing solutions optimizing guest lifetime value by strengthening and enhancing the restaurants' direct guest relationships, through the guest data platform, marketing, sentiment, and host modules; and Pay, a frictionless payment platform that enables restaurants to grow and protect their digital business through customer payment experience that offers advanced fraud prevention to improve authorization rates for valid transactions, and increase basket conversion through its Olo Pay module.

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Summit X LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK  Free Report) by 10.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,326 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 877 shares during the period. Summit X LLCs holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,010,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,349 shares of the companys stock valued at $782,000 after buying an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. First National Advisers LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. First National Advisers LLC now owns 3,875 shares of the companys stock valued at $412,000 after buying an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 19.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 183,092 shares of the companys stock worth $19,479,000 after purchasing an additional 29,878 shares in the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 946,061 shares of the companys stock worth $100,651,000 after purchasing an additional 68,383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 200,467 shares of the companys stock worth $21,328,000 after purchasing an additional 1,297 shares in the last quarter. 76.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $116.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. StockNews.com raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report on Saturday, August 12th. HSBC assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, July 14th. They set a hold rating and a $123.00 price objective for the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $128.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Monday, May 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $102.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $124.74.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 4,500 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.49, for a total value of $474,705.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,185 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,867,745.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.20% of the companys stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $0.11 during trading on Friday, hitting $108.81. The stock had a trading volume of 3,205,559 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,773,221. The stocks 50 day moving average is $109.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $110.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.52 and a 1 year high of $119.65. The stock has a market cap of $276.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK  Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The company reported ($2.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of ($2.18) by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 5.34% and a return on equity of 16.29%. The business had revenue of $15.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $14.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.87 EPS. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. Merck & Co., Inc.s payout ratio is 239.34%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

(Free Report)

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes, as well as vaccine products, such as preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines.

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A general view shows the aftermath of a wildfire in Lahaina on the Hawaiian island of Maui, Thursday. AP-Yonhap



By Baek Byung-yeul



Hyundai Motor and Kia decided to donate a total of $300,000 to support the U.S. island of Maui in Hawaii, which was recently hit by a massive wildfire, according to Hyundai Motor Group, Friday.



The companies also said they have decided to offer discounts and other financial support for people who are affected by the disaster.



Hyundai Motor America said it will donate $150,000 to the American Red Cross and local charities in Hawaii and is also offering the Maui Disaster Relief Buyer and Owner Assurance program.



Through this program, residents affected by the disaster on the island will be able to receive a $1,000 cash rebate on all new 2023-2024 Hyundai models and a $2,000 cash rebate on all new 2023-2024 Genesis models with no payments for 90 days on all new annual percentage rate contracts.



"The island of Maui has been devastated by the recent wildfires and our thoughts are with the local and historic communities that are greatly impacted," Jose Munoz, president and CEO of Hyundai and Genesis Motor North America, said.



Kia America will also donate a total of $150,000 to two organizations that are responding to the devastating wildfires in Hawaii.



"The American Red Cross and the Hawaii Community Foundation will receive $100,000 and $50,000, respectively, to support relief efforts on the island," Kia America said.



The company also provides a $1,000 cash rebate on all new 2023-2024 Kia models for customers who provide proof of vehicle or home damage caused by the Maui wildfire.



"The fires in Hawaii are devastating not only to the local community, they also impact the entire nation and Kia is dedicated to supporting those in need through our 'Accelerate The Good' program," Sean Yoon, president and CEO of Kia North America and Kia America, said.


In this picture released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, right, speaks with Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Friday, Aug. 18. AP-Yonhap





Iran's foreign minister met Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler on Friday during his first visit since the Middle East rivals announced a surprise rapprochement, officials said.







Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who travelled to Riyadh on Thursday, held talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah, the Saudi foreign ministry announced, after extending what had been scheduled to be a one-day visit.







The two reviewed relations between the countries, "future opportunities for cooperation... and ways to develop them, in addition to discussing developments in the situation on the regional and international arenas", the foreign ministry posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.







Iran's official IRNA news agency said it was the first time a senior Iranian official had met with Prince Mohammed, 37, who has ushered in a series of reforms in the conservative kingdom.







In a statement posted on X, Amir-Abdollahian called the 90-minute meeting a "direct, frank, and productive conversation" that addressed bilateral relations, security and development.







"The way to the success of the region is to strengthen dialogue and cooperation and increase development-oriented cooperation," he said, according to a statement from Tehran's foreign ministry.







Shiite Muslim-majority Iran and Sunni-ruled Saudi broke off ties in 2016, but they agreed to restore diplomatic relations in a Chinese-brokered deal in March.







The announcement sparked optimism as the two regional heavyweights have backed opposing sides in conflict zones across the Middle East for years, including in Yemen, Saudi Arabia's impoverished neighbour.







In this handout image released by the state-run Saudi Press Agency, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, left, meets Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Aug. 17. AP-Yonhap





On Thursday, Amir-Abdollahian said ties "are progressing in the right direction" as he appeared in front of the media with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan.







His visit would "be a prelude to the meeting of the heads of the two countries", he said, without specifying when Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi would travel to Saudi Arabia at King Salman's invitation.







Iran's top diplomat hailed economic and security cooperation between the two countries, but announced no new agreements. He was accompanied by Iran's new ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Alireza Enayati.







"We are sure that these meetings and cooperation will help the unity of the Islamic world," Amir-Abdollahian added, proposing a "regional dialogue" without giving details.







Since the March deal, Saudi Arabia has ramped up a push for peace in Yemen, holding direct talks with Huthi leaders in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, and championed the return of key Iran ally Syria to the Arab League. (AFP)






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Press Release

August 18, 2023 Legarda - PH Guest of Honour status at Frankfurter Buchmesse 2025 to promote local publishing industry in global arena Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda said the Philippines' participation as the Guest of Honour (GOH) at the Frankfurter Buchmesse (FBM) 2025, the largest book fair in the world, will promote the country's publishing industry in the global arena and will prove to be a great venue to highlight the Philippines' culture and arts. Since 2016, Legarda has pushed for this distinction as Guest of Honor at the world's oldest and most prestigious book fair. It was late in 2015 when Karina Bolasco, then Director of the Ateneo de Manila University Press, presented the idea to support the Fair, and Legarda has done so ever since. "As Guest of Honor, we will be in a unique, prominent position in the global arena to show our publishing industry's creativity and intellectual prowess. I have worked tirelessly for this, together with then National Book Development Board (NBDB) Chair Neni Sta. Romana Cruz and Board Members Karina Bolasco and Ani Almario. After eight years, since I learned about this Fair and its importance in 2015, we have worked tirelessly, and now we have finally clinched that honor and distinction," shared Legarda. "This should translate to tangible, economic impact such as an increase in the number of actual book exports, in sales of translation rights and other derivative rights, and will expand opportunities internationally for our writers, book designers, artists, and comics illustrators, all these while we establish, strengthen, and expand our ties to our networks of publishers and cultural institutions across the world," she continued. Legarda, the project visionary behind the country's bid for the GOH, noted that the book fair is also seen as a significant boost to the country's reputation, which will result in an uptick in tourism numbers, along with positive branding of growing exports from the country's creative industry, such as film, music, architecture, and others. The Frankfurt Book Fair is held annually in Frankfurt, Germany. It remains to be the most important marketplace for publishers, authors, literary agents, media professionals, illustrators, and book and trade associations to negotiate their publishing and licensing rights. It has attracted over 4,000 exhibitors across 100 countries and is seen as a convergence of political, cultural, and economic significance. Before the Philippines' bid to be the Guest of Honor at the FBM, Indonesia, in 2015, is the only ASEAN country that has become GOH. On August 18, 2023, the official Guest of Honor contract was signed in Davao City, led by the book fair's President and CEO, Juergen Boos, and the officials of NBDB, led by Chair Dante Francis Ang II and Executive Director Charisse Tugade. Legarda, who spoke as the keynote speaker of the Philippine Book Festival in Davao, stressed the importance of such events for the enrichment of the education of many. "As your senator who is deeply dedicated and committed to promoting education and literacy, I fully support this significant undertaking that instills a lifelong love for learning," said Legarda. "It is an honor to be here in the gathering of literary enthusiasts, authors, publishers, and readers, who have all come together to celebrate and promote a culture of reading and writing in our country," she continued.
Intervention by Dr. Samiddhi Samarakoon, National Coordinator, Disaster Preparedness and Response Division of the Ministry of Health on National Inventory of Dangerous Pathogens (NIDP)

Thank you Mr. Chair,

I take this opportunity to brief on the background of the establishment of National Inventory of Dangerous Pathogens (NIDP) in Sri Lanka which is a key step in national implementation of the BWC. Following the Joint External Evaluation of International Health Regulations (IHR) implementation in 2017, while acknowledging the several activities that were undertaken to improve the biosafety and biosecurity in Sri Lanka, it was recommended to develop a National Inventory of Dangerous Pathogens and Toxins (NIDP) as well to further strengthen the biosafety and biosecurity in the country.

Thus, action was undertaken to develop the National Policy on Biosafety and Biosecurity, including policy statements required to satisfy the 15 Articles of the BWC; appointing two contact points including the National Coordinator, Disaster Preparedness and Response of the Ministry of Health. The Disaster Preparedness and Response Division (DPRD) of the Ministry of Health applied for extended assistance from the UNODA for implementation activities of BWC and BWC-ISU in collaboration with the National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RVIM), of the Netherlands supported Sri Lanka to develop the NIDP. We are grateful to the Government of the Netherlands and UNODA for this assistance and the European Union (EU) for funding the project.

It was a pleasure to observe that this forum referred to the establishment of National Inventory of Dangerous Pathogens (NIDP) in Sri Lanka which was developed with support from UNODA and the Netherlands in 2022 and funded by the European Union (EU) under EU Council Decision 2019/97.



First, an introductory online training programme on Multi sectoral stakeholder platforms and best practices was conducted by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in December 2021. Then, a Working Group for development of the NIDP was appointed by the Secretary, Ministry of Health with multi sectoral representation. This working group to date is the body that is actively working in the process of the implementation of the NIDP in Sri Lanka.

The first virtual workshop on the NIDP was held on 12th May 2022 with the participation of representatives from the relevant stakeholders. Following several working group meetings, A comprehensive list of laboratories across the country from all sectors was formulated; and the operational definition of dangerous pathogens for NIDP was finalized. The list of dangerous pathogens and toxins for Sri Lanka was finalized, based on pathogens and toxins identified in the list of Dangerous Pathogens and Toxins of the US Department of Health and Human Services (Select agents list), Dual use list of the EU and the Australia group list.

Following the Second in-person workshop held from 9th-11th August 2022 in UNESCAP, Bangkok, Thailand, several activities required for the implementation of NIDP were discussed. Following the 3rd in-person meeting held on 17th - 18th November 2022, in Sri Lanka, the software for NIDP was handed over to Sri Lanka by RVIM, Netherlands and the relevant stakeholders were informed of the countrys progress and future plans on implementing the NIDP.

The relevant software has been installed and secured at the Ministry of Health, and the communication plan and the process of data sharing have been finalized. Data security measures have also been undertaken. Sri Lanka is planning on conducting a pilot study within 10 laboratories representing the relevant stakeholders, at different parts of the country. Following the evaluation of the pilot study, the aim is to implement the NIDP into all laboratories across all sectors, across the island.

Mr. Chair,

It is obvious that Cooperation with the UN and other International Organizations and Member States significantly enhances the process of national implementation of BWC. Sri Lanka reaffirms its continued commitment in carrying forward the activities related to BWC national implementation in collaboration with all national as well as international stakeholders.

Thank you

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On 17 August Mexicos economy ministry (SE) announced that the US had requested a dispute settlement panel under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) regarding Mexicos biotech corn policies.

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On 17 August the local media reported warnings by, the discredited head of Guatemalas attorney general (AG)s special anti-impunity unit (Feci) of possible action against Movimiento Semilla (Semilla), the party of anti-graft presidential candidateafter the 20 August second round presidential run-off.

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Southern California and the Pacific coast of Mexico are bracing for a storm as Hurricane Hillary makes its way up north. It has already hit parts of Mexico, bringing heavy rainfall to some areas that have been badly hit with massive droughts.

The National Hurricane Center has already released a public advisory regarding Hurricane Hillary right after it strengthened to become a hurricane as it moved northward from Mexico. However, Greg Postel, a hurricane and storm specialist at the Weather Channel, told CBS News that the storm "is not expected to be a hurricane on final approach."

It is expected to bring heavy rainfall to the Southwestern United States starting Friday and will continue until early next week.

Hurricane Hillary is expected to peak around Sunday and Monday next week. Large swells along the Pacific coast are also expected, along with strong winds in some parts of California, including the Los Angeles Basin.

It is rare - indeed nearly unprecedented in the modern record - to have a tropical system like this move through Southern California," Postel said.

As of Thursday night, Hurricane Hillary was found around 430 miles south of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. It had maximum sustained winds of 125, moving west-northwest at the speed of 14 mph.

Hurricane Hillary Expected To Bring Potential Flooding

Along with the heavy rainfall that Hurricane Hillary is expected to bring to California and parts of the Southwestern United States, there might also be some heavy flooding, with Southern California expected to receive the heaviest rainfall once the storm finally arrives from Mexico.

READ NEXT: California Serial Stabbings Suspect Carlos Dominguez Mentally Unfit To Stand Trial

Nevada is also expected to receive some much-needed rainfall in some parts from Saturday to Monday, with around 2 to 4 inches of rain, with the heaviest rainfall expected around Sunday and Monday.

Parts of Arizona, which is currently experiencing a historic heatwave, may experience some reprieve as around 1-2 inches of rainfall is expected in the area, along with Central California and northern Nevada.

CNN is warning that these multiple days of heavy rainfall will give the ground little opportunity to absorb moisture. This could worsen progressively and lead to flooding. UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain told the network that "multiple years' worth of precipitation" could potentially fall in some of California's driest areas.

Red Cross Advises How To Prepare for Hurricane Hillary

As Hurricane Hillary, the first tropical storm to hit California in decades, approaches Southern California, the Red Cross posted several tips on how best to prepare for this incoming storm.

The first step is to create an evacuation plan, including planning what to do in case you are separated from your family during an emergency and if you must evacuate. The Red Cross stressed that pets should be included in that emergency plan.

The health organization also advised having an emergency kit that contains a gallon of water per person per day and non-perishable food. Other items, such as a flashlight, battery-powered radio, first aid kit, medications, personal hygiene items,

supplies for infants or pets, multi-purpose tool, copies of important papers, cell phone chargers, extra cash, and blankets must also be included. You should also have maps of the area and emergency contact information ready.

It is also important to be informed. This can be done by following what local officials are doing, as well as finding out if there are evacuation orders. Tuning into local news and radio will also be a big help just in case of an emergency.

READ NEXT: Paul Gosar Staffer Linked to Neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes, New Report Shows

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Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Hurricane Hilary could be 1st tropical storm to hit California since 1939 - ABC7 News Bay Area
Despite claiming that the elections were rigged against him, Brazil's then-President Jair Bolsonaro tried hacking into the voting system, according to a hacker who testified at a congressional hearing on Thursday.

The hacker, Walter Delgatti Neto, told Brazil's Congress that then-President Jair Bolsonaro asked him to hack into the country's electronic voting system to prove his claims that the voting system had weaknesses and backing up his claims that rigging the election is possible, thus casting doubt into the result.

Bolsonaro met with the hacker on August 10, 2022, at the presidential residence, and their meeting lasted between 90 minutes and two hours. There, Delgatti told the man regarded as the "Trump of the Tropics" that hacking into Brazil's voting system was not possible because it was not connected to the internet, according to the Associated Press.

Delgatti explained that Bolsonaro's idea was for him to build a fake code for voting machines and "expose the fragility" of Brazil's voting system. However, the hacker pointed out that he could not do this because the source code is physically located "in a vault room that doesn't have internet access."

Before his testimony, Delgatti had been detained by Brazilian police for breaking into the judiciary system. This reportedly happened earlier this month.

Jair Bolsonaro Denies Hacker's Allegations

Following the hacker's testimony, the former Brazilian president's attorneys released a statement and threatened that they will "take judicial action against Delgatti."

"NEVER, EVER, has there been a wiretap, or any illegal or non-republican activity, against any political entity in Brazil by the President's primary circle," said Bolsoinaro's defense lawyer, Fabio Wajngarten.

READ MORE: Brazil: Police Ordered to Question Jair Bolsonaro About January 8 Riot

He also posted on social media and claimed that Delgatti was lying in his testimony, especially about meeting with the then-president for 90 minutes.

"I don't know anyone who had an individual meeting with the president that last an hour and a half. I doubt it. Lie and lie and lie," said the Bolsonaro lawyer, according to CNN.

The Bolsonaro legal team also accused the hacker of "bringing false information and allegations, without any evidence."

However, they acknowledged that Delgatti did meet with Bolsonaro, though they claimed this was because he ordered his defense minister to open investigations on the country's electoral system. The lawyers added that the investigation was "based on claims he had heard from the hacker."

Brazil Police Carry Out More Raids Regarding January 8 Probe

Much like his North American counterpart, Donald Trump, there are also multiple investigations regarding Jair Bolsonaro. Also like Trump, he may have also instigated a coup in early January, with the January 8 probe looking into the Pro-Bolsonaro coup that mirrored Trump's January 6 Capitol insurrection.

In a statement, Brazil's Federal Police revealed that they carried out several raids against supporters of Jair Bolsonaro. They served 10 arrest warrants and 16 search and seizure warrants across five states and the federal district, including Brasilia, according to Reuters.

The names of those who were targeted by those warrants were not revealed to the public, but the Brazil Federal Police did say that these individuals were being investigated for crimes of "violent abolition of the rule of law, coup d'etat, qualified damage, criminal association, incitement, destruction and damage of specially protected property."

READ NEXT: Joe Biden and Lula Swap Insurrection Stories About January 6 and January 8

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WATCH: Brazil's ex-president Jair Bolsonaro gets eight-year election ban - BBC News
The head of Maui's emergency management agency has tendered an immediate resignation, citing health concerns, according to the latest Maui wildfire update reported by Maui County in a news release on Thursday.

Mayor Richard Bissen acknowledged the seriousness of the ongoing crisis. He expressed the intention to swiftly appoint a successor for this pivotal role. An announcement regarding the new appointment is anticipated soon.

The aftermath of the devastating wildfires that swept through Maui has left a trail of unimaginable destruction. It has prompted both questions and concerns about the response from officials, per CNN.

The Maui wildfire death toll has reached at least 111 individuals, including children. It continues to unfold as search efforts persist, uncovering devastation beyond comprehension.

Despite the grim reality already faced, the full scope of the tragedy is anticipated to worsen.

Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said the search for victims is only halfway completed, with most affected areas still awaiting examination.

The scale and impact of this disaster have caught many off guard, with Chief Pelletier stating, "No one has ever seen this that is alive today - not this size, not this number, not this volume."

The search teams are laboring tirelessly, sifting through the remains of over 2,000 homes and businesses consumed by the flames.

READ NEXT: Maui Wildfire Update: Governor Warns Realtors Trying To Take Advantage of Disaster

Maui Wildfire Update on Missing People

The number of unaccounted individuals remains a source of concern, with Hawaii Governor Josh Green indicating that the count is likely over 1,000.

The ongoing search for Maui wildfire missing people has pushed beyond the boundaries of Lahaina, extending to other communities that have been reduced to ashes by the fires.

As of Thursday, approximately 45% of the burned area had been covered by search efforts, AP reports.

Despite the heart-wrenching personal toll on responders, they persist in their mission, driven to recover their loved ones and community members.

The search efforts have not been without complications. Intermittent cellphone service and misleading information on social media have hindered coordination.

Additionally, locating individuals who might be in hospitals, makeshift shelters, or staying with friends has posed challenges.

Families have resorted to creating fliers and embarking on door-to-door searches in a desperate bid to reunite with their missing loved ones.

Maui Wildfire Update: Why Officials Did Not Use Sirens?

Amidst the tragedy, questions have emerged about the absence of sirens during the Maui wildfires.

Herman Andaya, Administrator of the Maui Emergency Management Agency, defended the decision not to activate sirens during the crisis, according to ABC News.

He explained that the protocol reserves coastal sirens exclusively for tsunami warnings, not wildfires.

Andaya reasoned that sounding the sirens might have inadvertently directed evacuees toward the advancing flames.

He also noted howling winds and indoor air conditioning would have made the sirens barely audible.

Moreover, the lack of sirens on the mountainside, where the fire was spreading, further complicated the matter.

Governor Josh Green echoed Andaya's stance, emphasizing that the expectation of a tsunami influenced the decision.

He stated, "That's what our mentality was."

The choice not to activate the sirens has garnered scrutiny, raising debates about the effectiveness of emergency protocols in the face of unforeseen disasters.

READ MORE: Maui Wildfire Update: Hawaii Governor Vocal on Harsh Reality of Tragedy

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Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: Maui Wildfire Update - From Hawaii News Now
Colombia's capital city and other major urban areas were shaken by a powerful earthquake followed by strong aftershocks, prompting residents to flee onto the streets in panic, AP reports.

While the quakes caused minor damage, they left an indelible mark on the city's psyche.

The US Geological Survey reported that the initial earthquake had a preliminary 6.3 magnitude, with the subsequent aftershock registering a preliminary 5.7. Both tremors originated approximately 100 miles (160 kilometers) southeast of Bogota. Later in the evening, a Magnitude 5.0 earthquake added to the already tense situation.

The earthquake's impact was acutely felt in Bogota, a city inhabited by 11 million people. The tremors reverberated through buildings, causing floors to shake and alarms to blare. Frightened residents hurried out of their homes, gathering outside to seek safety.

"Everything was moving, and people came out screaming, 'It's shaking, it's shaking!' A lot of people started to rush out onto the street because of the tremor," Gonzalo Martin, a Bogota resident, recounted the scene.

Tragically, one person lost their life when they succumbed to panic and jumped from the seventh floor of a building. The incident underscored the intense fear that gripped the city during the seismic event.

Mayor Claudia Lopez expressed her condolences for the tragic loss of life while acknowledging the city's challenges during the quake.

The civil defense agency has evacuated Calvario, southeast of Bogota, where windows sustained damage due to the quakes.

A segment of the intricate stonework ceiling within the circular hall of Colombia's House of Representatives in Bogota recently dislodged and descended onto the lawmakers' seating area.

This incident was captured in a video shared via an official congressional social media account on X, formerly referred to as Twitter.

The chamber was vacant during the incident, so no individuals were harmed.

The earthquake's impact was also felt in other major cities such as Medellin and Cali.

READ NEXT: Colombia Deforestation Drops by 29%

Colombia Earthquake's Strong Aftershocks

Following the initial quake, aftershocks continued to rattle the city. Colombia's national geological service assessed the second quake at a magnitude of 5.6, with a subsequent aftershock measuring 4.8, according to Reuters.

Reports surfaced of a landslide in Villavicencio, while El Calvario experienced damage limited to the windows of homes and businesses.

US Ambassador Francisco Palmieri was delivering a speech at a Bogota hotel when the earthquake struck, momentarily halting his speech to inquire if what had been felt was indeed an earthquake.

President Gustavo Petro was also in attendance, and the hotel remained unevacuated. Meanwhile, inside the congress building, a piece of the ceiling detached but fortunately caused no injuries.

Colombia Earthquake

Colombia's susceptibility to earthquakes is linked to its geological makeup. Central Colombia is known for its high seismic activity and is characterized by one of its major geological faults.

The memory of a previous quake in 2008, measuring 5.5 in magnitude and centered in El Calvario that killed 11 people, remains a sad reminder of the country's vulnerability to such natural events, NDTV noted.

READ MORE: Maui Wildfire Update

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Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: Strong earthquake hits Colombia - From Associated Press
Allentown police closed off a Center City block Thursday afternoon following the report that a possible wanted person was seen there, according to a news release from the department.

Police were called about 1:10 p.m. to the 100 block of South Eighth Street, between Walnut and Union streets.

Upon arrival, precautionary measures were taken while the incident was investigated, Capt. Christopher Diehl said in the release.

The department via social media announced the blocks closure, before saying about 4:30 p.m. it had been reopened.

The Allentown Police Department detained the wanted person and the investigation was resolved, Diehl stated in the subsequent news release. There is no immediate threat or danger to the public at this time.

Police did not immediately identify the wanted person or release further details.

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Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.
For the third year in a row, the Historic Hotel Bethlehem won a USA Today poll to be named the best historic hotel in America.

Hotel management announced at a noon press conference that the century-old hotel at 437 Main St. in Bethlehem won the USA Today 10Best Readers Choice Award yet again.

Congratulations everybody. ... We did it, hotel managing partner Bruce Haines said after a sign indicating the win was unveiled Friday. The event was livestreamed on Facebook.

The online poll to name the best historic hotel in the U.S. closed Monday after four weeks of voting. Haines said it was a great honor to be recognized along with other iconic properties.

A panel of industry experts and editors at USA Today nominated Hotel Bethlehem each of the past five years for the contest. The Bethlehem hotel came in third in 2019 and second in 2020.

Hotel Bethlehem showcases holiday decorations in the lobby in 2018.Saed Hindash | For lehighvalleylive.com

Haines thanked the hotels loyal customers and its staff Friday.

When guests come here, they feel like theyre coming home, he told a crowd of staffers at the press conference. You make them feel that way.

Haines has called Hotel Bethlehem the go-to venue for community celebrations for generations. The 125-room hotel has employed thousands of Lehigh Valley families since it opened in 1922, he said.

The hotel was the brainchild of Bethlehem Steel President Charles Schwab, who wanted a grand hotel on Main Street. The Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce sold shares of the hotel to residents for $50 apiece, the hotels news release says.

The hotel features an expansive lobby, restaurants and multiple ballrooms. Theres a conference center, ladies boutique and the Hotel B ice cream parlor.

A hotel like this can be more than just an overnight accommodation, Haines said, adding it can rejuvenate the mind, body and spirit of its guests.

The hotel is affiliated with Historic Hotels of America, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Whos stayed there?

Plenty of famous people have stayed at Hotel Bethlehem in its 101-year history. Among those listed by the hotel are:

Winston Churchill, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Amelia Earhart, Bob Hope, the Dalai Lama, Dwight Eisenhower, Gerald Ford, Shirley Temple, John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton, Ron Jaworski, Muhammad Ali, Bernadette Peters, Counting Crows, Steve Carlton, Jack Nicklaus, Alison Krauss, Harry Connick Jr., Mayim Bialik and Jeffrey Tambor.

 MORE: Why Ozzy Osbourne got booted from Hotel Bethlehem (and other famous guests who didnt)

In this 2022 file photo, Notre Dame High School seniors celebrate their prom at Hotel Bethlehem.Saed Hindash | For lehighvalleylive.com

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Storm Betty looks set to pound Ireland's southern coast with Met Eireann deciding the impact is enough to declare a Status Red alert along the coasts set to be in the path of the storm front.

The forecaster has already issued Status Yellow and Orange wind and rain warnings for the storm but decided on Friday afternoon that a Status Red marine warning was necessary.

The alert covers sea areas from from Carnsore Point to Dungarvan to Mizen Head along the coasts of Cork, Waterford and Wexford.

The Red gale warning is valid from 9pm on Friday to 3am Saturday.

There is also a status yellow Gale warning for all coasts of Ireland due to the impact of Storm Betty.

The Irish Coast Guard says winds will be strongest in southern coastal and midland counties with severe or damaging gusts possible. It says heavy rain or showers will also bring the possibility of localised flooding. There will also be high waves at sea and a possibility of coastal flooding, especially on south and east coasts.

It warns of storm force 10 and occasionally violent storm force 11 for a time on Irish coastal waters from Carnsore Point to Dungarvan to Mizen Head.

The Irish Coast Guard strongly advises people who are planning any water-based or coastal activities, to check the weather carefully at www.met.ie and consider if the conditions are suitable.

Strong winds can result in relatively rough seas resulting in perilous sea conditions which could be challenging for water-based actives this weekend. The general advice from the Coast Guard in stormy conditions is to stay back from cliffs and exposed coastal areas and piers where breaking waves can be hazardous.

If you see someone in difficulty call 999 or 112 and request the Coast Guard. More forecast details for Leinster and the rest of the country below tweet.

As #StormBetty develops many areas should brace for a period of wet & very windy weather, bringing flooding & disruption



Watch out for warnings relevant to your circumstances as this storm develops over the next few hourshttps://t.co/Xg3aMJlyuS pic.twitter.com/8sNqWwCGC1  Met Eireann (@MetEireann) August 18, 2023

The Met Eireann regional forecast for Leinster was issued at 1pm on Friday August 18.

Friday: An increasingly blustery day will be followed by a very wet and windy night. Storm Betty will bring heavy rain and strong winds overnight leading to localised flooding. Very stormy conditions will develop for a time in southeastern coastal areas, with wave overtopping possible. Severe gusts in mountainous areas with strong and gusty southeast winds, veering southwesterly later. Lowest temperatures of 14 to 17 degrees .

Saturday: Any lingering overnight rain will clear on Saturday morning to leave a bright and breezy day with sunny spells and just the odd shower. Highest temperatures of 20 to 22 degrees in fresh and gusty southwest winds.

National Outlook

Saturday night: Clear spells and a few showers on Saturday night, the showers mainly affecting the south and west of the country. Lowest temperatures overnight of 12 to 15 degrees in moderate southerly winds.

Sunday: Plenty of dry weather on Sunday with spells of sunshine and just a few showers, mainly confined to Atlantic coastal counties. A fairly warm day with highest temperatures of 18 to 23 degrees in a moderate to fresh southwest breeze. Clear spells and a few showers about early on Sunday night. However, it looks set to become mostly cloudy later with patchy rain developing. A humid night with lowest temperatures of 14 to 17 degrees in a moderate southerly breeze.

Monday: It looks set to be a showery day on Monday with sunny spells and fairly widespread showers. Some of the showers are likely to be heavy and prolonged. Top temperatures of 19 to 22 degrees in a moderate to fresh southwest wind. Clear spells and scattered showers on Monday night, the showers mainly affecting Atlantic coastal counties. Lowest temperatures of 13 to 16 degrees in light southwest winds.

Tuesday: Another day of bright spells and showers is expected on Tuesday. Heavy and thundery showers are possible, especially during the afternoon. Becoming mostly dry and sunny in the evening. Highest temperatures of 18 to 22 degrees in a moderate southwest breeze. Largely dry on Tuesday night with long clear spells. Lowest temperatures of 9 to 12 degrees in light southwest winds.
Laois County Council has activated its Crisis Management Teams and is is working with other agencies in the Local Coordination Groups to respond to the impact of Storm Betty.

With Status Red, Orange and Yellow Alerts the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management (NDFEM) Crisis Management Team says it has also convened to oversee the response to the emergency.

A statement from the Department of Housing Local Government and Heritage, the lead Government Department for coordinating the response to severe weather emergencies nationally, said NDFEM have been liaising with Met Eireann regarding the current forecasted weather period.

It said that a Met Eireann briefing was held today (Friday), which was attended by all Local Authority severe weather assessment teams, Government Departments and agencies to prepare for Storm Betty.

The statement said Met Eireanns current forecasts indicate that Storm Betty will move across the country during Friday afternoon into Saturday morning, moving Southwest to Northeast across the country, potentially bringing strong winds, rain and the threat of coastal, pluvial and fluvial flooding.

The statement added that Storm Betty is forecast to bring high winds, particularly across the Southern areas. Rainfall levels of 40mm could be experienced across the country with the potential for over 60mm in some areas.

"This is a dynamic storm system, intensified by the Jet Stream leading to some uncertainty as to the potential track and intensity of Storm Betty," said the statement.

It said Laois and other county and city councils are already preparing to respond.

"Local Authorities, who are the lead agency for the response to severe weather events have activated their Crisis Management Teams and Local Coordination Groups in preparation for the arrival of Storm Betty. Relevant Departments and Agencies also are preparing to support local authorities responding to Storm Betty," it said.

NDFEM hd the following public safety and information messages:

The public are advised to monitor Met Eireann forecasts during this period.

In areas affected it is likely there will be:

High seas; the public are advised to stay away from coastal areas during this period. The Irish Coast Guard are appealing to people to Stay Back, Stay High, Stay Dry.

Very strong winds are predicted which will make driving conditions hazardous, especially for the more vulnerable road users, e.g., cyclists, pedestrians, motorcyclists and high-sided vehicles. Road users should pay particular attention to the risk posed by fallen trees and flying debris as trees are in full leaf.

There is a potential for tidal flooding in coastal areas, especially in Southern and Eastern counties. In addition to this, the storm may also bring localised heavy showers, which in turn may lead to surface flooding in urban locations.

People should be extra vigilant and aware of the risk potentially posed by trees in high wind events. The most widespread and potentially dangerous consequence of high wind is the risk of trees breaking/falling, possibly bringing down live power lines, posing a danger to motorists and pedestrians in the vicinity.

People are advised to prepare for the arrival of the storm including ensuring their mobile phone is fully charged to enable communication.

The public are reminded to monitor Met Eireann forecasts for their area and to be aware of the changing weather conditions and to heed safety warnings. Information is available across social media platforms and other news media sources.

The National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management will continue to liaise with Met Eireann during this developing situation.
Riders either took on a 50km or 100km route which started and finished at Kilcullen firm Murphy Geospatials head office, winding through the roads of Co. Kildare and Co. Laois.

Riders of all abilities took on the challenge, where keen amateurs were helped along the way by a dedicated team of volunteers. Families, friends, and supporters of the riders lined the routes, helping to push everyone over the finish lines. Fears about the adverse weather loomed earlier in the day, but the rain held off, to the relief of all

those involved.

Murphy Geospatial, a specialist in geospatial data, surveys, and digital construction, ran 7 events up until 2019, and have raised over 110,000 for the Foundation to date. This year was the first time the cycle took place since the pandemic.

The Foundation supports Childrens Health Ireland at Crumlin, which is the national centre for a range of specialities including childhood cancers and blood disorders, cystic fibrosis, clinical genetics, and paediatric congenital heart and lung diseases.

The money raised will help provide loving, compassionate care to thousands of patients that visit the hospital every year.

Diarmuid Murphy, Director at Murphy Geospatial said: We want to thank everyone

who took part in our charity cycle event. It was a great day and celebration of the

valuable work the Childrens Health Foundation do across Ireland. We also want to

thank our amazing sponsors and suppliers who helped make the day possible. We

knew that bringing the event back after three years was exciting for everyone,

including for those participating, and those in the local community, and we look

forward to coming back next year.

Nessa OReilly, Head of Strategic Giving, Childrens Health Foundation said: It was

fantastic to witness the success of Murphy Geospatial's cycle event once again this

year. We are immensely grateful to the entire team at Murphy Geospatial for their

outstanding efforts in organising and executing the event flawlessly. The participation

of every cyclist has played a vital role in providing the sick children at Children's

Health Ireland at Crumlin, with the best possible opportunities for a brighter future.

Our heartfelt gratitude goes out to everyone involved in making this event a

remarkable and impactful experience.

Donations are still being accepted to help boost the total raised. You can also

register your interest for the next event.

Visit www.murphygs.com/CCHF2023 find

out more and donate.
RTEs director-general has said there is a danger and a risk of legal action after talks were ended abruptly on its star presenter Ryan Tubridys return to the broadcaster.

Kevin Bakhurst said he had received internal and external legal advice before making the decision and said he hoped it does not come to legal action between RTE and Tubridy.

I dont think it will be a good thing for anybody. Clearly, theres always a risk, but we factored that in and considered that risk, and I still feel convinced it was the right decision for RTE and for audiences, he said.

Asked why the decision had been taken to end the talks, Mr Bakhurst said he did not believe that Tubridy, formerly RTEs highest-paid star, had owned his mistakes in relation to RTEs under-declaration of the presenters salary.

Mr Bakhurst said that it had been agreed that Tubridy would return to his weekly RTE Radio show on a 170,000 euro fee, while also presenting a new podcast series.

It is the latest development in a controversy over RTEs under-declaration of his salary, which has widened out to probes launched into RTEs financial affairs, accounting practices, governance and spending on advertising clients.

The crisis has led to a significant drop-off in people buying TV licences, an obligatory 160-euro fee for people with televisions, which goes towards funding operations at the broadcaster.

Mr Bakhurst said negotiations with Tubridy about returning to his radio show had concluded after stating that trust between the parties had broken down, but added the door is still open for a future return.

Mr Bakhurst said he was particularly disappointed with Tubridys response to a highly anticipated report into the presenters earnings, which the director-general said had questioned corrected figures for the period of 2020 and 2021.

RTE had sought clarification from the presenter after he stated that the Grant Thornton report made it clear that his actual income from the broadcaster in 2020 and 2021 matches what was originally published in February as his earnings for those years.

Speaking to RTEs Morning Ireland programme on Friday, Mr Bakhurst said that to question the report into the under-declaration of Ryan Tubridys fees was counter-productive adding we cant be going around in circles arguing about this.

I do think that everyone has got to accept those reports in full and not in parts and not try and spin their own narratives.

Weve got a version, it fairly reflects overall what he was paid in lieu of those years and to start questioning that is counterproductive and we cant be going round in circles arguing about this.

Weve got to have (the) integrity to own our mistakes, he said.

When asked whether he believed Tubridy was doing that, he replied: No, I dont.

In his third interview with RTE in 12 hours, Mr Bakhurst said Tubridy was shocked and disappointed with the decision not to continue with negotiations, adding he did not think Tubridy saw the decision coming.

He said that RTE staff were strongly divided about whether Tubridy should return, but added that he is a hugely talented broadcaster and he felt it was the right thing to try to bring him back.

However, I feel there was an issue throughout about the need to accept your role in what has been a hugely damaging scandal for everybody involved, and particularly for RTE who need to take the vast majority blame, he said.

But there are others, including Ryan and his team, who should take some of the blame and take some responsibility, he said, adding that he did not believe he was aware of some significant resistance to his return.

He said the interim leadership team was consulted over the decision to end the talks and they agreed.

They realised like I did, it was a tough decision but they also realise weve got a job to do.
It is time to move on from high-profile presenter Ryan Tubridy and towards the seismic changes that need to take place at Irish state broadcaster RTE, the chairwoman of one of the parliamentary groups investigating finances and governance at RTE has said.

It comes after director general Kevin Bakhurst said negotiations for Mr Tubridys return to Radio Ones airwaves had ended after trust had broken down between the two sides.

Niamh Smyth, chairwoman of the Oireachtas Media Committee, said that they would be inviting Mr Bakhurst before the committee as soon as possible, but not to discuss one individual.

She said that six weeks had been spent on one small, small aspect of this entire fiasco.

Hes made a decision, I think well allow him to make the decision that he feels is right for the betterment of RTE, hes said he has to make it based on what hes got to do on the overall picture for RTE, Ms Smyth told the PA news agency.

I will be quite certain that he has bigger fish to fry, if you like, and problems to sort out and resolve for RTE, referring to the financial crisis it faces and the decline in TV licence fee payments in the wake of the controversy.

It is back to this problem of trying to address public confidence, hes come out very strongly in the last 24 hours trying to talk publicly about it, which is what people have asked for, Ms Smyth said.

We will be inviting (Kevin Bakhurst) in to committee at the first available opportunity but, equally, we dont want to come in and go round in circles, that hes had to do over the last six weeks, over one individual.

We want him to come in and him be able to point to these are some of the changes and reforms that Ive put in place. Make sure that theyre demonstrable to the public and to try and restore that public confidence.

Fianna Fail senator Malcolm Byrne, who is also a member of the Media Committee, said that other politicians he had spoken to had been impressed with Mr Bakhursts actions so far.

Its clear theres a new sheriff in town, he said.

Fine Gael TD Alan Dillon, a member of the Media Committee and the Public Accounts Committee, which is also examining issues at RTE, said Mr Bakhursts decision represented a positive step.

He said it demonstrates his strong leadership and commitment to address the broader organisational and cultural issues that have come to light.

I feel like its a positive step, and its important that RTE continue to take action to ensure that its practices are both transparent and accountable, and I feel that this situation also sends out a clear signal that no individual will stand in the way of RTEs recovery effort, Mr Dillon told RTEs Morning Ireland.

He added: In my opinion, I think Ryan Tubridy lacked the humility to acknowledge he did wrong during the process, when examining the under-declared earnings, which, you know, was a fatal mistake.

If he had shown remorse, regret, or accepted the Grant Thornton reports, its likely that we would be in a completely different situation, and that he would be back on the air at RTE.

In relation to his public statements, he was certainly ill-advised in his actions, and he has ultimately paid a price, which is disappointing for himself. Hes a very talented broadcaster and (has) a very loyal fan support.

The Media Committee is to meet on Tuesday to discuss the findings of the second Grant Thornton report, published on Wednesday, into how RTE declared Mr Tubridys earnings between 2017 and 2019.

The report has suggested it is very plausible that fees paid by RTE to Mr Tubridy were underdeclared by 120,000 euro from 2017 to 2019 to keep the payments under the 500,000 euro mark.
A scene of desolation on Front Street in Lahaina, Hawaii, after the fires that destroyed the seaside resort on August 8 and 9. August 16, 2023. PHILIP CHEUNG/NYT-REA

Hawaiians continued to search for the dead in the charred rubble of the town following the fire that ravaged the small historic town of Lahaina on the island of Maui. The death toll had already reached 111 by Thursday, August 17, and only five people have been officially identified. Families, some of whom are in mainland America, are being asked to send DNA samples to help with identification. The count is not yet complete, with about 1,000 people still unaccounted for, but the fire is already the deadliest to hit the US in a century. It led to the evacuation of over 12,000 people, including tourists. By mid-week, at least 1,400 people were in emergency shelters on the island while more than 3,000 people had requested assistance including shelter and drinking water.

Following the inferno that completely destroyed the seaside town on August 8 and 9, melting even steel structures, authorities are surveying the rubble with the assistance of about 20 dogs. "Over the next 10 days, [the number of victims] could double," said Hawaii's Democratic governor, Josh Green, in an interview on CNN on Monday. At this stage, 38% of the disaster zone has been inspected. In 2018, the number of people missing after the deadly fire in the town of Paradise, California, north of Sacramento, had reached 1,300 in the first days following the blaze, due to communication difficulties. In the end, a total of 85 people had died.

US President Joe Biden, who has hardly spoken on the subject, finally decided to travel to Hawaii on August 21. His silence early on has been the subject of fierce criticism. On August 15, the tabloid New York Post published a front-page headline showing both the survivors of the Hawaii earthquake and Joe Biden on his bike, with the headline "Heartless Joe."

Structural drought

An investigation has been ordered by Governor Green to ascertain the causes of the disaster. It will be led by the state's attorney general, Anne Lopez. No official cause has yet been put forward. Reconstructions made by the US press suggest a scenario that combines the effects of global warming, changes in agricultural land use and power company dysfunction, as was the case in Paradise.

On August 7, the tourist season was in full swing on the island of Maui, but Hurricane Dora was raging more than 1,000 kilometers south of the Pacific archipelago. At around 9 am local time, authorities issue an alert on X (formerly Twitter). "Red Flag Warning is in effect for leeward areas of Hawaii, with low humidity, gusty winds and dry fuels creating risk of extreme fire behavior. Use caution with flame outdoors," wrote Hawaii's Emergency Management Agency (EMA). The situation was risky but not considered catastrophic on the small island of Maui, with the alert level at only 2 on a scale of 0 to 4.

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In front of Niamey airport, Niger, August 2, 2023. JONATHAN SARAGO / AFP

Officially, Niger's airspace has been closed since August 6, and will remain so until at least Sunday, August 20. On that date, the junta, which took power on July 26, is expected to announce whether or not it will maintain the ban on overflights. The decision was taken to guard against potential military intervention from neighboring countries, as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) heads of staff have been meeting in Accra, the capital of Ghana, since Thursday to discuss the issue.

But some airlines have been granted waivers by the putschists in recent days, allowing them to continue serving the country's capital. As stated in the memorandum issued by Niger's civil aviation authority, "Niamey airport is closed to all flights, except in exceptional cases authorized in advance by the competent authorities."

A case-by-case approach is evidently possible. Air Algerie continued to operate flights this week on Monday and Friday evenings, while Air Burkina served Niamey on Wednesday afternoon. But these flights are being operated very sparingly. "The planes leave absolutely packed," said an expatriate living in the capital, who prefers to remain anonymous. In addition, seats are expensive and "require special authorization from authorities."

These two companies are the only ones so far to have obtained these authorizations. This special treatment is justified by the junta's desire not to isolate itself completely, given that the Burkinabe regime has shown its support for the putschists, who have no intention of alienating Algiers.

"Algeria can impose itself in negotiations, as it did during the Tuareg rebellions against the Nigerien government," stressed a Niamey official close to the government of Mohamed Bazoum, who is currently sequestered. Beyond its desire to re-engage in the Sahel at a time when French influence is declining, this imposing neighbor has many challenges and interests in common with Niger, in terms of security, economics and migration.

'Evacuation flights'

Barring a declaration of war by ECOWAS, many observers consider the reopening of airspace early next week entirely possible. In this case, "Turkish Airlines and Royal Air Maroc could return as early as August 21, if security conditions are met," a diplomatic source commented, adding that there are also "evacuation flights to Gabon" this Friday. This resumption of traffic would enable the other airlines to readjust their routes and avoid bypassing the country, which lengthens flight times (an extra 40 minutes to Johannesburg), in order to serve certain African cities.

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LIMERICK people have two reasons to be glued to their seats next Monday and Tuesday as two ladies with local connections take part in the Rose of Tralee.

Molli-Ann O'Halloran and Roisin Wiley will take to the stage of the dome in Kerry for the International Festival which will see 32 roses from around the world featuring across both nights, with one being crowned the Rose of Tralee on Tuesday night.

Molli-Ann, the Limerick Rose, who was a student of St Mary's Secondary School and Thomond Community College now studies at the University of Limerick where she is studying voice in the Irish World Academy.

I really want to just raise awareness around ASD and show people with Autism that there are no limits. Look where I am now.

I have been selected for the Limerick Rose and it is absolutely amazing,  she told the Limerick Leader.

Roisin, who was crowned the New York Rose, is connected to Limerick through her parents Eddie Wiley, originally from Kilmallock, and her mum, Majella, originally from Templeglantine.

She always felt a big connection to her heritage as they travel back almost every year to be with their extended family in Limerick.

The Rose of Tralee International Festival will be shown live on RTE One and the RTE Player from 8pm on August 21 and 22 and it will be co-hosted this year by Daithi O Se and Kathryn Thomas.
OVER 100 nursing home residents across the country will show of their singing voices in a national music performance as part of Nursing Homes Week 2023.

The Music Speaks broadcast will take place on Monday, August 21 with over 30 nursing homes taking part.

Noel Smith of Killeline Care Centre, Newcastle West, will sing Never Grow Old.

Traditional Irish musician Peig Ryan, a resident of St Anthonys, Pallasgreen, will perform Peig Ryan's Polka.

About a dozen residents from Milford Care Centre, Castletroy, will sing You Are My Sunshine, led by Karen Kelly on piano.

Beatrice Adam of Roseville House, Ballysimon, will recite a poem titled Music and Us and James Noonan, also a resident of Roseville House, will sing Shannagolden.

The Music Speaks performance will be broadcast to over 400 nursing homes with 25,000 residents across the country and available for the broader public to watch via NHI.ie.

It features renditions of classics such as Danny Boy, Molly Malone, When Irish Eyes Are Smiling, Cant Help Falling in Love, You Are My Sunshine, Que Sera, Sera, intertwined with performances by residents of different instruments, including piano, accordion, bodhran.

The Music Speaks festival will include performances from Mobile Music Machine with Niamh Kavanagh, Sive, Ross Scanlon performs John McCormack, John Spillane.
BRAZEN thugs was how one publican described the thieves who broke in to their premises overnight, in one popular tourist hotspot in rural Limerick.

Three robberies over the last week of commercial premises have sparked fear and garda investigations in Adare.

Two thefts of two individual public houses occurred overnight in the early hours of Thursday, August 17 at approximately 2:30am/2:45am.

What are we going to do, hand the country over to thugs to let them run it?, asked a frustrated David Chawke, a member of the Chawkes family.

Adare is a beautiful village and it is peak time for tourists - now, it looks terrible with the damage that has been done. The fact that they left one premises and went straight to another, thats a brazen thing to do.

These burglaries are the latest in a series of criminal offences in the busy Limerick village, following another report of robbery at a fast-food premises on Tuesday, August 15, two days prior to the double theft.

Gardai investigations are ongoing, as the thief/thieves were successful in taking cash from all three premises on both occasions.

This chain of violent thefts in rural Limerick follows the news that there are 278 guards in Limerick per 100,000 population, which is slightly more gardai than the national average.

Despite these figures, local councillor and chairman of the Limerick Joint Policing Committee, Cllr Adam Teskey condemned the recent crime spree in Adare and said that the gardai being understaffed is part of the problem and that residents and business-owners in the area are now living in fear.

The government is asleep at the wheel, in my opinion. We are heading for a lawless society, Ive been saying this for years, and to date, it has fallen on deaf ears.

This act of crime has to be dealt with and immediately addressed Adare and other towns need a full time Garda presence.

Continuing by outlining the bigger issue of lack of gardai present, Cllr Teskey said: We have a serious situation in rural Ireland where an Garda Siochana is inadequately resourced, between retirements like in Adare, lack of recruitment, and morale of the rank at an all time low.

The minister and commissioner need to address this immediately, as the new proposed rostering is not, in any way, going to address the lack of resources but only add further to an already exhausted force.
A NUMBER of Liverpool fans will be hoping to start a stadium-wide applause in Anfield for the late Savannah Calvert who died following a collision in Limerick.

Fans plan to stage the applause in the 14th minute of Liverpools premier league match against Bournemouth tomorrow, Saturday for the young girl who passed away at the age of 14.

The message is currently being shared around Liverpool supporters social media pages in an attempt to honour Savannah who was a big Liverpool supporter.

Guys, with permission from this beautiful mini reds sister Id like everyone to forward her picture to every red page on the planet in the hope for an applause in the 14th minute at Anfield on Saturday. This is such a sad story and we need to let her be remembered. Beautiful Savannah, the post on social media said.

It is understood that Savannah was walking in the vicinity of Bank Place in the city on Wednesday night, at approximately 11.40pm when the collision occurred.

Savannah was brought to University Hospital Limerick following the collision, where she passed away.

Gardai are continuing to investigate the incident.

"The pedestrian, a female youth in her teens, was taken to University Hospital Limerick with serious injuries, where she has since passed away. No other injuries to persons was reported during the course of this collision," confirmed a garda spokesperson.

Gardai are appealing for any witnesses to the collision to come forward.

Any road users who may have camera footage and who were travelling in the Bank Place area of Limerick city between 11pm and 11.45pm on Wednesday are asked to make this footage available to gardai.
MEMBERS of the public are being urged to heed safety warnings and to exercise caution this Friday night and Saturday morning as Storm Betty passes over most of the country.

The National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management Crisis Management Team, has been liaising with Met Eireann regarding the current forecasted weather period which has seen a number of status orange and status yellow warnings being issued.

Ahead of the arrival of Storm Betty, Met Eireann briefed all local authority severe weather assessment teams, Government departments and all relevant agencies.

High winds, particularly across Southern areas, are being forecast and rainfall levels of 40mm could be experienced across the country with the potential for over 60mm in some areas.

A status orange rain warning for seven counties - Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Wicklow, Cork, Tipperary and Waterford - came into effect at lunchtime this Friday and remains in place until 11pm.

#StormBetty is on the way 



Orange level winds over land and red level storm winds at sea are expected from 21:00



Potential Impacts:

 Falling trees

 Travel disruption.

 Power outages.

 Localised flooding

 Wave overtopping.



Stay Updated https://t.co/Xg3aMJlyuS pic.twitter.com/7x9cfqGeEG  Met Eireann (@MetEireann) August 18, 2023

Met Eireann said there will be heavy rain with thundery downpours, combined with very strong winds on coasts at times.

A separate status orange wind warning for the same counties will be in effect from 9pm until 3am on Saturday while status yellow warnings have been issued for every other county.

Met Eireann says Storm Betty will bring gales with severe gusts of up to 130km/h with the potential for structural damage, falling trees, travel disruption, power outages and localised and coastal flooding.

Local authorities, who are the lead agency for the response to severe weather events have activated their Crisis Management Teams and Local Coordination Groups in preparation for the arrival of Storm Betty. Relevant Departments and Agencies also are preparing to support local authorities responding to Storm Betty.

Key Public Safety and Information Messages

The public are advised to monitor Met Eireann forecasts during this period and to stay away from coastal areas during this period. The Irish Coast Guard are appealing to people to Stay Back, Stay High, Stay Dry.

Met Eireann has issued several weather warnings for land and sea. If you are planning any water based or coastal activities, please check the weather carefully at https://t.co/CZSJf75MEM and consider if the conditions are suitable. Storm Warning in forcehttps://t.co/lYbIrUYNCd pic.twitter.com/Eh7rBz3N2Z  Irish Coast Guard (@IrishCoastGuard) August 18, 2023

Very strong winds are predicted which will make driving conditions hazardous, especially for the more vulnerable road users, e.g., cyclists, pedestrians, motorcyclists and high sided vehicles. Road users should pay particular attention to the risk posed by fallen trees and flying debris as trees are in full leaf.

The storm may also bring localised heavy showers, which in turn may lead to surface flooding in urban locations.

People should be extra vigilant and aware of the risk potentially posed by trees in high wind events. The most widespread and potentially dangerous consequence of high wind is the risk of trees breaking/falling, possibly bringing down live power lines, posing a danger to motorists and pedestrians in the vicinity.

 Orange and Yellow Weather Warnings 

Read travelling advice from the RSA of todays weather warnings for #StormBetty

https://t.co/P8gfEyEyQB#RoadSafety #VisionZero pic.twitter.com/XdZGbng8U3  RSA Ireland (@RSAIreland) August 18, 2023

People are advised to prepare for the arrival of the storm including ensuring their mobile phone is fully charged to enable communication.

The National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management says it will continue to liaise with Met Eireann during this developing situation.
Online learning platform Unacademy has sacked their teaching professional who advocated for electing educated politicians in one of his classes. The educator Karan Sangwan had during one of his lessons urged his students not to elected uneducated people in position of power.

The remark came after Union Home Minister Amit Shah introduced three new bills in the Lok Sabha during the Mosoon session of the parliament. Shah had said that the three bill will replace the British-era criminal laws of IPC, CrPC, and Indian Evidence Act. A video that had gone viral on microblogging platform X, showed Karan Sangwan lamenting that he had to change his notes, and work owing to the three bills. Now, Unacademy sacked this educator and issued a statement saying it does not allow teachers to share their personal opinions in the classroom as it can be disruptive to learning.

Unacademy faces massive backlash

The sacking of Mr Sangwan triggered condemnation from academicians and the general public alike, with "#UninstallUnacademy" trending on X.

The act by Unacademy also was condemned by politicians like Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, and Maharashtra Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi.

Chaturvedi lashed out at the edtech platform for sacking Karan Sangwan describing the move as shame" as his opinion would positively influence young minds".

How does saying vote for literate politicians a biased opinion? Doesnt that opinion positively influence young minds? Shame if merely expressing this view gets you to take someones job, Unacademy."

Dont understand why everyone felt Karan Sangwan, the professors opinion on educated leaders was about Mr. Supreme. Repeat of Kajol level trolling, but here it cost him his job," she added.
Bata India on Friday gave a clarification regarding the company's 'strategic alliances and partnerships' after reports emerged that the footwear maker is in talks with Adidas for a partnership for the Indian market .

Yesterday, CNBC-TV18 reported citing sources that Bata India is in partnership talks with Adidas. The talks are likely to an advanced stage and the final countours of the deals are in the works.

However, in a stock filing on Friday, Bata India said, it continues to explore opportunities for strategic alliance/collaborations/tie-up for the Indian market, and as and when matters arise that require disclosure, the company will fully comply with its obligations under listing regulations.

The Company has had successful long-running strategic tie-ups with various Brands over the years for offering unique propositions to consumers," it added.

Bata India's share were up 1.66% today at 11.45 AM. On Thursday, it closed 5.3% higher at 1,733.75 apiece.

Bata India, which is the flagship of Netherlands-based Bata BN, houses brands like Hush Puppies and Scholl and has more than 2,050 stores across the country, according to its latest annual report.

Adidas, which sells shoes and apparel, already operates standalone stores across India.

Recently, Bata India's Managing Director and CEO Gunjan Shah told PTI news agency that the shoemaker is expanding its presence in both channels - physical stores and online - and expects e-commerce to contribute 20% of its total sales in the next two to three years.

She said that Bata is investing in front-end operations, stores to back-end infra, technology, design, R&D, etc. Besides, Bata is bringing new collections at a rapid pace to compete with its rivals.

"We have the fastest growth from our e-commerce channels from last three years and we see no difference this year and it will keep growing," said Shah adding "Right now it is 10-12% of our turnover and in the next 2-3 years, we would like to see that to grow to 18 to 20%."'s sahre
Chinas real estate giant Evergrande Group has filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States on Thursday.

The company has sought protection under Chapter 15 of the US bankruptcy code, a measure that protects non-US companies undergoing restructurings from creditors that hope to sue them or tie up assets in the United States.

Evergrande's affiliate companies, Tianji Holding and Scenery Journey, also filed for Chapter 15 protection in Manhattan bankruptcy court, AFP reported.

In 2021, Evergrande was struggling with more than $300 billion in liabilities. It had then first defaulted on its bonds, fanning fears of a contagion. It led to a string of defaults at other builders, with major developers failing to complete housing projects, triggering protests and mortgage boycotts from homebuyers.

Evergrande has been working on an offshore debt restructuring agreement for months. It offered creditors a choice to swap their debt into new notes issued by the company and equities in two subsidiaries, Evergrande Property Services Group and Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group, AFP reported.

The latest court documents referenced restructuring proceedings in Hong Kong.

In July, Evergrande reported a net loss of over $113 billion in 2021 and 2022.

China's policymakers have recently sought to bolster the sector by cutting mortgage rates, slashing red tape and offering more loans to developers.

(With inputs from AFP)

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.
Following the acquisition of Credit Suisse, UBS Group AG plans to rebuild its team in India. The bank plans to add at least seven relationship managers to bring its total advisory strength in India to about 25, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter.

As per the report, the bank is hiring two senior executives from rival firms in portfolio management services, which develops India-specific products.

Mint could not independently confirm the details.

UBS exited the private-wealth market in India almost a decade ago.

Young Jin Yee, who joined UBS as co-head of wealth management in Asia-Pacific in June, is scheduled to visit India in September, one of the people said, as reported by Bloomberg.

UBS Group AG revamped another layer of its leadership team naming country heads responsible for UBS Group business conducted in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Among the 21 appointments announced on Thursday were five Credit Suisse bankers, including Carlos Santos Lima who was named country head for Portugal. Majid Al-Gwaiz and Khaled Salah were named country heads for Saudi Arabia and Bahrain respectively.

In June 2023, UBS completed its emergency takeover of embattled local rival Credit Suisse, creating a giant Swiss bank with a balance sheet of $1.6 trillion and greater muscle in wealth management.

This is the start of a new chapter  for UBS, Switzerland as a financial centre and the global financial industry," UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti and Chairman Colm Kelleher had said in an open letter published in Swiss newspapers.

The takeover of Credit Suisse has increased UBSs workforce to about 120,000, but the Swiss bank intends to ultimately reduce that by about 30% as it integrates the two banks, Bloomberg has reported. UBS is due to give further details on the integration plans on August 31 when it reports combined second-quarter earnings.

-With inputs from Bloomberg
New Delhi: The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Friday allowed Go First airlines engine lessor, Engine Lease Finance BV, to inspect their four engines used by the grounded airline.

This decision modified the NCLTs 26 July order, which permitted Go First to use the leased aircraft, and noted that it does not approve the part of the NCLT order that restrained the lessor from inspecting the engines.

The NCLAT instructed the NCLT to promptly dispose of the matter. The court also directed the Resolution Professional (RP) to set a date for inspection within 10 days.

During the hearing, the lawyer representing the engine lessor, Anandh Venkatramani, said though the RP had informed them on 5 June that engines could be inspected he had not allowed the inspection till date.

Venkatramani emphasized the need to inspect the engines, each valued at $15 million, as they are sophisticated and crucial machinery. The engine lessor argued that they should be treated on par with aircraft lessors, who were allowed to inspect their parked aircraft by the Delhi High Court.

In response, senior lawyer Ramji Srinivasan, who appeared on behalf of RP, requested the court not to intervene in the NCLT proceedings, as the final hearing in the case is expected to be completed on 1 September. However, NCLAT rejected Go Firsts request and stated that engine inspection must be allowed.

In July, NCLT permitted Go First to use ground-leased aircraft and resume operations, on the grounds that Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) hadnt deregistered the aircraft, implying their availability for operations.

Meanwhile, the deregistration case filed by the aircraft lessors has been having day-to-day hearings in front of the at the Delhi High Court. The High Courts division bench and the Supreme Court upheld the order allowing lessors to inspect the parked aircraft.

Mint earlier reported how despite approvals from the aviation regulator DGCA, Go First RP Shailendra Ajmera hasnt managed to raise funds due to Delhi High Court order.

The airline has approached CoC for immediate infusion of 100 crore so that it can service its insurance and other statutory obligations.

Go First, earlier owned by Wadia Group, filed for insolvency attributing its financial troubles to Pratt and Whitneys faulty engines. NCLT admitted the case on 10 May, also suspended the board, and imposed a moratorium on the airlines financial obligations.

The moratorium led to several Go First aircraft lessors challenging NCLTs admission of Go Firsts insolvency in NCLAT, arguing that they should be allowed to reclaim their leased aircraft. But NCLAT refused to entertain their plea.

Later, lessors such as Pembroke Aircraft Leasing 11 Ltd, SMBC Aviation Capital Ltd, Accipiter Investments Aircraft 2 Ltd, EOS Aviation 12 (Ireland) Ltd, SFV Aircraft Holdings IRE 9 DAC Ltd, ACG Aircraft Leasing Ireland Ltd, and DAE SY 22 13 Ireland Designated Activity Company, approach the Delhi High Court and sought deregistration of the aircraft leased to Go First.
Enterprise messaging firm Tanla has indicated plans to end a partnership with Vodafone Idea later this year. The two companies had entered into a term sheet in November 2021 for a term of two years. The company explained in a regulatory filing on Friday that the deal to providing secure and encrypted international messaging traffic would not be extended.

This partnership will not continue beyond the initial term. This would have a revenue impact of approximately 17 crore and PAT impact of approximately 9 crore on a full-quarter basis post November 2023," the company said in a regulatory filing.

The cloud communications firm had entered into a term sheet with Vodafone Idea for provision of Platform and Firewall services for International A2P services in November 2021.

ALSO READ: Route Mobile to partner with Vodafone Idea on A2P SMS monetisation through AI

The development came mere hours after Route Mobile said that it had signed an an exclusive partnership with telecom major Vodafone Idea to provide A2P SMS monetisation solutions.

 Route Mobile will provide comprehensive A2P monetization solutions to VIL by deploying its Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) driven analytical firewall solution, an SMS Hub on the VIL network, and aggregating international A2P SMS traffic on the VIL network," the company wrote in a press note.

Meanwhile, debt-ridden Vodafone Idea sought 30 additional days to pay around 1,680 crore for a spectrum auction instalment that was due on August 17. Chief financial officer Murthy GVAS indicated during an earnings call that the company proposed paying the amount with interest.

This came even after one of the promoters has confirmed to the company that it will provide direct or indirect financial support to the extent of 2,000 crore in the event of any fund requirement for meeting impending payment obligations.

(With inputs from agencies)
More than 300 movies and serials have been shot in Jammu and Kashmir after the administration launched the new film policy, said Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Friday. The remarks came while inaugurating the first-day shoot of the upcoming TV serial "Pashmina".

The new film policy was launched by Jammu and Kashmir administration two years ago after consultations with all stakeholders, according to a report published by the news agency PTI.

Jammu and Kashmir is re-emerging as a favorite destination for film shootings. The film-related activities in the union territory will help in generating more employment opportunities for the youth," LG Sinha told media persons.

I feel that the era when Hollywood or Bollywood films were shot here till the '80s, is returning. More than 300 films have been shot here. Today, SAB TV has started the serial Pashmina from here and I wish them the best," he added.

He further said that it will provide employment opportunities to the local youth and will increase the economy. "Pashmina", which will air on SAB TV, is directed by Siddharth Malhotra, PTI reported.

Earlier in May, a three-day Tourism Working Group Meeting of G20 delegates took place in Srinagar that commenced with the side event on "Film Tourism for Economic and Cultural Preservation."

The G20 summit in Srinagar was a step towards projecting Jammu and Kashmir as an international film shooting destination. In the meeting, participants deliberated upon the importance of film tourism and its impact on the economy and culture. They unanimously agreed upon the fact that Jammu and Kashmir is the best place to shoot the films.

They exuded hope that the scenic locations of Union Territory would be explored by the filmmakers in times to come and the G20 meeting would give a fillip to film tourism in the region.

It may be recalled that till 1990, Kashmir was the second home for Bollywood. Way back in 1949 late Raj Kapoor shot some sequences of his film Barsaat in Kashmir, taking its serene beauty to the audience. After that Kashmir became the focus area of many film producers.

In the 1960s and 1970s, several Bollywood films, including 'Kashmir Ki Kali' (1964), 'Jab Jab Phool Khile' (1965), and 'Bobby' (1973), among many others, were shot in Kashmir. The songs of these films remained favorites for generations to come.

However, after insurgency broke out in Jammu and Kashmir in the early nineties the filmmakers were compelled to snap ties with the region due to uncertainty and chaos that prevailed due to the violence orchestrated by Pakistan-sponsored terrorists and the separatists.

Bollywood made a comeback to J-K post-2000 when films like 'Mission Kashmir' and 'Haider' were shot in Kashmir.



(With PTI inputs)
Some of the world's biggest advertisers, from food giant Nestle to consumer goods multinational Unilever, are experimenting with using generative AI software like ChatGPT and DALL-E to cut costs and increase productivity, executives say.

But many companies remain wary of security and copyright risks as well as the dangers of unintended biases baked into the raw information feeding the software, meaning humans will remain part of the process for the foreseeable future.

Generative artificial intelligence (AI), which can be used to produce content based on past data, has become a buzzword over the past year, capturing the public's imagination and sparking interest across many industries.

Marketing teams hope it will result in cheaper, faster and virtually limitless ways to advertise products.

Investment is already ramping up amid expectations AI could forever alter the way advertisers bring products to market, executives at two top consumer goods companies and the world's biggest ad agency told Reuters.

Also read: Artificial intelligence could hurt education at its most basic level

The technology can be used to create seemingly original text, images, and even computer code, based on training, instead of simply categorising or identifying data like other AI.

WPP, the world's biggest advertising agency, is working with consumer goods companies including Nestle and Oreo-maker Mondelez to use generative AI in advertising campaigns, its CEO Mark Read said.

"The savings can be 10 or 20 times," Read said in an interview. "Rather than flying a film crew down to Africa to shoot a commercial, we've created that virtually."

In India, WPP worked with Mondelez on an AI-driven Cadbury campaign with Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, producing ads that 'featured' the actor asking passers-by to shop at 2,000 local stores during Diwali.

Small businesses used a microsite to generate versions of the ads featuring their own store that could be posted on social media and other platforms. Some 130,000 ads were created featuring 2,000 stores which gained 94 million views across YouTube and Facebook, according to WPP.

WPP has "20 young people in their early twenties who are AI apprentices" in London, Read said, and has partnered with the University of Oxford on courses focused on the future of marketing. The "AI for business" diploma offers training in data and AI for client leaders, practitioners, and WPP executives, according to WPP's website.

The team work under AI expert Daniel Hulme who was appointed chief AI officer at WPP two years ago.

"It's much easier to think about all the jobs that will be disrupted than all the jobs that will be created," Read said.

Nestle is also working on ways to use ChatGPT 4.0 and Dall-E 2 to help market its products, Aude Gandon, its Global Chief Marketing Officer and an ex-Google executive, said in an emailed statement.

"The engine is answering campaign briefs with great ideas and inspiration that are fully on brand and on strategy," Gandon said. "The ideas are then further developed by the creative team to ultimately become content that will be produced, for example for our websites."

While lawmakers and philosophers alike still debate whether content produced by generative AI models amounts to anything like human creativity, advertisers have already begun using the technology in their promotional campaigns.

In one instance, Dutch gallery Rijksmuseum's research team went viral online on Sept 8, 2022 after using X-Ray to reveal new objects hidden in Baroque artist Johannes Vermeer's oil painting 'The Milkmaid'.

Less than 24 hours later, WPP used OpenAI's generator system DALL-E 2 to "reveal" its own imagined scenes beyond the borders of the painting's frame in a public YouTube ad for Nestle's La Laitiere -- or Milkmaid -- yogurt and dairy brand.

Through almost 1,000 iterations, the video of Nestle's version of The Milkmaid generated 700,000 euros ($766,010) of "media value" for the Swiss food giant. Media value is the cost of advertising needed to generate the same public exposure.

WPP said the content cost it nothing to make. A spokesperson for the Rijksmuseum said it had an open data policy for non-copyrighted images, meaning anyone can use its images.

Nestle is not alone in its experiments.

Unilever, which owns more than 400 brands including Dove soap and Ben & Jerry's ice cream, has its own generative AI technology that can write product descriptions for retailers' websites and digital commerce sites, it said.

The company's TRESemme haircare brand has used its AI content generator for written content and its automation tool for visual content on Amazon.co.uk.

But Unilever is concerned about copyrights, intellectual property, privacy and data, Aaron Rajan, its global vice president of Go To Market Technology, told Reuters.

The company wants to prevent its technology from reproducing human biases, like racial or gender stereotypes, that might be embedded in the data it processes.

Also read: AI and Machine Learning set to drive India's $8 billion digital advertising industry, say experts

"Ensuring that these models when you type in certain terms are coming back with an unstereotyped view of the world is really critical," he said.

Nestle's Gandon told Reuters the company was "keeping security and privacy top-of-mind."

Consumer companies are using data from retailers like Walmart, Carrefour and Kroger to power their AI tools, said Martin Sorrell, executive chair of advertising group S4 Capital and the founder of WPP.

"You've got two buckets of clients: one that is jumping in fully and the other that is saying 'let's experiment'," he said.

Some consumer goods firms remain wary of security risks or copyright breaches, industry executives say.

"If you want a rule of thumb: consider everything you tell an AI service as if it were a really juicy piece of gossip. Would you want it getting out?," said Ben King, VP of customer trust at Okta, a provider of online authentication services.

"Would you want someone else knowing the same sort of thing about you?," he added. If not, don't tell the AI."
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw inaugurated the country's first 3D-printed post office building in Bengaluru today. The union minister praised the leadership of Prime Minister Modi and also informed about some of the works undertaken by the central government.

Speaking at the event, Vaisnaw said, It's always a pleasure to come to Bangalore (Bengaluru). Somehow this city has so much energy, so much positivity, so much forward-looking character that I really really enjoy coming to Bangalore."

He added, This city presents always a new picture of India. The new picture that you saw today in terms of this 3D-printed post office building that's the spirit of India today. That's the spirit with which our country is progressing today."

The new post office building has been made in around 1000 sq. feet area using 3D Concrete Printing Technology by Larsen and Toubro Construction and the structural design of the post office has been approved by IIT Madras.

According to a press release by Larsen and Toubro Construction in April this year, 3D concrete printing is an emerging technology that has the potential to transform construction practices by quickening the construction process and enhancing the build quality.

The release noted, Using a robotic printer, 3D printing technology deposits concrete layer-by-layer in accordance with the 3D model drawing input. The process requires a delicate balance of concrete properties, including flowability, quick hardening for load-bearing capacity, green concrete status for inter-layer bonding, and sufficient strength to ensure successful printing."

According to a New Indian Express report, the post office building was completed on 3 May but creating drainage and water network took around two months while waiting for the minister's availability took another month.

The report notes that with the launch of the new 3D-printed post office building the existing post office at Halasuru Bazaar is expected to be closed and staff and materials will be relocated to the new building.
2 min read

Bihar journalist of Dainik Jagaran shot dead at his residence in Araria district at 5.30am on Friday. Investigation underway, one arrested, hunt on for the other three assailants.

Bihar News: A journalist of a Hindi daily, Vimal Kumar Yadav, was shot dead at his residence in Araria district of Bihar early on Friday. The assailants had knocked on Yadav's door at 5.30 am in the morning, and when he opened the door, the criminals shot at him, according to media reports. Vimal Kumar Yadav (35), who worked for a Hindi daily Dainik Jagaraan, was killed at his residence in Premnagar village. Yadav died on the spot, where the district police chief and the SHO of Raniganj, the police station concerned, rushed upon hearing the news. According to a report by The Hindu, one arrest has been made and the hunt is on to nab the other three. "The assailants knocked at the gates of Yadav's house around 5.30 am and opened fire as soon as he opened the gates," the Bihar Police tweeted. Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) (JDU) leader Nitish Kumar has also taken stock of the situation and said, "I felt really sad and immediately asked officials concerned to look into the incident". "The matter is being probed and the culprits will be brought to book," asserted CM Nitish Kumar. Bihar's deputy chief minister Tejaswi Yadav also said, The CM has given the instruction related to the incident. BJP is only doing the job of tarnishing the state's image. As per NCRB, Delhi has the worst record for crime including murder, kidnapping, and looting. There the police is under Union Home ministry".

Bihar Police informed that the body has been sent for post mortem and further investigation is underway. "The body has been sent for post-mortem examination. An investigation is underway. Forensic experts and the dog squad have been called in. The deceased was said to be involved in an old dispute with a neighbour. All angles are being probed into," said Ashok Kumar Singh, the Superintendent of Police for Araria.

Opposition accuses government

The Opposition in Bihar took the opportunity to lash out at the Nitish Kumar Government. They claimed that the incident showed "democracy is in danger in Bihar".

"Criminals are roaming freely while innocent citizens, including journalists, and even police personnel are being killed in Bihar," alleged state BJP president Samrat Choudhary.

Former Lok Janshakti Party president Chirag Paswan, who has realigned with the BJP-led NDA, said, "Nitish Kumar and his allies keep shouting that democracy is under attack in Bihar. But they are unable to protect the fourth estate."

Journalists Protest in Bihar

Members of the Bihar Working Journalists Union on Friday staged a protest in Patna over the murder of a journalist in the Araria district. They asked the state government to ensure the safety of journalists across the state.

(With agency inputs)
The Supreme Court of India told the Gujarat government that a state should not be selective in granting remission to their prisoners. This was said in relation to the eleven accused of gangraping Bilkis Bano during the 2002 Gujarat Riots.

The eleven convicts in the 2002 Gujarat communal Riots were granted premature release in 2022. The state had argued that they criminals should be given a chance to reform.

The observation was made in response to a submission by Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the Gujarat government, that law says a chance must be given to even the hardened criminals to reform themselves.

The law officer submitted the crime committed by the 11 convicts was "heinous" but does not fall in the rarest of rare category.

"Therefore, they deserve the chance of reformation. Person may have committed the offence...Something may have gone wrong in a particular moment. Later, he can always realise the consequences.

"This can largely be determined from their conduct in jail, when released on parole, or furlough. All these show they have realised what they had done is wrong. Law is not that everyone should be punished perpetually. Chance should be given for reformation," Raju said.

A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan wanted to know how far the law is being applied to other inmates in jail.

"Why are our jails overcrowded? Why is the the policy of remission being applied selectively?

Commenting on the remission policy of states, the bench said the question is whether the policy of premature release is being implemented uniformly in all cases in respect of all those who have completed 14 years and are eligible for it.

"On the other hand, we have cases like Rudul Shah. Even though there was an acquittal, he continued to remain in prison. Extreme cases, both this side and that side," the bench said.

Rudul Shah was arrested for his wife's murder in 1953 and was in jail for many years, in spite of his acquittal by a sessions court in June 3, 1968. He was finally released in 1982.

The hearing in the case will resume on 24 August.

Besides the petition filed by Bilkis Bano contesting the remission granted to them, several other PILs including one by CPI(M) leader Subhashini Ali, independent journalist Revati Laul and former vice-chancellor of Lucknow University Roop Rekha Verma have challenged the remission. Moitra has also filed a PIL against the remission.

Bilkis Bano was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was gang-raped while fleeing the horror of the communal riots that broke out after the Godhra train-burning incident. Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members killed in the riots.

(With inputs from PTI)
A Delhi to Pune Vistara flight on Thursday received a bomb threat call. The investigation is underway at the Delhi Airport . All passengers along with their luggage have been deboarded safely. The call was received by the GMR call center today.

Passengers are calm and are being taken care of by the cabin crew with drinks and snacks, said a person familiar with the matter. The flight should take off immediately after a go-ahead from authorities," the person said, asking not to be named.

In an official statement, Vistara said that flight UK971 had been delayed due to mandatory security checks", according to PTI reports.

The airport call center received a call around 7:30 am on Friday and the caller said that "three bombs have been kept in flight no. UK971 parked at gate no. 42 and they will explode in an hour". The call got disconnected immediately, official sources said.

However, police said the search operation is over and nothing suspicious has been found. The flight was to depart at 8:30 am. A case is being registered and further investigation is underway."

(This is a developing story. More details are awaited.)
FM Nirmala Sitharmana, one of the most interactive Finance Ministers of India, has turned 64 years old today, August 18. She regularly holds meetings with industry bodies, public sector banks, and businesses over government policies along with financial issues.

Addressing the national CA conference organized by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) in Bhubaneswar on Thursday, FM Sitharaman urged chartered accountants (CAs) in the country to familiarize themselves with new-age concepts and areas of accounting and compliance.

There are newer areas with which chartered accountants will have to familiarize themselves, especially given global developments, to better advise clients on new greenfield areas. Whether its carbon accounting, CSR accounting, auditing, or ESG reporting," she said.

On her 64th birthday, here are some major achievements of FM Sitharaman:

1) Central Goods and Services Tax Amendment Bill: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced the bills on the monsoon session's final day, amidst opposition protests over Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's suspension. Lok Sabha approved amendments to GST laws, proposing a 28% tax on total bet value in online gaming, casinos, and horse race clubs.

2) GST Council Meeting: The Union cabinet cleared the legislative changes needed to implement the GST Councils decision to ensure that 28% GST is paid on the full value of amounts deposited by players for betting on online games, casinos, and horse races. During the monsoon session, FM Sitharaman informed the Rajya Sabha that it is anticipated that the levy of 28% GST on the full face value of bets, as recommended by the 50th GST Council meeting, will result in the increase of revenue from current levels.

3) Focus on flagship schemes: FM Nirmala Sitharaman has earlier said that Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) should continue their focus on flagship schemes of the Central government such as PMJJBY, PMSBY, PM SVANidhi, Atal Pension Yojana, PM Jan Dhan Yojana, PM Mudra Yojana, KCC, KCC Animal Husbandry & Fisheries, and aim for their saturation.

4) New Income Tax Slabs: FM Sitharaman in her budget speech has made key major announcements for hard-working middle-class citizens who pay taxes. These are called new income tax slabs and the Centre has decided to make it a default tax regime. However, the old income tax slabs regime has not been abolished as well. She has proposed to make the exemption limit to 7 lakh under the new tax regime.

5) Amalgamation of Public Sector Banks: FM Sitharmana led the amalgamation of public sector banks that was also approved by the Central government in 2020. The Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India were merged into the Punjab National Bank, Syndicate Bank into Canara Bank, Andhra Bank, and Corporation Bank into Union Bank of India and Allahabad Bank into Indian Bank.
shashank.mattoo@livemint.com

New Delhi

New Delhi and Manila are expected to ink an MoU between their Coast Guards next week, according to persons aware of the matter. The agreement is expected to boost bilateral cooperation in the maritime domain.

It signifies Indias increasing interest in building capacity and partnerships with Indo-Pacific militaries.

The prospect of signing an agreement between the two countries also came up during a meeting between external affairs minister S Jaishankar and Philippine foreign minister Enrique Manalo in June.

Both ministers emphasized the utility of maritime domain awareness, and in this context called for early operationalization of the Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) for the White Shipping Agreement between the Indian Navy (IN) and the Philippines Coast Guard (PCG). They looked forward to the signing of the MoU on Enhanced Maritime Cooperation between the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and Philippines Coast Guard," reads a joint statement released after the meeting between the two ministers.

The agreement also comes as regional militaries have grown fearful of Chinas growing belligerence and military presence in the South China Sea. The Indian Coast Guard has signed agreements with their counterparts in Japan, Korea, Oman, Vietnam and Bangladesh.

The ICG also cooperates with maritime agencies of Sri Lanka, Philippines, Mauritius, Seychelles, Bangladesh USA, Oman, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam. A hotline also exists with the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency to facilitate expeditious sharing of information related to fisherman who transgress into each others water," reads the website of the Indian Coast Guard.

At present, the Philippines is encountering heightened military tension from China regarding the contested Spratly islands in the South China Sea.
A 23-year-old IT professional named Abhimanyu has been arrested in Kochi for allegedly entering a women's washroom wearing a burqa and recording videos of women on his mobile phone. The incident took place on Wednesday at Kochi's Lulu Mall and the alleged offender has now been sent to a 14-day judicial custody.

An officer from Kochi's Kalamassery police station told PTI that the accused, a B.Tech graduate, was booked under Sections 354(C) (voyeurism) and 419 (impersonation) of the IPC and Section 66 E of the Information Technology Act and was later produced before a local court.

Reportedly, the accused works with a leading IT company at Infopark in Kochi. On Wednesday, he went to Lulu Mall wearing a burqa and entered the women's washroom.

The accused put his mobile phone in a small cardboard box and stuck it to the door of the washroom so that the camera could record visuals. He then went outside and stood in front of the main washroom door.

How was the accused apprehended?

Security staff at the mall noticed the suspicious behaviour of the accused and quickly informed the police, who arrived on the scene and questioned him. It was later revealed through police interrogation that the accused was disguising himself as a woman in order to record visuals of women in the washroom, and the burqa and his mobile phone were subsequently confiscated and taken into custody.

Police say they are investigating whether the suspect has committed similar acts in the past.
Despite the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, India has continued to supply humanitarian relief to the country. Mint explains why.
The US has granted approval for F-16 fighter jets to be sent to Ukraine from Denmark and the Netherlands.

As reported by Reuters, these jets are intended to bolster Ukraine's defense against Russian forces, and the deployment will take place following the completion of pilot training, according to a US official's statement on Thursday.

Ukraine has been proactively pursuing US-made F-16 fighter jets to bolster its capacity in responding to Russia's aerial supremacy.

Washington has officially guaranteed Denmark and the Netherlands that it will accelerate the process of approving requisite third-party transfer requests for F-16s destined for Ukraine. This will streamline the delivery of F-16s to Ukraine once pilot training is completed.

Reuters further noted that Denmark and the Netherlands, the two countries leading the training coalition, had recently asked for those assurances.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken sent letters to his Danish and Dutch counterparts assuring them that the requests would be approved, the official said.

Also Read: US to deploy F-16 fighter jets to safeguard ships from Iranian seizures in middle east

"I am writing to express the United States full support for both the transfer of F-16 fighter aircraft to Ukraine and for the training of Ukrainian pilots by qualified F-16 instructors," Blinken said in a letter to the two officials, a copy of which was seen by Reuters.

Blinken said, "It remains critical that Ukraine is able to defend itself against ongoing Russian aggression and violation of its sovereignty."

He said the approval of the third party requests would allow Ukraine to take "full advantage of its new capabilities as soon as the first set of pilots complete their training."

US President Joe Biden had endorsed training programs for Ukrainian pilots on F-16s in May but no timing for the supply of warplanes had been given so far. The F-16 is made by Lockheed Martin.

(With inputs from Reuters)
In Manipur, armed miscreants have fatally shot three members of the Kuki community Ukhrul district on Friday morning, as confirmed by officials reported Hindustan Times.

The incident occurred around 4:30 am at Thouwai Kuki, a village inhabited by Kuki tribals, located approximately 47 km from Ukhrul town according to police. The district's headquarters are dominated by Tangkhuls, a Naga tribe.

According to police, a group of armed miscreants approached the village from the eastern hills and opened fire at village guards. As a result, three individuals lost their lives, with no reports of injuries, stated N Vashum, superintendent of police (SP) for Ukhrul. According to our information, a group of armed miscreants approached the village from the hills located to the east of the village and started firing at village guards." said N Vashum, superintendent of police (SP), Ukhrul. He added, " Three people from the village have been killed in the incident. There are no reports of any injuries."

Security measures have been strengthened following the incident, and joint operations involving state police and the Indian Army are in progress to apprehend those responsible, the SP said.

Also read: Manipur: Landslides block highway, at least 500 trucks stranded

On August 5, separate shooting incidents between the Meiteis and Kukis communities in Bishnupur and Churachandpur districts led to the tragic deaths of five individuals - three Meiteis and two Kukis.

Also read: Independence Day 2023: Nation is with Manipur, says PM Modi at Red Fort

Tensions ignited in Manipur on May 3 when Kuki groups protested against proposed modifications to the state's reservation matrix, which aimed to grant scheduled tribe (ST) status to the Meitei community. The clashes have resulted in the loss of more than 160 lives and the displacement of around 50,000 individuals. Meiteis constitute nearly 53 percent of the state's population, while Kukis make up around 16 percent.The violence escalated rapidly, resulting in the displacement of thousands who sought refuge from burning homes and neighbourhoods in jungles, often across state borders reported Hindustan Times.
Unacademy has terminated the services of a teacher named Karan Sangwan, who encouraged students to support educated candidates through their votes.

Also read: Unacademy educator suggests to vote for politicians 'jo padha likha ho, stirs controversy

The edtech company justified this decision by stating that the classroom is not an appropriate platform for sharing personal opinions and perspectives. Co-founder of Unacademy, Roman Saini, cited a breach of contract as the reason for Sangwan's dismissal, leading to their parting ways.

Also read: Unacademy trims perks, pay to boost profitability

Saini conveyed in a tweet that Unacademy is dedicated to providing high-quality education and maintains a strict Code of Conduct for its educators to ensure unbiased knowledge dissemination. Saini highlighted that learners' interests are their priority and emphasised that the classroom is not a platform for sharing personal opinions that could potentially influence students wrongly. He stated that Sangwan's departure was due to his breach of the Code of Conduct.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Thursday called entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy a promising candidate for the 2024 US presidential election. He responded to a clip of Ramaswamy, shared on X (formerly Twitter), on Tucker Carlsons online show.

He is a very promising candidate," said Elon Musk in a post on X. His remarks came after Tucker Carlson posted Ramaswamy's video and said, Vivek Ramaswamy is the youngest Republican presidential candidate ever. He's worth listening to."

Vivek Ramaswamy is edging closer to the Florida governor for the number two spot in the Republican presidential field. However, Ron DeSantiss allies consider him as vulnerable for his ties to China and willingness to join a trans-Pacific trade deal, Bloomberg reported.

The line of attack was outlined as part of a trove of documents on the GOP contenders DeSantis stands to face at the first Republican presidential primary debate scheduled to be held in Milwaukee on August 23.

Notably, there werent any specific documents listed for Donald Trump, the Republican frontrunner and former president, who has publicly toyed with skipping the first debate, citing his wide polling lead over DeSantis and the rest of the field, as per Bloomberg reports.

The documents say that as CEO of Roivant Sciences in 2018, Ramaswamy partnered with a Chinese state-owned firm to start another company, Sinovant Sciences, and that he keynoted a conference in China.

The documents also target Ramaswamys stances on abortion and drug policy and link him to Democratic financier George Soros, a frequent target for Republicans. Ramaswamy received a Soros fellowship for new Americans over a decade ago.

Vivek Ramaswamy, a tech entrepreneur and son of Indian immigrants, entered the US Republican presidential nomination race as an outsider but has now surged to the third position.

A Reuters-Ipsos poll revealed that he enjoys the support of 9% of Republican leaders, while former President Donald Trump leads with a commanding 47%, followed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at 19%.

Ramaswamy's campaign focuses on innovative drug development and healthcare transformation, vowing to restore meritocracy and reduce reliance on China.

Impressively, he raised $7.7 million in the second quarter, with $5.4 million from his personal funds. Since launching his bid, he has invested a total of $16 million.

(With inputs from agencies)
The Chinese embassy praised the Indian Coast Guard for effectively executing a medical rescue operation for a Chinese citizen from a research vessel named MV Dong Fang Kan Tan No 2, which was flying the flag of Panama. As reported by ANI, the operation took place approximately 200 kilometres away from the Mumbai coast in the Arabian Sea during the night between August 16 and 17. Despite adverse weather circumstances and the darkness of the night, the evacuation was successfully conducted. Our heartful appreciation to @IndiaCoastGuard for the timely and professional medical evacuation of a Chinese citizen in the Arabian Sea off Mumbai," tweeted the Chinese Embassy in India. Also Read: India, China agree to resolve border issues in expeditious manner after 2-day meet The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Mumbai on Wednesday received information that a crew member  Yin Weigyang  onboard the research vessel had a cardiac attack and required urgent medical attention. Communication was established immediately with the vessel, which was en route from China to the UAE necessary telemedicine advice was provided promptly.

"In a daring operation, @IndiaCoastGuard #ALH MK-III evacuates a #Chinese national from MV Dong Fang Kan Tan No 2 around 200 Km mid-sea amidst challenging night conditions & extreme weather. Patient was reported chest pain &cardiac arrest symptoms," Indian Coast Guard said on the X (formerly known as Twitter).

Utilizing the most effective choices for a prompt evacuation and subsequent medical care, the individual was lifted by the CG ALH MK-III helicopter and received initial medical assistance. Afterwards, they were handed over to the ship's medical team for continued treatment.

Also Read: Amid row with China, India ramping up infrastructure. A look at these efforts

The rapid action performed by the CG ALH and CGAS Daman during the nighttime effectively rescued the life of an international person at sea. This incident strongly reinforces the Indian Coast Guard's dedication to their guiding principle of "We Protect."

(With insights from ANI)
Indian in its partnership with United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP) has continued supply of wheat to crisis-hit Afghanistan, along with materials for drug rehabilitation camps run by UN in the Asian nations, according to a report by Hindustan Times .

The report cited people familiar with the developments and said that despite the daily deteriorating humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, India has continued to supple wheat to the Taliban-ruled country.

The assistance, which includes medical and food aid has been provided in view of the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Afghanistan and urgent appeals by UN agencies, noted HT.

India has reportedly supplied a total of 47,500 metric tonnes of wheat as assistance to UNWFP centres across Afghanistan.

According to the media outlet report, India now sends wheat to Afghanistan via Irans Chabahar port. Earlier, the wheat was transported via trucks through the Wagah-Attari land border crossing and then through Pakistan.

The Indian side partnered with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) in Afghanistan to provide humanitarian assistance for the welfare of Afghan drug users, especially women, the report, cited people familair with the matter.

India supplied 1,100 units of female hygiene kits, blankets and medical assistance to UNODC in Kabul. India has also supplied a range of medical aid, including nearly 200 tonnes of essential medicines, Covid-19 vaccines, anti-tuberculosis medicines and medical and surgical items such as paediatric stethoscopes, mobile sphygmomanometers with paediatric blood pressure cuffs, infusion pumps, drip chamber sets, and nylon sutures, reads the report.

Indian government has allocated 200 crore for providing assistance to Afghanistan in the 2023-24 budget.

On Friday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, where the two leaders reiterated their commitment to further strengthen bilateral cooperation, including to realise the full potential of Chabahar Port as a connectivity hub.

Earlier in July, PM Modi chaired the SCO Summit virtually and said Iran is going to join as a new member of the organization and also welcomed the signing of the Memorandum of Obligation for the SCO membership of Belarus.

At the SCO Summit, PM Modi said that SCO members can work towards maximizing the utilization of the Chabahar Port following Iran's membership of the SCO.

(With agency inputs)
Kate Middleton, in a stunning and unexpected move, left Roman Kemp surprised with a "respectful" gesture during a recent visit. The 41-year-old Royal went without shoes while paying a visit to the family of the UK radio host, renowned for his documentary shedding light on mental health challenges among young men in the country.

Kemp, who received a call from the Duchess of Cambridge after the airing of his impactful documentary titled "Our Silent Emergency", expressed his amazement at the unexpected encounter. It was an honour but one of the weirdest things," he told PEOPLE.

The Duchess sat comfortably with Kemp's family, even sharing the kitchen counter with their furry companions. The most striking detail that caught everyone's attention, however, was her bare feet, a rare sight for royalty. Kate's decision to remove her shoes as a sign of respect upon entering their home left a lasting impression, as it's not every day that one witnesses a member of the Royal Family without their shoes.

Is Kate Middleton the first Royal to go barefoot?

This isn't the first time a Royal has made such a surprising choice. In fact, Kate Middleton has ventured down the no-shoes route before. During her visit to the Gandhi Smriti Museum in India back in 2016, she chose to go shoeless, embracing the local customs. Her respectful demeanour was once again on display during her visit to a mosque in Pakistan in 2019, when she removed her shoes.

Back in 2018, both Prince Harry and Meghan Markle ditched their shoes to feel the sands of Sydney's Bondi Beach under their feet. Kate Middleton, during her visit to Sydneys Manly Beach in 2014, chose to keep her wedges on, displaying a different approach.
National Couple's Day 2023 is a special occasion that is celebrated with enthusiasm across the world. National Couple's Day is celebrated annually in the US on August 18. It's a day dedicated to honouring the love and lasting bond shared by couples.

History

The origins of National Couple's Day can be traced back to the year 2010. Initially established by a company in the US as a means to promote its products, the day gradually gained popularity and evolved into a celebration of relationship goals. Observed annually on August 18, National Couple's Day has become a global event marked by joyful celebrations.

Also read: Chandrayaan-3: Critical day for Indian spacecraft today. Here's what will happen

Significance

National Couple's Day is dedicated to honouring and celebrating couples in romantic relationships. It's an opportunity to acknowledge the love, companionship, and partnership that couples share. This celebration encourages couples to spend quality time together, express their affection, and strengthen their emotional bonds.

As marriages progress over time, couples might find themselves placing less focus on each other while prioritising other family members. However, it is crucial to continuously nurture the bond by sharing feelings of love and care. Even after years of marriage, maintaining the spark is essential.

Celebration

On National Couple's Day, people plan various romantic activities with their partners. This could involve a cozy dinner at a restaurant, a picnic in the park, a relaxing movie night at home, or even an exciting shared adventure. Thoughtful gifts that symbolize love and appreciation are exchanged, and some may take the time to write heartfelt love letters expressing their feelings. Many couples might opt to cook a special meal together at home, while others may seize the opportunity for a weekend getaway or short vacation, creating new memories in a different setting.

Also read: Google Doodle celebrates Tujuhbelasan, Indonesia's Independence Day

Wishes and quotes

"Love is not finding someone to live with; it's finding someone you can't imagine living without."

"Love is not about how many days, months, or years you have been together. Love is about how much you love each other every single day."

"In your smile, I see something more beautiful than the stars."  Beth Revis

"In all the world, there is no heart for me like yours. In all the world, there is no love for you like mine."  Maya Angelou

"A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person."  Mignon McLaughlin

"The best thing to hold onto in life is each other."  Audrey Hepburn

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength while loving someone deeply gives you courage."  Lao Tzu

"Grow old with me, the best is yet to be."  Robert Browning

"To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides."  David Viscott

"The best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds."  Nicholas Sparks
Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) chairman Ghulam Nabi Azad has sparked a controversy by saying that a majority of Indian Muslims have converted from Hinduism, reported news agency PTI . Explaining his statement, he said that an example of this can be found in the Kashmir Valley where a majority of Kashmiri Pandits converted to Islam.

"Some BJP leader said some (Muslims) have come from outside and some have not. Nobody has come from outside or inside. Islam came to existence just 1,500 years ago. Hindu religion is very old. Around 10-20 of them (Muslims) must have come from outside, some were there in the Mughal army," Azad said as reported by PTI.

"All other Muslims converted from Hinduism in India. An example of this can be found in Kashmir. Who were the Muslims in Kashmir 600 years ago? All were Kashmiri Pandits. They converted to Islam. All are born into this religion," the former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir said.

The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister was addressing a gathering in the Doda district.

Taking a dig at the use of religion for votes, Azad said, "Whoever takes refuge in religion in politics is weak. Religion should not be used as a vote bank in politics. Voting should not be based on Hindu and Muslim names."

However, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti took a dig at Azad and said, I dont know how far back he went (in time) and what knowledge he has about his ancestors. I would advise him to go way back and maybe he will find some apes there in the ancestors."
In a major update for Chandrayaan-3 , the Vikram lander module of the spacecraft successfully separated from the propulsion module on Thursday, ISRO informed via X (formerly Twitter)

Also Read: Chandrayaan 3 LIVE Updates

Here are the top 10 frequently asked questions about the Chandrayaan-3.

1) What's next for Chandrayaan-3?

Former ISRO scientist and Padma Shri awardee Mylswamy Annadurai while speaking to ANI said, So now the important and final thing is softly and securely landing on the moon. For that, the lander has to separate from the propulsion module. So as of now, all the modules of the propulsion system have made its functionalities and it has done its job,"

"Now Vikram has to take its own course of action. Further, it has to separate. So even after separating, then the major event comes. A major event is the 4800 Newton thrusters. They have to fire to take it to the lower orbit. That will also be done in two steps and ensuring that all the systems are working properly these two steps will go down, put a 100-kilometre orbit. Then from 100 go to the 30-kilometer orbit... that's very very vital. But when it's going very closer, closer to the Earth," he added

2) When will Chandrayaan-3 land on the moon's surface?

The Lander Module which includes the Vikram lander and rover Pragyan is now ready to be lowered to an orbit that takes it closer to the lunar surface and the soft landing on the Moon's south pole is scheduled for 5:47 pm on Wednesday.

3) Why is the Chandrayaan-3 important?

Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2 and its objectives are to demonstrate safe and soft landing on the lunar surface, roving on the moon, and to conduct in-situ scientific experiments.

4) What is special about the Moon's south pole?

Rough terrain on the Moon makes a landing difficult, but the South Pole is a prized destination because scientists believe that it could hold significant quantities of ice which could be used to extract fuel and oxygen, as well as for drinking water.

5) Who are the other countries that have achieved soft landing on the Moon?

India will become only the fourth country after the US, China and the former Soviet Union to master soft landing on the lunar surface if Chandrayaan-3 successfully completes its mission.

6) When was the Chandrayaan-3 launched?

The Chandrayaan-3 mission was launched more than a month ago on July 14 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradeshs Sriharikota.

7) Can Russia beat India to the punch?

Russia had launched its first lunar landing spacecraft after 47 years on 11 August in a bid to make a soft landing on the moon's south pole. As per PTI, Luna-25 is expected to land between 21-23 August and Chandrayaan-3 is expected to land between 23-24 August.

Luna-25 entered the moon's orbit on Wednesday at 11:57 am, Reuters reported quoting Russia's Roskosmos.

8) Who is the Chandryaan-3 lander and rover named after?

The term Vikram means valour in Sanskrit while Pragyan means wisdom. However, the Chandrayaan-3's lander is named after Vikram Sarabhai, who is seen as the father of India's space programme.

9) Why did the Chandrayaan-2 mission fail?

ISRO's Chandrayaan-2 Mission failed in its lunar phase because its lander 'Vikram' crashed into the surface of the moon following anomalies in the braking system in the lander while attempting a soft landing on September 7, 2019.

10) What has ISRO learned from failure of Chandrayaan-2?

The significance of the Chandrayaan-3 mission, unlike its unsuccessful predecessor, is that the Propulsion Module has a payload -- SHAPE -- Spectro- polarimetry of HAbitable Planet Earth to study Earth from lunar orbit.

ISRO says the SHAPE is an experimental payload to study the spectro-polarimetric signatures of the Earth in the near-infrared wavelength range.
Paris has long been at the heart of the history of flight. It is where the Montgolfier brothers ascended in the first hot-air balloon in 1783, and where Charles Lindbergh completed the first solo transatlantic aeroplane journey in 1927. Next year, if all goes to plan, Paris will be the site of another industry first when Volocopter, a German maker of electric aircraft, launches a flying-taxi service during the Olympic Games. At the Paris Airshow in June the company, and some of its rivals, paraded a new generation of battery-powered flying machines designed for urban transport.

The electrification of aviation has often been written off as a pipe dream, with batteries presumed too heavy a substitute for hydrocarbon fuel in an airborne vehicle. For longer journeys, such as Charles Lindberghs across the Atlantic, that may well be true. Yet upstarts like Volocopter are betting that electrification can unlock a boom in demand for clean and quick aerial journeys over shorter distances.

The main form of flying taxi under development, called an electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, looks somewhat like a super-sized drone, carrying between one and four passengers, plus a pilot. Powered by batteries, they are both quiet enough to quell complaints in crowded cities, and fast: capable of up to 300kph, enough to comfortably outpace a car, especially one stuck in traffic. Indeed, optimists hope the absence of traffic in the sky will also make eVTOLs well-suited to autonomous operation. They could prove handy for transporting goods, too.

That vision has inspired giddy predictions. Morgan Stanley, an investment bank, reckons global spending on eVTOLs could hit $1trn by 2040. Volocopter is not the only player staking out the terrain. According to the Vertical Flight Society, a non-profit, more than 400 contenders have developed eVTOL designs. Joby, a Silicon Valley startup, has already raised $2bn from investors. Archer, another, hopes to have hundreds or thousands" of its craft flying by the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Despite the enthusiasm, challenges remain. One is technical certification, which is turning out to be a lengthy process as aviation regulators grapple with an entirely new form of aircraft. Some manufacturers, such as Volocopter and EHang, a Chinese firm, are close to having machines in service. In April Volocopter opened an assembly plant in Germany. But others are further off. Late last year Joby was forced to push back its launch by a year to 2025 thanks to, among other things, regulatory delays. Many have even longer to go.

The bigger question is whether the business of flying taxis will be viable. eVTOLs currently range in price from $1m to $4m. Although their cost may come down as the industry develops, they are likely to remain expensive pieces of machinery. Brian Yutko of Wisk, a maker backed by Boeing, says that flying-taxi rides will be accessible to the masses". Joby promises that its fares will be comparable to catching a taxi. Yet some studies suggest the cost could end up as high as $7 per km, many times a regular taxi fare. Even without a pilot, flying taxis may remain a convenience affordable only to a lucky few.

An alternative opportunity for electrification lies with small fixed-wing planes designed to transport a few dozen passengers over distances of a few hundred kilometresfor instance, between nearby cities. Heart Aerospace, a Swedish firm, plans to have a 30-seater plane with an all-electric range of 200km in the air by 2028. In September last year Eviation, an Israeli company, successfully tested a nine-seater electric plane with a range of 400km.

According to McKinsey, a consultancy, air travel accounts for just 8% of journeys between 150km and 800km in America. In Europe it is only 4%. Most such journeys are taken by car, even in Europe, where buses and trains are more readily available. That creates a big opportunity for environmentally friendly short-haul flights, especially given that 90% of Americas population and 50% of Europes live within a 30-minute drive of a regional airport. Expect plenty more experiments with electric aircraft in the years ahead.

To stay on top of the biggest stories in business and technology, sign up to the Bottom Line, our weekly subscriber-only newsletter.

 2023, The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on www.economist.com
They hiss, they slither and unfortunately for humans and unsuspecting prey, they bite. Venomous snakes bite about 5.4 million people every year, resulting in between 81,000 and 138,000 deaths, according to the World Health Organization .

Their secret weapon is of course venom, which contains toxic substances produced in a modified salivary gland that the animal then injects into prey using their fangs.

Venom first evolved around 60 million years ago, after large constrictors like boa constrictors and pythons diverged from other snakes, Agneesh Barua, an evolutionary geneticist at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, told Live Science in an email.

These non-venomous ancestors likely already made mildly toxic proteins in their secretory glands, which gave them a huge advantage when capturing prey.

Agneesh Barua, PhD Social Links Navigation Evolutionary geneticist, University of Lausanne Agneesh Barua is an evolutionary geneticist and Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) Long-Term Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. He earned a PhD from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST). His dissertation research focused on the evolution of complex traits. His past research focused on the evolution of snake venom.

"Through millions of years, more and more toxins started to get incorporated into the venom," Barua said.

Despite the wide-array of snakes, venoms are mostly composed of four types of compounds: phospholipases, serine proteases, metalloproteases, and three-finger toxins, Barua said. Each type has unique physiological effects. For instance, three-finger toxins prevent nerve transmission, while phospholipases and metalloproteases may digest tissue and cause swelling, tissue death and massive bleeding, he added.

And any given snake's venom may contain multiple compounds, each with their own deadly effects. Here are 10 snakes whose venom can take out humans.

10. Black mamba

Black mambas are Africa's deadliest snakes. (Image credit: iStock / Getty Images Plus)

Black mambas are some of the scariest snakes on the planet. Named for the dark, inky color inside of their mouths, black mambas are actually brownish in color. They average around 8 feet (2.5 meters) in length.Fast and deadly, these blue-tinged snakes are thought to be responsible for up to 20,000 deaths a year, though precise numbers are hard to come by.

Is a black mamba bite always fatal? Africa's deadliest snake, the black mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis) can kill a person with just two drops of venom, Live Science reported. Their venom belongs to the class of three-finger toxins, meaning they kill by preventing nerve cells from working properly. The snakes are born with two to three drops of venom in each fang, so they are lethal biters right from the get-go. By adulthood, they can store up to 20 drops in each of their fangs, according to Kruger National Park. Without treatment, a bite from this African snake is just about always lethal. In the case of the black mamba, the venom prevents transmission at the junction between nerve cells and muscle cells, causing paralysis. The toxin may also have a direct effect on heart cells, causing cardiac arrest. That was the case for a South African man who got bitten by a black mamba on his index finger, Ryan Blumenthal, of the University of Pretoria, reported in The Conversation. By the time he got to the hospital, within 20 minutes, he was already in cardiac arrest. Even though doctors treated him with antivenom, the man ended up dying days later, Blumenthal said. Blumenthal estimates it is responsible for the largest number of snake-related deaths in southern Africa.

How fast is a black mamba? Black mambas are fast. They can move at around 12 mph (19 km/h).

Where do black mambas live? Black mambas live in large swaths of sub-Saharan Africa, in the following countries: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Mozambique, Eswatini, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and Angola, according to the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI). They live in savannas, open woodlands, and rocky hills, according to SANBI. They like to sleep in hollow trees, abandoned termite mounds and in the cracks between rocks, according to SANBI.

9. Fer-de-lance

Fer-de-lances are pit vipers from Central and South America. (Image credit: Paul Franklin)

A bite from a fer-de-lance (Bothrops asper) can turn a person's body tissue black as it begins to die, according to a 1984 paper published in the journal Toxicon . These pit vipers, which live in Central and South America and are between 3.9 and 8.2 feet (1.2 and 2.5 m) long and weigh up to 13 pounds (6 kg), are responsible for about half of all snakebite venom poisonings in Central America, according to a 2001 study published in the journal Toxicon .

Viper venom belongs to a class of proteins called metalloproteases. These can digest tissue, causing tissue to die (necrosis), swell (edema) or bleed, Barua said.

Fer-de-lance venom is also an anticoagulant (a substance that hinders blood clotting), a bite from this snake can cause a person to hemorrhage.

And if that didn't scare you off, consider this: A female can give birth to 90 fierce offspring, according to the University of Costa Rica .

8. Boomslang

Boomslang snake venom causes victims to bleed internally. (Image credit: Alex Hibbert via Getty Images)

About 24 hours after being bitten on the thumb by a juvenile boomslang (also called a South African green tree snake), herpetologist Karl Patterson Schmidt died from internal bleeding from his eyes, lungs, kidneys, heart and brain, researchers reported in 2017 in the journal Biochimica et Biophysica Acta . The snake had been sent to Schmidt at The Field Museum in Chicago for identification. Like others in the field at the time (1890), Schmidt believed that rear-fanged snakes like the boomslang (Dispholidus typus) couldn't produce a venom dose big enough to be fatal to humans. They were wrong.

The boomslang, which can be found throughout Africa but lives primarily in Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, is one of the most venomous of the so-called rear-fanged snakes, according to the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology . Such snakes can fold their fangs back into their mouths when not in use. As in other deadly snakes, this one has hemotoxic venom that causes their victims to bleed out internally and externally, the Museum reported.

With an egg-shaped head, oversized eyes and a bright-green patterned body, the boomslang is quite the looker. When threatened, the snake will inflate its neck to twice its size and expose a brightly colored flap of skin between its scales, according to the S ANBI . Death from a boomslang bite can be gruesome. As Scientific American describes it : "Victims suffer extensive muscle and brain hemorrhaging, and on top of that, blood will start seeping out of every possible exit, including the gums and nostrils, and even the tiniest of cuts. Blood will also start passing through the body via the victim's stools, urine, saliva, and vomit until they die." Luckily, there is antivenom for the boomslang if a victim can get it in time.

7. Eastern tiger snake

Eastern tiger snakes kill an average of one human a year. (Image credit: Shutterstock)

Native to the mountains and grasslands of southeast Australia, the eastern tiger snake (Notechis scutatus) is named for the yellow and black bands on its body, though not all populations sport that pattern, according to the Australian Museum . Its potent venom can cause poisoning in humans in just 15 minutes after a bite and is responsible for at least one death a year on average, the University of Adelaide reported .

6. Russell's viper

Russell's vipers are considered among the deadliest of the true vipers. (Image credit: Rithwik photography via Getty Images)

What is the deadliest snake in the world? It's hard to get accurate estimates, as many people who are bitten by snakes live in regions with poor medical care and never report their encounters with the deadly reptiles. But around 58,000 deaths in India are attributed to snake bites every year, and the Russell's viper (Daboia russelii) is responsible for the majority of these mortalities, according to research published March 25, 2021, in the journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. This species is considered one of the most deadly of the true vipers, researchers reported in 2021 in the journal Toxins.

In Sri Lanka, where this nocturnal viper likes to rest in paddy fields, they cause high mortality among paddy farmers during harvest time. The snake's venom can lead to an awful smorgasbord of symptoms: acute kidney failure, severe bleeding and multi-organ damage, researchers reported in the Handbook of Clinical Neurology in 2014 . Some components of the venom related to coagulation can also lead to acute strokes, and in rare cases, symptoms similar to Sheehan's syndrome in which the pituitary gland stops producing certain hormones. Victims typically die from renal failure, according to the handbook.

5. Saw-scaled viper

Saw-scaled vipers start "sizzling" by rubbing together special serrated scales when threatened. (Image credit: kristianbell via Getty Images)

The saw-scaled viper (Echis carinatus) is the smallest member of the "Big Four" in India  along with Russell's viper, the common krait (Bungarus caeruleus) and the Indian cobra (Naja naja)  thought to be responsible for the most bites and related deaths in the country. Along with their fellow vipers, the Russel's viper and the pit viper, these nondescript little reptiles may be responsible for about 58,000 deaths a year in India alone.

Rather than the stereotypical "hissing" sound attributed to snakes, this viper starts "sizzling" by rubbing together special serrated scales when threatened, according to a journal statement .

Once bitten by this viper, a person will have localized swelling and pain in the area, followed by potential hemorrhage. Since the venom messes with a person's ability to clot blood, it can lead to internal bleeding and ultimately acute kidney failure, according to the educational society Understanding Animal Research . Hydration and antivenom (there are nine types of antivenom for this snake) should be administered within hours of the bite for a person to survive, Understanding Animal Research said.

4. Banded krait

Banded krait venom stop victims' lungs from working effectively. (Image credit: Arun Roisri via Getty Images)

The banded krait (Bungarus fasciatus) is a slow mover during the day and is much more likely to bite after dark. The snake's venom can paralyze muscles and prevent the diaphragm from moving, according to a 2016 study published in the journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases . This stops air from entering the lungs, effectively resulting in suffocation.

3. King cobra

King cobras are the longest venomous snakes in the world. (Image credit: Pierre von Rahmel via Getty Images)

The king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) is the world's longest venomous snake, measuring up to 18 feet (5.4 m), according to the Natural History Museum in London. The snake's impressive eyesight allows it to spot a moving person from nearly 330 feet (100 m) away, according to the Smithsonian Institution . When threatened, a king cobra will use special ribs and muscles in its neck to flare out its "hood" or the skin around its head; these snakes can also lift their heads off the ground about a third of their body length, according to the San Diego Zoo .

Its claim to fame is not so much the potency of its venom, but rather the amount injected into victims: Each bite delivers about 7 milliliters (about 0.24 fluid ounces) of venom, and the snake tends to attack with three or four bites in quick succession, the Fresno Zoo reported . Even a single bite can kill a human in 15 minutes and an adult elephant in just a few hours, Sean Carroll, molecular biologist at the University of Maryland, wrote in The New York Times .

2. Coastal taipan

Coastal taipans are incredibly fast and can jump into the air fangs-first to attack. (Image credit: Henry Cook via Getty Images)

You could be bitten multiple times before becoming aware of the coastal taipan (Oxyuranus scutellatus), thanks to its incredible speed, according to the Australian Museum . When threatened, this snake, which lives in the wet forests of temperate and tropical coastal regions, will lift its whole body off the ground as it jumps fangs-first with extraordinary precision and injects venom into its enemy. Before 1956, when an effective antivenom was produced, this snake's bite was nearly always fatal, according to Australian Geographic . The snake's venom contains neurotoxins, which prevent nerve transmission.

1. Inland taipan

Inland taipans are the deadliest snakes in the world. (Image credit: Jack Reynolds via Getty Imasges)

The inland taipan is one of the most venomous snakes, according to the International Journal of Neuropharmacology , meaning just a teensy bit of its venom can kill prey (or human victims). They live tucked away in the clay crevices of Queensland and South Australia's floodplains, often within the pre-dug burrows of other animals. Living in more remote locations than the coastal taipan, the inland taipan rarely comes into contact with humans, the Australian Museum reported. When the taipan does feel threatened, the snake coils its body into a tight S-shape before darting out in one quick bite or multiple bites. A main ingredient of this venom, which sets it apart from other species, is the hyaluronidase enzyme. According to a 2020 issue of Toxins journal ( Novel Strategies for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Snakebites ), this enzyme increases the absorption rate of the toxins throughout the victim's body.

Originally published on Live Science Aug. 31, 2021.
The Democratic National Committee has asked a federal appeals court to dismiss a case centered on Alabama party infighting that could test the requirements of the Voting Rights Act
After more than 30 years, justice for 17-year-old Massachusetts girl shot to death

The 1991 death of a 17-year-old Massachusetts girl found shot in the head on the fire escape of her foster familys home has come to a close with the conviction of a Georgia man
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Mississippi judge declares mistrial in case of 2 white men charged in attack on Black FedEx driver

A Mississippi judge has declared a mistrial in the trial of two white men charged in an attack on a Black FedEx employee who was making a delivery
TN woman charged with murder in case of Kansas officer killed in shootout with car chase suspect

A Tennessee woman has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with =the killing of a police officer in suburban Kansas City, after a car chase ended in a shootout that also killed the fleeing vehicles driver
CNN's Donie O'Sullivan reports the photos and home addresses of members of the Fulton County grand jury that voted to indict former President Trump and 18 co-defendants are purportedly circulating on social media. CNN cannot independently verify if the photographs, social media accounts and the homes addresses being posted actually belong to the grand jurors.
Breeges Bus, a bus dedicated to the memory of the late Breege ONeill (nee Reilly) and which will be used by the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, will be unveiled on Sunday evening, August 20 in Ballinalee.

From 5pm, there will be a traditional music session in Farrells Bar, Ballinalee, featuring Noel Sweeney champion flute player and Bernie Connolly champion accordion player with many other local musicians.

Breege was born in Gelsha, Ballinalee in 1957 and at birth had some loss of hearing and some loss of vision. In 1980, Breege married Tom ONeill, a Mayo man who himself was visually impaired.

They lived in Balbriggan, Co Dublin, with their daughter Laura and son Eoin. They had five grandchildren, one Gemma, who has sadly passed away.

Breege got her first guide dog in 1991, Gypsy, and over her lifetime had three more guide dogs. She worked all her life as a Civil Servant, mostly in Revenue in Dublin and retired in 2012.

The plan was to retire to Ballinalee where the couple have a holiday home, but circumstances changed that plan. In 2016 Breege was diagnosed with cancer and she passed away in June of 2021.

When the students are training with their guide dogs in Cork, they use what is known as the students bus for getting to and from different training places.

One day it might be a housing estate with cars on footpaths and bins on the path. Another day it might be Cork city centre and always this bus is used for the students.

During training with her last guide dog, Qeb, in October of 2019 at Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind Cork, Breege came home unhappy with the bus that was used as it was 20 years old and, in her words, not up to standard.

Hugely successful launch night for Ballinamuck commemoration weekend The committee behind the 225th Anniversary Commemoration of The Battle of Ballinamuck (1798) had a hugely successful launch night in a packed '98 Bar on Saturday, August 12.

So that Christmas Breege and her husband Tom set about fundraising to replace that bus. 15,000 was raised and then Covid hit and Breeges health declined. After she passed away in June of 2021 Tom and the family decided to restart the project and on Sunday, August 20 people will see the Renault Master bus at Farrell's car park beside the pub.

On Saturday, August 26 at the Open Day for all friends of Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind the bus will be dedicated to Breege and from there on to all will be known as Breeges Bus.

Mary Farrell of Farrell's pub, Ballinalee is a sister of the late Breege and her brother Sean Reilly of Gelsha, her only other sibling, died in a farm accident in September 2016.

Breeges husband Tom explained, Sunday will mark the handover of a Renault Master van purchased from OReillys garage of Longford and many thanks to Kevin OReilly.

The Renault Master was converted into an 8-seater fully accessible including a lift minibus by Kellys of Santry, Dublin who specialise in this work. A fantastic job was done by the team. Thanks to Warren, and Mick, for the wonderful work.

The bus was then wrapped by WrapCo of Dunshaughlin, Meath featuring pictures of Breege at different stages in her life with her four guide dogs, Gypsy, Abby, Unice and Qeb.

Representatives of WrapCo, Kellys and OReillys will be on hand for the handover of the bus to Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind.

On the evening in Ballinalee should somebody wish to donate to the work of Irish Guide Dogs for the blind or towards the cost of Breeges Bus appropriate sealed buckets will be available.
Latest | Gardai have confirmed today (Friday, August 18) that Paul Griffin who was last seen in Longford has been located safe and well.

An Garda Siochana would like to thank the public and the media for their assistance.

ORIGINAL STORY : Gardai are seeking the public's assistance in tracing the whereabouts of 46 year old Paul Griffin who was last seen at approximately 1pm on Thursday, August 10 on Main Street in Longford town.

Paul is described as being approximately 5 foot 10 inches in height with an average build, brown hair and green eyes.

When last seen, Paul was wearing a Meath GAA polo shirt, Meath GAA body-warmer, blue jeans and navy runners.

Garda enquiries so far have ascertained Paul may have been in the Rathfarnham area of Dublin 14 in recent days.

Longford to welcome 2023 Rose of Tralee Tour to county

Longford County Council is delighted to extend a warm welcome to the Official 2023 Rose of Tralee Tour which will visit County Longford on Monday next 14 August.

Gardai and Paul's family are concerned for his welfare.

Anyone with information on Paul's whereabouts are asked to contact Longford Garda station on 043-3350570, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda station.
Local News

By Chris Boyle Published: August 18 2023

This extraordinary celebration promises an unforgettable experience filled with authentic flavors and mesmerizing cultural performances.

Experience Perus Culinary Splendor at SUMAQ Food Festival August 26-27 at the Cradle of Aviation Museum

Get ready to embark on a captivating journey through the vibrant world of Peruvian cuisine and culture at the SUMAQ Peruvian Food Festival, to be held on August 26th and 27th, 2023, at the Cradle of Aviation Museum. This extraordinary celebration promises an unforgettable experience filled with authentic flavors and mesmerizing cultural performances.

Immerse yourself in the diverse and rich tapestry of Peruvian cuisine as renowned food vendors such as Caja China de Juan Talledo, Restaurante "El Pregon," La Benita de Characato, and Lidia Cortez BioCultivos offer an exquisite array of Peruvian delicacies. Indulge in the tantalizing dishes that showcase Peru's culinary diversity, leaving your taste buds yearning for more.

Join us for captivating cooking demonstrations led by top chefs in the region, including the talented Diego Cerdan of "Diego a la Carta." Learn about the latest Peruvian cuisine trends and techniques, igniting your passion for cooking and culinary exploration.

Experience Peru's rich culture through enchanting cultural dances, soulful musical performances, and engaging activities for all ages. Peruvian handcrafted crafts will also be on display, offering a glimpse into the country's artisanal heritage.

The SUMAQ Peruvian Food Festival's mission is to promote and disseminate Peruvian cuisine in New York, fostering a cross-cultural appreciation for its culinary treasures and cultural heritage.

About Diego Cerdan:

Diego Cerdan is a talented Peruvian Chef and graduate of The D'Gallia Culinary Art Institute in Lima, Peru. With a passion for sharing happiness through culinary creations, Diego has become an influential figure in the Peruvian food scene in New York. As part of the SUMAQ Peruvian Food Festival, he will be showcasing his expertise and culinary delights to attendees, inspiring a love for Peruvian gastronomy.

About SUMAQ Peruvian Food Festival:
Tolentino: Senate justice panel to probe Bilibid's security breach following arrest of missing-turned-fugitive PDL

MANILA - The Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights will now focus its investigation on how the earlier reported missing person deprived of liberty (PDL) was actually able to escape the premises of the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) in Muntinlupa City, panel chair Senator Francis 'TOL' N. Tolentino said on Friday.

Tolentino made the remarks after authorities in Rizal Province were able to arrest 25-year-old Michael Cataroja, an inmate inside the NBP's Maximum Security Compound, more than a month after the said PDL was reported missing by the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor).

"Matutuon ngayon ang hearing ng Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights kung paano nakatakas si PDL Michael Cataroja at kung ano ang naging kapabayaan ng BuCor sa hearing sa Martes, Agosto 22," said Tolentino.

Cataroja, who is serving a prison term from 12 to 20 years--due to proven violations of Presidential Decree No. 612 or the Anti-Fencing Act Law--was first reported missing inside the Maximum Security Compound on July 15 before he was arrested on Thursday, August 17.

Tolentino's panel earlier last week initiated a motu proprio inquiry following the reported alleged discovery of a mass grave besides a septic tank inside the national penitentiary after some 'bone fragments' were unearthed in the said location.

The Senate inquiry led by Tolentino has also unraveled a supposed scheme on how drug syndicates were able to smuggle and repack various illegal drug shipments inside the NBP compound.
Governor Kathy Hochul today announced the opening of the Bridgehampton Child Care & Recreational Centers new $3.3 million facility in the Town of Southampton, Long Island. Situated on six acres donated to create BHCCRC in the early 1950s, the state-of-the-art, 7,828-square-foot building marks a significant milestone in expanding vital services and serving lower-income working families living on Long Islands East End. With a focus on affordable child care, enriching summer programs, and diverse recreational activities, BHCCRC empowers families and children while fostering social development.

"This new facility will help expand access to the high-quality child care options and educational programs families in East End and across Long Island deserve," Governor Hochul said. "By investing in this state-of-the-art facility, we are investing in working parents and giving them the support they need to remain in the workforce while providing their kids with academic enrichment and care.

The Bridgehampton Child Care & Recreational Center (BHCCRC), a historically Black, community-based institution, has been a beacon of support for marginalized East End children and working families for generations. BHCCRC offers flexible scheduling options, workforce training, enriching after-school programs, summer and teen programs, college prep classes, and a food pantry. Featuring multiple classrooms, a computer lab, tutoring spaces, offices, additional bathrooms, community space, and a kitchen, the new Center will promote an inclusive and nurturing environment for learning, growth, and social development. With an increased capacity, BHCCRC will be able to serve more children and families, strengthening the East End community by providing essential education, enrichment, child care, and support to those who need it the most.

As a cornerstone of the East End community, BHCCRC promotes the well-being and sustainable growth of the region. Empire State Development is supporting the new Center with a $300,000 grant, recommended by the Long Island Regional Economic Development Council, reflecting New York State's commitment to promoting social equity and expanding economic opportunities for underserved communities across the State.

Empire State Development President, CEO and Commissioner Hope Knight said, "A thriving economy is tied to a workforce equipped with accessible child care options. The Bridgehampton Child Care & Recreational Center's new facility will bolster support for families and their children, contributing to a stronger local economy while supporting the vibrancy of the East End community.

Empire State Development Board Chairman Kevin Law said, "When we support working families, we strengthen our community and regional economy. From enriching young minds to enabling parents to excel in their careers, the Centers new facility will nurture both the social fabric and economic potential of Long Island for generations to come."

LIREDC Co-Chairs Linda Armyn, Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer at Bethpage Federal Credit Union and Dr. John Nader, President of Farmingdale State College, said, "It's an honor to join Governor Hochul in commemorating this significant milestone that supports hardworking families on Long Islands East End. Enhancing the accessibility of child care marks a momentous stride towards regional economic advancement and holds the key to uplifting both businesses and the community."

State Senator Anthony Palumbo said, "Bridgehampton Child Care and Recreation Center's new facility is helping to ensure that all families and children have access to exceptional and affordable childcare options on the East End of Long Island and addresses the region's growing demand for childcare services."

Assemblymember Fred W. Thiele, Jr. said, "It is with immense pride and gratitude that we celebrate the official ribbon cutting of the new building at the Bridgehampton Child Care & Recreational Center (The Center). It is a watershed moment for the Center, an historically black, community-based organization serving all marginalized East End children and families. The Center's educational and enrichment programs are a lifeline for working families. New York's investment in the Center is not just in bricks and mortar, but in the future of our community. The Center, deeply rooted in our history and driven by compassion, has nurtured the well-being of East End children and families since the tragic fire in the 1950's that spurred its creation. Under the exceptional leadership of Executive Director Bonnie Michelle Cannon, the Center fosters an inclusive environment that promotes growth, knowledge, and empowerment, regardless of background. Together, we are building a foundation of hope and opportunity that will uplift generations to come."

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said, "This facility offers an incredible opportunity for Suffolk County families with flexible scheduling, workforce training, after-school programs, and much more. I want to thank Governor Hochul for her commitment to working households and creating a stronger more cohesive community."

Town of Southampton Supervisor Jay Schneiderman said, The day has finally arrived to open up the doors of the centers new building and welcome all the smiling children who will learn and grow here, within these walls. This community has been committed to this new learning center project because everyone understands that these children represent our future.

Suffolk County Legislator Bridget Fleming said, For decades, the Bridgehampton Child Care and Recreation Center has played a critically important role in providing childcare and educational services to our east end community, particularly to those underserved and lacking in resources. With the expansion of facilities, the Center now is able to increase what it offers to the community from after-school, music and summer programs to college prep and workforce training. As a County Legislator, I am proud that Suffolk County has played a part in ensuring the Center continues its work for generations to come and remains an anchor to the community. I congratulate the Center and its many partners and supporters for this wonderful achievement.

Bridgehampton Child Care & Recreational Center Executive Director Bonnie Michelle Cannon said, We want everyone to know that The Center does way more than Child Care & Recreational activities. We are a full-service community Center that has been here for 70 years. Every student gets personal mentoring and one-on-one guidance. We create opportunity and help level the playing field for our marginalized children and families. We pride ourselves on being a family.

President and CEO of the Long Island Association and Chair of the Child Care Council of Suffolk Matt Cohen said, Child care is also an economic development issue and thus the business community commends Governor Hochul for prioritizing and investing in child care. A state-of-the-art new facility in Bridgehampton will allow parents to work which will lead to greater regional economic growth, while giving their children a safe and educational environment to socialize and learn."

The Bridgehampton Child Care & Recreational Center stands as a vital foundation of support for families and children residing in the East End of Long Island. New York State's support for organizations like Bridgehampton Child Care & Recreational Center is crucial in fostering equity and prosperity across the State. By investing in early childhood education and afterschool programs, workforce participation, and comprehensive family support, New York is laying the foundation to uplift lower-income working families, promote social mobility, and foster stronger, more cohesive communities.

The completion of Bridgehampton Child Care & Recreational Center also underscores Governor Hochuls ongoing commitment to providing quality child care options for New York families. As part of the FY 2024 Budget, the Governor secured a four-year, $7 billion investment in child care that included $500 million to bolster New Yorks child care workforce through the Workforce Retention Grant program and $4.8 million for a new Employer-Sponsored Child Care Pilot Program where participating employers, the state, and employees will split the cost of child care. The historic child care investment in the FY 2024 Budget also included $1 million to create a statewide business navigator program in each of the 10 Regional Economic Development Council regions to help interested businesses identify options to support employees child care needs. The funding will also be used to develop a statewide employer child care guidebook. The Governors investment also included $179 million in tax relief for families with children under the age of four through an expansion of the Empire State Tax Credit.
Governor Kathy Hochul today signed legislation (S.6893/A.7208) into law, which is intended to protect the economic vitality of the Hudson River Region by restricting discharges of any radiological substance into the Hudson River in connection with the decommissioning of a nuclear power plant.

The Hudson River is one of New Yorks landmark natural treasures, and its critical we stand together to protect it for generations to come, Governor Hochul said.  My administration remains committed to protecting the economic vitality of the region and working closely with local communities who have advocated so passionately for this cause.

The law aims to safeguard communities in New Yorks Hudson Valley region. The Administration will continue to work closely with federal regulators, Holtec, local officials and the States Decommissioning Oversight Board to identify feasible and acceptable alternatives of wastewater disposal so that decommissioning Indian Point can continue, jobs can be preserved, and the site can be cleaned up in a safe, thorough, and prompt manner.

State Senator Pete Harckham said, Thank you, Governor Hochul, for signing the Save the Hudson bill and protecting one of our countrys most important natural resources. This historic, landmark law prevents the release of radioactive wastewater into the river and protects the robust economic vitality of the region. Also thank you to the many residents, environmental advocates and colleagues who fought with us so passionately to arrive at this outcome. The culmination of a tremendous amount of hard work and collaboration, Governor Hochuls signing of the Save the Hudson bill is one of the great environmental victories in state history. We stand ready to work with all stakeholders to find alternative solutions to this challenge and to continue the timely and safe decommissioning of the Indian Point power plants.

Assemblymember Dana Levenberg said, The signing of this bill comes as such welcome news to so many people in my district and far beyond. Today I say thank you to Governor Hochul and her office for carefully considering this legislation, and to my colleagues at the federal, state and local levels for their support. I am also incredibly grateful to the advocates who dedicated countless hours alongside us legislators working to get this legislation passed. So many people in the Hudson Valley showed up to this fight determined to protect the river that defines our region, and we will continue working together in the coming years to ensure a safe and successful decommissioning of Indian Point.

Representative Jamaal Bowman said, Dumping 1 million gallons of radioactive water into a river with a basin home to more than 8 million people is never an option. Polluting facilities shouldnt be allowed to run roughshod over the voices of our communities and push through waste disposal plans without their consent. Im pleased that Governor Hochul is taking the action needed to protect New Yorkers by signing A7208/S6893 to ban decommissioned nuclear plants from dumping waste into the Hudson River. We must take every precaution when it comes to protecting the health of our communities and we must always put democracy over convenience.

Representative Pat Ryan said, For too long, big corporations have dumped their toxic waste into the Hudson River with blatant disregard for our communities safety - Holtecs plan to dump radioactive waste was no different -that ends now. This legislation is a huge win for Hudson Valley families and for everyone who raised their voice and said with me: enough is enough. Im going to keep holding big corporations accountable so that Hudson Valley communities have the clean water we deserve.

Representative Mike Lawler said, Over the past eight months, I have heard from numerous constituents, environmental organizations, and local officials concerned about the plan to discharge radioactive wastewater into the Hudson River as part of the Indian Point decommissioning. We have worked closely with them to raise awareness and seek alternative solutions. As such, I am glad to hear that Governor Hochul is signing legislation into law that will prevent the discharge of radioactive wastewater from Indian Point into the Hudson River. I look forward to the Governor working with federal, state, and local officials, as well as organized labor, local environmental activists, and Holtec, to determine an environmentally safe and fiscally sound solution to eliminating the wastewater on-site. Protecting the Hudson River and our communities that utilize it is of paramount importance  we must work together to find a workable solution for all involved.

Representative Marc Molinaro said, I appreciate the Governors partnership on this effort to prevent radioactive waste from being dumped into the Hudson River. Ive spent decades fighting to clean up the Hudson. We cannot take a step backward. This is a commonsense step to preserve this natural treasure.

County Executive George Latimer said, Today marks a monumental stride forward in safeguarding our majestic Hudson River and the Hudson Valley region. I commend Governor Kathy Hochul for her leadership in signing this legislation, and I also thank Senator Pete Harckham and Assemblymember Dana Levenberg for introducing this vital measure. Today, we take a stand and shield the Hudson River from potential harm during Indian Points decommissioning  prioritizing the environment and human well-being above all other considerations.

Cortlandt Town Supervisor Supervisor Richard H. Becker, M.D. said, "On behalf of the Town Board, representing the entire Town of Cortlandt, which is the host community for Indian point, I want to thank Governor Hochul, State Sen. Peter Harckham, and Assemblywoman Dana Levenberg for passing legislation which prohibits the discharge of radioactive water into the Hudson River. Most residents in the Hudson Valley, including the seven communities that receive their drinking water from the Hudson River, expressed concerns about the discharge of radioactive tritium into the river. Although arguments have been made that the tritium would be very dilute and that tritium is a low-level radioactive substance, the majority of residents strongly believe that any radioactive exposure is too much. From the beginning, we believed that a safer alternative exists, and that it would be a shame to contaminate the river with water containing not only tritium but strontium and other toxic chemicals. We look forward to working with the Decommissioning Oversight Board, as well as Holtec, scientific authorities, and our environmental partners in finding a safer alternative. We are grateful that this legislation will allow this to happen.

Diana Delaney, Technologist at White Plains Hospital & 1199SEIU Member said, Nuclear waste being dumped in the Hudson River is a huge concern as a Westchester resident for over 30 years. Gov. Hochul signing this legislation and keeping our water clean and protected is a win for our community, the environment and for our future.

Scenic Hudson President Ned Sullivan said, This critically important legislation will prevent Holtec International, the company responsible for decommissioning Indian Point, from dumping over 1 million gallons of radioactive wastewater into the Hudson River. The bill sends an important message to New Yorkers: The Hudson River is the source of our collective prosperity, not a dumping ground for industrial waste. The people of the Hudson Valley offer their deepest thanks to Governor Hochul for her continued, steadfast leadership in protecting the Hudson River and the many communities that rely on it for their health, recreation, and economic prosperity. We also recognize and applaud bill sponsors Assemblywoman Levenberg, Senator Harckham, and their colleagues, as well as Riverkeeper for its dedicated and highly effective advocacy.

Executive Director Environmental Advocates NY Vanessa Fajans-Turner said, On behalf of Environmental Advocates NY and the myriad of communities that treasure and rely on the Hudson River, I extend our gratitude to Governor Hochul. In heeding the collective voice of New Yorkers, she has championed the health and enduring legacy of this river and the vibrant lifestyles and economies it supports across the Hudson Valley. Signing the 'Save the Hudson' legislation serves not just as a resistance to detrimental radioactive discharges but also as a signpost, pointing towards a brighter, cleaner, and more sustainable future for New Yorks residents and crucial waterways, one river at a time.

Riverkeeper President Tracy Brown said, Riverkeeper thanks Governor Hochul for her leadership and for taking action on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who called on her to sign bipartisan legislation stopping the radioactive wastewater discharges from Indian Point. This sends a clear signal that New York state is dedicated to preventing Holtec from using the Hudson River as a dumping ground for radioactive waste. We also thank Assemblymember Dana Levenberg and Senate Environmental Conservation Chairman Pete Harckham for their tireless efforts to secure this victory; our coalition partners who have been influential in the development and passage of the bill; and the concerned community members who made their voices heard.

Northeast Region Director at Food & Water Watch Alex Beauchamp said, Governor Hochul is sending a strong signal to corporate polluters  industrial waste has no place in our water. The Save the Hudson bill will ensure that the Hudson River is no longer treated as a toxic dumping ground, prioritizing public health and the environment over corporate expediency. Holtecs plan to dump radioactive water in the Hudson River was dangerous from the start, and New Yorkers from all over the state quickly organized robust opposition. Today, we celebrate the power of our communities over corporations, and thank Governor Hochul for keeping our river safe.
18th August 2023

Runtime 15:17





Mozambique focused Altona Rare Earth's (REE) CEO, Cedric Simonet, discusses why Altona could become a significant player in the diversified rare earths supply chain and a real alternative to China resources.

In particular, he discusses why he believes Altona is overdue a significant price re-rating in the near future following:

1) Publication of the Maiden Mineral Resource Estimate next month

2) Publication of a Significant JORC resource estimate

3) How they intent to fast-track further drilling to extended their resource estimates into a world class rare Earths opportunity
(Alliance News) - Glencore PLC has a new rival in its bid to acquire Teck Resources Ltd's coal division, with Mumbai-based JSW Steel Ltd scoping out parties to form a consortium, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.

Citing people with knowledge of the matter, Bloomberg reported that JSW is on the hunt for partners for an offer to acquire 75% of Teck's coal arm.

A deal will value the unit at more than USD8 billion, Bloomberg reported.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-17/india-s-jsw-weighs-majority-stake-in-teck-coal-unit?cmpid=BBBXT081723_DEALS&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_term=230817&utm_campaign=deals

In June, Glencore gave Teck's board something to think about, as it proposed a deal to take the Canadian miner's steel-making coal assets out of its hands.

Glencore's attempts to acquire all of Teck had fallen on deaf ears. In April, Glencore revised its offer for Teck, adding a cash element of USD8.2 billion plus a 24% stake in MetalsCo to the Vancouver-based miner's shareholders. MetalsCo would be a transition metals focused business. It would differ from CoalCo, which would be a standalone coal unit.

Glencore had originally offered 7.78 of its own shares for each Teck Class B subordinate voting share, and 12.73 shares for each Teck Class A common share. This represented a 20% premium for both on the date of the offer. If the deal succeeded, Glencore shareholders would have owned 76% of the merged entity, with Teck shareholders owning the remaining 24%.

Teck's board made it clear it would prefer to go on without Glencore involved. In April, however, Teck pulled its own vote on separation plans after receiving investor feedback.

"We received very strong support from shareholders for the goal of separation, which is to unlock value through creation of a premier, pure-play base metals company and a world-class steelmaking coal company. We have also listened and heard the feedback that some shareholders would prefer a more direct approach to separation," Teck Chief Executive Jonathan Price said at the time.

"Our plan going forward is to pursue a simpler and more direct separation, which is the best path to unlock the full value of Teck for our shareholders."

By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor

Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Rescuers continue to search for three other miners still missing more than 24 hours after the fire broke out

At least two people have died in Kazakhstan in a fire at a coal mine owned by the ArcelorMittal group, the authorities, which regularly criticise the global steel giant for repeated accidents, said on Friday.

"Rescuers have found two bodies and are continuing the search for three other miners" still missing more than 24 hours after the fire broke out, the regional administration of Karaganda, where the incident took place, said in a statement.

This information was confirmed by ArcelorMittal, according to Kazakh news outlets.

On Thursday morning, 227 people were in the mine when a conveyor belt caught fire 170 metres underground. 222 miners were quickly evacuated, and 11 of them are "still in hospital", according to the regional administration.

ArcelorMittal operates around 15 factories and mines in this extremely polluted industrial area of this vast former Soviet republic rich in natural resources.

The group is regularly criticised by Kazakhstan for failing to comply with safety and environmental standards.

After a fatal accident at ArcelorMittal in December, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev denounced the "systemic nature" of the accidents involving the group, which have cost the lives of "more than a hundred people since 2006".

In response, the Kazakh government even threatened to ban the group, a warning reiterated on Thursday, according to a statement published on the presidential website.

Kazakhstan, Central Asia's largest economy, is rich in oil and gas, as well as uranium, manganese, iron, chromium and coal.

(Translated from French by the Luxembourg Times)
Leading fintech super app partners with global food giant Nestle and Great Deals to bring the first online sari-sari store







GCash and the largest global food company Nestle have launched DigiTindahan on GLife powered by leading e-distributor Great Deals as its main aggregator. The Philippines's number one finance super appand the largest global food companyhave launchedpowered by leading e-distributor Great Deals as its main aggregator.

With this partnership, shopping for snacks, cooking essentials, beverages, confectionery, cereals, and more can now be done with just a few taps on users smartphone.

CHECK ALSO: GAS UP & PAY LATER WITH GCASH

A ceremonial agreement signing was held recently at the Nestle office in Rockwell, Makati, that will make it possible for consumers to order Nestle products and have these delivered straight to their homes. Orders can be placed through the Barangay Nestle DigiTindahan which will be available on the GLife section of the GCash app.

This partnership with Nestle is a true testament to our relentless efforts in helping build inclusive communities across the country that have access to relevant financial services said G-Xchange Inc. chief marketing officer Neil Trinidad.

GCASH NOW AVAILABLE AS PAYMENT OPTION AT SM MARKETS

Aside from its convenience, the new DigiTindahan feature also offers exclusive deals and personalized orders with subscriptions to build their own bundles.

As the Kasambuhay of Filipino families, we strive to make our products even more accessible to our consumers nationwide. We are thankful to GCash for making this happen. With this partnership, Nestle products like BEAR BRAND, MILO, NESCAFE and MAGGI are now more accessible to our consumers, said Nestle Philippines chairman and CEO Kais Marzouki.

This partnership will enable more consumers to access Nestle products through cashless transactions and efficient fulfillment with the Nestle Digitindahan. Our promise is to help Nestle via our dynamic enablement and fulfillment service, added Jace Susara, General Manager and Executive Director of Great Deals E-Commerce Corporation.





From left: GCash chief marketing officer Neil Trinidad, Nestle Philippines chairman & CEO Kais Marzouki,and Great Deals E-Commerce Corp Founder and CEO Steve Sy



Also present to witness the signing event were GCash vice president and Head of Commercial Sales and Operations Luigi Reyes, AVP and Head of Enterprise Macky Limgenco, Industry Head for Distribution Louella De Leon, and Account Manager Melvin Manalo.

Aside from bringing convenience, Barangay Nestle DigiTindahan also offers Free Shipping without minimum spend exclusively on GLife starting August 8, 2023.

As the first DigiTindahan for mobile wallets, the partnership opens up exciting offers to millions of GCash users, making daily essentials available literally at the tip of every Filipinos fingers.

For more information, visit gcash.com





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By Prince Macky Marcos

Some 49 young farm leaders from different regions of the country embarked on an 11-month internship program in Taiwan for their hands-on learning of advanced Taiwanese modern agricultural techniques. The internship is part of the Filipino Young Farmer Internship Program in Taiwan (FYFIPT), a collaboration between the Department of Agriculture (DA), the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI), the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO), and the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO).

The interns will acquire proficiency and expertise in sophisticated Taiwanese modern agricultural methods, which they can apply upon their return to the Philippines. FYFIPT aims to turn its participants into empowered agricultural entrepreneurs and farmer leaders, contributing to food security and economic stability within the agriculture sector.

The internship involves hands-on training encompassing diverse subjects on rice cultivation and farm mechanization, dairy and beef cattle production and management, vegetable and crop cultivation, and swine production and management. The practical training sessions are facilitated through collaborative efforts between the ATI Regional Training Centers (ATI-RTCs), certified Learning Sites for Agriculture (LSA), and accredited Extension Service Providers (ESP).

Before leaving for Taiwan, the trainees completed a pre-departure orientation course, where they undertook financial literacy, mental health awareness, Mandarin classes, culture, and traditions.

A send-off ceremony took place last August 8, 2023, at the ATI-Central Office, which celebrated the trainees successful completion of the various phases of the program. It also recognized the vital contributions of partners in program implementation, including the TECO, MECO, ATI-RTCs, local government units, and, notably, the parents of the young farmers.

With a genuine spirit of encouragement and optimism, ATI Director Remelyn Recoter extended her heartfelt well-wishes to the interns before they embarked on their journey to Taiwan. She emphasized the unique opportunity for the interns personal and professional growth. Recoter underscored the significance of this venture, conveying her hopes for a successful and enriching experience for each intern. As they set forth on this new chapter, her message carried the collective support and good luck wishes from the entire community, echoing a sentiment of anticipation and positivity for their endeavors in Taiwan.

MECO Chairman and Resident Representative Silvestre Bello III delivered an encouraging message of support as they set off, expressing his hope for their return and the application of the knowledge they gained during their internship in Taiwan. Also, a message of support from TECO Resident Representative Wallace Minn-Gan Cho commended the young farmers for embarking on this journey, encouraging them to make the most of this invaluable opportunity.

In a video message on behalf of Senior Undersecretary Domingo F. Panganiban from the Department of Agriculture, Assistant Secretary Drusila Bayate conveyed his endorsement of the trainees development into agricultural leaders and entrepreneurs. He extended his good wishes for their educational journey, urging them to return to the Philippines following their 11-month internship equipped with valuable knowledge and competencies. Drusila added that these assets would benefit the agricultural sector and foster more opportunities for stakeholders amidst the ongoing modernization and digitization initiatives.

The trainees embarked on their journey to Taiwan last August 10, 2023, with an expected return date of July 10, 2024. Upon their return, they will undergo a post-training assessment and devise their re-entry plans.

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By Krystelle Ymari A. Vergara (DA-AFID)

In time for the 61st anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Nigeria, Philippine Department of Agriculture (DA) Senior Undersecretary Domingo F. Panganiban welcomed Philippine Honorary Consul General in Lagos, Nigeria Emmanuel Oloja Akpakwu during the latters courtesy call last August 11.

As the Philippines 53rd trading partner worldwide, per 2022 data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), Nigeria received US$9,190 worth of Philippine exports and sent US$73,780 of imported products to the Philippines.

Among the Philippines top export products to Nigeria were palmitic acid, stearic acid, their salts, and esters; driers for agricultural products; other beauty or make-up preparations and preparations for the care of the skin (other than medicaments); other office machines; and extracts, preparations with a basis of these extracts, essences or concentrates or with a base of coffee.

Meanwhile, Nigerias top imports to the Philippines include other liquified petroleum gases; liquified propane; liquified butane; bran, sharps, and other residues, whether or not in the form of pellets, derived from the sifting, milling, or another working of wheat; and materials, accessories, and supplies imported on a consignment basis for the manufacture of electrical and electronic machinery, equipment, and parts.

Thus, the two officials expressed intent to take the next step by joining forces towards food security and value chain development for both countries, starting with Nigerias offer of supplying fast and less costly soya beans to the Philippines.

Consul General Akpakwu also shared their desire to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Philippines, which will become the framework agreement for Nigerias request to the latter for assistance in terms of acquiring harvest and post-harvest technology and bringing in best practices in onion, cacao, cashew, and mango production.

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UnionDigital Bank is one of the fastest digital banks in the world to achieve profitability.

The digital bank subsidiary of Union Bank of the Philippines attained a triple-digit percentage growth in net income in the first half of 2023, compared to the second half of 2022.

The Aboitiz Group-led digital bank, which recently marked its first year in July, attributed this to the robust loan portfolio growth via the UnionBank ecosystem.

We are grateful to be one of the six Philippine digital banks that are committed to making a difference in the lives of all Filipinos by empowering them to pursue their aspirations. The commitment and hard work of our Ka-UBEHs in UnionDigital and UnionBank have pushed us to become one of the fastest digital banks in the world to achieve profitability, said Henry Aguda, president and CEO of UnionDigital Bank.

This milestone is not just UnionDigitals win, but a collective victory that should be celebrated by the entire Digital Banking Association of the Philippines family as it affirms the world class innovation of the Philippine digital banking industry. Philippine banking is ready for the global stage, he said.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas endorsed the establishment of the DBAPan initiative aimed at addressing the immediate priorities necessary for the prosperity and success of digital banks in the Philippines.

As we emerge as the fastest to profit digital bank in the Philippines, the endorsement of the DBAP by the BSP is testament to the strong support of our regulator to the future of this industry. This initiative not only reflects our commitment to innovation but also reaffirms the BSPs dedication to the growth and prosperity of PH digital banks. Together, were shaping a dynamic future for the industry, said Aguda.

The digital banks deposits saw a 113-percent surge, amounting to P20 billion, with a 32-percent market share among digital banks. Its loan portfolio grew to P13 billion, notching a 126-perccent upswing.

The company said it captured a substantial 75-percent of the market share for loans within the digital banking industry as of May 2023.

UnionDigitals stellar performance, backed by its strong fintech capability, support of the BSP and deep linkages with the ecosystem of the Aboitiz Group, was recognized at The Asian Banker Excellence in Retail Financial Services and Technology Innovation Philippines Awards 2023, where the company won the Best Digital-Only Bank award.

TABInsights, the research arm of TAB Global and a sister company of The Asian Banker, also ranked UnionDigital Bank as number 58 in the Global Top 100 Digital-Only Bank Ranking 2023, which features only two digital banks from the Philippines.

The ranking evaluates digital banks based on customer service, market coverage, profitability, asset and deposit growth and funding.

Receiving this honor from The Asian Banker is a privilege we hold in high regard. This award is not solely ours to claim; we extend this to our fellow digital bank counterparts, our parent, UnionBank, and the BSP, all united by a common objective  uplifting the lives of Filipinos through financial inclusion, said Aguda.

This recognition reflects our joint dedication and commitment to reshape the financial landscape for the better. It underscores the importance of working together and pursuing common goals to drive our nations progress and prosperity, he said.

UnionDigital Bank recently signed partnerships with different key players in diverse industries to launch its embedded banking services.

We have built a strong pipeline of partnerships and are also scaling up our retail app to help us diversify our deposit base, said Mike Singh, chief commercial and Revenue officer of UnionDigital Bank.

Our focus remains on giving access to essential financial services to the underserved such as micro, small, and medium enterprises and overseas Filipino workers through upcoming products in our app, said Singh.

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The ongoing House of Representatives inquiry into P149 million worth of alleged questionable transactions of the municipal government of Mexico, Pampanga under Mayor Teddy Tumang is not in any way intended to scare away investors, according to the chairman of the investigating panel.

During the committees last hearing on Tuesday, Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano of Abang Lingkod Party-list, who chairs the committee on public accounts, said the investigation is about accountability, transparency, and safeguarding public funds.

Let me assure all officials of Mexico, Pampanga, investors, and relevant stakeholders that this legislative inquiry does not wish to stifle the endeavors of legitimate business investors seeking to enhance and invest in the municipality of Mexico, he said.

Our aim is not to discourage them both the committee and the House leadership stand in unwavering support of investors, local and foreign, in the country. This stance underscores our support for fostering economic growth and opportunities, he said.

He alleged that the inquiry concerns public officials who have exploited their positions to accumulate personal wealth and extend their grip on power.

Our commitment to transparency and fairness compels us to uncover the facts and rectify any wrongdoing that may have occurred. Our objective is to ensure that the municipalitys resources are allocated and utilized in a manner that upholds the highest standards of governance and benefits its constituents, Paduano stressed.

He urged those who have information on the subjects under investigation to engage us with an open mind and a shared dedication to the principles of accountability and justice.

Paduano also spoke of the facts and evidence the committee has so far uncovered.

He said during its hearing last August 2, his panel revisited the troubling discoveries made by a fraud audit team of the Commission on Audit (CoA) on the questionable transactions.

Mayor Tumang was found to have engaged in procurement processes with individuals with whom he had personal connections. The (audit) report states that within the subject P43-million procurement contracts, over P28 million was awarded to bidders who either share close relationships or engage in personal dealings with Mayor Tumang, he said.

Out of the P149 million covered by the audit, the CoA has disallowed more than P82 million. Of the disallowed amount, Tumang has returned over P43 million to his towns treasury, leaving an unpaid balance of P39 million.

Paduano said while the mayor has returned P43 million, the alleged irregularities raise concerns about the influence of Mayor Tumangs affiliations on the outcomes of otherwise regular procurement activities of the municipality.

As for the unpaid balance of P39 million, he said the CoA should now refer the matter to the Office of the Ombudsman.

Transparency, accountability, and the timely resolution of matters such as these are pivotal in maintaining the integrity of our local governance, he said.

He added that his committee is also looking into the purchase by the municipal government of Mexico of 2.8 hectares of agricultural land for P79.5 million. Paduano said the land sellers were a certain Aedy Tai Yang and couple Arnel and Sonia Pangilinan.

He said Yang sold to the town a one-hectare lot for P29.5 million, or P2,950 per square meter, while the Pangilinans sold almost 1.8 hectares at P2,800 for a total of P50 million.

The sellers sold their lots to the municipal government in February this year, six months after acquiring them from farmers for P300 per square meter, according to him.

The lots, located in Barangay San Antonio, were to be the new site of the seat of the municipal government.

A convention center is also planned to be built there. Yang has not attended the inquiry, prompting the committee to subpoena him and suppliers Rizalito Dizon and Roberto Tugade.

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Private educational institutions have slammed a proposed law banning enforcement of the no permit, no exam policy, saying it could be tantamount to a death warrant of the private education sector.

They implored lawmakers to reconsider passage passage of the bill that would subsequently compromise their financial viability, force them to cut corners in their operations, and cause systemic damage to the private education sector.

In separate statements, the industry players expressed their collective outrage and indignation over the congressional bills that seek to ban the policy and asked that lawmakers listened to them as well.

The oppositors consisted of COCOPEAs member-organizations  the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP), Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities (PACU), Association of Christian Schools, Colleges, and Universities (ACSCU), Philippine Association of Private Schools, College, and Universities (PAPSCU), Unified TVET of the Philippines Inc. (UniTVET)  as well as the Association of Private School Administrators  Division of the City of San Fernando, Pampanga (APSA), the Davao Association of Private Schools and Administrators (DAPRISA), the Federation of Associations of Private Schools and Administrators (FAPSA), and the National Alliance of Private Schools Philippines (NAPSPHIL).

The effects of the proposed policy will be both immediate and long-term, the groups warned. It will cause systemic damage to the private education sector, violate the complementarity of the public and private education sectors, and lead to less accessible quality education in the country, the groups said.

Senate Bill 1359, which covers educational institutions, from elementary to tertiary and short-term vocational courses, was awaiting reconciliation with its counterparts House Bill 7584 that covers basic private institutions and HB 6483 that covers higher education institutions both public and private.

Deliberations at the bicameral conference committee are likely to take place soon.

The COCOPEA alone has 3,622 educational and learning institutions among its member schools, colleges, and universities, covering more than 1.7 million students in both the basic education and higher education levels across the country.

The effects of the proposed law will be destructive, according to the statements, which urge the deferment of the bicam sessions to allow

for more consultations with all stakeholders.

The No Permit, No Exam policy prevents students who have not paid their tuition and other fees from taking major examinations. On the

surface, banning it could be seen as a compassionate move that protects the interests of the students.

But private schools, unlike public schools whose operations are provided for by the government and enjoy substantial budget allocation

among all line agencies, rely on timely payments by their students to finance their day-to-day activities.

Banning the policy would disrupt fee collection, which jeopardizes operational sustainability, timely payment of salaries and wages of

school personnel and school viability. It would also lead to the down-sizing of operations, trigger closures, lead to the unemployment

of personnel, and increase pressure on a strained public school system, the statements said.

Department of Education Order 15 s. 2010 already provides the mechanism to help lighten the burden of students families, by

allowing schools to offer installment plans and accept deferred payments. This is already being implemented by private schools.

The proposed bill discourages current practices of offering flexible payment options and leaves private schools with limited alternatives

that may lead to conflicts between the private education sector and its stakeholders, the groups statements said.

This was especially true during the pandemic. The schools also pointed out that while the pandemic has given them serious blows with the drop

in enrollments, they have stayed true to the commitment to deliver the best education to their students.

Private schools have always adjusted in order to make private education accessible, especially during the pandemic. Private schools

have been offering low down payment and monthly payment schemes, extending payment deadlines and accepting promissory notes, giving

discounts, and expanding scholarship opportunities, the schools said.

Finally, the schools said, the proposal violates the complementarity between the public and private education sectors. It increases the

imbalance between public and private education sectors by further restricting the private education sector in their ability to determine

their operations and finances, while the public sector enjoys increasing budgetary provisions under the Universal Access to Quality

Education Act and other laws.

Nonetheless, the schools said they were ready to engage in productive dialogue towards crafting the most responsive policy for the growth

and sustainability of Philippine education.

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MoscowRussian forces have destroyed Ukrainian drones targeting Moscow and its Black Sea Fleet, officials said, the latest in a surge of attacks on the capital and the flash point waterway.

Russias defense ministry said its air force downed a Ukrainian drone over the capital at about 04:00 (9 am in Manila) on Friday.

The UAV, after being exposed to air defense weapons, changed its flight path and fell on a non-residential building in the Krasnopresnenskaya embankment area of Moscow, the ministry said on Telegram.

Moscows mayor said emergency services were on the scene, but that early reports indicated there were no casualties.

The wreckage of the UAV fell in the area of the Expo Center, and did not cause significant damage to the building, Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram.

Hours before the strike on Moscow, Russia thwarted a Ukrainian marine drone attack on its warships in the Black Sea, the latest in a string of assaults on its fleet.

Russias defense ministry said the drone was destroyed late on Thursday night by navy patrol ships, 237 km southwest of Sevastopol  the base of its Black Sea Fleet on the Moscow-annexed Crimean peninsula.

Attacks from both sides have escalated in the Black Sea since Russia pulled out of a deal that had allowed safe export of Ukrainian grain through the shipping hub.

On August 4, Russia said it had repelled Ukraines attempted drone attack on its Novorossiysknaval base in the sea, while a Ukrainian security source said the strike on a warship at the base was successful.

State-run news agency TASS reported that one of the walls of the venues pavilion had partially collapsed, citing emergency services.

The area of the collapse is about 30 square meters (323 square feet), emergency services told TASS.

TASS also reported that the airspace near the international airport of Vnukovo was briefly closed, with departures and arrivals delayed, citing the aviation service.

The expo center, on the Krasnopresnenskaya embankment of the Moskva River, hosts regular exhibitions and trade shows, according to its website.

The venue is 100 meters from Moscow-City, an office block in the capitals main business district that was struck twice within days by debris from downed drone strikes this month.

Until a series of attacks in recent months, the capital had not been targeted during the conflict in Ukraine, which began more than a year ago.

Last week, Russia destroyed a Ukrainian drone over Moscows west, with debris landing in a park on the Karamyshevskaya embankment.

In May drones were shot down near the Kremlin, less than five kilometres from the Expo Centre.

On July 30, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that war was coming to Russia, with the countrys symbolic centres and military bases becoming targets.

The attack came hours after a civilian cargo ship sailing through the Black Sea from Ukraine reached Istanbul in defiance of a Russian blockade.

Moscow announced last month that it would consider any ships nearing Ukraine in the Black Sea as potential military cargo carriers.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the ship was using a new humanitarian corridor Kyiv established after the grain deal collapsed.

Days ago, a Russian navy ship fired warning shots and boarded a Turkish-owned but Palau-flagged cargo vessel that was sailing to a Ukrainian river port.

Russia has also ramped up attacks on Ukraines port infrastructure in the Black Sea and the Danube River, a vital export route since the grain deals scrapping, in recent weeks.

Russias attempts to control shipping on the Black Sea come against the backdrop of a military counteroffensive launched in June by Ukrainian forces, which is supported by new Western equipment but making slow progress. AFP

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By Gustavo Gonzalez

This World Humanitarian Day, actions towards resilience have many faces

Today is World Humanitarian Day.

It was on August 19, 2003, when the United Nations lost 22 colleagues in the tragic attack at the Hotel Canal in Baghdad, Iraq.

Since then, we commemorate WHD every year, paying tribute to the many humanitarian workers who have sacrificed their lives to bring relief to the millions and millions of people affected by crises.

As of August 9, a total 5,771 national humanitarian workers and 714 international staff across the globe have been either killed, wounded, or kidnapped while accomplishing their mission, as reflected by the Humanitarian Outcomes Aid Worker Security Database.

Humanitarian work has become a highly risky responsibility.

We also acknowledge that the intensity, frequency, and overlapping nature of a new generation of crisesironically captured by experts as polycrisisis making humanitarian work still more complicated to the point of exhausting the capacities of an already overstretched humanitarian system.

While the demand for aid continues to grow, available funding falls tragically short.

The gap between humanitarian needs and funding allocations is striking.

Based on July 2023 report, requirements for the Global Humanitarian Overview have increased to $55.2 billion to assist 248 million of the 363 million people in need. However, contributions just reached 25 percent of the total funding.

From our field perspective, we are presently experiencing three major challenges, which are impacting our plans, work, and ambitions:

First, climate change, which has a multiplier effect on pre-existing vulnerabilities.

And the Philippines knows very well about that.

The country lies within the typhoon belt and is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire exemplifying the intricate interplay between exposure to natural hazards, climate change impact, and humanitarian responses.

More frequent and intense storms, such as the most recent super typhoon Odette in 2021, are exacerbating an already fragile situation and making the recovery process more arduous and expensive. These are compelling reminders that our conventional ways of relief must learn from experience and adapt if we want to effectively address the changing dynamic of climate emergency.

Second, the unpredictability of many emerging crises orput into less diplomatic wordsthe uncontrolled nature of some crises that are escaping any measurement of their intensity, duration, and impact.

The protracted crises in Syria and Yemen, as well as the emerging ones in Ukraine, Sudan, and now Niger, stand as self-evident examples of such disasters.

Third, the growing threats and risks that encircle humanitarian workers who are trying to save lives in the most challenging circumstances.

While these dedicated individuals and organizations strive to provide support and relief, they still find themselves navigating a hazardous landscape.

In this unprecedented context, the significance of humanitarian work becomes even greater and more meaningful.

However, it would be a mistake to think the solution to humanitarian crises is, simply, more humanitarian support.

No.

The solution will always be political in nature.

In fact, investing in good governance will always be critical.

This means the capacity to better prevent conflict and improve resilience to natural disasters, as well as the capacity to find and sustain durable solutions to those most affected and most in need.

Effective and accountable governance mechanisms form the bedrock upon which prosperous and resilient societies are built.

By fostering transparency, accountability, and inclusivity, we lay the groundwork for sustainable development and the prevention of crises before they escalate.

The proactive identification and mitigation of risks are instrumental in circumventing the impacts of crises.

Allocating resources toward preventive measures can potentially avert ill effects.

Finally, upholding the dignity and rights of every individual, regardless of circumstance, not only aligns with our moral compass but also contributes to stability, inclusivity, and sustainable development.

Efforts also need to target those who face particular risks in humanitarian contexts, including women and persons with disabilities.

The Philippines has faced these problems through the years.

And humanitarian actions in the country are being practiced in all seasons using different strategies and approaches.

Recently, the humanitarian country team in the Philippines has been chosen along with other three country teams (Colombia, Niger, and South Sudan) to contribute to the improvement of the humanitarian system from their specific perspectives.

The project, known as the Enhancing Resilient Communities Flagship Initiative will make the most of the longstanding experience of Filipino institutions and organizations in addressing the humanitarian impact of a wide range of shocks.

Still more important, the initiative will be an opportunity to bring together the humanitarian and development communities and overcome artificial silos created by a very narrow aid architecture.

In this learning journey, the development of tailor-made responses that will not only take into account the needs and vulnerabilities of communities but also their strengths, capacities, and assets will be a key to success.

Experience shows that the highly standardized humanitarian industry has sometimes precooked solutions that were disconnected from the socioeconomic and cultural specifics of affected communities.

As smartly framed by a recent report, just listening to communities is not enough to transform the prevailing humanitarian system.

Communities, as first responders, are expected to be part of the decision-making process and not just the subject of quick-needs assessment.

The ERC Flagship Initiative is also a unique opportunity to build alliances and re-energize coalitions to learn from each other and set a common sense of purpose in a context where multilateralism has been put at risk.

More than ever, joining forces, capacities and resources appear as the most effective way of coping with, adapting to, and recovering from present and future shocks. At the heart of this process, solidarity remains the main engine for resilience building.

This World Humanitarian Day, actions towards resilience have many faces.

And so why are humanitarian efforts still important, and why are we standing still, despite many odds?

Because we are called to serve, #NoMatterWhat.

(The author is Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator of the United Nations in the Philippines.)

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A Home for Everyone: From rising rents to barriers to home ownership, part of MassLives ongoing coverage of housing issues in Massachusetts.

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A new affordable housing project for seniors will continue the legacy of a rest home that served the Waltham community for nearly 140 years.

2Life Communities, the Brighton-based developer of Leland House, broke ground Thursday on the project, which will bring 68 units affordable to residents making 60% or less of the area median income.

Leland House is being built at 21 Newton St., the former site of Leland Home, a rest home founded in 1885 by Hannah Leland that closed in 2020. The property sits next door to the William F. Stanley Senior Center, so residents will be able to easily access Council on Aging resources.

Let me just congratulate the city of Waltham ... on your forward thinking about using the former Leland Home for a number of years to complement the original vision of Hannah Leland, to make sure that seniors from this community will be able to age in the community that they grew up in and contributed to, said Ed Augustus Jr., secretary of the state Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities. We know seniors want to stay in their community where they work, where their connections are, where their relationships are.

The project will include 66 one-bedroom and two two-bedroom apartments, with two apartments reserved for on-call live-in staff. The building will have completely electric systems and on the ground floor, will include a common space called the Village Center, composed of space for fitness and wellness activities, arts and culture programs, communal dining and community events.

Artist rendering of Leland House, an affordable housing project for seniors in Waltham. (Courtesy of 2Life Communities)

Read more: How Boston is spending to make affordable housing more energy efficient

Lizbeth Heyer, vice president and acting CEO of 2Life, said that seniors who are not experiencing loneliness are less likely to experience dementia, heart attacks and strokes, making it important to provide those opportunities for community. At the same time, she said, seniors in Massachusetts are some of the most economically insecure in the country: the median income for a retired adult in Massachusetts is $31,000, and the average Social Security income in Waltham is just $17,000.

No one should age alone and no one should age in a situation where they cant afford their housing and the care they need and to eat well, Heyer said. By creating housing that underpins the affordability of aging, were able to combat that economic insecurity and by building incredible village centers supported by the resources of the city and the state, we can bring communities to life.

The $37 million project is being funded in part by $4.3 million in state Housing Stabilization Funds and $6 million in city Community Preservation Act funds. In addition, the state has set aside 24 project-based Section 8 vouchers for residents of Leland House, making it affordable to even lower-income seniors.

Construction is expected to be completed in the fall of 2024.
The day Dewey Parsons bought Downtown Wine & Spirits in November 1986, his landlord came into his office and ripped the telephone cord out of the wall.

Parsons owned a food service business based in Brighton at the time, and was on the phone when the landlord, who was also his mentor in business, walked in and tried to get his attention. When Parsons wouldnt hang up the phone, he cut the line and told him he had a surprise for him, then drove them both to Somervilles Davis Square.

He goes, Theres your new liquor store, Parsons said. I said, Listen, let me think about it. He kind of looked at his watch and said, Well, you got 15 minutes.

Parsons accountant was already at the store at 225 Elm St., which had been run into the ground by its previous owners and was going out of business. Parsons hadnt been planning on going into a new line of business. But without too much more thought, he signed to take it over.

The rest is history, he said.

Since then, he has run the store, which has become a staple of the neighborhood with its eclectic beer selection and frequent tastings.

He has watched Davis Square change from a run-down area to one of the most sought after areas of Somerville. But next month, after 37 years in business, Parsons will sell the business to a new company, saying that its no longer possible to keep his profit margins as an independent business.

With only one location, Downtown Wine & Spirits isnt able to purchase the volume required to achieve the discounts that larger, chain retailers can. Not wanting to pass prices on to his customers, Parsons made the decision to sell the business to the owners of Liquor World, which has several locations around Massachusetts. The store will become Liquor World of Davis Square.

(Customers) are starting to pay more attention to their budgets, and I cant offer the same pricing that Total Wine or BJs or Costco can, he said. The pricing structure here, when they take over sometime in September, will dramatically change for the better for the square.

As part of the deal, the new owners will retain all of Parsons employees.

When Parsons, a Needham native who now lives in Medfield, first came to Davis Square, the MBTA Red Line station had been open for just two years. It looked very different from the bustling neighborhood it is today, but Parsons says he knew it wouldnt stay that way for long.

You could just feel it, he said. It was coming around.

One of the first things he did was talk to other business owners on the block, almost all of whom locked their stores and restaurants up tight after they closed for the night, pulling down metal grates and shutters over their doors.

The closed-up look of Davis Square at night and the graffiti-covered shutters bothered Parsons. He encouraged his fellow business owners to stop using the shutters when they closed. Some were worried about break-ins, but many agreed to give it a shot.

It looked horrendous. It almost looks like youre living in a possible war zone, Parsons said. I said, Were sending the wrong message here.

The idea worked: none of the businesses that stopped using the shutters experienced break-ins. And soon enough, the rest followed suit.

People began stopping by Davis Square more often, whether it was to patronize the liquor store or any of the other businesses around it.

Parsons said word spread about the more than 700 beers he carried, something that was unique at the time before craft beers became popular, and commuters on their way home from work on the Red Line would stop off in Davis Square to pick something up at Downtown before getting back on the train to Alewife Station.

Others would come from even further: one customer from Newark, N.J. would stop by once a month to buy about 30 cases of imported beers to bring home and share with friends.

Over the years, as Davis Square grew, Parsons and others in the area thought of new ways of bringing people in.

Parsons helped with promotion for the first few years of now-iconic events like Honk! and Somerville Porchfest, which brought hundreds and later thousands of people into the neighborhood.

More recently, however, Parsons has been able to simply enjoy the community that he has seen grow in Davis Square. In his office in the basement of the liquor store, which he jokingly describes as his man cave, he sometimes hosts friendly poker games at a shiny wooden conference table, and hes good friends with a number of restaurant owners nearby.

When Parsons posted in the Davis Square Facebook group recently to announce that he would be selling the store, he received more than 100 comments thanking him for the years of service and sharing stories from visits past.

When I turned 21 a friend took me to Downtown so we could grab a tour of the beers of the world. A lot has changed since then, but I love that the selection was always so top notch, one commenter wrote.

Another customer described an incident from the 1980s when he was a teen, where he and his friends who enjoyed collecting bottle caps twisted one off an imported beer, setting off an alarm, and had to run out of the store.

Im also pretty sure that that very bottle cap is in a cardboard box in my parents basement to this day, he wrote.

Parsons said he was grateful to everyone who expressed their love for Downtown and who had ever patronized the business, and said he hoped they would continue to visit even after it changes hands.

He plans to run a 15% off sale during the first two weeks of September before selling the store.

While he has owned multiple businesses over the years, and will continue to work now in software, the liquor store was always the one where he had the most fun, he said.

Thirty-seven years is no small amount, he said. Im attached to the Square, attached to my customers, attached to my employees.
A 10-year-old Massachusetts girl was known for her smile, laugh and sharp sassy attitude. Some called her a literal angel on earth.

On Thursday, Aubrianna died surrounded by family after being shot in Springfield earlier in the week.
Several cars were snarled in a crash on Route 3 before the Sagamore Bridge on Friday, Massachusetts State Police said.

State troopers arrived at around 3:15 p.m. to shut down all southbound lanes, state police said in a statement. Multiple victims were taken to local hospitals with serious injuries, none considered life-threatening.

One lane in each direction toward Cape Cod was reopened, state police said. Traffic was stopped at the entrance of the Cape Cod-bound side of the Sagamore Bridge, WCVB reported.

Read more: Springfield Diocese hosting vigil after uptick in violence in Springfield

How many vehicles were involved and how many people were hospitalized was not immediately clear.
An investigation is underway after a man was found dead inside a crashed vehicle on Route 1 in Topsfield Thursday morning, Essex County District Attorney Paul Tuckers office said in a statement.

Another driver spotted the crashed vehicle on Route 1 at around 7:30 a.m., Tuckers office said. The unidentified vehicle was believed to be traveling north when it crossed the southbound lane to stop at on the west side of the road in the area of 15 Boston St.

Topsfield firefighters found the driver dead, Tuckers office said. No other vehicles are believed to be involved.

An investigation into the crash is being led by the Massachusetts State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section and the Topsfield Police Department.
Dive teams have been searching for a possibly missing kayaker in Whitins Reservoir Thursday, according to the Douglas Fire Department.

One woman told the fire department she saw a man fishing on a kayak around 11 a.m. Thursday, Massachusetts Fire District 7 wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. His kayak was found Thursday afternoon overturned and without the fisherman.

Divers from the Douglas Fire Department, District 7 Regional Dive Team and Worcester Fire Department searched until dark. But the missing kayaker was not found.

The search is expected to start again at 8 a.m. Friday near 150 Wallis St. The fire department has asked people to avoid the area during the search.

Officials are asking people for help to identify the owner of the kayak. They shared a picture of a green kayak and asked anyone who recognizes it to contact the Douglas Police Department at 508-476-3333.

However, officials are asking people for help to identify the owner of the kayak. They shared a picture of a green kayak and asked anyone who recognizes it to contact the Douglas Police Department at 508-476-3333.
A Somerville womans was hit head-on by a wrong-way driver on Thursday, killing her and seriously injuring the other driver.

Geetika Guruprasad, 25, of Somerville, was driving her 2021 Mazda CX-5 on Route 2 in Littleton when another car, a 2010 Dodge SUV driven by a 22-year-old Leominster woman, entered Route 2 eastbound traveling in the wrong direction, Massachusetts State Police said in a statement.

Read more: Crash on Route 3 before Sagamore Bridge sends several people to hospitals

State troopers arrived at the crash location at around 12:42 a.m. An investigation has so far found that the Dodge then struck the Mazda head-on around the 114-mile marker in Littleton. Guruprasad was taken to Emerson Hospital in Concord, where she died.

The Leominster woman is expected to face the charges of negligent operation of a motor vehicle, reckless operation of a motor vehicle and a wrong way violation, state police said. State police did not identify her in their statement.

She is expected to appear in Concord District Court at a later date. The investigation into the crash remains ongoing and charges can be amended as a result of further evidence, state police said.
SPRINGFIELD  When Richard J. Morris died this year at age 84, his sister said greater Springfield lost an unsung hero.

He lived a life of service and made a positive impact on all who knew him, said Joan Morris Reilly, who worried her brothers story would be buried by other news  so she has come forward to tell the tale of a remarkable life that might otherwise have gotten lost in the din of the day.

Richard, known as Dick, was born in Springfield on Nov. 15, 1938. He attended public school in Springfield, graduating from Classical High School and joining the U.S. Coast Guard to sail the seven seas  to visit every continent on the globe.

Assigned to its Search and Rescue Division, Morris would help save countless lives on missions that brought him inside the eye of so many storms, heading into driving winds and churning seas.

The city native was bold but not boastful, not one to brag about his adventures. But there was this one harrowing rescue Morris Reilly remembers him talking about.

He didnt say much, only that it was one of his first missions, and they rescued a ship that had flipped on its side. It was in some really bad weather and was a very hard mission, she said.

The U.S. Coast Guard's General Greene, which the late Richard Morris of Springfield helped to rescue in a storm.U.S. Coast Guard

That story can be found in the archives of the Foundation of Coast Guard History. Patrol boat General Greene was attempting the rescue off the coast of Massachusetts on March 7, 1960, when it sailed into New Englands worst storm of the year. Her engines died when the towline wrapped around her propellers. Powerful winds and 40-foot waves drove her onto the beach in Sandwich, where she landed on her side.

Springfield's Richard Morris served upon the U.S. Coast Guard Acushnet.U.S. Coast Guard

Morris served on the Coast Guard cutter Acushnet, which responded to the emergency, saving the General Greene and its crew. Morris Reilly remembers listening to her brother and his friends recall the rescue, and they would tease him at the end of their story.

They said, Darn him. Hes the only one who didnt get seasick, she said with a laugh.

In the mid- to late 1960s, Morris and the cutter he was stationed on entered the war in Vietnam, helping the U.S. Navy block and repel enemy ships trying to supply the Viet Cong. The crew carried out its mission without any engagements that Morris told his family about. But like so many veterans, he didnt say much about Vietnam.

U.S. Coast Guard serviceman Richard Morris, who worked in search and rescue. DIck always had a coffee in his hand. He said it would help him stay awake during his overnight shifts on the cutter.Morris family photo

Morris and his shipmates earned the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross, a military decoration of the former government of South Vietnam. The medal recognized deeds of valor.

While Morris had a distinguished career at sea, he would also play a role in historic events on land.

When President Ronald Reagan was shot during an attempted assassination in 1981, Vice President George Bush became acting president, as doctors rushed to save Reagans life. Morris was part of a team dispatched to safeguard Bush at the familys home in Kennebunkport, Maine. He and his team were there to assist the Secret Service, which was on high alert.

Dick told us there were agents with guns everywhere. Mr. Bush liked to go fishing on his boat with the agents. But my brother remembered a Secret Service agent saying, OK, partys over. There was no fishing. It all changed once he became the acting president, said Morris Reilly.

Here is Dick Morris, around the time he would have been in Springfield Public Schools.Morris family photo

After serving in the Coast Guard for 26 years  achieving the rank of master chief  Morris worked as a nuclear technician at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, and then as shipping manager for a manufacturer of networking computer equipment based in Rochester, New Hampshire, where he lived with his wife and two children.

A dedicated family man, Morris also played an important role in the lives of Boy Scouts in troop 186. As scoutmaster, he helped kids soar, guiding countless adolescents, including his son, on their road to becoming eagle scouts. He encouraged the boys, telling them being an eagle would look good on their resumes.

Morris was the oldest of seven children. He was a steady, reassuring presence in the family  always there for his siblings. He was the person we could go to and ask, What do I do? He was very calm. He had an Ill-take-care-of-it attitude. Everything came easy to him, and he made us feel better, said Morris Reilly.

When he retired, Morris managed to get his hands on a 10-foot anchor, which he had placed prominently in the front yard of his single-story white ranch.

He wanted to tell the world he had dropped anchor, said Morris Reilly. The anchor was a monument to his life and career.

Morris passed away at home on June 11. He did end up sailing around the world, visiting continents across the northern and southern hemispheres  including Antarctica.

He was living alone when he died. His wife passed away two years ago, and his children were grown and gone.

Morris Reilly, 82, said she called him every other week.

Its hard when youre alone all the time. He wasnt used to it. Hed been on a ship with 500 guys. His dying happened so fast. Believe me, I couldnt talk about it for a long time. I was closest to him. I was second in line. I was older than my other brothers and sisters, she said.

When Morris stopped working, his sister went to New Hampshire for his retirement ceremony, and she beamed when a co-worker praised him.

He said, How do you say goodbye to Dick? He was unbelievable, just great to work with.
An emergency official who defended a decision to not sound outdoor alert sirens on Maui as a ferocious fire raged has resigned.

Maui Emergency Management Agency Administrator Herman Andaya had said this week that he had no regrets about not deploying the system because he feared it could have caused people to go mauka, a Hawaiian term that can mean toward the mountains or inland.

If that was the case, then they would have gone into the fire, Andaya explained. He stepped down Thursday, a day later.

The decision to not use the sirens, coupled with water shortages that hampered firefighters and an escape route clogged with vehicles that were overrun by flames, has brought intense criticism from many residents following the deadliest wildfire in the U.S. in more than a century.

With the death toll at 111, the search for the missing moved beyond the devastated town of Lahaina to other communities that were destroyed. Teams had covered about 58% of the Lahaina area and the fire was 90% contained as of Thursday night, Maui County officials said.

Read more: Names of those killed during Maui fires expected to be released Tuesday

Six forensic anthropologists with the Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency are assisting in gathering and identifying human remains, the Pentagon said in a statement Friday. The group is experienced in verifying DNA from long-lost service members, many of whom died as long ago as World War II.

Mayor Richard Bissen accepted Andayas resignation effective immediately, the County of Maui announced on Facebook. Andaya cited unspecified health reasons for leaving his post, with no further details provided.

Given the gravity of the crisis we are facing, my team and I will be placing someone in this key position as quickly as possible and I look forward to making that announcement soon, Bissen said in the statement.

The lack of sirens has emerged as a potential misstep, part of a series of communication issues that added to the chaos, according to reporting by The Associated Press.

Hawaii has what it touts as the largest system of outdoor alert sirens in the world, created after a 1946 tsunami that killed more than 150 on the Big Island. Its website says they may be used to alert for fires.

On Wednesday, Andaya vigorously defended his qualifications for the job, which he had held since 2017. He said he was not appointed but had been vetted, took a civil service exam and was interviewed by seasoned emergency managers.

Andaya said he had previously been deputy director of the Maui County Department of Housing and Human Concerns and chief of staff for former Maui County Mayor Alan Arakawa for 11 years. During that time, he said, he often reported to emergency operations centers and participated in numerous trainings.

So to say that Im not qualified I think is incorrect, he said.

Arakawa, who noted Andaya was scrutinized for the job by the countys personnel service, said he was disappointed by the resignation because now were out one person who is really qualified.

He was trying to be strong and trying to do the job, Arakawa said about the wildfire response. He was very, very heartbroken about all the things that happened.

Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez said earlier Thursday that an outside organization will conduct an impartial, independent review of the governments response and officials intend to facilitate any necessary corrective action and to advance future emergency preparedness. The investigation will likely take months, she added.

Corrine Hussey Nobriga said it was hard to lay blame for a tragedy that took everyone by surprise, even if some of her neighbors raised questions about the absence of sirens and inadequate evacuation routes.

The fire moved quickly through her neighborhood, though her home was spared.

One minute we saw the fire over there, she said, pointing toward faraway hills, and the next minute its consuming all these houses.

Displaced residents are steadily filling hotels that are prepared to house them and provide services until at least next spring.

Authorities hope to empty crowded, uncomfortable group shelters by early next week, said Brad Kieserman, vice president for disaster operations with the American Red Cross. Hotels also are available for eligible evacuees who have spent the last eight days sleeping in cars or camping in parking lots, he said.

Contracts with the hotels will last for at least seven months but could easily be extended, he said. Service providers at the properties will offer meals, counseling, financial assistance and other disaster aid.

Green has said at least 1,000 hotel rooms will be set aside. In addition, Airbnb said its nonprofit wing will provide properties for 1,000 people.

The governor also has vowed to protect local landowners from being victimized by opportunistic buyers. Green said Wednesday he instructed the state attorney general to work toward a moratorium on land transactions in Lahaina, even as he acknowledged that would likely face legal challenges.

Since the flames consumed much of Lahaina more than a week ago, locals have feared a rebuilt town could become even more oriented toward wealthy visitors.

The cause of the wildfires is under investigation. But Hawaii is increasingly at risk from disasters, with wildfire rising fastest, according to an AP analysis of FEMA records.
A memorial fund has been set up by the Everett Police Department to support Melissa Bagleys family, days after her death trying to rescue her son during a trip to New Hampshire.

In a Facebook post, Everett police thanked those who continue to reach out with thoughts, concerns and willingness to help out. Bagleys husband, Lt. Sean Bagley, works for the department.

Read more: Crash on Route 3 before Sagamore Bridge sends several people to hospitals

We would like to direct those that want to do something for the family to this newly established fund  the Melissa Bagley Family Memorial Fund C/O Everett Bank, the post read.

Her family of five, along with a friend, were swimming at Franconia Falls in Lincoln, New Hampshire, on Tuesday, Aug. 15 when her son slipped and fell into one of the pools, the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department said in a statement.

Bagley leaped into the pool to save the child, whose foot was stuck between rocks. When she began to struggle, her other two sons jumped in to save them. The boy who was initially trapped got out, but one of his brothers in turn got stuck. Lt. Bagley found his wife on a rock, the department said, and started CPR.

Read more: Hadley Michaels could be first of its company chain to unionize

Bagley was not revived. Lt. Bagley turned to his son who was still stuck and was able to pull him out. Then the officer returned to his wife and waited with her until first responders arrived.

Her children will need assistance long term, Everett police said. For those interested, you may contribute any amount to the Melissa Bagley Family Memorial Fund.

Her daughter-in-law, Alison Frazee, also set up a GoFundMe to help financially support the family.

In an act of profound selflessness, she made an instant decision to rescue her son, sparing his life at the cost of her own, the GoFundMe read. Melissa exemplified the epitome of selflessness, by making the ultimate sacrifice for her family.

The GoFundMe hopes to raise $75,000 to help support Bagleys family. So far, the GoFundMe page received as of this writing $62,085 from 737 donations. To donate, visit the GoFundMe page at the link here.

Everett police said those who want to donate to the memorial fund can mail to Everett Bank, 419 Broadway, Everett, MA 02149. They added that 100% of the proceeds will go to Bagleys children.
The Department of Education has started the process of addressing balances for some 800,000 borrowers with some $39 billion in federal student loan debt.

The one-time loan forgiveness covers people who have been paying through income-driven repayment, or IDR, plans that typically allow debts to be forgiven once a person has paid for 20 or 25 years, according to the plan. Because of errors in tracking payments, however, some borrowers were mistakenly left paying beyond their end dates or were placed into forbearance by loan service providers, a violation of Department of Education rules.

The result was more than 804,000 borrowers never got the credit they earned and never saw the forgiveness they were promised  even after making payments for decades, President Biden said in a statement.

On day one of my administration, I promised to fight for hardworking families and to fix problems in the student loan system that have been failing borrowers for too long, Biden said. Im proud that my administration is delivering on that promise and has already approved over $116 billion in debt cancellation for 3.4 million Americans  no matter how many lawsuits, challenges, or roadblocks Republican elected officials or special interests put in our way.

Qualified borrowers are currently being notified via email from their loan servicing company with the process continuing for several weeks to months. Of those who qualify, more than 614,000 will have all their remaining federal loan debt canceled.

The measures fall short, however, of the widespread student loan forgiveness championed by the Biden administration before being struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court. That plan would have wiped out up to $20,000 for some federal loan holders, forgiveness that would have come after a three-year moratorium on interest and payments due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, interest on loans will restart Sept. 1 with payments restarting in October.

About 44 million Americans have student loans with the average borrower owing $37,787.
The National Weather Service has issued a tornado warning for parts of Massachusetts Friday.

The tornado warning for Worcester, Norfolk and Bristol counties was issued at 8:35 a.m. It is expected to last until 9:15 a.m.

The weather service said at 8:30 a.m. that a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located over Scituate, or near Coventry, moving northeast at 30 mph. Parts of the warning also impacted Rhode Island.

The weather service warned of a tornado and quarter size hail.

Flying debris will be dangerous to those caught without shelter, the weather service said. Mobile homes will be damaged or destroyed. Damage to roofs, windows, and vehicles will occur. Tree damage is likely.

It also told people to move to a basement or an interior room without windows and take cover.

Severe Thunderstorm Warning continues for Providence RI, Cranston RI and Pawtucket RI until 9:00 AM EDT pic.twitter.com/NBzBDDYf6Y  NWS Boston (@NWSBoston) August 18, 2023

The impacted areas include East Providence, Cumberland, North Attleborough, and Attleboro.

A severe thunderstorm warning was issued for Fall River around 8:50 a.m. It is expected to last until 9:45 a.m.

Severe Thunderstorm Warning including Fall River MA, Warwick RI and Newport RI until 9:45 AM EDT pic.twitter.com/d471YCLrx8  NWS Boston (@NWSBoston) August 18, 2023

And a severe thunderstorm warning was issued for Boston, Cambridge and Brockton. It will last until 10:15 a.m.

Severe Thunderstorm Warning including Boston MA, Cambridge MA and Brockton MA until 10:15 AM EDT pic.twitter.com/KWLVkQn7p3  NWS Boston (@NWSBoston) August 18, 2023

The weather service had previously predicted scattered thunderstorms with brief torrential downpours and possibly strong winds Friday. The weather service said there is a risk for hail, wind and a tornado but didnt classify the risk as high Friday morning, adding that it was possible.

The rain was expected to start in the Berkshires where there is a hazardous weather outlook. It could last until about 5 p.m. Thunderstorms are most likely from 8. a.m. to 11 a.m.

Near Springfield, rain could last until about 5 p.m. In Central Massachusetts, rain could last until about 4 p.m. In Boston rain isnt expected to last as long. Rain is likely to stop around 2 p.m. There is a chance for thunderstorms but they arent likely.

Cape Cod will see similar rain as in Boston. However, there is a chance for thunderstorms around 1 p.m.

The weekend in Massachusetts is expected to be dry and sunny  a change of pace from many weekends this summer.
SPRINGFIELD  For the second time, nonprofit and community organizations, state legislators and city department heads met to discuss ways to address an increase in gun violence in Springfield.

Their goal is to find ways to make the city safer and keep young people engaged in positive activities.

On Thursday, they showcased examples of programs already available.

A 22-page document distributed at the meeting lists services that departments and organizations offer to the community, along with how to get more information.

Martin Luther King Jr. Family Services, for example, offers literacy and summer enrichment programs and a night spot for teens.

The document was provided by the citys Department Health of Human and Health Services and the mayors office. The resources will be posted on the citys website.

Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno met with city officials and community leaders to again discuss ways to reduce gun violence. The group met at the Barney Estate in Forest Park. (Jonah Snowden / The Republican)

This is the second meeting the mayor, city officials, and community stakeholders have held at the Barney Estate in Forest Park on the issue.

The session drew state Rep. Carlos Gonzalez; staff of the Springfield Police Department; Helen Caulton-Harris, health commissioner for the Department of Health and Human Services; Francena Brown, executive director for Families Against Violence (FAV); and Bishop Talbert Swan II, president of the Greater Springfield NAACP; and many others.

It followed gun-related deaths Monday afternoon on Berkshire Avenue, when 52-year-old Kim Fairbanks was shot by Victor Nieves, 34, who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Aubrianna Lynn, 10, one of the two children shot, died Thursday afternoon, according to her mother, Stephanie Croteau.

Sarno later issued a statement on the passing of the child, offering his condolences to the 10-year-olds family.

As a father of two daughters, there are no words to express my feelings about this tragic loss of life, Sarno said. A brave and bright angel, 10-year-old Aubrianna Lynn, has been taken away all to soon from her family. Let her legacy be a clarion call to all of us to redouble our efforts in her memory to do everything we can to end these senseless acts of violence

Solomon Baymon, director of ROCA Springfield. (Jonah Snowden / The Republican)

Solomon Baymon, director of ROCA Springfield, told community stakeholders his organization focuses on keeping at-risk young adults out of prison.

We have great partnerships and relationships with many people in this room and were relentless with everything we do, so please, especially for the youth, definitely stop by the building, come utilize the resources that we have, he said.

Wesley Jackson, executive director of the South End Community Center, announced that the group plans to develop a universal membership.

Jackson said this membership can be used by residents of any age from any community in the city and will be free.

The Boys and Girls Club and the YMCA of Greater Springfield were used as examples of places where membership would be accepted. Jackson said he wants other community centers to be included in the membership.

Its what were trying to do to help the city and our community, Jackson said of the membership.

Angelica Castro, director outreach and teen programs of the YMCA of Greater Springfield. (Jonah Snowden / The Republican)

The YMCA of Greater Springfield plans to bring in an entrepreneurial program to assist teenagers in coming up with their own businesses, according to Angelica Castro, the organizations director of outreach and teen programs.

Castro listed babysitting, window washing and lawn cutting as some of the businesses the teenagers would create.

Were looking to help motivate them and see that there are other opportunities and ways to go about, Castro said of the developing program.

Some community leaders said see progress in the community collaboration.

Castro, for instance, said there has to be more conversation, but feels things are off to a good start. I think its heading somewhere, Castro said. We still dont have all the answers, but it definitely starts at home.
Les parents qui ont inscrit leurs jeunes enfants pour la rentree scolaire de 2023 dans le cycle primaire pourront consulter la liste de ceux qui ont ete admis dans lecole de leurs choix le 22, 23 et 24 aout 2024.

The provisional list of pupils to be admitted to Grade 1 for next academic year will be displayed in all Government and Aided primary schools in the Republic of Mauritius on Tuesday 22, Wednesday 23 and Thursday 24 August 2023.

Representations, if any, will be registered at the school where application was made on Tuesday 22, Wednesday 23 and Thursday 24 August 2023 from 09 30 hrs to 15 00 hrs.

Late applications

Late applications will also be registered on the above mentioned dates and time at the school where admission is sought. Responsible parties should bring along the following documents:

(i) their original National Identity Card;

(ii) the original Birth Certificate of the child;

(iii) the original CEB and CWA bills in their own name for the months of February, March and April 2023.

In case of request for high demand schools, a proof of residence, certified by the police should also be produced. (Proof of residency form is available at school).

The Ministry wishes to remind parents that primary schooling is compulsory and any person who deprives his/her child of his/her right to education may be liable to a fine not exceeding Rs 10,000 and to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years in accordance with section 37(3) of the Education Act 1957
CONCERNS over Castlebars largest student accommodation facility not being available for students have been alleviated after it was confirmed that it will be taking in students from the beginning of September.

A spokeswoman for Hawthorn Village confirmed to The Mayo News that students have been booked to move into the facility from September 1 for the coming academic year.

Westport-based county councillor Peter Flynn had previously aired concerns that the facility would not be let out to students for the coming academic year.

The apartment complex is being utilised to accommodate 102 refugees from Ukraine until the end of the month.

The private complex has over 100 beds and is often used by students at Atlantic Technological University (ATU) Mayo. It is currently the only student accommodation apartment complex in Mayo.

Hawthorn Villages website currently advertises short-stay, long-term and student accommodation, with prices ranging from 370 to 1,275 a month.

According to a parliamentary question issued by Minister Roderic OGorman to Tipperary TD Mattie McGrath, Hawthorn Village is only to be used as to accommodate Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection (BOTPs) from Ukraine for a two-month period.

Homeless

LOCAL county councillor Michael Kilcoyne said the revertion of the complex to student accommodation was a step in the right direction but would not resolve Castlebars ongoing housing shortage.

Its going to help, but theres about 40 families homeless in Castlebar. Theres over 100 people in Mayo in emergency accommodation, Cllr Kilcoyne told The Mayo News. Its a step in the right direction but its only a small step.

On Monday August 14, there were 27 properties available to rent in Mayo, three of which were in Castlebar town.

Last year, several ATU Mayo students successfully sourced accommodation through the colleges accommodation portal after a public appeal for people to let out spare rooms.

Twenty-three student accommodation facilities were temporarily contracted to the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to accommodate Ukrainian refugees over the summer.

Cllr Peter Flynn has previously labelled people buying and converting properties into refugee accommodation as speculators and faceless opportunists.

He recently put down a motion calling on the Chief Executive of Mayo County Council to commission a report on the impact of Mayo accommodating over 4,000 Ukrainian refugees and International Protection Applicants. The motion was passed without opposition at the recent meeting of the local authority.

The report will seek to evaluate Mayos ability to support employment, encourage enterprise, deliver critical services and maximise investment in the county. Professional consultants will compile the report, which is to be presented to county councillors at the September meeting of Mayo County Council.

The message needs to go back to government that we are really worried in Mayo at the way were moving in relation to all of this, Cllr Flynn told The Mayo News.

Were broke

LAST October, it was announced that ATU Mayo had applied for the Department of Higher and Further Education to have Castlebar Military Barracks converted to student accommodation.

The building has sat largely disused since closing as a working army barracks in 2012. Department officials have met with ATU and Mayo County Council to discuss the proposal.

A department spokesperson told The Mayo News that this proposal will be considered in more detail through the TU Feasibility Study, which has been started by the department and the Higher Education Authority.

In 2021, the barracks was earmarked for 11 million in funding, which was to also cover the refurbishment of the Council-owned Imperial Hotel.

Mayo County Council has not drawn down any of this funding and has since sought expressions of interest in the Imperial Hotel.

Cllr Kilcoyne expressed concern about how the repurposing of the military barracks would be funded.

The big problem about capital projects is that 20 percent of the cost has to be raised locally, he told The Mayo News. As we are, were broke, never mind getting 20 percent. Where are you going to get it?

Castlebar county councillor Michael Kilcoyne (Independent)

Scams

THIS comes as gardai are appealing to students to be wary of rental scams as the hunt for student accommodation ramps up.

Gardai have advised students not to transfer payments by PayPal or Revolut and to insist on a payment receipt and a tenancy agreement.

In one incident reported to gardai last month, a 21-year-old female posted on Facebook that she was seeking student accommodation in Cork. The woman received correspondence from a third party with what she believed was a suitable apartment. The agent requested a deposit of 800 to secure the accommodation.

Since making the transfer she has not received keys to apartment or any correspondence from the agent.
Report Description:

The global Phenobarbital market size was valued at US$ 1.58 billion in 2023 and is expected to reach US$ 2.23 billion by 2030, grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5% from 2023 to 2030.

A medication called phenobarbital is used to treat or prevent seizures. It controls the aberrant electrical activity that leads to seizures in the brain. It belongs to a group of drugs known as sedatives and anticonvulsants. When someone is uncomfortable or nervous, it may also be taken briefly to help them unwind or fall asleep. Only a doctors prescription is required to purchase this drug.

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Top Companies Associated With The Phenobarbital Market Report Are: Sanofi, Pfizer Inc., Novartis AG, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Mylan N.V., Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Hikma Pharmaceuticals, Zydus Cadila, Lannett Company, Inc., Strides Pharma Science Limited, Cipla Ltd., Lupin Limited, Aurobindo Pharma Limited, Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Reddys Laboratories Ltd.

Phenobarbital Market Dynamics:

Phenobarbital has a long history of use and is well-known for its efficiency in treating epilepsy and seizure disorders. For a number of seizure types, it is recognized as the first line of treatment, particularly in places with little resources. The drugs effectiveness in halting seizures increases demand for and usage of it.

The emergence of other antiepileptic drugs with improved safety profiles and fewer side effects restricts the market for phenobarbital. Thanks to the creation of new medications with a variety of modes of action and targeted indications, there are now more options for the treatment of epilepsy and seizure disorders. Healthcare professionals might decide to recommend these more recent drugs instead of phenobarbital, particularly in circumstances where reducing side effects or drug interactions is crucial.

Phenobarbital Market Report Coverage

Report Attribute Details The market size value in 2023 USD 1.58 Billion The revenue forecast in 2030 USD 2.23 Billion Growth Rate CAGR of 5.0% The base year for estimation 2022 Historical data 2017  2021 Forecast period 2023  2030 Growth Drivers: Established Efficacy

Established Infrastructure

Prevalence of Epilepsy

Limited Access to Alternatives Restraints & Challenges: Availability of Alternative Antiepileptic Drugs

Potential for Tolerance and Dependence

Adverse Effects and Safety Concerns

Phenobarbital Market Opportunities:

Market Expansion in Emerging Economies: There is a chance to increase the demand for phenobarbital in developing nations, particularly in areas with a high prevalence of epilepsy and little access to more modern antiepileptic medications. Pharmaceutical businesses can reach new clientele and expand the availability of phenobarbital as a cost-effective treatment option by focusing on these areas and addressing the unique needs and difficulties.

Development of pediatric phenobarbital formulations: offers the chance to address the unique requirements of children with epilepsy. Treatment adherence and results can be enhanced with pediatric dosage and formulations that are tasty and simple to deliver. Given the incidence of epilepsy in children, this market sector has substantial development potential and presents a chance for businesses to create formulations that are suitable for younger patients.

Research & Development: Ongoing efforts to improve the formulation, security, and effectiveness of phenobarbital can open up new business potential. This involves looking at new formulations, extended-release methods, and combination therapies that improve the therapeutic profile of the drug. Improved patient outcomes and a competitive edge in the market can result from advances in phenobarbital formulation and development.

Detailed Segmentation of Phenobarbital Market :

By Indication Epilepsy Neonatal Seizures

By Dosage Form Tablets Injectable Formulations

By Distribution Channel Hospital Pharmacies Retail Pharmacies Online Pharmacies



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Phenobarbital Market Regional Insights:

North America: With a market share of more than 35% in 2022, North America will continue to be the worlds largest market for phenobarbital. The phenobarbital market in North America, which includes the United States and Canada, is influenced by an advanced healthcare system and a growing prevalence of substitute anticonvulsant drugs. Despite being less frequently prescribed than newer antiepileptic medications, phenobarbital nevertheless has its uses, especially in environments with low resources.

Europe: With a market share of more than 25% in 2022, Europe will rank as the second-largest market for phenobarbital. The market for phenobarbital in Europe is impacted by regional variations in healthcare systems and laws. Phenobarbital use may be increasingly restricted in some European nations, but it may still be an effective treatment for some epileptic patients in other nations.

Asia Pacific: With a market share of more than 20% in 2022, Asia Pacific will have the quickest rate of growth for phenobarbital. Epilepsy is more common in the Asia Pacific region, which includes nations like China and India, and access to modern antiepileptic medications is constrained due to cost and availability. Due to its accessibility and well-established efficacy, phenobarbital continues to be a significant and often prescribed anticonvulsant in this area.

Table of Contents with Major Points:

Executive Summary

Introduction

Key Findings

Recommendations

Definitions and Assumptions

Executive Summary

Market Overview

Definition of Phenobarbital Market

Market Dynamics

Drivers

Restraints

Opportunities

Trends and Developments

Key Insights

Key Emerging Trends

Key Developments Mergers and Acquisition

New Product Launches and Collaboration

Partnership and Joint Venture

Latest Technological Advancements

Insights on Regulatory Scenario

Porters Five Forces Analysis

Qualitative Insights Impact of COVID-19 on Global Phenobarbital Market

Supply Chain Challenges

Steps taken by Government/Companies to overcome this impact

Potential opportunities due to COVID-19 outbreak

Conclusion

Appendix

Data Sources

Abbreviations

Disclaimer

TOC Continued!

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 Identified business opportunities  Our market research report can be used to analyze potential markets and new products. It can give information about customer needs, preferences, and attitudes. Also, it compare products and services.

 A clear understanding of your customers  A market report gives companys marketing department an in-depth picture about customers needs and wants. This knowledge can be used to improve products, prices, and advertising.

 Clear data-driven insights  Our Market research encompasses a wide range of activities, from determining market size and segment to forecasting demand, and from identifying competitors to monitoring pricing. All of these are quantified and measurable which means that gives you a clear path for building unique decisions based on numbers.

Explore More Related Insights:

Pneumococcal Vaccines Market Analysis

U.S. Contract Research Organization (CROs) Market

Elastomeric Infusion Pumps Market

Prosthetic Heart Valves Market

Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Treatment Market

Viscosupplementation Market

Electrosurgical Devices Market

Orthopedic Braces & Support, Casting & Splints Market

Medical Sensors Market

Drug Eluting Stents Market

Lidocaine Ointment Market

Mechanical Ventilators Market

Respiratory Devices Market

Calcium Pantothenate Market

Memory Enhancement Drugs Market
Plasma Resectoscope Market Size Projections : The global Plasma Resectoscope market size was valued at US$ 303.5 million in 2023 and is expected to reach US$ 471.7 million by 2030, grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.5% from 2023 to 2030

Coherent Market Insights published a report, titled Plasma Resectoscope Market 2023. The report aims to provide a detailed analysis of the factors that influence the global business adoption and segmentation outlook. The detailed information and overview of the global Plasma Resectoscope market report highlight the latest development trends across different regions. This report provides key market players with business insights and growth opportunities. The global Plasma Resectoscope market has witnessed significant growth in recent years, as an increasing number of people are seeking affordable and high-quality dental care beyond their borders. This market report provides valuable insights into the dynamics of Plasma Resectoscope, highlighting the latest market trends and offering forecasts for the future.

Plasma Resectoscope Market Description :

The plasma resectoscope market encompasses cutting-edge medical devices utilized in minimally invasive surgical procedures. These specialized instruments employ plasma energy to precisely resect and remove tissue, offering advantages such as reduced bleeding, quicker recovery times, and enhanced patient outcomes. The markets growth is propelled by increasing adoption of minimally invasive techniques, rising prevalence of urological disorders, and advancements in surgical technology. Key players in the medical device industry offer a range of plasma resectoscopes tailored for various procedures. As healthcare systems emphasize patient-centric and cost-effective solutions, the plasma resectoscope market is poised for continuous expansion and innovation.

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Global Plasma Resectoscope Market:

 CAGR: 6.5%

 Current Market Size: US$ 471.7 million

 Forecast Growing Region: Latin America

 Largest Market: United States

 Projection Time: 2023- 2030

 Base Year: 2022

    -

Olympus Corporation, KARL STORZ SE & Co. KG, Richard Wolf GmbH, Stryker Corporation, Medtronic plc, Ethicon (Johnson & Johnson), Braun Melsungen AG, Boston Scientific Corporation, Cook Medical, ROCAMED, Maxer Endoscopy GmbH, Vimex Endoscopy, PENTAX Medical (HOYA Corporation), Hunan Handlike Minimally Invasive Surgery Co., Ltd., Optimed Medizinische Instrumente GmbH are the leading companies in Plasma Resectoscope Market.

Plasma Resectoscope Market Drivers :

The plasma resectoscope market is propelled by several key drivers. The growing preference for minimally invasive surgical procedures, driven by reduced patient trauma, quicker recovery times, and shorter hospital stays, fuels demand for innovative instruments like plasma resectoscopes. Rising incidences of urological disorders, such as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and bladder tumors, further contribute to market growth. Advancements in plasma technology, enabling precise tissue resection and reduced bleeding, enhance the appeal of these devices. Additionally, increasing healthcare investments, expanding elderly populations, and a trend toward outpatient surgeries amplify the adoption of plasma resectoscopes, driving the markets expansion.

Plasma Resectoscope Market Opportunity :

The plasma resectoscope market offers a significant opportunity for growth and advancement. As healthcare systems globally emphasize minimally invasive approaches, the demand for cutting-edge surgical instruments like plasma resectoscopes is poised to increase. Expanding markets in emerging economies, coupled with rising healthcare expenditure, open doors for market penetration. Innovations in plasma technology and device design hold the potential to further enhance surgical precision and patient outcomes. Collaborations between medical device companies and research institutions can drive the development of next-generation plasma resectoscopes, catering to evolving surgical needs. This dynamic landscape presents a favorable environment for sustained market expansion and diversification.

     :

By Product Type:

Monopolar Plasma Resectoscope

Bipolar Plasma Resectoscope

By End User:

Hospitals

Ambulatory Surgery Centers

Specialty Clinics

Others

By Application:

Transurethral Resection of the Prostate (TURP)

Bladder Tumor Resection

Urethral Stricture Resection

Others

By Endoscopic Visualization System Integration:

Non-integrated Plasma Resectoscope

Integrated Plasma Resectoscope

By Distribution Channel:

Direct Sales

Distributor Sales

Recent Developments

New product launches

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Table of Contents with Major Points:

Executive Summary

Introduction

Key Findings

Recommendations

Definitions and Assumptions

Executive Summary

Market Overview

Definition of Plasma Resectoscope Market

Market Dynamics

Drivers

Restraints

Opportunities

Trends and Developments

Key Insights

Key Emerging Trends

Key Developments Mergers and Acquisition

New Product Launches and Collaboration

Partnership and Joint Venture

Latest Technological Advancements

Insights on Regulatory Scenario

Porters Five Forces Analysis

Qualitative Insights Impact of COVID-19 on Global Plasma Resectoscope Market

Supply Chain Challenges

Steps taken by Government/Companies to overcome this impact

Potential opportunities due to COVID-19 outbreak

Conclusion

Appendix

Data Sources

Abbreviations

Disclaimer

TOC Continued!

Why Choose Coherent Market Insights?

 Identified business opportunities  Our market research report can be used to analyze potential markets and new products. It can give information about customer needs, preferences, and attitudes. Also, it compare products and services.

 A clear understanding of your customers  A market report gives companys marketing department an in-depth picture about customers needs and wants. This knowledge can be used to improve products, prices, and advertising.

 Clear data-driven insights  Our Market research encompasses a wide range of activities, from determining market size and segment to forecasting demand, and from identifying competitors to monitoring pricing. All of these are quantified and measurable which means that gives you a clear path for building unique decisions based on numbers.

Explore More Related Insights:
The antipsychotic medicine prochlorperazine maleate is a member of the phenothiazine class of medications. It is mostly employed to treat a variety of ailments, including severe nausea and vomiting, vertigo, and several mental health concerns. The ability of prochlorperazine maleate to effectively manage nausea and vomiting brought on by chemotherapy, postoperative procedures, and other medical disorders is what drives the demand for this medication. The medication works by inhibiting dopamine receptors in the brain, which lessens nausea and vomiting symptoms. In order to accommodate differing patient demands, prochlorperazine maleate is offered in a variety of formats, including oral tablets, rectal suppositories, and injectable formulations.

The Global Prochlorperazine Maleate market size was valued at US$ 1.46 billion in 2023 and is expected to reach US$ 1.85 billion by 2030, grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.5% from 2023 to 2030.

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Top Companies Associated With The Prochlorperazine Maleate Market Report Are:

GlaxoSmithKline plc, Pfizer Inc., Novartis AG, AstraZeneca plc, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Mylan N.V., Sanofi S.A., Johnson & Johnson, AbbVie Inc., Eli Lilly and Company, Merck & Co., Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Lupin Limited

Market Dynamics:

Over the course of the projection period, an increasing number of people will experience nausea and vomiting, which will continue to drive market expansion for prochlorperazine maleate. Due to an aging population and an increase in the prevalence of chronic diseases, more people are requiring antiemetic therapy. Over the projection period, rising patient awareness will also support market expansion for prochlorperazine maleate globally. Patients are more engaged in finding the best therapy options and communicating their concerns to healthcare professionals. Over the course of the projected period, the development of combination medicines will open up new market prospects for prochlorperazine maleate. The investigation of combination medications that contain prochlorperazine maleate has the potential to boost the market.

Over the projected period, safety concerns and unfavorable side effects are anticipated to restrain market growth for prochlorperazine maleate.

Recent Developments in Prochlorperazine Maleate Market:

New product launches

The USFDA gave Aurobindo Pharma permission to market Compazine Injectable in generic form in 2022. The strengths of this medication are 5 mg/mL and 10 mg/mL.

The USFDA gave Dr. Reddys Laboratories permission to market its generic version of Compazine Sprinkle Capsules in 2022. The strengths of this medication are 5 mg and 10 mg.

Prochlorperazine Maleate Market Report Coverage

Report Attribute Details The market size value in 2023 USD 1.46 Billion The revenue forecast in 2030 USD 1.85 Billion Growth Rate CAGR of 3.5% The base year for estimation 2022 Historical data 2017  2021 Forecast period 2023  2030 Growth Drivers: Effective Antiemetic Properties

Increasing Prevalence of Nausea and Vomiting

Expanding Applications

Rising Patient Awareness Restraints & Challenges: Side Effects and Safety Concerns

Regulatory and Compliance Challenges

Availability of Alternative Therapies

Prochlorperazine Maleate Market Trends:

Focusing More on Patients: The prochlorperazine maleate market is moving more and more in the direction of patient-centered treatment. Understanding patient preferences, needs, and treatment outcomes is becoming more important to healthcare practitioners and pharmaceutical businesses. As a result of this trend, patient satisfaction and treatment effectiveness are increased through the creation of patient-friendly formulations, enhanced drug delivery methods, and tailored treatment plans.

Adoption of Digital Health Solutions: The market for prochlorperazine maleate is seeing an increase in the incorporation of digital health solutions. Monitoring patient symptoms, improving medication adherence, and enabling remote consultations are all made possible by digital technologies including mobile applications, wearable technology, and telemedicine platforms. Better patient participation, real-time monitoring, and more effective healthcare delivery are made possible by these technologies, which enhance healing.

Growing Demand for Generic Prochlorperazine Maleate: The market is witnessing an increased demand for generic prochlorperazine maleate due to its cost-effectiveness. Generic versions of prochlorperazine maleate provide affordable options for patients and healthcare systems, particularly in regions with price-sensitive markets. This trend is driven by cost containment efforts and the expiration of patent protection for branded formulations.

Detailed Segmentation of Prochlorperazine Maleate Market:

By Indication : Nausea and Vomiting Management Vertigo Mental Health Disorders (e.g., Schizophrenia)

By Dosage Form : Oral Tablets Rectal Suppositories Injectable Formulations

By Distribution Channel : Hospital Pharmacies Retail Pharmacies Online Pharmacies

By End User : Hospitals Clinics Ambulatory Surgical Centers Homecare Settings



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Prochlorperazine Maleate Market Regional Insights

North America: With a market share of more than 40% in 2022, North America will continue to be the prochlorperazine maleates largest market. The market for prochlorperazine maleate is large, especially in the United States. The area benefits from a sophisticated healthcare system, a thriving pharmaceutical sector, and a sizable patient base. The demand for prochlorperazine maleate in this area is influenced by the high occurrence of illnesses that call for antiemetic medication, like chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting.

Europe: With a market share of more than 30% in 2022, Europe will be the second-largest market for prochlorperazine maleate. Prochlorperazine maleate is also well-known in Europe. Healthcare systems in affluent nations like the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Italy place a lot of focus on treating symptoms like nausea and vomiting. Prochlorperazine maleates market expansion in Europe is supported by the presence of a significant patient population and the accessibility of a wide array of healthcare services.

Asia Pacific: With a market share of more than 20% in 2022, Asia Pacific is the region with the fastest-growing demand for prochlorperazine maleate. The prochlorperazine maleate market is expanding significantly in the Asia Pacific region. The market is expanding as a result of elements such the increased prevalence of chronic diseases, rising healthcare costs, and expanding access to healthcare facilities. Prochlorperazine maleate market expansion in this area is largely attributed to nations like China, Japan, India, and Australia.

Table of Contents with Major Points:

Executive Summary

Introduction

Key Findings

Recommendations

Definitions and Assumptions

Executive Summary

Market Overview

Definition of Prochlorperazine Maleate Market

Market Dynamics

Drivers

Restraints

Opportunities

Trends and Developments

Key Insights

Key Emerging Trends

Key Developments Mergers and Acquisition

New Product Launches and Collaboration

Partnership and Joint Venture

Latest Technological Advancements

Insights on Regulatory Scenario

Porters Five Forces Analysis

Qualitative Insights Impact of COVID-19 on Global Prochlorperazine Maleate Market

Supply Chain Challenges

Steps taken by Government/Companies to overcome this impact

Potential opportunities due to COVID-19 outbreak

Conclusion

Appendix

Data Sources

Abbreviations

Disclaimer

TOC Continued!

We Offer Customized Report, Click @

https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-customization/6005

Why Choose Coherent Market Insights?

 Identified business opportunities  Our market research report can be used to analyze potential markets and new products. It can give information about customer needs, preferences, and attitudes. Also, it compare products and services.

 A clear understanding of your customers  A market report gives companys marketing department an in-depth picture about customers needs and wants. This knowledge can be used to improve products, prices, and advertising.

 Clear data-driven insights  Our Market research encompasses a wide range of activities, from determining market size and segment to forecasting demand, and from identifying competitors to monitoring pricing. All of these are quantified and measurable which means that gives you a clear path for building unique decisions based on numbers.

Explore More Related Insights:

Pneumococcal Vaccines Market Analysis

U.S. Contract Research Organization (CROs) Market

Elastomeric Infusion Pumps Market

Prosthetic Heart Valves Market

Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Treatment Market

Viscosupplementation Market

Electrosurgical Devices Market

Orthopedic Braces & Support, Casting & Splints Market

Medical Sensors Market

Drug Eluting Stents Market

Lidocaine Ointment Market

Mechanical Ventilators Market

Respiratory Devices Market

Calcium Pantothenate Market

Memory Enhancement Drugs Market
Media Sector DRC Assessment

USAID/DRC Mission Strategic Support Program

Short Term Assignment

REPUBLICATION

SoCha and MSSP Overview

SoCha is an international development company based in the United States with field offices in Kinshasa and Goma, the Democratic Republic of Congo. Our name is based on a combination of the words Social and Change. We provide a variety of professional services to multilateral and bilateral donors, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and global clients that need analytical and technical services. In the last decade, weve delivered 50 contracts to 17 clients in 28 countries that address global health, economic growth, agriculture and trade, education, biodiversity and climate change, urban programs, women in development, youth, and collaborative partnerships.

SoCha is contracted to provide technical and advisory services to the United States Agency for International Development in the Democratic Republic of Congo (USAID/DRC) on the 5-year Mission Strategic Support Program (MSSP). MSSP works to strengthen Mission strategic monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) systems; manage high quality data; provide geo-intelligence; produce rigorous analyses that inform decision making; institutionalize collaborating, learning, and adapting (CLA) practices; expand localization through targeted and deliberate capacity building; generate action-oriented data visualizations and communications; and provide Mission personnel with third-party monitoring in areas they cannot access.

Background

The current USAID Media Sector Development Activity (MSDA) implemented since July 2019 promotes citizen participation and engagement in the elections and political processes. It does so by i) Increasing accurate and reliable information on electoral and political processes to Congolese citizens; ii) Strengthening the capacity of journalists and community radio outlets to produce and air news and information on the electoral and political processes as the situation develops; iii) Strengthening the capacity of electoral CSOs to advocate for and communicate about electoral reforms and processes, and iv) Supporting existing youth movements and their online platforms to reduce disinformation on elections and political processes.

Among its major achievements in the past year, MSDA has a) developed the skills and knowledge of hundreds of journalists, civil society and political party representatives on fact-checking particularly in Kinshasa, Lubumbashi and Bukavu through trainings, b) held roundtable debates that provided an opportunity for citizens to access information on the elections, c) engaged with mostly youth and women audiences through a combination of radio program and rumor bulletins shared through social media platforms (thus creating a pathway for promoting active citizen participation in the electoral process), d) funded the ideas of several hackathons to create two major apps - on the electoral process and on electoral information (the latter for CSOs use only), e) launched a rumor-tracking dashboard that collected more than 300 election- related rumors and produced bulletins that identify and debunk rumors, f) identified 70 WhatsApp groups with around 17,000 members, 13 Facebook groups and 107 influencers popular on social media platforms that will be engaged when distributing social media content addressing hate speech, fake news and misinformation cases related to the electoral process.

USAID/DRC/DRG is looking at further support to this program that would enable the mission to respond to further advancing media freedoms in the DRC by overcoming or softening pending legal challenges, improving the capacity of traditional and new media outlets, and prevention of and resilience to disinformation. USAID/DRC/DRG is also looking forward to designing the next media program and activities where the recommendations of this Assessment will be used.

Scope of Work

Objectives Of The Assignment

The objective of this assessment will be to prepare a robust analysis of the media landscape in DRC, identifying the broader needs of the sector/s and provide recommendations on possible areas for USAID programmatic interventions that will advance the objective of defending and expanding independent media.

MSSP is seeking a local team leader with a strong background in the education sector and experience in conducting qualitative and quantitative studies to lead this study. The study aims to inform the future design of school funding programs that lead to improvements in education outcomes for low-income populations. The team leader will perform the following tasks during the assignment.

Specific Objectives

The specific objectives of this assessment include:

Assess the media landscape in the DRC including critical capacities and challenges to media effectiveness and development.

Identify lessons learned and persisting gaps from USAID past and ongoing media programs, including MSDA, to inform the design and implementation of USAID/DRCs future media program.

Purpose of the consultancy

MSSP is seeking a Team Leader with strong expertise in coordinating and leading studies to support the implementation of Media sector assessment in the DRC. The Team Leader will work with the Local Firm to ensure the effective implementation of the assessment across six provinces. The assessment findings will inform the development of USAID/DRCs future media program.

Task 1: Conduct preliminary consultations and desk review and develop an Inception Report

The Team Leader shall develop an Inception report with a detailed methodology of the assessment. This Inception report will be developed in collaboration with MSSP, and the Local Firm. The Inception report shall describe the methodology, the geographical scope, stakeholder mapping, data collection tools, data collection procedure; data management and analysis, implementation plan, quality assurance; potential limitations, risks, and mitigation measures etc.

Develop the data collection tool:

The Team Leader will develop an assessment matrix specifying for each assessment question and sub-question: the data source, data collection method, location, timeline, responsibility.

The team leader will also develop the data collection tools (roundtable discussion guide and reporting template, key informant interview (KII) and focus group discussion guides) during the inception phase.

Task 2: Conduct an in-depth desk review

The Team Leader will collate information already known to inform discussions during the Media Ecosystem Roundtable.

The desk review will aim to inform the consultation and will focus on key articles, reports, and publications of interest related to media development, media and democracy, and journalism-related topics in the national context. The consultant should select the existing publications, critically analyze them, and focus on explaining findings to a general audience.

Task 3: Conduct the Media Ecosystem Roundtable (MER)

The Consultant will lead the MER. This will be a two-day discussion session on key aspects of the media development situation in the DRC.

This meeting with civil society and media industry stakeholders will result in an overview of the media situation in the country, providing key information on the three main areas of the media sector assessment, namely: 1) the political economy of the media; 2) institutions, journalistic professionalism, and managerial professionalism; and 3) audiences: access and inclusion.

Findings from the MER will be summarized, used to refine the assessment methodology and capitalized in the assessment report.

Task 4: Collect data for the assessment across the targeted provinces

Prior to data collection, the team leader will participate in the pre-testing, oversee the adaptation and finalization of the KIIs and FGDs guides with the Socha MSSP team based on feedback from the pilots testing.

In collaboration with the local firm, the team leader will collect data in Kinshasa and remotely oversee all the data collection by the local firm in the other selected provinces.

An estimated 53 key informant interviews will be conducted with the main stakeholders identified. 12 FGDs will be conducted with selected stakeholders, 2 in each targeted province.

Task 5: Develop a PPT to present preliminary findings

Just at the end of the data collection phase, the Team Leader will make a brief presentation of the preliminary findings of the study to MSSP and the mission. This presentation will enable her or him to identify any aspects that require further investigation during the analysis phase.

Task 6: Analyze the data collected

The Team Leader will work with the Local firm to ensure that all qualitative data collected will be transcribed by converting audio-recordings of interviews and FGDs to text format and all recordings will be transcribed verbatim (i.e., word-for-word). To facilitate the process, at the end of each interview and FGD, data captured in the audio-recorder will be readily transcribed into a Word document. Written notes and transcripts will be analyzed using content analysis. During the analysis, emerging themes, ideas, and concepts that emerged from the data will be identified and interpreted.

To answer each quality question, the related data will be grouped into small items and categories to facilitate analysis. Data analyzed will be accurately interpreted and a report developed highlighting the key findings, conclusions, and recommendations.

The Team Leader will need to ensure continuous analysis of all data through regular team meetings, as this iterative process will allow emerging issues to be explored. Collecting data from a variety of sources will allow the team to triangulate findings to generate robust study results.

Task 7: Develop a draft Assessment Report

The final report of this assessment to be developed by the Team Leader and its team will describe the strength of the evidence on which the conclusions were drawn, in order to support the reliability and validity of the Assessment. The report will reflect a rigorous, methodological, and thoughtful approach, with conclusions and recommendations based on the Assessment findings. The executive summary will be prepared in English and French as a stand-alone section of the final report to communicate key findings and recommendations to external audiences. The Team Leader will forward the report to MSSP and USAID for comments and feedback.

At a minimum, the final assessment report will be made up of the following sections: Table of Contents; Acknowledgement; Acronyms & Abbreviation; List of Tables; List of Figures, Executive Summary, Introduction, Background and Purpose, Methodology; Main Findings; Conclusions; Recommendations; Bibliography; and Annexes. Annexes will include, but not limited to data collection instruments, bibliography; list of people interviewed; terms of reference etc. Two versions of the report will be published: an internal version and an external version.

Task 8. Organize a dissemination workshop.

The team leader will liaise with MSSP and USAID/DRC to organize a dissemination workshop at which the results will be presented. Participants in this workshop will include key media sector stakeholders, representatives of USAID-supported media outlets and organizations, USAID representatives, IPs supporting media and CSOs in the DRC and other relevant stakeholders. The workshop will provide an opportunity to discuss the assessments findings and address any factual errors or misunderstandings.

A maximum of 35 people representing the key stakeholder groups will participate in the workshop. The workshop will be an opportunity to validate the results and recommendations of the study and to reach a consensus on the study. A workshop report will be developed and will be fed into the final Assessment report.

Task 9. Revise and submit finalize the report/ Reporting.

The Team Leader will consider the comments received and feedback from the workshop, revise and resubmit a final Assessment Report. MSSP will share a draft template for the study Report with the Team Leader. Two versions of the report will be prepared: an internal and external version for publication (a version of the internal report with sensitive information redacted for stakeholders).

Deliverables and Timeline

The period of performance for this assignment is from September to November 2023. However, the exact number of days for this assignment will be determined based on the Assessment Teams implementation plan and the commencement date will be agreed upon in the contract.

The main deliverables of this assignment and timeline are summarized below. The final documents and reports shall be submitted to MSSP in English.

Deliverables Deadline Preliminary consultations, preliminary desk review and inception report September 8, 2023 Desk review summary report September 29, 2023 Media Ecosystem Roundtable Summary Report October 9, 2023 Conduct and supervise field data collection October 21, 2023 Preliminary findings presentation October 23, 2023 Data analysis October 31, 2023 Draft Report November 4, 2023 Final presentation November 22, 2023 Final Report November 28, 2023

Required Qualifications and Competencies

Advanced degree (Masters/PhD in Communication/Journalism, Social Sciences, international relations, human rights, media law, governance, Political Sciences, or a closely related field.

Demonstrated in-depth knowledge of the media sector in the DRC.

Previous experience in carrying out works or studies including analysis of the media sector is an asset.

Previous experience in managing a team and coordinating qualitative data collection.

Excellent organizational skills and ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks.

At least 5 years experience leading studies and surveys and expertise in qualitative data analyses (familiarity with qualitative data analysis software: NVivo, Atlas.ti etc.)

Previous experience synthesizing and analyzing large amounts of qualitative data with the ability to produce high-quality reports in English.

Professional fluency in French, and English is required.

Strong writing and interpersonal communication skills.

How to apply:

Interested Consultants should submit their application which should contain:

Cover letter (1 page) explaining why you are the most suitable candidate for this assignment.

Updated CV to include qualifications/competencies.

Copies of similar studies the Consultant has authored.

To submit your application, please apply directly on our recruitment page on our website, using this link :

https://jobs.socha.net/media-sector-drc-assessment-usaid-drc-mission-strategic-support-program-short-term-assignment/08/04/2023/



Candidates will only be considered if they apply directly on our website. The deadline for submitting applications is September 30, 2023. Review of applications will be on a rolling basis.

Evaluation of Applications

Applications will be first screened and only candidates meeting the minimum criteria will progress to the pool for short listing. Shortlisted candidates will then be assessed and scored against the technical evaluation criteria and interviews will be conducted accordingly.
by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, August 17, 2023

A new report by advertising analytics company Adalytics is sparking calls for an investigation into YouTube's privacy practices.

The report, released Thursday and promptly characterized by Google as flawed, largely deals with potential tracking of users who watch YouTube videos aimed at children.

Adalytics makes numerous claims in the 200-plus page report, including that Google sets cookies on the devices of viewers who watch those videos.

Adalytics specifically writes that Google has been observed to appear to set long-lasting 'advertising' related cookies on the browsers of consumers watching YouTube videos that are clearly labeled as 'for kids.'

Cookies can be used to track web users and serve them with personalized ads -- which could potentially violate the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). That law effectively prohibits businesses from knowingly deploying behavioral advertising techniques on children younger than 13, without parental consent.

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But cookies can also be used for analytics, fraud prevention and other advertising-related activity that doesn't violate the law.

Some Google critics, including Fairplay (formerly Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood) on Thursday called for the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether the company is following the law, or complying with its obligations under a prior settlement.

In 2019, Google agreed to pay $170 million to settle FTC charges that YouTube collected data from children younger than 13; that settlement also required the company to develop a system aimed at ensuring adherence to the children's privacy law.

Senators Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) also said the Adalytics report warranted a new FTC investigation.

For its part, Google unequivocally denies using cookies for any purpose prohibited by the federal children's privacy law.

Todays new Adalytics 'report' makes completely false claims and draws uninformed conclusions based solely on the presence of cookies, which are widely used in these contexts for the purposes of fraud detection and frequency capping -- both of which are permitted under COPPA, Google managing director Brian Albert wrote Thursday on LinkedIn.

Dan Taylor, vice president for global ads at Google, posted on X (formerly Twitter) that Adalytics' study was flawed, and its research faulty.

He specifically noted that the presence of cookies doesn't mean the company is personalizing ads.

Cookies are permitted under COPPA for statistical reporting, for spam and fraud detection and for frequency capping. They are critical to YouTube creators monetization which encourages a rich diversity of content on YouTube, Taylor wrote.

Last month Adalytics said in a separate report that Google frequently violated its standards for placing video ads on outside publishers' sites. Google also disputes that report.
by Teresa Buyikian , August 17, 2023

Nationwide pancake chain IHOP has recently released its first campaign for IHOP Coffee at home. The brand launched its coffee, in Signature Blend, Buttery Syrup and Chocolate Chocolate Chip flavors, in grocery and similar outlets through a partnership with Kraft Heinz in April of this year.

The campaign, created by New York agency VMLY&R, highlights the indulgence of drinking IHOP coffee at home, with everyday vignettes of people enjoying their morning Joe. In one online video, a pigtailed woman sits in her kitchen enjoying a cup (emblazoned with a painting of her dog dressed as a vintage English gentleman complete with monocle and bow tie) of IHOP coffee. Behind her is the same wall-size painting of the dog, and she also wears a T-shirt with the same dogs image. After she explains she had all these items specially made, she shrugs and says, "We like what we like. The voiceover reads Unapologetically indulgent IHOP Coffee at home. Just sip and smile."

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The campaign features multiple online videos, TikTok, organic and paid social executions, all highlighting the innocent pleasures of a coffee drinker.

Marketing Daily spoke with Kaitlin Roe, director of marketing-U.S. coffee for The Kraft Heinz Company, about IHOPs new retail campaign.

What was the inspiration for the campaign?

With brand equity that spans every generation, IHOP is well-positioned to spread joy in the seemingly serious coffee category with a little fun amongst millennials and Gen Z-ers. Now more than ever, people are looking for joy, and believe that there should be no such thing as a guilty pleasure, especially with their morning cup of coffee. Since IHOP is known for its iconic and delicious pancake flavors,  we lean into that level of morning pleasure. You can like what you like and not be afraid to let everyone know. In fact, be proud of those little creature comforts. They are what make us all unique humans.

How does this campaign, and the media used, reflect the IHOP brand?

Campaign assets reflect on the innocent pleasures in life, that seamlessly connect back to IHOPs brand purpose of serving joy in and out of their restaurants each day and playing off indulgence and our  pancake-inspired coffee flavors. The media used strives to encourage the audience to unapologetically indulge in their choices and simply do what makes them feel joyous and grounded. It was key for IHOP Coffee to make cultural connections with millennials and Gen-Zers, which led to the focus on online media placements.
by Fern Siegel , August 18, 2023

Highdive named Megan Lally CEO. Previously, she was a managing partner at the company she co-founded.

"Megan has always been the leader of this company, and now were making it official," said Chad Broude, co-Chief Creative Officer and co-owner at Highdive.

New agency clients include Dollar Shave Club and State Farm. Its roster of existing clients include Jersey Mikes, Boost Mobile, Beam Suntory and Lay's.

Lally joined Highdive in 2016. Prior to that, she held posts at various agencies, such as Leo Burnett and DDB, where she worked on award-winning campaigns for Allstate, Donate Life America, and Capital One.

"Her passion is infectious and she makes everyone around her want to be the best version of themselves," said Mark Gross, Highdives co-founder-co-Chief creative Officer.

In the last year, the agency reported a 20% year-over-year growth and grew to 100+ employees.
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, August 18, 2023

A federal judge on Friday dismissed claims that Meta Platforms wrongly tracks smartphone users who access the web through Facebook's and Instagram's in-app browser.

U.S. District Court Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin hasn't yet issued an opinion spelling out her reasons for throwing out the claims. Her order allows the smartphone users to amend their allegations and bring them again by Sept. 18.

The ruling comes in a class-action complaint brought last year by Wayne Mitchell and other Facebook users who claimed Meta violates the federal wiretap law, as well as various California state laws, through its in-app browser.

Mitchell and the others sued soon after security researcher Felix Krause reported that Meta can track Facebook and Instagram mobile users who click on links to ads, retailers and other sites. Meta is able to do so because its apps automatically open a Meta browser when people click on in-app links; that browser then injects tracking code into those outside sites, according to Krause.

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The Instagram app injects their JavaScript code into every website shown, including when clicking on ads, he wrote. Even though the injected script doesnt currently do this, running custom scripts on third-party websites allows them to monitor all user interactions, like every button & link tapped, text selections, screenshots, as well as any form inputs, like passwords, addresses and credit card numbers.

Krause added that Meta told him the injected code helps to aggregate events such as online purchases, and that the code respects an Apple setting that doesn't allow developers to track users without their explicit consent.

Meta in March urged the judge to throw out the case at an early stage, arguing that the lawsuit's central allegations -- that the company monitors all activity by users in in-app browsers , and that it violates Apple's no-tracking policy -- weren't supported by Krause's blog post.

Without those allegations, plaintiffs are left only with the Krause Posts generalized concern that a custom in-app browser could be used to monitor everything a user does, or plaintiffs own speculation that Meta could be doing so through the in-app browser, the company wrote.
After the 2018 flop Thugs of Hindostan, Aamir Khan delivered his second disaster in a row with Laal Singh Chaddha, an official remake of Hollywood film Forrest Gump.

Soon after the trailer of the film was released, many social media users criticised Aamirs performance in it. And looks like they werent the only ones who felt Aamir was overdoing it.

At the launch of his latest book One: The Story of the Ultimate Myth, former filmmaker and Aamir Khans cousin brother Mansoor Khan opened up about the failure of Laal Singh Chaddha.

 Aamir Khan Productions

He said that after watching the film days before its release, he had told Aamir that his acting in the film is over the top. However, Aamir wasnt convinced with his take as he felt that his cousin is a bit subtle in his approach and hence he may have felt that way.



But, later, SS Rajamouli bluntly said to the actor after a private screening, Aamir, kitna overacting kiya hai.

Mansoor told PTI, Aamir has a great sense of humour. So one day he laughingly tells me, When you told me it was over the top, I said, ok, you are a subtle guy which is why you might have felt that way. But when someone like Rajamouli tells me overacting lag raha hai, I said to myself, Isko bhi lag raha hai toh kiya hi hoga (If he also feels so then it must be).

He added that he gave the feedback to Aamir well before others, I liked the script. I think writer Atul Kulkarni did a fine job of it. Yes, Aamir, I believe, went over the top with his expressions. I mean the character is not a jerk, not someone suffering with dyslexia or anything else. He is a bit odd but thats about it. I loved Tom Hanks in the original (Forrest Gump), he was so minimal with his expressions and portrayal of the character. Of course, I did tell this to Aamir.

 Vamsi Shekar Instagram

Laal Singh Chaddha was released amid massive controversy with many people calling for its boycott on social media but Aamir was unfazed by it. Mansoor stated, He told me if the movie is good it will work despite the boycott calls. The failure of Laal Singh Chaddha was indeed a setback for him but then he has faced many such setbacks in his life  both professional and personal. He is very passionate about cinema and is motivated to work harder.



Directed by Advait Chandan of Secret Superstar fame, Laal Singh Chaddha co-starring Kareena Kapoor Khan could only make a poor Rs 58.73 crore in India and Rs 129.64 crore worldwide.

 Manav Manglani Instagram

As for Mansoor Khan, he has helmed films like Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, Akele Hum Akele Tum and Josh, which was his final film as a director.


The Coast Guard has updated its guidance on sexual assault response and prosecution following changes to military law that gave military attorneys, not commanders, the responsibility to decide whether such cases should be prosecuted.

The changes, which also give broader access to services to former cadets and recruits who were victims of sexual assault, follow a series of failures by the service to investigate cases of rape and assault at the Coast Guard Academy and elsewhere.

In April, the Coast Guard updated its Sexual Assault Prevention, Response and Recovery Program, known as SAPRR, in response to the fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, and in anticipation of an executive order by President Joe Biden, that required the services to establish independent counsel to review and oversee serious crimes, including sexual assault, stripping commanders of that decision authority.

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The service announced Thursday that it has established the changes to comply with the order, saying that for all offenses covered under it that occur on or after Dec. 27, a special trial counsel, working under the Coast Guard's Office of the Chief Prosecutor, will have "exclusive authority" to exercise court-martial jurisdiction in serious crimes.

The Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force have established their new special trial counsel offices, which also will assume authority over prosecution decisions on Dec. 27. Beginning Jan. 1, 2025, that prosecution authority will expand to include sexual harassment cases.

The Coast Guard also gave its Office of the Chief Prosecutor exclusive jurisdiction in deciding whether any misconduct by a victim, bystander or witness concurrent with an alleged assault, such as drug use, intoxication or dereliction of duty, should be pursued by the legal system -- a move that is designed to encourage reporting and discourage retaliation by commanders, who currently have that authority, against those who step forward.

Defense Department surveys have found that victims and witnesses may be reluctant to report an incident of sexual assault or harassment, because they fear retribution or prosecution for violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice that occurred alongside the alleged assault.

Via a Coast Guard-wide message, Rear Adm. Dana Thomas, assistant commandant for health, safety and work-life, also announced several additional changes designed to protect victims during an investigation of sexual assault.

Under the updates, special victims' counsel may now attend the crisis intervention team meetings that are required to be held within 24 hours of a victim filing a report of an assault.

Previously, such attorneys weren't listed among the group of "stakeholders" who are supposed to meet to discuss the incident, provide services to the victim and determine a way forward.

Thomas also clarified the role of commanders during these meetings, noting that "certain matters" should not be discussed, such as command legal advice or case disposition. The new regulation also encourages the team to protect the victim.

"The members should also take every precaution to safeguard the victim's privacy, particularly with regards to details about the victim's medical and mental health care," the new policy states.

Notably, the update to the Coast Guard's sexual assault response policies also provides all sexual assault, prevention, response and recovery services to former Coast Guard Academy cadets and recruits.

Previously, cadets and recruits who did not graduate were only eligible for information and referral to community support, not command support, investigations, legal counsel and medical care under the service's SAPRR program.

The change follows revelations that the service did not take corrective action when it failed to handle cases of sexual assault and harassment at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy for years, and then again did little to pursue the crimes or support victims following a six-year internal investigation into the problem.

The investigation results, which were never publicly revealed by the Coast Guard and were first reported by CNN, identified 62 substantiated incidents of rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment at the academy or by cadets from 1988 through 2006.

Most of the alleged perpetrators never were criminally investigated, and those who remained in the service went on to become senior officers. Many of the alleged victims "left the academy after reporting their assaults" with devastating impacts on their health, relationships and non-military careers, according to the report.

Last year, the House Homeland Security Committee found that the service also failed to follow required procedures after a report of sexual assault by a recruit at the Coast Guard Training Center Cape May in New Jersey in 2018.

Coast Guard recruit Ke'ha Maldonado was dropped from training as a result of "acculturation difficulties," according to the Coast Guard. But the day before he was scheduled to leave Cape May, he filed a sexual assault report, alleging he had been attacked in a barracks shower just weeks into training and his poor performance was related to that incident.

An 18-month investigation by the Homeland Security Committee found that Maldonado did not get the support he needed or the response required by law to his allegations.

In a Dec. 16 letter to Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Linda Fagan, committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said the service failed to submit a Sexual Assault Incident Report form within 72 hours as required, had discharged Maldonado without proving appropriate trauma care and knew about the inappropriate behavior, having "allowed it to perpetuate."

In a letter in March to Thompson, Fagan promised that the Coast Guard would update its policies to ensure that separating service members who are the victims of sexual assault would receive appropriate care and that all former service members who had been assaulted would have access to SAPRR services and support.

Reports of sexual assault within the Coast Guard have dropped, from 245 in fiscal 2020 to 202 in fiscal 2021, according to a report by the service to Congress. In fiscal year 2021, a dozen cases were prosecuted, resulting in eight convictions.

While reports of sexual assault are on the decline in the Coast Guard, the Defense Department's 2021 Workplace and Gender Relations Survey of Military Members found that assaults may be on the rise. That year, 3.3% of Coast Guard active-duty women said they had been sexually assaulted, up from 3.1% in 2018 and 2% in 2016.

Biden signed the executive order updating the Uniform Code of Military Justice on July 28.

-- Patricia Kime can be reached at Patricia.Kime@Military.com. Follow her on Twitter and Threads @patriciakime

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As an Alabama senator's ongoing protest over the Pentagon's abortion leave policy has left three service chief positions vacant, a key question remains: How many service members have actually used the policy to seek abortions?

Nearly six months after it was implemented, the Pentagon can't answer that question.

That's because it only asked the military services this month to start tracking data on use of the policy, which covers travel and leave for service members who need abortions or fertility treatments. The Pentagon hadn't collected it before despite Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville's months-long hold on Senate confirmations over what he claims could be thousands of service member abortions. That hold has left the Army, Navy and Marine Corps without permanent uniformed leaders.

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On Aug. 1, Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Gil Cisneros issued a memo directing the military departments and other Defense Department components to set up ways to collect and report data on cost and usage of the policy, a defense official told Military.com this week.

The services have until January to provide the data to Cisneros' office, and the figures are expected to reflect cost and usage through Dec. 31, the official added.

The standoff with Tuberville has no apparent end in sight, and the effects have been racking up. Most recently, the chief of naval operations stepped down Monday, leaving only an acting chief to lead the service.

"While we are monitoring the implementation of these policies through existing processes, we do not currently have a way to accurately capture the data, as the services need time to refine their systems to capture this information," the official said. "To ensure accurate data collection, we are providing the military services time to develop and implement the tracking mechanisms."

Officials would not answer a follow-up question about why the direction to track the data came months after the policy was implemented. They also would not provide a copy of the memo.

In mid-February, the Pentagon announced it would allow service members to take administrative leave and be reimbursed for travel expenses if they need to go far from where they are based in order to get reproductive health care that is not covered by the military. The benefits were available starting in March.

The policy was crafted in response to last year's Supreme Court ruling that allowed states to ban abortion, raising concerns that female service members who do not get to choose where they are stationed could lose access to reproductive health care if they are based in states that have since passed bans or new restrictions.

While most of the attention on the Pentagon policy has been related to abortion, the policy also applies to assisted reproductive technology, such as in vitro fertilization.

Shortly after the Pentagon's February announcement, Tuberville announced he was placing a "hold" on all general and flag officer nominees until the department drops the policy. The hold has meant that hundreds of normally non-controversial military nominees have been unable to be quickly confirmed like they usually are.

As the hold drags on, about 300 generals and admirals have had their promotions stalled, and the Army, Navy and Marine Corps are all being led by acting chiefs, because replacements weren't confirmed before the previous chiefs hit their legally mandated term limits. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff will also be empty by the end of September if the standoff isn't resolved.

But even as vacancies mount, both sides appear to be digging in their heels.

Asked Tuesday whether the Pentagon would be open to changing the policy in any way to compromise with Tuberville, deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said, "No."

"A service member in Alabama deserves to have the same access to health care as a service member in California as a service member stationed in Korea," she told reporters at a briefing. "We've been very clear we don't have anything to negotiate with here."

Tuberville, for his part, has not backed down from his insistence that the Pentagon fully repeal the policy or Congress enshrine it in law.

"Secretary [Lloyd] Austin could end the holds TODAY if he wanted to," Tuberville spokesperson Steven Stafford said in an email to reporters Wednesday responding to Singh. "But the Biden administration seems to think that illegally spending taxpayer dollars on abortion is more important than getting their senior military nominees confirmed."

Tuberville contends that the Pentagon will go from paying for roughly a dozen abortions a year performed only in cases of rape, incest or when the mother is dying from the pregnancy, to potentially thousands of abortions performed for any reason.

"It just makes me that much stronger to hear people complain about this, knowing that deep down somewhere, there is a soft part in their hearts for 4,000 to 5,000 unborn babies who will never breathe life on this Earth," Tuberville said on the Senate floor last month.

Supporters of the policy, meanwhile, have cast the numbers of troops expected to use the policy as negligible compared to the overall size of the force and $800 billion defense budget.

"The cost is very much de minimis," Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told reporters last month, adding that the number of troops expected to use the policy is "very, very small."

Tuberville's projection is based on an estimate from a 2022 Rand Corp. report that between 2,573 and 4,136 active-duty service women have abortions annually. But the authors of the report have said it is likely fewer women would take advantage of the Pentagon policy since some are stationed in states without abortion restrictions and others will be uncomfortable disclosing health information to their commanders.

It is unclear if the Pentagon has a more accurate projection. Asked for a projection, the defense official who spoke to Military.com pointed to the Rand Corp. report figure, and officials did not answer a follow-up question on whether they believe every service member who gets an abortion will use the policy.

Still, once the Pentagon gets cost and usage data from the services, the numbers will not show how many troops used the policy to get an abortion compared with other reproductive health care. While service members who want to use the travel stipend and leave have to disclose they are getting some form of reproductive health care, they do not have to specify whether it is for an abortion.

Further, the military will track the number of instances of travel or administrative absences rather than the number of individuals who use the policy "due to privacy concerns," the defense official said.

"Tracking of the data will support effective monitoring and oversight," the official said, "and help ensure proper implementation of these policies by service members, dependents and their commands while responsibly managing taxpayer dollars."

-- Rebecca Kheel can be reached at rebecca.kheel@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @reporterkheel.

-- Konstantin Toropin can be reached at konstantin.toropin@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @ktoropin.

Related: 'Unprecedented' Promotion Hold Leads to 3rd Service Without a Confirmed Chief
SAN DIEGO  A Camp Pendleton Marine accused of having sex with a missing 14-year-old girl found in his barracks believed she was in her early 20s, his defense attorneys argued Thursday.

An attorney for Pfc. Avery Rosario said during a brief preliminary hearing in a military courtroom at Camp Pendleton that the Marine met the girl on Tinder, a dating app for adults, where her profile said she was 21 years old.

The argument by the defense capped a brief hearing in which no witnesses were called, and much of the evidence  which includes conversations on Tinder and Instagram  was not shown. The evidence was filed directly with the Marine colonel tasked with recommending whether Rosario should face court-martial for allegations of sex with a minor.

No decision was made Thursday. The prosecution and defense will each file further arguments in writing, with the last due Aug. 25.

Rosario is charged with three counts of sexual assault and two charges of violating liberty restrictions  leaving base without permission  according to charges base officials released Tuesday. The charges indicate the alleged crimes or violations happened June 27.

The next day, military police at Camp Pendleton found the girl in a barracks. The military notified the county Sheriff's Department, and the girl was reunited with her family.

According to the Sheriff's Department, the teen's grandmother said the girl ran away from home June 9. She had run away on previous occasions, but quickly returned. With the teen still unaccounted for on June 13, the grandmother reported her missing.

The story of the missing girl turning up on the base drew public attention when the girl's aunt posted a TikTok video alleging the girl had been trafficked.

Thursday's hearing did not give much insight into the prosecution's case. The prosecutor did not give a closing argument during the hearing, opting to instead handle it all in writing.

But one of Rosario's defense attorneys gave a closing argument in the small courtroom, where several news reporters were present.

Defense attorney Capt. Katherine Malcolm said her client had "a genuine belief that the woman he met on Tinder apps was 21 years old." Malcolm said the girl's profile stated, "I know I look young, but hey when I'm 30, I'll look like I'm in my 20s."

Malcolm said friends of Rosario told investigators they were under the impression that the woman was in her early 20s. At least one of them said the girl told him she was 22.

The defense attorney said the girl initiated the Tinder conversations with Rosario on June 26, and she also suggested they move their conversation over to Instagram.

Malcolm said the girl's credibility is at issue. She said the girl told investigators she spent the night in a closet in the barracks, but Rosario's roommate said he found Rosario gone and the girl asleep in bed, snoring with the television on, Malcolm said.

The roommate kicked her out. She called Rosario, who returned from a work gathering and let her back into the room.

According to the defense, the girl told investigators she had been trafficked by a man named Hector for the last year, and said Hector was "pulling the strings." She said her "whole plan" was to get caught while on base, and that when she was found she would be finally safe.

Malcolm said the girl's actions "were not the actions of somebody looking to be rescued."

Evidence filed by prosecutors includes the girl's Tinder profile and conversations she and the Marine had on the app. Defense evidence included direct messages between their client and the girl.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service questioned Rosario right after the girl was found, then released him to his command pending charges. Rosario is with Combat Logistics Battalion 5, 1st Marine Logistics Group.

Rosario was taken into custody Aug. 1. He remained in custody Thursday.

2023 The San Diego Union-Tribune. Visit sandiegouniontribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
A Marine died during a nighttime live-fire exercise at Camp Pendleton, California, on Thursday, the service said in a statement.

The Marine, who was a student at the School of Infantry-West, was not named in the statement because, according to a Marine Corps spokesman, their next of kin were only notified Friday morning.

"An investigation into the circumstances of the death is ongoing and the command is fully cooperating with the investigation efforts," the statement added.

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The statement did not specify whether the death was firearm related.

The School of Infantry is the second stop for every Marine following graduation from basic training. The school is geared at training Marines on common combat skills and basic infantry tactics before many go on to receive their job-specific training.

The Marine Corps has two infantry schools -- School of Infantry-West at Camp Pendleton and School of Infantry-East at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.

The Marine Corps has had some issues with recruits dying during basic training over the last several years. Five Marine recruits have died at Parris Island in South Carolina in the last two years.

The death of one of those recruits -- Dalton Beals in 2021 -- led to a charge of negligent homicide against one of his drill instructors. A military jury found him not guilty in July.

The Marine Corps statement said that the school "is providing support to the family and peers of the deceased during this difficult time."

-- Drew Lawrence contributed to this report

-- Konstantin Toropin can be reached at konstantin.toropin@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @ktoropin.

Related: Marine Drill Instructor Charged in Hot Weather Death of Recruit
The Army has launched a program in two locations to help reserve members find child care services and help ease the burden of searching for qualified, licensed providers.

Service officials said Thursday that Army Reserve members in West Liberty, Iowa, and Clay County, Missouri, would now have access to WeeCare Company, a child care matching service that connects families with vetted providers.

"The Army recognizes the impact that child care has on the lives of our soldiers and their families," Army Deputy Chief of Staff for Installations Lt. Gen. Kevin Vereen said in a press release. "Through increased initiatives to identify and secure accessible and affordable child care options, we enable our military parents to fulfill their responsibilities without sacrificing the well-being of their children."

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A 2021 survey by the Military Family Advisory Network of 8,638 active-duty, reserve and National Guard members or their spouses, found that almost half said they needed child care, and 78% reported having trouble finding child care.

To assist service members with such a stressful task, the Defense Department has embraced several initiatives in the past several years, such as building new child development centers and offering hiring incentives and improved wages to attract providers to base centers.

In November, it will launch a program that allows active-duty personnel and reserve and National Guard members on federal orders to sign up for flexible spending accounts to help pay for child care, preschool, day camps and adult care.

The new Army program is designed to help its reserve soldiers find providers during drill weekends and training. An Army spokeswoman said the two locations were chosen as a result of consultations between Army leadership and Army Child and Youth Services program leaders working within the parameters of the intergovernmental agreements.

Communities and regional reserve commands enthusiastically volunteered to participate in this pilot, said Army spokeswoman Heather Hagan in an email to Military.com.

The pilot is expected to run for a year with an option to extend up to 9 years, Hagan added.

WeeCare Company says it connects families to the largest child care network in the U.S. through a mobile app. The company uses an advanced matching algorithm that provides real-time child care availability. The app also allows service members to find, tour and enroll in local child care facilities and programs.

The pilot was made possible through an intergovernmental support agreement with West Liberty and Clay County, which, in turn, selected WeeCare to help provide child care to Army Reserve members in their communities. The agreements are deals the military negotiates with state and local governments to improve support for service members living in those regions or areas.

The DoD and the military services allotted roughly $1.2 billion to provide child care services in fiscal 2020 for more than 212,000 dependent children, including 116,538 at on-base child development centers.

In a statement, Lt. Gen. Jody Daniels, commanding general of U.S. Army Reserve Command, said that shaping the Army Reserve requires support from the military and the community.

"We are grateful to the organizations participating in this unprecedented partnership for providing trusted, accessible, weekend child care to our soldiers and their families," Daniels said.

-- Patricia Kime can be reached at Patricia.Kime@Military.com. Follow her on Twitter and Threads @patriciakime.

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The Pentagon is planning a change that will allow applicants to use calculators on the military's entrance exam -- a timed test that gauges academic aptitude and dictates what jobs in the military, if any, they are qualified for, three defense officials told Military.com.

The change in the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, or ASVAB, could help relieve an ongoing recruiting slump, which is attributed to many young Americans not scoring high enough to qualify for enlistment. It would also put the ASVAB on par with how test-taking has evolved in the past decade, with calculators being widely used in math classes and on college entrance exams such as the ACT and SAT.

"We are taking a systematic approach, which will assess the impact of calculator use, and we are developing a way forward for calculator inclusion," one Pentagon official told Military.com.

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The Army, Navy and Air Force expect recruiting shortfalls this year, marking two years in a row that the services have failed to bring in what they consider are enough new recruits. The Marine Corps and Space Force are more isolated from recruiting woes, given the small size of those services.

The shortfalls are due to an amalgamation of issues -- but at the forefront is a shrinking pool of qualified young Americans, 17- to 24-year-olds, who are eligible to enlist. Many of those applicants are being turned away due to poor performance on the military's aptitude exam.

Last year, the Army launched its Future Soldier Preparatory Course, a two-track camp for applicants who came just shy of the service's standards for academic performance or body fat.

There, soldiers have 90 days to come into compliance. The Army can graduate about 12,000 soldiers from that course into basic training, making up much of the recruiting deficit it saw last year with enlistees who otherwise wouldn't have qualified for service.

The academic track -- applicants who struggle to hit education standards necessary for entrance -- makes up the lion's share of that course.

So far, the Army has graduated 9,216 students into basic training. Of that, 7,045 went through the academic track and 2,171 did the fitness course. During the academic portion, students raised their military exam scores an average of 18.5 points, according to data from the service.

It's unclear when calculators will be allowed to be used during the ASVAB. The internal debate in the Pentagon revolves around updating the ASVAB, a test that has stayed relatively stagnant for decades, as the ways young Americans learn and are tested in schools has continued to evolve. Part of that evolution has been wider use of calculators and other technology.

However, the move to allow calculators could result in some public backlash. One Defense Department official said some of the difficulty in crafting a policy allowing calculators has been a fear over whether lawmakers will characterize the Pentagon as lowering standards.

Republican lawmakers and some partisan commentators have increasingly bludgeoned the services as "woke" over its efforts to be more inclusive and cater to a wider demographic of service members, such as updated maternity uniforms for pregnant female troops.

Meanwhile, academic performance in U.S. public schools has steadily declined in the past decade, with the pandemic accelerating that decline, particularly in reading and math, and among students from low-income families.

Even with calculators, potential recruits could still face difficulties.

In the class of 2022, the ACT test performance -- the testing results used by colleges for admissions -- fell to its lowest levels in 30 years, with the average score being a 19.8 out of a possible 36. Less than a quarter of ACT test takers last year met all four subject area benchmarks, which are minimal thresholds that assess whether someone is ready for college.

Nearly half failed to hit a single benchmark in reading, math, science or English.

"These declines are not simply a byproduct of the pandemic," Janet Godwin, the CEO of ACT, said in a statement last year. "They are further evidence of longtime systemic failures that were exacerbated by the pandemic."

-- Steve Beynon can be reached at Steve.Beynon@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @StevenBeynon.

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One by one, the relatives of troops lost in the Korean War rose to tell in heart-wrenching detail why it was still so important for them and the nation, even after more than 70 years since their loved ones went missing, to identify their remains and bring them home.

"Danny Boy" will always be their song, said Brenda Lott, sister of Army Cpl. Daniel Dulin, who served with I Co., 3rd Battalion, 187th Regimental Combat Team. He was killed in action near the North Korean town of Opar-ri on Oct. 21, 1950, and is still unaccounted for, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, or DPAA.

"He was 18 years old" when he was lost, "and I was 6. He was my first love and my first grief," Lott said. "Sometimes people ask, 'Why do you keep doing this? It must be hard to keep doing this," going to briefings and pressing for answers, she said. "I say, 'No, it isn't hard. He's my brother.'"

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Another who told of her family's loss was Tracy Kramer, whose uncle, Pvt. 1st Class Wayne Franklin Elliott, went missing in action against the enemy on Oct. 29, 1952, while serving with G Co., 2nd Battalion, 179th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division.

Kramer said her father had "no acceptance of his brother's passing," and her mother kept sending him care packages even after the military declared he was dead. As for herself, Kramer said, "It's hard to believe you can miss someone you've never met so badly."

Kramer and Lott were among more than 500 family members of missing troops from the Korean War who attended an annual two-day DPAA briefing for them at an Arlington, Virginia, hotel on the status of efforts to identify remains already in DPAA custody and the thus-far fruitless attempts to get North Korea to allow renewed searches of known sites where Americans are believed to have fallen or were buried.

The DPAA total count for missing U.S. service members after the war was 8,157. The total that has been identified and accounted for was 665, leaving about 7,492 still unaccounted for, although that number has been changing.

DNA and forensics specialists with the DPAA and Armed Forces Medical Examiners Office were still working off the 55 boxes of remains turned over by North Korea as part of the "Singapore Summit" between then-President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un in 2018.

DPAA has also received permission from the Defense Department to disinter the remains of 872 service members from the Korean War who were buried as unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, known as the "Punchbowl."

At the meeting for the families Thursday, retired Army Master Sgt. Dominga Briones, of Victoria, Texas, held up a photo of the uncle she never knew -- Pvt. 1st Class Adelaido M. Solis, her mother's brother.

Solis served with B Co., 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division and was reported missing in action on Dec. 1, 1950, after his unit's withdrawal from Kunu-ri, North Korea. He is believed to have died in North Korean prisoner of war Camp No. 5 in April 1951, and he was among those buried as an unknown at the Punchbowl.

Last September, DPAA announced that Solis' remains had been identified through a combination of dental and anthropological analysis, and mitochondrial DNA analysis by the Armed Forces Medical Examiner. His funeral and burial last October in South Texas was at the San Jose Cemetery near Bloomington, Texas.

"He was 19 years old" and from a farming family, Briones said of her uncle Adelaido, and he had an older brother, Axildo Solis, who also served in Korea and came home to tell his younger brother that he should enlist.

"Mom always had pictures of the two brothers" on display in the house, Briones said, and from what she had heard of her uncle Adelaido, "he was a carefree soul, always kidding around."

In his remarks to the families and at a media roundtable, retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Kelly McKeague, the DPAA director, said there were three main sources for possible identifications of the missing from the Korean War -- remains recovered between about 1990 and 2005 when North Korea periodically allowed U.S. teams to search, the 55 boxes of remains turned over in July 2018 and the current disinterments from the Punchbowl.

"This is a very challenging, very complex mission" to account for the missing, McKeague told the families, and "we also share your frustration" at the slow progress in making identifications due to what he called "forces beyond our control" that "prevent us from giving you the answers you deserve."

The main obstacle was North Korea's refusal to cooperate or even communicate with DPAA on the possibility of resuming searches in North Korea, McKeague said.

In July 2018, when North Korea turned over 55 boxes of remains, McKeague was confident that U.S. recovery teams would soon be allowed to conduct searches there.

"Our collective goal is to commence field operations in the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] next spring," McKeague said at the time.

"We have not yet reached an agreement with the DPRK regarding future field recoveries. However, we are working closely with our DoD, State Department, and National Security Council partners on this matter," he said in a statement to the National League of POW/MIA Families and veterans groups.

But what had been seen as a possible opening to improved relations with North Korea quickly fell apart. McKeague said there were two meetings at Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone on renewed recoveries, with the last coming in March 2019, and there has been no contact since then.

"Sadly for us, every channel used since March 2019" has been a dead end," McKeague said, and the result is that some families can be optimistic that identification can be made from the remains on hand while others will be "less optimistic," but there is a possibility, "still a possibility," for the families that an accounting eventually will be made.

Mary Liverman has been clinging to that possibility over the decades for "Uncle Charles," Pvt. Charles E. Dewees, a recipient of the Silver Star who served with C Co., 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, and went missing on Sept. 30, 1951.

She recalled his last day at home spent at the beach in Long Beach, Calif., before leaving for the war. "I was 3 years old, but I remember snippets. My dad and Uncle Charles and Mom spread out blankets," and Uncle Charles "even let us bury him in the sand."

The next day, Charles was in uniform and pictures were taken. "Tears rolled down my grandmother's face," Liverman said, and as a young girl, she didn't quite understand what was happening. "The handshakes were so strong" among the men, she said, and she recalled her father telling Charles, "Do good, take care of yourself and come back to your mom and me. He said he would."

Then the family stood outside to watch the car that was taking Charles away to the war until it disappeared from view, Liverman said.

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.
Two dogs died aboard a Patriot Express flight between Osan Air Base in South Korea and Seattle on Thursday, roughly a year after the Air Force announced new policies following a string of pet deaths.

Jessica Brown, a spokeswoman for Air Mobility Command, told Military.com in an emailed statement that the dogs were found dead once the Patriot Express flight landed in Seattle. One was a French bulldog, and the other was an English bulldog; their names were not disclosed.

The dogs and their owners boarded their flight at Osan Air Base and had a four-hour stop at Misawa Air Base in Japan before their final landing in Seattle.

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During that time, the pets were off-loaded and connected with their owners to visit and walk them before passengers and pets were boarded, Brown said. While there was an additional delay after everyone was loaded due to the need to adjust the flight plan for weather, the pets were checked again prior to takeoff when they were found to be in good condition and with water.

Brown said Air Mobility Command leadership is analyzing the circumstances of this mission and did not have a timeline or a presumed cause of death for the two dogs.

Patriot Express, which is managed by Air Mobility Command, is a flight option for service members who receive permanent change of station, or PCS, orders and must uproot their lives to move around the world for their military careers. It is a free or relatively low-cost option compared to commercial airlines and allows for more flexibility than major airlines when it comes to traveling with pets.

Liz Hensel, the CEO and founder of Leave No Paws Behind USA -- a nonprofit that helps military families with the costs and logistics of transporting their pets when assigned to a new duty station -- was upset by the latest news.

I am disappointed and heartbroken for the family who lost their two dogs, Hensel told Military.com in an emailed statement. Not only is this unacceptable but it could have been completely avoidable. Service members shouldn't have to think, Is my pet going to survive this flight when PCSing.

Hensel shared a Facebook post that was circulating online from the owners that said the names of the dogs were Soju and Winter.

Losing one of them would be hard, but losing two, I have no words to say, the Facebook post from the owners read. Nothing will ever be the same for our family after today.

Air Mobility Command wouldnt confirm if the Facebook post was describing the incident on the Patriot Express flight.

AMC leaders were able to meet with the family this afternoon to express condolences, answer their questions and offer support, Air Mobility Command spokeswoman Lindsey Wilkinson told Military.com in an email.

In July 2022, the Air Force began reviewing its policies for transporting service members' pets across the globe following the deaths of four animals that summer during flights.

Gen. Mike Minihan, head of Air Mobility Command, said in a letter last year that the deaths were "unacceptable" and promised changes.

"As a pet owner with five overseas tours, I'm intimately aware of the risk, expense, and extreme concern when it comes to these important members of our families," Minihan wrote in a July 15 letter. "AMC is reviewing every aspect of Patriot Express pet travel, including equities beyond our responsibility, to further strengthen pet safety."

Air Mobility Command has transported nearly 46,000 pets for service members since 2017, with 16 dying during that time, the Air Force said in a statement last year.

The service said 14 were snub-nosed breeds of dog, which are more susceptible to long-term breathing problems and can't cool down as quickly in hot environments, according to the American Kennel Club.

Last year, on July 1, a 10-year-old Pomeranian mix named Kolbie owned by a Marine Corps family died from heatstroke during a Patriot Express flight in Japan. That same month, a French bulldog died in its travel crate on July 14 at the Kadena Air Base terminal in Okinawa, according to the military newspaper Stars and Stripes.

Minihan's letter last year and an Air Force statement at the time both mentioned an additional pet death in July, and also acknowledged that a dog had died earlier while traveling from Andersen Air Force Base to Alaska -- bringing the total to four animal deaths that summer.

Brown said Air Mobility Command has made multiple changes over the last year to improve the safety of our pets as they travel.

Recent improvements include allowing pets into its climate controlled terminals where they can stay with their owners until boarding; pets being loaded as late as possible; using air conditioning units to cool the lower compartment in the aircraft if and when available; making sure pets are not in the lower compartment for the full duration of the mission route; and putting them in at the latest time possible for the next segment of a flight.

There are trends of certain breeds, such as snub/short-nosed dogs, that are at greater risk for air transport, which is briefed to travelers prior to their travel, and travelers are required to acknowledge they've considered the risk, Brown said. A single pet fatality is felt across our command, but our initiatives have reduced fatalities approximately 60% from 2022.

-- Thomas Novelly can be reached at thomas.novelly@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomNovelly.

Related: After 4 Pets Die During PCS Flights, Air Force Reviewing Policies
THE HAGUE, Netherlands  The United States has given its approval for the Netherlands and Denmark to deliver F-16s to Ukraine, officials in Washington and Europe said Friday, in a major gain for Kyiv even though the fighter jets wont have an impact any time soon on the almost 18-month war.

It was not immediately clear when the first F-16s might enter the conflict but Ukrainian pilots will first have to undertake at least six months' training on the aircraft, according to officials.

Ukraine has long pleaded for the sophisticated fighter to give it a combat edge. It recently launched a long-anticipated counteroffensive against the Kremlins forces without air cover, placing its troops at the mercy of Russian aviation and artillery.

In eastern Ukraine, attack helicopter pilots welcomed the news. They said Russia has a clear advantage in the skies, but the introduction of modern fighter jets could dramatically shift the balance of power Kyivs way.

Ukrainian forces supporting infantry are using decades-old Soviet-era models, which are vulnerable to air-to-air missile attacks from Russian fighter jets, Capt. Yevgen Rakita, a spokesman for the 18th Army Aviation Brigade, told The Associated Press.

A modern war cannot be won without aviation (capabilities), Rakita said.

In making the decision on F-16 deliveries, Washington aims to ensure warplanes can be provided to Ukraine as soon as its pilots complete their training, according to a Biden administration official who was not authorized to comment and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

The official said U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken sent a letter to his Dutch and Danish counterparts earlier this week, offering formal assurance that the U.S. would fast-track approval of all requests from third parties to transfer F-16s to Ukraine.

Danish Defense Minister Jakob Ellemann-Jensen said Friday the training of Ukrainian pilots is starting this month.

A coalition of 11 Western countries  the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden and the United Kingdom  pledged in July to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16s.

Officials have previously said that Ukrainian pilots will need six to eight months of training.

Denmark will hand over some of its F-16s only after receiving its new F-35 jet fighters. The first four F-35s are due to be delivered on Oct. 1.

Washington's blessing for the plane donations to other countries is needed because the aircraft are made in the United States.

Ukraine's Western allies have at times moved slowly on granting Kyiv the military support it has requested.

President Joe Bidens authorization last May for allies to train Ukrainian forces on how to operate the warplanes, and eventually to provide the aircraft themselves, was preceded by months of debate in Washington and quiet talks with allies, officials said.

The administration had concerns that the move might escalate tensions with Russia. Also, U.S. officials argued that learning to fly and logistically support the advanced F-16 would be difficult. Eventually, the go-ahead came because the F-16s are required for Ukraines long-term security needs.

Though delivery is likely months away, Washington says the F-16s  like the advanced U.S. Abrams tanks  will be crucial in the long term as Kyiv faces down Russia.

Ukraine has been relying on older aircraft, such as Russian-made MiG29 and Sukhoi jets. F-16s have newer technology and targeting capabilities. They are also more versatile, experts say.

___

Kullab reported from eastern Ukraine and Olsen from Copenhagen. Aamer Madhani contributed from Washington and Jim Heintz from Tallinn, Estonia.
CAMP DAVID, Md.  The United States, Japan and South Korea have agreed to a new security pledge committing the three countries to consult with each other in the event of a security crisis or threat in the Pacific, according to Biden administration officials.

Details about the new duty to consult commitment emerged as President Joe Biden prepared Friday to welcome South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for a summit at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland.

The agreement is one of several joint efforts that the leaders are expected to announce at the daylong summit, as the three countries look to tighten security and economic ties amid increasing concerns about North Korea's persistent nuclear threats and China's provocations in the Pacific.

Suffice it to say, this is a big deal," Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Friday shortly before Kishida and Yoon were to arrive at Camp David. "It is a historic event, and it sets the conditions for a more peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific, and a stronger and more secure United States of America,"

Kishida, before departing Tokyo on Thursday, told reporters the summit would be a historic occasion to bolster trilateral strategic cooperation with Seoul and Washington.

I believe it is extremely meaningful to hold a Japan-U.S.-South Korea summit where leaders of the three countries gather just as the security environment surrounding Japan is increasingly severe, he said.

Before it even began, the summit drew harsh public criticism from the Chinese government.

The international community has its own judgment as to who is creating contradictions and increasing tensions, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters Friday.

Attempts to form various exclusive groups and cliques and to bring bloc confrontation into the Asia-Pacific region are unpopular and will definitely spark vigilance and opposition in the countries of the region, Wang said.

Sullivan pushed back against the Chinese concerns.

Its explicitly not a NATO for the Pacific, Sullivan said. This partnership is not against anyone, it is for something. It is for a vision of the Indo Pacific that is free, open, secure and prosperous.

The duty to consult pledge is intended to acknowledge that the three countries share fundamentally interlinked security environments" and that a threat to one of the nations is a threat to all," according to a senior Biden administration official. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the coming announcement.

Under the pledge, the three countries agree to consult, share information and align their messaging with each other in the face of a threat or crisis, the official said. The commitment does not infringe on each countrys right to defend itself under international law, nor does it alter existing bilateral treaty commitments between the U.S. and Japan and the U.S. and South Korea, the official added. The United States has more than 80,000 troops based in the two countries.

The summit is the first Biden has held during his presidency at the storied Camp David.

The retreat 65 miles (104.6 kilometers) from the White House was where President Jimmy Carter brought together Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in September 1978 for talks that established a framework for a historic peace treaty between Israel and Egypt in March 1979. In the midst of World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met at the retreat  then known as Shangri-La  to plan the Italian campaign that would knock Benito Mussolini out of the war.

Biden's focus for the gathering is to nudge the United States' two closest Asian allies to further tighten security and economic cooperation with each other. The historic rivals have been divided by differing views of World War II history and Japans colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

But under Kishida and Yoon, the two countries have begun a rapprochement as the two conservative leaders grapple with shared security challenges posed by North Korea and China. Both leaders have been upset by the stepped-up cadence of North Korea's ballistic missile tests and Chinese military exercises near Taiwan, the self-ruled island that is claimed by Beijing as part of its territory, and other aggressive action.

Yoon proposed an initiative in March to resolve disputes stemming from compensation for wartime Korean forced laborers. He announced that South Korea would use its own funds to compensate Koreans enslaved by Japanese companies before the end of World War II.

Yoon also traveled to Tokyo that month for talks with Kishida, the first such visit by a South Korean president in more than 12 years. Kishida reciprocated with a visit to Seoul in May and expressed sympathy for the suffering of Korean forced laborers during Japans colonial rule,

The three leaders are also expected to detail in their summit communique plans to invest in technology for a three-way crisis hotline and offer an update on progress the countries have made on sharing early-warning data on missile launches by North Korea.

Other announcements expected to come out of the summit include plans to expand military cooperation on ballistic defenses and to make the summit an annual event. Sullivan said the leaders would also commit on Friday to a multiyear planning process for joint military exercises.

The White House has billed the gathering of the three leaders at the rustic retreat in the Catoctin Mountains as a historic moment in the relationship and an opportunity for South Korea and Japan to move beyond decades of antagonism.

The leaders are also likely to discuss the long-running territorial conflicts in the disputed South China Sea involving China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei.

Earlier this month, the Philippine government summoned Chinas ambassador and presented a strongly worded diplomatic protest over the Chinese coast guards use of water cannons in a confrontation with Philippine vessels in the South China Sea.

That tense hours-long standoff occurred near Second Thomas Shoal, which has been occupied for decades by Philippine forces stationed onboard a rusting, grounded navy ship. It is also claimed by China.

Ambassador Rahm Emanuel, Biden's envoy to Japan, said the administration is in part looking to counter what he calls Beijing's bullying tactics and its confidence that Washington can't get its two most important Pacific allies  Japan and South Korea  to get along.

Our message is were a permanent Pacific power and presence and you can bet long on America, Emanuel said at a Brookings Institution event focused on the summit. Chinas message: 'We're the rising power, theyre declining. Either get in line or youre gonna get the Philippine treatment.' 

___

Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed reporting. Madhani reported from Washington.
Lucky's halal market in Fort Worth, Texas, transforms into a community center for Afghan refugees a few times a month.

Community leaders help others fill out immigration paperwork, translate documents from English and listen to their neighbors' struggles getting work authorization or supporting their families.

Normally, Lucky, who goes by a pseudonym to protect family members remaining in Afghanistan, feels like the U.S. government doesn't hear the community's concerns. For example, many of the Afghans in Lucky's community have applied to renew their soon-to-expire work authorization but have yet to get a response from immigration officials, he said.

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"To be honest with you, we don't get any response from the government authorities," said Lucky, a former translator for the U.S. military who immigrated to the U.S. in 2017 but returned to Afghanistan in 2021 to help his ailing mother. He was evacuated by U.S. forces after the Taliban overran Kabul.

But last week, a Biden administration official was there to listen.

"It did bring a positive effect for these people," Lucky said of the official's visit to Texas, expressing confidence that last week's meetings will see results. "We are hoping to hear something back from them, or if they can at least expedite their process. Because if they don't get their work authorization on time, all of them will be jobless and they will be homeless."

Two years ago, the U.S. ended its longest war in a cloud of chaos as U.S. military forces rushed to evacuate as many vulnerable people as possible before the last troops withdrew. But efforts to resettle Afghans whose lives were threatened by the Taliban's return to power are far from over.

The Biden administration touts its work over the last two years as a success, but Afghans and refugee advocates describe a more mixed picture.

For those who were fortunate enough to be evacuated during the withdrawal, many are struggling to find stability amid a drawn-out political fight in Washington, D.C., over their legal status. And hundreds of thousands of Afghans who are eligible to come to the U.S. are still waiting for approval to do so.

As of March, nearly 152,000 Afghans are at some stage in the application process for a Special Immigrant Visa, or SIV, according to the State Department's most recent quarterly report on the program. The SIV program was created by Congress in 2009 to provide a pathway for Afghans who helped the U.S. military to immigrate to the U.S.

Separate refugee programs for Afghans known as Priority 1 and Priority 2 visas have about 27,400 applicants in the pipeline, according to the Associated Press.

Between the end of the withdrawal and this June, more than 24,000 Afghans have been resettled in the U.S. and third countries, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in June.

Combined with those hurriedly evacuated during the withdrawal, the U.S. has resettled a total of 115,000 Afghans here in the last two years, Curtis Ried, chief of staff at the National Security Council, told Military.com in a recent interview.

It was Ried who personally met with Lucky and other Afghan community leaders in Texas last week.

Most of the Afghans brought to the U.S. during the withdrawal were granted a temporary immigration status known as humanitarian parole. The parole was granted for two years, meaning it is on the verge of expiring.

Despite the deadline, Congress has been unable to agree on a bill to give the evacuees legal permanent residency. So the Biden administration is allowing Afghans to apply to extend their parole, which brings with it work authorization.

But as highlighted by Lucky, the renewal process has brought its own challenges to Afghans.

Much of the administration's resettlement efforts since the end of the chaotic withdrawal have been done in partnership with the veteran-led #AfghanEvac coalition, an umbrella organization for hundreds of nongovernmental groups that helped during the evacuation and are continuing to help vulnerable Afghans.

The partnership is what facilitated Ried's Texas meeting.

"Engagements like what we did in Texas, with Curtis Ried coming in, all of himself as the NSC chief of staff, and then taking it back and taking swift action, that's the kind of s**t that makes a difference in real human lives," Shawn VanDiver, a Navy veteran and president of #AfghanEvac, said in an interview with Military.com.

VanDiver also credited the administration for processing more visas more quickly, citing what he described as a 300% increase in capacity at processing sites worldwide.

In his interview with Military.com, Ried touted the administration's progress in cutting down processing time for SIV and refugee applications from years to "as little as" 60 days, setting up more locations around the world to process applications, and establishing a system for family reunifications.

But he also acknowledged that, as he heard from the Afghans during his Texas trip, messaging from the government on how to apply for asylum or renew humanitarian parole has been confusing -- something he said officials have already started working on clarifying since he returned from his trip.

Feedback from veterans has also been vital to the administration's work, he said.

"They've been very helpful with kind of real-time feedback, because many of them are in touch with their former interpreter, former driver, etc.," Ried said. "Telling us something isn't working on the ground in Afghanistan, highlighting some of the family reunification challenges that specific individuals have been having has been just helpful in terms of tweaking the populations we're trying to reach out to and focus on relocating."

Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, described the administration's resettlement efforts since the withdrawal as a mixed bag. While she said she thinks there have been significant efforts to provide support to Afghans who made it to the U.S., work getting all the Afghans who helped during the war to safety is still "far from complete."

While the U.S. refugee system in general moves too slowly, she said, Afghans face some unique challenges.

"It's been difficult with clients who have destroyed or misplaced paperwork in the shuffle to try to present their cases," she said. "The administration has said that it's a priority. But more work needs to be done to actually provide pathways to the U.S.

"One of the major hurdles has been the lack of humanitarian infrastructure, even outside of Afghanistan, so in places where displaced Afghans have gravitated towards," she added. "The Department of State currently funds and manages eight refugee support centers around the world. Unfortunately, those aren't easily accessible to Afghans who have fled to neighboring countries like Iran and Pakistan."

As resettlement efforts continue, the administration has been working over the last year to move away from the emergency footing of the withdrawal and immediate aftermath to a more sustainable, long-term effort for the next decade or longer. That includes ensuring there are multiple avenues for Afghans who want to leave their country to do so, multiple locations in third countries to process visa and refugee applications, and a "robust" system to provide support such as housing when Afghans arrive in the U.S., Ried said.

"People will continue to qualify for Special Immigrant Visas, for reunification, benefits for certain refugee programs, for years to come," Ried said. "I don't want to put a specific deadline on it, but we want to set something up that can continue on for as long as it's necessary."

Among the most important work that still needs to be done, Afghans, advocates and the administration agreed: Congress passing the Afghan Adjustment Act.

The bill would provide a pathway for Afghans living in the U.S. under humanitarian parole to apply to become legal permanent residents. It would also take steps to streamline the SIV process and expand eligibility for the visas.

Efforts to pass the bill last year stalled amid GOP concerns that security vetting measures for evacuated Afghans were not strong enough. More recently, a push to get the measure attached to this year's annual defense policy bill when the Senate voted on it last month was stymied by Republicans who wanted to include a proposal by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) to limit future use of humanitarian parole.

"Back in August of 2021, there were a whole bunch of politicians that said, 'We stand with you. We're going to help you. We're going to help meet our American promise to our wartime allies.' I have a handy-dandy checklist that I can look at to see who's full of s**t and who's not," VanDiver said, referring to a list of lawmakers who support the Afghan Adjustment Act. "Veterans, frontline civilians and our Afghan allies, we're not tricked by this bulls**t. We need them to show up for us."

Without a permanent solution to their immigration status, any success Afghan refugees have found in the last two years with getting a job, finding housing and supporting their families risks being ripped away, Lucky said.

"We need our voice to be heard," Lucky said. "We're not asking too much for anything. Just proper documentation so these guys can work."

-- Rebecca Kheel can be reached at rebecca.kheel@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @reporterkheel.

Related: 10 Months Later, Afghan Refugees Labor to Build New Lives in US
Here at Military.com, we care a lot about veteran employment -- and talk about it all the time. We dont think it is enough to give you the bare basics when you are on the job hunt when you have spent your career giving us greatness.

We want to give you the specific, strategic greatness you need to find the post-military job you will love. A big part of that is identifying the top employers with a true heart for veterans.

What Makes an Employer Best for Veterans and Spouses?

I wasnt surprised when my editor, Zach Fryer-Biggs, pinned me down in a meeting last week to quiz me about our upcoming list, the Top 25 Veteran Employers: What exactly qualifies a company as a top veteran employer?

It was a fair ask, but I was sweating it. Did he think our team was looking for corporate websites drenched in red, white and blue?

Did he think we expected every veteran employer to be a giant defense contractor like Lockheed Martin, Boeing or Northrop Grumman?

Did he want me to seek out companies with cool veteran training programs like Bass Pro Shops?

Were we supposed to pick only that top 2% of American companies with brand recognition like Amazon, Apple or Home Depot?

Honestly, did he picture us with clipboards inspecting corporate headquarters for an American flag bigger than an aircraft carrier?

None of Those Factors Define the Best Veteran Employers

After working with more than 15,000 veteran job seekers at the Veteran Employment Project, we thought we knew the factor that would make the biggest difference to veterans for the 2022 Top 25 Military Employers List: a mechanism to bridge the networking gap.

A lack of a civilian network is the biggest obstacle to getting hired at a high-paying job. Specifically, we looked for companies that demonstrated their heart for veterans with a dedicated veteran recruiting team, an internal veteran hiring program or participation in a hiring program or a public partnership like SkillBridge or Hiring Our Heroes.

But was that everything?

What Are We Missing for Top Veteran Employers in 2023?

OK, OK. We all have blind spots. I turned back to my colleagues to ask what factors they thought we should also include. Which of these do you think are essential for a Top Veteran Employer now?

Veteran Retention

Associate editor Blake Stilwell, an Air Force veteran, said we should focus on veteran retention as a top factor since more than half of all veterans leave their first jobs within two years.

Companies with high veteran retention rates provide veterans with what they need in terms of realizing their potential, being part of a team and earning a living wage, Stilwell said. Companies with high veteran retention rates often have special programs, offices, officers or employee support groups designed for veterans, helping them in their first few years after the military, as well as providing fellowship and mentorship in their new lives.

They are also more likely to support Guardsmen and reservists and focus on veteran hiring, often with a vet on the hiring team, which makes it easier to land a post-military job in the first place.

No Security Clearance Required

Fryer-Biggs, Military.coms managing editor for news, told me that he frequently hears rumblings from veterans who notice the top employer lists basically feature defense industry giants like Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. It seems obvious those companies would naturally be motivated to hire veterans; their contracts require the security clearances that new veterans often carry with them from active duty and few civilians possess.

What about featuring employers who have jobs that do not require an active security clearance? Fryer-Biggs said. It would seem that if those companies had a strong hiring program, then they were probably motivated to hire for different reasons.

It is a good thought. The requirement on many contracts to find someone with an active clearance is often a real impediment. It would be impressive if the company displayed more faith in veterans with a lapsed security clearance. In addition to job listings with the phrase active security clearance required, phrases such as must be able to attain security clearance or clearable or sponsorship available would be a good sign of a motivated employer.

Memorial Day and Veterans Day as Paid Holidays

Social media editor Joanna Guldin-Noll, a veteran spouse, wants to know whether the business offers any additional benefits to veterans to honor their service, like allowing military certifications and skills to qualify the same way as civilian certifications.

She also mentioned having Veterans Day and Memorial Day as company holidays. Shoot, they could even offer those two days to veterans as paid holidays.

What did we miss? Can you think of a factor that clearly flags a great veteran employer -- or a terrible one? If you are a veteran, spouse, human resources professional, hiring manager or recruiter, message me on LinkedIn with your suggestions.

Im really interested in what you have to say before we pick our list of Top 25 Veteran Employers for 2023.

Jacey Eckhart is Military.com's transition master coach. She is a certified professional career coach and military sociologist who helps military members get their first civilian job by offering career-level Master Classes through our Veteran Employment Project and on her website, SeniorMilitaryTransition.com. Reach her at Jacey.Eckhart@Monster.com.

Find Your Next Job Fast

Transitioning military, veterans and spouses may be qualified for the job, but they are missing the secrets of civilian hiring. Find out everything you need to know with our FREE master class series, including our next class. You can view previous classes in our video library. Questions for Jacey? Visit our Facebook page.
PONTIAC, MI -- Deputies escorted the teen killer into the courtroom. He wore an orange jail uniform and dark-rimmed glasses. Shackled and handcuffed, his face showed no emotion.

He took pleasure in his appetite for darkness, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald told the courtroom and began listing off the victims. He only stopped because there was no one left to shoot.

McDonald said shell never forget showing surveillance video of the shooting to the victims parents. In one instance, a mother watched as her 17-year-old daughter, cowering in a ball, was shot at point-blank range.

Attorneys on Friday, Aug. 18, finished presenting their cases and gave closing statements during a pre-sentencing hearing for convicted Oxford High shooter Ethan Crumbley.

Oakland County Circuit Judge Kwame L. Rowe will now determine if the 17-year-old is irreparably corrupt and should spend the remainder of his life in prison.

The teen pleaded guilty to 24 felonies in October, including first-degree murder, for the Nov. 30, 2021 Oxford High School shooting that left Hana St. Juliana, 14, Madisyn Baldwin, 17, Tate Myre, 16 and Justin Shilling, 17, dead and seven others injured, including a teacher.

The Supreme Court mandates juvenile murderers be given special hearing, named a Miller hearing, that considers their youth and lack of development before they can be given a life sentence without a chance of parole.

Rowe is expected to announce his ruling during a hearing set for Sept. 29 at 9 a.m., followed by a sentencing that will include victim statements on Dec. 8 at 9 a.m.

Related: It was crushing. Assistant principal recounts trying to save dying Michigan school shooting victim

The Miller hearing lasted four days and included emotional testimony from an assistant principal who encountered the killer in the hallway after he fatally shot 16-year-old junior, a student who witnessed his classmates execution in the boys bathroom, police who responded to the scene and various doctors who reviewed Crumbleys behavior and mental health.

Related: Michigan school shooting survivors testify. I realized if I stayed I was going to die

The defense case focused on claims that Crumbley suffered from untreated mental illness, and his parents and school staff were negligent in failing to intervene or respond to violent warning signs, including disturbing drawings and phrases written on a math assignment the morning of the shooting.

Defense attorney Paulette Loftin read passages from Crumbleys journal aloud during closing statements.

I feel like Im in a time loop of sadness, Crumbley wrote in his journal. I will forever not feel the love of another human being.

Loftin argued the teens parents repeatedly ignored his pleas for help and clear warning signs that he was in trouble.

Ethan had quit the bowling team, he had quit his job, he was failing almost every single subject, he sat alone at lunch, his only trusted friend left, his dog died, Loftin said. He was hallucinating, he was hearing voices, he was depressed, he was suicidal, he was anxious, he was writing on a paper in the middle of class, surrounded by his peers, The thoughts wont stop. The world is dead. My life is useless.

But McDonald said that blaming somebody else for not stopping a school shooter is for a different hearing.

He is guilty, pled guilty and should spend the rest of his life in prison, she added.

Prosecutors presented social media posts, violent and sadistic journal entries, text messages and a manifesto video recorded on the eve of the shooting to argue Crumbley was deeply troubled, premeditated the shooting and expected to spend the rest of his life in prison.

I cant take it anymore, I am broke, the teen said in the manifesto recording. I fought it for years, lying to myself over and over again, but its taught me the truth.

Theres no voices in my head. The voices are me ... I am the demon.

Related: Oxford High killer wanted to shoot pretty girls in back of their heads, his journal said

In his journal entries, the teen expressed his admiration for previous school shooters and outlined his plan.

The first victim has to be a pretty girl with a future so she can suffer just like me, he wrote in the 22-page journal discovered on the floor of the boys bathroom following the shooting. I hope that every parent of kids I gratefully murdered will be so sad that they kill themselves, and I want all of America to see the darkness in me.

In her closing statements, the prosecutor discussed a video of the shooter torturing baby birds. The judge deemed it too disturbing to show in open court.

The most disturbing part about it, shockingly, isnt the mutilation and torture of these tiny, tiny little living things, and drills going through their stomachs and burning wings, the most disturbing part about it was the defendants voice as he was doing it ... He exhibited pleasure from it.

McDonald argued that that there is no redemption left for Crumbley.

This is a person who killed four of his classmates, solely for the pleasure of killing and to increase the body count to try and make himself famous she said. He wanted to kill people who had their whole life in front of them.

Life without parole is a just and proportional sentence, the prosecutor said.

His life will be spared, just the way he wanted, she said. He will continue to watch his victims suffer, but he can do it from a place where the victims will not have to live in fear that they will face him again.

More on MLive:

It was crushing. Assistant principal recounts trying to save dying Michigan school shooting victim

Michigan school shooting survivors testify. I realized if I stayed I was going to die

Haunting words of Michigan school shooter: I am the demon

Oxford High killer wanted to shoot pretty girls in back of their heads, his journal said

Rushing past victims is the most difficult thing, detective says at hearing for Michigan school shooter
DETROIT -- Nearly 80 years after a plane flown by a member of the Tuskegee Airmen went down in Lake Huron, some of the wreckage has been recovered. According to the Associated Press, the wreckage was pulled from the lake by a team of divers who have been searching the waters for years for pieces of the plane.

The plane crashed on April 11, 1944 and was flown by 2nd Lt. Frank Moody, 22, of Los Angeles. Although the famed Tuskegee Airmen were based out of Alabama, advanced training exercises were conducted in Michigan during World War II.

During an exercise, its believed that the planes machine guns were not in sync with the rotation of the P-39s propellor. At some point when firing the guns, Moody hit the propellor, causing the plane to crash. Moodys plane went down in the lake near Port Huron and his body washed ashore a few months later.

Wreckage from the plane was first discovered in 2014 and in 2018 an archeological recovery permit was issued to the Tuskegee Airmen National Historical Museum. Since then, several pieces of the plane have been recovered, including the bullet-riddled propellor, according to the AP. However, this week divers pulled the 1,200-pound engine from about 30 feet below the water along with some other pieces.

The aircraft is largely disarticulated, said Wayne Lusardi, Michigans state maritime archaeologist with the Department of Natural Resources and organizer of the recovery effort. Its broken, spread out over almost a half-a-mile underwater and consists of thousands of pieces.

Theres still a good amount of the plane thats still on the bottom.

Once the plane is able to be restored, it will be displayed at the Tuskegee Airmen National Historical Museum at Coleman A. Young International Airport on Detroits east side, according to the AP. The plans to restore the plane are part of larger effort to shed more light on the contributions of the Tuskegee Airmen.

Its sometimes very easy to forget that this was a place where a young man died who gave his life for this country, Lusardi said. It really is going to be a memorial to the African American airmen that died here, that trained here in Michigan.

The Tuskegee Airmen were made up of black members of the military who were forced to fight separately from their white counterparts due to segregation in the U.S. military. Fifteen members of the unit died in Michigan while training, including five pilots who were lost in Lake Huron. The wreckage of at least three other planes remains in the lake.

This find is so important for Black history to find out how Tuskegee airmen fought for this country and how they fought a war at home, said Isis Gillespie, the museums conservator of the plane.

In 2021, a monument dedicated to Moody and the other Tuskegee Airmen who died in Michigan was erected near the international Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron.

READ MORE:

Plane crashes into unoccupied vehicles after Thunder Over Michigan airshow goes awry

Shipwreck hunters find vessel in deep water of Lake Michigan

Victims identified after 1 killed, 1 injured in Lake Michigan plane crash
ANN ARBOR, MI - State Street has a new look in downtown Ann Arbor and Main Street is nearing the end of a monthslong facelift. But across the Washtenaw County, traffic cones havent yet disappeared across a slew of roads and bridges.

Heres a full list of road construction that could affect commute times and travel across the area for Friday, Aug. 18 and the week ahead.

ANN ARBOR

Summit Street: The street will close between Main Street and Wildt/Hisock Street from Thursday, Aug. 24 to Tuesday, Aug. 29, with lane shifts also present between Main Street and Fourth Avenue for DTE Energy utility work.

Ellsworth Road: The road is closed in the eastbound direction between South State Street and Platt Road for a resurfacing project, slated to run through Friday, Sept. 1.

South Main Street: The Main/Huron Street intersection is under construction for the third and final phase of a major resurfacing and water main project.

All vehicles lanes of South Main are closed approaching Huron, and the eastbound vehicle lanes of Huron are also shut down approaching South Main, with the restrictions set to last until Friday, Aug. 25.

Between 7 a.m. Monday, Aug. 21 and 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 22, South Main will also close between William and Huron streets, including the Liberty and Washington intersections for pavement marking.

For a separate project, the northbound lane of Main Street is also closed between East Davis Avenue and East Hoover Avenue with traffic shifted to the west side of Main Street and maintained in both directions. The shift, for crews to complete utility installations at the Main and Davis development, will last until Thursday, Aug. 31.

Earhart Road: The road is closed to southbound through traffic between Geddes Road and the U.S. 23 overpass through Friday, Nov. 10 for project that includes repaving, installing three mini roundabouts, building new sidewalk, installing bike lanes and making stormwater improvements.

Pontiac Trail/Swift Street: All lanes of Swift Street and the southbound lanes of Pontiac Trail are closed to through traffic between Broadway and Moore streets for a city water main and street upgrade project.

In addition, the Swift Street and Broadway Street intersection is limited to a single lane of traffic in each direction. The restrictions are slated to last until Sept. 1.

South State Street: The street is closed to northbound vehicles between Granger Avenue and Hoover Avenue through Sept. 1 for the next phase of a two-year redesign of State and Hill streets. Southbound traffic will be shifted to the east side of the street and the Hoover intersection will also be closed.

Brooks Street and Mixtwood Road: A five-month streets project in the Water Hill neighborhood has shuttered Brooks Street to all through traffic between Miller Avenue and Sunset Road, as well as Mixtwood Road between Brooks and Red Oak Road.

The construction  bringing a mini roundabout, new sidewalk and replacement water mains  is scheduled for completion by Saturday, Nov. 4.

Broadway Street: The street is closed through Monday, Aug. 21 between the Traver Creek pedestrian crossing island, just south of Jones Drive, and Plymouth Road for a project bringing water main upgrades, sidewalk improvements and pavement resurfacing.

Newport Road: The road between Sunset Road and Down Up Circle, near the Bird Hills Nature Area, will see flagging and temporary signals as crews install new sidewalk through Aug. 25.

Glen Avenue: The street is closed to all traffic through Monday, Sept. 11 for a utility project. The completion date has been delayed.

Washtenaw Avenue: The road will see single-lane closures in the westbound direction at Huron Parkway through Aug. 21 during daytime hours.

U.S. 23: The highway on Ann Arbors eastern city limit will see single-lane closures in each direction overnight between until Aug. 25 between Packard Street and M-14 for construction.

Long-term projects: North Fifth Avenue from Detroit to Catherine streets will have a lane shift through June 2024 for a new development.

Eastbound South University Avenue traffic between East University Avenue and Church Street is closed long-term for high-rise construction.

The Liberty Road bridge over I-94 is reduced to single-lane traffic, with temporary traffic signals, until further notice after being damaged by a truck on March 13. The Michigan Department of Transportation plans to design and contract for a bridge replacement, officials say, though no timeline has been released for the project.

OTHER WASHTENAW COUNTY PROJECTS:

Pittsfield Township - U.S. 23/Michigan Avenue: A major project widening Michigan Avenue in Pittsfield Township and upgrading the U.S. 23 interchange will cause shoulder closures and lane closures on U.S. 23 south of Ann Arbor.

The Michigan Avenue ramps to and from southbound U.S. 23 are also closed, with restrictions running through Aug. 31.

The project as a whole is scheduled to run through November.

Ypsilanti - Hamilton Street: A single lane in the southbound direction is closed between Pearl and Ferris streets through Aug. 31. Two lanes in the southbound direction will close between Washtenaw Avenue and Michigan Avenue through Aug. 18 for a major road renovation project.

Read more: Construction cones arent forever. But new Ypsilanti bike lanes yet to reach final form

Ypsilanti - Washtenaw Avenue: A double lane closure is in effect between Summit and Hamilton streets through Aug. 18 for the road renovation.

Ypsilanti - Michigan Avenue: The street has an eastbound single-lane closure from Washington to Huron streets through Aug. 31.

Other downtown Ypsilanti street closures are possible as a major utility and street overhaul project continues. See the citys webpage on the project for updates.

Ypsilanti - Huron River Drive: The road is closed to all westbound traffic between Lowell and Cornell streets for a major city reconstruction project. Officials are posting updates on the city website.

Ypsilanti - Forest Avenue bridge: The bridge over the Huron River is closed through early October for rehabilitation work.

York Township - U.S. 23/Willis Road interchange: The eastbound Willis Road ramp to northbound U.S. 23 is closed for construction through Wednesday, Nov. 15.

York Township - Stony Creek Road: The road is closed at the bridge over U.S. 23 for construction through Sunday, Nov. 5.

Manchester Township - M-52: Both directions of the highway will see single-lane closures during daytime hours from Michigan Avenue to Austin Road for construction through Saturday, Aug. 26.

Washtenaw County Road Commission projects

Ann Arbor Township - Huron River Drive: The road will see lane restrictions between Clark Road and the Dixboro Road bridge from Aug. 21 and Aug. 24 for road resurfacing.

Augusta Township - Rawsonville Road: The road is closed between Talladay and Willis roads until Aug. 25 for drainage improvements. A detour map is available online. This project has been extended.

Augusta Township - Whittaker Road: The road has intermittent lane restrictions between Willow and Willis roads through Aug. 24 for drainage work.

Augusta/Ypsilanti townships - Intersection of Bemis and Whittaker roads: The intersection is closed for the construction of a new roundabout through Sept. 1. A detour map is available online.

Freedom Township - Hieber Road: The road will see intermittent lane restrictions between Reno and Schneider roads from through Aug. 25 for drainage and gravel resurfacing.

Lima Township - Plymouth Road bridge: The Bridge over Fleming Creek, between Ford Road and M-153, will see daytime lane closures the week of Aug. 21 for maintenance.

Lima/Scio townships - Parker Road bridge: The bridge over the Mill Creek, between Jackson and Gross roads, will see daytime lane closures the week of Aug. 21 for maintenance.

Lyndon/Sylvan townships - Various roads: Several roads in the townships will see intermittent lane restrictions for a Consumers Energy natural gas pipeline replacement project.

Manchester Township - Kirk Road: The road will see intermittent lane restrictions between Tracey Road and M-52 through Aug. 25 for forestry work. This project has been extended.

Northfield Township - Jennings Road: The road will see intermittent lane restrictions between the township line and Kearney Road through Aug. 24 for drainage work. This project has been extended.

Pittsfield Township - Morgan Road: The road between Carpenter Road and Michigan Avenue is closed for water main and road work until Aug. 31, an extended completion date. A detour map is available online.

Pittsfield Township - Platt Road: The road will see intermittent lane closures between Bemis Road and Michigan Avenue through September for construction of a non-motorized pathway.

Pittsfield Township - Crane Road: The road is closed between Textile Road and Michigan Avenue through Tuesday, Oct. 31 for sanitary sewer installation. A detour map is available online. This project has been extended.

Pittsfield Township - Carpenter Road: The road will see intermittent lane closures between Textile and Ellsworth roads through October for resurfacing.

Pittsfield Township - Textile Road: The road is closed between Carpenter and Crane roads for sanitary sewer installation through Oct. 31. A detour map is available online. This project has been extended.

The road will also close between Lohr and State roads from Aug. 21 to Aug. 27 for railway maintenance. A detour map is available online.

Salem Township - Joy Road: The road will close between Gotfredson Road and a half-mile east of the intersection from through Sept. 1 for sanitary main work. A detour map is available online. This project has been extended.

Salem Township - Dixboro Road: The road will see daytime closures between 6 Mile Road and 8 Mile Road from Aug. 22 to Aug. 31 for limestone resurfacing.

Salem Township - Tower Road: The road will see daytime closures between Joy Road and North Territorial Road from Aug. 28 to Sept. 1 for limestone resurfacing.

Salem Township - Intersection of Joy Road and Gotfredson Road: The intersection will close through Sept. 1 for sanitary main work. A detour map is available online.

Superior/Ypsilanti townships - Clark Road: The road will see lane restrictions west of Leforge road to the end of the road through Saturday, Sept. 30 for road resurfacing.

Sylvan Township - Old U.S. 12: The road will close between Lienbeck and Sylvan roads from Tuesday, Sept. 5 to Friday, Sept. 22 for a culvert replacement. A detour map is available online.

Webster Township - Webster Church Road: The road will see daytime closures between North Territorial Road and Valentine Road through Aug. 22 for limestone resurfacing.

York Township - Mooreville Road: The road will close between Dennison Road/Stony Creek Road and Saline-Milan Road through Aug. 25 for road resurfacing. A detour map is available online.

Ypsilanti Township - Juneau Road: The road will see daytime lane closures between Jeffery Street and Levona Street through November for DTE gas line replacement.

Ypsilanti Township - Jay Avenue: The road will see daytime lane closures between Jeffery Street and Grove Road through November for DTE gas line replacement.

Ypsilanti Township - Janet Avenue: The street will see daytime lane closures between Jay Avenue and Arthur Street through November for a DTE gas line replacement project.

An updated list of Ann Arbor city street closures, the weekly Washtenaw County Road Commission schedule and the MDOT road closure map are all available online.

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.

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ANN ARBOR, MI - The nonprofit responsible for organizing events that brought spontaneity, bright colors and foolishness to the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti communities has come to an end, but it hopes to find another group interested in taking the events over.

Organizers from Assembli, formerly known as WonderFool Productions, recently announced they could no longer sustain operating their arts nonprofit, resulting in the end of Ann Arbors FoolMoon event and Ypsilantis YpsiGLOW, which is no longer scheduled for this fall.

The nonprofit arts organization said it has struggled to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused it to cancel or modify the events over the past few years. Now, organizers are working to see if they can find partner organizations to help both YpsiGLOW and FoolMoon live on in some capacity.

The financial piece was the biggest struggle, Assembli Board President Jeri Rosenberg said in an email. If not for lack of funding, we would still be producing these events.

While the news may be disappointing to those who loved the zany luminary concepts of the FoolMoon festival or the glow in the dark Halloween-adjacent dance party that is YpsiGLOW, Rosenberg said the nonprofit has already received interest from groups about taking the events over and hope to be able to make some announcements soon.

Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher Taylor and his lookalike at the FestiFools parade on State Street on April 3, 2022.Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News

The origins of the events trace back to 2006 when University of Michigan art professor Mark Tucker teamed up with graduate student Shoshana Hurand to organize the first FestiFools parade in Tuckers Art in Public Spaces class.

The event quickly became a favorite for townies and the UM community, with its parade of human-powered, papier-mache puppets resembling everyone from celebrities like Elvis to mythical creatures to politicians of national and local interest.

FestiFools was taken over by WonderFool Productions, with community groups, nonprofits and members of the UM community collaborating to create art for the parade, which had taken place on the first Sunday in April on Main Street, between Washington and William streets until it was suspended last year for organizers to reimagine the event.

FoolMoon eventually became an extension and highlight of the FestiFools activities, kicking off the April weekend on Friday evenings with eye-catching processions of community-made, illuminated sculptures showcasing Ann Arbors creativity and whimsy, shadow puppet performances, laser shows and experimental films projected onto buildings.

Steve and Her Hoops performs at YpsiGLOW in Downtown Ypsilanti on Friday, Oct. 28, 2022.Jacob Hamilton | MLive.com

YpsiGLOW, on the other hand, has brought the same colorfulness and creativity of FoolMoon in the form of a dance party equipped with glowing art installations and crafts on North Washington Street in Ypsilanti.

Rosenberg said the community contributed to the success of all of these festivals over the years by participating in workshops, creating and bringing art to events, pointing to a small, but mighty dedicated volunteer board who donated time and skills to help produce the events.

There are few events that invite the community to participate in the way that these events do, Rosenberg said. The creativity and platform that we have provided has created amazing and inspirational art installations and the most fun times.

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I enjoyed watching all the old planes flying over Washtenaw County last weekend.

I could see them from my backyard up in good old Whitmore Lake. I knew they were part of the annual Thunder Over Michigan airshow down by Ypsilanti, a fun event Ive attended in previous years.

Then suddenly on Sunday, the planes stopped. As it turned out, a fighter jet crashed at the airshow, grounding all the other planes. It was a horrifically scary event. My stomach dropped when I saw video footage of the plane dipping slowly through the sky beyond some trees, followed by a burst of black smoke.

I was heartened to learn the folks on the plane escaped without serious injury.

Speaking of Whitmore Lake, theres a rather notorious old wedding venue up this way that I drive past all the time called Barnstormers. Its been closed since 2012 -- and it shows, according to Green Oak Township, which has deemed the building dangerous and plans to level it on Monday.

Before it gets demolished, the buildings owner was selling everything inside. From cardboard cutouts of Paris Hilton to old DJ equipment, everything must go.

Youve got one more weekend to go and search for any hidden gems.

Thats what caught our eye in Ann Arbor this week. Take a look at those headlines, and others, below:

See whats for sale at shuttered Michigan wedding venue before its demolished

Video shows how fighter jet crashed at Michigan air show

Plane crashes into unoccupied vehicles after Thunder Over Michigan airshow goes awry

Whats that on Ann Arbors Packard Street? Urban luxury apartments coming

New Dexter business offers slow living practices, connection with community

130 animals die in Dexter-area barn fire

20-year-old man on bike dies after being hit by car

1 injured in shooting near Ann Arbor gym

About Hello, Ann Arbor: Each week, we deliver the big headlines straight to your inbox. Hello, Ann Arbor has also won awards from both the Michigan Press Association and the Associated Press for best column. Sign up here for the newsletter.

John Counts is editor for MLive/The Ann Arbor News where he started as a police and court reporter in 2012. He lives in Whitmore Lake with his wife, two daughters and two dogs. He can be reached at johncounts@mlive.com.

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Hello, Ann Arbor: DTE outage outrage; Washtenaw Countys 15th homicide

Hello, Ann Arbor: Wild storm whips through town; State Theaters Barbenheimer woes

Hello, Ann Arbor: Art Fair starts with a storm; homicides continue to rise
As reported by Temur Mghebrishvili, the head of the emergency management service at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, approximately 25 kilometers away from the disaster's epicenter in Shovi, the rescuers have purportedly located the body of a man. The body was subsequently transported to the Samkharauli forensic bureau in Kutaisi.Mghebrishvili further elaborated that the search of the collapsed area at the disaster's epicenter has indeed been concluded and stated that they had actively commenced the introduction of heavy equipment into the riverbed while expanding the exploration efforts."At this phase, our primary focus lies on employing heavy machinery within the riverbed. The nature of the terrain has allowed us to glimpse water at depths of around 2 meters in specific spots. Our estimation is that we should search at depths ranging from 1.5 to 2 meters. We have designated sectors up to Ambrolauri, comprising a total of 18 sectors. These efforts involve equipment deployed within a 1.5-kilometer perimeter from the disaster's epicenter," detailed Temur Mghebrishvili.Up to this point, rescue teams have recovered a total of 27 bodies from the Shovi disaster zone, with ongoing search operations targeting 6 individuals.Irakli Gharibashvili, the Prime Minister of Georgia, held a meeting with Theophilos III, the Patriarch of Jerusalem. According to the Prime Minister's press service, their discussions encompassed the historical bonds between the churches of Georgia and Jerusalem, as well as the present global situation. Both leaders underscored the paramount importance of global peace and stability."Theophilos the Third requested the Prime Minister to convey warm regards to the Georgian Patriarch Ilia the Second.The Patriarch of Jerusalem offered his blessings to the Head of the Government of Georgia and the accompanying delegation, extending his wishes for their success," stated the Prime Minister's press service.The Patriarch of Jerusalem hosted the Prime Minister at the Patriarchate.Together with the delegation, Irakli Gharibashvili visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where they paid their respects at the tomb of Jesus and Golgotha.
CHELSEA, MI - It may be Marty Colburns second week on the job, but its hardly his first go at managing a city government.

The new Chelsea city manager, who took the post in early August, boasts 33 years of experience in similar positions, mostly recently a nearly eight-year stint as Traverse Citys city manager.

Im service oriented. Thats part of my DNA, he said in an interview with MLive/The Ann Arbor News, adding that any city, no matter its size, deserves good management.

Its a smaller sphere of influence than say the state or federal government, but you impact peoples lives on a daily basis. And my goal is to impact it in a positive way for our citizens, Colburn said.

The municipal official got the job at the conclusion of the citys second city manager search process in less than year. Its previous manager, Roy Atkinson, was 10 months into his first top-level city position when he abruptly resigned in April, citing extreme burnout as a contributing factor.

Chelsea leaders said in bringing on Colburn, they were looking for experience and stability in the top position that has seen six different people hold it since early 2022, in interim and permanent capacities.

Read more: Looking for stability, Chelsea offers city manager job to former Traverse City official

Colburn fits the bill. He served in the Army and Army National Guard before getting into government work, he said. Since, hes held positions in administration in cities in Arizona, Wyoming and Michigan.

That included time between 1999 and 2015 as city manager of Mason, south of Lansing in Ingham County. During that job, he participated in an exchange program with officials in Chelsea, visiting to talk through issues and tour the citys operations. On top of that, he would come to the Chelsea for dinner, a theater show or to enjoy the nature from time to time, Colburn said.

City Council has hired Colburn on a three-year contract, paying an initial salary of $140,000. The agreement began on Aug. 7, the same date city council members voted to approve it.

Colburn believed his skill sets and experience would help support the citys goals and operations, he said.

Chelseas strengths lie in its distinctive identity, he said. Its got a culture thats very positive. Its quiet, but active living, the new city manager added, citing downtown events and community involvement hes already observed.

His earliest projects will involve additions to bread and butter services like work at the water treatment plant and on the city electric system to protect equipment, he said. Colburn is also already working in partnership with the Huron Waterloo Pathways Initiative on a set of upgrades to Timbertown Park, with the goal of getting city utility services and pickleball courts installed this year, he said.

The city manager said hes also aware of staff turnover, particularly in the planning department, which has seen a rotating cast of community development directors and consultants in recent years.

Its currently well served by city consultant Carlisle Wortman and Associates, he said, but he will be evaluating the departments needs and making some recommendations for the future.

In his interview with City Council before being offered the job, Colburn warned city leaders they would have to prioritize their goals based on his reading of the citys master plan and budget.

Theres a lot there. Its not that you cant do these things, its just a matter of with the capacities that the city staff has and the budget that you cant do it all at once, Colburn told MLive/The Ann Arbor News. If everything is a priority, nothing is a priority.

His first days on the job have included a whirlwind of meetings, including introductions with the supervisors of Lyndon and Sylvan townships, Washtenaw County Commissioner Jason Maciejewski, county Water Resources Commissioner Evan Pratt, and U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Ann Arbor, Colburn said.

That will only continue, with meetings planned with groups like the Main Street Park Alliance, working with the city on a plan to transform the polluted Federal Screw Works property on Main Street into a public park.

Chelsea has a lot great, solid history. Its got a great foundation as a city and a community and truly has a bright future, he said. I look forward to being a part of that.

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ROSEVILLE, MI  A 14-year-old Warren resident was struck and killed by a vehicle early Friday morning in a pedestrian hit-and-run crash at an I-696 entrance ramp.

Michigan State Police said the teen was fatally struck by the vehicle around 4:25 a.m. Friday, Aug. 18, at the Groesbeck Highway entrance ramp to eastbound I-696.

State police did not release further details about the teen.

Troopers say the driver who struck the teen drove off and hasnt yet come forward.

The incident remains under investigation, and state police said drivers should expect delays in the area.

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FLINT, MI  The Flint City Council vice president is being sued by a resident for ordering her to be escorted out of a public meeting, according to a lawsuit filed by a community organizer Friday, Aug. 18.

Beverly Biggs-Leavy, who filed the lawsuit, alleges Ladel Lewis violated her constitutional rights and the Michigan Open Meetings Act by ordering her to be removed from a meeting on Aug. 14.

Lewis told MLive-The Flint Journal that Biggs-Leavys removal was warranted according to city council disorderly person bylaws.

Thats very unfortunate because as long as individuals are in order, they can stay in the meeting. Unfortunately, on that day, Mrs. Biggs-Leavy decided not to be, Lewis said.

The lawsuit tells the story of disfunction at Flint city council meetings that have become popular on social media across the country. It says the meeting on Aug. 14, when the incident took place, was another example of the dysfunction.

The lawsuit says Lewis used a needlessly aggressive tone to her colleagues and the public, which made for a hostile environment.

During back and forth between members of the crowd and city council, which was not uncommon at the meeting, Lewis ordered a Flint police officer to remove Biggs-Leavy from the meeting.

Just before ordering her removal, Lewis said excuse me, so that is like the third time that you have spoken out. That is your warning.

Biggs-Leavy rejected Lewis statement and voiced her opposition and was then removed.

Biggs-Leavy is seeking damages and attorney fees from Lewis for allegedly violating her rights. Lewis is being sued as a councilperson and individual in this matter, according to the lawsuit.

Biggs-Leavy is involved with the community effort to recall Lewis from her position on the council, the lawsuit states.

Recall language was approved against Lewis in June.

Once again we find ourselves faced with an injustice perpetrated by the Flint City Council, specifically, the unlawful abridgement of the First Amendment rights of a resident of Flint, Joseph Cannizzo, Biggs-Leavys attorney, said. The injustice faced by Mrs. Biggs-Leavy in this case was not perpetrated by the Council as a whole, but rather, by a tyrannical and dictatorial Chairwoman, Councilwoman Ladel Lewis.

Lewis is the Vice President of the Flint City Council but has since assumed the role of president after former council president Allie Herkenroder resigned in July.

Want more Flint-area news? Bookmark the local Flint news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Flint daily newsletter.

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FLINT, MI  A legal technicality discovered after bidders were chosen to demolish Washington Elementary has caused the Flint Board of Education to rebid the project and push back the demo date.

District partners estimated that the rebid process will set back the move at least a month from its original Oct. 6 demolition date.

It was a split-decision from the board, which voted 4-3 to rebid the demolition project. Joyce Ellis-McNeal, Laura MacIntyre, Melody Relerford and Claudia Perkins all voted in favor of rebidding, while Michael Clack, Dylan Luna and Terae King voted against.

A contractor who bid $680,000 was chosen by the Flint Community Schools administration team at the end of July.

There were six bids submitted, but only four were read because two applications were incomplete, Dave Warner, Clark Construction senior project manager, told the board.

The two bidders were missing familial disclosure statements, which are typically required to be provided with the bid, Clark Construction Vice President Gary Steller said.

It is fairly unusual not to receive those (disclosure statements) with bids, Steller said.

After the bid process, Clark Construction clarified with Thrun Law Firm on the demolition bid and were told that the law does not necessarily apply to complete demolitions.

However, the districts bid package states that the form is required, or the district will not accept the bid.

It is kind of a nuance in the law  under the complete demolition, it is not legally required, Steller said.

Thrun Law Firm told the district that it was good practice to include familial disclosure statements in all bid packages, regardless of if they are required by law or not, Director of Operations Chris Henderson said.

Board Vice President Joyce Ellis-McNeal first raised concerns about the bid process at the Aug. 9 meeting. She said board members have gotten complaints from independent construction companies in the city.

King attended the bid opening process, and it was executed properly, he said.

We have to respect the process, King said.

Due to the familial statement issue, Relerford and Perkins recommended that the board should rebid the project.

Board President Michael Clack asked the board that if both companies failed to submit a familial statement, even if it was required according to the bid package, why should we stop out process?

These two that failed to have this statement, they are reputable organizations, correct? They have been doing this  this isnt their first go-around. If they failed to have the proper documentation, why should we stop our process? Clack asked.

Trustee MacIntyre said she feels uncomfortable awarding the first bid after learning of the extralegal technicality.

King told the board its unfair to the bidders who successfully entered bids in the first round to rebid simply because two bidders failed to submit properly.

FCS is using general funds to complete the demolition.

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GRAND RAPIDS, MI  Two Nigerian men have pleaded not guilty to federal charges accusing them of running an international sextortion ring connected to the suicide death of a Michigan teen.

Brothers Samuel Ogoshi and Samson Ogoshi pleaded not guilty on Thursday, Aug. 18, to single counts of conspiracy to sexually exploit minors, conspiracy to distribute child pornography and conspiracy to commit stalking through the internet during their arraignment.

Samuel Ogoshi faces an additional charge of sexual exploitation of a minor resulting in death, which is punishable by up to death. He pleaded not guilty to that charge as well.

Federal prosecutors have said they wont pursue the death penalty against Samuel Ogoshi.

Related: Federal prosecutors wont seek death penalty for Nigerian men charged in sextortion case

Todays hearing is another step forward in the judicial process following the successful extradition of the Ogoshi brothers from Nigeria to the United States on last Sunday, U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said in a Thursday news release.

My office is fully prepared to present the facts of the case during a fair trial.

The Thursday arraignment took place at the Gerald R. Ford Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in downtown Grand Rapids.

Federal prosecutors have said they are hopeful a third co-defendant charged for his role in the scheme  19-year-old Ezekiel Robert  will also be extradited from Nigeria.

Samuel Ogoshi, 22, Samson Ogoshi, 20, and Robert are accused of sexually extorting numerous young men and teenage boys throughout West Michigan and across the United States by posing as a woman online and getting their victim to send nude photos of themselves.

Once the trio allegedly got nude photos of their victims, they would blackmail the person, threatening to release the photos to friends and family unless they paid a certain amount.

The scheme is commonly called sextortion.

Related: 2 Nigerian men extradited to face charges connected to Michigan teens suicide death

Federal officials allege the three defendants bought multiple hacked social media accounts to exploit young men from February 2021 through May 2022.

One of the victims was 17-year-old Jordan DeMay of Marquette.

Federal prosecutors say Samuel Ogoshi, posing as a woman online, messaged the teen on March 25, 2022, and convinced him to send a sexually explicit photo of himself.

Samuel Ogoshi then allegedly threatened to share the photo with the teens friends and family unless DeMay sent $1,000.

DeMay sent Samuel Ogoshi what he had  $300. In return, DeMay received a message that said, Enjoy your miserable life. The teen replied that he was going to kill himself because of the scammer.

Samuel Ogoshi then allegedly said to the teen, Good do that fast or Ill make you do it.

DeMay died by suicide on March 25, 2022.

DeMay was one of 3,000 minors, primarily boys, who were targeted by a sextortion scheme last year  leading to more than a dozen suicides  according to the FBI.

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GRAND RAPIDS, MI  Providing mental health care resources and support, Arbor Circle will use grant money to bring resources to its own staff for sustainability in the field.

Arbor Circle is known for its mental health counseling, substance abuse treatment, family development support, adoption and foster care services, prevention programming and child care resources, all primarily in West Michigan.

The grant comes from Steelcase Foundation, a nonprofit that supports quality public works, education and community efforts to enhance safety and well-being.

The $100,000 grant will specifically target the Arbor Circle staff in getting mental health professionals more resources to continue focusing their efforts within the next two years on children and families following the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a mental health provider, our staff are our greatest resource, said Taylor Greenfield, director of development at Arbor Circle. Theyre the ones who are actually providing the service and building these relationships and doing the work. When we look at what these dollars actually support, its really meant to help our staff.

Greenfield said the grant money will be used to break down barriers between families and mental health specialists, allowing for staff members to travel to meet families on a more consistent basis or create a suitable space at their office for family visits.

Arbor Circle and Greenfield reached out to Steelecase with ideas to build relationships ever since the pandemic took a mental and physical toll on the community. Greenfield said the foundation was ready to look for solutions alongside the mental health professionals.

Greenfield said receiving that amount of money, especially to strengthen staff, felt amazing. She said it felt like a long conversation instead of an arduous grant process.

I feel like the work that we do is often pretty quiet, Greenfield said. It is very impactful and very important, but its these one-on-one interactions, so when we get big news like this, it feels really rad.

Greenfield said the need in the community for these resources ever since the pandemic is vast. With this money, Arbor Circle will be able to address the individual needs of every person receiving treatment.

The impact that this grant has is that we serve thousands of children and families every year, but really the primary impact is about the individual relationship between a therapist and a child or building the strength of the relationship between a parent or caregiver and their child, Greenfield said. Those are the things that Im most excited about in terms of impact.

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KENTWOOD, MI  A 29-year-old man was injured in a shooting early Friday in Kentwood.

Kentwood police did not disclose the extent of the mans injuries but said he was transported to an area hospital for treatment. No other injuries were reported in the shooting.

The incident unfolded around 5:35 a.m. Friday, Aug. 18, when Kentwood police responded to the 5200 block of Kalamazoo Avenue near 52nd Street on reports of a person who had been shot.

When they arrived, officers found the 29-year-old man with apparent gunshot wounds, Kentwood police Capt. Ryan VanderVeen said.

Kentwood police and fire personnel provided first aid to the wounded man before he was transported to an area hospital.

While there arent any suspects in custody in the shooting, VanderVeen said there doesnt appear to be any further threat to the public.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the Kentwood Police Department Detective Bureau at 616-656-6604. Anonymous tips can also be submitted through Silent Observer at 616-774-2345, or online at SilentObserver.org.

The shooting remains under investigation.

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KENT COUNTY, MI - A new restaurant offering a unique mix of Peruvian and Mexican cuisine opened in Wyoming this week.

Owner Andy Rosario took over the former Chinatown restaurant at 69 28th St. SE to offer an eatery that hasnt yet been available in the West Michigan region. He also owns Maya Mexican Grill and Bar down the street.

Rosario said he purchased the space in May 2022 and has been working tirelessly ever since to bring RIO Peruvian & Mexican Cuisine to life. Thursday, Aug. 17, marks the official introduction to the public.

Its just kind of introducing it to the community, he told MLive/The Grand Rapids Press. Its just one of those things where we had to open and see the reaction people have and make sure the staff gets used to everything.

However, the restaurant is already fully booked with people eager to get a taste of something new or relish in homemade recipes.

Rosario said its been a year and a half of anticipation. Grand Rapids area residents have seen Rios social media posts that show a sneak peek into the decor and menu items, he said.

Its something new and different, he said. People want to come in. My goal is that people come and try it and then come back.

The 8,000-square-foot space seats 279 customers and consists of a full bar and two dining rooms; one for Hibachi-style lunch dishes and another for evening sit-down dining.

The new restaurant has something for everyone to try, from various ceviche plates to steak and roasted chicken. (MLive photo | Skyla Jewell-Hammie)

Helmed by Peruvian Chef Luis Robles, Rios menu features a diverse selection of seafood, chicken, stir-fried beef, and many more authentic creations served around Peru and Mexico.

Its very difficult to explain in a few words what Peruvian food is, Robles said. The people eat lamb, seafood, llama, everything. But we want to take the most popular dishes and bring them to Michigan.

Lunch will be available from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. Starting at 4 p.m. both dining rooms will be open until close.

Rosario told MLive/The Grand Rapids Press he hopes Rio Peruvian and Mexican Cuisine will be a staple for people to come out and try the Peruvian food and learn about the countrys history.

When people think about a Spanish place to go eat, I want to be the first one on the list, he said. Not top 10 or five, that number one.

Learn more about Rio by visiting its Facebook page.

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JACKSON COUNTY, MI  There are more than a dozen food banks scattered across the Jackson County area, ranging from large to small in size.

One is the North Parma United Methodist Church Food Pantry, which helps feed about 10 to 20 area famlies in need each week. There have been times the small food pantry struggled to get food, and volunteers walked through the shelves wondering how they could distribute what they did have, volunteer Jill Cline said.

However, a message from a local group several years ago asking if the pantry needed help was like having a prayer answered, Cline said.

Its like a shot in the arm, its like validation that were struggling along here, but were doing the right thing, Cline said.

The group answering that prayer is Brads Lunch Bunch, and in May, it surpassed $1 million in funds collected and donated to food banks across the Jackson County area, like the North Parma United Methodist Church Food Pantry.

It boggles my mind that its been that constant and consistent, Brad Flory said.

Brads Lunch Bunch was inspired about 15 years ago by Flory, a retired Jackson Citizen Patriot columnist, whos never really taken credit for the idea. The group formed spontaneously, Flory has said, after he wrote a series of columns describing his experience trying to feed his family on a budget.

Read more: Brad Flory column: A call to action for Jackson, seven astounding years later

Flory never anticipated the group would become so successful. While membership has decreased slightly through the years, the group still manages to gather funds to help local food banks, he said.

Its gone on a lot longer than I ever imagined, Flory said.

Today, Brads Lunch Bunch has roughly 160 anonymous members. Flory crafts a letter and sends it out to them at the beginning of the month, and they donate money, which is handled by an accountant. The funds are then donated to a Jackson County food pantry, selected on a rotating basis.

Through the years, donations have reached many food pantries that rely on community donations, one being Immanuel Lutheran Church, 1505 W. Michigan Ave.

The food bank receives two donations a year from Brads Lunch Bunch, and these funds have helped residents in need with a variety of meats, vegetables and other food, Susan Gahagan, food pantry director, said.

We want people to be able to make choices and have some dignity, shopping like anyone else does, Gahagan said.

This pantry serves an average of 250 families of week, so funds from Brads Lunch Bunch go a long way, she said. It often taps into these donations for Thanksgiving and Christmas to provide extra food for people to put on their tables during the holidays, Gahagan said.

Brads Lunch Bunch continues to serve the community, and they dont ask for anything in return, Gahagan said. Theyre caring for people, the way they can care for people.

North Parma United Methodist Church Food Pantry started receiving donations from Brads Lunch Bunch more than 10 years ago while Flory was still working for the Jackson Citizen Patriot.

The donations make a large impact on smaller food banks, since it allows them to purchase large quantities of food at a time, and also provide the people it serves something extra beyond the necessities, like chocolate chip cookies, Cline said.

It always makes us happy when were packing an order to have something a little special for people, Cline said.

Flory said hes happy Brads Lunch Bunch can help the food banks, especially the smaller ones. He said he hopes the funds will support a good network of places people can go if they are in need.

Flory also said he would never have imagined Brads Lunch Bunch could reach the $1 million mark. He attributes this success to the people of Jackson.

I think that the community of Jackson, in general, is just far more generous than people really think, Flory said.

People interested in joining Brads Lunch Bunch can email Flory at bradslunchbunch@gmail.com.

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JACKSON, MI  Grass Lake teen and finalist of The Voice Brayden Lape showed his support for his fellow Jackson County residents by performing in front of a cheering crowed at this years Jackson County Fair.

Here is that headline and some more you might have missed this week.
KALAMAZOO, MI -- A westbound train collided with a person on the train tracks near Kalamazoo, Amtrak reports.

About 9:33 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 17, Amtrak Train 365 was traveling from Port Huron to Chicago when it came into contact with a pedestrian on the Amtrak tracks near Kalamazoo, the transportation company said.

The person was on the path of the train and between the two rails when the collision happened, and the person was injured, Amtrak Spokesman Marc Magliari said. Officials didnt clarify how severe the injuries are, but noted the person did not die.

An ambulance responded to the incident, Magliari said.

There have been no reported injuries to the 269 passengers or to the crew aboard our train, Magliari said.

Amtrak is working with state and local authorities to investigate the incident, which delayed this train by 45 minutes, he said.

Amtrak officials wouldnt say how fast the train was going when it hit the person.

These incidents can affect everyone involved and serve as reminders about the importance of exercising extreme caution around railroad tracks and crossings, Magliari said.

Train officials urge people to stay off the tracks for their own safety.

Amtrak works with Operation Lifesaver to emphasize the dangers of being on railroad property or disregarding warnings at rail crossings. For more railroad safety information, visit StayOffTheTracks.org.

Kalamazoo County Sheriff deputies investigate an incident involving an Amtrak train and a pedestrian near Drake Road and KL Avenue in Kalamazoo, Michigan on Thursday, March 4, 2022. (Drone image by Joel Bissell | MLive.com)Joel Bissell | MLive.com

Incidents such as these reported to both federal and state rail safety regulators, including the Federal Railroad Administration.

Anyone not authorized to be on railroad property, including using the tracks as a short cut or not heeding the warnings of the approaching train, is trespassing as they are on the property without a lawful reason to do so, Amtrak said.

Want more Kalamazoo-area news? Bookmark the local Kalamazoo news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Kalamazoo daily newsletter.

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Housing inequality may be the next big ticket item Democrats set their sights on when returning from their summer break.

Rep. Emily Dievendorf, D-Lansing, said the caucus has already compiled a list of about 30 different kinds of policies, and expects anywhere from a 15 to 20 bill omnibus package on the subject to drop not long after lawmakers come back to Lansing in early September.

Among the topics: Efforts to clarify the organizing rights of tenants, requiring landlords pay for the relocation of tenants with red-tagged buildings and establishing a standard criteria for what a housing inspector may consider a safe and livable dwelling.

All of the legislation we will have introduced in the fall related to housing are meant to function in complementary ways in order to ensure that we really are getting to the root of homelessness, making housing more affordable, making it more accessible and keeping people in safe and livable homes, said Dievendorf, vice chair of the Houses Economic Development and Small Business Housing Subcommittee.

Democrats announced earlier this year affordable housing would be among their main policy focuses, going so far as to establish dedicated committees on the topic for the first time in recent memory.

Since then a few housing-related initiatives, including bills creating a fund used for converting land into usable spaces, have passed through both chambers and been signed by the governor.

More, however, remain in committees where they await further movement or a hearing altogether. That includes legislation to prevent a landlord from discriminating against a tenant based on their source of income, such as using a housing voucher, and requiring landlords alert residents if the building they live in has been condemned or is an imminent or serious hazard to their health.

The latter of those two bills passed out of the House in June with bipartisan approval and is awaiting a hearing in the Senate.

But that also includes House Bill 4919, sponsored by Dievendorf, which was introduced in July.

It seeks to establish a bill of rights specific to homeless individuals, outlining what it touts as basic principles that shouldnt be infringed upon including the right to equal treatment by all state and municipal agencies and the right, if a homeless youth, to be enrolled in school without delay or discrimination because of housing status.

We know from studies, from practice that when a group is particularly marginalized and vulnerable already ... we as institutions, we as majority people in a community, are less likely to see  to even see  much less recognize when there are injustices or when others dont have the same access and opportunity, Dievendorf said.

We know that we have to spell out and numerate what people dont have and what they need, and which folks are struggling with that access and opportunity, for it to even be recognized so that we can address it  which is why we knew that an enumerated anti-bullying policy was so important.

Her bill comes on the heels of efforts from some Michigan communities to tamp down on homeless individuals in city limits through bans on public camping or extended use of blankets in city parks.

Dievendorf, however, said these acts were not the impetus for her specific legislation but rather having lived in Lansing for some time now and seeing the city as an incredibly accurate example of the complexity, the nuances, of the housing crisis and what happens when we have a lack of housing.

Recent data from the National Low Income Housing Coalitions Out of Reach report ranked Michigan 28th worst in the nation for rental affordability. A person living off minimum wage, which is $10.10 an hour, would need to work at least 86 hours a week just to afford a two bedroom rental according to the report.

Ask for comment on the package Amber McCann, spokesperson for House Speaker Joe Tate, D-Detroit, told MLive the bills in question had yet to be reviewed or discussed by the caucus, but that the speaker looks forward to continued discussions on those topics.
Its sunset on the Kalamazoo River and Tammy and Sharon McBash, a lesbian couple, smile and holding hands behind the wheel of a vintage speed boat.

In Michigan, all are welcome, the caption reads. Discover the benefits of living in a state that protects your rights.

Its one of three ads the Michigan Economic Development Corporation has rolled out on social media celebrating inclusion and reproductive freedom, an apparent reference to the Michigans enshrinement of abortion rights in 2022.

The ads have been targeted to just six states, according to the MEDC: Florida, Texas, Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Were a state thats on the right side of history, one ad proclaims.

Leaders in Florida and Texas, in particular, have long extolled their states love of personal freedoms. Florida governor and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis often refers to the free state of Florida, and had assailed other states approaches to confronting the COVID-19 pandemic. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is seeking to use Michigans liberal turn on social issues as a selling point for prospective residents and businesses as a counterpoint to states swept up in restricting school curricula and gender-affirming care. Bigotry is bad for business has become a refrain.

People want to create homes in places where they know that their leaders and laws align with their values, Whitmer said in a statement. While other states ignite divisive culture wars that drive people out, Im staying focused on lowering costs for families, creating jobs and investing and expanding rights and protections to bring more people in.

All the targeted states  except South Carolina, where it was blocked by a state court  have had restrictions on abortion come into place after the undoing of Roe v. Wade in 2022. Michigan, with Democrats in control of state government, also codified civil rights protections for LGBTQ Michiganders in state law earlier this year.

The MEDC paid for the ads with business marketing funds, rather than the more well-known Pure Michigan tourism campaign, spokesperson Otie McKinley said in a statement.

We are constantly hearing from companies that are considering where to invest, McKinley said. Among the factors they consider is access to talent and the ability to recruit new talent. Efforts like this is part of a concerted effort to attract talent and business to Michigan by highlighting a business-friendly environment that also protects peoples rights and freedoms.

Abby Mitch, executive director of conservative group Michigan Rising Action, blasted the ads on similar grounds.

This past budget (Democrats) cut the nationally successful, rigorously tested and unifying Pure Michigan campaign and in its place, Democrats have put forward this blatantly pandering, divisive ad campaign that has not once been justified with real data as useful for economic stimulus, Mitch said. I see this as little more than a governor bent on raising her national profile using public resources to highlight issues important only to progressives and those in charge of corporate political accounts.

Related: Pure Michigan to halt national ads after surprise budget cut

Another ad, featuring a photo of three college-age women laughing in front of an academic building, with the caption enjoy your right to reproductive freedom, and a third features a photogenic Black family with the offer to enjoy the freedom to be who you are.

I think its excellent, I think it shows that families can be anything, Tammy McBash told WZZM earlier this year.

Its not the first time that the MEDCs advertising has hewn close to the policy preferences of state leaders. After Republicans enacted Michigans now-defunct right-to-work law in 2013, the agency took out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal celebrating the policy, drawing outrage from Democrats.

Then-Sen. Gretchen Whitmer tweeted at the time it was disappointing then-Gov. Rick Snyder would use the brand to push his partisan right-to-work rhetoric. Snyder later conceded the issue was too divisive to use in state advertising and the ads were put on hold.

Earlier this year the MEDC unveiled a campaign called Keep It Fresh, as something of a successor to the original Pure Michigan ads. The new digital ads  though the McBashes also appeared in the Keep It Fresh campaign  were not part of Pure Michigan, focusing more on residency than tourism.

These digital ads in target markets are all about promoting people and personal rights here in Michigan while also highlighting attributes of living, working, and thriving in Michigan, McKinley said.
Michiganders can dine out for a cause on Tuesday, Aug. 22, when 13 restaurants are donating profits to relief funds for Hawaii.

Restaurant Partners Management and 4GR8Food are donating the entirety of profits generated to aid the Hawaii Restaurant Association Relief Fund and the American Red Cross Hawaii Wildfires Disaster Relief Fund.

On Aug. 8, wildfires spread quickly across the island of Maui. Fires destroyed as many as 2,200 structures, most of which were homes, according to the Red Cross. The death toll was 110 people as of Aug. 16.

Since the fires, Red Cross and the county government have provided almost 5,000 overnight shelter stays in 14 emergency shelters on Maui and Oahu. The Hawaii Restaurant Association is mobilizing donations to provide food, clean water, medical supplies, and shelter.

Restaurant Partners Management owns and operates 15 independent restaurant locations in the Grand Rapids area and six independent restaurant locations in Traverse City as well as two beachfront hotels on East Grand Traverse Bay.

The following restaurants will be participating in the donation collection:

 Bagel Beanery - Michigan Street

 Beltline Bar

 Grand Coney Diner - Michigan Street

 Noble Restaurant

 Omelette Shoppe

 Petes Grill & Tavern

 Rainbow Grill - Grandville

 Real Food Cafe - Alger Heights

 Real Food Cafe - Plainfield Ave

 Red Geranium Cafe - Byron Center Ave

 Red Geranium Cafe - Gaines Township

 Sundance Grill - Downtown Grand Rapids

 Sundance Grill - Cascade

More on MLive:

Hawaii fire turns Michigan familys vacation into terrifying ordeal

Fires scar Maui, but land grabs pose a new threat to healing
A Michigan woman is among the two deaths that federal officials have linked to bone graft material infected with bacteria that causes tuberculosis.

Family members said Shandra Eisenga, 57, of Marion in Osceola County, developed TB, a bacterial infection that can cause serious illness, after undergoing an elective back surgery in April. She died Aug. 10, according to her obituary.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has identified 36 people across seven states that received grafts from the same lot, including two people who have died. Officials have said theyre working to respond to the cases and get treatment to those potentially infected.

Bone grafting is a surgical option that uses transplanted or artificial bone to repair diseased or damaged bones. Bone grafts have been used for centuries and about 2.2 million procedures are done each year, according to data from 2021.

Health officials said the cases appear to be linked to a single product lot used in surgical and dental procedures. Shipments were sent to 13 facilities across seven states, including Michigan, between Feb. 27 and June 20.

On July 13, the product manufacturer, Maryland-based Aziyo Biologics, announced a recall of its viable bone matrix products, which are bone repair products made from human tissue and used primarily in orthopedic and spinal procedures.

Aziyo said samples from the lot had initially tested negative for TB by an independent lab using a nucleic acid test before being released. The company said it is cooperating with the CDC and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and has notified physicians of the patients who received grafts from the donor lot.

Related: Infected monkeys at Michigan research lab threaten health and science

In a letter to the FDA and CDC, U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Ann Arbor, said the outbreak demonstrates an urgent need for stronger safety standards and a frightening wake-up call about the need to educate patients about the potential risks.

As someone who has received several bone grafts in the last couple of years and signed consent forms on automatic pilot, I admit I didnt take the time to even understand the potential risks, she said in a prepared statement.

Eisengas family hopes that by sharing her story, it will reach the right people to prevent this from ever happening again.

DaNay Tossey said her aunt will be remembered for being sweet, simple and good. She loved big without judgement, and had a way of making everyone around her feel like the most important thing to her in the moment.

I hope that we can all live a little more like Shandra, Tossey said. Choose sweetness over bitterness, choose to keep life simple and see the good in even the worst days -- just like Shandra did.

In Dingells letter to the FDA and CDC, she said the Michigan patient -- who she didnt name -- spent a month being treated for a severe post-surgical TB infection in an intensive care unit in Washtenaw County before she died. She had no other possible way of contracting tuberculosis and the primary site of infection was the site of the ViBone Moldable insertion, the letter reads.

The congresswoman also raised concern about the companys troubled history, noting a similar outbreak in 2021 involving contaminated products. In that case, units of the bone graft product were implanted into 113 recipients in 18 states. At least 87 patients developed TB, and eight died.

It is unacceptable another outbreak of this kind to occur at all  let alone another outbreak from the same company  due to TB-contaminated materials, Dingell wrote.

The letter concludes with a list of 10 questions about the response to the current outbreak, donor eligibility and testing requirements, and plans to update the FDAs bone tissue testing requirements.

No family should have to grieve the loss of a loved one due to a preventable death, Dingell wrote in her letter to the FDA and CDC. I look forward to working with you to strengthen the regulation of human tissue implantation to ensure these outbreaks do not continue. We must ensure that our laws and regulations are strong enough to prevent this from happening again.

Federal health officials are working with local health departments, hospitals and dental offices in the affected states to identify patients that received bone grafts from the tainted lot. Treatment is recommended, even without symptoms, for those patients and any healthcare personnel who may have been exposed to the bacteria during surgery or patient care.

Read more on MLive:

Concerning dip in vaccination rates as Michigan school year approaches

Road closures that may slow traffic this weekend around Michigan

13 Michigan restaurants donating 100% of profits to Hawaii wildfire relief

Michiganders lean on credit cards as Americans reach record $1 trillion in debt
Three new people are charged in a $4 million scheme in which Michigans top law enforcement official says criminals stole data from people in multiple states to defraud food assistance programs.

Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Friday three defendants who were arraigned last week in District Court.

Charles Williams, 35, Darian Palmer, 22, and Rashawn Stewart  all from Detroit  are each charged with five counts of Food Stamp Fraud and one count of Conducting a Criminal Enterprise. The latter is a felony of up to 20 years in prison.

They join Travis Newby, 39, of Detroit; Derriun Williams, 23, of Detroit; and Vanessa Williams, 47, of Highland Park, who were charged in May also on felony Criminal Enterprise charges.

Flashback: $4 million food stamp fraud ring leads to 3 arrests in Michigan

The AGs office alleges the fraud ring illegally obtained electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card data from 8,000 people primarily residing in California but also in Michigan. The operation allegedly illegally reproduced these food stamp cards in Michigan then made fraudulent purchases from Sams Club stores in Metro Detroit.

Search warrants were executed on May 24 at eight locations in the area.

Highly orchestrated organized retail crime costs Michigan businesses and consumers millions of dollars each year, Nessel said Friday in a statement.

The investigation, which the AGs office has said was spurred by information from a local police agency, was a joint effort between the state health department, inspector generals office and Sams Club security officials. They handed it off to Nessels office, which has an organized retail crime unit working with businesses and local law enforcement.

The unit, which Nessel says was the first established in the nation, began in January to target criminal enterprises that steal from retailers and repackage products to sell for a profit. It includes two full-time assistant attorneys general.

Local law enforcement or retailers with evidence of organized retail fraud are encouraged to email the AGs FORCE team.

Read more from MLive:

Michiganders lean on credit cards as Americans reach record $1 trillion in debt

Michigan targets conservative states with ads celebrating inclusion, abortion rights

Housing, rental reform on the agenda for Michigan legislature this fall

13 Michigan restaurants donating 100% of profits to Hawaii wildfire relief
The Reckon Report is a weekly newsletter that goes deeper in todays most-discussed headlines. Subscribe today and stay ready for the proverbial water cooler.

A day after wildfires ripped through a historic town on Maui, killing at least 111 people, a Hawaiian court gave the green light for a landmark environmental case brought by 14 indigenous children to move forward to a full trial next summer.

The children, who are as young as ten years old, allege that the Hawaiian Department of Transport (HDOT) is violating their constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment. They believe the department ignores the states goal of achieving a zero-emissions economy by 2045.

The transportation system is the next frontier in terms of really getting a handle on greenhouse gas pollution and affecting the kind of transformative systemic change that we need to avert climate disaster, said Isaac Moriwake, a managing attorney for the environmental legal non-profit Earth Justice and lead attorney in the trial against the HDOT.

Greenhouse gases from transportation account for about 29% of all carbon emissions in the United States, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

The case is part of an international climate movement led by Our Childrens Trust, a nonprofit public interest law firm based in Oregon. It is part of what was once seen as an insurmountable fight against government support for coal, oil, and gas burning that has warmed the planet and caused unpredictable and deadly disasters.

The organization has current cases in Canada, India, Mexico, Pakistan, and Uganda. However, it has also supported dozens of cases in the United States. Last week, it was handed one of its highest-profile wins when 16 children in Montana proved that their home state violated their constitutional rights by failing to consider climate change when approving fossil fuel projects.

Only a handful of states offer such constitutional protections to their citizens, and are often referred to as green amendments.

But as the United States and other major governments set ambitious climate goals, environmental legal cases are apparently being seen in a different light, and the victory in Montana is being viewed as a valuable guide of how to win.

The Judges detailed and carefully worded decision and the case presented by the 16 children can serve as a template, said Maya van Rossum, a leading environmental advocate, riverkeeper, attorney, and expert on green amendments. I could imagine lawyers looking to that language and referring to it in their legal briefings or looking to it as to how they can best present their climate arguments moving forward.

Now all eyes are on the case in Hawaii.

Here are five things to know about the case and its related issues.

1. When it reaches trial, it will be only the second youth-led climate trial in U.S. history after the victory in Montana.

Other youth-led climate cases have not gone to trial and some may never. The most prominent example is Juliana vs. The United States out of Oregon. The 21 youth plaintiffs, some of whom will be adults now, allege that the U.S. government, through its affirmative actions in promoting fossil fuel development and its failure to address climate change, has violated their constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property. The case has been in the court system for nearly a decade, and attorneys working under the Obama and Trump administrations have sought to have the case dismissed several times.

The case is groundbreaking in its approach to climate change as a constitutional issue. If successful, it could require the federal government to develop and implement a plan to phase out fossil fuel emissions and draw down excess atmospheric CO2.

2. It will also be the first indigenous youth-led climate trial in U.S. history.

All the plaintiffs are indigenous to Hawaii. There has undoubtedly been youth involvement in Native American environmental cases, although very few make it to trial, and this will be first led by children.

3. This isnt Hawaiis first high-profile climate case.

The County of Maui, where deadly wildfires recently devastated the historic town of Lahaina, is suing Exxon, Chevron, BP, Shell, and other fossil fuel companies for concealing the damage that fossil fuel extraction has had on the world. The case was launched in 2020 and is still slowly going through the court system. The defendants in the case are currently trying to have the case dismissed.

4. Montana, New York, and Pennsylvania are the only states to have specific constitutional protections for a clean, safe, and healthy environment for all people.

Hawaiians dont have precisely the same constitutional right. Still, its constitution notes that the state and its political subdivisions are responsible for conserving and protecting the states natural beauty and natural resources.

5. Over a dozen other states are considering adding green amendments to their constitution, making it easier for citizens to bring environmentally-focused legal action against the state.

This could be viewed as a de facto way to stop fossil fuel companies from continuously polluting the environment without taking them directly to court, often an expensive and years-long process.
A Libyan militia leader whose detention sparked clashes that killed 55 people in the capital Tripoli this week has been released, a military official said Thursday.

Gun battles had raged on the streets of Tripoli from Monday night through Tuesday after 444 Brigade leader Mahmoud Hamza was apprehended by the rival Al-Radaa Force.

Hamza "was released on Wednesday night and returned to his headquarters south of Tripoli", an official at army headquarters in western Libya told AFP.

"He was released under a government-sponsored ceasefire agreement" which also provides for the "withdrawal of fighters from the front lines", said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Videos circulated on social media on Wednesday night showed Hamza dressed in military fatigues and surrounded by his fighters at the Tekbali barracks south of the Libyan capital.

Fighting broke out in Tripoli after Hamza's detention on Monday, killing 55 people, wounding 146 and forcing the closure of the capital's only civilian airport -- the worst armed clashes seen in Libya for a year.

The two armed groups are among the myriad of militias that have vied for power in the North African country since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi.

A period of relative stability had led the United Nations to express hope for delayed elections to be held this year.

Calm returned to Tripoli and the Mitiga airport reopened after the ceasefire agreement reached late Tuesday between Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbeibah's government and a social council in the Al-Radaa stronghold of Soug el-Joumaa in the capital's southeast.

"The situation is stable, with police patrols having been deployed" in the areas that had seen fighting, allowing people to move around, the military official said.

Libya is split between Dbeibah's UN-backed government in the west and another in the east backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar.
17.08.2023 LISTEN

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin on Thursday announced that a unit from the elite CRS 8 police force that specialises in fighting urban violence is to be deployed to Marseille. The southern port has been plagued by gang violence over control of the city's drug trade.

"On my instruction, CRS 8 will be deployed as reinforcements in Marseille to carry out target operations against drug trafficking over the next few days," Darmanin posted on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter).

The ministry said the unit would stay in Marseille for about a week with the aim of carrying out hard-hitting operations against drug trafficking, particularly at notorious dealing points.

The move comes after the shooting deaths of at least eight people since the beginning of August.

A total of 36 people have lost their lives in France's second-largest city since the start of the year as a result of drug violence.

That's more than the 31 gunshot deaths  linked to narcotics  recorded in the Bouches-du-Rhone department for the whole of last year.

Shot dead at point-blank range

"They're getting younger and younger, more and more determined, more and more eager to get out of misery and earn money with colossal sums to be made," Marc La Mola, a former police officer with the anti-organised crime brigade, told France 3 radio.

This comes as a 26-year-old man was killed on Tuesday in Marseille's Maison Blanche district.

Witnesses said the gunman came on foot and fired several shots from a Kalashnikov rifle at point-blank range before leaving on a motorcycle.

Five people were arrested and taken into custody.

Vicious circle for school drop-outs

A recent investigation undertaken by FranceInfo found that although many young people involved in the violence come from neighbourhoods plagued by drug trafficking, not all of them were from Marseilles.

"We also have young people from all over France to recruit lookout scouts given there are invitations to tender made via social networks, notably SnapChat," Rudy Manna, departmental secretary of the Alliance police union, said.

"Prices are extremely attractive in Marseilles, which means that it's a magnet for 13-, 14- and 15-year-olds who get involved in drug trafficking. These are often idle youngsters, almost all of whom have dropped out of school."

Once caught up in the spiral of trafficking, young people are at the mercy of the network and find themselves isolated and helpless.

To escape, some surrender to the police.

Police tactics 'counter-productive'

Violence between rival gangs is reportedly an indirect consequence of the police's "shelling" strategy, which destabilises the drug trafficking networks.

So-called "strike force operations" undertaken in 2022 at the request of Darmanin saw 39 dealing points dismantled and over five tonnes of cannabis seized.

Critics have denounced this method is ineffective because arresting the small players involved in trafficking will not put an end to the cycle of violence.

According to Hassen Hammou, president of the Too Young to Die NGO, the occasional occupation of neighborhoods by CRS vehicles is something the trafficking networks have gotten used to.

"That's where I say that Darmanin's [reaction] has its limits," Hassan told the FranceInfo investigation.

"We all know  NGO leaders and residents alike  that the real organisers of trafficking in our neighbourhoods are abroad. Instructions are given long-distance. The manpower they use at a distance is none of their business. Their business is that their networks run."

Hassan said police raids were a deliberate strategy to give the impression the state was taking action.

NGOs have been lobbying lawmakers to open a parliamentary commission of inquiry for a proper evaluation of the French state's intervention in neighbourhoods affected by drug crime.
Caption: Experts say the increase in flight frequencies of ET (14 flights per week) and BA (10 flights per week) starting on October 29, is a huge vote of confidence in the Ghanaian market.

17.08.2023 LISTEN

Post-COVID-19 recovery in Ghanas travel market has been remarkable, with all airlines resuming their pre-pandemic schedules and looking to increase their market share by scaling up their operations in Ghana.

British Airways and Ethiopian Airlines are set to increase their offering in the market by servicing the Kotoka International Airport with 10 and 14 weekly flights respectively effective October 29, 2023.

African aviation expert, Sean Mendis, believes that this indicates a strong trust in the Ghanaian travel market by airlines and a further endorsement that the West African country is doing something right.

It [increase in frequency by BA and ET] is a huge vote of confidence for the Ghana market. In the case of ET, it makes Accra their only station in West Africa which is fed by all three of their main hub banks in Addis Ababa. That shows Accra is feeding a wide range of ET destinations and they are confident that it will continue to grow, he told AviationGhana.

He added that BAs additional 3 weekly frequencies Allows them to add capacity from a lower cost airport in Gatwick to protect their market share on London-Accra route while allowing them to sell the more premium seats via Heathrow to the rest of their network. I think it will be very successful for them if they are able to deploy the right yield management strategy.

Ethiopian Airlines is to become the largest international airline servicing the Kotoka International Airport by frequency, effective October 29, when the airline adds three (3) more scheduled flights to its existing 11 weekly flights between Addis Ababa and Accra, Ghana. Essentially the airline will operate seven afternoon flights, and seven evening/early morning flights.

The increase in flight frequency will also allow the airline to provide more travel options to passengers on-board sister airline, ASKY Airlines, which seek to connect flights in Accra to various destinations in the world.

Mrs. Aniley Eshetu, Ethiopian Airlines Area Manager for Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, said: With a view to best serve the Ghanaian aviation market, Ethiopian Airlines has been playing vital roles connecting Accra to major global destinations by deploying the latest fleet the industry has to offer. In March this year, we introduced evening flights out of Accra to enable Ghanaian travellers to travel with more time efficiency.

Thus far, we have witnessed that our customers are pleased and enjoying these additional connectivity options. We are now augmenting that with three (3) more flights to bring our total weekly flights to 14. Our Ghanaian travellers will enjoy double daily connections from Accra to our more than 135 global destinations, including Gatwick, which will be rejoining our network as of November 21, 2023. With the increase in frequency, Ethiopian Airlines once again reaffirms its commitment to serve Ghana.

Last year, Ethiopian Airlines (ET) recorded a passenger load of 136,872, with an on-time performance of 82.12 percent. Per Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) data, ET was the 4th largest foreign operator by passenger load in 2022 only behind KLM, British Airways, and Emirates.

British Airways, on the other hand, is to add three (3) more flights to its existing daily London ( Heathrow ) - Accra -London (Heathrow) flight starting October 29, 2023, in response to demand.

The additional flights, which will operate into London ( Gatwick Airport ) on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, is to offer Ghanaian travellers more choice of flight times and airports.

Moran Birger, British Airways' Head of Sales for Africa, Middle East and South Asia told AviationGhana that the additional flights will add 30 percent more capacity for BA on the route.

" Restoring our Africa network after the pandemic gave us an opportunity to carefully consider the routes and regions where there was potential for growth. Accra was one of those routes ad Africa is one of those regions."

BA is expected to use a Boeing 777 for the new 3x weekly flights when it begins on October 29. To mark the start of the new service, the airline is offering a launch special with fares from Gatwick to Accra starting from $2,947 in Club World, and $689 in World Traveller.

Why Accra remains the most connected market in West Africa

Ghana, described by security analysts as a good boy in a bad neighbourhood, has had a stable democratic political system for almost three decades. The countrys judiciary and law enforcement remain robust to address any issues that may arise from a businesss operations in Ghana.

The availability of forex for airlines to repatriate to their various headquarters, despite the economic squeeze post-pandemic that has necessitated a bail-out by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and debt restructuring with domestic and foreign creditors, makes it an ideal operating market for airlines unlike other countries in the Sub-region where airlines struggle to repatriate their funds.

The airline industrys blocked funds increased from $1.55 billion in April 2022 to $2.27 billion in April 2023, representing an increase of some 47 per cent.

Nigeria ($812 million), Algeria ($196m), and Lebanon ($141.2 million), are three countries where airlines struggle to repatriate their funds.

Kamil Al Alawadhi, IATAs Regional Vice President of Africa and The Middle East, warns that the situation in the affected market in Africa, if not addressed with some urgency, will lead to a reduction in frequency, drying up of FDIs, and generally poor airline connectivity in a region already underserved.

Africas population constitutes some 18 percent of the world population but contributes just 2.1 percent to global aviation.
Gabon's president Ali Bongo Ondimba (2009-present) recently announced his intention to stand for re-election in the country's presidential poll scheduled for 26 August. He is, to state the obvious, expected to win.

Ali Bongo, son of former president Omar Bongo who ruled the country from 1967 to 2009) , has the backing of the ruling Parti Democratique Gabonais (PDG), founded by his father. The party has monopolised power in the oil-rich central African country for more than half a century.

The Bongo family has held onto power for 56 years . It has done so through single-party government, corruption in the mining and oil sectors, and political kinship. According to some estimates Ali Bongo personally controls US$1 billion in assets, much of that secreted overseas, making him the richest man in Gabon.

In addition, the constitution has been changed several times in the past decades to ensure the Bongos' continued rule.

First, term limits were removed from the constitution in 2003, ensuring that Bongo could serve as president for life.

Second, traditional two-round ballots were changed into single-round ballots, also in 2003. This was to ensure that Bongo's opponents could not rally around a single challenger in a run-off.

Third, instead of requiring that the winner obtain a majority, all that is needed for Bongo to be re-elected is a plurality. This means a majority could be less than 50%, as long as the winner has the most votes. Had he been required to win a majority of votes, Ali Bongo, with 49.8% in the 2016 election, would not be president today.

Fourth, in April 2023, the presidential term was reduced from seven to five years, ensuring the presidential elections would occur at the same time as legislative and local elections.

In the past, after presidential elections, opposition parties would organise against Bongo's ruling party to capture seats in the legislative and local elections. The change makes it much more likely that all the institutions of government power will be taken by Bongo and his party in one single election.

The ruling PDG has increased its seats in the national assembly, holding 63 out of 120 seats in 1990 and most recently 98 out of 143 in 2018. The ruling party has also increased its seats in the senate from 52 out of 92 in 1997, to 46 out of 67 in 2021.

The continuous rule by the Bongos has not been good for a country of just 2.3 million people. Gabon is a resource-rich country and was once heralded as the  Kuwait of Africa . Because of its small population and large oil reserves, per capita income is at least US$13,949.16 . In neighbouring Cameroon, per capita income is only US$3,733

But Gabon's average is belied by a population where a third of the citizens live below the poverty line and unemployment stands at about 37% among young people.

Dynastic republic

Gabon is not a monarchy but a dynastic republic.

In dynastic republics, presidents have concentrated power in their hands and established systems of personal rule. They transmit state power through nepotism to their family and kin. This includes sons and daughters, wives and ex-wives, brothers and sisters, half-siblings and step-siblings, cousins, uncles and aunts, nieces and nephews, in-laws, illegitimate children and so on.

Under this system, the classical ideal of a legal-rational state  where position and rank are distributed based on merit in the name of the rational (efficient and effective) functioning of government - is corrupted.

In all dynastic republics around the world  including Togo, Equatorial Guinea, Syria, Azerbaijan, North Korea, Turkmenistan and most recently Cambodia - an institutionalisation of traditional family power through the modern vehicle of a single ruling party has been critical.

In Gabon, this is the Parti Democratique Gabonais. The party holds the presidential palace and has a majority in the national assembly (98/143 seats) and in the senate (46/67 seats). It also controls the courts, and the regional and municipal governments.

It is critical to understand that no man rules alone. Only with a large party apparatus can a man and his family rule a republic with millions of people.

But why has the rule by one man and his family been tolerated?

The answer is the political elite need him to keep their own positions.

The economist Gordon Tullock hypothesised back in 1987 that dynastic succession appeals to non-familial elites who are wary of a leadership struggle. In 2007, professor of government Jason Brownlee tested this theory by looking at 258 non-monarchical autocrats. He found that

in the absence of prior experience selecting a ruler through a party, regime elites accepted filial heirs apparent when the incumbent had arisen from a party and his successor predominantly emerged from that organisation.

Political scientists Bruno Bueno de Mesquita and Alastair Smith argue that

essential supporters have a much greater chance of retaining their privileged position when power passes within a family from father to son, from king to prince, than when power passes to an outsider.

Omar Bongo founded the PDG in 1967 as a de jure one-party system. After constitutional reforms in 1990, he permitted the existence of opposition parties. But because he never held free or fair elections, the democratic opposition has never managed to wrest power from either the Bongos or their ruling party.

Elections in Gabon are followed by protests, which are followed by security force crackdowns and ultimately silence.

The opposition

A total of 19 candidates have registered as candidates for the presidency. Among these are former prime minister Raymond Ndong Sima, former vice president Pierre-Claver Maganga Moussavou, head of the Union Nationale coalition of opposition parties Paulette Missambo, and former minister of mines Hughes Alexandre Barro Chambrier.

For the past year, Chambrier has done everything he could to rally the other opposition leaders to support a single candidate. But his efforts have not been successful.

Chambrier may be the one best positioned to rally the most votes against Bongo, but the Gabonese opposition is, once again, divided.

So it seems like the Bongo dynasty will remain in power, as will the PDG, after the 2023 elections. Though Ali Bongo's government has denied such claims, it seems as if preparations are already underway for Bongo's eldest son Noureddine to inherit the throne.

Douglas Yates does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

By Douglas Yates, Professor of Political Science , American Graduate School in Paris (AGS)
Opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, at the centre of a crisis that has rocked Senegal ahead of presidential elections, has been admitted to intensive care after launching a hunger strike, his lawyers said Thursday.

Sonko began the protest on July 30 after he was accused of fanning deadly violence between his supporters and the security forces.

He was admitted to intensive care at Dakar's main hospital, said one of his lawyers, Cire Cledor Ly.

The attorney, who said he went to the intensive care unit on Thursday, said Sonko "lost consciousness yesterday".

Another lawyer, Bamba Cisse, also said Sonko was in intensive care, while Sonko's Facebook page said he had been brought in on Wednesday evening "after falling ill".

Several government officials were approached by AFP but declined to give a response.

Sonko has been in hospital while under detention since August 6, when he was admitted for emergency care. Details of his condition are unclear.

The 49-year-old has forged a wide following among Senegal's young through fiery attacks on President Macky Sall, portraying him as a would-be dictator and head of a corrupt elite.

On June 1, he was handed a two-year prison term following a trial on charges of moral corruption of a young beauty salon worker.

The conviction, he says, was a plot to make him ineligible to contest next year's elections.

Clashes erupted, leaving at least 16 people dead.

He was arrested on July 28 and three days later formally charged with fomenting insurrection, criminal association and harming state security, relating to incidents dating back to 2021. His PASTEF party was also ordered dissolved.

The government has expressed doubts that he is genuinely observing a hunger strike.
17.08.2023 LISTEN

In a bid to ensure transparent and fair elections, the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) is implementing a series of measures, including the banning of machomen and mobile phones at voting centers during the party's impending super delegates conference.

These decisions were made during a recent party meeting, where members discussed strategies to uphold the integrity of the electoral process.

One of the key decisions reached by the NPP is the prohibition of active government officials or any delegate enlisted to vote in the elections from acting as agents.

This move aims to prevent conflicts of interest and potential bias during the voting process.

By keeping government officials away from agent roles, the NPP hopes to foster an environment conducive to free and fair elections.

Furthermore, the party has decided to restrict the use of mobile phones and electronic photographic gadgets at the voting centres.

This measure is aimed at minimising distractions and potential opportunities for electoral malpractice.

By prohibiting the use of phones within voting centers, the NPP seeks to prevent unauthorized dissemination of voting-related information or potential voter coercion.

In a statement released by the party, the NPP said to ensure the secrecy of the ballot, the party has also introduced complex serial numbers on ballots.

This measure is intended to prevent the tracing of votes back to individual voters, thereby safeguarding their privacy and protecting against any potential reprisals. By implementing this system, the NPP aims to enhance confidence in the electoral process and encourage voter participation.

The NPPs decisions have received mixed reactions from the public. Supporters of the party commend these measures, believing that they will help maintain transparency and fairness in the upcoming elections.

They argue that banning machomen and restricting phone use will reduce the influence of external factors that could potentially compromise the integrity of the voting process.

However, critics express concerns that the ban on machomen and mobile phones may infringe on voters rights and hinder communication between voters and their agents. They argue that the restriction on phones may prevent individuals from capturing evidence of irregularities or seeking assistance during the voting process.

The NPPs decisions will be closely observed as the country prepares for the upcoming elections. It remains to be seen how these measures will affect the overall voting experience and the credibility of the electoral process.

The Electoral Commission will play a crucial role in ensuring the effective implementation of these regulations and addressing any potential challenges that may arise.

As the election day draws near, political parties, civil society organizations, and citizens at large eagerly anticipate a smooth and transparent voting process that upholds the democratic principles of Ghana.

According to the party, the Electoral Commission of Ghana, with support from the Ghana Police Service, will oversee the elections.

The election is scheduled to take place on Saturday, August 26, 2023, at 17 voting centers, including the Party Headquarters in Asylum Down and all 16 Regional Capitals.

The Special Electoral College will consist of various delegates, including the National Council, National Executive Committee, Regional Executive Committee, Members of Parliament, and representatives from special organs of the party, past National Officers, and Founding Members. Voting will be done by secret ballot, and voting offences such as attempting to vote more than once or buying/selling votes will be strictly prohibited.

Proxy voting will also be allowed, with the deadline for submission of proxy applications set for August 5, 2023. Only delegates to the Electoral College will have the right to vote by proxy. The Electoral College Album, which will serve as the voter register for the elections, will be submitted to the Electoral Commission and the Presidential Aspirants by the Presidential Elections Committee.

To ensure transparency and credibility, the validated Album (voter register) will be made available to all participating Aspirants one week before the Special College date. Various categories of delegates will vote at different centers, with the National Headquarters Centre hosting the National Council, National Executive Committee Members, Council of Elders, and others.

Regional Voting Centers will accommodate Founding Members, Regional Executive Committee Members, Members of Parliament, and Regional Representatives to the National Council, among others.

Disputes arising from this process will be referred to the Presidential Elections Committee for resolution.

In order to vote, delegates must show proof of identification, such as Party Membership ID Cards, National Voters ID Cards, or Ghana Cards. Polling time will be from 9am to 1pm, and the results will be counted and declared immediately after the close of the polls at each Voting Center.

The collation of results to elect five Presidential Candidates from each region will take place at the Electoral Commission Head Office in Accra. Each Aspirant will be represented by himself and/or two accredited agents at the Collation Center. The EC will officially declare the results at the NPP Headquarters in Asylum Down, and in the event of a tie for the fifth position, a run-off election will be conducted on September 2, 2023.

-DGN online
In an effort to address the economic concerns in the Ashiaman community, the Journalist Network for Youth Advocacy and Good Governance orchestrated an open forum at the bustling Ashiaman market in the Greater Accra Region.

This event served as a platform for Ghanaians to voice their perspectives on the present administration's governance and its ramifications for the nation and its people.

Conversations with traders and residents within the dynamic Ashiaman market unveiled a prevailing sense of economic instability, leading to a swift escalation in the prices of essential commodities.

This disruptive trend in pricing has consequently impacted smooth transactions within the buying and selling ecosystem, sparking notable apprehension amongst the local community.

In response, traders have turned to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and its flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama, with an appeal for assistance, seeking relief from the perceived repercussions of the current governing party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

Moreover, the traders shared their observations on how the struggling economy has cast its shadow even on the institution of marriage, leading to hardships and, in some cases, the collapse of unions.

The traders also raised doubts regarding the efficacy of the free education initiative.

They expressed skepticism, asserting that the programme might be a mechanism to extract funds from students and their guardians.

Despite students' enrollment in schools under the Free Senior High School (SHS) programme, they claimed that essential provisions, including meals, were not being adequately provided.

The appeal to former President John Mahama, a prominent figure within the NDC, underscores the increasing frustration fueled by the existing economic challenges.

As the citizenry grapples with soaring commodity prices and concerns about the effectiveness of governmental initiatives, the path forward remains uncertain, they conclude.

Classfmonline.com
A driver accused of defiling his ex-lovers 15-year-old daughter on five occasions has appeared before the Gender-Based Violence Court at the Police Headquarters, Accra.

Mr Kwabena Kodua Obiri Yeboah, who presided over the case, granted Kingsley Asamoah bail in the sum of GHC 30,000 with two sureties.

The matter has been adjourned to September 7, 2023.

According to the prosecution, led by Detective Chief Inspector Simon Tekpor, the complainant is a hairdresser who lives in Lartebiokorshie, and Asamoah resides in the same house.

The prosecution said the complainant has a daughter who lives with her.

It said Asamoah and the complainant had an intimate relationship during which she fell pregnant but miscarried.

Their relationship, however, ended.

However, because of the accuseds previous relationship with the complainant, the victim has been running errands for Asamoah.

The prosecution said Asamoah exploited his relationship with the victim to have sex with her behind the complainants back.

According to the prosecutor, on July 21, 2023, at about 2030 hours, Asamoah asked the victim to go and buy him a mosquito incense.

When the victim returned with the incense, Asamoah began to fondle her and eventually had sex with her.

The victim cried after the sexual act and went to inform her mother about the ordeal.

She told her mother that that was the fifth time that Asamoah had had sex with her.

On July 22, 2023, the complainant reported the incident to the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit, and she was given a medical report form to take the victim to the hospital for treatment.

Asamoah was arrested after the complainant identified him.

GNA
The Awutu Bereku Magistrate's Court has sentenced a 46-year-old mason, Nicholas Kofi Owusu, to two weeks imprisonment and a fine of GHS300 for failing to cater for his two children.

Charged with failing to maintain a child, he would serve additional two weeks in prison if he fails to pay the fine.

The court, presided over by Madam Naomi Kuntor, directed the father of two to pay GHS1,000 every month for the upkeep of the children.

This was after his wife, Madam Dorcas Kwakye, a 38-year-old trader, dragged him to the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit of the Ghana Police Service for neglecting his children.

Prosecuting, Chief Inspector Charles Annobil said Owusu and Madam Kwakye, both residents of Fetteh Kakraba in the Central Region, had been married for 16 years with two children, aged 14 and 10.

However, he said, the couple had separated for five years and the husband had since shirked his responsibilities as a father, refusing the children food, education, clothing, shelter, good health care and other necessities.

Owusu pleaded guilty with explanation and was convicted on his plea.

GNA
The Accra Circuit Court One has sentenced a 27-year-old man to four years imprisonment in hard labour for stealing laptop computers, among other items valued over USD10,000 belonging to the Association International School.

Michael Awitor, unemployed, admitted entering the School heads office unlawfully to make away with the items and was sentenced accordingly.

Abdul Wahab Issahaku, 50, and Godstime Joseph Edoho, 28, have denied abetting Awitor, the convict, to steal the various items.

They were admitted to a GHC120,000.00 bail with three sureties, each.

One of their sureties, each, is to be justified, the Court presided over by Mrs Afia Owusua Appiah ordered.

Issahaku and Edoho will return to the Court on September 11, 2023.

Police Inspector wisdom Alorwu told the Court that Madam Esther Coleman, the complainant was the Personal Assistant to the head of Association International School, Airport Residential Area.

Issahaku, he said, was a scrap dealer living at Achimota just as Edoho, a Nigerian, unemployed and Awitor.

The prosecution said in 2023, the Police gathered information that, Issahaku had recruited Edoho and Awitor, and housed them at Achimota, fed and clothed them for the purposes of using them for stealing.

It said whenever Awitor embarked on any stealing expedition, he brought the booty to Edoho, who kept the booty and informed Issahaku.

With that information, the Police laid surveillance on their activities.

It said on February 20, 2023, the complainant went to work and detected that, the office of the head of the School was broken into and ransacked, the Court heard.

She detected that, a MacBook Air laptop computer valued US$2000.00 and MacBook Pro laptop computer valued USS3000.00, used iPhone plus charger, Ti 85 calculator, two Casio scientific calculators, two iPhone chargers, one portable USD fan with inbuilt were stolen.

The prosecution said one power bank, twelve TB Western digital HIDD, new power bank with charger and one hand bag, valued at USS5,000.00 belonging to the School were also stolen.

It said the complainant reported the incident to the Airport Police for investigation.

Following the earlier information, the Police arrested Atwitor.

In his investigation cautioned statement he confessed to the offence and led the Police to arrest the two others.

The prosecution said the two admitted the offence and Issahaku stated that, he had handed over all the exhibits to his co-financier, one Asare.

He then led the Police to the house of the said Asare at Achimota, but before the Police got there, he had escaped.

The prosecution said efforts were being made to arrest Asare and retrieve the stolen items.

GNA
Mr Abdel-Fatau Musah, Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), says the Community is going to Niger with its resources and any organisation willing to help is welcome.

The request for Chapter VII is often done in order to secure resources, access contributions from the UN coffers. The Heads of State are saying we are going to Niger with our resources. Anybody who wants to help us, fair enough, he said.

Mr Musah said this at the 48th Extraordinary Meeting of the ECOWAS Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff (CDS) underway in Accra.

The two-day meeting will enable the CDS to strategise on possible military intervention in Niger.

Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter sets out the UN Security Council's powers to maintain peace. It allows the Council to determine the existence of any threat to peace, breach of the peace or act of aggression, and to take military and nonmilitary action to restore international peace and security.

The Niger Republic Military Junta had since Monday, July 26, put in detention Mr Mohamed Bazoum, the President of Niger, and his family and members of his Cabinet.

The military takeover in Niger marks the fifth country in the West African sub-region that had experienced a coup d'etat in just over three years, with the other countries being Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Guinea Bisau.

The ECOWAS leaders last week resolved to activate a standby force for intervention following a takeover by the junta.

The military chiefs are, among other things, expected to prepare a plan of action in Niger if ECOWAS leaders gave the green light.

General Christopher Gwabin Musa, the Chief of Defence Staff, Federal Republic of Nigeria, gave the assurance that the group would do what was right.

We must confront them head-on, dwell upon our shared experiences, wisdom and the strength of our collective resolve. Our decisions will be a strong message about our commitment to democracy, our intolerance for unconstitutional changes of government and our dedication to regional stability, he said.

The path that lay before ECOWAS was not an easy one, but it ought to strive to restore democracy and sovereignty to the Republic of Niger, General Musa said.

We must not allow the people of Niger to suffer. Our resolve is to protect the integrity of our states and protect ECOWAS citizens.

Mr Dominic Nitiwul, the Minister of Defence, said the meeting was to restore constitutional order in the Community and a platform for the CDS to put in plans to meet ECOWAS directives to restore peace.

Members are united in carrying out directives and measures of ECOWAS for democracy restoration in Niger, he said.

He urged the CDS to continue to be loyal to their heads of state, ECOWAS and defend their nations and territorial interpretations of their nations with the right tools.

You have the right that your people choose their leaders in a free and fair manner.

Let us stay united, loyal and committed to the decisions of our various Heads of State and governments and replicate what the past military leaders of ECOWAS did in countries like Liberia, Sierra Leone, the Gambia and Guinea Bissau, Mr Nitiwulu, also the New Patriotic Party Member of Parliament for Bimbila, said.

In a related development, ECOWAS last week ordered its standby force to restore constitutional order in the Niger Republic.

Mr Omar Alieu Touray, President of ECOWAS, made the declaration while reading the resolution of ECOWAS on the Niger coup at the Extraordinary Meeting held in Abuja on Thursday, August 10, 2023.

Mr Touray called on the African Union (AU), partner countries, and institutions to support the resolution taken by the sub-regional body.

He said all efforts made to dialogue with the Niger Republic military junta had been defiantly rejected by the coup leaders, as they condemned the continuous detention of President Mohamed Bazoum and his family.

GNA
18.08.2023 LISTEN

Torgbui Gorni Treve IV, the Brimshibrim (chief) of Dzogadze in the Akatsi South Municipality of the Volta Region, has reaffirmed his commitment to bringing development to his people to improve their standard of living.

He said as traditional rulers, priority must be placed on development instead of fighting for titles and other positions.

Torgbui Treve made the call at his modern 'Brimshibrim Palace' at Dzogadze during an interaction with the Ghana News Agency on issues of development as well as some challenges facing the community.

The businessman reiterated his commitment to ensuring the community remained exposed to investors, especially in the agricultural sector.

We have good lands for farming so we must take advantage of it. I will bring potential investors to our area to serve as a source of livelihood to my people, he said, and assured the youth and the elderly of his readiness to champion their course.

Issues such as chieftaincy disputes and disregard for community activities deterred community growth, Torgbui Treve said, and appealed to all to rally behind him to attain the needed developmental heights.

Dzogadze is a farming community and is also known for its rich culture; traditional drumming, singing, and dancing.

GNA
France has paid tribute to one of its youngest members of the Resistance during the Second World War, who, at the age of 11, hid false identity cards under her dolls in her family home during German army raids in Normandy.

Annette Lajon, who died on Wednesday at the age of 91, had decided to join the Normandy Resistance at an early age in 1942, alongside her father and mother.

French President Emmanuel Macron posted on X (formerly Twitter), "In 1942, Annette Lajon was eleven years old when she decided to resist the Nazis in Normandy. Her death commits us to taking up her torch."

For his part, Minister of the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu posted: "Having joined the Resistance at the age of 11, hiding her equipment behind her dolls, Annette Lajon became a tireless witness to the Normandy Resistance. She passed away at the age of 91. Her legacy will live on. We will continue to carry on her work of remembrance."

Tricking the Gestapo

An only child, Lajon decided to follow in the footsteps of her parents, who had refused to accept the 1940 armistice and joined the Resistance.

Never one to shy away from a fight, the little girl told her parents: "I know you're in the Resistance, and I want to join in with you!

"Despite my young age, I was well aware that one unfortunate word could cost the lives of others and myself. I had to maintain absolute secrecy", she confided to journalists a few years ago.

She recounted the visit of Gestapo chief Richard Reinhardt to Normandy's Orne region in February 1944, for a thorough search.

"On several occasions, we were very lucky, as was the case on the day of this search. At the entrance to the room, my toys and dolls were on the floor. When Reinhardt saw this, he signaled to his men not to search there, and yet it was in this room, above the ceiling, that the material for false identity cards was kept... At my age, I was mainly a liaison officer. The Germans had no idea that such a young girl could join the resistance", she recalled.

Among other things, her parents made false identity cards and hid stamps, weapons, plastic explosives and other equipment parachuted into France from the British.
Former Executive Director of the West African Network for Peace Building (WANEP) Emmanuel Bombande has suggested to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to first adopt dialogue and negotiation to resolve the issues in troubled Niger.

He indicated that although military intervention by the ECOWAS is allowed, the first option should be dialogue and negotiations.

Speaking on the Ghana Tonight show on TV3 Thursday, August 17, the United Nations Senior Mediation Advisor said I think the message of trying to use what has been described by the ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs as by all means is basically to have a very strong and firm hand and to insist that ECOWAS will not relent.

But for me, the language should exactly portray the ECOWAS political engagement through dialogue and mediation and not create a misrepresentation that the military option has not come to the fore.

The former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs added I say for this simple reason, what is the objective of the ECOWAS? The objective of ECOWAS, going back to its own protocols, particularly the one on democracy and good governance of 2001, does not present what you might call a military option when a situation like this arises.

What it presents more is to use the type of preventable diplomatic effort, negotiations, and dialogue though in the repertoire of choices to make for the restoration of constitutional rule, Ecowas could now deploy any other means that might ensure that constitutional rule is reestablished.

The Commissioner for Political, Peace and Security of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Dr Abdul Fatau Musa, has said that the junta in Niger is playing a cat-and-mouse game with the community.

He has nonetheless assured, that by all means, democratic rule would be restored in Niger.

By all means available, constitutional order will be restored, Dr Fatau stressed.

If push comes to shove, we are going into Niger with our machinery, we are not going to beg for alms, he said at the extraordinary meeting ongoing in Accra today Thursday and Friday for army chiefs of some West African states over sending troops to Niger to restore constitutional order.

The meeting follows a decision by the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States to activate a standby force in the crisis-hit West African nation.

The West African bloc had initially given the military junta led by General Abdourahamane Tchiani a seven-day ultimatum to reinstate Mohamed Bazoum as President.

After the ultimatum elapsed, the Authority decided on Thursday, August 10 in Abuja, Nigeria to explore other options including an intervention by stand-by force.

Ghana's Parliament is reported to have thrown its weight behind a military intervention of a combined force in Niger.

Ivory Coast's leader Alassane Ouattara, after the Abuja meeting, told reporters that his country has completed financial arrangements to contribute a battalion to the force.

Cote d'Ivoire will provide a battalion and has made all financial arrangements for the operation if it is to last three months, President Ouattara said.

Provisions will be made at the budgetary level so that our soldiers and officers who will participate in this operation do not lack anything. So Cote d'Ivoire is ready.

The Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff's meeting in Ghana's military base, Burma Camp, will finalise plans for the deployment of the Standby Force.

-3news.com
On Wednesday 9th August 2023, the University of Professional Studies, Accra chapter of the Universities Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), held elections to select a new crop of leaders for the next two years.

All three positions (Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary) were chosen based on the 50% plus 1 rule as agreed and announced by the UTAG-UPSA Electoral Commissioner.

A controversy erupted when the two candidates for the President had a vote apart and also 1 vote unaccounted for. Dr. Fred Awaah has 148 votes and Dr. Mohammed Sadat 149 with 1 missing ballot. An earlier story indicates that Dr. Sadats team refused a recount to establish the whereabouts of the missing vote.

(Please read full story here https://www.modernghana.com/news/1251596/utag-upsa-elects-two-presidents.html).

Subsequently, many news avenues including the Universitys website went ahead to publish Dr. Mohammed Sadat as President elect without recourse to resolving the issue of the missing ballot and the use of the 50+ 1 rule. Other newspapers including The New Crusading Guide, The Inquisitor went ahead to publish a story which suggests that, the National Executive Council of UTAG (NEC) with headquarters in UMAT-Tarkwa had declared Dr. Sadat as winner when in fact that is not the case per the information on the ground.

Following this, an injunction has formally been served the UTAG-UPSA, NEC-UTAG and Dr. Sadat, preventing any party from taking part in handing over to Dr. Sadat awaiting further court proceedings.
18.08.2023 LISTEN

Many people have wondered why witchcraft accusations persist in Africa, and why witch hunting rages on the continent in this 21st century. Some think that Africans are hard-wired to magical thinking and occult interpreting of their life situation. This is not the case. Some persons are bemused, and unable to comprehend why modernity has not dislodged, or at least weakened the grip of superstition, this irrational belief on the minds of many post-colonial Africans. Yes, it is a case of some not all Africans. Look, the reason is not far-fetched. Africa has not gone through the modernization process as the West did. Efforts to secularize and modernize Africa are encumbered. Local and global factors are responsible for this situation. These forces are frustrating the process of diminution of magic and superstition.

The African continent has been a target of Western Christianization, Eastern Islamization, and global religionization. Religion has been a part of Africa's cultural, political, and economic encounters with the West and the rest of the world. These religionizations have not birthed an African enlightenment, they have not occasioned necessary intellectual awakenings. Instead, they have stifled and suffocated African awakenings. Christianization or Islamization of Africa has been mistaken for modernization of Africa. It is not.

Africans have been unable to defy or subvert Western or Eastern religious imperialisms. Post-coloniality barely applies to religion in Africa. Religiously speaking, sub-Saharan Africa is still colonized. The continent is under Western and Eastern imperialisms and shows no signs of yielding to the dictates of reason, science, and critical inquiry. This situation is not because reason and science are alien to African cosmology as some scholars have proposed. No, not at all. Africa has been a competing ground for alien and indigenous enchantments. Africa has been held hostage by political Christianity and Islam. Africans have not found an effective mechanism and formula to repel and resist Christian and Islamic imperialisms. Africans have not mustered the will to free themselves, and their minds from this religious bondage and hostage, from the grip of Christian and Islamic religious tyrannies.

Christianity constitutes a key element of African modernity as scholarly conceived. Meanwhile no clear demarcation existed between the colonial bureaucracy and the colonial church. So, what has been designated as African modernity is not modern enough, is superficially modern. Or in a scholarly parlance, Africa is not yet modern or not yet as modern. The tragedy is that this surface, peripheral modernity has become or is mistaken for African modernity. African modernity coat has become African modernity character.

About witch hunting, European missionaries introduced post-Elightenment, post-witch hunts Christianity, but it was religion anyway, with all the magical, mystical, and transcendental trappings. Like everything colonial, western Christianity was an imposition, it was foisted on African people and societies. Western missionaries introduced Christianity to replace the traditional faith, local conceptions of the divine, and ways of worship. Colonial religion propagated doctrines that acknowledged the reality and potency of a god, of demons, and of evil spirits that included witches and wizards. Churches taught that witches be tortured to death, exorcised, or not suffered to live. Churches presented and still present witchcraft as a form of demonic expression and manifestation.

So, the introduction of Christianity or Islam has not marked a significant shift or change in beliefs. Religion in Africa only changed its coat, not its character. In many cases, foreign religions of Christianity and Islam reinforce beliefs in witches and other supernatural imaginaries. So, it is understandably difficult for churches that believe in demons and practice exorcism to end witch-hunting in Christian Africa. Churches are a part of the problem. They fuel accusations and sanctify witch hunts. Having said that, the campaign goes on. Churches and other religious institutions in Africa must be pressured to stop witchcraft accusations and witch-hunting. Churches in the West once hunted and killed alleged witches. Didn't they? But today, this is no longer the case. Churches in the West are apologizing and regretting their role in that destructive campaign.

As it was the case with the Christian west, so will it be in Christian Africa.

Churches in the region must make concerted efforts to end witch and demon hunting.

Leo Igwe directs the Advocacy for Alleged Witches.
19.08.2023 LISTEN

The Bank of Ghana's (BOG) $250m new headquarters building has been described as a misplaced priority by the Dormaahene, Osagyefo Oseadeeyo Agyemang Badu II.

According to the Dormaahene, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo ought to put a stop to it.

Speaking at his palace in Dormaa in the Bono Region, he said the current economic situation does not condone such huge expenditures that will further worsen the situation.

We heard that the BoG is building a new headquarters at a cost of 250 million dollars. That is about a quarter of the money we are seeking from the IMF. We want the President to intervene. He should meet with them and rescind that decision and communicate same to us, Dormaahene stated.

Meanwhile, the Minority caucus in Parliament has given the BoG seven days to provide information on the cost of its new headquarters under construction in Accra, pursuant to Section 18 of the Right to Information Act (RTI) (Act 989).

The letter was signed by the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Bawku Central Constituency, Mahama Ayariga, on behalf of the Chief Whip of the Minority caucus, Kwame Governs Agbodza.

My name is Mahama Ayariga Esq and I am the representative of Bawku Central constituency in Parliament on the ticket of the NDC. Kindly provide information within 7 working days from the date of this letter.

The Minority is requesting information on the processes involved in the procurement of the land for the construction of the new headquarters building, as well as the names of consultants and project managers.
After the coronavirus pandemic broke out in China, Europe, and the USA, advanced nations' initial assumptions about Africa were that the continent would be severely affected by a large number of cases because it has a history of rapid virus spread, fragile healthcare, and challenging disease control. However, only a small number of people were impacted, including two well-known artists, Manu Dibango and Aurlus Mabele, whose deaths occurred in Paris rather than in Africa.

Who was Aurlus Mabele, the master of Soukous music from the Congo? That quick tempo and those urgent-sounding arpeggio guitar riffs are what make Aurlus Mabele's music unique. The instrumental parts of almost all of his songs are lengthy, keeping him moving while he describes the Congolese Soukous. The French word for shake served as the inspiration for the name since Mabele occasionally shook sensually. Mabele, who was 67 years old, reportedly passed away from a coronavirus.

Aurlus Mabele died in France from complications of the coronavirus on March 19, 2020

Liza Monet, a French musician and the daughter of Mabele, announced on her Twitter page in French, saying, "Mon dad est dead ce matin du coronavirus... Merci dhonore sa memoire . Cest une grande legende du Soukouss que le peuple congolais perd aujourdhui . Je suis inconsolable et effondree. Mon papa que jaime tant  Aurlus Mabele 

I'm @LizaMOfficiel. March 19, 2020

Translation: "This morning, my dad passed away from a coronavirus... I appreciate you keeping his memory alive. The Congolese people have lost a wonderful Soukous legend today. I've lost it and am inconsolable. My dearly beloved father... Aurlus Mabele.

As a writer who has spoken with many great musicians with African roots, including Lucky Dube, Julian Marley, Andrew Tosh, ASWAD, Leroy Brown, Gregory Isaacs, Joseph "Culture" Hill, Luciano, Sheun Kuti, U-Roy, and many others, I never had the chance to meet Aurlus Mabele; however, it was the best time for me when I met Manu Dibango in Antwerp twice at Mano- Mundo and Pole-Pole Festivals.

According to a statement posted on his official Facebook page, the legendary jazz saxophonist, well known for his 1972 hit "Soul Makossa," passed away at the age of 86 due to complications from the coronavirus. The saxophonist and vocalist from Cameroon passed away in a hospital close to Paris. Dibango released numerous records throughout his career and performed in every part of the world, regardless of the genre.

The genuine international superstar played with everyone who would play with him after being sent to Paris at the age of 15 to prepare for a professional career. I had the chance to interview the world-traveling artist when he was asked to perform at the "Pole-pole festival" in Gent once more in Antwerp; here are the excerpts.

Joel Savage interviews Manu Dibango. The musician died in France on March 24, 2020

You have given so much to African music on a global scale as an African performer. What do you think of this accomplishment?

Manu: I'm glad I'm still in motion. I don't consider my prior successes. What I'm going to do tomorrow is what matters the most. I'm content with what I did. Thanks be to God.

Joel: Your worldwide smash "Soul Makossa" swept the globe in 1972. You have since remained active in the music industry. What keeps you moving all these years?

Manu: Passion "La passion." What I want African youths to have is passion because if you have passion, you can easily accept suffering and when there is no passion, you have to try to cultivate it. If you can do that, then you can bring out the best of yourself.

Joel: You assisted in raising money for the famine-stricken Ethiopia with your "Tam-tams for Ethiopia project" in 1985, which you co-led with Mory Kante and other individuals. What do you think of the political climate right now in Ethiopia?

Manu: Speaking of Ethiopia is equivalent to speaking of Africa as a whole. We competed against AIDS and starvation a month ago. Also, we performed in Dakar. The activities of doctors, athletes, and journalists are also contributing in many ways to the topic of challenges affecting Africa, so it's not just music that is vital in this regard.

Joel: You and the late Fela Anikulapo Kuti are reportedly two of the top saxophonists in the world, according to an international music journal I recently read. What are your thoughts on this?

Manu: That is wonderful to hear. You are aware that someone doesn't play music nonstop for hours on end. However, you perform music because you are passionate about it, and if people enjoy what I'm proposing, that makes me happy. Even though music is a business, you don't start worrying about money when you first get into the industry. You first ask people what they want, and if they accept your proposal, money will follow.

Joel: I saw you perform at the Mano-Mundo festival last year when the hysterical crowd demanded more songs. What were you feeling at the time?

Manu: You can see that I'm still moving, though. You occasionally play music for the audience and the greatest joy an artist can experience is that. On stage, there are other performers besides me. Therefore, the listener is happier with the song as it becomes more successful. An artist must satisfy their followers. That is a proposition. I am always talking about propositions.

Joel: One of your American fans who is based there asked you this question. I have to know why you constantly perform in Europe and Africa but not in the United States.

Manu: I'll be there if they want me to be. I travel to each nation that requests Manu. Those who want me to play are in contact with my management, as do I. I've performed in Canada and a few South American countries. In the 1970s, I spent two years living in America. The most significant factor is that people enjoy my music.

Joel: Another fan of yours has a question for you. He claimed that when he was young, he had heard that Michael Jackson had been sued by you for using the word "Makossa" in his music without your consent. Is it true?

Manu: That is true. It is a long time story in 1986, but the issue has long since been resolved.

Joel: I believe you're in your seventies now; what's your secret to staying in shape?

Manu: If I have a secret of what keeps me young, I'll sell it without a doubt. (He laughed) I already told you. It's a passion.

Joel: You released "The Rough Guide of Manu Dibango" in 1994. What do you have in store for your devoted followers around the world?

Manu: Well, at the moment I have a big band in France. "Marabuti" is the name. We are going to the studios to record in autumn since we have significant projects coming up now and in the future.

Joel: Thank you so much for the interview, sir.

Manu: You are welcome.
18.08.2023 LISTEN

The Centre for Public Opinion and Awareness (CenPOA) has advised President Akufo-Addo not to allow his personal interests and ties with the French to influence any regrettable decision in the Niger crisis.

The Executive Director of CenPOA, Michael Donyina Mensah, says there are speculations that the French are behind what is going on in Niger because of their business interests.

He said these speculations could have some elements of truth since they would want to prevent the destruction of their businesses.

To do this, the French will want to use some people or countries to promote their interests.

He said President Akufo-Addo is a possible candidate that the French may want to use because of his strong ties and relationship with them.

Speaking in an interview on Frontline on Rainbow Radio 87.5Fm, he said, I want to advise President Akufo-Addo to tread cautiously in how he intervenes in the matter. There are speculations that the French are behind what is happening because they want to protect their business interests. If they are indeed behind what is happening, they will need people to help them, and President Akufo-Addo is a possible target. He is a possible target because of his strong ties and relationship with the French.

He told host Kwabena Agyapong that when you examine the intervention by ECOWAS and the decision to deploy the military to Niger, the core strength of that approach will depend on Ghana and Nigeria, and for that reason, he has advised the President to be cautious.

As a result, we want to caution President Akufo-Addo to examine his actions critically. He should be cautious in his approach and consider the potential consequences for Ghana. He should not let his personal interests, relationships, or ties influence his decision. He has strong ties with the French government, so he will most likely be apprehended for it. However, we request that you exercise caution and refrain from doing anything that could have serious consequences for Ghana.

He stated that Niger had the opportunity to develop democratically and that the military takeover was unfortunate.

He emphasised the importance of ECOWAS acting militarily to address the issue.

It must, however, exhaust all diplomatic processes, regardless of how long they take.

According to him, the military takeover in Niger resulted in no casualties; thus, it would be unwise to use a procedure that could end up killing more people.

No one died as a result of the coup. It was a bloodless coup, which is why we must exhaust all diplomatic channels in dealing with the crisis, no matter how long it takes. If we use the military, the consequences could be disastrous. We could record more casualties because ECOOWAS used the military when the coup itself did not result in any casualties.
WHAT THE NUMBERS TELL US

It is estimated that agriculture accounts for 80 percent of global deforestation. Out of thousands of plant species cultivated for food, a mere 200 substantially contribute to the world's food output, according to "THE STATE OF THE WORLDs BIODIVERSITY FOR FOOD AND AGRICULTURE" by the Food and Agriculture Organization . Furthermore, only nine of those plants constitute 66 percent of total crop production.

This concentration in crop variety has detrimental effects. For example, 23 percent of the global land surface has reduced in productivity due to land degradation. This leads to over $577 billion in annual global crops being increasingly at risk from pollinator loss, as highlighted by the National Park Service .

Hunger and Malnutrition

The statistics regarding hunger and malnutrition are staggering. Over 811 million people go to bed hungry each night. Around 690 million people are undernourished globally, and chronic malnutrition in children stands at 21.3 percent worldwide. This includes an estimated 14 million children under five who are suffering from acute malnutrition, also known as severe wasting. Tragically, only a quarter of these children currently have access to life-saving treatment.

The Role of Small Producers

What may surprise many is that fishermen, smallholder farmers, and herders, often the most vulnerable to food insecurity, produce up to 70 percent of the global food supply. Hunger and poverty are most acute in rural communities, whether or not you are a farmer, as stated by Action Against Hunger .

Conflict and Hunger

Conflict leads to hunger. In 2020, just two years ago from the date of this article, conflict was reported to be the primary cause of hunger for 91.1 million people across 23 countries.

Obesity, Food Waste, and Environmental Investments

Around 30 percent of the global adult population is either obese or overweight. Conversely, approximately 30 percent of all food produced worldwide is wasted or lost. These figures illustrate a grave story of mismanagement, under-management, and a lack of global responsibility.

Only 1 percent of the $700 billion given annually to farmers is used to benefit the environment, according to the Food and Land Use Coalition. This last figure corroborates the tale of a lacklustre global approach to saving agriculture, preserving livelihoods, curing world hunger, and protecting our children.

CAN ORGANIC AGRICULTURE FEED AFRICA?

The query of whether organic agriculture can nourish the African continent isn't just a theoretical question; it is a matter of immediate necessity and urgency. As a land rich in biodiversity, yet burdened with challenges of malnutrition, poverty, and climate change, Africa's pursuit of sustainable agriculture isn't a mere choice; it's a commitment to the future.

The sustainable and organic agriculture movement in Africa is growing, and the reasons for its essentiality are numerous. Unlike conventional agriculture, which relies on synthetic chemicals and often leads to soil degradation, organic farming seeks to build an ecological balance and foster long-term sustainability. Such practices are especially relevant to Africa, where soil fertility and water retention are key to survival for many communities.

Some critics argue that organic farming cannot feed Africa, stating that conventional farming methods can produce significantly more food. This leads to the counter-argument for the continued use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), synthetic chemicals, and other non-organic practices. But can these short-term gains outweigh the long-term environmental impacts and potential health risks?

Evidence is emerging that organic farming is not only feasible in Africa but also thriving in many regions. Sustainable farming practices, which include crop rotations, inter-cropping, and the use of organic fertilizers, are being adopted across the continent, contributing to soil health and reducing the risk of groundwater pollution.

In Africa, the allocation of arable land for animal feed and the corresponding consumption of water is not as profound as in the Western world. However, the focus on organic farming still addresses key issues like water efficiency, soil fertility, and the overall harmony with the local ecosystem.

Challenges such as funding, access, legislature, data collection, and cultural perceptions do exist, yet the urgency of the situation has prompted various governments, NGOs, and community groups to act. Leaders in African agricultural innovation are showing that large-scale organic food production is possible.

For instance, the Rodale Institute's findings can be applied to drought-prone areas in Africa, showing that organically grown corn has a yield that is 31 percent higher than conventionally grown corn during years of drought." This research's significance extends beyond the United States and can guide African nations in creating resilient and sustainable farming systems.

The debate around profitability must also consider the environmental and societal costs. Conventional farming may seem profitable in the short term, but the degradation of soil, loss of biodiversity, and potential health risks may result in long-term costs that Africa cannot afford.

Furthermore, the genetic diversity inherent in traditional and adapted seeds in Africa offers a robust foundation for organic farming. The use of these seeds, coupled with indigenous knowledge and practices, can create a more resilient system against climatic stress.

In conclusion, to question whether organic agriculture can feed Africa is to question our collective will to invest in a sustainable future. The evidence suggests that not only is it possible, but it's a pathway that aligns with Africa's unique environmental conditions and societal needs. Through collaboration, innovation, and a shared commitment to the earth and its inhabitants, organic agriculture in Africa can be more than a dream; it can be a thriving reality. The task ahead is immense, but the rewards  a nourished continent, preserved biodiversity, and a sustainable legacy  are surely worth the pursuit.

WHY ARE WE GOING ORGANIC?

Organic farming has gained significant momentum over the past few years. While the popularity is often attributed to the improved taste and higher nutritional value of organic produce, the benefits of organic farming extend far beyond consumption and nutrition. Suminter India Organics outlines the five key environmental benefits of organic farming, demonstrating why it can be considered a step towards sustainable agriculture.

1. Reducing Exposure to Harmful Chemicals

Conventional farming relies heavily on pesticides to boost crop resistance to diseases and increase output. This approach often leads to soil contamination and long-term degradation, including soil erosion. Organic farming, in contrast, discourages the use of harsh chemicals. It contributes to the preservation of the natural environment by eliminating about 500 million pounds of pesticides and chemicals from entering the environment annually.

2. Consuming Less Energy

Unlike conventional farming, organic farming avoids the use of synthetic fertilisers. The production of synthetic fertilisers consumes significant energy. Organic farming, therefore, contributes to energy conservation, using on average 30-50% less energy. The British Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has suggested that organic crops and organic dairy farming use 35% and 74% less energy, respectively, than their conventionally grown counterparts.

3. Reducing Nitrogen Run-Off Induced Pollution

Traditional farming's increased use of nitrogen-based fertilisers has led to two-thirds of this nitrogen ending up in rivers, disturbing the marine environment and entire ecosystem. Organic farming avoids such nitrogen run-off due to its lack of dependence on synthetic nitrogen-based chemicals, helping to prevent the pollution of water bodies.

4. Facilitating Healthy Soil Formation

Organic farming emphasises natural cultivation practices superior to chemical soil management. It ensures the earth remains unaffected by externally exposed chemicals, retaining the soil's ability to thrive sustainably. Organic methods create healthier soil with well-balanced carbon and nitrogen cycles. A teaspoon of organic soil rich in compost can host up to 1 billion beneficial bacteria from 15,000 species, in stark contrast to chemically treated soil with fewer than 100 helpful bacteria.

5. Combating the Effects of Global Warming

Organic farming also contributes to curtailing global warming. A study by The Rodale Institute Farming System revealed that organic farming not only reduces carbon dioxide but also slows down climate change.

Organic farming emerges as a flagbearer of sustainable farming, offering significant environmental benefits. With a growing population and the urgent need to nourish more people in the future, it becomes paramount to adopt this practice. This ensures our natural resources remain capable of satisfying basic human needs. For a more detailed insight, visit Suminter's webpage .

he adoption of organic agriculture is not simply a trend but a fundamental shift towards a sustainable future. The insights shared by both Suminter India Organics and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) make a compelling case for a renewed focus on organic farming practices.

The benefits of organic farming extend far beyond the immediate and tangible advantages of taste and nutritional value. They encompass a holistic approach to the environment that seeks to reduce the harmful impacts on soil, water, air, climate, and biodiversity. By eliminating or reducing the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and genetically modified organisms (GMOs), organic farming seeks to establish a balance within the agro-ecosystem.

The emphasis on long-term sustainability and ecological balance highlights the wisdom and foresight in embracing organic methods. The practices of soil building, water management, energy conservation, carbon sequestration, and preservation of biodiversity reflect a conscientious approach to farming that aligns with global priorities and concerns.

However, it must also be acknowledged that the transition towards organic agriculture requires significant effort, research, and collaboration at various levels. Governments, researchers, farmers, and consumers must work together to overcome challenges and potential misconceptions.

The choice to invest in and support organic farming is a decision that affects our planet's future and its ability to provide for generations to come. It demands serious consideration, not just from the standpoint of commerce and trade but as a moral imperative to preserve and protect our environment.

Organic agriculture offers a viable path towards a more sustainable and responsible way of life. It aligns with the principles of environmental stewardship and ethical consumption. For those who truly regard the preservation of our home planet as a global priority, the transition to organic farming practices represents not just an option but a necessity.

The focus on agro-commodities within your investment company, Maxwell Investments Group, resonates strongly with these principles. The commitment to sustainability and responsible agriculture is indeed a commendable approach in today's world, where the balance between growth, ethics, and environmental preservation is crucial.

I hope you found this article to be an enjoyable read. Your feedback is highly valued and appreciated. I welcome your suggestions for topics you want me to address or provide insights on. You can schedule a meeting with me at your convenience through my Calendly at calendly.com/maxwellampong. Alternatively, you may connect with me through various channels accessible on my Linktree page at https://linktr.ee/themax.

Wishing you a highly productive and successful week ahead!
Abossey Okai Spare Parts Dealers Association has appealed to President Nana Akufo Addo to direct the Minister of Finance, Mr. Ken Ofori Atta, to immediately engage the leadership of the Abossey Okai Spare Parts Dealers Association for the collection of members' data for payment of their investments that were locked up during the banking sector clean-up exercise.

The banking sector clean up which took place in 2017, leading to the revocation of the operating licenses of some savings and loans institutions, affected some of the members of the Abossey Okai Spare Parts Dealers Association.

Addressing a press conference today, 17th August 2023, Mr. Takyi Addo, Head of Communication, Abossey Okai Spare Parts Dealers Association, indicated that about five hundred (500) of its members, with a total sum of five Million Ghana cedis (GH5,000,000.00), have had their money locked up.

He stressed that the businesses of the members of the association continue to sink as a result of their locked-up capital.

"We have heard in the media and seen evidential documents from the Finance Ministry alluding to the usage of part of the twenty-five billion (GH25,000,000,000.00) parliamentary approved bail-out to pay all victims of the Financial Clean-up Exercise".

"Our members can no longer sit idle while their business continue to suffer and their locked-up monies continue to depreciate daily".

Mr. Takyi Addo, therefore, called on the president to instruct the Governor of the Bank of Ghana to immediately release full payment of members' locked-up monies with its accrued interest latest by Thursday 7th September 2023.

He emphasized that the refusal to meet this deadline will cause the leadership and membership of the Abossey Okai Spare Parts Dealers Association to advise themselves on the next steps.
More than three weeks after a military coup in Niger forced out a democratically elected government, the international community appears hopelessly divided on how to handle the new status quo, with fault lines appearing even among Western allies, analysts say.

Former colonial master France remains steadfastly opposed to the new regime in Niamey while Russia, predictably, sees the coup as a chance to boost its influence, with everyone else somewhere in between.

France immediately condemned the coup, and let it be known that it might support African armed action to re-instate Mohamed Bazoum as president.

But Niger's neighbours, who would most likely take charge of military intervention, let their own ultimatum addressed to the new regime pass without sending in troops.

West African military chiefs started a two-day meeting in Ghana on Thursday to discuss a possible armed intervention after the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) agreed to activate a "standby force to restore constitutional order" in Niger, but did not say when, or even whether, it would be used.

'Calamitous consequences'

One ECOWAS member, Cape Verde, has come out strongly against the use of force, with President Jose Maria Neves saying efforts to restore constitutional order should not "under any circumstances include military intervention or armed conflict".

A view shared by Solomon Dersso, managing director at the Amani Africa research group, who said armed intervention could trigger "calamitous consequences", including the entire region being engulfed in war.

Instead of acting as a deterrent, sanctions and the threat of military action had given the new government in Niamey ammunition to stir nationalist sentiment among Nigeriens "and ride on their anti-neo-colonial sentiments", Dersso wrote.

Analysts said military action would need support from the African Union, a pan-African body, which has been silent since meeting on the Niger question on Monday, a sign of internal divisions.

Mali and Burkina Faso, where military governments took over in coups in recent years, have expressed their support for the new government in Niamey.

'Confused, muddled'

Subtle but important differences have meanwhile emerged between the two western powers most involved in Niger, the United States and France.

The United States has 1,100 soldiers in Niger. By Zayid BALLESTEROS (US ARMY/AFP)

Washington keeps a permanent force of 1,100 soldiers in Niger to fight jihadists linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, and "we don't want to see that partnership go", said Sabrina Singh, a spokeswoman for the Defense Department in Washington.

"We have invested hundreds of millions of dollars into bases there, trained with the military there, we really want to see a peaceful resolution," Singh said.

Officially, it is US policy to abstain from military cooperation with governments coming to power through a coup.

"But that's a flexible definition," said Colin Clarke, director of research at the Soufan Group consultancy, pointing to Washington's continued cooperation with Egyptian general Abdel Fattah al-Sisi who in 2014 took power after a military coup he was involved in.

"The American position is confused, muddled," Clarke told AFP.

France, which keeps 1,500 troops in Niger for the battle against jihadists with the help of local soldiers, has meanwhile stuck to its inflexible position towards the West African country's new rulers.

President Emmanuel Macron's government last week gave unconditional support to ECOWAS when the military option was still favoured by the organisation.

"Our position is to support ECOWAS," a French diplomatic source told AFP.

"It is up to ECOWAS to take its decision, either in favour of sanctions, or in favour of a military intervention threat," the source said.

European Union heavyweight Germany on Thursday called on the EU to impose sanctions "against the putschists".

'Very transparent'

Analysts said Russia is a beneficiary of western divisions, with the Wagner paramilitary group -- loyal to Moscow despite cooler ties with the Kremlin since a short-lived rebellion in June -- waiting in the wings.

Russia stands to gain from the Niger coup. By - (AFP)

Wagner is active in the Central African Republic, in Sudan, in Mali despite Bamako's denials, and is looking for a role in Burkina Faso.

Niger, with its wealth of natural resources, looks an attractive target for the group.

"Wagner is very transparent about what they are there for," Clarke said. "They are not going to lecture the regime on human rights. They are here to get access to resources and in return they will provide political security."

The Sahel region's insurgents, meanwhile, continue to strike. On Tuesday 17 Niger soldiers were killed by suspected jihadists near the western border with Burkina Faso "in a terrorist ambush", the defence ministry said.
Kenyan authorities have banned five churches including that of a suspected cult leader accused of inciting more than 400 of his followers to starve themselves to death, a government document said Friday.

The registrar of societies said in a gazette notice that the licence of self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie's Good News International Ministries was cancelled effective May 19.

Mackenzie is alleged to have incited his followers to starve to death in order to "meet Jesus" in a case that has deeply shocked Kenyans.

While starvation appears to be the main cause of death, some of the victims -- including children -- were strangled, beaten or suffocated, according to official autopsies.

Authorities also banned four other churches including the New Life Prayer Centre and Church headed by flamboyant televangelist Ezekiel Odero, who has been linked to Mackenzie.

Odero is under investigation on a raft of charges including murder, aiding suicide, radicalisation and money laundering.

His arrest in April followed the discovery of human remains in Shakahola forest near the coastal town of Malindi, with police saying the bodies belonged to Mackenzie's followers.

While prosecutors have linked the two preachers, Odero was freed on bail in May while a court last week extended Mackenzie's detention for a further 47 days pending further investigation.

A largely Christian nation, Kenya has struggled to regulate unscrupulous churches and cults that dabble in criminality.

The grim discoveries in what has now been dubbed the "Shakahola forest massacre" prompted the government to flag the need for tighter control of fringe denominations in the country with a history of self-declared pastors and movements.

Previous efforts have been fiercely opposed as attempts to undermine constitutional guarantees for the division of church and state.

There are more than 4,000 churches registered in the East African country of 53 million people, according to government figures.

Many of them -- headed by larger-than-life pastors -- preach the so-called prosperity gospel, urging members to donate heavily to church coffers in order to improve their own financial fortunes.
19.08.2023 LISTEN

Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament for the North Tongu constituency, has called on the leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to use diplomatic means to address the coup in Niger.

According to Mr. Ablakwa, there are several root causes of this issue, all of which require careful examination.

He noted that bad governance, state capture, massive unemployment and neocolonial entanglement are the major causes of coups in the sub-region.

He said inflicting violence is not the wisest way in an interview with Eyewitness News Citi FM.

I will renew the call that we have always made that war, violence, and military intervention is not going to help us in this situation.

The position of the NDC caucus in Parliament has not changedwe dont endorse coups, we want democracy to be entrenched. We must be looking at what is causing these coups, there are issues that ought to be addressed  bad governance, state capture, massive unemployment, and neocolonial entanglement. These matters have to be confronted head-on. If they are not confronted, it thus appears we shall return to the era of coups, Okudzeto Ablakwa stated.

He continued by asserting that ECOWAS is delivering conflicting signals about its next step.

Listening to the ECOWAS chief of defence staff, you are right that the communication is somewhat confusing. Sometimes you get the impression they are ready, they are going all out, theyre descending into Niger. Other times, like after todays meeting, theyre putting together their logistics.

It is our view that the heads of state should have deepened the diplomacy dialogue, but they seem to have rushed. Everybody is saying that dont use military intervention, its not a simple matter. The real solution lies in diplomacy and constructive dialogue. We will urge ECOWAS to stop all these confusing signals. We insist that instead of sending our soldiers to a slaughterhouse, where there will be a massacre as all the pundits have predicted, let us go for what our constitution enjoins us by perceiving a peaceful resolution, he stated.
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) will soon roll out networks of practice approaches to improve healthcare delivery through the Primary Health Care (PHC) system at the sub-district and community levels.

The model of care is designed to deliberately build networks of health facilities at the sub-district level to support them to work optimally to strengthen PHC.

The Director for Policy, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation of GHS, Dr Alberta Adjebeng Biritwum-Nyarko, disclosed this during a press briefing in Accra on Thursday.

She indicated that the goal of the model was to increase access to quality health care and population-based services for all by 2030.

It will also improve sub-district referral systems and enable the effective management and maximization of existing resources at the sub-district level, she added.

According to Dr Biritwum-Nyarko, planning regular activities of networks of practice, include learning together, home visits, outreach services, referral and patient tracking, monitoring, supportive supervision, information and resource sharing, NHIS claim reports, community mobilization, sensitization, education and supporting each other.

She said the model's benefits, include bringing quality health care closer to Ghanaians, reducing the burden on individuals, families and communities seeking health care, providing a 24-hour service, improved staffing, faster and better service and lowering client costs.
It's been 126 years since British medical doctor Sir Ronald Ross discovered that mosquitoes in the Anopheles family are primarily responsible for transmitting malaria parasites between vertebrate hosts.

Since his discovery, mosquitoes have been found to carry and transmit many other diseases that pose a major threat to public health. Among them are yellow fever, dengue and Zika .

Currently, malaria is the most lethal mosquito-transmitted disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported an estimated 247 million cases of malaria worldwide in 2021 and 619,000 deaths. Almost all cases and deaths were in African countries.

Other diseases transmitted by mosquitoes are also a source of immense human suffering. It is estimated that dengue infects about 390 million people annually. And thousands are affected by Zika, chikungunya and yellow fever.

Insects that transmit diseases to humans are known as vectors and the diseases they transmit are referred to as vector-borne diseases. These diseases are very difficult to control. They generally have complex life cycles, involving both the insect and the human host.

Conventional methods to control vector-borne diseases have targeted the vectors, focusing on reducing their opportunities to come into contact with humans.

This is particularly true for malaria . Insecticide-treated nets serve a dual function by acting as a physical barrier between the mosquito vector and humans, and exposing the mosquito to a lethal dose of insecticide when it lands on the net. In another common control method, mosquitoes are exposed to a lethal dose of insecticide through indoor residual spraying.

Both nets and indoor spraying have played a major role in reducing African countries' malaria burden. But their sustained efficacy is under threat. Many vector populations have become resistant to the insecticides used in these methods. They have also changed their behaviours to reduce their contact with those insecticides.

Read more: Fresh signs of mosquito insecticide resistance in South Africa

Scientists are working to address these issues. But other methods that don't rely on insecticides are needed in the fight against mosquito-borne diseases.

That's where genetic modification comes in. We are researchers focused on finding novel ways to advance malaria elimination efforts and are excited about recent advances in genomic research that make genetic modification a realistic option for malaria control in particular. As with other approaches to controlling or eventually eradicating the disease, this won't be a complete solution. But it's got the potential to strengthen the global fight against malaria.

Genetic modification for malaria control

Mosquitoes can be genetically modified through two different technologies. The first method, paratransgenesis , involves infecting mosquitoes with bacteria that prevent them from transmitting malaria. This doesn't harm the mosquito. It is important not to eliminate or harm mosquitoes because they pollinate many plants and are food for animals like bats, birds and reptiles.

Read more: Curious Kids: What would happen if all the mosquitoes in the world disappeared?

Scientists are excited about this method following the recent discovery of a bacterium that occurs naturally in mosquitoes' guts and appears to prevent the malaria parasite from developing inside the mosquito.

The second method involves genetically modifying the mosquitoes themselves. This approach centres on gene drives : genetic systems that ensure genes of interest are inherited by all offspring in every generation. There are two types of gene drive. One aims to reduce the vector population size and is known as population suppression. The other aims to prevent the mosquito from transmitting malaria; it is known as population modification.

Gene drives focusing on population suppression have shown great promise in laboratory studies . They've yet to be tested in the field, though.

Population modification potentially has fewer environmental effects and is less prone to developing mutations. But it has proved more challenging to achieve and has not progressed as far as the suppression approach.

Addressing scepticism

It will be a while before this technology is routinely used by malaria control programmes. But preparation is under way.

Over the past decade, malaria control programmes have expressed a willingness to use genetic modification if and when such techniques are shown to be safe and acceptable to the affected communities. This has prompted the WHO to provide guidance on the use of genetically modified mosquitoes to control malaria and other vector-borne diseases.

In its guidance, the WHO acknowledges how crucial community engagement will be to the success of any future gene drive interventions.

This is important in an environment where there is marked scepticism about science, and particularly about genetically modified organisms (GMOs). In 2003, community resistance resulted in the rejection of genetically modified golden rice in Zambia , despite the country experiencing a pronounced food shortage.

More recently, there was backlash against the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, which some people suspected of being capable of altering human DNA (it isn't).

It is critical that the concerns of communities where genetically modified mosquitoes are to be released are addressed prior to any release. This will help promote acceptance and understanding of the new technology.

Considerable investment

However, community acceptance is not the only challenge. There is an urgent need for research on the relevant local malaria mosquito species so that the required genetically modified mosquitoes can be developed. Once the genetically modified lines are established, impact in the field must be demonstrated and systems established to ensure suitable numbers of mosquitoes can be reared and safely transported to the intervention sites.

All this requires considerable human resources and funding, suggesting that it will be some time before gene drive systems have real-world impact on malaria transmission.

Still, as the globe marks World Mosquito Day on 20 August, in honour of Sir Ronald Ross's discovery almost 130 years ago, we believe there is reason for optimism: novel technologies like genetic modification have the potential to play a major role in the fight against malaria.

Shune Oliver receives funding from the National Research Foundation of South Africa, the South African Medical Research Council and the Female Academic Leadership Fellowship of the University of the Witwatersrand. She is affiliated to the Wits Research Institute for Malaria at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Jaishree Raman receives funding from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Global Fund, CHAI, South African Medical Research Council, South African Research Trust, National Research Foundation and the National Institute for Communicable Diseases. She is affiliated with the Wits Research Institute for Malaria, University of Witwatersrand and UP Institute for Sustainable Malaria Control, University of Pretoria.

By Shune Oliver, Medical scientist, National Institute for Communicable Diseases And

Jaishree Raman, Principal Medical Scientist and Head of Laboratory for Antimalarial Resistance Monitoring and Malaria Operational Research, National Institute for Communicable Diseases
18.08.2023 LISTEN

In the realm of physical training and discipline in the Ghana Police Service, there exists a remarkable individual who has left an indelible mark on countless lives  ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE (ASP) MR. SYLVANNUS HAFIANYO a.k.a OKALA. For years, he has served as a dedicated physical trainer and drill instructor at the esteemed Regional Police Training School, Koforidua shaping and moulding the minds and bodies of aspiring law enforcement officers. With unwavering commitment and unparalleled passion, Okala's influence has transcended the boundaries of a mere instructor; he has become a beacon of inspiration and a guiding light for all those fortunate enough to cross paths with him.

According to his trainees, he is the first person you will dislike or fear when you enter the training school, and he is the first person to like and cherish when leaving. Guess what happens in between?

A Teacher of Resilience:

Okala's journey as a physical trainer has been nothing short of extraordinary. With a deep understanding of the physical and mental demands of law enforcement, he has fostered a spirit of resilience in every recruit he has trained. Through gruelling exercises, he has instilled the value of perseverance, teaching his students that true strength lies not just in physical prowess but also in the tenacity to push beyond their limits. Under his watchful eye, recruits have learned to embrace challenges and emerged as capable individuals, ready to face any obstacle that comes their way.

A Mentor of Integrity:

Beyond the physical aspects of training, Okala has been a living embodiment of integrity and ethics. His unwavering commitment to the principles of justice, fairness, and responsibility has been a driving force in shaping the character of his students. By leading through example, he has imparted valuable life lessons, inspiring a generation of law enforcement officers who strive to uphold the highest standards of moral conduct and compassion for their communities.

A Role Model of Dedication:

Okala's dedication to his profession and his students is unparalleled. Whether it is in the early hours of the morning or late into the night, he remains steadfast in his pursuit of excellence. His genuine care for the well-being and success of each recruit has earned him the respect and admiration of all who have had the privilege to train under his guidance. He has shown that true dedication goes beyond mere words; it requires consistent action and unwavering support for those entrusted to his care.

A Source of Empowerment:

For every individual who has crossed the threshold of the police training school, Okala has been an empowering force. His encouragement and belief in the potential of his students have inspired them to push beyond self-imposed limitations and embrace their true capabilities. The confidence instilled by Okala has not only impacted their performance during training but also continued to resonate throughout their entire careers, serving as a reminder that they are capable of achieving greatness.

ASP/Mr. Sylvanus Hafianyo hails from Keta in the Volta Region. He joined the Ghana Police Service in the year 1996 and rose through the ranks to his current status. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work and a postgraduate Diploma in Peace and Security Studies. He has 26 years of experience as a trainer with 7 years at the Winneba Depot and 19 years and counting at the Koforidua Depot. He is arguably one of the very best and long-serving instructors in the Ghana Police Service. He is a family man and a devoted Christian. Personally, Okala is a very kind, tolerant, and selfless individual.

During recruit training courses, he underscores the fact that recruits are grown-up individuals from different backgrounds, upbringings, and cultures and that it takes extra professionalism and tactics to transform and imbibe in them the ethics and procedures of the police service. To him, the purpose of drills at the training school is to instill discipline, smartness, and alertness into the would-be officers. As a very brilliant and tactical instructor, he believes that trainers must first study and understand the behaviours of each recruit vis-a-vis the tenets or doctrines of becoming a law enforcement officer.

He espoused that drills in the police and security service aim to produce confident, alert, and obedient individuals while teaching teamwork skills. The drill is a crucial skill for security personnel and a foundation for military discipline and admonished that the drill should not be used as a punishment but as a means to raise standards within a group of men.

He asserts that the police service's success relies on an effective relationship with the public, re-establishing public confidence. Hence, recommends that officers must perform their duties lawfully and effectively, by adhering to proper Human Rights norms and standards, and ensuring full respect for human rights. He has always stressed the safety of officers and raised concerns about their safety as they are increasingly being killed and maimed, and highlighted how crucial it is for officers to take their safety seriously and not rely on others for assistance.

These among others are the most important aspects of the police training course that he holds so dear and paramount.

It is therefore imperative that such an important figure in the Ghana Police Service, as long as training is concerned is celebrated and honoured not just for his expertise as a physical trainer and drill instructor, but also for the lasting impact he has had on the lives of countless police officers. His tireless dedication, unwavering integrity, and profound ability to empower others have left an indelible mark on the law enforcement community. Through his guidance, recruits have transformed into exemplary officers, spreading his teachings of resilience, integrity, and dedication throughout their careers.

An embodiment of inspiration, a true mentor, and a guiding light. May his influence continue to shine bright in the hearts of all those he has touched, forever reminding them of their immense potential and the power to make a difference in the world.

God bless you, Sir.

BY: Abdul-Salam Shaibu

The writer is an Investigator and a Cybersecurity practitioner. E-mail: [email protected]. Website: Salamkuundaa.net
President Akufo-Addo's recent hint at renaming the University of Ghana after his late uncle J. B. Danquah is "loose talk", economist NIi Moi Thompson has said.

Speaking recently at the 75th Anniversary Thanksgiving Service of the university, President Akufo-Addo praised the Big Six member's pivotal role in establishing the institution of higher learning and suggested that such a renaming would be fitting.

"It will be wholly appropriate and not at all far-fetched, to describe Joseph Boakye Dankwa as the founder of this university," Mr Akufo-Addo asserted.

He said it is "a fact, which, on the 75th anniversary of its existence, should be vividly recalled by all of us who have been and are beneficiaries of his work".

"Indeed, in many other jurisdictions where there is less heat in their politics and more attachment to the fact of historical record, it would not have been out of place to have this university named after him," the president observed, hinting: "Who knows, one day it may well happen."

However, Dr Thompson, in an article tittled: 'Beware, the tribal supremacists: Myths of J.B. Danquah and the Big Six', said the "publics swift and no-nonsense rejection of the presidents loose talk about renaming UG after his uncle is a pointed reminder that Ghanaians would not tolerate the bastardisation of their history by any group or tribe, no matter how powerful or privileged they might feel".

In his view, the president and his kinsmen have warped history to legendarise their ancestry.

He said through "crude concoction of facts and fiction, they tend to believe that they own the country and can do as they please", noting: "Textbooks, for instance, have been doctored and Danquah given disproportionate prominence in Ghanas history".

-classfmonline
18.08.2023 LISTEN

Not long ago, the European Union president Ursula von der Leyen stood on a podium in the European Parliament to announce the mother of all sanctions on Russia. With a naughty smile on her face(smug), she said that Russia's economy and industry will plummet so bad that they can no longer be able to manufacture even a washing machine. Today, Russia is not only manufacturing washing machines. They have sent their spacecraft on a mission to the moon, the moon visit by pretty Russian ladies, the indigenes of the moon, especially the male moon people will be very happy to meet and welcome them.

You see, long ago in the early 1960s, our own clever boy Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah was able to woo the Soviet Russias to lend us their atomic knowledge. At the time, atomic research knowledge was the top technological feat. Britain and almost all Europe didn't have that technology. The Russians entrusted their new science and technology knowhow to us, black Africans. Little did they know that we, black foolish Africans, would betray their trust.

Not long after the 66 coup d'etat that overthrew Nkrumah and started the derailment of our technological and industrial revolution, George Bush senior who was then the director of the CIA, flew to Ghana with engineers to come dismantle the Atomic structure at Kwabenya and the most sensitive parts taken to America for their own scientific studies and assessments.

My senior citizen friend, once said with a sign of resignation, "I wonder how on earth we seem to be drawn towards those who for hundreds of years had oppressed and humiliated us, people who don't seem to have our interests in their calculations, we rather shun those who genuinely want to help us and rather run into the arms of those who want us to remain underdogs. Why." I told him that in my humble opinion, we love and prefer those who give us the Bible and religion over those who will give us education, science, and technology.

As we speak, another 100 or so migrants from Senegal have perished on high seas. Our ECOWAS doesn't give a toss about heavy loss of West African lives on high seas and why so many of our youth want to risk it all in search of better lives, far away from their homelands. Our leadership though, led by one Tinibu and aided by one Akufo Addo, are ardently considering French and American proposals to raise an ECOWAS army to go shed blood in Niger in a massive way. This, to overturn a bloodless coup d'etat. It doesn't make any sense, but hey! We are West Africans. We can't think properly for ourselves. What a shame!
Vice President Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia says hes contributed so much to Ghanas development through the Akufo-Addo government.

Addressing stakeholders of the governing New Patriotic Party in Donkorkrom, Afram Plains North constituency last Saturday, Dr. Bawumia said: I am always driven by public service, not the desire for personal gains.

It is the reason I am offering myself, first to be elected flagbearer of our party, and then I can offer myself to the people of Ghana so that I can continue to contribute towards the transformation of our country, Dr Bawumia noted.

As vice president, Dr Bawumia said he has done so much for Ghana.

I have not been president, but as vice president, I have worked so hard and contributed significantly to the development of our country through landmark policies I have initiated and spearheaded, Dr. Bawumia said.

Some of those policies include One Constituency- One Ambulance, Agenda 111 hospital, Digital Addressing System; digitisation of the ports, Passport offices, DVLA, as well as setting up of the ghana.gov payment platform, implementation of the money interoperability system and the e-Pharmacy platform.

Dr. Bawumia is running against nine other aspirants in the NPP flagbearer race.

The party will hold a super delegates conference on 26 August 2023 to whittle down the number of aspirants to five ahead of the main primaries on 4 November 2023.

-Citi Newsroom
The United Nations (UN) has alerted the Economic Community of the West African States (ECOWAS) to relook at its sanctions on Niger to ensure Nigeriens do not suffer.

Biting sanctions imposed on Niger by ECOWAS following the overthrow of President Mohamed Bazoum include power cut-off as well as the closure of land and air borders.

In a letter to ECOWAS signed by Martin Griffiths who is the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator at the United Nations, it has raised concern about how some of the sanctions imposed on Niger are having an unintended adverse impact on humanitarian operations conducted by UN Agencies and nongovernmental organisations.

The United Nations is now appealing to ECOWAS and its member States to ensure that the sanction measures integrate the necessary standing exemptions for the humanitarian operations of these various actors in Niger.

Among its requests, the UN wants ECOWAS to ensure the sanctions will not impact the safe, timely, and unimpeded movement of humanitarian cargo and personnel into and out of Niger, by air and by land.

I look forward to working with you to ensure that the population of Niger who has been directly affected by the crisis can receive the necessary humanitarian assistance, Martin Griffiths said in parts of his letter to ECOWAS.

Below is a copy of the letter:

Excellency,

With reference to your letter to the Secretary-General dated 31 July, transmitting the

the decision of the Authority of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) taken at the 51st Extraordinary Summit of the Mediation and Security Council at the Heads of State level on Niger, I would like to bring to your attention the unintended adverse impact of some of ECOWASs sanctions on the humanitarian operations conducted by UN Agencies and nongovernmental organizations participating in the United Nations Humanitarian Response Plans, Refugee Response Plans, other United Nations humanitarian appeals, or OCHA-coordinated humanitarian clusters.

Several have reached out to me sharing accounts of major logistical impediments and warning about foreseeable additional obstacles related to some of the measures adopted by ECOWAS  including in terms of procurement, transportation, and banking services.

I, therefore, appeal to ECOWAS and its member States to ensure that the sanction measures integrate the necessary standing exemptions for the humanitarian operations of these various actors in Niger. In particular, the exemptions would need to:

i. ensure that the safe, timely and unimpeded movement of humanitarian cargo and personnel into and out of Niger, by air and by land, will not be impacted by the

sanctions.

ii. guarantee the safety of humanitarian flights.

iii. clarify that all commercial and financial transactions necessary to support the

continuation of humanitarian operations in Niger remain permitted and proactively communicate this decision to financial institutions, relevant authorities and entities in the private sector.

iv. maintain the provision of utility services as necessary to support humanitarian

operations.

v. exclude from asset freezes all transactions needed to support the delivery of

humanitarian assistance and activities necessary to address basic human needs of the population, including the processing or payment of funds, other financial assets, or economic resources, or the provision of goods and services to targeted actors or institutions under their control as part of legitimate humanitarian activities.

vi. ensure that humanitarian organizations and their personnel involved in such

transactions do not incur any legal risk for their activities strictly related to the

provision of humanitarian assistance to the population of Niger.

I look forward to working with you to ensure that the population of Niger who has been directly affected by the crisis can receive the necessary humanitarian assistance.
Professor Sandow Mark Yidana, a lecturer at the University of Ghana has told an Accra High Court that, the place being designated for bauxite mining in the Atewa forest is a no-go area because it would affect groundwater recharge.

Prof Yidana was in court last Monday to witness a statement he submitted on behalf of A Rocha Ghana based on research work he conducted in the Atewa Forest and its surrounding areas.

A Rocha Ghana and 10 other plaintiffs are challenging the governments move to mine bauxite in the Atewa Range Forest contending that the government is undertaking mining activities in the Forest without mineral rights.

Under cross-examination by Leona Johnson-Abassah, Principal State Attorney, the lecturer who has specialized in hydrology explained that, the Atiwa Forest is known by all hydro-geologist in the sub-region as a Regional groundwater recharge area and hydrologically sensitive area.

Any activity there no matter how limited it is would have a far-reaching impact on communities nearby and others far away from the area and that is why we call it the Regional Recharge Area, he added.

He said, there are also three main rivers which are the Birim, Ayensu, and the Densu Rivers which draw their recharge from Atewa Mountain and that is a very unique area.

I have done my research in the Volta Basin and the Volta Basin covers a very large area including Ghana, Burkina Faso and certain parts of, Cote d'Ivoire. The research indicates an increasing trend in the ground water recharge however, in this particular area of Atiwa Forest and its surroundings, we observed a decline which is attributed to the local human-induced activities in the area. My Lord the Atiwa Forest serves as a crucial buffer that should be protected at all cost, he told the court.

The Principal State Attorney however suggested to him that, the human-induced activities he mentioned do not include bauxite mining.

He answered That is correct but even with that the fact that these human activities are taking place in areas not regarded as sensitive hydrologically as the top of the Atewa Mountain, their effects are being felt so the impact will be more severe or graver when they take place at the top of the mountain because they would more widespread and my Lord think of what would probably happen if in the dry season the Densu River ceases to flow, it is benefiting significantly from this flow which happens because we have appreciable ground water recharge at the top of the mountain.

According to him, bauxite mining would expose the area to severe impact of evaporation because the trees would be gone, the bare lands would be open and the shallow aquifers would no longer be protected because the vegetation cover is taken off no matter how small the area is.

He said, currently in the Atewa area, Ghana is losing 78 percent of the annual precipitation to evapotranspiration and even in the current situation it would get worse.

The Principal State Attorney asked again I am suggesting it to you modern technology has made it possible to mine Bauxite sustainably and reclaim the forest between 98 and 100 percent and we have places like the Amazon Forest, the Jara Forest where reclamation has been successful.

My lord I totally disagree. My Lord the examples are irrelevant in this current discourse of the Atewa Forest because the climatic conditions are very different. The hydrogeology is different, the geology is different, the level of sensitivity is different so if for instance another area in Ghana other than the Atewa Forest were earmarked for this activity, my professional advice would have been completely different, Prof Yidana answered.

The High Court Judge, Justice John Nyante Nyadu adjourned the case to the 19th of October 2023.

Reliefs

The plaintiffs are seeking the following reliefs; A declaration that the right to life and dignity as enshrined in the Constitution of Ghana, 1992 include (a) the right to a clean and healthy environment and (b) the right to have the environment protected for the benefit of present and future generations.

A declaration that mining of bauxite in the Atewa Range Forest violates the right to life and dignity as enshrined under articles 13 and 15 of the Constitution of Ghana (1992).

An order, compelling the Government of Ghana and its agents to take the necessary steps to protect Atewa Range Forest in accordance with its constitutional obligations as contained under article 36(9) of the Constitution (1992).

An order, restraining the Government of Ghana, its assigns and agents, servants, workmen, allottees, and guarantees whatsoever and howsoever described from undertaking mining and its related activities in the Atewa Range Forest.
Joseph Yammin, National Organiser for National Democratic Congress (NDC).

18.08.2023 LISTEN

In a recent statement, Joseph Yammin, the National Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has strongly criticized the decision of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to deploy troops to Niger. According to Yammin, this move by ECOWAS can be interpreted as an act of terrorism.

Yammin's remarks came in response to ECOWAS' decision to send troops to Niger following a military coup. He argued that such interventions often result in innocent civilians bearing the brunt of the situation. Yammin's views are based on his personal study of terrorism and the broader implications of military interventions on civilian populations.

"The decision of ECOWAS amounts to TERRORISM according to my study of terrorism because at the end innocent people will suffer when the coup is a bloodless one," Yammin stated.

ECOWAS, as a regional body, is tasked with promoting peace, stability, and cooperation among its member states. The organization's decisions to intervene in cases of political turmoil or coup attempts are often motivated by a desire to safeguard democracy and prevent power struggles from spiraling into violence. However, as Yammin's statement indicates, the methods and implications of such interventions can be subject to differing interpretations.

It is essential to recognize that Yammin's assertion is one perspective among many. The term "terrorism" is highly charged and carries significant connotations, often associated with acts of violence against civilians to achieve political or ideological goals. While his framing of ECOWAS' actions as "terrorism" might be controversial, it underscores the urgency of considering the potential human costs of military interventions in politically sensitive contexts.

Joseph Yammin's criticism of ECOWAS' decision to send troops to Niger as an act of terrorism serves as a thought-provoking perspective on the complexities of regional interventions in political crises. His focus on the potential suffering of innocent civilians reminds us of the importance of carefully weighing the ethical and practical considerations when responding to such situations. As discussions continue about the role of regional organizations in preserving stability and democracy, it is clear that different viewpoints will shape the ongoing discourse.
Leading telecommunication company, MTN Ghana stormed James Town on Friday, August 18, to celebrate the Homowo Festival with the Ga people.

As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities, MTN presented a cheque of GHS10,000 to support the Ngleshie Alata Traditional Council in James Town to celebrate the festival.

In addition, the company during an engagement with the Traditional Leaders presented to them MTN airtime worth GHS1,000 and a hamper full of celebratory drinks.

As part of its longstanding relationship with the Ngleshie Alata Traditional Council, MTN has set up customer experience centres in James Town to address the needs of clients from today to Sunday, August 20.

While providing a distinct customer experience during the Homowo Festival celebration all weekend, customers will be assisted to reconnect their SIM with the Ghana Card, they will be educated on Mobile Money fraud and encouraged to use My MTN App, MTN MoMo App, and the Ayoba App.

Speaking to the media on the rationale behind the support to the Ngleshie Alata Traditional Council, the Manager of the Southeast Business District of MTN Ghana, Kwasi Osei Hyeaman, Kwasi Osei Hyeaman explained that it goes in line with the companys core values which includes connecting families, friends, and business through the services it provides to foster development.

The main reason why we partner with Homowo Festival is that we believe in people and we know without people MTN wont exist. So anything that relates to people we want to be part of it and that is why you see us here, Kwasi Osei Hyeaman added.

He added that as a business, MTN Ghana will continue to partner with Homowo Festival to promote culture.

MoMo Fraud:

In his interview with the media, Kwasi Osei Hyeaman advised customers to guard their Mobile Money (MoMo) pin at all times by ensuring that it is not given to anybody.

He stressed that while MTN Ghana is committed to fighting MoMo fraud, it needs customers to help to make the fight successful.

We advise that customers should own their SIM. If I say own your SIM it means take full control over your SIM and dont share your PIN Code with anybody. Not even with MTN staff. Dont entertain anyone when it comes to your PIN Code, Kwasi Osei Hyeaman emphasised.

Ngleshie Alata Traditional Council:

Speaking on behalf of the Ngleshie Alata Traditional Council, Paramount Stool Secretary, Nii Akwei Bonsu III expressed appreciation to MTN Ghana for the support towards the celebration of the Homowo Festival this year and in the past as well.

He called for continuous collaboration and prayed for the business of MTN to continue to boom.

We say a big thank you to MTN for the annual donation to support the Ga Homowo festival. Weve had a partnership with them over the years and we appreciate them whenever they come. We wish them Godspeed in whatever they do. We expect that anytime we call on them they will come to our aid to celebrate our festival and other events with us, Nii Akwei Bonsu III said.

He further urged the youth and people of Ga Mashie to celebrate this years Homowo Festival in modesty.

Similar to the support given to the Ngleshie Alata Traditional Council today, MTN Ghana on Wednesday, August 16, supported the La Traditional Council with a cash amount of GHS10,000, credit worth GHS1,000, and a hamper of drinks for the celebration of the Homowo Festival.
Ranking Member on the Defence and Interior Committee of Parliament, James Agalga has reiterated that any military intervention in Niger will not do anybody good.

Since last week, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) met in Nigeria and made clear its plan to send troops to Niger.

According to ECOWAS, the move will be made to take power from the military junta to restore the country to democratic rule and constitutional order.

While the threats of military intervention have been echoed by the ECOWAS Military Chiefs following their meeting in Accra, Ghana this week, James Agalga has urged the leadership of the block to reconsider its stance.

According to him, any attack on Niger by ECOWAS will plunge the entire sub-region into chaos.

ECOWAS will be gone if military interventions ever happen in Niger.

ECOWAS will plunge the entire sub-region into chaos if they advance with the military, James Agalga who is also Member of Parliament (MP) for Builsa North said in an interview with Joy News.

James Agalga argues that it is important to have a diplomatic resolution on the impasse between ECOWAS and the military junta especially when both parties have support.
West African military chiefs said on Friday they were ready for an armed intervention in Niger after a coup ousted President Mohamed Bazoum last month, but a diplomatic mission was possible over the weekend to keep talks open.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has agreed to activate a "standby force" as a last resort to restore democracy in Niger after generals toppled and detained Bazoum on July 26.

ECOWAS defence chiefs met this week in the Ghanaian capital Accra to fine tune details of a potential military operation to restore Bazoum if ongoing negotiations with coup leaders fail.

"We are ready to go any time the order is given," said Abdel-Fatau Musah, an ECOWAS commissioner for political affairs and security. "The D-Day is also decided."

But the leaders also say they still favoured dialogue, and that ECOWAS could send a diplomatic mission to Niger on Saturday, Musah said.

"Tomorrow there is the possibility of an ECOWAS mission going into Niger to continue to pursue the peaceful path to restoration of constitutional order."

"We are ready to resolve the issue peacefully but it takes two to tango," he said.

ECOWAS leaders say they have to act after Niger became the fourth West African nation since 2020 to suffer a coup, following Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea.

The Sahel region is struggling with growing jihadist insurgencies linked to Al-Qaeda and Islamic State and frustration over the violence has in part prompted the military takeovers.

ECOWAS troops have intervened in other emergencies since 1990, including civil wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone. Ivory Coast, Benin and Nigeria are expected to contribute troops to a Niger mission.

'Grave consequences'

Niger's democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, was overthrown by members of his guard on July 26. By Issouf SANOGO (AFP/File)

Bazoum, whose 2021 election was a landmark in Niger's troubled history, has been held with his family at the president's official residence since the July 26 coup, with growing international concern over his conditions in detention.

ECOWAS chair and Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on Friday threatened Niamey with "grave consequences" if the new regime allows Bazoum's health to worsen under house arrest, an EU official said.

During a call to EU chief Charles Michel, Tinubu noted: "President Bazoum's detention conditions are deteriorating."

"Any further deterioration to his well-being status will have grave consequences."

Michel had renewed the European Union's "full support and backing of ECOWAS' decisions, as well as firm condemnation of the unacceptable coup de force in Niger".

Militarily risky

Details of the Niger operation have not been released and analysts say any intervention would be politically and militarily risky, especially for regional player Nigeria.

Economic Community of West African States. By Nalini LEPETIT-CHELLA (AFP)

Nigeria is already struggling to contain violence from several armed groups at home, and leaders in the country's north have warned about spillover from Niger across the border if there is an intervention.

Niger's coup leaders have warned against any military strikes and defiantly threatened to charge Bazoum with treason. But they have also said they are open to talks.

The military-ruled governments in neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso have also said an intervention in Niger would be seen as a declaration of war against them.

ECOWAS has already applied trade and financial sanctions on Niger while France, Germany and the United States have suspended aid programmes.

Germany's foreign ministry has also said it wants the EU to impose sanctions on the coup leaders, saying that Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had held talks with her French and US counterparts.

UN rights chief Volker Turk slammed the generals who seized power on "a whim" plunging Niger further into misery and stranding thousands of migrants.

"The very notion of freedoms in Niger is at stake," he said. "Rule-by-gun has no place in today's world."
MP for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga has expressed worry over the fact that the cost of Bank of Ghana's new head office project changed from the initial $81m to the current $250m.

He says it is for this reason that the Minority in Parliament has written to the Governor and the Bank's Board to explain what makes up the cost.

''We have written to the bank to ask for information. Specifically, on procumbent process, the price, how is going to be financed, where the payment will be coming from, how it was budgeted, and if payment have been made? Was the land for lease? Project manager, consultants involved. We want to know the details he said on TV3's Ghana Tonight programme on Thursday.

Mr. Ayariga added that, We are asking why the cost of building is so huge at the time the bank is collapsing, incurring devastating losses and registering negative equity and failing to position themselves to salvage the financial sector should there be unforeseen crisis.

The Bank of Ghana authorities claim that the existing building, constructed in 1960 during Nkrumah government, has failed a structural integrity assessment. This justification was put forth to justify the decision to spend $250million on the new building.

However, Mr. Ayariga asserted that, they sense foul play in the procurement process.

The procurement was not competitive. If you will not be competitive, you have to state a strong case why you are not competitive. The document we have seen does not point in this direction.

He noted that they have given the Board of the central bank 7 days to respond to their questions.

It's up to them whether to show transparency or there are things to hide, the lawmaker concluded.

-3new.com
African Gold Acquisition Co. (NYSE:AGAC  Get Free Report)s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $10.69 and last traded at $10.69, with a volume of 217 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $10.68.

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Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AGAC. Royal Bank of Canada purchased a new stake in African Gold Acquisition in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in African Gold Acquisition in the 1st quarter valued at $118,000. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new stake in African Gold Acquisition in the 2nd quarter valued at $124,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. purchased a new stake in African Gold Acquisition in the 2nd quarter valued at $490,000. Finally, Kepos Capital LP purchased a new stake in African Gold Acquisition in the 4th quarter valued at $503,000. 11.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

African Gold Acquisition Company Profile

African Gold Acquisition Corporation does not have significant operations. The company focuses on effecting a merger or mergers, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization, or other similar business combination with one or more businesses. African Gold Acquisition Corporation was incorporated in 2020 and is based in New York, New York.

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StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Agnico Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM  Free Report) (TSE:AEM) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the mining companys stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Agnico Eagle Mines from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Agnico Eagle Mines from $64.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $67.00.

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Agnico Eagle Mines Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE:AEM opened at $46.47 on Thursday. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $50.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Agnico Eagle Mines has a one year low of $36.69 and a one year high of $61.15. The company has a market cap of $23.01 billion, a PE ratio of 9.04, a P/E/G ratio of 20.57 and a beta of 0.80.

Agnico Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM  Get Free Report) (TSE:AEM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The mining company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. Agnico Eagle Mines had a net margin of 40.06% and a return on equity of 5.63%. The firms revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Agnico Eagle Mines will post 2.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Agnico Eagle Mines Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 31st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.44%. Agnico Eagle Miness dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.13%.

Institutional Trading of Agnico Eagle Mines

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Agnico Eagle Mines by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 22,058,188 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $1,146,794,000 after purchasing an additional 1,729,461 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Agnico Eagle Mines by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,013,554 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $676,253,000 after purchasing an additional 522,898 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Agnico Eagle Mines by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 13,684,939 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $697,521,000 after purchasing an additional 1,059,314 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Agnico Eagle Mines by 19.7% during the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,758,182 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $548,448,000 after purchasing an additional 1,770,471 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Agnico Eagle Mines by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 9,852,941 shares of the mining companys stock valued at $511,175,000 after purchasing an additional 1,199,348 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.54% of the companys stock.

Agnico Eagle Mines Company Profile

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Agnico Eagle Mines Limited, a gold mining company, exploration, development, and production of precious metals. The company's mines are located in Canada, Australia, Finland and Mexico, with exploration and development activities in Canada, Australia, Europe, Latin America, and the United States.

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StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Air Lease (NYSE:AL  Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the transportation companys stock.

Separately, Citigroup raised their price target on Air Lease from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday, August 11th.

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Air Lease Stock Performance

Air Lease Dividend Announcement

NYSE:AL opened at $40.00 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.76. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $41.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76. Air Lease has a 12-month low of $30.08 and a 12-month high of $46.20.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 11th. Air Leases dividend payout ratio is presently 18.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Air Lease

In other news, EVP Alex A. Khatibi sold 25,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 89,266 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,570,640. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Alex A. Khatibi sold 25,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.00, for a total value of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 89,266 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,570,640. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Yvette Hollingsworth Clark acquired 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 31st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $37.96 per share, with a total value of $98,696.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 19,856 shares in the company, valued at $753,733.76. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 6.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Air Lease

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Air Lease by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,709,215 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $301,082,000 after acquiring an additional 194,211 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Air Lease by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,735,320 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $265,166,000 after acquiring an additional 83,021 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Air Lease by 48.0% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,722,960 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $281,356,000 after acquiring an additional 2,180,549 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Air Lease by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,763,177 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $257,324,000 after acquiring an additional 90,225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Air Lease by 36.7% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,446,382 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $243,180,000 after acquiring an additional 1,460,769 shares during the last quarter. 89.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Air Lease Company Profile

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Air Lease Corporation, an aircraft leasing company, engages in the purchase and leasing of commercial jet aircraft to airlines worldwide. It also sells aircraft from its fleet to third parties, including other leasing companies, financial services companies, airlines, and other investors. In addition, the company provides fleet management services to investors and owners of aircraft portfolios.

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Shares of Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESRT  Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of Hold by the five research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $8.65.

ESRT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Empire State Realty Trust in a report on Thursday. They issued a sell rating on the stock. TheStreet raised Empire State Realty Trust from a d+ rating to a c rating in a report on Thursday, July 27th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Empire State Realty Trust from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Empire State Realty Trust from $7.25 to $9.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 8th.

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Empire State Realty Trust Price Performance

Empire State Realty Trust Announces Dividend

Shares of NYSE:ESRT opened at $8.27 on Friday. Empire State Realty Trust has a 12 month low of $5.39 and a 12 month high of $9.08. The company has a current ratio of 9.46, a quick ratio of 9.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The stock has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a 50 day moving average of $7.90 and a 200 day moving average of $7.10.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.035 per share. This represents a $0.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 14th. Empire State Realty Trusts dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.28%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ESRT. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of Empire State Realty Trust by 25.0% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 276,068 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $2,711,000 after acquiring an additional 55,271 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Empire State Realty Trust during the first quarter worth approximately $141,000. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of Empire State Realty Trust by 7.6% during the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 27,846 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $276,000 after acquiring an additional 1,955 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Empire State Realty Trust by 36.4% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 67,238 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $660,000 after acquiring an additional 17,932 shares in the last quarter. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. purchased a new position in shares of Empire State Realty Trust during the first quarter worth approximately $1,515,000. 79.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Empire State Realty Trust Company Profile

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Empire State Realty Trust, Inc is a real estate investment trust, which engages in owning, managing, acquiring, and repositioning office and retail properties. It operates through the Real Estate and Observatory segments. The Real Estate segment includes ownership, management, operation, acquisition, repositioning, and disposition of real estate assets.

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Angel Oak Mortgage REIT (NYSE:AOMR  Get Free Report) and Forestar Group (NYSE:FOR  Get Free Report) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Angel Oak Mortgage REIT and Forestar Groups revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

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Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Angel Oak Mortgage REIT $115.54 million 2.13 -$187.83 million ($3.89) -2.53 Forestar Group $1.52 billion 0.94 $178.80 million $2.91 9.84

Forestar Group has higher revenue and earnings than Angel Oak Mortgage REIT. Angel Oak Mortgage REIT is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Forestar Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Angel Oak Mortgage REIT 1 1 1 0 2.00 Forestar Group 0 1 2 0 2.67

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Angel Oak Mortgage REIT and Forestar Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

Angel Oak Mortgage REIT presently has a consensus price target of $10.50, indicating a potential upside of 6.49%. Forestar Group has a consensus price target of $25.83, indicating a potential downside of 9.77%. Given Angel Oak Mortgage REITs higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Angel Oak Mortgage REIT is more favorable than Forestar Group.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

35.4% of Forestar Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 23.7% of Angel Oak Mortgage REIT shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Forestar Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Angel Oak Mortgage REIT and Forestar Groups net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Angel Oak Mortgage REIT -89.71% -23.84% -2.07% Forestar Group 11.45% 11.70% 6.19%

Risk & Volatility

Angel Oak Mortgage REIT has a beta of 1.29, indicating that its share price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Forestar Group has a beta of 1.65, indicating that its share price is 65% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Forestar Group beats Angel Oak Mortgage REIT on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Angel Oak Mortgage REIT

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Angel Oak Mortgage REIT, Inc., a real estate finance company, focuses on acquiring and investing in first lien non- qualified mortgage loans and other mortgage-related assets in the United States mortgage market. It offers investment securities; residential mortgage loans; and commercial mortgage loans. The company qualifies as a real estate investment trust for federal income tax purposes. It generally would not be subject to federal corporate income taxes if it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its stockholders. Angel Oak Mortgage REIT, Inc. was incorporated in 2018 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

About Forestar Group

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Forestar Group Inc. operates as a residential lot development company in the United States. The acquires land and develops infrastructure for single-family residential communities. It sells its residential single-family finished lots to local, regional, and national homebuilders. The company is headquartered in Arlington, Texas. Forestar Group Inc. is a subsidiary of D.R. Horton, Inc.

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StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM  Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Roth Mkm started coverage on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in a report on Thursday, June 22nd. They issued a buy rating and a $92.00 price objective for the company. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $99.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 1st. Argus raised their price objective on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $91.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $98.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Archer-Daniels-Midland presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $97.50.

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Archer-Daniels-Midland Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ADM opened at $82.54 on Thursday. The companys fifty day moving average is $79.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Archer-Daniels-Midland has a 12-month low of $69.92 and a 12-month high of $98.28. The company has a market cap of $44.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.82.

Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.30. Archer-Daniels-Midland had a net margin of 4.14% and a return on equity of 17.52%. The company had revenue of $25.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.15 EPS. The companys revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Archer-Daniels-Midland will post 7.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 15th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. Archer-Daniels-Midlands payout ratio is presently 24.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Fruit Molly L. Strader sold 1,455 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.80, for a total transaction of $126,294.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,809 shares in the company, valued at $938,221.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.20% of the companys stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Archer-Daniels-Midland

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. acquired a new position in Archer-Daniels-Midland during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 135.6% during the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 318 shares of the companys stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in Archer-Daniels-Midland by 41.9% during the 2nd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 491 shares of the companys stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Archer-Daniels-Midland by 88.1% in the 1st quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 476 shares of the companys stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.13% of the companys stock.

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company procures, transports, stores, processes, and merchandises agricultural commodities, products, and ingredients in the United States, Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company operates in three segments: Ag Services and Oilseeds, Carbohydrate Solutions, and Nutrition.

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StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Argo Group International (NYSE:ARGO  Free Report) in a report released on Monday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the stock.

Separately, TheStreet raised Argo Group International from a d+ rating to a c- rating in a research report on Friday, May 26th.

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Argo Group International Stock Up 0.1 %

Institutional Trading of Argo Group International

Argo Group International stock opened at $29.70 on Monday. The companys 50 day moving average is $29.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Argo Group International has a 52-week low of $19.00 and a 52-week high of $30.13.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARGO. FourWorld Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Argo Group International in the 1st quarter valued at $80,747,000. Corbin Capital Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Argo Group International in the first quarter valued at approximately $38,957,000. FIL Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Argo Group International in the 1st quarter valued at $34,137,000. Glazer Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Argo Group International in the 1st quarter valued at $30,840,000. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Argo Group International during the 4th quarter worth $23,090,000.

Argo Group International Company Profile

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Argo Group International Holdings, Ltd. underwrites specialty insurance and reinsurance products in the property and casualty markets. The company operates in two segments, U.S. Operations and International Operations. It offers primary and excess specialty casualty, general liability, commercial multi-peril, and workers compensation, as well as product, environmental, and auto liability insurance products; management liability, transaction liability, and errors and omissions liability insurance; primary and excess property, inland marine, and auto physical damage insurance; and surety, animal mortality, and ocean marine insurance products.

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StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN  Free Report) in a report published on Thursday morning. The firm issued a buy rating on the banks stock.

SAN has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays started coverage on Banco Santander in a report on Tuesday, July 18th. They issued an equal weight rating for the company. HSBC lowered Banco Santander from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $3.73.

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Banco Santander Stock Performance

Banco Santander stock traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $3.82. 4,614,278 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,058,638. The company has a market capitalization of $61.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.13. The firms 50-day simple moving average is $3.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.65. Banco Santander has a 1 year low of $2.26 and a 1 year high of $4.09.

Banco Santander (NYSE:SAN  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 26th. The bank reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts consensus estimates of $0.17. The firm had revenue of $15.34 billion during the quarter. Banco Santander had a return on equity of 10.00% and a net margin of 18.10%. On average, analysts forecast that Banco Santander will post 0.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Banco Santander

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. acquired a new position in Banco Santander during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Banco Santander by 60.8% during the 2nd quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 9,934 shares of the banks stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 3,755 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. acquired a new position in Banco Santander during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Banco Santander during the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Echo45 Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Banco Santander during the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. 2.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Banco Santander Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Banco Santander, SA provides various retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small and medium-sized enterprises, and large companies worldwide. The company operates through Retail Banking, Santander Corporate & Investment Banking, Wealth Management & Insurance, and PagoNxt segments.

Further Reading

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Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its holdings in Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ  Free Report) by 12.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,298 shares of the technology companys stock after buying an additional 1,691 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plcs holdings in Block were worth $1,050,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. IAG Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Block by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 400 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC acquired a new position in Block during the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 1st quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 1st quarter worth $47,000. 63.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Activity

In other news, Director Lawrence Henry Summers sold 3,668 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.66, for a total value of $215,164.88. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 22,133 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,298,321.78. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Lawrence Henry Summers sold 3,668 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.66, for a total transaction of $215,164.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,133 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,298,321.78. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chrysty Esperanza sold 2,500 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 65,472 shares of the companys stock, valued at $5,237,760. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 37,868 shares of company stock worth $2,545,857 over the last 90 days. 10.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Block from $88.00 to $87.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 4th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Block in a research note on Thursday. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Block from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 4th. BNP Paribas upgraded Block from an underperform rating to an outperform rating and set a $95.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on Block from $96.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Block currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $89.33.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Block

Block Stock Performance

Block stock opened at $56.10 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $34.23 billion, a PE ratio of -127.50 and a beta of 2.34. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Block, Inc. has a twelve month low of $51.34 and a twelve month high of $89.97.

Block (NYSE:SQ  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The technology company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.04. Block had a negative net margin of 1.38% and a negative return on equity of 0.61%. The company had revenue of $5.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $5.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.19) earnings per share. Blocks quarterly revenue was up 25.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Block, Inc. will post -0.21 EPS for the current year.

About Block

(Free Report)

Square, Inc provides payment and point-of-sale solutions in the United States and internationally. The company's commerce ecosystem includes point-of-sale software and hardware that enables sellers to turn mobile and computing devices into payment and point-of-sale solutions. It offers hardware products, including Magstripe reader, which enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Contactless and chip reader that accepts EMV chip cards and Near Field Communication payments; Chip card reader, which accepts EMV chip cards and enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Square Stand, which enables an iPad to be used as a payment terminal or full point of sale solution; and Square Register that combines its hardware, point-of-sale software, and payments technology, as well as managed payments solutions.

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StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust (NYSE:BPT  Free Report) in a research note released on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the oil and gas companys stock.

Separately, TheStreet downgraded BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a research note on Monday, May 8th.

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Read Our Latest Research Report on BPT

BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust Price Performance

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust

Shares of NYSE BPT opened at $6.68 on Thursday. BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust has a 12-month low of $4.52 and a 12-month high of $18.90. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $5.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.32.

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BPT. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust in the 1st quarter worth $300,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust by 239.0% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 41,572 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $622,000 after buying an additional 29,308 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA purchased a new position in shares of BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust during the first quarter valued at $233,000. Northern Trust Corp purchased a new position in shares of BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust during the second quarter valued at $1,024,000. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust during the second quarter valued at $475,000. 4.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

BP Prudhoe Bay Royalty Trust operates as a grantor trust in the United States. It holds overriding royalty interest in the Prudhoe Bay oil field located on the North Slope of Alaska. The Prudhoe Bay field extends approximately 12 miles by 27 miles and contains approximately 150,000 gross productive acres.

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Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its stake in shares of AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO  Free Report) by 22.1% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,636 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 1,743 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LPs holdings in AutoZone were worth $23,687,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AZO. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 107,977.3% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 699,260 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,724,500,000 after purchasing an additional 698,613 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 368.0% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 411,450 shares of the companys stock valued at $841,242,000 after purchasing an additional 323,536 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of AutoZone during the 4th quarter valued at about $658,788,000. StonePine Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AutoZone by 639.5% during the 1st quarter. StonePine Asset Management Inc. now owns 110,726 shares of the companys stock valued at $272,181,000 after purchasing an additional 95,753 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of AutoZone in the 1st quarter valued at about $150,670,000. Institutional investors own 98.36% of the companys stock.

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Insider Transactions at AutoZone

In other news, VP Charles Pleas III sold 4,200 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,546.55, for a total transaction of $10,695,510.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,425 shares in the company, valued at $8,721,933.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, VP Charles Pleas III sold 4,200 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,546.55, for a total transaction of $10,695,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,425 shares in the company, valued at $8,721,933.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Domingo Hurtado sold 90 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,376.49, for a total transaction of $213,884.10. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 275 shares of the companys stock, valued at $653,534.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,535 shares of company stock worth $21,414,854. Company insiders own 2.59% of the companys stock.

AutoZone Stock Up 0.7 %

AZO stock traded up $18.40 during trading on Friday, hitting $2,475.68. 29,611 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 162,452. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.39, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $2,477.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2,508.08. AutoZone, Inc. has a 1 year low of $2,050.21 and a 1 year high of $2,750.00.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 23rd. The company reported $34.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $30.84 by $3.28. The company had revenue of $4.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 14.45% and a negative return on equity of 62.38%. AutoZones revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $29.03 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that AutoZone, Inc. will post 130.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. 3M reaffirmed an upgrade rating on shares of AutoZone in a report on Thursday, June 1st. Evercore ISI raised shares of AutoZone from an in-line rating to an outperform rating and increased their price target for the company from $2,640.00 to $2,700.00 in a report on Monday, June 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of AutoZone from $2,899.00 to $2,840.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 23rd. 92 Resources reissued a reiterates rating on shares of AutoZone in a research note on Tuesday, June 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of AutoZone from $2,750.00 to $2,975.00 in a research note on Friday, May 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen 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 an average target price of $2,716.00.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on AutoZone

AutoZone Profile

(Free Report)

AutoZone, Inc retails and distributes automotive replacement parts and accessories. The company offers various products for cars, sport utility vehicles, vans, and light trucks, including new and remanufactured automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories, and non-automotive products. Its products include A/C compressors, batteries and accessories, bearings, belts and hoses, calipers, chassis, clutches, CV axles, engines, fuel pumps, fuses, ignition and lighting products, mufflers, radiators, starters and alternators, thermostats, and water pumps, as well as tire repairs.

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Shares of Fresnillo plc (LON:FRES  Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of Reduce from the seven research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is GBX 720.71 ($9.14).

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on FRES shares. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Fresnillo from GBX 630 ($7.99) to GBX 525 ($6.66) and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Fresnillo from GBX 690 ($8.75) to GBX 620 ($7.87) and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 21st.

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Fresnillo Stock Down 2.1 %

Fresnillo Cuts Dividend

Fresnillo stock opened at GBX 502.04 ($6.37) on Friday. The company has a market cap of 3.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,768.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of -1.58 and a beta of 0.19. Fresnillo has a 1-year low of GBX 501.80 ($6.37) and a 1-year high of GBX 996.80 ($12.64). The company has a fifty day simple moving average of GBX 606.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of GBX 694.09. The company has a current ratio of 3.12, a quick ratio of 3.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 33.58.

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.01 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 0.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 10th. Fresnillos payout ratio is 4,137.93%.

Fresnillo Company Profile

(Get Free Report

Fresnillo plc mines, develops, and produces non-ferrous minerals in Mexico. It operates through seven segments: Fresnillo, Saucito, Cienega, Herradura, Noche Buena, San Julian, and Juanicipio. The company primarily explores for silver, gold, lead, and zinc concentrates. Its projects include the Fresnillo silver mine located in the state of Zacatecas; Saucito silver mine situated in the state of Zacatecas; Cienega gold mine located in the state of Durango; Herradura gold mine situated in the state of Sonora; Noche Buena gold mine located in the state of Sonora; San Julian silver-gold mine situated on the border of Chihuahua/Durango states; and Juanicipio mine located in the state of Zacatecas.

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CC Japan Income & Growth Trust plc (LON:CCJI  Get Free Report) shares passed above its 50 day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 50 day moving average of GBX 164.96 ($2.09) and traded as high as GBX 165.50 ($2.10). CC Japan Income & Growth Trust shares last traded at GBX 163 ($2.07), with a volume of 610,688 shares traded.

CC Japan Income & Growth Trust Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of 215.90 million and a P/E ratio of 1,811.11. The stocks 50-day simple moving average is GBX 164.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is GBX 158.83.

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CC Japan Income & Growth Trust Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 6th were given a GBX 1.55 ($0.02) dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 6th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.9%. CC Japan Income & Growth Trusts payout ratio is currently 5,555.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

CC Japan Income & Growth Trust Company Profile

In related news, insider June Aitken bought 380 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of GBX 167 ($2.12) per share, for a total transaction of 634.60 ($805.02). Company insiders own 2.84% of the companys stock.

(Get Free Report)

CC Japan Income & Growth Trust plc is an equity mutual fund launched and managed by Coupland Cardiff Asset Management LLP. It invests in the equity markets of Japan. The fund invests in stocks of companies operating across the diversified sectors. CC Japan Income & Growth Trust plc was formed in 2013 and is domiciled in the United Kingdom.

Further Reading

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StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (NYSE:SID  Free Report) in a research report report published on Thursday morning. The firm issued a buy rating on the basic materials companys stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on SID. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Companhia Siderurgica Nacional from an overweight rating to a neutral rating in a report on Friday, June 30th. Bank of America downgraded Companhia Siderurgica Nacional from a neutral rating to an underperform rating in a report on Monday, June 12th. Finally, Itau BBA Securities downgraded Companhia Siderurgica Nacional from a market perform rating to an underperform rating and set a $2.30 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, July 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Companhia Siderurgica Nacional has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $2.30.

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View Our Latest Research Report on Companhia Siderurgica Nacional

Companhia Siderurgica Nacional Stock Performance

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Companhia Siderurgica Nacional

Shares of SID traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $2.44. 1,733,060 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,258,640. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a PE ratio of -240.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.72. The businesss fifty day simple moving average is $2.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2.88. Companhia Siderurgica Nacional has a 52-week low of $2.20 and a 52-week high of $3.70.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SID. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its holdings in Companhia Siderurgica Nacional by 652.2% in the first quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,348,715 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $4,141,000 after acquiring an additional 1,169,415 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Companhia Siderurgica Nacional during the 1st quarter worth $3,371,000. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Companhia Siderurgica Nacional by 865.4% in the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,178,445 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $3,253,000 after buying an additional 1,056,380 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in shares of Companhia Siderurgica Nacional by 34.4% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,468,677 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $8,984,000 after buying an additional 887,993 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Companhia Siderurgica Nacional by 528.4% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 876,144 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $2,418,000 after buying an additional 736,721 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 2.25% of the companys stock.

Companhia Siderurgica Nacional Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Companhia Siderurgica Nacional operates as an integrated steel producer in Brazil and Latin America. It operates through five segments: Steel, Mining, Logistics, Energy, and Cement. The company offers flat steel products, such as high, medium, low carbon, micro-alloyed, ultra-low-carbon, and interstitial free slabs; hot-rolled products, including heavy and light-gauge hot-rolled coils and sheets; cold-rolled products comprising cold-rolled coils and sheets; galvanized products; tin mill products consisting of flat-rolled low-carbon steel coils or sheets; and profiles, channels, UPE sections, and steel sleepers for the distribution, packaging, automotive, home appliance, and construction industries.

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Delaney Dennis R boosted its holdings in Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI  Free Report) (TSE:CNR) by 0.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,317 shares of the transportation companys stock after buying an additional 349 shares during the quarter. Canadian National Railway makes up 4.3% of Delaney Dennis Rs holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Delaney Dennis Rs holdings in Canadian National Railway were worth $4,992,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. BCK Partners Inc. bought a new position in Canadian National Railway in the first quarter valued at about $2,575,000. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 26.2% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 931,027 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $124,888,000 after acquiring an additional 193,116 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 3.1% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 762,341 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $102,260,000 after acquiring an additional 22,984 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 1.4% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 60,441 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $8,107,000 after acquiring an additional 807 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 18.9% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 33,602 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $4,511,000 after acquiring an additional 5,349 shares during the last quarter. 64.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Canadian National Railway Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:CNI traded up $0.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $113.77. 346,855 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,116,653. The stock has a market cap of $74.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Canadian National Railway has a 12-month low of $103.79 and a 12-month high of $129.89. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $117.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $117.78.

Canadian National Railway Increases Dividend

Canadian National Railway ( NYSE:CNI Get Free Report ) (TSE:CNR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 25th. The transportation company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.37 by ($0.06). Canadian National Railway had a return on equity of 24.62% and a net margin of 30.21%. The business had revenue of $3.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $3.13 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Canadian National Railway will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 8th will be paid a $0.5996 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 7th. This is a positive change from Canadian National Railways previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Canadian National Railways payout ratio is presently 40.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded Canadian National Railway from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, May 4th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Canadian National Railway in a report on Thursday. They issued a hold rating for the company. Barclays lowered their target price on Canadian National Railway from $122.00 to $119.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Canadian National Railway from C$169.00 to C$172.00 in a report on Thursday, May 4th. Finally, National Bank Financial lowered their target price on Canadian National Railway from C$173.00 to C$171.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Canadian National Railway currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $145.71.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on CNI

Canadian National Railway Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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DIeteren Group (OTCMKTS:SIEVF  Get Free Report) and AutoCanada (OTCMKTS:AOCIF  Get Free Report) are both consumer cyclical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, risk and earnings.

Profitability

This table compares DIeteren Group and AutoCanadas net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

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Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets DIeteren Group N/A N/A N/A AutoCanada N/A N/A N/A

Institutional and Insider Ownership

13.8% of DIeteren Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 44.8% of AutoCanada shares are held by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio DIeteren Group N/A N/A N/A 1.83 91.99 AutoCanada N/A N/A N/A $2.17 8.71

This table compares DIeteren Group and AutoCanadas gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

AutoCanada is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than DIeteren Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

DIeteren Group pays an annual dividend of 0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. AutoCanada pays an annual dividend of $1.11 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.9%. DIeteren Group pays out 32.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. AutoCanada pays out 51.2% 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for DIeteren Group and AutoCanada, as provided by MarketBeat.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score DIeteren Group 0 0 1 0 3.00 AutoCanada 0 2 0 0 2.00

AutoCanada has a consensus target price of $28.00, suggesting a potential upside of 48.15%. Given AutoCanadas higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe AutoCanada is more favorable than DIeteren Group.

About DIeteren Group

(Get Free Report)

D'Ieteren Group SA operates as an investment company worldwide. The company operates through D'Ieteren Automotive, Belron, Moleskine, TVH, and PHE segments. It distributes Volkswagen, Audi, SEAT, KODA, CUPRA, Bentley, Lamborghini, Bugatti, Rimac, Microlino, and Porsche brand vehicles, as well as its spare parts and accessories; sells used vehicles; and offers maintenance, financing, and leasing services. The company also provides vehicle glass repair, replacement, and recalibration services under the Carglass, Safelite, Lebeau Vitres d'auto, Speedy Glass, O'Brien, Smith&Smith, and Autoglass brand names; and manages vehicle glass and other insurance claims on behalf of insurance customers. In addition, it offers notebooks, planners, writing tools, bags, and reading accessories, as well as smart writing system and mobile apps. Further, the company distributes aftermarket parts for material handling, construction, and agricultural & industrial equipment. Additionally, it manages real estate assets, including offices, workshops, concessions, logistics centers, residential units, car parks, and landbanks; reconverts and redevelops sites; and offers real estate advice. D'Ieteren Group SA was founded in 1805 and is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.

About AutoCanada

(Get Free Report)

AutoCanada Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates franchised automobile dealerships. The company offers a range of automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles, vehicle leasing, vehicle parts, vehicle maintenance and collision repair services, extended service contracts, and vehicle protection, after-market products, and auction services. It also arranges financing and insurance for vehicle purchases by its customers through third-party finance and insurance sources. The company sells its vehicles under the Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, FIAT, Alfa Romeo, Chevrolet, GMC, Buick, Cadillac, Ford, Infiniti, Nissan, Hyundai, Subaru, Audi, Volkswagen, Kia, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Acura, BMW, MINI, Volvo, Toyota, Lincoln, Porsche, and Honda brands. It operates franchised dealerships in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick in Canada, as well as in Illinois, the United States. The company also offers used vehicles online. AutoCanada Inc. was incorporated in 2009 and is based in Edmonton, Canada.

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StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of EnLink Midstream (NYSE:ENLC  Free Report) in a report published on Thursday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the pipeline companys stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of EnLink Midstream from $14.50 to $14.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of EnLink Midstream from $11.00 to $12.00 in a report on Friday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of EnLink Midstream from $18.00 to $17.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of EnLink Midstream from $13.00 to $12.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 28th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of EnLink Midstream in a report on Monday, June 26th. They set a buy rating and a $14.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $13.88.

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EnLink Midstream Stock Performance

EnLink Midstream Dividend Announcement

Shares of EnLink Midstream stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Thursday, hitting $11.88. 299,027 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,413,609. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.07 and a beta of 2.53. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $11.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.79. EnLink Midstream has a 1-year low of $8.04 and a 1-year high of $13.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 28th were given a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.21%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 27th. EnLink Midstreams dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at EnLink Midstream

In other news, CAO Jan Philipp Rossbach sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.79, for a total transaction of $471,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 103,892 shares in the company, valued at $1,224,886.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other EnLink Midstream news, EVP Alaina K. Brooks sold 131,586 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.13, for a total value of $1,596,138.18. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 540,719 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $6,558,921.47. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Jan Philipp Rossbach sold 40,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.79, for a total transaction of $471,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 103,892 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,224,886.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 206,609 shares of company stock worth $2,488,014. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EnLink Midstream

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of EnLink Midstream by 29.4% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 81,453 shares of the pipeline companys stock valued at $786,000 after acquiring an additional 18,487 shares during the period. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC lifted its stake in shares of EnLink Midstream by 34.0% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 33,916 shares of the pipeline companys stock valued at $327,000 after buying an additional 8,600 shares in the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can lifted its stake in shares of EnLink Midstream by 16.2% during the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 175,190 shares of the pipeline companys stock valued at $1,797,000 after buying an additional 24,361 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of EnLink Midstream by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,225,310 shares of the pipeline companys stock valued at $108,324,000 after buying an additional 746,457 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in shares of EnLink Midstream by 15.5% during the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,723,580 shares of the pipeline companys stock valued at $16,633,000 after buying an additional 231,880 shares in the last quarter. 44.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

EnLink Midstream Company Profile

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EnLink Midstream, LLC provides midstream energy services in the United States. It operates through five segments: Permian, Louisiana, Oklahoma, North Texas, and Corporate. The company is involved in gathering, compressing, treating, processing, transporting, storing, and selling natural gas; fractionating, transporting, storing, and selling natural gas liquids; and gathering, transporting, stabilizing, storing, trans-loading, and selling crude oil and condensate, as well as providing brine disposal services.

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Exos TFP Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C  Free Report) by 245.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,171 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 5,094 shares during the period. Exos TFP Holdings LLCs holdings in Citigroup were worth $336,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in C. Bell Investment Advisors Inc grew its holdings in Citigroup by 72.1% during the 4th quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 604 shares of the companys stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Citigroup during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Heritage Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Citigroup by 140.1% during the 4th quarter. Heritage Wealth Management LLC now owns 862 shares of the companys stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 503 shares in the last quarter. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its position in Citigroup by 82.0% during the 1st quarter. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 961 shares of the companys stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Hampshire Trust bought a new stake in shares of Citigroup in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.39% of the companys stock.

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Citigroup Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Citigroup stock opened at $42.46 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.66 billion, a PE ratio of 6.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.55. The firms 50-day moving average price is $46.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.32. Citigroup Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.01 and a twelve month high of $53.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45.

Citigroup Increases Dividend

Citigroup ( NYSE:C Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 14th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.02. Citigroup had a return on equity of 6.80% and a net margin of 10.24%. The company had revenue of $19.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.30 EPS. The firms revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Citigroup Inc. will post 5.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 7th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. This is an increase from Citigroups previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 4th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.99%. Citigroups dividend payout ratio is presently 33.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Credit Suisse Group decreased their price target on shares of Citigroup from $54.00 to $50.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $50.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 25th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Citigroup from $58.00 to $60.00 in a report on Monday, June 5th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Citigroup from $64.00 to $62.00 in a report on Monday, July 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Citigroup from $53.00 to $50.00 in a report on Monday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $54.20.

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Citigroup Company Profile

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Citigroup Inc, a diversified financial services holding company, provides various financial products and services to consumers, corporations, governments, and institutions in North America, Latin America, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. It operates through three segments: Institutional Clients Group (ICG), Personal Banking and Wealth Management (PBWM), and Legacy Franchises.

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Squarespace (NYSE:SQSP  Get Free Report) and Worldline (OTCMKTS:WRDLY  Get Free Report) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

40.4% of Squarespace shares are owned by institutional investors. 47.1% of Squarespace shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

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Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Squarespace and Worldlines gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Squarespace $866.97 million 4.72 -$252.22 million ($1.62) -18.67 Worldline N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

Analyst Ratings

Worldline has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Squarespace.

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Squarespace and Worldline, as provided by MarketBeat.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Squarespace 0 7 8 0 2.53 Worldline 0 1 2 0 2.67

Squarespace presently has a consensus price target of $34.08, suggesting a potential upside of 12.65%. Worldline has a consensus price target of $55.50, suggesting a potential upside of 235.55%. Given Worldlines stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Worldline is more favorable than Squarespace.

Profitability

This table compares Squarespace and Worldlines net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Squarespace -23.60% -2.24% 0.68% Worldline N/A N/A N/A

Summary

Squarespace beats Worldline on 5 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Squarespace

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Squarespace, Inc. operates platform for businesses and independent creators to build online presence, grow their brands, and manage their businesses across the internet. Its suite of integrated products enables users to manage their projects and businesses through websites, domains, e-commerce, marketing tools, scheduling, and hospitality services, as well as tools for managing a social media presence. It serves a range of industries and sizes from sole proprietors to enterprises. Squarespace, Inc. was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

About Worldline

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Worldline SA provides payments and transactional services to financial institutions, merchants, corporations, and government agencies in Northern Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, and internationally. The company operates through Merchant Services; Financial Services; and Mobility & e-Transactional Services segments. The Merchant Services segment offers commercial acquiring, terminal, omnichannel payment acceptance, and digital retail services. The Financial Services segment provides issuing processing, acquiring processing, digital banking, and account payments services. The Mobility & e-Transactional Services segment offers trusted digitization, e-ticketing, and e-consumer and mobility. The company was formerly known as Atos Worldline S.A.S. and changed its name to Worldline SA in April 2014. Worldline SA was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Puteaux, France.

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Flagstar Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF (NYSEARCA:JHMM  Free Report) by 1.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 60,628 shares of the companys stock after selling 914 shares during the quarter. John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF makes up approximately 1.1% of Flagstar Advisors Inc.s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Flagstar Advisors Inc.s holdings in John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF were worth $2,903,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CoreCap Advisors LLC bought a new position in John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp raised its holdings in John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF by 139.3% in the 4th quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 718 shares of the companys stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC bought a new position in John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF by 300.0% during the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,148 shares of the companys stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 861 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. raised its holdings in John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF by 23.4% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,779 shares of the companys stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the last quarter.

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John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF Stock Up 0.2 %

John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF stock traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $48.71. 42,030 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 229,258. John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF has a 12 month low of $41.96 and a 12 month high of $51.96. The firms fifty day simple moving average is $49.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.93 and a beta of 1.08.

John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF Dividend Announcement

John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF Profile

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 28th were issued a dividend of $0.2466 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 27th.

(Free Report)

The John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF (JHMM) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the John Hancock Dimensional Mid Cap index. The fund tracks an index of US firms ranked 200-950 by size, weighted by multiple factors relative to their sector peers. JHMM was launched on Sep 28, 2015 and is managed by John Hancock.

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StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Fortis (NYSE:FTS  Free Report) in a research note published on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the utilities providers stock.

Separately, Raymond James lowered their price target on Fortis from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 3rd.

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Check Out Our Latest Research Report on FTS

Fortis Price Performance

Fortis stock traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $39.61. 237,669 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 577,002. The company has a market capitalization of $19.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.44. The firms 50-day simple moving average is $42.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.30. Fortis has a 1 year low of $34.76 and a 1 year high of $46.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Fortis (NYSE:FTS  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts consensus estimates of $0.46. The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.99 billion. Fortis had a return on equity of 6.68% and a net margin of 12.40%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.44 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Fortis will post 2.23 EPS for the current year.

Fortis Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 21st will be paid a $0.427 dividend. This represents a $1.71 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 18th. Fortiss dividend payout ratio is currently 76.02%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortis

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quilter Plc acquired a new position in shares of Fortis in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $330,614,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in shares of Fortis in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Power Corp of Canada acquired a new position in shares of Fortis in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortis in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Fortis in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 45.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Fortis

(Get Free Report)

Fortis Inc operates as an electric and gas utility company in Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean countries. It generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to approximately 443,000 retail customers in southeastern Arizona; and 102,000 retail customers in Arizona's Mohave and Santa Cruz counties with an aggregate capacity of 3,328 megawatts (MW), including 68 MW of solar capacity and 250 MV of wind capacity.

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Grey Street Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS  Free Report) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 3,000 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock, valued at approximately $627,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ESS. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 24.8% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 2,261 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $781,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 88,915 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $30,718,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 1st quarter worth approximately $475,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,614,782 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $3,667,195,000 after acquiring an additional 184,047 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 53,635 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $18,530,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847 shares in the last quarter. 92.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Essex Property Trust Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE ESS traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $236.56. 101,495 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 458,560. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $195.03 and a one year high of $292.34. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $237.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $225.02. The stock has a market cap of $15.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a buy rating to a hold rating and increased their price target for the stock from $245.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, July 17th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and increased their price target for the stock from $242.00 to $271.00 in a research report on Monday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $228.50 to $244.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $246.00 to $221.00 in a research report on Friday, May 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and raised their target price for the company from $208.00 to $247.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $244.60.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Essex Property Trust

Essex Property Trust Company Profile

(Free Report)

Essex Property Trust, Inc, an S&P 500 company, is a fully integrated real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, develops, redevelops, and manages multifamily residential properties in selected West Coast markets. Essex currently has ownership interests in 251 apartment communities comprising approximately 62,000 apartment homes with an additional property in active development.

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StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of IDT (NYSE:IDT  Free Report) in a report issued on Thursday. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the utilities providers stock.

IDT Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE IDT traded down $0.06 during trading on Thursday, reaching $23.59. 36,750 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 94,888. IDT has a twelve month low of $22.76 and a twelve month high of $35.18. The company has a market capitalization of $601.55 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.16 and a beta of 0.98. The businesss 50-day moving average price is $24.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.56.

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IDT (NYSE:IDT  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, June 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $299.30 million during the quarter. IDT had a return on equity of 28.90% and a net margin of 3.93%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IDT

About IDT

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of IDT by 81.1% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,204 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in shares of IDT by 58.3% during the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,385 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of IDT by 2,426.7% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,516 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,456 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Middle East FZE acquired a new stake in IDT during the second quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in IDT by 175.4% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 2,933 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 1,868 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 44.48% of the companys stock.

(Get Free Report)

IDT Corporation provides communications and payment services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Fintech, net2phone, and Traditional Communications. The Fintech segment offers international money remittance and related value/payment transfer services under the BOSS Revolution brand name; and national retail solutions, such as point of sale network providing payment processing, digital advertising, transaction data, and ancillary services under the NRS brand name.

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StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Infosys (NYSE:INFY  Free Report) in a research report released on Thursday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the technology companys stock.

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Infosys in a research note on Tuesday, May 23rd. They issued an underweight rating and a $14.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $18.57.

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Get Our Latest Analysis on INFY

Infosys Stock Down 1.6 %

INFY stock traded down $0.27 during trading on Thursday, reaching $16.70. The stock had a trading volume of 2,057,935 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,957,853. Infosys has a one year low of $14.71 and a one year high of $20.57. The companys 50 day moving average is $16.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.66. The company has a market capitalization of $69.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.98.

Infosys (NYSE:INFY  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The technology company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.01). Infosys had a net margin of 16.41% and a return on equity of 32.39%. The company had revenue of $4.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.55 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Infosys will post 0.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Infosys Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 2nd were issued a $0.2134 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 1st. This represents a dividend yield of 1.5%. This is an increase from Infosyss previous semi-annual dividend of $0.17. Infosyss payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of INFY. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. purchased a new position in Infosys during the 4th quarter valued at about $202,987,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Infosys by 14.4% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 83,099,498 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $1,335,409,000 after purchasing an additional 10,480,541 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Infosys by 138.5% during the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 14,876,013 shares of the technology companys stock worth $239,056,000 after acquiring an additional 8,638,307 shares during the period. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP grew its holdings in shares of Infosys by 93.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP now owns 16,525,269 shares of the technology companys stock worth $265,561,000 after acquiring an additional 7,995,119 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Infosys by 34.6% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,989,499 shares of the technology companys stock worth $497,539,000 after purchasing an additional 5,143,124 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 12.16% of the companys stock.

About Infosys

(Get Free Report)

Infosys Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides consulting, technology, outsourcing, and next-generation digital services in North America, Europe, India, and internationally. It provides application management and application development services, independent validation solutions, product engineering and management, infrastructure management services, traditional enterprise application implementation, support, and integration services.

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Cannindah Resources Limited (ASX:CAE  Get Free Report) insider Thomas(Tom) Pickett purchased 390,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of A$0.16 ($0.10) per share, for a total transaction of A$62,790.00 ($40,772.73).

Cannindah Resources Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2,087.47, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

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About Cannindah Resources

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Cannindah Resources Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, evaluation, and development of various mineral projects in Australia. The company primarily explores for copper and gold deposits. Its flagship project is the Mount Cannindah project located in Queensland. The company was formerly known as Planet Metals Limited and changed its name to Cannindah Resources Limited in December 2014.

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BWX Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:BWXT  Get Free Report) Director Gerhard F. Burbach sold 1,000 shares of BWX Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.07, for a total transaction of $74,070.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,391 shares in the company, valued at $103,031.37. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

BWX Technologies Trading Down 1.8 %

BWXT stock opened at $70.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 2.41. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $70.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.36. BWX Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $49.13 and a one year high of $76.26. The stock has a market cap of $6.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.84.

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BWX Technologies (NYSE:BWXT  Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The technology company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $612.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $558.25 million. BWX Technologies had a return on equity of 35.25% and a net margin of 9.63%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that BWX Technologies, Inc. will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

BWX Technologies Announces Dividend

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 7th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 16th. BWX Technologiess payout ratio is 37.55%.

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BWXT. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its stake in BWX Technologies by 156,019.8% during the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 90,473,001 shares of the technology companys stock worth $6,475,153,000 after acquiring an additional 90,415,050 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in shares of BWX Technologies by 75.1% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,358,710 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $669,803,000 after buying an additional 4,012,457 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of BWX Technologies by 40.2% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,507,248 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $251,014,000 after buying an additional 1,006,326 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of BWX Technologies in the first quarter valued at approximately $43,218,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of BWX Technologies by 154.6% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 980,775 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $61,828,000 after buying an additional 595,604 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.98% of the companys stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BWXT shares. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of BWX Technologies from $77.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of BWX Technologies from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, August 8th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of BWX Technologies from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, August 7th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of BWX Technologies in a report on Thursday. They set a hold rating on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of BWX Technologies from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $61.00 to $85.00 in a report on Friday, August 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BWX Technologies currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $79.17.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on BWX Technologies

About BWX Technologies

(Get Free Report)

BWX Technologies, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells nuclear components in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It operates through two segments: Government Operations and Commercial Operations. The Government Operations segment designs and manufactures naval nuclear components, reactors, and nuclear fuel; undertakes fabrication activities for missile launch tubes for U.S.

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Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR  Get Free Report) COO Michael L. Manelis sold 2,500 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.04, for a total transaction of $165,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 22,844 shares in the company, valued at $1,508,617.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Equity Residential Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Equity Residential stock opened at $63.76 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.17 billion, a PE ratio of 28.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Equity Residential has a twelve month low of $54.60 and a twelve month high of $80.89. The firms 50-day moving average price is $66.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.20.

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Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 26th were issued a $0.6625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 23rd. This represents a $2.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.16%. Equity Residentials payout ratio is 119.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James lowered shares of Equity Residential from a market perform rating to an underperform rating in a report on Friday, May 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Thursday. They set a hold rating on the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $71.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of Equity Residential from an underweight rating to a neutral rating and increased their target price for the stock from $63.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Friday, June 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $69.31.

Get Our Latest Research Report on Equity Residential

Institutional Trading of Equity Residential

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EQR. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 234.9% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 12,882 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $1,158,000 after acquiring an additional 9,035 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 45.5% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 4,761 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $428,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 85.2% in the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,356 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $1,021,000 after acquiring an additional 5,224 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC acquired a new stake in Equity Residential in the 1st quarter valued at about $687,000. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,295 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $836,000 after acquiring an additional 730 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.52% of the companys stock.

Equity Residential Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Equity Residential is committed to creating communities where people thrive. The Company, a member of the S&P 500, is focused on the acquisition, development and management of residential properties located in and around dynamic cities that attract affluent long-term renters. Equity Residential owns or has investments in 304 properties consisting of 80,212 apartment units, with an established presence in Boston, New York, Washington, DC, Seattle, San Francisco and Southern California, and an expanding presence in Denver, Atlanta, Dallas/Ft.

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StockNews.com started coverage on shares of IRSA Inversiones y Representaciones Sociedad Anonima (NYSE:IRS  Free Report) in a research report report published on Thursday morning. The firm issued a buy rating on the financial services providers stock.

IRSA Inversiones y Representaciones Sociedad Anonima Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of IRSA Inversiones y Representaciones Sociedad Anonima stock traded up $0.10 on Thursday, hitting $7.16. The stock had a trading volume of 11,749 shares, compared to its average volume of 97,288. The stocks 50-day simple moving average is $7.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $6.52. IRSA Inversiones y Representaciones Sociedad Anonima has a one year low of $3.49 and a one year high of $8.58. The stock has a market cap of $580.60 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

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Institutional Trading of IRSA Inversiones y Representaciones Sociedad Anonima

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Eaton Vance Management purchased a new position in IRSA Inversiones y Representaciones Sociedad Anonima during the first quarter valued at $1,155,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of IRSA Inversiones y Representaciones Sociedad Anonima by 286.0% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 72,208 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 53,501 shares in the last quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of IRSA Inversiones y Representaciones Sociedad Anonima by 8.4% during the second quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 2,291,575 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $8,250,000 after acquiring an additional 178,129 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of IRSA Inversiones y Representaciones Sociedad Anonima by 10.7% during the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 140,897 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $507,000 after acquiring an additional 13,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of IRSA Inversiones y Representaciones Sociedad Anonima during the third quarter valued at $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 14.45% of the companys stock.

About IRSA Inversiones y Representaciones Sociedad Anonima

IRSA Inversiones y Representaciones Sociedad Anonima, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the diversified real estate activities in Argentina. The company is involved in the acquisition, development, and operation of shopping malls, office buildings, and other non-shopping mall properties primarily for rental purposes.

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Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of D.R. Horton, Inc. (NYSE:DHI  Free Report) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 11,119 shares of the construction companys stock, valued at approximately $1,086,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in D.R. Horton by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 20,300 shares of the construction companys stock worth $1,983,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its stake in shares of D.R. Horton by 0.8% in the first quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 13,083 shares of the construction companys stock worth $1,278,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its stake in shares of D.R. Horton by 26.3% in the first quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 490 shares of the construction companys stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its position in D.R. Horton by 1.4% during the first quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 7,728 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $755,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in D.R. Horton by 1.2% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 8,848 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $864,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.67% of the companys stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on DHI shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on D.R. Horton from $76.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a research note on Friday, April 21st. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of D.R. Horton from $122.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 14th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of D.R. Horton in a research note on Thursday. They set a hold rating on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of D.R. Horton from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of D.R. Horton from $122.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, July 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $135.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Bill W. Wheat sold 32,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.81, for a total value of $3,769,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 219,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,813,938.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Michael R. Buchanan sold 1,639 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.03, for a total value of $208,202.17. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 470 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,704.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Bill W. Wheat sold 32,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.81, for a total value of $3,769,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 219,115 shares of the companys stock, valued at $25,813,938.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

D.R. Horton Stock Performance

NYSE DHI opened at $116.50 on Friday. The companys fifty day moving average is $122.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $108.62. D.R. Horton, Inc. has a 52-week low of $66.01 and a 52-week high of $132.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 6.97 and a quick ratio of 1.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.54.

D.R. Horton (NYSE:DHI  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The construction company reported $3.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $1.08. The firm had revenue of $9.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.27 billion. D.R. Horton had a return on equity of 23.31% and a net margin of 14.07%. The companys quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.67 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that D.R. Horton, Inc. will post 12.15 EPS for the current year.

D.R. Horton Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 7th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 4th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. D.R. Hortons payout ratio is 7.11%.

D.R. Horton Profile

(Free Report)

D.R. Horton, Inc operates as a homebuilding company in East, North, Southeast, South Central, Southwest, and Northwest regions in the United States. It engages in the acquisition and development of land; and construction and sale of residential homes in 106 markets across 33 states under the names of D.R.

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Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund acquired a new position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB  Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,169 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock, valued at approximately $922,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pictet Asset Management SA raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 7.2% in the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management SA now owns 1,025,330 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $226,639,000 after buying an additional 68,679 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 12.8% in the first quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 8,851 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $1,956,000 after buying an additional 1,004 shares during the period. Tredje AP fonden raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 12.2% in the first quarter. Tredje AP fonden now owns 91,684 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $20,266,000 after buying an additional 9,962 shares during the period. Richelieu Gestion PLC bought a new position in shares of Albemarle in the first quarter worth about $2,155,000. Finally, Hartford Investment Management Co. raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 16.2% in the first quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co. now owns 9,866 shares of the specialty chemicals companys stock worth $2,181,000 after buying an additional 1,379 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.03% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on ALB shares. Mizuho lifted their target price on Albemarle from $225.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, August 4th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Albemarle from $325.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Friday, May 5th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Albemarle from $270.00 to $291.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, June 26th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, June 13th. They issued a buy rating and a $260.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded Albemarle from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $277.20.

Albemarle Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $182.68 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $21.44 billion, a PE ratio of 5.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Albemarle Co. has a twelve month low of $171.82 and a twelve month high of $334.55. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $217.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $220.34.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $7.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.27 by $3.06. Albemarle had a return on equity of 45.88% and a net margin of 40.55%. The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.45 EPS. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 60.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 25.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. Albemarles dividend payout ratio is currently 4.81%.

Albemarle Profile

(Free Report)

Albemarle Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets engineered specialty chemicals worldwide. It operates through three segments: Lithium, Bromine, and Catalysts. The Lithium segment offers lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, lithium chloride, and lithium specialties and reagents, such as butyllithium and lithium aluminum hydride for use in lithium batteries for consumer electronics and electric vehicles, high performance greases, thermoplastic elastomers for car tires, rubber soles, plastic bottles, catalysts for chemical reactions, organic synthesis processes in the areas of steroid chemistry and vitamins, life sciences, pharmaceutical industry, and other markets.

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Shares of Kincora Copper Limited (CVE:KCC  Get Free Report) traded down 22.2% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as C$0.04 and last traded at C$0.04. 108,000 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 134% from the average session volume of 46,093 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$0.05.

Kincora Copper Price Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average of C$0.05 and a 200 day moving average of C$0.06. The company has a market cap of C$5.83 million, a PE ratio of -4.50 and a beta of 1.49.

About Kincora Copper

(Get Free Report)

Kincora Copper Limited engages in acquisition, exploration, and evaluation of mineral properties in Mongolia and Australia. It primarily explores for copper and gold deposits. The company's flagship project is the Trundle Project, including one license covering an area of 167km2 located in the Junee-Narromine volcanic belt of the Macquarie Arc.

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StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Koninklijke Philips (NYSE:PHG  Free Report) in a research note released on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the technology companys stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Koninklijke Philips in a research report on Wednesday, July 12th. They issued a buy rating on the stock. TheStreet raised shares of Koninklijke Philips from a d+ rating to a c- rating in a research note on Monday, July 24th. Societe Generale raised shares of Koninklijke Philips from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Koninklijke Philips to 19.00 ($20.65) in a research note on Friday, July 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Koninklijke Philips currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $17.06.

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View Our Latest Report on PHG

Koninklijke Philips Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE PHG traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $22.17. 453,972 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,474,541. Koninklijke Philips has a one year low of $11.75 and a one year high of $23.30. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.32. The stock has a market cap of $20.59 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.49 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

Koninklijke Philips (NYSE:PHG  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Sunday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $4.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. Koninklijke Philips had a negative net margin of 10.84% and a positive return on equity of 7.95%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.15 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Koninklijke Philips will post 1.11 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Koninklijke Philips

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Advisory Services Network LLC lifted its position in Koninklijke Philips by 28.7% during the 1st quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 2,226 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares during the period. Nemes Rush Group LLC purchased a new position in Koninklijke Philips during the 2nd quarter valued at about $43,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Koninklijke Philips by 31.6% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,268 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 545 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in Koninklijke Philips by 47.8% during the 1st quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 3,016 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 975 shares during the period. Finally, Credit Suisse AG purchased a new position in Koninklijke Philips during the 2nd quarter valued at about $65,000. 6.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Koninklijke Philips

(Get Free Report)

Koninklijke Philips N.V. operates as a health technology company in North America, the Greater China, and internationally. It operates through Diagnosis & Treatment Businesses, Connected Care Businesses, and Personal Health Businesses segments. The company provides diagnostic imaging solutions, includes magnetic resonance imaging, X-ray systems, and computed tomography (CT) systems and software comprising detector-based spectral CT solutions, as well as molecular and hybrid imaging solutions for nuclear medicine; echography solutions focused on diagnosis, treatment planning and guidance for cardiology, general imaging, obstetrics/gynecology, and point-of-care applications; integrated interventional systems, and interventional diagnostic and therapeutic devices to treat coronary artery and peripheral vascular disease; proprietary software to enable diagnostics and intervention; and enterprise diagnostic informatics products and services.

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Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER  Free Report) had its price target upped by Loop Capital from $48.00 to $58.00 in a research note published on Monday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a buy rating on the ride-sharing companys stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Uber Technologies from $56.00 to $60.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Uber Technologies from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Uber Technologies from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, July 27th. DA Davidson restated a buy rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of Uber Technologies in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Finally, Piper Jaffray Companies boosted their price target on Uber Technologies from $41.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 3rd. Thirty-one analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Uber Technologies has a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of $55.52.

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Uber Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of UBER stock opened at $43.95 on Monday. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $44.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. Uber Technologies has a 52 week low of $22.94 and a 52 week high of $49.49. The company has a market cap of $89.81 billion, a PE ratio of -199.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.23.

Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 1st. The ride-sharing company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.19. Uber Technologies had a negative return on equity of 4.57% and a negative net margin of 1.07%. The company had revenue of $9.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.34 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted ($1.33) earnings per share. The firms revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Uber Technologies will post 0.42 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jill Hazelbaker sold 644 shares of Uber Technologies stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.00, for a total value of $26,404.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 128,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,285,556. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Jill Hazelbaker sold 644 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.00, for a total value of $26,404.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 128,916 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $5,285,556. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi sold 30,025 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $1,351,125.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,485,167 shares in the company, valued at $66,832,515. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 225,642 shares of company stock valued at $10,325,237. 3.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Uber Technologies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UBER. Horizon Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Uber Technologies by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 10,529 shares of the ride-sharing companys stock worth $455,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Ellevest Inc. raised its holdings in Uber Technologies by 1.5% during the second quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 16,832 shares of the ride-sharing companys stock worth $727,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Uber Technologies by 66.5% in the second quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 651 shares of the ride-sharing companys stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Founders Financial Securities LLC boosted its stake in Uber Technologies by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 13,254 shares of the ride-sharing companys stock valued at $572,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Krilogy Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Uber Technologies by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 57,233 shares of the ride-sharing companys stock valued at $2,471,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. 73.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Uber Technologies Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Uber Technologies, Inc develops and operates proprietary technology applications in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia excluding China and Southeast Asia. It operates through three segments: Mobility, Delivery, and Freight. The Mobility segment connects consumers with a range of transportation modalities, such as ridesharing, carsharing, micromobility, rentals, public transit, taxis, and other modalities; and offers riders in a variety of vehicle types, as well as financial partnerships products and advertising services.

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MAI Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM  Free Report) by 10.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 117,538 shares of the oil and gas companys stock after acquiring an additional 10,921 shares during the quarter. MAI Capital Managements holdings in Exxon Mobil were worth $12,889,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 17.4% in the first quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 7,909 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $680,000 after purchasing an additional 1,173 shares during the period. Retirement Income Solutions Inc acquired a new stake in Exxon Mobil in the first quarter valued at approximately $275,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 318.8% in the first quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 17,163 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 13,065 shares during the period. Ergoteles LLC grew its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 95.6% in the first quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 15,843 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $1,308,000 after purchasing an additional 7,744 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgefront Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Exxon Mobil in the first quarter valued at approximately $237,000. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Exxon Mobil Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:XOM traded up $0.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $108.74. The stock had a trading volume of 2,585,816 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,120,132. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $105.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.69. The company has a market capitalization of $435.31 billion, a PE ratio of 8.60, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.09. Exxon Mobil Co. has a twelve month low of $83.89 and a twelve month high of $119.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Exxon Mobil Dividend Announcement

Exxon Mobil ( NYSE:XOM Get Free Report ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 28th. The oil and gas company reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $82.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.80 billion. Exxon Mobil had a net margin of 13.72% and a return on equity of 25.82%. The firms revenue was down 28.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.14 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 8.88 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 15th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. Exxon Mobils payout ratio is currently 29.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the company. Wolfe Research lowered Exxon Mobil from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a report on Friday, July 7th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $145.00 to $127.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 13th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $130.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a sector perform rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. Finally, HSBC upped their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $110.00 to $116.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Exxon Mobil has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $124.27.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Exxon Mobil

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jeffrey W. Ubben acquired 458,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Monday, July 31st. The shares were bought at an average price of $106.93 per share, with a total value of $48,973,940.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 1,635,000 shares in the company, valued at $174,830,550. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Exxon Mobil Profile

(Free Report)

Exxon Mobil Corporation engages in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas in the United States and internationally. It operates through Upstream, Energy Products, Chemical Products, and Specialty Products segments. The Upstream segment explores for and produces crude oil and natural gas.

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Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co trimmed its stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG  Free Report) by 61.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 120 shares of the restaurant operators stock after selling 189 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Cos holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill were worth $205,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 350.0% in the 1st quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 18 shares of the restaurant operators stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 90.0% during the 1st quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 19 shares of the restaurant operators stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. Elequin Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Heritage Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Heritage Wealth Management LLC now owns 20 shares of the restaurant operators stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. 91.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on CMG shares. Guggenheim raised their price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $1,550.00 to $1,950.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, July 14th. Wedbush decreased their price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $2,300.00 to $2,200.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $2,350.00 to $2,200.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Bank of America raised their price target on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $2,200.00 to $2,570.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $2,025.00 to $2,010.00 in a report on Thursday, July 27th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $2,139.72.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Price Performance

Shares of CMG stock opened at $1,848.54 on Friday. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. has a 1-year low of $1,344.05 and a 1-year high of $2,175.01. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $2,018.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $1,863.44. The company has a market cap of $51.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.31.

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The restaurant operator reported $12.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.25 by $0.40. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a return on equity of 45.85% and a net margin of 12.00%. The firm had revenue of $2.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $9.30 EPS. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. will post 43.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Chipotle Mexican Grill news, CEO Brian R. Niccol sold 1,078 shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,058.13, for a total transaction of $2,218,664.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 23,347 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $48,051,161.11. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Chipotle Mexican Grill news, CEO Brian R. Niccol sold 1,078 shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,058.13, for a total transaction of $2,218,664.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 23,347 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $48,051,161.11. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian R. Niccol sold 1,086 shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,138.00, for a total value of $2,321,868.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 23,347 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $49,915,886. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,332 shares of company stock valued at $6,830,885. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Profile

(Free Report)

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc engages in the development and operation of classically-cooked, real food with wholesome ingredients without artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. It offers a focused menu of burritos, tacos, burrito bowls, and salads prepared using classic cooking methods. The company was founded by Steve Ells in 1993 and is headquartered in Newport Beach, CA.

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BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Metals Acquisition (NYSE:MTAL  Free Report) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued an outperform rating and a $14.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on MTAL. Canaccord Genuity Group assumed coverage on Metals Acquisition in a research report on Tuesday, July 25th. They issued a buy rating and a $13.00 price target for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group assumed coverage on Metals Acquisition in a research note on Tuesday, July 25th. They issued a buy rating and a $13.00 target price on the stock.

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Metals Acquisition Stock Up 0.9 %

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Metals Acquisition

MTAL traded up $0.10 during trading on Thursday, reaching $11.60. The company had a trading volume of 27,515 shares, compared to its average volume of 97,918. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.30. Metals Acquisition has a 52 week low of $8.49 and a 52 week high of $13.10.

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Metals Acquisition during the second quarter worth about $49,594,000. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Metals Acquisition during the second quarter worth about $33,000,000. Platinum Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Metals Acquisition during the second quarter worth about $20,938,000. Berkley W R Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Metals Acquisition by 455.8% during the first quarter. Berkley W R Corp now owns 412,302 shares of the companys stock worth $4,214,000 after purchasing an additional 338,121 shares during the period. Finally, Regal Partners Ltd purchased a new position in Metals Acquisition during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,090,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.94% of the companys stock.

About Metals Acquisition

(Get Free Report)

Metals Acquisition Limited focuses on operating and acquiring metals and mining businesses. It operates the CSA copper mine in Cobar, Australia. Metals Acquisition Limited is headquartered in St. Helier, Jersey.

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EQT (NYSE:EQT  Get Free Report) had its price objective increased by Morgan Stanley from $36.00 to $37.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an overweight rating on the oil and gas producers stock. Morgan Stanleys target price would suggest a potential downside of 12.94% from the companys current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of EQT from $46.00 to $49.00 in a report on Friday, July 7th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of EQT from $39.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of EQT from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of EQT in a research note on Thursday. They issued a hold rating for the company. Finally, Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. upgraded shares of EQT from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $49.71.

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EQT Price Performance

EQT stock opened at $42.50 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $40.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.37 billion, a PE ratio of 4.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. EQT has a 12-month low of $28.10 and a 12-month high of $51.97.

EQT (NYSE:EQT  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.17) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.09. The company had revenue of $993.08 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. EQT had a net margin of 38.44% and a return on equity of 10.61%. The firms revenue was down 38.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that EQT will post 2.09 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Todd James sold 31,170 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.56, for a total value of $1,201,915.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 39,392 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,518,955.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.53% of the companys stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ahrens Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of EQT in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in shares of EQT by 10,257.1% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 725 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares in the last quarter. City Holding Co. acquired a new position in shares of EQT in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of EQT in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of EQT in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.95% of the companys stock.

About EQT

(Get Free Report)

EQT Corporation operates as a natural gas production company in the United States. As of December 31, 2022, it had 25.0 trillion cubic feet of proved natural gas, natural gas liquids, and crude oil reserves across approximately 2.0 million gross acres, including 1.8 million gross acres in the Marcellus play.

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StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR  Free Report) in a report issued on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the oil and gas producers stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Murphy Oil from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Monday, July 10th. They issued an overweight rating and a $47.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Murphy Oil in a research report on Wednesday, April 19th. They issued a neutral rating and a $45.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $34.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, April 21st. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Murphy Oil from $60.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Monday, July 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $48.10.

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Murphy Oil Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of MUR stock traded up $0.17 during trading on Thursday, hitting $45.26. 360,206 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,719,978. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.96 and a beta of 2.38. The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $40.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.73. Murphy Oil has a twelve month low of $31.90 and a twelve month high of $51.28.

Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $814.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $779.77 million. Murphy Oil had a net margin of 25.86% and a return on equity of 15.09%. The companys revenue for the quarter was down 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.93 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Murphy Oil will post 4.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Murphy Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 11th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. Murphy Oils dividend payout ratio is currently 17.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Murphy Oil news, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 100,000 shares of Murphy Oil stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.30, for a total transaction of $4,330,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,499,831 shares in the company, valued at $64,942,682.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, VP John B. Gardner sold 10,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.95, for a total value of $429,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 19,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $854,490.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy sold 100,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.30, for a total transaction of $4,330,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,499,831 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,942,682.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 5.92% of the companys stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MUR. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 73.5% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 21,212 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $857,000 after buying an additional 8,987 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Murphy Oil by 45.2% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 15,252 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $616,000 after buying an additional 4,749 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 22.5% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 10,669 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $431,000 after purchasing an additional 1,961 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 446,302 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $18,026,000 after purchasing an additional 9,758 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its holdings in Murphy Oil by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 53,213 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $2,149,000 after purchasing an additional 5,075 shares during the last quarter. 77.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Murphy Oil

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Murphy Oil Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an oil and natural gas exploration and production company in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It explores for and produces crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids. The company was formerly known as Murphy Corporation and changed its name to Murphy Oil Corporation in 1964.

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N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC cut its holdings in Vanguard Information Technology ETF (NYSEARCA:VGT  Free Report) by 0.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,456 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after selling 75 shares during the quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLCs holdings in Vanguard Information Technology ETF were worth $3,259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Trustcore Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in Vanguard Information Technology ETF by 27.6% in the 4th quarter. Trustcore Financial Services LLC now owns 5,525 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $1,765,000 after acquiring an additional 1,195 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Vanguard Information Technology ETF by 27.2% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 23,559 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $7,525,000 after acquiring an additional 5,031 shares in the last quarter. PFG Advisors lifted its stake in Vanguard Information Technology ETF by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 5,359 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $2,066,000 after acquiring an additional 421 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC lifted its stake in Vanguard Information Technology ETF by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 110,220 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $35,205,000 after acquiring an additional 9,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Berkeley Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Vanguard Information Technology ETF by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,502 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $579,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter.

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Vanguard Information Technology ETF Stock Performance

NYSEARCA VGT traded up $0.81 during trading on Friday, hitting $417.82. The stock had a trading volume of 562,487 shares, compared to its average volume of 606,546. The company has a market capitalization of $49.90 billion, a PE ratio of 24.70 and a beta of 1.16. The companys 50-day moving average price is $438.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $398.86. Vanguard Information Technology ETF has a 12 month low of $291.61 and a 12 month high of $462.97.

Vanguard Information Technology ETF Company Profile

Vanguard Information Technology ETF seeks to track the investment performance of the MSCI US Investable Market Information Technology 25/50 Index, a benchmark of large-, mid-, and small-cap United States stocks in the information technology sector, as classified under the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS).

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StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Nokia Oyj (NYSE:NOK  Free Report) in a report issued on Thursday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the technology companys stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on NOK. Northland Securities cut their target price on Nokia Oyj from $7.00 to $6.00 in a research report on Monday, July 17th. TheStreet lowered Nokia Oyj from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a research report on Monday, June 12th. Raymond James cut their target price on Nokia Oyj from $7.00 to $6.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Nokia Oyj from $6.60 to $5.90 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $5.83.

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Nokia Oyj Stock Up 1.1 %

Nokia Oyj stock traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $3.81. 8,495,335 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,149,115. The companys fifty day moving average price is $4.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.32. The company has a market cap of $21.46 billion, a PE ratio of 4.96 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.32. Nokia Oyj has a fifty-two week low of $3.75 and a fifty-two week high of $5.19.

Nokia Oyj (NYSE:NOK  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 19th. The technology company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.01). Nokia Oyj had a net margin of 16.16% and a return on equity of 10.43%. The business had revenue of $6.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.11 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Nokia Oyj will post 0.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NOK. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Nokia Oyj during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its stake in Nokia Oyj by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 6,120 shares of the technology companys stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 3,060 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Nokia Oyj during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in Nokia Oyj by 265.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 9,505 shares of the technology companys stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 6,905 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Drive Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Nokia Oyj during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. 6.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Nokia Oyj

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Nokia Oyj provides mobile, fixed, and cloud network solutions worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Network Infrastructure, Mobile Networks, Cloud and Network Services, and Nokia Technologies. It offers products and services for radio access networks and microwave radio links for transport networks, and solutions for network management, as well as network planning, optimization, network deployment, and technical support services.

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StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Nomura (NYSE:NMR  Free Report) in a report published on Thursday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the financial services providers stock.

Nomura Stock Performance

NYSE:NMR remained flat at $3.66 during mid-day trading on Thursday. The company had a trading volume of 2,200,819 shares, compared to its average volume of 941,800. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $3.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.83. The company has a market capitalization of $10.99 billion, a PE ratio of 13.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 0.68. Nomura has a one year low of $2.99 and a one year high of $4.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.79.

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Institutional Trading of Nomura

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NMR. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in shares of Nomura by 1,004.3% in the 2nd quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 34,389 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $132,000 after acquiring an additional 31,275 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Nomura by 2.9% during the second quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 192,060 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $736,000 after purchasing an additional 5,337 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nomura by 7.3% in the second quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 65,050 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 4,408 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nomura in the second quarter worth $62,000. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC bought a new stake in Nomura in the 2nd quarter worth $66,000. 1.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nomura Company Profile

Nomura Holdings, Inc provides various financial services to individuals, corporations, financial institutions, governments, and governmental agencies worldwide. It operates through three segments: Retail, Investment Management, and Wholesale. The Retail segment offers various financial products and investment consultation services.

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Oxler Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Free Report) by 0.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 31,983 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the quarter. Bristol-Myers Squibb makes up approximately 1.1% of Oxler Private Wealth LLCs holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Oxler Private Wealth LLCs holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $2,216,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BMY. Register Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 25.5% during the 1st quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,477 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 706 shares in the last quarter. Resources Investment Advisors LLC. lifted its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Resources Investment Advisors LLC. now owns 50,749 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $3,517,000 after buying an additional 4,929 shares in the last quarter. Vantage Consulting Group Inc lifted its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. Vantage Consulting Group Inc now owns 3,648 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $253,000 after buying an additional 576 shares in the last quarter. Credit Suisse AG lifted its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Credit Suisse AG now owns 5,564,387 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $385,668,000 after buying an additional 162,687 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,821,812 shares of the biopharmaceutical companys stock worth $126,270,000 after buying an additional 224,031 shares in the last quarter. 74.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Robert M. Plenge sold 732 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.14, for a total transaction of $44,754.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $402,545.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the companys stock.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of BMY traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $62.31. The stock had a trading volume of 3,199,227 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,637,525. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a 52 week low of $59.71 and a 52 week high of $81.43. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $63.12 and a 200 day moving average of $66.77. The company has a market cap of $130.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.42.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.99 by ($0.24). The firm had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.81 billion. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a return on equity of 50.51% and a net margin of 17.62%. Bristol-Myers Squibbs revenue for the quarter was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.93 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 7th were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 6th. Bristol-Myers Squibbs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BMY has been the topic of several research reports. 51job reaffirmed a maintains rating on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a report on Friday, April 28th. Credit Suisse Group dropped their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $72.00 to $66.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 12th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $64.00 to $62.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Atlantic Securities dropped their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bristol-Myers Squibb presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $71.14.

Read Our Latest Analysis on BMY

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company Profile

(Free Report)

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company discovers, develops, licenses, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products worldwide. It offers products for hematology, oncology, cardiovascular, immunology, fibrotic, and neuroscience diseases. The company's products include Eliquis, an oral inhibitor for reduction in risk of stroke/systemic embolism in NVAF, and for the treatment of DVT/PE; Opdivo for anti-cancer indications; Pomalyst/Imnovid indicated for patients with multiple myeloma; Orencia for adult patients with active RA and psoriatic arthritis; and Sprycel for the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia.

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Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PARR  Get Free Report) CEO William Pate sold 115,099 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Monday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.85, for a total transaction of $4,011,200.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 483,019 shares in the company, valued at $16,833,212.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Par Pacific Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:PARR opened at $34.14 on Friday. Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $14.42 and a one year high of $37.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 2.11. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.54.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PARR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Par Pacific from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Par Pacific from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Par Pacific from $36.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, August 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Par Pacific has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $32.14.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Par Pacific

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. West Tower Group LLC acquired a new position in Par Pacific during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Par Pacific during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Par Pacific during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $60,000. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new position in Par Pacific during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Finally, Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY increased its stake in Par Pacific by 14.3% during the 2nd quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY now owns 3,023 shares of the companys stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.23% of the companys stock.

Par Pacific Company Profile

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Par Pacific Holdings, Inc owns and operates energy and infrastructure businesses. The company operates through three segments: Refining, Retail, and Logistics. The Refining segment owns and operates three refineries that produces ultra-low sulfur diesel, gasoline, jet fuel, marine fuel, distillate, asphalt, low sulfur fuel oil, and other associated refined products primarily for consumption in Hawaii, Pacific Northwest, Wyoming, and South Dakota.

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Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM  Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of Moderate Buy from the sixteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $86.27.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on PulteGroup from $68.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 26th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $93.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. BTIG Research boosted their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $83.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 25th. Credit Suisse Group boosted their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $71.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $90.00 to $104.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th.

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Institutional Inflows and Outflows

PulteGroup Stock Performance

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PHM. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in PulteGroup by 977.7% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,697,956 shares of the construction companys stock worth $26,756,000 after buying an additional 4,262,030 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in PulteGroup in the 4th quarter worth $163,931,000. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in PulteGroup by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 20,885,474 shares of the construction companys stock worth $1,622,384,000 after buying an additional 2,030,200 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in PulteGroup by 84.1% in the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,604,996 shares of the construction companys stock worth $210,099,000 after buying an additional 1,646,751 shares during the period. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 14.7% during the 1st quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 11,010,203 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $641,675,000 after purchasing an additional 1,406,893 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.24% of the companys stock.

Shares of PHM opened at $78.78 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The businesss 50 day moving average price is $79.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.06. PulteGroup has a 52 week low of $35.99 and a 52 week high of $86.15. The stock has a market cap of $17.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.38.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 25th. The construction company reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.69. The business had revenue of $4.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.01 billion. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 29.58% and a net margin of 16.37%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.73 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that PulteGroup will post 11.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, April 25th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the construction company to buy up to 6.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the companys board believes its stock is undervalued.

PulteGroup Company Profile

(Get Free Report

PulteGroup, Inc engages in the homebuilding business. The firm is also involved in mortgage banking and title and insurance brokerage operations. It operates through the Homebuilding and Financial services business segments. The Homebuilding segment includes operations from Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Texas, Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, and Washington.

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Shares of Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB  Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of Moderate Buy by the seventeen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $65.60.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on SLB shares. Raymond James upped their target price on Schlumberger from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Monday, July 24th. HSBC decreased their target price on Schlumberger from $75.00 to $71.00 in a report on Thursday, July 27th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Schlumberger from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a positive rating in a report on Monday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Schlumberger in a report on Monday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Schlumberger from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday.

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Schlumberger Stock Performance

NYSE:SLB opened at $57.89 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $82.27 billion, a PE ratio of 21.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.81. Schlumberger has a fifty-two week low of $33.80 and a fifty-two week high of $62.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.33. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $53.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.09.

Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 21st. The oil and gas company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $8.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.20 billion. Schlumberger had a return on equity of 21.27% and a net margin of 12.63%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 19.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.50 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Schlumberger will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Schlumberger Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 5th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. Schlumbergers payout ratio is presently 36.50%.

Insider Activity at Schlumberger

In related news, insider Gavin Rennick sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.11, for a total transaction of $1,009,980.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,633 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,616,577.63. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Gavin Rennick sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.11, for a total transaction of $1,009,980.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 46,633 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,616,577.63. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Stephane Biguet sold 6,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.70, for a total value of $273,125.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 207,265 shares in the company, valued at $9,057,480.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 68,805 shares of company stock valued at $3,801,485 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.23% of the companys stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Schlumberger

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SLB. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in Schlumberger by 1.1% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 106,818,561 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $5,246,928,000 after purchasing an additional 1,129,628 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Schlumberger by 1.0% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 83,794,992 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $4,136,112,000 after purchasing an additional 861,439 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Schlumberger by 85.7% in the second quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 43,080,354 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $2,116,107,000 after purchasing an additional 19,885,771 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Schlumberger by 3.1% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,158,939 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $1,873,604,000 after purchasing an additional 1,147,896 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in Schlumberger by 6.9% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 35,212,430 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $1,728,928,000 after purchasing an additional 2,280,503 shares during the last quarter. 82.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Schlumberger

(Get Free Report

Schlumberger Limited engages in the provision of technology for the energy industry worldwide. The company operates through four divisions: Digital & Integration, Reservoir Performance, Well Construction, and Production Systems. The company provides field development and hydrocarbon production, carbon management, integration of adjacent energy systems; reservoir interpretation and data processing services for exploration data; and well construction and production improvement services and products.

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Shares of SFL Co. Ltd. (NYSE:SFL  Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of Hold from the three ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $11.50.

SFL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Pareto Securities downgraded SFL from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $11.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday. TheStreet downgraded SFL from a b rating to a c rating in a report on Monday, May 15th. StockNews.com downgraded SFL from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on SFL from $9.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Friday.

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Read Our Latest Analysis on SFL

SFL Stock Up 0.9 %

SFL stock traded up $0.10 during trading on Friday, reaching $10.90. 569,371 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 880,896. SFL has a 12 month low of $8.43 and a 12 month high of $11.49. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.51. The company has a market capitalization of $1.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.56 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.38.

SFL (NYSE:SFL  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 17th. The shipping company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.04 by $0.03. SFL had a return on equity of 11.29% and a net margin of 23.45%. The company had revenue of $164.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.44 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

SFL Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 14th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.81%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 13th. SFLs payout ratio is 75.59%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SFL

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFL. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in SFL by 1.5% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,046,431 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $20,832,000 after buying an additional 30,763 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in SFL by 15.8% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 21,120 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $215,000 after buying an additional 2,889 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new position in SFL during the first quarter worth $126,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in SFL during the first quarter worth $503,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in SFL by 3,760.1% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 445,453 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $4,535,000 after buying an additional 433,913 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 30.56% of the companys stock.

SFL Company Profile

(Get Free Report

SFL Corporation Ltd., a maritime and offshore asset owning and chartering company, engages in the ownership, operation, and chartering out of vessels and offshore related assets on medium and long-term charters. The company operates in various sectors of the maritime, and shipping and offshore industries, including oil transportation, dry bulk shipments, chemical transportation, oil products transportation, container transportation, car transportation, and drilling rigs.

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Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IDPD)

139-E, Kitchlu Nagar,

Ludhiana  141001 Punjab

website: idpd.org

18.08.2023

Ongoing violence in Manipur a major public health problem

Immediate effective steps needed to ease the situation

The Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IDPD) issued following statement on the situation in Manipur that we, the doctors associated with Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IDPD), strongly condemn in unequivocal terms the unabated violence in Manipur for the last over three months. In a statement Dr Arun Mitra- President, Dr Shakeel Ur Rahman- General Secretary, Dr Moirangthem Nara Singh - President IDPD Manipur Chapter said that in situations of conflict, women and children are always the worst affected. In this spree of violence, many people have lost their lives and livelihood; houses have been burnt/destroyed, thousands of people have been displaced and forced to live in refugee camps. The incidents which started from the 3rd of May 2023 continue unabated till date. This has taken toll on both physical and mental health of the people which will have long standing impact on their lives.

These happenings are mainly due to the glaring failure of both the central and state governments. The central government was silent for more than two and half months till a viral video came out in social media wherein it was brought to light the heinous atrocities committed. The central government should come out with a full factual report on the on-going Manipur violence and proposed approaches to find a peaceful and lasting solution.

We strongly condemn all forms of violence, including armed conflicts, attacks on civilians, and human rights abuses in the region. We also call upon the central & state governments to facilitate a meaningful dialogue aimed at addressing the root causes of the conflict involving the all parties involved. We demand that the government of Manipur shall take such suitable steps towards ensuring accountability in a transparent manner for the innumerable and horrible human rights violations and promoting justice and reconciliation.

We emphasize the importance of upholding the rule of law and protecting the rights of all individuals, regardless of their ethnicity or religious background. We call for surrendering of arms held by civilians and at the same time demand that the military and state police should not be partial. Encourage the establishment of community-based conflict resolution mechanisms to address local grievances and disputes. Advocate for the protection of women, children, and vulnerable populations, ensuring their safety and access to essential services.

Promote education and awareness programs that foster tolerance, respect for diversity, and understanding among communities in Manipur.

Support initiatives for economic development and job creation in the region to address underlying socio-economic issues. Advocate for the involvement of civil society organisations and local community leaders in the peace-building and reconciliation process. Promote sustainable development and environmental conservation efforts to address natural resource related conflicts in the region.

Indian Doctors for Peace and Development firmly believes that Violence of any kind has no place in any civilized society anywhere in the world. In 1996 World Health Organization (WHO) Resolution at World Health Assembly (WHA), has declared violence a major and growing public health problem across the world. The Resolution talks of Sexual Violence and Collective Violence among the several other forms of violence that have damaging consequences for health. in terms of deaths (mortality) and physical illnesses, disabilities and mental anguish (morbidities); on healthcare services and health infrastructure; on access to basic services such as nutrition, water, shelter, sanitation and transportation.

It is high time that above mentioned steps are taken to safeguard health of the people, ensure peaceful life and promote development in the region.

Dr Arun Mitra

President

Dr Shakeel Ur Rahman

General Secretary
StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Sabine Royalty Trust (NYSE:SBR  Free Report) in a report issued on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the energy companys stock.

Sabine Royalty Trust Stock Down 0.3 %

Sabine Royalty Trust stock traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $66.37. The companys stock had a trading volume of 29,936 shares, compared to its average volume of 68,452. The stock has a market capitalization of $967.67 million, a P/E ratio of 8.46 and a beta of 0.53. Sabine Royalty Trust has a twelve month low of $62.37 and a twelve month high of $91.10. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $66.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.71.

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Sabine Royalty Trust Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 15th will be given a $0.299 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 14th. This represents a $3.59 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.41%. Sabine Royalty Trusts dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.20%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sabine Royalty Trust

Sabine Royalty Trust Company Profile

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in Sabine Royalty Trust by 84.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 13,618 shares of the energy companys stock worth $898,000 after purchasing an additional 6,216 shares in the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new position in Sabine Royalty Trust during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $994,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd grew its position in Sabine Royalty Trust by 18.9% during the 2nd quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 14,654 shares of the energy companys stock worth $966,000 after purchasing an additional 2,332 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Sabine Royalty Trust by 127.6% during the 2nd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,270 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 712 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Sabine Royalty Trust by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 11,124 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $734,000 after acquiring an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. 14.62% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

(Get Free Report)

Sabine Royalty Trust holds royalty and mineral interests in various producing oil and gas properties in the United States. Its royalty and mineral interests include landowner's royalties, overriding royalty interests, minerals, production payments, and other similar non-participatory interest in certain producing and proved undeveloped oil and gas properties located in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.

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Summit X LLC increased its holdings in Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC  Free Report) by 145.4% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,304 shares of the specialty retailers stock after purchasing an additional 3,735 shares during the period. Summit X LLCs holdings in Genuine Parts were worth $1,053,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. OLD Mission Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Ten Capital Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Genuine Parts by 1,308.3% during the 1st quarter. Ten Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 169 shares of the specialty retailers stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its position in shares of Genuine Parts by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 200 shares of the specialty retailers stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Genuine Parts during the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. 80.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wedbush reduced their target price on shares of Genuine Parts from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 21st. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Genuine Parts from $170.00 to $165.00 in a report on Friday, July 21st. Bank of America raised shares of Genuine Parts from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their price target for the stock from $185.00 to $189.00 in a report on Thursday, June 1st. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Genuine Parts from $195.00 to $191.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Genuine Parts from a sell rating to a neutral rating and raised their price target for the stock from $163.00 to $164.00 in a report on Monday, May 1st. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Genuine Parts presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $177.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Genuine Parts news, insider Randall P. Breaux acquired 500 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $149.44 per share, with a total value of $74,720.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 20,523 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,066,957.12. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Genuine Parts Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of GPC traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $154.57. 313,773 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,026,919. The companys fifty day moving average price is $160.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $164.53. The company has a market capitalization of $21.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Genuine Parts has a 12 month low of $145.30 and a 12 month high of $187.73.

Genuine Parts (NYSE:GPC  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 20th. The specialty retailer reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.10. Genuine Parts had a net margin of 5.30% and a return on equity of 32.43%. The business had revenue of $5.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.20 earnings per share. Genuine Partss quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Genuine Parts will post 9.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Genuine Parts Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 7th. Genuine Partss payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

Genuine Parts Company Profile

(Free Report)

Genuine Parts Company distributes automotive replacement parts, and industrial parts and materials. It operates through Automotive Parts Group and Industrial Parts Group segments. The company distributes automotive replacement parts for hybrid and electric vehicles, trucks, SUVs, buses, motorcycles, recreational vehicles, farm vehicles, small engines, farm equipment, marine equipment, and heavy duty equipment; and accessory and supply items used by various automotive aftermarket customers, such as repair shops, service stations, fleet operators, automobile and truck dealers, leasing companies, bus and truck lines, mass merchandisers, farms, and individuals.

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Summit X LLC trimmed its position in shares of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO  Free Report) by 4.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,155 shares of the companys stock after selling 1,706 shares during the quarter. Summit X LLCs holdings in Coca-Cola were worth $2,057,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in KO. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new stake in Coca-Cola in the 1st quarter valued at $77,000. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 16.7% in the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 12,227 shares of the companys stock valued at $758,000 after acquiring an additional 1,754 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 41.4% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 149,275 shares of the companys stock valued at $9,255,000 after acquiring an additional 43,680 shares in the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 385.3% in the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 19,032 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,180,000 after acquiring an additional 15,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in Coca-Cola by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,840,557 shares of the companys stock valued at $176,115,000 after acquiring an additional 301,804 shares in the last quarter. 68.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Coca-Cola Stock Performance

NYSE KO traded up $0.11 during trading on Friday, reaching $60.72. The companys stock had a trading volume of 4,841,963 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,064,431. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $262.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.54. The Coca-Cola Company has a 12 month low of $54.01 and a 12 month high of $65.47. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $61.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.32.

Coca-Cola Dividend Announcement

Coca-Cola ( NYSE:KO Get Free Report ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 26th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.06. Coca-Cola had a net margin of 23.81% and a return on equity of 43.06%. The firm had revenue of $12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Coca-Cola Company will post 2.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 15th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. Coca-Colas payout ratio is 75.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $69.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $71.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Monday, April 24th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Coca-Cola in a research report on Thursday. They set a buy rating on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Coca-Cola from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $68.33.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on Coca-Cola

Insider Activity at Coca-Cola

In related news, CFO John Murphy sold 156,290 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.10, for a total value of $9,705,609.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 228,830 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $14,210,343. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Coca-Cola news, CFO John Murphy sold 156,290 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.10, for a total value of $9,705,609.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 228,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,210,343. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Monica Howard Douglas sold 21,074 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.90, for a total transaction of $1,283,406.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 18,360 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,118,124. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 227,364 shares of company stock valued at $14,122,016 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.00% of the companys stock.

About Coca-Cola

(Free Report)

The Coca-Cola Company, a beverage company, manufactures, markets, and sells various nonalcoholic beverages worldwide. The company provides sparkling soft drinks, sparkling flavors; water, sports, coffee, and tea; juice, value-added dairy, and plant-based beverages; and other beverages. It also offers beverage concentrates and syrups, as well as fountain syrups to fountain retailers, such as restaurants and convenience stores.

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Sundance Energy Australia Ltd (OTCMKTS:SDCJF  Get Free Report) shares crossed above its 50 day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 50 day moving average of $0.15 and traded as high as $0.15. Sundance Energy Australia shares last traded at $0.15, with a volume of 1,200 shares traded.

Sundance Energy Australia Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $0.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $0.15.

Sundance Energy Australia Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Sundance Energy Australia Limited operates as an onshore oil and gas company in the United States. The company explores for, develops, and produces oil and natural gas. Its exploration and development activities are focused on the Eagle Ford project in the South-Texas-Gulf Coast Basin. Sundance Energy Australia Limited was incorporated in 2004 and is based in Wayville, Australia.

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StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV  Free Report) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the insurance providers stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Travelers Companies from $208.00 to $176.00 in a report on Thursday, July 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Travelers Companies from C$183.00 to C$185.00 in a report on Thursday, July 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Travelers Companies from $183.00 to $185.00 in a report on Thursday, July 20th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Travelers Companies from $179.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Travelers Companies from $183.00 to $180.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 25th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $196.08.

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Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Travelers Companies

Travelers Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TRV traded down $0.94 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $162.47. The stock had a trading volume of 937,674 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,374,266. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33. The company has a 50 day moving average of $171.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $175.68. Travelers Companies has a twelve month low of $149.65 and a twelve month high of $194.51. The firm has a market cap of $37.20 billion, a PE ratio of 17.40, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.59.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The insurance provider reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.05 by ($1.99). Travelers Companies had a net margin of 5.77% and a return on equity of 10.75%. The firm had revenue of $10.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.57 earnings per share. Travelers Companiess revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Travelers Companies will post 12.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Travelers Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 8th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 7th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.46%. Travelers Companiess payout ratio is 42.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Travelers Companies

In other Travelers Companies news, EVP Michael Frederick Klein sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.05, for a total value of $1,750,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,464,704. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Travelers Companies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TRV. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 569.0% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,579,476 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $60,732,000 after buying an additional 2,193,923 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Travelers Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $239,875,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,820,386 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $1,466,244,000 after buying an additional 829,918 shares during the last quarter. Prostatis Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Travelers Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $839,000. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its holdings in Travelers Companies by 17,864.0% in the 1st quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 698,799 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $119,781,000 after purchasing an additional 694,909 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.06% of the companys stock.

About Travelers Companies

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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.

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StockNews.com started coverage on shares of TrueBlue (NYSE:TBI  Free Report) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the business services providers stock.

TBI has been the topic of several other reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on TrueBlue from $20.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 25th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on TrueBlue from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th.

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TrueBlue Stock Performance

NYSE TBI traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $15.20. 227,999 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 204,035. The stock has a market capitalization of $471.20 million, a PE ratio of 32.40 and a beta of 1.42. TrueBlue has a 1-year low of $13.52 and a 1-year high of $22.56. The businesss fifty day simple moving average is $16.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.25.

TrueBlue (NYSE:TBI  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $475.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $496.11 million. TrueBlue had a return on equity of 8.88% and a net margin of 0.78%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was down 16.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.82 EPS.

Insider Transactions at TrueBlue

In related news, EVP Carl Schweihs sold 5,750 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.15, for a total transaction of $104,362.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 48,729 shares of the companys stock, valued at $884,431.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other TrueBlue news, EVP Carl Schweihs sold 5,750 shares of TrueBlue stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.15, for a total transaction of $104,362.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 48,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $884,431.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kristy A. Fitzsimmons-Willis sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.11, for a total value of $34,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,549 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $728,013.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 4.00% of the companys stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TrueBlue

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TBI. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in TrueBlue by 0.3% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 359,658 shares of the business services providers stock worth $10,392,000 after buying an additional 1,017 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in TrueBlue by 22.4% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 72,782 shares of the business services providers stock worth $2,102,000 after buying an additional 13,334 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new position in TrueBlue during the first quarter worth $272,000. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in TrueBlue by 6.1% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 34,824 shares of the business services providers stock worth $1,006,000 after buying an additional 1,993 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in TrueBlue by 63.7% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 17,940 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $518,000 after acquiring an additional 6,984 shares during the period. 96.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

TrueBlue Company Profile

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TrueBlue, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides specialized workforce solutions in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Puerto Rico. It operates through three segments: PeopleReady, PeopleManagement, and PeopleScout. The company's PeopleReady segment provides general, industrial, and skilled trade staffing services for construction, transportation, manufacturing, retail, hospitality, and renewable energy industries.

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Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER  Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $53.00 to $59.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the ride-sharing companys stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on UBER. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Uber Technologies from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Uber Technologies from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Uber Technologies from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Uber Technologies from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Uber Technologies from $55.00 to $65.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 21st. Thirty-one analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Uber Technologies currently has an average rating of Buy and an average price target of $55.52.

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Uber Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE UBER traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $44.25. 9,491,317 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 23,856,736. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.82. Uber Technologies has a 1-year low of $22.94 and a 1-year high of $49.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 1st. The ride-sharing company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $9.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $9.34 billion. Uber Technologies had a negative net margin of 1.07% and a negative return on equity of 4.57%. The businesss revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned ($1.33) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Uber Technologies will post 0.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi sold 100,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.51, for a total value of $4,751,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,316,243 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $62,534,704.93. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.51, for a total transaction of $4,751,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,316,243 shares in the company, valued at $62,534,704.93. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Tony West sold 16,664 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total value of $699,888.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 164,693 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $6,917,106. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 225,642 shares of company stock valued at $10,325,237 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.84% of the companys stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its holdings in Uber Technologies by 84,122.1% in the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 123,555,492 shares of the ride-sharing companys stock worth $5,333,891,000 after acquiring an additional 123,408,790 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Uber Technologies by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,767,050 shares of the ride-sharing companys stock valued at $3,202,889,000 after purchasing an additional 1,368,569 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Uber Technologies by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 44,391,153 shares of the ride-sharing companys stock valued at $1,916,366,000 after acquiring an additional 200,322 shares during the period. Altimeter Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Uber Technologies by 167.5% during the 1st quarter. Altimeter Capital Management LP now owns 30,760,000 shares of the ride-sharing companys stock valued at $1,193,422,000 after acquiring an additional 19,260,000 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Uber Technologies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $580,568,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.90% of the companys stock.

Uber Technologies Company Profile

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Uber Technologies, Inc develops and operates proprietary technology applications in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia excluding China and Southeast Asia. It operates through three segments: Mobility, Delivery, and Freight. The Mobility segment connects consumers with a range of transportation modalities, such as ridesharing, carsharing, micromobility, rentals, public transit, taxis, and other modalities; and offers riders in a variety of vehicle types, as well as financial partnerships products and advertising services.

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Ur-Energy Inc. (NYSEAMERICAN:URG  Get Free Report) (TSE:URE) insider Penne A. Goplerud sold 71,211 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.12, for a total transaction of $79,756.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 396,316 shares in the company, valued at approximately $443,873.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Ur-Energy Stock Performance

NYSEAMERICAN URG traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $1.12. 274,173 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,558,411. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.21. Ur-Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $0.82 and a 1 year high of $1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 8.54 and a current ratio of 9.31.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on URG. TheStreet lowered shares of Ur-Energy from a c- rating to a d rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 8th. HC Wainwright reiterated a buy rating and issued a $2.80 price objective on shares of Ur-Energy in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. Roth Mkm cut their price objective on shares of Ur-Energy from $2.00 to $1.90 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ur-Energy to a sell rating in a research note on Thursday, July 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $2.32.

Institutional Trading of Ur-Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in URG. MMCAP International Inc. SPC boosted its holdings in Ur-Energy by 66.5% during the first quarter. MMCAP International Inc. SPC now owns 24,488,637 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $25,958,000 after buying an additional 9,780,004 shares in the last quarter. Segra Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ur-Energy during the first quarter worth $5,290,000. Lloyd Harbor Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ur-Energy by 48.9% during the second quarter. Lloyd Harbor Capital Management LLC now owns 8,142,791 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $8,550,000 after purchasing an additional 2,675,582 shares in the last quarter. CQS US LLC lifted its holdings in Ur-Energy by 20.9% during the first quarter. CQS US LLC now owns 13,006,553 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $13,787,000 after purchasing an additional 2,250,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ur-Energy during the first quarter valued at $1,527,000. 49.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ur-Energy

(Get Free Report)

Ur-Energy Inc engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and operation of uranium mineral properties. The company holds interests in 12 projects located in the United States. Its flagship property is the Lost Creek project comprising a total of approximately 1,800 unpatented mining claims and three Wyoming mineral leases covering an area of approximately 35,400 acres located in the Great Divide Basin, Wyoming.

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US Student Housing REIT (ASX:USQ  Get Free Report) announced a final dividend on Wednesday, August 16th, MarketIndexAU reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 29th will be paid a dividend of 0.012 per share on Tuesday, August 29th. This represents a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Sunday, August 20th.

US Student Housing REIT Stock Performance

US Student Housing REIT Company Profile

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US Student Housing REIT operates as a multi-family residential REIT company. It provides renting and operating own or leased real estate properties. The company is based in Melbourne, Australia.

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Vantage Consulting Group Inc raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS  Free Report) by 8.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 775 shares of the investment management companys stock after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the quarter. Vantage Consulting Group Incs holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $254,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GS. Credit Suisse AG lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.4% in the first quarter. Credit Suisse AG now owns 490,053 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $160,301,000 after buying an additional 6,681 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 16,458 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $5,383,000 after purchasing an additional 726 shares during the last quarter. Exos TFP Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 90.2% during the 1st quarter. Exos TFP Holdings LLC now owns 1,305 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 619 shares during the last quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 13,886 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $4,542,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JT Stratford LLC lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 14.5% during the 1st quarter. JT Stratford LLC now owns 6,873 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $2,248,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. 76.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GS has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, July 24th. Citigroup cut The Goldman Sachs Group from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $370.00 to $400.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 25th. Atlantic Securities raised The Goldman Sachs Group from an underweight rating to a neutral rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $330.00 to $351.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 1st. Credit Suisse Group reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $410.00 price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Thursday, July 20th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Thursday. They issued a hold rating for the company. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $395.63.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of GS stock opened at $327.52 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $107.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.39. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $287.75 and a twelve month high of $389.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18. The stocks fifty day simple moving average is $335.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $336.85.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 19th. The investment management company reported $3.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $3.25 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $10.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.61 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 9.74%. The companys revenue was down 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $7.73 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 25.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 31st will be issued a dividend of $2.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 30th. This is an increase from The Goldman Sachs Groups previous quarterly dividend of $2.50. This represents a $11.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. The Goldman Sachs Groups payout ratio is presently 42.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 1,145,486 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.73, for a total transaction of $13,436,550.78. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 50,099,392 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $587,665,868.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, CEO David M. Solomon sold 10,000 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.71, for a total transaction of $3,457,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 128,982 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $44,590,367.22. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 1,145,486 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.73, for a total value of $13,436,550.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 50,099,392 shares in the company, valued at $587,665,868.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 10,159,686 shares of company stock valued at $123,960,027. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

The Goldman Sachs Group Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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Walmart (NYSE:WMT  Get Free Report) had its price target increased by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $160.00 to $170.00 in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the retailers stock. Morgan Stanleys price target suggests a potential upside of 7.12% from the stocks current price.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on WMT. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Walmart from $159.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Walmart from $163.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Monday. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price objective on Walmart from $168.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday. Raymond James increased their price objective on Walmart from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded Walmart from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $210.00 in a report on Monday, July 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $176.09.

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Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Walmart

Walmart Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE WMT traded up $3.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $158.70. 2,938,026 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,973,225. The firm has a market capitalization of $427.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.15, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $157.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $149.98. Walmart has a twelve month low of $128.07 and a twelve month high of $162.78.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 17th. The retailer reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $161.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.22 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.30% and a net margin of 1.82%. Walmarts revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.77 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Walmart will post 6.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director S Robson Walton sold 170,587 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.12, for a total transaction of $25,608,520.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 244,364,516 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $36,684,001,141.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Walmart news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 9,708 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.04, for a total value of $1,505,128.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,490,621 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $231,105,879.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director S Robson Walton sold 170,587 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.12, for a total value of $25,608,520.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 244,364,516 shares of the companys stock, valued at $36,684,001,141.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,764,313 shares of company stock valued at $1,354,672,677. Insiders own 46.51% of the companys stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMT. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its holdings in Walmart by 93,272.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 821,003,685 shares of the retailers stock valued at $129,045,359,000 after acquiring an additional 820,124,410 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 112,181.6% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 22,854,919 shares of the retailers stock valued at $3,240,599,000 after purchasing an additional 22,834,564 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Walmart in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,598,736,000. Providence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 1,164,937.0% in the 1st quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,718,400 shares of the retailers stock valued at $32,000,000 after purchasing an additional 4,717,995 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of Walmart by 7,546.2% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,166,995 shares of the retailers stock valued at $467,747,000 after purchasing an additional 3,125,576 shares during the period. 31.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Walmart

(Get Free Report)

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, and other units worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam's Club. It operates supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash and carry stores, and discount stores under Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands; membership-only warehouse clubs; ecommerce websites, such as walmart.com, walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, and samsclub.com; and mobile commerce applications.

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White Cliff Minerals Limited (ASX:WCN  Get Free Report) insider Roderick Mcillree bought 2,000,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of A$0.01 ($0.01) per share, for a total transaction of A$20,000.00 ($12,987.01).

White Cliff Minerals Price Performance

About White Cliff Minerals

(Get Free Report)

White Cliff Minerals Limited engages in the exploration and development of mineral properties in Australia. It explores for gold, lithium, rare earth elements (REE), copper, nickel, and cobalt minerals. The company holds 100% interests in the Abraxis Lithium, Preston River Lithium, Yinnetharra Lithium, and Diemals Lithium/REE projects; Hines Hill REE and Gardner Range REE projects; and Reedy South Gold project.

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AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (NYSE:AMN  Free Report)  Research analysts at Zacks Research dropped their Q3 2023 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of AMN Healthcare Services in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, August 16th. Zacks Research analyst D. Dey now expects that the company will post earnings of $1.66 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $1.81. The consensus estimate for AMN Healthcare Services current full-year earnings is $8.12 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for AMN Healthcare Services Q4 2023 earnings at $1.59 EPS, FY2023 earnings at $8.12 EPS, Q2 2024 earnings at $1.86 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $1.33 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $6.33 EPS and Q2 2025 earnings at $1.99 EPS.

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Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Credit Suisse Group decreased their price target on AMN Healthcare Services from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 4th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of AMN Healthcare Services in a research note on Thursday. They issued a hold rating for the company. Bank of America lowered shares of AMN Healthcare Services from a buy rating to a neutral rating and dropped their price target for the company from $112.00 to $104.00 in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of AMN Healthcare Services from $111.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of AMN Healthcare Services from $114.00 to $106.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $112.17.

AMN Healthcare Services Stock Performance

Shares of AMN opened at $87.80 on Friday. AMN Healthcare Services has a 52 week low of $81.15 and a 52 week high of $129.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.20. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $104.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $95.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.37.

AMN Healthcare Services (NYSE:AMN  Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The company reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.24. AMN Healthcare Services had a return on equity of 42.90% and a net margin of 7.29%. The business had revenue of $991.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $988.32 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.31 EPS. The firms revenue was down 30.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

Insider Activity at AMN Healthcare Services

In related news, Director Daphne E. Jones sold 1,000 shares of AMN Healthcare Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.57, for a total value of $109,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $854,536.43. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AMN. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in AMN Healthcare Services in the 2nd quarter valued at $92,796,000. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of AMN Healthcare Services by 236.2% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,115,826 shares of the companys stock worth $120,770,000 after acquiring an additional 783,966 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AMN Healthcare Services by 1,181.5% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 540,800 shares of the companys stock worth $56,422,000 after acquiring an additional 498,600 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of AMN Healthcare Services during the 4th quarter worth $49,022,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of AMN Healthcare Services by 18,345.8% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 387,546 shares of the companys stock worth $42,289,000 after acquiring an additional 385,445 shares during the last quarter. 96.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AMN Healthcare Services Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

AMN Healthcare Services, Inc provides healthcare workforce solutions and staffing services to hospitals and healthcare facilities in the United States. It operates through three segments: Nurse and Allied Solutions, Physician and Leadership Solutions, and Technology and Workforce Solutions. The Nurse and Allied Solutions segment offers travel nurse staffing, rapid response nurse staffing and labor disruption, allied staffing, local staffing, and revenue cycle solutions.

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Insourcing has now become prominent, with companies choosing to either set up or expand their offices in India, a departure from when they primarily set up back offices here or cost was the driving factor.



In the last three months alone, JPMorgan Chase, Citi, Lloyds Banking Group, Natwest and Deutsche Bank have either announced new offices in India or said they will be expanding their workforce in the country.



JPMorgan Chase, which announced its new centres in Mumbai and Bengaluru last week, said in a statement that the companys corporate centres in India have evolved to provide tech solutions, business, and functional support.



This is also visible in the stats. Per a report by Nasscom, India currently has over 1,580 Global Capability Centres (GCC) or captives, with over 16 lakh people working in these companies. By 2026-27, Nasscom sees the number rising to 2,000-plus GCCs in India, a number that is believed to be understated. Both EY and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) expect up to 45 lakh people to be working in GCCs in the country by 2030.



A skilled workforce



But what is it that India offers beyond cost benefits? Deepak Mangla, CEO of Corporate Centers, India & Philippines, JPMorgan Chase, told Moneycontrol that the countrys skilled and diverse workforce is critical to the companys location strategy and contributes significantly to our innovation and development efforts.



According to Mangla, the companys 50,000-plus employees in India provide technology and business operations support for all lines of business and functions of the firm. Our employees are at the forefront of global innovation, creating cutting-edge solutions in areas such as cloud computing, machine learning, artificial intelligence integration, blockchain, quant research, data science, business modelling & analytics, digital banking, and more. These solutions are used by our clients and customers across the world, he said.



It is this shift, from employees of global firms in India being a support function to now being at the forefront, that has seen even companies that had previously shuttered their captives in India return.



This isnt to say that cost isnt important. Snehil Gambhir, Partner and Director of Transformation, BCG, told Moneycontrol that looking at a talent pool that provides a better cost basis is sensible. The original ask of starting with cost has changed for many players. You find more players now saying that there is an inherent advantage in having a global footprint  an advantage to have the talent that India has. It is the availability of talent and scale, he said. Gambhir adds that while a cost advantage is important to scale up, particularly in the current macroeconomic climate, its not the only reason India as a talent hub is growing.



Ramkumar Ramamoorthy, partner at growth advisory firm Catalincs, and former MD of Cognizant India, had previously told Moneycontrol that the availability of digital talent is the highest in the world, and its a no-brainer that the worlds best companies are making a beeline for India through their captives.



A crucial transformation



The other reason is that digital transformation is crucial, With structural changes driven by digital, technology is no longer merely an enabler of business, but is the business. As such, digital transformation is core to every companys differentiation and growth, thereby driving the need to own those capabilities rather than lease them, he states.



BCGs Gambhir also said that there is a lot of talent available in India in digital engineering, an area thats becoming a prime ask. Everything is moving to digital, across industries, so you're not just looking at a few people but talent at scale, he says, with questions about whether a company can build teams that can build intellectual property.



In general  and especially in ER&D  were seeing a trend that globally, engineering talent in a majority of European countries or America is ageing. The ability of people coming into the workforce there in specialised areas is smaller. In essence, there is a paucity of talent as well. That creates a virtuous cycle of saying, Where can I go for good talent?, he adds.



Read: How GCCs in India are giving IT services companies a run for their money



Rising demand for talent



The manpower requirements of GCCs are also steadily rising, as evident from the requirements that staffing firms are seeing.



Lohit Bhatia, President of the Indian Staffing Federation, said that India has the demographic dividend not just by population but also a gainfully employed IT workforce. He added that India continues to remain a much lower cost base, although the arbitrage has reduced.



Even the Indian Staffing Federation feels that GCC is one area of growth within the IT sector itself. And IT staffing is a very big area for the Indian Staffing Federation. So, a lot of our members actually do IT staffing as well, besides general staffing. And GCC has been a very big segment of growth for them in the last couple of years. In the last 2-3 years of COVID gone by, there are lots of active conversations of global majors still looking to either ramp up their GCCs in India, or set up absolutely fresh new GCCs, Bhatia said.



JPMorgans Mangla also said that India is an important market, and the companys decision to strengthen its presence is also a reflection of the countrys talent pool.



The expertise, innovation and dedication of our Indian workforce has played a pivotal role in providing critical technological and business operations support for our customers and clients worldwide. With the growing demand for advanced technology and financial services, strengthening our operations in Mumbai and Bengaluru was a natural progression to leverage the immense potential of the Indian talent market and continue delivering cutting edge solutions to clients worldwide, he said.



Read: Should you look for a job at a GCC or an Indian IT company?



Per the NASSCOM report, Indian GCCs now have product and business ownership, far from the support and quality assurance functions they started with.



This is also evident in JPMorgan Chases employees and who its looking to hire. Mangla said that the company will invest in talent across talent areas, with an enhanced focus on data and analytics, change and transformation within payments, platform engineering, cloud architects, product management, data science, and cyber security, besides financial planning and analysis, business advisory and compliance, and internal audit.



Banking on India



Gambhir says that while the evolution in the type of work in India has happened over a period of time, going forward, as the world supply chains, and manufacturing also start to evolve, India stands to be a leader, including in ER&D.



Read: Whats driving the feverish growth of Global Capability Centres (GCCs) in India?



Various industry leaders have also said that they are banking on the India story.



India's dynamic market environment allows us to tap into emerging trends and technologies, ensuring that we stay at the forefront of industry transformation, Mangla said.



Similarly, SAP Labs Managing Director in India Sindhu Gangadharan earlier told Moneycontrol that the question is no longer why India? but how quickly in India?.



The market has changed, consumption power has changed, and the ecosystem has changed in the last decade, she said.



However, industry experts do not think that this trend of insourcing will impact IT services firms.



It will be a combination of leveraging both inhouse centres and third-party players because there are certain things that are commoditised and/or require enough investment, where you do really want and leverage third parties, Gambhir said, adding that good and great companies will see where the advantages lie.



Organisations will figure out the right mix of what that footprint should be. How they source, whether it is outsourcing or insourcing, and how they shore, whether it is onshore, offshore, nearshore or a combination thereof. I think thats going to be an evolution. Good companies have been doing that for a while and I think more and more will start doing that, he added.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has slapped a fine of Rs 40 lakh on Axis Bank for failing to notify the regulator about its acquisition of a stake in CSC e-Governance.



The transaction under consideration comprised acquisition of a 9.91 per cent stake in CSC e-Governance by Axis Bank and got completed in November 2020, the CCI said in an order.



For the transaction, Axis Bank was required to give notice to the fair trade regulator. However, it failed to do so, according to the order. For the transaction, Axis Bank was required to give notice to the fair trade regulator. However, it failed to do so, according to the order.



"It is apparent that the acquisition of stake in CSC e-Governance by Axis Bank was neither solely as an investment nor can be considered to be in ordinary course of business.



"Therefore, the AxisCSC e-Governance acquisition is not eligible for the benefit of the Item 1 of Schedule I (combination regulation) and accordingly, it is immaterial whether the transaction led to acquisition of control or not," the regulator said.



Thus, CCI observed that no determination is warranted whether the transaction led to the acquisition of control or not in this matter. Accordingly, the commission found that in relation to the AxisCSC e-Governance acquisition, Axis Bank failed to comply with the regulations.



To avail the benefit of combination rules, the acquirer should not be a member of the board of directors, does not have a right to nominate a director and should not participate in the affairs or management of the enterprise whose shares or voting right are being acquired, as per the order.



However, Axis Bank had/has representation on the board of CSC e-Governance. Further, it had intention to have representation on the board of directors of the company and participate in its management or affairs, thereby it is not eligible for the benefit of the rules.



Axis Bank is required to pay the penalty within 60 days from the date of order, as per order passed on August 9. CSC e-Governance Services India Ltd is a special-purpose vehicle set up by the electronics and information technology ministry to oversee the implementation of the common services centre scheme.



Private lender Axis Bank informed, "The Competition Commission of India (CCI) vide its letter dated August 17, 2023, has imposed a penalty amounting to Rs 40 lakhs under Section 43A of Competition Act, 2002," the company said in a stock exchange filing on Friday.
Barclays Plc named new executives to its top management in India, a major overseas market for the lender, naming 12-year veteran Pramod Kumar as the chief executive officer.



He will be replacing Ram Gopal who is leaving after leading the bank in the country for nearly six years, according to people familiar with the matter. The British bank also hired Suneeta Shetty from HSBC Holdings Plc as its India chief operating officer, the people said, asking not to be identified as the developments are not public yet.



These changes are happening in one of the most important overseas markets for Barclays. Among Barclays global units, India ranked fourth by revenue last year, trailing only the UK, US and Ireland. The firms turnover in India has more than tripled in almost 10 years, outshining the performance of other key markets in Asia like Singapore or Hong Kong. The India business, which also includes corporate and private banking, was more than twice the size of Singapores and Japans last year.



A Mumbai-based spokesperson for Barclays declined to comment, when asked by Bloomberg News about the management moves. HSBC declined to comment about Shettys move.



New Executives



Kumar joined Barclays almost 12 years ago and is currently its head of banking under its investment bank division in the country, according to his LinkedIn page.



Shetty was at HSBC for more than 17 years, with her role as group head of transaction monitoring operations and center director at GSC Krakow in Poland being her most recent position until July this year, according to her LinkedIn page.



Siddharth Bachhawat, in addition to his current role as head of trading, India, will also take on the role of head of markets, according to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg.



Barclayss Asia Pacific head Jaideep Khanna is based in the country, helping to maintain close ties with Indias growing ranks of corporate giants and wealthy. The banks revamped India team will have to grapple with intensifying competition from rivals such as HSBC and HDFC Bank Ltd., which are beefing up their local operations, as well as the turmoil surrounding a key client, the Adani group.



The management changes are also the latest in a series of moves made by the bank after several senior executives recently left.



Taranjit Jaswal, India head of corporate banking, has left the firm after eight years to pursue his entrepreneurial ambitions, Bloomberg News reported, citing a internal memo earlier this month. Sandeep Das, its head of private clients in the country, has also departed to pursue another opportunity, according to a separate memo. Earlier, Ashish Jhaveri, head of mergers and acquisitions for India, exited the bank to join Jefferies Financial Group Inc., people familiar with the matter had said.
The Bata India share price fell about 1 percent at the opening on August 18, trimming some of the previous days 6 percent gain, after it was reported that the footwear company was in talks with Adidas for a strategic partnership.



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On August 17, CNBC-TV18 reported citing sources that Bata India was in advanced talks with the German sportswear brand for a strategic tie-up. Bata later issued a clarification saying that the company is continuing to explore opportunities for strategic alliance / collaborations / tie-ups for the Indian market and would disclose this information as and when it happens. "The company has had successful long-running strategic tie-ups with various brands over the years for offering unique propositions to consumers," the statement said.



Nirmal Bang CEO Rahul Arora told Moneycontrol in an interview that the brokerage has been structurally positive on the stock. Were this (Adidas-Bata deal) to fructify, it will be important to see how much Bata takes out of this. Adidas gets straight benefit out of Batas distribution, Rahul Arora said. "If theres co-branding with Adidas, or if theres a top global athlete roped in for endorsements, then skys the limit."



Read more: Bata India 'continues to explore' tie ups, as Adidas deal talk surfaces



Bata India recently reported a 10.3 percent year-on-year decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 106.8 crore for the June quarter. Revenue for the quarter grew 1.6 percent from Rs 943 crore.



For the quarter, Bata reported earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBIDTA) at Rs 239.3 crore, down by 2.2 percent, for the same fiscal. EBIDTA margin declined by 100 basis points on-year to 25 percent.



Read more: Bata India Q1 results: Net profit falls 10.3% to Rs 107.8 crore, revenue rises 1.6%



Analysts at HDFC Securities cut their FY24/25 EBITDA estimates for Bata India by 5-7 percent to account for lower growth and margins and downgraded Bata India to a 'reduce' rating with a target price of Rs 1,500 per share.



Read more: Bata re-enters premium price points with fresh portfolio, aims 20% sales from online channels in 2-3 years



In a recent media interaction, Bata Managing Director and CEO Gunjan Shah said that the footwear major is re-entering the premium price points with fresh portfolios while it increases spending on advertising and promotions to connect with young digital savvy consumers.



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.
Bata India on August 18 issued a clarification to the stock exchanges in a regulatory filing amidst growing speculation about a potential partnership between the footwear major and German sportswear giant Adidas for the Indian market. The footwear company outlined its stance on the matter, "we would like to inform that the Company continues to explore opportunities for strategic alliance / collaborations / tie-up for the Indian market and as and when matters arise that require disclosure." "The Company has had successful long-running strategic tie-ups with various Brands over the years for offering unique propositions to consumers," it further said. CNBC TV18 reported on August 17 , citing sources, that footwear major Bata India is in talks with German sportswear giant Adidas for a strategic partnership. The talks are likely in advanced stage and final deal contours are in the works, the business television channel said. Bata India Ltd on August 9 reported a net profit of Rs 106.8 crore for the June quarter of FY24, registering a decline of 10.3 percent from Rs 119.3 crore a year back. The company's revenue stood at Rs 958.1 crore, rising 1.6 percent from Rs 943 crore in the year-ago quarter, the company said in a regulatory filing.

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As dates for the much awaited G20 leadership summit with high-profile dignitaries in attendance draws close, all five star hotels in the national capital of Delhi see 100 percent bookings and a 400 percent surge in prices.



The 18th G20 Heads of State and Government Summit is set to take place in New Delhi on 9 and 10 September at a recently-inaugurated state-of-the-art convention complex at Pragati Maidan. Apart from PM Narendra Modi, the summit will see guests like US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Chinese President Xi Jinping.



Steep surge in bookings



Capitals most premium hotels including Taj Mahal, Taj Palace, ITC Maurya Sheraton, Le Meridien, Shangri-La, The Lalit, Imperial, Oberoi, and Leela have already closed availability for almost all dates between September 6-11. Other hotels such as The Claridges, Eros, Pride Hotel are seeing 100 percent bookings from September 8-10, a search on platforms such as booking.com has shown.



"Eros Hotel will be reporting 100 percent occupancy during the G20 meeting dates," Rubina Sharma, Director of Sales and Marketing, Eros Hotel, Nehru Place confirmed to Moneycontrol.



G20 meetings scheduled for September have triggered a strong surge in bookings, as per Atul Upadhyay, Executive Vice President, Pride Hotels Group. "We have currently secured both confirmed and tentative reservations, collectively accounting for over 500 rooms specifically earmarked for this event. Upadhyay is expecting occupancy rate to surpass 95 percent during the G20 meeting period, up from 75 percent that the hotel recorded in the last few months.



"Hotel occupancies have already started increasing in Delhi, driven primarily by G20 related activities as preparations have started for the mega final meet. Occupancies during the G20 meet will be almost 30-50 percent higher month on month," as per Aashish Gupta, Consulting CEO , Federation of Associations in Indian tourism & Hospitality.



Room rates up from the current Rs 15,000 to Rs 60,000 during G20 meet



While room rates have doubled in almost all premium properties, many are seeing prices spiralling even upto 4 times their normal prices.



Delhis hotel occupancy is expected to be at a decade-high of 70-72 percent, up from around 60 percent in 2014-15, said Nishant Pitti, CEO and Co-Founder, EaseMyTrip. "Delhi has topped the occupancy chart this year with 75 percent higher demand all owing to the G20 meetings held across the country."



Per him, only a handful of rooms are available at very few premium hotels and all are priced significantly high. "For instance, available rooms in Le Meridien are priced at Rs 60,000 per night for single occupancy whereas, the rate for the same room in August end is less than Rs 15,000. Even at Taj Palace, the starting price of rooms in the first week of September is Rs 25,000 plus taxes. Post-September 13, the same room is available for Rs 15,000. All in all, there has been a 3-4x increase in room prices, and this is the same for almost all 5-star properties in the Delhi-NCR region."



"We expect increase of 40-50 percent in average room rates (ARR) during the course of the G20 meetings in Delhi, Pitti said.



3 and 4 star hotels to also see raised room rates



It is not just the premium properties but also 3 and 4 star hotels which are seeing a rise in booking numbers and thus raised room rates.



It is a simple supply-demand matter. Demand has increased by leaps and bounds while supply is the same, MP Bezbaruah, Secretary General of Hotel Association Of India (HAI) said.



Hotels in Aerocity, other NCR regions are expected to see a fair amount of spill-over bookings, many of which will be for the media teams travelling to Delhi, he added.



Queries at Southern Group of Hotels' property in Delhi have risen by at least 30 percent as dates for the summit draw close. "We have received 30 percent more enquiries for the first week of September, which indicates a strong demand for accommodations during the G20 meetings, said the group's Managing Director, Alapati Krishna Mohan.



He added that in the case of 5-star hotels in Delhi, almost all rooms have either been blocked by the government or have been sold out between 6-12 September.



Revival helping hospitality sector hit during Covid



Hospitality was one industry that had been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.



Average hotel occupancy rate had remained 33-36 per cent during 2020 and hotels reduced tariffs significantly to attract business, pulling down Revenue per Available Room to a dismal low of Rs 1,500  Rs 1,800, the economic survey 2022-23 has noted.



However, G20 has brought an opportunity for the country and hospitality players to make for the losses they suffered. Yes, the big players will make steep profits, but it is only fit as they also lost significant amounts during the lockdown, Bezbaruah, Secretary General HAI added.
Moody's Investors Service on August 18 affirmed its Baa3 rating on India and maintained the stable outlook, but warned of political issues and even cited the example of the ongoing violence in Manipur.



"the curtailment of civil society and political dissent, compounded by rising sectarian tensions, support a weaker assessment of political risk and the quality of institutions," Moody's said in a statement.



"Although elevated political polarisation is unlikely to lead to a material destabilisation of government, rising domestic political tensions suggest an ongoing risk of populist policiesincluding at the regional and local government levelsamid the prevalence of social risks such as poverty and income inequality, as well as inequitable access to education and basic services. Moreover, the periodic flaring of border tensions with neighbouring countries was an outlier among sovereigns assessed as having a lower overall susceptibility to political risk," it added.



Also Read: PM Modi assures peace in Manipur through joint efforts by Centre and state



The north-eastern state of Manipur has been embroiled in an ethnic conflict for several months now, with reports saying three people were killed on August 18 in the latest incidence of violence. The matter was raised in the recently concluded Monsoon Session of Parliament by the opposition, with the Narendra Modi government even facing a no-confidence motion. The motion was successfully defeated by the government.



Moody's comments on risk of populist policies amid rising domestic political tensions comes months before India votes to elect its next central government. While Prime Minister Modi romped to power in 2014 and 2019, as many as 26 opposition parties recently rallied under the single banner of 'INDIA', or 'Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance'.



India has been pitching for an upgrade from ratings agencies and has previously expressed its displeasure at what it has termed as bias against emerging economies. In fact, the Economic Survey for 2020-21 contained an entire chapter titled 'Does India's Sovereign Credit Rating reflect its fundamentals No! ' which argued that domestic fiscal policy "must not remain beholden to a noisy/biased measure of India's fundamentals and should instead reflect Gurudev Rabindranath Thakur's sentiment of a mind without fear".



Rapid growth



On the economic front, Moody's continues to view India as one of the fastest growing economies in the world, although it did note that potential growth had declined in the last 7-10 years.



According to the ratings agency, India's potential growth has improved to 6-6.5 percent from sub-6 percent levels during the coronavirus pandemic. However, India's potential growth rate "remains lower than estimates in excess of 7 percent in the middle of the last decade", Moody's said.



It added that the government's focus on capital expenditure has resulted in "tangible improvements" in logistics performance and the quality of trade and transport-related infrastructure. Other positives include the digital public infrastructure, formalisation of the economy, broadening of the tax base, and "fundamental improvement" in the banking system over the last three years.



However, the economy's limited ability to significantly increase manufacturing output and improve job creation is seen as limiting potential growth.



"Despite some progress in developing the manufacturing sector in recent years, structural weaknesses including trade barriers and protectionist measures and low education and skills levels for a large part of the population," Moody's noted.



Fiscal concerns



India's key rating weakness, though, remains the government's financial situation. According to Moody's, without "more material gains" in revenue, the Centre will find it challenging to achieve its fiscal deficit target of 4.5 percent of GDP by 2025-26.



"Consequently, Moody's projects general government debt to stabilise at around 80 percent of GDP over the next two to three years, lower than the peak of almost 90 percent reached in 2020-21 but higher than many similarly-rated sovereigns," the agency said.



The Centre is aiming to reduce its fiscal deficit to 5.9 percent of GDP in 2023-24. As per latest data, the fiscal deficit in the first three months of the financial year stood at 25 percent of the full-year target.



While high nominal GDP growth is expected to aid fiscal consolidation, concerns about the size of India's interest payments relative to revenue remain, especially in comparison to similarly-rated peers.
Shares of Axis Bank jumped nearly 1 percent in trade on August 18, post the approval of new Executive Director for the bank. At 12:33 pm the Axis Bank stock was trading 0.69 percent higher at Rs 942.45 on the NSE.



The Reserve Bank of India has approved an appointment of Subrat Mohanty as Executive Director of Axis Bank for three years, with effect from August 17, according to a filing with BSE. The bank has also launched two lending products i.e., Kisan Credit Cards and MSME loans to propel growth.



Details about the lending products



The private sector lender, on August 17, launched two lending products  Kisan Credit Cards and MSME loans  powered by the Public Tech Platform for Frictionless Credit (PTPFC), introduced by the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH). RBIH is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).



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Axis Bank will offer Kisan Credit Card (KCC) and unsecured MSME loans to small business customers, powered by the platform. The RBI had announced the launch of the pilot project for public tech platform for frictionless credit by facilitating a seamless flow of required digital information to lenders.



The newly launched products will be offered in a completely digital manner and require no submission of documents by customers. "As a pilot, Kisan Credit Cards will be offered in Madhya Pradesh and will be available to customers for up to Rs. 1.6 lakh to start with. MSME loans will be available across the country and will offer loans up to Rs. 10 lakhs to customers," the bank said in a statement.



As part of the pilot, Axis Bank will leverage the PTPFC for accessing data for customers in a fully consented and secure manner. These include PAN validation, Aadhaar eKYC, Account Aggregator data, verification of land records, and penny drop service to validate bank accounts.



"Based on the learnings from this pilot, the bank will expand the scale of existing products and launch new products on the platform in a calibrated manner. The products will be available in both self-serve and assisted mode, to enable maximum reach and support to customers through the journey," the bank said.



Also Read: RBI tweaks norms of penal charges on loan accounts



Management view



Rajiv Anand, Deputy Managing Director, Axis Bank, said, "We have been early adopters of many innovative technology frameworks such as UPI, Account Aggregator ecosystem, Video KYC, etc., and are excited to participate in the Public Tech Platform for Frictionless Credit initiative of RBIH, to launch Kisan Credit Cards and MSME loans."



"This platform will bring immense efficiency in the lending process in terms of reduction of costs, quicker disbursement, and scalability. Meaningful growth in India can be driven by expanding the credit fold, and we are happy to continue playing a role in helping millions of Indians fulfil their financial dreams and aspirations," he added.



Sameer Shetty, President & Head, Digital Banking and Transformation, Axis Bank, said, "Through the PTPFC, we will be able to access a variety of data required for underwriting directly from authenticated sources in a fully customer-consented and secure manner. This initiative by the RBI and RBIH will shepherd a new era of democratisation of credit and bring down costs of lending to the current credit-deprived segments, while maintaining good credit quality."



Brokerage views



Most brokerage firms are bullish on the Axis Bank stock. The broking firm Prabhudas Lilladher has given a target price of Rs 1,170 per share with a buy rating in a report released on July 27. The firm further stated in the report that, The quarter was good for the bank; NII/NIM beat and superior quality of business growth.



Also Read: Suryoday Small Finance Bank rallies 6% on 6-fold surge in Q1 net profit



Brokerage house LKP Research assigned a target price of Rs 1,090 per share for the Axis Bank stock in a report released on August 7, signifying a potential upside of 14 percent from the current market price. The brokerage firm further stated that, Bank reported stable results, however PPOP de-growth and high CDR are concerning.



Brokerage house Emkay Global has given a buy rating with a target price of Rs 1,260 per share for the bank in a recent report stating that, though the growth of the bank has improved, margin slips again.



Brokerage firm ICICI Securities has given a target price of Rs 1,160 with a buy rating in a report released on July 27, adding that, the quarter was mixed for the bank, strong RoA was aided by treasury gains but QoQ business growth was soft.



HDFC Securities has given a buy rating to the Axis Bank stock with a target price of Rs 1,150 in a report released on July 26. The report further stated that, This has been a soft start to integration with rerating catalysts distant.



Brokerage house Motilal Oswal assigned a buy rating to the Axis Bank stock with a target price of Rs 1,150 per share in a report released on July 26. The report further stated that, Earnings of the bank were in line still business growth remains modest. Asset quality remains stable.



Stock Performance



The Axis Bank stock has gained 10.31 percent over the last six months, compared to a 7.8 percent rise in the Nifty Bank index.



Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by 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 Jain Irrigation Systems were down 3 percent to Rs 54.55 at 11 am on August 18. The company on August 17 approved a proposal to raise funds to meet its short term and medium term financial obligations.



The micro irrigation company aims to raise Rs 76.12 crore by issuing share warrants to its promoter, Stocks and Securities India.



Additionally, the company will also issue share warrants worth Rs 123.43 crore to Alpha Alternatives Structure Credit Opportunities Fund, an SPV of Alpha Alternatives Holdings. Both the share warrants will be converted to equity shares within 18 months from allotment at Rs 46.64 per share.



The upfront 25 percent deposit on warrants is expected to help Jain Irrigation to repay its ICD obligation to its associate NBFC SAFL (Sustainable Agro Commerical Financial). This will enable SAFL to honor its obligation to its lenders where its loans have become sub-standard. Also Jain Irrigation has issued corporate guarantee for some of the loans of SAFL. This payment will also help to ensure that corporate guarantee will be released. Post all the corporate actions we are taking today we expect that SAFL will become debt free and no additional funding or support will be required from parent company, the company said in a press release.



Plus, the companys subsidiary Jain Farm Fresh Foods is looking to raise funding through Non Convertible Debentures amounting to Rs 145 crore along with Redeemable Preference shares worth Rs 20 crore. The company said the funding is used to enhance the subsidiarys working capital.



For the June quarter, the company's net profit jumped nearly six fold to Rs 35.43 crore. However, revenue fell around 17 percent year on year to Rs 1701.04 crore. Earnings Before Interest Taxes Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) similarly declined around 16 percent to Rs 220.83 crore. The shares of the company have risen 90.62 percent in the last 6 months.



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.
Mukesh Bansal, who founded ventures such as Myntra and Cultfit, is in advanced stages to close a $50 million Series A round from marquee investors such as Peak XV Partners (previously Sequoia India) and Accel, people familiar with the development said.



The new venture that Bansal is working on, along with Mohit Gupta, will be in the premium fashion space aimed at Gen Z, an increasingly attractive segment for e-commerce players. Gupta was previously the co-founder of Zomato where he led the companys food delivery business, which helped sharpen his expertise in supply-chain.



Bansal on the other hand has had several e-commerce experiences. He started off with fashion portal Myntra and has also invested in Virgio, a Gen Z-focused fashion destination founded by Amar Nagaram, a former Myntra executive. Bansal even joined Tata Digital as president in 2021 to help scale the company's e-commerce ambitions but has stepped back from an active role. Bansal's entry into Tata came right after the salt-to-software conglomerate invested $75 million in Cultfit.



Peak XV is likely to lead the round, with participation from Accel. Mukesh has been talking to multiple investors and is looking to raise $40-$50 million at a post money valuation of $100 million," one of the persons cited above said.



Further, Gupta will be based in Delhi to drive execution, while Bansal will be based in Bengaluru and will continue to oversee Cultfit.



While Bansal declined to comment on Moneycontrols queries, Peak XV Partners and Accel did not respond.



Gen Z: A 'critical cohort'



The new project will be a venture studio model where Meraki Labs will be the holding company and incubate a couple of ventures within its ecosystem. Bansals Meraki Labs collaborates with a network of individuals and companies to identify needs and build products. It already works with Skyroot, Groww, Gigforce, and several other startups.



Bansal and Gupta wanting to focus on the Gen Z category, however, does not come as a surprise. This cohort spends a considerable time on the internet and has a higher disposable income.



One in three online shoppers is Gen Z and they mostly purchase fashion as the first category online, at entry price points, according to a report by Bain & Co. In 2022, the consultancy firm said Gen Z will become a critical cohort in the future for all things e-commerce, especially fashion, as needs are fast-changing.



That explains why leading players in online fashion  Flipkart Fashion and Myntra  both have also rolled out dedicated services for the Gen Z cohort. While Myntra launched FWD in May, Flipkart announced Spoyl on August 17.



Techcrunch had previously reported that Bansal and Gupta were talking to a bunch of investors and were valuing their company at $100-$250 million, but they had no specific plans then. Bansal had denied all such talks.



Media speculation about my next venture (is) completely wrong. I continue to be very excited about (the) Curefit (now Cultfit) journey and committed for the long run. Meraki Labs is my investment arm that has done investments such as Groww, Skyroot and Virgio," Bansal had said back in June.
The central government is keen to launch the National Highways Authority of India's (NHAI) first infrastructure investment trust (InvIT), in which domestic retail investors can hold units, in the next six months, several officials aware of the ongoing discussions said.



"Retail participation in InvITs has been on the rise since the SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) allowed small investors to participate, and the government is keen to monetise road assets through this route," a senior government official said.



He added that discussions with the SEBI for launching the first NHAI InvIT open to retail investors are in advanced stages and the government aims to launch the InvIT by February 2024.



In order to tap into the retail investor market, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways of India (MoRTH), NHAI, and the National Highways Infra Trust (NHIT) are considering two routes and are discussing both options with SEBI.



The options



The first option being considered is one where MoRTH, NHAI and NHIT are working with SEBI to come up with norms that allow retail investors to participate in InvITs that hold a majority of under-construction assets.



The second option is one where NHIT identifies completed and revenue-generating highway assets.



While the government is keen to allow retail participation in InvITs that hold a majority of under-construction assets, current SEBI norms only allow retail investors to invest in InvIT where at least 80 percent of their total assets are completed and profit-generating infrastructure projects.



"The main objective behind raising money from InvITs for the NHAI is to reduce its incoming debt from under-construction projects, which is why the government is trying to push for a public InvIT holding under-construction assets," an executive aware of NHAI and NHIT's asset monetisation plans said.



He added that the government has asked SEBI to consider easing norms to the extent where around 50-60 percent of the assets held in an InvIT are made up of under-construction assets.



"Discussions with the SEBI for the launching the first InvIT (holding under-construction assets) open to retail investors are at advanced stages and very soon the market regulator will come up with new norms based on international standards," the first government official said.



He added that the SEBI has recently allowed sponsors of InvITs and real estate investment trusts (REITs) to sell their units to exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which will be used to gauge the interest of retail investors in this investment class over the next few months.



"The bourses will monitor the interest level of retail investors in ETFs for the next few months, and if it is seen that retail investors are keen on these funds, the next tranche of the NHAI's InvIT will be open to retail investors," the official said.



At the moment SEBI only allows participation of retail investors in InvITs that are majorly made up of completed and revenue-generating assets.



Privately placed InvITs can invest in under-construction assets as well as completed and revenue-generating assets and public InvITs can invest majorly in completed and revenue-generating assets.



NHAI's InvITs till now have been mostly privately placed InvITs which include under-construction projects



The NHIT is currently in the process of launching its third round of asset monetisation through a privately placed InvIT.



"The third round of highway monetisation through the InvIT route will be launched by September and the fourth round will be launched by February ideally," the executive said.



He added that the NHIT aims to take possession of new road assets from the NHAI by December, by when approvals from SEBI for a public InvIT are expected.



For the fourth round of asset monetisation the NHAI has so far identified 4 highway projects, all under-construction ones, of around 250 km in length to raise around Rs 2,500 crore to Rs 3,000 crore, another executive said.



He added that more projects are expected to be added following the response from investors in the third round of fundraising.



Asset monetisation



The NHIT is currently looking to raise around Rs 7,500 crore to Rs 8,000 crore by monetising six road assets in the third round of highway monetisation.



The third NHIT round was originally slated to be launched in March but was delayed due to taxation issues.



The Union Budget for 2023-24 had proposed to tax income distributed by business trusts like REITs and InvITs in the form of debt repayments at the hands of the unitholders.



However, this was revised as the government decided to provide relief to the investors and proposed to treat distribution from business as a return of capital.



As part of the third round of asset monetisation, the NHIT has taken possession of roads including the 125.38 km-long Gwalior-Shivpuri (Madhya Pradesh), Chichira-Kharagpur (West Bengal) of length 56.12 km, and Orai-Bara (Uttar Pradesh) of length 125.806 km.



Roads in Rewa-Katni-Jabalpur-Lakhnadon (Madhya Pradesh) of length 306.337 km, Kachugaon-Rakhaldubi Bus Junction (Assam) of length 62.671 km and Rakhaldubi Bus Junction to Kaljhar (Assam) of length 51.5 km have also been given to the NHIT for monetisation.



This takes the total length of road assets that are being transferred to the NHIT to 727.814 km, whose asset monetisation process will start next month.



NHIT currently controls eight road assets with a total length of 637 km, excluding the ones mentioned above. After taking possession of the above-mentioned road assets the NHIT will control road assets of length 1,364.8 km.



NHAI InvIT



NHAI launched its InvIT in October 2021, as part of its plans to reduce market borrowing to reduce its debt and raise money from monetising road assets.



The InvIT acquired five toll road assets of 390 km, spread across Rajasthan, Gujarat, Telangana and Karnataka initially. In June last year, the NHAI offered additional three roads aggregating 247 km to its InvIT.



In the first round, money was raised largely from institutional investors, pension funds and global equity investment firms, including CPP Investments and Ontario Teachers Pension Fund.



In the second round, NHIT raised around Rs 3,800 crore through a follow-on market offer for institutional investors and an NCD issue, which got listed on October 28.



The push for divestment and asset monetisation can also be seen by the government's move to set the National Highways Authority of India's Internal and Extra-Budgetary Resources (IEBR) as negligible in 2023-24.



This is the second straight year that the NHAI's market borrowing has been set as negligible.



In 2022-2023, the government asked the highway developer to limit its borrowings. In the 2022-23 Budget, the government projected that NHAIs IEBR would fall to around Rs 1 lakh crore, from Rs 65,000 crore in 2021-22.



As per the government's revised estimates, the NHAI had raised Rs 798 crore as IEBR in 2022-23.



According to the National Monetisation Pipeline, the NHAI should look to monetise around 26,700 km of assets by 2024-25.
Amazon Data Services Pvt Ltd has leased 1.74 lakh sq ft of freehold industrial land from L&T in Powai in Mumbai. The rent is Rs 2.59 crore per month, lease documents accessed by CRE Matrix, a real estate consultant, showed. The total area of the land parcel as per agreement is 1,6187.40 square metres, which translates to 1.74 lakh square feet, or 4 acres. Amazon Data Services will pay a premium of Rs 18 crore per acre totaling Rs 72 crore for 4 acres and the handover date is between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2026. The lease expiry date is August 15, 2043, according to CRE Matrix that accessed the documents. The security deposit for the lease is Rs 2.40 crore and the lease was registered on August 3, 2023. Meanwhile, there was no response to the queries sent to both Amazon or L&T. Earlier deals In a similar deal in June 2022, Amazon Data Services had leased 5.5-acre land from L&T in Powai adjacent to the land parcel for which lease was signed on August 3, according to the registered documents. In July 2023, an arm of Intel India leased 11,536 sq ft of area in a data centre building in Bengaluru for three years from Hyderabad-headquartered CtrlS Data Centers Ltd at starting monthly rent of Rs 47.39 lakh. Meanwhile, an April 2023 report by JLL India, a real estate consultancy on data centres, predicted that the increasing use of digital technology, the migration of IT infrastructure to third-party providers, and the growing usage of data from new and existing channels will result in the addition of 678 MW to the digital transformation industry between 2023 and 2025. Also read: Data centre industry to attract $4.8 billion in investment by 2025: JLL The report had said that Mumbai led the absorption pie, accounting for 43 percent of the share, with Delhi NCR witnessing a substantial hyperscale pre-commitment being delivered.

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Karnataka Real Estate Regulatory Authority has directed the developer and landowners of a Bengaluru-based project to establish an association of allottees under the Karnataka Cooperative Societies Act 1959 or Companies Act and also bear the cost for the same.



The Authority has held the landowners (Cherian A Paul and his wife Saramma Cherian Paul) and the developer (Chowriappa Construction Pvt Ltd) jointly responsible for failing to complete the project within the stipulated timeline of 2017.



"The developer is called upon to establish the association within 30 days and the entire cost of formation shall be borne by the respondent jointly or severally," the order dated August 2 mentioned.



The case



The resident welfare association (RWA) of the Chowriappa Constellation project in north Bengaluru's Hennur moved KRERA for the completion of the project, handover of the common areas and also the formation of the association.



The project was scheduled to be completed within 2018 as per the construction agreement but remains incomplete.



KRERA noted that the developer has also started executing sales deeds without completing the project or obtaining occupancy certificates (OCs).

The RWA alleged before the court that the main reason for the non-completion of the project was the construction of the 13th and 14th floors (now within the approved building plan) and the diversion of funds collected from homebuyers.



Further, the landowners also submitted letters to cancel the joint venture signed with the developer and the General Power of Attorney raised for it.



KRERA finding



Appearing before the court, the landowners claimed that they are not responsible for the delay in the project and the onus of completing the project lies with the developer.



"The 13th and 14th floor was not part of the joint venture agreement signed between the parties and the developer had assured the landowners that the construction will be done legally with a modified sanction plan," the order said.



However, KRERA noted that the landowners had approached the developer in 2010 to develop the project through a joint venture agreement and also raised the General Power of Attorney.



A KRERA inspection found that the project remains incomplete without a power connection, water supply, lifts, sewage treatment plants, and other amenities.



The order



The Authority said that as per Section 2 of the RERA Act, both the developers and landowners are liable for the completion of the project.

However, KRERA said that the landowners have been collecting money from homebuyers for apartment sales and management of common amenities (in an incomplete project) thus preventing the developer from completing the project.



"Landowners are trying to take advantage of the situation and the homebuyers. This violates section 4 and other provisions of the RERA Act such as the landowners are also under legal and statutory obligation to complete the project," the order said.



Both the landowners and developer shall complete the project with amenities within 60 days, the order added.



Additionally, the Authority also prevented the landowners and the respondent from selling more apartments or executing sales deeds till OC is obtained.



Currently, RWAs in Bengaluru can be formed under Karnataka Societies Registration Act (KSRA) 1960, Karnataka Apartment Ownership Act (KAOA) 1972 and KCSA 1959. However, the Karnataka High Court struck down KSRA 1960 for registering RWAs. Additionally, the state government has clarified that KAOA 1972 does not have provisions to register associations. Advocates say registrations under KCSA 1959, the only Act available, are often avoided as the Act is stringent on developers.
New Delhi Television shares jumped 4 percent on August 18 after the Adani Group-owned broadcaster received the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting approval to launch four regional channels. At 1pm, the New Delhi Television stock was quoting at Rs 226.05, up Rs 5.05, or 2.29 percent, on the NSE. In a filing with the exchanges, the media organisation said that it had received the ministrys approval to uplink and downlink four news and current affairs channels - NDTV Rajasthan, NDTV Madhya Pradesh/Chhattisgarh, NDTV Gujarati and NDTV Marathi. The Indian English news broadcaster also announced that it will start with the launch of NDTV Madhya Pradesh/Chhattisgarh on August 21. The media organisation had in May announced its intention to launch nine channels. These moves for expanding its presence in the media space come after being taken over by the Adani Media Group from its previous promoters in December last year. In its results for Q1FY24, the company reported a 35.03 percent on-year decline in its revenue from operations at Rs 69.99 crore. The company reported a loss of Rs 8.08 crore against a net profit of Rs 25.81 crore reported in the same quarter year before. The operating loss for the quarter stood at 9.68 crore. NDTV is engaged in the business of television and digital broadcasting. Through its television channels and digital platforms, NDTV provides news coverage, analysis, and multimedia content. Additionally, it generates revenue through advertising and partnerships. Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by 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.

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A number of private banks saw an average of 35-40 percent attrition at the junior employee level in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23), said bankers, and the annual reports of the top four banks analysed by Moneycontrol showed. The attrition rate at the junior level was the highest among other employee levels in the bank.



The countrys largest private sector bank, HDFC Bank, saw around 40-50 percent attrition at entry-level jobs.



"On average, we saw the attrition rate at around 30 percent. But the highest attrition was seen at the entry-level positions, which stood at around 40 percent to 50 percent," Srinivasan Vaidyanathan, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of HDFC Bank, said at a post-results media call.







Amitabh Chaudhry, Managing Director (MD) and CEO of Axis Bank, said that the bank saw maximum attrition at the junior level.



Also read: Axis Bank sees 34.8% attrition rate in FY23, higher than FY22 and FY21



"Axis Bank has seen maximum attrition at around 33-35 percent at the junior and branch levels," said Chaudhry at a post-results media call.



The annual report of Kotak Mahindra Bank for FY23 showed a massive 58 percent attrition rate among employees at the junior level, the highest among the top private banks.



For IndusInd Bank, attrition at the junior level stood at 30 percent.



What is the overall attrition?



An analysis by Moneycontrol showed that the overall attrition among the top private banks stood at the highest level in the last three years.



HDFC Banks attrition for FY23 stood at 34.1 percent compared to 27.6 percent in FY22 and 15.4 percent in FY21.



Also read: HDFC Bank sees employee attrition of around 30% in fiscal year 2023, says CFO



Axis Banks overall attrition for FY23 stood at 34.8 percent compared to 31.6 percent in FY22 and 19.1 percent in FY21.



For Kotak Mahindra Bank, the overall attrition in FY23 was 45.9 percent, up from 39 percent in FY22 and 28.8 percent in FY21.







Whereas the attrition rate for IndusInd Bank in FY23 stood at a whopping 51 percent compared to 37 percent in FY22 and 21 percent in FY21.



What do the banks say?



HDFCs Vaidyanathan highlighted that, to counter high attrition at all levels, the bank is planning to introduce more training programmes.



"We are working on more training programmes for the employees. It is a work in progress," Vaidyanathan said.



Chaudhry of Axis Bank, in a post-results media call in July 2023, highlighted that attrition is an industry-wide issue and Axis is making efforts to work on the same.



"Attrition is an industry-wide issue. We are constantly working to make more efforts to work on reducing attrition, but it is the reality of the industry," said Chaudhry.



Shanti Ekambaram, Whole-Time Director, Kotak Mahindra Bank, said that attrition at the senior and middle levels is low compared to the junior level.



"At the senior management level, attrition is less than 10 percent. At the middle management level, it's less than 20 percent. It's only in junior management that it's at about 50 percent. This is largely in sales, service, and call centres," Ekambaram said in a post-earnings conference call on July 22.



According to experts, fintech companies and some banks lure junior-level employees with various conveniences.



"Employees at the junior level look at the conveniences like proximity to their home, quality of work, etc. at private banks. If they find better options someplace else, they switch," said Chandan Sinha, former executive director, of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).



A former banker, who did not wish to be named, said that banks have partnerships in place with some business schools wherein they hire junior-level employees. However, these employees are paid salaries that are below market level, and that are not commensurate with the high fees they have paid to the business school.



"At the junior level, they do not get a good salary compared to the fee they pay for their higher education at top business schools. Also, some of them enter public sector banks since they already have exposure to banking operations, and the PSU banks offer them a more secure life," said the former banker.
The Delhi-Pune Vistara airlines flight was delayed for around eight hours at the Delhi airport after a bomb threat call which later turned out to be hoax, security sources and police said.



The airline was issued a security clearance for using the aircraft after extensive security checks, the sources said.



Flight UK971 was to depart at 8:30 am and finally left at 4.30 pm, according to police.



More than 100 passengers and five cabin crew were on board the Airbus A320 aircraft. Vistara said, in a statement, that flight UK971 was delayed due to "mandatory security checks".



A senior Delhi Police officer said a threat call received at the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) control room in Gurugram was transferred to them through the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).



Following the call, search and combing operations were launched at the terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport.



"The passengers were de boarded and we checked the aircraft from inside and outside, but nothing suspicious was found. A case is being registered and further investigation is underway," the officer said.



Airport security said the caller said "three bombs have been kept in flight no UK971 parked at gate no 42 and they will explode in an hour". The call got disconnected immediately.



All passengers and crew of the flight were de-boarded and anti-sabotage checks were conducted in an isolation bay at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, they said.



The bomb threat assessment committee (BTAC) was convened soon after the call was received and bomb detection equipment and sniffer dogs were pressed into service by the CISF while passengers' luggage was sent for re-check, they added.



The airlines said it was cooperating with the security agencies.



"We confirm that the flight UK971, scheduled to fly from Delhi to Pune on 18 August 2023, is delayed due to mandatory security checks," it said.



"In the meanwhile, we are making all efforts to minimise inconvenience to our customers, including offering them refreshments," it said.



Also Read | Child on Vistara flight suffers burns after hot chocolate spilled on her. Airline's response



With PTI inputs
Director-General of WHO Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus on Friday said though COVID-19 is no longer a health emergency for the world, it is still a global health threat' and a new variant of coronavirus is already under the scanner.



The chief of the World Health Organisation (WHO) was speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the G20 Health Ministers' Meeting at Mahatma Mandir Convention centre in Gujarat's capital Gandhinagar.



Although COVID-19 is no longer a global health emergency, it remains a global health threat. WHO has recently classified a new variant with a large number of mutations. BA.2.86 variant is under monitoring at present, highlighting once again the need for all countries to maintain surveillance, he said.



On the occasion, he urged all the countries to speed up the process of finalising the Pandemic Accord' so that it can be adopted in the World Health Assembly scheduled to be held next year.



COVID-19 has taught us all an important lesson that when health is at risk everything is at risk. The world is learning the painful lessons of the pandemic, said Dr Ghebreyesus in his address to the G20 member countries. Beginning with the presidency of Saudi Arabia, he said, discussions led to the establishment of a joint Finance Health Task Force under the interim presidency supported by Indonesia and now India under their respective presidencies.



Beginning with the presidency of Saudi Arabia, he said, discussions led to the establishment of a joint Finance Health Task Force under the interim presidency supported by Indonesia and now India under their respective presidencies.



The WHO head said negotiations on the Pandemic Accord and amendments to the international health regulations are making good progress. He said both are essential for creating the legal and operational framework for inclusive, coherent and equitable global health security architecture.



I seek your commitment for negotiating a comprehensive Pandemic Accord that encompasses all the essence of pandemic so that we never repeat the same mistakes again. Time is the essence here.



The accord is scheduled to be considered by the World Health Assembly next year, he said. On the occasion, the WHO chief praised India for introducing telemedicine at primary healthcare level. He also congratulated India for its commitment to universal health coverage at home especially through Ayushman Bharat, the world's largest health insurance scheme.



I thank India and all the G20 countries for their leadership in developing the global initiative on digital health, which will be launched formally tomorrow. This important initiative will support the WHO global strategy on digital health and amplify other initiatives including the WHO global digital health certification network, he said.



Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya also spoke at the event.
Timarpur Lake in northern Delhi had been known for decades as a place for petty crime and the foul smell of sewage. Its now getting ready to welcome visitors with a new amphitheater, childrens play area and fountains dotting the landscape.



The restoration is one of the first of hundreds that Delhi plans to secure its water supply and become less reliant on neighboring states. The local governments City of Lakes project seeks to develop about 600 water bodies that will act as natural reservoirs to store excess rainfall as well as recycled water. The landlocked metropolis, which encompasses capital New Delhi, once boasted more than 1,000 water bodies, but rapid urbanization has created a city more frequently associated with polluted air and deadly roads.



The loss of freshwater ponds and lakes has left Delhi with a water deficit of 300 million gallons a day  almost a quarter of what the city needs and enough to fill more than 450 Olympic-size swimming pools. But the task to bring back those lakes isnt a simple one. Many require an adjacent water treatment facility, and its taken five years for the project to get off the ground because of budgetary constraints, the pandemic and bureaucracy across government departments. So far, fewer than 50 lakes have been restored.



"Some of these water bodies are in pretty bad health and will need investment," said Madhu Verma, chief economist at WRI India, which helps governments and businesses find economically and environmentally sound solutions. However, investors and planners still need to be educated about the benefits and cost effectiveness of such infrastructure, she said.



Delhis water problem  both too much and not enough  became strikingly evident during the most recent monsoon season, when the worst flooding in decades crippled parts of the city and shut three water treatment facilities when floodwater entered the machines, temporarily cutting water supply by 25%.



On a national level, India is also in need of more clean water to serve a rapidly growing population. Its the worlds biggest extractor of groundwater, accounting for almost a quarter of the total extracted globally. Its home to 16% of the worlds people but has only 4% of earths freshwater resources.



Results of completed projects show some success with an increase of as much as six meters in groundwater levels, according to the Delhi government. But reviving the lakes  and in some cases, developing artificial ones  is challenging. The city only gets rain about 15 days a year during monsoon season, but lakes need a perennial source of water, said Ankit Srivastava, an engineer who advised the Delhi Jal Board, the agency responsible for supplying potable water to the city.



We are connecting every lake with a water source so that it doesnt dry up, he said, sitting in a makeshift container office at Timarpur Lake. He estimates the cost for the total City of Lakes project at about 10 billion rupees ($122 million).



Delhi produces 500 millions of gallons of recycled water a day, most of which is currently being wasted. This water will be pumped into the lakes and then undergo further treatment in reverse osmosis plants at some sites before being supplied to households.



Another aim of the project is to provide a buffer against floods, but some experts are skeptical. The recent flooding due to a raging Yamuna river happened because of urbanization in low-lying areas where there is no drainage, said Manu Bhatnagar, who heads the Natural Heritage Division at Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, or INTACH, a non-government organization.



Its a good idea conceptually but there are limitations, said Bhatnagar, an urban and environmental planner. Delhi lakes cant act as buffer for flood because most are tiny and are in locations where they dont capture floodwater.



Many lakes shrunk or became dumping grounds as they were encroached upon for construction in pursuit of economic growth. The restorations should, however, improve the quality of life for Delhi residents and draw birds and plants that are beneficial for lake ecosystems.



At Timarpur Lake, a team of about 50 laborers is trying to wrap up the work at the sewage treatment plant that will supply recycled water to the lake. The huge iron gate of the site which reads in Hindi Work in Progress. Accident Prone Area is scheduled to open to the public this year.
A longstanding demand for a census of castes is looming large over the politics of Bihar, Maharashtra and Odisha.



While Bihar is all set to hold a caste census, Maharashtra and Odisha have been demanding such a count ahead of the 2024 general elections.



According to television news channel NDTV, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai had informed the Lok Sabha last year that in the census, castes and tribes specifically notified as Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) according to the Constitution, as amended from time to time, have been enumerated.



In 2011, the United Progressive Alliance government had conducted a socio-economic and caste census. However, the data was never released citing errors in enumeration.



Before the 2011 census, full caste data had officially been collated only in 1931.



Here we take a look at why Bihar, Maharashtra, and Odisha have been batting for a caste census.



Bihar



The move has been seen by many as the Nitish Kumar governments bid to attract voters ahead of the 2024 polls. Petitioners have argued that the survey is against the constitutional mandate. However, according to PTI, the Chief Minister said the state is not conducting a caste census but collecting information on the economic status and caste of people for their upliftment. The exercise was held for a population of 12.7 crore across the 38 districts of Bihar. It was completed by May 2023.



According to an India Today report, Kumar believes a caste census would enable a detailed enumeration of OBCs and help identify sections that remain off the governments social welfare radar or have benefited less. Those supporting the census have argued that this exercise will especially help those that have historically faced marginalisation and been disadvantaged socially and economically.



Maharashtra



The state government had filed a petition seeking information on the Backward Class of Citizens (BCC) in Census 2021. The demand has once again come to haunt the central government ahead of the upcoming general elections. The Hindustan Times reported that although Marathas dominate the states politics, OBCs are considered to be the largest social bloc. They are estimated to occupy 52% of the states population. However, this figure is based on the 1931 data and is nearly a century old. The census will lead to a new wave of awareness and unification among the OBCs, who will demand their share of power and resources, Shiv Sena leader Haribhau Rathod had stated in the report. The move may pit OBCs against dominant sections such as the Marathas.



Odisha



The survey, being conducted by the Odisha State Commission for Backward Classes, concluded in May. According to Jagran English, the survey looked at various indicators of backwardness such as occupation and education. It aims to find out the social and educational status of backward classes. It is crucial for focused planning for their socio-economic development. The survey data will help us plan for OBCs better, state minister Jagannath Sarka was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times.



According to the New Indian Express, the ruling BJD has always supported a caste census. It felt a focused programme for the welfare of backward castes cannot be formulated in the absence of reliable data.



Centre against holding a caste census



The Centre had said conducting a caste survey during the national census is challenging due to various issues. "There are administrative, legal, and technical issues involved in conducting a caste census. There are several castes that are not in the central OBC list but under state OBC lists. Besides, there are several non-OBC castes that want to be included in the OBC category. All these make it difficult for the Centre to conduct a caste-based census," BJP OBC Morcha president K Laxman told the Economic Times.
Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar held bilateral meetings with ministerial delegations and senior representatives from Bangladesh, South Korea, France and Turkiye, according to an official release.



During meetings, a range of potential areas of collaboration such as Digital Public Infrastructures, India Stack, Artificial Intelligence, skilling and cybersecurity were explored.



"Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar held bilateral meetings with the ministerial delegations and other senior representatives from Bangladesh, South Korea, France, and Turkiye at the fourth meeting of G20 Digital Economy Working Group," the release said.



Chandrasekhar met and interacted with Zunaid Ahmed Palak, State Minister for ICT, Bangladesh, and had a discussion focused on potential collaborations around India Stack, cybersecurity, and skilling.



During the meeting, Chandrasekhar said the partnership between India and Bangladesh will rewrite the narratives about South Asia.



The minister also held a bilateral meeting with Henri Verdier, Ambassador for the Ministry of Digital Affairs, France. The interaction revolved around how technologies such as AI are transforming the lives of citizens.



"There's an opportunity for like-minded partners like India and France to help countries who want to digitise their government and economy through DPIs such as India Stack," Chandrasekhar said.



During his meeting with Mehmet Fatih Kacir, Minister of Industry and Technology, Turkiye, Chandrasekhar highlighted that the future of technology cannot be shaped by a few countries and companies, and needs to be more inclusive.



"The minister held a bilateral meeting with Jin-bae Hong, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Science and ICT, South Korea, with the discussions revolving around the deep relationship between India and South Korea in the broad technology space, especially electronics," the release said.



The ministers also talked about the need for a safe and trusted internet.



"The growth of this partnership can have a bigger impact on the world," Chandrasekhar said.
Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda" on August 18 said that his government plans to increase the export of electricity to neighbouring India from 450 MW to 10,000 MW in the next 10 years and the two nations have already signed a preliminary bilateral agreement for it.



Addressing the 38th anniversary of the Nepal Electricity Authority, Prachanda said that Nepal is transforming in the sector of hydropower and it will further create a conducive environment for attracting foreign investment.



"Our country is preparing and waiting with keen interest for larger economic transformation through speedy development of hydro-electricity and its maximum internal consumption in the coming decade," he said.



"Though Nepal is currently exporting around 450 MW of electricity to India we are aimed at taking the power export to 10,000 MW in the next ten years period for which Nepal and India have already signed a preliminary bilateral agreement," Prachanda said.



Prachanda also mentioned that during his recent visit to India, he had a discussion with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on clean energy.



The understanding we had during my meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India as a milestone towards achieving long-term power trade to have access to the international market for our surplus electricity," he pointed out.



This has been regarded as an important milestone in the area of the power sector in the South Asian region. This has not only created a more conducive environment for attracting foreign investment in the hydropower sector but also encouraged for construction of international transmission networks to facilitate long-term power trade and to formulate reliable work plans, for which we need collaboration among the concerned ministry and all other concerned agencies, he further said.



Prachanda also said that to give a concrete shape to agreements reached with India, the authorities from both sides are in constant touch. "Our concerned bodies are regularly in touch and in coordination with the Indian side. Besides, to achieve this objective necessary works for planning and construction of international transmission lines are in progress from both countries, he said.



Necessary works have been expedited from both countries towards the completion of the 400 KV Butawal- Gorakhpur transmission line in the near future and I have also given instructions to formulate plans for the construction of additional two 400 KV transmission lines, Inaruwa Purniya and Dodhara Bareilly within two months by activating energy-secretary level mechanism, he said. Prachanda also said that Nepal will come up with a policy soon on the production and utilisation of green energy.



Prachanda also said that final preparations are underway for signing an agreement among the concerned agencies of Nepal, India, and Bangladesh with the aim of starting Nepal-Bangladesh power trade within this rainy season. "A situation has arisen in which Nepal and Bangladesh can enjoy a substantial amount of power trade through forging a trilateral agreement for constructing international transmission lines, he said.



We are also planning to have a connection with Northern neighbour China through the construction of 220 KV Chilime- Kerung transmission line and we are moving towards implementing the project after completing its feasibility study, Prachanda said. The Prime Minister has also expressed confidence that during his upcoming China visit in September, long-term and significant agreements will be signed on the power sector.



Prachanda will visit the US and China, towards the end of September. Prachanda will first visit the US to participate in the 78th General Assembly of the United Nations, which is scheduled to take place towards the third week of September.



After his address to the UN General Assembly, Prachanda will leave for China, according to informed sources close to the prime minister.
The Delhi Police on Friday said they are coordinating with security agencies and are fully prepared for the upcoming G20 summit which is going to be held next month.



Police have also worked on the soft skills of the staff which will be deployed during the summit, they said. Delhi Police spokesperson Suman Nalwa said that the city police is working for last several months to prepare for the programme.



Delhi Police has been working for G20 for several months. The initial planning in connection with this started long back and now it is in the last phase as less than a month is left. We are prepared and are coordinating with other security agencies.



We are very focused on the training of the staff which will be deployed. First of all, they were trained on soft skills so that whenever they interact with a dignitary, tourist or media person, they should know what to keep in mind as people are coming from culturally different places, Nalwa said.



They have also been trained about specific duty points, she said. Our commando team is all set. Adequate arrangements have been made at the airport, carcade, place of stay, venue, or wherever they (dignitaries) will travel. Several units of Delhi Police, including training, traffic, law and order, armed battalions, Special Cell etc are working with other agencies, she said. According to police, 19 women commandos of the Delhi Police trained as markswomen.



They have taken a one-month training from the Indo Tibetan Border Police Force, Madhya Pradesh. Commandos and VIP security duty personnel from various CAPFs like the CRPF, ITBP, BSF, CISF and the SSB have been called to Delhi from their various field formations to render protocol and protection duties during the G20 Leaders Summit to be held here on September 9-10 at the Bharat Mandapam convention centre, earlier Pragati Maidan, and some other vital locations.



These special units, including that of the Delhi Police, will function under the central command of the Ministry of Home Affairs till the G20 meet gets over and all the premiers and dignitaries have left for their destinations.
In the greatest car chase ever committed to celluloid, for the 1968 thriller Bullitt, the audience is prompted to root for the Mustang Fastback GT390 over the Dodge Charger 440 Magnum R/T. The Mustang, in a classy olive green, is as sleek and sexy as its driver, Steve McQueen, who plays the eponymous hero-cop. Stuntman Bill Hickman, playing one of the bad guys, drives the Charger, its sinister black livery echoing his suit and driving gloves, its severe lines mirroring the squareness of his jaw.



After 10 minutes of mounting tension, the chase ends with the Charger slamming into a gas station and erupting in a fireball. The Mustang careens off the road, but our hero brings it under control just before it can tip into a ditch.



The audience is meant to be relieved that the good guy wins. Me, from the first time I saw the movie in my teens and having since watched the chase sequence hundreds of times on YouTube, Ive always regretted that the better car loses.



Not that Id have liked to see McQueen or his wheels going up in flames  but the Charger deserved a better fate. In my entirely subjective opinion, it was the most iconic representation of an American archetype: the muscle car. At the peak of the categorys first golden era, around the time Bullitt

was made, you could argue that the Mustang and Camaro were more beautiful, the Pontiac GTO and Chevy Chevelle classier  but for brute musculature, there was no matching the Charger. That is why it was a Hollywood favorite, especially as a ride for characters, good or bad, who are meant to convey menace.



That era was long gone by the time I could afford a car, and I had neither the nous nor the nerve to buy a used 68 Magnum: The thrill of ownership would be canceled out by the cost and complications of maintenance. When the second golden age of the muscle car came around in the mid-2010s, middle-aged caution (or just plain cowardice) prevented me from taking a chance on a brand-new, 700-horsepower Charger Hellcat. But the Charger remained the only car on my bucket list.



Alas, I left it too late. Stellantis, the conglomerate that now owns Dodge, will retire the gas-powered Charger, along with its sister badge Challenger, at the end of this year. Chevrolet will also discontinue production of the Camaro, the staple of Nascar tracks, in January. Ford is making a last stand with the Mustang, but gearheads expect the 2024 GT model, a descendant of McQueens ride, to be the last mass-manufactured gasoline-powered pony car.



The reasons are not hard to guess. The first generation of muscle cars was muzzled by new emissions standards in the 1970s, along with the spike in the price of gas caused by the oil shock. These days, the automobile industry is being compelled, as much by social mores as by emissions laws, to sunset the internal combustion engine, or ICE. Consumers are embracing electric vehicles, encouraged by falling prices and the growing (if questionable) consensus that they are the solution to climate change.



The muscle-car makers that are retiring their gas-powered vehicles this year say they will return with EV versions. Mustang has already launched the Mach-E, but it is an SUV.



And so, the end is nigh for the second golden age of the muscle car. Will there can there  be a third? Automotive writer Sue Callaway says we can count on it. There will always be demand: The muscle car represents rebellion from the boring-ness of the family sedan or SUV, and some people will always want that, she says. Callaway, who runs Glovebox Media, a consulting and content creation firm, reckons carmakers will not long resist the temptation to satisfy that craving.



But can an electric vehicle be a real muscle car? That question is at the heart of what McKeel Hagerty, CEO of Hagerty Insurance, describes as a holy war between those who believe in the EV and those who swear by the ICE. For a man who makes a living from auctioning antique cars, though, he seems to favor the first group. I like the internal combustion engine, but EV cars are a lot of fun to drive, he says.



Hagerty points out that electric engines easily beat ICEs for acceleration  what engineers know as torque, and the rest of us call good pickup. That, he says, is at the heart of the appeal of the muscle car. Its the feeling of being pushed back in the drivers seat when you push down on the gas: Thats not horsepower, thats sheer torque, he says. And EVs have massive torque.



But theres more to muscle cars than acceleration. Theres an ineffable quality of wildness. Theres something inherently visceral, even hormonal, says Callaway. It speaks to the more is more American mentality.



And then theres the sound  as much as anything else, it is the growl and roar of a big engine that makes a muscle car. For much of that car chase in Bullitt, theres no dialogue and no music, just the noise of two powerful cars, punctuated only by the squeal of tires. Engineers developing EVs that aspire to muscle status acknowledge that reproducing that noise is key to the drivers experience. Mustangs solution is to pipe in artificial sound through the Mach-Es speakers, which doesnt do much for authenticity. Other EV makers, including Ferrari and Jaguar, face the same problem.



Matt McAlear, head of Dodge brand sales at Stellantis, says the company is developing an exhaust that will generate the growl associated with muscle cars. Any EV the company launches will look like a Dodge, drive like a Dodge and sound like a Dodge, he says. But strictly speaking, EVs need no exhaust since batteries produce no gases, so this, too, may feel contrived.



Still, given Dodges credentials in the muscle-car space, many gearheads are holding out hope for its first EV, the Charger Daytona SRT. I cant wait to see it, says Craig Jackson, chairman of Barrett-Jackson, the preeminent automobile auctioneer. Given their mentality, I can bet it will smoke the tires.



McAlear promises it will come with the big, blocky, bold, in-your-face Charger look.



Hmmm, maybe Ill leave the Charger on my bucket list just a little longer.



Bobby Ghosh is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering foreign affairs. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication.



Credit: Bloomberg
The leaders of Japan and South Korea arrive at Camp David on Friday for a historic trilateral summit this weekend with relations between the USs two most important allies in Asia at a new dawn.



Ties between Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and President Yoon Suk Yeol have improved at a scarcely believable clip in the past five months, ever since the two countries reached a deal to put grievances over forced wartime labor behind them. A flurry of meetings  beers in Tokyo, bomb shots in Seoul and an invite to the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima  have brought the leaders closer than Washington could have hoped.



Just days after the countries recognised (in very different ways) the anniversary of the end of World War II, Kishida and Yoon will meet with US President Joe Biden not to retread the bitter memories of Japans occupation of its neighbor or discuss some new apology for the war, but to confront the far more pressing issues they both face now: an increasingly aggressive China, a nuclear-armed North Korea and a world where another war feels gradually more possible.



But heres the thing about dawns: Inevitably, they lead again to nightfall. The three heads of state must ensure that this rapprochement can survive.



Together with Washington, Tokyo and Seoul have moved from addressing difficult and sensitive issues of history to an increasingly ambitious and affirmative agenda, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this week. Yoon deserves the credit: He took the politically risky decision to restore ties with Japan without demanding some new gesture of apology. Thats paved the way for the nations to normalise diplomatic and trade ties. But a majority of the public opposes it; his critics deemed it the most humiliating moment in the countrys history.



Even in its own self-interest, Japan must find a way to reciprocate and ensure Yoon gets something from the detente. However, that should not come in the form of apologies or retreads of history: Yoon has boldly separated his countrys economic and political future from backward-looking demands for recompense and regret. Even if some issues remain unresolved, the two countries need to unlink their shared pasts and futures.



Though Yoon deserves the plaudits that will accompany a successful summit (at least in Tokyo and Washington, if not at home), success will, ironically, only be confirmed if this thaw can outlast him. The leaders are all too aware of what tends to happen historically: a change of leadership in Seoul, a return to a focus on prior feuds and more distrust on both sides.



Thats what happened to the final and irreversible 2015 agreement

on comfort women, a euphemism for those trafficked to army brothels during Imperial Japans occupation, which the government of Yoons predecessor, Moon Jae-in, swiftly abandoned. It gummed up the gears of relations for years, with the nations engaging in tit-for-tat trade disputes.



Bidens presence has helped provide a backdrop of stability that is a marked difference to his predecessors haphazard foreign policy in Asia. But theres a real chance that Donald Trump might return to the White House, bringing one or both of his fire and fury or love letter approaches to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Yoons presidency runs until 2027, but hes limited to this one term; and though the Japanese public admires how Kishida has handled the South Korea matter, his domestic support is flagging. While personal ties between leaders are important, this relationship must survive once the three men have departed office.



Despite what Beijings mouthpieces might say, theres no talk of forming an Asian NATO just yet. The steps likely to be announced this weekend are tamer, such as making the summit an annual event and setting up a three-way hotline between Japan, South Korea and the US. China will be critical of any statement the nations issue, but it will work very hard to try to engage both Korea and Japan to balance US diplomacy, Victor Cha, the senior vice president for Asia at the Center for Strategic & International Studies think tank, said at a recent press briefing.



But as the latest US steps to restrict investment in Chinese tech firms show, the world is being drawn ever further into opposing camps. Yoon might pitch his country as a global pivot state that can maintain smoother relations with China than others, but tough choices are looming, including US chip restrictions on Beijing. As Seouls Indo-Pacific strategy released last year shows, it is moving closer to the broader Asian stance articulated by Japan and the US. The three countries will likely expand their cooperation across Southeast Asia.



That leaves much ground to cover this weekend. The leaders will discuss their cooperation on Ukraine and a new world of supply chains. A possible

North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile test ahead of or during the summit might focus thoughts on how to deal with Pyongyangs threat. But for once, its not the past thats on the agenda. Thats reason enough to be optimistic.



Gearoid Reidy is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Japan and the Koreas. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication.



Credit: Bloomberg
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The enactment of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act by Parliament recently marks a watershed moment in the way Indian businesses deal with personal data. Up to now, companies doing business outside India treaded the path of complying with foreign data privacy laws. Other Indian businesses mostly focused on having a privacy policy that was based on a boilerplate draft. This law is unique in the sense that it covers an area of law that largely did not exist in India till now.

How do Indian businesses go about this? To understand the law, some basic terminology first. There are three key actors in data privacy  the data fiduciary, who collects the personal data or on whose behest it is collected, the data principal, whose data is being collected and the data processor, who processes the data on behalf of the data fiduciary.

The first thing that a data fiduciary must do is to make a paradigm shift in its mindset towards dealing with personal data. Personal data needs to be dealt with carefully and managed through its entire life cycle of collection, storage and processing, and until it is finally deleted. This involves enabling systems that can manage personal data whether it relates to customers, service providers or employees or across different functions, whether relating to sales, HR or finance.

Next, data fiduciaries must work out what personal data it needs and for what purpose and must document that in a privacy policy. The description of the personal data being collected and the purposes for which it is used should not be vague and general but should be as granular as possible. The data fiduciary has to communicate this to the data principal in the form of a notice.

GDPR Influence

The business should in most cases obtain consent from the data principal to use the personal data and for the purpose mentioned in the notice. This consent must be freely given, specific, informed, unconditional, and an unambiguous indication of consent and through a clear affirmative action. This language is mostly borrowed from the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union. The EU has developed substantial jurisprudence on what this means. For example, purposes must be mentioned with some granularity and generally, each purpose must be consented to separately. Further, where the user has no choice but to consent, especially for a purpose that is not necessary for the specific function for which the personal data is collected, this may not amount to free consent.

The law does allow other grounds for processing of personal data, that is, without obtaining consent, but they are fairly limited. One can process personal data when required to comply with a law or a court order. For example, a listed company need not obtain consent from a shareholder in order to collect personal data of a shareholder where such processing is in order to fulfil Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Know Your Client (KYC) requirements.

Gaps In Drafting

One can process personal data when provided voluntarily by a data principal if the data principal does not object to its use. The provision is not well drafted and not easy to understand. It appears to apply when the personal data is given on the initiative of the data principal or when it is given automatically, such as when a data principal goes to a pharmacy and provides her personal information in the course of purchasing medicine.

Under the new law, data principals can not only ask what personal data of theirs is being stored by the data fiduciary but have a right to ask for it to be corrected or updated. Further, an individual can also ask for personal data to be deleted when the purpose for which it was collected has been served. In addition, the data fiduciary would have to delete the data on its own once the purpose for collecting such personal data has been served. This would require a periodic review of the personal data being stored to determine whether the personal data is still required or to build automated processes to delete personal data.

Accordingly, there is a need to be extremely strict and disciplined when dealing with personal data. It must be stored in well-structured systems that ensure its proper management. In this regard, the law does give sanctity to the concept of a consent manager  a third party which will manage the consent process. These rights do not apply in some situations, especially when consent is not required.

The requirement of deletion could have a profound impact on big data where the data is not anonymised. Data-based decisions must be made after ensuring completeness, accuracy and consistency of the data. A key right in the EU, not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing has not been provided in this law. While the law requires that personal data be used only for purposes that are specified in the notice, the law is somewhat unclear about imposing a reasonableness or legitimacy standard for those purposes. Overall, the law appears to be reasonably friendly towards AI and big data.

A data fiduciary also has an obligation to apply reasonable security standards for safeguarding the personal data that it collects and processes. If it does not do so, it could face consequences under the law. The maximum penalty that can be imposed is Rs 250 crore! Further, if a data breach or even a vulnerability occurs, the data fiduciary needs to inform not just the regulator but the concerned data principal. A data fiduciary needs to be mindful of the reputational risk associated with being publicly known as having been the subject of a data breach.

Stricter Than GDPR

If you think this is all a tough ask, you should know that the law is simpler and less prescriptive than data privacy laws in many countries. This kind of simpler law is appropriate for a country like India for two reasons  one, because India is just starting down the road of data privacy compliance and two  because India has a huge SME sector that would struggle to comply with a more complex law.

At the same time, the law is stricter than GDPR in some ways; for example, in the EU, a business that can develop a case for it having a legitimate interest to process personal data can do so without consent. This is largely not possible in India. Further, in the EU, a data breach needs to be reported only to the regulator and individuals only where the data fiduciary concludes that the breach could result in a risk to the rights and freedoms of the individual.

The government has given itself the power to exempt classes of data fiduciaries from provisions of the law. This includes start-ups, which have been specifically mentioned. The definition of who constitutes a start-up will be notified separately. The government has announced that it intends to bring the law into force within 10 months. It is hoped that it would notify as soon as possible when the substantive provisions will come into force so industry has time to prepare with a target date in mind. Its now time for every Indian business to begin that journey towards compliance with data privacy regulation.

Stephen Mathias is a partner, Technology Law Practice at Kochhar & Co. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication.
About 12 per cent of sitting MPs of Rajya Sabha are billionaires with Andhra Pradesh and Telangana having the highest percentage of such parliamentarians, according to the Association for Democratic Reforms.



The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and the National Election Watch (NEW) have analysed and updated the criminal, financial and other background details of 225 out of 233 Rajya Sabha MPs.



In the current Rajya Sabha, one seat is vacant According to the report, 5 (45 per cent) out of 11 MPs from Andhra Pradesh, 3 (43 per cent) out of 7 MPs from Telangana, 3 (16 per cent) out of 19 MPs from Maharashtra, 1 (33 per cent) out of 3 MPs from Delhi, 2 (29 per cent) out of 7 MPs from Punjab, 1 (20 per cent) out of 5 MPs from Haryana and 2 (18 per cent) out of 11 MPs from Madhya Pradesh have declared assets worth more than Rs 100 crore.



The total assets of seven Members of Parliament (MPs) analysed from Telangana is Rs 5,596 crore, that of 11 MPs from Andhra Pradesh is Rs 3,823 crore, and 30 MPs analysed from Uttar Pradesh have total assets worth Rs 1,941 crore.



Out of the 225 Rajya Sabha sitting MPs analysed, 75 (33 per cent) have declared criminal cases against themselves.



Also about 41 (18 per cent) Rajya Sabha sitting MPs have declared serious criminal cases and two members have declared cases related to murder (IPC section 302).



Four Rajya Sabha sitting MPs have declared cases related to crimes against women. Out of 4 MPs, one Rajya Sabha sitting MP -- Congress' K C Venugopal -- from Rajasthan has declared case related to rape (IPC section 376). About 23 (27 per cent) out of 85 Rajya Sabha MPs from BJP, 12 (40 per cent) out of 30 MPs from Congress, 4 (31 per cent) out of 13 MPs from AITC, 5 (83 per cent) out of 6 MPs from RJD, 4 (80 per cent) out of 5 MPs from CPI(M), 3 (30 per cent) out of 10 MPs from AAP, 3 (33 per cent) out of 9 MPs from YSRCP, and 2 (67 per cent) out of 3 Rajya Sabha MPs from the NCP have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Friday said the continued attacks on Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan navy shows the Union government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was "weak". Chairing a fishermen's welfare conference here, he reiterated that retrieval of Katchatheevu, an island ceded to Sri Lanka by way of mutual agreements in 1974, was the permanent solution for the plaguing fishermen issue. Stalin, who is the ruling DMK President, also said his father and late chief minister M Karunanidhi had provided a report that Katchatheevu belongs to India. Stalin, who is the ruling DMK President, also said his father and late chief minister M Karunanidhi had provided a report that Katchatheevu belongs to India. The Chief Minister's reference regarding the ceding of the island comes days after PM Modi said it was the Indira Gandhi government which gave the Katchatheevu Island to Sri Lanka in 1974. Modi had also said the current DMK government in Tamil Nadu keeps writing to him urging to retrieve the island. Stalin further alleged attacks on Indian fishermen from the state by the Lankan navy has increased during the current NDA regime. The conference condemned the harassment of and attacks on Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan navy.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday urged BJP's 'Zila Panchayat' members to work to make various development initiatives a mass movement, asserting that "lamp of development has to be lit up in every village, tehsil and district to make India a developed country" by 2047.



Addressing virtually a "Kshetriya Panchayati Raj Parishad" of local body members drawn from several states, including Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, he said 'sabka saath, sabka vikas' is not merely a slogan for the BJP and they should live it every moment.



The conclave is being held at Dadar and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu where BJP president J P Nadda was also present during the prime minister's address.



Citing his own experience first as chief minister and then as prime minister, Modi said those serving in different positions at local bodies should take up some work for their villages and districts as a priority and go all out to make it a success by getting people's support.



Upon coming to power at the Centre, Modi said he decided to build toilets and open bank accounts for the poor.



He urged Zila Panchayat members to hold meetings to take up three projects as a priority every year while noting that fund for local bodies has risen manifold and resources are not a constraint.



"Earlier, the grant used to be of Rs 70,000 crore but it is now over Rs 3 lakh crore. We have built over 30,000 Zila Panchayat buildings, he said, stressing on using part of MNREGA budget for asset creation as well.



He noted that BJP members from local bodies have been holding similar workshops and said the party does not do it for winning polls but to work towards making India a developed country by 2047.
Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Friday announced that if his party comes to power in Punjab in 2027, it will terminate all river water-sharing agreements with any state.



"The Shiromani Akali Dal, on coming to power in 2027, will terminate all water sharing agreements of Punjab signed by any government at any point of time, with any state," Badal said.



He said the neighbouring states, especially Rajasthan, has no right on Punjab waters, "but it is unfortunate that it is unduly getting nearly half of our total water".



"Now when Punjab is suffering from severe floods, caused due to heavy rains in Himachal, none of these neighbouring states has come forward to receive the extra water to rescue our human lives, land and livestock. We will set things right, it's my commitment to the Punjabis," he told reporters during a party event in Jalandhar.



He said Punjab has an inalienable right over the river waters flowing across it and added the Riparian Principle also makes this quite clear.



Earlier in 2004 when the government led by Amarinder Singh, who was then in the Congress, was in power, the state Assembly in July 2004 had enacted the Punjab Termination of Agreement Act, annulling all inter-state agreements signed by Punjab relating to sharing of Ravi and Beas waters.



However, a constitutional bench of the Supreme Court, while answering the Presidential Reference on November 11, 2016, had held that the Punjab Termination of Agreement Act, 2004 was unconstitutional.



Badal, while speaking about the recent floods and how they had ravaged the state, said, "When there is flooding, we lose lives and our crops and households. But when there is need for water, the same is diverted to Rajasthan and Haryana. This is a great injustice which we will not tolerate".



According to a party statement, he alleged that previous Congress governments had robbed the state of its waters by allocating 8 MAF out of 15.85 MAF Ravi-Beas waters to Rajasthan.



Badal also said the SAD had fought a relentless battle to thwart the construction of the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal and had even achieved success in this.



"Former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal even succeeded in getting the Punjab Sutlej Yamuna Link Canal Land Bill, 2016 approved in the Vidhan Sabha following which all land acquired for construction of the SYL canal was returned to farmers," said Sukhbir Badal.



Asserting that the SAD would now take this fight further, Badal said "we are convinced that all water sharing agreements were unfairly thrust onto Punjab by successive Congress governments and are against the laws of natural justice and deserve to be terminated. We are seeking legal counsel and will move in this direction once we form the next government in the State".



Badal also condemned Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for allegedly willfully allowing the submergence of vast tracts of land in Punjab by failing to act on the BBMB's advice to take due caution before opening of the flood gates of the Bhakra dam three days back.



"I was informed by Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) authorities that they had advised the Punjab government to take cautionary measures four days before opening of the flood gates," he said.
JD(S) has constituted a new 21-member core committee under the chairmanship of former minister and senior MLA GT Devegowda aimed at facing the upcoming elections effectively and strengthening the party. Former MLA YSV Datta has been appointed convener of the core committee. Interestingly, no family member of the party patriarch and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda are part of the core committee. Speaking to reporters after a meeting of party leaders including Legislature Party Leader and former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Friday, JD(S) state President CM Ibrahim said the core committee has been formed on the directive of party patriarch HD Deve Gowda. He said that the selection of the new president and members of the core committee was finalised in the party leaders' meeting held on August 7 under the leadership of HD Deve Gowda, the party's national president. The 21-member core committee consists of former ministers Sa Ra Mahesh, Bandeppa Khashempur, H K Kumaraswamy, Venkatrao Nadagouda, C S Puttaraju, Alcode Hanumanthappa, also several MLAs, MLCs and leaders of the party, he said, adding that the core committee has been given full authority. The meeting discussed about organising and strengthening the party, preparing for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as well as Taluk, Panchayat, Zilla Panchayat and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) polls and selection of candidates, Ibrahim said. Party leaders will tour the state from August 20 to September 30 under the leadership of GT Devegowda, he added. He said office bearers of the party would be changed after getting a report from the committee in September.

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The entire police force of Goodhue, a quiet Minnesotan town in US with just over 1,000 residents, has collectively resigned from their positions, leaving the community on the brink of a public safety crisis. The exodus, attributed to issues surrounding inadequate compensation of $22/hour (over Rs 1,800) thrusts the town into uncertainty as authorities scramble to find solutions. Mayor Ellen Anderson Buck addressed the abrupt departure in a City Council meeting on Monday. The meeting, originally scheduled to discuss salary increases for the police department, became an impromptu platform for her to reveal the unprecedented resignation. "This is heartbreaking to us," Buck said, Associated Press reported. Goodhue Police Chief Josh Smith, who tendered his resignation on August 9, cited the glaring wage disparity as a decisive factor. Smith bemoaned the hourly wage of $22 that he and his colleagues received, significantly lagging behind the $30-per-hour minimum offered by other departments in other states. "There's zero incentive to come out here to a small town, low pay, being on call, affecting your free time and everything else," Smith stated. Smith's decision to step down set off a chain reaction, as another full-time officer and five part-time employees followed suit. The council had granted officers a 5% pay increase and awarded Smith a $13,000 raise earlier this year, catching the members off guard when the mass resignations happened. The police department will remain operational until August 24, providing a short window for potential solutions, NBC news reported. In the interim, the Goodhue County Sheriff's Office has pledged its support to ensure public safety. "We are committed to finding a path forward that ensures the safety and well-being of our residents," the city Mayor said.

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The emergence and growth in the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) industry has meant that the general public has been able to reduce its dependency on cash payments and opted for cashless transactions using different UPI applications.



However, not all stakeholders have opened up to the idea of UPI payments as was evident from a recent incident when a Bengaluru man took to X (formerly Twitter) to say that many auto drivers in Mumbai were not in favour of accepting payments made through UPI, while auto drivers in Bengaluru were more open to accepting payments made through the cashless transaction mode.



"It's funny how Mumbai is the 'Financial Capital' of India but 99% of rickshaw and taxi valas don't accept UPI. Heck, several shops and popular establishments like Rustom Ice Cream and Kyani only deal in cash. Come to Bengaluru and every rickshaw has like 3 different QR codes," the man wrote.



The man's post saw several comments, with many users slamming him for his words.



"Like everyone else has commented on the thread, this is not true at all. Most taxis/autos switched to UPI at least 2 years ago. Its another story that sometimes you have to ask them a couple of times before they take out a QR code from somewhere," one user wrote.



"75 per cent rickshaws accept UPI. It's only the very old folks who refuse to change (includes the restros mentioned). I have been cash free since forever," another user wrote.



"The fares of rickshaw wallahs in Bangalore are such that they can't manage to keep the cash with them," a third user wrote.



This is not the first time that users have had differing opinions as far as experience with auto drivers in major Indian cities are concerned.



In July, a Mumbai man shared his experience of how an Ola auto driver in Bengaluru had cancelled his ride at first, but agreed to take him to destination if the person paid him Rs 100 more than the actual fare.
Elon Musk, the billionaire Tesla and SpaceX CEO, has lauded the presidential candidacy of Indian-American entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy from the Republican party. Musk's endorsement comes with a video of an interview conducted by former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson, during which Ramaswamy outlined his vision for the United States. Calling him a "very promising candidate," Musk shared his sentiments while reposting a snippet of the interview on X, formerly Twitter. Ramaswamy is the youngest Republican presidential contender at 37. He is a very promising candidate https://t.co/bEQU8L21nd  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 17, 2023 This commendation stands as an intriguing development given the history between Musk and Ramaswamy. Several months ago, the Republican leader castigated Musk's interactions with Chinese ministers during a trip to China. Musk, who had met China's Foreign Minister and announced plans to expand his business in the country, drew criticism from Ramaswamy, who accused China of manipulating prominent American business leaders to advance its agenda. "It's deeply concerning that Elon Musk met with China's foreign minister...," Ramaswamy voiced his apprehension at the time. Ramaswamy, dubbed by the New Yorker magazine as the "CEO of Anti-Woke Inc," is setting his sights on the 2024 US presidential election. The move placed him in the company of fellow Indian-Americans, Nikki Haley and Hirsh Vardhan Singh. Ramaswamy was raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, and hails from a family of Indian immigrants - his father an engineer at General Electric and his mother a geriatric psychiatrist. A self-proclaimed "capitalist and citizen," Ramaswamy's studied at Harvard and Yale universities and reportedly has a net worth exceeding $500 million. Ramaswamy initially made waves in the biotech sector, achieving success as a drug entrepreneur. He established Roivant Sciences in 2014, garnering recognition for developing five FDA-approved drugs. Read: 10 points on Vivek Ramaswamy, a Republican primaries candidate running for US president In 2022, he ventured into asset management with Strive Asset Management, an entity dedicated to refocusing companies on excellence over politics, as per his official website.

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Move over, LOL. Theres a new acronym in town to denote laughter and it is quickly becoming a favourite with Gen-Z. IJBOL, which stands for I just burst out laughing, seems to be fast replacing LOL as the laughter acronym of choice in internet slang. LOL or laugh out loud has long been the acronym most people use to describe their reaction to something funny over a text message or social media post. Other acronyms like ROFL (rolling on the floor laughing) and LMAO (laughing my a** off) also cropped up to represent humour, but LOL retained its stronghold  until now. According to several reports, IJBOL has captured the fancy of Generation-Z who feel like it better represents their reaction to seeing something funny on the internet. Ellie Jocson, a 25-year-old bank analyst in Manila, told The New York Times that IJBOL has become her go-to since it better reflects what goes on behind the screen. Im usually just quiet and then I let out a snort, she explained. 27-year-old content creator Michael Messineo concurred. I dont LMAO. Its just not what I do, he told The New York Times. I associate LMAO with millennial humor. But then I associate IJBOL with Gen Z humor, which is funnier. According to Mashable, the earliest instance of IJBOL being used online probably dates back to 2009, but it only gained traction in the K-Pop fan community last year. From there on, it went more mainstream and exploded in popularity.

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The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on August 18 modified the order of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) from July 26, to permit engine lessor Engine Lease Finance BV to carry out inspection of their four engines leased to the grounded airline Go First.



The Resolution Professional (RP) of the airline has been asked to communication the date of inspection in 10 days from today.



The appellate tribunal further noted that it does not approve the order of NCLT, which refused to permit the engine lessor from inspecting the engines they have leased out. The appellate tribunal also urged the NCLT to dispose off the applications by lessors soon considering the huge stakes involved in the case.



Appearing for the engine lessor, lawyer Anand Venkatramani argued that each of the engine that has been leased out to Go First is valued at $15 million and it is important they be permitted to inspect them. He told the court that the Resolution Professional (RP) of the airline had written to Go First in June 2023 intimating the lessor that they maybe permitted to inspect them, however the same was not acted upon.



Anandh also argued that while Delhi High Court has permitted inspections of the aircraft, the NCLT has not done so. According to the lessor, NCLT has passed orders on aspects that were not even pleaded in the application.



Appearing for the RP, senior advocate Ramji Srinivasan argued that the order of NCLT is only a prima facie view and not a final one. He informed the court that the NCLT is likely to commence its final hearing on the pleas by lessors on September 1 and urged NCLAT not to interfere in the case.



The NCLAT, however, noted that the engine lessor must be permitted to carry out inspection of the engines they have leased out.



The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on July 26 refused to restrain Go First from using leased aircraft for its operations, noting that those aircraft are essential to keep Go First as a going concern company.



According to the tribunal's order "the DGCA has not

deregistered the aircraft, which means that they are available to Go First for use to resume operations. Therefore, as long as the aircrafts/engines are registered, they can be used for operating or flying to keep Go First as a going concern, however, within the safeguards/safety norms prescribed by the regulators."



The NCLT also dismissed the plea by lessors to inspect their aircraft and engine and held that they have in their previous order from June 15 already directed the Resolution Professional (RP) to maintain the same. The tribunal has granted relief to the lessors only to the extent of protection and maintenance of the aircraft/engines by the RP.
Jalan Kalrock Consortium (JKC), the successful resolution applicant of grounded airline Jet Airways, on August 19 sought an extension of time at the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) to make the Rs 350-crore payment that the Committee of Creditors (CoC) demanded that they pay to show bonafide.



The CoC had asked the money be paid by August 31, but JKC has now sought a different schedule. The NCLAT has asked JKC to file an application stating their stand in 24 hours and posted the case for hearing on August 21.



During the hearing today, senior advocate Ravishankar Prasad appearing for JKC argued that they will deposit Rs 100 crore by August 31 and another Rs 100 crore by September 30. According to JKC, there is a bank guarantee lying in favour of the CoC that can be encashed to total the Rs 350-crore demand.



JKC demanded the CoC to ensure that the ownership of the airline to the maximum extent possible. He informed the appellate tribunal that JKC is committed to resuming Jet Airways operations.



Appearing for the CoC, Additional Solicitor General N Venkatraman argued that the infusion of Rs 350 crore is only the first step towards the transfer of equity shares. He informed the court that JKC will have to undertake many other tasks before the equity shares are transferred.



According to Venkatraman, the bank guarantee of Rs 150 crore was executed for some for the resolution plan and it cannot be construed to be a part of the Rs 350 crore that the CoC asked JKC to pay.



Jet Airways employees also informed the tribunal that the consortium owes them their dues as well.



JKC's application for extension is expected to be heard on August 21.



On August 7, the CoC told the appellate tribunal that they may choose not to pursue the appeal against the transfer of the airline's ownership to Jalan Kalrock Consortium if it pays Rs 350 crore towards fulfilling condition precedents.



On July 10, the CoC told the Supreme Court the airline be wound up as the resolution plan approved by the NCLT was not workable.



A committee of creditors is formed once a company is admitted to insolvency. It is a body of financial creditors that represents the interest of stakeholders. The voting percentage in the panel is proportional to the amount a financial institution has lent to the company in insolvency.



On January 13, NCLT allowed the transfer of the beleaguered airline to the consortium led by London-based Kalrock Capital and UAE-based entrepreneur Murari Lal Jalan. However, the CoC took it to NCLAT opposing the transfer.



Jet Airways was grounded in April 2019 over growing losses and a debt of about Rs 8,000 crore. In October 2020, the airline's CoC approved the revival plan submitted by the Jalan-Kalrock consortium.
A division bench of Madras High Court on August 18 passed an interim order restraining Google from delisting the apps of a bunch of Indian startups from its Play Store.



The interim arrangement is subject to the startups paying 4 percent of the gross revenue of the downloads from Play Store to Google, and will have to submit such data to Google on the 15th of every month.



The order was passed in an appeal filed by a bunch of Indian startups challenging the order of the single judge of the Madras High Court dismissing their pleas against Google's app billing policy.



Appearing for some startups, senior advocate and former finance minister P. Chidambaram argued that the suit filed by the startups were indeed maintainable and competition act of 2002 is to be read in a way to construe that a suit can be maintained. Chidambaram was briefed by lawyer Abir Roy, a partner at law firm Sarvada Legal.



Hearing of the appeal is likely to continue on August 23.



The appeal first came up for hearing on August 11, when the court issued notice to Google. The tech giant also undertook at the court that it will not delist the applications of the startups till August 18.



On August 3, a single judge of Madras High Court dismissed 14 of the 16 pleas from Indian startups and tech companies, including Bharat Matrimony, Shaadi.com and Unacademy, against Google's app billing policy.



The court gave the order stating that the issue falls under the jurisdiction of the Competition Commission of India (CCI). The two remaining pleas, one from streaming service Disney+ Hotstar and exam preparation app Testbook, are also likely to be dismissed, Moneycontrol has learnt.



According to the High Court, since the startups alleging abuse of dominant position by Google, the CCI has jurisdiction to adjudicate on the same. The high court held that CCI is empowered to direct any enterprise guilty of abuse of dominant position to discontinue such practices, hence any order passed by CCI under such circumstances would be applicable to all the businesses. However, in case of the present proceedings, such an order will be made applicable only to the company which has challenged Google's policy.



Among other petitioners include startups such as KukuFM, TrulyMadly, QuackQuack, Pratilipi, Crafto, Tamil publisher Ananda Vikatan, streaming services like Altt, Stage and Aha and industry body Indian Digital Media Industry Foundation that represents prominent streaming services such as Zee5, SonyLIV and SunNXT.



As per the new policy, if a user pays through the alternative billing system (also termed as User Choice billing system), the transaction will still be subjected to a service fee, but at a 4 percent rate reduction. The startups have sued Google claiming that this policy amounted to Google abusing its dominant position.
The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response from the Centre on a PIL seeking a direction to decriminalise the law on statutory rape often invoked against 16- to 18-year-old adolescents for indulging in consensual sex. A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra took note of the PIL filed by lawyer Harsh Vibhore Singhal in his personal capacity. The bench has issued notices to Union ministries of law and justice and the home affairs and some other statutory bodies including the National Commission for Women. The PIL challenges the legality of statutory rape laws that criminalise consensual sex between adolescents who are above 16 years and below 18 years of age on the ground that their consent to such acts are statutorily invalid. "Pass a writ of mandamus under Article 32 or any other direction in the nature of writ and exercise its powers under 142 to decriminalise the law of statutory rape as applied to all cases of voluntary consensual sexual contact between any 16+ to <18 adolescent with another similar age adolescent and with >18 adult," the plea said. It said such adolescents possess "physiological, biological, psychological and social capacities, competence to assimilate and evaluate information to understand and comprehend risks, freedom to make informed choices to convey affirmative decisions or otherwise, and have the agency and decisional/bodily autonomy to fearlessly, freely and voluntarily do what they wish to do with their bodies."

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Aircraft lessor Wilmington Trust SP Services (Dublin) Limited argued at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on August 18 that it was an operational creditor in its own right and not the same as Aircastle (Ireland) Limited, as claimed by low-cost airline SpiceJet.



Wilmington argued that it was a trustee of Aircastle and hence its insolvency plea is maintainable and deserves a hearing by the tribunal. Wilmington's lawyer argued that a trust can classified as operational creditor under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. The lessor's lawyer Ajay Kumar took the court through various documents and agreements to establish that Wilmington is a different entity from Aircastle. He urged the court to issue notice in the plea and ask SpiceJet to file a response.



Senior advocate Krishnendu Dutta, who appeared for SpiceJet, argued that Wilmington and Aircastle were the same entity and this was the organisation's third insolvency plea against SpiceJet. He further argued that an insolvency plea by a trustee of a company was not maintainable.



The NCLT adjourned the case to September 12 due to paucity of time.



Aircastle's insolvency pleas:



Aircraft lessor Aircastle has filed two different insolvency pleas against SpiceJet. In May 2023, NCLT issued notice in the plea and sought for SpiceJet's response. However in June 2023, SpiceJet had challenged the maintainability of Aircastle's first insolvency plea on technical grounds.



Aircastle had filed a response to SpiceJet's application questioning maintainability, and the airline on August 17 sought time to file a rejoinder to the response.



The case has now been adjourned to September 11.



In June 2023, Aircastle filed a second insolvency plea against SpiceJet. NCLT questioned the maintainability of the aircraft lessor's second insolvency petition against SpiceJet. The tribunal had asked Aircastle's lawyer to explain how the plea is maintainable with some legal precedents. Arguments were advanced in the case on August 17, after which it was deferred to September 11 for further consideration.



Other insolvency pleas against SpiceJet



A total of five insolvency pleas were filed by lessors against SpiceJet. Two pleas are filed by aircraft lessor Aircastle and one plea by lessor Wilmington, while Celestial and Willis Lease Finance have filed one plea each.



All the pleas are in different stages of hearing. However, notice has been issued in just one plea.
A Spicejet passenger was caught clicking photos of the airline crew on a Delhi to Mumbai flight on Wednesday, a Hindustan Times report said. The report said that the incident took place on Spicejet Flight no. 157 and as per a notice issued by the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), the passenger was caught clicking "obscene pictures of a woman flight attendant and his woman co-passenger". "It is alleged in the viral video that a passenger was trying to click obscene pictures of a woman flight attendant and his woman co-passenger. It has been stated that when his mobile phone was checked, objectionable pictures of the women onboard the plane were found in his mobile," the notice, which was shared on DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal's X handle, read. pic.twitter.com/y4aiE9fdqi  Swati Maliwal (@SwatiJaiHind) August 18, 2023 In the notice, the DCW also sought for a copy of the case report filed against the passenger. "If the accused has not been arrested, please inform the reasons for the same, detailed action taken report in the matter and provide the sought information to the Commission Considering the gravity of the matter," the notice read. The incident comes a few months after two passengers were de-boarded from a Spicejet flight flying from Delhi to Hyderabad for unruly behavior. Both passengers were handed over to security officials at Delhi airport and later, a case was filed against both passengers.

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Starbucks has been ordered to pay an additional $2.7 million to a former employee who claims she was fired for being white. Shannon Phillips will receive $2.7 million to cover her legal fees in addition to the $25 million she has already been awarded in her wrongful termination suit.



Phillips  a regional manager at Starbucks who oversaw several locations across New Jersey and Pennsylvania  claims that her race played a hand in her termination. She sued the coffee chain in 2019  a few months after she was fired from her job.



The long-drawn saga began when two black men were denied access to a washroom at a Starbucks location in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 2018. Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson were told that they could not use the washroom as they had not bought anything and the facilities were only for the use of paying customers.



Nelson and Robinson refused to leave the coffee shop and sat down at a table, waiting for a business meeting, according to an ABC News report. They were arrested by the police for trespassing after an employee called 911  sparking a racial firestorm with Starbucks at its centre.



The arrests led to nationwide protests and Starbucks even closed some of its outlets for a day so its staff could undergo racial bias training.



About a month after the arrests, Phillips was told she was being sacked from her job of 13 years, despite the fact that she wasnt present at the store when the incident occurred and wasnt involved in the arrests.



The reason Starbucks gave for the termination was a vague the situation is not recoverable. Phillips in her lawsuit claimed that she was made a scapegoat. Starbucks took steps to punish white employees who had not been involved in the arrests, but who worked in and around the city of Philadelphia, in an effort to convince the community that it had properly responded to the incident, the complaint said.



According to the New York Post, it was also revealed during the trial that another Philadelphia manager, who is black, was not fired.



Nelson and Robinson reached a private settlement with Starbucks and the city of Philadelphia after the arrests.
A Texas woman has been awarded $1.2 billion after a jury ruled she was the victim of revenge porn. The woman, who went by DL in court documents, accused her ex-boyfriend of sharing her intimate pictures on the internet.



According to NBC News, the womans ex-boyfriend, Marques Jamal Jackson, allegedly put the images on several social media sites and sent them to her friends, colleagues and family. Jackson also created a website to house all the explicit photographs - some of which he obtained while they were dating, while others were taken from the womans mothers home security cameras.



DLs lawyers say that Jackson told her she would spend the rest of her life trying to wipe the images off the internet. In March 2022, he sent her a text message which read, You will spend the rest of your life trying and failing to wipe yourself off the internet. Everyone you ever meet will hear the story and go looking.



Jackson and the woman started dating in 2016. In early 2020, they began a long and drawn out break up, according to the lawsuit. After they finally broke up in October 2021, Jackson became delusional and paranoid, the womans lawyers say.



He began to share her explicit photographs and videos on pornography websites after DL told him that he should destroy the images.



Jacksons targeting went beyond non-consensual sharing of intimate pictures. He also hacked his ex-girlfriends Zoom account, stole money from her to pay rent, falsely told an officer she submitted a fraudulent loan application and harassed her using different phone numbers.



A Houston-area jury on August 9 ruled that Jackson should pay DL $1.2 billion in the revenge porn case. This amount includes $1 billion in punitive damages and $200 million in actual damages.



The staggering amount is merely a deterrent, as lawyers already know that Jackson does not have any assets. [Its] a deterrence case, not a money case, said Jacob Schiffer, one of the womans lawyers.



While a judgment in this case is unlikely to be recovered, the compensatory verdict gives DL back her good name, the womans head lawyer, Bradford J Gilde, said in a statement.
We take a look at the extreme weather events wreaking havoc across the globe  from wildfires raging across Maui, Canada and Spain, and floods in Frankfurt and Himachal Pradesh



Himachal Pradesh  Heavy rains declared state calamity







The Himachal Pradesh state government has declared the damage caused by heavy rains in the region as a state calamity, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu told reporters on August 18. He added that the state is also awaiting a national calamity declaration from the Centre in regards to the disaster.



Sukhu told PTI that rescue operations are in full swing and the state is also making efforts to help families who lost their houses in the disaster. The state has suffered an estimated loss of Rs 10,000 crore.



Heavy rainfall has caused landslides, floods and house collapses in several districts of the state since last Sunday  August 13. The death toll is now at 75, with six others still feared buried under landslides. As many as 2,074 people have been evacuated from Kangra district since August 16.



Follow our LIVE News coverage here



Data from the states emergency operations centre shows that since the monsoons began on June 24, as many as 217 people have died in rain-related incidents, while 11,301 houses have been damaged, and 506 roads are closed. Infrastructure-wise 408 transformers and 149 water supply schemes have also been affected.



On August 18, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel also announced financial assistance of Rs 11 crore to Himachal Pradesh, to extend support for relief and rehabilitation of victims, a government official told reporters.



Canadian Wildfires  Yellowknife evacuated as furious blaze reaches city







The 20,000 residents of Yellowknife have all been evacuated as wildfires in the area continued to move towards the northern Canadian city, BBC reported. As of August 17, the wildfires were 15 km northwest of the city and people had time till August 18 afternoon to make their way out on 22 scheduled planes.



This is the most recent of Canadas 240 summer wildfires in the Northwest Territories  and the worst year on record, BBC added.



Meanwhile, thousands of people have also been evacuated in Kelowna, British Columbia, after a state of emergency was declared.



Overall, the country has recorded 1,000 active wildfires across regions  also the worst number on record. The emergency preparedness level has been declared at the highest Level 5, diverting all firefighters to combat the disasters.



Maui Wildfires  Emergency services chief resigns, 111 dead







Administrator Herman Andaya, head of the Maui Emergency Management Agency, has resigned after facing criticism for not activating sirens during the wildfire that swept through Lahaina last week, AP reported. While Andaya a day earlier said he had no regrets about not deploying the warning system, he stepped down from the post today.



Also Read | Hawaii Wildfires: What caused the blaze and how it became so apocalyptic in no time



The siren system was installed in 1946 after a tsunami killed more than 150 people on the Big Island. It is among the largest such warning systems in the world.



Lack of sirens, communication missteps, and water shortage have been blamed for crippling rescue and evacuation during the surging fire that killed at least 111 people and damaged several homes and businesses. This is the deadliest wildfire in the US in more than a century, AP added.



Hawaii Governor Josh Green has said at least 1,000 hotel rooms will be set aside for displaced residents, besides accommodation also being provided by Airbnbs non-profit wing for 1,000 people.



Over 2,100 acres of land in the historic town of Lahaina, on the island of Maui were destroyed in the wildfires which started on August 8.



Tenerife Wildfires  Thousands evacuated from Spanish Island







Firefighters on August 17 struggled to contain a wildfire that broke out in a mountainous national park on the Spanish island of Tenerife amid hot and dry weather. The fires have extended for 41 km and prompted authorities to evacuate more 3,000 people during the day.



"The fire is still advancing...but the priority is to defend the population centres tonight," the region's leader Fernando Clavijo told reporters at midnight August 17. He added that this wildfire is the most complex the Canary Islands has faced in the last 40 years.



The emergency services are expecting temperatures to rise on the island over the weekend and a change in winds from the early hours of Saturday (August 19) morning could push the fire westwards from north-eastern Tenerife.



Around 200 firefighters worked through the night; and early in the morning on August 18 water bombing aircraft managed to stabilise the blaze south of the Mount Teide volcano. Authorities deployed 17 aircraft and a combined 350 firefighters and military personnel. On August 18, 16 aircraft resume duties as a result of a helicopter malfunction.



The fire, which broke out on August 16, has burned through at least 3,273 hectares (8,088 acres) of land. Authorities warned the spreading blaze could lead to further evacuations and confinement, advising people to stay tuned to public service alerts.



So far, 3,820 people were ordered to stay home until August 18 and a prison and a migrant reception centre have been put under confinement. Further, all access to the mountains on the island, including tourist-favourite Mount Teide and the Teide Astrophysics Institute, has been closed off to prevent any incidents. Tenerife's two airports were operating normally, Spanish airport operator Aena said.



Frankfurt rains  Floods disrupts flights from German city







Heavy rainfall in Frankfurt shut down the German citys airport leading to dozens of flight cancellations, AP reported. Frankfurt is the countrys busiest airport.



Water accumulated on the tarmac on August 16 evening, grounding flights for over two hours  by 11 pm 70 flights were cancelled and 23 planes headed to Frankfurt were diverted.



Southwestern Germany is facing incessant rainfall which has flooded basements and streets. People had to be rescued from their cars stuck under flooded underpasses in Gelsenkirchen, the western Ruhr district.



(With inputs from wire agencies)
The nephew of Pakistan's jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan has been handed over to the military for trial over his alleged involvement in the May 9 vandalism at the historic Corps Commander House here, a police report submitted to the Lahore High Court on Friday said.



Hassaan Khan Niazi, who had been in hiding since the protests of May 9 and 10, was arrested by the police from Abbottabad on August 13.



A large number of Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party workers stormed the Corps Commander House also known as the Jinnah House on May 9 and set it on fire after vandalising it.



Pakistan saw unprecedented nationwide anti-government protests following the arrest of the PTI chairman by paramilitary Rangers in a corruption case on May 9.



Khan, 70, was later released on bail.



Dozens of military installations and government buildings, including the military headquarters in Rawalpindi, were damaged or torched during the riots.



Over 100 vehicles of police and other security agencies were set on fire.



Niazi will be investigated and tried by the military following his nomination as the prime suspect in the case related to the Jinnah House attack in Lahore, the police report said.



Pakistan's powerful military has described the May 9 attack on its sensitive installations as a "Black Day" and a dark chapter in the country's history.



The police arrested Niazi from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.



He was, however, later handed over to the Quetta Police and then to the military at the commanding officer's request.



Niazi, who is also PTI's chiefs focal person on legal affairs, was earlier handed over to the Quetta police on August 14.



The development was confirmed by his father Hafeezullah Khan on his social media account.



However, the case in which Hassaan was apprehended remained unknown.



The police earlier said that Hassaan was involved in the May 9 riots and attack on sensitive military installations.



Niazi is wanted by the Lahore police for his involvement in the attack on Jinnah House (Lahore's Corps Commander House), it added.



His father had filed a plea for his sons recovery, demanding that he be produced before the court.



During the hearing on the petition on Friday, Additional Advocate General Ghulam Sarwar Nahang submitted the police report before Justice Sultan Tanveer Ahmed of the high court.



Nahang informed the court about Niazi's trial in a military court and his handover to the army.



The petitioners lawyer also demanded Niazi's meeting to be arranged with his parents, upon which the court asked the law officer to inform them when the meeting could be held.



I can find out the procedures and rules in this regard, and inform accordingly, Nahang replied after which the court granted an adjournment to clarify the procedures and rules.
Norways $1.4-trillion sovereign wealth fund received a massive boost with artificial intelligence driving the tech industry and consequently bringing back technology stocks on track in the first six months of the year.



The Norwegian funds holdings in tech companies spiked nearly 39 percent in this period with Apple, Microsoft and Nvidia contributing the most to drive the funds 10 percent overall return.



The Sovereign Wealth Fund



The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund responsible for managing the financial assets generated from Norways oil and gas resources experienced nearly 14 percent increase from its stock holdings within six months up to June 30. Simultaneously, its fixed income assets yielded slightly upwards of 2 percent returns.



However, the firms return witnessed a 4.6 percent decrease in assets on unlisted real estate investments as well as a 6.5 percent loss on investments in the unlisted renewable energy investments.



As the first half of the year concluded, the fund was being valued at 15.3 billion kroner ($1.4 trillion), 71 percent of which was derived from equities, according to Reuters.



This fund, amounting to almost three times of Norways economy currently owns about 1.5 percent of the worlds overall stocks. Between 1998 and June 2023, it generated an annual return of just shy of 6 percent.



However, in the previous year, the fund underwent a loss of 14 percent, one that stands to be the second worst return in its history, right after a 23% loss at the peak of the 2008 crash.



Norway Sovereign wealth funds largest equity holdings (June 2023)







Chief Executive Officer of Norges Bank Investment Management Nicolai Tangen lauded the stock market as very strong in the first half of the year, following a weak year in 2022, adding that especially technology stocks have seen significant growth, largely driven by the increased demand for new solutions in artificial intelligence," reported Bloomberg.



Earlier this month, Apples Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook stated that the company has been working on AI, as well as generative AI. We are going to continue investing and innovating and responsibly advancing our products with these technologies to help enrich peoples lives, he added, reported TOI.



These are the first steps we are taking to infuse next-gen AI and data with productivity tools like Dynamics 365 Field Service to help address the challenge of repetitive tasks and burnout. The new AI-powered Copilots use generative AI to automate the repetitive and taxing digital overhead that burdens frontline workers," stated Charles Lamanna, CVP of business applications and platform management told VentureBeat when the company unveiled next-gen AI solutions in order to boost frontline productivity.



"This is our seventh year as an AI-first company, and we intuitively know how to incorporate AI into our products," stated CEO Sundar Pichai on an earnings call while the company reported a strong second quarter as the revenue rose up by 7 percent to $74.6 billion amidst increase in AI efforts.



Norways sovereign wealth fund mentioned in a separate statement that they support the development of a comprehensive and cohesive regulatory framework for A.I. that facilitates safe innovation and mitigation of adverse impacts. 
Pakistan has appointed Mishal Hussain Malik, wife of the jailed Kashmiri separatist Yasin Malik, as a special advisor to the country's newly appointed caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar.



Malik's appointment drew a sharp reaction from the ruling BJP, which said that the move vindicated India's charge that Pakistan harbours terrorists who attack India.



Malik's name was included in the five Special Advisor to Prime Minister (SAPM) list unveiled late on Thursday night after President Arif Alvi administered an oath to the 19-member caretaker Cabinet at Aiwan-e-Sadr, the presidential house.



Mishal, a Pakistani national married to Malik, was appointed special advisor to the caretaker Prime Minister Kakar on human rights and women empowerment.



A special advisor has a lower status than a junior minister but provides assistance to the prime minister on key relevant issues.



Among other four special advisors, Jawad Sohrab Malilk has been appointed SAPM for overseas Pakistanis, vice admiral (retired) Iftikhar Rao as an advisor on maritime affairs, TV anchor and writer Wasih Shah on tourism, and Syeda Arifa Zehra as an advisor on federal education and professional training.



Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin married Pakistani artist Mishal in Rawalpindi in 2009. The two met while Yasin was on a tour of Pakistan in 2005.



"Mishal Hussain Malik's appointment endorses India's claim that Pakistan is harbouring terrorism and terrorists," BJP national general secretary and its in-charge for Jammu & Kashmir Tarun Chugh said in a statement in New Delhi.



He said Pakistan has always provided refuge to "most wanted terrorists" involved in subversive activities in India.



"Instead of reining in elements inimical to peace, Pakistan is repeatedly resorting to such actions that harm the national interest of India. We urge international bodies to take cognizance of the matter and stop Pakistan from giving political space to terrorists," Chugh said.



Mishal and her daughter reside in Islamabad. Born in 1985, Mishal graduated from the London School of Economics.



Yasin was sentenced to life imprisonment by a trial court in a terror funding case in May.



The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has approached the Delhi High Court seeking the death penalty for Yasin, who is serving his sentence in Tihar Jail in Delhi.
August 18, 2023 U.S. Sanctions Syrian 'Moderate Rebels' It Had Previously Armed In 2013 the CIA was handing out TOW anti-tank missiles to 'moderate rebel' groups who were fighting the government in Syria. These groups were allegedly 'vetted' before they receive money and weapons. Unfortunately 'vetting' was something the CIA had never been good at. One of the groups that received such support was the Hamza Division: Hamza Division (Forqat al-Hamza   ): An FSA-banner group composed of six substituent brigades that operate mostly in the environs of Inkhil, Daraa. The Hamza Division has received TOW ATGMs and it works under the supervision of the Daraa Military Council. They receives foreign support from Western and Arab state backers and are a member of the Southern Front coalition. The Southern Front has stated their commitment to a civil state, and have released a comprehensive political program in support of democratic reform. The Division came together with the Syria Revolutionaries Front and the 1st Artillery Regiment to create the 1st Army, which later disbanded. The Hamza Division continues using the 1st Army imagery alongside its own while the other former substituents do not. Social Media: YouTube; YouTube (older channel) Hamza was later also supported by the Pentagon. Without such support the group would never have become a viable entity. Things got a bit complicated when militias armed by the Pentagon started to fight those armed by the CIA. Later Hamza was sponsored by the Turkish state. This again made things a bit complicated: Elijah J. Magnier @ejmalrai - 17:39  Oct 16, 2019 Do you remember when the #US spent $500 million to train/arm Al-Hamza Division? Well the US-trained "Moderate rebels" are fighting - under a NATO flagged country (#Turkey) - the US-trained Kurdish YPG in the area occupied by the #US. I'll make it even easier: A few minutes ago, #US Prsdt @realDonaldTrump said the "PKK is far more dangerous than #ISIS (The Islamic State)". The US trained & armed Syrian Kurds proxies, the YPG, are the Syrian branch of the PKK that Trump considers far more dangerous than ISIS. Ten years after being 'vetted' the Hamza division is again receiving U.S. attention. This time from the Department of the Treasuries: Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating two Syria-based armed militias and three members of the groups leadership structures in connection with serious human rights abuses against those residing in the Afrin region of northern Syria. An auto sales company owned by the leader of one of the armed groups is also being designated.

...

The Hamza Division, another armed opposition group operating in northern Syria, has been involved in abductions, theft of property, and torture. The division also operates detention facilities in which it houses those it has abducted for extended periods of time. During their imprisonment, victims are held for ransom, often suffering sexual abuse at the hands of Hamza Division fighters. The Suleiman Shah Brigade and the Hamza Division are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13894 for being responsible for or complicit in, or for having directly or indirectly engaged in, the commission of serious human rights abuses against the Syrian people.

...

Sayf Boulad Abu Bakr is the leader of the Hamza Division and its public face, appearing in numerous propaganda videos produced by the Hamza Division. While Abu Bakr has been commander, the Hamza Division has been accused of brutal repression of the local population, including kidnapping Kurdish women and severely abusing prisoners, at times leading to their death. Sayf Boulad Abu Bakr is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13894 for acting or purporting to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the Hamza Division. The AP report about the new sanctions does not mention any Pentagon or CIA support the groups had previously received. One wonders how long it will take until the U.S. will sanction the fascists militia it has and is now arming and sponsoring in Ukraine. Posted by b on August 18, 2023 at 15:36 UTC | Permalink Comments
Yukari Hechanova, right, chief financial officer at the Guam Memorial Hospital Authority, answers questions from lawmakers Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023, during legislative session at the Guam Congress Building in Hagatna.
CCTV: China announced this morning that President Xi Jinping will attend the BRICS Summit in South Africa. Strengthening BRICS cooperation and BRICS expansion are two topics that have received much attention in particular. Could you share Chinas expectation for the summit?

Wang Wenbin: The upcoming summit will be the first in-person BRICS summit in more than three years and the first BRICS summit to be held in Africa in five years. Since its establishment, BRICS has remained true to its founding purpose of seeking strength through solidarity, upheld the spirit of openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation, and deepened practical cooperation in various fields. It has become an important force driving global governance reform and taken on increasing international influence.

Under the theme of BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth, Sustainable Development and Inclusive Multilateralism, the summit will carry forward the sound momentum of cooperation from the BRICS China Year 2022 and blueprint a brighter future for BRICS. All sides will have in-depth exchange of views on prominent global challenges, enhance coordination and collaboration in international affairs, inject stability and positive energy into todays world fraught with uncertainties, and contribute wisdom and strength to world peace and development. They will discuss ways to further deepen and substantiate BRICS cooperation, including practical cooperation in such fields as economy and trade, finance, security, people-to-people and cultural exchange, and global governance, and provide guidance for the mechanisms sustained steady growth. They will also seek to strengthen dialogue and cooperation between BRICS and Africa and other emerging markets and developing countries and send a strong message of safeguarding multilateralism and focusing on common development.

CRI: This year marks the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and South Africa. A South African scholar said that the relations between China and South Africa have entered a golden age. At this important historical juncture, what expectation does China have for the future of the bilateral relations? What outcomes do you expect this visit to achieve?

Wang Wenbin: During the visit, President Xi Jinping will exchange views with President Ramaphosa on bilateral relations and international and regional issues of mutual interest, and draw a blueprint for the growth of bilateral relations. The visit will provide strong impetus for building a high-level China-South Africa community with a shared future.

South Africa is Chinas comprehensive strategic partner and the first African country that has joined Belt and Road cooperation. In the past 25 years since the two countries established diplomatic relations, this relationship has achieved leapfrog development and reached far beyond the bilateral scope and increasingly bears global significance. In recent years in particular, under the joint care and planning of President Xi Jinping and President Ramaphosa, China-South Africa relations have maintained high-level development, with political mutual trust, practical cooperation, cultural and people-to-people exchange and strategic coordination continuing to deepen. As a South African scholar said, China-South Africa relations have entered a golden age, and the future holds great promise for the relationship.

No matter how the international landscape may change, China will not change its commitment to deepening friendship and enhancing solidarity and cooperation with South Africa. We would like to work with South Africa to continue to support each other on issues that bear on each others core interests and major concerns, jointly pursue development and revitalization, and make positive contribution to a multi-polar world and greater democracy in international relations. We believe that with the concerted efforts of the two sides, the China-Africa comprehensive strategic partnership will achieve new, greater development.

Peoples Daily: We noted that this upcoming BRICS Summit has invited many African countries to attend the BRICS Plus activities, and China and South Africa will co-chair the China-Africa Leaders Dialogue. What is the consideration for holding this dialogue? Looking ahead, what will China and Africa do to build an even closer China-Africa community with a shared future?

Wang Wenbin: Solidarity and cooperation with African countries are the cornerstones of Chinas foreign policy and our longstanding, rock-firm strategic choice. During the upcoming BRICS Summit, President Xi Jinping and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will co-chair the China-Africa Leaders Dialogue. The African Co-Chair of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, Chairperson of the African Union and representatives of the regional economic communities have been invited to the event.

During the Dialogue, under the theme of Promoting African integration and jointly building a high-level China-Africa community with a shared future, the two sides will have in-depth exchanges on the ways to work together to advance their modernization and foster a peaceful, just and open environment for development. Carrying forward the spirit of China-Africa friendship and cooperation and aiming for tangible cooperation outcomes, China and Africa will create an even better future for the Chinese and African people and set an exemplary model for advancing the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

Kyodo News: The leaders of the US, Japan and the Republic of Korea are set to meet in the US today. They are expected to agree to enhance three-way security cooperation. Do you have any response?

Wang Wenbin: In a world of change and disorder on the security front, all parties should act on the vision of a community of shared security for mankind, practice true multilateralism, and jointly address various security challenges. No country should seek its own security at the expense of other countries security interests and regional peace and stability. The international community has its fair judgment on who is stoking conflicts and exacerbating tensions. The Asia-Pacific is an anchor for peace and development and a promising land for cooperation and growth, and should never be turned into a wrestling ground for geopolitical competition again. Attempts to cobble together various exclusionary groupings and bring bloc confrontation and military blocs into the Asia-Pacific are not going to get support and will only be met with vigilance and opposition from regional countries.

Global Times: According to Africas Development Dynamics 2023, a report jointly released by the OECD and the African Union, between 2017 and 2022, Chinas greenfield foreign direct investment in Africa stood at USD 74 billion, accounting for 18 percent of the global greenfield FDI inflows into Africa, and in the same tier with Europe and the US. Whats Chinas comment on the report?

Wang Wenbin: We have noted the report. Africa is a continent of opportunities and a promising land for investors. Chinese investment in Africa is mutually-beneficial, it meets Africas development needs and has delivered benefits to both peoples. In recent years, with guidance and attention from Chinese and African leaders, investment cooperation between our two sides has come a long way.

Chinas investment in Africa has seen steady growth and enjoys broad prospects. In the first half of this year, China added USD 1.82 billion in FDI to Africa, up by 4.4 percent year-on-year. Chinese companies have growing confidence in the African market. More than 3,000 Chinese enterprises have invested deeply in Africa, of which over 70 percent are private companies, the mainstay of Chinese investment in Africa. With accelerated progress in the African Continental Free Trade Area, Chinese companies will find more facilitation and new opportunities as they explore and invest more in the African market and add fresh dynamism to high-quality cooperation between China and Africa.

China and Africa are mutually complementary in the pursuit of development. China invests in broader areas and in more diverse ways in Africa. Africa is endowed with rich resources, enjoys enormous demographic dividends, and is speeding up the integration process and the building of the African Continental Free Trade Area. The investment promotion program is one of the nine programs rolled out at the FOCAC Dakar conference. China has been stepping up efforts to implement the outcomes of the conference. We have offered guidance and facilitation to Chinese companies investing in Africa and improved resources allocation by establishing a platform for China-Africa private investment promotion, establishing a China-Africa cross-border RMB center, and publishing the Report on Chinese Investment in Africa. We are glad to note that Chinese investment has expanded to more sectors, including emerging industries like sci-tech, finance and e-commerce, apart from manufacturing, electricity and construction mentioned in the report. Equity participation, mergers and acquisitions have become new modes of Chinese investment in Africa.

The win-win investment cooperation between China and Africa has boosted our respective modernization. China is fostering a new development paradigm at a faster pace. Chinese businesses investment in Africa will help forge more smooth and stable global industrial chains. While realizing their own development, Chinese companies also contribute to Africas development strategies and actively fulfill their social responsibilities. With many Chinese companies, over 80 percent of the staff are local employees. Chinese companies have given back to local communities by building bridges and roads, drilling wells and installing street lights. At the same time, they have increased technology transfer, local procurement and personnel training in Africa, and helped modernize the continents agricultural, manufacturing and services sectors, upgrade its manufacturing and processing techniques, and create greater value-added, contributing significantly to the stability, development and prosperity of African countries.

Supporting Africas development is the common responsibility of the international community. We welcome stronger interest and investment in Africa from all quarters. We will continue to support willing, capable Chinese companies of good standing in expanding investment in Africa to help increase the continents capability to achieve self-driven sustainable growth and move forward towards modernization and prosperity.

AFP: Russian defense ministry said today that Russian and Chinese warships have been conducting joint maritime patrols in the East China Sea. Can you share any details about these joint patrols? Have they ended or are they ongoing?

Wang Wenbin: The normal passage of Chinese and Russian vessels is consistent with international law and customary practice.

Dragon TV: At a recent academic seminar held in Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang province, the Original File of the First Army Hospital of the Japanese Army in Harbin met the public for the first time. The file provides important historical evidence for the involvement of the Hospital of the Japanese Army in the crime of vivisection. Whats your comment?

Wang Wenbin: During WWII, in blatant violation of international law, the Japanese army launched horrendous bacterial warfare against the Chinese people. They conducted barbaric human experimentation, and committed heinous crimes against humanity during their aggression against China. The historical file you mentioned is yet another piece of solid proof of the bacterial warfare launched by Japanese militarists. Theres no room for denial. Japan needs to earnestly face up to and reflect on its history of militarist aggression, draw lessons from it, root out the toxic legacy of militarism, and never let history repeat itself.

Reuters: According to media reports, flights between North Korea and Beijing are set to resume as early as next week. Can you confirm this?

Wang Wenbin: I have nothing to share at the moment.

China Daily: Foreign media reported recently that satellite photos show China has been building an airstrip on Zhongjian Dao in the past few weeks. Can the foreign ministry confirm this? What is the purpose of building the airstrip?

Wang Wenbin: I need to first of all point out that this report is inconsistent with facts. Zhongjian Dao is part of Chinas Xisha Qundao, which has all along been part of Chinas territory. Chinas construction activities on its own territory are legitimate, lawful and beyond reproach.

The Paper: US Department of Defense issued the 2023 Biodefense Posture Review, which reportedly singles out China as the key long-term threat, casting doubt on Beijings compliance with existing international rules on biowarfare and raising concerns over its accelerated plans to integrate civilian biological research programs into the military. What is your comment?

Wang Wenbin: I noted the reports. To serve its geopolitical agenda, the US often comes up with so-called threats to create the pretext for containing and suppressing other countries in order to ensure its supremacy and seek selfish gains. Such a practice goes against the trend of the times and harms the common interests of the international community.

Biosecurity is a global issue. The USs false narratives and moves to stoke confrontation seriously jeopardize the biosecurity governance system with the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) as the cornerstone and the global response to biosecurity risks and challenges.

When it comes to biosecurity threats, the US is the most active and suspected country in conducting bio-military activities. The US has never given a meaningful response to the international communitys concerns. For example, has the US been secretly developing its biological warfare capabilities even after it joined the BWC? Whats the US truly up to by investing in what it calls biodefense? Has the US ever used other countries for activities that are inconsistent with the BWC and US domestic laws? Why does the US collect biometric data and samples from around the world and what have they been used for? Why does the US oppose establishing a bioweapon verification mechanism while all other countries have agreed to it?

As long as these questions remain unanswered, the international community will not be able to build up confidence in the USs compliance, and global biosecurity will hardly become a reality. China supports continued international review of the USs compliance issue and again calls on the US to earnestly fulfill its international obligations.

I would like to reiterate here that China will continue to act under the Global Security Initiative and work with the international community to firmly uphold the authority of international biosecurity law, enhance global biosecurity governance, and respond to biosecurity risks and challenges.

CCTV: It was reported that during August 12 to 18, deputy leader of Chinas Taiwan region Lai Ching-te stopped over in New York and San Francisco. What is your comment?

Wang Wenbin: The US insisted on arranging two stopovers for Lai Ching-te. This has seriously violated the one-China principle and undermined Chinas sovereignty and territorial integrity, and sent a gravely wrong signal to Taiwan independence separatist forces. China firmly opposes and strongly condemns this.

The one-China principle is a prevailing consensus among the international community and a basic norm governing international relations. It is also the prerequisite and basis for the establishment and development of diplomatic ties between China and the US. In the three China-US joint communiques, the US made a clear commitment of maintaining only unofficial relations with Taiwan. As the deputy leader of the Taiwan region, Lai describes himself as a pragmatic worker for Taiwanese independence. What he said and did in the US over the past few days proved once again that he is a Taiwan independence separatist through and through. By allowing him to engage in political activities in the US, propagate separatist propositions for Taiwan independence and use it to upgrade official interaction and substantive relations with Taiwan, the US has once again exposed its calculations of saying one thing but doing another, following a strategy of using Taiwan to contain China, and fudging and hollowing out the one-China principle.

The Taiwan question is the core of the core interests of China, the bedrock of the political foundation of China-US relations, and the first red line that must not be crossed in China-US relations. Taiwan independence and cross-Strait peace and stability are as irreconcilable as fire and water. The pursuit of Taiwan independence will lead nowhere. Those who connive at and support Taiwan independence will eventually get burnt.

China again urges the US to abide by the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques, honor its commitment of not supporting Taiwan independence or two Chinas or one China, one Taiwan, stop all forms of official interaction with Taiwan, stop upgrading its substantive exchanges with the region, stop conniving at and supporting separatist forces seeking Taiwan independence and their separatist activities and stop obscuring and hollowing out the one-China principle. China must be reunified, and will surely be reunified. Any attempt of holding back Chinas reunification is doomed to fail. China will take strong measures to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
WASHINGTON (Reuters)  President Joe Biden will push Camp David into the international spotlight on Friday when he hosts the leaders of Japan 
(Reuters)  A Georgia state law against racketeering could be a powerful tool in prosecuting Donald Trump, but applying charges traditionally 
KAHULUI, Hawaii (Reuters)  The death toll from the Maui wildfires reached 93 on Sunday as relatives of the missing frantically searched for s
Chinas Xi calls for measures to mitigate disastrous flooding amid economic slowdown View Photo

BEIJING (AP)  Chinese leader Xi Jinping has called for measures to mitigate the effects of this years disastrous flooding which has left scores dead and inflicted massive damage on crops, homes and infrastructure, including in and around Beijing.

At least 90 rivers have risen above warning levels and 24 have already overflowed their banks, according to state media, threatening a vast area in northeastern China with flooding, including the Songliao Basin north of the capital, which encompasses more than 1.2 million square kilometers (482,200 square miles) with a population of almost 100 million.

As China is still in the main flood season, rainstorms, floods, typhoons and other disasters still occur frequently in many places across the country, the Xinhua News Agency said, summarizing conclusions of Thursdays meeting of the partys all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee presided over by Xi.

Participants urged relevant localities and departments to always prioritize the safety of peoples lives and property, and keep doing a good job in flood prevention and disaster relief, Xinhua said.

The reinforcement of dams and the efficient use of disaster relief funds to repair damaged infrastructure such as transport, communications and electricity, and restore farmland and agricultural facilities is crucial, it said.

Schools, hospitals and nursing homes must be swiftly restored, along with damaged housing to ensure the affected residents can return home or move to new homes before the winter.

The flooding this year has also affected large parts of the central and eastern parts of the country, both in the semi-tropical south and the northern plains.

Much of China is having a particularly damp summer, with 142 people killed by flooding i n July and dozens more this month.

Meteorologists warned that thunderstorms, gales and hail will affect parts of Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Hebei, Beijing, and Tianjin in the north, along with Henan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, and Fujian to the center and southeast.

Residents have been urged to reduce outdoor activities and seek shelter.

The severe weather comes as economic growth slid to 0.8% in the three months ending in June, down from 2.2% in January-March. That is equivalent to a 3.2% annual rate, which would be among Chinas weakest in decades.

A survey in June found unemployment among urban workers aged 16 to 24 spiked to a record 21.3%. The statistics bureau said this week it would withhold updates while it refined its measurement.

In a speech recently published by Qiushi, the partys top theoretical journal, Xi called for patience in a as the party tries to reverse the deepening economic slump.

That came hours after data Tuesday showed consumer and factory activity weakened further in July despite official promises to support struggling entrepreneurs. The government skipped giving an update on a politically sensitive spike in unemployment among young people.
Hong Kong judges propose a further delay in the trial of activist publisher Jimmy Lai View Photo

HONG KONG (AP)  Hong Kong judges on Friday proposed a new delay until December in the trial of a prominent activist publisher who was arrested in August 2020 under a sweeping Beijing-imposed national security law.

Jimmy Lai, the 75-year-old founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, faces up to life in prison if convicted under the law. He has already been sentenced to five years and nine months in a separate case.

His trial, originally scheduled to begin last December, had already been delayed by judges until September while the Hong Kong government appealed to Beijing to block his attempt to hire a British defense lawyer.

His arrest under the security law was part of Beijings unprecedented crackdown on the citys pro-democracy camp. More than 260 people have been arrested under the law, including many prominent pro-democracy leaders.

In a hearing Friday, Judge Esther Toh suggested that Dec. 18 would be a better time to start the trial because lawyers and one of her colleagues were handling another case. She said rescheduling would allow them to finish their work in that case first.

The prosecution voiced no objection. Lais lawyer, Steven Kwan, said he would need to discuss the proposed timeline with a key member of his team.

Lai is accused of conspiring with others to call for international sanctions or engage in hostile activities against Hong Kong or China. He also faces a charge of collusion with foreign forces to endanger national security, and a separate sedition charge under a colonial-era law that is also increasingly used to subdue the opposition.

Beijing hasnt directly ruled on whether foreign lawyers who do not normally practice in Hong Kong can handle national security cases. It said the power to decide belongs to the citys leader and the committee for safeguarding national security.

The committee later concluded that allowing Lais choice, Timothy Owen, to represent him would likely pose national security risks and advised the director of immigration to refuse any work visa applications by Owen that involve representing Lai in the case.

By KANIS LEUNG

Associated Press
10:00 | Puno (Puno region), Aug. 17.





"Dear God, make more rain come," the 74-year-old says, invoking Pachamama, Mother Earth for Indigenous people of the region.

"Help us, please, we are parched here (...) Make the rain showers come (...) Father in heaven, have pity," he added.

De la Cruz, a former State employee, spoke in Aymara his native language as he surveyed what was once the shore of Lake Titicaca, some 45 miles (77 kilometers) west of La Paz, Bolivia.

The waters of Lake Titicaca are within 10 inches (25 centimeters) of their all-time low, a record set in 1996, the chief forecaster for Bolivia's weather service (Senhami), Lucia Walper, tells AFP.

Along what was once the 700-mile shoreline of the lake, one now sees boats stranded on dry land and orphan docks stretched over nonexistent water.







Low levels mean that fish that ordinarily spawn near shore are now unable to, and that leads Edwin Katari, a 43-year-old fisherman, to mull a question.





"So where are the fish going to spawn?" Katari asks.





Dark forecast





Bolivia's Senhami has measured water levels of the lake since 1974.





At its highest point in 1986, water levels reached 12 feet higher than they are today, topping out at 12,504.2 feet (3,811 meters) above sea level. But in 1996, they had fallen to 12,491.4 feet above sea level.





Walper says falling water levels are "the result of climate change" and the outlook is not good.





"It is very probable that they keep falling until they hit even lower levels," she says.





A satellite survey still has not been made to see how much Lake Titicaca, which once had a surface area of 3,200 square miles (8,300 square kilometers), has shrunk.





It is the highest of the world's large lakes and is one of the largest in South America, after Venezuela's Lake Maracaibo (which is actually connected to the Caribbean Sea) and Brazil's Lagoa dos Patos, a coastal lagoon.









La Nina and El Nino





The level of Lake Titicaca "has been progressively decreasing due to many meteorological, hydrological and climatic factors," explains Walper, who emphasizes that "there is less rainfall."





"Over the years, each phenomenon, whether El Nino and/or La Nina, has been presenting a distortion in its parameters and factors," she points out, explaining the characteristics of these events associated with rains or droughts over time.





The rainfall and the inflow to the lake from Peruvian rivers "were not sufficient to generate the normal rises in times of rain," she says.





El Nino is a natural climatic event, generally associated with increased temperatures, drought in some parts of the world, and heavy rains in others. La Nina, on the other hand, causes the opposite effects, particularly a drop in temperatures.





Other stresses impact the lake. It is heavily polluted by waste from the city of El Alto, a metropolis of one million people in this landlocked country. Additionally, indiscriminate fishing has decimated species.









Despair sets in





Because the decline in water levels is linked to climate change, the solution "is a global issue," Walper adds.





The recent summit in Brazil of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) reaffirmed the call for industrialized countries to fulfill their promises of economic resources to finance actions against climate change.





But in the villages around Lake Titicaca, despair has set in that water levels will never return to normal in the world's highest navigable sea.





"If there is no water, if there is no rain, we will not be able to live," frets De la Cruz.





(END) AFP/MVB

Pedro de la Cruz stands beside his stranded boat and supplicates his God, lifting his arms and praying anxiously for rain to replenish Lake Titicaca, the massive body of water at a breath-sapping altitude in the Andes on the border between Bolivia and Peru.Publicado: 17/8/2023
Neighbors Ukraine and Romania sign accord to boost Kyivs grain exports through Romanian territory View Photo

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP)  Ukraine and neighboring Romania signed an agreement Friday to work together to boost Kyivs export of grain through Romania after Moscow broke off a key wartime shipping agreement that allowed safe passage through the Black Sea.

The accord was signed during a trip by Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal to the Romanian capital, Bucharest, for talks with his Romanian counterpart Marcel Ciolacu.

The two leaders discussed ways to ramp up the war-torn nations key grain exports, and improve infrastructure for transportation across river, rail, road, sea, including at border crossings. Ukraines economy is heavily dependent on farming, and its grain is crucial for world supplies of wheat, barley, and sunflower oil.

Ciolacu told a news conference after the meeting that he hopes Romania can transport more than 60% of Ukraines grain exports.

He also noted the ambitious target to double the transport of Ukrainian grain through Romania that was set last week during a meeting that included Western and Ukrainian officials in Romanias Danube River town of Galati. Romania intends to double the amount from 2 million to 4 million tons per month, but Ciolacu did not specify a timeframe for the increase.

I emphasized the importance of collaboration between our countries as well as with our international partners, he said.

The Romanian leader added that the Black Sea port of Constanta will remain a key transport route for getting Ukraines goods to the international market. The Sulina Channel, an arm of the Danube River on what is Europes second-longest river and a key transport route, will also play a role.

The bilateral meeting comes amid weeks of Russian strikes on Ukraines grain storage and port facilities along the Danube River.

Ukraine has increasingly relied on those Danube ports after Moscow broke off a key wartime shipping agreement that allowed safe passage of grain exports through the Black Sea. As a result, Kyiv has sought to reroute transport through the Danube and road and rail links into Europe.

For his part, Ukrainian Prime Minister Shmyhal said that the two neighbors will aim to streamline border controls at crossing points to facilitate the smoother transport of goods. We discussed improving the transport infrastructure destroyed by Russia, he said.

Ciolacu added: We will stand by Ukraine as long as it takes.

Associated Press
MEXICO CITY (AP)  Mexican immigration officials said Thursday they have found two migrants dead in the desert near the Texas border, and are looking for two more migrants that survivors said had also died.

All of the migrants were Mexican citizens. The deaths occurred in the sparsely-populated northern border state of Coahuila, across from Texas.

The National Immigration Institute said it had received a report from U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Tuesday saying that 12 migrants had been detained at the border.

The detained migrants said that they were in a group of 16 that had been abandoned in the desert by migrant smugglers. The twelve said the other four had died, though the cause of death was unclear.

Mexican authorities launched an air and land search for the migrants, and said they considered the other two missing.

Because it is practically impossible to carry enough water to make it through the desert, deaths from dehydration and heatstroke are not infrequent. However, as described by immigration officials, the area where the bodies were found is less traveled and well outside the main smuggling routes.
WeWorks future: What to know after the company sounds the alarm on its ability to stay in business

WeWorks future: What to know after the company sounds the alarm on its ability to stay in business View Photo

NEW YORK (AP)  WeWork has sounded the alarm on its ability to stay in business, prompting speculation around the future of the troubled workspace-sharing company.

Last week, WeWork warned there was substantial doubt about the New York-based companys ability to continue as a going concern  which is accounting-speak for having the resources needed to operate and stay in business. WeWork pointed to increased member churn, financial losses and the companys need for cash, among other factors, over the next year.

On Friday, the company announced that it would be moving forward with a 1-for-40 reverse stock split in a bid to maintain its listing on the New York Stock Exchange.

The value of WeWork shares have plunged since the company went public in October 2021, after a spectacular collapse during its first attempt to do so two years earlier  which led to the ouster of its CEO and co-founder, Adam Neumann. WeWork was valued at $47 billion at one point, before investors started to drop off due to Neumanns erratic behavior and exorbitant spending.

WeWork has made notable efforts to turn the company around since Neumanns departure, with executives pointing to improvements in annual revenue, significant cuts in operating costs and other growth opportunities as workplaces emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, experts say the risk of bankruptcy is on the table  bringing in questions around implications for the already-weakening world of office real estate.

Heres what you need to know.

WHAT IS WEWORK?

WeWork is a provider of coworking spaces. The company leases buildings and divides them into office areas to sublet to its members, which include small businesses, startups and freelancers who want to avoid paying for permanent office space.

WeWork was founded by Neumann and Miguel McKelvey back in 2010. The startup promised to revolutionize workspaces and saw a meteoric rise in its early years, but over time, WeWorks operating expenses soared and the company relied on repeated cash infusions from private investors.

Since Neumanns 2019 ouster, the company has seen several leadership changes. Most recently, Sandeep Mathrani, who joined WeWork in 2020, stepped down in May  bringing David Tolley into the position of interim CEO.

WeWorks challenges are a legacy of its earlier and very aggressive expansion And the costs (that the company bears from) that expansion continue, Sam Chandan, director of the Chao-Hon Chen Institute for Global Real Estate Finance at New York Universitys Stern School of Business, told The Associated Press earlier this week. By many measures, company revenues and performance is improving, but not quickly enough.

As of June 30, WeWork had 777 systemwide locations across 39 countries, the company said in last weeks earnings call. Of that, WeWork reported supporting 906,000 workstations and 653,000 physical memberships  equating to 72% physical occupancy. Thats down slightly from the 75% physical occupancy seen at 779 systemwide locations WeWork reported operating at the end of 2022.

On Friday morning, WeWorks market capitalization stood at about $260 million. Shares were down more than 91% year end to date.

IS WEWORK CLOSING ITS DOORS?

No, at least not yet. But risk of bankruptcy is on the table, experts say.

WeWork has not filed for bankruptcy since last weeks announcement, and anything is a possibility, Samuel Rosen, assistant professor of finance at Temple Universitys Fox School of Business, notes. Whether or not this particular company can actually get out of its current situation, thats yet to be seen. History would say its possible, although I dont know if I would say its probable.

Theres also a big difference between liquidation bankruptcy and restructuring bankruptcy. Depending on the type of filing, bankruptcy could help mitigate some challenges WeWork faces through reorganization and other efficiency efforts, Rosen said  noting debt collectors will sometimes push for bankruptcy sooner rather than later, because they dont want to see risky action that would put their claims at further risk.

WeWork did not comment directly on the prospect of bankruptcy. In a Tuesday statement to The Associated Press, a spokesperson said, our members remain our top priority and we are resolutely focused on delivering for them for the long term.

In last weeks earnings call, the company said that its ability to stay in operation is contingent upon improving its liquidity and profitability over the next 12 months. WeWork plans to negotiate more favorable lease terms, control spending and seek additional capital by issuing debt, stock or selling assets, the company said.

Tolley sounded an optimistic note in the companys results for the second quarter, during which WeWork lost $349 million. While the interim CEO acknowledged factors impacting higher member churn and softer demand, Tolley said that the companys transformation continues at pace  pointing to a laser focus on member retention and growth, doubling down on our real estate portfolio optimization efforts, and maintaining a disciplined approach to reducing operating costs.

WHAT IS WEWORKS IMPACT ON COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE?

Again, WeWork isnt going out of business yet  and a bankruptcy filing might not lead to large-scale location closures. But concerns around the companys future brings attention to WeWorks footprint in commercial real estate.

According to a recent Securities and Exchange Commision filing, WeWork was operating 43.9 million rentable square feet around the world as of December 2022  including 18.3 million rentable square feet in the U.S. and Canada.

When looking at the total office inventory in the United States alone, 18 million square feet is a small fraction, Chandan said  but of course, if WeWork discontinued meeting its its lease obligations, whether its part of a bankruptcy restructuring or some other event for buildings that have exposure to WeWork, that would be a significant hit.

WeWork has already moved to shutter a handful of locations in the last year. In November, the company announced plans to exit 40 underperfoming U.S. locations to cutback on rent and other operating expenses. At the time, WeWork didnt specify which buildings would be impacted.

The shuttering of some WeWork locations isnt new. Over recent years, as WeWork worked to cut costs, the company has stopped paying rent or exited lease agreements early for a handful of locations across the U.S., according to credit rating and research firm Morningstar Credit. In some cases, landlords building loans moved to special servicing after losing WeWork as a tenant.

Concerns about WeWorks future come at a time when leasing demand for office space is weak overall, Chandan added. The COVID-19 pandemic notably led to rising vacancies in office space as working from home became increasingly popular. Major U.S. markets still struggling to improve occupancy in commercial real estate include San Francisco, New York, Chicago and Washington.

At the same time, there is a strong market for co-working space, Chandan said  noting that WeWork is operating in a significantly more competitive market than it was just several years ago, with a greater variety of options and amenities available to those looking to rent office space today.

Theres a really important distinction between WeWorks current financial position and questions around the future of the co-working model as a whole, he said. Those are two separate things.

By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS

AP Business Writer
Impeachment case alleges Texas AG Ken Paxton used multiple phones and an alias to conceal an affair View Photo

AUSTIN, Texas (AP)  Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton used multiple cellphones and an alias on a ride-sharing app to conceal an affair, and pressured top aides to help a donor now facing criminal charges, according to new documents made public by investigators leading the impeachment of the embattled Republican.

More than 4,000 pages of documents, most of which were publicly filed late Thursday and include emails and text messages, are the foundation of House Republicans case that Paxton abused his office and should be ousted at the end of a historic impeachment trial that begins Sept. 5 in the Texas Capitol.

Its a complicated story, Mark Penley, one of Paxtons former deputies, told investigators during a deposition in March. But if you understand what was going on, this was outrageous conduct by an Attorney General thats supposed to be the chief law enforcement officer for the State of Texas, not the chief lawbreaking officer.

Paxton, who has been suspended from office since being impeached by the GOP-controlled Texas House in May, has broadly denied wrongdoing and waved off the accusations as politically motivated.

A spokesperson for Paxton said Friday that he could not comment because of a gag order imposed by Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the leader of the GOP-controlled state Senate that will decide whether to convict or acquit Paxton.

Paxtons wife, Angela, is a senator but is barred from voting in the proceedings.

The documents provide the fullest picture to date of accusations that have shadowed Paxton since eight of his highest-ranking deputies, including Penley, staged an extraordinary revolt in 2020 and reported him to the FBI. They alleged that Paxton had unlawfully used the power of his office in an attempt to shield Austin real estate developer Nate Paul from legal troubles.

In December 2019, Penley told investigators, Paxton met him at a Starbucks in a wealthy Dallas enclave and asked him to take a phone call with him inside a car in the parking lot. Penley said the call was with Paul and that Paxton described him as a friend who was having issues with the FBI.

Months later, Penley said in the deposition, he met Paxton outside a Dunkin Donuts at a strip mall and urged him to back away from Paul. But Penley said Paxton instead pressed him to approve paying an outside attorney whom Paxton had hired to look into Pauls claims.

Paul was arrested in June and charged with making false statements to banks in order to procure more than $170 million in loans. He has pleaded not guilty.

The newly filed exhibits also include Uber records that allegedly show Paxton using an alias, Dave P., to hire rides to conceal visits to Paul and a woman with whom Paxton was having an extramarital affair. The documents also include accusations that Paxton used multiple phones.

Earlier this month, Paxtons attorneys argued in filings to the Senate that the Texas Houses case was groundless because legislators have no evidence that Attorney General Kenneth Paxton committed any wrongdoing or illegal acts, and have no evidence to support any of the pending Articles of Impeachment.

Paxton was reelected to a third term in November despite the cloud of scandal, which his supporters say shows that voters want him in office. Paxton is also facing multiple legal troubles beyond the impeachment, including a securities fraud indictment from 2015 that has yet to go to trial and an ongoing FBI investigation.

By PAUL J. WEBER

Associated Press
Georgia school board fires teacher for reading a book to students about gender identity View Photo

ATLANTA (AP)  A Georgia school board voted along party lines Thursday to fire a teacher after officials said she improperly read a book on gender fluidity to her fifth grade class.

The Cobb County School Board in suburban Atlanta voted 4-3 to fire Katie Rinderle, overriding the recommendation of a panel of three retired educators. The panel found after a two-day hearing that Rinderle had violated district policies, but said she should not be fired.

She had been a teacher for 10 years when she got into trouble in March for reading the picture book My Shadow Is Purple by Scott Stuart at Due West Elementary School, after which some parents complained.

The case has drawn wide attention as a test of what public school teachers can teach in class, how much a school system can control teachers and whether parents can veto instruction they dislike. It comes amid a nationwide conservative backlash to books and teaching about LGBTQ+ subjects in school.

Rinderle declined comment after the vote but released a statement through the Southern Poverty Law Center, which helped represent her.

The district is sending a harmful message that not all students are worthy of affirmation in being their unapologetic and authentic selves, Rinderle said in the statement. This decision, based on intentionally vague policies, will result in more teachers self-censoring in fear of not knowing where the invisible line will be drawn.

The boards four Republicans voted to fire Rinderle, while three Democrats voted against firing her after unsuccessfully seeking to delay the vote. Superintendent Chris Ragsdale, who is backed by the Republican majority, had originally recommended Rinderle be fired.

The district is pleased that this difficult issue has concluded; we are very serious about keeping our classrooms focused on teaching, learning, and opportunities for success for students. The boards decision is reflective of that mission, the Cobb County district said in a press release.

Her lawyer, Craig Goodmark, told reporters after the meeting in Marietta that the vote was an act that only can be construed as politics over policy, reiterating that the board policy prohibiting teaching on controversial issues was so vague that Rinderle couldnt know what was allowed or not. The hearing tribunal seemed to agree with that point, refusing to agree with a statement that Rinderle knowingly and intentionally violated district policies.

Its impossible for a teacher to know whats in the minds of parents when she starts her lesson, Goodmark said. For parents to be able, with a political agenda, to come in from outside the classroom and have a teacher fired is completely unfair. Its not right. Its terrible for Georgias education system.

Rinderle could appeal her firing to the state Board of Education and ultimately into court. Goodmark said Rinderle was considering her options. Although she was fired effectively immediately, shes still licensed and could teach elsewhere. She will be a teacher again, Goodmark said.

Cobb County adopted a rule barring teaching on controversial issues in 2022, after Georgia lawmakers earlier that year enacted laws barring the teaching of divisive concepts and creating a parents bill of rights. The divisive concepts law, although it addresses teaching on race, bars teachers from espousing personal political beliefs. The bill of rights guarantees that parents have the right to direct the upbringing and the moral or religious training of his or her minor child.

Rinderle is believed to be the first public school teacher in Georgia to be fired because of the laws. None of the board members discussed the decision, but school district lawyer Sherry Culves said at the hearing that discussing gender identity and gender fluidity was inappropriate.

The Cobb County School District is very serious about the classroom being a neutral place for students to learn, Culves said at the hearing. One-sided instruction on political, religious or social beliefs does not belong in our classrooms.

By JEFF AMY

Associated Press
Republicans gather in city where Trump was indicted but mention former president gingerly, if at all

Republicans gather in city where Trump was indicted but mention former president gingerly, if at all View Photo

ATLANTA (AP)  For much of the Republican presidential field, Donald Trump is the candidate who must not be named  or at least not criticized too harshly.

Multiple GOP White House contenders took the stage Friday in Atlanta, the city where the former president was most recently indicted and where he must surrender next week on racketeering charges related to the 2020 election. They dealt gingerly with the man theyre trying to catch in the 2024 GOP primary campaign.

Radio host Erick Ericksons annual convocation of conservative leaders and activists mostly sidestepped the dominant figure in Republican politics. The Gathering, Erickson said, is our time to come together and hear from people when theyre running for office, why should we vote for you  whats your vision.

Trump dominates the primary polls and media attention despite criminal indictments for alleged actions before, during and after his presidency. Those four indictments seem to have hardened Trumps support among core GOP voters, even as a majority of people in the United States disapprove of him. Many party loyalists who say they are open to alternatives arent necessarily enthusiastic about criticizing the former president.

The event offered a potential preview of how Trump may factor into the conversation when many of the same Republican contenders gather Wednesday for the first presidential debate of the 2024 campaign. Trump has signaled he might not attend, but the forum in Atlanta was a reminder that the former president is hard to avoid  even when hes physically not present.

Former Vice President Mike Pence told a friendly audience that he has real differences with Trump about the future of the country. He nodded to the Capitol insurrection that is the focus of one of the pending indictments against Trump. He called it that fateful day and repeated that he fulfilled my constitutional duty  his way of affirming why he did not grant Trumps wish of blocking Democrat Joe Bidens Electoral College victory.

But before any of those carefully qualified statements, Pence said, I always stood loyally by President Donald Trump.

Nikki Haley, a former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador during the Trump administration, offered a critique by pairing it with a compliment.

Trump did a good job of getting attention on Chinas trade practices, but he didnt do nearly enough on the fact that they have bought 400,000 acres of U.S. soil, she said as part of a statement addressing the growing rivalry between Washington and Beijing.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis repeated his attacks on so-called wokeness and reminded attendees of his ongoing fight with entertainment giant Disney. The closest he came to confronting Trump was a call for the party to look ahead, and he did that with a swipe at familiar foils beyond the Republican fold.

Theres nobody that wants us to be looking backwards more than the Democrats and the media, he said, adding a seeming allusion to Trumps lies that his loss to Biden was rigged. They would love to have us have to relitigate all this stuff from 2020, DeSantis said.

South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott took a similar route, emphasizing his optimism about the future of the party and the country. Scott saved his presidential barbs for Biden.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, nearly alone among Republican hopefuls in criticizing Trump for his behavior and related legal peril, could shift the dynamics Saturday when he appears with Erickson. Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, making his first bid for public office, will appear as well.

Explained Whit Ayres, a national Republican pollster, You cant win the nomination by attacking (Trump) frontally.

Ayres said the dynamics reflect the realities of the GOP primary electorate. About 10-15% are Never Trumpers, Ayres said, while about 30-35% hardcore Trump supporters. The rest, half or a slim majority, have doubts about his electability in a general election but are still reliable Republicans who voted for him twice, Ayres said.

As a Republican, you cant call him unfit for office, Ayres said. Thats basically requiring half the party to admit they screwed up and put someone unfit for office into the Oval Office. Thats just a psychological step too far for most people.

Brad Raymer, an attendee from Marietta, Georgia, was among the attendees who has cast two November ballots for Trump. But he called the Friday conversation refreshing.

I dont want to hear any more about Trump, Raymer said. Its good to hear these candidates actual ideas.

Indeed, Erickson picked their brains on matters from the Ukraine war and trade policy to regulation of artificial intelligence. Still, those policy discussions largely yielded similar ideological positions  promises of smaller government, lower taxes, increased military spending  that are routine in any Republican forum.

Raymer acknowledged that those overlaps make Trumps big personality and antics stand out in a party he has dominated since launching his first presidential campaign eight years ago.

But Raymer said he knows plenty of Republicans who, unlike him, embrace Trumps antics or at least tolerate his election lies about 2020. I try to tell them to see reason, he said, emphasizing that he accepted Bidens victory in Georgia and nationally.

Making a more muted version of the same argument was Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who notably defied Trump in 2020 by certifying Bidens slate of Georgia electors. Erickson and others celebrated Kemps 2022 reelection romp over Democratic star Stacey Abrams even after enduring Trumps public ire. They hailed Georgias economy, crediting the governor, of course, rather than a Democratic administration in Washington.

Kemp himself urged Republicans to look ahead.

You can believe whatever you want about the 2020 election. That is your right, Kemp said. But if youre still mad about that, he continued, then sign up to be a poll worker, be a poll watcher, get involved in the process, door knock, phone calls, do something that will help us win in 2024. Complaining is not going to help us.

It was all about Trump. Without a mention of his name.

By BILL BARROW

Associated Press
US, Japan and South Korea agree to expand security ties at summit amid China, North Korea worries View Photo

CAMP DAVID, Md. (AP)  President Joe Biden and the leaders of Japan and South Korea agreed Friday to expand security and economic ties at a historic summit at the U.S. presidential retreat of Camp David, cementing a new agreement with the allies that are on an increasingly tense ledge in relations with China and North Korea.

Biden said the nations would establish a communications hotline to discuss responses to threats. He announced the agreements, including what the leaders termed the Camp David Principles, at the close of his talks with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Our countries are stronger and the world will be safer as we stand together. And I know this is a belief that all three share, Biden said

The purpose of our trilateral security cooperation is and will remain to promote and enhance peace and stability throughout the region, the leaders said in a joint statement.

Biden maintained, as have US, South Korean and Japanese officials, that the summit was not about China but was focused on broader security issues. Yet, the leaders in their joint summit concluding statement noted Chinas dangerous and aggressive action in the South China Sea and said they strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the waters of the Indo-Pacific.

Yoon noted in particular the threat posed by North Korea, saying the three leaders had agreed to improve our joint response capabilities to North Koreas nuclear and missile threats, which have become sophisticated more than ever.

He said as the three appeared before reporters that today will be remembered as a historic day, where we established a firm institutional basis and commitments to the trilateral partnership.

Japans Kishida said before the private talks that the fact that we, the three leaders, have got together in this way, I believe means that we are indeed making a new history as of today. The international community is at a turning point in history.

The visitors spoke in their home languages, their comments repeated by a translator.

The U.S., Japan and South Korea agreed to a new duty to consult security pledge committing them to speak with each other in the event of a security crisis or threat in the Pacific.

The pledge is intended to acknowledge that they share fundamentally interlinked security environments and that a threat to one is a threat to all, according to a senior Biden administration official. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the announcement.

Under the pledge, the three countries agree to consult, share information and align their messaging with each other in the face of a threat or crisis, the official said.

The Camp David retreat, 65 miles (104.6 kilometers) from the White House, was where President Jimmy Carter brought together Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in September 1978 for talks that established a framework for a historic peace treaty between Israel and Egypt in March 1979. In the midst of World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met at the retreat  then known as Shangri-La  to plan the Italian campaign that would knock Benito Mussolini out of the war.

Kishida and Yoon were mindful of Camp Davids place in U.S. and world history, making repeated references to its past and now their place in it during their comments at the news conference after the meeting with Biden. The leaders arrived in Washington on Thursday and, as guests of Biden, on Friday were flown separately to Camp David on U.S. military helicopters like the ones Biden uses.

Bidens focus for the gathering was to nu dge the United States two closest Asian allies to further tighten security and economic cooperation with each other. The historic rivals have been divided by differing views of World War II history and Japans colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

But under Kishida and Yoon, the two countries have begun a rapprochement as the two conservative leaders grapple with shared security challenges posed by North Korea and China. Both leaders have been upset by the stepped-up cadence of North Koreas ballistic missile tests and Chinese military exercises near Taiwan, the self-ruled island that is claimed by Beijing as part of its territory, and other aggressive action.

Yoon proposed an initiative in March to resolve disputes stemming from compensation for wartime Korean forced laborers. He announced that South Korea would use its own funds to compensate Koreans enslaved by Japanese companies before the end of World War II.

Yoon also traveled to Tokyo that month for talks with Kishida, the first such visit by a South Korean president in more than 12 years. Kishida reciprocated with a visit to Seoul in May and expressed sympathy for the suffering of Korean forced laborers during Japans colonial rule,

The effort to sustain the trilateral relationship wont be without challenges.

Beijing sees the tightening cooperation efforts as the first steps of a Pacific-version of NATO, the transatlantic military alliance, forming against it. U.S. officials expect that North Korea will lash outperhaps with more ballistic missile test and certainly blistering rhetoric.

Polls show that a solid majority of South Koreans oppose Yoons handling of the forced labor issue thats been central to mending relations with Japan. And many in Japan fear that bolstering security cooperation will lead the country into an economic Cold War with China, its biggest trading partner. Bidens predecessor (and potential successor) Republican Donald Trump unnerved South Korea during his time in the White House with talk of reducing the U.S. military presence on the Korean Peninsula.

If an ultra-leftist South Korean president and an ultra-right wing Japanese leader are elected in their next cycles, or even if Trump or someone like him wins in the U.S., then any one of them could derail all the meaningful, hard work Biden, Yoon and Kishida are putting in right now, said Duyeon Kim, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security s Indo-Pacific Security Program.

___

Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Hyung-Jin Kim in Seoul contributed to this report. Lee reported from Washington.

By AAMER MADHANI, DARLENE SUPERVILLE and MATTHEW LEE

Associated Press
MERIDEN  Nonprofit research organization DataHaven released updated statistics on all 169 Connecticut towns earlier this week as part of an ongoing effort to use statistics to inform local efforts seeking to improve community well-being and racial equity. These statistics are collected into town equity reports that present localized, specific information on demographics, housing, education, wealth, health and environment that are also separated by race and ethnicity. The updates have been hotly anticipated, I would say. Since we released the first one, we kept getting emails and calls about when the next one's going to be out. said DataHaven Executive Director Mark Abraham. Abraham said the first version of the reports were released in 2021 and were downloaded by 10,000 people. He added the reports received a positive response and were widely shared. For the second version, hes hoping the updated data will bring in new audiences for a wider reach. He explained DataHaven uses federal and state data sources, as well as microdata from the archive of the U.S. Census Bureau. It uses specific information from a DataHaven survey that collects missing information about towns and communities within each town about their quality of life. Despite the technical achievement of collecting such detailed information about so many towns, Abraham explained that the reports were meant to be useful and to inform local governments, nonprofits and voters about their local communities. A lot of effort was put into both doing the data analysis, but then being able to present it in a way that might make sense to folks. The graphics are designed to be really easy to use, even for people who have not done as much with data in their work, he said. For the Meriden report, DataHaven compares Meriden to Connecticut as a whole, as well as to neighboring Wallingford and North Haven in the surrounding Public Use Microdata Area numbered as 0900902 by the U.S. Census Bureau. Meriden Latinos tend to be younger According to the updated report, 37% of the population of Meriden was Latino in 2020, compared to 17% of the population of Connecticut. Of those, Meriden Latinos tend to be younger than other demographics. Figure 2. Population by race/ethnicity and age group, 2021.

Meriden Latinos are more likely to be linguistically isolated

Around 11% of the people in Meriden come from other countries. Most of these immigrants are from the Spanish-speaking countries of Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Ecuador.

About 13% of the people in Meriden who are 5 years old or older speak English less than very well. This might make it hard for them to do well in school, get medical care, use social services, or find jobs in a place where most people speak English.

Meriden Latinos are less likely to own their own homes

Buying a home is easier for some groups than others. A long history of unfair practices make it hard for some people to buy a home. This, along with rules about where houses can be built, leads to many neighborhoods in Connecticut being made up in one race or one income level.

Local Latinos are less likely to be educated

People who have finished high school or college have more job choices and usually make more money compared to those who didn't finish high school. In Meriden, 15% of adults who are 25 or older dont have a high school degree, compared to 9% in the rest of the state.

Meriden Latinos tend to make less money

Meriden has the lowest household income of other local towns as the average household earns about $59,792, while the statewide average is $83,572. In individual households, racial differences in education, housing, jobs and pay often contribute to these gaps. On average, Black and Latino households tend to earn less than white households and women tend to earn less than men.

Meriden Latinos are more likely to live in walkable neighborhoods

Good community resources like parks and safe sidewalks encourage residents to be active and create strong communities. In Meriden, 60% of adults say they have important places within walking distance, which is higher than the average for the whole state. This is especially true for Black and Latino residents who often live in more crowded city areas that are easier to walk around.

To read and download full town equity reports for Meriden and all other Connecticut towns, visit

https://www.ctdatahaven.org/reports/connecticut-town-equity-reports

lguzman@record-journal.com,Twitter: @lguzm_n

Latino Communities Reporter Lau Guzman is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms. Support RFA reporters at the Record-Journal through a donation at https://bit.ly/3Pdb0re, To learn more about RFA, visit www.reportforamerica.org.
At a recent legislative hearing, Rep. Robyn Porter put one of the Connecticut State Police Unions top officials on the spot when she asked if hed ever submitted false statistics to the states racial profiling database or failed to submit information as required by law.

Andrew Matthews first seemed unsure if the question was addressed to him. But when the New Haven Democrat said it was, he quickly defended himself.

I would never do that. In my 20-plus years as a state trooper, Matthews, the unions executive director, legal counsel and former president responded.

The informational hearing, along with multiple federal and state investigations, was the byproduct of a report released by state auditors earlier this summer. The 79-page document revealed that state troopers and constables may have eroded the accuracy of the states profiling system by submitting phony traffic tickets or not reporting traffic stops  the former referred to as overreporting, the latter as underreporting.

But an analysis of the data used by the auditors, which The Connecticut Mirror obtained through an open records request, shows that Matthews had the second-most underreported infractions out of the 1,301 state troopers examined between 2014-2021.

More specifically, Matthews badge number is associated in the data with 224 infractions from 2014 through 2021 that were not reported to the profiling database, an apparent violation of state law. Fifty percent of his infractions were flagged as underreported.

He also may have overreported 27 traffic tickets, the data shows, possibly a criminal act if an investigation finds that he did so with intent.

In an interview with the CT Mirror, Matthews denied that he ever falsified information.

I did nothing wrong, absolutely nothing wrong, acted with the utmost integrity and professionalism and never falsified any records. Thats how silly this whole story is, Matthews said.

Read the full story on the website of The Connecticut Mirror, www.ctmirror.org.

adding that he isnt suggesting that no troopers were engaged in misconduct. But they have the right to due process. And if its determined that there are troopers that did  then they should be held accountable.

While auditors did not seek to determine intent, it was determined that the inaccurate data reflected more infractions for white drivers and fewer for Black and Hispanic motorists.

The real question is, if there was true intent in your heart and your mind, if you intended to skew the results because there is some underlying racial issue, then you dont belong, Matthews told officials. But I dont think thats the majority of it, and I hope Im right. I think theres a difference between fake tickets and racial data issues.

Since the audits release, Matthews has signed on as co-counsel in a legal complaint asking a judge to block the public release of names of 130 state troopers  the number of individuals identified by auditors who had more than 20% of their overall traffic stop records uncorroborated in any given year, combined with those who had more than eight unmatched records in any given year. The names have been requested by news organizations through the Freedom of Information Act.

Matthews was also copied on a recent vote of no confidence letter sent from the unions current president, Todd Fedigan, to James Rovella, the commissioner of the agency overseeing State Police. The letter, among other things, condemned Rovella for failing to defend us against unwarranted criticism and blatantly false allegations within the Traffic Stop Data Audit Report, which was meant to create a lack of public trust and confidence in law enforcement.

But Matthews status as one of the state troopers  he retired in 2018  implicated in the ticketing scandal raises questions about his comments about the audits findings and his involvement with any ongoing investigations and legal proceedings.

Matthews said the underreporting, which he doesnt think is the real issue, likely stems from him having to drive an outdated work vehicle that didnt have electronic reporting equipment. Therefore, he hand-wrote many of his tickets, he said, and communicated the required information to dispatchers. He said its possible dispatchers didnt enter his information as required. He thinks auditors failed to account for the latter in their report.

Im calling in either on the radio or on the phone, and Im saying to the dispatchers who are not very happy that were calling in and bothering them, Hey, this is a traffic stop I had  this is the racial profiling information. Its their responsibility to put it into the computer, he said.

In a statement to the CT Mirror, the State Police confirmed that troopers and constables are not obligated to ensure information was entered correctly. Supervisors now conduct a monthly review of traffic stops in their system to ensure compliance with required reporting of data and truthfulness of all records submitted, the statement noted.

Porter, the legislator who asked Matthews about whether hed failed to comply with the law, did not return calls for comment. Sen. Herron Gaston, co-chair of the Public Safety and Security Committee, one of the two committees who organized the legislative hearing, said he would find it deeply troubling if Matthews acted with intent.

If, in fact, any of that is true, then I think that he certainly needs to be held accountable, Gaston, D-Bridgeport, said. When Rep. Porter asked him the question of whether or not he had engaged in any of that activity, he was quick to say no, and he challenged the delegation to essentially look into his record, and in fact if they found something that was perceived to be nefarious  then he should be held accountable. And so, therefore, using his own words during the hearing, we certainly need to hold him accountable, especially considering that hes deeply involved in this process.

Rep. Greg Howard, the top House Republican on the Public Safety and Security Committee, pointed out that the audit merely identifies discrepancies in the data, not misconduct. So to jump to conclusions that Matthews or others engaged in intentional wrongdoing, he said, would be premature. He also said he doesnt see Matthews proximity to the ticketing scandal  the legal dispute and the vote of no confidence  as a conflict of interest.

If Andy Matthews is being accused of something, he has every right to represent himself. Everybody has a right to self-representation, said Howard, R-Stonington, a detective with the Stonington Police Department. And, frankly, I think he may be the best guy to defend them because he understands the intricacies of how things work.

After sharing with legislators last month that he never intentionally falsified information or failed to submit data, Matthews acknowledged that he was notified just before the hearing by State Police Col. Stavros Mellekas that, in 2018, he was flagged in an internal audit as someone who had discrepancies.

In 2018, State Police officials opened internal investigations into four troopers who were found to have fabricated tickets for better assignments, pay increases, promotions and specialty vehicles. The information didnt go public until last summer, when Hearst Connecticut Media Group obtained the internal reports through FOIA requests. Hearsts reporting was the catalyst for the state audit.

Officials in 2018 had also looked into data submitted by other troopers and found that Matthews had 46 discrepancies, according to an internal report, which he attributed at the hearing to dispatchers not properly submitting information he provided verbally from his handwritten tickets.

However, he wasnt investigated any further because State Police officials set the foundation for further inquiry at people with 50 or more discrepancies. It was not made clear how they came up with the formula.

Some day, not just me, but several other people on that list are going to be owed an apology, Matthews told the CT Mirror. Further, just because a state audit flagged people, he said, by no means does it mean that a trooper did something illegal or improper  thats the offensive thing in all of this mess.

Matthews wasnt out enforcing traffic as much as many other troopers during the time period the audit reviewed. Before retiring in 2018, he was a sergeant in the Traffic Services Unit while also serving as the unions president, a job that took up most of his time.

The audit detailed how researchers were unable to corroborate 25,966 traffic stops submitted to the racial profiling database, while indicating that the number of falsified records could possibly reach 58,553.

Ken Barone, one of the reports authors and a project manager for the Connecticut Racial Profiling Prohibition Project, a group collecting traffic data and helping identify and address racial and ethnic disparities, maintains that researchers never sought out to establish intent.

It is not my job to do a forensic review. We took all of the information we had, and we spent time and gave ample opportunity for the State Police to weigh in to tell us things that they wanted us to consider. And we did that, Barone said. At some point, the product has to be done. And Im sure the State Police would have appreciated it if we just waited for them to come up with every reason why there could be a discrepancy.

Barone described the reports methodology as conservative, so much so that it accounted for any scenario that he thinks would have called the conclusions into question.

At some point, you just have to accept the findings, Barone said.

And because of the reports findings, the state now knows that the racial profiling data it has relied upon to make public policy is worthless due to the overreporting and underreporting, said Rep. Steven Stafstrom, D-Bridgeport, co-chair of the Judiciary Committee.

Yes, I do think it is premature to make any conclusions with respect to any individual trooper. I hope there are a number of these troopers who maybe made clerical mistakes or were negligent in entering data, Stafstrom said. Is there a level of accountability that should result from that? Potentially. But, also, do I believe there may be troopers out there who intentionally either under- or overreported their data? Likely. And so we need to sort out one group from the other and just sort out the negligence from the intentionality.

In recent weeks, both the federal Department of Transportation and the Department of Justice have opened investigations into the ticketing scandal. Gov. Ned Lamont has also appointed Deirdre Daly, formerly a federal prosecutor under President Barack Obama, to investigate how and why the misconduct occurred, why it went undetected for so long and what reforms should be implemented to ensure that such misconduct does not reoccur.

Matthews sits near the forefront of the unions efforts to oppose any actions that it feels are meant to foster distrust of law enforcement. In the court filing to block the release of state troopers names to the public, the unions attorneys argue that releasing any names would offend the characters of potentially innocent troopers and further subjecting them to unwarranted scrutiny.

The vote of no confidence letter blamed Rovella and Mellekas for allowing others to publicly make false allegations, destroy the morale of our troopers and dismantle the reputation of the State Police.

Matthews now says hes glad that his numbers have come up in the audit. He believes it points to the reports flaws.

Im not concerned at all about this. This is all, in my opinion, an overreaction to something thats not completely accurate, Matthews said. And it is true at the end of this audit or the end of this story, that the audit in its current form will be discredited.

This story originally appeared on the website of The Connecticut Mirror, www.ctmirror.org.
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) yesterday released a list of activities that are not permitted within a 300-metre radius of a polling station on election day next Wednesday.

Posting on its official Twitter page, ZEC said wearing party regalia, sloganeering, using political or candidate-branded vehicles and distributing leaflets or pamphlets on behalf of a candidate or political party are prohibited.

Some of the activities which are prohibited include public singing, dancing and the use of bands, music, or loudspeakers as well as the use of cameras or phones.

The country goes to the polls on Wednesday next week to elect a President, Members of Parliament and councillors.

According to ZEC, there are 6 623 511 registered voters in Zimbabwe with Bulawayo having 287 720 voters while Matabeleland North has 371 587.

Matabeleland South has 300 763 registered voters while the Midlands has 840 961 people who are eligible to vote.

A total of 12 374 polling stations have been established.

Speaking during a media briefing in Harare on Wednesday, ZEC chairperson, Justice Priscilla Chigumba, said as at August 14, a total of 3 572 local observers, 136 foreign observers, 376 local journalists and 15 foreign journalists had been accredited.

Meanwhile, ZEC has dismissed as unfounded, allegations that the voters roll recently given to Presidential and National Assembly constituency candidates cannot be searched and analysed.

ZEC chief elections officer, Mr Utloile Silaigwana, said the voters roll is searchable and analysable as per provisions of Section 21(7)(1) of the Electoral Act[Chapter 2:13].

The section states that where a voters roll is provided in electronic form in terms of subsection (3), (4) or (6), its format shall be such as allows its contents to be searched and analysed, provided that  (i) the roll may be formatted so as to prevent it being altered or otherwise tampered with.

It is for this reason that ZEC has issued out the voters roll in its current format. There is nowhere in the Act where it is stated that the roll should be in excel or printable formats known to have compromised security features, said Mr Silaigwana.

The voters roll issued out to candidates has columns for the voters surname, forename, ID number, gender, date of birth, voters address, polling station, ward, local authority, constituency, district and province as prescribed in Section 20(2) of the Electoral Act.

Mr Silaigwana said the polling station codes have not been included on the voters roll because they are an administrative tool used by the Commission to map out polling stations during delimitation hence they are not part of the voters roll as alleged.

He said the electorate and other stakeholders should expect to see real names of polling stations and not codes on the voters roll.

Ordinary voters without access to the electronic voters roll are encouraged to dial the USSD Code *265# on their mobile phones to ascertain their registration status and respective polling stations. The Commission would like to urge all stakeholders with queries on the voters roll or any other electoral issue to approach the Commission for clarification, said Mr Silaigwana.

He said people should desist from casting aspersions on the voters roll and other electoral processes as this may affect voter turnout and discredit the polls.

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In a sh0cking revelation, an independent think-tank, the Zimbabwe Democracy Institute (ZDI), has exposed the ruling Zanu PF party for employing dirty tactics to manipulate electoral processes and ensure President Emmerson Mnangagwas re-election.

The ZDIs report, titled FAZ, Lawfare and the Menu of Electoral Manipulation, highlights the growing authoritarianism within Mnangagwas administration, aiming to secure victory at any cost.

According to the report, FAZ, a mysterious Zanu PF affiliate group with ties to the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), is playing a central role in coordinating the ruling partys campaigns. Comprised of former military personnel and CIO operatives, FAZ has been accused of engaging in electoral malpractices, including intimidation, violence, and spying on opposition supporters.

The ZDI report identifies three pillars of electoral manipulation: FAZs activities, monetary co-optation, and the weaponization of law (lawfare). It suggests that FAZs involvement in manipulating the 2023 voters roll is of particular concern, with 68% of respondents in the study highlighting its active role in this regard.

Opposition parties have long raised concerns about intimidation and harassment of their supporters, and human rights watchdogs have documented a surge in political violence and intimidation, predominantly involving Zanu PF members. Critics argue that Mnangagwa is utilizing the judiciary, legislature, and other illegal means to secure victory.

Zanu PF acting director for information, Farai Marapira, dismissed the allegations as baseless and accused the opposition of resorting to lies due to their lack of ideas and plans. However, the ZDI maintains that there is a need for civic education to raise awareness about electoral processes and malpractices. Such education, according to the think-tank, would contribute to low voter turnout and make it harder for the regime to manipulate election outcomes.

As Zimbabwe prepares for the upcoming elections, the ZDI emphasizes the importance of building a strong network of supporters and allies who can resist and counter the intimidation, harassment, and violence perpetuated by FAZ and other security agents.

With the electoral landscape clouded in controversy, Zimbabweans eagerly await the election day to see if true democracy will prevail or if dirty tactics will continue to undermine the fairness and transparency of the electoral process.

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In a sh0cking turn of events, former SABC broadcaster and current SADC Executive Director of Good Governance Africa, Chris Maroleng, was forcefully deported from Zimbabwe just days before the highly anticipated elections scheduled for Wednesday next week. Maroleng, a Zimbabwe-born journalist, had travelled to the country with his three colleagues, only to be sent back to South Africa without any official explanation.

Despite having met with Zimbabwean embassy officials in Pretoria and being granted permission to enter the country, Marolengs hopes were dashed when he and his colleagues were abruptly deported. The government spokespersons have remained silent on the matter, leaving the public in the dark regarding the reasons behind this apparent ban.

According to journalist Hopewell Chinono, who closely followed the incident, Maroleng was scheduled to be flown out on an Air Link jet at 4:15 PM. The sudden deportation has raised questions about the state of press freedom in Zimbabwe and the treatment of international journalists.

Good Governance Africa, an esteemed research and advocacy non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing governance across the continent, had received support from its Zimbabwean partner, Southern Africa Political and Economic Series (SAPES), headed by renowned academic Ibbo Mandaza. SAPES frequently organizes policy dialogue forums, bringing together diplomats, civil society leaders, and activists to discuss crucial governance issues.

Marolengs deportation echoes a distressing trend in recent weeks. Nigerian journalist David Hundeyin faced a similar fate in July when immigration authorities raised concerns about his entry into Zimbabwe without a visa.

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In a chilling revelation, Zimbabwe has witnessed a distressing surge in fatal road traffic accidents during the recently concluded Heroes and Defence Forces holiday, leaving the nation in a state of sh0ck. Police have reported a significant increase in the number of accidents compared to last year, with a staggering 132 incidents recorded this year, compared to 163 in 2022.

Whats even more alarming is the spike in fatalities, as the country mourns the loss of 15 lives in these tragic accidents, a sh0cking increase from the mere four deaths recorded during the same period last year. The number of people injured has also skyrocketed, reaching a staggering 85, compared to 29 in the previous year.

Zimbabwes national spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi released a statement expressing concern over these harrowing statistics. He emphasized the importance of motorists prioritizing vehicle maintenance to ensure they are safe for passengers and cargo transportation. Additionally, he urged drivers to strictly adhere to road rules and regulations, aiming to put an end to the relentless loss of lives caused by road traffic accidents.

But the question remains: What is contributing to this escalating road carnage?

According to the Zimbabwe Road Conditions and Inventory Report, the countrys road infrastructure poses a significant hazard. Sh0ckingly, a staggering 70% of the total road network is in poor to mediocre condition, leaving drivers and passengers vulnerable to accidents. Only a mere 25% of the roads are categorized as being in good to very good condition.

With such alarming conditions prevalent on the roads, it becomes crucial for authorities to take immediate action in improving infrastructure and implementing stricter measures to ensure road safety. The lives lost and the injuries sustained in these accidents serve as a poignant reminder of the urgent need for change.

As Zimbabwe grapples with the aftermath of this holiday periods deadly accidents, the nation mourns the loss of innocent lives and prays for a future where road travel is safe and secure. It is high time for all stakeholders to come together and address this pressing issue before more lives are needlessly lost on Zimbabwes treacherous roads.

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Former SABC broadcaster Chris Maroleng has been deported from Zimbabwe, prompting him to call on Zimbabweans to rise against tyranny.

Maroleng, who is now the SADC Executive Director of Good Governance Africa, arrived in Zimbabwe on Tuesday with the intention of conducting field research on election conditions. However, the government spokesperson, Nick Mangwana, accused Maroleng of misrepresenting the purpose of his visit.

Maroleng and his colleagues were denied accreditation to cover the upcoming election and were subsequently deported. Expressing his disappointment on social media, Maroleng urged the people of Zimbabwe to stand up against oppression and demand change.

He criticized the government for using bullying tactics to silence dissent and maintain their grip on power. Maroleng felt that his deportation was unfair, as he and his team had followed all the necessary protocols and had a noble purpose for being in Zimbabwe.

Mangwana defended the deportation, stating that foreign journalists who misrepresent their purpose in the country would be sent back. He emphasized the importance of transparency and accurate representation when visiting Zimbabwe.

Marolengs deportation serves as a reminder of the governments efforts to suppress the truth and undermine democratic rights, according to Maroleng. He called on Zimbabweans to turn their anger into action and demand accountability from the oppressive forces seeking to violate their democratic rights and aspirations.

We cannot afford to be silent in the face of such tyranny, he said.

This incident is a wake-up call for all Zimbabweans to rise up against the oppressive forces that seek to undermine their democratic rights and aspirations.

We must channel our anger into action, demanding accountability, he thundered.

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In a disturbing incident that has sent shockwaves through the community, a man identified as Thomas Muzenda from Gokwe, Zimbabwe, has been accused of brutally murdering his own 2-year-old daughter in a suspected ritual act.

The horrifying incident took place in January 2023 in Village 17 Mupukuta, under Chief Chireya in Gokwe North.

According to the Midlands Police Spokesperson, Emmanuel Mahoko, Muzenda, 38, had recently gone through a divorce, leaving him in custody of their two children, a 7-year-old boy and the 2-year-old girl. Seeking to enhance his mining business, Muzenda allegedly approached a local traditional healer known as Dhumba for assistance.

Tragically, Dhumba reportedly advised Muzenda that he needed to sacrifice one of his children for the ritual. Succumbing to this twisted advice, Muzenda is said to have taken the life of his innocent 2-year-old daughter, gruesomely removing her heart before callously disposing of her body in a disused mine.

The horrifying truth came to light when the maternal grandmother of the victim visited Muzendas home to inquire about her granddaughters well-being. However, she was met with evasive answers and an unsettling atmosphere. Concerned and suspicious, she promptly reported the situation to the police, leading to a swift investigation and subsequent arrest of Muzenda.

Meanwhile, the traditional healer Dhumba remains at large, and authorities are actively seeking his apprehension. The chilling nature of this crime has left the community in sh0ck and mourning for the innocent life lost.

The Zimbabwe Republic Police has condemned the alleged murder and vows to bring all involved parties to justice. The investigation into this harrowing case continues as the community grapples with the devastating tragedy that unfolded in their midst.

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OPPOSITION political parties should not seek sympathy from foreign election observers by making unsubstantiated claims to discredit operations of State institutions during the elections period, the ruling Zanu PF party has said.

This comes after MDC-T and CCC went on campaign to spread false information about the operations of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and other public entities.

Speaking at a media briefing at the Zanu PF headquarters in Harare yesterday, Zanu PF spokesperson Cde Christopher Mutsvangwa said the sanctity of Zimbabwean institutions had to be respected.

There seems to be a reckless assault on Zimbabwes electoral process by the opposition. To have CCC and MDC-T launching an unrestrained assault on State institutions and constitutionalism is wrong and irresponsible.

ZEC is trying to do its best and to the observers I say dont be a complaints bureau for the opposition.

Why do they trundle ZEC all the way to the courts about the voters roll when they can simply enquire over the phone? For a fact, there are more phones than people in Zimbabwe. We appeal to the CCC to act in a responsible manner to respect State institutions in Zimbabwe, said Cde Mutsvangwa. He appealed to the opposition parties public relations departments establish good rapporteur with State institutions and law enforcement agencies so that all their concerns would be attended to.

But CCC doesnt want that. It wants to attack ZRP willy-nilly. They delayed doing things within the stipulated times to be in confrontation with law enforcement agents.

Zanu PF had primaries elections but CCC left it until the last minute to deal with perceived internal rivals and later blamed ZEC, he said.

Only (CCC spokesperson Fadzai) Mahere and a few have become the party from a once respected MDC led by Morgan Richard Tsvangirai. If you were not mobilising people to vote for you over the past five years, theres no miracle in democracy, said Cde Mutsvangwa.

Zanu PF targeting not less than six million votes for the party and President Mnangagwa.

The urban voters who used to support the opposition have shifted their allegiance to the ruling party in appreciation of the good works being done by President Mnangagwa.

Thats why we are not doing a manifesto. Our works speak volumes about us, said Cde Mutsvangwa adding that violence was not in the DNA of Zanu PF.

We condemn violence which led to the death of one person in Glen View. Criminals are criminals and they should never be attached to a certain political party but should be dealt with accordingly.

We therefore thank the ZRP for carrying its work diligently in bringing the perpetrators to book.

CCC had no money to sell its programmes as funding had dried up and they were choosing to attack the national broadcaster ZBC, ZEC and other state institutions unjustifiably.

He blamed the CCC for failing to attract investment in the country despite controlling urban councils for two decades.

They blame ZBC for lack of coverage. What have they done that deserves coverage? These accusations against broadcasting houses is unwarranted.

If they want, they can be covered for failing to collect garbage. Those are the things they want us to cover when steel and lithium plants are being opened. ZBC covers that because theres something to talk about, he said.

He said the United States of America which used to side with the opposition political parties in Zimbabwe had finally preferred to be neutral due to re-engagement and engagement policy initiated by the Second Republic.

We are also happy with America that they have come to Zanu PF offices. We want that gladness to become a sobering reminder to CCC that they need to introspect and become real Zimbabweans, he said.

He dismissed as unfounded, claims by some organisations such as former Liberian President Ellen Sirleaf Johnsons Presidential Centre for Women and Development that there was violence in the country.

Our independence was won in 1980 once and for all.

We are Zimbabweans in our own right. We are happy about observers coming from all over the world to engage Zimbabwe genuinely.

 Heraid

Breaking News via Email
Underwater molecular barter (press release) NewsWise. Eat or be eaten is not always the way things are in nature.

Iowa skipper butterfly canary in coal mine: A warning sign of prairie loss consequences for farmers, wildlife alike Investigate Midwest

Climate

The most unusual Kilauea eruptionmaybe 1823? Volcano Watch, U.S. Geological Survey

Water

#COVID19

Moderna Clinical Trial Data Confirm Its Updated Covid-19 Vaccine Generates Robust Immune Response in Humans Against Widely Circulating Variants (press release) Moderna. Might as well go straight to the source. Covid-19 affects taste independent of tastesmell confusions: results from a combined chemosensory home test and online survey from a large global cohort Chemical Senses. From the Abstract: Our study demonstrates that COVID-19-positive individuals report taste dysfunction when self-tested with stimuli that have little to none olfactory components. Assessing the smell and taste intensity of household items is a promising, cost-effective screening tool that complements self-reports and may help to disentangle taste loss from smell loss. However, it does not replace standardized validated psychophysical tests.

China?

Myanmar

Africa

Syraqistan

The problematic framing of Israel protests as a fight for democracy The New Arab

European Disunion

Race to be EIB chief enters final furlong Politico. The deck: Position is more prestigious than ever before because of European Investment Banks role in Ukraine. Fossil Media New Left Review. French media.

Dear Old Blighty

New Not-So-Cold War

Gotterdammerung in the East Big Serge. Defeat for the Nazis of 1943-45. Well worth a read. The sheer scale amazes.

South of the Border

Biden Adminstration

The Supremes

Spook Country

House Judiciary panel subpoenas FBI, DOJ over big tech collusion Anadalu Agency

Digital Watch

Zornio: HOAs are too powerful. They should not be allowed to foreclose on Colorado homes. Colorado Sun

Class Warfare

Thousands of scientists are cutting back on Twitter, seeding angst and uncertainty Nature. Since Twitter is the only universal address space (Mastondon does not have search beyond the instance), this demarche is a great loss for humanity. Infection controls droplet paradigm would never have been overturned by aerosol scientists and engineers without Twitter. Another example of good science on the Intertubes:

LK-99 lessons: The ArXiv worked as intended. The scientific community was alerted to the possibility of a room-temperature superconductor, investigated the report, and produced further evidence 1/  Prof. Michael S Fuhrer (@MichaelSFuhrer) August 10, 2023

Antidote du jour (via):

Bonus antidote:

Soothing timelapse of cats following a sunbeam. pic.twitter.com/PxOvf90Qom  Fascinating (@fasc1nate) August 15, 2023

See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here.
Damning report reveals Big Techs interference in Kari Lakes election

Newly obtained emails expose how social media platforms helped turn Arizona, once a reliable red state, into a hub of leftist politicians.

(Article by Luis Cornelio republished from NewsBusters.org)

The Arizona Capitol Oversight, a non-profit organization, unleashed on August 10 emails exposing how Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, as then-Arizona secretary of state, coerced Twitter and Facebook to censor her leading opponents ahead of her contentious bid for Arizona governor in 2022. According to the damning report, Hobbs sought to improve her political posture ahead of the 2022 election. In one of the emails, dated November 12, 2020, Hobbs whined that she came under fire after the resurfacing of a 2017 tweet where she associated Trump voters with the neo-Nazi and sought special protection from one social media platform.

? Today Arizona Capitol Oversight is releasing exclusive emails from @KatieHobbs' office Hobbs' govt staff censored her political opponents while she campaigned #AZGov, including @AZGOP in August 2022 for saying she didn't deserve a promotion ->https://t.co/xDkKkFuIOS (1/4) pic.twitter.com/Ir1CRoElTd  Brian Anderson (@AZBrianAnderson) August 10, 2023

The emails indicate that Twitter pushed back against Hobbss hissy fit that Twitter was not doing enough to protect her, asking her to provide more evidence of her assertions. Hobbs responded back claiming, I am not sure I can provide the information you are asking for because I reported and then blocked multiple users at the same time. As if that wasnt enough, Hobbs then aimed her censorship demands at Facebook, emailing the company on November 23 2021 to remove an unrelated post. The post in question was related to the Arizona elections.

The censorship collusion continued from November 2020 all the way to the run-up of her gubernatorial campaign announcement. Notably, in one damning email, merely weeks away from her announcement, Hobbs used her official government email to pressure Twitter to censor posts that contained so-called misinformation.

The damning emails triggered an investigation by the Arizona House of Representatives, which is currently led by Republicans. Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma, a Republican, announced a new probe through an Ad Hoc Committee on Oversight, Accountability, and Big Tech on Thursday, according to the Arizona Capitol Times. The new investigation comes nearly 9 months after Hobbss email first came under scrutiny by Republicans. The Capitol Times reported that in December 2021 former GOP Chairwoman Kelli Ward asked then-Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich to investigate whether Hobbs had violated state law by exploiting her government position to coerce Twitter to remove posts.

Read more at: NewsBusters.org
Chinese state media (justifiably) MOCKS Bidens INCOMPETENCE in handling Hawaii wildfires

Chinese state media mocked U.S. President Joe Biden for his administration's incompetent response to the recent wildfires that have ravaged Hawaii.

An Aug. 15 article by the state-run Global Times pointed out that the Aloha State's disaster made the U.S. look "unlike a developed country." The piece by Global Times chief reporter Yang Sheng pointed to the "incompetence of the U.S. government" as a major factor in Hawaii's predicament.

"Many people, including survivors, uploaded videos to  heavily criticize [both] the incompetence of the government and the problematic response and early warning system. Some questioned reports by the mainstream media and said it was not a natural disaster, and the death toll could be far greater than reported," he wrote.

The state-run outlet also mentioned Hawaii's outdoor public safety early warning system, which consists of more than 400 sirens to remind people of impending disasters. The island of Maui has 80 such sirens, according to the Chinese Xinhua News Agency. Yang wrote: "Warning sirens did not sound, people received no warning about the wildfire and they were not informed about evacuation."

He also referenced the "disorganized response and poor traffic system" that became detrimental to evacuees and first responders. The Global Times reporter continued: "Donations have not been handed to the people in need, [and] some relief materials were looted as local authorities failed to restore public order."

Yang zeroed in on Biden's remarks about the disaster in Hawaii. The president vacationing in his home state of Delaware said on Aug. 13 the White House is looking at the devastation in Maui. He later remarked "No comment" when asked about the rising death toll on the island.

Biden's remark sparked a backlash, including from former Democrat Hawaii State Rep. Mark Kaniela Ing. The former state lawmaker lamented in a now-deleted post: "I campaigned for you. Now, when I lose dozens of my friends, family and neighbors  this?"

Millions for Ukrainians, pennies for Hawaiians

"Many Chinese netizens do not understand why the powerful U.S. military force can allow Americans to feel helpless during the disaster when the Pacific Fleet is right there in Hawaii," noted Yang.

"A comment said: 'Why don't U.S. military troops go to rescue their people in the disaster area?' In China, the military, police and other professional rescue forces will respond immediately to rescue people every time when disasters occur."

Seemingly coming to his senses after the "no comment" remark, Biden announced on Aug. 14 a one-time $700 assistance check for affected households in Hawaii. But according to Richard Stern of the Washington, D.C.-based think tank Heritage Foundation, the $700 allocated to affected households is lower than the amount sent as aid to Ukraine. He calculated that the $113 billion budget for Kyiv approved by Congress amounts to roughly $900 per American household.

An Aug. 16 editorial by the Global Times used this finding as a springboard. It noted that while Hawaii was burning, Washington was busy with other things  including a new $200 million military aid package to Ukraine.

"The U.S. is prone to natural disasters such as wildfires and hurricanes. However, the country's patchy response when dealing with these disasters is perplexing. [America's] sluggish and indifferent response to its domestic catastrophic incidents sharply contrasts with its fervent resource mobilization in 'competition' with other nations," the piece said.

It cited Washington's disastrous response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which caused the loss of 1,836 lives. The op-ed also mentioned the February derailment of the Norfolk Southern train in East Palestine, Ohio. The derailment and subsequent chemical spill poisoned the environment and triggered health issues in many residents. (Related: Joe Biden ignores ecological disaster in East Palestine, flies overseas to visit Ukraine instead while fake air raid siren blares overhead.)

"A foreign netizen said, 'The American-style rescue in Hollywood movies is nowhere to be seen, with no American rescue heroes or high-tech equipment.' This observation seems to be perfectly fitting for every disaster in America, including the current Hawaii wildfires."

Visit Disaster.news for more stories about the wildfires in Hawaii.

Watch this video that explains what happened during the wildfires at the island of Maui in Hawaii.

This video is from the Alex Hammer channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Maui wildfires burn historic town of Lahaina, kill over 90 Hawaiians with hundreds still missing.

Did leftist global warming zealots start deadly Hawaiian fires to spread climate fear and anxiety?

Why didn't Maui's emergency sirens go off as intended to warn residents, tourists about fiery inferno coming their way?

Sources include:

Breitbart.com 1

GlobalTimes.cn 1

Breitbart.com 2

GlobalTimes.cn 2

Brighteon.com
Faith, conviction, and bravery

Over 15 years ago, I was sitting at the Tyson's Corner Morton's steakhouse with my father and Representative Tom Davis. It wasn't uncommon for my father and I to be in D.C. meeting with politicians he was supporting, or odd for me to be included in those meetings, whether that be fundraiser events, speeches, or private dinners like this one. However, this night, in particular, stuck with me for my entire life, and it was because of a single joke that Representative Davis told me that night.

(Article republished from WCDispatch.com)

He leaned across the table to a young teenage boy and asked if I wanted to know a well-kept secret about politicians. I, with a naive and happy smile, obliged him.

He then asked: "How can you tell if a politician is telling the truth?" I said I didn't know. He replied: "Ahh, well I'll tell you..." and he sat himself up straight and leaned back in his chair. "If a politician is straightening his tie, he's telling the truth... If he's fixing the time on his watch, he's telling the truth... If he's cleaning his glasses, he's telling the truth." He paused and could see my confusion, but then with a wry smile, finished: "But it's the moment he starts moving his lips, right then! You know he's lying."

A simple joke that stuck with me for the rest of my life, but it speaks to a well-known truth that is understood by everyone who covers political issues: Politicians lie. This is not to disparage Representative Davis; in my hundreds of memories of politicians, I genuinely believe that he was one of the best and most honest politicians I met in my young life.

However, it does illustrate a point that is well understood by everyone who knows anything about Washington D.C. The city is full of liars, and many politicians will simply lie to their constituents to get their vote, only to move on to the next group with more false promises.

But that isn't always the case. Every now and then, a different kind of politician emergesone who stands up and speaks not for personal gain, but entirely for the people from whom they earned their vote. Someone who genuinely acts selflessly in their pursuit of office, believing that they can be a force for good, rather than just another voice in the ideological banter that characterizes Washington D.C.

It was a politician with that very voice that I encountered when I spoke to Mr. Nate Cain, a Republican candidate for Congress in West Virginia's District Two.

For over an hour, we discussed his faith, life, career, and what ultimately drove him into politics. Not once during the entire conversation did he ask me for connections, donations, or even proclaim his strong positions on ideological grounds. Instead, his message to me was a candid discussion of his grassroots movement into politics, a journey he believes he was called to undertake through his faith.

From preaching in churches to engaging with small country communities, every story that Cain told me about his campaign had a common theme. It was about the people he was meeting, what they were saying to him, and how his prospective constituents felt that they had been left behind in politics. But after hearing him tell his story, they were willing to promise him their vote.

And for good reason, as Nate Cain's story is quite a compelling one, and not exactly the stereotypical journey into politics one might expect.

For those who are well versed in politics, you may remember the story from the 2016 election cycle: the Uranium One scandal that rocked the Clinton campaign. An anonymous informant came forward with credible intel that linked the Clinton Foundation to a Russian company's acquisition of Uranium One. This controversial deal allowed Rosatom, Russia's state-owned atomic energy corporation, to gain control over about 20% of the U.S.'s uranium extraction capacity. The sale required approval from nine federal agencies, including the State Department then headed by Hillary Clinton. Allegations arose that the approval was directly influenced by donations to the Clinton Foundation by individuals connected to Uranium One, sparking accusations of a "pay-to-play" scheme.

Read more at: WCDispatch.com
Forget the past: FDA claims it never warned against Ivermectin for COVID19

At one point in George Orwells 1984, protagonist Winston Smith, who works in the truth-hiding Ministry of Truth, thinks , The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became the truth.

(Article by P. Gardner Goldsmith republished from MRCTV.org)

He wrote eternal words that befit most government agencies, politicians, and their media lackeys -- and they perfectly fit the behavior of that brazen insult to the Constitution known as the Food and Drug Administration.

If you have a memory, you might recall that the not-constitutionally-enumerated FDA granted also-unconstitutional Emergency Use Authorization to pharma-giant mRNA gene-transfection jabs that the corporations and politicians and media shills erroneously called COVID vaccines (but actually always were termed "countermeasures" behind the scenes in DC) and which, by pumping them upon us in this fashion (along with massive federal subsidies for the mRNA development, jab purchases, and military-led distribution) didnt require testing that usually is required for real vaccines before they are allowed to be introduced into the market.

Its important to reiterate that the feds have absolutely no moral or constitutional power to create an FDA in the first place, let alone to artfully craft their arbitrary so-called rules about when and how drugs can be sold or used. And its also important to note that the only way the mRNA jabs could be put out under that wondrous Emergency Use Authorization was if there were no therapeutic medications that patients could use to alleviate the symptoms of their politically over-blown threat, COVID-19.

Enter things like hydroxychloroquine, which, in early February of 2020, I already knew had been tested via funding from the NIH to show that it was a potent inhibitor of SARS CoV (1)  a fact that Anthony Fauci had to have known since the study was done in 2005, and which he never, ever mentioned in public.

Strange, that.

And enter Ivermectin, on which ignorant preach-meisters in pop media such as Jimmy Kimmel and CNN pounced, deriding it as horse paste and horse dewormer when the drug long ago was heralded as a breakthrough for humans in the fight against internal organ and skin parasites, elephantiasis, and even head lice, having been credited with saving millions of lives in Africa.

And enter the FDA bureaucrats, who seemingly cant keep their probing, problematic hands to themselves, and which issued official statements to tell people that Ivermectin was NOT approved for parallel use as a therapeutic against the symptoms of COVID-19.

But now?

Now, please either forget their ludicrous posturing and pronouncements and adopt the NEW position as the unquestionable truth, or just overlook this new position and keep watching Jimmy Kimmel make a fool of himself.

Zachary Stieber reports for The Epoch Times that the new position actually is more verbal posturing, to act as cover in court:

FDA explicitly recognizes that doctors do have the authority to prescribe ivermectin to treat COVID, Ashley Cheung Honold, a Department of Justice lawyer representing the FDA, said during oral arguments on Aug. 8 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit.

To which doctors and everyone else should have said, long ago, WE DO NOT NEED YOUR PERMISSION OR GRANTING OF AUTHORITY.

This argument, concerning whether the FDA approved, or approves now, should be moot. We are supposed to be free to peacefully trade with others and to ingest what we want. Didnt the FDA bureaucrats and Jimmy Kimmel learn from the experience and response of the colonials when the Brits imposed the Tea Act on them in 1773?

Adds Stieber:

The government is defending the FDAs repeated exhortations to people to not take ivermectin for COVID-19, including a post that said Stop it. The case was brought by three doctors who allege the FDA unlawfully interfered with their practice of medicine with the statements. A federal judge dismissed the case in 2022, prompting an appeal. The fundamental issue in this case is straightforward. After the FDA approves the human drug for sale, does it then have the authority to interfere with how that drug is used within the doctor-patient relationship? The answer is no, Jared Kelson, representing the doctors, told the appeals court.

Of course, one ought to go deeper, and question the assumption that the FDA has any moral or constitutional authority to approve of not approve a drug, at all, but, on the level at which they are arguing, even at THAT, the FDA is on slippery legal footing, having explicitly expended tax cash to tell people not to take ivermectin.

The FDA on Aug. 21, 2021, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, yall. Stop it. The post, which linked to an FDA page that says people shouldnt use ivermectin to prevent or treat COVID-19, went viral. In other statements, the FDA said that ivermectin isnt authorized or approved to treat COVID-19 and Q: Should I take ivermectin to prevent or treat COVID-19? A: No.

But, of course, now, FDA wants to lean in the other direction, implying that by not explicitly going after doctors who might prescribe it, they were not working against its use.

At least one of the Fifth Circuit judges hearing the case appears not to be buying the spin.

What about when it said, No, stop it? Circuit Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod, on the panel that is hearing the appeal, asked. Why isnt that a command? If you were in English class, they would say that was a command.

It would, at least, be seen as a warning of potential future FDA action against doctors, thats for sure.

As Stieber notes, the plaintiffs are Drs. Paul Marik, Mary Bowden, and Robert Apter, who "say they were professionally harmed by the FDAs statements, including being terminated over efforts to prescribe ivermectin to patients."

Dr. Marik has noted that a number of studies support using ivermectin against COVID-19, as the FDA itself has acknowledged. But whether studies show that any drug is effective against anything is not the point, because no one should be telling us or the drug makers and sellers that we cannot contract with each other.

Ahh, but of course, the feds have built a giant legal and regulatory edifice, so the courts will rule according to how they view that, not the US Constitution or the deeper matters of freedom and peace.

Federal law enables the FDA to provide information, such as reports of adverse reactions to drugs, but not medical advice, Mr. Kelson (plaintiffs atty, Jared Kelson) said. This is something the FDA has never been able to do. And its a bright line, he told the court, adding later: The clearest examples of where they have gone over the line are when they say things like, You are not a horse, you are not a cow. Seriously, yall. Stop it.' Judges indicated they agree that the FDA lacks the power to give medical advice; Judge Clement said, Youre not authorized to give medical advice.

Of course, the FDA argues that it wasnt - which is about as believable as their spurious claims that they have power over you, or your doctor, or anyone else.

The quicker people see the roots of the FDA problem -- which go much deeper than whether it was giving medical advice or phrasing things this way or that  the more rapidly they will see what it means to be a free person.

And the sooner they will see that it is utterly imperative to eliminate the FDA.

Read more at: MRCTV.org
Former campaign aide for Rep. George Santos indicted over shady fundraising tactics

A former campaign aide for embattled Rep. George Santos has been indicted in New York on federal criminal charges of allegedly impersonating a House leadership aide to solicit contributions to the congressman's campaign

Samuel Miele, 27, worked for Santos during the 2020 and 2022 election cycles as a campaign fundraiser. He is facing four federal felony counts of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.

The scope of the indictment alleges that between August and December 2021, Miele "falsely and without authorization impersonated" a person who was "a high-ranking aide to a member of the House with leadership responsibilities  for the purpose of soliciting contributions to the campaign and enriching himself through commissions earned."

The funds Miele garnered were then deposited into Santos' campaign account, after which Miele received a 15 percent commission.

The person Miele allegedly impersonated is not named in the federal indictment. But the details of the charges match with multiple news reports from earlier this year noting how Miele was fired from Santos' staff when he allegedly claimed to be Dan Meyer, the former longtime chief of staff to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who at the time the incidents took place was the House Minority Leader.

As part of Miele's schemes, he created an email account using the first letter and full last name of Meyer and signed the emails with the aide's full name and title. This email account was allegedly used during the time period presented in the indictment.

And then on Sept. 26, 2022, Miele allegedly sent a letter to Santos "in which he admitted to 'faking my identity to a big donor,' but stated that he was 'high risk, high reward in everything I do,'" reads the indictment, filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Miele claims he's innocent of all charges

Miele was immediately arraigned on the indictment and pleaded not guilty to the charges in a federal court in Brooklyn. He was released on a $150,000 bond.

Miele's attorney, Kevin Marino, told reporters that his client is not guilty of these charges. "He looks forward to complete vindication at trial as soon as possible," Marino said.

Miele's alleged ruse was discovered when a suspicious Santos donor reached out to Meyer through intermediaries and asked him about the fundraising pitch.

"This isn't me," Meyer told the donor, according to the indictment.

The indictment against Miele comes just three months after Santos himself was arrested on charges of wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and making false statements to Congress. Like Miele, Santos has pleaded not guilty to these charges and insisted he has no plans to resign from Congress. (Related: George Santos tied to Ilhan Omar-style immigration marriage scam.)

Santos was not named in the indictment against Miele. But the events outlined in Miele's case overlap with the congressman's own alleged crimes. Because of this overlap, prosecutors have notified the two judges covering both cases and suggested that it "may be appropriate" to reassign both to one judge which "may result in significant savings of judicial resources and serve the interests of justice."

Democrats have also immediately rushed to criticize Santos and the entirety of the Republican Party over Miele's actions.

Rep. Dan Goldman, a Democrat representing a district covering lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn, near Santos' own district which covers parts of Queens and Nassau County in Long Island, criticized McCarthy for not sacking Santos.

"According to a federal indictment, George Santos paid someone to impersonate Kevin McCarthy's chief of staff to raise money, yet McCarthy continues to protect Santos," said Goldman. "Pathetic and shameful."

McCarthy, protecting a very narrow majority in the House, has stopped short of calling for Santos to be expelled.

Learn more about incidents involving members of the Republican Party at VoteRepublican.news.

Watch this clip of a staffer for Santos being caught on a secret recording saying she hopes he does get kicked out of Congress.

This video is from the High Hopes channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Sam Bankman-Fried indicted AGAIN for allegedly using $100M in stolen customer funds for political donations.

Newsom receives millions in fundraising campaigns outside of California, but denies having any interest in running for president.

Miami Mayor Suarez under fire for receiving $500K campaign donation from fake flower shop with ties to China.

DeSantis donors bankrolled Pelosi while bashing Trump and supporting Obama and Biden's Iran nuclear deal.

Political network set up by Koch brothers raises more than $70M to stop Trump from winning GOP presidential nomination.

Sources include:

TheDailyBeast.com

Politico.com

CNBC.com

APNews.com

Brighteon.com
Heads of vaccine makers Moderna, BioNTech included in list of COVID-19 billionaires

The heads of vaccine makers Moderna and BioNTech were among those included in a list of billionaires who saw their net worth jump in 2021 amid the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Rhoda Wilson of the Daily Expose expounded on the list, which includes Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel and BioNTech CEO Dr. Ugur Sahin. The latter partnered with Pfizer to develop the messenger RNA (mRNA) COVID-19 vaccine, while Moderna did its own version of the shot.

She wrote that Bancel, who heads the Massachusetts-based Moderna, recorded a net worth of $4.3 billion in 2021. This increased to $4.6 billion the following year, before dropping slightly to $4.4 billion in 2023.

"Moderna was founded in 2010 and went public in December 2018. Bancel became CEO of Moderna in 2011 and owns roughly eight percent of the company," Wilson wrote.

"Moderna's COVID-19 injection received emergency [use] authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in December 2020. In January 2022, Moderna's COVID-19 injection was granted full FDA approval."

Sahin, on the other hand, co-founded BioNTech in 2008 with his wife Dr. Ozlem Tureci, who also serves as the company's chief medical officer. At the time of its establishment, BioNTech had been backed by the German billionaire brothers Thomas and Andreas Struengmann. Wilson mentioned that Sahin has a 17 percent ownership stake in BioNTech, which went public in October 2019.

"Sahin led BioNTech to start on a vaccine for the coronavirus in early 2020," she wrote. "It partnered with Pfizer in March 2020 and got approval in December [of the same year]."

The BioNTech CEO recorded a net worth of $4 billion in 2021. It increased to $5.3 billion in 2022, before slightly decreasing at an estimated $5 billion in 2023.

Siblings Karin Sartoris-Herbst and Ulrike Baro were also included in the list of COVID-19 billionaires for 2021. The daughters of Horst Sartorius, founder of the German biopharmaceutical company Sartorius AG, inherited a 50 percent stake in their father's firm upon his death in 1998. An executor oversees their inheritance for the company, which makes specialized COVID-19 lab equipment, until 2028.

Both siblings saw their net worth rise from 2021 through 2023. Sartorius-Herbst recorded a net worth of $2.4 billion in 2021; $2.5 billion in 2022; and $3.5 billion in 2023. Baro, meanwhile, recorded a net worth of $1.5 billion in 2021; $2.5 billion in 2022; and $2.7 billion in 2023.

COVID-19 billionaires include several Chinese business owners

Several Chinese business owners made the 2021 list of COVID-19 billionaires, with many of them taking the pandemic and the higher demand for medical equipment as an opportunity. However, their net worth dropped as the pandemic waned and demand for medical supplies diminished. (Related: Covid tyranny is about money and keeping the corrupt global financial system intact  not public health.)

Li Jianquan of Winner Medical reported a net worth of $6.8 billion in 2021, but this dropped to $3.3 billion the following year and to $2.9 billion in 2023. His company makes cotton-based medical dressings, bandages and gauze products. It also makes protective face masks and surgical gowns, which were in high demand at the height of COVID-19.

Liu Fangyi of Intco Medical Technology reported a net worth of $4.2 billion in 2021, but this dropped to $2.6 billion in 2022 and $1.4 billion in 2023. Intco supplies disposable gloves, wheelchairs and gauzes.

Hu Kun of Contec Medical Systems reported a $2.5 billion net worth in 2021, which dropped to $1.2 billion the following year. By 2023, he had dropped off the list of billionaires. Contec supplies medical instruments, with more than 70 percent of its profits coming from overseas.

Dai Lizhong of diagnostic kit supplier Sansure Biotech reported a net worth of $2.4 billion in 2021. This dwindled to $1.1 billion the following year, less than half of his net worth for 2021. Just like Hu, Dai dropped off the billionaires' list for 2023.

"Some became household names due to the 'vaccines' they helped develop. Others got rich by making everything from personal protective equipment and diagnostic tests to antibody treatments and software that helps authorities schedule vaccination campaigns," Wilson wrote.

She sarcastically remarked that these billionaires are "not poor enough." Wilson concluded by calling for these COVID-19 billionaires' "ill-gotten gains" to "be returned to the people who suffered and continue to suffer, while the self-appointed elites have enriched themselves."

Head over to Pandemic.news for more similar stories.

Watch this video about Pfizer, who BioNTech partnered with for its mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, murdering children for profit through the injections.

This video is from the Heaven Reigns channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Pfizer plans to hike price of covid jabs by 10,000% next year to fund other drugs; calls scamdemic a profit "franchise" designed to fuel company's "marketing machine."

Move aside, Big Pharma: BIG COVID is a trillion-dollar industry and those who profit from it will make sure covid never goes away.

America's top 20 nonprofit hospitals received over $23 billion in COVID-19 payments (while killing or injuring millions of people.)

Sources include:

Expose-News.com

Brighteon.com
REPORT: Hunter Biden hired PR firm to clean up his Wikipedia page and make him look good

A new report from independent journalist Lee Fang found that, in 2014, Hunter Biden contracted a public relations firm to edit certain Wikipedia pages to improve his image

The PR firm in question is FTI Consulting, a prominent digitally focused agency. According to Fang's report, which is cobbled together from pouring through Hunter's old emails, the presidential son and his business associates worked with FTI Consulting and several other PR firms to change the details on the Wikipedia page pertaining to Hunter's work for Ukrainian energy giant Burisma. (Related: Whistleblower: Secret Service prevented the FBI from interviewing Hunter Biden.)

Hunter also used the firm to highlight his charitable work with the World Food Program to counter reports spreading online about his work with Burisma.

"Hunter, the emails show, sought to delete a line explaining that the National Endowment for Democracy, which he previously worked with, had ties to the CIA [Central Intelligence Agency]. He also pushed to include more official titles from his various NGO board memberships," wrote Fang.

Fang added that one email Hunter sent to then-FTI advisor Ryan Toohey noted that Erich Schwerin, a business partner of the Biden family, would be making "additional edits." Schwerin is known for being the president of Hunter's investment firm Rosemont Seneca Partners.

"Toohey, emails from Hunter's laptop show, confirmed that his company would get to work," wrote Fang.

Other emails show that Hunter was also working and communicating closely with Burisma executives while outlining FTI's strategy regarding the Wikipedia edits. One email from Burisma executive Vadim Pozharskyi thanked Hunter for coordinating with the PR firm.

"Thank you for your feedback on the Wikipedia issue," wrote Pozharskyi in an email to Hunter. "We found it thoroughly researched and clearly stated. We've also done some digging in terms of Wikipedia entries and came up with some additional Wikipedia pages analysis (see attached)."

PR firm made puppet accounts on Wikipedia to edit Hunter's wiki page

According to Fang's report, FTI Consulting made fake Wikipedia accounts to remove unflattering details and add a positive spin on articles involving Hunter. One account that the firm used even added "minor mistakes" such as grammatical errors to make the edits appear more realistic.

One account, called "AmeliaChevalier," edited Hunter's Wikipedia page to delete references to "disgraced financier Allen Stanford," who was convicted in 2012 for orchestrating a 20-year-long, $7 billion Ponzi scheme.

One prolific account called "Earflaps" made multiple edits, including deleting criticisms of Hunter's work for Burisma. Multiple other anonymous Wikipedia accounts made edits spaced out over several weeks to avoid suspicion.

These accounts were later identified as "sock puppet" accounts, a term used to indicate Wikipedia users who only edit pages at the direction of clients who pay for their services, usually to airbrush negative information off the online encyclopedia. One investigation found that Earflaps and AmeliaChevalier were two of just a dozen accounts tied to PR firms hired to carefully manage the image of Russian businessmen and oligarchs.

"Archives of Wikipedia show that a month after engaging with FTI, Hunter's Wikipedia page had dramatically changed, with negative references scrubbed and lengthy passages added to discuss his volunteer work, service in government and appointment to various boards and political committees," reported Fang.

Learn more about the unethical and illegal activities of Hunter and other members of the Biden family at BidenCrimeFamily.news.

Watch this clip featuring an admission from a prominent Wikipedia editor that the website is run by the CIA.

This video is from the PureTrauma357 channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Hunter Biden implicated in a "laundry list" of corrupt overseas business practices as father Joe Biden intimately involved.

Hunter Biden reverses Joe's narrative, admits receiving $664,000 from CCP's CEFC in 2017.

White House press secretary: No presidential pardon for Hunter Biden.

Mounting Hunter Biden evidence vindicates Trump on first impeachment, his spokeswoman says.

New York Times SLAMS Joe Biden for disowning 4-year-old granddaughter from Hunter Biden and a stripper.

Sources include:

ReclaimTheNet.org

DailyCaller.com

Breitbart.com

NewsBusters.org

Brighteon.com
Russian Defense Minister Shoigu visits former Soviet nuclear testing site in the Arctic

Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu has visited former Soviet nuclear testing facilities in the Arctic as a warning against the West to not further escalate the conflict in Ukraine.

The nuclear testing facilities visited by Shoigu, one of the closest allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin, are located at Novaya Zemlya  an archipelago far to the north of Russia, deep within the Arctic Circle.

Novaya Zemlya became a Soviet nuclear testing site in the mid-1950s and was where Soviet scientists detonated the infamous thermonuclear Tsar Bomba in 1961, the largest nuclear weapon ever to be tested. Since the end of the Cold War, Russia has abided by a moratorium on nuclear testing, and the nuclear facilities in the archipelago have fallen into disuse. (Related: RIGGED: Members of the British media have already written articles blaming Russia for a dirty bomb attack in Ukraine that hasn't even happened yet.)

Shoigu flew over the Central Training Ground at Novaya Zemlya, which was the site of more than 130 nuclear weapons tests from 1954 until 1990. He was accompanied by Alexey Likhachev, the head of Russia's state nuclear company Rosatom.

The Central Training Ground is now primarily used for "carrying out tests of advanced samples of weapons and military equipment," according to a statement released by the Russian Defense Ministry regarding the flyover.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu inspected the remote Arctic garrisons of the Northern Fleet, in particular, checked the organization of official activities on Novaya Zemlya, where one of Russia's nuclear test sites is located. https://t.co/tLreeqeeqy pic.twitter.com/E3dmM1CcTv  Victor vicktop55 (@vicktop55) August 12, 2023

Russia may resume nuclear testing over Western aggression

The Kremlin has repeatedly claimed that it plans to "stick to the moratorium" on nuclear testing. But in February, Putin suspended Russia's participation in the START Treaty, which puts limits on Moscow's and Washington's nuclear arsenals.

Putin has also ordered Rosatom to be ready to resume nuclear testing  but only if Washington does so first.

"Of course, we will not be the first to do this," said Putin. "But if the United States tests, then we will No one must be under any dangerous illusions that global strategic parity can be destroyed."

On the 25th anniversary of the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in early April, British and French government officials noted in a joint statement that they wished to "express their concern over Russia's announcement that it will ensure its preparedness to conduct a nuclear test."

"We reiterate the importance of the [moratorium], which Russia has signed and ratified, and of Russia's compliance with its moratorium on nuclear tests," said Britain and France in the joint statement.

The United States has also fearmongered about Russian nuclear capabilities, with President Joe Biden describing Moscow's threat to use tactical nuclear weapons over the battlefields of Ukraine as "real." Biden's statement came around the same time Putin said Russia is moving tactical nuclear weapons into Belarus.

Shoigu also inspects Russian Arctic troops and fleet

Shoigu's inspection of Russian Arctic facilities also comes as Moscow continues to strengthen its military presence within the Arctic Ocean. The Russian Armed Forces have rehabilitated Soviet-era bases and deployed weapons and anti-aerial systems like the S-400 surface-to-air missile system to the region.

A statement from the Defense Ministry said Shoigu inspected Russian military infrastructure in the region and checked the troops' readiness for actions to protect and defend these critical Arctic facilities.

The Russian military has already deployed a detachment of warships to the Arctic and recently conducted military training exercises in the region aimed at working out what actions to take to protect Russian sovereignty in the waters of the Northern Sea Route.

Tensions have been rising recently amid Ukraine's launching of its highly anticipated counteroffensive back in June after it spent months stockpiling Western-supplied weapons.

Moscow also considered it a threat when Finland and Sweden announced their intention to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Finland's membership was fully ratified in April, and Sweden is expected to be formally admitted in the coming months.

Learn more about the threat of all-out nuclear war at NuclearWar.news.

Watch this interview Shoigu gives to Zvezda News describing the massive losses Ukraine is incurring in its current counteroffensive.

This video is from the Cynthia's Pursuit of Truth channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Panic-stricken Russians share videos, pictures of massive "NUCLEAR MUSHROOM" on social media.

US to train Ukrainians to fly nuclear-capable F-16s despite warnings that Russia will see this as a NUCLEAR THREAT.

Report: Xi warned Putin against launching NUCLEAR ATTACK on Ukraine.

Zelensky's RHETORIC: Russia is preparing nuclear explosion as Moscow's troops are reduced at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.

Former Russian President Medvedev: Russia will hit Ukraine with preemptive NUCLEAR STRIKE if West tries to send nukes.

Sources include:

Newsweek.com

TheMoscowTimes.com

Reuters.com

Brighteon.com
Trump to disprove WITCH HUNT GA indictments with irrefutable election fraud report

Former President Donald Trump, who has been recently indicted by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on a range of criminal charges relating to his attempts to "alter Georgia's 2020 election results," is set to fight back to prove the "witch hunt" of a decision is "politically motivated" and "wrong."

The top Republican presidential candidate announced that he will be defending his stance that the 2020 election was rigged in a press conference to be held on Monday, Aug. 21, in response to a decision that indicted him and 18 others on "racketeering charges." According to a post on his social media platform Truth Social, he is going to present a large, complex, detailed but irrefutable report on the presidential election fraud which took place in Georgia.

"[It] will be presented by me at a major News Conference at 11:00 A.M. on Monday of next week in Bedminster, New Jersey," the former president said, further adding, "Based on the results of this conclusive report, all charges should be dropped against me & others  There will be a complete EXONERATION! They never went after those that rigged the election. They only went after those that fought to find the RIGGERS!" (Related: 'Detailed but irrefutable': Trump to present report on 2020 election fraud in Georgia next week.)

He also posted on the platform his lamentations that the two-year investigation was a "WITCH HUNT!" Legal experts and practitioners agree with Trump on this.

Constitutional lawyer Robert Barnes commented that this indictment is the most insane yet by the looniest prosecutor, citing how claims on tweets are conspiracies, legal advice is a crime, Constitutional law is a criminal act, and demanding officials do their job is criminal solicitation. "It is an embarrassment to the state of Georgia," Barnes lamented.

The #GeorgiaIndictment is the most insane yet by the looniest prosecutor yet. Claims tweets are conspiracies, legal advice is a crime, Constitutional law is a criminal act, and demanding officials do their job criminal solicitation. It is an embarrassment to the state of Georgia.  Robert Barnes (@barnes_law) August 15, 2023

Among the "petty" charges on Trump and the 18 others include the former POTUS's tweet encouraging voters to tune into televised broadcasts.

Provided in Act 22, the Georgia indictment said that Trump encouraging voters to watch television is a conspiracy. "On or about December 3, 2020, DONALD JOHN TRUMP caused to be tweeted from the Twitter account @RealDonaldTrump, 'Georgia hearings now on @OANN [One America News Network]. Amazing!'" the 98-page paper included. Moreover, Act 100 of the indictment faulted the president for encouraging supporters to tune into Newsmax and Act 101 listed another tweet that encouraged supporters to tune into the Right Side Broadcasting Network as an act of conspiracy.

Willis also charged Trump's last White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows for soliciting phone numbers from a pair of Pennsylvania lawmakers. "Meadows sent a text message to United States Representative Scott Perry from Pennsylvania and stated, 'Can you send me the number for the speaker and the leader of PA Legislature? POTUS wants to chat with them,'" the indictment reads. This was, apparently, an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy as per the DA decision.

Trump's team's grassroots campaigning is also conspiratorial as per Act 38 of the criminal indictment. Attorney Rudy Giuliani Giuliani was indicted for retweeting a "Patriot Call to Action" that encouraged voters to call their members of Congress to advocate for their cause. "Today is the day we need you to call your state Senate & House Reps & ask them to sign the petition for a special session. We must have free & fair elections in GA & this is our only path to ensuring every legal vote is counted @realDonald Trump," Guiliani's tweet said.

Act 32 stated that the former president's call on state leaders to ensure signature verification and call a special session is also conspirational. Additionally, Trump's calling President Pro Tempore of the Georgia Senate Butch Miller on Dec. 3 and Dec. 26, 2020, were overt acts in furtherance of the conspiracy as well as per Willis.

Law experts: Probe the collusion between Willis and Biden's DOJ

Mike Davis, a former chief counsel for nominations on the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, suggested that Congress probe the level of coordination between the Willis and federal officials connected to President Biden. "Fani Willis refused to say whether she's colluding with the Biden Justice Department, including Jack Smith. House Republicans must subpoena those communications," Davis urged.

For Attorney Harmeet Dhillon, real lawyers know that just about nothing is a provable Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) Act in front of a fair court. "Woke prosecutors are increasingly criminalizing speech in America, and this threatens all of us," he said.

Stephen Miller, the founder of America First Legal, commented that "Just so you understand the new system: the most corrupt democrat jurisdictions will criminally charge you if you challenge their corruption."

Moreover, lawyer Will Chamberlain opined that Willis just indicted a bunch of lawyers for doing legal work real "banana republic stuff." For him, the indicted attorneys were doing good faith legal work, and that it was insane to charge them with racketeering.

The latest Georgia county DA decision marks the fourth major indictment against Trump in nearly as many months, and the second related directly to his actions during the 2020 election. The former president has been issued with an arrest warrant and ordered to surrender by Aug. 25. Willis has proposed arraignments for the week of September 4 and a trial date of March 4, 2024.

Visit Trump.news for more news related to the ongoing legal battles the former president is fighting.

Sources for this article include:

TrendingPoliticsnews.com

Politico.com
Ann Vandersteel discusses bold plan to give Trump IMMUNITY from INDICTMENTS  Brighteon.TV

Ann Vandersteel discussed a bold plan to grant former President Donald Trump immunity from his indictments during the Aug. 10 episode of "Right Now with Ann Vandersteel" on Brighteon.TV

According to her, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is the architect of this plan that serves a two-fold purpose. It undermines the Democrats' harassment of Trump and exposes some of the Left's worst abuses all at the same time. The congressman expounded on his plan during an Aug. 8 appearance on "The Charlie Kirk Show."

"First, we should tell [Special Counsel] Jack Smith that he has to show up and give a transcribed interview to the House Judiciary Committee in the next 15 days. If he doesn't do that, we should issue a subpoena. If he ignores the subpoena, we should hold him in criminal contempt of Congress. And if [Attorney General] Merrick Garland won't enforce that criminal contempt, then he subjects himself to an impeachment," he told Kirk.

"Simultaneous to that, you can actually bring Trump in to give testimony to the Congress and in doing so immunize him. You have to think about it almost like whistleblower protections. Trump, the ultimate whistleblower, potentially the beneficiary of congressional immunity."

Gaetz said his plan  which is based on Title 18, sections 6002 and 6005 of the U.S. Code  is "never something [people] typically think of as a first step." But he told Kirk that the plan is necessary, given that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is essentially "functioning as the enforcement wing of the Democratic Party."

"Most Republicans in Congress just think we ought to throw our hands in the air and allow the chips to fall where they may," the Florida congressman remarked. "I think that is a tremendous disservice to the Constitution when we are facing an election interference operation, not a legitimate prosecution."

Meanwhile, Kirk expressed fascination with the proposal. While he admitted in a tweet that he had no idea if Gaetz's plan will work, he also urged Americans to "reject the premise" that the DOJ's political persecution of Trump is somehow legitimate. (Related: Democrats Indictment of Trump is a Declaration of War. Why is This Insanity Happening? Heres How We Fight Back.)

Gaetz: House GOP 'infected by loser mentality'

On the same day as his appearance on Kirk's podcast, Gaetz challenged the Republican caucus to take action to stymie the constant indictments against Trump. He called these actions as more election meddling thinly disguised as justice.

According to Vandersteel, Gaetz wants to call out Smith to account for his actions. She echoed the congressman's warning that Smith "could be the first prosecutor to bring a case while under criminal contempt himself." Garland, his superior in the DOJ, could also "be subject to impeachment if he refuses to enforce that criminal contempt."

The Brighteon.TV host added that Gaetz's strategy will offer Trump immunity by having him testify before Congress as a whistleblower. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) could actually set up a select committee to bring the former president in for testimony and grant him immunity.

"We'll have to sit back and see if that actually materializes," she said. "I wish Gaetz success in that, but again you're dealing with a bunch of frauds on Capitol Hill. How do you expect them to be wrangled into doing anything that would vaguely resemble standing up and defending their oath of office?"

Gaetz himself seemingly acknowledged this hurdle, lamenting that his colleagues in the Congressional GOP are "infected with the same loser mentality that infected Congress in the early days of the Mueller investigation."

Follow Trump.news for more news about former President Donald Trump.

Watch the Aug. 10 episode of "Right Now with Ann Vandersteel" below. Tune in to "Right Now with Ann Vandersteel" airs weekdays at 8-9 p.m. on Brighteon.TV.

More related stories:

Right Now with Ann Vandersteel: Bidens DOJ showing double standard in Trump indictment  Brighteon.TV.

Trump indictment shows that power-crazed Democrats are INCOMPATIBLE with human society.

Former federal prosecutor finds numerous problems with indictment documents against Trump.

Donald Trump pleads not guilty to ginned-up charges of attempting to overturn 2020 election results.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

TheGatewayPundit.com
Before Trump was indicted for challenging stolen election, Democrats denied election results more than 150 times

Democrats everywhere are patting themselves on the back after a Georgia grand jury indicted former President Donald Trump for challenging the fraudulent 2020 election. What they are not telling you, though, is that Democrats have been denying elections for decades without consequence.

On at least 150 different occasions, everyone from two-time failed presidential wannabe Hillary Clinton to California Rep. Maxine Waters to failed gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams has complained publicly about how they felt as though an election outcome that did not go their way was fraudulent.

Watch the video below to see a montage of fake president Joe Biden and many others denying election results:

MUST WATCH: 10 minutes of Democrats denying election results. pic.twitter.com/bJRbzEcIO2  RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 23, 2022

Check out the following episode of the "Health Ranger Report" at Brighteon.com to learn more about how lawless Democrats are waging a scorched earth campaign against the American people:

Democrats have been complaining FOREVER about election outcomes  why aren't they all in prison?

It turns out that every single Democrat president since 1977 has questioned the legitimacy of American elections, this according to information compiled by the Republican National Committee (RNC).

There has not yet been a Democrat president, in fact, that in this generation has accepted an election outcome favoring Republicans as legitimate. Why, then, are all these people not being indicted?

In both 2013 and 2016, Biden himself publicly stated that he thought Al Gore rightfully won the 2000 presidential election. In May 2019, Biden said he "absolutely agrees" that Trump was an "illegitimate president." After the 2022 midterm elections, Biden spoke out against those, too.

In 2006, then-Democrat National Committee (DNC) chairman Howard Dean stated that he is "not confident that the [2004] election in Ohio was fairly decided." Concerning that same election, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) also stated that she felt it was "appropriate" to have a debate concerning the election outcome.

Also concerning the 2004 election results, then-Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) cast doubt on the legitimacy of electronic voting machines, which were relatively new at the time. Sanders expressed "worry" that some of the machines did not produce an auditable paper trail.

In all of the whining and complaining we have covered thus far, only Sanders expressed a legitimate concern about the illegitimacy of electronic voting machines, which we now know are, in fact, easily hackable to produce pre-determined election outcomes.

In 2016, at least seven House Democrats objected to the election results from that year. After Trump's victor that year, a whopping 67 Democrats actually boycotted his inauguration with several stating publicly that they felt as though Trump's election to the White House was illegitimate.

In 2017, Clinton stated that she will not "rule out" questioning that same election, adding in October 2020 that she officially believed the 2016 election was not conducted legitimately.

"We still don't really know what happened," Clinton stated at the time.

What happened, Hillary, is that more Americans than not came out to vote for Trump, while almost nobody in their right mind supported you. It is hard to believe for someone as overly ego-inflated as yourself, but try to imagine that you are not as popular as you wish you were.

After Abrams lost the governor's election in Georgia in 2018, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) stated that he felt as though the election was "stolen" from her, and that she was "deprived of the votes [she] otherwise would have gotten."

"We won," Abrams herself further stated after losing miserably. "I didn't lose; we got the votes. We were robbed of an election."

Abrams continued to use the phrase "stolen election" multiple times after that, arguing that "it was not a free and fair election."

Will Trump stay out of jail and still run for president in 2024? Learn more at VoteRepublican.news.

Sources for this article include:

Breitbart.com

Brighteon.com
COVID JABS? Commercial pilot DIES SUDDENLY in Boeing 787 lavatory, co-pilots forced to make emergency landing

A 56-year-old pilot for LATAM, a Latin American airline, died suddenly this week while using the lavatory of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner he was piloting from Miami to Chile.

Ivan Andaur's unexpected and tragic passing forced two other co-pilots to take control of the plane and conduct and emergency landing while a nurse tried, but failed, to revive him because she did not have her "necessary or sufficient supplies."

Andaur was piloting flight LA505 to Santiago when he reportedly started to feel sick. His symptoms as described were directly related to cardiac arrest, which suggests that he might just be another victim of Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) "vaccination."

Instead of the flight making it to the intended destination, it had to be diverted to Tocumen International Airport in Panama City where Andaur was ultimately declared dead.

The nurse, who only identifies herself as "Isadora" on social media, says she joined another nurse and two doctors, all of whom tried to revive Andaur. Despite their best attempts at saving his life, Andaur died.

"Unfortunately, we did not have the necessary or sufficient supplies to perform a good resuscitation," Isadora said. "LATAM needs to improve the issue of protocol in case of health and medical emergencies like this where lives can be saved but the resources are needed."

It is unknown precisely which "supplies" Isadora was referring to that she believes might have been able to save Andaur's life.

(Related: As of February of this year, at least 132 doctors in Canada have died suddenly or unexpectedly as a result of getting "vaccinated" for the Fauci Flu.)

The general public is waking up to the fact that covid jabs are typically to blame for these kinds of incidents in the post-covid era

According to an unnamed female passenger who was on the flight at the time, the plane departed from Miami at around 11pm before one of the co-pilots requested medical assistance.

"After 40 minutes the pilot asked us if there was a doctor on the plane, we don't know what happened there," the woman is quoted as saying.

At one point, one of the flight attendants asked passengers if anyone had items on their person that could be used to help someone who is insulin-dependent.

"They told us that we were going to land because the pilot felt sick and when we arrived, they asked us to evacuate the plane because the situation had worsened," the woman further explained.

Since Andaur's wife Veronica died in 2017, the only remaining direct family member is the couple's daughter Sofia.

Prior to becoming a commercial airline pilot, Andaur had been enlisted with the Chilean Air Force.

After the emergency landing, the plane spent half an hour at the gate before the airline announced that the flight had been canceled. Passengers were booked into area hotels before resuming their flight the following afternoon.

"Safe (for profit) and very effective (at killing)," one commenter wrote about the situation, insinuating that Operation Warp Speed shots were probably the cause of Andaur's death, seeing as how most airlines required their employees to get "vaccinated" in order to continue working.

"Brought to you by Pfizer or Moderna," wrote another, making the same insinuation.

"Another mandate loss," said another, referring to the covid jab mandates that are more than likely responsible for this tragic incident.

"The rich are only using pilots who have not been vaccinated, just so you know," suggested another.

Others speculated that perhaps the missing equipment Isadora was talking about was a defibrillator, which is needed on airplanes in the event someone suffers a heart attack.

"I don't think we even need to ask what caused this," wrote another.

The latest news about the growing death toll from Chinese Virus injections can be found at ChemicalViolence.com.

Sources for this article include:

DailyMail.co.uk

NaturalNews.com
If your doctor told you to get vaccinated for COVID, they were BRIBED, evidence shows

Millions of Americans were advised by their doctors to get "vaccinated" for the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19)  not because they actually care about their patients, mind you, but because they were bribed by health insurance companies to peddle as many jabs as possible in exchange for cash.

A leaked document from Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BCBS) Medicaid  see below  shows how the health provider created a "COVID-19 Vaccine Provider Incentive program" to reward doctors for pushing covid jabs on their patients.

"Getting vaccinated against COVID-19 is one of the best and safest ways people can protect themselves and their families against the virus," Anthem Medicaid claims in the document's opener.

"As a participating practice in the COVID-19 Provider Vaccine Incentive program, we recognize your hard work by offering incentives for helping patients make the choice to become vaccinated."

Your doctor took the bribe if he told you to get the covid19 vaccination. Here's the schedule of the payment program. pic.twitter.com/QVVlicXjp8  Jack Straw (@JackStr42679640) August 9, 2023

(Related: People who got jabbed for the Fauci Flu are now four times more likely than the unvaccinated to suffer a near-complete collapse of the immune system.)

Bad things happen when dispensing experimental drugs is incentivized

In order to qualify for cash bribes from Anthem Medicaid, a physician must, in this particular case, be part of a participating Kentucky primary care provider that is allied with Anthem BCBS Medicaid and have a panel size of 25 or more members.

"All Anthem members identified as receiving COVID-19 vaccination services are included in the methodology," the document states. "Vaccine results will be determined by a COVID-19 vaccine claim or by confirmation from the Kentucky Vaccine Registry."

Anthem calculated the payments to be disbursed in two separate time periods: the first one Sept. 1, 2021, and the second on Dec. 31, 2021. The greater the percentage of Anthem members vaccinated for covid, the higher the payments, according to the plan.

For each Anthem member vaccinated up to 30 percent of the member pool, a physician qualified to receive a $20 "bonus" payment. If a doctor can get more than 30 percent of Anthem members jabbed, he or she received $45 for each up to 40 percent; $70 for each up to 50 percent; $100 for each up to 60 percent; and $125 for each at 75 percent and beyond.

The structure for the second and final bribe payment was similar except the payment tiers are much higher. If 30 percent of Anthem members got jabbed, a qualifying doctor received $100 per newly jabbed member. The rest is as follows:

40 percent of Anthem members vaccinated equals $150 bonus per newly jabbed member

50 percent of Anthem members vaccinated equals $175 bonus per newly jabbed member

60 percent of Anthem members vaccinated equals $200 bonus per newly jabbed member

75 percent of Anthem members vaccinated equals $250 bonus per newly jabbed member

Depending on the size of the practice and how many qualifying patients got jabbed, this equates to a lot of money for the best convincers. And with money constantly being dangled on a stick as incentive, it is unlikely that qualifying doctors ever bothered to warn their patients of the risks involved  because to do so might have deterred them from getting jabbed, resulting in less bribe money.

"My child's pediatrician made over $750,000 from Pfizer during covid," one commenter claimed about a similar bribery program at another health care provider. "It's documented in the national open source public website."

Doctors are given bonuses from Big Pharma if they meet certain quotas for getting their young patients vaccinated as the screenshot below illustrates. I'd bet money Big Pharma paid clinics to push the covid vaccine as the most influential person health-wise in most peoples' pic.twitter.com/2iseiNmhVY  Sparrow (@jeanpartington3) August 9, 2023

As the ugly and criminal details of the covid scamdemic continue to come to light, we will keep you informed about them at Pandemic.news.

Sources for this article include:

Twitter.com

NaturalNews.com
FBI entrapped neurodiverse teenager in sinister terrorism scheme, mom alleges

Another bizarre Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) entrapment scheme has come to light , once again demonstrating that this powerful three-letter government agency is corrupt to the core.

The incident began back in June 2022 when Colorado woman Deanna Meyer called her local sheriff about violent and terroristic statements that her mentally ill 17-year-old son, Davin Meyer, was making at the time.

The sheriff who spoke to Meyer reportedly contacted the FBI about the matter, which then began communicating directly with Davin online. Several months later, the FBI arrested Davin as he was about to board an airplane, allegedly to travel to the Middle East so he could join ISIS.

Davin is no ISIS fighter, his mother claims. He is just a now-18-year-old young man with autism, depression, and anxiety  and no friends. The FBI apparently took full advantage of Davin by exploiting his "neurodiverse" characteristics and grooming him to attempt to join a terrorist group so they could catch him before he got that opportunity.

Deanna is deeply grieved that she ever even contacted law enforcement in the first place. In a recent detention hearing, Deanna blamed the FBI for ensnaring her son in this phony terrorism plot, which is something he would have not otherwise attempted, his mom says.

"I bet my life he would never do that without that encouragement [from FBI informants]," Deanna stated, explaining further how her son communicated with at least two FBI informants in chat rooms from last November until the time he was arrested trying to board a plane to the Middle East.

(Related: A whistleblower has come forward to claim that the FBI is plotting a scheme to criminalize traditional Catholicism.)

Judge dismisses Deanna's concerns, orders Davin to remain in FBI custody

Despite her pleas, Deanna was rejected by U.S. Magistrate Judge Reid Neureiter, who ordered Davin to remain in the FBI's custody indefinitely. Neureiter cited the allegation that Davin threatened his mother's life while he was still a minor, though Deanna says her son never threatened her until he turned 18.

Neureiter did, however, acknowledge Deanna's arguments in his five-page order.

"The mother testified at the detention hearing that she never believed he would likely move ahead with his expressed intentions, and the defendant only took steps to travel to the Middle East after finding a 'community' online, which included confidential FBI sources," Neureiter said.

"According to the defendant's mother, he has 'never had a friend' and finding this community that appeared to be supportive of his plans is what likely caused him to act by buying the ticket to fly to Turkey."

Neureiter further acknowledged Davin's mental health problems in his decision, revealing that he has been diagnosed with all sorts of scary-sounding conditions like low processing speed, massive depression, adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood, a specific learning disorder with impairment in mathematics, and major depressive disorder, recurrent episode, moderate.

It is thus in the public interest, Neureiter concluded, for Davin to remain incarcerated. He added that he will reconsider his order only if the Meyer family can find what he considers to be a suitable mental health facility to house Davin.

"This is a difficult situation, and must be extremely heart-wrenching for the defendant's family, in particular his mother, who has long believed the defendant needs help and therapy," Neureiter said in conclusion.

"Putting a defendant with his disabilities in jail, pending trial, will not address his condition nor provide the therapy that he apparently needs. It will, however, ensure that he cannot do violence to anyone."

The latest news about the highly corrupt FBI can be found at FBIcorruption.news.

Sources for this article include:

HeadlineUSA.com

Newstarget.com
Amid escalating legal charges, Big Guy Joe Biden insists Hunter is INNOCENT

President Joe Biden stands firm in defending the innocence of his son Hunter , repeatedly insisting that he did "nothing wrong" despite mounting legal charges.

During a Democratic presidential primary debate in 2019, the elder Biden stated: "My son did nothing wrong. I did nothing wrong." Since then, Joe has consistently portrayed Hunter as innocent of any wrongdoing in different interviews and public statements. He has also insisted that both of them acted within the boundaries of the law.

He stressed Hunter's innocence during an interview with MSNBC this year, when questioned about the implications of the Department of Justice's (DOJ) investigation into his presidency. The elder Biden said: "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."

Joe insisting on Hunter's innocence followed Attorney General Merrick Garland's Aug. 11 appointment of U.S. Attorney David Weiss as special counsel. The appointment rekindles the investigation into the younger Biden's business dealings and potential tax evasion. (Related: Hunter Biden pleads GUILTY to tax crimes, reaches deal on gun charge.)

Weiss' appointment as special counsel extends not only to the Hunter Biden probe, but also for any related matters that may arise during the investigation. A press release from the DOJ added that his probe could potentially include other Biden family members  including Joe himself.

The special counsel is no stranger to Hunter's illicit deals. Prior to his appointment, he previously investigated and pursued charges against the presidential son in the Bidens' home state of Delaware as a federal prosecutor.

House Republicans: Weiss appointment an alleged COVERUP by the Bidens

Garland's appointment of Weiss as special counsel to oversee the Biden investigation did not sit well with House Republicans.

Kentucky Rep. James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, denounced Weiss' appointment as an attempt to cover up alleged wrongdoing within the Biden family. He alleged that the DOJ was working to obstruct congressional oversight and hide evidence of the president's involvement in the Biden family's schemes.

Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, tweeted that "something was not right" regarding Weiss' appointment. He pointed to certain inconsistencies in the federal lawyer's previous statements regarding his authority and need for special counsel status.

Russell Dye, a spokesman for the Ohio congressman, expounded: "Weiss cant be trusted and this is just a new way to whitewash the Biden familys corruption. [He] has already signed off on a sweetheart plea deal that was so awful and unfair that a federal judge rejected it. We will continue to pursue facts brought to light by brave whistleblowers as well as Weisss inconsistent statements to Congress."

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California also took to Twitter. He reiterated that the appointment "cannot be used to obstruct congressional investigations or whitewash the Biden family corruption."

Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert also touched on the "sweetheart plea deal" Weiss arranged for the presidential son. She questioned whether the special counsel's actions would yield meaningful results.

Learn more about the corruption involving Joe Biden and his family at BidenCrimeFamily.news.

Watch Elijah Schaffer of Next News Network discussing Kentucky Rep. James Comer's threat of an "inescapable subpoena" against the Biden crime family below.

This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.

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Hunter Biden pleads guilty to a trio of minor crimes, but the probes into his corruption continue.

Hunter Biden pleads NOT GUILTY to tax charges after judge raises concerns over terms of previously negotiated plea deal.

Hunter Biden, other members of Biden family received MILLIONS from business associate linked to CCP.

Hunter Biden DEMANDS $10 Million FROM communist China energy company in WhatsApp text while sitting next to his senile father, the Big Guy.

Sources include:

FoxNews.com 1

FoxNews.com 2

Brighteon.com
#Ahora | La presidenta Dina Boluarte participa en la sesion de clausura del II Consejo de Estado Regional, que durante dos dias ha reunido a ministros de Estado y gobernadores, a fin de implementar acciones conjuntas para el desarrollo de las regiones.



?? https://t.co/mbhPVUEAxE pic.twitter.com/qDCDSYCysH
Hospitals across the U.S. closing down MATERNITY WARDS due to staff shortages, low birth rates

Several hospitals across the U.S. are making the difficult decision to shut down their maternity wards, leaving communities without essential maternity services and putting maternal and infant health at risk.

Back in July, Ohio-based University Hospitals (UH) announced their plan to stop maternity services in Ashland due to staff shortages and a decline in birth rates. UH Samaritan Medical Center Chief Operating Officer Sylvia Radziszewski explained: "Births are down annually for us. Historically we've run around the low 300s, [but now] we're expected to end the year at around 180 births."

OSF Heart of Mary Medical Center in Urbana, Illinois also announced in May its plan to discontinue obstetrics services at its Blessed Beginnings Birthing Center starting in September 2023. A press release stated that the decision was attributed to a combination of factors, such as access to care, travel time to hospitals, vulnerable populations, staff shortages and recruitment problems.

St. Alphonsus Medical Center, a member of the Trinity Health (TH) system, closed permanently on July 31. Prior to is closure, the hospital in Oregon's Baker City had the only maternity ward in Baker County. It was not legally obliged to provide maternity services unlike other hospitals that have faced similar challenges, Oregon Public Broadcasting said.

The closure of St. Alphonsus is part of a larger trend seen in TH-affiliated hospitals nationwide. Meanwhile, the health system cited the declining delivery numbers and staffing shortages as reasons for the facility's permanent shutdown.

Maternity care deserts remain a nationwide issue

A study by the nonprofit March of Dimes (MOD) found that 36 percent of all U.S. counties are now considered maternity care deserts (MCDs). These MCDs have no hospitals, birth centers and experienced medical professionals capable of providing obstetric healthcare. It also found that majority of these MCDs  61.5 percent  are in rural regions, exacerbating the challenges faced by mothers-to-be in remote areas.

The MOD report followed a report by the healthcare consulting company Chartis, which found that 217 maternity wards in hospitals across the country have closed since 2011. Just like the aforementioned study, many of those closures were in rural areas and several have happened within the last year. (Related: Miscarriage, stillbirth rates exploding worldwide as depopulation continues unabated.)

The ongoing closure of maternity wards and obstetric care facilities in different local hospitals has serious implications for expectant mothers who lack access to appropriate medical care during pregnancy and childbirth. It could also worsen the already alarming rates of infant health issues and maternal mortality. Thus, medical professionals and experts emphasize that the absence of routine care throughout the pregnancy, birth and postpartum periods places both women and their infants at risk.

Renowned ob-gyn Dr. Amanda P. Williams, the medical director of the maternity support service Mahmee, stressed the importance of consistent and proper care to address and manage complications that may arise during pregnancy.

Maternal-fetal medicine physician Dr. Michael Cackovic noted that many health problems can happen after delivery. He said of the lack of maternity wards: "This is a threat to both mom and baby. If you look at maternal mortality over centuries, it started dropping once women started going to the hospital to deliver."

University of Minnesota professor Katy Kozhimannil stressed the importance of maintaining facilities for giving birth, even in low-volume hospitals. She explained: "Its better to have a facility to give birth at than not to have anything at all."

Visit WomensHealth.news for more stories about maternity.

Watch Martin Brodel discussing a New York hospital being forced to stop delivering babies after maternity workers resigned over vaccine mandates there.

This video is from the Martin Brodel channel on Brighteon.com.

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DEPOPULATION: Maternity wards across America are closing down as birth rates collapse.

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EU countries with highest vaccination rates also have the highest excess mortality rates.

Sources include:

WSJ.com

FOX8.com

News-Gazette.com

OPB.org

Yahoo.com

Brighteon.com
PBS unveils climate psychology therapist to help mentally ill climate fanatics cope with carbon

On Sunday, introduced a "climate psychology therapist" whose job it is to help viewers suffering from so-called "climate anxiety," a psychotic disorder of the mind in which a person comes to believe that the earth will become too warm unless everyone except the billionaires stops eating meat and driving gas-powered cars.

It seems as though many media-programmed Americans have fallen for the lie that the planet is getting too hot because We the People are not doing our part to allow the globalist overlords free rein over our lives. As such, climate anxiety is spreading like a virus, and PBS is there to help.

"This summer, millions of Americans are experiencing firsthand the effects of climate change," announced anchor John Yang. "Triple-digit temperatures for days on end, smoke from record-setting wildfires fouling the air, warming oceans, bleaching coral reefs."

"Psychologists say that can be a positive thing, spurring people to action. But for some people, it becomes an overwhelming sense of despair or anxiety. Psychologists call it climate anxiety. This week, we asked people about their emotional responses to climate change."

(Related: Big Pharma is also waiting in the wings to start drugging people for climate anxiety with its latest "blockbuster" drugs.)

Climate anxiety is a condition that afflicts people with no actual real problems in life

Following Yang's segment opener, seven troubled individuals were rolled out to explain how they have reached the end of their mental tethers with all the hot weather going on this summer.

Because the "news" is telling everyone that it is abnormal for the weather to be hot in summer  and since many Americans no longer have functioning brains and believe everything their screens tell them  there is now a pandemic of climate anxiety and associated mental illness spreading like a fiery inferno.

"It's really important to acknowledge that if you're feeling that on any level of intensity, it really means you're paying attention, you care, you're empathetic to what's happening to our world," said someone named Leslie Davenport to PBS viewers who fall into such a category.

Davenport would then go on to describe how mentally deranged climate tweakers should approach overcoming their climate anxiety and the "empathy" that apparently accompanies it.

"Talk about it," Davenport told viewers. "Talk about it to other people who are like-minded, receptive. 'I feel that way, too,' so that it's not as isolating."

"There are a lot of what are called climate cafes, or climate circles, that can be found by an easy online search where people just get together often online, remotely, and just say what they're feeling, what they're experiencing, what people have found helpful."

Davenport then revealed that there is even a "climate-aware therapist directory" that climate-anxious people can turn to in order to find solace in their mental derangement.

Anyone who suffers from actual real-life problems probably has no clue that climate anxiety even exists because it is an affliction that affects only people with way too much time and privilege on their hands to worry about made-up fairy tale concepts like man-made climate change.

"I'm getting PTSD from being blamed for the weather," one commenter joked about how the climate anxious are spreading the negative impacts of their mental illnesses onto others. "Especially now that I'm being told I'm responsible for creating the Sahara Desert!"

"Yep. I created the Sahara Desert by 'boiling' the world with my air conditioner."

Another expressed disgust that tax dollars are also being spent on all this nonsensical hogwash, which gets spewed day in and day out by the government, the media, academia, and all the rest.

Climate anxiety is a globalist-driven mental illness. Learn more at Climate.news.

Sources for this article include:

Summit.news

Newstarget.com
Trump 100% confident HE WILL WIN against Biden in the 2024 presidential elections

Former President Donald Trump has confidently claimed his chances of winning against incumbent President Joe Biden in the 2024 elections are "close to 100 percent."

During a campaign event in Iowa, the Republican candidate said he holds a formidable advantage over the 80-year-old Biden. Trump secured a resounding victory over the former vice president in the state during the 2020 presidential elections. Current polling data seemed to back up Trump's confidence, with him remaining as the front-runner for the GOP's nomination.

A poll by the New York Times (NYT) and Siena College, the results of which were released Aug. 1, found that Trump and Biden could possibly have a rematch in 2024. Based on the responses of 1,329 registered voters polled between July 23 and July 27, both candidates would secure a 43 percent equal share of the vote if the presidential election happen on that same day.

The former president received a substantial 54 percent of support among primary voters, with incumbent Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis trailing a distant second at just 17 percent. Several respondents meanwhile said they want other Democratic candidates aside from Biden to secure the nomination. Thirty-nine percent said his age was a contributing factor to their decision, while 29 percent pointed to his job performance.

The NYT-Siena poll also found that 54 percent of respondents were dissatisfied with Biden's performance as president. Fifty-five percent of respondents, meanwhile, had an unfavorable view of Trump.

Trump: Indictments against him prove that Biden is anxious of the 2024 elections

During an exclusive Aug. 9 interview with Eric Bolling of Newsmax, Trump discussed the multiple indictments against him and Biden's 2024 candidacy. According to the former president, the indictments were a sign that Biden is worried about the upcoming elections.

"Well, he's not taking it too lightly," Trump playfully remarked, referring to Biden's alleged fears about his candidacy. "He's indicted me three or four times; I haven't checked. When I walk out of here, I'll be indicted again." (Related: Talk of 'revolution' reverberates across America after Biden's politicized DOJ indicts President Trump, the candidate most likely to beat Biden in 2024.)

Trump also addressed former President Barack Obama's warning to Biden about underestimating the 45th president as an opponent. He asserted: In fact, [Biden] is taking it more seriously than any candidate in history because he has the [Department of Justice], which he said he was going to do."

The real estate mogul-turned-president did not shy away from scathingly criticizing his successor. He dubbed Biden "a totally incompetent man" struggling to articulate his thoughts, and blasted the Biden administration for contributing to a perception of American weakness. Trump argued that this weakness was emboldening nations like Russia, China and Saudi Arabia.

Trump even suggested that Biden might be compromised by foreign agents, specifically China.

"I do think we have a Manchurian candidate," he told Bolling. "[Biden] is so fully compromised. I think it is because China has paid him so much money, and they don't want people to find out."

The former president alarmingly warned: "We are on the cusp of World War III, and these will not be army tanks firing at each other. This will be nuclear." This echoed Trump's long-standing stance on foreign policy and national security, as evidenced by his pledges to bring a swift end to the Russia-Ukraine war and take a tougher stance on Beijing.

Learn the latest news regarding President Donald Trump at Trump.news.

Watch this video about how Trump is bracing himself for the possibility of a fourth indictment against him.

This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.

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Partisan Jan. 6 panel votes to level criminal charges at Trump, proving again they dont want him to run in 2024.

BLUEPRINT PLAN: How to use Florida Governor Ron DeSantis model for secure elections to protect the US national election in 2024.

Sources include:

RT.com

AA.com.tr

DailyMail.co.uk

Brighteon.com
D.C. judge overseeing Trumps J6 trial worked for law firm that represented Russia hoaxs Fusion GPS

United States District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, who has been tagged as one of Washington D.C.'s " toughest punishers of J6 protesters ," is overseeing the case accusing former President Trump of trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in the two months leading up to the "assault" on the U.S. Capitol by his loyal supporters.

The 61-year-old federal judge, who was ex-President Barack Obama's appointee, also worked at Boies Schiller Flexner (BSF). BSF is the same company that represented Fusion GPS, the establishment that helped orchestrate the Russia collusion hoax that targeted the former president.

? Breaking! Trump Judge, Tanya Chutkans, past law firm, where she was a partner, represented Huma Abedin in the Hillary Clinton private email server case! Partner Karen Dunn said her client Huma Abedin is willing to work with intelligence agencies regarding the investigation pic.twitter.com/22R17FMB5r  Bad Kitty Unleashed ??? (@pepesgrandma) August 10, 2023

During Chutkan's stint at BSF, the Democrat-friendly law firm also reportedly represented Huma Abedin  the former wife of disgraced former New York's 9th District Representative Anthony Weiner  in the Hillary Clinton private email server case. It was also revealed that BSF was the same law firm where Hunter, President Joe Biden's "controversial" son also worked. Chutkan's tenure at the company overlapped with Hunter's time at BSF, where he was listed as counsel from 2009 to 2014. Moreover, BSF also reportedly represented Burisma, a private oil and gas company operating in Ukraine that was revealed to have "forcibly" bribed the Bidens for personal favor.

Trump lambasted the blatant gross conflicts of interest involving Chutkan. He posted on his social media platform Truth Social: "The Obama appointed Judge in the FREE SPEECH Indictment of me by my political opponent, Crooked Joe Bidens Department of InJustice, shared professional ties at the law firm that worked for Energy Company Burisma, based in Ukraine, of which Hunter Biden and his associate were 'proud' MEMBERS OF THE BOARD, and were paid Millions of Dollars, even though Hunter knew almost NOTHING about Energy. How much was the law firm paid? So Horrible. This is a CLASSIC Conflict of Interest!"

In the past, the judge was forced to recuse herself when overseeing Fusion GPS's attempt to block former congressman Devin Nunes and lawyer Kash Patel from outing the source of payments that funded the infamous Steele dossier. "Fusion GPS, the DNC, and the Hillary Clinton campaign paid Christopher Steele millions of dollars and they laundered it through the FBI and the FISA court to unlawfully surveil Donald Trump. That's big-time stuff," Patel said during an interview with America First's Sebastian Gorka. "We found out her law firm, Boies Schiller, represented Fusion GPS. The very client that was in front of her in federal court was one of her former clients."

That is why she must also disqualify in this particular case, Patel said, arguing, "She set the precedent. She cannot neutrally and arbitrarily preside over Trump's criminal trial when she recused herself from the very representation of the Democratic entrenchment: the DNC, the Hillary Clinton campaign, and Fusion GPS because she was so biased because of her prior representation from Boies Schiller."

CONFLICT OF INTEREST: Chutkan has been a "political opponent" of Trump

The judge has also been pushing the harshest possible sentences for every January 6 political prisoner that has hit her courtroom. According to an analysis done by Associated Press on court records, she has convicted at least 38 people of Capitol riot-related "crimes." All came with prison terms ranging from 10 days to over five years. Other judges have handed down sentences that are more lenient than those requested by prosecutors. (Related: Donald Trump pleads not guilty to ginned-up charges of attempting to overturn 2020 election results.)

Moreover, this is not the first time that the two will face each other in court. Chutkan has also ruled against Trump before in a separate Jan. 6 case. In Nov 2021, she refused his request to block the release of documents to the House's J6 committee by asserting executive privilege. She rejected his arguments that he could hold privilege over documents from his administration even after Biden had cleared the way for the National Archives to turn the papers over. She wrote that Trump could not claim his privilege "exists in perpetuity."

In the past ruling, the judge said, "Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President." The federal appeals court in Washington affirmed her ruling and the Supreme Court rejected Trump's appeal.

Podcaster and former Assistant Treasury Secretary Monica Crowley posted on X, the microblogging site formerly called Twitter, saying: "This is the level of contempt they have for the Constitution, the rule of law, and YOU," with an attached screenshot of a news article titled, "Face-off with DC 'punisher.'"

Trump.news contains updates on the legal battles former President Donald Trump is facing.

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Poll: 55% of independents find Trumps indictment politically motivated  because IT IS.

Sources for this article include:

APNEws.com

HeadlineUSA.com
An animal welfare organization was alarmed by the surge in pet abandonment cases in France as most owners head for the coast or countryside for the long summer holidays.

The Society for the Protection of Animals said that since the beginning of summer, the group has rescued more than 12,000 animals.

"We're executed"

The group, which is based in Paris, has issued an urgent request for donations and adoptions, claiming that their employees are "exhausted."'

Pet abandonment is on the rise in France, and room is "sorely lacking" in shelters across the country, despite caregivers "pushing the walls" to save as many as possible.

Every year, shelters redouble their efforts to cope with saturation and take in animals in peril. Today, the situation is alarming," the SPA said in a statement. "We urgently need to save, feed, and care for all victims of abandonment and abuse."

Margaux Pengam from the SPA said some people legally abandon their pets directly to an animal agent in shelters.

"But unfortunately, all too often we find cats and dogs abandoned on the public highway, some even tied to the gates of our shelters or found in cardboard boxes," she said in an interview.

Hundreds of other animal shelters, including 30 Millions d'amis (30 Million Friends) and the Brigitte Bardot Foundation, have also reported an increase in abandoned pets.

Approximately 100,000 pets are abandoned in France annually, with 60,000 being abandoned during the summer.

"This indicates that there are still many people who go on vacation and leave an animal by the roadside or at a highway rest stop," Transport Minister Clement Beaune said during his visit in a shelter last August 7.

The Brigitte Bardot Foundation said France is considered the "first place in Europe for pet abandonment."

The group reminded the public that such an act is punishable by law.

"The abandonment of a domestic animal, whether tamed or held in captivity, is punishable by 3 years in prison and a fine of  45,000," they added.

The French government established a law in 2022 that defined abandoning an animal as "mistreatment."

Read Also: More COVID Dogs Surrendered To Animal Shelters In Canada

French families no plans to have pet

According to an Ifop poll conducted in November, 18% of French households have abandoned their intentions to adopt an animal this year due to budgetary constraints.

"In a global context of rising prices, pet products don't seem to be spared, and owners find themselves forced to spend more to continue providing for their pets," it reported.

The PSA explained that owners who took in pets during the COVID lockdown realized they were unsuitable to take care of an animal and that it did not fit their post-COVID lifestyle.

Purchasing power has been a problem for pet owners, as pet food and other costs have increased by 15% this year compared to 2022.

Beaune urged French people not to leave their animals.

"It is unacceptable. Those who abandon will be severely and heavily punished," he said.

Related Article: Abandoned Animals in Ukraine Receives $5000 Donation From Scituate Animal Shelter

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Climate change is not only a threat to the environment but also to the economy.

A new study by researchers from the University of Utah, Boston University, and Swansea University in Wales has estimated the value of U.S. property at risk from increased wildfire and tree mortality due to climate change.

The impact of climate change on forests and fires

Forests are vital ecosystems that provide many benefits to humans, such as clean air, water, recreation, and biodiversity.

However, forests are also vulnerable to climate change, which can affect their health and productivity.

Climate change can alter the temperature, precipitation, and seasonality of forests, making them more susceptible to drought, pests, diseases, and invasive species.

These factors can reduce the growth and survival of trees, leading to widespread tree mortality.

Tree mortality can have cascading effects on the risk and severity of wildfires. Dead trees provide more fuel for fires, making them more intense and difficult to control.

Moreover, climate change can also increase the frequency and duration of fire weather conditions, such as high temperatures, low humidity, and strong winds.

These conditions can create more opportunities for fires to ignite and spread across landscapes. As a result, wildfires can become more frequent, larger, and more destructive in the future.

Also Read: Adapting to Climate Change Could Still Mean Environmental Troubles

The consequences of wildfires on property values

Wildfires can have devastating impacts on human lives and properties. They can destroy homes, businesses, infrastructure, and cultural heritage sites.

They can also cause health problems, such as respiratory illnesses, injuries, and mental stress. In addition, wildfires can reduce the aesthetic and recreational value of forests, making them less attractive for living or visiting.

All these impacts can affect the market value of properties located in or near forested areas. Property value is determined by many factors, such as location, size, quality, amenities, and demand.

However, one of the most important factors is risk: how likely is it that a property will suffer damage or loss from a natural hazard? The higher the risk, the lower the value.

The study, led by biology professor William Anderegg, quantified the value of the property at risk from wildfire and tree mortality in the U.S. using historical data and future projections.

They found that about 1.1 million households (or $4 billion worth of property) were exposed to a 5% or greater chance of being impacted by a wildfire over a 30-year mortgage period between 2000 and 2018.

However, this number is expected to increase significantly in the future due to climate change.

By 2050, about 3.3 million households (or $11 billion worth of property) will face the same level of risk each year.

By 2100, this number could range from 5.5 million households (or $22 billion worth of property) under a moderate climate action scenario to 11 million households (or $45 billion worth of property) under a high-emissions scenario.

The study also identified the regions that will experience the most exposure to wildfire risk in the future.

They found that the western U.S., especially California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico, will remain the hotspots of wildfire risk throughout the century.

However, some regions that currently have low or moderate risk levels will also see an increase in exposure in the future.

These include parts of the southeast (such as Florida and Georgia), the Great Lakes region (such as Michigan and Wisconsin), and New England (such as Maine and Vermont).

The need for climate action and adaptation

The study highlights the urgent need for climate action and adaptation to reduce the impact of wildfires on property values in the U.S.

Climate action refers to the efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming and its associated effects on forests and fires, while climate adaptation refers to the efforts to cope with or adjust to the changing conditions and risks posed by climate change.

The study showed that taking aggressive climate action can significantly lower the exposure of property to wildfire risk in the future.

For example, if global warming is limited to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels by 2100 (as recommended by the Paris Agreement), then only about 5% more property will be exposed to wildfire risk compared to the present.

However, if global warming reaches 4C or more by 2100 (as projected under a high-emissions scenario), then about 250% more property will be exposed to wildfire risk compared to the present.

Climate adaptation can also help reduce vulnerability and enhance the resilience of property to wildfire risk.

Some examples of adaptation measures include creating defensible space around buildings, using fire-resistant materials and designs, implementing fuel management and prescribed burning, improving fire detection and suppression, enhancing insurance and financial mechanisms, and promoting community awareness and preparedness.

Furthermore, the study by Anderegg provides a valuable contribution to the understanding of the economic impacts of climate change on property values in the U.S.

It also provides a useful tool for decision-makers, stakeholders, and homeowners to assess and manage the risks and opportunities associated with wildfire and tree mortality in a changing climate.

By taking climate action and adaptation seriously, we can protect our forests, our properties, and our future.

Related article: Scientists Hold Climate Change Protests Worldwide: Violence and Arrests Reported in Some Cities
Bees and butterflies are often praised for their role as pollinators, transferring pollen from one flower to another and enabling plant reproduction and diversity.

A recent study from the University of Sussex suggests that moths might be more efficient pollinators than these day-flying insects, especially at night.

Pollination rates of day and night insects

The study, published in the journal Biology Letters, involved setting up trail cameras to record the visits of insects to bramble flowers in a park in Sussex, UK.

The researchers also placed mesh bags over some of the flowers to compare their pollination rates.

One group of flowers was covered for 24 hours, another group was covered only during the day, and a third group was covered only at night.

The researchers found that 83% of all flower visits happened during the day, mostly by bees and hoverflies.

They also found that the pollination rates were higher at night when moths were almost the only visitors. This meant that moths were more efficient at transferring pollen than day-flying insects.

Also Read: 'Moth Roads' Might Help Mitigate the Effects of Climate Change

Moths are more efficient pollinators than bees and butterflies

The researchers speculated that moths are more efficient pollinators than bees and butterflies for several reasons.

One is that moths have a shorter time window to pollinate at night, so they have to be faster and more effective than daytime insects.

Another is that moths have longer tongues than most bees and butterflies, which allows them to reach deeper into the flowers and collect more pollen.

A third is that moths have hairy bodies that can carry more pollen than smooth-bodied insects.

The researchers also noted that moths are more diverse and widespread than bees and butterflies, with over 2,500 species in the UK alone.

They can also adapt to different habitats and climates, and visit a variety of flowers. This makes them important pollinators for many plants, especially those that bloom at night or have pale or fragrant flowers.

Moths help maintain plant diversity and crop production

The researchers estimated that moths pollinate about 75% of the plant species in the UK, including many wildflowers and crops.

They also noted that moths are important for maintaining plant diversity and genetic variation, as they can transport pollen over long distances and between different habitats.

Moths can also pollinate plants that are not visited by other insects, such as those that bloom at night or have pale or fragrant flowers.

Some examples of crops that benefit from moth pollination are alfalfa, clover, oilseed rape, peas, beans, apples, pears, plums, cherries, and strawberries.

These insects can also help control pests by feeding on their larvae or eggs. For instance, some moth species can reduce the damage caused by aphids or caterpillars on crops3.

The study highlights the underestimated role of moths as nocturnal pollinators, which may have implications for conservation and agriculture.

The researchers suggested that more attention should be paid to protecting and restoring moth habitats, such as hedgerows, woodlands and grasslands.

They also recommended that more research should be done on how moths interact with other pollinators and how they respond to environmental changes.

Related Article: Moth to a Flame: Why Do Insects Congregate Around Artificial Lights?
?? En la clausura, liderada por la presidenta Dina Boluarte, el titular de la PCM senalo: "Continuamos estrechando lazos entre las autoridades y los equipos de diferentes niveles de gobierno. Esto es necesario en la gestion publica para conseguir resultados concretos". pic.twitter.com/Irq9e20vWY
YEREVAN, AUGUST 18, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has visited servicemembers of the National Security Service Border Guard in an outpost in Kapan, Syunik Province.

PM Pashinyan inspected the conditions at the outpost, his office said in a statement.

The Prime Minister arrived in Syunik on Thursday on board the Let L-410 Turbolet twin-engine aircraft which will be used for the regular Yerevan-Kapan passenger flights starting next week.
By Express News Service

BENGALURU: Indias first post office building using 3D printing technology was declared open by Communications and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday at Cambridge Layout in the city.

Built in just 43 days, the structure cost Rs 26 lakh to erect, which is 40% less than the conventional construction process.

The built-up area of the post office is 1021 square feet with Larsen & Tourbo Limited constructing it under the technological guidance of IIT Madras.

Speaking after launching it virtually from the General Post Office, Vaishnaw lauded the giant strides India has taken in new technology like the 4G, 5G and the Vande Bharat Express making full use of indigenous talent. The noise level inside the Vande Bharat is 100 times less than that inside an aeroplane. While the Shinkansen (Japanese bullet train) takes 54 seconds to achieve an acceleration of 100 kmph, the Vande Bharat does it in 52 seconds, he said.

Chief Postmaster General S Rajendra Kumar billed the new technology as cost-effective and environment-friendly. Explaining the 3D construction process, he said there are two types involved. "One construction process involves printing of building elements at a manufacturing facility and assembling at site. The other process is to do the building construction on-site, as per the input design. The new PO building falls under the latter category," he said.

Communications Min @AshwiniVaishnaw today launched India's first 3D printed Post Off building at Bengaluru's Cambridge Layout remotely frm GPO. Compl in record 43 days. Blr Cent MP @PCMohanMP, S Rajendra Kumar @CPMGKARNATAKA & Mani Santhanam @iitmadra present @NewIndianXpress pic.twitter.com/t6XIvSxSOU  S. Lalitha (@Lolita_TNIE) August 18, 2023

Operations Head of L & T, South and East, George Abraham said the total digital workflow eliminates human error. The construction cost involved is just 40% of the conventional construction method. Since it is a fully automated process, it assures excellent product quality and is sustainable, he said.

Elaborating on the construction technology, a release said, "A robotic printer deposits the concrete layer by layer as per the approved design. Special grade concrete which hardens quickly is used to ensure bonding between the layers for printing the structure."

Later, fielding queries from newspersons, Vaishnaw assured that the Centre was committed to the implementation of the Bengaluru Suburban Railway Project as soon as possible. On the Vande Bharat Express not touching the promised speed limit in Karnataka, the minister said that it would happen when the railway tracks are upgraded.

Asked if next years election process was delaying the framing of rules for the personal data protection law introduced recently, the Information Technology Minister replied in the negative.

Bengaluru Central MP P C Mohan, Postmaster General, Bengaluru Region, L K Dash, and Dean of Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research, IIT Madras, Manu Santhanam were present.

Every Indian would be proud to see India's first 3D printed Post Office at Cambridge Layout, Bengaluru. A testament to our nation's innovation and progress, it also embodies the spirit of a self-reliant India. Compliments to those who have worked hard in ensuring the Post pic.twitter.com/Y4TrW4nEhZ  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 18, 2023

Minister's visit to post office marred by protest

The Communications Ministers visit to the new post office post-launch was marred by protests from supporters of Shanti Nagar MLA N A Haris who alleged that the local MLA was shown disrespect by not being invited to the function and not having his name printed on the invitation. They were dressed in black, blocked a portion of the road and raised slogans in support of Haris.

A top postal official, however, said, Postal officials had gone in person to invite him on Thursday. His grouse was that he had been invited late for the function. He told us yesterday itself that a protest would be organised by his supporters. Moreover, only the ministers name was printed on the invite. The name of the MP or top officials was not printed.

The protest forced Vaishnaw to leave the venue immediately. Many BJP workers were waiting with bouquets to meet the minister and have a brief chat with him. We are really disappointed with the behaviour of the Congress workers, said a local BJP leader.

BENGALURU: Indias first post office building using 3D printing technology was declared open by Communications and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday at Cambridge Layout in the city. Built in just 43 days, the structure cost Rs 26 lakh to erect, which is 40% less than the conventional construction process. The built-up area of the post office is 1021 square feet with Larsen & Tourbo Limited constructing it under the technological guidance of IIT Madras.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Speaking after launching it virtually from the General Post Office, Vaishnaw lauded the giant strides India has taken in new technology like the 4G, 5G and the Vande Bharat Express making full use of indigenous talent. The noise level inside the Vande Bharat is 100 times less than that inside an aeroplane. While the Shinkansen (Japanese bullet train) takes 54 seconds to achieve an acceleration of 100 kmph, the Vande Bharat does it in 52 seconds, he said. Chief Postmaster General S Rajendra Kumar billed the new technology as cost-effective and environment-friendly. Explaining the 3D construction process, he said there are two types involved. "One construction process involves printing of building elements at a manufacturing facility and assembling at site. The other process is to do the building construction on-site, as per the input design. The new PO building falls under the latter category," he said. Communications Min @AshwiniVaishnaw today launched India's first 3D printed Post Off building at Bengaluru's Cambridge Layout remotely frm GPO. Compl in record 43 days. Blr Cent MP @PCMohanMP, S Rajendra Kumar @CPMGKARNATAKA & Mani Santhanam @iitmadra present @NewIndianXpress pic.twitter.com/t6XIvSxSOU  S. Lalitha (@Lolita_TNIE) August 18, 2023 Operations Head of L & T, South and East, George Abraham said the total digital workflow eliminates human error. The construction cost involved is just 40% of the conventional construction method. Since it is a fully automated process, it assures excellent product quality and is sustainable, he said. Elaborating on the construction technology, a release said, "A robotic printer deposits the concrete layer by layer as per the approved design. Special grade concrete which hardens quickly is used to ensure bonding between the layers for printing the structure." Later, fielding queries from newspersons, Vaishnaw assured that the Centre was committed to the implementation of the Bengaluru Suburban Railway Project as soon as possible. On the Vande Bharat Express not touching the promised speed limit in Karnataka, the minister said that it would happen when the railway tracks are upgraded. Asked if next years election process was delaying the framing of rules for the personal data protection law introduced recently, the Information Technology Minister replied in the negative. Bengaluru Central MP P C Mohan, Postmaster General, Bengaluru Region, L K Dash, and Dean of Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research, IIT Madras, Manu Santhanam were present. Every Indian would be proud to see India's first 3D printed Post Office at Cambridge Layout, Bengaluru. A testament to our nation's innovation and progress, it also embodies the spirit of a self-reliant India. Compliments to those who have worked hard in ensuring the Post pic.twitter.com/Y4TrW4nEhZ  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 18, 2023 Minister's visit to post office marred by protest The Communications Ministers visit to the new post office post-launch was marred by protests from supporters of Shanti Nagar MLA N A Haris who alleged that the local MLA was shown disrespect by not being invited to the function and not having his name printed on the invitation. They were dressed in black, blocked a portion of the road and raised slogans in support of Haris. A top postal official, however, said, Postal officials had gone in person to invite him on Thursday. His grouse was that he had been invited late for the function. He told us yesterday itself that a protest would be organised by his supporters. Moreover, only the ministers name was printed on the invite. The name of the MP or top officials was not printed. The protest forced Vaishnaw to leave the venue immediately. Many BJP workers were waiting with bouquets to meet the minister and have a brief chat with him. We are really disappointed with the behaviour of the Congress workers, said a local BJP leader.
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Ajay Kumar Mishra, introduced a new social welfare deposit scheme - Repco Thangamagal, aimed at supporting minor girl children, at a function organised by Repco Bank and Repco Micro Finance Limited in Chennai.

Union Minister of State for home affairs Ajay Kumar Mishra distributes welfare schemes to beneficiaries at #Chennai. pic.twitter.com/vsABCgMEEC  All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) August 17, 2023

Mishra also launched another scheme - Repco Vruksha, a microfinance loan scheme for the benefit of female members of self-help groups. Further, he launched Repco Digi Pay, a digital loan repayment facility that enables Bank borrowers to make remittances to their loan accounts through digital modes.

The union government was supporting all the ventures of the bank and also taking steps to obtain an RBI license for the bank. Mishra said the co-operative sector will see a multifarious development and a new co-operative policy will be unveiled before Deepavali.

E Santhanam, chairman, RS Isabella, managing director and board of directors of Repco Bank and its group institutions and their customers participated.

The principal chief commissioner of Income Tax takes charge

Sunil Mathur took charge as the new principal chief commissioner of Income Tax, Tamil Nadu & Puducherry. An Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer of the 1988 batch, Mathur did his BE (Civil) from BITS Pilani and did his Masters in Public Management from Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore in 2014-15.

He has worked in various capacities in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi, Kolkata and Uttar Pradesh. He also worked as Director in the Ministry of Labour and Employment in the Government of India. He joined as Director General of Income Tax (Investigation), Tamil Nadu & Puducherry in July 2021. ENS

CHENNAI: Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Ajay Kumar Mishra, introduced a new social welfare deposit scheme - Repco Thangamagal, aimed at supporting minor girl children, at a function organised by Repco Bank and Repco Micro Finance Limited in Chennai. Union Minister of State for home affairs Ajay Kumar Mishra distributes welfare schemes to beneficiaries at #Chennai. pic.twitter.com/vsABCgMEEC  All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) August 17, 2023 Mishra also launched another scheme - Repco Vruksha, a microfinance loan scheme for the benefit of female members of self-help groups. Further, he launched Repco Digi Pay, a digital loan repayment facility that enables Bank borrowers to make remittances to their loan accounts through digital modes.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The union government was supporting all the ventures of the bank and also taking steps to obtain an RBI license for the bank. Mishra said the co-operative sector will see a multifarious development and a new co-operative policy will be unveiled before Deepavali. E Santhanam, chairman, RS Isabella, managing director and board of directors of Repco Bank and its group institutions and their customers participated. The principal chief commissioner of Income Tax takes charge Sunil Mathur took charge as the new principal chief commissioner of Income Tax, Tamil Nadu & Puducherry. An Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer of the 1988 batch, Mathur did his BE (Civil) from BITS Pilani and did his Masters in Public Management from Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore in 2014-15. He has worked in various capacities in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi, Kolkata and Uttar Pradesh. He also worked as Director in the Ministry of Labour and Employment in the Government of India. He joined as Director General of Income Tax (Investigation), Tamil Nadu & Puducherry in July 2021. ENS
By PTI

NEW DELH: The NHRC has issued a notice to the Delhi government and city's police chief over a student being hospitalised days after he was allegedly beaten up by a teacher at his school, officials said on Friday.

In a statement, the Commission has observed that despite several legislations, the incidents of corporal punishment continue with impunity, which is a "cause of concern".

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said it has "taken suo motu cognisance of a media report that a student of a government school in Delhi had to be hospitalised after a severe beating by his teacher".

His parents have registered an FIR in the matter. However, no arrest was made by the police, it said.

The Class 6 student of a government school in northeast Delhi's Tukmirpur area was hospitalised days after he was allegedly slapped by a teacher over forgetting to bring his Hindi textbook, police said on Thursday.

On Saturday, police received information from GTB Hospital that a 12-year-old boy had been admitted after he was beaten up by his school teacher on August 7, a senior police officer said.

The NHRC said the contents of the media report, if true, amount to a violation of human rights.

Accordingly, it has issued notices to the chief secretary, government of Delhi and the commissioner of police, seeking a detailed report within four weeks.

The report should also include the action taken against the responsible teacher, the status of the FIR registered in the matter, the health status of the victim student and compensation, if any, paid to the aggrieved family.

The Commission would also like to know about the steps taken/ proposed to be taken to ensure that such incidents do not recur in future, it said.

Issuing the notices, the Commission has noted that the National Policy for Children 2013 states that in education, the state shall ensure that no child is subjected to any physical punishment or mental harassment and to promote positive engagement to impart discipline so as to provide children with a good learning experience.

"Section 17 (1) of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 expressly bans subjecting a child to mental harassment or physical punishment. Cruelty to children is also prohibited and a penal offence under Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015," the statement read.

According to the media report of August 16, the father of the student alleged that the teacher had allegedly slapped the student and wrenched his neck.

The student did not inform the parents of anything about the incident.

Still, the next day when the swelling was visible, the family members enquired about it and came to know about the alleged brutality committed by the teacher.

The student was then admitted to the hospital and an FIR was registered, it said.

NEW DELH: The NHRC has issued a notice to the Delhi government and city's police chief over a student being hospitalised days after he was allegedly beaten up by a teacher at his school, officials said on Friday. In a statement, the Commission has observed that despite several legislations, the incidents of corporal punishment continue with impunity, which is a "cause of concern". The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said it has "taken suo motu cognisance of a media report that a student of a government school in Delhi had to be hospitalised after a severe beating by his teacher".googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); His parents have registered an FIR in the matter. However, no arrest was made by the police, it said. The Class 6 student of a government school in northeast Delhi's Tukmirpur area was hospitalised days after he was allegedly slapped by a teacher over forgetting to bring his Hindi textbook, police said on Thursday. On Saturday, police received information from GTB Hospital that a 12-year-old boy had been admitted after he was beaten up by his school teacher on August 7, a senior police officer said. The NHRC said the contents of the media report, if true, amount to a violation of human rights. Accordingly, it has issued notices to the chief secretary, government of Delhi and the commissioner of police, seeking a detailed report within four weeks. The report should also include the action taken against the responsible teacher, the status of the FIR registered in the matter, the health status of the victim student and compensation, if any, paid to the aggrieved family. The Commission would also like to know about the steps taken/ proposed to be taken to ensure that such incidents do not recur in future, it said. Issuing the notices, the Commission has noted that the National Policy for Children 2013 states that in education, the state shall ensure that no child is subjected to any physical punishment or mental harassment and to promote positive engagement to impart discipline so as to provide children with a good learning experience. "Section 17 (1) of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 expressly bans subjecting a child to mental harassment or physical punishment. Cruelty to children is also prohibited and a penal offence under Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015," the statement read. According to the media report of August 16, the father of the student alleged that the teacher had allegedly slapped the student and wrenched his neck. The student did not inform the parents of anything about the incident. Still, the next day when the swelling was visible, the family members enquired about it and came to know about the alleged brutality committed by the teacher. The student was then admitted to the hospital and an FIR was registered, it said.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: About 12 per cent of sitting MPs of Rajya Sabha are billionaires with Andhra Pradesh and Telangana having the highest percentage of such parliamentarians, according to the Association for Democratic Reforms.

The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and the National Election Watch (NEW) have analysed and updated the criminal, financial and other background details of 225 out of 233 Rajya Sabha MPs.

In the current Rajya Sabha, one seat is vacant.

According to the report, five (45 per cent) out of 11 MPs from Andhra Pradesh, three (43 per cent) out of seven MPs from Telangana, three (16 per cent) out of 19 MPs from Maharashtra, one (33 per cent) out of three MPs from Delhi, two (29 per cent) out of seven MPs from Punjab, one (20 per cent) out of five MPs from Haryana and two (18 per cent) out of 11 MPs from Madhya Pradesh have declared assets worth more than Rs 100 crore.

ALSO READ | Opposition vs Modi: Mission 2024 or Mission Impossible

The total assets of seven Members of Parliament (MPs) analysed from Telangana is Rs 5,596 crore, that of 11 MPs from Andhra Pradesh is Rs 3,823 crore and 30 MPs analysed from Uttar Pradesh are worth Rs 1,941 crore.

Out of the 225 Rajya Sabha sitting MPs analysed, 75 (33 per cent) have declared criminal cases against themselves.

Also about 41 (18 per cent) Rajya Sabha sitting MPs have declared serious criminal cases and two members have declared cases related to murder (IPC section 302).

Four Rajya Sabha sitting MPs have declared cases related to crimes against women.

Out of 4 MPs, one Rajya Sabha sitting MP -- Congress' K C Venugopal -- from Rajasthan has declared case related to rape (IPC section 376).

ALSO READ| The problem of one-party democracy, and its solution

About 23 (27 per cent) out of 85 Rajya Sabha MPs from BJP, 12 (40 per cent) out of 30 MPs from Congress, four (31 per cent) out of 13 MPs from AITC, five (83 per cent) out of six MPs from RJD, four (80 per cent) out of five MPs from CPI(M), three (30 per cent) out of 10 MPs from AAP, three (33 per cent) out of nine MPs from YSRCP, and two (67 per cent) out of three Rajya Sabha MPs from the NCP have declared criminal cases against themselves in their election affidavits.

NEW DELHI: About 12 per cent of sitting MPs of Rajya Sabha are billionaires with Andhra Pradesh and Telangana having the highest percentage of such parliamentarians, according to the Association for Democratic Reforms. The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and the National Election Watch (NEW) have analysed and updated the criminal, financial and other background details of 225 out of 233 Rajya Sabha MPs. In the current Rajya Sabha, one seat is vacant.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); According to the report, five (45 per cent) out of 11 MPs from Andhra Pradesh, three (43 per cent) out of seven MPs from Telangana, three (16 per cent) out of 19 MPs from Maharashtra, one (33 per cent) out of three MPs from Delhi, two (29 per cent) out of seven MPs from Punjab, one (20 per cent) out of five MPs from Haryana and two (18 per cent) out of 11 MPs from Madhya Pradesh have declared assets worth more than Rs 100 crore. ALSO READ | Opposition vs Modi: Mission 2024 or Mission Impossible The total assets of seven Members of Parliament (MPs) analysed from Telangana is Rs 5,596 crore, that of 11 MPs from Andhra Pradesh is Rs 3,823 crore and 30 MPs analysed from Uttar Pradesh are worth Rs 1,941 crore. Out of the 225 Rajya Sabha sitting MPs analysed, 75 (33 per cent) have declared criminal cases against themselves. Also about 41 (18 per cent) Rajya Sabha sitting MPs have declared serious criminal cases and two members have declared cases related to murder (IPC section 302). Four Rajya Sabha sitting MPs have declared cases related to crimes against women. Out of 4 MPs, one Rajya Sabha sitting MP -- Congress' K C Venugopal -- from Rajasthan has declared case related to rape (IPC section 376). ALSO READ| The problem of one-party democracy, and its solution About 23 (27 per cent) out of 85 Rajya Sabha MPs from BJP, 12 (40 per cent) out of 30 MPs from Congress, four (31 per cent) out of 13 MPs from AITC, five (83 per cent) out of six MPs from RJD, four (80 per cent) out of five MPs from CPI(M), three (30 per cent) out of 10 MPs from AAP, three (33 per cent) out of nine MPs from YSRCP, and two (67 per cent) out of three Rajya Sabha MPs from the NCP have declared criminal cases against themselves in their election affidavits.
Namita Bajpai By

Express News Service

LUCKNOW: Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election, Congress on Thursday appointed Ajai Rai as the party chief in Uttar Pradesh, replacing Brijlal Khabri, a Dalit face.

Rai started his political career with BJP and won his first three assembly elections as a BJP candidate from the Kolsala assembly seat in the Varanasi Parliamentary seat, from 1996 to 2007.

In 2009, he contested the bypoll on the same seat as an independent and won for the fourth time. Rai joined the Congress in 2012 and won the Pindra Assembly segment of Varanasi on a Congress ticket to become an MLA for the fifth time. Then senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh was the partys UP-in-charge and he had played a major role in ensuring Ajai Rais entry into the organisation. However, he has not won any election after 2012.

He failed to win the same assembly seat for the Congress in 2017 and 2022 in the saffron resurgence.

However, he has been holding prominent positions in the party organisation for a long time. Recently, Rai was appointed the regional president of the Prayagraj region with the responsibility of 12 eastern UP districts.

Rai is the younger brother of slain coal contractor Awdhesh Rai who was murdered by the Mukhtar Ansari gang in 1994. In June, this year, Ansari was awarded a life sentence for his connection in the Awdhesh Rai killing.

Ajai Rai is also registered as a history-sheeter at Chetganj police station of Varanasi.

According to experts, the Congress central leadership has put the stake on Ajai Rai for his dedication and diligence with which he works at the ground level.

He had taken on PM Modi twice in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Varanasi but lost. Rai had contested the 2009 Lok Sabha polls on an SP ticket against BJPs Murli Manohar Joshi from Varanasi but was third.

LUCKNOW: Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election, Congress on Thursday appointed Ajai Rai as the party chief in Uttar Pradesh, replacing Brijlal Khabri, a Dalit face. Rai started his political career with BJP and won his first three assembly elections as a BJP candidate from the Kolsala assembly seat in the Varanasi Parliamentary seat, from 1996 to 2007. In 2009, he contested the bypoll on the same seat as an independent and won for the fourth time. Rai joined the Congress in 2012 and won the Pindra Assembly segment of Varanasi on a Congress ticket to become an MLA for the fifth time. Then senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh was the partys UP-in-charge and he had played a major role in ensuring Ajai Rais entry into the organisation. However, he has not won any election after 2012.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); He failed to win the same assembly seat for the Congress in 2017 and 2022 in the saffron resurgence. However, he has been holding prominent positions in the party organisation for a long time. Recently, Rai was appointed the regional president of the Prayagraj region with the responsibility of 12 eastern UP districts. Rai is the younger brother of slain coal contractor Awdhesh Rai who was murdered by the Mukhtar Ansari gang in 1994. In June, this year, Ansari was awarded a life sentence for his connection in the Awdhesh Rai killing. Ajai Rai is also registered as a history-sheeter at Chetganj police station of Varanasi. According to experts, the Congress central leadership has put the stake on Ajai Rai for his dedication and diligence with which he works at the ground level. He had taken on PM Modi twice in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Varanasi but lost. Rai had contested the 2009 Lok Sabha polls on an SP ticket against BJPs Murli Manohar Joshi from Varanasi but was third.
By Express News Service

BHOPAL: Home Minister Amit Shah will make his fourth visit to assembly poll-bound Madhya Pradesh in less than 40 days, on August 20.

Shah will arrive in Bhopal on August 20, where as part of Garib Kalyan Mahabhiyan, he will present the detailed Report Card of over 18 years of BJP rule in the state, out of which for more than 16 years, the government has been headed by current CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Shah will subsequently travel to Gwalior, where will grace the expanded state BJP working committees meeting.

Detailing about Shahs August 20 visit to Bhopal and Gwalior, the MP BJP chief VD Sharma said, Shah will present in Bhopal the Garib Kalyan (poor sections welfare) centric Report Card of over 18 years of BJP rule in the state.

He will subsequently travel to Gwalior to grace the partys expanded state executive/working committee meeting at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Auditorium.

Importantly, Gwalior is the home district of three powerful BJP leaders, including union minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Jyotiraditya Scindia, besides MP home minister Narottam Mishra.

This would be Shahs fourth visit to the poll-bound BJP ruled state in less than 40 days, to guide the party prepare for the coming assembly polls.

Earlier, Shah had visited Bhopal on July 11 and July 25 and Indore on July 30. Shahs visit to Gwalior assumes particular significance, as the BJPs internal surveys are believed to have painted a bleak picture for the partys prospects in the 34 assembly seats-strong Gwalior-Chambal region.

In the 2018 assembly polls, out of the 34 assembly seats, while Congress had nearly swept the polls, winning 26 seats, BJP was far behind with just 7 seats and BSP won one seat.

Though the Gwalior-Chambal region is home to four senior BJP leaders, including union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar and Jyotiraditya Scindia, besides state BJP chief VD Sharma and state home minister Narottam Mishra, the party had suffered a major jolt in the same region during last years civic polls.

BHOPAL: Home Minister Amit Shah will make his fourth visit to assembly poll-bound Madhya Pradesh in less than 40 days, on August 20. Shah will arrive in Bhopal on August 20, where as part of Garib Kalyan Mahabhiyan, he will present the detailed Report Card of over 18 years of BJP rule in the state, out of which for more than 16 years, the government has been headed by current CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Shah will subsequently travel to Gwalior, where will grace the expanded state BJP working committees meeting. Detailing about Shahs August 20 visit to Bhopal and Gwalior, the MP BJP chief VD Sharma said, Shah will present in Bhopal the Garib Kalyan (poor sections welfare) centric Report Card of over 18 years of BJP rule in the state. He will subsequently travel to Gwalior to grace the partys expanded state executive/working committee meeting at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Auditorium. Importantly, Gwalior is the home district of three powerful BJP leaders, including union minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Jyotiraditya Scindia, besides MP home minister Narottam Mishra. This would be Shahs fourth visit to the poll-bound BJP ruled state in less than 40 days, to guide the party prepare for the coming assembly polls. Earlier, Shah had visited Bhopal on July 11 and July 25 and Indore on July 30. Shahs visit to Gwalior assumes particular significance, as the BJPs internal surveys are believed to have painted a bleak picture for the partys prospects in the 34 assembly seats-strong Gwalior-Chambal region. In the 2018 assembly polls, out of the 34 assembly seats, while Congress had nearly swept the polls, winning 26 seats, BJP was far behind with just 7 seats and BSP won one seat. Though the Gwalior-Chambal region is home to four senior BJP leaders, including union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar and Jyotiraditya Scindia, besides state BJP chief VD Sharma and state home minister Narottam Mishra, the party had suffered a major jolt in the same region during last years civic polls.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The pro-talks faction of the ULFA, led by its 'chairman' Arabinda Rajkhowa, on Friday held peace talks with the Centre's representatives in an effort to find an amicable solution to the decades-old insurgency problem in Assam, sources said.

A delegation of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), comprising Rajkhowa, 'general secretary' Anup Chetia, leaders Raju Baruah and Sasha Choudhury, held the dialogue with senior officers of the Union home ministry and the Intelligence Bureau.

The talks were held for two consecutive days on Thursday and Friday where all the demands of ULFA were discussed threadbare, sources said.

The negotiations were on the 12-point charter of demands which the group had submitted to the Centre's interlocutors long ago.

Key issues arising on political safeguard to the indigenous people and control on economic resources of Assam were discussed at the talks, the sources said.

The Rajkhowa-led ULFA faction had begun unconditional talks with the central government in 2011, despite strong opposition from the hardline wing led by Paresh Baruah, who is believed to be along the China-Myanmar border.

Among other issues, ULFA's charter of demands includes recognition of six communities in Assam -- Moran, Muttock, Tai-Ahom, Koch-Rajbongshi, Sootea and Tea Tribes as Scheduled Tribes (ST).

"All these communities are now OBC and as such there is no opposition from any quarter to their inclusion in the ST list. But the government will have to take approval of the Parliament through a Constitution amendment bill," a source said.

The home ministry is believed to be in touch with the National Commission of Scheduled Tribes and the Tribal Affairs Ministry on the issue.

If the tribal status is granted to these six communities, it will lead to 50 per cent population of Assam becoming tribal or Assam turning into a tribal-dominated state.

The fear of indigenous communities that the illegal immigrants from Bangladesh would soon usurp the political power would diminish if assembly seats are reserved for STs accordingly.

However, the recent delimitation exercise carried out by the Election Commission is said to have protected the interests of the indigenous communities to a great extent, the sources said.

Now, it is to be seen whether the central government will accept this key demand of recognition of the six OBC communities as STs after the delimitation of the assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam.

The ULFA was formed in 1979 with the demand for a 'sovereign Assam'. Since then, the group has been involved in subversive activities that led to its ban by the central government in 1990.

The Rajkhowa faction joined peace talks with the government on September 3, 2011, after an agreement for Suspension of Operations was signed among the ULFA, central and state governments.

NEW DELHI: The pro-talks faction of the ULFA, led by its 'chairman' Arabinda Rajkhowa, on Friday held peace talks with the Centre's representatives in an effort to find an amicable solution to the decades-old insurgency problem in Assam, sources said. A delegation of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), comprising Rajkhowa, 'general secretary' Anup Chetia, leaders Raju Baruah and Sasha Choudhury, held the dialogue with senior officers of the Union home ministry and the Intelligence Bureau. The talks were held for two consecutive days on Thursday and Friday where all the demands of ULFA were discussed threadbare, sources said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The negotiations were on the 12-point charter of demands which the group had submitted to the Centre's interlocutors long ago. Key issues arising on political safeguard to the indigenous people and control on economic resources of Assam were discussed at the talks, the sources said. The Rajkhowa-led ULFA faction had begun unconditional talks with the central government in 2011, despite strong opposition from the hardline wing led by Paresh Baruah, who is believed to be along the China-Myanmar border. Among other issues, ULFA's charter of demands includes recognition of six communities in Assam -- Moran, Muttock, Tai-Ahom, Koch-Rajbongshi, Sootea and Tea Tribes as Scheduled Tribes (ST). "All these communities are now OBC and as such there is no opposition from any quarter to their inclusion in the ST list. But the government will have to take approval of the Parliament through a Constitution amendment bill," a source said. The home ministry is believed to be in touch with the National Commission of Scheduled Tribes and the Tribal Affairs Ministry on the issue. If the tribal status is granted to these six communities, it will lead to 50 per cent population of Assam becoming tribal or Assam turning into a tribal-dominated state. The fear of indigenous communities that the illegal immigrants from Bangladesh would soon usurp the political power would diminish if assembly seats are reserved for STs accordingly. However, the recent delimitation exercise carried out by the Election Commission is said to have protected the interests of the indigenous communities to a great extent, the sources said. Now, it is to be seen whether the central government will accept this key demand of recognition of the six OBC communities as STs after the delimitation of the assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam. The ULFA was formed in 1979 with the demand for a 'sovereign Assam'. Since then, the group has been involved in subversive activities that led to its ban by the central government in 1990. The Rajkhowa faction joined peace talks with the government on September 3, 2011, after an agreement for Suspension of Operations was signed among the ULFA, central and state governments.
By PTI

GUWAHATI: Four senior woman leaders of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) on Friday demanded that the police take strong action against all persons involved in the alleged suicide of a woman member of the state BJP Kisan Morcha last week.

A memorandum in this regard was submitted in person by APCC vice presidents Pranatee Phukan and Bobbeeta Sharma, general secretary Roselina Tirkey and MLA Nandita Das to Commissioner of Police Diganta Barah.

The BJP Kisan Morcha leader died allegedly by suicide at her Guwahati residence on August 11 after her intimate photos with another party leader surfaced.

''The leak of photos in social media and the circumstances leading to her suicide as divulged through phone calls (also leaked through social media) speaks volumes about how social media is being used as a tool to compel a person to take the extreme step of ending one's life'', the leaders said in the memorandum.

They alleged that a cash-for-job scam was behind the woman BJP leader's death.

''The persons allegedly involved in taking cash for government jobs have themselves revealed their involvement which is already known by police and they should be booked for corruption charges, the memorandum said.

Those who leaked photos, videos and phone calls of the deceased person should be given stringent punishment for cybercrime and booked under abetment to suicide charges, it said.

As both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma claim to have zero tolerance with regard to corruption, ''we hope they will take cognizance of this and punish those involved in such activities'', the Congress leaders said.

The ruling BJP on August 12 expelled the leader from party membership after his name cropped up in the alleged suicide case.

He was also arrested.

''The circumstances leading to her suicide exposes a ring of corruption in cash for jobs in the present government and Assam police should ensure that the guilty do not go scot-free'', they said.

The police claimed that the arrested leader had allegedly duped several job aspirants over the past several months on the pretext of giving them employment.

GUWAHATI: Four senior woman leaders of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) on Friday demanded that the police take strong action against all persons involved in the alleged suicide of a woman member of the state BJP Kisan Morcha last week. A memorandum in this regard was submitted in person by APCC vice presidents Pranatee Phukan and Bobbeeta Sharma, general secretary Roselina Tirkey and MLA Nandita Das to Commissioner of Police Diganta Barah. The BJP Kisan Morcha leader died allegedly by suicide at her Guwahati residence on August 11 after her intimate photos with another party leader surfaced.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); ''The leak of photos in social media and the circumstances leading to her suicide as divulged through phone calls (also leaked through social media) speaks volumes about how social media is being used as a tool to compel a person to take the extreme step of ending one's life'', the leaders said in the memorandum. They alleged that a cash-for-job scam was behind the woman BJP leader's death. ''The persons allegedly involved in taking cash for government jobs have themselves revealed their involvement which is already known by police and they should be booked for corruption charges, the memorandum said. Those who leaked photos, videos and phone calls of the deceased person should be given stringent punishment for cybercrime and booked under abetment to suicide charges, it said. As both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma claim to have zero tolerance with regard to corruption, ''we hope they will take cognizance of this and punish those involved in such activities'', the Congress leaders said. The ruling BJP on August 12 expelled the leader from party membership after his name cropped up in the alleged suicide case. He was also arrested. ''The circumstances leading to her suicide exposes a ring of corruption in cash for jobs in the present government and Assam police should ensure that the guilty do not go scot-free'', they said. The police claimed that the arrested leader had allegedly duped several job aspirants over the past several months on the pretext of giving them employment.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 18, ARMENPRESS. Shots were fired on August 18 from the territory of Azerbaijan in the direction of the "Syunik" airport in Kapan, the National Security Service of Armenia (NSS) said in a statement Friday.

At 04:24 a.m., August 18, three shots were fired by an unknown person, who came to the adjacent territory of the Syunik airport of Kapan in Syunik Province on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border line, on an unknown vehicle, in the direction of Kapans Syunik airport who then left the area. Two bullets damaged the airports window and roof. We call upon the Azerbaijani authorities to conduct a proper investigation into the incident and take measures to rule out the repetition of such incidents. The NSS Border Guard of Armenia is ready for a joint investigation and can relay the respective footage to the Azerbaijani side, the NSS said in a statement.

The shooting happened hours after a plane carrying Prime Minister Pashinyan landed in Kapan on August 17.
Anuraag Singh and Ejaz Kaiser By

Express News Service

BHOPAL/RAIPUR: In a first, the BJP on Thursday released its first list of 39 candidates, including four women, for Madhya Pradesh and 21 candidates, including five women, for Chhattisgarh before the assembly polls due later this year.

The BJPs first list has come at least a couple of months before the announcement of poll dates by the Election Commission of India for these states.

In Madhya Pradesh, the saffron party released the list for the 39 seats (all were lost in 2018 assembly polls) just a day after the meeting of its central election committee in Delhi, which was attended among others by PM Narendra Modi.

The list came around a month and a half before the model code of conduct is enforced.

Party insiders in Bhopal believe that by declaring the candidates on the 39 seats, the party has tried to give the candidates ample time to prepare for the poll battle.

This exercise is also being seen as an experiment of sorts to gauge the discontent caused by the declaration of candidates on those seats, which are being counted among the most challenging 100-odd seats out of the total 230 assembly seats.

The 39 candidates declared on Thursday, include at least 11 new faces, 21 ex-MLAs and seven candidates, who in the past had lost Vidhan Sabha polls from the same seats they have been fielded now.

The list includes six former ministers, including Adal Singh Kansana, Lalita Yadav, Anchal Sonkar, Nanabhau Mohod, Om Prakash Dhurve and Lal Singh Arya.

Out of the 39 seats, 21 seats are reserved for SC/STs. A maximum of 11 candidates are for the 66 seats strong Malwa-Nimar region, 12 for Mahakoshal region, six for Gwalior-Chambal, five for Bundelkhand, four for central MP and one for Vindhya region.

While 13 candidates are tribals, eight belong to the SC category, 13 from OBC category and five from general category.

Just four in the first list, including ex-minister Lalita Yadav, former MLA Nirmala Bhuria, fresh face Priyanka Meena (wife of Indian Revenue Service officer) and Sarla Vijendra Rawat are women candidates.

Just one of the 22 former Congress MLAs (who had pulled down the BJP government in March 2020) Adal Singh Kansanas name figures in this list, while Jyotiaditya Scindia-loyalist ex-Congress MLA Ranveer Jatav has failed to get BJP ticket from Gohah-SC seat of Bhind district, which he had won in 2018 polls on Congress ticket.

In Chhattisgarh, the BJP declared its list of 21 candidates. With only 14 legislators in the 90-member House, the BJPs move is seen as tactical to gain advantage over the Congress. The party has fielded Vijay Baghel, Durg Lok Sabha member, from the Patan seat, which is the home constituency of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel. In the 2008 assembly elections, Vijay Baghel defeated Bhupesh Baghel by a margin of 7,842 votes.

Chhattisgarh is among the five states, along with adjoining Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram, going to polls later this year.

MADHYA PRADESH

Adal Singh Kansana (Sumawali seat)

A four-time former BSP and Congress MLA from Sumawali, he was among the 22 Congress MLAs who pulled down the Kamal Nath govt in 2020. He was later a minister in Shivraj Singh Chouhan govt, but resigned a few months later, losing the bypoll as BJP candidate from the seat in Nov 2020

Alok Sharma (Bhopal Uttar seat)

The former Bhopal mayor, Sharma is considered close to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. He has been fielded from Bhopal North seat, where he had lost as BJP candidate to veteran sitting Congress MLA and ex-minister Arif Aqeel in 2008 by just 4,000-odd votes

Dhruv Narayan Singh (Bhopal Madhya seat)

Son of former MP CM Govind Narayan Singh, he was elected as BJP MLA from Bhopal-Madhya seat in 2008. But with his name figuring in the 2011 RTI activist Shehla Masood murder case (CBI gave him clean chit later), he was denied a BJP ticket from the same seat in 2013 and 2018

CHHATTISGARH

Vijay Baghel (Patan seat)

BJP LS member from Durg constituency, he will contest from Patan seat against CM Bhupesh Baghel. The likely contest between the two Baghels is now dubbed as the clash between Chacha (Bhupesh) and Bhatija (Vijay). The two were pitted against each other in 2003, 2008 and 2013 as well

Ram Vichar Netam (Ramanujganj seat)

A prominent tribal face in the state BJP and former home minister in Raman Singh cabinet (2008-13). He won Assembly elections in 2003 and 2008 but lost in 2013 from Ramanujganj seat. He is a Rajya Sabha member. In 2015 Amit Shah appointed him as a national secretary in his team

Lakhan Lal Dewangan (Korba seat)

Former corporator and Mayor of Korba municipal corporation. He was elected as an MLA from Katghora seat in 2013 and was parliamentary secretary in Raman Singh govt. He is the only candidate among the 21 names, who has lost 2018 polls. He will against state minister Jai Singh Agrawal

BHOPAL/RAIPUR: In a first, the BJP on Thursday released its first list of 39 candidates, including four women, for Madhya Pradesh and 21 candidates, including five women, for Chhattisgarh before the assembly polls due later this year. The BJPs first list has come at least a couple of months before the announcement of poll dates by the Election Commission of India for these states. In Madhya Pradesh, the saffron party released the list for the 39 seats (all were lost in 2018 assembly polls) just a day after the meeting of its central election committee in Delhi, which was attended among others by PM Narendra Modi.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The list came around a month and a half before the model code of conduct is enforced. Party insiders in Bhopal believe that by declaring the candidates on the 39 seats, the party has tried to give the candidates ample time to prepare for the poll battle. This exercise is also being seen as an experiment of sorts to gauge the discontent caused by the declaration of candidates on those seats, which are being counted among the most challenging 100-odd seats out of the total 230 assembly seats. The 39 candidates declared on Thursday, include at least 11 new faces, 21 ex-MLAs and seven candidates, who in the past had lost Vidhan Sabha polls from the same seats they have been fielded now. The list includes six former ministers, including Adal Singh Kansana, Lalita Yadav, Anchal Sonkar, Nanabhau Mohod, Om Prakash Dhurve and Lal Singh Arya. Out of the 39 seats, 21 seats are reserved for SC/STs. A maximum of 11 candidates are for the 66 seats strong Malwa-Nimar region, 12 for Mahakoshal region, six for Gwalior-Chambal, five for Bundelkhand, four for central MP and one for Vindhya region. While 13 candidates are tribals, eight belong to the SC category, 13 from OBC category and five from general category. Just four in the first list, including ex-minister Lalita Yadav, former MLA Nirmala Bhuria, fresh face Priyanka Meena (wife of Indian Revenue Service officer) and Sarla Vijendra Rawat are women candidates. Just one of the 22 former Congress MLAs (who had pulled down the BJP government in March 2020) Adal Singh Kansanas name figures in this list, while Jyotiaditya Scindia-loyalist ex-Congress MLA Ranveer Jatav has failed to get BJP ticket from Gohah-SC seat of Bhind district, which he had won in 2018 polls on Congress ticket. In Chhattisgarh, the BJP declared its list of 21 candidates. With only 14 legislators in the 90-member House, the BJPs move is seen as tactical to gain advantage over the Congress. The party has fielded Vijay Baghel, Durg Lok Sabha member, from the Patan seat, which is the home constituency of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel. In the 2008 assembly elections, Vijay Baghel defeated Bhupesh Baghel by a margin of 7,842 votes. Chhattisgarh is among the five states, along with adjoining Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram, going to polls later this year. MADHYA PRADESH Adal Singh Kansana (Sumawali seat) A four-time former BSP and Congress MLA from Sumawali, he was among the 22 Congress MLAs who pulled down the Kamal Nath govt in 2020. He was later a minister in Shivraj Singh Chouhan govt, but resigned a few months later, losing the bypoll as BJP candidate from the seat in Nov 2020 Alok Sharma (Bhopal Uttar seat) The former Bhopal mayor, Sharma is considered close to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. He has been fielded from Bhopal North seat, where he had lost as BJP candidate to veteran sitting Congress MLA and ex-minister Arif Aqeel in 2008 by just 4,000-odd votes Dhruv Narayan Singh (Bhopal Madhya seat) Son of former MP CM Govind Narayan Singh, he was elected as BJP MLA from Bhopal-Madhya seat in 2008. But with his name figuring in the 2011 RTI activist Shehla Masood murder case (CBI gave him clean chit later), he was denied a BJP ticket from the same seat in 2013 and 2018 CHHATTISGARH Vijay Baghel (Patan seat) BJP LS member from Durg constituency, he will contest from Patan seat against CM Bhupesh Baghel. The likely contest between the two Baghels is now dubbed as the clash between Chacha (Bhupesh) and Bhatija (Vijay). The two were pitted against each other in 2003, 2008 and 2013 as well Ram Vichar Netam (Ramanujganj seat) A prominent tribal face in the state BJP and former home minister in Raman Singh cabinet (2008-13). He won Assembly elections in 2003 and 2008 but lost in 2013 from Ramanujganj seat. He is a Rajya Sabha member. In 2015 Amit Shah appointed him as a national secretary in his team Lakhan Lal Dewangan (Korba seat) Former corporator and Mayor of Korba municipal corporation. He was elected as an MLA from Katghora seat in 2013 and was parliamentary secretary in Raman Singh govt. He is the only candidate among the 21 names, who has lost 2018 polls. He will against state minister Jai Singh Agrawal
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) has distanced itself from its member Bibek Debroy's article suggesting embracing a new constitution, and said the article in no way reflects the views of EAC-PM or Government of India.

"The recent article by Dr @bibekdebroy was in his personal capacity. In no way do they reflect the views of EAC-PM or the Government of India," EAC-PM tweeted on Thursday.

EAC-PM is an independent body constituted to give advice on economic and related issues to Government of India, specifically to Prime Minister.

Debroy is the chairman of the Council.

Although the tweet did not mention which article it was referring to, Debroy had earlier this week authored an article in Mint titled ' There is a case for 'we the people' to embrace a new Constitution' and termed the present Constitution a 'colonial legacy'.

"Much of what we debate begins and ends with the Constitution. A few amendments won't do. We should go back to the drawing board and start from first principles, asking what these words in the Preamble mean now: socialist, secular, democratic, justice, liberty and equality. We the People have to give ourselves a new Constitution," Debroy wrote.

The online edition of the article published on August 14 too has a disclaimer which read: "These are the author's personal views. In no way do they reflect the views of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister or Government of India."

Besides Debroy, EAC-PM has two full-time members -- Sanjeev Sanyal and Shamika Ravi.

Its part-time members include Neelkant Mishra, Poonam Gupta and TT Ram Mohan.

NEW DELHI: The Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) has distanced itself from its member Bibek Debroy's article suggesting embracing a new constitution, and said the article in no way reflects the views of EAC-PM or Government of India. "The recent article by Dr @bibekdebroy was in his personal capacity. In no way do they reflect the views of EAC-PM or the Government of India," EAC-PM tweeted on Thursday. EAC-PM is an independent body constituted to give advice on economic and related issues to Government of India, specifically to Prime Minister.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Debroy is the chairman of the Council. Although the tweet did not mention which article it was referring to, Debroy had earlier this week authored an article in Mint titled ' There is a case for 'we the people' to embrace a new Constitution' and termed the present Constitution a 'colonial legacy'. "Much of what we debate begins and ends with the Constitution. A few amendments won't do. We should go back to the drawing board and start from first principles, asking what these words in the Preamble mean now: socialist, secular, democratic, justice, liberty and equality. We the People have to give ourselves a new Constitution," Debroy wrote. The online edition of the article published on August 14 too has a disclaimer which read: "These are the author's personal views. In no way do they reflect the views of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister or Government of India." Besides Debroy, EAC-PM has two full-time members -- Sanjeev Sanyal and Shamika Ravi. Its part-time members include Neelkant Mishra, Poonam Gupta and TT Ram Mohan.
By PTI

JAMMU: A foreign terrorist, who was injured in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district early this month, was found dead on Friday, officials said.

While one terrorist was killed, another was injured in the gunbattle in Khawas area of Rajouri district on August 5th.

The injured terrorist was not traced after the encounter.

"The body of a second terrorist injured in an encounter at Khawas found by special operation group (SoG) at Dhakikot area of Reasi", Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Jammu zone, Mukesh Singh said.

Singh said two grenades, three AK magazines, 90 AK rounds, 32 pistol rounds and some other material were recovered from the spot.

A police spokesman said two Pakistani terrorists were trapped by police in an encounter at Gundha Khawas area on August 5.

In the encounter one terrorist was eliminated and another one was severely injured, he said.

Joint teams of forces, including teams of Reasi and Rajouri police, were on a lookout for the second terrorist who got injured during the encounter but managed to escape from site taking benefit of thick foliage, he said.

On Friday morning, joint teams of forces, including police, Army and CAPF, located the body of the terrorist from a gorge where he fell while trying to escape security forces, the spokesman said.

The terrorist is suspected to be involved in many terror cases in Rajouri-Poonch region, including the recent attack on security forces at Kesari Hill and Dhangri terror incident, he said.

JAMMU: A foreign terrorist, who was injured in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district early this month, was found dead on Friday, officials said. While one terrorist was killed, another was injured in the gunbattle in Khawas area of Rajouri district on August 5th. The injured terrorist was not traced after the encounter.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "The body of a second terrorist injured in an encounter at Khawas found by special operation group (SoG) at Dhakikot area of Reasi", Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Jammu zone, Mukesh Singh said. Singh said two grenades, three AK magazines, 90 AK rounds, 32 pistol rounds and some other material were recovered from the spot. A police spokesman said two Pakistani terrorists were trapped by police in an encounter at Gundha Khawas area on August 5. In the encounter one terrorist was eliminated and another one was severely injured, he said. Joint teams of forces, including teams of Reasi and Rajouri police, were on a lookout for the second terrorist who got injured during the encounter but managed to escape from site taking benefit of thick foliage, he said. On Friday morning, joint teams of forces, including police, Army and CAPF, located the body of the terrorist from a gorge where he fell while trying to escape security forces, the spokesman said. The terrorist is suspected to be involved in many terror cases in Rajouri-Poonch region, including the recent attack on security forces at Kesari Hill and Dhangri terror incident, he said.
Shruti Kakkar By

Express News Service

The Supreme Court directed the Tamil Nadu government to mention on Monday its plea seeking to direct the Karnataka government to forthwith release from its reservoirs 24,000 cusecs commencing from August 14, 2023 to meet the pressing demands of standing crops.

The plea was mentioned by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi before a bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud on Friday. Urging the court to list its plea in the Cauvery water dispute row, Rohatgi said that the standing crops in delta districts need water urgently.

It has been argued in the plea that the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) had on August 11, 2023 reduced the cusecs from 15000 to 10000 (0.864 TMC per day) which was to be released by Karnataka for the next 15 days from KRS and Kabini reservoirs to be realised at Billigundulu but even this has not been complied with by the Karnataka government.

The actual flow recorded at Billigundulu on 11.08.2023; 12.08.2023; 13.08.2023 and 14.08.2023 was 6148, 4852, 4453 and about 4000 cusecs, respectively, the plea states.

ALSO READ | Will ask Cauvery authority to reconsider decision: Dy CM DK Shivakumar

Highlighting the efforts that have been undertaken by the Tamil Nadu government to get its due share of water from Karnataka, the plea states that Karnataka is duty bound to release the water as per the orders passed by the top court.

14.913 lakh acres (net area) are dependent on Mettur reservoir for irrigation, which in turn depends on the flows realized at Billigundulu, based on the flows released by Karnataka from KRS and Kabini reservoirs, which gets major portion of inflows during South West Monsoon. During this monsoon period, both Kuruvai and Samba crops are sown and transplanted in the Cauvery Delta. Hence, the release of water from Mettur during South West Monsoon is crucial. About 4 million farmers and about 10 million labourers both directly and indirectly depend on Mettur water for their livelihood. The agricultural operations in the Cauvery delta are suffering for want of adequate water and the crops are facing water stress, which would affect the agricultural production, stated the plea.

Against this backdrop, the state has sought implementation of the top courts February 16, 2018 ruling directing the Karnataka government to deliver Cauvery waters to the state at the designated point as per monthly schedule.

The TN govt has also prayed that the Karnataka government be directed to ensure the stipulated release of water for September, make good the shortfall of 28.849 TMC during the current irrigation year and the CWMA be directed to ensure implementation of directions issued to Karnataka and give effect to the stipulated monthly releases during the remaining period of the current water year.

The Supreme Court directed the Tamil Nadu government to mention on Monday its plea seeking to direct the Karnataka government to forthwith release from its reservoirs 24,000 cusecs commencing from August 14, 2023 to meet the pressing demands of standing crops. The plea was mentioned by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi before a bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud on Friday. Urging the court to list its plea in the Cauvery water dispute row, Rohatgi said that the standing crops in delta districts need water urgently. It has been argued in the plea that the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) had on August 11, 2023 reduced the cusecs from 15000 to 10000 (0.864 TMC per day) which was to be released by Karnataka for the next 15 days from KRS and Kabini reservoirs to be realised at Billigundulu but even this has not been complied with by the Karnataka government.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The actual flow recorded at Billigundulu on 11.08.2023; 12.08.2023; 13.08.2023 and 14.08.2023 was 6148, 4852, 4453 and about 4000 cusecs, respectively, the plea states. ALSO READ | Will ask Cauvery authority to reconsider decision: Dy CM DK Shivakumar Highlighting the efforts that have been undertaken by the Tamil Nadu government to get its due share of water from Karnataka, the plea states that Karnataka is duty bound to release the water as per the orders passed by the top court. 14.913 lakh acres (net area) are dependent on Mettur reservoir for irrigation, which in turn depends on the flows realized at Billigundulu, based on the flows released by Karnataka from KRS and Kabini reservoirs, which gets major portion of inflows during South West Monsoon. During this monsoon period, both Kuruvai and Samba crops are sown and transplanted in the Cauvery Delta. Hence, the release of water from Mettur during South West Monsoon is crucial. About 4 million farmers and about 10 million labourers both directly and indirectly depend on Mettur water for their livelihood. The agricultural operations in the Cauvery delta are suffering for want of adequate water and the crops are facing water stress, which would affect the agricultural production, stated the plea. Against this backdrop, the state has sought implementation of the top courts February 16, 2018 ruling directing the Karnataka government to deliver Cauvery waters to the state at the designated point as per monthly schedule. The TN govt has also prayed that the Karnataka government be directed to ensure the stipulated release of water for September, make good the shortfall of 28.849 TMC during the current irrigation year and the CWMA be directed to ensure implementation of directions issued to Karnataka and give effect to the stipulated monthly releases during the remaining period of the current water year.
Jitendra Choubey By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The Central Water Commission has launched its in-house developed mobile application, "FloodWatch to forecast flood situations for the next seven days on a real-time basis. The Chairman of the Central Water Commission Kushvinder Vohra launched the app in New Delhi on Thursday.

Chairman of Central Water Commission Kushvinder Vohra launches Mobile App Floodwatch to provide real-time flood forecasts to public using interactive maps < feature of the app includes real-time flood monitoring where users can check up-to-date flood situation throughout pic.twitter.com/jlh2SATBud  PIB India (@PIB_India) August 17, 2023

With this app, users can access essential information regarding the flood situation across the country. The user-friendly interface will make it easy for anyone to stay informed and minimise risk during flood events.

However, the application will make forecasts based on only 328 flood monitoring points out of 1543 that are spread across the 24 river basins. The flood monitoring points are where water levels of rivers, reservoirs, and canals are gauged hourly.

We will include as many flood monitoring points by this year's end. The app aims to use the most common platform today i.e. mobile phones to disseminate information related to the flood situation and forecasts up to 7 days on a real-time basis, says the ex-officio Secretary to the Government of India.

These data help in making informed decisions about water allocation and forecasting flood and drought risks. The bilingual app is available for download on Android devices, providing widespread accessibility to users globally.

He further said the current monitoring points are selected in consultation with state governments, which are mostly located around human settlements. In its presentation, the official said the app utilizes advanced technologies such as satellite data analysis, mathematical modelling, and real-time monitoring to deliver accurate and timely flood forecasts.

Indias flood situation monitoring system has been in question for a long time. There are around 400 rivers and seven major river systems which are more than 2 lakh km in length. But the flood monitoring points are too low to give a true picture of situational assessment.

Delhi floods are a case in point, says a senior official. We couldnt assess it timely and forecasted he added.

The Yamuna River in the national capital reached the staggering 208.62-meter mark, breaking the 45-year-old record of 207.49 meters by a big margin. It flooded the low-lying areas along the river and water logged in the heart of the city throwing daily life into disarray.

Vohra briefed the media that the mobile application would address the gap in the current forecasting of flood situations in the country.



NEW DELHI: The Central Water Commission has launched its in-house developed mobile application, "FloodWatch to forecast flood situations for the next seven days on a real-time basis. The Chairman of the Central Water Commission Kushvinder Vohra launched the app in New Delhi on Thursday. Chairman of Central Water Commission Kushvinder Vohra launches Mobile App Floodwatch to provide real-time flood forecasts to public using interactive maps < feature of the app includes real-time flood monitoring where users can check up-to-date flood situation throughout pic.twitter.com/jlh2SATBud  PIB India (@PIB_India) August 17, 2023 With this app, users can access essential information regarding the flood situation across the country. The user-friendly interface will make it easy for anyone to stay informed and minimise risk during flood events.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); However, the application will make forecasts based on only 328 flood monitoring points out of 1543 that are spread across the 24 river basins. The flood monitoring points are where water levels of rivers, reservoirs, and canals are gauged hourly. We will include as many flood monitoring points by this year's end. The app aims to use the most common platform today i.e. mobile phones to disseminate information related to the flood situation and forecasts up to 7 days on a real-time basis, says the ex-officio Secretary to the Government of India. These data help in making informed decisions about water allocation and forecasting flood and drought risks. The bilingual app is available for download on Android devices, providing widespread accessibility to users globally. He further said the current monitoring points are selected in consultation with state governments, which are mostly located around human settlements. In its presentation, the official said the app utilizes advanced technologies such as satellite data analysis, mathematical modelling, and real-time monitoring to deliver accurate and timely flood forecasts. Indias flood situation monitoring system has been in question for a long time. There are around 400 rivers and seven major river systems which are more than 2 lakh km in length. But the flood monitoring points are too low to give a true picture of situational assessment. Delhi floods are a case in point, says a senior official. We couldnt assess it timely and forecasted he added. The Yamuna River in the national capital reached the staggering 208.62-meter mark, breaking the 45-year-old record of 207.49 meters by a big margin. It flooded the low-lying areas along the river and water logged in the heart of the city throwing daily life into disarray. Vohra briefed the media that the mobile application would address the gap in the current forecasting of flood situations in the country.
Harpreet Bajwa By

Express News Service

Only gangsters safe in Punjab, says Jakhar

Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar equated the current situation in Punjab and the rise of gangsters to the iconic dialogue of famous Bollywood movie Sholay during his visit to Ludhiana. He said that only gangsters feel safe in the state, with the crime going up at an unprecedented rate. Talking to the media, Jakhar said that only gangsters seem to be safe in Punjab as after 8 PM, people were scared to step out of their houses. Hitting out at CM Bhagwant Mann, Jakhar said, He still behaves like an artist and is only interested in getting his photographs clicked.

Himachal ministers public tiff with son

The Himachal agriculture minister Chander Kumar had a public face-off with his son, former MLA Neeraj Bharti, as he sought disciplinary action against Dharamsala MLA Sudhir Sharma and Sujanpur MLA Rajendra Rana. They had openly vented their anger against the state on social media platforms. He advised both the MLAs to be patient. His son Bharti took a jibe at his father and said that instead of commenting on party legislators, he should fulfill the aspirations of the people of Kangra. The upset minister got back at his son and pulled him up for his remarks.

Women-friendly liquor shop under fire

A women-friendly liquor store near Kishanpura Chowk in Jalandhar, which was the first in Punjab, has drawn the ire of leaders of various political parties and locals. The concept was taken from Gurugram in Haryana and Madhya Pradesh. Opening of a shop with such kind of a tagline has sent across such a wrong message. This government seems to be bent on ruining the families of Punjab, said state BJP media in-charge Janardhan Sharma. Punjab Congress president Amarinder S Raja Warring tweeted, Instead of taking out men from the trap of addiction, the move shows that they have even started luring women into it.

Harpreet Bajwa

Our correspondent in Chandigarh

hsbajwa73@gmail.com

Only gangsters safe in Punjab, says Jakhar Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar equated the current situation in Punjab and the rise of gangsters to the iconic dialogue of famous Bollywood movie Sholay during his visit to Ludhiana. He said that only gangsters feel safe in the state, with the crime going up at an unprecedented rate. Talking to the media, Jakhar said that only gangsters seem to be safe in Punjab as after 8 PM, people were scared to step out of their houses. Hitting out at CM Bhagwant Mann, Jakhar said, He still behaves like an artist and is only interested in getting his photographs clicked. Himachal ministers public tiff with son The Himachal agriculture minister Chander Kumar had a public face-off with his son, former MLA Neeraj Bharti, as he sought disciplinary action against Dharamsala MLA Sudhir Sharma and Sujanpur MLA Rajendra Rana. They had openly vented their anger against the state on social media platforms. He advised both the MLAs to be patient. His son Bharti took a jibe at his father and said that instead of commenting on party legislators, he should fulfill the aspirations of the people of Kangra. The upset minister got back at his son and pulled him up for his remarks. Women-friendly liquor shop under fire A women-friendly liquor store near Kishanpura Chowk in Jalandhar, which was the first in Punjab, has drawn the ire of leaders of various political parties and locals. The concept was taken from Gurugram in Haryana and Madhya Pradesh. Opening of a shop with such kind of a tagline has sent across such a wrong message. This government seems to be bent on ruining the families of Punjab, said state BJP media in-charge Janardhan Sharma. Punjab Congress president Amarinder S Raja Warring tweeted, Instead of taking out men from the trap of addiction, the move shows that they have even started luring women into it.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Harpreet Bajwa Our correspondent in Chandigarh hsbajwa73@gmail.com
Jaison Wilson By

Express News Service



Discharging three men in a case of 2020 Delhi riots, a sessions court has pulled up Delhi Police, saying the case was not properly and completely investigated and chargesheets were filed in "predetermined, mechanical and erroneous manner."

Granting relief to Akil Ahmad, Rahis Khan and Irshad, who were chargesheeted for rioting and criminal conspiracy among other offences, Additional Sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala said, "I am having suspicion for IO (Investigating Officer) having manipulated the evidence in the case, without actually investigating the reported incidents properly."

The court then referred the matter back to cops to make assessment of the investigation done in the case and to take further action in conformity with law, to take the complaints to a legal and logical end.

The riots started in Jaffrabad, in North East Delhi, near a spot where women were holding a sit-in protest against India's Citizenship Amendment Act. Violence ensued after Kapil Mishra, an AAP-party leader who had joined the BJP, threatened to "hit the streets" if the protests against the law were not contained.

The three people in the current case were charged under Sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly with a common object), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 188 (disobedience to public order), 436 (mischief by fire), among others of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

In the recent order, the judge noted the inconsistencies in the chargesheets and subsequent statements, suggesting an attempt to cover up flaws in the prosecutions case.

In the first supplementary chargesheet, the IO included three individuals as accused who were not mentioned in a constables statement, the order pointed out.

The investigating officer failed to present any evidence demonstrating the accuracy of these subsequent statements, it stated.

The court said the statements of the complainants were recorded only to cover up lacuna in the case of prosecution and to justify chargesheeting the accused persons in this case.

A first information report (FIR) was registered at Dayalpur police station on the basis of a rukka (a complaint copy from which the contents are taken for filing FIRs) prepared by an Assistant Sub-Inspector on February 28, 2020.

Later, the IO combined complaints in the case by Farooq Ahmad, Shahbaz Malik, Nadeem Farooq and Jai Shankar Sharma and a chargesheet was filed and also the cognisance of the same was taken in the same year.

Subsequently, in last year and February this year, two supplementary chargesheet along with certain documents and fresh statements were filed.

In the 23-page order, the judge observed that there is a conflict between two sets of relied-upon evidence of the prosecution in respect of date and time of the alleged incidents.

IOs ignored the observations recorded in the rukka and in the first statement of all the complainants that there were mobs raising slogan in favour of and against CAA/NRC, the order said.

"This fact is very important to realise that they were two different and rival mobs. IOs remained silent over the question as to which particular incident was caused by a particular mob. If several incidents took place in and around Victoria Public School at the hands of riotous mob, the job of IO was to ascertain the composition of such mob during each of such incidents," the order read.

Discharging three men in a case of 2020 Delhi riots, a sessions court has pulled up Delhi Police, saying the case was not properly and completely investigated and chargesheets were filed in "predetermined, mechanical and erroneous manner." Granting relief to Akil Ahmad, Rahis Khan and Irshad, who were chargesheeted for rioting and criminal conspiracy among other offences, Additional Sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala said, "I am having suspicion for IO (Investigating Officer) having manipulated the evidence in the case, without actually investigating the reported incidents properly." The court then referred the matter back to cops to make assessment of the investigation done in the case and to take further action in conformity with law, to take the complaints to a legal and logical end.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The riots started in Jaffrabad, in North East Delhi, near a spot where women were holding a sit-in protest against India's Citizenship Amendment Act. Violence ensued after Kapil Mishra, an AAP-party leader who had joined the BJP, threatened to "hit the streets" if the protests against the law were not contained. The three people in the current case were charged under Sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly with a common object), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 188 (disobedience to public order), 436 (mischief by fire), among others of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). In the recent order, the judge noted the inconsistencies in the chargesheets and subsequent statements, suggesting an attempt to cover up flaws in the prosecutions case. In the first supplementary chargesheet, the IO included three individuals as accused who were not mentioned in a constables statement, the order pointed out. The investigating officer failed to present any evidence demonstrating the accuracy of these subsequent statements, it stated. The court said the statements of the complainants were recorded only to cover up lacuna in the case of prosecution and to justify chargesheeting the accused persons in this case. A first information report (FIR) was registered at Dayalpur police station on the basis of a rukka (a complaint copy from which the contents are taken for filing FIRs) prepared by an Assistant Sub-Inspector on February 28, 2020. Later, the IO combined complaints in the case by Farooq Ahmad, Shahbaz Malik, Nadeem Farooq and Jai Shankar Sharma and a chargesheet was filed and also the cognisance of the same was taken in the same year. Subsequently, in last year and February this year, two supplementary chargesheet along with certain documents and fresh statements were filed. In the 23-page order, the judge observed that there is a conflict between two sets of relied-upon evidence of the prosecution in respect of date and time of the alleged incidents. IOs ignored the observations recorded in the rukka and in the first statement of all the complainants that there were mobs raising slogan in favour of and against CAA/NRC, the order said. "This fact is very important to realise that they were two different and rival mobs. IOs remained silent over the question as to which particular incident was caused by a particular mob. If several incidents took place in and around Victoria Public School at the hands of riotous mob, the job of IO was to ascertain the composition of such mob during each of such incidents," the order read.
Harpreet Bajwa By

Express News Service

CHANDIGARH: The flood situation in Punjab worsened on Thursday following the release of excess water from the Bhakra-Nangal and Pong dams into the swollen Beas and Sutlej rivers.

Two teenage boys accidentally fell into a swollen rivulet in the Gurdaspur district, where they had gone to watch the rising water level. Their bodies were recovered later. Another person went missing in Kapurthala district.

The flood waters have inundated at least 150 villages in six districts of Punjab, disrupting normal life.

The authorities had issued fair warning and nearly 9,700 people were rescued, officials said.

According to official sources, 70 villages in Gurdaspur are affected and around 5,000 people have been evacuated from the district.

In neighbouring Hoshiarpur district, 18 villages are under water, officials said. The number of affected villages in Taran Taran district is estimated at 39.

In Ropar district, some 15 villages are affected while in Amritsar district, one village is hit.

Pong and Bhakhra release water. It is said that the gates shall be open for next 10 days. The visuals on my way back near Beas today were heartbreaking. Punjab floods yet again!#Punjab#Floods pic.twitter.com/rj1pTCG2EV  Harmeen Soch (@HarmeenSoch) August 17, 2023

Himanshu Agarwal, deputy commissioner of Gurdaspur, said that multiple teams of the National Disaster Response Force, Army and Border Security Force have been pressed into service to rescue marooned villagers.

Officials fear the flood situation may escalate further as heavy rain is expected in upstream Himachal Pradesh, where the catchment areas of the Pong and Bhakra dams lie.

The Punjab government has already sounded a red alert for the downstream districts of Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, and Tarn Taran.

Flooding may have damaged 90% of paddy crop

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday visited Hoshiarpur district to take stock of the situation. He said the state government has ordered a survey to ascertain the loss incurred to people due to floods.

According to preliminary estimates, 90% of the paddy crop has been adversely affected.

CHANDIGARH: The flood situation in Punjab worsened on Thursday following the release of excess water from the Bhakra-Nangal and Pong dams into the swollen Beas and Sutlej rivers. Two teenage boys accidentally fell into a swollen rivulet in the Gurdaspur district, where they had gone to watch the rising water level. Their bodies were recovered later. Another person went missing in Kapurthala district. The flood waters have inundated at least 150 villages in six districts of Punjab, disrupting normal life.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The authorities had issued fair warning and nearly 9,700 people were rescued, officials said. According to official sources, 70 villages in Gurdaspur are affected and around 5,000 people have been evacuated from the district. In neighbouring Hoshiarpur district, 18 villages are under water, officials said. The number of affected villages in Taran Taran district is estimated at 39. In Ropar district, some 15 villages are affected while in Amritsar district, one village is hit. Pong and Bhakhra release water. It is said that the gates shall be open for next 10 days. The visuals on my way back near Beas today were heartbreaking. Punjab floods yet again!#Punjab#Floods pic.twitter.com/rj1pTCG2EV  Harmeen Soch (@HarmeenSoch) August 17, 2023 Himanshu Agarwal, deputy commissioner of Gurdaspur, said that multiple teams of the National Disaster Response Force, Army and Border Security Force have been pressed into service to rescue marooned villagers. Officials fear the flood situation may escalate further as heavy rain is expected in upstream Himachal Pradesh, where the catchment areas of the Pong and Bhakra dams lie. The Punjab government has already sounded a red alert for the downstream districts of Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, and Tarn Taran. Flooding may have damaged 90% of paddy crop Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday visited Hoshiarpur district to take stock of the situation. He said the state government has ordered a survey to ascertain the loss incurred to people due to floods. According to preliminary estimates, 90% of the paddy crop has been adversely affected.
Prasanta Mazumdar By

Express News Service

GUWAHATI: After a lull of about 10 days in the ethnic violence in Manipur, unidentified gunmen shot dead three Kuki-Zo tribals in the wee hours of Friday.

The incident took place on the outskirts of Thouwai Kuki, a Kuki village in the Naga-majority Ukhrul district. The bodies of the three youths aged between 24 years and 35 years

3 Kuki-Zo tribals killed by unidentified gunmen in Naga-majority Ukhrul in Manipur. Police suspect it as continuation of ongoing violence @NewIndianXpress @TheMornStandard @santwana99 @Shahid_Faridi_ August 18, 2023

The attack was carried out at a place 2 km from Thouwai Kuki. The village is about 8-10 km from one end of Meitei-majority Imphal valley and 45-50 km from district headquarters Ukhrul. The district is home to Tangkhul Naga tribals.

The police viewed the incident as the continuation of the ethnic violence.

Three persons were killed in the incident. Kind of war is going on between two ethnic groups, so we suspect it to be the continuation of that, Ukhrul Superintendent of Police Ningsem Vashum told this newspaper.

We feel the villagers were guarding the village when the attack was carried out on the village outskirts, the SP said.

This was the second such incident in the district after the violence had broken out on May 3.

We dont know how many of them came to carry out the attack. An operation by the police and security forces is underway to track and nab the assailants, Vashum said.

He added that the bodies were brought to the village and would be sent for post-mortem.

ALSO READ:

READ related stories on Manipur violence here

Manipur: SC says mobs use sexual violence to send message of subordination, state bound to stop it

GUWAHATI: After a lull of about 10 days in the ethnic violence in Manipur, unidentified gunmen shot dead three Kuki-Zo tribals in the wee hours of Friday. The incident took place on the outskirts of Thouwai Kuki, a Kuki village in the Naga-majority Ukhrul district. The bodies of the three youths aged between 24 years and 35 years 3 Kuki-Zo tribals killed by unidentified gunmen in Naga-majority Ukhrul in Manipur. Police suspect it as continuation of ongoing violence @NewIndianXpress @TheMornStandard @santwana99 @Shahid_Faridi_googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); });  Prasanta Mazumdar (@prasmaz_tnie) August 18, 2023 The attack was carried out at a place 2 km from Thouwai Kuki. The village is about 8-10 km from one end of Meitei-majority Imphal valley and 45-50 km from district headquarters Ukhrul. The district is home to Tangkhul Naga tribals. The police viewed the incident as the continuation of the ethnic violence. Three persons were killed in the incident. Kind of war is going on between two ethnic groups, so we suspect it to be the continuation of that, Ukhrul Superintendent of Police Ningsem Vashum told this newspaper. We feel the villagers were guarding the village when the attack was carried out on the village outskirts, the SP said. This was the second such incident in the district after the violence had broken out on May 3. We dont know how many of them came to carry out the attack. An operation by the police and security forces is underway to track and nab the assailants, Vashum said. He added that the bodies were brought to the village and would be sent for post-mortem. ALSO READ: READ related stories on Manipur violence here Manipur: SC says mobs use sexual violence to send message of subordination, state bound to stop it
Yeshi Seli By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The British government has announced 210 million funding to partner with countries across Asia and Africa to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and the threat it poses, especially in the UK.

This announcement has come ahead of the G20 Health Ministers meeting in Gandhinagar on Friday, which will be attended by British Secretary for State and Social Care, Steve Barclay.

AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites mutate over time and no longer respond to medicines, making infections harder to treat and increase the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death.

As a result of drug resistance, antibiotics and other antimicrobial medicines become ineffective and infections become increasingly difficult or impossible to treat.

Antimicrobial resistance is a silent killer, which poses a significant threat to peoples health around the world and in the UK. It will be an important topic here at the G20 in India. It is vital that it is stopped in its tracks and this record funding will allow countries most at risk to tackle it and prevent it from taking more lives across the world, ultimately making us safer at home, said Barclay, adding that it also builds on the work the government is doing to incentivise drug companies to develop new antibiotics  a model that some G20 countries are looking to implement.

Statistics reveal that nearly 1.27 million people around the world die each year due to AMR where one in five of those deaths are in children under five years of age. In 2019, AMR was found to have caused between 7,000 and 35,000 deaths in the UK alone.

The British governments 210 million funding will include setting up of laboratories, disease surveillance systems and a bigger global workforce.

The investment will deliver the second phase of the UK-India Fleming Fund partnership alongside Indias Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Worth up to 3 million, it will accelerate collaboration on AMR surveillance across One Health sectors and help both countries to deliver on their 2030 roadmap.

The investment will also strengthen the global health workforce by supporting 20,000 training sessions for laboratory staff, pharmacists and hospital staff, and over 200 Fleming Fund scholarships to boost expertise in microbiology, AMR policy and One Health.

WHO DG lauds Indias approach on ending TB

The World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Thursday commended India for its innovative approach, multi-sector partnership efforts, and funding for ending TB and said it has inspired other countries.

He spoke at the Ministerial meeting - Sustain, Accelerate and Innovate to End TB in the South-East Asia Region in Gujarats Gandhinagar.

He stressed that global health crises such as the pandemic have reversed the progress gained in many countries, and eliminating TB by 2030 is achievable.

NEW DELHI: The British government has announced 210 million funding to partner with countries across Asia and Africa to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and the threat it poses, especially in the UK. This announcement has come ahead of the G20 Health Ministers meeting in Gandhinagar on Friday, which will be attended by British Secretary for State and Social Care, Steve Barclay. AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites mutate over time and no longer respond to medicines, making infections harder to treat and increase the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); As a result of drug resistance, antibiotics and other antimicrobial medicines become ineffective and infections become increasingly difficult or impossible to treat. Antimicrobial resistance is a silent killer, which poses a significant threat to peoples health around the world and in the UK. It will be an important topic here at the G20 in India. It is vital that it is stopped in its tracks and this record funding will allow countries most at risk to tackle it and prevent it from taking more lives across the world, ultimately making us safer at home, said Barclay, adding that it also builds on the work the government is doing to incentivise drug companies to develop new antibiotics  a model that some G20 countries are looking to implement. Statistics reveal that nearly 1.27 million people around the world die each year due to AMR where one in five of those deaths are in children under five years of age. In 2019, AMR was found to have caused between 7,000 and 35,000 deaths in the UK alone. The British governments 210 million funding will include setting up of laboratories, disease surveillance systems and a bigger global workforce. The investment will deliver the second phase of the UK-India Fleming Fund partnership alongside Indias Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Worth up to 3 million, it will accelerate collaboration on AMR surveillance across One Health sectors and help both countries to deliver on their 2030 roadmap. The investment will also strengthen the global health workforce by supporting 20,000 training sessions for laboratory staff, pharmacists and hospital staff, and over 200 Fleming Fund scholarships to boost expertise in microbiology, AMR policy and One Health. WHO DG lauds Indias approach on ending TB The World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Thursday commended India for its innovative approach, multi-sector partnership efforts, and funding for ending TB and said it has inspired other countries. He spoke at the Ministerial meeting - Sustain, Accelerate and Innovate to End TB in the South-East Asia Region in Gujarats Gandhinagar. He stressed that global health crises such as the pandemic have reversed the progress gained in many countries, and eliminating TB by 2030 is achievable.
The Lachin road is open for use by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for humanitarian purposes, Azerbaijani Ambassador to the Netherlands Rahman Mustafayev wrote about this on his X page (former Twitter), Azernews reports, citing the post.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 18, ARMENPRESS. The Azeri Defense Ministry has once again falsely accused Armenia of opening gunfire on the border, the Armenian Defense Ministry warned Friday.

The statement disseminated by the MoD of Azerbaijan that allegedly on August 18, at around 10:20 a.m., the units of the Armenian Armed Forces fired against the Azerbaijani combat outposts located in the eastern part of the border, does not correspond to reality, reads a statement released by the Armenian Defense Ministry.
Shruti Kakkar By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Warning that the Gujarat government was on thin ice regarding the premature release of 11 convicts who gang-raped Bilkis Bano during the 2002 Godhra riots, the Supreme Court on Thursday sought to call out the states selective application of its remission policy.

While Gujarat submitted that the convicts were released after complying with the requirements of the states Premature Release Policy of 1992, a bench of justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan asked why the government sought the Godhra district judges opinion instead of that of the Maharashtra sessions judge, who had sentenced them to rigorous life imprisonment in 2008.

The 1992 policy was applicable to prisoners who had completed 14 years of imprisonment. It also mandated the Inspector General of the Jail to obtain the opinion of the District Police Officer, District Magistrate, Jail Superintendent and Advisory Board Committee for early release.

The court also sought answers regarding the provision under which the Advisory Board Committee was formed and the date it was constituted.

Terming the crime heinous, the bench questioned the states selective approach to the remission policy.

Why the policy of remission is applied selectively? Opportunity to reform and reintegrate must be given to every prisoner and not only a few prisoners. How far is remission policy being implemented in all cases where prisoners have completed 14 years in jail? Justice Nagarathna asked.

In this case, you are saying that theres a specific mandamus. If none would have applied, what wouldve been the case? CBI will not straightaway step in. They will have to be referred...either by the court or by the government. So its a negative opinion in all cases. All said and done, it was investigated by CBI... You are on thin ice, Justice Nagarathna added.

The hearing in the case will resume on August 24.

Bilkis Bano was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was gang-raped while fleeing the horror of the communal riots that broke out after the Godhra train-burning incident.

Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members killed in the riots.

Heinous, but deserve chance to reform: Gujarat

Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the Gujarat government, said the crime committed by the 11 convicts was heinous but they deserve the chance of reformation.

NEW DELHI: Warning that the Gujarat government was on thin ice regarding the premature release of 11 convicts who gang-raped Bilkis Bano during the 2002 Godhra riots, the Supreme Court on Thursday sought to call out the states selective application of its remission policy. While Gujarat submitted that the convicts were released after complying with the requirements of the states Premature Release Policy of 1992, a bench of justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan asked why the government sought the Godhra district judges opinion instead of that of the Maharashtra sessions judge, who had sentenced them to rigorous life imprisonment in 2008. The 1992 policy was applicable to prisoners who had completed 14 years of imprisonment. It also mandated the Inspector General of the Jail to obtain the opinion of the District Police Officer, District Magistrate, Jail Superintendent and Advisory Board Committee for early release.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The court also sought answers regarding the provision under which the Advisory Board Committee was formed and the date it was constituted. Terming the crime heinous, the bench questioned the states selective approach to the remission policy. Why the policy of remission is applied selectively? Opportunity to reform and reintegrate must be given to every prisoner and not only a few prisoners. How far is remission policy being implemented in all cases where prisoners have completed 14 years in jail? Justice Nagarathna asked. In this case, you are saying that theres a specific mandamus. If none would have applied, what wouldve been the case? CBI will not straightaway step in. They will have to be referred...either by the court or by the government. So its a negative opinion in all cases. All said and done, it was investigated by CBI... You are on thin ice, Justice Nagarathna added. The hearing in the case will resume on August 24. Bilkis Bano was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was gang-raped while fleeing the horror of the communal riots that broke out after the Godhra train-burning incident. Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members killed in the riots. Heinous, but deserve chance to reform: Gujarat Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the Gujarat government, said the crime committed by the 11 convicts was heinous but they deserve the chance of reformation.
Ramashankar By

Express News Service

PATNA: Vimal Kumar, a journalist associated with a leading Hindi daily, was shot dead by unidentified armed criminals in Bihar's Araria district on Friday morning.

According to preliminary reports, the incident took place at around 5.30 am at Prem Nagar under the Raniganj police station area in Araria district. Two criminals riding a motorbike reached the 40-year-old journalist's residence and fired at him from close range. The bullet hit the right side of his chest and he died on the spot. The assailants, however, escaped on their motorbike after the incident.

Araria, Bihar | "In the Raniganj Bazar area, a journalist namely Vimal Kumar Yadav was shot dead by unidentified miscreants...post-mortem is being done, dog squad has been called to the murder spot...investigation is on and efforts to arrest the culprits are underway": Ashok pic.twitter.com/ipvhw6nabL August 18, 2023

Araria Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar said that the body has been sent for post-mortem. A team of forensic experts and sniffer dogs have rushed to the spot.

Efforts are on to arrest the criminals involved in the crime, he said.

Initial investigation revealed that the slain journalist was a prime witness in the murder of his younger brother Shashibhushan alias Gabbu Yadav in 2019. His family members told the police that he was threatened with dire consequences for pursuing the murder case. The next date of the hearing was fixed on August 19.

Police sources said that the case is being probed from this angle. We hope to crack the case within 24 hours, SP told TNIE reporter over the phone.

People gathered outside the residence of the slain journalist after the incident on Friday.

The incident has sent shock waves among journalists across the state. On Thursday, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar denied the increase in criminal activities in the state in the last few months.

Only a few incidents of crime take place. But it doesn't mean that law and order is bad in the state, he had told the media after he returned from New Delhi on Thursday.

Earlier in 2016, another journalist Rajdeo Ranjan was gunned down by armed assailants in Siwan. The incident sparked national wide protests by journalists, which forced the state government to hand over the investigation to CBI. Since then at least five journalists have been killed for various reasons in the state.

The latest incident was reported from Rohtas district where Dharmendra Kumar Singh was shot dead allegedly by stone-crushing mafia. Earlier another journalist Mithilesh Pandey was killed in Gaya district.

PATNA: Vimal Kumar, a journalist associated with a leading Hindi daily, was shot dead by unidentified armed criminals in Bihar's Araria district on Friday morning. According to preliminary reports, the incident took place at around 5.30 am at Prem Nagar under the Raniganj police station area in Araria district. Two criminals riding a motorbike reached the 40-year-old journalist's residence and fired at him from close range. The bullet hit the right side of his chest and he died on the spot. The assailants, however, escaped on their motorbike after the incident. Araria, Bihar | "In the Raniganj Bazar area, a journalist namely Vimal Kumar Yadav was shot dead by unidentified miscreants...post-mortem is being done, dog squad has been called to the murder spot...investigation is on and efforts to arrest the culprits are underway": Ashok pic.twitter.com/ipvhw6nabLgoogletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); });  ANI (@ANI) August 18, 2023 Araria Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar said that the body has been sent for post-mortem. A team of forensic experts and sniffer dogs have rushed to the spot. Efforts are on to arrest the criminals involved in the crime, he said. Initial investigation revealed that the slain journalist was a prime witness in the murder of his younger brother Shashibhushan alias Gabbu Yadav in 2019. His family members told the police that he was threatened with dire consequences for pursuing the murder case. The next date of the hearing was fixed on August 19. Police sources said that the case is being probed from this angle. We hope to crack the case within 24 hours, SP told TNIE reporter over the phone. People gathered outside the residence of the slain journalist after the incident on Friday. The incident has sent shock waves among journalists across the state. On Thursday, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar denied the increase in criminal activities in the state in the last few months. Only a few incidents of crime take place. But it doesn't mean that law and order is bad in the state, he had told the media after he returned from New Delhi on Thursday. Earlier in 2016, another journalist Rajdeo Ranjan was gunned down by armed assailants in Siwan. The incident sparked national wide protests by journalists, which forced the state government to hand over the investigation to CBI. Since then at least five journalists have been killed for various reasons in the state. The latest incident was reported from Rohtas district where Dharmendra Kumar Singh was shot dead allegedly by stone-crushing mafia. Earlier another journalist Mithilesh Pandey was killed in Gaya district.
Rajesh Kumar Thakur By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Indian Railways lost many 'mandays' in 2020-21 and 2021-22 due to employees suffering from different diseases, including malaria and tuberculosis. But it was measles that was the biggest threat, especially to Group C staff.

According to official figures obtained by this newspaper, around 51,166 attacks of measles on railway employees across 17 zones were reported in 2020-21 and 2021-22.

In 2020-21, the railways reported 27,341 measles attacks on its employees, mostly Group C, and 23,825 in 2021-22 across the zones, said an official source, adding that two employees died due to measles attack in 2020-21.

The enteric fever (typhoid) was the second biggest threat to railway employees during the last two financial years.

In 2020-21, 5,294 attacks of enteric fever on railway employees were reported. In 2021-22, the railway reported 12,604 enteric fever attacks on its employees from across the country. Among 12,604 enteric fever attacks reported in 2021-22, the highest number of 5,547 attacks were reported from the Banaras locomotive factory in 2021-22, according to the official data.

Water-communicable disease cholera attacked only 10 railway employees in both financial years.

The railways reported as many as 1,401 malaria attacks on its employees in 2020-21. But in 2021-22, malaria attacks increased many times to 6,419 in the year 2021-22.

Tuberculosis (TB) attacked 1,014 railway employees in 2020-21, but the number of tuberculosis attacks reduced to 161 in 2021-22.

Though the number of tuberculosis attacks was fewer compared to the attacks of other diseases, the disease claimed the lives of 25 people in 2020-21 and 21 in 2021-22. The highest number of seven deaths due to tuberculosis was reported from Southern Railway, followed by Central Railway with six deaths in 2020-21, said officers from the railways.

Mumps also made 57 attacks on railway employees in 2020-21 and 59 in 2021-22.

The railways also reported 275 chickenpox attacks in 2020-21 and 272 the next year.

In total, the railways reported 85,285 attacks of various diseases on its employees during the last two financial years  2020-21 and 2021-22.

NEW DELHI: Indian Railways lost many 'mandays' in 2020-21 and 2021-22 due to employees suffering from different diseases, including malaria and tuberculosis. But it was measles that was the biggest threat, especially to Group C staff. According to official figures obtained by this newspaper, around 51,166 attacks of measles on railway employees across 17 zones were reported in 2020-21 and 2021-22. In 2020-21, the railways reported 27,341 measles attacks on its employees, mostly Group C, and 23,825 in 2021-22 across the zones, said an official source, adding that two employees died due to measles attack in 2020-21.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The enteric fever (typhoid) was the second biggest threat to railway employees during the last two financial years. In 2020-21, 5,294 attacks of enteric fever on railway employees were reported. In 2021-22, the railway reported 12,604 enteric fever attacks on its employees from across the country. Among 12,604 enteric fever attacks reported in 2021-22, the highest number of 5,547 attacks were reported from the Banaras locomotive factory in 2021-22, according to the official data. Water-communicable disease cholera attacked only 10 railway employees in both financial years. The railways reported as many as 1,401 malaria attacks on its employees in 2020-21. But in 2021-22, malaria attacks increased many times to 6,419 in the year 2021-22. Tuberculosis (TB) attacked 1,014 railway employees in 2020-21, but the number of tuberculosis attacks reduced to 161 in 2021-22. Though the number of tuberculosis attacks was fewer compared to the attacks of other diseases, the disease claimed the lives of 25 people in 2020-21 and 21 in 2021-22. The highest number of seven deaths due to tuberculosis was reported from Southern Railway, followed by Central Railway with six deaths in 2020-21, said officers from the railways. Mumps also made 57 attacks on railway employees in 2020-21 and 59 in 2021-22. The railways also reported 275 chickenpox attacks in 2020-21 and 272 the next year. In total, the railways reported 85,285 attacks of various diseases on its employees during the last two financial years  2020-21 and 2021-22.
By PTI



New Delhi: CBI arrested a Central GST official in Mumbai for allegedly demanding Rs 15 lakh as a bribe for settling tax issues related to a company based in China, officials said Friday.

It is alleged that Hemant Kumar, a Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) superintendent, demanded Rs 30 lakh from a tax consultant to settle issues related to Wellfull Inter-Trade Pvt Ltd based in Guangzhou, China.

The company had refused to pay the bribe and asked the middleman to report the issue to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which conducted a verification of the allegation during which the tax consultant was asked to negotiate with Kumar, they said.

A meeting took place at Wadala Railway Station in Mumbai where Kumar allegedly reduced the demand to Rs 15 lakh, a discussion which was tapped by the consultant, they said.

With the allegations verified, the CBI conducted a trap operation where Kumar was arrested with Rs 5 lakh as part of payment, they said.

New Delhi: CBI arrested a Central GST official in Mumbai for allegedly demanding Rs 15 lakh as a bribe for settling tax issues related to a company based in China, officials said Friday. It is alleged that Hemant Kumar, a Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) superintendent, demanded Rs 30 lakh from a tax consultant to settle issues related to Wellfull Inter-Trade Pvt Ltd based in Guangzhou, China. The company had refused to pay the bribe and asked the middleman to report the issue to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which conducted a verification of the allegation during which the tax consultant was asked to negotiate with Kumar, they said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); A meeting took place at Wadala Railway Station in Mumbai where Kumar allegedly reduced the demand to Rs 15 lakh, a discussion which was tapped by the consultant, they said. With the allegations verified, the CBI conducted a trap operation where Kumar was arrested with Rs 5 lakh as part of payment, they said.
By Express News Service

BHOPAL: A fight between two pet dogs turned into a violent battle between their owners, resulting in the murder of two men and the injuring of six others in Madhya Pradesh's financial capital Indore on Thursday night.

The incident which happened in Krishna Bag Colony at around 11 pm, led to the murder of two men identified as Vimal Achala (35) and Rahul Verma (27). Six others, including a woman, all residents of the same colony too sustained injuries, two of them severely.

According to the local police station officials, three men -- Rajpal Singh Rajawat, an ex-serviceman who worked as a security guard at a bank, his son Sudhir and close relative Shubham -- have been arrested and booked for murder.

A primary probe revealed that Rajawat and neighbour Vimal Achala were walking with their pet dogs in a narrow lane when the two canines picked up a fight. The fight between the two pet dogs, however, turned into an argument and was followed by a violent scuffle between the two men.

An agitated Rajawat rushed to his first-floor home and started firing from his licensed 12-bore rifle at Achala from the balcony of his house.

A viral video of the incident showed the security guard Rajawat firing a warning shot before training the gun at the street below.

The alleged shooting spree by Rajawat led to the killing of two neighbours, including Vimal Achala and Rahul Verma. Both of them were rushed to the hospital with bullet wounds, but doctors declared the duo dead on arrival.

Vimal ran a hair salon in Indore's Nipaniya area.

As per local residents, Rajawat originally hails from Gwalior. His owning a licensed gun had helped him secure a security guard's job at a private bank.

ALSO READ: Woman goes to police with mother's body in suitcase

BHOPAL: A fight between two pet dogs turned into a violent battle between their owners, resulting in the murder of two men and the injuring of six others in Madhya Pradesh's financial capital Indore on Thursday night. The incident which happened in Krishna Bag Colony at around 11 pm, led to the murder of two men identified as Vimal Achala (35) and Rahul Verma (27). Six others, including a woman, all residents of the same colony too sustained injuries, two of them severely. According to the local police station officials, three men -- Rajpal Singh Rajawat, an ex-serviceman who worked as a security guard at a bank, his son Sudhir and close relative Shubham -- have been arrested and booked for murder.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); A primary probe revealed that Rajawat and neighbour Vimal Achala were walking with their pet dogs in a narrow lane when the two canines picked up a fight. The fight between the two pet dogs, however, turned into an argument and was followed by a violent scuffle between the two men. An agitated Rajawat rushed to his first-floor home and started firing from his licensed 12-bore rifle at Achala from the balcony of his house. A viral video of the incident showed the security guard Rajawat firing a warning shot before training the gun at the street below. The alleged shooting spree by Rajawat led to the killing of two neighbours, including Vimal Achala and Rahul Verma. Both of them were rushed to the hospital with bullet wounds, but doctors declared the duo dead on arrival. Vimal ran a hair salon in Indore's Nipaniya area. As per local residents, Rajawat originally hails from Gwalior. His owning a licensed gun had helped him secure a security guard's job at a private bank. ALSO READ: Woman goes to police with mother's body in suitcase
Mukesh Ranjan By

Express News Service

RANCHI: Chief Minister Hemant Soren, while addressing a public meeting in Bokaro, attacked the action of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and said that the BJP govt is trying to intimidate the opposition parties through ED and CBI. "But I am not afraid of going jail," he said.

He further mentioned that the previous government has finished all the money. "When we raised our voices, they engaged ED and CBI behind me. A conspiracy was started to put me in jail. Nobody in Jharkhand is afraid of going to jail, Soren said.

NDA is a group that does politics by making people fight each other, he added.

Soren further added that venom of caste and religion is being spread among the people of this country.

NDA promotes mob-lynching by creating enmity between Hindus and Muslims, humiliating tribals and making them fight with each other in Manipur. They believe that their political aspirations will be fulfilled, but we will not let it happen and sabotage their plans, Soren said.

Earlier, on August 8, the ED had sent summon to Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren in an alleged land scam and was asked to appear for questioning at its zonal office in Ranchi on August 14, according to the ED sources but CM asked to withdraw it calling it a summons with political malfeasance. Soren was also grilled for about 10 hours on November 18, 2022, in connection with the case.

Soren was summoned by ED after Bishnu Kumar Agrawal, a well-known businessman who owns shopping malls and other business establishments, was arrested on August 1 and termed as being habitually involved in acquiring land in a fraudulent and illegal manner in connivance with government officials, including former Ranchi deputy commissioner Chhavi Ranjan.

Notably, Agrawal is the 13th person, including IAS and former Ranchi DC Chhavi Ranjan, to have been arrested by ED as part of its money laundering probe related to allegedly fraudulent sale-purchase of land in the state capital.

RANCHI: Chief Minister Hemant Soren, while addressing a public meeting in Bokaro, attacked the action of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and said that the BJP govt is trying to intimidate the opposition parties through ED and CBI. "But I am not afraid of going jail," he said. He further mentioned that the previous government has finished all the money. "When we raised our voices, they engaged ED and CBI behind me. A conspiracy was started to put me in jail. Nobody in Jharkhand is afraid of going to jail, Soren said. NDA is a group that does politics by making people fight each other, he added.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Soren further added that venom of caste and religion is being spread among the people of this country. NDA promotes mob-lynching by creating enmity between Hindus and Muslims, humiliating tribals and making them fight with each other in Manipur. They believe that their political aspirations will be fulfilled, but we will not let it happen and sabotage their plans, Soren said. Earlier, on August 8, the ED had sent summon to Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren in an alleged land scam and was asked to appear for questioning at its zonal office in Ranchi on August 14, according to the ED sources but CM asked to withdraw it calling it a summons with political malfeasance. Soren was also grilled for about 10 hours on November 18, 2022, in connection with the case. Soren was summoned by ED after Bishnu Kumar Agrawal, a well-known businessman who owns shopping malls and other business establishments, was arrested on August 1 and termed as being habitually involved in acquiring land in a fraudulent and illegal manner in connivance with government officials, including former Ranchi deputy commissioner Chhavi Ranjan. Notably, Agrawal is the 13th person, including IAS and former Ranchi DC Chhavi Ranjan, to have been arrested by ED as part of its money laundering probe related to allegedly fraudulent sale-purchase of land in the state capital.
Ujwal Jalali By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: A man travelling by a Spice Jet flight from Delhi to Mumbai was found clicking pictures of the crew members at the time of take-off following which the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) issued a notice to the Delhi Police and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) seeking an action taken report in the matter.

A Spice Jet official confirmed to this newspaper that the incident took place in a SpiceJet flight SG157 that was operating from Delhi to Mumbai on August 2.

A passenger seated in the first row was found clicking pictures of the cabin crew, while she was seated on the jump seat at the time of take-off. The passenger was confronted by the crew members. He deleted the pictures from his phone and apologised for his action. The passenger also gave a written apology, the official said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (IGI-Airport) Devesh Kumar Mahla said that they have not received any complaint from Spice Jet in the matter. However, the DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal, after taking suo-motu cognisance of a video being circulated on social media platform Instagram regarding alleged sexual harassment by a passenger onboard the flight, issued notices to Delhi Police and DGCA.

Complaints of sexual harassment on flights are on the rise. This is unacceptable. In this particular case, an FIR should be registered and the matter should be thoroughly investigated and the guilty must be punished, Maliwal said. She said that DGCA must have a zero-tolerance policy against sexual harassment on flights and take stringent action to prevent such incidents in the future.

It is alleged in the viral video that a passenger was trying to click obscene pictures of a woman flight attendant and his woman co-passenger. It has been stated that when his mobile phone was checked,

objectionable pictures of the women onboard the plane were found in his mobile.

The DCW sought the details of FIR along with the arrest made in the matter by Delhi Police. Also, the Commission asked the DGCA whether the matter has been forwarded to Internal Complaint Committee under the Sexual Harassment at Workplace, or any other committee.

NEW DELHI: A man travelling by a Spice Jet flight from Delhi to Mumbai was found clicking pictures of the crew members at the time of take-off following which the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) issued a notice to the Delhi Police and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) seeking an action taken report in the matter. A Spice Jet official confirmed to this newspaper that the incident took place in a SpiceJet flight SG157 that was operating from Delhi to Mumbai on August 2. A passenger seated in the first row was found clicking pictures of the cabin crew, while she was seated on the jump seat at the time of take-off. The passenger was confronted by the crew members. He deleted the pictures from his phone and apologised for his action. The passenger also gave a written apology, the official said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Deputy Commissioner of Police (IGI-Airport) Devesh Kumar Mahla said that they have not received any complaint from Spice Jet in the matter. However, the DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal, after taking suo-motu cognisance of a video being circulated on social media platform Instagram regarding alleged sexual harassment by a passenger onboard the flight, issued notices to Delhi Police and DGCA. Complaints of sexual harassment on flights are on the rise. This is unacceptable. In this particular case, an FIR should be registered and the matter should be thoroughly investigated and the guilty must be punished, Maliwal said. She said that DGCA must have a zero-tolerance policy against sexual harassment on flights and take stringent action to prevent such incidents in the future. It is alleged in the viral video that a passenger was trying to click obscene pictures of a woman flight attendant and his woman co-passenger. It has been stated that when his mobile phone was checked, objectionable pictures of the women onboard the plane were found in his mobile. The DCW sought the details of FIR along with the arrest made in the matter by Delhi Police. Also, the Commission asked the DGCA whether the matter has been forwarded to Internal Complaint Committee under the Sexual Harassment at Workplace, or any other committee.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response from the Centre on a PIL seeking a direction to decriminalise the law on statutory rape often invoked against 16- to 18-year-old adolescents for indulging in consensual sex.

A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra took note of the PIL filed by lawyer Harsh Vibhore Singhal in his personal capacity.

The bench has issued notices to Union ministries of law and justice and the home affairs and some other statutory bodies including the National Commission for Women.

The PIL challenges the legality of statutory rape laws that criminalise consensual sex between adolescents who are above 16 years and below 18 years of age on the ground that their consent to such acts are statutorily invalid.

"Pass a writ of mandamus under Article 32 or any other direction in the nature of writ and exercise its powers under 142 to decriminalise the law of statutory rape as applied to all cases of voluntary consensual sexual contact between any 16+ to <18 adolescent with another similar age adolescent and with >18 adult.," the plea said.

It said such adolescents possess "physiological, biological, psychological and social capacities, competence to assimilate and evaluate information to understand and comprehend risks, freedom to make informed choices to convey affirmative decisions or otherwise, and have the agency and decisional/bodily autonomy to fearlessly, freely and voluntarily do what they wish to do with their bodies.

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response from the Centre on a PIL seeking a direction to decriminalise the law on statutory rape often invoked against 16- to 18-year-old adolescents for indulging in consensual sex. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra took note of the PIL filed by lawyer Harsh Vibhore Singhal in his personal capacity. The bench has issued notices to Union ministries of law and justice and the home affairs and some other statutory bodies including the National Commission for Women.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The PIL challenges the legality of statutory rape laws that criminalise consensual sex between adolescents who are above 16 years and below 18 years of age on the ground that their consent to such acts are statutorily invalid. "Pass a writ of mandamus under Article 32 or any other direction in the nature of writ and exercise its powers under 142 to decriminalise the law of statutory rape as applied to all cases of voluntary consensual sexual contact between any 16+ to 18 adult.," the plea said. It said such adolescents possess "physiological, biological, psychological and social capacities, competence to assimilate and evaluate information to understand and comprehend risks, freedom to make informed choices to convey affirmative decisions or otherwise, and have the agency and decisional/bodily autonomy to fearlessly, freely and voluntarily do what they wish to do with their bodies.
By PTI

AMBALA: The body of a newborn girl was found in a drain here on Friday after people noticed a stray dog eating the mortal remains of the baby, police said.

According to police, the infant's umbilical cord was also attached to it, which indicated that she was thrown into the drain soon after birth.

However, a post-mortem report is awaited to ascertain whether the baby was stillborn or she died after being thrown into the drain, police said.

The matter came to the fore when some shopkeepers near a government college in Ambala Cantt noticed that a stray dog pulled the child's body out of a drain, brought it to the road and started eating it, they said.

They alerted local police and medical authorities.

The police soon reached the spot and took the body into its custody and sent it to the civil hospital for post-mortem, they said.

CCTV footage of the nearby shops close to the drain was being collected for investigation, police said.

AMBALA: The body of a newborn girl was found in a drain here on Friday after people noticed a stray dog eating the mortal remains of the baby, police said. According to police, the infant's umbilical cord was also attached to it, which indicated that she was thrown into the drain soon after birth. However, a post-mortem report is awaited to ascertain whether the baby was stillborn or she died after being thrown into the drain, police said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The matter came to the fore when some shopkeepers near a government college in Ambala Cantt noticed that a stray dog pulled the child's body out of a drain, brought it to the road and started eating it, they said. They alerted local police and medical authorities. The police soon reached the spot and took the body into its custody and sent it to the civil hospital for post-mortem, they said. CCTV footage of the nearby shops close to the drain was being collected for investigation, police said.
Shruti Kakkar By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Hate speech, whether it from one side or the other, must be treated alike and dealt with under the law, the Supreme Court said during a hearing on Friday.

A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and S V N Bhati made the remark after it was informed that calls in the form of provocative slogans demanding 'death to Hindus' were raised by members of the Indian Union Muslim League during a rally.

Im clear whether it be one side or the other, they have to be treated alike and wherever there is hate speech, they will be dealt with in accordance with law, the bench said.

The judges had previously suggested constituting district-wise committees across the country to look into such instances and take suitable action. It had sought the Centres view on the proposal but didnt find the time to hear it.

The court allowed both sides to file documents and written submissions and posted all petitions on curbing hate speech for August 25. During the last hearing, the court had said, We can ask the DGP to constitute a committee of three-four officers nominated by him. When he receives the material on hate speech he can refer it to the panel to check the authenticity and issue directions.

NEW DELHI: Hate speech, whether it from one side or the other, must be treated alike and dealt with under the law, the Supreme Court said during a hearing on Friday. A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and S V N Bhati made the remark after it was informed that calls in the form of provocative slogans demanding 'death to Hindus' were raised by members of the Indian Union Muslim League during a rally. Im clear whether it be one side or the other, they have to be treated alike and wherever there is hate speech, they will be dealt with in accordance with law, the bench said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The judges had previously suggested constituting district-wise committees across the country to look into such instances and take suitable action. It had sought the Centres view on the proposal but didnt find the time to hear it. The court allowed both sides to file documents and written submissions and posted all petitions on curbing hate speech for August 25. During the last hearing, the court had said, We can ask the DGP to constitute a committee of three-four officers nominated by him. When he receives the material on hate speech he can refer it to the panel to check the authenticity and issue directions.
YEREVAN, AUGUST 18, ARMENPRESS. On August 18, in New York, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan met with United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo, the foreign ministry said in a press release.

Ararat Mirzoyan particularly presented the extremely difficult humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, stressing that the responsible actors of the international system should not allow it to turn into a real humanitarian catastrophe. The Minister emphasised the special role and prevention function of the UN Security Council as a structure with a mandate to maintain peace and security.

Touching upon the unfolded difficult conditions for the vulnerable groups of 120,000 people in Nagorno-Karabakh, Minister Mirzoyan stressed the urgency of implementing the Orders of the International Court of Justice of February 22 and July 6 and lifting Azerbaijans illegal blockade of the Lachin corridor.

In the context of establishing lasting stability in the region, Minister Mirzoyan emphasised the need for Azerbaijan to refrain from actions and provocations aimed at neutralising international efforts in that direction and the possibility of achieving peace.
Sudhir Suryawanshi By

Express News Service

MUMBAI: An MLA from Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena Bharat Gogawale has alleged that three party MLAs blackmailed the CM to get the ministerial berths, and that he as a genuine contender was ignored.

Gogwale revealed that when the ministerial allocation took place, his name was in the first list. One Sena MLA told the CM that if he is not inducted as a minister, his wife will commit suicide. The CM told me that hed have to save the womans life, Gogawale said.

He said another Shiv Sena MLA whose name was not in the minister list threatened the CM that if was denied the cabinet ministry, his local region BJP leader and Union minister Narayan Rane will finish him politically.

Then, this MLA bagged the ministerso my name was put on the waiting list. The third MLA threatened Shinde that if he was not made the minister, he would resign as MLA and pull out from the government. The CM had little option but to accommodate these disgruntled MLAs who blackmailed the CM to get ministerial berths, Gogawale added.

He added, his name is still on the waiting list. When Ajit Pawar and his MLA were inducted as ministers, that time also, I was told that I would take the oath with Ajit Pawar. I waited for it, but no one asked me to take the oath.

He said each time, there was a talk of cabinet expansion, our hope rise, but in the end we dont get anything. People who do the blackmail politics get the posts and positions, said Gogawale. Meanwhile, Shinde has invited his government ministers, top leaders and consulate officers for a dinner at the Taj in Bandra on Thursday.

The dinner diplomacy by Shinde is to pacify the people who have been troubling him for a ministerial berth and also an attempt to garner the support of the MLAs and ministers so that he can remain

in the chair, said a political analyst.

MUMBAI: An MLA from Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena Bharat Gogawale has alleged that three party MLAs blackmailed the CM to get the ministerial berths, and that he as a genuine contender was ignored. Gogwale revealed that when the ministerial allocation took place, his name was in the first list. One Sena MLA told the CM that if he is not inducted as a minister, his wife will commit suicide. The CM told me that hed have to save the womans life, Gogawale said. He said another Shiv Sena MLA whose name was not in the minister list threatened the CM that if was denied the cabinet ministry, his local region BJP leader and Union minister Narayan Rane will finish him politically. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Then, this MLA bagged the ministerso my name was put on the waiting list. The third MLA threatened Shinde that if he was not made the minister, he would resign as MLA and pull out from the government. The CM had little option but to accommodate these disgruntled MLAs who blackmailed the CM to get ministerial berths, Gogawale added. He added, his name is still on the waiting list. When Ajit Pawar and his MLA were inducted as ministers, that time also, I was told that I would take the oath with Ajit Pawar. I waited for it, but no one asked me to take the oath. He said each time, there was a talk of cabinet expansion, our hope rise, but in the end we dont get anything. People who do the blackmail politics get the posts and positions, said Gogawale. Meanwhile, Shinde has invited his government ministers, top leaders and consulate officers for a dinner at the Taj in Bandra on Thursday. The dinner diplomacy by Shinde is to pacify the people who have been troubling him for a ministerial berth and also an attempt to garner the support of the MLAs and ministers so that he can remain in the chair, said a political analyst.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday asked the CBI whether there was any 'common thread' in the murders of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, CPI leader Govind Pansare, activist-journalist Gauri Lankesh and scholar MM Kalburgi.

Dabholkar, who fought against superstition, was shot dead by two motorcycle-borne assailants during his morning walk in Pune on August 20, 2013.

Pansare was murdered on February 20, 2015, while Lankesh was killed on September 5, 2017.

Kalburgi was shot dead on August 30, 2015.

FROM OUR ARCHIVES | Gauri is alive in her work and peoples memories: Sister Kavita Lankesh

A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia posed this query to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) while hearing a plea by Mukta Dabholkar, daughter of Narendra Dabholkar, challenging the Bombay High Court's April 18, 2023 order that refused to continue monitoring the investigation in the killing of her father.

Senior advocate Anand Grover, appearing for Mukta Dabholkar, told the bench there was a larger conspiracy behind the four killings.

He said the available evidence indicated that these cases may be connected and Mukta Dabholkar had raised this issue before the High Court.

"The accused who are facing a trial (in the Dabholkar case), according to you, there is no common thread in those four murders? Right? That is what you are saying?" Justice Dhulia asked Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati, who was appearing for the CBI.

"That is what we want to know," Justice Kaul said, and asked the CBI to "Please look into it".

ALSO READ | Kannada writers seek protection, to meet Home Minister G Parameshwara

As soon as Grover began arguing about the issues involved in the matter, the bench told him the High Court has said the trial in the Dabholkar murder case is going on and some witnesses have already been examined.

" So, therefore we (High Court) don't want to monitor it any further. What is wrong with such an observation?" the bench asked him.

Grover said though the trial is going on, two of the accused are absconding and have not been arrested yet.

Giving the status of the Dabholkar murder case, Bhati told the bench that 20 witnesses have so far been examined during the trial.

The bench told Bhati the petitioner has also alleged a wider conspiracy.

The bench noted the petitioner's counsel has submitted that they need two weeks to place some documents along with the translation of the relevant portions, which will help the ASG in examining the issue of the larger conspiracy involved in these killings.

"ASG is granted four weeks thereafter to examine the aforesaid issue," the bench said and ordered the listing of the matter after eight weeks.

FROM OUR ARCHIVES | Thousands remember Kalburgi on his death anniversary

Grover had told the apex court on May 18 that the CBI suspected there could be a common link in the killings of Dabholkar, Pansare and Lankesh.

"The investigation has found that weapons used in these subsequent incidents (the killing of Pansare and Lankesh) and the Dabholkar murder were the same and people involved in the crimes were also the same. Hence, CBI wanted to do further investigation," he had said.

The High Court had said on April 18, after nine years of monitoring the Narendra Dabholkar case investigation, that no further watch on the probe was required.

It had disposed of several petitions including the one filed by Mukta Dabholkar for continued monitoring.

In 2014, the High Court had transferred the probe to the CBI from Pune police following a petition by Mukta Dabholkar and another activist.

A special Pune court had in 2021 framed charges against the alleged mastermind of the crime, Virendra Sinh Tawde.

It had charged Tawde and three others with murder and criminal conspiracy and with terror related offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Another accused Sanjeev Punalekar was charged with destruction of evidence.

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday asked the CBI whether there was any 'common thread' in the murders of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, CPI leader Govind Pansare, activist-journalist Gauri Lankesh and scholar MM Kalburgi. Dabholkar, who fought against superstition, was shot dead by two motorcycle-borne assailants during his morning walk in Pune on August 20, 2013. Pansare was murdered on February 20, 2015, while Lankesh was killed on September 5, 2017.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Kalburgi was shot dead on August 30, 2015. FROM OUR ARCHIVES | Gauri is alive in her work and peoples memories: Sister Kavita Lankesh A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia posed this query to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) while hearing a plea by Mukta Dabholkar, daughter of Narendra Dabholkar, challenging the Bombay High Court's April 18, 2023 order that refused to continue monitoring the investigation in the killing of her father. Senior advocate Anand Grover, appearing for Mukta Dabholkar, told the bench there was a larger conspiracy behind the four killings. He said the available evidence indicated that these cases may be connected and Mukta Dabholkar had raised this issue before the High Court. "The accused who are facing a trial (in the Dabholkar case), according to you, there is no common thread in those four murders? Right? That is what you are saying?" Justice Dhulia asked Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati, who was appearing for the CBI. "That is what we want to know," Justice Kaul said, and asked the CBI to "Please look into it". ALSO READ | Kannada writers seek protection, to meet Home Minister G Parameshwara As soon as Grover began arguing about the issues involved in the matter, the bench told him the High Court has said the trial in the Dabholkar murder case is going on and some witnesses have already been examined. " So, therefore we (High Court) don't want to monitor it any further. What is wrong with such an observation?" the bench asked him. Grover said though the trial is going on, two of the accused are absconding and have not been arrested yet. Giving the status of the Dabholkar murder case, Bhati told the bench that 20 witnesses have so far been examined during the trial. The bench told Bhati the petitioner has also alleged a wider conspiracy. The bench noted the petitioner's counsel has submitted that they need two weeks to place some documents along with the translation of the relevant portions, which will help the ASG in examining the issue of the larger conspiracy involved in these killings. "ASG is granted four weeks thereafter to examine the aforesaid issue," the bench said and ordered the listing of the matter after eight weeks. FROM OUR ARCHIVES | Thousands remember Kalburgi on his death anniversary Grover had told the apex court on May 18 that the CBI suspected there could be a common link in the killings of Dabholkar, Pansare and Lankesh. "The investigation has found that weapons used in these subsequent incidents (the killing of Pansare and Lankesh) and the Dabholkar murder were the same and people involved in the crimes were also the same. Hence, CBI wanted to do further investigation," he had said. The High Court had said on April 18, after nine years of monitoring the Narendra Dabholkar case investigation, that no further watch on the probe was required. It had disposed of several petitions including the one filed by Mukta Dabholkar for continued monitoring. In 2014, the High Court had transferred the probe to the CBI from Pune police following a petition by Mukta Dabholkar and another activist. A special Pune court had in 2021 framed charges against the alleged mastermind of the crime, Virendra Sinh Tawde. It had charged Tawde and three others with murder and criminal conspiracy and with terror related offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Another accused Sanjeev Punalekar was charged with destruction of evidence.
Mayank Singh By

Express News Service

The division commander of the Indian Army in Ladakh on Friday met his Chinese counterpart to take forward the talks on the disengagement of troops from the standoff areas of Depsang and Demchok.

Defence sources confirmed the meeting at the level of the Major Generals, saying It was to carry forward the discussions by the ground commanders as part of confidence-building measures."

This follows an elaborate 19th corps commander-level talks that continued for two days for the first time. In the process to resolve the issues Brigadier-level meetings continue to take place often, sources added. India maintains that its ties with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas.

The 3 Division of the Indian Army looks after the 832-km Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh. There has been no movement forward on standoffs in Depsang and Demchok.

The standoff persists at Depsang Y-Junction and Demchok even before the May 2020 standoff began. Sources said the Depsang standoff has resulted in obstruction of Indian troop movement to the traditional Patrolling Points (PP) PP 10, PP11, PP 11A, PP12 and PP13, covering 952 sq km.

A few tents have been pitched by the Chinese on the Indian side in Demchok and have refused to pull back. The Chinese side dominates around 150 sq km in this area.

Technical term for corps commander-level talks is senior highest military commander level (SHMCL); so far there have been 19 rounds of talks. Matters have earlier been resolved at the higher commander level (Major General) meetings.

There has been disengagement at Galwan, North and South banks of Pangong Tso, Gogra-Hot Springs with the corps commanders meetings in addition to the multiple diplomatic parlays between the two countries.

As reported first by this newspaper, the Chinese moved in their troops after the clashes at Finger 4 area on the North Bank of Pangong Tso.

Subsequently, the standoff spread to other areas. After 2020, India and China currently maintain a combined deployment of over 1 lakh soldiers along with a massive presence of tanks and artillery.

In May the Indian Army put its foot down on the restoration of patrolling rights till traditional points in the remaining standoff points. The standoff at Depsang is of much significance where the Chinese troops have blocked access to PPs 10, 11, 11A, 12, and 13.

The sub-sector North, of which Depsang is a part, is strategically most relevant.

The terrain here is such that large-scale armour operations are possible. China has multiple roads feeding this area while India has only the Darbuk-Shyok-Daulet Beg Oldi (DSDBO) road.

By sitting at the Y Junction, China can obstruct Indias movement. Depsang is also a link towards Siachen and the DBO airfield. The Y Junction is about 20km from the strategic airfield Daulat Beg Oldi.

The division commander of the Indian Army in Ladakh on Friday met his Chinese counterpart to take forward the talks on the disengagement of troops from the standoff areas of Depsang and Demchok. Defence sources confirmed the meeting at the level of the Major Generals, saying It was to carry forward the discussions by the ground commanders as part of confidence-building measures." This follows an elaborate 19th corps commander-level talks that continued for two days for the first time. In the process to resolve the issues Brigadier-level meetings continue to take place often, sources added. India maintains that its ties with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The 3 Division of the Indian Army looks after the 832-km Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh. There has been no movement forward on standoffs in Depsang and Demchok. The standoff persists at Depsang Y-Junction and Demchok even before the May 2020 standoff began. Sources said the Depsang standoff has resulted in obstruction of Indian troop movement to the traditional Patrolling Points (PP) PP 10, PP11, PP 11A, PP12 and PP13, covering 952 sq km. A few tents have been pitched by the Chinese on the Indian side in Demchok and have refused to pull back. The Chinese side dominates around 150 sq km in this area. Technical term for corps commander-level talks is senior highest military commander level (SHMCL); so far there have been 19 rounds of talks. Matters have earlier been resolved at the higher commander level (Major General) meetings. There has been disengagement at Galwan, North and South banks of Pangong Tso, Gogra-Hot Springs with the corps commanders meetings in addition to the multiple diplomatic parlays between the two countries. As reported first by this newspaper, the Chinese moved in their troops after the clashes at Finger 4 area on the North Bank of Pangong Tso. Subsequently, the standoff spread to other areas. After 2020, India and China currently maintain a combined deployment of over 1 lakh soldiers along with a massive presence of tanks and artillery. In May the Indian Army put its foot down on the restoration of patrolling rights till traditional points in the remaining standoff points. The standoff at Depsang is of much significance where the Chinese troops have blocked access to PPs 10, 11, 11A, 12, and 13. The sub-sector North, of which Depsang is a part, is strategically most relevant. The terrain here is such that large-scale armour operations are possible. China has multiple roads feeding this area while India has only the Darbuk-Shyok-Daulet Beg Oldi (DSDBO) road. By sitting at the Y Junction, China can obstruct Indias movement. Depsang is also a link towards Siachen and the DBO airfield. The Y Junction is about 20km from the strategic airfield Daulat Beg Oldi.
Devaraj B Hirehalli By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: Congress, which lured leaders from other parties ahead of the Assembly elections to score big, is trying a similar strategy with the 2024 Lok Sabha polls approaching. The move is causing ripples within BJP, which is struggling to find a pan-Karnataka leader, a la BS Yediyurappa, to hold the party state unit together and to fend off such threats.

Seeing an opportunity, Congress headed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and DCM DK Shivakumar, have set out to poach leaders from the saffron party. One such likely target for Congress is Yeshwanthpur BJP MLA ST Somashekar, who had called a meeting of his supporters recently where he was told to join the Grand Old Party. Nelamangala Congress MLA Srinivas, who was also present at the meeting, claimed that Somashekar is likely to join Congress.

As a counter, BJP leaders, including party state president Nalin Kumar Kateel, former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai and senior leader CT Ravi, called up Somashekar on Thursday and assured him of addressing his concerns with a section of local BJP leaders averse to him.

Former union minister DV Sadananda Gowda met Somashekar and discussed various issues, including the latters resentment in the BJP. Somashekar was disappointed with some BJP workers in his constituency as they had joined hands with JDS to defeat him in the Assembly polls. Siddaramaiah will accept him if he rejoins Congress.

KPCC president and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has given me the task of bringing Somashekar and his supporters back to Congress, Srinivas asked. Shivakumar giving similar tasks to other partymen to attract leaders from other parties cannot be ruled out. Former minister KC Narayanagowda too is on the radar, sources said.

Somashekars switch, if it happens, could help Congress win 20 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state which is what Siddaramaiah has promised the party high command. Like Somashekar, many turncoats, including former ministers Shivaram Hebbar and Byrati Basavaraj, are said to be deciding on their political futures., sources added. Congress is eyeing big leaders from BJP to field them as its candidates in Lok Sabha polls.

BENGALURU: Congress, which lured leaders from other parties ahead of the Assembly elections to score big, is trying a similar strategy with the 2024 Lok Sabha polls approaching. The move is causing ripples within BJP, which is struggling to find a pan-Karnataka leader, a la BS Yediyurappa, to hold the party state unit together and to fend off such threats. Seeing an opportunity, Congress headed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and DCM DK Shivakumar, have set out to poach leaders from the saffron party. One such likely target for Congress is Yeshwanthpur BJP MLA ST Somashekar, who had called a meeting of his supporters recently where he was told to join the Grand Old Party. Nelamangala Congress MLA Srinivas, who was also present at the meeting, claimed that Somashekar is likely to join Congress. As a counter, BJP leaders, including party state president Nalin Kumar Kateel, former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai and senior leader CT Ravi, called up Somashekar on Thursday and assured him of addressing his concerns with a section of local BJP leaders averse to him.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Former union minister DV Sadananda Gowda met Somashekar and discussed various issues, including the latters resentment in the BJP. Somashekar was disappointed with some BJP workers in his constituency as they had joined hands with JDS to defeat him in the Assembly polls. Siddaramaiah will accept him if he rejoins Congress. KPCC president and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has given me the task of bringing Somashekar and his supporters back to Congress, Srinivas asked. Shivakumar giving similar tasks to other partymen to attract leaders from other parties cannot be ruled out. Former minister KC Narayanagowda too is on the radar, sources said. Somashekars switch, if it happens, could help Congress win 20 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state which is what Siddaramaiah has promised the party high command. Like Somashekar, many turncoats, including former ministers Shivaram Hebbar and Byrati Basavaraj, are said to be deciding on their political futures., sources added. Congress is eyeing big leaders from BJP to field them as its candidates in Lok Sabha polls.
By Online Desk

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has designated COVID-19 variant BA.2.86 as a variant under monitoring on Thursday due to the large number of mutations it carries.

The variant has been detected through genetic sequencing, although only a handful of such sequences have so far been reported. The first was reported in Israel, with the variant since being detected in Denmark and the US. Now UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has confirmed the variant has been detected in the UK, making it the fifth such sequence worldwide to be reported, The Guardian reports.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday it is tracking a recently discovered COVID-19 strain, BA.2.86, after a case of the highly mutated variant was discovered in Michigan, CBS News reported.

"Today we are more prepared than ever to detect and respond to changes in the COVID-19 virus. Scientists are working now to understand more about the newly identified lineage in these 4 cases and we will share more information as it becomes available," CDC spokesperson Kathleen Conley said in a statement to CBS News.

Experts say reports of BA.2.86 being spotted in countries on multiple continents  Denmark, Israel, the UK and the US  suggest it is at least capable of transmitting widely and could have been spreading undetected for some time, CBS News added.

The Guardian report quoted Dr Meera Chand, deputy director at UKHSA, as saying, We are aware that BA.2.86 has been detected in the UK. UKHSA is assessing the situation and will provide further information in due course,

Prof Francois Balloux, director of the UCL Genetics Institute, said BA.2.86 was the most striking Covid strain the world has witnessed since the emergence of Omicron, The Guardian said.

The most plausible scenario is that the lineage acquired its mutations during a long-term infection in a immunocompromised person over a year ago and then spread back into the community, he said.

BA.2.86 has since then probably been circulating in a region of the world with poor viral surveillance, and has now been repeatedly exported to other places in the world, the professor has been quoted as saying by The Guardian.

Balloux added that how well the new variant fared relative to other Omicron subvariants would become clearer in the coming weeks.

Nothing is known at this stage about its intrinsic transmissibility and virulence, he said.



The World Health Organisation (WHO) has designated COVID-19 variant BA.2.86 as a variant under monitoring on Thursday due to the large number of mutations it carries. The variant has been detected through genetic sequencing, although only a handful of such sequences have so far been reported. The first was reported in Israel, with the variant since being detected in Denmark and the US. Now UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has confirmed the variant has been detected in the UK, making it the fifth such sequence worldwide to be reported, The Guardian reports. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday it is tracking a recently discovered COVID-19 strain, BA.2.86, after a case of the highly mutated variant was discovered in Michigan, CBS News reported. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "Today we are more prepared than ever to detect and respond to changes in the COVID-19 virus. Scientists are working now to understand more about the newly identified lineage in these 4 cases and we will share more information as it becomes available," CDC spokesperson Kathleen Conley said in a statement to CBS News. Experts say reports of BA.2.86 being spotted in countries on multiple continents  Denmark, Israel, the UK and the US  suggest it is at least capable of transmitting widely and could have been spreading undetected for some time, CBS News added. The Guardian report quoted Dr Meera Chand, deputy director at UKHSA, as saying, We are aware that BA.2.86 has been detected in the UK. UKHSA is assessing the situation and will provide further information in due course, Prof Francois Balloux, director of the UCL Genetics Institute, said BA.2.86 was the most striking Covid strain the world has witnessed since the emergence of Omicron, The Guardian said. The most plausible scenario is that the lineage acquired its mutations during a long-term infection in a immunocompromised person over a year ago and then spread back into the community, he said. BA.2.86 has since then probably been circulating in a region of the world with poor viral surveillance, and has now been repeatedly exported to other places in the world, the professor has been quoted as saying by The Guardian. Balloux added that how well the new variant fared relative to other Omicron subvariants would become clearer in the coming weeks. Nothing is known at this stage about its intrinsic transmissibility and virulence, he said.
By AFP

WAD MADANI: Fighting between two rival generals has spread to cities in war-ravaged Sudan's south, witnesses said Friday, raising concerns for hundreds of thousands who have fled violence in the Darfur region.

The vast western region has seen some of the worst bloodshed since the conflict erupted on April 15 between the army under General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

Battles resumed late Thursday in the North Darfur state capital of El Fasher, witnesses said, disrupting nearly two months of calm in the densely populated city that has become a shelter from the shelling, looting, rapes and summary executions reported in other parts of Darfur.

"This is the biggest gathering of civilians displaced in Darfur, with 600,000 people in El Fasher," said Nathaniel Raymond of the Humanitarian Research Lab at the Yale School of Public Health.

One resident told AFP: "As night fell, we heard battles with heavy weapons from the city's east."

Witnesses also reported fighting in Al-Fulah, the capital of West Kordofan state which borders Darfur.

The conflict had already expanded to North Kordofan state, a commercial and transport hub between Khartoum and parts of southern and western Sudan.

'Indiscriminate shelling'

Human rights groups and witnesses who fled Darfur have reported the massacre of civilians and ethnically driven attacks and killings, largely by paramilitary forces and their allied Arab tribal militias.

Many have fled across the western border to neighbouring Chad, while others have sought refuge in other parts of Darfur, where the International Criminal Court is probing alleged war crimes.

The region has been the focus of deadly fighting since 2003 when the then government in Khartoum unleashed the feared Janjaweed -- precursors of the RSF -- on ethnic minority rebels and civilians suspected of supporting them.

On Friday, an armed group that in 2020 signed a peace agreement with Khartoum announced it was aligning with the RSF.

The so-called Tamazuj Front said it aimed "to fight the remnants of the old regime that use the army to reinstate their totalitarian power".

Several figures of former strongman Omar al-Bashir's regime, which was toppled in 2019, have escaped from prison in recent months, with some voicing their support for the army.

Fighting in the latest conflict has concentrated on El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur state, where the UN suspects crimes against humanity have been committed.

Nyala, Sudan's second city and capital of South Darfur state, has been in the throes of recent fighting.

An emergency room set up in the city said Friday that it had been "living under catastrophic humanitarian conditions" as fighting raged for a seventh straight day.

"The clashes have resulted in the death of a large number of defenceless victims... and a countless number of injuries and humanitarian violations with all state hospitals out of service," it added.

The United States on Thursday urged the warring sides "to cease renewed fighting in Nyala... and other populated areas".

"We are particularly alarmed by reports of indiscriminate shelling carried out by both" parties, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.

'Chaos'

Further east, a resident of Al-Fulah said "the RSF are confronting the army and the police, and public buildings have been set on fire during their fire exchanges".

"Shops were looted and there are dead on both sides, but no one can get to the bodies in this chaos," said another witness in Al-Fulah.

The conflict has killed at least 3,900 people nationwide, according to a conservative estimate by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.

The actual toll is believed to be much higher, as the fighting restricts access to many areas.

UN experts voiced particular concern for women and girls caught up in the conflict, denouncing "rape and sexual violence" by RSF fighters.

"Men identified as members of the RSF are using rape and sexual violence of women and girls as tools to punish and terrorise communities," the independent experts said Thursday, citing survivors.

In neighbouring South Sudan, medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said more than 200,000 people, mostly women and children, had arrived from Sudan since the fighting erupted.

Many of them were "exhausted and extremely vulnerable" and require urgent aid, MSF said.

WAD MADANI: Fighting between two rival generals has spread to cities in war-ravaged Sudan's south, witnesses said Friday, raising concerns for hundreds of thousands who have fled violence in the Darfur region. The vast western region has seen some of the worst bloodshed since the conflict erupted on April 15 between the army under General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. Battles resumed late Thursday in the North Darfur state capital of El Fasher, witnesses said, disrupting nearly two months of calm in the densely populated city that has become a shelter from the shelling, looting, rapes and summary executions reported in other parts of Darfur.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "This is the biggest gathering of civilians displaced in Darfur, with 600,000 people in El Fasher," said Nathaniel Raymond of the Humanitarian Research Lab at the Yale School of Public Health. One resident told AFP: "As night fell, we heard battles with heavy weapons from the city's east." Witnesses also reported fighting in Al-Fulah, the capital of West Kordofan state which borders Darfur. The conflict had already expanded to North Kordofan state, a commercial and transport hub between Khartoum and parts of southern and western Sudan. 'Indiscriminate shelling' Human rights groups and witnesses who fled Darfur have reported the massacre of civilians and ethnically driven attacks and killings, largely by paramilitary forces and their allied Arab tribal militias. Many have fled across the western border to neighbouring Chad, while others have sought refuge in other parts of Darfur, where the International Criminal Court is probing alleged war crimes. The region has been the focus of deadly fighting since 2003 when the then government in Khartoum unleashed the feared Janjaweed -- precursors of the RSF -- on ethnic minority rebels and civilians suspected of supporting them. On Friday, an armed group that in 2020 signed a peace agreement with Khartoum announced it was aligning with the RSF. The so-called Tamazuj Front said it aimed "to fight the remnants of the old regime that use the army to reinstate their totalitarian power". Several figures of former strongman Omar al-Bashir's regime, which was toppled in 2019, have escaped from prison in recent months, with some voicing their support for the army. Fighting in the latest conflict has concentrated on El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur state, where the UN suspects crimes against humanity have been committed. Nyala, Sudan's second city and capital of South Darfur state, has been in the throes of recent fighting. An emergency room set up in the city said Friday that it had been "living under catastrophic humanitarian conditions" as fighting raged for a seventh straight day. "The clashes have resulted in the death of a large number of defenceless victims... and a countless number of injuries and humanitarian violations with all state hospitals out of service," it added. The United States on Thursday urged the warring sides "to cease renewed fighting in Nyala... and other populated areas". "We are particularly alarmed by reports of indiscriminate shelling carried out by both" parties, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. 'Chaos' Further east, a resident of Al-Fulah said "the RSF are confronting the army and the police, and public buildings have been set on fire during their fire exchanges". "Shops were looted and there are dead on both sides, but no one can get to the bodies in this chaos," said another witness in Al-Fulah. The conflict has killed at least 3,900 people nationwide, according to a conservative estimate by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project. The actual toll is believed to be much higher, as the fighting restricts access to many areas. UN experts voiced particular concern for women and girls caught up in the conflict, denouncing "rape and sexual violence" by RSF fighters. "Men identified as members of the RSF are using rape and sexual violence of women and girls as tools to punish and terrorise communities," the independent experts said Thursday, citing survivors. In neighbouring South Sudan, medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said more than 200,000 people, mostly women and children, had arrived from Sudan since the fighting erupted. Many of them were "exhausted and extremely vulnerable" and require urgent aid, MSF said.
By PTI

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's jailed former prime minister Imran Khan on Friday said he was ready to endure imprisonment even for 1,000 years and continue to stay incarcerated for his country, according to a media report.

Khan, 70, was sentenced to three years in jail by a sessions court on August 5 for hiding proceeds from the sale of state gifts (Toshakhana).

He is currently incarcerated in Attock Jail in Punjab province.

A division bench, comprising IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, will take up the hearing next Tuesday (August 22).

Speaking to reporters on Friday after meeting Khan in Attock jail, Umiar Niazi, a member of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) chief's legal team, said the former prime minister was in "good health, although he had grown a beard," The Express Tribune newspaper reported.

He [Imran] was provided with a mirror and shaving kit today, the lawyer said.

ALSO READ | Imran Khan: Final Hurrah or Armageddon

Niazi asserted that among a team of six, only he was granted permission to meet Khan.

The lawyer expressed his intention to file a contempt of court petition against the "jailer's conduct" for denying the legal team access to the former premier, despite possessing court orders.

"I do not care about not being given facilities [in jail]. It does not matter even if I am kept in jail for 1,000 years, but I am ready for it because [one has to] make sacrifices for freedom," Niazi quoted Khan as saying.

Khan is facing more than 140 cases across the country and faces charges like terrorism, violence, blasphemy, corruption and murder since his ouster in April 2022.

The lawyer confirmed that the Federal Investigation Agency questioned Khan in Attock jail regarding the cipher (confidential diplomatic cable) issue on Wednesday, during which the former premier reiterated his previous stance.

He said Khan also spoke about the disappearance of his nephew Barrister Hassaan Khan Niazi, the report said.

The Lahore High Court directed authorities to produce Hassaan before the court by August 18 with regard to a plea seeking his recovery and an inquiry against officials over his illegal detention.

Meanwhile, police have informed the Lahore High Court on Friday that Hassaan Niazi, Khan's nephew and his focal person on legal affairs, has been handed over to a military court for trial.

In a police report submitted to the court, Hassaan will be investigated and tried by the military after he was named as the prime suspect in the case pertaining to the Jinnah House attack in Lahore, which was triggered after Khan was arrested in Islamabad on May 9.

The police arrested Hassaan from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

He was later handed over to the Quetta Police and then to the military at the commanding officer's request, Geo News reported.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's jailed former prime minister Imran Khan on Friday said he was ready to endure imprisonment even for 1,000 years and continue to stay incarcerated for his country, according to a media report. Khan, 70, was sentenced to three years in jail by a sessions court on August 5 for hiding proceeds from the sale of state gifts (Toshakhana). He is currently incarcerated in Attock Jail in Punjab province.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); A division bench, comprising IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, will take up the hearing next Tuesday (August 22). Speaking to reporters on Friday after meeting Khan in Attock jail, Umiar Niazi, a member of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) chief's legal team, said the former prime minister was in "good health, although he had grown a beard," The Express Tribune newspaper reported. He [Imran] was provided with a mirror and shaving kit today, the lawyer said. ALSO READ | Imran Khan: Final Hurrah or Armageddon Niazi asserted that among a team of six, only he was granted permission to meet Khan. The lawyer expressed his intention to file a contempt of court petition against the "jailer's conduct" for denying the legal team access to the former premier, despite possessing court orders. "I do not care about not being given facilities [in jail]. It does not matter even if I am kept in jail for 1,000 years, but I am ready for it because [one has to] make sacrifices for freedom," Niazi quoted Khan as saying. Khan is facing more than 140 cases across the country and faces charges like terrorism, violence, blasphemy, corruption and murder since his ouster in April 2022. The lawyer confirmed that the Federal Investigation Agency questioned Khan in Attock jail regarding the cipher (confidential diplomatic cable) issue on Wednesday, during which the former premier reiterated his previous stance. He said Khan also spoke about the disappearance of his nephew Barrister Hassaan Khan Niazi, the report said. The Lahore High Court directed authorities to produce Hassaan before the court by August 18 with regard to a plea seeking his recovery and an inquiry against officials over his illegal detention. Meanwhile, police have informed the Lahore High Court on Friday that Hassaan Niazi, Khan's nephew and his focal person on legal affairs, has been handed over to a military court for trial. In a police report submitted to the court, Hassaan will be investigated and tried by the military after he was named as the prime suspect in the case pertaining to the Jinnah House attack in Lahore, which was triggered after Khan was arrested in Islamabad on May 9. The police arrested Hassaan from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. He was later handed over to the Quetta Police and then to the military at the commanding officer's request, Geo News reported.
By PTI

SINGAPORE: An Indian national has secured a judgement in his favour on a claim of over USD 73,000 from his Singapore employer company after he suffered a fracture in his leg while getting down from the vehicle ferrying him.

It was alleged that the company failed to provide a safe system of alighting from the vehicle that transported Ramalingam Murugan and other workers to their workplace.

In a judgment made available on Thursday, District Judge Tan May Tee ruled in favour of Murugan, with damages to be assessed at a later stage, Channel News Asia reported.

Murugan's lawyer Muhamad Ashraf Syed Ansarai told the channel that his client was seeking about SGD 1,00,000 (USD 73,400) in damages.

The judge ruled that a safe system of work is required even for boarding and alighting from a lorry.

The previous position was that this was a simple task that did not require any safe system of work, said Ansari.

Murugan, 37, was working as a structural steel and ship painter for marine vessel repair company 'Rigel Marine Services' at the time of the accident on January 3, 2021.

At around 7 am that day, Murugan was being transported from his dormitory to the company premises at 11A Joo Yee Road in the back of the 12-foot lorry ferrying 24 workers.

The workers were to alight when they got to the worksite.

They would then be transferred to another lorry and ferried to a work location.

It was raining heavily at the time and the workers were in a hurry to shift to the other lorry so they would be sheltered from the rain, said Murugan.

He was the fourth man to alight from the lorry.

At the time, the tailboard of the vehicle was not lowered, so he used both his hands to hold onto it.

He then used his left leg to step over the tailboard, so he could place it on a foothold on the lorry.

However, Murugan said he was pushed either by a co-worker or co-workers who were waiting to alight.

He lost his balance and fell to the ground.

Upon hitting the ground with full impact, his knee swelled up.

His colleagues carried him to a workshop at the site before he was taken back to his dorm.

He was later taken to a hospital when the pain failed to subside, and it was discovered that he had suffered a fracture in his right leg.

He underwent surgical treatment for the fracture and was on medical leave for about five months.

Murugan sued his company, saying the accident was caused by its negligence or breach of duty.

The company had denied the claims and said Murugan had slipped and fallen as he was making his way down from the lorry.

The company said the accident was caused or contributed by Murugan's own carelessness in failing to watch his footing or step before alighting.

It also counterclaimed the medical expenses and medical leave wages that had been paid to and for Murugan.

Based on the evidence, the judge found that it was "not inconceivable" that Murugan could have been accidentally pushed, with 20 men standing up from their seats on both sides of the lorry and eager to get off.

"As can be seen from the marking on the tailboard, this lorry was not meant to carry more than 22 persons at the time so there appears to have been some overcrowding as well," the Channel quoted the judge as saying.

SINGAPORE: An Indian national has secured a judgement in his favour on a claim of over USD 73,000 from his Singapore employer company after he suffered a fracture in his leg while getting down from the vehicle ferrying him. It was alleged that the company failed to provide a safe system of alighting from the vehicle that transported Ramalingam Murugan and other workers to their workplace. In a judgment made available on Thursday, District Judge Tan May Tee ruled in favour of Murugan, with damages to be assessed at a later stage, Channel News Asia reported.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Murugan's lawyer Muhamad Ashraf Syed Ansarai told the channel that his client was seeking about SGD 1,00,000 (USD 73,400) in damages. The judge ruled that a safe system of work is required even for boarding and alighting from a lorry. The previous position was that this was a simple task that did not require any safe system of work, said Ansari. Murugan, 37, was working as a structural steel and ship painter for marine vessel repair company 'Rigel Marine Services' at the time of the accident on January 3, 2021. At around 7 am that day, Murugan was being transported from his dormitory to the company premises at 11A Joo Yee Road in the back of the 12-foot lorry ferrying 24 workers. The workers were to alight when they got to the worksite. They would then be transferred to another lorry and ferried to a work location. It was raining heavily at the time and the workers were in a hurry to shift to the other lorry so they would be sheltered from the rain, said Murugan. He was the fourth man to alight from the lorry. At the time, the tailboard of the vehicle was not lowered, so he used both his hands to hold onto it. He then used his left leg to step over the tailboard, so he could place it on a foothold on the lorry. However, Murugan said he was pushed either by a co-worker or co-workers who were waiting to alight. He lost his balance and fell to the ground. Upon hitting the ground with full impact, his knee swelled up. His colleagues carried him to a workshop at the site before he was taken back to his dorm. He was later taken to a hospital when the pain failed to subside, and it was discovered that he had suffered a fracture in his right leg. He underwent surgical treatment for the fracture and was on medical leave for about five months. Murugan sued his company, saying the accident was caused by its negligence or breach of duty. The company had denied the claims and said Murugan had slipped and fallen as he was making his way down from the lorry. The company said the accident was caused or contributed by Murugan's own carelessness in failing to watch his footing or step before alighting. It also counterclaimed the medical expenses and medical leave wages that had been paid to and for Murugan. Based on the evidence, the judge found that it was "not inconceivable" that Murugan could have been accidentally pushed, with 20 men standing up from their seats on both sides of the lorry and eager to get off. "As can be seen from the marking on the tailboard, this lorry was not meant to carry more than 22 persons at the time so there appears to have been some overcrowding as well," the Channel quoted the judge as saying.
By AFP

VILNIUS: Lithuania on Friday closed two of its six border checkpoints with Belarus in a move it announced earlier this month citing the security risk posed by Russia's Wagner mercenary group.

"Both Sumsko and Tvereciaus border checkpoints were shut at midnight," the spokeswoman of the border guard service Lina Laurinaityte-Grigiene told AFP.

Officers laid road spikes at the closed checkpoints and will proceed to erect fences with barbed wire in the area on Friday, she added.

Lithuania, a member of NATO's eastern flank, responded to escalating tensions between the neighbours, with Vilnius warning of a provocations threat by Minsk.

But the officials in Vilnius said the decision will also help control smuggling, as the remaining four border checkpoints have the X-ray systems to detect illegally transported goods, mainly cigarettes.

The decision is also meant to curb travelling across the border for shopping or family visits.

In the first half of 2023, Lithuanian citizens crossed the border with Belarus 230,000 times.

Starting from 08/18, there will be a temporary suspension of operations at 2 out of 6 border checkpoints with

VILNIUS: Lithuania on Friday closed two of its six border checkpoints with Belarus in a move it announced earlier this month citing the security risk posed by Russia's Wagner mercenary group. "Both Sumsko and Tvereciaus border checkpoints were shut at midnight," the spokeswoman of the border guard service Lina Laurinaityte-Grigiene told AFP. Officers laid road spikes at the closed checkpoints and will proceed to erect fences with barbed wire in the area on Friday, she added.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Lithuania, a member of NATO's eastern flank, responded to escalating tensions between the neighbours, with Vilnius warning of a provocations threat by Minsk. But the officials in Vilnius said the decision will also help control smuggling, as the remaining four border checkpoints have the X-ray systems to detect illegally transported goods, mainly cigarettes. The decision is also meant to curb travelling across the border for shopping or family visits. In the first half of 2023, Lithuanian citizens crossed the border with Belarus 230,000 times. Starting from 08/18, there will be a temporary suspension of operations at 2 out of 6 border checkpoints with
By PTI

WASHINGTON: A US court has denied the writ of habeas corpus filed by Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana, paving the way for US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to issue a certification for him to be extradited to India where he is sought for his involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

In a major victory for India's fight in bringing the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks to justice, a US court approved 62-year-old Rana's extradition to India in May.

In June this year, Rana, who is currently detained at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Los Angeles, filed a "writ of habeas corpus" challenging the court order that acceded to the request of the US government that the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks accused be extradited to India.

"The court has denied Tahawwur Rana's petition for writ of habeas corpus by a separate order," Judge Dale S Fischer, United States District Judge, Central District of California, wrote in his order on August 10.

However, Rana has filed an appeal against the order and sought a stay on his extradition to India till the time his appeal in the Ninth Circuit Court is heard.

Rana faces charges for his role in the Mumbai attacks and is known to be associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.

Judge Fischer in his order said Rana has only made two basic arguments in the writ.

First, he claims that, pursuant to the treaty, he cannot be extradited because India plans to prosecute him for the same acts for which he was charged and acquitted in a United States court.

Second, he argues that the government has not established that there is probable cause to believe that Rana committed the Indian offences for which he is expected to stand trial, the judge said.

He denied both arguments of Rana.

"Given that, even if (David) Headley's testimony were the entire basis for the probable cause finding, it would be sufficient for the purposes of habeas review because it constitutes some competent evidence supporting the finding. For the reasons stated above, Rana's petition for a writ of habeas corpus is denied," the judge wrote.

Following Judge Fischer's order, Patrick Blegen and John D Cline, Rana's two attorneys filed an appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from the Order entered on August 10, 2023, for denying his petition for writ of habeas corpus.

In a separate appeal, Blegen has filed a petition "for a stay of extradition pending his appeal" to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from the court's order denying his petition for a writ of habeas corpus.

"As set forth in the accompanying memorandum, petitioner submits that a stay of extradition pending appeal is appropriate because he has made a strong showing that he is likely to succeed on the merits of his non-bis in idem claim; he will suffer irreparable harm if he is extradited, potentially including the death penalty; a stay pending appeal will not substantially injure the government; and the public interest favours a full review of Rana's non-bis claim before he is sent to a country that seeks to execute him," Rana's attorney wrote on August 14.

In June, the Biden administration urged the court to deny the writ of habeas corpus filed by Rana.

"The United States respectfully requests that the court deny Rana's petition for a writ of habeas corpus," said E Martin Estrada, US attorney for the Central District of California, in his petition filed before the US District Court for the Central District of California.

India filed a complaint on June 10, 2020, seeking the provisional arrest of Rana with a view towards extradition.

The Biden administration supported and approved his extradition to India.

Filing the writ of habeas corpus through his attorney, Rana challenged his extradition by the government of India.

Rana's extradition would violate the United States-India extradition treaty in two respects, his attorney argued.

First, Rana has been tried and acquitted in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois for charges based on the identical conduct for which India seeks to prosecute him.

He argued that extradition is, therefore, barred under Article 6(1) of the Treaty, which declares that "extradition shall not be granted when the person sought has been convicted or acquitted in the Requested State for the offence for which extradition is requested."

Second, the material submitted by the Government of India - consisting principally of transcripts and exhibits from Rana's trial in the Northern District of Illinois - fails to establish probable cause that he committed the offences for which India has charged him.

The Indian government's extradition request thus fails to satisfy Article 9.3(c) of the Treaty, the attorney said, adding the court should grant the writ of habeas corpus, deny extradition and order Rana's release.

However, the US government has said that Rana be extradited to India.

In his submission to the US Court on June 23, the US attorney argued that Rana's claims about the legitimacy of his business in Mumbai fall flat.

The evidence does not support Rana's assertion that the Mumbai office conducted legitimate business, but even if it did, the engagement of legitimate business activities does not preclude a finding that Rana's business also served as a cover for Headley's terrorism-related activities in Mumbai.

"Rana's claims about who funded the Mumbai office also do not relate to whether Rana lacked knowledge of and support for Headley's activities. Similarly, even if Rana hoped to continue business operations in Mumbai, the evidence reveals that neither Rana nor Headley renewed the business lease that expired approximately two weeks before the start of the Mumbai attacks," Estrada argued.

India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) is probing Rana's role in the 26/11 attacks carried out by terrorists of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group.

The NIA has said that it is ready to initiate proceedings to bring him to India through diplomatic channels.

A total of 166 people, including six Americans, were killed in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in which 10 Pakistani terrorists laid a more than 60-hour siege, attacking and killing people at iconic and vital locations of Mumbai.

WASHINGTON: A US court has denied the writ of habeas corpus filed by Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana, paving the way for US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to issue a certification for him to be extradited to India where he is sought for his involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. In a major victory for India's fight in bringing the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks to justice, a US court approved 62-year-old Rana's extradition to India in May. In June this year, Rana, who is currently detained at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Los Angeles, filed a "writ of habeas corpus" challenging the court order that acceded to the request of the US government that the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks accused be extradited to India.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "The court has denied Tahawwur Rana's petition for writ of habeas corpus by a separate order," Judge Dale S Fischer, United States District Judge, Central District of California, wrote in his order on August 10. However, Rana has filed an appeal against the order and sought a stay on his extradition to India till the time his appeal in the Ninth Circuit Court is heard. Rana faces charges for his role in the Mumbai attacks and is known to be associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Judge Fischer in his order said Rana has only made two basic arguments in the writ. First, he claims that, pursuant to the treaty, he cannot be extradited because India plans to prosecute him for the same acts for which he was charged and acquitted in a United States court. Second, he argues that the government has not established that there is probable cause to believe that Rana committed the Indian offences for which he is expected to stand trial, the judge said. He denied both arguments of Rana. "Given that, even if (David) Headley's testimony were the entire basis for the probable cause finding, it would be sufficient for the purposes of habeas review because it constitutes some competent evidence supporting the finding. For the reasons stated above, Rana's petition for a writ of habeas corpus is denied," the judge wrote. Following Judge Fischer's order, Patrick Blegen and John D Cline, Rana's two attorneys filed an appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from the Order entered on August 10, 2023, for denying his petition for writ of habeas corpus. In a separate appeal, Blegen has filed a petition "for a stay of extradition pending his appeal" to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from the court's order denying his petition for a writ of habeas corpus. "As set forth in the accompanying memorandum, petitioner submits that a stay of extradition pending appeal is appropriate because he has made a strong showing that he is likely to succeed on the merits of his non-bis in idem claim; he will suffer irreparable harm if he is extradited, potentially including the death penalty; a stay pending appeal will not substantially injure the government; and the public interest favours a full review of Rana's non-bis claim before he is sent to a country that seeks to execute him," Rana's attorney wrote on August 14. In June, the Biden administration urged the court to deny the writ of habeas corpus filed by Rana. "The United States respectfully requests that the court deny Rana's petition for a writ of habeas corpus," said E Martin Estrada, US attorney for the Central District of California, in his petition filed before the US District Court for the Central District of California. India filed a complaint on June 10, 2020, seeking the provisional arrest of Rana with a view towards extradition. The Biden administration supported and approved his extradition to India. Filing the writ of habeas corpus through his attorney, Rana challenged his extradition by the government of India. Rana's extradition would violate the United States-India extradition treaty in two respects, his attorney argued. First, Rana has been tried and acquitted in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois for charges based on the identical conduct for which India seeks to prosecute him. He argued that extradition is, therefore, barred under Article 6(1) of the Treaty, which declares that "extradition shall not be granted when the person sought has been convicted or acquitted in the Requested State for the offence for which extradition is requested." Second, the material submitted by the Government of India - consisting principally of transcripts and exhibits from Rana's trial in the Northern District of Illinois - fails to establish probable cause that he committed the offences for which India has charged him. The Indian government's extradition request thus fails to satisfy Article 9.3(c) of the Treaty, the attorney said, adding the court should grant the writ of habeas corpus, deny extradition and order Rana's release. However, the US government has said that Rana be extradited to India. In his submission to the US Court on June 23, the US attorney argued that Rana's claims about the legitimacy of his business in Mumbai fall flat. The evidence does not support Rana's assertion that the Mumbai office conducted legitimate business, but even if it did, the engagement of legitimate business activities does not preclude a finding that Rana's business also served as a cover for Headley's terrorism-related activities in Mumbai. "Rana's claims about who funded the Mumbai office also do not relate to whether Rana lacked knowledge of and support for Headley's activities. Similarly, even if Rana hoped to continue business operations in Mumbai, the evidence reveals that neither Rana nor Headley renewed the business lease that expired approximately two weeks before the start of the Mumbai attacks," Estrada argued. India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) is probing Rana's role in the 26/11 attacks carried out by terrorists of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group. The NIA has said that it is ready to initiate proceedings to bring him to India through diplomatic channels. A total of 166 people, including six Americans, were killed in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in which 10 Pakistani terrorists laid a more than 60-hour siege, attacking and killing people at iconic and vital locations of Mumbai.
STEPANAKERT, AUGUST 18, ARMENPRESS. The International Committee of the Red Cross facilitated the evacuation of 11 patients from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia for treatment, the Ministry of Healthcare of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) said on Friday.

The patients were accompanied by their attendants.

The ICRC plans to transport 9 other patients, who completed treatment in Armenia, together with their attendants back to Nagorno-Karabakh on Friday.

27 children are hospitalized at Arevik clinic. 8 of them are in neonatal and intensive care.

82 patients are hospitalized in the Republican Medical Center of Stepanakert. 4 are in intensive care (2 are critically ill).

Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia and the rest of the world, has been blocked by Azerbaijan since late 2022. The Azerbaijani blockade constitutes a gross violation of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement, which established that the 5km-wide Lachin Corridor shall be under the control of Russian peacekeepers. Furthermore, on February 22, 2023 the United Nations highest court  the International Court of Justice (ICJ) - ordered Azerbaijan to take all steps at its disposal to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions. Azerbaijan has been ignoring the order ever since. The ICJ reaffirmed its order on 6 July 2023.

Azerbaijan then illegally installed a checkpoint on Lachin Corridor. The blockade has led to shortages of essential products such as food and medication. Azerbaijan has also cut off gas and power supply into Nagorno Karabakh, with officials warning that Baku seeks to commit ethnic cleansing against Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. Hospitals have suspended normal operations. Recently a 40-year-old man died of starvation and a pregnant woman suffered miscarriage as a result of the blockade.
President launches 'My Bengal, Addiction Free Bengal' campaign in Kolkata

The campaign aims to address the issue of drug abuse in society and the country.In her speech at Raj Bhavan, the President expressed concern over the impact of drug abuse on youth and their ability to choose the right direction in life.To address the drug abuse issue, she emphasised the need for a multi-faceted approach which includes medication, social solidarity and political will.The President also praised organisations like Brahma Kumaris for their efforts in discussing and working to solve the drug abuse issue in the society.Speaking on the occasion, the President said that drug abuse is a matter of concern for society and the country. "Due to these addictions, youth are not able to choose the right direction in their lives. This is very worrying, and there is a need to work on all fronts in this matter," she stated according to a press release issued by Rashtrapati Bhavan."The President said that any kind of addiction develops due to mental stress and peer pressure. Addiction is harmful to health. Many other disorders also arise from addiction. Family and friends of drug addicts also suffer a lot of trouble. She urged all youth to bring into the notice of the family of any addicted friend about the addiction," it stated."The President urged the people who consume drugs to not ruin their life. She said that if they are under any kind of stress, they should talk to their friends, family or any social organization. There is no problem that they cannot face with their willpower. She stated that anti-social elements take advantage of drug usage and addiction. The money spent in buying drugs is also used in criminal activities. She expressed confidence that addicted people would come out of this bad habit for their own good and in the interest of the society and the country," the release further stated.The President said, "Youth are our most important assets. The time and energy that they should spend on strengthening the foundation of their future, is being wasted because of addiction. Educational institutions should find out whether the students are going in the wrong direction. If something comes to the fore, action should be taken immediately."(ANI | Posted on 17 August 2023, 1692627937 172O70O243O13)
Dulquer Salmaan on working in remakes: 'Classics should be left untouched'

Dulquer started his career as a business manager at a construction company in Dubai. However, his love for cinema and acting, made him leave the job and follow in his father's footsteps.During a live show on Roposo, which is the creator-driven live platform, when Dulquer was asked about his biggest inspiration, he revealed, "My father, Mammootty, is my greatest inspiration in the film industry."He further added that his father was the one who supported him when he decided to shift his career from being a business manager to being an actor.However, when he was asked if he would work in any remake of his father's film, he left everyone surprised with his answer. In a day and age when remakes and recreations of songs and movies are a trend, Dulquer said "None! I don't believe in remakes actually. I feel that classics should be left untouched. In fact, music, as well as movies, shouldn't be remade."Furthermore, he also spoke about his upcoming series 'Guns & Gulaabs', as well as his fan-boy moment with Deepika Padukone, how he celebrates Valentine's Day with his wife, daughter, and mother, among many other such exciting revelations during his live show on Roposo.'Guns & Gulaabs' is a captivating narrative of 'firsts', set in the early '90s in the unpredictable and precarious town called Gulaabganj. The series is an ode to Bollywood in the nineties, bringing back the charms of the decade.On the work front, Dulquer will be seen in Raj & DK's 'Guns & Gulaabs'.Set against the backdrop of comedic power struggles and revenge plots, the series blends genres as it follows a lovestruck mechanic, a reluctant heir to a ruling gang and an honest officer-turned-agent-of-chaos. It will premiere on August 18 on Netflix.He will also be next seen in the action-thriller 'King of Kotha'.It is the directorial debut of Abhilash Joshiy. It also stars Shabeer Kallarakkal, Prasanna, Gokul Suresh, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Nyla Usha, Chemban Vinod Jose, Shammi Thilakan, Saran and Anikha Surendran.(IANS | Posted on 17 August 2023, 1692627937 172O70O251O186)
STEPANAKERT, AUGUST 18, ARMENPRESS. Nagorno-Karabakh is most eager to achieve a comprehensive settlement to conflict with Azerbaijan through peaceful negotiations, the Nagorno-Karabakh Foreign Minister Sergey Ghazaryan has said.

We must note a few important facts here, Ghazaryan said when asked how direct talks between Stepanakert and Baku could be organized. Firstly, such talks must proceed as part of an international format, which would allow the parties involved to see that the negotiations are proceeding in line with norms and requirements of international law. Secondly, clear guarantees must be stipulated that the parties shall implement their obligations, given that we have the 9 November document which includes the signature of Azerbaijans President, which doesnt function, Ghazaryan said.

He said that he received an offer to meet with Azeri representatives in a third country planned for early August, but Azerbaijan cancelled its participation.

Another offer was made to meet in Yevlakh. We received a proposal to meet in Yevlakh. But as you know, our countryman, Vagif Khachatryan, was kidnapped by the Azerbaijani forces while being transported by the ICRC to Armenia. In this logic, any meeting, especially without international mediators and the presence of a third party, in Azerbaijani territory, is impossible. Let me add that the Nagorno-Karabakh side is regularly conveying through the Russian peacekeepers proposals to hold meetings, which are ignored by Azerbaijan. The latest such meeting took place on March 1, when technical and humanitarian issues were discussed, but the Azerbaijani side attempted to distort the content of that meeting, and on March 5 we saw the Azerbaijani sides raid, when three police officers were killed and one was wounded, the foreign minister of Artsakh said.
Crime cases less in Bihar than other states, says Nitish Kumar

"The crime incidents are under control and the numbers of crimes are reducing. Look at the figures of crime incidents in Bihar it is much lower than the other states. They (BJP leaders) are unnecessarily creating hype around the crime rates of Bihar," Kumar said.The Chief Minister's statement came in backdrop of killing of a sub-inspector rank officer by the cattle smugglers in Samastipur on August 15 while a bomb was also lobbed inside the Regent cinema hall premises on Thursday morning.Meanwhile, leaders like Samrat Chaudhary, Vijay Kumar Sinha, Sanjay Jaiswal and others claimed that the criminals, sand mafias, liquor mafias and land grabbers are ruling the state."The situation in Bihar is worse than Pakistan. If Bihar Police would take action against the cattle smugglers, they would receive only dead bodies of police officers or common people," Jaiswal said.(IANS | Posted on 17 August 2023, 1692627938 162O158O110O211)
India has always been at forefront of healthcare innovation: Mansukh Mandaviya

He said India has always been at the forefront of healthcare innovation.Lauding Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of achieving Universal Health Coverage by imbibing the notions of Sarvodaya and Antyodaya, the Health Minister stated that India has made significant contributions to health globally and has made a lot of progress in primary and digital healthcare."Through these portals, we are offering a tangible solution to some of the most, pressing challenges in healthcare today," he said."The launch of these two portals is not just a milestone for India, but a significant step towards fulfilling our global responsibilities. India has always been at the forefront of healthcare innovation," he said.WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was among those present.WHO's first-ever Global Summit on Traditional Medicine was inaugurated as part of the G20 Health Minister's Meeting in Gandhinagar on Thursday.Elaborating on the Indian health system, Mandaviya said India today is supported by a workforce of 1.3 million Allopathic doctors, 8,00,000 AYUSH doctors and 3.4 million nurses, auxiliary nurses and midwives."Through this highly qualified and skilful workforce, India plans to contribute to an organised system of workforce mobility, wherein India's healthcare professionals travel to different parts of the world, to serve the global community,' he said.Reiterating that health is perceived as a service in India, he highlighted that nation aspires to create a people-centric, value-based system of healthcare.Mandaviya emphasized that medical value travel will enable greater knowledge-sharing, sustainable partnerships and increased synergies, contributing to building a stronger global health architecture, according to an official release."We strive to build a more inclusive and equitable world where healthcare knows no boundaries and where skilled healthcare professionals can make a difference wherever they are. Our collective efforts will be towards creating a healthcare ecosystem that embraces the voice of every nation, every citizen and every being," he said.Speaking on the occasion, AYUSH Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said India's G20 Presidency 'One Earth, One Family, One Future' incorporates Medical Value Travel and health workforce mobility as an important facet to build resilient global healthcare systems."The preventive and promotive approach of our traditional health care systems has played a significant role in the modern age today, particularly when global health was afflicted in recent times."He underscored the importance of implementing harmonized and coordinated strategies of traditional medicine through effective governance at international, regional, and national levels.Minister of State for Health Bharti Pravin Pawar said the concept of health needs a holistic approach and India has the unique advantage of offering traditional healthcare therapies or AYUSH treatments to medical value travellers from across the globe."Integration of traditional medicine and modern medicine is an essential aspect of achieving affordable and accessible healthcare for all, especially in remote areas," she said.WHO chief said that Medical Value Travel can serve to complement countries in building their national capacities. Leveraging Medical Value Travel, countries can offer specialized resources and services that may not be available, affordable or accessible in other parts of the world.He further added Digital Health is a great asset as it enables patients to access medical healthcare services via telemedicine at platforms such as Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres.Digital Health bridges the gap of affordability rendering medical care to the innermost areas and to those patients who may not be able to afford the services.The Union Minister also held bilateral meetings with European Union, Germany and Saudi Arabia. The bilateral meetings provided an opportunity to reflect on areas of collaboration and shared priorities in pursuit of a healthier tomorrow, the release said.The bilateral meeting with the European Union focused on exploring areas of collaboration in fortifying healthcare systems and enhancing capacities for disease surveillance and capacity building with a particular focus on Ayurveda Telemedicine, clinical trials and research in India for EU-based pharmaceutical companies, Medical Value Travel, and potential joint collaborative ventures in medical education and research.(ANI | Posted on 18 August 2023, 1692627938 172O70O242O75)
Cincinnati Masters: Coco Gauff rolls past Mayar Sherif, reaches third roundA

A first-round bye put Gauff into Round 2, and just 80 minutes on the court against Sherif put her into the last 16 at the tournament for the first time in her fourth main-draw appearance.Following a service break exchange between Gauff and Sherif to begin the match, the American denied the Egyptian three points to hold for 2-2 and was off and running from there. Gauff went on to win the next three games of the match, saving two break opportunities in the first game of the second set.Gauff will face Czech Linda Noskova, who stunned ninth-seeded compatriot Petra Kvitova in three sets to move to the third round.The two earlier met last spring at Indian Wells, when Gauff triumphed 6-4, 6-3. Gauff is 3-0 in career matches against players younger than her.It will be the first WTA 1000 round of 16 meeting between two teens since Caroline Wozniacki took on Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in Miami in 2010.Elsewhere, Zheng Qinwen rallied for a 1-6, 6-2, 6-1 victory at the Western and Southern Open against seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams.The first set of the match saw some vintage Williams moments. The seven-time Grand Slam champion was razor-sharp, hitting her trademark low and deep groundstrokes. She saved the lone break point against her serve and twice broke Zheng, who committed seven double faults. She wrapped up the set with another unreturnable serve.But Williams failed to keep the dominant performance in the second set as Zheng regained her composure and delivered a similarly powerful performance in the second. Williams lost the next six games after leading 2-0. While Venus had nine winners and just two unforced errors in the first frame, she only had five winners and 19 unforced errors in the second.The third set was all Zheng, as Williams appeared to tyre. Zheng won 29 of the 44 points in that set.(ANI | Posted on 18 August 2023, 1692627938 172O70O247O119)
YEREVAN, AUGUST 18, ARMENPRESS. NovAir airlines will launch Yerevan-Kapan passenger flights on the occasion of Kapan Day, on August 19, the Civil Aviation Committee announced Friday.

The airline will use a Let L-410 Turbolet aircraft to operate the roundtrip flights.

"The Kapan airport served more than 10 flights every day operated with Yak-40 planes in Soviet years. Back then, the flight approach, landing and climb [airways] partly passed through the airspace of Soviet Azerbaijan. However, since the reopening of the Syunik airport in Kapan, new modern airways were introduced, according to which the approach, climb and landing are carried out exclusively in Armenian airspace. According to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, every state has complete sovereignty over its airspace and the flights carried out in the given states territory are not subject to coordination with neighboring states. Information on flights that are carried out on the borderline of two countries is provided to the neighboring state as a notice, which the aviation authorities of the Republic of Armenia have been doing so far. The Republic of Armenia acts in line with the concept of sovereignty and international laws on civil aviation, which every member of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is bound to strictly adhere to, the Civil Aviation Committee said.

Shots were fired on August 18 from the territory of Azerbaijan in the direction of the "Syunik" airport in Kapan, the National Security Service of Armenia (NSS) said in a statement Friday.

The shooting happened hours after a plane carrying Prime Minister Pashinyan landed in Kapan on August 17.
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Rick Manner, executive director of the Urbana and Champaign Sanitary District, said the source of the current smell is the pretreatment system at the Kraft Heinz plant at 1701 W. Bradley Ave., C.
An airline pilot died after collapsing in the bathroom of a Miami to Chile flight with 271 passengers aboard.

Captain Ivan Andaur began feeling unwell three hours into the LATAM Airlines flight from Florida to Santiago and after collapsing in the bathroom he received emergency treatment from the crew, reported Simple Flying.

The flight took thirty minutes to divert to Panama Citys Tocumen International Airport and first responders declared Andaur, a 25-year veteran pilot, dead when the plane landed.

The LA505 flight, which was operating a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, left Miami at 10.11pm on Monday 14 August and also had a relief captain and first officer onboard when the incident took place.

LATAM Airlines Group reports that flight LA505 yesterday, which was on the Miami-Santiago route, had to land at the Tocumen International Airport in Panama due to a medical emergency for one of the three members of the command crew. When the plane landed, emergency services provided life-saving help, but the pilot sadly passed away, the airline said in a statement.

We are deeply moved by what has happened, and we extend our sincere condolences to the family of our employee. We are deeply grateful for his 25-year career and his valuable contribution, which was always distinguished by his dedication, professionalism, and dedication. During the flight, all the necessary safety protocols were carried out to safeguard the life of the affected pilot.

Following the incident, the flight left Panama City on Tuesday and continued on to Chile.
The AI model was more efficient at detecting signatures of atrial septal defect (ASD) in electrocardiograms (ECG) than traditional methods.

Investigators from Brigham and Women's Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system, and Keio University in Japan have developed a deep learning artificial intelligence model to screen electrocardiogram (ECG) for signs of atrial septal defects (ASD). This condition can cause heart failure and is underreported due to a lack of symptoms before irreversible complications arise. Their results are published in eClinicalMedicine.

"If we can deploy our model on a population-level ECG screening, we would be able to pick up many more of these patients before they have irreversible damage," said Shinichi Goto, MD, PhD, corresponding author on the paper and instructor in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

ASD is a common adult congenital heart disease. It is caused by a hole in the heart's septum that lets blood flow between the left and right atriums. It's diagnosed in about 0.1% to 0.2% of the population but is likely underreported, Goto said. The symptoms of ASD are typically very mild or, in many cases, nonexistent until later in life. Symptoms include an inability to do strenuous exercise, affect the rate or rhythm of the heartbeat, heart palpitations, and an increased risk of pneumonia.

Even if ASD isn't causing symptoms, it can stress the heart and increase the risk of atrial fibrillation, stroke, heart failure, and pulmonary hypertension. At that point, the complications of ASD are irreversible, even if the defect is fixed later. If found early, ASD can be corrected with minimally invasive surgery to improve life expectancy and reduce complications.

There are several ways to detect ASD. First, the largest defects can be found by listening to the heart with a stethoscope. But only about 30% of patients can be discovered this way. Another is by echocardiogram, a time and labor-intensive test that is not a good option for screening. Another test, electrocardiography, or ECG, takes only about a minute, making it possible to use as a screening tool. However, when humans analyze an ECG readout for known abnormalities associated with ASD, there is limited sensitivity for picking up ASD.

To see if an AI model could better detect ASD from ECG readouts, the study team fed a deep learning model ECG data from 80,947 patients over 18 who underwent both ECG and echocardiogram to detect ASD. A total of 857 patients were diagnosed with ASD. The data was collected from three hospitals: two large teaching institutions -; one, BWH, in the US and the other, Keio University in Japan, and Dokkyo Medical University, Saitama Medical Center in Japan, a community hospital. The model was then tested using scans from Dokkyo, which has a more general population and isn't specifically screening patients for ASD. The model was more sensitive than using known abnormalities found on ECGs to screen for ASD. The model correctly detected ASD 93.7% of the time, while using known abnormalities found ASD 80.6% of the time.

"It picked up much more than what an expert does using known abnormalities to identify cases of ASD," Goto said. One limitation of the study is that the model was trained used samples from academic institutions, which deal more with rare diseases like ASD. All the patients used to train the model were being screened for ASD and received an echocardiogram, so it is not clear how well the model would work on a general population, which is why they tested it in Dokkyo. "The model's performance was retained even in the community hospital's general population, which suggests that the model generalizes well."

The authors also note that even the use of echocardiogram to detect ASD will not find every defect. Some could slip through both the regular screening and the AI model, though these smaller defects are less likely to require surgical closure. "The problem of machine learning is that it's a black box -; we don't really know what features it picked up," Goto said. That means we can't learn what features to look for in ECGs from the model, either.

Results suggest that the technology could be used in population-level screening to detect ASD before it leads to irreversible heart damage. ECG is relatively low cost and currently performed in many contexts. "Perhaps this screening could be integrated into an annual PCP appointment or used to screen ECGs taken for other reasons," Goto said.
The National Institutes of Health has awarded $24 million in first-year funding to establish Maternal Health Research Centers of Excellence. Part of NIH's Implementing a Maternal health and PRegnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone (IMPROVE) initiative, the centers will develop and evaluate innovative approaches to reduce pregnancy-related complications and deaths and promote maternal health equity. The grants are expected to last seven years and total an estimated $168 million, pending the availability of funds.

Compared to other high-income countries, the United States has a high rate of maternal deaths, with more than 1,200 such deaths occurring in 2021, the most recent year for which data are available. Each year tens of thousands more Americans experience severe pregnancy-related complications, which can raise the risk of future health concerns, including high blood pressure, diabetes and mental health conditions. There are stark disparities in these maternal health outcomes by racial and ethnic group, age, education, socioeconomic status and geographic region.

"The magnitude and persistence of maternal health disparities in the United States underscore the need for research to identify evidence-based solutions to promote health equity and improve outcomes nationwide," says Diana W. Bianchi, M.D., director of NIH's Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). "Through collaborations with community partners and others, the Maternal Health Research Centers of Excellence will generate critical scientific evidence to help guide clinical care and reduce health disparities during and after pregnancy."

NICHD, the NIH Office of Research on Women's Health and the National Institute of Nursing Research co-lead the IMPROVE initiative, with involvement from several other components at NIH.

The centers of excellence include 10 research centers, a data innovation and coordinating hub and an implementation science hub. Together, these institutions will work to design and implement research projects to address the biological, behavioral, environmental, sociocultural and structural factors that affect pregnancy-related complications and deaths. They will focus on populations that experience health disparities, including racial and ethnic minorities, socioeconomically disadvantaged populations, those living in underserved rural areas, sexual and gender minority populations and people with disabilities.

Research centers will partner with community collaborators, such as state and local public health agencies, community health centers and faith-based organizations. Additionally, the research centers will support training and professional development of maternal health researchers, including those from backgrounds underrepresented in the biomedical research workforce.

Funding for the centers was awarded after a competitive peer review process. The following institutions, listed alphabetically along with project name and contact principal investigator, will participate as research centers:

Avera McKennan Hospital, Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Maternal American-Indian Rural Community Health (MARCH). Principal investigator: Amy J. Elliott, Ph.D.

Columbia University, New York City. NY Community-Hospital-Academic Maternal Health Equity Partnerships (NY-CHAMP). Principal investigator: Uma Reddy, M.D.

Jackson State University, Jackson, Mississippi. Delta Mississippi Center of Excellence in Maternal Health. Principal investigator: Mary D. Shaw, Ph.D.

Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Addressing Key Social-Structural Risk Factors for Racial Disparities in Maternal Morbidity in Southeastern Wisconsin (ASCEND WI). Principal investigator: Anna Palatnik, M.D.

Michigan State University, East Lansing. Maternal Health Multilevel Intervention/s for Racial Equity (MIRACLE) Center. Principal investigator: Cristian Ioan Meghea, Ph.D.

Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia. Center to Advance Reproductive Justice and Behavioral Health among Black Pregnant/Postpartum Women and Birthing People (CORAL). Principal investigator: Natalie Dolores Hernandez, Ph.D.

Stanford University, Stanford, California. Stanford PRIHSM: Preventing Inequities in Hemorrhage-related Severe Maternal Morbidity. Principal investigator: Yasser Y. El-Sayed, M.D.

Tulane University, New Orleans. Southern Center for Maternal Health Equity. Principal investigator: Emily Wheeler Harville, Ph.D.

University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City. Center for American Indian/Alaska Native Resilience, Culture, and Maternal Health Equity. Principal investigator: Karina M. Shreffler, Ph.D.

University of Utah, Salt Lake City. ELEVATE Center: Reduction of Maternal Morbidity from Substance Use Disorder in Utah. Principal investigator: Torri D. Metz, M.D.

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, will serve as the data innovation and coordinating hub. Led by principal investigator Andreea Creanga, M.D., Ph.D., this hub will support data collection, ensure high data quality and provide data science expertise. The University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, will serve as the implementation science hub. Under the direction of principal investigator Meghan Brooks Lane-Fall, M.D., this hub will help to promote the integration of research findings and evidence into public health, clinical practice and community settings.
America's pharmaceutical giants are suing this summer to block the federal government's first effort at drug price regulation.

Last year's Inflation Reduction Act included what on its face seems a modest proposal: The federal government would for the first time be empowered to negotiate prices Medicare pays for drugs  but only for 10 very expensive medicines beginning in 2026 (an additional 15 in 2027 and 2028, with more added in later years). Another provision would require manufacturers to pay rebates to Medicare for drug prices that increased faster than inflation.

Those provisions alone could reduce the federal deficit by $237 billion over 10 years, the Congressional Budget Office has calculated. That enormous savings would come from tamping down drug prices, which are costing an average of 3.44 times  sometimes 10 times  what the same brand-name drugs cost in other developed countries, where governments already negotiate prices.

These small steps were an attempt to rein in the only significant type of Medicare health spending  the cost of prescription drugs  that has not been controlled or limited by the government. But they were a call to arms for the pharmaceutical industry in a battle it assumed it had won: When Congress passed the Medicare prescription drug coverage benefit (Part D) in 2003, intense industry lobbying resulted in a last-minute insertion prohibiting Medicare from negotiating those prices.

Without any guardrails, prices for some existing drugs have soared, even as they have fallen sharply in other countries. New drugs  some with minimal benefit  have enormous price tags, buttressed by lobbying and marketing.

AZT, the first drug to successfully treat HIV/AIDS, was labeled "the most expensive drug in history" in the late 1980s. Its $8,000-a-year cost was derided as "inhuman" in a New York Times op-ed. Now, scores of drugs, many with much less benefit, cost more than $50,000 a year. Ten drugs, mostly used to treat rare diseases, cost over $700,000 annually.

Pharmaceutical manufacturers say high U.S. prices support research and development and point out that Americans tend to get new treatments first. But recent research has shown that the price of a drug is related neither to the amount of research and development required to bring it to market nor its therapeutic value.

And selling drugs first in the U.S. is a good business strategy. By introducing a drug in a developed country with limited scrutiny on price, manufacturers can set the bar high for negotiating with other nations.

Here are just a few of the many examples of drug pricing practices that have driven consumers to demand change.

Exhibit A is Humira, the best-selling drug in history, earning AbbVie $200 billion over two decades. Effective in the treatment of various autoimmune diseases, its core patent  the one on the biologic itself  expired in 2016. But for business purposes, the "controlling patent," the last to expire, is far more important since it allows an ongoing monopoly.

AbbVie blanketed Humira with 165 peripheral patents, covering things like a manufacturing step or slightly new formulation, creating a so-called patent thicket, making it challenging for generics makers to make lower-cost copycats. (When they threatened to do so, AbbVie often offered them valuable deals not to enter the market.) Meanwhile, it continued to raise the price of the drug, most recently to $88,000 a year. This year, Humira-like generics (called biosimilars for its type of molecule) are entering the U.S. market; they have been available for a fraction of the price in Europe for five years.

Or take Revlimid, a drug by Celgene (now part of Bristol Myers Squibb), which treats multiple myeloma. It won FDA approval to treat that previously deadly disease in 2006 at about $4,500 a month; today it retails at triple that. Why? The company's CEO explained price hikes were simply a "legitimate opportunity" to improve financial "performance."

Since it must be taken for life to keep that cancer in check, patients who want to live (or their insurers) have had no choice but to pay. Though Revlimid's patent protection ran out in 2022, Celgene avoided meaningful price-cutting competition by offering generic competitors "volume-limited licenses" to its patents so long as they agreed to initially produce a small share of the drug's $12 billion monopoly market.

Par Pharmaceutical, another drugmaker, maneuvered to create a blockbuster market out of a centuries-old drug, isoproterenol, through a well-meaning FDA program that gave companies a three-year monopoly in exchange for performing formal testing on drugs in use before the agency was formed.

During those three years, Par wrapped its branded product, Vasostrict, used to maintain blood pressure in critically ill patients, with patents  including one on the compound's pH level  extending its monopoly eight additional years. Par raised the price by 5,400% between 2010 and 2020. When the covid-19 pandemic filled intensive care units with severely ill patients, that hike cost Americans $600 million to $900 million in the first year.

And then there is AZT and its successors, which offer a full life to HIV-positive people. Pills today contain a combination of two or three medicines, the vast majority including one similar to AZT, tenofovir, made by Gilead Sciences. The individual medicines are old, off-patent. Why then do these combination pills, taken for life, sometimes cost $4,000 monthly?

It's partly because many manufacturers of the combination pills have agreements with Gilead that they will use its expensive branded version of tenofovir in exchange for various business favors. Peter Staley, an activist with HIV, has been spearheading a class-action suit against Gilead, alleging "collusion." The negotiated price for these pills is hundreds of dollars a month in the United Kingdom, not the thousands charged in the U.S.

Faced with such tactics, 8 in 10 Americans now support drug price negotiation, giving Congress and the Biden administration the impetus to act and to resist Big Pharma's legal challenges, which many legal experts view as a desperate attempt to stave off the inevitable.

"I don't think they have a good legal case," said Aaron Kesselheim, who studies drug pricing at Harvard Medical School. But it can delay things if they can find a judge to issue an injunction." And even a year's delay could translate into big money.

Yes, American patients are lucky to have first access to innovative drugs. And, sadly, patients in countries that refuse to pay up once in a while go without the latest treatment. But more sadly, polling shows, large numbers of Americans are forgoing prescribed medicines because they can't afford them.
In a recent study published in Jama Network Open, researchers rigorously evaluated the harm caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) misinformation propagated through high-use social media platforms by physicians in the United States (US).

Study: Communication of COVID-19 Misinformation on Social Media by Physicians in the US. Image Credit: Twin Design/Shutterstock.com

Background

Many platforms spread false, inaccurate, or misleading COVID-19 information early in the pandemic. However, the COVID-19 misinformation spread by physicians was the most pernicious as they are considered reliable sources of medical information.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other entities called for action to limit physician-propagated COVID-19 misinformation. Due to a lack of resources in medical licensing boards to monitor the internet, few physicians faced disciplinary action.

Studies have yet to examine the extent of US physician-propagated COVID-19 misinformation on social media platforms and other online sources regarding COVID-19 vaccines, treatments, mask use, and its associated outcomes.

Evaluating its potential impact could help understand whether its limitation prevented COVID-19 deaths and mistrust in the scientific community and institutions.

Despite the widespread availability of vaccines, vaccination rates in the US varied by region throughout the pandemic. Likewise, people in many US states did not adopt other individual-level preventive health behaviors related to COVID-19 due to unclear or incorrect guidance.

Consequently, an estimated 1,128,000 COVID-19 deaths occurred in the US by May 11, 2023, of which nearly one-third were preventable if people had adhered to public health recommendations.

About the study

In the present mixed methods study, researchers focused on three main outcomes, as follows:

i) Characterizing the types of US physician-propagated COVID-19 misinformation;

ii) Determining the online platforms used; and

iii) Evaluating the characteristics of the physicians spreading COVID-19 misinformation.

They classified misinformation as COVID-19 medication and vaccine-related, related to mask use, social distancing, and other false claims.

Further, the team performed extensive structured searches between January 2021 and December 2022 on highly used social media websites (Twitter, YouTube, etc.) and news sources, e.g., The New York Times. They also identified physicians' medical specialty and state of licensure.

Furthermore, the team extracted the number of followers each physician had on four big social media platforms, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, to estimate the reach of their messages and perform qualitative content analysis.

Specifically, they calculated the total, average, and interquartile range (IQR) for the number of followers these physicians had on all four platforms.

Results

The study results showed that physician-propagated COVID-19 misinformation reached many people during the pandemic, and physicians from several medical specialties spread all across the US contributed to this malicious infodemic.

The content of the US physicians-propagated misinformation was comparable to the misinformation spread by other entities. Some of these physicians belonged to organizations that became more vocal during the COVID-19 pandemic for renewed attention.

One of the intentions behind this endeavor was profitability, as evidenced by the profit made by America's Frontline Doctors. They charged $90 per consultation to prescribe drugs like hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin to COVID-19 patients.

Currently, no federal laws in the US regulate medical misinformation on social media platforms; consequently, this phenomenon might persist.

Another challenge would be understanding the significance of transparency and reproducibility of the process by which federal agencies gather scientific evidence related to COVID-19.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Energy demonstrated that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 originated from a laboratory leak. Later, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence favored its zoonotic origin.

Conclusions

The study raised public health, professional, and ethical concerns related to US physicians' propagation of misinformation about COVID-19 on social media and other online platforms.

It highlighted the urgent need for ethical and legal guidelines to cease its propagation.

The need of the hour is realizing that high-quality healthcare depends on the trust between healthcare professionals and society. All conspiracy theories and misinformation spread about COVID-19 on social media by physicians put patients at risk of preventable outcomes, including death.

Federal and state governments should respond in a coordinated manner and devise and release ethical and legal guidelines to prevent the propagation of misinformation to mitigate another unlikely event (a pandemic or not) posing a public health threat.
In trials, the antipsychotic drug brexpiprazole (Rexulti) failed to provide a clinically meaningful benefit and increased the risk of death. Yet the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has fast tracked its approval, making Rexulti the first antipsychotic for treating agitation in elderly patients with dementia.

At a cost of around $1,400 a month Rexulti's makers, Otsuka and Lundbeck, are forecasting an additional $1 billion in annual sales, but there are serious questions about the harm-benefit balance of this drug, writes investigative journalist Robert Whitaker in The BMJ today.

The decision may also reverse years of effort by the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to reduce the widespread off-label use of antipsychotics in residential care homes.

Like other antipsychotics, the drug carries a "boxed warning," FDA's most serious type of warning, informing prescribers of increased risk of death. And in the three pre-approval trials, the FDA concluded that the death rate was four times higher in those given brexpiprazole compared to those given placebo.

On efficacy, the drug showed a maximum 5.3-point improvement over placebo on a 174-point scale, far short of the 17 points considered to be clinically important.

"The small benefits do not outweigh serious safety concerns," Public Citizen health researcher Nina Zeldes told the FDA's Advisory Committee prior to the approval. "Like other antipsychotics, this is a drug that can kill patients without providing a meaningful benefit."

Professor Lon Schneider at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California noted that the brexpiprazole outcomes mirrored the results from earlier trials of antipsychotics in Alzheimer's patients, yet none of these other antipsychotics has been approved for treating behavioural symptoms in elderly patients with dementia.

Schneider says the FDA has a "lower standard of approval" today than it did 20 years ago, a theme echoed by Zeldes, who said: "We are very disappointed that the FDA approved this additional label indication for brexpiprazole on such weak data. The FDA has set a dangerous precedent about the data it may require for future drug approvals for this vulnerable patient group."

In a vote, nine of the FDA committee's 10 members believed there was sufficient data to identify a population in whom benefits outweighed the drug's risks. But even among those voting yes, several advisors expressed concern about its use in patients with mild symptoms. Some stressed the need for individualised risk-benefit evaluation in collaboration with patients' families.

The chair of the advisory committee, Rajesh Narendran, did not respond to multiple requests for an interview to answer questions raised by this approval, while a spokesperson for the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research stated that "due to conflicting schedules and competing priorities," the FDA would be unable to respond.

Whitaker notes that a number of patient advocacy groups, such as the Alliance for Aging Research, Leaders Engage on Alzheimer's Research (LEAD), and Us Against Alzheimer's, urged the FDA to approve brexpiprazole.

This public support is fuelled, in part, by commercial interests, he writes.

LEAD, for instance, is a "coalition of more than 200 organizations" that includes, among its members, Otsuka and other pharmaceutical companies, while the Alliance for Aging Research, which lists 31 partners, receives funding from Otsuka and other pharmaceutical companies for "non-branded health education and advocacy on neuropsychiatric symptoms of dementia."

Erick Turner, a former FDA reviewer and professor of psychiatry at Oregon Health & Science University, said that clinicians' responses to the approval will likely vary according to their current beliefs about prescribing antipsychotics to Alzheimer's patients.

He added: "On the topic of marketing, I do think it will come down to KOLs [key opinion leaders] and drug reps 'educating' clinicians."

Whitaker writes that if Otsuka's presentation to the drug advisory committee is any guide, the talking point it will use to market brexpiprazole is that it is much safer than other antipsychotics, even though that favourable safety comparison was built into Otsuka's design of phase III trials.

Such marketing efforts will likely be at odds with ongoing efforts by the CMS.

Antipsychotic medications are especially dangerous among the nursing home population because of their potentially devastating side effects, including death. We cannot speak to the hypothetical future use of brexpiprazole; however, CMS will continue its efforts to reduce the prescribing of unnecessary antipsychotics in nursing homes." CMS spokesperson
As Ghana and Nigeria grapple with outbreaks of anthrax, scientists say governments must prioritize funds for vaccination to prevent a re-emergence of the disease across West Africa.

Anthrax is a zoonotic disease - transmissible from animals to humans - caused by the spore-forming bacterium Bacillus anthracis.

Dozens of animals and one person died as a result of confirmed cases of anthrax in the Upper East region of northern Ghana in early June, while the disease was confirmed in Nigeria's north-central state of Niger in July.

Fenteng Danso, Ghana's head of veterinary epidemiology, told SciDev.Net that the discontinuation of vaccination in the country was to blame for the recent outbreak.

"We were doing yearly vaccinations for the northern regions, but the Ministry of Food and Agriculture was not supporting with funds so we couldn't continue for up to five years now.

"There was no anthrax case until this year, which happened because we had stopped vaccination."

Anthrax can infect livestock and other animals when they breathe in or ingest spores in contaminated soil, plants, or water. Humans then become infected by handling animals or animal products that contain spores.

As well as causing high mortality among animals, people infected with anthrax suffer skin blisters and sores and it can lead to more serious illness.

Prevention is centred around treatment and vaccination of livestock, which has mostly been discontinued in countries now witnessing an outbreak.

Danso expressed concerns about re-emergence in parts of the northern region of Ghana that falls within the anthrax belt - where there is a prolonged dry season and too little grass for ruminants such as cows and goats to feed on.

This means the animals have to graze to soil level and are more likely to inhale bacterial spores from the soil, Danso explained.

The best control is continual vaccination of animals because anthrax is endemic in these areas." Fenteng Danso, Ghana's head of veterinary epidemiology

The government of Ghana said more than 23,000 animals had been vaccinated in the affected regions, 100,000 vaccine doses had been distributed, and another 100,000 doses were being produced.

In Nigeria, the National Veterinary Research Institute says it can produce enough vaccines to cover the national herd.

Our target is to vaccinate 10 million animals, Maryam Muhammad, the institutes chief executive, told SciDev.Net.

This is not the total population of animals in the country, but this will provide the herd immunity required to protect the national herd.

She added, however, that the vaccines were only available for sale, not for distribution free of charge.

Anthrax funding gap

Oladotun Fadipe, a veterinarian and member of the Anthrax Technical Working Group in Nigeria, told Scidev.Net that while the Nigerian federal government usually supports the states to purchase vaccines, the onus is on state governments to do so.

Fadipe says he fears that resources to buy vaccines may not be prioritised amid other pressing healthcare challenges including lassa fever, diphtheria and meningitis.

We are therefore calling on the federal and state governments, philanthropies as well as well-meaning Nigerians to make donations for vaccines, said Fadipe.

Fadipes concern is shared by the One Health Quadripartite, comprised of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Organisation for Animal Health, the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Zoonoses like anthrax constitute a constant social, public health and economic burden, yet they are often underestimated, which in turn leads to neglect by policymakers and funding agencies. Thus, often times it may not get the attention and resources required to tackle it, the Quadripartite said in a policy document.

So far, the Nigerian government has bought 50,000 doses each for Niger and Lagos states where several animals are reported to have been infected.

The countrys anthrax working group  tasked with coordinating the response  said it had begun deploying vaccines to frontline states where livestock are transported into the country.

Simeon Cadmus, director of the Centre for Control and Prevention of Zoonoses at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, told SciDev.Net: If the government prioritises the health of humans and animals, more funding [to fight anthrax and zoonotic diseases] should be provided.

The government of Ghana, in its 2023 budget statement, said it produced 8.86 million doses out of a target of 15 million in 2022 to fight anthrax and the contagious Newcastle disease, which affects birds.

The FAO has pledged to support the Nigerian government to mobilise human and financial resources to control the countrys recent anthrax outbreaks.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) introduced a centralised online platform called UDGAM (Unclaimed Deposits  Gateway to Access inforMation) on Thursday. This portal aims to simplify the process for individuals to locate their unclaimed deposits from various banks through a single platform. According to a statement by the central bank, the web portal will assist users in identifying and contacting their banks to either claim their unclaimed deposits or reactivate their deposit accounts.

The Reserve Bank Information Technology Pvt Ltd (ReBIT), Indian Financial Technology & Allied Services (IFTAS), and collaborating banks have collaboratively established the portal. At the moment, users can retrieve information about their unclaimed deposits from seven banks on the platform. These banks comprise the State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Central Bank of India, Dhanlaxmi Bank Ltd, South Indian Bank Ltd, DBS Bank India Ltd, and Citibank N A.

The RBI mentioned that the search feature for additional banks will be gradually introduced on the portal by October 15, 2023.

In its monetary policy statement declared on April 6, the RBI indicated the development of a centralised web portal. The central bank emphasised its commitment to safeguarding depositors interests and outlined measures to prevent new deposits from becoming unclaimed and to ensure that existing unclaimed deposits are returned to their rightful owners or beneficiaries through proper procedures.

In April, RBI Deputy Governor M Rajeshwar Rao stated that the portal for reclaiming unclaimed deposits would be operational within 3-4 months.

Deposits that remain unclaimed for a period of 10 years in a bank are moved to the Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) fund, managed by the central bank. Recent data reveals that as of February 2023, public sector banks (PSBs) had transferred a total of Rs 35,012 crore in unclaimed deposits to the RBI. These deposits were associated with accounts that had remained inactive for 10 years or more, and the number of unclaimed accounts reached 102.4 million.
BITS Pilani has introduced a PhD program, PhD-DRIVE with an aim to create startup based on deep science and tech research. PhD-DRIVE expands as - Deep-tech Research, Innovation, Value generation & Entrepreneurship. Students with expertise in technology and science, and a clear intent to set up a startup are eligible for the PhD- DRIVE at the Institute.

In the release, the Institute informed that the program will include courses in entrepreneurship, incubation program, funding for building a solution or product. Interested students will work in various Centre of Excellences that BITS had set up in the areas of semiconductors, bio-cyber physical systems, artificial intelligence and machine learning, medical diagnostics and infectious diseases, among others.

The release claims that shortlisted scholars will be supported through a stipend and would be provided a prototyping grant during the program. The admission for this program will be round the year and notifications for the program will be posted on BITS website informs the deemed university based in Rajasthan.

An alumnus of BITS Pilani, Suresh Kabra, has decided to sponsor 3 women Ph.D. Scholars with innovative ideas in the biological sciences area, along with the seed funds.

The press release informed that Vice Chancellor of the deemed university, Prof. V. Ramgopal Rao, wants to incubate 100 startups through this program by 2030. Rao added, As a country, we havent done enough in the area of deep technology and deep science ventures, where a startup takes a long time to become viable. With this new program, we want PhD scholars to become an entrepreneur along with becoming an innovator, and not just look at an academic career post their PhDs.

Our current focus areas include solutions to address issues related to homeland and cyber security, healthcare, environment, agriculture, space and energy. Many sub-domains in these areas related to climate change, industry 4.0, food-technology etc will be of interest. The idea is to make advanced technologies such as quantum science and nanotechnology work for people at the grassroots. The PhD students under this startup track shall join a centre of excellence or a specialized lab at BITS Pilani working in these areas said VC of BITS Pilani.
A raging battle broke out between activists of an ultra-left organisation with BJPs Yuva Morcha members on Thursday as the saffron party leader Suvendu Adhikaris convoy came up to a gate of the Jadavpur University, where a student had died after being allegedly ragged and sexually harassed by seniors.

The ultra-Left body, All India Revolutionary Students Federation (AIRSF), was holding a black flag demonstration against Adhikari who was trying to give a speech, outside the university on the issue of the death of the student which has shocked the megapolis, when the two sides came to blows.

Adhikari told Yuva Morcha activists: We have already taught a lesson to the Tukde-tukde gang in JNU we will cleanse them in Jadavpur as well. Tukde-tukde gang is a pejorative political catchphrase used by BJP against opponents accused of supporting sedition.

In his speech, the leader of the opposition in the state assembly attacked the left, ultra-Left and TMC student wings as well as the state government and blamed them for the state of affairs in the 67-year-old prestigious university.

The state government has done nothing to stop ragging in state-run universities. The TMC is more interested in taking control of state-run universities. The TMC has turned universities into dens of anti-social activities, he said.

As activists from both sides engaged in a battle of fisticuffs, using motorcycle helmets as weapons, the city police had a hard time controlling and disengaging the two groups. Traffic outside the gate of the university snarled to a stop as the war raged across the road.

Several activists already bloodied and hurt were seen dragged by the police into waiting vans to be carried away to a lock-up after medical attention.

The ruling TMC alleged that after Adhikari finished his demonstration, he was greeted with black flags by a section of the students who were then beaten up by BJP goons, aided by the Central Armed Forces.

A student from the transgender community was hit by a helmet and was left bleeding, the ruling party claimed in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. The TMC also alleged that Adhikari created a ruckus outside JU, verbally abused the police and passed derogatory remarks.

On Adhikaris allegation, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, BJP is just trying to fish in troubled waters. Before pointing fingers at us, they should take stock of the situation in Central government-run universities. In separate protests, activists of CPI(M)s SFI, Trinamool Chhatra Parishad and ABVP staged sit-ins at nearby spots outside gates four and five, but no untoward incident took place.

Even as the battle between rival bands of activists raged, the West Bengal government announced the formation of a four-member committee to probe into the administrative lapses connected with the death of the Jadavpur University student who was allegedly ragged and sexually harassed by his seniors before he fell from the hostels balcony.

The 17-year-old deceased, who was a resident of Bagula in Nadia district, was a first-year undergraduate student of Bengali Honours.

The committee, which will be functioning immediately, has been asked to submit its report in two weeks, said officials.

The members of the committee are the vice-chairperson (academic) of the West Bengal State Council of Higher Education, the member-secretary of the council, the director of public instruction and the special commissioner of the higher education department.

The notice, which referred to certain administrative lapses and infrastructural gaps in Jadavpur University, said the panel will identify these and take corrective steps.

In another development related to the August 9 incident, the University Grants Commission (UGC) in Delhi reprimanded Jadavpur University for submitting a generic report about the incident.

Noting that no proactive measures have been taken by the university to curb ragging on campus, the commission has told the university that it is not satisfied with the report.

The report submitted was examined and it was found to be very generic in nature basically mentioning mostly the reactive approaches adopted in the matter than proactive measures taken to curb the menace of ragging. The commission is not satisfied with the report, a source told PTI in Delhi.

The UGC has further sought a compliance report on 12 queries raised by it and also documentary evidence within a day.

JU Registrar Snehamanju Basu told reporters it was a preliminary report and she was told by a UGC official it was okay, (initial report) but the university will certainly file an action-taken exhaustive report about every query which will be compiled within a few days.

Basu also announced that JU made identity cards issued by the university mandatory for visitors to enter the campus from 8 pm to 7 am and decided to install CCTVs at strategic points, including at the gates at the earliest.

Nine former and current students of JU were arrested for allegedly ragging and sexually harassing the teenaged Bengali honours student leading to his death after falling from a second-floor balcony of the main hostel building last week. They were remanded to police custody.

The student fell around 11.45 pm on August 9 and died while undergoing treatment at a hospital the next day.

Kolkata Police has taken cognisance of JU students social media posts, including photographs, which suggest that there was an element of sexual harassment in the ragging of the student.
Vietnam veterans say they have received closure with the marking of a major anniversary, while one of Australia's war heroes has urged the government to continue the fight to improve mental health support.

Commemorative services were held around the country on Friday to remember the 50th anniversary of Australia ending its involvement in the conflict.

Veteran Russell Kennedy travelled from Melbourne to mark the occasion at the Australian Vietnam Forces National Memorial in Canberra.

"Today is closure," he said.

"We weren't accepted when we came home."

Douglas Witt, who also fought, said the acknowledgement "means everything in the world".

Victoria Cross recipient Keith Payne called the war a "sad memory".

After a lifetime without recognition, he praised the government for acknowledging the impact of post traumatic stress disorder on his colleagues.

"It's a shame on the nation, and the people of Australia should say to the government, 'let's fix the problem'," he told reporters.

In a message to all Australians, Mr Payne said: "Don't forget the causes of war."

At the end of the wreath-laying ceremony, the 89-year-old stood using his walker and laid poppies in honour of his mates.

About 3000 veterans and their families braved the wind and rain in the capital to remember those who served.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who attended an event in Ipswich, said Australians respected the valour, integrity and character of those who fought.

"Let us say to every one of our Vietnam veterans, today and every day, 'we honour you, we thank you and we are sorry that as a nation it took us so long for us as a nation to do so'."

He said Australia had matured enough to embrace the truth that "we can disagree with a war without that diminishing the respect we feel for every man and woman who puts on our uniform and serves in our name".

Story continues

"Respect for your valour, your integrity and your character.

"Respect for the truth that you have all paid a price - a price that some are still paying."

Veterans' Affairs Minister Matt Keogh told the Canberra event the experience of the conflict reflected Australia's character.

"It's about knowing no matter how dire the circumstances, your mates will always have your back," he said.

Governor-General David Hurley attended the service, as did Vietnamese Ambassador to Australia Nguyen Tat Thanh.

In Sydney, veterans minister David Harris was at the Cenotaph in the CBD alongside RSL NSW President and Vietnam veteran Ray James.

"For those of us still here today, I say we must continue to honour the dead but fight like hell for the living as we support our fellow veterans of all conflicts and connect them with the mateship, camaraderie and services they need," Mr James said.

About 60,000 Australians served in Vietnam, with more than 3000 wounded and 523 killed. Some 15,000 were conscripted under the National Service Scheme.

Upon returning home, veterans experienced hostility from the community over their involvement in an unpopular conflict, including being spat on and having paint thrown on them during parades.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, defence spokesman Andrew Hastie and veterans' affairs spokesman Barnaby Joyce said the war was a polarising conflict.

"At the time, public opinion often failed to draw a distinction between the politics of war and the people who fought in it," they said in a joint statement.

"In the decades since the Vietnam War, we have come to acknowledge our nation's historical mistreatment of many who returned."

It is estimated more than 35,000 Australian Vietnam veterans are still living.

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Studying abroad can be financially challenging for many meritorious students who often opt out due to the expensive course fee, visa charges, accommodation and food expenses. Therefore, scholarships help many to pursue their dreams. News18 Scholarship Guide brings the best and most prestigious grants for Indian students to study abroad, with most of them covering flight tickets, accommodation and course fee; and some also providing stipend.

Studying abroad is not only for the rich and elite, meritorious students with limited or poor source of income can also find a seat at top universities. Case in point is 20-year-old Manu Chauhan from Akrabad village in Uttar Pradeshs Aligarh district who is currently pursuing his graduation from Stanford University.

Despite coming from a family with low income, Chauhan completed his schooling in UP, appeared for expensive competitive exams including SAT, and is now studying at the prestigious university with zero tuition fee, thanks to the scholarship he got access to along the way.

Chauhan told News18 that it was difficult for the family to afford quality schooling for him. At the age of 11, he cracked the entrance exam to VidyaGyan School which offers free education to students from low-income groups and has been living away from his loved ones since. Chauhan said without the scholarships he has received, he would not have been able to pursue his education.

ALSO READ: Scholarship Guide | Top 8 Govt & University Grants That Will Help Fulfil Your Dream to Study in US

Now, studying at a dream university, Chauhan believes that quality education from worlds best universities is not just for rich and elite. Students from low-income or middle-class families too should consider studying abroad as one of their options. Many of these students think that just because it is very expensive, they are never going to even try it. The world is there to help, but only if you want it badly enough. There is financial aid and other scholarships available everywhere.

How Does 100% scholarship Work?

The scholarship is part of the financial aid offered by Stanford University for students from low economic background. Subjected to a student getting admission to the university based on the criteria, students are simultaneously assessed for the scholarship.

The preparation for his application process to Stanford and other universities began from class 11, he recalled. He also appeared for SAT in which he scored 1470 out of 1600.

College Boards scholarship paid for my SAT. My school helped me with the application process. In fact, there are many people and institutions that help students who dont have the means but have the will and the determination.

ALSO READ: Scholarship Guide | Studying in UK Can Be Affordable, Less Daunting; News18 Brings You Top 10 Grants

When you apply to a university, you also apply for financial aid. Your request for financial aid is part of the application process, so if they accept, they will most likely keep your financial situation in mind, said Manu.

Scholarships Started from School

Chauhans schooling too could be made possible due to scholarship offered by VidyaGyan. My dad wanted to provide me with good education, and given the meagre family income, it was extremely difficult to study at a good place. One of his friends, who happened to be a government school headmaster, told him about VidyaGyan and how the residential school provides 100% free education to meritorious students. The admission process was rigorous. I came to know that every year about 2,50,000 students from the smallest villages appear for the entrance and the school selects only 250 students.

ALSO READ: Scholarship Guide | Shah Rukh Khan, JN Tatas Among Top 8 Grants to Study in Australia

Manus schoolteachers helped him build a portfolio for foreign admissions. The universities abroad consider things which Indian students usually skip considering them as extras, he said.

While Indian universities select students purely based on academic merit, US universities consider the holistic achievements of the student. So, for me, it was both a challenging and interesting journey. It was challenging because I never thought any institution would evaluate my extracurricular activities alongside my academic performance for admission. It was interesting because I learned things that I otherwise wouldnt have. This experience motivated me to work hard in all areas of my life and helped me recognise the value of various things that I might have otherwise considered unimportant, he said.

Family Was Sceptical About Studying Abroad

Chauhan, who is his parents only child, is the first to have flown abroad. His father works as an insurance salesman, and is the only breadwinner for the family, while his mother is a homemaker.

Chauhan agrees that it was a difficult decision to come to the US, but he was excited for the journey. He, however, needed to give reassurances to his parents as they were nervous about sending their only child to a far-off land.

My family was very excited, but at the same time a little nervous since I was going to a totally different country about which they didnt know anything. So, they needed constant reassurance from me that I would be alright there. But most importantly, they were very proud of me, and that is one of the nicest things ever for a son to experience.

Life at Stanford

I applied to the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Rochester, Tufts University, Vanderbilt University, Amherst College, said Chauhan. I had two reasons for choosing Stanford. First, it has the best ranking among all the universities to which I applied. Second, Stanford offers more opportunities for multidisciplinary studies, which is something I value. Additionally, I have always been fascinated by their cutting-edge research.

Ever since joining the varsity, a lot has changed for Chauhan. The university is full of opportunities, and I am trying to explore as much as I can, he says.

He claims to have learnt a lot from outside of academia as well. I have met a lot of people from different places. They are very different from me, and I am gaining a lot of different perspectives on all sorts of interesting things. My friendships are different here. I have matured as a person. My emotional intelligence has definitely improved a lot. I feel very grateful for all the amazing people I have met here and for the experiences I have had in the past two years.

He is yet to select a major yet. I came to Stanford thinking I would major in Economics because I used to think that it would help me bring about change in rural India. However, after being exposed to different disciplines, I am gravitating more towards other fields such as Psychology, Communication. Stanford has provided me a space where I can discover and get closer to my true interests.

I am not in a hurry to commit to one thing for the rest of my life. I want to take my time and choose something wisely later. But I definitely want to work towards the development of my country and give something back to the motherland, he added.
Students affiliated with Punjabi University are protesting against the Universitys authorities. They are demanding re- evaluation of there answer sheets from the recent examination held in the University. The university allegedly gave far lower marks and failed students who had been doing well in previous exams, according to the students statements. The issue has brought together students from diverse programs, including LLB, PGDCA, BA, those from the department of distant learning, and others from connected colleges, on campus.

A student named Karan Singh informed Tribune with an example that the university failed 87 of the 92 students enrolled in the same PGDCA programme. Similar to this, over 300 students who did well on the exams from the previous semester were given a zero in one or more papers alleged the student. Further aggrieved students informs media that University is making mistakes when it comes about marking students and is not following guidelines.

Singh along with other students protested and were assured by the Universities that re-evaluation of the answer sheets will be done. However, students claim that after a verbal statement, no action was taken to re-check the copy hence the protest erupted again. Another student who joined the protest said, We will have to pay re- evaluation fees to initiate the process. Also sometimes, University takes more than six months to check and release the results again. Thus ending in making the process cumbersome."

The protesting students are demanding that answer sheets and their results should be released within a period of two months. Universitys Controller of Examinations AK Tiwari while sharing the Universitys stance said, " These students scored low marks in there exams. Some scored zero, others five or even 10. We got the papers of 20 of them re- checked on their request without charging any fee for the re- evaluation. But only two students saw an increase of the marks in the re-evaluation. Despite this we are holding re-evaluation of papers of other students as well and the results will be declared in a few days."
The University Grants Commission (UGC), on Thursday, released guidelines for equivalence and recognition of degrees acquired from foreign institutions. In the Draft University Grants Commission (Recognition and Grant of Equivalence to Qualifications obtained from Foreign Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2023, the higher education regulator has covered internationally relevant curricular, research, and academic collaboration with foreign institutions and recognition of credits under the twinning arrangement.

UGC has also notified regulations on Academic Collaboration between Indian and Foreign Higher Educational Institutions to offer Twinning, Joint Degree, and Dual Degree Programmes,  stated the notification.

In order to provide immaculate movability to the students, UGC will maintain a dedicated online portal to receive applications for the grant of equivalence to qualifications obtained from foreign educational institutions, as per the notification.

According to the draft guidelines, Equivalence Certificate means a document certifying the parity of a qualification in terms of the level between a foreign qualification and the qualification awarded at that level by the Indian Board/Universities.

As per the draft guidelines, the Equivalence certificate issued by the commission will be accepted by the universities in India for the purposes of admission or employment.

The Equivalence certificate shall also not be issued in case the applicant has completed his/her education through home studies/ private candidates, the guidelines stated.

At present, to facilitate admission in Indian institutions, students with foreign qualifications are issued Equivalence certificates by the evaluation division of the All India Universities (AIU)an apex inter-university organisation.

After the guidelines come into effect, UGC will also take the responsibility of giving equivalence to foreign degrees. Suggestions have been sought by the commission from the stakeholders on the draft UGC guidelines till September 16, 2023.

In a statement, UGC stated, In the wake of Indias renewed thrust on academic collaboration with foreign countries and in the context of the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, UGCs role in the internationalisation of the Indian education system has increased manifold.

According to the draft guidelines, the qualification has been awarded by a foreign higher education institution that is duly recognised in its home country.

The student has pursued the programme through regular, in-person instruction and not through online or distance learning, the notification stated.

As per the notification, qualification obtained in the offshore campus of an Indian higher educational institution shall be recognized provided the campus is duly approved by the competent authorities in India as well as in the foreign country where the campus is located.

The draft regulation stated that the Similarity of entry criteria is to be determined through due process by the Standing Committee set up for the purpose.

Equivalence Certificate: How to Apply

The draft notification said that the applicant will have to submit an online application along with the fee. The decision of the commission shall be communicated to the applicant within 15 days from the date of receipt of the application.

If the applicant is not satisfied with the decision of the commission, she/he can file an appeal, for a review within 30 days from the date of communication received from the commission by paying the prescribed fees.

The appeal shall be placed before an appellate committee and the decision of the Committee shall be communicated to the applicant within 15 days from the date of receipt of the review application.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday urged BJPs Zila Panchayat members to work to make various development initiatives a mass movement, asserting that lamp of development has to be lit up in every village, tehsil and district to make India a developed country by 2047.

Addressing virtually a Kshetriya Panchayati Raj Parishad of local body members drawn from several states, including Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, he said sabka saath, sabka vikas is not merely a slogan for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and they should live it every moment.

The conclave is being held at Dadar and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu where BJP president J P Nadda was also present during the prime ministers address.

Citing his own experience first as chief minister and then as prime minister, Modi said those serving in different positions at local bodies should take up some work for their villages and districts as a priority and go all out to make it a success by getting peoples support.

Upon coming to power at the Centre, Modi said he decided to build toilets and open bank accounts for the poor.

He urged Zila Panchayat members to hold meetings to take up three projects as a priority every year while noting that fund for local bodies has risen manifold and resources are not a constraint.

Earlier, the grant used to be of Rs 70,000 crore, but it is now over Rs 3 lakh crore. We have built over 30,000 Zila Panchayat buildings, he said, stressing on using part of MNREGA budget for asset creation as well.

He noted that BJP members from local bodies have been holding similar workshops and said the party does not do it for winning polls but to work towards making India a developed country by 2047.

Talking about the Vishwakarma scheme announced by him on the 77th Independence Day, Modi urged party workers to make a list of traditional artisans in the villages, and suggest ways of helping them.  There are traditional artisans in every village who contribute to the village economy. They do their work as a social responsibility. Such societies see no criminal activities as people live together in harmony. We want to empower them, he said. A budget has been allocated to help them with skill development and provide other potent tools, he said, adding that the scheme would be launched at a big event on September 17.
Amid rumours that Elvish Yadav is dating a girl named Kriti Mehra, the Bigg Boss OTT 2 winner has clarified that she is not his girlfriend. On Thursday, Elvish Yadav opened up on his relationship for the first time when he revealed that his lady-love lives in Punjab and is not on social media. He also mentioned that she stays away from all the limelight and does not like her name being mentioned anywhere.

I want to clear doubts of many people who think that the girl giving interviews to a few Youtube channels is my girlfriend, let me clear, shes not," Elvish said as quoted by E-Times.

Jiske bhi interviews dekhe hain, joh bhi kara hai, bhai woh nahi hai Joh meri bandi hai woh alag hai and she is not there on any social media. Shes from Punjab, she stays there and shes not on social media. She lives a very private life and doesnt like to be in the limelight. She enjoys being like that. She wants things to be private. She doesnt like me taking her name anywhere or increasing her followers, she likes staying away from these things and is happy," the YouTuber added.

The clarification comes a few days after a report by Siasat claimed that Elvish Yadav and Kirti Mehra dated each other for around 67 years before they parted ways around a year and a half ago.

Elvish Yadav emerged as the winner of Bigg Boss OTT 2 earlier this week. He took home a trophy and cash prize of Rs 25 lakh. Elvish created history by becoming the first wildcard contestant to have won the show ever. Following the finale episode, Elvish claimed that he created history by gaining 28 crore votes in just 15 minutes.

Elvish was followed by Abhishek Malhan who was the first runner-up of the show. Manisha Rani, Pooja Bhatt and Bebika Dhruve were also the finalists.
Twenty-one churches in Punjab province of Pakistan were attacked on Wednesday by mob over an alleged incident of blasphemy. Videos circulating on social media showed mobs of hundreds getting into places of worship, destroying properties and some even climbing atop and kicking the holy cross.

Pakistan Police have arrested two Christians accused of blasphemy claiming that the two men had desecrated the Koran. Locals said hundreds of people have fled the area to stay with relatives and have yet to return out of caution.

Meanwhile, homes and churches have been burned and ransacked by a crowd of hundreds that tore through the streets in Jaranwala, on the outskirts of Faisalabad on Wednesday. Police said more than 120 people had been arrested over the violence.

Blasphemy in Pakistan

Blasphemy is an incendiary charge in Muslim-majority Pakistan, where anyone deemed to have insulted Islam or Islamic figures can face the death penalty. It has been very sensitive issue in the country where even an accusation has caused riots and incite mobs to violence, lynching and killings.

Islamist right-wing leaders and political parties across Pakistan frequently rally around the issue. Politicians have been assassinated, lawyers murdered and students lynched over accusations of blasphemy.

In the last few decades, far-right religious parties have shot to prominent after campaigning explicitly based on protecting the honour and sanctity of Islam and its Prophet Muhammad.

How widespread is the issue?

Since 2011, when Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer was shot dead by his bodyguard over a call for the blasphemy laws to be reformed, mainstream debate over the issue has been all but impossible.

Taseer had stood against the death sentence to Aasia Bibi who had been sentenced by a lower court, and even committed to seeking a presidential pardon for her. Some clerics issued edicts calling for his head and on 4 January 2011, he was assassinated at the Kohsar Market in Islamabad by his bodyguard Mumtaz Qadri, who disagreed with his opposition to Pakistans blasphemy law.

Taseers killer was lauded by many, and the murder was followed by the rise of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), a far-right party with widespread support that calls for blasphemers to be beheaded. The rise of the TLP has seen an increase in blasphemy cases filed on ideological grounds.

Asia Bibi Case

Aasia Bibis ordeal began in 2009 when two fellow farmworkers refused to drink from the same container as a Christian woman. There was a quarrel and the two Muslim women later accused Bibi of blasphemy.

A lower court had sentenced her to death after the women and a local cleric accused Bibi of having insulted Islams Prophet Muhammad during the altercation, a charge that she has consistently denied.

She was acquitted of blasphemy by Pakistans Supreme Court in 2018 after spending eight years on death row.

She later flew out of Pakistan after being held for months in protective custody by Pakistani authorities following her acquittal. Her lawyer Malook sought refuge in the Netherlands, citing threats to his life for having represented her.

Mashal Khan Lynching

Mashal Khan, a 25-year-old student studying mass communications at Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, was dragged out of his university accommodation in April 2017 by a crowd of hundreds of his fellow students. He was badly beaten before being shot and his body mutilated.

In April, 2017 rumours spread that Khan had posted blasphemous material online, following which hundreds of students and some staff members marched through the campus searching for him. The mob broke into his room and dragged him out.

Viral video showed him being beaten, stamped on and shot. The mob kept attacking his body even after his death. The police after an investigation said there was no evidence that Mashal had committed blasphemy.

What do the laws say About Blasphemy?

Pakistans blasphemy laws were little-used until the 1970s and 80s, when they were strengthened and expanded to include several clauses specific to insulting Islam.

The country has the worlds second-strictest blasphemy laws after Iran. Around 1,500 Pakistanis have been charged with blasphemy over the past three decades and there are at least 53 people in custody on blasphemy charges, according to reports.

According to the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), till August 16, 2023, around 198 persons have been accused of blasphemy, 85 per cent of them Muslims, 9 per cent Ahmadis and 4.4 per cent Christians.

It said the Punjab province recorded over 75 per cent of the abuse of blasphemy laws cases in the past 36 years. The aggregate accused comprises 52pc of minorities despite their share (3.52%) in the population of Pakistan, the CSJ posted on X.

Judges hearing blasphemy cases have reported facing pressure to hand down convictions, regardless of the evidence, fearing being targeted by physical violence if they dont.

According to current laws  which were strengthened once more this year  the offence of insulting the Prophet Mohammed carries a mandatory death sentence, while defiling" the Koran carries life imprisonment.
India is set to integrate the academic department of AYUSH with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) across the country, bringing together the education of conventional and traditional medicine in common medical colleges.

In an exclusive interview with News18, Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH, said that the chain of AIIMS hospitals will now establish academic departments of AYUSH system of medicines. AYUSH is an acronym for Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Naturopathy, Siddha, SowaRigpa and Homeopathy.

Kotecha, who spoke to News18 on the sidelines of the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Summit (GCTM) in Gujarats Gandhinagar, said India is also working on creating a mechanism for claiming patents on traditional medicines.

It is difficult to claim patents on natural products. This is the reason we have not been able to claim many patents despite several innovations. Hence, we have formed a committee which is headed by the secretary of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). The panel working on finding a solution.

In April 2022, WHO launched the first-of-its-kind project, the Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (GCTM) at Gujarats Jamnagar. The centre was officially launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and WHO Director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Why WHO Chose India for Opening GCTM?

On being asked what could have made WHO choose India for opening GCTM, the first outpost of the United Nations which has been opened outside developed countries, Kotecha listed several reasons.

Firstly, he said, political willpower and continuous mentoring from Prime Minister Modi has played an important role. India is one of the few countries where we have a separate ministry for alternative medicines and therapies, he said, referring to the Ministry of AYUSH established in 2014.

Moreover, the budget allocation to the ministry has also grown over the years. In 2014, the budget allocation stood at Rs 691 crore which increased to Rs 3,640 crore in 2023-24  roughly an increase of five times.

This showcases Indias seriousness in pursuing the objective of creating a strong ecosystem in traditional medicines.

Interestingly, Kotecha also said that AYUSH has found mention in PM Modis Mann in Baat several times. Out of 99 episodes, AYUSH has been mentioned 33 times, he said.

India a Good Case Study for Evidence-Based Practice

Secondly, he said, India is a good case for showcasing evidence-based practice.

We have experience in generating evidence on a large scale, he said, adding that India has published more than 70 publications in reputed science journals. India designed and conducted more than 150 studies on Covid-19 during the outbreak, comprising of animal studies, preclinical studies, clinical studies observation studies etc in less than 18 months.

Kotecha explained that several medicines, including Ayush 64 and Kudineer, were studied extensively during the pandemic and the evidence was so strong that India ended up adding these medicines in National Clinical Management Protocol.

Growing Demand for AYUSH Sector

Also, looking at the size of the sector, the growth is phenomenal, he said, sharing data which shows that the production of AYUSH medicines and supplements has grown by eight times in nine years. From $3 billion in 2014 to $18 billion in 2020 and now, anticipated to reach $24 billion in 2023, the momentum is huge.

Presently, there are more than 900 start-ups working in the traditional and alternative medicines industry. Out of these 900, we have one unicorn company with a value of over $1 billion.

Kotecha believes that the demand for AYUSH services is going to increase phenomenally worldwide in the coming years. He said that his ministry already conducted an impact assessment survey from November 2021 to June 2022 to understand how many respondents used alternative medicines or remedies during Covid-19 in their home setting.

The results were eye-opening. Out of 1.47 crore respondents, 1.35 crore or 89.9% people used these remedies and therapies at home This shows the huge demand and pushes us to look for evidence and create a stronger leadership position.

Kotecha said India can leverage the big opportunity via GCTM and establish a strong leadership position in traditional medicines.
A sextortion racket was busted in Bengaluru by the Karnataka Police where a woman lured in men and extorted huge sums of money from them.

Three members of the gang were arrested, however, the woman  the main accused  is yet to be caught.

The key accused, identified as Neha alias Meher  along with her accomplices  allegedly contacted men via Telegram, a messaging platform, and invited them to her residence for sexual activities.

Mehers accomplices would record a video of her indulging in sexual activities with the men and later blackmail the victims with the video recording, said an India Today report.

The victims were blackmailed with the demand of either marrying Meher and converting to Islam or paying her money.

The gang, so far, extorted over Rs 35 lakh through blackmailing and this criminal activity reportedly ran for over a year and a half.

So far, the police have recovered Rs 60,000 from the gang wherein payments were made via Paytm, a digital payment platform.

Reportedly, the police have traced Mehers location to Mumbai.

The extent of the gangs extortion is still being probed, but currently, it is believed that over 50 men have been extorted.

An FIR, at the Puttenhalli Police Station, was registered under Section 348 (Wrongful confinement to extort confession) and Section 420 (Cheating) of the Indian Penal Code.

Investigators are looking into the possible angle of victims being forced to undergo a procedure of circumcision as part of the gangs tactics to threaten them.

Earlier, on August 9, the Uttar Pradesh police busted a sextortion racket and arrested six men in UPs Kanpur. The racket was operating via fake profiles on a gay dating app called Blued, police said.

The accused would engage the men in friendly conversations and later take them out on a date, following which they would indulge in sexual activities and record the encounter.

They would then rob them of their valuables and transfer money from their bank accounts through UPI using their phone by threatening to circulate the videos on social media, said Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (west) Lakhan Singh Yadav.

A case was registered at the Kalyanpur police station after one of the victims approached the police with the information that his nude video was recorded by some people and he was blackmailed. Following the case being filed, an investigation was launched into the gang leading to the bust.
A bomb threat call was received on a Delhi-Pune Vistara flight earlier today causing a temporary disruption at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi. According to reports, the threat was received via a call made to the GMR call centre at around 7:30 am while the boarding was underway.

Nothing suspicious was found on the aircraft following a thorough inspection.

The caller made the call to the DIAL control room in Gurugram and claimed that there is a bomb on the Pune-bound Vistara flight. Passengers were instantly deboarded from the plane as a precautionary measure.

Police have registered an FIR to investigate the caller.
A differently-abled man from Chhattisgarh was found dead under a berth in a general compartment of a train at Chennai Central railway station late on Wednesday. The man was found with his neck, hands and feet tied to a rod under the berth.

The 25-year-old deceased, identified as Prakash, was being taken home by his two relatives, 35-year-old Ram Kumar and a 15-year-old by the Kochuveli-Gorakhpur Rapti Sagar Express from Erode. Both Ramkumar and the teen were arrested by the police on murder charges, said a Times of India report.

Upon the trains arrival at the station, the duo tried to wake Prakash up and ended up finding him dead, police said. His body has been sent for postmortem by the Government Railway Police (GRP).

The police reportedly said that Prakash was married and also had a child. He arrived in Erode on August 15  with his relatives and others  to work at a stone quarry. However, he was appearing to be sick and restless. Reports said that Prakash was found running aimlessly and his relatives were asked to take him back home.

After informing the deceased mother, the three of them boarded the train on Wednesday evening. During the investigation, it was revealed that Prakash was again moving aimlessly throughout the train, making other passengers uncomfortable. Following others complaints, Ramkumar and the teen tied Prakashs hands and feet, using a cloth. Passengers informed the police that as he continued screaming, they went on to tie his neck to make him stop and shoved him under the berth.

The deceased might have tried to free himself, during which he must have been strangulated, said a GRP officer.

Ramkumar was sent to jail and the teen  a juvenile  was sent to a state correctional facility.
An eatery worker was on Friday arrested for allegedly raping an eight-year-old girl inside her home in his neighbourhood, police here said.

The alleged incident took place on August 16, when the girl and her 11-year-old brother were in the house while their parents were out for work, the police said.

An FIR was lodged immediately at the Sector 24 police station and an investigation was launched into the matter. The accused had gone into hiding after the incident but was held near a school in Sector 22 today following a tip-off, a police spokesperson said.

The 18-year-old accused works at an eatery shop in Noida and hails from Aligarh district. He lives in the same neighbourhood as the girl and was known to her family, frequently visiting their home, too, the official said.

The FIR has been lodged under section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code and under provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the police said.

The accused was produced in a local court which remanded him to 14-day judicial custody, the police added.
The Haryana government has defended its demolition drive in Nuh, saying no structure was razed against the law and that the exercise was not remotely a case of ethnic cleansing and no pick and choose policy was adopted.

The Nuh district administration has said a total of 354 people were affected by the recent demolition drive, of which 283 were Muslims and 71 were Hindus.

Though the Muslim-Hindu population ratio in Nuh is 80:20, the demolition proportion was 70:30.

..We had to file reply in the court on behalf of Deputy Commissioner, Gurugram and DC Nuh. The court said the reply should be filed in the (court) registry which we will be doing on Saturday, Haryanas Additional Advocate General Deepak Sabharwal told reporters outside the high court complex after the hearing on Friday.

The replies were directed to be submitted to the Punjab and Haryana High Court Registry.

As the matter came up for resumed hearing before the Division Bench of Chief Justice Ravi Shanker Jha and Justice Arun Palli, Deepak Sabharwal told the Bench that replies were ready in compliance with the directions issued on previous date of hearing.

The demolition drive in Nuh came under the high courts scanner on August 7 when the court of Justices G S Sandhawalia and Harpreet Kaur Jeevan took suo motu cognisance and halted the exercise. Referring to the demolition drive, the high court had then asked if it was an exercise of ethnic cleansing.

According to Nuh Deputy Commissioner Dhirendra Khadgatas affidavit, due procedure of law was followed by the district administration before demolitions that were carried out in last two weeks until August 7.

The government, while removing encroachments or unauthorised constructions, never adopted pick and choose policy and that too on the basis of caste, creed or religion, the affidavit stated.

According to the 2011 Census data, it stated, Muslims account for more than 79.20 per cent of the total population in Nuh while rest are Hindus, though in Punhana and Firozpur Jhirka tehsils, Muslims account for 87 per cent and 85 per cent of the population, respectively.

A total of 443 structures were demolished in Nuh of which 161 were permanent and rest temporary.

The apex court and the high court have time and again directed the state governments and the local authorities to demolish/remove unauthorised encroachments.., the Nuh DC stated.

Meanwhile, Gurugram DC Nishant Kumar Yadav stated that the District Town and Country Planner, Gurugram carried out demolition drive with regard to unauthorised constructions at various locations of the district after following due procedure of law.

On the previous hearing a week ago, a division bench of justices Arun Palli and Jagmohan Bansal last week referred the case to the Chief Justice before adjourning the matter for Friday. The matter came up on Friday before the division bench of Chief Justice Ravi Shanker Jha and Justice Arun Palli.

Nuh was recently in news after communal clashes broke out on July 31 after a Vishva Hindu Parishad procession was pelted with stones. The violence that also spread to neighbouring Gurugram left six dead.

Talking about the demolition drive, Home Minister Anil Vij had earlier said, Ilaj mein bulldozer bhi ek karavayi hai (bulldozer is part of the treatment).

Meanwhile, Sabharwal said on Friday the state has prepared a 400-page reply and annexed all the documents detailing the procedure followed before the demolition drive.

We have also stated in our reply that in the demolition drive which was carried out in Gurugram (the structures involved in it) entirely belong to one community  the Hindu community.

In Nuh, we have said in our reply that as per 2011 Census and in 2023 the dominance is of the Muslim community and the (population) ratio is 80:20. So, in this we have annexed the chart and notices that in spite of this, the demolition which is carried out the ratio (of demolitions) is 70:30.

So, it cannot be remotely said that it is a case of ethnic cleansing. It was only an apprehension by the court which the state has totally demonstrated in its reply that entire procedure has been followed, Sabharwal said.

In Gurugram, 100 per cent demolitions carried out are of the Hindu community, Sabharwal said. He said the religious affiliations of those whose houses are razed are not mentioned in records, but since there was an apprehension of the court, so in the reply we have given the (details on) religion also.

The entire data of demolition has been annexed, entire demolition notices have been annexed and the reply runs into 400 pages, he said.

He also said demolitions are carried out by different wings of the government including municipal councils and the states urban development authority but no data is collected about the religion or caste of those affected.

In our reply, we have attached all notices. No procedure has been bypassed. Twenty-seven annexures, all the notices, demolition orders and the direction by the NGT or by the courts have been annexed, he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday spoke with Iranian President Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi and reiterated commitment to further strengthen bilateral ties between the two nations. Modi and Raisi discussed matters of regional importance, including realizing the full potential of Chabahar Port as a connectivity hub.

Highlighting that India-Iran relationship is underpinned by close historic and civilizational connections, PM Modi drew attention to strong people-to-people contact between the countries.

Apart from this, cooperation at multilateral forums, including expansion of BRICS was also discussed. The two also talked about their upcoming meeting on the margins of the BRICS summit in South Africa.

The two leaders also discussed cooperation at multilateral forums, including expansion of BRICS, and looked forward to their meeting on the margins of the forthcoming BRICS summit in South Africa.

More than 40 nations including Iran, Argentina, Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia have expressed interest in joining BRICS bloc. BRICS summit has invited 69 global leaders to attend and in all likelihood both leaders can sit for bilateral talks on the sidelines of BRICS Summit in Johannesburg.

INDIA-IRAN TIES

India-Iran relations have faced challenges due to external geopolitical factors. The sanctions imposed on Iran by the international community have limited the extent of economic cooperation between the two nations. Additionally, Indias relations with the United States, a close ally, have sometimes strained its ties with Iran.

Despite these challenges, India and Iran have managed to maintain cordial relations. Both nations are aware of the immense potential for further cooperation and have consistently shown a willingness to overcome obstacles. The mutual respect and understanding that form the foundation of India-Iran relations are essential for promoting stability, peace and prosperity in the region.

THE TWO LEADERS MET LAST IN SEPTEMBER 2022

The two leaders had met in September on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Samarkand. They discussed issues of bilateral and mutual interests.

Iran has been a key country for India in the Gulf region, and the two sides have been jointly focusing on improving connectivity between South East Asia and Central Asia.
The World Health Organization is not going to adopt a softer approach to supporting traditional medicines, and rather it will follow the same, rigorous standards applied for conventional medicines, Dr Shyama Kuruvilla, WHO lead for Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (GCTM), told News18. In April 2022, WHOs first-of-its-kind project, GCTM, at Gujarats Jamnagar, was officially launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the world bodys director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The centre aims to generate evidence and enhance credibility for all ancient and traditional medicines and therapies used across the globe, such as in India, Africa, Arab, Islamic, and China.

Kuruvilla, leading the centre in India, said that it is now fully operational and the research work has been started.

Talking about standardising these medicines to collaborate with modern medicines, she took a firm stance.

WHO wont go soft on science," she said, adding that these practices and medicines will pass through the rigorous trials and parameters as conventional drugs are put through.

Understanding what is effective holds significance, but even more critical is recognising what isnt effective, said Kuruvilla.

On being asked why India occupies an important role amid the establishment of the GCTM in India  the first office of the United Nations which has been opened outside a developed country  she commended India for its political endeavours in preserving ancient wisdom.

India commands a leadership position in traditional medicines because of its ancient practices such as Ayurveda but also because of the modern leadership including Prime Minister Narendra Modi taking an interest in traditional medicines, she said.

Kuruvilla spoke to News18 on the sidelines of the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Summit taking place at Gandhinagar, Gujarat. The event is being co-hosted by the WHO and the Government of India, which holds the presidency of the G20 in 2023.

Imagine doing clinical trials for yoga: Kuruvilla

According to Kuruvilla, who earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the WHOs approach is not going to be soft on approving systems of traditional medicines.

We are going to use the same criteria that are used for modern medicines. Rather, we would also go hard on science, she said while explaining that the use of random clinical trials (RCTs) or double-blind studies may not be suitable for judging all forms of traditional or ancient practices.

Imagine doing that (RCTs) for yoga, she remarked with a chuckle.

Kuruvilla then added that WHO might need to develop more scientific methods for generating evidence.

It means, we need to see how scientific methods should evolve so that they can capture the holistic nature of traditional medicines. The approach needs to be different and not just RCTs or pharmaceutical-based intervention mode. It has to be more holistic, related to lifestyle and wellbeing, she explained. The process through which WHO adds products to the essential medicines lists or approves medicinal products is extremely thorough and scientific. There is no doubt that the same will be applicable to alternative medicines, therapies also.

Why India holds importance

Kuruvilla, who also held the position of senior strategic adviser, Universal Health Coverage and Life Course, at WHO, recalled the story of how PM Modi and the world bodys chief Dr Tedros bonded over the idea of launching GCTM in India.

When the director general, Dr Tedros, and PM Modi had met (and finally decided to open GTCM in India), they connected on the concept of health for all, she recalled. India has come forward in terms of introducing modern technology to work towards the generation of evidence.

Kuruvilla added that under the leadership of PM Modi, the country started talking about health for all and access to healthcare.

She further gave instances of various certified products that come under the AYUSH ministry already signalling the work done on the creation of evidence.

The work has also been done on the concept of digital grid and hence, there are so many innovative things that the country has done in this area, she said.

Kuruvilla cited an example of the latest event under which the Indian Council of Medical Research signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Ayush to integrate research across traditional and conventional medicine.

Public demand for natural, herbal remedies

Kuruvilla said that there is an increasing public demand for using natural or herbal ways for treatment and hence there is a need for evidence that shows that these therapies or medicines are safe and effective.

Talking in a small makeshift WHO cabin in the Mahatma Centre convention hall, Kuruvilla cited an example of her colleague  who was also present in the same room.

This coworker of mine has never taken modern medications," she commented, while the colleague beside her nodded in agreement.

Summing up a crucial aspect of the conversation, she emphasised, Understanding what is effective holds significance, but even more critical is recognising what isnt effective."

Kuruvilla said that this is the start of the journey. People have been using these medicines and therapies for ages and we welcome all the ideas. Now, its time to apply a scientific lens, she said.

What will GCTM do in the next 5 years?

Kuruvilla told News18 that the GCTM will begin doing research priority-setting exercises, globally.

The idea, she said, is to scale up the research and find gaps.

We need to know what people are using traditional medicine for, where the research is needed, where are we getting promising results, what are gaps, and a lot more, said Kuruvilla.

In the next five years, she hopes there will be some groundbreaking results

She also expects that the innovation in digital health will add more value to the research and its results. It will speed up or accelerate the process as it will start throwing patterns.
The popular eatery in Mumbais Bandra, which allegedly served rat instead of chicken to a Goregaon resident, has been temporarily closed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The agency slapped a closure notice on Papa Pancho da Dhaba on Wednesday after several compliance issues were reportedly found during an inspection following the customers claim of discovering a rat in his food earlier in the week.

The incident also prompted the Maharashtra government to instruct the FDA to carry out an inspection of restaurants and eateries across the state, starting immediately.

The government has reportedly instructed all food safety inspectors (FSOs) to visit five eating joints each and inspect them under the compliance laid down under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

The Case

A senior bank manager and his friend filed a complaint at Bandra police station on Monday, saying that found a piece of rat meat" in the chicken dish they had ordered at Papa Pancho Da Dhaba at Pali Naka on Sunday night. Following this, an FIR was registered against the eatery.

@MumbaiPolice Rat found in our gravy at #papaPanchodadhaba near Pali naka Bandra West . No manager or owner is ready to listen . We called police and 100 as well . No Help yet . @mumbaimirror @TOIMumbai pic.twitter.com/YRJ4NW0Wyk Stay_Raw (@AMINKHANNIAZI) August 13, 2023

Police also arrested the cooks and the manager of the restaurant, who were later released on bail surety.

Cooks Narayan Das and Sanjeev Kar, and manager Vivian Sequeira have been reportedly booked under IPC sections for adulteration of food or drink intended for sale, an act endangering the life or personal safety of others, and common intention.

The FDA has also collected the sample of the dish in which the rat was allegedly discovered and sent it for forensic examination. The department will decide on a further course of action after the forensic examination report comes.
A man has been arrested from Uttar Pradeshs Shamli for his alleged links to Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The UP Special Task Force (STF) arrested 36-year-old Kaleem Ahmad for his allegedly planning terror and anti-national activities with the help of ISI.

According to the STF officials, the terror suspect, a resident of Gherbukhari Naukuan in Shamli, returned from Pakistan five days ago and was in regular touch with ISI handlers.

They claimed the suspect was planning to prepare a team here to carry out terror activities" as photographs and WhatsApp messages of security-related places in India were sent to ISI and terrorist organisations in Pakistan through WhatsApp."

When asked about his purpose to visit Pakistan, the suspect said he had gone to meet his relatives in Pakistan, officials said adding that when asked about relatives details, could not give any answer.

He went to Pakistan supposedly on the call of ISI handlers, officials said.

The suspect later revealed that the ISI handlers had assured him to provide firearms and ammunition for this purpose, they said.

A Pakistani mobile number purchased on a forged ID was also recovered from the suspect who operated WhatsApp and used it to interact with ISI handlers.

Ahmad has been booked under IPC sections 420 (fraud), 121-A (waging war against the country), 153-A (promoting enmity between two groups on the ground of religion), 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and sections of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The arrest was made by the STFs Meerut field unit led by ASP Brijesh Kumar Singh on a specific tip-off.

A senior STF official stated that the suspect was the third eldest among his five brothers and one of his elder brothers - Tehseem Ahmad  was also involved in terror activities.

The official said Tehseem was in regular touch with Pakistan-based terrorist Sheikh Khalid Hafiz alias Dilshad Mirza and was planning to launch Islamic war to establish Shariat law in the country.

Tehseem also spied for the ISI by sending photographs of the Indian Armys security installations in Anoopgarh, Rajasthan, he added.

(With IANS inputs)
As the monsoon season blankets the nation, a surge in viral infections has ignited concerns across households and medical facilities. A recent survey conducted by the community social media platform Local Circles, encompassing the experiences of 20,000 individuals, has shed light on the prevalence of viral illnesses, particularly within Maharashtra. According to the survey, a staggering 16% of households in the state have been grappling with viral infections, primarily stemming from the influenza A and B families. Compounding the situation is a national spike in fever cases that mirror symptoms akin to COVID-19, creating a palpable sense of unease within hospitals and healthcare institutions.

There is always an increase in the circulation of viral infections during the monsoon season. These may be respiratory viruses like Influenza and COVID-19 or mosquito borne viruses like Dengue. The symptoms of COVID-19 and Influenza are very similar - fever with body ache, cough, runny nose, sore throat, loss of smell etc. It is not possible to distinguish between the two on the basis of symptoms alone. A PCR test of a throat swab is the only way to differentiate the two illnesses. Currently we are seeing a lot of Influenza H3N2 but very little COVID-19. However, considering the UK is having a surge of COVID-19 cases due to a new variant, we may expect the same to happen in India a few weeks to months down the line.

What has particularly raised concerns is the uncanny similarity in symptoms between COVID-19 and Influenza. Both illnesses manifest with fever, body aches, cough, runny nose, sore throat, and loss of smell, making it difficult to differentiate between the two solely based on clinical presentation. the current nationwide surge in viral infections during the monsoon season underscores the importance of vigilance and preventative actions. With symptoms closely mirroring those of COVID-19, the need for accurate testing and responsible behavior is more critical than ever

Mitigating the impact of viral infections during the monsoon season requires a two-pronged approach: individual precautions and public health initiatives. Adhering to personal hygiene practices such as frequent handwashing, wearing masks, and maintaining social distance can reduce the risk of transmission.

In essence, the monsoon seasons confluence with viral infections presents a multifaceted challenge, demanding a comprehensive understanding of respiratory illnesses and their diagnostics. As we navigate through this dynamic landscape, the conundrum of similar symptoms between influenza and COVID-19 underscores the indispensable role of PCR testing in determining accurate diagnoses.
Nag Panchami is a traditional Hindu festival that is celebrated all across India. The day is considered highly auspicious. People worship Nag Dev or the snake god on this day. Every year, nag panchami is observed on the fifth day of Shukla Paksha in the month of Shravan. The unique festival is dedicated to snakes, and devotees seek their blessings through worship. It is also believed that people go to temples and offer milk to the snake god. Worshipping Lord Shiva is also considered quite auspicious on this day, as the festival falls during the month of Shravan. This year, Nag Panchami will be celebrated on August 21. It is important to note that Nag Panchami falls on the 3rd Monday of the Shravan month. Many astrologers have revealed that the combination of Monday and Nag Panchami is quite rare and will be highly auspicious. Lets look at some of the things that should be avoided on this day.

Do not hurt or kill snakes. Nag Panchami is the day of snakes, and worshipping the snake god is considered quite auspicious on this special day. It is important to note that the snakes should not be harmed or killed. It is believed that harming a snake can lead to various curses that are not just limited to the person, but to their family as well.

Avoid digging grounds. Snakes are believed to live under the ground. According to various astrologers, people should avoid digging grounds on Nag Panchami, as it can disrupt a snakes house and have a negative impact on the person.

Avoid offering milk to real snakes. Many people offer milk to real snakes on Nag Panchami. Astrologers have revealed that milk is poison for snakes, and people should only offer it in temples.

Avoid using sharp objects. According to various Hindu scriptures, using sharp objects on Nag Panchami is considered quite inauspicious. People should also avoid doing activities like sewing and embroidery.

The Panchami tithi of Shukla Paksha in the month of Shravan starts at 12:21 am on August 21 and ends at 2:01 am on August 22. The puja muhurat for Nag Panchami is between 5:53 am and 8:30 am on August 21.
Blue Beetle Movie Review: Lets face it, superhero movies have not been impressive in the recent years. Be it DC or Marvel Cinematic Universe, I could count the movies that I had fun watching. Shazam! Fury of the Gods aka Shazam 2 being one of them. So when my expectations from Blue Beetle werent high, considering the superhero isnt as popular as other superheroes of his age. However, I must admit, I found myself shushing people who were talking in between the climax scene and realised I was invested in the Angel Manuel Soto directorial.

Starring Xolo Mariduena and Bruna Marquezine in the lead, Blue Beetle is DC Extended Universes third theatrical release this year. Unlike the previous two films, Shazam 2 and The Flash, Blue Beetle did not walk into the DCs big screen superhero universe with a baggage of the remains of will there-wont there Zack Snyder universe the filmmaker was making over the years. This detachment from the past allows Blue Beetle to explore any tone that they like. Director Angel Manuel Soto took a familiar path, resorting the usual tricks of the 80s and 90s film and banked the film highly on emotions which worked in the films favour.

Blue Beetle revolves around a 22-year-old Jaime (Xolo Mariduena) who comes across a dangerous beetle looking gadget. His familys curiosity in the gadget results in Jaime turning into the host of the said beetle and his life takes a turn. Not only does this transformation put his family at risk but his love interest Jenny, played by Bruna Marquezine, under major threat. Jaime is forced to lock horns with Victoria Kord (Susan Sarandon) and Conrad Carapax (Raoul Trujillo). Whether he saves himself and his family or Victoria manages to extract the Blue Beetle out of him is the crux of the film.

On paper, the film doesnt have anything great to offer. It is pretty much linear, with the story being told through Jaimes perspective and minimal layering is involved. However, the screenplay, the dialogues and the performances help Blue Beetle standout. Angel Manuel Soto offers a crisp narration and yet manages to give every character its spotlight. Although Blue Beetle is the star of the show, you find yourself invested in Jenny, looking forward to what Rudy (George Lopez) could do next, and curious about Nanas (Adriana Barraza) history. Each character is given enough meat to leave a mark and yet not overshadow the superhero.

The dialogues play a key role in the film. While it was understandable that the film is in English, the director did not hold himself back to give the script the much-needed Latino lines. This helped me connect with the films core emotions and motive. Xolo Mariduena shines as Blue Beetle. He is warm to the eye and sincere with his performance, almost reminding me of the first time I watched Tom Holland as Spider-Man.

Bruna Marquezine matches his vibe in most places but the character is not well-written. There are times, especially in the climax, that I almost forgot that she was there. I wish the writing for her character was stronger. The stars of the show are undoubtedly the supporting cast, especially Adriana Barraza and George Lopez. While George has everyones attention in the first half, Adriana steals the show in the second half. Personally, I also loved how Angel Manuel Soto subtly blended the fear of immigrants and the concept that migrant families express better in their home language. It plays a key role in showing representation of Latinos living outside their hometowns and countries.

The VFX was better than most DC movies weve seen lately. However, the film does make you think of several Marvel and DC films. I found myself drawing parallels with Batman, Spider-Man, Ant-Man, and Iron Man. As a fan of both the universes, I had no complains but it could bother DC fans. Another issue that fans might have is that Blue Beetle is pretty basic of a superhero film. If you compare it with other DC movies, it is not among the best films. It doesnt dazzle you like a Man of Steel or Wonder Woman did. However, as a standalone film, Blue Beetle is a fun watch.
The first teaser of the highly anticipated film Kalki 2898 AD, starring Prabhas and Deepika Padukone, has garnered an overwhelming response from audiences. Directed by Nag Ashwin, this ambitious project was created on a massive budget and the official title was launched at San Diego Comic-Con last month. Meanwhile, excitement among the fans has further escalated as the latest reports suggest that Dulquer Salmaan will also be part of the film. In a recent interview while promoting King Of Kotha, the actor seemingly provided an indirect confirmation of his involvement in the film.

During one of the segments, the anchor asked Dulquer Salmaan about his involvement in the sci-fi thriller and the actor neither confirmed nor denied his presence. However, he further mentioned that he had visited the sets of Kalki and highlighted that the entire experience was very different from the directors previous film, Yevade Subramanyam.

Later, when questioned about his interactions with the star cast on the set of Kalki 2898 AD, Dulquer Salmaan remained careful about his response and said that he shouldnt reveal such details at the moment. He further admitted to being uncertain about his presence in the film.

As of now, neither Dulquer nor the filmmakers have officially shared any details regarding the potential cameo by the actor. However, if Dulquer Salmaan is indeed part of the film, it would create major excitement among his fanbase.

Apart from King of Kotha, Dulquer Salmaan is also set to feature in the Netflix film Guns & Gulaabs, alongside Rajkummar Rao and Gulshan Devaiah. During a promotional event earlier this month, the actor spoke about his meeting with Prabhas on the sets of Kalki 2898 AD.

He mentioned, I never sought to be this massive superstar until I visited the sets of Kalki 2898 AD. I went wow and was like, if this gentleman can green lit a film of this magnitude, anything can happen. That one moment I understood what it means to be a star of that magnitude."

Kalki 2898 AD, earlier titled Project K, features a massive lineup of talented actors like, Prabhas, Deepika Padukone, Amitabh Bachchan, Rana Daggubati, Kamal Haasan and Disha Patani.
Police said a Mentz man with a history of online sex crimes was arrested this week on charges of exchanging sexual pictures with a minor on the internet.

Cayuga County Sheriff Brian Schenck on Thursday said that Brien Fredendall, 44, was charged Wednesday with the felonies of sex offender failure to report, first offense, internet identifiers; and first-degree attempted disseminating indecent material to minors, sexually motivated.

These charges stem from an investigation into allegations that Fredendall was exchanging explicit pictures that were sexual in nature with a minor and while using internet accounts he failed to register with the New York State Department of Criminal Justice, which is required due to his status as a registered sex offender.

Fredendall was convicted in Cayuga County more than a decade ago of possessing a sexual performance of a child for downloading almost 500 images of child pornography onto his computer.

Schenck said in a news release that the more recent investigation was in conjunction with the FBI, New York State Police and Cayuga County Probation Department. Fredendall was arraigned at Centralized Arraignment and remanded to the Cayuga County Jail pending future court appearances.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is encouraged to contact Detective Sergeant Nicole Stewart at (315) 294-8093, or tips can be left at cayugacounty.us/452/Send-a-Tip. Tipsters can remain anonymous.
Vivek Agnihotri has lashed out at Karan Johar for promoting values which are not ours in his films. In a recent interview, Agnihotri called KJo a wonderful man but shared that he does not like the value system that the Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Khaani director promotes in his cinema. I dont like the entire politics of that man," Agnihotri told India.com.

My problem is the kind of value system and the kind of politics you have created in Bollywood that have come to mean only one thing which is wrong. This over-glorification of stardom or star system is all done by Mr Karan Johar and I am against that, Agnihotri added.

Vivek Agnihotri argued that with his films, Karan Johar is not letting Indians thrive. He also accused Johar of not resenting Indian values and culture in his cinema. I find myself in a place where I have no option but to oppose it. However much I love him for his craft, I am sure he must be a great person but he is giving strength to the star system. He is nurturing the star system, the studio system. He is creating and helping a system which is not letting middle-class, Hindi-speaking, Indian, raw-rooted, talented citizens thrive. That is my complaint. He is promoting values which are not our values. These values are imported. I dont want Bollywood to thrive on imported values when we have such a great, fantastic value system in place, he said.

The Vaccine War further hoped for Karan Johar, his sena and chamchas to travel across the country so that they understand its values. I hope God blesses him and he travels India without his sena and his chamchas. He travels to every small town, and middle-class town in India, lives there in cheaper hotels and struggles in those cities to understand what India is, and then Karan Johar will understand what is wrong with Bollywood," he concluded.
The Telugu film industry has been producing exciting content for the audience. Be it films or web series, the industry is giving more value to content than star power and big names. One of the recent examples of such engaging content is the hit film Baby, starring Anand Deverakonda, Vaishnavi Chaitanya, and Viraj Ashwin in the lead roles. The film was made on a small budget of Rs 10 crore but has become a huge hit among the audience and the critics. People are now more interested in engaging content than star power. Netizens are appreciating stories that show the reality on a ground level. Performances by actors are being noticed and lauded on social media, giving them much-deserved credit. Another such film that is making the rounds on social media is Yendira Ee Panchayati. People are quite excited after looking at the first look of the film, which stars Bharath and Vishika Laxman. The makers of the Yendira Ee Panchayati have revealed their first poster recently. In the poster, the lead actors can be seen sitting face to face against a wall, staring at each other with affection.

Reportedly, Yendira Ee Panchayati will be about people belonging to different villages, who will have their own panchayats. It is also expected that it will show social issues and focus on stories from rural India.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Vishika (@__iamvishikalaxman)

Netizens were left excited after the poster for the film was released. The film is written and directed by debutant Gangadhara T and produced by Pradeep Kumar M under the banner of Prabhat Creations. Apart from the lead actors, Kasi Vishwanath, Thotapalli Madhu, Ravi Varma, Prem Sagar, Sameer, and Vijay will also be seen in important roles in the project. Sateesh Masam is the cinematographer for the project, and PR (Peddapalli Rohith) has provided the music.

There has been no official announcement by the makers regarding the release date of Yendira Ee Panchayati.
Amidst a global emphasis on embracing diverse beliefs for societal peace, Pakistan stands out with its stark divergence. Recent incidents, where mobs joyously destroyed a church and set fire to Christian homes while chanting slogans, spotlight the struggles of Pakistans small Christian population. This community, residing in a country that claims itself the land of the pure, faces escalating persecution, frequently justified through blasphemy accusations.

The very country that has been quick to misinterpret conditions faced by Muslims in Indias Kashmir is now witnessing an alarming increase in harassment against its non-Muslim minority. Reports from just last month reveal the demolition of a 150-year-old Mari Mata Temple in Karachi by extremists. In a disturbing pattern, three Hindu girls were abducted, forcibly married, and converted to Islam shortly thereafter. The recent wave of church demolitions, the burning of Christian homes, and the relentless harassment of this community under the guise of blasphemy law further compound the troubling situation.

As the world watches, the question that must be raised is: Why are extremists in Pakistan seemingly allowed to oppress the minority population with such impunity, stripping them of both their dignity and faith? The international communitys reluctance to confront these grave human rights and religious freedom violations raises apprehensions regarding its dedication to these fundamental principles. This silence only serves to perpetuate such dreadful occurrences.

Church Desecration Exemplifies Ongoing Religious Persecution

A continuance of religious persecution can be witnessed in the recent heart-wrenching church incident. Numerous videos and photos circulated on social media platforms depict a mob vandalising a church in Faisalabad. This mob targeted a Christian colony and multiple churches, accusing a resident of committing blasphemy against Islam. Some disturbing videos even suggest that mosque loudspeakers were employed to amplify these accusations, further inflaming hatred and violence. Reports confirm that Christian residents were subjected to attacks across various parts of the city, exacerbating an already grave situation. The police filed a First Information Report (FIR) against the accused under sections 295B and 295C of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Nevertheless, it is profoundly disheartening to observe how allegations of blasphemy against a small number of individuals lead to the distress and mistreatment of numerous innocent people. This prompts the question: what is the true function of blasphemy laws, particularly when they appear to ignite more disorder and jeopardise the safety of citizens?

The Enigma of Blasphemy

Over the course of decades, we have been witnessing a persistent dilemma surrounding blasphemy in Pakistan, wherein groups of individuals assume the role of enforcers and target communities or individuals who face allegations of blasphemy. The case of Asia Bibi (Asia Noreen) stands out as one of the most tragic instances of such accusations. This not only subjected her to a life of suffering but also resulted in the tragic death of Minister Salman Taseer. Even though Asia Bibi was eventually cleared by Pakistans Supreme Court, many precious years of her life were scarred by baseless charges under the so-called blasphemy law, while Taseer paid the ultimate price.

In 2011, an unfortunate incident transpired when Shahbaz Bhatti, the Federal Minister for Minority Affairs, lost his life due to his advocacy for the victims of the Gojra riots of 2009, during which the Christian minority faced targeted violence. The subsequent year, 2012, witnessed a distressing episode involving Rimsha Masih, a minor who was accused of desecrating Quranic pages. This was followed by the infamous case of Mashal Khan, who was subjected to a violent assault and ultimately lost his life after being accused of blasphemy and insulting Islam by a mob. More recently, in 2021, Priyantha Kumara from Sri Lanka endured a tragic fate as he was subjected to brutal torture and death at the hands of a mob in Sialkot. These incidents were all rooted in allegations of violating the blasphemy law and showing disrespect towards the Prophet of Islam.

Numerous reported incidents reveal a pattern where mobs take the law into their own hands, subjecting individuals to harassment and even death. Regrettably, the states response often appears unyielding, allowing such incidents to recur with disturbing frequency. The blasphemy law in Pakistan has led to increased violence without serving any constructive purpose.

Correcting the Narrative: Islams True Stance on Blasphemy Laws and Treatment of Minorities

Erroneous interpretations of Islamic doctrine have contributed to a mistaken belief that it promotes hostility towards non-Muslims and diverse beliefs. In reality, Islam does not advocate enmity towards other ideologies; rather, it critically assesses their limitations. Unfortunately, this assessment has been misconstrued to breed animosity and ill will, leading to the adoption of blasphemy laws by followers, despite their absence from the Quran or the Prophets teachings.

Historical killings during Prophet Muhammads era were often linked to political conflicts, extending beyond religious variances. There exists no Quranic verse that advocates aggression against minority groups; in fact, Islam strictly forbids aggression (Quran 16:90). Rigid interpretations, coupled with animosity, veer off from the original intentions of Islam.

It is imperative to distinguish between authentic Islamic teachings that emphasise respect, comprehension, and coexistence and the misinterpretations that have gained traction.

Why Isnt Pakistan Facing Boycott for Religious Apartheid?

The discrepancy in global focus on religious discrimination across various nations is disheartening. While numerous liberal voices critique the democratic and secular facets of India, there appears to be a dearth of attention on the religious segregation taking place in Pakistan. Its worth noting that former US President, Barack Obama, expressed apprehensions about the welfare of Indias second-largest community, yet his response to the challenges in Pakistan remained notably muted.

During his visit to the US, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was questioned about safeguarding the rights of the second-largest majority, but similar scrutiny of Pakistani authorities is notably absent. The worlds relative silence on the severe religious apartheid faced by minorities in Pakistan raises crucial questions. This matter demands global inquiry and human rights advocates should unite to defend the dignity and lives of minority populations in Pakistan.

The Two-Nation Theory: Religion and Secularism

In August of 1947, the world witnessed the emergence of two distinct independent nations. One chose the path of a secular state, valuing the equality of its citizens, while the other opted for a state founded on religious principles. However, the latters legal framework inadvertently paved the way for the persecution of those who diverged from the established norms. India, with its commitment to the equality of all faiths and safeguarding of their dignity through well-defined laws, presents a striking contrast to Pakistans trajectory.

Pakistans enactment of blasphemy laws has led to the loss of life and significant discrimination against its minority communities. Indian journalist, Amana Begam Ansari, eloquently captured this contrast when she expressed her gratitude for being born in India. Secular India affords its citizens the freedom to openly express their thoughts and opinions, while Pakistan has fallen short of this ideal, causing many liberal Muslims to seek refuge and opportunities abroad due to prevailing constraints.

The 1947 partition marked the emergence of two nations and revealed stark differences in their governance, human rights, and freedom of expression approaches. Despite Jinnahs vision for a secular Pakistan, this ideal remains unfulfilled, resulting in limited religious tolerance. This intolerance extends beyond non-Muslims to include intra-Muslim sectarian strife. The anti-Ahmadiyya Ordinance exemplifies such discrimination.

It is crucial for the global community to acknowledge Indias successful cultivation of secularism and diverse harmony within its Hindu-majority population, while its neighbouring country struggles to achieve similar ideals.

The author is a nationalist Indian Muslim, a student of Philosophy and a researcher in the Quran and Islamic theology, having in-depth knowledge in Islam. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday held an informal meeting with MPs from the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), who are also members of the standing committee of home affairs in New Delhi.

The meeting was held to explain the developments related to the bills introduced in the Lok Sabha during Parliaments monsoon session this year by the home ministry, sources told CNN-News18.

On the last day of the last monsoon session of Parliament, Shah had introduced three bills in the Lok Sabha to replace three criminal laws.

These included the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill 2023, The Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita Bill, 2023 which will replace The Code Of Criminal Procedure and The Bharatiya Sakshaya Bill, 2023, which will replace The Indian Evidence Bill.

These bills were referred to the standing committee for scrutiny. Now, the committee has nearly three months to submit its report before the next session.

According to sources, Shah explained the relevance and importance behind these bills, and how it was done to ensure speedy justice to those who have been fighting cases in courts and languishing in jails for years together.

Shah has held over 150 meetings with various stakeholders, including states over bills and has requested the panel for an extensive scrutiny," sources added.

What is the basis on which the colonial laws were made? But the intent of the Modi government to bring this bill is very clear. Justice must be delivered in a time bound manner, a source said quoting the home minister.

The sources also say that Shah could further meet MPs from other political parties who are a part of this Parliamentary panel in the coming days.

This comes as, several opposition leaders, especially that of Tamil Nadu had objected to the naming of the bills in Hindi to which the argument of the Centre had been that these names are driven from Sanskrit.

Apart from chairman of the panel Brij Lal some of the other members of the committee who were present in todays meeting include Dilip Ghosh, Dr Anil Jain and Biplab Deb amongst others.
The formidable election machine that is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) can also make mistakes is evident from its very late announcement of the candidate list for the Karnataka assembly election last year.

The BJP came up with its first list in mid-April for an election scheduled on May 10. On the other hand, both the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) not only announced candidates but they were up and running even as BJP ticket hopefuls were sitting idle.

While many reasons like disbanding the Muslim reservation to Congresss freebies promise seem to have played a role in BJPs embarrassing loss, a super-late announcement was also blamed during review meetings. Now, the BJP doesnt want to repeat its Karnataka folly in the upcoming state elections and hence has done something rare  it has started announcing candidate names despite the Election Commission not even announcing poll dates yet.

TO TAKE ON BAGHEL, TIME IS THEIR ALLY

If Chhattisgarh can be equated with a jungle, the BJP doesnt have a Babbar Sher (lion). The pack of cadres is waiting eagerly to pounce upon Congress with whatever might they have after being battered in the 2018 rout when chief minister Raman Singh resigned as the longest-serving BJP CM. However, the pack doesnt know who will lead them. If in any state the saffron party is in such disillusionment, its in Chhattisgarh.

Raman Singh, its chief ministerial face, is currently the national vice-president who is more active on social media and seldom seen on the ground. His coterie has equally vanished. Leader of Opposition Narayan Chandel isnt popular enough and state president of the BJP, Arun Sao, hasnt created a connection with cadres that can make him a mass leader.

No wonder, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has taken charge of formulating the strategy himself. But faced with pro-incumbency from Bhupesh Baghel, BJP needed an edge and a super-early announcement of candidates gives the BJP exactly that. The idea of the central leadership was to give ample time to candidates to be ahead of the curve as far as Congress is concerned, said a Chhattisgarh BJP leader who attended Wednesday evenings CEC meeting.

BJP sources indicate that the 90 assembly seats of Chhattisgarh were categorised into four sections  A, B, C, and D. While A represents seats where the BJP won and keeps winning, B represents seats where the BJP lost once or at most twice. Meanwhile, C represents those seats where the saffron party lost twice consecutively while D represents those seats where the BJP never won and are considered opposition strongholds.

BJP on Thursday afternoon announced 21 names and all of them happen to be from the weak seats. Sources say the BJP held back announcing six more names which were finalised for further deliberation and will be announced very soon.

BJP wanted to deal with the troubled ones first and hence the first list featured Patan  Baghels constituency where the BJP has asked its sitting Lok Sabha MP from Durg and Bhupesh Baghels family member, Vijay Baghel, to contest. Sources say he wasnt very keen. Similarly, BJP has asked its SC Morcha chief Lal Singh Arya to contest from Gohad, another weak seat. BJP has fielded 10 Scheduled Tribes, 1 Scheduled Caste, and five women in the first go.

Raman Singh, Om Mathur, and Mansukh Mandaviya will soon meet them to formulate seat-specific strategies. In the meantime, all of them have been instructed to hit the ground in their respective constituencies and appoint in-charge of every booth. This extra time is supposed to be exploited  this was the idea, said a BJP leader on conditions of anonymity.

MAMA ISNT ENOUGH, BJP NEEDS EXTRA

Mama, as Shivraj Singh Chouhan is known in Madhya Pradesh, is faced with anti-incumbency, doubled with Kamal Naths flirtations with Hindutva  BJPs patented electoral armoury. While weathering the after-effects of a Congress win in Karnataka, BJP and Chouhan both need something extra and this is where freebies and early candidate lists kick in.

In early June, Chouhan announced he will transfer Rs 1,000 per month to women. In January, he had promised the Ladli Behna Yojana under which the state government now stands to spend a whopping Rs 12,500 crore per year. While this is to counter Congresss promise of Rs 1,500 per month to women and an LPG cylinder for Rs 500 if it comes to power, time puts MPs Mama ahead of Congress game plan, where it feels left behind.

Unlike in Karnataka, where the BJP probables were itching to kick-start the campaign but felt stuck as the election date was nearing, the BJP has announced 39 names for the states assembly election with no dates by EC in sight. After a hurried CEC meeting on Wednesday evening, the BJP picked eight from Scheduled Caste, 13 from Scheduled Tribe, and five women for Madhya Pradesh. Starting Thursday itself, they have been asked to move to their respective constituencies, if BJP sources are to be believed.

They have been asked not to move from their constituencies till result day unless they are called for a meeting in Bhopal, which is likely very soon and will be attended by Mukhyamantri ji (Chouhan), Bhupendra ji, Ashwini ji and Pradesh Adhyaksh (VD Sharma), said a BJP leader from the state on condition of anonymity. He added that orders for printing of placards and billboards for many of these constituencies are being placed already. Otherwise whats the purpose of having this extra time? he asked.

Shah, who is micro-managing the campaign strategy in Madhya Pradesh, is expected to visit the state within a week.

The BJP, like all other political outfits, encounters defeats but unlike others, it takes very little time to learn from it. Probably, that is why the summer of discontent this year has ingrained this deep-rooted mantra in the party that it is better early than never.
Like 2019, Amethi could be the big fight in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, too, with Congresss Rahul Gandhi against Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJP) Smriti Irani. According to newly appointed state Congress president Ajay Rai, Gandhi will contest from Amethi in 2024.

ALSO READ | Looking for Ex-MP?: Smriti Irani Takes Dig At Rahul Gandhi After Congress Shares Her Missing Poster

In 2019, Gandhi was defeated by Irani, who emerged as the giant killer. In fact, the Congress had its apprehensions, which is why it fielded Gandhi from the second seat of Wayanad.

WHAT HAPPENED IN 2019?

Wayanad was a safe seat for the Congress, so a win was never in doubt.

The Congress also felt that as a Member of Parliament (MP) of a southern state, Gandhi would help the party reclaim its space in the south, where regional parties such as the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) were surging ahead.

But sources in the party say that with Gandhi contesting from both the seats, the BJP was able to push forward the narrative that he was running away from his family bastion of Amethi and was scared. Irani kept going back to Amethi despite losing, reiterating how the same party in power at the Centre and state would help the people in the constituency.

In fact, on the day of polling, News18 found that the women wanted change and development. Irani played the woman card and it worked for her. Gandhis absence, even on the day of polling, hurt him further.

THE 2024 CHALLENGE; PRIYANKA FROM VARANASI?

There is a challenge for Gandhi in 2024 as well. The Congress has to ensure that the anti-BJP votes are not divided and that the absence of Gandhi from Amethi doesnt come back to harm him.

The BJP is geared up for a fight and will raise the point that when Gandhi lost, he visited Amethi only twice.

The next speculation is about Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Will she contest from Varanasi or any other seat? Rai hinted that she could, but no decision has been taken.

A lot depends on whether their mother Sonia Gandhi wants to take sanyas from Lok Sabha politics.

It would then put pressure on the siblings to divide the Uttar Pradesh turf between themselves.
Microsoft is hosting a media event next month which is likely to be the platform where the new Surface device lineup is announced. The company has a solid footing in the software space but its hardware devices compliment the platform, and also cater to business solutions.

Microsoft is holding an event on September 21 which is likely to be a week after Apple brings its new iPhones and other products.

Microsoft has not shared details about the expected products, but going by the yearly trends, the company should have the new Surface Laptop, Surface Laptop Go and the Surface Go among others.

But the event is not likely to be fully focused on hardware, now that Microsoft has a repertoire of AI products via Bing and yes, talk about the new features of the Windows 11 version with the new update in the offing. Microsoft will be hosting its event in New York City where the new products and announcements will be confirmed by the company.

The new iteration of Surface products that could be part of the event are Surface Pro 10, Surface Laptop Go 3, Surface Laptop 6 and even the Surface Laptop Studio 2 among others. Microsoft continues to go with Intel chips for the Surface PCs and convertibles, which puts it in the premium category but a shade below the Apple M-series silicone in terms of the overall performance.

Surface products have their following but you still cant put them in the popular category for a wider audience, especially in markets like India where the Surface lineup is priced much higher than most countries because of the high import duty and other costs.

Microsoft has kept itself busy in 2023, and AI is at the forefront of its strategy. The company has invested billions in OpenAI to get first rights on ChatGPT and its new features. All these integrations have helped Bing become a force in the search market, while the Edge browser has gained users as it becomes reliable and effective.
A new trend is captivating the attention of young individuals in China. This one is based on the concept of temporary partners" or da zi" in Chinese, which translates to everything can be matched." This innovative approach allows people with diverse backgrounds to connect based on shared interests and preferences, rather than pre-existing familiarity. The trend has gained traction through social media platforms like Xiaohongshu, where various categories such as food, gaming, fitness, travel, farming, chatting and music listening help develop connections between individuals.

As reported by South China Morning Post, people can engage in conversations with their temporary partners" using the popular messaging app WeChat. Through this concept, some partnerships dont even require in-person interactions. For example, individuals who are into fitness can rely on the chatting platform to stay updated on each others fitness journey and progress.

Through this concept based on shared interests, young people in China are finding a unique way to address their emotional needs and feelings of loneliness. This not only provides companionship but also allows people to maintain their personal space and independence.

A WeChat user explaining the concept told the portal, Having a stranger supervise ensures both of us take it seriously. If I ask a friend or family member to do it, I might not take it as seriously and even argue with them,

Another said, I am truly very lonely, but I dont like initiating social interactions. I hope to have a stranger who wont delve into my life but can keep me from watching movies or eating hotpot all alone.

Each person is like a piece of a puzzle and its difficult to find another piece that fits in all aspects. Thats why the concept of temporary partners is great. As long as one piece fits, it can still become a lasting friendship, said another person.

Meanwhile, the concept of temporary partnerships doesnt always have positive outcomes. A 20-year-old person named Chimoku shared his unfriendly meeting with Renwu Magazine. In one incident, he decided to have a meal with a male partner of similar age, however, his partner dominated the conversation by ordering numerous dishes and bragged about himself.

In a separate incident, Chimokus interactions with a female temporary partner took an unexpected turn as he found himself developing romantic feelings for her. However, his hopes were ruined when he discovered that the girl was already in a relationship.
US President Joe Biden on Friday hailed a new era" of unity with the leaders of South Korea and Japan as the allies unveiled new three-way security cooperation at a first-of-a-kind summit that has already rattled China.

Going tieless in the Camp David presidential retreat, Biden praised the political courage" of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in turning the page on historical animosity.

Our countries are stronger  and the world will be safer  as we stand together. I know thats a belief that we all three share," he told them as he opened the talks in the mountains west of Washington.

Biden said the three would pursue this new era of cooperation and renew our resolve to serve as a force of good across the Indo-Pacific and, quite frankly, around the world."

The two treaty-bound US allies largely see eye to eye on the world  and together are the base for some 84,500 US troops  but such a summit would have been unthinkable until recently due to the legacy of Japans harsh 1910-1945 occupation of the Korean peninsula.

But Yoon, taking political risks at home, has turned the page by resolving a dispute over wartime forced labor, and now calling Japan a partner at a time of high tensions with both China and North Korea.

Today will be remembered as a historic day, where we established a firm institutional basis and commitments to the trilateral partnership," Yoon said.

The three leaders will agree to a multi-year plan of regular exercises in all domains, going beyond one-off drills in response to North Korea, and will announce a commitment to consult" during crises, said Jake Sullivan, Bidens national security advisor.

The leaders will also agree to share real-time data on North Korea and to hold summits every year, officials said.

Camp David marks the first time the three countries leaders have met for a standalone summit, not on the sidelines of a larger event, and is the first diplomatic event since 2015 at the resort, which is synonymous with Middle East peacemaking.

- You can never become a Westerner -

Jake Sullivan, Bidens national security advisor, said the summit would have an affirmative vision" on how the countries can deliver together and was not taking aim at a country."

But Rahm Emanuel, the blunt-speaking US ambassador to Japan, took another tone when he previewed the summit, saying that the three powers created something that is exactly what China was hoping would never happen."

For Emanuel, the former congressman turned ambassador, China should understand one thing: We are the rising power; they are declining."

China has flexed its muscle both at home and in Asia under President Xi Jinping, exerting disputed maritime claims and carrying out major exercises near Taiwan, the self-ruling democracy claimed by Beijing.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged the two economically developed Northeast Asian democracies instead to work with Beijing to revitalize East Asia."

No matter how blond you dye your hair or how sharp you shape your nose, you can never become a European or American, you can never become a Westerner," he said in a video shared on official media.

We must know where our roots lie," he said.

But Chinas pressure tactics have led to a sharp deterioration in its favorability in Japan and South Korea, which have traditionally been more discreet than the United States in their comments.

Tensions have also risen with North Korea, which has launched a volley of missiles in recent months and is feared to respond with new action in response to the summit.

As the Camp David summit opened, North Korea said it had scrambled jets in response to what it called a US spy planes incursion.

- Global allies -

But the summit hopes to move beyond a focus on North Korea or even just Asia.

Tokyo and Seoul have offered a major boost to Ukraine as major non-Western powers joining pressure against Russias invasion.

The summit aims to institutionalize three-way cooperation to make it difficult for any reversal by a future leader  a South Korean president who again seizes on hostility with Japan or, potentially, a return of Donald Trump, who has disparaged US troop commitments overseas as wasteful.

To the surprise of many observers, Yoons embrace of Japan has drawn relatively muted protests at home.

Both Japanese and South Koreans feel that there are a number of fundamentally aligned values and interests that should bring them together," said Mira Rapp-Hooper, senior director for East Asia and Oceania on the National Security Council.

Yoon, a conservative, has quickly become a close US ally, with Biden welcoming him for a rare state visit in which the South Korean leader regaled the audience by singing American Pie."

But Yoon is constitutionally prohibited from serving more than a single term, which ends in 2027.
Weather-related disasters and climate change impacts are unravelling the fabric of society in the South-West Pacific, encompassing nations such as Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and the Solomon Islands. According to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), sea level rise threatens the future of low-lying islands whilst increasing ocean heat and acidification harms vital and vulnerable marine ecosystems.

In the State of the Climate in the South-West Pacific 2022 report, WMO provides a snapshot of climate indicators including temperatures, sea level rise, ocean heat and acidification, and extreme weather events in 2022. It also highlights the socio-economic risks and impacts on key sectors like agriculture. The report, along with an interactive story map, is one of a series of five regional reports and a global report from WMO providing the latest climate insights to inform decision-making.

According to WMO, the three-year-long La Nina event had a clear influence on temperatures in 2022. But despite its temporary cooling influence, it was still a warm year for the region. The mean temperature in 2022 was 0.2 C to 0.3 C higher than during the last strong La Nina event in 2011.

The El Nino, which followed three years of La Nina conditions, is very likely to continue during the rest of the year. This will have a big impact on the South-West Pacific region as it is frequently associated with higher temperatures, disruptive weather patterns and more marine heatwaves and coral bleaching, said WMO Secretary-General Prof. Petteri Taalas.

Compared to 2021, the number of reported disaster events decreased; however, economic losses increased. Economic damage due to flooding was US$ 8.5 billion, almost triple compared to the previous year, with most of the damage attributable to a series of flooding events in Australia. Tropical Storms Megi and Nalgae caused devastating flooding in the Philippines.

Early warning is one of the most effective ways of reducing damage from disasters, as it empowers people to make risk-informed decisions for food security, as well as other sectors, said Prof. Taalas. Despite continuous efforts to strengthen multi-hazard early warning systems, the present report clearly shows that there are still significant gaps to be addressed, he said.

The Early Warnings for All initiative  is critical in the Pacific, which is characterized by distinct disaster risk hotspots that are intensifying and expanding as climate-related hydrometeorological disasters intensify, said Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia Pacific.

The report shows how the agriculture sector is one of the most critical sectors affected by climate-related disasters, echoing the national adaptation plans of many countries in the South-West Pacific.

The WMO report says that sea-level rise rates were, in general, slightly higher than the global mean rate, reaching approximately 4 mm per year in several areas. As per the report, most of the regions in the South-West Pacific show upper-ocean (0700 m) warming since 1993.

Warming is particularly strong, with rates exceeding 23 times the global average warming rates, in the Solomon Sea and east of the Solomon Islands; in the Arafura, Banda and Timor Seas; east of the Philippines; along the southern coast of Indonesia and in the Tasman Sea, according to the report. In Indonesia, satellite estimates of the area of a glacier in the western part of the island of New Guinea showed a total ice area in April 2022 of 0.23 km2, a decrease of about 15% from the previous assessment of 0.27 km2 in July 2021.

The WMO report goes on to state that La Nina conditions contributed to significant rainfall anomalies in the region. Most of the equatorial Pacific islands experienced drier-than-normal conditions, and Kiribati and Tuvalu suffered from significant water shortages at times during the year. At the other extreme, Australia suffered significant economic loss in association with severe floods.

In 2022, a total of 35 natural hazard events were reported in the South-West Pacific according to the International Disaster Database (EM-DAT), of which over 70% were flood events. These resulted in over 700 fatalities, of which over 70% were associated with storms. Over 8 million people were directly affected by these hazards, and they caused total economic damage of close to US$ 9 billion. Storms were the leading cause of death and affected the greatest number of people in 2022, especially in the Philippines and Fiji.

A comparison of the economic losses from disasters in the South-West Pacific region in 2022 with the average over the past 20 years (20022021) shows that the losses associated with flooding in 2022 (an estimated US$ 8.5 billion) were more than 4 times the average. In 2022, as an aggregate, flooding caused the highest economic losses in Australia, where the total was over US$ 8 billion, followed by Indonesia (over US$ 74 million) and the Philippines (over US$ 11 million).
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has accepted credentials of newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Colombia Luis Fernando Cuartas Ayala.

The ambassador presented his credentials to President Ilham Aliyev.

The head of state then had a conversation with the ambassador.

The ambassador noted that political ties between Azerbaijan and Colombia are well developed, adding a mechanism of political consultations between foreign ministries of both countries is successfully developing. Luis Fernando Cuartas Ayala pointed out that Colombian specialists are involved in mine clearance operations in Azerbaijan. He noted that there is great potential for the further expansion of relations between the two countries in the field of tourism.

The ambassador said that he joined the Aghdam trip of the representatives of the diplomatic corps accredited in Azerbaijan and got acquainted with the restoration and construction works carried out in those areas.

The head of state hailed the political relations between Azerbaijan and Colombia, adding that the two countries enjoy fruitful cooperation within the UN and the Non-Aligned Movement, and constantly support each other.

President Ilham Aliyev emphasized that there are ample opportunities for the expansion of economic and trade ties, and stressed the importance of enhancing relations in the sphere of culture.




A trial date has been set for William Morrissey III, the former police officer charged with sexually abusing a 14-year-old Auburn High student while working as a school resource officer there.

Judge Thomas Leone announced Thursday after a conference in Cayuga County Court that Morrissey's trial will begin Thursday, Sept. 14.

Morrissey, 33, was charged in March 2022 with the class D felonies of first-degree sexual abuse and disseminating indecent material to a minor, and the misdemeanors of official misconduct and endangering the welfare of a child. In March 2023, a misdemeanor charge of second-degree criminal contempt was added after Morrissey allegedly friended the student on SnapChat the previous fall.

Morrissey was arrested by the Cayuga County Sheriff's Office after an investigation started at the request of the Auburn Police Department, where he worked. According to his indictment, in February 2022 he forcibly grabbed the student's hand and placed it on his penis. He was charged with disseminating indecent material for allegedly having sexually explicit video conversations with the student.

The Auburn Police Department fired Morrissey in March after an internal investigation found "overwhelming evidence" that Morrissey pursued a relationship with the student. Hired by the department in March 2016, he became a school resource officer in Auburn in 2018. The department immediately suspended and removed him from school grounds when the allegations were made.

Represented by attorney George Hildebrandt, Morrissey argued in court in March that the department's investigation violated his rights by influencing the sheriff's office's investigation. During a hearing, it was revealed that Morrissey admitted to investigators he had contact with the student outside of school  giving her rides, buying her sneakers and communicating through SnapChat and FaceTime.

Leone ruled in May that Morrissey's rights weren't violated, upholding his indictment.

Judge upholds indictment of ex-Auburn SRO accused of sex abuse A Cayuga County Court judge determined the rights of a former Auburn Police Department officer were not violated during a criminal investigati
Donald Trumps Grand Jurors Face Racism: The grand jurors who voted to indict former US president Donald Trump in Georgia faced a barrage of threats to their safety and racist abuse.

The racism and the threats also targeted judges who oversaw the indictment but now the jurors have been targeted by people who claim to be supporters of the former president who faces at least 91 federal and state charges in total and could be sent to 717.5 years in prison (however, this is unlikely as he can serve all his sentences concurrently).

US-based news outlets The Hill and NBC in separate reports aggregated reviews from social media platforms and far-right forums and found some social media users positing racial slurs and in some cases addresses of the grand jurors.

In many US courts, including federal courts, the identities of grand jurors are kept secret. But in Georgia, their names are made public, and were recorded at the bottom of the indictment, news agency AFP said in another report.

Everyone on that jury should be hung, a social media user on a right-wing online forum said. On a different far-right website, one user posted purported addresses of all 23 of Donald Trumps grand jurors.

MAGAs posting the grand jurors addresses online. I see a swift bullet to the head if, and when, somebody shows up at their homes, one user commented on Donald Trump-owned Truth Social.

Our investigators are working closely with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to track down the origin of threats, the sheriffs office in Fulton County told news agency AFP.

We take this matter very seriously and are coordinating with our law enforcement partners to respond quickly to any credible threat and to ensure the safety of those individuals who carried out their civic duty, they further added.

The indictment of Donald Trump and 18 others for an alleged conspiracy to illegally overturn the 2020 election results resulted in 13 serious criminal charges against the former president and it has riled up his supporters.

Awful nice car you have therehate to see something happen to it, one user, purportedly a Trump supporter, posted.

Trump is accused of violating Georgias Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act - a law which has been used only to combat organised crime and mafia syndicates.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D), Che Alexander, the Fulton County courts clerk, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) and US District Judge Tanya Chutkan have faced racist abuse from Trump supporters.

Abigail Jo Shry, a Texas woman, was arrested on charges of making racially charged death threats against judge Tanya Chutkan who is presiding over the main federal election conspiracy case against Trump.

You are in our sights, we want to kill you, stupid black slave, Abigail Jo Shry said, according to AFP.
Lawyers for Donald Trump on Thursday requested an April 2026 trial date on the federal charges that he conspired to overturn the 2020 election  long after next years presidential vote.

The request comes as lead prosecutor Jack Smith is pushing for a January 2 start date in the case, one of four criminal prosecutions that Trump is facing in the middle of his White House reelection campaign.

The public interest lies in justice and fair trial, not a rush to judgment," the ex-presidents lawyers said in their filing.

They argued the amount of documents in the case would require months to process.

Assuming we could begin reviewing the documents today, we would need to proceed at a pace of 99,762 pages per day to finish the governments initial production by its proposed date for jury selection," they said.

That is the entirety of Tolstoys War and Peace, cover to cover, 78 times a day, every day, from now until jury selection."

Judge Tanya Chutkan is set to decide the trial date on August 28.

The governments proposed (January 2) trial date represents an appropriate balance of the defendants right to prepare a defense and the publics strong interest in a speedy trial in the case," Smith previously said in court filing asking for the January start.

The case is the most serious of four criminal probes that have yielded dozens of felony charges against Trump, including allegations that he covered up hush money payments to a porn star in a bid to cheat campaign finance rules ahead of the 2020 election.

The government also accuses Trump of mishandling dozens of classified documents he took from the White House as he left office, including military plans and nuclear secrets, and plotting with his staff to hide them from investigators.

Bidens attorney general, Merrick Garland, appointed Smith as a special counsel in the federal election conspiracy case, giving him sole charge of prosecuting decisions in a bid to avoid actual or apparent political influence.

Trump and his team have decried the prosecution as politically biased.

The incumbent administration has targeted its primary political opponent  and leading candidate in the upcoming presidential election  with criminal prosecution," his lawyers said in their Thursday filing.

The dates for two of Trumps other trials, at the state level in New York and at the federal level in Florida, have already been set to open ahead of the November 2024 vote, in March and May, respectively.

The trial date for his election-related racketeering charges in Georgia has not yet been fixed.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has once more indirectly backed Republican Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, praising the GOP hopefuls ability to articulate his views. This endorsement adds to Musks earlier recognition of Ramaswamy as a promising candidate, all of which occurred within the same day.

While support from the worlds richest man may not be explicit, it arrives at a critical juncture as Ramaswamy prepares to face off against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in the upcoming GOP presidential primary debate in Milwaukee.

He states his beliefs clearly. https://t.co/SjpuXLCFpo Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 18, 2023

On Thursday, popular US host Tucker Carlson described Ramaswamy as a candidate worth listening to," as he posted a 45-minute interview with the Indian American candidate on social media platform X. In response to this post, Elon Musk said, He is a very promising candidate." While Musk has previously shown support for Ramaswamy, he has also openly expressed his inclination toward DeSantis.

Who is Vivek Ramaswamy?

The 38-year-old biotech entrepreneur has emerged as the youngest major GOP presidential contender. Hailing from Ohio with Indian immigrant roots, he holds degrees from Harvard and Yale. Founder of a biotech firm and asset management company, his book Woke, Inc." gained attention, leading to appearances on Fox.

He criticises ESG" and champions values like faith, patriotism, and family. Ramaswamy addresses diverse topics confidently, drawing praise for intellect and oratory. He claims to outdo Trump in cutting federal bureaucracy by 75 percent, gaining new donors support. Reshaping politics, he rallies 40 percent of first-time GOP donors, determined to redefine the landscape.

What qualities does Musk seek in a US President?

Back in May, Elon expressed his preference for a normal human being" with effective managerial skills to hold the position of the next US president. In a recent MSNBC interview, Musk commented on his wish for a leader who can efficiently execute tasks and make decisions, emphasizing the importance of executive capabilities rather than solely aligning with specific beliefs.

He cited the analogy of being better off with individuals chosen randomly from a phone book for governance. Musk emphasised the significance of having a competent executive to lead the nation, comparing the role to that of a CEO in managing Americas affairs.
More than 2,400 people have been killed in Haiti since the start of 2023 amid rampant gang violence, including hundreds killed in lynchings by vigilante mobs, the UN said Friday. The toll comes as gang violence in Haitis capital of Port-au-Prince this week left 30 residents dead and more than a dozen injured.

Between January 1 and August 15 of this year, at least 2,439 people have been killed and a further 902 injured," UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva. In addition, she said, 951 people have been kidnapped" during the same period. And as anger grows over the gang violence, she warned that a rise in popular justice movements and self-defence groups was spurring further violence.

Since April 24 up to mid-August, more than 350 people have been lynched by local people and vigilante groups," she said, adding that of those, 310 were alleged gang members and one was a police officer. The remainder were members of the public.

Houses in Port-au-Princes Carrefour-Feuilles neighbourhood were set on fire in the attacks and two police officers also died, according to a provisional toll provided to AFP by the National Human Rights Defense Network.

The neighbourhood is a strategic area for the gangs, which control about 80 percent of Haitis capital. Violent crimes including kidnappings for ransom, carjackings, rapes and armed thefts are common. In recent days violence in the neighbourhood has caused some 5,000 residents to flee, authorities said.

Reports from Haiti this week have underscored the extreme brutality of the violence being inflicted on the population and the impact that it is having on their human rights," Shamdasani said.

She said that her boss, UN rights chief Volker Turk, was calling for urgent action to be taken on an appeal for a non-UN multinational force to be sent in to support the Haitian police in addressing the grave security situation and restoring the rule of law". The human rights of the Haitian people must be protected and their suffering alleviated," he said.

Haiti has been mired for years in intertwining economic, security and political crises. The assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021 has dramatically worsened the situation, with gangs taking an increasingly strong hold.
The nephew of Pakistans jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan has been handed over to the military for trial over his alleged involvement in the May 9 vandalism at the historic Corps Commander House here, a police report submitted to the Lahore High Court on Friday said. Hassaan Khan Niazi, who had been in hiding since the protests of May 9 and 10, was arrested by the police from Abbottabad on August 13.

A large number of Khans Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf: party workers stormed the Corps Commander House also known as the Jinnah House on May 9 and set it on fire after vandalising it.

Pakistan saw unprecedented nationwide anti-government protests following the arrest of the PTI chairman by paramilitary Rangers in a corruption case on May 9.

han, 70, was later released on bail.

Dozens of military installations and government buildings, including the military headquarters in Rawalpindi, were damaged or torched during the riots.

Over 100 vehicles of police and other security agencies were set on fire.

Niazi will be investigated and tried by the military following his nomination as the prime suspect in the case related to the Jinnah House attack in Lahore, the police report said.

Pakistans powerful military has described the May 9 attack on its sensitive installations as a Black Day and a dark chapter in the countrys history.

The police arrested Niazi from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He was, however, later handed over to the Quetta Police and then to the military at the commanding officers request.

Niazi, who is also PTIs chiefs focal person on legal affairs, was earlier handed over to the Quetta police on August 14.

The development was confirmed by his father Hafeezullah Khan on his social media account.

However, the case in which Hassaan was apprehended remained unknown.

The police earlier said that Hassaan was involved in the May 9 riots and attack on sensitive military installations.

Niazi is wanted by the Lahore police for his involvement in the attack on Jinnah House (Lahores Corps Commander House), it added.

His father had filed a plea for his sons recovery, demanding that he be produced before the court.

During the hearing on the petition on Friday, Additional Advocate General Ghulam Sarwar Nahang submitted the police report before Justice Sultan Tanveer Ahmed of the high court.

Nahang informed the court about Niazis trial in a military court and his handover to the army.

The petitioners lawyer also demanded Niazis meeting to be arranged with his parents, upon which the court asked the law officer to inform them when the meeting could be held.

I can find out the procedures and rules in this regard, and inform accordingly, Nahang replied after which the court granted an adjournment to clarify the procedures and rules.
Irans foreign minister met Saudi Arabias de facto ruler on Friday during his first visit since the Middle East rivals announced a surprise rapprochement, officials said. Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who travelled to Riyadh on Thursday, held talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah, the Saudi foreign ministry announced, after extending what had been scheduled to be a one-day visit.

The two reviewed relations between the countries, future opportunities for cooperation and ways to develop them, in addition to discussing developments in the situation on the regional and international arenas", the foreign ministry posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Irans official IRNA news agency said it was the first time a senior Iranian official had met with Prince Mohammed, 37, who has ushered in a series of reforms.

Shiite Muslim-majority Iran and Sunni-ruled Saudi broke off ties in 2016, but they agreed to restore diplomatic relations in a Chinese-brokered deal in March.

The announcement sparked optimism as the two regional heavyweights have backed opposing sides in conflict zones across the Middle East for years, including in Yemen, Saudis impoverished neighbour.

On Thursday, Amir-Abdollahian said ties are progressing in the right direction" as he appeared in front of the media with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan. His visit would be a prelude to the meeting of the heads of the two countries", he said, without specifying when Irans President Ebrahim Raisi would travel to Saudi Arabia at King Salmans invitation.

Irans top diplomat hailed economic and security cooperation between the two countries, but announced no new agreements. He was accompanied by Irans new ambassador to Saudi, Alireza Enayati. We are sure that these meetings and cooperation will help the unity of the Islamic world," Amir-Abdollahian added, proposing a regional dialogue" without giving details.

Since the March deal, Saudi Arabia has ramped up a push for peace in Yemen, holding direct talks with Huthi leaders in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, and championed the return of key Iran ally Syria to the Arab League.
Top US disease control agency has that it was tracking a new, highly mutated lineage of the virus that causes Covid-19. The lineage is named BA.2.86, and has been detected in Israel, Denmark and the United States.

CDC is tracking a new lineage of the virus that causes Covid-19. This lineage is named BA.2.86, and has been detected in the United States, Denmark and Israel. CDC is gathering more information and will share more about this lineage as we learn it," the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a post on messaging platform X.

This comes a few hours after the World Health Organization (WHO) said that it had classified BA.2.86 as a variant under monitoring" due to the large number of mutations it carries. The global health agency said that, so far, only a few sequences of the variant have been reported from a handful of countries.

WHO has designated #COVID19 variant BA.2.86 as a variant under monitoring today due to the large number of mutations it carries.So far, only a few sequences of the variant have been reported from a handful of countries. https://t.co/3tJkDZdY1V  World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) August 17, 2023

All viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, change over time, according to WHO. Most changes have little to no impact on the viruss properties. However, some changes may affect the viruss properties, such as how easily it spreads, the associated disease severity, or the performance of vaccines, therapeutic medicines.

In a statement posted on X, WHO said more data are needed to understand this Covid-19 variant BA.2.86 and the extent of its spread, but the number of mutations warrants attention.

WHO is tracking 3 variants of interest and 7 variants under monitoring at the moment. WHO continues to call for better surveillance, sequencing, and reporting of #Covid19 as this virus continues to circulate and evolve," the agency added.

Dr. S. Wesley Long, medical director of diagnostic microbiology at Houston Methodist, explained to Reuters that the new lineage, which has 36 mutations from the currently-dominant XXB.1.5 covid variant harkens back to an earlier branch" of the virus.

He said it remains to be seen whether BB.2.86 will be able to out-compete other strains of the virus or have any advantage in escaping immune responses from prior infection or vaccination.
South Korean intelligence believes North Korea is preparing to test launch an intercontinental ballistic missile to coincide with a three-way summit among the leaders of the United States, Japan and South Korea, Yonhap news agency reported Thursday.

It said this launch could be part of a series of military provocations by the reclusive state to show defiance as the three leaders of international pressure on Pyongyang and its weapons programs confer Friday outside Washington.

The show of force could also be designed to protest US-South Korean military exercises which start Monday and are due to last the rest of the month, the agency said.

Yonhap quoted a lawmaker, Yoo Sang-bum, who sat in on a briefing of the parliamentary intelligence committee by the National Intelligence Service.

We are continuously identifying signs of preparation for an ICBM launch, such as the frequent movements of propellants out of liquid fuel factories," Yoo said, according to Yonhap.

Yoo also said the North is expected to conduct a joint exercise of its armed forces, including the test launch of a missile that can be fitted with a tactical nuclear weapon.

His remarks came as US President Joe Biden prepared to welcome South Korean leader Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to the presidents retreat at Camp David on Friday. The unprecedented three-way summit is designed to show a message of strength to China.

Pyongyang has sped up its testing of nuclear-capable missiles in the past year, heightening tensions across East Asia.
Pakistani police have arrested two prime suspects involved in the unprecedented attacks on 21 churches and nearly three dozen homes of the minority Christian community over blasphemy allegations, Punjab caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi has said.

He praised the efforts of the Punjab chief secretary and inspector general of police, saying both of them played a key role in ensuring the arrests of the key suspects.

An enraged mob ransacked and torched 21 churches and 35 homes of Christians on Wednesday over blasphemy allegations in Jaranwala town of Faisalabad district, 130 km from Punjabs provincial capital Lahore.

Major breakthrough in the Jaranwala Incident  both main accused now in CTD Custody. Appreciation for Chief Secretary Punjab and IG Punjab for their relentless efforts, Naqvi posted on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday.

In a separate post on Friday, he wrote that mosques across Pakistans Punjab province will have Friday sermons focussing on the rights of minorities.

Today Fridays sermons across Punjab will focus on the Rights of Minorities, teachings from the Holy Quran and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), he said.

Amid challenging times, lets emphasise that such incidents should not be coloured by religion. Interfaith harmony is among the basic teachings of Islam. Grateful to religious scholars for their patience and support in unmasking those seeking to disrupt our nations peace, he said.

Punjab police arrested at least 140 people and registered five cases on Thursday, a day after the violence broke out.

Among those arrested by the police include the main suspect Muhammad Yasin, identified through a video in which he was seen making an announcement on loudspeakers of mosques to incite Muslims against the religious minority.

The members of the extremist group Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) were also among those arrested in connection with the violence.

The Jaranwala incident evoked widespread condemnation, with national leaders and international organisations calling for justice for the people whose homes and places of worship were ransacked and destroyed.

Army chief General Asim Munir on Thursday termed the incident extremely tragic and totally intolerable and pledged that perpetrators involved in the attacks will be brought to justice.

There is no space for such incidents of intolerance and extreme behaviour by any segment of the society against anyone, particularly against minorities, he was quoted as saying by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR)  the media wing of the army.

US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters that his country was deeply concerned over the targetting of churches and homes in response to reported Quran desecration in Pakistan.

We urge Pakistani authorities to conduct a full investigation into these allegations and call for calm, he said.

Senior cleric and Islamic scholar Mufti Taqi Usmani termed the targeting of the community shameful for the whole nation, Geo News reported.

The shameful incident in Jarhanwala is highly condemnable. If someone has committed an unlawful act, no one is authorised to take law in his hand and burn the church or assault any peaceful Christian citizen. This is totally against the basic and classic Islamic teachings and is tantamount to deface Islam and Muslims. The government should take action against it, he posted on X.

Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) Chairman Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi apologised for the Jaranwala violence and reaffirmed the commitment to protect our Christian brothers, the Dawn newspaper reported.

We are ashamed. We failed to fulfil our responsibility as an elder brother  we seek forgiveness, he said at a press conference here.

Amnesty International, in its statement, has demanded that the authorities must ensure [the] protection of the minority Christian community.

Rehab Mahamoor, the interim regional researcher for South Asia at Amnesty International, said the authorities should also ensure that those responsible for the arson and attacks on Churches and homes are held accountable.

Blasphemy is a sensitive issue in Pakistan, where anyone deemed to have insulted Islam or Islamic figures can face the death penalty. Often an accusation can cause riots and incite mobs to violence, lynching and killings.

According to the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), till August 16, 2023, around 198 persons have been accused of blasphemy, 85 per cent of them Muslims, 9 per cent Ahmadis and 4.4 per cent Christians.

It said Punjab province recorded over 75 per cent of the abuse of blasphemy laws cases in the past 36 years.

The aggregate accused comprises 52 per cent of minorities despite their share (3.52 per cent) in the population of Pakistan, the CSJ posted on X.

Minorities including Christians and Hindus have been frequently subjected to blasphemy allegations and some tried and even sentenced under blasphemy in Pakistan.
An enraged Muslim mob torched 21 churches and dozens of homes of Christians on Wednesday over blasphemy allegations in Jaranwala town of Faisalabad district of Punjab. After the assault on the Christian community in the countrys largest province, human rights groups are criticising the Islamic Republic for its failure to safeguard the minority community.

Punjab police claimed to have arrested at least 140 people and registered five cases on Thursday, a day after the violence broke out. On Friday, two prime suspects were arrested who were involved in the unprecedented attacks on churches and nearly three dozen homes of the minority community.

What Punjab Caretaker CM said

Punjabs caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi praised the efforts of the provincial chief secretary and inspector general of police, saying both of them played a key role in ensuring the arrests of the key suspects.

Major breakthrough in the Jaranwala Incident  both main accused now in CTD Custody. Appreciation for Chief Secretary Punjab and IG Punjab for their relentless efforts," Naqvi posted on social media platform X, on Thursday.

A day later, Naqvi wrote that mosques across Punjab province will have Friday sermons focussing on the rights of minorities. Today Fridays sermons across Punjab will focus on the Rights of Minorities, teachings from the Holy Quran and Prophet Muhammad," he said.

Today Fridays sermons across Punjab will focus on the Rights of Minorities, teachings from the Holy Quran and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).Amid challenging times, lets emphasize that such incidents should not be colored by religion. Interfaith harmony is among the basic teachings Mohsin Naqvi (@MohsinnaqviC42) August 18, 2023

Amid challenging times, lets emphasise that such incidents should not be coloured by religion. Interfaith harmony is among the basic teachings of Islam. Grateful to religious scholars for their patience and support in unmasking those seeking to disrupt our nations peace," he said.

What Caretake PM said

Anwaarul Haq Kakar, the newly appointed caretaker Prime Minister of Pakistan, said the interim government would not support the forces of darkness" in the society as he took strong exception to the unprecedented attack on minority Christians in the Muslim-majority country.

The minorities will stay protected in this country. There may be an attempt to harm them from a section of marginalised and peripheral groups of people, but that would be responded to sternly and strictly," Kakar said during his maiden federal Cabinet meeting.

Pakistani state and society [do] not align with such elements. They may be from us but they are divorced from us, they are divorced from our identity process. We do not stand for the forces of darkness," he said. We would strongly discourage rigidity, be it any form in this society. We do not stand for the forces of darkness, the caretaker PM stressed.

Kakar, who assumed office on August 12, said extreme attitudes would not only be unwelcome but would be discouraged.

(With PTI inputs)
The New York State Department of Labor, in response to a Freedom of Information Law request by The Citizen, has shed more light on its investigation of a Skaneateles resort for tip appropriation.

However, the department has not explained why its investigation only covered months of a policy that appropriated tips for a decade at the resort, Mirbeau Inn & Spa at 851 W. Genesee St.

According to a letter shared with The Citizen on Aug. 9, the department ordered Mirbeau to pay $121,605.80 in September 2022 after an investigation into tip appropriation at the resort's locations in Skaneateles and the Dutchess County town of Rhinebeck. The amount covered the appropriated tips, civil penalties and liquidated damages, including a $1,000 penalty for violating state labor law.

After Mirbeau missed the state's payment deadline of Oct. 17, the Department of Labor requested that the resort perform a self-audit, according to the department's final narrative of the investigation that was provided to The Citizen. The reason for the state's request was not included in the narrative. The self-audit determined the amount of appropriated tips to be $82,288.84, but Mirbeau requested that liquidated damages be removed from its payment. The department agreed to lower them from 25% to 12.5% if the amount was paid in full, and the resort paid the state $92,588.90 that December.

Mirbeau employees received payments later that month compensating them for the appropriated tips, as reported by The Citizen in April. According to former employees, the resort's gratuity policy deducted 3% of a service's revenue from the gratuity for the employee who provided that service  lowering a standard 20% tip to 17%, for example. The policy lasted from 2008 to 2018.

"Employee statements and detailed tip reports show that the tips earned by employees did not match the tips paid to employees," the Department of Labor wrote to Mirbeau in September 2022. "Tip policies need to be put in writing and given to the employee to sign at the time of hire. Percentages deducted for a tip pool must be taken from the tips directly and not the service charges."

The 3% deducted from Mirbeau employees went to support workers who assisted with the guest's experience at the resort as part of "a team approach to service," said Jonathan T. Dal Pos, a partner in the company's general counsel. The resort itself "did not keep one dime," he told The Citizen. The policy was modeled after restaurants and other spas that Mirbeau employees worked at previously.

In her December email to Mirbeau employees announcing the payments, Director of Human Resources Danielle Nighelli described the resort's violation of state labor law as a "grey area."

While the resort's policy spanned 2008 to 2018, the Department of Labor's investigation spanned 2018 to 2021. That limited window, former Mirbeau employees said, resulted in their payments being "frustratingly small" compared to the amount of tips that were appropriated from them  seven months compared to several years. The department did not respond to The Citizen's questions about why its investigation window was limited to those years, nor has the department responded to former employees of the resort who have asked if the investigation could be extended further back in time.

Jenn Derbyshire, who worked at Mirbeau in Skaneateles as an esthetician from 2006 to 2020, received a payment of $3,085 when she should have received 10 times that, she told The Citizen this week.

"To say its disappointing to be so severely let down by the people who are supposed to be protecting New York state employees is a severe understatement," she said. "Sadly, I had given up on Mirbeau doing the right thing years ago. ... It's disgusting (but) it seems it worked out in their favor. To only be held responsible for seven months' worth of a decade-long illegal practice is laughable."

Heather Farr, who worked at the resort as a massage therapist from 2011 to 2021, told The Citizen this week that the ownership and management of Mirbeau "should be ashamed of themselves."

"To send those checks out and act like they were happy to send them, as though they're actually pro-worker, without explaining why it was only for that short window, is to be deliberately dishonest."
Russian and Chinese warships are conducting joint maritime patrols in the Pacific Ocean involving rescue training and drills for countering air strikes, Moscows defence ministry said Friday. Video released by Russian state news agency TASS showed nine large vessels sailing in a diamond formation as crew members stood to attention on deck.

The drills also included practising the replenishment of fuel reserves by ships and the transfer of cargo on the go", the defence ministry said, adding that the joint detachment of ships had covered more than 6,400 nautical miles since the start of the exercises. A detachment of ships of the Russian Navy and the PLA Navy is currently operating in the waters of the East China Sea," said the ministry, referring to Chinas Peoples Liberation Army.

During this period, the sailors of the two countries conducted anti-submarine exercises, repulsed an air strike by a mock enemy, conducted rescue training at sea, and perfected the skills of taking off and landing helicopters on the decks of warships," the statement read.

Ties between Moscow and Beijing have grown closer in recent years, as prolonged fighting in Ukraine has shattered Russias relationship with Western governments. A Chinese defence ministry spokesperson said Monday that naval fleets of the two countries were conducting maritime patrols in western and northern regions of the Pacific Ocean.

These actions are not aimed at a third party and are not related to the current international and regional situation," the spokesperson added. Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu visited Russia this week to attend the 11th Moscow Conference on International Security, where he called for closer military cooperation.

Moscow and Beijing have ramped up bilateral defence collaboration in recent months, carrying out a joint air patrol over the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea in July. The displays of force have caused concerns in the region  the July air patrol led to South Korea deploying fighter jets as a precaution.
The coalition led by South Africas largest opposition party (DA) on Thursday urged other parties to join them in a bid to secure enough votes in next years elections to unseat the ruling ANC.

For the first time since the advent of democracy in 1994, the African National Congress (ANC) risks losing its parliamentary majority in 2024, and therefore the presidency.

This comes against a backdrop of growing discontent with corruption, an unprecedented energy crisis and a flagging economy marked by unemployment.

We are extending another invitation because we think there are political parties that would be a good fit", Siviwe Gwarube, a representative of the Democratic Alliance (DA), told AFP on the sidelines of a coalition meeting in Johannesburg.

They could increase our numbers", she added, not disclosing calculations on the coalitions current chances of winning at the ballot box.

Last month, the DA announced a coalition with six smaller parties with a view to the 2024 elections.

However, this coalition excludes the radical left-wing Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), the countrys third largest political party.

The DA has a fifth of the seats in Parliament and could win 16 percent of the vote, according to the polls. There are currently fourteen parties in parliament.

Our mission is to overthrow the ANC, exclude the EFF and establish a multi-party government", the coalition parties stressed in a joint statement.

We have not forgotten history, but this nation must stop living in it", added Neil de Beer, head of the United Independent Movement, which is in the coalition. He was referring to the ANC, which has been in power since the end of apartheid.

The historic party fell below the 50 percent mark for the first time in local elections in 2021. President Cyril Ramaphosa, 70, was reappointed in December. He is guaranteed a second term at the head of the country if the ANC wins.
The wealthy property mogul set to become Thailands new prime minister said Friday he wanted to tackle poverty and inequality, as he fended off corruption allegations ahead of a confirmation vote next week. Parliament will meet on Tuesday to vote on whether to approve Srettha Thavisin as prime minister and end three months of rumbling political deadlock since a May general election.

The 60-year-olds Pheu Thai party heads a multi-party coalition formed after the reformist Move Forward Party  which won the most seats  saw its leader denied the PM spot by conservative, pro-military forces. I would like to reiterate that my enemy is poverty and inequality. My goal is to make every Thai persons life better," Srettha said in a video message on Facebook.

Srettha, the former head of Thai property giant Sansiri, rejected allegations of improper dealings made in recent weeks by Chuwit Kamolvisit, a colourful former massage parlour tycoon turned anti-graft whistleblower. We are transparent in our work. I come here today to show my innocence to the general public that my activities were done according to the law," he said. I would like to refute all claims that Chuwit has made against me."

Chuwit this week asked police to investigate two land purchases by Sansiri, which is listed on the Thai stock exchange. Lower house speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha confirmed the vote for PM would be on Tuesday, starting no later than 3:00 pm local time (0800 GMT). To become premier, Srettha needs a majority across both the lower house of 500 elected MPs, and the 250-member senate which was handpicked by the kingdoms last junta.

Opposition from the senate to MFPs plans to reform royal insult laws and tackle business monopolies sank leader Pita Limjaroenrats ambitions. And so despite winning most seats, MFP will go into opposition while two parties from the outgoing army-backed government will have a share in power.

On Thursday it was confirmed the new coalition would include the United Thai Nation party of outgoing Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-Cha  a former army chief who deposed an elected Pheu Thai government to seize power in 2014. And the coalition also includes Bhumjaithai  another party from the outgoing government  leading some to question how different the new administration will be from the old one.
Los Angeles police vowed Thursday to clamp down after a series of violent flash mob robberies by gangs that have stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars of luxury goods in brazen daytime raids.

Mob of 30 robbers just looted Nordstrom in Los Angeles, California  pic.twitter.com/ISKqhVYHqT BAY AREA STATE OF MIND (@YayAreaNews) August 13, 2023

Upmarket stores throughout the United States second biggest city have been targeted by masked groups who smash through display boxes and grab designer bags and clothes.

Video clips posted on social media show mobs of up to 50 people rampaging through high-end retailers, breaking glass and yanking away goods attached by security cables.

The raids happen in full view of other shoppers, with clerks and security guards seemingly powerless to prevent them.

The Los Angeles Police Department will not tolerate these acts," Deputy Chief Blake Chow told reporters.

We will not stand by idly while these acts continue."

The citys mayor, Karen Bass, said law enforcement agencies across Los Angeles County  home to around 10 million people  were joining forces to establish a task force aimed at stamping out the menace.

If someone commits a crime, well catch you," she said, pledging suspects would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

The task force was announced the day after the latest retail robbery, which saw 10 people target a Gucci store and make off with $100,000 of handbags.

On Saturday dozens of people looted a Nordstrom at a tiny mall in the San Fernando Valley area, making off with $300,000 of goods.

Video of the raids quickly spreads on social media and is pounced on by conservatives who use it to buttress their narrative that Americas liberal-run cities are lawless hellholes where crime is spiralling out of control.

Robbery statistics in the area are mixed, with LAPD noting a decline in the year-to-date figure compared with last year, while the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department recorded an uptick in the first six months of 2023.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is heading to South Africa for a state visit and for the BRICS summit. The state visit has been undertaken following an invitation from the South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Xi Jinping has preferred to stay inside China due to mounting political problems triggered by an economic slowdown due to a real estate crisis.

ALSO READ | You Are Leader of the Global South: Papua New Guinea Leader Marape Tells PM Modi

A report by news outlet Bloomberg said that during the state visit Ramaphosa and Xi will meet leaders from around Africa. The meetings are important as China seeks to expand its influence with infrastructure projects, the report pointed out.

This is the second time Xi has stepped outside China. The last time he was outside China was in March when he travelled across the border to meet brother Russian President Vladimir Putin.

This is also the first time since taking power Xi has taken such few foreign trips. Instead he made French President Emmanuel Macron, European Council President Charles Michel, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visit him over the course of the last few months.

Not just economic woes, Xi has also been forced to focus on graft eating away at Chinas healthcare and military industry and also a crisis in the banking sector, the Bloomberg report pointed out.

Xi Jinping will also use the meeting to woo African leaders and portray China as a champion of the Global South.

The move comes amid island nations like Fiji and Papua New Guinea and other nations of Global South inching closer to India as New Delhi has on several occasions presented their case with regards to climate change and other issues at multilateral level like the United Nations.

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape told Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July that he is the leader of the Global South and Pacific Island nations will rally behind Indias leadership at global forums while addressing the FIPIC Summit.

The US also holds enormous influence in Africa and China will try to offset that. Russia could help China build new ties with restive West African nations like Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali which are trying to get out of the sphere of influence of its former colonial ruler France.

Xi Jinping will also try to test the ground and see if BRICS - a bloc comprising China, Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa - can be expanded. This could further worsen ties with Brazil and India as both nations are opposed to it. It could impact Brasilia-Beijing relations more as Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva - a leftist - wants to bring China closer to Brazil but a proposal for expansion of the bloc could hurt relations between Brazil President Lula and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to South Africa next week, the foreign ministry said Friday, while confirming the president will attend the BRICS summit in Johannesburg.

Africa has emerged as a renewed diplomatic battleground, with the West, Russia and China vying for influence amid heightened competition for minerals and international divisions fostered by the war in Ukraine.

At the invitation of President of the Republic of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa, President Xi Jinping will attend the 15th BRICS Summit to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa and pay a state visit to South Africa from August 21 to 24," foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in an online statement.

This will be Xis second international trip of 2023, after paying an official state visit to Russia in March.

The heads of Brazil, China, India and South Africa plus Russias top diplomat will gather on August 22-24 under the theme BRICS and Africa", South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said earlier this month.

Questions had swirled over whether Russian President Vladimir Putin  sought by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his role in the Ukraine war  would attend this years BRICS conference in South Africa, which is a signatory of the ICC.

But a spokesman for Ramaphosa last month said Putin would not attend by mutual agreement".

Xi previously visited South Africa in 2018 as he sought to enhance his countrys diplomatic and economic ties with the continent.

On the agenda at this years Johannesburg summit will be the possible future expansion of BRICS membership.

Several African countries have previously expressed a desire to join the bloc, including Algeria, Egypt and Ethiopia.

In July, China hosted Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune in Beijing, hailing its ties with Africa and calling for closer cooperation.

China welcomes Algerias positive intention to join BRICS, and supports Algerias efforts to achieve this goal," a joint statement released at the time said, adding that Tebboune had invited Xi to visit Algeria.

A total of 69 countries have been invited to the summit in South Africa, including all African states.

BRICS, a loosely-defined group that sees itself as a counterweight to Western economic domination, derives its name from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The bloc has previously indicated it is open to expansion.
The appointment of Mushaal Hussein Mullick, wife of Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik, as the Special Assistant to Pakistans caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on human rights is a face-saving measure for the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), say local sources.

ALSO READ | Who is Mushaal Hussein Mullick? Yasin Maliks Wife Inducted into Paks Caretaker Govt

The ISI is being accused of non-performance for long. The fact that they were unaware of the abrogation of Article 370 in the Valley and it was implemented smoothly were seen as insults to the ISI, say sources. Moreover, the smooth law and order situation in J&K since the abrogation and no major attack were seen as its major failures, they added.

Mullick has been very close to the top brass of the Pakistani Army and was working closely with the Kashmir division of ISI, sources said.

According to sources, she has been staying in the Islamabad safehouse of the ISI for a long time with her 11-year-old daughter, who spoke in the POK Assembly against India.

ISIs ATTEMPTS TO SEEK RELEVANCE

Recently, CNN-News18 extensively reported on the ISIs bid to activate ex-militants. They were arrested by the J&K Police.

All recent infiltrations at LOC supported by them have failed. The complete ban on drug trade, with their drones and weapons caught at every destination, has hit them hard.

ALSO READ | Mission LoC-ate: 2 LeT Terrorists Killed, Infiltration Bid Foiled in Kashmir | Exclusive

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) grey list has forced the government to ban jihadi elements, who were active against Indian establishments.

WHY MUSHAAL Mullick?

Mullick is extensively used by the ISI to speak against the Indian government and the alleged abuse of human rights in Kashmir, sources said. While the ISI can keep stone pelting, infiltration, On-Ground Workers (OGW) and major attacks going, she could speak in her official capacity in the United Nations (UN) and other fora against India and bring money in the name of jihad and Islam, said sources.

Yasin Malik is a Kashmiri separatist leader who was arrested in 2019 and later sentenced to life imprisonment in May 2022. He was involved in several violent attacks against Indian security forces, including the kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed, the daughter of the then home minister of India. He was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on charges of terror funding and waging war against the state.

Mullick, a graduate of the London School of Economics, married Yasin Malik in 2009. Yasin Malik met her during one of his tours to Pakistan in 2005. The couple has an 11-year-old daughter, according to reports.

Mullicks mother Rehana Hussein Mullick was a member of Pakistan Muslim Leagues womens wing and served as its secretary general. Her father M A Hussein was a reputable economics professor who was the first Pakistani member of a Nobel Prize jury.

INDIAs STANCE

Indian intelligence sources, however, said Mullick will not bring any value to the narrative because the Kashmir issue is dead and the Valley has and continues to remain an integral part of India.

According to intelligence sources, it exposes the fact that the ISI wants terrorists in their PMO.
LONDONBritish sex toy brand Love Not War today announced the development and launch of a new type of silicone for the body of sex toys that is compatible with silicone lube: NeoSilicone.

Love Not Wars exclusive NeoSilicone took two years of research and development, and offers a breakthrough long requested by customers: its a silicone compound thats safe to use along with silicone lubricants. Adapted from an existing material used for highly specialized purposes in the aerospace industry, NeoSilicone looks to improve the ways customers enjoy their pleasure.

When it was first introduced for sex toy use, silicone transformed the sex industry. Similarly, silicone lubricants remain a consumer favorite, although, unfortunately, both have always been incompatible when used together, with the toys "melting" and becoming porous.

Now, for the first time ever, Love Not Wars innovation has solved this problem, with a compound that offers zero degradation from the use of silicone lubricants. In short, Love Not Wars new sex toys are fully and independently certified safe to use with silicone lubricants.

The details of the compound itself are a closely guarded secret, despite numerous accreditations and certifications. Co-founder and CEO Will Ranscombe explained, Were immensely proud of this massive step forward in customer satisfaction. Were an independent sex toy designer and one of the benefits of having your own manufacturing facilities, as we do, is that you can experiment and do very focused R&D, and make sudden massive breakthroughs like this one. One of the disadvantages, though, is that bigger competitors are always watching, and, with all that private equity behind them, we often feel the need to look over our shoulders.

Our goal here is to improve the quality and reputation of the entire pleasure industry, but we also dont want to get our intellectual property stolen and exploited. Weve trademarked NeoSilicone and are now keen to continue to do good work for our customers, and with this new launch, we believe that weve really done that. This isnt a gimmick or a marketing ploy, its the real deal.

Speaking about the launch, the president of Uberlube Inc., Stephen Magnusen, said, Its not often we have industry advancements like these, but Love Not War is proving to be an impressive innovator, able to fast realize ideas like total supply chain sustainability and complex solutions like this amazing silicone compatibility.

The entire range of Love Not War sex toy heads will now be available in NeoSilicone, while the Power of Love battery compartment continues to be made of the company's signature recycled aluminum.

All Love Not War products are manufactured in the brand's custom-built, green-powered factory where the team works continuously to ensure the highest green practices are upheld at every level.

The new product range will officially launch to the public on Sept. 4, 2023, with wholesale prices starting at $50 for full toys and $25 for the heads, and RRP for full toys starting at $99.99 and $49.99 for the heads.

For sales inquiries, contact [email protected] or reach out to a local Gisele International sales rep at [email protected].
The Arizona Court of Appeals heard oral arguments Thursday on a ballot initiative about the hospital relocation project.

Northern Arizona Healthcare (NAH) made its case that a ballot initiative letting voters weigh in on the project is misleading.

The appeal came after a Coconino Superior Court judge ruled against NAH earlier this month.

Judge allows Flagstaff Medical Center campus referendum to proceed A Coconino County Superior Court judge has allowed the FMC referendum to proceed

The project by NAH, which hopes to construct a health village near Fort Tuthill County Park and was approved by Flagstaff City Council in June, has been controversial for many residents.

Throughout the hearing, judges questioned the lawyers representing NAH and Flagstaff Community First (FCF), the political action committee that organized the ballot initiative, along two main lines.

To the lawyers representing NAH, judges asked what options voters and residents of Flagstaff might have to reverse the new zoning if the hospital didnt end up being built. Judges also questioned the assertion by NAH that the ballot measure didnt make it clear that the development was medical in nature.

Meanwhile, questions to lawyers representing FCF largely surrounded the prominence that retail development might take within the project, compared to the prominence given to retail within the voter initiative question.

Attorney Daniel Arellano, representing NAH, told the panel of three judges that the zoning change Council passed is primarily for the purpose of constructing the new hospital and wellness village, and states so clearly.

But Arellano said that in his view, the ballot measure obfuscates the medical purpose of the project, focusing primarily on how the change in zoning allows commercial and retail to be built in the area, making the ballot measure misleading for voters and inaccurate to the facts on the ground.

Judges pointed out that at the end of the day, the zoning change is distinct from the development that is proposed.

As an example, Judge James Morse set forth a hypothetical scenario in which the new hospital wasnt built and NAH sold the property with its new zoning in place. In that scenario, he wondered what recourse would voters have to reverse the zoning.

I want to focus on the point; the voters may be completely without remedy at that point, Morse said.

Arellano said the city has the development agreement that commits NAH to produce the project approved by Council, and the city could reverse the zoning if NAH fails to deliver that.

And he said the question to be looked at was not one of a thousand hypothetical outcomes. Instead, Arellano said, the question is specifically whether the language within the ballot question accurately described the project.

Arellano said the ballot measure fails to state that the point of the project is to build a new hospital, and instead gives voters the impression that the project is one largely focused on commercial retail.

We read this as a reasonable signer would, and I think when you read the term retail trade business or establishments engaged themselves primarily in the trade of goods, thats a store. Thats what this is describing, is a retail store. Were talking about a Walmart or a Best Buy or a strip mall. That is, I think, distinctly what this evokes and what its meant to evoke, he said.

But that is not what the development is, Arellano said.

If their description had said for purposes of a hospital, those words? Morse said.

Arellano: If it didnt address that retail point and just said for purposes of a hospital, I do think that would have been sufficient.

But Morse suggested Arellanos argument seemed strained, especially given the ballot measure states the development is by "Northern Arizona Healthcare" and there is a retail component to the development.

It seems like, boy, thats an awfully fine hair for us to split, Morse said. For us to say hospital would be enough but NAH, healthcare and pursuant to the plan is not.

Ballot measure questioned

For the other side, Jim Barton, representing Flagstaff Community First, said in his view the ballot measure made it very clear that the project is medical-related.

Ill just submit that if we were trying to hide the fact that this was a hospital, we did a bad job at that because we mentioned that it was a healthcare corporation and then we identified that the specific plan was actually called a health village phase 1 specific plan. No one is trying to hide anything, Barton said.

Judges wondered how it was possible to have a ballot question focused on the zoning change when the city council had also approved a development agreement that was specifically related to the change in zoning.

Morse said that development agreement puts severe limits on retail within the project and wondered if it was accurate to emphasis retail within the ballot question. Morse asked Barton if he would acknowledge that the full plan limits retail within the development.

Barton took issue with that.

No, your honor, I dont acknowledge that, because the combined plan explicitly identifies a retail establishment such as a restaurant or cafe, such as a farmers market, such as a flea market, Barton said.

But Judge Cynthia Bailey pointed out that much of the retail component is not in the first phase of the plan. And she suggested Barton was pointing to later phases of the development in terms of retail, but acting as if it was within the area designated mainly for the medical facilities.

We understand this is a broader project that has other phases, but you made that [retail] reference specifically to the area where the appellant is saying, This was for the hospital, free and clear, Bailey said.

Barton pushed back, adding that they are simply providing a description of how the zone allows commercial retail uses.

Nothing we said is untrue, nothing we said is going to mislead anyone, Barton said. What we said about what highway commercial [zoning] does is true. There is no case where someone says, It's true but it was misleading. [] Not only is it true, but its not misleading because, as it happens, they are going to do these things.

Judges will make a decision on the appeal by Wednesday, Aug. 23.
UPDATE

Aug 18, 2023 12:30 AM CDT

The French Canadian woman who mailed poisonous ricin to then-President Trump in 2020 was on Thursday sentenced in a Washington, DC, federal court to 22 years behind bars. Pascale Cecile Veronique Ferrier, now 56, was arrested attempting to cross into the US from Canada with weapons in 2020, the Washington Post reports.

Jan 26, 2023 12:47 AM CST

The woman who mailed threatening letters containing the poison ricin to then-President Trump pleaded guilty Wednesday. Pascale Cecile Veronique Ferrier, 55, is a dual citizen of France and Canada and mailed the letters from Canada in September 2020 before being arrested trying to cross the border into the US with a gun, other weapons, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, CNN reports. She accused Trump of ruining the United States of America and said, "I have US cousins, then I don't want the next 4 years with you as President." The letters were intercepted at a mail sorting facility, NBC News reports.
North Korea is increasing its repression of human rights, and people are becoming more desperate and reportedly starving in parts of the country as the economic situation worsens, the United Nations rights chief said Thursday. Volker Turk told the first open meeting of the UN Security Council since 2017 on North Korean human rights that in the past the nation's people have endured periods of severe economic difficulty and repression, but "currently they appear to be suffering both." He added, "According to our information, people are becoming increasingly desperate as informal markets and other coping mechanisms are dismantled, while their fear of state surveillance, arrest, interrogation and detention has increased."

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un closed the borders of the northeast Asian nation to contain COVID-19. But as the pandemic has waned, Turk said the government's restrictions have grown even more extensive, with guards authorized to shoot any unauthorized person approaching the border and with almost all foreigners, including UN staff, still barred from the country. As examples of the increasing repression of human rights, he said, anyone found viewing "reactionary ideology and culture"which means information from abroad, especially from South Koreamay now face five to 15 years in prison. And those who distribute such material face life imprisonment or even the death penalty, he said.

On the economic front, Turk said, the government has largely shut down markets and other private means of generating income and increasingly criminalized such activity, per the AP. "This sharply constrains people's ability to provide for themselves and their families," he said. "Given the limits of state-run economic institutions, many people appear to be facing extreme hunger as well as acute shortages of medication." Turk said many human rights violations stem directly from, or support, the militarization of the countrysuch as forced labor, including making schoolchildren collect harvests.

Elizabeth Salmon, the UN special investigator on human rights in North Korea, echoed Turk: "Some people are starving. Others have died due to a combination of malnutrition, diseases, and lack of access to health care." The US and North Korea, which fought during the 1950-53 Korean War, are still technically at war since that conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. Salmon said the frozen conflict is being used to justify the continued militarization. North Korea on Tuesday denounced US plans for the council meeting as "despicable," saying it was only aimed at achieving Washington's geopolitical ambitions.

(Read more North Korea stories.)
It looks like former President Trump will not only skip the first Republican presidential primary debate, but also reportedly engage in "counterprogramming" of some form. Trump intends to draw audiences away from Wednesday's Fox News-hosted debatewhich will feature his biggest Republican challenger, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantisperhaps by calling into cable news shows or by sitting for an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, according to CNN 's sources. Or he could surrender at Georgia's Fulton County jail, to answer charges of trying to overthrow the results of the 2020 election, as he is expected to do at some point next week.

CNN's sources say Trump's team is in talks about a potential interview with Carlson, though nothing is set in stone yet. Indeed, though the sources say Trump is not presently planning to debate and has done no debate prep, one notes he could still change his mind. Fox News executives met with Trump last month to try to persuade him to participate, but the former president feels he has nothing to gain, even as a pro-DeSantis ad claims he's "too weak to debate," per the Hill. "I am leading the runner up, whoever that may now be, by more than 50 Points," Trump wrote Thursday on Truth Social. "People know my Record, one of the BEST EVER, so why would I Debate?" He also bashed Fox for using "the absolutely worst pictures" of him, per Insider.

Former Vice President Mike Pence, former South Carolina governor and US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have all met the unique donor and polling requirements to participate in the debate, which will be moderated by Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum. However, Pence and Christie have yet to sign the required pledge to support the Republican Party's eventual nominee. Pence said Wednesday that he would sign the pledge, per CNN. Trump has so far refused. (Read more Donald Trump stories.)
More than 60 migrants are feared dead after a Spanish fishing vessel rescued a boat off the Atlantic archipelago of Cape Verde that originally had more than 100 people aboard, authorities and migrant advocates said Thursday. Seven bodies were found on the boat and an estimated 56 people are missing at sea and presumed dead, said International Organization for Migration spokesperson Safa Msehli. According to Senegal's foreign affairs ministry, 38 people were rescued earlier in the week near Cape Verde, about 385 miles off the coast of West Africa, the AP reports. The Spanish migration advocacy group Walking Borders said the vessel was a large fishing boat, called a pirogue, which had left Senegal on July 10.

Families in Fass Boye, a seaside town 90 miles north of the capital, Dakar, reached out to Walking Borders on July 20, after 10 days without hearing from loved ones on the boat, group founder Helena Maleno Garzon said. Cheikh Awa Boye, president of the local fishing association, said survivors called home from Cape Verde after the rescue. Boye said two of his nephews are among those missing. Spain's Maritime Rescue Service confirmed that a Spanish fishing boat named the Zillarri rescued 38 people and recovered seven bodies from a Senegalese pirogue on Aug. 14 after spotting it adrift northeast of Cape Verde. An official of the tropical tuna fishing company PEVASA, which operates the Zillarri, said the survivors were asking for help and were in a "bad state."

Four children between 12 and 16 years old are among the survivors. Nearly 1,000 migrants died while trying to reach Spain by sea in the first six months of 2023, Walking Borders says. Worsening youth unemployment, political unrest, violence by armed groups, and climate change push migrants across West Africa to risk their lives on overcrowded boats. Nicholas Negoce at the BBC writes that sorrow "boiled over into frustration" in Fass Boye after news of the tragedy emerged. Residents set fire to cars and boats and attacked the mayor's home. "Young people blame a lack of opportunities and want the authorities to do more to help them," Negoce writes. (Read more Cape Verde stories.)
An American serving a 3.5-year prison sentence for bribery in Russia has now been charged with espionage. Gene Spector, a US citizen who was born and raised in St. Petersburg, allegedly admitted to bribing a former aide to Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich last year. He was charged in 2020 with mediating a bribe for Anastasia Alekseyeva while serving as chairman of the board of directors of Medpolymerprom Group, a company specializing in cancer drugs. He pleaded guilty in 2021, receiving four years in prison, but was later retried on a technicality and received a new 3.5-year sentence last September, per CBS News . It's unclear what prompted the espionage charge. A hearing was held behind closed doors due to classified evidence, per Reuters .

An official at the US embassy in Moscow tells CNN that they have no information on the new charge. The US State Department said Thursday that it was aware of the development. "We are monitoring the situation but have no further comment at this time," it said. Spector is one of three Americans held on espionage charges in Russia. Evan Gershkovich, a journalist with the Wall Street Journal, was detained in Russia in March, while Paul Whelan, a former Marine, is serving a 16-year prison sentence following his arrest in Moscow in late 2018. The US government has said both men are wrongfully detained. It has not said the same about Spector. (Read more Russia stories.)
On Friday, President Biden will host a summit at Camp David with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, "bridging generations of friction between the two Asian powers to forge mutual security arrangements in the face of an increasingly assertive China," reports the New York Times. The paper notes this will be the first time Biden has extended an invite to the rural Maryland retreat to foreign leaders, and the first time the three nations have officially gathered to meet outside of the sidelines of larger international get-togethers. To put that friction in context, the Wall Street Journal notes that "two years ago Tokyo and Seoul were barely on speaking terms." Among the items on Friday's agenda: talks on working together on ballistic missile defense, growing the three nations' joint military exercises, and setting up a secure "trilateral hotline" that they can jump on in case of a crisis. More on the summit:



US statement: "Japan and South Korea are core alliesnot just in the region, but around the world," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this week, per the Guardian. He noted that the summit would signify a "new era in trilateral cooperation."

"Japan and South Korea are core alliesnot just in the region, but around the world," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this week, per the Guardian. He noted that the summit would signify a "new era in trilateral cooperation." 'Rare gift' of a Camp David gathering: That's how it's framed by NPR, which notes that the Maryland presidential retreat holds "a special place in US diplomacy." "The leaders of Japan and South Korea know that this is something special" and that "the president only does this on certain occasions," says Jeffrey Hornung, a senior political scientist for the Rand Corporation. A senior official in the Biden administration says the president opted to meet at Camp David "to demonstrate that the three countries have reached a new stage in their relationship," per the news outlet.
Women lose value if men can see their uncovered faces in public, a spokesman for a key ministry of Afghanistan's Taliban government said Thursday, adding that religious scholars in the country agree that a woman must keep her face covered when outside the home. The Taliban, who took over the country in August 2021, have cited the failure of women to observe the proper way to wear the hijab, or Islamic headscarf, as a reason for barring them from most public spaces, including parks, jobs, and universities. Molvi Mohammad Sadiq Akif, the spokesman for the Taliban's Ministry of Vice and Virtue, said in an interview with the AP that if women's faces are visible in public, there's a possibility of fitna, or "falling into sin."

"It is very bad to see women [without the hijab] in some areas [big cities], and our scholars also agree that women's faces should be hidden," Akif said. "It's not that her face will be harmed or damaged. A woman has her own value, and that value decreases by men looking at her. Allah gives respect to females in hijab and there is value in this." The Taliban's restrictions on girls and women have caused global outrage, including from some Muslim-majority countries. On Wednesday, UN special envoy Gordon Brown said the International Criminal Court should prosecute Taliban leaders for crimes against humanity for denying education and employment to Afghan girls and women. Akif didn't answer questions about the bans, including whether any of them could be lifted if there were to be universal adherence to hijab rules.

Akif said people supported the ministry's measures. "People wanted to implement Shariah [Islamic law] here," he said. "Now we're carrying out the implementation of Shariah." He said that under the current administration, men no longer harass or stare at women like they used to. But Tim Winter, a Cambridge University Islamic studies expert, said there was no scriptural mandate in Islam for face coverings and that the Taliban would struggle to find anything in Islamic scripture that backed their interpretation of hijab rules. "Their name implies they are not senior religious experts," he says. "The word 'Taliban' means 'students.'" He said the Taliban operate on the basis of textbooks used in village religious schools, and that Muslim scholars who've been to Afghanistan during both periods of Taliban rule have been underwhelmed by their religious knowledge.

(Read more Taliban stories.)
Jason Chavez acknowledges that members of Gov. Katie Hobbs Task Force on Missing and Murdered Indigenous People face a big ask  to reduce and end violence against Indigenous people in the state.

But Chavez, Hobbs director of tribal affairs, said he is confident the task force can succeed in the three years it has been given to meet that goal.

If hes right, Arizona would do what no other task force on the state or federal level has been able to accomplish after years of work.

At least 10 states and various federal agencies have launched efforts to address the problem of missing and murdered Indigenous people. But, charged with solving in a few years an issue that took centuries to develop, those efforts have had to grapple with historical neglect, modern bureaucracy and myriad disparities that would require a transformation of Indian Countrys public services to be resolved.

The reality is those task forces didnt tell us (Indigenous communities) anything that we didnt already know. And, in many places,  havent produced actionable results, said Annita Lucchesi, founder of the Sovereign Bodies Institute.

Lucchesi is also a member of Interior Secretary Deb Haalands Not Invisible Act Commission, which has been hosting hearings around the country to discuss potential solutions that could be facilitated by federal agencies. Lucchesi  a victim of trafficking herself  said she has doubts about what the commission will be able to achieve, but that she owes it to her community to try to help.

The community does know what we need, and frankly, everybody on the commission knows what we need, she said. Its just a matter of the government actually stepping up to do it.

Arizona has ranked third in the nation since 2019 for the number of missing Indigenous people, according to data collected by the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs). Within that time span, the state has also held the title for having the most unidentified missing Indigenous persons in the country.

Hobbs signed an executive order in March creating the 14-member task force of lawmakers, state officials, tribal representatives and law enforcement officials. The order requires the task force to work with state, federal and tribal agencies to propose solutions to the problem, and to submit a report of its activities and a list of recommendations to the governor by Dec. 1 of each year.

But reports and policy suggestions in other states have had mixed success.

Justine Rufus, co-chair of Wisconsins Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) Task Force, said that recommendations from her task force have nudged state lawmakers, but that little lasting change has resulted so far.

In 2019, Montanas task force was given two years to accomplish its goals, but spent much of that time fighting for an extension, which was granted in 2021. The state legislature this year extended the task forces scheduled 2023 expiration by a decade.

Ingrid Cumberlidge, who oversees the MMIP working group in the U.S. Attorneys Office for Alaska, went through three extensions before getting a permanent role as the states MMIP coordinator. She said the change has fostered more trust from Alaskas tribes and given her time to work with them to form Tribal Community Response plans.

Lucchesi and advocates in several states point to a range of issues that make it difficult to address Americas MMIP caseload  unreliable internet service, little access to victim services, a broken foster care system and limited police staff and resources on tribal land, among others.

Former Bureau of Indian Affairs agent Tom Woolworth said he remembers watching people file missing persons reports from a pay phone at a convenience store, because they didnt have working phones or reliable service at their home. Meskee Yatsayte, who works to find missing people in the Navajo Nation, said some who come to major cities for resources or money end up becoming unsheltered.

A lot of the time our people, they get rolled, they get robbed and then you know, theyre kind of stranded there because the people that brought them there, they already went back home, back to the res (reservation), said Yatsayte, who is on the board of the group Missing and Murdered Dine Relatives. So now theyre walking on the streets trying to just survive.

Before a victim can be found, they have to be reported missing  this is where families with missing loved ones face even more barriers, advocates say.

Woolworth  who is a board member emeritus of the National Native American Law Enforcement Association  said people cannot file a missing-person report until a certain amount of time has passed, but that can range from 24 to 72 hours, depending on the jurisdiction. Even reports that are successfully filed are likely to have inaccurate or incomplete information about the subject, advocates say.

As these problems have persisted, decades worth of missing and murdered cases have piled up in Indigenous communities across the country. The NamUs report said the average MMIP case was 19.2 years old.

Rufus said it has come to the point where cold cases  and the missing loved ones at the center of them  have left an emptiness in communities that has become commonplace to life in Indian Country. An emptiness that is not seen in non-Native communities, she said.

Anywhere else in Wisconsin, anywhere else in a small town: Can they even think of one person that went missing or was murdered? Rufus said, recalling conversations with tribal residents. Here we are, were just naming these names of all these folks that we know that died, they died. Or we never find them again. Theyre just gone.

Being seen: Discrepancies in reporting

Arizona, Alaska, Montana and New Mexico were ranked among the top 10 of 36 states with missing American Indians and Alaskan Natives in a December NamUs report. But stakeholders said the national data is likely a significant undercount.

Troy Payne, director of the Alaska Justice Information Center at the University of Alaska Anchorage, said it is difficult to measure the true impact of MMIP due to the effort it takes to separate out the murdered from the missing.

To find that information, youre going to have to go through report narratives and police reports to be able to figure out when did a person go missing and then when were they found, said Payne, whose center has conducted research on homicide in Alaska. That is hard to do.

Indigenous missing persons also tend to be miscategorized as Hispanic, other and even Asian, Yatsayte said, looking back on the decade she has run the Navajo Nations Missing Persons Updates. Yatsayte said she noticed it more frequently when NamUs did not have an American Indian and Alaskan Native category. NamUs did not start collecting data on tribal enrollment and affiliation until December 2018.

Lucchesi, whose research includes tracking cases of missing women and girls, said erroneous categorization is especially a problem if those victims are under 18 and in the foster care system. Referring to cases she was studying in Washington state, Lucchesi said the vast majority of the girls in that data had gone missing more than five to 10 times.

The real red flag for kids being system-involved is most of those girls have multiple files based on different spellings of their names or inaccurate birthdays, Lucchesi said. So depending on how you type in their DOB (date of birth), or how you spell their name, maybe they went missing once, or three times, or five times, and when you really add it up, its nine times.

Yatsayte and other advocates said they have found countless missing persons cases that were not uploaded onto national databases like NamUs or the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), a national law enforcement hub of information on missing and wanted people around the country.

The Sovereign Bodies Institutes organizing toolkit reports that only 10 states have laws requiring police to file missing or unidentified persons cases into federal databases. Arizona is not among those 10 states.

At the same time, tribal police departments have to take extra steps to share information about missing persons because they do not have access to NCIC. This means tribal police officers have to rely on nearby state police or county sheriffs to publish information about missing persons cases in Indian Country.

When you play that game of telephone, I rely on somebody else to put in my information, and then they maybe rely on someone else to put in information. Information gets lost off the get-go, said Rufus, the co-chair of Wisconsins MMIW Task Force.

Valued less: Inequities in tribal policing

In 2020, Arizona State Universitys Research on Violent Victimization Lab became the research arm for the MMIP Study Committee that had been created by the Legislature to review the issue. Part of the labs work included analyzing the role of law enforcement in MMIP cases, and what the researchers found was familiar to stakeholders across the country.

Its not just a problem in terms of lack of trust or connectivity with law enforcement, but law enforcement, too, are handcuffed in their abilities to take on cases and to adequately investigate them due to chronic underfunding there, said Kate Fox, director of the ROVV Lab.

Not only do tribal law enforcement agencies not have access to NCIC, they are also likely to have fewer staff, limited jurisdiction and a lack of resources like crime labs that can use DNA to resolve unidentified missing persons cases.

Additionally, tribal police can only charge people with misdemeanors and low-level felonies. Woolworth said this means they can only jail people for a year at the most, and otherwise have to work with the U.S. Attorneys Office in their state to prosecute more serious felonies like murder.

Tribal police can get support from federal agents in the FBI, BIA and from the Missing and Murdered Unit  set up by Haaland in 2021, the unit includes agents tasked to work on cold cases around the country involving Indigenous victims. But the federal agents also heavily rely on local law enforcement because they do not have the time and resources to always actively work on MMIP cases, Woolworth said.

They may have a working relationship with the tribe and with tribal police but theyre  not going to get our agents out at two oclock in the morning to respond to this, Woolworth said. Thats why you guys have got tribal police, county sheriffs and state patrol officers and even local police  do that.

And advocates say MMU agents sometimes get caught up doing other tribal police work. Carmen Harvie, president of the MMIP State Chapter of Oklahoma, said one agent her chapter works with is sometimes pulled into other states for weeks at a time. Lucchesi said Montanas agents have been rotating as chief of police for Lame Deer because the federal government cant find anyone to do it.

Phoenix has three MMU agents, but a BIA spokesperson said the agents were not available for interviews and declined requests for comment.

Woolworth said he has had to explain to grieving families  including his own family members  that tribal police are trying their best to solve cases with a limited pool of resources. His cousin was 17 when she disappeared from a convenience store in Oklahoma, her body found a day later in a different jurisdiction.

Woolworth said his aunt went to her grave never knowing what happened to her oldest daughter, or who was responsible for her death. That was the one thing that probably put her in her grave was the fact that she did not know what happened to her daughter.

Harvies niece was murdered in 2016 but she still doesnt know what happened to her because the case has gone cold. Harvie said she has told this story to her state legislators in Oklahoma over and over and over. It was a hard and emotional process, she said, but helping Native families get closure was too important to give up.

Even though you went home angry, or even though you went home to cry, you knew youre doing it for the nation, Harvie said. And theres a lot of people with their hands up and giving up on finding their loved ones, and you can see those people cheering you on.

Lucchesi said she does it for the sake of women like herself: When she was trafficked, she said, police officers solicited her for sex even though they knew exactly what was happening to me and didnt care. Lucchesi said she feels obligated now to be vocal on Haalands commission because task forces have had the wrong people at the table, people who make promises that dont go into practice.

It feels like Native people are kind of almost held hostage by the hope of eventually having them (policy recommendations) be put into practice in like some kind of watered-down form, Lucchesi said. Were supposed to be thankful for whatever crumbs were getting from the federal government.

Rufus is hopeful that the issue can be addressed, even if it has not happened yet.

What we need is real action. And that means boots on the ground, and that means real money to address this crisis, Rufus said. That has yet to happen in any one of our states.
Earlier this week, reports emerged that threats were being directed online toward members of the Georgia grand jury who opted to indict former President Donald Trump and 18 others over attempts to overturn the 2020 election. Now, the Fulton County Sheriff's Office is stepping in and launching an investigation into those threats, reports the AP . "We take this matter very seriously and are coordinating with our law enforcement partners to respond quickly to any credible threat and to ensure the safety of those individuals who carried out their civic duty," the office of Sheriff Pat Labat said in a statement.

The FBI said in its own statement that it would be cooperating with the sheriff's probe, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Under Georgia law, the names of jurors in criminal and civil cases must be made public, and in this case, their names were included in the indictments; the jury proceedings themselves were kept under wraps. CBS News notes that 26 juror names were listed in the indictment, though three of them had been crossed out.

The reasoning in Georgia and many other states for keeping juror names public is so that defense lawyers have the opportunity to examine the jury makeup and challenge the inclusion of certain jurors. Domestic extremism experts say a "concerted effort" like this that includes online threats toward publicized names, however, could spur real-life violence. "Every time something like this happens you are going to have more or less the same type of reaction," Jon Lewis of the George Washington University Program on Extremism tells the AJC.

"She knows she is not long for this world," one threat directed toward Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis read in the comments of a post about the indictment by right-wing pundit Charlie Kirk. "There are true believers out there, extremists who want something to attack," says Amy Cooter, research director for Middlebury College's Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism. Cooter adds that it's hard to pry people prone to making these kinds of threats out of the outrage and conspiracy-theory loop they may be stuck in. "When somebody starts down that road, it becomes very difficult to break away from it," she notes. "Paranoia about the government as a whole is going to grow and grow." (Read more Georgia indictment stories.)
The Justice Department is seeking 33 years in prison for Enrique Tarrio, the former Proud Boys leader convicted of seditious conspiracy in one of the most serious cases to emerge from the attack on the US Capitol, according to court documents. The sentence, if imposed, would be by far the longest punishment that has been handed down in the massive prosecution of the riot on Jan. 6, 2021, per the AP . Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, who was convicted of seditious conspiracy in a separate case, has received the longest sentence to date18 years. Tarrio, who once served as national chairman of the far-right extremist group, and three lieutenants were convicted by a Washington jury in May of conspiring to block the transfer of presidential power in the hopes of keeping then-President Trump in the White House after the Republican lost the 2020 election.

Tarrio, who wasn't at the Capitol riot itself on Jan. 6, was a top target of what has become the largest Justice Department investigation in American history. He led the neo-fascist groupknown for street fights with left-wing activistswhen Trump infamously told the Proud Boys to "stand back and stand by" during his first debate with Democrat Joe Biden. During the monthslong trial, prosecutors argued that the Proud Boys viewed themselves as foot soldiers fighting for Trump as the Republican spread lies that Democrats stole the election from him, and were prepared to go to war to keep their preferred leader in power. "They unleashed a force on the Capitol that was calculated to exert their political will on elected officials by force and to undo the results of a democratic election," prosecutors wrote in their filing Thursday.

The prosecutors added: "The foot soldiers of the right aimed to keep their leader in power. They failed. They are not heroes; they are criminals." Prosecutors are also asking for a 33-year-sentence for one of Tarrio's co-defendants, Joseph Biggs of Ormond Beach, Florida, a self-described Proud Boys organizer. In addition, they're asking the judge to impose a 30-year prison term for Zachary Rehl, who was president of the Proud Boys chapter in Philadelphia; 27 years in prison for Ethan Nordean of Auburn, Washington, who was a Proud Boys chapter president; and 20 years for Dominic Pezzola, a Proud Boys member from Rochester, New York. Pezzola was acquitted of seditious conspiracy but convicted of other serious charges.

Tarrio wasn't in Washington on Jan. 6 because he'd been arrested two days earlier in a separate case and ordered out of the capital city. But prosecutors alleged he organized and directed the attack by the Proud Boys who stormed the Capitol that day. Defense attorneys argued there was no conspiracy and no plan to attack the Capitol, instead seeking to portray the Proud Boys as an unorganized drinking club whose members' participation in the riot was a spontaneous act fueled by Trump's election rage. Tarrio's lawyers tried to argue that Trump was the one to blame for exhorting a crowd outside the White House to "fight like hell." Tarrio, of Miami, and his co-defendants will be sentenced before US District Judge Timothy Kelly in a string of hearings starting later this month in Washington's federal court.

(Read more Enrique Tarrio stories.)
A Georgia school board voted along party lines Thursday to fire a teacher after officials said she improperly read a book on gender fluidity to her fifth-grade class. The Cobb County School Board in suburban Atlanta voted 4-3 to fire Katie Rinderle, overriding the recommendation of a panel of three retired educators. The panel found after a two-day hearing that Rinderle had violated district policies but said she should not be fired, the AP reports. She had been a teacher for 10 years when she got into trouble in March for reading the picture book My Shadow Is Purple by Scott Stuart at Due West Elementary School, after which some parents complained.

The case has drawn wide attention as a test of what public school teachers can teach in class, how much a school system can control teachers, and whether parents can veto instruction they dislike. Rinderle declined to comment after the vote but released a statement through the Southern Poverty Law Center, which helped represent her. "The district is sending a harmful message that not all students are worthy of affirmation in being their unapologetic and authentic selves," Rinderle said in the statement. "This decision, based on intentionally vague policies, will result in more teachers self-censoring in fear of not knowing where the invisible line will be drawn." The district policy was adopted last year.

The board's four Republicans voted to fire Rinderle, while three Democrats voted against firing her. Superintendent Chris Ragsdale, who is backed by the Republican majority, had originally recommended Rinderle be fired. The district said in a statement that "we are very serious about keeping our classrooms focused on teaching, learning, and opportunities for success for students." Her lawyer, Craig Goodmark, reiterated after the meeting in Marietta that the policy was so vague Rinderle couldn't know what was not allowed. The hearing tribunal seemed to concur, refusing to agree with a statement that Rinderle knowingly and intentionally violated policies. Rinderle could appeal her firing to the state Board of Education and ultimately in court. She's still licensed and could teach elsewhere. "She will be a teacher again," Goodmark said.

(Read more teacher firing stories.)
Susan Sarandon's $2 million, environmentally friendly dream home didn't turn out the way she envisioned. So the Oscar-winning actress sued her builder on Thursday, listing a series of problems, the Guardian reports, in the Vermont house where she planned to retire. What she wanted, the suit says, was an "entirely off-the-grid" home with solar power, well water and geothermal energy "in light of increasing global environmental instability." What she got was 47 problems, the suit says, as found by engineers, contractors, and the star's staff.
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AWES Recruitment 2023 PGT, TGT and PRT Army Welfare Education Society Posts. Army Welfare Education Society has released the notification to fill Various PGT, TGT, PRT vacancies. Applicants who searching for AWES Govt Jobs those candidates have a good opportunity. The organization will be going to recruit the PGT, TGT, PRT vacancies. Applicants who are willing to apply for this Army Welfare Education Society PGT, TGT, PRT Govt Jobs 2023 those candidates can apply online. Applicants must be completed Graduation Degree (B.Ed), Post Graduate Degree, B. Ed or its equivalent qualification from any Recognized Board or University or Institution with minimum 50% Marks. Applicants can apply through the Online Process. The Army Welfare Education Society organization will be going to recruit the PGT, TGT, PRT vacancies. Aspirants to know more information about the application fee refer the official website

AWES Notification 2023 Applicants to know about the educational qualification, Age limit, refer the official website. Applicants can fill the application form by filling the required details like education qualifications and Upload the scanned copies of all documents then pay the application fee as per the category. Then submit the application form. Selected candidates will get the best pay scale with grade pay and other allowances as per the organizations norms. Applicants can download the exam syllabus exam pattern previous question papers and practice papers from the official website. Applicants to know more information about Army Welfare Education Society PGT, TGT, PRT refer the official website.

AWES Recruitment 2023 Apply online

Name of The Organization: Army Welfare Education Society Job Category Govt Jobs No of Posts PGT, TGT Total Vacancies Various Posts Application Mode Online Process Selection Process Written test, Interview, Skill test Website: www.awesindia.com Location India

AWES Jobs Educational Qualification & Eligibility Criteria

Qualification: Applicants must possess Graduation Degree (B.Ed), Post Graduate Degree, B. Ed or its equivalent qualification from any Recognized Board or University or Institution with minimum 50% Marks. To be eligible for these positions, candidates must meet the following criteria:

Educational Qualifications: Applicants should possess a relevant Bachelors or Masters degree in the subject they wish to teach, along with a B.Ed. or equivalent teaching degree. Age Limit: The maximum age limit for TGT and PGT positions is generally around 40 years, while for PRT positions, it is usually around 30 years. Age relaxations may be applicable for candidates from reserved categories. Experience: Prior teaching experience, especially in CBSE-affiliated schools, is often preferred and may be given weightage during the selection process.

Age Criteria: Applicants age limit maximum of 40  57 years and upper age relaxation will apply to the reserved category candidates as per the organization norms.

Salary: Selected candidates will get the best pay scale with grade pay and other allowances as per the organizations norms.

Selection Procedure: Applicants can be selected based on their performance in the written test conducted by the AWES Recruitment Board 2023 norms. The selection process for AWES teaching positions typically includes the following stages:

Online Screening Test: Candidates will be required to appear for an online screening test, which assesses their subject knowledge, teaching aptitude, and general awareness. Interview: Shortlisted candidates from the screening test will be called for an interview. The interview panel evaluates candidates teaching skills, subject expertise, and overall suitability for the role. Teaching Skill Test: In some cases, candidates may also have to undergo a teaching skill test, where they demonstrate their teaching methods and classroom management techniques.

AWESExam/Application Fee: To apply for AWES Army Public School Recruitment 2023, candidates need to pay a nominal application fee of Rs. 385/-. The fee can be paid online through various modes such as Net banking, UPI, Credit Card, Debit Card, or Wallet. Remember, your application will be considered complete only after the fee payment. Dont miss the chance to apply for your dream teaching job.

AWES Exam Syllabus, Pattern, Previous Model Papers 2023

Applicants who are applying for this exam. Candidates who are going to start the preparation those candidates can download the exam syllabus the organization will be released the exam syllabus on the official website. Applicants can download the exam syllabus exam pattern previous question papers and previous model papers and practice papers and other preparation materials from the official website

AWES Advertisement 2023 Important Dates

Dates Dates AWES Recruitment 2023 Apply Online Starts 20th July 2023 Last Date to Apply Online 10th September 2023 AWES Admit Card 2023 20th September 2023 AWES Online Screening Test 2023 30th September 2023 and 01st October 2023 AWES Result 2023 23rd October 2023

How to Apply for AWES Vacancy 2023 & Online Application Process

AWES notification 2023 Interested and eligible candidates are required to apply online through the official AWES website. The application process generally involves the following steps:

Registration: Candidates need to register on the AWES website using their valid email ID and mobile number. Upon successful registration, they will receive login credentials. Application Form: After logging in, candidates should fill out the application form with accurate personal, educational, and professional details. Upload Documents: Applicants will need to upload scanned copies of their passport-sized photograph, signature, educational certificates, and other relevant documents as specified in the application form. Application Fee: A non-refundable application fee is usually applicable, which can be paid online using various payment modes. Submission: After completing the form and payment, candidates can review the information and submit the application. It is advisable to take a printout of the application form for future reference.

Conclusion: The AWES Notification 2023 presents a golden opportunity for aspiring educators to become an integral part of the Army Welfare Education Society and contribute to shaping the future of young minds. AWES Teaching posts at APS schools are not only rewarding but also allow educators to work in a disciplined and nurturing environment. Aspiring candidates who meet the eligibility criteria and have a passion for teaching are encouraged to apply online and embark on a fulfilling journey in the field of education. AWES PGT TGT Recruitment 2023 FAQs How to apply for AWES PGT & TGT recruitment 2023? Interested & Eligible candidates can apply online for AWES PGT & TGT Recruitment at www.awesindia.com When is Awes Army public school recruitment 2023 exam date? The AWES Army Public School Recruitment 2023 Exam Date has been scheduled for 30 September and 1 October 2023 How to apply for Army public school recruitment 2023? Apply online for Army Public School Recruitment 2023 for PGT, PRT & TGT Posts are 21st July to 10th September 2023 How to crack AWES Army Public School PGT TGT PRT exam? For cracking AWES Army Public School PGT/ TGT/ PRT Exam this year, you need to build a smart preparation strategy that must include the task of practicing the Previous Year Question Papers as it will help in improving your speed and accuracy.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

MP Dr. Maryam Al Dhaen has emphasised the key role played by the Council of Representatives through participation in international forums to highlight Bahrains efforts in promoting human rights and women issues.

The 2022 report of the European Union on human rights and its commendation of Bahrains achievements in this field reflect a real picture, in accordance with the principles and vision of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and with the directives and support of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, she added.

Dr. Al Dhaen said HM the King laid the foundations of democracy and parliamentary action within the framework of the separation of powers and their cooperation in accordance with the Constitution.

Through her official participation in IPU meetings, Dr. Al Dhaen had submitted a number of working papers detailing those files, which were among the most important indicators. The MP noted that the Kingdom had hosted many meetings of the international parliament during the previous legislative session, which had provided an opportunity for representatives of the world parliament to learn about many of the facts that some were trying to mislead.

Dr. Al Dhaen stressed the importance of strengthening cooperation with the European Union in the various fields of rights, politics and development. She said that the members of the House of Representatives represent the entire people, and that parliamentary diplomacy is a key role, given its efforts and role in developing and strengthening foreign parliamentary relations, building friendship and cooperation among the national parliaments of the world to contribute to the international peace and cooperation process, and highlighting the achievements of Bahrain clearly, impartially and transparently.

Dr. Al Dhaen hailed the contributions made by members of the House of Representatives in supporting the diplomatic efforts of the Government to achieve positive results in the various areas of security, political, economic and legal development.
Elon Musk took to microblogging site X, formerly known as twitter, to share an update- he has reached amazing Japan.

The business magnate who shares a bittersweet relationship with Japan arrived at the east Asian nation just days after a row over a fake X account of Japans top diplomat Masato Kanda.

Japan in a rare warning had asked Elon Musk to take down a fake account of the top currency diplomat Masato Kanda. Please dont follow the impersonation account and/or comment on the post, the ministry said in a rare post in English on the social media platform. According to a report by BBC, Kanda is a key figure in efforts by the worlds third largest economy to stabilise the value of the yen.

Elon Musk on r/japanlife in 6 months My Japanese wife is divorcing me because I cannot read hiragana pic.twitter.com/drTxakKCJr  capsulebunny (@capsulebutt) August 17, 2023

Elon Musk posted an update on X on Thursday announcing his arrival in the land of cherry blossoms.

... continue reading
Jharkhand Teacher Jobs 2023: The recruitment notification for the JSSC 10+2 Teacher Vacancy notification has been released online. Candidates who are looking for government teacher jobs can apply online. All the candidates who are interested in submitting their application can follow the application format and other details which have been mentioned below. Qualified competitors can present their application to Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission on or before the last mentioned date online. Each one of those who is trying to apply for the post can look for different data like qualification criteria, compensation, Total openings, Selection Procedure, Job description, last date, Application system, and other data required for the post below. Candidates should have completed their 10+2 or Intermediate course with a minimum aggregate from any recognized University.

The Jharkhand government published the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission Act to recruit candidates for various positions of Teacher vacancy. This year the state government released a notification for the filling up of 10+2 Teacher notification posts and asked interested candidates to apply online. After the application has been submitted, the candidate must pay the application fee. The website will give options for methods of payment. As the JSSC Board has finalized to accept the application forms until September 15th, 2023. Follow the details and other instructions which have been provided below to successfully submit your Application form to the Jharkhand Teacher Jobs 2023 notification.

JSSC Teacher Recruitment 2023 Jharkhand Teacher Jobs

Name of The Organization: Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission Job Category Jharkhand Sarkari Naukri 2023 No of Posts Various Total Vacancies 26001 Application Mode Online Selection Process Written Test, Personal Interview Website: www.jssc.in Location Jharkhand State

Jharkhand Teacher Jobs Educational Qualification & Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility criteria for the post of PRT and TGT in terms of Education Qualification and Age Limit are as follows.

PRT

Education Qualification  An individual must have pursued Diploma in Elementary Education and passed the Intermediate

 An individual must have pursued Diploma in Elementary Education and passed the Intermediate Age Limit  Ones age must not be below 21 and 40 years above.

TGT

Education Qualification  An individual must have pursued a Bachelors of Education and a graduate degree.

 An individual must have pursued a Bachelors of Education and a graduate degree. Age Limit  Same as PRT.

There will be an upper age relaxation for the candidates belonging to BC-I, BC-II and SC/ST for 2, 3 and 4 years.

JSSC Teacher Vacancy 2023

There are a total number of 26,001 vacancies for the post of PRT and TGT, checkout the tabulated data to find out the details about it.

Post Category Total Para Non Para PRT 5469 5531 11,000 TGT 7399 7602 15,001 Total 26,001

JSSC Teacher Application Fee 2023

To apply online for recruitment of PRT or TGT, an individual will have to pay the Application Fee of 100 using the Debit or Credit Card, aspirants who belong to Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribes will have to pay only 50/.

Age Criteria: Minimum and Maximum age limit that is required for the Candidates to Apply for this Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission TGT Notification Posts can be referred from the Official web of the Organization.

Salary: Applicants who want to join as trained teachers in High Schools will be receiving good pay scales as per the Jharkhand Board Organization norms. Selected and Eligible Candidates for this JSSC Vacancy will get a month-to-month pay of Rs. 9300 to Rs 34,800 along with a Grade Pay of Rs 4600. To know post-wise Salary details it is advised to watch the official website.

JSSC TGT Recruitment 2023 Selection Procedure

Applicants who want to join for this vacancy need to be qualified in the written test which will be conducted by the board. Candidates who qualify for the test will be processed to attend the next phase of the selection process which would be Personal Interview. All the Candidates Shortlisted for the Interview need to attend the Demo in the selected High schools.

Exam/Application Fee: Category wise Application fee details for all candidates are mentioned below.

General and OBC Category Candidates should pay an Application fee of Rs.500

SC/ ST and PWD Candidates need not pay any Application fee to Apply for the TGT Jharkhand Vacant Posts notification.

Jharkhand TGT Exam Syllabus, Pattern, Previous Model Papers 2023

All the Job Aspirants who want to secure this job opportunity need to secure a good score in the concerned entrance written test. So, all the interested ones are suggested to download the Examination Syllabus, Exam Pattern, Previous Model Papers, and Practice Papers from the official website of the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission. Else you can also watch this page as we will also upload Exam Syllabus and other Preparatory material for the Jharkhand TGT recruitment 2023. Go to the official web page for more details.

Important Dates for JSSC Teacher Notification 2023

Event Date Notification July 20, 2023 Application Form August 16 to September 15, 2023 Fee Submission August 16 to September 17, 2023 Photograph & Signature Uploading August 16 to September 19, 2023 Correction Window September 21 to 23, 2023 Admit Card October 2023 Examination November 2023 Answer Key November 2023 JSSC TGT Result December 2023

How to Apply for Jharkhand TGT & PRT Jobs 2023 & Online Application Process

Jharkhand TGT (Trained Graduate Teacher) and PRT (Primary Teacher) jobs. However, I can provide you with a general outline of how the application process for such teaching jobs typically works. Please note that the process might have changed since then, so I recommend checking the official Jharkhand government website or the relevant education departments official website for the most up-to-date information.

Application Process for Jharkhand TGT & PRT Jobs:

Check Eligibility Criteria: Before you begin the application process, ensure that you meet the eligibility criteria set by the Jharkhand education department. This may include requirements related to educational qualifications, age limits, and other specific qualifications. Visit the Official Website: Visit the official website of the Jharkhand education department or the relevant agency responsible for conducting teacher recruitment in the state. Look for the Recruitment or Career section on the website. Notification: Look for the official notification for the TGT and PRT job openings. This notification will provide detailed information about the vacancies, eligibility criteria, application dates, exam patterns, and syllabus. Online Registration: If the applications are accepted online, you will likely need to register on the official website. This usually involves providing your personal details, educational qualifications, and contact information. Make sure to double-check the accuracy of the information you provide. Fill Application Form: Complete the online application form with accurate details. You may need to upload scanned copies of your passport-sized photograph, signature, and relevant documents. Make sure to adhere to the specified file formats and size limits. Application Fee: Pay the required application fee, if applicable. The fee amount and payment methods will be mentioned in the official notification. Submit Application: After filling in all the necessary information and uploading the required documents, review your application to ensure that everything is accurate. Once youre satisfied, submit the application form. Print Application Form: After successful submission, you may be provided with a confirmation page or an application reference number. Its recommended to print a copy of the application form or save the confirmation details for future reference. Admit Card and Examination: If theres a written examination as part of the recruitment process, you will receive an admit card or hall ticket. Keep an eye on the official website for updates on exam dates, venue, and other instructions. Selection Process: The selection process may include written tests, interviews, and document verification. Prepare for the recruitment process according to the syllabus and guidelines provided in the official notification. Results: Keep checking the official website for updates regarding the recruitment process, including the announcement of results and merit lists.

Remember, the above steps are a general guideline based on the typical application process for teaching jobs. The specific steps and requirements may vary based on the Jharkhand governments policies and the conducting agency. Always refer to the official notification and website for accurate and up-to-date information.

JSSC Teacher Advertisement
Responding to Growing Customer Demand  Cloud-Based Clinic Software, Digital Marketing & eLearning Provider Makes Significant Advances in the Australian Market

TORONTO and MIAMI, Aug. 17, 2023 /CNW/ - BoomerangFX, a global provider of Software as a Service (SaaS), specializing in comprehensive clinic practice management solutions for non-insured, private-pay sectors, including dermatology, cosmetic surgery, medical spa, cosmetic dentistry, vision care, and women's health, has announced its expansion into the Australian market. Following the recent disclosure of unparalleled growth within its eLearning division across the Asia-Pacific region, boasting a participation of over 10,000 individuals worldwide, the Company is now observing a surging interest in its clinic practice management, digital marketing, and lead management software solutions.

BoomerangFX's latest version 3.0 software is now available in Australia delivering a powerhouse suite of Clinic Management, Digital Advertising, Lead Management and eLearning tools in a single solution. (CNW Group/BoomerangFX)

According to industry reports, the aesthetic medicine market in Australia has experienced consistent double-digit growth, with a notable rise in both surgical and non-surgical procedures. Non-invasive treatments like dermal fillers, toxin injections and the growing rise of innovative laser therapies, and skin rejuvenation procedures have gained immense popularity due to their safety and effectiveness. Notably, companies like InMode, a global leader in innovative radio frequency (RF) technologies that offer remarkable patient outcomes with minimal downtime, have been instrumental in propelling the Australian market to new heights of growth.

Australia's affluent population and its proactive approach to health and wellness have contributed to the growth of the aesthetic medicine industry. Moreover, the presence of skilled medical professionals and reputable clinics offering a wide range of services has further propelled this expansion. The rise of social media and the influence of celebrity culture have also played a role in driving interest in aesthetic procedures, as people seek to achieve their desired look or maintain a youthful appearance.

"We are thrilled to welcome Australian clinics to our platform," stated Jerome Dwight, CEO of Boomerang FX. Australia is a dynamic market that caters to diverse consumer preferences and high standards of care. As the industry's first all-in-one practice management, digital marketing and educational platform, our solutions provide a comprehensive suite of tools that allow clinics to capitalize on the rapidly expanding market opportunities."

The announcement comes on the heels of BoomerangFX's release of its next-generation 3.0 version cloud-based practice management and digital marketing software. This new release builds on over 20 years of research and development bringing to market a transformational end-to-end platform for clinic owners  key advantages include:

Industry-first "Clinic Manager Dashboard" featuring real-time tracking of projected and actual revenues, sales mix, staff utilization and consult to treatment conversion metrics.





A virtual personal digital assistant which helps clinic managers with important reminders  named "AUVIA" the virtual assistant incorporates extensive algorithms and machine learning to continually optimize the clinic profitability and efficiency.





Clinic automation tools like automated inventory purchasing modules that track inventory levels in real-time for critical supplies, formulas and medications with digital reminders and automated online order placements with vendors.





Digital engagement enablement tools like a patient mobile app, integrated telehealth, online booking, automated email/sms text retention marketing and waitlist reminders.





Payment options through Stripe with custom reporting options on accounts receivables, gift cards, payment plans and flexible membership tools for "pay as you go" options.





Inhouse digital advertising for clinics including custom landing pages with integrated connectivity to Google, Facebook, YouTube and TikTok for tracking and driving new patient leads while leveraging powerful Artificial Intelligence tools for conversions.

Dwight further commented "We are delighted to bring the full breadth of our capabilities to the Australian market - many of our latest innovations in patient workflow automation, AI-driven digital marketing and retention marketing are designed to radically boost growth and transform a clinic's operations."

"We're embarking on an exciting path with Boomerang FX," stated Dr. Ian Chinsee, prominent Cosmetic Surgeon and CEO of Inigo Cosmetic based in Brisbane, Australia. Our decision to choose Boomerang FX as our clinic management software was driven by the absence of a comparable solution in Australia that effectively caters to both the surgical and non-surgical aspect of our business while simultaneously addressing day-to-day operational and marketing needs under one platform."

Kayla Lapworth, social media & Marketing Manager at Inigo Cosmetic further commented "We're thrilled to begin scaling our business using Boomerang FX 's incredible suite of tools. Its unified platform seamlessly integrates patient scheduling, online booking, payments and accounting with easy-to-use patient workflows. Additionally, the real-time lead management dashboard allows us to track and respond to new patient leads in minutes through integrated SMS text and email  other features like our very own patient loyalty app and automated email retention technology give us a clear competitive advantage in our local market. We're confident that other practices across Australia will also achieve substantial growth and success by embracing Boomerang FX within their operations."

Dennis Cronje, Managing Director for InMode Australia and New Zealand commented "our close partnership with Boomerang FX's eLearn platform has provided our customers unique access to ongoing education to upskill their staff and remain at the forefront of treatment protocols and techniques. This educational platform has been an integral part of the investment strategy for most of our clients and has been a key factor in their selection of InMode as their technology partner of choice, and this has now been further enhanced through the option of incorporating a comprehensive all-in-one clinic practice management and digital marketing solution. By providing our clients tools that allow them to offer their patients the best-in-class treatments and help them manage and grow their business, we continue to solidify and expand our business partnerships".

The announcement also comes on the heels of Boomerang FX's recent worldwide partnership with Stripe to offer integrated payment options to clinics. The Company also continues to deploy Artificial Intelligence in its lead generation and conversion tools leveraging proprietary cloud-based technology and existing machine learning capabilities.

About Boomerang FX

Boomerang FX is an international cloud-based healthcare practice management company. Co-founded by globally recognized plastic surgeon and entrepreneur, Dr. Stephen Mulholland, and Technology and Banking executive, Jerome Dwight, Boomerang FX revolutionized cloud-based practice management as the first healthcare technology solution in a clinical setting to combine end-to-end practice management functionality with integrated digital advertising, lead management and eLearning. Boomerang FX is dedicated to supporting the needs of its customers by enabling them to build highly successful market dominant private-pay practices worldwide while capitalizing on the rapidly expanding market opportunities in aesthetic medicine.

SOURCE BoomerangFX

For further information: Media Inquiries: Cassandra Donaldson, B2B Brand Manager, [email protected], Telephone: 647-613-1927
From September 6th13th 2023, the Canadians will travel the tiny country discovering how an exciting, unique Israeli cuisine developed from a wide range of influences. These include, most significantly the absorption of immigrants from around the world, especially Jews both pre- and post-World War II, and those with centuries-old connections to the land, as well as Christians, and the local indigenous population of Israeli Arabs.

The travellers will enjoy an itinerary overflowing with delicious highlights. Among them:

Tastings at award-winning wineries in the Zichron Yaakov region, carefully curated from Israel's 300+ wineries;

300+ wineries; Hands-on workshops with local Israeli chefs and culinary influencers, and other growers and food producers including "spice-ologists";

Visiting popular restaurants throughout Israel , including Haifa's LUXE, where the Canadians will connect with local foodie influencers;

, including LUXE, where the Canadians will connect with local foodie influencers; Meeting with growers at ecological/sustainable farms, such as Makura Olive Pressers where orchards and vineyards abound with olives, lychees, a wide range of citrus fruits, and avocadoes;

Participating in cooking workshops with Druze chefs in villages of the Western Galilee

In vibrant Tel Aviv , beach time will compete with tasting tours of the famed Levinsky and Carmel Markets, led by local experts with many stories to share; partaking in a vegan culinary workshop with innovative Chef Harel Zakim at Zakaim; and hands-on learning about Israel's creative food culture at Asif Culinary Institute, a non-profit organization and culinary centre;

, beach time will compete with tasting tours of the famed Levinsky and Carmel Markets, led by local experts with many stories to share; partaking in a vegan culinary workshop with innovative Chef at Zakaim; and hands-on learning about creative food culture at Asif Culinary Institute, a non-profit organization and culinary centre; Enjoying Sabbath dinner in the home of one of Israel's top chefs, Nir Zook - recognized for both his dynamic television presence and innovations as a leading restauranteur.

top chefs, - recognized for both his dynamic television presence and innovations as a leading restauranteur. In ancient Jerusalem , the group will visit the iconic open-air market, Machane Yehuda to meet its vendors and taste their wares; watch the world-famous kitchen of Machneyuda Restaurant in action; experience Cafe Shalva staffed by persons with developmental and physical disabilities; and enjoy tastings at local award-winning winery in the Judean Hills;

, the group will visit the iconic open-air market, Machane Yehuda to meet its vendors and taste their wares; watch the world-famous kitchen of Machneyuda Restaurant in action; experience Cafe Shalva staffed by persons with developmental and physical disabilities; and enjoy tastings at local award-winning winery in the Judean Hills; Floating and relaxing in the Dead Sea, a must following a week that is full-sensory and fully-immersive.

Given the Israel's small size, this highly select group of Canadian culinary influencers will have the opportunity to explore the country's historic sites and remarkable archaeology while meeting their inspiring Israeli culinary counterparts. Exchanging ideas and information, they will discover the differences, and more significantly, similarities of practising their craft in Canada and Israel  always the best way to understand, learn, and grow.

As their week in Israel winds down, these Canadian foodie influencers will travel home full, satisfied, and never wanting to hear the words, "Eat, eat" again!

The Canadian group is expected to include:

Joel Solish  Never Not Eating / Foodie extraordinaire & promoter Elia Herrera  Chef/restaurateur/ & TV personality Dan Clapson  Visionary creator at Eat North/ food critic/cookbook author Romain Avril  Michelin-trained Chef/culinary influencer/entrepreneur Irene Matys - Cypriot-born chef/cookbook author/documentary filmmaker Rick Martharu  Entrepreneurially-charged Chef and culinary and lifestyle influencer Michele-June "Mijune" Pak  Supreme International culinary adventurer & Foodie / TV culinary personality Romain Rey  Foodie & videographer/cameraman/editor

SOURCE Israel Ministry of Tourism

For further information: interviews, or images, please contact: Jerry Adler, Director of Public Relations, [email protected]; 416.768.5881




The Akwa Ibom State government has described as a beer parlour conversation the allegations that the immediate past governor of the state, Udom Emmanuel is still in possession of the governors official jet.





Ever since the present Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Pastor Umo Eno was spotted boarding the State owned commercial Ibom Air for an official engagement outside the state, the media have been awash with claims that Udom Emmanuel denied Governor Eno access to the jet.





The Senior Special Adviser to Governor Umo Eno on Research and Documentation, Mr Ndueso Ekwere speaking during a radio program in Uyo on Friday said the governor boarded the commercial aircraft to have first hand experience with the states airline to guide his decision making.





He also explained that Governor Eno used the opportunity of patronizing Ibom Air in his official capacity as Governor of the State to share the experiences of other passengers and wondered why some people would rather misinterpret that action with unsubstantiated claims.





According to him, the governor during his campaign tour promised that he would occasionally be flying Ibom Air to have the same experience as every other passenger. He said he is not a Governor who sits in his comfort zone in the office to receive reports from the field but one who will go out to feel and experience the realities of investments and public utilities funded with public funds. I wonder why some people chose to misinterpret the good intentions of the governor.





Even at the airport, you could see him subjecting himself to thorough check and other airport procedures, that is because he wishes to lead by example. Such actions should not be misinterpreted, but seen as actions that make him more connected to his people.





He explained that Mr Emmanuel, despite being the immediate past Governor and former boss to the current Governor, has not shown any overbearing attitude to his successor but even came to declare during the state dialogue that there can only be one leader at a time in the state, being Governor Eno.
Former Minister of Education, Obiageli Ezekwesili has claimed that the controversial All Eyes on the Judiciary advert is one of the best things that has happened to the nations third arm of government.

She is of the view that the judiciary always needed citizens to demand transparency and accountability for their huge constitutional responsibility.

Recall that the Federal Government ordered the removal of the billboards of All Eyes on the Judiciary nationwide, after it claimed that it would pitch the people against the judiciary.

The government also dissolved the Advertising Standard Panel (ASP) secretariat over its approval of the All Eyes on The Judiciary advert.

However, in a post on her social media platform on Friday, the former Minister reiterated that she has her eyes on the Nigerian judiciary and is delighted to see many other citizens doing the same.

She wrote, I absolutely have my eyes on the Nigerian Judiciary and delighted to see many other citizens do too.

#AllEyesOnTheJudiciary is one of the best things that has happened to our Judiciary, the 3rd Arm of Government, in recent times.

Just like the other 2 Arms- Executive and Legislature, the Judiciary always needed our Citizens to demand transparency and accountability for their huge constitutional responsibility.

One of the critical things youll learn in Policy School is to always keep the message simple for your target audience.

The Judiciary has a message from citizens, who understand the importance of their country joining the league of countries that have through uncompromising adherence to Democratic Processes, built lasting institutions required for Development.

It is #AllEyesOnTheJudiciary.
The immediate-past Speaker of Kaduna State House of Assembly, Yusuf Ibrahim Zailani, on Thursday, boasted that the National Chairman of All Progressives Congress, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, has what it takes to make the ruling party remain in government for more than 60 years.

Zailani made the statement when he led a delegation of former House of Representatives members on a solidarity visit to Ganduje at the national headquarters of the party in Abuja on Thursday.

The development isn coming barely 15 years after a former National Chairman of the then-ruling Peoples Democratic Party, Vincent Ogbulafor, made a similar controversial statement.

The now late Chief Ogbulafor had boasted that the PDP was poised to rule the country for at least 60 years because of the good policies and programmes of the party.

But the PDP government under then President Goodluck Jonathan was defeated in the 2015 presidential election, seven years after Ogbulafors prediction.

Zailani, however, believed the ruling APC under the new leadership of Ganduje could stand the test of time.

He said, We have no doubt in our mind that you (Ganduje) will lead this party to continuously forming government in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, for more than 60 years. We know you can do it and we have absolute confidence that you can do it. As you can see, we are representing the country because all the six geopolitical zones are adequately represented here.

We may not be in the House of Representatives now. But we want to tell you that all of us have the energy, the vision and the interest of the party at heart, so we are offering ourselves for any party assignments.

With this, we know from one of us, you may have a special place for either the legislators or former members of our forum because we saw what you have done with one of our members who was your immediate past commissioner for finance. We want you to do more by possibly picking one of our ladies to work within the APC. We will continue to pray for you to show our solidarity and our support.

While appreciating the gesture, Ganduje charged the delegation on the need to consistently execute every constituency project promised to their people, stressing that they are the dividends of democracy that people at the grassroots often identify with.

It is your responsibility to consolidate the National Assembly, whether you are inside or outside. The psychological thing that binds you together should continue. That is why we are so happy with the legislative projects in their constituencies, even though some may ask why constituency projects. But an ordinary voter, even though your main function is to make laws and oversight functions, will like to see something on the ground.

He doesnt think how legislation is affecting his life or how oversight function is affecting his life. But he can easily see a constituency project whether it is a borehole, whether the building of a school building or clinic and so many other things. So we think it is very important, whether youre from third, fourth and fifth legislation, to see to your constituency project when you are elected. You will feel very happy and satisfied, he stated.
If youve ever wandered through the exhibitions at the Yellowstone Art Museum and wanted to take a piece home, youre in luck. The YAMs annual auction and gala dinner, which they call The Night at the Yellowstone Art Museum, isnt until Sept. 9, but the pieces that will be auctioned off  theres 16 in all, from a whos who of Montana artists  are on display now at the YAM.

This is our largest fundraiser of the year, said Jessica Kay Ruhle, the YAMs executive director.

This year, its more than that. The Night is honoring Donna Forbes, who was the director of the museum from 1974 to 1998. During that time, she ushered the YAM from a small collection housed in the old Yellowstone County Jail into the respected museum it is today, renowned as a showcase of local and national art.

The exhibition is in the Montana Gallery, the big display room on the second floor of the museum. Its a good choice, both due to its size and the fact that its ceiling is full of skylights, letting natural lighting into the museum. But it was also a deliberate choice, Ruhle said, because Forbes was instrumental in the expansion that turned the Yellowstone Art Center into the modern Yellowstone Art Museum as we know it today. Theyll be celebrating her legacy in the room thats the capstone of it.

We really want to celebrate and recognize her, Ruhle acknowledged.

Forbes is now in her 90s and lives in the Seattle area to be closer to family. Ruhle doesnt think that her predecessor will be able to join the museum for the gala. But, as Ruhle points out, there are still so many folks here who want to acknowledge and celebrate her.

Some of those folks have art in The Night. Ruhle singled out a few artists who had longtime partnerships with Forbes, including Theodore Waddell, John Buck and Deborah Butterfield.

Of those, Butterfields piece might be the most immediately catching. Called Sancai, its a 2023 sculpture from the now 74 year old Butterfield. Shes the artist behind Ferdinand, the red steel horse sculpture that sits in the YAMs lobby and is perhaps the single most iconic piece housed at the museum. Sancai is smaller, but no less grand. Its a sculpture of a horse, and at first glance looks like it was cobbled together with driftwood. But Sancai is actually made of bronze, cast and painted to look like found material. Little buds of flowers, also bronze, weave through the wood-like material.

The piece by John Buck, Butterfields husband and probably best known as a sculpture, is a print called The Bull Pen, TP1. Its a view of a Stonehenge like structure, backed by a sky that fades from red to yellow like a peach.

Waddells contribution is a painting called White Sulphur Springs Angus #2 and it captures a herd of cows in the foothills of the mountains. Theyre blurry, like youre peering at them in a blizzard.

The Waddell has gotten a lot of interest, Ruhle noted. In truth, everything here has. The auction will be done live the night of the auction, and theyre bringing in Maron Hindman, a professional auctioneer from Denver.

Each piece is marked with an estimated retail value. The Bull Pen, TP1. Is estimated at $5,500. White Sulphur Springs Angus #2 is at $38,000. But Sancai is the real bank account breaker, at an estimated value of $125,000. To even get in the door and be able to bid, itll cost you $250 to attend the gala.

Bidding starts below retail, but Ruhle hopes that the pieces go for about twice their suggested value.

Art collection has always skewed towards the wealthy. Ruhle wants to change that, or at least help push it back in the other direction. Four of the 16 works in The Night have suggested retail values at or below $1,000. The goal, she explained, is to offer a chance for younger people to get into the art collection world. Its also just a smart business decision. One of Ruhles main mission since she took the wheel of the YAM a year and a half ago is to open the museum to folks who usually wouldnt consider themselves part of the fine art world. This can be, and should be, a large tent.

We hope that that everyone who attends is willing to really invest in these pieces in support of the museum, Ruhle said.

And truthfully, the exhibition is worth a visit even if youre not planning on bidding, or even attending the gala. Walking through Montana Gallery right now is both a flashback to the last year or so of YAM exhibitions, and a peak forward.

Artists in The Night who recently displayed at the YAM include Barbara Van Cleve, who uses her trademark attention to scale to turn a horse roundup into a gripping drama in Filly Chasing.

Theres a massive work by Tracy Linder, the Molt based artist who had a show at the museum in 2020. Entitled The Wind, its a sculpture made entirely of cow rib bones bolted together. The light descends from the big gallery ceilings and adds a whole new dimension to the piece, filling the white walls and newly refinished floors with crooked shadows.

Theres also Christine Joy, whose piece Union is one of the willow sculptures shes known for. Its an older work, from 2009, and a deeply personal one. She made Union as an anniversary gift for her husband. In it, two separate sculptures intertwine, wrapping around each other and creating something bigger than the two of them could alone. From the top down, it looks like a heart. Shes let it go into the auction under one condition: she now has to make her husband a new one.

Gesine Janzen, a printmaker who teaches at Montana State University, has an exhibition opening in October, a fitting time for the stark landscapes she captures. Jodi Lightner, a teacher at Montana State University Billings and a notable figure in the Billings art scene, will also have a show at the YAM in 2024.

Another upcoming artist is Willem Volkersz, who already has a piece in the YAMs permanent collection  that neon sign that shines so brightly when you go past the museum at night. For The Night, hes showing off another facet of his art, a flat painting of a new development going into the Gallatin Valley paired with three small figurines representing a sanitized view of the West. The figurines were a gift from fellow artist Gordon McConnell, another examiner of the world we live in and the stories we tell ourselves about it.

But the most striking piece at The Night is from someone who doesnt have a notable connection with the museum  yet. All sixteen artists have connections to Montana. Some were born here, and some are transplants. Roxy Paine is one of those. Hes internationally renowned and born up in New York City, but recently moved to Red Lodge and set up a studio there.

His work in The Night is called Scumak, S2-Pd-DB41, and truth be told, that names gives you a good idea of what it looks like. Scumak is a misshapen blob of black polyethylene, all gloopy and wet looking. Its leftover from a live performance he does in galleries, dispensing the material at will and letting it harden, the hand of the artist surrounding to the cold facts of gravity.

Its singular. Just like Paine. Just like Donna Forbes. And just like the Yellowstone Art Museum.




The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Friday dismissed an appeal brought before it by Senator Smart Adeyemi, seeking to nullify the governorship primary election of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kogi State, which produced Ahmed Usman Ododo as the partys flagbearer for the November 11 poll.





The appellate court held that the appeal argued by Adekunle Oladapo Otitoju on behalf of Senator Adeyemi was completely bereft of merit and was thrown out.





In a unanimous judgment of a three-man panel of justices of the court, Adeyemi, who recently represented Kogi West Senatorial District in the Senate, was said to have failed to establish all allegations made against the conduct of the primary election by APC and its leaders.





Justice Mohammed Lawal Shuaib, who delivered the lead judgment, resolved all three issues in dispute against Adeyemi.





Shuaib said the allegations of manipulations and falsifications of the primary election results made by Adeyemi, being criminal, ought to have been proved beyond reasonable doubt as required by law.





He also dismissed another allegation by the appellant that he was denied a fair hearing by the Appeal Committee of the APC based on his petition against the alleged unlawful conduct of the primary election.





He said the issue of denial of a fair hearing was not raised in his originating summons at the Federal High Court, hence, cannot be raised as a fresh issue at the Court of Appeal.





In the absence of cogent and verifiable evidence on the part of Adeyemi, the Court of Appeal held that his allegations remained mere assertions that could not enjoy any probative value.





Justice Shuaib proceeded to dismiss the appeal for want of merit.





The Court of Appeal upheld the judgment of Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja delivered on July 12 and which held that Adeyemi did not prove his allegations that Ododo was not lawfully nominated by the APC.
The Diaspora Action for Democracy in Africa (DADA), a civil society organisation (CSO), says the presidential election petitions tribunal should not give any verdict that will set the country ablaze.

The tribunal has reserved judgement on the petitions challenging the victory of President Bola Tinubu in the last general election.

Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, standard bearers of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Labour Party (LP), are at the tribunal seeking to upturn Tinubus election.

Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, Great Jonathan, DADAs spokesperson, said the countrys judiciary has the powers to avert an implosion.





The judiciary is the only institution that has all that it takes to save this country from the threat of implosion, Jonathan said.

All eyes have been on the judiciary because of Nigerias respect for the law. It does not mean that the members of the presidential election tribunal are in a better position in this case to tell Nigerians the person who won the presidential election.

Nigerians do not wait for any court to tell them the winner of any election. It is the electorate that should tell the court so because they know more than the court whom they voted to be their president.

But since it is the prerogative of the court to ensure that truth and justice prevail each time they are disputed, to make room for peace and harmony, the court has been given enough evidence to prove the real winner of the 2023 presidential election.

Arising from our discussions with a wide array of Nigerians is the fear that the judiciary needs to be cautious because if their verdict fails to satisfy the requirements of justice it may detonate the youths simmering anger and set the country ablaze.
Nigeria's First Lady, Remi Tinubu, conveyed a pragmatic message, acknowledging the limitations of the federal government in addressing all the needs of the populace.

Hosting the National Executive of the National Council for Women Societies (NCWS) on Wednesday, August 16, 2023, Tinubu underscored the significance of collective action and the role of community support.

"We cannot solely depend on the government to meet all our needs. It is imperative that we rally around each other and provide the necessary assistance," Tinubu emphasised during the meeting. Her call for a joint effort to tackle societal challenges resonated strongly, as she urged individuals to extend their support networks beyond official channels.

A pivotal aspect of Tinubu's discourse was her encouragement for women to play a leading role in guiding the younger generation towards embracing positive values and ethical principles. Expressing concern about the adverse impact of social media, the First Lady emphasised the importance of shielding youths from its negative influences.

Coinciding with the event, former First Lady Patience Jonathan paid a visit to the current first lady, pledging her support towards achieving their shared goal of assisting vulnerable segments of society.

In her statement, Jonathan highlighted her commitment to supporting initiatives that drive positive progress within the nation. Drawing from her own experience as a former First Lady, she stressed the importance of solidarity and mentorship among women leaders for the betterment of the nation.








The Forum of Former Deputy Governors has demanded to be included as members of the National Executive Committee of the All Progressives Congress.





They made the demand at a meeting with the National Chairman of the party, Abdullahi Ganduje, while on a solidarity visit to the party secretariat in Abuja.





Chairman of the forum and former deputy governor of Abia State, Chris Akomas, noted that former deputy governors have the experience and expertise needed by the partys highest decision-making organ.





According to Akomas, who is the Federal Commissioner representing Abia State at the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission Abuja, the forum is organised in a manner that they recognise that they are politicians who are focused on the unity, progress and stability of the country.





The forum thanked President Tinubu for finding some of them worthy to be given federal appointments in his administration.





Responding, Ganduje stated that the position and importance of the deputy governor, although most controversial in the countrys politics, cannot be overemphasised.





The former Kano State governor attributed most problems between governors and their deputies to sycophants within the corridors of power, while describing the situation as unfortunate.




Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has approved 20th August of every year as Isese Day in the state.





Makinde made this announcement on Friday.





Recall that traditional religion adherents in the state have in the last few years demanded their own public holiday.





They have asked the state government to declare 20th August as their own public holiday in commemoration of the Isese day.





The governor has now granted the request of the traditional religion adherents by declaring Monday, August 21, 2023 as the maiden public holiday to commemorate the day.





He added that every 20th August would be observed as a public holiday in commemoration of the Isese day in the state.





The governor made the declaration in a statement signed by the Secretary to the Oyo State Government, Professor Olanike Adeyemo.





The governor urged traditional worshippers in the state to use the occasion to pray for the peace, unity and stability of the state in particular and the country in general.
A sociopolitical crusader, Deji Adeyanju, has faulted President Bola Tinubus choice of ministers for the Ministries of Defence and Youths.

Adeyanju claimed the President did not give adequate consideration for appointing Defence and Youth ministers.

He noted that the youths hold immense potential and are instrumental in driving Nigerias social, economic and political progress.

A statement by Adeyanju reads partly: While I understand the great responsibility and careful deliberation that goes into the selection of ministers and the subsequent allocation of portfolios, I, however, regrettably note that unlike the names mentioned above, some ministries, like that of Defence and Youth, have not been given adequate consideration in the appointment of ministers.

Consequently, their active participation in governance is crucial for the meaningful representation of their interests.

Such ministry should be headed by a person who is not only a youth in mind but also a youth in body. We should not return to the era where persons who are over 60 years old are appointed as ministers of Youth.

Additionally, your excellency, I also want to draw your attention to the defence portfolio and urge you to reconsider the appointment of the substantive minister and minister of state in that regard.

The defence ministry plays a crucial role in ensuring the sovereignty and the well-being of our nation and its citizens, and should ordinarily be manned by someone well versed in our internal and external security.
The Feed Industry Practitioner Association of Nigeria has warned that scarcity of eggs, chicken, and other livestock is imminent owing to the rise in the cost of maize and soya beans, which are important for livestock feed production.

FIPAN said Nigerians might begin to depend on eggs, chicken, and other livestock imported at outrageous cost if the Federal Government failed to intervene and release grains from the nations reserve to alleviate their plights.

The President, FIPAN, Raymond Isiadinso, while addressing journalists at a media briefing on Wednesday at Ikeja, added that the high cost of eggs, chicken, fish, and other poultry products is a result of scarcity of maize and soya beans.

Noting that the industry contributes 45 per cent to the nations labour force, Isiadinso expressed worries that the rate of unemployment may increase if the industry folds up.

He said FIPAN is demanding the immediate stoppage of the exportation of soya bean seed and intervention in the importation of maize for livestock feeds.

He urged the newly appointed Minister of Agriculture, Alhaji Abubakar Kyari, to buckle up for the challenges ahead and tackle food insecurity to guarantee food sufficiency across the country.

The industry weve taken time to build is about to collapse. The cost of eggs and meat is going higher due to the current cost of grain which constitutes 80 per cent of the animal feed, and soya which is 25 per cent of the feed. The agriculture GDP is going down because of a shortage of raw materials. The country needs 18.5 metric tonnes of grains to meet industry requirements, but theres a shortage of it as we produce only 1.7 metric tonnes of soya.

A short window should be opened to stakeholders to import grains to augment our daily shortage, as well as create a long-lasting mechanism of two to four years to address the challenges were facing.

We also call on the newly-appointed Minister of Agriculture to address this issue urgently by ensuring the exportation of soya and maize is reduced. Were confident the President will listen and heed our call, Isiadinso added.
Bola Tinubu was brutally frank, yesterday, telling Nigerians that there are no instant solutions to the countrys raging problems and reiterated his appeal to them to bear with the country, in view of the pains occasioned by the removal of petroleum subsidy.

He, however, assured that at the end of todays suffering, tomorrow would be better.

He spoke in Abuja at the unveiling of Brutally Frank, a 688-page autobiography of former Federal Commissioner for Information and South-South Leader, Chief Edwin Clark.

President Tinubu said that the solution to Nigerias problem cannot be like instant coffee, noting that what the country was going through is akin to the pain of childbirth, but after it will come merriment.

He expressed optimism that the palliatives being rolled by the Federal Government would help in softening the hardship and trauma.

The 25-chapter book revolves round the journey of Clark as a classroom teacher, commissioner, minister, senator and national activist spanning over seven decades.

Tinubu, who was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Senator George Akume, described Clark as someone, who belongs to the very rare form of extra-ordinary men, the Iroko of South-South and the Eagle of Nigeria.

Akume said, He (Tinubu) has also asked me to tell this gathering that we are going through a difficult phase in the history of this country. But these pains are pains of birth, birth of a new nation. And that if you want to celebrate a child, a baby, the mother must go through some pains.

But at the end of the day, there is joy. There is merriment when the baby arrives. And we will certainly be there.

Solutions to problems can never be as instant as coffee. But we must certainly be there. I know the removal of fuel subsidy has created some things. And that is why palliatives are being put in place, 100 trucks of fertilizers have been sent to the states, 100 trucks of grains have been sent and more are coming and more buses are also coming.

We can endure this for a moment. What were going through today is for a better tomorrow. Nations are great because citizens have hope. They have hope that tomorrow will be better than today.

On Clark, he said: There is no need introducing a man, who needs no introduction. Chief E. K. Clark is a household name throughout this country and I recall at a personal level when I was in secondary school, my Governor then was the late Jedi Gomwalk, while his governor was Major Ogbemudia and because the two governors were very close the name Clark was constantly mentioned in our circles and eventually when I went to Jos to do my HSC, the name became even sound.

But let me say, Chief E. K. Clark, the president respects your person, he recognises the fact that you are part of the Nigerian legend. You are the Iroko of the South-South, the Eagle of the nation. And you believe in the unity of this country. And it has been demonstrated in your book personally written by you.

One wouldnt be surprised because your boss, our father, General Gowon believed so much in the unity of this country and its territorial integrity.
The national economic council (NEC) says it has set up a five-man committee to negotiate with the leadership of labour unions in the country to resolve the crisis relating to the removal of the petrol subsidy.

The NEC is made up of governors of the 36 states, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other co-opted government officials.

Speaking in Abuja on Thursday, at the end of the councils meeting chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima, Babagana Zulum, governor of Borno, said NEC has also asked state governments to dialogue with the unions.

A committee made up of Anambra state governor, Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) chairman and others have been nominated to interface with labour, Zulum told State House correspondents.

Other members of the committee are Hope Uzodinma, governor of Imo; Bala Mohammed of Bauchi and Alex Otti of Abia state.

NEC is calling on Nigerians and labour to be calm and law-abiding as the president is determined to address the issues at hand, Zulum added.

On Monday, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) said it would mobilise its members to embark on an indefinite nationwide strike if the current price of petrol increases.

On several occasions, organised labour had criticised the hike in the price of petrol, saying the federal government must provide palliatives for workers over the removal of subsidy.

Speaking on the measures being taken by the government to ease the burden of the subsidy removal on Nigerians, the Borno governor said the N5 billion subsidy palliative announced for each state is for the procurement of food items and fertilisers.

He said states are to purchase 100,000 bags of rice, and 40,000 bags of maize, among other items.

In order to cushion the effect of subsidy removal, the federal government released five trucks of rice to each state last week, he said.

Furthermore, in order to cushion the effect of food shortages across the country, the federal government has approved the sum of N5 billion to be given to each state for the procurement of 100,000 bags of rice, 40,000 bags of maize and fertilizers.

This funding has to be shared with a formula as follows: 52 percent of this money is given to States as grants, while 48 percent of the N5 billion is to be paid back on an instalment basis within a period of 20 months to the CBN by the States and the local government areas in Nigeria.
The Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, said yesterday in Accra, Ghana, that it will not hesitate to invade Niger Republic, if all efforts to reverse the coup in the country fail.

This came as the German government said it is in support of sanctions imposed on the military junta in the country by the European Union, EU

It will be recalled that ECOWAS Heads of State and Government had at its second extraordinary summit in Abuja last week, activated its standing force should the junta in Niger refuse to restore to power ousted president of the country, Mohamed Bazoum.

The threat came as defence chiefs of member states met in the Ghanaian capital to strategise on the next line of action on Niger and discuss details of the standby force. The meeting continues today.

Let no one be in doubt that if everything else fails, the valiant forces of West Africaare ready to answer to the call of duty.

By all means available, constitutional order will be restored in the country, ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Abdel-Fatau Musah, said.

He listed past ECOWAS deployments in Sierra Leone, Liberia and elsewhere as examples of readiness for military action.

Musah rejected the accusation that ECOWAS is being manipulated by France or any other outside power.

What they forget is that ECOWAS is a rules-based organisation. We have our protocols, we have our norms and we are ready to protect them.

Thats why the Heads of State are saying if push comes to shove, we are going into Niger with our own contingents, own equipment and our own resources to make sure we restore constitutional order. If other democracy-loving partners want to support us, they are welcome, he said.

Cat and mouse game in Niger

Musah accused the Niger coup leaders of playing cat-and-mouse with ECOWAS by refusing to meet with its envoys and seeking justifications for their takeover of power.

He said most of the blocs 15 member states are prepared to participate in the standby force that could intervene in Niger, noting, however, that the exceptions are those also under military rule, including Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea and tiny Cape Verde.

He criticised the juntas announcement that it had elements to put Bazoum, who is being detained, on trial for treason.

The United Nations, European Union and ECOWAS have all expressed concern over the conditions of his detention.

The irony of it is that somebody who is in a hostage situation himselfis being charged with treason. When he committed that high treason is everybodys guess, Musah said.

Niger has strategic importance beyond West Africa because of its role as a hub for foreign troops involved in the fight against Islamist insurgents in the Sahel region and its uranium and oil reserves.

Western countries fear the junta could follow the lead of neighbouring Mali, where the military government threw out French troops and instead invited in mercenaries from Russias Wagner group, which has welcomed the coup in Niger.

There had been very stout opposition from both individuals and groups, especially in Northern Nigeria, against military invasion of Niger Republic.

Aside from opposition from such groups as the National Supreme Council for Islaimc Affairs, NSCIA, Jamaatu Nasril Islam, JNI, Northern Elders Forum, NEF, to military operations in Niger, the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, and Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, CBCN, have also kicked against it.

In Nigers capital, Niamey, where large crowds have taken part in protests against ECOWAS and in favour of the coup leaders, residents have also rejected the idea of an outside intervention to reinstate the elected president and civilian government.

Im not afraid because I know our armed forces are well prepared to deal with any eventuality. ECOWAS is manipulated by foreign powers. When we see the reactions of France since the coup and especially the harshness of ECOWAS I can only think that these are coordinated actions between France and ECOWAS, said radio technician Omar Yaye.

However, France, Nigers former colonial ruler, has denied the juntas accusation that it is seeking to destabilise the country or that it had violated its airspace, insisting on supporting ECOWAS efforts to restore constitutional order.

French troops, along with U.S., German and Italian forces, are present in Niger as part of international efforts to combat Islamist insurgents who have caused thousands of deaths and forced millions to flee their homes over the past decade.

In a similar development, German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, held talks with African Union Chair, Moussa Faki Mahamat, U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and other stakeholders about the coup in Niger yesterday, saying Germany is now backing EU sanctions against the military junta.

In comments posted to X, the social media platform, formerly known as Twitter, the foreign ministry said Baerbock had held the talks with the goal of re-establishing constitutional order in Niger.

According to the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the German Development Minister, Svenja Schulze, during a visit to Abuja, also met with representatives of ECOWAS.

After the suspension of development cooperation and security cooperation, we in the EU now want to introduce sanctions against the putschists, it added.
The 6th annual MINT Film Festival, presented by Montana Film Office, will showcase over 40 films from eight countries, offering a diverse selection of domestic and international cinematic gems for all film enthusiasts. The festival run from Sept. 21-24 in downtown Billings.

Attendees will have the chance to watch films on the big screen at the historic Babcock Theatre and engage in Q&A sessions with filmmakers, actors and producers, gaining insights into the creative processes behind the films.

Festival Passes are on sale. The VIP Festival Pass provides access to all films, events, parties, and special events. New this year are day passes for Friday and Saturday for those who can't attend the entire festival. Individual tickets go on sale on Sept. 5.

The MINT Film Festival will welcome veteran actor Bill Pullman, who will visit for a special screening of two iconic films  "The Last Seduction" directed by John Dahl, and "Lost Highway" directed by David Lynch. On the evening of Saturday, Sept. 23, Pullman will share his perspectives in a Q&A session alongside director John Dahl for "The Last Seduction," followed by his introduction to "Lost Highway." This double-feature presentation is set to be a highlight of the festival.

Opening night, Thursday, Sept. 21, promises an exclusive North American sneak peek screening of the made-in-Montana feature film "Tokyo Cowboy," directed by Marc Marriott. Join the director, producer, cast, and crew for this premiere.

The MINT Film Festival lineup showcases diverse feature narratives and documentaries. Narratives features include "Push Pause" from Japan, directed by Ryoma Kosasa; "Scrap" from the U.S., directed by Vivian Kerr, featuring a stellar cast including Anthony Rapp, Lana Parrilla and Khleo Thomas; and "The Criminal" from the U.S., directed by Hayden Endicott.

Fans of documentaries can look forward to a stimulating assortment of films, including the Billings-based "Return," directed by Peter Tolton and produced by Stan Parker, "The Secret Song," directed by Samantha Campbell, and "A Midsummer Night's Dream In Prison," directed by Bushra Azzouz.

Green Beret's 'healing experience' in Vietnam captured in new documentary 'Return,' a documentary by Billings filmmakers about Jim Markel Sr.'s first trip back to Vietnam after he served there during the war, premiers at the Babcock on Saturday night.

The festival's narrative short films promise to leave a lasting impression, with titles like "Bluebird" by Sara Crow, "Who's Annie?" by Sophia Peer, "Sawdust" by Blake Rice, "That's Enough Now Thanks" by Aquila Chase-Daniel, and "Nordo" by MINT Alumni Kyle Taubken.

International contributions include "Self Service" from Israel, directed by Keshet Gadish, and "City of Lost Souls" from Germany, directed by Nikos Mpouyioukas. Other captivating short films include "Orizuru" from Japan, directed by Masaaki Onaka, and "Lachie and John" from Australia, directed by Lee McClenaghan.

The documentary short films offer a blend of compelling stories, including "Leo and Chester" by Andrea Wing, "The Winterkeeper" by Laurence Topham and David Levene, and "You Can't Shrink Love" by Veena Rao. Additional titles include "Middle America" by Dana Larson, "The Road" by Cale Green, "Andrew After Angola" by Will LaCalle, "The Dream That I Had" by Evelyn Lee, "A Place of Peace: A Century at the Ranch" by Jennifer Moore, and "A Tough Breed" by Sara Reardon.

Highlighting Indigenous perspectives, cultures, and stories, the festival presents notable works such as "Paddle Tribal Waters" by Paul Robert Wolf Wilson and Rush Sturges, "Native Ball: Legacy of a Trailblazer" by Jonathan Cipiti and Megan Harrington, "Weaving A Legacy: Ella Mae Blackbear" by Danielle Culp, "Mi'kma'ki: Gwitna'q (Land Of The Mi'kmaw: Travel By Canoe)" by Wendell G. Collier, and "Who She Is" by Jordan Dresser (Northern Arapaho), Sophie Barksdale.

A new thematic block named Call-to-Adventure offers documentary films exploring the natural world through recreation and exploration. Notable selections include "Be Here Now | A Journey To The Grand Teton" by Evan M Jenkins, "Driving Sweep" by Gregory Cairns, "Ministry of Surf" by Keith C Reagan, "Sending" by Carlos Mason, and "Two Wheel Freedom" by Evan M. Jenkins.

For those seeking late-night thrills, the festival offers a late-night, action-packed selection of short films, including "Mattress Express" (pictured) by Noah Morse, "Tooth" by Jillian Corsie, "Twenty-One at the Belle Saloon" directed by Scott Seagren, and the Montana-made "A Fire Inside" by Levi Hawkinson.

This year, MINT Film Festival introduces a new category called Cinema Salon, celebrating low-budget films with exceptional production value, storytelling, and creativity. Featured works include the narrative feature "The Criminal" by Hayden Endicott and the animated short film "Necktie Cinema" by MINT Alumni John Akre.

The festival extends beyond screenings with enriching workshops. Notable sessions include "Documentary Storytelling," led by acclaimed documentary director and editor Maureen Gosling, and "Directing Actors," a collaborative effort led by director John Dahl and actor Bill Pullman.

From September 21-24, the MINT Film Festival promises an immersive celebration of cinema, workshops, parties, and community engagement. Take advantage of this opportunity to experience the magic of movies at the historic Babcock Theatre.
Newsfrom Japan

New York, Aug. 17 (Jiji Press)--The U.N. Security Council held an open meeting to discuss the human rights situation in North Korea for the first time in six years Thursday at the request of Japan, the United States and other countries.

In the meeting, calls were made for North Korea to immediately return Japanese abductees and to halt its nuclear and missile development programs that have been implemented at the expense of the welfare of its people.

Meanwhile, China and Russia expressed dissatisfaction with the meeting.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, who joined the meeting online, said North Korean nationals, including children, are forced to work to "support the military apparatus of the state and its ability to build weapons."

On Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea decades ago, he said: "I sympathize deeply with the families of those who were abducted or disappeared, and who now are or would be aged in their 80s and 90s. It is imperative that we exert all efforts to ensure some measure of justice, before it is too late."

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
Welcome to NJ Cannabis Insider

Hello everyone

Its Jelani again, since Enrique is still on vacation.

This week was interesting with the CRC taking a more forward position on discussing the barriers to the market at a special meeting and how theyre having to extend the majority of the conditional licenses.

Theyve talked about releasing a pricing report on the horizon and also remember the commission is seeking public comment on the proposed rules for clinical registrants  a new permit category for ATCs who partner to do research.

As the industry grows research is going to become all the more important.

Our resident weed professor, Rob Mejia has a cool piece on German legalization and lessons learned as it moves toward adult-use.

In addition to the reporters notebook covering the CRC meeting, I also had an interesting Q&A covering employment, cannabis drug testing and state versus federal interpretation.

We also dropped in a paywalled NJ.com article for those who missed the latest on Cookies opening in Harrison.

I hope you all enjoy the issue and thanks for reading

Take care and until next time...

 Jelani Gibson, not the publisher, still somewhat the editor

Reporters Notebook

The CRC talks barriers, approves more licenses and discusses future reports

One of the most striking statistics that came out of the meeting was that almost three out of four conditional licenses were requesting extensions, something the CRC chair Dianna Houenou highlighted during the meeting.

What were seeing is that many businesses are having difficulty securing property  further frustrated by landlords who are changing the terms of an agreement at the last minute, she said. There have been construction and construction permitting delays and lengthy municipal approval processes. These barriers are leading nearly three out of four conditional license holders to request more time before submitting an annual license application.

Legacy still going strong, but also an increase in Delta 8 products

Much of what drives people to the legacy market is pricing and the commissioners acknowledged as much at the meeting.

I myself have heard directly from individuals who are opting to purchase unregulated marijuana from the legacy or underground market because they are waiting for local businesses to open up before switching to regulated products, Houenou said. This is a position weve heard for quite some time that consumers are using their purchasing power to convey the message that they want to support more local entrepreneurs .

The CRC executive director, Jeff Brown, also talked about an increase in Delta 8 being sold.

Theres a lot of these gray area products coming in from out of state and they are in a lot of cases cheaper than whats available in legal stores, he said.

One of the largest reasons why the legacy market still continues to get an increased amount of customers, however is ....

Pricing

Its been said time and time again by advocates and the commission alike, that pricing is one of the largest determinants of whether customers are buying legally or continue to buy in the legacy market.

We expect as we did last year to have a detailed report on prices at our next meeting, Brown said.

Chris Goldstein of NORML also had critical words for what the price was and noted he could buy the same products from the same companies elsewhere for a fraction of the price.

Consumers in New Jersey simply cant afford access to the dispensaries, he said.

A lot of this is largely controlled by the amount of cultivation that happens in the state, coupled with indoor cultivation costs, how many towns have opted into outdoor cultivation which often requires less overhead, and how many towns are opting in altogether.

The majority of places that are coming online are still dispensaries. As long as the cultivation number stays the same, however, the plug can keep its price at the same point since it holds the majority of the power and nowhere else for the sellers to go.

Expect all of these issues to continue to play an interconnected role as the market expands.

Unionization issues

Hugh Giordano of the UFCW cited issues with unionization over at Terrascend.

We believe the working class management on the ground, they are not the enemy  theyre working people, he said. Management is on the ground in the stores 40 to 60 hours a week. We understand that any word that comes to them, comes from the executive level. Workers are being told in front of our union reps that they are not allowed to verbally speak about the UFCW.

Columbia Care was also mentioned by another public comment participant Peter White who alleged unsafe working conditions at the company.

Another point of contention with cultivators, which White also brought up, was that farm workers throughout America and in general have not been given the same access to unionization rights as other industries.

That has an entire civil rights history unto itself.

Cultivation controls pricing, and the career field that controls it has the least access to unionization protections.

This comes at the intersection of whether the CRC can enforce unionization issues on the state level, when companies are able to make the argument that only the NLRB should have the power to do so.

Our publication has questions out to the NLRB to see what their take on the situation is, so well keep everyone updated as we keep on pressing the agency for a response.

Thats it for our report, until next time

 Jelani Gibson

Prof Mejias Weed Corner

German Cannabis Legalization Efforts are Blueprint for European Union

By Rob Mejia, a regular contributor to NJ Cannabis Insider, is a teaching specialist at Stockton University where he teaches the cannabis courses. He is also the author of The Essential Cannabis Book and The Essential Cannabis Journal. His cannabis education company is called Our Community Harvest.

For years, Germany has been at the forefront of cannabis legalization. They were one of the first countries to institute a medical cannabis program even allowing medical insurance to cover cannabis purchases. Now they are making moves to legalize adult use cannabis.

As a major economic, political and social power in the European Union, Germanys approach will be the blueprint for EU-wide legalization. The main pillars of their legalization plan include:

A yet to be determined non-profit system of distribution (possibly via pharmacies or dispensaries).

Classes of licenses are expected to include cultivation, processing, and distribution.

Home grow up to three plants per person.

Limited potency products.

Private cannabis clubs/collectives where up to 500 members can cultivate and use cannabis.

Fines and penalties will still be levied for the possession or sale of over 25 grams of cannabis.

Minor synthetic cannabinoids such as HHC and H4CBD will be banned.

A 5-year phase in period will standardize procedures, produce jobs, and generate income.

Attitudes towards cannabis use in Germany are relaxed with college students I spoke to saying, all of our friends smoke cannabis, it is the old people that are slowing things down.

The government also sees cannabis as an anti-tobacco smoking tool with an anti-tobacco campaign focusing on making Germany tobacco free by 2040.

While Germany is working through their cannabis legalization plans, several neighboring European countries are grappling with some unique cannabis issues.

Much like the current cannabis market in the United States, each member of the European Union has their own wrinkles regarding legalization. But once Germany successfully implements their plan, the EU will become a major, standardized cannabis market. Expect this development to spur employment, innovation, and further fuel the thriving European vacation and tourist market.

Prof. Mejias Weed Corner is a regular column for NJ Cannabis Insider, focusing on news, trends and innovation in the local cannabis market. Reach out to him at Robert.Mejia@stockton.edu

Q&A with...

Marissa Mastroianni

We sit down with Cole Schotz attorney Marissa Mastroianni, an employment attorney who weighs in on the police, drug testing, wrongful termination claims and more. The interview was edited for clarity. You can find her on LinkedIn.

Q: What do you think are the ramifications of the state case that reinstated the police officers from Jersey City Police Department who were originally let go for cannabis use?

A: I think the case is a crystal clear message to employers regardless of whether theyre public employers or private employers that the state law does not have a [local] carveout for safety sensitive positions and employers cannot ignore the employment protections passed for cannabis users.

It essentially amounts to  Employees in the state of New Jersey are allowed to use cannabis off duty and off premises.

Q: So, there was a case where Walmart got sued and ended up in federal court in New Jersey for withdrawing a job offer due to cannabis use and it was upheld saying the law did not provide individuals with a right to sue. How does that coexist with what just happened in state court?

A: We are in this very weird gray area right now where we have the state upholding the laws, saying no the Jersey City Police Department cant ignore this, they have to reinstate the employees.

Then you have a federal court judge saying this is a private employer thats being sued for alleged violations of the employment protection.

So, employers are left questioning, whats the difference? What should I do? My advice is for all employers to still abide by the written text of the law regardless of the federal court decision.

Number one, Im sure that the decision is going to get an appeal, but even if the appeal isnt successful, the federal court judge pretty much explicitly called out the state to do something about it, that they should revise the law for employees right to sue their employers.

Q: So, the federal interpretation is there is no right to sue, but the state thinks otherwise?

A: The state did not agree with that interpretation of the law. So we have a federal judge interpreting the law in one way and we have the state proceeding with the law being interpreted in a different way.

There is the question of interpretation out there and who knows what the next court is going to say. I think it depends on whether its federal or state. Whether there is a disagreement between the federal and state levels, the best approach is to just comply  be more conservative and comply with the state versus trying to rely on the federal decisions to try to escape liability.

Q: Why is it riskier to rely on federal court, arent the federal courts the higher ranking court?

A: Not necessarily. State courts do not have to rely upon federal court decisions. New Jersey does not have to rely upon the most recent federal decision that weve been talking about involving Walmart. They can if they choose, but its not required.

Q: The AG issued a memo saying it was ok to smoke cannabis, so wasnt JCPD technically in violation of the memo? How did it even get to the point where the cops got fired? Wouldnt that have been in violation of the AGs direction?

A: You would assume. Unfortunately there have been employers that have decided to ignore what the law says, and in this case the guidance issued by the [state] attorney general and have decided they dont agree with this.

Were not entirely sure why the Jersey City Police Department made that [decision], but theyre not alone. There have been employers that have been doing that and now the Jersey City Police Department is facing the consequences.

Q: One of the reasons the law enforcement community said they didnt agree was because of the certification they needed to obtain a gun, was that brought up?

A: In the decision it does talk about that argument and essentially rejects it. The officers didnt fill out a federal form that inquired about cannabis use in order to obtain a gun.

Q: The police have Drug Recognition Experts (whose scientific validity is being challenged in the state Supreme Court case, State v. Olenowski). Couldnt JCPD have used them to determine impairment in the workplace?

A: The DREs, they use them for criminal justice purposes. I do expect the Workplace Impairment Recognition Expert (WIRE) certification standard is going to be similar to the DRE certification standards, but I guess that remains to be seen.

Q: What effect do you think State v. Olenowski can have on final WIRE guidance?

A: The CRCs probably watching all of this pretty closely and maybe thats part of the reason why its taking so long for them to come out with the official rules on it.

Q: I would imagine that if the WIRE guidance is based off of the same guidance thats currently being litigated, or is based off of something thats seen as less stringent than whats currently being litigated  thats challenging. Does that create some headaches for the CRC and the state Attorney Generals office that has to represent them if theyre sued?

A: Im not the state, I have no idea what theyre thinking, but its not a shock to me that were waiting this out because they [the CRC] want to see an official ruling before they issue a policy that can get challenged on the same basis.

Q: What else do you see on the horizon as it relates to employment law and cannabis?

A: Im interested to see more state court [rulings] since the Walmart case came out, where employees allege violations of New Jersey state law. Im very curious to see if the state courts judge the Walmart decision or not because then we have a very awkward situation in New Jersey where state courts are following one line of precedence and federal courts are now following a different one.

 Jelani Gibson

Municipalities

Getting baked: Cannabis dispensary opens in Harrison to long lines, cheering crowd

It was all about getting baked Wednesday morning in Harrison, the small town located across the river from Newark  but not about cakes and pastries; and not about getting a tan under the bright sun.

Instead, people from all across the metropolitan area, and even one person from as far away as Cumberland County, lined up around the block to be among the first customers at Cookies Harrison, the first recreational cannabis shop to open in the town.

Located on the corner of Angelo Cifelli Drive and Frank E. Rodgers Boulevard and two blocks away from the Harrison PATH station, the shop opened its doors Wednesday, marking another benchmark in New Jerseys ever-growing adult-use cannabis market. The shop is the second adult-use store in Hudson County.

Were very excited, said owner Jordana Lasko Fries, 27, a registered nurse who saw the benefits of cannabis for her patients and decided to start her own business. Weve been waiting a long time for them. (Its) everything we could ask for.

The store is a licensee of Cookies, a San Francisco-based cannabis company founded by rapper and entrepreneur Berner. The company has numerous dispensaries in states like California and Michigan, but this is the first to open in New Jersey.

We met (Cookies) around two to three years ago, Lasko Fries said. It seemed like it was a great opportunity, and weve been working with them since then. Theyve been nothing but incredible partners.

Co-owner Mike Sweetney said Everybody put in a lot of hard work with this. Hopefully theres more to come, because its been a lot of fun.

The interior was brimming in white and bright blue to match the company logo as customers, some who got in line Tuesday night, cheered when the doors opened and were handed gift bags as they entered.

It feels awesome said Daniel Abreu of Perth Amboy on becoming the stores first customer with his purchase of flowers. I love Cookies (and) this movement.

One customer from Newark, who goes by the name White Owl, waited since 10 p.m. the night before in line. (It) feels good he said when asked about being one of the first Cookies customers. He was hoping to meet and speak with Berner, who didnt attend the grand opening.

A number of customers have been longtime fans of the Cookies brand. One said they shopped at its stores in California while another, Mike Comito of Staten Island, said the quality of Cookies products makes it appealing.

You know what youre going to get when you come here, Comito said. You could walk in here and know no matter what I pick out, Im definitely going walk out with something good (and) worth the money.

Anthony Milone, who lives across the street called the experience way better than the other dispensaries, referring to the ease of shopping.

It wasnt just the flowers and pre-rolled blunts that were on sale. There were bongs, t-shirts and hats, with some merchandise even parodying the New Jersey Transit slogan with Harrison: The Way to Grow.

There was also a sampling table in the middle of the store, where customers could sniff the many types of weed products on sale.

Cookies location stands out from other dispensaries in Hudson County. Where Harmony in Secaucus and RIPT Dispensary in Jersey City are in industrial areas and downtown FLWR is in a shopping area, Cookies is on the first floor of a luxury Ironstate residential building in a heavily redeveloped neighborhood.

Eric Reiser, an attorney for Cookies Harrison, appreciated the unique landlord who is willing to have a dispensary in their building.

It takes the store out of the darkness and (brings it into the) light, Reiser said. These stereotypes that are sometimes associated with dispensaries  that its something wrong by going here. No, this is something right. This is no different than going to the 7-Eleven.

A few local residents strolling in the neighborhood Wednesday were caught by surprise that Cookies is a cannabis dispensary and not a bakery. One person said they didnt mind the store as long as it wasnt attracting unwanted crowds.

Another, Omar Hanson, described his opinion about Cookies in one word: awesome.

 Mark Koosau | Jersey Journal This article originally appeared in the Jersey Journal as a paywalled article on NJ.com. NJCI subscribers get it for free.

Events

N.J.s premier cannabis business conference touches down in Newark

On Oct. 12, the states premier B2B cannabis business conference and networking event will return to the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Newark Airport  just as the state opens to receive applications for new category licenses.

Doors open at 9 a.m. with the keynote speaker opening the all-day event at 10 a.m. The conference ends at 5 p.m. Tickets ($295) are on sale now for the conference. A select number (10%) of discounted tickets also are available for social equity applicants.

Topics covered will revolve around the current state of New Jerseys marketplace, focusing on the new category licenses, which will offer more business opportunities for aspiring cannabis companies entering the space. They are:

Wholesale: to store, buy and/or sell bulk cannabis and cannabis products.

Distribution: to transport bulk cannabis and cannabis products.

Delivery: to transport retail purchased cannabis and cannabis products to consumers

Other key areas of discussion include:

Application strategies

Municipal approval

Real estate, site control

Construction, buildouts

Site operation procedures (SOPs)

Well also delve into funding and raising capital, compliance and best practices as well as how your business can stand out in a competitive and expanding market.

As with March, NJ Cannabis Insider will also bring back its Discovery Areas for Women-owned Businesses, Social Equity Businesses and Education & The Future Workforce.

Cannabis Insider Jobs

For cannabis recruitment solutions please contact Deneen Wright, dwright@njadvancemedia.com or call 201-324-5092.
More students will have access to better mental health services, under a project the state announced on Wednesday to help 50 schools in 17 counties.

The state Department of Education is working with the Rutgers University Center for Comprehensive School Mental Health to provide three years of training to the staff of schools in 17 counties, to improve the ways they identify struggling students, address their needs in school, and refer them to proper services if they need more than schools can offer.

The states districts were invited to apply in the spring to join the Enhancing School Mental Health Services Project, and officials selected 50 schools in 38 districts to participate, based on the strength of the applications, officials said. The announcement of the project did not include its costs, and the Department of Education did not immediately respond to a request for that information.
Long live Slushy!

The lovable pit bull mix and 11 other orphaned dogs were adopted or put into foster care this week, saving Jersey Citys Liberty Humane Society from the heart-wrenching task of putting down at least five of them to make kennel space, shelter officials said Friday.

On Monday, the nonprofit Jersey City facility said it was in a race against time to find a new home for at least five of the 44 large dogs residing in their kennels. The animal shelter was desperate to avoid the drastic step of euthanizing some of the dogs.

LHS Executive Director Irene Borngraeber said Friday that an outpouring of public support has helped the organization find a place for 12 dogs, some of which are in the process of leaving. Slushy, a 10-year-old pit bull terrier mix, is one of the dogs enjoying the belly rubs she loves in foster care.

We are so grateful for how many members of our community came forward to offer a temporary or permanent home to a large dog in need, Borngraeber said Friday. We are still following up with individuals who submitted applications to foster or adopt our remaining large dogs.

We thank the public for being patient during this process, as staff are first calling potential homes who do not have other pets or children, as this process can move the most quickly with them.

All fees for dogs, 35 pounds or more, are still being waived for those interested in taking one into their home, Borngraeber added. LHS received roughly 35 applications to adopt large dogs and more than 50 applications to foster large dogs were received.

The executive director told The Jersey Journal earlier this week that many shelters were experiencing trouble moving large dogs since the COVID-19 pandemic ended. Coupled with an annual summer uptick in dogs abandoned and surrendered, the situation at LHS had reached a critical stage.

The LHS shelter can hold 35 to 75 small dogs, but one large dog requires three times the space.

As more dogs come off of their stray hold and are able to be placed for adoption, we will have more dogs in need, Borngraeber said. Please continue to visit our website to see available dogs, so that we can keep the momentum going and hopefully prevent another population crisis from occurring.
A Superior Court judge tossed a cannabis operators lawsuit last month that alleged Metuchen has a highly secretive and subjective process for granting endorsements for weed retail businesses.

In the lawsuit filed by Silver Therapeutics, the out-of-state company asked a judge to temporarily revoke Metuchens endorsement letter for Dasco Solutions, an East Brunswick-based cannabis operator, because the approval process was unfair.

The courts decision, issued on July 14 by New Jersey Superior Court Judge Aravind Aithal, denied the request to revoke Dasco Solutions endorsement to open an adult weed retail location in Metuchen and dismissed the lawsuit against the Middlesex County borough.
A Salem County woman died Wednesday when the car she was driving collided with a tractor-trailer, according to police.

Linda Krause, 81, of Elmer, was driving north on Burlington Road in Upper Pittsgrove and a heavy duty truck was heading east on Route 40 when the vehicles collided at the intersection around 9:30 a.m., a New Jersey State Police spokesman said.

Krause was killed and an 81-year-old passenger in her car suffered serious injuries, police said. The truck driver suffered minor injuries.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

Traffic on Route 40 has the right of way, while drivers on Burlington Road encounter stop signs at the intersection.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com.
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Watertown, NY (13601)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 78F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy. Low near 65F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.
LOS ANGELES  Britney Spears and her husband, Sam Asghari, separated nearly three weeks ago and he is seeking spousal support and attorneys' fees in their divorce, according to his divorce filing.

Asghari, 29, filed his petition to dissolve his 14-month-old marriage to the 41-year-old pop superstar in Los Angeles County court late Wednesday.

Like the vast majority of those who file for divorce in California, he cites irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split.

The document lists the couple's separation date as July 28, though reports of the split did not emerge until Wednesday. It says he will try to get financial support from her, while blocking her from getting any from him. It also seeks to have her pay for his divorce lawyers.

The filing says the value of Spears' and Asghari's assets, and those they own jointly, has yet to be determined. Spears and Asghari had no children together.

"No negative intention has ever been directed towards her and never will be. Sam has always and will always support her," Asgharis representative Brandon Cohen said Thursday afternoon.

Spears' representatives did not respond to an email.

She has not addressed the split on social media. Her lone Instagram post since the divorce filing is a photo of herself on horseback on a beach, with a caption that begins, "Buying a horse soon!"

Spears married Asghari at her home in Thousand Oaks, California, on June 9, 2022, in front of guests including Selena Gomez, Drew Barrymore, Paris Hilton and Madonna, in a wedding seen as a milestone in her newly reclaimed life after the dissolution just six months earlier of the court conservatorship that controlled her life for more than 13 years.

Spears met and began dating Asghari, a model and actor, when he appeared in her video for the song "Slumber Party" in 2016.

She cited her desire to marry Asghari as among the reasons she wanted an end to the constraining conservatorship, which she said was preventing it. The two announced their engagement in September 2021 as it became clear she would be freed from the conservatorship  which ended that November.

Spears said she and Asghari lost a baby early in her pregnancy in May 2022, about a month before they married.

Reports of the couple's struggles increased in recent months.

Their marriage is the first for Asghari and the third for Spears. She was married for less than three days in 2004 to childhood friend Jason Alexander, who attempted to crash her wedding to Asghari and later was convicted of misdemeanor trespassing and battery.

In 2004, she wed dancer Kevin Federline. Their three-year marriage came at a time of intense media scrutiny and increasing mental health struggles for Spears. Federline is the father of her two teenage sons, and has custody of the boys.

She was placed in the conservatorship run by her father in 2008. She did well under the arrangement at first, continuing to release records, make videos and perform live, including a major concert residency in Las Vegas. But as she appeared less in public, fans began to demand that the court #FreeBritney, in what would eventually become a major movement.

Since the conservatorship ended, Spears has put out music, including a collaboration with Elton John in 2022, but has not performed live in years, nor announced plans to do so.

Her memoir, "The Woman in Me," is scheduled to be released in October.

Photos: Britney Spears through the years
The basic appeal remains the same though. The Melting Pot serves a menu of different fondue styles, starting with cheese, ending with chocolate and with multiple options for meat, seafood and vegetables cooked in broths or oil in between.

Its the format itself that gets to the underlying appeal, Johnston believes.

Its as much about whats going on around the fondue pot as whats in the fondue pot, he said. People are coming together who care about each other, or maybe hope to, if its a date night."

"Its an opportunity for people to pull together," he said. "Theyre not on their phones. Their focus is on the same thing at the same time. Its a really ripe environment for people to make memories.

Wherever any prospective new Melting Pot location ends up, it will not be at the original spot at 1820 St. Charles Ave. That is now being turned into a new and very different restaurant called Gaia, which is promising to be a different cut on the steakhouse format (yes, with gold coated steaks among its menu options). Gaia is now slated to open in mid-September.
Venue for the next Shrek rave

Home to the virtual Jackson Square experience for when it's too hot to be in the real Jackson Square

Make it a break room for Jackson Square artists and tarot readers

Just sell it already. I'm tired of hearing about it

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Vagif Khachatryan, detained in the territory of Azerbaijan, will soon be brought to court, Azernews reports, citing the Azerbaijan Military Prosecutor's Office Emil Tagiyev telling at the briefing over Missing Persons.

It is worth noting that Vagif Khachatryan committed a mass massacre against Azerbaijanis in Meshali village of Khojaly district on December 22, 1991, as part of the Armenian military units.

During the massacre, 25 Azerbaijanis were killed, 14 people were injured, and 358 Azerbaijanis were displaced. Due to the fact that sufficient reasonable suspicions arose regarding the criminal case, it was decided to involve Vagif Khachatryan as an accused person under articles 103 (massacre) and 107 (deportation or forced movement of the population) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan. However, due to the fact that his whereabouts were unknown to the investigation, on November 12, 2013, an international arrest warrant was applied by the court's decision.
Former Missoula GOP lawmaker Brad Tschida is leaving his post as executive director of the Montana Public Service Commission, a commission spokesperson confirmed to Montana Free Press Friday.

Tschida, who served in his role for about eight months, was the commissions second executive director in as many years. He plans to step down in September said the spokesperson, PSC Chief Legal Counsel Lucas Hamilton. The five-member commission regulates and sets rates for Montana utility companies.

Reached by phone Friday, Tschida said he wasnt leaving for any particular reason, and that a release with more information would be coming in the next few days.

The PSC created executive director position in 2021 in the fallout of a blistering legislative audit that highlighted an an unhealthy organizational culture and ineffective leadership, sloppy accounting, improper travel and an attempt by a commission staffer to provide auditors with falsified records. That and other changes would help improve the tone and tenor at the top of the commission and set it on a glide path to success, newly elected PSC President James Brown said at the time. Brown did not serve on the commission during the time span covered by the audit.

The executive director acts as a chief of staff for the commission, participating in staff hiring, budgeting, managing caseload and other administrative functions, Hamilton said. The director is also tasked with carrying out PSC policies and initiatives according to state law, administrative procedures, and applicable regulations, per the commissions website.

The first director was former Townsend schools superintendent Erik Wilkerson, who left the commission shortly before the 2023 legislative session to take over as the superintendent of the Jefferson High School district.

Hamilton said that Tschida had always planned to serve as director in a transitional capacity to get the commission through the legislative session. Tschida, who served four terms in the Montana House before losing a race for a Senate seat, is a Republican hardliner who has spearheaded claims of election fraud in Missoula County.

It is a demanding job with a significant amount of internal and external pressure, PSC member Jennifer Fielder said in a press release at the time of Tschidas hiring. We needed someone with the right mix of professional skills who is also capable of shouldering those types of demands. Mr. Tschida is very well-qualified with his legislative leadership experience and diverse background in management, finance, education, and public policy spanning over 40 years.

A posting for the position is already on the PSCs website. The full-time job includes benefits and pays a minimum $90,000 annual salary.
The 700 block of Bourbon Street is seen the morning after a man was killed in a shooting on the block in New Orleans, La., Sunday, March 20, 2022. (Photo by Max Becherer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)
Eleven conservation organizations vied for the privilege to auction off five Montana hunting licenses on Thursday, the most applications ever received by the Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks for the tags.

Typically in the past its one organization, or one or two, said Sarah Clerget, chief legal counsel for the department. Weve never seen this many proposals to choose from before.

When awarded, the tags are auctioned off at events, helping to increase interest in participation for the groups fundraising efforts, as well as advertising Montanas wildlife and hunting opportunities. Of the money raised to auction off an elk, mule deer, bighorn sheep, mountain goat or moose tag, 90% goes to the department with the other 10% available to the group to offset reasonable auction expenses.

Picking winners and losers from the applications  which one commissioner touted as all being impressive  proved difficult for the Fish and Wildlife Commission. They struggled to decide which conservation group was more deserving. Should the organization that previously auctioned off the tag be given the opportunity again, or was another groups fresh idea worth exploring?

If were going to continue to get more and more competitors, if you will, for each license, it would feel a lot more comfortable to this commissioner if we had more specific criteria that were trying to achieve, said Commissioner Patrick Tabor, of Whitefish. Because I dont know if the goal is accruing the maximum amount of return to the department, so now were trying to figure which auction or which lottery will get us the most amount of money, or if theres criteria we should be looking at in terms of the behavior of the association with their money.

Auction money

The tag auctions began thanks to the 1986 Montana Legislature. They were seen as a way for FWP to raise money to manage species that dont generate a lot of income from license sales because there are so few of the animals on the landscape. A bighorn sheep tag was the first to be provided.

As of 2023, auctioning off the coveted bighorn ram license had generated more than $8.34 million, according to FWP. The highest price ever paid for the tag was $480,000 in 2013. If 90% was returned to the state, thats $7.5 million the state has raised from the sale of that one tag over 38 years.

When added all together, the five license auctions have grossed more than $10.54 million in sales.

When purchased, the licenses allow the hunter to pursue the animal in any open hunting district in the state  a unique opportunity. The ability to buy the chance to hunt species the average Montanan has to wait years, if ever, to acquire angered some hunters. So in 2006 the SuperTag lottery was created. For $5 per chance, anyone could try to win one of the hard-to-get licenses. As of 2021, sales for the SuperTag lottery had generated nearly $5 million. Money from the SuperTag sales goes to hunting access and FWP law enforcement.

Like a lottery

Like the SuperTag, the Montana Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers (BHA) proposed to the Fish and Wildlife Commission to use a lottery for the 2024 mule deer license.

What sets our application apart here is that we also believe in the equitable allocation of our wildlife resources, said Kevin Farron, regional policy manager for the group. So like everyone else in this room, we want to see as much money raised for the department for the benefit of mule deer conservation, but wed also like to see this once-in-a-lifetime statewide opportunity mule deer tag made available to anyone who wants to pitch in to help fund mule deer conservation, not just the one person who can afford the most at an out-of-state auction.

The idea struck a chord with Commissioner Jeff Burrows.

For me, I think its maybe a different model that does appeal to me somewhat, that does give somebody who may not be able to afford the auction opportunity to enter into a lottery and potentially even raise more money, Burrows said.

He questioned Farron, who said BHA is considering an online lottery with tickets selling for $20 each. A similar auction of a deer tag in Wyoming in 2021 raised $48,000, he said.

This put BHA in competition with the Mule Deer Foundation, which had offered the tag at its auction since 2004, raising almost $378,000.

Competition

Burrows made a motion to offer the mule deer tag to BHA, which was seconded by Commissioner Susan Kirby Brooke of Bozeman. Commissioner Tabor made a motion to stay with the Mule Deer Foundation, which was seconded by Commissioner Bill Lane, of Ismay.

I applaud this ingenuity, but I dont know if we have the bandwidth, Tabor said, questioning whether the rule authorizing the auctions also applied to lotteries.

FWPs legal counsel said the rule refers to both auctions and lotteries.

Also vying for the right to auction tags were: mountain goat  Safari Club Internationals Great Falls Chapter and the Rocky Mountain Goat Alliance; bighorn sheep  Wild Sheep Foundation and the California Chapter of the group as well as Grand Slam Club Ovis; elk  One Montana and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation; moose  Montana Ducks Unlimited and the Montana Outfitters & Guides Education Institute.

Because this is the first year Ive been involved in this, how much consideration do we give  and I dont know how competitive its been in the past  but when you look down this list you see the same group getting the tag, Burrows said. And I dont know if thats because in the past theres basically been one proposal. For me this is a pretty difficult decision, because you read through these proposals and every group, it looks like, is doing good work.

Commissioner Tabor questioned if a conservation group has done a good job in the past, what are the criteria for losing the auction tag privilege?

It is a tough decision, he added. Thats why I want to get to criteria that are a little bit more guiding this.

Tabor also said he thinks the states current application system for Montana residents to hunt trophy units is akin to a lottery. And he questioned whether the intent of the system is to optimize payback to the department.

Burrows said thats why he wanted to see if a lottery of the mule deer tag would raise more money.

We know about what that deer tag is going to bring, he said, referring to the past auctions. With the lottery system it would be interesting to see if that generated more or less.

Final decision

In the end, the commission voted to award the mule deer license to the Montana Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers. Commission chair Lesley Robinson cast the deciding vote. Commissioners Brian Cebull and KC Walsh were not present.

I would like to see how this plays out, Robinson said. And next year well evaluate it.

The moose license was awarded to the Montana Outfitters & Guides Education Institute, displacing Montana Ducks Unlimited, which had sold it the past nine years. Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation continued its 20-year reign of auctioning off the elk tag. The bighorn sheep tag stayed with the Wild Sheep Foundation for what will be the 15th year.
Guest column: Louisiana's not just losing people, it's flatlining in era of more national growth
West Bucklands Sixth Form students are celebrating their A-level results, with almost 50% of examinations graded at A* or A, surpassing the results achieved in 2019.

Phillip Stapleton, head of West Buckland School said: "Today we toast our student community who have faced huge challenges during Covid and didnt sit formal GCSE exams, but managed to gain some stellar outcomes. For those who applied to university, the vast majority have secured their firm or insurance choice.

"I am delighted for all the students who have achieved so well today. We mustnt forget that they missed out on public exams at 16 and the outcomes today are a testament to their hard work and that of their teachers.

"In recognising that we are never defined by a set of grades, West Buckland has always set out to focus on who they become as individuals and this group of students have grown into amazing young people.

"It has been a privilege to know them and be part of their journey. We wish them all the very best - in employment or higher education - and their legacy in academic ambition, sporting success, richness of performing and creative arts, and desire to serve each other is fondly remembered and ensures that they are fully prepared for whatever the future holds."

Mark Wang gained four A* grades at A-level and will study Mathematics with Statistics at Kings College London. In addition to top grades in the extended project, Juliette Reed achieved three A* grades in her A-levels, while Amelia Day and Toby Watts achieved A*A*A. Amelia will study Economics and the University of Warwick while Toby will study applied Psychology at the University of Exeter. Meanwhile, Isabel Van Santen and Claudia Jiang achieved four and five A-levels respectively, each with two A* grades and a string of A grades. Isabel with study mathematics at the University of Exeter and Claudia will read physics at UCL.

The school highly values the performances of our female students in STEM subjects with top grades in subjects such as Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. Juliette, 18, from Torrington, has secured a place to study chemical engineering at the University of Nottingham. She said I was shocked! I am very pleased that the hard work paid off and that I got to head off to my preferred uni. I am particularly proud of my chemistry result.

The school is delighted that so many of its international students were rewarded with phenomenal results, particularly as many were adversely affected by Covid travel restrictions. In addition to exceptional performances by Mark and Claudia, Oscar Hung from Hong Kong gained two A* and two A grades, while Ivan Andor from Hungary gained A*AB. Other standout students from overseas include Sophia Xie and Edward Sze with very high grades in the Sciences, Maths, Psychology and Economics.

Mr Stapleton added: "We are proud that many of our top grades are in Languages, Sport, Geography, Mathematics, Further Mathematics and Art, reflecting the strong breadth of academic ability and interests of our students. In Mathematics and Geography, over 75% of candidates gained A*-A, while French it was 100%. Half the artists were awarded an A*, further strengthening the schools reputation for excellence in Art.

"In BTEC applied science and CTEC Sport and Physical Activity, 75% of our students achieved A*-A equivalent which is exceptional and underlines West Bucklands innovative approach and determination to get its students on to the right courses. This applies to students right across the grade range, some of whom have found academic studies quite challenging, but have flourished with the help of the schools first-class academic and pastoral support.

"Our students are increasingly interested in alternatives to university. Callum Bartlett studied Business, Biology and Design & Technology and has been offered an engineering apprenticeship with Condition Monitoring Technology Group (CMTG) in Torrington, while Lily Lark is commencing a career at Bray Leino, an award-winning creative agency in North Devon."

To broaden the opportunities for our Sixth Form students, West Buckland School is excited to announce the addition of the IB Careers-related Programme (IBCP) to its Sixth Form curriculum starting in September 2023, complementing the existing A-level program.

With a strong emphasis on career guidance and equipping students for a rapidly evolving global landscape, its commitment to holistic education ensures that each student enters with a spectrum of opportunities and comprehensive support extending beyond their West Buckland journey.
Do you know the definition of the word audacity? You may think you do and yet, you might still be off the mark. And thats because that word possesses two starkly contrasting definitions separated only by a very fine line. You see, according to Mr. Dictionary, audacity can be a good thing or a not-so-good thing.

For me, I tend to go with definition B, which means to utilize rude or disrespectful behavior or impudence. And what is impudence? According to Mr. Dictionary, its the act of being impudent, to which Mr. Dictionary also adds the word impertinence.

Which is one of those definitions where Mr. Dictionary acts very much like a politician who is asked a question that they never really answer. Thus, it then becomes necessary to go a step farther to look up the word impertinence. Which, according to Mr. Dictionary, means a lack of respect and/or rudeness.

Meanwhile, definition A means to have a willingness to take bold steps. Almost as if having audacity is a courageous or respectful thing. Which begs the question, how can you be both rude and respectful at the same time? I dont think you can. You are either the good guy or the bad guy, but you cant be both.

And I bring this up because the word audacity is banging around in my brain like a fly that somehow snuck into the house. One of those situations where the only resolution is to grab a swatter and dramatically shorten the flys average life span, which is 28 days.

Years ago, I worked for a magazine publishing company that was headquartered in southern California. And the owner was a distinguished businessman who once said to me that it is impossible to run a business without having legal counsel on the payroll. And thats because, no matter what, there are always flies trying to get into your house and you need that swatter to resolve those inevitable inconveniences.

Which is too bad isnt it? Because today, in so many cases, in a lawsuit-happy society, the judicial system has become little more than a pawn and an expensive waste of time. From divorce rates to family squabbles to business litigation, we spend a lot of time spinning our wheels.

In fact, according to statistics provided by safeatlast.co/blog/lawsuit-statistics, the United States holds the top spot for the largest number of lawsuits in the world, with an average of 40 million lawsuits filed in the U.S. each year. And U.S. companies spend $22.8 billion on commercial litigation.

Meanwhile, over 20 years ago the Presser Law Firm, P.A. in Boca Raton, Florida, had this to say: Litigation has reached epidemic proportions. Statistically, each American will be sued five times over their lifetime. Why is America so lawsuit crazy? Our perception is that we have too many lawyers, too many laws, and too few judges with the courage or common sense to summarily throw out the blatantly frivolous lawsuits.

In other words, Americas lawsuit audacity has reached a pandemic rate.

But maybe American poet Robert Frost summed it up best when he said this: A successful lawsuit is one worn by a policeman.
Hunter Biden arrives for a toast during an official State Dinner in honor of India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at the White House on June 22, 2023. (Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

A federal judge in Delaware dismissed misdemeanor tax charges against Hunter Biden on Aug. 17 in a move that was widely expected after his sweetheart deal with federal prosecutors was put on hold last month.

U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, who was appointed by President Donald Trump and is presiding over the case, dismissed the charges against the younger Mr. Biden.

The decision came after special counsel David Weissthe U.S. Attorney for the United States District Court for the District of Delaware and the federal prosecutor leading the case against Mr. Bidenearlier asked the judge to dismiss the charges, citing venue problems.

Dismissing the two misdemeanor tax charges against Mr. Biden potentially allows for new charges to be bought against him in another jurisdiction, such as California or Washington, D.C., as part of Mr. Weisss ongoing probe.

The Government, in the exercise of its prosecutorial discretion, is considering what tax charges to bring in another district and may elect to bring the same charges set forth in the instant information or different ones, prosecutors said in court filings last week.

Mr. Weiss was appointed as special counsel on Aug. 11 by Attorney General Merrick Garland, meaning he will oversee the case, United States v. Robert Hunter Biden, as well as for any other matters that arise from the ongoing investigation into the presidents son, who is also being investigated for possible foreign lobbying violations.

Concerns Over New Special Counsel

On Tuesday of this week, Mr. Weiss advised me that in his judgment, his investigation has reached a stage at which he should continue his work as a special counsel, and he asked to be so appointed, said Mr. Garland in announcing Mr. Weisss appointment last week.

Upon considering his request, as well as the extraordinary circumstances relating to this matter, I have concluded it is in the public interest to appoint him as special counsel. This appointment confirms my commitment to provide Mr. Weiss [with] all the resources he requests. It also reaffirms that Mr. Weiss has the authority he needs to conduct a thorough investigation and to continue to take the steps he deems appropriate independently, based only on the facts and the law, Mr. Garland said.

Multiple Republican lawmakers have raised concerns that Mr. Weiss, who earlier signed off on the sweetheart deal for Mr. Biden, will not remain impartial in the case against the presidents son, while others have questioned whether or not he is qualified enough to hold the latest role.

Two IRS whistleblowers have also alleged that Mr. Weiss has been restricted by the Department of Justice from filing certain charges against Mr. Biden and that the presidents son has received preferential treatment.

Mr. Bidens two misdemeanor charges stem from his failure to pay taxes on time in 2017 and 2018 and each carries a prison term of up to one year upon conviction.

Sweetheart Deal Crumbles

The presidents son had earlier this year agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax evasion charges and accept probation in a third charge in which he acknowledged lying on a federal firearm purchase form during a time when he was using illegal drugs.

Under an agreed diversion program, Mr. Biden, if he complies with the terms, would be able to avoid future prosecution and would not go on trial for the gun charge, which is a felony and would carry up to 10 years in prison.

However, the deal was rejected by Judge Noreika in July during a hearing amid confusion over a separate gun charge and questions about the immunity it would have granted Mr. Biden, who subsequently pleaded not guilty to the tax charges.

Despite the sweetheart deal being rejected, lawyers for Mr. Biden said last week they consider the arrangement is still in effect because both sides had signed it.

However, Mr. Weiss has said this is not the case and noted that the probation office did not sign off on the agreement.

In sum, because Ms. [Margaret] Bray, acting in her capacity as the Chief United States Probation Officer, did not approve the now-withdrawn diversion agreement, it never went into effect and, therefore, none of its terms are binding on either party, Mr. Weiss wrote in a court filing (pdf) earlier this week.

Seeing that the parties were at an impasse, the Government informed the Defendant, in writing on August 9, 2023, that it was withdrawing the most recent version of its proposed plea and diversion agreements, Mr. Weiss said. That is why the Government has asked the Court to vacate its briefing order and has moved to dismiss the criminal tax information.

From The Epoch Times
A Mandan man faces a felony trespassing charge after allegedly scaling a fence at the North Dakota National Guard headquarters in Bismarck and entering the secure military facility.

Ruben Garcia, 36, was arrested at Fraine Barracks shortly after 5 a.m. Aug. 11, according to court documents. The installation in west Bismarck is surrounded by a chain-link fence with barbed wire lining the top, with armed security guards at the gate, according to a police affidavit. The document did not say how Garcia allegedly got over the top of the fence.

Garcia allegedly told a responding officer that he had been robbed and was being chased by a man with a gun. The officer stated in the affidavit that he determined Garcia was "severely paranoid and hallucinating" and that Garcia's story about being chased was not substantiated.

"Ruben entered and remained in a highly secured premises, knowing he was not privileged to do so," Officer Brennan Bennington wrote in the affidavit.

Garcia faces a criminal trespass charge that carries a maximum punishment of five years in prison. Court documents do not list an attorney for him. He could enter pleas at a court hearing scheduled for Sept. 11.

A judge set bond at $1,000 cash. Garcia remained at the Burleigh Morton Detention Center on Tuesday afternoon.
Several Northwest Indiana firms have landed on the Inc. 5000, a list of the fastest-growing privately owned companies in the United States.

Portage-based MSI Express, a contract manufacturer and contract packager of shelf-stable foods, ranked 1,085th nationally with 547% growth over the last three years. Portage-based BNutty Peanut Butter, which makes artisan peanut butter, placed 1,739th with 321% growth.

Munster-based Cargox, a logistics and transportation firm, came in 1,782th with 312% growth over the last three years. The Merrillville-based environmental services firm Siltworm ranked No. 3455 with 144% revenue growth over the last three years.

"Siltworm, Inc. making it onto the Inc 5000 list is a true testament to our team's unwavering dedication and belief in our mission," founder Joe Moore said. "Drawing from my 16 years of construction experience, we set out to revolutionize erosion and sediment control. Our journey from a small venture to a nationwide presence speaks to the strong relationships we've built with our clients, distributors, and industry peers. As we expand, our commitment to exceptional experiences and top-quality products remains steadfast. This recognition fuels our drive to continue pushing forward, solidifying Siltworm, Inc.'s legacy as a symbol of innovation, responsibility, and excellence in erosion control."

The company ranked 39th among Indiana-based firms and 26th among environmental services companies. It makes erosion and sediment control products it distributes through business-to-business channels, including the Siltworm filter sock for construction sites where earth is being moved. The product shields against water pollutants, retaining an estimated 97% of sediment.

The company estimates its products, which are mainly made in Elkhart, have diverted over 30 million pounds of recyclable materials from landfills and intercepted more than 20 million pounds of sediment that would have infiltrated waterways.

We have weathered the storms that many entrepreneurs with fast-growing companies encounter. While we may not be doing everything perfectly, it gives us confidence that were growing the right way in the right places setting us and our entire team up for consistent and sustained success for years to come," said DJ Moore, CEO of Siltworm, Inc. This award underscores our belief that a thriving business is built on a foundation of trust, intentional behavior, and a relentless focus on both individual and collective growth. As we continue to lead with purpose, our goal remains clear: to honor God by providing unlimited opportunities and positively impacting the world."

This year's Inc. 5000 companies have grown by an average of 2,238% and added 1.1 million jobs over the last three years.

Running a business has only gotten harder since the end of the pandemic, says Inc. editor-in-chief Scott Omelianuk. To make the Inc. 5000with the fast growth that requiresis truly an accomplishment. Inc. is thrilled to honor the companies that are building our future.

For more information, visit www.inc.com/inc5000.
The North Dakota Supreme Court has upheld a district judge's decision to grant a new trial to a Bismarck woman sent to prison last year in the death of her infant daughter.

Four of the five justices agreed with South Central District Judge Daniel Borgen that Cassandra Black Elk received bad advice from her attorney. Justice Lisa Fair McEvers agreed that Black Elk should get a new trial but for a different reason -- evidence that surfaced after Black Elk's guilty plea to a child neglect charge that subsequently led to 1 -year prison sentence.

Authorities said Black Elk had been drinking and smoking marijuana before finding her 3-week-old baby dead when she awoke about 6 a.m. on Feb. 19, 2022. Black Elk pleaded guilty and was sentenced in May 2022.

Black Elk during a hearing last January testified that public defender James Loraas told her to plead guilty before seeing autopsy results and that theyd deal with it later. Autopsy results later showed the infant was normally developed, well-nourished and well-hydrated, and there was no evidence of foul play. The death was listed as unexplained sudden death.

Borgen in February concluded Black Elk received improper legal advice. He vacated her sentence and ordered a new trial.

Prosecutors appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that Borgen relied on hearsay because Black Elk didnt call Loraas to testify at the January hearing.

Justices in their Thursday opinion noted that prosecutors didn't object to Black Elk's statements during that hearing. They also ruled that Borgen was correct in concluding that Black Elk's attorney was ineffective, and that "The legal misinformation provided to her by defense counsel deprived Black Elk from an intelligent and voluntary plea."

McEvers in a separate opinion concurred with the end result of the ruling, but said "I do not agree with the majority that Black Elk met the burden for proving her counsel was ineffective. In my opinion, Black Elk has shown she is entitled to post-conviction relief based upon newly discovered evidence." McEvers said she thinks that evidence "would likely result in an acquittal at trial."

Loraas did not immediately respond to a Tribune request for comment. The Burleigh County State's Attorney's Office also did not respond to a Tribune message that was left after normal business hours.

Court documents show a new trial for Black Elk is scheduled to begin Sept. 26.
Cleveland-Cliffs didn't even make steel three years ago and is now looking at potentially becoming the last vertically integrated steelmaker left standing in the United States.

But the company's attempt to buy U.S. Steel for $7.3 billion could run into antitrust issues, analysts said.

Cleveland-Cliffs would end up the last remaining integrated steelmaker in the country. While mini-mill operators like Nucor and Steel Dynamics would still be around, they don't serve some key markets integrated steelmakers do. Many automotive end uses of steel for instance require new, virgin steel blast furnaces forge that can't be swapped out with the steel made from recycled scrap at mini-mills as only higher grades of steel have both the strength and malleability needed.

The combined company would control 100% of the iron ore mining in the country and have all the blast furnaces. It would end up with significant leverage on prices over some customers since there would be a lack of competition.

Cleveland-Cliffs already has been charging higher prices to automotive customers, who have grown more skittish about sourcing from foreign suppliers after the supply chain disruptions during the coronavirus pandemic repeatedly hobbled its production.

"I don't see how antitrust would allow it unless they looked at it from a global perspective instead of just the United States," said steel analyst Charles Bradford with New York City-based Bradford Research. "The United States isn't a big player globally anymore. China now makes 54% of the world's steel."

Cleveland-Cliffs is not the only suitor for U.S. Steel. The privately held industrial conglomerate Esmark put in a $7.8 billion bid but some industry observers have expressed skepticism about it as the company said it only has $500 million in cash when that's roughly the new income U.S. Steel made in the second quarter. ArcelorMittal is also reportedly considering whether to put in a bid for at least part of the iconic steelmaker, which founded Gary as a company town in 1906 and helped drive Northwest Indiana's urbanization.

Cleveland-Cliffs said a merger would elevate it to one of the world's top 10 largest steelmakers with $44.1 billion in annual revenue. It would produce 31 million tons a year in steel and generate $39.8 million in North American sales.

Automakers and other manufacturing companies that buy steel likely would object to such a merger, Bradford said. Federal regulators could block the deal outright, required that U.S. Steel's assets be divided up among different buyers or require Cleveland-Cliffs to divest assets.

"There would be clear antitrust issues with a monopoly if you looked just at the United States," he said. "But steel is global now and more than half of it is made in China. U.S. Steel doesn't dominate the market anymore. The U.S. doesn't dominate the market anymore. Most steel is made overseas."

American steel production of 94.7 million tons accounted for just 5% of the global total last year, according to the World Steel Association.

U.S. Steel, the first billion corporate founded by business titans like Andrew Carnegie, Charles Schwab and J.P. Morgan, was long the world's largest steelmaker and once made two-thirds of the world's steel.

"It really peaked in 1916 when it was feeding World War I," Bradford said. "It's lost more and more of the market over the years."

Even so, an acquisition long seemed unthinkable. The stock soared to a high of $174 per share back in 2008 when it was still helping to serve China's ballooning demand for steel before more new mills came online there.

"The stock hasn't done much since then," Bradford said. "Anyone who's invested in steel over the last several years hasn't made money."

U.S. Steel's stock has been hovering in the low $20s before the acquisition talk caused it to spike to more than $30. Cleveland-Cliffs offered a 42% premium, which U.S. Steel rejected after it would not sit down to discuss valuation.

U.S. Steel CEO David Burritt also cited antitrust risks and a lack of discussion on the subject with Cleveland-Cliffs' attorney as part of the reason for rejecting the initial offer as "unreasonable."

The steelmaker is now exploring strategic alternatives, bringing in outside legal and financial advisors to weigh the multiple proposals it's received to buy all or part of the company.

"You wouldn't think this could ever happen," United Steelworkers District 7 Director Mike Millsap said. "The company has been around forever."
VALPARAISO  The city of Valparaiso is inviting neighborhoods to submit applications for the annual Neighborhood Improvement Grant program.

The Neighborhood Improvement Grant program has succeeded in funding 98 projects since we introduced the program in 2018, said Maggie Clifton, Valparaisos Community Engagement Director.

The city is delighted to lead this program which unites neighborhoods and inspires positive projects. With matching funds, these grants have resulted in more than $1.3 million in neighborhood improvements over the past six years, she said.

Neighborhood Improvement Grants help neighbors come together for common goals. Previous projects awarded Neighborhood Improvement Grants have included:

Community spaces, like bus stop benches and pavilions for gathering

Neighborhood signage/branding that instills unity and a sense of pride

Public art displays that add unique character by representing the neighborhood

Physical improvements, like planting trees or enhancing park equipment

Neighborhoods may submit applications for up to $15,000 in qualified funding through the Neighborhood Improvement Grant. The program is funded by the Valparaiso Redevelopment Commission and administered by the Community Engagement Department.

A grant review committee assists in the selection process.

Applications are due March 1, 2024.

An information session will be held at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 6 a Valparaiso City Hall,where neighborhood representatives can drop in and ask questions related to the program.

Guidelines and application materials are available on the Community Engagement page at Valpo.us, accessed at tinyurl.com/ValpoGrant2024. For questions or guidance, Clifton is available at MClifton@valpo.us or at City Hall, 219-462-1161.

Photos: A week after Maui wildfire, islanders survey aftermath and look ahead to recovery
When Alva Camposs lease expired in July of 2021, the management company for her building mailed her a renewal. It included a rent increase of $60, or 1.5 percent, on her $4,000 monthly rent. Making the higher payments would be difficult for her family  her partner works as a line cook while she raises three children under age 10  but they could make it work. They had already taken on two roommates to help with the rent.

Ms. Campos, however, didnt get around to signing the lease right away and the small delay has had a lasting effect.

A new management company took over and sent a letter with a revised renewal offer, Ms. Campos said through a Spanish-language interpreter. It had more than a 10 percent increase to $4,460.

This was more than her family could pay for their apartment. But the proposed increase was just one of her problems. With a new owner and a new management company, things started to change in the building.
When Tatyana Koltunyuk pictured her life post-retirement, she imagined walking around New York City with a new puppy and traveling the world with her family. She talked about swimming in the ocean every day, her family said.

But Ms. Koltunyuks vision for the future was irrevocably altered when she was bitten by a shark at Rockaway Beach in Queens last week. She was swimming alone near Beach 59th Street in the early evening when the shark bit her on the left leg, according to officials, and lifeguards responded when they heard her screaming for help.

Ms. Koltunyuk, 65, now has a permanent disability, and she is expected to need several years of intense physical therapy and medical monitoring, according to a statement that her daughter, Dasha Koltunyuk, and her son-in-law, Gregg Kallor, released on Thursday. They did not provide details on the nature of her disability.

In the eight days immediately following the attack  days that her family described as nightmarish on a GoFundMe page raising money for Ms. Koltunyuks recovery  Ms. Koltunyuk underwent five surgeries, and her family said she will require more.
When Im around young adults, I like to ask them how they are thinking about the big commitments in their lives: what career to go into, where to live, whom to marry. Most of them have thought a lot about their career plans. But my impression is that many have not thought a lot about how marriage will fit into their lives.

The common operating assumption seems to be that professional life is at the core of life and that marriage would be something nice to add on top sometime down the road. According to an analysis of recent survey data by the University of Virginia professor Brad Wilcox, 75 percent of adults ages 18 to 40 said that making a good living was crucial to fulfillment in life while only 32 percent thought that marriage was crucial to fulfillment. In a Pew Research Center survey, 88 percent of parents said it was extremely or very important for their kids to be financially independent, while only 21 percent said it was extremely or very important for their kids to marry.

Its not that I meet many people who are against marriage. Today, as in the past, a vast majority of Americans would like to tie the knot someday. Its just that its not exactly top of mind.

Fewer people believe that marriage is vitally important. In 2006, 50 percent of young adults said it was very important for a couple to marry if they intended to spend the rest of their lives together. But by 2020, only 29 percent of young adults said that.
As flames engulfed his home, Frederick Shaw grabbed Munchkin, one of his five cats, and darted through a cloud of thick smoke gasping for air. The 73-year-old Navy veteran stumbled onto the scorching pavement, which severely burned the palms of his hands.

I lost consciousness, he said. And I let go of the cat.

A few blocks away, Rafael Ochoa, another longtime resident of Lahaina, the historic seaside community in West Maui, darted into his flaming house. After cramming his two children and his partner into their car, he managed to scoop up their beloved pit bull, Bella. They barely made it out alive.

I couldnt leave her, Mr. Ochoa, 35, said. Shes family.

As an inferno fueled by furious winds engulfed Lahaina, survivors made wrenching choices the night of Aug. 8. Scrambling for safety, many took enormous risks to save beloved pets. Others ran from the flames, agonizing over the fate of animals left behind.
This will go down in history as one of the darkest moments in this city, Lamar A. Thorpe, the mayor of Antioch, said in an interview. Mr. Thorpe was himself a target of some of his former officers' antagonism: Some said in text messages obtained by the F.B.I. during its investigation that they wanted to shoot him, he said.

The Antioch Police Officers Association said in a statement that it looked forward to seeing the legal process play out and that it was committed to still providing quality service to the citizens of Antioch and also providing support for our members who are still working through this difficult time. The police department in Pittsburg, which abuts Antioch, did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment on Thursday.

Michael Rains, a lawyer for one of the officers charged in the case, did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment on Thursday. It was not immediately clear if the other officers had lawyers, and calls placed to numbers listed as belonging to some of them were not immediately returned on Thursday night.

Prosecutors laid out the indictments in four parts. Some officers were charged in two indictments.

The first part was described as a college degree benefits fraud that two officers from the Antioch department and four officers from Pittsburg had participated in. The fraud involved officers claiming that they had earned college credits toward degrees when really, according to court records, the officers had hired people to attend classes and take the exams for them.

The departments would reimburse tuition costs and award salary raises to officers who earned college degrees, Mr. Ramsey said. Those officers were charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Federal officials arrested two men on Thursday on charges of defrauding donors of tens of millions of dollars given to political nonprofit groups.

Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York said that the two men, Richard Zeitlin, who ran telemarketing call centers, and Robert Piaro, a treasurer of political nonprofit groups, had bilked small donors who had wanted to support causes such as aid for military veterans and breast cancer research.

Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement that the two men exploited these important causes and the good intentions of everyday citizens.

The New York Times reported in June that prosecutors had subpoenaed recordings of fund-raising calls by Mr. Piaros groups, as well as several separate nonprofits that The Times had profiled in May.
Federal prosecutors recommended on Thursday that two top leaders of the far-right Proud Boys convicted of seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol be sentenced to 33 years in prison, the stiffest penalties requested so far out of more than 1,000 people charged in the sprawling investigation.

In seeking to severely punish the two Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio, the former chairman of the group, and Joseph Biggs, one of Mr. Tarrios top lieutenants, prosecutors asked the judge in the case to increase their sentences with what is known as a terrorism enhancement.

The defendants understood the stakes, and they embraced their role in bringing about a revolution, the prosecutors wrote in a 155-page filing to Judge Timothy J. Kelly of the U.S. District Court in Washington. They unleashed a force on the Capitol that was calculated to exert their political will on elected officials by force and to undo the results of a democratic election.

The foot soldiers of the right aimed to keep their leader in power, the prosecutors continued, referring to former President Donald J. Trump. They failed. They are not heroes; they are criminals.
Why It Matters: The resignation comes as the denomination deals with strife within its membership.

With more than 13 million members, the S.B.C. is the nations largest Protestant denomination and serves as a bellwether for priorities among American evangelicals. The S.B.C. has been wracked by fierce divisions in recent years over politics, gender and race. Some conservatives in the denomination fear that it is drifting toward liberalism, while others fear a takeover by a faction that values ideological purity over all.

At the S.B.C.s annual meeting this summer, delegates hotly debated womens roles in church leadership. The denomination voted against readmitting two churches that had appealed their expulsion for having women pastors. Delegates also took steps to amend the denominations constitution to strengthen the ban on women as pastors, a move that may open up other hundreds of churches to investigation and expulsions.

The executive committee, which has more than 80 members, conducts business for the denomination between its annual meetings. The chief executive of the committee is considered more powerful in many ways than the denominations president, a more high-profile but comparatively symbolic role.

Background: Mr. McLaurin is the latest leader to step down amid turmoil.

Mr. McLaurin was the first Black leader of one of the denominations entities, a category that includes mission organizations, seminaries, a publishing company and a public policy arm. His ascension even as an interim leader was touted as a historic milestone for the 178-year-old denomination, which was founded as a defender of slavery. (The denomination apologized for its stance on slavery in the 1990s, and the number of its ethnically diverse congregations has grown.)

Mr. McLaurin is the committees third leader in a row to step down in tumultuous circumstances. Ronnie Floyd, the previous president, resigned over his objections to expanding the powers of investigators in the handling of sexual abuse claims in the denomination. Before that, Frank Page stepped down in 2018 over what the committee described at the time as a morally inappropriate relationship.

In a video circulated to Southern Baptists last week, Mr. McLaurin praised the work of the denominations pastors, teachers and seminary professors. Its a great joy for me to be on this journey with you, as we lift high the name and the fame of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Whats Next: The search for a permanent leader continues.

Mr. McLaurins resignation suggests the denominations political and bureaucratic turmoil is far from over. At a meeting in Dallas this spring, the executive committee rejected its own search committees recommendation for the next leader, assembling a new search committee whose work is ongoing.

Mr. Robertson, the committees chair, said in his statement that the group would issue further updates on its leadership search in the near future. The executive committees next meeting takes place in Nashville in September.
An administrative law judge in Iowa has decided that Summit Carbon Solutions should give documents of its dispersion modeling to groups that seek them as evidence for the companys upcoming pipeline permit hearing.

That modeling attempts to predict whether populated areas near the pipeline route would be at risk if the pipeline is breached and releases carbon dioxide.

The gas is an asphyxiant and is toxic at high concentrations. Its also heavier than air. Under certain weather and topographic conditions, a dense plume of carbon dioxide can travel significant distances.

In 2020, a pipeline break in Mississippi released a plume of carbon dioxide that traveled about a mile to a nearby town. About 200 people were evacuated from the area, and 45 sought treatment at a hospital. No one died.

Dispersion modeling for that pipeline didnt predict the town was at risk. Such modeling can be expensive and time-consuming.

Summit has resisted requests for the results of its dispersion modeling in Iowa and has argued that the information pertains to safety issues that are governed by federal regulators, Iowa Capital Dispatch reported.

But the Sierra Club of Iowa, the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation and several counties said the models are important for deciding the pipelines route, which is governed by the Iowa Utilities Board.

The IUB needs to know how far the carbon dioxide plume from a leak or rupture of the Summit pipeline would disperse in order to properly approve the location and route of the pipeline so as to protect persons and property, Wally Taylor, a Sierra Club attorney, wrote in a motion to compel Summit to provide the documents.

On Monday, Toby Gordon, an administrative law judge for the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals, agreed that the information is likely to be admissible as evidence for the board when it decides whether to issue Summit a pipeline permit.

I cannot say, as Summit urges, that the dispersion modeling data is irrelevant, Gordon wrote.

He ordered Summit to provide the documents to the requesters within two days, but the company can appeal.

The final evidentiary hearing in Iowa for Summits project is set to begin next week, and Gordons decision was the second in two weeks to compel the company to produce information that might be used as evidence during that hearing. Gordon also said Summit needs to give unredacted copies of its contracts with ethanol plants to attorneys of groups that have sought the information. Summit appealed, and an IUB decision on whether to adopt the order is pending.

There has been a flurry of filings with the IUB as the hearing approaches, along with requests to delay the hearing to allow more time for consideration of the project. Requests for a delay gained new urgency with a recent decision by North Dakota regulators to reject Summits proposed route in that state.

The North Dakota Public Service Commission also denied requests to make Summits dispersion model public information, accepting the company's arguments that the model is a security system plan for critical infrastructure.

Its unclear how long the route rejection in North Dakota might delay Summits permit in that state, which is crucial to the companys project. Its pipeline network would span more than 2,000 miles in five states. It would transport captured carbon dioxide from more than 30 ethanol plants to North Dakota for underground sequestration.

Summit said it will ask the North Dakota PSC to reconsider its permit application.

We are one week away, Jess Mazour, of the Sierra Club, told the IUB at its meeting Tuesday morning. Just want to remind you that there is still time to delay this hearing and make sure that people have a fair chance in front of the Iowa Utilities Board, because theres a lot of outstanding things that really should come to a conclusion before we hear Summits case and before a decision is made.

The start date of Summits hearing is about nine months earlier than IUB staff initially suggested, according to board documents.

In February, board member Josh Byrnes noted that the board had considered starting in May 2024 and November 2023 before settling on October 2023.

Trying to rush through this process while maintaining the standard required of the board and board staff is unattainable and could give rise to mistakes and missteps, he wrote in objection to starting in October. I understand the desire to keep this case moving and to not cause undue delay; however, that does not mean that we should rush the process.

But after a change in leadership on the three-person board, Byrnes agreed to an even earlier start date of Aug. 22.

There are pending requests to the board and in court to pause Summits permit process. The evidentiary hearing could go for weeks or months.
The racketeering case against Donald J. Trump and his allies in Georgia has ignited outrage among staunch supporters of the former president, pushing some to urge the Republican-controlled state legislature to find a way to intervene.

Change the states rules on pardons to empower the governor to absolve Mr. Trump and his associates should they be convicted  that has been one suggestion making the rounds on social media and conservative talk shows this week.

And on Thursday, a state senator from rural northwest Georgia sent a letter to the Republican governor, Brian Kemp, demanding an emergency special session for the review and response to the actions of Fani Willis, the Fulton County district attorney who is leading the case.

The odds of any of that coming to fruition anytime soon: slim to nonexistent.

It aint going to happen, said Charles S. Bullock III, a political science professor at the University of Georgia, who is considered a leading scholar on politics in Georgia and the South, which he has studied for more than five decades.
The line of cars and trucks evacuating the northern city of 20,000 stretched to the horizon on Thursday, loaded with hastily seized belongings and pets of families ordered to flee the natural disaster that has come to symbolize this summer in Canada  wildfire.

With a major, out-of-control fire ravaging a forest about nine miles away from the city  Yellowknife, the capital of the Northwest Territories  flames were likely to reach the city limits on the weekend, and the evacuation was expected to continue through Friday.

The ongoing evacuation of the entire city has been a monumental  but orderly  process, with free gasoline, free food and drinks, and escorts to guide motorists through the thick smoke. Yet, to those suddenly forced to pack up and move themselves and what they could, it has been stunning.

Even in a community in a region where wildfires break out each year, the decision to empty out the city was met with disbelief and denial about what could happen.
In a long-awaited move, the United States will allow allies to send American-made F-16 fighter jets to Kyiv once Ukrainian pilots are trained to operate them, a U.S. official confirmed on Thursday. However, the requirement that Ukraines pilots be fully trained means that the approvals will not come for months.

Ukraines counteroffensive, which began two months ago, has a chance of prevailing without the fighter jets, experts say, but it is likely to be far more difficult.

The time frame for the U.S. approvals is unlikely to surprise Ukraine. A spokesman for Ukraines Air Force, Yuriy Ihnat, said on Wednesday that it had become clear the country would not be able to operate or receive F-16 fighter jets this coming fall or winter, confirming that the planes will not play a role in the counteroffensive.

We had high hopes for this aircraft, he said.

The U.S. decision had been anticipated since May, when President Biden eased his resistance to NATO allies efforts to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16s and provide the jets to Ukraine. The official who confirmed the U.S. shift was not authorized to publicly discuss the agreement and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
A Los Angeles man who pleaded guilty in April to making false statements to federal investigators about fake artworks that were marketed as works by Jean-Michel Basquiat was sentenced on Friday to probation and community service for his role in the scheme, prosecutors said.

The man, Michael Barzman, avoided jail time for his role, which he eventually admitted involved working with an associate to create between 20 and 30 fake pieces that were promoted for sale as if they were genuine Basquiats. The fake Basquiats were displayed last year at a highly touted exhibit at the Orlando Museum of Art, the F.B.I. said.

A judge in United States District Court in Los Angeles sentenced Barzman to three years probation, 500 hours of community service and a fine of $500, a spokesman for the U.S. attorneys office said.

The fake Basquiats have roiled the Orlando Museum of Art, which promoted the exhibition heavily and staked its reputation on maintaining that they were genuine. But after a report by The New York Times in February 2022 raised questions about the authenticity of the works  noting that one was on a piece of cardboard that bore a FedEx typeface not used until after Basquiats death  the F.B.I. raided the museum and seized the paintings in question.
But given the financial weight and high profile of the gallerys four members, the group could hardly have hoped the news would land quietly. Katya Kazakina of Artnet trumpeted: Just in: Blue-chip gallery LGDR splits up after less than 2 years.

And the breakup confirms what art market experts were predicting as soon as the merger was first announced: serious friction among four famously strong personalities and the firms likely implosion in only a matter of time.

Although the gallery presented some significant shows and put on a good face to the industry, there were obvious growing pains as the firm consolidated under Greenberg Rohatyns roof: a neo-Renaissance townhouse on East 89th St. that she had just opened after a major restoration and renovation by the architect Rafael Vinoly (who died in May).

The adjustment was clearly biggest for Greenberg Rohatyn, who suddenly had to share her space and lose her independence after 20 years of running her own show in locations on the Bowery and out of her Upper East Side home.

It was a natural decision that grew out of 18 months of working together, Greenberg Rohatyn said in an telephone interview on Friday. I missed the ability to react quickly and put exhibitions on the floor without multiple people agreeing on it.
Dear listeners,

On Wednesday night, I was one of approximately 600 sardines crammed into Manhattans Bowery Ballroom for a very special concert. We were packed so tightly, I couldnt move an inch; even clapping felt like a precarious use of my elbows. Did I mention it is August, in New York, and the humidity has been hovering around 75 percent for days? If this show were mediocre, or even just good, I might have lasted half the set at best. But there was no way I was leaving. Because we were there, in an impossibly small club, seeing the rock legends the Pretenders.

The night before, Chrissie Hynde and company had played for a crowd roughly 100 times larger, opening for Guns N Roses at MetLife Stadium. But on this tour  the bands first since it had to cancel its 2020 shows because of, well, 2020  the Pretenders are doing something unexpected and fun: In between those huge stadium gigs, theyre playing smaller capacity venues like the Atlantis in Washington, D.C. and the iconic Stone Pony in Asbury Park, N.J.

At MetLife, they played the hits: Brass in Pocket, Back on the Chain Gang, Ill Stand by You. The set list at the Bowery leaned more heavily on deep cuts and fan favorites. I knew and loved some of these already, but I confess my knowledge of the Pretenders catalog skews more toward the mainstream, so the Bowery show also opened my ears to a few great tunes with which I was unfamiliar  and which, of course, I want to share with you in todays playlist, which is culled entirely from Wednesday nights set.

At 71, Hynde still carries herself like one of the coolest and most badass people on the planet. She commanded the stage with her skunked-out black eye makeup, spitfire attitude and impressively strong pipes; as ever, she sings in a singular, sneering enunciation thats neither American nor British, but more as if the birth country listed on her passport was just rock n roll. (She still loves repping her home state, Ohio, though, as this playlist will show.)
Although Prince is presented as the clear and present danger, its Chuck who frightened me more this week. Simply put, the man has gone beast mode. Despite signing an agreement to play along with Daves scheme and act like an indicted man, he engineers a public-relations campaign so successful she had no choice but to drop the charges, leaving her to rue their erstwhile alliance and making him an enemy. (Id say for life, but no one stays enemies for life on this show.) Despite having helped put his one-time foe, the former attorney general Jock Jeffcoat (Clancy Brown), behind bars, he makes the man an offer so compelling (in the form of new cowboy boots) that the fire-breathing Jeffcoat records a mea culpa admitting he wrongfully fired Chuck from his job.

And despite having heard directly from the president  via their intermediary, Solicitor General Adam DeGiulio (Rob Morrow)  that theres no chance hell get back his old U.S. attorney job, the exonerations plus the good P.R. make his reinstatement a no-brainer. Indeed, theres an almost fiery swagger to Paul Giamattis performance as Chuck in this episode, a self-confidence extraordinary even by Chucks standards. Whats that everyones been saying about a man who believes he can do no wrong?

Indeed, Chuck reminds me of no one so much this week as Victor. Once described by Axe as my stone and steely assassin, hes the most ethically dubious trader of the bunch, which is saying something; his mirthless, severe face gives him the air of a guy who could kill a man without raising his own pulse rate. Victor lands Mike the killer investment hes been looking for  a purported miracle medical device  by blackmailing a doctor involved in its manufacturers research.

Who tipped off Prince to this problem in the making, prompting him to let this practitioner of the dark arts sort it all out? A hot shot political consultant named Bradford Luke (Babak Tafti), who spends much of the episode mentally sparring with Mike in order to feel out whether the billionaire is worth his time. Luke suggests that Princes route to the presidency runs along the Eisenhower Path, which means establishing unquestioned pre-eminence in his field. Mike needs to make a killing the likes of which the market has never seen, all according to strict moral guidelines. (This is the exact combination of goals a firm run by Philip and Taylor in tandem can deliver, by the way; thats a smart bit of setup.) And if making an ethical fortune means allowing traders like Victor and Dollar Bill to behave unethically in the process, so be it.

Lukes other concern is Princes wife, Andy (Piper Perabo). Their marriage is an uncommon one by most American standards, separated as they are by most of the continent in terms of living arrangements. They have a plan for that. But Bradford figures out quickly that their relationship isnt merely long-distance, its also sexually open.
For most of his 57 years on the island of Sulawesi, Jamal was accustomed to scarcity, modest expectations and a grim shortage of jobs. People mined sand, caught fish and coaxed crops from the soil. Chickens frequently disappeared from front yards, stolen by hungry neighbors.

Mr. Jamal, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, regularly rode his motorbike to construction jobs in the city of Kendari, a half-hour away.

Then, six years ago, a towering smelter rose next to his home. The factory was built by a company called PT Dragon Virtue Nickel Industry, a subsidiary of a Chinese mining giant, Jiangsu Delong Nickel.

Indonesia had recently banned exports of raw nickel to attract investment into processing plants. Chinese companies arrived in force, erecting scores of smelters. They were eager to secure nickel for factories at home that needed the mineral to make batteries for electric vehicles. They were intent on moving the pollution involved in the nickel industry away from Chinese cities.
And while lawsuits like the one filed by Maui have been delayed by procedural issues, the fires could be an important part of the countys claim for damages should the case go to trial, legal experts said. Mauis arguments are also likely to resonate with a local jury.

Here in Hawaii, folks are in disaster recovery mode, and the longer arc of something like a lawsuit necessarily has to take a back seat, said Richard Wallsgrove, law professor and adviser to the Environmental Law Program at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. But its also clear that whats at stake in these cases, and all the climate litigation cases that are brewing in Hawaii and elsewhere, is seen right there in the Maui wildfires.

Scientists are increasingly able to attribute specific disasters, like extreme weather or wildfires, to global warming, and even tie events to fossil fuel producers. And while that attribution can take time, scientists have pointed to Hawaiis declining average rainfall as well as drought, hurricane winds and other conditions linked to climate change as factors that fueled the Maui fire.

At the same time, academic and congressional researchers, environmental groups, journalists, and lawyers have chronicled how oil and gas companies, despite knowing for decades that burning fossil fuels would dangerously heat the planet, have worked to downplay or deny that knowledge.

The fossil fuel industry has tried to move the Maui and other climate cases to federal court, where it hoped for better outcomes. But in May the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a group of petitions asking it to take the lawsuits out of state court.
In the late 1990s, Stewart Thorndike found herself working as a model in London. Also in town was Stanley Kubrick, making what would turn out to be his last film, Eyes Wide Shut. A fan of the director, Thorndike, then in her early 20s, desperately wanted to be on that set in whatever way possible. She ended up being cast as Nuala (N-U-A-L-A), one of the women flirting with Tom Cruises character at the Christmas party that kicks off the movie. Fortunately, Kubricks idiosyncratic process meant she had plenty of time to observe him at work.

Most of it he would just figure out what he wanted to shoot that day, so youd get all dressed up and then hed be like, Im going to shoot something else,  she said. So you just got to watch, and it was honestly the best.

By the end, she had learned an important lesson: I got out of it that I didnt want to be an actor, Thorndike said. I wanted to be Kubrick.

A quarter of a century later, her second feature as a director, Bad Things, is premiering on the horror streaming platform Shudder. It is about a woman, Ruthie (Gayle Rankin, from the series Kindred and GLOW), who inherits a hotel from her grandmother and decides to spend a weekend in the deserted premises, partner and buddies in tow, in the middle of a snowy winter. As fantasy and reality get increasingly mixed up at a property that has seen its share of, well, bad things over the decades, Ruthies fragile psyche starts to fray.
I will try to invite my wife, invite my daughter, invite my cat and invite my dog."

-- Maksym Bunchukov, who is working in the oil patch through the North Dakota Petroleum Councils Bakken Global Recruitment of Oilfield Workers program, and wants to bring his refugee family to the state.

q q q

Youre like the 30-year-old in the basement and youre now ready to be out on your own.

-- Dave Goodin, president and CEO of Bismarck-based MDU Resources Group Inc., which is spinning off two subsidiaries into standalone companies.

q q q

The feedback that we've received from citizens is more of concern about whether or not we will be censoring information that they have access to. And we've told them that we will not.

-- Bismarck Veterans Memorial Public Library Director Christine Kujawa, on complying with a new state law that forbids public libraries from including explicit sexual material in their childrens collections.

q q q

North Dakota means so much to me. My whole life has revolved around everything I learned as a kid in North Dakota and trying to pass it on to the next generation. Its a huge honor, and I appreciate everyone in North Dakota so much. This award is bigger than any title, any belt or any medal. To be acknowledged by my home state is amazing. My heart will always be in North Dakota.

-- Five-time world champion and Olympic medalist boxer Virgil Hill, who will be the 48th recipient of the Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award, North Dakotas highest citizen honor.

q q q

Its still being drilled and developed, and itll be producing for another 50 years, no doubt.

-- Harold Hamm, founder and chairman of Continental Resources, which helped crack the Bakken, on the future of the North Dakota oil patch.

q q q

We are excited to keep the history of the Silver Dollar alive while preserving the name.

-- Zachary Wanner, manager of the well-known bar on Mandan's Main Street, which has reopened under new ownership.

q q q

Thats a big, big project for us. We want people to sense the Western heritage, whether theyre from the east or west. We want it to be iconic. We want it to be a statement facility.

-- Randy Hatzenbuhler, president of the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation, on the planned Western Heritage project, which is to include a hotel, a new rodeo arena complex and a cabin resort for visitors.

q q q

The new facility will provide a more proficient and effective use of space because it was designed with the needs of Public Health and our clients in mind.

-- Renae Moch, director of Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health, which has moved into a newly constructed $10 million building.

q q q

"We are trying to take proactive steps to prevent a preventable budget crisis, if we don't take these steps now."

-- Stephen Easton, president of Dickinson State University, which is moving forward with a major campus reorganization that is to include program cuts and the elimination of some tenured faculty.

q q q

Im a great believer that public records are important for the public to learn whats going on, both in government and in their own court system. And the way they can find that out is through access to the records and the meetings. The more that the public can understand how the court system works, the more theyll agree with the court system."

-- North Dakota Newspaper Association attorney Jack McDonald, advocating for openness in the court system.
Take a time machine to grindhouse-era sleaze at the Nighthawk in Williamsburg, which is showing The Honeymoon Killers (Aug. 23), a 1970 thriller based on the lives of Martha Beck and Ray Fernandez, otherwise known as the Lonely Hearts Killers.

Laptop, schmaptop: See it big in See It Big, a series dedicated to 70-millimeter films now at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens. The disaster film is a horror-adjacent genre that warms my fear-seeking heart, so Id go with a progenitor: Airport, (Aug. 25-26), the 1970 camp-as-heck drama with a starry cast that includes Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin and Jacqueline Bisset.

Brooklyns Spectacle Theater is known for its out-in-left-field repertory programming. Its Dark Side of Summer series hits a Gen X home run with Cutting Class (Aug. 19 and 24), a wacky 1989 high school slasher-comedy starring a baby-faced Brad Pitt and a sourpussed Roddy McDowall.

What better way to cool down in the sweltering August heat than by watching two chilling black-and-white gay serial killer flicks? Thats how Anthology Film Archives bills its experimental double feature on Aug. 18, part of the Narrow Rooms series of subversive queer cinema. On tap are Dead Dreams of Monochrome Men (1989), a wordless cinematic adaptation of a theater piece about the serial killer Dennis Nilsen, and Pig (1998), a short film about a ritual murder.
Red, White & Royal Blue waits just seven and a half minutes to get to the good stuff, and by that Im not referring to the movies big romance, between a hot British prince and the hot son of the American president, but to its even bigger accent, a syrupy Southern drawl from Uma Thurman that may be this seasons most audacious special effect. Imagine Gina Gershon in Showgirls crossed with Ross Perot and youll get halfway there  the rest of the distance must be traveled holding a mint julep thats in constant, delicious danger of spilling.

President Uma Thurman (the actual character name is incidental, since you will never not be thinking President Uma Thurman when shes onscreen) is introduced accent-first, with her back to the camera, because encountering this voice head-on would surely be too much for the unprepared Prime Video viewers who stumbled upon the movie after bingeing Bosch. We meet her as shes busy lecturing her hot son about his initial clash with the hot prince. Darlin, President Uma Thurman says, yewve dun some pretty stupid things in yur day, buh this 

To say my ears perked up is an understatement: It was as though Arianna Huffington had appeared before me reciting a monologue from True Blood. This is not an accent you should attempt while operating heavy machinery, but Thurman ladles it on so thick that you have to admire the movie-star chutzpah. I even started to miss her whenever Red, White & Royal Blue cut back to the hot boys romantic misadventures: Why are we spending time on these tedious hunks when the most suspenseful thing about the movie is how President Uma Thurman will pronounce any given word?
I am very sorry for my actions, he said. When we sold the drugs, we never intended for anyone to lose their life.

In announcing her sentence, Judge Ronnie Abrams acknowledged that it could have been any of the other three men charged along with Mr. Cartagena who handed Mr. Williams the fatal drugs. However, she said, Mr. Cartagena knew the heroin was laced with fentanyl when he sold it, while Mr. Williams was unaware.

The harm from that sale was very clear and very tragic, she said.

The length of the sentence, she added, is intended to serve as a deterrent to both Mr. Cartagena, who has been convicted of drug charges in the past, and to others who sell fentanyl, which has led to many deaths across the country in recent years.

Its got to stop, she said.

Mr. Cartagena, who is also known as Green Eyes, was first introduced to heroin when he was about 13 years old and living in Puerto Rico, where he grew up, his lawyer, Sean M. Maher, said in court. He was struggling with school and spending more and more time on the streets in order to avoid a tumultuous and violent family life, Mr. Maher said.
Since New York State legalized marijuana two and a half years ago, its effort to set up the industry has been a slow and bumpy ride.

By now, there were supposed to be more than 150 licensed dispensaries in the state selling products like edibles, smokable flower and vapes to everyone 21 and above. But  and this may come as a surprise to anyone seeing the bevy of smoke shops that have cropped up across the state  there are only 23 legal dispensaries, and many of them only offer deliveries.

The latest setback for the expansion of the retail program occurred this month when a state court order temporarily barred regulators from awarding and processing licenses for new stores. On Friday, a judge replaced the order with an injunction that carves out an exception allowing stores that were just waiting for the final green light to open.

Heres why a state judge put licensing on hold, and what it could mean for the future of the industry.
He and an industrial designer named Colin Kelly came up with four prototypes called Splash Spots that have eye appeal. They look like outsized clown noses without the clowns, or perhaps surveillance cameras without the cameras.

They make for a fun, innovative urban moment, said Jeffrey LeFrancois, the executive director of the Meatpacking District Management Association, the business improvement district for that neighborhood.

How much water would their devices save?

Kelly said that an open hydrant spews an insane amount of water  the Fire Department Foundation put it at 1,000 gallons of water a minute, as much in an hour as a family of four uses in a year, it said. The Fire Department worries about low water pressure when hydrants are open, a potentially serious problem when a call comes in and fire trucks go out.

Sprinkler caps, which firehouses can make available on request, cut the flow to 25 to 30 gallons a minute, by Kellys calculations.

Splash Spots send out about half that, and unlike the Fire Departments sprinkler caps, they can be turned on and off, saving even more when a sprinkler is not needed. I was out for a run over the July 4 weekend, and I passed a street with a hydrant with a spray cap, Gordon said. It was open and spraying, but no one was there.
Three different prosecutors want to put Donald J. Trump on trial in four different cities next year, all before Memorial Day and in the midst of his presidential campaign.

It will be nearly impossible to pull off.

A morass of delays, court backlogs and legal skirmishes awaits, interviews with nearly two dozen current and former prosecutors, judges, legal experts and people involved in the Trump cases show. Some experts predicted that only one or two trials will take place next year; one speculated that none of the four Trump cases will start before the election.

It would be virtually unheard of for any defendant to play a game of courthouse Twister like this, let alone one who is also the leading contender for the Republican nomination for the presidency. And between the extensive legal arguments that must take place before a trial can begin  not to mention that the trials themselves could last weeks  there are simply not enough boxes on the calendar to squeeze in all the former presidents trials.

This is something that is not normal, said Jeffrey Bellin, a former federal prosecutor in Washington who now teaches criminal procedure at William & Mary Law School and believes that Mr. Trump might only be on trial once next year. While each of the cases seems at this point to be strong, theres only so much you can ask a defendant to do at one time.
The image of Mr. Meadows somewhere surreal and incorrect and just partly visible is a fitting one. The man is everywhere and nowhere: Across hundreds of pages of indictments filed in recent months, his name appears only about a dozen times.

But hes played an indirect role in some of our best understanding of what happened in the months leading up to Jan. 6. He complied, partially, with a select committee subpoena, handing over text messages that included everything from Ginni Thomass ecstatic, emotional messages about the election to the desperate ones from Fox News hosts and Donald Trump Jr. on the day of Jan. 6. Cassidy Hutchinson, whose testimony broke down the frayed and chaotic final days of the Trump White House, served as Mr. Meadowss aide. And in the audio where Mr. Trump jokes about classified documents and ruffles papers around, hes reportedly talking to Mr. Meadowss ghostwriter.

Mr. Meadowss presence in the events leading up to Jan. 6 and absence from public life since have made him into a visible ghost, whose actions and intentions can only be pieced together (sometimes inexplicably) through fragments of texts and the testimony of other people.

Many Americans probably heard about Mr. Meadows first during one of the wilder periods of the Trump White House: After Mr. Trumps White House doctor spoke weirdly about the presidents Covid prognosis outside Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Mr. Meadows spoke as a source familiar to a group of reporters and said that Mr. Trump was still not on a clear path to a full recovery  while not realizing he was on camera. Then, later in the day, he contradicted his remark to say that Mr. Trump was doing very well.

Why did he do any of this? Its still not totally clear. At the time, the writer Tim Alberta noted various theories. Was Mr. Trump actually in bad shape in the hospital and Mr. Meadows thought people should know? Was there some kind of advantage in people thinking Mr. Trump was in worse shape than he actually was? Was Mr. Meadows overwhelmed? Was he just compelled, in the way some people are, to just  agree with the premise of reporters questions?
This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email transcripts@nytimes.com with any questions.

My name is Charles Blow. Im an op-ed columnist at The New York Times. I write about politics, culture, and inequality. And I believe that if Black people simply returned to the South, they could significantly increase their own political power, which has the potential to not only upend the politics of that region, but also of the country as a whole.

There is no way to truly have power in the country if you do not also have access to state power. And there is right now no state in the country where Black people are a majority, and not one where they are projected to be a majority. And that powerlessness is something that I detest. [MUSIC ENDS]

At the end of the Civil War, three Southern states were majority Black. Another three were very close to being majority Black. And it had a tremendous impact on the politics of the region and of the country. But millions of Black people during the Great Migration migrate largely from the rural South to primarily cities in the North and West. [MUSIC PLAYING]

There were a lot of amazing things that came out of the Great Migration. But there were some negatives as well  the rise of racialized, chronic ghettos in urban areas, intense concentrated poverty, militarized policing. And over time, many Black people just became disenchanted with these cities. And now it continues to show up in demographic data that Black people are leaving Northern and Western cities for the South.

The case I make for reverse migration, because its already happening, is to apply to it or infuse it with a kind of political framing to give it a definition, to give it shape, because right now, it is without that. Its devoid of that. The Great Migration had it. There were champions of the Great Migration. Black newspapers in the North actively recruited Black people to move North. There is no parallel phenomenon now. And I am hoping to fill that void.
Giuliani never acknowledged or condemned the racism of the police riot. And why would he? His performance galvanized supporters and almost certainly contributed to his narrow victory over Dinkins in his rematch with the incumbent mayor in 1993.

What does any of this have to do with the Rudy Giuliani of 2023? Well, if we think of Giuliani as the personification of American resilience in the face of terrorism, then his turn against democracy and the rule of law is bewildering and inexplicable. But if we think of Giuliani as the scowling demagogue who stoked the flames of chauvinism and racial hatred against New Yorks first Black mayor for his own gain, then theres little other than his carefully crafted image in the press that separates the Giuliani of 92 from the Giuliani of 23.

And thats the point. Even at the moment of his greatest political triumph, Giuliani was a fraught and divisive figure. It was the press that labeled him Americas mayor. That the epithet continued to stick through the subsequent decade, in the face of scandal and political failure, is only a testament to the persistence of myth in American political coverage, because it is only after internalizing the myth of Giuliani that anyone could be shocked by his steadfast allegiance to Trump.

With clear eyes, it is easy to see that the two men are of a type. They share the same demagogic instincts, the same boundless resentment, the same authoritarian manner  it is not for nothing that Giuliani reportedly tried to get the 2001 mayoral election canceled so that he could stay in office beyond the limit on his term  and the same willingness to indulge in racism and use it for their own political purposes.

If there is a question to ask in the wake of Giulianis indictment, it isnt What happened to Rudy? but rather, why was it so hard for so many people to see the truth of who, and what, he always was?
You hear two stories about how private companies raise money to grow. One is that the regulations on them are too restrictive, depriving the nation of innovation and jobs. The other is that the regulations are too loose, harming naive investors.

A new study makes a pretty strong case for the too loose story, at least in the case of one class of investors: employees of those private companies. You might not think of employees as investors, but they definitely are if they are paid with stock options, warrants or other forms of equity compensation.

Employees can be surprisingly uninformed about the value of the stock options theyre granted, even if the options account for a big share of their compensation. Their lack of knowledge exposes them to potential mistreatment by their employers, who can structure compensation in a way that benefits top management and big outside investors at the expense of rank-and-file workers.

This is more than a niche problem. Since the 1980s there have been more and more exemptions from the securities laws that were enacted during the Great Depression to protect investors. Its easier now for companies to stay private and withhold financial information, so they do. Around 10 years ago people started calling a privately held start-up company thats valued at $1 billion or more a unicorn, because unicorns are rare  in reality, nonexistent. But there are now more than 650 of them in the United States, so unicorn is a misnomer. (Maybe can of corn?)
Footage of police in Dallas, Texas, shows officers there preventing a disabled veteran from accessing a bathroom, then laughing at him when he is forced to urinate in his clothes. Bodycam footage shows the two officers, paid as "off duty" private security while in uniform at Serious Pizza, who were later named as James Smith and Juan Figueroa Luna; more who turned up after the incident have not yet been named.

In the body cam footage, two on-duty Dallas officers walk into the restaurant and approach the two off-duty officers. "So you guys made a guy pee himself?" One of the on-duty officers, a woman, asks the other officers in the video before putting a fist over her mouth as she laughs. One of the off-duty officers says "yeah" with a smile. The other off-duty officer then slaps his knee as he laughs out loud after learning Lane called 911. "He got mad you guys wouldn't let him use the restroom and then he calls back and said it's OK he doesn't need to pee anymore because he soiled " said one of the on-duty officers before apparently cutting off the body camera.

Denying disabled persons access to bathrooms is plainly illegal per the Restroom Access Act, but Dallas police's internal affairs division has already found that the officers officers did not violate policy, and from remarks given by a lieutenant to an oversight committee it's clear that police involvement in the incident means the investigation is a dead letter. Dallas P.D. has a "code of conduct" which states an employee shouldn't ridicule, mock, taunt or belittle any person too, but, well, they obviously could not care less.
Meanwhile, Segall questions the authors claim that the amendments provisions are self-executing, that they can be applied to Trump or any other supposed insurrectionist immediately. He points out that this interpretation was already rejected in 1869 by Salmon Chase, then the chief justice of the United States, one year after the amendments ratification in the only ruling we have on this question. This is acknowledged by Baude and Paulsen, to be sure, who argue at length that Chase was wrong. But they are still in the dubious position of claiming that theirs is the true original reading of the amendment, seeking some way to deal with the problem of Donald Trump a century and a half later, rather than the reading offered at the time of ratification that has stood unchallenged since.

Then here is the point that I, a non-scholar, want to make (though I should note that Segall makes it as well): Even if Baude and Paulsen were deemed correct on some pure empyrean level of constitutional debate, and Salmon Chase or anyone else deemed completely wrong, their correctness would be unavailing in reality, and their prescription as a political matter would be so disastrous and toxic and self-defeating that no responsible jurist or official should consider it.

The idea that the best way to deal with a demagogic populist whose entire appeal is already based on disillusionment with the established order is for state officials  in practice, state officials of the opposing political party  to begin unilaterally excluding him from their ballots on the basis of their own private judgment of crimes that he has not been successfully prosecuted for  Im sorry, the mind reels. It should not happen, it would not work if it did happen, John Roberts and four more justices would not uphold it, and it would license political chaos to no good purpose whatsoever. And if the legal theorists response is that this isnt the best way to deal with Trump, its just the way that the Constitution requires, then so much the worse for their theory of the Constitution.

There is an irony here, which is that a similar kind of legal mentality influenced Trumps campaign to overturn the results of the 2020 election. John Eastmans argument that Mike Pence could interpose himself between the official results of the election and Joe Bidens inauguration was a much more fanciful constitutional argument than the one that Baude and Paulsen make. But it was similar in imagining a particular interpretation of the Constitution as something that can just be deemed correct and then imposed by a particular actor  the vice president in the Eastman case, state election officials in theirs  without regard to anything that would naturally follow in the realm of the political.

What would have probably followed from the Pence maneuver, as his own lawyer advised him, would have been either a swift smackdown from the courts or the vice president standing alone against both houses of the legislative branch. (This seems like one reason Eastmans crackbrained proposal was not a rebellion under 14th Amendment definitions; if Confederate secession could have been defeated through a quick appeal to the Supreme Court, it would not have been much of a rebellion either.)
Floating languorously through forests and jungles of the Americas, longwing butterflies have many secrets. The 30-odd species in this group include many mimics. The wing markings on some distantly related species of longwings are so similar they inspired one Victorian naturalist to theorize that harmless species could mimic deadly ones to avoid predators.

In the age of genomic sequencing, biologists have found other oddities in longwings. In a paper published last week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers report that female zebra longwings can see colors that males cannot, thanks to a gene on their sex chromosome. Understanding how it got there might shed light on how differences between sexes can evolve.

Like primates, butterflies have a handful of proteins that are sensitive to certain wavelengths of light that, working together, produce the ability to distinguish colors. Curious about the zebra longwings vision, Adriana Briscoe, a professor at the University of California, Irvine, and an author of the new paper, asked a student to check the species genome for a well-known color vision gene. The gene, known as UVRh1, codes for a protein that is sensitive to ultraviolet light. To her surprise, it was nowhere to be found.

Digging deeper, and drawing on genomic data from additional zebra longwings, Dr. Briscoe and her colleagues discovered that UVRh1 was there, but only in females. With lab experiments, they confirmed that females could see markings males couldnt. They eventually pinpointed the gene in an unexpected place: the butterflys tiny sex chromosome.
Neptune, a frigid planet decorated with supersonic storms, has been visited by only one spacecraft, Voyager 2, which zipped by in 1989. Consequently, little is definitively known about the planet, including the nature of its eccentric hydrocarbon clouds.

Until another robotic envoy pops over to greet Neptune, astronomers must rely on telescopes to decode its secrets. Interested in the nearly-naked status of the ice giant, a team led by Erandi Chavez, a graduate student now at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, set to work.

The researchers combined images taken by Hubble, the Keck Observatory in Hawaii and the Lick Observatory in California to create a 29-year photo album of Neptune going back to 1994. Then, they compared it with the suns cycles.

The sun goes through cycles of hyperactivity and tranquility, lasting from eight to 14 years, that are driven by the repeated inversion of the suns magnetic field. These cycles seem to rise and fall in sync with Neptunes cloud cover. In 2002 and 2015, for example, Neptune showcased myriad clouds, hot on the heels of peak solar activity on both occasions. Its thought that the bombardment of ultraviolet light triggers an alchemic, cloud-making reaction in the planets ethereal skies.

Conversely, during the suns nadir, Neptunes vaporous veil fades away  although it isnt known why the current dearth of clouds is so extreme compared with previous cycles.
Aria Aber and Noah Robert Warren, both poets and published authors, were familiar with each others work and had connected on social media long before they met in person.

Their first substantive interaction was virtual. In late 2020, Mr. Warren had invited Ms. Aber, a writing fellow at Stanford, to share her work for a poetry reading series that he organized at the University of California, Berkeley, where he was pursuing a Ph.D. in English.

They met in person a few months later, in February 2021, when Mr. Warren asked Ms. Aber if she wanted to take a casual walk around Lake Merritt in Oakland, Calif., where they both lived.

Ms. Aber did not regard the outing as a date, just a way for two peers to bond and alleviate pandemic boredom. Yet, she immediately felt something for Mr. Warren, she said. The pair spent a couple hours together at the lake and capped the outing by reading each other works by Polish poets.
While doing things that felt familiar to the core business, the Davids were also expanding Standard Investments, an investment arm they established, which now manages more than $4 billion. The majority of that money is invested in the public markets, in other industrial companies like Shell. But through Standard Investments, the Davids have also invested in businesses further afield, like MyForest Foods, which makes plant-based meat alternatives; Saildrone, which operates ocean drones for mapping and data; and the electric carmaker Rivian.

Given Standards early involvement in Air Mail and its many links to Vanity Fair, one might assume that Mr. Carter, 74, is the person who wooed the Davids to invest in his new media venture and then others.

But in an email from Italy, where he was on vacation with his family, Mr. Carter dispelled that idea. Asked if he made introductions to Mr. Kelly and others who received funding from Standard, or put in a good word for former employees who have gone to work there, Mr. Carter said, Not at all.

He said the person responsible for that was Hamilton South, a veteran public relations executive who has worked at Giorgio Armani and Ralph Lauren and later helped found (and eventually sold) HL Group, a communications and consulting agency with fashion and corporate clients.

Hamilton was on the front lines in this, Mr. Carter said. He brought in Beth Kseniak to handle communications and, before you know it, the place was filled with the VF diaspora.

Stylish and well connected, Mr. South, 59, is also a Vanity Fair alum. He was hired at the magazine in 1989 under the editor Tina Brown, and became one of the few staff members from that incarnation to earn Mr. Carters admiration and to stay on when he took over in 1992.
Ada Deer, a member of the Menominee tribe in Wisconsin who was a leading figure in the movement for greater Native American sovereignty since the 1960s, a role she played both as a critic of the federal government and as a top official within it, died on Tuesday in Fitchburg, Wis., a suburb of Madison. She was 88.

Ben Wikler, her godson and the chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, confirmed her death, in a hospital. She had been in hospice care since July.

Ms. Deer racked up a long list of firsts over the course of her life. She was the first member of her tribe to graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the first to receive a graduate degree; she was also the first woman to lead the Menominee and the first woman to lead the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs.

She came to prominence in the early 1970s, when she moved to Washington, D.C., to help steer the effort to overturn the federal governments policy of termination  a series of laws that since the late 1940s had restricted and in some cases eliminated tribal sovereignty in favor of integration within the rest of American society.
Californians dont typically spend a lot of time worried about hurricanes and tropical storms.

Its been nearly 84 years since a tropical cyclone made landfall in Southern California. That was in September 1939, when an unnamed storm hit Long Beach.

To those who must face it, a 65-mile wind blowing across open water is devastating, The New York Times observed at the time, adding, No one looks for heavy weather on that pleasant stretch of coast.

But no one seems to have told Hurricane Hilary that. As of 2 a.m. Pacific time, the storm, which formed off the coast of Manzanillo, Mexico, on Wednesday, was churning west-northwest toward Baja California with sustained winds of 145 miles an hour  a major Category 4 storm  according to the National Hurricane Center.

The storms angle to the coast makes it difficult to pinpoint where, exactly, Hilary will make landfall, but forecasters are confident that the storm will continue on its current trajectory, turning north today and moving up the west coast of Baja California. Forecasters say Hilary will probably weaken over the weekend as it moves over colder waters, and be downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it reaches the United States.
Lolita, an orca at the Miami Seaquarium that had entertained guests for more than 50 years before the park bowed to public pressure and planned to release it into the ocean, died on Friday.

The orca, also known as Tokitae and Toki, had shown serious signs of discomfort over the past two days before she died of what was believed to be a renal issue, the Miami Seaquarium said in a post on Facebook.

Toki was an inspiration to all who had the fortune to hear her story and especially to the Lummi nation that considered her family, the Seaquarium said. Those of us who have had the honor and privilege to spend time with her will forever remember her beautiful spirit.

Under pressure from animal advocates who protested against the Seaquarium, officials there announced in February that it was preparing to return Lolita to the ocean. The Dolphin Company, which owns the aquatic park, said in March that relocating Lolita would happen in about 18 to 24 months.
Before fire tore through the Hale Mahaolu Eono senior-living complex, trapping a man in his wheelchair and forcing a 95-year-old grandmother to flee through a blizzard of embers, before it killed two close friends and left neighbors missing, people felt lucky to live there.

The independent-living complex in Lahaina was one of the few housing options for low-income older adults on Maui, where soaring rents have forced more and more seniors into homeless shelters or onto five-year waiting lists for subsidized housing.

At Eono, residents said they paid as little as $150 a month for palm-fringed one-bedrooms overlooking the Pacific. They held group barbecues and monthly birthday celebrations. They felt like they had found stability on an island where many elders  known in Hawaiian as kupuna  had been priced out after a lifetime of raising families and serving tourists.

If you got in there, you won the lottery, said Sanford Hill, 72, a photographer who grew up on Oahu and spent two years homeless before he landed a spot at the complex. You stay till you die.
President Biden welcomed his counterparts from Japan and South Korea to Camp David on Friday morning as he seeks to cement a newly fortified three-way alliance, bridging generations of friction between the two Asian powers to forge mutual security arrangements in the face of an increasingly assertive China.

Mr. Biden greeted Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan and President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea at the presidential retreat in Maryland, the first time he has invited foreign leaders there and the first time the leaders of the three countries will have met in a stand-alone session rather than on the sidelines of larger international gatherings.

Strengthening the ties between our democracies has long been a priority for me, dating back to when I was vice president of the United States, Mr. Biden told the other leaders in a televised introductory session. Thats because our countries and the world would be safer if they stand together. He added, I want to thank you both for your political courage that brought you here.

The others echoed the sentiments. Today will be remembered as a historic day, Mr. Yoon said. Mr. Kishida agreed, saying the fact that the three could get together means that we are indeed making a new history as of today.
Back in 2006 here at Boing Boing, Cory Doctorow shared this Laughing Song from Chinese Kids' TV, which, as he explained, featured "adorable Chinese children laughing and laughing and laughing and laughing until you want to stick forks in your eardrums."

Well, here's another, much older Laughing Song, which was recorded in 1904 by Norwegian actor Henry Klauser. Public Domain Review explains:

In this novelty recording by the Norwegian actor Henry Klauser, a mournful refrain gradually gives way to laughter. According to The Incredible Music Machine(1982), the record found a perhaps unlikely fan in the form of the fifth Qajar king of Persia, Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar.

It's definitely creepier than the one from Chinese Kids' TVin the middle I found myself laughing along but by the end I just wanted someone to make it stop. Click here to listen for yourself!
The new three-way security pact sealed by President Biden and the leaders of Japan and South Korea at Camp David on Friday was forged with threats by China and North Korea in mind. But there was one other possible factor driving the diplomatic breakthrough: Donald J. Trump.

While the former presidents name appeared nowhere in the Camp David Principles that the leaders issued at the presidential retreat, one of the subtexts was the possibility that he could return to power in next years election and disrupt ties with Americas two closest allies in the Indo-Pacific region.

Both Japan and South Korea struggled for four years as Mr. Trump threatened to scale back longstanding U.S. security and economic commitments while wooing China, North Korea and Russia. In formalizing a three-way alliance that had long eluded the United States, Mr. Biden and his counterparts hoped to lock in a strategic architecture that will endure regardless of who is in the White House next.

This is not about a day, a week or month, Mr. Biden said at a joint news conference with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan and President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea. This is about decades and decades of relationships that were building. The goal, he added, was to lay in place a long-term structure for a relationship that will last.
If Gov. Ron DeSantis follows political consultants advice to defend former President Donald J. Trump during the first Republican presidential debate next week, then he should get the hell out of the race, former Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey said on Friday, poking Mr. DeSantis from his home state of Florida.

He should do Donald Trump a favor and do our party a favor, come back to Tallahassee and endorse Donald Trump, Mr. Christie said to applause before a friendly crowd in South Miami. The only way to beat someone, he added, is to beat him.

Mr. Christie mocked a strategy memo, internal polling and other data published online by a firm associated with a super PAC that has effectively taken over Mr. DeSantiss campaign. With unusual bluntness, the documents suggested that Mr. DeSantis defend Mr. Trump against Mr. Christies expected debate attacks. The documents advised Mr. DeSantis to credit Mr. Trump for his accomplishments, but add that it is time for a new standard-bearer.

Mr. Christie stepped up his criticisms of Mr. DeSantis in a pair of South Florida campaign appearances, as it seemed increasingly likely that he would not get the debate-stage confrontation with Mr. Trump he had been spoiling for  and that he would instead have to settle for the next highest-polling rival. Mr. DeSantis, though leading Mr. Christie and the rest of the field, has appeared weakened heading into Wednesday.
Chinese and Russian intelligence agencies are targeting American private space companies, attempting to steal critical technologies and preparing cyberattacks aimed at degrading U.S. satellite capabilities during a conflict or emergency, according to a new warning by American intelligence agencies.

The National Counterintelligence and Security Center, the F.B.I. and the Air Force issued a new advisory to American companies Friday morning. The broad warning to industry said that foreign intelligence services could be targeting space firms, their employees and the contractors that serve those companies.

Space companies data and intellectual property could be at risk from attempts to break into computer networks, moles placed inside companies and foreign infiltration of the supply chain, officials said.

Foreign intelligence entities recognize the importance of the commercial space industry to the U.S. economy and national security, including the growing dependence of critical infrastructure on space-based assets, the Counterintelligence Center warning said. They see U.S. space-related innovation and assets as potential threats as well as valuable opportunities to acquire vital technologies and expertise.
The first Republican presidential debate next week was already looking like a stern test for Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, who is battling to overcome sagging national poll numbers, a fund-raising crunch and an overhaul of his top campaign staff.

Now his tall task appears towering.

On Thursday, key details about how he might approach the crucial debate were revealed in a report from The New York Times about a trove of documents posted online by a political consulting firm associated with Never Back Down, the super PAC that has in many ways taken over his campaign.

The advice on display, which included potential attack lines and debate tactics, could be somewhat condescending  reminding Mr. DeSantis, for example, that he should be showing emotion when discussing his wife and children. Other parts were perhaps too revealing: suggesting that the governor attack the entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who has been gaining on him in the polls but had otherwise not been widely seen as a candidate on Mr. DeSantiss level.

The disclosure of the documents seemed to leave Mr. DeSantis in something of a no-win situation. Follow the advice too closely, and he risks walking into a political buzz saw, with his rivals painting him as overly rehearsed, inauthentic or beholden to political consultants. Ignoring it may be the likelier route  but could also leave Mr. DeSantis open to criticisms that he failed to meet expectations, for instance, by not taking down Mr. Ramaswamy.
The military judge in the U.S.S. Cole bombing case on Friday threw out confessions the Saudi defendant had made to federal agents at Guantanamo Bay after years of secret imprisonment by the C.I.A., declaring the statements the product of torture.

The decision deprives prosecutors of a key piece of evidence against Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, 58, in the longest-running death-penalty case at Guantanamo Bay. He is accused of orchestrating Al Qaedas suicide bombing of the warship on Oct. 12, 2000, in Yemens Aden Harbor that killed 17 U.S. sailors.

Exclusion of such evidence is not without societal costs, the judge, Col. Lanny J. Acosta Jr., wrote in a 50-page decision. However, permitting the admission of evidence obtained by or derived from torture by the same government that seeks to prosecute and execute the accused may have even greater societal costs.

The question of whether the confessions were admissible had been seen as a crucial test of a more than decade-long joint effort by the Justice and Defense Departments to prosecute accused architects of Qaeda attacks. The special Guantanamo court is designed to grapple with the impact of earlier, violent C.I.A. interrogations on war crimes trial, including death-penalty cases.
The News

The number of illegal crossings at the southern border increased in July after a sharp drop the previous month, calling into question just how effective the Biden administrations new policies are in curbing illegal migration.

Customs and Border Protection data released on Friday showed there were more than 132,000 illegal crossings between official ports of entry in July. That is a 33 percent increase compared to June, when there were 99,539. Illegal crossings in June had dropped nearly 42 percent compared to May, when they stood at 171,387.

While overall crossings increased, the number of single adults who crossed illegally remained about the same in July as in June. Nearly twice as many migrant families, however, crossed in July than in June.
It remains unclear why Mr. Chesebro was with Mr. Joness group outside the Capitol or how he came to be with them. A lawyer for Mr. Jones said that Mr. Jones was unaware that Mr. Chesebro had been following his entourage that day.

Mr. Chesebro was charged this week as one of Mr. Trumps 18 co-defendants in a sprawling racketeering indictment brought by the district attorneys office in Fulton County, Ga. That indictment accused him of taking part in a sweeping plot to create slates of so-called fake electors pledged to Mr. Trump in several key swing states that Joseph R. Biden Jr. had won.

Mr. Chesebro also appeared as an unnamed co-conspirator in a similar federal indictment brought against Mr. Trump in Washington this month by prosecutors working for the special counsel, Jack Smith. Mr. Chesebro wrote three memos in November and December 2020, which prosecutors used to trace the evolution of the fake elector plan and an attempt to use it as part of a broader effort to pressure Vice President Mike Pence to throw the election to Mr. Trump during a joint session of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021.

Wearing a red MAGA hat, Mr. Chesebro can be seen joining Mr. Joness group outside the Capitol shortly before 2 p.m. that day, according to the photographs and video reviewed by The Times. The visual evidence shows he stayed with Mr. Jones, Mr. Alexander and others  including Owen Shroyer, one of Mr. Joness top aides  for about an hour and a half, often filming Mr. Jones on his cellphone as the group walked around the Capitol and went partly up the stairs outside the east front of the building.

Mr. Jones and Mr. Alexander were among the first Stop the Steal activists to draw attention from federal prosecutors investigating the Capitol riot. As early as April 2022, Mr. Jones reached out to the Justice Department in an unsuccessful effort to secure an immunity deal in exchange for information. Mr. Alexander was subpoenaed by  and ultimately testified to  a grand jury in Washington that was looking into various aspects of the attack.
President Biden hosted the leaders of Japan and South Korea less than two years after relations between the two Asian nations hit a low point and despite entrenched anger in Korea over Japans decades-long occupation of the peninsula.

The warming relations between the two nations has been largely driven by a change of policy under President Yoon Suk Yeol, who took office in May 2022, and the thaw highlights how willing Korean officials appear to be to resolve or downplay traditional conflicts in order to address increasingly urgent security issues in the region, including North Koreas ballistic missile and nuclear programs and Chinas military buildup.

For years, some Korean officials and ordinary citizens have harbored resentment toward Japan for what they say is an unwillingness to acknowledge and properly provide compensation for the horrors committed in Korea during the Japanese military occupation from 1910 to 1945. Those include forced labor and the sexual enslavement of Korean women in brothels.

Many Koreans are also aware that even before the colonial era, Japan had been exerting greater influence in Korea as it was building up its military and seeking control over significant parts of East Asia.
American officials say they fear that Ukraine has become casualty averse, one reason it has been cautious about pressing ahead with the counteroffensive. Almost any big push against dug-in Russian defenders protected by minefields would result in huge numbers of losses.

In just a year and a half, Ukraines military deaths have already surpassed the number of American troops who died during the nearly two decades U.S. units were in Vietnam (roughly 58,000) and about equal the number of Afghan security forces killed over the entire war in Afghanistan, from 2001 to 2021 (around 69,000).

The number of dead and wounded reflects the amount of lethal munitions being expended by both sides. Thousands of rounds of artillery are fired every week, tanks batter buildings, land mines are everywhere and drones hover overhead picking off troops below. When close combat does occur, it resembles the battles of World War I: brutal and often taking place in trenches.

The numbers also point to a lack of rapid medical care on the frontline. Wounded soldiers are increasingly hard to evacuate given how much artillery and gunfire bookend each engagement. Unlike the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, where American forces strictly adhered to evacuating casualties within an hour to a well-stocked medical facility, there is no such capability in Ukraine.

Instead, injured troops are often thrown into any vehicle available or leave the front on foot. In some cases, the wounded and dead are left on the battlefield, because medics are unable to reach them. Hospitals and aid stations are often overwhelmed.
For months now, Vivek Ramaswamy has been crisscrossing the early primary states of the 2024 presidential cycle, attracting good crowds with offbeat proposals and a penchant for the media spotlight while gaining little serious attention from his Republican rivals.

But after a recent surge in the polls  and a newly revealed debate strategy memo from allies of Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida that singles him out  he is having a well-timed moment, before next weeks first Republican primary debate.

The staying power of the Ramaswamy Rise will now be tested by rival candidates loath to see a political novice elevated as the alternative to Donald J. Trump, the front-runner whose legal troubles have snowballed.

Polling at this stage of a primary campaign can be fickle, but in polling averages, Mr. Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur and author, has grabbed third place, behind Mr. DeSantis and Mr. Trump, the former president now facing four criminal indictments.
A pilot flying a LATAM Airlines plane from Miami to Chile collapsed in the bathroom and died mid-flight Tuesday morning. The plane was carrying 271 passengers.

The pilot, Captain Ivan Andaur, who had been with the airline for 25 years, began to feel unwell three hours into the trip, according to Simple Flying. So he made his way to the bathroom, where he became incapacitated. Other crew members tried to give him medical assistance while a co-pilot diverted the plane and, 28 minutes later, made an emergency landing in Panama.

From Simple Flying:
The top civilian official of the junta that seized power in the West African nation of Niger said in an interview on Friday that coup leaders had no intention of harming the deposed president or collaborating with the Kremlin-backed Wagner paramilitary group.

The junta has been holding Nigers president, Mohamed Bazoum, captive in his home since July 26, denying him water and electricity, and threatening to kill him if a group of West African countries were to follow through on a proposal to reverse the coup militarily.

In an interview with The New York Times, Ali Lamine Zeine, who was named prime minister by the junta earlier this month, said of Mr. Bazoum, Nothing will happen to him, because we dont have a tradition of violence in Niger. The pledge was at odds with the countrys history  a president was assassinated by soldiers in 1999.
The western Canadian province of British Columbia was under a state of emergency order early Saturday, hours after most residents of Yellowknife, a city farther north, had fled ahead of a deadline to evacuate because of a dangerous wildfire.

The wildfire near Yellowknife, the capital of the Northwest Territories, was expected to reach the city limits by the weekend. The mass migration from Yellowknife occurred as blazes hundreds of miles away threatened Kelowna, a much larger city in British Columbia.

Officials in British Columbia issued the state of emergency on Friday evening, calling this years wildfire season the worst for the province. The order allows officials to enact travel restrictions and other emergency measures.

It remained unclear precisely how many of Yellowknifes residents had heeded the order to vacate by noon. But officials said most stores had closed and that the hospital was offering only emergency care, its patients having been flown to facilities elsewhere.
Bernardo Arevalo had been enjoying a quiet and predictable life for nearly a decade with his family in Geneva, working on pro-democracy issues for a nonprofit. That placid existence ended after he returned to his homeland, Guatemala, and got drawn into politics.

Today, whenever Mr. Arevalo appears in public, he attracts throngs to hear him assail the governments attacks on Guatemalas democracy.

Flanked by a well-armed security detail after receiving death threats following the assassination last week of a presidential candidate in Ecuador  which sent tremors across Latin America  Mr. Arevalo wears a bullet-resistant vest and travels in an armored S.U.V.

Now, in what is building into a watershed moment for Central Americas most populous country, Mr. Arevalo, a Hebrew- and French-speaking polyglot with a doctorate in sociology, is on the cusp of winning the presidency in a runoff on Sunday  an implausible scenario just months ago.
After she signed the contract for her new apartment in southern China, Guo Miaomiao, 32, ran through the mental list of what she would get to enjoy as a homeowner. A leather couch in the living room. A pumpkin pendant lamp that shed been eyeing online.

And, most important, a way to defy expectations in China about the role that a woman should play in a marriage.

Ive seen too many cases, including among my relatives and friends, where the husband buys the house, and the minute the couple argues, the husband tells her to get out, said Ms. Guo, who works at a technology company in the city of Guangzhou. This gives me confidence that if I do get married, I wont be afraid of anything. Even if I leave him, I can live independently.

Ms. Guo is one of a growing number of unmarried Chinese women buying property  a trend that strikes at one of Chinese societys most deeply rooted gender norms. For centuries, men, no matter their income level, have been expected to own a home to be eligible for marriage. For married women, in turn, the home of their husband effectively becomes their only one, as they are no longer considered part of their birth families, or as a Chinese saying puts it: A married daughter is like water splashed away.
A private jet crashed onto a highway near an airport on the outskirts of Malaysias capital on Thursday, killing at least 10 people, the authorities said.

Video footage showed a plane appearing suddenly above the highway and crashing moments later, creating a fireball and a cloud of thick, black smoke outside Kuala Lumpur, the countrys capital and largest city.

The victims included all eight people on board, a person on a motorcycle and another in a car, Razarudin Husain, the inspector general of Malaysian police, told reporters.

Six of those on the plane were passengers and the other two were crew members, Norazman Bin Mahmud, the chief executive of Malaysias Civil Aviation Authority, said in a statement. The crew did not make a mayday call, he said.
Firefighters on the Spanish island of Tenerife scrambled on Friday to contain a devastating fire, described as the most complicated in the Canary Islands in 40 years, after it blackened forests, prompted lockdowns and forced thousands of people to evacuate.

More than 4,500 people have been forced to flee their homes since the blaze began to spread early on Wednesday in a wooded and mountainous region in the islands north, where firefighters and troops from the Spanish armed forces have been struggling to limit the spread of the flames and divert them away from nearby settlements and homes.
On just the fifth day of the war, Mykhailo Yavorsky decided to pay a visit to a local military enlistment office, not to enlist in the battle against the invading Russian forces but to explain why he could not.

Please excuse me, I cannot fight, I will not shoot, Mr. Yavorsky, 40, said he told the officers last year. I can help you with something else.

Mr. Yavorsky said he wanted to support Ukraine but only in accordance with biblical principles. His pleas fell on deaf ears, however, and he was later sentenced to a year in prison, one of about a dozen Ukrainians seeking an alternative to military service as conscientious objectors who have been prosecuted for refusing to fight in the war.

While these cases are few  and frequently dismissed by Ukrainians as a cloak for pro-Russian sympathies or just fear  they raise questions about respect for human rights in a country that up until the full-scale invasion allowed for alternative service on religious grounds. They also shed light on the delicate line between duty and principles 18 months into a bloody war.
Armenian residents of Garabagh today crossed the border in the direction of Armenia without hindrance. A total of 8 vehicles of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and 24 people passed through the Lachin border checkpoint in the direction of Khankendi-Gorus, Azernews reports.

It should be noted that Azerbaijani citizens of Armenian origin can safely cross the Lachin border checkpoint at any time of the day. All conditions have been created by the Azerbaijani side for their unimpeded crossing of the checkpoint.

This once again proves that there are no barriers on the part of Azerbaijan to crossing the checkpoint at the state border. Armenia's statements and actions regarding the border are purely provocative.
Nine officers from two California police departments face federal charges after an FBI raid collared them Thursday. The roundup of cops in Antioch and Pittsburg was the culmination of an 18-month investigation into an "alleged criminal network"a police gangwhich was earlier exposed by its use of official devices to communicate: "As many as 45 of Antioch's approximately 100 officers were placed on leave" over violently racist, homophobic and threatening texts.

"Today is a dark day in our city's history, as people trusted to uphold the law, allegedly breached that trust and were arrested by the FBI. As our city absorbs this tragic news, we must come together as one," Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe said in a statement. "Today's actions are the beginning of the end of a long and arduous process. To those that have accused me and others of being anti-police for seeking to reform the Antioch Police Department, today's arrests are demonstrative of the issues that have plagued the Antioch Police Department for decades. Seeking to reform the Antioch Police Department is not anti-police, it is pro our residents, and pro officers that have served and continue to serve with honor."

The charges include conspiracy to distribute narcotics, altering and falsifying records of a federal investigation, corruption, civil rights violations and obstruction of justice. In court immediately were Morteza Amiri, Patrick Berhan, Ernesto Mejia-Orozco, Samantha Peterson, Brauli Rodriguez-Jalapa, Eric Rombough and Timothy Williams. Daniel Harris and Amanda Theodosy were also charged, according to NBC News.

Update: A more comprehensive story from Courthouse News:


Maine Asks for Tourism Pitches Fri., Aug. 11, 2023 The Maine Office of Tourism wants proposals for a public and media relations programs to attract new visitors and boost the awareness of the Pine Tree State among the traveling public.
Rick French

French|West|Vaughan CEO Rick French, along with Melissa Etheridge, is being honored at Rockers On Broadway, an annual music event that raises money for charities including pre-professional training and scholarships in the performing arts. The Oct. 16 event, which marks its 30th anniversary, is presented by The Schoch Foundation and The PATH Fund, a leading nonprofit dedicated to performing arts education. This years concert, which will feature such performers as Tony Award winner Michael Cerveris, benefits a consortium of charities that includes Broadway Bound Kids, Broadway Cares Equity Fights AIDS, The Buddy Holly Educational Foundation, The Felix Organization, Teen Cancer America, and The PATH Fund. French is chairman of The Buddy Holly Educational Foundation as well as a member of the board of trustees of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame + Museum in Cleveland. Every year the Broadway community comes together on this special night to honor individuals who uplift and contribute to the performing arts, and having Melissa and Rick as this years honorees is something Im very excited about, said PATH Fund founder Donnie Kehr.

CLYDE, a Washington, DC-based communications firm, is recognizing National Poll Worker Recruitment Day (August 23) by committing to give any employees who register to be poll workers on Election Day a paid day off. An initiative of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, an independent, bipartisan commission whose mission is to help election officials improve the administration of elections and help Americans participate in the voting process, National Poll Worker Recruitment Day is an effort to address the critical shortage of poll workers. In line with CLYDE's mission of making a difference and impacting outcomes, coupled with the missions of our clients, we felt it was important to incentivize our employees to participate in the democratic process first-hand by becoming poll workers across the country, said Clyde senior VP Lilia Dashevsky. Our actions create trickle down effects to our clients who can do the same as they look ahead to the difference they can be making in 2024.

Abbey Bako,

Coco Schiffer

Shine Talent Group, an influencer talent management agency, opens a new hub in New York City. The agency currently has hubs in Los Angeles, Toronto and London. Senior director Coco Schiffer and head of talent Abbey Bako will be leading the New York operation. Shine has longstanding relationships with New York brands and agencies. Having two of our senior team members based locally will allow us to further these relationships and become even more integrated, operating as an extension of their marketing teams," said agency co-founder Jess Hunichen. Hunichen and fellow co-founder Emily Ward also recently announced the launch of Shine Ventures, an angel investment fund focusing on early-stage startups with strong digital engagement.
A 33-year-old British nurse was found guilty of murdering seven babies at a hospital neonatal ward where she worked, while trying to kill six others, between 20152016. She had evaded suspicious questions from doctors, who at one point were even asked to apologize to her for their concerns. But when police found a bunch of handwritten confessional notes at her house, the jig was up.

Lucy Letby, slapped with the gruesome label of England's "worst baby serial killer in recent times" by CNN, killed her victims by injecting them with air, overfeeding them, and poisoning them with insulin, according to the case. She would then come home and spill her guilty conscious onto paper, with notes such as "I am a horrible evil person," as well as "I don't deserve to live. I killed them on purpose because I'm not good enough to care for them," and "I am evil I did this."

From CNN:

Doctors at the hospital began to notice a steep rise in the number of babies who were dying or unexpectedly collapsing, the court heard. But concerns raised by consultants over the increased mortality rate of patients under Letby's care were initially dismissed by the hospital's management, the UK's PA Media news agency reported. In September 2016, Letby filed a grievance against her employers after she was relocated from the hospital's neonatal ward. She was put back on clerical duties after two male triplets died and a baby boy collapsed on three days in a row in June 2016. Later that year, she was notified of the allegations against her by the Royal College of Nursing union, but the complaint was later resolved in her favor. Doctors were asked to formally apologize to Letby in writing.  She was scheduled to return to the neonatal department in March 2017, but her return did not take place. The hospital trust contacted the police, who opened an investigation.

And soon after the investigation opened, Letby's self-incriminating notes were found. She was arrested three times between 20182020.

"Lucy Letby sought to deceive her colleagues and pass off the harm she caused as nothing more than a worsening of each baby's existing vulnerability," said Pascale Jones of the Britain's Crown Prosecution Service.

"In her hands, innocuous substances like air, milk, fluids  or medication like insulin  would become lethal. She perverted her learning and weaponised her craft to inflict harm, grief and death."

Letby will be sentenced on Monday.
Florida Republican Matt Gaetz is angry at Tanya Chutkan, the federal judge who will be overseeing former president Donald Trump's trial for his part in trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

"It is deeply concerning to see a United States District Court judge show such blatant impropriety from the bench," Gaetz told Fox News Digital. "Judge Tanya Chutkan's impracticality of her tough sentencing of Jan. 6th defendants, despite openly supporting the violent Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, showcases not only a lack of impartiality but also a disregard for the sacred duty of a judge to uphold justice fairly."

Matt Gaetz, of course, has lashed out before at what he described as "over-educated women" on Twitter, complaining about their interest in abortion rights and their presence in American political discourse: "How many of the women rallying against overturning Roe are over-educated, under-loved millennials who sadly return from protests to a lonely microwave dinner with their cats, and no bumble matches?"

Jack Crosbie, at Rolling Stone:

Sexism in the Republican Party isn't new or particularly revelatory; the GOP made limiting the rights of women a de facto policy for years before Trump took power. But as the modern culture war intensifies, it's clear that unvarnished sexism will be a common bedrock conservatives like Gaetz fall back on. Gaetz's tweet hits several familiar notes. "Over-educated" invokes the specter of "Marxist" colleges. He references "millennials" to pander to boomers who think the generation they sabotaged is weak and pretentious. "Lonely microwave dinner with their cats" derisively refers to feminists as undesirable. It's extremely basic stuff, but like most of the GOP's other smooth-brained social platforms, it plays because it conveniently helps onlookers treat street protests like the irrational actions of an irrelevant minority, allowing them to discount the participants as human beings whose opinions and experiences matter.

Matt Gaetz, of course, was a long-time sex trafficking suspect over his relationship with an underage girl.
Bengaluru: As Sun Blinks From Amid Clouds, Scientific Community, Students Witness Zero Shadow Day

Bengaluru

oi-PTI

As young space enthusiasts gathered at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIAP) here on Friday to witness the 'Zero Shadow Day', they feared that the cloudy skies would cast a shadow on the rare celestial event.

Zero Shadow Day or No Shadow Day is a phenomenon during which the sun is positioned directly overhead causing no shadows to be formed on the earth's surface.

However, the clouds provided a 45-second window for the sun to blink at the nick of the moment before hiding, much to the delight of students and the scientific community.

The IIAP, Bengaluru had organised the event on its premises in Koramangala this afternoon. A large number of students had gathered to have a glimpse of 'Zero Shadow Day', which occurred exactly at 12:20 pm in the city.

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For the past few days sun was shining bright but on Friday dark clouds hovered over the sky, threatening to mar the rare phenomenon.

Yet, with hopes that the phenomenon would occur, the scientific community made all the arrangements. Various equipment needed for demonstration were put on display under the open sky, which included a small pole placed 90 degrees horizontally. Further, there were three plates on which 'IIAP' was written using dot matrix, placed parallelly on a table.

As the sun peeped through the clouds exactly at 12.20 pm, its rays filtered through the holes without any obstacle, and formed IIAP written on the table.

Astrophysicist Dr Niruj Mohan Ramanujam told the crowd that the unique celestial event transpires twice a year in Bengaluru. The same event can be witnessed all over South India on different dates. Among those who witnessed the event were space curators and enthusiast like Narendra, who traveled to Bengaluru from far flung areas to enjoy scientific explorations.

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Story first published: Friday, August 18, 2023, 19:28 [IST]
Bengaluru: As Sun Blinks From Amid Clouds, Scientific Community, Students Witness Zero Shadow Day

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Weeks After Spandana's Death, TV Actor Pawan Dies After Suffering Heart Attack

Bengaluru

oi-Prakash KL

A Tamil and Hindi TV actor named Pawan died after suffering a massive heart attack in the early hours of Friday, reports in the Kannada media said.

He suffered heart attack around 5 am today at his residence in Mumbai. He was just 25.

Pawan hails from Mandya district. He was the son Nagaraju and Saraswathi from Hariharapura in KR Pete taluk. His body will be reportedly brought to his native in Mandya where the final rites will be performed by his family members.

His untimely death has come as a shock to the entire family.

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Mandya MLA HT Manju, former MLA KB Chandrasekhara, former minister KC Narayana Gowda, former MLA B Prakash, TAPCMS Chairman BL Devaraju, Congress Leader Bukanakere Vijaya Ramegowda, Block Congress President B Nagendra Kumar, JDS leader Akkihebbalu Raghu, Yuva Janata Dal State General Secretary Kurubahalli Nagesh and many others have expressed their condolence over the demise.

This comes at a time when the Kannada film industry is yet to overcome the untimely demise of Spandana, wife of Kannada actor Vijay Raghavendra.

In recent years, Sandalwood has lost several youth actors including Puneeth Rajkumar (cardiac arrest) and Chiranjeevi Sarja (heart attack).
Fact Check: What happened to the emergency door of the aircraft Tejasvi Surya was travelling in

Air Hostess Sexually Harassed By Passenger On Delhi-Mumbai Spicejet Flight; DCW Issues Notice

India

oi-PTI

The Delhi Commission for Women has issued notices to the Delhi Police and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) over an incident of alleged sexual harassment onboard a flight.

The panel said it has taken suo moto cognisance of an Instagram video about the alleged sexual harassment by a passenger onboard the flight. The alleged incident is said to have occurred on a Delhi-Mumbai Spicejet Flight on August 16, the panel said. "It is alleged in the viral video that a passenger was trying to click obscene pictures of a woman flight attendant and his woman co-passenger.

It has been stated that when his mobile phone was checked, objectionable pictures of the women onboard the plane were found in his mobile," the panel said. The DCW said it has issued notices to the DCP, IGI Airport and Director General, DGCA in the matter.

The Commission has asked the Delhi Police and the DGCA to provide action taken reports by August 23. DCW Chairperson Swati Maliwal said, "Complaints of sexual harassment on flights are on the rise.

Bomb Threat On Pune-Bound Vistara Flight At Delhi Airport: Nothing Suspicious Found: Police

This is unacceptable. In this particular case, an FIR should be registered and the matter should be thoroughly investigated and guilty must be punished. DGCA must have a zero tolerance policy against sexual harassment on flights and take stringent action to prevent such incidents in the future."

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Story first published: Friday, August 18, 2023, 16:24 [IST]
Bomb Threat On Pune-Bound Vistara Flight At Delhi Airport: Nothing Suspicious Found: Police

India

oi-PTI

Authorities at the Delhi airport on Friday searched a Vistara aircraft, which was to leave for Pune, following a bomb threat but nothing suspicious was found, police said. In a statement, Vistara said flight UK971 had been delayed due to "mandatory security checks".

A senior Delhi Police officer said a threat call received at the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) control room in Gurugram was transferred to them through the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).

Following the call, search and combing operations were launched. "The passengers were deboarded and we checked the aircraft from inside and outside but nothing suspicious was found. A case is being registered and further investigation is underway," the officer said.

Flight UK971 was to depart at 8:30 am, according to police. Airport security sources said the airport call centre received a call at 7:38 am and the caller said that "three bombs have been kept in flight no. UK971 parked at gate no. 42 and they will explode in an hour".

The call got disconnected immediately. All passengers and crew of the flight were deboarded and anti-sabotage checks were conducted in an isolation bay at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, they said.

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A bomb threat assessment committee (BTAC) was convened soon after and bomb detection equipment and sniffer dogs were pressed into service by the CISF while passengers' luggage was sent for a re-check, they added.

In its statement, Vistara said it is cooperating with the security agencies. "We confirm that the flight UK971, scheduled to fly from Delhi to Pune on 18 August 2023, is delayed due to mandatory security checks," it said. "In the meanwhile, we are making all efforts to minimize inconvenience to our customers including offering them refreshments," it said.

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Story first published: Friday, August 18, 2023, 14:52 [IST]
Chanting 'Jai Shri Ram', Group Beats Up Muslim Youth For Going Out With Hindu Girl [VIDEO]

Shraddha Walkar Murder Case: Victim's Father Denies Beating His Wife, Says Unaware of Daughter's LSD Use

Caught On Camera: Woman Throws Acid On Dog For 'Bothering' Cats, Leaving Severe Injuries

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

A woman has been charged with animal cruelty after allegedly pouring acid on a stray dog, causing severe burn injuries and resulting in the loss of one of its eyes. The distressing incident, which occurred in Mumbai's Malvani area, was caught on CCTV footage.

Sabista Ansari, 35 years old, committed the attack on August 17, reportedly driven by previous interactions between the dog, named Brownie, and the cats she used to care for in her building.

Reports indicate that Ansari became upset after Brownie allegedly "harassed" her cat. Despite her warnings to the dog's owners to keep Brownie away from her cat, her concerns were reportedly ignored.

The horrifying incident was captured on the housing society's CCTV cameras. The footage recorded the moment Ansari threw acid on Brownie, causing the dog to run in agony.

TV actor and celebrity Jaya Bhattacharya, along with her team, stepped in to rescue Brownie upon learning about the incident. Brownie was taken to "Thank You Earth," an NGO founded by Bhattacharya that focuses on rescuing and caring for distressed animals.

Bhattacharya reported the incident to the police and provided a doctor's certificate detailing Brownie's injuries. She expressed shock at the situation, stating, "It is shocking that someone who feeds cats would attack another animal."

The Mumbai police have registered a case against Ansari under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, IPC Section 429, Section 11 (1), and Section 119 of the Maharashtra Police Act for allegedly using acid on a dog in the Malad-Malvani area.

Balasaheb Tukaram Bhagat, a resident of the housing society, filed a complaint detailing Brownie's five-year presence in the community and Ansari's repeated attempts to chase the dog away while tending to the cats.

Numerous animal welfare organizations have condemned the incident, emphasizing the need for responsible addressing of such matters.

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Story first published: Friday, August 18, 2023, 22:12 [IST]
Get Married, We Will be Your 'Baraati': Lalu Prasad's Witty Advice to Rahul Gandhi at Opposition Meet

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CBI Challenges RJD Supremo Lalu Yadav's Bail In Supreme Court In Fodder Scam

India

oi-Prakash KL

The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday approached the Supreme Court challenging the bail granted by Jharkhand High Court to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Lalu Prasad Yadav in the fodder scam case.

The apex court has agreed to list the plea after the central investigating agency sought an urgent listing of its plea to cancel the bail of the RJD supremo.

In February, a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Ranchi held RJD Chief and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad guilty of fraudulent withdrawals from Doranda Treasury in connection with the fifth fodder scam.

The Rs 950-crore fodder scam involved fraudulent withdrawals of public funds from government treasuries in various districts of undivided Bihar.

Lalu Prasad, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison and slapped with a total penalty of Rs 60 lakh, had already secured bail in other four cases related to Dumka, Deoghar, and Chaibasa treasuries.

Investigating authorities have claimed that individuals were provided jobs within the Indian Railways between 2004 and 2009, during Lalu Yadav's tenure as railway minister, in exchange for granting or selling land parcels at discounted rates to the Yadav family.
SC Takes Cognizance Of Another Woman Stripped, Paraded Naked By Mob In Manipur, Issues Notice To Govt

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Manipur Violence: 3 Members Of Kuki Community Killed In Ukhrul District

India

oi-Prakash KL

In fresh violence, armed men fatally shot three individuals belonging to the Kuki community in Manipur's Ukhrul district on Friday.

Mutilated bodies of three youths were found following heavy gunfire at Kuki Thowai village in Ukhrul district on Friday, officials told PTI.

The incident occurred around 4.30 am in Thouwai Kuki, a village inhabited by Kuki tribals. This village is situated about 47 km away from Ukhrul town, the district's headquarters, which is primarily inhabited by Tangkhuls, a Naga tribe, Hindustan Times reported.

"According to our information, a group of armed miscreants approached the village from the hills located to the east of the village and started firing at village guards. Three people from the village have been killed in the incident. There are no reports of any injuries," the website quoted N Vashum, superintendent of police (SP), Ukhrul, as saying.

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Sounds of heavy gunfire were heard from the village, which falls under Litan police station, early in the morning, cops told PTI.

Officials said the bodies of the three youths aged between 24 years and 35 years were found after police carried out a thorough search in the surrounding villages and forest areas. Bodies of the three persons bore injury marks apparently made using sharp knives and their limbs were also chopped off, officials said.

The ethnic clashes broke out in Manipur on May 3, after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
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India's 1st 3D Post Office In Bengaluru: What Is 3D Printing in Construction?

India

oi-Prakash KL

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday inaugurated India's first 3D-printed post office building located in Cambridge Layout.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded India's first 3D printed post, saying it is a testament to the nation's innovation and progress, and also embodies the spirit of a self-reliant India.

"Every Indian would be proud to see India's first 3D printed Post Office at Cambridge Layout, Bengaluru. A testament to our nation's innovation and progress, it also embodies the spirit of a self-reliant India. Compliments to those who have worked hard in ensuring the Post Office's completion," he said on Twitter.

Know All About 3D Post Office

"In just 43 days, a 1,100 sq ft post office was 3D-printed for Rs 23 lakh in Cambridge Layout, Halasuru, slashing construction costs by 30-40 per cent", PC Mohan, BJP MP from Bengaluru Central, tweeted.

Every Indian would be proud to see India's first 3D printed Post Office at Cambridge Layout, Bengaluru. A testament to our nation's innovation and progress, it also embodies the spirit of a self-reliant India. Compliments to those who have worked hard in ensuring the Post pic.twitter.com/Y4TrW4nEhZ  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 18, 2023

The 3D-printed post office entailed a meticulous process that demanded a precise equilibrium among concrete characteristics. This involved factors such as flowability, rapid hardening to support weight-bearing capacity, and ample strength to guarantee a successful printing outcome.

According to postal officials, the post office building was constructed by construction company Larsen & Toubro Limited while IIT Madras provided technical guidance.

India's First 3D Post Office Opens In Bengaluru

The entire construction process was completed within 45 days, a significant improvement compared to the conventional method's six to eight months. Officials emphasized that the cost and time efficiencies of 3D-concrete printing technology render it a practical substitute for traditional construction approaches.

What Is 3D Printing in Construction?

Over the past decade, the term '3D printing' has generated significant buzz - and rightfully so. Originally developed for prototyping products, 3D printing technology has evolved to become a pivotal player in diverse industries.

Undoubtedly, 3D printing has demonstrated its value in sectors like medicine, aerospace, and tool manufacturing since its inception. Yet, another domain is on the brink of a potential breakthrough: the construction industry.

The spirit of Aatmanirbhar Bharat!

Indias first 3D printed Post Office.



Cambridge Layout, Bengaluru pic.twitter.com/57FQFQZZ1b  Ashwini Vaishnaw (@AshwiniVaishnaw) August 18, 2023

"Using a 3D printer to print construction structures layer-by-layer. To demonstrate the technology, researchers and entrepreneurs have off-site printed bridges in metal, concrete or polymer, and entire buildings in concrete or clay on-site.

Construction 3D printing is a method for manufacturing construction elements or entire buildings by means of a 3D printer printing concrete, polymer, metal, or other materials, layer-by-layer. The most common type of printer is based on a robotic arm that moves back and forth while extruding concrete. Other methods for 3D printing include powder binding and additive welding. Powder binding is 3D printing within a basin of powder, solidifying powder layer-by-layer to create the desired object. Additive welding has been demonstrated by printing a full-scale, functioning metal bridge in Amsterdam," as per an article on Technologycards website.

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Story first published: Friday, August 18, 2023, 16:15 [IST]
Journalist Shot Dead In Bihar; CM Nitish Expresses Concern, Opp Flays Govt

India

oi-PTI

A journalist was shot dead by unidentified people in Araria district of Bihar early on Friday, police said. Vimal Kumar Yadav (35), who worked for a Hindi daily, was killed at his residence in Premnagar village.

"The assailants knocked at the gates of Yadav's house around 5.30 am and opened fire as soon as he opened the gates," the Bihar Police tweeted. Yadav died on the spot, where the district police chief and the SHO of Raniganj, the police station concerned, rushed upon hearing the news.

"The body has been sent for post-mortem examination. An investigation is underway. Forensic experts and the dog squad have been called in. The deceased was said to be involved in an old dispute with a neighbour. All angles are being probed into," said Ashok Kumar Singh, the Superintendent of Police for Araria.

When journalists approached Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Patna with queries about the incident, he said, "I felt really sad and immediately asked officials concerned to look into the incident". "The matter is being probed and the culprits will be brought to book," asserted the CM. However, the opposition lashed out at the government and claimed the incident showed "democracy is in danger in Bihar".

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"Criminals are roaming freely while innocent citizens, including journalists, and even police personnel are being killed in Bihar," alleged state BJP president Samrat Choudhary. "What has happened in Araria is, indeed, tragic. But such incidents have become the norm since the 'ghamandia' (arrogant) Mahagathbandhan led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad formed the government in the state," said the BJP leader whose party shared power in the stage till a year ago.

Former Lok Janshakti Party president Chirag Paswan, who has realigned with the BJP-led NDA, said, "Nitish Kumar and his allies keep shouting that democracy is under attack in Bihar. But they are unable to protect the fourth estate." Referring to the killing of a police officer recently in Samastipur, Paswan said, "The common Bihari gave up all hopes from Nitish Kumar long back. But his government cannot protect even the police and the press."
Karnataka Govt To Assist Farmers With AI-Based App, Details Inside

India

oi-Sushmita Halder

With an aim to provide a one-stop solution to farmers in the state, the Agriculture Department of Karnataka announced to launch an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based app for the farmers.

Agriculture Minister N Cheluvarayaswamy on Thursday asserted that the AI-based super app will be able to guide farmers by predicting and providing information on weather and soil quality. Besides, farmers can also acquire information related to seeds, crop patterns and several other agriculture-based information in a single app.

While inaugurating the centralised farmers' call centre, Agriculture Minister Cheluvarayaswamy said, "The Agriculture Department has a lot of information on every aspect associated with agriculture. It can be fed into an AI-based app and in turn, it will process and provide information to suit the needs of the farmers. Moreover, this app will use all 14 languages."

N Cheluvarayaswamy further added that multiple helplines (about eight helplines) were set up to help farmers. But these helplines were causing more confusion than helping the farmers.

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"We, therefore, decided to merge all these helplines and set up a call centre to provide information to the farmers. All these eight helplines used to receive around 500 calls on a weekly basis. After merging all the helplines, the state will also appoint 30 employees in the first phase and slowly depending on the need, we will increase the number of lines and people as well," he said.

Farmers can call 18004253553 for assistance.

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Story first published: Friday, August 18, 2023, 17:42 [IST]
California hasn't been hit by a tropical storm since 1939. By Saturday night, the previous sentence may have to be corrected to "California hasn't been hit by a tropical storm since 2023."

Hurricane Hilary, a Category 4 storm forming off the coast Mexico's Baja California peninsula, is due to arrive in Southern California by Saturday night, bringing with it high winds and heavy rain. It's expected to peak over the weekend and die off by Monday.

The National Weather Service issued a flood watch in effect from late Saturday night through Monday evening. "Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations."

Affected areas include: Orange County Coastal Areas, Orange County Inland Areas, San Bernardino and Riverside County Valleys-The Inland Empire, San Diego County Coastal Areas, San Diego County Valleys and Santa Ana Mountains and Foothills.

From the National Weather Service:
Majority Of Muslims In India Have Converted From Hinduism: Ghulam Nabi Azad

India

oi-PTI

DPAP chairman Ghulam Nabi Azad said a majority of Indian Muslims have converted from Hinduism, adding that an example of this can be found in the Kashmir Valley where a majority of Kashmiri Pandits converted to Islam. Asserting that religion should not used to get political mileage, Azad said whoever takes refuge in religion in politics is weak.

"Some BJP leader said some (Muslims) have come from outside and some have not. Nobody has come from outside or inside. Islam came to existence just 1,500 years ago. Hindu religion is very old. Around 10-20 of them (Muslims) must have come from outside, some were there in the Mughal army," the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) chief told a gathering in Doda district.

"All other Muslims converted from Hinduism in India. An example of this can be found in Kashmir. Who were the Muslims in Kashmir 600 years ago? All were Kashmiri Pandits. They converted to Islam. All are born into this religion," the former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir said. Azad said that when Hindus die, they are cremated. "They are burnt in different places. Their ashes are placed in the river which mixes the water, and we drink that water," he said.

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"Later, who sees that the water contains their burnt ashes? People drink that water," the DPAP leader said. Similarly Muslims' flesh and bones become a part of the nation's soil, Azad said.

"They, too, become a part of this land. Their flesh and their bones become a part of Bharat Mata's soil. Hindus and Muslims both merge into this land. What difference is there between them?" he added.

Taking a dig on the use of religion for votes, Azad said, "Whoever takes refuge in religion in politics is weak. Religion should not be used as a vote bank in politics. Voting should not be based on Hindu and Muslim names." Meanwhile, senior BJP leader Kavinder Gupta agreed with Azad's remarks and said the people used to practise Hinduism before "invaders" brought in other religions.

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"The timeline given by Azad about the inception of Islam in India is true," said Gupta, a former deputy chief minister. Gupta said that unveiling the history of Kashmir would also reveal that not more than 600 years ago, there was no Muslim in Kashmir as everyone there was Hindu. It was the "invaders" who converted them to Islam and "those who refused were killed brutally", he said.

Gupta, however, cautioned against political entities misusing the situation to divide the society for political gains. He said that there is no basis for division of society on the matter because all belonged to the same society with the same ancestors, he said.
Man Opens Fire From Balcony, Killing 2, Injuring 6 Over Argument About Pet Dogs

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

A confrontation between pet dogs quickly escalated into a violent clash among their owners, resulting in a tragic incident that claimed two lives in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. According to local authorities, the unfortunate incident occurred on Thursday. Rajpal Singh Rajawat, who worked as a security guard at a bank, allegedly fired shots from his balcony at his neighbors, leading to the deaths of two individuals and injuries to six others.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Amrendra Singh provided insight into the incident, explaining that Rajpal Singh Rajawat, stationed as a security guard at a branch of Bank of Baroda, utilised his licensed firearm to open fire within a residential area governed by the Khajrana police station. The dispute that triggered the violent outburst was related to a disagreement over their respective pet dogs.

The sequence of events unfolded as Rajawat and his neighbor, Vimal Amcha, 35, were walking their dogs along a narrow lane within Krishna Bagh Colony at approximately 11 pm. The dogs became aggressive and engaged in a physical confrontation, which then led to a verbal altercation between Rajawat and Amcha. In response to the dispute, Rajawat retreated to his residence on the first floor and allegedly fired a 12-bore shotgun at Amcha.

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A distressing video recording of the incident captured Rajawat loading the shotgun and discharging a warning shot into the air before directing his aim at the street below. The shots were followed by cries of distress from the street.

VIDEO | Two people were killed and six others injured after a man, identified as a security guard Rajpal Rajawat, fired shots on neighbours following an argument over pet dogs in MP's Indore.



(Note: Audio muted due to abusive content)



(Source: Third Party) pic.twitter.com/jw8Btu9GVN  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 18, 2023

Tragically, Vimal Amcha, who was the proprietor of a hair salon in the city, lost his life on the spot, as did his brother-in-law, Rahul Verma, aged 27. Jyoti Verma, the pregnant wife of Rahul Verma, sustained a pellet injury to her eye during the incident. Additionally, six other individuals present on the street at the time of the altercation suffered gunshot wounds and have been admitted to a hospital for treatment. Among the injured, two are in critical condition.

Law enforcement took swift action, arresting Rajawat along with his son Sudhir and another family member, Shubham. Rajawat is facing charges of murder. According to reports, Rajawat, originally from Gwalior, had been employed as a security guard in Indore by a private company due to his possession of a licensed 12-bore shotgun.

The local community has been left in shock and disbelief by the tragic events. A neighbor named Pallavi Borse recounted that the confrontation escalated when the dogs involved in the initial altercation entered Vimal Amcha's residence, prompting him to attempt to drive them away.

"In the midst of the scuffle between our lane's two pet dogs, one of which belonged to Rajawat, the dogs entered Amcha's house. Amcha's brother Pramod used a stick to shoo Rajawat's dog away. This led to a heated argument between the two groups," Pallavi Borse explained, as quoted by PTI.

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Story first published: Friday, August 18, 2023, 16:46 [IST]
Passenger Allegedly Clicks Obscene Photos Of Flight Attendant, Co-passenger On SpiceJet Flight

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

A passenger on a SpiceJet flight from Delhi to Mumbai has been accused of sexually harassing a female flight attendant and a female passenger. The man, who was sitting in the first row, allegedly took pictures of the cabin crew without their consent.

The airline has verified the occurrence and confirmed that the passenger subsequently erased the photographs from his phone and issued an apology for his behavior.

A spokesperson representing the airline clarified, "During the take-off of SpiceJet flight SG157 from Delhi to Mumbai on August 2, a passenger occupying the first row was observed taking pictures of the cabin crew, who were seated on jump seats."

"The crew members addressed the passenger regarding his actions. He removed the images from his phone and expressed regret for his behavior. The passenger also submitted a written apology," the statement detailed.

Air Hostess Sexually Harassed By Passenger On Delhi-Mumbai Spicejet Flight; DCW Issues Notice

Meanwhile, the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) has taken independent notice of the incident after a video of the occurrence spread across various social media platforms.

         Flight Attendant     videos                   ,      DGCA      ! pic.twitter.com/y4aiE9fdqi  Swati Maliwal (@SwatiJaiHind) August 18, 2023

As stated by the panel, "The viral video suggests that a passenger attempted to capture indecent images of a female flight attendant and another female co-passenger. It has been claimed that inappropriate images of the women onboard were found on his mobile phone."

Swati Maliwal, Chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women, asserted, "Reports of sexual harassment on flights are becoming increasingly frequent, which is utterly unacceptable. In this particular case, registering an FIR is imperative, followed by a comprehensive investigation and just punishment for the guilty party. The DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) must adopt a zero-tolerance stance against sexual harassment during flights and enforce stringent measures to prevent such incidents in the future."

Bomb Threat On Pune-Bound Vistara Flight At Delhi Airport: Nothing Suspicious Found: Police

The Delhi women's panel has dispatched notices to the Delhi Police, the IGI Airport authorities, and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in relation to the matter. The Commission has requested information about any filed FIR and subsequent arrests made by the Delhi Police.

Moreover, the women's panel inquired whether the DGCA has taken steps to involve the Internal Complaint Committee addressing workplace sexual harassment, or any other relevant committee. The DCW has called for a detailed account of actions taken against the accused passenger and has requested an action report by August 23.

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Story first published: Friday, August 18, 2023, 18:15 [IST]
Why Is The Cauvery Water Dispute Flaring Up Again?

SC To Take Up Plea On Manipur Violence On August 25, Panel To Submit Report By Then

SC Takes Cognizance Of Another Woman Stripped, Paraded Naked By Mob In Manipur, Issues Notice To Govt

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

The Supreme Court of India on Friday issued a notice to the Manipur government, requesting a response concerning a distressing incident where a woman alleged that she was subjected to public humiliation, stripped naked, and paraded by a mob, while the police failed to intervene.

The apex court, led by a bench including Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, Justices JB Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra, directed the notice to the Biren Singh-led Manipur government. The matter is scheduled for a hearing on October 13, concurrently with the main case.

The filed petition, represented by advocate Amrita Sarkar, highlighted that women were also part of the mob that purportedly assaulted the survivor's one-year-old child. The petition further detailed that due to the violent encounter, the woman sustained fractures in her hand and severe injuries to her head.

The mob stripped Petitioner No. 2 and forced her to walk to the Deputy Commissioner's office in Imphal, where the police were present but did not help her, the plea highlighted.

Manipur Violence: 3 Members Of Kuki Community Killed In Ukhrul District

The petition also accused the Manipur police of inaction in a separate case where two individuals, including a woman, were fatally beaten by a "mob of Meitei Community."

"Petitioner No.1's father filed an FIR on 20.05.2023 concerning this incident. However, to date, the Respondent (State of Manipur) has taken no action against these radicalized Meitei groups," the plea added.

Additionally, the petition highlighted that the petitioners, belonging to the Kuki community, endured brutal torture and witnessed the killing of their family members.

The plea conveyed that the two survivors eventually reached Delhi after enduring significant hardships, where they are presently receiving medical treatment and have been uprooted from their hometown.

Previously, the court expressed deep concern about the grave sexual violence that women suffered during ethnic violence in Manipur. To address this, the Supreme Court established a committee consisting of three female judges to investigate instances of violence against women in Manipur. Furthermore, the court appointed former Maharashtra DGP Dattatray Padsalgikar to assess the CBI's investigation into cases of sexual violence against women and children, as well as other pending FIRs registered by the Manipur Police.

The two tribal women, featured in a viral video, who were publicly paraded naked and allegedly subjected to gang rape in Manipur on May 3, 2023, approached the Supreme Court. They asserted that the Manipur Police collaborated with the mob, allowing the perpetration of sexual violence against them.
35-Year-Old Woman Dies After Drinking 2 Liters Of Water In 20 Minutes In US

Who Is GOP Presidential Hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy? 10 Things To Know About Him

U.S. Consul General Chennai Christopher W. Hodges Makes First Official Visit to Bengaluru

India

oi-Sushmita Halder

U.S. Consul General Chennai Christopher W. Hodges on his first visit to Bengaluru on Thursday met with government officials, scientists, business leaders, and entrepreneurs to underscore the United States and India's strong economic and commercial ties.

Christopher W. Hodges also participated in the 30th anniversary celebrations of the U.S. Commercial Service Office in Bengaluru.

Hodges highlighted the U.S. Commercial Service Office's instrumental role in establishing robust commercial ties and facilitating collaborations. He characterized the Commercial Service as a catalyst for increased trade and investment between the United States and India.

Hodges said, "The economic partnership between the United States and India is flourishing, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs in both countries, and spurring technological innovation."

"Bengaluru is one of the United States' most important trading partners in India. The city hosts over 650 U.S. companies and is a large part of this success story, contributing to the U.S.-India bilateral trade relationship," he added.

Reaffirming the U.S. Consulate General Chennai's commitment to working with business communities in Karnataka and across South India to further the U.S.-India trade partnership, Consul General Hodges said, "U.S.-India commercial cooperation in the space, technology, renewable energy, healthcare, education, and aerospace sectors is stronger than ever. As we celebrate 30 years of the U.S. Commercial Service in Bengaluru, I can't wait to see the partnerships and prosperity that the next 30 years will bring."

U.S. Embassy New Delhi Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs Jonathan Heimer, U.S. Consulate General Chennai Principal Commercial Officer Carey Arun, and Chennai Political/Economic Chief Virsa Perkins also attended the event in Bengaluru. Other guests included an array of distinguished guests, including local and international business leaders, government dignitaries, influential decision-makers, and representatives from various industries.
SC To Take Up Plea On Manipur Violence On August 25, Panel To Submit Report By Then

Why Selective Remission Only To Bilkis Bano Convicts: SC asks Guj Govt

India

oi-Sushmita Halder

The Supreme Court on Thursday questioned the Gujarat Government over the selective remission policy for 11 life-term convicts in connection with Bilkis Bano's gang rape case. The top Court asked why the remission policy was implemented selectively and why many similarly-placed prisoners continued to languish in jail.

The Gujarat Court tried to justify the argument by saying that they did not commit "rarest of rare crime" and should be given a chance to reform and reintegrate into society.

A bench of B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan asked some tough questions to the state government as Additional Solicitor General S V Raju tried to justify the remission as per law and rules. The bench said the opportunity to reform must be given to all and not a few.

Justifying his answer, Additional Solicitor General S V Raju said Bilkis was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was gang-raped during the Gujarat riots. Her three-year-old daughter was one among the seven family members who were killed in the riots.

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Raju submitted that the crime, though heinous, should not be dangling over the convicts' heads and they should be permitted to reintegrate into society after having spent 14 years in jail. "Law doesn't say that everybody should be punished and be hanged but it says that chance be given to people to reform.

But the court appeared unimpressed. "Why then is the policy of remission applied selectively?" the bench, comprising justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan, asked.

"Why are our jails overcrowded?... Opportunity to reform and reintegrate must be given to every prisoner not only to few prisoners. But how far is remission policy being implemented where the convicts have completed 14 years? Is it being applied in all cases?" the bench further added.

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Story first published: Friday, August 18, 2023, 9:48 [IST]
Who Is GOP Presidential Hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy? 10 Things To Know About Him

Elon Musk Calls US Presidential Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy 'Promising Candidate'

International

oi-Sushmita Halder

Praising the Indian-American US Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, owner of X, formerly Twitter, Elon Musk addressed him as the "promising candidate".

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), which he owns, Musk reacted to a clip of Ramaswamy's interview with former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson.

This comes months after the Republican leader called out the billionaire's closeness with Chinese ministers after the Tesla CEO took a trip to the country. Elon Musk, who also met China's Foreign Minister, had announced that he will expand his business in the country while praising China's "vitality and promise".

Im breaking an unspoken rule in the GOP, but I call it like I see it: its deeply concerning that @elonmusk met with Chinas foreign minister yesterday to oppose decoupling and referred to the U.S. & Communist China as conjoined twins. Teslas VP in China reposted that pic.twitter.com/UD26pweilX  Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) May 31, 2023

Ramaswamy accused China of using prominent US business leaders as puppets to "advance their agenda".

"It's deeply concerning that Elon Musk met with China's foreign minister yesterday to oppose decoupling and referred to the U.S. & Communist China as "conjoined twins. Tesla's VP in China reposted that statement on Weibo in China, but curiously not here in the US," he had said.

Who Is GOP Presidential Hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy? 10 Things To Know About Him

The tech-entrepreneur, who graduated from Harvard and Yale universities, was born to Indian parents who migrated to the US from Kerala.

Musk is known for backing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' campaign for the presidency. In fact, the Tesla CEO had pledged his support months before DeSantis made his campaign official.

However, Musk's praise could indicate that he may jump ship and join the Ramaswamy bandwagon. According to a Fox News survey, the Indian-origin candidate has been shooting up the Republican popularity polls despite being a political novice.

Born on August 9, 1985, and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, Ramaswamy is the son of Indian migrants. He joins Nikki Haley and Hirsh Vardhan Singh as the third Indian-American to challenge former President Donald Trump from within the Republican Party (GOP) in the race for the White House.
What is Aspartame? 6 Things To Know About The Sweetener That May Pose Cancer Risk

Aspartame Sweetener, Used In Soft Drinks May Cause Cancer, But Safe Within Limits: WHO

New Covid-19 Variant BA.2.86 Under WHO's Monitoring List

International

oi-Sushmita Halder

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday announced that it is tracking a recently discovered COVID-19 strain, BA.2.86 after experts discovered a case of the highly-mutated strain in Michigan.

"CDC is tracking a new lineage of the virus that causes Covid-19. This lineage is named BA.2.86 and has been detected in the United States, Denmark, and Israel.

"Today we are more prepared than ever to detect and respond to changes in the COVID-19 virus. Scientists are working now to understand more about the newly identified lineage in these 4 cases and we will share more information as it becomes available," CDC spokesperson Kathleen Conley was quoted as saying.

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It comes after the World Health Organization announced it had classified BA.2.86 as a "variant under monitoring" due to its large number of mutations.

All viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, change over time, according to WHO. Most changes have little to no impact on the virus's properties. However, some changes may affect the virus's properties, such as how easily it spreads, the associated disease severity, or the performance of vaccines, and therapeutic medicines.

In a statement posted on X, WHO said more data are needed to understand this Covid-19 variant BA.2.86 and the extent of its spread, but the number of mutations warrants attention.

"WHO is tracking 3 variants of interest and 7 variants under monitoring at the moment. WHO continues to call for better surveillance, sequencing, and reporting of #Covid19 as this virus continues to circulate and evolve.".

What Is EG.5 Variant? What Are The Symptoms Of New COVID-19 Strain 'Eris'?

Dr. S. Wesley Long, Medical Director of Diagnostic Microbiology at Houston Methodist, explained that the new lineage, which has 36 mutations from the currently-dominant XXB.1.5 Covid variant "harkens back to an earlier branch" of the virus.

He said it remains to be seen whether BB.2.86 will be able to out-compete other strains of the virus or have any advantage in escaping immune responses from prior infection or vaccination.

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Story first published: Friday, August 18, 2023, 14:44 [IST]
Who Is GOP Presidential Hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy? 10 Things To Know About Him

International

oi-Prakash KL

Elon Musk on Thursday praised Indian-American lawmaker Vivek Ramaswamy, who is set to contest against Donald Trump in Republican primaries for presidential polls, calling him a "very promising candidate".

"He is a very promising candidate," Elon Musk said on X (formerly Twitter) while referring to Ramaswamy's interview with popular journalist Tucker Carlson.

Who Is Vivek Ramaswamy? 10 Things To Know About Him

37-year-old Ramaswamy parents migrated to the United States from Kerala and worked at a General Electric plant in Ohio.

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.

Vivek is married to Apoorva, a throat surgeon and Assistant Professor at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. They live in Columbus, Ohio where they are raising their two sons.

3 secular religions, race, sex and climate, have put US in choke hole: Vivek Ramaswamy

Vivek, a prominent figure in the American business landscape, has achieved recognition as a New York Times bestselling author. His first book 'Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America's Social Justice Scam' delves into the intricate workings of social justice within corporate realms. Following this success, he went on to pen his second thought-provoking work 'Nation of Victims: Identity Politics, the Death of Merit, and the Path Back to Excellence.'

Additionally, Vivek's third book 'Capitalist Punishment: How Wall Street is Using Your Money to Create a Country You Didn't Vote For' delves into the complex interplay between financial institutions and democratic processes.

Left leaning media has called him one of the "intellectual godfathers of the anti-woke movement" (Politico) and the "right's leading anti-ESG crusader" (Axios and Bloomberg). He was dubbed "The C.E.O. of Anti-Woke," by The New Yorker. These movements are now popularized in mainstream conservative thought.

In 2022, he founded Strive, an Ohio-based asset management firm that directly competes with asset managers like BlackRock, State Street, Vanguard and others, who use the money of everyday citizens to advance environmental and social agendas that many citizens and capital owners disagree with.

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.

He supported Donald Trump in the 2020 election.

Ramaswamy has actively engaged in political contributions spanning across party lines, supporting both Democrats and Republicans. Over the period from 2020 to 2023, he contributed a total of $30,000 to the Ohio Republican Party. Furthermore, in 2016, he showed his support for Dena Grayson, a Florida Democrat contending for a congressional seat, by making a donation of $2,700 to her campaign.

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Story first published: Friday, August 18, 2023, 11:12 [IST]
Why The Global Spotlight Is On The Trilateral Summit Of US, Japan, And South Korea

International

oi-Madhuri Adnal

The United States, Japan, and South Korea are planning to sign a new security agreement that would commit them to consult with each other in the event of a security crisis or threat in the Pacific region. This new agreement, known as the "duty to consult" commitment, is seen as a way to strengthen security cooperation between the three countries in the face of growing threats from North Korea and China.

The commitment does not infringe on each country's right to self-defense, but it does require them to work together to address common security challenges. This could include sharing information, coordinating military exercises, or taking joint action in response to a crisis.

The summit at Camp David is the first time that President Biden has met with the leaders of Japan and South Korea since taking office. It is seen as an opportunity to reaffirm the US commitment to its allies in the region and to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation on a range of issues, including security, economics, and climate change.

Elon Musk Calls US Presidential Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy 'Promising Candidate'

The summit is also likely to be a chance for the leaders to discuss the ongoing nuclear threat from North Korea. The North has been conducting a series of missile tests in recent months, and there is growing concern that it could be preparing to conduct a nuclear test. The leaders are expected to discuss ways to pressure North Korea to denuclearize and to prevent it from taking any further provocative actions.

The summit is also likely to focus on the growing challenge posed by China. China has been asserting its dominance in the South China Sea and has been expanding its military presence in the region. The leaders are expected to discuss ways to deter China from further aggression and to ensure that the Indo-Pacific region remains free and open.

The summit at Camp David is a significant event that underscores the importance of US-Japan-South Korea security cooperation. The commitment to consult is a positive step that will help to strengthen the alliance and to deter threats from North Korea and China.

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Story first published: Friday, August 18, 2023, 20:55 [IST]
Desperate to save his dying campaign, Ron DeSantis continues to talk about death, hoping an impossible badass image will resurrect his flatlined poll numbers.

This time, the trigger-happy Mickey Mouse stalker veered from talk about "slitting throats" to say he would make sure fentanyl smugglers illegally crossing the border are left "stone-cold dead." Easy for the brave Florida man to promise when nearly 100% of the folks illegally crossing the border are found without any fentanyl at all.

"We are going to authorize the use of deadly force against the cartels," he told a recent crowd. "If you have someone coming in with the fentanyl in their backpack, if they even break through the border wall  where there is wall  that's the last thing they're going to be able to do, because we're going to leave them stone-cold dead at the border." (See video below, posted by Aaron Rupar.)

But according to the Cato Institute, nearly all fentanyl is brought into the United States by U.S. citizens traveling through ports of entry. In fact, "Just 0.02 percent of the people arrested by Border Patrol for crossing illegally possessed any fentanyl whatsoever," the Institute reports.

At least DeSantis, shooting at his make-believe drug pushers, can pretend he hits his invisible targets with each and every blast. Go get 'em Tiger!

Front page thumbnail image: Boing Boing / Midjourney
The drone was downed near the Expo Center in Moscow, with no immediate casualties reported. It's the latest in a surge of drone attacks, with Russian officials blaming Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Iris-T air defense system was "much needed." Meanwhile, Russia said it thwarted an attack on its fleet in the Black Sea. DW has the latest.
The U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO), the nation's umbrella group of national, regional, and local Muslim associations, condemns the armed mob attacks on two Christian churches in Jaranwala, Pakistan, and Christian residents based on unverified accusations of Quran desecration.

Videos on social media showed hundreds of people armed with batons and sticks attacking the Salvation Army Church and the Saint Paul Catholic Church, setting them ablaze, while another mob attacked private homes, torching them and breaking windows, according to Al Jazeera.

We call for the authorities to investigate those who exhorted protest after the unverified claim that torn pages of the Quran with blasphemous comment inscribed on them were found near the Christian colony, the USCMO's secretary general said, adding:

"Pakistan's officials must quell lawless mob action and ensure blasphemy laws do not excuse vigilante attacks on religious minorities and their places of worship... Islam forbids all such action as a grave sin and empowers Muslim authorities to punish its instigation."

The Faisalabad district mob violence against the churches and Christian residents, with reports of Bible desecrations, comes in the wake of the recent rash of high-profile, government licensed and police-protected Quran burnings in Sweden and Denmark, and spreading in Europe, the USCMO pointed out.

Akmal Bhatti, the head of Minorities Alliance Pakistan, told the Voice of America that the crowd had torched at least five churches and looted valuables from houses their owners had abandoned after Islamist clerics made announcements in mosques inciting the mob. "Despite this, the police officers could not deploy the necessary security for the protection of the colony and the property in time," Bhatti said after visiting the affected community. "Today, we have suffered great pain and sorrow when our churches were desecrated and burnt."

Christians make up about 2% of the population, occupy one of the lowest rungs in Pakistani society and are frequently targeted with spurious and unfounded blasphemy allegations, according to The Guardian.

The Associated Press reported that Father Gulshan Barkat, who teaches church history at the National Catholic Institute of Theology in Karachi, described the blasphemy allegations as a "false accusation" and said the local mosques were also to blame because loudspeakers erected on minarets had earlier in the day called on Muslims to gather and "attack the churches and Christian community." "The emotion of our Muslim brethren flares up very quickly, even at hearsay," he said.

"Words fail me as I write this. We, Bishops, Priests, and lay people, are deeply pained and distressed at the Jaranwala incident," Azad Marshall, moderator bishop of the Church of Pakistan, said on X, formerly known as Twitter. "Bibles have been desecrated and Christians have been tortured and harassed having been falsely accused of violating the Holy Quran," he added.

The United States was "deeply concerned that churches and homes were targeted," State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel was quoted by Reuters as saying. "We urge Pakistani authorities to conduct a full investigation into these allegations and call for calm for all those involved," Patel said.

"Civil society organizations reported judges were reluctant to exonerate individuals accused of blasphemy, fearing vigilante violence," the United States said in its 2022 annual report on the human rights situation in Pakistan.

Blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan and though no one has ever been executed for it, numerous accused people have been lynched by outraged crowds. A former provincial governor and a minister for minorities have also been shot dead because of blasphemy accusations.

Rights groups say accusations of blasphemy are sometimes used to settle scores. Hundreds of people are languishing in prison after being accused because judges often put off trials, fearing retribution if they are seen as being too lenient, they say.

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"Either the United Sates Shall Kill Racism, or Racism Shall Kill the United States," S. Jonas (Aug., 2018)



Ten Commandments Tablets. Probably from the time of the first (official) translation of the Bible, early 17th cent. The first unofficial translator of the Bible into English, early 16th century, lost 'is 'ed over doing do.

(Image by DrGBB) Details DMCA



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In a fundraising email letter dated August 7, 2023, former Vice-President Mike Pence and presently hopeless candidate for the Republican Presidential nomination for 2024 --- perhaps the central figure in the saving of U.S. Constitutional Democracy in the face of the Trump Insurrection on Jan 6, 2021 (although if he had given in to the totally un-Constitutional "give us ten days" [to rig the election] proposal of Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley, even Justice Roberts' Supreme Court would not have allowed that) --- said:

"America has lost her way, but I believe returning to God and the Constitution [his emphasis in the original text] will reinvigorate the American Dream and together, we can rediscover America's promise."

Now that is a very interesting statement, on a number of levels. First, if "America has lost her way," I wonder to whose leadership, in person and in Party, he might be referring. Second, "returning to God and the Constitution." In reference to the latter, as it happens neither the words "God," nor "Christian," nor "Christianity" appear anywhere in the Constitution or are even alluded to. The word "Religion" does appear of course, but in the exclusionary sense, as in the "no religious test" provision of Article VI --- "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States" --- and the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." So, under the Constitution there is no way that "America" can "return to God," at least in the Constitutional sense, because it didn't start out there (and didn't make any Constitutional "God stops" along the way, either).

Indeed, there are several groups of people in the United States to whom this observation is of central importance. First there are the atheists, like myself, the agnostics, and the theists (many of them) who believe that religion has no place in the affairs of government (as in the banning of abortion on the "life-begins-at-the-moment-of-conception-or-near-it" belief that is always religious in nature). Second, regardless of which group one is in, one has to wonder exactly what the former V-P means by "returning to God." Let us hope that as an Evangelical Christian, he doesn't mean solely the discipline's concept of "God" or, even more broadly the generalized "Christian" concept of God.

As it happens, across its many disciplines there are certain commonalities, even though since what became "Christianity" began to form in the first century C.E., various sub-groups of Christians killed each other in truly appalling numbers right into the 17th century (see The 30 Years War which, while it ended as a political one, began as a --- nominally at least --- religious one). And then of course in this country, there are the Muslims, the Jews, the Hindus, the native religions, and so on and so forth. So, to simplify things, where might one find some commonalities, at least among the Judeo-Christian grouping?

Well, one could turn to the Ten Commandments: "According to the Book of Exodus in the Torah, the Ten Commandments were revealed to Moses at Mount Sinai, told by Moses to the Israelites in Exodus 19:25 and inscribed by the finger of God on two tablets of stone kept in the Ark of the Covenant." (Or, as Mel Brooks told us, as he brings the Ten Commandments carved in marble down a mountain to a group of waiting nomads-in-the-desert in "The 2000 Year-old Man," [at least I think that it was in that sketch] --- "God gave me 20, but I dropped 10 on the way down. Be happy.")

This gives us some commonality, at least among the various of Christian and Jewish sub-disciplines. For Jews, there are actually five of them (yes, Mike, "religion" is a complicated thing): Orthodox (with numerous sub-sets --- see Israel, and Williamsburg, Brooklyn, N.Y.), Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist, and Secular Humanist (that's mine). There are, of course, several versions of each of them. There are many versions of the 10 Commandments (see the reference at "Terminology.") Here is one of the commonly used ones:

The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:2-17 NKJV)

1. "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.

2. "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My Commandments.

3. "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

4. "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

5. "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

6 "You shall not murder.

7. "You shall not commit adultery.

8. "You shall not steal.

9. "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

10. "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's."

OK, Mike, just a few comments about "returning to God," as referred to in your letter. (We shall leave the matter of how Mike thinks the U.S., and in particular which parts of the "U.S.," have "turned away from God," for another time. We shall also leave for another time just how doing so, in Mike's sense of the meaning of the term, would benefit the nation as a whole, and all of us individuals in it.)

Before getting into the details, I will say that I have for a long time regarded the Ten as a remarkable document, whether it was "handed down by God," or was created by a group of self-educated peasants/nomads whose place of the living at the time they were written down was somewhere in the Sinai Desert. There were written codes of conduct before it came into existence, see "The Code of Hammurabi." But they were always "handed down," by rulers. This one was "handed up," in my non-theistic view, by people who wrote it to attempt to control their own conduct.

And so, let us take a look at some of the details, in the context of Mike's concept of "returning to God." As for the First Commandment, how does it relate to those of us who don't believe in God, or "God?" As for the second, the "graven image" thing has become irrelevant. In a variety of modern religions there are graven images (or two-dimensional ones) of "God" or his (or hers, or its or theirs --- see Hinduism), all over the place). As for the third, oops, Mike, I think that you had better start at home, with certain members of your own party, who curse others all the time, maybe not explicitly, but then by intent. As for the Sabbath --- ah, the sabbath.

"Honor your father and mother" is certainly a good one, one of the set that can be accepted by any member of any religion. Then we come to murder. Not doing it is good idea, of course, but Mike, your party is just making it easier and easier [e.g., the virtual end of gun control], as we see all across the country, every day. (I do not have to go into the details of how that is being accomplished here, to be sure.) Then comes adultery. Ooops! See your current Party Leader.

As for the Eighth (Thou Shalt not Steal), if it hadn't had been you (and credit must be given where credit is due), then who? You (advised by Dan Quayle, of all people [!?!]) played a major role in preventing the leader of your Party from doing precisely that --- stealing the election --- in 2020. And now he is the likeliest Repub. candidate (at least as of now) for 2024. Not much of a "return to God" (much less the Constitution) there.

As for the false witness provision, again before telling everyone else to abide by it (and it is a very good idea, one which I have tried to abide by religiously --- oops, I mean rigorously ---for my whole life), check out the leadership of your own party. As for #10, I am not going into details here.

So why have I gone through this litany, seriously? For several reasons. First, and most importantly, according to the Constitution, "God" and religion have no place in civil life in this country. But, as is VERY well-known, it is Mike's party which is hell-bent-for-leather to place them right in the center of U.S. governance: e.g., the religious-belief-based illegalization of abortion. And then, in this country, there are many different visions/versions of God (or in Hindu terms, gods), or, in the case of people like me, Not God. So, Mike, I suggest that you go back to the drawing board for the design of your central belief/concept of just what would be best for our nation, moving forward.

(Article changed on Aug 19, 2023 at 9:44 PM EDT)

(Article changed on Aug 19, 2023 at 11:43 PM EDT)
The shadow of nuclear war has re-emerged now. At the end of June Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that his country wants to join NATO's nuclear weapon-sharing program. "We declare our will to act quickly in this matter," Morawiecki said, according to Polesat News.

This is not the first time Polish authorities have publicly stated their interest in joining the NATO nuclear weapon-sharing program. The issue is still open. At present, NATO's nuclear weapon-sharing agreement is entirely centered on U.S. B61-series air-dropped nuclear bombs. The program provides for the forward deployment of these weapons in secure vaults at air bases in multiple member nations under U.S. military control.

Specific details about the program are both classified and politically sensitive for many of the participating countries, a number of which do not even publicly acknowledge the presence of American nuclear weapons on their soil.

As of last October, the Federation of American Scientists estimated that around 100 B61s in total were spread across six bases in five countries - Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Turkey. There have been estimates as high as between 150 and 200 bombs in the past.

At that time, NATO had publicly acknowledged seven members of the nuclear-sharing program, did not name them. This list is at least understood to include Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United States.

Officially, the Polish authorities explain the deployment of nuclear weapons on the territory of the country by the desire to ensure its security and protect its borders. But there are no signs of Russia's intention to attack Poland first. It simply does not need it. Unlike Ukraine, there are not so many ethnic Russians living in Poland, there are no disputed territories.

Thus, there is no real threat to Poland from Russia - unless Warsaw itself is the first to take hostile actions against Russia.

Poland takes risks asking for nuclear weapons. Warsaw has never possessed nuclear weapons and the authorities highly likely do not know how to deal with them.

At least from a technical standpoint, if Poland joins the NATO nuclear weapon-sharing program, it will need to modify its combat jets. The country already operates F-16s that could be configured for this role and is in the process of acquiring F-35As. If it were to physically host bombs inside its borders, it would also need to build the requisite secure facilities. Other relevant security and safety policies and protocols would also need to be implemented.

If not taking into account these measures that will demand huge sums of money, which country cannot afford to waste, a war with Poland with the dire consequences will become real like never before. If military bases with NATO nuclear weapons are deployed in Poland, then in the event of a global nuclear conflict, they will be first for strikes - nuclear, of course - precisely at these bases.

Many think nuclear war is impossible, but today we cannot really be sure that one day - driven by hatred, rage or fear - one of the world's leaders won't press the red button.

Maybe President Andrzej Duda, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki or Head of the National Security Bureau Jacek Siewiera expect to sit in bunkers or escape before the start of the conflict. But what about the rest of the Poles?
Nighttime weekend drivers will see the northbound lanes of the Interstate Bridge close by 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 19-20 while crews work on several maintenance projects.

The Oregon Department of Transportation will close the northbound lanes of the Interstate 5 Bridge from Oregon to Washington 10 p.m. Saturday through as late as 6 a.m. Sunday, then again 10 p.m. Sunday through 5 a.m. Monday Aug. 19-21.

Drivers will need to use the Glenn Jackson Bridge/Interstate 205 to cross from Oregon into Washington. Pedestrians and bicyclists can use the walkway on the southbound side of the bridge.

Crews will be doing electrical work and bridge deck repairs.

The Hayden Island on-ramp to northbound I-5 will also be closed during those hours.

The Hawthorne Bridge will be closed to all users Sunday, Aug. 27. Oregonian file photo. Mark Graves/The Oregonian (file)

Hawthorne Bridge to close for maintenance work next Sunday

The Hawthorne Bridge will be closed from 6 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 27 to all vehicles and pedestrians.

Crews will be greasing the counterweight cables as part of regular yearly maintenance. The closure is not weather dependent.

Motor vehicles, bicyclists, pedestrians and other users will need to choose an alternate river crossing during the work.

Visit TripCheck.com for up-to-date information on closures and detours
A Portland police officer was justified in fatally shooting Immanueal Jaquez Clark-Johnson, 30, last year, a grand jury ruled Wednesday.

Officer Chris Sathoff responded to a call about an armed robbery shortly after midnight on Nov. 19, 2022, near Southeast 50th Street and Powell Boulevard. Officers followed a car matching the description of the suspects vehicle to a parking lot near Reed College, then tried to talk to the people in the car, resulting in the shooting that killed Clark-Johnson, Portland police have said.

Neither the Portland Police Bureau nor the Multnomah County District Attorney have provided any details about the shooting. The grand jury transcripts will be made public if the court approves the district attorneys request to release them.

The grand jury heard evidence about the case from the Oregon Department of Justice and county prosecutors before returning a not true bill, meaning the jury concluded Sathoff had acted legally.

 Fedor Zarkhin

Office: 503-294-7674; Cell: 971-373-2905; fzarkhin@oregonian.com
A man accused of sexually abusing children and their mothers in the Portland area used online dating profiles to worm his way into their homes, court records allege.

Authorities are investigating at least four separate sex abuse cases against Antonio Arredondo, 37, and said they believe there are likely other victims in the Pacific Northwest who havent yet been identified.

In court documents, Washington County prosecutors described Arredondo as a drifter who met single mothers through Facebook Dating and sought to quickly move in with them because he was otherwise homeless.

These mothers are intelligent women who work full time, have housing and lead otherwise normal, productive lives, prosecutor Rayney Meisel wrote in a memo seeking to hold Arredondo without bail. He has been able to manipulate his way into their homes and into their daughters bedrooms.

Two women reported Arredondo to the Washington County Sheriffs Office and Tigard Police Department last year, but he was able to stay off the grid until his arrest Tuesday, prosecutors said.

Antonio ArredondoCourtesy: Washington County Sheriff's Office

With no attorney available to defend him, prosecutors have filed court motions pressing Oregon Public Defense Services to appoint a lawyer before Arrendondo hits a new court mandate. A federal judge has ordered Washington County to release indigent defendants 10 days after their first court appearance if they remain in jail without an attorney.

Since Tuesdays federal order, District Attorney Kevin Barton says the number of unrepresented defendants inside Washington Countys jails has dropped to less than 10, but Arrendondo is one of them.

Its the states obligation to provide a lawyer for him, Barton said. But if that system doesnt work, then we cant do our job effectively. And everything else falls apart.

In the first case, Arredondo is charged in Washington County Circuit Court with first-degree rape, sodomy and sexual abuse stemming from a yearlong relationship he had with a woman in Tigard in 2022, records show.

After the relationship broke off, the womans daughter reported being repeatedly sexually abused to a school counselor, according to court records. The girl was 8 to 9 years old at the time and Arredondo had sought power of attorney over her in case something happened to the mother, prosecutors said.

Investigators allege in court documents that Arredondo was physically and sexually assaultive to the mother as well, but no charges have been filed.

In the second Washington County case, a 10-year-old girl reported being sexually abused by Arredondo in 2022 while her mother was at the store, according to court records.

Portland police detectives also are investigating Arredondo in the rape of a woman as she was sleeping next to her daughter, and police in Dallas, Oregon are investigating Arredondo in the molestation of a 4-year-old child, according to court records. No charges have been filed in those cases.

Prosecutors said several other women have alleged Arredondo sexually abused their daughters in posts in a Facebook group called Are We Dating The Same Person?

Arrendondo was convicted of indecency with a child in Texas in 2009 for sexually abusing the 9-year-old daughter of a friends younger sister, court records show.

He is being held without bail in the Washington County Jail.

 Zane Sparling; zsparling@oregonian.com; 503-319-7083; @pdxzane

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Before Albert Escobar started bussing tables, he wasnt sure he could do it.

Albert, who immigrated to Portland from Peru in 1995, was already working a factory job when he landed a side gig washing dishes at Sammys, one of a string of restaurants owned by chef Loren Skogland and Marianne Meskel. Each month, Albert sent whatever extra money he made, minus a humongous phone bill, home to his wife, Maria Elena Diaz, and son, George.

One day, a Sammys manager asked if Albert wanted to try his hand at setting and clearing tables. Alberts English was improving, mostly through repeat viewings of The Lion King, but he was still anxious. Despite the lower pay, dishwashing offered one thing bussing didnt: Dishes couldnt talk.

Well, do you speak English? the manager asked.

A little bit, he said.

If a customer asks for water, can you refill their water?

Yes, I can do that.

If a customer asks for a box, can you get a box?

Yes.

OK, then you start next Sunday. Bring a pair of black pants, a white shirt and a tie.

During his first shift, a coworker asked Albert to bring a tray of waters to a table. But he was so jumpy he dropped the drinks directly onto a customer.

I turned red, Albert said. The (server) said, Thats OK. Focus on that guy. Say sorry and make sure he has everything he needs. At the end of the meal, that guy gave me $20 and said, Thats for you.

Albert found that not only could he do the work, he actually enjoyed it. Meanwhile, his bosses were learning to count on his punctuality. After his factory job shut down in 1999, Albert joined the staff at Milos City Cafe, the Skoglands brunch restaurant on Northeast Broadway. There he made another leap, rising from busser to server. In 2001, Elena, the couples son and infant daughter joined Albert in Portland, moving together into an apartment at nearby Northeast Seventh Avenue and Hancock Street. Elena started washing dishes at Milos as well.

More than two decades later, Albert and Elena have added a new job title to their resumes: restaurant owners.

Regulars are a longtime source of pride for Milos. Photos of regulars that were once used for advertisements the restaurant routinely purchased now hang along a hallway inside the restaurant. August 16, 2023.Beth Nakamura

Despite its heyday resting in the past, when Milos City Cafe announced a temporary closure this spring, neighbors mourned the loss of a Northeast Broadway staple known for its eggs Benedicts, Monte Cristo sandwiches and signature Hungarian mushroom soup.

But at the restaurant, Alberta and Elena were learning that the closure was more permanent than advertised.

The previous owners, Jeff and Pam (Munden), they just walked away, Albert said. I was like, Hey, I thought we were going to be shut down for a month. I know a lot of people here, customers, the neighborhood, are going to be sad. In my heart, I didnt want this to be over.

Albert started making inquiries about taking over the business. His reputation for hard work was on his side, as both the Mundens and the buildings landlords, Tom Gustafson and Kathy Schroeder, decided to work with Albert to help him buy Milos and its lease without a huge down payment, Albert said.

When Milos reopened last month, Albert brought back some familiar faces, dusted off a few old recipes and brought new life to one of Portlands oldest and best-loved brunch spots. But he also took time to reflect on the journey both he and Elena have taken from immigrants who once sold clothes and food on the streets of Peru to owners of a Portland restaurant where they got their start more than two decades ago.

For Milos regulars who have moved on from the restaurant, Elena might be the secret ingredient for its return, having spent 15 years working here as a dishwasher and preparadora, or prep cook, absorbing recipes she now recreates alongside longtime Milos cook Leovaldo Selvin.

She is why the mushroom soup now tastes like its supposed to, said Christine Gerry, the longtime Milos server that everyone around here knows as Redd. Those things changed under the old ownership. Now the mushroom soup is spot on.

After the Skoglands sold Milos, Redd moved to Zells, another beloved Portland brunch restaurant that closed last April after 40 years in business. So when she heard Albert and Elena were reopening Milos, she and Marianne had to be there for the soft opening.

And when a server didnt show up for their shift that day, Redd walked up to Albert and asked, What do you want me to wear and what time do you want me to show up tomorrow?

When I got back to the table, Marianne said, Did Albert offer you a job? Redd said. And I said no, I told him I work here already.

For Albert, part of what made the original Milos so special was the restaurants willingness to make accommodations. If crab cakes were on the menu, why not allow a customer to add them to a Caesar salad, or use them as the base for an eggs Benedict?

But mostly, Albert wants to focus back on Milos regulars, ditching the sugary array of pancakes, waffles and French toasts that recently joined the menu in favor of familiar, consistent dishes that he thinks the neighborhood craves.

The business has been here for more than 20 years, Albert said. Young people might come in once in a while, but they dont necessarily come back.

The Lloyd neighborhood has already shown its support, with residents of the nearby Holladay Park Plaza retirement community  where Albert also worked as a server  dropping by for breakfast, walkers and all.

Longtime former employee Albert Escobar has taken over Milos City Cafe on Northeast Broadway in Portlands Irvington neighborhood. August 16, 2023Beth Nakamura

Were a neighborhood place, said Redd. We want to be a place people come and eat three times a week and you can be part of their lives. And so consequently, weve raised all these children and now the children are bringing children in. The first week, we knew every single person who came just through word of mouth.

Weekends have been busier than weekdays. But even on a recent Wednesday, several tables were full of folks happy to see Milos back open, and steered by familiar hands.

Among the early customers was Deborah Meyers, who estimates shes been coming to Milos since around 2000.

Were so glad shes back, Meyers said of Redd. Shes the reason I always came  she always remembers your name.

Wine rep Carrie Anderson, who also dropped by Wednesday, had to stop and give Albert a hug.

Hes the heart and soul of the place, Anderson said. I was completely elated. He brings the personality and the heart. You can feel it.

Albert and Elena, who lived nearby for years, sending their kids to Irvington schools, have since relocated to Vancouver, where Elena still works a second job. For her, the afternoon commute is long, but Albert has a trick for beating the traffic: He gets to Milos at 6 a.m. each morning, and doesnt leave until 11 p.m.

Its the same schedule hes had since coming to America 28 years ago, working three jobs.

Only now hes his own boss.

I feel so good, Albert said. I believe anything is possible in life. I started as a dishwasher, a janitor, a busser, a server, and now I own the place. Dreams really do come true.

Details: Milos City Cafe is open from 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday-Friday and 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday-Sunday at 1325 N.E. Broadway, 503-288-6456 miloscitycafepdx.com

 Michael Russell; mrussell@oregonian.com

Beth Nakamura of The Oregonian staff contributed to this report

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Oregon improvement projects are tapping grants and other funds to preserve and upgrade existing, often historic, structures. The nonprofit Restore Oregon organization has selected 14 projects across the state to receive a 2023 DeMuro Award for Excellence, the states highest honor for the preservation, reuse and revitalization of architectural and cultural sites.

Its exciting to see that this years class of DeMuro projects demonstrate that reuse at every scale helps reduce Oregons carbon impact, said Nicole Possert, Restore Oregons executive director. Our jury selected these award recipients based on each projects positive impact on their community and for the ways in which they inspire others to keep and reuse historic places as a measurable climate sustainability practice.

The teams of architects, engineers, designers, contractors, developers, property owners, community leaders and volunteers selected for DeMuro Awards will be recognized at Restore Oregon gala fundraiser, Restoration Celebration, on Sept. 22 at Castaway Portland, a 1929 warehouse in the Pearl District transformed into an event space. Tickets are $100 (restoreoregon.org).

Here are highlights cited by Restore Oregon of the 2023 DeMuro Award winners:

4 1 / 4 1882 Harlow Hotel

1882 Harlow Hotel in Portlands Pearl District: The three-story, Italianate-style brick building, named for developer Captain John Harlow, opened as the Grand Central hotel with street-level storefronts like the East Park Exchange saloon and a barbershop.

Doors to the Harlow Block, now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, were shuttered in the 1970s. In 2019, hoteliers Ganesh and Pinky Sonpatki of Portland Value Inns introduced the renovated and seismically retrofitted historic building as the Harlow Hotel.

The foundation was strengthened, new mortar was installed around exterior brick and interior wall framing was replaced with steel posts and beams along with other reinforcement work funded in part with the National Park Services Historic Preservation Tax Incentives.

Arciform design firm, Chesshir Architecture, Heritage Consulting Group and others were also a part of the project team. Learn more at harlowhotelpdx.com.

7 1 / 7 1911 Bungalow Theatre in Woodburn

1894 Bungalow Theatre and 1905 Woodburn Historical Museum in Woodburn: The citys only surviving historic theater was built as a furniture store in 1894 and converted to theater use around 1911. The Woodburn Historical Museum, formerly known as the Woodburn Worlds Berry Center Museum, was also part of a restoration project that included the theater to form a community meeting and event space.

Seismic updates and other improvements included the facade and interior remodels. DECA Architecture, Natalys Construction and others were part of the project team. Learn more at woodburn-or.gov/museum.

7 1 / 7 1907 Hotel Grand Stark

1907 Hotel Grand Stark in Southeast Portlands Buckman neighborhood: The four-story brick building that occupies a quarter block in the East Portland Grand Avenue Historic District, as recognized by the National Register of Historic Places, has housed Hotel Gayosa, renamed the Chamberlain Hotel and for 79 years, Shleifer Furniture.

Beam Development and Urban Development + Partners hired Works Progress Architecture in their goal to renovate not raze the distressed building.

The National Park Services Historic Preservation Tax Incentives were used to make seismic upgrades that included a new foundation with micro piles, two large seismic brace frames at the ground-floor perimeter, new shear cores and a series of strong backs and tension ties to support existing brick. Palisociety operates the hotel; Grand Amari and Little Bitter Bar by Olympia Provisions are onsite. Learn more at palisociety.com/hotels/hotel-grand-stark.

10 1 / 10 1910 SERA Portland Headquarters

1910 SERA Portland Headquarters in downtown Portland: The five-story building, designed by Seattle-based architect Charles Aldrich, was a department store under various names including Olds, Wortman & King, until doors closed in 1974. Bill and Sam Naito bought the building in 1976 and converted it into the Portland Galleria indoor shopping mall that includes Target.

The renovated buildings upper floors are now architecture firm SERAs Portland Headquarters.

Improving comfort and performance while retaining original character as well as equity and sustainability guided decisions on the renovation of the National Register-listed building.

Adapting the old building saved almost 80% of embodied carbon of new construction. Upgrades are expected to reduce operational carbon emissions by half through 2050. The building qualified for a $500,000 incentive through Energy Trust of Oregons Path to Net Zero program.

Unico Properties, KPFF Consulting Engineers and Fortis Construction.com were also a part of the project team. Learn more at seradesign.com.

1911 Fountain Place Apartments in downtown Portland.Nick Grier, Lorentz Bruun Construction, Peter Meijer

1911 Fountain Place Apartments in downtown Portland: A spacious, new form of multifamily dwellings, called apartment houses, showed up in Portland a year before the citys biggest promotional campaign, the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition. Millions of people lured by the months-long fair saw the newly spruced-up city and many decided to stay, causing an unprecedented need for housing.

The original Wheeldon Annex, named after first manager Alice Wheeldon and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was designed by Portland architecture firm MacNaughton and Raymond in the Italian Renaissance Revival style.

Affordable housing and equity were a focus of the project to improve the building owned by Home Forward and managed with Pinehurst Management.

Lorentz Bruun Construction and Peter Meijer Architect collaborated on a full building redevelopment to improve safety, seismic compliance and occupant comfort, while retaining historic character. Learn more at homeforward.org.

6 1 / 6 Union School District buildings restoration

Union School District structures in Northeast Oregon: The 1911 Union High School was designed in the American Renaissance style and is a primary contributing building to the Union Main Street National Historic District.

In November 2019, the Union community passed a bond to improve safety, efficiency and accessibility in school facilities. The project budget was shared between Union High School and three other buildings not included in the historic district designation: the 1935 J.F. Hutchinson Elementary, 1950 Gymnasium and 1957 S.E. Miller Elementary.

Given the age of the buildings, the magnitude of deferred maintenance and the limited budget, the District had to make tough choices to prioritize project scope. Special attention was paid to addressing Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility, creating a community gathering space, executing creative seismic upgrades and prioritizing energy efficiency.

The project team included Wenaha Group construction management, BLRB Architects, Walker Structural Engineering and others. Learn more at union.k12.or.us.

4 1 / 4 1914 Oregon Supreme Court Rehabilitation

1914 Oregon Supreme Court Building in Salem: The first building solely dedicated to state Supreme Court matters in Oregon and the oldest surviving government building on the Capitol Mall in Salem is also the best example of Oregon state architect William Christmas Knightons work in the Beaux-Arts style.

Home to the Oregon Supreme Court, Oregon Court of Appeals and State Law Library, the three-story landmark is adorned in terra cotta, marble, mahogany and an abundance of classical detailing. Also historically significant is a stained-glass skylight in the courtroom created by Povey Brothers Art Glass Works, Oregons first decorative window company and known as the Tiffany of the Northwest.

Modernization by Hennebery Eddy Architects, Forell-Elsesser Engineer, Hoffman Construction and others on the project teach resulted in a safer, more accessible work environment as well as energy efficiency seismic resilience. Salvage and reuse of materials were employed where possible to adhere to the Secretary of the Interiors historic preservation standards and exceed Oregons energy-wise SEED requirements.

Successfully listed in the National Register of Historic Places as a result of this project, this building is one of only two Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold-certified historic base-isolated buildings in the nation and the first in Oregon. Learn more at courts.oregon.gov.

6 1 / 6 1921 The Pickle Factory

1921 Pickle Factory in Portlands Piedmont neighborhood: The original tire factory was mostly used as a foundry and The Pickle Factory name is derived from the foundry term pickling, which is the process of removing surface impurities from cast parts.

The adaptive reuse to create affordable office and studio spaces included minor modifications to the exterior and preservation of the raw industrial interiors exposed concrete, cranes and gantries.

Brett Schulz, Architect, BK Engineers, Portland Industrial Services and others on the project team made spaces for artisans, craftspeople and makers to work in the city. Learn more at brettschulz.com/pickle-factory.

The 1926 Hollywood Theatre in Northeast Portlands Hollywood District has a restored lower facade.NashCo

1926 Hollywood Theatres lower facade in Northeast Portlands Hollywood District: Designed by the architectural firm of Bennes & Herzog, the National Register-listed movie palace and vaudeville house has an ornate Mediterranean front facade and Spanish Baroque entry pavilion.

Architect Paul Falsetto and the project teams primary goal was to recapture the drama of the original entry experience that was stripped away in the 1960s. During demolition, original building elements were discovered, repaired and incorporated into the new design. Learn more at hollywoodtheatre.org.

6 1 / 6 1926 McDougall Farmhouse

1926 McDougall Farmhouse in Dayton: A farmhouse owned by the same family for generations was renovated by Fackler Construction from the exterior to the kitchen and other rooms.

Old and new elements were blended without sacrificing historic charm. The project team restored a cast-iron sink, intricate moldings, counters and cabinetry, and woodwork from the historic Whitney Mill.

Pillars on the porch and portico were reproduced as nearly exact replicas. Vintage-looking lighting and fixtures meet modern electrical code while holding on to the historic aesthetic. Learn more at facklerconstruction.com.

1936-1937 Canby City Hall was designed by Portland architects George Howell Jones and Harold D. Marsh.Michael Schoenholz

1936-1937 Historic Canby City Hall in Canby: Originally named the Holly Street City Hall, the single-level structure was designed by Portland architects George Howell Jones and Harold D. Marsh.

Canby City Hall was identified for preservation as an example of a Colonial Revival style civic building and received funding by a grant from Oregon Heritage administered by Restore Oregon. Original hardwood floors were refinished, historic light fixtures were installed and historic wooden doors and windows were replicated in the new retail space.

Hanlon Developments project team included SERA Architects, historians, local artisans and contractors. Learn more at hanlondevelopment.com.

12 1 / 12 De La Salle North Catholic High School

1950 De La Salle North Catholic High School in Portlands Cully neighborhood: St. Charles Parish was converted into a high school campus by Bora Architecture & Interiors and the project team.

The existing 30,000-square-foot school wing, built in 1950 and expanded in the 1950s and 1960s, was closed in the 1980s. The reimagined structure has flexible classrooms, a visual arts center, maker space as well as science classrooms and laboratories

Existing and new structures, including a new commons and gymnasium, create a central courtyard. Learn more about delasallenorth.org.

1958 BackFire Station (Pendleton Fire Station #1 was built in 1958 and served as the Pendletons primary fire station through the end of 2019.BackFire Station

1958 BackFire Station in Pendleton: Pendleton Fire Station #1 served as the citys primary fire station and firefighting administration facility through 2019.

The repurposed firehouse, designed by Koble Creative, Architecture, is a retail space on the ground level and residence on the second story. BackFire Lodge, a motorcycle-themed short-term lodging facility, occupies the former firefighters sleeping quarters. The project team also included Moto Stuff, Schutte Consulting Engineers, McCormack Construction and others. Learn more at backfirestation.com.

6 1 / 6 1961 Path Home

1961 Path Home in Portlands Lents neighborhood: Constructed as the Lents Evangelical United Brethren Church, the midcentury modern building underwent multiple renovations before becoming a permanent Path Home shelter for unhoused families in the greater Portland area.

Trauma-informed design decisions by Jessica Helgerson Interior Design working with Carleton Hart Architecture as well as Prato Landscape Architecture and Corlett Landscape Architecture improved accessibility, flexibility, inclusion, health and healing. Learn more at jhinteriordesign.com.

 Edited by Janet Eastman | 503-294-4072

jeastman@oregonian.com | @janeteastman
In Florida, a nine-year-old shot a six-year-old in the head.

Guns are a bigger problem in the United States than I realized. Not only are our children routinely, like this pair in Florida, gunning one another down, but as they get a bit older, they experience live shooter drills in school, waiting for the day one of their classmates snaps. Then we have a whole army of second amendment gun nuts who want to go to war with the government over their right to have kids shoot each other.

The incidence of home invasions being repelled by heroic people with a handgun or assault rifle appears to not be statistically significant for any given decade.

Anyways, Florida, keep legislating problems for too-inclusive Disney World and make sure no one teaches anything in your schools.

NBC:

An adult was in the home. Authorities said they could not disclose the relationship between the adult and the children or the relationship between the two children under Florida's victim privacy protections, Marsy's Law, Stronko said. The investigation continues. Authorities have not found any indication of criminal violence, the sheriff's office said. The incident is not the first involving a young child and a gun in recent months. In Virginia, the mother of a 6-year-old who police say intentionally shot his first grade teacher pleaded guilty to child neglect Tuesday.

via Crooks and Liars
Columbia River Fire & Rescues chief, ousted last week in a surprise board vote, filed a $20 million whistleblower suit Thursday against the fire district, four board members and union leaders.

The federal civil rights suit alleges the district and its governing board retaliated against Fire Chief Joel Medina for reporting unchecked district credit card purchases, mismanagement of grant-funded jobs and improper classification of administrative staff to obtain higher firefighter retirement benefits. The state police and Columbia County District Attorneys office are conducting an ongoing criminal investigation into Medinas findings.
The death toll of this weeks record-breaking heat wave rose to four people after a person was found dead Thursday in Northeast Portland when the temperature outside was about 92 degrees, Multnomah County officials said.

Heat is suspected as the cause in all four deaths, but further testing must be done to confirm the preliminary findings, county officials said. They have not identified any of the people.

The first person died Monday in Southeast Portland when the temperature reached 106. The next day, an unnamed Portland hospital reported that another person had died when the temperature was 102. A third person was found dead Wednesday in Northeast Portland when the temperature was about 102.

Officials have not released additional information about the circumstances of the deaths.

City and county officials declared a heat emergency Sunday due to excessive heat and opened three cooling centers in Gresham and Portland through Wednesday.

Mondays recorded temperature at Portland International Airport was 108  the hottest on record for August since records have been kept there. The previous record was 107 in 1981.

Temperatures at the airport rose to 102 on Tuesday, 103 on Wednesday and 93 on Thursday.

Five people died from exposure to heat last summer, when temperatures soared into the 90s and above for eight consecutive days in July and in several shorter stretches in August.

The rash of deaths are grim reminders of June 2021, when a heat dome killed 116 people in Oregon, 69 of whom were in Multnomah County.

-- Catalina Gaitan, cgaitan@oregonian.com, @catalinagaitan_

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A 27-year-old man was led into federal court Thursday with his right eye swollen shut and the right side of his face black and blue.

But nothing in a six-page affidavit describing Jerrold Thomas Moffetts arrest explains his injuries.
Outside the Sunshine Center in North Portlands Overlook neighborhood, the sounds of children playing, laughing and singing greet visitors. Inside the preschool and child care center, youll find founder Troy Tate.

A Black male teacher, Tate is a rarity in Oregon early childhood education, where the vast majority of professionals are white women.

As families across Oregon prepare this month to send their children back to school, Tate said he is aware he offers something unique.

Its not better or worse, just different, Tate said. Most students arent going to have a Black male teacher this early in their academic career  some not at all.

In 2022, roughly 92% of Oregon early education professionals were women, and 75% identified as white, according to a survey of the states early childhood care providers. That doesnt match Oregons overall student population. According to the National Council on Teacher Quality, 40% of pre-K through 12th grade students are children of color compared with 15% of all teachers.

When Tate opened the school in 2010, he said some people were apprehensive about sending their children to the Sunshine Center because of his gender and race.

I hired a white woman, and I kind of had her as the face of the school initially, because I didnt want to scare people off, he said. A lot of times that would happen. When they would show up, and there was a Black guy who is the owner, operator and founder, I could tell some people were just immediately uncomfortable with that.

Children at the Sunshine Center in North Portland play with puzzles on a recent August day.Maddie Stellingwerf/The Oregonian

Over the years, that narrative changed. National conversations about equity and bias fostered a more inclusive outlook, he said.

Now, its almost the norm, Tate said. Its not a big deal when people see my face, or come here and see me teaching in the classroom. Its not an issue like it once was.

Preschool for All

Tate loves working with children and said students often return later in life to share the impact he had on them. His expertise shows in the classroom, and the kids are attentive and willing to listen to him.

On a recent morning in August, one small child knocked over another.

No thank you, Tate said politely to the boy. Look at him, buddy. How do you think that made him feel?

He looks sad, the child said with a glimpse of guilt in his voice. He then apologized, and the two went on playing like nothing had happened.

Tate said he manages classrooms at the Sunshine Center with kindness and respect. Hes usually teaching preschool, but staffing shortages have led him to fill in at the child care center, too.

Like many preschools and child care facilities, Sunshine Center has sometimes struggled to manage the many demands of the classroom, according to a review of state records. A few complaints filed by parents and others over the years, including that a staff member once pushed a child outside and closed the door, hint at the challenges; the staff member denied the pushing allegation.

The Sunshine Centers day care is currently at capacity with nine children, and Tate often has to turn people away. The preschool will have 17 students in the fall, 15 of whom will have free tuition through Multnomah Countys Preschool for All initiative.

Voters approved the Preschool for All initiative in 2020, and it aims to offer preschool to all Multnomah County students ages 3 and 4 by 2030. The county collected around $187 million for the program in the 2021 tax year, despite a large number of high-income residents failing to pay the tax.

Sunshine Center is one of 82 locations participating in the Preschool for All program this year, up from 47 in the 2022-2023 academic year, according to Leslee Barnes, director of Multnomah Countys Preschool and Early Learning Division.

Of the 1,400 classroom seats projected for this year, the program has enrolled roughly 93%, Barnes said. Preschool for All provides funds to private businesses like Tates that are not supported by a school district. Over half of the sites in the program are private businesses, Barnes said.

Troy Tate, a preschool teacher and caregiver, founded the Sunshine Center in North Portland in 2010. Most students arent going to have a Black male teacher this early in their academic career  some not at all," he said.Maddie Stellingwerf/The Oregonian

Took over my life

Outside of the school and day care, Tate is a pastor at Christ Memorial Community Church, a board member for the historical organization Oregon Black Pioneers and a father of two young children.

He grew up in Portland and graduated from Grant High School. Tate then studied at Concordia University and earned his bachelors degree in early childhood education from Eastern Oregon University last year.

Tates original plan was to work as an accountant. He never thought hed be running Sunshine Center.

He leads his churchs nonprofit, Community Help Institute for Learning and Development. When the 2008 recession hit, many grants the nonprofit relied on dried up, so the institute opened the preschool and day care to help fund its other programs.

I think Ive always loved working with kids in some capacity, but I didnt ever feel like I would become a preschool teacher, he said. For one, its a very female-dominated profession. But once I started the preschool, it just took over my life.

Tate said having male teachers with diverse backgrounds is important for childrens development and helps students avoid racial bias later in life.

It means that theres a Black male that is contributing to their lives in a positive way, he said. To some degree, it helps to alleviate or remove unintentional bias that can be created about Black people, and particularly Black males, because Im introduced to their life at an early age.

Tate said he looks up to those who paved the way to more equitable education, such as long-time education activist and director of Portlands Albina Head Start program Ron Herndon.

Herndon highlighted several problems facing the industry, including pay. Around 56% of early childhood educators reported making less than $50,000 a year, and over 20% said they made less than $25,000, according to the early childhood care survey.

Preschool for All has helped Tate pay his employees a living wage, said Ryan Yambra, a spokesperson for the county. The minimum hourly wage for a preschool teacher assistant at a Preschool for All site is $19.91 or about $41,000 per year, and the target hourly wage for a lead teacher with a college degree is $37.48 or $78,000, Yambra said.

Preschool is a very demanding job, Herndon said. I think the problem for people, regardless of ethnicity, is that they all find they can make more money in other fields.

But its important that faculty reflect the diversity of their students, Herndon said, and teachers like Tate help set that standard at an early age.

Its important the children see figures in the classroom who are a reflection of them and the cultures they come from, he said. These adults should reflect the society theyll be living in.

Stephanie Younger sent her two children to the center last year when she was coping with an illness. Her children, who are white, also have benefited from the unique experience at Sunshine Center, she said.

Troy is a really great person, and that comes through in his teaching in the classroom, Younger said. The kids loved it, and they were always excited to go.

 Austin De Dios; adedios@oregonian.com; @austindedios; 503-319-9744

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60 Days In is back for another chapter inside the the Pitt County Jail as the program begins to wind down for the participants before their 60 days is up. Will the rest of the crew go the distance? Find out what goes down when 60 Days In Season 8, Episode 10 airs at 9 p.m. PT/ET on Thursday, August 17 with a live broadcast on A&E, or streaming on demand shortly after.

 WATCH: 60 Days In Season 8, Episode 10 for free when it debuts with Philo (free trial), or catch up on all episodes of the show streaming for free on demand right now.

In this latest episode titled To The Bitter End, the participants enter the final days of the program. Jamil tries a new tactic with some inmates while Brittany reconciles with her roomie. Orions old cellmate gets into a brutal fight. Meanwhile, Pitt County officers raid one jail cell, which pleases Kendra but might put Sara in danger.

HOW TO WATCH

What: 60 Days In - Season 8, Episode 10 (To The Bitter End)

When: Thursday, August 17 at 9 p.m. PT/ET (new episodes drop every Thursday at 9 p.m.)

TV Channel: A&E

Watch the show live streaming online: If you dont have cable, you can watch the episode live, or on demand for free with Philo (free trial). If you have run out of free trials with this service, keep in mind that Philo is the cheapest TV streaming service on the market and costs just $25/month for the service and you can cancel anytime. If you already have cable or satellite service, you can sign in with you login information and watch new and past episodes of 60 Days In on AETV.

You can find out more about which channel A&E is on by using the channel finders here: Verizon Fios, AT&T U-verse, Comcast Xfinity, Spectrum/Charter, Optimum/Altice, DIRECTV and Dish.

What is 60 Days In and what is the show about?

This season of 60 Days In takes place in Pitt County, North Carolina. Th e cast is composed of seven total participants who will enter the detention center to try and spend 60 days inside the jail. You can see a preview of whats to come in the 60 Days In Season 8 trailer.

In case you havent seen the show, this series follows civilians who give up their regular lives for 60 days in order to go undercover in a jail to help the warden, and law enforcement, better understand the challenges they face by informing about the goings on behind bars within their facility. You can watch current and past episodes of 60 Days In on demand for FREE when you sign up for Philo (free trial).

Who is on Season 8 of 60 Days In? A look at the cast

The show follows seven civilian participants as they go undercover in North Carolinas Pitt County Detention Center on a mission to help change the facility for the better. With a large part of her command staff retiring, and after an inmate recently overdosed from drugs, Sheriff Paula Dance will be relying on the seven participants to evaluate new hires and test protocols they have in place to ensure the jail can be a safe place for both inmates and staff. The cast members have not yet been revealed, but the cast member names and bios all appear on the Cast section of the 60 Days In website.

More information on how to stream live TV, sports events and movies on the cheap:

 What is Philo? The cheapest live TV streaming service: Cost, what it includes

 How to watch DAZN on your TV: What is it, what does it cost and include? Boxing fights, MMA and more

 How to watch ESPN+ on TV: What is it, what does it cost and include?
A Buffalo man pleaded guilty Friday to first-degree manslaughter in the 2018 fatal shooting of a man on Genesee Street in Buffalo.

Bryant Ziegler Jr., 33, shot to death Paris Warren Jr., 36, at about 3 a.m. June 3, 2018, with an illegal gun, District Attorney John J. Flynn said in a news release.

Ziegler faces a maximum of 25 years in prison when he is sentenced Dec. 7 in Erie County Court. He continues to be held without bail.

A grand jury indicted Ziegler and Sidney Watson, 26, of Buffalo, on second-degree murder charges in 2021 in connection with Warrens death.

Watson, 26, of Buffalo, has pleaded guilty to one count of attempted second-degree murder for his role in the crime. Watson faces a maximum of 25 years in prison when he is sentenced Sept. 27. He remains held without bail.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Ryan D. Haggerty of the Homicide Bureau and Assistant District Attorney Ryan M. Flaherty of the Felony Trials Bureau.

 Mike McAndrew
Washington, DC, US (PANA) - The United States has called on the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to cease renewed fighting in Nyala, South Darfur, and other populated areas, which have caused death and destruction
Bamako, Mali (PANA) - The UN peacekeeping mission in Mali (MINUSMA) has confirmed that a convoy carrying peacekeepers and equipment from its camp in the city of Goundam in Timbuktu region, as part of the withdrawal process, reached Timbuku city without incident on Wednesday
Geneva, Switzerland (PANA) - The first global Traditional Medicine Summit convened by UN World Health Organisation (WHO) got underway on Thursday in the Indian city of Gandhinagar focused on sharing evidence and best practices in this field, a WHO statement said
Photo: (Photo : Benji Aird on Unsplash)

A distressing incident has prompted a Georgia couple to take legal action, accusing an obstetrician of using excessive force during the delivery of their child, leading to decapitation. Jessica Ross and Treveon Isaiah Taylor Sr. are seeking justice for their baby, who did not survive the delivery.

Ross's water broke on July 9 around 10 a.m., and she was rushed to the Southern Regional Medical Center in Riverdale. By that night, she was ready to deliver. However, the delivery faced complications when the baby, possibly experiencing shoulder dystocia, did not properly descend. This condition, where the baby's shoulder becomes lodged behind the mother's pubic bone, is uncommon but poses serious risks.

The couple's legal representative, Roderick Edmond, alleges that the obstetrician, Dr. Tracey St. Julian, applied "ridiculously excessive force" during this complication, leading to the tragic outcome.

Hospital and Doctor's Response

While Dr. St. Julian's practice, Premiere Women's OB/GYN, has yet to comment, Southern Regional Medical Center denied any wrongdoing. The hospital claims the unfortunate infant death and decapitation occurred while the baby was still in the uterus. They have reported the incident to the Clayton County Medical Examiner's Office and vow to cooperate with ongoing investigations.

Dr. Kiarra King, an OB-GYN unrelated to this case, mentions that shoulder dystocia occurs in about 3% of vaginal deliveries, typically with full-term pregnancies. Factors like a mother's diabetes or short stature can heighten the risks. Notably, Ross had been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, and her pregnancy was marked as high-risk.

Roderick Edmond, representing the devastated couple, suggests that the medical staff should have had better protocols in place for such complications. Dr. Joia Crear-Perry, the founder of the National Birth Equity Collaborative, concurs with this sentiment. She insists that recognizing the complication should have led to the decision to have a C-section. This point is particularly poignant, as Ross and Taylor had previously asked for a cesarean section.

Read Also: Infant Death Raises Concerns Over Otteroo Baby 'Neck Floats' as Serious Injuries Come to Light, Yet Product Remains on Sale

The Aftermath and a Broader Perspective on Infant Mortality

Details from the lawsuit reveal that a fetal monitor detected abnormal heartbeats at 9:26 p.m., declining until no heartbeat was found by 11:49 p.m., when an emergency C-section was conducted. Tragically, it was too late. The alleged aggressive measures by Dr. St. Julian, particularly traction on the baby's head, are believed to have resulted in severe injuries to the baby.

In 2020, U.S. statistics indicated an infant mortality rate of 5.4 deaths per 1,000 live births during delivery. Disturbingly, black babies faced a much higher rate, at 10.6 deaths per 1,000 live births.

The psychological repercussions of such a traumatic event are profound. The couple is reportedly in counseling, grappling with immense emotional distress. Clinical psychologist Millicent Rose highlighted the devastating impact of such incidents, especially when they could have been prevented. Ross and Taylor's grief is exacerbated by not being allowed to hold their child after the incident, a crucial step in the healing process for grieving parents.

Rose emphasizes the importance of hope even after such traumatic events, noting that grief can transition into a profound love and longing for the lost child.

The lawsuit is a testament to the family's search for justice and answers amidst unimaginable pain.

Related Article: Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: How to Prevent It
On August fifth Patently Apple posted a trademark report covering Apple Vison's "EyeSight" feature. Today, Patently Apple discovered a patent Apple filed in Europe that was published on August tenth describing the fundamentals of EyeSight. The patent also covers provision for real-time social intelligence and more.

One aspect of Apple's patent covers a method that determines whether a user wearing a headset is in an engaged state based on at least one of: detecting a human in a near-field scene of the user, determining that the user is gazing at the human, and detecting a speech input from at least one of the user or the human while the user is gazing at the human. In response to determining that the user is in the engaged state, the method includes foregoing providing the outputs to the user while the user is in the engaged state.

In another example method, while providing one or more outputs to a user of the electronic device, the method includes determining whether the user is in an engaged state based on: detecting a human in a near-field scene of the user, determining that the user is gazing at the human, and detecting a speech input from at least one of the user or the human while the user is gazing at the human. In response to determining that the user is in the engaged state, the method includes foregoing providing the one or more outputs to the user while the user is in the engaged state.

Apple's patent FIG. 9 below illustrates a system for determining a real-time social state for a user wearing Apple Vision (HMD). In some examples, upon satisfying both conditions 1) a speech input or utterance is received and 2) the user is gazing or making eye-contact with another human. Accordingly, if the score satisfies a predetermined threshold, the state machine may make transition to an engaged state #930 from disengaged state #920. Technically, this is what triggers EyeSight to kick in and allow the nearby person to be able to see your eyes or created image of your eyes.

Apple's patent FIG. 10B above illustrates an example use of the social engagement system on an extended reality device while a user is socially engaging with a human.

Another aspect of the patent relates to how Siri could interact with Apple Vision Pro user. In the examples below in FIGS. 11A and 11B, we see that Siri could sent text messages, notifications directly to the display of the users as noted below.

In FIG. 11B we see that Siri's icon is present. In some examples, while the digital assistant icon #1102 is displayed on the screen or display of the extended reality device worn by the user, a human #1106 may be detected in a near field scene of the user. Upon detection of a human in a near-field scene, a square or rectangle (#1104) surrounding the human may be displayed on the screen, as shown in FIG. 11B.

In addition to detecting a human in the near-field scene, the social engagement system implemented on the extended reality device may determine that the user is making eye-contact towards the human. To show that the user is making an eye contact with the human, real-time eye movement of the human and/or user may be displayed on the screen of the extended reality device, as shown in FIG. 11B.

For more details, review Apple's patent application number WO2023150303 published in Europe August tenth.

Although we know that Apple has 5,000+ patents protecting Apple Vision Pro, it's a little difficult to know what patents relates to the current or future versions of Apple's XR headset / Spatial Computer.

Today's patent presents the rudimentary aspects of EyeSight and we're bound to learn more over time, because every feature is likely to be backed by several patents and not a single one so as to better protect their invention.
We were rained upon Wednesday night, during the first portion of Romeo and Juliet. However, the weather apps that we consulted had assured us that there was no chance of rain yesterday. And who am I going to trust? The experts? Or my lying eyes? Nevertheless, we retreated for a little while to a covered area of the open air theater in which the Capulets and the Montagues were shortly to do their thing. Finally, though, the no-rain  which was surprisingly wet  dissipated and the play proceeded without damage. Except for one actors foot-slipping during a sword fight, prior to the final appearance of the backstage staff with cloths and mops.

This afternoon, Thursday afternoon, the no-rain and the thunder grew so intense while we were attending an indoor matinee of Shakespeares Coriolanus  I know, I know: youre all desperately eager for my drama reviews, but they will come perhaps tomorrow or, more likely, on Saturday  that the rumbling and the pounding on the roof nearly drowned the actors out and we had to pause for about ten minutes owing to a power outage. I was happy, afterwards, to see that our car had not been washed away.

We had a late breakfast today with friends  former neighbors  who have moved to a beautiful new hilltop home in Hurricane, from which they have a magnificent view across to Zion National Park.

In stolen moments, Ive been reading a non-fiction book about a pair of pilots during the Second World War  one American and the other German  that was recently given to me by a good friend and neighbor. Its by Adam Makos, with Larry Alexander, and its entitled A Higher Call. One of the things that Ive most appreciated about it thus far is its humanizing portrayal of pilots for the German Luftwaffe, who were by no means all Nazis. (Many, in fact, were not. More than a few actually held the Hitler regime in contempt.)

The focus of A Higher Call is a brief event in the skies over Germany in December 1943, when a badly damaged American B-17 bomber was struggling to fly out of German airspace, captained by a twenty-one-year-old Second Lieutenant by the name of Charlie Brown. Really. Charlie Brown. Half of his crew, who were trying to return from their first combat mission, were either dead or wounded. Suddenly, a Messerschmidt fighter, piloted by an experienced German ace named Franz Stigler, pulled up alongside the American plane.

Stigler needed just one more bomber kill to earn himself an Iron Cross. But he was also  and I think this significant  a devout Catholic who always carried a rosary with him and who had once, briefly, even considered becoming a priest. But he had been subjected to Nazi propaganda about the causes of the war  they were defending the Fatherland!  and his older brother, August, who was also a Luftwaffe pilot, had been killed very early in the war, in 1939, and so, unsurprisingly, Franz went through a period of bitter anger.

Seeing the desperate condition of the B-17 and (he was close enough to do it) the plight of its young crew, though, he chose rather to escort them past the German anti-aircraft batteries on the shore of the North Sea so that they might have a chance to live. Its a stunning story. What Stigler did could easily have earned him the firing squad for treason  particularly since his brother, August, had, it turned out, been strongly anti-Nazi. (After Augusts death, it was discovered that he had in his possession a copy of Pope Pius XIs anti-Nazi encyclical Mit brennender Sorge., and it was even suggested that he might have had contact with famous Catholic-oriented Weie Rose [White Rose] resistance group in Munich.) Both Franz Stigler and his mother had therefore been subjected to frightening interviews by the Gestapo.

Helping to save an American B-17 and its crew would certainly have been considered traitorous, since much lesser offenses were punished as such: For example, the book briefly recalls the story of a German war widow who was working in a munitions factory. She made the mistake of telling a joke: Hitler and Goering were standing atop the Berlin radio tower when Hitler said that he wanted to do something great for the German people, something that would put smiles on their faces. Did Goering have any suggestions? Certainly, Goering replied. Why dont you jump? Another worker in the factory reported the woman, and she was was executed.

Adam Makos, the principal author of A Higher Call, was able to interview both Franz Stigler and Charlie Brown for the book, as well as others who were centrally or peripherally involved in the story.

From time to time, Ill share with you an anecdote from the book about unexpected acts of humanity or surprisingly charitable attitudes among German pilots. There are a number of them. Heres one:

Franz Stigler had been fascinated by flight since he was a young boy, when he and his brother began flying gliders in an aeronautics club that involved their priest as an advisor. When he was conscripted into the Luftwaffe and posted to Libya for the North African campaign, his mentor as a military fighter pilot was a man named Gustav Roedel.

Very early on, Roedel asked Stigler what he would do if ever he saw a British or American airman parachuting from an injured airplane. Stigler replied that he had never really thought about the question. Roedel, who was normally quite cheery, became stern and serious. Honor is everything here, he told Stigler,

If I ever see or hear of you shooting at a man in a parachute, Roedel said, I will shoot you down myself . . . You follow the rules of war for you, not for your enemy, Roedel said. You fight by rules to keep your humanity. (54, emphasis in the original)

Another North African anecdote struck me, as well:

Roedel asked how the mission went. I got my first kill, sir, Franz said. Roedels smile slowly disappeared. Franz wondered if he had said something wrong. I got two, Voegl added. Roedel seemed unimpressed. He asked if there were any losses. Three, Voegl replied. Fluder, Krenzke, and Gromotka. The missing pilots were from Squadron 6. Fluder had been the squadron leader and Roedels friend. Franz told Roedel he had witnessed both Fluders and Krenzkes 109s exploding and was certain that both had been killed. Then why are you both smiling? Roedel asked, his eyes emotional. Because of his first kill, Voegl said. Roedel dropped his arms to his sides. You score victories, not kills, Roedel told Voegl, frustrated. Havent you learned anything? Turning to Franz, Roedel added, You shoot at a machine not a man. . . . Franz sulked back to his tent, alone. He had achieved a fighter pilots milestone and tasted revenge [for his brothers death]. Instead of feeling accomplishment, he suddenly felt very hollow. (69-70, emphasis in the original)

As a boy, having seen many movies and documentaries about World War Two, I regarded all Germans of that period as Nazis and, accordingly, as demonically, inhumanly evil. Ive long since outgrown that naive and unnuanced view, but its still good to read accounts of decency amidst war. (That, I think, is why we love the story of the First World Wars famous Christmas Truce. It reminds us that goodness remains possible.)

Posted from Cedar City, Utah
Value Added Tax (VAT) collections by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) from January and May this year amounted to GH1.2 billion.



This represent a 92.4 per cent increase of the GH649.93 million collected within the same period last year.



According to Assistant Commissioner Joseph Annan, Manager of the Accra Central Area Enforcement Unit of the GRA, the increase in VAT receipts was due to the VAT enforcement exercise and other measures instituted by the Authority to encourage tax compliance.



He was speaking to the media in Accra on the sidelines of a VAT enforcement exercise undertaken yesterday.



We have made phenomenal gains with regards to VAT collection. We have recorded a 92.4 per cent year on year increase from GH649.93 million to GH1.2 billion.



Regular enforcement exercise and other measures including e-VAT introduction, VAT invigilation and mystery shopping have resulted in the huge improvement, he stated.



Yesterdays exercise saw four managers of Legacy Hotel at North Kaneshie, Kegali Hotel & Spa at Dansoman, Mascot Hotel, also at Dansoman Exhibition and Silver Cloud 68 Supermarket located at Mamprobi-Kamara arrested for failing to issue VAT invoices to clients.



Assistant Commissioner Annan said the four would have their statements taken to enable further investigations by the officers of the GRA.



He explained that, although the above businesses were registered for VAT, checks by the GRA indicated that they were not issuing VAT invoice, thereby evading the payment of VAT.



The actions of the operators, he said was in violation of section 41 of the VAT Act which mandates a registered business to issues VAT invoice at all time.



The arrested persons would be handed over to the police, investigated and charged for their actions.



Officers of the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service would take the statement of those arrested after which the preemptive assessment would be established and the businesses would be required to pay immediately.



After that the business would be recommended for full audit while the police continue with its investigations, he said.



The Authority, he noted, would conduct an assessment of the financial and transaction records of the businesses and conduct a reconciliation to determine the revenue loss as a result of the infraction.



Per the law, Assistant Commissioner Annan, said the businesses would be made to refund the revenue as well as the corresponding penalty which was set at a minimum of GH50,000.

Source: Ghanaiantimes.com.gh









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Head, Africa-China Trade Banking at Stanbic Bank Ghana, Aurelia Baaba Ofori Odame, has emphasized that the growing trade relationship between Ghana and China is poised to ignite significant economic growth within the Ghanaian economy. She made the remarks during the 3rd China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo (CAETE) held in Changsha, China.



Addressing the expo's attendees, Ms. Aurelia, representing Stanbic Bank, underscored their pivotal role in propelling growth throughout the African continent. Their participation in the trade fair, she highlighted, aligns seamlessly with their overarching objective of fostering trade collaboration between Africa and China, thus facilitating increased commerce across the regions.



In her words, China has established an expedited avenue to facilitate seamless exports from Africa, particularly in the realm of agribusiness products. The expansive potential of the Chinese economy as an export market cannot be overstated.



At Stanbic Bank, our mission centers on nurturing Africa's growth. Hence, we are deeply committed to nurturing trade links between Ghana and China, recognizing it as a driving force for developing the export sector in catalyzing growth for our economy. Our intent as a bank is to leverage this opportunity, actively aiding exporters in sending both conventional and non-traditional exports to China, thereby injecting essential foreign exchange to invigorate our local economy.



We, at Stanbic have strategically positioned ourselves as instrumental stakeholders in the Ghana-China corridor. Our focus is on presenting our exporters with a platform to showcase their offerings within the Chinese market. This strategic move is designed to bolster and expand our export sector, in alignment with the developmental strategies of the Ghanaian government, particularly in bolstering the non-traditional export sector, she added.



Ms. Aurelia also elaborated on the bank's role in assisting selected customers in partaking in the trade expo, providing them with a conduit to showcase their products within the dynamic and demanding Chinese market. She further encouraged Ghanaian enterprises to seize this remarkable opportunity for growth of their businesses by venturing into international trade.



According to her, Our participating clients were granted the privilege of spotlighting their products and innovations at the Expo, thereby showcasing the ingenuity emerging from Ghana. In addition, the Expo featured an array of matchmaking events, affording us the chance to directly connect our clients with potential Chinese buyers and business allies. To Ghanaian enterprises, I extend a cordial invitation to join us on this exhilarating journey. Together, we will continue to deliver innovative solutions, facilitate market access, furnish vital information, and offer funding and capital resources to underpin business growth and the realization of their entrepreneurial aspirations.



Stanbic Bank's expertise in Africa-China trade is rooted in its ability to forge connections between African clients and a meticulously vetted network of export partners and reputable Chinese importers. This robust framework is fortified by a comprehensive array of transactional services, as well as a wide spectrum of trade and working capital finance solutions.



The CAETE, a biennial event inaugurated in 2019, stands as a testament to the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation's (FOCAC) commitment to rebalancing trade dynamics between Africa and China. Both the 2019 and 2021 expos have borne fruitful outcomes, culminating in the signing of 216 projects, amounting to a cumulative value exceeding US$43 billion in new trade with Africa to date.



China is looking to import circa $300 billion in products from Africa in the next three years and Stanbic has position itself to ensure our customers benefit directly from the initiatives hence the drive to project and support businesses willing to export.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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A Niagara County judge sentenced a Buffalo man to three to nine years in prison after he pleaded guilty to three felonies related to motor vehicle thefts, the county District Attorneys Office said Friday.

Michael A. Arcay had initially been charged with stealing or possessing 10 stolen Kia or Hyundai vehicles, according to prosecutors.

He pleaded guilty to third-degree grand larceny and two counts of third-degree criminal possession of stolen property, prosecutors said.

The charges stemmed from cases in Niagara Falls from February and March, the District Attorneys Office said.

Judge Caroline Wojtaszek issued the sentence.

Theft of Kia and Hyundai vehicles, fueled largely by social media, has been a huge issue for law enforcement nationwide, District Attorney Brian Seaman said in a written statement. The end of these crimes isnt internet fame. Its prison.

 Aaron Besecker
Caveman Watches, Africa's foremost emerging luxury brand, stepped into the spotlight at the EMY Awards 2023 Soiree in Lagos, by crafting bespoke timepieces for distinguished winners like Richard Mofe Damijo (RMD), Don Jazzy, Tony Elumelu and other astute personalities.



In a magnificent fusion of luxury and recognition, Caveman Watches helmed by multi-award-winning entrepreneur Anthony Mensah Dzamefe, has created customized watches that mirror the individual achievements of each honoree in elevating the concept of an award to an unparalleled level of sophistication.



At the event, the bespoke luxury timepieces were presented by renowned Ghanaian industrialist Dr Ernest Ofori Sarpong to honour ten (10) astute EMY winners circle who include; Akinwumi Adesina, Tony Elumelu, Richard Mofe Damijo (RMD), Adebola Williams, Lanre Olusola, Seyi Tinubu, Ayo Animashaun, Don Jazzy, Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, and Ayo Makun  AY, among others in the EMY Africa Awards Alumni (Nigeria) category.



The EMY AFRICA Awards which stands as a symbol of distinction, honouring those who have excelled in various fields in collaboration with Caveman Watches in this edition adds a layer of luxury that resonates with the essence of achievement.



The EMY Africa Caveman Watches' bespoke timepieces are meticulously crafted to reflect the unique accomplishments of each winner.



Each customized timepiece is a token of appreciation, encapsulating the winner's journey and milestones. Caveman Watches' personalized creations offer more than just a timekeeping device  the brand encapsulates a moment in time that will forever be associated with excellence. From design elements to engravings, each detail contributes to a unique masterpiece.



The event which took place at the Mercedes Benz showroom in Lagos is an antecedent to the main awards taking place on October 14th in Ghana.



The EMY Africa Awards is an esteemed platform dedicated to celebrating exceptional African men and personalities for their notable achievements and significant contributions and for inspiring positive change across Africa and beyond.



Mr Kojo Soboh founded this prestigious event also includes complementary awards for women challenging the status quo.



This EMY Awards 2023 Soiree in Lagos celebrates both past Nigerian awardees and present nominees.



The event aims to bring together like-minded young achievers, game changers, and innovators who are making groundbreaking strides in their respective fields.



Its designed to inspire excellence and uplift men, particularly in a Pan-African context.



The EMY Africa Awards celebrate achievements and aim to inspire the next generation of leaders.



Caveman Watches has garnered international acclaim as the first Ghanaian-made watch brand to be featured in the esteemed New York Times. It stands proudly as Africa's foremost emerging luxury brand. It has earned the endorsement of influential figures and celebrities across the continent and around the world.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Newage Agric Solutions has unveiled its latest breakthrough  the Champion Sharp Sharp hybrid maize seeds. These cutting-edge seeds are poised to redefine farming practices and usher in a new era of productivity and sustainability.



The unveiling of the hybrid maize seeds, farmers had the opportunity to witness firsthand the astonishing potential of these innovative seeds. With their distinct varieties, these hybrid maize seeds promise to not only enhance yields but also contribute significantly to the advancement of sustainable farming practices.



At the core of Newage Agric Solutions mission lies a commitment to empowering local farming communities with top-quality, high-yielding maize seeds. By introducing the Champion Sharp Sharp hybrid maize seeds, the company aims to address the challenges of food security and agricultural sustainability head-on.



The hybrid maize seeds have been meticulously developed through cutting-edge research and advanced agricultural techniques, resulting in a product that combines the best traits of different maize varieties. This fusion of genetic excellence ensures resistance to pests and diseases while maximizing yield potential, even in varying climatic conditions.



The General Manager of NewAge Agric Solutions Limited, Martin Tettey Nartey told JoyNews this mean there is the commercialisation of seeds in the country which will enhance the food sovereignty of the country.



This will result in making good steps towards food sovereignty since quality seeds can now be sourced locally thereby creating jobs for local seed producers. There will also be reduction in seed imports thereby reducing the pressure on the countrys forex.



Minimising the impact on potential food security due to the control of seed production for a stable like maize, he explained.



In an era where environmental concerns and resource scarcity are becoming increasingly critical, Newage Agric Solutions stands as a beacon of responsible innovation. By embracing the Champion Sharp Sharp hybrid maize seeds, farmers can contribute to conserving natural resources, reducing chemical inputs, and promoting sustainable land management practices.



These are hybrid seeds which are early maturing (90 days production period), tolerant to drought and other common maize diseases like maize streak. And the seeds are also high yielding comparable to the likes of the imported ones.



This launch represents a significant step forward in our ongoing commitment to transforming agriculture into a more sustainable and efficient industry. We invite all farmers and enthusiasts to join us in cultivating a future where excellence and sustainability go hand in hand, one seed at a time, Mr Nartey explained.



As the agricultural landscape in Ghana continues to evolve, Newage Agric Solutions remains dedicated to pushing the boundaries of innovation.



Farmers are being presented with the opportunity to get very good yields from their maize production from the maize piece of lands similar to the yields of the imported varieties. The best part of this variety is, farmers will get this seed at a fraction of the price of the imported, he added.



Farmers, agricultural experts, and stakeholders alike are encouraged to explore the possibilities presented by these groundbreaking hybrid maize seeds.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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It is critical that the youth does not fall prey to the temptation to use digitalization for all the wrong purposes, such as child sexual abuse and exploitation, cyberbullying, online gaming and, worst of all, recruitment into insurgent organizations.



It is the last example that continues to cause nightmares to well-meaning governments and societies commandant of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre KAIPTC Major General Richard Gyane has said.



He was speaking at the opening of the 15TH African Youth and Governance Convergence in Mankessim organized by the Youth Bridge Foundation in Partnership with AU ECOSSOC with technical support from KAIPTC.



The convergence brought together young people from 27 African countries and the Diaspora to deliberate on the theme Advancing Youth Inclusive Governance, Peace and Security in Africa: the Digital Innovation Factor.



One notable feature about the 15th edition of the convergence is that it is taking place at the same time ECOWAS Chiefs of Defense Staff are meeting in Accra to find solutions to the stalemate in Niger Republic.



Major General Richard Gyane said while digitization provides enormous opportunities, care must be taken in order not to exploit it for the wrong reasons.



He quoted research findings that point that one in three internet users is younger than 18 years and 71% of 15  24-year-olds are online.



This he said clearly marks the age bracket out as the most connected age group around the globe.







It is in this vein that I would also like the youth to be careful to put the internet and digitalization to the best of use rather than using it to achieve devious ends. This would be inimical to the peace and security that the digitalization drive would be seeking to achieve.



He encouraged young people to take advantage of opportunities offered to develop themselves like the AYGC to broaden their horizon and open themselves up to research and further education.



Director of Operations at the Ghana Police Service alhaji Al-Meyao Abass Aremeyaw, said the youth with 60 percent of the population should pick up the leadership mantle and eschew from illegal activities.



He decried violence and hooliganism especially in some first and second cycle institutions and entreated young people to find better ways of resolving disputes.



He said destruction of property and causing harm to people when there are disagreements would rather aggravate a problem than solve it.



ACP Abass Aremeyaw also encouraged delegates attending the convergence to submit to the learnings and take the best back home.



Youth Bridge Foundation also partnered Hydra cyber security services, Dalhousie University, the Obasanjo Presidential Library, Vesti, JSE Productions Diba Marketing Partners, CTA and Magic Hands for this years convergence.





Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Dr. Benjamin Otchere-Ankrah, a lecturer at the Central University, has slammed the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) over their role in ensuring political stability across Africa.



A military junta, on July 26, seized power in Niger and ousted the President of the country.



Following the military takeover, the leaders of ECOWAS have called for the reinstatement of the President and threatened to send a "standby" military force to Niger to intervene in the situation.



Commenting on the issue during Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" show, Dr. Benjamin Otchere-Ankrah says the ECOWAS has over the years become useless in addressing the problems confronting Africa.



"They are not useful. There is no use for ECOWAS. From 1991, the problems of ECOWAS, 2023 it is still the same problems," he told host Kwami Sefa Kayi.



Dr. Benjamin Otchere-Ankrah called for restructuring of ECOWAS, stressing "it is about time we made the effort to rethink the ECOWAS structures".





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The International Human Rights Commission (IHRC) Africa has congratulated its distinguished speakers for their elaborate discussions on the subject-African forum on continental insecurity and impact on human rights.



In a well-coordinated meeting live on Zoom and Facebook yesterday, the speakers discussed into details insecurity on the continent and its effect on human rights with particular reference to the happenings in Niger.



Newly-appointed Senior Deputy Chairman of the International Human Rights Commission (IGO), Head of Africa Region who was the Guest of Honour, His Excelency ambassador Abu Zein threw more light on the dire consequences of continental insecurity and its impact on human rights.



Other speakers included ambassador Dr Muhammad SA Khan, World Chair and ambassador at large, IHRC, Chairman of the forum, Dr Chief Nathaniel Nsarko Director General, IHRC, Africa, Major retired Salwa Sahloul, international expert, women, peace and insecurity, Tunisia, Dickson Tweneboah Koduah, solicitor at the Supreme Court of Ghana, moderator of the meeting, Mehmet Ihsan Kalkan, and Dr Mercy Kathina, Kenya.



The rest were Gloria Hingoma, Zambia , Peter Mensah, president graduates students association of Ghana, University of Ghana, ambassador Malie Nadeem Abid, Secretary General, IHRC, New York secretariat, USA, Jonathan Osei Owusu and Dr Bibi Ameenah Firdaus Gurib Fakim, first female president, Mauritius, key note speaker.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Since the July 26 coup, Niger has become the latest hotbed of disinformation in the troubled Sahel region as West African powers grapple with crafting a response to the political crisis.



From false rumours and misleading videos to manipulated audio clips, more than a dozen social media claims either backing or discrediting the coup leaders after they toppled President Mohamed Bazoum, have been debunked.



Soon after his removal, amateur footage of a large march surfaced online purporting to show a pro-Bazoum rally in Nigers capital Niamey on August 6. In reality, the clip was filmed on the day of the presidents removal from power.



Another viral video allegedly featured Nigers deposed finance minister crying after coup leaders gave him an ultimatum to account for missing funds or face death.



But Agence French Presse found the clip was from 2021 and in fact showed Nigers former Justice Minister Marou Amadou expressing his gratitude to ex-President Mahamadou Issoufou.



Misleading reports about foreign interference in the crisis are rising as uncertainty mounts over the possibility of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) using military force to reverse the coup.



The regional bloc, chaired by Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, was quick to condemn Bazoums removal and pile sanctions on Niamey days after the takeover, with Nigeria  Nigers main electricity provider  cutting off supplies.



There were also false claims about French fighter jets landing in Senegal to support a possible ECOWAS intervention, or about fighters from the Russian mercenary group Wagner and Burkinabe troops arriving in Niger to support the new leaders.



The coup meant landlocked Niger joined neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso to become the third Sahel country to experience a coup in as many years.



Like elsewhere in the region, anti-French sentiment has been rising in Niger. Its new military leaders have the support of fellow ex-French colonies Mali and Burkina Faso, which have turned their backs on Paris in favour of closer Moscow ties.



In May, Bazoum told British newspaper The Independent that Wagner had been sponsoring disinformation campaigns against us.



Some analysts, however, said there were few signs of organised, large-scale offensives aimed at spreading false content as seen in other African nations.



Disinformation about post-coup Niger did not seem particularly well coordinated or centrally managed, said Ikemesit Effiong, an analyst at the geopolitical consultancy SBM Intelligence in Nigeria.



Nonetheless, coup supporters have largely amplified the threat of conflict with ECOWAS, particularly Nigeria as well as France, to mobilise support online and on the ground in a region where anti-imperialist and anti-Western views are popular and an easy sell, Effiong said.



Experts told AFP that the spread of disinformation targeting Niger mirrored a pattern already witnessed elsewhere on the continent: it usually originates on encrypted platforms like Telegram and WhatsApp before being shared on other social media apps.



Moreover, several anti-French and pro-Russian accounts that post propaganda about Mali and Burkina Faso have also promoted false claims about Niger.



One such actor is the Pan-African Group for Trade and Investment (GPCI), a media firm founded by pro-Russian businessman Harouna Douamba, originally from Burkina Faso.



The GPCI is at the heart of a vast network of websites and Facebook pages pushing disinformation to further stoke tensions, according to the All Eyes on Wagner investigative consortium.



For instance, AFP found that one of its accounts recently alleged that France was preparing a plot to destabilise Niger and arm terrorists.



The GPCI also posted warnings about an imminent military intervention on suspicious sites involved in spreading disinformation in Chad and Nigeria, for example, according to a French analyst who runs the well-known Casus Belli account on X (formerly Twitter), which monitors suspicious content in Africa.



The analyst, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity for safety reasons, said the pan-Africanist TV channel Afrique Media was also involved in the disinformation drive.



The Cameroon-based broadcaster has partnered with state-owned Russia Today and regularly reports on Wagner operations in Africa.



On August 9, the channel shared a video purporting to show Bazoum looking relaxed after allegedly signing a resignation letter.



However, the deposed leader has been held prisoner at his home since July 26, with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres denouncing the deplorable living conditions that President Bazoum and his family are reported to be living under.



The current wave of disinformation is as much the work of local actors as of foreign influences, said Maixent Some, a Burkinabe financial analyst who tracks Africa-linked disinformation on social media.



There was an anti-French feeling long before the arrival of Russia and Moscow was able to capitalise on this sentiment, he told AFP.



Meanwhile, some analysts said pan-African activists are using their alliance with Russia to further personal agendas, including political ambitions.

Source: Aljazeera









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Volta Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, has admonished stakeholders to play critical roles in ensuring that the girl-child escapes the clutches of the negative impacts of the new digital media.



Dr Letsa, who gave the admonishment at the launch of the 40th Anniversary of the Mawuko Girls Senior High School (SHS) in Ho, said the digitalisation was a two-edged sword hence the need to create awareness of the dangers involved in the use of digital tools and the internet.



"Today, most of our girls, instead of exploring the educational content of ICT to improve quality of life, take to social media for the bad reasons, including the display of nudity to the world.



This must end, if we should benefit wholly from digitisation," she said.



Speaking on the theme: "40 years of empowering the girl-child in a challenging digital world: a shared responsibility ", the minister said the capacity and skill set required in the era of the fourth industrial revolution were essential and must be acquired by every child.



"In a country such as Ghana, where the female population far outnumbers the male population, it is crucial to enhance the capabilities of girls to meet the global standard of advancement into technology," he said.



He, however, bemoaned the low spate at which girls enrolled in digital technology programmes in the country.



"According to the Ghana Statistical Service, 1,555,305 girls did not use any ICT device in the three months preceding census night in 2021.



This translates into 37.8 per cent of girls that did not use an ICT device within that period.



This should bother every well-meaning Ghanaian," Dr Letsa said.



Challenges

Dr Letsa identified a myriad of challenges that continued to militate against the girls' achievement of digitalisation and their exploration of STEM.



He identified deficiencies in technological literacy, information asymmetry on the appropriate use of technological tools, inadequate infrastructure, parental control and regulation on the use of ICT tools as some of the challenges.



The minister charged all stakeholders of Mawuko Girls SHS to accomplish the vision of providing quality education to young girls in a digitally competitive environment as foreseen some 40 years ago by the founding fathers of their school.



Infrastructure in focus

The school, established in October, 1983 by the E. P. Church and granted boarding status in 1997, commenced with 36 girls and two volunteer teachers and is presently home to 139 teachers and 2,795 girls including 2511 boarders and 248 day students.



The Headmistress of the school, Ernestina D. A. Peniana, said the celebration would focus on critical infrastructural needs of the school and also used as an opportunity to highlight the importance of educating the girl-child, while marketing the school as a symbol for gender parity in education.



She said the school's contribution to Ghana's manpower needs could not be overemphasised and cited notable individuals who began their path of excellence at the Mawuko Girls SHS including Ghana's first female helicopter pilot, Selase Yaaya Agbenyefia, an officer in the Ghana Air Force.



She, however, indicated that as the school grappled with infrastructural challenges, this year's anniversary celebration would be used as an avenue to appeal for the construction of a 25-seater water closet toilet and wash facility to improve sanitary conditions of the girls.



In a brief address, the Chairman of the school's governing board, Peter Logo, called for an all-hands-on-deck approach in tackling the school's infrastructural challenges while urging benevolent individuals and organisations to donate to the school towards a good cause in creating a congenial environment to foster teaching and learning.









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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General Overseer of Word Palace International in Accra, Apostle Chief Addai has descended heavily on politicians and government appointees in the country over the wastage of resources that has contributed to the unbridled hardship currently being experienced.



To him, they have no love for the country per their actions and only profess to do so by mouth.



The Apostle, in a sermon on Sunday, August 13th, 2023 titled "The Other Side Of One", which touched on the significance of not wasting time, money and resources and making good use of opportunities, took a swipe at the President and his appointees, not excluding the opposition, for not investing in the progress of Ghana's economy but rather running to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for financial assistance.



To him, the President and his leaders including some Ghanaian business tycoons could have remedied the plight of citizenry without the need to seek a $3 billion bailout from the IMF.



Citing the former Minister of Sanitation, Cecilia Dapaah's huge dollar currency which was found sitting in her home, Apostle Chief Addai slammed the President and his Ministers as well as the local business moguls saying "they have no heart of compassion on Ghanaians".



He also mentioned personalities like ex-President Mahama, Kennedy Agyapong, Alan Kyerematen, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia among other wealthy businessmen and women in the country stating they have what it takes to rescue Ghanaians from misery, yet want to lord over the populace before acting.



He exclaimed that these people alone have the kind of money to bail out Ghana without recourse to the IMF nor any foreign lender but stressed they won't do it because of selfishness and greed.



"God punish you! If someone claims to love this country and his name is Kennedy Agyapong, Mahama, Akufo-Addo, Bawumia, Alan Cash; they are all thieves!!", Apostle Chief Addai fumed.



The Apostle also fired shots at the followers of the President and the abovementioned politicians saying "you don't think" because, to him, if they did think, they would never be devotedly attached to these persons who, to him, are financially endowed to help Ghanaians but choose to hide their monies and go seeking help from foreign entities just so Ghanaians will continue to suffer.









He vowed never to "vote again" and stressed "we are miserable" people.



He however advised his congregants and Ghanaians not to waste the little they have but put it into good use to yield much results for them.



"When you gain huge money, don't waste it; invest it...When you find an opportunity, don't waste it. Invest it and while investing, find out and look for the wise people who can help you", he said.

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has taken a swipe at President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo over his suggestion to rename the University of Ghana after one of the Big Six, J. B. Danquah.



Speaking in an interview on GHOne TV on Monday, August 16, 2023, the MP said that it is unfortunate that the president is content with unnecessarily renaming facilities built by other presidents.



He added that President Akufo-Addo would go down in history as the only president who added nothing to Ghanas university infrastructure, which he should be worried about.



 we have had enough of President Akufo-Addo just renaming. He should try and build something. Look, in this 4th Republic, he's going down in history as the only president who cannot lay claim to the public university that he has built. Isn't he worried about that?



President Rawlings won a hunger prize, and dedicated all of it to the establishment of UDS. President Kufour elevated the Tarkwa campus to a full-fleshed university... Professor Mills said that look, it is not right that we have some regions in this country without public universities. Let's give every region that doesn't have a public university, one. And the University of Energy and Natural Resources was born; the University of Health and Allied Sciences was born.



President Mahama, University of Environmental and Sustainable Development, I was with him when he secured the funding and cut the sword for what is now called the Somanya University. So, President Akufo-Addo where is yours? You are not ashamed that all you do is go about renaming other people's universities, the MP said.



Background:



President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo suggested that the University of Ghana might one day be named after one of the Big Six Joseph Boakye Danquah (JB Danquah).



In his address at an event to mark the 75th Anniversary of the University of Ghana, President Akufo-Addo highlighted how JB Danquah's commitment to ensuring Ghana had its own university led to the founding of the University of Ghana.



He noted that his visionary work extended to challenging the British recommendation for a single university in West Africa, which was intended for Nigeria. Instead, he rallied Ghanaians to support the establishment of their own university.



President Akufo-Addo further remarked that the legacy of Joseph Boakye Danquah might even warrant consideration for naming the University of Ghana after him, given the historical significance of his contributions.



He mentioned, "Indeed, in many other jurisdictions where there is less heat in their politics and more attachment to the fact of historical record, it would not have been out of place to have this university named after him. Who knows, one day it may well happen."







Source: ghanaweb.com









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Buffalo police arrested a suspect on a manslaughter charge Thursday in the fatal shooting earlier this week of a Buffalo News employee on his bicycle.

Kenneth James, 43, of Lockport was charged with first-degree manslaughter in the Aug. 14 slaying of Joseph Dash, 38, of Buffalo.

The charge accuses James of shooting Dash with a BB gun with the intent to cause serious physical injuries.

Buffalo News pressman identified as victim of fatal shooting Joseph Dash, 38, was shot shortly before 3:50 p.m. Monday near Broadway and Krettner Street.

Dash was found dead at Broadway and Krettner Street at about 3:45 p.m. that day. The cause of death was determined to be a homicide.

Dash worked in The News press room.

The weapon used was a pellet gun, which is not legally considered a firearm, said Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia.

Police arrested James in Lockport.

It was excellent detective work to bring a quick conclusion to this case, Gramaglia said.

James was arraigned Friday morning before Buffalo City Court Judge Rebecca Town, Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn said. He was held without bail. James is scheduled to return to court on Aug. 23 for a felony hearing.

If convicted of the charge, James faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.

James is not facing a more serious murder charge because of currently available evidence, said Kait Munro, spokeswoman for the District Attorneys Office.

At this time, there is not enough evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law that the defendant intended to kill the victim, but this remains an ongoing investigation, Munro said in an email.

Buffalo Police homicide detectives were assisted by the District Attorneys Office and Lockport police.

News Staff Reporter Aaron Besecker contributed to this report.
NDC Member of Parliament for North Tongu constituency and minority Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has cautioned President Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo on the dangers of sending Ghanaian troops to Niger in ECOWAS bid to overthrow the coup government and restore the country its democratically elected government.



According to him, the President will be sending Ghanaian soldiers to the slaughter house.



Speaking on Okay FM's 'Ade Akye Abia' programme, he has asked the President to rethink his decision and stay out of the ECOWAS decision.



"President Akufo-Addo has to take a second look at his decision to deploy our Soldiers, it is going to lead to a blood bath, we will just be sending our Soldiers to the slaughter house," he said.



"There are other African countries who have decided to stay neutral and watch how things unfold in Niger and not be entangled in the brawl between them and possibly ECOWAS, and I believe that our President can learn same from these countries.



"The decision by the Economic Community of West African States To send soldiers to Niger will only worsen and break the already volatile situation in that country. The leadership of ECOWAS should employ a non violence approach to remedy the situation," he added.



ECOWAS Defence Chiefs Meet In Accra



ECOWAS Defence Chiefs have met in Accra to discuss the deployment of a standby force in Niger to restore constitutional rule.



Heads of state of the sub-regional bloc last Thursday ordered the activation and deployment of a standby force to Niger if dialogue with the putschists fails. According to a statement by the ECOWAS Commission, the ECOWAS Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff (CCDC) has commenced the activation of the ECOWAS Standby Force for the restoration of constitutional order in the Republic of Niger.



Presidential guards led by General Abdourahmane Tchiani on 26 July arrested Nigers president Mohamed Bazoum and dissolved the constitution.



Responding to the coup, ECOWAS convened an emergency meeting where it imposed economic sanctions on Niger including a seven days ultimatum to the putschists to reinstate the ousted president.





Watch video below





Source: Isaac Kwame Owusu/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected]









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Ghanaian reggae-dancehall artist, Roo Dube releases another 'hot' single titled 'Mr. President the musician did not mince words in speaking truth to power to politicians in not just Ghana but all politicians on the African continent.



The 'lockdown' hitmaker in his new song speaks against nepotism, stealing, and looting which he laments has become the lifestyle of politicians on the continent.



The song tells Presidents of African countries to sit up and prioritise the welfare of their people and the development of their countries for the good of the continent.



"The whole idea about the new song came because of how politicians are treating ordinary citizens, We vote in Africa for our welfare but it seems the politicians are not doing this for us. They come with so many promises but once in power, everything changes. Now we have uprisings in the West African Region.



"I think it's time we send this message across Africa. Leadership should see citizens as their family and do the right things.



The reggae-dancehall artist is of the view that the cash stashed in the home of former Minister of Sanitation, Madam Cecilia Abena Dapaah which was stolen by her house is an indication that Africa is not poor but suffering because of poor leadership.



Through his new song, Roo Dube says he wants to inspire Africans to speak up to their leaders to stop corruption and bad governance.



"It's time we wake up as citizens and speak up. This is just a message to the politicians in Africa. This continent is blessed and if our leaders sit up it will develop," the Ghanaian musician stressed.





Source: Peacefmonline.com









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By SYLVIA HUI and BRIAN MELLEY, The Associated Press

LONDON (AP)  A neonatal nurse in a British hospital was found guilty Friday of murdering seven babies and trying to kill six others during a yearlong campaign of deception when she preyed on the vulnerabilities of premature and sick newborns as well as their anxious parents.

Following 22 days of deliberation, the jury at Manchester Crown Court convicted 33-year-old Lucy Letby of killing the babies in the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital in northwest England between 2015 and 2016.

Parents were exposed to her morbid curiosity and her fake compassion, said the lead prosecutor, Pascale Jones. Too many of them returned home to empty baby rooms. Many surviving children live with permanent consequences of her assaults upon their lives.

Her attacks, Jones said, were a complete betrayal of the trust placed in her.

This undated handout issued by Cheshire Constabulary shows nurse Lucy Letby, who was found guilty of killing seven babies and trying to kill six others. (Cheshire Constabulary via AP)AP

Letby was accused of deliberately harming the newborn infants in various ways, including by injecting air into their bloodstreams and administering air or milk into their stomachs via nasogastric tubes. She was also accused of poisoning infants by adding insulin to intravenous feeds and interfering with breathing tubes.

Families of the victims said they will forever be grateful to jurors who had to sit through 145 days of gruelling evidence.

In a joint statement read outside court, they also expressed their gratitude to medical experts, consultants, doctors and nursing staff who came to give evidence during the trial, which they described as extremely harrowing and distressing at times to listen to.

The search for the truth has remained at the forefront of everyones minds and we will forever be grateful for this, they said. We would now ask for time in peace to process what has happened as we come to terms with todays verdict.

A sentencing hearing was set for Monday.

The jury of seven women and four men deliberated for 22 days before reaching the verdict. One juror was excused well into deliberations for personal reasons and the judge later gave the remaining 11 jurors the option of reaching a verdict with 10 people in agreement instead of a unanimous decision.

Letby denied all the charges. She was found guilty of the seven murders and of seven charges of attempted murder relating to six children. She was cleared of one charge of attempted murder and the jury could not reach a verdict on several others.

Some of the verdicts were announced in court earlier in the month, but the judge imposed a ban on reporting them until deliberations were complete. Letby fought back tears on Aug. 8 as the jury found her guilty of two counts of attempted murder and burst out crying as she left the courtroom. She had more recently declined to be in the courtroom as additional verdicts were announced.

During the lengthy trial, which began last October, prosecutors said the hospital in 2015 experienced a significant rise in the number of babies who were dying or suffering sudden deteriorations in their health for no apparent reason. Some suffered serious catastrophic collapses but survived after help from medical staff.

They alleged that Letby was on duty in all the cases and described her as a constant malevolent presence in the neonatal unit when the children collapsed or died. They said the nurse harmed the babies in ways that did not leave much of a trace, and that she persuaded her colleagues that the collapses and deaths were normal.

The first baby allegedly targeted by Letby was a boy born prematurely who died when he was a day old, in June 2015. Prosecutors alleged the nurse injected air into his bloodstream.

Police launched an investigation into the baby deaths at the hospital in May 2017. Letby was arrested three times in connection with the deaths before she was charged in November 2020.

Prosecutors said a note found at Letbys home after she was arrested in 2018 where she had written I am evil, I did this was literally a confession.

Her defense lawyer argued she was a hard-working, dedicated and caring nurse who loved her job and that there was not enough evidence of her carrying out any of the alleged harmful acts.

More: Doctor used excessive force to deliver baby, decapitating him: lawsuit
SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT  It was practice time first thing Thursday morning for the Media players fresh off their disappointing 2-1 loss the night before to Needville, Texas, in the opening round of the Little League World Series.

But it was not the typical practice, manager Tom Bradley explained.

The players had gotten new sheets and he told them they had to practice making their beds.
Elon Musk, owner of the social media program X, which used to be named Twitter, says that hes going to end the ability to block users on the app.

Blocking of accounts, which is possible on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and even your average smartphone, prevents the blocked user from seeing a persons content or contacting them. Reasons for blocking can range from privacy concerns to keeping harassers and abusers away.

Twitter users have also used the block feature in boycotts and to avoid seeing ads from specific brands or promoters on the platform, CNBC explains.

Musk posted on Twitter Friday morning that block is going to be deleted as a feature, except for DMs (direct messages). He added in response to a comment, You will still be able to mute accounts and block users for DMs.

Musk also said that blocking makes no sense.

A person poses for a photo signing into the Twitter (now called X) website, displaying the new logo, July 24, 2023. Elon Musk has unveiled the X logo to replace Twitters famous blue bird. (Jonathan Brady/PA via AP, file)

Muting allows a user to hide an accounts Tweets from their timeline. It doesnt prevent the muted account from seeing or sending a direct message to someone. Variety explains that an X user can set their account to private, which allows them to control who can view and respond to their posts.

Whether or not Musk can remove block is up in the air, however. Twitter users said that both the Apple and Google app stores require social media apps to have a block feature.

Last month, Musk unveiled a the black and white X logo to replace Twitters famous blue bird. Hes done a major rebranding of the social media platform he bought for $44 billion last year.

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LAHAINA, Hawaii  The head of the Maui Emergency Management Agency, who has been heavily criticized for not activating disaster sirens during last weeks wildfire response, resigned Thursday, citing health reasons.

Mayor Richard Bissen accepted the resignation of Herman Andaya effective immediately, the County of Maui announced on Facebook.

Given the gravity of the crisis we are facing, my team and I will be placing someone in this key position as quickly as possible and I look forward to making that announcement soon, Bissen said in the statement.

As the death toll rose to 111 a day earlier, Andaya defended not sounding sirens as flames raged. Hawaii has what it touts as the largest system of outdoor alert sirens in the world.

We were afraid that people would have gone mauka, Andaya said Wednesday, using a navigational term that can mean toward the mountains or inland in Hawaiian. If that was the case, then they would have gone into the fire.

The system was created after a 1946 tsunami that killed more than 150 on the Big Island, and its website says they may be used to alert for fires.

Andaya was to take part in a meeting of the islands fire and public safety commission on Thursday morning, but it was abruptly canceled.

Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez said Thursday that an outside organization will conduct an impartial, independent review into the governments response to the fires.

We intend to look at this critical incident to facilitate any necessary corrective action and to advance future emergency preparedness, Lopez said in a statement. She said the investigation will likely take months.

Avery Dagupion, whose familys home was destroyed, said hes angry that residents werent given earlier warning to get out.

He pointed to an announcement by Bissen on Aug. 8 saying the fire had been contained. That lulled people into a sense of safety and left him distrusting officials, he said.

At the Wednesday news conference, Gov. Josh Green and Bissen bristled when asked about such criticism.

I cant answer why people dont trust people, Bissen said. The people who were trying to put out these fires lived in those homes  25 of our firefighters lost their homes. You think they were doing a halfway job?

Maui residents whose homes burned in the wildfire that incinerated historic Lahaina and killed more than 100 people are steadily filling hotels that are prepared to house them and provide services until at least next spring.

Authorities hope to empty crowded, uncomfortable group shelters by early next week and move displaced people into hotel rooms, said Brad Kieserman, vice president for disaster operations with the American Red Cross. Hotels are also available for eligible evacuees who have spent the last eight days sleeping in cars or camping in parking lots, he said.

We will be able to keep folks in hotels for as long as it takes to find housing for them, Kieserman said at a media briefing. I am confident well have plenty of rooms.

Contracts with the hotels will last for at least seven months but could easily be extended, he said. The properties will be staffed by service providers who will offer meals, counseling, financial assistance and other disaster aid.

Green has said at least 1,000 hotel rooms will be set aside for those who lost their homes. In addition, AirBnBs nonprofit wing will provide properties for 1,000 people, the company said.

The governor has also vowed to protect local landowners from being victimized by opportunistic buyers when Maui rebuilds. Green said Wednesday that he instructed the state attorney general to work toward a moratorium on land transactions in Lahaina, even as he acknowledged the move would likely face legal challenges.

My intention from start to finish is to make sure that no one is victimized from a land grab, Green said at a news conference. Do not approach their families saying theyll be much better off if they make a deal. Because were not going to allow it.

Since flames consumed much of Lahaina just over a week ago, locals have feared that a rebuilt town could become even more oriented toward wealthy visitors, according to Lahaina native Richy Palalay.

Hotels and condos that we cant afford to live in  thats what were afraid of, he said Saturday at a shelter for evacuees.

FILE - Wildfire wreckage is seen Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. The search of the wildfire wreckage on the Hawaiian island of Maui on Thursday revealed a wasteland of burned out homes and obliterated communities. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)AP

The cause of the wildfires, the deadliest in the U.S. in more than a century, is under investigation. But Hawaii is increasingly at risk from disasters, with wildfire rising fastest, according to an Associated Press analysis of FEMA records.

The local power utility faced criticism for leaving power on as strong winds from a passing hurricane buffeted a parched area last week, and one video shows a cable dangling in a charred patch of grass, surrounded by flames, in the early moments of the wildfire.

Facts about this event will continue to evolve, Hawaiian Electric CEO Shelee Kimura wrote in an email to utility customers Thursday. And while we may not have answers for some time, we are committed, working with many others, to find out what happened as we continue to urgently focus on Mauis restoration and rebuilding efforts.

Meanwhile, signs of recovery emerged as public schools across Maui reopened, welcoming displaced students from Lahaina, and traffic resumed on a major road.

The search for the missing moved beyond Lahaina to other oceanside communities that were destroyed. Searchers had covered about 45% of the burned territory by Thursday, the governor said.

Corrine Hussey Nobriga, whose home was spared, watched crews sifting through ash and debris looking for human remains. While some of her neighbors raised questions about the absence of sirens and inadequate evacuation routes, Nobriga said it was hard to lay blame for a tragedy that took everyone by surprise.

One minute we saw the fire over there, she said, pointing toward far away hills, and the next minute its consuming all these houses.

The ongoing search was marred by intermittent cellphone service and misleading information on social media. There were also challenges finding people who may be in hospitals, hunkered down at friends houses or in unofficial shelters that have popped up. Many people made fliers and were going door to door in search of loved ones.

Judy Riley, who has been working with families seeking relatives, said false leads and a sense that no one is in charge of the missing have contributed to a sense of despair.

If you are looking for the missing, its easy for people to slip through the cracks, she said.

Bobby Caina Calvan, Jennifer Sinco Kelleher and Christopher Weber of The Associated Press wrote this story.

Kelleher reported from Honolulu and Weber from Los Angeles. Contributing to this report were Associated Press journalists Michael Casey in Concord, New Hampshire; Jennifer McDermott in Providence, Rhode Island; Seth Borenstein in Washington, D.C.; and Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Missouri.

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.

More:

Schools reopening, traffic moving again in signs of recovery from Maui wildfires that killed 110

Hawaiis governor warns that scores more people could be found dead following wildfires on Maui

Videos put scrutiny on downed power lines as possible cause of Maui wildfires

Actor Jason Momoa among those telling tourists not to visit Maui

Hawaii governor whose visibility has risen in aftermath of wildfires has numerous ties to Pa.
Police in York are asking for the publics help in finding a missing 36-year-old woman.

The York City Police Department says Shakera Johnson was last seen around 10 p.m. Tuesday but did not say where that was.

Johnson was driving a black Nissan Sentra with a pink sticker on the rear window that says GOODVIBES and a Pennsylvania registration that reads: LWP8856.

Anyone with information about Johnsons whereabouts is asked to call the York City Police Department at 717-846-1234 or 717-849-2219.

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One of the legal claims against the manufacturer of the bunk bed from which a Utah player fell during last years Little League World Series in South Williamsport has been dismissed.

But efforts by Little League and John Savoy and Son Inc. of Montoursville to have the lawsuit stemming from the fall of Easton Oliverson moved to Lycoming County remain stymied.

Those are the results of rulings Monday by Philadelphia common pleas Judge Linda A. Carpenter on defense preliminary objections to the sixth amended complaint by Oliversons parents, Jace and Nancy Oliverson.
A 60-year-old man died after two men on a dirt bike carjacked his vehicle in Philadelphia Thursday night, according to news reports.

6ABC reported that the driver of the 2023 Toyota Highlander was parked and appeared to be waiting for someone in the Northern Liberties neighborhood of Philadelphia when, witnesses said, two men with their faces covered, pulled up to the vehicle on a dirt bike.

Witnesses told police the driver was beaten when the men on the dirt bike pulled him from the vehicle.

The vehicle owner was assisted at the scene by witnesses. Police said he was semi-conscious, slightly bleeding on the head but was able to stand up. The man, however, died less than an hour later at a hospital.

Police told 6ABC they were able to track the vehicle using the Toyota mobile app to Camden, N.J., where it was found abandoned.

Fox29 reported that one of the men on the dirt bike drove the Toyota away while the other drove away on the bike.

The identity of the victim has not been released.

READ MORE: Police officer suspended over racist posts right after hes sworn in
By FARNOUSH AMIRI, The Associated Press

SCRANTON, Pa. (AP)  President Joe Biden privately paid his respects Thursday to the mother of U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, who died last week in Bidens hometown of Scranton.

Biden arrived at St. Peters Cathedral before visiting hours for Ellen Casey, who also was a former first lady of Pennsylvania. She was 91, and the widow of Pennsylvania Gov. Robert P. Casey.

Talking to reporters before and after the flight, Biden said Ellen Casey was an honorable and decent woman. He said he wanted to attend her funeral Friday but had previously been scheduled to meet with the leaders of Japan and South Korea at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland.

Gov. Robert Casey and his wife, Ellen Casey, during a tour of the Pa. Farm Show in 1995. (PennLive archive)Harrisburg Patriot-News

I just want to show my respect to the family, Biden said after arriving in Pennsylvania. He described the enormous role Ellen Casey had in his life, saying her values were amazing.

He added, And every time Id go to Scranton over the years, Id stop and see her. She was a friend.

The presidents motorcade drove through the blue-collar town he grew up in, passing motorways and streets named after him. His house was only blocks away from the Casey household. He flew to Camp David after leaving Pennsylvania.
FBI agents executed a search warrant at an Allegany County home last week while investigating the death of a former exotic dancer who was going to testify as a prosecution witness at the trial of strip club owner Peter Gerace Jr.

Crystal Quinn, 37, died Aug. 1 in a home on Scott Avenue in the village of Wellsville, roughly 85 miles southeast of Buffalo. A team of FBI agents searched the home for evidence on Aug. 8.

The cause of death has not yet been determined, Dylan Foust, an Allegany County coroner, told The Buffalo News on Thursday. The investigation is continuing.

Foust added that his office is waiting for the results of toxicology tests to determine if Quinn died of a drug overdose. He said he saw no signs of foul play at the Wellsville home, but added that he does not know what the FBI is investigating.

One week after Quinns death, a large team of FBI agents  some of them carrying semi-automatic weapons  searched the home where Quinns body had been found.

During the raid, some of the FBI agents exploded what appeared to be flash-bang grenades, according to a WellsvilleSun.com newsman who was on the scene. WellsvilleSun.com reported the home is owned by Simon Gogolack, a man with a history of arrests.

FBI agents are investigating Quinns death, according to four sources familiar with the probe. No one has been arrested in connection with the death.

There had to be close to 50 FBI vehicles there, said John Anderson, a reporter and editor with the WellsvilleSun.com website who photographed the FBI raid. It was a huge federal police presence. Everybody in Wellsville is wondering what all this was about.

The FBI and U.S. Attorneys offices in Buffalo declined Thursday to discuss Quinns death. FBI spokeswoman Jeannie McBride did confirm that FBI agents conducted a court-authorized search of the Wellsville home.

According to her attorney, Quinn had been interviewed at least three times by Buffalo FBI agents, and she had agreed to testify in the upcoming trial of Gerace, owner of Pharoahs Gentlemens Club in Cheektowaga. Gerace has pleaded not guilty to charges of drug trafficking, sex trafficking and bribery of a federal drug agent.

Strip club owner fires lawyer over defense strategy in bribery, sex- and drug-trafficking case U.S. District Judge Lawrence Vilardo, whose approval would be necessary to discharge Steven M. Cohen from the case, asked for affidavits from Cohen or his client Peter Gerace within a week. He said he would decide how to proceed after learning more about their differences.

She had agreed to testify, Quinns attorney, Michael L. DAmico, told The News on Thursday. I spoke to her on the phone the night before she died. Nobody ever wants to testify as a government witness in a criminal trial, but there was nothing she said that gave me any indication that she felt in danger for her life, or that she was suicidal.

DAmico added that Quinn was afraid, scared in early March, when someone left dead rats on two cars outside the Depew home where she was living. But he added that she did not seem to be in fear for her life.

She never indicated to me that she felt that she would be harmed by Peter Gerace, DAmico said. And I never saw any indication that she felt she was under any undue pressure from the FBI.

At this point, I just dont know, DAmico said, when asked if he believes she died from an accidental overdose, suicide or foul play. This is a very sad situation. This is a young woman who had gone through some issues in her life and was trying her best to deal with her issues. She was stressed about testifying at the trial, but she appeared to be under no more stress than other clients I have represented in the past.

DAmico added, Its also very possible that her death had nothing to do with this trial. There are a lot of very dangerous drugs out there, and Ive had other clients who died from them.

Although he did not mention her name, prosecutor Joseph M. Tripi discussed the death of a key witness during a federal court appearance on Aug. 3, two days after Quinn died.

Tripi lamented that the witness would have testified for the prosecution if the trial of Gerace and retired DEA Agent Joseph Bongiovanni had not been postponed from its originally planned June 21 start date.

Strip club owner facing trial arrested on new charges of witness tampering Peter G. Gerace Jr., 55, was arrested Friday on new charges after he was accused of sending threatening Facebook messages to a potential witness against him, according to federal court documents and his attorney.

Now, jurors may never know what the witness would have said in court, Tripi added.

Earlier this year, prosecutors stated that the witness had contacted the FBI on March 14 to report her mother and roommate had found dead rats on their cars where she lived.

Tripi mentioned the dead rats on Aug. 3 when revealing in court that the witness had died.

While Tripi said in court that the death was under investigation, Geraces attorney, Steven M. Cohen, said that day that the witness committed suicide after prosecutors had put her under pressure to testify against the strip club owner.

Tripi did not return a message from a News reporter Thursday, and Cohen said he could not discuss Quinns death.

Gogolack and a member of Quinn's family also did not respond to messages left by The News.

Feds arrest woman expected to testify against strip club owner in upcoming trial Phlycia Hunt, 32, was arrested on drug possession charges filed by the FBI this week relating to two incidents in October 2021 and October 2022.

The News obtained court records on Thursday showing that Quinn was arrested in February by FBI agents, who accused her of using Facebook to send vulgar and threatening messages to another former exotic dancer who was expected to testify for the prosecution in Geraces trial.

The Facebook messages called the government witness a snitch and a nark and threatened harm against her, according to court papers filed by Tripis team of federal prosecutors.

Quinn was charged with felony witness tampering, but the charges against her were dropped on April 6, at Tripis request, court records show.

I cant comment, D'Amico said, when asked if the charges against Quinn had been dropped because she agreed to testify against Gerace.

Quinns death is the latest strange turn in an investigation that began more than four years ago.

Bongiovanni, the former DEA agent, was arrested on bribery charges  which he denies  in November 2019.

In 2021, new charges were filed against Gerace and Bongiovanni, who was accused of accepting bribes from drug dealers who he believed were associated with Italian organized crime. Gerace was accused of of drug trafficking, sex trafficking and paying bribes to Bongiovanni to keep him out of trouble. Bongiovanni and Gerace both have denied the accusations.

Gerace is a nephew of Buffalo restaurateur Joseph A. Todaro, who has been identified by federal agents and prosecutors as a leader of Buffalos organized crime family. Todaro denies the mob accusations and has never been charged in connection with any of Geraces suspected activities.

In April 2022, State Supreme Court Justice John Michalski, who was a close, long-time friend of Gerace, committed suicide at his Amherst home 12 days after federal and state police executed a search warrant there. Friends and his former attorney told The News that Michalski had been under pressure from federal authorities to testify against Gerace.

In June this year, U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra Jr. recused himself from the case, saying that he was required to do so because someone he knew was listed as a potential witness by Geraces defense team.

The case is now before U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo, who has scheduled the trial to begin in October.

People in Wellsville are wondering what, if any, connection their village has to all this, said Anderson, the Wellsville reporter.

You had this huge raid, with all these FBI agents with semi-automatic weapons. They searched that house for eight hours, must have searched every inch of it, Anderson said. Since then, theres not been one official word from the FBI or the U.S. Attorney explaining what its all about. People are wondering, 'What in the world is all this about?' 
A project to install cable barriers in the median of local highways will start next week on northbound Interstate-81 in Lebanon County.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation said the barriers are life-saving traffic devices for use in existing medians to prevent cross-over crashes. They are one of the most-effective safety measures deployed to protect motorists on highways.

The more than $5 million project includes installing the high-tension cable barrier in the median of 29 miles of Interstate 81 in Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin and Lebanon counties; Route 30 in Lancaster and York counties; and Route 222 in Lancaster County, PennDOT said in a news release.

The contractor will start with roadway borings and testing for high-tension cable barrier end anchor terminals. The actual cable will be installed starting in March of 2024.

Green Acres Contracting is the contractor for the $5,213,525 project.

PennDOT said there will be some left shoulder closures as necessary during the daytime.

All other work will be inside median and will not impact traffic, PennDOT said.

The project is expected to be completed in March 2025.

Cable barriers already exist in the median on some Pennsylvania highways. This most recent project comes just days after two horrific fatal accidents on I-81 in Dauphin and Franklin counties.

On Aug. 10, five people - including a family of four from Lower Swatara Twp. and a West Virginia truck driver - were killed in a crash between a tractor-trailer and motor home in Franklin County.

On Aug. 6, three people died in a crash in Dauphin County involving a bus and a car.

For up-to-date information on roadway conditions, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, go to 511pa.com.
Former Rogers CEO Joe Natale is suing the company for wrongful dismissal and breach of contract, alleging Rogers chairman Edward Rogers carried out "malicious, high-handed, and oppressive conduct." Natale attends the company's AGM in Toronto on Thursday, April 18, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
At least three boats contaminated with invasive mussels have been caught en route to the Okanagan so far this year.
A freight train travels past the remains of houses and businesses destroyed by the 2021 wildfire, in Lytton, B.C., on Wednesday, June 15, 2022. The acting chief of the Lytton First Nation says about 30 evacuees briefly returned home in an effort to salvage food they left behind in freezers when a wildfire broke out Thursday nearly two kilometres northwest of Lytton. CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
At least two PKK/YPG terrorists were nabbed while trying to cross into Turkiye from Syria, according to security forces, Azernews reports, citing Yeni Safak.

Acting on a tip-off that a group of terrorists would attempt to enter Turkiye from Syria, security forces arrested two terrorists in the Suruc district of southeastern Sanliurfa province.

Judicial proceedings have been initiated against the terrorists.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkiye, the PKK  listed as a terrorist organization by Turkiye, the US, and European Union  has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is the PKK's Syrian offshoot.
A Jamestown woman pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor, prosecutors announced Thursday.

Jasmin Osteen, 26, admitted she conspired with others between August and October 2020 to coerce two 17-year-olds to engage in sex acts for money, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Western District of New York said in a news release.

Osteen transported the victims to a Buffalo hotel, where they were given drugs and alcohol, prosecutors said.

She contacted clients who paid for sex acts with the minors, prosecutors said, utilizing Facebook to arrange the meetings. Osteen kept a majority of the proceeds, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office.

 Aaron Besecker
Prospects are encouraging for one of the most successful public schools in Buffalo, but less rosy for two others, as deadlines for three building projects in Buffalo Public Schools rapidly approach as the new school year begins.

Leonardo da Vinci High School is on track to open Sept. 8. at the former School 8 at Masten Avenue and East Utica Street in time for the first bell, Chief Operating Officer David Hills confirmed Thursday.

A suitable temporary location for Da Vinci, a college-prep school bound for SUNY Buffalo State Universitys Buckham Hall in 2025, would be a positive conclusion to a saga that began with an emergency declaration in March by Buffalo Schools Superintendent Tonja M. Williams.

The plan to move Middle Early College High School out of a shared Main Street building with Lewis J. Bennett School of Innovative Technology, however, has been delayed until January, Hills said. He cited instructional, information technology and safety systems that need to be installed before students and staff can move into Middle Earlys temporary location at 45 Jewett Ave.

School Board members also learned at their meeting Wednesday night that improvements at Academy School 131, the districts alternative or transfer program, will still need substantial work after students return for the school year.

During the meeting, Buffalo School Board North District representative Cindi McEachon criticized the physical condition of the school. She also shared equity concerns about the districts efforts to provide welcoming surroundings and its efforts to accommodate a school that harbors students with significant needs.

Its terrible, the state at this moment, McEachon said of the former School 86. I am concerned for the students coming on.

Da Vincis progress

The Da Vinci effort  led by CannonDesign and Hayes Construction Services  is vital because there was no fallback option for the 400 students after DYouville University and the school district could not agree to a temporary lease extension to remain in Madonna Hall, Da Vincis home for about four decades.

It was a great collaborative process with the contractors, Hills said of the fast-moving process.

Da Vincis roller-coaster situation saw the superintendent permit district administrators to pay up to $12 million to rehabilitate the building at 167 E. Utica St., which has not been used as a school since 2010. Hills called the four months of moving out of DYouville, as well as chemical abatement and construction work on East Utica, the largest-scale emergency designation in the districts recent history.

Da Vinci will be able to use about two-thirds of the school in September, Hills said, emphasizing that an emergency project differs from a capital project in its timeline, procedure and usually its scope of work.

Its bare bones  its the work we need to do to get a certificate of occupancy, he said.

Original plans to move Da Vinci, the only Buffalo school to earn a 100% graduation rate in 2021-22, from DYouville to Buffalo State did not include a temporary location, but the cost and time required to bring Buckham Hall up to code spurred the delay. The roughly $25 million project at Buffalo State is eligible for state building aid, while emergency projects are not.

Middle Early delay

Unlike Da Vinci, Middle Early College had a fallback option if its temporary site was not ready in time. Contrary to plans earlier this summer, Middle Early will now start the 2023-24 school year in the same building it finished last year: the four-floor space at 2885 Main St., which it has shared with Lewis J. Bennett School since 2015.

Split of Middle Early College, Lewis J. Bennett to ease unrest, spark growth The mammoth building at 2885 Main St. has become too small to hold both Middle Early College and Lewis J. Bennett School of Innovative Technology.

The Bennett Alumni Association and a Bennett student leader at a spring board meeting described a less-than-harmonious environment last school year in the shared building. Two different class schedules  Middle Early Colleges model is different than Bennetts traditional high school setup  created awkward overlaps between the two populations that the speakers feared would lead to safety concerns.

The temporary school at 45 Jewett Ave., home to the now-closed Buffalo Collegiate Charter School until July 31, required work to reach 21st-century connectivity to suit a specialized school such as Middle Early, Hills said, as well as security devices and a public address system. Hills said completing these tasks with students in the building would be disruptive if the move occurred in September.

Theres no good choice here, Hills said.

Middle Early is expected to move out of Main Street onto Jewett in late December, he said.

Academy School concerns

McEachon and Buffalo School Board President Sharon Belton-Cottman expressed worries about the state of Academy School for the approaching school year after they recently visited to check on its progress at 756 St. Lawrence Ave., the site where the Academy School finished last year after the roughly 120 students where shuttled from two other spaces.

Its actually worse than what was already bad in May, McEachon said.

McEachon said she did not see any indication that Montante Construction had used the $1.5 million to create a suitable environment for a school that enrolls 95% minority students, 20% of whom are listed as homeless.

We provide equitable opportunities for all students, regardless of which school they go to, McEachon said.

Hills said interior work would be done by the start of school, while exterior work would continue into late September.

Funding sources, unexpected construction needs, changes in the scope of work and city permitting caused work on the emergency project to cease on June 30 and required board approval of additional money to continue in August, he said. Hills said the building hasnt undergone renovations since 1972.

McEachon and Belton-Cottman were the only board members to vote against approving $500,718 for Montante Construction to complete an emergency project that will cost about $3 million in total.

These kids deserve better than an emergency project  thats all theyve ever gotten, Hills said, agreeing with McEachon. Hills said a capital project, which could be reimbursed by the state, could follow the emergency project.

Although Academy School is expected to accommodate students for the start of the school year, Hills understood the brushback from students and staff.

When they feel like theyre not valued, when that happens, he said, its devastating.
A Lancaster town judge has ruled that a service dog who bit a neighbor is dangerous and will remain in the town animal shelter until he decides whether the animal should be euthanized or rehabilitated.

Judge David Stabler presided over a six-hour hearing Thursday night involving a 4-year-old male Alaskan Malamute owned by village of Lancaster resident Joshua Gilley.

Bandit helps Gilley get through seizures, which he suffers a result of a traumatic brain injury sustained in a car crash more than 10 years ago.

Im pretty lost without my dog, he said.

Supporters of Gilley, his dog and the village resident Bandit bit attended the court session, which ended shortly after 11 p.m. Gilley has not been charged in connection with the incident.

Bandit accidentally got out of his home June 28 on Wren Avenue and made his way to East Drullard Avenue, one street away.

Jillian Durkin was outside with her son and other children when Bandit approached, she testified during the Lancaster Town Court hearing.

Durkin said she started to panic when she saw the dog because he had previously bitten her husband.

Nicholas Durkin testified Bandit bit him on the arm about two years ago, but he did not report the incident or need medical attention.

In June, Bandit first approached the Durkins 8-year-old son and pushed his head into the childs midsection, then did the same to a little girl, Jillian Durkin said. The girl screamed and the dog growled. Thats when Durkin grabbed Bandit by the collar to get him away from the girl, she testified.

Gilley said in court that Bandit nuzzles his head into people as a sign that he wants to be petted.

Bandit bit Durkin in the arm and didnt let go, eventually pushing her through her homes glass storm door. He continued biting her until neighbors came to help.

Lancaster man, advocacy group hope to save service dog from being euthanized Joshua Gilley of Lancaster is desperate to get his service dog, Bandit, returned to him. Bandit was taken away after the dog was inadvertently let loose and bit a neighbor who may have tried to to grab him by the collar, and now he could be euthanized.

Durkin was bitten on both arms and required treatment for her injuries at Erie County Medical Center, she testified. She said she needed a stitch to close a wound on one of her arms.

When Durkin showed her arms to the judge during the hearing, Stabler said there was substantial scarring from the bite marks.

In the days following the incident, Durkin said, she was unable to work or drive because of the pain and swelling in her arms. She couldnt shower on her own, prepare meals for herself or her children and had trouble sleeping, she said.

More than a month after the attack, Durkin testified, she still has pain in her arms and has an upcoming appointment with a specialist because shes concerned about nerve damage.

Gilley said in court that hes had Bandit since the dog was about 6 weeks old and the dog has helped him mentally and physically. Bandit helps Gilley control his seizures and protects him when he is seizing. Since Bandit was taken, Gilley said his seizures have been a lot worse and more frequent.

After hearing the testimony from 10 witnesses, the judge ruled Durkins injuries were serious enough to deem Bandit a dangerous dog.

Bandit has been held in the town animal shelter since after the incident and will remain there until Stabler makes a final determination about what happens next. He said he plans to announce his decision Thursday in court.

Stabler told prosecutors and defense lawyers to provide additional written arguments as he weighs his decision.

Katie Gallagher, a certified dog trainer who specializes in aggression cases, evaluated Bandit at the animal shelter. She testified Thursday that he can be rehabilitated and should not be put down.

Gallagher recommended improvements Gilley can make to his home to prevent Bandit from getting out again. She said said she is willing to work with Gilley to train Bandit.

Though the attack happened in the Village of Lancaster, the case had to be moved to Town of Lancaster Court after both village justices recused themselves because they knew members of the bite victims family.

Following the hearing, town prosecutor Thomas Fowler said he believes the judge made the right decision. He said Bandit should be removed from his home.

The safety of this neighborhood is more important than his selfish need for a dog, Fowler said of Gilley during his closing argument.

Gilleys attorney, Matthew Albert, said Bandit can, and should be, returned to his owner.

Albert owns an animal rescue group called the Against All Oddz Animal Alliance. He said hes committed to helping Gilley make the recommended improvements to his home to keep Bandit from escaping again.

Bandit deserves to be back with Josh (Gilley), Albert said. He really does. Not a doubt in my mind.
The Heater Continues: Preston McEwen Dominates Cherokee With 7 Final Tables in 7 Months

August 17, 2023 Connor Richards Editor & Live Reporter U.S.

Five-time World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) ring winner Preston McEwen has been on a tear this year and hasn't shown any signs of slowing down. Specifically, the Tennessee grinder has been crushing at Harrah's Cherokee in North Carolina, where he recently made three final tables, including a third-place finish in the $1,700 buy-in Main Event for $175,713.

This isn't the first WSOPC Cherokee stop this year that McEwen has dominated. Since February, McEwen has made seven final tables at the popular southern poker destination and racked up $351,111 from those final table appearances.

Read About the Latest WSOPC Cherokee Stop!

Incredible Heater in Cherokee

McEwen's Cherokee heater started just a month after he took down the WSOPC Tunica Main Event for $183,563 in January. He followed that up with a runner-up finish in Event #3: $400 No-Limit Hold'em in Cherokee for $29,210 before taking down Event #7: $2,200 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller for $71,525 and his fifth Circuit ring.

Preston McEwen

McEwen also found a tenth-place finish and unofficial final table appearance in Event #5: $600 No-Limit Hold'em for $3,439 before rounding out the February Cherokee stop with a seventh-place finish in Event #8: $400 No-Limit Hold'em Monster Stack for $19,002.

"It's great," McEwen said during a PokerNews Podcast appearance in March. "This game's tough, so you go through peaks and valleys throughout your career, and I was probably on one of the lowest ends of my career not too long ago. So it's such a relief for me and my family. It's pretty cool. A lot of stress unloaded."

McEwen went on to finish third in Event #7: $600 No-Limit Hold'em in May for $13,431 but waited until the August Circuit stop the kick things up. He finished seventh in Event #2: $400 No-Limit Hold'em for $19,128 and sixth in Event #8: $400 No-Limit Hold'em - Monster Stack for $23,102 before finishing third in the Main Event for $175,713, just shy of his career-best score in Tunica earlier in the year.

Preston McEwen's WSOPC Cherokee Final Tables This Year

DATE EVENT PLACE PIRZE (IN USD) August 2023 WSOPC Cherokee Event #13: $1,700 Main Event 3rd $175,713 August 2023 WSOPC Cherokee Event #8: $400 No-Limit Hold'em - Monster Stack 6th $23,102 August 2023 WSOPC Cherokee Event #2: $400 No-Limit Hold'em 7th $19,128 May 2023 WSOPC Cherokee Event #7: $600 No-Limit Hold'em 3rd $13,431 February 2023 WSOPC Cherokee Event #8: $400 No-Limit Hold'em Monster Stack 7th $19,002 February 2023 WSOPC Cherokee Event #7: $2,200 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller 1st $71,525 February 2023 WSOPC Cherokee Event #3: $400 No-Limit Hold'em 2nd $29,210

It isn't just Circuit events that McEwen is crushing. At the 2023 WSOP, he finished 15th in Event #46: $500 Freezeout No-Limit Holdem for $12,286 and 11th in Event #88: $1,500 The Closer - No-Limit Holdem for $47,160.

In April, McEwen took down Event #3: $250 Deepstack NLH at the RunGood Poker Series Checkpoint Downstream Casino stop for $15,629 and his second RGPS ring.

Listen to McEwen on the PokerNews Podcast

McEwen was a guest on the PokerNews Podcast in March, where he spoke to Chad Holloway about his heater in Cherokee, family life and how he got into poker.

The episode with McEwen can be heard below.
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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said that voters in swing states are more concerned about their lives and dont care about Hunter Biden.

NPR reported on their interview with Sen. Schumer:

Schumer said those on the hard right will salivate about Hunter Biden but the majority of Americans will be focused on the cost for insulin that will be $35 and the cap for prescription drugs.

People care most about getting their costs down, making sure there are good paying jobs for themselves and their kids. Thats what the IRA has done, Schumer said. And I believe by the time the election gets closer, that will be the dominant thing in peoples mind. Not any of this stuff.

Majority Leader Schumer is correct. When voters go to the polls in 2024 to determine control of the White House and Congress they wont be thinking about Hunter Biden. They will be thinking about democracy, whether or not they have the right to control their own bodies, and the economy. They will be thinking about whether they want to be plunged back into the pool of crazy, crime,and corruption that is Donald Trump.

Voters will be thinking about a lot of things, but it is a safe bet to believe that Hunter Biden wont be one of them.

Just because something plays well on Fox News and conservative media, it doesnt mean that it will work in the real world.

Chuck Schumer was correct. Reality is coming to deliver a tough lesson to Republicans.
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Gov. Ron DeSantis is now pledging to shoot migrants carrying backpacks if they get past Trumps border wall and try to cross into the United States.

DeSantis said, We are going to authorize the use of deadly force against the cartels. If you have somebody coming in with the Fentanyl in the backpack, they even break through the border wall, where there is wall. If theyre doing that, thats the last thing theyre going to be able to do because were going to leave them stone-cold dead at the border.

Video:

The DeSantis plan is based on the lie that migrants are bringing in Fentanyl. The truth is that 84% of Fentanyl is coming in through ports of entry via trucks, foreign tourists, and American citizens. The DeSantis plan would do nothing to seize more Fentanyl.

How will law enforcement know what is in the backpack of the person crossing the border without inspecting it? Are law enforcement supposed to shoot migrants on sight because they might be carrying drugs?

DeSantis has been pushing this deadly force on the border line for months.

There was once another country that built a wall and shot people who tried to cross it, and they were called East Germany. To be fair, there is no evidence that DeSantis wants to shoot people for trying to leave America, yet, but the Florida governors answer when asked how the border patrol can tell the difference between a cartel member and a migrant was not reassuring.

DeSantis told NBC News, Same way a police officer would know. Same way somebody operating in Iraq would know. You know, these people in Iraq at the time, they all looked the same. You didnt know who had a bomb strapped to them. So those guys have to make judgments.

Police officers kill Americans every year, and the exact number is impossible to know because many police shootings are mislabeled.

Ron DeSantis is trying to win a Republican presidential primary by moving to the far right of Trump. Given that Trumps base within the Republican primary is only about 40%, Desantis seems to be committing a major strategic and tactical blunder.

It flies in the face of American values for DeSantis to suggest that America should become more like North Korea or East Germany. Of course, the nation should stop the importation of illegal drugs, but the DeSantis plan of a racist attack on migrants that destroys American values is not the way to do it.
Boris Brejcha has a unique ability- to layer symphonies of a multitude of instruments, blending them together and pouring them into one track. His music has always been out of this world, which is why he has developed such a devout fanbase and performed at some of the biggest venues and festivals. And now he's mixed his classic sound with Malena Narvay's beautiful vocals to release his brand new single: "Vienna."

"Vienna" is a musical masterpiece in the sense that it mixes distinct instrumental sounds like the accordion make for a dreamy dance hit. Together, the duo have created a song that is true to both of their sounds, and the city they're commemorating. The accordion-driven melody is also an ode to Vienna, the birthplace of the instrument.

The accompanying music video, also released August 18, shows Brejcha's Joker character depicted as a wind-up doll that dances around alongside Malena Narvay...and yes, the video takes place in none other than Vienna. I told you, this song has layers, listen to it here:









Brejcha typically plays with a mask on, covering burns received from attending the 1988 Ramstein Airfield disaster in Germany with his family. Three of the Italian Air Force's crafts collided during a show in Ramstein, exploding in front of 300,000 spectators. From there, Brejcha grew into a talented producer, able to work through adversity to create art.

Now, "Vienna" showcases who Brejcha is. It's that high-tech minimalism sound that Boris Brejcha has perfected over the course of his career. Brejcha has a history of developing refreshing new music, which we get to see more of in his new upcoming album, Level One.

Popdust got the chance to talk with Brejcha about the new single, album, and what's to come. Check it out below!

PD: Congratulations on Vienna! How was working with the iconic Malena Narvay?

It was very relaxed. She has an exceedingly beautiful voice. And she gave me every freedom to use her voice the way I like it. We also got along very well during the video shoot. It was a very fun time. I hope it wasn't the last time we worked together.

PD: Do you have the same production method when creating a song?

Everyone has their own method. In Vienna's case, she had only recorded the voice. I then put the rest together myself. Since the collaboration came about relatively spontaneously, it was not possible that she could travel from Argentina to Germany. For the future, however, that would certainly be interesting.

PD: You famously perform masked. Can you talk about why that is?

The mask was more of a gimmick at the beginning of my career. But after all these years, it has become a real trademark. I have learned to love it. And it fits incredibly well with my music and the mood when I'm on stage. It has become a very cool trademark.

PD: Your new album is expected to drop early next year. Can you tell us a little bit about it?

My upcoming album is a matter of the heart for me. It unites music like I have produced it in the past. But also music after my years of further development. Hence the album name "Level One". I think I have reached a point where I know exactly what I like. And how I can implement it when I have an idea. So the upcoming album is a time travel through all the years of my career.

PD: What was your favorite memory creating this album?

The most beautiful memory was our trip to Iceland to shoot the music video for Space X. I always wanted to go to Iceland. So it was perfect that we shot the video there. I can recommend a trip to Iceland to everyone. It is so incredibly beautiful there. We will remember it forever.

PD: You have a bunch of tour dates through the end of September. What can fans expect from your shows?

Yes. The whole year is packed with gigs. Until the end of December. I am looking forward to it. Since I'm in the studio a lot and always striving to produce new songs, my fans can always expect a nice set. With a lot of well-known songs, but also a lot of new ones that will be released years later. It's always exciting to test new songs to see the reaction of my fans.
Public trust in government is at an all-time low and politicians do themselves no favors when they misrepresent the facts. Lately, there has been a flood of misinformation about legislation that will radically increase liability under New Yorks wrongful death statute. Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigals recent op-ed is just one of many examples.

Paying more people more money costs more. The funds have to come from somewhere. Thats just common sense. In the case of liability costs, that money comes from the premiums collected by insurance companies. In his column, Hoylman-Sigal says there is no proof his legislation to pay more people more money in wrongful death lawsuits will increase insurance costs. Beyond basic math, there are oceans of data that debunk that claim.

An independent and peer-reviewed actuarial analysis of last years version of the bill projected a 40% increase in medical professional liability premiums, an 11% increase in general liability premiums, and a 6% increase in auto insurance premiums. Hoylman-Sigal claims that analysis is wrong but offers no data to the contrary.

The government itself disagrees. In advising Gov. Kathy Hochul to veto similar legislation last year, the State Division of Budget wrote that the bill would increase total New York State medical malpractice hospital expenses from $1.5 billion to $2.2 billion, an increase of $667.5 million. Of this, $214 million is associated with State-run facilities and Safety Net providers who will need increased State-only aid to remain operational.

Hoylman-Sigal says medical liability premiums did not increase following the enactment of Laverns Law. According to Medical Liability Monitor, premiums have indeed gone up since that bill  which, as the senator knows but omits, was significantly narrowed to avoid unintended consequences  was signed into law.

A coalition of organizations representing businesses of all sizes, health care providers like New Yorks OBGYNs, and local government groups oppose the bill. The staunchest support comes from the states trial attorneys and their lobbyists. Why? The personal injury trial bar stands to profit most if the bill becomes law. Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo once referred to trial lawyers as the single most powerful political force in Albany.

The most powerful political force in Albany should be the voice of the people. They cant make informed decisions about legislation if politicians ignore basic math and make misleading statements. Lets hope Hochuls decision to veto or sign this bill is based on evidence and facts and not an attempt at misdirection in service of deep-pocketed special interests.

Only with honesty can politicians win back the publics trust.
I think I can speak for the collective when I say this week has felt long and arduous. I feel like I've used every last shred of energy saved up to even survive all the workweek, so needless to say, I'm exhausted. But, that's not stopping me from gearing up for another week of new music.

If you don't know by now, we have a weekly thing going here. I round up all of these new, glorious releases every Friday and you, dear reader, run to your streaming platform of choice and listen! It's a mutually beneficial relationship, one that I look forward to weekly.

This week is no different, we've got heavy hitters coming out with new music now that the summer is essentially over. The Disney Trinity is returning to music soon: Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, and Miley Cyrus all have music coming within the next two weeks. It's almost like it's 2006 and I'm tuning into a Disney Channel Original Movie soon.

And then, even further on the horizon, we have Olivia Rodrigo's GUTS looming. But let's not get too ahead of ourselves here, it's only August 18! And while it may be my roommate's birthday, it's also a week full of new music.

Let's Get Listening!





Demi Lovato - "Confident (Rock Version)"



Demi Lovato has one of the strongest vocal ranges in the music industry- which makes her voice perfect for rock and roll music. She's able to hit all the notes that pierce your soul, added the heavy drumbeat and scathing electric guitar to give us the versions of her old pop songs that feel fresh. It's apart of her new REVAMPED album, coming September 15, which features rock versions of all our fave Demi songs. We first saw the new rock era of Demi on her 2022 HOLY FVCK tour, and fans have been anxiously awaiting to hear Demi's new spin on old faves. Alongside her all female band, Demi Lovato reinstates herself as the queen of genre-blending sound, a true musical genius.

Khloe Rose - The In Between (album)



Khloe Rose is our feature artist of the week: someone who has the ability to sing, write, and play multiple instruments deserves their own segment...especially when that someone is 19-year-old Khloe Rose. She's created a flawless album with The In Between, which includes the title track about those in-between moments in relationships...where you can't quite figure out what's happening. It's a refreshing feeling to have all of your emotions put into words, which is exactly what her music provides. It's therapeutic to listen to, and her music is insanely catchy. She's one to watch these days, if you're a fan of artists like Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift- check out Khloe Rose.

Icona Pop - "Fall In Love"

Icona Pop makes music for those who are ready to let loose and have a good time. The duo has given us bangers like "I Love It (ft. Charli XCX)", "All Night", and "Desire" with Joel Corry, but now they're here with "Fall In Love." It's the perfect taste of their new album, out September 1, CLUB ROMANTECH. "Fall In Love" feels fun, lighthearted, ethereal in ways, and makes us feel all the emotions falling in love does. Icona Pop says, "'Fall In Love is about that moment when you fall sooo hardfor someone its almost like hitting a wall; you get all dizzy and almost lose touch with the ground andcant focus on anything else. The track is kind of an experiment for us to play around with our poppierside; we wanted to play around with mixing up our lyrics, but approach the melody almost like you wouldwith a sample, except its just us singing."

Mantra of the Cosmos - "X (Wot You Sayin?)"



Mantra of the Cosmos is like if you assembled the Avengers of UK music and put them into a band. Consisting of successful musicians from iconic bands, this group knows what they're doing. I mean, when you put together Shaun Ryder (Happy Mondays, Black Grape), Zak Starkey (The Who, Oasis), Andy Bell (Oasis, Ride), Bez (Happy Mondays, Black Grape) and latest members, Brix Smith of The Fall, you know you're getting the best music. Their latest single "X (Wot You Sayin?) is pure fun. A refreshing drumbeat and creative lyrics meld into harmonica runs to create a genre-blended single. Every single member of this band put a little of their magic into the song, which is prevalent when you're listening.
William Byron dominated the NASCAR race at Watkins Glen International and notched his Cup Series-leading fifth victory of the season. Driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports, Byron overtook Michael McDowell in the first quarter of the 90-lap event and pretty much remained in controlled the rest of the way. Pole-sitter Denny Hamlin was second, followed by Christopher Bell, AJ Allmendinger and Ty Gibbs. It was Byrons first win on a road course in six Cup seasons. It came in the penultimate race of the regular season. Read moreWilliam Byron dominates at Watkins Glen for his Cup Series-leading fifth victory of the season
An Aiken man is facing charges after two people said he swung a knife at them in a room at the Days Inn off Interstate 20's Exit 22.

Aiken County sheriff's deputy A. Dailey reports two people told him that Quarmaine Marquise Jones had approached them asking for a phone charger late Wednesday night. The deputy said the people told him Jones entered their room without permission and pulled a knife out once he was in the room.

Both said Jones swung the knife and left when one of them pointed a BB gun at him, Dailey wrote in the incident report.

Dailey said Jones was not on scene when deputies arrived, but he came back shortly thereafter. Dailey said Jones handed over a black knife when asked by the deputy if he had any weapons.

The deputy said Jones fled before a safety pat down could be conducted. Dailey added Jones was apprehended after he scaled a fence, tried to run up the I-20 on-ramp and turned back toward the deputies.

Dailey said Jones denied pulling the knife on the two people and said he had no contact with the two people other than saying hey in the hallways.

Jones, 30, was arrested early Thursday morning and charged with two counts of attempted murder and one count each of first-degree burglary and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.

Attempted murder is a felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison. First-degree burglary is a felony punishable by up to life in prison. Possession of a weapon during a violent crime carries an additional five-year term in prison if the person accused isn't sentenced to death or life without parole.

Bond information was not available as of 4:20 p.m. Thursday.
GRANITEVILLE  One of South Carolina's most prominent Puerto Ricans received a massive community salute Aug. 17, in honor of decades of service in a variety of roles in the public and private sectors.

Burnettown Mayor Hector Rodriguez, an Army veteran originally from San Sebastian, Puerto Rico, was in the spotlight, being awarded the Order of the Palmetto, the highest civilian honor bestowed by South Carolina's governor.

Midland Valley Community Church of the Nazarene was the host site, and pews were packed with neighbors, family members and other well-wishers on hand for the 81-year-old. He is a longtime member of Langley First Baptist Church and is also known as a former employee of J.M. Huber Clay and Aiken County's school system.

S.C. Sen. Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, and S.C. Rep. Melissa Oremus, R-Aiken, helped lead the program. Massey emphasized Rodriguez's military involvement and particularly his efforts on behalf of veterans, including creation, expansion and maintenance of Horse Creek/Midland Valley Veterans Park, established in 1998.

Massey, following a partial listing of Rodriguez's roles, said, "For all of us who thought Hector's done a lot of stuff  and he has  we've learned something, haven't we? He's done even more than we thought he'd done, and I don't think it is a surprise to anybody that Hector's going to show up for work tomorrow morning, and he's going to do even more stuff, and he's never going to ask for credit for it. He's never going to be out trying to solicit credit."

Most of the time, the legislator added, Rodriguez would prefer not to get credit. "Those are the people that we need to honor and we need to recognize, so I think Hector Rodriguez is definitely deserving of the state's highest civilian honor," he said.

Rodriguez, who is now undergoing cancer treatment, stepped into one of his most prominent roles in 1988, becoming mayor. He served in that role through 2001, stepping aside to help with family medical issues, and resumed his mayoral role in 2021.

Karen Jones, a member of Burnettown's town council, noted that Rodriguez was the oldest of 13 children in his family and was drafted into the Army in 1961, which meant time at Fort Dix, in New Jersey, for basic training, followed by a stretch at Fort Gordon, to begin his introduction to the Aiken-Augusta area, which included his future wife, Judy. She worked at Homestead Draperies, a division of United Merchants  the same company that employed Rodriguez at that point.

They married in 1967 and moved into the same house where they now live. The household grew to include two sons and one daughter, and the family tree also includes eight grandchildren now. The patriarch has served in a variety of roles in Midland Valley Lions Club, Midland Valley Chamber of Commerce, Langley Masonic Lodge 174 and American Legion Post 153, among other organizations.

Hundreds of local children came to know him through other roles, as Rodriguez served the school district largely as a bus driver and also as a hall monitor and student shadow, among other capacities.

Rodriguez, addressing the assembly in his honor, said, "I know as long as I am the mayor of Burnettown, I will be doing what I love to do most, and that is serving the people in our community. I'm proud to be from Puerto Rico, and I'm proud to have called South Carolina home for over 55 years, and I'm also very proud to receive such an amazing honor. I thank you for being here tonight."

His listeners had the chance to speak with the evening's honoree after the award ceremony, gathering for pictures and attending a reception.

The website for the governor's office notes, "The Order of the Palmetto recognizes individuals who have selflessly given of their time, resources and goodwill through a variety of different causes and pursuits to the benefit of their neighbors, fellow citizens and the fabric and prosperity of South Carolina. Business, political or personal accomplishment may be important factors, but noble works for others mark the true purpose."
A new dating experiment is starting in Augusta.

Soul Bands, created by Augusta residents Ashley Panter and Christine Rhodes, aims to circumvent dating apps to create a more authentic dating experience.

The idea grew out of frustrations with dating apps that both Rhodes and Panter identified in their own experiences. Similar companies, like Pear Ring, a global dating premise, to identify single individuals with a ring, which Panter felt like it could be too difficult to spot.

Panter said Soul Bands came about when she and Rhodes were talking about how difficult dating has become.

"Most people meet online, but for me, I've wanted more of a better 'meet-cute' story than someone I met on a dating app," Panter said.

Soul Bands officially launched in Augusta in July and features a pack of five bands. Each band represents your relationship status and sexuality, and users can wear what best describes them.

You can walk up and say, 'oh my gosh, you are wearing soul bands too, how cool.' It's an instant conversation starter. So for us, we thought that it would be a good opportunity to get something going in Augusta, Panter said.

Panter said they hope to expand to other Georgia and Tennessee markets in the future including Atlanta, Athens and Chattanooga. Soul Bands can currently be purchased on sale for $9.99 a pack.

Panter hopes to make the dating experience better for those who use Soul Bands.

I think dating in Augusta is pretty hard and pretty difficult. Augusta is pretty spread out as far as all the different areas go but, it seems like there are a lot of people that go downtown and go to some of the more trendy restaurants and bars and it would be really cool if people could get on board and just see if it works, Panter said. It's a social experiment that is pretty inexpensive and I just think it would be really cool to give it a try.

For more information, visit www.soulbanddating.com.
Before we get too far removed from the whole bizarre dispute between Equity Court Judge Joseph Strickland and the Richland County legislative delegation, we need to spend a few minutes on an extraordinary rebuke that one of our justices lobbed at his colleagues on the S.C. Supreme Court as p Read moreScoppe: How Justice Few is keeping mysterious missing opinion in the spotlight
Republicans need to take our medicine and realize the election wasnt rigged ...

 Geoff Duncan, the Republican former lieutenant governor of Georgia

... based on the known facts in each case, I do not share the accusation that the justice system is rigged against Republicans.

 Alberto Gonzales, U.S. attorney general under Republican President George W. Bush

The Democrats are weaponizing courts & prosecutors.

 The New York State Republican Party

Hmmm.

Heres one way to distinguish who is telling the truth and who is dissembling: Duncan and Gonzales have nothing to gain beyond the satisfaction of helping to lead their party back to sanity  if that is still possible. Indeed, they are setting themselves up for retribution by Trump and his misled apostles.

In a fundraising email, meanwhile, the state GOP seeks to inflame party supporters with an email that includes a casual lie about a moment of high peril for both the nation and the party. Instead of leading the national party back to its revered place in the nations life, it continues to amplify lies.

Not so the forthright Duncan who, despite a barely veiled threat by Trump, testified this week to the grand jury that on Monday indicted the former president for crimes against Georgians.

Politically speaking, this is a pivot point for this country to do something more than just stew on the 2020 election cycle, he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Were either going to, as Republicans, take our medicine and realize the election wasnt rigged and Donald Trump was the worst candidate ever, in the history of our party, even worse than (U.S. Senate candidate) Herschel Walker.

It is worth observing that Duncan wasnt commenting on Trumps guilt or innocence in any of four indictments filed against him in recent weeks. Like every other criminal defendant, the Constitution guarantees him the legal presumption of innocence. (It is, of course, the same Constitution that Trump once said needed to be terminated, but never mind.)

But the presumption of innocence is a matter for the courts, which are empowered to deprive convicted defendants of their liberty and, in some cases, their lives. It doesnt apply outside the courtroom, where people are entitled to come to their own evidence-based conclusions, as Duncan and Gonzales did. The New York Republican Party, meanwhile, plays games with American democracy. It would sell the country out for a few more dollars.

Yes, politicians  including party leaders  often exaggerate, and even lie. And, yes, its a bipartisan affliction. Fundraising is fertile territory for it. But the country has entered a unique moment of peril: An ex-president has been credibly indicted for heinous crimes against the country and, despite evidence the whole world has seen, his party pretends it is all political, offering tacit cover to extremists bent on violence and intimidation.

It is not just in New York. The Republican National Committee last year blithely dismissed the Jan. 6 attack as legitimate political discourse. Having accepted Trump as normal, the party cannot  or will not  free itself from his corroding grip.

Honest Republican leaders such as Duncan and Gonzales are showing the way. So are former Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, who courageously served on the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on democracy. Presidential candidates Asa Hutchinson and Chris Christie are speaking out in plain language. They all know that the party must take its medicine, however bitter it may be.

It is the path back to a place where conservative voices are once again credible, a crucial requirement in a democratic, adversarial form of government. That is true around the country, including in New York, where Republicans have talked themselves into minority status across state government. They need to lead. Why wont they?

Today, those credible voices are being smothered by the deceptions of self-interested defendants and party bosses who would rather play to the lies than stand up for their own country. Our political leaders need to do better or well all pay the price.
Three restaurants will open in the fall in two new multiunit retail buildings under construction in an expanding North Charleston shopping center.

In part of a 15,000-square-foot building southeast of PetSmart in Cedar Grove Commons on Dorchester Road, Buffalo Wild Wings plans to open by late September, according to city Councilman Ron Brinson. Several other units remain available in the structure.

Across the parking lot in an 8,050-square-foot building under construction, Chicken Salad Chick should open by early to mid-October while First Watch plans to open by Thanksgiving, Brinson said in an email to his constituents.

European Wax Center also plans to have a shop in the smaller retail building, according to site plans.

Another outparcel in the shopping center will house a branch of Fifth Third Bank. Construction has not begun on the site, but it's expected to be in operation by next spring, Brinson said.

He noted the developer informed him that tenant interest remains strong and a new phase of retail development is planned near discount grocery store Lidl, which is at the northwest end of the shopping center.

Cedar Grove also includes Ross Dress for Less, Ulta, Five Below, HomeGoods and Firehouse Subs.

Cup of java

A new place to get a caffeine boost is opening in the Lowcountry.

Scooter's Coffee will host its grand opening Aug. 18 at 5641 N. Rhett Ave. in North Charleston where a Hardee's restaurant once operated.

The cafe, owned and operated by Caroline Sbarra, Chandler Bigelow and Rebecca Bigelow, offers drive-thru service, specialty coffee and baked-from-scratch pastries. It's open 6 a.m.-8 p.m.

Nebraska-based Scooter's has other locations in South Carolina in Columbia, Greenville, Lugoff and Orangeburg. Others are in the works for Anderson, Sumter and Duncan near Spartanburg, according the company's website.

On the way

A new restaurant is on the way to a major shopping destination in North Charleston.

Mario's Peruvian Chicken plans to open at 4948 Centre Pointe Drive, next to Japanese restaurant Seasons of Tokyo.

It's expected to welcome diners in the fall across from Tanger Outlets. Mario's has one other Charleston-area location in East Cooper, next to Mount Pleasant Towne Centre.

Gassing up

A new convenience store and gas station is nearing completion in West Ashley.

Construction on a Greenville-based Spinx at 4000 W. Wildcat Blvd. is expected to be completed by September with an opening in the fall.

Under construction

A new discount store is being built between two massive housing developments in Berkeley County.

A project commencement notice recently was filed to begin construction on a new Dollar General store at 1851 State Road, also known as U.S. Highway 176.

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The site is near Nexton and Cane Bay, where thousands of homes are on the ground or on the way in unincorporated parts of the county.

The C. Leon Dennis Trust of Summerville bought the 1.42-acre tract in May for $2.4 million from SC Summerville 176 II LLC, according to county land records.

Lights out

A fast-food restaurant in West Ashley recently went dark.

Hardee's at 2563 Ashley River Road closed near the end of July. A sign on the door directs customers to another location on Savannah Highway.

Pet project

The proprietors of three breakfast restaurants in the Charleston area are branching out into pet care.

Jackie and Marc Cotone, who own the Eggs Up Grill locations in Cane Bay, Knightsville and Ladson, will hold a grand opening celebration for the Lowcountrys first Dogtopia franchise noon-4 p.m. Aug. 19 at 619 Myers Road in Summerville.

The business offers day care, boarding and spa services and is offering 25 percent off select enrollment plans for the first 100 dogs that are enrolled.

The 6,400-square-foot shop is part of a multitenant building. Arizona-based Dogtopia has about 200 locations nationwide, with two in South Carolina in Greenville and Fort Mill.

Opening soon

An Alabama-based breakfast restaurant chain will open its second location in the Charleston area later this month in a space that once served morning meals.

Big Bad Breakfast is taking over the spot vacated in January by Cabana Burgers & Shakes at 2664 U.S. Highway 17, near the recently opened Bohemian Bull restaurant. A soft opening is set for Aug. 26, with the grand opening on Aug. 29.

Before Cabana Burgers & Shakes eight-month run at the site, the property housed an Eggs Up Grill location that closed in 2021.

The restaurant will be open 7 a.m.-2:30 p.m. daily, serving a full breakfast menu along with lunch items such as sandwiches, burgers and salads as well as alcoholic beverages, including mimosas, beer and wine.

The other Lowcountry location, at 456 Meeting St. in downtown Charleston, opened in 2019.

Big Bad Breakfast has 17 other locations across eight states in the Southeast, with three more in the works. They stretch as far west as Little Rock, Ark., where another one is planned, to as far north as Louisville, Ky. Others are planned for Huntsville, Ala., and Durham, N.C., according to the companys website.

Wellness at Walmart

The nations largest retailer is once again hosting a Wellness Day this weekend to get people on the path of healthiness ahead of a new school year.

More than 4,600 Walmart pharmacies across the U.S. will participate from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 19.

The promotion includes free screenings for glucose, cholesterol, body mass index, vision and blood pressure at select locations, as well as immunizations for a fee for the flu, mumps, measles, tetanus, HPV, rubella, chicken pox/shingles, whooping cough, hepatitis A & B and other maladies. COVID-19 vaccines are free. Go to walmart.com/wellnesshub to find a free event.
SULLIVAN'S ISLAND  A $30-million-plus private social hub being proposed for South Carolina's wealthiest ZIP code is probably not going to advance very quickly.

Sullivan's Island's Town Council didn't give the Ocean Club on Atlantic Avenue a warm reception during its meeting Aug. 15. Elected officials indicated they wanted to wait to consider the big-ticket redevelopment project at what was known for decades as the Sand Dunes Club.

They said they hope to gather more information on the developer's background, study traffic impacts and learn more about the financial and other implications to neighboring homes and the town.

They also noted the club doesn't have to be private, and alternate proposals should be considered that all residents could benefit from  not just those who can afford the estimated $60,000 membership fee and $6,000 in annual dues under the current plan.

"I don't think we have enough information to make an intelligent decision," said Councilwoman Jody Latham. "We don't want to make the wrong decision either way."

Mayor Patrick O'Neil called it "a giant decision" that will affect residents and Sullivan's for generations to come.

Their comments came after more than two dozen residents spoke for and against the club concept.

The majority were in favor of the idea as a community gathering place while property owners who were against the plan said they viewed it as a commercial operation in a residential district. The opposition also questioned if officials would set a precedent by approving a conditional use for the property.

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The town also received about five dozen letters related to the proposed Ocean Club, with 32 in support and 27 opposed.

Shep Davis, managing partner of the Sullivan's Island Bathing Co., is leading the effort to create the club. He asked Town Council to advance the proposal to a public hearing before the Planning Commission in September.

Brian Hellman, an attorney representing the developer, said that's not going to happen since council members indicated they wanted more information.

The property first served as club for military personnel stationed at nearby Fort Moultrie starting in the 1930s. It later became a private beachside retreat for employees of the former South Carolina Electric & Gas Co.

Dominion Energy, which bought SCE&G in 2019, closed the Sand Dunes Club at the onset of the pandemic in early 2020. It was never reopened.

The 3.5-acre site is now owned by a company affiliated with Charleston real estate investor John Derbyshire, the former owner of the Money Man Pawn shop chain. His firm paid Dominion Energy $16.2 million for the property last year.
The dual-tower Yachtsman Resort on Ocean Boulevard took a financial hit after owners bailed and assessment payments dwindled. Read moreSC beachfront timeshare deal goes on the block after too many buyers check out
COLUMBIA  A 52-year-old Blythewood man who preyed on at least nine young women and teenagers was sentenced to 25 years in prison Aug. 17 after pleading guilty to federal sex trafficking and drug charges.

U.S. District Judge Joseph Anderson Jr. sentenced Brian Leroy Watson at the Columbia federal courthouse, calling the case egregious and one of the most serious he has seen in 30 years.

Watson, who pleaded guilty to attempted sex trafficking and distribution of heroin, was also ordered to pay $45,000 in restitution, with $5,000 going to each of the victims identified in the case.

Watson, also known as Lil B or B, sold heroin and crack out of his Blythewood home. He preyed on vulnerable young women and teenagers, many who were addicted to drugs, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Elliott Daniels.

The prosecutor said Watson would use his victims' drug withdrawal as a way to coerce them into prostitution in exchange for more drugs to keep their symptoms at bay.

One victim had a brain injury and was addicted to heroin, he said. Another had cervical cancer and Watson gave her a small amount of crack cocaine for pain management, the prosecutor said. One victim was a minor and he posted photos online, advertising her for sex work.

On a womans 21st birthday, she went to Watsons house to buy drugs, Daniels said. He took her purse, kept her in his home, took photos of her and posted the photos online, he said.

At one point Watson wanted to hire someone for security, the prosecutor said. It wasnt to keep people out, it was to keep people in, Daniels said.

Watson would help bail women out of jail, but would make the women work in commercial sex to pay off their debt, Daniels said.

A mother of one of the victims read a statement to the court, asking for the maximum sentence possible.

She described her daughters withdrawal symptoms. At one point, her skin was pale, almost grey, she said. She had lost weight and was malnourished. Her hair was unkempt and matted. The mother said her daughter would moan and scream in pain.
While wildfires in South Carolina don't often rage to the extent seen in the western United States, the Palmetto State has had major blazes over the years, including two in recent history. Read moreWildfires in Maui stir bitter memories of destruction for SC residents
PAWLEYS ISLAND  An independent short film will shoot in the Pawleys Island area this month, with Clamdigger Loop serving as the backdrop for the thriller.

"Eden Avenue," directed and produced by Mathew Epp of Fortis Fortuna Films, will shoot over the third weekend of August with a young cast and crew still raising a $1,500 budget via Indiegogo. Though it'll come with elements of horror, "psychological, dark thriller" would be a better way of describing the 30-minute film, Epp said.

Epp said friends from Charlotte, where he attended college, gave him the idea of using Pawleys Island as a filming location. He quickly fell for the community after visiting, finding it perfect for the character-driven thriller written by Ethan Stover.

"We've seen a lot of films like 'Get Out,' 'Midsommar,' those are the two that I would say drew most inspiration for us," Epp said. "A lot of the A24, smaller budget independent films have kind of moved from jump scares to now suspense-based, character-driven films. And that's where most of our inspiration came from in terms of building the storyline, building the characters, building the plot."

Of the community itself, Epp said he is grateful for the help local residents have extended to him and his crew.

"They've thus far been a huge help to us," Epp said. "We've managed to land deals and work some sort of service exchange with a lot of local businesses for helping with catering, and a lot of locals have helped with housing."

That help will be vital to feeding and housing crew headed to Pawleys for the weekend. Epp said most of the crew members are in their early 20s.

Epp himself is 21, while actors Jack Kehiaian and Dylan Arnold are 23 and 18, respectively. Kehiaian is one of Epp's fellow graduates from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, while Arnold, a recent Waccamaw High School graduate, will attend Coastal Carolina University.

Kehiaian and Arnold were already settling in at the Clamdigger Loop house to be used for filming on Aug. 16. The house is owned by Kehiaian's parents, and the similar nature of the houses along the loop suited Stover's screenplay, which follows a group of recent college graduates battling an unseen force.

"The houses, they're not cookie-cutter, but they have kind of the same vibe, every single one," Kehiaian said. "And we thought, how cool would that be? Not dystopian, but at first glance the town or the neighborhood's really cool and really nice people and everything, and then stuff starts to slowly turn. Ethan had that idea, and we kind of just rolled with it."

Arnold has previously held background work in Amazon Prime's "The Summer I Turned Pretty," which shoots in the Wilmington area, and Netflix's "Stranger Things," which shoots in Georgia. A longtime Waccamaw Neck resident, he feels the film will be a good way to gain acting experience near home.

"We only really met each other in person at the screen test, but it was sort of a chemistry read, and I feel like we all got along pretty well," Arnold said of the cast. "It's acting experience, but it just feels like hanging out with friends, to be honest."

The journey of filmmaking has been difficult at times, Epp said, working in a smaller film market like that of the Carolinas. But his team, all "cut from a same cloth of falling in love with movies at a young age" has made it work.

Epp said he'll be looking to enter "Eden Avenue" in film festivals after it is completed. He said he is also working with distributors so the film can find its way to streaming services.

Ultimately, Epp said, he sees the film as an opportunity to show viewers what the cast and crew are capable of.

"At the moment, we can't necessarily fund a feature-length (film), but proving that 25-30 minutes is a substantial amount of time, it's not a 5-10 minute one, just shows that we're able to function as a crew, and we've got premises that are capable of being told in a 90-minute or 120-minute feature-length film," Epp said.
The Red Cross is urging heat safety for student athletes as temperatures climb Read moreTen important ways to help keepstudent athletes safe when the heat is on
Caitlin Carroll was born and raised in Summerville, but she has spent the last nearly five years calling Lahaina, Maui, home to pursue a career in marine conservation.

Carroll and her roommates hunkered down in their apartment Aug. 8 as Hurricane Dora passed about 100 miles off the coast of the Hawaiian island. With no power or cell service, all they could do was wait and watch. Little did they know that as they were sheltering from one threat, a worse one was getting closer.

We watched our neighbors roof get ripped off. The wind was crazy, Carroll said. When the wind died down a little, we took a quick walk around the block to see the damage. We looked up and realized, My God, thats a lot of smoke. We couldn't tell where it was or how bad it was.

Not knowing the full extent of the blaze, they packed to-go bags just in case.

As I was packing, it never hit me that we wouldnt be coming back, Carroll said. It all happened so fast. Within 15 minutes someone outside was screaming to get out.

She and her neighbors got in their cars and started heading to the nearest disaster shelter. Carroll grew nervous as they sat in gridlock traffic for hours as downed live powerlines were being cleared from the main road in and out of the town. She watched in the rearview mirror as smoke covered the blocks behind them. That was the moment the reality set in. Their home was in the line of fire.

By the time they arrived at the community center, it was evacuated as the fire approached from behind. It was hours before they finally got to a place of safety on the other side of the island. She has not returned to the property yet out of respect.

"Passing through Lahaina right now is passing through a graveyard," she said.

The fire that began on Aug. 8 and leveled Lahaina as well as devastated neighboring towns is now considered Americas deadliest wildfire disaster in over a century. As of Friday, Maui County officials have confirmed 111 fatalities. More than 1,000 people are still missing or unaccounted for. The search to find and identify victims is ongoing and so far has covered only about 40 percent of the area. Hawaii Gov. Josh Green and Maui County officials say the task is daunting and will take time because of how hot and how fast the fire burned. As of Friday, there are several areas where the fire threat has not been fully extinguished yet.

When asked to describe the town to someone who had never been, Carroll said that in a lot of ways Lahaina reminds her of Charleston.

It was a quaint, little coastal city centered around history, the harbor and museums, she said. Youd walk up and down Front Street like you would King Street, watch people surfing in the harbor, sit under the banyan tree and see the boats going by.

"Ive heard it called a tourist destination, but it was so much more than that. It was a community.

Lahaina is considered one of Hawaiis most culturally significant and historic towns because it was the traditional home of Maui royalty dating back to the 1500s. It was capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1820 and is the burial site of early members of the Hawaiian royal family. The Lahaina Historic District was home to more than 60 historic sites, according to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.

County officials have estimated the fire caused billions of dollars in damage and burned nearly 3,000 structures, most of which were homes and businesses.

Wake up call

Charleston resident Aleka Thorvalson was shaken awake that Tuesday morning by her husband with a sense of urgency.

The first words she heard was, Wake up, Lahaina is burning. I cant reach your sister.

Thorvalson was born on Oahu and raised on Maui, but she has lived in Charleston for 17 years. Her mother, sister and brother-in-law still call Maui home.

With communication down, it took time to find out her family survived. A firefighter warned her sister about the approaching fire in enough time to evacuate. Her business and condo were destroyed.

Thorvalsons brother-in-law was one of the hundreds stuck on Front Street who had to abandon their vehicles, jump over the rock wall and remain in the ocean to escape the flames.

He spent nine hours in the water before he was rescued, Thorvalson said. He was so convinced he wasnt going to make it that he recorded a goodbye video on his phone. People had to swim further into the ocean because they were bombarded with the smoke moving downwind if they stayed too close to the shore.

While she was relieved to hear her family survived, she said she is grieving the community she knew and remembered fondly.

One of her friends, Carole Hartley, was among the first of the deceased to be identified. Thorvalson said she was told Hartley was separated from her partner in the smoke as they tried to escape. A news report said she was identified by the watch she was wearing.

The people of Hawaii are such a close-knit community they can overcome anything together, Thorvalson said. Our hearts are grieving those we have lost and what we have lost. We are not just connected as a community, but by the sense of place we called home that is now gone.

"My family, like many others, are stuck in that space between what was and whatever comes next.

Thorvalson said that it can be difficult to understand just how much the geography and isolation of the Hawaiian Islands impacted the response. She pointed out that there is no immediate mutual fire aid available from the next county over like you would expect in the continental United States. Resources and help have to be flown in or ferried over by boat.

Now, Thorvalson is focused on helping her sister from afar with insurance claims and other calls. While she said its difficult to be so far removed from her family at this time, she is appreciative of the community that has come together to help each other in their time of need.

The entire island has experienced a major trauma. People have passed away, people have lost everything and the town is gone, yet in the midst of it all, the community is showing up for one another. Thats the embodiment of what we call the Aloha Spirit.

From a firefighter's point of view

Dennis Ing, who retired to Loris in 2019, was born and raised on Oahu, where he worked as a federal firefighter.

His professional fire career began in the U.S. Air Force as a fire protection specialist. He was a military and federal firefighter at Hickam Air Force Base, Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay (now called Marine Corps Base Hawaii) and Pearl Harbor. Ing also often taught life safety, first aid and CPR for the hotel and tourism industry on Maui.

Ings uncle, Larry, lost his home in Lahaina in the wildfires. It was a home he had just recently purchased. Ing also has cousins who live on the other side of Maui in Wailuku. Luckily, they were out of harms way.

You cant do much when youre so far away, but I donated to one of the churches out there that I knew of in the area, Ing said. Theres not much you can really do when youre outside (other than) call and prayers.

Having decades of experience in firefighting in Hawaii, Ing was not pleased with the lack of preparedness for a situation like this.

When you have a fire like this, youre talking about the entire infrastructure of a whole city, right? he said. Youre not just talking fire. Fire is devastating, and people negate the power of fire.

Ing said people also dont realize that an intense fire propelled by strong winds can move fast. "Youre not going to escape that.

A big reason so many people are missing is because the fire burned them beyond recognition, he said. Maui County officials have asked families with relatives who are unaccounted for to provide DNA samples to help in the identification process.

Take a look at the destruction. What does it take to cremate someone? Ing said. Theyre not going to find much.  The vehicle they looked in may have looked empty and still may have contained something or someone because we dont know that because the ash is there thats left over. That intense heat, that intense fire just burned everything. Youre not going to survive something like that, or theres not going to be very many remnants of something youre going to find.  You dont even need flame contact. Its so hot that the gasses are releasing from other structures and immediately exploding into a fireball.

Ing also noted the fact that Lahaina had one road in and out. Fallen power lines and telephone poles prevented escape.

All the routes that you thought you knew, even if youre from the area, becomes a trap, Ing said. "Its so dry an area, with a fast-moving fire, I mean, its just unimaginable the things that can happen in a fire like that.

Efforts to help Maui

Lahaina residents who fled the fires are returning home to rubble and ash as searched sections of the island reopen.

Other fires across Maui and Hawaii Island have devastated many communities. Six disaster-trained volunteers from the American Red Cross of South Carolina have deployed to support disaster-relief operations on both islands. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden plan to travel to Maui on Aug. 21.

Charleston County government employees wore aloha shirts to work on Aug. 18 to raise money to directly support of victims.

The Red Cross, The Hawaii Community Foundation, Maui United Way and Maui Food Bank are among the biggest relief organizations raising money to aid victims.

Table 301 Restaurant Group in Greenville will donate all proceeds from brunch and lunch sales this weekend at its five restaurants  Soby's, The Lazy Goat, NOSE DIVE, The Jones Oyster Co. and CAMP  to help those impacted by the devastating wildfires.

The money will be donated to the American Red Cross and World Central Kitchen relief efforts in Maui.

Kelly Rhode, who has lived in Myrtle Beach since his retirement in 2009, was a resident of Oahu for about 30 years. His wife Darlene is Hawaiian.

Although he doesnt have family in Maui anymore, he still has friends there and is doing what he can to help them.

Ive already contributed to some GoFundMe causes that I saw on Facebook from friends of mine (whose) family members lost everything, Rhode said.
An arrest has been made in the homicide of a man who died 12 days after he was found in a car crashed in a ditch on Johns Island.

The Charleston County Sheriff's Office filed murder and weapon charges against Jeffrey Holt McKinley, 51. He was taken into custody Aug. 17 in the death of 57-year-old Kenneth Black.

McKinley has no prior history of violent offenses in South Carolina, according to a background check. His only two convictions outside of traffic violations involve drug possession in the mid-1990s.

According the affidavit prepared for McKinley's arrest, detectives believe he was the last person to speak with Black or be in the presence of the victim.

On July 20, sheriff's deputies responded to a call around 8:45 p.m. on Hughes Road about a vehicle in a ditch. They found one person in the vehicle  Black, who had suffered head trauma. It was later determined he'd been shot in the head.

Black was still alive when found, but he did not recover from the wound. He died Aug. 1.

Sheriff's investigators tracked down a camera that captured the vehicle Black was driving that night as the vehicle was stopped in the roadway on Hughes Road. A person in a white shirt and dark pants got out of the passenger's side door. A second camera recorded the vehicle crashing into a ditch near 710 Hughes Road, just a few hundred feet from where the person exited the passenger side of the vehicle, according to the arrest affidavit.

Sheriff's detective Timothy McCauley, who prepared the affidavit, wrote that a witness saw McKinley on foot near Hughes Road the night Black was found wounded. In an interview, McKinley told investigators he wore a white shirt and dark pants that night, McCauley wrote.

McKinley is current being held without bond.
News / Local

by Staff reporter

A constitutional and human rights lawyer, Dr Musa Kika who is also perceived a regime change agent by the Zanu-PF led government has been denied accreditation as a local observer by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).ZEC is currently accrediting observers and journalists ahead of the 2023 election.In an interview with CITE, Dr Kika said they were informed via a phone call that his application was not approved.His application was under the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum which is a membership-based organisation that is constituted of 21 human rights-based civic society organisations in Zimbabwe.The application was received by ZEC on 3 August 2023 around 12 midday."The Forum applied for accreditation for a number of people. Today we have been informed via phone that all have been approved except mine. We asked for reasons but were not given. We were simply told, thus the decision," he said.Dr Kika said the denial to accredit is ridiculous and baseless."Whatever their unstated reasons, I feel sorry for them for playing politics over national duty," he said.Contacted for a comment, ZEC Deputy Chairperson, Commissioner Rodney Kiwa said there should be a reason why he was denied."There should be a reason why he was not accredited if you have done certain things which I don't know because I am not responsible for security, so if they tell us no, I can't challenge that," said Commissioner Kiwa.On 10 May 2021, Dr Kika filed an urgent High Court application suing Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi and all judges of the Supreme Court and Constitutional Court over the extension of Chief Justice Luke Malaba's tenure.Malaba was set to retire upon reaching 70 years according to the Constitution before President Emmerson Mnangagwa signed the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No 2) Bill into law, which allows judges to continue serving on the bench until they reach 75.
ROCK HILL  State Rep. Brandon Guffey, R-Rock Hill, took the podium at the Center for the Arts. He looked out at a room filled with U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, Gov. Henry McMaster, local councilmembers, his wife and his kids.

Thank you all for coming out, he said.

Then Guffey stopped. He tapped his hands against the wooden podium, exhaled a deep breath and held back tears.

Last summer, Guffeys 17-year-old son, Gavin, died of suicide after he was coaxed by a person on the internet to text nude photos. The person threatened to release them if Gavin didnt wire them money. When the money wasnt enough, Gavin took his own life.

Sorry, Guffey said at the stand, its already passed, but this is the monumental moment. Sunday would have been Gavin's 19th birthday. So this weekend has been huge.

On Aug. 18, Guffey was in Rock Hill with McMaster at the headquarters of the Arts Council of York County for the ceremonial signing of his first bill as a state representative: Gavin's Law.

The law mandates that people convicted of sexual extortion of a minor receive up to five years for their offense, 10 for their second and 20 for their third. The bill passed through the Senate and House unanimously, becoming law in May.

As McMaster held the bill signing surrounded by Guffeys family, many in the crowd wore black shirts that read Goop," Gavins art signature, and the sign <3", the last text message Gavin sent.

This is a tragedy for you; it's a tragedy for our state, all of our people, McMaster told the crowd. But we are doing something. We're taking a step that is going to save the lives of other children and other young people. And of that, we can be very proud and thankful.

Arts Council honors teen's life with exhibition

The event was about more than a bill. It was about honoring Gavin in the way that he had expressed himself since he was a toddler  through art.
LAKE WYLIE  John Gossett still remembers the soybean fields, pastures and hardwood forest that used to line his Lake Wylie community.

Now, theyre gone, gone to Walmart and subdivisions.

The growth gives Gossett, who has lived in the area for decades, heartburn. But the new subdivisions, the new residents and the endless traffic are here in Lake Wylie and theres nothing he can do about it.

Thats why, 20 years ago, Gossett voted to widen Highway 557, a road that cuts through the heart of north York County, a road he calls the most important traffic artery in his district.

But 20 years later, that road still hasnt been widened. And after the project was delayed again in recent months, it has ignited a fury of frustration in the community.

Our roads are gridlocked, said Gossett, who has been outspoken against the delay. That Highway 557 project is vital just for quality of life in our district.

But there are concerns about the widening project. There are concerns that it will destroy a 1.5-acre pond. There are concerns that the proposed road, approved 20 years ago, doesn't fit the current community.

Over the past few months, this fight  whether to widen a road or not  has raged in the fast-growing Lake Wylie community, located just south of Charlotte in York County.

On Aug. 21, county council members will decide whether to proceed with current widening plans.

It could put an end to months of drama that has captured the attention of citizens and commuters, council members and statewide officials. They have argued on Facebook, squared off behind closed doors in county council meetings and pulled in any state politician who will answer an email.

Whenever you start getting hundreds of emails, state Rep. Brandon Guffey, R-Rock Hill, said, then you start saying, Wait a minute, something's going on here.
This morning I was on hold, waiting to do one of my weekly guest appearances on radio. There was a caller on the air as I waited, apparently one of many callers who were outraged over the Lefts several criminal prosecutions of Donald Trump. The caller said that all of the other Republican presidential candidates should withdraw from the race, throw their support to Trump, and waltz to victory in November 2024.

I came on right after that caller. I confess that I lost it a little. I said that what the caller wanted is a suicide mission. If Trump is the GOP nominee, he will be crushed in the general election, and he will bring the House of Representatives down with him. The latest AP poll finds Trump with 35% approval and 62% disapproval. Sixty-four percent say they definitely, or probably, wont vote for Trump in 2024. If he is the Republican nominee, he will lose worse than he did in 2020.

The Democrats dont have a candidateit wont be Joe Biden, but Gavin Newsom isnt a great deal betterand if the Republicans nominate someone other than Trump, he or she is pretty certain to win. So Democrats are banking on Trump as their lifeline, their only path to victory. So far, their strategy is looking pretty good: indict Trump, make him a martyr, cause Republicans to rally round him, to forget the past, and to overlook the fact that Trump is an egomaniac with no loyalty to the Republican Party or, really, the United States of America.

In my opinion, Trump should neither be elected President of the United States nor go to prison. That doesnt seem like a stretch: it describes approximately 310 million Americans, including you and me. But in todays bizarre political climate, the idea that Trump should neither be elected nor prosecuted is apparently a niche perspective. I cant explain it.

What I do know is that the Democrats are not moral, but they are smart. They are playing an exceptionally weak hand: Joe Biden is senile, obviously incapable of a second term. He wont be the nominee. His vice president, Kamala Harris, is an inept politician who couldnt win the general election against anyone except Donald Trump. She cant get the nomination against serious competition. There is no heir apparent. Gavin Newsom, the most likely choice, has successively presided over the disasters of San Francisco and the State of California. If you are a Democrat, that is a grim picture.

But the Democrats have an ace in the hole: Donald Trump. If they can induce Republicans to nominate Trump, they can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, regardless of who their nominee might be. If the election is a referendum on Trumpas it would be, if he is the nomineethey cant lose.

It used to be said that God protects fools, drunkards and the United States of America. That has proved true through our history to date. But if Republicans are dumb enough to nominate Trump for the third time, all bets are off. Providence has only so many reprieves to offer.
PR-Inside.com: 2023-08-18 22:30:26

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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2023 / Atomic Minerals Corporation ("ATOMIC MINERALS" or the "Company") (TSXV:ATOM) announces that the Company has temporarily paused the Phase I drill program at the Harts Point Uranium Property ("Harts Point" or the "Property") in San Juan County, southeast Utah, at the request of the Bureau of Land Management (the "BLM").The Company anticipates being able to re-commence exploration at Harts Point shortly and remains committed to keeping shareholders up to date with the latest developments as it continues to explore this highly prospective region.Qualified PersonMr. R. Tim Henneberry, P.Geo. (BC), is the "Qualified Person" under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and is responsible for the technical contents of this news release and has approved the disclosure of the technical information contained herein.About the Harts Point PropertyHarts Point is located in the center of the Colorado Plateau, referred to by some as "the Athabasca Basin of the US" and is 64 kilometers ("km") (40 miles) north of the White Mesa Uranium Mill, the only fully licensed and operating conventional uranium mill in the United States. The Property consists of 324 lode mining claims on Bureau of Land Management ground that covers an area of 2,622 hectares ("ha") (6,480 acres) with drill permits in place for up to 13 exploration drill holes.Atomic Minerals has granted Kraken Energy the right to earn a 65% interest in Harts Point. Kraken Energy must complete US$1.5 million in exploration expenditures within 18 months and a further 10% interest to 75% by completing a further US2.0 million in exploration expenditures and issuing 2 million shares to Atomic Minerals within the next 30 months. Atomic Minerals retains a 2% Net Smelter Return Royalty which can be reduced to 1% through a US$5 million payment. Upon completion of 65% or 75% interest, a joint venture will be formed.About the CompanyAtomic Minerals Corp. is a publicly listed exploration company on the TSX Venture Exchange, trading under the symbol ATOM. Led by a highly skilled management and technical team with a proven track record in the junior mining sector, we have a history of successful achievements. Our core objective at Atomic Minerals is to identify untapped opportunities in regions with previous uranium discoveries. These areas, although underexplored, hold immense potential and benefit from stable geopolitical and economic environments.The Company possesses projects of significant technical merit in two prime locations. Firstly, we have initiated ventures in the Four Corners region, specifically focusing on the Colorado Plateau within the United States. Secondly, we are actively engaged in the Athabasca Basin in Saskatchewan, Canada.For additional information, please visit the Company's website at www.atomicminerals.ca ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS"Clive Massey"Clive H. MasseyPresident & CEOFor further information, please contact:Dave Langlais(778) 316-5105Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor their Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.Forward-Looking Statements:This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking" statements. Forward looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although Atomic Minerals Corporation believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of Atomic Minerals Corporation management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by law, Atomic Minerals Corporation undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.SOURCE: Atomic Minerals Corporation
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OTTAWA, ON / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2023 / Calian Group Ltd. ("Calian" or the "Company") (TSX:CGY), a diverse products and services company providing innovative healthcare, communications, learning and cybersecurity solutions, announces today that, subject to the approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX"), it intends to launch a normal course issuer bid ("NCIB") to purchase for cancellation up to 10% of its public float of common shares (the "Calian Shares"). The Company intends to file a notice of intention (the "Notice") with the TSX in this regard."We believe that the market price of the Calian Shares no longer reflects their underlying value, and significantly undervalues the Company's future growth prospects. Accordingly, the Company intends to put in place a NCIB to facilitate the purchase of Calian Shares to enhance shareholder value," said Kevin Ford, Calian's Chief Executive Officer.The NCIB is expected to commence after the TSX has accepted the Notice and will continue for up to one year, unless earlier terminated. Subject to any required regulatory approvals, purchases under the NCIB may be made through the facilities of the TSX, and/or alternative Canadian trading platforms or by such other means as may be permitted by the applicable securities regulator, at prevailing market rates. The actual number of Calian Shares purchased under the NCIB, and the timing of such purchases (if any), will be determined by management of the Company, subject to applicable law and the rules of the TSX. Any Calian Shares purchased by the Company pursuant to the NCIB will be cancelled.From time to time, when the Company does not possess material non-public information about itself or its securities, it may enter into a pre-defined plan with its broker to allow for the repurchase of Calian Shares at times when the Company ordinarily would not be active in the market due to its own internal trading blackout periods, insider trading rules or otherwise. Any such plans entered into with the Company's broker will be adopted in accordance with applicable laws.About CalianWe keep the world moving forward. Calian helps people communicate, innovate, learn and lead safe and healthy lives. Every day, our employees live our values of customer commitment, integrity, innovation and teamwork to engineer reliable solutions that solve complex problems. That's Confidence. Engineered. A stable and growing 40-year company, we are headquartered in Ottawa with offices and projects spanning North American, European and international markets.Visit calian.com to learn about innovative healthcare, communications, learning and cybersecurity solutions.Product or service names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.Media inquiries:pr@ calian.com 613-599-8600 x 2298Investor Relations inquiries:ir@ calian.com ---DISCLAIMERThis press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information relates to future events or the anticipated performance of Calian and reflects management's expectations or beliefs regarding such future events. In certain cases, statements that contain forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", "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" or the negative of these words or comparable terminology. Forward-looking information in this press release includes statements with respect to the Company's intention to proceed with an NCIB, the anticipated benefits of the NCIB and the number of Calian Shares that may be purchased under the NCIB. By its very nature forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual performance of Calian to be materially different from any anticipated performance expressed or implied by such forward-looking information.Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking information, including, without limitation, the risks described under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual information form dated December 19, 2022 for its fiscal year ended September 30, 2022 and other risks identified in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators, which filings are available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca The risk factors referred to above are not an exhaustive list of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking information. Forward-looking information includes statements about the future and is inherently uncertain, and the Company's actual achievements or other future events or conditions may differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking information due to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors. The Company's statements containing forward-looking information are based on the beliefs, expectations, and opinions of management on the date the statements are made, and the Company does not assume any obligation to update such forward-looking information if circumstances or management's beliefs, expectations or opinions should change, other than as required by applicable law. For the reasons set forth above, one should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information.Calian  Head Office  770 Palladium Drive  Ottawa  Ontario  Canada  K2V 1C8Tel: 613.599.8600  Fax: 613-592-3664  General info email: info@ calian.com SOURCE: Calian Group Ltd.
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Companies Invest in State's Rural CommunitiesCASSELTON, ND / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2023 / Rural broadband providers, including BEK Communications Cooperative, broke ground today on a series of multimillion-dollar projects that will deliver leading-edge fiber broadband technology to rural communities across Eastern North Dakota. A groundbreaking ceremony near Casselton today was hosted by Halstad Telephone Company, MLGC, Polar Communications, Red River Communications, and BEK Communications Cooperative."The people living in this region have been waiting a long time for this to happen," says Tom Steinolfson, CEO/GM of Red River Communications. "Speaking on behalf of my broadband colleagues across the state, we are thrilled to be able to fulfill the promise to the residents of these underserved and unserved communities who have been waiting a long time to enjoy the same connectivity as some of their neighbors in more populated areas." In total, these rural broadband providers are building more than $119 million worth of fiber broadband, funded by four separate state and federal funding sources, including the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).Company Counties Dollars BEK Communications Cooperative Barnes, Cass, Ransom $21,017,520 Halstad Telephone Company Cass, Grand Forks, Traill $12,275,934 MLGC Cass, Richland, Steele $31,000,000 Polar Communications Walsh, Grand Forks, Traill, Steele $49,626,551 Red River Communications Richland $5,269,494 "Our focus is to ensure that every resident in North Dakota has access to high-speed broadband, leveling the playing field between urban and rural communities," says Karl Blake, CEO of Polar Communications. "North Dakota has always been the most connected state in America. With these recent funds, we'll be that much closer to 100% connectivity." The transformational technology upgrade will generate a surge of benefits, including igniting economic opportunities for local businesses and agricultural operations; enabling rural students to realize their educational aspirations with better access to online learning platforms; strengthening healthcare services through improved telehealth capabilities; and bolstering public safety by improving communications infrastructure."This is a game changer for us," says Clay Erdmann, Regional Sales Manager for Mustang Seeds, a seed supply company located just three miles south of Casselton. "We'll be able to run our business much more efficiently with a reliable, faster connection." "This is an unprecedented opportunity taking place in Eastern North Dakota," says Steinolfson. "We want to take a moment to thank the governor's office, our state's congressional delegation, local and state legislators, and county officials for helping to secure the funding needed to make these projects a reality. Also, we thank the residents and businesses of our rural communities for your resilience and patience throughout this process." Call your local broadband provider to learn about project details and to sign up for services.Learn More About the Individual Funding ProgramsND American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Broadband Program awarded by the state of North Dakota, and administered by North Dakota Information Technology: ndit.nd.gov/about-us/broadband/american-rescue-plan-act USDA Reconnect Grant Program: usda.gov/reconnect Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) Grant Program: fcc.gov/auction/904 Contact InformationJulie SkaretBEK Media Relationsjulies@ bektel.coop 1.701-475-1318SOURCE: BEK Communications Cooperative
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Kucaca Phulu, a constitutional lawyer, has said that Job Sikhala's arrest was politically motivated and could have been finalised sooner.Sikhala has been in remand prison for over a year after being arrested on charges of incitement to commit violence and disorderly conduct stemming from his attendance at the funeral of Moreblessing Ali, a Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) activist.Ali had been missing for three weeks before her mutilated body was discovered on June 11, 2022.Sikhala is at Harare's Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison while his co-accused, Godfrey Sithole was released in November, along with 14 other CCC activists.In response to inquiries about why Sikhala has spent so much time in prison without being convicted, Phulu assumed judges did not want to be involved fearing capture by the Executive since the legislator's detention seemed to be politically motivated."I think Sikhala's case is highly politically orchestrated and judges refusing to preside over the matter shows you that it is the initiative of the judges to do this," he said, claiming that some judges did not want to be dragged into political fights."It's a form of protest in the judiciary and sometimes they (Executive) find a particular judge who can handle the matter. You know, the (2017) coup has divided the State on a number of levels including in the judiciary and two, one of judges colleagues' High Court Judge, Justice Erica Ndewere was dismissed specifically for dealing with these matters," Phulu said.Justice Ndewere was fired after a tribunal found her guilty of gross incompetence but she asserted that she was punished for disobeying unlawful instructions by her bosses, Chief Justice Luke Malaba and Judge President George Chiweshe.She alleged that the two attempted to control her decision-making process in two cases, involving high profile figures, former Minister Prisca Mupfumira and then MDC Vice-Chairperson Sikhala.When Justice Ndewere was suspended before her matter was referred to the tribunal, she lost her wages and benefits, while the government withdrew security at her home and threatened to take away her vehicles.Meanwhile, Phulu noted there is a high level of judicial interference by the Executive seen in Justice Ndewere's case."That's why Justice Ndewere was dismissed. Then you come to my office and say deal with this matter, in other words, you are telling me how to deal with it. So this is an indication that the judges themselves are protesting in the only way they can that there is a high level of judicial interference by the Executive," he said." I believe Job Sikhala's case is a simple case, which could have been handled in a month or two. In fact, I see no reason whatsoever why a lawyer who was representing his clients or a Member of Parliament who was representing people in his constituency, whichever way you want to look at it, should not be granted bail."The lawyer said it was puzzling why Sikhala could not be granted bail yet his co-accused, Sithole is out on bail."There's a long story about Job, from the time he was abducted and the kind of issues that were there. I believe there are deep political issues. If there are no deep political issues, the judiciary could extricate itself and deal swiftly with the matter so that it could is over one way or the other then look at the right to appeal and then judge each other" Phulu said,He also noted that under any circumstances, if someone spent time in remand prison for so long was horrible,' which happens too often in Zimbabwe's system due to failure by court to finalise cases."If you go to Khami Prison, you see so many people on remand but some of the issues are just the failure of the judiciary to do their job. In the case of Job I believe there are political issues, which means there are deep seated problems that our judiciary is facing and these are escapades and attempts of capture," Phulu said.On May 3, 2023, Sikhala was convicted of obstructing justice and was given a wholly suspended six months sentence with an option of paying US$ 600 or spending six months in jail.However, following his conviction and sentencing, Sikhala remained in custody, as he awaits trial for two other charges of incitement to commit violence and disorderly conduct.Sikhala becomes the second opposition lawmaker to endure lengthy imprisonment after founding MDC MP for Chimanimani Roy Bennett was jailed one year for assaulting then justice minister Patrick Chinamasa in Parliament in 2004.
Business Intelligence Service Market

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The global business intelligence service market report is a comprehensive report that provides a detailed analysis of the current status and future trends of the business intelligence service market worldwide. This report provides valuable information to industry stakeholders by offering an in-depth perspective on market dynamics, competitive landscape, growth opportunities, and key challenges faced by industry participants.From the perspective of market dynamics, this report explores the factors driving the growth of the business intelligence service market. This includes the increasing demand for business intelligence service products due to changes in consumer preferences, technological advancements, and the demand for more efficient and sustainable solutions. Additionally, government regulations and initiatives to promote the adoption of business intelligence service products also contribute to market growth. On the other hand, this report identifies and analyzes factors that may hinder market growth, such as economic uncertainty, supply chain disruptions, and intense competition in the market.Request for Sample Report:The competitive landscape section of the report provides a comprehensive analysis of the leading companies operating in the business intelligence service market. It introduces the major companies, their business strategy, product portfolio, recent trends, and financial performance. This analysis provides valuable insights for market stakeholders to understand the intensity of competition in the market and gain an insightful view of the strategies adopted by major market players to maintain their position.Some of the major companies in the Business Intelligence Service market are as follows: ADVIZOR Solutions, Cisco Systems, IBM Corporation, MicroStrategy, Microsoft Corporation, Oracle, QlikTech International, Rackspace, SAP, Tableau SoftwareBy segmenting the market, the report provides a detailed understanding of each segment by analyzing market size, growth potential, and key trends within each segment. Through this detailed analysis, industry participants can identify profitable opportunities, develop strategies tailored to specific customer segments, and allocate resources effectively.Market Segmentation:Type: Data Mining and Analytics, OLAP, Process and Text Mining, CPM, DSS, OthersApplication: SMES, Large EnterprisesIdentifying growth opportunities is crucial for companies operating in the business intelligence service market. This report focuses on highlighting these opportunities by analyzing emerging technologies, market trends, and changing customer needs that have the potential to shape the future of the market. By identifying untapped market segments, geographies with high growth potential, and innovative product development strategies, this report supports stakeholders in harnessing these opportunities and leading business growth.In addition, this report addresses the key challenges faced by industry participants. It provides insightful information on challenges such as intense market competition, price pressure, regulatory compliance, and technological confusion. By understanding these challenges, companies can develop effective mitigation strategies and adapt to a constantly changing market environment. This enables them to ensure sustainable growth.The regional analysis section of the global business intelligence service market report thoroughly evaluates the market in various regions, including North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa. This section provides valuable information on market size, growth potential, and key market trends specific to each region.Market by Regions:North AmericaU.S.CanadaEuropeGermanyU.K.FranceItalySpainRest of EuropeAsia PacificChinaIndiaJapanRest of Asia PacificMiddle East & AfricaGCCSouth AfricaRest of Middle East & AfricaLatin AmericaBrazilMexicoRest of Latin AmericaThis report provides a comprehensive assessment of the business intelligence service market in these specific regions, enabling stakeholders to understand regional differences, market potential, and growth prospects. This provides valuable insights that help make informed decisions related to market entry, expansion strategies, and resource allocation. Additionally, understanding the regulatory landscape and market dynamics in each region is useful for companies to comply with regulatory requirements and adjust their business strategies to fit specific markets.Overall, the global business intelligence service market report strives to provide comprehensive and practical information to industry stakeholders. By offering a deep understanding of market trends, competitive dynamics, growth opportunities, and potential risks, this report plays a valuable role as a tool for manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, and investors. Through this information, they are able to make informed business decisions and execute successful strategies in the dynamic and evolving business intelligence service market.
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NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2023 / GRI's investment in the United States continues, as additional experience and skills have been added to the team to increase our impact and support in the Region. The GRI North America team continues to grow with the addition of 4 new resources. Two senior, experienced sustainability practitioners, and two full time interns.Andres Machado and Gina Lee join the team in strategic roles supporting standards development and uptake, as well as, relationship and services management, respectively.Andres has 10 years of experience in stakeholder engagement, global convening, and ESG/ sustainability standards development and management. Gina brings 15 years of relationship and program management, partnership development, and business development experience to the work of GRI in North America.With the addition of these strong individuals, the GRI North America team is even better prepared to address the pressing needs of our stakeholders in the Region.In addition, GRI continues its commitment to help bring the next generation of sustainability experts into the market, fully informed on the content and value of GRI and the GRI standards. To that end, we have recently expanded our internship program and we are delighted to add both Leah Goryachkovsky and Noah Curry to the team. Leah is currently a student at Columbia University and Noah comes to GRI with several years of work experience. Both Leah and Noah will jump right into the work of the team, supporting all aspects of outreach, research, and delivery. We are delighted to continue our internship program and to provide this opportunity to future leaders in the field.With these additions, GRI is strengthening our commitment to the region and recognizes the need to be a more present and active force in the sustainability field in the Region. We are excited to be part of this critical work and will continue to build our capacity to serve all of our stakeholders.View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from GRI in North America on 3 blmedia.com Contact Info:Spokesperson: GRI in North AmericaWebsite: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/gri-north-america Email: info@3 blmedia.com SOURCE: GRI in North America
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RADNOR, PA / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 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 Bausch Health Companies Inc. ("Bausch") (NYSE:BHC). The action charges Bausch 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 Bausch's materially misleading statements and omissions to the public, Bausch's investors have suffered significant losses.CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR BAUSCH LOSSES. YOU CAN ALSO CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING LINK OR COPY AND PASTE IN YOUR BROWSER: https://www.ktmc.com/new-cases/bausch-health-companies-inc?utm_source=PR&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=bhc&mktm=r CANNOT VIEW THIS VIDEO? PLEASE CLICK HERELEAD PLAINTIFF DEADLINE:SEPTEMBER 25, 2023CLASS PERIOD: AUGUST 6, 2020 THROUGH MAY 3, 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.BAUSCH'S ALLEGED MISCONDUCTBausch is a pharmaceutical company known for its majority ownership of Bausch + Lomb Corporation (B+L). In 2016, Bausch was forced to replace its senior management and attempt to rebuild its reputation after it was revealed that it had engaged in one of the most egregious cases of securities fraud in U.S. history. Among other things, Bausch was forced to restate its financial statements, enter into a settlement with the SEC, and settle a class action with investors for a payment of more than $1.1 billion. The class action lawsuit, however, did not resolve all of Bausch's investors' claims as a number of "Opt-Out Plaintiffs", consisting of numerous institutional and professional investors, proceeded with their claims after the settlement. According to the complaint, the potential damages at issue from the Opt-Out Plaintiffs equals approximately $4.2 billion.The Class Period begins on August 6, 2020, when Bausch announced a plan to spinoff B+L as a separate company in order to reduce Bausch's debt. When the spinoff was announced, Bausch knew they faced substantial risk from the Opt-Out Plaintiffs. Bausch also knew that spinning-off B+L would leave Bausch with significant debt and the loss of the cashflow B+L had historically generated.On May 5, 2022, B+L effected the spinoff and began trading as an independent company under the ticker "BLCO" on the NYSE. Throughout the Class Period, Defendants repeatedly described the B+L spinoff as an attempt to reduce Bausch's debt and said the spinoff was in the best interest of Bausch shareholders. The spinoff was actually an attempt to shield valuable assets from the Opt-Out Plaintiffs that ultimately operated to the detriment of ordinary Bausch shareholders.On May 4, 2023, Bausch released its first quarter 2023 financial results, revealing negative earnings, indicating further delay of its B+L spinoff share distribution, which had been originally scheduled for May 2022. Analysts claimed that the probability of a distribution was now less than 50% and unlikely to occur in the near term. Following this news, Bausch's stock price fell $1.51, or 25.3%, to close at $5.89 per share on May 4, 2023.WHAT CAN I DO?Bausch investors may, no later than September 25, 2023, move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff for the class, through Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLPor other counsel, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP encourages Bausch investors who have suffered significant losses to contact the firm directly to acquire more information. The class action complaint against Bausch, Kelk v. Bausch Health Companies, et al., Case No. 23-cv-03996, is filed in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey before the Honorable Zahid Nisar Quraishi.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
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Balekian Hayes, PLLC Managing Partner Receives Recognition by Best Lawyers 2024 Peer Review GuideDALLAS, TX / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2023 / Best Lawyers, the only peer-review guide to the legal profession, recently announced the 30th Edition of The Best Lawyers in America - included in the prestigious list for the fourth consecutive year is Texas family law attorney Kris Balekian Hayes. To be recognized by the Best Lawyer in America publication, honorees are reviewed by their peers in the legal industry for their professional excellence in 150 practice areas. "Lawyer of the Year" honors are awarded to only one lawyer per practice area in each region with extremely high overall feedback from their peers, making it an exceptional distinguishment. More than 13 million evaluations were analyzed in the United States, resulting in the recognition of approximately 5% of lawyers in private practice nationwide."I am honored to be recognized as a top family lawyer in the country for the fourth year in a row," says Kris Balekian Hayes, managing partner of Balekian Hayes, PLLC. "Their selection process is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area. Our practice Is built on a foundation of honesty, and we truly believe that we owe it to our clients to give it to them. This philosophy has proven to reward us with recognition by our peers and continued referrals from our loyal clients." Kris earned her law degree at St. Mary's University School of Law in San Antonio after completing her Bachelor of Business Administration at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. She continued her education by earning a Master of Business Administration at St. Mary's University School of Business. With more than 20 years of experience practicing family law, she is dual-certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in family law and child welfare. She is one of 47 family lawyers in the state of Texas that carries a dual certification in both of these areas. She is a credentialed mediator in all civil, family and CPS matters. Today she serves as managing partner of Balekian Hayes, PLLC, based in Dallas, TX. She is licensed by the Supreme Court of the United States and is admitted to practice before the highest court.About Balekian Hayes:Led by Kris Balekian Hayes, the family law attorneys of Balekian Hayes PLLC are dedicated to fighting for their clients and their clients' children. From contested divorces, to child possession disputes, to out-of-court mediation and arbitration proceedings, the firm provides the knowledge and expertise needed to help people during what can be one of the most stressful times in their lives. To learn more about Balekian Hayes, visit https://www.bh-pllc.com/ Media Contact:Katie Muddkatie@ thevokolgroup.com 214-676-4254SOURCE: Balekian Hayes Family Law
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PITTSBURGH, PA / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2023 / Liberated Syndication Inc. ("Libsyn"), the leading all-in-one podcasting platform for creators and advertisers, today announced that it has appointed John W. Gibbons, Interim CEO and Chief Product Officer, to its Board of Directors, effectively immediately.Gibbons was appointed Interim CEO in June 2023 and has served as President and Chief Product Officer since January 2022. Since joining Libsyn he has played a crucial role in driving the company's product vision and strategy and has been pivotal in expanding Libsyn's advertising capabilities, suite-of-services model, and global presence.Patrick Dolan, Libsyn's Board Chair, said, "John brings a proven track record of success in scaling businesses across the podcasting and digital media sectors. His contribution to driving our product innovation roadmap has been invaluable. As our newest board member, I'm confident that John will help us achieve our next rapid growth phase with diverse podcasters and advertisers on a global scale while continuing to stay at the forefront of innovation with industry-leading capabilities." Gibbons commented, "Libsyn has executed its platform strategy and is well-positioned for the future. I look forward to collaborating with the board and the leadership team to advance our product suite, our international growth ambitions, serving the next million podcasters with our enhanced content creation offerings, and driving the expansion of our advertising marketplace to deliver advanced capabilities to more brand advertisers." Patrick Dolan concluded, "We are thrilled to add John to the board, further strengthening it. Earlier this year, Ian Harris and Michael Torok also joined the board. These accomplished executives bring a wealth of industry, technology, and corporate strategy experience. We believe their collective expertise and proven track record will contribute to the company's continued success." About Liberated SyndicationFounded in 2004, Liberated Syndication Inc. ("Libsyn") is the leading all-in-one podcasting platform for creators and advertisers to host, distribute, monetize, amplify, and measure their audio content. In 2022, the Company hosted over 75,000 shows and delivered over 8 billion downloads to listeners globally. Libsyn's AdvertiseCast marketplace combines an industry-leading ad buying and management platform with full-service capabilities that make it easy for podcast advertisers to initiate and manage highly targeted and measurable campaigns on over 3,000 shows. Based in Munich, Germany, Libsyn's Julep Media platform is the leading podcasting hosting platform and advertising marketplace in Europe. Libsyn also powers podcast membership platform, Glow, and web hosting platform, Pair Networks. Visit libsyn.com or investor.libsyn.com for more Company information.# # #Media Contacts: Ray Yeung + Nancy Zakhary | ray@ relev8.co + nancy@ relev8.co Investor Contact: investor@ libsyn.com SOURCE: Liberated Syndication, Inc.
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MAJORICA announces the opening of its inaugural store in the U.S. on the Upper Level in Aventura Mall in Miami. MAJORICA is known for the invention of a perfect Mallorca pearl and exquisite fine jewelry, along with 130 years of innovation.MIAMI, FL / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2023 / MAJORICA, the heritage Spanish brand, continues to captivate the world by infusing its designs and perfect pearls with the brand's very soul, essence, and cherished values. The distinguished Spanish jewelry brand renowned for its exquisite pearls and timeless designs proudly announces the grand opening of its inaugural U.S. store, situated in the Upper Level of Aventura Mall.Classic Meets Everyone Created by a scientist and fueled by over 130 years of innovation, MAJORICA remains unwavering in its commitment to delivering perfect pearls and jewelry that transcend time. As the brand takes this monumental step to expand in the U.S., it brings with it the same captivating essence that has enthralled global audiences for generations."After meticulous market research and in-depth data analysis, we have strategically selected Miami, Florida, as the inaugural hub for expanding MAJORICA's distribution across the United States. Aventura Mall stands as an ideal gateway, granting us access to a dynamic blend of guests who already hold a keen appreciation for our brand," reveals Elena Stungis, Vice President of Sales for the U.S., Canada, and TR Americas. "With great enthusiasm, we are excited to offer our extensive assortment of more than 700 items, tailored to cater to the diverse tastes and preferences of pearl aficionados. We have even created an exclusive necklace just for the Aventura Mall store opening." For further insights into MAJORICA, kindly visit our store located in Upper Level at Aventura Mall, Miami, or our website https://us.majorica.com ABOUT MAJORICAMAJORICA has skillfully conveyed the soul, essence, and values of our brand through the elegant designs and the inimitable pearls. Beauty, elegance, character, sensuality, strength - these elements form a unique tapestry that embodies the personality of our jewelry. With more than 130 years of history, MAJORICA remains grounded in its origins, while embracing a classic yet modern, traditional yet innovative approach. Our MAJORICA pearls traverse the globe, all while embracing the present like never before.ABOUT AVENTURA MALLAventura Mall is the premier shopping destination in Miami and South Florida, and one of the top shopping centers in the U.S. Anchored by Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's, the center is highlighted by a mix of over 300 stores from luxury fashion brands to shopper favorites. Aventura Mall also features more than 50 eateries and restaurants, including Treats Food Hall; The Aventura Farmers Market, which showcases dozens of farmers and artisans; and the experiential Arts Aventura Mall program highlighting 20+ museum-quality pieces in a range of mediums, which visitors can enjoy via a self-guided ArtWalk audio tour.Contact InformationElena StungisVP of Sales, US, Canada, Travel Retail Americasestugis@ majorica.com 917-654-1873Natalie LubenskyAssistant Store Managernlubensky@ majorica.com 201-243-8418Related FilesMAJORICA Press Release.docx.pdf SOURCE: MAJORICA USA
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DALLAS, TX / ACCESSWIRE / August 17, 2023 / People In Tech, founded by Caleb King, aims to help people use AI to improve business efficiency. MasterChatGPT is a course that explains OpenAI's ChatGPT so that participants can use it to achieve their goals. Through this online course, People In Tech endeavors to demystify the workings of ChatGPT, empowering learners to unlock its potential.By equipping participants with the necessary skills and knowledge, MasterChatGPT can help them to accomplish their goals without being inundated with complex jargon or convoluted explanations. People In Tech's initiative seeks to redefine technology education by fostering a community of skilled individuals poised to navigate the digital landscape with confidence and adaptability.To learn more and sign up, please visit https://www.masterchatgpt.pro/sp1 ChatGPT is a tool that can be used to automate tasks, generate content, and improve customer service for business efficiency and engagement. MasterChatGPT guides users through its multi-level functionality without the need for advanced technical skills. AI, Machine Learning and Deep Learning are simplified to be approachable for all knowledge levels.Course topics include:How ChatGPT works and what it isHow to use ChatGPT to automate tasks and improve efficiencyHow to generate content with ChatGPT, such as blog posts, articles, and social media postsHow to use ChatGPT to improve customer service by providing 24/7 support and answering questionsHow to use these tools to create a more personalized customer experienceHow to use ChatGPT to create new products and servicesHow to integrate these tools with your existing business systemsHow to use ChatGPT to make better business decisions by analyzing data and providing insightsProviding comprehensive content and hands-on customer service are the People In Tech building blocks for success in the online education industry. Over 1,000 students have enrolled in online courses with an average satisfaction rating of 98%. People in Tech intends to continue to exponentially grow AI advocacy by providing complete educational resources.MasterChatGPT is comprised for potential beneficiaries including:Online business owners who seek to automate customer service and marketingContent creators who seek to generate high-quality content quickly and easilySmall business owners who seek to improve efficiency and productivityMega corps who want AI to scale operationsMasterChatGPT is a comprehensive course that teaches businesses how to use ChatGPT to achieve their goals. The course covers everything from the basics of ChatGPT to advanced topics such as chatbot design and deployment. MasterChatGPT is also designed to be accessible to businesses of all sizes, regardless of technical expertise.The People In Tech thinks their initiative to bring 1 million people to tech is a bold and ambitious goal. However, with the help of MasterChatGPT and other resources, they see it is a goal that is within reach.MasterChatGPT wants to aid AI adoptees with:Business GrowthTechnological AdvancementIncreased Employment OpportunitiesStandard of Living ImprovementsWork-Life Balance"No zero days. Don't let the day pass without doing something towards the bigger picture," states People In Tech founder Caleb King.About People In TechPeople In Tech, founded by Caleb King, offers a variety of courses that teach students how to use cutting-edge technologies to transform the way businesses and individuals work and communicate. The company specializes in high-impact solutions in the fields of cloud computing, Software as a Service (SaaS), and mobile applications. The platform's most popular course is MasterChatGPT, which teaches students how to use the ChatGPT language model to streamline business productivity. People In Tech is also developing two new courses, "Mastering Midjourney" and "Become an AI Developer".For more information about MasterChatGPT and future courses, please see the company website or contact:CONTACT:Caleb KingPeople in Tech(480) 382-6126SOURCE: People in Tech
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NEW ORLEANS, LA / ACCESSWIRE / August 17, 2023 /Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF") and KSF partner, former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors that they have until October 2, 2023 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against RTX Corporation f/k/a Raytheon Technologies Corporation (NYSE:RTX), if they purchased the Company's securities between February 8, 2021 and July 25, 2023, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut.What You May DoIf you purchased securities of RTX 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-rtx/ to learn more. If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action, you must petition the Court by October 2, 2023.About the LawsuitRTX and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.The alleged false and misleading statements and omissions include, but are not limited to, that: (i) the Company's Geared Turbofan (GTF) engine that powers hundreds of aircraft across many airlines had been affected by a quality control issue from at least 2015-2020; (ii) the quality control issue would require the Company to recall and reinspect many of its GTF airplanes, affecting customers and harming its business; and (iii) as a result, RTX's statements about its business, operations, and prospects, were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.The case is Peneycad v. RTX Corporation f/k/a Raytheon Technologies Corporation, et al., No. 23-cv-01035.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
Nigerian socialite and businesswoman Fareeda Abdulkabir, popularly known as House of Phreedah, finally broke the silence after attempting suicide on Friday.

Witnesses prevented the beauty expert from jumping off the Third mainland bridge in Lagos on Thursday

The attempt was reportedly linked to her two-month-old marriage to Ademola Okulaja, which recently crashed.

Before the suicide attempt, the estranged couple had engaged in altercations, revealing shocking family secrets on social media and attacking each other.

In a faceless video she made on Friday, Fareeda disclosed why she attempted to take her life.

She said, I brought myself out like an eight-year-old child to trend on Facebook and Instagram. Love drove me that far. It is love. Anyone in my shoes would understand what I am saying.

The mother-of-three noted that it was hard to accept that her ex-husband had left her after she spent millions on their lavish wedding and afterparty.

While appreciating everyone who stood by her during her ordeal, she noted that she didnt realise she got entangled in fake love appearing to be accurate.

I decided to spend money because I thought I found true love. The man I married made so many promises to me. Its not like I was a fool or had the money in abundance. Friends and families warned me not to go into the marriage. They told me the man only wanted my money, but I was recalcitrant.

I am so sorry for putting my children in such a position. I would not have forgiven myself if I had abandoned them after committing suicide, She explained.

The businesswoman also apologised to all her family members, friends and fans for all the inconveniences she must have cost them with her actions.

Referring to her ex-husband, she noted that she had forgiven him and hoped that God would give him the right woman he deserves.

Suicide Attempt

On Thursday, witnesses saw the businesswoman drive herself to a section of the bridge where she attempted to plunge into the ocean, but their timely intervention prevented her.

Exclaiming with surprise after stopping her, the witness said, Ah! Make una help o. I see the woman. I just dey go my own. I see the woman. She wan jump.

Her ex-husband is said to have reportedly left their matrimonial home to meet an alleged sidechick he was dating before they got married.

According to reports, the House of Phreedahs husband reportedly reunited with his alleged lover.

The short video clip surfaced on social media after she was prevented from committing suicide, capturing her all dressed in black and crying profusely.

Witnesses were seen trying to hold her down while she struggled to get off their grip.

The famous socialite and entrepreneur runs her beauty salon, which stands magnificently in Surulere, Lagos.

Iyabo Ojos reaction

After videos of the socialites attempting suicide, Iyabo took to her official Instagram page to further confirm the act.

The actress disclosed that she spoke to the businesswoman hours before her suicide mission but never knew she was at that point.

Her caption read, @houseofphreedabodycare hmm, my darling if I knew you had this on your mind, I wouldnt have gotten off the phone with you.

Ojo noted that Fareeda knew what she wanted to do even when they spoke, but somehow, she diverted her attention from figuring it out.

The actress further appreciated God for sparing Fareedahs life through the intervention of people who saved the situation.

 My love, this will definitely pass. The sun will shine again. Your tomorrow will be better than today, but for now, just breathe. I love you so much; please stay strong. I am praying for you. She added.

N100m wedding

In June, the famous Lagos-based skincare expert decided to give marriage a second chance when she married her now ex-husband.

The businesswoman was once married to the son of a former Commissioner for Education in Lagos, Tunde Sobowale. The union contracted in 2015 and produced three children.

The beauty entrepreneurs wedding to Ademola created a social media buzz in June with a talk-of-the-town wedding, amounting to over N100m.

The event, which started with a traditional engagement ceremony, was attended by traditional rulers, socialites, and business moguls, including faces of the Nigerian movie industry.

The star-studded marriage ceremony had the likes of famous Yoruba actresses Mercy Aigbe, Wumi Toriola, Fathia Williams and Iyabo Ojo in attendance.

In the wedding video clip, famous crossdresser Idris Okuneye, Bobrisky, was spotted.

Guests at the wedding turned up in pink lace aso ebi complemented with green head gear for women while the men came through with green caps on their Buba and Sokoto.

The couples love reportedly started two decades ago when they met in London, where the skincare expert resided.

The budding friendship also reportedly grew into a love relationship. However, it went on and off for two years before they decided to take it to the next level.

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Ijaw Elders Forum, a coalition of Ijaw groups, has written to President Bola Tinubu to demand a review of procedures in disposal of vessels and trucks seized for complicity in oil theft.

The letter, dated 31 July and sighted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday, condemned the menace of oil theft on the Nigerian economy and the Niger Delta environment.

According to the letter, signed by Efiye Bribena, the secretary of the forum, the indiscriminate blow up of vessels used for oil theft had an adverse impact on the environment which the people depend on.

We write to express our utmost dissatisfaction on the mode of disposal of vessels and trucks impounded with stolen crude in the Niger Delta.

Destroying vessels laden with crude oil exacerbates the existential threat to the environment and survival of the people.

In fact, the destruction of the MT TURA in the latest incident by bombing of the vessel was extremely horrifying and unacceptable, the forum said.

The forum recommended implementation of measures in the interest of the environment, transparency and the national economic interest.

NNPCL and the Military Authorities should improve the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for disposal of such vessels in the future.

All efforts should be made to evacuate the stolen crude to the nearest oil flow station, Oil Terminal or Refinery before proper disposal of such vessels.

The relevant authorities should install an open-access portal for tracking vessels that are seized with stolen crude and products, up till the point of final disposal, it said.

The forum sought collaboration with organisations such as the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, and the International Maritime Organisation.

The letter was also endorsed by representatives of the coalition comprising Ijaw Professionals Association, Ijaw Nation Forum, G24 Embasara Foundation, and Ijaw Women Connect

They urged the federal government to be transparent and disclose the masterminds of the syndicate as well as the prosecution of the owners of the impounded vessels.

They appealed to the President to prevail on the oil industry regulators to urgently direct oil firms to safely decommission all idle well heads and pipelines in the Niger Delta region.

The Ijaw Elders Forum urged the agencies of the federal government in the oil sector to discourage artisanal refineries and set machinery in motion to promote construction of modular refineries in oil bearing communities.

(NAN)

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by Staff reporter

The Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) has raised concerns about the design and printing process of the ballot paper for the upcoming elections.CCC deputy secretary for elections, Ellen Shiriyedenga, said that the party was not consulted about the printing of the ballot paper, as required by law."The fact that the postal voting has commenced means that the ballot paper is out, of concern to us as the CCC is that contrary to section 52 of the Electoral Act, we as the stakeholders particularly the political parties contesting in this election, we were supposed to be informed with respect to the ballot paper as to who is responsible for printing it, the quantities," she said.She also said that the ballot paper that is circulating on social media is not in accordance with the law, as it is not in alphabetical order and puts the name of the incumbent president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, at the top of the second column."The ballot paper itself, the design, the law is clear when it comes to that, the ballot paper should be designed and the names arranged in a single file in alphabetic order but the ballot paper which is in circulation it's in two columns, clearly a way of igniting the profile of Mr Mnangagwa."Shiriyedenga said the information is shrouded in secrecy, "worse off now, we get to hear that the ballot paper is out there and is a cause of concern for stakeholders."She said in the previous elections, including the last by-elections of March 2022, the candidates were given the opportunity to go and inspect the ballot paper."But this time around nothing of that sort was made. The only sample of ballot paper we have is the one circulating on social media and that is a cause of concern, we can't be updated via social media as the political parties because we feel we are very key stakeholders in this electoral process," said Shiriyedenga.She added that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) should give the stakeholders an opportunity to inspect the ballot paper."Looking at the social media reports and the picture of the ballot that we saw, it's a cause of concern, that is if that is the actual ballot paper that we are going to use on election day. The burden of proof now lies with ZEC to give the stakeholders the opportunity to inspect the ballot paper."She said ZEC has repeated the same mistake which occurred in 2018 and it is a breach of law."If you can recall in 2018 we had a similar concern with 23 candidates that participated in the election, we said well the law was breached, probably ZEC was overwhelmed by the number of presidential candidates which were 23 then but this time around we only had 11 but ZEC goes on to repeat the same two columns so clearly we know why that is being done, clearly to profile Mnangagwa and we are worried as CCC in terms of the breach of the law," said Shiriyedenga.
The National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) has inaugurated a 100 per cent Solar-Powered Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Station at the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN).

The council, in a statement on Friday, said the pilot project was an initiative under its EV development project as incorporated in the new 2023 National Automotive Industry Development Plan.

The statement quoted the Vice-Chancellor of UNN, Charles Igwe as saying that the project was commendable and a landmark achievement.

Mr Igwe, a professor, said: I am delighted that UNN is among the universities chosen to be part of the NADDC EV Pilot programme. UNN will always support and be the first on EV development in Nigeria.

He charged relevant authorities in the university to be more practical-oriented and fully key into the Vehicle Electrification programme of NADDC for the benefit of the university and humanity in general.

Mr Igwe also stressed the need to bridge the gap between energy production and productivity by building Solar Energy farms as renewable sources of energy generation in Nigeria.

The statement also quoted NADDC Director-General, Jelani Aliyu, as saying that the station at UNN was one of the three EV pilot programmes of the NADDC.

Jelani, represented by the Director, Industrial Infrastructure Department of the council, Nua Omisanya, said it was aimed at developing research work in the area of vehicle electrification through human capital development.

In furtherance to the councils bid to promote the research, design and adoption of EVs, NADDC had developed three 15KVA Solar-powered EV charging Stations at three Federal Institutions.

The institutions are the University of Lagos, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto and the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, he said.

The director-general urged the universities to utilise the opportunity by stimulating further research and development of EVs in Nigeria.

He said that charging stations at UDUS and UNILAG had already been inaugurated for the same purpose.

With the emergence of new automotive technologies, the global automotive industry is in a race of technological advancement, and the Nigerian Automotive Industry cannot be left out, but must be at the forefront of the race.

In the same vein, I urge the general public to embrace Electric Vehicles as a greener and alternative means of transportation in Nigeria, he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the university team led by the vice-chancellor thereafter test-drove the Hyundai Kona EV car deployed by the NADDC as part of the project.

Other dignitaries at the event were the Dean, Faculty of Engineering, UNN and Chairperson NADDC-UNN Centre for Electric Vehicle Research and Development, Ozoemena Ani, a professor.

The Deputy Director in charge of NADDC Zonal Offices, Susan Bisong-Taiwo, and NADDC South-east Zonal Coordinator, Edith Oleribe, were also in attendance at the event.

(NAN)

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Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the last election, has expressed sadness over the ill-fated Air Force helicopter that claimed 36 soldiers in Niger on Monday morning.

Mr Obi, a former Anambra State governor, made this known in a statement via his official X handle (formerly Twitter) in Lagos on Friday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the Nigerian Air Force, on Thursday, announced that an MI-171 Helicopter on a casualty evacuation mission crashed in Niger State.

A statement by the spokesperson of Nigerian Air Force, Edward Gabkwet, an air commodore, said the aircraft crashed in Chukuba Village, Niger State, saying that a preliminary investigation had commenced to ascertain the cause of the air mishap.

Mr Obi said the death of the soldiers, reportedly killed in a terrorist ambush in Niger, and the ill-fated military helicopter, on a rescue mission, in the same state was unfortunate and disheartening.

He expressed concerns over the deplorable level of insecurity in most parts of the country which had continued to cost the nation precious lives and property with the attendant economic costs.

Mr Obi also expressed sympathy to the families of the patriotic slain soldiers who had paid the supreme price for their fatherland in a very painful way, fighting against insecurity in the country.

The continual loss of lives, of our military men and other citizens, to insecurity is excruciating and disgusting.

We must unite as a people to subdue this monster of insecurity threatening our collective existence, without which no development will be experienced in the country, he said.

While commiserating with the military agencies over the sad incidents, Mr Obi urged them not to be dispirited over the challenges they faced but to see them as the inevitable path to go before achieving a safe and secure nation for all.

He said: I commiserate with our military agencies whose personnel have continued to pay the supreme price for peace and security in our nation.

I want you to remain courageous and resilient in the fight. I will also like to encourage a full-scale investigation to be carried out to unravel the cause of the helicopter crash as a way of preventing future occurrences.

The former Anambra governor restated his commitment to ensuring safe and secure Nigerians, adding that fighting insecurity in the country would always be his top priority.

According to him, fighting insecurity squarely remains my priority in New Nigeria, and so should it be for long-lasting peace and progress in Nigeria.

Finally, Mr Obi prayed to God to grant eternal rest to the dead, console their families and console them as a nation over this great loss.

He said they would never give up on their nation as it was their greatest heritage in whose service all their sacrifices became noble acts.

(NAN)

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The police in Abia State, South-east Nigeria, say they have arrested a Pentecostal bishop over the death of a female evangelist in a hotel room in Obingwa Local Government Area of the state.

The suspect, Timothy Otu, who is the general-overseer of Agape Evangelical Ministry, had checked into the hotel with the victim, Happiness Echieze, 43, who was later found dead in the hotel room, according to the police.

The police spokesperson in the state, Maureen Chinaka, who disclosed this in a statement on Thursday, said the bishop has been arrested.

Ms Chinaka, an assistant superintendent of police, gave the name of the hotel as Jubilee Guest House.

Mrs Echieze, the evangelist in the suspects church, hailed from Isiala-Ngwa Local Government Area of the state.

Sources said the victim was a mother of three whose husband was residing in Bayelsa State, South-south Nigeria.

How it happened

Ms Chinaka said the suspect, Mr Otu, had checked into the hotel room with the victim at about 9:25 p.m. on 12 August.

The police spokesperson said, a man, believed to be a worker in the hotel, Godwin Akpan, reported to Isiala-Ngwa Police Divisional Headquarters, that he (Akpan) entered the hotel room at about 12:00 a.m. the same day and discovered the body of Mrs Echieze, the female evangelist.

She was found unclothed, and a white substance was emanating from her mouth and nose. The clergyman was absent from the scene, Ms Chinaka said.

We wish to convey that the suspected individual in this case has been apprehended. The case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for discreet investigations, she stated.

The police spokesperson said the police have begun investigations in the incident and that the victims body had been moved from the hotel to a mortuary in Aba, in Abia State.

She said an autopsy would be conducted on the victims body to ascertain the cause of her death.

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Qatar has commenced the construction of 500,000 housing units for less privileged residents of Kaduna State, North-west Nigeria.

The Mega Economic City project was officially inaugurated by Qatars Ambassador to Nigeria, Ali Bin Ghanem Al-Hajri on Wednesday in Kaduna.

Mr Al-Hajri said the projects aim to improve the living conditions for underprivileged families in the state.

Mr Al-Hajiri commended the states governor Uba Sani for his support for the successful launch of the project  Qatar Sanabil Project.

Aside from the construction of the housing units, Qatar Charity has also pledged an array of interventions and empowerment programmes for the less privileged across Kaduna, the official said.

These include scholarships for orphans and children of the poor, distribution of sewing machines, welding machines, irrigation pumping machines, salon kits, and drilling of hundreds of boreholes across the 23 local government areas of Kaduna State, Mr Al-Hajri said.

In his remarks the governor, Mr Sani commended the Embassy of Qatar in Nigeria and the Qatari-owned Sanabil Project for aligning with Kadunas business-friendly environment.

The Economic City will provide world-class infrastructure and make Kaduna a reference point in modern and affordable accommodation with adequate security and a conducive atmosphere for business activities, he said.

It will facilitate international trade while serving as a platform for local entrepreneurs and traders. It will also harness product value chain opportunities and improve economic growth, the governor said.

The governor said the project extends beyond housing, it also provides clinics, shops, poultry farms, and farmlands for the rainy season and irrigation farming.

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The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) says the troops of the Armed Forces of Nigeria had in the last two weeks neutralised 28 terrorists, apprehended 113 and rescued 82 victims in various operations across the country.

The Director, Defence Media Operations, Edward Buba, a major general, said this while briefing journalists on the operations of the military across the country on Thursday in Abuja.

Mr Buba said the apprehended suspects comprised 92 terrorists, six gunrunners, three kidnappers, six collaborators and seven perpetrators of oil theft.

He said the troops also recovered 108 weapons and 564 ammunition comprising 22 AK47 rifles, one PKT gun, six pump action guns, four Dane guns, one fabricated rifle, one Galil ace rifle, one RGP bomb, one RPG tube and 44 hand grenades.

Also recovered are 322 rounds of 7.62mm special, 63 rounds of 12.7mm ammo, 12 rounds of 5.6mm ammo, 33 AK47 magazines, one empty case of 7.62mm special and 3 empty magazines.

Other items include; 14 motorcycles, 16 mobile phones, 3 Motorolla radios, one Boafeng radio, 2 motorcycle tyres, 5 torch lights, 2 solar panels, 104 livestock and the sum of N2.8 million, he said.

Mr Buba said the troops in the Niger Delta area discovered and destroyed 36 dugout pits, 62 wooden boats, 73 storage tanks, one vehicle and 75 cooking ovens during the period.

He added that the troops also impounded four pumping machines, five outboard engines and 33 illegal refining sites, as well as recovery of 1,166,900 litres of stolen crude oil, 1,491,250 litres of illegally refined AGO, 54,750 litres of DPK and 800 litres of PMS.

In the North-east, Mr Buba said the troops of Operation Hadin Kai eliminated seven terrorists, arrested five and rescued 31 hostages while 28 family members of the Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists comprising nine adult females and 19 children were also rescued and taken into custody.

He said the troops recovered; 20 AK47 rifles, one FN rifle, one Galileo rifle, three Dane guns, one AK47 rifle loaded with 17 rounds of 7.62mm special, 154 rounds of 7.62mm special, 63 rounds of 12.7mm ammo, among others.

In the North-central, Mr Buba said the troops of Operation Safe Haven eliminated two gunmen, rescued two hostages and arrested six kidnappers as well as recovered arms and ammunition during the period.

He said the troops apprehended a notorious kidnapper gang leader and other foot soldiers at Mangu and Bokkos Local Government Areas of Plateau.

In the North-west, he said that troops of Operation Hadarin Daji had continued to degrade the terrorists in Katsina, Kaduna, Sokoto and Zamfara States.

He said the troops neutralised 13 terrorists, arrested seven, two informants and two collaborators as well as rescued 16 hostages and recovery of seven AK47 rifles, one PKT gun, one AK47 rifle loaded with 18 rounds of 7.62mm special, five AK47 magazines and 20 rounds of 7.62mm special.

Others include; six motorcycles, three mobile phones, three Motorolla radios, one radio charger, two solar panels, one old sewing machine, a par of woodland camouflage and the sum of N2.4 million, he said.

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In the South-east, Mr Buba said the troops of Operation UDO KA eliminated three IPOB/ESN terrorists and recovered four pump action guns, one single barrel loaded with 100 live cartridges, one locally fabricated rifle and three live cartridges.

Troops also arrested 18 terrorists and rescued two kidnapped hostages.

All recovered items, arrested suspects and rescued hostages were handed over to the relevant authority for further action.

The operations as enumerated is indicative of the professionalism of men and women of the armed forces, their courage and bravery.

Troops will continue to use superior military force to eliminate any group or groups that constitute a threat to the safety of citizens and own forces alike, Mr Buba said.

(NAN)

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The INECs Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Imo State, Sylvia Agu, has said 2,300 soldiers from three battalions of the Nigerian army would be deployed for the 11 November governorship election in the state.

Mrs Agu, a professor, disclosed this on Thursday in Owerri, at a two-day media roundtable and engagement on the election, according to a report by Vanguard newspaper.

The event was organised for journalists by the International Press Centre in collaboration with the European Union.

The REC said INEC received assurance from the new Commander of the 34 Artillery Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Usman Lawal, a brigadier-general when a delegation of the electoral commission visited him.

She said the visit was to ascertain their preparation for the governorship election in the state.

Insecurity, no doubt, remains an issue. It is, however, a thing of joy that the commander, 34 Artillery Brigade, Obinze, has promised to deploy enough security personnel to ensure a hitch-free election in the state, the REC said.

Indeed, he promised that over 2,300 soldiers will be deployed to the state, during the 11 November 2023 gubernatorial election, she added.

Irregularities marred 2023 general elections

While responding to questions from discussants, Mrs Agu, admitted that the 2023 general elections were marred with irregularities and insecurity.

I acknowledge that there were observable irregularities and security issues, during the last presidential, national and state assembly elections.

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I urge the Imo electorate to avail themselves of the forthcoming electoral opportunity, to exercise their franchise, without any fear of molestation by the non-state actors, she stated.

Amid insecurity in the state, we did our best to ensure a seamless and hitch-free election. I came to Imo State, one month before the general election and I was getting myself acquainted with the political environment. The burden was too much on me.

Background

Like other states in Nigerias South-east, security has deteriorated in Imo State with frequent attacks by armed persons.

The attacks often target security agencies, government officials and facilities.

Several people have been killed or injured in such attacks.

Officials of the INEC and personnel of various security agencies have become targets of attacks lately in Imo State by gunmen said to be part of the Biafra agitation in south-east Nigeria.

Four masked gunmen, in April 2022, released a video warning the Nigerian government not to hold the 2023 general elections in the South-east and threatened to deal with any election official seen in the region.

Within the same period, the gunmen, who claimed to be Biafran agitators, killed an INEC official, Anthony Okorie, when they attacked a polling unit at Ihitte Uboma Local Government Area of Imo State, where the continuous voter registration was being held.

More so, several INEC facilities have been attacked, with some set ablaze by gunmen across the state and the region.

The Nigerian government has accused the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) of being responsible for the deadly attacks in the region. But the group has repeatedly denied the accusation.

IPOB is leading the agitation for an independent state of Biafra which it wants carved out from the South-east and some parts of the South-south Nigeria.

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More than 1,680 schoolchildren have been kidnapped in Nigeria since the 2014 abduction of 276 schoolgirls from Chibok in Borno State, with fear of attacks stopping some children from ever attending school, said Save the Children.

In April 2014, the abduction from a school in Chibok made global headlines and sparked the #BringBackOurGirls movement and protests, which attracted public support from celebrities and public figures including Malala Yousafzai, Hillary Clinton, and then First Lady Michelle Obama.

However new data analysis by Save the Children reveals that attacks on schools have been continuing out of the spotlight and highlights the violence that schoolchildren and teachers face across Nigeria.

In addition to the abductions, over 180 schoolchildren were killed and nearly 90 injured in 70 attacks between April 2014 and December 2022, with an estimated 60 school staff kidnapped and 14 killed. Twenty-five school buildings were reportedly destroyed during that period.

The majority of these attacks took place in North-West Nigeria (49 attacks), followed by North-Central Nigeria (11 attacks).

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These attacks have long-lasting consequences for communities and for childrens access to education, often leading to the mass withdrawal of children from school and school closures. In Katsina state in the North-western part of the country, nearly 100 schools remain closed due to insecurity, affecting the education of over 30,000 children.

In the aftermath of attacks, children and communities are left traumatised, and the majority do not receive psychological support.

During focus group discussions with affected communities, Save the Children staff found that many children were too scared to return to school. One girl, who survived the Chibok school attack, said: I am afraid of being a victim some other day and afraid of dying or rape by the insurgents.1

The Country Director at Save the Children Nigeria, Famari Barro, said more needs to be done to prevent attacks but also to support children and their families in the aftermath.

Nearly 10 years after the tragic abduction of the Chibok girls made international headlines, more than 90 of them are still held or missing, and countless children and teachers still live under the threat of violence, forcing many to flee or interrupt their education, sometimes forever.

The combination of the trauma and loss of education resulting from these attacks is likely to be lifelong unless children are provided with the means and support to recover from the traumatic events they have been through and are able to return to school. It is vital that childrens lives and right to education are protected through the implementation of the Safe Schools Declaration across the country.

In 2015, Nigeria endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration, which seeks to ensure the continuity of safe education during armed conflict and outlines commitments to strengthen the protection of education from attack, but it remains largely unimplemented at the state and community levels. Rural community schools remain vulnerable to attacks.

Ibrahim Sunoma, deputy speaker of the National Childrens Parliament, Nigeria said:

We are appealing to the government and other relevant stakeholders to prioritise expanding the implementation of the Safe Schools Declaration across the country to ensure that children can learn in a protective environment in schools.

Government at all levels should ensure the implementation of the national policy on safety, security and violence-free schools that would prevent education from attacks, more investments and funding should be made in preventing Education from attacks in all 36 States of the federation and Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Save the Children has been working in Nigeria since 2001 and responding to the humanitarian crisis since 2014, providing food, clean water, nutrition and protection services, sexual and reproductive health care, and education to families across the region.

Save the Children is also providing technical support to the government on policy changes and reforms, especially in critical sectors such as health, education, and social protection.

In 2017, Save the Children launched Schools as Zones of Peace, a project which works with partners in the Education in Emergencies Working Group (EIEWG) to support the implementation of the Safe Schools Declaration and its guidelines to ensure the protection of education from attack.

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Here are Mr Akpabios six most embarrassing public comments as compiled by PREMIUM TIMES.

1. N1 million lunch money for hungry PDP chairmen

Godswill Akpabio, in March 2013, while he was the governor of Akwa Ibom State, stunned fellow Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders during a South-south zonal meeting of the party in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, when he said publicly, in front of television cameras, that he was doling out N1 million to each hungry state chairmen of the PDP for them to go have lunch at a fast- food outlet called Mr Biggs.

My brother Governor, Uduaghan, said our members are hungry and that we must put food in their stomachs so that they dont stray to other parties. I am giving all the state chairmen of the party N1 million right now for Mr Biggs. Our members must not be hungry, Mr Akpabio said.

The then National Chairman of the PDP, Bamanga Tukur was at the meeting. He had led party leaders from Abuja to Port Harcourt for the meeting which was meant to reconcile feuding factions and restore peace to bickering state chapters.

The party leaders at the venue exchanged furtive glances in embarrassment over Mr Akpabios remarks. Shortly afterwards, the then Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State and his Delta State counterpart, Emmanuel Uduaghan, walked out of the venue. Both did not return.

Mr Akpabio, however, continued his speech, asking all the PDP members in the region to rally around their son, President Goodluck Jonathan.

2. Akpabio confessed to rigging election on live TV

Mr Akpabio shocked Nigerians in March 2013, when he confessed on live TV how he had rigged the PDP senatorial primary election in Akwa Ibom State.

Mr Akpabio, still the governor of Akwa Ibom then, said he falsified a senatorial election result and personally replaced the winner with his preferred candidate.

He said this while he was addressing a delegation led by the then Minister of Information, Labaran Maku on a Good governance tour to Uyo.

READ ALSO:

While addressing the visiting delegation on his administrations achievements, Mr Akpabio, seeking to impress his sense of evenhandedness on the audience, said he struck off the name of the winner of the Akwa Ibom North-West District in his partys primaries and replaced same with Aloysius Etok.

Mr Etok went on to win the main elections and was later appointed the Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service matters.

The people of Ikono and Ini (local government areas) from 1960 have never produced a senator, Mr Akpabio narrated.

I used my own hand to strike out the name of the person who has won before, and I said it is important for me to give that region a senator in 2007, and I produced Senator Aloysius Etok for you; thats where he comes from, he said, before gesturing to Mr Etok, who attended the session alongside his colleague in the Senate, Ita Enang, to take a bow.

The disclosure jolted the audience and the governors associates who exchanged awkward glances.

Several minutes later, an aide to the governor passed him (Mr Akpabio) a note, apparently drawing Mr Akpabios attention to the devastating consequences of his comments.

Mr Akpabio gave the note some attention, before backtracking on his earlier comments.

3. Honourable minister, its okay, its okay. Off your mic! drama

Mr Akpabio took on federal lawmakers, on 20 July 2020, while he was the minister of Niger Delta Affairs.

He accused members of the National Assembly of cornering most of the contracts in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) during a National Assembly investigative hearing.

Most of the contracts in the NDDC are given out to members of the National Assembly, but you dont know about it, Mr Akpabio said to a female member of the investigative panel who was aggressively throwing questions at the then minister.

Rattled, the chairman of the panel, Thomas Ereyitomi, asked the minister to discontinue his testimony which was broadcast live.

Honourable minister, its okay, its okay. Off your mic! Mr Ereyitomi kept shouting.

An enraged Mr Akpabio, after the public hearing, went ahead to name lawmakers who allegedly got contracts from NDDC.

But he later made a U-turn and denied accusing members of the National Assembly of benefiting from NDDC contracts.

Mr Akpabio himself had been accused of inserting N500 million worth of projects into the 2017 budget of the NDDC when he was the Senate minority leader, an accusation his spokesperson, Anietie Ekong, dismissed as nothing extraordinary.

4. Fear God, gun, and government

In the heat of the campaign for his election as president of the 10th Senate, Mr Akpabio, in May, made a brief appearance at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja, where the then Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, was meeting with members-elect of the House.

The meeting was convened to persuade the lawmakers-elect to support President Tinubus choice as the new speaker.

Yesterday, I met the party. I actually left a sentence with them or thereabouts. Should I leave the sentence with you? Mr Akpabio said to the lawmakers-elect.

In your daily dealings, my late mother told me that I should be aware of the 3Gs: The first G is God; the second G is Gun and the third G is Government.

The first G is God Almighty. The second G is what? Gun and the third one is (the) Government. May you conduct yourself mindful of the admonition of my late mother, by respecting the 3Gs, particularly the government, he said.

The senators remark was clearly a veiled threat to the lawmakers-elect to support Mr Tinubus candidate or be ready to face some consequences.

5. What money cannot do, more money can do

Very similar to Mr Akpabios fear God, gun, and government- comment is this one which is perhaps considered as the senators most infamous comment  What money cannot do, more money can do.

Mr Akpabio reportedly made the comment when he was the governor of Akwa Ibom State. The remark, which apparently means that any man could be bought over if enticed with a huge amount of cash, underscores the influence of money (corruption) in Nigerias politics.

Mr Akpabio is not known to have denied making the comment.

6. Prayers to senators mailboxes

Mr Akpabio earlier this month made a gaffe during plenary when he mistakenly revealed that money has been sent to senators to enjoy their recess.

The Senate president, who forgot that the proceeding was being streamed live, began to address his colleagues before adjournment motion was moved at the end of the Senates ministerial screening.

In order to enable all of us to enjoy our holidays, a token has been sent to our various accounts by the Clerk of the National Assembly, he said.

When he was immediately informed by his colleagues that he was speaking on live television, Mr Akpabio quickly withdrew his comment.

In order to allow you to enjoy your holiday, the senate president has sent prayers to your mailboxes to assist you to go on a safe journey and return, Mr Akpabio rephrased the comment, apparently to correct what was considered an embarrassment.

Nigerians were outraged by Mr Akpabios revelation, given the economic hardship in the country.

PREMIUM TIMES later found out that the 109 senators got N2 million each, and that the holiday allowance was illegal as it is not provided for in the remuneration package approved by the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, the body authorised by law to prepare salaries and allowances for public servants.

He made a very wrong statement, and I warned him immediately that his comments were unbecoming of an elder.

In fact, we are even planning to take drastic action against him if he continues making unguarded statements and acting as if we are kids, the Senate Chief Whip, Ali Ndume said of Mr Akpabios embarrassing comment.

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President Bola Tinubu has approved the establishment of the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (PCNGI).

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, in a statement on Friday, said the establishment of the initiative was in furtherance of his commitment to easing the impact of fuel subsidy removal on Nigerians by reducing energy costs.

This transformative initiative, according to Mr Ngelale, is poised to revolutionise the transportation landscape in the country, targeting over 11,500 new Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)-enabled vehicles and 55,000 CNG conversion kits for existing Premium Motor Spirit (PMS)-dependent vehicles.

While simultaneously bolstering in-country manufacturing, local assembly and expansive job creation in line with the presidential directive.

The landmark initiative, which comprises of a Comprehensive Adoption Strategy, will include the following: Empowering Workshops Programme w/ Nationwide Network of Workshops, Local Assembly and Job Creation as key points of emphasis with an initial focus on mass transit systems and student hubs in order to significantly reduce transit costs for the general populace in the immediate term, he said.

Furthermore, he said in line with the PCNGIs determination to ensure seamless integration of CNG utility within the current midstream and downstream energy value chain to support its sustainability, the PCNGI would facilitate the provision of workshops across all geopolitical zones and states with essential kits and comprehensive training for newly employed staff, thus creating new opportunities for technical skill development and employment for Nigerians.

He explained that the new nationwide network of workshops, to be established through the initiative, would ensure widespread access and demand side utilisation of CNG technology and CNG-related expertise, thereby facilitating smoother transitions for vehicle owners for the wider benefit of the Nigerian economy.

Under the aegis of the PCNGI, Mr Ngelale said certain strategic objectives will be achieved.

He listed the objectives to include the development of new stakeholder-operated Intrastate Mass Transit systems built on CNG, Support for states to onboard new CNG buses as part of their Intrastate Mass Transit network (wholesale conversion, retro-fitting and new purchase); and deployment of CNG buses through existing Private Mass Transit operators, including new financing programmes for operators through an innovative asset finance programme.

The programme will also incentivise investors to invest in CNG processing, distribution and utilisation by providing incentives for enhanced investment and partnership and delivering training and technology transfer to support the After-Sales Services and maintenance sub-industry to create sustainable jobs.

The statement said President Tinubus focus on assembling CNG-enabled vehicles within the country would stimulate economic growth, create employment opportunities, and bolster the nations automotive manufacturing capabilities.

The launch of this initiative also underscores this administrations commitment to fostering a cleaner environment by reducing carbon emissions and promoting energy security through domestic natural gas resources, he said.

Earlier in August, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) announced it is partnering with NIPCO Gas Limited to develop Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations in the country.

READ ALSO: Were here to shape our tomorrow today Tinubu

Mele Kyari, the NNPCL group chief executive officer, disclosed this at a press briefing in Abuja.

According to the NNPCL, the partnership is part of the companys commitment to reducing its carbon footprint and providing cheaper alternative fuel to motorists in the country.

As part of the NNPCL commitment to reducing carbon footprint and providing cheaper alternative fuel to motorists, the company is happy to announce a strategic partnership with NIPCO Gas Limited to develop Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations, Mr Kyari said.

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The Ebonyi State Governorship Election Tribunal, sitting in Abuja, on Friday, reserved judgement on two petitions seeking to upturn Governor Francis Nwifurus victory in the last election in the state.

Mr Nwifuru was elected Ebonyi State governor on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in March.

However, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), in their separate petitions, urged the tribunals three-member panel headed by Lekan Ogunmoye, to nullify Mr Nwifurus victory on account of his non-qualification for the election.

Closing arguments

At Fridays proceedings, PDPs governorship candidate, Chukwuma Ifeanyi, through his lawyer, Chris Uche, contended that the APC did not properly nominate Mr Nwifuru to fly its flag at the polls.

Referencing the Evidence Act, Mr Uche, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), told the court that the membership

register (Enwanweigwe Ward) for the APC did not come from proper custody as it ought to be certified if it came from INEC as required by the law.

He further contended that the purported statements of the poll results from the polling Unit in Ebonyi State Local Government Areas were not tendered by the polling unit agents and did not satisfy the condition in Section 137 of the Electoral Act 2022.

The above documents are therefore patently inadmissible and, having been wrongfully admitted, ought to be expunged

Mr Uche prayed the court to affirm his clients petition and declare Mr Ifeanyi the duly elected governor of Ebonyi State.

In the second case challenging the governors victory, APGAs governorship candidate, Benard Odoh, a professor, urged the court to overturn the Ebonyi governors election on the ground of non-qualification.

Mr Odohs lawyer, Jibrin Okutepa, a SAN, argued that Mr Nwifuru, who was until and after the election, a member of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly and also occupied the office of the Speaker of the house under the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was not qualified to contest the election to the seat of Governor of Ebonyi State conducted by the the electoral commission.

But Mr Nwifurus lawyer, Onyechi Ikpeazu, a SAN, prayed the court to dismiss the suits for being unmeritorious.

Mr Ikpeazu argued that Mr Nwifuru while serving as Speaker of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly, resigned his membership of the PDP and joined the APC before vying for the governorship primary election of the latter.

He also presented APCs membership register containing Mr Nwifurus details for Enwanweigwe Ward, the governors country home.

After listening to lawyers closing arguments, the tribunal chair, Mr Ogunmoye, said a date for judgement would be communicated to parties in the suits.

Background

The electoral umpire declared Mr Nwifuru as the winner of the states election, triggering a couple of suits to set aside the poll.

Mr Nwifuru polled a total of 199,131 votes across the 13 local councils in the state to beat his closest rival, Mr Ifeanyi of the PDP, who scored 80,191 votes.

In addition to Mr Nwifurus alleged non-qualification, Mr Ifeanyi and the PDP, in their joint suit, argued that Mr Nwifuru failed to secure the majority of lawful votes during the contest.

The petitioners contended INEC breached the Electoral Act in its conduct of the election.

But INEC lawyer, Oladipo Tolani, disagreed with the petitioners, arguing that the electoral umpire complied with the law while conducting the polls.

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News / Local

by Staff reporter

Zimbabwe has been elected as vice chair of the Southern Africa Development Community (Sadc) after a Heads of State and Government meeting in Angola, which is the new chair of the regional bloc.The country has also won the vote of other Sadc countries in its bid to join the United Nations Security Council for a non-permanent seat from 2027 to 2028.Former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dr Judith Kateera also took an oath of office after being appointed Deputy Sadc Secretary responsible for corporate affairs.The 43rd Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government agreed that Zimbabwe will represent the bloc as deputy chair until August 2024 after which it will take over the chairmanship.Angola took over the chairmanship from Democratic Republic of Congo while Zambia took over the chair of the Sadc Troika Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation from Nambia.President Mnangagwa said he was grateful for the honour bestowed on Zimbabweans."First and foremost I feel happy that Zimbabwe has been honoured with the vice chair of Sadc and we are going to host the next summit in Zimbabwe."Besides that, we have discussed contributions by member states and we believe that some of the contributions should be interrogated so that we make it possible for member states to contribute for the smooth operations of the secretariat."There are other difficulties that the member states are facing and we agreed to address the issue of the two conflict positions in DRC as well as Mozambique. Thirdly, heads of State wished Zimbabwe a peaceful electoral process," President Mnangagwa said.Acting Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Professor Amon Murwira said by being chosen to host the 44th summit, Sadc had recognised Zimbabwe as an important member of the region."His Excellency, the President Dr ED Mnangagwa took advantage of the summit to apprise his colleagues of the preparations for the harmonised elections in Zimbabwe on August 23, 2023."He assured his colleagues that observer missions have been invited including the EU, AU, Sadc and the Commonwealth among many other observer missions."He also extended an invitation to all our Sadc bodies, including the Council of Elders, to come and observe our elections anytime they wished to come and witness Zimbabwe's democratic electoral processes," said Prof Murwira.On Zimbabwe's endorsement for candidature to UN Security Council, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary Ambassador James Manzou said it was vital that Zimbabwe got the nod from the region. "After the endorsement by Sadc, we are now able to approach other bodies, for example the African Union and beyond in terms of seeking support," he saidFormer Botswana President Ian Khama was presented with a Medal of Honour on behalf of his father, the late first President of Botswana, Sir Seretse Khama.The summit ran under the theme: "Human and financial capital: The key drivers for sustainable industrialisation of the Sadc region".The theme seeks to address two of the most critical enablers in supporting regional industrialisation which have been identified as adequate human resources and technical capacity.Meanwhile President Mnangangwa returned home yesterday evening.
Nigeria has been grappling with the pervasive problem of corruption for a considerable period, and its consequences have had far-reaching effects on its development, governance, and society. The term corruption encompasses the misuse of power or influence for personal or collective advantage, with far-reaching consequences for various sectors such as the economy, politics, public administration, judiciary, and the private sector. Corruption is a pervasive issue that weakens the foundations of the rule of law and erodes the trust that the public places in their institutions. Its detrimental effects go beyond mere financial implications, as it obstructs the delivery of essential services and contributes to setbacks in development. Moreover, corruption exacerbates socioeconomic inequalities, widening the gaps between rich and poor, men and women, and various social segments in the country. Furthermore, it hinders economic growth, limits potential investment opportunities, and disrupts the efficient allocation of resources.

To effectively address corruption, it is essential to delve into the intricate web of societal norms that perpetuate and enable such unethical behaviour. In the fight against corruption, it is crucial to focus on transforming behaviours and fostering a culture of integrity and accountability. This requires active participation from individuals across different sectors.

A holistic approach is required to effectively combat corruption. These measures should primarily bolster institutions, promote adherence to rules and regulations, foster transparency, and actively involve citizens. We can create a robust framework to tackle corruption head-on by addressing these key areas. To find effective solutions, it is crucial to implement preventive strategies and educational initiatives and foster collaboration among multiple stakeholders. These three components work together to address various challenges and ensure long-term success. Preventive strategies help to identify and mitigate potential issues before they escalate, reducing the overall impact. Educational initiatives are key in raising awareness, equipping individuals with the knowledge and skills to make informed decisions. Lastly, multi-stakeholder collaboration brings together diverse perspectives, expertise, and resources, fostering innovation and creating a collective effort towards development. In the battle against corruption, addressing socioeconomic factors such as poverty and inequality is imperative.

The corruption issue in Nigeria runs deep, intertwining with various aspects of politics, governance, and society. The origins of this issue can be traced back to various factors, such as inadequate governance structures, the consolidation of power among a select few, and the lingering effects of historical events. Political corruption is a pervasive issue encompassing illicit activities such as bribery, embezzlement, and electoral manipulation. These nefarious practices have far-reaching consequences, resulting in a shortage of crucial services and hindered infrastructure development. The functioning of the judiciary and law enforcement is significantly impacted, leading to an erosion of justice and a decline in public trust.

Corruption within the business sector poses a significant obstacle to fair competition and economic growth. Beyond its economic implications, it also perpetuates social inequality and undermines the very foundations of ethical principles. When corruption takes root in the business world, it distorts the level playing field essential for fair competition. Unscrupulous practices such as bribery, embezzlement, and fraud create an uneven landscape where success is no longer determined by merit and character. Addressing the issue of corruption necessitates a multifaceted approach that encompasses wide-ranging reforms, a commitment to transparency, a system of accountability, and the cultivation of a culture rooted in integrity. Addressing this pervasive issue requires more than effort; it demands sustained dedication and unwavering political commitment.

Corruption in Nigeria is a complex issue deeply rooted in social norms and cultural factors. These influential forces play a significant role in shaping the prevalence of corruption within the country. The practices of clientelism and godfatherism play a significant role in fostering corruption within societies. These phenomena involve individuals in positions of power engaging in a system of exchanging favours for political support while influential figures exert their influence to sway political decisions. The ostracism phenomenon can significantly influence individuals, compelling them to resort to corrupt practices to seek acceptance and inclusion.

Moreover, religion has been observed to be employed as a means to rationalise and legitimise such acts of corruption. Within our society, a phenomenon known as a culture of impunity, where the enforcement mechanisms designed to uphold justice and accountability are weakened, ultimately allowing corruption to flourish. This troubling state of affairs highlights the need for a closer examination of our systems and a collective effort to address this pervasive issue. To effectively address the pervasive issue of corruption, it is imperative to implement a range of comprehensive reforms that encompass legal and institutional changes and foster a culture of transparency and accountability. These reforms should be accompanied by a profound societal transformation that challenges the prevailing norms and attitudes towards corruption. By tackling corruption from multiple angles, we can create a more just and equitable society that upholds integrity and fairness.

To effectively combat corruption, it is crucial to have a combination of public awareness, strong institutions, and the active participation of religious and community leaders. These three elements work together to create a powerful force against corruption, ensuring that it is acknowledged and actively fought against. Public awareness plays a vital role in addressing corruption. When people are informed and educated about the detrimental effects of corruption on society, they become more vigilant and less tolerant of corrupt practices. Awareness empowers people to stand against corruption and demand accountability from those in power. Robust institutions are another key component in the fight against corruption. These institutions, such as anti-corruption commissions and independent judiciary systems, provide the necessary investigative framework. To tackle the complex issues of social acceptance, tolerance, and collaboration in corrupt practices, it is crucial to prioritise education, transparency, accountability, and establishing a robust rule of law. These factors play a pivotal role in fostering a society that is more informed, open-minded, and actively engaged in combating corruption. By investing in education, individuals can better understand the detrimental effects of corruption and the importance of upholding ethical standards. Transparency ensures that information is readily available, enabling citizens to hold individuals and institutions accountable for their actions. Moreover, a strong rule of law provides a solid foundation for justice, ensuring that corrupt practices are met with appropriate consequences. By addressing these fundamental pillars, we can work towards a more inclusive and just society that actively rejects corruption and embraces values of integrity and fairness

To combat corruption, we must prioritise strategies that aim to transform peoples behaviours by promoting ethical principles and fostering a sense of accountability. Education and awareness initiatives are vital in fostering a deep understanding of the detrimental impacts of corruption and promoting a culture of accountability. By shedding light on the negative consequences of corrupt practices, these initiatives empower individuals to take action and report instances of corruption. To effectively combat corruption, governments, commercial sectors, civil society organisations, and international partners must join forces and work together. By collaborating, these entities can enhance their anti-corruption measures and create a more robust framework to tackle this pervasive issue. This collective effort will not only help in preventing corruption but also in promoting transparency, accountability, and integrity across various sectors. Through such collaborations, we can foster a culture of honesty and fairness, ensuring a brighter and more equitable future for all. Ethical leadership plays a crucial role in shaping a virtuous and transparent culture, not only in the public sector but also in the commercial realm. By embodying principles of integrity, honesty, and fairness, ethical leaders create an environment that actively discourages and prevents corrupt practices from taking root. Their unwavering commitment to upholding ethical standards sets a powerful example for others to follow, fostering a sense of accountability and promoting a culture of trust and integrity. Whether in government or business, ethical leadership is a guiding light, illuminating the path towards a more ethical and corruption-free society.

It is crucial to prioritise the enhancement of legal and regulatory frameworks, ensuring they are robust and effective. Equally important is the impartial enforcement of anti-corruption laws, leaving no room for favouritism or bias. Additionally, promoting transparency in financial transactions is a key aspect that cannot be overlooked if we are serious about creating a just society. To effectively combat corruption and bring about lasting change, adopting a comprehensive and multifaceted strategy is essential. This approach should encompass institutional reforms and tackle the root causes of corruption, such as socioeconomic inequalities. The environment should foster behaviour change and ensure anti-corruption efforts long-term success.

Effectively combating corruption necessitates a comprehensive understanding of its underlying causes and the ability to navigate through numerous challenges and barriers. The absence of political determination and effective enforcement mechanisms poses significant obstacles to progress. Corruption, a pervasive issue in societies worldwide, is influenced by the search for wealth, poverty, inequality, and greed, among other factors. Entrenched patronage networks and institutional weaknesses often foster corrupt behaviours.

All stakeholders must develop a comprehensive package to solve the problem that can destroy the country and its people. This strategy should involve the government, civil society, businesses, and international partners. By bringing together these diverse groups, we can ensure a well-rounded approach that addresses the needs and perspectives of all involved. The active involvement and responsibility of citizens play a pivotal role in ensuring the effectiveness of anti-corruption initiatives. By constructing alliances, stakeholders can achieve remarkable results that have the potential to bring about significant change.

Addressing corruption is a complex challenge that necessitates civil societys collective efforts and citizens active engagement. Civil society organisations play a crucial role by actively engaging in activities to raise awareness, educate citizens, and foster a culture of reporting corruption. These organisations serve as powerful catalysts for change, working tirelessly to ensure that citizens are well-informed about the detrimental effects of corruption and equipped with the knowledge to combat it. By raising awareness, civil society organisations shed light on the various forms that corruption can. The active involvement of citizens in public affairs fosters a culture of transparency, responsibility, and the pursuit of positive change in policy-making. The enhancement of civil society plays a pivotal role in the oversight and accountability of public officials. Civil society is crucial in driving positive transformation by acting as passionate advocates for change. They engage in various activities, such as conducting thorough research, analysing policies, and launching impactful campaigns to push for much-needed structural reforms. Through their dedicated efforts, civil society organisations contribute to shaping a better future for society.

Nevertheless, these individuals may encounter many obstacles and resistance from nefarious forces. Preserving the fundamental rights of freedom of expression and association plays a crucial role in upholding the autonomy and strength of civil society. The synergy of governments, civil society, businesses, and international actors can greatly amplify the effectiveness of anti-corruption endeavours. By coming together, these diverse stakeholders can cultivate an environment of transparency and accountability, leading to more fruitful outcomes in the fight against corruption. Adopting a unified approach has the potential to significantly enhance the effectiveness of efforts to combat corruption. By bringing together various stakeholders, such as government agencies, law enforcement, civil society organisations, and the private sector, a unified approach can harness collective expertise and resources to tackle corruption more comprehensively. This approach promotes collaboration, information sharing, and coordinated action, enabling a more strategic and targeted response to the complex challenges posed by corruption. Moreover, a unified approach sends

To effectively tackle corruption, it is crucial for all parties involved to dedicate themselves wholeheartedly to sustained endeavours and enduring strategies. Governments, civil society, and international partners must unite and foster a welcoming atmosphere that encourages and supports anti-corruption initiatives. To combat corruption effectively, prioritising ethical leadership, fostering economic development, and promoting social justice is crucial. These three pillars form the foundation for creating a resilient society against corrupt practises. Ethical leadership sets the tone for integrity and accountability, ensuring that those in positions of power act in the best interest of the people they serve. By fostering economic development, we can create opportunities for growth and prosperity, reducing the incentives for individuals to engage in corrupt activities. Additionally, promoting social justice ensures that all members of society have equal opportunities to the benefits of the nation. By bolstering institutions and fortifying systems, enforcing stringent laws, and encouraging citizen engagement through enlightening campaigns and civic education, we can cultivate a society that values integrity and accountability. Promoting transparency and citizen engagement plays a crucial role in fostering an environment of openness and accountability in the ongoing battle against corruption.

Addressing corruption in Nigeria necessitates the implementation of comprehensive strategies, given its intricate connection with social norms and the need for behavioural change. Corruption has unfortunately become deeply ingrained in numerous sectors, with its prevalence being attributed to a combination of factors. One significant obstacle is the absence of political determination to combat this issue effectively. Additionally, weak enforcement mechanisms further contribute to the persistence of corruption. Moreover, socio-economic factors also play a role in perpetuating this problem. Corruption is not solely fueled by individual motives, but also by vested interests and patronage networks. Promoting anti-corruption values through education and awareness initiatives plays a crucial role in fostering a society that values integrity and transparency. Civil societies must keep fighting for transparency and accountability. These organisations serve as a vital check and balance mechanism, holding governments and institutions accountable for their actions. By actively engaging citizens and mobilising them towards collective action, CSOs empower individuals to participate in shaping their communities and advocating for their rights. One of the key functions of CSOs is oversight. In order to effectively combat corruption, it is crucial to have ethical leaders who prioritise integrity and international cooperation. These two factors play a vital role in ensuring that anti-corruption efforts are successful and impactful. Ethical leadership sets a strong example for others to follow, promoting a culture of honesty and transparency. When leaders prioritise ethical behaviour, it creates a ripple effect throughout organisations and societies, encouraging others to uphold similar values. Furthermore, international cooperation is key in the fight against corruption. Corruption knows no boundaries.

Toyin Falola, a professor of History, University Distinguished Teaching Professor, and Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities at The University of Texas at Austin, is the Bobapitan of Ibadanland.

This is the excerpt of a lecture delivered to the Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria (ACAN) on 15 August.

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Professor Lai Osos death has robbed me of a respectable scholar and friend. It, more importantly, has also robbed Nigeria and Africa of a great son, who was very generous with his time, his knowledge and his resources towards all and sundry. The cavernous gap created in Nigerian Universities by his death cannot be closed easily, and every one, at any level in media scholarship in this country, shall continue to miss him. His departure has left a void

This is one sad and painful tribute I would have prayed never to write; one in the memory of my bosom professional colleague and confidant, Professor Lai Oso, of the School of Communication at the Lagos State University. Lai was one of Nigerias finest and highly respected media scholars. But the ways of the Almighty Allah are not dictated by the wishes of man; anytime the Almighty commands, mere mortals accept and thank Him through prayers. Never did I imagine that a person who chatted with me on WhatsApp on the night of 23rd of June would die a few hours after on 24th June, leaving his family and close associates like me answering questions about the certainty or not of the news of his death, and then having to deal with the flood of condolences that followed.

Every condolence message came with a unique story of how good Lai was and the grief, pain and sadness of his loss. From the messages, it was evident that Lai Oso was a truly good man who meant many things to many people. Individuals who called, irrespective of religious identities, gender or geographical locations, especially colleagues and former students, cried openly. In most cases, I ended up consoling and pleading with them to take heart and submit to the reality of lifes fluidity and transient nature; we are all here today, but gone tomorrow. Such is the helplessness we have to accept about the painful reality of death and the overall precariousness of life.

One can only imagine the depth of my grief and the extent of my pain when Professor Rotimi Olatunji of the Faculty of Communication in the Lagos State University (LASU) called to inform me on the evening of Saturday, 24 June, that Lai was involved in an accident on his way back to Shagamu from Abraka, where he had gone to examine some PhD candidates. At that point, we were not certain about his condition. We spoke and agreed that he should consult with Lais host in Abraka to verify the story. When he called back after reaching out to Abraka, my worst fear was confirmed. The Police had confirmed that Lai was one of the two victims who died in an earlier reported fatal auto crash along the Ore-Ijebu highway.

Exactly ten days to his death, precisely on 14 June, I was with Lai in Lagos. Upon his recommendation, I had been invited by the Dean of the School of Postgraduate Studies at LASU to serve as an external examiner of two PhD candidates that he supervised. I had been doing that for them over the years but that was the first time he appeared to be in a hurry for me to come to Lagos for the examination, which was orginally scheduled for May. I had to plead with him to extend the date due earlier commitments in the University of Miami, Florida in the USA within that period. He agreed and we fixed a new date for 14 June, two days after my return from the USA. I honoured the date and the candidates were examined, after which he drove me to the Murtala Airport for a flight to Abuja. That was to be our last meeting before his death.

My relationship with Professor Lai Oso was a long and fruitful one, which blossomed to that of a senior brother and transcended family and professional lines. I first knew him through his school mate, who was my former Head in the Department of Mass Communication at the University of Maiduguri, Professor Muhammad Danladi Musa, now of the University of Alain in the UAE. Both of them had obtained their PhD degrees from the University of Leicester and had been supervised by Professors Paul Hartmann (for Lai in 1987) and Peter Golding (for Danladi). The two are deeply and admirably grounded in the Political Economy of Mass Communication scholarship. The evidence of their expertise in that perspective is respectably glaring in their scholarly publications and presentations.

in Lai, we lost a very great gentleman, a gifted teacher, a great father, a great husband and companion, and a very progressive Nigerian who had unlimited concern for others. Lai Oso was more than a LASU professor; he was a partner in progress with every Nigerian media professional; he was a great helping hand behind many scholars and students in the country.

In the late 1990s and thereafter, when I was the Head of the Department of Mass Communication at UNIMAID, Lai served diligently as the pioneer external examiner for our postgraduate programme, for two terms. In that period, he added value and quality to the content of our curriculum and the theses of our students. It was always a delight inviting him to UNIMAID due to the depth of his knowledge, his fairness of mind and exceptional empathy with the staff and students. Where things appeared difficult and complicated, Lai simplified and made them easy to the understanding and satisfaction of all. Truly, Lai was a quintessential teacher and leader, who commanded high respect among his colleagues, and earned the admiration of his students.

He taught and examined with empathy, deep knowledge and cognitive affection. He gladly empowered many, in words and deeds; he salvaged those in need, particularly thousands of students across Nigeria. He was renowned for his altruism and selfless, giving of his scholarship and personal resources. Thus, in Lai, we lost a very great gentleman, a gifted teacher, a great father, a great husband and companion, and a very progressive Nigerian who had unlimited concern for others. Lai Oso was more than a LASU professor; he was a partner in progress with every Nigerian media professional; he was a great helping hand behind many scholars and students in the country.

Our relationship extended beyond UNIMAID to civil society activities, communication consultancy services and professional engagements in the African Council for Communication Education (ACCE), Association of Communication Scholars and Professionals of Nigeria (ACSPN), the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, Advertising Practitioners Council, the Global Network for UNESCO Communication Professors (ORBICOM), the National Universities Commission and the United Nations system, among others. Together, we travelled the length and breadth of Nigeria; explored several countries in Africa, and toured many parts of Europe and beyond.

The bonding between us waxed stronger when I relocated to the Bayero University, Kano, in 2014. Again, in BUK, we regularly sought out his intellectual input in most of our activities in the Faculty of Communication. Consistently, he availed us of his phenomenal versatility and ever reliable dependability. When the Faculty, under my Deanship, in partnership with the NUC and other stakeholders, embarked on the review of the National Communication and Media Studies curriculum in 2018, he was in the forefront from the onset and offered the required leadership, till the conclusion and launching of the document. Today, the success of that effort is partly his own.

We shall continue to remember Lai Oso. We shall continue to uphold his quality in scholarship, celebrate his purity of heart and cherish his sense of decorum in learning and character. It is very sad losing a Professor like Lai at the time he died. We can only condole with his family and relatives; and also condole with ourselves. Adieu, Lai.

Without doubt, Lai Oso was a thoroughbred scholar who understood and promoted high quality communication scholarship in Nigeria. From the political economy perspective, this was deeply critical, meticulously reflective and connected to the socio-economic and political contexts of Nigeria and Africa. That was excellently manifested in his Inaugural Lecture on Press and Politics in Nigeria: Whose side?, delivered at the Lagos State University a few years ago. The monograph is compulsory reading for any serious student of the Nigerian media. That lecture and many other scholarly contributions of Lai easily ranked him in the league of pioneering and distinguished late Nigerian media scholars like Alfred Opubor, Fred Omu, Frank Ugbuajah, Femi Sonaike, Andrew Moemeka, Babatunde Folarin and Eludayo Soola, among others. He was an excellent bridge between the foundation scholars and the current generation of communication scholars. Today, very few of their type like Professors Onuora Nwuneli, Idowu Sobowale Ralph Akinfeleye and Chinyere Okunna are still with us. We wish them longer life and more Grace ahead.

Professor Lai Osos death has robbed me of a respectable scholar and friend. It, more importantly, has also robbed Nigeria and Africa of a great son, who was very generous with his time, his knowledge and his resources towards all and sundry. The cavernous gap created in Nigerian Universities by his death cannot be closed easily, and every one, at any level in media scholarship in this country, shall continue to miss him. His departure has left a void, especially in the study of the political economy of the media in Nigeria. It will take time for the gap to be filled.

Lai believed in Nigeria. He served and died in Nigeria. He had every opportunity to join foreign universities but, on all occasions, he declined, always telling me we cannot all jet out of the country. Little wonder that when I was invited to deliver his 60th birthday lecture in a hugely attended hall in Lagos, seven years ago, I focused on Media and National Integration as a tribute to his pan Nigerian personality. Lai had something to do with every section of Nigeria: from Sokoto to Port Harcourt, Maiduguri to Lagos, Zaria to Warri; Ilorin, Gombe, Yola, Jos, Makurdi, Enugu, Warri, Benin, Uyo; just everywhere, and without discrimination, stereotype or fear. His confidence in the contributions of the mass media to Nigerias development was huge and passionate that he concluded his Inaugural Lecture by telling his audience that: I believe we need a more socially conscious set of journalists and media workers. The mass media have become so central to the way we understand and organise our contemporary society and the place of different social groups and the life chances open to individuals that we can no longer see those who produce the materials that so profoundly influence us as craft men and women. Journalists and other media producers produce knowledge. We need to take another look at the way we train and educate them. We need a more comprehensive curriculum that goes beyond mere skill acquisition. Social relevance and public interest must be the main criteria in news selection and editorial judgement.

We shall continue to remember Lai Oso. We shall continue to uphold his quality in scholarship, celebrate his purity of heart and cherish his sense of decorum in learning and character. It is very sad losing a Professor like Lai at the time he died. We can only condole with his family and relatives; and also condole with ourselves. Adieu, Lai.

Umar A. Pate writes from the Department of Mass Communication, Federal University, Kashere, Gombe State.

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In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

Verily, all praise is for Allah. We praise Him, we seek His assistance and we ask for His forgiveness. And we seek refuge in Him from the evils of ourselves. Whoever Allah guides, none can misguide. Whoever He misguides, none can guide. And I bear witness that there is no deity other than Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger.

Dear brothers and sisters, know that dialogue gives us the opportunity to listen to, to argue, agree to disagree, negotiate, and explore almost anything without losing self-confidence, temper, patience, and dignity. It is the only peaceful, civilised and humanistic approach towards negotiations.

Respected brothers and sisters, peace indicates tranquility, mental calm, quiet, serenity, reconciliation, amity, accord, concord, friendliness, harmony, on the one hand and absence of, or cessation of war, state of reconciliation after strife and enmity, freedom from mental agitation or anxiety, freedom from civil disorder and strife, on the other.

Thus, peace has positive and negative dimensions. It implies that when there is no war, strife, enmity, mental agitation or anxiety and civil disorder, peace prevails as a consequence. But, in cases when personal or social problems and conflicts exist, there is no peace on individual or community level.

Therefore, to strive for changing, these circumstances with the virtues of tranquility, serenity, reconciliation, amity, harmony etc. are required for making peace or keeping peace at individual and societal levels. Thus, the natural harmony and law, when disturbed, lead to antithesis of peace, i.e., strife, war, anxiety, enmity and disorder etc. But, if the natural law, which governs human life and human societies, is preserved there will be peace.

There is a very close relationship between peace and harmony at personal and societal levels. Peace creates concord, balance, consistency, unanimity, compatibility and stability at individual and collective levels and helps to effect accord in facts, views and it acts and helps in making sympathetic relationships and mutual similarities the focal point of human concern. When peace and harmony are achieved in this inter-related manner, the expectation for a trustful, promising, secure, and faithful existence of human beings becomes possible.

Respected servants of Allah, according to the noble Quran, dialogue and reasoning in the best possible way are important methods of communicating, upholding the truth and resisting falsehood. The ultimate aim of doing this is to arrive at the truth. Within the framework of Islamic Daawah, dialogue is a tool of correction, construction and self-evaluation. Dialogue is a shared tool of awareness due to which opinions are formed, questions are examined and the implications of Islamic or theoretical evidence are concluded. It is a tool of consultation, mutual advice and cooperation in righteousness and piety, coursers which is the road to maturity and perfection. Errors can be corrected, deficiencies are taken care of, and the course of religion and advocacy is straightened out only when we welcome dialogue and train ourselves to accept criticism and revision. When this happens, our dialogues will be educational and systematic, enriching the nation with religious studies and academic theses.

The global Islamic awakening has turned into a general renaissance for all classes; it is no longer the sole monopoly of any party. The new generation has a rightful claim on Islamic Daawah to appreciate their reasoning powers, recognise their abilities and reveal to them the truth concerning the progress of advocacy, whether negative or positive. We are not expected to defend the attitude of one particular Islamic school or famous personality, and then try to justify it or conceal errors; our cause is much deeper and more serious than that. The vanguard of the Islamic awakening aspires to achieve the divine approach to dialogue, with all its clarity and purity of purpose, free from muddiness and blemishes. This is because Allahs injunctions are clear and His approach will last longer than anyone or anything else.

Difference in opinion is a natural thing and a healthy phenomenon, which enriches the nation with mature ideas. If such difference of opinion is utilised correctly, it becomes a remarkable tool for evaluating things from different points of view and dimensions. Unfortunately, such differences have turned into bitter quarrels and alarming fights that have weakened the body of Islam. This is due to the absence of serious dialogue and mutual consultation by various parties. The channels of a prudent scholarly dialogue are broken, which is why plausible reasoning and similar opinions have turned into a potential source of intellectual partisanship and personal conflict. Dialogues have regressed to being noscholarships more than an exchange of accusations and abuse.

Over time, Islamic scholars have developed certain Shariah-based principles that may be seen as a basic methodology for conducting an Islamically correct and fruitful dialogue. Here are some of these principles:

1. Knowledge

It is necessary for the interlocutor to be knowledgeable about the subject that he intends to debate over. At the same time, he should be able to examine, weigh and give preference to various types of evidence, deduce results and collect every piece of evidence. Further, he should be familiar with the science of abrogation and abrogated verses of the Noble Quran, the allowed and the restricted, the particular and the general, as well as the authentic and the weak. Nobody should venture into debate without complete intellectual and scholarly faculties. Allah has rebuked those who argue without knowledge, and Says:

Here you arethose who have argued about that of which you have (some) knowledge, but why do you argue about that of which you have no knowledge? And Allah knows, while you know not. [Quran, 3:66]

Partisan education adopted by some Islamic workers destroys the mind and kills creativity, thought and meditation. It relies on drilling its followers in the principles and methodology of the party rigidly and literally, regardless of their validity. Thereafter, the party member is taught to slander and belittle others, while being unaware of the reality, or even the reason why he is being asked to behave in that particular manner, and most seriously, without any knowledge about the punishment of slander. Indoctrination by parties results in an incomplete education; it is only good for creating unthinking people who parrot whatever the party deems correct.

2. Good understanding

For debate to proceed in the right direction, it is necessary to possess a good understanding of the opponents arguments, his evidence and the background influencing his actions. Often, a debate lingers on with differences persisting on both sides and the subjects being discussed becoming increasingly arcane without reaching any conclusion. The reason for this is that each side was unable to understand the basis of the others evidence as well as their entire aim.

Understanding is the cornerstone of debate; by contrast, misunderstanding may compel the interlocutor to accept what is wrong, reject what is right or misinterpret things. Imam Al-Subki may Allah have mercy upon him said:

I have often seen people listening, but (they) misunderstand what they hear. Consequently, they would alter the aim intended by the book or the author and mislead their colleagues and their followers into conclusions the author has never meant.

3. Reasons for misunderstanding

Some of the primary elements which cause misunderstanding are:

 Insufficient knowledge.

 Distance between interlocutors, which may force interlocutors to rely solely on hearsay. If both sides were to meet face-to-face and talk to each other, the picture would be clear and all ambiguities will be removed.

 Differences of expression: To avert the problem of linguistic differences, the interlocutor must observe clarity and explicitness. He should be able to control his words and expressions, as well as be accurate in presenting his evidence and supportive arguments.

Islam is a universal way of life and therefore addresses the entire community. This flows firstly from the fact that Islam is the religion prescribed by Allah, the Almighty, to the whole of humanity. Secondly, Islam, being a complete code of life, providing clear-cut criteria for mans activity in all domains of life, social, economical, political and ideological alike, possesses all-embracing characteristics. Hence it naturally captures the interest of the highly cultured and the less educated, the wealthy and the poor, the specialist and the layman, the intellectual and the ordinary.

Addressing His Messenger (Peace be upon him) Allah, the Most Exalted, Says:

And We have not sent you except as a giver of glad tidings and a warner to all humanity. [Quran, 34:28]

And:

And verily We have sent you as a mercy to all humanity. [Quran, 21:107]

An efficient and effective invitation of the general public and the relatively more gifted minds among the people in particular call for several important considerations which, in fact, require rigorous study.

First and foremost, the Muslim who wishes to carry the burden of his sublime mission, so that all those concerned may be properly enlightened through him about Islam, should have sufficient knowledge and correct understanding of the Quran and the Sunnah. Ideally, he should be aware of the relevant past experiences throughout the history of the Muslim Ummah. Further, he should possess a sufficient insight into human psychology. He also ought to be intelligent enough to adapt himself to various circumstances and identify and define the problems with which he is confronted.

More so today than in the past, the presentation of the message of Islam requires efficient planning, intelligent organisation and thoughtful co-ordination of activities for the work to be lasting and productive. In order for this gigantic task to be fruitful, it should be backed up by state or state-like powerful organisations.

It must be pointed-out that Christian Missions in Africa and Asia are eliciting enormous support form the governments of their respective countries as well as private institutions. In addition to this, the tremendously wealthy churches implement their plans through their own missionary organisations.

The continuous flow of generous funds from Europe and America have enabled these Christian Missionaries to establish thousands of primary, secondary and high schools, fully equipped modern hospitals and cultural centers everywhere they could, even in major Muslim countries such as Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan and Turkey.

The foregoing discussion should at least serve as a basis for comparison between what people on the other side of the fence have been doing and what we Muslims ought to do, but are a long way off doing it.

The scope of Islamic work involved in the field and the complexities of modern life imposed upon our societies have rendered individual efforts ineffective. The ideal of furthering the Islamic cause cannot possibly be realised by the efforts of part-time workers and untrained individuals with meager resources.

The fact that the work undertaken by some groups of Muslims has not scored success by any measure, ought to be attributed to an appalling lack of education, training and understanding of current problems as well as inadequate means and methods to approach the parties concerned, while the sincerity and devotion of the individuals involved in such groups deserves the praise.

The question how and where to work must be answered realistically. There are two main areas where Islamic work needs to be carried out. Firstly, countries with predominantly Muslim populations, having long-established Islamic tradition. Secondly, countries having little or no Muslim populations, but possessing a high potential for Islamisation.

It is a sad fact that many parts of the Muslim World today feel themselves deprived of Islamic culture and education by western colonisation of the past or by damaging influences of alien cultures and ideologies, still persisting in Muslim lands.

Therefore, Muslim masses suffering from these setbacks must be re-educated in Islam and regained to the Muslim Ummah. Clearly, the process of re-Islamisation of the Muslim peoples is a huge task. It entails facing considerable difficulties, moral and material.

In the primary stages, the great volume of Daawah (calling to Islam) work must be concentrated in such Muslim countries, where the response to the Islamic Call and the chances of success are tremendously high. In many such countries, it is quite possible to organise all kinds of educational and social services in co-operation with the local residents, societies and institutions.

In places where Daawah work is taken up for the first time, the nature of activities may differ substantially from those conducted in predominantly Muslim countries. It is necessary for those who would be directly involved in the Daawah work to know the language, the habits, the beliefs, the nature, the needs and hobbies of the native people whom they want to address.

Informing and inviting others to Islam using argumentative methods, even if they are full of impressive evidences, prevents people from accepting the Truth. So the listeners should be spoken to politely, because the aim is not to defeat them in disputation. The real importance lies in the fact that you have won their hearts by displaying good attitude.

It is not enough to express and convey the methodology of Islam in word but it is essential to show ones good-will and compassion by good deeds. It is narrated that not very long after the Battle of the Trench (Al-Kandaq), when the Quraish led the biggest military campaign against the Prophet (Peace be upon him) in Madinah, the news reached the Prophet (Peace be upon him) that the people of Makkah were suffering from acute famine.

The state of belligerency between the Muslims and the Quraish was still at its peak. Notwithstanding the bitter animosity of the Quraish against the Muslims, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) ordered a train of camels loaded with wheat to be delivered to the hunger-stricken Quraish. This uniquely noble gesture of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) must have touched sensitive chords in the hearts of the Makkans in their moments of agony and despair.

Quite often, deeds of this nature express more forcefully what words fail to convey. It is a strange irony that today several western countries are doing a lot of social work and are providing food, shelter, medical care and education to millions of Africans and Asians through dozen of international missionary organisations such as Oxfam, in England, and Brot fiir die Welt, in Germany, not to mention the International Red Cross Society and the like.

In the face of all that has been mentioned, it should be considered no less than a breach of duty towards Allah the Almighty, not to ease the suffering of others.

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all creation; may Allah extol the mention of our noble Prophet Muhammad in the highest company of Angels, bless him and give him peace and securityand his family, his Companions and all those who follow him correctly and sincerely until the establishment of the Hour.

Murtadha Muhammad Gusau is the Chief Imam of Nagazi-Uvete Jumuah and the late Alhaji Abdur-Rahman Okenes Mosques, Okene, Kogi State, Nigeria. He can be reached via: gusauimam@gmail.com or +2348038289761.

This Jumuah Khutbah (Friday sermon) was prepared for delivery today, Friday, Safar 01, 1445 AH (August 18, 2023).

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The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has provided detail on the soldiers killed in an ambush and the crash of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) MI17 helicopter on Monday in Niger State.

The Director, Defence Media Operations, Edward Buba, while briefing journalists on Thursday, said that a total of 36 officers and soldiers were involved in the two incidents.

Mr Buba, a major general, said that three officers and 22 soldiers paid the supreme price in the ambush in Zungeru general area while seven were wounded in action.

He explained that the NAF helicopter was on a mission to evacuate the deceased and wounded troops when it crashed in the Chukuba area of Shiroro Local Government Area of the state.

He said the crashed helicopter was conveying 14 bodies of the previously killed soldiers and the seven wounded ones as well the two pilots and two crew members on board.

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The ambush and the firefight resulted in the death of three officers, and 22 soldiers, while seven were wounded in action.

As a result of this, there was a need for casualty evacuation whereby the air force helicopter was dispatched while that operation was on and inbound to Kaduna, the helicopter crashed.

It crashed with 14 of the previously killed in action personnel at the ambush, seven of the previously wounded in action personnel at the ambush, two pilots of the helicopter and two crew members.

In his contribution, the Director of Public Relations and Information for NAF, Edward Gabkwet, said the cause of the crash was yet to be determined, saying operations were ongoing to unravel the cause of the accident.

Mr Gabkwet, an air commodore, urged the public to be wary of the kind of things they send on social media, saying they should not allow themselves to be used as communication equipment to spread propaganda by enemies of the state.

He said the military had continued to be open about its operations, adding that accidents in military operations were nothing to be ashamed of, as an organisation.

We are fighting an insurgency and if anybody thinks insurgency is something that is tackled in such an easy way, then you should go back to the history books and find out how other nations have been facing the same problem.

What we see in other countries is the citizens of those countries rallying around their armed forces and supporting them, he said.

(NAN)

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The Nigeria Police said they have arraigned three suspects for stealing properties belonging to the Imo State Teaching Hospital (IMSUTH) in the Orlu Local Government Area of the state.

The police spokesperson in Imo State, Henry Okoye, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday.

Mr Okoye, an assistant superintendent of police, said one of the suspects, Kelechukwu Nwode, 21, was first arrested by police detectives after he was caught stealing some properties belonging to the IMSUTH while other suspects fled.

The police spokesperson said the divisional police officer in charge of Orlu Division deployed the police detectives who conducted a surveillance patrol in the health facility that resulted in the arrest of Mr Nwode, an indigene of Ikwo Council Area of Ebonyi State.

He said the deployment of the detectives to the facility for the operation was in response to a series of complaints of vandalism and looting of the medical equipment and properties of the facility by hoodlums who often operated at night.

In the course of the investigation, the suspect confessed to being a member of a notorious syndicate that specialises in vandalising and looting the medical equipment of IMSUTH, took the determined Divisions detectives to his house where most of the items he looted were recovered, Mr Okoye said.

The police spokesperson listed looted items which were recovered from the suspect including a tricycle, a large quantity of copper wire, a big iron rod, one IMSUTH mattress, a cylinder, and a generator.

Others are some scraps, one air conditioner, and a television set.

Arraignment

Mr Okoye said the suspect later furnished the detectives with information that led to the arrest of two other members of the syndicate.

The two other arrested suspects include Jeremiah Oliver, 28, of Ibiasoegbe, a community in the Oru-West Local Government Area of the state and Paul Okeke, 44, who hails from Umudara, Amaifeke, a community in Orlu Local Government Area of the same state.

They have been arraigned in court, the police spokesperson said, without mentioning the court where the suspects were arraigned.

The Commissioner of Police in Imo State, Ahmed Barde, reiterated the commitment of the police in the state to ensure the security of lives and property of residents, Mr Okoye said.

Mr Barde applauded the divisional police officer of Orlu Division for successfully supervising the operation.

The police commissioner enjoined the residents to continue to support the police and other security agencies with timely information that will assist them in the fight against crime.

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President Bola Tinubu on Friday met with Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Messrs Tinubu and Mbah did not speak to reporters after the closed-door meeting. But Vanguard reported that the meeting may have been connected to insecurity and matters about the development of the state.

Governor Mbah has repeatedly maintained that he would transform the state from a public sector to a private sector-driven economy and raise its Gross Domestic Product from its current $4.4 billion to $30 billion through private sector investment.

The governor had expressed his resolve to partner with the federal government and international agencies in driving the economic development in Enugu.

On Wednesday, he met with the World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Shubham Chaudhuri, at the Banks country office in Abuja and equally participated in the National Economic Council meeting by Vice President Kashim Shettima on Thursday.

Background

Mr Mbah has argued that his resolve to encourage private sector investment would be impossible without addressing insecurity and ending the infamous sit-at-home order in the state often enforced by a faction of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

The governor, in June, banned the Monday sit-at-home in the state, explaining that the illegal order was killing the spirit of entrepreneurship, commerce and creativity of Igbo people in the region.

IPOB had, in August 2021, introduced the sit-at-home order every Monday across the South-east to protest the continued detention of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, but the separatist group would later suspend the order.

The group said that the order would instead be obeyed whenever Mr Kanu, who is standing trial on alleged terrorism, appears in court.

A leader of Autopilot, a faction of the IPOB, Simon Ekpa, has, however, continued to declare sit-at-home orders in the region despite being suspended by the IPOB faction led by Mr Kanu.

Shortly after banning the illegal order in June, Mr Mbah visited Mr Tinubu and appealed to him to release Mr Kanu so that the hoodlums who enforce the illegal order would have no reason to do so going forward. But the president has not responded to the request.

Mr Kanu, in late July, through Aloy Ejimakor, his special counsel, ordered Mr Ekpa to stop issuing sit-at-home orders in the region.

Mr Ejimakor, on his verified Twitter handle, posted copies of Mr Kanus handwritten letter to Mr Ekpa, whom he also instructed to stop antagonising governors and other political leaders in the region.

But the pro-Biafran agitator described the letter as fake, claiming it was written by authorities of the State Security Service and not the IPOB leader and maintained that the illegal order would go on until Mr Kanu speaks to him directly in Finland, a North European country, where he (Ekpa) resides.

IPOB is leading the agitation for an independent state of Biafra, which it wants to be carved out from the South-east and some parts of south-south Nigeria.

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The Ondo State Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Emammuel Igbasan, has said Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu met a debt of N220 billion when he came into office in 2017.

However, he said the debt has been reduced to about N92 billion through prudent management of resources by the governor and his team.

He said the administrations decision to seek the input of citizens in its budgeting processes since 2017 has helped the state to receive several global partnerships.

The commissioner spoke in Akure, the state capital, at an interactive session with members of the Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the state.

Right now, it has reduced to between N90 billion and N92 billion, including multilateral debt, Mr Igbassan said.

All the salaries we paid were part of the debt.

The cumulative debt of pensioners was N35 billion when we took over. We decided to give N200 million to them yearly to sort the pensioners debt. How they handled it is another ball game, but I have my reservations on it.

We also allocated N300 million for levels 9 to 15 in 2019.

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As of today, with all the work that has been done, I am not sure we are owing up to N10 billion as conceptual debt.

The previous administration of Olusegun Mimiko could not pay workers salaries at its twilight, owing several months of unpaid salaries.

By the time Mr Mimikos tenure ended, workers were owed about seven months in arrears. Mr Mimiko had blamed the problem on drastic shortfalls in revenues accruing to the state from the Federation Account.

On the Ayetoro sea incursion, Mr Igbasan said it is a source of worry to Governor Akeredolu.

Ayetoro is a problematic and pathetic one for us as a state. If you look at the historical heritage of that place and their enterprises, it is not a place that should go into extinction, he said.

There are so many theories because for me, before I proffer solution, I want to dig deep into the root of the problem so that I wont be dealing with the symptoms.

I told Mr Governor that before we can give solutions to the problem in Ayetoro, we need to know the cause. Theres no vacuum in nature. If you look at the proximity of Ondo State to Lagos and the volume of sand that was pulled from the sea to create a city where they drove the sea several miles away, theres a possibility the sand was gotten from Ondo State.

Some states erected sea-breakers at the bottom of the sea which would change the natural cause of the flow of the seawater, that might have been the repercussions that we are facing here. Another perspective is the activities of the oil companies.

While I was doing my research, I stumbled on the information. As far back as 1958, it has been predicted that something like this would happen.

The rise in climate change and the erosion level can be the cause too in Ayetoro. They have awarded numerous projects to salvage the issues in Ayetoro, one of them brought in sand to fill the place but within a few days they ran out of sand.

The commissioner also noted that there had been many other perspectives to the issue, but stressed the need to conduct a critical survey in finding a lasting solution.

He said Mr Akeredolu was passionate about the issue of Ayetoro and had constituted a committee to raise the funds needed to address it.

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Product Preview is a weekly series spotlighting the latest and greatest debuts in the marketplace. Check back every Friday for whats new and notable.

It was an exciting week in the design world. A newly rebranded NY Now returned to the Javits Centercomplete with neon acrylic rolling trays and magical mushroom-infused mintsand at Pier 36, Shoppe Object was well underway. Trade shows aside, there were plenty of other imaginative marketplace launches to fawn over, too. From ergonomic lounge chairs with interchangeable shells to field tile forged from centuries-old terra-cotta, here are 12 standouts from the past week.

The Byron Column Rectangular dining table and Jakob dining armchair by Harrison and Nicholas Condos for RH Courtesy of RH



RH released its 2023 Interiors collection with a new Sourcebook featuring 100 exclusive collections by more than a dozen international designers. Highlights include a gently rounded sideboard with woven caned doors by Los Angelesbased Thomas Bina and Brazils Ronald Sasson, and a white oak dining table with an art decostyle reeded column base by Harrison and Nicholas Condos of Australian brand Harbour.

Orchard Fruits wallpaper and window fabric in Parchment by John Derian for Designers Guild Courtesy of Designers Guild

John Derians latest creations for Designers Guild are every bit as swoonworthy as expected. The launch includes two collections, Picture Book III Fabrics and Picture Book Wallpapers II, which translate the New Yorks artists signature decoupage works into romantic, vintage-style illustrated surface designs, such as the botanical Orchard Fruits and the fanciful Butterfly Studies.

Floors in Parefeuille Vintage Hex field tile by Ann Sacks Courtesy of Ann Sacks

The Parefeuille series from Ann Sacks is pure upcycled perfection. Composed of centuries-old terra-cotta salvaged from farmhouses and chateaus throughout the South of France, the field tile features an authentically weathered patina and comes in four distinct shapes, including hexagonal and square.

The Mapico armchair and ottoman by Mapico at I Am U Are Courtesy of Mapico

I Am U Arethe brand behind the design expo of the same nameis launching a new e-commerce site on Monday. The platform brings the works of dozens of up-and-coming Ukrainian makers to one online marketplace, and will offer everything from Mapicos shaggy sheeps woolupholstered chairs hand-crafted by artisans in the Carpathian mountains to 3D-printed pitchers made from starch, miscanthus and honeybee wax by Anumoplastic.

Marble incense holders in Bloom, Dune, Noir and Travertine by Broken English Courtesy of Broken English

Los Angeles jewelry brand Broken English debuted a dreamy line of gemstone-inspired decor accents called BE Home. The collection spans 84 sculptural, heirloom-quality pieces crafted from highly touchable raw materials, ranging from crushed amethystclad storage boxes to solid bronze candleholders and travertine marble incense trays.

A chair upholstered in Bambi fabric in Sugared Almonds by Disney Home and Sanderson Courtesy of Sanderson The brands Mickey in the Clouds wallpaper in Sea Salt by Disney Home Courtesy of Sanderson Left: A chair upholstered in Bambi fabric in Sugared Almonds by Disney Home and Sanderson Courtesy of Sanderson | Right: The brands Mickey in the Clouds wallpaper in Sea Salt by Disney Home Courtesy of Sanderson

Sanderson partnered with Disney Home on an enchanting collection of fabrics and wallcoverings. Designed in honor of the latters 100th anniversary, the collaboration offers three dozen archival designs adorned in the legendary film companys most beloved animated characters, including a whimsical cloud-filled wallpaper featuring a jet-flying Mickey Mouse and a dainty floral upholstery print accented with Bambi and Thumper.

About A Chair 22 Armchair 2.0 seating by Hee Welling for Hay Courtesy of Hay

Danish design brand Hay dropped its highly anticipated fall collection. In addition to an ergonomic lounge chair made from molded plywood by Norwegian designer Andreas Bergsaker, debuts include a line of aluminum lighting with mouth-blown opal glass shades by Studio 0405 and a seating family by Hee Welling with interchangeable shells.

The Plat table lamp in yellow by Notion Studio at Fine Lumens Courtesy of Fine Lumens

At NY Now, Fine Lumens presented the multitasking Plat table lamp by Notion Studio. Created with plateausan area of level high groundin mind, the streamlined design features a vertical side that doubles as a bookend and a flat top for setting your smartphone.

Twister grinders by Addison Ross Courtesy of Addison Ross The brands Scalloped Lacquer bin in pink and blue Courtesy of Addison Ross Left: Twister grinders by Addison Ross Courtesy of Addison Ross | Right: The brands Scalloped Lacquer bin in pink and blue Courtesy of Addison Ross

Addison Rosss colorful showcase stopped me in my tracks at the Javits Center. Along with a rainbow of glossy ceramic salt and pepper grinders and lacquered ottoman trays, the U.K.-based brands offerings included a round scallop-edged wall mirror and a shiny two-toned waste bin that I will be dreaming of for weeks.

The Lowdown in Poppy by Mustard Made Courtesy of Mustard Made

Australian brand Mustard Mades Lowdown design was on full display at Shoppe Object. The old-school locker-style cabinet is available in an array of feel-good colorwaysincluding lilac, Sage and a blush pinkand moonlights as a media console or storage station with lockable doors.

Harlem Toile pillowcase in blue and lilac and bolster pillow in Ivory by Sheila Bridges for Gingerlily Courtesy of Gingerlily The brands Harlem Toile pillowcases in blue and bolster pillow in Ivory by Sheila Bridges Courtesy of Gingerlily Left: Harlem Toile pillowcase in blue and lilac and bolster pillow in Ivory by Sheila Bridges for Gingerlily Courtesy of Gingerlily | Right: The brands Harlem Toile pillowcases in blue and bolster pillow in Ivory by Sheila Bridges Courtesy of Gingerlily

Gingerlily unveiled a characterful collaboration with Sheila Bridges. The sumptuous series re-imagines the A-list designers iconic Harlem Toile de Jouy motif as silk printed bedding and sleep accessories, including pillowcases, bolster cushions, a duvet cover and an eiderdown.

The Nugget sofa in Starfish by Nugget Courtesy of Nugget

Nuggets kid-friendly seating design is now available in an assortment of fresh colorways, including yellow, lilac and bright orange. Swathed in machine-washable microsuede upholstery in your choice of 19 eye-catching hues, the interactive sofa is composed of four stackable geometric pieces that can be built and broken down into an array of fun, fortlike configurations.
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, Aug. 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ --

AES Argentina Generacion S.A.

Offer to Exchange Any and All of its Outstanding

7.750% Senior Notes due 2024

(CUSIP Nos.: 00107V AA1 and P1000C AA2; ISIN Nos. US00107VAA17 and USP1000CAA29)

On July 13, 2023, AES Argentina Generacion S.A. (" AES Argentina " or the " Company ") announced the commencement of its offer to exchange (the " Exchange Offer ") any and all of its outstanding 7.750% Senior Notes due 2024 (the " Old Notes ") for newly issued 9.50% Notes due 2027 (the " New Notes ") and cash consideration, as applicable, each upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the exchange offer memorandum (the " Exchange Offer Memorandum "), dated July 13, 2023, as supplemented and amended by the press release issued by the Company on July 26, 2023 (the " Early Participation Press Release "), extending the Early Participation Date, the supplement to the Exchange Offer Memorandum (the " Supplement ") dated August 8, 2023, and the press release issued by the Company on August 10, 2023 (the " Extension Press Release "), extending the expiration date of the Exchange Offer, and the related eligibility letter (the " Eligibility Letter " and, together with the Exchange Offer Memorandum, the Early Participation Press Release, the Supplement and the Extension Press Release, the " Exchange Offer Documents "). Capitalized terms not defined herein shall have the meaning ascribed to them in the Exchange Offer Documents.

AES Argentina hereby announces that it is extending the period to be eligible to receive the Early Exchange Consideration in respect of the exchange offer and the Expiration Date from 5:00 p.m., New York City time on August 17, 2023 (the " Expiration Date "), to 5:00 p.m. New York City time on August 21, 2023 (such time and date, the " Extended Expiration Date ").

Morrow Sodali International LLC, acting as information and exchange agent for the Exchange Offer (the " Information and Exchange Agent "), advised AES Argentina that as of the Expiration Date (i) U.S.$40,729,000 in aggregate principal amount of Old Notes, representing approximately 14.84% of the aggregate principal amount of Old Notes outstanding, have been tendered (and not validly withdrawn) in the Exchange Offer under Option A, and (ii) U.S.$99,125,000 in aggregate principal amount of Old Notes, representing approximately 36.11% of the aggregate principal amount of Old Notes outstanding, have been tendered (and not validly withdrawn) in the Exchange Offer under Option B, totaling a participation of U.S.$139,854,000 in aggregate principal amount of Old Notes, representing approximately 50.95% of the aggregate principal amount of Old Notes outstanding.

Based on the aggregate principal amount of Old Notes tendered in the Exchange Offer as of the Expiration Date, Eligible Holders that tendered their Old Notes under Option A at or prior to the Expiration Date would receive (assuming no additional participation) an Early A Consideration of approximately U.S.$686.7539 in cash and U.S.$319 in New Notes per U.S.$1,000 of principal amount of Old Notes validly tendered and accepted for exchange. The Exchange Consideration will be determined following the expiration of the Exchange Offer (as extended by this announcement).

Eligible Holders who have not already done so may tender their Existing Notes for exchange until the Extended Expiration Date. The Withdrawal Date expired on July 26, 2023, and has not been extended. As a result, any Existing Notes validly tendered on or after the date hereof and prior to the Extended Expiration Date may not be withdrawn. Eligible Holders who validly tender their Old Notes on or before the Extended Expiration Date are eligible to receive the Early Exchange Consideration in connection with any such Old Notes accepted for exchange and there will be no Late Exchange Consideration.

Given that AES Argentina has extended the Expiration Date under the Exchange Offer, the settlement date for the Exchange Offer is now expected to be August 25, 2023, in compliance with Argentine Central Bank's requirements to access the foreign exchange market (the " Settlement Date "), and the issue date, interest payment dates, record dates, principal payment dates, optional redemption and other related dates under the New Notes will be adjusted accordingly to reflect the new Settlement Date.

The other terms of the Exchange Offer remain unchanged (including the Withdrawal Date). The terms and conditions of the Exchange Offer are described in the Exchange Offer Memorandum, as supplemented and amended by the Early Participation Press Release, the Supplement and the Extension Press Release, as amended by this announcement. AES Argentina's obligations to accept any Old Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn and to pay the Exchange Consideration for them and the conditions to such obligations (including but not limited to the Minimum Participation Condition) are set forth in the Exchange Offer Memorandum, as supplemented and amended by the Early Participation Press Release, the Supplement and the Extension Press Release, as amended by this announcement. The Exchange Offer is made by, and pursuant to the terms of, the Exchange Offer Memorandum, and the information in this announcement is qualified by reference to the Exchange Offer Memorandum.

Only holders who have electronically submitted a duly completed Eligibility Letter certifying that they are (1) "qualified institutional buyers" ("QIBs") as defined in Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), or (2) holders of Old Notes other than "U.S. persons" (as defined in Rule 902 under the Securities Act) who are located outside of the United States, who are qualified offerees in other jurisdictions, are authorized to receive the Exchange Offer Memorandum and to participate in the Exchange Offer (such holders, "Eligible Holders").

Questions or requests for assistance related to the Exchange Offer or for additional copies of the Exchange Offer Documents may be directed to the Information and Exchange Agent at the following email address: [email protected] . You may also contact your broker, dealer, commercial bank, trust company or other nominee for assistance concerning the Exchange Offer. The Exchange Offer Documents are available for Eligible Holders at the following web address: https://projects.morrowsodali.com/AES .

Citigroup Global Markets Inc., HSBC Securities (USA) Inc., J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Santander US Capital Markets LLC are acting as dealer managers (the " Dealer Managers ") for the Exchange Offer. Banco Santander Argentina S.A., Banco Itau Argentina S.A., Itau Valores S.A. and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Argentina) S.A.U. are acting as local placement agents.

Subject to applicable law, the Exchange Offer may be amended in any respect, extended or, upon failure of a condition to be satisfied or waived prior to the Extended Expiration Date or Settlement Date, as the case may be, terminated, at any time and for any reason. Although AES Argentina has no present plans or arrangements to do so, the Company reserves the right to amend, at any time, the terms of the Exchange Offer (including, without limitation, the conditions thereto) in accordance with applicable law. AES Argentina will give Eligible Holders notice of any amendments and will extend the Extended Expiration Date if required by applicable law.

Eligible Holders of Old Notes are advised to check with any bank, securities broker or other intermediary through which they hold Old Notes as to when such intermediary would need to receive instructions from an Eligible Holder in order for that Eligible Holder to be able to participate in, or withdraw their instruction to participate in, the Exchange Offer before the deadlines specified in the Exchange Offer Documents. The deadlines set by any such intermediary for the submission of instructions will be earlier than the relevant deadlines specified above.

To reimburse the time and cost of processing the tender of Old Notes in the Exchange Offer, AES Argentina will pay a processing fee to brokers in Argentina acting on behalf of certain Eligible Holders. In Argentina, the processing fee will be payable to direct participants in Caja de Valores S.A.'s ("Caja de Valores") depositary system acting on behalf of beneficial owners of Old Notes in Argentina who are individuals tendering, through Caja de Valores, Old Notes for exchange in the Exchange Offer with respect to individual tenders of up to U.S.$250,000 aggregate principal amount of Old Notes per each Eligible Holder that are accepted for exchange and will be in an amount equal to 0.25% of the principal amount of such tendered Old Notes that are accepted for exchange. This processing fee will be payable in Argentine pesos at the Communication "A" 3500 exchange rate published by the BCRA on the Argentine business day prior to the Settlement Date. No such fee shall be payable to brokers outside of Argentina.

Important Notice

This announcement is not an offer of securities for sale in the United States, and none of the New Notes has been or will be registered under the Securities Act or any state securities law. They may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons except pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to the registration requirements of the Securities Act. This press release does not constitute an offer of the New Notes for sale, or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, in any state or other jurisdiction in which any offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Any person considering making an investment decision relating to any securities must inform itself independently based solely on an offering memorandum to be provided to eligible investors in the future in connection with any such securities before taking any such investment decision.

This announcement is directed only to holders of Old Notes who are (1) "qualified institutional buyers" ("QIBs") as defined in Rule 144A under the Securities Act, or (2) other than "U.S. persons" (as defined in Rule 902 under the Securities Act) who are located outside of the United States, who are qualified offerees in other jurisdictions, are authorized to receive the Exchange Offer Memorandum and to participate in the Exchange Offer. No offer of any kind is being made to any beneficial owner of Old Notes who does not meet the above criteria or any other beneficial owner located in a jurisdiction where the Exchange Offer is not permitted by law.

The distribution of materials relating to the Exchange Offer may be restricted by law in certain jurisdictions. The Exchange Offer is void in all jurisdictions where it is prohibited. If materials relating to the Exchange Offer come into your possession, you are required by the Company to inform yourself of and to observe all of these restrictions. The materials relating to the Exchange Offer, including this communication, do not constitute, and may not be used in connection with, an offer or solicitation in any place where offers or solicitations are not permitted by law. If a jurisdiction requires that the Exchange Offer be made by a licensed broker or dealer and a dealer manager or any affiliate of a dealer manager is a licensed broker or dealer in that jurisdiction, the Exchange Offer shall be deemed to be made by the dealer manager or such affiliate on behalf of the Company in that jurisdiction.

Forward-Looking Statements

All statements in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on expectations and assumptions on the date of this press release and are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, market conditions, and factors over which the Company has no control. The Company assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements, and does not intend to do so, unless otherwise required by law.

Notice to Investors in the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom

The New Notes are not intended to be offered, sold or otherwise made available to and should not be offered, sold or otherwise made available to any retail investor in the European Economic Area ("EEA"). For these purposes, (a) a retail investor means a person who is one (or more) of: (i) a retail client as defined in point (11) of Article 4(1) of Directive 2014/65/EU (as amended, "MiFID II"); or (ii) a customer within the meaning of Directive (EU) 2016/97 (the "Insurance Distribution Directive"), where that customer would not qualify as a professional client as defined in point (10) of Article 4(1) of MiFID II; or (iii) not a qualified investor as defined in Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 (the "Prospectus Regulation"); and (b) the expression "offer" includes the communication in any form and by any means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and the New Notes to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to subscribe for the New Notes. Consequently, no key information document required by Regulation (EU) 1286/2014 (as amended, the "PRIIPs Regulation") for offering or selling the New Notes or otherwise making them available to retail investors in the EEA has been prepared and therefore otherwise offering or selling the New Notes or otherwise making them available to any retail investor in the EEA may be unlawful under the PRIIPs Regulation.

The New Notes are not intended to be offered, sold or otherwise made available to and should not be offered, sold or otherwise made available to any retail investor in the United Kingdom. For these purposes: (a) the expression retail investor means a person who is one (or more) of the following: (i) a retail client, as defined in point (8) of Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 2017/565 as it forms part of domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (EUWA); or (ii) a customer within the meaning of the provisions of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (as amended, the "FSMA") and any rules or regulations made under the FSMA to implement Directive (EU) 2016/97, where that customer would not qualify as a professional client, as defined in point (8) of Article 2(1) of Regulation (EU) No 600/2014 as it forms part of domestic law by virtue of the EUWA and (iii) not a qualified investor as defined in Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 as it forms part of domestic law by virtue of the EUWA; and (b) the expression an offer includes the communication in any form and by any means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and the New Notes to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to subscribe for the New Notes. Consequently, no key information document required by Regulation (EU) No 1286/2014 as it forms part of domestic law by virtue of the EUWA (the "UK PRIIPs Regulation") for offering or selling the New Notes or otherwise making them available to retail investors in the UK has been prepared and therefore offering or selling the New Notes or otherwise making them available to any retail investor in the UK may be unlawful under the UK PRIIPs Regulation.

The Information and Exchange Agent for the Exchange Offer is:

INFORMATION AND EXCHANGE AGENT

Morrow Sodali International LLC

Offer Website: https://projects.morrowsodali.com/AES

E-mail: [email protected]

In Stamford:

333 Ludlow Street, South Tower, 5th Floor

Stamford, CT 06902

United States

Telephone: +1 203 609 4910 In London:

103 Wigmore Street

W1U 1QS, London

United Kingdom

Telephone: +44 20 4513 6933

Any question regarding the terms of the Exchange Offer should be directed to the Dealer Managers.

The Dealer Managers for the Exchange Offer are:











Citigroup Global Markets Inc.

388 Greenwich Street, 4th Floor

New York, New York 10013

United States Attention: Liability Management

Group

Call Collect: (212) 723-6106 US Toll-Free: (800) 558-3745 HSBC Securities (USA) Inc.

452 Fifth Avenue,

New York, New York 10018 Attention: Global Liability

Management Group U.S. Toll-Free: (888) HSBC-

4LM Collect: (212) 525-5552 J.P. Morgan Securities LLC 383 Madison Avenue

New York, New York 10179 Attn: Latin America Debt Capital

Markets U.S. Toll-free: +1 (866) 846-2874 Collect: +1 (212) 834-7279 Santander US Capital

Markets LLC 437 Madison Avenue

New York, New York 10022

United States Attention: Liability

Management

Collect: +1 (212) 940-1442 Toll Free: +1 (855) 404-3636

















The Exchange Offer Memorandum shall be available online at https://projects.morrowsodali.com/AES until the consummation or termination of the Exchange Offer.

SOURCE AES Argentina Generacion S.A.
DALLAS, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Apex Dental Partners, a leading dental partnership, is thrilled to announce the remarkable achievement of being recognized on the prestigious Inc. 5000 list for the 5th consecutive year. This milestone is a clear testament to the company's unwavering commitment to service and growth within the dental care community.

The Inc. 5000 list, compiled annually by Inc. magazine, highlights the fastest-growing private companies in the United States. This year, Apex Dental Partners was honored for achieving 171% 3-year growth.

"Since inception, our goal has been to reimagine private practice dentistry for the benefit of patients and dentists," said Matt Hale, President of Apex Dental Partners. "Over the past nine years, we have grown tremendously. We now partner with more than 100 dentists and 600 team members across three states. Collectively, our organization has served more than 130,000 patients so far this year. However, what I'm most proud of is our team's unwavering focus on quality. We continue to earn industry-leading feedback from our dentist's patients and our team members, showing that we are living our values of Service, Integrity, and Excellence. We can proudly say that we are accomplishing our mission of serving others and changing lives through the healing power of dentistry."

David Lohmann, CEO of Apex added, "This achievement underscores our team's hard work and innovation in leading the way as the premier partnership option for dentists seeking the values of traditional private practice dentistry with the support of an innovative business team."

About Apex Dental Partners

Apex Dental Partners is a dental partnership, reimagining private practice dentistry for the next generation of clinicians focused on long term relationship-based, high-quality patient care. Through its non-branded model, Private Practice Reimagined, Apex offers dentist-leaders the values of traditional private practice with the power and support of a group. With Apex, dentists work with a team focused on providing them the freedom to do what they do best. For more information, visit www.ApexDP.com.

SOURCE Apex Dental Partners
GREEN BAY, Wis., Aug. 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE: ASB) announced today that Management will present at the 2023 Barclays Global Financial Services Conference in New York, NY at 12:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, September 12, 2023 and will meet with investors throughout the conference. Interested parties can access a live webcast of the presentation through the Investor Relations section of the Company's website at http://investor.associatedbank.com. A replay of the presentation will be accessible for 90 days after the presentation date.

An investor presentation will be made available prior to the conference and can be accessed via Associated Banc-Corp's website at http://investor.associatedbank.com .

ABOUT ASSOCIATED BANC-CORP

Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE: ASB) has total assets of $41 billion and is the largest bank holding company based in Wisconsin. Headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Associated is a leading Midwest banking franchise, offering a full range of financial products and services from more than 200 banking locations serving more than 100 communities throughout Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota. The company also operates loan production offices in Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Ohio and Texas. Associated Bank, N.A. is an Equal Housing Lender, Equal Opportunity Lender and Member FDIC. More information about Associated Banc-Corp is available at www.associatedbank.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Statements made in this document which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This includes any statements regarding management's plans, objectives, or goals for future operations, products or services, and forecasts of its revenues, earnings, or other measures of performance. Such forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "plan," "estimate," "should," "will," "intend," "target," "outlook," "project," "guidance," or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on current management expectations and, by their nature, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in such forward-looking statements include those identified in the Company's most recent Form 10-K and subsequent SEC filings. Such factors are incorporated herein by reference.

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Investor Contact: Ben McCarville

Vice President | Director of Investor Relations

920-491-7059 | [email protected]

Media Contact: Jennifer Kaminski

Vice President | Public Relations Senior Manager

920-491-7576 | [email protected]

SOURCE Associated Banc-Corp
AUGUSTA, Ga., Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Best Lawyers, the oldest and most respected Purely Peer Review research and accolades company in the legal profession, announced today that it has completed the acquisition of Good2bSocial, a leading digital marketing agency that specializes in serving law firms, legal marketers, lawyers and organizations in the legal industry. The acquisition is an expansion of Best Lawyers' services and resources to support the needs of legal professionals and law firms in the digital age.

Best Lawyers Acquires Digital Marketing Leader Good2bSocial Expanding Digital Marketing Services for Legal Client Base

The Good2bSocial acquisition marks another key milestone in Best Lawyers' evolution and growth strategy. This year, the brand published its Best Law Firms rankings independently for the first time in 13 years, launched a complete brand refresh of these rankings and continued its overall regional/global expansion of its rankings' footprint.

"Bringing Good2bSocial into the Best Lawyers family is another strategic step to provide unmatched service and benefits to our customers in the legal profession," said CEO of Best Lawyers Phillip Greer. "Their team's knowledge, experience and success in legal marketing adds a new layer to our growing portfolio of capabilities and will serve as an invaluable resource to our clients who are looking to grow their practices and set a new bar among their competition."

With the acquisition of Good2bSocial, Best Lawyers expands its digital marketing services and resources to help attorneys and law firms improve their online presence and reach more clients. Good2bSocial's deep expertise in digital marketing strategy, content marketing, social media, search engine optimization and website development will complement Best Lawyers' existing marketing capabilities and help clients surpass their marketing goals.

Good2bSocial's team, led by Guy Alvarez and Kevin Vermeulen, will join Best Lawyers as part of the acquisition. Alvarez and Vermeulen will serve as Executive Vice Presidents of the business unit and will continue to oversee the daily strategy, management and growth of Good2bSocial.

"Kevin and I are excited to join forces with Best Lawyers," said Alvarez. "Our team has always been dedicated to helping law firms improve their online presence and generate more business through digital marketing. With the resources and expertise of Best Lawyers, we will be able to take our services to the next level and help even more firms succeed in today's digital age."

The acquisition is effective immediately, and Good2bSocial will begin operating under the Best Lawyers brand, enabling a more informed, content-focused network that creates additional customer touchpoints and expands engagement with the profession. Clients of both companies can expect a seamless transition and continued high-quality service. In addition, the core of Best Lawyers' transparent Purely Peer Review ranking process will not change and will continue to deliver on the strong foundation that the brand's customers have come to expect.

About Best Lawyers

Best Lawyers, an Abry Partners portfolio company, is the oldest and most respected peer-review research and accolades company in the legal profession. Our data is a trusted resource and valued reference for legal professionals and the clients and business partners they serve. Best Lawyers compiles extensive recognitions by conducting exhaustive peer-review surveys in which tens of thousands of leading lawyers confidentially evaluate the work of their fellow legal professionals within their local market and specialty. Best Lawyers awards are published in leading local, regional and national media outlets across the globe. Our awards and recognitions are based purely on the feedback we receive from these top lawyers. Lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed; therefore, recognition by Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor.

About Good2bSocial

Good2bSocial's mission is to help lawyers, law firms and organizations in the legal industry understand and leverage the power of digital marketing, content and social media, using unmatched experience and the latest technology and methods to power measurable marketing and business development strategies. Good2bSocial offers a full suite of digital marketing services for law firms and organizations in the legal industry, including website design and development, social media management, high-impact content strategy and production, email marketing, PPC, SEO and account based marketing (ABM).

SOURCE Best Lawyers
Cybersecurity leader aligns with non-profits to deliver hands-on, career-building experiences

BALTIMORE, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BlueVoyant , a leading global cybersecurity firm, is honored to team up with the Transforming Lives Community Development Corporation ( TLCDC ) to deliver new career opportunities to budding professionals in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). Working with STEMcx , the education arm of TLCDC, BlueVoyant is proudly helping expose students from underrepresented areas to STEM fields.

On Saturday, August 19 from 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. ET at the New Psalmist Baptist Church (6020 Marian Drive, Baltimore, Maryland 21215), 44 Baltimore-area high school students will display computer coding projects and research poster presentations as a culmination to three summer internships hosted by STEMcx and its partners. Topic areas of the projects and presentations will include computer coding, environmental justice, bioethics, and more. The sponsors of the internships  BlueVoyant, the U.S. Department of Education, BGE, the Annie Casey Foundation, and the New Venture fund, realize the importance of investing in these talented students in assuring a more diverse STEM workforce in the future. Mayor Brandon Scott's chief of staff, Marvin James, U.S. Senator Ben Cardin's Community Outreach Director, Rev. Jerome Stephens, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen's Baltimore City Regional Director, Elonna B. Jones, and the Maryland Department of the Environment's Assistant Secretary, Bobbie James, Esq. will be on hand to congratulate the students.

"The issue of diversity in STEM is something that has been well-documented for as long as we can remember. The time is now to put educational programs into action that deliver beneficial results in rectifying the gaps in this field" said Sangya Sharma, Chief Diversity Officer and Chief Human Resource Officer at BlueVoyant and STEMcx partner. BlueVoyant, an industry-leading cyber defense company converging internal and external security, is sponsoring the computer coding internship for the third summer in a row.

Internships offering minorities first-hand experience in STEM fields and valuable networking opportunities will help to diversify the STEM workforce. TLCDC and STEMcx are proud to be a part of that change.

The guest list for the event is limited. To attend, please contact [email protected] .

About Transforming Lives Community Development Corporation

TLCDC is a faith-based nonprofit dedicated to making lives better for others. They are partnered with the New Psalmist Baptist Church. The education arm of the nonprofit, STEMcx, is dedicated to exposing students from underrepresented areas to STEM fields. For more information, go to www.stemcx.org .

About BlueVoyant

BlueVoyant combines internal and external cyber defense capabilities into an outcomes-based, cloud-native platform by continuously monitoring your network, endpoints, attack surface, and supply chain, as well as the clear, deep, and dark web for threats. The full-spectrum cyber defense platform illuminates, validates, and quickly remediates threats to protect your enterprise. BlueVoyant leverages both machine-learning-driven automation and human-led expertise to deliver industry-leading cybersecurity to more than 900 clients across the globe.

SOURCE BlueVoyant
Boryung to host HIS Symposium at 2023 ASCEND in Las Vegas this October

this October Over 2,000 global space experts are set to attend ASCEND, the world's premier collaborative, outcomes-driven, interdisciplinary event designed to accelerate the building of our sustainable off-world future

Boryung will amplify the vitality of the space industry's ecosystem and uncover innovative business avenues to pave the way for pioneering advancements with its collaboration with AIAA

SEOUL, South Korea, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Boryung, a leading healthcare investment company, has announced its partnership with the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) to bring the Humans In Space (HIS) Symposium to the upcoming 2023 ASCEND event. Powered by AIAA, ASCEND  which stands for Accelerating Space Commerce, Exploration, and New Discovery  is the world's premier collaborative, outcomes-driven, interdisciplinary event and will be held this year from October 23 to 25 at Caesars Forum in Las Vegas.

Boryung Partners with AIAA to Host Humans In Space Symposium at 2023 ASCEND

Boryung's HIS Symposium will take place during the 2023 ASCEND event and include the final pitches of the company's annual HIS Challenge. This competition, launched in May, aims to discover early-stage startups and researchers dedicated to transforming human life in space. During the HIS Symposium, finalists will present solutions and research before a panel of prominent space experts. HIS Challenge winners will receive investments, research awards, and opportunities to participate in mentorship programs.

Beyond the HIS Challenge, Jay Kim, the Chairman and CEO of Boryung, will contribute to a panel discussion during ASCEND and underline the partnership between Boryung and AIAA. Kim's address will spotlight the shared vision of the two entities, both of which are committed to shaping the trajectory of space exploration and propelling the space industry ecosystem forward. Axiom Space and the Aurelia Institute, co-hosts of the HIS Symposium alongside Boryung, will also lend their expertise.

"We're thrilled to mark this collaborative milestone with AIAA, the world's largest aerospace technical society. In just a year since the first Care In Space Challenge, we've made impressive strides," stated Jack Dongjoo Lim, Head of Boryung's New Portfolio Investment (NPI) Group. "Our dedication to a strong space ecosystem is resolute.We're committed to this premier global space event opening doors to endless opportunities."

"We are pleased that Boryung will add such a valuable perspective and interactive element to the unique ASCEND experience this year," said AIAA Executive Director Dan Dumbacher. "We look forward to welcoming the global community of dreamers and doers who will share their visions of the potential for people living and working in space in the coming years. The outlook for our sustainable off-world future is bright."

This year's ASCEND will see the participation of over 2,000 distinguished professionals from academic, private, and government sectors worldwide. The event will unfold across three days, spanning over 200 sessions encompassing the pitch sessions from the annual HIS Challenge, as well as keynotes, panel discussions, interactive roundtables, and debates.

Boryung remains resolute in its commitment to amplify the vitality of the space industry's ecosystem with its collaboration with AIAA. Concurrently, Boryung is poised to uncover innovative business avenues, paving the way for pioneering advancements and hastening the commercialization of space exploration.

Building on the success of the inaugural 2022 Care In Space (CIS) Challenge, the HIS initiative aspires to enhance human life in space and harness the potential of space environments to address terrestrial challenges. Details about the HIS Challenge and Symposium can be found at www.careinspace.com.

Registration for 2023 ASCEND is open now. Journalists from around the world are invited to cover the event; press passes are available for credentialed media by request.

About Boryung

Boryung is a healthcare investment company founded in 1957 and headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. Following the company's mission to become an indispensable contributor to human health, it has expanded their business portfolio to the space healthcare industry. Recognizing space as a new realm for growth, Boryung acknowledges the increasing number of individuals anticipated to embark on prolonged space missions, highlighting the importance of ensuring human survival in the hostile space environment. Hence, the company believes there will be substantial opportunities to foster new technologies and meet the emerging needs in this field.

About ASCEND

Powered by AIAA, ASCEND, which stands for A ccelerating S pace C ommerce, E xploration, and N ew D iscovery, is the world's premier collaborative, outcomes-driven, interdisciplinary community designed to accelerate the building of our off-world future. For more information, visit ascend.events, or follow ASCEND on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.

About AIAA

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world's largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit www.aiaa.org, or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

SOURCE Boryung
VANCOUVER, BC and TORONTO, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - BZAM Ltd. (the "Company" or "BZAM") (CSE: BZAM) (OTC: BZAMF), a leading Canadian cannabis producer, will release its Q2 2023 consolidated financial results on Thursday, August 24, 2023, before market open.

About BZAM Ltd.

BZAM Ltd. (CSE: BZAM) (USOTC: BZAMF) is a leading Canadian cannabis producer with a focus on branded consumer goods, innovation, quality, consistency, integrity and transparency. The BZAM family includes core brands BZAM, TGOD, ness, Highly Dutch Organic, TABLE TOP, and partner brands Dunn Cannabis, FRESH and Wyld. BZAM operates facilities in BC, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, as well as retail stores in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Regina, Saskatchewan.

BZAM's Shares and certain warrants issued under the indentures dated June 12, 2020, October 23, 2020 and December 10, 2020 currently trade on the CSE under the symbol "BZAM", "BZAM.WR", "BZAM.WA", and "BZAM.WB" respectively. BZAM's Shares trade in the U.S. on the OTCQX under the symbol "BZAMF". For more information on BZAM Ltd., please visit www.bzam.com .

Neither the CSE nor the CSE's Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of CSE) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE BZAM LTD.
SHANGHAI, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Cango Inc. (NYSE: CANG) ("Cango" or the "Company"), a leading automotive transaction service platform in China, today announced that it plans to release its second quarter 2023 financial results after the market closes on Wednesday, August 23, 2023. The earnings release will be available on the Company's investor relations website at http://ir.cangoonline.com/.

Cango's management will hold a conference call on Wednesday, August 23, 2023 at 9:00 P.M. Eastern Time or Thursday, August 24, 2023 at 9:00 A.M. Beijing Time to discuss the financial results. Listeners may access the call by dialing the following numbers:

International: +1-412-902-4272 United States Toll Free: +1-888-346-8982 Mainland China Toll Free: 4001-201-203 Hong Kong, China Toll Free: 800-905-945 Conference ID: Cango Inc.

The replay will be accessible through August 30, 2023, by dialing the following numbers:

International: +1-412-317-0088 United States Toll Free: +1-877-344-7529 Access Code: 5299487

A live and archived webcast of the conference call will also be available at the Company's investor relations website at http://ir.cangoonline.com/.

About Cango Inc.

Cango Inc. (NYSE: CANG) is a leading automotive transaction service platform in China, connecting car buyers, dealers, financial institutions, and other industry participants. Founded in 2010 by a group of pioneers in China's automotive finance industry, the Company is headquartered in Shanghai and has a nationwide network. Leveraging its competitive advantages in technological innovation and big data, Cango has established an automotive supply chain ecosystem, and developed a matrix of products centering on customer needs for auto transactions, auto financing and after-market services. By working with platform participants, Cango endeavors to make car purchases simple and enjoyable, and make itself customers' car purchase service platform of choice. For more information, please visit: www.cangoonline.com.

Investor Relations Contact

Yihe Liu

Cango Inc.

Tel: +86 21 3183 5088 ext.5581

Email: ir@cangoonline.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Cango_Group

Helen Wu

Piacente Financial Communications

Tel: +86 10 6508 0677

Email: ir@cangoonline.com

SOURCE Cango Inc.
The Embassy of our country in Tel Aviv organized online negotiations between representatives of the Ministry of Energy of Uzbekistan and Deputy Director Generals of the Israeli Electricity Company (IEC) Yitzhak Balmas and Tamar Fekler, Azernews reports, Kun.uz.

IEC was founded in 1923 (99% owned by the Israeli government). Currently, IEC produces 75% of Israels electricity.

During the meetings, the issues of establishing interaction between the structures responsible for the production of electricity and its delivery to the consumer, attracting the advanced Israeli experience of Israel to Uzbekistan, and expanding the range of exports to this country were discussed. The Israeli side was provided with detailed information on the reforms and projects being implemented in the energy sector of Uzbekistan, as well as a presentation of the countrys electrical industry.

A number of agreements were reached at the meeting. Among other things, special attention was paid to the measures taken in our republic to participate in relevant tenders in order to initiate a dialogue between the ministries of energy of Uzbekistan and Israel and online communication of specialists in this field, as well as to export electrical products from Uzbekistan to the Israeli market.
The words were strikingly prescient: Because of climate change, lush and verdant Maui was facing wildfires of increased frequency, intensity and destructive force.

They appeared in a 2020 lawsuit filed by Maui County seeking damages from Exxon, Chevron, and other giant oil and gas companies, accusing them of a coordinated, multifront effort to conceal and deny their own knowledge that the burning of fossil fuels would heat the planet to dangerous extremes.

Now, after wildfires driven by conditions linked to climate change have devastated the Hawaiian island, the lawsuit carries renewed heft.

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The Maui fires are clear and concrete evidence of something that otherwise might seem and feel abstract that could greatly strengthen Mauis case, said Naomi Oreskes, a Harvard professor of the history of science who has written about climate change disinformation.

But, she cautioned, for decades, the fossil fuel industry has worked to undermine scientific understanding of climate change and its damaging effects. One way they have done this, repeatedly, is by questioning the link between climate change, in general, and specific damaging consequences.

Ryan Meyers, senior vice president and general counsel at the American Petroleum Institute, an oil industry lobby group, called the Maui wildfires a tragedy but stressed that their immediate cause was still under investigation.

He called the litigation brought by Maui part of a coordinated campaign to wage meritless lawsuits against our industry and nothing more than a distraction from important issues and an enormous waste of taxpayer resources.

Maui is among more than two dozen states and municipalities, including Honolulu, which is about 100 miles from Maui, that are suing fossil fuel companies for climate damages.

This week, a group of youths in Montana won a landmark lawsuit after a judge ruled that the states failure to consider climate change when approving fossil fuel projects was unconstitutional.

Story continues

And although lawsuits like the one filed by Maui have been delayed by procedural issues, the fires could be an important part of the countys claim for damages should the case go to trial, legal experts said. Mauis arguments are also likely to resonate with a local jury.

Here in Hawaii, folks are in disaster recovery mode, and the longer arc of something like a lawsuit necessarily has to take a back seat, said Richard Wallsgrove, law professor and adviser to the Environmental Law Program at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. But its also clear that whats at stake in these cases, and all the climate litigation cases that are brewing in Hawaii and elsewhere, is seen right there in the Maui wildfires.

Scientists are increasingly able to attribute specific disasters, such as extreme weather or wildfires, to global warming, and even tie events to fossil fuel producers. And although that attribution can take time, scientists have pointed to Hawaiis declining average rainfall as well as drought, hurricane winds and other conditions linked to climate change as factors that fueled the Maui fire.

At the same time, academic and congressional researchers, environmental groups, journalists and lawyers have chronicled how oil and gas companies, despite knowing for decades that burning fossil fuels would dangerously heat the planet, have worked to downplay or deny that knowledge.

The fossil fuel industry has tried to move the Maui case and other climate cases to federal court, where it hoped for better outcomes. But the U.S. Supreme Court decided last year that they should remain in state courts.

The industry has also argued that the plaintiffs claims relate to a global issue and amount to a demand for stricter regulation of fossil fuel emissions, both of which lie beyond any courts purview. Climate policy is for Congress to debate and decide, not the court system, said Meyers of the oil industry group.

At a state Supreme Court hearing Thursday in the case brought by Honolulu, oil companies repeated many of those arguments and urged the judges to dismiss the claims.

The session opened with a moment of silence for those who died in the Maui fire.

This case presents important questions, said Theodore Boutros, Jr., an attorney representing the oil companies, regarding whether plaintiffs can invoke state law to bring tort claims to address injuries they allege are caused by global greenhouse gas emissions.

We respectfully submit that the answer is no, he said. In fact, the plaintiffs were seeking to impose damages based on the actions of millions and billions of people around the world, he added.

Victor M. Sher, representing Maui, pushed back against the notion that multinational corporations were exempt from local laws.

Under U.S. law, which places primary authority on states to protect its citizens, both out-of-state and even international actors that cause harm within individual states can be held accountable under that states tort law, he said.

Karen Sokol, a professor at the Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, said the oil companies were trying to frame these cases as frivolous suits that are seeking to address climate change using Hawaii state law.

Thats part of the industry strategy, she said. Theyre telling the courts: You cant handle this. Its too big for you. 

In its 2020 complaint, Maui said oil companies sought to discredit the growing body of publicly available scientific evidence, and persistently create doubt in the minds of the public. The companies have promoted and profited from a massive increase in the production and use of coal, oil and natural gas, all driving global warming, it said.

In Exxons case, the county pointed to the substantial amounts the company spent on radio, television and outdoor advertisements in Hawaii over the past 25 years to market its oil and gas products.

These advertisements contained no warning of the climate risks of burning fossil fuels, Maui charges. These advertisements also contained false or misleading statements obfuscating the connection between Exxons fossil fuel products and climate change, and misrepresented Exxon and its products as environmentally friendly, the complaint said.

Exxon declined to comment.

In its complaint, Maui County said it has suffered, and will continue to suffer, severe harms and losses, including direct impacts on public health, decreased tax revenue from tourism and increased costs of adapting to a warmer climate.

Wildfires are becoming more frequent, intense and destructive in the county, the complaint said. The countys fire season now runs year-round, rather than only a few months of the year.

Even as local governments in Hawaii seek damages from oil and gas companies, the state of Hawaii is being held to account over its climate policy.

A group of youths sued the island states Department of Transportation last year, accusing it of shirking its duty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and of violating their constitutional rights to a clean environment.

By promoting and funding highway projects that lead to more traffic, fuel use and planet-warming emissions, the department has hurt the ability of young people to live healthful lives in Hawaii now and into the future, they said.

Maui officials had no immediate comment. The Hawaii Department of Transportation said it did not comment on active litigation.

c.2023 The New York Times Company
U.S. Space Force to leverage Capella Space's advanced SAR technology to enhance warfighter capabilities

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Capella Federal, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Capella Space, has announced an award for the Proliferated Low Earth Orbit Satellite-Based Services (PLEO) contract through U.S. Space Systems Command (SSC). With this award, Capella will be able to partner more quickly with SSC and the U.S. Space Force to broaden access to global 24/7, all-weather imagery for key missions.

This award makes Capella one of the first commercial earth observation companies to work with a new government commercial satellite services procurement model intended to leverage advanced, commercial technologies to boost U.S. resilience in space. The period of performance spans five years from July 2023 to July 2028, with an additional five-year option.

Capella Federal Awarded Contract for Proliferated Low Earth Orbit Satellite-Based Services by U.S. Space Systems Command Tweet this

"As the first American company to own and operate a commercial SAR constellation, we are excited to expand our collaboration with the U.S. government," said Payam Banazadeh, CEO and founder of Capella Space. "Through this award, we will be able to provide more timely, high-resolution SAR data to support U.S. Space Force missions through our rapidly growing constellation."

The contract was awarded by the U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) through the Commercial Satellite Communications Office (CSCO), a central marketplace for SATCOM services operated by Space Systems Command (SSC), a field command of the U.S. Space Force.

About Capella Federal

Capella Federal is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Capella Space that supports U.S. government and defense agency customers by providing expanded access to Capella's Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery with increased security and continued on-demand reliability. Capella Federal tailors the delivery of SAR imagery specifically to meet the heightened security and facility clearance needs of its U.S. government, defense, and intelligence customers at scale. With Capella's technology, government agencies can gather data and images of Earth in any weather, any time of day or night. This increased specialized access allows them to continue to have eyes on the ground, informing mission-critical decisions around national security and enabling greater global transparency.

About Capella Space

Capella Space is an American space tech company with data and satellite solutions for government and commercial use. A pioneer in the Earth observation industry, Capella is the first U.S. company with a constellation of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites, delivering the highest quality and resolution SAR imagery available today. Capella provides easy access to frequent and timely information affecting dozens of industries worldwide, including defense and intelligence, supply chain, insurance, maritime and others. Its market-leading SAR satellites are matched with unparalleled data infrastructure to quickly deliver reliable global insights to sharpen our understanding of the changing world  improving decisions about commerce, conservation, and security on Earth. Headquartered in San Francisco, California with additional locations in Denver, Colorado and Washington, D.C., Capella's satellites are operated, designed, and manufactured in the USA. Learn more at www.capellaspace.com.

SOURCE Capella Space
BEIJING, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Cheetah Mobile Inc. (NYSE: CMCM) ("Cheetah Mobile" or the "Company"), a leading internet company, today announced its unaudited consolidated financial results for the first half 2023 ended June 30, 2023.

Management Commentary

Mr. Sheng Fu, Cheetah Mobile's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "In the first half of 2023, Cheetah Mobile's total revenue was RMB337.4 million (USD46.5 million), aligning with our guidance. Despite operating challenges, we maintain strong confidence in the growth potential of our membership and subscription business. Throughout this period, we launched several innovative AI-powered products that have yielded favorable outcomes. Moving forward, we remain committed to optimizing our revenue structure by strategically streamlining unprofitable operations. At the same time, we anticipate ramping up investments in AI technology and products to empower our valued customers and enable them to thrive in the new era of AI. We are steadfastly dedicated to navigating the current challenging landscape while capitalizing on the opportunities that lie ahead."

Mr. Thomas Ren, Cheetah Mobile's Chief Financial Officer, commented, "In the first half of 2023, we continued prudent cost management practices that resulted in a reduction of our non-GAAP operating loss. Furthermore, as of June 30, 2023, we maintained a robust cash position of RMB2,071.1 million. This strong liquidity position holds immense strategic importance as it provides us with the necessary capacity to make investments that support our long-term growth and sustainable development objectives. Through diligent cost management and the preservation of a solid cash foundation, we are well-positioned to seize opportunities and allocate resources effectively, ensuring a prosperous future for our company."

First Half 2023 Consolidated Financial Results

REVENUES

Total revenues were RMB337.4 million (US$46.5 million) in the first half of 2023, representing a decrease of 5.5% year over year.

Revenues from the Company's internet business decreased by 14.5% year over year to RMB235.6 million (US$32.5 million) in the first half of 2023. The year-over-year decrease was due to the strategic downsizing of our advertising business, coupled with external market headwinds.

Revenues from the AI and others were RMB101.7 million (US$14.0 million) in the first half of 2023, representing a 24.8% year-over-year increase. The year-over-year increase was primarily attributable to the growth of our advertising agency services as well as our global cloud service business.

COST OF REVENUES AND GROSS PROFIT

Cost of revenues decreased by 8.0% year over year to RMB113.3 million (US$15.6 million) in the first half of 2023. The year-over-year decrease was mainly attributable to a decline in traffic acquisition costs and channel costs associated with our advertising business. Non-GAAP cost of revenues decreased by 7.9% year over year to RMB113.1 million (US$15.6 million) in the first half of 2023.

Gross profit decreased by 4.2% year over year to RMB224.0 million (US$30.9 million) in the first half of 2023. Non-GAAP gross profit decreased by 4.2% year over year to RMB224.3 million (US$30.9 million) in the first half of 2023.

Gross margin was 66.4% in the first half of 2023, compared to 65.5% in the first half of 2022. Non-GAAP gross margin was 66.5% in the first half of 2023, compared to 65.6% in the first half of 2022.

OPERATING INCOME/LOSS AND EXPENSES

Total operating expenses decreased by 7.8% year over year to RMB331.9 million (US$45.8 million) in the first half of 2023. Total non-GAAP operating expenses decreased by 11.9% year over year to RMB314.0 million (US$43.3 million) in the first half of 2023.

Research and development expenses decreased by 2.3% year over year to RMB92.9 million ( US$12.8 million ) in the first half of 2023. Non-GAAP research and development expenses decreased by 2.9% year over year to RMB92.0 million ( US$12.7 million ) in the first half of 2023. The year-over-year decrease was primarily due to our continuous effort to improve operating efficiency.

decreased by 2.3% year over year to ( ) in the first half of 2023. decreased by 2.9% year over year to ( ) in the first half of 2023. The year-over-year decrease was primarily due to our continuous effort to improve operating efficiency. Selling and marketing expenses decreased by 23.2% year over year to RMB130.8 million ( US$18.0 million ) in the first half of 2023. Non-GAAP selling and marketing expenses decreased by 23.0% year over year RMB130.4 million ( US$18.0 million ) in the first half of 2023. This year-over-year decrease was the result of strategic reduction in promotional activities.

decreased by 23.2% year over year to ( ) in the first half of 2023. decreased by 23.0% year over year ( ) in the first half of 2023. This year-over-year decrease was the result of strategic reduction in promotional activities. General and administrative expenses increased by 11.4% year over year to RMB110.5 million ( US$15.2 million ) in the first half of 2023. The year-over-year increase was attributable to inclusion of share-based compensation expenses arising from our newly implemented 2023 share incentive plan. Non-GAAP general and administrative expenses decreased by 3.3% year over year to RMB93.8 million ( US$12.9 million ) in the first half of 2023. The year-over-year decrease was primarily due to a reduction of certain professional fee.

Operating loss was RMB107.9 million (US$14.9 million) in the first half of 2023, compared to RMB126.1 million in the same period of the last year. Non-GAAP operating loss was RMB89.8 million (US$12.4 million) in the first half of 2023, compared to RMB122.2 million in the same period of the last year.

Operating profit for the internet business was RMB10.1 million in the first half of 2023, compared to an operating loss of RMB18.1 million in the same period last year.

was in the first half of 2023, compared to an operating loss of in the same period last year. Operating loss for AI and others was RMB99.9 million in the first half of 2023, compare with an operating loss of RMB104.0 million in the same period last year.

Share-based compensation expenses were RMB18.1 million (US$2.5 million) in the first half of 2023, compared to RMB3.9 million in the same period of the last year. The year-over-year increase was attributable to our newly implemented 2023 share incentive plan.

OTHER EXPENSE, NET

Other expense, net was RMB154.2 million (US$21.3 million) in the first half of 2023, which was primarily from the fair value change of some investments.

NET INCOME/(LOSS) ATTRIBUTABLE TO CHEETAH MOBILE SHAREHOLDERS

Net loss attributable to Cheetah Mobile shareholders was RMB277.4 million (US$38.3 million) in the first half of 2023, compared to a net loss attributable to Cheetah Mobile shareholders of RMB72.6 million in the same period of the last year.

Non-GAAP net loss attributable to Cheetah Mobile shareholders was RMB259.3 million (US$35.8 million) in the first half of 2023, compared to a non-GAAP net loss attributable to Cheetah Mobile shareholders of RMB68.6 million in the same period of the last year.

NET INCOME/(LOSS) PER ADS

Diluted loss per ADS was RMB9.67 (US$1.33) in the first half of 2023, compared to diluted loss per ADS of RMB2.59 in the same period of the last year. Non-GAAP diluted loss per ADS was RMB9.04 (US$1.25) in the first half of 2023, compared to Non-GAAP diluted loss per ADS of RMB2.45 in the same period of the last year.

BALANCE SHEET

As of June 30, 2023, the Company had cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments of RMB2,071.1 million (US$285.6 million).

SHARES ISSUED AND OUTSTANDING

As of June 30, 2023, the Company had a total of 1,497,535,861 Class A and Class B ordinary shares issued and outstanding.

Business Outlook

For the second half of 2023, the Company expects its total revenues to be between RMB310 million (US$42.8 million) and RMB360 million (US$49.6 million). This amount reflects the Company's current and preliminary expectations.

Exchange Rate

This press release contains translations of certain Renminbi amounts into U.S. dollars at specified rates solely for the convenience of readers. Unless otherwise noted, all translations from Renminbi to U.S. dollars in this press release were made at a rate of RMB7.2513 to US$1.00, the exchange rate in effect as of June 30, 2023 as set forth in the H.10 statistical release of the Federal Reserve Board. Such translations should not be construed as representations that RMB amounts could be converted into U.S. dollars at that rate or any other rate, or to be the amounts that would have been reported under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("U.S. GAAP").

About Cheetah Mobile Inc.

Cheetah Mobile is a China-based IT company. It has attracted hundreds of millions of users through an array of internet products and services on PCs and mobile devices. The Company provides advertising services to advertisers worldwide, value-added services including the sale of premium membership and in-app virtual items to its users as well as multi-cloud management platform to companies globally. Cheetah Mobile is also committed to leveraging its cutting-edge artificial intelligence technologies to power its products and make the world smarter. It has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange since May 2014.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements, including management quotes and business outlook, constitute forward-looking statements under the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar statements. Such statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, including but are not limited to the following: Cheetah Mobile's growth strategies; Cheetah Mobile's ability to retain and increase its user base and expand its product and service offerings; Cheetah Mobile's ability to monetize its platform; Cheetah Mobile's future business development, financial condition and results of operations; competition with companies in a number of industries including internet companies that provide online marketing services and internet value-added services; expected changes in Cheetah Mobile's revenues and certain cost or expense items; and general economic and business condition globally and in China. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in Cheetah Mobile's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Cheetah Mobile does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable law.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This release contains the following non-GAAP financial measures:

Non-GAAP cost of revenues excludes share-based compensation expenses

Non-GAAP gross profit excludes share-based compensation expenses

Non-GAAP gross margin excludes share-based compensation expense

Total non-GAAP operating expenses exclude share-based compensation expenses

Non-GAAP research and development expenses exclude share-based compensation expenses

Non-GAAP selling and marketing expenses exclude share-based compensation expenses

Non-GAAP general and administrative expenses exclude share-based compensation expenses

Non-GAAP operating profit/loss excludes share-based compensation expenses

Non-GAAP net income/loss attributable to Cheetah Mobile shareholders excludes share-based compensation expenses

Non-GAAP diluted earnings/losses per ADS excludes share-based compensation expenses

Non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA represents net income/loss attributable to Cheetah Mobile shareholders excluding share-based compensation, interest income, depreciation and amortization, net income attributable to noncontrolling interests, other income, net and income tax expenses

The Company reviews these non-GAAP financial measures together with GAAP financial measures to obtain a better understanding of its operating performance. It uses the non-GAAP financial measures for planning, forecasting and measuring results against the forecast. The Company believes that non-GAAP financial measures are useful supplemental information for investors and analysts to assess its operating performance without the effect of share-based compensation expenses, which have been and will continue to be significant recurring expenses in its business. However, the use of non-GAAP financial measures has material limitations as an analytical tool. One of the limitations of using non-GAAP financial measures is that they do not include all items that impact the Company's net income for the period. In addition, because non-GAAP financial measures are not measured in the same manner by all companies, they may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures used by other companies. In light of the foregoing limitations, you should not consider non-GAAP financial measure in isolation from or as an alternative to the financial measure prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. For more information on these non-GAAP financial measures, please see the tables captioned "Cheetah Mobile Inc. Reconciliation of GAAP and Non-GAAP Results".

Investor Relations Contact

Cheetah Mobile Inc.

Tel: +86 10 6292 7779

Email: [email protected]

CHEETAH MOBILE INC. Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited, amounts in thousands of Renminbi ("RMB") and US dollars ("US$"))



As of



December 31, 2022



June 30, 2023



RMB



RMB



USD

ASSETS















Current assets:















Cash and cash equivalents

1,515,799





1,956,275





269,783

Restricted cash

696





723





100

Short-term investments

156,182





114,150





15,742

Accounts receivable, net

283,774





321,990





44,404

Prepayments and other current assets, net

968,145





1,127,692





155,516

Due from related parties, net

199,099





214,027





29,516

Total current assets

3,123,695





3,734,857





515,061



















Non-current assets:















Property and equipment, net

58,727





45,817





6,318

Operating lease right-of-use assets

39,579





32,283





4,452

Intangible assets, net

8,430





7,396





1,020

Investment in equity investees

238,591





234,643





32,359

Other long term investments

1,553,740





1,351,555





186,388

Due from related parties, net

3,840





-





-

Deferred tax assets

19,337





20,235





2,791

Other non-current assets

93,480





67,419





9,296

Total non-current assets

2,015,724





1,759,348





242,624



















Total assets

5,139,419





5,494,205





757,685



















LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY















Current liabilities:















Accounts payable

132,994





130,184





17,953

Accrued expenses and other current liabilities

1,586,769





2,126,135





293,207

Due to related parties

23,629





31,253





4,310

Income tax payable

35,135





36,266





5,001

Total current liabilities

1,778,527





2,323,838





320,471



















Non-current liabilities:















Deferred tax liabilities

55,770





57,824





7,974

Other non-current liabilities

200,336





200,667





27,673

Total non-current liabilities

256,106





258,491





35,647



















Total liabilities

2,034,633





2,582,329





356,118



















Shareholders' equity:















Ordinary shares

236





244





34

Additional paid-in capital

2,688,571





2,704,592





372,980

Accumulated deficit

(9,424)





(287,190)





(39,605)

Accumulated other comprehensive income

353,948





419,327





57,828

Total Cheetah Mobile shareholders' equity

3,033,331





2,836,973





391,237

Noncontrolling interests

71,455





74,903





10,330



















Total equity

3,104,786





2,911,876





401,567



















Total liabilities and equity

5,139,419





5,494,205





757,685



CHEETAH MOBILE INC. Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss) (Unaudited, amounts in thousands of Renminbi ("RMB") and US dollars ("US$"), except for number of shares and per share(or ADS) data)





For The Six Months Ended





June 30, 2022



June 30, 2023





RMB



RMB



USD

Revenues



357,023





337,385





46,528

Internet business



275,468





235,645





32,497

AI and others



81,555





101,740





14,031

Cost of revenues (a)



(123,221)





(113,349)





(15,632)

Gross profit



233,802





224,036





30,896





















Operating income and expenses:

















Research and development (a)



(95,037)





(92,854)





(12,805)

Selling and marketing (a)



(170,339)





(130,827)





(18,042)

General and administrative (a)



(99,188)





(110,459)





(15,233)

Other operating income



4,682





2,215





305

Total operating income and expenses



(359,882)





(331,925)





(45,775)





















Operating loss



(126,080)





(107,889)





(14,879)

Other income/(expenses):

















Interest income, net



14,163





27,238





3,756

Foreign exchange losses



(55,039)





(34,221)





(4,719)

Other income/(expense), net



91,158





(154,152)





(21,259)





















Loss before taxes



(75,798)





(269,024)





(37,101)

Income tax expenses



(1,129)





(3,761)





(519)

Net loss



(76,927)





(272,785)





(37,620)

Less: net (loss)/income attributable to noncontrolling interests



(4,355)





4,608





635

Net loss attributable to Cheetah Mobile shareholders



(72,572)





(277,393)





(38,255)





















Net loss per share

















Basic



(0.0504)





(0.1925)





(0.0265)

Diluted



(0.0517)





(0.1933)





(0.0267)





















Net loss per ADS

















Basic



(2.5207)





(9.6239)





(1.3272)

Diluted



(2.5865)





(9.6665)





(1.3331)





















Weighted average number of shares outstanding

















Basic



1,439,543,148





1,452,066,835





1,452,066,835

Diluted



1,439,543,148





1,452,066,835





1,452,066,835

Weighted average number of ADSs outstanding

















Basic



28,790,863





29,041,337





29,041,337

Diluted



28,790,863





29,041,337





29,041,337





















Other comprehensive income/(loss), net of tax of nil

















Foreign currency translation adjustments



151,644





108,142





14,913

Unrealized losses on available-for-sale securities, net



-





(43,494)





(5,998)

Total other comprehensive income



151,644





64,648





8,915

Total comprehensive income/(loss)



74,717





(208,137)





(28,705)

Less: Total comprehensive (loss)/income attributable to noncontrolling interests



(7,709)





3,877





535

Total comprehensive income/(loss) attributable to Cheetah Mobile shareholders



82,426





(212,014)





(29,240)







For The Six Months Ended





June 30, 2022



June 30, 2023

(a) Share-based compensation expenses

RMB



RMB



USD

Cost of revenues



403





226





31

Research and development



321





870





120

Selling and marketing



1,039





391





54

General and administrative



2,165





16,643





2,295

Total



3,928





18,130





2,500



CHEETAH MOBILE INC. Reconciliation of GAAP and Non-GAAP Results (Unaudited, amounts in thousands of Renminbi ("RMB") and US dollars ("US$"), except for per share data)



For The Six Months Ended June 30, 2023



GAAP



Share-based



Non-GAAP



Result



Compensation



Result



RMB



RMB



RMB



USD

Revenues

337,385





-





337,385





46,528

Cost of revenues

(113,349)





226





(113,123)





(15,601)

Gross profit

224,036





226





224,262





30,927

























Research and development

(92,854)





870





(91,984)





(12,685)

Selling and marketing

(130,827)





391





(130,436)





(17,988)

General and administrative

(110,459)





16,643





(93,816)





(12,938)

Other operating income

2,215





-





2,215





305

Total operating income and expenses

(331,925)





17,904





(314,021)





(43,306)

























Operating loss

(107,889)





18,130





(89,759)





(12,379)

Net loss attributable to Cheetah Mobile shareholders

(277,393)





18,130





(259,263)





(35,755)

























Diluted loss per ordinary share (RMB)

(0.1933)





0.0125





(0.1808)







Diluted loss per ADS (RMB)

(9.6665)





0.6243





(9.0422)







Diluted loss per ADS (USD)

(1.3331)





0.0861





(1.2470)











For The Six Months Ended June 30, 2022





GAAP



Share-based



Non-GAAP





Result



Compensation



Result





RMB



RMB



RMB



Revenues

357,023





-





357,023



Cost of revenues

(123,221)





403





(122,818)



Gross profit

233,802





403





234,205























Research and development

(95,037)





321





(94,716)



Selling and marketing

(170,339)





1,039





(169,300)



General and administrative

(99,188)





2,165





(97,023)



Other operating income

4,682





-





4,682



Total operating income and expenses

(359,882)





3,525





(356,357)























Operating loss

(126,080)





3,928





(122,152)



Net loss attributable to Cheetah Mobile shareholders

(72,572)





3,928





(68,644)























Diluted loss per ordinary share (RMB)

(0.0517)





0.0027





(0.0490)



Diluted loss per ADS (RMB)

(2.5865)





0.1364





(2.4501)





CHEETAH MOBILE INC. Information about Segment (Unaudited, amounts in thousands of Renminbi ("RMB") and US dollars ("US$"), except for percentage)





For The Six Months Ended June 30, 2023





Internet Business



AI and others



Unallocated*



Consolidated





RMB



RMB



RMB



RMB



USD

Revenue



235,645





101,740





-





337,385





46,528

Operating profit/(loss)



10,125





(99,884)





(18,130)





(107,889)





(14,879)

Operating margin



4.3 %



(98.2) %



-





(32.0) %



(32.0) %





For The Six Months Ended June 30, 2022







Internet Business



AI and others



Unallocated*



Consolidated







RMB



RMB



RMB



RMB



Revenue



275,468





81,555





-





357,023



Operating loss



(18,107)





(104,045)





(3,928)





(126,080)



Operating margin



(6.6) %



(127.6) %



-





(35.3) %



* Unallocated expenses refer to SBC expenses that are not allocated to individual segments.

CHEETAH MOBILE INC. Reconciliation from Net Income Attributable to Cheetah Mobile Shareholders to Adjusted EBITDA (Non-GAAP) (Unaudited, amounts in thousands of Renminbi ("RMB") and US dollars ("US$"))





For The Six Months Ended





June 30, 2022



June 30, 2023





RMB



RMB



USD

Net loss attributable to Cheetah Mobile shareholders



(72,572)





(277,393)





(38,255)

Add:

















Income tax expenses



1,129





3,761





519

Interest income, net



(14,163)





(27,238)





(3,756)

Depreciation and amortization



27,892





17,106





2,359

Net (loss)/income attributable to noncontrolling interests



(4,355)





4,608





635

Other (income)/expense, net



(36,119)





188,373





25,978

Share-based compensation



3,928





18,130





2,500

Adjusted EBITDA



(94,260)





(72,653)





(10,020)



SOURCE Cheetah Mobile
iDE taking part in multiple sessions at the leading international conference on water issues

DENVER, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Market-based programs designed to improve access to water, safely managed sanitation, and hygiene products should be underpinned by environmental sustainability, says Lizz Welch, CEO of international nonprofit iDE .

Speaking alongside partner organizations WRP , Sanergy , Max TapWater and Kohler , iDE will this week tell participants at World Water Week that market-based programs succeed when products and services offered to users are desirable, technically feasible, and economically and environmentally viable.

"In light of the climate crisis, it is important we include the planet as a key stakeholder when we design solutions to enduring challenges within the water sector," says Welch.

Welch said the market offered opportunities to create programs, which, for example, marketed latrines or produced water filtration systems , that powered people to thrive on their own terms, building livelihoods and lifting communities out of poverty.

"But because climate resilient products can be more expensive, the challenge is ensuring equity for low-income communities, which contribute the least to climate change but are often impacted by severe weather more frequently."

iDE is committed to being part of the solution to climate change, this year reaching carbon neutrality, purchasing offsets, known as carbon credits, for our emissions, which come from the use of electricity, and emissions made by iDE directly, from operating heaters, air conditioners, and vehicles, for example.

As well as the sustainable design session, to be co-hosted by iDE Global WASH senior manager, Elise Mann, on Monday, August 21, iDE is taking part in a number of other sessions at the conference, which is being held in Stockholm, Sweden, from August 20 to 24. These include:

August 20 : Improving Access to Sanitation through Market-based Solutions in Rural Nepal: Rabindra Karki from iDE Nepal will discuss recent insights uncovered in research about sanitation in remote mountain areas in Nepal and make recommendations about using market systems to improve access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).

: Improving Access to Sanitation through Market-based Solutions in Rural Nepal: from iDE will discuss recent insights uncovered in research about sanitation in remote mountain areas in and make recommendations about using market systems to improve access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). August 20 : Driving Rural Water Innovation, Concept to Scale-up: Global WASH senior manager Elise Mann will take part in this session convening innovators seeking to accelerate rural water development.

: Driving Rural Water Innovation, Concept to Scale-up: Global WASH senior manager will take part in this session convening innovators seeking to accelerate rural water development. August 21 : Innovation for Water and Climate: Global WASH director Sarah Custer-Lalanne joins this session to talk about equity in the intersection between WASH and climate.

: Innovation for Water and Climate: Global WASH director joins this session to talk about equity in the intersection between WASH and climate. August 21 : Diverse Voices and Representations for Stronger Climate Resilient WASH Systems: iDE Cambodia WASH program manager Rana Abdel Sattar will discuss strengthening women's leadership to increase access to WASH.

This year, organizers say World Water Week is focused on innovation at a time of unprecedented challenges. Put on by Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), the conference is the leading international annual gathering on global water issues, held every year since 1991.

SIWI says the conference is a non-profit event, co-created with leading organizations. World Water Week attracts a diverse mix of participants from many professional backgrounds, and every corner of the world.

"Together we develop solutions to the world's greatest water-related challenges, with topics ranging from food security and health to agriculture, technology, biodiversity, and the climate crisis," says SIWI.

About iDE:

iDE (International Development Enterprises) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending poverty. Based in Denver, Colorado, our work within agriculture, sanitation, climate change resilience, and gender equality, stands out because we don't simply provide handouts. Instead, iDE believes in powering small-scale entrepreneurs and building robust market ecosystems that lay the groundwork for low income and marginalized people to prosper on their own terms. iDE has almost 1,400 global staff, and offices in 10 countries across Africa, Asia and Central America.

PR Contacts:

Simon Crittle

iDE

[email protected]

Kara Prior

myWHY Agency, Inc. for iDE

[email protected]

(210) 846-4486

SOURCE iDE Global
Contemporary Good Design Award 2023 Calls for Entries Worldwide

XIAMEN, China, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Contemporary Good Design Award (CGD) is an international design award organized by Red Dot, initiated by Red Dot and Xiamen Culture Media Group in 2015, aiming to build a bridge between good designs, enterprises and global businesses.

Selecting good designs for contemporary society internationally, professionally and fairly

Contemporary Good Design Award 2023 Calls for Entries Worldwide

With over 60 years of experience and expertise in operating a world-leading design award, together with its access to world-class design resources, Red Dot is in charge of the full judging process, including finding international jury and the judging of entries to ensure the professionalism, fairness and authority of the Contemporary Good Design Award. The Contemporary Good Design Award will help Chinese brands root in the national market and step onto the international stage, providing foreign enterprises a platform to connect the Chinese market, and offering the winners huge market promotion opportunities.

"The Contemporary Good Design Award has been held for nine consecutive years, with the number and overall level of the entries increasing year by year. So far, many excellent products have been received from more than 30 countries and regions around the world, including China, Germany, the United States, the Netherlands and Japan. More than a thousand entries have won distinctions, including entries from some of the world's leading firms such as Audi, BMW, Baidu, GROHE, Dell, Lenovo, Siemens and Philips, as well as Chinese emerging brands driven by design innovation such as ECOVACS, Midea, TCL, iFLYTEK and ANTA.

Covering traditional category and meta category

The Contemporary Good Design Award has 50 basic categories and 1 meta category, including smart products, covering product design, packaging design, and architecture and interior design. The meta category recognizes those products that excel not only in design but also in specific fields.

Comprehensive winners' benefits help win wider markets

In response to the challenges faced by winners in development, the Contemporary Good Design Award comprehensively upgrades the award benefits and provides winners with competitive tailored benefits, including the global Red Dot Design Museum tour, designer salon, product promotion, brand promotion and sales support, with the aim of meeting winners' needs to promote their brands and increase sales, and boosting the upgrade of both consumption and industry more efficiently. Besides, the winners will have their works displayed at the Red Dot Design Museum Xiamen and the official website of the Contemporary Good Design Award. Their works will also be featured in the Yearbook of the Contemporary Good Design Award.

The CGD 2023 latecomer registration has been officially started on August 18. This year, Professor Dr. Peter Zec, Founder and CEO of Red Dot, and representatives of the international jury will come to Xiamen, China in November to meet with participants. We hereby invite the global design power to join in the grand event, inspire creative sparks and highlight the charm of design through the competition platform, and help global designers and enterprises to shine on the global stage.

The organizers of the Contemporary Good Design Award are looking forward to helping you with your application.

Entries can be submitted up until 11:59 PM Beijing Time on September 19, 2023. For more information, please visit https://www.cgdaward.com/

Find us: https://www.instagram.com/reddotdesignmuseum.xiamen/

SOURCE Red Dot Design Museum Xiamen
CHICAGO, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As cyber threats become more frequent and broader coverage and sector-specific policies become more common, the market for cybersecurity insurance is expected to rise in the future. Because of evolving cyberthreats and rising business awareness, advanced risk assessment techniques, regulatory influence, and cybersecurity collaborations may shape the market.

The Cybersecurity Insurance Market is projected to grow from USD 10.3 billion in 2023 to USD 17.6 billion by 2028, at a CAGR of 11.4% during the forecast period, according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets. The rise in cyber threats, such as data breaches, ransomware, and phishing attacks, has driven the demand for cybersecurity insurance as organizations seek financial protection against potential losses.

Browse in-depth TOC on "Cybersecurity Insurance Market"

516 - Tables

43 - Figures

386 - Pages

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Scope of the Report

Report Metrics Details Market size available for years 2018-2028 Base year considered 2022 Forecast period 20232028 Forecast units Value (USD) Million/Billion Segments covered By Offering, Insurance coverage, Insurance type, Compliance Requirements, End user, and Region Region covered North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, and Latin America Companies covered BitSight (US), Prevalent (US), RedSeal (US), SecurityScorecard (US), Cyber Indemnity Solutions (Australia), Cisco (US), UpGuard (US), Microsoft (US), Check Point (US), AttackIQ (US), SentinelOne (US), Broadcom (US), Accenture (Ireland), Cylance (US), Trellix (US), CyberArk (US), CYE (Israel), SecurIT360 (US), and Founder Shield (US). The insurance vendors covered in the cybersecurity insurance market are Allianz (Germany), AIG (US), Aon (UK), Arthur J. Gallagher & Co (US), Travelers Insurance (US), AXA XL (US), AXIS Capital (Bermuda), Beazley (UK), Chubb (Switzerland), CNA Financial (US), Fairfax Financial (Canada), Liberty Mutual (US), Lloyds of London (UK), Lockton (US), Munich Re Group (Germany), and Sompo International (Bermuda). The startup vendors covered in the cybersecurity insurance market are At-Bay (US), Cybernance (US), Coalition (US), Resilience (US), Kovrr (Israel), Sayata Labs (Israel), Zeguro (US), Ivanti (US), SafeBreach (US), and Cronus Cyber Technologies (Israel).

Based on insurance type, the standalone segment holds the largest market and highest CAGR during the forecast period.

The demand for dedicated cybersecurity insurance policies and the need to mitigate the risks associated with "silent cyber" have led to the increasing popularity of standalone cybersecurity insurance policies. These standalone policies are projected to surpass packaged cybersecurity insurance policies regarding market growth. Organizations are increasingly concerned about cyber risks and seek specialized coverage solely for cyber risk protection, driving the demand for standalone cyber policies. Insurance providers such as AIG, Lloyd's, and Allianz are embracing affirmative cyber and witnessing the growth of standalone policies. These policies are designed to address more complex cyber risks compared to packaged cybersecurity insurance. For example, AIG offers its clients a comprehensive cybersecurity insurance package that includes traditional property and casualty policies and a standalone CyberEdge policy. The CyberEdge policy provides policyholders with a broader range of security protection than the packaged endorsement. Key players in the market offering standalone cybersecurity insurance solutions include AXA XL, AIG, Travelers Insurance, Beazley, Zurich, Fairfax, Tokio Marine, Liberty Mutual, and CNA.

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Based on insurance provider end users, healthcare & life sciences is projected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period.

The healthcare industry faces various challenges, including regulatory fluctuations and the ever-evolving landscape of cyberattacks and breaches. Compliance with privacy and data security regulations such as HIPAA and HITECH necessitate the reliance of healthcare organizations on cybersecurity insurance policies to cover penalty fees. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated cyber threats, with healthcare organizations experiencing increased attacks like ransomware and misinformation campaigns. Cybersecurity insurance is a crucial safeguard for healthcare providers, offering financial protection against cybercrimes, ransomware, data breaches, and other cybersecurity incidents.

Based on region, Asia Pacific is projected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period.

Asia Pacific, an emerging economy, is projected to achieve the highest CAGR in the Cybersecurity Insurance Market during the forecast period. Countries in the Asia Pacific region, such as China, Japan, ANZ, and Singapore, are highly concerned about rising security spending due to increasing cyber threats. With its strong government regulations and technological advancements, Asia Pacific presents promising growth opportunities for the Cybersecurity Insurance Market. Insecure interfaces, data breaches, and data losses are top cybersecurity risks in the region, fueled by rapid connectivity and digital transformation. Asia Pacific faces an 80% higher risk of cyberattacks than other regions. Increasing regulatory measures are expected to drive the demand for cybersecurity insurance. Zurich Insurance predicts significant market growth in APAC, with leading players like AIG, Allianz, Chubb, and Zurich operating in the region.

Top Key Companies in Cybersecurity Insurance Market:

The major vendors covered in the cybersecurity insurance market include BitSight (US), Prevalent (US), RedSeal (US), SecurityScorecard (US), Cyber Indemnity Solutions (Australia), Cisco (US), UpGuard (US), Microsoft (US), Check Point (US), AttackIQ (US), SentinelOne (US), Broadcom (US), Accenture (Ireland), Cylance (US), Trellix (US), CyberArk (US), CYE (Israel), SecurIT360 (US), and Founder Shield (US). The insurance vendors covered in the cybersecurity insurance market are Allianz (Germany), AIG (US), Aon (UK), Arthur J. Gallagher & Co (US), Travelers Insurance (US), AXA XL (US), AXIS Capital (Bermuda), Beazley (UK), Chubb (Switzerland), CNA Financial (US), Fairfax Financial (Canada), Liberty Mutual (US), Lloyd's of London (UK), Lockton (US), Munich Re Group (Germany), and Sompo International (Bermuda). The startup vendors covered in the cybersecurity insurance market are At-Bay (US), Cybernance (US), Coalition (US), Resilience (US), Kovrr (Israel), Sayata Labs (Israel), Zeguro (US), Ivanti (US), SafeBreach (US), and Cronus Cyber Technologies (Israel).

Recent Developments:

In May 2022 , Microsoft developed Defender to support security systems of SMEs and reduce cyber risk. The solution provides end-point security, which includes Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR).

, Microsoft developed Defender to support security systems of SMEs and reduce cyber risk. The solution provides end-point security, which includes Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR). In April 2022 , AttackIQ entered into partnership with Vectra, an AI based threat detection and response platform. This integration enabled customers to use AttackIQ's PCAP and Vectra AI Platform to check efficacy.

, AttackIQ entered into partnership with Vectra, an AI based threat detection and response platform. This integration enabled customers to use AttackIQ's PCAP and Vectra AI Platform to check efficacy. In November 2021 , BitSight and Marsh McLennan collaborated to improve cybersecurity performance and efficiency of the organization and help to reduce cyber risk. The Cyber Risk Analytics Center offered by Marsh McLenna leverage the capabilities of BitSight rating, data which help client to monitor their cyber security system performance.

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Cybersecurity Insurance Market Advantages:

Data breaches, ransomware attacks, and company email intrusion are all examples of cybersecurity mishaps that can result in major financial losses. Cybersecurity insurance covers these damages, including data recovery costs, legal fees, regulatory fines, and consumer notification costs. It assists organisations in reducing the financial impact of cyber events.

Businesses can shift some of the possible risks and liabilities connected with cyber threats to the insurance provider by purchasing cybersecurity insurance. This enables organisations to concentrate on their core business rather than continuously worrying about the financial consequences of a cyber assault.

Access to incident response services is included in many cybersecurity insurance policies. These services often entail a team of professionals that may assist the covered organisation in properly dealing with the consequences of a cyber catastrophe. They can help with breach investigations, containment, data recovery, and cleanup, allowing for a more timely and coordinated response.

Cybersecurity events can significantly harm a company's brand, resulting in client distrust and lost commercial possibilities. Cybersecurity insurance may cover public relations and reputation management fees, assisting organisations in rebuilding their reputation following a breach.

Cybersecurity insurance companies frequently provide counsel and support to assist firms in meeting regulatory obligations and industry standards for data protection. Meeting these compliance criteria might be difficult, but insurance companies can aid in putting in place the appropriate security measures.

Cybersecurity insurance can also cover liabilities deriving from third-party claims. For example, if a data breach in one organization's network impacts its clients or partners, the impacted parties may claim compensation. Cyber insurance can assist handle these risks.

Cybersecurity incidents can affect business operations, resulting in lost revenue and downtime. Cyber insurance may cover financial damages incurred as a result of business interruption, allowing the organisation to continue operations as smoothly as feasible.

Report Objectives

To determine and forecast the global Cybersecurity Insurance Market by offering (solutions, and services), insurance coverage, insurance type, compliance requirements, end user, and region from 2023 to 2028, and analyze the various macroeconomic and microeconomic factors that affect the market growth.

To forecast the size of the market segments with respect to five main regions: North America , Europe , Asia Pacific (APAC), Latin America , and the Middle East and Africa (MEA).

, , (APAC), , and the and (MEA). To provide detailed information about the major factors (drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges) influencing the growth of the Cybersecurity Insurance Market.

To analyze each submarket with respect to individual growth trends, prospects, and contributions to the overall Cybersecurity Insurance Market.

To analyze the opportunities in the market for stakeholders by identifying the high-growth segments of the Cybersecurity Insurance Market.

To profile the key market players; provide a comparative analysis on the basis of business overviews, regional presence, product offerings, business strategies, and key financials; and illustrate the competitive landscape of the market.

In the market, track and analyze competitive developments, such as mergers and acquisitions, product developments, partnerships and collaborations, and Research and Development (R&D) activities.

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DUBLIN, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Czech Republic Agriculture Tractor Market - Industry Outlook & Forecast 2023-2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The Czech Republic tractor market is expected to reach 3,835 units by 2028 from 3,326 units in 2022, growing at a CAGR of 2.4%



The Czech Republic tractor market increased by 7.9% in 2022 from 2021. The increase in crop production and tractor sales was due to favorable climate conditions and government support to farmers. The Central Bohemian region witnessed a massive increase in farm mechanization in terms of agricultural and industrial productivity.

The Czech Republic tractor market is highly concentrated, with the top players controlling most of the industry. Domestic and global brands, on the other hand, are equally represented in the industry. The Czech Republic government plans schemes and initiatives to facilitate credit and improve agriculture-related operations, which will contribute to the growth of the overall value chain of the market.

John Deere, Kubota, CNH, and AGCO dominated the Czech Republic tractor market. These brands have adopted several strategies to gain traction in the market. In the Czech Republic, both domestic and international tractor market manufacturers have established dealer networks.

These dealerships offer sales, service, and spare parts, ensuring farmers can access dependable aftersales services and tractor maintenance. The dealer network is important in growing market penetration and providing clients with localized support.

MARKET TRENDS & DRIVERS

The Development of Advanced Tractors



Like, other countries, the Czech Republic is also developing advanced tractors. The country has a strong agricultural sector, and the adoption of innovative agriculture technologies has been focused on research and development.

Several Czech companies have been developing smart tractors and associated technology. These firms frequently collaborate with research organizations, universities, and overseas partners to capitalize on automation, data analytics, and robotics knowledge.



Reducing Workforce Boosting Farm Mechanization



The availability of trained farm labor has declined while labor cost has increased. To solve these issues, farmers increasingly look to mechanization to compensate for labor shortages and lower labor expenses. When compared to manual labor, farm mechanization improves efficiency and production.

Modern machinery can complete tasks faster, more correctly, and consistently. Mechanization allows Czech farmers to complete farming operations more efficiently, improving yield and lowering the time required for various chores. Precision agricultural technology integration has aided farm mechanization in the country.

Precision location, automated guiding systems, and data-driven decision-making are made possible by technologies such as GPS, sensors, and data analytics. These technologies enable farmers to optimize their operations, avoid overlaps, and maximize resource utilization, resulting in higher efficiency and lower labor requirements.



SEGMENTATION INSIGHTS

INSIGHTS BY HORSEPOWER



Based on the engine power output, the Czech Republic tractor market is segmented as less than 50 HP, 50 HP-100 HP, and above 100 HP.

In 2022, the above 100 HP segment recorded a high market share in the Czech Republic tractor industry. The major factor for the steady growth of the medium-power range of tractors is the increased business turnover among hobby and livestock farmers. Above 100 HP tractors are popular among farmers that own large farmlands.

For Large-scale land, farmers in the South Bohemian region prefer the Above 100 HP range of tractors. These tractors will help farmers to increase their efficiency and enable better production returns.

INSIGHTS BY DRIVE TYPE

Ease of driving and flexibility with light loads and in plain fields are major factors that boost the demand for two-wheel-drive tractors in the Czech Republic tractor market.

Industry players redesign their 2WD tractors with more power and features so farmers can upgrade them per their requirements. The features are fuel efficiency and added comfort for operations in confined spaces. Thus, manufacturers customize their products according to the industry and end-user requirements.

REGIONAL ANALYSIS



The Central Bohemian region dominated the Czech Republic tractor market and led in adopting and penetrating farm mechanization practices. The major Czech Republic regions in Central Bohemian are Kolin, Nymburk, Benesov, Beroun, and Kladno. Kolin is a high-potential market for new tractors and advanced agricultural tools in Central Bohemian.

Further, the size of the Central Bohemian and South Bohemian farms necessitates using stronger, more expensive tractors. In addition, farms in these areas have more potential to get EU funding and produce higher revenue. These elements enable farmers in the abovementioned areas to purchase tractors with superior technological specifications, particularly those with greater power.

MARKET DYNAMICS

Market Opportunities & Trends

Development of Advanced Tractors

Increasing Potential for Electric Tractors

Reducing Carbon Emissions in Country

Market Growth Enablers

Assistance to Farmers Through Loans & Subsidies

Use of Alternative Fuel-Based Tractors

Reducing Workforce Boosting Farm Mechanization

Market Restraints

Climate Change Adversely Impacts Agricultural Equipment

Lack of Awareness of Latest Agricultural Equipment Innovations

Competition Landscape

Recent Developments by Top Players

Brand Loyalty

Sales & Exports

Value Chain Analysis

Overview

Raw Material & Component Suppliers

Manufacturers

Dealers/Distributors

Retailers

End-Users

Common Agricultural Policy & Eu Agricultural Expenditure

Technological Advances

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE



Key Company Profiles

John Deere

Kubota

CNH Industrial

AGCO

Other Prominent Vendors

Deutz-Fahr

Yanmar

Iseki

Zetor

JCB

CLAAS

Steyr Traktoren

SALEK

CASE IH

URSUS

New Holland

Fendt

Valtra

SAME

Kioti

Massey Ferguson

Belarus

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Dallas ISD joins Coppell ISD to integrate custom TEKS-aligned educational resources for grades K-12

DALLAS, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum is pleased to announce Dallas Independent School District has entered into Upstander Partnership agreements with the Museum to offer TEKS-aligned civics and citizenship skills curricula for grades K-12, joining Coppell ISD. Building year over year, the program gives school districts lessons and resources to better inform students' academic careers and positively impact their futures beyond the classroom.

"The Museum is thrilled to partner with these forward-thinking school districts to bring our innovative programming to more North Texas students than ever before," said Mary Pat Higgins, Museum president and CEO. "Through this exciting partnership, 73,500 students and teachers in North Texas school districts gain exclusive access to the Museum's incredible educational resources and our remarkable education staff members who will assist teachers in guiding their students' primary and secondary education."

DFW School Districts Enter into "Upstander Partnership" with Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum Tweet this

The Upstander Partnership is a program that allows districts to integrate the Museum's history-informed civics and citizenship education through a consistent and engaging cross-curricular learning plan for grades K-12 that encourages students to become upstanders in their community.

"At the Museum, we highlight upstanders throughout history. An upstander is someone who stands up for their rights and for the rights of others," said Higgins. "We believe every student who participates in this program will be equipped to become an upstander  someone who sees something wrong and works to make it right and who works to combat injustice, inequality, or unfairness."

The Upstander Partnership curriculum is aligned with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)  the state standards for what students should know and be able to do according to academic subject and grade level.

The partnership includes:

Access to the Upstander Education Database, an online learning portal that includes interactive lessons, classroom resources, and teaching strategies

Field trips to the Museum

Virtual or at-school Museum Educator presentations

Professional development for teachers

Strategic planning and coordination with Museum Educators

"As one of the largest school districts in Texas, Dallas ISD understands it has a significant responsibility to instill skills in our students that they can take with them beyond the classroom, and the Museum's Upstander Partnership will help us accomplish that goal," said Dr. Michele Broughton deputy chief of teaching and learning at Dallas ISD. "Integrating this curriculum in our schools will give students the tools to become everyday upstanders in society and embrace a future of achievement, civic responsibility, and professional success."

"Coppell ISD has enjoyed a strong partnership with the museum for two years now, and the resources they provide have integrated seamlessly into our existing curriculum," Coppell ISD Superintendent Dr. Brad Hunt said. "We are delighted that other school districts are now joining, because we know their students, teachers and communities will benefit from making this unique educational resource available in their schools."

The Museum's emphasis on upstander skills is part of an integrated learning program designed to improve academic success, encourage cooperative social behavior, foster a positive school climate, and produce engaged citizens.

The Upstander Partnership offers grade-tailored curricula that cover a student's academic career until graduation. Kindergarten through grade 3 focus on community and diversity in the "Let's Talk Kindness" phase, becoming aware of core skills such as respect, empathy, inclusiveness, responsibility, and empowerment; grades 4-5 are introduced to upstander versus bystander behavior in the "What is an Upstander" phase; grades 6-8 focus on civics and one's personal role in society in the "Don't be a Bystander" phase; and grades 9-12 learn from the past, becoming aware of changemakers in their own lives and community, and implement upstander skills strategies in the "Becoming an Upstander" phase.

"The Upstander Partnership provides a ready-made and personalized database of lessons and resources that help teachers engage their students on important life skills and encourage them to embrace upstander behavior both in and out of the classroom," said Dr. Charlotte Decoster, senior director of education at the Museum.

The Museum is grateful to the Constantin Foundation, the Texas Holocaust, Genocide, and Antisemitism Advisory Commission, and an anonymous foundation for their support of the pilot phase of the program and to Amazon and Toyota for their support of the Dallas ISD participation.

"Amazon is proud to partner with the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum in this important endeavor," said Vickie Yakunin, head of community affairs for Amazon's North Texas region. "Educating the next generation about the dangers of bigotry and antisemitism is critical to the well-being of our society. Through this partnership, kids at every grade level will interact with an impressive array of teaching tools that will mold them into promising leaders of tomorrow."

"At Toyota, we believe community partnerships focused on allyship will have an impact for generations to come," said Tellis Bethel, chief diversity officer and group vice president of social innovation at Toyota. "Through our support of the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum, we look forward to helping bring this curriculum to thousands of students who will learn what it means to be an upstander, supporting our vision of limitless possibilities for all."

Said Mary Pat Higgins: "We have known for years that a visit to the Museum can be life changing. And that's why we're so excited to offer not just one experience a year, but multiple touchpoints via lessons about the importance of upstander behavior, over the course of a child's academic career, K through 12. We hope the students will be with us for 13 years, and I think this will have a dramatic positive effect on the youth in our community."

About the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum

The mission of the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum is to teach the history of the Holocaust and advance human rights to combat prejudice, hatred, and indifference. Founded in 1984 by local Holocaust survivors, the institution now resides in a new building in downtown Dallas where visitors experience a deeper immersion into the history of the Holocaust, human and civil rights, their centrality to our democracy, and their vital importance in preventing events like those of the Holocaust from happening again. The 55,000-square-foot permanent home covers three floors, and the main exhibition includes four wings that teach about the Holocaust, the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights after World War II, historical and contemporary genocides, and America's civil rights journey. Please visit DHHRM.org or call (214) 741-7500 for more information.

About Dallas ISD

The Dallas Independent School District is continually preparing nearly 141,000 students for college or a career. The district offers a competitive mix of innovative programs, choice programs and instructional initiatives that support the increased academic achievement and the social and emotional development of its students. Innovation, tenacity, vision, and equity are key drivers that have shaped Dallas ISD into one of the area's most prominent and forward-looking school districts. To learn more, visit www.dallasisd.org.

About Coppell ISD

Coppell ISD is a premier public school system with a statewide reputation for educational excellence. This high-performing and innovative district serves more than 13,000 learners in the communities of Coppell, Dallas (Cypress Waters), North Irving, Lewisville and Valley Ranch.

SOURCE Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum
BEIJING, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- DHgate, the leading B2B cross-border e-commerce marketplace in China, is delighted to unveil the highly anticipated DHgate 19th Anniversary Sale. With the warm-up period running between August 17th and August 20th, followed by the official campaign between August 21st and August 27th, customers can enjoy remarkable discounts and substantial price reductions across a diverse range of products.

DHgate Celebrates 19 Years with Special Anniversary Sale: Up to 80% Off Smart Products, Apparel, Electronics & More

To celebrate its 19th anniversary, DHgate is offering exclusive discounts of up to 80% off, and different types of coupons. Leveraging advanced customer segmentation and AI recommendations, these discounts will cater to customers' individual preferences and needs.

To elevate the shopping experience even further, DHgate is introducing enhanced newcomer benefits and expedited delivery services, making it an ideal opportunity to update your Fall essentials, including apparel, electronics, cosmetics, and more. Check out the link.

"We are thrilled to mark our 19th anniversary with the launch of the DHgate 19th Anniversary Sale. 19th anniversary is an important milestone to us, we proudly showcase DHgate's robust global supply chain and exceptional services, affirming our commitment to an unmatched shopping experience. With exclusive discounts, special privileges, and exciting promotions, DHgate continues to redefine cross-border e-commerce," says Sarah Ma, Vice President, Platform Operations, DHGATE Group.

Exclusive Promotional Feast  Multi-tier Surprises

To provide customers with maximum value during the DHgate 19th Anniversary Sale, DHgate has established six specialized sections, where customers can access different exclusive promotions, discounts, products, or logistic services, ensuring a tailored shopping experience for their various needs.

During the sale, buyers can access exclusive privileges and benefits via the DHgate app. The countdown warm-up coupon grants early access to the exciting promotion, and shoppers can accumulate a variety of coupons on the Events page to maximize their shopping value.

As part of the celebration, shoppers have the opportunity to claim a bonus package worth up to $66 USD. For B-Class buyers, a bonus package valued at $85 awaits, recommending high-quality and well-priced products to the global buyers' community.

In addition, DHgate has launched a thrilling anniversary game on the main site, offering participants opportunities to secure high-value coupons and even a new iPhone! With the cross-store full reduction system, shoppers can enjoy multi-tier discounts, with coupons adding up to $52 USD across stores, ensuring a cost-effective and rewarding shopping experience.

Invite Friends & Buying with Exclusive Referral Benefits

DHgate remains committed to offering a convenient and budget-friendly shopping environment. As a welcoming gesture, new users registering on DHgate are entitled to an exclusive gift package valued at $27 USD or even more, featuring exclusive benefits such as 7-day VIP service and Fast Refund service on their first order, etc.

First-time buyers can unlock access to a selection of platform products for as low as $1 USD, combining quality shopping with remarkable savings. Moreover, by inviting friends to join DHgate, users can reap the benefits of an additional 10%-off coupon package. The selection of products includes home electronics, fashion accessories, apparel, smart wearables, and more. Check out new user benefits here.

Enhanced Shipping Services for an Exceptional Experience

As part of DHgate's commitment to customer satisfaction, the platform introduces upgraded shipping services, guaranteeing faster and superior delivery experiences. The promotion includes an exclusive "X-Day Delivery" venue and a "Free Shipping in the US" venue, with locally warehoused items delivered within 24 hours and express delivery service providers like DHL and UPS ensuring 7-day delivery. DHgate's warehouse delivery service offers online logistics tracking within 24 hours, averaging 7-15 days for delivery to buyers in Europe and America via DHLink Logistics.

Customers can also benefit from secure payment methods, hassle-free returns, and exceptional customer support.

Highlighted Recommendations

Throughout the campaign, DHgate recommends the following three standout products:

Advanced Smartwatch: A seamless blend of functionality and style, compatible with both Android and iPhone systems, boasting Bluetooth calling, music playback, and GPS positioning for an unmatched smart experience.

Global EU Version of Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 NFC: Featuring the Snapdragon 680 octa-core processor and 50MP quad camera, providing users with the ultimate photography experience. 755100342

Global Edition Realme 9 5G Smartphone: Equipped with a 2K 120Hz 6.6-inch screen, Snapdragon 695 processor, and 50MP primary camera, ensuring unrivaled performance.

For more information, please visit DHgate's website.

About DHgate

Founded in 2004, DHgate has become the leading B2B cross-border e-commerce marketplace in China. Through our global operations and offices, including in the USA and UK, we reach millions of people with trusted products and services. As of December 31, 2022, DHgate served more than 59.6 million registered buyers from 225 countries and regions by connecting them to over 2.54 million sellers in China and other countries, with over 34 million live listings on the platform annually. For more information, please visit dhgate.com and follow @DHgate.com

SOURCE DHGATE Group
PALM SPRINGS, Calif., Aug. 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Palm Springs Air Museum (PSAM) is pleased to announce that Disney and LucasFilms' Artist Steve Anderson is now the Official Artist for the Palm Springs Air Museum. Mr. Anderson, who did all 11 Star Wars films, will create the official 2024 Honoree portraits for the Palm Springs Air Museum's February 10, 2024 Gala. The 2024 theme is "Top Secret -- Heroes of Modern Tech." The annual gala is the Palm Springs Air Museum's largest fundraiser. Vice Chairman Fred Bell announced, "As we are undertaking a major expansion and modernization project with our education programs geared to inspire a new generation of aviators, scientists and engineers, the Palm Springs Air Museum is pleased to welcome Steve Anderson to our team. He has energized so many generations."

Steve takes the helm from aviation artist Stan Stokes as the official artist for the Palm Springs Air Museum. Many of Stan's works are at the Palm Springs Air Museum. Mr. Stokes has moved on to other creative endeavors, and the Palm Springs Air Museum wishes him well.

Steven Anderson's career spans over 38 years. Since 1997 he has served as an official Star Wars artist for Lucasfilm Licensing (all 11 Star Wars films) Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny; and for Disney and their licensees. Anderson has also worked with Random House where he was the cover artist for many New York Times best-selling Star Wars books. He has also collaborated with Marvel, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Warner Brothers and Universal Studios. For more information, https://palmspringsairmuseum.org/steve-anderson-selected-as-official-artist-of-the-palm-springs-air-museum/

The Palm Springs Air Museum contains over 73 vintage airframes from World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the new F-117 Stealth Fighter inside The Jim Houston Pavilion. Aircraft are contained inside 91,000 square feet of open hangars and on the tarmac. Additional displays and memorabilia are located throughout the hangars. The Museum is open daily from 10 am until 5 PM, closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and on February 10, 2024. For more information, visit PalmSpringsAirMuseum.org or call 760-778-6262 during business hours.

MEDIA CONTACT: Ann Greer (323) 363-8243  cell

[email protected] / [email protected]

SOURCE Palm Springs Air Museum
NEW YORK, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As the school year approaches and college students prepare to settle into new apartments and dorm rooms across New York City, Empire Closets is here to make the transition smoother and help young adults to get more organized. With limited space being a common challenge in the city's apartments and dorms, Empire Closets is excited to offer its expertise in custom organization, storage solutions, and interior design to provide efficient and stylish solutions for New Yorkers and students in particular!

For more information or to schedule your 1-on-1 consultation with Empire Closets, be sure to visit us online at EmpireClosets.com or contact us by phone at (718) 712.4244 today.

The start of the school year marks a time of new beginnings and fresh starts, and with many students moving into new apartments all across NYC, it brings the need for effective storage solutions and organization. Many college students find themselves moving into tight living quarters, whether it's an apartment shared with roommates or a dorm room on campus. Empire Closets understands the importance of maximizing space and creating a functional and aesthetically pleasing environment that lends itself to productivity.

"Having a clean and organized living space is the key to being productive and getting the most out of your time! At Empire Closets, we recognize that the back-to-school season is a busy and exciting time for students and New Yorkers alike. We're excited to offer customized solutions to help create the perfect, most productive living space possible!" said a spokesperson for Empire Closets. "With our special Back to School offer, clients can take advantage of $500 off their project when they spend over $3000 on custom closet design, organization, and storage solutions."

No matter your needs, space, or the budget you're working with  Empire Closets offers a range of custom storage solutions, including walk-in closets, reach-ins, pantry organization, home office storage, and more. The team is composed of award-winning design specialists and expert craftsmen who can help you maximize the utility of any space while enhancing the overall look and feel! With Empire you get free in-home estimates and installation in as little as 2 weeks!

To benefit from this exclusive Back to School offer and ensure an organized and efficient living space, get connected with Empire Closets now! With personalized service, affordable pricing, and fast turnaround times, the team at Empire Closets is here to bring your design dreams to life! To schedule a free, 1-on-1 design consultation, visit their website at empireclosets.com or contact them at 718.712.4244!

Media Contact:

Cynthia Bassant

718.712.4244

[email protected]

SOURCE Empire Closets
FILE PHOTO: Fire damage in Kula, Maui from wildfires in Hawaii

Moody's downgrades Hawaiian Electric's credit to junk amid Maui wildfire scrutiny FILE PHOTO: Fire damage in Kula, Maui from wildfires in Hawaii

(Reuters) - Ratings agency Moody's Investors Service downgraded utility Hawaiian Electric Industries's credit rating to junk status on Friday, the second such cut this week as investors worried about the company's potential role in the wake of the Maui wildfires.

Moody's cut its rating for Hawaiian Electric's senior unsecured notes to Ba3 from Baa1, its preferred stock rating to B3 from Baa3 and its short-term rating for commercial paper to "Not Prime" from "Prime-2".

Shares of the utility company fell about 2% in premarket trading, after plunging nearly 63% so far this week.

Class-action lawsuits this week alleged Hawaiian Electric, the largest electricity supplier in Hawaii, was responsible for the deadly Maui fires because it failed to shut off power lines despite warnings that high winds might spark wildfires.

"The downgrade is prompted by the heightened uncertainty facing the company that could result in significant financial liabilities if the utility is found to be at fault," said Nati Martel, Moody's senior analyst.

"Regulatory risk related to cost recovery for system rebuilding" was also a factor, he added.

Hawaiian Electric did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

S&P Global Ratings also downgraded the company to junk status on Tuesday, placing it on watch for further downgrades.

(Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
DUBLIN, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Flow Chemistry European Summit 2024" conference has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Flow Chemistry European Summit 2024 will be held at the Hilton Rotterdam - Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

This conference brings together researchers from academia and industry from across Europe, Africa, US and the Rest of the World, and addresses the most timely topics in this expanding field.

Running alongside the conference is an exhibition featuring companies showcasing their technologies and product offerings in this space and is an excellent opportunity to engage and network in this marketplace.

The organizer is honored to welcome Professor Paul Watts, Distinguished Professor and Research Chair in Microfluidic Bio/Chemical Processing, Nelson Mandela University as the Conference Chairperson.

This conference will take place physically on-site in Rotterdam as a regular conference.

Two Intertwined and co-located tracks - Each Registration Provides Full Access to All Tracks and Co-Located Exhibit Hall.

Flow Chemistry European Summit 2024

Innovations in Microfluidics and Additive Manufacturing 2024

Agenda:

Devices and Engineering for Flow Chemistry and Instrumentation Platforms

Electrochemistry and Photochemistry in Flow

Engineering and 3D-Printing of Reactors in Flow Chemistry

Flow Chemistry in Space and Space Chemistry

Industrial Processes and API Manufacturing

Machine Learning and AI in Flow Chemistry

Microfluidics and its Impact on the Development of Flow Chemistry

Multistep Synthesis and New Reaction Classes Enabled in Flow Format

Speakers



Conference Chair

Paul Watts

Distinguished Professor and Research Chair, Nelson Mandela University

Keynote Speakers

Anita Maguire

Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University College Cork

Simon Kuhn

Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, KU Leuven Belgium

Jean-Christophe Monbaliu

Professor of Organic Chemistry, Center for Integrated Technology and Organic Synthesis (CiTOS), University of Liege

Thomas Wirth

Professor, Cardiff University

C. Oliver Kappe

Professor and Scientific Director, Center for Continuous Flow Synthesis and Processing, University of Graz

For more information about this conference visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/3sdilf

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
The Brand Teams Up with Georgia Pre-K Teacher of the Year Johnathon Hines to Provide Educators with Germ-Fighting "Welcome Back Packs"

PARSIPPANY, N.J., Aug. 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- This back-to-school season, Lysol, a Reckitt brand, is partnering with Georgia Pre-K Teacher of the Year Johnathon Hines for the brand's HERE for Healthy Schools initiative that includes new additions to its annual Welcome Back Pack that educators can use to teach healthy habits in the classroom.

Since 2019, the Lysol brand has offered educators tools and resources through their Welcome Back Packs that include free educational resources such as posters, stickers, and more, to reinforce healthy habits in the classroom.

Newly curated poster by Georgia Pre-K Teacher of the Yar, Johnathon Hines Lysol's Welcome Back Pack includes free educational resources such as posters, stickers, and more, to reinforce healthy habits in the classroom. Georgia Pre-K Teacher of the Year, Johnathon Hines

To celebrate the fifth year of the program, Pre-K Teacher Johnathon Hines created a new, engaging poster to complete the packs: "Don't Let Germs Go Viral." The new poster features colorful, vibrant art depicting nefarious germs in the classroom and schoolground hotspots where they like to hang out, complementing Hines' easy-to-remember tips on helping to stop the spread of germs.

"Germs in my classroom are a never-ending battle, so it's important that I teach my students to practice healthy habits in fun yet relatable ways, so kids stay healthy and miss less school," said Hines. "As a long-time user of Lysol disinfecting products and their healthy habits resources in my own classroom, I'm thrilled to be partnering with Lysol to create this new poster for the Welcome Back Packs for classrooms across the country."

The poster is part of the full pack, which includes*:

Educational posters on healthy habit reminders  including Johnathon Hines' newly curated poster

newly curated poster Here for Healthy School stickers  featuring fun back-to-school visuals like a school bus, backpack, and more

Germ hotspot stickers  helping students identify areas that can be classroom hotspots with colorful germ stickers

Mirror cling  showcasing five steps for better hand washing

To sign up to receive this year's Welcome Back Packs**, including the new poster designed by Johnathon, educators can go to https://www.lysol.com/here-for-healthy-schools/healthy-habits/welcome-back-pack/sign-up

ABOUT HERE FOR HEALTHY SCHOOLS

Established in 2019, HERE for Healthy Schools launched with the mission of helping to curb the spread of illness-causing germs in classrooms nationwide. From the creation of interactive lesson plans and physical resources to donating millions of Lysol Disinfecting products, Lysol is committed to helping kids learn healthy habits and providing educators with the resources they need to keep their classrooms protected from germs.

"For the past five years, we've been dedicated to providing educational materials and disinfecting supplies to schools across the country," said Benoit Veryser, Vice President of US Marketing for Lysol at Reckitt. "This year is no different as we continue to build on that success and honor our brand mission  to help kids miss less school so they are able to learn, grow, and thrive  through our updated Welcome Back Packs that are available for educators."

To learn more about Lysol's HERE for Healthy Schools commitment and access healthy habit resources and printables, please visit Lysol.com/here.

*actual contents may vary

**while supplies last

ABOUT JOHNATHON HINES

Johnathon Hines is a Pre-K instructor at the Barack Obama Elementary School in Atlanta, and he is the first African American male Pre-K Teacher of The Year for Georgia in 2019. He is also a national presenter/speaker, author of the children's book Freeze! and founder of the non-profit "The No Look Assist Cooperation," aimed at providing better opportunities for underserved communities and arming local youth with the tools they need for a path to success.

Johnathon understands that a first impression is a lasting impression for children, so he provides an exciting learning experience for his students each day. Johnathon can be found at @swooshmoneyhines on Instagram.

ABOUT LYSOL

For more than a century, Lysol has been protecting families from the spread of illness-causing germs. We believe there is nothing more important than keeping our loved ones safe and healthy. For Lysol, just as it is for parents, protection is an instinctive act of love: an unconditional combination of strength and heart. For more information, visit www.Lysol.com.

ABOUT RECKITT

Reckitt*** exists to protect, heal, and nurture in the relentless pursuit of a cleaner, healthier world. We believe that access to the highest-quality hygiene, wellness and nourishment is a right, not a privilege.

Reckitt is the company behind some of the world's most recognizable and trusted consumer brands in hygiene, health, and nutrition, including Air Wick, Calgon, Cillit Bang, Clearasil, Dettol, Durex, Enfamil, Finish, Gaviscon, Harpic, Lysol, Mortein, Mucinex, Nurofen, Nutramigen, Strepsils, Vanish, Veet, Woolite and more.

Every day, more than 30 million Reckitt products are bought globally. We always put consumers and people first, seek out new opportunities, strive for excellence in all that we do and build shared success with all our partners. We aim to do the right thing, always.

We are a diverse global team of c. 40,000 colleagues. We draw on our collective energy to meet our ambitions of purpose-led brands, a healthier planet, and a fairer society. Find out more or contact us at www.reckitt.com/us.

*** Reckitt is the trading name of the Reckitt Benckiser group of companies

SOURCE Lysol
DUBLIN, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Vital Signs Monitoring Devices Market - Global Outlook & Forecast 2023-2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global vital signs monitoring devices market is expected to reach a value of $33.36 billion by 2028 from $20.6 billion in 2022, growing at a CAGR of 8.36% from 2022 to 2028

The North American region dominated the vital signs monitoring devices market share, accounting for over 35% in 2022. The early adoption of medical technologies across the U.S. drives vital sign monitoring devices' huge acceptance and application rate.

The awareness about using vital sign monitors among individuals and the huge transformation of healthcare settings with digitalization and advanced technologies are accelerating the demand for standalone vital sign monitors across the US. In addition, the well-known approach for remote patient monitoring boosts the use of wearable vital sign monitors.

The vital signs monitoring devices market is highly competitive and has several major players. The fragmented market has various global, local, and regional manufacturers. Owing to continuous technological advancements and product innovations, mid-sized and emerging vendors are increasing their market presence by introducing new products at competitive prices.

Also, the market potential drives several players to expand their industry share through acquisitions. Many vendors are adopting strategies to increase their presence in major markets. Larger players also tend to acquire other companies as a whole or specific product portfolio.

MARKET TRENDS & OPPORTUNITIES

Technology Development in Vital Sign Monitoring Devices



With the advances in technologies in the vital signs monitoring devices market, advanced vital sign devices become more common in various healthcare filed and across daily lives. Whether it is used for prevention or management, such health-associated solutions call for robust and reliable technology.

Internet of Things (IoT) is a major factor that penetrated 50% of healthcare in developed and rapidly developing countries, from patient care management to post-care. Recently, the advancement in vital sign monitoring devices, such as the addition of sensors, software integrations, digital screens, and mobile-based applications, resulted in rapid development.



Growing Shift Towards Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM)



RPM has enabled medical professionals to observe patients virtually along with vital clinical information and make decisions to improve care outcomes. In these procedures, vital sign monitoring devices accurately deliver clinical data to medical professionals. The increasing demand for remote patient monitoring is accelerating the growth of the vital signs monitoring devices market.

Further, remote patient monitoring helps improve quality of life by being cost-effective and reducing the chance of hospitalization. In addition, the older population's preferences for home care settings are accelerating the demand for vital sign monitoring devices.



Enhance Adoption with Patient-centric Digital Systems with Wearable Devices & Telemedicine



In healthcare settings, increasing demand for telemedicine/telehealth is expected to drive remote monitoring. In contrast, accurate monitoring and diagnosis system will be most important to collect vital signs and other data points.

Where the increasing shifts towards telemedicine platforms to deliver and receive care, vital sign monitoring devices are playing a vital role. As in healthcare management, multi-sensor and wearable technologies emerge, digital devices integration of electronic health records (EHRs) expects to optimize day-to-day operations and offers data for strategic decision making.



Increasing Burden of Chronic Disorders



Globally, healthcare settings are witnessing for increasing burden of chronic disorders. Chronic conditions pose a mental and financial burden. However, the vital signs monitoring devices market has witnessed huge growth and development

. The year-on-year increasing patient population with minor to severe chronic conditions drives the significant demand for vital sign monitoring devices because it not only helps to reduce the burden but also offers early indications that reduce the risk of mortality, morbidity, and disability of individuals.



Available Integrated Vital Sign Monitoring Devices Offer More Benefits



In healthcare, vital sign monitoring systems are rapidly becoming more popular and core. It shifted the traditional paradigm and manual clinical data recording to computer-based electronic records and handheld devices as innovative and versatile healthcare monitoring systems.

Still, there are a lot of challenges in patient monitoring. Based on that, integrating vital sign monitoring devices offers a lucrative advantage in driving market growth. Furthermore, the term multiparameter monitors become more favorable over the last decades, which boosts the vital signs monitoring devices market growth.

In healthcare settings and other external and internal health delivery systems, a multiparameter monitor is a major medical device for monitoring patients' vital signs. It is mostly used in intensive care units, emergency rooms, and hospitalizations.



SEGMENTATION INSIGHTS

INSIGHTS BY PRODUCT



The global vital signs monitoring devices market by product is segmented into standalone and integrated vital sign monitoring devices. The standalone vital sign monitoring devices include the heart rate/cardiac monitor, pulse oximeter, blood pressure monitor, and body temperature monitor. Standalone vital sign monitors are easy to transfer from one location to another.

They are typically lightweight and compact, making it easy to keep looks on a given patient's vital signs wherever they are. In 2022, the standalone vital sign monitors segment accounted for a higher industry share. A standalone system is envisioned that monitors all patients' vital signs and automatically alerts the required emergency response services upon recognizing a crisis condition.

INSIGHTS BY PATIENT GROUP



The global vital signs monitoring devices market by patient group is segmented into geriatric, pediatric, and adult patient groups. With the growing burden of chronic diseases among geriatric populations, the demand for vital sign monitors is generally high.

The geriatric segment dominated the market by over 53% share in 2022. The high hospitalization visits and the huge preference for outpatient and homecare settings are accelerating the demand for vital sign monitoring devices from the aging patient population.

INSIGHTS BY APPLICATION



The chronic care application segment dominated the global vital signs monitoring devices market. Chronic conditions are long-term impacting conditions with persistent effects. Their economic and social consequences can impact people's quality of life.

These conditions are becoming increasingly common and one of the priority areas of healthcare settings. Chronic diseases affect over 60% of the world's population and consume over 85% of healthcare expenditures. It indicates that huge opportunities are available for vendors with the increasing chronic disease burden worldwide.

INSIGHTS BY END-USER



The global vital signs monitoring devices market by end-user is segmented into hospitals, homecare settings & individuals, ambulatory care settings, and others. Hospitals are major healthcare settings worldwide, contributing to the huge demand for vital sign monitors.

Hospitals are the primary source of care for every patient group. Millions of hospital visits and admissions are fuelling the demand for vital sign monitors. Also, developing vital sign monitoring devices with the integrated model approach accelerates market growth.

KEY QUESTIONS ANSWERED:

How big is the global vital signs monitoring devices market?

What is the growth rate of the vital signs monitoring devices market?

What are the rising trends in the vital signs monitoring devices industry?

Which region holds the most significant global vital signs monitoring devices market share?

Who are the key players in the global vital signs monitoring devices market?

Market Opportunities & Trends

Technological Advances in Vital Signs Monitoring Devices

Shift Toward Remote Patient Monitoring Technologies

High Adoption of Patient-Centric Digital Systems & Telemedicine

Market Growth Enablers

Rise in Burden of Chronic Disorders

Availability of Integrated Vital Signs Monitoring Devices

Paradigm Shift Toward Outpatient Care

Expansion of Patient Populations & Shortage of Healthcare Workers

Market Restraints

Challenges Associated With Remotely Monitoring Patients Through Vital Sign Monitors

False Alarms Related to Vital Sign Monitoring Devices

Cybersecurity & Related Limitations of Vital Signs Monitoring Devices

Perceptions of Inadequate Accuracy & Reliability of Wireless Vital Signs Monitoring Devices

VENDOR LANDSCAPE

Key Company Profiles

A&D Company

Contec Medical Systems

GE Healthcare

Baxter

ICU Medical

Koninklijke Philips

Masimo

Medtronic

NIHON KOHDEN

Nonin

OMRON

OSI Systems

Other Prominent Vendors

100-plus

Arjo

American Diagnostic

Advanced Instrumentations

Biofourmis

Bittium

BioIntelliSense

Cardinal Health

Compass Health Brands

Dragerwerk AG & Co.

Essence

EDAN Instruments

FUKUDA DENSHI

Halma

Infinium Medical

Mennen Medical

Microlife

NURECA

Oxitone

Qardio

Rossmax International

Solaris Medical Technology

Sunset Healthcare Solutions

Turtle Shell Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Viatom Technology

VitalConnect

VivaLNK

VYAIRE MEDICAL

Cosinuss

Better Life Medical Technology

TaiDoc

aXcent medical

General Meditech

Clarity Medical

Hicks Thermometers India

medical Econet

Meditech

Shenzhen Creative Industry

Progetti

GETEMED Medical and Information Technology

Shenzhen Unicare Electronic

Opto Circuits ( India )

) Beijing Choice Electronic Technology

Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics

Remote Diagnostic Technologies

Samtronic

Charmcare

AVI Healthcare

Recorders & Medicare Systems

Acare Technology

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/m8lr7y

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
New expert services provider focused on integrated end-to-end solutions for law firms, corporations, and their law departments

CHICAGO, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- HBR Consulting, LAC Group, and Wilson Allen today announced the launch of Harbor, an expert services provider across strategy, legal technology, operations, and intelligence. Following the integration of the three companies and several key acquisitions, Harbor comes to market as a single entity serving law firms, corporations, and their law departments. With 650+ strategists, technologists, and specialists around the world, Harbor is unique in the depth, breadth, and scope of its expertise, as well as its focus on the legal industry. Harbor has also launched its new brand identity at its website, harborglobal.com.

"The legal industry is facing a period of complex change. Business and economic challenges have made it imperative that law firms and law departments operate as efficiently as possible, while investing in future growth. Technological advances such as generative AI and a rapidly evolving landscape of cloud applications have also presented new challenges as well as opportunities to get ahead of the competition," said Matt Sunderman, CEO of Harbor.

"Our new company, Harbor, is dedicated to helping our clients address these challenges and navigate to a future in which they thrive. From business strategy and transformation, to intelligence, operations, expense optimization, and technology implementation, we bring world-class talent and insights to law firms, corporations, and their law departments, as an extended part of their teams," Sunderman added.

Commitment to the Legal Industry

As a combined entity, Harbor serves more than 80% of Global 200 law firms, and 50% of the Fortune 500. The company has its global headquarters in Chicago and a significant presence across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Building on its 30+ year heritage, Harbor brings unparalleled expertise, knowledge, and scale as a services provider to the legal industry, as well as resilient connections throughout the legal ecosystem.

End-to-End Services

Harbor provides the essential resources and insights that help law firms, corporations, and their law departments drive strategic change, accelerate major initiatives, and increase resource effectiveness. The new company delivers integrated, end-to-end services, incorporating strategic advice, practical implementation, ongoing operational support, and intelligence.

As an example, many organizations today are grappling with how to formulate their strategies regarding advanced technologies such as generative AI. As part of a consulting engagement, Harbor experts can assess clients' AI-readiness  the state of their data, where their data resides in the cloud and on premises, and the extent to which operational processes need to be optimized to have the greatest impact.

By providing intelligence on how major technology players in the legal ecosystem are incorporating AI, Harbor can also help firms define a strategy that will help to achieve their objectives. After working together to put the foundations in place, the Harbor team can implement and test use cases where AI offers the most potential from a business point of view.

Through its industry reports and community forums, Harbor encourages collaboration and knowledge exchange to move the legal industry forward across strategy, legal technology, operations, and intelligence.

Integration of Heritage Companies

The launch of Harbor as a new services provider is a new chapter for the three companies  HBR Consulting, LAC Group, and Wilson Allen  after starting their combination in late 2022. In early 2023, the company acquired Aurora North and Younts Consulting  teams specializing in legal tech applications and cloud migration. In July of this year, the company expanded again with the addition of business process automation and AI-focused contracts intelligence specialist KP Labs.

About Harbor

Harbor is the preeminent provider of expert services across strategy, legal technology, operations, and intelligence.

Our globally integrated team of 650+ strategists, technologists, and specialists navigates alongside our clients  leading law firms, corporations, and their law departments  to provide essential resources and invaluable insights.

Anchored in a rich heritage of deep knowledge, steadfast relationships, and mutual respect, our unwavering dedication lies in shaping the future of the legal industry, and fostering enduring partnerships within our community and ecosystem. www.harborglobal.com

SOURCE Harbor Global
AUSTIN, Minn., Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE: HRL), a Fortune 500 global branded food company, announced today that Jacinth Smiley, executive vice president and chief financial officer, and Mark Ourada, group vice president, Foodservice, will participate in the 2023 Barclays Global Consumer Staples Conference on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023. A webcast of the fireside chat is scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. CT (1:30 p.m. ET).

The webcast, replay and other information related to the event can be accessed on the company's investor website, http://investor.hormelfoods.com.

ABOUT HORMEL FOODS  Inspired People. Inspired Food.

Hormel Foods Corporation, based in Austin, Minn., is a global branded food company with over $12 billion in annual revenue across more than 80 countries worldwide. Its brands include Planters, Skippy, SPAM, Hormel Natural Choice, Applegate, Justin's, Wholly, Hormel Black Label, Columbus, Jennie-O and more than 30 other beloved brands. The company is a member of the S&P 500 Index and the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats, was named on the "Global 2000 World's Best Employers" list by Forbes magazine for three years, is one of Fortune magazine's most admired companies, has appeared on the "100 Best Corporate Citizens" list by 3BL Media 13 times, and has received numerous other awards and accolades for its corporate responsibility and community service efforts. The company lives by its purpose statement  Inspired People. Inspired Food.  to bring some of the world's most trusted and iconic brands to tables across the globe. For more information, visit www.hormelfoods.com.

SOURCE Hormel Foods Corporation
VANCOUVER, Wash., Aug. 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- iLamp Oregon is pleased to announce that it has successfully secured the full territorial rights for iLamp and all its current and future applications for the State of Oregon, paving the way for a revolutionary transformation of the State's Green-Technology initiatives and Smart-City infrastructure. This significant milestone is supported by a $4.6m capital investment which has enabled iLamp Oregon to purchase the territory rights, bestowing the company with full and exclusive sales, distribution, manufacturing, marketing and sublicensing rights.

iLamp - Reinventing Smart Street-Lighting

"Our commitment and faith in the future of Oregon and the iLamp Oregon team makes us more than glad to make this investment," says Edward Fitzpatrick - Director and Chairman of the Board, of Conflow Power Group.

Introducing the smart streetlight that:

Generates its own power!

Turn street lights from a cost-center into a profit-center!

Operates off-the-grid, or with on-grid power as a backup!

Provides optional modules that feature:

Wi-Fi and cellular networking services!



360-degree live video cameras!



Gun-shot detection with location triangulation!



Smoke / Carbon detection!



Weather station with air quality monitoring!



Drone charging stations with landing pads!



Communication with methane gas sensors in manholes, etc.!



EV charging services and more!

Optimizes lighting conditions, contributing to "Vision Zero" lighting for roads

and highways enhancing visibility!

Offers versatile installation options:

Retrofits on existing streetlights or on new streetlights!



Provides light and green electricity anywhere without electrical wiring!

Offers custom options and services to meet the needs of:

Utilities, City / Local Governments & Transportation Departments



Developers & Indian Tribal Council Grounds and Casinos



Industrial, Commercial, Residential & Recreational Parks and Grounds



Schools, College Campuses, any Parking Lots & more

"This is an exciting milestone for Oregon," said Bill Gibbons, iLamp Oregon CEO.

"The opportunity to bring our state-of-the-art technology to the entire State of Oregon is a testament to the confidence in our vision for smart, safe, reliable, and affordable renewable energy solutions. This is also a big step forward in meeting the challenges posed by House Bill 2021 and achieving 100% clean energy by 2040."

Full implementation of the territory promises to stimulate the local Oregon economy by creating jobs in various areas, including manufacturing, assembly, installation, maintenance and management of iLamp street-lights and micro-grid systems.

About iLamp Oregon:

iLamp Oregon is a leading green technology company focused on developing and implementing smart LED streetlight systems that create their own power.

Our vision is to provide uncompromising integrity, environmental stewardship, continuous research and emerging green technologies for our customers and partners who are searching for reliable, safe, and affordable renewable energy solutions.

Please visit our website at:

https://oregon.ilamp.com

or call Bill Gibbons at 360-600-1658

for more information.

For Media inquiries:

360-600-1658

3006 NE 43rd St.

Vancouver, WA 98663

[email protected]

[email protected]

SOURCE Oregon iLamp
SEATTLE, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Rewarded engagement company, Influence Mobile , today announced Puget Sound Business Journal has honored the company on its annual list of 'Washington's Best Workplaces' for the third consecutive year. The ranking is based on an independent survey of employees, who cited a high level of trust in leadership along with a fun and collaborative working culture as primary reasons why Influence Mobile is a great place to work. Influence Mobile ranked #8 among small companies in Washington state.

Daniel Todd, founder and CEO of Influence Mobile, expressed his gratitude, stating, "Our unwavering commitment to empowering our employees, nurturing their growth, and prioritizing their well-being is reinforced by this accolade. It's a testament to our efforts in fostering not just an outstanding workplace, but a community where triumphs are collectively relished and applauded."

While numerous companies are transitioning back to traditional office settings, Influence Mobile remains steadfast in their commitment to champion remote work. Recognizing the values of flexibility, autonomy, and the power of modern technology in fostering productivity and innovation.

Leadership is also deeply aware that relationship-building is pivotal to success. As such, they continually prioritize cultivating strong bonds both digitally and through meaningful real-life interactions, ensuring the team remains cohesive and connected.

Influence Mobile is on the lookout for individuals driven by passion, team spirit, and a desire to make a genuine impact. They not only provide the platform for you to excel professionally but also place immense value on ensuring that you find the perfect equilibrium between work and personal life. Sharing the belief that a happy employee outside of work translates to an inspired and motivated contributor within the company.

About Influence Mobile

Founded in 2012, Influence Mobile is a rewarded gaming platform that entices and nurtures high-value mobile gamers by engaging them with relevant rewards. With its owned and operated apps, including Rewarded Play , Influence Mobile boasts a community of highly-engaged players that create ongoing value for its growing list of clients.

To learn more about Influence Mobile, visit InfluenceMobile.com

Contact

Allie Razo

[email protected]

SOURCE Influence Mobile
The firm advises that retail organizations emphasize cloud-centric planning systems integrated with AI features and autonomous analytics execution tools to enhance their competitive edge.

TORONTO, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - The global supply chain is continually impacted by factors such as natural disasters, shifts in the labor market, regulatory changes, and geopolitical events. These challenges underscore the need for a fresh approach, especially in the fiercely competitive retail sector. As technology-driven consumers raise their expectations, organizations must keep pace by understanding preferences and adapting both their operations and customer service approaches. Recognizing this shift, Info-Tech Research Group has released a comprehensive blueprint named Building the Demand-Driven Supply Chain Network in Retail. This research provides organizations with a strategic roadmap to become more demand driven, cost effective, and competitive.

Info-Tech Research Group's blueprint titled "Building the Demand-Driven Supply Chain Network in Retail" details four key strategies for enhancing visibility and expediting market entry in the retail sector by aligning supply chain fulfillment with demand. (CNW Group/Info-Tech Research Group)

According to the firm's research, inefficient forecasting in the retail industry can have significant consequences, such as poor customer service and inventory shortages due to unexpected customer order adjustments. Additionally, limited integration with existing systems can lead to duplicated order entries and a lack of coordination. To overcome these challenges, Info-Tech's new resource advises that retail organizations transition to flexible and responsive omnichannel setups.

"To meet the demands of empowered tech-savvy buyers and drive supply chain networks, retail organizations must adopt omnichannel demand-driven fulfillment strategies. These strategies require understanding buyer preferences and aligning operating models and customer service levels accordingly," says Rahul Jaiswal, principal research director at Info-Tech Research Group. "By focusing on customer demand and leveraging customer intelligence, retail organizations can shape merchandising strategies, improve brand loyalty, and drive profitability. These insights can also inform the design and launch of innovative products and services that align with market demands."

Info-Tech's blueprint emphasizes the importance of identifying opportunities across the network to optimize the supply chain and provide excellent customer service while monetizing key customer insights. To achieve these goals and enhance visibility and speed to market, the firm suggests that organizations consider the following four crucial demand-driven supply chain fulfillment strategies:

Understand and respond to demand signs in real time: By understanding demand insights, organizations can measure the time it takes to sense and execute omnichannel fulfillment.



Deliver an omnichannel central supply chain: Developing separate department applications within the same technology enables an easier exchange of information. In addition, using the same applications empowers demand-driven fulfillment by combining omnichannel sales, plans, and forecasts.



Fulfill omnichannel demand: By realizing opportunities across the network, organizations can capitalize on the streamlined supply chain and deliver customer service excellence to monetize key customer insights.



Build value networks to support product and service information: Well-organized value networks lead to an aggressive reduction in inventory carrying costs and provide better visibility.

The firm's findings explain that most demand-driven networks in the digital era still rely on outdated industry business reference architectures. To stay competitive, retail organizations must prioritize agile, cloud-based planning platforms with AI capabilities and self-directed analytics execution capability tools. Info-Tech advises that by combining real-time scenarios, monitoring business activity, and ensuring data security, these tools can enhance demand-driven supply chains with increased visibility, reduced costs, and improved overall competitiveness.

To gain more insights on how the retail sector can become a more demand-driven, cost-effective, and competitive network, download the complete Building the Demand-Driven Supply Chain Network in Retail blueprint.

For media inquiries on the topic or to get exclusive, timely commentary from Rahul Jaiswal, a retail and wholesale industry expert, please contact [email protected].

About Info-Tech Research Group

Info-Tech Research Group is one of the world's leading information technology research and advisory firms, proudly serving over 30,000 professionals. The company produces unbiased and highly relevant research to help CIOs and IT leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. For 25 years, Info-Tech has partnered closely with IT teams to provide them with everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.

Media professionals can register for unrestricted access to research across IT, HR, and software and over 200 IT and industry analysts through the firm's Media Insiders program. To gain access, contact [email protected].

For more information about Info-Tech Research Group or to access the latest research, visit infotech.com and connect via LinkedIn and Twitter.

SOURCE Info-Tech Research Group
DUBLIN, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Alzheimer's Disease - Market Insight, Epidemiology And Market Forecast - 2032" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This report delivers an in-depth understanding of the Alzheimer's disease historical and forecasted epidemiology as well as the market trends in the United States, EU4 (Germany, France, Italy, and Spain) and the United Kingdom, and Japan.



The market report provides current treatment practices, emerging drugs, market share of individual therapies, and current and forecasted 7MM Alzheimer's disease market size from 2019 to 2032. The report also covers current Alzheimer's disease treatment practices/algorithms and unmet medical needs to curate the best opportunities and assess the market's potential.

Key Highlights

The diagnosed prevalence of Alzheimer's disease has been increasing in the US due to the increasing geriatric population and disease awareness. Advancements in disease pathophysiology understanding have led to the discovery of novel signaling pathways, due to which various diagnostic tools have evolved that have revolutionized disease diagnosis.

The current treatment regime is mostly symptomatic, slows disease progression, and helps improve quality of life. It is not curative and is a mix of non-pharmacological and pharmacological approaches.

The major bottleneck in understanding Alzheimer's market is that despite an extremely vibrant pipeline, assessing drugs' potential to enter the market is difficult due to high failure rates. Many therapies like gantenerumab, dabigatran, and verubecestat were unable to move past the trial phase.

Approval of disease-modifying novel anti-amyloid biologics, with targeted mechanisms of action, has led to significant improvements from the traditional symptomatic treatment regime. ADUHELM (aducanumab) by Biogen and Eisai, the first available disease-modifying treatment to address Alzheimer's pathology by targeting amyloid ? plaques, has still not received traditional approval in the US and is rejected in Europe and Japan .

and . In July 2023 , the US FDA converted Biogen and Eisai's other amyloid beta-protein inhibitor- LEQEMBI's (lecanemab) accelerated approval to a traditional one after a confirmatory trial demonstrated a 27% reduction in cognitive decline. This marks a major milestone and is a forward-looking step in addressing the unmet needs of patients with early Alzheimer's.

, the US FDA converted Biogen and Eisai's other amyloid beta-protein inhibitor- LEQEMBI's (lecanemab) accelerated approval to a traditional one after a confirmatory trial demonstrated a 27% reduction in cognitive decline. This marks a major milestone and is a forward-looking step in addressing the unmet needs of patients with early Alzheimer's. The approval garners well for Biogen and Eisai, keeping them in a profitable position, ensuring a first-mover advantage in the market, and helping them drive past the ADUHELM stumble. There are hopes that it will be Eisai and Biogen's blockbuster product. This is further supplemented by a CMS go-ahead with Medicare covering the therapy for Alzheimer's appropriate patient segment. This will facilitate reimbursement for and access to LEQEMBI. However, certain Medicare requirements and drug labels' risk warnings and infusion-center bottlenecks could potentially weigh on drug sales, at least in the near term. The testing requirement for a genetic mutation is another hurdle.

In 2022, the market size of Alzheimer's disease was highest in the US among the 7MM countries, accounting for approximately USD 1,751.7 million . It is expected to increase by 2032.

. It is expected to increase by 2032. Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, donepezil, rivastigmine, and galantamine, have comparable efficacy and are widely used to treat mild-to-advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease, but their benefit-risk ratio is still being debated. NMDA antagonist, memantine, slows symptom progression in individuals with moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease but is also associated with side effects like dizziness, confusion, etc.

Emerging therapies by Anavex Life Sciences, Alzheon, Athira Pharma, Annovis Bio, Eli Lilly, BioVie, AB Science, Novo Nordisk, Cassava Sciences, TauRx Therapeutics, KeifeRx, AriBio, Cerecin, Eisai, others are in late stages of development and have the potential to create a positive shift in the Alzheimer's market.

Eli Lilly's donanemab (LY3002813), an FDA-designated product, is projected to be the first emerging therapy to enter the market by 2024. It will compete with Biogen and Eisai's LEQEMBI. With the therapy lowering the risk of progression by 39%, it is projected to have a slow-medium uptake. High costs will translate to higher revenue, and despite few safety concerns, the drug is anticipated to perform well during the forecast period.

Alzheimer's Disease Epidemiology



As the market is derived using a patient-based model, the Alzheimer's disease epidemiology chapter in the report provides historical as well as forecasted epidemiology segmented by total diagnosed prevalent cases of Alzheimer's disease, age-specific cases of Alzheimer's disease, gender-specific cases of Alzheimer's disease, and severity-specific cases of Alzheimer's disease in the 7MM covering the United States, EU4 countries (Germany, France, Italy, and Spain) and the United Kingdom, and Japan from 2019 to 2032.

In 2022, the total diagnosed prevalent cases of Alzheimer's disease were estimated to be approximately 15,083,370 cases in the 7MM. These cases are projected to increase at a CAGR of 2.4%.

In the US, there were approximately 41% diagnosed prevalent cases of Alzheimer's disease in 2022, which is expected to increase during the forecast period.

In 2022, among the 7MM, Japan accounted for the second-highest diagnosed prevalent cases of Alzheimer's disease, contributing nearly 26%, while the UK accounted for the least with nearly 4% of the total diagnosed prevalent cases.

accounted for the second-highest diagnosed prevalent cases of Alzheimer's disease, contributing nearly 26%, while the UK accounted for the least with nearly 4% of the total diagnosed prevalent cases. Japan accounted for 3,954,710 diagnosed prevalent cases of Alzheimer's disease. In 2022 the age-specific distribution of the disease suggests that the age cohort of 75-84 years accounted for the majority, nearly 51% of the cases, followed by =85 (32%), 65-74 (14%), and <_5 years="years" />

accounted for 3,954,710 diagnosed prevalent cases of Alzheimer's disease. In 2022 the age-specific distribution of the disease suggests that the age cohort of 75-84 years accounted for the majority, nearly 51% of the cases, followed by =85 (32%), 65-74 (14%), and <_5 years="years" /> As per estimates based on this epidemiology model for Alzheimer's disease, the gender distribution of the disease suggests a female predominance across the 7MM, with approximately 5,024,849 male and 10,058,521 female cases in the 7MM in 2022.

According to estimates based on this epidemiology model for Alzheimer's, in Japan , in 2022, there were approximately 2,324,183, 826,139, 517,671, and 286,716 cases of MCI, mild, moderate, and severe dementia, which are expected to increase during the study period.

Alzheimer's Disease Drug Chapters



The drug chapter segment of the Alzheimer's disease report encloses a detailed analysis of Alzheimer's disease - currently used drugs and mid-stage (Phase II and Phase I) pipeline drugs. It also helps understand the Alzheimer's disease clinical trial details, expressive pharmacological action, agreements and collaborations, approval and patent details, advantages and disadvantages of each included drug and the latest news and press releases.



Marketed Drugs

ADUHELM (aducanumab): Biogen and Eisai



In June 2021, Biogen and Eisai's ADUHELM (aducanumab) received accelerated approval from the US FDA for the treatment of people living with early Alzheimer's disease, including people with mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer's disease, making it the first available disease-modifying treatment to address Alzheimer's disease pathology by targeting amyloid ? plaques. However, the drug is not globally accessible, as it did not receive approval by the EMA or MHLW, and the Alzheimer's community is still awaiting further trial data to support its approval.



It exerts its mechanism of action by crossing the blood-brain barrier and selectively targeting and binding aggregated soluble oligomers and insoluble fibril conformations of A? plaques in the brain.



LEQEMBI (lecanemab): Biogen and Eisai



Biogen and Eisai's LEQEMBI (lecanemab) is a humanized IgG1 monoclonal antibody directed against aggregated soluble (protofibrils) and insoluble forms of A?. In July 2023, the US FDA granted it traditional approval after a confirmatory trial verified the clinical benefit. It is the first amyloid beta-directed antibody, targeting the disease process, to be converted from accelerated to traditional approval for treating people with mild Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer's disease. An application to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for approval of lecanemab in the EU has been submitted and it is also designated for priority review by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare.



Emerging Drugs

NE3107: BioVie



NE3107, being developed by BioVie, is an oral, small molecule, blood-brain permeable, anti-inflammatory, insulin sensitizer that binds to extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and selectively inhibits inflammation. NE3107 inhibits extracellular ERK/NFkB activation and TNF production stimulated by inflammatory mediators, such as lipopolysaccharide, and inhibits NFkB activation and TNF production. BioVie is also developing a drug for treating Parkinson's disease, multiple myeloma, and prostate cancer. The company is currently conducting Phase III trials to treat mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease.



Donanemab (LY3002813): Eli Lilly



Donanemab (LY3002813), being developed by Eli Lilly and Company, is a humanized IgG1 monoclonal antibody N3pG, developed from mouse mE8-IgG2a that identifies and destroys A? proteins, excess abnormal proteins that bind together to create brain plaques in Alzheimer's disease patients. The rationale behind donanemab is that targeting deposited plaque itself is necessary to clear existing amyloid burden from the brain rather than merely prevent the deposition of new plaques or the growth of existing plaques.



Given via the IV administration route, its Phase III trial was recently completed. The confirmatory Phase III TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 2 trial is ongoing, with topline data read-out expected in Q2 2023, and will form the basis of donanemab's application for traditional approval.



Drug Class Insights



Pharmacological therapies such as acetylcholinesterase inhibitors and NMDA receptor antagonists, and recently, more targeted amyloid beta-proteins inhibitors are the available therapies for Alzheimer's.



The approved acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, donepezil, rivastigmine, and galantamine have comparable therapeutic effects. These are recommended to treat mild-to-advanced stages of Alzheimer's, yet their benefit-risk ratio is still being debated. They work by inhibiting the activity of acetylcholinesterases, thus increasing the levels of acetylcholine in the brain, and improving cognitive symptoms.



The NMDA antagonist, memantine, is recommended for moderate to severe Alzheimer's and slows disease progression. It is not typically used as a first-line treatment for mild Alzheimer's. In Alzheimer's NMDA receptors are activated by the neurotransmitter glutamate. This overstimulation leads to nerve cell damage and cognitive decline. Memantine blocks the excessive activity of glutamate, regulating the neurotransmitter's effect.



Biogen and Eisai's ADUHELM (aducanumab) and LEQEMBI (lecanemab) are two amyloid beta inhibitors that are approved by the US FDA for early Alzheimer's. These are a class of drugs that target and reduce the production, aggregation, or accumulation of amyloid beta protein in the brain. These aim to slow down or potentially halt the progression of Alzheimer's disease.



Though there has been considerable research and development in the area of amyloid beta-protein inhibitors, the results have been mixed. The complex nature of Alzheimer's disease and the involvement of multiple pathological processes make it a challenging condition to target with a single therapy.



Alzheimer's Disease Market Outlook



The current treatment is symptomatic and works by modulating the activity of brain neurotransmitters, such as acetylcholine, serotonin, noradrenaline, glutamate, and dopamine. Due to the associated side effects, personalizing the treatment and considering patients' comorbidities is important.



Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors and NMDA receptor antagonists have been available for over a decade. Their effectiveness is modest, temporary, and needs to be regularly re-evaluated. They have demonstrated symptomatic benefits but are associated with side effects.



With improved understanding, a pathological cascade of amyloid-? deposition, tau-hyperphosphorylation, neurofibrillary tangle formation, inflammation, and synaptic and cell loss has been well documented. Biogen and Eisai have developed ADUHELM (aducanumab) and LEQEMBI (lecanemab) as anti-amyloid therapies. Of these former could not get traditional approval, but recently LEQEMBI received US FDA approval. Hopefully, it will change the market dynamics and make Biogen and Eisai key players. This approval of a disease-modifying therapy is a ray of hope for many early-stage Alzheimer's patients. But a testing requirement on the drug's prescribing label could be a potential hurdle. The FDA recommends doctors test patients for a genetic mutation known as ApoE4 before starting treatment.



The current market has been covered by the symptomatic treatment that includes different pharmacological agents used across the 7MM, which presents minor variations in the overall prescription pattern. ADUHELM, LEQEMBI, galantamine, rivastigmine, donepezil, memantine, and combination (memantine with acetylcholinesterase inhibitors) are the major drugs considered for symptomatic treatment in the forecast model.



Key players like Anavex Life Sciences, Alzheon, Athira Pharma, Annovis Bio, Eli Lilly, BioVie, AB Science, Novo Nordisk, Cassava Sciences, TauRx Therapeutics, KeifeRx, AriBio, Cerecin, Eisai, and others are evaluating their lead candidates in different stages of clinical development. They aim to investigate their products for the treatment of Alzheimer's Disease.

The total market size of Alzheimer's disease in the 7MM was approximately USD 3,460.6 million in 2022 and is projected to increase during the forecast period (2023-2032).

in 2022 and is projected to increase during the forecast period (2023-2032). According to the publisher's estimates, among the 7MM, the US had the largest market share in Alzheimer's disease, with a revenue of USD 1,751.7 million in 2022. This will increase significantly due to increasing awareness and launch of the emerging therapies.

in 2022. This will increase significantly due to increasing awareness and launch of the emerging therapies. The total market size of Alzheimer's disease in EU4 and the UK was approximately 23.0% of the total market revenue for the 7MM. Among EU4 and the UK countries, Germany accounted for the maximum market size in 2022, while the UK occupied the bottom of the ladder.

accounted for the maximum market size in 2022, while the UK occupied the bottom of the ladder. In the 7MM, cholinesterase inhibitors and NMDA receptor antagonists accounted for USD 3,210.9 million and USD 245.0 million in 2022. Among cholinesterase, donepezil had the highest share (among all the therapies), with nearly 54% of the total revenue in the class, while rivastigmine generated USD 946.1 million in 2022.

and in 2022. Among cholinesterase, donepezil had the highest share (among all the therapies), with nearly 54% of the total revenue in the class, while rivastigmine generated in 2022. According to the publisher's estimates, Biogen and Eisai's LEQEMBI, which received approval from the US FDA in July 2023 , though may have a humble start, is projected to grow substantially during the forecast period, providing the company a substantial advantage in the biologic pie of the Alzheimer market.

, though may have a humble start, is projected to grow substantially during the forecast period, providing the company a substantial advantage in the biologic pie of the Alzheimer market. Various therapies like Anavex Life Sciences's ANAVEX2-73 (blarcamesine), Alzheon's ALZ-801 (valiltramiprosate), Athira Pharma's fosgonimeton (ATH-1017), Annovis Bio's buntanetap, Eli Lilly's donanemab (LY3002813), BioVie's NE3107, Cassava Sciences' simufilam (PTI-125), and TauRx Therapeutics' hydromethylthionine mesylate (TRx0237) among others are anticipated to enter the market during the forecast period.

Eli Lilly's donanemab (LY3002813), an FDA-designated product, is projected to enter the market by 2024. An amyloid ? protein inhibitor, it will compete with Biogen and Eisai's LEQEMBI. With excellent efficacy, wherein the therapy reduced the risk of progression by 39%, it is projected to have a slow- medium uptake. The high costs will translate to high revenue, and it will attain its peak by the seventh year. Despite a few safety concerns, the drug will perform well during the forecast period.

NE3107, simufilam (PTI-125), ANAVEX2-73 (blarcamesine), and ALZ-801 (valiltramiprosate) are next in line with projected entry by 2025. Alzheon's ALZ-801, another FDA-designated product, has demonstrated excellent efficacy in its trial, but high doses and long treatment duration may affect its potential. With a slow-medium uptake, it will attain its peak share by the eighth year.

Alzheimer's Disease Drugs Uptake



This section focuses on the uptake rate of potential drugs expected to be launched in the market during 2019-2032. For example, Annovis Bio's buntanetap, a translational inhibitor of neurotoxic aggregating proteins, with an anticipated entry by 2027 in the US, is predicted to have a slow-medium uptake during the forecast period.



Pipeline Activities



The report provides insights into therapeutic candidates in Phase II and Phase I. It also analyzes key players involved in developing targeted therapeutics.



Development Activities



The report covers information on collaborations, acquisitions and mergers, licensing, and patent details for emerging therapies for Alzheimer's disease.



KOL Views



To keep up with current market trends, we take KOLs and SMEs' opinions working in the domain through primary research to fill the data gaps and validate our secondary research. Industry Experts contacted for insights on the Alzheimer's disease evolving treatment landscape, patient reliance on conventional therapies, patient therapy switching acceptability, and drug uptake, along with challenges related to accessibility, including Medical/scientific writers, Medical Professionals, Professors, Directors, and Others.



This analysts connected with 50+ KOLs to gather insights; however, interviews were conducted with 15+ KOLs in the 7MM. Centers like Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, the University of Washington, the University Hospital of Tours, Navarra Institute for Health Research, the University of Tokyo School of Medicine, and the National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry were contacted. Their opinion helps understand and validate current and emerging therapy treatment patterns or Alzheimer's disease market trends. This will support the clients in potential upcoming novel treatments by identifying the overall scenario of the market and the unmet needs.



Physician's View



According to the primary research analysis, LEQEMBI's approval will change the treatment regime and market dynamics for Alzheimer's. Though not curative, this first approved disease-modifying therapy garners well for early Alzheimer's patients, as it delays the progression. Though the drug has potential, there are certain hurdles, like testing requirements on the drug's prescribing label and risk warning, which push one to keep caution. The results in delaying disease progression have done well, and awareness needs to be generated to ensure drug usage.



Qualitative Analysis



The publisher performs Qualitative and market Intelligence analysis using various approaches, such as SWOT and Conjoint Analysis. In the SWOT analysis, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in terms of disease diagnosis, patient awareness, patient burden, competitive landscape, cost-effectiveness, and geographical accessibility of therapies are provided. These pointers are based on the Analyst's discretion and assessment of the patient burden, cost analysis, and existing and evolving treatment landscape.



Conjoint Analysis analyzes multiple emerging therapies based on relevant attributes such as safety, efficacy, frequency of administration, route of administration, and order of entry. To analyze the effectiveness, drug-attributed analysis is calculated from scores based upon changes from baseline in ADCS-ADL, ADAS-Cog, and Clinical Dementia Rating, among others.



The therapies' safety is evaluated wherein treatment-related adverse events, serious adverse events were majorly observed, besides the occurrence of amyloid-related imaging abnormalities. It sets a clear understanding of the side effects posed by the drug in the trials. In addition, the scoring is also based on the route of administration, order of entry and designation, probability of success, and the addressable patient pool for each therapy. According to these parameters, the final weightage score and the ranking of the emerging therapies are decided.



Market Access and Reimbursement



In April 2022, CMS released its final national coverage determination decision memorandum on Medicare coverage for approved mAbs as a treatment for Alzheimer's. CMS issued a two-track decision that differentiates Medicare coverage for mAbs based on whether they receive from the US FDA: Accelerated approval based on surrogate endpoints or traditional approval based on clinical endpoints.



In July 2023, the US FDA approved the sBLA supporting the traditional approval of LEQEMBI 100 mg/mL injection for IV use. Following FDA's traditional approval Medicare will cover the therapy for appropriate patients. This will facilitate reimbursement for and access to LEQEMBI across a broad range of healthcare settings in the US.



The report provides detailed insights on the country-wise accessibility and reimbursement scenarios, cost-effectiveness scenarios, programs making accessibility easier and out-of-pocket costs more affordable, insights on patients insured under federal or state government prescription drug programs, etc.

Key Topics Covered



1. Key Insights

2. Report Introduction

3. Alzheimer's Disease Market Overview at a Glance

4. Methodology of Alzheimer's Disease Epidemiology and Market

5. Executive Summary of Alzheimer's Disease

6. Key events

7. Disease Background and Overview

8. Patient Journey of Alzheimer's Disease

9. Epidemiology and Patient Population

10. Marketed Drugs

11. Emerging Therapies

12. Alzheimer's Disease: The Seven Major Market Analysis

13. KOL views

14. SWOT Analysis

15. Unmet Needs

16. Market Access and Reimbursement

17. Appendix



A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes:

AB Science

AgeneBio

Alzheon

Anavex Life Sciences

Annovis Bio

AriBio

Athira Pharma

BioVie

Cassava Sciences

Cerecin

Eisai

Eli Lilly

KeifeRx

Neurim Pharmaceuticals/Syneos Health

Novo Nordisk

TauRx Therapeutics

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/vhv3sp

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The "Global Internet of Things (IoT) Market Size By Software Solution, By Platform, By Application, By Geographic Scope And Forecast" report has been published by Verified Market Research. The report provides an in-depth analysis of the global Internet of Things (IoT) Market, including its growth prospects, market trends, and market challenges.

JERSEY CITY, N.J., Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Internet of Things (IoT) Market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 19.91% from 2023 to 2030, according to a new report published by Verified Market Research. The report reveals that the market was valued at USD 1186.20 Million in 2021 and is expected to reach USD 6075.70 Million by the end of the forecast period.

Download PDF Brochure: https://www.verifiedmarketresearch.com/download-sample?rid=6403

Browse in-depth TOC on "Internet of Things (IoT) Market"

202 - Pages

126  Tables

37  Figures

IoT Market Poised for Exponential Growth: Industry Leaders Anticipate Market Drivers, Trends, and Key Players

The global Internet of Things (IoT) market is on the cusp of a significant surge, driven by an amalgamation of technological innovation, market drivers, and prominent industry players. IoT, an ingenious operating system facilitating seamless data exchange between devices and objects via sensors, software, and advanced technologies, is poised to revolutionize industries with its dynamic capabilities and cross-sector applicability.

Market Drivers:

The exponential growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) Market is underpinned by several compelling market drivers that are reshaping the landscape. Foremost among these is the escalating need for wireless networking technologies, a macroeconomic indicator propelling IoT's market growth trajectory. As the IoT ecosystem flourishes, wireless connections have become indispensable, necessitating the establishment of a Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) to enable harmonious interactions among diverse vendors. Recognizing the distinct requirements of various IoT applications, standards like IEEE 802.11 Wireless LANs (Wi-Fi) and IEEE 802.15 are evolving not only to address wireless networks but also to cater to IoT networks, mesh networks, wearables, and light communications.

Outlook and Key Players:

Market leaders and industry giants are primed to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of the Internet of Things (IoT) Market landscape. Notable players such as Intel Corporation, SAP SE, Cisco Systems, Inc., Microsoft Corporation, Oracle Corporation, International Business Machine (IBM) Corporation, PTC Inc., Google, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and Amazon Web Services, Inc. are spearheading the IoT revolution. Their collective expertise and strategic initiatives are expected to fuel the market's expansion, while their commitment to innovation and technology leadership will pave the way for groundbreaking advancements.

Trends and Innovations:

Innovation remains at the core of the Internet of Things (IoT) Market. Cloud data management is emerging as a transformative force within large-scale IoT applications, with cloud computing obviating the need for extensive hardware infrastructure and network management. This paradigm shift empowers enterprises by providing lifecycle management, offering a comprehensive view of device infrastructure data. Additionally, the amalgamation of IoT with cloud services facilitates seamless migration of applications between the cloud and nodes, bolstering efficiency and responsiveness.

Challenges and Opportunities:

While the Internet of Things (IoT) Market presents boundless opportunities, it is not without its challenges. Interoperability issues, scarcity of skilled expertise, and cybersecurity concerns loom as potential obstacles. However, these challenges are propelling the industry to innovate and fortify its foundations. As the IoT landscape matures, efforts are being directed toward addressing bandwidth limitations and refining data migration processes from legal systems.

As the IoT market gears up for exponential growth, the collaboration of industry leaders, market drivers, and technological advancements promises to reshape the business landscape across sectors. This transformation is not merely about technology; it's about forging a connected, intelligent future.

To get market data, market insights, financial statements and a comprehensive analysis of the Global Internet of Things (IoT) Market, please Contact Verified Market Research.

Based on the research, Verified Market Research has segmented the global Internet of Things (IoT) Market into Software Solution, Platform, Application, And Geography.

Internet of Things (IoT) Market, by Software Solution

Real-time Streaming Analytics



Security solution



Data management



Remote monitoring system



Network bandwidth management

Internet of Things (IoT) Market, by Platform

Application Management



Network Management



Device Management

Internet of Things (IoT) Market, by Application

Building and Home Automation



Smart Energy and Utilities



Smart Manufacturing



Connected Logistics



Smart Retail



Smart mobility



Transportation



Others

Internet of Things (IoT) Market, by Geography

North America



U.S





Canada





Mexico



Europe



Germany





France





U.K





Rest of Europe



Asia Pacific



China





Japan





India





Rest of Asia Pacific



ROW



Middle East & Africa

&



Latin America

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SOURCE Verified Market Research
A prison bus carrying 21 residents of the Topeka Correctional Facility on a work program in southeast Kansas collided with a semi-truck early Thursday, a spokesman for the Kansas Department of Corrections said in a release.

Nine people, including eight residents of the womens prison, were injured during the crash, said David Thompson, a spokesman for the corrections department. Three of the women had broken bones. All eight were expected to recover.

The bus driver was seriously injured and taken to a Kansas City area hospital. Meanwhile, the 13 other residents of the prison who were not injured were taken back to the worksite and then sent to a hospital to be checked out as a precaution.

The prison bus and semi crashed shortly before 1 a.m. at U.S. 169 and Oregon Road just outside of Iola in Allen County, a Kansas Highway Patrol dispatcher said.

The residents had just finished their 3 to 11 p.m. shift at the Russell Stover plant in Iola, Kansas, and were returning to Topeka.

According to the preliminary investigation, the prison bus was headed east on Oregon Road when it failed to stop at a stop sign and started to turn onto the highway, the dispatcher said.

The semi, which was headed south on U.S. 169, swerved to avoid the crash. The prison bus, however, collided with the semi on the passenger side, the dispatcher said. The collision caused the semi to roll into the ditch.

The corrections department is working with the highway patrol to determine the cause of the crash.

The Topeka Correctional Facility is the states only prison for adult women. It currently has a population of 762 women.
PITTSBURGH, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- "I wanted to create an electric outboard motor that doesn't rely on wasteful and heavy lithium batteries that will destroy the performance of the boats they were put on," said an inventor, from Jacksonville, NC, "so I invented the HYDROGEN FUEL CELL POWERED OUTBOARD MOTOR. My design will bring in a feasible solution to the zero emissions goals of society, while reducing or eliminating the need for expensive research and development of new hulls."

The patent-pending invention provides a zero-emissions solution for marine motors which does not rely on heavy lithium batteries which will affect the performance of existing hulls. It also assists boaters in ensuring they can refuel without having to waste valuable time recharging lithium batteries. The invention features a lightweight and environmentally friendly design that is easy to operate so it is ideal for boating enthusiasts and the marine industry.

The original design was submitted to the National sales office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 21-MHO-312, InventHelp, 100 Beecham Drive, Suite 110, Pittsburgh, PA 15205-9801, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com.

SOURCE InventHelp
INX and Republic Double Down on Commitment to Transform Global Digital Asset Space

TORONTO, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The INX Digital Company, Inc. (NEO: INXD, INXATS: INX, OTCQB: INXDF) ("INX"), a US-regulated broker-dealer, ATS, and transfer agent (via its wholly owned subsidiaries), announced today the successful closing of the initial investment by OpenDeal Inc. (dba Republic ) ("Republic"), pursuant to the Subscription Agreement between INX and Republic dated June 15, 2023. Republic, a global financial firm operating a digital merchant bank and a network of investment platforms, has officially acquired 9.5% of INX's issued and outstanding shares with a US$5.25 million investment which will be paid to INX in combination of cash and Preferred B Shares of Republic, reflecting a pre-money valuation for INX of approximately US$50 million.

With this significant milestone achieved, both entities are geared to further their collaboration (pursuant to the Collaboration Agreement dated June 15, 2023, between INX and Republic), aiming to broaden the horizons of tokenization infrastructure and democratize access to digital assets on an international scale. At the closing of the investment, INX and Republic intend to enter into a prospective non-binding term sheet in connection with the purchase of all the issued and outstanding share capital of INX on a fully diluted basis by Republic in consideration for an amount of up to US$120 million.

"This is more than just a business investment; it's an investment in the future, which begins with a deep-rooted collaboration to reshape the global financial landscape. Having successfully integrated Republic's initial investment, we are now looking forward to jointly harnessing our expertise to push the boundaries of what's possible in the digital economy," remarked Shy Datika, INX CEO.

Echoing this sentiment, Kendrick Nguyen, CEO of Republic, expressed, "Our initial investment in INX is just the starting point. As we move forward together, we're not just aiming for growth, but for a complete rethink of how investors participate in digital finance, be they institutional or retail."

The Republic & INX collaboration includes the Subscription Agreement, which enables a synergy of cash and shares, and a Collaboration Agreement, which propels both parties to democratize finance and foster economic expansion by:

INX's tokenized asset services, ensuring they are available for secondary market trading on the round-the-clock INX ATS.

Seamlessly blending INX's holistic trading mechanisms for pivotal digital assets, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum , with Republic's expansive ecosystem.

and , with Republic's expansive ecosystem. Merging Republic's FX broker-dealer prowess into the INX infrastructure.

Enlisting the Republic Note on the INX ATS and integrating the INX trading platform with the comprehensive Republic Wallet

Copies of the Subscription Agreement and Collaboration Agreement have been filed on the Company's profile at www.Sedar.com . For more information about INX and its novel trading and capital-raising financial instruments for enterprises and companies worldwide, visit https://www.inx.co/ .

INX has engaged Weild Capital, LLC ("WCL") to act as its financial advisor, including in connection with the Republic investment. Pursuant to that engagement, WCL was paid a retainer fee of US$90,000 and will be paid a cash fee of US$288,750 (equal to 5.5% of the aggregate purchase price paid by Republic), and 661,452 share purchase warrants (equal to 3.0% of the shares issued to Republic). Each share purchase warrant is exercisable into one share at a price of US$0.2381. David Weild, the principal of WCL, is the chairman of the INX board. The engagement of WCL is a "related party transaction" for purposes of Multilateral Instrument 61-101  Protection of Minority Interests in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"), but is exempt from the minority approval and formal valuation requirements under MI 61-101 pursuant to sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(a) thereof. INX expects to release a material change report which will be filed less than 21 days prior to closing of the Republic investment, which INX believes reasonable in the circumstances because the engagement of WCL is on arm's length terms and was previously disclosed in INX's March 31 and June 30 financial statements and MD&A.

About INX:

INX provides regulated trading platforms for digital securities and cryptocurrencies. With the combination of traditional markets expertise and a disruptive fintech approach, INX provides state-of-the-art solutions to modern financial problems. INX is led by an experienced and dedicated team of business, finance, and technology veterans with the shared vision of redefining the world of capital markets via blockchain technology and a disciplined regulatory approach.

About The INX Digital Company, Inc.: INX is the holding company for the INX Group, which includes regulated trading platforms for digital securities and cryptocurrencies. The INX Group's vision is to be the preferred global regulated hub for digital assets on the blockchain. The INX Group's overall mission is to bring communities together and empower them with financial innovation. Our journey started with our initial public token offering of the INX Token in which we raised US$84 million. The INX Group is shaping the blockchain asset industry through its willingness to work in a regulated environment with oversight from regulators like the SEC and FINRA.

In addition to operating two regulated trading platforms for blockchain assets, INX's interdealer broker, I.L.S. Brokers, plans to offer non-deliverable cryptocurrency forwards to Tier-1 banks in the future. For more information, please visit the INX Group website here .

About Republic:

Headquartered in New York City, Republic is a global financial firm operating an enterprise-focused digital merchant bank and a network of multi-jurisdictional retail-focused investment platforms. Backed by Valor Equity Partners, Galaxy Interactive, Morgan Stanley, Hashed, AngelList and other leading institutions, Republic boasts a portfolio of over 1500 companies and a community of nearly 3M members from over 100 countries. More than $2 billion has been deployed through investment platforms, funds, and firms within the Republic family of companies. Republic has established operations in the US, the UK, the UAE, South Korea, and Singapore.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information and Other Disclosures

This press release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking information" ("forward-looking information") within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking information and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that discusses predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking information. In disclosing the forward-looking information contained in this press release, INX has made certain assumptions, including with respect to, the continuous development of the INX trading platform, the completion of the transactions described herein, the offering of non-deliverable cryptocurrency forwards, and the development of the digital asset industry. Although INX believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking information are reasonable, it can give no assurance that the expectations of any forward-looking information will prove to be correct. Known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include but are not limited to regulatory developments, the state of the digital securities and cryptocurrencies markets, and general economic conditions. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking information contained in this press release. Except as required by law, INX disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information to reflect actual results, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions, changes in factors affecting such forward-looking information or otherwise.

Neo Exchange is not responsible for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the 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.

For further information, contact:

The INX Digital Company, Inc.

Investor Relations

+1 855 657 2314

Contact: Alan Silbert

Email: [email protected]

For more information, contact:

Liz Whelan

[email protected]

(312) 315-0160

SOURCE The INX Digital Company, Inc.
DUBLIN, Aug. 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "J-Beauty Products Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Product (Skincare, Haircare, Color Cosmetics), By Type (Conventional, Organic), By Distribution Channel, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2023 - 2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global J-beauty products market size is anticipated to reach USD 45.01 billion by 2030. The market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.9% from 2023 to 2030

The increasing skincare concerns and increasing demand for organic and natural cosmetics and personal care products are driving the market's growth.



The COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the J-beauty products industry's growth. The beauty industry as a whole faced challenges during the pandemic, including supply chain disruptions, reduced consumer spending, and changing consumer priorities.

Restrictions on international travel and lockdown measures in different countries affected the production and distribution of J-beauty products. Many manufacturers faced difficulties in sourcing ingredients, packaging materials, and components, leading to delays and supply shortages.



J-Beauty Products Market Report Highlights

Based on product, the skincare segment accounted for the largest revenue share of 46.6% in 2022. This can be attributed to growing beauty and wellness consciousness among consumers and the increasing aging population

Based on type, the conventional segment dominated the market and held a share of 90.8% in 2022. This can be attributed to the low cost and easy availability of conventional J-beauty products. The organic segment is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.0% over the forecast period

Based on distribution channel, the hypermarkets/supermarkets segment dominated the market with a share of 34.6% in 2022. The hypermarkets/supermarkets offer a personalized experience to the consumers and provide discounts and other benefits which makes them a popular choice among consumers

Asia Pacific held a market share of 69.4% in 2022 due to the increasing penetration of J-beauty products and increasing consumer spending on skincare products. North America is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 4.8% over the forecast period

held a market share of 69.4% in 2022 due to the increasing penetration of J-beauty products and increasing consumer spending on skincare products. is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 4.8% over the forecast period Mergers & acquisitions, agreements, R&D activities, new product launches, and expansions are the key strategies being adopted by the companies. For instance, in August 2022 , Rey Nakajima launched a new J-beauty brand REY TOKYO in Germany . The brand was created by combining ancient beauty ingredients from Japan and the latest technology from Germany .

Competitive Landscape

Recent Developments & Impact Analysis, By Key Market Participants

Company Categorization

Participant's Overview

Financial Performance

Product Benchmarking

Company Heat Map Analysis

Strategy Mapping

Company Profiles

Shiseido Co.,Ltd.

mandom corp.

Unilever

L'Oreal Groupe (Nihon L'Oreal)

Procter & Gamble Company

Company Kao Corporation

Lion Corporation

POLA ORBIS HOLDINGS INC.

FANCL CORPORATION

CANMAKE

KOSE Corporation

Key Topics Covered:

Chapter 1 Methodology and Scope



Chapter 2 Executive Summary



Chapter 3 J-beauty Products Market: Industry Outlook

3.1 Market Introduction

3.2 Penetration and Growth Prospect Mapping

3.3 J-beauty Products Market: Value Chain Analysis

3.3.1 J-beauty Products Market: Market Dynamics

3.3.2 Market Driver Analysis

3.3.3 Market Restraint Analysis

3.3.4 Market Opportunity Analysis

3.3.5 Market Challenges Analysis

3.4 J-beauty Products Market - Porter's Five Forces Analysis

3.5 J-beauty Products Market - Market Entry Strategy

3.6 J-beauty Products Market - Impact of COVID 19



Chapter 4 J-beauty Products Market: Consumer Behavior Analysis

4.1 Demographic Analysis

4.2 Consumer Trends & Preferences

4.3 Factors Influencing Buying Behavior

4.4 Consumer Product Adoption Trends

4.5 Key Observations & Findings



Chapter 5 J-beauty Market: Product Estimates And Trend Analysis

5.1 J-beauty Products Market: Product Movement Analysis And Market Share, 2022 and 2030

5.2 Skincare

5.2.1 J-beauty Products Market Estimates And Forecasts For Skincare, 2017 - 2030 (USD Million)

5.2.2 Haircare

5.2.3 Color Cosmetics

5.2.4 Others



Chapter 6 J-beauty Market: Type Estimates And Trend Analysis

6.1 J-beauty Products Market: Type Movement Analysis And Market Share, 2022 and 2030

6.2 Conventional

6.3 Organic



Chapter 7 J-beauty Products Market: Distribution Channel Estimates And Trend Analysis

7.1 J-beauty Products Market: Distribution Channel Movement Analysis And Market Share, 2022 and 2030

7.2 Specialty Stores

7.3 Hypermarkets/Supermarkets

7.4 E-commerce

7.5 Others



Chapter 8 J-beauty Products Market: Regional Estimates And Trend Analysis

8.1 Global J-beauty Products Market: Regional Movement Analysis And Market Share, 2022 and 2030

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/3jav8s

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

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SOURCE Research and Markets
NEW YORK, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ --

WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, continues to investigate potential securities claims on behalf of shareholders of JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd (NYSE: JKS) resulting from allegations that JinkoSolar may have issued materially misleading business information to the investing public.

SO WHAT: If you purchased JinkoSolar securities you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement. The Rosen Law Firm is preparing a class action seeking recovery of investor losses.

WHAT TO DO NEXT: To join the prospective class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=16025 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email [email protected] or [email protected] for information on the class action.

WHAT IS THIS ABOUT: On May 9, 2023, before trading hours, the Jacksonville Daily Record published an article entitled "Federal agents issue search warrant at JinkoSolar plant in Cecil Commerce Center: Homeland Security said it is part of an ongoing investigation; the factory, whose parent company is in China, opened in Jacksonville in 2018." The Jacksonville Daily Record reported that "[a]ccording to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, federal agents were assisting the Department of Homeland Security with the execution of a search warrant." Further, the article cited WJXT News4Jax, stating that JinkoSolar is one of several companies under investigation by the U.S. Commerce Department for circumventing trade rules by sending products to other countries before moving them to the U.S.

On this news, JinkoSolar's American depositary receipt ("ADR") price fell $3.91 per ADR, or 8%, to close at $43.47 per ADR on May 9, 2023, on unusually heavy trading volume.

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. 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 firm's attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers.

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

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

www.rosenlegal.com

SOURCE Rosen Law Firm, P.A.
DUBLIN, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Kuwait Construction Equipment Market - Strategic Assessment & Forecast 2023-2029" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Kuwait construction equipment market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.15% from 2022 to 2029



Earthmoving equipment accounted for the largest Kuwait construction equipment market share in 2022. Excavators in the earthmoving segment accounted for the largest share in 2022. Rising investment in housing, warehouse expansion, and public infrastructure projects is expected to drive the demand for excavators in the market.

In Dec 2022, the Kuwaiti government planned constructing eight bridges on the Al-Nawaseeb Road. In Kuwait, Al-Nawaseeb Road is one of the country's main roads from the Kuwaiti capital to Saudi Arabia. The total length of the bridges will be 1,736 meters. The construction of this superstructure started in 2020.

In 2022, Kuwait's Council of Ministers General Secretariat (CMGS) awarded the license for developing four sites on the 36 km Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Al-Sabah Causeway. The commercial aspects of the project will include retail, hospitality, health, wellness, food and beverage, and serviced apartments. The project is estimated to be completed by the end of 2026 and is estimated to contribute to the Kuwait construction equipment market growth.

Caterpillar, Volvo CE, Komatsu, Liebherr, Hitachi Construction Equipment, XCMG, and Zoomlion are leaders in the Kuwait construction equipment market. These companies have a strong market share and offer diverse sets of equipment. In 2020, Kuwait International Airport received eight cranes (T285-120V) from Zoomlion. These cranes marked the highest tonnage tower cranes exported by China.

In February 2023, Kuwait approved nearly USD 2.76 billion for 110 projects planned during fiscal year 2023-2024. The projects mainly include the airport's expansion, the Silk City's development, and the railway network across the country. Construction of the Jaber Al Ahmad New City is in progress, which, once completed, will respond to the needs of Kuwait's rapidly growing population.

The city is located 25 km west of Kuwait City. It is designed to include a new self-supporting community and accommodate around 80,000 people on a plot of over 12.4 million square meters.

MARKET TRENDS & DRIVERS

Kuwait's National Development Plan and Investments in Public Infrastructure to Propel the Kuwait Construction Equipment Market

The Vision has established high importance to Kuwait's national infrastructure, with investments hitting as high as USD 27 billion in the bidding stage. New Kuwait will build on the recent urban development and housing momentum by introducing new master plan developments and cities.

Plan also aims to develop the country's tourism sector to yield surplus revenue and create a new employment pool and plans to further enhance the country's transportation and power sectors by building on the recent success of the Independent Water and Power Plant (IWPP) and Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects.

Increased Renewable Energy Projects in the Country Will Propel the Demand for Material Handling Equipment

As of February 2022, a 30 MW solar PV plant was planned in Al Jahra, Kuwait, named Subiya Water Storage Solar PV Plant. The plant is expected to be built in one step. Construction is expected to start in 2023, and the plant should be ready for business in 2025.

The government planned to build a 5GW solar power complex in the country's north. In addition, solar capacity is planned installed capacity at Shagaya by 2030 with an investment of USD 20 million.

Robust Growth in the Development of Ports to Boost the Sales of Overhead Cranes in the Kuwait Construction Equipment Market

Kout Food Group (KGF), in 2021, inaugurated its 16,000-square-metre warehouse for a storage, distribution center, and truck park at the Agility Logistics Park (ALP) in Sulaibiya. Moreover, in March 2023, Ad Ports Group announced the launch of a new shipping service that will improve commercial and logistic connectivity to Qatar and Kuwait.

In addition to it, Kuwait also planned to launch a global auction to develop and operate a brand-new cargo village next to the Kuwait International Airport (KWI). The new cargo village set to be built west of KWI is part of a three-stage long-term master plan stretching to 2050 to expand air traffic and shipping operations in the Gulf state.

MARKET RESTRAINTS

Housing Crises in the Region Hamper the Sales of Construction Equipment in the Region

The lack of available housing has increased housing costs, making privately owned homes less affordable. One of the government's reports also mentioned that the price-to-income ratio of affording a house in Kuwait is the worst among GCC countries. Therefore, the residential price-to-income ratio in Kuwait is higher than that of cities such as London or New York and approximately three times that of Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Another reason that can be mapped out that stimulated the crises is that the government owns 90% of the land in Kuwait and regulates residential real estate development through parceling and allocation of land plots.

The Skilled Labour Shortage in the Country Hampers the Pace of Construction Projects

Many Kuwaitis prefer to work in the public sector, leading to a shortage of skilled workers in the construction, healthcare, and IT industries. The lack of government projects also prompted many Kuwaiti companies to flee to more active and lively neighboring markets, which harmed the Kuwait construction equipment market.

Around 205,000 expatriates working in the private sector left Kuwait in 2021, which has also hampered local businesses. One of the government reports pointed out that in 2021, about 41,200 domestic workers left Kuwait permanently. Domestic workers currently constitute around 22.8% of the workforce in Kuwait, of 2.7 million.

KEY QUESTIONS ANSWERED:

How big is the Kuwait construction equipment market?

construction equipment market? What is the growth rate of the Kuwait construction equipment market?

construction equipment market? Who are the key players in the Kuwait construction equipment market?

construction equipment market? What are the trends in the Kuwait construction equipment industry?

construction equipment industry? Which are the major distributor companies in the Kuwait construction equipment market?

SEGMENTATION ANALYSIS

Earthmoving Equipment

Excavator

Backhoe Loaders

Wheeled Loaders

Other Earthmoving Equipment (Other loaders, Bulldozers, Trenchers)

Road Construction Equipment

Road Rollers

Asphalt Pavers

Material Handling Equipment

Crane

Forklift & Telescopic Handlers

Aerial Platforms (Articulated Boom Lifts, Telescopic Boom lifts, Scissor lifts)

Other Construction Equipment

Dumper

Tipper

Concrete Mixture

Concrete Pump Truck

End Users

Construction

Mining

Manufacturing

Others (Power Generation, Utilities Municipal Corporations, Oil & Gas, Cargo Handling, Power Generation Plants, Waste Management)

VENDOR LANDSCAPE

Prominent Vendors

Caterpillar

Komatsu

Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group Co. Ltd. (XCMG)

Liebherr

Volvo Construction Equipment

Hitachi Construction Machinery

Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science & Technology Co. Ltd

JCB

SANY

Other Prominent Vendors

Hyundai Construction Equipment

Kobelco

Liu Gong

Tadano

CNH Industrial

Terex Corporation

SDLG

MERLO Group

Distributor Profiles

Alghanim Equipment

Emdad Equipment &Oil Field Supplier

Arab Group for Equipment and Construction (AGECO)

Mohamed Abdulrahman Al-Bahar

EQUIP

RIHAM

Boodai Trading Company Ltd. W.L.L.

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/tqc5do

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
Real estate technology leader seeking qualified candidates to join growing, industry-best team

SANTA BARBARA, Calif., Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Yardi encourages workers in the real estate technology space, especially those impacted by recent layoffs, to consider joining its world-class team.

The company's careers site features openings in a variety of disciplines across the U.S. Yardi covers 100% of healthcare premiums, sponsors a best-in-class parental leave program, provides tuition reimbursement and offers annual profit-sharing.

"For 40 years, we have enjoyed conservative, steady growth by taking care of our customers, employees and communities around the world. We have never had layoffs or an unprofitable year, and we're always seeking to hire," said Kevin Yardi, the company's vice president of global solutions.

Yardi is the only real estate technology company on the Forbes Cloud 100 list of the world's best private cloud computing companies and is one of Glassdoor's top 100 places to work.

Yardi also invites real estate owners and managers, especially those experiencing declining customer service levels or price increases, to contact [email protected] . Learn about our cutting-edge software platforms and potentially join a global roster of satisfied customers.

About Yardi

Yardi develops industry-leading software for all types and sizes of real estate companies across the world. With over 9,000 employees, Yardi is working with our clients to drive significant innovation in the real estate industry. For more information on how Yardi is Energized for Tomorrow, visit yardi.com .

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/737275/Yardi_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Yardi
Black Lotus Labs threat intel reveals "HiatusRat" is back, also targeting Taiwanese organizations

DENVER, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Black Lotus Labs  the threat intelligence arm of Lumen Technologies (NYSE: LUMN)  discovered a complex campaign in March 2023 called " HiatusRAT " that infected business-grade routers globally. Continuous monitoring of HiatusRAT reveals the threat actors are back and using the malware to target Taiwanese organizations and research U.S. military websites.

Read the full analysis in Black Lotus Labs' latest blog titled, "No rest for the wicked: HiatusRAT takes little time off in a return to action."

Continuous monitoring of HiatusRAT reveals the threat actors continued their operations nearly unabated. Tweet this

"Black Lotus Labs' role is to keep the internet safe, so consumers and businesses stay safe," said Mark Dehus, director of threat intelligence at Lumen Black Lotus Labs. "Sophisticated threat actors, especially those sponsored by nation states, are exploiting edge routers and similar devices. They use malware like HiatusRAT to discreetly gain access to these devices and covertly run their espionage and criminal networks without the device owners' knowledge. It's a warning that businesses must act now to avoid their infrastructure becoming part of adversaries' ongoing operations."

What businesses and consumers should consider

Lumen implemented countermeasures to help protect customers from this threat and disrupt its operations.

Using comprehensive Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) or similar solutions that use VPN-based access can protect data and bolster their security posture.

Enabling the latest cryptographic protocols can help protect data in transit; consider only using email services which rely upon SSL and TLS.

Consumers with self-managed routers should follow best practices and regularly monitor, reboot, and install security updates and patches. End-of-life devices should be replaced with vendor-supported models to ensure patching against known vulnerabilities.

Why this threat is a concern

In the past year alone, Black Lotus Labs discovered three malware campaigns that utilized compromised business-grade and small office/home office (SOHO) routers, and the infosec industry has observed activity against several verticals by China-based actors .

Latest HiatusRAT findings and Black Lotus Labs response

Initial HiatusRAT reporting showed the threat actor was targeting organizations in Latin America and Europe . Beginning in June 2023 , however, the group's focus shifted.

and . Beginning in , however, the group's focus shifted. The entities targeted in the latest campaign are consistent with the strategic interest of the People's Republic of China according, to a 2023 ODNI threat assessment.

of according, to a 2023 ODNI threat assessment. Black Lotus Labs has null-routed the new Hiatus command and control (C2) servers across the Lumen global backbone. The team also added the Indicators of Compromise (IoCs) from this campaign into Rapid Threat Defense  the automated threat detection and response capability that fuels Lumen's security product portfolio by blocking threats before they reach the customer's network.

Additional resources

Read about Black Lotus Labs' initial discovery of HiatusRAT.

of HiatusRAT. See Black Lotus Labs' other router-based malware discoveries: ZuoRAT and AVrecon .

and . Learn about how Black Lotus Labs leverages its network visibility to help protect customers and keep the internet clean.

leverages its network visibility to help protect customers and keep the internet clean. See how Lumen SASE Solutions provides simplified network access, security and management on the Lumen Platform.

provides simplified network access, security and management on the Lumen Platform. Learn how Lumen Rapid Threat Defense uses global threat intelligence from Black Lotus Labs as a countermeasure to block threats before they reach the customer's environment.

About Black Lotus Labs

Black Lotus Labs is the threat intelligence team at Lumen. Our mission is to leverage our visibility into the Lumen network to protect businesses and keep the internet clean. We're defenders of a clean internet, proactively disrupting ~150 C2s per month through takedowns and notifications.

About Lumen Technologies

Lumen connects the world. We are dedicated to furthering human progress through technology by connecting people, data, and applications  quickly, securely, and effortlessly. Everything we do at Lumen takes advantage of our network strength. From metro connectivity to long-haul data transport to our edge cloud, security, and managed service capabilities, we meet our customers' needs today and as they build for tomorrow. For news and insights visit news.lumen.com , LinkedIn: /lumentechnologies, Twitter: @lumentechco, Facebook: /lumentechnologies, Instagram: @lumentechnologies, and YouTube: /lumentechnologies.

SOURCE Lumen Black Lotus Labs
LONDON, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Mastercard, a global leader in payment solutions, recently announced Fluency as its CBDC partner, as part of plans to capitalise on the growing interest in CBDCs.

Fluency's world-leading deep expertise and innovative technological capabilities will provide a greater understanding of the benefits of CBDCs, and how to implement them in a way that is seamless, secure, scalable and useful in order to drive innovation for Mastercard and its clients as CBDCs continue to evolve.

Inga Mullins, CEO at Fluency, said: "We are delighted at Fluency to be part of this exciting and forward-thinking partnership with Mastercard helping CBDC networks seamlessly bridge transactions between different types of CBDC: account and token-based, retail and wholesale, multi-CBDC with tokenized assets and regulated stablecoins."

Other key players selected to the global CBDC program include platform Ripple, blockchain and Web3 software company ConsenSys, digital identity technology provider Idemia, digital identity consultant Consult Hyperion, security technology group Giesecke+Devrient and digital asset operations platform Fireblocks.

Raj Dhamodharan, Head, Digital Assets and Blockchain, at Mastercard, says: "We believe in payment choice and that interoperability across the different ways of making payments is an essential component of a flourishing economy.

"As we look ahead toward a digitally driven future, it will be essential that the value held as a CBDC is as easy to use as other forms of money."

About Fluency

Fluency is an appointed member of the world's key CBDC boards working directly with the major central banks and governments on their CBDC design features, implementation strategy and policy for 23 countries globally including the European Central Bank and the Bank of England.

SOURCE Fluency
STOCKHOLM, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Continued strong momentum and promising signs of patient benefit in the combination study with fostrox and Lenvima

April  June

Financial summary for the quarter

Net turnover amounted to SEK 2.0 (0.5) million.

(0.5) million. The loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounted to SEK -26.3

(-21.5) million. Basic and diluted earnings per share amounted to SEK -0.47 (-0.42) and SEK -0.47 (-0.42) respectively.

(-21.5) million. Basic and diluted earnings per share amounted to (-0.42) and (-0.42) respectively. Cash flow from operating activities amounted to SEK -17.9 (-17.6) million.

(-17.6) million. Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period amounted to SEK 82.8 (162.8) million.

Significant events during the quarter

In April, new data were presented showing synergistic anti-tumor effect of fostrox in triple combination with anti-PD1 and Lenvima  in non-clinical tumor models.

in non-clinical tumor models. Medivir's patent application for fostrox was approved by the patent authority in China .

January  June

Financial summary for the period

Net turnover amounted to SEK 2.4 (1.0) million.

(1.0) million. The loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounted to SEK -45.2

(-52.9) million. Basic and diluted earnings per share amounted to SEK -0.81 (-1.00) and SEK -0.81 (-1.00) respectively.

(-52.9) million. Basic and diluted earnings per share amounted to (-1.00) and (-1.00) respectively. Cash flow from operating activities amounted to SEK -34.1 (-57.5) million.

(-57.5) million. Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period amounted to SEK 82.8 (162.8) million.

Events after the end of the period

In August, Medivir's Scientific Advisory Council was formed, consisting of five world-leading experts in liver cancer.

In August, the 15th patient was included in the phase 2a study with fostrox in combination with Lenvima, which shows promising tumor control and good tolerability.

Conference call for investors, analysts and the media

The Interim Report January - June 2023 will be presented by Medivir's CEO, Jens Lindberg.

Time: Friday, August 18, 2023, at 14.00 (CET).

For dial-in numbers to the conference call, please see information on the website; www.medivir.com/investors/calendar

The conference call will also be streamed via a link on the website: www.medivir.com

The presentation will be available on Medivir's website after completion of the conference.

CEO's message

The inclusion of patients with primary liver cancer (HCC) in the phase 2a part of the combination study, where fostrox is given in combination with Lenvima, has continued rapidly. The strong interest, both from investigators and patients, has contributed to us already being able to include 15 patients in the study at the beginning of August. We also see promising signs of patient benefit in the study.



Our clinical development of fostroxacitabine bralpamide (fostrox) has so far shown good results and been met by great interest. The medical need for a new, effective treatment in HCC is very large and the strong interest in participating in the combination study is a confirmation that the combination fostrox and Lenvima is seen as a potentially attractive treatment option. The fact that Lenvima today is established as a standard treatment for second-line HCC means that the combination of fostrox and Lenvima has clear potential to provide patients with an increased clinical benefit from their treatment.



The very promising signs of patient benefit in the study strengthen our belief that fostrox can become a valuable drug in the treatment of HCC. 7 of the first 10 patients have sustained tumor control in the liver after three months of treatment and the patient who has benefited the longest remains on treatment after 12 months with maintained tumor shrinkage. We also see that the majority of patients have stabilized their disease and remain on fostrox + Lenvima, despite the fact that all patients have discontinued previous treatment due to tumor growth.



The safety and tolerability profile of treatment with fostrox and Lenvima remains promising. The proportion of patients who had to reduce their dose of Lenvima is lower than expected and only 1 out of a total of 21 patients had to stop treatment due to side effects with fostrox. We look forward to presenting clinical data in more detail from the ongoing study at an upcoming scientific congress.



At AACR in April, we presented new data on synergistic anti-tumor effect of fostrox in triple combination with anti-PD1 and Lenvima in non-clinical tumor models. These data show that fostrox's unique liver-directed mechanism of action opens up completely new combinations with three different approaches to effectively treat HCC.



In June, the dose escalation part was completed also for the second combination arm of the phase 1b study, with fostrox in combination with the anti-PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor Keytruda. With our choice of fostrox in combination with Lenvima for the second-line treatment, we will, based on an established and safe dose in the combination fostrox + Keytruda, explore the possibility of fostrox as a triple combination partner with immunotherapy in first-line HCC.



I am very pleased that we have introduced our newly established Scientific Advisory Council where we have succeeded in attracting some of the world's leading experts on liver cancer. The scientific advisory council, with its expertise and clinical experience, will be very important for the continued development of fostrox.



Regarding our out-licensed projects, IGM Biosciences is studying a fifth cohort in the company's clinical phase 1 study in solid tumors with our clinical project birinapant in combination with its own DR5 agonist antibody IGM-8444, now called aplitabart. Furthermore, both Tango Therapeutics and INFEX Therapeutics intend to initiate phase 1 programs in 2023/2024 with preclinical programs (USP1 and MBLI respectively) previously in-licensed from Medivir.



The clinical development of fostrox remains in focus and the great interest in the ongoing study as well as the promising signs of patient benefit have strengthened our belief that fostrox can become an effective treatment against liver cancer that makes a real difference for patients and thus also for our shareholders. I look forward to keeping you informed of Medivir's continued development.



Jens Lindberg

Chief Executive Officer

For further information, please contact

Magnus Christensen, CFO

Phone: +46 (0)8 5468 3100

E-mail: [email protected]

This report has not been subject to auditors' review.

The information was submitted for publication at 08.30 CET on August 18, 2023.

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/652/3819521/2235014.pdf Full report (PDF)

SOURCE Medivir
Recognition marks 10th consecutive year MidFirst Bank wins "Best Bank" in Oklahoma City

OKLAHOMA CITY, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Oklahoman announced today that MidFirst Bank was named "Best Bank" in Oklahoma City in its annual Community's Choice Awards, marking the 10th consecutive year the bank received the distinction.

Previously known as Readers' Choice Awards, the Community's Choice Awards invites members of the community to nominate and vote for their favorite companies in more than 180 categories. A broad range of businesses are chosen for their outstanding service and commitment to the local community. MidFirst Bank was one of five finalists in the banking category.

"To be selected by Oklahomans as the Community's Choice Awards 'Best Bank' in Oklahoma City for the 10th time is an immense honor," said MidFirst Chief Executive Officer Jeff Records. "On behalf of MidFirst Bank, we are grateful for this distinction by our clients, community members and friends. Our employees' unmatched customer service and commitment to the communities in which MidFirst serves makes this kind of recognition possible."

Winners of the Community's Choice Awards were recognized in a printed winners' edition of The Oklahoman, as well as online at Oklahoman.com. Winners were also honored at a celebratory gala.

About MidFirst Bank

With $36.5 billion in assets, Oklahoma City-based MidFirst Bank is the largest privately owned bank in the nation and provides commercial lending, wealth management, private banking and mortgage servicing nationally. MidFirst Bank has banking centers in Oklahoma, Arizona, Colorado, Texas and California. MidFirst Bank serves California through 1st Century Bank, a division of MidFirst Bank.

SOURCE MidFirst Bank
Officials from Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam are seeking the return of antiquities from the Denver Art Museum (DAM), saying that they were stolen from heritage sites and ancient temples in Southeast Asia.

Government representatives from these countries sent letters to the museum in May and June through US investigators about eight items and the lack of legal export permits. According to the Denver Post, which first reported the news, the museum did not respond. The museum also did not submit a statement to ARTnews in regard to these letters by press time.

More from Robb Report

Out of the eight items that Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam want returned, six were donated to the DAM by art scholar and former museum trustee Emma C. Bunker. Only one of the items, a 19th-century gilded bronze Buddha, came with any provenance information, but Bunker said she purchased it in 2012 from the London art dealer Jonathan Tucker. Tucker told DAM he acquired the Buddha from a private English collection but did not give the museum a name or contact information.

Before her death in 2021, Bunker had a close relationship with Douglas Latchford. The dealer and art collector is widely believed to have sold looted items to several major museums, resulting in dozens of works being repatriated by his estate, collectors who were his clients, and US government officials. Tucker was also an associate of Latchford.

Bunker and Latchford collaborated in a decades-long trafficking operation to legitimize Khmer antiquities, detailed in a three-part investigative report published by the Denver Post last December. Bunker and Latchfords alleged methods included strategizing about how to forge signatures necessary for the import and sale of the antiquities, authoring books that gave further reliance to Latchfords looted objects, and personally vouching for items that Bunker knew to have falsified provenance documents. Attorney Bradley J. Gordon described Latchford as using DAM like a laundromat through the museums display of loaned and gifted items that helped him establish a clean reputation for his other pieces.

Story continues

In recent years, especially after the publication of the Denver Posts investigation, DAM has returned some of the looted items, removed Bunkers name from a gallery wall in March, and returned $185,000 that the former trustee and her family had donated as part of a naming agreement. DAM also ended an Asian art acquisition fund dedicated in Bunkers honor after her death in 2021.

The Bunker Gallery, featuring Southeast Asian art, in the Denver Art Museums Martin Building. The name was removed in March, 2023 after an investigation by the Denver Post.

However, DAM still holds more than 200 items from Bunkers collection, with countries like Thailand and Vietnam requesting their return. The artifacts include a 2,000 year-old 9-inch-tall bronze dagger with a standing human figure on its handle and a 12th-century Buddha.

According to the Denver Post, the US Department of Homeland Security has been investigating the origins of the Southeast Asian pieces since last year.

DAM spokesperson Kristy Bassuener told the Denver Post in an email that the museum formally deaccessionedor removed from its collectionfive of the donated pieces in March. The museum is working with the US government to ensure their return, she said.

The museum has cooperated with the U.S. government, including producing all requested materials, and will continue to do so as it responds to the governments inquiries in its ongoing work to ensure the integrity of its collections, Bassuener said.

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Click here to read the full article.
One of West Michigan's Premier Running Events Has Raised

Over $1,300,000 to Help Fight Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

WASHINGTON, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- For 25 years, residents of Rockford, Michigan have supported the mission of Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD), a nonprofit organization leading the fight to end Duchenne muscular dystrophy (Duchenne), by participating in Mitchell's Run Thru Rockford. Created and organized by the Peterson family, in honor of their son Mitchell, this 5K and Kids for Kids Fun Run has attracted runners and families from across West Michigan raising over $1,300,000 to date for PPMD. The 25th Annual Mitchell's Run Thru Rockford will be held on Saturday, August 19.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is the most common fatal genetic disorder diagnosed in childhood, affecting approximately one in every 5,000 live male births.

"When we started Mitchell's Run, we never dreamed it would become such a success. 25 years later, the event continues to grow, and we are overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support from our community," said Sandy Peterson, Mitchell's mother and the race organizer since its inception. "PPMD has supported our family since Mitchell's diagnosis just before his third birthday, and we are proud to help the organization in its mission to end Duchenne. We are so grateful to all the families that have participated in Mitchell's Run over the last 25 years, and we look forward to many more great races to come. We are also grateful to Lauren King and Jen Aldrich, this year's Race Directors, who jumped in with both feet to organize and execute a fantastic race experience for all!"

Since its inception, Mitchell's Run has donated 100% of all proceeds from the event to PPMD to help fund Duchenne research. In 2013, PPMD awarded the race with a Change It Champion Award in recognition of their 15-year anniversary. The event has been designated by Classic Race Management as "One of the Premier Running Events in West Michigan," as well as being named "Most Organized Event in Rockford."

"Mitchell and the Peterson family have been beloved members of the PPMD community since Mitchell was diagnosed, and their support and dedication to the organization's mission over the last 25 years has been integral to our success. We are incredibly grateful for their energy, passion, and ability to inspire and motivate other families in the Duchenne community to host events of their own," said Pat Furlong, Founding President & CEO of PPMD.

It's not too late to join the fun! Register for the 25th Annual Mitchell's Run Thru Rockford on August 19, 2023. Click here to learn more.

About Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy

Duchenne is a fatal genetic disorder that slowly robs people of their muscle strength. Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD) fights every single battle necessary to end Duchenne.

We demand optimal care standards and ensure every family has access to expert healthcare providers, cutting edge treatments, and a community of support. We invest deeply in treatments for this generation of Duchenne patients and in research that will benefit future generations. Our advocacy efforts have secured hundreds of millions of dollars in funding and won five FDA approvals.

Everything we doand everything we have done since our founding in 1994helps those with Duchenne live longer, stronger lives. We will not rest until we end Duchenne for every single person affected by the disease. Join our fight against Duchenne at EndDuchenne.org . Follow PPMD on Facebook , Twitter , Instagram , and YouTube .

SOURCE Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD)
SEATTLE, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A new era of laser engraving has arrived with an innovative machine that is making waves in the industry. Developed by Monport Laser, this technology is reshaping the landscape for small businesses and presenting numerous benefits across sectors such as signage, advertising, packaging, fashion, and home improvement. With its remarkable ability to engrave on diverse materials, maker spaces can take their creativity to new heights and diversify their product range.

Impacting Small Businesses and Industries

Monport's laser engraving machine is having a significant influence on small businesses and numerous industries, fueling a wave of innovation and growth. From custom signage and effective advertising to creative packaging and personalized clothing, the versatility of laser engravers is reshaping these sectors and offering businesses a competitive edge. Monport's technology allows for precise and detailed engravings on a wide range of materials, including wood, acrylic, metal, glass, and more, enabling small businesses to enhance their branding, product quality, and customer experiences.

Expanding the Creative Landscape for Makerspaces

The integration of Monport's laser engravers in maker spaces is revolutionizing the creative landscape for crafters, artisans, and hobbyists. With its advanced technology, maker space owners can now offer laser engraving services to their customers, opening up new revenue streams and expanding their artistic capabilities. The versatility of the laser engraver allows for unique and intricate designs on various materials, giving maker spaces the tools they need to bring their creative visions to life.

Unleashing Creativity and Innovation

The Monport laser engraver cutter is propelling creativity and innovation to new heights. Artists, designers, and DIY enthusiasts are now able to explore new possibilities and push boundaries in their respective fields. Whether to create stunning wood engravings, intricate glass etchings, or personalized home improvement projects, Monport's laser cutter provides the precision and versatility needed to transform ideas into reality.

Creating Opportunities for Growth

Monport's groundbreaking technology is transforming the laser engraving industry, presenting new prospects for both individuals and businesses to expand and prosper. Integrating a laser engraving and cutting machine in their creative spaces, makers, entrepreneurs, and small business owners can cater to the surging demand for personalized and high-quality products with ease. Monport's versatile laser engraver is equipped to meet this demand for flawlessly crafted customizations, setting a new standard of excellence in the industry.

Founder and CEO of Monport Laser, Darren, said: "Our company's inaugural mission marks a significant milestone in this field, promising limitless opportunities for laser creators. Our team remains dedicated to pushing the boundaries of innovation, ensuring that we are at the forefront of this dynamic industry."

Monport's triumphant launch of its laser engraving machine marks a new era in the industry. It provides a wealth of opportunities for growth, innovation, and progress by empowering businesses, maker spaces, and the creative landscape with cutting-edge technology.

SOURCE Monport Laser
The company will also be exhibiting at Semicon Taiwan, the most influential semiconductor event in Taiwan

TEMPE, Ariz. and TAIPEI, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Moov , the largest and fastest growing global marketplace for used semiconductor equipment, today announced it will be expanding its presence in Taipei with a new office located in Taipei and dedicated staff on the ground. The company will also be exhibiting at Semicon Taiwan booth N1191 (Hall 1  4F).

"We are excited and humbled by our success in the world's most important semiconductor manufacturing market," said Steven Zhou, co-founder and CEO of Moov Technologies. "We already work with over 700 companies in the region to help end users source equipment to meet their production needs and easily offload idle assets. Our expansion in the region will continue to support our end-to-end procurement and resale capabilities, including inspection, logistics, and assurance services."

Moov, the largest global marketplace for used semiconductor equipment, will be expanding its presence in Taipei. Tweet this

To support expansion in the region, Moov has hired 5 full-time employees in its new Taipei office, including sales manager Joe Tseng, who joins Moov from Keyence Corporation where he served as National Sales Director.

While political tides are changing when it comes to an international semiconductor supply chain, Moov's global marketplace for buying and selling pre-owned semiconductor manufacturing equipment helps chipmakers continue to benefit from the global trade of these high value, highly sought-after assets, while staying in line with current trade regulations.

"There is immense value in enabling fabrication centers to buy and sell equipment from other fabrication centers around the world," said Zhou. "The world's demand for chips will continue to grow. To meet it, a secondary market for semiconductor manufacturing equipment is critical to provide manufacturers with increased flexibility to adapt to changing markets."

Moov's announcement comes at a time when semiconductor equipment manufacturers are also planning increased investment to support the local TSMC foundry ecosystem, according to reporting by Digitimes . According to data from SEMI, the world's leading trade association for electronics design and manufacturing supply chain, Taiwan currently leads the world in spending on semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Easy access to equipment is critical for fabrication centers looking to expand local capacity quickly.

"One aspect we pride ourselves on at Moov is our ability to get fabrication centers the tools they need expediently and seamlessly, and to provide transparency throughout the procurement process," said Moov's Director of Customer Success, Raymond Mahon. "We're able to expedite the turnaround time on obtaining a replacement tool by months. In operating costs, this could equate to hundreds of millions of dollars. In addition, Moov's platform provides transparency in buying used equipment, where historically there has been none. Knowing exactly where and how your cargo is being transported is vital given the high-dollar value of this equipment."

Additionally, Moov eliminates purchase risk for manufacturers sourcing used equipment with its no-questions-asked, money-back guarantee, according to SEMI , the California-based global association that represents the electronics and supply-chain design industries.

If you are a company in the region looking to buy or sell semiconductor manufacturing equipment, contact [email protected].

About Moov Technologies Inc.

Headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, and Austin, Texas, Moov is a technology-driven marketplace and asset management platform that matches buyers and sellers of pre-owned semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Built by a team with more than 50 years of experience in the manufacturing equipment brokerage industry, Moov's platform ensures accurate listings and faster transactions. CEO Steven Zhou and Managing Director Maxam Yeung co-founded the company in 2017. To learn more, please visit Moov.co .

SOURCE Moov Technologies
The company's U.S. businesses, brands and employees are joining relief efforts through in-kind and monetary donations

ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- To help support the communities impacted by the wildfires in Hawaii, Nestle is activating across its U.S. businesses and brands to provide immediate and long-term relief efforts through in-kind and monetary donations. Today, Nestle USA committed a $175,000 donation benefitting the Hawaii Community Foundation's Maui Strong Fund, which will help support the evolving needs of those impacted, such as providing shelter, food, and financial assistance.

"We are devastated for the people of Lahaina, Maui and Hawaii, who are currently facing an incomprehensible level of loss in the aftermath of last week's deadly wildfires," said Steve Presley, CEO of Nestle North America. "Supporting the communities we serve is part of who we are at Nestle. We know that the journey to recovery will be a long one, and our teams are continuing to work with our partners to support the people, pets and communities on the ground."

All business divisions of Nestle USAwhich span brands such as Coffee mate, DiGiorno, S.Pellegrino, Nestle Toll House, Stouffer's, Nescafe, Maggi, Gerber and Chef-matemobilized to contribute funds to the donation. The company is also leveraging its internal giving platform to match up to $25,000 of voluntary donations from employees, which will directly support organizations providing emergency shelter, supplies, food, water, and recovery efforts, including The American Red Cross, the Hawaii Community Foundation Maui Strong Fund, and the Maui Food Bank.

To date, Nestle's U.S. businesses have joined forces to contribute more than $500,000 to relief and recovery efforts through in-kind food and beverage donations and monetary donations, including:

Purina is donating $25,000 to Greater Good Charities to support recovery efforts for people and animals in Hawaii .

to Greater Good Charities to support recovery efforts for people and animals in . Nestle Health Science is making a $25,000 donation to Feeding America's Disaster Relief Fund, where the funds will help provide aid, food, and supplies to areas devastated by disaster, such as those impacted in Maui .

donation to Feeding America's Disaster Relief Fund, where the funds will help provide aid, food, and supplies to areas devastated by disaster, such as those impacted in . Essentia Water is working with community partner Baby2Baby to provide more than 2,000 cases of water to help address the unsafe water advisory and ongoing crisis on the island.

is working with community partner Baby2Baby to provide more than 2,000 cases of water to help address the unsafe water advisory and ongoing crisis on the island. Nestle Professional is donating nearly 40,000 pounds of Sweet Earth  burgers and chik'n nuggets to help provide food to those impacted.

burgers and chik'n nuggets to help provide food to those impacted. Gerber is partnering with Feeding America to donate thousands of pounds of baby food to benefit local food banks.

Nestle in the U.S. will continue to explore ways to support the communities impacted as recovery and relief efforts continue. To support ongoing relief efforts, consider making a donation to the Hawaii Community Foundation's Maui Strong Fund.

About Nestle in the U.S.

Nestle in the United States is committed to unlocking the power of food to enhance quality of life for everyone, today and for generations to come. We are transforming our product portfolio by focusing on high-growth categories, including pet care, coffee, premium water, consumer health and out-of-home platforms. With more than 30,000 employees across 28 states, Nestle in the U.S. offers a wide portfolio of food and beverage products for people and their pets. As Nestle S.A.'s largest market, Nestle in the U.S. consists of four main businesses: Nestle USA, Nespresso, Nestle Health Science, and Nestle Purina PetCare Company. For more information, visit Nestleusa.com.

SOURCE Nestle USA
FORT WORTH, Texas, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Olympus Property, a leading real estate investment and property management company, recently completed the strategic acquisition of Trailside Apartments. This vibrant 111-unit apartment community was built in 2020 and is situated in the heart of Flagstaff, Arizona. Olympus currently owns and operates Mountain Trail Apartments, also built by Chason Affinity Companies, less than 1 mile from Trailside. Olympus's success at Mountain Trail paved the way for the recent acquisition of Trailside as Olympus continues to expand its portfolio in the Southwest.

Olympus Property Acquires Trailside Apartments in Flagstaff, AZ

Apartment fundamentals in Flagstaff remain robust as strong in-migration converges with a lack of supply. This imbalance has led to higher-than-expected rent growth and demand for rental housing. "Trailside is an opportunity for Olympus to expand our footprint in an extremely supply-constrained market with exceptional fundamentals," notes Executive Managing Director, Chase Bennett. "As owners of Trailside's sister property, Mountain Trail, Olympus is confident that our team will enhance the Property's operations upon takeover and achieve the same operational success as seen at Mountain Trail."

Trailside Apartments benefits from its desirable location, situated near the I-40 / Route 66, which provides residents seamless access to crucial economic centers within the city. The area boasts a thriving network of over 1,000 businesses and a workforce of 42,900 predominantly within the government, healthcare, and education sectors. Most notably, Trailside is less than a mile away from Northern Arizona University (NAU), a prominent institution and the largest employer in the region. With an enrollment of 21,000 students and a faculty-staff cohort of 4,000, NAU significantly contributes to the local economy's vibrancy. In addition, the community offers access to the Flagstaff Regional Medical Center, another premier local employment hub. This medical facility employs over 2,200 professionals and serves a staggering 700,000 patients each year. The medical center's recent announcement of a $750M expansion underscores the city's steadfast dedication to fostering job growth and retaining top-tier local talent.

Trailside Apartments offers a selection of inviting studio, one-, and two-bedroom floor plans, ranging from 463 sq. ft. to 951 sq. ft. Apartment amenities combine quality and comfort including 9-foot ceilings, hardwood floors, stainless steel appliances, private balconies and patios, in-unit washer and dryers, scenic views, and detached garages in select units. Residents at the property also have access to a selection of top tier community amenities, including a clubhouse, business center, fitness center, steam room, and an outdoor fireplace.

Please direct all inquiries to Jeff Evans at 325-829-8844 and [email protected], or Braden Barr at 415-686-0232 and [email protected].

For more information please visit: www.OlympusProperty.com.

SOURCE Olympus Property
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Resecurity, Inc. (USA), a global cybersecurity solutions provider protecting Fortune 100 and government agencies worldwide, has soared to impressive heights as it clinched the coveted Gold and Silver awards in the esteemed 2023 Cybersecurity Excellence Awards. This triumphant feat was accomplished in two distinct categories: 'Threat Detection, Intelligence and Response - NORTH AMERICA' and 'Third Party Risk Management (TPRM) - NORTH AMERICA', solidifying Resecurity's position as a leader in tackling multifaceted cybersecurity challenges head-on.

Winner

The Cybersecurity Excellence Awards, an annual event orchestrated by Cybersecurity Insiders, serves as a powerful testament to the commitment, innovation, and leadership exhibited by individuals and companies in the domain of information security. In a competitive landscape, Resecurity's triumph was not merely a consequence of its nomination strength but was fortified by the resounding endorsement of its peers within the cybersecurity community.

Gene Yoo, the astute CEO of Resecurity, expressed his elation at the company's recognition in these pivotal cybersecurity market domains within the United States and Canada. He emphasized the company's unwavering dedication to safeguarding these nations, as well as major Fortune 100 corporations, from the relentless barrage of advanced threats and emerging security complexities.

"We are thrilled to be recognized as leaders in these critical cybersecurity market domains in the U.S. and Canada. The North American market remains a priority for Resecurity and our team is dedicated to protecting the nation and major Fortune 100 enterprises from advanced threats and emerging security challenges," stated Gene Yoo, CEO of Resecurity.

This recognition arrives at a juncture when the cybersecurity industry in North America is experiencing an explosive surge in growth. The North American cybersecurity market's valuation, which stood at $51.6 billion in 2018, is projected to ascend to a staggering $82.5 billion by 2023. This trajectory reflects an impressive compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.8% over the period of 2018 to 2023. The region's role as a pivotal revenue generator within the global cybersecurity market positions North America as an influential catalyst for setting international trends and fostering development.

In an accolade-rich environment boasting over 900 submissions spanning across more than 250 award categories, Resecurity's ascent to the Gold and Silver award echelon across two categories in the 2023 Cybersecurity Excellence Awards is a testament to its unparalleled innovation and dedication in confronting the most pressing cybersecurity quandaries. Holger Schulze, CEO of Cybersecurity Insiders, extended warm congratulations to Resecurity and all the winners, highlighting their embodiment of the pinnacle of innovation and excellence required to address the urgent cybersecurity challenges of our era.

Founded in 2016, Resecurity has emerged as a pioneering cybersecurity powerhouse, distinguished for its unifying platform that seamlessly integrates endpoint protection, risk management, and cutting-edge cyber threat intelligence. Recognized as a purveyor of data-driven intelligence solutions, Resecurity's services and platforms are meticulously designed to detect data breaches at their earliest stages and deliver comprehensive fortification against an array of evolving cybersecurity risks. The company's resolute mission centers on empowering organizations to combat cyber threats regardless of their sophistication levels.

Last year, Resecurity products have been also named a Gold Winner by the 2022 Cybersecurity Excellence Awards in North America. Resecurity products and services received Gold recognition across 3 categories in highly competitive categories such as cyber threat intelligence (CTI), threat hunting, and third-party risk management (TPRM):

GOLD WINNER for Cyber Threat Intelligence in North America: Resecurity Context Cyber Threat Intelligence Platform

GOLD WINNER for Third Party Risk Management (TPRM) in North America: Resecurity Risk Supply Chain Risk Management Platform

GOLD WINNER for Threat Hunting in North America: Resecurity Hunter Research & Development

Resecurity has been recognized by Frost & Sullivan as a Leader in the Cyber Threat Intelligence Market and has been included as the top Cyber Threat Intelligence Platform (TIP) Provider globally. The company has recently been highlighted in the latest Global TIP Market Report 2022 and External Risk Mitigation Platforms (ERMM) providing information about the most successful CTI and digital risk management industry players. The Frost & Sullivan report details the organization's market research, identifying trends in the market and top vendors and tools in the market.

Acknowledging Resecurity's exceptional growth and performance, Inc. Magazine recently bestowed upon it the distinction of being one of the Top 10 fastest-growing private cybersecurity companies in Los Angeles, California. Moreover, the company's status as an official member of eminent organizations such as AFCEA, NDIA, SIA, and Infragard further solidifies its prominence in the cybersecurity landscape.

As the cybersecurity industry in North America burgeons, the 2023 Cybersecurity Excellence Awards serve as an affirmation of Resecurity's unwavering dedication to its mission. Its achievements echo the sentiments of a robust market, underlining the urgent need for robust cybersecurity solutions. For more information about Resecurity and its pioneering cybersecurity endeavors, visit their official website at https://resecurity.com.

About Resecurity

Resecurity is a cybersecurity company that delivers a unified platform for endpoint protection, risk management, and cyber threat intelligence. Known for providing best-of-breed data-driven intelligence solutions, Resecurity's services and platforms focus on early-warning identification of data breaches and comprehensive protection against cybersecurity risks. Founded in 2016, it has been globally recognized as one of the world's most innovative cybersecurity companies with the sole mission of enabling organizations to combat cyber threats regardless of how sophisticated they are. Most recently, Resecurity was named as one of the Top 10 fastest-growing private cybersecurity companies in Los Angeles, California by Inc. Magazine. An Official Member and a Gold Sponsor of InfraGard National Members Alliance (INMA), AFCEA, NDIA, SIA, FS-ISAC and the American Chamber of Commerce in Saudi Arabia (AmChamKSA), Singapore (AmChamSG), Korea (AmChamKorea), Mexico (AmChamMX), and UAE (AmChamDubai). To learn more about Resecurity, visit https://resecurity.com.

About the Cybersecurity Excellence Awards

The Cybersecurity Excellence Awards, an event that annually spotlights excellence, innovation, and leadership in the dynamic realm of information security, stands as a testament to the transformative impact of industry pioneers. For those eager to explore the world of cybersecurity excellence, additional details about the awards can be found at https://cybersecurity-excellence-awards.com/2023-cybersecurity-excellence-awards/.

SOURCE Resecurity
BEIJING, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- RLX Technology Inc. ("RLX Technology" or the "Company") (NYSE: RLX), a leading branded e-vapor company in China, today announced its unaudited financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2023.

Second Quarter 2023 Financial Highlights

Net revenues were RMB378.1 million ( US$52.1 million ) in the second quarter of 2023, compared with RMB2,233.9 million in the same period of 2022.

were ( ) in the second quarter of 2023, compared with in the same period of 2022. Gross margin was 26.1% in the second quarter of 2023, compared with 43.8% in the same period of 2022.

was 26.1% in the second quarter of 2023, compared with 43.8% in the same period of 2022. U.S. GAAP n et income was RMB204.7 million ( US$28.2 million ) in the second quarter of 2023, compared with U.S. GAAP net income of RMB441.6 million in the same period of 2022.

was ( ) in the second quarter of 2023, compared with U.S. GAAP net income of in the same period of 2022. Non-GAAP net income[1] was RMB86.2 million ( US$11.9 million ) in the second quarter of 2023, compared with RMB634.7 million in the same period of 2022.

[1] Non-GAAP net income is a non-GAAP financial measure. For more information on the Company's non-GAAP financial measures, please see the section "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" and the table captioned "Unaudited Reconciliation of GAAP and Non-GAAP Results" set forth at the end of this press release.

"During the second quarter of 2023, we continued to firmly execute our core strategy amid the challenging market environment," said Ms. Ying (Kate) Wang, Co-founder, Chairperson of the Board of Directors, and CEO of RLX Technology. "Specifically, we remained dedicated to offering compliant, high-quality products while developing new products to meet users' evolving needs. Though the recent resurgence of illegal products has had a lingering impact on our sales, we believe the impact will be temporary rather than a major trend that could derail our recovery trajectory. As a trusted e-vapor brand for adult smokers, we remain confident that, supported by regulatory oversight, our premium products will continue to win users' trust and gradually supplant inferior and harmful illegal products. Moving forward, we will continue prioritizing product innovation, harm reduction, and quality control initiatives while further enhancing our product portfolio as we strive to create sustainable value for all stakeholders."

Mr. Chao Lu, Chief Financial Officer of RLX Technology, commented, "In light of the external challenges, especially the disruptions from illegal products, we deepened our focus on efficiency and profitability improvement during the second quarter. Thanks to our supply chain optimizations and product design enhancements, our topline improved sequentially to RMB378.1 million, and our gross margin rebounded by 1.9 percentage points from the first quarter of 2023. We also strengthened cost control, which helped significantly narrow our non-GAAP operating loss. Notably, our operating cash flow turned positive for the first time since the new regulations were enacted. We believe our strong cash position will continue to support us in navigating the evolving markets, and we will pursue further gains in cost optimization and efficiency improvement to accelerate the pace of recovery."

Second Quarter 2023 Financial Results

Net revenues were RMB378.1 million (US$52.1 million) in the second quarter of 2023, compared with RMB2,233.9 million in the same period of 2022. The decrease was primarily due to the discontinuation of our older products and the negative impact of illegal products in the market after regulators' special action ended in April, which disrupted users' adoption of our new products that comply with national standards.

Gross profit was RMB98.5 million (US$13.6 million) in the second quarter of 2023, compared with RMB977.9 million in the same period of 2022.

Gross margin was 26.1% in the second quarter of 2023, compared with 43.8% in the same period of 2022. The decrease was primarily due to the imposition of a 36% excise tax which came into effect on November 1, 2022.

Operating expenses were RMB47.2 million (US$6.5 million) in the second quarter of 2023, compared with RMB530.9 million in the same period of 2022. The decrease was primarily due to the change in share-based compensation expenses, which were positive RMB118.5 million (US$16.3 million) in the second quarter of 2023, compared with RMB193.2 million in the same period of 2022. The change in share-based compensation expenses consisted of (i) positive RMB15.3 million (US$2.1 million) recognized in selling expenses, (ii) positive RMB90.9 million (US$12.5 million) recognized in general and administrative expenses, and (iii) positive RMB12.2 million (US$1.7 million) recognized in research and development expenses. The change in share-based compensation expenses was primarily due to the changes in the fair value of the share incentive awards that the Company granted to its employees affected by the fluctuations of the Company's share price.

Selling expenses were RMB45.2 million (US$6.2 million) in the second quarter of 2023, compared with RMB122.6 million in the same period of 2022, primarily due to the decrease in share-based compensation expenses.

General and administrative expenses were positive RMB41.4 million (US$5.7 million) in the second quarter of 2023, compared with RMB290.7 million in the same period of 2022, mainly driven by the fluctuation of share-based compensation expenses.

Research and development expenses were RMB43.3 million (US$6.0 million) in the second quarter of 2023, compared with RMB117.6 million in the same period of 2022, mainly driven by the decrease in share-based compensation expenses.

Income from operations was RMB51.4 million (US$7.1 million) in the second quarter of 2023, compared with RMB446.9 million in the same period of 2022.

Income tax expense was RMB51.5 million (US$7.1 million) in the second quarter of 2023, compared with RMB204.3 million in the same period of 2022.

U.S. GAAP net income was RMB204.7 million (US$28.2 million) in the second quarter of 2023, compared with RMB441.6 million in the same period of 2022.

Non-GAAP net income was RMB86.2 million (US$11.9 million) in the second quarter of 2023, compared with RMB634.7 million in the same period of 2022.

U.S. GAAP basic and diluted net income per American depositary share ("ADS") were RMB0.154 (US$0.021) and RMB0.150 (US$0.021) in the second quarter of 2023, compared with U.S. GAAP basic and diluted net income per ADS of RMB0.348 and RMB0.347, respectively, in the same period of 2022.

Non-GAAP basic and diluted net income per ADS[2] were RMB0.064 (US$0.009) and RMB0.062 (US$0.009), respectively, in the second quarter of 2023, compared with non-GAAP basic and diluted net income per ADS of RMB0.494 and RMB0.492, respectively, in the same period of 2022.

[2] Non-GAAP basic and diluted net income per ADS is a non-GAAP financial measure. For more information on the Company's non-GAAP financial measures, please see the section "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" and the table captioned "Unaudited Reconciliation of GAAP and Non-GAAP Results" set forth at the end of this press release.

Balance Sheet and Cash Flow

As of June 30, 2023, the Company had cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, short-term bank deposits, net, short-term investments, long-term bank deposits, net and long-term investment securities, net of RMB15,786.6 million (US$2,177.1 million), compared with RMB15,369.2 million as of March 31, 2023. For the second quarter ended June 30, 2023, net cash generated from operating activities was RMB41.3 million (US$5.7 million).

Conference Call

The Company's management will host an earnings conference call at 8:00 AM U.S. Eastern Time on August 18, 2023 (8:00 PM Beijing/Hong Kong Time on August 18, 2023).

Dial-in details for the earnings conference call are as follows:

United States (toll-free): +1-888-317-6003 International: +1-412-317-6061 Hong Kong, China (toll-free): +800-963-976 Hong Kong, China: +852-5808-1995 Mainland China: 400-120-6115 Participant Code: 3325354

Participants should dial in 10 minutes before the scheduled start time and ask to be connected to the call for "RLX Technology Inc." with the Participant Code as set forth above.

Additionally, a live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available on the Company's investor relations website at https://ir.relxtech.com.

A replay of the conference call will be accessible approximately two hours after the conclusion of the call until August 25, 2023, by dialing the following telephone numbers:

United States: +1-877-344-7529 International: +1-412-317-0088 Replay Access Code: 5550144

About RLX Technology Inc.

RLX Technology Inc. (NYSE: RLX) is a leading branded e-vapor company in China. The Company leverages its strong in-house technology, product development capabilities, and in-depth insights into adult smokers' needs to develop superior e-vapor products.

For more information, please visit: http://ir.relxtech.com.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The Company uses non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP basic and diluted net income per ADS, each a non-GAAP financial measure, in evaluating its operating results and for financial and operational decision-making purposes. Non-GAAP net income represents net income excluding share-based compensation expenses. Non-GAAP basic and diluted net income per ADS is computed using non-GAAP net income attributable to RLX Technology Inc. and the same number of ADSs used in U.S. GAAP basic and diluted net income per ADS calculation.

The Company presents these non-GAAP financial measures because they are used by the management to evaluate its operating performance and formulate business plans. The Company believes that they help identify underlying trends in its business that could otherwise be distorted by the effect of certain expenses that are included in net income. The Company also believes that the use of the non-GAAP measures facilitates investors' assessment of its operating performance, as they could provide useful information about its operating results, enhances the overall understanding of its past performance and future prospects and allows for greater visibility with respect to key metrics used by the management in its financial and operational decision making.

The non-GAAP financial measures are not defined under U.S. GAAP and are not presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. The non-GAAP financial measures have limitations as analytical tools. They should not be considered in isolation or construed as an alternative to net income, basic and diluted net income per ADS or any other measure of performance or as an indicator of its operating performance. Investors are encouraged to review its historical non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP measures. The non-GAAP financial measures here may not be comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies. Other companies may calculate similarly titled measures differently, limiting their usefulness as comparative measures to our data. The Company encourages investors and others to review its financial information in its entirety and not rely on any single financial measure.

For more information on the non-GAAP financial measures, please see the table captioned "Unaudited Reconciliation of GAAP and non-GAAP Results" set forth at the end of this press release.

Exchange Rate Information

This announcement contains translations of certain RMB amounts into U.S. dollars at a specified rate solely for the convenience of the reader. Unless otherwise noted, all translations from RMB to U.S. dollars and from U.S. dollars to RMB are made at a rate of RMB7.2513 to US$1.00, the exchange rate on June 30, 2023, set forth in the H.10 statistical release of the Federal Reserve Board. The Company makes no representation that the RMB or U.S. dollar amounts referred could be converted into U.S. dollars or RMB, as the case may be, at any particular rate or at all.

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "may," "will," "expect," "anticipate," "aim," "estimate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "is/are likely to," "potential," "continue" and similar statements. Among other things, quotations from management in this announcement, as well as the Company's strategic and operational plans, contain forward- looking statements. The Company may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including but not limited to statements about the Company's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: the Company's growth strategies; its future business development, results of operations and financial condition; trends and competition in China's e-vapor market; changes in its revenues and certain cost or expense items; PRC governmental policies, laws and regulations relating to the Company's industry, and general economic and business conditions globally and in China and assumptions underlying or related to any of the foregoing. Further information regarding these risks, uncertainties or factors is included in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is current as of the date of this press release, and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update such information, except as required under applicable law.

For more information, please contact:

In China:

RLX Technology Inc.

Head of Capital Markets

Sam Tsang

Email: [email protected]

Piacente Financial Communications

Jenny Cai

Tel: +86-10-6508-0677

Email: [email protected]

In the United States:

Piacente Financial Communications.

Brandi Piacente

Tel: +1-212-481-2050

Email: [email protected]

RLX TECHNOLOGY INC. UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (All amounts in thousands)









As of

December 31, June 30, June 30,

2022 2023 2023

RMB RMB US$ ASSETS





Current assets:





Cash and cash equivalents 1,268,512 1,761,694 242,949 Restricted cash 20,574 15,750 2,172 Short-term bank deposits, net 7,084,879 5,221,295 720,049 Receivables from online payment platforms 3,000 4,948 682 Short-term investments 2,434,864 2,210,005 304,774 Accounts and notes receivable, net 51,381 87,412 12,055 Inventories 130,901 90,178 12,436 Amounts due from related parties 5,112 38,352 5,289 Prepayments and other current assets, net 198,932 397,337 54,795 Total current assets 11,198,155 9,826,971 1,355,201 Non-current assets:





Property, equipment and leasehold improvement, net 87,871 78,755 10,861 Intangible assets, net 7,552 6,977 962 Long-term investments, net 8,000 8,000 1,103 Deferred tax assets, net 63,894 63,894 8,812 Right-of-use assets, net 75,008 79,710 10,993 Long-term bank deposits, net 1,515,428 2,306,679 318,106 Long-term investment securities, net 3,409,458 4,271,197 589,025 Other non-current assets, net 13,458 8,029 1,107 Total non-current assets 5,180,669 6,823,241 940,969 Total assets 16,378,824 16,650,212 2,296,170







LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY





Current liabilities:





Accounts and notes payable 269,346 132,193 18,230 Contract liabilities 75,226 94,531 13,036 Salary and welfare benefits payable 127,749 94,050 12,970 Taxes payable 109,676 82,290 11,348 Amounts due to related parties 423 - - Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 161,455 120,058 16,557 Lease liabilities - current portion 45,955 49,286 6,797 Total current liabilities 789,830 572,408 78,938









Non-current liabilities:





Deferred tax liabilities 8,653 8,653 1,193 Lease liabilities - non-current portion 39,968 38,878 5,361 Total non-current liabilities 48,621 47,531 6,554 Total liabilities 838,451 619,939 85,492







Shareholders' Equity:





Total RLX Technology Inc. shareholders' equity 15,569,060 16,056,370 2,214,279 Noncontrolling interests (28,687) (26,097) (3,601) Total shareholders' equity 15,540,373 16,030,273 2,210,678







Total liabilities and shareholders' equity 16,378,824 16,650,212 2,296,170











UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF

COMPREHENSIVE INCOME/(LOSS) (All amounts in thousands, except for share and per share data)



















For the three months ended

For the six months ended

June 30, March 31, June 30, June 30,

June 30, June 30, June 30,

2022 2023 2023 2023

2022 2023 2023

RMB RMB RMB US$

RMB RMB US$

















Net revenues 2,233,893 188,877 378,123 52,146

3,948,343 567,000 78,193 Cost of revenues (1,256,010) (78,693) (171,733) (23,683)

(2,313,457) (250,426) (34,535) Excise tax on products - (64,458) (107,853) (14,874)

- (172,311) (23,763) Gross profit 977,883 45,726 98,537 13,589

1,634,886 144,263 19,895

















Operating expenses:















Selling expenses (122,634) (85,761) (45,226) (6,237)

(198,581) (130,987) (18,064) General and administrative expenses (290,745) (256,504) 41,368 5,705

(224,350) (215,136) (29,669) Research and development expenses (117,567) (76,682) (43,317) (5,974)

(141,574) (119,999) (16,549) Total operating expenses (530,946) (418,947) (47,175) (6,506)

(564,505) (466,122) (64,282)

















Income/(loss) from operations 446,937 (373,221) 51,362 7,083

1,070,381 (321,859) (44,387)

















Other income:















Interest income, net 42,724 148,803 162,888 22,463

69,875 311,691 42,984 Investment income 40,631 21,385 20,588 2,839

72,870 41,973 5,788 Others, net 115,586 129,157 21,380 2,948

232,443 150,537 20,760 Income/(loss) before income tax 645,878 (73,876) 256,218 35,333

1,445,569 182,342 25,145 Income tax (expense)/benefit (204,316) 17,571 (51,502) (7,102)

(316,952) (33,931) (4,679) Net income/(loss) 441,562 (56,305) 204,716 28,231

1,128,617 148,411 20,466 Less: net (loss)/income attributable to

noncontrolling interests (19,499) 661 1,929 266

(37,725) 2,590 357 Net income/(loss) attributable to RLX

Technology Inc. 461,061 (56,966) 202,787 27,965

1,166,342 145,821 20,109 Other comprehensive loss:















Foreign currency translation adjustments 580,438 (148,096) 563,078 77,652

534,614 414,982 57,229 Unrealized income on long-term investment securities - 2,873 5,539 764

- 8,412 1,160 Total other comprehensive income/(loss) 580,438 (145,223) 568,617 78,416

534,614 423,394 58,389 Total comprehensive income/(loss) 1,022,000 (201,528) 773,333 106,647

1,663,231 571,805 78,855 Less: total comprehensive (loss)/income

attributable to noncontrolling interests (19,499) 661 1,929 266

(37,725) 2,590 357 Total comprehensive income/(loss) attributable

to RLX Technology Inc. 1,041,499 (202,189) 771,404 106,381

1,700,956 569,215 78,498

















Net income/(loss) per ordinary share/ADS















Basic 0.348 (0.043) 0.154 0.021

0.877 0.111 0.015 Diluted 0.347 (0.043) 0.150 0.021

0.867 0.108 0.015

















Weighted average number of ordinary

shares/ADSs















Basic 1,323,877,777 1,316,798,713 1,318,628,588 1,318,628,588

1,329,964,500 1,317,718,705 1,317,718,705 Diluted 1,330,060,097 1,316,798,713 1,353,296,802 1,353,296,802

1,345,014,312 1,348,021,483 1,348,021,483

RLX TECHNOLOGY INC. UNAUDITED RECONCILIATION OF GAAP AND NON-GAAP RESULTS (All amounts in thousands, except for share and per share data)











For the three months ended

For the six months ended

June 30, March 31, June 30, June 30,

June 30, June 30, June 30,

2022 2023 2023 2023

2022 2023 2023

RMB RMB RMB US$

RMB RMB US$ Net income/(loss) 441,562 (56,305) 204,716 28,231

1,128,617 148,411 20,466 Add: share-based compensation expenses















Selling expenses 17,896 23,955 (15,338) (2,115)

(24,043) 8,617 1,188 General and administrative expenses 151,069 201,343 (90,923) (12,539)

(79,018) 110,420 15,228 Research and development expenses 24,213 14,654 (12,229) (1,686)

(28,998) 2,425 334 Non-GAAP net income 634,740 183,647 86,226 11,891

996,558 269,873 37,216

















Net income/(loss) attributable to RLX Technology

Inc. 461,061 (56,966) 202,787 27,965

1,166,342 145,821 20,109 Add: share-based compensation expenses 193,178 239,952 (118,490) (16,340)

(132,059) 121,462 16,750 Non-GAAP net income attributable to RLX

Technology Inc. 654,239 182,986 84,297 11,625

1,034,283 267,283 36,859

















Non-GAAP net income per ordinary share/ADS















- Basic 0.494 0.139 0.064 0.009

0.778 0.203 0.028 - Diluted 0.492 0.136 0.062 0.009

0.769 0.198 0.027 Weighted average number of ordinary

shares/ADSs















- Basic 1,323,877,777 1,316,798,713 1,318,628,588 1,318,628,588

1,329,964,500 1,317,718,705 1,317,718,705 - Diluted 1,330,060,097 1,345,828,279 1,353,296,802 1,353,296,802

1,345,014,312 1,348,021,483 1,348,021,483

RLX TECHNOLOGY INC.

UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(All amounts in thousands)























For the three months ended

For the six months ended



June 30, March 31, June 30, June 30,

June 30, June 30, June 30,



2022 2023 2023 2023

2022 2023 2023



RMB RMB RMB US$

RMB RMB US$

Net cash generated from/(used in) operating

activities 1,444,388 (230,686) 41,339 5,701

1,752,557 (189,347) (26,112)

Net cash (used in)/generated from investing

activities (4,145,885) 381,954 431,683 59,532

(5,096,649) 813,637 112,206

Net cash (used in)/generated from financing

activities (145,189) 4,346 (199,080) (27,454)

(306,801) (194,734) (26,855)

Effect of foreign exchange rate changes on cash,

cash equivalents and restricted cash 171,597 10,409 48,393 6,673

151,041 58,802 8,109

Net (decrease)/increase in cash and cash

equivalents and restricted cash (2,675,089) 166,023 322,335 44,452

(3,499,852) 488,358 67,348

Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at

the beginning of the period 4,384,704 1,289,086 1,455,109 200,669

5,209,467 1,289,086 177,773

Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at

the end of the period 1,709,615 1,455,109 1,777,444 245,121

1,709,615 1,777,444 245,121



SOURCE RLX Technology Inc.
NEW YORK, Aug. 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ --

WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, reminds purchasers of securities of Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR) between April 21, 2022 and April 24, 2023, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"), of the important September 15, 2023 lead plaintiff deadline.

SO WHAT: If you purchased Danaher securities 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 Danaher class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=17717 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email [email protected] or [email protected] 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 September 15, 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 handle 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 firm's 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) as the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic subsided, revenue growth associated with Danaher's COVID-19-related businesses was declining; (2) contrary to the Company's prior representations to investors, revenues associated with Danaher's non-COVID-19-related businesses were insufficient to compensate for the foregoing negative trend; (3) accordingly, Danaher overstated the Company's ability to sustain the growth it had experienced in 2020 and 2021; (4) as a result, it was unlikely that Danaher would be able to meet its 2023 revenue forecasts; and (5) as a result, Defendants' public statements were materially false and/or misleading at all relevant times. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages.

To join the Danaher class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=17717 mailto:or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email [email protected] or [email protected] 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 investor's 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

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

www.rosenlegal.com

SOURCE Rosen Law Firm, P.A.
NEW YORK, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Party City Holdco ("Party City" or the "Company") (OTCMKTS: PRTYQ). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at [email protected] or 888-476-6529, ext. 7980.

The investigation concerns whether Party City and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.

[Click here for information about joining the class action]

On January 17, 2023, Party City abruptly filed for bankruptcy, with the Company's bankruptcy filings citing its ongoing liquidity shortfall, its need for additional loans beyond the credit lines available to it, and its inability to locate lenders willing to provide additional loansissues previously undisclosed to investors.

On this news, Party City's stock price fell $0.253 per share, or 67.72%, over the following two trading sessions, closing at $0.121 per share on January 19, 2023.

Then, on June 9, 2023, Party City revealed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that Ernst & Young LPP had resigned as its auditor due to a disagreement over the Company's decision not to include a "going concern" warning in its quarterly report for the third quarter of 2022, which would have alerted investors that there was substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern for the next twelve months.

On this news, Party City's stock price fell $0.01 per share, or 21.52%, over the following three trading sessions, to close at $0.036 per share on June 14, 2023.

Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com.

CONTACT:

Robert S. Willoughby

Pomerantz LLP

[email protected]

888-476-6529 ext. 7980

SOURCE Pomerantz LLP
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Simplilearn, the world's #1 online bootcamp for digital economy skills training, hosted the 4th convocation ceremony with Caltech CTME for 600 program graduates. Co-hosting the event were Dr. Rick Hefner, Executive Director, Caltech Institute of Technology and Management Education, and Dr. Will Lin, Chief Marketing Officer, Simplilearn. As CTME Executive Director, Dr. Hefner oversees professional development programs for technology-driven organizations and individuals. He has over 40 years of experience in systems development, organizational management, and education. He has helped guide technology adoption in over 30 aerospace, communications, electronics, and health sciences companies. Dr. Hefner is credited with over 200 presentations and publications and is active in several professional societies.

The online convocation ceremony was held to recognize the hard-won achievements of program participants in their advanced learning. It was a joint celebration by Caltech CTME and Simplilearn on the successful completion of various post-graduate level certificate programs (PGP) across 36 cohorts, including PGP in Cloud Computing, PGP in DevOps, PGP in Full Stack Development, PGP in AI & Machine Learning, and PGP in Data Science.

Dr. Will Lin, Chief Marketing Officer of Simplilearn, congratulated the graduates, acknowledging their dedication, "Your commitment to achieving your academic and professional goals is inspiring. On behalf of Simplilearn, we commend your steadfast pursuit of knowledge. As you forge ahead, continue to foster curiosity and innovation to make a meaningful impact."

The ceremony was a vibrant celebration, filled with eager learners ready to apply their newly-acquired skills.

Dr. Rick Hefner, Executive Director, Caltech CTME, also shared words of encouragement, "Congratulations to all the graduates successfully completing various programs today. Your achievements are proof of your unwavering dedication. The skills and knowledge gained will undoubtedly propel your career forward. This convocation marks the start of a journey filled with success, fulfillment, and boundless opportunities. Best wishes for your future endeavors."

One of our graduates, Nitin Tandon, shared, "I am writing to express my sincere gratitude for the opportunity to have attended the online convocation with Caltech CTME and to earn my professional certificate course. I remember my weekend days attending the live classes, which was an incredibly rewarding experience. I have learned so much from my tutors and peers particularly while delivering the Capstone master projects, which gave me the chance to apply my knowledge and skills in real-time live projects. I am really grateful to have attended the professional course in Cloud Computing and am confident that my education there has prepared me for success in my future. Thank you again for this opportunity."

Caltech CTME and Simplilearn remain committed to providing a world-class education that empowers learners to excel in their careers and transform their lives.

About Caltech CTME

Caltech's Center for Technology and Management Education (CTME), a department of the Division of Engineering and Applied Science of the California Institute of Technology, is at the forefront of executive and professional education. With an innovative blend of specialized knowledge and practical application delivered by our eminent educator team, we equip professionals with industry-leading skills through workshops, short courses, and certificate programs. Our interactive, collaborative learning environment fosters networking and enhances the learning experience. The global impact of our learners stands as a testament to our success. Caltech CTME and Simplilearn have teamed to bring technology-centric programs to global learners since 2020.

About Simplilearn

Founded in 2010 and based in San Francisco, California, and Bangalore, India, Simplilearn, a Blackstone portfolio company, is the world's #1 online Bootcamp for digital economy skills training. Simplilearn offers access to world-class work-ready training to individuals and businesses worldwide. The Bootcamps are designed and delivered with world-renowned universities, top corporations, and leading industry bodies via live online classes featuring top industry practitioners, sought-after trainers, and global leaders. From college students and early career professionals to managers, executives, small businesses, and big corporations, Simplilearn's role-based, skill-focused, industry-recognized, and globally relevant training programs are ideal upskilling solutions for diverse career or/and business goals.

For more information, please visit www.simplilearn.com/

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1100016/4169121/Simplilearn_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Simplilearn
Chesnot/Getty Images

Elon Musk mightve just revealed his worst idea for Twitter yet.

The social media platform (which is now called X by Musk and seemingly no one else) will be scrapping the block feature and instead restricting it to DMs only, Musk announced Friday. According to the X-obsessed billionaire, It makes no sense.

Block is going to be deleted as a feature, except for DMs  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 18, 2023

Countless users, even including Musks fanboys, were quick to dunk on the change, with some pointing out the hypocrisy of a tweet from last year in which Musk promised there will be a vote for major policy changes.

The block feature is the best feature on this site. It is what enables me to enjoy my time here, Mollie Hemingway, the editor-in-chief of conservative news site The Federalist whose account has 1 million followers, wrote.

A verified account called X News Daily, which shares often-favorable updates on Musk and X, also said the move went altogether too far, highlighting the significant problem of harassment, trolls and spam while acknowledging the potential downside of cutting off people who disagree with you politically.

That is a huge mistake. There are toxic people on this platform that users simply dont want in their replies, @WallStreetSilv, another Musk fan account with nearly 1 million followers, tweeted. Block is a critical peace of mind issue for many people because it generally gets the cyber stalkers to move on.

That is a huge mistake.



There are toxic people on this platform that users simply don't want in their replies.



Block is a critical peace of mind issue for many people because it generally gets the cyber stalkers to move on.  Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) August 18, 2023

Musks out-of-the-blue decision comes after his clumsy rebrand of Twitter to X, a letter Musk has had a career-long fascination with despite it often reminding consumers of porn (see failed X-Paypal). In fact, Indonesia has already banned X under the countrys strict pornography and gambling laws.

Story continues

But Musks stumbles date back even before he tossed the iconic blue bird logo. He caused uproar earlier this year when he purged legacy checkmarks and began charging $8 per month for shoddy verification, although he quickly backtracked by re-granting certain big celebs their checkmarks after a chaotic explosion of imposter accounts.

His biggest threat came when rival Mark Zuckerberg successfully launched the clone app Threads, which reached 100 million users within just days of its release. While data now shows Threads dropping significantly in its number of active users since, Musks latest change could give Zuckerberg the upper hand.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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DUBLIN, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Singapore Data Center Market - Investment Analysis & Growth Opportunities 2023-2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Singapore data center market is expected to reach a value of $5.14 billion by 2028 from $4.2 billion in 2022, growing at a CAGR of 3.41% from 2022 to 2028

This report analyses the Singapore data center market share. It elaboratively analyses the existing and upcoming facilities and investments in IT, electrical, mechanical infrastructure, general construction, and tier standards. It discusses market sizing and investment estimation for different segments.

After lifting the moratorium in 2022 Singapore, the Singapore data center market is again expected to start receiving investments. We believe that after 2-3 years, the investments will start growing positively. The investments in 2022 were majorly driven by projects that were already under construction or were announced before the start of the moratorium in the country.

The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and Economic Development Board (EDB) listed several criteria for data center applications, including the data center project having to be developed with a PUE of 1.3 or less for a 100% IT load capacity. The government has set a target for achieving 2 Giga-peak (GWp) of renewable energy by 2030. Singapore also plans to import up to 4 GW of green energy by 2035 from Cambodia and Indonesia.

The government offers economic zones known as free trade zones that offer businesses good customs and tax concessions. Tanjong Pagar Terminal and Keppel Terminal, Keppel Distripark, Keppel Distripark Linkbridge, Pasir Panjang Terminal, Jurong Port, and others are only a few of the Free Zones in Singapore.

In November 2022, Microsoft partnered with ITE and launched the first Datacenter Academy (DCA) in Asia. DCA's five-year commitment is to empower around 300 ITE students with data center skills.

KEY QUESTIONS ANSWERED:

How much is the Singapore data center market investment expected to grow?

data center market investment expected to grow? How many data centers have been identified in Singapore ?

? What is the growth rate of the Singapore data center market?

data center market? What are the driving factors for the Singapore data center market?

data center market? Who are the key investors in the Singapore data center market?

WHY SHOULD YOU BUY THIS RESEARCH?

Market size available in the investment, area, power capacity, and Singapore colocation market revenue.

colocation market revenue. An assessment of the data center investment in Singapore by colocation, hyperscale, and enterprise operators.

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 Singapore data center market landscape, an in-depth industry analysis, and insightful predictions about industry size during the forecast period.

data center market landscape, an in-depth industry analysis, and insightful predictions about industry size during the forecast period. Snapshot of existing and upcoming third-party data center facilities in Singapore

Facilities Covered (Existing): 41

Facilities Identified (Upcoming): 3

Coverage: 3+ Sub-locations

Existing vs. Upcoming (Area)

Existing vs. Upcoming (IT Load Capacity)

Data center colocation market in Singapore

Market Revenue & Forecast (2022-2028)

Retail Colocation Pricing

The Singapore market investments are classified into IT, power, cooling, and general construction services with sizing and forecast.

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 industry.

Business overview and product offerings of prominent IT infrastructure providers, construction contractors, support infrastructure providers, and investors operating in the industry.

A transparent research methodology and the analysis of the demand and supply aspects of the market.

VENDOR LANDSCAPE

In Southeast Asia , Singapore is the most mature market, with most global and local operators. The country has more than 40 existing third-party facilities.

, is the most mature market, with most global and local operators. The country has more than 40 existing third-party facilities. In 2022, BDx, Keppel Data Centres, ST Telemedia Global Data Centres, and Princeton Digital Group were some of the colocation operators involved in developing the data centers, which are open and under construction in the Singapore data center market.

data center market. In addition, the country also witnessed investments from global cloud operators such as Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, and Facebook. For instance, in August 2022 , Google launched its third facility in Singapore .

IT Infrastructure Providers

Arista Networks

Atos

Broadcom

Cisco Systems

Dell Technologies

Huawei Technologies

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

IBM

Inspur

Juniper Networks

Lenovo

MiTAC Holdings

NetApp

Quanta Cloud Technology

Wiwynn

Data Center Construction Contractors & Sub-Contractors

Aecom

Arup

Aurecon

AWP Architects

Cundall

DSCO Group

Fortis Construction

Faithful+Gould

Gammon Construction

Kienta Engineering Construction

LSK Engineering

M+W Group

NTT Facilities

PM Group

Sato Kogyo

Support Infrastructure Providers

ABB

Airedale International Air Conditioning

Bosch Security Systems

Caterpillar

Cummins

Eaton

Fuji Electric

HITEC Power Protection

Kohler-SDMO

Legrand

Mitsubishi Electric

Piller Power Systems

Rolls Royce

Rittal

Schneider Electric

STULZ

Vertiv

Data Center Investors

AirTrunk

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Big Data Exchange (BDx)

China Mobile International (CMI)

DODID

Digital Realty

Equinix

Facebook (Meta)

Google

Global Switch

Iron Mountain

Keppel Data Centres

Microsoft

NTT Global Data Centers

Princeton Digital Group (PDG)

Singtel

ST Telemedia Global Data Centres

Telin Singapore

EXISTING VS. UPCOMING DATA CENTERS

Existing Facilities in the Region (Area and Power Capacity)

Eastern Singapore

Southern Singapore

Northern Singapore

List of Upcoming Facilities in the region (Area and Power Capacity)

REPORT COVERAGE:

IT Infrastructure

Servers

Storage Systems

Network Infrastructure

Electrical Infrastructure

UPS Systems

Generators

Transfer 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

Other Cooling Units

General Construction

Core & Shell Development

Installation & Commissioning Services

Engineering & Building Design

Fire Detection & Suppression Systems

Physical Security

Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM)

Tier Standard

Tier I & Tier II

Tier III

Tier IV

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/6ecs98

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



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SOURCE Research and Markets
Thousands Impacted by Breast Cancer to Gather at Oregon Zoo

PORTLAND, Ore., Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Susan G. Komen, the world's leading breast cancer organization, will be hosting the return of the 2023 Oregon and Northwest Washington MORE THAN PINK Walk on Saturday, September 16. The annual Walk will be held for the first time at the Oregon Zoo.

Thousands of individuals including family and friends will come together to celebrate breast cancer survivors, honor those who have passed away from the disease, and raise critical funds that support research and critical support services for breast cancer patients, including research, financial assistance, screening and diagnostics and patient navigation services.

"We are excited to bring back the MORE THAN PINK Walk to the community and welcome walkers to this event to make a difference in our fight against breast cancer," said Tyler Pagel, Development Director for Susan G. Komen in the Pacific Northwest. "Supporting individuals going through breast cancer in our community continues to be a critical mission and the demand for our services continue to increase."

Breast cancer survivors and those living with metastatic disease, caregivers, family members and loved ones will come together at the Oregon Zoo and check-in begins at 6 a.m. The Walk begins at 8:15 a.m. Closing ceremony will be held at 9:15 a.m. Participants of the Walk will get an exclusive day at the Zoo.

Sponsors for the event include Hoffman Construction, Knight Cancer Institute and The Oregonian.

Walk participants will include breast cancer survivors, metastatic breast cancer thrivers, co-survivors and supporters of Susan G. Komen.

What: 2023 Susan G. Komen Oregon and Northwest Washington MORE THAN PINK Walk When: Saturday, September 15, 2023, 6:15 AM Where: Oregon Zoo Details: Register at: komen.org/portlandwalk

Please contact Deb Song at [email protected] for interviews, live-shots Interviews with event attendees, Komen staff, and honorees can be granted upon request.

About Susan G. Komen

Susan G. Komen is the world's leading nonprofit breast cancer organization, working to save lives and end breast cancer forever. Komen has an unmatched, comprehensive 360-degree approach to fighting this disease across all fronts and supporting millions of people in the U.S. and in countries worldwide. We advocate for patients, drive research breakthroughs, improve access to high-quality care, offer direct patient support and empower people with trustworthy information. Founded by Nancy G. Brinker, who promised her sister, Susan G. Komen, that she would end the disease that claimed Suzy's life, Komen remains committed to supporting those affected by breast cancer today, while tirelessly searching for tomorrow's cures. Visit komen.org or call 1-877 GO KOMEN. Connect with us on social at www.komen.org/contact-us/follow-us/.

CONTACT: Deb Song

Susan G. Komen

[email protected]

SOURCE Susan G. Komen for the Cure
MINEOLA, N.Y., Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Prominently featured in The Inner Circle, Paul Byrne is acknowledged as a Pinnacle Platinum Healthcare Professional for his contributions to the fields of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Paul Byrne, MD, FACOG

Dr. Byrne pursued higher education at Cornell University, where he earned a Bachelor's degree. He then completed a Medical Degree at SUNY Syracuse and finished a residency in Winthrop. The doctor specializes in both in-office and hospital care providing obstetric and gynecologic procedures and is especially affective in the care of patients with high-risk pregnancies and minimally invasive surgeries.

In addition to his private practice, Dr. Byrne teaches medical students from the SUNY at Stony Brook School of Medicine; New York College of Osteopathic Medicine; and NYU Langone Long Island School of Medicine, as well as residents and fellows from South Mount Sinai at South Nassau and NYU Langone Long Island. The doctor is also a specialist in Da Vinci procedures and minimally invasive surgery.

Maintaining professional affiliations to support excellence in his practice, the doctor is a member of FACOG, AOA, AMA, and MSSNY. When considering the highlights of his successful career, Dr. Byrne is most proud to have served multiple generations delivering the children of the daughters of his patients and believes most of his success is due to following his philosophy, which is to "figure out what a patient needs and wants."

Looking to the future, Dr. Byrne plans to continue what he loves to do. Aside from his professional pursuits, he enjoys spending time with his grandchildren.

Contact: Katherine Green, 516-825-5634, [email protected]

SOURCE The Inner Circle
A roundup of the week's most newsworthy energy industry press releases from PR Newswire, including plans for a solar cell manufacturing plant in New Mexico.

NEW YORK, Aug. 18, 2023 With thousands of press releases published each week, it can be difficult to keep up with everything on PR Newswire. To help journalists covering the energy and natural resources industry stay on top of the week's most newsworthy and popular releases, here's a roundup of stories from the week that shouldn't be missed.

PR Newswire Weekly Energy Press Release Roundup, Aug. 14-18, 2023. Photo provided by Maxeon Solar Technologies, Ltd. https://prn.to/447minz

The list below includes the headline (with a link to the full text) and an excerpt from each story. Click on the press release headlines to access accompanying multimedia assets that are available for download.

Read more of the latest energy-related releases from PR Newswire and stay caught up on the top press releases by following @PRNenergy on Twitter.

Can't-Miss Earnings

In addition to these popular releases, several must-read earnings reports crossed the wire this week, including the quarterly results for Houston Natural Resources Corp, Seadrill Limited and SinglePoint.

Catch up on all the latest earnings reports here.

Helping Journalists Stay Up to Date on Industry News

These are just a few of the recent press releases that consumers and the media should know about. To be notified of releases relevant to their coverage area, journalists can set up a custom newsfeed with PR Newswire for Journalists.

Once they're signed up, reporters, bloggers and freelancers have access to the following free features:

Customization: Create a customized newsfeed that will deliver relevant news right to your inbox. Customize the newsfeed by keywords, industry, subject, geography, and more.

Create a customized newsfeed that will deliver relevant news right to your inbox. Customize the newsfeed by keywords, industry, subject, geography, and more. Photos and Videos: Thousands of multimedia assets are available to download and include with your next story.

Thousands of multimedia assets are available to download and include with your next story. Subject Matter Experts: Access ProfNet, a database of industry experts to connect with as sources or for quotes in your articles.

Access ProfNet, a database of industry experts to connect with as sources or for quotes in your articles. Related Resources: Read and subscribe to our journalist- and blogger-focused blog, Beyond Bylines, for media news roundups, writing tips, upcoming events, and more.

About PR Newswire and PR Newswire for Journalists

For more than 65 years, PR Newswire has been the industry leader with the largest, most comprehensive distribution network of print, radio, magazine, television stations, financial portals and trade publications. PR Newswire has an unparalleled global reach of more than 200,000 publications and 10,000 websites and is available in more than 170 countries and 40 languages.

PR Newswire for Journalists (PRNJ) is an exclusive community that includes over 20,000 journalists, bloggers and influencers who are logging into their PRNJ accounts specifically looking for story ideas. PR Newswire thoroughly researches and vets this community to verify their identity as a member of the press, blogger or influencer. PRNJ users cover more than 200 beats and verticals.

For questions, contact the team at [email protected].

SOURCE PR Newswire
A roundup of the week's most newsworthy culture press releases from PR Newswire, including a new streaming network for BIPOC filmmakers.

NEW YORK, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- With thousands of press releases published each week, it can be difficult to keep up with everything on PR Newswire. To help journalists covering different cultural groups stay on top of the week's most newsworthy and popular releases, here's a roundup of stories from the week that shouldn't be missed.

The list below includes the headline (with a link to the full text) and an excerpt from each story. Click on the press release headlines to access accompanying multimedia assets that are available for download.

PR Newswire Weekly People & Culture Press Release Roundup, Aug. 14-18, 2023. Photo provided by Frist Art Museum. https://prn.to/3qqxpdG

Read more of the latest culture-related releases from PR Newswire and stay caught up on the top press releases by following @PRNmltcult on Twitter.

Helping Journalists Stay Up to Date on Industry News

These are just a few of the recent press releases that consumers and the media should know about. To be notified of releases relevant to their coverage area, journalists can set up a custom newsfeed with PR Newswire for Journalists.

Once they're signed up, reporters, bloggers and freelancers have access to the following free features:

Customization: Create a customized newsfeed that will deliver relevant news right to your inbox. Customize the newsfeed by keywords, industry, subject, geography, and more.

Create a customized newsfeed that will deliver relevant news right to your inbox. Customize the newsfeed by keywords, industry, subject, geography, and more. Photos and Videos: Thousands of multimedia assets are available to download and include with your next story.

Thousands of multimedia assets are available to download and include with your next story. Subject Matter Experts: Access ProfNet, a database of industry experts to connect with as sources or for quotes in your articles.

Access ProfNet, a database of industry experts to connect with as sources or for quotes in your articles. Related Resources: Read and subscribe to our journalist- and blogger-focused blog, Beyond Bylines, for media news roundups, writing tips, upcoming events, and more.

About PR Newswire and PR Newswire for Journalists

For more than 65 years, PR Newswire has been the industry leader with the largest, most comprehensive distribution network of print, radio, magazine, television stations, financial portals and trade publications. PR Newswire has an unparalleled global reach of more than 200,000 publications and 10,000 websites and is available in more than 170 countries and 40 languages.

PR Newswire for Journalists (PRNJ) is an exclusive community that includes over 20,000 journalists, bloggers and influencers who are logging into their PRNJ accounts specifically looking for story ideas. PR Newswire thoroughly researches and vets this community to verify their identity as a member of the press, blogger or influencer. PRNJ users cover more than 200 beats and verticals.

SOURCE PR Newswire
A roundup of the week's most newsworthy policy and public interest press releases from PR Newswire, including Hawaii wildfire updates and relief efforts.

NEW YORK, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- With thousands of press releases published each week, it can be difficult to keep up with everything on PR Newswire. To help journalists covering the policy and public interest industries stay on top of the week's most newsworthy and popular releases, here's a roundup of stories from the week that shouldn't be missed.

The list below includes the headline (with a link to the full text) and an excerpt from each story. Click on the press release headlines to access accompanying multimedia assets that are available for download.

PR Newswire Weekly Policy & Public Interest Press Release Roundup, Aug. 14-18, 2023. Photo provided by Nestle Purina PetCare. https://prn.to/3Oxdu4E

Read more of the latest policy-related releases from PR Newswire and stay caught up on the top press releases by following @PRNpolicy and @prnedu on Twitter.

Hawaii Wildfire Updates

In recent weeks, dozens of press releases have crossed the wire related to companies' disaster relief efforts in response to the deadly wildfires in Maui, Hawaii.

Here are just a few of them:

Maui Wildfires Update

On Aug. 15 , the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau released the latest updates surrounding the fires. In the weeks ahead, the collective resources and attention of the federal, state and county government, the West Maui community, and the travel industry must be focused on the recovery of residents who lost loved ones, homes, their belongings, and businesses. The Home Depot Foundation Commits up to $500,000 to Support Communities Impacted by Deadly Wildfires in Maui

"We are heartbroken by the loss of life and extreme devastation caused by wildfires on the island of Maui ," said Shannon Gerber , executive director of The Home Depot Foundation. "As our experienced nonprofit partners assess the full extent of the destruction, we are standing ready to support the immediate needs of the community however possible." Statement by the U.S. Conference of Mayors on the Maui Wildfires

"The nation's mayors stand in solidarity with Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen and those impacted by the devastating wildfires in Lahaina . Small towns and cities are the heartbeat of our country, and America's mayors are committed to supporting the Lahaina community as it recovers and rebuilds." Purina Donates $25,000 to Help Pets and People Impacted by Hawaii Wildfires

Dozens of lives have been lost, hundreds of buildings have been destroyed and thousands of people and animals have been displaced in what's being called the state's worst natural disaster in 30 years. Purina's donation will aid Greater Good Charities in providing cash grants for rescue and medical care, pet food, and supplies to Hawaiian-based animals rescues and emergency shelters.

Read more of the latest severe weather-related releases from PR Newswire.

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BEIJING, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report from China.org.cn on China's disaster relief:

"We just moved in our newly renovated apartment a month ago. (It's all ruined now) We're absolutely devastated."

Those who walk toward the downpour and the frontrunners in disaster relief

"I'll give you brand new furnishing free of charge." "I'll paint your walls for free." "Give me the measurements of your cabinets"

These words come from a video posted by a netizen from Zhuozhou, Hebei province and the replies in the comment section. Heavy rain caused by Typhoon Doksuri that lasted nearly two weeks resulted in flood, which damaged her new apartment. While human efforts seem inconsequential in the face of natural disasters, the will of people have proven otherwise.

We've seen 

Those who walk toward the tempest head-on: The firemen and rescue team members who came to Beijing and Zhuozhou from all over China, treated every rescue as a battle. They munched bread in the rain, worked hand in hand to form a "human rope" so that they can help trapped residents out from thigh-deep water; they trudged for four hours in heavy downpour to deliver supplies to people stuck in paralyzed trains "No.23 (Wang Hongchun), put on that ring buoy!" This is the last sentence heard from Wang Hongchun and Liu Jianmin, the two Blue Sky Rescue members who sacrificed their lives in Beijing's flood rescue efforts.

There are also frontrunners in the relief effort who made many sacrifices to help disaster victims. Xiong Li, a grassroot official from Mentougou District in Beijing died in the flood while inspecting the flood-stricken places, at a young age of 36. CPC Party members at Shawo Village, Matou Town in Zhuozhou stayed committed to their responsibilities: Some had given up sleep for over three days, busy helping villagers, some waded door to door to help residents escape, and some left even their own families behind. Train K1178 which was headed for Beijing, was stuck for over 40 hours at Yanhecheng Station. All the crew members set aside supplies for passengers, trying to comfort them. The whole crew hadn't eaten anything for up to 20 hours, and the staff from the station had given them everything they had left  two bags of flour.

We have also seen small sparks that light up the whole sky. When people from one place are in need, help from various places come along. The disaster-stricken places were in dire need for transportation, so taxi drivers volunteered to pool their resources and offer support. Many warehouses of book companies were flooded, so many book-lovers from across China contributed their bit to help these companies through the hard times. Many ordinary citizens bought food supplies, and put up a pot to make noodles for flood victims as well as rescue crews.

Confronted with natural disasters, "helping others", an already noble gesture, only becomes even more valuable. It embodies how people cherish the lives of their own kind, and stands for trust, selflessness and righteousness.

In the Chinese myth "Nvwa Butian, (Goddess Nvwa mends the sky)" a hole was poked in the sky, giving rise to heavy rain. After the hole was mended by a five-colored stone, the rain stopped, and the flood receded. Now, while the heavy rain rages, we hope the "five-colored" stone made up of the love of Chinese people, would eventually mend the poked sky.

China Mosaic

http://www.china.org.cn/video/node_7230027.htm

Those who walk toward the downpour and the frontrunners in disaster relief

http://www.china.org.cn/video/2023-08/18/content_104299969.htm

SOURCE China.org.cn
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Total Senior, a leading senior care referral agency, proudly marked its 10-year anniversary this year in May. For the last four of those years, the agency has operated a unique, one-of-a-kind Senior Care Resource Center that welcomes seniors and their families who are seeking information about all aspects of senior care. However, due to the ongoing mental health crisis in Los Angeles, Total Senior has made the decision to relocate from its retail location to a secure office space. This strategic move underscores the agency's commitment to prioritizing the well-being and security of its community, ensuring a safe environment for all.

Total Senior: Our Story Total Senior is all about personalized service with a focus on our core values. Total Senior is a service for all seniors and families that desire quality of life for their loved ones.

Total Senior's resource center operated in a retail space near Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center and welcomed hundreds of families for consultations and support. While the center endured pandemic closures and limited foot traffic, the safety of staff, seniors, and their families has become an issue due to the escalating mental health crisis in the city. Challenging interactions with individuals facing homelessness and mental health concerns have included subjection to graffiti, human waste, excess amounts of trash, and drug paraphernalia. Individuals dealing with mental illness or addiction have harassed staff members by yelling and consistently banging on the windows. Staff and seniors have felt unsafe, preventing them from confidently approaching the entrance. The company's neighbors and other nearby businesses have also been impacted, and with no support from the city of Los Angeles.

"While we were able to endure the hardships brought on by the pandemic, the escalating mental health crisis in Los Angeles has severely affected the safety and accessibility of our current location," said Daniel Sagal, Senior Care Advisor at Total Senior. "Our commitment to serving seniors in need remains unwavering, but we must prioritize their safety and comfort above all else."

The decision to relocate to an office building in Encino was made after careful consideration and extensive planning. The new facility will offer a more secure and safe environment, ensuring that seniors can access Total Senior's resources without hesitation. Although the physical location will change, Total Senior will continue to serve Los Angeles and Ventura County seniors, as well as the surrounding areas, providing unparalleled support to seniors and their families during their time of need.

Total Senior extends its appreciation to the loyal customers, neighbors, and nearby businesses for their support over the years. Despite recent challenges, the company remains dedicated to its mission of enriching the lives of seniors and their loved ones through compassionate care and essential services.

"Our commitment to seniors in Los Angeles and beyond remains steadfast," stated Daniel Sagal "We are still on call to assist those in need and will continue serving the community with the same level of care and dedication that has defined Total Senior for the past decade."

For more information about Total Senior's relocation and services, please visit www.totalsenior.com or contact Senior Care Advisor Daniel Sagal at (888) 268-9212 or [email protected].

About Total Senior:

Total Senior is a senior care referral agency that provides families and individuals with options to assist in finding the right care provider or senior living community. The company streamlines the search process by providing referrals to providers that match all of a family's criteria, including budget, geography, and care needs. Total Senior does not endorse or recommend any particular care providers or senior living communities, it is the family's or individual's sole responsibility to select the appropriate care provider. Families and individuals are encouraged to tour and/or ask questions of all care providers, as well as research licensing, to ensure they are selecting the one that best fits their particular needs. Services provided by Total Senior are at no cost to families or individuals as care providers pay a fee to Total Senior.

SOURCE Total Senior Advisors
SEATTLE, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Washington Poison Center (WAPC), Washington's free medical service for questions and emergencies with medications, poisons, and drug overdoses, is pleased to announce the hiring of Justin Mauger, MA IE, BSW as its Eastern Washington Community Health Educator. In this role, Justin will support and expand awareness of the WAPC, poison prevention, and harm reduction strategies among community members and professionals in central and eastern Washington.

Justin Mauger, the Washington Poison Center's new Community Health Educator in Eastern Washington

Born and raised in eastern Washington, Justin holds a BA in Social Work from Eastern Washington University and an MA in International Education at the School for International Training Graduate Institute. Justin brings to the WAPC six years of educational experience, including roles as the Director of Student Services at the Spokane College of English Language, site director at the YMCA of the Inland Northwest, and Mathematics and Spoken English teacher in Beijing. In addition to educational expertise, Justin comes to the WAPC with six years of direct community involvement as a Medicaid Case Manager, supporting older adults and people living with long-term disability to remain in their chosen living environments.

"Justin pairs his tremendous depth of education and community-centered experience with creative approaches to audience engagement, which has already resulted in innovative programming and new community partners. We are excited to see the direction Justin will grow our education and outreach in central and eastern Washington, fostering closer partnerships and establishing awareness in communities we have previously been challenged to reach," remarks Dr. Scott Phillips, Executive and Medical Director of the WAPC.

Dedicated to promoting equity and empowering diverse communities to make informed health choices, Justin is engaged in developing outreach programs for refugees and immigrants. He is additionally focusing efforts on implementing effective medication management strategies for older adults and delivering home safety messaging to local families. Those interested in collaborating with Justin are encouraged to reach out to him at [email protected].

Media contact: [email protected]

About the WAPC: The Washington Poison Center is a 501(c)3 nonprofit mandated by Washington State to deliver poison and drug exposure-related medical advice and education to community members, first responders, and healthcare providers. WAPC provides medical advice through a 24/7/365 free telephone line staffed by specially trained pharmacists, nurses, and physician medical toxicologists. WAPC also provides free programs to educate local communities on poison safety, prevention, and harm reduction.

SOURCE Washington Poison Center
Technology center to be laundry, dishwasher and small appliance innovation hub

Facility to employ more than 500 Michigan-based high-tech talent

BENTON HARBOR, Mich., Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- (NYSE: WHR) - Whirlpool Corporation today unveiled a new 153,000-square-foot technology center in St. Joseph, Mich. The $60+ million project expands and replaces much of the current St. Joseph Technology Center. This is the first of a three phase plan to redesign an iconic research and development facility that has been home to decades of appliance innovations.

Whirlpool Corporation's St. Joseph Technology Center (SJTC)

"In 1911, the first electric washing machines were built here in St. Joseph, Michigan, and we continue to grow that legacy with the investment in this new, state-of-the-art technology center," said Marc Bitzer, Whirlpool chairman and CEO. "We are committed to this community, and to improving life at home for families around the world. This new technology hub helps enable both of these promises by creating a new space where future innovation will come to life."

The expanded St. Joseph Technology Center is LEED Silver certified, a globally recognized ranking of sustainability achievement and leadership. The work that is done in this new facility will be focused on delivering great consumer solutions through the washers, dryers, dishwashers, and small appliance products designed and tested here including the iconic KitchenAid Stand Mixer. The facility employs more than 500 technicians, engineers, designers and adjacent roles, and contains 21 testing labs.

"This $60 million investment by Whirlpool builds on the company's longstanding commitment to Southwest Michigan," said Gov. Whitmer. "This transformative project will help Whirlpool attract top talent, put more people on paths to good-paying, high-skill jobs, and continue our mission to help anyone 'make it' in Michigan. Our unemployment rate is the lowest it has been in 23 years, we are moving forward on housing and community revitalization projects across the state, and we just delivered a bipartisan budget to lower costs, expand workforce programs, and power economic development. We look forward to continuing our work together to build a bright future."

Whirlpool Corporation has invested more than $230 million in new or expanded facilities in the St. Joseph and Benton Harbor communities in the last ten years. The corporation also invested an additional $23 million in the 80-unit Emma Jean Hull Flats housing development in Benton Harbor which opened in June.

"This new building offers state-of-the-art technology for product design, development and testing to help address consumer needs now and for the future," said Pam Klyn, Whirlpool executive vice president of corporate relations and sustainability. "The appliances designed within the four walls of this new technology center will represent new levels of innovation and sustainability so consumers can feel confident they are making the right choice for their lifestyle and the environment."

Whirlpool Corp. products have continuously improved water and energy efficiency while increasing performance benefits to consumers for decades. The average clothes washers built today use nearly 78% less energy than those built in 1992, while their capacity has increased by 60%. In addition, most dishwashers developed by the company are already 3 to 4 times more water-efficient than hand washing - with the potential to save over 2,500 gallons of water per home each year.

As employees begin to transition to the new building, work will continue into 2024 to complete the next phases of the St. Joseph Technology Center project including renovation of the facade of the remaining portion and increased parking to improve access for employees.

About Whirlpool Corporation

Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE: WHR) is committed to being the best global kitchen and laundry company, in constant pursuit of improving life at home. In an increasingly digital world, the company is driving purposeful innovation to meet the evolving needs of consumers through its iconic brand portfolio, including Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Maytag, Consul, Brastemp, Amana, Bauknecht, JennAir, Indesit, Yummly and InSinkErator. In 2022, the company reported approximately $20 billion in annual sales, 61,000 employees and 56 manufacturing and technology research centers. Additional information about the company can be found at WhirlpoolCorp.com.

SOURCE Whirlpool Corporation
LAHAINA, Hawaii  Maui's top emergency management official has resigned a day after he defended his decision not to sound warning sirens as the wildfires tore through the island, killing more than 100 people and leading to harsh criticism of his actions.

Herman Andaya, the embattled administrator of the Maui Emergency Management Agency, stepped down late Thursday, citing health reasons, Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen announced on the county's Facebook page.

"Given the gravity of the crisis we are facing, my team and I will be placing someone in this key position as quickly as possible and I look forward to making that announcement soon," Bissen said.

When the Maui wildfires broke out on Aug. 8, residents said they were given little to no time to evacuate as none of the island's warning sirens, among the world's largest outdoor siren warning systems, sounded. Many residents said the power had been out in the area since early that morning.

Andaya said Wednesday that he decided not to sound the sirens, fearing residents would have fled inland toward the flames.

"The public is trained to seek higher ground in the event that the siren is sounded," he said, noting that sirens are mostly used for tsunamis and other disasters.

As death toll in Maui fire rises, here's how it compares to the deadliest fires in the US

Developing:

The death toll had risen to at least 111 as of Wednesday, and authorities say it will continue rising.

FEMA has almost 500 people on the ground aiding the recovery, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said. The Red Cross has 270 people at the site, and there is a "formidable" military presence to protect against looting or violence, he said.

Students were asked to wear red on the first day of school across much of Hawaii in solidarity with Lahaina students, many of whom reported to other schools because of damage to local buildings.

Family of 4. Beloved sister. Family of 4. Beloved sister. Uncle whose 'smile stood out': Some of the lives lost in Maui wildfires

Story continues

Hawaii AG to use third-party investigator to probe wildfire response

Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez said Thursday that her office would launch an independent investigation into the states response to the deadly wildfires.

"This will be an impartial, independent review," Lopez said in a statement. The prosecutor said having a third party look into state officials' actions around last week's wildfire, one of the deadliest fires in U.S. history, will "ensure accountability and transparency and reassure the people of Hawaii that all of the facts will be uncovered."

The move to use an outside investigator comes as questions linger about whether state and local emergency management officials did enough to warn residents as the wildfires tore through west Maui. The blazes torched the historic town of Lahaina, leaving the onetime capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom in ruins.

Locals are questioning why residents were not given notice via sirens or other notifications. The review will take months, Lopez's office said.

"We will be taking the necessary time to follow the facts wherever they lead," Lopez said.

On Wednesday, Gov. Josh Green said the investigation is not a criminal inquiry.

"Right now we are working to find out how we can make sure its safe as we go through hurricane season as we deal with the reality that there will be fires month in and month out for the decades to come," Green said.

Gov. Green pledges to ban 'predatory' land grabs

Green doubled down on his vow to protect residents from predatory land grabs late Wednesday, urging outsiders not to make offers for burned-out homes and saying his attorney general is working to set up a moratorium on land transactions. He urged developers not to approach homeowners or their families with offers to buy, adding that it will be a "significant amount of time" before construction can begin.

"My intention from start to finish is to make sure that no one is victimized from a land grab," Green said. "There are some legal challenges there, we are going to push right through those and make sure people don't lose their land."

Green's pledge works for John Dimuro, a 40-year island resident who said locals don't want big companies or wealthy people buying up land and developing it.

"The government should just say 'No, you're not allowed to develop,'" he said. "Say no, just flat-out no."

The search for human remains: 'This is unprecedented'

More than a week after the fire raced through Maui, Police Chief John Pelletier said the search for remains is painstaking. Authorities have set up a MINT  morgue identification and notification task force  with local and federal agencies "so we can do these investigations ... and make notifications with dignity and honor," Pelletier said.

"This is unprecedented," he said. "No one has ever seen this that is alive today. Not this size, not this number, not this volume, and we're not done. And so we ask for your continued prayers. We really need them."

'Mr. Aloha,' free-spirited woman among victims

The stories behind the lives lost to the Maui wildfires are beginning to emerge. Buddy Jantoc, 79, was a beloved local musician known for his warmth and generosity, the Honolulu Civil Beat reported. Nicknamed "Mr. Aloha," his family said, Jantoc had toured the world when he was younger and loved playing bass guitar.

Carole Hartley was going to celebrate her 61st birthday on Aug. 28. "She kept telling me ... 'One more year, sister, and Im retiring,'" her sister Donna remembers. She said her sister was free-spirited and had lived in Lahaina for 36 years.

Read more here.

 Thao Nguyen

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Maui emergency official resigns after harsh criticism over not using sirens
DUBLIN, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Lab-on-a-Chip & Microfluidics World Congress 2023" conference has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Welcome to the 16th Annual Lab-on-a-Chip & Microfluidics 2023 Conference to be held in-person on-site in beautiful Laguna Hills, California.

Bringing together researchers and industry participants from both academia and industry, this established congress now in its 16th consecutive year, will discuss the latest innovations and developments in the Lab-on-a-Chip (LOAC) and Microfluidics fields.



Presentations will explore the latest advances in the Lab-on-a-Chip & Microfluidics Fields. Focus at this conference will also be given to some of the many applications of Lab-on-a-Chip, from life science research, to taking diagnostics to the point-of-care/point-of-need and body-on-a-chip/organs-on-a-chip.

We focus on LOAC device production technologies, novel designs/technologies for manufacture, as well as the key application areas for LOAC from research to diagnostics as well as 3D-bioprinting and the convergence of microfluidics technologies with biofabrication and 3D-printing.

There is an Extensive International Perspective at this Conference with Speakers, Poster Presenters, Sponsors, and Exhibitors from the US, Europe, and Asia/Pacific. Running alongside the conference will be an exhibition covering the latest technological advances and associated products and services from leading solution providers within this field from around the world.



The Mehmet Toner Microfluidics Symposium will be held on November 28, 2023 on-site at The Hills Hotel Laguna Hills.

This microfluidics symposium in honor of Professor Mehmet Toner's 65th Birthday will feature presentations on the cutting-edge of Microfluidics Technologies and Approaches and Professor Toner will present the plenary lecture at this Symposium. Followed by the Symposium will be a beer-and-wine reception and dinner and this Symposium is included in the registration to the conference. We look forward to scientific engagement and fantastic networking at this event.

Registered delegates will have full access to the co-located and concurrent tracks and sessions to mix-and-match presentations and maximize networking:

Lab-on-a-Chip and Microfluidics: Technologies, Companies and Commercialization 2023

Tools for Developing Point-of-Care & Rapid Diagnostics 2023

Extracellular Vesicles (EVs) & Cell-Free RNAs: Technologies & Biological Investigations 2023

Agenda:

3D-Printing and its Convergence with the Microfluidics and Lab-on-a-Chip Marketplace

Developments in Materials and Microfabrication Technologies

Droplet Microfluidics, Digital Microfluidics, Centrifugal Microfluidics

Lab-on-a-Chip Device Manufacturing, Standardization, and Commercialization

Microfluidics and Lab-on-a-Chip: Life Science Research Applications

Rapid Prototyping in Microfluidics

Speakers

Conference Chairs

Leanna M Levine - Founder & President, ALine, Inc.

Albert Folch - Professor of Bioengineering, University of Washington

- Professor of Bioengineering, Dino Di Carlo - Armond and Elena Hairapetian Chair in Engineering and Medicine, Professor and Vice Chair of Bioengineering, University of California Los Angeles

Plenary Speakers

Steve Soper - Foundation Distinguished Professor, Director, Center of BioModular Multi-scale System for Precision Medicine, The University of Kansas

- Foundation Distinguished Professor, Director, Center of BioModular Multi-scale System for Precision Medicine, The Rustem Ismagilov - Ethel Wilson Bowles and Robert Bowles Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology

- and Robert Bowles Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shannon Stott - Assistant Professor, Massachusetts General Hospital & Harvard Medical School

- Assistant Professor, General Hospital & Mehmet Toner - Helen Andrus Benedict Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Harvard Medical School , and Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology

- Helen Andrus Benedict Professor of Biomedical Engineering, General Hospital (MGH), , and Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology David Weitz - Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics and Applied Physics, Director of the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, Harvard University

- Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics and Applied Physics, Director of the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, Abraham Lee - Chancellor's Professor, Biomedical Engineering & Director, Center for Advanced Design & Manufacturing of Integrated Microfluidics, University of California-Irvine

- Chancellor's Professor, Biomedical Engineering & Director, Center for Advanced Design & Manufacturing of Integrated Microfluidics, Shuichi Takayama - Professor, Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar, and Price Gilbert, Jr. Chair in Regenerative Engineering and Medicine, Georgia Institute of Technology & Emory University School of Medicine

Keynote Speakers

Adam Abate - Professor of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, University of California-San Francisco

- Professor of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, David Beebe - Claude Bernard Professor of Biomedical Engineering, John D. MacArthur Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison

- Claude Bernard Professor of Biomedical Engineering, John D. MacArthur Professor, Ellis Meng - Shelly and Ofer Nemirovsky Chair of Convergent Biosciences and Professor of Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California

- Shelly and Ofer Nemirovsky Chair of Convergent Biosciences and Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Brian Cunningham - Professor and Intel Alumni Endowed Chair, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

- Professor and Intel Alumni Endowed Chair, Katherine Elvira - Associate Professor, Canada Research Chair, Michael Smith Health Research BC Scholar, University of Victoria

- Associate Professor, Canada Research Chair, Michael Smith Health Research BC Scholar, Noah Malmstadt - Professor, Mork Family Dept. of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science, University of Southern California

- Professor, Mork Family Dept. of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science, Lydia Sohn - Almy C. Maynard and Agnes Offield Maynard Chair in Mechanical Engineering, University of California-Berkeley

- and Agnes Offield Maynard Chair in Mechanical Engineering, Juan Santiago - Charles Lee Powell Foundation Professor, Stanford University

- Charles Lee Powell Foundation Professor, Gregory Nordin - Professor, Brigham Young University

For more information about this conference visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/k6swum

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SOURCE Research and Markets
SHANGHAI, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On August 15th, Prof. Dr. Christopher Gutenbrunner, the former chief physician and Head of Department at the Clinic for Rehabilitation Medicine at Hannover Medical School, Rehabilitation international President-elect, Past-president of the Global Rehabilitation Alliance, made an official visit to Siyi Intelligence to explore the most updated Brain-computer Interface (BCI) Rehabilitation & Evaluation System and engaged in insightful discussions on the development of future rehabilitation robots, accompanied by Chong Wang, the Vice President of Zhangjiang AI Robot Valley and Gavin Yin, the Founder & CEO of Siyi Intelligence.

Prof. Dr. Christopher Gutenbrunner and his team experienced the first and exclusive Registrated BCI hand-rehab solution in China - Syrebo BCI Rehabilitation & Evaluation system and complimented " the idea of the product is ingenious and advanced, that perfectly combined the brain-computer technology with mature hand function products."

Prof. Dr. Christopher Gutenbrunner said, " Therapists must teach patients how to use rehabilitation products correctly. The feedback from patients will drive rehabilitation products iterate and update" while he was experiencing the rehabilitation products series for clinic and home. This point coincides with Syrebo's R&D philosophy.

Siyi Intelligence's staff also demonstrated Syrebo EasyWalk exoskeleton walking suit for lower extremity augmentation,which was approved by Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality in June this year.

EasyWalk is designed to help patients reduce energy consumption while walking, improve user's ability to walk long distances even after a stroke and improve safety during walking. After Prof. Dr. Christopher Gutenbrunner learned about the product. He emphasized, "EasyWalk is effective in assisting patients to walk after a stroke. It's the future direction of lower limb rehabilitation."

At the recent Rehabilitation International Centennial Celebration Award Ceremony, Prof. Dr. Christopher Gutenbrunner appealed to respect human diversity, respect human rights, and promote equal participation and comprehensive development of disabilities. Similarly, Siyi Intelligence always carries out the commitment to provide dignified rehab equipment for the disabled group.

In the future, Siyi Intelligence will continue to explore the innovative application of cutting-edge technologies such as 5G, AI and big data in the rehabilitation industry, to bring "professional, refined, unique, and novel" solutions to the clinics & patients, ultimately realizing the vision of "ensure the innovative rehabilitation services are available to all".

SOURCE Siyi Intelligence
BEIJING, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2023 China-Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) International Logistics Round Table kicked off on Wednesday in Lianyungang, a port city in east China's Jiangsu Province.

Themed on "Strengthening cooperation among SCO countries, co-building the new Eurasian land&sea transport corridor", the three-day roundtable conference, co-hosted by Lianyungang Municipal People's Government and the SCO Secretariat, is aimed at further deepening logistics and industrial connection and fostering new growth points of cooperation among SCO countries.

The 2023 China-Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) International Logistics Round Table kicks off on Wednesday in Lianyungang, a port city in east China's Jiangsu Province.

At the conference, Sohail Khan, deputy secretary-general of the SCO, Fang Wei, vice governor of Jiangsu Province, and Ma Shiguang, Party chief of Lianyungang, delivered speeches respectively.

Officials from SCO member countries and observer countries, and representatives of relevant logistics alliances and institutions attended the event and reached consensus on cooperation in multiple fields, such as transport, logistics, foreign trade and digital economy.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative. As a strong fulcrum of the Belt and Road cooperation and the important node city in the New Eurasian Land Bridge economic corridor, Lianyungang takes the role of a two-way opening window and a rail-sea transportation hub.

In recent years, Lianyungang has actively promoted the construction of benchmarking demonstration projects under the Belt and Road Initiative, such as the Lianyungang China-Kazakhstan Logistics Cooperation Base and the SCO (Lianyungang) International Logistics Park, all of which have delivered fruitful results.

It is learned that the SCO (Lianyungang) International Logistics Park opened its first China- Kyrgyzstan -Uzbekistan route in October last year, which embarked on a new journey of bridging China's trade with other SCO members. As of July this year, a total of 1,182 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cargo were transported after the route of the park launched.

Lianyungang has successfully held two sessions of SCO International Round Table in 2019 and 2021, making the event an important exchange platform between Lianyungang and SCO members.

Original link: https://en.imsilkroad.com/p/335667.html

SOURCE Xinhua Silk Road
The damaged Expo Centre building following a drone attack in Moscow (AFP via Getty Images)

Flights at major Moscow airports were disrupted on Friday after an early hours drone strike not far from the Kremlin.

Witnesses described a powerful explosion around a non-residential building in Moscows expo centre, three miles west of the Kremlin.

Russias air transport agency said seven flights were redirected after the strike forced the suspension of air traffic at four major airports around Moscow.

The Russian defence ministry blamed the attack on Ukraine, saying the drone was shot down by air defences. Officials said there were no casualties.

Remote-controlled strikes in Russia have increased since a drone was destroyed over the Kremlin in May. Ukraine has not responded to Russian accusations, including for two strikes near the Expo Centre in July.

At the time, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said: Gradually, the war is returning to the territory of Russia, and this is an inevitable, natural and fair process.

But Mr Zelenskys government is also demanding greater western air power to sustain its counter-offensive, after complaining that US-made F16 jets would not be arriving soon.

People and workers stand in line to enter a building of Expo Centre following a drone attack (AFP via Getty Images)

At about 4 am Moscow time, the Kyiv regime launched another terrorist attack using an unmanned aerial vehicle on objects located in Moscow and the Moscow region," the Russian defence ministry said.

According to US media reports, United States intelligence agencies believed Ukrainian spies or military intelligence were behind the strike.

Since then, a series of drone strikes have struck Russia, including several buildings which were damaged on May 30 in the south west of Moscow.

On July 30 and 31, two other separate drones also crashed into the glass facade of a skyscraper just a few hundred metres from the Expo Center.
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Federal officials highlighted Thursday the U.S. governments efforts to combat migration in the dangerous Darien Gap jungle between Panama and Colombia, where more than 250,000 people are reported to have illegally crossed as of July 2023.

We continue to enforce the immigration laws of the United States and we continue to work across the hemisphere with our allies to reduce irregular migration and attack the criminal networks that manipulate and abuse people during this journey, said Luis Miranda, the Department of Homeland Securitys principal deputy assistant communications secretary, at a virtual Spanish-language press conference.

The conference came amid a record number of people crossing the Darien Gap this year, despite U.S. and regional efforts to reduce the number of people who migrate illegally through the treacherous and wild stretch that connects Central and South America.

In April, Homeland Security announced a joint, two-month campaign with Panama and Colombia to end the illicit movement of people in the Darien. Miranda said that since April 20, the federal government has supported the mobilization of over 3,880 security forces from Panama and Colombia as well as more than 271,000 pounds of equipment to boost the areas security.

Our allies in Panama and Colombia continue doing the work to interrupt and stop illegal operations of activities such as human trafficking through the Darien, he said.

Meanwhile, Marta Youth, principal deputy assistant secretary of the State Departments Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, spoke of the financial investments the U.S. has made in the Western hemisphere to address and deter irregular migration. This includes nearly $18 million in humanitarian aid to the Panamanian government in the last fiscal year that had been used to tend to the basic needs of migrants who traveled through the Darien Gap, as well as a development initiative with over $4.2 billion in private sector investment to foster economic opportunity in northern Central America.

Story continues

Youth also said that migrant processing centers, called Safe Mobility Offices, have been set up in Guatemala, Colombia and Costa Rica to help facilitate access to legal migration pathways to the United States, such as parole, family reunification and refugee programs. Over 19,000 people had registered in Guatemala and Colombia through the online platform for the initiative as of Aug. 10, Youth said.

We are building the capacity of host countries and local communities as well so that they can integrate refugees and asylum seekers in their countries as well, she said.

Hundreds of thousands of migrants have nevertheless opted to cross the Darien Gap this year in hopes of reaching the United States. The United Nations said in early August that between January and July 2023, more than a quarter of a million people had attempted the dangerous crossing  the same number as in 2022, when numbers had almost doubled from 2021.

The U.N. statistics reported that 55% of crossers were from Venezuela; 14% were Haitian and 14% were from Ecuador. The agency also said that some of the crossers were the Chilean- and Brazilian-born children of Haitians, as well as migrants from countries as near as Colombia and Peru and as far as China and Nepal.

The journey is risky and migrants must face the wilderness, dangerous animals and criminal gangs that smuggle drugs and people in the stretch of jungle. Since 2014, the U.N. International Organization for Migration has recorded 316 people who have gone missing or died in the region.

Conditions in the Darien Gap are dire. Many people, including children, arrive in Panama traumatized, injured, due to the lethal nature of the terrain and the high rates of extortion and sexual violence they experience along the way, Youth said.

Miranda cited the administrations efforts to expand legal avenues for migration, including new parole processes for Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Haiti and new reunification programs for Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. He also cited changes made to the CBP One app, a mobile application on which migrants can schedule immigration appointments at ports of entry, as well the addition of 65,000 temporary visas for non-agricultural workers. He also warned, as US authorities have repeatedly said over the last months to deter illegal migration, that people who attempt to migrate illegally would not be eligible for the Biden administrations recently announced parole processes and other lawful pathways.

For example, a Venezuelan family that can arrive legally through a parole process loses that ability if they cross illegally, said Miranda, who later added that even crossing Panama already makes people ineligible for the U.S.-based parole processes.

Miranda also said that in many cases, family members abroad pay for their families to come illegally to the U.S., and that these relatives should know what they are exposing would-be migrants to should they come through the Darien Gap or other dangerous routes.

It can cost them their lives, but also extortion, rape, violence that they can suffer at the hands of criminal networks, he said. Irregular migration is controlled by cartels today, and no one should expose their loved ones or friends to that.

Dara Lind, a senior fellow at the immigration advocacy think tank American Immigration Council, said that many people who worked on Darien Gap-related issues thought it was a laughably unrealistic goal that the joint effort between Panama, Colombia, and the U.S. aimed to end the illicit movement of people during its 60-day campaign.

Lind said that once migrants cross the Darien Gap into Panama, it is challenging for the Central American nations governments to turn them back because of limited financial and human resources.

At a certain point, you need to have the government buy in. And a lot of governments say, Why should we try to build up our capacity to resettle people when they want to come to the United States? said Lind.

Samira Gozaine, director of Panamas National Migration Service, said in a recent TV interview with French public broadcaster France 24 that Colombia has not done enough to help Panama.

We are feeling alone from the perspective of migration. Because the help we get is not the help we have asked for or that we need, she said.

Lind, who visited the Darien Gap and its surrounding communities on the Panamanian side in June, said that the migrant camps there feel like the lightest-footprint refugee camps,  a reflection that the country is not a final destination, but a transit country.

No one is really committing to making these fully fledged-out places because no one wants to stay, she said. The Panamanian government is not indifferent to peoples suffering. But it doesnt see its goal as making people comfortable in Panama but getting them through.
Minsk, Aug 18 : Belarus will not participate in the armed hostilities in Ukraine unless Ukrainians cross the state border, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said.

"If Ukrainians do not cross our border, we will never participate in this war, in this full-scale war, but we will always help Russia," Lukashenko told the media in an interview on Thursday, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Belarusian President also denied reports that Moscow allegedly persuades Minsk to participate in its "special military operation" in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Lukashenko said that the war could have been avoided, and it is still possible to end it.

Any peace negotiation should be proceeded without pre-conditions, he added.
Lucknow, Aug 18 : The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) has arrested a man from Shamli for his alleged involvement in planning terror and anti-national activities with the help of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

According to the STF officials, the terror suspect was identified as Kaleem Ahmad, 36, of Gherbukhari Naukuan in Shamli.

He has been booked under IPC sections 420 (fraud), 121-A (waging war against the country), 153-A (promoting enmity between two groups on the ground of religion), 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and sections of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The suspect had returned from Pakistan five days ago and was in regular touch with ISI handlers, officials said, adding that he was planning to "prepare a team here to carry out terror activities".

The suspect revealed that the ISI handlers had assured him to provide firearms and ammunition for this purpose, they said.

The suspect said he had gone to meet his relatives in Pakistan, but could not give their details when cross-questioned. He went to Pakistan supposedly on the call of ISI handlers, officials added.

They said a Pakistani mobile number purchased on a forged ID was recovered from the suspect who operated WhatsApp and used it to interact with ISI handlers.

The arrest was made by the STFas Meerut field unit led by ASP Brijesh Kumar Singh on a specific tip-off.

A senior STF official stated that the suspect was the third eldest among his five brothers and one of his elder brothers - Tehseem Ahmad a" was also involved in terror activities.

The official said Tehseem was in regular touch with Pakistan-based terrorist Sheikh Khalid Hafiz alias Dilshad Mirza and was planning to launch Islamic war to establish Shariat law in the country.

Tehseem also spied for the ISI by sending photographs of the Indian Armyas security installations in Anoopgarh, Rajasthan, he added.
LIMA, April 14, 2018 (Xinhua) -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks at the third Business Summit of the Americas in Lima, Peru, April 13, 2018. The Business Summit of the Americas was opened on Thursday, ahead of the eighth Summit of the A. Image Source: IANS News

Ottawa, Aug 18 : Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has convened an emergency meeting to discuss the wildfire crisis in the Northwest Territories.

Mass evacuation of areas in the territory is ongoing, including the capital city of Yellowknife, the territory's largest community with a population of more than 20,000. Residents were ordered to leave by noon Friday, Xinhua news agency reported, citing local media.

The territory government said on Thursday on its website that only residents who do not have the option to evacuate by car are asked to register for flights and that residents with health concerns and a higher risk of severe outcomes are encouraged to register for an evacuation flight to avoid worsening air quality.

The Canadian Armed Forces said on Thursday on social media that they are in Yellowknife and have hit the ground running to provide support and help protect communities from wildfires.

The territory government declared a state of emergency on Tuesday and issued an evacuation order on Wednesday in response to out-of-control wildfires. Local media reported that the wildfires could reach the outskirts of Yellowknife by the weekend.

According to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, there were around 1,000 active forest fires in Canada as of Thursday, 236 of which were burning in the Northwest Territories.
Tehran, Aug 18 : Iran has arrested another 20 suspects in connection with Sunday's "terrorist" attack on the Shah Cheragh shrine in the southern province of Fars.

The suspects were arrested in Fars and other provinces, Mizan news agency quoted Fars province's Chief Justice Kazem Mousavi as saying, noting that the arrestees will all be transferred to Fars for further investigations, Xinhua news agency reported.

Sunday's attack killed two and injured seven others when an armed assailant attempted to break into the shrine at a main gate, opening gunfire on several staff and worshipers.

The main suspect of the attack, a Tajik national, was immediately arrested by security forces at the scene.
London, Aug 18 : A 25-year-old Sikh man has been charged in connection with the stabbing of two people during a community event in Southall in London, police said.

Gurpreet Singh, a resident of Belmont Road in Ilford, appeared at Uxbridge Magistratesa Court on Thursday where he was charged with the offences.

His charges include one count of attempted grievous bodily harm with intent; two counts of grievous bodily harm with intent; one count of affray; one count of threats with a bladed article and two counts of possession of a bladed article.

Singh has been remanded in custody to appear at Isleworth Crown Court on September 14, 2023, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

The court heard that at around 22:00 hrs on August 15, officers were policing an Indian Independence Day street event in The Broadway, Southall, when a member of the public informed them of an altercation that had taken place.

They found two men in their 30s with knife injuries and took them to a hospital where their injuries were assessed as not life-threatening. They have since been discharged.

Police arrested two men at the scene, including Singh and a 20-year-old man who has been released on police bail pending further enquiries.

A female officer, involved in detaining one of those arrested, sustained a small cut to her hand. She did not need hospital treatment.

Superintendent Sean Lynch, responsible for neighbourhood policing in Ealing, said: "I recognise the enormous concern this incident will have caused, both in Southall and in the Sikh communities around London and further afield, in what was an otherwise largely peaceful and celebratory event."

Lynch also mentioned about a video of the incident circulating on social media and urged people to stop speculating.

"We are aware of footage circulating on social media, with people also commenting on what they think happened. We would urge people to avoid echoing or adding to the speculation. Fortunately, none of those injured were seriously hurt and there were no fatalities," Lynch said.

An investigation is ongoing and is being led by detectives from West Area CID. Following the incident, a Section 35 Dispersal Order that was authorised in the area has since been removed.
WASHINGTON, April 26, 2019 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump is pictured at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, on April 26, 2019. Trump announced on Friday that the United States is withdrawing from an international arms tra. Image Source: IANS News

Washington, Aug 18 : A US court has sentenced a Canadian woman to 22 years in jail for sending letters laced with ricin poison to former President Donald Trump when he was in office.

On Thursday, District Judge Dabney Friedrich sentenced 56-year-old Pascale Ferrier to 262 months in prison, the BBC reported.

She will be deported from the US after serving her sentence and faces supervision for life if she ever returns.

Judge Friedrich told Ferrier her actions were "potentially deadly" and "harmful to you, harmful to society, harmful to the potential victims".

Ferrier, a dual citizen of France and Canada, told the court that she regretted that her plan had failed and that she "couldn't stop Trump".In her address, she also said that she saw herself as an activist not a terrorist.

"I want to find peaceful means to achieve my goals," Ferrier added.

The FBI found her fingerprints on the letter to Trump, which urged him to drop out of the presidential race, the BBC reported.

"I found a new name for you: 'The Ugly Tyrant Clown'," she wrote in the letter, according to FBI charging documents.

Ferrier also admitted sending similarly tainted letters to eight Texas law enforcement officials.

In 2019, she was detained in the state for about 10 weeks for unlawfully carrying a weapon and driving without a valid licence, and she blamed those officials for that detention, according to a US Justice Department.

Ferrier was arrested crossing the border into Buffalo, New York in September 2020. She was carrying a gun, knife and rounds of ammunition.

She later admitted to making the ricin -- a poison made from the waste material left over from castor beans processing -- at her Quebec home, and placing it into an envelope with the letter.

She had agreed to the sentence in January after pleading guilty to biological weapons charges, reports the BBC.

There is no known antidote to ricin.

Depending on the dose, it can cause death within 36 to 72 hours, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In 2014, a Mississippi man was sentenced to 25 years in prison after sending ricin laced letters to then President Barack Obama and other officials.
Lucknow, Aug 18 : The Uttar Pradesh Real Estate Regulatory Authority (UP RERA) has topped the country in disposing of maximum 43,929 complaints in the last five years, which is around 40 per cent of complaints addressed by all regulatory authorities across the country.

In the last five years, the UP RERA received 50,666 complaints out of which it resolved 43,929, a state government spokesman said on Friday.

"UP RERA has set an example before the country by addressing maximum number of complaints. If we want to promote real estate sector in the country, then problems of both homebuyers and developers must be addressed," said Sanjay R. Bhoosreddy, chairman, UP RERA.

Out of the total complaints received by the UP RERA, the maximum were from the National Capital Region (NCR).

According to the regulatory authority, out of 38,619 complaints received in the NCR, 33211 were addressed.

Among the top 10 districts across the state, Gautam Buddha Nagar stood first with redressal of 26,453 complaints out of 30,713.

In Lucknow, 8,171 complaints out of 9,165 were addressed.
Lucknow, Aug 18 : Former Uttar Pradesh minister Shankhlal Majhi's wife was allegedly robbed of her jewellery by two assailants while she was offering prayers at a temple near her residence in Gomti Nagar extension area of the state capital.

Anjani Devi, the victim, said that a masked man entered the temple while she was praying on Thursday evening and threatened her while another man looted her jewellery at knifepoint, after which the duo fled.

S.K. Awasthi, SHO, Gomti Nagar Extension. said investigation was underway after an FIR was registered against the duo under Section 390 of the IPC.

"The CCTV footage of the spot was scrutinised. A young man, without a mask, was purportedly found walking near the intersection close to the temple. His appearance matched with a man described by Anjani Devi. The police are searching for the robbers," he added.

"When I started offering prayers, a masked man came and threatened me. Another masked man looted my mangal sutra, ring and earrings at knifepoint. He also threatened to slit my throat if I shouted for help," said Anjani Devi.
WILMINGTON, Sept. 13, 2018 (Xinhua) -- The clouds are seen before the arrival of Hurricane Florence in Wilmington, North Carolina, the United States, on Sept. 12, 2018. Hurricane Florence on Wednesday night weakened to a Category 2 storm over the Atl. Image Source: IANS News

Washington, Aug 18 : Hurricane Hilary is rapidly intensifying in the Pacific Ocean southwest of Mexico and is on track to deliver potentially significant rain and flooding to parts of the US Southwest starting this weekend, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).

In its latest update, the NHC said that as of Thursday night,Hilary had strengthened into a major Category 3 hurricane with sustained winds of 120 mph and even stronger gusts, CNN reported.

The storm will likely reach Category 4 hurricane strength on Friday with winds of at least 130 mph, the Center warned.

The hurricane was about 445 miles south of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, as of Thursday evening.

Hilaryas rainfall could arrive as early as Saturday in parts of the Southwest, with the worst of its impacts set to arrive in California on August 21.

Shifts in the forecast track will also affect which areas of northwestern Mexico will face the worst of Hilaryas winds, which will be strong enough to snap trees, down power lines and cause significant damage to property.

According to the NHC,Hilary is expected to weaken significantly before it reaches Southern California and parts of the Southwest, but there was still an increasing chance of significant impacts to these areas in the form of heavy rain and flooding, CNN reported.

Southern California could receive some of Hilaryas heaviest rainfall.

Widespread rainfall amounts of 2 to 4 inches may fall there and in southern Nevada from Saturday through August 21.

The heaviest rainfall is expected mainly August 20-21.

Rainfall is also likely in parts of Arizona, Central California and northern Nevada.

If the storm makes landfall in California as a tropical storm, it would be the first in nearly 84 years, and only the third tropical storm or stronger to do so on record, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The most recent was an unnamed tropical storm in 1939, NOAA records show.

Before that, the San Diego Hurricane made landfall in October 1858 -- Californiaas only hurricane landfall on record.

Nora in 1997 was the last and only other tropical storm to maintain its status after crossing into California.
Prayagraj, Aug 18 : Four named persons and some unidentified persons have been booked by the Holagarh police for insulting the Tricolour during an Independence Day event at a madrasa in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj.

ACP Soraon, Jang Bahadur, said on Friday that an FIR had been registered against four named persons. Others involved in the insult to Tricolour were also being identified following which further action will be taken, he added.

In a video and photographs, which went viral on social media, the Tricolour was seen being spread on a table for serving snacks at Independence Day programme at a madrasa.As per reports, photographs and videos of madrasa Gausia Islamia Zeenatul Uloom at Dahiyawa Bazar area went viral in which some persons were seen sitting on chairs with a table on which Tricolour was seen spread under snacks and food.

Residents of Dahiyawa Bazar and traders staged a protest over the incident on Thursday.

Taking prompt action, police lodged an FIR against four persons seen in the video on complaint of a trader leader Pawan Jaiswal.

Those named in the FIR were identified as madrasa manager Tawwab Ansari, staff Nanhe Qureshi and guests Kuldeep Kesarwani and Sanjay Kesarwani of Dahiyawa Bazar area.

Police investigation revealed that after the Independence Day programme, the Tricolour cloth was spread on the table to serve snacks to guests.

--IANSamita/dpb
Russian soldiers at a military-training exercise in Rostov, Russia, on October 21. Arkady Budnitsky/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

The Russian military has begun recruiting from Kazakhstan amid a personnel crunch, Reuters reported.

It's offering benefits like a $5,200 sign-on bonus and a salary of at least $2,000 to new recruits.

It's not just the military. Russia's economy is also facing a record labor shortage, RBC reported.

Russia has a military-personnel problem as its war in Ukraine rages on.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's regime is so desperate for recruits that Moscow is offering a sign-on bonus of 495,000 rubles, or about $5,200, to people in the neighboring country of Kazakhstan if they join the Russian army, Reuters reported on Thursday.

Kazakhstan is a former Soviet republic home to about 3.5 million ethnic Russians, who make up nearly 18% of the country's population of about 19.5 million people.

The online recruitment ads feature the flags of Russia and Kazakhstan alongside the slogan "Shoulder to shoulder," per Reuters. The posts offer the 495,000-ruble one-off payment, a monthly 190,000-ruble salary, and other benefits for those who ink a contract with the Russian military, per the news agency.

The ads lead to a website that offers people a chance to join the Russian army in the country's far eastern Sakhalin region  where an organization set up by the local government is doing the recruitment, according to Reuters.

Russia and Kazakhstan are allies. However, the Kazakh government has not supported Russia's war in Ukraine and has urged for peace.

Joining military conflicts abroad for financial gain is also illegal under the law in Kazakhstan, according to Reuters.

Moscow's recruitment efforts of non-Russian citizens come as the country faces a broad personnel crunch amid the war in Ukraine, particularly after Putin launched a mobilization of 300,000 reservists last fall, prompting tens of thousands of Russian men to flee the country.

And it's not just the military that's facing a shortfall. The Russian economy similarly is facing a record labor shortage, Russia's RBC news outlet reported on Thursday, citing a survey by the Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy. The surveys found 42% of Russian industrial enterprises experienced a shortage of workers in July.

The Russian defense ministry and Kazakhstan's information ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Ottawa, Aug 18 : Residents of Yellowknife, who waited in hours-long queues to board evacuations flights, have been turned away due to full capacity of the planes as a wildfire rages in the northern Canadian city, the media reported on Friday.

The people who were turned away on Thursday were asked by officials to try again on Friday or Saturday, reports the BBC.

As of Thursday, the fire was 15 km north-west of Yellowknife. It could reach the city's outskirts by Saturday.

The blaze is one of nearly 240 wildfires raging through the Northwest Territories region, which declared a state of emergency late on Tuesday.

While the region is vast and sparsely populated, its capital of Yellowknife is home to some 20,000 people -- all of whom have been ordered to get out of the city by noon on Friday.

On Thursday, a massive queue of people waiting to register for evacuation flights had formed outside a local high school.

But by afternoon, Amy Kennedy, the government's director of communications, said no more than 400 more people could be flown out of Yellowknife.

"We understand that this is deeply frustrating for those who have been in line for several hours and who will need to line up again tomorrow," the BBC quoted Kennedy as saying in a statement.

In a briefing on Thursday evening, officials said 22 planes were scheduled for Friday and 1,800 people should be able to get on those flights.

They said about 5,000 people need to leave Yellowknife by air.

Locals have accused the country's two major airlines -- Air Canada and WestJet -- of increasing prices for flights out of the city as well as change fees for travellers with upcoming flights into Yellowknife.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he had "touched base" with the city's mayor to discuss the situation on the ground.

"I reaffirmed our government's commitment to providing support both now and in the days and weeks ahead," he wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter).

About 46,000 people live in the Northwest Territories, and Canada's military has been co-ordinating the largest airlift evacuation effort in the region's history, the BBC reported.

The communities of Fort Smith, K'atl'odeeche First Nation, Hay River, Enterprise, and Jean Marie River are all also under evacuation orders.

Kakisa, a community of about 40 people some 130 km from Hay River, received an evacuation order on Thursday.

Canada is having its worst wildfire season on record, with nearly 1,100 active fires burning across the country currently.
First batch of annual Budha Amarnath Yatra flagged off from Jammu. Image Source: IANS News

Jammu, Aug 18, : The annual pilgrimage of Baba Shri Budha Amarnath also known as Baba Budha Amarnath Yatra began Friday with Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Mukesh Singh flagging off the first batch of 1,338 pilgrims from the Bhagwati Nagar Base camp in Jammu.

A large number of devotees were present on the occasion, chanting hymns and bhajans, thus making the whole environment lively.

Speaking on the occasion the ADGP said that Shri Budha Amarnath Ji Yatra is one of the important Hindu Pilgrimages of Northern India and in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir. He appreciated the role of various agencies in making the Yatra successful.

J&K Police, as well as paramilitary forces have been deployed for the safety of Yatra and various other measures have been taken for the convenience of pilgrims..

The Yatra batch comprised 907 males, 411 females and 20 children who left in 29 vehicles for the Buddha Amarnath ji Yatra

Dedicated to Lord Shiva, the Budha Amarnath Temple in Rajpura village in Mandi tehsil of J&K's Poonch is one of the oldest shrines of the Jammu region.
Washington, Aug 18 : Former US President Donald Trump has proposed to a federal judge overseeing special counsel Jack Smith's criminal election subversion case against him to set the trial for April 2026.

In a filing on Thursday evening, Trump urged US District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington, D.C., to reject Smith's proposal for a January 2024 trial, saying he "seeks a trial calendar more rapid than most no-document misdemeanors, requesting just four months from the beginning of discovery to jury selection", CNN reported.

"The government's objective is clear: to deny President Trump and his counsel a fair ability to prepare for trial. The Court should deny the government's request," lawyers for the former President wrote.

They asked the judge to instead set jury selection and the trial for April 2026.

Chutkan,who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, ultimately will decide the trial start date, a decision she is likely to make by the end of the month.

Trump's team argued that Smith's proposed timeline for the trial would conflict with the other criminal and civil cases in which the former president is a defendant, including the classified documents case brought by the special counsel, the hush money case in New York and the Georgia election subversion case.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis wants her trial to begin in March 2024, reports CNN.

The federal judge in the documents case has set that trial for May 2024, while the New York case is set to go to trial in March of next year.

Federal prosecutors had requested to start the 2020 election interference criminal trial on January 2, 2024, days before the anniversary of the attack on the US Capitol and the Iowa caucuses.
Washington, Aug 18 : South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has arrived in Washington to attend a trilateral summit on Friday with his US counterpart Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on ways to enhance security cooperation in the face of North Korea's nuclear threat.

The summit will be held at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland, marking the first time the three countries' leaders will meet for a stand-alone trilateral summit that's not on the sidelines of a multilateral event, reports Yonhap News Agency.

The summit was proposed by Biden when the three leaders met on the margins of a G7 summit in Japan in May as the US pushes to lock in recently improved Seoul-Tokyo ties in a trilateral framework countering China and Russia's growing assertiveness.

As such, cooperation on economic security issues, such as building resilient supply chains for semiconductors and batteries, is also expected to feature high on the agenda.

"Through the upcoming South Korea-US-Japan summit, Camp David will be recorded as the site of 21st century diplomatic history that opened a new chapter in trilateral cooperation," Principal Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo told reporters.

"Trilateral consultations among South Korea, the US and Japan will gain a clear independent identity as an Indo-Pacific cooperation body."

Kim said the summit will help the countries create and institutionalise a "key framework" for trilateral cooperation in the future, while also allowing the leaders to discuss a common vision and basic principles for trilateral cooperation and build comprehensive and multilayered cooperation mechanisms across diverse sectors at every level.

The three leaders plan to adopt two documents -- the "Camp David Principles" and the "Spirit of Camp David" -- with the first one containing sustainable guidelines for trilateral cooperation going forward, and the second outlining their vision for trilateral cooperation and its implementation plan.

"Under Principles, the leaders of the three countries will state their principle of strengthening cooperation for peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region, including on the Korean Peninsula, among ASEAN states and Indo-Pacific island nations, and across the globe, based on their common values and rules," Kim said in a separate briefing on Thursday.

The Spirit of Camp David will be a joint statement outlining concrete measures to enhance trilateral cooperation through the establishment of a new consultation body and cooperation on extended deterrence, combined military exercises and economic security, he said.

A third document is currently under discussion but has yet to be finalised, he added.

In addition to the trilateral summit, Yoon will hold bilateral meetings with Biden and Kishida on Friday, Kim said.

The three leaders will also have lunch together and hold a joint press conference.

Yoon will depart the US on Friday evening to return home.
Panaji, Aug 18 : The Goa Education Department has issued a show cause notice to the management of higher secondary school in connection to an incident where pepper spray was used on 11 girl students.

On Thursday, the 11 girls from the school in Bicholim, North Goa, were hospitalised after two fellow students, both boys, used pepper spray on them.

Director of Education Shailesh Zingade told IANS that the management has been given three days' time to reply to the notice.

"I am expecting a reply from them by today evening. I will go through the report they submit and then will decide about taking further action," he said.

The notice says that "occurrences of such incidents in any educational institution is detrimental not only for the students but for the educational system as well".

"Therefore you are hereby directed to show cause as to why action deemed fit should not be initiated against the management for failing to prevent such incidents in the school premises."

The exact reason behind the boys using pepper spray is not clear yet, but sources said they did it for fun.

A senior police officer in Bicholim told IANS that the police have taken cognisance of the incident and has asked the school management to submit CCTV footage from the institute after their internal committee prepares a report.

"The students who used pepper spray are both minors. Hence, the internal committee of the school is conducting an inquiry into the incident. They will prepare a report and take action against the boys who sprayed pepper spray on the girls," the police said.

According to the police, the two boys who used pepper spray had purchased it from an online shopping platform.

"Around 11 girl students felt burning sensation and uneasiness and were rushed to the hospital. Some of them were discharged after treatment," the officer said.

He added that a similar incident had taken place in the same school in the past and action was taken against two boys.

"The culprits in both the incidents are different. We are taking measures so that such cases are not repeated," the officer said.

--IANS

sbk/ksk
New Delhi, Aug 18 : Zomato's stock is likely to be volatile in the near term on account of market speculation around possible exits by some pre-IPO shareholders (VC/PE/Chinese investors) of the company as well as erstwhile shareholders of Blinkit who had received it under a share swap deal, JM Financial Institutional Securities said in a report.

"While we cannot accurately predict when (if at all) these shareholders would want to exit, we note that several of them are already sitting on sizeable gains, albeit a large chunk of it is unrealised. A few cues from past actions of these investors suggest that at least some of them would be eager to book profits post the recent run-up in the stock", the report said.

So, a sizeable proportion of Zomato's shares could be available for trade in the near term. In fact, the total value of the Zomato stock that all these investors hold basis CMP is Rs 180 billion. Even if one were to assume that only 50 per cent of the VC/PE/Chinese investor stake would be available for trade, the total short-term outflows could be close to Zomato's total IPO size of Rs 93.75 billion, the report said.

"We strongly suggest that long-term investors use these liquidity events to build a sizable position in Zomato as it not only offers a strong play on India's online food services market but is also, post the Blinkit acquisition, shaping up into a formidable diversified play on online retail", it said.

Shares owned by ex-Blinkit investors will be tradeable from August 28. Zomato had issued fresh equity shares to all the selling shareholders of Blinkit as consideration for the M&A last year, at an implied per share price of Rs 70.76. Pursuant to the transaction, Zomato had negotiated a 12-month lock-in for these shares, compared to the statutory lock-in requirement of 6 months. BSE fillings and company disclosures suggest these shares will become tradeable from August 28, the report said.

A majority of these shares are owned by just three venture capital investors, namely, Softbank, Tiger Global and Sequioa. Note that only 50 per cent of the shares attributable to the Blinkit founder will be tradeable in the next few days; the remaining 50 per cent will continue to be locked in for another 12 months, the report added.

Several pre-IPO and ex-Blinkit investors are sitting on substantial unrealised gains, An analysis of the cost of acquisition of shares owned by pre-IPO and ex-Blinkit shareholders of Zomato suggests they are currently sitting on substantial gains on their investments, a large chunk of which is, however, unrealised.

Given the quantum of these gains and basis past actions of these VC/PE/Chinese shareholders in the listed internet names that recently went public we believe it is fair to say that a sizeable proportion of Zomato's stock could be available for trade in large blocks in a not-so distant future, the report said.

(Sanjeev Sharma can be reached at Sanjeev.s@ians.in)
Srinagar, Aug 18 : Jammu and Kashmir Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha said on Friday that over 300 movies and TV serials have been shot in Kashmir after the launch of the new film policy two years ago and this has resulted in the revival of film tourism in the union territory.

Sinha inaugurated the first day shooting of TV serial 'Pashmina' ( The traditional Kashmiri shawl weaving yarn) at the Zero Bridge in Srinagar on Friday.

He said on the occasion that J&K is once again emerging as a favourite film destination.

"The era of 1980 when Hollywood and Bollywood films were shot in Kashmir is returning.

"The revival of film tourism will help J&K's economy grow and provide youth livelihood opportunities", Sinha said.
New Delhi, Aug 18 : The Supreme Court on Friday was informed by the Uttar Pradesh government that the state National Informatics Centre (NIC) has prepared an online portal pursuant to directions of the top court for grant benefits of remission to convicts.

A bench comprising CJI D.Y. Chandrachud, Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra noted that data is being uploaded on an e-module to facilitate decision on premature release of convicts lodged in different jails of the state.

The bench posted the matter for hearing after a period of four weeks.

In an earlier direction, the top court had said that this e-module will have convict details such as whether the remission application is pending with the District Magistrate or opinion is awaited from the Court, or application is pending before the Jail Headquarters or the state government, and the period for which the application is pending.

The directions were passed when a miscellaneous application was filed by 50 convicts complaining that their applications for premature release had not been considered by the Uttar Pradesh government despite the previous orders of the court.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had sought a personal affidavit from the Director General of Prisons detailing information on convicts eligible for premature release in each district of the state, details of pending remission cases, and also the time period for taking up of these cases.

The apex court, in a judgment in September last year, had issued several directions having an impact on remission of convicts undergoing life imprisonment in Uttar Pradesh.

It had also said that there was no requirement for the convict to submit an application for premature release, and jail authorities must consider their cases automatically.

The top court had said that district legal services authorities in Uttar Pradesh shall take necessary steps in coordination with the jail authorities to ensure that all eligible cases of prisoners would be entitled to premature release in terms of the applicable policies.

According to Uttar Pradesh government' s 2018 policy, a convict serving a life term would be considered for premature release if the person has undergone a total of 20 years of the sentence -- 16 years of the actual sentence and four years of remission.
Guwahati, August 18 : Mystery prevails over the discovery of a naked dead body in a BJP office in Assam's Cachar district and the police are also yet to find a proper conclusion into the incident, officials said on Friday.

Even though the deceased has been identified as Sudhangshu Das from some sources, the police have been asking more people to confirm the identity of the person.

A senior police officer from Cachar told IANS: "We have issued an appeal to people to come forward if anybody knows the deceased person."

It is also not known to the police under what circumstances the person died.

The police have been waiting for the autopsy report, the officer said, adding whether the person died naturally or he was killed is still unclear.

Superintendent of Police in Cachar, Numal Mahatta said that the investigation is underway and every possible angle is being looked at.

The deceased had reportedly worked with Nantu Roy for the past one year.

Nantu Roy is the canteen employee who informed BJP district president Bimalendu Roy when he failed to access the room where the deceased was sleeping.

Bimalendu Roy, though, insisted that he was not aware that Das was employed in the canteen or had spent Wednesday night sleeping at the office.

He asserted that Das was not an employee of the BJP office.

"Nantu Roy informed me over the phone that the room could not be opened in the early hours of the day. The cops were notified. The body was discovered after the door was broken open," the district president told IANS.

He further said that they have decided to increase the vigil at the office and CCTV cameras to be installed at every corner of the BJP office in Cachar.

Meanwhile, despite the deceased person being known to Nantu Roy for at least a year, he was unable to give the proper address of the man, according to the police.

--IANS

tdr/ksk
Jaipur, Aug 18 : At a time when Bollywood actor Sunny Deol's film Gadar 2 is smashing all records across the nation, Rajasthan police have come up with a poster depicting a scene from the movie advocating the use of helmets while driving.

The poster, illustrating a scene from the song 'Main Nikla Gaddi LeKe,' shows Utkarsh Sharma, playing the role of Sunny Deola son in Gadar 2, sitting on a bike without a helmet. Through this poster, Churu Police have sent out a message to follow the traffic rules.

Not only has Utkarsh appreciated the tweet of Rajasthan Police, but has talked about the need to follow traffic rules.

Taking to Twitter, the actor said that one should step out only after wearing a helmet.

In the scenes shot for the film, Teejay (Utkarsh) is on a bike with Tara Singh (Sunny Deol) riding pillion. Utkarsh is

not wearing a helmet. Rajasthan Police has made a post of it. In this post, Utkarsh is saying that aMain nikla Gaddi lekea. On this, Sunny Deol explains to him that O Kake, before the gaddi, at least put on the helmet.

It is worth mentioning that Rajasthan Police have been raising issues like traffic rules, cyber crime awareness, and fake news in its unique way through social media. Utkarsh is the son of the film's director Anil Sharma. Anil

Sharma had made the film Gadar with Sunny and Ameesha 23 years back. Now, the second part of this film has also created a smashing record in Bollywood.
Sara Sharif suffered extensive injuries over an extended period of time, police said

Police have named the father, step mother and uncle of a 10-year-old girl found dead in a house in Woking as the three people they want to talk to in connection with their murder inquiry.

A global search is under way for Urfan Sharif, his partner Beinash Batool, 29, and his brother Faisal Malik, 28.

They left the UK for Pakistan on Wednesday 9 August, the day before Sara Sharif's body was discovered.

Surrey Police also revealed Mr Sharif, 41, made a 999 call from Pakistan.

It was that call which led officers to the house in Woking where they found Sara's body with "multiple and extensive injuries", which were likely to have been caused over a sustained period of time.

The 10-year-old has now been formally identified.

A post-mortem examination carried out on Tuesday concluded the cause of death was "still to be established" and further tests were needed.

Urfan Sharif and his partner Beinash Batool are sought by police

Police previously said they were called to the address in Hammond Road at about 02:50 BST on Thursday 10 August "following a concern for safety".

There was no-one else in the house when the 10-year-old's body was discovered.

Urfan Sharif rang the emergency services in the UK shortly after landing in Islamabad with his partner, his brother and five children.

Det Supt Mark Chapman, from Surrey Police and Sussex Police Major Crime Team, said the five children were aged between one and 13.

He added: "We are working with the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service), Interpol, the National Crime Agency, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to progress our inquiries with the Pakistan authorities."

Floral tributes have been laid at the scene where Sara Sharif was found

BBC News has spoken to a travel agent in Woking who said he was contacted by Sara Sharif's father, Urfan Sharif, at about 22:00 BST on Tuesday 8 August who said he wanted to book tickets to Pakistan as soon as possible.

"After that I ask him what is the reason, why you booking as soon as possible, so he said my cousin has died so that why we going Pakistan," Nadeem Riaz told BBC News.

Story continues

The travel agent said Urfan Sharif booked eight one-way tickets for himself, his brother, his wife and five children.

The flights booked were from the UK on Wednesday 9 August, via Bahrain, and arriving in Islamabad at 05:35 local time on Thursday 10 August.

Mr Riaz confirmed the tickets were used.

Surrey County Council leader Tim Oliver said a "rapid review" would be carried out to determine whether a local child safeguarding practice review should be held, which would bring together police, social care and education to review the practice of the agencies involved in the case.

Follow BBC South East on Facebook, on Twitter, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk.
Damascus, Aug 18 : At least 146 schools damaged by the massive February 6 earthquakes in Syria's northern province of Aleppo have been successfully renovated, state media reported citing a local official.

Mustafa Abdul-Ghani, the education director of Aleppo, also said that another 49 quake-damaged schools were under renovation, Xinhua news agency reported citing state media.

He said this progress has been made possible through cooperation with international and local organisations, referring to a comprehensive agreement signed with international groups on the renovation and maintenance of 347 schools.

Earlier this month, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies cautioned that six months on, the path back to a "normal life" remains elusive for the communities affected by the quakes.

It said survivors, particularly those who face steep economic challenges in Syria, are in dire need of necessary resources to rebuild their lives.

On February 6, two back-to-back earthquakes measuring 7.8 anda7.7 on the Richter scale struck Turkey and Syria.

The confirmed death toll stood at 59,259 -- 50,783 in Turkey and 8,476 in Syria.

It was the deadliest earthquakes in both the neighbouring nations in recent history.
New Delhi, Aug 18 : Out of the 225 sitting Rajya Sabha MPs, 75 have declared criminal cases against themselves, with four facing charges of crimes against women, a new report revealed on Friday.

In a report, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW) said that it has analysed and updated the criminal background details of 225 out of 233 Rajya Sabha MPs.

It further said that in the current Rajya Sabha, one seat is vacant while three MPs have not been analysed as their affidavits were unavailable and four seats of Jammu and Kashmir were undefined.

"Out of the 225 Rajya Sabha sitting MPs analysed, 75, which is 33 per cent MPs have declared criminal cases against themselves."

It said that 41, which is 18 per cent of Rajya Sabha sitting MPs have declared serious criminal cases, while two MPs have declared cases related to murder (IPC section 302).

The report further said that four MPs have declared cases related to crimes against women.

"Out of the four MPs, K.C. Venugopal from Rajasthan has declared case related to rape (IPC Section-376)," it said.

The report also pointed out that four sitting MPs have declared cases related to attempt to murder (IPC Section 307).

It further said that 23 (which is 27 per cent) out of 85 Rajya Sabha MPs from BJP, 12 (40 per cent) out of 30 from Congress, four (31 per cent) out of 13 from Trinamool Congress, five (83 per cent) out of six from RJD, four (80 per cent) out of five from CPI(M), three (30 per cent) out of 10 from AAP, three (33 per cent) out of nine from YSRCP and two (67 per cent) out of three from the NCP have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

The report also said that 12 (14 per cent) out of 85 MPs from BJP, eight (27 per cent) out of 30 from Congress, two (15 per cent) out of 13 from Trinamool Congress, three (50 per cent) out of six from RJD, two (40 per cent) out of five from CPI(M), one (10 per cent) out of 10 MPs from AAP, three (33 per cent) out of nine from YSRCP and one (33 per cent) out of three from NCP have declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

The report also highlighted that Maharashtra has the maximum number of Rajya Sabha MPs with criminal cases followed by Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

It said that 12 (63 per cent) out of 19 Rajya Sabha MPs from Maharashtra, 10 (63 per cent) out of 16 from Bihar, seven (23 per cent) out of 30 from Uttar Pradesh, six (33 per cent) out of 18 from Tamil Nadu, six (67 per cent) out of nine from Kerala and five (31 per cent) out of 16 from West Bengal have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

--IANS

aks/ksk
Gorakhpur : , Aug 18 (IANS) Professor Rajesh Kumar Singh vice-chancellor of DDU Gorakhpur University, has said that all the allegations were baseless as no inquiry was initiated against him for irregularities during his tenure as vice-chancellor of Purnia University.

Singh was responding to the allegations of Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in the memorandum sent to the Uttar Pradesh Governor.

He said that without concrete evidence, such complaints were meaningless.

It may be recalled that the Prant Office of ABVP had handed over a memorandum to the governor of Uttar Pradesh demanding inquiry against Professor Rajesh Kumar Singh for his alleged involvement in irregularities.

The ABVP office-bearers had also attached the complaints against Professor Rajesh Kumar Singh to Lok Ayukt in Bihar.

National secretary of ABVP Sakshi Singh had raised the question that after committing financial irregularities how could anyone continue as vice- chancellor of Gorakhpur University.

State organising secretary of ABVP, Hardev Kashi said despite several memorandums against the authoritarian attitude of vice-chancellor Rajesh Singh, the Governor was not taking any notice.

He said that the agitation of Gorakhpur University ABVP leaders was against the fee hike by university authorities.

To defame the ABVPas agitation, the university authorities were framing them in false cases.

Prabhat Rai Chanchal, an office-bearer of ABVP, said that the ongoing agitation against the fee hike would be intensified from August 21.

He said the ABVP would continue its fight against corruption and basic right to education on affordable fees .

Meanwhile, the tenure of Professor Rajesh Kumar Singh will be ending on September 5 this year and the search for new V-C has been initiated.
New Delhi, Aug 18 : The Supreme Court has agreed to an early hearing on pleas filed by CBI seeking the cancellation of bail granted to RJD President Lalu Prasad by the Jharkhand High Court in connection with the multi-crore fodder scam.

As per the details available on the website of the apex court, the matter is likely to be taken up on next Friday, August 25.

The central probe agency mentioned the matter before Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud and sought urgent listing of the pleas seeking the cancellation of the former legislatoras bail.

In April last year, the Jharkhand High Court granted bail to Lalu Prasad in connection with a fifth fodder scam case relating to fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 139.5 crore from the Doranda treasury.

Notably, the Supreme Court had already issued notice on the CBIas plea challenging the bail orders issued on April 17, 2021 and October 9, 2020, where the Jharkhand High Court had granted bail to the former Bihar CM in the case relating to fraudulent withdrawal of funds from Dumka Treasury and Chaibasa Treasury.

The multi million fodder scam took place in the Animal Husbandry Department in undivided Bihar when Lalu Prasad was the Chief Minister. The scam surfaced in 1996, and at the Patna High Court's directive, the case was handed over to the CBI.

Lalu Prasad was convicted in four fodder scam cases in connection with fraudulent withdrawal of money from Deoghar, Dumka, and Chaibasa treasuries in Jharkhand. In the Doranda case, the special CBI court had awarded him a five-year jail term and imposed Rs 60 lakh fine.
Kolkata, Aug 18 : A cub of Kika, the only albino tigress at the Bengal Safari Park at Siliguri of Darjeeling district in north Bengal, reportedly died on Friday morning.

This happens to be the second death of a tiger cub at Bengal Safari Park within a span of little over a month.

On July 12, Kika gave birth to two cubs in its enclosure. However, one of the two newborn cubs died on the very next day while the other survived for the time being.

Though the officials of the Bengal Safari Park are totally tight-lipped over the reason behind the cub's death, the state forest department sources said that the cub died probably out of acute malnutrition.

Confirming the development, state forest minister Jyoti Priya Mullick said that in all probability, malnutrition was the reason behind this unfortunate death. "We have decided to conduct a detailed investigation into the matter," he added.

"The cub started refusing mothers' milk for the last few days. Two expert veterinary specialists were also brought to park for proper treatment of the cub. Meanwhile, the mother tigress Kika too seems to be in a state of shock as she too has stopped eating. She is kept under constant observation and medication," a state forest department official aware of the development said.

Kika was born on May 11, 2018 out of Shila and Snehasish. The development of two cubs within a period of little over two months have raised questions about the efficiency of the Bengal Safari Park authorities, which is already saddled with lots of allegations of tender- related irregularities.
Mumbai, Aug 18 : actress Manasi Joshi Roy will be seen essaying the role of the strong-willed Ambika in the upcoming show ' Kyunki... Saas Maa, Bahu Beti Hoti Hai'. She says her character is unique and her thoughts and actions are path-breaking.

Manasi says: "My character Ambika Rajgaur is really unique, and her thoughts and actions are path-breaking. She thinks ahead of her time. What's interesting is that Ambika will be seen adopting a girl with the intention of making her a daughter-in-law when she grows up.

"This is because Ambika is someone who loves her family a lot and she believes that only a bahu raised with the right values can keep her family together. She believes that if she inculcates these values in Kesar with love, she will grow up to be the kind of bahu the family needs."

"I truly feel the show's concept is really unique and it is a topic not explored on television, and I am sure the audience will connect with the storyline and its characters."

The story of 'Kyunki Saas Maa, Bahu Beti Hoti Ha'i takes viewers to Gujarat where amidst a vibrant Navratri celebration, a storm begins to brew within the Rajgaur family of Palanpur when the youngest bahu Hetal seeks separation, challenging the traditional role of a bahu. This unexpected turn of events leaves Ambika, the eldest bahu and the matriarch of the Rajgaur dynasty devastated as it has been her top-most priority to keep the family together.

Ambika, in a first-of-its-kind landmark decision, adopts little Kesar, a baby left at the doorstep of their family orphanage and vows to raise her - not as a beti but as a bahu.

She added: "I strongly resonate with my character as I'm a daughter-in-law off-screen too. Family life is of great importance to me, aligning with her belief, 'Bahu bhi Beti bann sakti hai'. Preparation wasn't a challenge since my diverse life experiences make my portrayal natural.

"And if we talk about me playing a Gujarati matriarch on-screen, I am already a Gujarati woman, so all I needed to do was borrow cultural nuances from my own life and experiences and apply it in my performance. In fact, this is the first time I'll be seen as a Gujarati character on television, so I am really looking forward to it and I hope I get the love and support of my fans."

'Kyunki Saas Maa, Bahu Beti Hoti Hai' is all set to premiere on Zee TV.
Patna, Aug 18 : Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday ordered a high-level inquiry into the murder of a Hindi daily journalist in Araria district earlier in the day.

"It was an extremely unfortunate and painful incident. I have asked the officers to look after this matter and take action against the accused," the Chief Minister said.

Unidentified assailants gunned down Vimal Kumar in front of his house in the Prem Nagar area at around 5 a.m. on Friday morning.

According to the police, the bike-borne assailantscalled the victim to come out of his house.

As soon as he stepped out, one of the attackers shot him on the right side of the chest, killing him on the spot.

Following the incident, there was widespread outrage against the state government.

Bihar BJP president Samrat Chaudhary slammed Nitish Kumar government over the deteriorating law and order situation in the state.

"Murders are taking place every day in Bihar but Nitish Kumar is unable to see it. He needs a special spectacle to see the crime cases in Bihar. We are going to borrow a special spectacle for him. He is visiting Delhi and Mumbai and unable to see murders taking place in Bihar," he said.

Also slamming the state government, LJPR president Chirag Paswan said that if police officers and journalists were not safe, how could the common people feel secure.

"Nitish Kumar, who is also the home minister of Bihar, is staying silent on these issues which is demoralising the police. He did not go to meet the kin of the victims. Why would police officers put their lives to fight with criminals?" he further queried.

On August 15, a sub-inspector rank officer named Nand Kishore Yadav was gunned down by cattle smugglers in Samastipur district.
New Delhi, Aug 18 : As many as 288 economists at over 81 institutions across the country have so far extended their support to assistant Professor Sabyasachi Das after the Haryana-based Ashoka University accepted his resignation, urging the varsity to immediately reinstate him.

Das resigned from the university after his paper suggesting voter manipulation in 2019 elections sparked a controversy.

"We, economists working in India, strongly believe that academic freedom is the cornerstone of a vibrant educational and research community, and that everyone must have the right to pursue knowledge, share their findings, and engage in open dialogue without the fear of censorship or retribution," the economists said in a joint statement.

"We stand in solidarity with Prof Sabyasachi Das and extend our support for the demands of the economics department at Ashoka University. We urge the Governing Body of Ashoka University to immediately reinstate Prof Das unconditionally."

Among the economists includes AJC Bose from Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University, Abhiroop Mukhopadhyay from Indian Statistical Institute (Delhi), Archana Prasad from Jawaharlal University, Arpita Chatterjee from Indian Institute of Management (Bangalore) and Debalina Chakravarty from St. Xaviers University (Kolkata).

It may be mentioned that earlier the Department of Economics of Ashoka University wrote an open letter to the governing body of the varsity stating the 'hasty' acceptance of his resignation had ruptured their faith they had reposed in the University's leadership.

"The offer of resignation by our colleague Prof. Sabyasachi Das and its hasty acceptance by the University has deeply ruptured the faith that we in the faculty of the department of Economics, our colleagues, our students, and well-wishers of Ashoka University everywhere, had reposed in the University's leadership," the Department of Economics wrote in the letter.
Vijayawada, Aug 18 : Andhra Chief Minister Y. S Jagan Mohan Reddy has said that his government is ready to extend all support to investors in the hospitality sector.

The state government has been implementing a flexible tourism policy for attracting renowned hotel brands to put Andhra Pradesh on the global tourism map, he said.

The chief minister was speaking at the inauguration of the four-star hotel Hyatt Place here on Friday by unveiling its plaque.

Jagan Mohan Reddy said that the government is ready to encourage and extend all support to investors in the hospitality sector.

"We have been encouraging 11 brands including Oberoi in the hotel sector. More hotels should come up in all important cities across the state and we will cooperate in every possible way," he said while congratulating Hyatt Place Group.

Hyatt Place Chairman R.Veeraswamy thanked the chief minister for extending support in establishing the hotel in Vijayawada, which is the 45th hotel of the group in the country.

Tourism Minister RK Roja, Housing Minister J. Ramesh, Education Minister B. Satyanarayana, Home Minister T.Vanitha and Special CS Rajit Bhargava (Tourism) and people's representatives attended the programme.

Last month, the chief minister had laid the foundation stone for the construction of three 7-star Oberoi Hotels in the state.

These hotels are coming up at Gandikota in YSR Kadapa district, Visakhapatnam and Tirupati.
Gurugram, Aug 18 : The parents and brother of a 22-year-old woman have been arrested for allegedly strangling her to death and performing her last rites at their native village, police said on Friday.

According to police, the victim Anjali (22), a B.sc student, who was a native of Surehti village in Jhajjar, was allegedly killed over her love marriage with one Sandeep Kumar from the same village.

While Anjali belonged to the Jat community, Sandeep hailed from the Brahmin community.

After their marriage in December 2022, the woman used to reside with her husband, brother Kunal, and sister-in-law in a rented flat in Aarav Society Sector-102 in Gurugram.

Police preliminary invention revealed that the woman had married the man despite opposition from her family.

"The family was against the marriage and was hatching a plan to execute the crime for eight months. On Thursday, when Anjali was alone with her brother Kunal, he informed his parents Kuldeep and Rinki who reached Gurugram. As per the plan Kunal tied her legs while the mother Rinki tie her hands and Kuldeep, the father strangled her to death," Varun Dahiya,

ACP (crime) said.

Thereafter, Kuldeep took her body and put it inside a borrowed vehicle and the trio performed her last rites in their native village to destroy the evidence, he said.

"It was a planned murder. Kuldeep carried the victim's body on his shoulder and came out of the society where the victim was residing. The act has been recorded in a CCTV camera installed in the society. The police have

also recovered the bones of the victim from the cremation ground and sent them for an autopsy, the ACP said.

A case of murder and other relevant sections of the IPC has been registered against the suspects at Rajendra Park police station for further probe, police said.
Gen Z performing-arts audiences embrace participation with passion

16:35, August 17, 2023 By Tian Ying, He Lewei ( Xinhua

BEIJING, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- This summer, as the French musical "Romeo and Juliet" toured Chinese cities, performing arts centers staging the show drew numerous exuberant young audiences clad in either red or blue outfits.

The colors represent the two feuding families of Verona in the Shakespeare classic. Young Chinese fans went on social media platforms to share information on the show, and did everything -- including the dress-code trick -- to become participants rather than passive observers.

China's Gen Z performing-arts audiences are increasingly looking for opportunities for viewer participation in the performing arts. They don't want to be mere recipients of culture; they want to get involved.

Gen Z has become a formidable consumer force in China's burgeoning market of performing arts, and their viewing habits are shaping the business.

Young people watching "Romeo and Juliet" exchanged information online about the cast, the repertoire, the view provided by different seating sections in theaters, and even French lyrics marked with phonetic instructions.

Off-line, they queued for hours for signing session admittance and sprinted to the stage area after the final curtain for exhilarating encore performances "with a nightclub feel." They even organized chorus of "Aimer," the signature song of the musical, in French.

Hao Jiajing, a 19-year-old student at Beijing Foreign Studies University, is an avid rap fan, and attends rap livehouses and festivals, meticulously dressed in hip-hop style clothing. Her experience goes beyond music, providing her with an opportunity to connect with those who share her passions.

"Watching a show is a chance to find like-minded people. We may come from different walks of life, but the shared passion for rap creates a strong bond," remarks Hao. The sense of camaraderie among strangers who share a common love for rap often blossoms into lasting friendships, extending beyond the concert venue.

Apart from attending signing sessions and meetups with her adored rappers, she occasionally participates in warm-up events organized by fan groups, helping distribute idol souvenirs ahead of concerts. When the concerts end, she goes to dinner parties with others from the fan groups, and they "recast" the entire concert together.

For Hao, dressing in a hip-hop style is more than just a social-media photo opportunity. It symbolizes a shift from everyday casual to a distinctive hip-hop style, a shift that helps her blend into the dynamic atmosphere of rap culture.

"It's about totally blending with the vibe of live performances, making me feel like I'm part of the show," says Hao.

Besides, dressing up for live performances provides her with an opportunity to assert a hidden identity. "I personally love this style of dress. It may not be suitable for daily attire on campus, but attending this kind of musical event provides a perfect outlet."

Consumers in China's performance market today are getting younger. According to Zhu Min, associate professor at the Communication University of China, also director of the Culture and Tourism Research Base of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, over 30 percent performing arts consumption is by young audiences born after 1995.

"Gen Z has become a force to reckon with in terms of performance arts consumption, and their needs and preferences cannot be ignored, bearing in mind China's recent efforts to boost cultural consumption and the night-time economy," says Zhu.

The new viewer habits have prompted changes in the performance arena. Music festivals, livehouses, stand-up comedy and immersive drama have come into vogue, marking a departure from the traditional "frame-form" of shows, Zhu says, as these performances bring the audience much closer to the performers and are peppered with improvised interactions.

As for the reasons behind the change, Zhu explains that Gen Z in China has grown up in a digital era and against a rapidly-evolving social-economic background. Many young folks today have extra money to buy not only concert tickets but also merchandise. Besides, Gen Z are keen to form their own circles and communities -- to find those who share their passions.

Zhu Min was personally impressed by the scene he witnessed recently at a music festival. "I was there both as a researcher and as an enthusiast, and I was shocked by what youngsters did out of their heartfelt love, from the perspective of someone who was born in the 1970s," Zhu says.

According to data from the China Association of Performing Arts, a total of 193,300 for-profit art performances were staged in the first half of this year, a year-on-year surge of more than 400 percent. A total of about 62.24 million attendances were recorded, over 10 times more than during the same period last year.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Saudi Arabia has signed 12 co-operation agreements worth more than SR5 billion ($1.3 billion) with Chinese companies and banks at a key forum held in Beijing.

The forum, held under the patronage of the Minister of Municipal, Rural Affairs, and Housing, Majid bin Abdullah Al Hogail, focused on exploring investment opportunities between Saudi Arabia and China, with a special emphasis on strengthening partnerships in urban infrastructure, housing, real estate development, and financing.

It was aso attended by the Saudi Ambassador to China, Abdulrahman bin Ahmed Al-Harbi and other officials.

In his address, Al Hogail emphasised the commitment of both countries' leaders to develop the housing and municipal sectors further, and expressed his aspirations for increased collaboration in urban infrastructure, housing, real estate development, and financing.

There are immense investment opportunities available in Saudi Arabia, thanks to the construction of over 300,000 housing units across 17 cities, covering an area of more than 150 million sq m, stated Al-Hogail.

With the projects valued at a whopping SR100 billion ($26.6 billion) being implemented, the minister said there is a lot the Chinese companies can do in boosting the real estate growth in Saudi Arabia.

Al Hogail expressed his enthusiasm for the launch of the forum, highlighting KSA's dedication to enhancing its partnership with China under the leadership of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister.

Lauding the successful collaboration between Saudi and Chinese companies in housing projects across the kingdom, he stated that the Ministry of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing too was working with several Chinese companies on housing projects worth SR3 billion.-TradeArabia News Service
FBI agents wait outside of the home of a 17-year-old who has been accused of communicating with extremist organisations and plotting a terror attack (screengrab/ABC6)

Armored trucks descended on a Philadelphia neighbourhood on Friday, releasing a flood of FBI agents who stormed and raided a house in search of a suspected aspiring terrorist.

There were no adults home when agents arrived; they found three minors in the home. But one of them was their suspect, a 17-year-old with alleged ties to a Syrian extremist group.

Reporters outside captured the scene as agents marched a cuffed teenager, wearing only his undergarments, out into the street and into federal custody.

Days later, the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office made clear what had happened; they had arrested someone they claim was engaged in "the most serious alleged terrorist activity prosecuted in Philadelphia County court in recent history.

The suspect

The suspect is a minor, and his name has not been released to the public.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner called the teenager an "aspiring terrorist" during a press conference after his arrest.

"The young man who is under arrest is  was, an aspiring terrorist who was not merely thinking, but was doing things that are deeply disturbing and presented a grave danger to everyone," he said.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Jacqueline Maguire also spoke at the conference, and revealed the suspect allegedly took steps to build a weapon of mass destruction.

"Among the items he purchased were tactical equipment, wiring, chemicals and devices often used as remote detonators," she said. "He had not only taken steps in acquiring those items and materials that are commonly used in improvised explosive devices, but that he had also taken steps to start putting potential devices together,"

She also noted that the suspect allegedly had access to a "significant number of firearms."

"He is currently charged with the following offenses: weapons of mass destruction, criminal conspiracy, arson, causing or risking catastrophe, attempt to commit criminal mischief, possession of an instrument of crime, and reckless endangerment of another person," she said.

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He is being tried as a juvenile, according to Mr Krasner.

The investigation

The 17-year-old landed on the FBI's radar after the agency learned of his alleged communication with members of Katibat al Tawhid wal Jihad, a Syria- based extremist group that the US classifies as a global terror organisation. The group has ties to al-Qaeda, the organisation formerly led by Osama Bin Laden that carried out the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York, Washington DC and Pennsylvania.

A Philadelphia teenager was arrested and accused of planning a potentially catastrophic terrorist attack. (NBC10)

The FBI believes the organisation was responsible for the bombing of metro station in St Petersburg, Russia, in 2017, which killed 15 people. The agency also believes the group carried out a suicide car bombing in 2016 that injured three members of the Chinese Embassy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Federal officials believe the teenager was communicating with the terror organisation between March and April of this year.

The FBI also discovered a WhatsApp account allegedly linked to his phone number that used a banner of the Riyad-us-Saliheen Brigade of Martyrs, a terror group based in Chechnya. On 6 August, the banner was reportedly changed to that of Isis.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said the FBI potentially thwarted a catastrophic terrorist attack by arresting a 17-year-old who had been communicating with a Syrian extremist group (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

The agency eventually began surveilling the teenager, and allegedly witnessed him purchasing bomb-making materials on 7 August.

The following day the US Customs and Border Protection agency said the suspect had 14 international shipments of military and tactical gear delivered to their home.

Mr Krasner said that the FBI "potentially thwarted a catastrophic terrorist attack in the name of a perverted ideology that in no way, shape, or form represents the beliefs of the overwhelming majority of peace-seeking people of faith, including Muslims.

The suspect's family

While the suspect's name has not been released as he is a minor, his father has commented on the shocking raid that ended with his child in FBI custody.

Qawi Abdul-Rahman, a prominent criminal defence attorney in Philadelphia, told The Daily Beast that he was "shocked and devastated" to learn on Monday that his 17-year-old child was facing terror allegations.

He recalled receiving a phone call at work from his children as the raid was ongoing. They told him the FBI had swarmed the home. At the time, only his three children  the 17-year-old included  were home, as both Mr Abdul-Rahman and his wife were at work.

The attorney rushed home to find his child in FBI custody. He said he was "shocked" and "devastated" to learn about his child's alleged involvement with terror organisations.

In the aftermath of the arrest, Mr Abdul-Rahman said he was struggling to discuss the incident and its implications with his two younger children.

He said he doesn't know "how to even address it," asking how one could even explain such a concept to a child.

"Your job as a father is to protect," he told The Daily Beast. "But I couldn't do a thing."
Kolkata, Aug 18 : : Five persons including two central armed police forces personnel have been arrested on Friday in connection with their alleged involvement in an ivory smuggling racket in north Bengal.

They were arrested following a joint operation by the members of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and Siliguri Wildlife Crime Control Bureau at Naxalbari bus-stand under Siliguri sub-division in Darjeeling district.

State forest department sources said that the five arrested in this connection are Tapan Thapa, Prabhu Munda, Dharam Das Lohar, Sriyan Kheria and Rias Pradhan. While Pradhan is a resident of East Sikkim, the other four are residents of Kalchini block of Alipurduar district in north Bengal.

An elephant tusk weighing about a kilogram has been seized from them. State forest department sources said they were taking the item for sale in the market. "All of them had been a part of a local ivory smuggling racket which we had been trying to bust for quite some time," a senior state forest department official said.

Of the five arrested, one is a staff of Border Security Force while the other is associated with the India Reserve Battalion. The forest department has contacted the local offices of both these central armed police forces and intimated them about the arrest of their staff in the matter.

"After the arrest along with the tusk, the five arrested have been handed over to the cops of the local Naxalbari Police Station. They will be present at a district court on Friday and the police will ask for their custody," the forest department official said.

Before being handed over to the police they are questioned by the additional divisional forest officer of Kurseong division Bhupen Biswakarma, who tried to extract information from them about their other gang members.
Gurugram, Aug 18 : After an appeal by Muslim groups, the Friday Namaz was offered in Mosque at different places in Gurugram under tight security.

Meanwhile, Two weeks after the clashes, shops adjoining the Gurugram Mosque were also opened on Friday. Shopkeepers express happiness at the resumption of their businesses.

However, due to the recent clashes, most mosques witnessed lower turnouts.

Officials said the Friday prayers passed off peacefully and no untoward incident was reported from anywhere.

Most mosques including Jama Masjid Sohna Chowk, Masjid near Rajiv Chowk, and others saw less than usual turnouts for Friday prayers.

"We are happy that our shops have been opened after two weeks. Our establishments were closed after the clashes, we faced a huge financial crunch but now the situation is normal," Aslam a shop keeper told IANS.

In Nuh, the administration had asked Muslims to offer prayers at home.

Jamiat Ulema president Mufti Saleem Qasmi again appealed to people not to offer Friday prayers in any open place and asked them to offer prayers in mosques or at their homes.

"We have asked members of our community not to offer Friday prayers in open spaces. It is necessary to main a law and order situation in the district," Shahzad Khan, a member of Muslim Ekta Manch, said.

"There are no restrictions on Friday prayers. Namaz was allowed. We appealed to people not to believe in misinformation. Our cyber crime teams are keeping watch on an anti-social post," Varun Dahiya, (ACP) crime said.
Kolkata, Aug 18 : West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose has been made a party in the public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the Trinamool Congress in the Calcutta High Court over the mysterious death of a fresher at Kolkata's Jadavpur University (JU).

The first year student of Bengali honours died under mysterious circumstances after falling from the balcony of a studentsa hostel on August 10. It is suspected that he became a victim of ragging.

The Governor has been made a party in the PIL since by virtue of his chair, he is the Chancellor of Jadavpur University. Also, since Jadavpur University is currently running without a permanent Vice Chancellor, the overall responsibility of the affairs of the state university rests with the Chancellor.

The matter is slated to come up for hearing at the division bench of Calcutta High Courtas Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya.

In the PIL, the counsel for the petitioner and Trinamool MP Kalyan Bandopadhyay made an appeal for making the Governor a party, which the high court cleared on Friday.

The PIL also termed the university campus as the hub for consuming narcotics and other intoxicating substances without any restriction on the entry of outsiders.

Bandopadhyay has alleged that because of the approach of the Governor, JU is operating without any permanent VC for quite some time now.

This is the second PIL filed at the Calcutta High Court in the matter of the death of the JU fresher.

On August 14, Calcutta High Court counsel Sayan Banerjee had filed a similar PIL seeking the intervention of the court in ensuring that anti-ragging guidelines of the University Grants Commission (UGC) are strictly implemented in all state-run universities in West Bengal, including JU.
Imphal, Aug 18 : Prominent Manipur BJP MLA Rajkumar Imo Singh on Friday urged the Central government not to hold any talks with the Kuki militants as they according to him violated the ground rules of Suspension of Operations (SoO) and were part of the ethnic violence in the state.

Singh, son-in-law of Chief Minister N. Biren Singh, in a video message, also demanded to take strict action against the Kuki militants for violations of the ground rules and their involvement in the over three-month long ethnic violence.

The BJP MLAs accusation and demand comes a day after the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), an apex body of the Meitei community, strongly objected the Central government's plans to talk with the Kuki militant outfits and urged the Centrenot to hold any talk with them.

The COCOMI said that the Central government planned to hold talks with the umbrella "organisations of immigrant Chin Kuki Narco Terrorists -- United Peoples' Front (UPF) and Kuki National Organisation (KNO).

The UPF and KNO, which are conglomerate of 23 underground outfits, signed a SoO with the government on August 22, 2008 and then there are 2,266 Kuki cadres who have been staying in different designated camps in Manipur.

Congress was in power in Manipur when the SoO was signed.

Imo Singh refused to make any comments on the state government or the Chief Minister's knowledge about the Center's talks with the Kuki militsnts.

"If there is a conclusion to the talks then the state government would be surely consulted being a major stakeholder, and when consulted, the state government would not accept those terms and conditions which would be detrimental to the state.

Any terms regarding the talks has to be mutually acceptable to all parties for which all stakeholders have to be consulted properly and discussed minutely," the MLA said .

Sources said that the first round of talk between the Centre and the Kuki militant groups was held in New Delhi on July 26, when the outfits raised the demand for a separate administration for the tribals in Manipur.
Mandi, : , Aug 18 (IANS/ 101Reporters) The crops were ready and plans were made. Like every year, farmers from the remote Himalayan region of Lahaul-Spiti in Himachal Pradesh were preparing to sell their crops at the local mandis, from where they would be transported to Delhi, Chandigarh and other parts of north India.

According to the president of the Fruit Vegetable and Flower Producers Association, Harish Chauhan, Lahaul's peas are quite in demand in cities like Chandigarh and New Delhi.

"They are of notable importance as they enter the market precisely when the supply from the other regions dwindles they are known for their sweet flavour and extended shelf life comparatively"

But the relentless downpour in the state in July washed away their plans, quite literally. The rains damaged key roads, making it difficult to transport the harvested crops, compelling farmers to discard the ripened produce. According to India Meteorological Department, Lahaul Spiti received 112.2 mm of rainfall on the night of July 9, which is close to the average rainfall the region receives during the whole month. Before this, Lahaul Spiti recorded 73mm of rain in a single day back in 1951.

The economy of Lahual-Spiti is primarily reliant on farming despite the challenging agricultural conditions. The farmers in the district only manage to cultivate one crop per season since the region is covered in snow for almost six months. Many families survive on the earnings of this one crop and focus on cash crops like potatoes, peas, cabbage, and exotic vegetables like lettuce, red cabbage, zucchini and broccoli.

In certain regions, farmers engage in a dual-cropping practice within a single season. They initiate cultivation of the first crop, including lettuce, cauliflower, parsley, cabbage, and peas, during early March, with harvesting taking place in July. Subsequently, they proceed to cultivate similar crops once more, achieving a subsequent harvest towards early October.

In Lahaul Spiti, farmers commence cultivation in March, and harvest kicks off in the initial week of July. Typically, farmers are spared the need to visit the mandi (market) for selling their yields. Instead, intermediaries known as adhtiyas, equipped with their vehicles, gather and load vegetables from designated collection points near the fields. Subsequently, they sell the produce in markets within Himachal Pradesh and beyond, continuing this practice from July through October. However, this year, adverse weather conditions and road closures have hindered adhtiyas from reaching Lahaul, disrupting this established process, says retired agriculture department official Rajender Thakur.

Param Singh, a farmer from Pattan Valley says, "With the roads closed, peas, which do not have a long shelf life, rotted as we waited. The excess moisture in the air sped up the process. I have lost Rs 1-1.5 lakh approximately."

Sudarshan Jaspa, the president of the Lahaul Spiti Potato Society, highlights the dire state of roads in the district as a result of the recent natural calamity. Particularly, villages such as Rashil, Jahalma, Nalda, Jobrang, and Madgran have experienced a heightened impact, he says. "The connectivity of numerous villages has been entirely severed from the primary road network. In instances where farmers manage to transport their crops to the main road, the middlemen have significantly reduced the prices offered for their produce," he adds.

Sudarshan says, "I have conducted a price comparison for peas in Delhi, where the cost per kilogram has surged to Rs 130. In contrast, despite possessing superior quality peas, local farmers are receiving a mere Rs. 30 per kilogram. This has further exacerbated the challenges faced by the farmers during this time of adversity."

Take Motilal of Madgran village for example. His family of four is solely dependent on agriculture for livelihood. "I can only take the crop to market once in a year and I am unable to do so this year. Large vehicles are no longer plying, only smaller vehicles are able to make it. Usually, I would have earned around 2-3 lakh from peas but this year I feel my earnings will drop at least two-thirds. I am worried about my family" he says.

The farmers have conveyed their apprehensions regarding the damages to the local authorities; however, the likelihood of them receiving compensation appears slim, given the current state of disaster and the challenging economic circumstances faced by the state. Furthermore, the Fasal Bima Yojana does not encompass provisions for compensation in such scenarios. Its scope is limited to instances of crop loss or failure occurring solely within the farmer's own field, says Sham Aazd, a farmer

Farmers have had to assume the responsibility of unblocking roads, with Inderjit Singh Bhanu of Rashil village saying that the community collaborated to clear pathways. "Nevertheless, the closure of the primary Kullu-Manali route has presented obstacles to vegetable sales. Formerly, farmers would market their harvest in Kullu-Manali's markets, yet this season, the closure of local markets spanning the distance from Kullu to Mandi district has forced farmers to confront the challenge of marketing their crops," he told 101Reporters in early August.

As per the State Disaster Management report released earlier this month, the Public Works Department has incurred a substantial loss of approximately Rs 1,900 crore, while the Agriculture Department has faced losses totalling Rs 158 crore. Currently, over 293 roads remain impassable throughout the state.

BC Negi, the Executive Engineer of the Public Works Department, said a majority of roads had been successfully reopened by the first week of August. "The department has incurred losses amounting to approximately Rs 20 crore due to the combined impact of heavy rainfall and landslides. A bridge situated in the Sissu area of the district has been left inoperable, necessitating ongoing preparations for the installation of a suspension bridge as a viable substitute...," he adds.

(Raman Kant is an Himachal Pradesh-based freelance journalist and a member of 101Reporters, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters)
Mumbai, Aug 18 : The upcoming episodes of the television show 'Kundali Bhagya' will feature a cinematic twist as Ayushmann Khurrana (Param) and Ananya Pandey (Pari) from 'Dream Girl 2' join the show.

The Luthra family in the show is getting ready for Kavya's (Minal N. Chandra) sangeet, with Rakhi Maa (Anisha Hinduja) arranging a surprise visit for Param and Pari at the Luthra House. Amidst the rituals, Param will sense a connection between Rajveer and Palki, and despite Rajveer not accepting it, Param will assure them that something significant ia about to transpire.

Ayushmann flawlessly executed the scene, leaving the cast and Sana Sayyad in awe of him. The experience of shooting with Ayushmann was enjoyable for everyone involved.

Sharing her experience, Sana Sayyad said: "Surreal and exciting, working alongside Ayushmann Khurrana and Ananya Pandey was absolutely fantastic! The cinematic twist infused by their presence, especially Ayushmann's intuitive performance, added a whole new dimension to the show. And his assurance that something significant is on the horizon will leave the #PalVeer fans all intrigued. I must say, his flawless execution of the scene left the entire cast and crew, including myself, in complete awe. Shooting with Ayushmann and Ananya was an experience filled with joy and inspiration."

The show features popular actors like Shraddha Arya, Shakti Anand, Manit Joura, Paras Kalnawat, Sana Sayyad and Baseer Ali. The family drama explores and brings to life a whole range of emotions as well as the deepest intricacies of human relationships.

In the recent episodes, viewers witnessed how Karan tried to find Preeta as they couldn't meet during her prior office visit due to Rajveer's arrest, and on the other hand, Nidhi is making a plan to remove Preeta from her life.

'Kundali Bhagya' airs every night on Zee TV.
New Delhi, Aug 18 : Congress on Friday demanded a White Paper on the multi-crore scam involving at least Rs 1,400 crore, committed by a Chinese national while staying in Gujarat.

The Congress also questioned how come the Prime Minister Narendra Modi remained ignorant about this scandal that took place in the state he and his Home Minister come from.

Addressing a press conference here at the party headquarters here, Congress spokesperson and Chairman of Media and Publicity Pawan Khera questioned how a Chinese national, Woo Uyanbe stayed in the sensitive towns of Gujarat, bordering Pakistan, and duped 1,200 unsuspecting people of Rs 1,400 crore within a span of nine days.

He said that some estimates put the amount of money involved in the scandal at Rs 4,000 crore.

He asked how it was possible that the scam went unnoticed and the Chinese national had a free run in robbing people of their money.

Khera also said that this happened in Gujarat, the state from where both, the Prime Minister and the Home Minister come from.

He wondered how it could happen in the state of the Prime Minister who has otherwise cultivated an image that nothing happens across the country without his knowledge.

Khera wondered where were the agencies like the Economic Offences Wing (EOW), the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the Department of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) etc when the Chinese national looted the Indians.

"Are all these agencies reserved for the opposition parties only?" he remarked, adding that the money looted from people in India may have been siphoned off through shell companies to some foreign countries.

"Either the Prime Minister did not know what was happening or he turned a blind eye even after knowing about it and both situations are dangerous for the country," he said.

The Congress leader also said that how the Uttar Pradesh police were seen promoting and advertising the 'Dani Data App', which they, as a disciplined force, obviously must not have done on their own.

"Who instructed the police to promote the app?" he asked.

"This government seems to have become like a travel agency for fraudsters and scamsters like Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya and now Woo Uyanbe, by facilitating their 'flights' from here after committing frauds," he said.

The Congress leader also pointed out how the government was boasting about having banned so many Chinese apps, while one Chinese person came to India and developed an app here and looted Indians before making good his escape.

"It is no longer the issue of uninstalling an app, but changing the entire software, that has been infested with the virus, in 2024," he said.

To a question on the resignation of a professor from Ashoka University, Khera said, this government has a problem with universities and all the sources of knowledge.

He pointed out that they have a problem with Osmania University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, the Aligarh Muslim University and now the Ashoka University.

"They believe that all knowledge has only one source and that is the WhatsApp University," he said.
Private security guard withdraws Rs 33 lakhs from official account of medical superintendent in J&Ks Kulgam. Image Source: IANS News

Srinagar, Aug 18 : In a strange incident, a private security was on Friday arrested for withdrawing Rs 33 lakh from the official account of medical superintendent of district hospital in J&K's Kulgam district.

Police said that a security guard has fraudulently withdrawn Rs 33 lakhs from the official account of the Medical Superintendent of Kulgam hospital.

"An investigation by the police revealed that the accused security guard identified as Gowhar Ahmad Thokar, son of Abdul Rashid, a resident of Souch area of district Kulgam had frequently withdrawn the amount from Medical Superintendent's account.

"He has been charged with cheating, forgery, and using false documents.

"A case under FIR number 148/2023 under section 467, 468 and 471 IPC has been registered against him, while all the money has been recovered from his possession."

--IANS

sq/dan
New Delhi, Aug 18 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday had a telephonic conversation with Iranian President Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi. The two leaders discussed matters of bilateral and regional importance.

The two leaders reiterated their commitment to further strengthen bilateral cooperation including full potential of Chabahar Port as a connectivity hub.

Modi highlighted that India-Iran relationship is underpinned by close historic and civilisational connections, including strong people to people contacts.

They also discussed cooperation at multilateral forums including expansion of BRICS and looked forward to their meeting on the margins of forthcoming BRICS summit in South Africa.
New Delhi, Aug 18 : As many as 288 economists at over 81 institutions across the country have so far extended their support to assistant professor Sabyasachi Das after the Haryana-based Ashoka University accepted his resignation, urging the varsity to immediately reinstate him.

Das resigned from the university after his paper suggesting voter manipulation in 2019 elections sparked a controversy. Later, Professor Pulapre Balakrishnan resigned in protest over acceptance of resignation of Das.

"We, economists working in India, strongly believe that academic freedom is the cornerstone of a vibrant educational and research community, and that everyone must have the right to pursue knowledge, share their findings, and engage in open dialogue without the fear of censorship or retribution," the economists said in a joint statement.

"We stand in solidarity with Prof Sabyasachi Das and extend our support for the demands of the economics department at Ashoka University. We urge the Governing Body of Ashoka University to immediately reinstate Prof Das unconditionally."

Among the economists includes AJC Bose from Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University, Abhiroop Mukhopadhyay from Indian Statistical Institute (Delhi), Archana Prasad from Jawaharlal University, Arpita Chatterjee from Indian Institute of Management (Bangalore) and Debalina Chakravarty from St. Xavier's University (Kolkata).

Meanwhile, the Media Studies Department of the varsity while extending their support to Das and Balakrishnan in a statement said: "We stand with all our colleagues in the unanimous ask for professors Sabyasachi Das and Pulapre Balakrishnan to remain as Ashoka Faculty, without delay. Recent events have once again brought up the need to create and ensure a functioning firewall between Ashoka University's Faculty and its founders/ governing body, on the protection of academic freedom and expression. This must now be a priority."

"Concrete suggestions on how to go about creating a secure space that allows free expression to flourish in academia have been made by several of our colleagues. We fully endorse the efforts to create institutional safeguards to protect academic freedoms to read, write, say and publish to rigorous standards, without fear of extreme institutional backlash."

It added: "Our department, as a collective of diverse practitioners in the media space, is well aware of both the realities and perceptions of pressure on free expression in our digitally mediated, social media driven information landscape. We are firmly of the view that a consultative approach involving the faculty in dealing with such pressures, is the only way forward."

Earlier several departments including, Economics and Political Science of the Ashoka University expressed solidarity with Das.
Editors note: This story contains instances of sexual assault against children. Viewer discretion is advised. If a child you know is a victim of abuse, call the National Center for Missing & Exploited Childrens CyberTipline at 800-843-5678.

Dont be mad at me, a Mississippi Coast mother mouthed to a relative, tears streaming down her face as she was led from a federal courtroom to jail on federal charges of sexually assaulting a 3-year-old child.

How can I not be? the relative said in a hallway after Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Jones successfully pleaded with a judge to keep Sarah Jane Bennett jailed pending trial for allegedly sexually assaulting the child on multiple occasions, filming the acts, and distributing them over the internet.

Bennett allegedly committed the crimes after she started chatting online with a man who wanted her and the child to have sex with him and other children, FBI Special Agent Hillary Ladner said during testimony Tuesday. The alleged crimes occurred over at least a three-month period ending in December.

Bennetts attorney, public defender Leilani Tynes, argued that Bennett should be eligible for home confinement with electronic monitoring pending trial, telling the judge the Pass Christian woman is undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer and is expected to undergo surgery soon.

Tynes told the judge the Harrison County jail wouldnt give Bennett pain medication, and she could not get the type of treatment she needed in jail.

But Jones questioned an FBI agent who detailed the allegations against Bennett and felt she could be a threat to the safety of minors in the community if released.

Judge Bradley Rath agreed Bennett should be held without bond, noting that even if Bennett was placed on home confinement with electronic monitoring, she could be a threat to the community and others.

The federal grand jury indicted Bennett on four counts of production of images of minors engaged in sex acts and one count each of possession of any image of a minor engaged in sexually explicit acts and distribution of images of minors engaged in sexually explicit acts.

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Online chats and sex crimes

The federal agent outlined the allegations against Bennett during her testimony.

Bennett, she said, started committing crimes against the girl after the two started talking about what kind of sex they wanted to have, including sex with children.

The man allegedly told Bennett he wanted videos and images of her having sex with the child.

Bennett and the man often expressed their love for one another in their conversations and talked about meeting up at her home so they could have sex together and with the child, Ladner testified.

The man never made it to Bennetts home before his arrest.

Child pornography investigators first found the videos and images of the sexual assaults in the videos and pictures that Bennett sent to the mans Facebook Messenger account.

When authorities interviewed the man, he identified Bennett as the abuser.

Child endures sex abuse on video

When agents went to Bennetts dilapidated mobile home in Pass Christian, they found the child pornography Bennett had tried to delete from her Samsung Galaxy phone, according to court testimony.

Bennett at first denied any wrongdoing, the agent said, but later admitted to the crimes after agents told Bennett the tattoos on her arms matched those of the offender in the videos.

Ladner described what the child had endured in detail while Bennett put her head in her hands and cried. Before the agent finished her testimony, Bennett threw up in a garbage can next to the defense table.

The agent described the videos and images in graphic detail.

In one video, the agent said Bennett forces the 3-year-old to perform oral sex on Bennett. In another, Bennett allegedly forcefully rubs the childs private parts in an attempt to arouse her. Another video, the agent said, shows Bennett spanking the 3-year-old as she cries out in pain.
New Delhi, Aug 18 : The Supreme Court on Friday held former RJD MP Prabhunath Singh guilty in connection with a 1995 double murder case, reversing the acquittal decision rendered by the Patna High Court.

"Accused-respondent no.2 (Prabhunath Singh ) is thus convicted under Sections 302 and 307 IPC for the murders of Daroga Rai and Rajendra Rai and also for attempt to murder of injured Lalmuni Devi (mother of deceased Rajendra Rai)," said a special bench comprising of Justices SK Kaul, Abhay S Oka and Vikram Nath.

The special bench ordered Bihar's Home Secretary and DGP (Director General of Police) to produce the RJD leader on September 01 before the apex court, when order as to the quantum of sentence will be pronounced.

It said that there was sufficient evidence to show that Singh murdered Rajendra Rai and Daroga Rai near a polling booth in Bihar's Chhapra in 1995.

"Fard Bayan of Rajendra Rai, which was later converted into an FIR, is admissible in evidence and is to be read as a dying declaration or his last statement," said the apex court.

It was Prabhunath Singh, who had caused the injuries from his firearm weapon, which proved to be fatal for two and caused injury to the third, said the Supreme Court.

The top court in March this year had reserved its judgment on the appeal instituted by the brother of the deceased way back in 2012 against the order of the Patna High Court upholding acquittal by the trial court on the ground of lack of evidence.

As per the FIR, Singh openly fired from his rifle on a group of people who did not vote for him while they were returning after casting their vote in the election in 1995.

Prabhunath Singh is currently serving life imprisonment in murder case of Ashok Singh.
New Delhi, Aug 18 : The Supreme Court said on Friday that it does not need to reiterate that 'hate speech' cases be dealt with as per the law, irrespective of the community or religion of the offender.

A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and S.V.N. Bhatti was hearing pleas seeking action against calls for social and economic boycott of Muslims following the communal clashes that broke out in Haryana's Nuh on July 31.

"We are very clear. Whether it be one side or the other side, they have to be treated alike. If anyone indulges in anything which we know as 'hate speech', they will be dealt with as per the law. This is something we have already expressed our opinion on," the bench said in a short hearing after a counsel said that a rally was organised in July by the Indian Union Muslim League in which slogans against Hindus were raised.

The court adjourned hearing the matter to August 25 as the bench said that it will proceed to hear pleas challenging the validity of caste-based survey in Bihar.

Last week, the Supreme Court had asked the petitioners to forward hate speech videos to the nodal officers appointed by the state governments pursuant to the judgment of the top court.

It had also mooted the formation of a district-level committee by the Director General of Police (DGP) of all states police to look into the hate speech cases.

The top court had stressed that the issue of hate speech "has to be solved" and had asked Additional Solicitor General K.M. Nataraj, appearing for the Centre, to seek instructions by August 18.

"There has to be harmony and comity between communities. Everyone is responsible. All communities are responsible. This is not acceptable," the bench had said during the hearing.

The plea filed before the apex court said that more than 27 rallies have been organised across various states where blatant hate speeches calling for the "killing and social and economic boycott of Muslims" have been openly delivered.

In April this year, the top court had stressed that the Constitution envisages India as a secular nation, while directing all states and Union Territories to take strict action in hate speech cases, and register criminal cases irrespective of religion against the culprits without waiting for a complaint to be filed.
New Delhi, Aug 18 : A woman has accused her father-in-law of sexually assaulting her and husband of domestic violence in Delhi, a police official said on Friday.

The matter came to light on August 17, when a police control room call was received in Kalyanpuri police station about "domestic violence" by her husband and in- laws" at 11 a.m.

"The victim was contacted and enquiry was conducted. During enquiry and counselling she stated that she got married to Ashish, a resident of Kalyanpuri on March 9 and it is her second marriage," said a senior police official.

"The statement of the victim was recorded, in her statement she alleged domestic violence by husband and sexual assault by her father-in-law. She was sent to LBS Hospital and medico-legal case was prepared," said the official.

During investigation her husband and father-in-law were apprehended. The statements under section 164 CrPC were recorded.

"On the basis of her statement, police have booked cases under sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation), 376 (rape), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC," the official added.

--IANS

ssh/kvd
New Delhi, Aug 18 : Moody's Investors Service on Friday maintained its stable outlook on India, while affirming its Baa3 rating.

Though at the same time, it has taken a cautious stand on political issues, citing Manipur's example. It said that curtailment of civil society and political dissent, compounded by rising sectarian tensions, support a weaker assessment of political risk and the quality of institutions.

It went on to add that though elevated political polarisation is unlikely to lead to a material destabilisation of government, the rising domestic political tensions suggest an ongoing risk of populist policies -- including at the regional and local government levels -- amid the prevalence of social risks such as poverty and income inequality.

At the same time, the periodic flaring of border tensions with neighbouring countries was an outlier among sovereigns assessed as having a lower overall susceptibility to political risk, Moody's said.

Manipur has been engulfed in ethnic violence since the past three months, which has resulted in death of more than 150 people and displacement of more than 50,000 people.
Bengaluru, Aug 18 : Consul General of US Consulate in Chennai on Friday met Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and held a detailed discussion with the Chief Minister over possibilities of investing in the state.

The Chief Minister told the Consul General that there is a conducive environment for investment in Karnataka and there is also an opportunity to invest in Tumkur, Davangere and in other two cities as well.

The Chief Minister said that the state of Karnataka is the second highest tax paying state in the country and has an investor friendly ecosystem.

He said that the law and order situation is in place and skilled human resources are available as well.

The Chief Minister has also extended an invitation to make more investments in the state.

Welcoming the decision to open an American Consulate in Bangaluru, the Chief Minister promised to provide all necessary support and cooperation.

Christopher Hodges said: "Excited to be here in Bengaluru and to see optimism and energy in the partnerships here. With over 650 American companies and 30 years for the US on the ground here, our commitment is clear. I enjoyed discussing with the Chief Minister ways we can take his partnership even further."

Head of Political/Economic Department Virsa Perkins, Political/Economic Officer Jason Evans, Chief Minister's Political Secretary K. Govindaraju and Additional Chief Secretary to Chief Minister Rajneesh Goel were also present.
New Delhi, Aug 18: In what brings 26/11 terror attack accused Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana closer to extradition to India, a US court has denied the writ of habeas corpus filed by him.

The denial has paved the way for US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to issue a certification for him to be extradited to India where he is facing a trial for his alleged involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

"The court has denied Tahawwur Rana's petition for writ of habeas corpus by a separate order," read orders by Judge Dale S Fischer, United States District Judge, Central District of California.

During the recently concluded monsoon session of the Indian parliament the Home Minister Amit Shah had informed the House that Tahawwur Rana would face the Indian judiciary soon.

Rana has filed an appeal against the order and sought a stay on his extradition to India till the time his appeal in the Ninth Circuit Court is heard. He had filed "writ of habeas corpus" in June this year challenging a court order that acceded to the request of the US government that the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks accused be extradited to India.

The special public prosecutor of the 26/11 case Ujjwal Nikam said that it was a great diplomatic success and a major blow to terrorism. "With extradition almost finalised, we now need to decide which court he will be tried, whether in the NIA court at Delhi or elsewhere, those questions will be decided by the investigating agency," Said Nikam.

Judge Fischer in his rejection order said that he didn't find any solid grounds as Rana has only made two basic arguments in the writ. First, he claims that, pursuant to the treaty, he cannot be extradited because India plans to prosecute him for the same acts for which he was charged and acquitted in a United States court. Second, he argues that the government has not established that there is probable cause to believe that Rana committed the Indian offenses for which he is expected to stand trial, the judge said.

"Given that, even if (David) Headley's testimony were the entire basis for the probable cause finding, it would be sufficient for the purposes of habeas review because it constitutes some competent evidence supporting the finding. For the reasons stated above, Rana's petition for a writ of habeas corpus is DENIED," the judge wrote.

Tahawwur Rana was arrested in the US on an extradition request by India for his role in the Mumbai attacks that killed 175 people, including six Americans.

Indian authorities allege that Rana conspired with his childhood friend David Coleman Headley to assist the Pakistani terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba in orchestrating the terror attacks. David Headley had pleaded guilty and testified against Rana.

Following Judge Fischer's order, Patrick Blegen and John D Cline, Rana's two attorneys filed an appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from the Order entered on August 10, 2023, for denying his petition for writ of habeas corpus.

In a separate appeal, Blegen has filed a petition "for a stay of extradition pending his appeal" to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from the court's order denying his petition for a writ of habeas corpus.

"As set forth in the accompanying memorandum, petitioner submits that a stay of extradition pending appeal is appropriate because he has made a strong showing that he is likely to succeed on the merits of his non bis in idem claim; he will suffer irreparable harm if he is extradited, potentially including the death penalty; a stay pending appeal will not substantially injure the government; and the public interest favors a full review of Rana's non bis claim before he is sent to a country that seeks to execute him," Rana's attorney wrote on August 14.

In June, the Biden administration had urged the court to deny the writ of habeas corpus filed by Rana. "The United States respectfully requests that the court deny Rana's petition for a writ of habeas corpus," said E Martin Estrada, US attorney for Central District of California, in his petition filed before the US District Court for the Central District of California.

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)

--indianarrative

--IANS
British envoy says his govt keen to support Meghalaya in various sectors. Image Source: IANS News

Shillong, Aug 18 : British Deputy High Commissioner Kolkata Nicholas Low on Friday met the Meghalaya Governor Phagu Chauhan at Raj Bhavan in Shillong and assured support of his government's to the northeastern state in various sectors.

Raj Bhavan sources on Friday said that during the meeting, the British envoy offered his country's support and coordination for development in Meghalaya, especially in healthcare, tourism, education among others.

He admired the natural beauty and similarity of the northeastern state with the UK, especially with Scotland and apprised the Governor about the historical relations of UK its Scotland province with Meghalaya, which is known as "Scotland of the East."

The British Deputy High Commissioner admired the beauty and upkeep of the historical Raj Bhavan premises and thanked Chauhan for his warm hospitality.
New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during the inauguration of new corporate office of the Punjab and Sind Bank. Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi, Aug 18 : Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will visit Gandhinagar on Saturday to attend the joint finance and health ministerial G20 meeting. It will also be attended by Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.

Sitharaman will also visit IFSC Gift City in Gandhinagar on Saturday and review its functioning.

She will also chair a three-day Chintan Shivir of the finance ministry, that is being organised between August 20-22.

This event will take place at the Tent City in Kevadia, renowned for housing the world's tallest statue, The Statue of Unity.

The Chintan Shivir aims to be a brainstorming session, discussing a spectrum of topics, including the strategic roadmap to propel India's transformation into a developed nation by 2047.

The two-day event at Kevadia will witness the participation of senior officials and Secretaries from six departments within the finance ministry, in addition to representatives from the ministry of corporate affairs.

On August 21, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is slated to address the assembly, sharing insights and perspectives on the transformative journey ahead.

--IANS

ans-janvi/pgh
New Delhi, Aug 18 : Congress on Friday said that since the Bharat Jodo Yatra, the party has been saying that it is not about 'speaking' but about 'listening' to the thoughts of the people.

Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh, in a tweet, said: "We have been saying that since the Bharat Jodo Yatra began it intends to listen to what's there in the heart of the people.

"Taking this Yatra forward, Rahul Gandhi has met Rameshwar.

"From his words, it is clear that the government does not care for the labourers. The poor people are looking for an ear to make their issues heard and also seeking a shoulder for support.

"This is the objective of Bharat Jodo Yatra. We need to win back the trust."

He also attached the video of Rahul Gandhi meeting Rameshwar, a vegetable vendor, whose video moved the nation amid the soaring prices of vegetables highlighting the hardships being faced by the common people.

Rahul Gandhi on Friday shared the video of his meeting with Rameshwar, where he was also seen serving food to him and his family himself.

The two people then discussed a lot of issues among the problems being faced by the common people.

Rahul Gandhi started his over 4,000 km long Bharat Jodo Yatra from Tamil Nadu's Kanyakumari on September 7 last year.

The yatra passed through the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and union territories of Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir before concluding at Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar on January 30 this year.

During his Bharat Jodo Yatra, Rahul Gandhi met and interacted with several people from different walks of life who shared their issues and concerns with him.
Bhopal, Aug 18 : BJP leader Samandar Patel, said to be close to Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, joined the Congress on Friday in the presence of former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal nath and ex-minister Jitu Patwari here.

Patel, along with 5,000 supporters in a convoy of over 1,200 vehicles, reached the Congress headquarters in Bhopal from Neemuch district and joined the grand old party -- just three months ahead of the Assembly elections.

Patel, hailing from the Javad area in Neemuch, embarked on a journey from his hometown to Bhopal.

Patel announced his return to Congress a week ago. He decided to join the Congress with a 'show of power' as he was accompanied by a convoy of his supporters.

The development came a day after the ruling BJP announced the first list of its 39 candidates for the assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh slated to be held later this year.
Vadim Savitsky - Wikimedia Commons

An extended-range variant of Russias 9M123 Khrizantema (Chrysanthemum) supersonic anti-tank missile was unveiled mid-August at Russias Army-2023 arms expo. Its intended to pose a long-distance threat to NATOs heavy main battle tanksif, that is, Russia ever procures it in more than boutique quantities.

Unlike most anti-tank guided missiles that usually come in forms for dismounted use, the 9M123 (codenamed AT-15 Springer by NATO) is uniquely fired from a two-shot pop-up launcher on a dedicated armored vehicle thats based on the BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicle called the 9P157-2 Khrizantema-S.

At its peak Mach 1.3 velocity, a Khrizantema missile traverses a mile in just four seconds, closing with the target much faster than typical anti-tank guided missiles. (One Russian source differs, claiming that the maximum speed is closer to Mach 1.9)

Spitting out up to four missiles per minute using automatic loaders, manufacturer KBM claims that a platoon of three Khrizantema-Ss can disable a company of 14 tanks in two minutes, assuming an estimated 60% kill probability per shot. The 9M123 missile can also be used against low-flying helicopters, but cant target vehicles closer than 400 meters away.

#Russia: Rostec presents 9M123M and 9M123MF "Khrizantema" guided anti-tank missile with a claimed penetration of 1.1m (1100mm). pic.twitter.com/Uprcbmn1iV  Vigorous Falcon (@VigorousFalcon) August 15, 2023

The new, enlarged 9M123M missile displayed at Army 2023 not only boasts 68% extended range of 6.2 miles (up from 3.3-3.7 miles), but supports launch from Russias Mi-28NM Havoc and Ka-52 attack helicopters. A display card implies the 152-millimeter diameter missile is longer (2.3 versus 2.06 meters) and weighs more in its launch tube (140.7 lbs up from 119 pounds) than the base model. In the past, builder KBM has claimed the improved missile would tweaked to improve odds of overcoming add-on cage (or lattice) armor.

Story continues

Interestingly, the claimed 1,100-millimeters RHA equivalent armor penetration remain below previously circulated estimates of 1,200 to 1,250-millimeters for the base model. 1,100 RHA is less than the commonly estimated maximum chemical-energy protection on the front turret of modern Abrams or Leopard 2 tanks. That said, tanks dont only get hit where their armor is thickest, so the missile remains a real threat.

Russian 9P157 Khrizantema-S ATGM carrier in action somewhere in the Kherson Oblast of Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/oADn2KP1CQ  Status-6 (@Archer83Able) July 14, 2022

Only a few videos show Khrizantemas use in combat, reflecting that only a few dozen systems were procured. And rather than blasting Leopard 2 main battle tanks charging towards Russian lines, two shows them plinking at surveillance cameras fixed to a distant building like a thief in a heist caper.

Chrysanthemum in war time!



Soldiers of the #Russian 110 bgde using the "Khrizantema" anti-tank missile system, hitting #Ukrainian OPs on high rise buildings in urban battles. pic.twitter.com/Kfhf4x0sQa  Sandeep Mukherjee (@Libertarian196) April 23, 2023

Video of a Russian Khrizantema-S ATGM carrier strike in the Mykolaiv direction. The source says that Ukraine is using cameras on tall buildings and towers, which was the target of this strike.https://t.co/QTazmr4EBT pic.twitter.com/BhmY1zbohx  Rob Lee (@RALee85) August 10, 2022

Another Khrizantema strike is seen destroying an uncrewed anti-tank guided missile firing post, again on the roof of a building.

Russian Khrizantema missile destroys Ukrainian ATGM launcher on top of an apartment building. Near Krasnogorovka, #Donetsk region pic.twitter.com/xfUd6oHb5j  Truth Seeker (@rishatjnu) May 20, 2023

Joking aside, these are valid targets that highlight the Chrysanthemums long range and accuracy, even if they dont strictly require a supersonic anti-tank missile to engage them. Such planned sniper shots do suggest that the next-gen tank buster is being employed conservatively.

If Chrysanthemum is finally combat-deployed on helicopters, Russian forces could use it more proactively to hunt Ukrainian tanks. However, Krizhantemas builders will have to compete with rival helicopter-mounted missiles.

How Khrizantema works

Technically, development of Khrizantema began in the Soviet Union in the 1980s. A display model was finally unveiled in Russia in 1996, and Khrizantema entered official military service in 2005. But due to high cost, only small numbers of Khrizantema-Ss claims were procuredabout 30 complexes, according to a 2017 article.

Thus, Khrizantema failed to replace the preceding 9P149 Shturm-S (or AT-6 Spiral) tank destroyer. This conceptually similar vehiclebased on the hull of the MT-LB tracked APCwas instead upgraded by Russia with newer Ataka missiles, and has seen substantial combat use in Ukraine by both sides.

Luch4 photo (CCL-SA3) - Wikimedia Commons

Khrizantema-S originally used Ukrainian-built sights, which had to be re-sourced from Belarus after Russias seizure of Crimea. Sanctions on Western-microelectronics may further complicate potential future 9P157 production.

The 9P157-2 tracked vehiclearmored in steel-lined aluminumweighs 19.4 tons, has a crew of two, and carries up to 15 Khrizantema missiles. These are launched from an extendible pop-up launcher, which also incorporates thermal imaging sight, while a ground-scanning 150 GHz radar is fixed next to the telescoping mast.

Vitaly Kuzmin CC-SA4 - Wikimedia Commons

Though the missiles cant be fired while moving, a 9P157-2 cunningly positioned behind a building or hill can extend the probe to target and fire at enemy positions without exposing the low-profile vehicles hull to direct fire.

A standard 9M123 missile is then steered semi-automatically by the crew to target, using a laser beam to transmit course corrections to receivers in the missiles tail fins.

However, the crew can also use the 9M123-2 missile, which is fully automatically guided to target by riding the beam of the 9P157-2 launch-vehicles radar. This has greater range (3.7 instead of 3.1 miles), and remains effective even against countermeasures like multi-spectral smoke grenades or foggy climate conditions that would impair laser-guidance. In turn, however, it faces risks from ground clutter and (hypothetically) jamming.

By leveraging these different guidance modes, a Khrizantema-A can actually guide two missiles to target simultaneously. On the downside, the 9M123 lacks fire-and-forget and top-attack capability like U.S. Javelin missiles, and does not have the ability to hit targets outside of line-of-sight like the Israeli Spike-NLOS missile.

The missiles developer, KBM, claims that supersonic speed makes it difficult for hard-kill active protection systems (APS) to react in time before the missile impacts the tank. Recently, American Abrams tanks have received combat-proven Trophy APS systemsa model also planned for installation on new-production Leopard 2A8 tanks. Given that a Khrizantema could still requires over 12 seconds to reach targets at maximum range, its likely not impossible to defeat if the APS has sufficient detection range.

The Khrizantemas 18-pound shaped charge warhead is vsaid to penetrate between 1,000 to 1,250 millimeter RHA equivalent. Theres also a 13-pound 9M123F thermobaric warhead variant designed for lethality against personnel ensconced in bunkers, caves, and buildings.

Vitaly Kuzmin CC-SA4 - Wikimedia Commons

A Khrizantema platoon typically includes one 9P157-3 platoon commanders vehicle with an additional third crew member, while a battery of several platoons includes a 9P157-4 command vehicle with four crew intended for terrain reconnaissance and rapid relaying of targets to subordinates.

Chrysanthemum batteries attached to artillery brigades in Russias Southern Military District allegedly saw initial successful combat tests in Ukraine back in 2014-2015. In 2020, the Kaliningrad enclave-based 244th Artillery Brigades anti-tank battalion reportedly received 18 9P157 vehicles. Sub-units of the 244th have been seen combat active near Kharkiv and Rostov.

Rzadko pokazywany rosyjski system przeciwpancerny 9K123 Chrizantema-S (wyrzutnia 9P157-2 na bazie BMP-3). W Kaliningradzie (Kralovcu) ma go jeden dywizjon 244. Brygady Artylerii z 11. KA - pokaz. na tym nagraniu. pic.twitter.com/oYLgvZPzZk  Tomasz Kwasek (@KwasekTomasz) November 3, 2022

Some 9P157s were photographed being rail-transported to Belarus just prior to Russias offensive on Kyiv in February to March of 2022, and the type appears to have been active in Russias siege of Mariupol and battles around Mykolaiv and Kherson.

Besides the modest number in Russian military service, Chrysanthemum-S has been exported to Azerbaijan (18, 24, or 37 vehicles, plus 800 missiles) as well as the Libya Dawn faction in Libyas civil war (14 vehicles). The latter were possibly used to counter armored kamikaze trucks used by ISIS forces in Sirte.

Azerbaijans Khrizantemas were briefly recorded in combat during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war. Allegedly, these were used in the Fuzuli and Jayabril sectorclaiming destruction of 10 armored vehiclesbut further employment was not deemed necessary once Azerbaijani forces broke through Armenian lines.

Azerbaijani 9P157-2 Khrizantema-S tank destroyer during the combat actions in Karabakh.

The extent of the participation of Khrizantema-S tank destroyers in the Karabakh War is still unclear.

h/t @Yugrek1 @Danspiun @oryxspioenkop @AbraxasSpa @Rebel44CZ @COIN_V2 @TheDeadDistrict pic.twitter.com/COW5eR1c54  Mukhtar Magomedov (@Mukhtarr_MD) February 12, 2021

Khrizantemas helicopter challenge

Mating Khrizantema to Mi-28N and Ka-52 helicopters has long been discussed in Russian media, and has been tested multiple timesthough no videos show combat-tests in Ukraine. The missile is apparently compatible with the Ka-52s GOES-451 targeting system.

Attack helicopters are much more capable of rapidly engaging concentrations of enemy armor than ground-based missile carriers, which need to be positioned relatively close to an enemy armor breakthrough to intervene in time and work best when laying in ambush, rather than advancing towards the enemy.

Nice photo of the new Mi-28NE during flight trials, demonstrating its camo values. The helicopter is carrying 14 9M123 Khrizantema ATGMs. pic.twitter.com/UOXuelEo7O  Georgios Zagkas (@GZagkas) September 10, 2021

But Khrizantemas integration into Russias helicopter fleet is challenged by a rival weaponthe brand new LMUR missile, which has a superior range of up to 7.5 miles. Dozens of videos of LMUR attacksmostly, but not exclusively, against static targetshave been posted by Russias military to the internet, showing far more active interest in its adoption.

The opening for Khrizantema, however, is that it may take a while for new LMUR missiles to be produced, as only an initial production batch of 200-300 is confirmed. But the status of the 9M123 production line is itself unclear, so new orders may require wind up time.

While fans of Russian military hardware often extol Khrizantemas capability, the missile presently seems doomed to remain amongst the ranks of modern Russian weapons that failed to see large-scale procurement because it was deemed more cost-efficient to upgrade Soviet predecessors they were meant to replace. Unless, that is, the new extend-range model can spur new orders.

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New Delhi, Aug 18 : Delhi Police has arrested a 34-year-old man on Friday for allegedly kidnapping a five-year-old child from New Delhi Railway Station (NDRS), an official said.

The accused was identified as Vikas Verma, a native of Hathras in Uttar Pradesh.

Sharing the details, a senior police official said that on Wednesday, one woman, a resident of district Cuttack in Odisha, came to the police station and reported the missing of her five-year-old son.

"She had come from Indore on Wednesday morning, to catch a train for Cuttack. When she was present on platform no 6-7 at NDRS, along with her three children, her youngest child, went missingpossibly kidnapped by someone," said a senior police official, adding that she then approached local police.

During the probe, CCTVs footage of the station premises were scanned along with the complainant.

"An unknown person, aged about 30 to 35-year-old, was seen carrying the victim's child. Photographs of the alleged person along with the kidnapped child were developed and given wide circulation and dissemination," said the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Railway unit) Apoorva Gupta.

"On Friday morning, following a specific tip off, Vikas Verma was nabbed from Shri Shakti Express. The clothes worn by the accused at the time of the incident, have also been recovered," said the DCP.

On interrogation, it was revealed that Verma is a goldsmith by profession and one year ago he lost his business due to huge losses and heavy debts.

"He was married in the year 2014 and has a child born out of the said wedlock in 2015. His wife separated from him in 2021 alongwith the child. After losing his business he started working as a petty vendor in the running trains," said the DCP.

"On the day of the incident, he was at New Delhi Railway Station and saw a woman along with her three children.

"He got tempted to take away the youngest child of that woman. So he first befriended the child by offering him some eatables and then disappeared along with the child, taking advantage of the crowd," said the official.

"He took the child to Katra the same night and returned to NDRS on August 17 morning on board Shri Shakti Express. He was planning to take the child further to his native place from NDRS." the official added.
Imphal, Aug 18 : A four-member delegation of the CPI-M, led by the party's General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, arrived in trouble-torn Manipur on Friday for a three-day state visit. Upon their arrival, the delegation met the displaced people at the relief camps in Churachandpur and Moirang.

The Left delegation on Friday evening met Governor Anusuiya Uikey at the Raj Bhavan to discuss the prevailing situation in the violence-hit state.

While talking to the media, Yechury said that they are visiting Manipur to express the party's solidarity with the violence-hit people and to know the ground situation.

"Peace must return to the troubled state. The so-called double-engine has led to this situation. Our delegation is here to express solidarity and to hear from everyone," Yechury tweeted later.

The other members of the delegation are Suprakash Talukdar, the party's Assam state secretary, his Tripura counterpart Jitendra Choudury, and former West Bengal minister Deblina Hembrom.All three are members of the CPI-M central committee.

The Left delegation will visit more areas in different districts on Saturday and Sunday, and talk to a cross section of people.

Last week, a delegation of All India Democratic Women's Association led by CPI-M politburo member Brinda Karat had visited Manipur and talked to the distressed people of all communities in different districts.
New Delhi, Aug 18 : The Delhi High Court has upheld a single-judge order rejecting the plea - moved by the producers of the 1966 Bengali film 'Nayak', R.D.B and Co. (HUF), seeking injunction against publishing house HarperCollins from printing the novelisation of the film's screenplay.

Directed by iconic filmmaker late Satyajit Ray, 'Nayak' starring Uttam Kumar and Sharmila Tagore in lead roles was Ray's second entirely original screenplay after Kanchenjungha (1962).

Justice C. Hari Shankar, while rejecting the plea, had said that the first owner of copyright in 'Nayak' was Ray who wrote the screenplay for the movie, and he had the right to novelise the screenplay.

However, consequent on his demise, that right could be assigned to his son (Sandip Ray) and others on whom the right devolved, the court had held.

A division bench of Justices Yashwant Varma and Tushar Rao Gedela dismissed the appeal against Justice Shankar's order passed on May 23.

The bench said that the copyright in the screenplay of the movie would clearly have to be recognised to vest in the author of the literary work, i.e. Satyajit Ray.

"While the plaintiff / appellant may have been the producer of the film 'Nayak', it could not have possibly claimed a supervening right in the screenplay in light of the clear language and intent of Section 13(4) of the Act," the court said.

It added that once it is recognised that the copyright existed in the author of the screenplay, any right which the plaintiff HUF could claim in the cinematographic work would not have either impacted or diluted Ray's right in the screenplay.

"For all aforesaid reasons, we find no merit in the challenge raised to the impugned order. The appeal fails and shall stand dismissed," the court held.

The single-judge court had said: "As the first owner of the copyright in the screenplay of the film 'Nayak', therefore, the right to novelise the screenplay also vested in Satyajit Ray. That right could be assigned by him - and, consequent on his demise, by his son and others on whom the right devolved - on any other person, under Section 18(1)44 of the Copyright Act."

"The assignment of the right to novelise the screenplay of the film 'Nayak', by Sandip Ray and the SPSRA, in favour of the defendant is, therefore, wholly in order and in accordance with the provisions of the Act. On the other hand, the assertion, by the plaintiff, of the copyright in the screenplay of the film 'Nayak' is unsupported by any provision in the Act and is, in fact, in violation of the provisions which have been referred to hereinabove," the court had said. R.D.B. and Co. had approached the high court stating that Ray was commissioned by R.D. Bansal (of R.D.B. and Co.) to write the screenplay of the film. The novel was published by HarperCollins on May 5, 2018 after it was novelised by Bhaskar Chattopadhyay.

"The plaintiff claimed that the novelisation of the screenplay by Bhaskar Chattopadhyay and the publication of the novel by the defendant, constituted infringement of their copyright within the meaning of Section 51 of the Copyright Act," the court had noted.

"Proviso (b) to Section 17, in its plain terms, refers, insofar as cinematograph films are concerned, with the making of a cinematograph film for valuable consideration at the instance of any person," the court had said.

Justice Shankar had held that Ray, as the author of the screenplay of 'Nayak', was the first owner of the copyright in the said film.

"Therefore, the contention that the producer is the owner of the copyright of the screenplay cannot be accepted," the court ruled.

"For the aforesaid discussion, the plaintiff has no right whatsoever, in law, to injunct the defendant from novelising the screenplay of the film 'Nayak'," the court noted.
New Delhi, August 18 : The stock of South Indian Bank jumped more than 6 per cent on Friday after the RBI conveyed its approval for the appointment of P.R. Seshadri as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the bank for a period of three years with effect from October 1.

The stock closed at Rs 22.44, up Rs 1.36 or 6.4 per cent on the BSE.

A meeting of the Board of Directors of the bank will be convened in due course to approve the appointment of Seshadri as the MD & CEO, and the approval of the shareholders shall be obtained thereafter as per the applicable provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 and SEBI Listing Regulations.

Seshadri has served as, among other positions, MD & CEO of Karur Vysya Bank Limited (KVB), and MD & Regional Sales and Distribution Head, Citibank N.A., Asia Pacific, Singapore.
Gandhinagar, Aug 18 : Minister for Health and Family Welfare Mansukh Mandaviya on Friday said the government has a special focus on traditional medicine, adding it established a separate Ministry of AYUSH in this regard.

"In India, under the leadership of Prime Minister (Narendra Modi), we have a specific focus on traditional medicine and established a separate Ministry of AYUSH, which includes Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy," he said while addressing the concluding session of the two-day World Health Organization (WHO) Global Summit on Traditional Medicine.

AYUSH Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and other dignitaries were also present.

Referring to Covid pandemic, the Minister said, "During the Covid-19 crisis, traditional medicines had played a very important role through scientific and evidence-based medicines in terms of preventive, therapeutic and public health management."

"Ministry of Health and the Ministry of AYUSH works closely to integrate, endorse, and develop holistic health, including through availability of traditional medicines and yoga in 1,50,000+ Health and Wellness Centres and by establishing centres of integrated medicines in our tertiary hospitals," Mandaviya said.

"Under the overarching theme of India's G20 Presidency of 'One Earth, One Family and One Future' and focus on reducing fragmentation and enhancing convergence, this meeting will be a torch bearer for effective health systems strengthening and will bring additional research, evidence and innovation to help us meet health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)."

"The summit will help identify potential areas for collaboration and innovation in traditional medicines and help harness traditional medicine in achieving Universal Health Coverage goals," Sonowal said.

Speaking on the occasion, the WHO DG said, "Traditional medicines never had this kind of attention from governments, even though they have been practiced since millennia. Recognizing the benefits in the use of traditional medicines, WHO recently established the Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in Jamnagar, Gujarat."

Ghebreyesus appreciated India's role in promoting the use of traditional medicines and hoped that this first-ever summit on traditional medicines will be a catalyst for bringing together modern science and traditional knowledge in making health systems better.
Kolkata, Aug 18 : Kolkata Police on Friday arrested three more students in connection with the ragging related death of a fresher of Jadavpur University (JU).

The three arrested included a student of computer science department Satyabrata Roy, one former student of chemistry department Sheikh Nasim Akhtar and a former student of mathematics department Himangshu Karmakar.

They were arrested following questioning since Friday morning. With these fresh arrests, a total 12 students have been arrested so far in the case.

Police had first arrested nine students in the matter. Student Satyabrata Roy, at the time of mishap, had called up the dean of students of JU Rajat Roy and gave him a false narrative of the incident.

Police sources said that during the day-long interrogation all the three accused had been changing their story with the clear intention of misleading the police.

Roy was questioned by the cops earlier also immediately after the mishap.

It is learnt that the three of them will be presented at a lower court in Kolkata on Friday and the public prosecutor will seek their police custody.
New Delhi, Aug 18 : The Centre has taken objection with a plea before the Delhi High Court that seeks to replace the term 'Central government' with 'Union government' or 'Union of India' in all official orders, notifications, and correspondences.

The plea argues that the Constitution originally intended the use of the term 'Union government' and that its usage would foster a more unified relationship between the

Union and the states, counteracting the perception of centralisation of power.

Representing the Centre, its counsel contended that the plea amounts to unnecessary litigation and should be dismissed.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula has granted the Centre time to respond to the petition.

The petitioner, an 84-year-old individual named Atmaram Saraogi, through a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), urges the Ministry of Law and Justice to adopt the terms 'Union', 'Union government', or 'Union of India' instead of 'Central government' or 'Centre'.

However, the high court expressed skepticism about the public interest aspect of the plea, noting that there appears to be no prohibition on using the term 'Central government'.

In response, senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing the petitioner, highlighted that the Constitution of India exclusively employs the term 'Union government' and never uses 'Central government'.

He said that the phrase 'Central government' is not legally recognised and that Article 1 of the Constitution refers to the 'Union' rather than 'Central'.

The petitioner's contention aims to challenge the definition of 'Central government' as outlined in Section 3(8)(b) of the General Clauses Act, 1897, arguing that it is inconsistent with the constitutional framework of India as a 'Union of States'.

The petitioner believes that this terminology misrepresents the true nature of the Indian governance system, which is built on a union of states rather than a centralised government structure.

The petitioner's plea ultimately seeks a declaration that 'Central government' in legislative texts should be interpreted as 'Union government' or 'Union of India'.

The petitioner contends that this correction is essential to maintain the integrity of the relationship between the Union government and the state governments, as enshrined in the Indian Constitution.

The matter is scheduled for further hearing on December 5.
Imphal, Aug 18 : In all, 212 men and women from Manipur, who took shelter in Myanmar after ethnic violence broke out in the northeastern state on May 3, returned to the state safely on Friday, Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh said.

All the 212 people, belonging to the Meitei community, are residents of Moreh along the Myanmar border.

The Chief Minister thanked the Indian Army for taking the initiative to safely bring back the people to Manipur.

Singh tweeted: "Relief and gratitude as 212 fellow Indian citizens (all Meiteis) who sought safety across the Myanmar border post the May 3 unrest in Moreh town of Manipur, are now safely back on Indian soil. A big shout-out to the Indian Army for their dedication in bringing them home. Sincere gratitude to GOC Eastern Command, Lt Gen R.P. Kalita, GOC 3 Corp, Lt Gen H.S. Sahi and CO of 5 AR, Col Rahul Jain, for their unwavering service."
Patna, Aug 18 : Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav on Friday said that they will fight the BJP without any compromise.

His remarks came in backdrop of CBI filling a plea in Supreme Court for the cancellation of former chief minister Lalu Prasad Yavad's bail.

"BJP is there only to create confusion. They will disturb opposition leaders but such ploy will not affect us. Our stand is clear. We will fight against BJP and there will be compromise at any cost," he said.

He said that these tactics are only employed in the state by the BJP because the elections are approaching. "BJP is most afraid of the people of Bihar. We will fight all their cases in a legal way. We are not afraid of false cases being filed against us," the Deputy Chief Minister said.

He said that BJP is involved in defaming Bihar. "Look at the NCRB data, Delhi has the highest numbers of crime incidents. Murders, rape, loot, robbery, chain snatching are much higher in Delhi than Bihar," the Deputy Chief Minister said.

He said that Delhi Police directly comes under the union home ministry led by Amit Shah.

"Delhi is the place where the President of India, Prime Minister and other dignitaries reside," the Deputy Chief Minister said.
Imphal, Aug 18 : Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh on Friday said that the immediate objective is to bring peace and normalcy in the state and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah round-the-clock monitoring the state's situation and guiding accordingly.

While speaking at the Sadbhavana Diwas function held at the Main Conference Hall in the stateas civil secretariat, the Chief Minister said that in this crucial juncture, there would be differences of opinions, but the immediate objective is to restore peace in the state, and to ensure that government employees and the general public come together and work harder to make up for the lost three-four months.

He said that to stay abreast in todayas development race, one must discard mistrust among the different sections, communal feelings, and selfishness.

Singh observed that it is better to let bygones be bygones and to work unitedly for a better, developed and peaceful tomorrow rather than dwell on past mistakes.

He sought positive suggestions and advice towards building a developed and united society.

Singh explained that Manipur needs to continue in the path of unity and equal development along which it was moving in the past six years, and that it requires collective effort and trust of all the people.

The Chief Minister also appreciated the round-the-clock monitoring, support and guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah and said that under their guidance and support, it is the time for all the people to be united and to work towards bringing peace and development.

Highlighting that there are also attempts to divert from the issue or to allow the issue to linger on, the Chief Minister said restoration of peace in the state and return to normalcy should be our main focus at the moment.

Stating that one should not speak or discuss issues which could hurt the sentiment of other communities, the Chief Minister further appealed to the people of the State to promote oneness and development.

Speaking on the importance of observing the day, Singh said that former Prime Minister late Rajiv Gandhi believed in the welfare and betterment of the people.

On this day, people have been taking the Sadbhavana Pledge and that the pledge will help in promoting national integration and harmony, he added.

The Chief Minister said today we sometimes witness unwanted incidents of violence. These sporadic incidents of violence cause not only loss of precious lives and properties, but also mistrust among one another, he said, adding that this slows down development as well as creating stumbling blocks in building a united Bharat.

The Chief Minister also administered the Sadbhavana pledge to those attending the observation.
Putin has rolled out a new textbook for school kids teaching them his version of events about the Ukraine war

Putin has rolled out a new textbook for school kids teaching them his version of events about the Ukraine war

Russia is now focusing on school children in its efforts to erode Ukrainian national identity, according to the latest UK intelligence.

Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine last February with the intention of seizing the entire country in a matter of days or weeks.

Almost 18 months later, and Moscow has reduced its war aims down to just consolidated the regions it is already occupying in the east and the south of Ukraine.

But, according to the UKs ministry of defence, Russia is still looking to create a pro-Kremlin information space in these occupied areas to erode Ukrainian national identity  and Moscow is starting with the schools.

In its most recent update on X (formerly known as Twitter), the MoD said the first deputy head of the Russian Presidential Administration, Sergey Kiriyenko, travelled to the occupied Ukrainian region of Donetsk this week to inspect schools.

The government official reportedly wanted to check their integration into the Russian education system.

Putin ordered the illegal annexation of the Donetsk region last September, along with the annexation of Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk and Kherson. He already annexed the peninsula of Crimea back in 2014.

That means those regions, in the eyes of the Kremlin anyway, officially became part of Russia.

Over in Zaporizhzhia, Moscow has instructed the occupation administration to introduce new standard for the accreditation of educational institutions, the MoD claimed.

On top of that, the Kremlin has rolled out new teaching materials.

The UK intelligence said: A new textbook on the history of Russia will be issued to schools in the occupied regions of Ukraine and throughout the Russian Federation from 1 September 2023.

The MoD added that this book praises the so-called special military operation and describes Ukraine as an ultra-terrorist state.

Story continues

Putin has rarely acknowledged that the war is just that, often referring to it as a special military operation instead.

According to the scans of the new book posted by Russian state media, the book has sections on the countrys confrontation with the West, the baseless allegations that Ukraine is a neo-Nazi state and claims Russia is a country of heroes.

The Washington Post dubbed the textbook part of an extraordinary gaslighting campaign where the president tries to convince the population that Russia is not the aggressor.

Meanwhile, the MoD also said journalists from Russia are being employed in media outlets in the occupied regions, too.

Its worth remembering the Kremlin has tried to control the information available to ordinary civilians about the war, by scaring them into avoiding international coverage, according to a previous update from the UK.

Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine  18 August 2023



Find out more about Defence Intelligence's use of language: https://t.co/UlaUxk9z2a



 #StandWithUkraine  pic.twitter.com/0LeyIXV5bT  Ministry of Defence  (@DefenceHQ) August 18, 2023

Related...
Mumbai, Aug 18 : 'MTV Roadies: Karm Ya Kaand' will now be featuring more romantic drama and tensions regarding heartbreak and sorrow, as the loyalty of Nayesha has been betrayed by Sachin which will lead to her having an emotional outburst.

Both the contestants were former lovers, though it seems that being on the opposing ends of the spectrum, with Nayesha part of Rhea Chakraborty Gang and Sachin part of Prince Narula Gang, caused them to drift apart and break their relationship.

Standing alongside evicted contestant Leeza, Nayesha will be seen asking the contestants, Gang Leaders and Sonu Sood if she can unleash her frustrations regarding her heartbreak, to which she will receive encouragement from others to let herself completely loose.

What follows will be a massive emotional outburst, where Nayesha will lose control and proceed to say that she is an emotional person but not a weak or fragile person who can just be taken advantage of and then thrown away like trash.

Talking to Sachin, she will say that despite breaking up, she still harbours romantic feelings for him, though Sachinas bad remarks and betraying her trust by calling her names behind her back really broke her.

The others will listen in silence as she goes on ranting about how much she cared for loyalty and trust, and despite being in the opposite Gang and thus rivals, she never badmouthed him or insulted him, though Sachin did not reciprocate the favour.

He instead ditched her for what he said was for the asake of his Ganga which was beyond Nayeshaas understanding as being rivals doesnat mean insulting someone from behind and betraying their trust.

Nayesha will then proceed to insult Sachin in her outburst, not holding back for a second while not a peep will come out of others.

aMTV Roadies: Karm Ya Kaanda airs on MTV and JioCinema.
IPS officer suspended by MHA for allegedly misbehaving with woman in Goa. Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi, Aug 18 : The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has debarred another Haryana cadre Indian Police Service officer (IPS).

The officer has been identified as Om Prakash.

MHA said that Om Prakash, a 2006 batch Haryana cadre IPS officer, has been debarred from being considered for foreign assignments or consultancies abroad during the period of debarment.

"... convey approval of competent authority for cancellation of appointment of Om Prakash as deputy Inspector General in Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP)," a notice to Chief Secretary Haryana from the Ministry of Home Affairs, reads the order.

Earlier, MHA had already debarred Haryana cadre IPS officer Abhishek Jorwal from central deputation for a period of five years.
Guwahati, Aug 18 : Hours after a government official was arrested on graft charges in Assam, the officials of the anti-corruption department on Friday seized at least Rs 45 lakh cash from two residences of the official -- Manuj Kumar Saikia.

Saikia was an executive engineer (R&B) with the Public Works Department (PWD).

His apartments were raided by officials from the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption cell.

According to an official statement, Rs 45,54,385 in cash was found at Saikia's residences in Haflong and Nagaon.

Manuj Kumar Saikia was caught in the act after accepting Rs 10,000 from the complainant on Thursday as part of the demanded bribe in the Dima Hasao district's Haflong town, where he was posted.

Following his arrest, the anti-corruption wing officers went to his house for the raid.

Taking to X, formerly Twitter, the Vigilance & Anti-Corruption wing wrote: "Ref: arrest of Manuj Kumar Saikia, Executive Engineer, PWD (R&B), Haflong Div. During the search, cash amounting to Rs 45,54,385 was recovered from his residences."
Patna, Aug 19 : Three minor boys were killed while two others critically injured on Friday after a speeding Scorpio mowed them down in Bihar's West Champaran district, an official said.

The mishap took place at Machli Lok village in the district at around 3.30 p.m.

Sub Divisional Police Officer Mahtab Alam told IANS: "Five minor boys were moving on one motorcycle and heading towards their village when a Scorpio rammed them from behind. Two of the children died on the spot while another succumbed due to injuries in the hospital.

"The condition of the remaining two children is also critical," the police officer said.

The person driving the Scorpio fled along with the vehicle from the spot after the accident.

Alam said that police were trying to trace the vehicle and identify the driver.

The family members of the deceased were informed about the mishap.
Bengaluru, Aug 19 : Amid the rumors of "Operation Hasta" or "Reverse Operation Lotus", two prominent BJP MLAs skipped a crucial meeting called by former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa in Bengaluru.

The meeting was organised to clear the air about rumours of BJP leaders joining Congress ahead of Lok Sabha elections.

Former minister and BJP MLA S.T. Somashekar and Bhyrati Basavaraj remained absent during the meeting. Both hail from Bengaluru and are said to be capable of winning the seats on their own. Somashekar had addressed Deputy Cheif Minister D.K. Shivakumar as his "guru" (mentor) and showered praises on him.

Sources said that Shivakumar and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah are at loggerheads over rejoining Basavaraj back to Congress.

Basavaraj is a resourceful leader representing K.R. Puram seat in Bengaluru. Shivakumar is making an all out effort to pull him into the party, sources said.

The meeting was held at the residence of Yediyurappa.

Speaking after the meeting, Yediyurappa maintained that "all is well" within the party and maintained that the meeting was organised hastily and those who are available have attended the meeting.

"No one is leaving the BJP party. Everyone is with us. Because the matter was conveyed urgently, all leaders couldnat attend it. One or two leaders are worried over certain factors, so I will call them and personally speak to them. I can assure that no one is leaving the party," Yediyurappa maintained.

Yediyurappa charged that the Congress government has "gone pauper". "No development work is undertaken and it is mired in corruption. A massive protest would be organised on Aug 23 in Bengaluru. If the government is still adamant the protest will be launched across the state," he added.

"The government is acting like a dictator. The threats are given for social media posts and media persons are also harassed. The BJP is staging a protest against all these matters," Yediyurappa stated.

Former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said that he had discussed with BJP MLAas S.T. Somashekar and Shivaram Hebbar. "We are in touch with all leaders and no one is quitting BJP. The local problems have been brought to the notice of the State President. The Congress wants to divert attention from the allegation of corruption, favoritism and rebellion of their own MLAs," he said.

Sources said that the Congress party is all set to carry out "Operation Hast" through which more than 15 leaders from BJP and JD (S) would be poached.

The leaders are already being approached and further talks about their positions are being talked about with them, they added.

Deputy Cheif Minister Shivakumar has stated that everything is possible in politics on Friday.
The right term

The words fascist and Nazi get used a lot these days, so much so that they will soon be added to that class of meaningless tropes that do nothing to advance knowledge or understanding. Regarding the recent raid on the small-town newspaper in Marion County, Kansas, however, the term fascist seems to fit very well. (Aug. 17, 1A, Warrant for newspaper raid withdrawn; devices to be returned)

This was and is a common method of control used by authoritarian governments since the advent of the press.

After a couple of days of coverage about this case, its still not clear to me what the newspaper did that was so bad the authorities saw a reason to violate its First Amendment right to a free press. It appears the powers that be in Marion County just felt a need to keep news about potentially illegal activities from being brought to light.

I have taken the advice of Melinda Henneberger in the Aug. 18 Star and subscribed to the Marion County Record. (1A, Newswoman, 98, died in the line of duty after police raid) I urge all of you who support the free press to do the same.

- Frank Strada, Overland Park

National lens

The raid on the Marion County Record could ultimately bankrupt Marion, because big guns such as the ACLU might offer legal assistance to the newspaper for collecting damages. That may include compensation for intimidation of someone to the extent that it aided in causing death  in this case, Joan Meyer, the newspapers co-owner and mother of the editor.

I dont think the police department or the judge who authorized the search warrant thought this matter through very well. Not only is Marion now on the map because of negative press coverage, but the whole world knows that someone with local political connections was or is likely driving around Marion County without a license. The reasons for the raid  supposed identity theft and unlawful acts concerning computers  were flimsy.

Out in the rest of America, we are saying, Go get em, editor Eric Meyer.

Story continues

- Gerald Lance Johannsen, Carlsbad, California

Jogs hallway

Whenever I read Sen. Josh Hawleys comments on manliness, I wonder if it is the Josh Hawley who bravely raised his fist to the crowd on the other side of the fence at the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, or the Josh Hawley who ran from the crowd in terror later that day inside the Capitol when there was no fence.

- Jim Dunn, Parkville

Noise pollution

Why does everything I see on television  including news promos, documentary programs and ads for drugs or auto dealers  have loud music, noise, banging, whistling, wheezing or drumbeats that cover what is being said or promoted?

This annoying, irritating and ear-shattering practice has been going on for years, and seems completely unnecessary and adverse to listeners who are merely trying to enjoy the program they are watching.

Does anyone know what entity to contact to complain about this practice?

- Don Rinck Sr., Mission

Trump truths

But wait, theres more about Donald Trump: Heres a man who has been impeached twice and survived by a party line vote in both cases. Hes been indicted for upward of 90 felonies  and counting. Hes liable for 641 years in prison if convicted on all charges. (Aug. 16, 1A, Trump indicted over attempts to overturn election in Georgia)

And heres the man some of you want to return to be the head of the executive branch of the government, the president of the United States? This is the branch thats in charge of administering and enforcing the laws of the nation.

The fox guarding the hen house is only a pale and inadequate metaphor. It doesnt begin to do the saga of Trump any justice.

The thought of this is so preposterous and unsettling that it makes moving to someplace as corrupt as Haiti sound good.

- Bob Cocetti, Raymore
A federal judge in Texas is hearing oral arguments this morning on a motion filed by a coalition a booksellers and book industry advocates to block HB 900, the states controversial new book rating law, from taking effect as scheduled on September 1. Attorneys for the state of Texas, meanwhile, are asking the court to deny the plaintiffs motion for a preliminary injunction, and to dismiss the lawsuit entirely.

Formerly known as HB 900, the new law, dubbed the Restricting Explicit and Adult-Designated Educational Resources (READER) Act, was signed by Texas governor Greg Abbott on June 12. Among its provisions, the law requires book vendors to review booksincluding both new books and books it has previously soldand to rate them, under a vaguely articulated standard. The law stipulates that books must be declared either sexually explicit, if the book includes material that would be patently offensive by community standards, or sexually relevant, if the books portrays any kind of sexual conduct.

Under the law, books rated sexually explicit would be banned in Texas schools, while students would be able to access books rated as sexually relevant only with written parental consent. Furthermore, the law also gives the state the unchecked power to review and overrule the ratings for any book, effectively imposing a state standard. There is no transparency requirement for the state, and no appeals process. And if a bookseller or publisher refuses to adopt the states rating, it can be barred from selling to Texas schools unless and until the bookseller acquiesces to the governments demands.

In their bid to block the law, the plaintiffs claim that the new measure would impose sweeping, vague, and unconstitutional content-based restrictions on readers, in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments, and would unduly burden booksellers. If the law is allowed to take effect, the plaintiffs argue, it would cause a recall of many books in K-12 public schools, bans of even more, and the establishment of an unconstitutionaland unprecedentedstate-wide book licensing regime that compels private companies and individuals to adopt the States messages or face government punishment.

The plaintiffs in the case include two Texas bookstoresAustins BookPeople and Houstons Blue Willow Bookshoptogether with the American Booksellers Association, the Association of American Publishers, the Authors Guild, and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

In response, attorneys for the state say that the plaintiffs lack standing to bring the suit, but that even if the court disagrees and grants standing, the case is without merit. Plaintiffs alleged impending future injury, regarding READERs obligation to create an initial list of ratings, is entirely speculative, Texas attorneys argue in an August 16 filing. Plaintiffs essentially seek the cover of a court order to justify their refusal to comply with READER.

Among their arguments, Texas attorneys say that the law addresses a legitimate state interest: keeping allegedly inappropriate materials out of Texas schools. They claim that the law is consistent with the Constitution, and that it does not compel or deny speech of any kind.

Defendants are not forbidding anyone from any speech; defendants are not forbidding any book from being published, nor are they forbidding the sale of the books containing obscene material in any forum or to any audience outside of Texas schools, the Texas filing states. The speech plaintiffs seek to introduce into the schools, unregulated, contains material which is obscene and is therefore not protected under the First Amendment.

Texas state attorneys argue that it is ultimately the children of the state of Texas that will suffer irreparable injury if this court grants preliminary injunctive relief.

Blatantly Unconstitutional

Meanwhile, a host of statements and briefs released ahead of todays hearing illustrate how high the stakes are for the publishing community. In a collective amicus brief, the Association of University Presses, Barnes & Noble, the Freedom to Read Foundation, Freedom to Learn Advocates, and the American Association of School Librarians slammed the Texas law.

In a specious attempt to allegedly protect children, Texas has passed a draconian law riddled with massive constitutional defects that would effectively prohibit schools libraries from providing their students with a broad array of books, including some of the most seminal works of literature published, the brief states. It would impose a blatantly unconstitutional ratings scheme on booksellers, forcing them to label a book with arbitrary ratings invented by the Texas legislature before being able to sell books to school libraries.

The brief calls the laws requirement that vendors rate all books currently available in Texas public school libraries and sold to them in the future for sexual content an impossible, Sisyphean, and blatantly unconstitutional task. A more coercive regime is hardly imaginable, the brief concludes.

In addition, the major publishers, represented in the suit by the AAP, also took aim at the law in statements provided to PW.

 Texas has passed a draconian law riddled with massive constitutional defects that would effectively prohibit schools libraries from providing their students with a broad array of books. 

HB 900 is wrong on principle, unconstitutionally vague, impractical in its application, and punitive in its consequences, said representatives from Simon & Schuster. Finding the right books for the right reader involves a series of personal choices uniquely particular to individual students and their parents, teachers and librarians. A legislative mandate to require vendors or publishers to impose ratings on books under an ambiguous standard is a threat to the intellectual freedom of readers. As publishers, we cannot be party to such an arbitrary and intrusive act of self-censorship.

Reps for Penguin Random House said that book bans and ratings systems based on subjective, government-determined values strip Americans of the freedom to make their own decisions. Penguin Random House publishes books for everyone, and we will defend the right for readers to freely discover and access the books they want and need, the statement reads. In the face of unconstitutional content rating systems, we affirm our commitment to parents, librarians, and teachers who judiciously place books in young peoples hands, the authors who write them, and readers, who deserve to make up their own minds about what to read next.

Reps for HarperCollins said that the law clearly violates First Amendment by compelling booksellers to adopt government assessments as their own: Texas legislators distrust students, parents and school districts in making their own choices and are illegally attempting to impose their own preferences on everyone.

Hachette officials asserted that rating books is inferior to existing constitutional standards because it robs parents, schools, and teachers of the right to make decisions for their respective communities and classrooms, instead handing that role to a state entity and private businesses. They added: It is our hope that laws that seek to limit access to books and that criminalize teachers, librarians and booksellers will be struck down as unconstitutional and that the choice of what book to read remains unregulated by the states.

The Clock Is Ticking

The lawsuit in Texas is the latestand perhaps most high-profilesuit in an escalating legal counteroffensive being waged by freedom to read advocates in response to a surge in state-level legislative attacks on the freedom to read. According to a recent PEN America report, Texas continues to lead the nation in book bans.

In a major victory, a federal judge on July 29 temporarily blocked two key provisions of a recently passed Arkansas law that would have exposed librarians and booksellers to criminal liability for making allegedly inappropriate or harmful books accessible to minors in the state. In a lengthy opinion and order, judge Timothy L. Brooks concluded that portions of the law are too vague to be understood and implemented effectively and that, if enacted, would permit, if not encourage, library committees and local governmental bodies to make censorship decisions based on content or viewpoint, which would violate the First Amendment.

In February, the ACLU joined with librarians in Missouri to file a federal suit over Senate Bill 775, a school library obscenity law that opponents say forces librarians to censor their collections under the threat of arbitrary enforcement of imprisonment or fines. In March, federal judge Robert Pitman held that the library leaders in Llano County, Tex., infringed the constitutional rights of their users by unilaterally removing books they deemed inappropriate or disagreed with. Pitman's order is now on appeal before the Firth Circuit. And in May, PEN America and Penguin Random House joined forces with a group of authors and parents to sue school administrators in Escambia County, Fla., over the removal of allegedly inappropriate books from school libraries.

It's unclear how quickly federal judge Alan D. Albright will rule on the motion to block the READER Act from taking effect after today's hearing, but time is of the essence with the law set to take effect on September 1. PW will continue to update this story as information comes in.
In Under the Eye of Power: How Fear of Secret Societies Shapes American Democracy (Viking), historian Colin Dickey argues that a paranoia of secret, subversive societies, is not just peripheral to the functioning of democracy, but at its very heart. Dickey chronologically traces the various manifestations of conspiratorial thinking from the preRevolutionary War period to the 20th century, examining anti-Catholic, anti-Semitic, anti-Labor, anti-Black, anti- (and pro-) slavery conspiracy theories, among others. Turning to the present day, he examines the rise of QAnon and wild theories about the origins of Covid-19. Characterizing conspiracy theories as a secularized version of religion, Dickey argues they must be resisted as part of the struggle for a free and fair democracy. Its a vivid and gripping recontextualization of a misunderstood aspect of American history.

When Richard Hofstadter first coined the term the paranoid style of American politics in 1964, he saw the problem as belonging mostly to the fringe of America: he was writing in the wake of the failed Barry Goldwater presidential campaignwhich benefited from the rise of the John Birch Society, a conspiracy-minded fringe groupand he saw Lyndon Johnsons defeat of Goldwater as proof that a sensible, rational, centrism was sufficient to beat back the paranoid weirdos that occasionally erupted into the American consciousness. What the last few years have taught us, unfortunately, is that conspiratorial thinking runs much deeper and wider through our culture, and it takes more than just wishful thinking to defeat.

There are a lot of books that attempt to understand the lure of conspiracy theories and their effect on our lives. The books below are the ones that Ive found particularly insightful and have returned to again and again. They do more than just report on where were at or recount some historical incident; each offers crucial insight as to the mechanism that drives the conspiratorial mind. As such, Ive found them to be crucial tools in our arsenal to push back against the paranoia and disinformation thats gripping our country.

1. The Paranoid Style in American Politics and Other Essays by Richard Hofstadter Much of Under the Eye of Power is a reaction and a response to Hofstadters now-classic essay from 1964, in which he argues (among other things) that America is governed by a sensible, rational middle that keeps the fringe conspiracists on the left and the right at bay. While I dont agree with Hofstadters assessments, I nonetheless think his book remains a crucial attempt to understand how conspiratorial thinking seeps into the American consciousness.

2. A Warrant for Genocide: The Myth of Jewish-World Conspiracy and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion by Norman Cohn In this short but comprehensive and illuminating study, Cohn (one of my favorite historians) offers a biography of the most notorious book ever written: The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Cohn not only traces its strange origins as a forgery (a plagiarized adaptation of a French satire, rewritten most likely by the Russian secret police) and its dissemination around the world (spread by powerful figures that included Henry Ford), he also makes sense of the book as a literary documenthow its structured, how it uses rhetorical tricks and tactics to spread its insidious message, and why it has stubbornly endured for over a century.

3. I Heard It Through the Grapevine: Rumor in African-American Culture by Patricia A. Turner Too often, I think, we assume that conspiracy theories and paranoia come from the rightand today, largely older, white conservative audiences who are perhaps afraid of losing power and social status. But Turner looks at how conspiracy theories can be used by those in Black communities as a means of making sense of systemic oppression and disenfranchisement.

4. A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America by Michael Barkun Written in 2001 and revised in 2013, Barkuns analysis still feels fresh despite everything thats happened since. When Barkun was writing around the turn of the millennium, apocalyptic fervor had gripped both the extremist fringe and the mainstream population; Barkun saw how this yearning for some kind of End Times was sliding into conspiracy theory and paranoia and offered a roadmap for understanding our current paranoid moment.

5. UFOs, Conspiracy Theories and the New Age: Millennial Conspiracism by David Robertson Another scholarly volume that is nonetheless very readable and utterly compelling, this outing from Robertson introduces the term epistemic capital to help make sense of conspiracy theorists: there are the elites, with all the power and the money, and then there are the sheeple, the duped suckers. Conspiracy theorists, Robertson argues, develop a shadow kind of capital to confront the elites actual power: epistemic capital, based on their knowledge of whats truly going on. Its all nonsense, of course, but it powers industries and keeps the disinformation firehose going, and Robertson does a great job of showing how it works.

6. The Resonance of Unseen Things: Poetics, Power, Captivity, and UFOs in the American Uncanny by Susan Lepselter Lepselter blends the genres of academic monograph and memoir in ways that make for a fascinating read. She spends time out in the desert near Area 51, hanging out with believers looking for aliens and trying to understand their deeper motivations, in the process tracing the metaphors and stories that conservative Americans tell themselves to make sense of a changing world. Literary in style and beautifully written, its not like any other book youve read, and definitely one Ive returned to again and again.

7. We Believe the Children: A Moral Panic in the 1980s by Richard Beck Becks survey of the Satanic Ritual Abuse panic of the 1980s is as riveting as it is disturbing. How did a country become convinced that Satanists were hiding in every daycare and suburban home, subjecting children to bizarre esoteric blood sacrifices? How were so many parents and childcare workers sentenced to dozensin some cases, hundredsof years in prison on the testimony of coerced children without any physical evidence? How did something that seems straight out of Puritan New England in the 17th century take place in an era many of us lived throughand how did it get almost immediately forgotten after it burned out?

8. Republic of Lies: American Conspiracy Theorists and Their Surprising Rise to Power by Anna Merlan Merlan has been on the front lines of fringe and extremist culture as a reporter for Vice, chronicling the dark underbelly of American thoughtone that has, in recent years, unfortunately come to light. Her writing is always insightful and prescient, and this book from 2019 offers readers deep insight into whats been happening to this country in the last decade.

9. Awful Archives: Conspiracy Theory, Rhetoric, and Acts of Evidence by Jenny Rice Rices work is concerned with the question of documentary and archival evidence, what makes a thing true, and how that proof moves through the world. The result is a scholarly yet eminently accessible study that strives to make sense of how archival and documentary evidence creates our shared understanding of history.
Waterloo Central Railway in Ontario, Canada, has announced that it is to buy steam locomotive No. 1238. The loco is a former Canadian Pacific Railway G5c class 4-6-2 Pacific type.

The locomotive was built by the Montreal Locomotive Works in 1946, and hauled passenger and then freight trains in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario.

In December 1964, it was bought by steam locomotive historian George M. Hart and moved to York, Pennsylvania, where it returned to service in 1966 hauling excursion trains.

It will return to Canada in good condition but does need some restoration work in order to be ready for service, at which time it will be the second largest operating steam locomotive in the country.

The Railway needs to raise $150,000 by 25 December this year in order to complete the purchase and to start the restoration work.

You can click here to find out how to donate.

Since 2007, Waterloo Central Railway has been operated by the Southern Ontario Locomotive Restoration Society (SOLRS), a not-for-profit, registered charitable organisation.
This week, we discuss the invisible damage from the Maui wildfires; improving the safety of Americas AI industry; what makes teachers of color feel a sense of belonging; Ukraines civilian resistance; how to increase housing affordability in New York City; and the situation of ISIS prisoners in Syria.

The Invisible Damage from Maui's Fires The wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui have killed at least 110 people. This loss of life is undoubtedly the fires most tragic outcome, but with thousands of buildings in the town of Lahaina damaged or destroyed, the rebuilding effortestimated to cost more than $5 billionlooms large. According to RAND's Isaac Opper, the full economic cost of rebuilding will likely be far higher. That's because, in addition to decimating buildings and other infrastructure, disasters also destroy human capital, the collective knowledge and skills that drive individual economic earnings, as well as regional economic growth. The primary way that disasters affect human capital is by disrupting education. Recent research led by Opper shows that school closures and stress and trauma among students lead to prolonged negative impacts: Test scores and college attendance rates drop in the year after a disaster strikes, and there is no evidence they ever rebound. Thus, natural disasters can end up being economic shocksakin to automation or international trade competition. Theres no easy remedy for recovering significant amounts of lost education, Opper says. But as our analysis points out, failing to address these more hidden damages is incredibly costly.

Photo by Vertigo3d/Getty Images To Regulate AI, Start with the Supply Chain Earlier this year, an artificial intelligence model developed by Meta (which was not intended to be publicly accessible) was leaked online. Fortunately, Meta's model is relatively harmless. But as RAND president and CEO Jason Matheny writes in the Washington Post, the next AI model that is compromised may not be so benign. Thats why it's time to establish a system of oversight that focuses on the three parts of the AI supply chain: hardware, training, and deployment.

Photo by kali9/Getty Images We Asked Teachers of Color What Makes Them Feel a Sense of Belonging A racially and ethnically diverse teaching workforce supports the development of all students and is particularly critical for students of color. One key to building and retaining such a workforce is to cultivate a sense of belonging among teachers of color. New RAND survey results highlight ways schools can achieve this: consider student and staff demographics in schoolwide planning, establish groups that support teacher diversity, and foster strong relationships among teachers.

Photo by Serhii Hudak/Reuters How Ukrainian Civilians Are Resisting Russia Ukraine's civilian resistance began within hours of Russia launching its invasion in February 2022. These efforts continue today, supporting Ukraine's goals of regaining territory and maintaining political sovereignty. A new RAND report assesses Ukrainians' resistance activities during the first four months of the conflict. Civilian tactics ranged from blocking Russian forces in the streets, to delivering humanitarian aid, to carrying out cyber operations against Russian targets. Our findings provide a glimpse into what future civilian contributions to wars might look like.

Photo by Richard B. Levine/Sipa USA/Reuters Supporting Housing Affordability in New York City New York City's housing crisis has reached unprecedented levels. The root cause: housing production has not kept pace with growing demand to live in America's largest metropolis. A new RAND study examines six proposals that aim to address this problem by boosting residential housing construction. These strategies are not a panacea but, if fully enacted, they could lead to roughly 300,000 additional new housing units over a decade. This would improve both short- and long-term housing affordability for New Yorkers.
For Release Wednesday

August 16, 2023

Six policies aimed boosting residential housing construction in New York City could spark the production of roughly 300,000 additional new housing units over a decade, according to a new RAND Corporation report.

The additional housing units would represent more than a 160 percent increase over recent annual housing production levels in the city, according to the report.

Researchers say the surge in housing supply likely would lead to increased affordability through greater competition among landlords for tenants in the short term and an increase in naturally occurring affordable housing over the longer term.

Recent housing policy in New York City primarily has focused on price controls and direct public financing of affordable housing production, said Jason Ward, lead author of the study and an economist at RAND, a nonprofit research organization. But without significant increases in housing production, these approaches are unlikely to lead to broad increases in affordability in the city.

The key contribution of the RAND report is that it provides estimates of the potential level of additional housing production that could result from adoption of the most-promising proposals the researchers identified from a large set of policy options that have been proposed by local policymakers and experts in recent years.

The policies include increasing allowable building density in strategic areas, streamlining building approval processes, reforming liability rules for construction sites, and incentives to encourage conversion of office buildings to residential uses.

Researchers also emphasize that the estimated housing gains from these policies hinge critically on the creation of a replacement for the now-expired 421-a tax relief program for multifamily housing construction.

The biggest gains among the strategies analyzed would be to relax density restrictions in areas within walking distance of subway and rail stops. Such a move would generate an additional 122,000 housing units in New York over a decade, according to the analysis.

New York City's persistent crisis of housing affordability has reached unprecedented levels. As of 2021, a majority of renters in New York City spend more than 30 percent of their incomes on housing and the overall ratio of median rent to median household income in the city is the second-highest among the nation's largest cities.

Housing production in New York has not kept pace with the growing demand to live in the city. From 2010 to 2020, the city's population increased by about 630,000 residents, while its housing stock increased by 200,000 units. Over the same period, New York City gained nearly 1 million new jobs, far outpacing population and housing growth within the city.

While increased housing production alone may not be sufficient to reach affordability goals, it is clear that the failure to achieve a significant, sustained increase in housing production will limit any path toward meaningful housing affordability in New York, Ward said.

RAND researchers identified the most-promising strategies to boost multifamily housing construction from among a large set of proposals put forth by government and nongovernmental organizations. They also had discussions with local affordable housing developers, city and state government officials, academic researchers, practitioners in land use and property tax law, and regional and state planning organizations.

In some cases, the policies highlighted in the report were taken verbatim from preexisting proposals such as the city's recently released Building and Land Use Task Force (BLAST) report. In other cases, a broader policy idea was adapted into a more-specific proposal.

The central point we hope that policymakers and the public will take away from the report is that housing production is a critical part of any solution to housing affordabilityin New York and elsewhereand that there are many ways to increase housing production, Ward said.

Support for the research was provided by the Robin Hood Foundation, a charitable organization that fights poverty in New York City.

Other authors of the report are George Zuo and Yael Katz.

The RAND Social and Economic Well-Being division seeks to actively improve the health, and social and economic well-being of populations and communities throughout the world.
Hannah Godwin / Instagram

By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 08/18/2023



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Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.

alum Dylan Barbour has proposed marriage again to his future bride, Hannah Godwin , and the couple has finally revealed their wedding location.Hannah took to Instagram on Tuesday, August 15 and posted a photo of Dylan down on one knee on a beachside cliff, presenting her with an engagement-ring box."Although our first engagement was and still is SO special to us, over the past 4 years we've talked about having a special little moment just for us in the real world, and @dylanbarbour surprised me and made it happen last week," Hannah captioned the sweet photo, which she tagged Dylan in.Hannah then hinted that she and Dylan were off to begin their nuptials, which will take place in a matter of days."Now off to our wedding location today to tie the knot!!!" Hannah added in the couple's post.Hannah proceeded to share a cute video of Dylan fast asleep in bed while she had "the zoomies" because she was so anxious and excited about getting on their flight.One day later, Hannah uploaded a picture of Dylan and herself kissing in front of the Eiffel Tower."Best week ahead!!" Hannah wrote, showing that their August wedding will take place in Paris.The couple, who got engaged on the show's finale in 2019, had kept their wedding location very hush-hush while planning."We might end up sharing it. I don't want to make it this big, weird secretive thing," Hannah explained to Caelynn Miller-Keyes Dean Unglert , and Jared Haibon on their "Help! We Suck at Being Newlyweds" podcast earlier this year."I think it's just more for us. I kind of like that, for once, we're not just sharing everything, especially with social media now, I just share everything,"The model and social-media influencer added, "I mean, we got engaged on television! So this is kind of for us, and it's kind of fun. Who knows, it might just come out one day."Hannah previously revealed the wedding is going to be comprised of 100-150 guests and she's going to wear two dresses on her big day. She celebrated her bachelorette party in Las Vegas, while Dylan and his friends went to Miami.When it comes to their wedding priorities, Dylan said in February he wanted "good cocktails" -- including Espresso martinis and tequila -- cigars and "good music," not old wedding classics like "The Cha Cha Slide" or "Shout!""I want it to be very elegant, classic, and timeless, nothing trendy," Dylan explained.And Hannah said she wanted the whole event to be "fun" while she stays present and "in the moment." She hoped to blend in, hang out with loved ones, and not feel like "the host" of a party.The pair -- who said they pictured the event being a formal black-tie affair -- also didn't care about having an expensive wedding cake, and they were considering reading their own wedding vows to each other.For several years, Hannah and Dylan were in no rush to get married after their engagement.In fact, the pair revealed last year that they had decided to postpone their wedding in order to cut back on spending since they had just bought a new home together in San Diego in late 2021.Hannah and Dylan have also been traveling the world together in recent years.Hannah and Dylan initially decided on an early 2020 wedding, but their planning got derailed due to the global outbreak of coronavirus."[The date has been] pushed back a bit. We've been eyeing 2023 so we'll see how it goes," Hannah told Us Weekly in September 2021.Dylan said at the time he and Hannah hoped to wed in Spring 2023 because they don't want to exchange vows in the winter, and Hannah shared how they had already hired a wedding planner and anticipated tying the knot in California since the West Coast has captured their hearts."We're loving being engaged," Hannah gushed to the magazine in 2021. "We are excited to, like, start the next chapter whenever that is though. We are getting eager for it."But Hannah and the Vizer app co-founder confirmed early into the wedding planning they didn't want to get married on television for ABC cameras and viewers."For our wedding, we'd just want it to be personal, like, as close-knit as we possibly can. We want to just keep it personal and small," Hannah explained.Prior to meeting on , Hannah competed for Colton Underwood 's heart on The Bachelor's 23rd season and Dylan appeared on The Bachelorette's fifteenth season.During 's sixth season, Dylan called Hannah the love of his life and said he had no doubts in his mind that she was his person.Dylan basically fell in love with Hannah during the first week of Paradise, but Hannah was a little terrified of investing her heart so quickly into a man following her breakup with Colton.Dylan, however, never gave up on their potential, even when Blake Horstmann was trying to charm Hannah and steal her away.After Hannah worked through "a few obstacles" inside of herself, she and Dylan got engaged on the beach in Mexico.During the reunion portion of 's sixth season, Dylan said popping the question to Hannah was "the best decision" he had ever made."We talk all the time, like, 'How did this all work out for us?' But for some reason, it did. He's my person and I have a different kind of love for him that I knew existed, and that's really special," Hannah shared in Summer 2019.After the show, Hannah moved from Birmingham, AL, to California in order to be closer to Dylan and his job. Click here to read spoilers about Charity's The Bachelorette season and who Charity picked as her winner Interested in more The Bachelor news? Follow our Bachelor Nation News Page on Facebook or join our The Bachelor Facebook Group
Porterville, CA (93257)

Today

Rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers overnight. Low 67F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Localized flooding is possible..

Tonight

Rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers overnight. Low 67F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Localized flooding is possible.
In an effort improve trade relationships, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers will travel to Europe next month to showcase Wisconsins economy.

Evers, Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. Secretary Missy Hughes and representatives of 10 Wisconsin companies plan to meet with officials in Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands to showcase the states expertise in advanced manufacturing, biotech, food manufacturing, energy, and water technology industries, the governors office announced Thursday.

This trade mission will underscore Wisconsins manufacturing, health, scientific, and food processing industries in a region where consumers with 60 percent of the European Unions purchasing power live within 300 miles, Evers said in a statement.

Hughes said the countries are home to two of Europes largest ports and are considered a gateway for Wisconsin entrepreneurs looking to export to Europe.

Wisconsin already has valuable partnerships with companies in the region, and this mission will allow us to solidify those relationships and build new ones, Hughes said.

The governors office did not provide specific dates for the planned trip, but said it will take place in September.

The Netherlands is the second-largest exporter of food in the world, behind the U.S. The U.S., meanwhile, is the sixth-largest agricultural supplier to the Netherlands, according to the governors office.

The states two-year spending plan, signed by Evers this summer, includes $2 million in state funds for the Wisconsin Agricultural Export Promotion Program, which supports increased export of agricultural products such as dairy, meat, crops and other commodities.

Agriculture is a $100 billion-plus industry in Wisconsin. In 2020, the state exported $3.37 billion worth of food, forestry and other agricultural products.
Following its successful debut in 2022, Classic City Jam is heading back to Paloma Park for another unforgettable evening of music, food and c
Cognizant Technology Solutions has restructured its global growth markets (GGM) by appointing two internal leaders who will now share the responsibility.

Photograph: Chris Helgren/Reuters

The move follows the exit of former GGM leader Rob Walker last month and is among the slew of leadership changes the company has seen in the recent past.

GGM refers to the companys emerging markets outside of North America.

North America is Cognizants largest market that contributed 74.3 per cent to the total revenues of $19.4 billion for the year ended December 31, 2022.

For Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), North America contributed 53.4 per cent to the total revenues as of FY23, while for Infosys, North America contributed 61.8 per cent to the total revenues as of FY23.

More than half of our companys market opportunity lies outside of the Americas, and our global growth markets focus on improving our strategic position with clients and capturing more of this opportunity are key to accelerating Cognizants revenue growth  one of our companys top priorities, Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar S said in an internal note to employees.

The two internal leaders, Manoj Mehta and Jane Livesey, will lead the two GGM units and join the executive committee, reporting directly to the CEO.

Mehta has been named head of Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA), representing its commercial and delivery interests in Northern, Central, and Southern Europe; Middle-East; Africa, the UK and Ireland.

Livesey previously ran Cognizants ANZ region and joined the company in August 2020 from PwC, where she led their Australian Technology Consulting practice.

Mehta has been with Cognizant for 18 years in various leadership roles such as leading its global large deals team, global head of Industry 4.0 & Industrial Internet of Things, interim head of GGM and commercial leadership roles in Continental Europe and Benelux.

Livesey was named head of Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ), representing the commercial and delivery interests in Australia, New Zealand, ASEAN, Greater China, India, and Japan.

Prior to PwC, she was at Accenture for 12 years in various Asia Pacific leadership roles.

We are fortunate to have an exceptionally strong team of experienced regional leaders across GGM, and Jane and Manoj have my full confidence and support.

"They will continue to pursue Cognizants growth strategy  strategic growth accounts, acquisitions, large deals, brand success  but will imprint the unique regional nuance onto that strategy in each of their regions to better help accelerate revenue growth, Kumar said.

Our EMEA and APJ teams will continue to receive support from a shared GGM Office, corporate functions, service lines, strategy, growth, and industry leads structure.

"Manoj and Jane will engage with these teams in the near future to set the path forward, he added.
'The situation in Nuh could have easily returned to normalcy if the trader class wished so but they didn't.'

IMAGE: A pharmacy outside the Shaheed Hasan Khan Mewati Government Medical College which was bulldozed by the local administration. Photograph: Adv Shazia Sameen/APCR

Saif ul Islam, one of the advocate-members of the Association for Protection of Civil Rights, who visited the riot-affected areas of Mewat for two-and-a-half days, tells Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com about what he and other members of the APCR team discovered in the region which saw communal violence for the first time in many years at the end of the 84 Kos Parikrama Yatra which began July 4 with the onset of the month of Shravan in north India.

APCR, established in 2006, works for the protection of human rights of the deprived sections of society and include members who are advocates, journalists and social and human rights activists.

According to locals in Nuh, both Hindus and Muslims, it is the migrant traders in Nuh who are creating the problem. The (Hindu) Jats and Gujjars of Nuh would never engage into a fight with the Muslims in this region because of the economic relationships forged together for centuries between the communities.

The Gujjar women, whose main occupation is cutting grass from the mountains, sell it to the Muslims who need the grass to feed their cattle. This is just one example of economic dependence shared between Muslims, Jats and Gujjars in this belt.

The traders have become very influential in this belt so much so that even when the police announce relaxation of curfew for two hours, the trading community ensure that none of them opened their shutters, thereby making it almost impossible for other establishments and shops in Nuh's main market near the bus stand to do so for the fear of reprisals from the traders who dominate the markets.

Since the traders didn't open their shops, the OBCs who have shops didn't dare to do so; the Muslim shop owners have no choice in such a scenario but to shutter down. This has created an environment of fear, insecurity and tension.

This trading community, which is financially very sound, which also earns interest money as lenders, having as many as 100 shops know they will not feel any financial pinch even if they keep their shops shut for a fortnight or more.

The situation will never return to normal unless the traders here open their shops.

The local administration is trying to bring normalcy back, but without the traders opening their shops nobody is daring to go out against them. The Gujjars and Jats, who I met and own establishments in this market, told me this.

The Gujjars and Jats in Haryana may vote for the BJP, but they are not inherently communal given their shared economic and social relationships with the Muslims in this belt. I have been working in the field in this area since last three years but never did they betray any communal feelings.

Everybody wants to open their shops in the Nuh market, but can't dare act against the wishes of the trading community there.

Many of these people are daily wage earners who earn anywhere between Rs 200 and Rs 300 and are the worst sufferers of this communal violence.

What Nuh's Common People Say

IMAGE: The Shaheed Hasan Khan Mewati Government Medical College in Nalhar, Nuh. Photograph: Adv Saif ul Islam/APCR

The Hindus say that the Muslims in Nuh were angry over the murders of Junaid and Nasir. The common Muslims fear that they will be harassed and hounded if they go out to open their shops. Because of this fear the poor people of Nuh, the workers and labourers, are struggling to make ends meet.

Many of the construction workers from Nuh who work in the construction sector in Gurgaon and other urban centres nearby are finding it difficult to earn daily wages. The construction sites have been closed for almost a week now and these workers have now lost as many as Rs 2,000 worth of wages during this period.

Mewat never saw Hindu-Muslim clashes. That (though the riots took place this time in 2023 the relationship between Nuh's Hindus and Muslims) has still not changed.

The locals strongly feel that the BJP is using the trader class in Nuh to sow communal discord between Muslims and Hindus in the Mewat region. This is also being witnessed in Palwal and Firozpur Jhirka, adjoining Nuh.

The situation in Nuh could have easily returned to normalcy if the trader class wished so, but they didn't.

Kindly Note: All photographs were shot only after taking consent of the people seen in the photographs.
'She showed courage at every turn in her political career.'

IMAGE: 'The fascination for Indira Gandhi continues because from a gungi gudia she became a powerful leader who got the better of her opponents -- internally and externally,' explains Neerja Chowdhury. Photograph: Rediff Archives

Neerja Chowdhury, the veteran political journalist, has just published How Prime Ministers Decide, revealing how major decisions that affected India were taken by six prime ministers -- Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, V P Singh, P V Narasimha Rao, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Dr Manmohan Singh.

Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com asked Neerja Chowdhury about her assessmennt of each prime minister and their impact on the Republic.

The first of a two-part interview:

Indira Gandhi: The good decisions

As I travel today and meet younger people I ask them who is their favourite prime minister (amongst the ones I have written about). And I find the choice of young women in particular is Indira Gandhi -- even four decades after she died.

IMAGE: Then prime minister Indira Gandhi with Dr Homi Sethna, right, then chairman, Atomic Energy Commission, and K C Pant, then minister of state for defence, left, at the site of India's first nuclear explosion in Pokharan, Rajasthan, May 1974.

I was recently at a village in Satara, Maharashtra, and asked around a dozen 16-17 year old girls the same question. Without a moment's hesitation, they all said in one voice, Indira Gandhi.

The fascination for Indira Gandhi continues because from a 'gungi gudia' she became a powerful leader who got the better of her opponents -- internally and externally.

She went in for the Green Revolution to make India self-reliant in food, she helped to create Bangladesh by weakening Pakistan, and changing subcontinental realties.

She showed courage at every turn in her political career.

When the old guard within the Congress thought she would be pliant in their hands, she turned the tables on them and became the claimant of the real Congress -- and a mass leader.

Indira Gandhi set the benchmark for a strong leader not only in India, but also outside the country.

Indira Gandhi: The bad decisions

The bad thing about Indira Gandhi was how she scuttled democratic rights. During the Emergency, she suspended fundamental rights, imposed press censorship, and imprisoned Opposition leaders.

During 1977-1980. she used every trick in the book, going to any extent to return to power.

She crossed the Lakshman Rekhas, which her father Jawaharlal Nehru had not done.

She once told a politician from Uttar Pradesh, 'Mera baap sant tha, main nahin hoon (my father was a saint, not me).'

How she got back to power in 1980, having been routed in 1977, using saam daam dand bhed, is also a fascinating story of another side of Indira Gandhi which I have explored in the book.

And how her younger son Sanjay Gandhi, who was responsible for her defeat in 1977, became her crutch for her return to power.

An aide of Janata Party leader George Fernandes had admitted that Sanjay had a 'Machiavellian mind', which no one on the Janata side could match.

Rajiv Gandhi: The good decisions

Rajiv Gandhi burst on the political scene as a young, forward-looking leader in 1984.

When he became the prime minister, the mood in the country underwent a change from the gloom after his mother's assassination and the anti-Sikh riots that followed it, to hope.

He immediately started tackling the problems that had for long beset the country -- and dogged his mother's steps.

He signed the Punjab Accord (to end militancy), then the Assam Accord, followed by an accord in Mizoram.

Rajiv wanted to take India into the 21st century.

IMAGE: Then President Giani Zail Singh administers the oath of office of prime minister to Rajiv Gandhi, October 31, 1984. Photograph: Rediff Archives

He lowered the age of voting to 18.

He enacted an anti-defection law to stop the practice of 'aaya rams and gaya rams' that plagued Indian politics.

He started the process of empowering Panchayati Raj institutions, though the bills were passed during P V Narasimha Rao's time.

And he set up six technology missions, setting in motion a communication revolution.

Not many people know that even as Rajiv talked of nuclear disarmament, he had given instructions to move towards weaponisation as early as 1985 -- and not in 1989, when he gave the final go-ahead.

When Rajiv visited the United State in 1985 and met (then US president) Ronald Reagan, he was told by Reagan that Pakistan already had a nuclear bomb. When Rajiv started to talk about disarmament, Reagan told Rajiv, 'Don't talk theory, think of your own protection.'

MUST READ! Why Rajiv Gandhi decided on nuclear weapons

Rajiv Gandhi: The bad decisions

Rajiv was politically naive, and inexperienced. He could not understand the hold caste and community had on the Indian psyche.

The way he handled the Shah Bano judgment -- giving alimony to an old, divorced Muslim woman -- finally led to the undoing of the massive mandate he had got in 1984, and he came down from 414 (Lok Sabha ) seats to 197 in 1989.

He nullified the Supreme Court judgment on Shah Bano by bringing a law in Parliament -- the Muslim Women's Bill, under pressure of the Muslim community. By doing so he sent a message that you could undo a court judgment by a law under public pressure. It was then that the word 'appeasement' gained currency in Indian politics.

'Appeasement' is one of the three issue that Prime Minister Narendra D Modi has recently flagged -- along with 'corruption' and 'family rule' -- and it is clear that the BJP intends to use these as its election themes in 2024. The PM spoke about it during the recent no confidence motion against his government, and also from the ramparts of Red Fort on Independence Day.

After the Shah Bano case, Arun Nehru sold the idea to Rajiv Gandhi that to balance what he had done for the Muslims, he should do something to placate an agitated Hindu community -- and this was behind the opening of the locks (for direct darshan of Lord Ram) at the disputed Babri Masjid-Ram Janambhomi structure in February 1986. But Rajiv Gandhi fell between two stools and won neither community,

Rajiv Gandhi's twin decisions gave an impetus to the BJP -- and led to the rise and rise of the party in the years that followed with the BJP making the construction of a Ram temple its main plank.

V P Singh: The good decisions

V P Singh brought in the Mandal Commission's recommendations to give job reservations to the OBCs -- and there are two views on this most controversial decision of Singh's political career.

Mandal, I feel, was waiting to happen, given the rise of the OBCs from the mid-sixties onwards.

It was Morarji Desai's government which appointed the Mandal Commission. Indira Gandhi put it on the backburner after she got re-elected in 1980.

V P Singh adopted the Mandal Commission's recommendations to save his beleaguered government. Devi Lal, his deputy prime minister, was on the warpath against V P Singh and would have demanded the implementation of the Mandal Commission.

The biggest contribution of V P Singh was the empowerment of Other Backward Classes, and it spawned OBC leaders who ruled their states for over a quarter of a century after that -- Mulayam Singh Yadav, Laloo Yadav, Nitish Kumar, Uma Bharti, Shivraj Chouhan, Ashok Gehlot, and many more.

Today we have an OBC prime minister.

IMAGE: Vishwanath Pratap Singh, prime minister from December 1989 to December 1990. Photograph: PTI Photo/Rediff Archives

Affirmative action in favour of the OBCs is a reality which no prime minister after V P Singh could reverse.

As power moved downwards, you have the Most Backward Castes amongst the OBCs, the MahaDalits amongst the Dalits, the Pasmanda Muslims among the Muslims demanding their share of the pie today.

The communities that were on the periphery of the power structure (before Mandal Commission), are not satisfied withtokenism in politics. They want their share in the power structure and fruits of economic progress.

Another change V P Singh brought and he used to consider this as one of his achievements -- was to bring the regional parties to the national stage, and they became part of the national government.

And thirdly, he created a national alternative to the then dominant Congress party, which no other leader who had quit the Congress (like Mamata Banerjee, Sharad Pawar or Jagan Reddy) had been able to do.

V P Singh: The bad decisions

V P Singh dealt a body blow to the Congress from which India's grand old party has not been able to recover.

The same Mandal decision which empowered the OBCs degenerated into casteism, not social justice it was intended to bring about.

People have become very conscious about their caste and everything has become caste-based, which all political parties have to take note of it.
'Notwithstanding the seriousness of the allegations made, every accused had a right to a speedy trial and the court had to take into account long periods of incarceration without trial as an additional consideration for grant of bail.'

A Supreme Court Bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Sudanshu Dhulia last month granted bail to Bhima Koregaon accused Vernon Gonsalves, five years after he was arrested under the anti-terrorist legislation UAPA.

The judgment may well pave the way for the release of his co-accused, as well as many undertrials languishing in jail under UAPA, a law which makes bail almost impossible.

Senior advocate Rebecca John, who argued the case, tells Jyoti Punwani how she approached this challenging case.

The concluding segment of two-part interview:

Part 1 of the Interview: 'How can lynching defined as murder be punishable by seven years?'

Congratulations for the judgment. Did you anticipate such an order?

When I looked at the case file, I was confident that the case was arguable on law and facts and the case of the prosecution appeared to be bogus. We put forward our case and the Supreme Court concurred with most of our arguments. I don't anticipate any orders, but I just give my best to the case.

Did the history of this case in all courts, from the Supreme Court majority judgment in the Romila Thapar case (which turned down a plea for an independent investigation), to the rejection of bail at various levels, make you apprehensive?

Also the hype around the accused being labelled as 'terrorists' and 'Urban Naxals'.

As a lawyer I look at the evidence and whether it is enough to sustain the charge. When I was briefed, I could see there was no sustainable evidence that could justify further incarceration. I really wasn't concerned about the hype around the case.

Notwithstanding the hype and the history around the case, it was evident that if a court was willing to listen, it could be established that there was no evidence justifying refusal of bail.

IMAGE: Activists Vernon Gonsalves, left, and Arun Ferreira, accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, walk out of jail in Navi Mumbai.

So you went strictly by the evidence?

The arguments were very robust, and framed both in law and fact. As far as the law was concerned, UAPA placed restrictions on the power of the court to grant bail.

The Supreme Court's earlier judgment in NIA v Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali, while interpreting section 43D(5) of the UAPA had made it very difficult for undertrial prisoners to get bail under the UAPA. We had to get past the judgment in Watali.

This required work and research. We placed reliance on similar provisions relating to bail in the earlier anti-terror laws, including TADA as also the judgments of the Supreme Court pronounced in connection with those statutes, and argued that the graver the offence, greater should be the care taken to see that the offense would fall within the four corners of the Act.

The UAPA says that the evidence produced by the prosecution if found to be prima facie true, would lead to refusal of bail. The judgment in Watali interpreted this to mean that once the prosecution produced evidence, whatever its quality, the court had no power to examine its probative value.

We demonstrated that the court's power to examine the probative value of the evidence produced was never intended to be taken away, and the Supreme Court agreeing with our submissions, held that regardless of the restrictions placed in the Act ,at least surface level examination of the probative value of the evidence had to be conducted by the Court.

In fact, the Supreme Court upon a probative examination of the evidence in Vernon's case, held that it failed the prima facie test and there was nothing to justify the further incarceration of the petitioner.

IMAGE: Anand Teltumbde, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, following his release from prison. Photograph: PTI Photo from the Rediff Archives

The two accused were lodged in Taloja jail.

Did the Bombay high court order granting bail to Anand Teltumde help?

Yes. The Bombay high court judgment, which was upheld by the Supreme Court, was relied upon by us while arguing the present case. There had been an examination of the probative value of the evidence presented by the prosecution, and that led to the court saying there was no prima facie case against Anand Teltumbde.

Will the Vernon judgment, which is being regarded as precedent-setting case law, help other UAPA detenues like Umar Khalid, for example?

The judgment of the Supreme Court has far reaching consequences in the manner in which these restrictive provisions are to be examined.

The Supreme Court has reiterated fundamental principles of bail and has held that regardless of statutory restrictions, the powers of Constitutional courts are not limited.

Also, notwithstanding the seriousness of the allegations made, every accused had a right to a speedy trial and the court had to take into account long periods of incarceration without trial as an additional consideration for grant of bail.

However, every case has to be viewed in the facts and circumstances of that case.

Not just Umar Khalid

The bail hearing in all these cases need to be fast tracked, keeping in mind some of the fundamental principles laid down by the Supreme Court in Vernon's case.

IMAGE: Senior Advocate Rebecca John. Photograph: Kind courtesy Rebecca John

Well, we need to thank you for getting this judgment.

It was a long journey. We were in court for one-and-a-half years. The case saw many twists and turns. At one stage it was sent back to the trial court to see if charges could be framed within three months.

The trial court said that it required at least a year to frame charges. The Supreme Court then decided to hear the case on merits, leading to the judgment being pronounced on July 28, 2023.

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
Nearly 12 per cent of sitting MPs of Rajya Sabha are billionaires with Andhra Pradesh and Telangana having the highest percentage of such parliamentarians, according to the Association for Democratic Reforms.

IMAGE: Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar asks the Opposition MPs to maintain decorum in the House during the Monsoon Session of Parliament, in New Delhi, August 10, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

The Association for Democratic Reforms and the National Election Watch have analysed and updated the criminal, financial and other background details of 225 out of 233 Rajya Sabha MPs.

In the current Rajya Sabha, one seat is vacant.

According to the report, 5 (45 per cent) out of 11 MPs from Andhra Pradesh, 3 (43 per cent) out of 7 MPs from Telangana, 3 (16 per cent) out of 19 MPs from Maharashtra, 1 (33 per cent) out of 3 MPs from Delhi, 2 (29 per cent) out of 7 MPs from Punjab, 1 (20 per cent) out of 5 MPs from Haryana and 2 (18 per cent) out of 11 MPs from Madhya Pradesh have declared assets worth more than Rs 100 crore.

The total assets of seven Members of Parliament analysed from Telangana is Rs 5,596 crore, that of 11 MPs from Andhra Pradesh is Rs 3,823 crore, and 30 MPs analysed from Uttar Pradesh have total assets worth Rs 1,941 crore.

Out of the 225 Rajya Sabha sitting MPs analysed, 75 (33 per cent) have declared criminal cases against themselves.

Also about 41 (18 per cent) Rajya Sabha sitting MPs have declared serious criminal cases and two members have declared cases related to murder (IPC section 302).

Four Rajya Sabha sitting MPs have declared cases related to crimes against women. Out of 4 MPs, one Rajya Sabha sitting MP -- Congress' K C Venugopal -- from Rajasthan has declared case related to rape (IPC section 376).

About 23 (27 per cent) out of 85 Rajya Sabha MPs from BJP, 12 (40 per cent) out of 30 MPs from Congress, 4 (31 per cent) out of 13 MPs from AITC, 5 (83 per cent) out of 6 MPs from RJD, 4 (80 per cent) out of 5 MPs from CPI(M), 3 (30 per cent) out of 10 MPs from AAP, 3 (33 per cent) out of 9 MPs from YSRCP, and 2 (67 per cent) out of 3 Rajya Sabha MPs from the NCP have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.
A United States court has denied the writ of habeas corpus filed by Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana, paving the way for US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to issue a certification for him to be extradited to India where he is sought for his involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

IMAGE: Tahawwur Rana. Photograph: ANI Photo

In a major victory for India's fight in bringing the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks to justice, a US court approved 62-year-old Rana's extradition to India in May.

In June this year, Rana, who is currently detained at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Los Angeles, filed a 'writ of habeas corpus' challenging the court order that acceded to the request of the US government that the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks accused be extradited to India.

"The court has denied Tahawwur Rana's petition for writ of habeas corpus by a separate order," Judge Dale S Fischer, United States District Judge, Central District of California, wrote in his order on August 10.

However, Rana has filed an appeal against the order and sought a stay on his extradition to India till the time his appeal in the Ninth Circuit Court is heard.

Rana faces charges for his role in the Mumbai attacks and is known to be associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.

Judge Fischer in his order said Rana has only made two basic arguments in the writ.

First, he claims that, pursuant to the treaty, he cannot be extradited because India plans to prosecute him for the same acts for which he was charged and acquitted in a United States court.

Second, he argues that the government has not established that there is probable cause to believe that Rana committed the Indian offences for which he is expected to stand trial, the judge said.

He denied both arguments of Rana.

'Given that, even if (David) Headley's testimony were the entire basis for the probable cause finding, it would be sufficient for the purposes of habeas review because it constitutes some competent evidence supporting the finding. For the reasons stated above, Rana's petition for a writ of habeas corpus is denied,' the judge wrote.

Following Judge Fischer's order, Patrick Blegen and John D Cline, Rana's two attorneys filed an appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from the Order entered on August 10, 2023, for denying his petition for writ of habeas corpus.

In a separate appeal, Blegen has filed a petition 'for a stay of extradition pending his appeal' to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from the court's order denying his petition for a writ of habeas corpus.

'As set forth in the accompanying memorandum, petitioner submits that a stay of extradition pending appeal is appropriate because he has made a strong showing that he is likely to succeed on the merits of his non-bis in idem claim; he will suffer irreparable harm if he is extradited, potentially including the death penalty; a stay pending appeal will not substantially injure the government; and the public interest favours a full review of Rana's non-bis claim before he is sent to a country that seeks to execute him,' Rana's attorney wrote on August 14.

In June, the Biden administration urged the court to deny the writ of habeas corpus filed by Rana.

"The United States respectfully requests that the court deny Rana's petition for a writ of habeas corpus," said E Martin Estrada, US attorney for the Central District of California, in his petition filed before the US District Court for the Central District of California.

India filed a complaint on June 10, 2020, seeking the provisional arrest of Rana with a view towards extradition. The Biden administration supported and approved his extradition to India.

Filing the writ of habeas corpus through his attorney, Rana challenged his extradition by the government of India.

Rana's extradition would violate the United States-India extradition treaty in two respects, his attorney argued.

First, Rana has been tried and acquitted in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois for charges based on the identical conduct for which India seeks to prosecute him.

He argued that extradition is, therefore, barred under Article 6(1) of the Treaty, which declares that 'extradition shall not be granted when the person sought has been convicted or acquitted in the Requested State for the offence for which extradition is requested'.

Second, the material submitted by the Government of India -- consisting principally of transcripts and exhibits from Rana's trial in the Northern District of Illinois -- fails to establish probable cause that he committed the offences for which India has charged him.

The Indian government's extradition request thus fails to satisfy Article 9.3(c) of the Treaty, the attorney said, adding the court should grant the writ of habeas corpus, deny extradition and order Rana's release.

However, the US government has said that Rana be extradited to India.

In his submission to the US Court on June 23, the US attorney argued that Rana's claims about the legitimacy of his business in Mumbai fall flat.

The evidence does not support Rana's assertion that the Mumbai office conducted legitimate business, but even if it did, the engagement of legitimate business activities does not preclude a finding that Rana's business also served as a cover for Headley's terrorism-related activities in Mumbai.

"Rana's claims about who funded the Mumbai office also do not relate to whether Rana lacked knowledge of and support for Headley's activities. Similarly, even if Rana hoped to continue business operations in Mumbai, the evidence reveals that neither Rana nor Headley renewed the business lease that expired approximately two weeks before the start of the Mumbai attacks," Estrada argued.

India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) is probing Rana's role in the 26/11 attacks carried out by terrorists of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group. The NIA has said that it is ready to initiate proceedings to bring him to India through diplomatic channels.

A total of 166 people, including six Americans, were killed in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in which 10 Pakistani terrorists laid a more than 60-hour siege, attacking and killing people at iconic and vital locations of Mumbai.
A journalist was shot dead by unidentified people in Araria district of Bihar early on Friday, police said.

Image only for representation. Photograph: ANI Photo

Vimal Kumar Yadav, 35, who worked for a Hindi daily, was killed at his residence in Premnagar village.

'The assailants knocked at the gates of Yadav's house around 5.30 am and opened fire as soon as he opened the gates,' the Bihar Police tweeted.

Yadav died on the spot, where the district police chief and the SHO of Raniganj, the police station concerned, rushed upon hearing the news.

"The body has been sent for post-mortem examination. An investigation is underway. Forensic experts and the dog squad have been called in. The deceased was said to be involved in an old dispute with a neighbour. All angles are being probed into," said Ashok Kumar Singh, the Superintendent of Police for Araria.

When journalists approached Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Patna with queries about the incident, he said, "I felt really sad and immediately asked officials concerned to look into the incident".

"The matter is being probed and the culprits will be brought to book," asserted the CM.

However, the opposition lashed out at the government and claimed the incident showed 'democracy is in danger in Bihar'.

"Criminals are roaming freely while innocent citizens, including journalists, and even police personnel are being killed in Bihar," alleged state Bharatiya Janata Party president Samrat Choudhary.

"What has happened in Araria is, indeed, tragic. But such incidents have become the norm since the ghamandia (arrogant) Mahagathbandhan led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav formed the government in the state," said the BJP leader whose party shared power in the stage till a year ago.

Former Lok Janshakti Party president Chirag Paswan, who has realigned with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, said, "Nitish Kumar and his allies keep shouting that democracy is under attack in Bihar. But they are unable to protect the fourth estate."

Referring to the killing of a police officer recently in Samastipur, Paswan said, "The common Bihari gave up all hopes from Nitish Kumar long back. But his government cannot protect even the police and the press."
Observing that it was dealing with a case which was an "exceptionally painful episode of our criminal justice system", the Supreme Court on Friday convicted former Lok Sabha MP from Bihar Prabhunath Singh in a 1995 double murder case, overturning the orders of the trial court and the Patna high court acquitting him.

IMAGE: The Supreme Court of India. Photograph: ANI Photo

It is rare, if not unprecedented, for the Supreme Court, which is the top-most appellate court in the country, to convict a person. It usually upholds or rejects the conviction of a person for an offence on appeal.

The apex court, while convicting Singh, a multiple-term former MP from Bihar's Maharajganj, observed there was not even an iota of doubt that Singh was instrumental in making all possible efforts to "wipe out" the evidence against him. It said the prosecution machinery, as also the presiding officer of the trial court, were used as a tool of his "highhandedness".

The case involved the killing of two people on the day of polling for assembly elections in Chhapra in Saran district in March 1995.

The top court observed the three main stakeholders in a criminal trial -- the investigating officer, the public prosecutor and the judiciary -- have "utterly failed" to discharge the duties and responsibilities cast upon them.

A bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul convicted Singh, also a former MLA, for the murders of Daroga Rai and Rajendra Rai and for attempting to kill a woman.

The bench, also comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Vikram Nath, noted that an FIR was registered on March 25, 1995, at Chhapra on the statement of Rajendra Rai, who said he along with eight-nine others of his village were returning after casting their votes when a car pull over.

It was alleged that Singh, who was then contesting the assembly elections as a candidate of the Bihar People's Party, was sitting in the car and enquired as to who they had voted for.

The FIR alleged when Rai answered that they had cast their votes in favour of another political party, Singh opened fire from his rifle and injured three people.

The offence of murder under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was added later as two out of the three injured, including Rajendra Rai, died during treatment.

"Everything was going as per the plan and wish of the main accused Prabhunath Singh, a political leader and a sitting member of Parliament at the relevant time as he had mustered full support of the administration and the investigating agency; he had influenced and won over almost all the witnesses of fact mentioned in the charge sheet (who were declared hostile)....," the bench said in its 143-page judgment.

The apex court noted that while relevant formal witnesses, including the investigating officer, were not produced in the trial by the prosecution, the public prosecutor was "supporting the defence" and the presiding officers were "completely insensitive towards their pious duty".

The court delivered its verdict on an appeal challenging the December 2021 judgement of the Patna high court which had dismissed a revision petition and confirmed the trial court order acquitting the accused in the case.

"In the case with which we are dealing, there is no iota of doubt that the accused-respondent no.2 (Singh) was instrumental in making all possible efforts to wipe out the evidence against him and the prosecution machinery as also the presiding officer of the trial court, if we may say so, was used as a tool of his highhandedness," the bench said.

"In the present case, the FIR, being a public document and a dying declaration of the informant, is the foundation of the entire prosecution case. However, in the present matter, we have to find out the 'evidence of those persons who can vouchsafe for the truth of the facts in issue, the bench said.

It said, "We have noticed that the three main stakeholders in a criminal trial, namely the investigating officer that is the part of the police of the state of Bihar, the public prosecutor, and the judiciary, have all utterly failed to keep up their respective duties and responsibilities cast upon them".

The bench said the trial court and the high court had miserably failed to notice the sensitivity and intricacies of the case and both the courts "completely shut their eyes" to the manner of the investigation, the prosecutor's role and the highhandedness of the accused, as also the conduct of the presiding officer of the trial court.

"Accused-respondent no.2 (Singh) is thus convicted under sections 302 and 307 IPC for the murders of Daroga Rai and Rajendra Rai and also for attempt to murder of injured Devi," the bench said.

It directed the secretary, department of home, Bihar and the director general of police of the state to ensure that Singh is taken into custody forthwith and produced before the apex court to be heard on the question of sentence.

"Let the matter be listed again on September 1, 2023. On the said date, accused Prabhunath Singh (respondent no. 2) be produced before this court in custody for the aforesaid purpose," it said.

The apex court did not disturb the acquittal of other accused in the case, saying their names were not reflected either in the dying declaration of Rajendra Rai or in the statement of his mother, who was a court witness.

Singh is currently lodged in Hazaribagh jail after his conviction in the murder of Janata Dal MLA Ashok Singh at the latter's residence in the high-security zone of the Bihar capital in 1995.
In a major development ahead of a scheduled meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Africa, armies of India and China are holding Major General-level talks at two locations including Daulat Beg Oldie and Chushul to resolve the ongoing standoff in Eastern Ladakh.

Image used for representational purpose only. Photograph: PTI Photo

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit South Africa's Johannesburg from August 22-24 to attend the 15th BRICS Summit at the invitation of South African President Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa.

Defence sources told ANI that the Indian side was represented at the talks at two locations by Trishul Division Commander Major General PK Mishra and Uniform Force Commander Major General Hariharan.

The talks are following up the outcome of the 19th round of Corps Commander-level talks held between the two sides on August 13-14 at the Chushul Moldo border meeting point.

The sources said the two sides are discussing the points about resolving the legacy issues including the resumption of patrolling in the Depsang plains and the issue of Chinese military presence at the CNN junction.

"The talks are being held to resolve the issues at Depsang plains and CNN Junction," defence sources said.

Sources said that if the talks make headway at the Major General level, the two sides might hold another round of Corps Commander-level talks to finalise the outcomes.

The talks, till the writing of this report, were still on and the two sides were discussing issues threadbare.

India and China have been in a stand-off situation for the last three years and relations at all levels have deteriorated due to the tensions on borders.

India and China have deployed over 50,000 troops in the Eastern Ladakh sector across the Line of Actual Control.

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval had held extensive talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and after that, only the 19th round of corps commander talks were held after a four-month gap.
For Dr. Nikunjkmar Patel, interventional cardiology isn't just a field of study. It's a way for him to help people, which is what drew him to medicine in the first place.

"I always wanted to do something that would allow me to help other people, make a difference in other people's lives. For me, my whole objective in my medical career was if I can save one person's life I've achieved my mission," Patel said.

Patel was born in India, but his mother was there temporarily from East Africa, where his grandfather started out in the early 1900s. Similar to a lot of American stories of families coming to the U.S. to start a career and a life, his grandfather did the same, just on a different continent.

Patel went to school in Africa until he got to the age where he could pursue higher education. As East Africa was part of the British Commonwealth, England was the best place to pursue an education within that scope, so he went to college for medicine.

"Initially I couldn't make up my mind what specialty I wanted to practice in, but back in England, they have this system where you do six months of senior house jobs in different specialties," Patel said. "You can rotate around to whatever specialty you want to work in. When you figure out what you want to do, you go and specialize in that."

Patel said he tried out a few fields like orthopedics, geriatric care, interventional cardiology (what he currently does) and oncology. He decided to go with intervention, which was quickly advancing at the time.

"Intervention was exploding when I went in. I was totally enamored with the technologies we could provide in heart care. That basically made me interested in pursuing it and I've never looked back," Patel said.

Interventional cardiology, Dr. Mark Howerter, chief medical officer at Columbus Community Hospital, said, is a field that works very quickly to resolve issues with the heart, like heart attacks, by doing scans of the patient and being able to administer quick solutions such as stents. Minutes and even seconds can count when it comes to heart problems, Howerter said, so it is a very involved field.

"We have a saying that 'time is muscle.' The longer a heart attack is allowed to proceed, the more muscle you lose," Howerter said. "Getting that interrupted, getting the flow restored as quickly as you can makes it more functional and keeps the patient from becoming what we call 'Cardiac crippled' where they have complications because the pump doesn't work well."

Patel likened interventional cardiology to a fast food chain when it comes to heart health care, because, with modern technology and the knowledge he and his colleagues have on the subject in recent years, procedures are fast and patients can be back out the door within days as opposed to weeks like in the past.

"Now with the advanced technology we have and stenting and all that we can use in an emergency situation, we can diffuse that situation within minutes, then the patient is basically back to normal within 24 hours," Patel said.

That, Patel said, is one of the biggest motivators for him, as he is able to not only help people, but help them quicker and better than was possible in the past. He likes the fact that interventional cardiology requires knowledge and application of that knowledge.

"It's a very happy medium between surgeons and medical doctors where you don't do procedures. You get to do procedures, you get to save lives and get to use all of your medical knowledge in taking care of patients," Patel said. "Cardiology involves knowledge and understanding and application of all fields of medicine you study as a student in becoming a doctor and I found that very attractive."

With the cardiology clinic being so new, Patel said, he has the unique opportunity to be part of its foundling stages and work with a very open administration and a fairly blank slate to where he can do what he does best without having to step around a system others built. The patient will have the consistency of seeing the same doctor in various stages of treatment and they won't have to leave the community to receive care, Patel added.

He will be joining Dr. Sabu George in this area full time, where he can do what he has wanted to do from the beginning: help people.

"I just love the specialty I've chosen. I love working in it and I love Columbus, I'd say I'm addicted to it and I love working in the field I'm trained in and with that work it helps me to help other people which is the best part of it," Patel said.

Howerter said the hospital has wanted two full-timers in this area for a while to be able to provide more consistency between staff, as part-timers will change shifts and patients may work with several cardiologists at a time. That's not to mention Patel's passion for what he does and his good demeanor, Howerter said.

"The biggest highlight is he's a great physician with a great deal of experience, almost 30 years of cardiovascular intervention," Howerter said. "He brings that experience and he and Dr. George have wonderful bedside manner, so it's really a great thing to provide this service here."

Monica Garcia contributed to this story.
The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Central Bureau of Investigation whether there was any "common thread" in the murders of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, Communist Party of India leader Govind Pansare, activist-journalist Gauri Lankesh and scholar M M Kalburgi.

IMAGE: Actor Naseeruddin Shah at the inauguration of the five-day art exhibition titled We are on Trial, commemorating the birth anniversary of social activist and rationalist Narendra Dabholkar on November 1, at Yashwantrao Chavan Centre, Mumbai, October 28, 2022. Photograph: ANI Photo

Dabholkar, who fought against superstition, was shot dead by two motorcycle-borne assailants during his morning walk in Pune on August 20, 2013.

Pansare was murdered on February 20, 2015, while Lankesh was killed on September 5, 2017.

Kalburgi was shot dead on August 30, 2015.

A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia posed this query to the CBI while hearing a plea by Mukta Dabholkar, daughter of Narendra Dabholkar, challenging the April 18 this year order of the Bombay high court refusing to continue monitoring the investigation in the killing of her father.

Senior advocate Anand Grover, appearing for Mukta Dabholkar, told the bench there was a larger conspiracy behind the four killings.

He said the available evidence indicated that these cases may be connected and Mukta Dabholkar had raised this issue before the high court.

"The accused who are facing a trial (in Dabholkar case), according to you, there is no common thread in those four murders? Right? That is what you are saying?" Justice Dhulia asked Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati, who was appearing for the CBI.

"That is what we want to know," Justice Kaul said, and asked the CBI to "Please look into it".

As soon as Grover began arguing about the issues involved in the matter, the bench told him the high court has said the trial in the Dabholkar murder case is going on and some witnesses have already been examined.

So therefore we (high court) don't want to monitor it any further. What is wrong with such an observation?" the bench asked him.

Grover said though the trial is going on, two of the accused are absconding and have not been arrested yet.

Giving the status of the Dabholkar murder case, Bhati told the bench that 20 witnesses have so far been examined during the trial.

The bench told Bhati the petitioner has also alleged a larger spread of the conspiracy.

The bench noted the petitioner's counsel has submitted that they need two weeks to place some documents along with translation of the relevant portions which will help the ASG in examining the issue of the larger conspiracy involved in these killings.

"ASG is granted four weeks thereafter to examine the aforesaid issue," the bench said and ordered the listing of the matter after eight weeks.

Grover had told the apex court on May 18 that the CBI suspected there could be a common link in the killings of Dabholkar, Pansare and Lankesh.

"The investigation has found that weapons used in these subsequent incidents (the killing of Pansare and Lankesh) and Dabholkar murder were the same and people involved in the crimes were also the same. Hence, CBI wanted to do further investigation," he had said.

The high court had said on April 18, after nine years of monitoring the Narendra Dabholkar case investigation, that no further watch on the probe was required. It had disposed of several petitions including the one filed by Mukta Dabholkar for continued monitoring.

In 2014, the high court had transferred the probe to the CBI from Pune police following a petition by Mukta Dabholkar and another activist.

A special Pune court had in 2021 framed charges against the alleged mastermind of the crime, Virendra Sinh Tawde. It had charged Tawde and three others with murder and criminal conspiracy, and with terror related offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Another accused Sanjeev Punalekar was charged with destruction of evidence.
Over 300 priests of the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese of the Syro-Malabar Church on Friday said they cannot accept the warning issued by the papal representative to celebrate Holy Mass in a uniform manner as prescribed by the synod or face consequences -- as it goes against their conscience.

IMAGE: Kindly note that this image has been posted for representational purposes only. Photograph: ANI Photo

The priests met at the Archbishop's House in Kochi under the banner of 'Athiroopatha Samrakshana Samithi' and discussed the stern warning issued to them by pontifical delegate Archbishop Cyril Vasil on Thursday. He had said that those who oppose the Syro-Malabar Church Synod's decision will invite canonical punishment.

In a statement, the 'Athiroopatha Samrakshana Samithi', a body of priests of the archdiocese, said the meeting has decided to constitute a 12-member ad hoc committee to directly meet the pontifical delegate and discuss the issue.

Strongly opposing the move to impose uniformity in celebrating Holy Mass, the statement said, "It is against our conscience. We don't think Pope Francis is telling us to deceive our conscience."

The decision came a day after Archbishop Vasil issued a hard-hitting letter addressing priests in the Ernakulam-Angamaly archeparchy, directing them to follow the synod-approved Holy Mass from August 20.

The pontifical delegate warned them that any disobedience to this order would be considered "voluntary, personal, and culpable disobedience to the Holy Father."

The synod of the Syro-Malabar Catholic church had introduced the uniform way of celebrating Holy Mass in August 2021. According to it, priests celebrating Holy Mass must face the faithful only in the first and last parts of the liturgical service and turn towards the altar for the rest of the mass.

While all other dioceses under the Syro-Malabar have adopted the instruction approved by the synod, the majority of priests of the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese, supported by their laity, opposed it, saying they could not depart from the tradition of celebrating mass with the priest facing the faithful throughout.

The Syro-Malabar Catholic church is one of the 22 Eastern Oriental Churches in full communion with the Pope.

Vasil was appointed by the Vatican to address and resolve the ongoing conflict over unified mass in the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese, where discontent has been brewing for some time among a significant section of priests, nuns, and laity over the synodal decision to "impose" uniformity in celebrating Holy Mass in churches under its control.

He also ordered that the letter of Pope Francis regarding the celebration be read out on August 20 in all parish churches, filial churches, and all other institutions under the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese where Sunday Qurbana is celebrated.

The priests refused to accept this order as well, saying the reason behind such a warning is that someone has misled the papal delegate.

Vasil had warned that any disobedience to this order would be construed as an act of impeding the right of the Holy Father to communicate with the people of God, which will be considered a "serious delict" against the Holy Father, with subsequent canonical penal sanctions.

The pontifical delegate had also urged the priests to think seriously about the pledge of obedience taken at the time of their sacred ordination.
The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to locate the address of a man, who is a resident of the United States since 2004 and was sentenced to six months in jail for his "contumacious conduct" by the apex court.

IMAGE: The Supreme Court of India. Photograph: ANI Photo

The top court had on May 16 this year sentenced the man to six months in jail and directed the Centre and the Central Bureau of Investigation to take all possible steps to secure his presence in India with a view to ensuring that he undergoes the sentence and pays the fine of Rs 25 lakh imposed on him.

The apex court had in January held the man guilty of contempt for his failure to bring back his son to India in terms of a court order.

During the hearing on Friday before a bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Abhay S Oka, the counsel representing the CBI said the address given by the man was found to be incorrect.

The CBI counsel said that the man is an American citizen and the probe agency will have to take assistance from the authorities concerned there to bring him back.

"Counsel for CBI says that the address given by the respondent (man) is also incorrect. Though they are taking steps in Indian court, ultimately they will have to locate the address," the bench said.

It said if the CBI would interact with its counterparts in the US, and considering that he has already filed some proceedings in a US court, it should not be such a difficult exercise to obtain his address.

"The CBI may even take recourse to whatever contacts it has in the US even otherwise for the purposes of obtaining his address," the bench said.

The apex court noted that neither the man appeared before it virtually nor his counsel was present for the hearing.

When the CBI's counsel said the address given by the man was incorrect, the bench observed he will have to be traced.

"Ultimately, you have to start extradition," the bench said, adding, "You will have to make some inquiry... to at least try to locate his address."

The bench posted the matter for further hearing on October 9.

In its May 16 order, the apex court had said, "Considering his contumacious conduct, we propose to direct the contemnor to pay a fine of Rs 25 lakh and to undergo simple imprisonment for a period of six months for committing civil and criminal contempt."

It had said in case of default in the payment of the fine amount, he will have to undergo a further sentence of simple imprisonment for two months.

The apex court had held the man guilty while hearing a contempt petition filed by a woman who had married him in 2007 and alleged that he had breached the undertaking recorded in the May 2022 order passed by the court.

The court had noted that the contempt petition filed by the woman was an outcome of an unfortunate matrimonial dispute and "as it happens in every such dispute, the child is the worst sufferer".

It had said as a result of the "breaches" committed by the man, the woman was deprived of the custody of her 12-year-old son to which she was entitled in terms of the May 2022 order.

According to the terms of settlement recorded in that order, the child, who was studying in Class 6 at that time, shall continue to live in Ajmer and complete his education up to Class 10 and thereafter, he shall be shifted to the US where his father is residing.

It was also agreed that until the child completes his education up to Class 10, he would visit Canada and the US with his father every year from June 1 to June 30.

The bench had noted in its January order that the man came to Ajmer on June 7 last year and took his son with him to Canada, but failed to bring him back to India.

In its verdict delivered in May, the bench had noted that in terms of the undertaking given by the contemnor and the orders passed by the apex court, he was under an obligation to bring back the child to India on July 1 last year.

It had also taken note of the submissions of the contemnor's counsel that as the child was subjected to alleged sexual abuse while he was staying with his mother in India, a forensic investigation is in progress in the US and, therefore, the minor cannot be brought back to India unless the probe is over.
The Supreme Court asserted on Friday that action must be taken against all those making hate speeches "this side or that side".

IMAGE: A Hindu mahapanchayat being held at Tighar village in Gurugram, Haryana, August 6, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti made the remark during a brief hearing on a batch of petitions seeking directions to curb hate speeches across states, including a plea for action against Hindu outfits calling for social and economic boycott of Muslims following the recent communal violence in Nuh-Gurugram in the Delhi-NCR region.

A lawyer claimed before the bench that the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), a political party in Kerala, organised a rally in the state in July where slogans like "death to Hindus" were raised.

"We are very clear. This side or that side, they have to be treated alike and law will take its own course. If anyone indulges in anything which we know as hate speech, they will be dealt with as per the law. This is something which we have already expressed our opinion on," the court said.

Justice Khanna said due to paucity of time, the bench will not be able to hear the matter further today as it has already listed petitions challenging the Bihar caste survey. All hate speech matters will be heard next Friday, the court said.

"I have gone through the 2018 verdict in the case of Tehseen Poonawalla and the guidelines issued by this court. I hope the guidelines are being strictly complied with," Justice Khanna told Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj, appearing for the Centre.

Advocate Nizam Pasha, representing one of the key petitioners Shaheen Abdullah, said they hope there are no sides to hate.

The lawyer, who claimed hate speeches were made against Hindus at the IUML rally, said Pasha had not placed correct facts before the court.

The bench restrained him from speaking further.

The court then allowed the petitioners and respondents to file whatever documents, written submissions they needed to file, and posted all the petitions for hearing on August 25.

On August 11, observing that there has to be harmony and comity between communities, the top court had mooted a committee constituted by the director general of police (DGP) of Haryana to go into the cases registered in the wake of the recent communal riots in the state that claimed six lives.

The top court had made the observation while hearing a plea over alleged "blatant hate speeches" calling for killing members of a particular community and their social and economic boycott at rallies in different states, including Haryana.

It had asked Nataraj to seek instructions and inform it about the proposed committee.

The top court had also directed Shaheen Abdullah to collate all material, including videos, and submit to the nodal officers appointed in each state in pursuance of its October 21, 2022 judgment.

In his petition, Abdullah has referred to the August 2 order of the apex court passed in the context of Nuh-Gurugram violence which said, "We hope and trust that the state governments and police will ensure that no hate speeches irrespective of the identity are made against any community and there is no physical violence or damage to the properties.

CPIM leader Brinda Karat has also moved the top court seeking to intervene in the plea filed by Abdullah.
Authorities at the Delhi airport on Friday searched a Vistara aircraft, which was to leave for Pune, following a bomb threat but nothing suspicious was found, the police said.

IMAGE: Kindly note that this image has been posted for representational purposes only. Photograph: ANI Photo

In a statement, Vistara said flight UK971 had been delayed due to "mandatory security checks".

A senior Delhi police officer said a threat call received at the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) control room in Gurugram was transferred to them through the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).

Following the call, search and combing operations were launched.

"The passengers were deboarded and we checked the aircraft from inside and outside but nothing suspicious was found. A case is being registered and further investigation is underway," the officer said.

Flight UK971 was to depart at 8:30 am, according to the police.

Airport security sources said the airport call centre received a call at 7:38 am and the caller said that "three bombs have been kept in flight no. UK971 parked at gate no. 42 and they will explode in an hour". The call got disconnected immediately.

All passengers and crew of the flight were deboarded and anti-sabotage checks were conducted in an isolation bay at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, they said.

A bomb threat assessment committee (BTAC) was convened soon after and bomb detection equipment and sniffer dogs were pressed into service by the CISF while passengers' luggage was sent for a re-check, they added.

In its statement, Vistara said it is cooperating with the security agencies.

"We confirm that the flight UK971, scheduled to fly from Delhi to Pune on August 18, 2023, is delayed due to mandatory security checks," it said.

"In the meanwhile, we are making all efforts to minimize inconvenience to our customers including offering them refreshments," it said.
Economist Bibek Debroy, who is also a Sanskritologist and Indologist, has landed in hot water over his recent article in The Mint newspaper in which he made a case out for a new Constitution of India.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra D Modi bows before the Constitution of India. Photograph: PTI Photo from the Rediff Archives.

The Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM),of which he is chairman, has quickly sought to distance itself and the government from Dr Debroy's views; he has also made clear in the article that these were his personal views.

But was it just Dr Debroy's personal opinion?

Or was he conducting a reconnaissance mission for the powers that be who would like to usher in a new Constitution if they regain power in 2024?

10 points from Dr Debroy's case for a new Constitution in The Mint newspaper:
Brattleboro, VT (05301)

Today

Cloudy early, then off and on rain showers for the afternoon. High 82F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy. Low 54F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.
Russian Regions Say CBDC Will Help Them Fight Corruption

Source: Beliakina Ekaterina/Adobe

Russian regions say that the nations CBDC, the digital ruble, will help them fight corruption by eliminating the shadow economy.

Per Dela, an economy-focused newspaper that covers the Krasnoyarsk Krai region, officials in Siberia are keen to use the coin to conduct their business.

Yegor Vasiliev, the Chairman of the Committee on Economics and Tax Policy of the Krasnoyarsk Krai Legislative Assembly, said that a digital ruble rollout would affect the economy of the region.

Vasiliev said:

Each transaction with the digital ruble is transparent, easy to understand, and immutably recorded, once and for all. No illegal transactions with the digital ruble can be carried out secretly.

The politician said this would help fight corruption, which has blighted Russian local government operations for decades.

The Chairman said:

[With the CBDC], corruption risks, and the risks of the gray, shadow economy are significantly reduced. Therefore, in the future, part of [our] budgetary operations will be carried out exclusively using the digital ruble.

Vasiliev also claimed that a key advantage of the digital ruble was that it was possible to trace a tokens path from the day of its issue and from owner to owner.

Meanwhile, in Kamchatka, the peninsular region in the Russian Far East, the meida outlet Kamchatinfo quoted Olga Khlabystina, Head of the Payment Systems and Settlements Department of the Central Banks Kamchatka Branch, as stating:

In the future, the digital ruble will be used where there is no internet, using special offline wallets that can be topped up in advance. This, in particular, will be especially [beneficial] for residents of remote and hard-to-reach areas of Kamchatka.

Russia and the Digital Ruble: CBDC Progressing Fast?

Russia began piloting the digital ruble earlier this week.

Banks including VTB, Qiwi, and Alfa reported on August 16 that their employees had successfully carried out real-world digital ruble transactions using the CBDC.

Moscow is looking to expiate the launch of its coin.

And traditional Russian allies such as Kazakhstan and Belarus have also indicated that they will speed up the launch of their own tokens.

The Russian Central Bank has spoken about the possible cross-border potential of its CBDC, and experts think that a digital fiat will help traders in the nation sidestep sanctions.
Sitting 1100 ft above sea level atop Stone Head mountainside, is this luxurious and idyllic Chalet. This 2,537 sq ft, 3-bedroom, 2.5 bath home, sits atop a 100' rock face commanding a breathtaking showcase view as you make your way up the inviting driveway. This Chalet provides a unique and extraordinary opportunity you won't find anywhere else in South Central Pennsylvania. The mesmerizing living room with Brazilian cherry hardwood floors and floor to ceiling windows, reveal breathtaking 25+ mile views from your couch. The living room extends into the dining room and gourmet kitchen, designed with imported Italian ceramic tile flooring, custom cherry wood cabinetry and granite countertops throughout. The master bedroom with a large his and her bathroom, also rests on the main floor along with the convenient laundry room and additional 1/2 bath. The lower floor provides additional bedrooms, another full bath, and a large family room with a walk out patio. The home features several walk in closets along with a large 3 car garage with a walk-up second floor, providing an immense amount of storage. From the serene mountain views, cozy central air, both electric heat and outside wood furnace, you'll understand the true feeling of luxury no matter the time of year. The 108 acres is comprised of three parcels with the home resting on 18 acres and a 50-and 40-acre parcel combined. Trails throughout the property provide great opportunities for horseback riding, hiking, ATV use and more. The areas where the trails don't extend, the property lays secluded providing wildlife sanctuaries for both small and big game animals along with several different bird species. For hunters looking to chase whitetail deer and wild turkeys, this property will provide an incredible opportunity as it is well populated with them both. You won't find a home like this anywhere in the area and if you don't believe me, come, and sit on the large deck with a telescope and look for yourself! Don't miss this opportunity to own luxury with priceless views here in York County Pennsylvania.

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At least 36 Nigerian soldiers were killed in the countrys northcentral region this week during an ambush by armed gangs and in the crash of a helicopter sent to the scene, the nations military said Thursday.

Residents told the Associated Press that the helicopter was shot down by the armed gangs in Niger states Wushishi district following clashes earlier in the week, echoing warnings from analysts about the growing might of the gunmen in the countrys hard-hit northern region.

Soldiers were conducting an offensive operation in Niger state on Monday when they were ambushed by the armed gangs, defense spokesman Maj. Gen. Edward Buba told reporters.

The ambush and the firefight resulted in the death of three officers, 22 soldiers, he said, adding that seven soldiers were wounded.

A Nigerian Air Force helicopter was then sent to evacuate the casualties but it crashed in another part of the state, resulting in the death of 14 additional military personnel including the pilots and crew members, Buba said.

He said the reason for the crash is being investigated.

Thousands of Nigerians have been killed in the last year by the armed gangs which mostly comprise former herdsmen who have taken up arms after clashing with farming communities for several decades over limited access to land and water.

The defense spokesman said several other operations had left dozens of gang members either killed or in custody, and said that the security forces remain committed to restoring peace in violent hotspots.

The attack adds to other challenges confronting Nigerias President Bola Tinubu, who is leading efforts by the West Africa regional bloc of ECOWAS  which he chairs  to restore democracy in Niger after the recent coup.
China on Thursday thanked the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) for successfully evacuating a Chinese national from a Panama-flagged research vessel on the intervening night of August 16 and 17.

The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Mumbai received information that one of its crew members, Yin Weigyang, onboard the research vessel MV Dong Fang Kan Tan No 2 had a cardiac arrest and required urgent medical attention.

The vessel was located 200 kilometres off the coast of Mumbai in the Arabian Sea. The Chinese national was evacuated amid challenging weather conditions on a dark night.

Our heartful appreciation to @IndiaCoastGuard for the timely and professional medical evacuation of a Chinese citizen in Arabian sea off Mumbai. pic.twitter.com/e5VLzy3yQD  Embassy of The People's Republic of China in India (@China_Amb_India) August 17, 2023

Considering the most feasible options for speedy evacuation and subsequent medical management, the patient was airlifted by CG ALH MK-III and was administered first aid. He was later transferred to an agent of the vessel for further medical management.

"The swift operation undertaken by CG ALH and CGAS Daman during the dark hours enabled the saving of the precious life of a foreign national at sea, reaffirming the Indian Coast Guards commitment to the motto 'We Protect'," the Ministry of Defence said.

Sharing the video of the rescue operation on Twitter, the Indian Coast Guard said that the operation took place mid-sea amidst challenging conditions and extreme weather. The video of the rescue operation depicts an Advance Light Helicopter (ALH) MK-III carrying out the evacuation. Soon after, the chopper arrives over the vessel before the patient is pulled up by the guards. Making gestures, the coast guards assure, in the video, that the patient is safe.
Abu Dhabi Businesswomen Council has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Packman, a leading platform that provides e-commerce services for entrepreneurs. The MoU aims to support and develop projects for businesswomen in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

The framework agreement was signed during an official ceremony by Noor Al Tamimi, Board Member of the Abu Dhabi Businesswomen Council, and Abdulaziz Al Mulhem, CEO and founder of Packman, in the presence of Shaikha Al Nowais, Board Member of the Abu Dhabi Businesswomen Council, and a number of officials and employees from both sides.

It highlights the cooperation between the two entities to support womens business projects. It will include coordinating activities such as seminars, lectures, conferences, workshops, and training courses. Additionally, it will allow for a 20% discount to members of the Council for all Packman subscription bundles.

Empowering businesswomen

Al Tamimi said: Signing this MoU with Packman, a leading company in e-commerce, aligns with our ongoing commitment to empower businesswomen and enable them to become role models by supporting their projects that would contribute to supporting the economies of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and for the UAE.

We are committed to bolstering cooperation with domestic and global entities to exchange knowledge and expertise. This falls within the framework of the Councils vision and aspirations for elevating the standing of businesswomen in Abu Dhabi in all sectors, she added.

Al Mulhem said: Packman is fully committed to continue this journey in alignment with our governments initiatives and provide the best e-commerce platform for businesses to compete on an international level by having all their e-commerce business requirements met under one roof.

E-commerce platform

Packman, a leading e-commerce hub, offers innovative solutions to entrepreneurs. It empowers them to swiftly create online e-commerce platforms within in a single day. Additionally, the platform offers online payment solutions, delivery and logistics services, as well as 24/7 technical support.

This MoU follows a series of cooperation agreements recently signed by the Abu Dhabi Businesswomen Council to help achieve its strategic goals of providing a world-class economic and investment business environment in Abu Dhabi.

These agreements support projects launched and led by businesswomen, and contribute actively to the growth of the national economy and the development of all sectors and fields.-- TradeArabia News Service
Cumberland County Commissioner Vince DiFilippo defended himself Wednesday against what he said were false accusations made by fellow Commissioner Gary Eichelberger.

In late October, Eichelberger questioned the integrity of the process the county had set up to recommend and award grants using federal American Rescue Plan Act funds.

Eichelberger had accused DiFilippo and Commissioner Jean Foschi of having influence over how grant applications were reviewed in the lead-up to votes on awarding the funds.

He continued to spread these false accusations for many months without having any proof whatsoever of wrongdoing, DiFilippo said Wednesday while reading from a prepared statement during a monthly commissioners meeting.

Enough is enough, DiFilippo said. For the first time in my political career, which spans almost 18 years, I requested information in the form of a Right-to-Know request. The results of the request have indicated that Eichelberger used county property to spread false accusations to multiple recipients regarding me and others over the county ... process and the ARPA grant funds.

DiFilippo was referring to a series of emails that were sent by Eichelberger using the county network. He asked that copies of those emails be attached to the meeting minutes.

Its time for the voters of this county to find out the truth about this matter, DiFilippo said. I will not allow anyone to attack my integrity with false accusations that defame my character.

DiFilippo mentioned a December 2021 public meeting during which the commissioners agreed unanimously to a plan to review, recommend and allocate a portion of the $49 million in Rescue Plan Act funds the county received to address the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

That plan included the formation of a committee of six county employees and one consultant to handle the application review and recommendation process, DiFilippo said. That committee completed its work with, in my opinion, great integrity and transparency. For my own peace of mind, I talked to six of the seven members of the committee. ... These conversations occurred between July 25 and Aug. 1 of this year. One committee member  a former county employee  was unavailable.

When I asked the remaining six if I ever influenced, interfered or asked for any special favors, all of them told me that I never interfered or influenced them in any way, DiFilippo said. In fact, some of them actually laughed at the question. Some told me that no commissioners interfered in the process. Yet, Eichelberger continues to accuse me and Commissioner Foschi of such actions.

Its one thing to disagree on an issue, DiFilippo said. An elected officials vote is his privilege. Sometimes votes are unanimous. Sometimes they are not. There is expected to be disagreement on some issues. But when a vote doesnt go your way, when false accusations are being made repeatedly to different people that disparage and defame that is a serious matter thats simply inexcusable.

Eichelberger responded that his accusations are true. To say that you didnt try to influence any of them, I know for a fact is incorrect, he told DiFilippo.

Wheres your proof? DiFilippo asked.

Its verbal. I dont record people who offer me something, Eichelberger said. When this process started, I recommended that we adopt the same process we have used throughout my tenure, that we empanel subject matter experts who are an arms length or more from the county commissioners. You talked to these people.

The problem is structural, he said. Every one of these people [on the committee] is under the thumb of the commissioners. They know that. They can certainly perceive threats and act as yes men and yes women, even if that is not the intention.

Eichelberger referred to the May primary during which he received 9,528 votes for the Republican nomination for commissioner compared to the 5,072 votes DiFilippo received.

What were seeing is an exhibition of sour grapes over the outcome of the election, Eichelberger said.

Later, Eichelberger said the matter has been resolved and that further discussion would not be helpful to the county or any of the grant recipients.

That happens to be where we stand, Eichelberger said.

That word choice drew a sharp response from Foschi. This is where you stand. Dont say we, she said. Foschi then asked Eichelberger if he really believed all of his statements to DiFilippo.

Yes, that is what I need to know, he said. I also know that we [the commissioners] should not access those [grant] applications. I heard numerous comments that we offered opinions on them.

The exchange sparked an argument between Eichelberger and Foschi that continued for over eight minutes before the commissioners moved ahead with Wednesdays agenda.
Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend next week's summit of the BRICS nations in Johannesburg, to be followed by a state visit to South Africa, the Foreign Ministry said Friday.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying also said in a statement that during his Aug 21-24 visit to South Africa, Xi will co-chair the China-Africa Leaders' Dialogue with his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa.

China is a core member of the BRICS nations, which also include Brazil, Russia and India.

The grouping was predicated on linking the interests of the world's leading emerging economies but has sought to expand into other civil and governmental fields.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided not to attend the summit because of an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for him, according to South African authorities.

The development could be viewed as embarrassing for Putin, who is expected to be the only leader of a country in the bloc not to attend. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Putin has decided to take part in the summit via video link, without confirming if he had intended to attend in person.

The BRICS summit is the first to be held in person since 2019 and comes as the bloc seeks new relevance amidst Russia's war in Ukraine, South Africa's crashing economy and sharpening competition between Asian giants China and India.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has said that he supports more countries joining the group and intends to raise the topic at the summit.

Around 20 countries have formally applied to join, Brazilian Foreign Affairs Minister Mauro Vieira said following the comments by Lula, who since taking office has repeatedly bucked the existing Western-dominated international structure. Among the hopefuls are Argentina, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Iran and Venezuela, Vieira said.

Facing isolation by the US and European Union, China and Russia have sought to expand their economic influence in developing countries. Beijing has done so partly through the Chinese-backed New Development Bank, commonly known as the BRICS bank, which is funding infrastructure projects in Brazil and elsewhere in the developing world.
Pakistani police have arrested two prime suspects involved in the unprecedented attacks on 21 churches and nearly three dozen homes of the minority Christian community over blasphemy allegations, Punjab caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi has said.

He praised the efforts of the Punjab chief secretary and inspector general of police, saying both of them played a key role in ensuring the arrests of the key suspects.

An enraged mob ransacked and torched 21 churches and 35 homes of Christians on Wednesday over blasphemy allegations in Jaranwala town of Faisalabad district, 130 km from Punjab's provincial capital Lahore.

"Major breakthrough in the Jaranwala Incident  both main accused now in CTD Custody. Appreciation for Chief Secretary Punjab and IG Punjab for their relentless efforts...," Naqvi posted on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday.

In a separate post on Friday, he wrote that mosques across Pakistan's Punjab province will have Friday sermons focussing on the rights of minorities.

"Today Friday's sermons across Punjab will focus on the Rights of Minorities, teachings from the Holy Quran and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)," he said.

"Amid challenging times, let's emphasise that such incidents should not be coloured by religion. Interfaith harmony is among the basic teachings of Islam. Grateful to religious scholars for their patience and support in unmasking those seeking to disrupt our nation's peace," he said.

Punjab police arrested at least 140 people and registered five cases on Thursday, a day after the violence broke out.

Among those arrested by the police include the main suspect Muhammad Yasin, identified through a video in which he was seen making an announcement on loudspeakers of mosques to incite Muslims against the religious minority.

The members of the extremist group Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) were also among those arrested in connection with the violence.

The Jaranwala incident evoked widespread condemnation, with national leaders and international organisations calling for justice for the people whose homes and places of worship were ransacked and destroyed.

Army chief General Asim Munir on Thursday termed the incident "extremely tragic and totally intolerable" and pledged that perpetrators involved in the attacks will be brought to justice.

"There is no space for such incidents of intolerance and extreme behaviour by any segment of the society against anyone, particularly against minorities," he was quoted as saying by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) - the media wing of the army.

US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters that his country was "deeply concerned" over the targetting of churches and homes in response to reported Quran desecration in Pakistan.

"We urge Pakistani authorities to conduct a full investigation into these allegations and call for calm," he said.

Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) Chairman Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi apologised for the Jaranwala violence and reaffirmed the commitment to protect our Christian brothers, the Dawn newspaper reported.

We are ashamed. We failed to fulfil our responsibility as an elder brother  we seek forgiveness, he said at a press conference here.

Amnesty International, in its statement, has demanded that the authorities must ensure [the] protection of the minority Christian community.

Rehab Mahamoor, the interim regional researcher for South Asia at Amnesty International, said the authorities should also ensure that those responsible for the arson and attacks on Churches and homes are held accountable.

Blasphemy is a sensitive issue in Pakistan, where anyone deemed to have insulted Islam or Islamic figures can face the death penalty. Often an accusation can cause riots and incite mobs to violence, lynching and killings.

According to the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), till August 16, 2023, around 198 persons have been accused of blasphemy, 85 per cent of them Muslims, 9 per cent Ahmadis and 4.4 per cent Christians.

It said Punjab province recorded over 75 per cent of the abuse of blasphemy laws cases in the past 36 years.

The aggregate accused comprises 52 per cent of minorities despite their share (3.52 per cent) in the population of Pakistan, the CSJ posted on X.

Minorities including Christians and Hindus have been frequently subjected to blasphemy allegations and some tried and even sentenced under blasphemy in Pakistan.
Pakistan has appointed Mushaal Hussain Malik, wife of the jailed Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik, as a special advisor to the country's newly appointed caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar.

Her name was included in the five Special Advisor to Prime Minister (SAPM) list unveiled late on Thursday night after President Arif Alvi administered an oath to the 19-member caretaker Cabinet at Aiwan-e-Sadr, the presidential house.

Mushaal, a Pakistani national married to Malik, was appointed special advisor to the caretaker Prime Minister Kakar on human rights and women empowerment.

A special advisor has a lower status than a junior minister but provides assistance to the prime minister on key relevant issues.

Among other four special advisors, Jawad Sohrab Malilk has been appointed SAPM for overseas Pakistanis, vice admiral (retired) Iftikhar Rao as an advisor on maritime affairs, TV anchor and writer Wasih Shah on tourism, and Syeda Arifa Zehra as an advisor on federal education and professional training.

Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin married Pakistani artist Mushaal in Rawalpindi in 2009. The two met while Yasin was on a tour of Pakistan in 2005.

Mushaal and her daughter reside in Islamabad. Born in 1985, Mushaal graduated from the London School of Economics.

Yasin was sentenced to life imprisonment by a trial court in a terror funding case in May.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has approached the Delhi High Court seeking the death penalty for Yasin, who is serving his sentence in Tihar Jail in Delhi.
A pro-military party affiliated with outgoing Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said Thursday it has agreed to join a coalition led by the populist Pheu Thai party in an attempt to form Thailand's next government after a three-month stalemate.

Founded in 2021, Ruam Thai Sang Chart, or the United Thai Nation Party, was seen as a vehicle for Prayuth's pursuit of another term in office after an apparent fallout between him and Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, the leader of the Palang Pracharath Party which helped Prayuth take office after a 2019 general election.

Prayuth first seized power as army chief in a 2014 military coup and then became prime minister in a military government. He did not run in the 2019 election but was the prime ministerial candidate of Palang Pracharath. The party was able to put together a post-election coalition that named him prime minister.

Prayuth officially joined United Thai Nation just months before May's election. After the party's disappointing performance in the polls, finishing fifth with only 36 seats, Prayuth announced that he had resigned from the party and would leave politics. He remains caretaker prime minister as Thailand has struggled for more than three months to install a new government.

The progressive Move Forward Party was the surprise winner of the May election, but its leader, Pita Limjaroenrat, failed to secure a majority of votes from the elected House and the conservative appointed Senate, chosen by the Prayuth-led military government, needed to become prime minister. Many senators voted against Pita because of his party's call for reform of a law that makes it illegal to defame Thailand's royal family. Critics say the law, which carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison, has been abused as a political weapon. Members of the Senate, like the army, see themselves as guardians of traditional conservative royalist values.

The runner-up party, Pheu Thai, then took over the lead in forming a government and excluded Move Forward, saying its call for a reform of the royal defamation law made it impossible to gather enough support from other parties and the Senate to approve a new prime minister. Both houses of Parliament vote together for the prime minister under the military-implemented constitution.

United Thai Nation spokesperson Akaradej Wongpitakroj said Thursday that it has agreed to join the Pheu Thai-led coalition to break the impasse and move the country forward. He said the party's condition of joining the coalition is that there must not be a party with a policy to amend the royal defamation law in the government.

He added that his party will support Pheu Thai's prime ministerial candidate. Pheu Thai plans to nominate real estate tycoon Srettha Thavisin in a parliamentary vote expected on Tuesday.

Before United Thai Nation's announcement, Pheu Thai had cobbled together a coalition of 11 parties with 240 seats in the 500-member House of Representatives. The 36 additional seats from the military-backed party would give it the House majority it needs. However, it still needs some support from the unelected Senate. Move Forward has said it will not support a candidate from a Pheu Thai-led coalition that includes parties from the outgoing military-backed government.

Palang Pracharath, another military-backed party, has said it is willing to support a Pheu Thai candidate even though it has not been invited to the coalition. The party finished fourth in the polls and holds 40 seats in the House.

Pheu Thai is the latest in a string of parties affiliated with ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a billionaire populist who was ousted in a 2006 military coup. While Thaksin-backed parties thrived at the polls, none of his successors was able to stay in office for long due to legal challenges in the courts, which are firmly aligned with the conservative establishment that has long held a sharp animosity toward Thaksin, and destabilizing street protests engineered by his foes. A Pheu Thai government led by Thaksin's sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, was toppled by Prayuth in the 2014 coup.

Thaksin has said he plans to return to Thailand soon following years of self-imposed exile to escape a prison term in several criminal cases which he has decried as politically motivated.

There was no immediate statement from Pheu Thai regarding United Thai Nation's decision to join its coalition, but its deputy leader, Phumtham Wechayachai, said earlier Thursday that the two parties have held talks about forming a government.
The United States has given its approval for the Netherlands to deliver F-16s to Ukraine, the Dutch defence minister said Friday, in a major gain for Kyiv even though the fighter jets won't have an immediate impact on the almost 18-month war . I welcome the US decision to clear the way for delivery of F-16 jets to Ukraine. It allows us to follow through on the training of Ukrainian pilots, Dutch Defence Minister Kajsa Ollongren said in a message on X, formerly known as Twitter. We remain in close contact with European partners to decide on the next steps. Ukraine has long pleaded for the sophisticated fighter to give it a combat edge.

It recently launched a long-anticipated counteroffensive against the Kremlin's forces without air cover, placing its troops at the mercy of Russian aviation and artillery.

Apart from delivering the warplanes, Ukraine's allies also need to train its pilots. Washington says the F-16s, like the advanced US Abrams tanks, will be crucial in the long term as Kyiv faces down Russia.

The Netherlands is part of a Western coalition that also includes Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden and the United Kingdom that in July pledged to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16s.

Washington must give its blessing because the planes are made in the United States.

Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said in a message on X that US clearance to send F-16s to Ukraine marks a major milestone" in Ukraine's defense.

It was not immediately clear when the first F-16s could be delivered to Ukraine.

As well as the Netherlands, Denmark said in June that training Ukrainian pilots had started and the country was considering delivering jets to Kyiv, but that pilots would need six to eight months of training before a possible donation of aircraft can become a reality.

In a statement to Danish media, Defense Minister Jakob Ellemann-Jensen said that the government has several times said that a donation was a natural step after the training. Meanwhile, Russian air defences stopped drone attacks on central Moscow and on the country's ships in the Black Sea, officials said Friday, blaming the attempted strikes on Ukraine.

Defence systems shot down a Ukrainian drone over central Moscow early Friday and some fragments fell on an exhibition centre, the Russian Defence Ministry said in a statement.

It said the drone was shot down about 4 am (0100 GMT) and there were no injuries or fire caused by the fragments.

However, flights were briefly suspended at all four major Moscow airports.

Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said some of the fragments fell on the grounds of the Expocentre, an exhibition complex adjacent to the Moscow City commercial and office complex that was hit twice by drones in the past month.

The area is about 4 kilometres (2.5 miles) west of the Kremlin. The defence ministry called the latest incident another terrorist attack by the Kyiv regime. Naval forces also destroyed a Ukrainian sea drone that attempted an attack on Russian ships late Thursday in the Black Sea, about 240 kilometres (150 miles) southwest of Sevastopol, the ministry said The drone was taken out by fire from a patrol boat and a corvette, it said.

It was not possible to verify the claims.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko warned that the Eastern European nation is willing to use nuclear weapons provided by its ally Russia in the face of foreign aggression. Tensions begin simmering in Eastern Europe after Russia decided to deploy tactical weapons to Belarus, earlier this year.

This is not the first time, the draconian leader who is known as the last dictator of Europe shared his ambitions to use these weapons. In June this year, he hinted that Belarus wont hesitate to use the tactical weapons given by Russia in case of threat to its security.

We didnt bring nuclear weapons here in order to scare someone, Lukashenko avered in an interview with Belarusian news outlet Belta News. Yes, nuclear weapons represent a strong deterring factor. But these are tactical nuclear weapons, not strategic ones. This is why we will use them immediately once aggression is launched against us, he added.

In the interview, the Belarusian President insisted that his country would never start the war. However, he warned the neighbouring NATO countries like Poland, Lithuania and Latvia that Belarus would immediately respond with everything (they have), including nuclear weapons, Belta reported. There can be only one threat: aggression against our country. If aggression against our country is launched from the side of Poland, Lithuania, or Latvia, we will immediately respond with everything we have. You see we have something. And the strike will be unacceptable, he said.

Leave us alone: Lukashenko warns Ukraine

In the interview conducted on Thursday, the Belarusian leader insisted Belarus will not be involved in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war unless Ukraine attempts to cross the red line and attempts to infiltrate the Belarusian border. Lukashenko warned that Belarus will respond with something more than nuclear weapons and urged the West to leave the country alone. 

"Not only the nuclear weapons [will be used] against Ukraine if it commits aggression against us. We have something else in addition to nuclear weapons. And we will not warn you that we will deliver a strike on decision-making centres once you cross the red line," he said. It will be done without a warning. This is why leave us alone. We leave you alone and you should leave us alone. I mean Ukraine least of all. I mean primarily those crazies in the West, who are already making preparations, he added.

Ever since Russia reportedly delivered its first set of nuclear warheads to Belarus, there have been brewing tensions between the autocratic country and the neighbouring NATO nations.

On Wednesday, Lithuania announced that it would temporarily suspend operations at two of its six border checkpoints with Belarus. The decision was taken due to the growing operation of Russias Wagner forces in the border areas. Citing similar concerns, Poland announced that it would move 10,000 troops to its border with Belarus. Hence, Lukshenkos warning can be considered provocative by NATO countries.
Today Marler Clark filed a Salmonella lawsuit against Papa Murphy's, representing Michael Williams and Renee Sanders who were victims of an outbreak linked to Chocolate Chip Cookie and S'mores Bar dough. The CDC reported that this outbreak sickened 26 people in six states: California (2), Idaho (5), Missouri (1), Oregon (8), Utah (4), and Washington (6), illnesses began on dates ranging from February 24, 2023, to May 28, 2023. In response to this investigation, Papa Murphy's notified franchise owners nationwide and stopped selling all Chocolate Chip Cookie dough and S'mores Bars dough at all stores.

In March 2023, Michael Williams and Renne Sanders visited the Papa Murphy's restaurant located at 2500 S Santiam Hwy, Lebanon, Oregon, purchasing one pizza and a package of Papa Murphy's Take 'N' Bake raw chocolate chip cookie dough. They shared the pizza at a family gathering and stored the cookie dough. Two weeks later they began to eat the raw dough. Days later, Michael and Renne both experienced symptoms that included fever, chills, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

Although Renne recovered after several days of rest, Michael's symptoms persisted and worsened until he could not walk properly and was limping. Consequently, Michael decided to seek medical attention and visited PeaceHealth Urgent Care located in Vancouver, WA. Doctors told him he likely had an infection and urged him to go to the Emergency Room immediately. Michael heeded his doctors' orders and headed to the nearest ER where a battery of testing confirmed that he had a Salmonella infection. The infection had likely developed into sepsis, with the bacteria settling into his hip and impairing his ability to walk.

"The severity of Michael's injury underscores the fact that Salmonella sickens over 1.4 Million Americans every year. The food industry must do more to drive these numbers down," said attorney, William Marler.

The Washington Department of Health used whole genome sequencing, which revealed that Michael's case was highly related to isolates known to be part of the Papa Murphy's outbreak. To date, Michael is still suffering from constant pain from his Salmonella infection. His doctors have informed him that a hip replacement may be necessary and that, if he does not rest and wait for full recovery, he will likely end up bedridden.
The Chinese National Bureau of Statistics has announced it will pause its release of age-specific unemployment numbers after a recent set of weak economic data. Unemployment among 16 to 24 year olds in urban areas, a figure that raises concerns in Beijing about social stability, set a record of 20% in June. Some analysts think it is more like 40-50%, and Chinese netizens are questioning the statistics bureau's explanation that it needs to enhance its jobless survey system.
A couple of videos circulating on social media claim they show that wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui were caused by the United States military testing of directed energy weapons.

But the claim is false. Both clips are unrelated to the Hawaii wildfires. One video shows damage caused by a windstorm in Louisiana in 2018, while the other depicts Maui police chief explaining the difficulties of identifying victims incinerated by the fire. The exact cause of the wildfires is still uncertain.

On Aug. 13, a video showing multiple explosions was shared on X, formerly Twitter, by user Jacob Conterio.

Maui was attacked by directed energy weapons (dews), the caption of the X post reads.

A different video showing the Maui police chief speaking to the press was also shared in multiple Chinese-language posts, including the one on Aug. 14 by an influential user on the Chinese social media platform, Weibo.

The Hawaiian fire is getting weird, and the Maui police chief said the trees were intact, but the metal was melted, so it was likely an attack from directed energy weapons, reads the Weibo post in part.

The videos and the claim began to circulate online after Maui was hit by its worst wildfire in over a century, with over one hundred confirmed deaths claimed by the disaster.

But the claim is false. Below is what AFCL discovered.

Video of explosions

The video showing multiple explosions was in fact taken from a longer video that was taken in 2018.

A reverse image search found the original clip published in a report on Dec. 28, 2018, published by the U.S. local broadcaster WDSU.

A video shared to social media shows the dramatic moment of multiple electrical explosions in Kenner, reads the report in part. Kenner is a city in Louisiana.

Below is a screenshot comparison between the video seen in the false X post (left) and the original video published by WDSU (right).

Supposed footage of energy weapons being recently tested on Maui (left) matches a clip of a Louisiana windstorm taken in 2019 (right). (Screenshot taken from X and WDSU official websites)

A search of the street address noted in the WDSU report using Google Maps set to January 2019 shows that the location also matches that in the video.

A view of the street in Kenner around the time it was hit by the windstorm. (Screenshot taken from Google Maps).

The identical video was also published in reports about electrical explosions in Kenner in 2018 by The Associated Press and other U.S. local broadcaster WWLTV.

Clip of Maui police chief

AFCL found the angle, handheld camera frame and audio of the clip match a video posted by the U.K. news outlet Sky News on its official TikTok account.

The video was taken at a press conference by Maui County Police Chief John Pelletier in which he explained the difficulties of identifying victims of the fire. Pelletier expressed hope that the public would be patient with ongoing relief and rescue efforts.

Pelletier did say the fires had been powerful enough to melt metal in order to explain the ongoing difficulty of identifying remains, but he made no mention of directed energy weapons during the conference.

Media reports on the conference by Reuters and Maui local television also did not mention the energy weapons.

The exact cause still uncertain

The wildfires also triggered a wave of similar rumors on the Chinese internet, spurred on after Chinese news outlets such as Hongxing Xinwen appropriated a SpaceX rocket launch photo as an image of the purported energy weapon test.

But the exact cause of the wildfires is still uncertain. Experts cited by AP claimed that strong winds combined with dry grass on the island spurred the fires, while separate experts quoted in The New York Times point out that power lines knocked down by the strong winds could have caused the disaster.

A class action lawsuit has been filed against Hawaiian Electric, the states main utility, on the grounds that the company inexcusably kept their power lines energized during forecasted high fire danger conditions. The companys chief executive officer has stated that it does not turn off the power during fire conditions because electricity is required for water pumps.

Translated by Shen Ke. Edited by Taejun Kang and Malcolm Foster.

Asia Fact Check Lab (AFCL) is a new branch of RFA established to counter disinformation in todays complex media environment. Our journalists publish both daily and special reports that aim to sharpen and deepen our readers understanding of public issues.
Indictment in Taiwan reveals how Chen Hsin Han used WhatsApp to contact heroin couriers from behind bars.

An armed man wearing a mask and holding what appears to be a pistol with a silencer takes part in the raid on Aug. 17, 2023, on a dental clinic in Siem Reap, Cambodia, to free Taiwanese national Chen Hsin Han, who was in prison for drug trafficking.

A Taiwanese drug lord freed from his 52-year jail sentence by masked gunmen while he was on a prison-granted dentist visit was conducting secret drug trafficking operations from Cambodia to Taiwan as recently as in 2020, despite being behind bars in Siem Reap, Radio Free Asia has learned.

Court documents from Taiwanese authorities uncovered by RFA Investigative reveal that Chen Hsin Han, a Taiwanese national arrested on drug charges in Cambodia in 2009, managed to smuggle nearly 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of heroin to an associate in Taiwan in 2020 using a middleman he met while incarcerated.

It is unclear whether Cambodian prison authorities were aware that Chen was conducting these illicit activities while in jail.

But the degree to which he had access to outside resources could help explain his stunning escape on Thursday morning, when he was sprung from police custody by five men wearing masks after they charged into a dental clinic Chen was visiting.

Footage from the raid shows the men pointing guns at prison guards accompanying Chen whom they had tied up while they searched for the drug lord before escaping with him.

The group apparently abandoned the Lexus they drove to make their getaway, which was found several hours later with guns, masks, clothes and other materials left inside, Prison Department spokesman Nuth Savna said.

The reason the suspects could free the prisoner was because they pointed guns at the guards, he said. If we fought they would shoot us.

Chen Hsin Han, who was in prison for drug trafficking in Cambodia, is seen in custody in this undated photo. Credit: Fresh News





Chen, 45, was arrested in 2009 and later sentenced to 52 years for drug trafficking. Before the escape, he was being held at a prison near the provincial capital of Siem Reap in northwestern Cambodia.

Court records from Taiwan described his role in at least two heroin smuggling cases dating to fall 2020.

According to the documents, Chen masterminded one scheme to smuggle 28 cans of what was purported to be durian paste into Taiwan through Thailand. Chen instructed an associate, Nathan Guy Garrett - said to be a U.K. national he met in Siem Reap prison - to help with the shipments, but Thai authorities discovered that the containers were filled with heroin.

Weeks later, Chen instructed Garrett to transport six handbags filled with 2 kilograms of heroin into Taiwan to help distribute them there with another associate, Chan Yuxuan.

Chan Yuxuan, was arrested in November 2020, along with Garrett and a driver.

They were indicted in 2021. Their charging documents noted WhatsApp communications with Chen about the schemes and that Chen had the ability to remotely control drug deliveries from prison.

For example, when Garrett needed to take drugs to another city in Taiwan, he immediately reported to Chen that he didn't have money for transportation. "Chen promised to transfer the money immediately."

Chen then instructed another Taiwanese individual to assist in transferring money to Garrett promptly, the indictment said.

Cambodian police have arrested six men connected to Chens escape this week, but he remains at large as of Friday.
Two people died within the span of a week at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail.

Both deaths occurred while The Daily Progress was in contact with jail officials regarding a story on living conditions at the facility. Those same officials never said anything about the deaths and waited nearly a week to alert the public they had occurred.

Superintendent Martin Kumer blamed the delay on an email snafu.

It is with regret that I inform the public, began an open Aug. 16 letter by Kumer announcing the Aug. 10 death of 30-year-old Eric Kyle Frazier. Information obtained as of this release indicates Mr. Frazier died by suicide.

That same letter revealed that there had been another death at the facility off Avon Street Extended. The Daily Progress was unable to find evidence that any other media outlet had reported the prior death by the time the second was announced. The problem, Kumer said, was that the earlier statement to the press was sent to an outdated media list.

That first incident was the Aug. 9 death of 61-year-old Reyn Louise Snelling, whose death Kumer attributed to natural causes.

Our internal investigation has indicated there are no systemic issues related to these two deaths, Kumer wrote.

However, the time that elapsed before the public was notified concerns Shawn Weneta, the policy strategist of the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia.

This is a vulnerable population, Weneta told The Daily Progress. There needs to be accountability and transparency.

Weneta also voiced an interest in a recent autopsy-requiring bill that became Virginia law this year. The law mandates investigations of deaths at state prisons, and Weneta expressed hope that it would be expanded next year to cover deaths at local jails.

Democracy dies in darkness, said Weneta. There have been far too many deaths of people in custody.

For the friends of Frazier, a Western Albemarle High School graduate who lived in Crozet and loved to work on cars, the news of his apparent suicide hit hard.

Hes definitely not had an easy life, Kelsey Faust, who had formerly been in a long-term relationship with Frazier, told The Daily Progress. I know he was going through a lot.

Faust, who has a young son with Frazier, said he lost both of his parents in the past year or so, and he lost a brother in a widely publicized accidental fall inside Charlottesvilles Water Street Parking Garage on New Years Day in 2015.

He was extremely strong, and he always gave me hope at times in my life when I felt down, Faust said.

Records show that Frazier amassed at least 10 felony convictions including charges of hit and run, eluding police, receiving stolen property and drug distribution. At the time of his death, he was facing a charge of breaking a camera inside the jail.

As for Snelling, she was a familiar figure in downtown Charlottesville who often lived in Market Street Park by day and set up a nighttime encampment sometimes on the front porch and sometimes in the backyard of the building housing the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society.

The moment I heard about her passing, society programs manager Sterling Powell told The Daily Progress, I realized I needed to notify the volunteers.

At the time of her death, Snelling, who had an array of convictions for trespassing and other low-level infractions, was being held without bail on a pair of misdemeanor charges asserting that she wielded a knife during an argument with a fellow homeless person outside the Haven, a day shelter on Market Street.

The historical societys director, Tom Chapman, recalled that although Snelling would turn his front porch into a campsite that would occasionally impede the general public she seemed to lend a certain stability to other homeless encampments.

Knowing Reyn helped me see the limits of the safety nets, Chapman told The Daily Progress. She was a pain in the ass, but were going to miss her.

Kumer at the jail noted that both deaths are being investigated internally, by the Albemarle County Police Department and by the the Virginia Board of Local and Regional Jails, which he said is standard procedure for any death in custody.

Kumer noted that he immediately notified his board of both deaths. However, besides upgrading his email list, he said he has no plans to accelerate public notification.

I will never notify the press before next of kin have been notified, ever, Kumer told the Progress. Thats how I would want to be treated if I had a loved one who died in jail.

Law enforcement agencies regularly report deaths without divulging the identities of the deceased.
At Camp David, the three leaders laud a 'blossoming' of ties and pledge annual summits and military exercises.

President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida [right] and South Korean President Yoon Seok-youl arrive for a joint press conference during the trilateral summit at Camp David in Maryland, Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.

The leaders of South Korea, Japan and the United States will meet annually from now on and discuss all regional security issues on a threeway hotline before making decisions, President Joe Biden said after a high-profile trilateral summit at Camp David on Friday.

Military exercises between the countries will also be organized each year, the U.S. president said, and the three countries would prioritize the peaceful resolution of disputes in the South China Sea.

Biden hosted South Korean President Yoon Seok-youl and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the redoubt in northern Maryland for five hours amid a push by the leaders to seize on a slim window of opportunity to institutionalize ties towards a trilateral alliance.

The South Korean and Japanese governments, experts say, are seeking to lock-in a U.S. role in their region amid fears next years U.S. presidential election could return an isolationist to office, while Tokyo remains skeptical Yoons fervor for closer ties can last in a country where many still harbor anti-Japanese resentment.

But Biden said at a press conference after the summit he believed increased trilateral cooperation now looked set in concrete, with Yoon and Kishida  the leaders of two historical enemies, both separately allied with the United States  coming together in joint interest.

If it looks like Im happy, thats because I am, Biden said. He called the summit historic and a long-term structure for a relationship that will last and may even be expanded into something larger.

Biden made reference to a 2010 hot-mic moment in which he was caught, as vice-president, using an expletive to emphasize excitement: Someone once said in a different context  about health care provision in my country, a while ago  this is a big deal, he said.

Lasting ties

Biden also said South Korean and Japanese citizens should not be concerned about a return to his predecessor as president, Donald Trump, because the summit created shared institutions across the countries aimed to make ties more certain to remain in place.

There's not much, if anything, I agree on with my predecessor on foreign policy. His America First policy, walking away from the rest of the world, made us weaker, not stronger, Biden said. What makes today different is it actually launches a series of initiatives that are actually institutional changes in how we deal with one another.

President Joe Biden stands with South Korean President Yoon Seok-youl [left] and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during a joint news conference, Friday, Aug. 18, 2023, at Camp David in Maryland. (Alex Brandon/AP)

Yoon said the summit laid the basis of much closer trilateral ties across levels of government, and not just on the leader level.

In addition to making our trilateral summit regular, we have agreed to have our government personnel at all levels  including foreign ministers, defense ministers and national security advisors  meet every year to closely coordinate our trilateral cooperation, Yoon said.

A consultative body for development policy coordination would also be created, he added, and the three capitals would coordinate the tracking of North Korean missile tests, which are being launched with increasing frequency over both South Korea and Japan.

Kishida noted that all three countries would be members of the U.N. Security Council next year and said they should use their unity to put pressure on Beijings expansion and Pyongyangs nuclear program, which he noted were driving forces of the Camp David summit.

The unilateral attempt to change the status quo by force in the East and South China Seas are continuing, and the nuclear and missile threat of North Korea, are only becoming ever larger, Kishida said.

Under such circumstances, to make our trilateral strategic collaboration blossom and bloom is only logical, and almost inevitable.

No trilateral alliance

The leaders released two documents: a shorter text called The Principles of Camp David and an official statement for the summit called The Spirit of Camp David, which among other things slammed Chinas government for its dangerous and aggressive behavior supporting unlawful maritime claims in the South China Sea.

The principles, meanwhile, avowed the complete denuclearization of North Korea, peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and that the three countries would stand as one and remain aligned in our objectives and in our actions while operating in the Indo-Pacific.

However, the statement skirted the fact that the three countries were not signing a formal trilateral alliance, with the relationships still to be defined by Tokyo and Seouls separate alliances with Washington, which have been in effect since 1952 and 1953, respectively.

With the renewed bonds of friendshipand girded by the ironclad U.S.-Japan and U.S.-ROK allianceseach of our bilateral relationships is now stronger than ever, it said. So too is our trilateral relationship.

Beijing has described the summit as an example of the United States trying to hem in its power in the region. On Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin again criticized the meeting and argued it would not be received well throughout Asia.

The Asia-Pacific is an anchor for peace and development and a promising land for cooperation and growth, and should never be turned into a wrestling ground for geopolitical competition again, Wang said, slamming attempts to create exclusionary groupings and bring bloc confrontation and military blocs into the Asia-Pacific.

Staying power

Before the summit began, Bidens national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, noted that no summit of foreign leaders had been held at Camp David since 2015, under former President Barack Obama.

President Joe Biden speaks at the press conference with South Korean President Yoon Seok-youl [left] and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida [out of frame] at Camp David in Maryland on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023. (Jim Watson/AFP)

But he noted the location  the site where former President Franklin Roosevelt hosted British Prime Minister Winston Churchill during World War II and where Bill Clinton hosted the leaders of Israel and Palestine to try to end their conflict in 2000  was chosen deliberately.

In keeping with the time-honored tradition of hosting significant, consequential diplomatic meetings at Camp David, this summit signifies a new era of trilateral cooperation for the U.S., Japan and the ROK, he said, referring to South Koreas government. We're opening a new era, and we're making sure that era has staying power.

He also denied claims leveled by Beijing that the summit marked the start of U.S. efforts to create a security pact like NATO in the east, saying the partnership was not being aimed against anyone.

It's explicitly not a NATO for the Pacific, Sullivan said. We will continue to underscore that, and so will both Japan and Korea.

France and Germany redux

Another senior administration official, speaking on the condition he not be identified, said on a call he believed the summit marked a permanent warming in the rocky ties between Tokyo and Seoul.

He likened the event to similar meetings between historical enemies France and Germany in the 1970s and 1980s, which he noted were also controversial among the two populations at the time but had over the decades forged an entirely political reality in Europe.

I've been doing diplomacy in Asia for 30 years, or longer; I don't think I've ever been involved in a series of preparations in which alignment between the three governments was so clear, he said, pointing to the shared sense of threat perception, opportunities and duty.

He was less cautious than Sullivan about citing Chinas role, and said the newfound union between Seoul and Tokyo, in particular, could be attributable to the deteriorating security situation in Northeast Asia caused by Beijings expansionism and Pyongyangs nuclear program.

What you're seeing in Japan, South Korea and the United States is largely a response to security steps and measures that we believe are antithetical to our interests, he said, before adding that the three were still committed to effective, practical diplomacy with China.

Edited by Malcolm Foster.
Undergraduate student Moe Lewis [left] shows her watercolor painting of peony leaves at a traditional Chinese painting class at the Confucius Institute at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., on May 2, 2018.

As college students gear up to start studies after the summer, experts are warning that Beijing's infiltration of U.S. universities will continue, despite the closure of dozens of its Confucius Institutes.

"The Chinese Communist Party will again be indoctrinating and spying on students on American college campuses this academic year in an organized effort known as 'cognitive warfare," according to an online seminar run by the Hudson Institute.

"Its objective is to suppress criticism of Chinese President Xi Jinping and his policies, promote Chinese Communist Party propaganda, spy on and intimidate Chinese exchange students, shape American views about the United States, and steal scientific, technological, and military research," the institute said.

Recent pushback over Beijing-funded language and cultural centers  known as Confucius Institutes  embedded on American university campuses has prompted many schools to terminate these agreements, and the number of Confucius Institutes has plummeted from more than 100 to around a dozen, it said.

But experts told the seminar that the Chinese government has switched up the bureaucracy and continued its influence operations in other guises, including via the government-backed Chinese Students and Scholars' Associations, which the State Department has warned engage in the monitoring of international students from China, and in political mobilization on U.S. soil.

"Not all college administrators act to stop Chinese Communist Party interference on their campuses," the Institute warned in a summary of the seminar.

Varied motivations

Chinese infiltration can be motivated by anything from wanting to project a positive image of China and its government to getting hold of technology that has potentially military applications, said Ian Oxnevad, Senior Fellow, Foreign Affairs and Security Studies at the National Association of Scholars.

"Part of it is also access to American universities more broadly, for fundamental research purposes, because that has an impact on China's ability to obtain dual-use technologies," Oxnevad said. "Those are technologies that have uses for military or commercial purposes."

Confucius Institutes "have in some cases allowed China to continue to monitor dissidents abroad and continue ... soft power initiatives," says Ian Oxnevad, senior fellow, Foreign Affairs and Security Studies at the National Association of Scholars. Credit: Screenshot from Hudson Institute video





There is also a longer game in play, he said.

"You also have sort of an elite capture issue, ... looking at shaping the views of future policy-makers and key individuals in America in the future by shaping the views of students today," he said, adding that Confucius Institutes were just one phase in an ongoing overseas influence operation by Beijing.

"Since there's been a massive pushback on Confucius Institutes, [many] have basically shut down. Oftentimes, they're being rebranded as different programs, in a non-systematic way [though] it is systematic on the Chinese side," he said, warning: "They erode intellectual freedom."

He said the institutions "have in some cases allowed China to continue to monitor dissidents abroad and continue ... soft power initiatives."

Military ties

Meanwhile, the Hanban, the body under the State Council that was responsible for the centers, has been renamed.

Oxnevad said China is now focusing more on bilateral cooperation agreements with universities that attract defense or security funding, noting a clear correlation between universities engaged in government-funded research and the number of cooperation agreements with Chinese universities.

"What's happening is that many schools in the U.S. are forming bilateral ties with Chinese universities that have military ties to the People's Liberation Army in China," he warned.

"Oftentimes, these are coincidentally American universities that have some sort of defense-related program or department involved. That's what's happening now."

Oxnevad cited the recent case of Alfred University in upstate New York, which recently shut down its Confucius Institute.

"It had received a multimillion dollar contract from the U.S. government to help perfect hypersonic missile technology, and some of the same individuals involved in the engineering ceramics program at Alfred University were also tied to the Confucius Institute," he said.

U.S. campuses that receive Department of Defense or National Security Agency funding or government funding to expand their cybersecurity programs also seem to attract more ties with China, he said.

There are also implications for anyone with ties back in China who does anything  even on U.S. soil  that Beijing doesn't like, according to Cynthia Sun, a researcher for the Falun Dafa Information Center linked to the spiritual movement that has been banned in China as a "cult."

"We saw a lot of physical and digital surveillance by Chinese proxies," Sun said of a recent survey of transnational repression targeting Falun Gong practitioners on U.S. campuses.

"Nationwide, there are at least 45 universities and colleges with students or faculty who practice Falun Gong on campus," she said.

Falun Gong persecution

Campus Falun Gong clubs typically host events, petition signings, film-screening and exhibitions, to try to raise awareness about 24 years of persecution at the hands of the Chinese state, Sun said.

"Some are second-generation, American citizens who have family, elderly relatives back in China, and then there's also Chinese international students who have to go back to China after their studies," she said.

"Out of this pool of people, 20% said they felt uncomfortable self-identifying as a Falun Gong practitioner because of the reprisals that they faced, and because of all of the fear they have, the indoctrination, and the propaganda surrounding their practice."

She quoted a Chinese international student in California as saying: "Family members in China were called regarding my whereabouts, my phone number, or where I was studying or working."

Several other students reported feeling watched, and their families were harassed due to their activities in the United States, Sun added.

"So they're using that as blackmail to threaten and intimidate these students to try to get them to stop holding these activities, holding these events," she said.

"It's the control of what the [Chinese Communist] Party wants people to think and say, through controlling the activities of Falun Gong practitioners, Hong Kong activists and ... ethnic minorities," Sun told the seminar. "And it's possible for them to also bring that here, to bring the surveillance, the slander, the censorship, to the United States of America."

Sun described Chinese Students and Scholars Associations as "funded by the local Chinese consulate, and they receive direction also, from the Chinese consulate."

"They carry forward this message of continued self-censorship, of continued surveillance," she said.

"It's really hard to fathom how this could be happening in American universities, but through the CSSAs and through the presence of Confucius Institutes, it's very much alive, this continued party thought," she said.

Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.
Many head for Hong Kong-run or pro-democracy businesses, as Cantonese is increasingly spoken on Taipei's streets.

They are flocking to Taiwan, in search of milk tea and freedom.

While Hong Kong recently fell out of favor with tourists from Taiwan, the opposite is true in the other direction, with Hong Kongers making up the largest single group of tourists visiting the island.

When they land, some head straight for night markets and protest-themed cafes, pro-democracy bookshops and other small businesses in the "yellow economic circle" started during the 2019 protest movement.

Others dive into working-class cafes of the kind still ubiquitous in Hong Kong to drink mugs of strong milk tea, tall glasses of iced lemon tea and snack on toast or ham-and-egg sandwiches made with mass-produced, crustless white bread.

Some 420,000 Hong Kongers have made the trip to Taiwan in the first half of the year, 95,000 more than the numbers opting to visit Japan.

From April through June, more than 100,000 were arriving every month.

New Bloom, a cafe in Taipei, Taiwan, that runs an online magazine and holds events covering youth culture and politics is seen in March 2023. Credit: Ann Wang/Reuters





Wu Hao, who runs the "cdou" Hong Kong-style bar and cafe, whose name means "Lion Fighting" in an apparent reference to the "Lion Rock spirit" invoked by the former British colony in times of trouble, said many of them wind up in his establishment.

"I don't really get it," he said. "They spend two or three hours flying here, just to eat the same food they could get in a Hong Kong-style cafe."

"Some of them emigrated here and now run their own businesses, while others are just visitors from Hong Kong," Wu said. "They talk very freely about everything  a lot of it is about emigrating to Taiwan, and what it's like to live here."

Yellow-themed businesses

Plenty of Hong Kongers have already made the move, braving Taiwan's opaque immigration rules in search of life in an environment that still has the old freedoms they once enjoyed back home.

Others content themselves with making short trips to Taipei's night markets, out to Jioufen village or just hang out in the city's plethora of cute themed coffee shops, as well as spending money at "yellow economic circle" themed businesses.

The color yellow has been associated with the pro-democracy movement since the 2014 umbrella movement, while pro-government and pro-police views are described as "blue."

But since Beijing  which blames the 2019 protests on "hostile foreign forces" seeking to foment a "color revolution" in the city  imposed the national security law, such businesses have been seen as subversive.

People look at a drink vendor at a night market in Taipei, Taiwan, June 29, 2023. Credit: Chiang Ying-ying/AP





"I hear Cantonese being spoken in every night market I go to," a Hong Kong tourist who gave only the nickname A Fung told Radio Free Asia. "As soon as I'm at a loose end, I fly to Taiwan."

"It's not too expensive, and I feel happy around the traditional Chinese characters," he said, in a reference to the style of Chinese writing used in Hong Kong and Taiwan, rather than the simplified writing style of the Chinese mainland.

Family-friendly

For young families, Taiwan isn't too far away for a short visit.

"The flight's short, and it's fairly easy to take the kids along," a Hong Kong surnamed Tse said.

A Hong Konger who has lived in Taiwan for 10 years, who gave only the nickname Ting Ting, brought their friends to cdou while they were on a business trip from Hong Kong.

"So many Hong Kongers have emigrated to Taiwan to do business, open shops or eateries, and they really wanted to try some of these restaurants," Ting Ting said.

While some may come for the food and the convenience, there's another item that is now on Hong Kongers' itinerary  pro-democracy businesses and protest tourism.

Like David, who declined to give his full name for fear of reprisals under a draconian national security law, they make sure to visit and spend money at small businesses with a pro-democracy theme.

Speaking out for freedom

Like the Chiu Yue Teahouse in Huangdian, decorated throughout with memorabilia of the 2019 protest movement.

"A lot of my friends have left [Hong Kong] for elsewhere now," David said. "So I feel a bit happier if I seek out shops run by people who share my beliefs."

A tourist poses for photos in a shopping district in Taipei, Taiwan, July 25, 2023. Credit: Ann Wang/Reuters





"I can still see some voices speaking out for freedom here," he said of the teahouse. "It's somewhere you can speak freely and don't have to worry about propaganda, which is a kind of spiritual comfort."

Taiwan's government recently warned its nationals to avoid "provocative" actions and even T-shirts while visiting Hong Kong, which is currently in the throes of a crackdown on public dissent.

Conversely, David enjoys being able to wear whatever he likes during his stay in Taiwan -- without the fear of police attention.

The boss of a Hong Kong-style cafe who gave only the nickname Andy said his restaurant offers Hong Kongers a nostalgic return to the city as it was before the crackdown.

"Why do they eat Hong Kong food when they come to Taiwan? Because they can see stuff here that doesn't exist in Hong Kong any more," Andy said, in a reference to recent changes to the city's electoral system. "Some get quite emotional when they see all of the electoral materials, saying 'that's what Hong Kong used to be like'."

"They all talk to each other, and offer encouragement, and help each other to keep going forward together," he said.

Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.
Citizens affected by recent flooding in northern China are unlikely to be soothed by resolute words.

Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks during the opening ceremony of the BRICS Business Forum at the Xiamen International Conference and Exhibition Center in Xiamen in southeastern China's Fujian Province, Sunday, Sept. 3, 2017.

After an absence of nearly three weeks, Chinas state media reported that President Xi Jinping was back in the saddle, presiding over a meeting on flood prevention and relief as well as post-disaster restoration and reconstruction.

Xi will also attend the 15th BRICS Summit to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa from August 21 to 24, according to a Friday report by Xinhua News Agency.

While in South Africa, President Xi will co-chair with the countrys president Cyril Ramaphosa the China-Africa Leaders Dialogue, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying added.

At Thursdays Standing Committee meeting of the Communist Party of China Central Committees Political Bureau, discussions centered on emergency rescue and aid for flood victims and efforts to find the missing, aiming to reduce casualties, Xinhua reported.

But for many of those affected, Political Bureau declarations of resolve in the face of adversity are unlikely to come as any consolation.

Xis absence during the past three weeks  for the duration of the recent disastrous flooding in northern China  has not gone unnoticed by ordinary Chinese citizens.

Xi had been last seen in public on July 31, just three days after Typhoon Doksuri struck, when Chinese netizens expressed anger at the Hebei Province Communist Party boss, who called on the province to serve as a moat to protect Beijing.

In a veiled criticism of Xi, netizens played cat and mouse with censors, sharing video of former Chinese leaders, including Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao visiting natural disaster zones. One particularly popular clip showed Hu assisting soldiers in disaster relief and Premier Li Keqiang wading through the flooded fields of Chongqing.

In this Aug. 18, 2021, photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, center, wearing a face mask, talks to residents as he visits the flood hit area in Zhengzhou city in central China's Henan province. Credit: Rao Aimin/Xinhua via AP





Thursdays meeting called for disaster relief funds to be used efficiently to repair damaged infrastructure such as transport, communications and electricity, while also seeking to restore farmland and agricultural facilities.

But disaster relief has been a prominent target of public criticism. As former Tiananmen student leader-turned-China politics watcher Wang Dan wrote for RFA Mandarin earlier this month, many affected citizens suspect much of the flooding was caused by water mismanagement  venting dams and dikes of floodwater in order to protect Beijing and nearby Chinese Communist Party vanity infrastructure projects.

Apart from  protests, the Beijing Red Cross Societys call for donations to aid disaster relief was met with an overwhelmingly negative response and mockery online, another way the public's dissatisfaction was expressed, wrote Wang.

Missing relief funds

Rumors supported by provincial level audits and even reports in Chinas state media about how relief funds for previous natural disasters were siphoned off or misallocated have have sparked anger in China and prompted fears that the same thing may happen again after the recent floods, the South China Morning Post reported earlier this month.

An audit report by the Henan provincial government last month on the handling of some CNY10 billion (U.S.$1.4 billion) in reconstruction funds for the devastating summer flooding of 2021, in which nearly 400 people died, revealed that at least some of the funding earmarked for victims had gone into the pockets of local officials.

The issue quickly went viral online in the aftermath of the most recent flooding due to a commentary on the Henan issue published by the state-run Guangming Daily.

A broken bridge is seen at a flood-affected area following heavy rains in Beijing on August 3, 2023. Credit: Jade Gao/AFP

U.S.-based economist Li Hengqing told RFA Mandarin that the distribution of post-disaster compensation funds in China lacks transparency and oversight and local officials often engage in deceptive practices.

In reality, they report giving you 500 yuan, but what you actually receive is 200 or 300 yuan. Theyve pocketed the rest or shared it among themselves, Li said.

Zhao Lanjian, a former Chinese media professional in exile in the U.S., told RFA Mandarin that the problem was not only that money was not reaching those that need it, but that even the rallying theatrics of disaster response were now being shelved.

For the past 70 years, every major disaster has been accompanied by [a]  head of state visiting the disaster area in person for an on-site inspection, putting on a show. But now, even the show itself is forsaken, Zhao said.

Management

On Friday, the Chinese-language party mouthpiece, the Peoples Daily, called for sparing no effort in emergency rescue of people who are trapped or missing, while also calling for rescue teams, including from the army and police, to be dispatched well in time.

However, as many have noted, in the most severely affected areas such as Beijings Mentougou and Zhuozhou in Hebei Province, the Peoples Liberation Army has yet to make any appearances or assist with disaster relief.

Li Hengqing said that they hadnt done so because officials were waiting for instructions from Xi.

Why hasn't the PLA [People's Liberation Army] acted? asked Li. Its because Xi hasnt spoken, so no one dares to act  the decision-making power, action power, and command power all rest with him.

Meanwhile, in an ironic word-of-mouth story that is not bolstering Xis beleaguered public image, Zhuozhou in Hebei Province  a city that was hit extremely hard by days of flooding caused by Typhoon Doksuri  is an important warehousing center for Chinas publishing sector.

Countless books were irreparably damaged, reported the China Daily, when floods surged into a publishing logistics park in Zhuozhou that warehouses books for nearly 100 Chinese book companies.

Among the untold numbers of lost tomes is thought to be Xi Jinpings latest  on studying and implementing the important discourses on the management of water resources.

It was compiled by the Ministry of Water Resources and published by the People's Publishing House in mid-July.

Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.
The Blue Shield casino operated by the Kings Romans Group stands in the Golden Triangle special economic zone on the banks of the Mekong River in 2016.

Residents of Laos Bokeo province are concerned that an airport and Mekong River port due for completion early next year will divert customs revenue into Chinese hands and further open the area to smuggling and other crimes that authorities have proven unable  or unwilling  to control.

A new report by the International Crisis Group called for a coordinated regional approach  including through law enforcement and governance  to combat the outsized impact illicit businesses have in Bokeos Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone, or SEZ, and across the river in Myanmars Shan state.

The Lao government can expect to lose customs revenue, taxes and entry fees to Chinese investors who have a 99-year lease on the land in Bokeo where the airport and river port are being built, according to a Lao transportation official who, like others interviewed for this story, declined to be named because they were not authorized to speak with the media.

The people are concerned about the ports as [they are located on land] sold to Chinese investors, one official told RFA Lao. The Lao people got nothing from the lease. The villagers will have to pay to use these ports in the future and Lao officials have no rights to inspect them.

The murky SEZ is a gambling and tourism hub catering to Chinese citizens situated along the Mekong River where Laos, Myanmar and Thailand meet.

Much like the adjacent Myanmar Yatai Shwe Kokko SEZ, the Golden Triangle SEZ has also become a haven for criminal activities including prostitution, scamming and drug trafficking.

Ceding control of ports

The Lao government will be missing out on revenue from millions of tourists visiting Laos via the new airport and Mekong port each year, a Bokeo official told RFA.

Currently, tourists are still using the old port to cross the Mekong River, but Chinese investors are renovating it into a new port controlled by the Golden Triangle SEZ authority in terms of the transport of goods in and out of the zone and the associated fee collection, he said.

The Mekong port alone will be upgraded to accommodate ships carrying 500 tons of cargo to Laos from China, as well as around 150,000 tourists annually  mostly Chinese nationals, he said.

A sign in Mandarin and English welcomes visitors to the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone behind tourist boats docked along the Mekong River on the Laos side of the Golden Triangle in 2019. Credit: Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP

A villager from Bokeos Ton Pheung district said he is worried about the amount of control Chinese investors will have over the region once the ports are complete. In addition to controlling customs tariffs, the investors will determine who and what can enter and exit the country via the ports, he said.

If the Mekong port [and airport] becomes an international port, it will be the Chinese owners who will inspect people and merchandise coming in and out of those areas, he said. Sometimes there are Lao police present there but they have no rights to inspect. Mostly Chinese police will handle those ports.

A resident of the capital Vientiane slammed the Lao government for allocating land to Chinese investors to build international ports at the SEZ, calling the move a big mistake.

The Lao people get no benefit and will have lost more than they gained, he said. The Chinese investors do what they want without consulting the people.

Fighting crime and its causes

The Golden Triangle SEZ, managed by the Chinese-owned Kings Romans Casino, is part of a 3,000-hectare (7,400-acre) concession on which investors have built hotels, restaurants, casinos, a hospital, markets and factories.

Described as a de facto Chinese colony, businesses in the SEZ, established in 2007, are exempt from most national-level economic regulations, and often receive tax breaks and are governed by different labor laws.

Many impoverished young Laotians from other provinces and foreigners who were promised lucrative jobs end up held against their will in places that include the Kings Romans Casino by trafficking rings that exploit them under threat of violence. In 2018, the U.S. government sanctioned the Chinese tycoon who is said to run the economic zone as head of a trafficking network.

On Friday, the Washington-based International Crisis Group called addressing criminality in the SEZ and across the Mekong in Myanmars Shan state a top political priority.

The sheer size of illicit businesses, which dwarf the legal economies of both Shan state and northern Laos, means that they have an enormous local impact, entrenching corruption, weakening governance institutions and damaging community bonds in both these areas, the group said in a report.

The criminal networks involved have regional  in some cases, global  reach and can rapidly shift from one jurisdiction to another to minimize risks to their operations. A coordinated regional approach is thus vital for tackling them, it said.

But the report acknowledged that geopolitical competition between China and the U.S. complicates coordination, while regional states continue to rely heavily on unilateral criminal justice responses to issues in the area.





While a typical security or police approach treats immediate symptoms, the Crisis Group called on authorities to also work to solve fundamental causes of crime in the zones, including weak governance and rampant corruption, not to mention a willingness or desire of some jurisdictions to court illicit investments.

Translated by Sidney Khotpanya. Edited by Joshua Lipes.
Pinlebu Peoples Defense Force members inspect the site where four civilians bodies were dumped in a burning house in Mu Le village, Pinlebu township, Sagaing region on August 14

Junta troops killed and burned the bodies of a pregnant woman and three men in a gold mining area of Sagaing regions Pinlebu township in Myanmar, the local Peoples Defense Force told RFA on Friday.

They said the victims were 21-year-old Wine Wine, who was eight months pregnant, her father Set Hlaing who owned a gold mine in the township, 21-year-old Shan Lay and Nyi Nyi whose age wasnt given.

Their burned bodies were found on Monday, according to the defense force information officer, who didnt want to be named for safety reasons.

It happened next to Nant Ta Hauk creek beside Mu Le village at around 11 a.m. on August 14, he said.

They killed them, and burned a house and dumped all the bodies in there.

Troops entered Mu Le village in the first week of August, arresting and interrogating locals. They burned more than 30 houses when they left the village, locals told RFA on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

The latest killings come after the troops entered the village for a second time this month.

RFA was unable to independently verify the claims of the Peoples Defense Force because phone and internet connections to Pinlebu township have been cut.

The junta hasnt released a statement on the killings.

RFA contacted the junta spokesperson for Sagaing region, Tin Than Win, who said he was unaware of the incident.

Artillery in Bago

Meanwhile, junta troops shelled three townships in the Bago region between Sunday and Wednesday, killing four civilians, including two teenage students, according to the Karen National Union, or KNU.

A resident of Kyaukkyi township in Nyaunglebin district told RFA that the teens died after a shell exploded inside a KNU-run school in Pe Thaung village on Sunday.

A barrage of heavy artillery has targeted several villages in Shwegyin township this week, the KNU said in a statement.

A resident of Shwegyin, who refused to be named for security reasons, told RFA that junta troops are firing heavy artillery at all times during the day and night.

There are more and more times when I had to flee my village fearing that I could be hit by the juntas shelling, he said. Although weve dug bomb shelters to withstand the shelling, the earth is too wet in this rainy season.

A local defense official in Nyaunglebin district also said that junta troops are targeting civilians and firing upon them with heavy artillery weapons as a defensive strategy.

They are anxiously preparing their defenses and fire tons of artillery at many places without specific targets, the official said. Tons of weapons. In doing so, they hit the civilians.

RFA reached out to Tin Oo, the military juntas spokesman for the Bago region, for a response to the allegations, but he could not be contacted.

Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.
A Thai lawmaker has suggested that the area should stretch 5 kilometers into Myanmar.

Villagers rest in the jungle along the Thai-Myanmar border after fleeing fighting in Kawkareik township, Kayin state, Myanmar, Jan. 14, 2023.

Burmese citizens displaced by fighting and who have sought refuge on both sides of the Thai border want Thai lawmakers to approve a proposed safe zone to protect them from daily air raids and artillery attacks by Myanmars military, refugees and aid workers said.

The IDP Assistance Committee in Kayah states Hpruso township said internally displaced civilians need the zone initiated to provide adequate aid and safety.

Lawmakers in Thailands lower house on Aug. 10 proposed the implementation of the safe zone on the Thai border in the south of Myanmar as a refuge for those who from Kayah and Kayin states who have been repeatedly displaced by fighting between junta and rebel forces.

Kanawee Suebsaeng, an MP from Thailands Fair Party, suggested that the zone be established 5 kilometers (3 miles) into Myanmar from the Thai border.

This area could lessen the impacts on the Thai people along the border as well as on the evacuees who enter the area so they can stay safely, he said.

About 300,000 internally displaced people are living next to the Thai border in Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son, Tak, Kanchanaburi and Ranong districts, according to the lawmaker.

The Karen Human Rights Group and Karenni Human Rights Group estimate that more than 200,000 people in Kayah state and nearly 600,000 in Kayin state have been displaced since the coup.

Others have lost their lives as a result of fleeing the fighting, including 141 such deaths in Kayah state as of July, according to the Progressive Karenni Peoples Force, an ethnic political organization.

Refugees and aid workers support the measure given the growing intensity of the armed clashes since the Myanmar military seized power from the democratically elected government in a February 2021 coup.

A junta air strike destroyed this house in Myanmar's Kayah state near the Thai-Myanmar border, July 12, 2023. Credit: Karenni Human Rights Group

No safety and security

A displaced person from Kayins Myawaddy township who now lives in a camp that is a temporary home to about 600 refugees, said residents are not safe in their present location.

There is no safety and security in our area, she said, adding that 100 people came to the camp for shelter following recent fighting in Let Khet Taung near Myawaddy. The sound of the battle is getting closer. We have to run away."

Nearly the entire population of adjacent Kayah state, which also borders Thailand, have fled their homes due to fighting.

An official from the Hpruso West Refugee Assistance Committee said a safe zone would be convenient for displaced people who are constantly worried about artillery shells and air strikes.

When RFA contacted Kanawee Suebsaeng on Wednesday, he said Thai lawmakers would push for humanitarian aid for Myanmar refugees. He also said hat next week he and others would submit a letter to the house speaker detailing the issue and propose that top government officials issue a comprehensive outline of solutions.

Thai officials must consider practical factors before implementing a safe zone, said Saw Nanda Hsue, spokesman for the Karen Human Rights Group, an independent community-based organization working to improve the human rights situation in Myanmar.

The questions of how long-term it will be, how many years it will accept refugees, and whether there are already donors to support refugees in the safe zone are major considerations, he said.

Aung Thu Nyein, the Thailand-based communications director for Myanmars Institute for Strategy and Policy, said it may not be easy to establish the safe zone which requires approval from Thailands national security council led by military authorities.

Even if the Thai parliament approves the implementation of the safe zone, the Thai government will have to have discussions and negotiations with the Myanmar military, he said.

RFA could not reach the Thai Embassy in Myanmar for comment.

Kyaw Zaw, spokesman for Myanmars National Unity Government, said the shadow government has urged the international community to help establish a safe zone and to provide cross-border assistance to Burmese IDPs.

Translated by Myo Min Aung for RFA Burmese. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
A Chinese directive has barred government workers and retirees from participating in the festivities.

A huge thangka painting of Buddha is displayed on a hillside during the Shoton Festival at Drepung Monastery in Lhasa, capital of western Chinas Tibet Autonomous Region, Aug. 16, 2023.

Tibets centuries-old yogurt festival has been marred this year by huge police presence and tight restrictions on Tibetans, sources from Chinas western region said.

Yogurt occupies a special place in Tibetan culture and religion. Made from yak milk instead of cow milk, it has a history in Tibet going back thousands of years.

The festival, one of the most popular in Tibet, which runs from Aug. 16-22, began as an observance in the 17th century during which Tibetans offered yogurt to Buddhist monks who had completed their annual religious retreats.

Followers of Tibetan Buddhism viewed a 500-square-meter (5,382-square-meter) embroidered thangka portrait of the Buddha displayed at Drepung Monastery in Lhasa, capital of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, and later at Sera Monastery, the sources said.

But a large number of Chinese police watched the crowds and set up inspection booths along the streets in Lhasa to check devotees identity cards amid the celebrations, they said.

The heavy surveillance comes as Chinese authorities are maintaining a tight grip on Tibet, restricting Tibetans political activities and peaceful expression of cultural and religious identity.

Tibetans frequently complain of discrimination and human rights abuses by Chinese authorities and policies they say are aimed at eradicating their national and cultural identity.

Along with religious observances, the festival also features performances of traditional Tibetan opera, ethnic songs and dances, cultural exhibitions, and picnics.

Also, an official directive has barred government employees in Lhasa from attending religious activities related to the festival and taking part in any gatherings, and has ordered them to not engage in activities that disregard Chinas communist government.

Government retirees are also barred from engaging in religious activities and visiting local monasteries. The directive states that they must educate their children about remaining loyal to the Chinese Communist Party and to value its socialist principles.

Translated by RFA Tibetan. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
Hearing about a relatives death months or years later is not unusual for Uyghurs abroad.

A prominent U.S.-based Uyghur activist said he learned this week that his father died seven months ago in Chinas far-western Xinjiang region, though the circumstances of his death remain unclear.

Abdulhakim Idris, executive director of the Center of Uyghur Studies based in Falls Church, Virginia, and former inspector general of the World Uyghur Congress, found out on Wednesday that his father, Abdulkerim Zikrullah Idris, 81, died in January in the city of Hotan, known as Hetian in Chinese.

Abdulhakim was informed of the news from a source who insisted on anonymity for safety reasons.

The last contact he had with his father was during an April 2017 phone call.

Chinese authorities in Xinjiang have detained most of his other family members since then amid the mass detentions or imprisonment of Uyghurs in re-education camps.

The situation reflects the Chinese governments ongoing repression of Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities in Xinjiang, as well as of political activists like Abdulhakim, who live abroad but remain under the scrutiny of Chinese authorities and bear a substantial burden when it comes to their relatives back in Xinjiang.

Abdulhakim told Radio Free Asia that the news of his fathers death saddened him because he had limited opportunities to spend time with the man.

He was a man of sincerity, an advocate for education, and a hard-working, diligent individual, Abdulhakim said. He is the reason why all of us pursued education and grew up with a strong dedication to this path.

Abdulkerim Zikrullah Idris (bottom, R) is seen with his wife, Habibehan Idris, son Abdulhakim Idris (top, L), Abdulhakims two children and a friend in Munich, Germany, in 2001. Credit: Courtesy photo

'A tragic norm'

Hearing about the passing of relatives after several months is not unusual for Uyghurs living in the diaspora.

Such occurrences are increasingly becoming a tragic norm for our community, Abdulhakim said. Many among us avoid discussing these matters openly, so the general public may not be fully cognizant of the extent of these heartrending experiences.

Uyghur political activists are consistently on Chinas radar, subjected to surveillance, monitoring and various forms of persecution. Still, they strive to secure human rights for Uyghurs in Xinjiang and hold China to account for its actions. Ultimately, they hope to establish a Uyghur homeland called East Turkistan.

Freedom, independence and justice are ideals that are never attained without sacrifice, Abdulhakim said. The people of East Turkistan have borne a heavy burden in pursuit of these ideals. Our family, too, has made substantial sacrifices and remains prepared to shoulder even more.

Omer Kanat, executive director of the Uyghur Human Rights Project, called Abdulhakims father a passionate patriot who instilled a resilient spirit within his children through his guidance.

Tragically, there have been additional losses within his family, with over 50 members falling victim to arrests by the Chinese government, he said.

In recent years, Uyghurs in Xinjiang have endured what the United States and several Western parliaments have declared a genocide or crimes against humanity at the hands of China.

Uyghur political activists and nongovernmental organizations abroad have dedicated considerable effort to exposing Beijings oppressive actions to the global community and to trying to put an end to them.

The last photo of Abdulkerim Zikrullah Idris, taken in 2014 in Hotan in Chinas far-western Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Credit: Courtesy photo

Steadfast in their mission

Dolkun Isa, president of the World Uyghur Congress, said Uyghur rights activists such as Abdulhakim Idris remain steadfast in their mission and undeterred by potential consequences.

I was profoundly saddened upon learning of the passing of my fellow activist, Abdulhakim Idriss father, he said. "We worked together to honor our moral duty to advocate for the rights of the Uyghur people. Be it me, Abdulhakim, or any fellow activist on this path, we have borne weighty sacrifices throughout the years.

Rushan Abbas, executive director of U.S.-based Campaign for Uyghurs, also lamented news of the death of Abdul Karim Zikrullah Idris  her father-in-law.

In this era of #AI and #Nano #technologies, #Uyghurs like myself cant even know the whereabouts or well-beings of our loved ones, she tweeted on Tuesday.

In 2018, the Chinese government arrested Gulshan Abbas, Rushan's elder sister, in an apparent act of reprisal for her siblings activism abroad, subsequently subjecting her to a 20-year prison sentence. The information came to light two years later.

Similarly, Dolkun Isa received news of the passing of his mother, Aygul Amet, in a re-education camp, and of his father, Isa Amet, who died at age of 86, several years after their demise.

Translated by RFA Uyghur. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, 27-year-old Russian soldier Fyodor was shocked by the scale of the losses. He quit the military and moved to Argentina with his wife, Olena, and scrapes out a living there as a cleaner.
More than 100 local nonprofit groups will be dividing more than $770,000 in grant money thanks to the Bama Works Fund.

We are really excited to have the support of the Bama Grant, Kala Somerville, executive director of Computers4Kids, told The Daily Progress.

Somerville said her group was awarded $10,000 this year. That money will help support Charlottesville-based Computers4Kids science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, mentoring program, she said.

Students that come through our program get matched one to one with adult mentors, Somerville said, and together they develop one complex technology project while developing the youth STEM skills and building their social capital.

Computers4Kids mission is to prepare children for a bright future by integrating mentoring and technology into their lives. That mission is brought to life by empowering youth from low-income households with STEM skills through evidence-based mentoring programs, according to Somerville.

I think one thing thats nice about our program is that it brings the community together, oftentimes it brings communities that would otherwise not have an opportunity to work together together, Somerville said. Because of the support from foundations like the Bama Fund it allows us to continue to provide those services to our young people.

Thousands of students have bridged the digital divide through the Computers4Kids program, according to the group.

And thats exactly the kind of work the Bama Works Fund is looking to support, organizers said.

Thats the hope that its really helping the community and bridging the gap in the community, Chaquita Venable, donor relations manager with the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation, which administers the fund, told The Daily Progress.

Computers4Kids is one of 106 nonprofit groups that were awarded a total of $773,800 by the Bama Works Fund, a group established by hometown legends the Dave Matthews Band in 1999. Since it was founded, the Bama Works Fund has awarded more than 2,800 grants to nonprofit organizations in the Charlottesville area, totaling more than $28 million.

The Community Climate Collaborative, also based in Charlottesville, was awarded $10,000, just like Computers4Kids. The group has already started to put the money into action, according to Executive Director Susan Kruse.

The funds from this years Bama Works grant are really supporting our youth leadership program, she told The Daily Progress. Were going to be using them to really implement our summer youth engagement program, and weve got teen interns over the summer and they are helping to elevate climate issues in the community and helping to add the youth voice to solutions for climate in Charlottesville.

The mission of the Community Climate Collaborative is to catalyze climate action, according to the organization. It aims to do this at a local level in Charlottesville through programs and advocacy with efforts to elevate the climate leadership in Virginia.

Much like Computers4Kids, the Community Climate Collaborative is focused on building a better community for the younger generation  with the younger generations help.

Teens learn about policy advocacy, fundraising and help to research grant opportunities for youth work, they will do communications-based work, and then we usually have a community partner that we work with, Kruse said.

Since its inception, the Bama Works Fund has operated under the philosophy that meaningful and long-lasting change begins in the community, the group said in a statement announcing the most recent round of grant recipients.

The commitment of the Dave Matthews Band to this region is remarkable, Brennan Gould, president and CEO of the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation, said in that statement. So many individuals have been positively impacted by this grant program and we are deeply grateful for the critically important work of the organizations that will benefit from these grant awards.

The Bama Works Fund awards grants twice a year.

The current application period opened on July 1 with a deadline of Sept. 1.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has thanked Danish lawmakers for their support in helping Kyiv fight off Russia's invasion, while Moscow said that the decision by Denmark and the Netherlands to send F-16 jet fighters to Ukraine would escalate the war.

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's comments in Copenhagen on August 21 came a day after he announced that Denmark had approved sending 19 of the advanced warplanes to Ukraine. Zelenskiy also said that the Netherlands had agreed to send 42 F-16s, although Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that while his country has 42 of the planes available, it has yet to decide whether all of them will be donated.



Ukraine has repeatedly requested F-16 fighters from its Western partners, and Denmark and the Netherlands are the first to answer the call. Kyiv has said it needs the planes to bolster its dwindling fleet of Soviet-era jets as it carries on with a counteroffensive in the face of a significant Russian advantage in the skies over Ukraine.



On August 20, Zelenskiy thanked the Netherlands and Denmark for their pledges to deliver the F-16s, saying: "We are working, making Ukraine stronger, and the Ukrainian air defenses more secure!"



Addressing Danish lawmakers, Zelenskiy said on August 21 that "all of Russias neighbors are under threat if Ukraine does not prevail in the now 18-month-long war launched by Moscow.

Zelenskiy later told a large outdoor crowd in Copenhagen that "we are confident that Russia will lose this war."

Denmark and the Netherlands, both NATO members, announced their decisions to donate the F-16s to Ukraine in a joint statement on August 20, but did not specify the number of aircraft.



Denmark has suggested that its F-16s could be delivered by the end of the year after four to six months of training.

WATCH: Residents of the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv gathered at makeshift memorials on August 20 to honor those killed a day earlier in a Russian missile strike. At least seven people died, including 22-year-old Nazar Yushchenko and a 6-year-old girl named Sofia.



During Zelenskiy's visit to a Dutch air base on August 10, Rutte did not provide a number or a time frame for deliveries, indicating that some of the 42 aircraft that the Netherlands has available would be needed for training purposes and that timing depended on the readiness of Ukrainian crews and infrastructure.



The F-16s will not help immediately now with the war effort. It is anyway a long-term commitment from the Netherlands, Rutte said. We want them to be active and operational as soon as possible. Not for the next month, thats impossible, but hopefully soon afterward.



Both the Netherlands and Denmark are members of a Western coalition that is training Ukrainian pilots -- first in Denmark and then in Romania -- to fly the sophisticated F-16. While Zelenskiy declined while in the Netherlands to say how many Ukrainian pilots would be trained, Denmark said last week that training would begin this month.

The United States last week authorized Denmark and the Netherlands to deliver the American-made F-16s to Ukraine.



On August 21, Danish Defense Minister Jakob Ellemann-Jensen told the Ritzau news agency that Kyiv may only use the Danish and Dutch F-16s within Ukrainian territory.



"We donate weapons under the condition that they are used to drive the enemy out of the territory of Ukraine. And no further than that," Ellemann-Jensen was quoted as saying. "Those are the conditions, whether it's tanks, fighter planes, or something else."



Russia on August 21 condemned the decisions by Denmark and the Netherlands to provide the aircraft.



"The fact that Denmark has now decided to donate 19 F-16 aircraft to Ukraine leads to an escalation of the conflict," Russian Ambassador to Denmark Vladimir Barbin said in a statement cited by the Ritzau news agency on August 21.



"By hiding behind a premise that Ukraine itself must determine the conditions for peace, Denmark seeks with its actions and words to leave Ukraine with no other choice but to continue the military confrontation with Russia," Barbin said.

With reporting by AP and Reuters
Against the backdrop of the intensifying war in Ukraine, Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu wrapped up a symbolic trip to Russia and Belarus by bolstering military ties and promoting a Chinese initiative meant to rival Western frameworks and put Beijing at the center of international security issues.



Li landed in Moscow on August 14 to kick off the military-diplomacy tour by holding talks with top officials, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.



Beijing and Moscow pledged to strengthen military cooperation despite the Kremlins full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which has triggered an ongoing humanitarian disaster and rattled the global security structure.



Li held discussions with senior Belarusian officials in Minsk on August 17 -- including leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka -- on how to deepen collaboration in areas from defense to economic cooperation, with the sides agreeing to hold joint military drills next year.

But central to Li's trip was pushing Chinas new Global Security Initiative (GSI), the brainchild of Chinese leader Xi Jinping that has become Beijings sweeping blueprint aimed at presenting foreign-policy alternatives to those offered by the West.

The Chinese policy -- which was fully unveiled in February -- calls for an enhanced focus on diplomacy and defense that China says can make the world safer through improved cooperation and dialogue on issues ranging from counterterrorism to increased military exercises and more comprehensive intelligence sharing.



Whether it is on Afghanistan, Syria, the Korean Peninsula, Ukraine, or the Iranian nuclear issue, China will promote peace talks and help reach an international consensus, Li said at the Moscow Conference on International Security on August 15. He cited the deal brokered by Beijing to normalize ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran in March as an example of this approach.

Chinese officials have positioned the GSI in strict opposition to initiatives and policies pushed by the West in recent years, in particular the United States use of economic sanctions and Washingtons invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.



While speaking at the conference in Moscow, Li took not-so-veiled shots at U.S. foreign policy.



The international community is resisting and strongly opposed to the hegemonic approach of imposing ones will on others and interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, he claimed. These erroneous actions deprive other countries of their right to development and autonomy, and are the source of chaos and disaster in the world.



A Receptive Audience



The Moscow security conference provided fertile ground for Beijings efforts to frame itself as an alternative to the United States as a security partner.



The event featured a prerecorded message from Putin in which he accused the United States of adding fuel to the fire of global conflicts, with the Russian president focusing on Washingtons military support and delivery of weapons to Ukraine.



The Kremlin invited 92 countries -- including Belarus, Saudi Arabia, India, and Vietnam -- to attend the conference, but Russian media reported that no representative from a Western country was in attendance.



While there, Li said that China was willing to hold more military exercises with other countries and would expand the scope of the drills. On the sidelines of the event, Li -- who was sanctioned by the United States in 2018 for helping China buy fighter jets and equipment from a Russian arms exporter -- also met with defense officials from Iran, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Kazakhstan, and Vietnam.



The whole point of GSI is trying to put a positive spin on Chinas security approach, Raffaello Pantucci, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, told RFE/RL. The Chinese like to have these big, central ideas to organize their views of the world that they can then pitch and sell to other countries.



Global Problems, Chinese Solutions



China unveiled its global security initiative in February following a proposal by Xi in April 2022.



In that speech, Xi suggested countries should resolve their disputes through dialogue, respecting one anothers differences in order to achieve security for all.



We need to work together to maintain peace and stability in the world, Xi said. Countries around the world are like passengers aboard the same ship who share the same destiny.

But analysts caution that behind the rosy rhetoric, many of the practices advocated through the GSI are designed to create a global system that is friendlier to autocratic regimes and erodes the current Western-led, multinational process.



The GSI is the latest and possibly most troubling evidence that the confrontation between the U.S. and China is escalating into a full-fledged contest for global primacy, Michael Shulman, a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank, wrote in The Atlantic last year.



It is unknown how Li and other senior Chinese officials will look to further the GSI in the future.



Countries are willing to sign on to initiatives and narratives like those in the GSI because they want engagement with China, Pantucci said. Its not necessarily that they believe the statements or the details within it, but they want a relationship with Beijing so they are willing to accept it.



Beyond the statements in Moscow about increased cooperation, Beijing has also included its 12-point proposal for how to end the war in Ukraine as within the broader framework of the GSI. The document has faced criticism from Western leaders who questioned Chinas ability to broker a truce given its growing ties with Russia.

The proposal has still received some endorsements from the Global South and helped set off a string of diplomatic forays over the war in Ukraine from leaders in Africa and Latin America.



Li also used the GSI and his tour to Russia and Belarus to push for other Chinese aims. At the conference, he said that attempts to use Taiwan to contain China would surely end in failure, according to the state-run agency Xinhua.



Tensions remain high over Taiwan, with Beijing viewing the island as a rogue province that it seeks to claim -- by force, if necessary.



Experts note that many of the principles advocated through GSI such as noninterference and regional stability are references to Chinas own concerns and desires over a potential conflict involving Taiwan. Beijing has repeatedly castigated American interactions with the island -- which Washington does not have official diplomatic ties with -- especially over U.S. arms sales to Taipei.
A polytechnic school in Russias Tatarstan, a region some 900 kilometers east of Moscow, is using manufacturing facilities that are part of a nearby special economic zone to assemble Iranian attack drones and are increasingly turning to underage students as laborers, many of whom often work in exploitative conditions.

The revelations at Alabuga Polytechnic University raise troubling implications about the lengths that Russian authorities are going to in order to boost the war effort and how the advanced Iranian weaponry -- which is increasingly used to bombard Ukrainian cities and has only recently begun to be manufactured inside Russia -- could contribute to escalating tensions and rising civilian casualties.

The use of underage students as drone factory workers and the details of the manufacturing facilities were first reported by Russian independent media outlets Protokol and Razvorot, which published a series of investigations in July.

Since then, RFE/RLs Idel.Realities has spoken with students who describe grueling working conditions and interviewed dozens of parents whose children have been enrolled at Alabuga Polytechnic University -- some as young at 15 -- who say that their children were forced to work exceedingly long hours, often without proper breaks or meals, and under hostile conditions that have deeply affected their mental health.

My son enrolled and 2 1/2 months later he called for me to take him away, Zhanna, who asked to be identified only by her first name to protect against reprisals for speaking about the operation, told RFE/RL. He said to me on the phone, Come and get me or Ill die, so I picked him up immediately.

Zhanna, who asked that her underage sons name also not be used, says that she sent him from Nizhny Novgorod to study at Alabuga Polytechnic University in 2022 because of its reputation as a leading technical institution inside Russia.

The school offered students -- often between the ages of 15-18 -- an opportunity to get vocational training as part of a dual program that combines a classroom education with practical work experience. Students were also promised an opportunity to work and earn a locally competitive salary of up to 70,000 rubles ($700) a month as part of the work experience program that could further their career growth.

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.

But, instead, those enrolled were encouraged and in some cases pressured into working at the drone facility, where the salaries of the mostly underage laborers are contingent on meeting tough production quotas.

This is a textbook definition of what constitutes exploitation, Sergei Podsytnik, an investigative journalist at Protokol who worked on the series of reports, told RFE/RL. [Students] assemble drones, with the work taking priority over their studies.

The pressure to fulfill these quotas has allegedly led to strenuous back-to-back days -- with some shifts lasting up to 15 hours -- with little time for sleep or adequate sustenance. Overtime work is often unpaid, further highlighting potential labor violations. Exhausted students also reported not always meeting their quotas, which led to them not earning the salary initially promised by the school. Many students came from disadvantaged backgrounds and relied on their earnings to cover costs for tuition, room, and board and would send the remainder home.

Other parents, such as Marina, said she decided to take her daughter out of the program when she discovered that she was working in apparent unsafe conditions and that staff from the school had instructed students not to tell their parents about the drone assembly work.

This was the last straw for me, Marina, who also asked for her identity to be concealed, told RFE/RL. This is a dangerous production process that involves dangerous chemicals. They also forbid the kids from telling everything to their parents.

RFE/RL sent multiple requests for comment to various staff and administrators at Alabuga Polytechnic University but received no replies.

Making Iranian Drones In Russia

The complicated and concerning dynamic at Alabuga Polytechnic University stems from growing military cooperation between Iran and Russia that has accelerated since Moscows full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Iran has said it provided drones to Russia before the start of the war, but not since. However, U.S. intelligence officials have warned for months of continued deliveries and deepening cooperation between Moscow and Tehran, saying the two sides were exploring how to set up a manufacturing plant for Iranian drones inside Russia.

According to The Wall Street Journal, an Iranian delegation visited Yelabuga in Tatarstan on January 5, touring a potential site for such a factory at the Alabuga special economic zone close to Alabuga Polytechnic University. U.S. officials released satellite images in April of the plant being built.

Russia already possesses an array of unarmed aerial vehicles, or UAVs, which are used mainly for surveillance and artillery spotting, but has turned increasingly to Tehran for attack drones.

After being forced to abandon Ukrainian territory that its troops captured in the early stretches of the war, Moscow shifted to a strategy of relentless air assaults on Ukrainian cities. These attacks often rely on a combination of cruise missiles and self-detonating drones packed with explosives to knock out electricity and running water for the civilian population in Ukraine.

So far, Iran has provided Russia mostly with so-called "suicide" drones, known as the Shahed-136, that contain a modest amount of explosives that can detonate when the drones crash into targets, military experts say.

In acquiring its own domestic assembly line, Russia could dramatically increase its stockpile of the relatively inexpensive but highly destructive weapons systems.

WATCH: Russia has resorted to using Shahed-136 drones from Iran in its war on Ukraine. Ukraine says it's already downed many of the drones, which work by slamming into their intended target, laden with explosives. Ordinary Ukrainians say they can already recognize the sound of the drones, which use two-stroke engines like lawnmowers or motorbikes. Iran has denied supplying the drones to Russia.

The arrangement also offers substantial economic and political benefits for Iran, which has sought to portray itself as neutral in the Ukraine war. The appearance of Iranian-made drones over Ukrainian cities, however, has triggered threats of new economic sanctions from the West. The United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom have also all issued rules in recent months designed to cut off the flow of drone components to Russia and Iran.

The Washington Post reported in November 2022, citing unnamed U.S. intelligence officials, that the agreement to deliver Iranian drone schematics and materials for manufacture in Russia resulted from Iranian leaders believing that the arrangement would allow Tehran to avert new sanctions.

Foreign Recruitment And Patriotic Education

Alabuga Polytechnic University is formally not a college. All of its students are officially enrolled at nearby Yelabuga Polytechnic College, with the Alabuga institution existing on paper as a specialized program for students looking to break into high-tech industries.

Currently, about 1,000 students are studying at Alabuga Polytechnic University, with several hundred of them -- most of whom are between the ages of 15 and 17 -- involved in assembling the Iranian drones.

In addition to the work on the drones, there are other signs that point to blurred lines in Russia between the education system and the countrys military amid the war in Ukraine.

According to current and former Alabuga Polytechnic University students, team-building and organized extracurricular activities through the school often take on a patriotic character that may be designed to expose students to official government narratives of international events or echo talking points from state television.

Organized paintball games have become a mainstay for students, especially first-year arrivals, in which they are encouraged to compete against one another and then play together against more experienced outside players. Teachers and administration officials regularly refer to paintball as being part of a patriotic education needed to complement the technical aspect of their studies.

In one instance, a group of new students competed in paintball as Soviet soldiers against outside players who were dressed as troops from Nazi Germany in a capture-the-flag competition meant to simulate the World War II battle of Stalingrad. According to one student, the Nazi flag contained the compass symbol used by the NATO military alliance instead of the swastika used by Nazi Germany.

Other instances of political teachings from staff are more direct. In a recording obtained by RFE/RL from June 16, a senior administrator can be heard telling the teenagers that NATO launched a hybrid war against Russia back in 2011 and that it has slowly become more overt. The man then goes on to tell students that their hard work and exceeding long days at the drone factory are part of a nationwide struggle against the West and that their patriotism will be rewarded.

Several students and parents identified the man in the recording as Timur Shagivaleev, the director-general of the special economic zone where Alabuga Polytechnic University and the drone factory operate.

Shagivaleev did not respond to RFE/RLs request for comment.

The man in the recording then goes on to tell students not to take holidays and to continue working even if it's mom's birthday, before ending his speech with, Long live our great country.

WATCH: Amid a new wave of Russian drone attacks on Ukraine, analysts in Kyiv are gaining useful intelligence from a collection of downed Russian aerial weapons. They have been studying the remains of Iranian Shahed drones and Russian Kinzhal missiles, among others.

Multiple current and former students told RFE/RL that students who work in the drone factory are often praised by staff, while those who have refused or asked to be reassigned due to the high workload are often publicly shamed. In some instances -- according to recordings heard by RFE/RL -- staff even encourage students to bully others who are not deemed patriotic enough.

According to Protokol and Razvorots investigations, Alabuga Polytechnic University has also turned toward recruiting foreign students to enroll. The majority of them come from African countries, but also from Central Asia and Azerbaijan, where they are promised world class salaries as part of the dual-track world experience program.

However, these foreign students are then given low-skill and menial tasks around the campus and the special economic zone, such as janitorial work, and are also paid lower salaries than initially promised.

Written by Reid Standish based on reporting by RFE/RLs Idel.Realities
Lithuania closed two of its six border checkpoints with Belarus on August 18 in a move it announced earlier this month citing the security risk posed by Russia's Wagner mercenary group. Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland have increased border security since thousands of Wagner fighters from Russia arrived in Belarus in recent weeks.
PODGORICA -- Montenegrins have mobilized over the authorities' unusual response to a late-night attack earlier this month, when a court fined a young local woman for fighting back all too well against a male harasser.



A judge acknowledged that the man "used physical force" against 25-year-old Milica Zivkovic but ruled that her response went beyond "necessary defense."



Zivkovic was fined 85 euros ($95) and ordered to pay the costs of a court translator for her alleged abuser, a Turkish national identified in legal documents as "UE."



UE, who is employed locally and had already spent 12 hours in custody, was fined 300 euros ($326).



"I don't know which was harder on me, the thug attack or the judge's verdict," Zivkovic, who has claimed self-defense and is appealing the decision, told RFE/RL's Balkan Service.



She said she's not someone who "sheds a tear" easily but that she cried after her treatment by the judge. "I left as a victim, innocent, and there I was slapped with the reality that I was guilty because I defended myself," Zivkovic said.

'Devastating Decision'



The ruling, in a misdemeanor court, has sparked public demands for increased vetting of judges and an acknowledgement from an indignant Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic that the "devastating decision" confirms the need for judicial reforms.



It has also contributed to calls -- including by the woman's father -- for greater controls over foreign workers in the small Balkan state of around 620,000 people.

Zivkovic has said the man had made unwelcome advances and pestered her in a cafe, then followed her and a friend into the street before grabbing her face, trying to kiss her, and touching her buttocks.



Zivkovic said the incident ended when the man fled at the approach of a passerby. She established his identity from documents that fell from his pocket before turning to police the next day.



The judge in the misdemeanor court, Alija Beganovic, questioned why she didn't immediately call the police rather than use physical force against him herself.



He concluded that Zivkovic "physically attacked UE, in the way that she hit him several times, with a closed and open fist, in the area of the head and body."



In court, "UE" accused Zivkovic or her friend of spitting on and slapping him, and said he only managed to tear himself away after being further accosted by an aggressive passerby.



An investigation has reportedly been launched into whether a crime was committed.

Abazovic took a personal interest in the case, and telephoned Zivkovic to offer sincere supporton behalf of the government.



I also expressed my indignation at the unfortunately devastating decision of our relevant authorities, the judiciary and the prosecutor's office, which fined Milica for self-defense, Abazovic posted alongside a photo of himself holding the message You are not alone.

I regret that such examples confirm how necessary we need changes in the judiciary and prosecutor's office, Abazovic added.

Foreign Workers



The incident has also stirred up resentment against foreign workers in Kolasin, a mountain municipality of around 7,000 people whose economy relies on skiers in winter and hikers and other tourists much of the rest of the year.



Zivkovics father, Stevo Zivkovic, posted a Facebook message to parents urging them to go to the authorities to report everything your child reports to you, from harmless touches to open attacks and attempted assault.



He warned specifically about numerous construction sites, whose workforce is mostly from abroad, and encouraged patrols and late-night document checks of foreign workers.



A rally has been organized for August 19 in the center of Kolasin to show support for Zivkovic.



The Network for the Affirmation of the Nongovernmental Sector in Montenegro has called for the adoption of a law on judicial vetting to avoid verdicts like Beganovic's.



Beganovic reasoned that he based his verdict on the evidence before his misdemeanor court and that police and investigators' classification of the crime is beyond his jurisdiction.



Podgorica lawyer Milos Vukcevic, who is not involved in Zivkovic's case, said it is difficult to know at this stage whether officials made a mistake in treating the incident as a misdemeanor rather than a criminal case.

Written by Andy Heil based on reporting by Aneta Durovic
A bill killed this year in the Virginia General Assembly that would have required schools to out students that identify as a gender other than their biological sex to their parent or guardian still has support among Republicans hoping to retake the state Senate this November.

Philip Hamilton, a Charlottesville resident and Republican nominee in Senate District 11, spoke of the House bill known as Sages Law, during an Aug. 7 event in Amherst County. He vowed to support the bill, which gained approval from the House of Delegates but failed to move out of the Senate Education and Health Committee, should he defeat Democratic Sen. Creigh Deeds, also of Charlottesville, in the upcoming election.

Hamilton said he sees culture wars going on in the state and nation and believes Christians and conservatives need to take a stand against the wokeness thats going on.

There are real-life consequences to whats occurring, Hamilton said. Parents are being placed in the dark. Its very real.

With all 140 Virginia General Assembly seats up for grabs Nov. 7, Hamilton said Republican leadership is crucial for parental rights  a popular term in Republican circles that has been applied to limiting speech in classrooms, content in school libraries and gender expression in schools. He described himself as an underdog against Deeds, who served in the House of Delegates from 1992 to 2001 and has served as a state senator for the past 22 years.

Deeds moved from Bath County to Charlottesville in 2021 to run for the seat after the state Supreme Court reconfigured legislative districts. He defeated Del. Sally Hudson, a University of Virginia professor, in a competitive primary in June with 51% of the vote.

The district encompasses the city of Charlottesville as well as Albemarle, Nelson and Amherst counties and parts of Louisa County after recent redistricting.

Hamilton said he is in favor of exploring 20-year term limits for state lawmakers and feels Deeds has been in office too long.

He said if Republicans can flip the Senate, where Democrats have a slim majority, in addition to holding on to the House, they can further strengthen parental rights by passing Sages Law.

There is no way that a child should have one name or one gender ideology in school and then have another at home with their parents, Hamilton said. Parents should never be left in the dark  period. It should be against the law.

Sages Law explained

The bill bears the name of a minor who, according to her adoptive mother Michele Blair of Appomattox survived a case of sex trafficking after running away from home because of bullying at school. On the childs first day in ninth grade at Appomattox County High School, the teenager decided to identify as a gender apart from the one assigned at birth and told a counselor of that decision, Blair said.

Blair said she was not told of that conversation and through interaction with school staff, her adopted child learned of a phone app that led to a stranger abducting the minor to Maryland and placing the teen in a sex trafficking ring.

Blair said that although her child was rescued, much psychological trauma was done. Thats why shes fighting for Sages Law.

What happened to my [child] could easily have been avoided if the school simply had been honest with me, Blair said.

In a statement, Appomattox County Public Schools Superintendent Annette Bennett said the division does not now and has never had any policy or practice of withholding information about a childs gender identity from parents or guardians.

The claim that this particular individual was unaware of her childs gender identity expression at school, and that school staff did not communicate with her regarding that, is simply not correct, the divisions statement reads. The ability of Appomattox County Public School[s] to respond to allegations pertaining to any particular child is limited due to privacy laws. However, Appomattox County Public Schools has appropriate policies and procedures in place to prevent bullying.

The divisions staff upon any report of bullying immediately investigates and takes appropriate action as needed based on the results of the investigation, the statement continues.

ACPS allocates significant resources, including staff training, to ensure we provide caring and supportive trauma-informed care for all students. We take our responsibility for every students care very seriously and seek to maximize their emotional and educational well-being.

Blair said her child, now 16, is working through a lifetime of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Its nothing short of a miracle, Blair said of the child surviving the plight. Im grateful because God is in the details.

Concerns over forced outing

At the Feb. 16 meeting of the Senate Education and Health Committee, Ghazala Hashmi of Chesterfield said the proposed legislation received considerable feedback during a public hearing. Several groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, Equality Virginia and others, spoke in opposition to the bill, according to Hashmi.

The concern is this would be a forced outing of a child and sometimes there are not homes or stable families in which a child who is part of the LGBTQ community or is transgender would have an opportunity to speak with an adult, the Democrat said.

The committee heard testimony that many transgender children struggle with homelessness because their families or communities have rejected them, Hashmi said.

This bill was deemed harmful by many who spoke because it takes away the opportunity for vulnerable children to receive counseling as they might necessarily need to do within a school environment. I move that we pass by indefinitely, Hashmi said.

Democrat Chapman Petersen of Fairfax County said at the meeting he strongly believes in parental involvement and agrees parents should be kept up to speed on issues affecting their child. He said his concern is the proposed legislation almost resembles a mandatory reporting bill that is done in cases of a crime against a child and his hesitation with Sages Law is it could put conversations between children and school staff on blast.

I feel like this bill, rather than solving the issue, would exacerbate the issue and the issue is parents and talking to their children, children talking to their parents, and children having the confidence to maybe speak with a teacher and not have to worry about getting put on blast, Petersen said.

Not going to forget

Blair said at the Aug. 7 event in Amherst she believes teachers or counselors being able to suggest life-changing medication that has permanent consequences to children is wrong.

Theyre kids. They cant even balance a checkbook, their mental health, Blair said. They change their mind every time the wind blows. Its a part of life. This is why schools have no business of discussing gender with our children.

Parents, not school staff, should be the ones guiding students through such issues, Blair said.

I am not here to tell you how to raise your kids. Im here to tell you we should not be placing adult decisions on children, especially not behind a parents back, Blair said. These kids are trying to grow up in a world where sex traffickers are lurking on every cell phone just waiting to trick your child into their sick game. We need schools to communicate with parents.

Schools need to respect parental rights, Blair said, adding her child slipped right through the cracks because of a schools decision to keep me in the dark.

We must be the voice of reason for our children, Blair said. We must save our children before its too late. Society may win a few battles but they will not win the war because parents have only begun to fight.

Hamilton said conservative activists must continue to tell stories such as Sages as they fight for so-called parental rights.

Were not going to forget about what happened and we will continue to fight for Sage in the 2024 General Assembly session, he said.
KYIV -- For months following Russia's full-scale invasion, the phrase "volunteered to fight" kept coming up in casual conversations and in the media as hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians joined the war effort to resist the unprovoked aggression despite the uncertain future and immense risks.



Eighteen months later, as the field of flags commemorating fallen soldiers on Kyiv's Independence Square grows wider and wider, the term "draft dodger" is gaining ground and a public outcry over enlistment and the mistreatment of soldiers reached a tipping point.



After a series of scandals sparked by evidence of corruption, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced that the senior military recruiters nationwide would be dismissed and promised to alleviate problems faced by soldiers who may endure many more months of fighting as the war drags on and Ukraine's current counteroffensive makes only limited gains.



But a push for reforms may prove difficult, not least because the resources at Ukraine's disposal are limited, as is the number of people willing and able to fight. With no end to the war in sight, the shake-up of the system could turn into a decisive stress test for Ukrainian society.



A Spanish Villa



Amid a war that has killed tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians, a report that a $4.35-million seaside villa in Marbella had been purchased by Yevhen Borysov, the head of the Odesa regional military enlistment office -- along with an office in the Spanish resort city and a luxury car -- pushed public anger to a point where the government apparently decided it had to act.



Borysov was detained, dismissed from his post, and subjected to a criminal inquiry. Evidence of lavish wartime spending by Borysov was brought to light by journalist Mykhaylo Tkach in an investigative report titled Battalion Spain; Ukraine's National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption later stated that he had illegally enriched himself to the tune of 188 million hryvnyas ($5 million).

According to Valeriy Bolhan, the editor in chief of the independent media outlet Intent and an associate at the Center for Public Investigations, an anti-corruption NGO in Odesa, as many as 50,000 people had paid off military recruiters there to avoid conscription or go abroad. "If you multiply that by $5,000 -- and that's an average price to 'confirm' unfitness for military service -- you get a fortune," he told RFE/RL.



Some claim the iconic Black Sea port city, which has a reputation for rampant corruption, has turned into a hotspot for draft evasion schemes. But Bolhan asserted that Odesa is not significantly different to other parts of Ukraine, as malpractice was reported across the whole country.



In the wake of that scandal, Zelenskiy announced an inspection of Ukraine's Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Centers, successors to the post-Soviet military commissariats that struggled with deep-seated corruption for decades. As a result of the inspection, the State Bureau of Investigation reported that 112 criminal proceedings had been opened against recruitment officials, 33 notices of suspicion filed, and 15 indictments submitted to courts.



On August 11, Zelenskiy took a more dramatic step, announcing that the heads of the military recruitment centers in each of Ukraines regions would be dismissed. The recruitment system "should be run by people who know exactly what war is and why cynicism and bribery in wartime are treason," he said, vowing to replace the dismissed officials with soldiers who have been wounded and can no longer fight.



'Wild Mobilization'



At the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, lines in front of the military recruitment centers were a common sight as Ukrainians rushed to defend their country. Since then, the nation of roughly 40 million has assembled an army of some 700,000 soldiers, plus up to 250,000 servicemen of the National Guard, border guards, and police, according to Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov.



At the same time, an unknown number of people have bribed military recruiters to avoid compulsory service, while others have gone abroad despite a ban on leaving the country for almost all Ukrainian men aged 18 to 60.



In a year and a half of grinding warfare, many of those who volunteered to fight have been killed or wounded. The precise number of Ukrainian casualties is not publicly known, but in an August 18 report, The New York Times cited U.S. officials it did not name as saying close to 70,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and 100,000 to 120,000 wounded -- far higher than the figures that Kyiv has disclosed.

As the war drags on, men and women in Ukraine are showing less and less enthusiasm about joining the military ranks in private conversations, while the need to provide new recruits for Ukraine's 1,500-kilometer front line is incessant.



This demand, combined with systemic corruption in the military enlistment system, led to "wild mobilization," Rostyslav Kravets, an attorney and head of the Ukrainian Independent Foundation Of Lawyers who represents dozens of men claiming to have been illegally summoned or recruited, told RFE/RL.



Since last winter, dozens of videos showing recruiters handing out draft notices in dubious or obviously illegal ways have surfaced online.

Recruiters in Odesa distributed summonses straight out of an ambulance they drove around the city. In Cherkasy, three recruitment-center staffers beat a civilian; one of them kicked him in the face. In Ternopil, a group of women prevented recruiters from roughly detaining a man in the street. In Kyiv, a group of illegal nighttime street racers received notices as a form of punishment -- a practice that became widespread for petty-crime or misdemeanor suspects despite criticism from civil society and the military.



As a result, some men across Ukraine have become skittish about leaving their homes and are angered by unpredictability and harsh treatment. Telegram chat groups with anonymized data about recruitment officers' patrols have sprung up in bigger cities, and anecdotes about men pulled off the streets and into the army have been passed from mouth to mouth. Pro-Russian Telegram channels and Tiktok accounts have magnified such messaging and mixed it with disinformation, seeking to sow fear.



According to Kravets, military recruiters have no right to detain men or forcibly transport them to recruitment centers, and there are no legal grounds to use summonses as punishment. "But recruiters do this all the time to manifest that they are efficient and at the same time simply enrich themselves through corruption," he said.



Moreover, he said, successive amendments to Ukraines general-mobilization legislation have broadened the powers of recruitment centers without providing more control over the process or instruments that would help men who are targeted defend their rights. Initially, summonses could be delivered to home addresses; now they can be issued without geographical restrictions, and more officials are allowed to distribute them.

In theory, the distribution of a draft notice does not mean immediate dispatch to the front. But all men aged 18 to 60 can be called up for military service if they have no legal grounds for postponement or exclusion, such as illness and disability -- of the draftee or a dependent -- or a specific family situation, such as single parenthood or three or more dependent children.



According to Yulia Zasoba, a lawyer from the human rights advocacy organization Yurydychna Sotnya, men called to the army are often unaware of their rights, and many recruitment centers simply mobilize them without providing relevant information.



Yevhen, who preferred to have his surname withheld, fearing retribution, first volunteered to fight against Russian-backed forces in the Donbas region at the age of 18, in 2017, and has been engaged in warfare on and off since then. After the full-scale invasion, he joined Kyiv's territorial defense unit and then fought in the Kherson and Donetsk regions. He told RFE/RL that he did not know he had been formally mobilized until a letter arrived at his home. "At that point, I wanted to leave the army, but it was too late," he said.



Vitaliy, 47, who preferred to have his surname withheld, fearing retribution, was qualified as fit for military service despite having four herniated discs restricting his leg movement. He agreed to join the army after he was promised to be assigned to a position in the rear. After two months of training, he was sent to the front in the Donetsk region.



Almost No Way Out



No matter how exhausted they are, physically or mentally, soldiers cannot leave the army unless the military medical commission states that they are not fit for service anymore. Their commanders may let them go on furlough for up to 30 days a year on family or health grounds. In practice, as a common saying goes, there are two ways out of the army: death or injury.



Last autumn, Yevhen started to suffer from constant coughing and chest tightness. He was diagnosed with asthma, but the military medical commission has ruled that he can continue military service. He is self-injecting steroids to treat asthma attacks and says he has "accepted" his situation and will carry on until the end.



Vitaliy spent three months at the front before he was hit by a grenade unleashed by a Russian drone and suffered several bone injuries, a brain injury, and lost sight in one eye. His family was mistakenly informed that he had deserted and could not find him until volunteers helped them identify the hospital where he was treated.



Zasoba told RFE/RL that a substantial portion of the soldiers problems are caused or aggravated by military medical commissions that are incentivized to keep soldiers in the army and are sometimes untransparent. Even if a commission qualifies a soldier as partly unfit, it often takes the commanders months to move them to a less risky position.

One woman who is over 50 and asked that her name be withheld because she fears retribution, spent six years in an administrative job in the army. She said she had a nervous breakdown last summer and was diagnosed with neurological diseases by several civilian doctors. At first, the medical commission dismissed her request to let her demobilize, but it let her go after she presented it with a pile of documents and threatened to bring a lawyer.



"I was released because I am a woman; men are under too much pressure to defend their rights," she told RFE/RL, adding: "Ukraine's enormous front demands a huge army and the pace of hostilities means theres not enough time to train and heal people.



On August 14, shortly after he vowed to shake up the enlistment system, Zelenskiy visited troops in the Donetsk region and said he discussed the challenges faced by the military with the commanders of brigades and battalions. He said that "a lot of problems arise due to the poor quality of the work of the military medical commissions" and promised to "prepare a solution."



On the following day, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk, who also heads the Ministry for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories, said that the road to victory will be long and difficult as, contrary to hopes expressed by many Ukrainians, the war with Russia will not be over by the end of the year or by next spring.



'The Decisive Factor'



For now, thousands of Ukrainian soldiers are wondering how long they will have to fight, while those who have not yet been mobilized fear they may be called up.



"Ukraine needs to choose between the needs of the military, the needs of the economy, and human rights -- one cannot have all," Kravets told RFE/RL. He said he believes that promises to root out corruption will prove meaningless because they will be most likely limited to personnel changes.



Others are more optimistic. Vladyslav Grezyev, the CEO of Lobby X, a human resources agency that has been active in civil society projects for almost a decade and is now recruiting for some highly specialized positions in the military, told RFE/RL that the military enlistment system has improved since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.



"If there is political will, long-term reform is possible, and we need it because we will never outcompete Russia in quantitative terms," he told RFE/RL.

The agency conducted research showing that roughly half of the men obliged to serve are ready to join the military, but they would like to have more control over the recruitment process and their potential military careers.



"To move forward, we need to make it easier to transfer soldiers between units, introduce a mechanism for demobilization and optimize recruitment for specific roles," Grezyev said.



According to Mykola Byelyeskov, an analyst at the National Institute for Strategic Studies in Kyiv, personnel policies in the Ukrainian Army are not ideal, but Ukraine's case is not unique. "A lot of wars started with a mass of volunteers ready to join ranks, but then conscription played its role."



He said that recruiting specific people for specific roles is important for the morale and cohesion of both the army and society in general, but in the end, the decisive factor for people's readiness to join the war effort is the chance to come back alive, which ultimately depends on proper training and armament.



"For the past 18 months, the sacrifice of lives compensated for lack of firepower -- no wonder people's enthusiasm ebbed," he said, echoing statements of Ukraine's leadership about the slow pace of Western military supplies. "But we are not going to compromise and we will do everything, we will keep fighting and prod allies to sustain our fight. As happened last spring."
I'm Steve Gutterman, the editor of RFE/RL's Russia/Ukraine/Belarus Desk.

Welcome to The Week In Russia, in which I dissect the key developments in Russian politics and society over the previous week and look at what's ahead. To receive The Week In Russia newsletter in your inbox, click here.

Russias invasion of Ukraine has killed more than 500 children -- possibly many more. One Kremlin foe is handed a 19-year prison term while another, sentenced to 25 years in prison on a treason conviction after criticizing President Vladimir Putin and the war, draws parallels with the Stalin-era persecution of citizens branded enemies of the people.

Here are some of the key developments in Russia over the past week and some of the takeaways going forward.

A Terrible Statistic

Almost 18 months after Russia launched its large-scale invasion of Ukraine, the war  at first almost unthinkable despite months of warning signs that it was on the way  has become a grim fact, an ongoing occurrence that throws up horrors daily but is also the mundane stuff of maps, schedules, daily planning meetings at media outlets, and more. While it is obviously anything but normal, it has been normalized to some degree, at least.

At the same time, there are developments that drive home the fact that there is nothing normal about it, and these are captured in things like news stories, photographs, videos. Even statistics, like this one: At least 500 children have been killed, and more than 1,000 wounded, since the large-scale invasion began on February 24, 2022, according to the Ukrainian Prosecutor-Generals Office.

Like the UN office that counts casualties and said this month that 9,396 civilians had been confirmed killed, the Ukrainian authorities stressed that the figures are incomplete, largely because of the difficulty gathering information from Russian-occupied areas, and that the actual toll may be much higher.

In any case, it is rising as Russia pushes ahead with its unprovoked invasion despite numerous setbacks and the failure to achieve Putins goal of swiftly  or even not so swiftly -- subjugating Ukraine.

On the same day as the figure of at least 500 was announced, officials said that two more children were dead: a 12-year-old boy and a 23-day-old girl who were killed along with their parents in a strike on their village in the Kherson region.

The children who have been killed have included the 14-year-old twin sisters killed in a missile strike on a pizza restaurant in the Donbas in June, the 4-year-old girl with Down syndrome killed in a cruise missile strike on the west-central city of Vinnytsya, far from the front lines, and a child whose mother and sibling survived an attack in March in Mariupol, which was razed by the time Russian forces captured it in April. And many, many more.

And in addition to the killings, Russia has taken many children across the border from Ukraine  a practice that led the International Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant for Putin in March. He stands accused of the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.

'Destroying Modern Russia'

While Putin has destroyed many lives in Ukraine, he has not destroyed Ukraine.

But he just might destroy Russia, Anne Applebaum, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book Gulag: A History, told RFE/RLs Georgian Service in an interview.

I don't think there's any question that Putin will be remembered as the man who really set out to destroy his own country, Applebaum said. And apart from what he did to Ukraine, apart from what he did to Georgia, apart from what he did to Chechnya, apart from what he did to Syria, you know, this is somebody who has worsened the living standards, and freedom, and culture of Russia itself.

Putin has brought back a form of dictatorship that I think most Russians had thought they'd left behind, she said. Remember the Putin regime for the first decade that Putin was president had elements of freedom in it. It wasnt a totalitarian state.

There was no thought police, no thought control of the kind people had known from the Soviet era. He is now slowly bringing that back. So, this is a crushing, not just of dissent, but a crushing of all politics, all imagination, all culture, all activity, anything independent, Applebaum said. What he's really doing is really destroying, you know, modern Russia.

Perhaps the most obvious evidence of the crushing of politics is the long and continuing prosecution of opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, who was in and out of jail over peaceful street protests for more than a decade and has now been behind bars since January 2021, when he was arrested upon return to Russia after recovering in Germany from a near-fatal nerve agent poisoning he blames on Putin.

Navalny has published evidence suggesting that Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) poisoned him. On August 17, the United States imposed sanctions on four men it said were linked to the FSB and were involved in his poisoning in Siberia in August 2020. One of them is Konstantin Kudryavtsev, an agent Navalny later said he had he had duped into revealing that the FSB was the culprit.

On August 4, Navalny was convicted on three criminal counts related to accusations of extremism, which he and his supporters dismiss as absurd, and sentenced to 19 years in a harsh, maximum-security special regime prison. But thats not all, or it might not be: He may also face trial on terrorism charges, which could result in an additional prison term.

Ballots And Prison Bars

Navalny has been convicted in three major trials  not including retrials  in the past decade. The charges he has faced have ranged from economic crimes such as fraud and embezzlement to, now, extremism and potentially terrorism.

What does that have to do with crushing politics?

Well, its widely suspected that the real reason he is being separated from society is that the Kremlin fears he poses a political challenge to Putin, who seems to be unable or unwilling to utter Navalnys name in public.

Navalny was allowed to run for Moscow mayor in 2013, but he was barred from the ballot  because of his criminal record  when he tried to go up against Putin in the most recent presidential contest, in 2018. The extremism charges that led to his conviction this month were related in part to a nationwide network of offices that he established as would-be campaign headquarters for the election.

Nineteen years would be the longest sentence handed down to a Kremlin opponent since the Soviet era  if not for another trial that ended this year, as the Russian states already intense clampdown on dissent intensified further following the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Vladimir Kara-Murza, a vocal Putin foe who has spoken out against the war on Ukraine and has campaigned in the West for sanctions against Russians who violate human rights, was convicted of treason in April  part of a surge of treason cases since the invasion  and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Sent To The Gulag

Like Navalny, Kara-Murza  who lived part-time in the United States in recent years  was arrested after returning from abroad. Despite the threat of prosecution, he came back to Russia in April 2022, after delivering a speech in Arizona in which he accused the "dictatorial regime in the Kremlin" of committing "war crimes." He was speaking about a year before the ICC issued the arrest warrant for Putin.

And like Navalny, Kara-Murza believes he was poisoned as retribution for his opposition to the Russian state.

On July 31, an appeals court upheld the verdict and sentence against Kara-Murza, as expected.

In an August 15 column in The Washington Post  dateline: Pretrial Detention Center No. 5, Moscow  Kara-Murza wrote that after a trial that was held behind closed doors, it was a special treat to see the faces, smiles, tears and thumbs-ups of my friends, colleagues and supporters, as well as journalists and diplomats who packed the courtroom.

Officially, Kara-Murzas trial was closed to the public because his case was classified. However, he wrote, The real reason  as prosecutor Boris Loktionov candidly stated at the appeals hearing last month  was to prevent Kara-Murza from using the court as a political platform and publicly calling our president, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, a murderer.

When his prosecution began, Kara-Murza wrote, I expected my experience to be similar to that of the dissidents of the 1960s and 1970s whose struggles against Soviet totalitarianism I have studied and documented.

But Russias regress under Putin has taken a much more dramatic pace, he wrote, adding that his trial had much more in common with the handling of enemies of the people under Josef Stalin and invoking his grandfather, who he said had been arrested and sent to the gulag in 1937, during the Great Terror, for expressing hostility towards the leaders of the party and the government.

The sentence completed the parallel, he wrote. Before me, the last time political prisoners in this country had received 25-year terms was at the end of Stalins reign.

That's it from me this week.

If you want to know more, catch up on my podcast The Week Ahead In Russia, out every Monday, here on our site or wherever you get your podcasts (Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts).

Yours,

Steve Gutterman
ROTHERHAM actress Liz White is being transported back in time to the role of a 1970s policewoman...again.

Liz was a huge success in the Life on Mars series, which aired on TV from 2006-7.

She played the part of a doe-eyed, innocent WPC who showed her compassionate side in a misogynistic northern police station, set in 1973.

Now she is back in blue - as a policewoman on the trail of the Yorkshire Ripper.

Liz plays the role of real-life Sergeant Meg Winterburn, one of the relatively few female officers in a West Yorkshire force that underwent withering criticism during their hunt for Peter Sutcliffe.

Viewers can catch her on the true crime drama The Long Shadow, which is set to be broadcast on ITV1 and ITVX next month.

Sutcliffe was arrested in Sheffield and later found guilty of murdering 13 women and attempting to murder seven others between 1975 and 1980.

It isnt known how Liz - who was born a year before Sutcliffe was captured - will portray Sgt Winterburn.

Winterburns job as an officer sifting through documents, catalogues, and suspects names has been played before in The Incident Room, a stage production three years ago at the New Diorama Theatre, London and then New York.

Liz, now aged 43, made her name in the role of WPC Annie Cartwright in the 2006 BBC One drama Life on Mars.

She clearly has a penchant for law and order productions.

In the same year Life on Mars hit our screens she showed up in six episodes of The Fixer, a murder mystery.

In 2011 she performed in the Wild Bill crime comedy-drama film.

Three years later she was in two episodes of the hugely popular Line of Duty.

In 2016 viewers saw her in Grantchester, an ITV detective drama set in the 1950s.

In 2021 she was in Unforgotten, the London-based thriller.

Last year, she also had a part in the crime series The Chelsea Detective.

The Long Shadow is a seven-episode series depicting the desperate hunt for serial killer Sutcliffe.

It was written by award-winning screenwriter George Kay who researched the much-criticised investigations archives, case files, interview transcripts and police reports.

Broadcasters have promised the series will sensitively focus" on the lives of the victims and the officers who were obsessed with bringing Sutcliffe to justice.

Filming took place in Yorkshire in last Summer, with locations including Wortley, Barnsley, Leeds, Dewsbury and York.
A CHARITY group with a roar-some record of helping the community is on the hunt for new members.

The membership of Mexborough and District Lions Club now stands at just ten, many of whom are aged over 80, prompting a call for new blood.

Their main fundraising revolves around their Christmas Sleigh, which they take around the streets in December.

Without more members, this years runs will not happen, cutting off their funds to help children in need.

If you want to help your community, you can contact the Lions via Mexboroughlionsclub.co.uk or contact Neil Luckock on 01709 88110.

The club meet at 8pm on the first and third Tuesday of the month at Rowms Lane Social Club in Swinton.
ROTHERHAM United are hoping the long-awaited announcement of the signing of summer target Christ Tiehi is now imminent.

The club agreed a deal with the midfielder's Czech Republic side, Slovan Liberec, several weeks ago and the French-born 25-year-old has been with the Millers camp since pre-season.

However, because the player doesn't hold a UK passport, rubber-stamping the move has been held up by the need for a work permit.

The Home Office were making their final deliberations yesterday and The Advertiser understands the Millers have made the extra financial commitment required to speed up the process.

They have opted for the Super Priority option to give them the best chance of having the player available for selection as soon as possible.

Rotherham believe they have presented a strong case and are very optimistic the transfer will go through.

We'll get a decision within 24 hours of the Home Office meeting, manager Matt Taylor told the Advertiser. In theory, it should be straightforward.

The solicitors we're working with have informed us Christ is in a good position to get the all-clear.

Then it's a question of how quickly we can get things signed and international clearance finalised. I do expect there to be positive movement this week.

Tiehi has a year left on his contract with Liberec and Rotherham are ready to pay a significant amount to acquire his services.

The price may exceed the 400,000-plus club-record fee that brought striker Freddie Ladapo to AESSEAL New York Stadium in 2019 but is likely to be officially announced as undisclosed.

The Millers can move swiftly to unveil their new boy if they receive Home Office clearance as all parts of the deal have already been finalised with Liberec and the player.

However, the need for international clearance will mean that any chance of Tiehi featuring at Sunderland this weekend will rely on the English and Czech Republic FAs ratifying the move quickly.
Punjab-Haryana High Court

High Court Orders Security for Same-Sex Couple

CHANDIGARH: In a significant verdict, the Punjab-Haryana High Court has clarified that residing in a live-in relationship does not contravene any legal provisions, thereby extending the recognition and protection of consensual relationships. The court's assertion came in response to a plea submitted by a same-sex couple, who sought safeguarding due to potential threats to their relationship. The High Court's ruling underscores the constitutional safeguard of Article 21, which guarantees the right to life and liberty for every citizen, unless legally deprived. Consequently, the court directed the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) in Jalandhar to provide security personnel to the petitioners.

The Petition was filed by two young women from Jalandhar, who appealed to the Punjab-Haryana High Court for protection against perceived threats to their lives. The couple contended that their consensual relationship put them at risk and sought intervention to ensure their safety. Affirming their deep affection for each other, the petitioners revealed that they had been in a consensual relationship for the past four years. Acknowledging their status as adults above the age of 18, the High Court upheld the fundamental principle that love, attraction, and affection know no boundaries, including gender.

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The High Court's verdict emphasized that the love and commitment demonstrated by the couple in their live-in relationship do not appear to infringe upon any legal provisions. Furthermore, the court highlighted that individuals possess the inherent right to lead their lives in a manner that aligns with their choices, as long as these choices do not breach established laws.

Recognizing the alleged threats to the lives of the petitioners, the High Court deemed such risks potentially irreparable. To ensure their safety, the court directed the SSP of Jalandhar to assign two women security personnel to protect the petitioners for a two-week period. Following this initial period, a regular review of their security status will determine the subsequent course of action.
Accused

Hefty Fine of Rs 3 lakh has been levied on the Accused

LUDHIANA: The Court's gavel fell on the accused responsible for the heart-wrenching murder of a 4-year-old child, delivering a verdict of life imprisonment. In a solemn judgment rendered by Additional Sessions Judge Amarjeet Singh, presiding over the special fast track court for POCSO cases, the accused, Phoolchand, has been sentenced to spend the rest of his life behind bars. This grim incident had sent shockwaves through the community as the innocent child's life was tragically snuffed out through unspeakable brutality.

In addition to the life sentence, the court has stipulated that Phoolchand will only be eligible for parole after three decades. Moreover, a hefty fine of Rs 3 lakh has been levied on the accused as part of his punishment. Addressing the profound grief suffered by the bereaved parents, the court ordered them to receive Rs 2 lakh as compensation.

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Phoolchand, also known as Pappu Singh (41), hails from Unnao, Uttar Pradesh. The incident unfolded in the backdrop of a sinister plan. The child's father, employed in a sewing machine factory, lodged a complaint with Police Station Division No. 6 on October 31, 2019. He alleged that Phoolchand, a cohabitant in their rented house, had lured the child away with deceitful intent.

The child's lifeless body was found with its throat grotesquely severed by a saw within the confines of the accused's locked room. The bereaved father further asserted that the accused had subjected his son to horrifying abuse prior to the heinous act. Swift action by law enforcement led to the apprehension of the accused. Revealing a deeply disturbing motive, it came to light that Phoolchand harbored a grudge against the child's mother. This vendetta drove him to abduct the young child.




Police Constable

Further investigation in the matter is underway

LUDHIANA: A Constable from the Punjab Police force has been admitted to Fortis Hospital under suspicious circumstances, having sustained a gunshot wound. Constable Gurwinder Singh, who served with the Commissionerate Ludhiana Police, is reportedly in stable condition and out of danger. The incident has prompted an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the gunshot wound.

Details surrounding the incident remain unclear, as Singh was found with a bullet wound believed to be from his official carbine. It remains uncertain whether the shot was self-inflicted or a result of external factors. The Focal Point police station has initiated an inquiry and taken possession of Singh's carbine to ascertain the sequence of events.

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Suganda, the wife of Gurwinder Singh, revealed that her husband followed in his late father's footsteps, who had also been a police officer. Singh's father tragically lost his life while on duty. Recently, Gurwinder Singh had been assigned as a security guard for a Hindu leader. However, following the leader's incarceration, Singh was reassigned to police line duty. The family suspects that the incident may be linked to an attack by drug addicts, given the missing mobile phone and bracelet belonging of Singh.

It has been noted that Singh was absent from duty for the past four days leading up to the incident. On August 15, he reported for duty, and on the morning of August 16, he left for police line duty. However, he failed to reach his destination. After receiving a call from a concerned officer, his wife learned that he had left for duty. Later, Singh contacted his wife to explain that he was engaged in some work and would return home by evening. Regrettably, he never arrived. The following day, around 4 am, Singh was found injured just outside his residence.

During the ongoing investigation, the police discovered a clue in the form of CCTV footage from the area. The footage captured Singh leaving an Activa scooter in the vicinity around 4 am. Notably, he appeared to be in good health at the time. Further investigation in the matter is underway.
Yasin Malik & Wife

Individuals with dual citizenship are eligible to serve as Advisers

ISLAMABAD: In a recent announcement by Acting Prime Minister of Pakistan, Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar, the composition of the cabinet was revealed, including the induction of 16 ministers and 3 advisers. Among the newly appointed advisers is the renowned senior journalist, Murtaza Solangi. Notably, Mushal Hussain Malik, the wife of Yasin Malik, a prominent separatist leader hailing from Kashmir, has been appointed as a Special Adviser to the Prime Minister. This move has drawn attention due to her Pakistani origin and her connection with Yasin Malik, who is currently imprisoned on charges related to terror funding.

As per Pakistan's constitutional provisions, individuals with dual citizenship are eligible to serve as advisers, though they cannot hold full-time ministerial positions. Mushal Hussain Malik, who holds both Pakistani and British citizenships, will assume the role of Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Human Rights within the cabinet. The decision to appoint her aligns with the country's efforts to strengthen its human rights initiatives.

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It's noteworthy that Yasin Malik, the separatist leader, and Mushal Hussain married in 2009. Their relationship led to the birth of their daughter, Razia Sultana, who is currently 10 years old. Razia Sultana resides with her mother in Pakistan, while her father remains incarcerated.

Notably, Yasin Malik's arrest in early 2019 stems from a 2017 terror funding case registered by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Subsequently, in May of the following year, a Delhi court sentenced him to life imprisonment in connection with the terror funding case.
Canaan Inc. (CAN), a Chinese high-performance computing solutions provider, said on Friday that a continued suspension of its bitcoin mining operations in Kazakhstan and an ongoing dispute in the U.S. will impact its bitcoin generation and revenue.

The company now expects that a continued suspension of its mining tasks in Kazakhstan will enter into the third quarter, resulting in an expected reduction in bitcoin generation.

Since July, Canaan has temporarily shut around 2.0 Exahash/s of its mining computing power in the Central Asian country to ensure legal compliance after the Rules for Licensing of Digital Mining Activities became effective in Kazakhstan.

The computing power shutdown comprises about half of the its total installed computing power in Central Asia and North America, which totaled 4.0 Exahash/s at the end of the first quarter.

Now, according to the Law, the persons engaged in the mining of cryptocurrencies must first obtain a specialized license. The miner noted that it has been continuing its efforts to get necessary licenses to resume its operations in the country.

Canaan U.S. Inc., an operating subsidiary of Canaan said that now it intends to file an arbitration demand and proceed to reach a suitable settlement pertaining to a case in which its partner breached the parties' Joint Mining Agreement at a U.S.-based mining farm.

Canaan has alleged that its partner, among others, has failed to install 13,000 of Canaan US's cryptocurrency mining machines, to refund Canaan US's $1.25 million deposit, and to pay Canaan US a substantial amount of the Bitcoin profits.

Canaan's move to file an arbitration demand follows a mediation earlier this month, where both parties failed to reach any settlement.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

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The U.S. Air Force has awarded a contract to JetZero to develop the next phase of a blended-wing body aircraft prototype.

JetZero's BWB aircraft is designed to reduce fuel consumption, cut emissions and noise, and provide an improved airline passenger experience.

The JetZero Blended Wing is the biggest leap in commercial aircraft architecture since the dawn of the jet age and the first step toward the goal of zero-carbon emissions aviation.



Under the terms of the award from the Defense Department's Defense Innovation Unit, JetZero will receive $235 million over a four-year period, with the prototype expcted to be ready by the first quarter of 2027.

For the military, projected BWB fuel savings of 30% over traditional aircraft would help mitigate logistics risks and enable critical capabilities such as increased range, loiter time, and offload capabilities," Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks said in a statement.

JetZero said the aircraft will launch in 2030 with 100 percent SAF compatibility, and the internal volume to accommodate zero-carbon emissions hydrogen.

JetZero is collaborating with Northrop Grumman and Scaled Composites to build and test the full-scale demonstrator.

"The BWB is the best first step on the path to zero carbon emissions. It offers 50% lower fuel burn using today's engines and the airframe efficiency needed to support a transition to zero carbon emissions propulsion in the future," said JetZero CEO Tom O'Leary, "No other proposed aircraft comes close in terms of efficiency."

JetZero is leading efforts to expand BWB and demonstrate its capabilities for the future of aviation and the climate for both military and commercial .

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

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Distinguished Professor Marcelline Tchassim reading a poem to the audience

By Nothando Calane

Students, members of the Ink Society and staff at Rhodes University recently participated in an open mic event in celebration of Women's Month. The event, themed "Celebrating African Women Writers", was to honour and shine a light on African women authors.

Books and poetry by influential African women authors, including Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Leila Aboulela, Mariama Ba, Adhiambo Owuor, and Zo Wicomb, among many others, have been on display at the English Department since May (Africa Month).

"The African authors exhibition inspired this open mic event. The two departments (English and Internationalisation) decided to build on this to celebrate Women's Month," explained Orla Quinlan, Director of Internationalisation at Rhodes University.

Professor Arthur Mukenge, Head of the Department of French Studies, joined the event and introduced Distinguished Visiting Professor, Togolese author and gender activist Professor Marcelline Tchassim, who was visiting his department at Rhodes University that same week. Prof Tchassim has published many books, including novels, fiction and poetry, which were also on display. Additionally, she obtained the "Grand Prix De La Litterature Togolaise" in 2020. She read powerful poems from the collection "Elle", which means "She" in French. Full of powerful imagery, the poem encouraged women to use the talents and fortitude they were born with to uplift themselves.

"The poem read by Prof Tchassim resonated with me. As an African woman, I am gentle, graceful, and respectful to the elders and men but strong at heart. I am always ready to carry the burden of others, and I love it when I am called 'mother'. I believe that what makes me powerful as a woman," said Christina Makamo, a visiting staff member from Mzuzu University, Malawi, currently hosted by the International Office on an intra-African mobility programme.

Makamo read a poem by a Malawian child about the domestic abuse of her mother. The Director of Institutional Equity and Culture, Dr Claire Kelly, who was in attendance, also read a poem.

The open mic event hosted by the International Office, in collaboration with the Department of Literary Studies in English, also served as a platform for very talented students and staff to share their own powerful poems and spoken word, either by women or dedicated to the women in their lives and community.

In closing, the Head of the English Department, Professor Lynda Spencer, reminded attendees why they had come together and advised: "As Women's Month continues, let's remember to celebrate and uplift the voices of women, particularly those from Africa, who continue to shape our world through their words."
The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) is gathering international leaders from the fields of archaeology, cultural heritage, media, innovation, entrepreneurship and more for the first-of-its-kind AlUla World Archaeology Summit.

From September 13 to 15 September at Maraya in AlUla, this invite-only event will feature panels and informal discussions centred on advancing the field of archaeology at a global scale, contributing to further discovery and innovation worldwide.

Beyond scholarly discourse, the Summit will provide a global platform for collaboration with wider audiences. More than 60 speakers from diverse professional backgrounds will broaden the impact of archaeological relevance to global issues, co-creating visionary, heritage-based solutions to contemporary issues across sectors and vice versa.

Cross-disciplinary collaboration

Abdulrahman Alsuhaibani, Executive Director of Archaeology, Conservation and Collections at RCU, said: The AlUla World Archaeology Summit will foster an environment of cross-disciplinary collaboration and knowledge exchange. Inspired by humanitys shared past, we will focus on innovative solutions that can have long-lasting impact on the world. Were excited to host the inaugural Summit in AlUla, where the world came to meet, and where we will meet again.

The AlUla World Archaeology Summit serves the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030 with its focus on positively impacting humanity through insights gained from both cultural heritage and advancements in science. The event in AlUla runs during the same period that, for the first time, Saudi Arabia is hosting the 45th UNESCO World Heritage Committee 10-25 September in Riyadh.

The main programme will focus on four key themes  Identity, Resilience, Ruinscapes, and Accessibility. Both Saudi and international archaeology students and young professionals will be selected to join the parallel Future Forum providing a platform to engage and contribute to important conversations in the fields of archaeology and cultural heritage. There will be field excursions across AlUla, which in recent years has become a hub of archaeological fieldwork and conservation.-- TradeArabia News Service
A state agency this week heard testimony favoring and opposing a proposal to mandate more than $2.55 billion in energy efficiency upgrades for some 8,000 large buildings under consideration.

The potential costs to upgrade large buildings having more than 50,000 square feet of floor space is causing consternation among building owners, including owners of large, older apartment buildings. Proponents, meanwhile, said the new regulations will improve air quality, upgrade the quality of buildings in Colorado, and must be done all at once to make any substantial effect.

In a three-day meeting, the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission tackled the proposal from the Colorado Air Pollution Control Division called Regulation 28, which seeks to mandate 7% building energy use reductions by 2026 and 20% by 2030. The proposal first came before the commission on May 16.

Strident objections from building owners and apartment industry representatives persuaded the air quality commission in April to continue the proceedings until August.

Apartment developers argued it may well be unaffordable, if not impossible, to meet the new standards and result in loss of low-income housing stocks if buildings have to be closed  or the cost of new, low-emission upgrades will be passed to renters.

The commission is determined to push the regulation through by Friday to meet a statutory mandate that it does so by Sept. 1.

Environmental attorney Paul Seby told The Denver Gazette that the revised regulation is worse than the original one in that its more stringent and less flexible.

Tim Walsh, CEO of The Confluence Companies, which builds multifamily housing up and down the Front Range, said electrification of older apartment buildings that use central hot water for heating and washing could cost as much as $80,000 per apartment.

We're going to be disproportionately hurting the hardest working Coloradans and the lowest wage earners by implementing this rule, Walsh said in a prior interview. Everybody wants to talk about affordable housing. And affordable housing is also about affordable utility bills in your home, as well, not just the cost of rent or own.

Dennis Supple, a spokesperson for International Facility Managers Association, told the commissioners Wednesday that supply chain issues and up to 18-month delays for delivering new, low-emission equipment are likely to make it impossible to obtain the necessary equipment before the 2026 reduction sets in.

On the other hand, Cliff Majersik, senior advisor for policy and programs at the Institute for Market Transformation, told the commission the building energy standards are necessary and workable.

The requirements on building owners in the proposed Rule 28 are absolutely doable for building owners and they will create benefits beyond just energy and climate savings, Majersik said. They will create buildings that are healthier and more comfortable for the occupants. They'll create jobs for Colorado workers, they will add property value.

And it's hard though to move individually. So, collective action is needed to move the whole industry and a building performance standard is great for driving that collective action, overcoming the first-mover disadvantage, and helping Colorado to create more valuable buildings, more profitable buildings, more jobs for its residents, Majersik added.

In addition to Colorado, three other states have adopted building performance standards: Washington state, Maryland and Oregon.

Tricia Canonico from Fort Collins City Council, a member of Colorado Communities for Climate Action, said the group's members comprising 42 municipalities and counties all share a "deep concern about the existential threat of the climate crisis. The coalition, he said, represents a broad cross section of diverse communities that make up over a quarter of the Colorado population.

In response to complaints against the proposed rule, the Colorado Energy Office said that the regulation is mandated by statutes enacted by House Bill 21-1286, and it is only doing what the law requires. Any defects lie in the law itself, said the office, and neither the energy agency nor the air quality commission can change that. Until the underlying statute is challenged and overturned, the energy office said agencies have a legal duty to forge ahead.

Gov. Polis signed the enabling legislation in June 2021. The commission announced the proposed rule 18 month later on Jan. 20, 2023.

Seventeen of the approximately 75 people who attended the on-line Zoom public comment session on Tuesday spoke to the commission. Another 75 people signed up for the Wednesday formal hearing, where the Air Pollution Control Division gave its presentation on the new regulation and parties to the proceeding gave their testimony.

Late Thursday afternoon, commissioners voted 6-1 to pass the regulation with Commissioner Randy Ahrens voting against the proposal and Commissioner Gary Arnold absent.
Neptune is the most distant planet in the Solar System, an ice-giant that boasts an active and chaotic atmosphere. Using archival near-infrared observations from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, the W.M. Keck Observatory and the Lick Observatory, a team of astronomers led by the University of California, Berkeley documented the evolution of Neptunes cloud activity from 1994 to 2022. They calculated the fraction of Neptunes disk that contained clouds, as well as the average brightness of both cloud features and cloud-free background over the planets disk. They observed cloud activity and brightness maxima during 2002 and 2015, and minima during 2007 and 2020, the latter of which is particularly deep.

I was surprised by how quickly clouds disappeared on Neptune, said University of California, Berkeleys Professor Imke de Pater.

We essentially saw cloud activity drop within a few months.

Even now, four years later, the most recent images we took this past June still show the clouds havent returned to their former levels, said Erandi Chavez, a graduate student at the Harvard-Smithsonians Center for Astrophysics.

This is extremely exciting and unexpected, especially since Neptunes previous period of low cloud activity was not nearly as dramatic and prolonged.

To monitor the evolution of Neptunes appearance, the astronomers analyzed Keck images taken from 2002 to 2022, Hubble archival observations beginning in 1994, and data from the Lick Observatory from 2018 to 2019.

The images reveal an intriguing pattern between seasonal changes in Neptunes cloud cover and the solar cycle  the period when the Suns magnetic field flips every 11 years as it becomes more tangled like a ball of yarn.

This is evident in the increasing number of sunspots and increasing solar flare activity.

As the cycle progresses, the Suns tempestuous behavior builds to a maximum, until the magnetic field beaks down and reverses polarity.

Then the Sun settles back down to a minimum, only to start another cycle.

When its stormy weather on the Sun, more intense ultraviolet (UV) radiation floods the Solar System.

The researchers found that two years after the solar cycles peak, an increasing number of clouds appear on Neptune.

They further found a positive correlation between the number of clouds and the ice giants brightness from the sunlight reflecting off it.

These remarkable data give us the strongest evidence yet that Neptunes cloud cover correlates with the Suns cycle, Professor de Pater said.

Our findings support the theory that the Suns UV rays, when strong enough, may be triggering a photochemical reaction that produces Neptunes clouds.

Its fascinating to be able to use telescopes on Earth to study the climate of a world more than 2.5 billion miles away from us, said Dr. Carlos Alvarez, an astronomer at Keck Observatory.

Advances in technology and observations have enabled us to constrain Neptunes atmospheric models, which are key to understanding the correlation between the ice giants climate and the solar cycle.

A paper on the findings appears online in the journal Icarus.

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Erandi Chavez et al. 2023. Evolution of Neptune at near-infrared wavelengths from 1994 through 2022. Icarus 404: 115667; doi: 10.1016/j.icarus.2023.115667
A new genus and species of pterosaur precursor has been described from a 230-million-year-old partial skeleton found in southern Brazil.

The newly-discovered species lived in what is now Brazil during the Late Triassic epoch, around 230 million years ago.

Named Venetoraptor gassenae, the reptile was approximately 1 m (3.3 feet) in length and weighed between 4 and 8 kg.

The ancient creature belonged to Lagerpetidae, a family of earliest-diverging pterosaur precursors.

Dinosaurs and pterosaurs originated in the Middle or early Late Triassic epoch, and both groups survived the end-Triassic extinction and became the numerically dominant tetrapods in land and sky, respectively, during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, said Federal University of Santa Maria paleontologist Rodrigo Temp Muller and his colleagues.

As a result of a very scarce fossil record, the origins of these groups have been an obscure but strongly debated topic for decades.

However, a wave of recent discoveries dramatically increased our knowledge of both dinosaur and pterosaur precursors, they said.

It is now clear that their taxonomic diversity was considerably broader than previously thought, with several sub-clades (that is, aphanosaurs, lagerpetids and silesaurids) distributed throughout the ancient supercontinent Pangaea.

In spite of improvement in the fossil record of dinosaur and pterosaur precursors, their skulls and other regions of the skeleton (for example, hands) are still represented solely by fragmentary or poorly preserved specimens.

These knowledge gaps preclude more comprehensive ecomorphological and macro-evolutionary studies of these forerunners.

Venetoraptor gassenae possessed a combination of unexpected features, including a sharp, raptorial-like beak and enlarged hands with scimitar-like claws.

The unusual raptorial-like beak of Venetoraptor gassenae predates that of dinosaurs by around 80 million years, the paleontologists said.

In modern birds, similar beaks are attributed to various functions, such as tearing meat or eating hard fruit.

Associated with the large sickle-shaped claws, the beak may have been used to handle potential prey. Additionally, claws may have helped Venetoraptor gassenae climb trees.

The well-preserved partial skeleton of Venetoraptor gassenae was recovered from the Upper Triassic beds of Brazil, from the same fossiliferous layers that yielded some of the oldest dinosaurs worldwide.

Combining anatomical information of the new species with other dinosaur and pterosaur precursors shows that morphological disparity of precursors resembles that of Triassic pterosaurs and exceeds that of Triassic dinosaurs, the researchers said.

Thus, the success of pterosaurs and dinosaurs was a result of differential survival among a broader pool of ecomorphological variation.

Our results show that the morphological diversity of ornithodirans (early relatives of dinosaurs and pterosaurs) started to flourish among early-diverging lineages and not only after the origins of dinosaurs and pterosaurs.

The discovery is reported in a paper published this week in the journal Nature.

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R.T. Muller et al. 2023. New reptile shows dinosaurs and pterosaurs evolved among diverse precursors. Nature 620, 589-594; doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06359-z
The proposed sale of United Groups mobile telephony towers in Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia to Saudi telecom infrastructure company Tawal has been approved by Bulgarias Commission for Protection of Competition.

Under the terms of the deal, United Group plans to sell 100% in a subsidiary that owns the towers for 1.22 billion euros (about US$1.325 billion) in cash but will continue using the infrastructure under a long-term agreement.

United Group describes itself as the leading multi-play telecoms and media provider in South East Europe, providing customers with a full range of telecommunications services. The core activities of Tawal, a subsidiary of Saudi Telecommunications Company (STC), involve designing, building and managing consolidated telecom infrastructure facilities. The Tawal/United Group agreement was first announced in April.

According to local press reports, the only objection to the proposed acquisition came from Yettel Bulgaria, one of Bulgarias three mobile carriers, which competes against United Group-owned service provider Vivacom.

Yettel wanted the regulator to delay a decision until it had ruled on United Groups acquisition of Bulgarian satellite TV provider Bulsatkom  a deal that apparently had not involved prior notification of the CPC. This acquisition itself included some mobile telephony towers  possibly, Yettel suggested, being sold as part of the Tawal deal. Yettel also asked for a more in-depth analysis of the impact of Tawals acquisition on the market.

The CPC has rejected Yettels argument, but the review of United Group's acquisition of Bulsatkom is still pending, which, in theory, could affect the Tawal deal.

United Group owns Vivacom, Nova Broadcasting Group, (one of Bulgarias two largest private television broadcasters), and a number of ISPs, not to mention telecom, cable TV and broadcasting assets in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia.
Telenor Pakistan promoted COO Khurrum Ashfaque (pictured) to CEO, replacing Irfan Wahab Khan who will take a new role as SVP in Telenor Asia.

Ashfaque will begin his role on September 15 and has served Telenor Pakistan for 17 years in multiple senior roles, including as CTO for six years between 2014 to 2020, before he was promoted to COO.

As we navigate the evolving telecommunications landscape, my focus will be on empowering our customers and driving digital transformation, said Ashfaque on his appointment.

Khan takes up his new role on the same day, joining the Telenor Asia leadership team in Singapore. He joined Telenor Pakistan in 2004 as its first employee and has held various leadership positions across the Telenor Group in Europe and Asia.

He was Telenor Pakistans chief executive for the last seven years where he has been instrumental in ensuring business resilience and furthering the digitalisation agenda.
Great Portland Estates announced the purchase of King Sloane Properties on Friday, which itself owns the freehold of multiple addresses including 16/19 Soho Square, 29/43 Oxford Street, and 7 Falconberg Mews, W1.

The FTSE 250 company said the significant acquisition from Belgravia & Chelsea Property Services was for a cash consideration based on a property valuation of 70m, equating to around 772 per square foot on a consented net internal area basis.

It said the transaction was also expected to undergo further balance sheet adjustments.

The acquired estate encompassed 57,456 square feet of mixed-use buildings, with multiple tenants and an annual rent income nearing 1.48m.

However, GPE said it expected the properties to be vacant by March next year.

It said the 0.5-acre site had planning permission allowing for the demolition of existing structures to pave the way for around 90,000 square feet of brand new Grade A office space and prime retail quarters.

This acquisition represents a fantastic opportunity for us to develop a strategic West End freehold site into a best-in-class headquarters building with excellent sustainability credentials, said GPEs senior investment manager, Alexa Baden-Powell.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
(credit: Stephanie Ewnes Photography)

In 2019, Elizabeth Rush was invited to join the scientists and crew on an unprecedented expedition to Thwaites Glacier, a never-before-explored part of Antarctica. From that experience comes The Quickening: Creation and Community at the Ends of the Earth (Milkweed Editions; reviewed in this issue). Similar to Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore (finalist for the Pulitzer Prize), The Quickening looks unflinchingly at the difficult truths of climate change and the complicated decision to become a parent at such a time. Rush lives in Rhode Island, and teaches creative nonfiction at Brown University.

For a book ostensibly about a scientific expedition, The Quickening takes an unusual structure and slant, incorporating a surprisingly high volume of dialogue. What made a four-act "play" the right form for this story, and why was it important for the "cast" to speak in their own voices?

It's a choice that I can trace to a single book. I don't know if you know Ilya Kaminksy's book Deaf Republic.

I love that book.

It's such an incredible book. It's a collection of poems about a community living through a repressive regime, and at the start, there's a cast of characters. For instance, you see something like "Sonya, pregnant, puppeteer." There was something about that structure that made each character feel like an autonomous, fully formed person, like I was being invited into this community.

I wanted to try that structure in this really different form. My book is not poetry, but I didn't want my shipmates to be experienced through the cipher of me as writer and documentarian; I wanted them to sprout from the page fully formed. So my narration is regularly interrupted by my shipmates speaking, and that's formatted on the page to look like a screenplay. They speak directly to the reader.

You mention feeling invited into community by Kaminsky's book. With all the big issues in this book--Antarctica, climate change, motherhood--it would be easy to miss part of the subtitle: "Creation and Community at the Ends of the Earth." But one of my favorite pieces of dialogue is when Gui says of life on the boat: "Every time I need help, I ask, and every day, people help." What do you think might change if our everyday world looked more like this?

As a mother to a young child and before that, being pregnant in the pandemic, birthing a child into a pandemic--one of the hardest parts has been learning to ask for help from my community. I pride myself on being independent. We've been taught it's a valuable characteristic, and as a woman you want to lean into that independence even more. And yet, something that I've experienced--on the boat but also through early motherhood--is that your community wants to help, they want to feel useful. When we don't ask for help, we deny people the possibility of feeling useful and needed. I get that it's hard to do, but it is central to the creation of a community that's interdependent and tight-knit and reliable.

You write, "Some call this moment, and the many others that are piling up, the beginning of the end. Some suspect this is how the insurgency starts, with the rattling of glaciers." Would you call it that?

I wouldn't say that we're at the beginning of the end. If we take a more ample view of history, we understand that the world is always ending; worlds are always ending. The question is: How do we live through that and become stronger, more whole somehow, on the other side? I would love to think that this is the beginning of the insurgency as well, but I don't think that's a certitude. I think that's very much up to us.

In several places throughout the book, you engage our understanding of time and how our connectedness through time affects how we see the world. It seems like you were trying to pan out and show a longer sweep of history, a broader perspective. Why was this subtle thread an important one here?

Totally! It is so hard for us to think outside of human time. There have been all these psychological studies that conclude we can understand our parents and our grandparents, and we can consider our kids and our grandkids, but beyond those boundaries, it's very hard for humans to get a grasp on time.

So to think about the timeline of trees or glaciers--is that impossible?

I think we can try! I was on the boat with a lot of glaciologists, studying the movement of glaciers 10,000 or even 20,000 years ago, around the last glacial maximum. Or they're looking at sedimentary records around the same time, trying to figure out how Thwaites has acted since the end of the last Ice Age. They are fundamentally aware that their life is a really tiny blip in a much longer range. So I know it's humanly possible.

I remember asking chief scientist Rob Larder if Antarctica shapes us. I thought he was going to dismiss my questions as humanistic sorcery, but he said yes. The last 6,000 years of planetary history have been really stable. If you go beyond that, sea levels regularly rise and fall 5-6 feet per century. Which is what we're facing now, and it's throwing our world into chaos because we're not used to it. We're used to sea level variability being really low in comparison to the standard in geological time.

Your book Rising opens with a simple epigraph from Simone Weil: "Attention is prayer." How do books like The Quickening help us find that kind of reverent attention to the world around us?

In the environmental literature and humanities world, there's a big push for recognizing the animacy of nonhuman actors right now, and I think what The Quickening offers in terms of paying attention is that it is actually a laborious and time-consuming task. I think it sometimes appears cloyingly simple. Like, let's recognize the animacy of trees! But to do that, you actually have to pay attention over these longer time scales. I hope The Quickening is an invitation to think about attention to nature or nonhuman actors as something you foster in the place where your life takes root. It's too easy to think about going on this huge expedition and getting to see these sublime things or climb this mountain. At some level the book is saying it's way more important to hone that attention at home. It talks about the fallacy of only tuning in or turning oneself on in those heightened moments.

You wrestle with the decision to bring a child into this potentially collapsing world, but at one point you suggest having children might be "an act of radical faith that life will continue, despite all that assails it." How do you manage that fine balance between hope and the despair that can set in when we look too long at the facts of climate change?

Part of me thinks you do it because you don't have another choice. There's not an option. And isn't that true of everything that is really rewarding and hard. Everything that's worth it is at some fundamental level not easy. And you wouldn't do it any other way. It's a fallacy to assume that you can have hope without despair or hope without fear or hope without concern. Hope is a tool that propels you to make that world the way you want it to be. --Sara Beth West, freelance reviewer and librarian
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman asked chartered accountants to adequately familiarise themselves with new and growing areas of auditing, including ESG (environmental, social, and governance) and carbon accounting, and to adopt technology to improve their productivity. Developing expertise in new areas will help not just their clients but also the broader ecosystem, Sitharaman said at an event held by Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) in Bhubaneswar.

Urging these professionals to adopt technology, she said, "Thanks to technology, the traditional image of accounting as a tedious process is rapidly changing." The minister said the Free Trade Agreement with the UK, which is being negotiated by the commerce ministry, will have much for the Indian chartered accountants to benefit from if they can leverage it well. Earlier this year, ICAI president Aniket Sunil Talati had said the chartered accountants' body had decided to endorse proposals to allow auditors from the UK and Canada, with which FTA talks are going on, to practise strictly on "reciprocity basis".

Sitharaman also dwelt upon the mutual recognition agreements that ICAI has got into with top auditing bodies of various countries. These include Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland, the UK and Malaysia. The minister highlighted the growing importance of digitisation, saying it has led to greater financial literacy at low costs, brought in transparency in the system and enabled retail investors to get into stock markets.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das launched a centralised web portal UDGAM (Unclaimed Deposits - Gateway to Access inforMation), which would make it easier for people to search for their unclaimed deposits across multiple banks at one place. The launch of the web portal will aid users to identify their unclaimed deposits and accounts and enable them to either claim the deposit amount or make their deposit accounts operative at their respective banks, a statement issued by RBI said.

Reserve Bank Information Technology Pvt Ltd (ReBIT), Indian Financial Technology & Allied Services (IFTAS) and participating banks have collaborated on developing the portal. To begin with, users would be able to access the details of their unclaimed deposits in respect of seven banks presently available on the portal. The search facility for remaining banks on the portal would be made available in a phased manner by October 15, 2023.

The central bank had announced the development of a centralised web portal for searching unclaimed deposits as part of its "Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies" on April 6 this year. The initiative has been launched amid rising amount of unclaimed deposits in banks and RBI has been undertaking public awareness campaigns from time to time to sensitise the public on this matter. Further, through these initiatives, the RBI has been encouraging people to identify and approach their respective banks for claiming unclaimed deposits.
India has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Trinidad and Tobago to share the India Stack with the Caribbean nation for mutual digital advancement. The two countries will work together to cooperate in the areas of digital transformation by leveraging the capabilities of India Stack. Both sides agreed to cooperate in the areas of digital transformation by means of capacity building, training programmes, exchange of best practices, exchange of public officials and experts, development of pilot or demo solutions, the Ministry of Electronic and Information Technology said in a statement.

As per Minister of State (MoS) for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the partnership will create a robust and innovative ecosystem of startups, developers and system integrators. With the help of India Stack, these countries can climb up the digitalisation ladder rapidly and transform their economies and governance. It shall create a robust ecosystem of startups, developers & system integrators working around it on next-gen innovation, Chandrasekhar said.

The signing ceremony was attended by officials from MeitY and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The collaboration comes close on the heels of a meeting between Chandrasekhar and Trinidad and Tobagos Minister of Digital Transformation Hassel Bacchus in which they discussed mutual cooperation in the fields of IT, emerging technologies, and the India Stack.

India Stack comprises open application programming interfaces (APIs) and digital public goods designed to facilitate identity, data, and payment services. It promotes interoperability by seamlessly integrating components like government identification, payment networks, and data-driven services. The partnership will allow the two countries to collaboratively build innovative public goods infrastructure and enable efficient systems for government services. Besides, the MoU will also pave the way for rapid digitalisation, allowing both countries to climb the technological ladder and unlock new opportunities for economic growth.

With the MoU, Trinidad and Tobago has joined a growing list of countries that are looking to adopt the homegrown state-backed initiative. India recently inked similar MoUs with countries such as Armenia, Sierra Leone, Suriname, and Antigua & Barbuda, indicating the growing global interest in India Stack. Mauritius and Saudi Arabia are also on track to deploy the India Stack, while countries such as France, the UAE, Singapore, and Sri Lanka have begun accepting the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), a key element of the India Stack.

The latest development comes a day after the Union Cabinet approved the expansion of the Digital India initiative with an additional outlay of INR 14,903 Cr. With India Stack, the government aims to leverage the growing scope of the Indian economy and scale the offering globally to increase India Stacks acceptability and spur usage.
Taking a big stride towards the launch of its maiden spaceflight, IIT Madras-based spacetech startup Agnikul Cosmos has started the integration process of its launch vehicle, Agnibaan SOrTeD (SubOrbital Technological Demonstrator), with its private launchpad located at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR at Sriharikota. The vehicle was unveiled at Agnikuls Mission Control Center (AMCC) after being transported to the site. The startup has not provided a specific date for the launch yet.

The process, which started on August, has brought the startup closer to becoming one of the select few private companies to have developed a successful space launch vehicle, following in the footsteps of the likes of SpaceX and Skyroot. The event was attended by officials from the Satish Dhawan Space Center (SDSC), Sriharikota and the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center (IN-SPACe).

Agnibaan SOrTeD is a single-stage launch vehicle driven by the startups patented Agnilet engine a 3D-printed, single-piece, 6 kilonewtons (kN) semi-cryogenic engine. The space launch vehicle will lift off vertically, unlike traditional vehicles that launch from guide rails, and follow a predetermined trajectory while performing a series of manoeuvres during the flight.

The flight events have been configured to validate key technologies integral to the success of Agnikuls upcoming orbital flights, as the startup plans to complete its first flight in the weeks following the launch. Srinath Ravichandran, cofounder and CEO of Agnikul, said, This suborbital mission serves as a validation of the success of Agnikuls proprietary autopilot, navigation, and guidance algorithms. It also serves as a crucial trial for gauging the launchpads preparedness for more ambitious undertakings.

Founded in 2017 by Srinath Ravichandran, Moin SPM and SR Chakravarthy, the spacetech startup has raised a total of $34.5 Mn across six funding rounds. Its most recent funding round in November 2022 was led by Rocketship.vc and Venture Catalysts. The startup became the first Indian company to sign an agreement with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in December 2020, which granted it access to ISROs expertise and facilities. In India, Agnikul competes with Skyroot, which had a successful launch last year.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Property owners of Staten Island smoke shops where tenants are illegally selling cannabis, and in some cases harder drugs, are no longer immune to prosecution, according to a law passed recently by the City Council.

The law allows authorities to further combat a concerning wave of the small businesses across the five boroughs opened after cannabis was legalized in New York, but without the state safety regulations and licenses to do so.

The penalty for landlords found guilty of knowingly allowing the illicit activities would be $5,000 for an initial offense and $10,000 for subsequent offenses. The councilwomen who pushed the legislation through, which took effect a few weeks ago, held a press conference Monday outside a licensed dispensary near Union Square.

This is a game changer in shutting down illegal cannabis shops that are proliferating in New York City and threatening our communities, said Councilwoman Lynn Schulman (D-Queens), who was joined by Councilwoman Carlina Rivera (D-Manhattan) who sponsored the bill.

On Staten Island, there have been between 104 and 138 robberies inside or in the vicinity of smoke shops since May 2022, in addition to several incidents of gun crime, assault and grand larceny, according to law enforcement officials.

Items recovered from two unlicensed smoke shops in Great Kills and Port Richmond. (Courtesy of the RCDA)

NEW LAW HITS HOME

The new law targeting landlords came months after several alleged black market shops were raided by police on Staten Island.

In June, the City Councils Public Safety Committee Chair Kamillah Hanks (D-North Shore) led an oversight hearing ahead of Councils vote.

Staten Island District Attorney Michael E. McMahon testified at the hearing, where both praised the new citywide legislation and criticized the speed at which state lawmakers legalized the drug in 2021.

This legislation perhaps would never have been necessary if leadership at the state level had more thoroughly prepared for the legalization of recreational cannabis in New York, said McMahon, who went on to describe eminently foreseeable consequences of creating an Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) without the adequate enforcement powers.

All while the city Sheriffs Office lacked the necessary manpower and technology to hold store owners and landlords accountable, according to the boroughs top prosecutor.

Last month former NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell, center, District Attorney Michael McMahon, Councilwoman Kamillah Hanks, right, and other police officials toured Stapleton to speak with business owners and residents following a series of troubling incidents of street violence in the community. (Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel)

We are encouraged that some additional powers were granted to OCM in this years budget, in particular the ability for law enforcement to seize these entities ability to collect sales tax, said McMahon. We hope and expect this will be an effective tool to combat unlicensed sales.

He also noted what many government officials have described as a burden to the local economy as legal cannabis dispensaries begin operating; in addition to public health concerns surrounding the boroughs youth.

Unlicensed sales of these products pose a health risk to those who purchase them, particularly our young people who are often targeted by playful, colorful packaging meant to make these substances seem safe and approachable, McMahon said. Without regulation, there is no telling what bacteria might be present in these products, let alone the fact that marijuana consumption by those under 25 has been proven to hinder cognitive development.



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A Virginia man charged in the fatal shooting of a New Jersey councilwoman was indicted Wednesday by a grand jury on murder and weapons charges, the Associated Press reported.

Rashid Ali Bynum, 29, of Portsmouth, Virginia, remains in Middlesex county jail Friday and is scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 28.

A former church associate of the victim, Eunice Dwumfour, the suspect previously lived in Sayreville, New Jersey, where Dwumfour then lived with her 11-year-old daughter and served on the City Council, according to the report. Bynum was arrested in Virginia in May and was extradited to New Jersey last month.

This booking photo provided by the Middlesex County, N.J., Prosecutors Office shows Rashid Ali Bynum, of Portsmouth, Va. On Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023, Bynum, the church associate charged with gunning down Eunice Dwumfour, a New Jersey pastor and councilwoman, was indicted on murder and weapons charges. (Middlesex County Prosecutors Office via AP, File)

Months prior to the Feb. 1 shooting outside Dwumfours rented townhouse, she had gotten married to a fellow pastor from her Nigerian church at the churchs overseas headquarters. Her husband had not yet joined her in the U.S.

Bynum was listed in Dwumfours phone under the acronym FCF, or Fire Congress Fellowship, a related church entity.

Prosecutors have released few details about the case and have not disclosed a possible motive.
Yet another alligator has reportedly been sighted near a western Pennsylvania river, but this one is eluding capture.

According to Pittsburgh media outlets, the 2- to 3-foot-long gator was spotted July 26 in West Mifflin near the Monongahela River, which locals refer to as the Mon. West Mifflin borders southeast Pittsburgh.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that borough police received a video of the gator walking along a road and into weeds on July 26. West Mifflin police told PennLive Wednesday that the alligator has not been seen or captured since the video was taken.

This sighting actually came a few days before the gator dubbed Chomper became the subject of national publicity and a massive search on the Kiski River in Armstrong County, about an hour north of West Mifflin.

After being caught, that 4-foot alligator is now with a southwest Pennsylvania nonprofit where it will serve as an ambassador and educational exhibit for students.

The Mon River flows toward Pittsburgh where it meets with the Allegheny River to form the Ohio River. The Mon is about a half-mile from where the gator was spotted.

A nearby U.S. Steel mill has even alerted workers to keep their eyes peeled for the gator.

West Mifflin police Sgt. Ryan Sabol, who owns some reptiles and has caught a few before, told the Post-Gazette that he was not surprised that the Mon River gator has dropped out of sight.

The alligator could just be laying low, he said. If hes hungry, hes going to walk and look for food in a more suitable habitat.

In March 2021, WPXI-TV reported that there were two sightings of an alligator in the Mon about 25 miles upriver in Belle Vernon, Fayette County, that ignited a search that included a Coast Guard boat, but nothing was reported to have been found.
LONDON  A neonatal nurse in a British hospital was found guilty of killing seven babies and trying to kill six others.

Lucy Letby, 33, was charged with murder in the deaths of five baby boys and two girls, and the attempted murder of five boys and five girls, when she worked at the Countess of Chester Hospital in northwest England between 2015 and 2016.

She was accused of deliberately harming the newborn infants in various ways, including by injecting air into their bloodstreams and administering air or milk into their stomachs via nasogastric tubes.

She was also accused of poisoning infants by adding insulin to intravenous feeds and interfering with breathing tubes.

A jury of seven women and four men deliberated for 22 days before reaching the verdict. One juror was excused well into deliberations for personal reasons and the judge later gave the remaining 11 jurors the option of reaching a verdict with 10 people in agreement instead of a unanimous decision.

Letby denied all the charges. She was found not guilty on one charge of attempted murder and the jury could not reach a verdict on several others.

Some of the verdicts were announced in court earlier in the month, but the judge imposed a ban on reporting them until deliberations were complete. Letby fought back tears on Aug. 8 as the jury found her guilty of two counts of attempted murder and burst out crying as she left the courtroom. She had more recently declined to be in the courtroom as additional verdicts were announced.

During the lengthy trial, which began last October, prosecutors said the hospital in 2015 experienced a significant rise in the number of babies who were dying or suffering from sudden deteriorations in their health for no apparent reason. Some suffered serious catastrophic collapses but survived after help from medical staff.

They alleged that Letby was on duty in all the cases and described her as a constant malevolent presence in the neonatal unit when the children collapsed or died. They said the nurse harmed the babies in ways that did not leave much of a trace, and that she persuaded her colleagues that the collapses and deaths were normal.

The first baby allegedly targeted by Letby was a boy born prematurely who died when he was a day old, in June 2015. Prosecutors alleged the nurse injected air into his bloodstream.

Police launched an investigation into the baby deaths at the hospital in May 2017. Letby was arrested three times in connection with the deaths before she was charged in November 2020.

Prosecutors said a Post-It note found at Letbys home after she was arrested in 2018 on which she wrote I am evil, I did this was literally a confession.

Her defense lawyer argued she was a hard-working, dedicated and caring nurse who loved her job and that there was not enough evidence of her carrying out any of the alleged harmful acts.

The lawyer said the infants sudden collapses and deaths could have been due to natural causes, or in combination with other factors such as staffing shortages at the hospital or failure by others to provide appropriate care.

He also claimed that four senior doctors pinned blame on Letby to cover up failings in the neonatal unit.

Letby testified for 14 days, denying all accusations she intentionally harmed any baby.

I only ever did my best to care for them, she testified. I am there to care not to harm.

She sobbed at times and defended the collection of medical records she kept at home on some of the babies in her care.

I dont deserve to live, she wrote on a green Post-it note shown in court. I killed them on purpose because Im not good enough to care for them.

I am a horrible evil person, she wrote. I AM EVIL I DID THIS.

Her lawyer defended the notes as the anguished writings of a woman who had lost confidence in herself and blamed herself for what had happened in the ward.

One note says not good enough, defense lawyer Ben Myers said. Who did she write that for? She didnt write that for us, the police or these proceedings. That is a note to herself. Writing for herself.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  The New York State Department of Health issued a press release advising residents on how to identify a flesh-eating bacteria that has already claimed the lives of three people this summer.

The department said there have been three people known to have been infected with vibrio vulnificus bacteria. The bacteria has taken the lives of one New York resident and two Connecticut residents.

It causes skin breakdown and ulcers and is found in raw shellfish or seawater, according to the press release.

While rare, the vibrio bacterium has unfortunately made it to this region and can be extraordinarily dangerous, Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement. As we investigate further, it is critical that all New Yorkers stay vigilant and take responsible precautions to keep themselves and their loved ones safe, including protecting open wounds from seawater and for those with compromised immune systems, avoiding raw or undercooked shellfish which may carry the bacteria.

Hochul said the bacteria occurs naturally in saltwater coastal environments and can typically be found from May to October when the weather is warmer.

The health department cautioned residents with compromised immune systems to avoid eating raw or undercooked shellfish, such as oysters, which can carry the bacteria.

To help prevent vibriosis, people with a wound, such as a cut or scrape, a recent piercing or tattoo, should avoid exposing skin to warm seawater in coastal environments or cover the wound with a waterproof bandage. Also, wear gloves when handling raw shellfish and thoroughly wash your hands with soap and water when finished.
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Gorman Allard Shelton agents Joseph Walton and Peter Bremner are handling enquiries. Build-to-rent providers are expected to play a major role among the list of interested parties for both development sites. Strata green shoots Green shoots are appearing in the CBD market, with a number of new listings and sales. Sydney hotelier Justin Hemmes Merivale Group is buying Argentinian steak restaurant San Telmo, on Meyers Place, for more than $17 million.

At the smaller end of the market, a corner level-14 penthouse office at 227 Collins Street sold for $1.5 million. That price represents a healthy $9677 a sq m. An immigration agency moving from a neighbouring building bought the space. Argentinian steak restaurant San Telmo is changing hands for more than $17 million. Credit: Wayne Taylor Cushman & Wakefield agents Anthony Kirwan, George Davies and Jeff Ha negotiated the sale. Cushman has also listed level 4 at 278 Collins Street, in Mering House. It is expected to fetch $3 million to $3.3 million. Little auctions

Philanthropists and property investors Paul Little and Jane Hansen are selling a large portfolio of shops. The properties  in Port Melbourne, Brunswick East, South Yarra and Richmond  are expected to realise between $1.1 million and $2.5 million each, on yields of about 5 per cent. Most, except for 494 Bridge Road, Richmond which is leased to clothing retailer Industrie, are near residential projects being undertaken by Littles property development company. The Richmond shop is on 278 sq m on the corner of Burnley Street and has development potential. Gorman Allard Sheltons Walton and Bremner, DAndra Rao and Little Real Estates Jeffrey Wilson are handling the sales campaigns. They all have long-standing tenants on good leases. It will be a good test of the market, Walton said.

In other deals, last week Walton and Bremner sold 118-120 Smith Street, Collingwood, at auction for $2.62 million, on a yield of 4 per cent. The shops, which formerly housed Smith Street stalwart Melissas cafe, are next door to the Grace Darling Hotel. An ANZ bank branch in East Hampton, complete with a new $1.2 million fitout, is going to auction on September 8 through Colliers Matt Stagg and Yvonne Zhou and Burgess Rawsons Beau Coulter. It is expected to fetch more than $3.2 million. The 902-904 Nepean Highway property has a new 4.3-year lease, with two more options to run. Far from abandoning physical sites, banks are embracing data-driven strategies to carefully select ideal locations for their branches, Coulter said Preston peak

The state government has signed one of the biggest leasing deals in Preston this year  a warehouse on 9400 sq m of land at 67-75 Raglan Street. It is a few doors down from an impound lot for towed vehicles. The property has a 5388 sq m warehouse and a paved area with room for 50 vehicles. Gray Johnson agent Rory White did the deal but declined to comment on the new tenant. Supermarket sale The regional Kerang Woolworths has sold for $16.25 million, settling in a speedy 14 days. Woolworths has a 10-year lease, with options to 2057, and the property returns $975,000 a year in rent. Both the property vendor and buyer are private investors.

Colliers agent Tim McIntosh, who negotiated the sale with James Wilson, said the 4132 sq m supermarket attracted 10 offers. McIntosh is now marketing the Clifton Hill Woolworths Metro with Matt Stagg and Yvonne Zhou. The Clifton Hill Woolworths Metro. The tiny supermarket, at 141-147 Queens Parade, on the corner of Gold Street, is on the resurgent south side of the shopping strip. Across the road, higher rents have eaten away at what was once a thriving village strip, resulting in vacant shops. The busy supermarket, previously a Retravision store, was leased to Woolworths in 2019 and opened after a $1.5 million renovation. It is on a 712 sq m site in a Commercial 1 zone.

The property goes to auction on September 15 and is expected to sell for more than $5 million. Records show it last changed hands in 2016 for $4.9 million. Property experts are expecting a revival of the Queens Parade strip because of a huge Gasworks development down the street, on Alexandra Parade. Other supermarket sales campaigns closing soon include the Coles in Hampton, which is on the market for the first time in 35 years. The 1648 sq m building is on a large 5274 sq m land parcel at 361-371 Bluff Road  about 2 kilometres from the beach  and should fetch more than $15 million. Coles pays $463,787 a year in rent and has a five-year option remaining on its lease.
For the next hour, a male stranger grilled me on midlife emotions, expectations, bloating, libido. Well, stranger not stranger. He turned out to be an Australian singer who is always high on our summer playlist rotation. Hopefully, theres a hit to be written about tamponless homes.

Fantastic, said Paul. Need you to be a menopause coach for a mate. Talk him through what you know. Ill ring him now, put him on speaker.

Sweet Betty White in a three-man canoe, yes. That particular River Styx has been crossed. The 3am banging heart, murderous thoughts and unpredictable sentimentality are done, on paper anyway.

Anyway. My famous Padawans mission in finding a woman to talk about The Change with was heartening. His partner is mired in peri-menopausal quicksand and, while hell never experience or understand what shes going through, he wants to be an active wingman rather than hand-wringing confused bystander.

Google couldnt give him what hes hunting for: insider knowledge from an old stager. He knew his stuff though (HRT  yes or no? Should I ignore mood swings or does that look like I dont care?) and we hashed over tips and tricks that helped me and my marriage survive the whole circus.

Its hard to imagine men a couple of decades ago even realising anything was up with their womenfolk, let alone proactively supporting their peri-menopausal partners.

When we hung up, it felt like an unusual connection in a darkening kitchen was a tiny sign society is on the right path. One where everyone takes responsibility for their stuff. Where we take action instead of keeping our fingers crossed that the magical universe will step in and step up, or someone else will take the load because hey, its their deal, not mine.

That message was the big takeaway from a session I had with a psychologist a few weeks ago, too. The grim year when dancing on command multiple times a day was part of work KPIs had crept back into my head, a spreading inkblot of anxiety. Hyper vigilant, tired and mainlining sugar, I ran up the white flag.
The surge in the number of Chinese nationals cheating to obtain places at the University of Sydney, coupled with increasing evidence of visa fraud linked to Indian students at other universities, risks the debasement of standards in a tertiary sector grappling with increasing dependence on international students for survival.

Some international students, typically connected to Chinese residents or those of a Chinese background, have been caught cheating their way into the University of Sydney using fake secondary school diplomas and English-language tests, prompting the institution to consider stricter rules for Chinese nationals.

The University of Sydney detected a surge in fraudulent admissions last year, stemming mostly from Chinese international students. Credit: Edwina Pickles

An internal report uncovered a large rise in detected fraudulent admissions in 2022 as students returned after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted: more than 250 prospective or enrolled students submitted fraudulent applications, up from just 15 detections in 2021. So far this year, 53 fraudulent admissions have been detected, and more than a quarter of them were already enrolled students.

Australias universities have been forced to mainline on foreign students for nearly a decade since the federal government cut funding. Fee-paying students, particularly foreign students, fill the gap in their budgets. They now comprise almost a third of students undertaking higher education. According to education research site Erudera, there are 619,371 international students studying in Australia with 361,247 enrolled in higher education only. And 156,217 of the total intake comes from China. NSW, with 244,193, is the most popular destination. The University of Sydney has the highest percentage of international students among Australian universities: 38.2 per cent of the universitys 47,118 students come from overseas.
There was a stable of 200 retail stores. There were labels included Sportsgirl, David Lawrence and Ellie B, eight manufacturing plants in Victoria and NSW, offshore production facilities and an extensive property portfolio. Sportsgirl, in particular, caught the imaginations of two generations of women and girls, selling dreams of style and beauty that spoke to them deeply. At its peak, the group was selling 3 million garments a year which hung in nearly all the wardrobes of women under 30. David Bardas about 1980. Part of Davids genius was an intuitive understanding on how fashion and colour made people feel, and it is perhaps encapsulated in the iconic Sportsgirl shopping bag with its red, white, green and blue colouring, still featured in company marketing today. David Bardas had a unique style in business and in life. He was a disruptor by nature who believed you always needed to do something new. He had a sense about what might work and had the courage to try it.

Personal relationships drove his business life. He encouraged informality and independence in the working environment and rejected the hierarchy or entrenched structures which turned employees into robots. We always had a flat structure, he said, with less hierarchy, the best idea wins, and I like that concept. He was known to all and sundry as DB and today people still approach his children in the street to proudly say I worked for DB. David was a complex man whose intellect and insights did not come in a traditional package. In his eulogy his children said of him: He was shy, gentle, smart, sensitive, thoughtful and perceptive. DB ran on feel, instinct, emotion and a razor-sharp intellect. David liked to work with teams, but he had no patience for waffle or jargon and in meetings he could be something of a bomb-thrower. Not in a destructive way. Rather he would call out what he saw as unhelpful nonsense and drop in ideas he thought would get things on track. He was a master of the one-liner  not in an attempt to be glib but because he thought they could encapsulate new, creative, possibilities that others could use.

Take my advice, Im not using it, he would say, or deadlines make things happen. He had a passion for writing to which he devoted a lot of time following the sale of the Sportsgirl group after the 1990 property bust. His works included a book of sayings and insights gleaned from his close relationship with his father-in-law, the industrial dynamo Victor Smorgon, and a book on his time on the Melbourne City Council entitled Clown Hall. He related to people on a personal level and had a sixth sense on what was going on inside them. He would ask, are you ok, whats on your mind, is there anything I can do to help? He saw you, your skills and talents and could somehow tickle that out of you, his children said at his funeral. David recognised, loved and fostered talent and drive, and he empowered women in his business decades before that became a popular idea. At Sportsgirl, his staff was almost entirely female, and it was said that he had shattered the glass ceiling before it was even noticed elsewhere.

He inspired a generation of designers and retailers. Think names like Sally Browne, Craig Kimberley, Jane Lamerton, Peter Alexander and Sophie Holt. If I had to condense my life into just a few words, Id say that I was an encourager, David said. With wife Sandra, there was a symbiotic beauty of polar opposites combining to create a magical force, building an incredible life together filled with family, travel, business, art, adventure and giving back, his children said at his funeral. Together they put energy and money into philanthropy. They gave support to Israel and Jewish causes along with causes and projects in the wider world including Indigenous empowerment. He believed he was part of the lucky family from the lucky country and taught the importance of contributing to society to his wider family. With Sandra, he was an important art collector and patron and donated works to public institutions. Their Bardas Foundation has donated millions of dollars in pursuit of its aims to support education, welfare, Indigenous empowerment, welfare, peace and fairness world-wide.
A man associated with a fringe conspiracy group who took a Melbourne council to court in a bid to force them to hold meetings in front of a public gallery has been ordered to pay the councils legal bill after the case was dismissed.

Darren Dickson, who represented himself, took Yarra Ranges Council to the Supreme Court over the councils decision to close its increasingly rowdy public gallery for three months and take meetings online instead and what he claimed was a lack of consultation over a planning design document.

A Yarra Ranges council meeting in Lilydale in February. Credit: Eddie Jim

Supreme Court Justice Melinda Richards on Friday handed down her judgment after a one-day trial last month, dismissing Dicksons claims.

Yarra Ranges Council  which covers townships in the Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges in Melbournes outer east  shut its public gallery between April and July this year. The decision followed what it described as months of intimidating and abusive behaviour by people who came to watch meetings, including adherents of fringe conspiracy group My Place Australia.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has gained formal Labor Party approval for his $368 billion AUKUS pledge after a fierce debate on nuclear submarines that saw party members heckle ministers about the risk of a regional arms race that sided with the United States against China.

Albanese overcame attacks from Labor delegates to win a clear majority at their national conference in Brisbane and embed the security pact in the party platform, but with new conditions that say Australia cannot be directed to join the military operations of any other country.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has gained formal approval from his party for the AUKUS defence deal. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

The new statement also says all the new AUKUS submarines must be built in Australia, confronting concerns that the first might be supplied from the United Kingdom, and insists the fleet will be serviced and upgraded by Australian workers.

We know there is no security in isolation, the prime minister told a divided audience on the crucial security agreement with the US and UK.
Business leaders and the nations three biggest energy companies will not back the Coalitions push for the Albanese government to abandon its 2030 clean energy target as David Littleproud and Peter Dutton attack the rollout of wind and solar across the country.

Power giants AGL, Origin Energy and EnergyAustralia  the largest owners of Australias remaining coal-fired power stations  have joined influential business groups in urging the government to stick with its ambitious pledge to shift the grid to 82 per cent renewable energy by the end of the decade.

Business groups are urging the Coalition not to reignite the climate wars. Credit: AP

The Albanese government has pledged to more than double the amount of power the electricity grid sources from renewables to 82 per cent by 2030 to help achieve its target of cutting greenhouse emissions 43 per cent by the same deadline.

Energy experts are increasingly worried the target will be difficult to achieve, as time is running out to build enough renewable generation and storage projects and thousands of kilometres of new high-voltage transmission lines to connect far-flung renewable energy zones to major cities, as farmers and landholders fight plans for new poles and wires on their land.
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 The warning to Anthony Albanese on tax and housing sounded like a speech to a Greens rally when a couple of young speakers stood in Brisbane on Thursday to tell the prime minister what they thought of his policies. But the speakers were some of the Labor leaders own supporters  in fact, his potential colleagues in caucus if they make it to federal parliament. And they wanted him to do far more on one of the most challenging, heated and important policy disputes in national politics. Julijana Todorovic, an emerging leader in the Labor Left faction in Victoria, praised the federal government for its housing policies so far. Then she gave it a jab. Do more, she said, and do it fast. Julijana Todorovic, an emerging leader in the Labor Left faction in Victoria, and construction union leader Zach Smith told Labors leadership they needed to do more on tax and housing. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen Her argument, backed by others on the floor of Labors national conference this week, was that big companies had to pay more tax to fund a more ambitious approach to increasing housing supply. We have structured our economy in such a way that the only pathway to economic security in this country is through the ownership of private property, she said. Weve struck some kind of deal with the devil where our society is now divided between those who have safe and secure long-term housing and those who know the dream of it.

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We have an ethical and moral duty to ensure every Australian has a basic human right of safe and secure shelter. I do sincerely congratulate the Albanese Labor government on their reforms so far. But when we are in a hole so deep, we need something bigger and bolder. We have to look to taxing corporations to fund housing. The debate was polite. Nobody yelled from the podium. It was certainly too gentle for Labor warhorses who remember the open brawls at Labor conferences in the past. But the demands on the government were there for those who took the trouble to listen. Lift your game, said these voices, because your policies look too weak. Zach Smith, a construction union leader, pushed at the conference for a tax on company profits to pay for more housing. He did not get a vote to change federal policy and raise $290 billion in a decade with a great big new tax, of course. That would only give Opposition Leader Peter Dutton a massive scare campaign for the next federal election. What he got instead was a resolution that said company tax was part of the solution on housing. Loading Australias wealth is not in the pockets of ordinary Australians, Smith told delegates. It is concentrated in the balance sheets of an elite cabal of companies, which is why our union has launched our campaign: end the housing crisis, tax super profits. Weve been told since the 80s to sit back and let the markets decide, that the great reform era is over. Well, this is nonsense. The state has a role to play, and it must play this role. The agitators had to settle for less than they wanted, but they made their presence felt. The result is a slow burn on policy change.

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The pressure for tax reform is palpable: Labor delegates want Treasurer Jim Chalmers to look for new ways to raise revenue to fund social policy. If it is not a super profits tax, will it be a change to negative gearing for property investors or a cut to the concessions on capital gains tax? One of the biggest questions was talked about but never put from the floor. Will the government scale back the stage three tax cuts that are forecast to cost $313 billion over the 10 years to 2034, or will it commit to a broader tax rethink in the next term of parliament? Rumours spread at the conference about a motion that criticised the personal tax cuts, but it never emerged. On climate change, the message to Albanese was similar to the warnings about housing: you are not doing enough. ETU national secretary Michael Wright called for more spending on renewables and was also the lead speaker against nuclear submarines. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen Michael Wright, the national secretary of the Electrical Trades Union, called for more spending on renewables to match the huge subsidies in the United States and Europe to bring emissions down to net zero levels by 2050. We are in the midst of an energy transition that is, in truth, an industrial revolution, he said. Because net zero means the electrification of every home. Then he added something Albanese and his ministers cannot say: this means completely phasing out the use of gas for homes and petrol for cars.

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Wright was also the lead speaker against nuclear submarines, another sign of the willingness to take on the leadership on policy. But Albanese made sure to stop open argument on the conference floor. Some faction leaders helped him by imposing tight controls that forced those who wanted to speak to lodge expressions of interest, which meant only a few gained clearance. Delegates had to queue and hope for time to address the meeting. Motions that could have caused trouble were turned into bland, bureaucratic language. The great exception, the debate on the AUKUS defence pact on Friday, had to happen because hundreds of branches were concerned about nuclear submarines. It would have been unthinkable for Albanese to preside over an event that was utterly silent on the issue. On other issues, such as tax, debate was limited. Loading This is the worst its ever been, one long-standing delegate said of the restrictions on speakers. It is all designed to stifle debate. Albanese knew how to control the troublemakers because he used to be a troublemaker himself. As the president of NSW Young Labor, he agitated against the reforms led by prime ministers Bob Hawke and Paul Keating in the 1980s and early 1990s. Privatisation is the crunch issue, he told The Sydney Morning Herald in 1987. If privatisation happens, make no mistake, the next question on the agenda will be deregulation of the labour market.

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Opposition to the Australia-UK-US defence technology agreement is based in the Labor left faction, and the left enjoyed a majority of the 402 delegates at this weeks national conference. After four decades of right-faction ascendancy, it was a breakthrough moment for the left. Loading Some of the biggest unions affiliated with Labor, bedrocks of the left factions power  the Electrical Trades Union, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union and the construction division of the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union  are hostile to AUKUS. How would Labors left wield its newfound majority? This was the sort of moment that American observers of Australian politics had been fearing, suspecting that the mild-mannered Albanese was merely the Trojan Horse for a resurgent, pro-Chinese Communist Party left. Anticipating the debate, Richard Marles, one of the key figures in Labors right faction as well as being deputy prime minister and defence minister, told a private meeting of his factions delegates that the conference vote on AUKUS would be one of the most important decisions that Labors national conference had ever taken.

And there was a real debate on Friday afternoon. It was carefully managed, but real nonetheless. Marles opened the argument in the much-anticipated debate by plainly naming the problem: We are witnessing the single biggest conventional military build-up in the world since the end of the Second World War. In the year 2000, China had six nuclear-powered submarines. By the end of this decade, they will have 21. In the year 2000, China had 57 major warships. By the end of this decade, they will have 200. Now these are not our decisions. These are not our choices. But this is the world in which we live. And it is our unavoidable obligation to navigate our way through it. Minister for Defence Richard Marles: Given what we face, [AUKUS] is a modest step. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen But why must the next Australian submarines be nuclear? Why not replace diesel-powered subs with new diesel-powered subs? In the future, said Marles, diesel-electric submarines will become increasingly detectable. And so if we want to have this capability in the future, then we simply have to take the step of nuclear propulsion. Given what we face, he said, it is a modest step.

In opposition, the Electrical Trades Unions national secretary, Michael Wright, protested that we hold strong concerns that, while compliant with the terms of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, that [AUKUS] will set off a chain of events in our region that will see the further nuclearisation throughout South East Asia and beyond. Loading Wright questioned the need for an estimated $368 billion, 30-year cost to Australian taxpayers. And he posited that AUKUS would turn out to be the wedge that the Coalition uses to drive open a nuclear industry in Australia. He hadnt noticed, apparently, that the Liberals need no such wedge  they are already committing to nuclear power in Australia. With the Liberals moving to nuclear reactors on Australian soil and the Greens opposed to AUKUS outright, Labors position of pro-AUKUS but anti-nuclear energy establishes it firmly at the political centre. Most troubling, said Wright, was the problem of nuclear waste. The government has set the Defence Department the task of nominating Defence land as a waste dump but Wright made the point that permanent, safe disposal of highly enriched nuclear waste was a problem that had yet to be solved by any country.

But then the left-right factional divide broke down. A left stalwart, Pat Conroy, rose to speak in favour of AUKUS. Conroy served as an Albanese numbers man, currently as the defence industry minister and minister for international development and the pacific. Conroy invoked the progressive case for armament: We are anti-war because its workers that fight and die in wars. Were anti-war because its families and pensioners that pay the price for war. So the central question for delegates here is how do we deter war? He answered his question to loud applause: The truth is, delegates, strength deters war. Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy backs the AUKUS agreement. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen But Conroy really stirred things up with his next remarks: Appeasement invites conflict. So I urge delegates to heed the tradition of John Curtin who, in the 1930s, when Menzies was arguing for appeasement and tried to cut defence funding, John Curtin was the one who argued for a massive investment in our air force and navy to deter aggressors in our region.

So, delegates, Conroy posed, do you want to be on the side of John Curtin or do you want to be on the side of Pig Iron Bob Menzies? He was, in effect, accusing the opponents of AUKUS of being not only appeasers but also Menzian Liberals. Loading But the political reality is that, by the time the AUKUS debate reached the conference floor, it was no longer about nuclear-propelled submarines, technology transfer, deterrence or appeasement. It was about the authority of the prime minister. Albanese campaigned for office on the AUKUS policy in the 2022 election campaign. He shared a stage with US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in shaping it. He has funded it and advocated for it. If the national conference, officially Labors policymaking mechanism, had overturned AUKUS, Labor would have inflicted a deep wound on its own leader and probably fatally injured the Albanese government.

Albaneses deliberate efforts to dominate Australias political centre and cement power for another two terms would have been in tatters. Labor would have made itself a laughing stock. Peter Dutton would be laughing loudest. The American sceptics of Australian seriousness would have been vindicated. Xi Jinping would have concluded that Australia had lost its spine. So Albanese chose to intervene in the conference debate to speak the last word on AUKUS. He concluded on the theme of Labor tradition: History shows us that in uncertain times, Australia finds its firmest footing with Labor government. Andrew Fisher formed the Royal Australian Navy in 1913, he said, and John Curtin forged an alliance with the US during World War II. Today, our collective duty to peace and stability does not end at our own borders. We have always played a part because Australia is a serious global citizen. Albanese knew it was a winning proposition. His faction chiefs had marshalled the numbers in advance. The governments position won the vote on the voices, with about 80 per cent of the delegates in favour  all of the right faction and most of the left  and 20 against. Disaster averted.
The Murder Squad by Michael Adams. Crime reporter Hugh Buggy wrote, I have trailed after many detectives on murder cases ... and can recall none quite as astute and analytical as Fred Piggott. In NSW, the stars were cops Big Bill MacKay, Tom McRae and Silent Bill Prior, with McRae in particular assigned to the toughest and most publicised cases. McRae and Brophy worked in different states, but both would be undone when found in compromising situations that resulted in failed cover-ups by their respective police forces. The status of these cops grew to the point where artist caricatures of the detectives were regularly printed in the newspapers, and their testimony rarely doubted in court.

In 1930, an accused produced 35 alibi witnesses to throw doubt on Melbourne detective Henry The Wolf Careys testimony that he saw the suspect at the crime scene. The accused was convicted without hesitation. In a new book, The Murder Squad, author Michael Adams reopens some of Australias most gripping murder cases, including the Hammer Horror, the Bungendore Bones, The Human Glove and The Pyjama Girl. Adams has long been fascinated with parts of our history that have faded (his Forgotten Australia podcast is worth a listen). He has used newspapers, books, ageing court records and police files to revisit the cases that once fascinated Australia. These are the stories that were well known at the time but have since been forgotten, he says.

Adams takes us back to the dark, crime-filled days of the Depression. One in three men were out of work in Sydney, there was the growing influence of the Fascist New Guard and in NSW there was a real chance of civil war. There was a morbid curiosity with true crime, with people such as Tom McRae becoming household names. Tom McRae (left) talks to a man at a Sydney hotel in 1933. Credit: National Library of Australia McRae and Piggott (known as Melbournes Sherlock Holmes) were old-school cops who shared a trait that makes great investigators: curiosity. They worked on hard evidence and embraced the early days of forensics, such as crime-scene analysis, dental records and fingerprints. They were the days of typed records of interviews, and usually only three in the room: the detective asking the questions; the police corroborator; and the suspect. Lawyers werent welcome.

It would have been easy to fake a confession and, as the police were rarely doubted, the phoney evidence would have, in most cases, been accepted. Adams says while there were some dubious cases, it seems that most times murder police played with a straight bat. They had to deal with some horrible sights and were just expected to get on with it, bucking up at the pub. Most of them died young. Michael Adams, author of The Murder Squad Such as when one offender confessed to a murder but denied a similar one. Police recorded the denial, and it was admitted into evidence. However, the lack of modern, independent forensic evidence led to a massive reliance on the expertise (and ethics) of individual investigators, with at times fatal consequences.

Adams says the police had a great tool of persuasion: the death penalty. They could convince some to plead guilty to manslaughter because you would not be hanged, he says. Adams observes that police were not offered any counselling and that many of the investigators likely suffered from undiagnosed post-traumatic stress syndrome. Detective Willis of Sydney and Detective Munro of Albury search for clues in the Pyjama Girl case. They had to deal with some horrible sights and were just expected to get on with it, bucking up at the pub. Most of them died young. McRae started investigating murders in the early 1920s and was homicide squad chief from 1934 until his world came crashing down.

A portrait of Linda Agostini. One of his most famous and bizarre cases was The Pyjama Girl, which began in September 1934 when the partially burnt body of a woman was discovered by a farmer walking his bull near Albury. The victim was wearing imported yellow pyjamas, made in China, that included a white silk dragon. The body was at first preserved on ice and later in a formaldehyde bath for eight years, allowing thousands of people, some wanting to help in the identification and others who wanted a ghoulish day out, to view the body. McRae was assigned other cases, but eventually he was on the trail, chasing down hundreds of missing women at a time when many wives did not have their own bank accounts.

Police went as far as to check on women in the target age who had not voted in recent elections. Fingerprints and dental records failed to assist and so newspapers and the public looked to their star detective with the Truth newspaper reporting McRae was given a roving commission to complete lone hand enquiries unhampered by instructions. He will be able to go where he likes in the pursuit of the new trail and all police facilities, such as fast motor transport, will be at his complete disposal. Antonio Agostini. It would not be McRae who solved the case but Big Bill MacKay, who was by this time commissioner. One of many missing women nominated as the Pyjama Girl was Linda Agostini, who was last seen in Melbourne. Her husband, Antonio, viewed the body and declared it wasnt her. Friends and family also said it wasnt Linda. Dental records also ruled her out. This didnt stop MacKay, who  seeing Antonio working in a Sydney restaurant  suspected he was the guilty party.

In 1944, he invited Antonio to a police station and, surprise, surprise, the brand-new suspect couldnt wait to confess 10 years after the crime. Bill MacKay, who became commissioner, solved the Pyjama Girl case. Credit: National Library of Australia Agostini said that on August 26, 1934, at their home in Carlton, Melbourne Linda had threatened him with a gun. There had been a struggle. She had been shot and died. Agostini panicked and decided to dump her. Trying to move Linda, he had lost a grip on her body and shed bumped down some stairs, which had led to her head injuries. Hed then dumped her in Albury, writes Adams. Adams believes Agostini killed his wife but that she wasnt the Pyjama Girl. According to historian Richard Evans, Lindas eyes were a different colour to the Pyjama Girls, he says. The next scandal was Agostini was not convicted of murder, but manslaughter, and served only four years before being deported to Italy. The judge appeared to place much of the blame with the victim, saying Agostini was provoked to the limits of your endurance.

One of the cases that fascinated Melbourne was the Gun Alley murder. After an investigation by Piggott and Brophy into the December 1921 rape and murder of 12-year-old Alma Tirtschke, Colin Campbell was convicted and hanged for her murder in April the following year. A key piece of evidence was hairs found on Campbells rug that were identified as belonging to the victim. The last photograph of Colin Campbell Ross, taken in Melbourne Gaol in 1922. A reinvestigation found they werent a match, and in May 2008, then governor David de Kretser signed a posthumous pardon for Ross. Fourteen years after the innocent Campbell was hanged, Brophy, by then the superintendent in charge of the Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB), was shot three times while parked in a car in Royal Park with two women.

The truth was covered up, with chief commissioner Sir Thomas Blamey claiming that Brophy had accidentally shot himself with his own revolver, then that he had been shot by bandits while meeting an informer about hold-ups. The scandal resulted in a royal commission and Blameys forced resignation. Loading In Sydney, three years after Piggott was disgraced, McRae was also brought down by trouser action when he was found by enraged husband Tom Caesar with his Caesars wife, Freda, in a hotel opposite CIB headquarters. The subsequent salacious divorce proceedings led to McRaes dismissal, an appeal, a recommendation he should be reinstated that was ignored by cabinet, and a police cover-up. While adultery was not a criminal offence, Adams says McRaes career was destroyed by the controversy. Later Freda admitted McRae had been set up. He spent the rest of his life fighting and failing to clear his name.
As the co-conspirators in one of the largest tax frauds in Australian history prepare to be sentenced in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, across town high-end shoppers will have the chance to buy a Vaucluse house that was one of the frozen assets in the case.

Adam Cranston and Jason Onley were found guilty in March for their parts in the $105 million Plutus Payroll scam, the proceeds of which were splashed on luxury cars, a private plane, and properties in the Hunter Region and Sutherland Shire.

The Vaucluse house purchased in late 2016 by Rachel Keary is being sold by the bank. Credit: Domain

The scam was unravelled during Operation Elbrus in 2017, coincidentally just a few months after one of Cranston and Onleys former business associates from another venture, Rachel Keary, purchased the Vaucluse residence on prized Fitzwilliam Road for $8.75 million.

Freeze orders were lodged on the title in 2017 in the immediate aftermath of the Cranston investigation, however, no enforcement action has been taken since. There is no suggestion the house purchase is connected in any way to Cranston and Onleys crimes.
I have a long-standing wish to visit Nepal. As well as seeing Kathmandu and surrounds I want to do some hiking in beautiful scenery, not too challenging but preferably without too many trekkers, and I want to do it in relative comfort. J. Arlenson, Manly, NSW

Scenery of Ghandruk village looking out to the Annapurna mountains. Credit: iStock

One that should work well for you is the Slow Walking in Nepal tour from Be Your Best Tours. From Kathmandu, this 12-day tour heads north from Pokhara to the western side of the Annapurna Range to spend several days at a comfortable lodge in the Lower Mustang region, from where there are daily hikes along trails that thread past villages through fields of millet and barley to monasteries and temples. The scenery is incredible, and the pace lives up to the slow walking label, with the option to spend a day at the lodge instead of on the trail. Food and accommodation are high standard, bearing in mind that Nepal is a third-world country and youre walking in a remote area.

We are a group of five single women travelling to New York for 10 nights and looking for suitable accommodation, centrally located in Manhattans theatre district with a kitchenette and lounge area. A B&B with shared facilities would be suitable. Can you recommend anything that doesnt break the bank? C. Kreamer, Pyrmont, NSW

Be prepared  accommodation rates in Manhattan are about 50 per cent higher than pre-pandemic. Even a room in a youth hostel is likely to cost over $200 per night. Its going to be hard to find B&B type accommodation in Manhattans theatre district. All the accommodation in that part of town is hotels but if this location is a priority, you might try Romer Hells Kitchen. This is a modest hotel but even so youll be paying close to $500 for a room with twin queen beds, and thats if you book and pay now. If youre more interested in a B&B, one that might work for you is Mount Morris House. Its in Harlem, and a fair way from the theatre district, but this is a pretty good address, close to the subway station on 116th Street, total 30 minutes from midtown Manhattan, within easy walking distance of Central Park and the price is decent.
OZARK- First responders from multiple agencies converged on the Alabama Aviation College campus in Ozark Tuesday morning for a full-scale active shooter exercise.

Dale County Emergency Management Agency Director Willie Worsham and Enterprise State Community College/Alabama Aviation Technical Training Center Chief of Safety and Security Jeff Spence partnered with area law enforcement agencies to begin planning the live active shooter training some eight months ago.

Plans turned to reality Tuesday morning as gunshots and emergency first responder sirens were heard on the campus located off of Highway 231 in Ozark. In the scenario, a lone gunman entered one of the buildings on campus and began shooting all he encountered. A multi-agency tactical team used flash bangs and other equipment to neutralize the gunman. Multiple victims and fatalities were part of the two-hour exercise that also included a team of on-site evaluators. Participants were told to treat the exercise as if it were a real emergency event.

The active shooter was a Coffee County Sheriff Department deputy. A Fort Novosel bomb dog and his two-legged partner joined area first responders in the search through the classroom building halls for the gunman. I think its important to ensure our first responders have an opportunity to exercise their response to these types of events so they can look for opportunities to refine and improve response time, Worsham said. All actions were very well executed.

Live exercises provide an opportunity to validate emergency response procedures and facilitate the development and refinement of existing response plans designed to meet the challenges of an ever-changing threat environment, he said. Being able to simulate these events helps our first responders and personnel think about how to react and how their actions could save lives.

As president of the college, I cant think of anything more important than to be prepared to keep our students, faculty and staff safe, said ESCC/AAC President Danny Long as welcomed the law officers from multiple agencies to the Ozark campus. It is my top priority.

As head of safety and security on the campuses, Spence agreed. A lot of time and effort over eight months has gone in to planning this, he said, thanking the neighboring first responders for their assistance in the drill. You can never totally prepare for this, but these drills help get everyone on the same page.
I was recently in Spain and have the answer to the question in your story on travel mysteries (Traveller, August 5) regarding why it has a one-hour time difference with the rest of Western Europe. According to our guide, the 1930s Fascist leader Franco aligned his country, not just politically but time-wise, with Hitlers Germany. The bigger question is why, after he was deposed in the 70s, they didnt resume GMT?

Sally Spurr, Lane Cove, NSW Bow wowed Thank you so much for relieving my concern in your cover on travel mysteries for all the poor doggies down in the cargo hold who get upset when the plane is pulling out from the terminal. Its not scared puppies at all, but the Power Transfer Unit letting off some non-canine hydraulic pressure.

John Hollott, New Lambton Height, NSW Sister act While in Italy, make it a habit to cross the road with nuns. Credit: Alamy

In regards to Brian Johnstons article on the art of driving in Italy (Traveller, August 5), as a pedestrian in Italy, I found that it was always best to wait for a group of nuns to arrive before crossing a busy road  no Italian would ever dare run them down.

Sue Oliver, Frankston, Vic Lane pain Rob Ewart (Traveller Letters, August 5) did not have to go to Great Britain to experience the epiphany that slower drivers should drive in the left-hand lane. He wrote that he was sitting happily, like I usually do in Australia, in the middle lane of three when a presumably local motorist came up in the left lane, moved to the right lane to overtake and then moved back to the left-hand lane. Slower vehicles driving in the left-hand lane is Basic Driving 101 in countries with right-hand drive cars. What is so confusing about the words, keep left unless overtaking? Some Australian motorists are content to putter along, 10 kilometres below the speed limit, in the middle lane, while meanwhile being overtaken on the left.

Maurice Critchley, Mangrove Mountain, NSW Cheesed off Philip Sewel (Traveller Letters, August 5) takes umbrage with readers reporting failures in business class. His dont forget the magic of flying remark doesnt negate the money youve shelled out. Like anything you pay for (and in any class of travel), if it doesnt meet expectations or deliver on what youve spent, then you should speak up. Or maybe its a case of sour grapes? (Speaking of which, I had some lovely grapes in Finnair business class last month and they were lovely with the soft cheeses.)

Luke Crosthwaite, Clear Island Waters, Qld

Taken for a ride Boarding the train from Inverness, Scotland to London, I was informed by the conductor that no trains were going into London that day. His suggestion: a train to York, then one to Peterborough followed by another train to St Neots, where a bus would take us to Bedford station. From there we could train it to St Pancras London. Unfortunately, at Peterborough, my partner was having mobility issues. An eye watering sum for a taxi to London was quoted (240/$465), to be paid up front and in cash, which we handed over. En route, our driver told us that he had spent the morning working on his cab. I wish he had spent longer. The seat was torn and the back wheel had a distinct wobble. It was a scary trip, but we arrived safely at our London hotel. A gin and tonic at the bar and all was well. I still enjoy and recommend train travel in the UK; its the best way to get around.

Lily Murray, Bowral, NSW On the cards With regard to the claim of the extortionate price of rail travel in the UK (Traveller Letters, August 5), there are various railcards available, giving discounts of around 30 per cent. They cost around 30 ($58) but that is soon paid back with the discounts gained. You can even get a seniors card if you are over 60 without being a resident of the UK, as I did last year. And the trainline.com website is very useful for checking out cheap fares.

Daryll Gigg, Chiswick, NSW
Nias, Indonesia: After the misadventure of a lifetime, Elliot Foote, Steph Weisse, Jordan Short and Will Teagle are on their way back home.

Rescued at sea in Indonesias Banyak Islands this week, the four Australians and the rest of their party of 12 holidaying friends left their private surf retreat on Friday, sailing to Nias, the largest island off the west coast of Sumatra, on the catamaran of an Australian skipper, Grant Richardson.

Steph Weisse, Elliot Foote, Will Teagle and Jordan Short in the video they recorded from the island.

Greeted by Australian embassy officials and the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency, Basarnas, they were whisked straight off to the airport, where they arrived just in time to catch the last flight of the day to Medan on Sumatra.

From there, the group was expected to catch a connecting service to Jakarta and onwards to Sydney to be reunited with their families.
This weekly feature from Dynamic Business runs down the weeks top funding rounds from Australia.

Medigrowth secures $3.44 million in funding

Medigrowth, a fully authorized Australian biotechnology company specializing in medicinal cannabis, has successfully raised a total of $3,447,393.81 through its equity crowdfunding campaign conducted on the Birchal platform.

The campaign broke records by amassing more than $1.2 million within the first 24 hours, fueled by the interest of 6,000 individualsmarking the highest engagement for any campaign in 2023. This achievement positions the campaign as the third-largest equity crowdfunding endeavor in Birchals history.

Dunzo nears conclusion of $100 million series G funding round

Dunzo is in the final stages of negotiations to secure $100 million in a Series G funding round, primarily sourced from its existing investors such as Lightbox and Lightrock. The funding mix for this round will predominantly consist of equity capital, potentially complemented by a smaller proportion of debt financing.

Metro successfully raises A$67 million in equity

Metro, a prominent Australian non-bank lender specializing in commercial asset finance, has effectively concluded a $67 million institutional equity placement.

Following an earlier announcement about securing a $500 million debt funding agreement earlier in the year, this placement will fortify Metros financial standing and facilitate the expansion of its novated lease and consumer lending operations.

Pendula expands into Europe and ASEAN with A$14.5 million funding round

Pendula, a leading provider of customer retention technology, has announced the successful completion of a funding round amounting to A$14.5 million. This investment round welcomed UK-based primary investor Octopus Ventures, alongside established supporter MA Growth Ventures.

Pendulas innovative customer retention software, powered by advanced analytics and generative AI, aims to guide businesses through anticipated global economic challenges by reducing churn and optimizing customer lifetime value. The raised funds will enable Pendula to extend its global footprint, establishing new international offices in London and Singapore, thereby fostering growth in both the ASEAN and European markets.

Hysata, Green Hydrogen Startup, secures $24 million for electrolyser manufacturing plans

Hysata, a New South Wales-based startup in the green hydrogen sector, has secured a substantial funding amount of $23.9 million. This financial support comes from the Queensland and federal governments, providing a substantial boost to Hysatas efforts to revolutionize renewable energy production through electrolyser technology.

Queensland Investment Corp contributes to $64 million funding round for HR startup One Model

An expatriate entrepreneur from Queensland, who achieved success by establishing HR data analytics startup One Model in the United States, has garnered backing from the Queensland Investment Corp (QIC) as part of a Series B funding round totaling US$41 million (equivalent to A$64 million). This support underscores the state governments commitment to nurturing innovative startups.

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ABeam Vietnam's platform integrates cutting-edge digital technology, reduces hurdles, and fosters innovation for rapid, dependable, and trouble-free growth.

Many organizations across Vietnam are increasingly looking towards cloud-based Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions to streamline their operations, enhance scalability, overcome challenges, and drive efficiency.

However, organizations need knowledgeable business partners to help guide them through their transformation journey, navigate changes, and achieve lifetime business value from their investments by leveraging the benefits of cloud solutions.

ABeam Consulting (Vietnam) has gained extensive experience in various business and industry domains through years of consulting.

The company provides a comprehensive range of consulting services that leverage the latest digital technologies, address the challenges faced by all industries, and support business innovation to accelerate management decision-making and growth.

Ryohei Oda, Managing Director of ABeam Consulting Vietnam. Photo courtesy of ABeam

Ryohei Oda, Managing Director of ABeam Consulting (Vietnam), said that many companies hold back because of several uncertainties and challenges around cloud services and solutions. ABeam's consulting services have been designed to assist clients and help them reach their fullest potential at any stage of digital transformation.

"Customers can meet their budget and business needs. When they see the components and services clearly mapped out, moving to the cloud will feel safe, easy, and efficient," Oda said.

However, organizations in Vietnam are expected to adopt International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) instead of the current Vietnamese accounting standards by 2025 in their efforts to enhance comparability and improve transparency.

SAP S/4HANA Cloud is designed to set up flexible parallel accounting, simplify, and automate to comply with the new legal requirement from Vietnam that mandates the adoption of the international accounting standards IFRS.

ABeam Consulting has the largest number of certified SAP consultants in Vietnam. It was among the first consultancies to offer customers "RISE with SAP" and "Grow with SAP". These are the comprehensive service packages from SAP that integrate all the elements necessary for business transformation using ERP applications and cloud services.

ABeam customers and partners in a SAP related event. Photo courtesy of ABeam

Moreover, the project teams combine industry-expert consultants abundantly experienced in the client's business field with consultants who specialize in processes and technologies, including the latest SAP solutions such as SAPS/4HANA, C/4HANA, SAP Analytics Cloud, SAP Datasphere, SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP), SAP SuccessFactors, SAP Concur, SAP Ariba, and SAP Integrated Business Planning.

This enables the firm to provide numerous and diverse SAP consulting services fine-tuned to the clients business to help them achieve true business transformation.

Despite the competitiveness of the high-tech solutions market in Asia, earlier this year SAP announced ABeam Consulting as its first partner for the Regional Strategic Services Partner (RSSP) initiative.

The RSSP initiative enables partners to scale their SAP practices more quickly across the region and collaborate more closely with SAP to deliver joint customer success.

ABeam Consulting (Vietnam) was established in June 2018. The company has more than 70 consultants, including Japanese experts and Vietnamese consultants in SAP, S&O, and DX, and serves clients throughout Asia, the U.S., and Europe. See more information about ABeam here.
Emirates has announced that its codeshare partnership with Air Canada has been extended to include flights to and from Montreal, following the launch of services to Quebecs largest city in July.

Emirates customers will now be able to plan travel between 11 of the most popular domestic points beyond Montreal and destinations on Emirates expansive network, utilising the services of both airlines conveniently on a single ticket, the airline said.

An additional 69 points are also accessible from the gateway, on an interline basis.

The codeshare partnership between Emirates and Air Canada enables customers to enjoy flexibility and choice with smooth connections via Canadas two largest cities to points such as Halifax, Edmonton, Ottawa and Calgary - perfect for leisure and business travellers or those visiting family or friends. From Toronto, Emirates customers can travel to 19 points while enjoying codeshare benefits, and an extra 100, made possible through an interline arrangement.

Customers travelling from Canadian cities can easily connect to Emirates services in Montreal or Toronto to travel to destinations across Asia, Africa and the Middle East, via the airlines hub in Dubai.

Emirates offers daily services from Toronto to Dubai, using its popular A380 aircraft. The airline also operates seven weekly flights between Montreal and Dubai, utilising its other widebody aircraft - the Boeing 777.

Travellers with itineraries on Emirates flights can plan their entire trip on a single-ticket and take advantage of hassle-free flight benefits. - TradeArabia News Service
President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev speaks at the country's capital Nur-Sultan, January 2022. Photo by Reuters

The president of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev will visit Vietnam Sunday through Tuesday next week in the first official Vietnam visit by a Kazakhstani president in 12 years.

Tokayev assumed his position in 2019 and initially planned to visit Vietnam in June, but his trip had to be postponed due to forest fires in Kazakhstans Abay Province, Vietnams foreign ministry spokeswoman Pham Thu Hang told a press conference on Thursday.

Vietnam and Kazakhstan established diplomatic relations on June 29, 1992. Ever since the Vietnam-Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) Free Trade Agreement went into effect in 2016, bilateral trade turnover between Vietnam and Kazakhstan has increased by around 28% annually, with the figure reaching $600 million in 2022. The two countries now aim for trade turnover to reach $1.5 billion by 2030.

Kazakhstan has five FDI projects in Vietnam, with a total registered capital of $500,000, focusing on science, technology, telecommunications and retail.

Around 10,000 visitors travel from Kazakhstan to Vietnam a year.
T he biggest official fuel producer in the North Sea will present its results next week, with investors likely keen to know more about its plans for the future and the impacts of the windfall tax.

Harbour Energy has been complaining about its UK tax bill since the Government introduced a special charge for energy companies as prices soared following Russias full-scale assault on Ukraine.

The company said in March that its profit had been all but wiped out by the windfall tax. But that was based on writing off last years profit against what the company expects to pay over the five-year period of the tax, a move that brought criticism at the time.

Harbour set aside 1.5 billion dollars (1.2 billion), which it said was to pay off the tax in future years.

It then said that the tax had wiped out last years profit, despite paying only 205 million dollars (161 million) in extra tax last year on a profit of around 2.5 billion dollars (2 billion).

Watchers of the company will probably be keen to know how much of the expected tax bill has actually materialised in the last six months since the end of the previous financial year. That could give them an idea of whether the 1.5 billion dollars will all be spent on the windfall tax.

In June, Harbour was boosted by the Governments announcement that while the windfall tax would continue until 2028, it could be phased out if average oil and gas prices drop below 71.40 dollars a barrel or 54p per therm for two consecutive quarters in that period.

Investors will also be keen to know more about Harbours plans for the future of its non-UK operations, and whether bosses will say anything more about the rumoured tie-up with an American rival.

Earlier this month, Harbour announced it was exiting its operations in Vietnam. This means that Harbour has only a small amount of production left outside the UK, analysts said at the time.

But Harbour is also investing a lot in future opportunities abroad, including a three billion dollar development in Indonesia. This has been held up due to sanctions against the Russian company that Harbour was meant to be running this project with.

There have also been reports about a potential merger with US-based Talos Energy. That would see the companys focus shift away from the UK after the windfall tax hit

Harbour and Talos have already partnered on a project in the Gulf of Mexico before.

Harbour reports on Thursday August 24.
Z ADIE Smith has never set much store by consistency. Unless you consider yourself some sort of human brand, which I dont, you have to deal with the fact that different people are going to like different aspects of your work, she once told this newspaper. Its not consistent. I am not consistent.

None of us is. And our contradictory selves have always prompted Smiths liveliest writing, from her dazzlingly various debut White Teeth (2000) to her essay collection, Intimations (2020). In The Fraud, her first foray into historical fiction, the theme becomes something like a rallying cry. A person is a bottomless thing! the protagonist Eliza thinks while watching a Jamaican-born former slave address a crowd address a crowd. She might rush to the stage to proclaim it. A person is a bottomless thing!

Hamish Hamilton

The novel is, in part, Smiths attempt to confront the legacy of slavery in Jamaica  but this being Smith, its a slave story buried in a philosophical novel of ideas nestled in a comedy of manners set back when Willesden was a pleasant, leafy village. There is, in short, a lot going on, though there are three main strands to the narrative.

The first takes in the life and times of the rubbish Victorian novelist William Ainsworth who, for a brief period, outsold Charles Dickens, though he is now justly forgotten (Amen! ejaculated Oswald, fervently). Our eyes and ears here belong to his housekeeper and cousin-in-law Mrs Eliza Touchet, a shrewd, quick-witted Scottish Catholic with a zeal for social reform and a novelists sensibility  though she is obliged to act as helpmeet to fusty old William.

The second strand centres on the Tichborne Claimant, the cause celebre of 1873. The Claimant was a cockney butcher who swore blind that he was in fact Sir Roger Tichborne, heir to a vast fortune, believed to have perished at sea. Despite  or because of  his outrageous fraudulence, Sir Roger became a working-class hero, not least with Ainsworths second wife, Sarah, a mouthy former servant who accompanies Eliza to the trials.

Thirdly, we have the backstory of Andrew Bogle, the dignified former slave who became the star witness in the trial. When Eliza corners him after a day in court, the perspective shifts, first to Africa where his father was abducted, and then to Jamaica where we see slave society and British atrocities first-hand, a world sunk in madness. It covered everything, like weather.

Moment to moment, The Fraud is a delight

Its not hard to build a case against The Fraud. The slave narrative is unforgettable, brilliantly handled  but it arrives too late. The three strands dont always intermesh. The overlapping time frames can be confusing. The research can feel a bit In Our Time. And I wasnt convinced by Elizas simultaneous(?) affairs with William and the first Mrs Ainsworth.

But remember the old definition of a novel as a prose narrative of some length that has something wrong with it. It may not wholly convince, but moment to moment, The Fraud is a delight. Smith has tremendous fun with Williams literary incontinence, the looming presence of Charles Dickens, and the sharp-witted second Mrs Ainsworth in particular. I rather liked the way the brief chapterlets cascade in on one another, too, giving the novel a kaleidoscopic form.

And the jarring leaps in tone serve a purpose. For much of the novel, we experience slavery as an idea: something to be debated in drawing rooms, campaigned against, or perhaps avoided altogether (as in Williams terrible Jamaica novel.) Smith emphasises its effect on the bodies of the enslaved: the ears burned off for petty infringements, the illegitimate babies murdered, the noses, fingers, eyes lost to the disfigurements of disease. Eliza is constantly asking: What can we know of other people? One answer is: so little that we can reduce them to less than things.

But the novel is not primarily concerned with evil itself  more with how an entire society could convince itself that evil isnt really happening and, indeed, never really happened. At one point Eliza muses that England isnt a real place at all: Everything the English really did and really wanted, everything they desired and took and discarded  all of that they did elsewhere.

Inconsistent, yes. But a novel full of people, ideas, humour, feeling and something like moral truth  the stuff of life.

The Fraudis published by Hamish Hamilton (20, 451pp)
Review at a glance









P ost-graduation anxiety is an acute, all-consuming thing. What next? What is this qualification worth? Whats your purpose? Jaime Reyes (pronounced hi-may, not jay-mee  one of many sharp and vital cultural specificities in the film) is desperately searching for his, returning home to the fiction Palmera City (think Bruce Banes Gotham) and wondering what comes next. Hes got his beloved family, his closest confidants  but he needs a job.

Progress is not for us, Jaimes family warn him, while his sister Milagro glumly suggests that invisibility is our superpower. But everything changes when the rich and beautiful (and single!) Jenny Kord (Bruna Marquezine), daughter of revered inventor Ted Kord, entrusts Jaime with the Scarab: an ancient alien biotechnological relic that accidentally turns Jaime into an actual superhero: Blue Beetle.

Somewhere between the loveable dorkiness of Spider-Man and the cumbersome physical impact of Transformers, director Angel Manuel Sotos film gives space to the post-teen panic of having no clue what youre doing  shooting that feeling into the stratosphere with the responsibility of becoming a history-making superhero. Blue Beetle is also the first live-action superhero film to star a Latino lead (Cobra Kai star Xolo Mariduena rises to the challenge with great heart) while keeping that one heros family at the core of everything: there is no Jaime Reyes, no Blue Beetle, without the people who raised him.

Many of those people are women  his mother and his sister, but also his grandmother Nana who fully ends up stealing the show in some of the films most explosive and entertaining scenes. Soto balances heart and wit to lay the foundations of this story and of this world, always keeping grounded and focused on the people who matter most. This means that much of Reyes job, here, is to fully understand what it means to have such responsibility  the world will always need saving, perhaps its more important to come to terms with what that might cost first.

Inevitably, as Blue Beetle, a DC comics favourite, comes into the world with such enormous expectations, there are narrative trappings that keep this film firmly within the mould of the universe it fits into. But there is still fresh energy that suggests a gentle change of gear (and an enjoyably evil performance from Susan Sarandon as Teds villainous sister Victoria) with bold ambition. As one character in this years most eye-watering blockbuster Barbie tells their own mother: you dont have to make everything perfect, just make it better. Jaime Reyes and his family are on the right track to make the DC Extended Universe exactly that.

127 mins, cert 12A
Review at a glance









N obody familiar with the music of the Hungarian composer Gyorgy Kurtag would have expected to emerge from his new opera Endgame waltzing down Exhibition Road whistling the tunes. Nor could anyone (except perhaps Kurtag) familiar with Samuel Becketts nihilistic play of the same name, on which the opera is based, have imagined that anything operatic, in the conventional sense, could be made of the text.

Kurtag, now 97, worked on the piece for some eight years, and it has been described as the pinnacle of his lifes work. He was too frail to attend either the stage premiere at La Scala in 2018 or last nights UK premiere. This was billed as a major Proms event, and so it was, albeit a compromised one.

There are four characters: the blind, wheelchair-bound Hamm, his resentful servant Clov, and Hamms senile, legless parents Nagg and Nell, who inhabit rubbish bins.

First, the positives. Kurtags score is everything one would expect from the master: exquisitely jewelled sonorities, musical gestures distilled to their very essence, every note charged with significance  the perfect analogue for the existential dimension of Becketts fragmented text.

There are many spellbinding moments, including a passage for sustained winds over gentle timpani beats at Clovs Ill weep for happiness and a refulgent brass-topped ensemble sequence as Hamm finally covers his face with his handkerchief.

Dramaturgically, however, there are problems. Kurtag has used only 60 per cent of Becketts text. Fair enough, but for reasons known only to himself, he has in the process gutted it of dramatic tension. Becketts play centres on the relationship between Hamm and Clov, but were 75 minutes into the two-hour opera before theres any meaningful interaction between them.

Even then, because theres virtually no dialogue left, Clov can do little more, in Victoria Newlyns semi-staging, than stand fecklessly scratching his head. Hedging his bets perhaps, Kurtag has subtitled the work Scenes and monologues; opera in one act.

All too faithful to Kurtags counter-intuitive reworking of the play, Newlyn placed Nagg, Nell and their rubbish bins centre stage, with Hamm in his wheelchair to the right. This had the effect of making the parents far more central to the proceedings than they deserve, while Hamm, who should be the focus of attention, was relegated to the sidelines. To add a further layer of obfuscation, especially for the radio audience, the opera was sung, arguably unavoidably, in the original French, with English surtitles.

Frode Nelson (Hamm), Morgan Moody (Clov), Leonardo Cortellazzi (Nagg) and Hilary Summers (Nell) all acquitted themselves superbly, as did the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Ryan Wigglesworth.

The four characters leave the action, such as it is, one by one. The ending of their relationships, their miserable existence and indeed the play itself have been continually delayed.

I was glad to be there, but wondered if the intermittent exiting of audience members could perhaps be seen as a metatheatrical comment on the works underlying theme.
T he latest album from Quavo features music from late rapper Takeoff, who died at the age of 28 following a shooting.

US rapper Quavo, real name Quavious Keyate Marshall, who was also Takeoffs uncle, announced on Thursday that his album Rocket Power would be released at midnight.

The late rapper Takeoff appears on the singles Patty Cake and Back Where It Begins, featuring fellow Georgia rapper Future.

Other songs on the track list include Fueled Up, Turn Yo Clic Up featuring Future, Focused featuring rapper Young Thug and Stain featuring Trap artists Hunxho and Baby Drill.

In a video posted to his YouTube channel in July, Quavo talked about his new album and said that he was being fuelled by his brother.

He said: Bottling all these emotions, all the pain, all the hard times, all the times I cried and all the times I just made music, just to pull up and trying to play songs and he not there, Im just trying to get this fuel from above and this fuel from the sky and call it rocket power.

Quavo also posted said on Instagram in May where he said that Rocket Power had been his therapy.

He wrote: This album is a true reflection of how I feel right now.

Sometimes Im Good, sometimes Im Down, sometimes Im Disappointed, sometimes I fall apart but then I always find my strength again.

I know everything might not be alright right now, but the rocket showed me a way to make it right!

Rapper Takeoff died from gunshot wounds to the head and body on November 1 2022, following a shooting outside a private party at a Houston bowling alley.

Houston Police Department announced in December 2022 that a man had been charged with murder in connection with Takeoffs death.

Takeoff, whose off-stage name was Kirsnick Khari Ball, formed one third of the Grammy Award-nominated rap trio Migos with Quavo and Offset.

Migos is known for songs that include T-Shirt, Walk It Talk It featuring Drake and Bad And Boujee.

Takeoff and Quavo released the joint album Only Built For Infinity Links in October.
M embers of the iconic American rock band Talking Heads are set to reunite for the first time in 21 years as theyve agreed to participate in a group interview at the Toronto International Film Festival.

The band, which was formed in New York City back in 1975, had included David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth, and Jerry Harrison.

Together, they pioneered new wave music, bringing together elements of punk, art rock, funk, and world music.

But in December 1991, Talking Heads announced that they were disbanding, and recently David Byrne has admitted that he regrets how he handled that situation.

Here is a look at the bands history, why they broke up, and what Byrne has said about his regrets.

When was Talking Heads formed?

The formation of Talking Heads began when Rhode Island School of Design students David Byrne and Chris Frantz decided to form a band in 1973. They called it the Artistics.

At the time, fellow student and Frantzs girlfriend Tina Weymouth knew both of them but didnt participate in their band.

The following year, the Artistics dissolved and the three moved to New York City, where they became housemates.

Byrne and Frantz were still keen to form a band but were struggling to find a bassist, so eventually, Weymouth offered to take on the role.

The trio played their first show as Talking Heads in 1975 and the rest was history.

Why did Talking Heads break up?

In December 1991, the band announced that they were disbanding. However, Frantz revealed that he learned about Byrne leaving the band and thus causing its break-up from a Los Angeles Times article.

At the time, he said: As far as were concerned, the band never really broke up. David just decided to leave.

Weymouth, Frantz, and Harrison continued to tour without Byrne as Shrunken Heads in the early 1990s. They even released an album called No Talking, Just Head in 1996 with the band name The Heads.

When they went on tour with Johnette Napolitano as the vocalist, Byrne took legal action to stop the band from using the name The Heads as he believed it allowed them to make money off Talking Heads fame.

The brand briefly reunited to play a few songs on March 18, 2022, to celebrate their band being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but Byrne said any further work together was unlikely as there was bad blood among them.

Weymouth has since criticised Byrne for being a man incapable of returning friendship.

Why are the Talking Heads reuniting now?

The band members are coming together to promote the re-release of Stop Making Sense.

To mark the occasion, they will participate in a live Q&A with Spike Lee at the Toronto International Film Festival.

What has David Byrne said about regretting how he handled the disbanding?

Recently, during an interview with People, Byrne revealed that he regretted how he handled things back then.

He explained: As a younger person, I was not as pleasant to be around. When I was working on some Talking Heads shows, I was more of a little tyrant.

And then I learned to relax and I also learned that, collaborating with people, both sides get more if theres a good relationship instead of me telling everybody what to do.

He added: I think [the end] wasnt handled well. It was kind of ugly.

I have regrets on how that was handled. I dont think I did it in the best way, but I think it was kind of inevitable that would happen anyway, he added. We have a cordial relationship now. Were sort of in touch, but we dont hang out together.
Review at a glance









D espite riffing on birth, marriage and death, these three short Jewish plays by established writers make for a shallow, sketchy evening. On the plus side, each script  by Amy Rosenthal, Alexis Zegerman and Ryan Craig  strikes out in surprising directions. God makes an appearance in a modern London where the diaspora has reached all the way down the Northern Line to Tooting, as does a hamster named after Israels only female prime minister, Golda Meir.

But its a big minus that Kayla Feldmans production is so stiff and phony. The cast includes veterans Nigel Planer and Adrian Schiller, and talented relative newcomer Abigail Weinstock, but I didnt believe for one moment that they, or anyone else on stage, believed in the dialogue they were speaking. This is bad-faith acting in a handful of playlets  trilogy is too grand a word  that are all about faith, culture and family.

We kick off with retired obstetrician Michael (Planer), celebrating his 50th wedding anniversary with wife Lynda (Caroline Gruber), when a mystery woman (Dorothea Myer-Bennett) turns up, and implicates him in her birth trauma. A discussion on the way we quantify and respond to suffering ensues, including a blunt reference to the Holocaust. Then Rosenthal suddenly frees Lynda from her husbands God-complex dominance in a monologue that cycles back to the opening metaphor of a crossword clue. Too cryptic for me, sorry.

In Zegermans play Planer apparently becomes God, in the guise of restaurant customer Godfrey, forcing Eva (Weinstock) and Adrian (Sam Thorpe-Spinks) endlessly to replay a buttock-clenchingly awful first date because hes chosen them to propagate the Jewish race. Everything feels like a cliche here, from Adrians gauche blurtings to Evas sentimentalism over animals to the parodic rudeness of the waitress. Jesus Christ! exclaims Adrian at one theistic intrusion. Thats a WHOLE other story, quips Planers Godfrey, only just resisting a wink and a shrug to the audience.

Characters dont carry over between the playlets but themes and actors do. So in Craigs final tale Weinstock is Leah, sarcastic daughter of omnipotent but distant cancer surgeon (Schiller) and sister to Adam (Dan Wolff), whos almost as much of a nerd as Adrian. Here the realities of death and of family dysfunction are transferred onto the aforementioned hamster.

Theres simultaneously too much and too little going on throughout. Evaluations of centuries-old traditions are juxtaposed with quips about Brexit. Meditations on identity and mortality are torpedoed by mawkishness. The 65-minute running time doesnt allow the threads linking each tale to develop. Most importantly, the obvious intelligence of the writing is undermined by a complete absence of emotional truth in the characterisation.

The stated aim of production company Emanate is to bring together new and established voices to inject Jewish stories into the mainstream, which is entirely laudable. But those stories need to be bigger, better, and delivered with a whole lot more conviction than these ones.

Soho Theatre, to August 26, sohotheatre.com
R uth Wilson has opened up about her really vital new show BBC The Woman in the Wall, and her own Catholic past.

The series, which is due to air at the end of August, stars Wilson as Lorna Brady, a woman suffering from severe trauma as a result of the time she spent in a Magdalene laundry in Ireland when she was younger. As a result, she suffers from bouts of sleepwalking  and the show starts with her waking up to a dead body in her house, with no memory of how it got there.

The show is written by Joe Murtagh  when his script landed on Wilsons desk three years ago, it was only one episode long and looking for funding. But, she says, it gripped her right away.

It was about something really vital, Wilson explained at a screening of the first episode, adding that she didnt know a huge amount about the issue of the Magdalene laundries.

I thought, this is a really interesting and creative way of bringing this story to a wider audience Joe is dramatising trauma in a really interesting way, through sort of psychological horror; through a comedy crime caper. [It was] like, wow, Ive not seen this before. So I'm interested in where this is going. And I think it should have money behind it to at least explore what it could be.

Wilson duly came on board as an executive producer on the show, which also stars Daryl McCormack as Detective Colman Akande, the police officer charged with investigating the body.

I love the character of Lorna, shes mad and shes brilliant, Wilson added. Shes really funny. And she reminds me a bit of Martin McDonaghs characters, and it reminds me of Edgar Allan Poe, and it reminded me of The Keepers, the documentary on Netflix.

Daryl McCormack plays Colman / BBC/Motive Pictures/Colin Barr

The laundries (read our explainer on what they are here) were essentially church-run institutions that took in women considered wayward such as those who became pregnant out of wedlock, and used them as a form of free slave labour. Unmarried mothers often had their babies taken away from them. The last of the laundries shut in 1996  something that, as scriptwriter Joe Murtagh explained, was part of the reason he wrote the story in the first place.

It was an eye-opening experience realising how this horrific thing had happened, he said. But the thing that was more horrifying was to realise that I hadnt known about this and every single person that I mentioned this to had never heard of this and thats still true today outside of Ireland.

During the screening, Wilson also talked about her own experience of growing up in the Catholic Church  though she isnt Irish herself, her great-grandmother was.

I grew up Catholic. I went to church every week, I was an altar girl, she said. Catholicism doesnt leave you, theres so much great stuff about it.

But also, I remember sitting in church aged 16, and hearing some of the sermons and at that point going, I dont quite believe [this] or, this makes me angry. And it was usually about something about women, actually I have a complicated relationship with my own faith, and my Catholicism.

Im very interested in peoples associations or attachment to faith and religion, and what it gives people as well as the negatives of it, too. Im fascinated by that complexity.

The Woman in the Wall is set to premiere at the end of August on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
Review at a glance









T he great thing about Sanditon, the novel Jane Austen was writing when she died, is that its unfinished. You cant complain about people meddling with the plot if its unresolved. Its a near-blank canvas, with a dramatis personae and a backdrop sketched out, for the veteran adapter Andrew Davies to fill in. Indeed the most fully developed character is the town itself  formerly a small village somewhere near Brighton, now a small town with aspirations to trash all its rivals on the south coast.

Tom Parker (Kris Marshall), the towns unflagging entrepreneur, somehow manages to get the king (the Regent?) to accept an invitation to his concert featuring a black American soprano. In this production, Sanditon is picture perfect, including the Daylesford Organic-style slum. In the old market, even the carrots are clean.

The town may be new, as per the story, but the cleanness of the place makes it seem even more like a stage set; the costumes are never mud-splashed, the collars never frayed; the streets are alive to the sound of carriages but miraculously free of horse manure.

The fun of adaptions like this is to see which bits Jane Austen would never have dreamt of, and which seem somehow in character. But the advent of an actual duke is a mistake. Andrew Davies, and lead writer Justin Young, somehow miss the entire dynamic of his title. This duke (of Buckinghamshire) is impoverished and his mother is quite desperate to get him to attract the local heiress, Georgiana (Crystal Clarke), who is from Antigua and, as Austen makes clear, is mixed race.

Top quality brooding: Ben Lloyd-Hughes as Alexander Colbourne / Red Planet (Sanditon 3) Ltd/Rob Youngson

Now, at no time has a duke ever had a problem getting a spouse. The whole notion that, broke or not, he isnt beating off the snobs of the nation and their mothers, is simply not a runner, then or now. Though Edward Davis carries off his improbable situation with humour, relishing the absurdity whereby on one occasion he has to wear full court dress to greet the American soprano to town.

This particular Duke, moreover, has other issues. As he says to Arthur Parker (Turlough Convery), who in the original is a preposterous hypochondriac but here is an all-round good guy, most people like pheasant; I prefer grouse. Ahem. As metaphors go it beats the one doing the rounds in Oscar Wildes day: when it was said of one brothel that he thought it was poker; it turned out to be backgammon.

But again, dukes really dont normally court minor gentry like Arthur. And, note to his mother, gay people didnt in practice go to the gallows in Regency England. And although Austen was alive to the ways of the world  she had a brother in the navy and made jokes about rear admirals  there is no way on earth that she would have entertained a gay sub-plot. Just saying.

Some of the plot development can be seen a mile off. Will Charlotte (Rose Williams) stick with her handsome-but-wet farmer fiancee Ralph Starling rather than dumping him for Alexander Colbourne (Ben Lloyd-Hughes) her brooding, rich former employer with a large house and a continuing crush on her? I am simply not saying.

Will Georgiana go through with her engagement to the Duke, even though neither of them love each other, or will she return to her former crush, who is, moreover, an abolitionist? Will the frightful vicars sweet sister tell her brother where to get off when it comes to her devoted German suitor, Dr Fuchs? Will the reprobate Sir Edward, played by a sexily dishevelled Jack Fox (whose bad character was evident in the original Sanditon) succeed in having his wicked way with gullible teenage Augusta Markham? Will Georgiana be defrauded of her rightful inheritance by her wicked former suitor (who looks dishevelled in a bad way) or will British justice come up trumps?

Georgiana Lambe (Crystal Clarke), Arthur Parker (Turlough Convery) / Red Planet (Sanditon 3) Ltd/Rob Youngson

Its all good fun. Much of that fun is provided by Lady Denham; Anna Davis is the most entertaining figure in the novel and here she bosses everyone around with gusto, including an engagingly crusty old flame  James Bolam here has an odd resemblance to Andrew Parker Bowles  who improbably turns up to propose that she marry him, (even though he jilted her at the altar once) and give up her title and independence.

Shes the light relief from Charlottes perpetually wan/compassionate demeanour and everyone elses self-delusion. The Kings roguish mistress (Sophie Winkleman) is in town too; shes plainly less wet than the younger women. Fortunately, so is Samuel Colbourne, the raffish brother of Alexander, frankly more crush-worthy than the brooding brother.

If you like costume dramas, this one has an engaging cast, any number of satisfactory nuptials at the end, heaving bosoms from the girls and very sexy high collared jackets for the men. As ever, the costumes steal the costume drama. Would Jane Austen have recognised it as a plausible continuation of her novel? For the most part, no, but the fortune hunters are perfectly viable. This is Series Three of Sanditon. Can we now assume that this particular lemon has been squeezed dry? Please?

Sanditon Season 3 will air on ITVX from August 17
 Your mother sucks! Oops, just reliving my juvenile delight and naughtiness at seeing The Exorcist as a young teenager while my parents thought I was innocently watching an episode of Grange Hill. And also getting rather feverish about the prospect of seeing that classic movie again on the monster-sized Imax screen at Cineworld Leicester Square this month. Its just one of the bile-curdling, blood-spurting, freakily terrifying pleasures to be had as Pigeon Shrine FrightFest returns to London on 24-28 August.

Heather Graham in Suitable Flesh / FrightFest

Horror fans, this is your chance to frolic in totally fresh gore, carnage and mayhem, as there are no less than 25 world premieres over the festivals five days. Opening film is Joe Lynchs outrageously visceral and raunchy body shocker Suitable Flesh, an HP Lovecraft adaptation starring Heather Graham, while the event closes with Jenn Wexlers 1970s horror tribute The Sacrifice Game, in which boarding school girls face up to a demonically murderous cult.

The Sacrifice Game / FrightFest

In between, look out for insanely fun splatter-party Here For Blood (surely, however handy you are with an axe, its a mistake to invade a home where the babysitter is a beef-mountain pro-wrestler). How about national treasure Eddie Izzard as Nina Jekyll in Doctor Jekyll or a lesbian couple awkwardly caught in the middle of warring militias, prejudiced hillbillies and, of course, good old zombies in Herd? Bishal Duutas impressively creepy debut It Lives Inside, a dark freefall into a pair of Indian-American girls identity crises, is one of the undoubted highlights. And for the experimentalists, Transmission will take you on a surreal death trip told entirely through the TV channel surfing activities of a freaky old man.

Eddie Izzard in Doctor Jekyll / FrightFest

There are also documentaries, Asian genre flicks, Scandi horror and plenty of retrospective screenings; fans never get bored of the classics. So grab your exorcists cross, or maybe a plastic hatchet, and head to Leicester Square for the most friendly feast of blood-letting youll find in London until Halloween rolls around.

Pigeon Shrine FrightFest runs 24-28 August at Cineworld Leicester Square (frightfest.co.uk)
A Vietnamese-Lao joint venture has proposed a railway running 103 km through Ha Tinh and Quang Binh provinces to reach the border with Laos.

The joint venture of Deo Ca Group and Petroleum Trading Lao Public Company has submitted a proposal to Vietnams the Ministry of Transport to build the railway at VND27.485 trillion (US$1.16 billion).

The railway section, called Vung An  Tan Ap  Mu Gia, will run from Vung Ang Port in Ha Tinh Province to Mu Gia, a mountain pass in the Annamite Range between Vietnam and Laos.

The line will be built under the public-private partnership format as a monorail for trains to move at the maximum speed of 150 kph to transport both passengers and freight.

The joint venture pledged to cover all the funds for studying the project and accept all the financial damages if the projects feasibility study was not approved.

The proposed railway is part of a Vietnam - Laos railroad project, a 554-kilometer line that will connect the Laos capital Vientiane with Vung Ang Port.
A serial child abuser has been jailed for life for repeatedly raping an 11-year-old girl 20 years ago.

John Lyon has been described by police as a dangerous sexual predator who will always pose a significant risk to children.

The 50-year-old was already serving jail time for sexual offences against children, when a further victim came forward to reports a string of incidents to police last January.

The woman was just 11 years old at the time Lyon began abusing her in 2001.

Detectives began investigating the historic offences from some 20 years ago, collating witness statements and gathering evidence against Lyon, while the woman was supported by specially trained officers.

Lyon pleaded guilty to four counts of rape and seven counts of indecent assault at Wood Green Crown Court on June 9.

At the same court on Friday, he was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 15 years.

He had already been jailed for 12 years in 2013, and another 11 years in 2021 for sexual offences against other children.

Detective Constable Andri Andreou, who led the most recent investigation, said: There is no doubt John Lyon is a dangerous sexual predator who will always pose a significant risk to children.

The safest option for all is that he spends years of his life in prison.

The trauma he has caused this victim is so significant that some 20 years on she is still dealing with the aftermath of his actions and the damage he has caused.I do not propose Lyons sentencing will take away that trauma, but I hope it goes someway to helping her, knowing she was listened to, believed and that she has had some justice.

I can only thank her for her strength and bravery. I know sharing the details of her trauma were particularly difficult for her and I am grateful she felt able to be so open with me and trusted me with this crucial part of her healing journey.
A man has been arrested after a teenage girl was allegedly raped in a playground in east London.

The incident reportedly happened at roughly 9.30pm on Tuesday, in a playground near Canada Road - a residential cul-de-sac in Erith.

Scotland Yard confirmed an 18-year old man was arrested near the scene on suspicion of rape.

He was taken into custody and later released on bail pending further enquiries.

Police temporarily guarded the scene in Canada Road as detectives investigated, but have since left.

Detective Inspector Mark Paterson leading the investigation from the Mets Safeguarding Team, said: Importantly, the young victim and her family are being supported by specially trained officers at this unimaginably difficult time.

I understand that this is an extremely concerning incident and I want to offer reassurance that detectives are conducting a full and thorough investigation to bring the person responsible to justice.

I would ask anyone who may have witnessed anything, no matter how insignificant you may think it to be, to get in touch without delay.

Anyone with any information is asked to call police on 101 and give reference 8033/ 15 August.

You can also provide information anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
K iller nurse Lucy Letby joins a grim list of medical professionals who exploited their position to harm the vulnerable patients they were supposed to care for.

Here, the PA news agency looks at the most notorious examples of Britains medical murderers:

 Doctor Death

Dubbed Doctor Death by the press, Harold Shipman was one Britains most prolific serial killers and is thought to have murdered hundreds of patients.

As a general practitioner in Greater Manchester, Shipman targeted elderly people after winning their trust.

His modus operandi, which consisted of injecting his victims with a fatal dose of drugs and claiming they died of natural causes, meant he evaded capture throughout the 1990s until he was convicted of 15 counts of murder in 2000.

He began to attract suspicion after one of his patients, an 81-year-old woman, was discovered dead in her home only hours after Shipman visited her in 1998.

After killing himself in prison in 2004, an official inquiry established that the extent of Shipmans crimes was far greater than initially thought and it estimated he had killed 250 people.

 Beverley Allitt

In a case with disturbing echoes of Letbys crimes, Beverley Allitt is currently serving 13 life sentences  one for each of the children she murdered or attempted to murder as a paediatric nurse in the 1990s.

Allitt attacked 13 children who had been admitted for minor injuries between February and April 1991 at Grantham and Kesteven Hospital, Lincolnshire, injecting some of them with dangerous amounts of insulin.

She succeeded in killing four of them. The youngest of whom, Liam Taylor, was just seven weeks old.

After the death of her fourth victim, 15-month-old Claire Peck, staff became suspicious of the number of cardiac arrests on the childrens ward and police began to investigate.

It was established that Allitt was the only nurse on duty during the medical episodes and she was found guilty of four counts of murder, three of attempted murder, and a further six of grievous bodily harm in 1993.

Allitt, now 54, is currently imprisoned at Rampton Secure Hospital in Nottinghamshire.

 Scotlands Angel of Death

Colin Norris, from Glasgow, was another nurse convicted of killing patients.

Called the Angel of Death, Norris was found guilty in 2008 of murdering four women and attempting to murder another by injecting them with insulin.

The four women who died  Ethel Hall, Bridget Bourke, Doris Ludlam and Irene Crookes  plus the fifth woman, Vera Wilby, were all elderly inpatients on orthopaedic wards in Leeds where he worked as a nurse in 2002.

He was accused of injecting his victims with lethal amounts of insulin.

Now aged 47, Norris is serving a 30-year prison sentence at HMP Frankland.

He successfully had all five of his convictions referred to the Court of Appeal in 2021 after the Criminal Cases Review Commission concluded there was a real possibility they may be unsafe in light of new expert evidence.

 Victorino Chua

Father-of-two Victorino Chua was found guilty of murdering and poisoning patients at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport, where he worked as a nurse.

He was jailed for a minimum of 35 years in 2015.

Chua, now 57, killed Tracey Arden, 44, and Derek Weaver, 83, and attempted to kill a third victim, Arnold Lancaster, 71, by injecting insulin into saline bags and ampoules.

Speaking after he was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court, Mr Weavers sister Lynda Bleasdale described Chua as an evil and diabolical man who enjoyed watching people suffer.
A Metropolitan police officer was thrown from her horse after a dangerously out of control dog savaged the mounts leg.

The manic canine ran out of a home in Maroon Street, Limehouse heading straight for the two mounted police officers on routine duties at 4.50pm on Friday.

It managed to lock its jaws around the leg of one of the police horses who flung the riding officer to the ground. She sustained minor injuries in the fall, police said.

It is then caught on camera chasing the other mounted officer down the street.

The dog was stamped on by the horse and was eventually detained and taken into police kennels, the force said.

A Scotland Yard spokesman added: The rider of the horse, a police constable, was unseated and sustained a minor injury. She did not require hospital treatment.

The police horse sustained inruries to its leg. It bolted from the scene but was recovered by officers a short distance away with no further incident.

The dog received a minor injury as a result of being trodden on by the horse.

Both animals have been assessed by a police vet and neither was seriously hurt. The dog remains at police kennels.

An offence of a dog being dangerously out of control has been recorded.

There has been no arrest at this stage.

Hakan Niyazis American Bully Coco appears to bite Urbane the police horse / The Sun

The attack came after an American Bully XL attacked another police horse in March.

Hakan Niyazis American Bully Coco clamps its jaws on a Metropolitan Police animal in shocking footage.

Two policemen on horseback were on patrol in Victoria Park, Hackney when an off-lead dog charged at one of their horses Urbane biting down on his legs.
T his is the horrifying moment killer nurse Lucy Letby attempts to trick officers into believing she was worried about the rise of babies who died under her care.

Lucy Letby, 33, played God as she stalked the words of the neo-natal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital, callously injecting air and fluids including insulin and milk into babies in her care between June 2015 and June 2016.

The convictions make Letby the worst child serial killer in modern British history.

Cheshire Police released footage of her interview amid fears she may have killed more babies as a nurse.

Full timeline of Letbys murder spree

Cheshire Police

In the interview when she was first arrested in 2018, she told investigators: They told me there had been a lot more deaths and Id been linked as someone who had been there for a lot of them.

When asked if the rise in death rates led to any concerns, she replied: Yes.

The nurse continued: I think wed all just noticed as a team in general, the nursing staff, that this was a rise compared to previous years.

Letby, described by officers as beige, has been convicted of seven counts of murder and seven counts of attempted murder following 22 days of jury deliberation.

The finger of suspicion eventually pointed at Letby after a spike in the hospitals child mortality rate, and investigations by consultants revealed she had been on duty and with access to the babies repeatedly when babies suddenly began to collapse.

Some babies survived an attack by Letby but were then targeted again in a determined attempt to end their lives, Manchester crown court heard during her nine-month trial.

In other footage released by Cheshire Police showed the moment officers investigating the significant rise in the numbers of babies who suffered serious collapse arrested Letby at her semi-detached home in Westbourne Road, Chester, at 6am on July 3 2018.

The video shows Letby being escorted out the door with her hands handcuffed behind her back before then put in the back of an unmarked police car.

Police then searched her three-bedroom home just over a mile from the hospital. The court heard searches uncovered a number of closely written notes.

Hand-written note found by police in their search of Lucy Letbys home / PA

On one green Post-it note she wrote: I dont deserve to live. I killed them on purpose because Im not good enough to care for them, I am a horrible evil person and in capital letters I am evil I did this.

The Government has ordered an independent inquiry into the Letby case to ensure vital lessons are learned.

She will be sentenced by Mr Justice Goss, and almost certainly faces the prospect of the rest of her life in prison.
M urderer Lucy Letby may have been motivated by a pathological desire for attention and sympathy, a criminology expert has said.

Dr Dominic Willmott, a senior lecturer in criminology at Loughborough University, said the former nurses text messages showed she wanted to garner sympathy from colleagues after the childrens deaths.

The expert told how there were clear similarities with the Letby case and historic cases of killer nurses, such as Beverley Allitt from the UK and Charles Cullen in the US.

Allitt, 54, targeted 13 victims during a 59-day spree which saw her kill four babies and poison nine others at Grantham and Kesteven Hospital, Lincolnshire, in 1991.

Doctors believe she suffered from Munchausen syndrome by proxy while carrying out the attacks, in which a caregiver may harm someone in their care to get attention.

Cullen, 63, murdered dozens, possibly hundreds, of patients during a 16-year career spanning several medical centres in the American state of New Jersey.

Dr Willmott believes there are clear resemblances between the historic cases and that of Letby.

The criminologist, who has previously authored a paper on the Beverley Allitt case, said: In our analysis of healthcare professionals who perpetrate violence against their patients, especially children, offending appeared to be motivated by a pathological desire for attention and sympathy emerging as a consequence of their involvement in the case.

There was a complex interaction between this and a history of personality disorder diagnoses and characteristics, and were often found to be highly sadistic and narcissistic as described by those who knew them.

Speaking after the trial, detectives said the reason why Letby went on a killing spree at the Countess of Chester Hospital neonatal unit may never be known.

Prosecutors never advanced a motive as they outlined the allegations against her to the jury at Manchester Crown Court.

Dr Willmott said Letbys interaction with colleagues was indicative of her desire for sympathy.

He continued: Text messages released during the Letby trial appear to indicate her efforts to garner sympathy from her colleagues following the childrens deaths.

Other evidence that she had to be repeatedly asked to focus on other patients around the time of the death of other babies and her passing on death notifications to family members seems to indicate her desire to be personally involved in the case, even when doing so was likely to raise suspicions about her involvement.

My heart goes out to the families whose babies were mercilessly taken from them.

James Treadwell, professor in criminology at Staffordshire University, also said he believes there are similarities between Letby and Allitt.

Prof Treadwell suggested a number of reasons why Letby could have committed the crimes, including that she is a narcissist; Munchausen syndrome by proxy; she enjoyed the risk; she used the offences as a means for attention from the doctor prosecutors said she had a crush on; or evil.

But the expert said he thinks that answering how is much more important than the why question  which he believes will never be answered  as finding out how could prevent it happening again.

Sometimes those who do the most evil acts can be remarkably beige

Prof Treadwell said: The police described her as beige but beige people can do evil acts as well, its not that it always comes from the people that radiate malice.

Sometimes those who do the most evil acts can be remarkably beige.

He added: One of the things that is quite interesting is she is being compared in the media more to Myra Hindley and Rose West, but Beverley Allitt is often forgotten as a serial killer, people dont remember her.

We can suggest conditions like Munchausen by proxy and narcissism, it could simply be that theres an element of enjoying the risk.

I saw suggestions that she had an infatuation with one of the doctors, it could simply be that harming the children could not have been significant in her thought process, that it would be a vehicle for something else.

Is there evil? Ive never believed that people are evil, some will do evil acts and many are capable of doing evil acts.

All of these things are possible in the case of Letby, I think the problem is, will people ever know.

Well never be furnished with a why from her, shell continue to protest her innocence.

Its with the how question you can prevent these things happening again. We had Allitt and Harold Shipman in medical situations, if you dont answer the how question, tragic history, terrible history, bereaved families could happen again.
C hild serial killer Lucy Letby has indicated she does not want to take any part in her sentencing hearing next week.

A reporting ban was imposed until the jury in her trial at Manchester Crown Court had returned all of its verdicts on the seven counts of murder and 15 counts of attempted murder the nurse faced.

Letby, 33, was in the courtroom on August 8 when the jury returned its first two guilty verdicts of attempted murder, and then again on August 11 when she was convicted of four murders and another two attempted murders.

However, at the end of the court day on August 11 the defendant did not return to the dock as the jury was sent home for the weekend.

The court has no power to force a defendant to attend at a sentencing hearing, therefore there is nothing I can do in relation to that

Letby returned to court the following week but her made last appearance in Court Seven on the morning of August 16 when trial judge Mr Justice Goss sent the jury out to continue its deliberations.

More verdicts were returned later that day, in her absence, and again on August 17 when the court heard Letby had indicated to her legal team that she did not intend to return to the dock.

Letby continued to be produced at court from prison but would not come up from the cells.

Her parents, John and Sue, who had previously attended the trial every day, did not come to court on Friday as the trial ended.

Letby has also indicated she does not wish to follow Mondays sentencing hearing via videolink from prison, the court was told.

The reasons for her non-attendance have not yet been disclosed by the judge.

Mr Justice Goss said: The sentencing hearing will of course take place whether she is present or not.

The court has no power to force a defendant to attend at a sentencing hearing, therefore there is nothing I can do in relation to that.

Earlier this year, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk said the Government is committed to changing the law so criminals are compelled to attend their sentencing hearings.

It came after his predecessor, Dominic Raab, promised to act while under pressure over the non-attendance of the killers of Olivia Pratt-Korbel, Zara Aleena and Sabina Nessa to stop offenders convicted of the most serious crimes dodging court and avoiding facing justice.

Thomas Cashman was jailed for life imprisonment with a minimum term of 42 years for fatally shooting nine-year-old Olivia at her home in Dovecot, Liverpool, while pursuing a fellow drug dealer.

Sex attacker Jordan McSweeney murdered 35-year-old law graduate Ms Aleena as she walked home in Ilford, east London, and was jailed for life with a minimum term of 38 years.

Koci Selamaj received life with at least 36 years for murdering primary school teacher Ms Nessa after travelling to London to carry out an attack on a random woman.

Each refused to appear in court for sentencing, with their punishments being handed down in their absence.

We are committed to bringing forward legislation to enable offenders to be compelled to attend their sentencing hearings

Olivias mother Cheryl Korbel called for the law to be changed to make sure criminals are in court for sentencing, saying Cashmans absence was like a kick in the teeth.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak previously refused to say if the proposed legislation would be introduced before the next general election, which is anticipated to take place next year.

Mr Chalk is also yet to confirm when the proposals would be introduced to Parliament despite calls from Labour to act urgently, while campaigners have pressed ministers to put forward plans before the end of the current parliamentary session in the autumn.

Speaking at Commons justice questions in June, Mr Chalk said: We are committed to bringing forward legislation to enable offenders to be compelled to attend their sentencing hearings.

He said offenders whose crimes shatter families should be required to face the consequences of their actions and hear societys condemnation expressed through the sentencing remarks of the judge.

The Justice Secretary said he wants to know that when offenders are sitting in the cells trying to get to sleep that ringing in their ears are those words of condemnation from the judge, because there are victims who find it hard ever to recover; why should that defendant ever have to sleep soundly in their bed?.
L ucy Letby is now the worst child serial killer in modern British history - having been found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill six more.

The so-called Angel of Death targeted the most vulnerable at the Countess of Chester Hospital over the course of a year.

Some babies survived an attack by Letby but were then targeted again in a determined attempt to end their lives.

She now faces an almost certain whole-life tariff meaning she will never be released from prison.

Here are the key dates surrounding the investigation of nurse Lucy Letby.

Letby faces a lifetime behind bars / Cheshire Constabulary/AFP

 June 22 2015: Child D, a full-term baby girl, dies 36 hours after her birth at the Countess of ChesterHospital. It is the third infant death in a fortnight  equalling the total number of deaths on the neonatal unit for the whole of 2014.

 End of June/July: A meeting takes place between neonatal lead consultant Dr Stephen Brearey and director of nursing Alison Kelly, along with other bosses, to discuss an informal review undertaken by Dr Brearey of Child Ds death. His findings reveal an association with nurse Lucy Letby and her presence at the recent collapses.

 August 5: Blood sugar levels of a premature-born baby boy, Child F, fall dangerously low and a blood sample is sent for tests at the Royal Liverpool Hospital. A day earlier the boys twin brother, Child E, died following an unexpected collapse.

 August 13: The blood test result for Child F reveals an abnormally high level of insulin which indicates it was not naturally produced.

 October 23: Child I, a premature-born girl, dies on the unit. Concerns are raised again by some consultants in an email.

 February 8 2016: A thematic review from an independent neonatologist based at Liverpool Womens Hospital takes place. The review, requested by Dr Brearey, does not find a reason for the increased number of deaths and collapses but concerns remain over Letby as the report is forwarded to nursing director Ms Kelly and medical director Ian Harvey.

 April 9: Another youngster, Child L, suffers a hypoglycaemic episode in which his blood sugars plunge. At around the same time his twin brother, Child M, unexpectedly collapses and requires full resuscitation before he recovers. A blood sample from Child L is sent for tests at the Royal Liverpool Hospital.

 April 16: The blood test result for Child L shows a very high level of insulin which again indicates it was not produced naturally.

 June 24: Child P, one of a set of triplet boys, collapses and dies a day after the death in the unit of his newborn brother, Child O. Dr Brearey phones duty executive on call, Karen Rees, a senior nurse in the urgent care division, to say he and his consultant colleagues do not want Letby to work her next scheduled shift on June 25 but she rejects the plea.

 June 25: Ninety minutes into Letbys day shift, Child Q, a premature-born boy, needs breathing support after his blood oxygen levels and heart rate plummet. He goes on to make a full recovery.

 June 29: Consultants meet to discuss recent inexplicable events and then urge hospital bosses to remove Letby from the unit as a safety measure.

 June 30: Letby works her last nursing shift on the neonatal unit.

 July 7: Hospital bosses reduce the neonatal unit service by cutting cot space numbers and increasing the gestational age limit for admission from a minimum of 27 to 32 weeks.

Hand-written note found by police in their search of Lucy Letbys home / PA

 July 15: An email is sent to all nursing staff informing them they will each undergo a period of clinical supervision  after medical director Mr Harvey had asked the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) to conduct a review of the units service. The email states: Lucy has agreed to undergo this supervision first on Monday 18th July.

 July 19: Letby starts an administrative post in the hospitals Patient Experience Team.

 August 9: Another group email to neonatal staff informs them that job secondment opportunities are available and states Letby is spending three months in the Risk and Patient Safety Office.

 September 7: Letby registers a formal grievance procedure against her employer. Around this time the Royal College of Nursing union informs her by letter about allegations surrounding her involvement with a number of deaths.

 November 2016: The RCPCH says it found no obvious factors linking a total of eight deaths in the neonatal unit in 2015 and five deaths up to July 2016. However it did uncover significant gaps in medical and nursing rotas, and insufficient staffing for the provision of longer term high dependency and some intensive care.

The moment of Lucy Letbys arrest / via REUTERS

 May 18 2017:Cheshire Police announce they have launched an investigation following a greater number of baby deaths and collapses at the hospital between June 2015 and June 2016. The probe will focus on eight deaths and will also review seven further deaths and six non-fatal collapses.

 July 3 2018: Letby is arrested at her home in Westbourne Road, Chester, at 6am and officers search the three-bedroom property. Searches also take place at her parents home in Hereford and at her place of work in the hospitals Risk and Patient Safety Office. Police say the investigation has widened to 17 deaths and 15 non-fatal collapses between March 2015 and July 2016.

-June 10 2019: Letby is re-arrested at her parents home.

 November 10 2020: Letby is arrested again before she is charged and appears in court for the first time two days later.

 October 4 2022: Letby goes on trial at Manchester Crown Court accused of the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of 10 others.
T he government has ordered an independent inquiry after nurse Lucy Letby was found guilty of the murder of seven babies and attempting to kill six others in the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

The Department of Health said the inquiry would investigate the wider circumstances around what happened at the Countess of Chester Hospital, including how concerns raised by clinicians over Letby were dealt with.

The inquiry will also look at what actions were taken by regulators and the wider NHS, with a focus on lessons that can be learned quickly.

Victims families will be invited to engage with and shape the inquiry, the Department said, to ensure their views are heard throughout the process.

Letby, 33, played God as she stalked the words of the neo-natal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital, callously injecting air and fluids including insulin and milk into babies in her care between June 2015 and June 2016.

The convictions make Letby the worst child serial killer in modern British history.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay said: I would like to send my deepest sympathy to all the parents and families impacted by this horrendous case.

This inquiry will seek to ensure the parents and families impacted get the answers they need. I am determined their voices are heard, and they are involved in shaping the scope of the inquiry should they wish to do so.

Following on from the work already underway by NHS England, it will help us identify where and how patient safety standards failed to be met and ensure mothers and their partners rightly have faith in our healthcare system.

A chair for the inquiry will be appointed in due course, the Government said.

Tony Chambers, former chief executive of the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said he would co-operate fully with the inquiry.

He said: The crimes that have been committed are appalling and I am deeply saddened by what has come to light.

As chief executive, my focus was on the safety of the baby unit and the wellbeing of patients and staff. I was open and inclusive as I responded to information and guidance.

The trial, and the lengthy police investigation, have shown the complex nature of the issues raised.

There are always lessons to be learnt and the best place for this to be achieved would be through the independent inquiry.

I will co-operate fully and openly with the independent inquiry which has now been ordered by the Government.

In 2015 and 2016, there was a significant rise in the numbers of babies who suffered serious and unexpected collapses in the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

Letby was the only member of the nursing and clinical staff who was on duty each time the collapses happened, which the Crown argued were not natural events.

Some of the children were subjected to repeated attempts to kill them by the cold, cruel and relentless band 5 staff nurse, the trial  which began at Manchester Crown Court last October  heard.

Letbys presence when collapses took place was first mentioned to senior management by the units head consultant in late June 2015.

Concerns among some consultants about the defendant increased and were voiced to hospital bosses when more unexplained and unusual collapses followed, the court heard.

Prosecutor Nick Johnson KC said consultants on the neo-natal unit noticed the sharp rise in deaths and went looking for a cause.

Their concern was that babies who were dying had deteriorated unexpectedly. Not only that, but when babies collapsed they did not respond to appropriate and timely resuscitation, he said.

Some other babies who did not die collapsed dramatically but then recovered  their collapses and recoveries defied the normal experience of the treating doctors.

He said they found one common denominator  Letby  who was a constant malevolent presence when things took a turn for the worse.

Letby was not removed from the unit until after the deaths of two triplet boys and the collapse of another baby boy on three successive days in June 2016.

A jury found Letby guilty of seven counts of murder and six charges of attempted murder. Jurors were undecided on a further six charges of attempted murder, and she was cleared of one charge of attempted murder.
T he government has ordered an independent inquiry after nurse Lucy Letby was found guilty of the murder of seven babies and attempting to kill six others in the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

The Department of Health said the inquiry would investigate the wider circumstances around what happened at the Countess of Chester Hospital, including how concerns raised by clinicians over Letby were dealt with.

The inquiry will also look at what actions were taken by regulators and the wider NHS, with a focus on lessons that can be learned quickly.

Victims families will be invited to engage with and shape the inquiry, the Department said, to ensure their views are heard throughout the process.

Letby, 33, played God as she stalked the words of the neo-natal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital, callously injecting air and fluids including insulin and milk into babies in her care between June 2015 and June 2016.

The convictions make Letby the worst child serial killer in modern British history. Police fear she may have killed more during her time as nurse.

Parents were left devastated by the sudden and unexplained deterioration of their childs health, but trusted Letby implicitly as the nurse who had been apparently providing care in their hour of need.

The finger of suspicion eventually pointed at Letby after a spike in the hospitals child mortality rate, and investigations by consultants revealed she had been on duty and with access to the babies repeatedly when babies sudden began to collapse.

Some babies survived an attack by Letby but were then targeted again in a determined attempt to end their lives, Manchester crown court heard during her nine-month trial.

In notes found after a raid on Letbys home, an apparent confession was found, saying: I AM EVIL I DID THIS,

A jury found Letby guilty of seven counts of murder and six charges of attempted murder. Jurors were undecided on a further six charges of attempted murder, and she was cleared of one charge of attempted murder.

Full timeline of Lucy Letbys campaign of evil

Lucy Letbys parents stopped attending court once the first guilty verdicts were delivered / PA

She will now be sentenced by Mr Justice Goss, and almost certainly faces the prospect of the rest of her life in prison.

Letby broke down in tears when the first verdicts were delivered days ago, which could not be reported on until the end of the trial.

Families of the victims have been in court throughout, while Letbys parents stopped attending court after the first guilty verdicts were delivered.

Prosecutor Nick Johnson KC said consultants on the neo-natal unit noticed the sharp rise in deaths and went looking for a cause.

Their concern was that babies who were dying had deteriorated unexpectedly. Not only that, but when babies collapsed they did not respond to appropriate and timely resuscitation, he said.

Letby first showed emotion during trial when crush colleague gave evidence

Hand-written note found by police in their search of Lucy Letbys home / PA

Some other babies who did not die collapsed dramatically but then recovered  their collapses and recoveries defied the normal experience of the treating doctors.

He said they found one common denominator  Letby  who was a constant malevolent presence when things took a turn for the worse.

The trial heard harrowing evidence from parents of the babies targeted by Letby, as well as from her colleagues who began to fear that something terrible was happening.

One of the murdered babies mothers recalled hearing horrendous screams and walking in to find Letby alone in the room with her five-day-old incubated son.

Why wasnt Angel of Death nurse caught sooner?

An independent inquiry will be held into Letbys offending / PA Archive

I walked over to the incubator to see he had blood coming out of his mouth, she said, but was then told by Letby: Trust me, Im a nurse.

She said Letby blamed the bleeding on a feeding tube rubbing her sons throat, but less than five hours later the young boy  whose health had been improving after he was born 11-week premature  was declared dead.

I trusted her. Completely, said the mother, when asked if she had accepted Letbys explanation of the bleeding.

Other parents described being hugged and comforted by Letby, their main point of contact on the unit, after she had murdered or attempted to murder their child.

Chester Police Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Chief Inspector Nicola Evans Today is not a time for celebration. There are no winners in this case. Our focus right now is very much on the families of the babies. The compassion and strength shown by the parents  and wider family members  has been overwhelming. Today is all about them  and we must not lose sight of that. I cannot begin to imagine how the families in this case feel today. We will all take some time to reflect on todays verdict both the guilty and the not guilty verdicts. I would like to say thank you to the families for putting their trust in us and I hope that this process has provided them with some of the answers they have been waiting for. We will continue to work closely with each of the families in the days and weeks ahead in order to ensure they have the support they all require in light of everything they have experienced. My thoughts  and those of the whole prosecution team  remain with them at this incredibly difficult time. DCI Evans added: The details of this case are truly crushing. A trained nurse responsible for caring and protecting tiny, premature babies; a person who was in a position of trust, she abused that trust in the most unthinkable way. I cannot begin to understand what the families have had to endure over the past seven or eight years but we have been humbled by their composure and resilience throughout this whole process.

The nurse killed one baby when he was just 24 hours old by injecting him with air, and she tried to kill his twin sister the very next day.

In the notes later found at Letbys home, she had written: I dont deserve to live. I killed them on purpose because Im not good enough and added: I am a horrible evil person.

Mr Johnson told jurors Letby was completely out of control by June 2016, when she attacked three babies on her return from a holiday in Ibiza. Two boys were murdered and she attempted to kill a third boy, the court heard.

The moment of Lucy Letbys arrest / via REUTERS

She had got away with so much by that point that she had the misplaced confidence that she could pretty much do whatever she wanted.

Letby remarked to a colleague about one of the boys hes not leaving here alive, is he?, she had texted a friend about going back to work with a bang, and the prosecutor said Letby knew what she was planning.

She was controlling things. She was enjoying what was going on and happily predicting what she knew was going to happen, he said. She was in effect playing God.

Colleagues of Letby raised their suspicions, leading to her being removed from the neo-natal unit in July 2016 as an investigation began.

She was in her pyjamas at home in bed when she was arrested and led away in handcuffs by police, and told the court in her evidence that she was devastated to be accused.

Lucy Letby Trial - In pictures 1 / 24 Lucy Letby Trial - In pictures Cheshire Constabulary Cheshire Constabulary/AFP via Ge PA Wire Hand-written note found by police in their search of Lucy Letbys home PA A resuscitation note was among medical documents found in a shopping bag under the bed of Lucy Letby PA Media John and Susan Letby, the parents of nurse Lucy Letby, PA Lucy Letby interrogation via REUTERS A note found in the house of Lucy Letby PA Media A hand written note which was shown in court on Monday in the Lucy Letby trial. It was found by police in Ms Letbys home PA Lucy Letbys bedroom PA A cot where a baby referred to as Child G in the Lucy Letby court case, was being treated when she projectile vomited. The black circles denote where the vomit landed PA PA A diary recovered from a chest of drawers at the home of Lucy Letby PA The front of a diary, along with a Post-it note which was found inside the diary, recovered from a chest of drawers at the home of Lucy Letby PA A Black bin bag which was shown in court at the Lucy Letby trial PA Lucy Letbys bedroom PA A wardrobe in the bedroom of Lucy Letby at her family home PA The home of Lucy Letby PA

I only ever did my best to care for them  I am there to help and to care, not to hurt, she insisted.

Originally from Hereford, the court heard Letby studied for her nursing degree at Chester University and had been working as a nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital since qualifying a few years before the murders.

Her parents, John, 76, and Susan, 62, watched on in court along with some of the victims families as Letby gave evidence.
Vietnam, US eye new level of partnership when conditions allow

Vietnam and the U.S. upgraded diplomatic ties to Comprehensive Partnership in 2013. Graphics by VnExpress/Hoang Khanh

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Vietnam and the U.S. are deepening their dynamic and robust cooperation efforts, making "progress towards new level of relations when conditions are right."

"The comprehensive partnership between Vietnam and the U.S. has developed profoundly in recent years, with effective and practical progress having been made in both bilateral relations and multilateral mechanisms in all fields," foreign ministry spokesperson Pham Thu Hang told the press on Thursday.

"The two sides are discussing measures to further deepen the Vietnam-U.S. relationship in the direction of stability and substantiality, heading towards a new level of relations when conditions are right in order to contribute to ensuring peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region as well as in the world," she said.

Vietnam-U.S. relations were normalized in 1995 and were upgraded to a Comprehensive Partnership in 2013.

Economic and developmental ties between the two states already run deep and are growing even stronger.

Bilateral trade between the two states was worth more than US$123.86 billion last year, up 11% from 2021.

The U.S. is Vietnam's largest export market and its second largest trading partner, while Vietnam is the eighth largest trading partner for the U.S.

U.S. investment in Vietnam has topped $11 billion, the 11th highest of any country or territory.

Education and training have also been an important part of the friendship the two countries share as every year some 25,000 Vietnamese students study abroad in the U.S.

In terms of security cooperation, the U.S. recently handed over to the Vietnamese Coast Guard two Hamilton-class vessels, the second-largest class of vessels in the U.S. Coast Guard, under the Excess Defense Articles (EDA) program.

The two sides have prioritized humanitarian cooperation, overcoming the consequences of war, and completing dioxin decontamination at the Da Nang and Bien Hoa airports.

Vietnam has helped facilitate the U.S. search for U.S. soldiers who went missing in action during the Vietnam War and has so far returned the remains of more than 730 service members to the U.S.

In March, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong had a phone conversation with President Joe Biden. Trong suggested the two countries focus on economic, scientific and technological cooperation as the driving forces in their relationship. Biden stated that Vietnam is an important U.S. partner, and that the U.S. supports an "independent, self-sufficient and prosperous" Vietnam.

In April, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Vietnam on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Comprehensive Partnership between the two nations.

Upon receiving Blinken, General Secretary Trong said recent positive developments in the two countries' increasingly close and mutually beneficial ties would be the foundation for continuing to raise relations to new heights.
T he father of 10-year-old Sara Sharif is being sought by detectives investigating her murder in Woking last week, along with his partner and his brother, Surrey Police said.

Sara was found at her home after officers were called from Pakistan by her father, Urfan Sharif, at around 2.50am on August 10, Surrey Police said.

The discovery at the semi-detached property in Hammond Road sparked a murder probe.

Detective superintendent Mark Chapman, from the Surrey Police and Sussex Police major crime team, said Mr Sharif, his partner, Beinash Batool, and his brother, Faisal Malik, are suspects in the investigation.

He said it is believed Mr Sharif travelled to Islamabad on August 9, a day before Saras death was discovered, with his partner Ms Batool, and his brother Mr Malik.

They travelled with five children aged between one and 13-years old, he added.

There is no formal extradition treaty between the UK and Pakistan, but Mr Chapman said that people have been extradited from the Asian country before.

Police are working with the Crown Prosecution Service, Interpol, the National Crime Agency and Foreign Office to carry out their investigation and to liaise with Pakistani authorities.

Officers are not looking to identify anyone else in connection with the investigation, Mr Chapman said.

Saras mother is being supported by specialist officers and police say the two have not been in contact.

Olga Sharif described her daughter as an amazing child in an interview with The Sun and told the newspaper that her life will never be the same again.
A woman has been handed a legal bill of more than 300 for not paying for car insurance despite telling the court she had paid her bill in full, amid fresh concerns about magistrates handing out speedy convictions behind-closed-doors.

The woman, 32, was taken to court by the DVLA over an allegation that her Mercedes car was not insured in April this year.

Prosecuted through the controversial Single Justice Procedure (SJP) last month, she pleaded guilty and was ordered to pay a 155 fine plus 100 in costs and a 62 victim surcharge.

However the Evening Standard has discovered that she was convicted and sentenced after telling Barkingside magistrates court her insurance company appears to have been to blame for a paperwork mix-up.

My vehicle has been fully insured with regular payments since purchase, she wrote in an online plea form.

My insurers were informed of the private number plate as this was switched over from a previous car, however this was not updated on their system.

When contacted they updated this information free of charge as a courtesy to not updating the system.

SJP prosecutions take place behind-closed-doors, making it impossible to know if the magistrate read the womens statement before passing sentence.

And in a bizarre twist, the womans age was accidentally officially recorded as 104-years-old  a detail which does not appear to have been questioned by the court.

Analysis of Ministry of Justice records reveals that a north London magistrate dealt with 82 SJP prosecutions in the space of just 75 minutes on one day in May, at an average of 54 seconds per case.

Fines totalling more than 20,000 were handed out in circumstances where the majority of defendants had not entered a plea and the magistrate had to decide whether there was enough evidence to convict before moving on to the appropriate sentence.

In June, Barkingside magistrates court started holding after-hours SJP sessions, with a magistrate and a legal advisor sitting until 9.30pm while dealing with hundreds of criminal cases.

In one of the sessions, 239 prosecutions for crimes including truancy and littering were dealt with in the space of five hours, resulting in more than 100,000 of fines and an average of just 75 seconds per case.

On another day at Barkingside, a magistrate handed out nearly 70,000 of fines for train fare dodging, averaging 58 seconds per case.

The SJP system, introduced in 2015, allows a single magistrate to deal with low-level criminal cases based on written evidence alone, but they have the power to refer cases into open court for a hearing with a prosecutor present if there are concerns about the written evidence or doubts over the plea.

All prosecuting authorities, including the DVLA, also have the power to withdraw a case before it is put before a magistrate.

This week, the Evening Standard has highlighted the cases of more than 500 pensioners who were prosecuted through SJP over DVLA breaches in the last three months, including those that appear to be vulnerable.

Among them was a 78-year-old woman who was convicted and fined despite her daughter telling the court she had been hospitalised in a fall, is now living in a care home, and she has dementia, Alzheimers, and schizophrenia.

Sir Bob Neill MP, who chairs the House of Commons justice select committee, is among those calling for a review of the SJP system, amid fears magistrates are not considering all the evidence in each case.

A lot of these might be absolute liability offences where you dont have to have a guilty state of mind but there can often be relevant matters in mitigation that would merit a discharge or absolute discharge, he said.

It is a concern that needs to be looked at so that they can be dealt with fairly.

The DVLA has been contacted for comment.
T he Met today issued an image of a man they want to quiz in connection with the vandalism of ULEZ cameras in west London as it was revealed that 288 incidents have been reported across the capital.

There have been numerous acts of vandalism against cameras ahead of the launch of the ULEZ on August 29 with some even ripped down.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan won a court battle to get the green light to charge motorists with non-compliant vehicles 12.50 a day in all areas within the North and South Circular roads. The controversial charges have faced opposition from some councils and motorists.

As part of the ongoing operation deteceives have released an image of a man they are working to trace in connection with four offences in Hillingdon, Harrow and Uxbridge on Saturday, 17 June.

The Met continues to investigate a string of reports of ULEZ cameras being vandalised across London.

An operation was launched in April after reports of criminal damage and theft were passed to the Met by Transport for London (TfL).

As of Tuesday, 1 August the Met had recorded 288 crimes relating to ULEZ cameras. This includes approximately 185 reports of cables being damaged, 164 cameras being stolen and 38 reports of cameras being obscured, the Met said in its update.

A crime can include multiple offences. Multiple offences can also be linked to one camera, for example a cable being damaged then the camera being stolen.

Officers continue to work in partnership with Transport for London to proactively tackle the targeting of ULEZ cameras across London.

Commander Owain Richards said: These are clearly unacceptable acts of criminality and we have a team of officers investigating and identifying those responsible.

We are providing a proportionate policing response, balancing these incidents against the wide range of operational demand and crime we must respond to across London.

We are working closely with Transport for London and alongside our investigation into offences already committed we are supporting them identify new ways to prevent further cameras from being damaged or stolen.

We are continually reviewing where we need to focus our efforts and we will continue to do that over the coming weeks to ensure we are providing the service Londoners expect from us.

Any witnesses or anyone with any information about the man in the image is asked to call police on 101 or contact via Twitter @MetCC. Please quote CAD3968/14AUG. To remain anonymous contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online at crimestoppers-uk.org.
A person has been arrested and bailed over an alleged transphobic arson attack in Londons East End earlier this year.

The inhabitants were said to have escaped the blaze, which ripped through an apartment on the fifth floor of a six-storey block on Whitechapel High Street on April 14, with just minutes to spare.

The flats residents, two trans women and a gay man, fled the terrifying fire which broke out at around 6.25am, which occurred as two of them slept.

None were injured, but the property was left seriously damaged in the fire, which took four fire engines and 25 firefighters to get under control.

A hate crime investigation was launched, with police treating it as transphobic in nature.

In an update on the case, Detective Inspector John Macleod of Tower Hamlets Police said: This incident was declared as a hate crime as a perceived attack on the LQBTQI+ community and CID office assumed responsibility for the investigation.

Detectives identified a suspect and the individual was arrested on the 16th August 2023.

This suspect has been interviewed and bailed to return to an East London Police Station at a future date pending further investigative enquiries.

The MPS are committed to ensuring the LQBTQI+ community get a service they can have confidence in.

A GoFundMe page launched in the wake of the alleged arson attack to help the three flatmates replace their lost belongings and secure alternative accommodation raised nearly 19,200.

In a message on the page, friends of the affected residents said they were thankful for the outpouring of love from their community, family and friends at this trying time.
L ucy Letbys murderous campaign against babies in her care will be the subject of an independent inquiry amid a growing clamour for explanation for why a nurse dubbed the Angel of Death was not stopped sooner.

Letby is expected to be handed a whole life prison term next week after being found guilty of the murder of seven babies and attempted murder of six more at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.

Letby was a trusted staff member on the hospitals neo-natal unit, caring for babies born prematurely and in need of round-the-clock care. The trial at Manchester crown court heard consultants raised concerns about Letby, but were told by hospital bosses to apologise to her formally in writing.

Letby was identified as the common link between the deaths of a series of babies, but doctors say they were met with silence from hospital bosses and regret not reporting her to the police sooner.

Announcing an inquiry, the Department of Health said it will investigate the wider circumstances around what happened at the hospital, including the handling of concerns and governance, and will also look at what actions were taken by regulators and the wider NHS.

Health secretary Steve Barclay said: I would like to send my deepest sympathy to all the parents and families impacted by this horrendous case.

Lucy Letby Trial - In pictures 1 / 24 Lucy Letby Trial - In pictures Cheshire Constabulary Cheshire Constabulary/AFP via Ge PA Wire Hand-written note found by police in their search of Lucy Letbys home PA A resuscitation note was among medical documents found in a shopping bag under the bed of Lucy Letby PA Media John and Susan Letby, the parents of nurse Lucy Letby, PA Lucy Letby interrogation via REUTERS A note found in the house of Lucy Letby PA Media A hand written note which was shown in court on Monday in the Lucy Letby trial. It was found by police in Ms Letbys home PA Lucy Letbys bedroom PA A cot where a baby referred to as Child G in the Lucy Letby court case, was being treated when she projectile vomited. The black circles denote where the vomit landed PA PA A diary recovered from a chest of drawers at the home of Lucy Letby PA The front of a diary, along with a Post-it note which was found inside the diary, recovered from a chest of drawers at the home of Lucy Letby PA A Black bin bag which was shown in court at the Lucy Letby trial PA Lucy Letbys bedroom PA A wardrobe in the bedroom of Lucy Letby at her family home PA The home of Lucy Letby PA

This inquiry will seek to ensure the parents and families impacted get the answers they need. I am determined their voices are heard, and they are involved in shaping the scope of the inquiry should they wish to do so.

Following on from the work already underway by NHS England, it will help us identify where and how patient safety standards failed to be met and ensure mothers and their partners rightly have faith in our healthcare system.

Crown Prosecution Service lawyer Pascale Jones suggested Letby was cunning in covering her tracks, and had managed to brainwash some of her colleagues.

He said she used a propaganda tactic that she was pursuing the whole time  dont question whats happening, this is all normal, there is an explanation for everything, there is an element of fate.

However there was evidence in the trial that signs of Letbys campaign of poisoning the babies were overlooked.

Medics who flagged up worries about the 33-year-old nurse were unaware two babies had been poisoned with insulin, potentially preventing them from spotting a connection.

Consultant Dr John Gibbs told the trial: None of us regrettably realised two babies had been poisoned by insulin, so we didnt have the full picture.

The court also heard that Letby registered a grievance against her employers in September 2016 after she was moved out of the unit, in the aftermath of two boys in her care and a third child falling ill in quick succession.

The grievance procedure was resolved in Letbys favour in December 2016, and she was due to return to the neonatal unit in March 2017  however police were contacted by the hospital trust to stop that from happening.

Timeline: The investigation into nurse Lucy Letby

Consultants, however, were told to apologise to Letby formally in writing.

Dr Ravi Jayaram told the court: We had significant concerns from the autumn of 2015. They were on the radar of someone as senior as the executive director of nursing as far back as October 2015. As clinicians, we put our faith in the system, in senior management to escalate concerns and investigate them. The initial response was Its unlikely that anything is going on. Well see what happens. We said OK  against our better judgment in retrospect.

The units head consultant, Dr Brearey, went on to commission an independent neonatologist from Liverpool Womens Hospital to analyse the increased mortality rate.

Cheshire Police is undertaking a review of the care of around 4,000 babies admitted to hospital while Letby was working as a neonatal nurse between 2012 and 2016.

In a statement on the steps of the court, Janet Moore, a family liaison co-ordinator at Cheshire Constabulary, said on behalf of the families of the victims: We are heartbroken, devastated, angry and feel numb.

We may never truly know why this happened.

Nurse Lucy Letby, 33, was found guilty at Manchester Crown Court of the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of six others at the Countess of Chester Hospital. / PA Media

In a statement after the verdicts, Tony Chambers, former chief executive of the Countess of Chester Hospital, said he is truly sorry for what the families have gone through.

All my thoughts are with the children at the heart of this case and their families and loved ones at this incredibly difficult time. I am truly sorry for what all the families have gone through.

The crimes that have been committed are appalling and I am deeply saddened by what has come to light. He added that he would co-operate fully and openly with any post-trial inquiry.

City of Chester MP Samantha Dixon led calls for a public inquiry into the crimes, saying she has already written to Health Secretary Steve Barclay.

The families that have endured this unimaginable suffering deserve to know exactly what happened, and those who use our NHS services need the reassurance that it can never happen again, she said. Too many people now live with the consequences of the catastrophic harm caused by Letby.

She said the public needs reassurance that no one could ever again perpetrate crimes as hideous as these. The families whose children were killed and harmed, the community I represent and families across the country need to know their children are protected and safe.

The Government should now institute a full, independent and public inquiry into the circumstances in which these crimes were perpetrated.
C ovid boosters are expected to become available to the UK public to buy for the first time after health officials said they supported the move.

The announcement by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) means that pharmacies and clinics could offer the booster for sale as is the case with flu jabs.

It comes after a new Covid variant Eris was declared a variant of interest by the World Health Organization, although the public health risk has been judged as low.

Speaking to the Times newspaper, a UKHSA spokesperson said: We have spoken to manufacturers were in contract with and made it clear we wont prevent them initiating a private market for Covid-19 vaccines, rather wed welcome such an innovation in the UK.

As far as were concerned, the ball is in the court of the manufacturers to develop the market with private healthcare providers.

Covid jabs are currently only available on the NHS, with eligibility decided by scientific advisers.

The number of people who will qualify for a booster on the NHS this autumn has been cut by about 12 million, compared to last year, after the minimum age was raised to 65 from 50.

Private booster jabs are not expected to be available in time for an autumn booster campaign, but could become available next year.

In the US, private jabs could be offered as soon as this autumn, reports suggest. These are expected to be priced around $130 (102).

Professor Adam Finn of the University of Bristol, a member of the UKs Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, said he saw no reason why the jabs shouldnt be available to buy.

Speaking in a personal capacity, he told the Times: I think it will be a good idea for vaccines to be made available to those that want them on the private market.

I dont really see any reason why that shouldnt be happening.

Vaccine manufacturers have said their priority remains supplying to the NHS.

However, Moderna has said it is open to exploring the possibility and viability of providing Covid-19 vaccines to healthcare providers for private sales.
T ory MP Bob Blackman is rallying against the development of towers that would provide nearly 4,000 homes in Edgware, north London, claiming they would add more pressure to already strained local services.

The MP for Harrow East has launched a petition and supported a protest on Thursday against 25 towers being built on the 10.3ha site, one of which will be 29 storeys high. The site is not within his constituency.

The proposed 1.7bn redevelopment of Edgware town centre would include 3365 new homes and 460 for student accommodation, as well as half a million sq ft of commercial space.

Ballymore is working in partnership with the property arm of Transport for London (TfL), TTL Properties, on the scheme to reviltalise the area as a vital and vibrant north London destination, according to developer Ballymores plans.

But Mr Blackman claimed the area was already suffering from overdevelopment and services would be strained, adding that the towers would radically change Edgwares landscape.

He said the proposals are an utter disgrace and must be stopped in a social media post promoting the protest this week.

Ballymore acquired the Broadwalk Shopping Centre, next to Edgware Underground Station, in July 2020.

Following initial discussions with the London Borough of Barnet, the developer said it is considering potential options for the redevelopment of the site with high-quality new homes and retail, public realm and green spaces and community and leisure facilities.

On its website Ballymore said: We will be consulting widely with the local community to understand their priorities for the town centre and the Broadwalk in the coming months.

The development would be carried out on the site of the Broadwalk Shopping Centre, its car park, and the bus station and garages adjacent, according to Housing Today.

The development is estimated to generate an 80m annual boost to the local economy when complete, Housing Today said.

TfL and Barnet Council has been approached for comment.

A spokesperson for Ballymore said: Over the last three years, we have worked closely with the Edgware community and multiple stakeholders to gain their insights around how the development can best serve the local community as well as meet local needs. These contributions have been invaluable in guiding the design process and prompting significant adaptations.

The project will deliver nearly 3,500 new homes, including up to 1,100 affordable homes, creating hundreds of new jobs and spurring economic opportunity across the local area at a time when London needs new housing more than ever. The proposals include a range of improvements for the local community too, such as a new cycle hub and opening up access to the new 4.7 acre Deans Brook Nature Park.

We recognise the need for the development to come forward with significant amounts of infrastructure so the proposed scheme will deliver 1.7billion of investment in the local community, unlocking benefits that local residents have said are sorely needed.

Significant and extensive engagement with the aforementioned stakeholders will take place before development commences and we will continue to work with local people as we deliver a thriving future for Edgware.
O ne in three London homeowners say they will struggle to meet their mortgage payments in the next six months, new polling reveals.

The survey, conducted by YouGov and commissioned by City Hall, showed that 11 per cent of the capitals mortgage payers think they will definitely struggle to keep up with payments and a further 23 per cent will probably struggle.

The combined total of 34 percent saying they expect to struggle is up from 21 per cent in January.

Sadiq Khan said the data further proved the need for Government intervention, arguing that Ministers have so far failed to recognise the scale of the crisis.

The London mayor warned: Hundreds of thousands more London households will see their mortgages skyrocket this year and next, with those on lower incomes at greatest risk of defaulting on their mortgage payments, getting into debt, or losing their homes.

A new City Hall analysis has meanwhile shown that 384,000 London households have been hit by rising mortgage rates since former prime minister Liz Trusss mini-Budget last year, comprising those who are either on variable rate mortgages, or have come off fixed rates since October 2022.

According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the additional cost to London homeowners is around 520 a month  meaning a total sum of around 2.4bn for the capitals affected households.

An estimated further 209,000 London households could see their mortgage payments rise over the next year as they come off their current fixed rate deals.

In a fresh plea to Ministers, Mr Khan called on the Government to take urgent steps to protect Londons homeowners, including through the reinstatement of mortgage payment holidays.

He also urged them to reverse cuts to support for mortgage interest through the social security system, and allow owners in significant difficulty to switch their housing tenure to affordable rented or shared equity, to allow them to remain in their homes.

The Government had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication. Responding to similar concerns raised by the mayor in June however, a Treasury spokesperson said: We know this is a concerning time for mortgage holders. Lenders are already required to engage individually with their customers who are struggling to provide support that is tailored to their circumstances.

Support could include extending a persons mortgage term to reduce monthly payments, offering a switch to interest only payments, payment deferrals, rate discounts, or part interest-part repayment.
U K Black Pride returns for its 18th year in London on Saturday to mark the worlds largest celebration for Black and Queer people in the world.

Founded by Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, also known as Lady Phyll, to create an event for LGBTQI+ people of African, Asian, Caribbean, Latin American and Middle Eastern descent who felt underepresented, UK Black Pride will once again bring the community together to celebrate 18 years of boosting and celebrating inclusivity.

Held in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park from 12pm, the event has fostered itself as one which is welcome to all in order to help create unity within diverse communities.

Everyone whos been before knows its super welcoming, its super fun and it is a great safe space for the community, Black Pride communications officer, Andre Bogues, told the Standard.

If you havent been before, you can expect a lot of fun, and a lot of love.

Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, also known as Lady Phyll / PA

This years theme is Legacy in order to not just mark the organisations achievements in the past, but to also set the foundations for the next generation of queer people of colour, Mr Bogues added.

At the event, revellers can expect a host of performers including Miss Banks, DJ Biggy C, KSoul and a community stage where there will be a host of panels to discuss different topics.

We really do to take in all walks of lives and all opinions and thoughts and bring it to the community to make sure that everything we do is representative, inclusive and safe, he said.

Shane Anthony Sinclair/Getty

Remarking on the 18 years since she created the event, Lady Phyll said: When myself and a group of Black lesbians set out to create our own Pride event, as the others felt exclusive and unwelcoming, we were told wed never get anywhere.

That no one would support us and that any community built around a Black Pride would fade away. Here we are, 18 years later. Bigger, bolder, braver and brighter than ever.

After last years success which saw 25,000 attend, she added: Its been a journey, and we have to thank everyone from the community that has been with us at every and any stage.

We cannot wait to welcome our family back and continue to leave a legacy for the next generation of Black and people of colour queer love and progress.
S anditon, the period drama based on an unfinished novel by Jane Austen, is back for a third series. But despite some rave reviews, not all Austen-heads are happy. UCLs Professor John Mullan, Austen expert and author of What Matters In Austen, gave us his reaction to the latest instalment: Cripes!

The TV adaptation  which has been running since 2019  has now exhausted most of the source material, so showrunner Andrew Davies has developed original storylines to carry on the Austen universe or Austen-verse.

The TV Sanditon no longer has anything whatsoever to do with Austen, said Professor Mullan, who affectionately refers to the author as the blessed Jane. Andrew Davies really is veering off piste, thinks Mullan, noting a new romantic sub-plot that involves a Duke who is gay. Jane Austen is the most hetero-normative of novelists, said Mullan, there were, of course, posh men who were gay in the Regency period, but not in Austens novels or, indeed, her letters.

Adaptations of her work tend to divide fans between originalists and the more open-minded. But at least they can all agree Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was a step too far.

Smiling Smith predicts election wipe-out

Zadie Smith / Getty Images for the Serpentine

Author Zadie Smith is getting political in the run-up to next years election. Im gonna skip down to that ballot box with a smile on my face, she said in a recent interview. Its gonna be a wipeout. I dont have any doubt. Middle-class people are suffering, working-class people are suffering. People arent getting fed, Smith told Vogue in its landmark September Issue. During the interview, which took place near her native Willesden, Smith gave a homeless person who approached her a ten pound note. She said every billionaire is a criminal and spoke of the burden of a 250,000 advance she got for her first novel, White Teeth. I felt it like a responsibility, she says, I earned it retrospectively, I hope. Smith admits even she can be tempted by consumerism. I perceive myself as a fairly terrible person... I waste a lot of money on fashion. I have an entirely guilt-laden relationship with it. Sometimes youre your own harshest critic.

Jordan Peterson book blurb debacle continues

Jordan Peterson / Toronto Star via Getty Images

Controversy in the literary world over Jordan Petersons latest book rolls on. Some British reviewers claim their words were twisted to make bad reviews look good on the blurb. Yesterday Petersons UK publisher, Penguin, held a high-level meeting to discuss the issue, which seems to have squeezed relations with some newspapers. It happens a lot in publishing, a Penguin staffer told us, I will often take a meh review and scavenge the single decent quote. Usually no one cares. A lot happens on the down low. This time the fame of Peterson, right, got the better of them.
Kim Kyung Sic at a police station in HCMC, August 17, 2023. Photo courtesy of the police

A South Korean man wanted for embezzlement has been caught hiding in a HCMC apartment.

Kim Kyung Sic, 50, was arrested by police of District 7 on Thursday and handed over to the Ministry of Public Security, who are awaiting further procedures from South Korean police.

During a check for foreigners living in District 7, police found Kim living in an apartment of Era Town of Phu My Ward. He could not show his personal papers and had not been registered for a temporary stay.

Police then cooperated with the immigration department of HCMC police to verify the mans identity, finding that Kim was wanted per a warrant issued by South Korean authorities in November 2019.

Kim, a business owner, is accused of embezzling money from several people, stealing from them and fleeing. After entering Vietnam, he hid in several different places before being found in District 7.

There are around 100,000 foreigners living in HCMCs 80,000 accommodation facilities, including hotels, apartments and houses.

As part of crime prevention efforts, HCMC police are currently checking accommodation that has not reported foreigners staying.

Since 2022, HCMC police have found over 5,300 such violations, mostly in secluded apartments and neighborhoods.
T he Metropolitan Police has agreed a start date with the NHS to stop attending most of the mental health calls it receives.

From October 31, a clear threshold for a police response will be introduced to reduce the amount of time officers spend over-policing mental health.

Under the new programme  known as Right Care, Right Person  police will still attend any incident where there is a risk to life or a risk of serious harm.

We know that 78% of people detained under section 136 will go on to be discharged home following assessment, suggesting mental health is being over-policed in London.

A letter outlining the programme to staff, seen by the PA news agency, details the threshold that will be needed to warrant a police response.

The letter is signed by Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, regional medical director of NHS England Chris Streather, and other London healthcare bosses.

The letter said: The threshold for a police response to a mental health-related incident will be to investigate a crime that has occurred or is occurring; or to protect people, when there is a real and immediate risk to the life of a person, or of a person being subject to or at risk of serious harm.

The need for this threshold to change is seen through our data.

For example, we know that 78% of people detained under section 136 will go on to be discharged home following assessment, suggesting mental health is being over-policed in London.

In practice, this means that police call handlers will receive a new prompt relating to welfare checks or when a patient goes absent from health partner inpatient care.

The prompt will ask call handlers to check that a police response is required.

The first key milestone for the implementation programme is October 31 where the clear threshold for a police response will be introduced into Met call centres.

A spokesperson for the Met said: Our priority is to implement Right Care, Right Person safely and effectively.

We have a duty to protect our communities and we will continue to do so.

The focus of Right Care Right Person is to make sure that each call receives a response from the most appropriate agency, and that isnt always the police.

Currently police officers spend a significant amount of time dealing with health incidents which has an impact on the availability of our resources.

A spokesperson for NHS England in London said: We continue to work closely with colleagues to develop a clear implementation plan for Right Care, Right Person which will be rolled out over the coming months and years.

Our priority across all partner agencies is to ensure that the mental health needs of all our communities are delivered in a measured, comprehensive and cohesive way to ensure the best experience and outcomes for people using mental health services in London.

Plans to cut police mental health callouts have previously been described as dangerous.

Last month, the president-elect of the British Psychological Society, Dr Roman Raczka, said: To withdraw police support within the next two years, at a time when mental health services are already stretched beyond capacity and under resourced after years of chronic underfunding, is simply dangerous.
A state sixth form which gives preference to teenagers on free school meals is celebrating after 43 students secured a place at Oxbridge.

Students at the selective Harris Westminster school, which works closely with the private Westminster school, were recently asked to stop referring to teachers as Sir and Miss in a bid to challenge cultural misogyny.

Almost half of all A-Level exams taken by Harris Westminster students were given A or A* grades. Students scored particularly well in History, with 60 per cent of A-levels graded A or A*, while in Maths and Economics 48 per cent of exams got the top grades.

Amongst those celebrating are Oscar Stott who achieved four A*s and will go to Oxford university to read Medicine and Lamake Henok who scored two A*s and two As and will study Mathematics at Imperial College London.

James Handscombe, executive principal of Harris Westminster told the Standard: To send 43 students from a single institution is impressive in itself, to do so from a school where more than a third of students have needed a bursary to subsidise their food, travel and living costs is astounding.

These figures also reflect the continuing success of the capitals schools with the south-east and particularly London taking advantage of immigration, population density and relative prosperity to stretch the gap to the rest of the nation. That is great news for us here but underlines the importance of doing more to support schools up and down the country. 

Claire Scott, Head of School at Harris Westminster Sixth Form, said: These are fantastic results which demonstrate the very high academic standards we have set at Harris Westminster. Students have achieved well across a range of subjects including Maths, History and Art reflecting the strength of teaching across the curriculum.

She added: All of our students are incredibly ambitious for their future and are determined to achieve their goals. They have each shown an unwavering commitment to their studies  with many overcoming significant challenges along the way  and I am delighted that so many of them have secured the grades they need to move on with their education.

I would like to congratulate each of them and wish them all the very best for a successful future. We are so proud of everything they have achieved.
F lights at major Moscow airports were disrupted on Friday after an early hours drone strike not far from the Kremlin.

Witnesses described a powerful explosion around a non-residential building in Moscows expo centre, three miles west of the Kremlin.

Russias air transport agency said seven flights were redirected after the strike forced the suspension of air traffic at four major airports around Moscow.

The Russian defence ministry blamed the attack on Ukraine, saying the drone was shot down by air defences. Officials said there were no casualties.

Remote-controlled strikes in Russia have increased since a drone was destroyed over the Kremlin in May. Ukraine has not responded to Russian accusations, including for two strikes near the Expo Centre in July.

At the time, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said: Gradually, the war is returning to the territory of Russia, and this is an inevitable, natural and fair process.

But Mr Zelenskys government is also demanding greater western air power to sustain its counter-offensive, after complaining that US-made F16 jets would not be arriving soon.

People and workers stand in line to enter a building of Expo Centre following a drone attack / AFP via Getty Images

At about 4 am Moscow time, the Kyiv regime launched another terrorist attack using an unmanned aerial vehicle on objects located in Moscow and the Moscow region," the Russian defence ministry said.

According to US media reports, United States intelligence agencies believed Ukrainian spies or military intelligence were behind the strike.

Since then, a series of drone strikes have struck Russia, including several buildings which were damaged on May 30 in the south west of Moscow.

On July 30 and 31, two other separate drones also crashed into the glass facade of a skyscraper just a few hundred metres from the Expo Center.
A Ukrainian teenager who fled the war and was given a free place at a top London private school achieved three A-Levels despite only studying for eight months.

Tymur Sabri, from Kyiv, arrived in London with his mother in March last year and moved in with a Chiswick resident who contacted Latymer Upper School in Hammersmith, where fees are 24,000 a year. The school offered Tymur a free place.

He scored A, C and D in Music, Physics and Maths and will now go on to study music and sound recording at the University of Surrey.

Tymur had to leave behind his father in Ukraine  who had himself fled war in Aghanistan when he was a student  and his older brother Arthur, who is a medical student.

With his mother Svitlana he travelled to Poland, then Paris and then on to London.

Latymer Upper Schools bursary scheme enable it to offer places to children fleeing conflicts around the world. There are currently 13 students at the school from Ukraine on a free place.
H ollywood actor Morgan Freeman has said that black history needs to be embraced so that people can move on.

The 86-year-old is part of a new documentary called 761st Tank Battalion: The Original Black Panthers about a unit staffed by African-American personnel in the Second World War that played a significant role in military operations against Nazi Germany.

Asked why he thinks their story has been overlooked and forgotten about, Freeman told Good Morning Britain: Systemic racism  exists in our country.

White people dont want their children to know about it because they dont want them to get guilt complexes.

He added: This is history, lets not run away from it, lets embrace it and move on.

Discussing the way history was taught in schools, Freeman said he found Black History Month to be just a total insult.

There is so much more to history then what you can cram into 28 days, he said.

If you get into some sort of mindset where teaching our young that there is something wrong about teaching this history, that is a warp.

The 761st Tank Battalion trained, amid the restrictions and racism of the Jim Crow laws in the southern United States, and their motto was come out fighting.

According to The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, more than one million African-American women and men served in the military during the Second World War and they battled racism at home and while serving in the military.

Freemans accolades include an Oscar, American Film Institutes Life Achievement Award, the Golden Globes Cecil B DeMille Award and a National Medal of the Arts from former US president Barack Obama.

761st Tank Battalion: The Original Black Panthers will air on October 1 in the UK on Sky History.
R TE director general Kevin Bakhurst said that Ryan Tubridy is still being paid by the broadcaster and that negotiations on resolving that issue would be his next step.

Tubridy, who was the national broadcasters highest earner, has been off air since June 22 after a scandal emerged that RTE had understated his earnings from the period 2017 to 2022.

The stand-ins for his weekday morning radio programme have been satirist Oliver Callan and presenter Brendan Courtney.

Asked whether RTE would continue to pay Tubridy, Mr Bakhurst said: We need to resolve that, thats the next step now.

He said that the dispute over whether Tubridy was still in contract after stepping down from the flagship TV chat show The Late Late Show in May was still unresolved.

He said: Well, I think, as has been said before, he had that contract, which covered both the Late Late and his radio work.

When he decided to leave The Late Late Show, clearly there was some discussion about whether hed left that contract or not, and I dont think theres agreement on that, he told RTEs Morning Ireland.

We continued to pay him because I thought it was a fair thing to do over that period, because we would normally pay someone over the summer and it was our decision to take him off air for a while.

But we didnt pay him at the level that they were seeking for him to be paid.

He said that he did not discuss with Tubridy on Thursday whether he would still return 150,000 euro paid to him through a UK-based barter account for his involvement in events that have not yet taken place.

I dont expect him to repay it. I made it clear to him throughout that I felt, morally, it was the right thing to repay it.

He had agreed as part of returning to RTE that he would repay it, he said, adding that that now may change.

Mr Bakhurst said that discussions had begun within RTE about who would replace Tubridy, and said that audiences had reacted warmly to the substitute presenters for his former Radio One show.

Standing in for Tubridy on Friday morning, Courtney said it was a little bit strange to be here in front of the mic for the 9am programme, and said that we all feel a bit discombobulated this morning.
R ebekah Vardy has reignited the Wagatha Christie war with Coleen Rooney, branding her boring and publicity-seeking following her rivals interview with British Vogue.

The 41-year-old took to Instagram to hit back at 37-year-old Rooneys interview where she spoke out about their 1.5 million libel case for the first time.

Vardy, married to former England striker Jamie, sued after Rooney dramatically accused her of leaking details of her private life to the press.

The social media drama subsequently sparked a high-profile libel trial - and Vardy was ordered to pay Rooneys legal costs after losing the case.

In the Vogue interview, Rooney said she found Vardys silence since the trial odd while reflecting on the horrible experience of going to court.

But now Vardy has fired back - posting a bikini picture of herself on holiday with the caption: Take a chill.

Mother-of-five Vardy, who is in Portugal with her family, went further in the comments section of her post.

In reply to one comment by a fan that read: I reckon vogue mag being a superstar n all that.

Vardy wrote: Boring now isnt it.

Later Vardy joked about Rooney: Dont give me publicity Im private but please give me publicity.

She added: What I dont get why you would want to keep bringing it up. Its boring now! The public doesnt care and neither do I. She won thats the end of it! Be happy, move on because I know I have.

In another comment from a fan suggesting Vardy was wrong to take the case to court, the WAG wrote: [...] I dont do anything wrong! And Ill take that to my grave!

Alec Maxwell

If I had done it believe me I would have flicked the middle finger and said yeah and what!

Rooney, the wife of ex-England captain Wayne, first accused Vardy of leaking stories to the press in 2019.

Rooney was dubbed Wagatha Chrisite after an elaborate social media sting where she would post false stories about her life, ensuring that only Vardys account would see them.

Vardy also hit out at the Rooneyss marriage in her post, suggesting:  [I] wouldnt put up with my husband sleeping with hookers end of! No excuses.

Rooney addressed her husbands infidelity in her Vogue interview, admitting their marriage had been a battle at times.
R esearchers studying ChatGPT claim the AI chatbot displays a left-leaning bias in favour of the Labour Party.

As part of their analysis, the team from the University of East Anglia asked the bot to impersonate supporters of liberal parties while answering a political survey. They then compared the responses with ChatGPTs default replies to the same questions.

The results showed significant and systematic political bias toward the UK Labour Party, the Democrats in the US, and Brazils president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the researchers wrote.

Their findings were published on Thursday in the peer-reviewed journal Public Choice.

ChatGPT accused of left-wing bias

With a general election due next year, the research will add to the growing concerns around bias in artificial intelligence systems, and their impact on democracy.

ChatGPT has previously been accused of spouting left-wing views by politicans and commentators on the right. The bot reportedly refused to write a poem praising former US president Donald Trump, despite co-operating when asked to create one about Joe Biden.

Elsewhere, the US online right branded it WokeGPT due to its alleged stances on gender identity and climate change. In the UK, Nigel Farage bemoaned the AI bot as the most extreme case of hard-left liberal bias.

Broadly speaking, AI systems have been shown to reflect racial biases and other regressive values. In the case of ChatGPT, a university professor got the bot to write code to say only white or Asian men would make good scientists.

Researchers from the Allen Institute for AI, a US non-profit, also found that ChatGPT could be made to spout responses ranging from toxic to overtly racist. All it took was to assign the bot a persona using an internal setting, such as a bad person or a historical figure.

Aside from the new wave of chatbots, researchers have also warned about the inherent bias in AI used for surveillance purposes. This includes predictive policing algorithms unfairly targeting Black and Latino people for crimes they did not commit in the US. In addition, facial recognition systems have struggled to accurately identify people of colour.

Making chatbots neutral

The team behind the latest study is now urging AI companies to ensure their platforms are as impartial as possible. They plan to make their novel analysis tool available to the public for free, thereby democratising oversight.

As part of their research, they asked ChatGPT each political question 100 times. The bots multiple responses were then subjected to a 1,000-repetition bootstrapping procedure. This is a method of re-sampling original data to further increase the reliability of the conclusions drawn from the generated text.

Additional analysis was also conducted, including a placebo test in which the bot was asked politically neutral questions.

Reactions to the study

Although AI experts agree that it is important to audit large-language models like ChatGPT, they have raised concerns about the ways in which the new study was conducted.

Dr Stuart Armstrong, co-founder and chief researcher at Aligned AI, argued that the research tells us relatively little about political bias. This is because it does not compare the accuracy of ChatGPTs responses to those of humans, he explained.

Many politicised questions have genuine answers (not all  some are entirely value-laden) so it may be that one side is more accurate on many questions and ChatGPT reflects this, Armstrong said.

Nello Cristianini, professor of AI at the University of Bath, said the study is limited by the choice of the Political Compass test, which is not a validated research tool. It will be interesting to apply the same approach to more rigorous testing instruments, he said.

Is ChatGPT biased?

So how does bias seep into the machine? Well, in the case of ChatGPT, and other so-called large-language models, it likely originates from the programming of the tool and the human intervention used to vet its answers.

ChatGPT itself is trained on 300 billion words, or 570 GB, of data .

The detected bias reflects possible bias in the training data, said Professor Duc Pham, chance professor of engineering, University of Birmingham. If we are not careful, we might see future studies conclude that ChatGPT (or some other large-language model) is racist, transphobic, or homophobic as well!

What the current research highlights is the need to be transparent about the data used in LLM training and to have tests for the different kinds of biases in a trained model.

In early February, Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, acknowledged certain shortcomings around bias. He noted that the firm was working to improve the default settings to be more neutral.

In its guidelines, OpenAI tells reviewers that they should not favour any political group. Biases that nevertheless emerge... are bugs, not features, the company writes.

Recently, OpenAI began allowing ChatGPT users to gain more control over the bots responses. The feature, known as custom instructions, allows users to customise the tone of answers and set a specific character count, among other settings.
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The son of a British Museum curator sacked after the disappearance of jewellery and gems says his father hasnt done anything and is devastated to have lost his lifes work.

Greg Higgs has told journalists it couldnt have been his dad, who has worked there for 35 years without incident, and his father has lost his job and his reputation.

Hurricane Hilary could be the first tropical storm to make landfall in Southern California since 1939, causing significant and rare impacts.

Weather watchers say its hitting sustained winds of near 145 miles per hour and is expected to intensify before it begins to weaken over the weekend.

Researchers at the Florida Atlantic University says 95% of smartwatch and fitness straps harbour nasty things like e-coli, which they found on 60 percent.

They say the type of material used in the wristband makes a big difference with rubber and plastic ones more likely to harbour microbes than metal equivalents.

Also in this episode:

Whats in the next Call of Duty Modern Warfare game?

Researchers in Sweden say divorced men with diabetes could have a greater risk of limb amputation

Eating salad while on antibiotics could create dangerous superbug

HD 45166: Astronomers identify a new type of star three thousand light years away from Earth, and it's bigger than the sun

Blue light filter glasses may not make a difference, say a team at Melbourne University

Watch out! Venomous snakes are out of hibernation early in the East Coast of Australia due to global warming

Listen above, and find us on your Spotify Daily Drive or wherever you stream your podcasts.
A HCMC court adjourned the lawsuit filed by Vietnamese-American businessman Nguyen Duc An against his supermodel ex-wife Pham Thi Ngoc Thuy after relevant parties failed to turn up Friday morning.

An and Thuy. Photo obtained by VnExpress

Thuys lawyer requested the HCMCs People Court for an adjournment saying "several lawyers and people with interest and obligations related to the case were not present."

The judge accepted the request, and said a fresh date for the hearing would be announced later.

An, 61, has sued Thuy, 43, a famous former model and actress dubbed the "Marilyn Monroe of Vietnam," to get back assets worth VND288 billion (US$12 million) from her.

The two married in 2006 and divorced in 2008.

In 2010, An filed the suit, claiming she had failed to return properties he had bought with "money he earned before marriage" including stocks, cars and dozens of apartments, villas and lands in HCMC and the coastal town of Phan Thiet.

As a foreigner he "had to register the properties in Thuys name."

The Superior Court of California in his native U.S. had ruled that Thuy had to return the properties to him as they "were purchased with his money [and not related to Thuy]," he had submitted to the HCMC court.

He said his children would be "entitled to the properties" if Thuy returned them.

But Thuy had said in a 2014 interview with VnExpress that she and An did not sign a prenuptial agreement on properties acquired during their marriage, and so they belonged to both of them.

It was announced earlier this month that the HCMC People Court would finally hear the case after 13 years after "obtaining documents related to the properties in dispute."

An then sent a letter to the court asking to make some changes to the list of assets he requested Thuy to return.

He wanted to remove 13 of the 39 assets in a list he had submitted, including five villas in the coastal city of Phan Thiet, seven automobiles and a motorbike, citing that Thuy had sold these assets and "it can take the court more time to verify" as his reason.

But he asked Thuy to return an additional VND67.8 billion she had earned over the years by "renting out nine of his luxury HCMC District 1 apartments."

He has also added VND422 million and US$447,000 that are in three bank accounts he had told Thuy to open in her name.

He also rejected her demand that all properties acquired after their marriage should be divide equally between them, calling it "groundless."
Tyler Maurice Kooy used to hate going out in the HCMC rain when streets are filled with unpleasantly smelling water.

Now he is a pro at riding his motorbike on the sidewalk to avoid the water.

Water reached the height of a motorbike saddle at many places in Thu Duc City after a short but intense spell of rain on August 14, 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

American Tyler Maurice Kooy, 32, used to work in Thao Dien in Thu Duc City before opening his own restaurant, says he is familiar with the situation after seven years in the city.

"Every time it flooded in Thao Dien, which happened a lot, my motorcycle engine stopped working as water got into it, and I had to walk it to my workplace.

"Sometimes I had no choice but to leave my vehicle in a parking lot and wade through the water to reach my work or meeting place."

He claims never to have experienced flooding in the coastal city of Seattle in the U.S., where he used to live, though it rained very often.

So he would feel uncomfortable at seeing dirty water with an unpleasant smell on every street after rain when he first came to HCMC.

The city Department of Construction said in 2021, when the implementation of its anti-flooding and wastewater treatment projects had just started, that there were 18 streets that often flooded in heavy rain.

It claimed to have improved the situation on five of the 18 after two years.

Tyler still remembers how HCMC was flooded during a 2019 storm, which prevented him from riding his motorcycle as water rose to the level of the knees. While returning home from work he had to leave his motorcycle at a parking lot and walk five kilometers.

He breathed a sigh of relief on reaching home safely, despite losing one of his shoes on the way.

"I did not know what to do back then," he says.

"Then I noticed how local people on motorcycles climbed the sidewalk to prevent the engine from stalling. I do so myself sometimes now."

He used to rely on Google Maps to go out during rains to avoid flooded areas, but no longer since he now knows the streets like "the back of my hand" after living in the city for so long.

"I think I will be an outstanding motorcycle taxi driver," he adds jokingly.

Joseph Sheehan, 45, emigrated to HCMC 15 years ago, and has a few bad memories of rains over the years. Like the one occasion when he got sick after having to walk his motorcycle home under the rain on flooded streets.

He later figured out a way to "keep moving" with his vehicle when caught in the rain.

"I simply find another route or ride my motorcycle very slowly when I cross flooded places," he says.

"To be precise, Im not afraid of the rain, I only feel uncomfortable with the dirty water."

He hopes city authorities will soon improve the infrastructure, especially the drainage system. He also wishes that newly built places in District 2, where many foreigners live, are well planned in terms of draining water.

This idea seems to align with the city Department of Constructions vision, which expects plans to improve the drainage system in the Thao Dien neighborhood to be completed this year.

A foreigner on the flooded Quoc Huong Street in Thao Dien Ward on May 8, 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Thanh Tung

Alex comes from a South American country and has lived in HCMC for seven years.

"My company once had to take a team of specialists from Thao Dien to our factory," he says.

"It was severely flooded on that day, which caused us to spend four hours to travel the distance."

Consequently, they did not have time to check everything since they had to catch a flight soon after reaching at the factory.

There was another time when Alexs company held a farewell party for a colleague who was returning to their home country. Not even one person, including the board of managers, could reach the venue on time as the heavy rain on that day flooded the streets.

But he does think the flood situation has improved "a bit" compared to when he first came, and believes it will improve even further if people do not throw plastic waste on the streets.

"I see trash piling up at the sewers, blocking water from draining every time it rains. The problem is peoples awareness, not the authorities fault."

While waiting for authorities to resolve the problem, foreigners seemingly have no other choice but to live in peace with the floods.

Tyler, for instance, has grown a more tolerant attitude toward it. He thinks he is more understanding of his employees, who fail to reach his restaurant on time on rainy days. He understands the risks involved in traversing flooded streets, but jokingly tells them they "probably prefer rainy [over sunny] days" so that they can get to work late.

"Coming from a temperate country, I think the weather in Vietnam is great [despite the occasional flooding]," he says.

"Floods are still better than freezing cold because I'd rather get a bit wet than roll myself up in dozens of coats to survive the cold."
In one of its biggest money-laundering cases, police said 400 officers fanned out across Singapore on Tuesday and launched simultaneous raids on residences across the city-state, from the Orchard Road shopping belt to the resort island of Sentosa.

The raids on at least nine locations netted assets totaling a staggering S$1 billion, police said. These included 94 properties, bank accounts with S$110 million, 50 vehicles, stacks of cash amounting to more than S$23 million, hundreds of luxury handbags and watches, fistfuls of jewelry and two gold bars.

At least 10 foreigners aged between 31 and 44 were arrested, including one man who jumped out of the second-floor balcony of his bungalow in a tony neighborhood and was found hiding in a drain.

The man, a 40-year-old Cypriot national, sustained injuries in the fall and was taken to hospital. From his home, police seized cash amounting to more than S$2.1 million, four bank accounts with more than S$6.7 million and ownership documents of 13 properties and five vehicles with an estimated value of more than S$118 million.

The other arrested people included citizens from China, Cambodia, Cyprus and Vanuatu. One woman was among them.

Twelve people were assisting police in their investigations while another eight were wanted. Police said all those in the case were foreigners and were linked to each other.

A police statement said the group was suspected to be laundering proceeds from overseas organized crime, including scams and online gambling.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore said it takes this case seriously and has contacted the financial institutions "where the potentially tainted funds have been identified".

David Chew, director of commercial affairs at the police force, said Singapore has "zero tolerance" for being used as a safe haven for criminals or their families and for banking facilities to be abused.

"Our message to these criminals is simple - if we catch you, we will arrest you. If we find your ill-gotten gains, we will seize them. We will deal with you to the fullest extent of our laws," said Chew.

Singapore has in recent years seen an influx of foreign money. Latest figures from the central bank show that total assets under management in Singapore rose 16% in 2021 to S$5.4 trillion, compared with a global increase of 12% to $112 trillion the same year.
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Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu does not want the population to find out how much money President Klaus Iohannis spends on foreign trips, Save Romania Union (USR) spokesman Ionut Mosteanu, declared on Friday.

He said that the draft law proposed by the USR to ensure transparency regarding the spending of public money for the foreign trips of officials received a negative opinion from the Government.

"I don't understand why Prime Minister Ciolacu refuses to let the Romanians find out how much money is spent by elected officials on foreign trips. The citizens have the right to know the costs of Klaus Iohannis's trips, whether we are talking about the meeting with the deputy mayor of Rio de Janeiro or the trip to Japan with an aircraft of oligarchs. With a stopover in Sibiu. Transparency should be a norm in a healthy democracy, not an exception," said the deputy, according to a USR press release.

Mosteanu, initiator of the project, appeals to all Social Democratic Party (PSD) members of Parliament to vote for the normative act, which eliminates the classification, as job secrets, of information related to spending public money on foreign travels, with the exception of expenses related to national security.
The EU pushes for more sustainable travel solutions continent-wide. The plan is to strengthen long-distance and cross-border connections with the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) policy and funding for railway infrastructure. While the demand for rail travel is high, national operators and startups are competing with 'unreasonably low prices' for flights, night trains are experiencing a renaissance and experts are calling for a Europe-wide kerosene tax.

Politicians, transport experts and business people alike are criticising the state of the railway infrastructure, the heavy subsidising of airborne travel and the seeming lack of political will, agerpres reports.

In the fight against climate change, the EU Commission wants twice as many high-speed trains to run on European tracks by 2030 and three times as many high-speed trains by 2050. This is intended to reduce CO2 emissions in the transport sector. For German railway operator Deutsche Bahn and other European railways, far more investment is needed to expand high-speed rail transport in Europe as envisaged by the EU Commission.

If the so-called Green Deal is to succeed, 'the EU and the member states will have to make considerable additional investments and invest in network expansion throughout Europe', Deutsche Bahn announced in July. The infrastructure measures currently in planning or under construction are not sufficient to achieve a doubling of high-speed traffic by 2030.

Expensive trains, cheap flights - 'crash landing' for climate protection

Climate-friendly rail is often more expensive than air travel on the same route, environmental organisation Greenpeace concluded after comparing ticket prices for both means of transport on 112 routes across Europe at several booking times. According to the organisation, 71 percent of the tickets for rail travel were more expensive than those for air travel, which is more damaging to the climate.

The testers registered the most glaring price difference on the Barcelona-London route, which cost up to 384 Euro by train. That was 30 times more than by plane with a ticket price of 12.99 Euro.

'More and more people want to travel by train and do without flights, but the lack of a kerosene tax and further climate-damaging subsidies for the airline industry distort prices. This is a crash landing for many good intentions and climate protection,' Greenpeace transport expert Marissa Reiserer said, calling for a Europe-wide kerosene tax of 50 cents per litre. That would bring in annual revenues of 46.2 billion Euro. These funds would have to be channelled into the rail infrastructure. German federal Green politician Anton Hofreiter also demanded flying to be made more expensive and called for a European kerosene tax too.

More and more people want to travel by train and do without flights, but the lack of a kerosene tax and further climate-damaging subsidies for the airline industry distort prices.

Greenpeace transport expert Marissa Reiserer

Rail transport is 'subject to various taxes and fees,' in particular for using the infrastructure, said Philipp Kosok, an analyst at the German think tank Agora. There is also no centralised site to consult timetables and compare prices.

'There's not really a European approach to train travel at the moment,' said Chris Engelsman. The co-founder of the Belgian-Dutch startup European Sleeper that inaugurated a nightline between Berlin and Brussels in May. Another train startup co-founder, French Adrien Aumon, stated: 'I realised that it was almost impossible to travel in Europe (without flying). People were asked to get off the planes, but without necessarily offering them solutions.' His startup Midnight Trains is partnering with a night train maker to relaunch the once popular Paris-Milan-Venice line in 2025.

Modernisation is underway, but change takes time

It seems like attention to and maintenance of the railway infrastructure has been somewhat neglected in various European countries due insufficient investments in the past. A focus on improving road networks or aftermath of conflict, in recent years, made the need for improvement apparent. Billions of Euro are being earmarked by national governments, rail operators and the EU alike. But it will take time until the rejuvenation and expansion will be completed.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) for example, the precarious state of the railway infrastructure is credited to the war in the 1990s and insufficient financial investments. However, Edin Forto, the country's minister of transport and communications, made the construction and revitalisation of railway infrastructure domestically and internationally a priority of his mandate.

The advances were made by the reconstruction of the Sarajevo - Mostar route. New passenger trains which are capable of a maximum speed of 220 km/h were acquired, and the project cost about 67.5 million euros. The railway line is located on the pan-European 5C-Corridor which connects Budapest (Hungary) to Ploce (Croatia). This means that more 50 percent of the line lies on BiH's territory and needs to be modernized and maintained.

In Croatia, where the 5C-Corridor ends, highway networks have been the focus of investments for decades, leaving the railwork infrastructure in a rather neglected state. The government aims to improve matters, but this will take time and funds. Construction and modernisation projects are underway, aiming to revitalise and modernise 30 percent (780 kilometres) of the total network according to EU standards by increasing the capacity of railway lines, speed of travel and safety.

The projected speed of passenger trains is 160 kilometres an hour, while freight trains will be able to develop a speed of 120 km/h which is not considered high-speed. Until the period of 2030, 5.4 billion Euro are earmarked for this with around 85 percent of the necessary funding coming from EU co-financing.

About 25 major infrastructure projects are currently being implemented in Croatia. Most of the investments are for projects along two transport corridors: The RH1, running from the Slovenian border to the Serbian border, and the RH2, stretching from the northern Adriatic port city of Rijeka to the border with Hungary. The RH2 shall connect the Iberian Peninsula to the TEN-T European network. The EU's network policy TEN-T aims to develop a coherent and efficient transport infrastructure across the European Union, comprising railways, waterways, roads, ports, airports and terminals.

Two core European corridors of the trans-European transport network, the Mediterranean Corridor and the Baltic-Adriatic Corridor run through Slovenian territory. The country functions as a transit country and has just over 1,200 kilometres of railway lines. 875 km of these are still single-track. But the growing importance of green mobility and the need for more intensive investment in rail infrastructure have led to a new significant increase in the country's investment budget. In 2023, the Slovenian Infrastructure Directorate can avail of 423.7 million Euro for investment in rail infrastructure. The country has also taken advantage of opportunities through various European Union mechanisms.

The German government is planning to provide national railway operator Deutsche Bahn with billions of Euro in additional funding from its Climate and Transformation Fund (KTF). By 2027, the federally owned railway is to receive 12.5 billion from the fund, according to a draft of the fund's new budget.

The country's rail network is in part dilapidated and in need of fundamental renovations but it is likely to take several years before measures will be noticeable to passengers.

We will do everything in our power to continue the enormous investment boom in the coming years - with the goal, confirmed in the coalition's decision in March, of providing a total of up to 45 billion Euro in additional funding by 2027.

German Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing

Germany's government has been slow to prioritise the issue. 'We will do everything in our power to continue the enormous investment boom in the coming years - with the goal, confirmed in the coalition's decision in March, of providing a total of up to 45 billion Euro in additional funding by 2027,' German Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing recently affirmed.

With around 38.000 kilometres, the German rail network is the largest and one of the most complex in Europe and thus poses particular challenges for operators - such as a high rate of trains running late. This has consequences for cross-border travel. Swiss railways SBB for example announced that they are using more replacement trains in Basel in order to offer punctual connections in Switzerland. Travellers arriving from Germany then have to switch trains for further travel in Switzerland.

93 percent of Swiss trains are on time. Since spring, a new tool shall help to improve energy efficiency and punctuality. One hour before departure, SBB calculates the optimal travel strategy based on the weather and traffic situation. With the tool, train drivers know exactly how many seconds they are behind schedule during the journey so that they can take countermeasures.

However, not everybody is happy about the plans to extend the railway networks. In June, French police clashed with thousands of protesters who seeked to stop construction of a new high-speed train line between France and neighbouring Italy. Supported by the European Union, the new line should eventually link France's Lyon and Turin in Italy, with a 57.5-kilometre tunnel through the Alps. The estimated cost is more than 26 billion Euro. Supporters say it will greatly ease freight road traffic but opponents say the ecological damage risks are devastating and that springs already started to dry up due to the works.

Climate change concerns lead to renaissance of the sleeper train

Night trains have made a comeback in Europe thanks to their low-carbon footprint, but after years of neglect, the renaissance has had a bumpy ride. 'Operating night trains is very difficult, complex and expensive,' German think tank analyst Kosok said, adding that the infrastructure was 'overloaded' even at night when freight trains ply the rails.

Despite the challenges, national rail operators are giving night trains another chance while startups are jumping on the bandwagon as climate concerns are making travellers ditch kerosene-burning planes for cleaner modes of transportation. Austrian rail operator OeBB, a pioneer in the sector, has Europe's biggest fleet of night trains, serving 1.5 million passengers in carriages that include bed compartments.

The state-owned company considered abandoning its overnight services at one point, but it went the opposite direction and invested in them instead. 'Our night trains are nearly fully booked,' OeBB spokesman Bernhard Rieder said as summer travel is in full swing in Europe. OeBB runs 20 routes connecting Vienna and other cities throughout Europe.

There was no demand for night trains for over 25 years.

OeBB spokesman Bernhard Rieder

In 2018, OeBB ordered 33 new night trains from German conglomerate Siemens to expand its reach and replace part of its ageing fleet. Rieder admits that the quality of its service 'is not always as high these days as what we want to deliver to our customers'. Manufacturing ground to a halt, he said as 'there was no demand and no request for night trains for over 25 years'.

This sentiment is shared by the two train startup founders: Aumont who says service 'has deteriorated' over time, and Engelman adding that 'the train is not always up to modern standards', blaming the 'lack of investment for decades'. In Austria, the first trains - with a modern design, more privacy and more shower facilities - are expected to go into service for OeBB at the end of this year.

This article is published weekly. The content is based on news by AFP, dpa, FENA, HINA, STA agencies participating in the enr.
The Romanian government will continue to provide full and consistent support for Ukraine, as long as it is needed, "until the victory of Ukraine and the restoration of its territorial integrity", but also further, in the process of rebuilding the country, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu declared on Friday, at Victoria Palace.

"I told the (Ukrainian, ed. n.) Prime Minister today that I and the Government I lead will continue to provide full and consistent support for Ukraine. We are united against the military aggression of the Russian Federation and the acts of barbarism and cowardice directed against the people Ukrainian. The loss of innocent lives in this senseless conflict must stop. I once again express full support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. We will stand with Ukraine as long as it takes until Ukraine's victory and restoration of its territorial integrity, but also further in the country's reconstruction process," Marcel Ciolacu said, agerpres reports.

He emphasized the extremely complicated period that the two states are going through, in the current context, full of unprecedented challenges for the security of the European continent and the whole world.

"However, we must remain firm for this fight. It is, in fact, also for the protection of our way of life and our fundamental values related to democracy and freedom. And I am glad that the Romanian people understood these things from the first moment and has shown incredible solidarity with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. We must defend Ukraine's right to sovereignly decide on its future because an independent, sovereign, democratic, free, prosperous Ukraine is in Romania's strategic interest," Ciolacu declared.
Maestro Gheorghe Zamfir had, on Friday evening, at the start of the International Pan Flute Festival in Gaesti, an emotional moment in which he spoke about his mentor, Fanica Luca.

"He spoke through his pan flute, he turned it into a verb. Not even Enescu turned the violin into a verb. The Romanian verb is the hardest verb on the planet, because it is unpronounceable (...). So Fanica Luca was for me, not my biological father, he was the one who gave me the word and the verb that I carried all over the planet. For me Fanica Luca was everything, he gave me life, after my father gave it to me by birth, he gave it to me through the pan flute".

Gheorghe Zamfir was the one who conquered the applause of the entire planet with an instrument almost forgotten decades ago.

"A few decades ago, the pan flute was known only in pubs. Eh, this difficult instrument that came from millennia and millennia and millennia, hundreds of thousands of years, because it was born with the appearance of the One who made us all. It was an instrument that accompanied God from the first days of Genesis," said Gheorghe Zamfir.

The Gheorghe Zamfir International Pan Flute Festival takes place in the maestro's hometown, Gaesti, Dambovita County, from August 18 to 20. A press conference was held on Friday to open the event.

"Maestro Gheorghe Zamfir, as always, has distinguished guests, renowned artists and there will certainly be three special festival evenings. Maestro Gheorghe Zamfir, on behalf of the citizens of our town, I would like to thank you for all your activity", said the mayor of Gaesti, Gheorghe Grigore.

Minister of Culture Raluca Turcan was also present at the press conference and said that Gheorghe Zamfir was a paragon in her musical training. Turcan also spoke about the current lack of interest in true values and the importance of promoting the cultural act.

"Throughout my development as a human being, I have been passionate about music and, at the same time, when I was a child and trying to master the piano, I had a few models of talent, dedication, professionalism and one of the paragon I had in my musical training was maestro Gheorghe Zamfir (...). As Minister of Culture, when I took office, one of the objectives I assumed as Minister was to increase access to culture. And a festival of this kind, beyond the fact that it is designed around the personality of Gheorghe Zamfir, born in Gaesti, also brings music and artistic performance closer to the people. In a country where we are often marked by inequalities, by a lack of interest in true values, the coalescing of these qualities from which we sometimes stray too abruptly can only bring much good and contribute positively. In this event, the International Pan Flute Festival, we find talent, dedication, uniqueness, liveliness, unity," said minister Raluca Turcan.

She added that she is at a loss for words when it comes to desrcibing what Gheorghe Zamfir has done for Romania with his pan flute.

"Maestro Gheorghe Zamfir, words are too few to express appreciation for what you have created for our identity as a nation and, at the same time, they are too few to try to multiply the example you have set for generations and generations of young people," said Raluca Turcan.

Among the international artists invited at the Gheorghe Zamfir International Pan Flute Festival are: Vasile Iovu - People's Artist (Republic of Moldova), Aydin Yavas (Turkey), Kim Juhyeong (South Korea) and Jean-Luc Faraux (France).

Tenor Alin Stoica, Mihail Dogotari, Rodica Gabriela Anghelescu, Marta Claudia Baceanu Tudor, Stelu Enache, Fratii Cazanoi, Radu Nechifor, Gelu Voicu, Madalina Bourceanu, Claudia Diaconu Iordache, Felix Goldbach, Ruxandra Pitulice, Gheorghe Rizea, Flavius Tinica, Vasile Raducu, Cristina Gheorghiu, Mirel Bria, Daniela Ghita and Maria Madalina Lupu will also take the stage at the festival. The presenter will be Iuliana Tudor.

The invited artists will be accompanied by the "Lautarii" Folkloric Orchestra from Chisinau, conducted by Nicolae Botgros and the Muntenia Symphonic Orchestra, under the baton of Daniel Jinga, together with the Transylvania National Ensemble.

Access to the public in the Central Park of Gaesti for the events on August 19 and 20 will be free of charge.

The cultural project is funded by the Ministry of Culture, in partnership with the City Hall of Gaesti, the Dambovita County Council and the Dambovita County Centre for Culture.
Romanian prime minister Marcel Ciolacu and visiting Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal, signed on Friday in Bucharest a political declaration on strengthening bilateral cooperation in ensuring reliable transit of goods from Ukraine.

Ciolacu and Shmyhal also initialled two agreements on mutual recognition of education documents and the opening of a new border crossing point between the two countries, in northern Sighetu Marmatiei and Bila Tserkva, respectively, agerpres reports.

The inking ceremony, held at Victoria Palace of government, marks "consolidation and progress in bilateral relations between Romania and Ukraine," government spokesman Mihai Constantin said.
Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu on Friday morning informs that his Ukrainian counterpart, Denys Shmyhal, is paying a visit to Romania.

"Today is an important day for us because we are welcoming the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal. We are going to discuss about regional security, in the context of the military aggression of Russia against Ukraine. We will also discuss Romania's efforts in ensuring the transit of the Ukrainian grains to secure access to food at the global level, and also matters related to the bilateral agenda like protecting the Romanian farmers and the rights of the Romanian minority in Ukraine," said Marcel Ciolacu, in the beginning of today's government meeting.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently met with Mexican foreign Secretary Alicia Barcena. At the top of the agenda was the scourge of synthetic drugs.

Here in the United States, said Secretary Blinken, fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, is the number-one killer of Americans between the ages of 18 and 49:

That in and of itself puts it at the very top of the list of our priorities. Its taken a tremendous toll on a human basis; its taken a tremendous toll on an economic basis. More than $1.5 trillion in a single year, the cost of dealing with this epidemic.

Mexican President Lopez Obrador and President Joe Biden over the last two and a half years have worked together to disrupt illicit supply chains and curb the production and the distribution of opioid precursors, many of which are legal and then get diverted into illegal use. Both nations have also targeted organized crime and drug traffickers and worked on prevention and treatment for addiction.

In addition, Mexico has joined the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats, lauded Secretary Blinken:

Its an organized collaboration among some 85 countries to work together on all aspects of the synthetic opioid problem to get a stronger grip on it and to deal with it more effectively.

Another topic of discussion was irregular migration. There are historic levels of migration going on around the world with more than a hundred million people on the move away from their homes  20 million in the Western Hemisphere alone. So, what weve determined to do is to work as a region to make migration more safe, more orderly, and more humane, declared Secretary Blinken:

One of the things that weve been doing in answer to the challenge is to expand legal pathways. And some of the things that weve done have demonstrated very clear results, including the  for example, the parole program that involves Haiti, Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, where we see numbers of those seeking asylum at our border go down significantly as a result of creating a legal pathway.

As Secretary Blinken noted, I dont think theres been a time when weve had stronger partnership and collaboration between Mexico and the United States.
Ukrainian PM Denys Shmyhal on Friday has been received by Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu at the Victoria Palace.

The two high ranked officials will first have a face-to-face meeting.

The meeting will be followed by the ceremony during which the bilateral documents and joint statements of the two heads of Executive will be signed.
Billy Busch Sr., a heir to the Anheuser-Busch dynasty, said he would be the first in line to buy the Bud Light brand back from Anheuser-Busch.

Appearing on conservative media personality Tomi Lahrens podcast this week, Busch said if Belgium-based A-B InBev doesnt want that brand any longer, sell it back to the Busch family. Sell it to me.

In April, Bud Light sales plummeted after transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney posted a video promoting the beer. Boycotts were called, some including from some prominent celebrities.

Earlier this month, A-B reported that sales are still down in the U.S. as a result of Bud Lights performance since April.

Busch, who has not worked for A-B, has had an MTV reality show, closed his Kraftig beer brand in 2019 and gained attention for pleading guilty to a municipal peace disturbance charge after allegedly grabbing and pushing a sixth-grader during an altercation between the boy and Busch's son.

His memoir Family Reins: The Heartbreaking Fall of an American Dynasty went on sale this month and he will open Busch Family Brewing and Distilling to the public on weekends Aug. 25.

Busch is the third son of August Busch Jr.s third wife, Gertrude.
ST. LOUIS  St. Louis Development Corp. has always had a clear mission: Draw private investment and stimulate growth in the city of St. Louis. Now its adding image control to its responsibilities.

The agency has spent $2 million on marketing contracts that its new leader, Neal Richardson, said are meant to highlight the good thats happening here and offset the headlines about crime and mayhem that can scare off new business.

Sign up for the Brick City newsletter Steph Kukuljan and other business reporters bring you insights into St. Louis-area real estate and development.

We want to change that narrative, shift that narrative and elevate those positive stories, Richardson said. So when businesses are thinking about St. Louis, theyre not just seeing some of the challenges that we have, but they see some of the opportunities that St. Louis presents to them, for their businesses, for their employees.

The $2 million in contracts have been awarded to an outside company, Kansas City-based Candid, to develop a marketing plan that includes TV spots, billboards and a new website.

Richardson has likened the marketing contracts, as well as other contracts that have also drawn scrutiny, to deferred maintenance of a house. They will modernize the agency, eliminate bottlenecks and improve production, he said.

But SLDC has faced criticism, including from Alderwoman Cara Spencer who sits on the SLDC board, for the amount of money Candid has received for work that previously fell to SLDC employees. Others have questioned the lack of transparency behind some of the contracts, and the awarding of the work to a Kansas City firm to tell the St. Louis development story.

In addition, the agencys metrics for determining whether the money has been well spent are based on business attraction and retention  factors that other organizations like Greater St. Louis Inc. and the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership measure their success on too.

Transparency needs to be a key component of spending tax dollars, Spencer said in a text message.

As the citys economic development agency, SLDC has hunted the big whales, like landing the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agencys new headquarters in North City. It has persuaded developers to invest here by incentivizing deals. And, slowly, it has sloughed abandoned properties off city books.

Richardson, who previously worked at U.S. Bank, was appointed executive director in 2021. His first months leading SLDC were spent assessing the agency top down, from its financial stability to its organizational structural to its public brand, he said.

He said he realized improvements were needed and sought outside firms for help. Two employees who handled marketing duties were let go.

SLDC selected Candid, a firm with experience working with economic development agencies, after a request for proposals in 2022.

Candids first contract that year was worth $140,000, and it was tasked with redesigning SLDCs logo and website. In November, though, SLDC quietly approved an $685,000 amendment that expanded Candids scope to public relations, advertising, email blasts and the Mayors Luncheon, which highlights small business accomplishments each year.

Gerry Connolly, a city resident who has kept close tabs on SLDC for years, questioned the amount of money behind the amendment.

The way the contract was renewed was troubling, Connolly said.

Candid scored another contract in May valued at $300,000, paid for via American Rescue Plan funds, to provide marketing and public relations support for SLDC small business grants, housing development pool, and economic empowerment center, among other programs. And just a few weeks ago, Candid was awarded another contract worth $680,000. In response to criticism, Candid reduced its fee.

Recently, new billboards were erected along freeways in the city and SLDCs first sponsored content with KTVI, Positively St. Louis  in which Richardson talked about new housing being built in North City  aired. More are to come.

Sara Freetly, co-owner of Candid, said her company has worked with over 20 economic development agencies since 2014 and that those marketing plans are about stimulating demand for what the city has to offer.

While economic development objectives vary in urban, suburban and rural areas, ultimately most economic development marketing campaigns weve created and implemented with our clients are designed to drive new business investment, retain and expand existing businesses, create more jobs and attract new residents, Freetly said in a statement.

Its all fairly typical, said Jerome Katz, a professor at St. Louis Universitys Chaifetz School of Business.

Economic development agencies across the country spend money on marketing, and the SLDC spending is similar to what other agencies have paid. The trouble comes when agencies spend millions of dollars on plans but dont implement them, he said.

As for the multiple agencies spending money to promote St. Louis: Thats par for the course, Katz said. Each has its own audience to target.

St. Louis may be poster child for disfunction but an awful lots of communities have multiple groups, he said. Were not unique.

Richardson said Candids work has already begun to pay off. Social media engagement between SLDC and the public has increased. Candid has introduced Salesforce, a customer relationship management platform, that has eliminated silos within SLDC and made it easier for employees to communicate with each other.

What Richardson has highlighted the most: SLDCs new Northside Economic Empowerment Center has served 1,000 individuals and 315 businesses since it opened in January. The plan that Candid devised had SLDC utilize a grassroots effort to reach residents with posters, fliers and visiting homes and businesses  bringing resources to the people and eliminating barriers, he said.

Its a start to what Richardson said is a new future for the city.

Thats how well really be able to see the needle begin to move, Richardson said.
Tim Samers parents live near Frankfurt, Germany. Bethany Foresmans family is more than 4,500 miles away in Jefferson City. The couple lives in Geneva, Switzerland and theyve made journeys between the two cities for 15 years. It used to be a hassle.

That changed with last summer, when German airline Lufthansa took off for Frankfurt from St. Louis in June 2022, marking the first nonstop flight to mainland Europe since American Airlines bought Trans World Airlines and downsized operations at St. Louis Lambert International Airport in the 2000s, obliterating passenger traffic.

I joke that we could get to Australia from Europe faster than we can get to my parents in Jefferson City, Missouri, Foresman said. But, thats not true anymore.

Between July 1, 2022 and June 30 more than 65,000 passengers flew into and out of St. Louis through the route, according to an airport official. The thrice-weekly outbound flights were around 86% full during their first 11 months, said airport director Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge.

In July, they were 97.7% full. She credits the high percentage of seats sold to leisure travelers, and the support of area businesses, for the flights popularity.

I also think its the fact  and this has been proven over and over  if a nonstop market is put in and theres demand, your demand is going to grow even above the numbers you think, Hamm-Niebruegge said.

Its so popular that Jason Hall, the chief executive officer of Greater St. Louis Inc., a regional booster that pledged half of $5 million in incentives to attract the Lufthansa flight, said he hopes to see the route expand to five or seven days per week.

Lufthansa is considering that expansion. The nine-hour flight is well above the financial break-even point, said Don Bunkenburg, Lufthansas director of sales for the Central and Western United States.

Travelers heading to and from Europe for business, fun and family told the Post-Dispatch the flight chopped the length of their voyages by four or five hours and helped them avoid connection pains.

When you have kids, its incredibly important because you save so much time just managing energy and preventing meltdowns, Foresman said.

More than a year ago, Hall, Hamm-Niebruegge and regional leaders had gathered at Lambert to mark the first flight with a celebration. Justyna Pas, of Webster Groves, was on that flight. Every year, she travels to her birth country of Poland and she took the flight again this summer.

Usually you connect in a large city like Chicago, Pas said last week, after arriving at Lambert. There are huge lines and a lot of stress, a lot of running around. So this is perfect.

Heybet Sun, 50, of St. Charles, goes to Turkey for a month each year with family. Return flights would often require them to wait in a line at customs for more than an hour. In St. Louis, he said, it only took 15 minutes.

We need more international flights, not just this one, Sun said.

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The Frankfurt flight is putting St. Louis on the international map, said Kevin OMalley, chairman of the St. Louis County Port authority, which also pledged $2.5 million in incentives.

A city the size of St. Louis with the number of international companies that we have here, not to have an international carrier was a negative that we needed to correct, OMalley said.

Bunkenburg said St. Louis had long been on Lufthansas radar, but conversations about a new route accelerated after the chief executive of Bayer  the German pharmaceutical giant with a large plant science operation in the St. Louis region  told the airlines CEO to consider the city as a destination more intensely.

Nearly 1,500 Bayer employees have taken 5,300 flights in the past 12 months, the company said.

Bayer has been a significant user of these flights and it has benefited not only Bayer and its employees, but also many of those in the region, restoring a direct-to-Europe option from St. Louis, said Jacqueline Applegate, president of Bayer Crop Science, North America, in a statement to the Post-Dispatch.

Michael Hilton, a Bayer director from Eureka, was recently traveling to Germany for meetings. Hes traveled the new route several times and says its always packed. When I get on the plane, I see my colleagues often, he said.

The Post-Dispatch reported in 2022 that businesses such as Centene, Emerson and Enterprise Holdings also backed the effort.

Hall said in a recent speech that the Frankfurt flight had been a game changer for Israeli company ICL Group, which broke ground earlier this month on a $400 million project in the citys Carondelet neighborhood to manufacture a component for electric vehicles.

Hall said hed spoken with ICL CEO Raviv Zoller in 2021, when they and others celebrated the opening of a plant protein production facility the company had constructed in south St. Louis.
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This is the first of three columns about the criminal justice system in Warren County.

HERMANN  Kenneth Lee Simpson wanted to die.

It was March 13, and the 35-year-old Eureka man was cornered in a Caseys General Store in the Missouri River town of Hermann. Facing outstanding warrants for several crimes, Simpson wanted to commit suicide by cop, he later told police.

Instead, Simpson shot and killed Hermann police Sgt. Mason Griffith and severely wounded Officer Adam Sullentrup. Griffith was the ninth law enforcement officer to die in the line of duty in the U.S. in 2023, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page. He left behind a wife, 10-year-old son and 17-year-old stepson.

The shootings rocked the small town where Griffith served, but they also had an impact where Simpson spent most of his youth  about 30 minutes to the northeast in Warren County. There, Simpson had been in trouble since he was a teenager. He had several outstanding criminal cases, including weapons and drug charges. Some of his cases dated to 2017 and 2018.

The cases should have been adjudicated long ago. And if they had, Simpson might have been in prison instead of free, armed and in a position to kill a cop.

One of his neighbors told the Post-Dispatch earlier this year that, in a meeting with Warren County Prosecuting Attorney Kelly King, they predicted a tragedy would happen with Simpson.

Hes going to do something really, really bad, the neighbor said to Post-Dispatch reporters Katie Kull and Dana Rieck, recalling the meeting. Its going to be on the news in the evening and hes going to be up there with his rap sheet, and everyone is going to be wondering how that guy was on the loose.

Simpsons case and plenty of others, from minor crimes to the most serious ones, are still on the dockets of the Warren County courts because of a broken justice system. It is plagued with delays that cause serious problems for people facing charges, but also for the cause of public safety. And as Simpsons case shows, the impact of such a broken system can be felt beyond one countys borders.

The Office of the State Court Administrator, an arm of the Missouri Supreme Court, keeps time standards on 10 different types of cases  civil and criminal  that local courts should meet. For instance, the state courts suggest 95% of felony cases be adjudicated within 14 months.

There are 46 judicial districts in Missouri; the 12th Judicial District, where Warren County sits, is one of nine that meet none of the time standards. The city of St. Louis is another one. In associate circuit court, where criminal cases begin, less than half of the cases in the 12th district are disposed of in six months or under.

Defense attorneys in Warren County are increasingly challenging Presiding Circuit Court Judge Jason Lamb for the inability to get speedy trials for their clients.

They are seeking those trials, they say, partly because King, known as a tough-on-crime prosecutor, regularly overcharges their clients with offenses the evidence doesnt support and doesnt offer plea bargains in line with the standards in most nearby jurisdictions.

Its emblematic of what a national coalition of criminal justice groups calls the trial penalty, in which prosecutors use overcharging and the threats of long sentences to coerce guilty pleas.

When defendants instead decide to assert their constitutional rights to due process, the courts become clogged. Cases linger for months or years. Justice delayed becomes justice denied.

The results, as Simpsons case highlights, can be deadly.

Backlog, delays, missing outrage

One of Simpsons cases ended up before Judge Lamb shortly after he was elected to the bench, in November 2018. Lamb is from Mexico, Missouri, and is the former executive director of the Missouri Office of Prosecuting Services, which provides help to prosecutors statewide. The 12th Judicial Circuit covers Audrain, Montgomery and Warren counties.

Simpsons felony weapons case was set for trial in February 2019. It was pushed back to July. Then it was rescheduled for February 2020. Simpson and his public defender were appearing for court hearings. At one point, according to court records, they were even ready for trial.

But the trial kept getting pushed back.

Soon, Lamb realized he had inherited a problem. The courts were backed up, with several trials often scheduled on the same day but only one usually moving forward. That left many cases languishing.

Lamb says he started to devise a priority system to tackle the delays. But then the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020 and courts statewide were shut down. A couple of years later, they were holding hearings again, first via Zoom, and then in person, but the backups were even worse in Warren County. Meanwhile, Simpson picked up some more charges. They got stacked behind the ones that were still pending.

Lamb says there are about 400 outstanding cases that need to be worked through to get the court system caught up. Seven of those cases belong to Simpson.

That backlog tramples the constitutional rights of the people accused of crimes. It leaves victims waiting for justice. And it threatens public safety, when dangerous people are left on the loose.

The shooting of the Hermann officers came just a couple of weeks after a crime in St. Louis that caused a massive outcry  and also involved a defendant out on bond who was accused of injuring an innocent person.

In that case, Tennessee high school student Janae Edmondson was pinned by a speeding car driven by Daniel Riley, who was out on bond despite violating the pre-trial conditions in a robbery case dozens of times. Edmondson, who was downtown for a volleyball tournament, had both legs amputated after the injury.

There was widespread outrage against St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner. Indeed, Rileys case had been delayed multiple times, like many cases in Gardners office, mostly related to her mismanagement.

Attorney General Andrew Bailey and others called for Gardner to resign, and Bailey later pursued legal action to oust Gardner. The move helped push her to eventually step down.

There are many differences in the Simpson and Riley cases, and a comparison between the two counties can be like apples and oranges. But when there is a backup in the courts because of a broken system, the result is the same. Judges cant hold defendants in jail forever when their cases cant be adjudicated. Simpson was free, in part, because the system failed to hold him accountable for his alleged crimes.

Theres another key difference between St. Louis and Warren County: the reaction. Why hasnt Bailey, a former assistant prosecutor in Warren County, raised the issue about court delays leading to a dead police officer in Hermann? As attorney general, Bailey has now stepped in to handle Simpsons murder prosecution himself. But wheres the level of outrage he directed toward Gardner?

Theres plenty of it coming from Warren County defense attorneys, who are sounding alarm bells about the delays in justice. In the past few months, two private attorneys working as contracted public defenders have filed various legal documents about the failures to get speedy trials for their clients. Both of the attorneys  Chris Lozano of Chesterfield and Matthew Mueller of Columbia  have alerted higher Missouri courts to the issue.

They are slowly getting some relief, case by case, by either seeking a new judge or asking the Missouri Appeals Court to force Lamb to set trial dates.

But before they even get to trial, they argue, the local prosecutor is piling on charges in cases to pressure defendants into bad plea bargains.

Your right to a trial

Lozano says Warren County is emblematic of what happens when the trial penalty drives the judicial process. It is not uncommon for prosecutors to tell defendants that if they dont take a plea bargain, they will face more severe charges and penalties. Judges play a role, too, in handing down sentences that seemingly punish defendants for exercising their constitutional rights to a trial.

Bobby Bostic is a poster child for this practice. In 1995, when he was just 16, he robbed people at gunpoint in St. Louis. He took his chances on a trial and lost. He was then punished big-time by the judge, who handed him a 241-year sentence. Bostics partner in the crime took a plea bargain. He got 30 years. The judge later realized the error of her ways and advocated for Bostics release. Lawmakers changed the law, making parole possible in Bostics case. He was paroled last year.

The right to a jury trial dates to the first Bill of Rights, and throughout much of American history, trials used to be much more common. Until the 1970s, for instance, somewhere between 15% and 20% of federal cases would end in a trial. State courts had similar practices, researchers found. These days, according to the American Bar Association, 98% of convictions are the result of guilty pleas, often forced by threatening defendants with much worse consequences if they dont accept pleas.

The sharp drop in trials was fed in part by tough on crime policies in the 1980s and 1990s, which helped create Americas incarceration crisis. As the system produced more defendants than it could handle, filling jails and taxing the capacity of the judicial system, trials went by the wayside.

As the tendency to criminalize more conduct and embrace increasingly harsh penalties over past decades has grown, the criminal legal system has become overtaxed and there has been mounting pressure on individuals charged with crimes to bargain away their constitutional right to be tried by a jury of their peers, says Miriam Krinsky, a former federal prosecutor who is the executive director of nonprofit Fair and Just Prosecution. This resulting near disappearance of jury trials has had devastating effects.

This is particularly true for indigent defendants, as funding for public defenders has long failed to keep up with funding for prosecutors. And the entire legal system has turned a blind eye to public defenders being overworked and unable to properly defend their clients.

Krinskys organization is part of a bipartisan coalition called End the Trial Penalty, which includes the ACLU, the conservative nonprofit Right on Crime and several other criminal justice organizations. The group is seeking reforms that include urging prosecutors not to overcharge defendants and use pre-trial incarceration to help force guilty pleas.

There is a benefit to public safety by ending the trial penalty, says Marc Levin, chief policy counsel for the Council on Criminal Justice.

Studies have found large disparities between plea offers and penalties after trial led innocent people to plead guilty, particularly when they are in jail awaiting trial and lack access to capable counsel, Levin says. This means that the true culprit of the crime remains at large, potentially continuing to hurt others.

That sort of overcharging and a refusal to plea bargain in good faith is one of the reasons Warren Countys courts are clogged up, Lozano and Mueller argue.

King, the prosecutor, says she stands by her charging decisions and offers made during plea bargaining.

My recommendations are based on the facts of the case, the defendants criminal history, and any other relevant factors, including the community standards of accountability in Warren County, King said in an emailed response to written questions. She declined an in-person interview.

Well, community standards are set in a couple of different ways. There are elections, in which King and Lamb run in. There are also trials, where a jury of ones peers decides on guilt, innocence and the standard of punishment for crimes.

And thats where Mueller believes that King is misreading the community. In three of Muellers recent cases that actually went to trial, the juries or judge handed down guilty verdicts on lesser charges than the more serious felonies the defendants originally faced. In another case, just last week, a jury found one of Muellers clients not guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Thats why the right to a jury trial is so important, Mueller says.

I am not too worried about the prosecutor overcharging if I can get a quick jury trial and argue to the jury that this case is overcharged, and that the jury should return a verdict on a lesser offense, Mueller says. But if I dont have the option of a trial available to me, then these other problems such as overcharging become much more serious because I cannot counteract them or defend against them.

There is a sign on the second floor of the Warren County Courthouse, just outside Lambs courtroom.

The Constitution promises us a trial by jury, it reads, before explaining the Sixth Amendment this way: The accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury.

For too many Warren County defendants, that promise has been broken.

Coming next week: What does it take to get a speedy trial in Warren County?
ST. LOUIS  A nonprofit that supports local police is spending $860,000 to put additional officers on patrol in downtown St. Louis through a pilot program spearheaded by the departments new chief.

The initiative pays officers about $70 an hour in overtime pay and is funded by the St. Louis Police Foundation. The program began July 7, just weeks after a mass shooting downtown left one teenager dead and several others injured.

The contract, obtained through a records request, is a marked departure from the foundations stated objectives, which include providing equipment, training and programs for city and county police. The organization also funds more than a third of Chief Robert Tracys $275,000 compensation  a move that increased the chiefs pay in an effort to make the position more appealing.

Whatever we choose to fund, it is because we have been asked to support it, Michelle Craig, the foundations president and executive director, said in an email. And in this case, we were asked to support this pilot program by the chief.

The foundation has raised more than $30 million in private donations since its founding in 2007. In 2021, it had just over $5.6 million in savings, according to tax documents. Its 25-member board is filled with influential St. Louisans, including Kathy Osborn, president and CEO of the Regional Business Council; Bob OLoughlin, chairman and CEO of Lodging Hospitality Management, which owns Union Station and Westport Plaza; and Bill Dewitt III, president of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Tracy, who came to St. Louis in January from Delaware with a reputation for culture change and crime prevention, told the Post-Dispatch he chose to deploy the pilot program downtown because of its role as a gathering place for residents. He said he wants people to feel safe there, which he believes will increase tax revenues that can fund additional programs.

It helps the whole city out, Tracy said in an interview this week. It helps support police officers, other city agencies and also programs that can go to the whole city.  Its not me putting a priority on one place over the other. Its just a strategy.  Im not forgetting about the rest of the city.

The program will run for five months and put more cops on downtown patrol during peak traffic times, such as weekend nights and events that bring large crowds. The program also paid to repair five department vehicles.

What we really want to do is have more of an omnipresence, Tracy said.

Tracy said the money is not factored into the departments annual overtime budget for officers, which is $10.6 million for the fiscal year that began July 1. Thats an increase of more than $3.5 million from what the department was budgeted for overtime pay during the last fiscal year. In the previous two years, the department overspent its officer overtime budget by millions of dollars.

The funding model  an outside entity paying police extra money for overtime work  is not new to the city, but this year marks the first time the St. Louis Police Foundation has provided the money, said Maj. Renee Kriesmann.

The chief said he modeled the effort after the South Grand Community Improvement District, which provides the money to pay officers who work extra shifts. Those shifts, Tracy said, provide more flexibility for the department than when officers work secondary jobs for private security companies, such as The Citys Finest.

The Citys Finest, staffed with about 200 off-duty police officers who have much of the same authority as when theyre on duty, has a security contract with several city neighborhood organizations, including the Downtown Community Improvement District. While that CID would not release the details of the downtown contract, owner Charles Betts said there are typically about two security officers working downtown at a time  and more during major events.

The Downtown CID has boosted its spending on security services this year by more than $100,000.

But officers working for The Citys Finest let on-duty cops handle and investigate major crimes. In Tracys pilot program, the overtime officers function like they would during any other shift.

The departments leadership meets frequently throughout the week to assess events, recent crime and upcoming needs, the chief said, and they create additional officer assignments based on those factors. The additional shifts are filled on a volunteer basis  they are never mandated, like traditional overtime sometimes is when need arises.

Pay for the secondary shifts is around $15-$25 more per hour than most officers receive for typical overtime pay, which is time and a half.

Were filling those slots, and then once the money is spent, were going to figure out where we want to go from here, Tracy said. I think so far, its been pretty successful.

Tracy said the program may expand to other neighborhoods in the city once the pilot program is complete.
ST. LOUIS  Police on Wednesday shot and injured a man in the citys Fairground neighborhood.

Officers shot the man in the 4200 block of Linton Avenue, police said.

No officers were injured in the shooting, police said. The man was stable.

The man who was shot was part of a larger police investigation, Lt. Col. Michael Sack said.

Sack said the man was in a car with two toddlers, and once he got out of the vehicle he pointed a gun with an extended clip at police two separate times. Officers fired at him the second time he flashed the firearm, Sack said.

A woman at the scene identified the man as her 21-year-old fiance and said he was shot in the leg. Sack said the man appeared to have two puncture wounds, but did not know how many times the man had been shot.

Another woman at the scene who said she was the mans mother said her son thought he was being followed and didnt know the cars behind him were police.

Sack said investigators on Wednesday afternoon were unsure if the man fired any shots.

Body camera footage of the incident will be released.

David Carson of the Post-Dispatch contributed.

Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect the shooting happened in the Fairground neighborhood.
Glennon E. Engleman was a dentist who partnered with women in murder plots; he eventually pleaded or was convicted of five murders. But detectives suspected he committed more.

He was caught after the 1980 death of Sophie Marie Barrera, 59, who owned a dental lab, and sued Engleman because he hadn't paid some bills. Engleman, with an accomplice, planted a car bomb; Berrera was killed when it exploded near her lab's office on Miami, east of South Grand Boulevard. At the same time he was charged in her death, he was charged with the 1976 shooting death of Peter J. Halm.

Halm was married to a dental hygienist, Carmen Miranda Halm, who worked in Engleman's office. His widow testified that she and Engleman plotted for her to marry so they could kill her husband for insurance money. Jurors found Engleman guilty of the various charges in 1980 and 1981. (She received immunity for her testimony.)

After his convictions in those deaths, Engleman was charged with killing Arthur Gusewelle and his wife Vernita, in November 1977; and their son Ronald, who died in April 1979. Engleman pleaded guilty to the three murders in June 1985. Ronald Gusewelle's widow, Barbara Gusewelle Boyle, was also convicted of murder for her husband's death. Engleman plotted to kill the couple, and then Ronald Gusewelle, for insurance money that he split with the widow.

Engleman died in prison in 1999.

He was never charged with the 1958 shooting death of James Bullock, who had married Engleman's first wife after she divorced the dentist. Bullock was found shot near the Art Museum in Forest Park, and the investigation and questioning of Engleman and the widow was closely followed in the news.

He was also never charged in the 1963 death of business partner, killed in an explosion that, at first, looked like a work accident. Eric Frey died at the dragstrip near Pacific that Bullock's widow invested in after she received $64,500 in insurance money. Engleman was a director at the dragstrip.

Engleman's defense attorney said, in 1985: "No, his motives were not money. He would treat people for nothing, and there were acts of kindness and charity in his background.

"I think probably his desire to control individuals was his driving force  to make all the little dummies walk in line and sing at the same time."
ST. LOUIS  A St. Louis judge heard arguments Thursday for whether to continue to ban the St. Louis Post-Dispatch from reporting details about a mental health evaluation for a man accused of killing a St. Louis police officer three years ago.

The citys presiding judge, Elizabeth Hogan, issued a temporary restraining order on May 21 forbidding the Post-Dispatch and reporter Katie Kull from publishing information about the evaluation, which a court clerk inadvertently filed publicly in Missouris court document system Case.net.

Thomas J. Kinworthy, 46, is accused of shooting two St. Louis police officers in Tower Grove South on Aug. 29, 2020, injuring one and killing another, Officer Tamarris Bohannon. Kinworthy is set to face trial in January on seven felonies, including first-degree murder. His attorney argued Thursday that publishing details of the document would make it extremely difficult for his client to get an impartial jury.

Joseph Martineau, an attorney for the Post-Dispatch, said in court that more high-profile trials, like cases involving politicians, are still able to impanel a jury. He argued that the public defenders office failed to meet the high legal burden needed to impose a prior restraint on a news outlet preventing it from publishing an article because of First Amendment protections for speech.

The Missouri Department of Mental Health evaluation on Kinworthy includes transcripts of jail calls, excerpts of an interview where he discusses the crime, information about past abuse, and details about his mental health, according to court testimony Thursday.

An attorney for the public defenders office, Brendan Kottenstette, asked Hogan Thursday to prolong the ban. Hogan is expected to issue an order in the coming weeks.

The document should have been filed under seal  a point the attorney for the Post-Dispatch conceded  and was filed publicly by the St. Louis Circuit Clerks Office in error.

Kinworthys public defender, Brian Horneyer, said he received a call from Kull on May 21 alerting him that the evaluation was made public and that the Post-Dispatch planned to publish a story about the document.

Horneyer petitioned for the restraining order later that day. It was granted by Hogan, who is also presiding over Kinworthys criminal case.

Kottenstette on Thursday filed a motion to seal Thursdays hearing from the public too, but Hogan allowed it to continue in open court.

Kinworthys attorney intends to present a defense of not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect and/or diminished capacity, according to court records.

He is being held in custody without bail.
The selection of 10 students from the Government Schools of Andhra Pradesh to attend a famous education forum at the UN headquarters in New York is an amazing accomplishment. The opportunity provides these young minds a platform to engage with global leaders and contribute to discussions about shaping the future of education. The students named Gayathri and G Anjana Sai (both from Eluru district), C Rajeswari (Nandyal), V Yogeswar (Tirupati), D Jyothsna (Krishna), A Rishita Reddy (Viziananagaram), M Chandralekha (ASR district), M Siva Lingamma (Kurnool) Shaik Ammajan (YSR), and S Manaswini (Parvathipuram-Manyam).The selected students will be allowed to visit renowned institutions such as the world bank and educational think tanks during this visit. In addition, they will also be allowed to visit the White House. M Nishant Kuman, the Parvathipuram-Manyam district collector, said , It will be a good opportunity for Manaswini to participate in an international forum.The state students will acquire comprehensive knowledge about various global issues. Initially, the state government selected 102 students for a written test to pick a few pupils. This was followed by 30 students being selected for virtual speaking, and finally, a total number of 10 students were selected for the UN Forum.
ST. CHARLES COUNTY  The Francis Howell School Board has yet to make changes to an anti-racism resolution set to expire in October after garnering national media attention.

At its monthly meeting Thursday, the board again heard from critics and supporters, but did not make any decisions about the resolution and two others that they voted last month to rescind.

Last month, just five days after the vote was met with community outcry and appeals for unity from school leaders, board President Adam Bertrand said he would consider changes to the anti-racism resolution and solicit community input.

But Bertrand has not spoken to Francis Howell Forward or the St. Charles branch of the NAACP, groups which oppose rescinding the resolution.

Should the board consider revising the resolution, I encourage these revisions first be justified by compelling and credible reasoning to do so, and that this be done in a formal public exchange, said Jamie Martin, president of Francis Howell Forward, on Thursday at the school boards monthly meeting.

The Resolution in Response to Racism and Discrimination passed by a previous board in August 2020 states in part: We will promote racial healing, especially for our Black and brown students and families. We will no longer be silent. We are committed to creating an equitable and anti-racist system that honors and elevates all, but one that also specifically acknowledges the challenges faced by our Black and brown students and families.

The resolution was adopted about two months after thousands of protesters marched three miles down Mid Rivers Mall Drive in support of Black students following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The protesters called for changes to Francis Howells curriculum, hiring practices and discipline policies they said discriminated against people of color.

The all-white school board has since turned over to a conservative majority.

The 16,000 patrons who cast their votes in the last two elections as well as the Francis Howell Families appreciate and applaud this boards courage and resolve, said Ken Gontarz of the conservative group Francis Howell Families, during Thursdays meeting. The vast majority of our patrons and elected officials support and thank you.

The other two resolutions set to expire Oct. 3 include one passed in 2015 in opposition to statewide charter school expansion, and another from last year against a state bill that would phase out or eliminate personal property taxes.

Former school board member Patrick Lane signed all three resolutions during his tenure and told the current board that they are still relevant.

Please set aside your personal or political thoughts and remember your role to promote and provide our students with the very best education in an accepting and welcoming environment, Lane said during the meeting Thursday.

Nearly 80% of Francis Howells 16,500 students are white and the district has a history of racial tension. Most recently, an internal investigation of a civil rights complaint involving a Black student found violations of the districts policy against discrimination, harassment and retaliation, according to a July letter from district compliance officer Will Vanderpool to the family.
Will St. Louis County make it four in a row for producing Missouris teacher of the year?

The 17 semifinalists for 2024 Missouri teacher of the year include David Choate, English teacher at Lafayette High School in the Rockwood School District; Janet Mees Reinert, library media specialist at Kirkwood High; and Melissa Leibbrandt, special education teacher in the Special School District of St. Louis County. Leibbrandt works at Claymont Elementary in the Parkway School District.

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will announce the states teacher of the year later in the fall. The winner will go on to the national competition.

Kirkwood School District released a statement Friday that says Reinert endeavors to make sure that every student at KHS is represented in our library. In the library she has created a welcoming space that is full of students every hour  and before/after school. She connects with teachers and supports their work across all content areas, making sure students can connect to resources in the library that extend their learning in the classroom.

The last three Missouri teachers of the year are English teacher Christina Andrade Melly, 2023, Ritenour School District; music teacher James Young, 2022, Ferguson-Florissant; and P.E. teacher Darrion Cockrell, 2021, Lindbergh. Shelly Parks won in 2019 from the Francis Howell School District in St. Charles County and Beth Davey won in 2018 from Ritenour.

Local semifinalists for 2024 teacher of the year also include Jeffrey Collier, who teaches band at Hardin Middle School in the St. Charles City School District; Kaylin Bade, agricultural sciences teacher in the Washington School District; and Olivia Howard, music teacher at Francis Howell Middle School.

The Missouri teacher of the year award launched in 1957 to honor the teaching profession. The winner serves as a spokesperson for the states 71,000 teachers and promotes the profession at various events, including the national ceremony held at the White House each year.
BERKELEY  School districts, libraries and municipalities now have estimates on how much they would lose  and gain  in Boeing Co.s nearly $2 billion expansion project.

Ferguson-Florissant School District would get roughly $79 million over 10 years if Boeing indeed builds the expansion, according to an analysis released this week by St. Louis County that also adds details on the projects timeline and construction plans. The Special School District would get $15 million.

And the city of Berkeley would collect an estimated $18 million over the life of the agreement.

I want to find a word that is adequate to describe this, said City Manager Nathan Mai-Lombardo. This is a transformational amount of money for the city of Berkeley. The residents would see dramatic improvements in services and facilities with that amount of money.

The project would send Berkeley about $1.8 million a year, or the equivalent of half the citys fire department budget or nearly half of what it costs the police department to operate for a year, said Mai-Lombardo.

The analysis comes as St. Louis County Council considers tax breaks on Boeings proposal. The military-industrial giant is looking to expand in north St. Louis County and promises the project would bring 500 new jobs to the region, plus at least 1,000 more from suppliers and the like. The company hasnt said what it wants to manufacture there, but the aerospace industry has long been ramping up for a national competition to build the next generation of U.S. fighter jets.

The tax break, worth an estimated $155 million over 10 years, would give Boeing half off real and personal property taxes during that time period.

The analysis released Wednesday shows the deal would also send the same amount to 16 county taxing bodies over the decade, including:

Ferguson-Florissant: $79 million

Berkeley: $18 million

St. Louis County Special School District: $15 million

St. Louis Community College: $4 million

County health fund: $3.7 million

County libraries: $3.5 million

St. Louis County general fund, which pays for most county services: $2.8 million

Commercial surtax, which is distributed among taxing districts: $19.5 million

Ferguson-Florissant is still evaluating the proposal, said spokeswoman Onye Hollomon. Berkeley is on board. It doesnt bother Mai-Lombardo that the city would get double the amount if Boeing were to do the project without tax abatements.

Right now, Berkeley is getting zero from that site, he said.

The extra cash would help St. Louis County some: The county faces a $44 million budget deficit this year in its general fund. Republican Councilman Dennis Hancock of Fenton said earlier this week its worth considering whether Boeings tax revenue could help fill the gap.

Still, its just $275,000 per year projected to go to the general fund.

The new documents clarify that Boeing would be exempt from all real and personal property tax, but would agree to paying half the value anyway  an arrangement known as a payment in lieu of taxes.

The analysis also provides new details about Boeings timeline and construction plans.

Construction on a million square feet of new assembly, hangar and operations space near St. Louis Lambert International Airport will start in 2025 and end in 2037. Boeing would construct 10 buildings and one open-air structure.

The 102-acre site is on the east end of the airport and is named after the former Brownleigh subdivision. The airport bought out the land starting in the 1980s as it expanded east, causing an uproar among residents who complained about aircraft noise. As residents left, their homes were demolished.

The remainder of the project would be built on the airports northern end. The land includes two vacant buildings used decades ago by Boeings predecessor, McDonnell-Douglas. The company would also have the option of leasing about 28 acres to the west of that site.

Today, the land is vacant, a mix of overgrown vegetation and crumbling roads from an old neighborhood. In May, the Missouri Department of Economic Development awarded a $2.5 million grant to St. Louis, which owns the airport, to clean up the site and prepare it for new infrastructure.

Robert Schneider, 69, lived in the Brownleigh subdivision as a child. He recalls modest one- and two-story middle-class homes and a neighborhood overloaded with kids. His family moved away before the airport expansion, but hes still nostalgic, and slightly bitter, that the subdivision land hasnt been used for something true to what he remembers.

It was nice, but thats the way it is. Theres nothing I can do about it or anybody else, said Schneider, who lives in Berkeley now. Boeing is going to do what its going to do.

Hes glad the site could be put to use, however, and generate revenue for the school district.
HILLSDALE  A Fox 2 cameraman needed emergency surgery for a broken leg last week after he was hit by a village vehicle with a trailer, according to the mans lawyer.

The lawyer said a public works employee was driving the vehicle and Dorothy Moore, the chair of the Board of Trustees who has largely run the village since the 1970s, was a passenger. The vehicle kept driving after the incident last Friday, Aug. 11, said the lawyer, Chet Pleban.

An ambulance took the longtime Fox 2 cameraman, Wade Smith, to Barnes Jewish Hospital for emergency surgery on a broken tibia bone, Pleban said.

Its a pretty sad day when a reporter or a cameraman is run over by a vehicle simply because an elected official doesnt want to talk to them, Pleban said. In an orderly society, thats not what we do. If you dont want to talk, tell a reporter you dont want to talk. Its a shame when a guy who is out there just trying to do his job is badly injured like he was.

Village officials, police, and other authorities have refused to release details.

According to a call log, police were dispatched around 2 p.m. on Aug. 11 to Hillsdales village hall, at 6427 Jesse Jackson Avenue, for a journalist who was run over and had a broken leg.

Pleban told the Post-Dispatch that Fox 2 was working on a story in Hillsdale; Moore did not want to talk to the station, and she and the employee drove away.

Smith was recording the vehicle when one of the trailer wheels hit him in the back of the leg, said Pleban and two other sources with direct knowledge of the incident.

Moore could not be reached for comment. Fox 2 denied several requests for comment.

Velda City police responded to the scene because Hillsdale police recused themselves from the investigation  standard practice when a department has a conflict of interest.

Velda City police Chief Daniel Paulino, who is also the citys administrator and records clerk, released the call log on Tuesday but refused to answer questions until the crash report is finalized and the investigation is complete.

He would not estimate when that would be, and by Thursday he stopped returning a Post-Dispatch reporters calls. He also would not explain why the crash report was not complete almost a week after the incident.

Crash reports are public information under Missouris Sunshine Law. Investigative reports can be considered a closed record during a pending investigation but incident or crash reports must be made public, according to the law.

Once its complete, youll be notified, Paulino said in an email Wednesday. I have other work to do, so please stop wasting my time.

Pleban said Velda City police did not contact him or Smith until Thursday, when they asked for an official statement.

Hillsdale police also would not confirm details about the crash. The Mid-County Fire Protection District, which responds to fires and emergency medical requests in Hillsdale, did not respond to a request for information. And Brandi Herndon-Miller, attorney for the Village of Hillsdale, declined comment.

Moore, one of the longest-serving public officials in the region, is known for guarding her privacy and keeping a tight grip on village affairs. She also made headlines in 2017 after winning the Missouri Lottery.

Without Mama Moore running that village, and I say this with absolute certainty, there would not be a Hillsdale today, a longtime village attorney and prosecutor told the Post-Dispatch in 2018. With her, you are either honest or you get out. Period. No nonsense. No foolishness.

Hillsdale, with about 1,200 residents, sits between Pine Lawn and Wellston. Velda City is a neighboring community, also of about 1,200 residents.
SEDALIA, Mo.  Facing reelection next year, U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley expressed deference to voters Thursday when asked his thoughts on possibly appearing on the same ballot as an abortion referendum in 2024.

I think voters ought to be able to weigh in and in every state and jurisdiction they want to, Hawley said outside the Governors Ham Breakfast at the state fair.

For his part, Sen. Eric Schmitt said Thursday, Its inevitable that the question will be presented to Missouri voters at some point.

Both Republican senators have said they personally support rape and incest exceptions to abortion bans  a position at odds with the states current law, approved by nearly all state legislative Republicans and Gov. Mike Parson, in 2019.

The two senators statements also highlight complicated public opinion on the issue  as abortion rights supporters attempt to place abortion on the ballot in 2024  and differences within the current Republican Party.

Hawleys comments drew near-immediate criticism from his possible Democratic rival in the 2024 election, Lucas Kunce, who claimed the Missouri senator was afraid of being on the wrong side of public opinion.

Kunce said Hawley supported Missouris strict abortion ban and mentioned his wife Erin Hawleys work on a lawsuit to ban abortion meds nationwide.

He said Hawley was distancing himself from Missouris law after Ohio voters, by a 57%-43% margin, rejected an initiative that wouldve made it more difficult to enact abortion protections there this November.

Josh Hawley has made abortion bans the Hawley family business, Kunce said in an email blast. Now after the Ohio election, Josh is worried voters will punish him for it. He should be.

Hawleys Senate office pointed to comments he made in February to St. Louis Public Radio in which he described himself as 100% pro life. I think that there shouldnt be abortion except for cases of rape, incest and the life of the mother.

Im glad that people in Missouri get to set our own laws, Hawley said then.

Schmitt, as attorney general, signed an order instituting Missouris current law after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion established in Roe v. Wade.

Moments after the Supreme Court ruling last year, Schmitt, then a Senate candidate, signed the legal opinion and said Missouri was the first state to effectively end abortion.

My office has yet again reinforced Missouris dedication to protecting the sanctity of life, both born and unborn, he said then.

On Thursday, he said, As attorney general, my job was, by statute, when Roe v. Wade was overturned, to issue the legal opinion that allowed the 2019 law to take effect.

I support those exceptions  rape and incest. Thats my personal view, he said.

Other GOP officials

The states Republican senators arent the only ones who have ever-so-slightly distanced themselves from Missouris current law, which took effect last summer.

Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe has said hed consider signing a law that allows for abortions in cases of rape and incest.

Im always looking for ways to continue to protect life, Kehoe said Thursday. I think thats the most ultimate thing that an elected official could do is speak for the unborn. But I also know that there are some challenging times and families that have to make a decision in some incredibly tough circumstances.

Kehoe said if abortion gets put on the ballot by an outside group, he probably wouldnt be able to support the initiative just based on hearing some of that conversation going on.

Abortion rights supporters are attempting to place a question on the ballot in 2024 that would bar the state from infringing on the right to make and carry out decisions about all matters relating to reproductive health care, including ... abortion care.

Two Republican legislators have sued to challenge the fiscal estimate of the proposal, following a legal fight waged by Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey that delayed signature collection to place the question on the ballot.

Now advocates are suing over a ballot summary written by Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, a Republican running for governor, who said the constitutional amendment would allow for dangerous and unregulated abortions in Missouri. That has further delayed signature collection.

Kehoe also said he supported efforts to make it more difficult to amend the state constitution, though he didnt say what specific threshold for passage he believed should be required.

Id rather see something thats in writing, he said.

Im a defender of the current law as we see it, Kehoe also said Thursday. I do not like the initiative petition process that some people are putting together on the life question.

If the Legislature approved something that had some exceptions that werent crazy, wed certainly sure look at it, Kehoe said. Its the same position that President Trump has and that Senator Hawley has.

Cheap shots

State Sen. Bill Eigel, who is also running for governor, on Thursday explicitly pushed for a so-called concurrent majority threshold for passage that would require voter approval for constitutional amendments in a majority of congressional districts, rather than raising the statewide threshold for passage, currently a simple majority.

The grassroots of this state are far more positive, far more supportive, far more engaged on that issue, Eigel said of a concurrent majority, which could doom an abortion referendum.

He went on to blast Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden for casting doubt on efforts Republicans describe as initiative petition reform, saying he found it difficult to imagine a successful campaign in Missouri to lift the bar.

Eigel laughed when asked whether hed be able to get anything done in the Senate next year, or if he thought senators such as Rowden, who is supporting Kehoe, would torpedo Eigels proposals ahead of the primary.

Well, I tell you what, were gonna get a lot done if the senior leadership in the state  that starts with Gov. Mike Parson  call on Republicans to do Republican things, Eigel said.

Rowden did not respond Friday to Eigels criticism.

Parson after the ham breakfast denounced cheap shots coming from some candidates in the Republican field.

The governor, who has praised Kehoe and has said he wants someone as governor to build on his administrations success, said its frustrating when a lot of people work our tail ends off for five years trying to get through some of the difficult times in the state.
CLAYTON  St. Louis County is suing to stop a question from appearing on November ballots asking if some unincorporated county residents should be annexed into the city of Manchester.

And in a separate lawsuit, a resident of unincorporated St. Louis County is suing Manchester to stop the proposal.

The county filed suit Friday against the St. Louis County Boundary Commission and its members. The commission is an independent 11-member panel set up by state statute to review impacts of proposed boundary changes.

Manchester asked the commission in May 2022 to add an unincorporated area of roughly 6,500 residents. Earlier this year, the commission approved putting the annexation question to a vote, set to appear on the Nov. 7 ballot.

The county argued in its suit that the commission shouldnt have approved the boundary change because of a provision in state law. The law says a boundary change must be in the best interest of the municipality and the unincorporated territory. The commission failed to consider how the plan would impact residents nearby, and on county residents as a whole, the county claimed.

County Executive Sam Page has opposed the plan, saying it would create islands of unincorporated areas that would be difficult to police. Page also said it could cost residents more in sales and property taxes.

Manchester Mayor Mike Clement has said those costs would be offset by a property tax rebate and savings in monthly trash pickup fees. He also said municipal government provides more accessibility and responsiveness, including from police.

Clement couldnt immediately be reached for comment Friday.

In a separate lawsuit, a resident of unincorporated county whose house is inside the annexation area is also trying to stop the plan.

Sam Taha filed suit against Manchester earlier this week, claiming his property values would decrease if it were annexed into the city.

He also claimed Manchester didnt prove the annexation needs to happen, and that it wouldnt be able to provide sufficient policing.

Taha also claims Manchester violated his rights under Missouris open records law by asking him to pay nearly $40,000 for a request for public documents related to the annexation.
JEFFERSON CITY  The lobbying group for thousands of Missouri real estate agents is mounting a campaign to block Republicans from making it harder for voters to change the state constitution.

The Missouri Association of Realtors on Thursday contributed $100,000 to a newly formed political action committee dedicated to keeping the states ballot initiative laws intact.

The PAC, Missourians for Fair Governance, registered on Aug. 2, listing its treasurer as Jessica Jordan, who is vice president for finance and operations at the Realtors association.

In its filing, the PAC says its purpose is To protect Missourians power of the petition for citizen governance.

By putting a significant chunk of money behind the effort, the Realtors signaled that they are ready to either support a ballot initiative that keeps the status quo or the organization could work to block any bid by Republican lawmakers to make it harder to amend the constitution.

It marks the latest hurdle facing Republicans following a vote earlier this month in Ohio, in which voters handily dumped a bid by the GOP to raise the threshold for constitutional amendments from a simple majority to 60%.

The Ohio vote was viewed as a win for abortion rights supporters, who will need only a simple majority at the ballot box this November to codify the right to an abortion in the state constitution. Missouri abortion rights supporters are trying to get a similar amendment on the ballot in 2024.

That effort is currently being bottled up by a lawsuit filed by two Republican lawmakers who oppose abortion.

In response to the Ohio vote, Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, expressed doubt that voters would go along with a change.

I find it hard to imagine a scenario where the outcome in Missouri would be different than Ohio if we do get it on the ballot, he told the Post-Dispatch.

During the spring legislative session, Republicans in the House were able to push through a plan to raise the threshold to 60%, despite the stated opposition of groups like the Realtors.

Most citizens of the state of Missouri arent real excited about what youre trying to do, Sam Licklider, a lobbyist for the real estate organization, told lawmakers in a hearing in January.

Supporters of making it tougher to amend the constitution have watched as voters have repeatedly enacted measures that were not being taken up by the General Assembly.

Voters, for example, have signed off in recent years on legalizing marijuana, expanding Medicaid health insurance coverage and changing the way legislative districts are drawn.

Key to the Realtors opposition is that the organization has previously used the ballot initiative process to enact changes favorable to its members.

In 2010, for example, the organization spent over $4 million to amend the Constitution to prohibit sales taxes on real estate transfers.

In 2016, the group raised $5.6 million to stop the Legislature from extending state sales taxes to services.
WASHINGTON  In mid-March, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis described the Ukraine war as a territorial dispute that was not of vital strategic interest to the United States, in a written reply to a questionnaire from Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

His comment dismayed allies and drew fierce rebukes from many Republicans who favor a more active role for the U.S. in Ukraine, including some who are challenging him for the 2024 presidential nomination.

Playing a quiet but important role in shaping the governors remarks was the Washington-based Heritage Foundation, Americas top conservative think tank, according to two people with knowledge of their interactions.

Senior Heritage officials had advocated for months in conversations with DeSantis team that he oppose policies that could move the U.S. toward direct confrontation with Russia, the people said.

While officials at Heritage have been in contact with almost every 2024 Republican presidential campaign, including that of former President Donald Trump, the think tanks proximity to DeSantis is unique, eight people involved in the discussions said.

Heritage personnel have held near-daily conversations with DeSantis officials in recent months about key issues, including downsizing federal agencies, reorienting U.S. foreign policy to better prepare for confrontation with China, and lowering hurdles to domestic energy production, the eight people said.

The range and frequency of those discussions with DeSantis campaign have not been previously reported.

It just makes sense. Hes such a policy mind, said one Heritage official who, like the other people, asked not to be identified so he could speak freely about the private conversations.

DeSantis aides and allies say next weeks Republican presidential debate in Milwaukee will be an opportunity for the governor to show that he is better versed in policy than his opponents. They portray it as a pivotal moment as DeSantis tries to regain momentum following a summer slide in the polls.

Bryan Griffin, DeSantis press secretary, said the candidate had received a wide variety of input when formulating his proposals. He did not elaborate on what role Heritage had played regarding specific policies.

The Heritage Foundation is a principled conservative organization and we are grateful for their contributions and suggestions, Griffin said in response to Reuters detailed questions for this story.

Although the news agency was unable to pinpoint every policy DeSantis has adopted due to his campaigns relationship with Heritage, many of his preferences mirror the think tanks deep skepticism of the federal government, corporate elites and foreign entanglements.

Several days after DeSantis March comments on Ukraine, his top aides met privately with Heritage President Kevin Roberts and other officials of the think tank at an office building near the Governors Mansion in Tallahassee, Florida.

During that meeting, Generra Peck, who would later serve as DeSantis first campaign manager, thanked the Heritage officials for helping lay the groundwork for the governors position on the conflict, according to one person with direct knowledge of that conversation.

Publicly, Heritage is taking pains not to take sides, in a bid to position itself as the pre-eminent conservative think tank no matter who wins the Republican nomination.

During Trumps presidency, Heritage developed a close working relationship with him. With the former president holding a formidable 34-point lead in polls, the think tank could again find itself working with a Trump administration should he win the 2024 election.

We are happy to provide policy recommendations to any lawmaker or candidate who asks, said Noah Weinrich, a Heritage spokesperson, in response to detailed questions about this story.

Weinrich said Heritage has hosted all major Republican candidates, but he did not comment on the contents of any policy discussions held between the think tank and any of the presidential contenders.

Tallahassee visits

Either Roberts himself or other top Heritage officials have traveled to DeSantis home base in Tallahassee about once a month this year, people with knowledge of the trips said. Roberts has also traveled to Mar-a-Lago, the Florida resort owned by Trump, but the last visit was more than six months ago, those people added.

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

DeSantis policy chief, Dustin Carmack, who was a Heritage research fellow before joining the campaign, talks with officials at the think tank almost daily, according to two of the people, an unusual level of contact for a policy chief at this early stage of a campaign.

Heritage officials have held in-depth discussions with DeSantis team about restructuring the Justice Department, abolishing the Department of Education, firing thousands of mid-level bureaucrats and disentangling the U.S. from Ukraine, according to those people.

While Heritage officials have also held talks with all other major Republican presidential campaigns, those discussions have not been as frequent or in-depth, those people said.

Some of those conversations have included DeSantis himself as well as Roberts, those people added.

In addition to Carmack, the policy director, at least seven other Heritage staffers have taken positions in the DeSantis campaign.

Among the policy areas in which discussions have taken place is the need to reform federal law enforcement, according to a DeSantis campaign official.

DeSantis, like other Republican presidential contenders, has accused the Justice Department and the FBI in particular of bias against conservatives, accusations that law enforcement officials deny.

Steve Bradbury, the general counsel for the Department of Transportation under Trump and a Heritage scholar, has talked with DeSantis about the need to relocate the FBI outside of Washington and empower its field offices, according to the DeSantis campaign official. Bradbury did not respond to interview requests.

DeSantis appears to have embraced that view in part, saying on the campaign trail he would move much of the agencys functions outside the capital.

The governor, as well as many senior Heritage officials, holds the view that the concentration of federal employees in Washington leads to anti-conservative bias, as the city and its suburbs vote overwhelmingly for the Democratic Party.

Top Heritage officials, one person familiar with the think tanks operations said, were among a small cadre of policy experts who saw an advance draft of DeSantis Declaration of Economic Independence, which condemned the effects China and large corporations were having on everyday Americans.

While Reuters could not determine if Heritage staff suggested changes to the speech, the sharing of the document was a sign of the trust, that person said. The speech, which called for a decoupling of the U.S. economy from China and railed against President Joe Bidens recent bank bailouts, was consistent with Heritages institutional policies, the person added.

Project 2025

The Florida governor has also embraced Heritages Project 2025. In addition to a 920-page book that contains policy suggestions for every federal department, the think tank is assembling a vast list of hires that would staff the next administration in 2025 should a Republican win  even for positions that have in the past been seen as nonpartisan.

In June, DeSantis dispatched a senior adviser, David Dewhirst, to work on the project. On the trail, the governor makes frequent references to firing mid-level bureaucrats, which two senior Heritage officials said they considered lightly veiled references to the project.

Whether DeSantis connection to the think tank has been helpful for his campaign is an open question. In recent weeks, the governor has unveiled a number of policies from immigration and the military to the economy. He has yet to see a bump in the polls.

DeSantis decision in March to characterize the Ukraine war as a territorial dispute was consistent with the views of about half the Republican Party, surveys show. But some donors and many Republican voters vigorously disagree.

Following the controversial March 13 statement, Heritage officials had a suggestion for the campaign, according to one person with knowledge of the discussions.

Perhaps, they said, DeSantis message on Ukraine could be delivered with more nuance. He could acknowledge the unjustness of the Russian invasion, while insisting the U.S. needed to limit its involvement and keep its attention on China.

It is unclear if DeSantis took that advice to heart. But the governors message subtly shifted. DeSantis told Fox Nation in an interview on March 23 his remarks had been mischaracterized.

Obviously, Russia invaded, he said, and that was wrong.
The first 600 kilowatt (kW) Energy Server was installed at a Unimicron plant on a platform over existing scooter and motor bike parking, with minimal disruption. It provides clean, reliable power to Unimicron's clean rooms and mission-critical operations.

"Bloom Energy is excited to have our first system operating in Taiwan," said Tim Schweikert, Head of Global Sales, Bloom Energy. "The project demonstrates our ability to quickly deliver power solutions to customers that need immediate power."

Taiwan's energy landscape is undergoing a rapid transition. Centralized coal and nuclear power facilities are being retired, creating strong demand for on-site, clean, reliable power generation. Bloom fuel cells generate electricity from a variety of fuels without combustion and reduce CO2 emissions by 30% with no nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx) or particulate matter. Bloom's deployment will support the Taiwanese economy in other ways as well as Taiwanese companies manufacture a number of key components for Bloom. Taiwan is the fourth Asian country to deploy Bloom fuel cell systems.

Bloom's energy platform can be configured to create a microgrid that can operate alongside an electricity grid, or independently. The modular, space saving design allows for scalability as customer operations grow and require more power. When powered by a fuel source with an underground pipeline system, such as natural gas, they are less susceptible to the impacts of extreme weather, enabling safe, continuous operation and avoiding the costly consequences of unplanned downtime. Bloom's technology also enables customers to plan against price volatility by locking in a large portion of their electricity cost, with multiple financing options and flexible term lengths.

"The installation of Bloom Energy's 600 kilowatt solid oxide fuel cell power generation system went very smoothly," said Dave Yang, Senior Vice President, Unimicron Technology. "The spirit of the contract has been 100% achieved in terms of project management, power generation efficiency, equipment availability and safety. We are very satisfied, and in fact we have begun the installation of two larger-capacity Bloom fuel cell systems at other Unimicron plants. I believe these systems will be completed before the end of this year, which aligns with Unimicron's consistent commitment to the social responsibility of energy conservation and emissions reduction."

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements that are subject to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or our future financial or operating performance. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "should," "will" and "would" or the negative of these words or similar terms or expressions that concern Bloom's expectations, strategy, priorities, plans or intentions. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, Bloom's expectations regarding the collaboration with Unimicron, including plans to install solid oxide fuel cells sites selected by Unimicron, any expected benefits from the collaboration with Unimicron, such as carbon emissions reductions, increased energy efficiency, or satisfying any clean energy or power savings requirements by the Republic of China or regulatory agencies, progress towards any net-zero emissions, decarbonization or energy independence goals, and the cost, safety and availability of power provided by the microgrid. More information on potential risks and uncertainties that may impact Bloom's business are set forth in Bloom's periodic reports filed with the SEC, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, filed with the SEC on February 21, 2023, and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2023, as well as subsequent reports filed with or furnished to the SEC from time to time. Bloom assumes no obligation to, and does not currently intend to, update any such forward-looking statements.

About Bloom Energy

Bloom Energy empowers businesses and communities to responsibly take charge of their energy. The company's leading solid oxide platform for distributed generation of electricity and hydrogen is changing the future of energy. Fortune 100 companies around the world turn to Bloom Energy as a trusted partner to deliver lower carbon energy today and a net-zero future. For more information, visit www.bloomenergy.com.
Congrats on the well done and timely editorial calling for an end to hitting school kids with boards. The euphemism "corporal punishment" camouflages this brutality. In April, the legislatures in both Idaho and Colorado banned this archaic mistreatment of kids. Now it is legal in only 17 states (and used in just 15, since in North Carolina, every individual school board has banned it, and in Wyoming, no district has used it in decades).
Now the Mali government claims the thousand or Russian military personnel in Mali belong to the Russian military, not the Wagner Group. Back in Russia, the Russian government has settled its disputes with the Wagner Group by giving Wagner Group personnel overseas a choice of either working for the Russian military or being declared outlaws and no longer have any official or financial connection with the government. The Mali government was informed of this change and advised that it was in Malis interest to deal directly with the Russian government about Russian troops in Mali and requisitions for more weapons and munitions from Russia. Previously the Mali military government used locally mined gold to pay for Russian weapons and the services of Russian soldiers. Mali is a major producer of gold and the Russians have always been willing accept payments in gold. Russia maintains a huge gold stockpile (about 2,300 tons), the fifth largest in the world. The Russian gold is an emergency fund that is now being tapped to pay for military operations in Ukraine.

The military government in Mali had hoped that hiring Russian Wagner Group mercenaries would enable Mali to maintain control of northern and central Mali. These two regions have been under growing attack by Islamic terror groups but the Russians made it worse. The Mali military government is running out of people to blame for the mess they got themselves into. The problems began when the military government ordered the independent French Barkhane counter-terrorism force out of Mali and it was gone by the end of 2021. Since then, Mali forced the 15,000 UN peacekeepers to start withdrawing.

The government forced the French and G5 peacekeepers out by the end of 2021. In 2017 Mali, Chad, Niger, the Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso agreed to form a new G5 counter-terrorism force that would work in cooperation with the similar but larger and better equipped French force that had been operating in the Sahel since 2014. The Sahel is the semi-desert area south of the Sahara Desert that covers much of northern Africa.

Back then the French concluded that the Sahel was still troubled by thousands of Islamic terrorists and that this situation could not be taken care of quickly. In order to maintain pressure on the Islamic terrorists, France established a special force of 3,000 troops to fight Islamic terrorists throughout the Sahel (actually just Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad and Burkina Faso). This French force grew to some 4,000 troops equipped with 200 armored vehicles, 20 transport and attack helicopters, six jet fighters and three large UAVs. There are also two twin engine C-160 air transports available for use within the Sahel. Supplies and reinforcements were regularly flown in using long-range transports (like the C-17) belonging to NATO allies (especially the U.S. and Britain). From the beginning the French force included a thousand French troops in Mali and the rest dispersed to other Sahel bases and ready to quickly move anywhere in the region that Islamic terrorist activity had been detected. The G5 nations already cooperated by sharing intelligence and providing quick access to their territory by the French force. In addition the Americans provided satellite and UAV surveillance and other intel services (especially analysis and access to nearly all American data on Islamic terrorist activities in the region). Each of the G5 member countries contribute from 500 to 2,000 personnel and consist largely of special operations troops. Many of these troops have already worked with their French counterparts or been trained by French or American special operations advisors.

All this was meant to keep the Islamic terrorists in the Sahel weak and disorganized. That worked until recently when the current Mali military regime ordered the French/G5 force out, but AQIM (Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb), which has been around since 2007, was still in business (as gangsters smuggling drugs and illegal migrants north) and getting support from Islamic terrorists in Europe and the Persian Gulf. Islamic terrorists continue to carry out attacks in Mali (mainly the north) and in the G5 states to let the world know that Islamic terrorists were still present in the area.

Another reminder has been the high casualty rate among peacekeepers in Mali. UN peacekeepers in Mali suffered 26 dead during 2016, the highest number of any UN peacekeeping operation and 90 percent of the UN peacekeeper deaths in 2016, even though the Mali force comprises less than 15 percent of all UN peacekeepers. The Mali peacekeepers have been in this situation for three years in a row. Over a hundred peacekeepers (mostly UN, but some French) have died in Mali since they arrived in 2013. This is the highest casualty rate of all current UN peacekeeping operations.

Mali wanted to keep the 13,500 UN peacekeepers who maintain government control over the rebellious north. These peacekeepers are supplied by AU (African Union) nations and some of the African nations supplying these peacekeepers are withdrawing that support. A few percent of the peacekeeping force consists of troops from NATO nations that supply specialized services, especially transport helicopters and other services. People in areas where the peacekeepers are stationed warn that the security situation will deteriorate once the peacekeepers depart because the military government has not got the ability to maintain local security. Thats going to hurt the economy and cause more residents to flee the country. This is how corruption often ruins the local economy. Then again, elected officials were often corrupt. The pattern is that too many corrupt elected officials leads to rebellion or, more likely, a coup by the military, who tend to be no more effective than the people they replaced.

There was growing opposition among UN members for maintaining the expensive peacekeeper force, which is the most dangerous the UN is currently involved with. The Mali peacekeeping operation costs about half a billion dollars a month and that is about the only foreign aid Mali gets now that the military government is in control. Most foreign aid was halted because the government was stealing so much of the aid. It is difficult to steal any of the money spent on peacekeepers but the government seems to be trying to do just that.

Once the UN voted to maintain the Mali peacekeeping force for another year, the military government began harassing the peacekeepers and threatening to expel all of them. The peacekeepers serve on contracts (with the UN) for varying periods usually between two and six months. The withdrawal of the peacekeepers began on July 1st and will be completed by the end of 2023.

August 17, 2023: Mali is now one of four countries in the region ruled by a military government that overthrew an elected government. The other coup ruled nations are Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Niger. The generals justified their takeovers because of the need to defeat the growing number of Islamic terrorist groups in the region. Military governments are rarely more effective against Islamic terrorists because Western nations providing counter-terrorism assistance tend to leave, or are ordered out by the generals. The French, who provided the most effective counter-terrorism force in the region were ordered out and back in France the taxpayers supported the departure because they were tired of paying for it and seeing little progress. The military government in Niger left the American UAV operations at the four year old Airbase 201 outside Agadez, which is 730 kilometers northeast of the capital Niamey. U.S. aircraft have been operating from Niamey, which is close to the current operations in Mali, since 2018. Armed American UAVs operate out of Airbase 201 and often carry out attacks against Islamic terrorists in northern Mali. France used to have some large UAVs operating in Niger and Mali but not as many as the Americans. The French UAVs are gone now, as are the French fighter-bombers and helicopter gunships in the region that supported French counter-terrorist operations.

August 15, 2023: In the north, across the border in Niger, a Niger army force was ambushed near the border by about a hundred on motorcycles. The army lost 17 men and at last twenty were wounded. The Islamic terrorists suffered heavier losses and the survivors retreated into Mali. Several Islamic terror groups maintain bases in Mali, near the Niger border. The most prominent of these is ISGS (Islamic States in Greater Sahara). Islamic terrorists near the Niger border took advantage of the departure of French counterterrorism forces in 2021 by seizing and holding territory in Mali. This began with more attacks on the Niger border. The departing French and G5 counter-terrorism forces had kept the Islamic terrorists out of Mali. The Mali army and a small number of Russian (Wagner Group) military contractors have been unable, or unwilling, to carry on with that effort or prevent the Islamic terror groups from crossing the border and advancing into Mali. ISGS is one of the two ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) groups in the region. When they showed up in 2018, ISGS operated mainly in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, especially the area where the three borders meet.

Since late 2022 ISGS have been working to take control of the border between Mali and Niger. Mali responded with soldiers and a handful of Wagner Group mercenaries but that was unsuccessful. After that Mali did nothing about the situation as its security forces and the UN peacekeepers were needed elsewhere. The Niger government was also unable to respond and sought to negotiate a deal with ISGS. Appearing in 2015 as an affiliate of ISIL and part of ISWAP (Islamic State West Africa Province) that changed in 2021 when ISGS declared itself separate from ISWAP and declared northern Mali and some areas in Niger and Burkina Faso its future caliphate. The ISIL affiliated Islamic terrorists are far more violent than the more numerous al Qaeda. This also means casualties for the 12,000 UN peacekeepers. ISGS violence involves attacks on Islamic terror groups that refuse to take orders from ISIL.

The tri-border (Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso) area has been a terrorist hotspot since 2018 because Islamic terror groups can just cross the border to escape any effective counterterrorism efforts. For that reason, this area has been called the Menaka Region. Previously this area was just part of the larger Gao Region, centered on one of the few cities in the north. The area being fought over is near where the borders of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso meet. Menaka has become ungovernable because so many Islamic terrorists and bandits now operate here. The French counterterrorism forces regularly searched for and attacked specific Islamic terrorist targets. The Mali government underestimated how important the French forces, with their airmobile troops, UAV surveillance and ground attack aircraft were in keeping the Islamic terrorists from establishing themselves inside Mali. The current Mali military government has no clear plan for dealing with this situation and are withdrawing their counterterrorism forces south, to protect the capital and the more prosperous and populous south. Niger has suffered five military coups since independence in 1960. The recently deposed government was the first elected government in Niger to succeed an elected government. Its a common pattern in Africa, where the generals believe they can run the government better than elected officials. This is generally untrue. The generals lack the local and international legitimacy of an elected government and tend to be less adept at government administration than the professional politicians.

August 13, 2023: In the north (south of Timbuktu) four peacekeepers were wounded during an attack by an Islamic terrorist group.

August 11, 2023: In the north former Tuareg rebels were attacked by Mali soldiers and Russian Wagner Group mercenaries. Mali said this was retaliation for Tuareg threats to the presence of the Mali military in the north. Mali has long had problems in the sparsely populated north, where most of the population is Tuareg or Arab. Most of the Mali population is black African and prefers to live south of the Niger River in the more populated and prosperous south.

Animosity between dark skinned Africans and lighter skinned people from the north has been around as long as the two groups have been in contact. Arabs first moved south of the Sahara in large numbers over a thousand years ago and often came as conquerors and slavers. Although many of the black Africans encountered converted to Islam, the lighter skinned Arabs, including the non-Arab Tuareg and Berbers, considered themselves superior. This racist attitude has persisted and the black Africans often reciprocate. This is one reason why the majority Tuareg of northern Mali constantly rebel. Not only is the Mali government corrupt but it is dominated by black Africans, which is what 90 percent of Malians are. Officially, Islam and most African governments deny that such ethnic tensions exist. This in itself is progress, but the animosities remain and often become quite deadly. The slaving also continues and sometimes gets into the news. This happened a lot in Sudan since the 1990s as the government encouraged Arabized tribes to raid non-Moslem black African tribes and take slaves. In northern Mali retreating al Qaeda men sometimes took newly enslaved blacks with them.

Meanwhile the CMA (Coordination of Azawad Movements) coalition in the north has agreed to put aside their disagreements and form a unified group. CMA had long been a pro-government Tuareg coalition that had not resolved all their clan and family disputes. Azawad is the Tuareg term for their homeland in northern Mali and several other North African nations. The 2015 peace deal ended the Tuareg support for Islamic terrorism, but not the ethnic animosities. These local, and often ancient, disagreements and feuds are often not connected with the 2012 rebellion in the north nor the continuing Islamic terrorism problems, but they do cause security problems that interfere with rebuilding the economy and much else. The Tuareg peace deal was stalled for years because the black majority in the south did not want to even consider granting as much autonomy as the Tuaregs demanded. The two groups have always been at odds but were only united in the same country by the colonial French in the 19th century. Like most African countries that were formerly European colonies, dividing the post-colonial nation is not an acceptable option and the colonial borders are considered sacrosanct. The current mess began when France took swift action in January 2013 by leading a military operation to clear Islamic terrorists out of northern Mali. Aided by Chad and a growing number of other African peacekeeping contingents, this effort continues and is somewhat open ended. The French acted because in 2012 Tuareg tribal rebels (with the help of al Qaeda affiliated Islamic terrorists) in northern Mali chased out government forces and declared a separate Tuareg state. The Mali army mutinied because of a lack of support from the corrupt government down south and took control of the capital. The army is still in charge and not showing any signs of confirming the old peace deals with the CMA.

July 26, 2023: In the north, across the border in Niger, the army deposed the elected government and appointed a general as the new president. The army justified this because there was an urgent need to address the growing power of Islamic terrorist groups in Niger. July 25, 2023:
Originally published on Cox Automotive

ATLANTA, GA / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2023 / Cox Automotive presented its annual Leader in Sustainability Award to Mark Miller Subaru, a dealership with two locations - Midtown and South Towne - serving communities along the Wasatch Front in north-central Utah and throughout the state.

The Cox Automotive Leader in Sustainability Award recognizes a dealership for outstanding in-dealership sustainability programs related to waste reduction, energy or water conservation and focused on innovation, creativity, and engagement with its employees and the community. Cox Automotive President Steve Rowley presented the award during NADA Show 2023 in Dallas on Friday, Jan. 27.

"I am pleased to present the Cox Automotive Leader in Sustainability Award to Mark Miller Subaru for its extraordinary commitment to the environment and doing business the right way," said Rowley. "The Cox commitment to building a better future for the next generation is fundamentally tied to protecting the planet through sustainability. As the first dealership in Utah to be certified in the Subaru Eco-Friendly Retailer Program, Mark Miller Subaru continues raising the bar on environmental sustainability standards."

In addition to sustainability, Mark Miller Subaru is dedicated to corporate and social responsibility and the family has made these areas a priority since they entered the automotive industry in the 1930s. As a benefit corporation, the Mark Miller Subaru corporate charter states that its No. 1 priority is not making money. Instead, the dealership considers society and the environment ahead of profits. Mark Miller Subaru has donated over $3.2 million to charity since 2010 to help people, pets and the planet.

Continue reading here.

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Subaru of America on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Subaru of America

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/subaru-america

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE: Subaru of America

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Former Prime Minister to be the 40th recipient recognized with prestigious award

TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2023 / The Churchill Society for the Advancement of Parliamentary Democracy announced today that the 20th Prime Minister of Canada, the Right Honourable Jean Chrtien, will be the 2023 recipient of the Society's Award for Excellence in the Cause of Parliamentary Democracy.

"In his maiden speech 60 years ago Mr. Chretien dedicated himself to the ideals of parliamentary democracy by pledging that "even though we occupy the government benches we must give the members of this house the assurance that we will give our point of view on every matter raised before the House of Commons" remarked Cameron MacKay, Chair of the Churchill Society for the Advancement of Parliamentary Democracy. He guarded that flame throughout his remarkable parliamentary career and it never dimmed, and for that we honour him" added MacKay.

Jean Chretien was elected in 1963 as the Member of Parliament for Saint-Maurice-Lafleche and served in the House of Commons for more than 36 years until his retirement in 2003. Mr. Chretien was a member of the cabinet from 1967 until 1984, serving in Finance, Justice and External Affairs, and was elected Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada in 1990. In October 1993, Jean Chretien was elected Prime Minister at the head of a Majority Liberal Government and was re-elected in 1997 and 2000 with two more majorities. He retired as Prime Minister in 2003.

As Minister of Justice in the government of Pierre Trudeau, Mr. Chretien helped negotiate the patriation of the Canadian constitution and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. As Prime Minister, Mr. Chretien led the federalist forces to a victory in the Quebec separatist referendum and in 1998 produced Canada's first budgetary surplus in nearly thirty years. Under Mr. Chretien, Canada joined the coalition war in Afghanistan but did not join the United States in the war in Iraq. In 2003 Mr. Chretien introduced legislation to change the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples.

Mr. Chretien has been awarded fourteen honourary degrees from Canadian universities and was named a Companion of the Order of Canada in 2007.

Mr. Chretien will be the 40th recipient of the Churchill Society's Award of Excellence and sixth Canadian Prime Minister to receive the award. This year's Award Dinner will be held at 6:00 pm at the Arcadian Court in downtown Toronto on November 29, 2023. This year's dinner will feature a fireside-style discussion between author and journalist Ron Graham and Mr. Chretien.

The Churchill Society for the Advancement of Parliamentary Democracy is a non-partisan, charitable organization that honours the life of Sir Winston Churchill by facilitating education, discussion and debate about Canada's parliamentary democracy.

Dinner event information is available here.

Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE: Churchill Society for the Advancement of Parliamentary Democracy

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NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2023 / Lori Shaffer, Kimberly-Clark's vice president of global nonwovens, recently spoke with Helen Atkinson, managing editor of SupplyChainBrain, at Reuters Supply Chain USA where she discussed the power of people-centricity in building strong, purpose-driven supply chains.

"[A purpose-led supply chain] looks like everyone within the supply chain understanding their reason for being, the purpose behind what they do every day and how they bring value to the consumer. For example, within Kimberly-Clark, our purpose is to deliver Better Care for a Better World," said Lori.

Watch Lori's full interview here: https://www.supplychainbrain.com/articles/37804-watch-the-power-of-purpose-and-people-centricity?trk=public_post_comment-text

About Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB) and its trusted brands are an indispensable part of life for people in more than 175 countries. Fueled by ingenuity, creativity, and an understanding of people's most essential needs, we create products that help individuals experience more of what's important to them. Our portfolio of brands, including Huggies, Kleenex, Scott, Kotex, Cottonelle, Poise, Depend, Andrex, Pull-Ups, GoodNites, Intimus, Neve, Plenitud, Sweety, Softex, Viva and WypAll, hold No. 1 or No. 2 share positions in approximately 80 countries. We use sustainable practices that support a healthy planet, build strong communities, and ensure our business thrives for decades to come. We are proud to be recognized as one of the world's most ethical companies by Ethisphere for the fifth year in a row. To keep up with the latest news and to learn more about the company's 150-year history of innovation, visit kimberly-clark.com.

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Kimberly-Clark Corporation on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Kimberly-Clark Corporation

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/kimberly-clark-corporation

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE: Kimberly-Clark Corporation

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MAJORICA announces the opening of its inaugural store in the U.S. on the Upper Level in Aventura Mall in Miami. MAJORICA is known for the invention of a perfect Mallorca pearl and exquisite fine jewelry, along with 130 years of innovation.

MIAMI, FL / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2023 / MAJORICA, the heritage Spanish brand, continues to captivate the world by infusing its designs and perfect pearls with the brand's very soul, essence, and cherished values. The distinguished Spanish jewelry brand renowned for its exquisite pearls and timeless designs proudly announces the grand opening of its inaugural U.S. store, situated in the Upper Level of Aventura Mall.

Classic Meets Everyone

Created by a scientist and fueled by over 130 years of innovation, MAJORICA remains unwavering in its commitment to delivering perfect pearls and jewelry that transcend time. As the brand takes this monumental step to expand in the U.S., it brings with it the same captivating essence that has enthralled global audiences for generations.

"After meticulous market research and in-depth data analysis, we have strategically selected Miami, Florida, as the inaugural hub for expanding MAJORICA's distribution across the United States. Aventura Mall stands as an ideal gateway, granting us access to a dynamic blend of guests who already hold a keen appreciation for our brand," reveals Elena Stungis, Vice President of Sales for the U.S., Canada, and TR Americas. "With great enthusiasm, we are excited to offer our extensive assortment of more than 700 items, tailored to cater to the diverse tastes and preferences of pearl aficionados. We have even created an exclusive necklace just for the Aventura Mall store opening."

For further insights into MAJORICA, kindly visit our store located in Upper Level at Aventura Mall, Miami, or our website https://us.majorica.com.

ABOUT MAJORICA

MAJORICA has skillfully conveyed the soul, essence, and values of our brand through the elegant designs and the inimitable pearls. Beauty, elegance, character, sensuality, strength - these elements form a unique tapestry that embodies the personality of our jewelry. With more than 130 years of history, MAJORICA remains grounded in its origins, while embracing a classic yet modern, traditional yet innovative approach. Our MAJORICA pearls traverse the globe, all while embracing the present like never before.

ABOUT AVENTURA MALL

Aventura Mall is the premier shopping destination in Miami and South Florida, and one of the top shopping centers in the U.S. Anchored by Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's, the center is highlighted by a mix of over 300 stores from luxury fashion brands to shopper favorites. Aventura Mall also features more than 50 eateries and restaurants, including Treats Food Hall; The Aventura Farmers Market, which showcases dozens of farmers and artisans; and the experiential Arts Aventura Mall program highlighting 20+ museum-quality pieces in a range of mediums, which visitors can enjoy via a self-guided ArtWalk audio tour.

Contact Information

Elena Stungis

VP of Sales, US, Canada, Travel Retail Americas

[email protected]

917-654-1873

Natalie Lubensky

Assistant Store Manager

[email protected]

201-243-8418

Related Files

MAJORICA Press Release.docx.pdf

SOURCE: MAJORICA USA

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ATLANTA, GA / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2023 / OmniMax International ("OmniMax"), the leading national manufacturer of residential rainware and roofing accessory products and a top supplier to certain outdoor living, recreational vehicle, and other building end markets, today announced that John Krause has been appointed CEO, effective Sept. 25, 2023. He succeeds John Wayne, who is retiring following a successful tenure leading OmniMax and a stellar 38-year career in the building products industry.





OmniMax International





John Krause is a highly experienced executive who joins from JELD-WEN, a global designer, manufacturer, and distributor of interior and exterior doors, windows, and related building products. He most recently served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of the company's North American business. With an exceptional track record of growing residential building product businesses by delivering top-tier service and products to customers, alongside proven leadership ability first honed during eight years spent in the United States Marine Corps, John will spearhead the continued scaling of the business.

As CEO, John Wayne has been instrumental in consolidating OmniMax's leading position within the North American rainware and roofing accessory market through the growth of its residential building product businesses. In addition to leading the acquisition and integration of Verde Industries and FLAMCO, which expanded the company's portfolio to include leading roofing accessory brands in Texas, Florida and Arizona, John oversaw the divestiture of OmniMax's Fabral commercial roofing and wall panel segment, concentrating the company's strategic focus on its market-leading domestic businesses. John also headed the company's push toward aligning its daily operations and governance with a commitment to environmental, social, and community stewardship. Following his retirement, John will continue his productive partnership with Strategic Value Partners, the global investment firm whose funds own OmniMax, as a non-executive director on the board of another of the firm's portfolio companies.

Speaking on behalf of OmniMax, incoming CEO, John Krause, said: "I am delighted to be joining OmniMax, a rapidly growing business with a deserved reputation for delivering best-in-class products and exceptional customer experience. John's excellent stewardship has left the business ideally placed. With the opportunity to grow OmniMax by serving stable and increasing replacement demand for critical rainware and roofing accessory products across America's aging housing stock, we anticipate significant value creation opportunities moving forward."

OmniMax's outgoing CEO, John Wayne, said: "I would like to take this opportunity to thank the entire team here at OmniMax, whose unrelenting hard work and dedication has been the foundation of our success to date. This is an exceptionally talented group, and with an experienced leader like John at the helm, I have no doubt that the business will continue to go from strength to strength."

David Geenberg, Co-Head of North American Investment Team at Strategic Value Partners, said: "We'd like to thank John Wayne for his contribution over the past two years. He has been an ideal partner throughout his tenure, having been responsible for overseeing the consolidation of OmniMax's leading position in the market, and leaves the business ideally placed to be scaled further under the direction of John Krause. We look forward to continuing to work with him as he transitions into non-executive roles."

Dave Richards, Managing Director, Co-Head North America Operating Team at Strategic Value Partners, added: "In John Krause, the company has a very capable incoming CEO who possesses exactly the right skill set to capitalize on the outstanding work done by John Wayne. His leadership ability and significant experience within the residential building product segment will underpin the business' continued expansion across North America. We're incredibly excited to be working with him as we look to take the business to the next level."

###

About OmniMax International

OmniMax is a leading national manufacturer of residential building products and a top supplier of products for outdoor living, recreational vehicle, and other building end markets. As the leader in the residential roof drainage market, OmniMax has extensive scale, top brands such as Amerimax, Berger, Flamco, Verde and longstanding relationships with the nation's largest home center retailers and building product distributors. The Company's high-growth outdoor living business is a manufacturer of outdoor shade and exterior structures through brands such as Equinox, Alumawood, and Knotwood. The Company is also a leading supplier to the recreational vehicle industry, which is benefiting from strong outdoor recreation and living trends. OmniMax International is owned by funds managed by Strategic Value Partners, LLC, a global investment firm with more than $18 billion in assets under management, established by Victor Khosla in 2001. Learn more at www.omnimax.com and www.svpglobal.com.

Contact Information

Chris Berg

General Counsel

[email protected]

678-728-9654

SOURCE: OmniMax International

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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / August 18, 2023 / SouthGobi Resources Ltd. (TSX-V:SGQ)(HK:1878) ("SouthGobi" or the "Company") announces that reference is made to the announcement of the Company dated July 31, 2023 (the "Announcement") in relation to the Mongolia tax audit.

As previously disclosed in the Company's Announcement, on July 18, 2023, the Company's wholly owned subsidiary in Mongolia, SouthGobi Sands LLC ("SGS"), received a notice (the "Notice") from the Mongolian Tax Authority (the "MTA") relating to a periodic tax audit on certain SGS's financial information between 2017 and 2020 (the "Audit"). The MTA notified SGS that they are imposing a tax penalty against SGS in the amount of approximately US$75.0 million as a result of the Audit. According to Mongolian law, SGS has a 30-day period from the date of receiving the Notice to file an appeal regarding the Audit.

As at the date of this announcement, SGS has engaged an independent tax consultant in Mongolia to provide tax advice and support to the Company in relation to the Audit. On August 17, 2023, SGS filed an appeal letter in relation to the Audit with the MTA in accordance with the Mongolian laws. The Company will make further announcement(s) to keep its shareholders and potential investors informed of any progress as and when appropriate.

Shareholders and potential investors of the Company are advised to exercise caution when dealing in the shares of the Company.

About SouthGobi

SouthGobi, listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the TSX Venture Exchange, owns and operates its flagship Ovoot Tolgoi coal mine in Mongolia. It also holds the mining licences of its other metallurgical and thermal coal deposits in South Gobi region of Mongolia. SouthGobi produces and sells coal to customers in China.

Contact: Investor Relations Email: [email protected] Mr. Ruibin Xu Chief Executive Officer Office: +1 604 762 6783 (Canada) +852 2156 1438 (Hong Kong) Website: www.southgobi.com

SOURCE: SouthGobi Resources Ltd.

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Chinese tourists are seen at the historical Sultanahmet Square in Istanbul, Trkiye, on Aug. 17, 2023. Istanbul, one of Trkiye's most visited cities, welcomed on Thursday its first Chinese tourist group after China lifted the group tour ban to Trkiye on Aug. 10. (Photo by Omer Kuscu/Xinhua)

ISTANBUL, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Istanbul, one of Trkiye's most visited cities, welcomed on Thursday its first Chinese tourist group after China lifted the group tour ban to Trkiye on Aug. 10.

The 12-member tour group will take an 8-day trip across Trkiye. Wu Jian, China's deputy consul general in Istanbul, accompanied the group to tour the historical Sultanahmet Square, surrounded by the iconic Basilica Cistern, Hagia Sophia, and Blue Mosque.

Wu told the group that a series of meetings are being held between Turkish authorities and the Chinese consulate focusing on the safe and trouble-free traveling of Chinese tourists in this megacity with a population of around 16 million.

"We have updated and prepared a brochure in Chinese, listing precautions in Trkiye," Wu said, adding that "consular phone numbers and traffic maps are also provided."

The deputy consul assured the tourists that the consulate is of 24-hour availability.

Fu Tong, the tour leader, said Trkiye has become one of the top-rated outbound destinations for Chinese tourists, and the arrival number of Chinese tourists is expected to grow exponentially in the coming days.

After a three-day stay in Istanbul, the group will head to central Trkiye's Cappadocia, a famed scenic spot for hot air balloon tours.

Chinese tourists pose for photos at the historical Sultanahmet Square in Istanbul, Trkiye, on Aug. 17, 2023. Istanbul, one of Trkiye's most visited cities, welcomed on Thursday its first Chinese tourist group after China lifted the group tour ban to Trkiye on Aug. 10. (Photo by Omer Kuscu/Xinhua)

Editor: WJH
When a company promises organic growth 3x-4x faster than its next sector competitor, should it get rewarded or penalized for narrowly missing? Citi analyst Ashwin Shirvaikar asks in a note issued to clients on Friday.

His comments come after Globant SA (NYSE: GLOB) beat consensus revenue expectations and raised full-year sales guidance.

The implied organic revenue outlook was down ~40bps to a remarkable 11.3% year/year when most competitors are delivering low-single digits, Shirvaikar wrote in a note.

Citi has a Buy rating and a $215 per share price target on GLOB shares, implying upside potential of more than 30% relative to Thursdays closing price.

Citi was quick to defend Globant after the stock fell in recent weeks. Shares are down 3% year-to-date.

Globant reported its Q2 earnings yesterday with the reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.36 coming in roughly in line with analyst expectations. Revenue for the quarter amounted to $497.5 million, close to the consensus estimate of $496.6M.

The company anticipates EPS of $1.46 for the third quarter, slightly below the consensus estimate of at least $1.49. Revenue is seen reaching $545M, ahead of the expected $533M.

FY EPS is seen at $5.72 on revenue of $2.09 billion, which compares to the consensus for earnings of $5.71 on sales of $2.07B.

We like Globants performance in a very difficult year for the industry, the analyst added.

By Senad Karaahmetovic
Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas and Trustmark National Bank Award HELP Subsidy

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Iliana Flores is a newly minted homeowner, thanks in part to $15,000 in Homebuyer Equity Leverage Partnership (HELP) funds from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) through Trustmark National Bank.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230818226501/en/

A $15,000 subsidy from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas via member Trustmark National Bank allowed a Dallas mom to make the down payment on her familys dream home. (Photo: Business Wire)

FHLB Dallas set aside $6.5 million of its 2023 Affordable Housing Program funds for HELP. Through member institutions, HELP, whose funding has been fully allocated for 2023, assists income-qualified, first-time homebuyers like Ms. Flores with down payment assistance and closing costs.

The funds enabled the 38-year-old mother to make the down payment on a two-story, four-bedroom home in Dallas, Texas.

My kids dreamed of a two-story home and Im proud to have fulfilled their dream. HELP provided me with the confidence to clinch the deal, Ms. Flores said. HELP can make the difference for those on a budget, and I now encourage everyone in the homebuying process to check if they are eligible.

FHLB Dallas member Trustmark National Bank worked with Ms. Flores in the process.

We take great pride in customizing financial support to suit the needs of our customers and were delighted to be a part of this momentous occasion for Ms. Floress family, said Jaime Sisson, vice president, fair and responsible banking  senior CRA manager at Trustmark National Bank. We aspire to increase homeownership in our communities and HELP is vital to achieving this goal.

Since the beginning of the year, Trustmark National Bank has assisted 23 homebuyers with more than $300,000 in HELP funds.

Trustmark National Bank has made exemplary use of its FHLB Dallas membership via the HELP program to advance affordable homeownership across multiple communities in several states, said Greg Hettrick, senior vice president and director of Community Investment at FHLB Dallas.

Visit fhlb.com/help to learn more about the program.

About Trustmark National Bank

Trustmark National Bank is a subsidiary of Trustmark Corporation, a financial services company providing banking and financial solutions through offices in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas. Visit trustmark.com for more information.

About the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas is one of 11 district banks in the FHLBank System created by Congress in 1932. FHLB Dallas, with total assets of $174 billion as of June 30, 2023, is a member-owned cooperative that supports housing and community development by providing competitively priced loans and other credit products to approximately 800 members and associated institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas. For more information, visit our website at fhlb.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230818226501/en/

Corporate Communications

Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas

fhlb.com

(214) 441-8445

Source: FHLB Dallas
For Medium-Sized Businesses In The Minneapolis/St. Paul Region

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Boveda, the global leader in 2-way humidity control, has once again been honored with the prestigious title of Best Places to Work 2023 by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. This marks the fifth consecutive year that Boveda has received this recognition in the medium-sized category, which includes businesses with 50 to 99 employees in Minnesota.

This year marks the 25th year of the Best Places to Work awards hosted by The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal and research partner, Omaha, Nebraska-based Quantum Workplace. To be considered eligible, a current employee must enter the business for nomination. 70 companies across the region were identified and scored top marks on a confidential employee survey that evaluated leadership, company culture, pain points, and overall job satisfaction.

We are thrilled to be recognized as a Best Places to Work five years in a row because its based on the dedication, passion and commitment of an incredibly talented team, said Chief Human Resources Officer, Andrea Pollari. At Boveda we strive for an environment where people support one another through open communication, collaboration, trust, respect and a passion for personal and professional development.

Boveda co-founder and CEO Sean Knutsen shared his thoughts on the achievement: People are not our most important asset. The right people are. Being named as one of the best places to work is a testament to the dedication of our employees who make Boveda a truly exceptional place to work."

Bovedas humidity control products can be found at various locations, including their official website, Amazon, dispensaries, smoke shops, and more. For additional information, visit Bovedainc.com or call 952-745-2900.

About Boveda, Inc.:

Since 1997, Minnetonka, Minnesota-based Boveda Inc. has been dedicated to safeguarding people's passions. Whether it's enjoying a fine cigar, indulging in premium cannabis, or preserving musical instruments, Boveda's expertise in humidity control ensures that enthusiasts can fully savor what they love without worrying about humidity-induced damage. Made from all-natural ingredients, Boveda's patented 2-way humidity control packs are the zero-maintenance humidity control solution. With a commitment to excellence spanning two decades and millions of satisfied customers, Boveda continues to be a trusted name in protecting the things that bring joy and fulfillment to people's lives. For more information, visit Bovedainc.com or call 952-745-2900.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230818476180/en/

Andrea Pollari

Boveda, Inc.

952-745-2900

[email protected]

Source: Boveda, Inc.
FDA encouraged the Company to enroll adolescent patients due to Piclidenosons good safety profile

There is an unmet need for safe, convenient, and effective drugs to treat chronic plaque psoriasis in the adolescents

PETACH TIKVA, Israel--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. (NYSE American: CANF) (TASE: CANF), a biotechnology company advancing a pipeline of proprietary small molecule drugs that address oncology, inflammatory, and liver diseases, today announced that it submitted a pediatric study plan to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of adolescents suffering from psoriasis with Piclidenoson.

The plan has been submitted to allow enrollment of adolescents with psoriasis to Can-Fites upcoming two Phase 3 pivotal clinical psoriasis studies, aiming at registration of Piclidenoson with both the FDA and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for the treatment of plaque psoriasis.

There is a high market need for a safe and efficacious drug for the treatment of adolescents who suffer from psoriasis. There are a couple of small molecule or biological drugs on the market in use for adolescents with psoriasis, all have safety issues and are not satisfactory regarding the efficacy. Therefore, there is a high market need which will enable Can-Fite to position Piclidenoson with its favorable safety and good efficacy as a treatment for this chronic and devastating disease.

Can-Fite believes the inclusion of adolescent patients in one or both of the Phase 3 studies significantly broadens any future market launch potential of the drug. Psoriasis affects millions of people worldwide, including a significant number of adolescents who endure the physical and emotional burden of this challenging disease.

Based on the FDAs recommendation to enroll adolescents into the upcoming Phase 3 psoriasis trials, we believe Piclidenosons oral formulation with an excellent safety record, combined with its progressive effectiveness over time, make it ideally suited for the chronic treatment of psoriasis in adults and adolescents alike, stated Can-Fite CEO & CFO Motti Farbstein.

About Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd.

Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. (NYSE American: CANF) (TASE: CANF) is an advanced clinical stage drug development company with a platform technology that is designed to address multi-billion dollar markets in the treatment of cancer, liver, and inflammatory disease. The Company's anti-inflammatory drug Piclidenoson reported topline results in a Phase 3 trial for psoriasis and is expected to commence a pivotal Phase 3 program. Can-Fite's cancer and liver drug, Namodenoson, is being evaluated in a Phase 2b trial for the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), enrollment is expected to commence in a Phase 3 trial for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and the Company is planning a Phase 2a study in pancreatic cancer. Namodenoson has been granted Orphan Drug Designation in the U.S. and Europe and Fast Track Designation as a second line treatment for HCC by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Namodenoson has also shown proof of concept to potentially treat other cancers including colon, prostate, and melanoma. CF602, the Company's third drug candidate, has shown efficacy in the treatment of erectile dysfunction. These drugs have an excellent safety profile with experience in over 1,500 patients in clinical studies to date. For more information please visit: www.can-fite.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements, about Can-Fites expectations, beliefs or intentions regarding, among other things, its product development efforts, business, financial condition, results of operations, strategies or prospects. All statements in this communication, other than those relating to historical facts, are forward looking statements. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as believe, expect, intend, plan, may, should or anticipate or their negatives or other variations of these words or other comparable words or by the fact that these statements do not relate strictly to historical or current matters. Forward-looking statements relate to anticipated or expected events, activities, trends or results as of the date they are made. Because forward-looking statements relate to matters that have not yet occurred, these statements are inherently subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Can-Fites actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include, among other things, our history of losses and needs for additional capital to fund our operations and our inability to obtain additional capital on acceptable terms, or at all; uncertainties of cash flows and inability to meet working capital needs; the initiation, timing, progress and results of our preclinical studies, clinical trials and other product candidate development efforts; our ability to advance our product candidates into clinical trials or to successfully complete our preclinical studies or clinical trials; our receipt of regulatory approvals for our product candidates, and the timing of other regulatory filings and approvals; the clinical development, commercialization and market acceptance of our product candidates; our ability to establish and maintain strategic partnerships and other corporate collaborations; the implementation of our business model and strategic plans for our business and product candidates; the scope of protection we are able to establish and maintain for intellectual property rights covering our product candidates and our ability to operate our business without infringing the intellectual property rights of others; competitive companies, technologies and our industry; risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine; risks related to not satisfying the continued listing requirements of NYSE American; and statements as to the impact of the political and security situation in Israel on our business. More information on these risks, uncertainties and other factors is included from time to time in the Risk Factors section of Can-Fites Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC on March 30, 2023 and other public reports filed with the SEC and in its periodic filings with the TASE. Existing and prospective investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. Can-Fite undertakes no obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by any applicable securities laws.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230818971170/en/

Can-Fite BioPharma

Motti Farbstein

[email protected]

+972-3-9241114

Source: Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd.
LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- DejaVoo, a rising star in the field of disposable vape brands, unveils its latest offerings, Fresh Cube and Phantom in the UK market.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230818922351/en/

Fresh Cube and Phantom (Photo: Business Wire)

As an indispensable market of the global vaping industry, the UK has witnessed fierce competition in the field of disposable. While the majority of disposable products are backed by cotton coil, DejaVoo differentiates itself with the FEELM Max ceramic coil solution, delivering 800+ puffs and setting a new benchmark under TPD compliance. Notably, it won the category of "Best Disposable" with DejaVoo Cyber at the Vapouround ceremony this year in May and June respectively.

Fresh Cube and Phantom exceed expectations by offering over 800 puffs, a remarkable 30%+ growth in puff count when measured against the most prevalent disposable products in the market. Furthermore, they boast an unparalleled consistency of over 95%. These innovations elevate the vaping realm to unprecedented heights. The hallmark transparent e-liquid tank design not only diminishes e-juice anxiety but also preserves its aesthetic allure.

Both Fresh Cube and Phantom exemplify DejaVoo's unwavering commitment to delivering a diversified vaping experience to its discerning consumers.

Fresh Cube features the Pink Lady, Purple Rain, and Sour Kiss as its main flavour offerings. It is thoughtfully crafted in the shape of ice cubes, aimed to enable its consumers to "Feel the Fresh and Stay Chill". Phantom, on the other hand, adopts an elegant colour of matte black in a cylindrical design, which echoes its tagline Unveiling Enigmatic Sensations.

From mid-August, Fresh Cube will be put on trial sale at retailers of main lines in London. Meanwhile, stay tuned to Phantom at https://www.vapourcore.com/.

About DejaVoo

Motivated to create trustworthy and loved vape products, DejaVoo integrates the best expertise in the business including conceptualisation, designing, engineering, testing and manufacturing to present unparalleled total value for adult vape users.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230818922351/en/

Contact information:

Sales Representative: Jack Zou

Phone/WhatsApp: 0044 7845 011165

Email: [email protected]

Company: Bliz Electronics Ltd.

Source: DejaVoo
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Flint Group (Flint or the Company), a premier home services company, today announced a strategic investment from General Atlantic, a leading global growth investing firm. The partnership will enable Flint to accelerate its growth and further enhance business offerings, with the mission of continuing to build a leading national platform.

Founded in 2019 by industry veterans Collin Hathaway and Trevor Flannigan, Flint Group has rapidly expanded into a multi-regional residential HVAC, plumbing, and electrical services operation. Flint partners with leading management teams that share a passion for customer service. Flint is currently comprised of 7 longstanding market-leading brands across 5 primary markets in the U.S., including Seattle, Portland, Houston, Boston, and Denver.

We established Flint Group with a philosophy of partnering with strong brands, building great teams, and delivering superior services to residents across the country. We are proud of what we've achieved in our first four years, and we believe there is substantial opportunity to accelerate our growth into new markets while continuing to invest in our team and technology, said Collin Hathaway, Founder and Chairman of Flint Group.

Trevor Flannigan, CEO of Flint Group, continued, General Atlantic's partnership model and value-add investment ethos are well-aligned with ours. We are excited to start our next chapter of growth together as Flint continues to enhance our service offerings and build momentum with a vision of becoming a national leader.

Collin and Trevor are passionate entrepreneurs who have demonstrated the power of focusing on teams and customers, underpinned by a disciplined operating approach. They have built an impressive business with the ability to grow organically and through M&A, said Andrew Ferrer, Managing Director of Consumer investments at General Atlantic. We look forward to partnering with the Flint team to capitalize on the many opportunities ahead.

As part of the transaction, General Atlantic advisor Alan Ferber will join the Flint board. Alan has extensive operations expertise in consumer-facing industries, including his previous roles as CEO of Jackson Hewitt, President of ADTs residential division, and Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of U.S. Cellular.

Jefferies served as financial advisor and Dorsey & Whitney as legal advisor to Flint Group and Skylight Capital. William Blair served as financial advisor and Paul Weiss served as legal advisor to General Atlantic.

About Flint Group

Flint Group is a leading home service platform committed to providing high-quality HVAC, plumbing and electrical services to residential customers. Flint Group currently operates seven businesses across Seattle, Portland, Houston, Boston, and Denver. For more information, please visit https://www.flintg.com/.

About General Atlantic

General Atlantic is a leading global growth equity firm with more than four decades of experience providing capital and strategic support for over 495 growth companies throughout its history. Established in 1980 to partner with visionary entrepreneurs and deliver lasting impact, the firm combines a collaborative global approach, sector specific expertise, a long-term investment horizon and a deep understanding of growth drivers to partner with great entrepreneurs and management teams to scale innovative businesses around the world. General Atlantic has more than $77 billion in assets under management inclusive of all products as of June 30, 2023, and more than 220 investment professionals based in New York, Amsterdam, Beijing, Hong Kong, Jakarta, London, Mexico City, Miami, Mumbai, Munich, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore, Stamford and Tel Aviv. For more information on General Atlantic, please visit: www.generalatlantic.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230818692235/en/

General Atlantic Media

Jake Barnette

[email protected]

Source: General Atlantic
Top Ranked Teams and Individual Agents in the San Francisco Bay Area are Acknowledged for their Persistence, Commitment and Expertise

CUPERTINO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Intero, a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate and wholly owned subsidiary of HomeServices of America, Inc., is pleased to announce the recognition of its top six individual agents and three teams who made the 2023 Leading 100 List.

Presented by LuxeSF in partnership with RealTrends and San Francisco Magazine, the Leading 100 List recognizes the top 100 real estate professionals across the Bay Area. To be named in the 2023 Leading 100 List, top-producing agents must have closed at least $74.5M and teams must have closed at least $111M in closed sales volume in 2022.

This recognition acknowledges the persistence, unwavering commitment, and exceptional expertise demonstrated by these remarkable REALTORS and their teams, said Brian Crane, CEO of Intero. We take immense pride in every individual mentioned in this prestigious roster of high-achieving agents.

Three of Interos top-ranked teams were recognized on the Leading 100 List, including The Tse Group (#1), The GAEA Team (#13) and The Troyer Group (#17). In addition, six individuals were recognized as top-producing agents on the list:

Jordan Mott (#41)

Erfan Modir (#55)

Trang Dunlap (#73) Eric Fischer-Colbrie (#81)

Kaajal Shahani (#89)

Jason Pham (#95)

Further adding to their success, this group of individuals and teams also earned accolades on both a state and company level by being honored in the 2023 RealTrends rankings, and at the Intero Honors 2022 Production Awards Celebration.

As we move through 2023 and beyond, we are excited about supporting and empowering not only these outstanding professionals, but also all the talented members of our Intero family as they strive to reach new heights of success, added Crane.

The complete list of Leading 100, now in its 8th year, can be found on www.theleading100.com.

Intero, a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate and wholly owned subsidiary of HomeServices of America Inc., serves Northern California and Nevada with 19 offices throughout the greater Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Western Nevada, and the Greater Lake Tahoe Region. The Intero Franchise network comprises 29 affiliates located in California, Nevada, Tennessee, and Texas. The company is headquartered in the heart of Californias Silicon Valley.

Find more information about Intero at www.intero.com. Find more information about HomeServices of America at www.homeservices.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230818549483/en/

Derek Overbey  Intero  a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate

[email protected]

Source: Intero
MONTEREY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Meyers Manx, the iconic brand behind the original fiberglass dune buggy, proudly unveiled its latest innovation, the Resorter Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (NEV) at 'The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230818953464/en/

Phillip Sarofim, Chairman of Meyers Manx, standing alongside the new Resorter NEV at its private unveiling at Pebble Beach, CA (Photo: Business Wire)

Drawing from the companys rich heritage, the Manx Resorter NEV boasts a true four-passenger capacity. Powered by a twin-motor electric drivetrain and state of the art lithium batteries, the vehicle delivers class leading torque, range, and acceleration. It is the first NEV that takes into account driving dynamics and aims to bring fun to the whole family. Designed for local exploration, and electronically limited by NEV regulations to 25mph, the vehicle is unparalleled in this market segment.

Phillip Sarofim, Chairman of Meyers Manx said, With the Resorter NEV, we are elevating the segment by introducing an unparalleled, well-engineered vehicle with the timeless Meyers Manx aesthetic.

The launch signifies a pivotal chapter in our company's journey. Our blend of premium design, craftsmanship, and a commitment to fostering exploration of ones surroundings sets Meyers Manx apart from the competition, added Freeman Thomas, CEO, Meyers Manx.

The Resorter NEV has been developed in parallel with the Meyers Manx 2.0 Electric Vehicle. The Manx 2.0 was tested in Baja California and is the epitome of their offroad legacy. The Resorter NEV shares key components with the 2.0 and will be capable of exploring large ranches just as well as the coastal communities they developed the vehicle for.

"With the rebirth of this iconic automotive brand, I'm immersed in the process of engineering and industrialization for a quality customer experience, said Hinrich J. Woebcken, board member of Meyers Manx and former CEO of Volkswagen Group of America.

Resorter NEV Highlights:

A streamlined aluminum monocoque chassis complemented by eye-catching bodywork.

Advanced LED lighting, an intuitive smart dashboard, and clever Easter-eggs referencing the company's history.

Features a detachable roof, upcoming zip-down window doors, standard electric A/C, a foldable windshield, and rugged wheels ready for any terrain.

Personalization options with a range of exterior colors, eco-friendly interior materials, and innovative front seat designs.

This modern reinterpretation of a cherished 1970s vehicle was first introduced on Thursday August 17th to a select group of Meyers Manx enthusiasts at the Trousdale House in Monterey, California.

The Resorter NEV starts at $49,000 and the Manx 2.0 at $74,000. For further information and deposits, visit Meyers Manx at The Quail. Learn more about the Meyers Manx Resorter NEV by visiting their website.

About Meyers Manx:

Meyers Manx is the original fiberglass dune buggy kit car company, created by Bruce Meyers and now owned by Phillip Sarofims Trousdale Ventures. Bruce Meyers had a vision for fun when he designed and built the first-ever fiberglass body dune buggy in the 1960s. Now, over 50 years later, Phillip Sarofim has taken the wheel to expand that vision globally by bringing More Smiles Per Mile than anything else on four wheels.

Images available here

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230818953464/en/

Amy Foster | 4media group

[email protected]

Ph: 347-502-9539

Source: Meyers Manx
GREENVILLE, S.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- SOUTHTEC 2023, an SME event for small- to medium-size manufacturers (SMMs) and large original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), supports the thriving southeast manufacturing industry by providing attendees with the ideal forum for exploration of new technologies and connection with new business partners. A leading manufacturing trade show in the region, SOUTHTEC hosts over 250 exhibitors from Oct. 24-26, 2023, at the Greenville Convention Center in Greenville, S.C. The event is sponsored by SME and AMT  The Association For Manufacturing Technology.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230818613393/en/

With hundreds of exhibiting companies, SOUTHTEC 2023 attendees can find all the latest technologies and services  plus the experts who build them  ready to demonstrate solutions that can help them grow their business. (Photo: Business Wire)

SOUTHTEC is part of the Manufacturing Technology (MT) Series  four regional events conducted bi-annually to bring decision-makers from diverse industries together with the leaders in advanced manufacturing technology. The SOUTHTEC 2023 exhibitor lineup includes some of the most innovative names in manufacturing and draws hundreds of global suppliers, distributors and equipment builders. Some of this years featured exhibitors include:

Haas Factory Outlet  A Division of Phillips (Booth #809) offers sales, service and support for Haas, the largest machine tool builder in the country. Job shops, contract engineering firms and manufacturers worldwide use Haas CNC machines to make parts for nearly every industry. Attendees at SOUTHTEC can discover the next evolution of manufacturing demonstrated up-close, including Haas wide selection of fully integrated automation solutions such as automatic parts loaders, pallet-pool systems, and 6-axis robot systems.

Morris South  A Division of Morris Group Inc. (Booth #1009) is a supplier of industry-leading CNC machine tools, tooling, accessories, automation and related engineering services, representing brands such as Okuma, Tsugami, Desktop Metal, Universal Robots and more. Attendees at SOUTHTEC can meet with productivity specialists to discuss optimizing CNC machine tool performance to enhance their manufacturing operations and boost their productivity and competitiveness.

Mazak Corp (Booth #1309) provides a wide range of machining solutions to suit job shops and major manufacturers alike, across industries ranging from aerospace to medical, and consumer electronics to construction. Attendees at SOUTHTEC can see new, cutting-edge solutions in action such as HYBRID Multi-Tasking machines that feature state-of-the-art additive and joining techniques paired with subtractive capabilities, and MAZATROL Smooth CNC with integrated automation and next-level software packages that improve repeatability and reliability.

GROB Systems Inc (Booth #829) is a world-renowned developer and manufacturer of machines and production lines for automotive OEMs and has expanded its portfolio to include universal 5-axis machining centers. Attendees at SOUTHTEC can experience first-hand how the unique retractable spindle provides unmatched accessibility to the work piece, and even upside-down machining, in a collision-free environment during tool change.

Lyndex-Nikken Inc (Booth #1709) produces high performance machine tool accessories to meet manufacturing needs across the aerospace and defense, automotive, construction, energy and medical industries. Recognized worldwide for their precision and reliability, attendees at SOUTHTEC will learn how to enhance their machining centers and optimize their capabilities with ground-breaking tools and engineering solutions.

The Southeast is experiencing exceptional growth in areas critical to the U.S. economy, such as aerospace, automotive and advanced materials. In particular, South Carolina is becoming an automotive hub with the recent announcements of electric vehicle and battery plants, plus sector-focused educational opportunities. To support the regions industrial progress, this years SOUTHTEC programming concentrates on workforce development solutions and the SMART manufacturing approach, plus highlights Manufacturing USAs impactful innovators. Additional details to be announced in September.

Events like SOUTHTEC help to advance the manufacturing industry because they invite small- and medium-sized manufacturers to openly discuss their most pressing challenges, adding their voice to the broader dialogue around advanced technologies to increase the efficiency of traditional processes, said Robert Bob Willig, executive director and CEO of SME. Scaling these solutions to make them viable for all manufacturers - beyond just the large companies making big investments - is a driving force for advancement in our industry, since the majority of U.S. companies are those with fewer than 500 employees.

Media registration for SOUTHTEC 2023 is open now at this link.

About AMT

AMT  The Association For Manufacturing Technology represents and promotes U.S.- based manufacturing technology  those who design, build, sell and service the continuously evolving technology that lies at the heart of manufacturing. Learn more at amtonline.org.

About SME

Established in 1932 as a nonprofit organization headquartered in Southfield, Michigan, SME leads the ecosystem by elevating manufacturers, academia, professionals, and the communities in which they operate. We accelerate new technology adoption and inspire and build North Americas talent and capabilities. We believe in technology's power and humanity's innovation to advance our society and meet many national challenges. We design new ways to understand and solve problems, and our solutions advance the next wave of innovation and growth. Learn more at sme.org.

High-resolution images of Bob Willig, SOUTHTEC events are available from SME.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230818613393/en/

Whitney Bowers

Communications Manager, SME

[email protected]

Tel. +1 313.425.3186

Source: SME
KEARNEY, Neb.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Buckle, Inc. (NYSE: BKE) announced today that net income for the fiscal quarter ended July 29, 2023 was $45.6 million, or $0.92 per share ($0.92 per share on a diluted basis).

Net sales for the 13-week fiscal quarter ended July 29, 2023 decreased 3.2 percent to $292.4 million from net sales of $302.0 million for the prior year 13-week fiscal quarter ended July 30, 2022. Comparable store net sales for the 13-week period ended July 29, 2023 decreased 3.3 percent from comparable store net sales for the prior year 13-week period ended July 30, 2022. Online sales decreased 5.6 percent to $43.6 million for the 13-week period ended July 29, 2023, compared to net sales of $46.2 million for the 13-week period ended July 30, 2022.

Net sales for the 26-week fiscal period ended July 29, 2023 decreased 5.9 percent to $575.3 million from net sales of $611.0 million for the prior year 26-week fiscal period ended July 30, 2022. Comparable store net sales for the 26-week period ended July 29, 2023 decreased 6.3 percent from comparable store net sales for the prior year 26-week period ended July 30, 2022. Online sales decreased 5.6 percent to $94.9 million for the 26-week period ended July 29, 2023, compared to net sales of $100.6 million for the 26-week period ended July 30, 2022.

Net income for the second quarter of fiscal 2023 was $45.6 million, or $0.92 per share ($0.92 per share on a diluted basis), compared with net income of $50.1 million, or $1.02 per share ($1.01 per share on a diluted basis) for the second quarter of fiscal 2022.

Net income for the 26-week fiscal period ended July 29, 2023 was $88.6 million, or $1.79 per share ($1.78 per share on a diluted basis), compared with net income of $105.4 million, or $2.14 per share ($2.13 per share on a diluted basis) for the 26-week period ended July 30, 2022.

Management will hold a live audio webcast at 10:00 a.m. EDT today to discuss results for the quarter. To register for the live event, please visit https://buckle.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_YFkU-QZnRgqRIIMBN2YIOg. A replay of the event can be accessed through Buckles investor relations website within twenty-four hours after the conclusion of the live event (https://corporate.buckle.com/investors/earnings-webcasts).

About Buckle

Buckle is a specialty retailer focused on delivering exceptional service and style through unforgettable experiences. Offering a curated mix of high-quality, on-trend apparel, accessories, and footwear, Buckle is for those living the styled life. Known as a denim destination, each store carries a wide selection of fits, styles, and finishes from leading denim brands, including the Companys exclusive brand, BKE. Headquartered in Kearney, Nebraska, Buckle currently operates 442 retail stores in 42 states. As of the end of the fiscal quarter, it operated 440 stores in 42 states compared with 441 stores in 42 states at the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2022.

SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995: All forward-looking statements made by the Company involve material risks and uncertainties and are subject to change based on factors which may be beyond the Companys control. Accordingly, the Companys future performance and financial results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in any such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, those described in the Companys filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company does not undertake to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements even if experience or future changes make it clear that any projected results expressed or implied therein will not be realized.

Note: News releases and other information on The Buckle, Inc. can be accessed at www.buckle.com.

Financial Tables to Follow

THE BUCKLE, INC. CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME (Amounts in Thousands Except Per Share Amounts) (Unaudited) Thirteen Weeks Ended Twenty-Six Weeks Ended July 29,

2023 July 30,

2022 July 29,

2023 July 30,

2022 SALES, Net of returns and allowances $ 292,428 $ 301,976 $ 575,262 $ 611,040 COST OF SALES (Including buying, distribution, and occupancy costs) 154,016 156,607 303,593 313,511 Gross profit 138,412 145,369 271,669 297,529 OPERATING EXPENSES: Selling 68,737 67,982 134,839 135,228 General and administrative 12,914 11,674 26,339 23,529 81,651 79,656 161,178 158,757 INCOME FROM OPERATIONS 56,761 65,713 110,491 138,772 OTHER INCOME, Net 3,693 703 6,832 828 INCOME BEFORE INCOME TAXES 60,454 66,416 117,323 139,600 INCOME TAX EXPENSE 14,814 16,272 28,747 34,202 NET INCOME $ 45,640 $ 50,144 $ 88,576 $ 105,398 EARNINGS PER SHARE: Basic $ 0.92 $ 1.02 $ 1.79 $ 2.14 Diluted $ 0.92 $ 1.01 $ 1.78 $ 2.13 Basic weighted average shares 49,513 49,214 49,513 49,214 Diluted weighted average shares 49,875 49,535 49,868 49,531

THE BUCKLE, INC. CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Amounts in Thousands Except Share and Per Share Amounts) (Unaudited) ASSETS July 29,

2023 January 28,

2023 (1) July 30,

2022 CURRENT ASSETS: Cash and cash equivalents $ 275,583 $ 252,077 $ 266,731 Short-term investments 23,714 20,997 17,387 Receivables 9,675 12,648 13,015 Inventory 136,074 125,134 128,498 Prepaid expenses and other assets 10,181 12,480 9,445 Total current assets 455,227 423,336 435,076 PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT 475,997 466,321 460,362 Less accumulated depreciation and amortization (356,737 ) (353,919 ) (353,929 ) 119,260 112,402 106,433 OPERATING LEASE RIGHT-OF-USE ASSETS 251,978 271,421 234,634 LONG-TERM INVESTMENTS 23,616 20,624 20,640 OTHER ASSETS 11,466 9,796 12,281 Total assets $ 861,547 $ 837,579 $ 809,064 LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS EQUITY CURRENT LIABILITIES: Accounts payable $ 54,261 $ 44,835 $ 63,036 Accrued employee compensation 22,357 55,490 29,509 Accrued store operating expenses 26,533 19,754 30,497 Gift certificates redeemable 12,960 16,777 12,411 Current portion of operating lease liabilities 80,664 89,187 80,827 Total current liabilities 196,775 226,043 216,280 DEFERRED COMPENSATION 23,616 20,624 20,163 NON-CURRENT OPERATING LEASE LIABILITIES 204,620 214,598 183,643 Total liabilities 425,011 461,265 420,086 COMMITMENTS STOCKHOLDERS EQUITY: Common stock, authorized 100,000,000 shares of $.01 par value; issued and outstanding; 50,445,926 shares at July 29, 2023, 50,092,616 shares at January 28, 2023, and 50,094,751 shares at July 30, 2022 504 501 501 Additional paid-in capital 185,921 178,964 173,046 Retained earnings 250,111 196,849 215,431 Total stockholders equity 436,536 376,314 388,978 Total liabilities and stockholders equity $ 861,547 $ 837,579 $ 809,064 (1) Derived from audited financial statements.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230818256095/en/

Thomas B. Heacock, Chief Financial Officer

The Buckle, Inc.

(308) 236-8491

Source: The Buckle, Inc.
A villager arranges the bed after returning home in Shaoqidi Village of Huanghuadian Township, Wuqing District, north China's Tianjin, Aug. 17, 2023. A total of 15,011 people, the last batch of those who were previously relocated from areas prone to flooding by the Yongding River, returned to their homes in 14 villages of Wuqing on Thursday. At present, the power, water, and gas supply have been restored in the villages, and the assessment and reconstruction of damaged facilities are underway in the local areas. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue)

Workers of State Grid Tianjin Electric Power Wuqing Company conduct equipment maintenance work in Shaoqidi Village of Huanghuadian Township, Wuqing District, north China's Tianjin, Aug. 17, 2023. A total of 15,011 people, the last batch of those who were previously relocated from areas prone to flooding by the Yongding River, returned to their homes in 14 villages of Wuqing on Thursday. At present, the power, water, and gas supply have been restored in the villages, and the assessment and reconstruction of damaged facilities are underway in the local areas. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue)

Villagers return home in Shaoqidi Village of Huanghuadian Township, Wuqing District, north China's Tianjin, Aug. 17, 2023. A total of 15,011 people, the last batch of those who were previously relocated from areas prone to flooding by the Yongding River, returned to their homes in 14 villages of Wuqing on Thursday. At present, the power, water, and gas supply have been restored in the villages, and the assessment and reconstruction of damaged facilities are underway in the local areas. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue)

A villager airs the bedding after returning home in Shaoqidi Village of Huanghuadian Township, Wuqing District, north China's Tianjin, Aug. 17, 2023. A total of 15,011 people, the last batch of those who were previously relocated from areas prone to flooding by the Yongding River, returned to their homes in 14 villages of Wuqing on Thursday. At present, the power, water, and gas supply have been restored in the villages, and the assessment and reconstruction of damaged facilities are underway in the local areas. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue)

Villagers return to Shaoqidi Village of Huanghuadian Township, Wuqing District, north China's Tianjin, Aug. 17, 2023. A total of 15,011 people, the last batch of those who were previously relocated from areas prone to flooding by the Yongding River, returned to their homes in 14 villages of Wuqing on Thursday. At present, the power, water, and gas supply have been restored in the villages, and the assessment and reconstruction of damaged facilities are underway in the local areas. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue)

A worker of a paper products company transfers materials and prepares for production in Shaoqidi Village of Huanghuadian Township, Wuqing District, north China's Tianjin, Aug. 17, 2023. A total of 15,011 people, the last batch of those who were previously relocated from areas prone to flooding by the Yongding River, returned to their homes in 14 villages of Wuqing on Thursday. At present, the power, water, and gas supply have been restored in the villages, and the assessment and reconstruction of damaged facilities are underway in the local areas. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue)

A worker carries out disinfection operations in Shaoqidi Village of Huanghuadian Township, Wuqing District, north China's Tianjin, Aug. 17, 2023. A total of 15,011 people, the last batch of those who were previously relocated from areas prone to flooding by the Yongding River, returned to their homes in 14 villages of Wuqing on Thursday. At present, the power, water, and gas supply have been restored in the villages, and the assessment and reconstruction of damaged facilities are underway in the local areas. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue)

Villagers return home in Shaoqidi Village of Huanghuadian Township, Wuqing District, north China's Tianjin, Aug. 17, 2023. A total of 15,011 people, the last batch of those who were previously relocated from areas prone to flooding by the Yongding River, returned to their homes in 14 villages of Wuqing on Thursday. At present, the power, water, and gas supply have been restored in the villages, and the assessment and reconstruction of damaged facilities are underway in the local areas. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue)

Editor: WJH
PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Regulatory News:

In accordance with Article 5 of EU Regulation n 596/2014 (Market Abuse Regulation), detailed information is available on the website of Tikehau Capital (Paris: TKO): https://www.tikehaucapital.com/fr/shareholders/regulatory-information

Name of the issuer Issuer Identity Code (LEI) Trading Day ISIN Aggregated volume

per day (number

of shares) Weighted average

price per day Market

(MIC Code) TIKEHAU CAPITAL 969500BY8TEU16U3SJ94 11/08/2023 FR0013230612 2,000 22.3200 XPAR TIKEHAU CAPITAL 969500BY8TEU16U3SJ94 14/08/2023 FR0013230612 1,409 22.2265 XPAR TIKEHAU CAPITAL 969500BY8TEU16U3SJ94 15/08/2023 FR0013230612 1,790 22.1454 XPAR TIKEHAU CAPITAL 969500BY8TEU16U3SJ94 16/08/2023 FR0013230612 443 22.0695 XPAR TIKEHAU CAPITAL 969500BY8TEU16U3SJ94 17/08/2023 FR0013230612 997 21.9580 XPAR TOTAL 6,639 22.1820

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230818096661/en/

Tikehau Capital

Source: Tikehau Capital
NEW YORK & MUMBAI, India--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- WNS (Holdings) Limited (the Company) (NYSE: WNS), a leading provider of global business process management (BPM) solutions, today announced that the annual general meeting of its shareholders (the AGM) will be held on Thursday, September 21, 2023, beginning at 11:00 am British Summer Time at 22 Grenville Street, St Helier, Jersey JE4 8PX, Channel Islands.

A Shareholder entitled to attend and vote at the AGM is entitled to appoint a proxy or proxies to attend the AGM and to vote on their behalf. A form of proxy should be completed in accordance with the instructions printed thereon.

The Company's annual report on Form 20-F for the financial year ended March 31, 2023 (the Annual Report), containing its annual consolidated financial statements for the financial year ended March 31, 2023 and the auditors report thereon, was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 16, 2023. The Company distributed the notice of annual general meeting, proxy statement and form of proxy on or about August 18, 2023.

The Annual Report, notice of the annual general meeting, proxy statement, form of proxy and ADR voting card are available on the investor relations page of the Company's corporate website, www.wns.com. Shareholders may also obtain a copy of the Annual Report, notice of the annual general meeting, proxy statement, form of proxy and ADR voting card, free of charge, by sending a written request to the Company Secretary, Mourant Secretaries (Jersey) Limited, of 22 Grenville Street, St Helier, Jersey JE4 8PX, Channel Islands at [email protected] (attention: Michael Lynam, telephone: +44 1534 676 000) or General Counsel [email protected] (attention: Gopi Krishnan).

About WNS

WNS (Holdings) Limited (NYSE: WNS) is a leading Business Process Management (BPM) company. WNS combines deep industry knowledge with technology, analytics, and process expertise to co-create innovative, digitally led transformational solutions with over 400 clients across various industries. WNS delivers an entire spectrum of BPM solutions including industry-specific offerings, customer experience services, finance and accounting, human resources, procurement, and research and analytics to re-imagine the digital future of businesses. As of June 30, 2023, WNS had 59,871 professionals across 66 delivery centers worldwide including facilities in Canada, China, Costa Rica, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Poland, Romania, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

For more information, visit www.wns.com or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230816933751/en/

Investors Contact:

David Mackey

EVP  Finance & Head of Investor Relations

[email protected]

Source: WNS (Holdings) Limited
Arconic Corporation (Arconic or the Company) and Apollo (NYSE: APO) today announced that Apollo Funds have completed the previously announced acquisition of the Company, which includes a minority investment from funds managed by affiliates of Irenic Capital Management (Irenic). The Company will continue to operate under the Arconic name and brand.

Tim Myers, Arconic Chief Executive Officer, said, The closing of this transaction with Apollo Funds brings new perspective combined with deep industry expertise that will benefit our customers, employees, investors, and the communities where we operate. With them by our side, we will build on our position as a leading supplier of aluminum products and architectural solutions which provide sustainable value to our customers in the industries we serve.

Apollo Partners Gareth Turner and Itai Wallach said, We are pleased to complete this acquisition and look forward to leveraging our extensive experience in the aluminum fabrication sector to support the entire Arconic team as a portfolio company of Apollo Funds. We believe Arconics world-class manufacturing capabilities, metallurgical expertise and talented team position it for continued momentum and success in this next chapter of the Companys evolution.

Transaction Details

Pursuant to the terms of the transaction, affiliates of the Apollo Funds and Irenic, as well as co-investors, acquired all of the outstanding shares of Arconic stock. Shareholders are entitled to receive $30.00 per share in cash for each share of Arconic (ARNC) common stock owned. As a result of the transaction completion, Arconics common stock no longer trades on the New York Stock Exchange.

Advisors

Evercore Group L.L.C. and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC served as financial advisors to Arconic, and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz served as legal counsel to Arconic.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC acted as co-lead financial advisors to Apollo. BMO Capital Markets, Mizuho Securities USA LLC and TD Securities also served as financial advisors to Apollo.

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP served as legal counsel to the Apollo Funds.

Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and Lowenstein Sandler LLP served as legal counsel to Irenic.
FILE PHOTO: Homes damaged by fire are seen in Lahaina on the island of Maui in Hawaii, U.S., August 14, 2023. REUTERS/Jorge Garcia

By Arunima Kumar and Arshreet Singh

(Reuters) -Hawaiian Electric Industries shares rose more than 10% on Friday, recovering some of their recent sharp losses after the utility said it is not looking to restructure but that it is seeking expert advice amid questions over its role in the Maui wildfires.

The company did not clearly outline the purpose for which it was seeking expert advice.

"Like any company in this situation would do, and as we do in the normal course of business, we are seeking advice from various experts," it said in a filing. Hawaiian Electric did not respond to a request for more details.

The utility's stock remains down about 60% for the week and has lost more than half of its value since the Aug. 8 wildfires that destroyed the coastal Maui town of Lahaina and killed at least 110 people.

The cause of the fires has not yet been determined, but the Honolulu-based company, Hawaii's largest utility, has been blamed for them in class-action lawsuits. These claim the utility failed to shut off power lines despite warnings that high winds might blow those lines down and spark wildfires.

Also, ratings agency Moody's Investors Service earlier Friday downgraded the utility's credit rating to junk status, the second such cut this week after S&P Global Ratings, as investors worried over any potential wildfire-related financial and legal challenges.

The company said in its filing that shutting off power was not part of its high-wind management protocol.

"Preemptive, short-notice power shutoffs have to be coordinated with first responders, and in Lahaina, electricity powers some of the pumps that provide the water needed for firefighting," it said.

Wells Fargo analyst Jonathan Reeder said most North American utilities do not have a formal Public Safety Power Shutoff program which outlines if and when such a drastic measure should be taken.

"Shutting off power is not an easy decision for a utility to make as there are widespread ramifications to safety when doing so," he said.

Analysts have said Hawaiian's situation is reminiscent of that of PG&E Corp and wildfires in California. PG&E filed for bankruptcy protection in 2019, and subsequently restructured, citing potential liabilities exceeding $30 billion stemming from California wildfires that were blamed on its equipment.

Hawaiian Electric said in the filing that unlike in California, there was no precedent in Hawaii of applying an "inverse condemnation" to a private party like an investor-owned utility.

An "inverse condemnation" exposes California utilities to liabilities from wildfires regardless of their negligence, as long as their equipment is involved.

As of Thursday, about 1,900 customers in West Maui remained without electricity, Hawaiian said. It did not include around 2,600 homes and businesses that were destroyed, which represent less than 1% of its customers.

(Reporting by Arshreet Singh, Arunima Kumar and Shreyashi Sanyal in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch in New York; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Josie Kao)
LOS ANGELES, CA, Aug. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cryptocurrency enthusiasts and investors have turned their attention to the burgeoning world of meme coins, where quirky ideas often lead to significant financial gains. Among these emerging players, the iconic frog-themed $PEPE coin recently drew the spotlight as a significant investment of $1 million has been injected into it by a notable investor, raising speculations of a potential 110% surge in its valuation. However, as $PEPE garners attention, a distinctive new contender has surfaced on the scene  enter $BLUBLU, a meme coin that intertwines playful humor with practical applications.

$BLUBLU: Marrying Playfulness with Utility

In contrast to the frenzy surrounding numerous meme coins, $BLUBLU stands out by offering more than mere speculative value. Blending the charm of the Crazy Frog meme with tangible, functional products, $BLUBLU has introduced a series of innovative offerings:

BluTooth (Now Live): A practical solution for seamless file sharing, likened to the renowned WeTransfer Pro service but rebranded as BluTooth. This feature includes unlimited downloads for all users. Furthermore, premium users can access this unlimited feature for a single payment of $50 in $BLUBLU tokens. For more information, visit the BluTooth platform here.

BluTube (Now Live): Delivering an ad-free YouTube experience by directly sourcing content from YouTube, $BLUBLU's BluTube platform eliminates disruptive advertisements. As it progresses, a nominal one-time fee of $50 in $BLUBLU tokens will provide continuous ad-free usage. Explore the ad-free world of BluTube here.

BluBot (Launching Soon): With the imminent debut of BluBot, $BLUBLU enthusiasts are abuzz with anticipation. This specialized iteration of UniBot holds promises of becoming a significant advancement in the realm of cryptocurrencies. Developed meticulously by the $BLUBLU Team, BluBot is poised to join the expanding BluBlu ecosystem later this week.

BluNance (On the Horizon): A decentralized exchange integrated within the $BLUBLU ecosystem, BluNance is set to revolutionize crypto trading. As partnerships solidify, users can anticipate an unparalleled trading experience that aligns with the overarching $BLUBLU vision.

$BLUBLU Presale!

Amidst the myriad meme coins vying for attention, $BLUBLU shines as a beacon of innovation and practicality. For those interested in joining this exciting venture, the $BLUBLU presale is currently live, offering tokens at an introductory price of $0.000008 each. Act swiftly, as the price is slated to increase to $0.000016 upon launch.

Connect with the Team on Social Media-

Website- https://blublu.world/Twitter- https://twitter.com/BluBlu_ETHTelegram- https://t.me/theblubluportal

Media Contact:

BluBlu WorldContact: Zombi MaycAddress: Los Angeles, CA 90015Email: [email protected]

PEPEContact: Matt FurieEmail: [email protected] Website: https://www.pepe.vip

Disclaimer:

The information provided in this release is not investment advice, financial advice, or trading advice. It is recommended that you practice due diligence (including consultation with a professional financial advisor) before investing or trading securities and cryptocurrency.

Zombi Mayc Team at BluBlu.World

Source: $BLUBLU
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aequus Pharmaceuticals Inc. (TSX-V: AQS, OTCQB: AQSZF), ) (Aequus or the Company), a specialty pharmaceutical company announces the pause of sales of its Evolve Intensive eyedrop and Intensive gel products in Canada.

The manufacturer, Medicom Healthcare (UK), is in the process of changing its MDSAP provider. The switch was necessitated by the existing Notified Body being unable to offer all relevant global certifications. Until this process is completed, Aequus Pharmaceuticals will pause sales of the class leading Evolve range of products in the Canadian market. We look forward to Evolve returning to patients in Canada as soon as MDSAP Certification is issued.

Aequus and Medicom Healthcare assure valued customers and eyecare professionals that the Evolve Intensive eyedrops and gel will return to the Canadian market soon. The Company remains steadfast in its commitment to delivering innovative solutions that enhance the well-being of patients across Canada.

For more information, please visit www.aequuspharma.ca

About Aequus Pharmaceuticals

Aequus Pharmaceuticals Inc. (TSX-V: AQS, OTCQB: AQSZF) is a growing specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing high quality, differentiated products. Aequus, founded in 2015, has successfully grown multiple products and brands in strategic therapeutic areas including Ophthalmology, Optometry, Transplant and Rare Disease. Aequus plans to build on its Canadian commercial platform through the application of sales, marketing and expert knowledge of the Canadian marketplace utilizing internal development, acquisition, or licenses with preferred strategic partners. For further information, please visit www.aequuspharma.ca.

Forward-Looking Statements:

This release may contain forward-looking statements or forward-looking information under applicable Canadian securities legislation that may not be based on historical fact, including, without limitation, statements containing the words believe, may, plan, will, estimate, continue, anticipate, intend, expect, potential and similar expressions. Forward- looking statements are necessarily based on estimates and assumptions made by us in light of our experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as the factors we believe are appropriate. Forward-looking statements include but are not limited to statements relating to: the implementation of our business model and strategic plans; revenue growth trends into the future; expected timing for product launches; the Companys expected revenues; the regulatory approval of its products; the Companys ability to attract international partners; and ongoing discussions with and the Companys ability to secure potential partners to further grow our product portfolio. Such statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties and are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by Aequus, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors could cause our actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In making the forward looking statements included in this release, the Company has made various material assumptions, including, but not limited to: obtaining regulatory approvals; general business and economic conditions; the Companys ability to successfully out license or sell its current products and in-license and develop new products; the assumption that the Companys current good relationships with third parties will be maintained; the availability of financing on reasonable terms; the Companys ability to attract and retain skilled staff; market competition; the products and technology offered by the Companys competitors; the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) on the Companys operations; and the Companys ability to protect patents and proprietary rights. In evaluating forward looking statements, current and prospective shareholders should specifically consider various factors set out herein and under the heading Risk Factors in the Companys Annual Information Form dated May 1, 2023, a copy of which is available on Aequus profile on the SEDAR website at www sedarplus.ca, and as otherwise disclosed from time to time on Aequus SEDAR profile. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties, or a risk that is not currently known to us materialize, or should assumptions underlying those forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this release and we do not intend, and do not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable securities laws. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are inherently uncertain. Accordingly, investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward looking statements.

Contact Information:

Aequus Investor RelationsEmail: [email protected]Phone: 604-336-7906

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX-V) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Source: Aequus Pharmaceuticals
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Blender Bites Ltd. (the Company, Blender Bites or Blender), (CSE: BITE, FWB: JL4, WKN: A3DMEJ), a multi award-winning Canadian company involved in the development and marketing of a line of premium, frozen functional beverages, is thrilled to announce its US subsidiary, Blender Bites US Ltd., is launching at Walmart USA (Walmart), with product now ready to ship to approximately 1,600 Walmart locations across the U.S. This collaboration marks a significant milestone for the Company, catapulting the Blender Bites brand and placing it firmly on the map as a strong player in the frozen beverage category.

Blender Bites 1-Step Smoothies are a frozen innovation made to simplify the smoothie process, and are made with organic fruits, greens and functional ingredients such as probiotics and immune supporting vitamins and minerals. They are certified organic, gluten free, dairy free, soy free and contain no added sugars. Blender Bites 1-Step Frappes are a healthier take on the traditional Frappuccino and contain 50% less sugar, calories and carbohydrates. They are also dairy free, gluten free, and contain functional ingredients such as adaptogenic mushrooms and collagen. Both items can be made with the use of a blender or a shaker cup offering customers a convenient option to enjoy at home or on the go.

Walmart will carry three of Blender Bites 1-Step Smoothie SKUs including top sellers Liquid Sunshine with a good source of mood boosting Vitamin D, Daily Defen-C with immune supporting probiotics, and Power Berry with 7 organic greens and a good source of energizing B vitamins. Walmart has also listed two of the Companys 1-Step Frappes including Mindful Mocha with cognitive supporting lions mane mushroom and Caramel Collagen with skin, hair and joint supporting collagen.

With this launch, Blender Bites has transitioned from a thriving Canadian startup to a prominent household brand across North America. The Companys unwavering commitment to quality, innovation, and consumer satisfaction has been instrumental in launching at Walmart. As a female-founded and led company, Blender Bites takes pride in collaborating with Walmart.

Julianne Hough, the esteemed celebrity advocate for Blender Bites, has been instrumental in creating a seamless marketing push that perfectly aligns with this launch. The Company has been working with Walmart USA over the past 18 months to ensure that every aspect of the business is meticulously prepared for this major launch.

We are thrilled to bring Blender Bites to Walmarts vast network of stores across the U.S., says Chelsie Hodge, Blender Bites CEO and Founder. Walmart has shown incredible support of a diversity founded brand and has shown true collaboration over the past 18 months. This opportunity is by far the most significant in our Companys history, and it represents a transformative step towards our goal of becoming a household name in the frozen food and beverage category.

The Blender Bites team has spared no effort in scaling every aspect of the business to ensure a smooth and successful launch in collaboration with Walmart USA. Customers can expect to find Blender Bites products on Walmart shelves in the US starting from August 21st, 2023, as well as on walmart.com.

ABOUT BLENDER BITES

Blender Bites is a multi award-winning Canadian company involved in the development and marketing of a line of premium, frozen functional food and beverages. Blender Bites products are made with organic ingredients, non-GMO, gluten free, dairy free and soy free. Blender Bites was founded in 2016 and first launched to market in Western Canada in 2017 with a pre-portioned 1-Step Smoothie product that is free of any unnecessary inner plastic packaging. Blender Bites products are now distributed internationally across Canada and the US, and are currently sold in over 1000 stores, including Walmart, Sobeys, Loblaws, Safeway, Save on Foods, Real Canadian Superstore, Whole Foods Market, Buy-Low/Nesters, IGA, and Thriftys.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Blender Bites Limited

Chelsie Hodge, Chief Executive OfficerEmail  [email protected]Telephone  236-521-0626

For further information, contact Blender IR Team at:

Email  [email protected]Telephone  1-888-997-2055Media Contact  [email protected]

CAUTIONARY DISCLAIMER STATEMENTThis news release includes certain forward-looking statements under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon several estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to general business, economic, competitive, political, and social uncertainties, and uncertain capital markets. Readers are cautioned that actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Source: Blender Bites Limited
WHITEHORSE, Yukon, Aug. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Chartered Professional Accountants of Yukon (CPAYT) and the CPA Western School of Business (CPAWSB) congratulate Kyle Blahy and Marie-Alexis Dangreau for passing the multi-day national Common Final Examination (CFE) written in May 2023. The exam was administered by CPAWSB.

We are very proud of Kyle and Marie-Alexis for their tremendous achievement, said Peter Woodruff, CPA, CA, chair of CPA Yukon. Succeeding in the CFE is the result of hard work and focus. Were pleased to have Marie-Alexis and Kyle help lead the future of the CPA profession and wish them all the best.

In order to become designated, students must complete rigorous course work, pass the CFE, and fulfill relevant practical experience requirements. The national CFE ensures all Canadian chartered professional accountants meet the same high standards, which are recognized nationally and internationally.

I am immensely pleased with the two diligent candidates from the Yukon who successfully navigated the 2023 May CFE, showcasing both technical aptitude and professional skills that will be valuable throughout their careers," affirmed Yuen Ip, MBA, CPA, CMA, PMP, CEO of the CPA Western School of Business. "On behalf of our entire team at the School, I extend heartfelt congratulations and wish these dedicated individuals a prosperous journey in their career advancement.

CPAWSB delivers the nationally-developed CPA professional education program in Canadas western region. Throughout the program, CPA candidates develop the competencies expected of professional accountants, developing technical skills and enabling competencies as they grow in professionalism and leadership.

About CPA YukonThe Chartered Professional Accountants of Yukon (CPAYT) is the governing, and regulatory body for over 200 members. The Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia (CPABC) is responsible for the regulating and professional development of CPAYT members, and the protection of the public through its ethical standards and discipline processes. CPAs are recognized internationally for bringing superior financial expertise, strategic thinking, business insight, and leadership to organizations.

Media Contact: Vince Kanasoot, Communications Specialist 236.668.2175 [email protected]

Source: Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia (CPABC) and the CPA Western School of Business (CPAWSB) congratulate the 295 B.C. CPA candidates who passed the multi-day national Common Final Examination (CFE) written in May 2023. The exam was administered by CPAWSB.

Justin Pouliot and Daniel Toonders both made the National Honour Roll for their outstanding results. Pouliot also attained the Regional Gold Medal for being the top CFE performer amongst the four western provinces.

Here is the full listing of successful B.C.-based CFE writers.

Completing and passing the CFE is a huge milestone for our B.C. candidates, and we congratulate all the CFE passers on their success, said Christopher Gimpel, CPA, CA, chair of CPABCs board of directors. We are very proud of the dedication and high standard of excellence demonstrated by our 295 successful candidates, in particular, Justin and Daniel for making the National Honour Roll.

In order to become designated, students must complete rigorous course work, pass the CFE, and fulfill relevant practical experience requirements. The national CFE ensures all Canadian CPAs meet the same high standards, which are recognized nationally and internationally.

I am immensely pleased with the 295 diligent candidates from B.C. who successfully navigated the 2023 May CFE, showcasing both technical aptitude and professional skills that will be valuable throughout their careers," affirmed Yuen Ip, MBA, CPA, CMA, PMP, CEO of the CPA Western School of Business. "On behalf of our entire team at the School, I extend heartfelt congratulations and wish these dedicated individuals a prosperous journey in their career advancement.

CPAWSB delivers the nationally-developed CPA professional education program in Canadas western region. Throughout the program, CPA candidates develop the competencies expected of professional accountants, developing technical skills and enabling competencies as they grow in professionalism and leadership.

About CPA British ColumbiaThe Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia (CPABC) is the training, governing, and regulatory body for over 39,000 CPA members and 6,000 CPA candidates and students. CPABC carries out its primary mission to protect the public by enforcing the highest professional and ethical standards and contributing to the advancement of public policy.

Media Contact: Vince Kanasoot, Communications Specialist 236.668.2175 [email protected]

Source: Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Newcore Gold Ltd. ("Newcore" or the "Company") (TSX-V: NCAU, OTCQX: NCAUF) announces the annual grant of equity incentive awards. Newcore has granted 1,540,000 stock options and 531,000 restricted share units (together the "Equity Incentive Awards") to employees, directors and executives of the Company. The stock options were granted at a price of $0.20 per share for a period of five years. The Equity Incentive Awards are subject to regulatory approval, are granted under the Companys long-term incentive plan and are subject to vesting provisions.

About Newcore Gold Ltd.

Newcore Gold is advancing its Enchi Gold Project located in Ghana, Africas largest gold producer (1). Newcore Gold offers investors a unique combination of top-tier leadership, who are aligned with shareholders through their 20% equity ownership, and prime district scale exploration opportunities. Enchis 216 km2 land package covers 40 kilometres of Ghanas prolific Bibiani Shear Zone, a gold belt which hosts several 5 million-ounce gold deposits, including the Chirano mine 50 kilometers to the north. Newcores vision is to build a responsive, creative and powerful gold enterprise that maximizes returns for shareholders.

(1) Source: Production volumes for 2022 as sourced from the World Gold Council

On Behalf of the Board of Directors of Newcore Gold Ltd.

Luke AlexanderPresident, CEO & Director

For further information, please contact:

Mal Karwowska | Vice President, Corporate Development and Investor Relations+1 604 484 4399[email protected] www.newcoregold.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Source: Newcore Gold Ltd.
Readers and book collectors visit the 2023 Shanghai Book Fair, which opened on Wednesday at the Shanghai Exhibition Center. [Photo by Gao Erqiang / chinadaily.com.cn]

The 2023 Shanghai Book Fair, which returned to the Shanghai Exhibition Center on Wednesday, is set to reach record attendance both online and offline.

Avid readers and collectors have come to the fair in throngs, which will last through Aug 22. Adding to the buzz are various livestreaming promotions, a new method to extend the event's reach developed during the pandemic years.

An annual event since 2004, the fair has become a celebration of literature, fostering a sense of community among publishers, authors and readers.

Over the past 19 years, the event has continued even during the COVID-19 pandemic. The past three editions have been mostly online, held along with a few offline events open to a restricted number of visitors.

This year's event, which featured a 40 percent annual increase in exhibition area, is set to regain its pre-pandemic attendance of more than 400,000 visitors.

Over 850 reading events, more than double that of the previous year, includes various activities curated to meet the needs of consumers and celebrate the unique allure of physical bookstores.

International Literary Week, for instance, will feature panel discussions on international publishing affairs. Titled "Community of Narratives", this event delves into broader storytelling realms.

Over 30 guests from home and abroad, including Australian writer Richard Flanagan, winner of the 2014 Booker Prize, and Angolan novelist Jose Eduardo Agualus, have been invited to share their stories.

The fair aims to elevate its brand influence through book sales and reading activities to create an immersive "city of books" and encourage widespread reading among the public.

7

1

Editor: JYZ
OTTAWA, Aug. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Canadian Red Cross is encouraging people who are impacted by fires in Northwest Territories to register with Red Cross online or by calling 1-800-863-6582 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. MT, seven days a week.

Registration with the Red Cross ensures people can be contacted while away from home and can be reached with information on Red Cross services and assistance that may become available. Registering also helps to understand needs and impacts of people during this challenging time.

The Red Cross continues to work closely with community leadership and all levels of government to help people impacted as quickly as possible and to provide humanitarian assistance for needs as they arise.

The Red Cross provides assistance upon request and is currently working in support of the City of Edmonton with emergency lodging for people arriving at the Expo Centre. Additionally, at the request of the Alberta Emergency Management Agency and local municipalities, the Canadian Red Cross is providing supplies including cots and blankets throughout Alberta.

Those wishing to help are encouraged to make a donation to the 2023 Northwest Territories Fires Appeal online at redcross.ca or by calling 1-800-418-1111.

Donations to the Canadian Red Cross will be used for immediate and ongoing relief, recovery and resilience efforts in response to the fires in Northwest Territories. Donations may also support communities assisting those impacted, as well as preparedness and risk reduction for future all-hazard disaster events within Northwest Territories and the region.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES@RedCrossCanada | facebook.com/CanadianRedCross | redcross.ca/blog Red Cross donor inquiries: [email protected] or 1-800-418-1111

About the Canadian Red Cross Here in Canada and overseas, the Red Cross stands ready to help people before, during and after a disaster. As a member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement  which is made up of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the International Committee of the Red Cross and 192 national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies  the Canadian Red Cross is dedicated to helping people and communities in Canada and around the world in times of need and supporting them in strengthening their resilience.

MEDIA CONTACTS:English Media: 1-877-599-9602French Media: 1-888-418-9111

Source: Canadian Red Cross / Croix-Rouge canadienne




PRESS RELEASE

Paris, 18 August 2023

Valeo announces the sale of its propulsion systems business

in Russia to NPK Avtopribor

As part of its decision to divest its production activities in Russia, Valeo announced today that it has signed an agreement with NPK Avtopribor for the sale of all of Valeo's production assets of its Powertrain Systems business in Russia. Completion of this transaction is subject to obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals. It will enable the 158 Russian employees in this business to keep their jobs. This sale will be carried out without any capital gain or loss. Valeo will also have a buyback option for 10 years, which can be activated from the 6th year.

Valeo's sales in Russia previously represented less than 1% of Group sales, and the related assets were depreciated in 2022 for a total amount of 43 million euros.

About Valeo

As a technology company and partner to all automakers and new mobility players, Valeo is innovating to make mobility cleaner, safer and smarter. Valeo enjoys technological and industrial leadership in electrification, driving assistance systems, reinvention of the interior experience and lighting everywhere. These four areas, vital to the transformation of mobility, are the Group's growth drivers.

Valeo in figures: 20 billion euros in sales in 2022 ; 109,900 employees at December 31, 2022 ; 29 countries, 183 plants, 21 research centers, 44 development centers, 18 distribution platforms.

Valeo is listed on the Paris Stock Exchange.

Media Relations

Dora Khosrof | +33 7 61 52 82 75

Caroline De Gezelle | + 33 7 62 44 17 85

[email protected]

Investor Relations

+33 1 40 55 37 93

[email protected]

Attachment
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - August 17, 2023) - Kuya Silver Corporation (CSE: KUYA) (OTCQB: KUYAF) (FSE: 6MR1) (the "Company" or "Kuya Silver") announces it intends to complete a non-brokered private placement of up to 2,777,777 units (each a "Unit") at CAD$0.27 per Unit for gross proceeds of up to CAD$750,000 (the "Offering"). Each Unit comprised of one (1) common share in the capital of the Company (each a "Common Share") and one-half of one (1/2) transferable Common Share purchase warrant (each a "Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles the holder to acquire one (1) Common Share at CAD$0.50 for two (2) years from the date of issuance. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Offering for general working capital purposes. All securities issued under the Offering, including securities issuable on exercise thereof, will be subject to a hold period expiring 4 months and 1 day after issuance, in accordance with the rules and policies of the Exchange and applicable Canadian securities laws, except for those issued to investors in foreign jurisdictions. In connection with the Offering, the Company may pay certain eligible finder's a fee equal to 6% of the gross proceeds from the Offering and issue Warrants, equal to 6% of the total number of Units sold.

About Kuya Silver Corporation

Kuya Silver is a Canadianbased mineral exploration and development company with a focus on acquiring, exploring, and advancing precious metals assets in Peru and Canada.

For more information, please contact:

David Stein, President and Chief Executive Officer

Telephone: (604) 3984493

[email protected]

www.kuyasilver.com

Reader Advisory

This news release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking information," including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs, and current expectations of the Company, its directors, or its officers with respect to the future business activities of the Company. The words "may," "would," "could," "will," "intend," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "must," "next," "propose," and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company or its management, are intended to identify such forward-looking information. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing statements, the proposed use of the proceeds of the Offering is forward-looking information. Investors are cautioned that statements including forward-looking information are not guarantees of future business activities and involve risks and uncertainties, and that the Company's future business activities may differ materially from those described in the forward-looking information as a result of various factors, including but not limited to fluctuations in market prices, successes of the operations of the Company, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market, and business conditions. There can be no assurances that such forward-looking information will prove accurate, and therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of the risks and uncertainties. The Company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking information except as required under the applicable securities laws.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES. ANY FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THIS RESTRICTION MAY CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF U.S. SECURITIES LAWS.



To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/177688
Seattle, Washington--(Newsfile Corp. - August 18, 2023) - The Law Office of Shira Stefanik, a criminal defense law practice based in downtown Seattle, has recently expanded its service area to include Redmond and the greater metropolitan area. Following this update, clients in Redmond and the surrounding communities in need of representation against DUI charges brought by the state of Washington can now benefit from Attorney Stefanik's extensive criminal trial experience.

For more information, please visit https://stefanikdefense.com.



Law Office of Shira J. Stefanik Announces DUI Criminal Defense in Redmond, WA.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8814/177442_8b554e57945708ec_001full.jpg

According to Ms. Stefanik, Washington State has some of the harshest DUI penalties in the country. Even first-time offenders face mandatory jail time, fees, drug/alcohol treatments, license suspension, and the required installation of a vehicle ignition interlock device.

She further stated that in a concerted effort to charge as many dangerous drivers as possible, corners may be cut or mistakes made when processing individuals.

In response, theLaw Office of Shira J. Stefanikoffers comprehensive legal representation for individuals in Redmond and the greater Seattle area who have been charged with a DUI-related crime.

They begin each case with a personal consultation, followed by extensive investigation into the facts around each charge. Legal services include navigating the Department of Licensing Hearing that determines whether or not a client's license is revoked pending the trial.

Furthermore, the they that their client load is small to allow for greater individual attention.

In addition to DUI, the law firm offers criminal defense representation for a number of practice areas, including domestic violence, drug offenses, asset forfeiture, and more.

ABOUT THE FIRM

Attorney Stefanik began her private practice in 2010. She is an active member of the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the national DUI Defense Lawyers Association. She has also attended the National Criminal Defense College.

"What sets me apart as a DUI attorney is my deep understanding of the legal intricacies involved in such cases. I stay updated with the latest DUI laws and regulations, ensuring that my clients receive the most effective defense," Ms. Stefanik said. "My track record speaks for itself, as I have successfully defended numerous clients against DUI charges, securing reduced penalties and even dismissals."

Interested parties can learn more about Ms. Stefanik and her practice by visiting https://stefanikdefense.com.

Contact Info:

Name: Shira Stefanik

Email: [email protected]

Phone:206-355-0064

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Address: 119 1st Ave S Suite 500, , Seattle, WA 98104, United States

Website: https://stefanikdefense.com/

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Deepak "Dee" Agarwal, experienced entrepreneur and long-time C-suite executive, shares valuable insights on the essential qualities that contribute to developing effective leaders.



Innovation lies at the heart of every successful business. The ability to think creatively, embrace change, and continuously improve is an advantage that sets thriving organizations apart from their competitors. In fact, when polled, about 60% of CEOs cited creativity as the most important leadership quality.

For well-known entrepreneur and C-suite executive, Deepak Dee Agarwal, fostering a culture of creativity and innovation is not just a goal but a way of life. With a wealth of experience in driving innovation within organizations, Dee Agarwal shares his valuable insights on cultivating a culture that encourages and harnesses innovation to propel businesses forward.

Creating an Open and Supportive Environment

According to Dee Agarwal, a culture of creativity starts with creating an open and supportive environment where ideas are encouraged and valued. He believes in empowering employees to think outside the box, stating, "Innovation thrives in an environment where employees feel comfortable expressing their ideas without fear of judgment. As leaders, we must listen attentively to every suggestion and provide constructive feedback to foster a culture of trust and openness."

An open culture encourages diverse perspectives, which often leads to breakthrough ideas that may have otherwise remained hidden. Its also important to emphasize the significance of actively seeking feedback from all levels of the organization. Often, it is the frontline employees who interact with customers and clients daily that can offer valuable insights for innovation.

Encouraging Experimentation and Risk-Taking

Innovation requires the willingness to experiment and take calculated risks. Deepak Agarwal believes in giving employees the freedom to test their ideas and learn from failures. "Innovation inherently involves risk," he asserts. "It's essential to create a safe space for employees to experiment and learn from both their successes and failures. Failure is not a setback but a stepping stone towards improvement."

By encouraging experimentation, leaders create a culture that rewards learning and growth, rather than punishing mistakes. This mindset encourages employees to push boundaries and explore uncharted territories, which in turn fosters a culture of continuous improvement and innovation.

Empowering Employees with Resources and Tools

For innovation to thrive, employees must be equipped with the necessary resources and tools. Dee Agarwal underscores the importance of providing the right support, stating, "Investing in training, professional development, and cutting-edge technologies empowers employees to unlock their creative potential."

Innovation is not a solitary effort; it requires collaboration and interdisciplinary expertise. By breaking down silos and encouraging teamwork across departments, employees can pool their strengths, ideas, and skills, leading to innovative solutions that address complex challenges.

Celebrating and Recognizing Innovators

Recognizing and celebrating contributions is crucial for reinforcing a culture of creativity. Dee Agarwal advocates for acknowledging the efforts of employees and teams, stating, "When we celebrate innovation and recognize the individuals behind groundbreaking ideas, it can motivate others to step up and contribute their unique insights."

Publicly acknowledging innovators fosters a sense of pride and ownership, encouraging others to follow suit. Dee Agarwal believes in creating platforms to showcase innovative projects and ideas, saying, "Hosting innovation showcases or internal events allows employees to share their work and learn from one another, further fueling the spirit of creativity."

Innovation and creativity thrive in an environment that embraces change and continuous improvement. According to Deepak Agarwal, leaders must lead by example, stating, "As leaders, we need to be adaptable and open to change. Embracing new ideas and practices sets the tone for the entire organization."

By bringing to life the practices discussed above, business leaders and employees at all levels can harness the power of innovation to propel their success. As Dee Agarwal says, "Innovation is not just a buzzword; it's the lifeline of a thriving business. When we invest in fostering a culture of creativity, we pave the way for groundbreaking ideas and transformative growth."



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VANCOUVER, BC and TORONTO , Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - BZAM Ltd. (the "Company" or "BZAM") (CSE: BZAM) (OTC: BZAMF), a leading Canadian cannabis producer, will release its Q2 2023 consolidated financial results on Thursday, August 24, 2023 , before market open.

About BZAM Ltd.

BZAM Ltd. (CSE: BZAM) (USOTC: BZAMF) is a leading Canadian cannabis producer with a focus on branded consumer goods, innovation, quality, consistency, integrity and transparency. The BZAM family includes core brands BZAM, TGOD, ness, Highly Dutch Organic, TABLE TOP, and partner brands Dunn Cannabis, FRESH and Wyld. BZAM operates facilities in BC, Alberta , Ontario and Quebec , as well as retail stores in Winnipeg, Manitoba , and Regina, Saskatchewan .

BZAM's Shares and certain warrants issued under the indentures dated June 12, 2020 , October 23, 2020 and December 10, 2020 currently trade on the CSE under the symbol "BZAM", "BZAM.WR", "BZAM.WA", and "BZAM.WB" respectively. BZAM's Shares trade in the U.S. on the OTCQX under the symbol "BZAMF". For more information on BZAM Ltd., please visit www.bzam.com .

Neither the CSE nor the CSE's Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of CSE) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

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SOURCE BZAM LTD.
iDE taking part in multiple sessions at the leading international conference on water issues

DENVER , Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Market-based programs designed to improve access to water, safely managed sanitation, and hygiene products should be underpinned by environmental sustainability, says Lizz Welch , CEO of international nonprofit iDE .

Speaking alongside partner organizations WRP , Sanergy , Max TapWater and Kohler , iDE will this week tell participants at World Water Week that market-based programs succeed when products and services offered to users are desirable, technically feasible, and economically and environmentally viable.

"In light of the climate crisis, it is important we include the planet as a key stakeholder when we design solutions to enduring challenges within the water sector," says Welch.

Welch said the market offered opportunities to create programs, which, for example, marketed latrines or produced water filtration systems , that powered people to thrive on their own terms, building livelihoods and lifting communities out of poverty.

"But because climate resilient products can be more expensive, the challenge is ensuring equity for low-income communities, which contribute the least to climate change but are often impacted by severe weather more frequently."

iDE is committed to being part of the solution to climate change, this year reaching carbon neutrality, purchasing offsets, known as carbon credits, for our emissions, which come from the use of electricity, and emissions made by iDE directly, from operating heaters, air conditioners, and vehicles, for example.

As well as the sustainable design session, to be co-hosted by iDE Global WASH senior manager, Elise Mann , on Monday, August 21 , iDE is taking part in a number of other sessions at the conference, which is being held in Stockholm, Sweden , from August 20 to 24 . These include:

August 20 : Improving Access to Sanitation through Market-based Solutions in Rural Nepal : Rabindra Karki from iDE Nepal will discuss recent insights uncovered in research about sanitation in remote mountain areas in Nepal and make recommendations about using market systems to improve access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).

: Improving Access to Sanitation through Market-based Solutions in : from iDE Nepal will discuss recent insights uncovered in research about sanitation in remote mountain areas in and make recommendations about using market systems to improve access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). August 20 : Driving Rural Water Innovation, Concept to Scale-up: Global WASH senior manager Elise Mann will take part in this session convening innovators seeking to accelerate rural water development.

: Driving Rural Water Innovation, Concept to Scale-up: Global WASH senior manager will take part in this session convening innovators seeking to accelerate rural water development. August 21 : Innovation for Water and Climate: Global WASH director Sarah Custer-Lalanne joins this session to talk about equity in the intersection between WASH and climate.

: Innovation for Water and Climate: Global WASH director joins this session to talk about equity in the intersection between WASH and climate. August 21 : Diverse Voices and Representations for Stronger Climate Resilient WASH Systems: iDE Cambodia WASH program manager Rana Abdel Sattar will discuss strengthening women's leadership to increase access to WASH.

This year, organizers say World Water Week is focused on innovation at a time of unprecedented challenges. Put on by Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), the conference is the leading international annual gathering on global water issues, held every year since 1991.

SIWI says the conference is a non-profit event, co-created with leading organizations. World Water Week attracts a diverse mix of participants from many professional backgrounds, and every corner of the world.

"Together we develop solutions to the world's greatest water-related challenges, with topics ranging from food security and health to agriculture, technology, biodiversity, and the climate crisis," says SIWI.

About iDE:

iDE (International Development Enterprises) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending poverty. Based in Denver, Colorado , our work within agriculture, sanitation, climate change resilience, and gender equality, stands out because we don't simply provide handouts. Instead, iDE believes in powering small-scale entrepreneurs and building robust market ecosystems that lay the groundwork for low income and marginalized people to prosper on their own terms. iDE has almost 1,400 global staff, and offices in 10 countries across Africa , Asia and Central America .

PR Contacts:

Simon Crittle

iDE

[email protected]

Kara Prior

myWHY Agency, Inc. for iDE

[email protected]

(210) 846-4486

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SOURCE iDE Global
Expanding EarthLink's Reach to Bring Business Customers Best-in-Class Products and Services

DALLAS and ATLANTA and ATHENS, Texas , Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Trive Capital ("Trive"), the Dallas, TX -based private equity firm announces that EarthLink, a leading internet service provider delivering access to more homes and small businesses than any other ISP and a Trive portfolio company, has acquired One Ring Networks, one of the largest Fixed Wireless providers of voice and data services in the United States .

EarthLink is a top U.S. internet provider delivering access to more homes and small businesses than any other ISP.

The acquisition will allow EarthLink to expand its business platform capabilities and portfolio of products and services including high-speed business internet. One Ring holds a significant market share across Arizona , California , Georgia , Maryland , and Texas , delivering high-speed, fixed wireless internet service and other communication services to businesses and consumers. The acquisition closed on June 30, 2023 . John Jenkins , President of One Ring Networks, will serve as the newly appointed President of EarthLink Business Services.

Glenn Goad , CEO of Earthlink, said, "We are excited to partner with One Ring and accelerate the rollout of EarthLink Business Services. This combination represents a compelling growth opportunity in the high-speed business internet market, and EarthLink and One Ring will utilize the key advances in Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) technology to better serve our customers."

"EarthLink and One Ring's strategy is to continue to expand the leading platform in the industry both organically and through future acquisitions across the U.S. to better serve the Company's large and growing customer base," said John Jenkins , President of EarthLink Business Services. "With our combined commitment to providing business and consumer customers with the best in communication services, we will continue to be one the largest, fastest-growing, and top-ranked service providers in the industry."

Shravan Thadani , Partner at Trive Capital, noted, "EarthLink and One Ring are highly complementary businesses and together will provide ultra-reliable, high-speed internet services to businesses and consumers nationwide. Significant advances in FWA technology support One Ring's offering and will enable EarthLink to take its Business Services capabilities to the next level for its customers."

About EarthLink

EarthLink is a top U.S. internet provider delivering access to more homes and small businesses than any other ISP. Founded in 1994 and headquartered in Atlanta, GA , EarthLink offers high-speed internet access, premium email, web hosting, and privacy and data security products and services to approximately 750,000 consumer and business customers throughout the United States . EarthLink also has key partner relationships with several of the nation's largest providers, enabling the Company to offer products and connectivity services available to millions of households nationwide.

About One Ring Networks

One Ring Networks is an industry-leading provider of voice and data services across Arizona , California , Georgia , Maryland , and Texas . It offers a variety of services including fixed wireless internet service and other communications services to businesses and consumers.

Founded in 2010, One Ring Networks has grown from a regional alternative access carrier to a large Tier 2 carrier with a national backbone. Headquartered in Athens, TX , One Ring's business communications services power local organizations with a host of voice and data solutions including fixed wireless, fiber internet, 4G LTE wireless and hosted PBX.

With personable local customer service and consistent innovation setting it apart from other carriers in the industry, One Ring Networks has since become the preferred fixed wireless internet carrier in the U.S.

About Trive Capital

Trive Capital is a Dallas, Texas based private equity firm with more than $4 billion of regulatory assets under management. Trive focuses on investing equity and debt in what it sees as strategically viable middle-market companies with the potential for transformational upside through operational improvement. We seek to maximize returns through a hands-on partnership that calls for identifying and implementing value creation ideas.

The Trive team is comprised of seasoned investment professionals who have been involved in over 100 middle-market transactions representing more than $6 billion in revenue across Trive's targeted industry sectors and situations.

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SOURCE Trive Capital
IRVINE, Calif. , Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) routinely uses multiple civil and criminal tax enforcement avenues to identify perpetually delinquent / fraudulent taxpayers and collect taxes it deems are owed & simultaneously create a deterrent to others though highly publicized criminal tax prosecutions. Typically, auditors and collection officers will notify the subjects of their audits / collection actions. On the other hand, IRS criminal tax investigators will complete their investigation as secretly as possible and then perform unannounced visits to preserve the element of surprise and will ask lots of questions they already know the answers too to hopefully document the taxpayer trying to lie their way out of trouble. Unfortunately, lying to a federal officer is an additional felony in and of itself.

Note: To get the most out of this article. Double Click on any hyperlinked text for additional on point & helpful information.

If you are the subject of an IRS audit that could be a clandestine criminal tax investigation, it is imperative that you hire legal representation as quickly as you can. The team at our law firm can help review your case and determine the appropriate course of action. Furthermore, we will fight to protect your rights and interests, net worth, and your very liberty. See my content on how to survive an audit where I cheated on the federal or state returns being audited HERE.

Seek help from our experienced Dual-Licensed Civil and Criminal Tax Defense Lawyers & CPAs by calling the Tax Law Offices of David W. Klasing at (800) 681-1295 or clicking HERE to schedule a reduced rate initial consultation.

Understanding the Enforcement Arms of the IRS

To alleviate anxieties related to unexpected IRS visits, it's essential to understand the different civil and criminal enforcement arms of the IRS. These include the Audit, Collection, and Criminal Investigation divisions of the IRS. Our Dual-Licensed Civil and Criminal Tax Defense Lawyers & CPAs can help deal with each of these enforcement arms and navigate the complexities of your specific case.

Audit

An IRS audit is a review conducted by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to examine and verify an individual's or business's tax return for accuracy and compliance with tax laws. During the audit, the IRS assesses the taxpayer's financial records, transactions, and deductions to ensure proper reporting and payment of taxes.

The IRS typically initiates contact with taxpayers under audit through advanced written notices delivered by mail. Contact is never initiated via email or phone, as these are likely scams.

The two most risky audits you could be faced with are an Eggshell or Reverse Eggshell audit. In and Eggshell audit the client committed criminal acts in evading their tax obligations that are at risk of being discovered by the IRS during the seemingly civil tax audit. A Reverse Eggshell Audit is a disguised IRS criminal tax investigation posing as a civil audit. An IRS technical fraud advisor or agent with the IRS criminal tax division can be pulling an auditor's strings attempting to develop evidence for a subsequent criminal tax prosecution without putting the taxpayer or their representative on notice.

Collection

Collection refers to the process the IRS employs to pursue unpaid taxes from taxpayers who have not fulfilled their tax obligations. It involves various enforcement actions, such as issuing notices, levying assets, and arranging payment plans, with the aim of recovering the owed taxes.

The IRS Collection arm also communicates via written notices when initiating collection actions unless exigent circumstances dictate otherwise.

Collections can become criminal in nature where a taxpayer has earned taxable income but has a history of failing to report that taxable income as earned. This can be prosecuted as misdemeanor or Felonies depending upon the facts and circumstances of each case. Actions taken by the taxpayer that illegally hinder the collection efforts of the IRS can also lead to criminal tax prosecution for evasion of payment.

Criminal Tax Investigation

Meanwhile, IRS Criminal Investigation agents often visit taxpayers unannounced to maintain an element of surprise, ensuring genuine responses and reducing the possibility of rehearsed answers. These agents are specially trained to investigate criminal violations of the tax code, including tax evasion, tax fraud, money laundering, public corruption, organized crime, identity theft, healthcare fraud, and corporate fraud.

Statistically, if the IRS Criminal Investigations targets you, you have a 90% chance of being criminally prosecuted and serving jail time. If the profession you are in has moral character requirements a conviction can end your career. Doctors, Lawyers, Engineers, Security Brokers, Insurance Agents, Real Estate Agents, to name a few have moral character requirements.

What to Do When You Are Contacted by the IRS

Being investigated for tax evasion or financial crimes can have severe consequences, including prosecution and incarceration. If faced with a visit from an IRS criminal investigator, it is crucial to verify their identity by checking their credentials, including inspecting a law enforcement badge and photo identification with an IRS.gov domain email address. You can also contact the IRS through a central phone number to confirm the agent's employment.

IRS Criminal Investigation Agents will inform you whether the investigation is administrative or a grand jury investigation. In the latter case, the stakes are higher, indicating the case has progressed further.

Identifying your role in the investigationwhether as the target, subject, or witnessis vital. If labeled as the target or subject, seeking legal representation is crucial to protect yourself from self-incrimination. Even if they claim that you are merely a witness, obtaining representation before speaking with them is crucial if you potentially have dirty hands in regard to the illegal activity that is being investigated.

Avoid contacting your accountant during the investigation, as communications are not privileged and may expose you to risk. If identified as a witness, cooperation may be necessary if served with a summons or subpoena. Your accountant has a conflict of interest with you if they were involved in the activity that is underlying the criminal tax investigation and may throw you under the bus to protect themselves. They are very likely to become government witness number one against you and therefore should be avoided at all costs.

Finally, you should not attempt to navigate an IRS criminal tax investigation without hiring legal representation. Understanding your rights and seeking legal advice, when necessary, can help you navigate potential challenges during a criminal tax investigation.

Examples of Tax Evasion that You Can Be Investigated for

Tax evasion refers to either the intentional fraudulent underreporting of tax due and owning (Evading Assessment) or taking illegal actions to avoid payment of legally assessed tax obligations (Evasion of Payment). The IRS is continuously improving its technology and data analytics and is beginning to employ Artificial Intelligence (AI) to detect and combat illegal tax behavior. If you engaged in any of the following forms of tax evasion, then you may be subject to a criminal tax investigation, audit, eggshell audit, or reverse eggshell audit:

Underreporting Income

Underreporting income is one of the most prevalent forms of tax evasion. Taxpayers intentionally fail to report some or all of their income to the IRS. They may do this by not reporting cash transactions, omitting income from side jobs or freelance work, or using undisclosed offshore financial accounts & income generating businesses or investments to hide U.S. taxable income. Unreported Cryptocurrency Income is also a huge exposure issue at present.

Overstating Deductions

Taxpayers may exaggerate deductions or claim patently false expenses to reduce their taxable income illegally. This can involve inflating expenses for business-related deductions, charitable contributions, or personal expenses not legitimately qualified for tax deductions and claiming false schedule C losses.

Offshore Tax Evasion

Using offshore accounts to hide income or assets is a sophisticated form of tax evasion. Taxpayers may create shell companies or accounts in tax havens to move money and evade income reporting requirements. Offshore entities make it challenging for tax authorities to trace funds, making it an attractive method for the wealthy to conceal wealth and taxable income.

Fictitious or Ghost Employees

In employment tax evasion schemes, business owners may invent fictitious employees or "ghost employees" and report their salaries on tax forms. These fake employees don't exist, but the business owner embezzles the reported salaries for personal use while avoiding payroll taxes on those funds. See other forms of employment tax crimes here.

Unreported Cash Transactions

Some individuals and businesses may deal primarily in cash to avoid leaving a paper trail. By keeping transactions unreported and off the books, they aim to evade taxes on unaccounted income. See audits of cash intensive businesses here.

Tax Shelter Abuses

Tax shelters are investment strategies that provide illegitimate / illegal tax benefits. However, in tax evasion cases, taxpayers misuse these shelters to shelter more income than allowed or to create artificial losses to offset legitimate taxable income. See content on the difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion here.

False or Altered Documents

Taxpayers may forge or alter documents, such as receipts, invoices, or financial statements, and utilize fictitious payees to support false deductions or claims on their tax returns.

Failure to File Tax Returns

Intentionally not filing tax returns is another form of tax evasion. Some individuals may ignore their tax obligations to evade paying taxes altogether.

What to Do If you Know for a Fact you have Criminal Tax Exposure and Wish to Come into Compliance Without Facing Criminal Tax Prosecution.

If you have failed to file a tax return for one or more years or have taken a position on a tax return that could not be supported upon an IRS or state tax authority audit , eggshell audit , reverse eggshell audit , or criminal tax investigation , it is in your best interest to contact an experienced tax defense attorney to determine your best route back into federal or state tax compliance without facing criminal prosecution.

Note: As long as a taxpayer that has willfully committed tax crimes (potentially including non-filed foreign information returns coupled with affirmative evasion of U.S. income tax on offshore income) self-reports the tax fraud (including a pattern of non-filed returns) through a domestic or offshore voluntary disclosure before the IRS has started an audit or criminal tax investigation / prosecution, the taxpayer can ordinarily be successfully brought back into tax compliance and receive a nearly guaranteed pass on criminal tax prosecution and simultaneously often receive a break on the civil penalties that would otherwise apply.

It is imperative that you hire an experienced and reputable criminal tax defense attorney to take you through the voluntary disclosure process. Only an Attorney has the Attorney Client Privilege and Work Product Privileges that will prevent the very professional that you hire from being potentially being forced to become a witness against you, especially where they prepared the returns that need to be amended, in a subsequent criminal tax audit, investigation or prosecution.

Moreover, only an Attorney can enter you into a voluntary disclosure without engaging in the unauthorized practice of law (a crime in itself). Only an Attorney trained in Criminal Tax Defense fully understands the risks and rewards involved in voluntary disclosures and how to protect you if you do not qualify for a voluntary disclosure.

As uniquely qualified and extensively experienced Criminal Tax Defense Tax Attorneys, Kovel CPAs and EAs, our firm provides a one stop shop to efficiently achieve the optimal and predictable results that simultaneously protect your liberty and your net worth. See our Testimonials to see what our clients have to say about us!

Call Our Dual-Licensed Civil and Criminal Tax Defense Lawyers & CPAs with Help with Your Tax Exposure Issues

Get assistance from our experienced Dual-Licensed Tax Lawyers & CPAs at the Tax Law Offices of David W. Klasing by dialing (800) 681-1295 or clicking HERE to book a reduced rate initial consultation.

Here is a link to our YouTube channel: click here!

Public Contact: Dave Klasing Esq . M.S.-Tax CPA, [email protected]

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SOURCE Tax Law Offices of David W. Klasing, PC
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal met with Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu in Bucharest.

"In terms of bilateral trade, Romania ranks third among European countries for Ukraine. In Bucharest, we discussed with Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu how we can develop trade potential that is beneficial for both our countries. Particular attention was paid to the development of the Danube ports and Black Sea trade routes. We hope that expert consultations and joint work will make it possible to abandon restrictive measures on the export of Ukrainian grain after September 15. This is important for our economy and global food security," Shmyhal wrote on his Telegram channel.

Also, according to the prime minister, Ukraine offered Romania to implement a pilot project of joint border and customs control at one of the border crossing points.

"We also invite Romanian companies to use Ukrainian underground gas storage facilities, the largest on the continent. We discussed the potential for cooperation in the commercial supply of electricity between our state-owned companies," Shmyhal wrote.
Continued growth, sustainability leadership and innovation recognized with Gold for Company of the Year - Transportation - Large and three Bronze awards.

TORONTO , Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Geotab Inc. ("Geotab"), a global leader in connected transportation solutions, was named the winner of four Stevie Awards in The 20th Annual International Business Awards, including the top award in the Company of the Year - Transportation - Large category and Bronze in two new sustainability categories introduced this year:

Gold Stevie Award for Company of the Year - Transportation - Large

Bronze Stevie Award for Most Innovative Tech Company of the Year - Up to 2,500 Employees

of the Year - Up to 2,500 Employees Bronze Stevie Award for Sustainability Leadership Award - in Canada and the U.S.A.

and the Bronze Stevie Award for Sustainability Product of the Year - in Canada and the U.S.A.

Geotab provides telematics solutions to over 47,000 customers in 150 countries, helping businesses make informed decisions based on data insights. A long-time partner to the transportation industry, companies around the world, including many Fortune 500 companies and government customers, rely on Geotab's expertise in data intelligence to help solve their challenges and optimize performance, safety and sustainability. Recent company milestones, including being named the number one commercial telematics vendor worldwide for the third time by ABI Research, surpassing 3.7 million subscriptions worldwide and being awarded a sole-source contract by the United States Department of the Air Force , highlight Geotab's growth and commitment to innovation.

As more companies set climate targets and begin reporting on their emissions and fleet sustainability, having access to quality data intelligence is essential. Geotab's sustainable fleet solutions help companies manage their fuel use and emissions, streamline EV adoption and measure their progress towards their sustainability goals. Geotab's Green Fleet Dashboard , Bronze Stevie Award winner in the Sustainability Product of the Year category, is a vital tool powered by data that provides a comprehensive tracking system for fuel, emissions and EV usage. In addition to helping customers accelerate their decarbonization, Geotab is also working to minimize the environmental footprint of its own operations and supply chain, releasing its 2022 Sustainability and Impact Report . Stevie Award Judges highlighted the company's "'360 degree' approach towards sustainability."

"Geotab is proud to be recognized with the Gold Stevie Award for Company of the Year - Transportation - Large for our exceptional growth and our work in supporting customers with unlocking optimal fleet performance with data insights and AI. As the transportation industry evolves, we will continue to develop innovative, data-driven solutions to enable business transformation, sustainability and safety," said Derek Luke , Chief Operating Officer.

The International Business Awards are the world's premier business awards program. All individuals and organizations worldwide  public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small - are eligible to submit nominations. The 2023 IBAs received entries from organizations in 61 nations and territories. More than 3,700 nominations were submitted this year.

Stevie Award winners were determined by the average scores of more than 230 executives worldwide who participated in the judging process in June and July.

"Nominations to the IBAs get better every year, and this year's class of Stevie winners is the most impressive yet," said Stevie Awards president Maggie Miller . "The winners have demonstrated that their organizations have set and achieved lofty goals. We congratulate them on their recognized achievements, and look forward to celebrating them on stage in Rome on 13 October."

Details about The International Business Awards and the lists of Stevie Award winners are available at www.StevieAwards.com/IBA .

About Geotab

Geotab is a global leader in connected transportation solutions. We provide telematics  vehicle and asset tracking  solutions to over 47,000 customers in 150 countries. For more than 20 years, we have invested in ground-breaking data research and innovation to enable partners and customers, including Fortune 500 and public sector organizations, to transform their fleets and operations. We connect to over 3.7 million vehicles and process more than 55 billion data points a day so that customers can make better decisions, increase productivity, have safer fleets, and achieve their sustainability goals. Geotab's open platform and Marketplace, offers hundreds of third-party solution options. Backed by a team of industry leading data scientists and AI experts, Geotab is unlocking the power of data to understand real-time and predictive analytics  solving for today's challenges and tomorrow's world. To learn more, visit www.geotab.com , follow @GEOTAB on Twitter and LinkedIn or visit the Geotab Blog.

About the Stevie Awards

Stevie Awards are conferred in eight programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, the Middle East & North Africa Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 12,000 nominations each year from organizations in more than 70 nations. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at www.StevieAwards.com .

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SOURCE Geotab Inc.
WEBSTER, Texas , Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Into Action Recovery Centers (IARC) announces its latest 37-bed Detox and Residential Treatment Center at 17300 Mercury Drive . Located adjacent to their existing 48-bed facility on El Camino Real, this emphasizes IARC's dedication to Houston's substance use disorders since 2010.

Marking IARC's 3rd expansion in 6 years, Shane Leonard , Co-Founder and CEO of IARC, stated, "This is the next step in building an all-inclusive behavioral healthcare company. Without question, our phenomenal staff and the "Client First Commitment" we have always had, and now with even more resources and capacity, I have no problem saying that there is no other company in the industry that can deliver like we do! And now that we have a high-end experience to offer, that is still the best value in the country, we like where we are and will continue to seek out opportunities to better serve our beloved clients."

The state-of-the-art facility exemplifies IARC's mission to provide optimal care and comfort. Their comprehensive professional services, coupled with being an In-Network provider, ensure access and affordability to extended treatment durations. This results in verifiably proven success for long term sobriety, including accurate diagnosis and effective after-care treatment of co-occurring disorders.

With 85 inpatient beds, a 75-capacity outpatient center, and 40 sober living beds, IARC strengthens its NASA/Clear Lake footprint. Their acquisition of the 950 Gemini Street location will offer Mental Health Services, Medication Management and TMS Therapy beginning in early 2024.

Prissy Leonard, Co-Founder and Director, reflected, "I'm amazed that we are positioned to help as many people as we do today! We are not backed by a giant Wall Street firm as we are a family owned company. It can be nerve-wracking to try and compete with all the new companies with the financial resources they have at their disposal and you can only imagine how risky large scale expansion can be for us. What separates us from them is our amazing staff and the unrelenting support of our alumni, who we love dearly. We get to know each and every client...that is the difference!"

About Into Action Recovery Centers, Inc.: Established in 2010 by the Leonard family, IARC remains devoted to helping individuals fight addiction, mental health disorders and the associated stigmas.

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SOURCE Into Action Recovery Centers
ST. PAUL, Minn. , Aug. 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Johnson//Becker, PLLC is a nationwide product liability law firm with extensive experience representing consumers injured by defective products.

Johnson//Becker filed a lawsuit against Fitbit Inc. on July 14, 2023 , alleging that their Fitbit Versa 2 caused Ms. Nicole Hutchison's burn injuries.

According to the Complaint, Ms. Hutchison's burn injuries occurred because of a defect in the Fitbit's lithium-ion battery, causing it to overheat and cause thermal burns. The Complaint also alleges that Ms. Hutchison "sustained a substantial burn to her wrist" while wearing the Fitbit.

The Complaint further alleges that Fitbit Inc. knew of or should have been aware of potential defects, but "put profit ahead of safety" by continuing to sell the activity tracker watches to the public.

Fitbit Inc. recalled a past Fitbit model in March 2022 , the Fitbit Ionic Smartwatch. This recall was issued after 115 reports in the US of the smartwatch's lithium-ion battery overheated. 78 of the reports resulted in a burn injury. An earlier recall in 2014 occurred when the CPSC received about 9,900 reports of skin irritation and blistering from wearing the Fitbit Force activity-tracking wristbands.

A resident of Indiana , Ms. Hutchison is represented by Johnson//Becker lawyers Adam J. Kress and Anna R. Rick . Mr. Kress and Ms. Rick focus their practice on consumers injured by defective household products such as pressure cookers.

Questions About a Fitbit Skin Burn Lawsuit? Contact a Johnson// Becker Lawyer for a Free Case Review.

If you or a loved one were burned by a Fitbit activity tracker, you may want to speak with the lawyers at Johnson//Becker. We are currently accepting new Fitbit lawsuits across the country, and you may be entitled to financial compensation.

We offer a Free Case Evaluation. To learn more about Johnson//Becker's product liability cases, or to arrange a free, no obligation case review, please visit Johnson//Becker at https://www.johnsonbecker.com/product-liability/fitbit-recall-lawsuit/, https://www.johnsonbecker.com or contact Johnson//Becker directly at (800) 279-6386.

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SOURCE Johnson // Becker, PLLC
BOCA RATON, Fla., Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Knowtion Health, one of the Nation's leading healthcare revenue cycle companies, gained recognition from Inc. as one of the fastest-growing privately held companies in America. This year, Knowtion Health's ranking on the Inc. 5000 list is up 483 spots over last year's ranking.

The Inc. 5000 list represents a one-of-a-kind look at the most successful companies within the economy's most dynamic segmentits independent businesses. Companies on the 2023 Inc. 5000 are ranked according to the percentage of revenue growth recorded from 2019 to 2022.

"Knowtion Health's continued ranking on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies reflects our skill in optimizing and accelerating revenue for the nation's largest health systems," said Jayson Yardley , CEO, Knowtion Health. "It's a testament not just to our team's hard work, but also their commitment to innovation in claims denial resolution and recovery. We're thrilled to celebrate this achievement with our team as we meet the complex needs of our customers in a rapidly evolving environment."

The companies on the 2023 Inc. 5000 demonstrate resilience amid continued economic changes, labor shortages, and supply chain woes. These companies generated $358 billion in revenue in 2022 and added nearly 1.2 million jobs to the economy last year.

In the past few years, Knowtion Health's investment in high-tech claims resolution, complemented by the deep expertise of its staff, has strengthened its ability to meet the revenue cycle needs of healthcare organizations across the country, supporting their ability to provide care. "The financial health of a healthcare organization is vital to its ability to provide care and increase access to care," Yardley says. "We're proud of our team's work in helping healthcare organizations across the Nation meet the needs of the communities they serve. Our tagline and promise to every client is: You've Got This Now."

"Running a business has only gotten harder since the end of the pandemic," says Inc. editor-in-chief Scott Omelianuk. "To make the Inc. 5000with the fast growth that it requiresis truly an accomplishment. Inc. is thrilled to honor the companies that are building our future."

Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found at www.inc.com/inc5000. The top 500 companies are featured in the September 2023 issue of Inc. magazine.

About Knowtion Health

In a world where the balance of power and complexity in insurance denials favor payers, Knowtion Health delivers claim experts equipped with specialized technologies to help healthcare providers resolve insurance claims and recover low balance accounts to increase their revenue, solve the labor shortage, and optimize patient experience. Knowtion Health is backed by Sunstone Partners, a growth-oriented private equity firm that invests in technology-enabled services and software companies.

KnowtionHealth.com - You've Got This Now.

Contact: Christine Hanson-Ehlinger , [email protected], 561-995-1252

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SOURCE Knowtion Health
SEATTLE , Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Marler Clark filed a Salmonella lawsuit against Papa Murphy's , representing Michael Williams and Renee Sanders who were victims of an outbreak linked to Chocolate Chip Cookie and S'mores Bar dough. The CDC reported that this outbreak sickened 26 people in six states: California (2), Idaho (5), Missouri (1), Oregon (8), Utah (4), and Washington (6), illnesses began on dates ranging from February 24, 2023 , to May 28, 2023 . In response to this investigation, Papa Murphy's notified franchise owners nationwide and stopped selling all Chocolate Chip Cookie dough and S'mores Bars dough at all stores.

The food industry must do more to drive these numbers down (Salmonella illnesses), said attorney Bill Marler

In March 2023 , Michael Williams and Renne Sanders visited the Papa Murphy's restaurant located at 2500 S Santiam Hwy , Lebanon, Oregon , purchasing one pizza and a package of Papa Murphy's Take 'N' Bake raw chocolate chip cookie dough. They shared the pizza at a family gathering and stored the cookie dough. Two weeks later they began to eat the raw dough. Days later, Michael and Renne both experienced symptoms that included fever, chills, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

Although Renne recovered after several days of rest, Michael's symptoms persisted and worsened until he could not walk properly and was limping. Consequently, Michael decided to seek medical attention and visited PeaceHealth Urgent Care located in Vancouver, WA. Doctors told him he likely had an infection and urged him to go to the Emergency Room immediately. Michael heeded his doctors' orders and headed to the nearest ER where a battery of testing confirmed that he had a Salmonella infection. The infection had likely developed into sepsis, with the bacteria settling into his hip and impairing his ability to walk.

"The severity of Michael's injury underscores the fact that Salmonella sickens over 1.4 Million Americans every year. The food industry must do more to drive these numbers down," said attorney, William Marler .

The Washington Department of Health used whole genome sequencing, which revealed that Michael's case was highly related to isolates known to be part of the Papa Murphy's outbreak. To date, Michael is still suffering from constant pain from his Salmonella infection. His doctors have informed him that a hip replacement may be necessary and that, if he does not rest and wait for full recovery, he will likely end up bedridden.

Marler Clark , The Food Safety Law Firm, is the only law firm in the nation focusing exclusively on foodborne illness litigation. The Salmonella lawyers of Marler Clark have represented thousands of victims of Salmonella and other foodborne illness outbreaks and have recovered over $850 million for clients. William Marler is currently featured in a Netflix documentary: Poisoned | The Dirty Truth About Your Food. If you or a family member became ill with a Salmonella infection from food, including suffering from Reactive Arthritis or Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and you're interested in pursuing a legal claim, contact the Marler Clark Salmonella attorneys for a free case evaluation at (866) 768-6846.

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Recognition marks 10 th consecutive year MidFirst Bank wins "Best Bank" in Oklahoma City

OKLAHOMA CITY , Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Oklahoman announced today that MidFirst Bank was named "Best Bank" in Oklahoma City in its annual Community's Choice Awards, marking the 10th consecutive year the bank received the distinction.

Previously known as Readers' Choice Awards, the Community's Choice Awards invites members of the community to nominate and vote for their favorite companies in more than 180 categories. A broad range of businesses are chosen for their outstanding service and commitment to the local community. MidFirst Bank was one of five finalists in the banking category.

"To be selected by Oklahomans as the Community's Choice Awards 'Best Bank' in Oklahoma City for the 10th time is an immense honor," said MidFirst Chief Executive Officer Jeff Records . "On behalf of MidFirst Bank, we are grateful for this distinction by our clients, community members and friends. Our employees' unmatched customer service and commitment to the communities in which MidFirst serves makes this kind of recognition possible."

Winners of the Community's Choice Awards were recognized in a printed winners' edition of The Oklahoman, as well as online at Oklahoman.com. Winners were also honored at a celebratory gala.

About MidFirst Bank

With $36.5 billion in assets, Oklahoma City -based MidFirst Bank is the largest privately owned bank in the nation and provides commercial lending, wealth management, private banking and mortgage servicing nationally. MidFirst Bank has banking centers in Oklahoma , Arizona , Colorado, Texas and California . MidFirst Bank serves California through 1st Century Bank, a division of MidFirst Bank.

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SOURCE MidFirst Bank
One of West Michigan's Premier Running Events Has Raised

Over $1,300,000 to Help Fight Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

WASHINGTON , Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- For 25 years, residents of Rockford, Michigan have supported the mission of Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD), a nonprofit organization leading the fight to end Duchenne muscular dystrophy (Duchenne), by participating in Mitchell's Run Thru Rockford. Created and organized by the Peterson family, in honor of their son Mitchell, this 5K and Kids for Kids Fun Run has attracted runners and families from across West Michigan raising over $1,300,000 to date for PPMD. The 25th Annual Mitchell's Run Thru Rockford will be held on Saturday, August 19 .

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is the most common fatal genetic disorder diagnosed in childhood, affecting approximately one in every 5,000 live male births.

"When we started Mitchell's Run, we never dreamed it would become such a success. 25 years later, the event continues to grow, and we are overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support from our community," said Sandy Peterson , Mitchell's mother and the race organizer since its inception. "PPMD has supported our family since Mitchell's diagnosis just before his third birthday, and we are proud to help the organization in its mission to end Duchenne. We are so grateful to all the families that have participated in Mitchell's Run over the last 25 years, and we look forward to many more great races to come. We are also grateful to Lauren King and Jen Aldrich , this year's Race Directors, who jumped in with both feet to organize and execute a fantastic race experience for all!"

Since its inception, Mitchell's Run has donated 100% of all proceeds from the event to PPMD to help fund Duchenne research. In 2013, PPMD awarded the race with a Change It Champion Award in recognition of their 15-year anniversary. The event has been designated by Classic Race Management as "One of the Premier Running Events in West Michigan ," as well as being named "Most Organized Event in Rockford ."

"Mitchell and the Peterson family have been beloved members of the PPMD community since Mitchell was diagnosed, and their support and dedication to the organization's mission over the last 25 years has been integral to our success. We are incredibly grateful for their energy, passion, and ability to inspire and motivate other families in the Duchenne community to host events of their own," said Pat Furlong , Founding President & CEO of PPMD.

It's not too late to join the fun! Register for the 25th Annual Mitchell's Run Thru Rockford on August 19, 2023 . Click here to learn more.

About Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy

Duchenne is a fatal genetic disorder that slowly robs people of their muscle strength. Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD) fights every single battle necessary to end Duchenne.

We demand optimal care standards and ensure every family has access to expert healthcare providers, cutting edge treatments, and a community of support. We invest deeply in treatments for this generation of Duchenne patients and in research that will benefit future generations. Our advocacy efforts have secured hundreds of millions of dollars in funding and won five FDA approvals.

Everything we doand everything we have done since our founding in 1994helps those with Duchenne live longer, stronger lives. We will not rest until we end Duchenne for every single person affected by the disease. Join our fight against Duchenne at EndDuchenne.org . Follow PPMD on Facebook , Twitter , Instagram , and YouTube .

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SOURCE Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD)
NEW YORK , Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Quantzig , a leading global analytics and advisory firm, partnered with a renowned IT giant, a global leader in technology solutions and services, to design and implement an effective analytics roadmap, empowering the organization to unlock the full potential of data and cloud technologies. The strategic collaboration aimed to address the client's complex challenges in data management, cloud adoption, and data-driven decision-making, propelling their business towards digital transformation and competitive advantage.

The IT giant struggled to effectively integrate and manage data from diverse sources, leading to information silos and hampered data accessibility. As their business expanded rapidly, data volumes grew exponentially, leading to data redundancy, scattered information, and governance issues. The absence of a cohesive data and cloud implementation strategy made it challenging for the client to derive actionable insights from data and make informed decisions.

Quantzig's team of experienced data scientists, cloud experts, and business strategists worked closely with the IT giant to deliver a comprehensive analytics roadmap for data and cloud. We implemented advanced analytics capabilities, including AI and machine learning, enabling the client to derive meaningful insights from data and drive data-driven decision-making. We conducted an in-depth analysis of the client's existing data infrastructure and identified gaps in data governance. Then, our team formulated a phased cloud migration and integration strategy that improved scalability, performance, and cost-efficiency of their business.

The above solutions resulted in:

90% improved data performance

60% reduction in data redundancies

30% reduction in infrastructure costs

To read the full article: Click here!

About Quantzig:

Quantzig is a global analytics and business intelligence solution provider. It turns clients' complex, unstructured data into intelligent, actionable insights that enable them to solve complex business problems and inspire innovation, change, and growth.

is a global analytics and business intelligence solution provider. It turns clients' complex, unstructured data into intelligent, actionable insights that enable them to solve complex business problems and inspire innovation, change, and growth. Over the past 17 years, our insights have helped over 120 clients, including 55 Fortune 500 companies, spanning industries and sectors like Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences, Retail and CPG, Food and Beverage , and more. We have successfully delivered 1500 in-depth solutions in areas like Supply Chain Analytics, Marketing Analytics, Customer Analytics, and more.

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SOURCE Quantzig
Los Angeles -based Cybersecurity Firm Protecting Fortune 100 and Government Agencies Recognized for Excellence in Safeguarding Against Modern Threats

LOS ANGELES , Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Resecurity, Inc. ( USA ), a global cybersecurity solutions provider protecting Fortune 100 and government agencies worldwide, has secured a remarkable achievement by being awarded the Gold Winner in the prestigious Threat Detection, Intelligence, and Response Category for North America . This recognition highlights Resecurity's exceptional contributions to the field of cybersecurity and its unwavering commitment to providing cutting-edge solutions that address the evolving landscape of digital threats.

The Threat Detection, Intelligence, and Response Category is a highly competitive segment that acknowledges companies that demonstrate exceptional capabilities in identifying, analyzing, and mitigating cyber threats. As digital adversaries continue to advance their tactics and techniques, organizations require robust solutions that encompass a comprehensive suite of threat intelligence, detection mechanisms, and rapid response capabilities. This category applauds companies that excel in providing such holistic security solutions, ensuring the protection of sensitive data, critical infrastructure, and invaluable digital assets.

Resecurity's triumph in this category showcases its dedication to delivering innovative cybersecurity solutions that empower organizations to proactively defend against sophisticated threats. Their comprehensive approach encompasses real-time threat detection, proactive intelligence gathering, and swift incident response, all of which contribute to an enhanced security posture.

Threat Detection: Resecurity's advanced threat detection technology employs cutting-edge AI algorithms to identify even the most subtle indicators of compromise. By analyzing vast amounts of data from diverse sources, their platform detects anomalies, patterns, and behaviors that might indicate an ongoing or imminent cyber threat. This vigilant approach provides organizations with the ability to stay one step ahead of potential attackers.

Intelligence: In the realm of cybersecurity, knowledge is power. Resecurity's intelligence capabilities encompass extensive monitoring of the global threat landscape leveraging global "reach & access" via Human Intelligence (HUMINT) and actionable Big Data. By aggregating data from numerous sources, including the dark web, underground forums, and open sources, Resecurity provides its clients with actionable insights that enable proactive threat mitigation.

Response: Rapid response is essential in thwarting cyber threats before they escalate. Resecurity's response mechanisms are designed to facilitate immediate action in the event of a detected threat. Their streamlined Digital Forensics & Incident Response (DFIR) process minimizes the potential impact of a breach and aids in preserving the integrity of digital assets.

The Managed Detection and Response (MDR) Market, within which Resecurity's accomplishments shine, is poised for exponential growth. According to recent market research, in 2023, the MDR market's value stood at an impressive $3.3 billion . This figure is anticipated to experience substantial growth, reaching a projected value of $9.5 billion by 2028. Resecurity's recognition as a Gold Winner in the Threat Detection, Intelligence, and Response Category underscores their position as a frontrunner in this burgeoning market.

Gene Yoo , the CEO of Resecurity, expressed his gratitude and excitement over this remarkable achievement: "At Resecurity, we have always strived to offer our clients in face of global Fortune 100 corporations and MSSPs not just security solutions, but peace of mind. The Gold Winner accolade reaffirms our commitment to innovation, excellence, and proactive protection. We are proud to play a crucial role in safeguarding businesses and individuals against the ever-evolving threat landscape."

Resecurity's recent victory in the Threat Detection, Intelligence, and Response Category follows their prior success as winners of three Gold Cybersecurity Excellence Awards, as announced in an earlier press release. These accolades reflect the company's consistent dedication to pushing the boundaries of cybersecurity and ensuring that their clients remain well-equipped to navigate the complex and dynamic world of digital threats.

Resecurity's achievement of becoming a Gold Winner in the Threat Detection, Intelligence, and Response Category for North America is a testament to their unparalleled commitment to innovation, excellence, and safeguarding the digital realm. With the MDR market projected to experience substantial growth in the coming years, Resecurity is poised to continue leading the charge in revolutionizing cybersecurity and fortifying organizations against the challenges of today and tomorrow.

Last year, Resecurity products have been also named a Gold Winner by the 2022 Cybersecurity Excellence Awards in North America . Resecurity products and services received Gold recognition across 3 categories in highly competitive categories such as cyber threat intelligence (CTI), threat hunting, and third-party risk management (TPRM):

GOLD WINNER for Cyber Threat Intelligence in North America : Resecurity Context Cyber Threat Intelligence Platform

GOLD WINNER for Third Party Risk Management (TPRM) in North America : Resecurity Risk Supply Chain Risk Management Platform

GOLD WINNER for Threat Hunting in North America : Resecurity Hunter Research & Development

Resecurity has been recognized by Frost & Sullivan as a Leader in the Cyber Threat Intelligence Market and has been included as the top Cyber Threat Intelligence Platform (TIP) Provider globally. The company has recently been highlighted in the latest Global TIP Market Report 2022 and External Risk Mitigation Platforms (ERMM) providing information about the most successful CTI and digital risk management industry players. The Frost & Sullivan report details the organization's market research, identifying trends in the market and top vendors and tools in the market.

About Resecurity

Resecurity is a cybersecurity company that delivers a unified platform for endpoint protection, risk management, and cyber threat intelligence. Known for providing best-of-breed data-driven intelligence solutions, Resecurity's services and platforms focus on early-warning identification of data breaches and comprehensive protection against cybersecurity risks. Founded in 2016, it has been globally recognized as one of the world's most innovative cybersecurity companies with the sole mission of enabling organizations to combat cyber threats regardless of how sophisticated they are. Most recently, Resecurity was named as one of the Top 10 fastest-growing private cybersecurity companies in Los Angeles, California by Inc. Magazine. An Official Member and a Gold Sponsor of InfraGard National Members Alliance (INMA), AFCEA, NDIA, SIA, FS-ISAC and the American Chamber of Commerce in Saudi Arabia (AmChamKSA), Singapore (AmChamSG), Korea (AmChamKorea), Mexico (AmChamMX), and UAE (AmChamDubai). To learn more about Resecurity, visit https://resecurity.com.

About the Cybersecurity Excellence Awards

The Cybersecurity Excellence Awards, an event that annually spotlights excellence, innovation, and leadership in the dynamic realm of information security, stands as a testament to the transformative impact of industry pioneers. For those eager to explore the world of cybersecurity excellence, additional details about the awards can be found at https://cybersecurity-excellence-awards.com/2023-cybersecurity-excellence-awards/.

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SOURCE Resecurity
SAN FRANCISCO , Aug. 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ForeFront Power, a leading developer and asset manager of commercial and industrial-scale solar energy and storage projects, has been awarded a Top Workplaces 2023 honor by The San Francisco Chronicle. ForeFront Power ranked 11th of the Top 80 Small Companies in the 2023 San Francisco Bay Area Top Workplaces. The Top 80 Small Companies were selected from a total 118 participant companies with 149 or fewer employees.

Top Workplaces is the nation's leading employer recognition program based solely on employee feedback gathered through a third-party survey administered by employee engagement technology partner Energage LLC. The confidential survey uniquely measures 15 culture drivers that are critical to the success of any organization: including alignment, execution, connection, and more.

"Earning a Top Workplaces award is a badge of honor for companies, especially because it comes authentically from their employees," said Eric Rubino , Energage CEO. "That's something to be proud of. In today's market, leaders must ensure they're allowing employees to have a voice and be heard. That's paramount. Top Workplaces do this, and it pays dividends."

"This recognition is a testament to our organization's commitment to ensuring each of our employees feels empowered, valued, and respected," said Yumitake Furukawa, ForeFront Power Interim CEO. "We know it's our people that create and uphold ForeFront Power's values, so we're grateful to our entire team for the exceptional culture we've built together."

A Track Record of Excellence

In addition to this esteemed recognition, ForeFront Power has been recognized by multiple third parties in recent years for its strong workplace culture, including a 2023 Great Place To Work certification, also the result of employee feedback through a survey conducted by a third party, as well as earning 2022 finalist status in the GRIT Awards' Best Energy Workplaces. ForeFront Power was among the first in the solar industry in 2021 to achieve a Silver certification in the Diversity Equity Inclusion and Justice (DEIJ) program led by the Solar Energy Industries Associations (SEIA). For four years, ForeFront Power has been featured on the Top Solar Contractors list that is managed by solar industry publication, Solar Power World.

ForeFront Power's projects and customers have been recognized by several through several national and global awards programs for strong project performance, climate impact, and sustainability leadership through awards programs such as Environment + Energy Leader Top Project of the Year, Solar Builder Magazine's Project of the Year, Smart Energy Decisions' Women in Sustainable Energy (WISE), the Cleanie Awards' Top Project of the Year, and more.

About Energage

Making the world a better place to work together.

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.

About ForeFront Power

ForeFront Power is a leading developer of commercial and industrial-scale (C&I) solar energy and battery storage projects in the U.S. and Mexico , also offering vehicle fleet electrification services. Over 15 years of working together, the ForeFront Power team has developed more than 1,400 behind-the-meter and community solar projects, totaling more than 1.1 gigawatt-DC of renewable electricity. ForeFront Power serves business, government, education, healthcare and community solar customers with a broad array of development, asset management and advisory services from its San Francisco headquarters and via teams based in New York , Mexico City , and across the U.S. through a hybrid work model.

A wholly owned subsidiary of global energy infrastructure and investment leader Mitsui & Co. Ltd., ForeFront Power operates under Mitsui's North American investment arm, MyPower Corp. Mitsui holds a robust balance sheet and an "A" credit rating from Standard & Poor's.

For more information, visit forefrontpower.com .

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SOURCE ForeFront Power
An attempt has been made to assassinate Deputy Head of the State Tax Service of Ukraine Yevhen Sokur on Thursday morning, Head of the Parliamentary Committee on finance, tax and customs policy Danylo Hetmantsev said.

"Yesterday at 07.50 there was an assassination attempt on Deputy Head of the State Tax Service of Ukraine Yevhen Sokur. The attack was in the city center. Customers are schemers who lost their 'business' and crossed the border. Yevhen was saved by the coordinated actions of the criminal investigation department. Low bow to the professionals from the Criminal Investigation Department of the National Police," he said in the Telegram channel.

According to Hetmantsev, the perpetrators have been detained and are testifying against the customers.

He also said the police asked not to disclose any information until Friday morning.

Interfax-Ukraine does not yet have confirmation of this information from law enforcement agencies.
SAN FRANCISCO , Aug. 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Teamsters Local 856 members working for American Airlines at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) joined thousands of passenger service workers in a nationwide day of action. The event, held at airports across the country, urged American Airlines to prioritize negotiations and provide a just contract for its workers.

"We stand united today to send a resounding message to American Airlines," said Elan Rogers , an American Airlines customer service agent and Local 856 member. "By joining forces across the country, we show that we are united in our fight for a fair and just contract. It's time for American Airlines to stop stalling on negotiations and deliver a contract that values the people that keep our customers coming back."

Passenger service workers participated in informational pickets at ten other airports in Charlotte, N.C. ; Chicago ; Dallas ; Houston ; Los Angeles ; Miami ; Philadelphia ; Phoenix ; St. Louis , and Salt Lake City .

The workers want the company to stop stalling contract negotiations and bargain a fair collective bargaining agreement that guarantees job security, worker safety, fair pay, and better working conditions. Many of the workers have not received a raise in nearly four years, despite American Airlines earning $1.3 billion in profits last quarter.

Passenger service workers are on the frontlines of our airline industry, assisting passengers and keeping air travel on schedule and safe. Throughout the pandemic, these workers risked their health and safety to benefit the airline industry's bottom line.

American Airlines is the largest passenger carrier in the world. Passenger service workers at American Airlines are members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) - International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) Association.

Teamsters Local 856 represents almost 200 American Airlines customer service agents at the San Francisco , San Jose , and Sacramento International Airports.

Contact: Christian Castro - [email protected] (310) 857-9817

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SOURCE Teamsters Local 856
A roundup of the most newsworthy press releases from PR Newswire this week, including ALDI's expansion in the Southeast and relief efforts in Hawaii .

NEW YORK , Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- With thousands of press releases published each week, it can be difficult to keep up with everything on PR Newswire. To help journalists and consumers stay on top of the week's most newsworthy and popular releases, here's a recap of some major stories from the week that shouldn't be missed.

The list below includes the headline (with a link to the full text) and an excerpt from each story. Click on the press release headlines to access accompanying multimedia assets that are available for download.

Read more of the latest releases from PR Newswire and stay caught up on the top press releases by following @PRNalert on Twitter.

Can't-Miss Earnings

In addition to these popular releases, several must-read earnings reports crossed the wire this week, including the quarterly results for Target, Cisco, Wheels Up, and The Home Depot.

Catch up on all the latest earnings reports here.

Helping Journalists Stay Up to Date on Industry News

These are just a few of the recent press releases that consumers and the media should know about. To be notified of releases relevant to their coverage area, journalists can set up a custom newsfeed with PR Newswire for Journalists.

Once they're signed up, reporters, bloggers, and freelancers have access to the following free features:

Customization: Users can create customized newsfeeds that will deliver relevant news right to their inbox. Newsfeed results can be targeted by keywords, industry, subject, geography, and more.

Users can create customized newsfeeds that will deliver relevant news right to their inbox. Newsfeed results can be targeted by keywords, industry, subject, geography, and more. Photos and Videos: Thousands of multimedia assets are available to download and include in a journalist or blogger's next story.

Thousands of multimedia assets are available to download and include in a journalist or blogger's next story. Subject Matter Experts: Journalists will have access to ProfNet, a database of industry experts to connect with as sources or for quotes in their articles.

Journalists will have access to ProfNet, a database of industry experts to connect with as sources or for quotes in their articles. Related Resources: Our journalist- and blogger-focused blog, Beyond Bylines, features regular media news roundups, writing tips, upcoming events, and more.

About PR Newswire and PR Newswire for Journalists

For more than 65 years, PR Newswire has been the industry leader with the largest, most comprehensive distribution network of print, radio, magazine, television stations, financial portals and trade publications. PR Newswire has an unparalleled global reach of more than 200,000 publications and 10,000 websites and is available in more than 170 countries and 40 languages.

PR Newswire for Journalists (PRNJ) is an exclusive community that includes over 20,000 journalists, bloggers and influencers who are logging into their PRNJ accounts specifically looking for story ideas. PR Newswire thoroughly researches and vets this community to verify their identity as a member of the press, blogger or influencer. PRNJ users cover more than 200 beats and verticals.

For questions, contact the team at [email protected].

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SOURCE PR Newswire
A roundup of the week's most newsworthy health industry press releases from PR Newswire, including mixed-reality training to combat opioid overdose deaths.

NEW YORK , Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- With thousands of press releases published each week, it can be difficult to keep up with everything on PR Newswire. To help journalists covering the healthcare industry stay on top of the week's most newsworthy and popular releases, here's a roundup of stories from the week that shouldn't be missed.

The list below includes the headline (with a link to the full text) and an excerpt from each story. Click on the press release headlines to access accompanying multimedia assets that are available for download.

Read more of the latest health-related releases from PR Newswire and stay caught up on the top press releases by following @PRNhealth on Twitter.

Can't-Miss Earnings

In addition to these popular releases, several must-read earnings reports crossed the wire this week, including the quarterly results for RedHill Biopharma, Cardinal Health, and INVO Bioscience.

Catch up on all the latest earnings reports here.

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SOURCE PR Newswire
BEIJING , Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report from China.org.cn on China's disaster relief:

"We just moved in our newly renovated apartment a month ago. (It's all ruined now) We're absolutely devastated."

"I'll give you brand new furnishing free of charge." "I'll paint your walls for free." "Give me the measurements of your cabinets"

These words come from a video posted by a netizen from Zhuozhou, Hebei province and the replies in the comment section. Heavy rain caused by Typhoon Doksuri that lasted nearly two weeks resulted in flood, which damaged her new apartment. While human efforts seem inconsequential in the face of natural disasters, the will of people have proven otherwise.

We've seen 

Those who walk toward the tempest head-on: The firemen and rescue team members who came to Beijing and Zhuozhou from all over China , treated every rescue as a battle. They munched bread in the rain, worked hand in hand to form a "human rope" so that they can help trapped residents out from thigh-deep water; they trudged for four hours in heavy downpour to deliver supplies to people stuck in paralyzed trains "No.23 (Wang Hongchun), put on that ring buoy!" This is the last sentence heard from Wang Hongchun and Liu Jianmin , the two Blue Sky Rescue members who sacrificed their lives in Beijing's flood rescue efforts.

There are also frontrunners in the relief effort who made many sacrifices to help disaster victims. Xiong Li , a grassroot official from Mentougou District in Beijing died in the flood while inspecting the flood-stricken places, at a young age of 36. CPC Party members at Shawo Village , Matou Town in Zhuozhou stayed committed to their responsibilities: Some had given up sleep for over three days, busy helping villagers, some waded door to door to help residents escape, and some left even their own families behind. Train K1178 which was headed for Beijing , was stuck for over 40 hours at Yanhecheng Station . All the crew members set aside supplies for passengers, trying to comfort them. The whole crew hadn't eaten anything for up to 20 hours, and the staff from the station had given them everything they had left  two bags of flour.

We have also seen small sparks that light up the whole sky. When people from one place are in need, help from various places come along. The disaster-stricken places were in dire need for transportation, so taxi drivers volunteered to pool their resources and offer support. Many warehouses of book companies were flooded, so many book-lovers from across China contributed their bit to help these companies through the hard times. Many ordinary citizens bought food supplies, and put up a pot to make noodles for flood victims as well as rescue crews.

Confronted with natural disasters, "helping others", an already noble gesture, only becomes even more valuable. It embodies how people cherish the lives of their own kind, and stands for trust, selflessness and righteousness.

In the Chinese myth "Nvwa Butian, (Goddess Nvwa mends the sky)" a hole was poked in the sky, giving rise to heavy rain. After the hole was mended by a five-colored stone, the rain stopped, and the flood receded. Now, while the heavy rain rages, we hope the "five-colored" stone made up of the love of Chinese people, would eventually mend the poked sky.

China Mosaic

http://www.china.org.cn/video/node_7230027.htm

Those who walk toward the downpour and the frontrunners in disaster relief

http://www.china.org.cn/video/2023-08/18/content_104299969.htm

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SOURCE China.org.cn
Analyzed the FDA FAERS datato compare the thrombotic AEs of Hemlibra vs. FVIII replacements.

YONGIN, South Korea , Aug. 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- GC Biopharma (006280.KS), a South Korean biopharmaceutical company, announced on August 17, 2023 that it has presented the results of analyzing and comparing thrombotic adverse events(AEs) of Hemlibra (emicizumab) and Factor FVIII replacements reported in the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) at the Bleeding Disorder Conference (BDC) currently being held in Maryland , U.S. from August 17 to August 19, 2023 .

BDC, organized by National Hemophilia Foundation (NHF), is an international conference and is routinely attended by nearly 2,700 people, including researchers, physicians and other healthcare professionals, industry representatives, NHF chapters, patients, and families. This year's conference marks the 75th anniversary.

The results of the study shared by GC Biopharma holds significance in that it is an outcome of research collaboration between industry, university, and hemophilia treatment center, represented respectively by BongKyoo Choi, ScD MPH RPh, Vice President of Department of Research and Development in GC Biopharma, Professor Ju-Young Shin from Sungkyunkwan University, and Ki Young Yoo M.D ., Ph.D. of Korea Hemophilia Foundation.

According to the study, which analyzed the FAERS data of the past 5 years (from 2018 to 2022), out of total 2,383 AEs associated with Hemlibra, 97 AEs (4.07%) were thrombotic AEs. By contrast, the proportion of thrombotic AEs for FVIII replacements was 1.44% (134 thrombotic AEs out of total 9,324 AEs associated with FVIII replacements) during the same period. That is, when compared, thrombotic AEs of Hemlibra were 2.83 times more frequent than those of FVIII replacements. In the early of this year, similar findings were reported in in a European pharmacovigilance study using the Eudravigilance database[i]. The study showed that thrombotic AEs were about 2.77 times more frequently reported for Hemlibra than for EHL FVIII replacements.

It is also notable in the study shared by GC Biopharma that the thrombotic AEs of Hemlibra were still 1.84 times more frequently reported than those of FVIII replacements even after excluding the AEs of Hemlibra with bypassing agents (BPAs).

In fact, it has been known in initial clinical trials that when used together with BPAs such as activated prothrombin complex concentrate (aPCC), Hemlibra increases the risk for thrombotic microangiopathy in some Hemophila A patients. Yet, in the study shared by GC Biopharma, out of total 97 thrombotic AEs of Hemlibra, 62 AEs were reported without BPAs which is higher than 35 AEs with BPAs as co-reported drugs .

"This is the first study of analyzing and comparing thrombotic AEs of Hemlibra and FVIII replacements using the real-world data reported in FAERS" said Ki Young Yoo , M.D., Ph.D., Korea Hemophilia Foundation, "More future research and efforts are warranted for monitoring, elucidating, and preventing the potential greater risk of thrombotic AEs of Hemlibra."

Details of the presentation are as follows:

Title: Comparison of thrombotic adverse events in patients treated with factor VIII replacements and emicizumab using the 2018-2022 FAERS data.

Poster Number: QOL4

Session Day and Time: Thursday, August 17, 2023 from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM .

Presenter: BongKyoo Choi, ScD MPH RPh, Vice President of Department of Research and Development in GC Biopharma

The poster can be viewed here.

About GC Biopharma

GC Biopharma (formerly known as Green Cross Corporation) is a biopharmaceutical company that delivers life-saving and life-sustaining protein therapeutics and vaccines. Headquartered in Yongin, South Korea , GC Biopharma is one of the leading plasma protein and vaccine product manufacturers globally and has been dedicated to quality healthcare solutions for more than half a century.

This press release may contain biopharmaceuticals in forward-looking statements, which express the current beliefs and expectations of GC Biopharma's management. Such statements do not represent any guarantee by GC Biopharma or its management of future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. GC Biopharma undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement contained in this press release or any other forward-looking statements it may make, except as required by law or stock exchange rule.

GC Biopharma Contacts (Media)

Seunghyun Baek

[email protected]

Sohee Kim

[email protected]

Yelin Jun

[email protected]

[i] Maria A et al. J Thromb Haemost. 2023;21(3):546-552

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SOURCE GC Biopharma
NEW YORK , Aug. 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Recently, US-based fashion supply chain solution provider, Trendsi, has integrated artificial intelligence into its distribution system, ushering in a new era of agile supply chain infrastructure. This innovative approach, spearheaded by Zhi Zhang , the newly appointed Head of Trendsi's North American Logistics, has resulted in an impressive 18 percent reduction in average order costs.

Zhang explained that the logistics landscape in the United States differs significantly from countries like China , where service fees are comparatively lower.

For instance, Zhang highlighted the existence of regional logistics providers, catering to specific areas such as the west coast, north-east and Texas . The selection of a logistics provider now employs artificial intelligence, taking into account factors like weight, fulfillment time, and routes. This optimized approach ensures timely delivery with reduced freight expenses.

Another pioneering initiative by Zhang involves a direct engagement with designers and fashion influencers who sell clothing. Zhang elaborated that while many large e-commerce platforms in the United States prioritize mass-market preferences, the growing trend towards individualized fashion choices has led Trendsi to gather consumer preferences and collaborate directly with designers for tailored production.

This approach not only promotes unique fashion expressions but also enhances product quality. Designers and influencers take active roles in shaping the designs and selecting fabrics, resulting in improved overall product quality. Furthermore, the streamlined production and logistics processes lead to cost savings, which are ultimately reflected in more affordable prices for consumers.

Zhang has also helped elevate Trendsi's long term barrier, building an agile supply chain system and focus on quality products, on-demand merchandising and responsive production. This strategic shift addresses the issue of dead stock that often plagues traditional clothing industries. By reducing production volume and shipping products promptly upon order placement, Trendsi minimizes stock and waste, contributing to environmental sustainability.

In Zhang's view, aligning production with consumer demand has become paramount. He stated, "In the past, production drove sales, but now it is sales that drive production." This change in perspective encourages producers to identify successful styles, facilitating more efficient and focused production.

Zhang's transformative approach draws parallels to his previous success at L'Oreal, where he revamped distribution and supply chain systems in the Chinese market. His dedication and innovative thinking led to a significant increase in sales and streamlined operations.

In conclusion, Zhang's visionary leadership has introduced AI-driven efficiencies, personalized fashion experiences, and sustainability into Trendsi's dropshipping model, resonating with modern consumer preferences and industry demands.

Furthermore, Zhang's remarkable reformative impact is not unprecedented. His dynamic leadership breathed new life into L'Oreal's operations when he joined the company during its third year of market entry into China . Faced with challenges in distribution and supply chain management, L'Oreal established a "Change Management Department," appointing Zhang as the IDS Distribution System Manager. His task was to harmonize the supply chain across numerous independent distribution entities.

Due to unique local conditions and policies in China , L'Oreal couldn't replicate its established direct sales model from European and American markets. This compelled Zhang and his team to build a new framework from scratch, devoid of benchmarks or references. To aid distributors in enhancing their management, L'Oreal collaborated with a software company to develop practical inventory software.

Zhang and his team meticulously installed, trained, and debugged data for over 40 distributors across the nation while creating a dedicated VMI team for software upkeep and management. This concerted effort yielded impressive results, with sales surging by over 50 percent in 2002 compared to the previous year.

According to Zhang, this transformative reform revolutionized L'Oreal's presence in the Chinese market. The transparency of sales information at the terminal level greatly facilitated informed decision-making, relieving distributors of inventory accumulation challenges.

Zhang's journey, marked by innovation, resilience, and visionary strategies, underscores his capacity to reshape business models and optimize supply chains for success. His pivotal role at Trendsi continues to exemplify his commitment to driving efficiency, sustainability, and consumer-centric approaches in the ever-evolving landscape of commerce.

In essence, Zhang's career trajectory embodies a trailblazing spirit that consistently propels industries towards more effective, streamlined, and responsive paradigms, creating a lasting impact that resonates far beyond the boardroom.

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SOURCE Trendsi
WARNER ROBINS, Ga. , Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- U-Haul will use its ecofriendly Adaptive Reuse program to convert a former Sunbelt Rentals warehouse at 2069 Watson Blvd. into a full-service retail, moving and self-storage facility.

U-Haul Storage at Watson Blvd. is already offering trailer and truck rentals, boxes and moving supplies, towing equipment and more out of a temporary showroom. U-Haul acquired the 4.99-acre property on March 31 .

In addition to renovating and reusing the existing warehouse, U-Haul will add a state-of-the-art, three-story self-storage building and a separate warehouse for portable moving containers.

"Expanding our self-storage footprint here is essential," said Rogar Bishop , U-Haul Company of Southern Georgia president. "Access to quality self-storage and residential mobility services are necessities in growing communities. We are going to provide an attractive facility that will make Warner Robins proud."

Acquisition of the warehouse was driven by U-Haul Corporate Sustainability initiatives: U-Haul supports infill developments to help local communities lower their carbon footprint. The adaptive reuse of existing buildings reduces the amount of energy and resources required for new-building materials and helps cities reduce their unwanted inventory of unused buildings.

Bishop intends to hire at least 14 Team Members to staff the new store. U-Haul will look to hire locally to promote job growth within the Warner Robins community. U-Haul, honored as a Best for Vets leading veteran-friendly employer by The Military Times, actively recruits veterans and gives them preference in the hiring process. Find U-Haul careers at uhauljobs.com.

Reserve equipment on the U-Haul app or contact Reservations at 1-800-GO-UHAUL.

U-Haul dealers in and around Warner Robins continue to be available to serve DIY movers. U-Haul has partnered with independent dealers to provide communities with accessible mobility since 1945. During these challenging times, more than 21,000 small businesses across the U.S. and Canada are generating supplemental income by partnering with U-Haul. When customers rent from their local U-Haul dealers, they are directly supporting small businesses in their community. Because there is no financial investment from dealers, they are not U-Haul franchises. They are simply small businesses with enough lot space to park U-Haul equipment and enough time to welcome more customers while meeting the mobility needs of their neighbors. Learn how to partner with U-Haul at uhaul.com/dealer.

About U-HAUL

Founded in 1945, U-Haul is the No. 1 choice of do-it-yourself movers with more than 23,000 rental locations across all 50 states and 10 Canadian provinces. The enhanced U-Haul app makes it easier for customers to use U-Haul Truck Share 24/7 to access trucks anytime through the self-dispatch and self-return options on their smartphones through our patented Live Verify technology. Our customers' patronage has enabled the U-Haul fleet to grow to 192,200 trucks, 138,500 trailers and 44,500 towing devices. U-Haul is the third largest self-storage operator in North America with 959,000 rentable units and 82.3 million square feet of self-storage space at owned and managed facilities. U-Haul is the top retailer of propane in the U.S. and the largest installer of permanent trailer hitches in the automotive aftermarket industry. We were recently named one of America's Best Large Employers (Forbes, 2023); a Best for Vets Employer (Military Times, 2022); and one of the Healthiest Workplaces in America (Healthiest Employers, 2022). Find careers at uhauljobs.com. Get the U-Haul app from the App Store or Google Play.

Contact:

Andrea Batchelor

Jeff Lockridge

E-mail: [email protected]

Phone: 602-263-6194

Website: uhaul.com

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SOURCE U-Haul
Full-Time Wages Paid for Work and Class Time to Prep for the HiSET Test

CHARLESTON, Tenn. , Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Wacker Chemical Company, with operations here, is honoring hourly team members enrolled in the company's novel technical operations program (TOP). This innovative recruiting program is a strategic initiative developed by Wacker-Charleston's Human Resources (HR) Training and Development Department to broaden the pool to identify career-oriented candidates without high school diplomas to fill hourly roles within the company. The company pays TOP trainees while they attend classes to prepare for the HiSET program for high school equivalency testing to earn their high school diplomas.

"I am glad we have improved our recruiting pool while providing significant help to our community," said Wacker-Charleston Site Director Ken Collins . "The TOP program is a genuine win-win, providing Wacker with great employees and new career opportunities not previously available for members of our community. We appreciate the partnerships that have made this program possible."

The journey for a TOPs program trainee begins with Randstad, a global staffing and recruiting agency with an office in Cleveland, Tenn. , specializing in the manufacturing, logistics, office, and administration industries. They help Wacker-Charleston recruit a cohort of 7-10 individuals lacking high school diplomas who desire a career opportunity. Through Randstad, TOPs program participants work with Wacker for up to six months. During the program, a typical workday begins at 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays . On Tuesdays and Thursdays, program participants attend class for a minimum of four hours per day, equivalent to eight-hours-per week. For 24 hours, participants work in a Technical Operator position on the site and are assigned a current Wacker team member as a buddy.

"After passing the HiSET test," says Olga Santos , Training & Development Manager, and Program Lead, "participants are given the opportunity to apply for an entry-level full-time Technical Operator position with Wacker that comes with benefits and bonus incentives. Additionally, they are now eligible to enroll in career development programs - offered in collaboration with our partners at Chattanooga State Technical Community College and Cleveland State Community College."

"Partnership leads to progress, and this group of Adult Education graduates at Wacker is tangible proof of that fact," said Deniece Thomas , Commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development. "Making Adult Education easily accessible is the key to success. Wacker is a great example of a Tennessee employer utilizing resources the state and its Adult Education partners make available at no cost to grow its own qualified workforce."

Cleveland State Community College's Workforce Development program trains over 500 people each year, many of whom do not have a high school diploma. Students enrolled in degree programs at the college must have a high school diploma or equivalent.

"Cleveland State Community College applauds Wacker's commitment to furthering the education of their employees. Individuals in the company's TOPs program can obtain a high school equivalency diploma while working, benefiting both the individuals and the company," said Dr. John Squires , executive director for advancement and planning at Cleveland State Community College. "Wacker-Charleston's TOPs program is made possible by partnering with Cleveland State's Adult Education Program and serves as a model for employers throughout the state in meeting education and workforce training needs."

"Regardless of a candidate's academic credentials, we have removed a significant recruiting barrier to having a broader pool to attract and retain new team members and increase their career development and advancement opportunities," said Teri Cassem , HR director at Wacker-Charleston. "This is an exciting initiative that the Training & Development Manager and internal Wacker stakeholders have worked on for quite some time. And, through the strong collaboration with Randstad and our adult education partners: Cleveland State Community College Adult Education Program and the Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development Adult Education Program, this initiative is a trifecta for our company, our TOPs program team members, and society."

About Wacker-Charleston

Wacker-Charleston manufactures hyper-pure polysilicon and pyrogenic silica. Hyper-pure polysilicon is used in semi-conductors and high-efficiency solar cells. Pyrogenic silica is used as an important formulation component for manufacturing silicone rubber. The company began polysilicon production in 2015 and added pyrogenic silica operations in 2019. In the long term, Wacker will continue to grow its Charleston presence, even further expanding its support for customers in the United States , the world's second-largest chemical market.

Wacker (pronounced Vah-ker)

Media Contact

James Barnes

[email protected]

734-546-4951

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SOURCE Wacker Chemical Corporation
By Borja Suarez

TENERIFE, Canary Islands, Spain (Reuters) - Residents of the Spanish island of Tenerife watched in desperation on Friday as fire and smoke enveloped the verdant mountains a day after authorities ordered thousands of villagers to evacuate.

Vanesa Hernandez, 42, was forced to abandon her land in the village of Aguamansa and move to the town of Orotava further down the mountain. Neighbours helped her lead her horses, ponies and chickens to safety.

"Our lives are left there... We are helpless, we don't know what's going to happen to us and to our houses, to the people in general, and we don't have words to describe the feeling of injustice," she told Reuters, holding back tears.

Authorities said on Friday that containment efforts and more favourable weather had slowed the spread of the blaze, but that was little consolation for Hernandez.

"It's the lungs of our island and now we have a bald mountain," she said, blaming a lack of preventative action by authorities.

Experts have pointed to the abandonment of rural land and accumulation of combustible material in the forests as a key factor along with rising temperatures.

"Before, they (authorities) used to call people and they would let us clean up (the forest)... The saddest thing is it could have been avoided," Hernandez added.

The wildfire broke out on Wednesday in a mountainous national park around the Mount Teide volcano - Spain's highest peak - and has burned through nearly 4,000 hectares (9,900 acres) of vegetation, although no houses have been destroyed.

Pablo Pacheco, 54, praised the firefighters and emergency services for preventing the flames from reaching his house.

"I thought it would all burn," he said. "It was an inferno all night long because it was too many kilometres of fire. I've seen fires over the years, but this is the most horrendous thing I've ever seen."

Another evacuee, Elena Caballo, 50, cried as she remembered the beautiful mountain view.

"Right now you can't see it because of the smoke, but I imagine it's all burnt down by now. It's a shame," she said.

(Writing by Andrei Khalip; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
A man is seen in silhouette near flowers at an office building in the financial district of New York City, U.S., June 14, 2023. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File photo

(Reuters) -Bank credit at U.S. commercial banks shrank in the latest week as commercial banks pulled back on lending to businesses, data published by the Federal Reserve showed on Friday.

Overall bank credit fell to $17.23 trillion in the week ending Aug. 9, down from $17.25 trillion a week earlier and $17.32 trillion a year earlier, its second straight year-over-year drop.

Loans and leases fell to $12.13 trillion, from $12.15 trillion the week prior; commercial and industrial loans slipped to $2.74 trillion, from $2.75 trillion in the week ending Aug. 2. From a year earlier, commercial and industrial (C&I) loan growth slowed sharply to less than 1%.

The trends reflect reduced demand from borrowers amid the Fed's rapid interest-rate hikes, as well as tightening credit standards and the fallout from the U.S. regional bank failures this year.

(Reporting by Ann Saphir; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Josie Kao)
The United States has approved sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine from Denmark and the Netherlands as soon as pilot training is completed, Reuters said.

Washington is reported to have given Denmark and the Netherlands official assurances that the United States will expedite approval of transfer requests for fighter jets to go to Ukraine as soon as Ukrainian pilot training is completed.

Denmark and the Netherlands had recently asked for these guarantees. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken sent letters to his counterparts in Denmark and the Netherlands, assuring them that the requests would be approved, according to an unnamed U.S. official.

"I am writing to express the United States' full support for both the transfer of F-16 fighter aircraft to Ukraine and the training of Ukrainian pilots by qualified F-16 instructors," Blinken said in a letter to the two officials.

"It remains critical that Ukraine is able to defend itself against ongoing Russian aggression and violation of its sovereignty. The approval of the requests would allow Ukraine to take full advantage of its new capabilities as soon as the first set of pilots complete their training," Blinken said.
FILE PHOTO: Indicted FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried exits United States Court in New York City, New York, U.S., June 15, 2023. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lawyers for Sam Bankman-Fried on Friday rejected as "entirely inadequate" the U.S. government's plan for letting the jailed founder of the collapsed FTX cryptocurrency exchange prepare for his October fraud trial.

In a letter to U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan, the lawyers said giving Bankman-Fried just two days a week, without a dedicated computer, to review the "extraordinary volume" of evidence violated his Sixth Amendment constitutional right to effective counsel and aid his defense.

They said it also undermined Kaplan's expectation that Bankman-Fried would get at least nine hours a day to review evidence, and left their client no way to share materials with them through Google Docs or email.

"This is entirely inadequate and Mr. Bankman-Fried will not be able to meaningfully participate in his defense, as is his right under the Sixth Amendment," the lawyers said.

Bankman-Fried's lawyers asked that he be allowed to meet with them five days a week at the Manhattan federal courthouse in preparation for the Oct. 2 trial. He is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York.

A spokesman for U.S. Attorney Damian Williams in Manhattan declined comment.

Prosecutors had in a letter earlier Friday told Kaplan that federal marshals had offered "extraordinary accommodations" at the Brooklyn jail, reflecting the volume of materials and the trial schedule.

Both letters redacted some of the proposed accommodations, which prosecutors said was needed because of security concerns.

Prosecutors have accused Bankman-Fried of stealing billions of dollars from FTX customers to prop up a separate hedge fund, conduct risky trades, buy property and make political donations.

The 31-year-old former billionaire has pleaded not guilty. He will be arraigned on Aug. 22 on the most recent version of his indictment, which has seven fraud and conspiracy charges.

Kaplan revoked Bankman-Fried's bail on Aug. 11, finding probable cause to believe Bankman-Fried broke the law by trying to influence witnesses who are expected to testify against him.

Bankman-Fried had been under house arrest at his parents' home in Palo Alto, California.

The Brooklyn jail, with about 1,549 inmates, has been plagued by conditions that public defenders have called "inhumane."

A federal judge suggested in 2021 that the jail and a now-closed federal jail in Manhattan were "run by morons."

Bankman-Fried's lawyers previously represented Ghislaine Maxwell, the former girlfriend of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, who complained for months that she could not prepare effectively in the Brooklyn jail for her sex trafficking trial.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)
U.S. President Joe Biden holds a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol during the trilateral summit at Camp David near Thurmont, Maryland, U.S., August 18, 2023. REUTERS/Jim Bourg

(Reuters) - After meeting at Camp David on Friday, U.S. President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol spoke to reporters from all three countries for about an hour, delivering prepared remarks and answering questions.

The following are some highlights:

US PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN

"This has been a great, great meeting ... This is a new era of partnership between Japan and the Republic of Korea and the United States."

"I want to recognize the important work that both of you have done and the political courage, and I mean this sincerely, the political courage that you both have demonstrated to resolve difficult issues that have stood in the way for a long time a close relationship between Japan and Korea, and with the United States."

"Together we're going to stand up for international law."

On Russia's invasion of Ukraine: "If we stood still what signal would that send to China about Taiwan?"

Putin's justification for the February 2022 invasion was "just ridiculous ... He talked about being Peter the Great."

JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER FUMIO KISHIDA

"This has been a precious opportunity for myself to further deepen the relationship of trust and confidence."

Speaking of Camp David: "It is a huge honor to have printed a fresh page in its history with this meeting."

"Unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force in the East and South China Seas are continuing and nuclear and missile threats of North Korea is only becoming ever larger."

"We also agreed to work together through the Indo-Pacific dialogue and the development of cooperation to realize a free and open Indo-Pacific, and in particular to coordinate capacity building support in the domain of maritime security, particularly with regard to ASEAN and Pacific Island countries."

SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT YOON SUK YEOL

"From this moment on Camp David will be remembered as a historic place where the Republic of Korea, the United States and Japan proclaimed that we will bolster the rules-based international order and play key roles to enhance regional security and prosperity, based on our shared values of freedom, human rights and rule of law."

"Any provocations or attacks against any one of our three countries will trigger a decision making process of this trilateral framework and our solidarity will become even stronger and harder."

On the Fukushima nuclear power plant water release: "I would like to make sure that everything is conducted and carried out in accordance with the procedures established by the IAEA."

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Hyonhee Shin and Eric Beech; Editing by Heather Timmons and Grant McCool)
FILE PHOTO: Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro leaves his home following a search operation, in Brasilia, Brazil May 3, 2023. REUTERS/Adriano Machado/File Photo

BRASILIA (Reuters) - A jailed personal aide to Brazil's former president Jair Bolsonaro will confess his involvement in crimes related to the alleged sale of jewelry gifted by foreign governments, a report from Veja magazine said on Thursday, citing his lawyer.

Bolsonaro's former aide-de-camp Lt Col Mauro Cid will say he acted under orders from the then president, according to the report, which added that Cid decided to confess given the amount of evidence gathered by the police against him.

Cid will admit to participating in the sale of jewelry given to Bolsonaro by foreign governments, the transfer of funds to Brazil, and the delivery of cash to Bolsonaro.

The report also says Cid will name former president Bolsonaro as the mastermind in a scheme in which they used government resources for their personal advantage, according to the federal police.

Bolsonaro's defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Maria Carolina Marcello; Editing by Lincoln Feast)
(Reuters) - Britain on Friday asked its citizens to be vigilant when travelling to Denmark due to possible attacks, following Koran burnings by anti-Islam activists in Denmark and Sweden that have outraged Muslims.

Britain and the U.S. government have previously warned of possible attacks in neighbouring Sweden, which raised its terrorism alert to the second highest level on Thursday.

"Terrorists are likely to try to carry out attacks in Denmark. Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places frequented by foreigners," the British foreign ministry warned in an updated travel advice.

The authorities in Denmark have successfully disrupted a number of planned attacks and made a number of arrests, it added.

Sweden has also said it thwarted attacks after Koran burnings and other acts against Islam's holiest text outraged Muslims and triggered threats from jihadists.

Earlier on Friday, Sweden's government said it had tightened security at embassies and other missions due to an increase in threats against Swedish interests abroad.

Both Danish and Swedish governments have condemned the burnings and are considering amending laws that could stop them but critics at home say such moves need to preserve freedom of speech that is protected in their constitutions.

(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis in Oslo; Editing by Frances Kerry)
FILE PHOTO: Facebook's new rebrand logo Meta is seen on smartphone in front of displayed logo of Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, Whatsapp and Oculus in this illustration picture taken October 28, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

By David Ljunggren

OTTAWA (Reuters) -The Canadian government on Friday demanded that Meta lift a "reckless" ban on domestic news from its platforms to allow people to share information about wildfires in the west of the country.

Meta started blocking news on its Facebook and Instagram platforms for all users in Canada this month in response to a new law requiring internet giants to pay for news articles.

Some people fleeing wildfires in the remote northern town of Yellowknife have complained to domestic media that the ban prevented them from sharing important data about the fires.

"Meta's reckless choice to block news ... is hurting access to vital information on Facebook and Instagram," Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge said in a social media post.

"We are calling on them to reinstate news sharing today for the safety of Canadians facing this emergency. We need more news right now, not less," she said.

Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguez earlier said the ban meant people did not have access to crucial information.

Chris Bittle, a legislator for the ruling Liberal Party, complained on Thursday that "Meta's actions to block news are reckless and irresponsible."

Ollie Williams, who runs Yellowknife's Cabin Radio digital radio station, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. that people were posting screen shots of information on Facebook since they could not share links to news feeds.

In response, a Meta spokesperson said by email that the company had activated the "Safety Check" feature on Facebook that allows users to spread the word that they are safe in the wake of a natural disaster or a crisis.

Canadians can use Facebook and Instagram to access content from official government agencies, emergency services and non-governmental organizations, the spokesperson added.

Meta says users do not come to its platform for news and forcing the company to pay for content shared on its platforms is unsustainable for its business.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Josie Kao)
FILE PHOTO: A view of the rough sea along a beach after Hurricane Hilary strengthened into a Category 2 storm, in Manzanillo, in Colima state, Mexico, in this undated handout photo obtained by Reuters on August 17, 2023. Proteccion Civil Estatal Colima (P

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Category 4 Hurricane Hilary hurtled towards Mexico's Baja California peninsula on Friday, a U.S. government agency said, as it issued its first ever tropical storm watch for California and warned of life-threatening and possibly catastrophic floods.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) expects the powerful storm to near Mexico's popular Cabo San Lucas resort city by late on Friday, though it should weaken before hitting the U.S. West Coast this weekend, nevertheless bringing dangerous rains.

"Life-threatening and potentially catastrophic flooding are likely over much of Baja California and Southern California this weekend and early next week," the Miami-based agency said in its latest advisory.

Mexico's Baja California peninsula spans two states.

The northernmost one canceled non-essential public activities on Friday, including school classes through Monday, and authorities in Mexico's second-largest city, Tijuana, urged people in high-risk zones to move to temporary shelters.

In the peninsula's southern state, authorities postponed a local baseball match and said ports would be closed through late Friday.

"Without being alarmist, we must all take precautions and stock up on water and basic necessities at home, without resorting to panic buying," the state's governor said.

NHC Deputy Director Jamie Rhome warned of flood risks from San Diego to Los Angeles and Las Vegas, with particularly high risks around the Palm Springs area.

"If you've got weekend plans, it's probably time to start altering those plans," he said. Major League Baseball moved up a trio of Sunday games in Southern California to Saturday.

MOVING FAST

Though cold waters off California's coastline usually weaken incoming storms, Rhome said "this system is expected to hold onto to its strength because it will be moving fast."

Hilary was moving west-northwest at nearly 12 miles per hour (19 kph), packing maximum sustained winds of nearly 130 mph (215 kph), after being upgraded to a Category 4 overnight, it said.

Rhome said California and southern Nevada faced risks from severe flooding caused by up to 10 inches (25.4 cm) of rainfall, while the agency warned a storm surge could cause coastal flooding and destructive waves along Mexico's Baja California peninsula.

According to the National Weather Service (NWS), this is the first time in its records that a high risk warning has been issued for California's south-easterly desert regions.

Heavy rains are expected to hit California, Nevada and neighboring Arizona following a record-breaking summer heat wave.

Phoenix, Arizona, endured a month-long stretch of temperatures exceeding 110 degrees Fahrenheit, (43C) throughout July, according to NWS, trapped under "heat dome" of stagnant air.

In California's Death Valley desert, temperatures hit 128 Fahrenheit (53 C) in mid-July, among the highest temperatures recorded on Earth in the past 90 years, while tens of millions of Americans were put under heat alerts.

(Reporting by Valentine Hilaire, Sarah Morland, Brendan O'Boyle and Lizbeth Diaz in Mexico City, Rich Mckay in Atlanta, Timothy Ahmann in Washington, and Frank McGurty and Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Aurora Ellis and Sandra Maler)
FILE PHOTO: Autotalks and Qualcomm logos are seen in this illustration taken, May 8, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

By Foo Yun Chee and Sudip Kar-Gupta

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm will have to seek EU antitrust approval for its planned takeover of Israeli auto-chip maker Autotalks even though the deal is below the European Union's turnover threshold, EU regulators said on Friday.

The European Commission cited the importance of the deal to original equipment manufacturers and others who need access to vehicle-to-everything (V2X) semiconductors.

The EU competition watchdog said 15 EU countries, including France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden had asked it to examine the deal.

It said Qualcomm would have to secure EU antitrust approval before it can close the deal.

"The transaction would combine two of the main suppliers of V2X semiconductors in the EEA (European Economic Area). The V2X technology is key to improving road safety, traffic management and reducing CO2 emissions as well as for the deployment of autonomous vehicles," the Commission said in a statement.

"It is therefore important to ensure that customers such as original equipment manufacturers or infrastructure managers retain access to V2X technology at competitive prices and conditions."

Qualcomm, which announced the planned takeover in May to expand its automotive-related business, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Autotalks makes dedicated chips used in the V2X communications technology sector for manned and driverless vehicles, with a view to improving road safety.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta Editing by Jason Neely and Mark Potter)
Lucy Letby, who was on trial at Manchester Crown Court charged with the murder of seven babies, speaks during her interrogation, in Chester, Britain, in this screengrab obtained from an undated Handout video obtained by Reuters on August 17, 2023. Cheshir

By Andrew MacAskill

LONDON (Reuters) - The families of the babies killed by the British nurse Lucy Letby spoke of their search for answers and "extreme hurt, anger and distress" after she was found guilty of murdering seven newborns and the attempted murders of six others.

Letby, who was in her 20s at the time of the murders, is the most prolific child serial killer in modern British history.

Her case has captivated Britain after she was put on trial for the killings and attempted murders in the neonatal unit of a hospital in northwest England where she worked.

Following her conviction at a court in Manchester in northern England on Friday, the families released a joint statement saying they would never truly know why this had happened.

"To lose a baby is a heartbreaking experience that no parent should have to go through," they said. "But to lose a baby or have a baby harmed in these circumstances is unimaginable."

The families cannot be named for legal reasons. The parents of twin boys who Letby tried to murder revealed the turmoil that they had been through, going from the euphoria of the birth to the horror of seeing staff fight to keep their children alive.

They did not realise what had happened until the police contacted them about two years later.

"It didn't have to be that many," the father told Sky News, asking why hospital bosses had not acted sooner to stop more babies from being attacked. He said he felt "very let down" by the hospital.

Letby was present at the birth of the two boys and the parents said they were ecstatic at being first-time parents.

But the mother realised something was wrong when another nurse came into her room, saying she needed to come downstairs.The father said he remembered seeing the doctors pumping his child's heart "like a rag doll".

"I was just full of tears," he said. "We didn't know what was going on." He remembered how other nurses looked "very worried and panicked" while Letby was standing "very calm and cool".

Both the twins survived, but one suffered some brain damage and his parents worry it might impact him in the future.

The boys' father said he is now a "changed person" and suffers sleepless nights and depression.

The government has ordered an independent inquiry, including how concerns raised by clinicians were dealt with.

(Reporting by Andrew MacAskill; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
LIBREVILLE (Reuters) - Major opposition parties in Gabon on Friday backed a single candidate for the Aug. 26 presidential election, joining forces in the hope of beating President Ali Bongo and ending his family's 56-year grip on power.

Of the 19 candidates on the ballot, five have agreed to support the candidacy of former minister and university professor Albert Ondo Ossa, according to their opposition alliance known as Alternance 2023.

"Gabon is not the property of (President) Bongo Ondimba," Ondo Ossa said at the meeting in the capital Libreville to announce a joint candidate.

"We are going to fight with the means that the constitution offers us. We must have free and transparent elections."

Bongo, 64, has been president of the oil-producing nation for two seven-year terms since succeeding his father Omar, who died in 2009 after ruling since 1967. Gabon has no constitutional term limits.

Both of his election wins were disputed by the opposition, who said he won fraudulently. His 2016 victory triggered deadly clashes between police and protesters during which the parliament building was gutted by fire.

(Reporting by Gerauds Wilfried Obangome; Writing by Alessandra Prentice; editing by Diane Craft)
By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Georgia man who was convicted late last year for his role in a $463 million genetic testing scheme to defraud Medicare was sentenced to 27 years in prison on Friday, the U.S. Justice Department said in a statement.

Minal Patel, 44, of Atlanta, owned LabSolutions LLC, a lab enrolled with Medicare that performed sophisticated genetic tests. Patel conspired with patient brokers, telemedicine companies, and call centers to target Medicare beneficiaries with telemarketing calls falsely stating that Medicare covered expensive cancer genetic tests, according to prosecutors.

Medicare is the federal health insurance program for people over 65 and the disabled.

After the Medicare beneficiaries agreed to take a test, Patel paid kickbacks and bribes to patient brokers to obtain signed doctors' orders authorizing the tests from telemedicine companies, prosecutors said. To conceal the kickbacks and bribes, Patel required patient brokers to sign sham contracts, they said.

Patel was convicted by a federal jury in Florida late last year of health care fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and payment of illegal health care kickbacks.

From July 2016 through August 2019, LabSolutions submitted more than $463 million in claims to Medicare, including for medically unnecessary genetic tests, of which Medicare paid over $187 million, the Justice Department said. In that time frame, Patel personally received over $21 million in Medicare proceeds, prosecutors added.

Patel was indicted in 2019 on charges of healthcare fraud and paying and receiving kickbacks to and from marketers who collected cheek swabs from patients for genetic testing.

Back then, U.S. federal agents raided genetic testing laboratories, and 35 people were criminally charged in four states in a crackdown on genetic testing fraud that officials said caused $2.1 billion in losses to federal healthcare insurance programs.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by David Gregorio)
Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Ihor Klymenko confirmed the information about the prevention of an attack on Deputy Head of the State Tax Service of Ukraine Yevhen Sokur.

"I can confirm that the National Police prevented an attack on the deputy head of the State Tax Service of Ukraine. The criminal investigation officers worked effectively," the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs told Interfax-Ukraine on Friday.

He said: "The figurants have been detained. More information will be provided by the police."

Later, the National Police of Ukraine, citing Chief of the Police Ivan Vyhovsky, said two suspects in this crime had been detained.

"Operatives of the Criminal Investigation Department of the National Police, together with investigators and special forces of the Main Department of the National Police of Kyiv, detained two men who were preparing an attack on a tax service official. The police were able to prevent the attack at the very moment when the suspects with prepared bats were already heading towards the man, when they were leaving entrance of his house," the police said on the website.

According to the report, law enforcement officers received information about preparations for an attack to inflict bodily harm in advance, so on Thursday at 08.00 they detained the attackers during an attempt to commit a crime, thus actually saving the official.

"In addition to bits, the attackers had a photo of a 30-year-old potential victim and his car, which indicates the custom nature of the crime," the police said.

The attackers turned out to be previously convicted 27 and 31-year-old citizens, now they are detained in accordance with Artcile 208 Code of Criminal Procedure of Ukraine. Investigators are looking into the identity of the attacker.

Pretrial investigation is carried out under Part 1 of Article 14; Part 2 Article 121 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine  preparation for a crime, infliction of grievous bodily harm by a group of persons or committed by order.

As reported with reference to Head of the parliamentary committee on finance, tax and customs policy Danylo Hetmantsev, an assassination attempt was made on deputy head of the State Tax Service Sokur on Thursday morning.

Yesterday at 07.50 there was an assassination attempt on Deputy Head of the State Tax Service of Ukraine Yevhen Sokur. The attack was in the city center. Customers are schemers who lost their 'business' and crossed the border. Yevhen was saved by the coordinated actions of the criminal investigation department. Low bow to the professionals from the Criminal Investigation Department of the National Police," he said in the Telegram channel.

According to Hetmantsev, the perpetrators have been detained and are testifying against the customers.
Guatemalan presidential candidate Bernardo Arevalo of the Semilla party addresses supporters during his closing campaign rally, ahead of Sunday's presidential run-off, at the Plaza Central in Guatemala City, Guatemala August 16, 2023. REUTERS/Cristina Chi

By Brendan O'Boyle

(Reuters) - Bernardo Arevalo, the surprise frontrunner in Guatemala's presidential election, is promising to revive a stalled anti-corruption movement and reverse democratic backsliding if voters back him in Sunday's runoff vote.

A 64-year-old ex-diplomat, son of a former president and leader of the progressive Semilla party, Arevalo holds a double-digit lead in polls over his opponent, former first lady Sandra Torres.

"We need to turn the page," Arevalo said in a debate on Monday, promising to bring the country "out of the swamp of corruption."

Founded in 2017, Arevalo's party Semilla, the Spanish word for seed, has roots in anti-graft protests organized in 2015 after Guatemala's attorney general and a UN-backed anti-corruption body revealed a corruption scheme involving the president and vice president, who resigned and were arrested.

Recent years have seen a backlash to corruption investigations, with dozens of prosecutors and judges forced into exile. Arevalo has promised to welcome them back.

"The first, most important item on (Arevalo's) agenda is the fight against corruption," said Samuel Perez Alvarez, Semilla's leader in congress.

Arevalo surged in support this year after authorities disqualified three other opposition contenders, including the frontrunner, drawing concern from rights groups.

In 2019, Semilla's then candidate, former attorney general Thelma Aldana, was similarly disqualified on what she said were politically motivated corruption charges.

Arevalo nearly met a similar fate when a prosecutor persuaded a court to suspend Semilla after June's first-round vote, threatening to sideline his bid. Guatemala's top court later reversed the ban.

If elected, Arevalo will have to work with a Congress where Semilla will only control 23 of 160 seats.

"Their big challenge will be to evolve from an opposition party to the ruling party. They will need to dialogue and possibly reconcile with people who were once political adversaries," said political analyst Marielos Chang.

Arevalo's personal history has infused his campaign with symbolism. His father, Juan Jose Arevalo, became Guatemala's first democratically elected president in 1945, ushering in an era of reforms dubbed Guatemala's "democratic spring."

That period was cut short by a U.S.-backed military coup against Arevalo's successor in 1954.

At his campaign's closing event on Wednesday, Arevalo promised the advent of a new "spring" if elected.

"For the first time in many years there is an alternative," he said.

(Reporting by Brendan O'Boyle; Editing by Chris Reese)
The Pentagon building is seen in Arlington, Virginia, U.S. October 9, 2020. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

By Valerie Insinna and Tim Hepher

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - JetZero, which has won U.S. Air Force backing to build a demonstrator for a futuristic aircraft, expects a projected 50% cut in fuel consumption to open the doors of the airline industry as well the Pentagon, its chief executive said.

The U.S. Air Force on Wednesday announced a $235 million contract for the California startup to develop a "blended wing body" demonstrator, named because its wings merge seamlessly with the curvaceous fuselage, reducing drag.

The concept has been around since the 1940s but has attracted renewed attention because of its efficient elliptical shape, saving fuel and boosting range.

The demonstrator is expected to fly in 2027 and could influence the design of future military cargo jets and aerial refuelers. The Air Force hopes to begin buying a next-generation tanker in the mid-2030s and has its eyes on designs that could offer greater range and stealth needed in the Asia-Pacific.

While military contracts could offer JetZero a chance to break into aircraft production, it also eyes a much-touted gap in the civil market between medium- and long-haul jets, where its 200-250 seat aircraft will sit, CEO Tom O'Leary said.

Boeing abandoned a "middle of the market" plane project in 2022, saying the case did not work. Airbus has focused on expanding smaller models.

In an interview, O'Leary said this would not deter JetZero and its radical design.

"We're beginning conversations with all of the airlines and finding out what their appetite is for aircraft in the middle market," he told Reuters.

"There's been universal interest and appeal because they're all interested in fuel efficiency and emissions reductions."

Two people familiar with the process said the Air Force, anxious to take advantage of higher volume and lower costs, had insisted bidders included a civil design when bidding.

NORTHROP PARTNER

JetZero's partner Northrop Grumman will manufacture the demonstrator.

That taps Northrop's pedigree in so-called flying-wing stealth bombers - an even more radical bat-wing design - though analysts say civil success depends on meeting goals of reliability very different from military jets.

Northrop's B-2, the world's first stealth bomber, fired the opening shots of the 1999 Kosovo war, while its newly-revealed B-21 successor also incorporates a bat-winged design.

The Air Force said materials and manufacturing advances have made production more attainable.

However, blended wing designs have not yet garnered significant support in civil markets. Airbus dropped the concept from candidates for a small hydrogen-powered plane for 2035. It has not ruled out another look later.

While range and payload make a blended wing body optimal for a freighter or tanker, an airliner is "trickier" because of logistical constraints at airports and difficulties of scaling families of jets, said Bank of America analyst Ron Epstein.

One thing that would not radically change is engines.

Whereas Boeing aimed to commission new engines for its abandoned project, JetZero says aerodynamic savings allow it to exploit existing models.

The demonstrator will be powered by Pratt & Whitney's Geared Turbofan used by Airbus. A decision has not been taken on eventual production models.

Capital Alpha Partners analyst Byron Callan said the decision to back JetZero suggested Air Force "frustration" with traditional aerospace companies' use of cash to favor shareholders rather than bigger developmental risks.

"One way to potentially change behaviors is to award contracts to smaller firms like JetZero," he wrote.

(Reporting by Valerie Insinna and Tim Hepher; Editing by Mark Potter)
DUBLIN (Reuters) - A 50-year-old man has been arrested as part of an investigation linked to last week's accidental breach of sensitive data which likely left militant groups in possession of the details of Northern Ireland police, a senior officer said on Friday.

The leak is hugely sensitive in Northern Ireland, where officers are still sporadically targeted by dissident groups in bomb and gun attacks, despite a 1998 peace deal largely ending three decades of sectarian violence.

"We continue to work toward establishing those who possess information relating to last week's data breach," Detective Chief Superintendent Andy Hill said in a statement.

The surnames, initials, work location and departments of all serving Northern Irish police officers and staff, numbering more than 9,000, were available to the public online for more than two hours last week, after they were included in error in response to a freedom of information request by a member of the public.

A 39-year-old man was arrested as part of the investigation on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Graham Fahy; Editing by Nick Macfie)
KYIV (Reuters) -One person was killed and two were injured as a result of Russian shelling of a village near the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson on Friday, the prosecutor general's office said.

The prosecutors did not provide details of the incident and did not name the village, but said some private houses were damaged.

In a separate case, the prosecutors said, four people were injured after Russia shelled the residential area of the city of Chasiv Yar, located in the Donetsk region close to Bakhmut.

(Reporting by Oleksandr Kozhukhar; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
ROME (Reuters) - Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who joined the growing number of Italians visiting Albania on holiday this summer, ensured that a local restaurant owner was not left out of pocket after a group of her compatriots fled without paying their bill.

Meloni and her family spent a few days in Albania this week as a guest of Prime Minister Edi Rama, whose country is enjoying a tourist boom this summer with visitors drawn to its white sand beaches and low prices compared to the rest of Europe.

When news of some Italians running off without paying at a restaurant in the central city of Berat went viral in local media, Meloni stepped in to help, Rama told Italian daily La Stampa.

"Go and pay the bill for these idiots, please," Rama quoted Meloni as telling the Italian ambassador to Albania.

Francesco Lollobrigida, the Italian agriculture minister and Meloni's brother-in-law, was on the trip to Albania and said it was a question of national pride.

"She offered to pay the bill. The ambassador was on his way back to Tirana and was available to do this," he told Reuters. "A few dishonest individuals cannot embarrass a nation of decent people," Lollobrigida added.

Rama said in a TV interview last week that Albania expected to welcome close to 500,000 visitors from Italy this year. Many Italians shunned domestic trips amid soaring prices and travelled to the Balkan country where accommodation and beach facilities are cheaper.

(Reporting by Angelo Amante; Editing by Keith Weir and Frances Kerry)
MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's King Felipe will kick off a two-day round of meetings with the country's main political parties on Monday to discuss choosing a candidate for premiership after an inconclusive election in July, his office said on Friday.

The head of state will meet the parties with smaller parliamentary representation first. On Tuesday, he will receive the leaders of the three largest: the centre-right People's Party (PP), the centre-left Socialists of acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, and far-right Vox.

The talks come after Socialist Francina Armengol was elected as speaker of the lower house on Thursday with support from Catalan separatist parties, marking the first victory for Sanchez as he hopes to secure a new term.

While the PP, led by Alberto Nunez Feijoo, won the most seats in July, it fell short of an outright majority and has so far failed to produce any alliances strong enough to enable it to form a government, despite support from third-placed Vox.

Sanchez's Socialist Party, the second-largest in parliament, will try to win investiture with the support of its far-left partner Sumar and smaller regional parties including Catalonia's separatists.

Under Spanish law, when a party wins fewer than the 176 seats needed for a majority in the 350-strong house, the king holds talks with all parties across the political spectrum and proposes a candidate to become prime minister.

There is no time limit for the candidate's negotiations to form a government.

If the candidate fails to obtain an absolute majority in a parliamentary vote, a re-run requiring only a simple majority is held 48 hours later. If they lose again, the king has to pick a new candidate.

If no candidate secures a majority within two months of the first vote, new elections have to be called.

(Reporting by Pietro Lombardi, editing by Andrei Khalip and Devika Syamnath)
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Sweden's government is considering changing the Public Order Act to make it possible for police to deny permission for acts such as burning the Koran but only if they threaten national security, it said on Friday.

Sweden raised its terrorist alert to the second highest level on Thursday, saying it had thwarted attacks after Koran burnings and other acts against Islam's holiest text outraged Muslims and triggered threats from jihadists.

Insults towards public figures or against religions are protected by Sweden's far-reaching freedom of speech laws and the government rules out changing them.

However, Minister of Justice Gunnar Strommer said on Friday he would appoint a commission to look into giving police wider powers to deny acts such as Koran burnings.

"Of course, general international dissatisfaction or vague threat should not be enough  it must be about serious and qualified threats," Strommer told a news conference.

He added it could give police the power to select a different location for a protest or to dissolve it.

An Iraqi living in Sweden has damaged several copies of the Koran in recent months. Many Muslims view desecrating the Koran, which they see as the literal word of God, as a grave offence. A media outlet linked to militant group al Qaeda has urged violent retribution against Sweden.

The decision to appoint a commission met with immediate scepticism from several political parties, including the government's support party, the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats.

"Even if different values always need to be weighed against each other, the Sweden Democrats will never accept that we adapt to threats and pressure from Islamists and dictatorships," Sweden Democrats' party leader Jimmie Akesson said in a statement.

Earlier on Friday, the government said it had tightened security at embassies and other missions due to an increase in threats against Swedish interests abroad.

Sweden's Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom told TT that Sweden has increased security at embassies and other missions, without giving detail for security reasons.

"But the safety of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' staff is the highest priority," he said, adding that the safety of families of diplomats and local staff was also taken into account.

"So there are different categories that are affected by this security work that is now being intensified," he said.

Billstrom did not reply to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Johan Ahlander; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Barbara Lewis)
Aug 11, 2023; Bedminster, New Jersey, USA; Former President Donald Trump holds papers showing the projections for the 2024 republican candidate primary polls during the first round of the LIV Golf Bedminster golf tournament at Trump National Bedminster. /

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Former U.S. President Donald Trump plans to skip the first Republican primary debate next week and instead sit for an online interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, the New York Times reported, citing people briefed on the matter.

Trump has for months suggested that he would likely pass on Wednesday night's debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, arguing that it did not make sense to give others a change to attack him given his sizeable lead among Republicans in national polls.

Trump has also criticized Fox, which is hosting the debate, over its recent coverage of him.

Trump's absence could mean Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a distant second in the polls, will become the focus of attacks from other candidates looking to position themselves as the primary alternative to the former president.

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said nothing had been confirmed on the candidate's debate plans, without elaborating.

Representatives for Fox, which parted ways earlier this year with Carlson, and the Republican National Committee could not immediately be reached for comment. Carlson, who now is starting his own media company, also could not be reached.

In the most recent Reuters/Ipsos poll released this month, Trump held 47% of the Republican vote nationally, with DeSantis dropping six percentage points from July down to just 13%. None of the other candidates due to attend the debate have broken out of single digits.

Trump's rivals for the Republican presidential nomination ahead of the 2024 election will gather at the debate to tout their candidacies, but so far only a few have aggressively criticized Trump despite his mounting legal troubles.

Trump has an Aug. 25 deadline to voluntarily surrender in Fulton County, Georgia, after being charged this week in a fourth criminal indictment, for an alleged scheme intended to reverse his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

Most self-identified Republicans polled in June said they saw politics behind the indictments of Trump up to that point.

Trump also faces two federal indictments over his handling of classified documents after leaving office in January 2021 and over his alleged role in efforts to overturn his election loss. He also faces charges in New York over alleged hush money payments to a pornographic film star ahead of the 2016 election.

(Reporting by Nathan Layne; Writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by Ismail Shakil and Alistair Bell)
U.S. President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol pose during the trilateral summit at Camp David near Thurmont, Maryland, U.S., August 18, 2023. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

CAMP DAVID, Maryland (Reuters) - The United States prevailed on Japan and South Korea on Friday to use their strongest language yet in a joint statement to condemn China's "dangerous and aggressive actions" in the South China Sea.

In the Korean version of a Camp David summit joint statement seen by Reuters, the three countries committed to consult promptly with each other during crises and to coordinate responses to regional challenges, provocations and threats affecting common interests.

The statement also committed to hold trilateral military training exercises annually and to share real-time information on North Korean missile launches by the end of 2023. The countries promised to hold trilateral summits annually as well.

U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday earlier welcomed the leaders of South Korea and Japan to a summit at Camp David aimed at bolstering ties as the three countries seek to project unity in the face of China's rise and nuclear threats from North Korea.

The statement said the three would launch a supply-chain early warning system pilot project to expand information-sharing and fight economic coercion together.

On their response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the leaders agreed to continue supporting Kiev and to maintain strong, coordinated sanctions against Moscow, while also aiming to further curb dependence on Russian energy.

But it was the language on China that stood out as stronger than expected, and which is likely to provoke a response from Beijing, which is a vital trading partner for both Korea and Japan.

"Regarding the dangerous and aggressive actions we recently witnessed by the People's Republic of China in support of its illegal maritime territorial claims in the South China Sea, we ... strongly oppose any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo in the Indo-Pacific waters," the statement said.

(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin, Trevor Hunnicutt and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Don Durfee and Alistair Bell)
Three contracts for the supply of air defense equipment for Ukraine worth more than GBP 90 million ($114 million) were signed by the Ministry of Defense of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on behalf of the UK-administrayed International Fund for Ukraine.

"These include a GBP 56 million [$72.1 million] counter-uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) contract with Norwegian defence company Kongsberg and two further contracts to provide further air defence capabilities," the ministry said in a press release.

This is about CORTEX Typhon that is designed to be operated by as few as two users, and can be rapidly deployed and repositioned to maximise its operational effectiveness. The system can operate individually, or as part of an integrated network, and will use a complex suite of sensors, cameras, radars, and electronic surveillance equipment to allow it to physically destroy or disrupt drones.

"These air defence systems have the capability and flexibility to be rapidly deployed to either protect Ukraine's civilian population and infrastructure, or be put to use on the frontline. The International Fund for Ukraine highlights the unity and resolve of our Allies to work together to provide Ukraine with cutting-edge equipment to meet its capability requirements," Secretary of Defense Ben Wallace said.

The contracts come as a new delivery of aerial reconnaissance drones arrives in Ukraine, designed to carry out both land and sea-based reconnaissance missions. The Armed Forces of Ukraine have already begun training on the systems, which will form a package of more than 100 drones.

The agency said GBP770 million in contributions from the UK, Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland and Lithuania have already been collected through IFU. At the same time, the UK itself has already allocated GBP2.3 billion ($2.9 billion) for 2023 for further military assistance to Ukraine.

In June, it was reported that drones from a number of European companies purchased through IFU would begin to be delivered to Ukraine in July. According to Defense news, we could talk about the T150 quadrocopters from the British company Malloy Aeronautics, the Dutch DeltaQuad Pro VTOL and Astero ISR drones from the Danish company Nordic Wing. Tekever, based in Lisbon, confirmed to Defense news that the batch of UAVs will include its Tekever AR3 vehicles.
Military personnel gesture as the ECOWAS anthem is played during a meeting of the Committee of Chiefs of Defense staff on the deployment of the ECOWAS standby force in the Republic of Niger, in Accra, Ghana. August 17, 2023. REUTERS/Francis Kokoroko

By Maxwell Akalaare Adombila

ACCRA (Reuters) - West Africa's main regional bloc on Friday said it had agreed an undisclosed "D-Day" for a possible military intervention to restore democracy in Niger if diplomatic efforts fail, stressing that it would not hold endless dialogue with the defiant junta.

The comments came at the end of a two-day meeting of West African army chiefs in Ghana's capital Accra, where they have been hashing out the logistics and strategy for a possible use of force in Niger. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has said such action would be a last resort.

"We are ready to go anytime the order is given," ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security Abdel-Fatau Musah said during the closing ceremony. "The D-Day is also decided, which we are not going to disclose."

He said a peaceful resolution remained the bloc's preferred option.

"As we speak we are still readying (a) mediation mission into the country, so we have not shut any door... (but) we are not going to engage in endless dialogue."

There was no immediate response from the junta.

Military officers deposed Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26 and have defied calls from the United Nations, ECOWAS and others to reinstate him, prompting the bloc to order a standby force to be assembled.

"We've already agreed and fine-tuned what will be required for the intervention," Musah said, declining to share how many troops would be deployed and other strategic details.

Most of its 15 member states are prepared to contribute to the joint force excepting those also under military rule - Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea - and Cape Verde, according to the bloc.

ECOWAS has taken a harder stance on the Niger coup, the wider region's seventh in three years, than it did on previous ones. The credibility of the bloc is at stake because it had said it would tolerate no further such overthrows.

"The decision is that the coup in Niger is one coup too many for the region, and we are putting a stop to it at this time, we are drawing the line in the sand," Musah said.

Any intervention would spell further turmoil for West Africa's impoverished Sahel region, which is already battling a decade-old Islamist insurgency and a deepening hunger crisis.

Niger also has strategic importance beyond West Africa because of its uranium and oil reserves and role as a hub for foreign troops involved in the fight against the insurgents linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State.

Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts continue. The United Nations special envoy for West Africa and the Sahel, Leonardo Santos Simao, met with the junta's Prime Minister Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine on Friday.

Simao said in comments broadcast on Niger's state television that he wanted to listen to the junta's point of view "to study together a way for the country to return as quickly as possible to constitutional normality and legality too. We are convinced that it is always possible with dialogue."

(Additional reporting by Anait Miridzhanian and Alexander Winning; Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Philippa Fletcher, Grant McCool and Angus MacSwan)
A guard mans the access to the Jesuit Central American University (UCA) in Managua, Nicaragua August 16, 2023. REUTERS/Stringer

By Philip Pullella

(Reuters) - The superior general of the worldwide Jesuit religious order has condemned the closure of its university in Nicaragua as part of a government attempt to "suffocate" the Catholic Church and civic institutions in the Central American country.

In a letter sent to the order's Central American leader, Father Arturo Sosa said the government's accusations against the prestigious university were "totally false" and part of a wider government programme of "slander" against those defending freedom.

The letter was sent late on Thursday and seen by Reuters.

The United States has condemned the confiscation of the assets of the Central American University (UCA) as a further erosion of democracy.

The university has said the government has accused it of being a "centre for terrorism organised by criminal groups" and that a Nicaraguan judge had ordered the confiscation of all its assets.

"We know that all of the accusations against UCA are totally false and without any foundation whatsoever," Sosa wrote in the letter to Father Jose Domingo Cuesta, the order's regional superior for Central America.

The Rome-based Sosa, who is Venezuelan, said that if Nicaragua had an impartial justice system it would "shed light on the truth" about the government's actions since 2018 anti-government protests in which more than 360 people were killed.

The government's action against UCA, other Catholic institutions and civic organisations, was aimed at "suffocating, closing or appropriating them", Sosa said.

The UCA seizure follows an intensifying crackdown by President Daniel Ortega on Nicaragua's Catholic Church, whose leaders acted as mediators in the aftermath of the 2018 protests.

Vatican officials see the oppression of the Church in Nicaragua as one of the worst since the Cold War, when many communist countries in Eastern Europe persecuted the Church.

In his letter, Sosa called for an end to "government aggression" against the 63-year-old UCA, saying it mission, like that of all Jesuit universities, is to defend justice, truth and free thought and to offer an open and democratic education.

(This story has been corrected to fix the first name of the order leader to Arturo from Antonio, in paragraph 2)

(Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Robert Birsel)
Nelson Chamisa, the leader of the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), addresses the audience during the launch of his party's election manifesto, in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, August 8, 2023. REUTERS/KB Mpofu/File Photo

By Nyasha Chingono and Nelson Banya

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabweans vote next week in an election many hope could end the country's lengthy economic crisis, but those expectations are tempered by concerns that the contest is skewed in favour of a party that has been in power for more than four decades.

Mineral-rich Zimbabwe was once considered one of Africa's prosperous economies, but it has been in economic turmoil since 2000 when former leader Robert Mugabe led the violent seizure of white-owned farms to resettle landless Blacks.

Mugabe was ousted in a 2017 military coup after 37 years in power and replaced by his long-time ally President Emmerson Mnangagwa, but the economic turnaround many hoped for at that time has proved elusive.

There are 11 candidates running for president in Wednesday's vote, but the real battle is between 80-year old Mnangagwa and Nelson Chamisa, a 45-year old lawyer and pastor who leads the opposition Citizens' Coalition for Change (CCC). The election is also for lawmakers and local council leaders.

Mnangagwa's 2018 election win was unsuccessfully challenged by the opposition and political analysts say the country could be headed for a repeat of that. The ruling ZANU-PF denies opposition allegations that the playing field is not level.

"Of course, we are headed for another disputed election," said political analyst Pedzisai Ruhanya, referring to a dispute over the voters roll as one contentious issue.

The CCC has taken the electoral commission to court to demand access to electronic copies of the voters roll so that it can be searched and analysed.

The electoral commission has said it has given all parties printed copies of the roll. The courts have yet to rule on the CCC application in the case, which is one of several court challenges mounted by the opposition ahead of the vote.

There have also been reports of voter intimidation, especially in rural areas of the country of 15 million people, voter watchdog Electoral Resource Centre (ERC) said.

"General public sentiment, as noted in several surveys, reveals that people have very little confidence in the electoral process as well as the election management body in the country," ERC said in a statement on Monday.

Police have blocked some of the opposition's rallies but have denied accusations that they have targeted only opposition campaigns, saying rallies for both major parties have been stopped on grounds of public safety.

The opposition also says its supporters are routinely arrested under Zimbabwe's tough public order laws, and that there have been cases of violent intimidation of its activists by ZANU-PF supporters.

"The odds are many. Weve also seen a number of our supporters being intimidated and harassed, but citizens remain defiant. People are ready and mobilised for change," CCC spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere told reporters on Wednesday.

ZANU-PF says it is not favoured by the courts, police or public media. At a news conference on Thursday, ZANU-PF spokesperson Chris Mutsvangwa denied allegations of voter intimidation and unfair electoral processes.

He accused the opposition of being "obsessed with criticising the electoral process so that they have something to say after losing".

'BAD' HUMAN RIGHTS

Wilbert Mandinde, an official at the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, said the human rights situation "has been bad" during the campaign.

"We believe that it is not proper for members of the opposition to have to struggle to gather, to have to struggle to campaign," said Mandinde.

Mnangagwa narrowly defeated Chamisa in the 2018 election, which the opposition disputed over alleged irregularities. The president's victory was upheld by the Constitutional Court.

The opposition is hoping it can defy the odds and win this time, riding on frustrations over the longrunning economic crisis.

Political analysts say young voters who have never known a prosperous Zimbabwe could play a significant role in the election. One-sixth of the registered electorate are first-time voters.

(Editing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo and Frances Kerry)
(Tribune News Service)  Air Force officials have remained mum about the deaths of 17 people on an Oklahoma base this year, citing concerns for its active units as well as the families of those who have died.

When asked about the spate of deaths at Tinker Air Force Base, its spokeswoman Kimberly Woodruff told Military.com that the lives lost since the start of 2023 can be attributed to various causes. She initially declined to disclose the number of deceased, noting that several investigations are still underway.

We are deeply saddened by the losses we have experienced at Tinker Air Force Base, Col. Abby Ruscetta, the Tinker installation commander, said in a statement. Our focus moving forward is to let everyone know we value them, and we stand together as a team.

Currently, some 30,000 personnel, including government employees, contractors and civilians, are active on the base in Oklahoma City. A source there told Military.com they had been informed of several deaths this year, including potential suicides, as well as some related to COVID-19.

Ann Stefanek, an Air Force spokesperson, said it was up to the Department of Defense to release suicide statistics, though those numbers tend to be service-wide and do not typically identify a specific base. While the agency later confirmed 17 deaths have occurred at Tinker Air Force Base this year, it declined to specify which are being investigated as suicides.

Between the start of 2023 and March, the Air Force reported 17 suicides across the entire active-duty force, including two in the reserves and five in the Air National Guard. according to the Department of Defenses quarterly report. Last year, the Air Force reported a total 63 suicides in the active-duty service, 13 in the reserve and 14 in the Air National Guard.

Woodruff said that Tinker is committed to fostering a culture that values and encourages help-seeking behavior and enhances individual confidence, adding that officials have also engaged with our people following the recent losses of life and established Military Family Readiness, a collection of professionals, chaplains and counselors dedicated to fostering mental well-being.

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A Marine trainee at the services infantry school at Camp Pendleton, Calif., died Thursday during a nighttime live-fire exercise, a service spokesman said.

The incident was under investigation on Friday, Maj. Joshua Pena, a spokesman for Marine Corps Training and Education Command, said in a brief statement. The Marine who died has not been named yet. The military typically waits at least 24 hours after family of the deceased service member is notified before publicly releasing the name.

The command is fully cooperating with the investigation efforts, Pena said. He added the School of Infantry-West was providing support to the family and peers of the deceased during this difficult time.

Pena said additional information about the incident, including what led to the Marines death, was part of the ongoing probe and not immediately available.

The Marine Corps School of Infantry-West houses one of the services two training courses for new Marines entering the infantry out of recruit training. The West Coast school at Camp Pendleton typically trains Marines bound for the infantry after they complete initial recruit training at the services Recruit Depot San Diego. Infantry Marines who graduate from Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C., typically train for their job at the services School of Infantry-East at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

dickstein.corey@stripes.com

Twitter: @CDicksteinDC
YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan  The Navys oldest operational warship, the flagship of the U.S. 7th Fleet, steamed into its homeport last week after completing its first full patrol of the Indo-Pacific since 2019.

The amphibious command ship USS Blue Ridge returned Thursday to Yokosuka Naval Base, where it departed July 8 to little notice. In the interim, it spent 40 days at sea, sailed 8,840 nautical miles through the Philippine and South China seas and made port calls in Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei and the Philippines, according to a 7th Fleet news release Thursday.

Patrols such as these are a critical part of the vessels overall mission, and its crew was excited about getting back to one of its core missions, after several years, 7th Fleet spokeswoman Cmdr. Megan Greene told Stars and Stripes by phone Friday.

The mission that the ship has here in this region is actually really unique, she said. This is a very vast region with countries spread far apart; to be able to go to those countries and be able to have the amount of interactions we had is very special. I think thats one of the reasons this patrol was so important.

The Blue Ridge is a peacetime emissary and platform for humanitarian efforts in the region, but it also serves as 7th Fleets command-and-control ship during fleet operations.

In Jakarta, Indonesia, 7th Fleet commander Vice Adm. Karl Thomas met with U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Sung Y. Kim and high-ranking members of the Indonesian navy, while 7th Fleet staff members met with their Indonesian counterparts, according to the release.

Thomas and his staff later met with several other key dignitaries in Brunei and the Philippines, according to the release.

The ship last completed a full patrol more than four years ago, when it spent 114 days at sea and visited 11 ports in nine countries between Feb. 4 and May 29, 2019.

The Blue Ridge in January 2020 made stops in Japan, South Korea and Thailand before the COVID-19 pandemic curtailed the Navys port calls.

In March 2021, it paired with Japans guided-missile destroyer JS Kongo for a communication and maneuvering exercise. During that same trip, the Blue Ridge stopped in Busan, South Korea, its last port call until this year, Greene told Stars and Stripes in a Friday email.

In the meantime, it was docked at Yokosuka for repairs and upgrades, a selected restricted availability that focused on all areas to include the engineering plant, the flight deck, navigation, information systems, communications, radars and habitability spaces, 7th Fleet spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Andrew DeGarmo told Stars and Stripes by email Feb. 27.

The Blue Ridge left its pier several times for regularly scheduled training, testing and evaluation of systems aboard the ship, DeGarmo said.

On April 26, the Blue Ridge departed for routine operations, 7th Fleet spokesman Lt. j.g. Luka Bakic told Stars and Stripes by email at the time, although he did not further elaborate.

Commissioned in 1970, the Blue Ridge is the Navys oldest operational warship actively used in military activities. The 223-year-old frigate USS Constitution is the Navys oldest commissioned warship, but its mission is education and outreach in Boston Harbor.

The Blue Ridge spent two years in drydock between 2016 and 2018 for more than $60 million in repairs and upgrades and 135,000 hours of labor, 7th Fleet said in April 2018.

The ship is scheduled to stay in active service until 2039.
At the risk of sounding like an old bag, I must say: The world is completely different than it was when I was a kid.

I know, I know, that isnt exactly a shocking revelation. Pretty much every generation has been saying that since the Earth cooled. Still, I cant help but be alarmed at how drastically life has changed in the past 40 years, thanks to the veritable tidal wave of technology that has swept over the world since 1983.

Anyone like me, who grew up before the global network referred to as the internet came along, was accustomed to living simply, without instant 24/7 information and connectivity. When we wanted information, we looked it up in books or asked others. Even after telecommunication was introduced  first with the telegraph in 1837 and then the telephone in 1876  it still took considerable time and effort to send and receive information.

Then, quite suddenly, we were connected to everyone else in the world with the touch of a button. With the advent of the internet, the human race was suddenly flooded with a deluge of constant information, as everything from research to socializing, from bill-paying to shopping, from watching movies to communicating became instantaneous.

Ill admit that I take advantage of the incredible benefits of the Digital Age every day, but it still scares me a little. As a military spouse, I have been thankful for modern advancements that have made deployments and frequent moving so much easier, such as emails, videoconferencing and remote work; as well as new technologies making service members jobs safer and missions more successful such as robotics, drones, artificial intelligence, directed energy, hypersonics and biotechnology.

However, I find it frightening that something we cant even see has so rapidly changed life as we know it, forever. Information and communications have become instantly accessible, flooding our previously manageable lives and drowning the built-in protections we once had. Previously, we had to wait for the six oclock news or the morning paper to find out what was going on in the world. Back then, home used to be the safe place kids were sheltered from social pressures and bad influences. Forty years ago, there was no need to go off the grid to disconnect, because the grid didnt even exist.

Nowadays, humans must make a conscious effort to shield themselves from the constant barrage of uncensored news, information, politics, chatter, advertisements, social media, messages, jargon, video games, algorithms, imagery, videos and e-commerce  every minute of every day. Will we be forever trapped in this rapid-paced hamster wheel, never to enjoy the simplicity of our pre-Internet lives again?

Alas, my opinions are aging me.

My father voiced similar concerns in my youth, such as, When I was a teenager, we had Elvis, not this gibberish you kids have on that moronic MTV. And his father probably said to him, Hey lazybones, back in the 1930s, we walked uphill to and from school every day. Abraham Lincoln likely told his son, Tad, Two score and seven years ago, we had more respect for our elders. Ann Boleyn probably admonished Elizabeth I, Young lady, when I was your age, we listened to the lute, not that awful harpsichord you insist on dancing to in court these days. And Genghis Khan mightve told his son, Chagatai Khan, You pipsqueaks have no common sense! When I was a teenager, my father was poisoned and I was forced into slavery, but I still had the gumption to escape, kill my half-brother, amass a brutal army, conquer Mongolia and become one of the most influential barbarians in history!

Heck, Adam probably sat his and Eves 33 sons and 23 daughters down and scolded, When your mother and I grew up 900 years ago, we wore bigger fig leaves than you whippersnappers do today. Good Lord, have some decency!

Despite my old-fashioned views on this newfangled world, I must accept that I cant go back to 1980. Darwin foiled my plans when he said, "It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.

Read more at themeatandpotatoesoflife.com and in Lisas book, The Meat and Potatoes of Life: My True Lit Com. Email: meatandpotatoesoflife@gmail.com
WASHINGTON  The U.S. military is drawing up plans for a potential withdrawal of its 1,100 troops from Niger, a counterterrorism ally in West Africa that is in the throes of a coup, the commander of U.S. air forces in Europe and Africa said Friday.

There are no immediate plans for military personnel to evacuate the country and abandon the two drone bases operated by U.S. forces in Nigers northern desert, said Air Force Gen. James Hecker. But he said preparations are underway in case troops are ordered to leave.

Were going to play it out, were doing a lot of prudent planning, Hecker said at a Defense Writers Group discussion with reporters. But hopefully this thing gets done politically and diplomatically with no bloodshed.

The military in Niger announced it had ousted the countrys president, Mohamed Bazoum, and seized power in late July. The U.S. has since ordered a pullout of many U.S. Embassy personnel in Niger, suspended drone and training flights, and constrained American troops to bases.

The U.S. first deployed troops to Niger in 2013, when 100 service members were sent to the countrys capital to help French forces set up unarmed surveillance drone operations to battle al-Qaida and its affiliates in Mali. The country is now a critical part of combating terrorism in the Sahel, a region of Africa where Islamist militancy has been on the rise.

In 2017, four American soldiers, their interpreter and four Nigerien soldiers were killed in a terrorist ambush in the deserts of Niger. But Niger remains a positive outlier in the region, seeing less militant attacks on civilians than its neighboring countries.

Fewer people were killed in Niger in the first six months of 2023 than in the first half of any year since 2018, according to the nonprofit Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.

Hecker said an evacuation of American troops would obviously have an effect on the ability of the U.S. military to collect intelligence and conduct surveillance and reconnaissance in the Sahel. If forced to withdraw, the military would look to partner up with other allies in West Africa and move its assets, he said.

The Pentagon acknowledged Tuesday that the loss of access to Niger would be significant and difficult to replace.

We will still be able to have capabilities within the region but Niger is a partner and we don't want to see that partnership go, said Sabrina Singh, the Pentagons deputy press secretary. We've invested hundreds of millions of dollars into bases there, trained with the military there.

The U.S. military has two drone bases in Niger, including a $110 million airfield outside the city of Agadez, that would be left behind in an evacuation. Hecker said the U.S. would take everything back with us in case of a slow, peaceful withdrawal but would leave behind housing units and other non-sensitive equipment if forced to flee in a dangerous environment.

Hecker said it is difficult to say whether the bases could be used by others should the U.S. depart. Russias Wagner mercenary group swept into neighboring Mali last year after a coup there prompted French forces to end a nine-year antiterrorism mission.

The American base outside Agadez features a 6,200-foot runway for MQ-9 Reaper drones as well as manned aircraft. At least one other base is shared with a civilian airport, Hecker said. The U.S. has three drone bases in Niger, one of them operated by the CIA.

The U.S. has so far resisted designating the situation in Niger as a coup, which would trigger cuts in military assistance and other American aid. Hecker said Friday that he believes a decision on whether to withdraw is still weeks, if not months, away.

Right now, theres not a need to go anywhere, he said. Our civilian leadership is just saying, Hey, hang tight and continue to plan in case something happens. And well be ready if something happens.
Ukraine will soon receive new military aid packages from partner countries, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.

"Agreements with partners are being implemented. Heavy equipment, artillery, air defense systems are coming in. We continue to work on the next packages. News will be coming soon," Zelenskyy said in Telegram on Friday morning following the results of the morning meeting.

He also reported on the successful inspection of the work of the military medical commissions and the heads of the territorial center for recruitment and social support, as well as the identification of collaborators. "[We discussed] the passage of a comprehensive inspection of the military medical commissions, as well as the work of the SBU on 'military commissars' and collaborators. There are good results," the head of state said.

According to Zelenskyy, at the meeting, he also heard information about the situation at the front, including defense and offensive, the use of drones, as well as closed reports from the Security Service of Ukraine and the Main Intelligence Agency regarding their special tasks.
(Tribune News Service)  After almost a five-year break, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services is reopening its office in Havana, a step that will bring more resources to process a backlog of family reunification cases and expand access to legal immigration pathways for Cubans, the Biden administration says.

This administration is taking steps to reduce unlawful entries, deny resources to ruthless smuggling organizations, and streamline access to lawful, safe, and orderly pathways for those seeking humanitarian relief. Reopening the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services field office in Havana helps us do just that, said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas.

Cubans like my own family, who nearly 63 years ago fled the communist takeover, deserve the same opportunity to follow legal pathways to build a new life in the United States, Mayorkas added.

The Department of Homeland Security, which manages USCIS, says the Havana office will conduct interviews and process pending cases in the Cuban Family Reunification Parole, a program that helps those with approved family-based immigration petitions to expedite their entry into the U.S.

The office will also process petitions by refugees and people who have been granted asylum in the U.S. to bring their close relatives to the United States and provide other limited services like processing refugee petitions, according to an agencys statement.

More than 20,000 cases in the Cuban Family Reunification Parole program remained in limbo for several years because the Trump administration withdrew most staff at the U.S. embassy in Havana in late 2017 due to the unexplained health incidents that sickened two dozen U.S. employees with an illness later known as Havana Syndrome. A year later, in December 2018, DHS also closed its office in Havana amid efforts by the Trump administration to cut the number of refugees coming to the United States.

Havana Syndrome is still a mystery under investigation. Still, despite internal disagreements, some intelligence agencies have ruled out a foreign adversary waging a global campaign against U.S. diplomats and intelligence officers. Those developments have allowed the Biden administration to gradually restore services at the embassy in the Cuban capital amid the largest immigration wave of Cubans coming to the United States in several decades.

In May last year, DHS announced it was resuming the Cuban Family Reunification Parole Program, and interviews restarted in August 2021.

But last week, DHS said that interview capacity limitations in Cuba, resource constraints within DHS and State [Department], and the pending application caseload have made the process inefficient and inaccessible to many beneficiaries in Cuba.

Under the burden of almost 300,000 Cubans coming through the U.S. border with Mexico and in rafts to Florida last year, the administration also announced in January that it would allow Cubans  and citizens of Haiti and Nicaragua  to live in the United States for two years under a new parole program requiring a U.S. financial sponsor. Many Cubans with approved family reunification petitions felt they had been sidelined after seeing that those who benefited under the new program were traveling to the United States in just a few months.

To speed up the processing, DHS announced last week changes to the way the Cuban Family Reunification Parole Program works so most steps can be completed online.

USCIS renewed presence in Cuba is part of our effort to restore USCIS footprint outside the United States, Mayorkas said. These efforts are consistent with the Biden-Harris Administrations commitment to facilitate safe, legal, and orderly migration while discouraging irregular and dangerous maritime migration.

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(Tribune News Service)  Biden administration officials are working intentely to prevent the Guatemalan government, one of their few allies in Central America, from overturning election results that put a leftist in next week's presidential runoff  to the dismay of right-wing elites in that country who have long called the shots.

With persistent phone calls, in-person visits, public denouncements and sanctions on key people including Guatemala's attorney general, U.S. officials are warning the country's powerful military, political and business forces of the danger of subverting democracy.

On Sunday, Guatemalans will choose their next president from the two top vote-getters in a June 25 election: Sandra Torres, a conservative former first lady favored by the establishment who came in first, and Bernardo Arevalo, a left-of-center politician who campaigned against corruption and stunned the country by finishing a close second.

As soon as those results became clear, the power elite in the government and military jumped into action with numerous attempts to bar Arevalo from the runoff.

Courts controlled by the right wing in Guatemala attempted to invalidate Arevalo's political party and sent police to raid his offices. They have threatened legal action to challenge Arevalo's eligibility to be a candidate and delayed certification of the June 25 results. Several losing political parties, including that of President Alejandro Giammattei and another of the daughter of a military dictator convicted of genocide, filed unsubstantiated claims of fraud in the election.

For many longtime scholars of Latin America, the viability of democratic rule is at stake. Guatemala's crossroads comes as El Salvador is abandoning democracy, Nicaragua's rule of law is long gone and Honduras teeters on the brink. The emergence of yet another dictator in the region would be an embarrassment for the Biden administration, analysts say, making it important for the U.S. to show it still has leverage in the Western Hemisphere despite inroads made by China.

The United States "is deeply concerned by efforts that interfere with the June 25 election result," U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said in a statement that was unusually strong in criticizing an ally's election process. He warned against "actions to interfere with the election result" which, he said, "violate the spirit of Guatemala's constitution and threaten the legitimacy of its democratic process."

Washington was quickly joined by the European Union and the Organization of American States, showing rare unity to condemn the Guatemalan governmental actions. Both fielded nationwide observer missions for the June election, judging it a fair process.

Who prevails  the U.S. and the international community, or antidemocratic forces inside Guatemala  remains to be seen.

But the political turmoil of the last months highlighted what has been a steady backslide in Central America's largest country. In a region awash in violence, poverty and corruption, Guatemala not so long ago appeared to be on a better path.

With international support, serious corruption investigations were being conducted by Guatemalan prosecutors and judges, and important players, such as a former president, landed in jail.

Vice President Kamala Harris chose Guatemala as the lone Central American country she visited when the administration in its early days launched an initiative aimed at improving economic and political conditions in the region as a way to ease illegal immigration.

But Biden administration officials may have failed to notice that the tide had turned in Guatemala during the Trump era, with traditional economic and political elites in the country starting to reassert their control.

Until 2019, a widely praised United Nations-sponsored anticorruption investigatory body, the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala, which was founded in 2006, had remarkable success fighting organized crime and corruption. Its work helped reduce homicides by 32%, dismantled 60 of Guatemala's pervasive and destructive drug and trafficking cartels, and indicted more than 600 people, according to a 2018 analysis by the International Crisis Group.

It also began to prosecute previously untouchable members of the elite, leading to the investigation of three former presidents, Otto Perez Molina, Alfonso Portillo and Alvaro Colom (Portillo was extradited to the U.S. and sentenced to five years in prison) ; a vice president, Roxana Baldetti, and a first lady: current candidate Torres, who was jailed for a while until charges were dismissed.

In 2019, then-President Jimmy Morales, a former comedian and Christian evangelical who courted the favor of Trump and Republican conservatives, announced he was dismantling the commission. He declared its head, respected jurist Ivan Velasquez, persona non grata and barred him from entering the country.

There was widespread outrage over Morales' moves inside Guatemala, in the U.S. and in European capitals. But the Trump administration, generally dismissive of international cooperation and corruption probes, did not weigh in to support the commission.

The situation deteriorated from there, according to Guatemalan and U.S. analysts and current and former officials. Guatemala was back to business as usual, as one diplomat put it, with rampant corruption and a lack of accountability. Old-guard Guatemalan officials squashed the investigations and then went after anticorruption judges, forcing many to flee the country.

Then, much like the approach of Trump officials, the Biden administration prioritized immigration cooperation over other issues and did little to reverse the backslide in Guatemala, said Ana Maria Mendez Dardon, a Guatemalan attorney who heads the Central America division at the Washington Office on Latin America.

As recently as earlier this year, senior U.S. officials were praising Guatemala and its president, Giammattei, as valuable partners, Mendez Dardon recalled.

"Now we see the consequences," she said. "They didn't see how corrupt the institutions were becoming."

As judges were being run out of the country, the Giammattei government cracked down on nongovernmental organizations that work in development, human rights and civic education  actions also taken in autocratic countries like Russia  and on independent journalists.

One of Central America's most respected journalists, Jose Ruben Zamora, the 66-year-old publisher of independent newspaper elPeriodico that probed corruption of high-level officials, was jailed this year and sentenced to six years in prison for money-laundering charges that the Committee to Protect Journalists has said are "shameful" false accusations.

Meanwhile, within segments of the GOP, support for Guatemalan officials has continued, despite their efforts to undo the election results.

At a Senate confirmation hearing late last month for Tobin John Bradley, the U.S. ambassador nominee for Guatemala, Republican Sen. Bill Hagerty of Tennessee challenged U.S. policy. He said he was "concerned" that the Biden administration "has created the perception that it's picking sides" in the Guatemala election and that "we need to ... not be perceived as being in any way meddling with" the country's electoral process.

And in an op-ed piece in the Miami Herald last month, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio referred to U.S. efforts in Guatemala as "the administration's ideological persecution of democratically elected, pro-American governments."

Although they had varying degrees of impact, there were steps the Biden administration did take to push back on the deterioration in Guatemala. Several dozen Guatemalan officials have been blacklisted by the State Department, which revoked their visas for travel to the United States or barred them from doing business with U.S. citizens.

Those sanctioned include the attorney general of Guatemala, Consuelo Porras, who is said to have close ties to Guatemala's notorious military. She has led the way in attempting to overturn the June election result.

Eric Jacobstein, the deputy assistant secretary of State for Central America, said he believed the sanctions have impact and praised the Guatemalan public for standing up to Porras. Speaking at a forum sponsored by the Inter-American Dialogue earlier this month, he described her as "an attorney general whose job is to protect the Guatemalan people but has ultimately undermined that institution."

Guatemalan-born Rep. Norma Torres (D-Pomona) is following the political drama and invited both candidates for meetings. Only Arevalo responded.

"I am very concerned about the runoff with everything the regime has done ... all to block a fair election with a popular candidate," Torres said in an interview.

Even if Arevalo does not win, he will have succeeded in transforming his anticorruption political movement from a splinter group into an important player, said Bejamin Gedan, head of the Latin America program at the Wilson Center think tank in Washington.

"This gives them political and moral leverage, and sends a pretty powerful message that they have become a force to reckon with in Guatemala," Gedan said.

U.S. officials also say that, in contrast to some periods in Guatemala's recent history, segments of the country's private sector support going ahead with the runoff election between Torres and Arevalo. Not that business leaders would like having a leftist president, but they do see the damage to Guatemala's reputation, and ability to trade and do commerce with the U.S., if actions are seen as an undemocratic coup.

"There's probably a recognition that using traditional institutions arbitrarily and politically is an authoritarian tactic," a senior State Department official said in an interview, conducted on condition of anonymity to speak freely about behind-the-scenes discussions. "Not only in Latin America, [but] obviously Nicaragua. And I think the private sector recognizes that this is not a path that they want the country to go down."

There is certain historical irony in the U.S. urging democracy in Guatemala today. In 1954, the Eisenhower administration sponsored a military coup in Guatemala that ousted the country's democratically elected president, Jacobo Arbenz Guzman, and set in motion decades of brutal military dictatorships. The military waged a genocidal 36-year civil war that killed tens of thousands of Indigenous Mayan Guatemalans.

Arbenz was the second democratically elected president. The first was Juan Jose Arevalo, the father of the current presidential candidate.

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SANTIAGO, Chile  Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Thursday in Chile that it was imperative for the United States to declassify documents that could shed light on Washington's involvement in the South American country's 1973 coup.

"The transparency of the United States could present an opportunity for a new phase in our relationship between the United States and Chile," Ocasio-Cortez said in Spanish in a video posted on Instagram alongside Camila Vallejo, the spokesperson for the left-leaning government of President Gabriel Boric.

The Democratic congresswoman from New York is part of a delegation of lawmakers who traveled to the capital of Santiago ahead of the 50th anniversary of the coup against President Salvador Allende on Sept. 11, 1973.

The delegation had first traveled to Brazil and will now go to Colombia, both of which are also ruled by left-leaning governments.

The goal of the trip was to "start to change  the relationships between the United States and Chile and the region, Latin America as a whole," Ocasio-Cortez told outside the Museum of Memory and Human Rights that remembers the victims of the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, who ruled from 1973 to 1990.

"It's very important to frame the history of what happened here in Chile with Pinochet's dictatorship. And also to acknowledge and reflect on the role of the United States in those events," Ocasio-Cortez said.

Ocasio-Cortez said she has introduced legislation to declassify documents related to Chile's coup and Vallejo said a similar request had been made by the Chilean government.

"In Chile as well, a similar request was made  that aims to declassify documents from the Nixon administration, particularly certain testimonies from the CIA director. This is to attain a clearer understanding of what transpired and how the United States was involved in the planning of the civil and military coup, and the subsequent years that followed," Vallejo said. "This is very important for our history."

U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, a Democrat from Texas, said after the delegation's approximately hourlong visit to the museum in Santiago that it was important to recognize the "truth" that "the United States was involved with the dictatorship and the coup."

"So that's why we're here," Casar said in Spanish to journalists, "to acknowledge the truth, to begin a new future."

U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro from Texas said the visit to the museum was a reminder that it was important "to make sure that a tragedy and a horror like this never, ever happens again in Chile or in Latin America or anywhere else around the world."

Earlier in the day, the delegation also met with Santiago Mayor Iraci Hassler.

Reps. Nydia Velazquez of New York and Maxwell Frost of Florida also traveled to South America as part of the delegation sponsored by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a Washington-based think tank.

Politi reported from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
LAHAINA, Hawaii  The head of the Maui Emergency Management Agency resigned abruptly Thursday, a day after saying he had no regret about not using sirens to warn residents of wildfires that devastated the historic seaside community of Lahaina and killed at least 111 people.

That decision from the agency directed by Administrator Herman Andaya, coupled with water shortages that hampered firefighters and an escape route that became clogged with vehicles that were overrun by flames, has brought intense criticism from many residents.

Mayor Richard Bissen accepted Andaya's resignation effective immediately, the County of Maui announced on Facebook. Andaya cited unspecified health reasons for leaving his post, with no further details provided.

"Given the gravity of the crisis we are facing, my team and I will be placing someone in this key position as quickly as possible and I look forward to making that announcement soon," Bissen said in the statement.

A day earlier, Andaya defended the decision not to sound sirens as the flames raged. Hawaii has what it touts as the largest system of outdoor alert sirens in the world.

"We were afraid that people would have gone mauka," Andaya said Wednesday, using a navigational term that can mean toward the mountains or inland in Hawaiian. "If that was the case, then they would have gone into the fire."

The siren system was created after a 1946 tsunami that killed more than 150 on the Big Island, and its website says they may be used to alert for fires.

Andaya was to take part in a meeting of the island's fire and public safety commission on Thursday morning, but it was abruptly canceled. On Wednesday, Andaya vigorously defended his qualifications for the job, which he had held since 2017. He said he was not appointed but earned the position after taking a test and being vetted.

Prior to that he was chief of staff to former Mayor Alan Arakawa, who said Thursday that he was disappointed by the resignation "because now we're out one person who is really qualified." Arakawa said Andaya was scrutinized for the job by the county's personnel service.

"He was trying to be strong and trying to do the job," Arakawa said about the wildfire response. "He was very, very heartbroken about all the things that happened."

Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez said earlier Thursday that an outside organization will conduct "an impartial, independent" review into the government's response to the fires.

"We intend to look at this critical incident to facilitate any necessary corrective action and to advance future emergency preparedness," Lopez said in a statement. She said the investigation will likely take months.

Avery Dagupion, whose family's home was destroyed, is among many residents who say they weren't given earlier warning to get out.

He pointed to an announcement by Bissen on Aug. 8 saying the fire had been contained. That lulled people into a sense of safety and left him distrusting officials, Dagupion said.

At the Wednesday news conference, Gov. Josh Green and Bissen bristled when asked about such criticism.

"The people who were trying to put out these fires lived in those homes  25 of our firefighters lost their homes," Bissen said. "You think they were doing a halfway job?"

Maui residents whose homes burned are steadily filling hotels that are prepared to house them and provide services until at least next spring.

Authorities hope to empty crowded, uncomfortable group shelters by early next week and move displaced people into hotel rooms, said Brad Kieserman, vice president for disaster operations with the American Red Cross. Hotels are also available for eligible evacuees who have spent the last eight days sleeping in cars or camping in parking lots, he said.

"We will be able to keep folks in hotels for as long as it takes to find housing for them," Kieserman said at a media briefing. "I am confident we'll have plenty of rooms."

Contracts with the hotels will last for at least seven months but could easily be extended, he said. The properties will be staffed by service providers who will offer meals, counseling, financial assistance and other disaster aid.

Green has said at least 1,000 hotel rooms will be set aside for those who lost their homes. In addition, AirBnB's nonprofit wing will provide properties for 1,000 people, the company said.

The governor has also vowed to protect local landowners from being "victimized" by opportunistic buyers when Maui rebuilds. Green said Wednesday that he instructed the state attorney general to work toward a moratorium on land transactions in Lahaina, even as he acknowledged that would likely face legal challenges.

Since the flames consumed much of Lahaina just over a week ago, locals have feared that a rebuilt town could become even more oriented toward wealthy visitors.

The cause of the wildfires, the deadliest in the U.S. in more than a century, is under investigation. But Hawaii is increasingly at risk from disasters, with wildfire rising fastest, according to an Associated Press analysis of FEMA records.

The local power utility faced criticism for leaving power on as strong winds from a passing hurricane buffeted a parched area last week, and one video shows a cable dangling in a charred patch of grass, surrounded by flames, in the early moments of the wildfire.

"Facts about this event will continue to evolve," Hawaiian Electric CEO Shelee Kimura wrote in an email to utility customers Thursday. "And while we may not have answers for some time, we are committed, working with many others, to find out what happened as we continue to urgently focus on Maui's restoration and rebuilding efforts."

Meanwhile, signs of recovery emerged as public schools across Maui reopened, welcoming displaced students from Lahaina, and traffic resumed on a major road.

The search for the missing moved beyond Lahaina to other oceanside communities that were destroyed. Searchers had covered about 45% of the burned territory by Thursday, the governor said.

Corrine Hussey Nobriga, whose home was spared, said it was hard to lay blame for a tragedy that took everyone by surprise, even if some of her neighbors raised questions about the absence of sirens and inadequate evacuation routes. The fire moved quickly through her neighborhood, not far from where crews were sifting through ash and debris looking for human remains.

"One minute we saw the fire over there," she said, pointing toward faraway hills, "and the next minute it's consuming all these houses."

The search was marred by intermittent cellphone service and misleading information on social media. There were also challenges finding people who may be in hospitals, hunkered down at friends' houses or in unofficial shelters that have popped up. Many people made fliers and were going door to door in search of loved ones.

Judy Riley, who has been working with families seeking relatives, said false leads and a sense that "no one is in charge of the missing" have contributed to a sense of despair.

"If you are looking for the missing, it's easy for people to slip through the cracks," she said.

Kelleher reported from Honolulu and Weber from Los Angeles. Contributing to this report were Associated Press journalists Michael Casey in Concord, New Hampshire; Jennifer McDermott in Providence, Rhode Island; Seth Borenstein in Washington, D.C.; and Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Missouri.
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa  Japans navy stayed on alert after a flotilla of Russian and Chinese warships transited a key maritime thoroughfare in the southern island chain last week, according to Japans Joint Staff.

The six Chinese and five Russian vessels, including destroyers and frigates, on Thursday passed through the Miyako Strait, a 155-mile-wide waterway between the islands of Okinawa and Miyako in southwestern Japan, before continuing into the East China Sea, according to the Joint Staff that day.

Tokyo viewed the transit as a provocation, although the flotilla did not enter Japans 12-mile territorial limit, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported Friday.

The same 11 vessels were spotted near the Alaskan coast and the Aleutian Islands in southeast Alaska in early August, USNI News reported Thursday. While the ships never entered U.S. territorial waters, they were shadowed by four U.S. guided-missile destroyers and a P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft.

The Pentagons 2022 National Defense Strategy identified China, an aggressive presence in the East and South China Seas, as a global pacing challenge. The same document labels Russia an acute threat for its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

The ships were first spotted westbound at 9 a.m. Tuesday approximately 175 miles northeast of Okinotori Island, according to the Joint Staff. Okinotori is about 660 miles southeast of Okinawa.

The Chinese ships were identified as two Luyang III-class destroyers, two Jiangkai II-class frigates, a Fuchi-class replenishment oiler and a Dongdiao-class reconnaissance ship; the Russian vessels included two Udaloy I-class destroyers, a Steregushchiy-class and a Steregushchiy II-class frigate and a Dubna-class fleet tanker.

The group the next day was westbound about 30 miles south of Okidaito Island, according to the statement.

Some of the vessels may have trained together in mid-July about 250 miles north of the Oki islands off the coast of Honshu, the largest of Japans four main islands, and transited the Soya Strait separating the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido and Russian territory later that month.

Japans Maritime Self-Defense Force monitored the flotilla with destroyers JS Umigiri and JS Sawagiri, the mine sweeper JS Yakushima and P-3C Orion surveillance aircraft from Fleet Air Wing 5 in Naha, according to the Joint Staff.

Russias Defense Ministry announced the joint patrol in July, NHK said. Japans Defense Ministry continues to monitor the situation.

Stars and Stripes reporters Hana Kusumoto and Alex Wilson contributed to this report.
Europe's natural gas reserves are almost full, though that still may not be enough to see the region through winter.

The continent's storage levels hit 90.1% capacity on Aug. 16, according to the latest data from industry group Gas Infrastructure Europe. That's the highest on record for the time of year, and well ahead of the European Union's Nov. 1 goal of reaching that marker.

However, inventories weren't meant to provide all of the region's winter gas supplies, and a storm of risks is brewing. Potential worker strikes in Australia threaten to tighten the global market for liquefied natural gas. Europe is still coping with lower flows from Russia amid the war in Ukraine. And prolonged outages in Norway recently have led to price spikes, a reminder of the market's fragility.

In other words, Europe's energy crisis isn't over yet. Benchmark Dutch futures are headed for a third weekly gain on continued supply concerns, while fluctuating Friday.

The continent's energy security "is in a much more stable position than it was this time last year," European Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson said in a statement Friday. "But we have seen in recent weeks that the gas market remains sensitive."

The region's winter season for gas formally runs from October through March. Storage can cover up to one-third of the E.U.'s gas demand in the heating season, according to the European Commission. But much depends on weather as freezing temperatures could accelerate withdrawals from underground stockpiles.

Gas inventories also vary by country. Nations including Germany, the Netherlands and Spain have already exceeded the E.U.'s target. France is among outsiders with storage levels at about 84%, after its energy supplies were disrupted earlier this year by nationwide strikes.

While European gas prices are about 90% lower than their crisis peaks last year, market nervousness and intense volatility are here to stay given that global supplies remain tight.

Germany has already warned that shortage risks will remain until early 2027 unless it adds more gas infrastructure. Next year's market balance will depend on how much fuel will be left in storage after this winter.
WASHINGTON  The Army is launching a pilot program designed to help Reserve soldiers find licensed child care providers, which has become an increasing problem for many military families in recent years, officials announced Thursday.

The Army said the innovative program will begin in two locations  eastern Iowa and western Missouri  so Reserve families in those areas can find child care during drill weekends and annual training periods, said Lt. Gen. Jody Daniels, who leads Army Reserve.

The Army recognizes the impact that child care has on the lives of our soldiers and their families, said Lt. Gen. Kevin Vereen, deputy chief of staff for installations. Through increased initiatives to identify and secure accessible and affordable child care options, we enable our military parents to fulfill their responsibilities without sacrificing the well-being of their children.

Finding and affording child care has been a major issue for families that are stationed in locations that dont have enough qualified providers. Its a problem that is often mentioned when military leaders seek feedback from service members families on quality-of-life issues. A central part of the problem for some is there aren't enough providers on base, which forces families to search for private, more expensive child care away from the base.

Under the Armys new program, reservists will be able to find help through the WeeCare Company, which bills itself as the largest child care network in the United States that is committed to providing families with access to quality, affordable care. Service members who enroll, for example, will be able to access a mobile app with which they can find local providers, according to the company.

Technologies also include an advanced matching algorithm that provides real-time child care availability, saving families time and eliminating paperwork and wait lists, the Army said Thursday.

The Army did not say when the program will begin or end, though it will start in West Liberty, Iowa, and Clay County, Mo. West Liberty is in far eastern Iowa about 15 miles northwest of the Iowa-Illinois border and Clay County includes a section of Kansas City, Mo., a city with more than 500,000 people, according to the 2020 census. The Army also did not say why it chose those locations.

The Pentagon has made several efforts in recent years to address the lack of child care for active-duty and Reserve military families. Earlier this month, it announced all active-duty troops  and some reserves  will be able to open flexible spending accounts to pay for child care, beginning in January. Only Reserve and Guard troops on Title 10 orders  meaning they are assigned to active duty by the president  are eligible for those accounts. Officials said at the time that the Pentagon could eventually expand the flex spending accounts to include all Reserve and Guard troops.

In May, Army Col. Phil Lamb, former commander of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., called the difficulty finding child care the No. 1 quality-of-life issue at his base. Another official said the waiting list for on-base child care had more than 700 families on it, at the time.

Officials said the Armys forthcoming child care pilot program was established with an intergovernmental support agreement, which are deals the military strikes with state or local governments to provide a needed service in a given location.

Shaping the Army Reserve of the future requires the support of both military and community leaders, Daniels said. We are grateful to the organizations participating in this unprecedented partnership for providing trusted, accessible, weekend child care to our soldiers.
The Defense Forces eliminated 460 occupiers, 24 artillery systems, three tanks, 12 armored vehicles, four drones, 27 units of cars and special equipment, three air defense systems during the day, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine informed on Friday morning.

"The total combat losses of the enemy from February 24, 2022 to August 18, 2023 approximately amount to: about 256,510 people of military personnel (plus 460) people, 4,332 tanks (plus three) units, 8,410 armored combat vehicles (+12) units, 5,193 artillery systems (plus 24) units, 714 MLRS units, 486 units of air defense equipment, 315 aircraft units, 316 helicopters, 4,276 operational-tactical level UAVs (plus four), 1,406 cruise missiles), 18 cships/boats, 7,658 motor vehicles and tankers (plus 17) units, and 783 units of special equipment," the message reads.
SAN DIEGO (Tribune News Service)  A Camp Pendleton Marine accused of having sex with a missing 14-year-old girl found in his barracks believed she was in her early 20s, his defense attorneys argued Thursday.

An attorney for Pfc. Avery Rosario said during a brief preliminary hearing in a military courtroom at Camp Pendleton that the Marine met the girl on Tinder, a dating app for adults, where her profile said she was 21 years old.

The argument by the defense capped a brief hearing in which no witnesses were called, and much of the evidence  which includes conversations on Tinder and Instagram  was not shown. The evidence was filed directly with the Marine colonel tasked with recommending whether Rosario should face court-martial for allegations of sex with a minor.

No decision was made Thursday. The prosecution and defense will each file further arguments in writing, with the last due Aug. 25.

Rosario is charged with three counts of sexual assault and two charges of violating liberty restrictions  leaving base without permission  according to charges base officials released Tuesday. The charges indicate the alleged crimes or violations happened June 27.

The next day, military police at Camp Pendleton found the girl in a barracks. The military notified the county Sheriff's Department, and the girl was reunited with her family.

According to the Sheriff's Department, the teen's grandmother said the girl ran away from home June 9. She had run away on previous occasions, but quickly returned. With the teen still unaccounted for on June 13, the grandmother reported her missing.

The story of the missing girl turning up on the base drew public attention when the girl's aunt posted a TikTok video alleging the girl had been trafficked.

Thursday's hearing did not give much insight into the prosecution's case. The prosecutor did not give a closing argument during the hearing, opting to instead handle it all in writing.

But one of Rosario's defense attorneys gave a closing argument in the small courtroom, where several news reporters were present.

Defense attorney Capt. Katherine Malcolm said her client had "a genuine belief that the woman he met on Tinder apps was 21 years old." Malcolm said the girl's profile stated, "I know I look young, but hey when I'm 30, I'll look like I'm in my 20s."

Malcolm said friends of Rosario told investigators they were under the impression that the woman was in her early 20s. At least one of them said the girl told him she was 22.

The defense attorney said the girl initiated the Tinder conversations with Rosario on June 26, and she also suggested they move their conversation over to Instagram.

Malcolm said the girl's credibility is at issue. She said the girl told investigators she spent the night in a closet in the barracks, but Rosario's roommate said he found Rosario gone and the girl asleep in bed, snoring with the television on, Malcolm said.

The roommate kicked her out. She called Rosario, who returned from a work gathering and let her back into the room.

According to the defense, the girl told investigators she had been trafficked by a man named Hector for the last year, and said Hector was "pulling the strings." She said her "whole plan" was to get caught while on base, and that when she was found she would be finally safe.

Malcolm said the girl's actions "were not the actions of somebody looking to be rescued."

Evidence filed by prosecutors includes the girl's Tinder profile and conversations she and the Marine had on the app. Defense evidence included direct messages between their client and the girl.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service questioned Rosario right after the girl was found, then released him to his command pending charges. Rosario is with Combat Logistics Battalion 5, 1st Marine Logistics Group.

Rosario was taken into custody Aug. 1. He remained in custody Thursday.

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An Air Force Reserve pilot based at Kessler Air Force Base, Miss., was arrested this week on charges that he illegally entered the U.S. Capitol among the throng of former President Donald Trumps supporters who rioted on Jan. 6, 2021, court documents show.

Maj. David Scott Stapp was arrested by the FBI in Ohio on Monday on four misdemeanor charges accusing him of entering the Capitol and engaging in disorderly conduct during the Jan. 6 riot, federal court records unsealed this week show. Stapp is at least the 12th current service member arrested on charges related to the attack and at least the 131st individual with a military background implicated in the riot, according to statistics compiled by the George Washington University Program on Extremism.

The FBI said in charging documents that airline and hotel records showed Stapp, 44, traveled to Washington on Jan. 5, 2021, and returned to Mississippi on Jan. 7, 2021. Photos gathered by the FBI show a man identified as Stapp giving a television interview outside the Capitol before the riot began. Other photos, including Capitol security footage, show a man who they believe to be Stapp, wearing a beanie with the words Legalize freedom, entering the restricted building alongside hundreds of others.

Stapp in private messages from his Facebook account, using the name Rambo Stappers SP, boasted of entering the Capitol on Jan. 6 and sent photos to at least one other user privately from inside the building.

It was one of the best things I have ever gotten to do, Stapp wrote in a message the morning of Jan. 7, 2021, according to the FBI. That was history. We took over the  [Capitol]. Shows them what a small percentage of unarmed Americans can do. Just think of all the patriots came and [came] armed.

The Air Force said Friday that it was aware of Stapps arrest and was providing full support to the FBI and Justice Department in the case. An Air Force Reserve spokesman described Stapp as a former full-time pilot for Keeslers 403rd Wing who was not actively participating in the unit.

On social media pages linked to Stapp, the officer described himself as a Hurricane Hunter pilot. His military records provided Friday by the Air Force do not define the type of aircraft that he has piloted during his 26 years in the service. The Hurricane Hunters are assigned to the 403rd Wings 53rd Reconnaissance Squadron, which flies specially outfitted C-130 cargo planes into the eyes of hurricanes and tropical storms to provide U.S. officials with up-to-date data about the storms.

Stapps Air Force records show since entering the Reserve force in September 1997, he has racked up dozens of personal and unit awards. Stapps awards indicate he participated in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Among his various awards, Stapp received the Air Medal, which is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievements while participating in aerial flight  in actual combat in support of operations, according to the Air Force.

Stapp was not accused of committing violence during the deadly Jan. 6 riot, which saw dozens of attackers assault U.S. Capitol police as they attempted to stop the official certification of President Joe Bidens 2020 election victory over Trump. Nearly 1,000 individuals have been charged with crimes for their roles in the attack, according to GWUs Program on Extremism.

Stapp could not be reached for comment Friday, and court documents did not identify an attorney representing him in the case.

Court documents describe the counts against Stapp as entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol Building or grounds, and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol Building. It was unclear Friday when he would appear in court.
Word spread among the Alutiiq children in Larsen Bay, Alaska: An anthropologist from Washington, D.C., would pay them 10 cents to find him human bones.

Ales Hrdlicka, a Smithsonian anthropologist, repeatedly traveled to this small community on Kodiak Island in the 1930s to exhume Indigenous graves. In what amounted to industrial-scale pillaging, he and a small team disinterred the remains of about 1,000 people and shipped them back to the Smithsonian's U.S. National Museum, the precursor to the National Museum of Natural History.

"He's thought of, kind of like, as a ghoul," said April Laktonen Counceller, whose Alutiiq grandfather grew up in Larsen Bay and told her stories about Hrdlicka's excavations and the offer to pay dimes for skeletal remains. "They called him 'the bone doctor.'"

But elsewhere, his reputation at the time was storied.

Hrdlicka (hurd-lich-kuh) was one of the world's leading anthropologists, and he ran the Smithsonian's division of physical anthropology for about 40 years. He amassed an enormous collection of body parts and used his research in Alaska to propagate the theory that the first people to populate North America crossed a land bridge at the Bering Strait. For years he dominated the still hotly contested debate over when these people first traversed the Pacific.

He considered people who were not White to be inferior and collected their brains and other body parts, convinced that he could decipher race primarily through physical characteristics, according to his writings and speeches. He was celebrated in his time, testifying before Congress and as an expert witness in court, and sought out by the FBI to help with cases.

Since his death in 1943 at age 74, Hrdlicka's name and the human remains that he methodically amassed over 40 years from Alaska and elsewhere have faded from public view. But his macabre legacy endures: The Smithsonian has in storage at least 30,700 body parts, including 255 brains, most of which were collected by Hrdlicka or at his direction.

He preyed on Indigenous populations, willing to go to extreme, sometimes brutal, lengths to acquire remains. In Mexico, he cut the heads from the bodies of Indigenous people who had been massacred by the government. In St. Louis, he expected that some of the Indigenous Filipino people on display at the 1904 World's Fair would die, so he made plans to take their brains. On one trip to Peru, he collected more than 2,000 skulls.

At the Smithsonian, he recruited an international network of anthropologists and doctors to help him scavenge for body parts, advising them on how to do so without attracting notice. Researchers sent him human remains from the Philippines, South Africa, Malaysia, Germany and across the United States, collected from hospitals, morgues and graveyards. He took at least 57 brains from Black people who died in the United States.

He was widely viewed as an expert on race and human variation, and believed that collecting body parts would help with the discovery of the origins of people in the Americas. He was featured in newspapers frequently, and his beliefs influenced U.S. government policies on race. Some of the body parts he amassed were for the Smithsonian's "racial brain collection" and "racial collection of pelvises," which he attempted to use to compare races.

Decades after his death, public sentiment on his racist beliefs and his methods began to turn. By 1991, residents in Larsen Bay had forced the museum to return the bones of about 1,000 individuals he disinterred. But within the Smithsonian at the time, some lamented the loss of the collection and continued to celebrate his legacy.

Rachel Watkins, a biocultural anthropologist, worked at the Natural History Museum in the early 2000s after the Smithsonian had reckoned with what he had done in Larsen Bay. She recalled when employees at the museum gathered around a cake to commemorate the anthropologist's birthday more than 50 years after his death.

"He was . . . deified," said Watkins, now an associate professor and department chair of anthropology at American University. "It's like Thomas Jefferson at [the University of Virginia]."

Over the past year, The Washington Post examined thousands of documents, including Hrdlicka's personal letters, publications and field notes, and interviewed dozens of Smithsonian officials, experts, descendants and members of affected communities to piece together one of the most extensive looks at his work and collections to date.

As The Post investigated, Lonnie G. Bunch III, the secretary of the Smithsonian, apologized publicly for the way the museum had collected many human remains in the past and created a task force that will decide on the proper way to treat the bodies and body parts in the institution's possession. In an interview, he said that the institution must do more to acknowledge Hrdlicka's racism.

"Let us be clear that this is not acceptable and that we need to find ways to make amends," said Bunch, who took on his role in 2019. "We need to figure out how we make clear who he was, but also that whole field of scientific racism, what its impact was."

Natural History Museum officials also said the Smithsonian apologized for the pain caused by Hrdlicka and "anyone else at the Institution who acted unethically in the name of science, regardless of the era in which their actions occurred."

In 1987, the Larsen Bay Tribal Council passed a resolution asking the Smithsonian to return the remains Hrdlicka took. The ensuing battle helped lead to federal laws in 1989 and 1990 that required museums nationwide to take steps to repatriate remains with ties to Native American, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian communities.

Natural History Museum officials said that since then, they have returned or offered to return more than 6,000 sets of remains. No laws require the Smithsonian to inventory or return the remains taken from other communities.

Nationwide, museums are struggling with how to reconcile collections gathered under circumstances that critics contend were little more than theft. Brandie Macdonald, the executive director of the Indiana University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, said the field is changing for the better. But the communities that were preyed upon need to have a hand in deciding how to move forward, she said.

"Museums have so much power within the community and they're given so much power because of our place in the community. Right? We're seen as the experts," said Macdonald, a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation. "Museums need to humble their egos and realize that they're not the experts, that the communities are the experts."

Hrdlicka's fixation on race began early in his career.

As a child, he emigrated with his parents from what is now the Czech Republic to New York. A bout with typhoid fever at age 19 inspired him to pursue medicine at the Eclectic Medical College of New York City in the 1890s, and shortly afterward he worked as a physician and attended the New York Homeopathic Medical College in Manhattan.

During an internship at the New York Middletown State Homeopathic Hospital, he developed an obsession with measuring the human body, convinced that his interest would yield important scientific discoveries about human variation. At the time, other anthropologists, scientists and doctors scoured the world for body parts, eager to research human origins and compare races.

In Asia, doctors at the Philippine Medical School sent 18 brains.

In Maryland, doctors at Johns Hopkins University sent 22 brains. Doctors at the University of Maryland sent eight brains to the Smithsonian.

In 1898, Hrdlicka published a study of 908 White children and 192 Black children at the New York Juvenile Asylum and the Colored Orphan Asylum in New York. He measured and compared their body parts, including genitals. He wrote that "inferiorities" in the children were probably the result of neglect or malnutrition, not hereditary. But he noted "remarkable" physical differences based on race.

To collect body parts as an anthropologist for the Pathological Institute of the New York State Hospitals, he sought out locations where the poor and vulnerable would die. He publicly urged policymakers to adopt laws allowing anthropologists to take unclaimed bodies - those that had not been identified by relatives or came from families who could not afford to bury them - from hospitals and graveyards.

While working for the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan in 1902, Hrdlicka traveled to Sonora, Mexico, where the army had slaughtered an estimated 124 men, women and children from the Yaqui tribe. Hrdlicka cut off the heads of Yaqui men killed in the Sierra Mazatan massacre and brought 12 skulls back to the museum to incorporate them into his studies on race, according to his publications and investigations by anthropologists, including Ventura Perez. Hrdlicka also took the 13th skull of a Yaqui man who was hanged from a tree. The remains were later returned to a consortium of Yaqui groups.

Hrdlicka's publications on creating a collection of human remains for scientists inspired the Smithsonian to start its department of physical anthropology at the National Museum of Natural History, according to one newspaper account read into the congressional record.

Hired in 1903 as an assistant curator at the Smithsonian, he quickly built a network of people who would collect body parts on his behalf: researchers in South Africa and the Philippines, and doctors and professors at universities around the United States. He told them the Smithsonian would reimburse them for the work.

"He was single-mindedly obsessed with collecting bodies and body parts for the Smithsonian Institution," said Samuel J. Redman, a professor of history at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, who has written extensively about museum collections of human remains.

While setting up exhibits for the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, Hrdlicka sent anthropologist Adalbert Schuck across Africa to measure children and collect human remains. The Smithsonian received more than 1,000 sets of remains from the exposition, including two brains of Zulu people.

"Do not go away until after you have made as big a collection of skeletal material as possible," Schuck, who was in Zanzibar, was directed in a 1914 letter that was unsigned but appeared to be written by Hrdlicka. "The natives must not, of course, be taken into confidence, in fact, they should know nothing about such collecting. If you will need help get some good white man."

Of the more than 30,700 human remains that the Natural History Museum still holds in storage, more than 19,000 - or about 62 percent - were collected while Hrdlicka was head of the Smithsonian's physical anthropology division, according to a Post analysis.

Nearly 23,000 of the human remains came from North America. Another 5,000 were collected from South America, almost entirely from Peru. During a 1910 trip to Peru, Hrdlicka collected thousands of skulls and bones from graves in Pachacamac, an ancient settlement outside Lima that predates the Incan empire, and the valley of Chicama, located outside the northern city of Trujillo. The Smithsonian paid $120 to ship them in boxes to the United States via Panama.

As he was getting ready to return to the United States, Hrdlicka wrote a letter to William Henry Holmes, a top Smithsonian official, to brag about the remains he had scavenged "for the most part, with my own hands."

Hrdlicka's own racist beliefs were featured in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, which was affiliated with the American Association of Physical Anthropologists. He helped found both organizations and they remain pioneering forces in the field of anthropology. The journal and association have since changed their names, replacing "physical anthropology" with "biological anthropology" to move away from the field's early ties to debunked racial science.

"Much of Hrdlicka's work has been discredited and his views are not the views of the association or the journal now," said Trudy R. Turner, the editor in chief of the journal. "While it is important to know our history, it is not who we are now."

Hrdlicka believed that White people were superior to other races, followed by Asians and Native Americans. He ranked Black people at the bottom, proclaiming them to be a problem for America. When Bishop John William Hamilton wrote Hrdlicka in 1930 and asked about interracial relationships and whether Black people would become a large part of the American population, Hrdlicka wrote that mixed-race people "shall never dominate or control, for he has not the brain and other qualities that would be needed."

"The only danger that needs to be apprehended as a result of this admixture with the American whites is that of a drag on the progress of the whites," he wrote. "It is by this that the future generations in this country will pay for the sins of their fathers who imported the negro into this country."

For years, Hrdlicka supported eugenics, the now-discredited theory that selective breeding could improve the human gene pool. It was often used to target people of color and those with disabilities, and later embraced in Nazi Germany. A 1926 pamphlet showed he was an advisory member of the American Eugenics Society.

A 1930 letter among Hrdlicka's personal papers advised an official in the eugenics society how to gain support from doctors for forced sterilization, which the Supreme Court had legalized in 1927. The letter, which was unsigned but probably written by Hrdlicka, instructed the official to focus on sterilization of those who are "beyond restoration to the normal in mentality," apparently a reference to people with mental illness.

"With such individuals the scientific sterilization of every individual will be a distinct and undeniable service to humankind," he wrote. "If only this could be achieved it would be a great step forward in the right direction."

In 1930, a newspaper article described Hrdlicka as saying that all humans share a common origin, and that physiological differences of race are only "skin-deep." But he also continued to insist that evolution had made it so "all races are not equal" and that it was unlikely that certain races would "catch up."

From his Smithsonian post, Hrdlicka corresponded with Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Both entertained his theories on war and immigration, according to correspondence. The FBI sometimes turned to Hrdlicka when it wanted to identify a person's remains.

In 1922, the chairman of the House Committee on Territories called Hrdlicka before Congress to testify on the "assimilability" of Japanese people, who were a large part of the population of Hawaii, then a U.S. territory. He told Congress that Japanese people assimilate with "difficulty" and are not as intelligent as White people.

In another case, the Justice Department hired Hrdlicka in 1915 to study Chippewa people on the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota and determine who was a "full-blood" Native American based on their appearance for purposes of land rights. He examined 696 people, concluding each individual's "blood status" based on their hair texture, skin, eyes, teeth, gums and other physical features, according to a Smithsonian report in 1916.

When Hrdlicka died, newspapers lamented the loss, heralding him as one of the country's foremost anthropologists. An Associated Press obituary called him "one of the world's most noted authorities on mankind's history and development."

But he also faced increasing scrutiny: Some anthropologists from his time took issue with sloppy field methods that prioritized amassing as many specimens as possible, and chafed at his brusque and rude manner, according to Redman, the historian. Hrdlicka's attitude toward Indigenous communities and other races gained notoriety, especially as Native American communities organized to retrieve human remains from museums in the 1960s and 1970s.

In a 1983 letter preserved in the National Anthropological Archives, anthropologist Sherwood Washburn told a colleague he believed Hrdlicka "very nearly killed physical anthropology." "By the time I was in college, he was regarded as an old, disagreeable fool," wrote Washburn, who died in 2000.

More than four decades after Hrdlicka's death, the Larsen Bay Tribal Council kicked off a process that represented a sea change in how museums repatriated human remains to tribes, and that would affect Hrdlicka's collections for years to come.

In 1987, the council passed the resolution that asked the National Museum of Natural History to return human remains and artifacts from Hrdlicka's excavations. At that point, the Smithsonian's policy had generally allowed the return of human remains to descendants if the individual whose body parts had been taken was identified by name. But with the Larsen Bay repatriation request, the council was largely seeking ancient remains from unidentified individuals.

The Smithsonian argued that Hrdlicka's field notes showed that some local workers had assisted him in his excavations. Smithsonian anthropologists said that the scientific community would lose invaluable resources if the bones were returned, and that the remains had little connection to modern-day tribes. Some residents, however, disputed that Hrdlicka had permission to exhume the remains and wanted the Smithsonian to broaden its policy on who could seek repatriation for body parts.

In 1991, the secretary of the Smithsonian concluded that the remains should be returned to Larsen Bay community members. By then, battles between tribes and major museums had influenced Congress to pass repatriation laws. The Larsen Bay case would be one of the most consequential repatriation efforts in the Smithsonian's history.

At the time, some employees in the Smithsonian's physical anthropology division worried that they were going to lose access to the collections Hrdlicka had assembled, according to Stephen Loring, an anthropologist and archaeologist who works in another division. In 1994, Loring and Miroslav Prokopec, a Czech anthropologist who died in 2014, wrote about Hrdlicka's life in a book about the repatriation of remains to Larsen Bay.

"The collection . . . was Hrdlicka's pride, a great scientific assemblage salvaged from the ravages of time," they wrote. "This unassailable scientific monument to one man's collecting zeal is under attack. The future of the collection, which took the 'bone doctor' some 40 years to amass and involved travels to remote parts of the world, along with much energy, expense, diplomacy, and effort, seems uncertain."

Loring said that he has long supported the repatriation of such remains, but that some anthropologists felt the Smithsonian collections would be "threatened" by cases like Larsen Bay and other repatriation laws.

Some said Hrdlicka helped legitimize the field of physical anthropology, and the American Association of Biological Anthropologists gave a prize in his honor - the Ales Hrdlicka Prize - until 2020, when the organization stopped giving awards named after anthropologists.

The association, which Hrdlicka helped found, has grappled with his legacy in recent years. "Even though Hrdlicka was instrumental in forming the association, and we continue to acknowledge his role in this, his academic research has long been discredited," Leslea Hlusko, the president of the association, wrote in an email. "If you ask around, you will find that most biological anthropologists do not ignore past scholars such as Hrdlicka; to ignore them is to forget the harm that was caused by them."

Publicly, the Smithsonian notes Hrdlicka's contributions in a few paragraphs scattered across its website, calling him "one of the world's most prominent anthropologists" and crediting him with starting the institution's forensic anthropology work and leading its physical anthropology division for 40 years.

In Alaska, Counceller is now the executive director of the Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological Repository on Kodiak Island. Decades after she first heard about Hrdlicka from her grandfather, she assists other tribes with repatriation efforts.

In Larsen Bay, she said, people rarely speak of Hrdlicka. The years-long fight to repatriate her ancestors' remains brings her a sense of pride. And to her, the way for the Smithsonian to properly reckon with Hrdlicka's legacy is simple.

"Return the human remains to their home communities and help make sure that they can be reburied or whatever the tribal community wants to see done," she said. "That's what they can do."

Since Hrdlicka's death in 1943, the museum has acquired about 7,500 human remains, with one set of human remains being entered into the collection as recently as this January, according to museum documents.

The Smithsonian this year announced restrictions on accepting human remains and who can access them for research, but anthropologists and scientists have long studied the collections. A curator in the Natural History Museum's biological anthropology division, Douglas Owsley, said he uses human remains in the museum's possession to research historical communities and populations and help identify human remains for law enforcement.

Bunch, the Smithsonian secretary, said that his goal is to return "as many human remains as possible," but that he wants the new task force to provide guidance on how best to do so. He said that also includes looking at new policies on research and acquisition of remains.

For decades, Smithsonian employees from the repatriation office have worked on returning tribal remains to their communities from an office in the Natural History Museum, the building where Hrdlicka once worked. And the institution still holds Hrdlicka's papers in nearly 300 boxes at the archives in its Museum Support Center across from a strip mall in Suitland, Md., where tens of thousands of body parts still sit in storage.

Regine Cabato, Alice Crites, Magda Jean-Louis, Monika Mathur and Nate Jones of The Washington Post and Alexander Fernandez, Nami Hijikata, Solene Guarinos and Lalini Pedris of the American University-Washington Post practicum program contributed to this report.
CAMP DAVID, Md.  President Joe Biden and the leaders of Japan and South Korea agreed Friday to expand security and economic ties at a historic summit at the U.S. presidential retreat of Camp David, cementing a new agreement with the allies that are on an increasingly tense ledge in relations with China and North Korea.

Biden said the nations would establish a communications hotline to discuss responses to threats. He announced the agreements, including what the leaders termed the "Camp David Principles," at the close of his talks with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

"Our countries are stronger and the world will be safer as we stand together. And I know this is a belief that all three share," Biden said

"The purpose of our trilateral security cooperation is and will remain to promote and enhance peace and stability throughout the region," the leaders said in a joint statement.

Biden maintained, as have US, South Korean and Japanese officials, that the summit "was not about China" but was focused on broader security issues. Yet, the leaders in their joint summit concluding statement noted China's "dangerous and aggressive" action in the South China Sea and said they "strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the waters of the Indo-Pacific."

Yoon noted in particular the threat posed by North Korea, saying the three leaders had agreed to improve "our joint response capabilities to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, which have become sophisticated more than ever."

He said as the three appeared before reporters that "today will be remembered as a historic day, where we established a firm institutional basis and commitments to the trilateral partnership."

Japan's Kishida said before the private talks that "the fact that we, the three leaders, have got together in this way, I believe means that we are indeed making a new history as of today. The international community is at a turning point in history."

The visitors spoke in their home languages, their comments repeated by a translator.

The U.S., Japan and South Korea agreed to a new "duty to consult" security pledge committing them to speak with each other in the event of a security crisis or threat in the Pacific.

The pledge is intended to acknowledge that they share "fundamentally interlinked security environments" and that a threat to one is "a threat to all," according to a senior Biden administration official. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the announcement.

Under the pledge, the three countries agree to consult, share information and align their messaging with each other in the face of a threat or crisis, the official said.

The Camp David retreat, 65 miles from the White House, was where President Jimmy Carter brought together Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in September 1978 for talks that established a framework for a historic peace treaty between Israel and Egypt in March 1979. In the midst of World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met at the retreat  then known as Shangri-La  to plan the Italian campaign that would knock Benito Mussolini out of the war.

Kishida and Yoon were mindful of Camp David's place in U.S. and world history, making repeated references to its past and now their place in it during their comments at the news conference after the meeting with Biden. The leaders arrived in Washington on Thursday and, as guests of Biden, on Friday were flown separately to Camp David on U.S. military helicopters like the ones Biden uses.

Biden's focus for the gathering was to nu dge the United States' two closest Asian allies to further tighten security and economic cooperation with each other. The historic rivals have been divided by differing views of World War II history and Japan's colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

But under Kishida and Yoon, the two countries have begun a rapprochement as the two conservative leaders grapple with shared security challenges posed by North Korea and China. Both leaders have been upset by the stepped-up cadence of North Korea's ballistic missile tests and Chinese military exercises near Taiwan, the self-ruled island that is claimed by Beijing as part of its territory, and other aggressive action.

Yoon proposed an initiative in March to resolve disputes stemming from compensation for wartime Korean forced laborers. He announced that South Korea would use its own funds to compensate Koreans enslaved by Japanese companies before the end of World War II.

Yoon also traveled to Tokyo that month for talks with Kishida, the first such visit by a South Korean president in more than 12 years. Kishida reciprocated with a visit to Seoul in May and expressed sympathy for the suffering of Korean forced laborers during Japan's colonial rule,

The effort to sustain the trilateral relationship won't be without challenges.

Beijing sees the tightening cooperation efforts as the first steps of a Pacific-version of NATO, the transatlantic military alliance, forming against it. U.S. officials expect that North Korea will lash outperhaps with more ballistic missile test and certainly blistering rhetoric.

Polls show that a solid majority of South Koreans oppose Yoon's handling of the forced labor issue that's been central to mending relations with Japan. And many in Japan fear that bolstering security cooperation will lead the country into an economic Cold War with China, its biggest trading partner. Biden's predecessor (and potential successor) Republican Donald Trump unnerved South Korea during his time in the White House with talk of reducing the U.S. military presence on the Korean Peninsula.

"If an ultra-leftist South Korean president and an ultra-right wing Japanese leader are elected in their next cycles, or even if Trump or someone like him wins in the U.S., then any one of them could derail all the meaningful, hard work Biden, Yoon and Kishida are putting in right now," said Duyeon Kim, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security 's Indo-Pacific Security Program.

Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Hyung-Jin Kim in Seoul contributed to this report. Lee reported from Washington.
Brad Dempsey (23) was charged with possessing a semi-automatic pistol with intent to endanger life at Margaret Kennedy Road, Dublin 8

A MAN, who was metres from a child's buggy when he allegedly opened fire on a group of people in a car in Dublin, was refused bail yesterday.

Brad Dempsey, 23, of Stannaway Road, Crumlin, Dublin 12, appeared before Judge John O'Leary at Dublin District Court yesterday evening in connection with a shooting last year and other offences.

He was charged with possessing a semi-automatic pistol with intent to endanger life at Margaret Kennedy Road, Dublin 8, on January 19, 2022, contrary to the Firearms Act.

He also had additional charges for knife possession and violent disorder by using or threatening to use violence with six others at Golden Lane Dublin 8 on August 12, 2021, and possessing cocaine for sale or supply at a residential address in Drimnagh, Dublin 12, on January 15 last year.

Garda Richard Pender told Judge O'Leary that he received directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions on Wednesday to charge Mr Dempsey.

The court heard that he was arrested and taken to Kevin Street Garda station on Thursdsay and "made no reply to charge after caution".

Garda Pender objected to bail on the gun charge.

He alleged that Mr Dempsey was brought by taxi to a house at Margaret Kennedy Road that morning.

He claimed the accused ran out of the house to a Ford C-Max carrying four people parked at the front of the property.

The court heard it reversed away while the shooter "discharged five bullets into the car".

Garda Pender said that "a man was pushing a buggy 10 metres from Brad Dempsey as he ran towards the car".

The car drove away and was later found in Crumlin "with bullet holes".

After the shooting, it was alleged the accused returned to the house, but he was then "tracked" on CCTV heading to Lourdes Road in Maryland, Dublin 8. The court heard a bag of clothing was thrown over a wall matched the defendant's clothes.

According to the garda witness, gun residue on the clothing matched discharged casing from the shooting scene.

Cross-examined by defence solicitor Edward Bradbury, the garda agreed Mr Dempsey had been interviewed over two days at Kevin Street garda station last year, and his client made no admissions.

The garda also accepted that the accused had handed over his passport and not sought to have it returned, and he was unaware if he had left the jurisdiction.

The court heard that the shooting was an attempted murder investigation, but the DPP decided against pursuing that line and directed gardai to charge Mr Dempsey with the firearms offences. It can result in imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 years on conviction.

The garda had flight risk fears and said bail conditions would not give him comfort.

Arguing that Mr Dempsey should get bail, the solicitor said that his presumed innocent client had not left the State, evaded justice, or taken any warrants, and he was not charged with other offences since the alleged incident.

Mr Bradbury submitted that his client, who is yet to indicate a plea, fit the bill for being granted bail.

Mr Dempsey, supported in court by his mother, wore a green jacket and tracksuit bottoms, runners and a white top for the hearing and did not address the court.

Judge O'Leary believed he would not turn up for trial, refused bail and remanded him in custody to appear at Cloverhill District Court on August 23 via video link. Further directions from the DPP are to be obtained.

Legal aid was granted.
Book of evidence not yet ready in case of co-accused Viorel Doroscan (21) and Otniel Richardo Clejan (21)

Two young men charged with murdering another young man whose body was found wrapped in a carpet and dumped in a field in Co Meath have had their case further adjourned for the service of a book of evidence.

Viorel Doroscan (21) and Otniel Richardo Clejan (21) are accused of the murder of Mahamud Ilyas (22) whose remains were found on farmland along the Meath and Dublin border in December 2022.

The deceased had lived in the west Dublin area with his family, who were originally from Somalia.

The two accused are facing jury trial in the Central Criminal Court on the charge.

Mr Doroscan, with an address at Bay Meadows, Hollystown, and Mr Clejan, of Verdemont in Blanchardstown, both in west Dublin, are alleged to have killed Mr Ilyas on December 9 last year, the day before his body was found.

It is alleged that Mr Ilyas was killed at another address at Verdemont, Blanchardstown.

The men were remanded in custody following an appearance before Blanchardstown District Court in January last but were subsequently granted bail with conditions in the High Court.

At the mens most recent court appearance, a state solicitor said the book of evidence was not yet ready. Defence solicitors for the men said there was consent to an adjournment for the book of evidence. Judge Gerard Jones adjourned the case to a date in October for the service of the book of evidence.

The accused, who are originally from Romania, have not yet indicated a plea to the charge.

Mr Ilyas body was discovered on farmland at Belgree Lane, Kilbride, Co Meath, near the Co Dublin border on December 10, 2022.

A man walking in the area discovered the remains and he raised the alarm. Mr Ilyas, from Blanchardstown, had earlier been reported missing.

The area was sealed off for a technical examination by gardai. A domestic residence was also examined by the Garda Technical Bureau.

The results of a post-mortem examination have not been disclosed for garda operational reasons.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed laws on exemption from duty and value added tax (VAT) for a number of goods entering Ukraine for security and defense purposes.

According to the cards of relevant bills No. 9467 and No. 9468, posted on the website of the Verkhovna Rada, the documents were returned to the Parliament with the signature of the head of state on August 18.

As reported, on July 28, the Verkhovna Rada adopted bills No. 9467 and No. 9468 at the final reading, which provide for exemption from duties and VAT for thermal imaging monoculars equipped with an infrared detector with a built-in camera function, binoculars with a rangefinder function and anti-drone guns when they are imported into the customs territory of Ukraine.
Letby cried in court today as the guilty verdicts were read out.

British neonatal nurse Lucy Letby (33) has been convicted at Manchester Crown Court today for the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of six others at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

Letby will spend the rest of her life in prison after she preyed on babies by injecting air into their feeding tubes, amongst other evil methods, causing them to collapse and die.

She attacked twins and murdered two boys out of a set of identical triplets within 24 hours of each other.

Prosecutors said Letby was a "calculated opportunist" who used the vulnerabilities of premature and sick infants to disguise her heinous acts.

Moment of arrest (Cheshire Police)

Letby cried crocodile tears in court as the guilty verdicts were read out. Her mother broke into sobbing which continued after she left the court.

You can't be serious. This cannot be right, she shouted.

The killer refused to return to hear the last of the verdicts - with the judge saying he had no power to force her to come up from the cells.

In 2015 and 2016, there had been a rise in the numbers of babies who suffered serious and unexpected collapses in the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

Letby was the only member of the nursing staff who was on duty each time the incidents happened, which were not natural events.

The nurse injected air into the stomach, overfed with milk, physically assaulted the babies and poisoned them with insulin.

It was suggested Letby attacked the babies because she wanted a married paediatrician, who she insisted was just a close friend but was suspected of having an affair with, to be crash called to the neonatal unit so they could try to save the children together, talk about treatments and sympathise with each other after their deaths.

Some of the children were subjected to repeated attempts to kill them by the "cold, cruel and relentless" killer.

Letby's presence when collapses took place was first mentioned to senior management by the unit's head consultant in late June 2015.

Lucy Letby

But Letby was not removed from the unit until after the deaths of two triplet boys and the collapse of another baby boy on three successive days in June 2016.

The nurse was arrested at her semi-detached home in Westbourne Road, Chester, at 6am on 3 July 2018.

During searches of her address, a number of closely written notes were discovered.

On one green Post-it note she wrote: "I don't deserve to live. I killed them on purpose because I'm not good enough to care for them", "I am a horrible evil person" and in capital letters "I am evil I did this.

Families of the babies killed and harmed have demanded a public inquiry into how Letby was able to murder and maim babies for so long. None of the parents had any idea their children had been the victims of foul play until they were visited by police up to three years later.
Once we knew there was a leak we worked urgently to find out who it was

A woman working for Cheshire Police who tipped off a wanted criminal friend about a massive, secret investigation into serious and organised crime betrayed her job, her colleagues and the public she was paid to protect investigators have said.

Natalie Mottram (24) from Warrington will have to face the consequences for the rest of her life after she admitted to misconduct in public office, perverting the course of justice and unauthorised access to computer material at Liverpool Crown Court today.

She will return to court on November 3 to be sentenced along with her criminal pal Jonathan Kay (38) who also admitted perverting the course of justice at an earlier hearing.

Mottram was working as an intelligence analyst at the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU) when she was arrested by National Crime Agency officers on June 12, 2020.

She was arrested as part of Operation Venetic, the NCA-led UK response to the takedown of the encrypted communications platform EncroChat favoured by criminals.

An investigation was launched soon after Operation Venetic began when authorities became suspicious that there had been a leak.

It emerged that Mottram not only told Key about the covert investigation, she also warned him that officers had intelligence on him too.

The drama unfolded on April 24, 2020, when a friend of Kays, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told other EncroChat users that he had learned that day about law enforcement infiltrating the platform.

He had messaged a second contact: I no [sic] a lady who works for the police. This is not hearsay. Direct to me. They can access Encro software. And are using to intercept forearms [sic] only at the moment. There [sic] software runs 48 hours behind real time. So have ur burns one day max. And try to avoid giving postcodes over it.

The Burns reference is to the to the delete-time function on messages.

He added: Her words was are you on Encro, I said no why, I only sell a bit of bud. She said cool just giving you heads up. Because NCA now have access. But she wouldnt lie.

It didnt take long for NCA investigators to suspect Mottram was responsible for the leak and on June 12, 2020, bosses asked her to analyse an intelligence log referring to Kay who was the partner of Mottrams close friend Leah Bennett (38)

Little did Mottram know the log was bogus and she was under surveillance.

Investigators watched as Mottram left work that afternoon and drove to Kay and Bennetts house on Newark Drive, Great Sankey, Warrington. The three, who had met a few years before had grown close over a shared love of gym exercise. She had her own key to Kay and Bennetts house and let herself in.

At 5.15pm Kay - who has convictions for driving offences and being drunk and disorderly - arrived home in his car. When Bennett arrived seven minutes later in hers, the prosecution say is when Mottram corruptly informed Kay and Bennett about the intelligence log concerning him.

Just 11 minute later, at 5.26pm, telecommunications data shows that Bennetts phone contacted another belonging to the partner of the man who cannot be named, which was the first time these devices had communicated in two years.

It is believed the call was made to set up a meeting because shortly after Kay and the man met at a supermarket car park.

They talked for 20 minutes while walking around before returning to their vehicles and leaving.

Shortly after, police moved in and Mottram, Kay, Bennett and the man were all arrested while 200,000 in cash was recovered from Kay and Bennetts house.

NCA investigators, using a variety of records such as cell site analysis and phone data to check where the suspects were and when, established that on April 21 Mottram and Kay were together at his house for nearly two hours. And that evening Kay and the unnamed man spoke on the phone.

A few days later, Mottram was again with Kay and Bennett at their home, on April 24. Her computer records reveal she was working on Operation Venetic from their address. Kay and the man spoke again on the phone later that day.

The NCA say that Mottram, of Vermont Close, Great Sankey, Warrington had clearly betrayed information about the secret Operation Venetic investigation.

Today, at Liverpool Crown Court, Mottram admitted misconduct in public office, perverting the course of justice and unauthorised access to computer material.

She will return to court on 3 November to be sentenced along with Kay who admitted perverting the course of justice at an earlier hearing.

A charge of perverting the course of justice against Bennett lies on file and will be dropped when Mottram and Kay are sentenced.

John McKeon, head of the NCAs anti-corruption unit, said: Natalie Mottram betrayed her job, her colleagues and the public she was paid to protect.

Her corrupt actions had the potential to hugely damage the overarching investigation by alerting offenders of the need to abandon EncroChat and cover their tracks.

Operation Venetic was the deepest and broadest operation against organised crime the UK has ever seen, and has taken huge numbers of dangerous offenders off the streets. But Mottram clearly didnt care about that. Her actions were disgraceful.

Once we knew there was a leak we worked urgently to find out who it was.

With the North West ROCU and Cheshire Police, once we suspected Mottram, we created a trap for her and she immediately walked into it.

The evidence against her was overwhelming. She was left with no option but to finally plead guilty.

Assistant Chief Constable Jo Edwards, head of the North West ROCU, said: As part of this extensive investigation with the NCAs anti-corruption unit and Cheshire Police, overwhelming evidence was obtained against Natalie Mottram, exposing her criminal actions. She had no other choice but to admit her wrongdoings at court.

There is no place in policing for those who are corrupt, seeking to use their position for criminal purposes. Here at the NWROCU we expect our officers and staff to uphold the highest standards of professional behaviour, to maintain the trust and confidence of the communities we serve.

Natalies actions fell far below the standards and values we expect. She has failed in her public duty, letting down her colleagues and the communities that we serve. Her actions were criminal, and she will now have to face the consequences for the rest of her life.

Each and every day, our staff at the NWROCU serve our communities with the utmost integrity and honesty, but sadly the actions of Natalie Mottram have undermined the fantastic work we do on a daily basis.

Detective Superintendent Helena Banusic, Head of Professional Standards at Cheshire Constabulary, said: I welcome the guilty pleas entered by Mottram and I hope that her conviction provides reassurance to our communities.

Mottram abused her position by accessing highly sensitive data which she then shared with people outside the organisation.

Thankfully, as a result of the partnership work between Cheshire Constabulary, the NCA and the IoPC she has now been held accountable for her actions.

As this case demonstrates nobody is above the law, and I want to reassure the public that we are committed to doing all we can to root out any officers or staff who fail to meet the high standards that the people of Cheshire expect and deserve.

The NCA inquiry was part of an Independent Office for Police Conduct (IoPC) directed investigation.

Mottram started work at Cheshire Police in August 2017 as an apprentice before being seconded to the NW ROCU as an intelligence researcher in May 2018.

Soon after all employees were sent a standard reminder never to search corporate systems for their own purposes. Mottram acknowledged the warning.

By 2020, her role was to conduct threat assessments of OCGs. She was briefed on the details of Operation Venetic and was advised about not widely discussing details of the sensitive operation.

As well as the crimes she has admitted, the evidence against her revealed she bought cannabis from a dealer whose phone number was saved in her mobile phone; had told Bennett about a murder file she had seen on her bosss desk. And she also took selfies with her work computer visible and showing a document classified as Official Sensitive meaning it required certain handling conditions.

So far under Operation Venetic, more than 1,100 offenders have been convicted.

There are many more suspects in the legal and judicial systems. In total, more than 3,000 arrests have been made across UK law enforcement and more than 2,000 suspects charged. So far more than 7,322 years of sentences have been given to UK offenders.

Drugs seizures include nearly six-and-a-half tonnes of cocaine, more than three tonnes of heroin and almost fourteen-and-a-half tonnes of cannabis.

One hundred-and-seventy-three firearms have been taken off UK streets along with almost 3,500 rounds of ammunition and more than 80m has been seized from organised crime groups.

These figures represent the collective efforts of the NCA, UK police forces, Regional Organised Crime Units, Border Force, HM Revenue and Customs and crucially the Crown Prosecution Service.

The man who cannot be named for legal reasons was previously summoned to appear at court where he was due to be charged with perverting the course of justice. He failed to attend.
"I have profound indignation at the possibility that anyone would suggest that that beast leave prison.

A Colombian man  dubbed the worst serial killer in modern times - could be soon free to walk the streets, as he is eligible for early parole in the coming months and has already put in his application.

Psychopath Luis Garavito, nicknamed La Bestia, or the beast, was convicted of killing 193 people, mostly young men and boys between 1992 and 1999 in a case which shocked the world.

"I have profound indignation at the possibility that anyone would suggest that that beast leave prison," said former Colombian President, Ivan Duque.

Garavito is thought to have the highest number of victims of any murderer on the planet, with the ages of the maniacs victims ranging from six to sixteen years old.

Psycho Garavito in recent times

Despite confessing, the 66-year-old is suspected of murdering upwards of 300 in total. Rather disturbingly, under Colombian law, he can only be imprisoned for 40 years and is eligible for parole after half his sentence.

20 years into that jail time, the beast has now applied for early release.

Dr Mark Benecke, a doctor from Cologne, who interviewed Garavito had this to say about him:

"He is one of the most friendly and soft spoken persons I have ever met. He was very manipulative towards me in a friendly way.

"He is a typical serial killer who acts out his fantasies. He is a typical paedophile - soft, mild-mannered and friendly to kids and others.

Police searches uncover bodies (Columbian Police)

"Garavito told me that he even pitied a kid he killed because the kid had told him of being abused, and Garavito could relate to that due to him being sexually abused as a child all the time," the Dr said.

When he was arrested in 1999, Garavito confessed to many more murders and pleaded for forgiveness

"I ask you to pardon me for all I have done, and all I will confess," he said in a tape from his confessions. "Yes, I killed them  and many others."

Garavito would mostly target street kids, pretending to be a priest to gain their trust, offering them booze and cash.

Changing appearance of Garavito (Columbian Police)

He claimed that he would then feel an urge inside him that forced him to murder the innocent youngsters.

During the investigation into his crimes, cops uncovered mass grave over 35 children.

It was reported at the time that almost every victim had suffered sexual assault and torture.

During his prison time, Garavito tried to demonstrate that he had changed.

In a televised interview, the psychopath said he had ambitions of becoming a politician, and even had the audacity to say he wanted to help abused children.
In the space of one night at that stabilisation point, there were five dead. Two dead on arrival, three dead on the table. About ten lost their legs that night.'

An Irishman who has been documenting the fierce fighting in Ukraine has described how he narrowly avoided death when his team was targeted by a Russian drone strike.

Finn Boylan is back home in Ireland having survived seven months on the frontlines in Ukraine, where he witnessed "total war that has not been seen since World War II.

A native of Bray in Co Wicklow, Boylan has traveling to and from the battlefields since the Russian invasion began in February 2022.

"It's total war," Boylan told RTE Prime Time last night. "It's stuff we haven't seen since World War II."

Footage from Boylan's film

During his most recent trip to the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk. Boylan, the CEO and chairman of Finn House Films, spent time filming footage for his first full-length documentary Forsaken Frontier.

He was one of the first people to capture the aftermath of the devastating bombing of a pizzeria, popular among journalists and soldiers alike on June 27, which left at least 13 people dead.

Having captured the moment when a survivor was pulled from the rubble, he explained that everything is a target in that town.

"You dont know when the next missile is going to hit you, he said

"The next morning everyone is going into the shopping center next door. Going to work. Selling groceries. Getting their coffees. Now soldiers need to find a new place to drink their coffee, so there's another one down the road. Its just how it is. Life goes on there," he said.

He also described the brutal reality of finding the bodies of dead Russian soldiers who had been abandoned on the side of a road.

"Unfortunately, the Russians are left on the battlefield. No one's picking them up. The Ukrainians collect their own dead and their own civilians. It's brutal."

Boylan also spent time filming at a medical stabilisation point where wounded soldiers are given treatment just behind the frontline before being moved on to hospital.

"In the space of one night at that stabilisation point, there were five dead. Two dead on arrival, three dead on the table. About ten lost their legs that night."

A casualty is treated after heavy fighting

"[It] is where wounded soldiers get their first bit of proper medical care where they'll see a doctor or somebody that will patch them up enough and stabilise them to make them able to survive the journey to a real hospital.

"They can only move the wounded in the night because it's too dangerous at the moment," Mr Boylan said.

In May 2022 Boylan experienced his own narrow brush with death when he was part of a group visiting an abandoned school in a recently-liberated Ukrainian village.

He said he had been in the building for just five minutes when it was targeted by a Russian drone strike.

Boylan and the group were able to flee the building when they realised that the Russians were readjusting their fire.

The Bray native said he believes that the fighting in Ukraine will go on for several years, adding that Irish people are "incredibly lucky."

"It's going to be a lot more casualties and a lot more young men dead," Boylan told RTE.

He also said he enjoys spending time with his family and dogs when he is back home as it helps when taking time to readjust after he returns from trips to Ukraine.
Adair told the Sunday World: Put a gun in his hand and Smickers is very dangerous.

Convicted child sex creep Gary Smickers Smith was involved in some of the worst sectarian atrocities of the Troubles, loyalist sources have claimed.

And he has been linked by sources to the attack on Catholic council workers who were cut down by machine-gun fire at their depot in 1993.

Two men died and five were wounded in the attack at a cleansing depot on Belfasts Kennedy Way on October 26, 1993  three days after the Shankill Bomb atrocity.

Earlier this month, at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court in Scotland, 59-year-old Smith narrowly escaped going to jail when he was convicted of communicating with a 12-year-old boy with a view to having sex with him.

Smith  who has been living in the Ayrshire town for more than a decade  was snared in an undercover police operation aimed at catching dangerous paedophiles on the prowl for innocent children.

The same Smith was a seasoned terrorist in Johnny Mad Dog Adairs notorious UFF C Coy.

And during his time as a UFF gunman, Gary Smith played a central role in C Coy, which police say was responsible for up to 47 murders. He was suspected of involvement in at least 20 killings.

Adair told the Sunday World: Put a gun in his hand and Smickers is very dangerous.

Adair appointed Smith Military Commander of the UFF in the lower Shankill.

Undercover police officers had reported back to RUC HQ that Smith appeared to enjoy being seen with loyalist leader Adair, despite the pair being repeatedly arrested.

On one occasion they were taken for interview to Castlereagh Holding Centre in east Belfast. On their release, Smith complained to Adair he had been badly beaten by one of the detectives.

Weeks later, when Adair and Smith attended a paramilitary trial at Crumlin Road Courthouse, Smith spotted the officer standing in the court lobby with other Special Branch detectives.

Said Adair: I knew the beating had a negative effect on Smickers and the Special Branch probably spotted it as well. And I wondered if the police would try to target him as a tout.

I walked straight up to the officer who had assaulted him and in front of his mates I told him he wouldnt get away with it.

Johnny 'Mad Dog' Adair and Gary 'Smickers' Smith (R) at Drumcree

He added: The Branch man  who was a big man  was really embarrassed and so were his mates. But Smickers was delighted.

Surveillance officers also noted Smith had taken to calling to Adairs Hazelfield Street home most weekday mornings shortly after 9am. He was constantly at Adairs side as he journeyed around Belfast.

The cops soon realised Smith was playing a major role in Adairs C Coy. And whatever chance they had of turning him tout disappeared when Adair challenged the RUC man who beat him in Castlereagh.

With two of his top killers  Sam Skelly McCrory and Stevie Top Gun McKeag  behind bars, Adair even drove Smith to the Maze Prison to introduce his new man to them.

Other senior members of Adairs Inner Council  including Skelly and Donald Hodgen  were jealous of the trust their boss placed in C Coys new kid on the block.

Smith also volunteered to be part of a specialist UFF rocket team which on February 12, 1994, fired a rocket-propelled grenade at Sinn Feins Connolly House HQ, causing extensive damage.

Later the same year, Smith ran out of road when he and other members of a UFF active service unit were about to spring an assassination attempt on INLA leader Gino Gallagher at his home in west Belfast.

The loyalist hit squad were holed up in a house in Suffolk when the RUC smashed its way into the property and arrested them.

Adair said: The RUC had recruited a tout. He had been ordered to remove batteries from a walkie-talkie system.

But Smickers and the others were just about to leave the house and carry on with the operation when the MSU came in the doors and the windows, arrested everyone and took them to Castlereagh.

The police claimed on TV that night that C Coy was finished. But within hours, another C Coy operation was carried out and Sir Ronnie Flanagan even attended the scene, Adair said.

At his trial in February 1995, Smith was sent down for 16 years when he was convicted of conspiracy to murder and possession of weapons.

He was released under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement to continue with his paramilitary activities.

In December 1983, Gary Smiths brother Stanley confessed to the murder of Sinn Fein vice-President Maire Drumm while she was a patient in the Belfasts Mater Hospital.

The attack happened in October 1976, when Smith was 16. After confessing to two murders, Stanley Smith also agreed to turn supergrass and gave statements implicating dozens of loyalists in paramilitary crime.

He later withdrew his statements, but received a double life sentence for the two murders. On his release, he beat up a man in the Woodvale area he accused of child sex crimes. As a result, he was the victim of a hammer attack by other UDA men.

Refusing medical treatment, Stanley Smith died later of a heart attack. After his death, it emerged, he had also been suspected of being a paedophile.

After fleeing Belfast 20 years ago with the remnants of Johnny Adairs infamous C Coy, Smickers settled in Bolton, before moving to Kilmarnock.

Adair said: I cut all ties with Smickers 11 years ago. And Ive had no contact with him since.

The court heard last week how Smith bombarded his intended target with a series of lewd pictures and messages between September and October 2021.

And after hearing Smith had pleaded guilty to two contraventions of the Sexual Offences Act, the judge handed him three years supervision and placed him on the Sex Offenders Register.

Highlighting his addiction issues, his defence lawyer said Smith consumed two dozen bottles of beer and three grams of cocaine every night.
The stuff that goes on in there is unreal.

The controversy first arose in relation to the understatement of Ryan Tubridy's pay

Broadcaster Maia Dunphy has been engaging in a vociferous defence of Ryan Tubridy today on social media, after the former Late Late host "got the bullet from RTE during the week.

New Director General of RTE, Kevin Backhurst, ended negotiations with Tubridy after his statement over the RTE payments scandal and now Maia thinks the JFK in Ireland author is a trophy kill for the broadcaster as it looks to move on.

Maia Dunphy (Picture by David Conachy)

Bizarre how Tubridy is being made the fall guy for the litany of problems in RTE, Maia wrote on Twitter.

The Dalkey woman reckons the decision to get rid of Ryan may come back to bite the national broadcaster.

Bizarre how Tubridy is being made the fall guy for the litany of problems in RTE; poor governance & years of complacency among management in there has nothing to do with him. Feels like they wanted a head on a spike & that a recognisable one would work in their favour. It won't.  Maia Dunphy (@MaiaDunphy) August 18, 2023

"Poor governance and years of complacency among management in there has nothing to do with him. Feels like they wanted a head on a spike and that a recognisable one would work in their favour. It wont, she said.

The controversy first arose in relation to the understatement of Ryan Tubridy's pay

Her followers were quick to disagree, however, as one wrote: Hes your mate and it is admirable that you stand up for him. Hes not entitled to anything from RTE, to which Maia replied:

"Lets see how well his radio slot does now! Id bet not great will be the answer!

When another follower mentioned Tubridy sending in bogus invoices, whilst his colleagues were counting the paper clips, Maia said Not all of them! The stuff that goes on in there is unreal.

RTEs highest-paid presenter Ryan Tubridy (right) with his agent Noel Kelly (Niall Carson/PA)

Maia is sure that Ryan will move on and reiterated that she doesnt currently work there, after a woman accused her of defending a grossly overpaid colleague.

Maias tweets have received hundreds of responses online.

RTEs biggest concern now is falling revenues, however.

Funds gathered through the obligatory, annual 160 fee have fallen dramatically in the weeks since the controversy emerged.

There was a 37 per cent drop in the number of TV licence fee payments in the first week of August compared to the same week last year.

This comes after a significant fall in both first-time licences and renewals in July. In the first week of the month, total sales fell from 15,432 licences to 11,241 as the drama unfolded.
The freshwater fishing season begins on October 1, and new licences are now on sale.

Fish & Game NZ chief executive Corina Jordan says around 100,000 anglers are expected to go freshwater fishing throughout the country.

"Freshwater anglers are a passionate bunch, and the start of the new season is firmly on their calendars.

"We expect a flurry of activity now the new season licences are on sale. We know people are keen to get out with family and friends, enjoy the outdoors, re-connect with nature and fish for food."

While most angling takes place in the countrys easily accessible lowland rivers and lakes, this season will mark the introduction of a new management tool to better protect New Zealands more fragile fisheries, which are often located in the backcountry.

"The new Designated Waters Licence will see Kiwi anglers get a fairer share on some of the waterways that Fish & Games research has shown are subject to too much pressure - around two per cent of the countrys rivers.

"The new licence category will help us manage angling pressure by spreading angling effort around so that it isnt concentrated in certain areas, which detracts from the angling experience and also has the potential to negatively impact the fisheries."

Over the past ten years, Fish & Game has received increasing complaints from resident and non-resident anglers regarding overcrowding in a small number of fisheries that will now be managed through the Designated Waters Licence.

"Our research and monitoring show that a small percentage of non-resident anglers will intensely fish a local area, not only putting pressure on the fishery but also displacing other anglers. Weve implemented this new fisheries management tool to help address that imbalance."

In some fisheries, angler use has gone from a roughly 50:50 resident-to-non-resident split (in the early 2000s) to an 80:20 split favouring non-resident anglers. In most cases, pressure-sensitive fisheries, now managed through the Designated Waters Licence, share common features.

The rivers have very clear water, offer excellent sight fishing, hold large average size trout, have high scenic value, and are often located in a wilderness or backcountry setting.

Jordan says that "with a majority of our non-resident anglers fishing our backcountry fisheries for four or less days, most anglers wont be impacted by the change".

"Its important to note that only a small proportion of anglers contributing to unsustainable angling pressure will be affected by this change.

"We really appreciate and value overseas anglers, the contribution they make to the economy, as well as our organisation through purchasing licences, which helps us protect waterways.

"Anglers can find out more about the Designated Waters Licence, as well as information and updates on the upcoming season on our website - www.fishandgame.org.nz."
Round up your family, friends, neighbours, fellow fun-seekers and their vehicles  the Bay of Plenty Vintage Car Club is hosting a Daffodil Rally for Cancer on Sunday, August 20, at its Cliff Rd clubrooms.

The rally includes a public car show from 10am-1.30pm at the clubs base at 29 Cliff Rd, Tauranga.

At 1.30pm all vehicles registered will participate in a rally that will finish at a historical hall on the other side of the district.

We want the public to know is that everyone and every type of car is welcome to join the rally  no matter what kind of vehicle you drive, says Bay of Plenty Vintage Car Club vice chairman Donn White.

Well have a lot of vintage and classic cars in the rally  but we want as many cars as possible of any make, model or age to join us.

With August 20 being NZ Vintage Car Clubs National Day  all VCC branches across Aotearoa will be on a fundraising drive of some sort to raise funds for their local Cancer Society branch.

Some clubs have a car show, some have a rally  the BOP branch is doing both, says Donn.

The BOP VCCs public car show is from 10am-1.30pm. There will be a gold-coin entry fee to view an array of beautiful vehicles of all makes, models, sizes and ages. The gates open for display vehicles from 8am.

Our event organiser Raewyn Hughes has organised a fantastic range of food and refreshments to be for sale on-site at the club grounds for the day.

A sausage sizzle will be available from early; the BOP VCC kitchen will be open for tea, coffee and morning tea to purchase. Plus food caravans and coffee carts on-site.

The rally briefing will be given at 1pm. For those wanting to join the rally with their vehicles, the start-time is 1.30pm and costs $10 per vehicle; afternoon tea at the final destination is $5 per person.

All proceeds will be donated to the Cancer Society.

While kept under wraps until the day, Donn hints the rally route will be an awesome mixture of highway, byways, and country roads, which you will travel down, to the barrels of the earth, and back up along the ridges.

Rally participants please note there is 1km of hard, unsealed road on the route  and the rallys duration is about 1.5 hours, says Donn.

Were looking forward to everyone joining us for a great afternoon of motoring around the local countryside, with like-minded people who love their vehicles, and having a chat over a cuppa at our fantastic destination.

Donn says the goal of the car show and rally is to collect the biggest figure we can for the Cancer Society Waikato/Bay of Plenty.

Its going to be an awesome day  so do come along and enjoy the fun!
Paid parking areas are set to expand in the city centre come November as part of councils Parking Management Plan. So what do people on the ground in the CBD think?

Last week, Tauranga City Councils Commission approved a staggered roll-out plan of additional changes to city centre parking.

The first phase was launched last December, seeing the end of two-hour free parking and the re-introduction of paid on-street parking in the CBD.

The rest of the changes were set to be rolled out this November  but the Commission has now opted to stagger the rollout during a 12-month period. Starting November 1, phase two

will be apply paid on-street parking to Third Ave, Fourth Ave, Arundel St, Westbay Lane, McLean St, Monmouth St, Anson St and extend a section of First Ave, Second Ave and Devonport Rd.

Cash grab?

CBD hospitality worker Ethan Watene spearheaded a petition calling for carparking support for city workers last year after Decembers parking changes. He says the Parking Management Plan is getting a bit ridiculous.

It almost feels as though theyre trying to outcast the city from my point of view. Its saddening because we want to see more people. We want to see more events. We want to draw people to the city rather than push them away is what I want to see, because from where I stand it almost looks more like a cash grab than anything.

CBD hospitality worker Ethan Watene.

Assessing the situation

TCCs general manager of infrastructure Nic Johansson says its important for council to continue to assess the current parking environment while the CBD goes through a major transformation. As the city centre is transformed over the next few years, there will inevitably be disruption. We acknowledge the need to make sure parking options are adapted accordingly, and by staggering the rollout, we can be agile with the way these planned changes are implemented, says Nic.

This gradual rollout will help address the pressure being put on residential streets, as the city centre fringe becomes a high-demand parking area. It also allows us to keep monitoring parking demand in the city centre and ensure we are reducing disruption for residents and local businesses while the city centre transformation takes shape.

See-sawing issues

Earlier in June council re-introduced free weekend parking and changed the time of paid evening parking from 6pm to 5pm. Obviously Im all for that kind of thing but it just seems like one issue after the other you know, says Ethan. They [TCC] do something good but then go ahead, turn it around and make things a little bit worse than they need to be at the same time.

Elite Fitness sales professional Robson King works in the city fringe area soon to be included in the paid parking zone. He hopes the changes wont impact the store. Weve got a big carpark at least and I think we should be alright for the meantime, says Robson. Theres a couple of other smaller businesses that dont have their own carparks down there, so obviously if youve got to keep paying just to go in for a few little things that could get quite annoying to customers.

Fringe streets choked

Downtown Tauranga chair Ashleigh Gee says since paid parking has come back in the city centre, theres a good turnover of the carparks available. But in turn, she says: We now see the fringe streets getting choked with all day parking.

Downtown Tauranga chair Ashleigh Gee.

Some of the types of businesses on these streets rely on customers being able to get a park close by. Visitors and customers will go elsewhere if it becomes too hard to access a business.

Phase two of the staggered roll out to city parking kicks off November 1, with phase three and four proposed for April and September 2024 respectively.
A new database describing marine species has been released to assist conservation.

The New Zealand Trait Database - the first of its kind in NZ - provides information for more than 700 shallow-water seafloor invertebrates, such as snails, crabs, and worms.

The database includes information on everything from the animals feeding method and body shape, to the ways they move and mix the sediment they live in.

NIWAs Dr Drew Lohrer, Strategy Manager for Coasts and Estuaries, helped with database development.

He says it will be a powerful tool for understanding and protecting our native ecosystems.

"This database brings together information provided by many New Zealand and overseas researchers. It fills a big knowledge gap and provides a standard set of information - in one accessible online location - for us all to work with.

"The biological and functional traits information in the database opens doors to new types of analyses, which in turn will help us to protect species and their ecosystems."

In recent decades, the use of trait-based analyses has advanced scientists understanding of marine ecosystem functioning, including how it will respond to environmental change.

"The NZTD enables us to describe the types of traits and functions that are likely to disappear if we lose species to pollution or disturbance. We can also gain insights into the resilience of animals living on the seafloor by examining how their traits overlap.

"For example, if one species is lost, ecosystem functioning may be maintained through the activities and traits of those remaining. However, if dozens of species are lost, we may lose critical functions entirely, which would have a bigger impact on the whole system.

Gathering this information together was no easy feat. NIWA Marine Ecologist Orlando Lam-Gordillo led the effort.

"Compiling the database was a substantial effort because we needed to describe around 18 traits with 77 sub-categories for each of the 700 animal types," says Orlando.

"We did this by scouring hundreds of pieces of scientific literature and biological collections, which as you can imagine is difficult and time-consuming. Because of this, these databases are scarce or lacking in many parts of the world, which until now, included New Zealand."

The New Zealand Trait Database is an ongoing project, with continuous updates and refinements as additional taxa and trait information becomes available.

It can be freely viewed and downloaded from the repository Figshare and the NIWA website.
Ukraine to complete all steps agreed with European Commission by Oct, but reforms in these areas to continue further  Stefanishyna

Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Olha Stefanishyna has said that Ukraine will complete all the steps agreed with the European Commission by October, but reforms in these areas will continue further.

"My message was that these seven recommendations relate to the fundamental, basic reforms that form the foundations of a democratic state. Therefore, what is provided for by the recommendations and agreed points, Ukraine will fulfill and implement," Stefanishyna told Interfax-Ukraine on Friday, commenting on her statement that Ukraine will not implement 100% of all the recommendations of the European Commission before October, but will ensure that all agreed steps are implemented.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, Ukraine has already completed a significant part of the tasks, but "the reforms themselves, such as judicial, anti-corruption, deoligarchization, must be implemented constantly and have no end date."

"In the context of the seven recommendations, all agreed steps will be implemented. But this does not mean that after the implementation of the seven recommendations, we will stop fighting corruption, will not continue judicial reform, or will end implementing systemic measures to de-oligarchize."

To a clarifying question, whether there are provisions in these seven recommendations that Ukraine does not have time to fulfill before October, but has agreements with partners that progress will be taken into account even in this form, Stefanishyna replied that today there is no such talk.

"The main point of unresolved concern was the implementation of legislation on deoligarchization. The recommendation itself provided for the full implementation of the current law on the fight against oligarchs. But taking into account the conclusions of the Venice Commission, both Ukraine and the European Commission agreed that we would focus on systemic measures. This decision was made even before the oral assessment of the European Commission," the Deputy Prime Minister added.

Thus, according to Stefanishyna, today there is an agreement with partners that Ukraine will focus on systemic measures in this area, such as strengthening the Antimonopoly Committee, the issue of financing political parties, and the introduction of legislation on the media market.

"Therefore, we hope that in October the European Commission will present progress on this recommendation in this way. And on other recommendations, I do not see red lines for Ukraine," she said.

The Deputy Prime Minister said that Ukraine has already made progress on the anti-corruption bloc, the reform of the Constitutional Court, the decisions of the Verkhovna Rada are expected on amendments to the legislation in terms of combating the financing of terrorism and money laundering, and amendments to the legislation on national minorities have already been registered in the Parliament, which are implementing conclusions of the Venice Commission.

"When I talk about 100%, we must understand that the implementation of each of the recommendations is a subject of interpretation, including by each EU member state. Today, we have a list of steps agreed with the European Commission, we are moving along them, we will fulfill them. But each EU member state can put forward some additional questions and criteria, like Hungary on national minorities," Stefanishyna said.

As reported, on August 17, Stefanishyna said that by October Ukraine would not 100% implement all seven recommendations of the European Commission, but would ensure the implementation of all agreed legislative and institutional steps.

In addition, the Deputy Prime Minister said that Ukraine, according to the European Commission's recommendation, will ensure the renewal of electronic declarations by October.

On 14 August, the Verkhovna Rada is proposed to bring the law "On National Minorities" in line with the conclusions of the European Commission "For Democracy through Law" (Venice Commission).

On August 17, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a law "guaranteeing a transparent, professional and virtuous selection of judges of the Constitutional Court."
A beacon of positivity, radiating an infectious energy. A living legend.

These are just a handful of terms used to describe Tauranga man John Barton.

John, or JB as he was known to many people, the brains and effort behind Tauranga Youth Search and Rescue, passed away on Wednesday morning.

He had numerous coronaries since 2013 and open heart surgery in 2016.

After a major heart attack during an angiogram a few months ago, they sent me home from Waikato Hospital because they can't do anything for me, John told SunLive reporter Hunter Wells back in 2022. Read more here.

Fast-forward to this week, and many people are sharing their memories of JB.

YSAR Trust CEO Steve Campbell says JB is a legend in every sense of the word.

My journey alongside JB began during my time at the NZ Police in Tauranga, where we united our efforts in the realm of Search and Rescue.

Together, we embarked on countless searches and training missions, forming a bond forged in the crucible of shared experiences.

Steve says JB was a beacon of positivity, radiating an infectious energy that ignited our spirits and motivated us to always strive for improvement.

I remember vividly the moment that ignited JB's passion for Youth Search and Rescue.

It was during a regional Land Search and Rescue meeting in Rotorua back in 2004. A member from Hamilton Land Search and Rescue returned from the USA, and fired up about a youth development program in SAR. JB was captivated by the idea declaring, I remember, We should do that in Tauranga.

John leading a YSAR exercise.

And so began the journey of YSAR, and JBs determination never wavered.

With each encounter, Steve says he nudge him with his persistent enthusiasm, asking, "Are you ready to set up YSAR here yet?"

I can still recall the words that empowered him further, spoken by Ross Gordon at a SAR conference: "Look across the room, we need to invest in the next generation".

Steve says JB's resolve deepened, and his pestering became a testament to his unyielding commitment.

In 2007, I finally agreed: When you find a team and we gain Tauranga Search and Rescue's endorsement, we'll start YSAR.

By October 2008, JB had rallied the support needed, and Tauranga Land Search and Rescue gave YSAR its blessing.

We formed a working group and set the wheels in motion. The legacy that followed is etched in history, a testament to JB's unwavering dedication.

JB's passion was palpable when he interacted with students, sharing his SAR experiences and wisdom.

With every story, he captivated their hearts, and they absorbed his teachings like sponges. Standing tall in stature, he carried himself with pride, waving the YSAR flag at every opportunity.

John Barton was loved by all who knew him.

Yet, beyond his SAR endeavours, JB was a dear friend who stood by Steve during one of life's darkest chapters.

A devoted husband to Judi, he often marvelled at her goodness and his luck in having her, says Steve.

A loving father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, he overflowed with pride for his family.

Two weeks before he departed, I spent a few precious hours with JB, taking him to a YSAR exercise. Little did I know it would be our final encounter.

Following that trip in August 5, John sent the below messaged to Steve.

A note from John Barton:

The phone rings and its Steve Campbell asking if I want to come up to the scout hut. Yes says me and Steve confirms he will pick me up shortly.

I rushed around and found my midday meds, phone and a bottle of water, then offered some reassuring words to Lady Judi. Then its shoes and hat on and I'm ready to go.

It was never ending chat on the ride up to the top of Kaimais with a lot of memories discussed. We went up the farm race and met the farmer at the gate by the pines.

The next thing we came across was an old friend Jane walking the track. We went down the hill and over the bridge. I remember when there was no bridge just a Ford.

We have arrived at hut, put the jug on and managed our toiletries then took a trip over heaps of memories. As we entered the hall, the first person I met was Tom Bennett. an old student of mine. Steve took the opportunity to introduce me to the students and land search and rescue instructors. We had coffee and lunch while reminiscing about a lot of old good times.

Too quickly time was up and we were heading home.

Thanks Steve! The opportunity to get out to the scout hut and reminisce was priceless, I was last there in 2016.

THANKS MATE FROM JB+JUDI.

John showing what to do and what not to do around a fire.

Legacy

JB leaves behind a legacy etched in the hearts of his family, the YSAR community, and all whose lives he touched, says Steve.

His influence on the youth and his dedication to volunteering will shape the future.

Judi, today our hearts embrace you and your family. Know that the YSAR family stands with you in this time of sorrow and healing. We speak with one voice when we say, JB, you are a legenda friend whose memory will forever inspire us.
From masterminding the establishment of a nationwide drug trafficking network to riddling the house of a rival with a spray of bullets, Jim JD Thacker did not do things by halves.

But the man who led the meteoric rise of the Mongols gang in New Zealand - in doing so instigating what was arguably the most intense gang war in the countrys history - has now experienced a fall every bit as dramatic as his ascension to power.

Jim David Thacker, 33, was jailed for 22 years and four months when he appeared in the High Court in Hamilton on Friday.

It was a sentencing that took place in the presence of anguished family members and angered supporters, who appeared to be taken by surprise by the length of his sentence.

F... them. F... them, one supporter muttered, as Thacker bid them a lengthy farewell from the dock after his fate was revealed.

His brief grasping of his partners hand will not be repeated for some time. Justice Melanie Harland ordered a minimum period of incarceration of 50 per cent. Under current legislation, this means it will be the maximum 10 years before he can be considered for parole.

Thacker had been deported to New Zealand from Australia - where he had lived since he was four years old - in August 2018, under the controversial 501 legislation.

He had come to the attention of Australian police through, among other things, a peripheral role in the notorious 2013 gang riot in Broadbeach on the Gold Coast.

Business savvy and charismatic, he had established a popular motorcycle repair business in his homeland - but this endeavour was accompanied by his joining the Highway 61 gang, and then the Bandidos.

Thacker rose quickly through that gangs ranks and by the time he was unexpectedly kicked out of Australia had become president.

Hone Ronaki joined Thacker in establishing a chapter of the Mongols. Photo:Stuff.

With fellow 501ers Bandidos Hone Ronaki and Leon Huritu, he set about establishing a chapter of the gang in the Bay of Plenty.

A falling-out with the Australian hierachy led him to rebrand under the moniker of the Mongols - a US-based motorcycle gang established in 1969.

Under Thackers leadership, dozens of kilograms of methamphetamine was sourced in Auckland, taken to the Bay of Plenty to be washed, and then sent onwards to other parts of the country for distribution and sale.

Other Bay of Plenty gangs - notably the Mongrel Mob and the Greasy Dogs - did not take kindly to the Mongols attempt to muscle in on the regions drugs trade.

The Mongols anarchic campaign to establish dominance over their rivals led to businesses being torched, a house being riddled with bullets from high-powered weaponry, and pitched gun battles in the orchard-lands west of Te Puke.

Thacker, Ronaki and Huritu took part in the late night, tit-for-tat shooting up of the house in Haukore St, Tauranga, in January 2020. Inside the home was the daughter of a Mongrel Mob leader, her partner and their children, who were watching television in the lounge at the time.

Justice Harland said it was a miracle that no one was killed or even injured in the attack.

However the gangs swift rise to dominance was stymied, first by the initial Covid outbreak and lockdown in March 2020, and then when police swooped on the gangs senior hierarchy in June of that year.

The police crackdown was followed by a further blow when, after a three-month trial, a High Court jury found those gang leaders guilty of a slew of firearms and drugs charges in November last year.

Now, what may prove to be the final chapter in the saga has been written with Thackers jailing on 53 charges including possession of methamphetamine for supply, supplying methamphetamine, possession of prohibited firearms, discharging firearms with reckless disregard, money laundering, and participation in an organised criminal group.

Thackers mother, Tamaku Thacker briefly addressed the court prior to his sentencing. As her son wept in the dock, she told the judge there was another side to the man who had stood trial: The kind, loving, generous man that he is.

Thacker has spent much of his time so far in prison in solitary confinement, due to bad behaviour - including passing covert notes to his partner during a visit, which led to a conviction for attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Thackers sentencing followed that of his immediate deputy, vice president Hone Oner Ronaki, on Thursday. Ronaki received a jail term of 16 years on 107 firearms and drug charges.

Leon The Wolf Huritu, 40, the gangs sergeant-at-arms who also took park in the Haukore St shooting, was also sentenced on Friday, to seven years and two months.

However that sentence follows a sentence of seven years and 10 months that he recently incurred for his role in the Waikeria Prison riot. The new sentence will be served cumulatively, on top of that stretch - making for a 15-year term.

On Tuesday another member of the gang - a 29-year-old Auckland man who has ongoing interim name suppression - was jailed for 14 years and nine months on a range of gun and drug charges.

Eleven other leaders and members of the gang were sentenced in June including Jason 666 Ross, the head of the South Island chapter, who incurred a 12-year jail term, and Hawkes Bay boss Kelly Rhino Petrowski, who earned a stretch of 10 years and two months.

-Mike Mather/Stuff.
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The severe drought plaguing Andalucia is depleting water reserves at an alarming rate, with reservoirs across the region just 21.5% full.

The water reserves lost 55 cubic hectometres through consumption and evaporation over the past week, bringing the total down to 2,409 cubic hectometres, only 21.57% of their capacity. The situation is worse than last year's summer - in 2022 the reservoirs contained 2,987 cubic hectometres of water (26.74% capacity).

During the past week, the water stored in the reservoirs of the Guadalquivir basin dropped to 20.4% of their capacity, while reserves in the Andalusian Mediterranean Basin dropped to 28.1%. These are the two main reservoir systems in Andalucia, and the water stores that supply the largest population. The reservoirs of the Tinto, Odiel and Piedras in Huelva, and the Guadalete-Barbate in Cadiz, store just over 340 cubic hectometres combined. While the reservoirs in Huelva are at 143 cubic hectometres.

Andalucia's predicament is more serious than wider Spain, where national reservoirs are at 39.9% of their total capacity. Rainfall has been scarce on the Atlantic side and practically non-existent in the Mediterranean areas - there has been no substantial rain in Andalucia since June.

The reservoirs store 2,409 cubic hectometres and lost 55 due to consumption during the last week

Regional minister Antonio Sanz, on Wednesday 16 August called for "a great alliance between all the administrations" to help tackle the drought. Sanz also claimed that the Andalusian government "felt abandoned and betrayed" by the national government in helping to combat drought. "Madrid must stop looking the other way, as it is seriously neglecting its responsibilities in terms of water, and now we have to join forces, because we are in a situation of the utmost concern," he added.
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The heat is back with a vengeance this weekend in Malaga province and the worst is expected to come this Saturday 18 August), with temperatures that could exceed 40C. Aemet, the state meteorological agency, has raised the high temperature warning for Saturday. It has gone from the yellow initially forecast to amber. This could mean temperatures of 39C on the Costa del Sol and Malaga city, and may exceed 40 degrees in the inland towns of the Guadalhorce valley. In Ronda and Antequera areas a little less heat is expected; and yellow warnings are active for temperatures of up to 38C. The warnings will be in effect from 1pm to 9pm.

This increase in temperatures is caused by an episode of hot terral wind that will affect part of the province, although it is expected to be short in duration and the westerly breeze will be felt especially this Saturday.

Today, Friday, the heat will also be felt in several Spanish provinces, not only in Malaga. Specifically, due to the high temperatures, the provinces of Cordoba, Granada, Jaen, Huesca, Teruel, Mallorca, Burgos, Albacete, Cuenca, Barcelona, Gerona, Lerida, Murcia, Alava, Alicante, Valencia and Gran Canaria will be under yellow alerts, while Zaragoza, Navarra, Guipuzcoa, Vizcaya and La Rioja will be under amber warnings.

Temperatures will reach 39C in Zaragoza, Navarra and La Rioja, while Cordoba, Granada, Jaen, Huesca, Albacete, Murcia, Alava, Valencia and Alicante will reach 38C. In addition, sea swell and rain in A Coruna will cause alerts to be activated.
Opening of Las Pedrizas road. In the background, on the right, the current mayor of Malaga, Francisco de la Torre.

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Sometimes key pieces of infrastructure and civil engineering attract all the attention, such as airports or stations. Others, meanwhile, hum away in the background, unnoticed, but are no less important because of their impact on daily life. The A-45 road, which links Malaga city to the Antequera area and inland Granada province, is one of those.

This crucial link from the interior of Spain to the Costa del Sol has just marked fifty years since its opening, with one lane in each direction, on 13 July 1973. The anniversary went by with little fanfare, despite the importance of the road to all who live and work on the entire Costa del Sol.

The Nuevo Acceso (New access) to Malaga, as it was known during its early years, was inaugurated by Gonzalo Fernandez de la Mora, Minister of Public Works, at a point near the Agujero reservoir.

He cut the ribbon with the national colours accompanied by the local authorities, including the then mayor of Malaga, Cayetano Utrera Ravassa, and the president of the provincial Diputacion, a young Francisco de la Torre (the current mayor of Malaga).

Ampliar Traffic jam on the motorway in 1998, years before the toll road was built. Nito Salas. Archive

Only those locals over 60 will remember what it was like before the new road sliced through the mountains via the steep Guadalmedina river valley in the early 1970s.

Before what is these days labelled the A-45, the only route to the city and growing tourist resorts from the areas to north, including Madrid, was the narrow, winding mountain road that runs through the Los Montes de Malaga hills.

It is hard to imagine that the old road - which is now mainly a tourist route, the A-7000 towards Colmenar - was the only way in and out of the city and Costa del Sol from the north.

So, for the vast majority of the public, the A-45 - or Las Pedrizas road, as it is often known - has always been there.

The road in figures

Those 56 kilometres of motorway have no dramatic bridges or impressive tunnels (31km from the outskirts of Malaga city to the high point of Las Pedrizas pass and another 25km from that point to the border with Granada province). They are generally undervalued, despite the fact that a large part of the provincial economy depends on them.

Figures illustrate the extent to which there is a strategic dependence on this stretch of road that connects the Costa with inland Spain.

The Average Daily Traffic (ADT) of the road is about 55,000 vehicles (a figure that includes users of the newer, parallel toll motorway, the AP-46 as well as the A-45), according to the DGT traffic authority. This volume of traffic is ten times greater than is was when the Las Pedrizas road was opened in 1973.

Ampliar Turn-off from Malaga's outer ring road onto Las Pedrizas toll motorway (AP-46). Nito Salas

The increase in users led to the widening of the single carriageway to convert the road into the A-45 motorway in May 1992. The traffic continued to increase, however, and over the years severe congestion, especially in summer, got worse. The solution was the construction of the toll road (AP-46), which came into service in October 2011.

Every year, some 40 million people cross Las Pedrizas (the high point where the A-45 meets the Granada road). In terms of freight traffic, the lorries that pass through this point move around 40 million tonnes of cargo.

Although criticised at the beginning, the AP-46 toll motorway has relieved pressure on the A-45, which no longer sees tailbacks, except at very specific times or due to accidents. In fact, the toll road now accounts for almost 29 per cent of the vehicles travelling along the north-south route.

What has it meant?

Veteran Malaga engineer Jose Alba and journalist Esther de Leon are finishing a book on the history of the city's communications with inland Spain. This document compiles the history, statistics, economic data, information and up to 60 interviews with mayors, personalities and prominent residents about their relationship with this road.

"Until 13 July 1973, Malaga was a city that in its 2,800 years of history had been open to the sea, but closed to the interior" Jose Alba Engineer

Alba was directly involved, from his former position as municipal engineer, in the design of the new road and its connections with the city.

The main blot in the history of this vital piece of infrastructure, is, according to Alba, a political corruption scandal that delayed the widening of the last section of the road for three years to 1992. There were 21 deaths in accidents at this point alone in one year, which could have been avoided without the delay.

"Las Pedrizas road opened Malaga to the interior," he said. "Until 13 July 1973 it was a city that in its 2,800 years of history had been open to the sea, but closed to the interior. The older road was an adventure, you never knew when or how you were going to get there," said Alba.

Hence the increase in volume throughout its history - from 5,000 to 55,000 vehicles a day - is unparalleled anywhere else.

In addition, the engineer also has praise for the opening of the AP-46. "The fact that the toll motorway that competes with the free dual carriageway has such a high level of take-up is not found anywhere else, and it means that toll roads work better here than elsewhere," he said.

This can be explained in part, he said, by the large volume of traffic from other countries where drivers are more used to having to pay. He added: "The existence of the toll motorway means better conditions for those using the free motorway."
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Having fun is a universal language. This week Malaga city has been a practical example of this theory, as the August fair has attracted crowds where at least one word in Spanish is understood by all: fiesta.

The city centre is the melting pot where it all happens. Where the locals from Malaga take to the streets to enjoy their own traditions (although many say they also prefer to do this on the fairground) and where the outsiders, both from other parts of Spain and abroad, come across the feria, often when they were only expecting monuments and museums.

Anabel Espinar, Cristina Perez and Sarai Gonzalez are three friends from Barcelona who earlier this week were enjoying a drink at the fair under the awnings of the city's main pedestrianised street, Calle Larios.

"Here everyone talks to you, there's a great atmosphere, a really good feeling. And here there's a lot more diversity than in other parts of Andalucia," they said.

Gracia Pelaez comes from the Malaga village of Villanueva de Algaidas to the feria every year to enjoy the performances of Malaga's own style of flamenco, Verdiales. She pointed out that she had come across more people from outside Malaga, particularly remembering chatting to a woman from Holland.

Some foreign visitors in Malaga this week had come across the fair by chance. For Puck, 27, it was a surprise to find that the eight days he and his partner had booked in Malaga practically coincided in their entirety with the fair.

Meanwhile three German friends, 28, 33 and 36, were also unaware that the weekend they had booked in Malaga to celebrate a birthday would land them in the middle of what has been described as the greatest street party in southern Europe.

Neither Puck nor the German friends had yet gone to the out-of-town fairground, where the decorated horses and carriages are an added attraction for visitors, but they had not ruled it out.

Others who found themselves right in the midst of celebrations were a group of Italian tourists, whose cruise ship literally docked in Malaga port on Monday two minutes from the festivities. Many of them, such as Caterina Contu, regretted that they were only in the city for one day.

Javier Lara, also from Barcelona, praised the multicultural atmosphere of the Malaga fair. "It's perfect," he said.

Locals and visitors agree that this year's fair is a great success, from the fireworks and drones display last Friday night to the concerts and fair rides.

And for those visitors from all over the world still arriving in the city, the festivities continue until Saturday in the city centre and on the Cortijo de Torres fairground.
USA ready to approve transfer of F-16 to Ukraine by third countries after training of Ukrainian pilots

The United States may approve the supply of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine from third countries after the completion of the training of Ukrainian pilots, said National Security Adviser to the U.S. President Jake Sullivan.

Through a letter from Secretary Blinken to his counterparts in Europe, that upon the completion of that training, the United States would be prepared, in consultation with Congress, to approve third-party transfer of F-16 aircraft to Ukraine, Sullivan said at a briefing Friday.

Earlier on Friday, Bloomberg news agency, citing Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lkke Rasmussen, reported that Denmark had received approval from the United States to supply Ukraine with the F-16 after training Ukrainian pilots. The Dutch government, in turn, reported that they also received a letter from Blinken with permission to transfer the F-16 to Ukraine.
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Cornell University says it is ending its partnership with Starbucks after the coffee giant punished unionization efforts in Ithaca, N.Y.

The Cornell Daily Sun reports Cornell Student Assembly President Patrick Kuehl announced Wednesday that the school will stop serving Starbucks products in its cafes and dining halls on campus when the current contract expires in June 2025. Kuehl said Cornell will seek to find suitable alternatives for coffee and related products.

Cornell Dining does not intend to serve Starbucks Coffee in its cafe venues after the current agreement with the company expires in 2025, Joel Malina, Cornell Vice President of University Relations, confirmed in a statement. As President Martha Pollack mentioned in her response to a related Student Assembly (SA) resolution, Cornell Dining  in consultation with the Student Assembly Dining Services Committee  will initiate an inclusive process to select its next coffee product offerings and to ensure a smooth transition to a new vendor in 2025.

Cornell is currently a part of the We Proudly Serve Starbucks program, which has come under scrutiny in Starbucks efforts to stop union efforts.

Starbucks closed its location near the Cornell campus months after employees voted to unionize, along with two other stores in Ithaca that voted in favor of unionization.

U.S. National Labor Relations Board judge Arthur Amchan ruled last month that Starbucks violated federal law when it shut down the Cornell location as part of an attempt to discourage unionization efforts in Ithaca and elsewhere. Amchan also found Starbucks targeted student workers by denying them leave over Cornells academic breaks during the unionization process, according to the Ithaca Voice.

Starbucks also closed two locations in Syracuse last year: one in Armory Square and one near the Syracuse University campus. The company said it closed the Armory Square location due to safety concerns, though employees had been been working on a plan to unionize when Starbucks shut it down.

MORE:

Starbucks fires Buffalo worker active in unionization effort

Starbucks workers in Syracuse suburb vote to unionize
On Tuesday, August 22, at 12.00, the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency will host a press conference according to the results of the study entitled: "Restoration of occupied communities of Ukraine: analysis of experience and needs". The study was prepared within the framework of the project "Civil Society for post-war reconstruction of Ukraine and readiness for the EU", funded by the European Union.

Participants include

representative of the EU Delegation to Ukraine (to be specified);

Executive Director of the Laboratory of Legislative Initiatives Svitlana Matvienko;

expert of the Laboratory of Legislative Initiatives Tetiana Lukeria;

Chairman of the Subcommittee on Administrative and Territorial Structure of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on the Organization of State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional Development and Urban Planning Vitaliy Bezhin;

representative of the Ministry of Development of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure (to be specified);

representative of the Ministry for the Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories (to be specified); permanent representative of the President of Ukraine in Crimea Tamila Tasheva;

member of the Board of the All-Ukrainian Association of merged territorial communities, head of the Shulhin territorial community of Luhansk region (to be specified) Natalia Petrenko (8/5a Reitarska Street).

The event will be streamed on the YouTube channel of Interfax-Ukraine.

Accreditation of journalists by phone (063) 531 6106, or at: mg@parliament.org.ua (Maria Herelis, Communication Director of the Laboratory of Legislative Initiatives).
Syracuse, N.Y.  It seemed like a simple idea: replace uniform patches worn by Onondaga County Sheriffs Ofsce employees with a new one that everyone could wear.

That simple idea has led to a grievance being filed by the union representing the patrol deputies and a counter lawsuit filed by the sheriffs office against the union.

Sheriff Toby Shelley, who took office in January, proposed changing the employees uniforms by replacing the department-specific arm patches with a standard patch that says sheriff.

Currently, the arm patches specify which department  custody, corrections, police or civil  an employee works for.

After Shelleys administration proposed the change to the uniform, the union representing the police division pushed back and filed a grievance. The union says the uniform change violates its collective bargaining agreement.

In the grievance, union president Laura Collins states that the police division deputies want to keep their department-specific arm patches as a matter of safety and pride.

This will promote legitimate, earned pride in position, enhance safety and avoid the unnecessary expense of replacing patches and/or uniforms, Collins wrote in the grievance.

The sheriff has gone to State Supreme Court asking for a judge to toss out the grievance.

Undersheriff Jeffery Passino  who was a former union president  said in court papers that the change in patches will save money and unify the sheriffs offices employees.

The Administration feels strongly that the Sheriffs Office is a single entity and should reflect that, Passino said in court papers. Having a single patch goes a long way towards that goal.

Shelley said Thursday that the office would save money by having only one style of patch on the uniforms rather than two.

The savings would be up to $10,000 a year with standardized uniforms, said Tom Newton, a spokesperson for the sheriffs office.

If deputies change divisions, the office would not have to order new uniforms right away, Passino said. The office can also order the patches in bulk and save money that way, said Matthew Fischer, chief of the police division.

Passino told Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard Thursday that the sheriffs office does not plan to have deputies replace their current uniforms immediately. He said they plan to phase out the old uniforms over time.

Fischer said that deputies already have to replace their uniforms every few years.

The union is also arguing that removing changing the patches will lead to confusion.

There will be no way for bargaining unit members or the public to know if an individual works in Police, Corrections, Custody or Civil or Courts, Collins wrote in the grievance.

In the demand for arbitration, an attorney representing the police division union said that the removal of the patches will make it difficult for police division members  as the most highly trained of the deputies  to identify one another in high-stakes situations, resulting in safety concerns. The safety concerns make this grievance a mandatory subject of bargaining, according to the demand for arbitration.

Grievances filed by the union go through three steps of review before the union can demand arbitration. The steps in this case were reviews by the police division chief, the chief deputy of administration and finally by the county director of employee relations.

The grievance was denied by all three administrators. They all argued that changing the uniforms is not a mandatory subject of bargaining covered under the union contract.

Passino said in his affidavit that the administration has always had the ability to change the uniforms and the uniforms have been altered repeatedly over the years.

Shelley and the county are now asking a judge to dismiss the grievance so they can move forward with the plan to change the uniform.

Staff writer Anne Hayes covers breaking news, crime and public safety. You can reach her at ahayes@syracuse.com.
A court injunction that bars New York cannabis regulators from approving conditional dispensary licenses will continue indefinitely, according to a judicial order filed in court Friday.

New York State Supreme Court Judge Kevin Bryants order prohibits the Cannabis Control Board and the Office of Cannabis Management from issuing new Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary licenses, and from processing, approving or investigating pending applications for CAURD.

However, according to Judge Bryants decision, licensees who met all approvals before Aug. 7, 2023, will be allowed to open their stores. The order also states that the court may allow other CAURD dispensaries to open on a case-by-case basis, if state officials request permission from the judge.

It was Defendants that decided to move forward and accelerate the CAURD program in the face of unresolved litigation and they were undeniably on notice of the alleged constitutional defects at issue, Bryant wrote in his order. Despite this notice, Defendants encouraged potential licensees to incur significant expenses in reliance on a program that Defendants knew was at issue in pending litigation.

In his order, Judge Bryant encourages regulators to hurry up and start general licensing.

Given the representations by Counsel for Defendants regarding the expected imminent approval of regulations and the Board opening an application process for all  this Court will continue to require regular appearances from counsel before the Court to provide updates and to ensure that appropriate progress is being made to ameliorate whatever impediments exist to the approval of a process that arguably will make these proceedings moot, the order said.



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Judge Bryant initially issued an injunction on the CAURD program Aug. 7, 2023, as part of a civil suit filed by service-disabled veterans who intend to apply for dispensary licenses. The Coalition for Access to Regulated & Safe Cannabis  a group representing some of New Yorks medical cannabis companies, and is suing the OCM in a separate case  joined the lawsuit as a plaintiff last week.

According to the plaintiffs complaint, the OCM and CCB improperly limited eligibility for the CAURD program  only allowing justice-involved individuals who own a profitable qualifying business  when they created it last year.

In court documents, plaintiffs argue the CAURD program violates the U.S. Dormant Commerce Clause, and the plain text of New Yorks MRTA, which requires the CCB to open the window for all adult-use retail dispensary applications at the same time.

Arguing for the State of New York during a hearing at Ulster County Courthouse in Kingston last week, attorney Shannan Krasnokutski disputed the plaintiffs assertion that OCM essentially overruled state legislators by creating the CAURD program. The legislature approved a state budget, which allocated $50 million to the DASNY investment fund. That money will pay out loans to CAURD businesses for dispensary buildouts.

In his Friday decision to continue the injunction, Judge Bryant rejected Krasnokutskis argument, writing that lawmakers had already passed legislation separate from the MRTA to create Adult-Use Conditional Cultivation, and Adult-Use Conditional Processing licenses.

This Court is not persuaded by the argument that the legislature recognized the CAURD program by including funding in a budget bill and that this funding determination is the functional equivalent of specific statutory authority for the program, Judge Bryant said.

Last week Judge Bryant scheduled a hearing regarding the injunction for Aug. 25. Its not yet clear whether this order affects that court date.

An emailed statement from plaintiffs in the suit said the CAURD program kept social equity groups recognized in the MRTA from joining the legal market, while allowing others to launch their businesses.

Every day that the adult-use program was limited to only the CAURD program was another day the MRTA-designated priority groups and New York State farmers were left out in the cold, the statement said. We remain steadfast in our responsibility to fight for all the social equity priority groups being overlooked right now by the OCM through the CAURD program.
David J. Cotter, 37, of South Windsor, Connecticut and formerly of Marcellus, died Monday following a brief illness.

Cotter was raised in Marcellus, graduating from Marcellus High School in 2004. He received a degree in music education from the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam.

He had worked as a choral teacher in the East Syracuse Minoa school district and was a former education director at the Redhouse Arts Center in Syracuse. He also held positions as an assistant professor of theater at Heidelberg University in Tiffin, Ohio and was most recently the operations manager at KJR Consulting.

Cotter advocated for arts-in-education and the arts as a tool for community transformation, according to his obituary.

He was a theater artist who loved Disney and movies. His obituary said that he loved puppets and had a special kinship with Kermit, Figment and Baby Yoda.

Cotter left a message to be published on his Facebook page at his death.

It started out simply: Well, I died today.

He goes on to offer some advice for life:

First, always ask for help and when it arrives make sure you accept it.

Second, you are never too lost or too broken to come home.

Third, dont judge a book by other peoples reviews. Read it yourself, get to the truth of it. The true story is never as simple as the gossip you might hear.

Fourth, theatre is hard. And it should be. If it wasnt everyone would do it, and it wouldnt be the special thing that it is.

And finally, love each other as best that you can. You dont have to be perfect (I really struggled with that one), you just have to deliver on the basics: Show up, be on their side, and bring chips and dip.

He ended with Break a leg everyone. Ill be singing, dancing and eating ice cream while I wait for you for whatever our next adventure together will bring.

A celebration of life will take place from noon to 2:30 p.m. on Aug. 26, which includes a service at 1 p.m., at the Landmark Theatre, Syracuse. Attendees are asked to wear colorful clothing in his honor.

Donations may be sent to Rarely Done Production, P.O. Box 236, Pompey, NY 13138 or Friends of Dorothy House, 212 Wayne St., Syracuse, NY 13203.

David Cotter as Scuttle and Shelley Cooper as Ariel in Disney's The Little Mermaid, which will ran from June 3 to 25, 2016, at the Redhouse Arts Center.Photos courtesy of Redhouse Arts Center/Genevieve Fridley

You may contact Sharon Dellinger by phone at 315-470-2265 or email.
By Brendan J. Lyons | Times Union, Albany

Albany, N.Y.  Andrew M. Cuomo issued a subpoena to former state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi earlier this week that seeks her testimony and communications in connection with a 2021 state attorney generals investigation that led the former governor to resign from office.

Biaggi, a Bronx Democrat who left office last year, had been a frequent critic of Cuomos and was interviewed by the attorney generals office during their investigation that led to his resignation. She was among more than 130 state lawmakers who called on Cuomo to step down that summer after the attorney generals report concluded he had engaged in systemic sexual harassment  an allegation he denies.

Biaggi is an attorney who formerly worked in the counsels office for Cuomo for two years when he was governor. She was elected to the Senate in 2018 and ran unsuccessfully for Congress last year. After the release of the attorney generals report, Biaggi called for him to be impeached by the state Assembly and spoke publicly about what she described as a toxic workplace in Cuomos office.

It is a culture where people are incessantly berated and yelled at, she told PIX11 in a 2021 interview. There is intimidation tactics that happen if youre not considered someone who is going to just carry out the orders or the commands of the governor in a way that, perhaps, that he sees fit, even if you believe that its unethical.

The subpoena was issued in connection with a federal lawsuit in which a State Police investigator has accused the former governor of sexual harassment, including kissing her on the cheek and making sexually charged comments while she was working for his protective detail. The lawsuit filed by the investigator, who is identified in court papers as Trooper 1, is one of two federal sexual harassment lawsuits that have been filed against Cuomo.

Attorneys for Lindsey Boylan, a former aide who also accused Cuomo of sexual harassment but has not sued him, filed a letter this week seeking to block the subpoena served on the former senator. Her legal team has accused Cuomo and his attorneys of issuing numerous subpoenas in an effort to unearth private information about Boylan, who has asked a judge to reject the requests.

The subpoena served on Biaggi seeks her communications with Boylan, including text messages, as well as with three other women who accused Cuomo of inappropriate conduct. They include Charlotte Bennett, who was the second woman to file a sexual harassment lawsuit against the former governor. The subpoena also seeks copies of Biaggis communications with the attorney generals office as well as any records related to her accusations about the culture of the governors office when she worked there.

Biaggi did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

An attorney for Cuomo filed a response late Wednesday to the letter filed by Boylans attorneys, accusing them of overstepping in a case in which theyre not a party and noting that they had filed their request asking a judge to quash the subpoena nine hours after it was served on the former senator.

(Boylan) has now sought to block at least eight subpoenas in this litigation to other nonparties, wrote Theresa Trzaskoma, an attorney for Cuomo. She has done so even where, as with the subpoena to Ms. Biaggi, Ms. Boylan is neither the recipient nor the focus of the subpoena. Not only that, Ms. Boylan, a former candidate for two political offices with an active public life, has no conceivable privacy interest in her communications with a former elected official who is, just like Ms. Boylan, a well-known outspoken critic of Gov. Cuomo. Discovery into Trooper 1s allegations cannot come to a screeching halt just because Ms. Boylan says so.

Trzaskomo told the federal judge in her letter that Boylan lacks standing to file the request on behalf of Biaggi and that it was procedurally improper to do so and should be stricken from the docket.

An attorney for the State Police investigator also has opposed many of the subpoenas issued by Cuomos attorneys, alleging Cuomo seeks to punish his victims further by peering into their sex lives.

The dustup is part of an ongoing legal battle between Cuomos attorneys and some of the women he was accused of sexually harassing. The lawsuit filed by Trooper 1 in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn cites the attorney generals report extensively, including the accusations leveled by 11 women whose accounts served as the foundation of the August 2021 report. Cuomos attorneys have argued that opened the door for them to subpoena records and testimony from those women.

Boylans attorneys cast the subpoena of Biaggi as Cuomos latest instrument to further his scorched-earth approach to discovery, including improperly attempting to use the civil discovery tools available to him in Trooper 1 to test the independent and exhaustive nature of the (attorney generals report) and the (Assembly Judiciary Committees impeachment) investigation.

Cuomos attorneys previously lost a decision in which they had urged a judge to compel the attorney generals office and state Assembly Judiciary Committee to turn over all records from their investigations of his conduct. The attorney generals office successfully argued that sovereign immunity and law enforcement privileges shielded them from disclosing the records, which court filings indicate amount to about 73,000 documents, including communications with more than 100 witnesses.

After this story was published online, Richard Azzopardi, a co-defendant in the investigators lawsuit and a spokesman for Cuomo, sent the Times Union a statement he made in 2021 in response to Biaggis statements about the executive chambers work environment.

Alessandra Biaggi has chronically misrepresented her role during her brief time in the governors office, he said two years ago. The governor did not interact with her when she worked there  further, the majority of the senior staff never knew who she was or that she worked in the office until she left and ran for office.

The pretrial battles over depositions and subpoenas have recently engulfed the litigation in the State Police investigators lawsuit as the case moves on a path toward trial. Cuomo was scheduled to be deposed this month by the investigators attorneys.

The attorney generals report had noted that a high-ranking member of Cuomos Executive Chamber had informed a State Police senior investigator, who was a member of the protective detail and tasked with offering the trooper a job, that the rules were going to be changed so she could qualify for the assignment.

The Times Union, which began investigating the troopers appointment to Cuomos detail in 2020, is not identifying her because she is an alleged victim of sexual harassment who has asked to remain anonymous.

Serving as a member of Cuomos travel team, including initially driving him, had put her in close proximity to the governor. It was also when the governor allegedly touched her and made sexually suggestive comments to her, according to the attorney generals report.

The report said the trooper had described Cuomos conduct as creepy and flirtatious.

Cuomo has disputed that he directed the senior investigator to offer the trooper a job on his detail after he met her at an event in New York City where she was part of the State Police security team. But Cuomo did acknowledge getting out of his vehicle that day because he said he wanted to meet her.

During his interview with the attorney generals investigators two years ago, when asked about his involvement in the female troopers transfer, the governor recited several times that he was on constant alert to recruit more women, Blacks and Asians to the State Police detail. "

He said that he had met two female troopers who were at the bridge ceremony and encouraged the State Police to talk to both women about joining the (Protective Services Unit) to increase diversity.

The senior investigator who was tasked with handling the governors request also contradicted part of Cuomos account by stating the governor had not pressed for the second female trooper to be offered a job. That female trooper later made a statement to the senior investigator about the fact, unlike Trooper 1, she had not been offered a position on the detail.

Cuomos statements about diversity concerns are contradicted by a Times Union story nine years ago that revealed a month before he was elected governor in 2010, his top aides met privately with two State Police officials and proposed systematically replacing members of the governors protective unit, including more than a dozen Black troopers, to adjust the racial balance of the elite unit.

Two confidential State Police reports, and interviews with current and former State Police officials at the time, confirmed that the agencys Protective Services Unit underwent sweeping personnel changes.

In December 2020, the State Police and top aides to the former governor told the Times Union  in response to questions about the troopers appointment to the detail  that Cuomo had no role in Trooper 1s reassignment to the governors detail. They also claimed that rules had not been changed to get the trooper on the detail  a statement that was false.

The Times Union had asked the administration about information from confidential sources who said that Cuomo had pushed for the then-27-year-old female trooper to be offered the job on his detail because he liked the way she looked.

Rita Glavin, one of Cuomos attorneys, later acknowledged the governor had intervened in the hiring decisions of the State Police  something he has previously said should never occur  and that in the case of the female trooper, he liked how she made eye contact ... how she was assertive in the conversation.

___

(c)2023 the Times Union (Albany, N.Y.)

Visit the Times Union (Albany, N.Y.) at www.timesunion.com
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In Istanbul, on August 18, Azerbaijan Airlines CJSC (AZAL) and the General Directorate of State Airports of Turkiye (DHMI) signed an agreement on the establishment of a regional platform for the Coordination of Air Navigation Safety of SOCEA air navigation service providers to ensure the safety of air navigation flights between Europe and Asia.

The initiators of the creation of the SOCEA platform are AZAL and DHMI.

The agreement was signed by Farhan Guliyev, Director of Azeraeronavigation ATC of AZAL, and Huseyn Keskin, Director General of DHMI Turkiye.

This agreement was the result of cooperation between AZAL and DHMI within the framework of the economic cooperation program between Azerbaijan and Turkiye. It emphasizes the pursuit to ensure flight safety in the region and cooperation in the aviation industry of the two countries.

The SOCEA international air navigation cooperation platform is designed to develop and implement a regional flight safety strategy, as well as to promote cooperation between air navigation service providers in the region, whose founders and first members are Turkiye and Azerbaijan.

SOCEA will also contribute to the effective implementation of air traffic safety management systems in the region, the application of a risk assessment approach for flight safety management at the regional level, as well as the promotion of modernization and standardization of the digitalization process of the industry.
Support for Baraka Agriculture College in Kenya to upgrade dairy facilities

The Baraka Agriculture College in Kenya, a sister college of Mountbellew Agricultural College in Co. Galway, has been provided capital funding to support the update of its dairy facilities.

Made available through the FBD Trust, the funding will create the opportunity to provide a much-improved learning experience for students and small holder farmers in the catchment area of the college.

Baraka Agriculture College was founded in 1974 by the Catholic Diocese of Nakuru to educate and train the newly settled people of Rift Valley in Kenya. The college is governed and managed by the Franciscan Brothers. It is a sister college of Mountbellew Agricultural College in Co. Galway. The college offers a wide range of courses ranging from Level 6 (Diploma), Level 5 (Certificate) and tailor-made short courses across the sustainable agriculture value chain.

From the mid-1980s, the concept and practice of Sustainable Agriculture for Rural Development (SARD) evolved at the college. The college, through its outreach department, has over the years partnered with a number of development agencies to come up with development interventions within East Africa in improving the livelihoods of resource poor people. More recently, Baraka Agriculture College has partnered with Teagasc and Greenfield International in Ireland, and with KALRO and Self-Help Africa in Kenya, in the delivery of a Dairy Research and Development Project sponsored by the Irish Embassy in Kenya. The focus of this work is to support smallholder farmers in Kenya. The improved infrastructure at Baraka Agriculture College as result of this funding will greatly enhance the effectiveness of this project.

Chairman of FBD Trust, Michael Berkery added: We are delighted to support the work of Baraka Agriculture College in Kenya. The work of the college in supporting young farmer education, as well as supporting small-scale farmers in the catchment area of the college, will greatly help farm families improve farm productivity and profitability.

"The Franciscan Brothers, who set up the college in 1976, have a long history of achievement in providing agriculture education in Ireland and in East Africa.

Mr Berkery noted that this is the first developmental project outside of Ireland to receive support from FBD Trust.

Br Tony Dolan, who has worked in East Africa for 34 years, thanked Michel Berkery for the generous FBD support. The financial support will greatly enhance the dairy infrastructure at the college, and this will provide a much-improved learning environment for the students. The ambition is to enhance Baraka Agriculture College as an innovation support and training centre, which will work with co-ops in support of small holder farmers and rural youth in East Africa.

Paul Maher, Head of International Relations and Corporate Strategy at Teagasc said: The funding from FBD Trust will greatly enhance the ability of Baraka Agriculture College to provide education and training to the agriculture sector in Kenya. Teagasc in partnership with Baraka Agriculture College, KALRO, Greenfield International and Self-Help Africa will continue to support the development of agriculture in Kenya.

Also read: Teagasc UCC International Agriculture Student Development Programme
FBD announces support for Baraka Agriculture College in Kenya

FBD Trust is delighted to announce that it will provide capital funding to Baraka Agriculture College in Kenya. This support will provide an opportunity for the college to upgrade its dairy facilities in order to provide a much-improved learning experience for students and small holder farmers in the catchment area of the college.

Pictured at the announcement of capital funding by FBD Trust to Baraka Agriculture College in Kenya were (L to R) Dr Seamus Crosse, Greenfield International; Br Tony Dolan, Franciscan Brothers; Mary B. Dunphy, FBD Insurance; Michael Berkery, FBD Trust; and Professor Pat Dillon, Teagasc.

Baraka Agriculture College was founded in 1974 by the Catholic Diocese of Nakuru to educate and train the newly settled people of Rift Valley in Kenya. The college is governed and managed by the Franciscan Brothers. It is a sister college of Mountbellew Agricultural College in Co. Galway. The college offers a wide range of courses ranging from Level 6 (Diploma), Level 5 (Certificate) and tailor-made short courses across the sustainable agriculture value chain.

From the mid-1980s the concept and practice of Sustainable Agriculture for Rural Development (SARD) evolved at the college. The college, through its outreach department, has over the years partnered with a number of development agencies to come up with development interventions within East Africa in improving the livelihoods of resource poor people. More recently, Baraka Agriculture College has partnered with Teagasc and Greenfield International in Ireland, and with KALRO and Self-Help Africa in Kenya, in the delivery of a Dairy Research and Development Project sponsored by the Irish Embassy in Kenya. The focus of this work is to support smallholder farmers in Kenya. The improved infrastructure at Baraka Agriculture College as result of this funding will greatly enhance the effectiveness of this project.

Chairman of FBD Trust, Michael Berkery added: We are delighted to support the work of Baraka Agriculture College in Kenya. The work of the college in supporting young farmer education, as well as supporting small scale farmers in the catchment area of the college, will greatly help farm families improve farm productivity and profitability. The Franciscan Brothers who set up the college in 1976 have a long history of achievement in providing agriculture education in Ireland and in East Africa. Mr Berkery noted that this is the first developmental project outside of Ireland to receive support from FBD Trust.

Br Tony Dolan, who has worked in East Africa for 34 years, thanked Michel Berkery for the generous FBD support. The financial support will greatly enhance the dairy infrastructure at the college, and this will provide a much-improved learning environment for the students. The ambition is to enhance Baraka Agriculture College as an innovation support and training centre, which will work with Co-ops in support of small holder farmers and rural youth in East Africa.

Paul Maher, Head of International Relations and Corporate Strategy at Teagasc said: The funding from FBD Trust will greatly enhance the ability of Baraka Agriculture College to provide education and training to the agriculture sector in Kenya. Teagasc in partnership with Baraka Agriculture College, KALRO, Greenfield International and Self-Help Africa will continue to support the development of agriculture in Kenya.
Jeroen Distinguished - BHPian

Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Delhi Posts: 7,482 Thanked: 42,908 Times

View My Garage





re: Three sudden pilot deaths in the last three days! Quote: anjan_c2007 Originally Posted by .

So many consecutive, sudden deaths of pilots are all the more glaring when we are already discussing about middle aged gents and heart attacks in a separate thread.



Quote: aviator1101 Originally Posted by Pilots are supposed to be the fittest of people around.

What a catastrophic impact it would have on the rest of the crew and passengers.



Very sad indeed.



The total pilot population is likely to be a bit fitter than the average. But that doesnt mean there will be (very unfortunate) incidents like this. Cardiac arrest can happen due to all sorts of reason. Some can not be diagnosed up front.



Not to worry any nervous flyers anymore, but pilot medical exams are primarily physical exams. There are no real mental state of mind checks or tests done! At least not when I was still an active pilot.



Quote: condor Originally Posted by Any chance would this be connected to Pfizer's anti-Covid vax ? Have come across a few articles on this angle in people from the western countries due to taking that vax.



Quote: GutsyGibbon Originally Posted by These incidents are separated by thousands of miles. Ivan was flying from Miami to Chile. In the US, FAA requires health examination at intervals of 6 months to 5 years, based on age. One can imagine a pilot's health going south after some personal events. According to International Civil Aviation Organization there are 5 Lakh airline pilots. So, 3 of them dying in 3 days should not really be news. But, it could have been a slow news day for some lazy reporter.



Quote: anjan_c2007 Originally Posted by . The incidents are unprecedented and a shock for the aviation industry and also for we observers.

.



When this happens during flight, there is no reason to panic. Planes have two pilots up front, sometimes even a third pilot for rotation duty.



Any of them would be fully qualified in handling the plane by themselves. They are likely to declare an emergency so they get priority landing. Some airlines also have a policy where they will make an announcement on the PA system to ask passengers if there are pilots on the flight. Especially in the US, it is often the case. And you will have a little news item stating that passengers pilot so and so, helped land the plane he/she was flying as a passenger due to the captain or co pilot being incapacitated.



So no news, no statistical anomaly, no hidden agenda of authorities or doctored vaccines. This is just how the world runs.



Just some information on the medical class one requirements and its test:



https://flyosm.com/blog/medical-requ...ts-what-gives/



Jeroen Pilots at some point in time become middle aged and depending on regulations could be flying up to 65-67 years of age. So you are going to get some health issues no matter what at this size of the worldwide pilot populationObviously very sad. Pilots have to pass pretty strict medical exams. How often and how strict depends on the type of operation they fly, but big commercial aviation typically requires a so called medical class one certificate. Although it is a thorough test, it cant catch everything. Look at your average US pilot and you will see an obese guy! Sometimes, less frequently an obese girl.The total pilot population is likely to be a bit fitter than the average. But that doesnt mean there will be (very unfortunate) incidents like this. Cardiac arrest can happen due to all sorts of reason. Some can not be diagnosed up front.Not to worry any nervous flyers anymore, but pilot medical exams are primarily physical exams. There are no real mental state of mind checks or tests done! At least not when I was still an active pilot.Absolutely, this is well documented and scientific validated pilot killer Pfizer variant?? Come on, are we even serious?Agree 100%No, it doesnt surprise anybody in the industry. I dont want to upset you or other member whom might be anxious flyers. Go to the AVHerald site and search for pilot incapacitated. You will be surprised how often it happens in flight.When this happens during flight, there is no reason to panic. Planes have two pilots up front, sometimes even a third pilot for rotation duty.Any of them would be fully qualified in handling the plane by themselves. They are likely to declare an emergency so they get priority landing. Some airlines also have a policy where they will make an announcement on the PA system to ask passengers if there are pilots on the flight. Especially in the US, it is often the case. And you will have a little news item stating that passengers pilot so and so, helped land the plane he/she was flying as a passenger due to the captain or co pilot being incapacitated.So no news, no statistical anomaly, no hidden agenda of authorities or doctored vaccines. This is just how the world runs.Just some information on the medical class one requirements and its test:Jeroen Last edited by vb-san : 18th August 2023 at 07:15 . Reason: Typos, thank you!
At a glance Expert's Rating Pros Saves energy, which saves money

Easy to program

Compatible with Hubitat and Samsung SmartThings hubs

Zigbee has better range than Wi-Fi

Sinope has its own broad smart home ecosystem Cons As a Zigbee device, it requires a bridge to Wi-Fi (a Wi-Fi version in the works)

Optional leak sensor is expensive

Compatible only with electric water heaters, meaning there is no version for gas-powered appliances Our Verdict If you have an electric water heater, the Sinope Calypso will save you money by shifting your water-heating routines to off-peak times when electricity costs less. The process may require some programming, but Sinopes Neviweb app is very easy to use. Have a gas water heater? Look at Aquantas similar productits equally great.

Best Prices Today: Sinope Calypso (model RM3500ZB)

Retailer Price $89.99 View Deal

Hot water is an essential element of a comfortable home life. Unfortunately, most tank-style hot water heaters waste a lot of energy by keeping 40, 50, or more gallons of water hot 24 hours a day, when its more likely needed only in the mornings and again in the evenings. Replacing your water heater with a smart model or switching to a tankless model that only heats water on demand are expensive solutions to that problem. Attaching the Sinope Calypso Smart Electric Water Heater Controller ($89.99) to your existing water heater is a whole lot cheaper, so youll recoup your investment a whole lot faster.

Before I get much deeper into this review, however, I should note two things: First, Sinopes product only works with electric water heaters. Second, the device uses the Zigbee wireless smart home protocol, so youll need a Zigbee-to-Wi-Fi bridge to go along with it. That bridge can be a smart home hub you might already havethe Calypso is compatible with Hubitat and Samsung SmartThings hubsor you can buy Sinopes own GT130 gateway ($89.99), which is how Ive been evaluating the product for the past several months.

The Sinope Calypso saves you money by preventing your water heater from heating water when you dont need it.

You can control the device with Sinopes own Neviweb app or with voice commands spoken to Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. The Calypso is is not compatible with Apples HomeKit ecosystem (Sinopes Wi-Fi products, on the other hand, are HomeKit compatible), but Sinope tells me a Wi-Fi version of the Calypso controller is in development. The company plans to ship it in the fall of 2023 (price tba). None of Sinopes smart home products are Matter certified today, but that standard is still so new that that shouldnt be considered a shortcoming.

The Calypso is deceptively simple looking, having just three pigtail wires: Line 1/neutral, Line 2, and Load. Just dont forget that youre dealing with a 240-volt circuit if you install it yourself. Michael Brown/Foundry

An alternative for natural gas water heaters

If your water heater is powered by natural gas, Aquanta also has a great water heater controller, and its available in models for both gas and electric appliances (different SKUs, $149 each plus shipping). And like Sinope, Aquanta offers an optional leak sensor, but its significantly less expensive ($25 vs. $130 for Sinopes accessory). Aquantas controller, however, connects directly to your Wi-Fi network (2.4GHz only). That could be a problem if your water heater is too far from your router, or if there are too many signal-blocking barriers between the devices.

What does the Sinope Calypso look like?

The Calypso is a small box with rounded corners. It measures 3.38 x 1.34 x 2.76 inches (76.2 x 34 x 70.1mm) (HxWxD) and it must be hardwired to the electric wiring that powers your water heater. Given that an electric water heater operates on a 240-volt circuit, I recommend hiring an electrician to install the device. Sinope paid for its product to be installed on my homes water heater for this review.

The Calypso has one input for a sensor that monitors the tanks water temperature and a second input for an optional water sensor. Michael Brown/Foundry

The Calypso has one input for a temperature sensor that monitors the temperature of the water in the tank, and a second input for an optional leak sensor cable ($75) that ends in a water-sensing probe. The probe rests on the floor at the base of the water heater or in the water heaters drain pan. If this probe detects the presence of water, it will send a push notification to your phone and temporarily shut down your water heater as a precaution. Water at the base of your water heater could indicate that the tank is leaking, or that its T&P (temperature and pressure) relief valve has opened to prevent the tank from overheating or rupturing.

Sinope sent a junction box, its GT130 Zigbee gateway (left), and a water sensor cable kit (top right) along with the Calypso smart electric water heater controller (bottom right) for this review. Michael Brown/Foundry

I had thought Sinope missed an opportunity for product synergy by not making the Calypsos optional leak detector cable compatible with its Sedna Smart Water Valve (2nd Gen), but a pre-publication fact-check query disabused me of that notion. There are two versions of the Sedna: One that operates on Wi-Fi networks and one that uses Zigbee (and a Zigbee-to-Wi-Fi bridge, such as Sinopes GT130) gateway). If you have the latter variety, and the Calypsos leak sensor detects water, it will send a signal to the Sedna to shut off your main water supply in addition to sending a push notification to your phone. The Calypso cant do that with the Wi-Fi version of the Sedna.

Sinope, however, doesnt recommend relying on the first scenario unless every device in the chainthe Calypso, the GT130 gateway, your router, and your broadband gatewayare all plugged into uninterruptible power supplies. If the power goes out or your broadband connection goes down, the Calypso wont be able to send a signal to the Sedna. The better approach, Sinope says, is to rely on the Sednas own leak sensor. The Sedna, by the way, does have an optional battery back-up featureyou just need to supply the batteries.

The Calypso comes with a sensor that monitors the temperature of the water in the tank. You can plug in an optional leak sensor that will warn you with a push notification if your water heater leaks. Michael Brown/Foundry

How does the Sinope Calypso save you money?

Like the Aquanta device I mentioned earlier, the Sinope Calypso saves you money by preventing your water heater from heating the water when you dont need it. Water heaters are insulated, so unless yours is in a very cold environment, the water in the tank should retain a lot of heat between cycles. But as well discuss shortly, the controller wont let the water in the tank ever fall below whatever minimum temperature you set.

In addition to wiring the controller in line with the 240-volt line powering your water heater, an installer will need to access the water heaters own controller. Michael Brown/Foundry

The Calypso relies on routines you create in the Neviweb app (or in your compatible smart home hub if you have one) to turn your water heater on and off. If youre using the Neviweb app, there are two types of routines: Automations and Scenes. Automations are if/then routines that trigger events based on the time, events (e.g., sunrise and sunset), conditions (e.g., the weather), or your location (whether youre home or away). Automations can involve one or more of Sinopes smart home devices.

Scenes can also trigger actions based on the time, and they can also control more than one Sniope smart home device, but scenes must either be activated manually through the Neviweb app on a mobile device or with a voice assistant (e.g., Alexa or Google Assistant). I created both types of routines, including a scene called turn off the water heater and another called turn on the water heater, just in case I wanted to diverge from the automations I created to do the same thing on a schedule. More on that in a bit.

Programming the Sinope Calypso

You can program the Calypso with automations, scenes that run on command, or with a geofence. Michael Brown/Foundry

Youll want to create day-and-time-based automations that turn your water heater off at a given time of day and back on again later. You can have the same or different cycles for each day of the week, with a maximum of six such events per day. Programming automations is just a matter of pressing a couple of buttons and choosing selections from drop-down menus in the Neviweb app.

The Calypso also runs an algorithm that evaluates the water temperature readings the device takes with its sensor. You can set a minimum temperature for the water in the tank, and if the temperature drops below that threshold, the Calypso will turn your water on regardless of whatever scenes or automations are otherwise in effect. This is important not only for comfortnobody wants a cold-water shockbut to guard against bacteria growing in the water in the tank. If you want to shut off the water heater for a long period of time, this setting can be disabled. The Calypso cannot set the temperature your water heater is programmed to, however; that must be done on the water heater itself.

If your electric utility offers dynamic pricing or a similar time-of-use pricing plan that rewards customers with lower rates when they shift their consumption to non-peak hours, the Calypso can be programmed to optimize your water heating around that schedule. If your utility offers a demand-response program that gives the utility a degree of control over your consumption, the utility can automatically dial back your water heating during peak-demand events. Here again, the minimum temperature setting described above will override the utilitys commands until that threshold is reached. Sinope brands its demand-response feature as Eco Sinope, but many utilities ask the company to give it a different name. Puget Sound Utility in Washington state, for instance, calls it PSE Flex Smart.

Unless youre entirely comforable working with 240-volt electrical circuits (be sure to turn the breaker off!), you should have a licensed electrician install the Sinope Calypso on your water heater. Michael Brown/Foundry

The utility serving my home in Portland, OregonPortland General Electric (PGE)doesnt have such a demand-response program, but it does offer big discounts for shifting electricity consumption away from peak demand times. If you choose to participate, PGE charges 22.22 cents per kWh of electricity consumed between 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. (on-peak hours). That rate drops to 16.85 cents per kWh from 6:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (mid-peak hours), and electricity costs only 4.12 cents per kWh after 10:00 p.m. and before 6:00 a.m. (off-peak hours). Compare that to the utilitys standard rate of 12.67 cents per kWh for the first 1,000kWh and 13.03 cents per kWh beyond that amount.

To take advantage of those ultra-low off-peak rates, I created one automation that turns the water heater off at 2:45 p.m. each day and another that turns it back on again at 10:15 p.m (the Neviweb app limits automation triggers to 15-minute increments). A third automation turns the water heater off at midnight, on again at 4:00 a.m., and off at 9:00 a.m. to limit exposure to that mid-peak rate while making sure we get plenty of hot water for the lunch and dinner dishes.

Your electrician will handle the wiring, but youll probably need to set up the rest of a Calypso installation; fortunately, thats the easy part. Michael Brown/Foundry

Geofencing is an optional automation you can enable, but its mostly useful only for those times when youre going to be away from home for at least a couple of days. The advantage of leaving geofencing on is that you dont need to remember to turn the water heater off before you travel; the geofence does it for you automatically. Unlike the scheduled automations described above, this feature is either on or off, so you cant choose according to the day of the week.

Geofencing is simple: You program the Calypso to turn off your water heater when you leave your house (when you cross the perimeter encircling your home) and to turn it back on when you return.

The geofence radius can be adjusted from a maximum of 100km (about 62 miles) from the GT130 gateway to a minimum of 1 kilometer (less than 2/3 of a mile) if you want to make sure your water heater doesnt shut down every time you run an errand.

For geofencing to work properlysuch that the Calypso turns off the water heater only when everyone has left the homeevery family member in the home who has a smartphone should install the Neviweb app. There is one primary user on the account and up to four secondary users, and there can be two active sessions at once where the app is connected to and managing the controller. The primary and secondary users have different levels of permissions, as youll see at the preceding link (in short, the primary user basically acts as a system administrator).

The Calypso uses Zigbee to communicate, so you must have a Zigbee bridge to connect it to your Wi-Fi network. Sinope sent its $100 GT130 gateway for that job, which can support many other Zigbee devices from Sinope and third-party manufacturers. Michael Brown/Foundry

Almost any event (automation, triggered scene, geofence change, or peak event) will override whatever condition the Calypso was previously operating under, with one exception: If the controller is responding to a peak-demand event declared by your utility, the only way to override that automation is to tap the On/Off button in the Neviweb app or on the controller itself.

How the Calypso reports electricity consumption

The Neviweb app will produce charts informing you of how much electricitymeasured in kilowatt hoursyoure consuming to heat water based on the last 48 hours, the previous 30 days, or the last 24 months. If you enter the cost of electricity from your utilityin cents per kilowatt hourthe app will also report the cost of that electricity. As you can see from the screenshots on this page, I spent no money at all when the water heater was turned off by the automations I created. The curved line plotted across the bars in the chart tracks the outdoor temperature. The ambient temperature around the water heater could impact how quickly its able to heat water, but mine is located in my basement, where the temperature is relatively constant.

Sinopes Neviweb app is as informative as it is easy to use. (Dont take the values in these screenshots too literally. I experimented a lot with the controllers settings over the several months I tested it.) Michael Brown/Foundry

Should you buy a Sinope Calypso?

The U.S. EPA estimates that heating water in the home accounts for fully 18 percent of the typical household energy budget. If you have an electric hot water heater, Sinopes Calypso is a great and easy-to-use tool that will reduce that cost. Aquantas controller is great, too, but unlike Sinopes offering, there are no other compatible devices in that ecosystem.

If your water heater operates on natural gas, Aquantas product is the way to go, because Sinope doesnt make a version of the Calypso that works with gas water heaters. If youre using other Sinope smart home productsas I mentioned earlier, the company makes everything from smart thermostats to smart lighting controlsit makes all the sense in the world to stay within that ecosystem. Choosing between Aquanta and Sinopes Calypso for controlling an electric water heater? As I said, theyre both great products.

That said, Aquantas solution is less expensive, since it doesnt require a bridge to your Wi-Fi network (that could change when Sinope launches the Wi-Fi version of the Calypso). In Sinopes favor, it has a broader smart home ecosystem, where Aquanta offers only water heater controllers. But Sinopes advantage on this point is valuable only if you purchase or already own its other products. Those products are good, but we havent found any of them to be best in class.
In brief: One of the many concerns that have been raised regarding generative AIs is their potential to show political bias. A group of researchers put this to the test and discovered that ChatGPT generally favors left-wing political views in its responses.

Story correction (Aug. 20): Two Princeton computer scientists have looked more deeply into the paper that claimed that ChatGPT has a 'liberal bias' and have found it to have glaring flaws. The paper tested an outdated language model not associated with ChatGPT and used problematic methods, including multiple choice questions and weak prompts.

Turns out, ChatGPT does not guide users on voting as the model is trained to avoid or refuse to respond when asked controversial political questions. In testing GPT 4.0, it refused answers in 84% of cases. However, ChatGPT's design does allow users to set specific response preferences, ensuring the chatbot aligns with their political views if desired.

A study led by academics from the University of East Anglia sought to discover if ChatGPT was showing political leanings in its answers, rather than being unbiased in its responses. The test involved asking OpenAI's tool to impersonate individuals covering the entire political spectrum while asking it a series of more than 60 ideological questions. These were taken from the Political Compass test that shows whether someone is more right- or left-leaning.

The next step was to ask ChatGPT the same questions but without impersonating anyone. The responses were then compared and researchers noted which impersonated answers were closest to the AI's default voice.

It was discovered that the default responses were more closely aligned with the Democratic Party than the Republicans. It was the same result when the researchers told ChatGPT to impersonate UK Labour and Conservative voters: there was a strong correlation between the chatbot's answers and those it gave while impersonating the more left-wing Labour supporter.

Another test asked ChatGPT to imitate supporters of Brazil's left-aligned current president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and former right-wing leader Jair Bolsonaro. Again, ChatGPT's default answers were closer to the former's.

Asking ChatGPT the same questions multiple times can see it respond with multiple different answers, so each one in the test was asked 100 times. The answers were then put through a 1,000-repetition "bootstrap," a statistical procedure that resamples a single dataset to create many simulated samples, helping improve the test's reliability.

Project leader Fabio Motoki, a lecturer in accounting, warned that this sort of bias could affect users' political views and has potential implications for political and electoral processes. He warned that the bias stems from either the training data taken from the internet or ChatGPT's algorithm, which could be making existing biases even worse

"Our findings reinforce concerns that AI systems could replicate, or even amplify, existing challenges posed by the internet and social media," Motoki said.
In a nutshell: Google has seemingly nixed plans for Chromebooks powered by discrete Nvidia graphics cards, dashing near-term hopes of those interested in AAA gaming on ChromeOS. Earlier this year, 9to5Google reported that Mountain View had been working on the project for over a year. The publication cited multiple internal prototypes including "Agah" and "Draco," and even referenced more advanced foundational hardware codenamed "Hades" that was to be used in retail devices.

Now, it seems those plans have been modified. About Chromebooks points to a recent code commit message noting the cancellation of Agah, Hades and Herobrine boards, all of which had one feature in common: support for Nvidia discrete GPUs. Bummer, eh?

Chromebooks have come a long way in recent years but they still lack the raw horsepower that the latest games demand. To date, manufacturers have essentially tried to fake it with gaming-grade features like high refresh rate displays and anti-ghosting keyboards but as they used to say in the automotive world, there is no replacement for displacement. In order to play AAA titles with all the eye candy, you're going to need a discrete GPU.

That does not mean Chromebooks are absolute rubbish for gaming. So long as you temper expectations and stick to older or less demanding titles, gaming on a Chromebook  especially a premium model  can be a rewarding experience.

Google maintains a list of games that they have personally tried and think users might enjoy, but notes that some might perform better on systems with higher specs like having 16 GB of RAM. Highlights include plenty of mid-2010 bangers such as Doom (2016), Fallout 4, Tomb Raider, and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, among others. Cloud gaming is another area where a Chromebook can excel.

It is worth mentioning that Google might not have completely written off true gaming-grade Chromebooks. Earlier this year, it was reported that Google is working on new branding for higher-end Chromebooks, dubbed Chromebook X.

Image credit: Kind and Curious, Kubra
Intuitive Machines has unveiled its readiness to launch its Nova-C lunar lander to the moon this September. Among a group of US companies dedicated to crafting lunar landers, Intuitive Machines is actively competing for valuable NASA contracts intended to transport scientific payloads to the lunar terrain.

(Photo : NASA Official Website)

Illustration of Intuitive Machines Nova-C lander with a depiction of NASAs Polar Resources Ice-Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) attached to the spacecraft on the surface of the Moon.

Nova-C Lunar Lander Set for Moon Launch in September

Intuitive Machines has announced the imminent readiness of its 3-meter-tall Nova-C lander for its upcoming mission. During a recent earnings call, Interesting Engineering reported that co-founder and chief executive of Intuitive Machines Steve Altemus revealed a significant development.

Altemus noted that they had successfully completed the construction of their Nova-C lander. Altemus confidently highlighted their readiness, stating they would be fully prepared to launch a functional lunar lander in September.

This announcement marked a significant milestone for the Houston-based company, underscoring its active role in driving the progress of lunar exploration.

Earlier this year, Astrobiotic revealed that its Peregrine lander was fully assembled and prepared for its mission. However, the launch date was postponed due to delays in the debut of United Launch Alliance's (ULA) advanced Vulcan Centaur rocket.

Reports suggest the mission could be launched by mid-December, although the timeline might extend into the following year. In contrast, Ars Technica reported that Intuitive Machines' Nova-C might take flight ahead of Astrobiotic's Peregrine lander.

The Nova-C has secured a spot on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which currently boasts the highest reliability for launches annually. Notably, the Falcon 9 has already completed over 50 successful launches this year alone, making it a prime candidate for swift and efficient deployment.

Also Read: NASA Lunar Flashlight: What is It? Now Begins its 4-Month Journey to the Moon

Intuitive Machines Competing With Other Companies

The company finds itself in competition with fellow American enterprises, such as Astrobotic and Firefly, in the race for NASA-funded missions aimed at transporting scientific experiments and various payloads to the moon's surface.

In May 2019, Intuitive Machines and Astrobotic secured NASA's initial "Commercial Lunar Payload Services" contracts. However, each of these companies is experiencing a delay of approximately two years in developing their lunar landers.

In the forthcoming weeks and months, a wave of lunar lander missions is poised to unfold, shaping an intensified period of lunar activity.

Among these endeavors, Russia's Luna-25 has recently achieved a significant milestone, entering lunar orbit on August 15, marking its return to lunar exploration after nearly five decades.

On the other hand, India's Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander, which commenced its lunar orbit in early August, contributes to this burgeoning lunar presence.

A shared objective unites these missions: they are all destined for the lunar south pole. This area has garnered considerable attention due to its perceived abundance of ice water, making it a focal point for forthcoming lunar ventures.

Intuitive Machines is poised to achieve a significant milestone by becoming the inaugural private American company to successfully land a spacecraft on the moon.

According to TechCrunch, the company is eyeing a specific timeframe, a six-day window commencing on November 15, to launch its IM-1 lunar lander mission utilizing a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

With a NASA contract as part of the "Commercial Lunar Payload Services" initiative, Intuitive Machines stands alongside two other firms, Astrobotic and OrbitBeyond (the latter later withdrew from the program), entrusted with delivering essential payloads to the lunar surface.

Related Article: NASA's Artemis Missions for Moon Settlement to Open $100 Billion Market for Private Companies

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The national air carrier of Azerbaijan (AZAL) is resuming flights en route Baku-Geneva-Baku. Starting from September 30, flights in this direction will be operated twice a week - on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Geneva, located in the heart of Europe, is one of the most popular tourist destinations. The resumption of AZAL flights to this unique city will allow passengers to enjoy beautiful sights, attend important business meetings and spend an unforgettable vacation.

Tickets can be booked at www.azal.az or AZAL ticket offices and official agencies of the airline.
(Photo : Wirestock and Stability.AI)

August 2, 2023 - Wirestock, a leading platform for digital content creators, is excited to announce its partnership with Stability AI, a leading innovator in generative AI technology. The partnership will integrate Stability AI's latest image generation model into Wirestock, making it easier and more efficient for the platform's users to create and monetize their art.

Since the emergence of generative AI models, Wirestock has seen hundreds of thousands of AI image uploads on its platform. This partnership with Stability AI simplifies the creative process, enabling creators to generate, upscale, showcase and list their AI art for sale all in one place without leaving Wirestock.

"In a world where millions of AI creators are crafting unique and commercially appealing content, the avenues to monetize their work remain limited," says Mikayel Khachatryan, CEO of Wirestock. "Our partnership with Stability AI is a game-changer. It empowers creators to not just generate but also transform their content into a viable source of income."

"As the world's first community-driven, open access generative AI company, we thrive on unlocking creativity for user groups worldwide," said Mike Melnicki, VP of Engineering at Stability AI. "We look forward to partnering with Wirestock to empower creators with the best image generation capabilities in the market today and beyond."

Thanks to this partnership, AI creators can now leverage Stability AI's cutting-edge technology directly through Wirestock's recently launched Discord bot. This integration streamlines their ability to create high-quality AI art and monetize it with just a few bot commands. Wirestock offers several channels for content monetization including selling on multiple stock content marketplaces, selling AI prompts and prints and participating in creative challenges with cash prizes.

About Wirestock: Wirestock is an AI-powered platform that helps visual content creators distribute, showcase, and license their work across the web. Wirestock currently serves 300,000 creators and distributes 5M pieces of content including photos, video clips and AI art. The company has raised more than $3.5M from venture capital funds and is one of the fastest growing content monetization platforms in the world.

About Stability AI: Headquartered in London with developers distributed across the globe, Stability AI was founded to build the foundation to activate humanity's potential through artificial intelligence (AI). As the leader in multimodal, open generative AI model development and deployment, Stability AI collaborates with public and private sector partners to bring this next generation infrastructure to a global audience. For more information, visit https://stability.ai.

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A new electric vehicle was recently unveiled by Acura, a known luxury division of the renowned Japanese automaker, Honda, but the new ZDX is different, as it uses the GM Ultium platform for its power. The Acura ZDX is a collaboration by Honda and General Motors to bring its battery and architecture to Acura vehicles, being the first of this partnership.

One of the striking features of the ZDX is how it looks similar to another General Motors vehicle that will also come soon in the future.

Acura ZDX Uses GM's Ultium with 325 Miles of Range

(Photo : Acura)

Acura's ZDX gets reborn as an electric vehicle, and not just any EV, as it takes on the renowned General Motors' Ultium platform for its battery technology. This marks the first all-electric vehicle from Acura, centering on the 2024 ZDX that will bring an electric SUV to the world, revamping the namesake that has been around for years.

One of the most iconic features here is the GM Ultium batteries that will power the vehicle, one that is capable to deliver 325 miles of range on a single charge.

(Photo : Acura)

"The arrival of the new ZDX is an exciting moment for the Acura brand," said Emile Korkor, Assistant Vice President of Acura National Sales via its press release. "It signals our transition to a zero-emissions future and demonstrates our commitment to Precision Crafted Performance in the electrified era."

It features two variants, namely the Acura ZDX (base model starting at $60,000) and the ZDX Type S (base model starting at $70,000).

Read Also: 2023 Acura Integra Starts Production, Delivering by June with the New Hatchback-What to Expect

The New ZDX Also Uses the Lyriq's Architecture

(Photo : Acura)

Apart from the Ultium and GM manufacturing, the ZDX also features another trait from General Motors and this is its architecture. More specifically, one that it shares with a fellow crossover EV, the Cadillac Lyriq.

The ZDX A-Spec features options that offer a Single and Dual Motor electric drivetrain, with the Single bringing 340 horsepower, and the ZDX Type S bringing an impressive 500 horsepower.

(Photo : Acura)

However, the downside with the Type S variant centers on its less estimated EPA range that can only bring 288 miles on a single charge.

Acura's Development and GM's Ultium

Back in 2021, there was an announcement from Honda and General Motors which announced a long-term partnership between both companies to develop its EVs and manufacture here in the US. This will center on Acura's EVs that will see its development in Mexico and Tennessee, with GM heading the production and 2023 being its target year.

So far, it has been accurate in terms of unveiling the new EV coming soon, centering on the ZDX which is a known line from the Japanese company.

In the years that GM has revealed the latest technologies and developments from their EV focus, one of the most iconic things here is its Ultium platform that delivers high-power capacity and capabilities from its batteries.

Now, this said the partnership has bore fruit and its unveiling was right on schedule from its initial announcement of the collaboration to bring the initial Acura EVs. GM's Ultium and Lyriq's shared platform brings the Acura ZDX to life, an electric crossover that packs significant features and tech, bearing the Japanese luxury brand's entry into the EV industry.

Related Article: Acura's First-Ever EV Resurrects the ZDX Nameplate! Releasing as Early as 2024?

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The safety feature aimed at Tinder users, provided through a background-checking tool employed by Match Group, is set to be discontinued. Garbo has maintained a partnership with the dating app conglomerate since 2019. Unfortunately, Garbo will be closing down its consumer tool at the end of August.

(Photo : MARTIN BUREAU/AFP via Getty Images)

This illustration picture taken on July 24, 2019 in Paris shows the logo of the US social networking application Tinder on the screen of a tablet.

Shutting Down Services

Following a successful two-year collaboration that integrated background checks into various dating apps under the Match Group umbrella, digital-safety nonprofit Garbo announced its decision to discontinue its consumer tool by the close of August.

Wall Street Journal reported that this development coincides with changes in Match Group's leadership landscape, marked by the exit of its initial safety and social advocacy leader. This individual, who departed the company in the previous autumn, had been a prominent advocate for the Garbo partnership.

Attributing the choice to discontinue the background-check tool to conflicts with Match Group, its primary and most substantial consumer collaborator, Kathryn Kosmides, Garbo's CEO and founder, highlighted differing perspectives as the primary reason. Additionally, challenges in securing compensation from online platforms for Garbo's services played a role in this determination.

During the interview, Kosmides conveyed her perspective, underscoring how most tech companies often consider trust and safety as a PR tactic. She preferred that Garbo's focus shift towards other initiatives instead of allowing its core vision to be compromised and relegated to serving the marketing goals of major corporations.

Continuing to Enhance Safety

In response, a representative from Match Group shared their perspective with Engadget. They highlighted the company's substantial efforts in bolstering safety measures across their platforms in recent years, with a commitment to maintaining this trajectory.

From pioneering features such as 'Are you Sure?' and 'Does this bother you?' to the implementation of background checks, they emphasized the creation of unique tools and investments unmatched by other dating applications. Their dedication remains steadfast in consistently investing and developing features that empower users with greater insights and control over their connections on the platforms.

Indicating their ongoing efforts, the company implies that they are actively seeking a substitute collaborator to conduct violence history checks. The spokesperson expressed their disappointment regarding the inability to reach an accord, yet they conveyed optimism about their progress with alternative providers.

They assured that a fresh partnership is on the horizon, with advanced discussions underway and plans to unveil the new collaboration in the near future.

Also Read: Tinder Will No Longer Connect Social Media Accounts to Profiles-Here's Why

Spawning from Disagreements

Garbo's decision to suspend its tool was influenced by both disagreements with Match Group and challenges encountered while attempting to monetize its services on various platforms. The internal dynamics within Match Group's brands also played a role in shaping the situation.

Leaders within Tinder advocated for a distinct system wherein users would be encouraged to conduct background checks on themselves. This process would grant them a special badge on their profile, designed to engage users who might be hesitant to perform background checks (largely male users).

However, The Verge reported Garbo rejected this idea, with Kosmides explaining that it's not viable to categorize someone as 'good' or 'bad' through a selective identity verification process.

Related Article: AI-Powered Dating Apps Aim to Solve Common Online Dating Issues, Including Ghosting

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Previous indications have already hinted at the potential inclusion of speedier charging capabilities in the new iPhone models. Strengthening this notion, insiders knowledgeable about the situation now echo the sentiment, asserting that the iPhone 15 is speculated to facilitate charging at speeds reaching up to 35W.

(Photo : Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 04: An Apple iPhone 14 is displayed at an Apple Store on August 04, 2023 in Berkeley, California. Shares of Apple stock fell on Friday morning after the tech giant reported third-quarter earnings on Thursday with revenue of $81.8 billion compared to an expected $81.69 billion. Revenues have declined for the third consecutive year.

Featuring Charging Capacities

As the release of the iPhone 15 series approaches and the speculated September 12th unveiling date draws near, Phone Arena reported further details are gradually emerging. Recent "leaks" suggest notable developments in specifications.

Notably, industry sources have informed that select models from the upcoming iPhone lineup could feature charging capacities of up to 35W. This potential advancement marks a significant step beyond the existing 27W charging pace of the iPhone 14 Pro range and the 20W charging performance observed in the iPhone 14 non-Pro variants.

Currently, the iPhone 14 Pro Max boasts charging capabilities of 27W, efficiently replenishing the 4323mAh battery from 0% to 100% within approximately two hours. The anticipated enhancement to 35W charging speeds promises significantly reduced charging durations, capitalizing on the novel USB-C ports poised to supplant the exclusive Lightning ports on the forthcoming 2023 iPhone models.

In a bid to align with these charging advancements, Apple introduced a dual-port 35W USB-C charger last year, available at a price of $59 through the App Store. Should the rumor hold true and a sole device be connected to the charger, this accessory stands to unlock the potential to charge the iPhone 15 lineup at optimal speeds.

Previous Leaks

As Apple advances its strategy for the innovative Vision Pro ecosystem, it's set to embark on a vigorous enhancement of the hardware specifications for the forthcoming iPhone lineup. Renowned Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has shared insights into this approach.

Kuo underscores the pivotal role of this ecosystem in shaping the triumph of the company's new headset. This cohesive environment is poised to seamlessly integrate with various hardware offerings. Notably, the primary hardware specifications that stand out include Wi-Fi and UWB integration.

Kuo, Apple is poised to enhance the performance of the Ultra Wideband chip in the upcoming iPhone 15, anticipated for release in September. The upcoming iteration of the iPhone series is set to incorporate an updated version of the chip, currently labeled as the U1 chip by Apple.

Notably, the production process will evolve from the existing 16nm to a more sophisticated 7nm. This transition is expected to significantly improve efficiency and reliability in terms of power consumption.

Also Read: Apple iPhone 15 Sets to Receive Upgraded Hardware Specs, Building Competitive Ecosystem for Vision Pro

Competition in China

China has undeniably taken the lead in pioneering advancements related to lightning-fast smartphone battery charging rates. In comparison, 9To5Mac reported the iPhone might find itself overshadowed, particularly if this ongoing rumor holds true.

A remarkable testament to this progress is the Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Explorer, which boasts a 4300mAh battery capable of being charged at an astounding 210W. To put this into perspective, the battery can reach a full 100% charge from 0% in a mere nine minutes.

Despite the inherent challenge of rapid charging generating excess heat, contemporary methodologies aimed at effective heat dissipation are coming to the forefront, helping mitigate potential battery longevity concerns.

Related Article: Apple is Heavily Relying on China to Bring Vision Pro to the Public

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Apple Card is now a massive service amongst users in its available region, and according to the latest study, this service is now the best in its category. It is important to note that this is amidst the turbulent relationship that Apple has with Goldman Sachs, with the financial institution reportedly looking to leave Cupertino and hand the responsibility to other banks.

The renowned relationship between Apple and Goldman Sachs began in 2019, with the pair surviving the pandemic with its renowned service.

Apple Card is Thriving, Best in its Category says Study

(Photo : Apple)

J.D. Power announced that Apple Card is the winner of its so-called award, being the "Best Co-Branded Credit Card for Customer Satisfaction with No Annual Fee." The announcement claimed that Apple Card ranked a massive 655 score.

As per J.D. Power, "This is the third consecutive year in which Apple Card and issuer Goldman Sachs have collectively won a segment award."

This high ranking in customer satisfaction only shows how both Apple and Goldman Sachs have greatly developed the digital financial service that centers mostly on the iOS ecosystem.

Read Also: Goldman Sachs Introduces AI-powered Social Media Startup 'Louisa'

Apple, Goldman Sachs' Rocky Relationship

However, this comes at a time when Apple and Goldman Sachs' relationship is in a rocky state, with the uncertainty being known earlier this year as reports centered on the bank passing its operations off to other companies.

Both Apple and Goldman Sachs spoke highly of their relationship with the other in a recent news release from Cupertino.

"In partnership with Goldman Sachs, we are continuously working to expand the value users receive from Apple Card, most recently with the launch of Savings, and we look forward to continuing to develop tools and services that put our users and their financial health first," said Jennifer Bailey, Apple's vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet.

Liz Martin, Goldman Sachs's head of Enterprise Partnerships said "With Apple Card, we have had a shared focus on delivering a great experience and providing value to our customers since the beginning."

Apple Card and What it Offers

First and foremost, the Apple Card is a credit card service that gives users a cap on their spending which would then be paid off later in the month, with Goldman Sachs responsible for this aspect. It has been an iconic service as it allows payments through various Apple devices from compatible payment channels either online or in-store.

Still, it remains a US exclusive, and Tim Cook said this is because of varying regulations per country.

The Apple Card gave users an experience like no other, with all their needs neatly available in the smartphone, from buying or shopping, down to ordering food provided that the channel reads NFC.

Both companies also joined hands with the release of the latest Apple Card Savings which bring a high-yield savings account with massive perks for users.

Now, it is hailed as the best co-branded credit card by J.D. Power, and this is because of both Apple and Goldman Sachs, despite their turbulent relationship and alleged passing off to other financial institutions.

Related Article: Goldman Sachs Lost $1B on Apple Card Since 2020, Wants to Pass it to American Express

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Receiving a random call from someone you don't know is already a red flag. Scammers are on the loose right now with a new tactic dubbed the "Say Yes" phone scam.

If you're skeptical about answering a call from a stranger on the other end, trust your gut feeling so you won't fall victim to this scheme.

'Say Yes' Phone Scam: What is This All About?

From its origin word "say yes," fraudsters will force you to speak yes to them. Of course, the scammers know that you don't know them, and that's why they will attempt to contact you if you will take their bait.

According to Fox News, users should never lower their guard once a robo caller asks the phrases "Is this [ your name]?" or "Can you hear me?"

At this point, they only want your "sweet" yes. It's not as sweet as the yeses we can hear from marriage proposals. It's a trick to deceive you into falling into their trap.

However, the victim has no clue that his/her voice is being recorded upon saying "yes" to the scammers. Once the robocall succeeds in collecting your "yes," then they can now use your voice to deceive other people.

It's a straight move that will put your identity in grave danger since they could now pretend to be you. In this case, they could also use your cellphone bill or credit card for purchases or any other illicit activities or transactions.

Related Article: Beware of Romance Phishing Scams, Australian Competition Regulator Warns

'Say Yes' Phone Scam is No New Scam

In late July, Better Business Bureau warned phone owners to be wary of the phone scam happening around the Tampa Bay area

ABC Action News reported at that time that it was indeed an old scam. It first caught the attention of cybersecurity experts in 2017 before it went viral.

With scammers getting smarter each year, the "Say Yes" phone scam will be an easy job for them. It's a form of using automated systems to mass dial hundreds or thousands of potential victims.

How to Protect Yourself From 'Say Yes' Phone Scam

If this is your first time hearing about this phone scam, then you have come to the right place. However, if you recall that you have encountered this before, don't panic just yet.

Although scammers record your voice, there's no certainty that they have used it to impersonate your identity.

The authorities suggest that if you have received a bizarre call from someone, you can report the incident to the BB Scam Tracker.

As a concerned individual, you can save yourself and other people from this phone scam by following these tips.

Don't pick up your phone once an unknown number dials you. Just answer a question with a question. Remember, your goal is to never say "yes." Use a data removal service to erase all of your saved data during the call.

Read Also: Scammers Create Fake Websites of Popular Brands to Steal Customer's Banking Data-How to Avoid Them

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Samsung's upcoming flagship lineup, the Galaxy S24 is currently the center of the leaks and rumors online. According to the sources, the South Korean tech giant might be on the verge of launching the new series five or six months from now.

Before this happens, let's check a new leak from a prominent tipster who claims that Samsung S24 will have some changes in its design.

What is Samsung Planning For Non-Ultra Galaxy S24 Models?

In a post by Ice Universe on X (formerly Twitter) platform, Samsung might consider changing some designs for the newest flagship that will come by 2024.

Breaking

The middle frame design of S24 and S24+ has changed, and it has become a vertical frame design similar to iPhone. The picture shows Meizu 20, which is probably like this. pic.twitter.com/MG4hwn7pMQ  ICE UNIVERSE (@UniverseIce) August 18, 2023

While the company usually rolls out a curved edge on its recent releases, Ice Universe believes that it will swerve a different path this time for both Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus variants.

iPhones have a more consistent pattern when it comes to designs. Starting from having a flat design on the early models, it changed the rest to curved, then reverted to flat once more.

For the case of Samsung, this will be the first time we will see a flat frame on Galaxy smartphones. The striking difference you will find on the next-gen iPhones is that all of their sides are flat.

If the flat frame is indeed coming to the standard Galaxy S24 models, it's possible that it will debut in the Ultra variants, as well.

At the very least, if Samsung wants to keep it safe, it might just pattern the same design as the previous Ultra models.

Phone Arena logically explains that it will pose some challenges for Samsung if all the sides will be made flat. This is the reason why the S24 Ultra would likely have the same curved frame.

Related Article: Samsung Galaxy S24 Might Get a Titanium Frame Like the iPhone 15, But There's a Catch

Is Having Flat Design For Galaxy S24 a Matter of Preference?

Sam Mobile writes in another report that there's no denying that the Galaxy S24 might borrow inspiration from foldable phones such as ZFold 5 when it comes to flat design.

Still, this leaked information can be subjective depending on who views it. Some people do not care about the flat frames as long as they don't feel discomfort when holding their phones.

Other users think that a phone should have a flat frame so they could easily take hold of it. Of course, the preference of the design varies from one person to another after all.

If Samsung is serious about its business, then this could be a part of the company's plan to introduce a fresh design to the Galaxy series fans.

Sometimes, it's good to break away from the norm and test the waters with a new improvement. It's been for years since the curved designs are out and this will be the only time that Samsung can finally bring it to life.

Back in March, another leak hinted that the Galaxy S24 will be much faster than iPhone 15, all thanks to its Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset.

Read Also: Samsung Galaxy S24 Could Be the Fastest Charging Galaxy Phones Using This EV Method

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Minneapolis' city council has adopted a new minimum wage policy that has caused Uber and Lyft to disagree and threaten to leave the city.



In the tense atmosphere of a 7-5 vote, the Minneapolis City Council passed an ordinance to enhance worker protections for rideshare drivers, MPR News reported. This legislation, however, has quickly escalated into a showdown between the city's administration, rideshare companies, and the broader gig economy landscape.

Lyft, Uber Claims Negative Impact of New Minimum Wage Rule

Under the newly adopted regulation, rideshare drivers within Minneapolis would receive a minimum of $1.40 per mile and $0.51 per minute for their services. The measure's intent aligns with the growing national trend of gig workers advocating for fair wages and better job benefits. However, state and city governments have faced significant resistance to regulating the gig economy.



Lyft warned that if the proposal becomes law, it will be forced to cease operations within Minneapolis beginning January 1, 2024, as per a report from CBS News. The company argued that the proposed rule would negatively affect drivers, as increased pricing could result in only the affluent affording rides.



Similarly, Uber took a firm stance against the ordinance, emphasizing that it could substantially limit its platform's ability to maintain rider safety. The company issued a message to its drivers, urging them to reach out to the mayor and city council to oppose the legislation.



In contrast to these threats, there have been instances where similar legislation has been successfully implemented without causing disruptions to rideshare services. One example is rideshare drivers in Seattle, who underwent a comparable process a few years ago, resulting in improved pay and protections.

Read Also: Netflix Unveils Teaser for 'Scott Pilgrim Takes Off' Anime Series

It's a Complicated Scenario

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, while supportive of the idea of drivers receiving better pay, expressed concerns about the complexity of the issue and the need for further information. He has the authority to veto the ordinance until August 23, a decision that could potentially prevent its implementation.



In a communication addressed to council members ahead of the vote, Mayor Frey conveyed his reservations regarding drivers' working conditions. He emphasized the necessity to allow additional time for thoughtful consideration, according to CNN.



Frey appealed to the council to extend the ordinance's effective date until after the upcoming legislative session. A state working group has been responsible for proposing legislative recommendations on this matter by January. Rideshare drivers had urged the council to take action following the veto of a similar state-level bill by Governor Tim Walz.

During the deliberations, Council Member Robin Wonsley contended that the city's administrative team is ready to initiate the policy as of January, asserting that any delay would be unnecessary.



The Minneapolis City Council's decision comes at a time when the gig economy and the status of gig workers are subjects of intense debate. The city council's efforts to enforce higher pay and increased workplace protections for rideshare drivers reflect broader nationwide discussions surrounding gig economy regulations and the evolving nature of work in the digital age.

Related Article: Groundbreaking Legislation: Illinois Passes Law Protecting Online Child Influencers

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The booming private space industry has recently drawn unheard-of interest and investments. However, it has become a top target for foreign spy services, prompting US government agencies to warn commercial space corporations about these hostile groups' cybersecurity threats.



A two-page advisory detailing the combined warning from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, and the Air Force was released, according to Gizmodo. The statement emphasizes the commercial space sector's susceptibility to foreign intelligence attacks.



The warning draws attention to the potential for these foreign organizations to attack workers, subcontractors, or suppliers connected to commercial space enterprises, with the goal of stealing sensitive spacecraft operational data.

Cyberattack Threats on US Space Sector to Grow Further

An unnamed US counterintelligence officer said of the seriousness of the issue, saying that authorities expect "growing threats to this burgeoning sector of the U.S. economy." China and Russia are particularly noteworthy among the top foreign intelligence threats to the US space sector.



The advice results from intense pressure from Washington to protect the commercial space agency's rapidly expanding business. In 2022, Fortune projected 7.9% growth in commercial space sales from $396.2 billion to $427.6 billion, while McKinsey & Company predicted the space industry will grow 41% in the next five years, from $546 billion in 2022 to $1 trillion in 2030.



The three agencies advise commercial space corporations to contact the FBI and Air Force Office of Special Investigations to secure their investments.



Cyberattacks on space-related institutions increase the urgency of the warning. A cyberattack on the European Space Agency revealed weaknesses in their system.

In a carefully orchestrated operation, hackers could compromise an ESA OPS-SAT nanosatellite in low-Earth orbit, giving them unrestricted access to the spacecraft's GPS, altitude control, and onboard camera. Phishing emails with fake Microsoft Office attachments infected NASA's Webb Space Telescope.

Read Also: Uber and Lyft Threaten to Stop Minneapolis Operations Due to New Minimum Wage Law



Notably, hacking attempts have also been made against private space corporations. Belgian security experts showed how a SpaceX spacecraft might be taken advantage of by using a special circuit board connected to an earthly satellite dish.

Protecting the US Space Sector from Cyber Threats 'An Urgent' Matter

In April, Acting US National Cyber Director Kemba Walden highlighted the need for improved cybersecurity in the space industry. She said that protecting space equipment from cyber threats is still "urgent and requires high-level attention."



Walden also emphasized the critical significance of a tight public-private collaboration in ensuring strong cybersecurity for space systems, according to The Register.



The official emphasized the space economy's complexity, including satellites, base stations, and venture capital-fueled space innovation. Emerging startups' innovations could become essential elements of crucial space systems since more significant enterprises often acquire them.



Secure-by-design space technology has become essential to combating these growing dangers. To enhance the robustness of space systems against cyber incursions, the White House is actively addressing this matter.

Security Affairs reported that recent findings from Microsoft Threat Intelligence have revealed insight into the actions of the APT29 cyberespionage organization, which has links to Russia.

The gang carried out phishing attacks against various international businesses and government entities using Microsoft Teams. APT29 created new domains posing as technical assistance firms using small Microsoft 365 users that had already been hacked. The attackers tried to deceive users into accepting requests for multifactor authentication through Teams messaging to steal passwords.

Related Article: 'Say Yes' Phone Scam: Avoid Responding to an Unknown Number With THESE Security Tips

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.




The world today is leaning on sustainable ways to save the environment. Regulations like Extended Producer Responsibility have come up and continue to increase in popularity as governments seek ways to improve sustainability, reduce waste and protect the environment. EPR regulations aim at protecting the environment by putting manufacturers and producers responsible for their productions, including packaging. It plays a significant role in combating environmental hazards from poor waste disposal. Therefore, producers and manufacturers can implement environmentally safe ways of disposing of their waste. Manufacturers must comply with EPR regulations. Those who adhere to the rules enjoy numerous benefits that positively impact their reputation and sales. The following are the perks of adhering to EPR regulations.

1. Improved Sustainability

A significant benefit of EPR is improved sustainability. With Extended Producer Responsibility, manufacturers can take full responsibility for their end products and how consumers dispose of them. Therefore, EPR registration promotes sustainable production and consumption streams. Manufacturers can design durable and recyclable products while promoting reuse and repair. It guarantees responsible disposal by the end user. Through these practices, manufacturers play a vital role in reducing environmental footprint while aiming at sustainability.

2. Enhanced Brand Reputation

EPR regulations are also improving brand reputation. In todays world, consumers are concerned about the impact they bring and their carbon footprint on the environment. Therefore, they have decided to choose businesses with sustainable products. By adhering to these regulations, manufacturers have a better chance of building a good name and winning more consumers. They show their dedication to protecting the environment and becoming sustainable. Therefore, adopting sustainable production methods I ne with EPR regulations will help build a good reputation, improve sales, and gain customer loyalty.

3. Reduced Waste

EPR registration also helps reduce waste and operational costs in manufacturing. Manufacturers must be responsible for end-of-life management of the products they create. Therefore, they must design products that are easy to recycle, reuse and repair. It will reduce waste and energy efficiency and lower waste management costs.

4. Sustainable Consumption

Manufacturers are also enjoying financial gains from complying with EPR rules. By following sustainability, manufacturers can reduce production costs and save in the long run through sustainable production and consumption. For instance, durable and recyclable products reduce the need for more raw materials and production processes. The amount of waste disposed of into the environment is also low. Therefore, compliance with EPR promotes low production costs while increasing profits in the manufacturing sector.

5. Compliance with Environmental Rules

Complying with EPR regulations makes it easy to comply with other environmental rules. Many of these rules aim at proper waste management and disposal. These regulations are also included in EPR. Therefore, compliance with EPR means compliance with these laws. It helps manufacturers avoid penalties and heavy fines that may ruin their reputations.

6. Access to New Markets

Manufacturers can now access new and better markets thanks to EPR compliance. Many government entities and businesses need products to comply with EPR regulations and meet specific standards set to achieve sustainability. Meeting these standards provide a competitive edge for such products in the market. Furthermore, it is easier for manufacturers practicing sustainability to expand their access to global markets. Manufacturers can also attract consumers who are conscious about protecting the environment from all over the world. It helps build brand loyalty by demonstrating a commitment to meeting sustainability, allowing manufacturers to distribute their products in any market.

7. Meeting Legal Requirements

EPR regulations are compulsory in many regions and countries. Therefore, every manufacturer in these countries must comply with a legal requirement. Failure to obey these regulations results in legal actions, fines, or license revocation. Therefore, registering and complying with EPR rules is a way of meeting one of the legal requirements to operate. Therefore, a manufacturer is sure they are working legally.

8. Innovation

Adhering to EPR regulations encourages innovations. Manufacturers must think of ways to create sustainable products and manage their end-of-life. They are obligated to create products with simple designs that are easy to recycle and dispose of after use without harming the environment. This kind of innovation leads to more opportunities and improved market competitiveness.

Outlook

Compliance with EPR regulations is critical to achieving sustainability to reduce environmental impact. So, EPR registration benefits manufacturers by helping them become more sustainable and innovative while lowering production costs. Manufacturers can demonstrate their commitment to protecting the environment.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 18. According to the training plan for 2023 approved by the Azerbaijan Defense Minister, the Air Defense Units carried out combat firing at the combined-arms training range, Trend reports via the Ministry of Defense.

The tasks of detecting and destructing of low-altitude and slow-speed small air targets by means of S-125 2TM anti-aircraft missile systems are successfully completed.

The main objective of combat firing is to improve the military personnels skills in controlling anti-aircraft missile systems and further increase their combat capability.
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 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.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 18. A popular Mexican newspaper, Heraldo de Mexico, published an article titled "Azerbaijan and Armenia in search of harmony" in its electronic and print versions, Trend reports.

Despite the termination of the long-standing occupation of Azerbaijan's lands in 2020, the presence of Armenia's illegal armed formations in Azerbaijan's Karabakh area seriously threatens peace and security in the region. The mine terror carried out by Armenia poses a great threat to the peaceful population, prevents the return of people to normal life, restoration of cities and infrastructure, the article emphasizes.

According to the article, European institutions, demonstrating double standards, do not support Azerbaijan in the issue of restoring territorial integrity, in contrast to their position on Ukraine. However, against the backdrop of the war between Russia and Ukraine, the West views Azerbaijan as a reliable energy partner and a leading power in the region. Despite the presence of peace threats in the region, Azerbaijan has been carrying out large-scale reconstruction and construction works and safely returning to its native lands, providing necessary living conditions for 1 million Azerbaijanis who were once ethnically cleansed.

One of the main challenges of the post-conflict period is the reintegration of the Armenian residents of Karabakh into Azerbaijani society and the restoration of transportation and communication lines between the two countries, which would serve the economic and social well-being of the entire region.

The approach, which is focused on Armenia and described by some European powers, including France, as "the West's view", cannot be considered universal. Despite Azerbaijan's liberation of its lands from Armenian occupation and the initiation of the peace process, disinformation, prejudice and discrimination against Azerbaijan by the West, which has become a tool of Armenian propaganda for 30 years, continues today, the article notes.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 18. Lachin road is open for humanitarian actions of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Azerbaijani Ambassador to the Netherlands Rahman Mustafayev said, Trend reports.

As the ambassador wrote in response to the publication of Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands Wopke Hoekstra, who urged to "re-open" the Lachin road, Armenia itself rejected proposal on parallel delivery of cargoes to Khankendi through Lachin and Aghdam routes.

"Armenia doesnt seek peace, is willing to ignite tension with a view to continuing manipulation and misleading at the international level. Armenian doesnt respect article 4 of 10.11.2020 Declaration, requiring "the full withdrawal of Armenian armed forces" from the Karabakh region. There is still illegal presence of some 10.000 Armenian military personnel in Karabakh. More diplomatic pressure on Armenia, not carrots, is needed," Mustafayev said.

He also pointed out that Armenia has been neglecting the article 9 of the Declaration, saying, that "Armenia guarantees the safety of transport links btw western regions of Azerbaijan and its Nakhchivan region". Since 1991, Nakhchivan with its 400,000 population is in blockade, there is no land link.

"I strongly believe, that as a victim of military aggression and 30 years long occupation (as confirmed by 4 UNSC resolutions of 1993), resulted in unprecedented destructions and mine-laying, Azerbaijan can count on balanced position of The Hague, the capital of justice and international law," the ambassador concluded.
As President Joe Biden likes to remind anyone wholl listen, This is not your grandfathers Republican Party.

One of the issues where thats becoming more evident by the day is Ukraine.

John McCain, the late Arizona Senator and 2008 GOP presidential candidate, sounded the alarm about Russia for years, making him one of President Vladimir Putins greatest antagonists, the Arizona Republic noted in February 2022, days after the Russian invasion began.

During the last year of his presidency in 2008, George W Bush said he strongly supported eventual Nato membership for Ukraine and Georgia. Last year, in a viral gaffe, he mistakenly said Iraq when he meant to call the war in Ukraine unjustified and brutal.

His younger brother, Jeb Bush, a former Florida Governor, went to Europe in 2015 shortly before announcing his presidential campaign.

In a speech in Berlin about a year after Russias annexation of Crimea and support of separatists in eastern Ukraine, he said: Russia must respect the sovereignty of all of its neighbours. And who can doubt that Russia will do what it pleases if aggression goes unanswered?

Mr Bush was quickly bullied out of the 2016 primary by the man who would come to embody the modern Republican Party  reality TV star and real estate mogul Donald Trump.

Support for Ukraine is dividing the GOP field, with several saying the US should continue to support the war effort, while a number of others are following Mr Trumps lead towards isolationism.

The leading candidates are all against further intervention, while those adhering to more traditional Republican foreign policy remain in the lower half of the pack.

The New York Times revealed on Friday that Mr Trump is planning on sitting down for an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson instead of taking part in the debate in Milwaukee on 23 August.

This is a rundown of what the GOP presidential candidates have said about Ukraine:

Donald Trump

While president, Donald Trump tried to pressure Volodymyr Zelensky into announcing an investigation into the Biden family (AFP via Getty Images)

While president, Mr Trump attempted to withhold military assistance to Ukraine to get then-rookie president  now wartime leader  Volodymyr Zelensky to open an investigation into Hunter and Joe Biden, who Mr Trump saw as his main rival in 2020.

During an infamous press conference in Helsinki, Finland, Mr Trump sided with Mr Putin when asked if he believed Russia had interfered in the 2016 US election, as outlined by the US intelligence community.

More recently, Mr Trump has argued that all aid to Ukraine should be put on pause until federal agencies provide evidence regarding what he claimed were corrupt business dealings by Mr Biden and his son.

During a July rally in Pennsylvania, Mr Trump argued that Mr Biden was dragging the US into the war.

Related video: Trump says Ukraine invasion could lead to WWIII

The US Congress should refuse to authorize a single additional payment of our depleted stockpiles  until the FBI, [Department of Justice] and [Internal Revenue Service] hand over every scrap of evidence they have on the Biden crime familys corrupt business dealings, Mr Trump said in reference to what Republicans have claimed are allegations of bribery against Mr Biden.

The GOP has been unable to provide any evidence of the supposed scheme.

Mr Trump appeared on Fox News in March, saying that he would end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours with Zelensky and with Putin.

And theres a very easy negotiation to take place. But I dont want to tell you what it is because then I cant use that negotiation  itll never work. But its a very easy negotiation to take place. I will have it solved within one day, a peace between them. Now thats a year and a half. Thats a long time. I cant imagine something not happening, he added. The key is the war has to stop now because Ukraine is being obliterated.

Mr Trump has also been ambivalent about his support for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato). While president he equivocated over whether he would back Article V, which states that an attack on any one of the defence pacts 31 members constituted an attack on all of them. The article has only been invoked once, by the US following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

He is also reported to have wanted to pull the US out of Nato.

Ron DeSantis

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was forced to walk back his initial dismissive comments about the conflict (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

In March, Mr DeSantis was forced to walk back his comments calling the war a territorial dispute.

Mr DeSantis made the remark in writing to then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

While the US has many vital national interests  securing our borders, addressing the crisis of readiness within our military, achieving energy security and independence, and checking the economic, cultural, and military power of the Chinese Communist Party  becoming further entangled in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia is not one of them, he wrote at the time.

In an appearance on the streaming service Fox Nation, he backtracked.

What Im referring to is where the fighting is going on now, which is that eastern border region Donbas, and then Crimea, and you have a situation where Russia has had that. I dont think legitimately, but they had, he said. Theres a lot of ethnic Russians there. So, thats some difficult fighting, and thats what I was referring to, and so it wasnt that I thought Russia had a right to that, and so if I should have made that more clear, I could have done it.

In April, he said he supported a ceasefire, saying its in everybodys interest.

He told the Japanese English-language weekly Nikkei Asia that You dont want to end up in like a [Battle of] Verdun situation, where you just have mass casualties, mass expense and end up with a stalemate.

Vivek Ramaswamy

Vivek Ramaswamy has sought to link the war to the presidents son (Getty Images)

On 5 August, the tech entrepreneur suggested that the US is aiding Ukraine because of Hunter Biden.

The purpose of the US military [is] to advance American interests, to protect the homeland. Not to aimlessly fight some random war thats arguably a repayment for a private bribe that a family member of the United States received, $5m from Burisma, Mr Ramaswamy told a small crowd at a Council Bluffs, Iowa campaign event, according to NBC News.

Was the payment to Hunter Biden corrupt? Absolutely it was. Do I think that it has some relationship towards our posture toward Ukraine? I think its likely that it does, he added, seemingly in reference to unsubstantiated allegations made by congressional Republicans.

House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer has claimed that a whistleblower told him about a tip about a $5m payment to Mr Biden and a family member during his time as vice president, relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions.

Mr Ramaswamy has said that he would work to get an agreement that would offer major concessions to Mr Putin, which would mean handing over most of the eastern Donbas regions of Ukraine to Russia, removing sanctions, shutting down all US bases in Eastern Europe, and blocking Ukraine from entering Nato, according to The New York Times.

He would then require Russia to end its military alliance with China and once again join the START nuclear treaty.

I dont think it is preferable for Russia to be able to invade a sovereign country that is its neighbour, but I think the job of the US president is to look after American interests, and what I think the number one threat to the US military is right now, our top military threat, is the Sino-Russian alliance, he told ABC News. I think that by fighting further in Russia, by further arming Ukraine, we are driving Russia into Chinas hands.

During an appearance on MSNBC this week, Mr Ramaswamy said: Ukraine is like a client state of the United States right now. We are literally paying their government employees, the people who work in the bureaucracy of Ukraines government are paid by US taxpayer dollars today. And so I do think the US is in a position to determine how this war comes to an end.

Heres how I would do it, their deal with Putin is this: We freeze the current lines of control, the same way the Korean War ended. Its a Korean War-style armistice, a further commitment that NATO will not admit Ukraine to NATO. But in return, Ukraine does come out with its sovereignty intact, not without parts of the Donbas region, but the rest of Ukraine comes out with its sovereignty intact, he added. But most importantly, I will require Vladimir Putin to exit his military partnership with China. The China-Russia military partnership, that alliance, is the single greatest military threat that the United States faces today.

Mike Pence

In contrast to many of his GOP rivals, Mike Pence has trumpeted the United States role as leader of the free world (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

The former vice president made a surprise visit to Ukraine in June to meet with Mr Zelensky, becoming the first GOP presidential candidate to do so.

I believe Americas the leader of the free world, Mr Pence told NBC News at the time. But coming here just as a private citizen  being able to really see firsthand the heroism of the Ukrainian soldiers holding the line in those woods, see the heroism of the people here in Irpin that held back the Russian army, to see families whose homes were literally shelled in the midst of an unconscionable and unprovoked Russian invasion  just steels my resolve to do my part, to continue to call for strong American support for our Ukrainian friends and allies.

He added that the visit steeled my resolve, and its made me better equipped to be able to go home as I speak to the American people about the vital importance of American support to repel Russian aggression.

He also criticised the Biden administration for being slow in sending aid to Ukraine.

We should never send American troops into Ukraine, and we dont need to, he said.

There are too many voices in our party that are sounding the retreat, that are willing to let Putin keep the land grab that hes made in Eastern Ukraine, willing to make promises. I heard my former running mate announced over the weekend that hes willing to promise that Ukraine will never be in Nato, Mr Pence told radio host Hugh Hewitt last month. In my opinion, the only thing Putin will understand is strength, and providing those courageous fighters in Ukraine what they need to repel the Russian invasion is the fastest way to security and preventing, preventing the day that American forces are actually required to go into battle in Europe again.

Tim Scott

Tim Scott supports continued US aid to Ukraine but said Joe Biden had failed to make the case to the American people (REUTERS)

The South Carolina Senator supports sending military aid to Ukraine but dodged questions on if it was right for the Biden administration to send cluster munitions.

Like Mr Pence, Mr Scott told NBC News that Mr Biden has done a terrible job explaining and articulating to the American people what the US interests are in Ukraine.

First, it prevents or reduces attacks on the homeland, Mr Scott said in May, according to the Greenville Post and Courier. Second, as part of Nato and land being contiguous to Ukraine, it will reduce the likelihood that Russia will have the weaponry or the will to attack on Nato territory, which would get us involved.

Just a month after the invasion, in March 2022, Mr Scott wrote that the war was for the principles that America has always championed.

In May last year, he voted for funding Ukraine beyond what Mr Biden had suggested.

While Mr Scott argued that Mr Biden had been waiting too long to provide too little support, the president backed the increase in funding.

Nikki Haley

Nikki Haley says supporting Ukraines defence of its homeland also sends a start message to China over its threats to Taiwan (Getty Images)

The former UN ambassador has argued that its in the best interest of the US to support Ukraine.

A win for Ukraine is a win for all of us because tyrants tell us exactly what theyre going to do, she said on CNN.

China says Taiwans next, wed better believe them. Russia said Poland and the Baltics are next, if that happens, were looking at a world war. This is about preventing war, the ex-South Carolina governor added.

She argued that a Ukrainian victory would send a broader message to warn China about attacking Taiwan, that it would push Iran to not build nuclear weapons, and urge North Korea to move away from ballistic missile testing.

She added that it would tell Russia that its over.

Mr Biden has been far too slow and weak in helping Ukraine, she said in a speech at the American Enterprise Institute.

Chris Christie

Chris Christie meeting Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv (via REUTERS)

Like Mr Pence, Chris Christie also ventured through the old iron curtain to visit Ukraine and signal bipartisan support even as the top candidates in the field are arguing for US withdrawal.

The former New Jersey governor has argued that the US should back Ukraine until the war is resolved.

None of us like the idea that theres a war going on and that were supporting it, but the alternative is for the Chinese to take over, the Russians, the Iranians and the North Koreans, he said on CNN.

He referred to the conflict as a proxy war with China.

He noted that some kind of compromise with Russia may be required at some point and that the US should be part of the negotiations at a time when Ukraine can protect the land thats been taken by Russia in this latest incursion.

He argued that Mr Trump set the groundwork for the invasion and echoed 2016 comments by former Secretary of State and then-Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, calling him Putins puppet.

He compared Mr DeSantis to British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, who unsuccessfully attempted to appease Adolf Hitler ahead of the Second World War.

Doug Burgum

Doug Burgum has stressed the importance of accountability on every dollar the US sends (AP)

The North Dakota Governor has suggested that he supports backing Ukraine but that he wants accountability on every dollar.

Russia cannot have a win coming out of this, because if its a win for them, its a win for China, he told told North Dakota TV station KFYR.

But he also said he wanted Europe to take on a bigger role financially in supporting Ukraine.

In June, during an appearance on CNN, he said that problems within Russia could be exploited by the US and Nato.

Lets give them the support they need, he said in reference to Ukraine. Lets get this war over now instead of having it be protracted.

On the day the invasion began, 24 February 2022, Mr Burgum issued a statement.

We support and pray for the Ukrainian people as they defend themselves against these brazen acts of aggression by Russia and President Putin, which we condemn in the strongest terms possible, he said. The United States and its allies must stand together in support of Ukraine and hold Russia accountable for its unprovoked attacks.

This international crisis underscores the importance of U.S. energy security and increasing American production so we can sell energy to our friends and allies versus buying it from our enemies.

Our thoughts also are with those of Ukrainian heritage here in North Dakota who are concerned for the safety of their relatives as their homeland is under siege, as well as those North Dakota farmers and businesses with interests in Ukraine.

Asa Hutchinson

Asa Hutchinson has said that Ukraine is fighting a battle that helps reflect a free Europe, (AFP via Getty Images)

The former Arkansas governor said on CNN last year that it would be a mistake to withdraw funding for Ukraine in this extraordinary fight against Russia and Russias aggression against the sovereign territory of Ukraine.

Im very much supportive of Ukraine. I believe theyre fighting a battle that helps reflect a free Europe, he added.

He has also said that the US should help Ukraine win quickly, according to Politico.

He called Mr DeSantis naive for suggesting the US doesnt have a vital interest in the conflict.

The GOP needs to have leaders who understand the importance of the strength of America and our utilization of that strength in the cause of freedom, he said.

To dismiss this as something unimportant to the security of the United States is naive and not in our historic traditions, he told McClatchy.

Will Hurd

Will Hurd has said Vladimir Putin capitulated in the face of an attempted coup (REUTERS)

The former Texas congressman and CIA undercover agent has slammed Mr Trumps and Mr DeSantiss isolationist policies.

Weve seen over the last couple of days that we need people that have a real experience when it comes to national security, he said on ABCs This Week in June. And look, Donald Trump has some good ideas, but he ... lacked an ability to leverage the government in order to execute on those things. People like Ron DeSantis dont have that experience when it comes to foreign policy.

Its unfortunate the two leading Republican nominees for president, Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis, [their] policy on Ukraine is wrong, he added. I wish they would stop fighting with American companies like Disney and be more interested in supporting our allies against attacks against democracy.

The thing that I get frustrated [with is] this old fashion concept of escalation, he said.

What did Vladimir Putin do when he had somebody barreling down the highway to come to Moscow? He didnt escalate ... He capitulated, he added in reference to the botched coup by the Wagner group.

Perry Johnson

Businessman Perry Johnson has argued that the US should cease funding the war effort (Getty Images)

The businessman and self-funding candidate tweeted in April that he strongly disagrees with Mr Pence.

I think its ridiculous to send $100 billion to Ukraine while were going broke right here in America. @JoeBidens policies are wreaking havoc on our federal budget and the wallets of hard-working American families, he added.

Hes also said that he doesnt trust Mr Putin.

Francis Suarez

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has written that it doesnt take a Harvard lawyer to see that the war in Ukraine is not a territorial dispute (AP)

In a piece for the National Review, the Miami mayor write that it doesnt take a Harvard lawyer to see that the war in Ukraine is not a territorial dispute. It is a moral and geopolitical struggle between two visions of the world.

Both are competing for our future. We see it play out now between NATO and Russia in Ukraine, and between the United States and China in the Pacific region. The first vision respects human rights and democracy; the second rejects it, he added.

Mr Suarez went on to note that this war is about more than just Ukraine. It is a war that is now local and global, hot and cold. Its a war about the type of future we want for our children and ourselves.

Standing up for freedom and democracy means more than just spending, sanctions, and spin. It takes courage and clarity. It means confronting those who have been waging a war against America and her allies for years. When confronting a regime of lies and violence, we arm ourselves with truth and courage. We must show, not just preach, the courage to be free, he wrote.
A federal judge has once again dismissed Donald Trumps attempts to stall litigation from writer E Jean Carroll, who was awarded a $5m jury verdict earlier this year finding the former president liable for sexual abuse and defamation after speaking publicly about it.

His fourth attempt, along with his previous attempts, have not provided a single reason to show any likelihood that he will succeed on appeal, according to US District Judge Lewis Kaplan.

The judge noted that Ms Carrolls separate defamation case has been stalled for months largely because of Mr Trumps ongoing attempts to delay, a legal strategy his team has pushed through several civil and criminal cases against him as he continues to seek the 2024 Republican nomination for president.

A 17-page decision from the judge on 18 August certifies that the appeal itself is frivolous, according to the order.

Mr Trumps latest motion to stay  his fourth such request  is yet another such attempt to delay unduly the resolution of this matter, according to the order.

Ms Carrolls lawsuit drew extensive litigation from Mr Trump, who has argued immunity, while Ms Carroll is seeking to double the amount of damages from her prior case.

She has argued that Mr Trumps statements accusing her of lying  claims he made in 2019 while president  have damaged her reputation and her career. That parallel case has been stalled by Mr Trumps ongoing attempts to delay, citing presidential immunity from such claims.

Judge Kaplan has scheduled a trial for Ms Carrolls remaining defamation case for 15 January 2024.

She was awarded a $2m judgment for Mr Trumps misconduct, as well as $3m for defamation, after a federal jury in New York found that Ms Carroll had proved that the former president sexually abused her in a department store in the 1990s.

Mr Trump has tried to countersue, arguing that, after the jurys decision, Ms Carroll should not have been allowed to say that the former president had raped her. That claim was dismissed.

Mr Trump was not able to prove that Ms Carrolls statements on CNN the day after a civil trial jury found that he had sexually abused Ms Carroll and subsequently defamed her were false or not at least substantially true, according to the judges order earlier this month.

While jurors found Mr Trump liable for sexual abuse, jurors did not state that Mr Trump had raped her under New York state law, to which Ms Carroll told the network, Oh, yes he did.

The verdict establishes, as against Mr Trump, the fact that Mr Trump raped her, albeit digitally rather than with his penis, according to Judge Kaplans ruling earlier this month. Thus, it establishes against him the substantial truth of Ms Carrolls rape accusations.

He added: In consequence, there is no merit to Mr Trumps argument that the jurys finding on Penal Law rape question established that Ms Carrolls statements were false even if her statements reasonably could be construed as referring to rape in that specialized Penal Law sense, a subject on which this Court now expresses no view.

Another civil trial adds to the mountains of legal obstacles for Mr Trump as he campaigns for his return to the White House.

He is separately facing a criminal trial in New York on charges of falsifying business records; a federal trial on charges alleging his illegal retention of classified documents he allegedly showed others; two separate criminal cases surrounding his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election; and a trial from a $250m lawsuit from the office of New York attorney general alleging years of fraudulent business practices.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 18. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has invited President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon to pay a state visit to Azerbaijan, Trend reports.

President Ilham Aliyev recalled his state visit to Tajikistan, saying consistent activities are undertaken to achieve goals that had been set during discussions held as part of the trip. The head of state underscored that he had witnessed development of Tajikistan and Dushanbe during his trip to this country.

The President of Azerbaijan noted there are a number of initiatives to ramp up bilateral cooperation in economic, trade, transport, logistics and other fields. The Azerbaijani leader pointed out that partnership relations between the countries had been reinforced.
About one hundred people gather at Lafayette Square, including members of the New Orleans City Council, to show support for the people of Ukraine and to oppose the Russian invasion of the Eastern European country in New Orleans, La. Tuesday, March 8, 2022. Several people in attendance had family members in Ukraine or Poland where over a million Ukrainian refugees have fled. (Photo by Max Becherer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)
In general, the ready-to-drinks and the hard seltzers bring that risk that the alcohol taste is disguised in the sugar flavours. So, you actually consume a harmful product without really being aware of it. Kuntsche wonders what would happen if the worlds most iconic soft drink brand did the same thing. Independent MP Kylea Tink is concerned Hard Solo is targeted at minors. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen Imagine all the Coca-Cola consumers all of a sudden [had an] alcohol-containing choice. That would be disastrous from a public health point of view. We are talking about a toxic substance. As a nation, weve had the same conversations and the same concerns before. Drinks like Hard Solo  known as alcopops or pre-mixed drinks  have been around for decades.

The popularity of alcopops in the early 2000s prompted the Rudd government to implement an alcopops tax increase of 70 per cent on those beverages in April 2008, bringing the excise in line with spirits. The move went some way to suppressing the industry: alcopops sales fell 29 per cent  the equivalent of 310 million standard drinks  in the year following the tax hike. Loading But it didnt stop the drinks from remaining popular and growing in range. A 2010 research paper from the University of Wollongong conducted an audit of 52 NSW bottle shops that found roughly a third of fridge space was dedicated to these drinks. There is a need to address the nature, availability and promotion of these products, the paper stated. Alcopops have since staged a resurgence, albeit under a different name; nowadays, theyre commonly referred to in the industry as ready-to-drink (RTDs). COVID lockdowns triggered an uptick in drinking at home and also made us more experimental, with many people mixing cocktails at home. The number of RTD brands have spiked since the beginning of 2021, according to data from retail analytics platform ShopGrok, driven partly by the hard seltzer wave that flourished in the US at the beginning of the pandemic and subsequently swelled Down Under.

Youve got the more traditional RTDs that have been around since probably the 1990s  Bacardi Breezers was probably one of the first ones, Bundaberg and [Cola], said ShopGrok chief executive Aaron Cowper. The sale of seltzers and alcopops has risen across Australia. Theres been an explosion the last three years, particularly in the hard seltzers, hard coffees, premixed cocktails. The premiumised RTDs are the big growth area. The biggest RTD brands in Australia are currently White Claw, Smirnoff, Hard Fizz, Saintly and Rainbird. RTDs have also proven particularly popular among younger drinkers. Roy Morgans latest alcohol consumption report shows RTD consumption doubled from 10.8 per cent to 20.8 per cent in the 12 months to March 2023, led predominantly by people aged 18-24. More than half of that group said they had consumed an RTD drink in the previous 12 months.

Retailers are well aware of the rapid growth in this beverage category, and are responding swiftly. The boss of Australias largest drinks retailer, Endeavour Group, said RTDs were leading beverages sales growth at 8 per cent. It is going faster and bigger than it ever has before, Endeavour Group chief executive Steve Donohue said. Its history repeating but twice over and twice as fast. Whatever you call them  alcopops, premixed drinks, or RTDs  its a booming global industry valued at $1.3 billion in 2022 and projected to grow by about 14 per cent by 2030. Who makes the rules? For groups working on minimising alcohol harm, the projected growth of these drinks is bad news and going up against billion-dollar multinational beverage giants is a David and Goliath fight, said La Trobe Universitys Kuntsche.

The complaints against Hard Solo have renewed scrutiny of the complaint process itself. The Alcohol Beverages Advertising Code (ABAC) Scheme Limited deals with alcohol advertising complaints. Its a body set up and funded by industry groups, with The Brewers Association of Australia, Spirits & Cocktails Australia, Australian Grape & Wine, Advertising Council Australia all on its management committee. The committee includes a single representative from the Department of Health. Loading The code is not legislation and there are no enforceable penalties for breaches. Compliance is completely voluntary. A review of the ABAC was conducted earlier this year, with a new code in place in August, but more than 40 organisations signed an open letter declaring their refusal to participate in the review of the scheme because the process was inherently flawed. Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education chief executive Caterina Giorgi wants the departments of health and communications to pay attention and intervene. I dont think we should leave it to alcohol retailers because Ive seen a very long track record of alcohol retailers doing whats best in the companys interest rather than in the interest of the community, Giorgi said.

This all points to the need for governments to step in and introduce common-sense measures that meet community expectations. Kuntsche likens the self-regulating nature of the ABAC to a fox guarding a henhouse. Its a fundamental conflict of interest, he said. A commercial interest group cannot regulate itself ... this entity is supposed to make profit. Its a fundamental conflict of interest. A commercial interest group cannot regulate itself ... this entity is supposed to make profit. Emmanuel Kuntsche from the Centre for Alcohol Policy Research The efficacy of the code has been examined before. A 2018 research paper by Sydney Law Schools Dr Belinda Reeve found it did not adequately protect young people from exposure to alcohol marketing, and called for greater government intervention to close significant loopholes in the code. The ABAC Scheme lacks independent administration, systematic monitoring, or meaningful sanctions for responding to non-compliance, Reeve wrote.

However, the industry bodies have defended the code as one of the toughest in the world. Loading ABAC provides for strict regulation of alcohol advertising, marketing and social media with guidelines agreed with the federal government and all consumer complaints handled independently. The federal Department of Health is a direct partner and active participant in ABAC, Alcohol Beverages Australia executive director Adele Young said in a statement. She pointed to Australian Institute of Health and Welfare statistics that show the number of young adults who dont drink alcohol has risen: between 2001 and 2019, the proportion of 18-24 year olds abstaining from alcohol more than doubled from 9.7 per cent to 21 per cent. Among 25-29 year olds, this figure went from 8.8 per cent in 2021 to 24 per cent in 2019. The facts are Australians are drinking less, but better, said Young. The ABAC Code and process is a significant contributor to these results.

Hard Solo manufacturer CUB (which is owned by Asahi) said it strongly refute[s] claims that the drink can be confused for the non-alcoholic version, pointing to the black can and prominent alcoholic markings. Loading Hard Solo is for adults who enjoy both regular Solo and ready-to-drink alcohol beverages. It is only available to adults who purchase it from liquor outlets, a CUB spokesperson said. In addition, we are not doing any traditional out-of-home advertising, TV, or radio campaigns to promote Hard Solo. Tink, the independent MP, will meet with ABAC members later this month to better understand their approval processes. She is not opposed to self-regulatory bodies, but believes Hard Solos appeal to minors is obvious and says the industry has been put on notice.
Camilleri pleaded guilty last year to two counts of assaulting a law enforcement officer and inflicting actual bodily harm after the attacks inside Silverwater Womens Correctional Centre on August 14 and October 10, 2021.

Jessica Camilleri is serving a maximum sentence of 16 years for the manslaughter of Rita Camilleri in their western Sydney home in July 2019.

Two female prison guards have told a court of their pain and trauma after their hair was ripped from the scalp, leaving bald patches, when they were violently assaulted by an inmate jailed for decapitating her mother.

The 29-year-old sat in the dock in Downing Centre District Court on Friday as the two guards read victim impact statements, saying they now suffer post-traumatic stress disorder as a result.

The first guard, who was assaulted in the doorway of Camilleris cell amid a search with other guards for sharp objects, sobbed as she said Camilleri latched onto her hair causing excruciating pain.

Unbeknownst to me, until after the shock, when I went back to the office someone had told me that a large patch of hair missing from the left side of my scalp was visible to everyone, she said.

My hair was ripped from the scalp.

She said she went to a hospital emergency department but was told nothing could be done and to wait until it grows.
Emma Pullen, who has a child in grade 2 and another due to start prep next year, said the only criteria the school didnt meet was enrolment  with 78 children  but believes they had strong projections for prospective students, with new apartments opening nearby in 2026 and a marketing campaign led by the school community. An open day was planned for next week. The plan was strong  solid with urban planning, demographics and marketing, Pullen said. We are financially viable, we are a self-sufficient school  they closed us anyway. They closed all the schools in the viability review. MACS have left their Catholic values at the door. More than half of the students at the school have a learning difficulty or are neurodivergent, including Suellen Kings seven-year-old son, Bailey. The school has an occupational therapist, a psychologist and a speech therapist who support students, which helps parents and children minimise outside appointments.

King said other schools in the area werent suitable for her son, who experiences sensory overload and sometimes has to wear noise-canceling headphones. She said they may need to relocate regionally so he can have the same kind of school experience. I was trying to be positive; I knew it would be a predetermined outcome  its closed in the same year its assessed, she said. King said that the school had collected more than 100 pieces of community feedback that went through MACS, all of which were extremely positive. Theres a lack of concern for the welfare of these children, she said. Vicky Young, president of St Johns Clifton Hill Parents and Friends said the community felt blindsided.

She said the building would be sitting empty, and while there may not be much families could do, they would die in a ditch trying. Why cant we continue on and look at the early learning strategy and the three-to-five-year understanding of what the targets are? The fact they didnt look at the data shows they had made their minds up. This process was a lie. St Johns school captain Charlotte Mann, who is in grade 6, said the news was really tough. Vicky Young, with children Charlotte and William, outside St Johns Primary School in Clifton Hill. Credit: Eddie Jim

Ive been at the school for seven years by the end of this year, I was really upset. I knew it might happen, but I didnt really want to face the reality of it, she said. Independent Education Union general secretary David Brear said representatives were at each of the four schools to support their dedicated and understandably distressed staff. We will continue to work with and advocate for our members to make sure theyre properly supported. We want to make sure that every effort is made by employers to accommodate those who wish to be redeployed in other local Catholic schools, and that the preferences and circumstances of every individual are properly considered, he said. Lisa Gau and Suellen King outside St Johns Primary School in Clifton Hill. Credit: Eddie Jim Simons said all school sectors had to make difficult choices to ensure the long-term viability of the system, and MACS would help families and staff transition with fee relief, uniform support and redeployment.

He said there were almost 300 schools and 110,000 students in the system, and their modelling showed demand for Catholic education was growing in Melbournes northern and western corridors, where 12 schools had opened since 2018. He said MACS planned to open seven new schools over the next three years in identified growth corridors. Simons said there were five Catholic schools near St Johns Primary with 300 available places, and that the schools were ready to welcome students into their communities. He said there would be no redundancies and that there were redeployment options for staff. No family will be left stranded, he said. He said these MACS schools provide specialist support services for students with a range of individual needs, an information session would be scheduled for families next week. All alternative options were explored before making the difficult decision that it is no longer sustainable to operate these four schools beyond this year.
In response, 49 per cent of people said they supported it, while 30 per cent opposed it and 21 per cent were undecided. The development follows a legislative stand-off over the federal governments $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund, with the Australian Greens are demanding the Albanese government agree to a two-year rental freeze, after which time rental increases would be capped at just 2 per cent every two years. According to census data compiled by The Age, about 22 per cent of households were renting in 2001. Today, that figure is almost 29 per cent, while the proportion of homes owned outright has dropped from about 43 per cent to 32 per cent. A Victorian cabinet minister, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters, said while a final position hadnt yet been put to cabinet, senior ministers opposition to rental caps had firmed in recent days.

The arguments used are mainly around consequences such as a reduced number of rentals in the market, the senior Labor figure said. Loading Another government source, also speaking anonymously to discuss internal deliberations, said the measure had then been shelved after this weeks national cabinet meeting, with a broad consensus that rental price controls do not represent a viable solution. NSW Premier Chris Minns has previously ruled out a cap on rent increases. After the meeting, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese suggested that increasing supply, as opposed to the Greens plan to freeze rents for two years, was the key to fixing the housing crisis. No one is [seriously] arguing that that will make a positive difference, he said of a cap on rents. Indeed, we believe that will make it worse. The key to addressing these issues is supply and thats why we have focused our attention on supply.

Opposition Leader John Pesutto this week accused Albanese of having to talk sense into his Victorian counterpart. The key issue, as I think the prime minister is finally admitting, is supply. Its not like what Daniel Andrews is doing, which is increasing taxes, he said. If you speak to investors, you want to build your housing stock. Theyre telling us Victoria isnt the place to invest anymore. And if they have a choice, theyll look at other states and territories. Greens renters rights spokeswoman Gabrielle de Vietri accused Victoria, and national cabinet, of continuing to give unlimited rent increases the green light.

Rent control isnt a radical idea, she said. Scotland, Paris, Germany, Ireland, New York and Spain all have some form of rent control. Its time Victoria caught up and stopped pandering to property investors. With every rent rise, from now on, renters should know  this is Labors fault. Greens MP Gabrielle de Vietri has been calling on the Andrews government to introduce a rent freeze and caps to rent rises. Credit: Justin McManus Housing experts have warned the imposition of a rental freeze  in line with the Greens plan  could ultimately lead to higher rents. However, the Greens have pointed to the ACT as a jurisdiction that has successfully limited rental increases, albeit through a cap rather than an outright freeze. National cabinet this week agreed to a new national target to build 1.2 million well-located homes over five years from July 1, 2024.

That means an extra 200,000 new homes would need to be delivered over and above the National Housing Accord target agreed by states and territories last year. As an incentive, states that deliver those extra homes will be offered $3 billion in performance bonuses, which works out to be $15,000 per additional house. Andrews said he was confident Victoria was on track to more than meet its original target, suggesting Victoria will get a healthy share of the $3 billion of federal cash on offer. I think  we may be one of very few states that meet their targets, we may get quite a healthy share of that $3 billion. The government is hopeful Victoria will get a minimum of $780 million  commensurate with its share of the population. That would require it to deliver about 52,000 additional houses.
There has been a staggering increase in attempts to import cocaine into Australia via the west coast, with police last week seizing $225 million worth at a house in the small Mid West seaside town of Kalbarri.

Australian Border Force and the Australian Federal Police led a joint operation after they were tipped off about a suspicious vessel, leading them to three men who bought a boat which they used to collect 560 kilograms of drugs dropped into the ocean from a passing bulk carrier.

560 kilograms of cocaine was seized from a house in Kalbarri. Credit: AFP

The trio from Queensland, aged 29, 49 and 32, were arrested and charged with possessing a commercial quantity of drugs, with ABF Commander Ranjeev Maharaj saying attempts to import cocaine into Australia was at unprecedented levels.

Last financial year, the ABF made more than 4000 detections of cocaine at the border, which represents an increase of 166 per cent from the previous year, he said.
Victorias Ombudsman is being urged to investigate an alleged jobs-for-mates culture in the Andrews government after former cabinet minister Martin Foley was this week appointed to his second public chairmanship.

Foley, who was health minister during the COVID-19 pandemic, was appointed chair of Alfred Health in July. This week he began as chair of the Melbourne Arts Precinct Corporation, a role that could attract a six-figure taxpayer-funded salary.

Martin Foley in June 2020 in his then role as mental health minister, with Premier Daniel Andrews. Credit: Joe Armao

Shadow minister of state David Davis wrote to Ombudsman Deborah Glass on Friday to argue there was an emerging trend of people with a political affiliation being appointed as directors and chairs of Victorian public entities. Glass is currently investigating the politicisation of the Victorian public service.

We therefore respectfully request that the scope of your [ongoing] investigation into the politicisation of the public service be expanded, Davis wrote.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 18. The German weekly newspaper Die Zeit published an article "Forgotten by the World: Nagorno-Karabakh," co-authored by Alice Botha and Maria Mitrov, Trend reports.

The article, which contains unverified data, incorrect terminology, and baseless and unfair accusations against Azerbaijan and its leadership, was written unilaterally from the position of Armenia and Armenian separatists.

The article states that "Azerbaijan subjected Nagorno-Karabakh to real starvation for a month. The statistics of childbirths with defects increased because pregnant women were not examined, and people threw their dogs and cats into the street because they had no food to feed even themselves".

Showing diligence, the authors added to the article published in August a picture of some teacher in a winter coat, taken somewhere and sometime, writing that allegedly "because Azerbaijan is holding Artsakh's only gas pipeline under blockade, the stoves in schools are heated with wood?". Moreover, based on conversations with local residents, they even dared to call it "genocide and ethnic cleansing".

Michael Reinhard Hess, a well-known German scholar, researcher of the Caucasus region, and author of the book "The Heritage of the Shush City," sent a detailed and reasoned letter of protest to the editorial board of "Die Zeit" newspaper and shared it on his Facebook page.

Hess notes that the use of the word "Nagorno-Karabakh enclave" in the first sentence of the article explains the position from which it was written.

"Karabakh is the territory of the Azerbaijani state with all its parts, including the mountainous parts. How can one call an enclave a territory that even Armenia, the sponsor of the so-called Armenian separatist organization, has never perceived as an enclave? It is not known from what source the legend about the "Nagorno-Karabakh enclave" was taken, but this word is used by all leading media in Germany, including "Spiegel". How can unverified data from one of the interested parties be disseminated?" The letter reads:

Due to his own observations, he also sharply condemned another negative practice entrenched in the German press.

"For 4 years in the leading German media, practically not a single article has been published in order to reflect the views of Azerbaijan along with the position of Armenians or even separatists. If the authors would look through social networks for a few minutes, they would see how Azerbaijanis have lost their property and health as a result of Armenian aggression and occupation. Those who, after 30 years, return to Karabakh, liberated as a result of the 44-day war, face the sad consequences of the destructive activities of Armenian aggressors," the letter noted.

Hess criticized the idea of the article about "an enclave, which is already fully populated by Armenians", reminding the authors of the 1989 population statistics.

"At that time, 21 percent of the population of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region, that is, 40,000 people, were Azerbaijanis, and they did not disappear anywhere. They were expelled from their homes as a result of Armenian aggression and violence. The authors of the article say nothing about this misfortune faced by Azerbaijanis. On the night of February 2526, 1992, 613 innocent Azerbaijani civilians were mercilessly killed under the command of Serzh Sargsyan, who later became Defense Minister and President of Armenia. A grave war crime was committed with the massacre of civilians. It would be appropriate to draw parallels between the genocide in Khojaly and what happened in Irpin and Bucha.

After the full establishment of Azerbaijan's state control over these territories, the security of the Armenian population in Karabakh will be guaranteed. This was publicly stated by the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev. In other parts of Azerbaijan, in addition to the territories inhabited by separatists, there are currently tens of thousands of Armenians who speak their own language and develop their own culture. If Azerbaijan's intention was to expel Armenians, how could tens of thousands of Armenians still live here? Conversely, Armenia historically became a homogeneous state after the complete expulsion of Azerbaijanis living there in 1987. What is happening now has nothing to do with ethnic cleansing against Armenians. It is about the fact that those who oppose Azerbaijan with weapons in their hands are subject to the laws of Azerbaijan, the state in which they live," he noted.

Hess also advised the authors to pay attention to the gaps and contradictions they allowed in the article.

"You write that the blockade began in December, and then you admit that Russian peacekeepers and ICRC vehicles are delivering humanitarian aid and transporting the sick. How can this happen on a blocked road? On April 23, Azerbaijan established a border checkpoint on its territory on the state border with Armenia in order to prevent the smuggling of weapons and illegal goods to the separatist-controlled territories. Having read Liberation/AFP and other neutral sources, it is clear that the information contained in Azerbaijani sources is true," he emphasized.

Hess goes on to express his disappointment that influential press such as Die Zeit is sensation-seeking when writing about such a serious topic.

"You write that 'Russia is arming Azerbaijan.' What does it mean to present Azerbaijan as a scarecrow dependent on Russia? Azerbaijan has been an independent state since 1991 and should not wait for Russia or other countries to give it permission to arm itself. It is logical to write that "Russia and India are also arming Armenia". All such word combinations and the purpose of the article are not to move away from the entrenched and prevailing opinion in the leading German press, according to which "Armenians in Karabakh are innocent victims and Azerbaijanis are evil people with bad intentions"," the letter reads.
Homeowners keen to upgrade from an apartment to a house with land would have an easier time in some northern suburbs of Melbourne and in growth corridors than in the citys inner east, where the gap between unit prices and house prices is widest.

Even so, some upsizing hopefuls say the COVID-era property boom and rising cost of living have driven prices out of their reach even in more attainable areas, which has prompted bargain hunters to look further out for a larger home.

An analysis of Domain data shows house and unit median prices are closest in Glenroy, where the median house costs $141,000 more than the median unit. That was followed by Carrum Downs and Pakenham.

At the other end of the scale was Toorak, which had the largest median gap of $3.95 million. That mark was followed by Malvern and Kew, some of the most expensive suburbs in Melbourne.
Jerusalem: Israels Defence Ministry has secured its largest-ever defence deal, selling a sophisticated missile defence system to Germany for $US3.5 billion ($5.4 billion) in a move that could have repercussions for the war in Ukraine.

Although Israel has long had close economic and military links with western European countries, the deal, which the United States approved, could draw the attention of Russia. Israel has maintained working relations with Russia throughout the war in Ukraine and has repeatedly rebuffed requests to sell arms to Kyiv for fear of antagonising Moscow.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and then US ambassador to Israel David Friedman watch a video showing the launch of the Arrow 3 hypersonic anti-ballistic missile in Jerusalem in 2019. Credit: AP/File

Germany will buy the advanced system, coined Arrow 3, which is designed to intercept long-range ballistic missiles armed with nuclear or other warheads. Israel sought approval for the deal from the US State Department because the system was jointly developed by the two countries through the Israel Aerospace Industries and Boeing. Israeli defence officials said the system would extend Germanys defence capability while strengthening the defence relationship between Israel and the US.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the deal historic.
Ottawa: Canadian fire crews are battling to prevent bushfires from reaching the northern city of Yellowknife, where all 20,000 residents are leaving by car and plane after an evacuation order was declared.

Water bombers flew low over Yellowknife as thick smoke blanketed the capital of the vast and sparsely populated Northwest Territories. Officials say the fire, which is moving slowly, was 15 kilometres north-west of the city and could reach the outskirts by Saturday if there was no rain.

A vehicle is parked near a burning wildfire in Hay River, Canada, this week. Credit: Reuters

Very tough days ahead  with two days of north-west to west-northwest winds on Friday and Saturday, which would push fire towards Yellowknife, the territorial fire service said in a statement on Facebook.

In the Pacific province of British Columbia, which has suffered unusually intense blazes this year, officials warned residents to prepare for extreme fire conditions.
Camp David, Maryland: US President Joe Biden and the leaders of South Korea and Japan have made their strongest joint condemnation yet of dangerous and aggressive behaviour by China in the South China Sea and agreed to deepen military and economic ties.

Biden held a summit with the leaders of the main US allies in Asia, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, in a bid to project unity in the face of Beijings growing power and North Koreas nuclear threats.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (left), US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday. Credit: AP

In a joint statement from Camp David, the country retreat of US presidents, on Saturday (AEST), the three leaders committed to establishing a hotline to consult promptly with each other during crises, and to co-ordinate responses to regional challenges, provocations and threats affecting common interests.

They also agreed to hold trilateral military training exercises annually and to share real-time information on North Korean missile launches by the end of 2023. The countries promised to hold trilateral summits annually.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 18. Vagif Khachatryan, who was detained on the territory of Azerbaijan, will appear in court in the near future, Head of the Special Investigations Department of the Military Prosecutor's Office of Azerbaijan Emil Tagiyev said at a briefing, Trend reports.

The investigation into the criminal case brought by the Military Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Azerbaijan under the pertinent articles of the Criminal Code regarding the facts of genocide, deportation of Azerbaijanis, and destruction of numerous properties belonging to rural residents and the state on December 22, 1991, in the village of Meshali (Khojaly district), is still ongoing.

The investigation established that Vagif Khachatryan, born in 1955, a citizen of the Republic of Azerbaijan, born in Badara village of Askaran district and worked as a driver in Khankendi city automobile transport company, residing in Meshali village, together with other people of Armenian nationality, used various weapons, including firearms and infantry fighting vehicles, to completely destroy the village.

Using various weapons, including firearms and infantry fighting vehicles, they raided the village and killed 25 people of Azerbaijani nationality, injured 14 people, and contrary to national and international law norms expelled 358 Azerbaijanis from their domicile.

In addition, Khachatryan continued his criminal actions together with his accomplices, destroying and damaging property belonging to the state and villagers, causing a total of 5.5 million manat ($3.2 million) of material damage.

Due to the fact that sufficient reasonable suspicions arose regarding the criminal case, it was decided to involve Vagif Khachatryan as an accused person under articles 103 (massacre) and 107 (deportation or forced movement of the population) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan. However, due to the fact that his whereabouts were unknown to the investigation, on November 12, 2013, an international arrest warrant was applied by the court's decision.

As a result of the conducted search measures, on July 29, 2023, Khachatryan was detained by the military personnel of the State Border Service at the Lachin border crossing point of the Azerbaijan-Armenia state border. He was trying to go to the Republic of Armenia for treatment through the mediation of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 18. The Western Azerbaijan Community has appealed to the US, regarding Armenia, Trend reports.

The statement says that, according to the US Embassy in Armenia, Ambassador Kristina Kvien visited the village of Istisu (Jermuk) today.

"We do not have information about the purpose of the ambassador's visit to Istis. However, we are aware that on the way from Irevan, she passed through settlements where Azerbaijanis used to live, including Istisu, where their mosques and cemeteries were destroyed and desecrated. We would like to know what steps are being taken by Kristina Kvien, Ambassador of the US, which positions itself as defenders of human rights in the world, in Armenia, a state that has become mono-ethnic as a result of ethnic cleansing, to eliminate racism and intolerance reigning in the country of her accreditation, and to implement the rights of Azerbaijanis to return, enshrined in The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

We also take this opportunity to call on the US side to respond to our appeal to Secretary of State Antony Blinken with a request to support human rights without ethnic or religious discrimination," the statement reads.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 18. The Western Azerbaijan Community has strongly condemned the attack and arrest of a man by the police in the Karvansar (Ijevan) district of Armenia just because he spoke Turkish, Trend reports.

The statement says that this incident is another showcase of racism and xenophobia deeply rooted in the state policy and society of Armenia, which became the main reason for the forcible expulsion of all Azerbaijanis from this country in 1987-1991.

"We call on the international community to condemn this incident and put pressure on Armenia to put an end to its racist policy, so that a tolerant environment prevails in this country and the safe and dignified return of the exiled Azerbaijanis is ensured. We also call on the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of discrimination, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, as well as the organizations Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International to address this incident and take the necessary measures to protect the rights of the victim," the message reads.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 18. The first resettlement of residents in the city of Fuzuli began today, Trend reports.

The return of 23 families to their hometown was organized at the initial stage.

A group of resettling Azerbaijani citizens was sent to Fuzuli from the Gobu Park 3 residential complex in the Garadag district of Baku.

On August 5, the State Committee for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons held a draw between families who will be resettled in Fuzuli at the first stage. Some 144 families (509 people) took part in the draw.

Thus, some 51 families will be provided with two-room apartments, 76 families with three-room apartments and 17 families with four-room apartments.
Batavia, NY (14020)

Today

Cloudy skies this morning will become partly cloudy this afternoon. High 72F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly to mostly cloudy. Low 53F. Winds light and variable.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 18. The State Social Protection Fund under the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Population of Azerbaijan paid social benefits to 462,000 people and monthly presidential pensions to 374,000 people from January through July 2023, informed Azerbaijan's Ministry of the Labor and Social Protection, Trend reports.

According to the Ministry, the people earned a total of 578 million manat ($339 million) in social benefits and 374 million manat ($219 million) in presidential pensions during the aforementioned period, a 24 percent increase and a 21 percent increase, respectively.

Thus, 79,000 allowances and pensions were proactively allocated through the electronic system between January and July 2023, and 508,000 allowances and pensions have been issued since 2019 (the year that social benefit electronic assignment started).
BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 18. An Armenian saboteur captured in Azerbaijan's Kalbajar has been arrested, Trend reports referring to the Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan.

According to the information, the Prosecutor General's Office has initiated a criminal case and is conducting a preliminary investigation in connection with the violation of the state border of the Republic of Azerbaijan on August 16 on the section of the Azerbaijani-Armenian state border passing through the territory of Kalbajar district by a sabotage and reconnaissance group of the Armenian Armed Forces in order to conduct terrorist and sabotage operations.

"Gagik Voskanyan, a member of the Armenian armed formations detained while preventing these illegal actions, was brought to justice as an accused under articles 206.3.2 (smuggling of firearms and ammunition by a group of persons by prior agreement), 214.2.1, 214.2.3 (terrorism committed with the use of firearms by a group of persons by prior agreement), 228.2.1 (illegal acquisition, transportation, storage of firearms by a group of persons by prior agreement), 283.2.1 (commission with the use of force of actions, deliberately aimed at inciting ethnic hatred) and 318.2 (illegal crossing of the state border of the Republic of Azerbaijan with the use of force by a group of persons by prior agreement) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the court chose a preventive measure in the form of arrest against him.

The preliminary investigation is ongoing, detailed information will be provided to the public about its results," the report says.

On August 16, at about 11:00 (GMT+4), members of the Armenian armed formations and a group of persons who colluded with them illegally crossed the state border of Azerbaijan with firearms and ammunition in order to violate public security in Azerbaijan, incite national enmity, harm people's health, as well as property of important importance, opened fire with firearms weapons on the military personnel of the military unit located on the territory of the village of Istisu of the Kalbajar district of Azerbaijan, threatening to use force against them and commit a terrorist act. A member of a sabotage group was detained by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, weapons and ammunition were seized from him.
Civic body toiling hard to elevate citys ranking in Swachh Survekshan 2023





Students creating awareness for cleanliness under on-going efforts for Swachh Survekshan 2023.

Staff Reporter :

The Jabalpur Municipal Corporation (JMC) with due support of partner organisation, Om Sai Vision is carrying out a number of programmes to aware citizens about cleanliness. Likewise, they are also conducting programmes in schools and other such institutions to create public awareness under Swachh Survekshan 2023. Mayor Jagat Bahadur Singh and Municipal Commissioner Swapnil Wankhade said the civic body is making efforts to elevate the citys ranking in the Swachh Survekshan 2023. As part of these endeavors, the JMC is organizing various awareness activities on a daily basis to keep the citizens informed about cleanliness survey and encourage positive participation in the citys cleanliness system.

They said in pursuit of these efforts, the Municipal Corporation is consistently conducting various awareness activities within city limits to achieve the peak of cleanliness. Nodal Officer of Swachh Bharat Mission informed that the Municipal Corporation's partner organization Om Sai Vision is working in collaboration with citizens and school children to raise awareness about cleanliness. Continuous cleanliness awareness activities have been carried out in different schools across the city, with the primary goal of instilling cleanliness awareness among school children. Accordingly, an essay competition was organised at a number of school, on Thursday.

The participants enthusiastically engaged in the competition and actively spread the message of cleanliness. Likewise, the organisation is also conducting daily activities aimed at informing citizens about the different types of waste generated at their homes, educating them about wet and dry waste segregation and encouraging them to properly dispose of wet and dry waste in respective dustbins.
Boiler World Expo ignites global collaboration





Business Bureau :

The Boiler World Expo, the worlds most dedicated and promising expo-seminar conclave for the global heat and steam industry was held in Nairobi, Africa from August 10 to 12. Having received the participation of over 125 exhibitors from across the globe, the expo marked a significant milestone, not only in the global heat and steam industry but also created an impactful ripple in the relatively untapped East-African industrial market. The expos inauguration was graced by distinguished dignitaries, including Bhanu Rajagopalan - MD, Orangebeak Technologies Pvt Ltd, Namgya Khampa- High Commissioner of India, Dr Suresh Khade - Minister of Labour; Maharashtra, and others.
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Minutes before take-off, pilot dies at city airport





Staff Reporter :

Second pilot death within 48 hours

A 40-year-old pilot, who was supposed to fly a Nagpur-Pune IndiGo flight on Thursday, collapsed at the boarding gate of the aircraft, and died while he was being rushed to a hospital. The incident happened at around 12-12.30 pm on Thursday at Nagpurs Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport. This is the second death of an Indian pilot within two days. The pilot, Captain Manoj Subramanyam, was supposed to board the IndiGo flight to Pune at 1 pm. He was preparing to take control of the aircraft in half an hour when he collapsed. Subramanyam fell unconscious in the security hold area of the airport. The ambulance of KIMS-Kingway Hospital rushed him for treatment, but he was declared dead on arrival. Captain Subramanyam hailed from Chennai.

Deputy General Manager (Branding and Communications of KIMS-Kingsway Hospitals, Nagpur, Aejaz Shami informed that the body was taken to Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) for post-mortem. According to Shami, though the primary reason of his death seemed to be cardiac arrest, the definite cause would be known only after post-mortem. This is the second death of an Indian pilot within the past 48 hours. Two days ago, the Qatar Airways pilot travelling in the passenger cabin of a Delhi-Doha flight as an additional crew member suffered a cardiac arrest and died. The Pilot Association in India has raised concern about the death of its two members. They are trying to find out whether these deaths took place because of too much workload and less rest between two flights. According to sources, the pilot who died at Nagpur had rest of well over 27 hours.
MSRTCs Napur-Pune sleeper buses soon





Staff Reporter :

Ahead of the festive season, the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) has good news to offer to those who travel frequently between Nagpur and Pune. MSRTC will soon introduce non-AC (air conditioned) sleeper buses on this route. The move will largely benefit students and professionals who are mostly disappointed after getting wait-listed tickets in trains and also have to shell out big ticket price charged by privates bus operators, especially in festive season. Speaking on the development, Gautam Shende, Depot Manager, Ganeshpeth Bus Stand, stated that they were awaiting the arrival of buses and the services would be pushed immediately once received.

The bus will have a total capacity of 45 passengers of which 15 seats will be sleeper and 30 will be seating. There will be two services that will start from Nagpur to Pune at 12 noon and 5 pm. Similarly, two buses will be deployed from Pune to Nagpur route that will leave on the same timings for their journey towards Nagpur. The distance between the two cities will be covered in 14 hours. The bus will be routed through Amravati and will not take the Samruddhi Mahamarg, Shende stated. MSRTC had earlier started the Nagpur-Shirdi sleeper bus service that received a lukewarm response from travellers. The bus had only two stops -- one at Ganeshpeth Bus Stand, and the other at Nagpur Airport. During its run, only 3 to 4 passengers used to travel in its journey from Nagpur to Shirdi and back, explained Shende. The bus service was running into losses and eventually MSRTC had to terminate the services. MSRTC presently runs Shivshahi buses on the Nagpur-Pune route, but there were no sleeper services. The sleeper bus service will be an alternative to travellers on the route that has a huge demand. The price for one way ticket will be Rs 1,400, stated an official.
SBI offers relief to loan borrowers in Manipur





KOLKATA :

The relief package includes a moratorium of up to 12 months on equated monthly installments (EMIs), interest payments, and other installments

THE State Bank of India (SBI) has offered to extend relief on loans to its customers in Manipur, who have been affected by the ongoing unrest in the state. The relief package includes a moratorium of up to 12 months on equated monthly installments (EMIs), interest payments, and other installments. It will be available to borrowers whose accounts had not turned non-performing assets (NPAs) as on May 3, 2023, a SBI Manipur regional office notice said. The package will be implemented based on an assessment date of May 4, 2023.

Borrowers who are interested in availing relief must approach their home branches or any nearby SBI branch by August 31, 2023, the bank said. The SBI said it understands the challenges that individuals and businesses are facing in Manipur at this time, and the relief package is aimed at providing them with much-needed support. The SBIs relief package is a welcome move for borrowers in Manipur who have been affected by the unrest. The moratorium on EMIs and interest payments will provide them with much-needed breathing space, and help them to manage their finances as normal life and economic activities have taken a setback, an official said.
VIA to conduct session on 19th





VIA in association with District Skill Development, Employment and Entrepreneurship Guidance Centre, Nagpur are jointly organising an awareness programme on Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Skill, Employment, Entrepreneurship & Innovation Department, Government of Maharashtra GoM on August 19, 2023 from 5 pm to 6.30 pm at VIA Auditorium, Udyog Bhawan, Civil Lines, Nagpur. The meeting will be conducted in presence of chief guest Dr Vipin Itankar, Collector & District Magistrate, Nagpur, guest of honour Prakash Deshmane, Divisional Commissioner, Skill Development Department, Nagpur Division. For details, interested may contact VIA office (Ph: 0712-2561211, 2554090).
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ADC Therapeutics SA (NYSE:ADCT  Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of Hold from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $7.83.

A number of research firms recently commented on ADCT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of ADC Therapeutics from an underweight rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, August 10th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $12.00 target price on shares of ADC Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, July 25th. Bank of America downgraded shares of ADC Therapeutics from a neutral rating to an underperform rating in a research report on Monday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of ADC Therapeutics from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of ADC Therapeutics from $5.00 to $2.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 11th.

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Institutional Trading of ADC Therapeutics

ADC Therapeutics Trading Down 4.1 %

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of ADC Therapeutics by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,933 shares of the companys stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 2,431 shares during the period. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of ADC Therapeutics by 1,270.5% in the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 3,248 shares of the companys stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 3,011 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of ADC Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of ADC Therapeutics by 1,253.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 9,473 shares of the companys stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 8,773 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in shares of ADC Therapeutics by 16.9% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 67,810 shares of the companys stock worth $997,000 after acquiring an additional 9,780 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the companys stock.

NYSE ADCT opened at $1.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57, a current ratio of 5.12 and a quick ratio of 4.88. The firms fifty day moving average price is $1.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $2.46. The company has a market capitalization of $106.77 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.61 and a beta of 0.98. ADC Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $1.22 and a 12 month high of $8.91.

About ADC Therapeutics

(Get Free Report

ADC Therapeutics SA, a commercial-stage biotechnology company, develops antibody drug conjugates (ADC) for patients suffering from hematological malignancies and solid tumors. Its flagship product ZYNLONTA that is in Phase II clinical trial for the treatment of relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and follicular lymphoma; and LOTIS-7, a Phase Ib clinical trial for treatment of relapsed or refractory B-cell lineage non-hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL).

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StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Aegon (NYSE:AEG  Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the financial services providers stock.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on AEG. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on Aegon in a report on Wednesday, June 7th. They set an outperform rating for the company. HSBC upgraded Aegon from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Friday, June 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aegon currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $5.40.

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Aegon Price Performance

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aegon

NYSE:AEG opened at $5.06 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $5.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.87. Aegon has a 12-month low of $3.76 and a 12-month high of $5.68.

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in Aegon during the 1st quarter worth approximately $117,160,000. Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its position in Aegon by 774.0% during the 1st quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 1,351,339 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $5,811,000 after purchasing an additional 1,196,721 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments increased its position in Aegon by 2,837.5% during the 2nd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 1,035,242 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $5,249,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,000 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in Aegon by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,503,613 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $21,794,000 after purchasing an additional 697,389 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Aegon during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,002,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 10.93% of the companys stock.

Aegon Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Aegon N.V. provides insurance, pensions, retirement, and asset management services in the Americas, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company offers life, accident, property and casualty, and health insurance; annuities, retirement plans, and mutual funds; mortgage loans; and individual retirement accounts, as well as stable value, investment management, and digital banking solutions.

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agilon health, inc. (NYSE:AGL  Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of Buy by the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $27.95.

AGL has been the subject of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of agilon health from $28.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, May 15th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on agilon health from $29.00 to $25.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on agilon health from $29.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of agilon health from $29.00 to $25.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on agilon health from $35.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 20th.

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agilon health Price Performance

Insider Buying and Selling

Shares of NYSE:AGL opened at $17.78 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. agilon health has a 52 week low of $15.00 and a 52 week high of $29.44. The companys fifty day moving average is $18.11 and its 200 day moving average is $21.86. The stock has a market cap of $7.21 billion, a PE ratio of -84.66 and a beta of 0.98.

In other news, insider Benjamin Shaker sold 18,750 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.97, for a total transaction of $318,187.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 79,543 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,349,844.71. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 56,250 shares of company stock worth $1,008,750 in the last three months. 3.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On agilon health

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Durable Capital Partners LP lifted its holdings in agilon health by 9.7% during the second quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 6,035,629 shares of the companys stock valued at $104,658,000 after purchasing an additional 532,490 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in agilon health by 41.2% in the 2nd quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 752,685 shares of the companys stock valued at $13,052,000 after buying an additional 219,597 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of agilon health by 49.0% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 89,016 shares of the companys stock worth $1,544,000 after acquiring an additional 29,264 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in shares of agilon health by 38.5% in the second quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 73,840 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,280,000 after purchasing an additional 20,507 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in shares of agilon health by 32.9% in the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 124,950 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,167,000 after purchasing an additional 30,954 shares during the last quarter.

agilon health Company Profile

(Get Free Report

agilon health, inc. offers healthcare services for seniors through primary care physicians in the communities of the United States. As of December 31, 2022, it served approximately 269,500 medicare advantage members and 89,000 Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries. The company was formerly known as Agilon Health Topco, Inc and changed its name to agilon health, inc.

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StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK  Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the transportation companys stock.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on ALK. Barclays reduced their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $66.00 to $62.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $91.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $71.00 to $75.00 in a report on Monday, April 24th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Alaska Air Group from $65.00 to $58.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 26th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Alaska Air Group from $58.50 to $64.25 in a research report on Tuesday, July 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $65.03.

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Alaska Air Group Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of ALK opened at $43.46 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.33, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.61. Alaska Air Group has a one year low of $37.19 and a one year high of $57.18. The businesss 50 day simple moving average is $50.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.88.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The transportation company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.71 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. Alaska Air Group had a return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 1.55%. Alaska Air Groups revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.19 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alaska Air Group will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alaska Air Group

In other news, CEO Benito Minicucci sold 5,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.73, for a total transaction of $243,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 114,506 shares of the companys stock, valued at $5,579,877.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.68% of the companys stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alaska Air Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ALK. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 416.4% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 568 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA grew its position in shares of Alaska Air Group by 279.0% during the 2nd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 595 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 1,873.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 671 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 637 shares during the period. WealthPLAN Partners LLC bought a new position in Alaska Air Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Ten Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alaska Air Group by 174.4% in the 4th quarter. Ten Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 741 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 471 shares during the period. 79.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Alaska Air Group

(Get Free Report)

Alaska Air Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operated airlines. The company operates through three segments: Mainline, Regional, and Horizon. The company offers scheduled air transportation services on Boeing and Airbus jet aircraft for passengers and cargo throughout the United States, and in parts of Mexico, Costa Rica, and Belize; and for passengers across a shorter distance network within the United States and Canada.

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Shares of Alger 35 ETF (NYSEARCA:ATFV  Get Free Report) were down 0.6% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $14.99 and last traded at $14.99. Approximately 387 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 1,972 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.08.

Alger 35 ETF Price Performance

The businesss fifty day simple moving average is $15.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.71. The company has a market cap of $12.96 million, a PE ratio of 24.98 and a beta of 1.05.

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Institutional Trading of Alger 35 ETF

A hedge fund recently bought a new stake in Alger 35 ETF stock. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alger 35 ETF (NYSEARCA:ATFV  Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 183,740 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,868,000. Alger 35 ETF comprises about 1.0% of Castle Rock Wealth Management LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC owned 27.02% of Alger 35 ETF as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

About Alger 35 ETF

The Alger 35 ETF (ATFV) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in total market equity. The fund is an actively-managed, non-transparent ETF that holds a concentrated portfolio of global growth stocks. The fund utilizes the Precidian non-transparent model. ATFV was launched on May 3, 2021 and is managed by Alger.

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Azul (NYSE:AZUL  Free Report) had its target price raised by Raymond James from $14.00 to $15.00 in a research note published on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Barclays raised shares of Azul from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and upped their price objective for the company from $8.00 to $14.00 in a report on Monday, July 10th. Bank of America raised shares of Azul from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and increased their target price for the stock from $6.90 to $11.00 in a research note on Monday, May 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $11.54.

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Azul Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of AZUL opened at $9.13 on Monday. Azul has a 12-month low of $3.82 and a 12-month high of $13.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $11.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.50 and a beta of 1.42.

Azul (NYSE:AZUL  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 15th. The company reported ($0.99) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of ($0.42) by ($0.57). The company had revenue of $862.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $930.89 million. Equities research analysts predict that Azul will post -1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of Azul by 721.4% in the second quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,922 shares of the companys stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,688 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in shares of Azul by 930.7% in the second quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,628 shares of the companys stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 3,276 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Azul in the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of Azul by 697.6% in the first quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,915 shares of the companys stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 6,048 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA grew its holdings in shares of Azul by 18.0% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 9,746 shares of the companys stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 1,487 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 2.30% of the companys stock.

Azul Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Azul SA, together with its subsidiaries, provides scheduled air transportation services in Brazil. As of December 31, 2022, the company operated approximately 1,000 daily departures to 158 destinations through a network of 300 non-stop routes with an operating fleet of 177 aircraft and a passenger contractual fleet of 194 aircraft.

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Bank of Hawaii increased its position in Parker-Hannifin Co. (NYSE:PH  Free Report) by 8.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,224 shares of the industrial products companys stock after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the quarter. Bank of Hawaiis holdings in Parker-Hannifin were worth $411,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PH. Northwest Bancshares Inc. purchased a new position in Parker-Hannifin during the 1st quarter valued at about $227,000. Tilia Fiduciary Partners Inc. boosted its position in Parker-Hannifin by 31.3% during the 1st quarter. Tilia Fiduciary Partners Inc. now owns 1,221 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $410,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of Parker-Hannifin in the 1st quarter valued at $1,534,000. Pictet Asset Management SA lifted its stake in shares of Parker-Hannifin by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management SA now owns 247,369 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $83,143,000 after purchasing an additional 30,445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Parker-Hannifin during the first quarter valued at about $104,039,000. 81.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PH. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Parker-Hannifin from $335.00 to $415.00 in a report on Friday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Parker-Hannifin from $408.00 to $448.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Monday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Parker-Hannifin from $436.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Parker-Hannifin from $383.00 to $446.00 in a research note on Friday, July 14th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Parker-Hannifin from $450.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $434.57.

Insider Activity at Parker-Hannifin

In other news, VP William R. Bowman sold 2,403 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $357.65, for a total value of $859,432.95. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,152 shares in the company, valued at $3,988,512.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, VP William R. Bowman sold 2,403 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $357.65, for a total transaction of $859,432.95. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,152 shares in the company, valued at $3,988,512.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Linda S. Harty sold 1,487 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Monday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $424.28, for a total value of $630,904.36. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,344 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,843,072.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,418 shares of company stock valued at $4,104,307. 1.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Parker-Hannifin Stock Down 1.8 %

PH opened at $399.17 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $393.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $354.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.95, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.52. Parker-Hannifin Co. has a fifty-two week low of $235.69 and a fifty-two week high of $428.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Parker-Hannifin (NYSE:PH  Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The industrial products company reported $6.08 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $5.48 by $0.60. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $5.01 billion. Parker-Hannifin had a return on equity of 29.26% and a net margin of 10.93%. The companys quarterly revenue was up 21.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.16 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Parker-Hannifin Co. will post 22.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Parker-Hannifin Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 28th will be given a dividend of $1.48 per share. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Parker-Hannifins dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.00%.

About Parker-Hannifin

(Free Report)

Parker-Hannifin Corporation manufactures and sells motion and control technologies and systems for various mobile, industrial, and aerospace markets worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Diversified Industrial and Aerospace Systems. The Diversified Industrial segment offers sealing, shielding, thermal products and systems, adhesives, coatings, and noise vibration and harshness solutions; filters, systems, and diagnostics solutions to monitor and remove contaminants from fuel, air, oil, water, and other liquids and gases; connectors, which control, transmit, and contain fluid; control solutions for extreme corrosion resistance, temperatures, pressures, and precise flow; and hydraulic, pneumatic, and electromechanical components and systems for builders and users of mobile and industrial machinery and equipment.

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Bank of Hawaii lifted its position in Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM  Free Report) by 17.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,792 shares of the CRM providers stock after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the quarter. Bank of Hawaiis holdings in Salesforce were worth $558,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its position in Salesforce by 237.4% in the first quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 722 shares of the CRM providers stock worth $144,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 5,040 shares of the CRM providers stock valued at $1,007,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group purchased a new position in Salesforce in the first quarter worth about $329,000. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT increased its stake in Salesforce by 5.7% during the first quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 18,780 shares of the CRM providers stock worth $3,752,000 after acquiring an additional 1,014 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 42.0% in the 4th quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 35,375 shares of the CRM providers stock valued at $4,690,000 after purchasing an additional 10,471 shares during the last quarter. 81.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In related news, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 164 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Monday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.05, for a total value of $36,908.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $501,861.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.43, for a total value of $3,156,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 16,131,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,394,481,261.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sundeep G. Reddy sold 164 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.05, for a total value of $36,908.20. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $501,861.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,171,018 shares of company stock valued at $249,633,898 in the last 90 days. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. Societe Generale lowered Salesforce from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, June 1st. Roth Capital reissued a buy rating on shares of Salesforce in a research report on Thursday, June 1st. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Salesforce from $225.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 1st. Loop Capital increased their price target on Salesforce from $190.00 to $215.00 in a report on Thursday, June 1st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Salesforce from $235.00 to $250.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $224.28.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on CRM

Salesforce Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of Salesforce stock opened at $203.77 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $198.47 billion, a PE ratio of 536.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $216.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $199.10. Salesforce, Inc. has a 1 year low of $126.34 and a 1 year high of $238.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 31st. The CRM provider reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.08. Salesforce had a return on equity of 5.75% and a net margin of 1.18%. The business had revenue of $8.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Salesforce, Inc. will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Salesforce Company Profile

(Free Report)

Salesforce, Inc provides Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. The company's service includes sales to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through analytics and relationship intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer service and support at scale.

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Bank of Hawaii grew its stake in Embraer S.A. (NYSE:ERJ  Free Report) by 1.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 58,696 shares of the aerospace companys stock after acquiring an additional 963 shares during the quarter. Bank of Hawaiis holdings in Embraer were worth $961,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Embraer in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Fifth Third Bancorp acquired a new stake in shares of Embraer during the 1st quarter worth about $56,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Embraer during the 1st quarter worth about $60,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new stake in shares of Embraer during the 1st quarter worth about $78,000. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Embraer by 461.3% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 6,073 shares of the aerospace companys stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 4,991 shares during the last quarter. 36.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ERJ shares. StockNews.com downgraded Embraer from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup raised their price objective on Embraer from $15.75 to $16.50 in a research report on Tuesday, June 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Embraer presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $19.17.

Embraer Price Performance

Shares of Embraer stock opened at $14.79 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $15.17 and a 200 day moving average of $14.72. Embraer S.A. has a 12 month low of $8.52 and a 12 month high of $17.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.52.

Embraer Profile

(Free Report)

Embraer SA designs, develops, manufactures, and sells aircraft and systems in North America, Latin America, the Asia Pacific, Brazil, Europe, and internationally. The company operates through Commercial Aviation; Defense & Security; Executive Aviation; Services & Support; and Other segments. The Commercial Aviation segment designs, develops, manufactures, and sells commercial jets, as well as leases aircraft.

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Bank of Hawaii raised its position in The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA  Free Report) by 25.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,334 shares of the aircraft producers stock after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the quarter. Bank of Hawaiis holdings in Boeing were worth $283,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Baron Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Boeing by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,203 shares of the aircraft producers stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Credit Suisse AG boosted its stake in shares of Boeing by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. Credit Suisse AG now owns 717,284 shares of the aircraft producers stock worth $152,373,000 after acquiring an additional 65,834 shares during the last quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Boeing by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. now owns 246,834 shares of the aircraft producers stock worth $52,435,000 after acquiring an additional 1,283 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Boeing by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 855,159 shares of the aircraft producers stock worth $181,661,000 after acquiring an additional 58,327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Boeing by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 105,732 shares of the aircraft producers stock worth $22,461,000 after acquiring an additional 665 shares during the last quarter. 60.22% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Boeing

In other Boeing news, CEO Theodore Colbert III sold 8,500 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.37, for a total value of $2,026,145.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 59,255 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $14,124,614.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Boeing news, Director Steven M. Mollenkopf purchased 850 shares of Boeing stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 31st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $237.00 per share, for a total transaction of $201,450.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $892,779. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Theodore Colbert III sold 8,500 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.37, for a total transaction of $2,026,145.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 59,255 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $14,124,614.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Boeing Stock Down 2.4 %

BA stock opened at $224.54 on Friday. The Boeing Company has a 12 month low of $120.99 and a 12 month high of $243.10. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $220.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.53.

Boeing (NYSE:BA  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The aircraft producer reported ($0.82) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of ($0.99) by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $19.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $18.59 billion. Boeings revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.37) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Boeing Company will post -1.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Boeing from $250.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 8th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Boeing from $260.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. SpectralCast reiterated a reiterates rating on shares of Boeing in a research note on Wednesday, June 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Boeing from $225.00 to $245.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Boeing from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $244.07.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on BA

Boeing Company Profile

(Free Report)

The Boeing Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, sells, services, and supports commercial jetliners, military aircraft, satellites, missile defense, human space flight and launch systems, and services worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Commercial Airplanes; Defense, Space & Security; Global Services; and Boeing Capital.

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Beazer Homes USA (NYSE:BZH  Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Wedbush from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, FlyOnTheWall reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on BZH. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Beazer Homes USA from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Sidoti downgraded shares of Beazer Homes USA from a buy rating to a neutral rating and increased their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 12th. B. Riley upped their target price on shares of Beazer Homes USA from $28.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, July 28th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Beazer Homes USA in a report on Thursday. They set a hold rating for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Beazer Homes USA has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $33.33.

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Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Beazer Homes USA

Beazer Homes USA Stock Performance

Beazer Homes USA stock opened at $30.33 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.55, a current ratio of 15.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $950.54 million, a PE ratio of 4.92 and a beta of 2.30. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.97. Beazer Homes USA has a twelve month low of $9.47 and a twelve month high of $35.93.

Beazer Homes USA (NYSE:BZH  Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The construction company reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.54. The firm had revenue of $572.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $512.26 million. Beazer Homes USA had a net margin of 7.94% and a return on equity of 18.66%. The businesss revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.76 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Beazer Homes USA will post 4.54 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Beazer Homes USA

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Beazer Homes USA by 55.9% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 50,478 shares of the construction companys stock worth $644,000 after buying an additional 18,103 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Beazer Homes USA by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 13,062 shares of the construction companys stock worth $167,000 after buying an additional 1,116 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new position in Beazer Homes USA in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Miller Value Partners LLC purchased a new position in Beazer Homes USA in the 4th quarter worth about $638,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can purchased a new position in Beazer Homes USA in the 4th quarter worth about $1,373,000. Institutional investors own 77.62% of the companys stock.

Beazer Homes USA Company Profile

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Beazer Homes USA, Inc operates as a homebuilder in the United States. It designs, constructs, and sells single-family and multi-family homes under the Beazer Homes, Gatherings, and Choice Plans names. The company sells its homes through commissioned new home sales counselors and independent brokers in Arizona, California, Nevada, Texas, Indiana, Delaware, Maryland, Tennessee, Virginia, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

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Nomura Instinet reissued their neutral rating on shares of BorgWarner (NYSE:BWA  Free Report) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $44.00 price objective on the auto parts companys stock.

BWA has been the topic of a number of other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on BorgWarner from $45.00 to $51.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on BorgWarner from $59.00 to $55.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 20th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on BorgWarner from $48.00 to $50.00 in a report on Thursday, July 6th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on BorgWarner in a report on Thursday. They set a buy rating on the stock. Finally, Bank of America upgraded BorgWarner from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $67.00 in a report on Thursday, July 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BorgWarner currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $51.62.

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BorgWarner Trading Down 0.5 %

BorgWarner Cuts Dividend

NYSE:BWA traded down $0.21 on Thursday, reaching $39.22. 274,499 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,293,932. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.42. The companys 50 day moving average is $45.28 and its 200-day moving average is $46.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. BorgWarner has a 1-year low of $31.14 and a 1-year high of $51.14.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, September 1st will be given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 31st. BorgWarners payout ratio is currently 16.79%.

Insider Activity at BorgWarner

In related news, VP Stefan Demmerle sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.61, for a total value of $238,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 177,614 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $8,456,202.54. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BorgWarner

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its position in shares of BorgWarner by 100,784.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 260,453,189 shares of the auto parts companys stock valued at $12,738,765,000 after purchasing an additional 260,195,018 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of BorgWarner by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,131,243 shares of the auto parts companys stock valued at $1,016,505,000 after purchasing an additional 570,039 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of BorgWarner by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,449,304 shares of the auto parts companys stock valued at $511,075,000 after purchasing an additional 357,259 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of BorgWarner by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,142,969 shares of the auto parts companys stock valued at $349,358,000 after purchasing an additional 51,385 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Macquarie Group Ltd. increased its holdings in BorgWarner by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 5,322,946 shares of the auto parts companys stock worth $261,410,000 after acquiring an additional 484,794 shares during the last quarter. 91.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About BorgWarner

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BorgWarner Inc provides solutions for combustion, hybrid, and electric vehicles worldwide. It offers turbochargers, eBoosters, eTurbos, timing systems, emissions systems, thermal systems, gasoline ignition technology, smart remote actuators, powertrain sensors, canisters, cabin heaters, battery modules and systems, battery packs, battery heaters, and battery charging.

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Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD  Get Free Report) VP William R. Boyd sold 10,000 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.83, for a total value of $678,300.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,684,610 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $114,267,096.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Boyd Gaming Stock Performance

BYD opened at $64.75 on Friday. Boyd Gaming Co. has a 12-month low of $46.10 and a 12-month high of $73.00. The company has a market cap of $6.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.37, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The companys 50 day moving average is $68.75 and its 200 day moving average is $66.39.

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Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $916.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $910.59 million. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 19.61% and a return on equity of 41.56%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.48 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.32 EPS for the current year.

Boyd Gaming Dividend Announcement

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Boyd Gaming

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 15th. Investors of record on Friday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 14th. Boyd Gamings payout ratio is presently 9.26%.

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BYD. Boston Partners bought a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $82,706,000. Ariel Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 63.4% in the first quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 2,629,438 shares of the companys stock valued at $172,965,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020,515 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 98.1% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,711,767 shares of the companys stock worth $93,343,000 after acquiring an additional 847,797 shares during the last quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 451.4% during the 1st quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 967,780 shares of the companys stock worth $62,054,000 after purchasing an additional 792,277 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Boyd Gaming during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,625,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.68% of the companys stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on BYD shares. Morgan Stanley raised Boyd Gaming from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 13th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $83.00 to $85.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $76.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 13th. Finally, Argus boosted their price target on Boyd Gaming from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $77.00.

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About Boyd Gaming

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Boyd Gaming Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a multi-jurisdictional gaming company in Nevada, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. It operates through three segments: Las Vegas Locals, Downtown Las Vegas, and Midwest & South.

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CAE Inc. (TSE:CAE  Get Free Report) (NYSE:CAE)s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as C$32.69 and last traded at C$32.69, with a volume of 957044 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$31.30.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CAE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. CIBC boosted their price target on CAE from C$37.00 to C$38.00 in a report on Thursday, August 10th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of CAE from C$35.00 to C$37.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 10th. National Bankshares lifted their price target on shares of CAE from C$37.00 to C$38.00 in a report on Thursday, August 10th. TD Securities increased their price objective on shares of CAE from C$37.00 to C$39.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, August 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of CAE from C$35.00 to C$37.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, August 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, CAE has a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of C$37.38.

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CAE Trading Down 1.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 72.45, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stocks fifty day moving average is C$29.38 and its 200 day moving average is C$29.89. The stock has a market cap of C$10.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.99.

CAE (TSE:CAE  Get Free Report) (NYSE:CAE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 31st. The company reported C$0.35 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts consensus estimates of C$0.35. CAE had a net margin of 6.62% and a return on equity of 6.78%. The firm had revenue of C$1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$1.21 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that CAE Inc. will post 1.1809026 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CAE Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

CAE Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides simulation training and critical operations support solutions in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia, Oceania and Africa, and Rest of Americas. It operates through three segments: Civil Aviation, Defense and Security, and Healthcare.

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Callon Petroleum (NYSE:CPE  Get Free Report) had its price target lifted by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $40.00 to $41.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the oil and natural gas companys stock. Morgan Stanleys price target would suggest a potential upside of 14.17% from the companys current price.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on CPE. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Callon Petroleum in a research note on Thursday. They set a hold rating for the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Callon Petroleum from $58.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 23rd. Citigroup upgraded Callon Petroleum from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their target price for the company from $40.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho increased their target price on Callon Petroleum from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, June 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Callon Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $50.43.

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Callon Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of CPE stock opened at $35.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Callon Petroleum has a fifty-two week low of $28.91 and a fifty-two week high of $50.19. The stocks 50-day moving average is $34.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.03. The firm has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 2.75.

Callon Petroleum (NYSE:CPE  Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The oil and natural gas company reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $562.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $561.08 million. Callon Petroleum had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 35.11%. The businesss revenue was down 38.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.68 EPS. Analysts predict that Callon Petroleum will post 7.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Callon Petroleum

In other Callon Petroleum news, Director Steven A. Webster bought 7,384 shares of Callon Petroleum stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 31st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $30.50 per share, for a total transaction of $225,212.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 610,208 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,611,344. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Callon Petroleum

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Callon Petroleum in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Callon Petroleum in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new stake in shares of Callon Petroleum in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Callon Petroleum by 260.7% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,100 shares of the oil and natural gas companys stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 795 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Callon Petroleum in the second quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.46% of the companys stock.

About Callon Petroleum

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Callon Petroleum Company, an independent oil and natural gas company, focuses on the acquisition, exploration, and development of oil and natural gas properties in West Texas. The company was founded in 1950 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

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CCL Industries (TSE:CCL.B  Free Report) had its target price lowered by CIBC from C$77.00 to C$74.00 in a report published on Monday morning, BayStreet.CA reports.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on CCL.B. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of CCL Industries from C$79.00 to C$77.00 in a research report on Friday, August 11th. TD Securities increased their price target on shares of CCL Industries from C$73.00 to C$77.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 16th. National Bankshares increased their price target on shares of CCL Industries from C$78.00 to C$79.00 in a research report on Friday, August 11th. Finally, Cormark reduced their price target on shares of CCL Industries from C$78.00 to C$75.00 in a research report on Friday, August 11th.

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CCL Industries Trading Down 0.3 %

About CCL Industries

Shares of CCL Industries stock opened at C$61.08 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 53.52. The companys 50-day moving average price is C$63.35 and its 200-day moving average price is C$64.36. The company has a market cap of C$10.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.06, a PEG ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 0.58. CCL Industries has a 12-month low of C$57.16 and a 12-month high of C$71.58.

(Get Free Report)

CCL Industries Inc manufactures and sells labels, containers, consumer printable media products, technology driven label solutions, polymer bank note substrates, and specialty films. The company operates through four segments: CCL, Avery, Checkpoint, and Innovia. The CCL segment offers pressure sensitive and specialty extruded film materials for decorative, instructional, functional, and security applications in the consumer packaging, healthcare, chemicals, consumer electronic device, and automotive markets.

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StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED  Free Report) in a report issued on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the utilities providers stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $102.00 to $96.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $89.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 7th. 3M reissued a maintains rating on shares of Consolidated Edison in a report on Friday, May 5th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Consolidated Edison from $103.00 to $96.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Consolidated Edison from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday, July 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Consolidated Edison presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $90.77.

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Consolidated Edison Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE ED traded up $0.70 on Thursday, hitting $88.95. The stock had a trading volume of 164,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,826,161. The businesss fifty day moving average price is $92.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $94.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Consolidated Edison has a 52-week low of $78.10 and a 52-week high of $102.21. The stock has a market cap of $30.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.14 and a beta of 0.36.

Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. Consolidated Edison had a net margin of 15.84% and a return on equity of 8.27%. The business had revenue of $2.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Consolidated Edison will post 4.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Consolidated Edison Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 16th will be given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 15th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. Consolidated Edisons dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.62%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Retirement Group LLC raised its position in shares of Consolidated Edison by 74.8% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 271 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co acquired a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Tyler Stone Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Consolidated Edison during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.30% of the companys stock.

About Consolidated Edison

(Get Free Report)

Consolidated Edison, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the regulated electric, gas, and steam delivery businesses in the United States. It offers electric services to approximately 3.6 million customers in New York City and Westchester County; gas to approximately 1.1 million customers in Manhattan, the Bronx, parts of Queens, and Westchester County; and steam to approximately 1,530 customers in parts of Manhattan.

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Corteva (NYSE:CTVA  Free Report) had its price target lowered by Argus from $78.00 to $68.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Argus currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Vertical Research raised shares of Corteva from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $67.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, May 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Corteva from $73.00 to $66.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 13th. VNET Group reaffirmed an upgrade rating on shares of Corteva in a report on Monday, May 22nd. Redburn Partners cut shares of Corteva from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 25th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $74.00 price objective on shares of Corteva in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $70.76.

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Corteva Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Corteva stock traded up $0.23 during trading on Thursday, hitting $50.66. The companys stock had a trading volume of 622,955 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,351,377. Corteva has a 52 week low of $49.95 and a 52 week high of $68.43. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.29. The company has a market capitalization of $35.96 billion, a PE ratio of 39.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.66.

Corteva (NYSE:CTVA  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 4th. The company reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.44 billion. Corteva had a net margin of 5.26% and a return on equity of 7.78%. Cortevas revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Corteva will post 2.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Corteva Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 31st. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. This is a boost from Cortevas previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Cortevas dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.51%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Corteva

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Corteva by 150.4% during the second quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 59,607 shares of the companys stock valued at $3,415,000 after buying an additional 35,798 shares during the last quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Corteva by 37.0% during the second quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC now owns 10,721 shares of the companys stock valued at $614,000 after buying an additional 2,897 shares during the last quarter. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Corteva during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Montchanin Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Corteva in the second quarter valued at $530,000. Finally, GTS Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Corteva in the second quarter valued at $573,000. Institutional investors own 80.63% of the companys stock.

Corteva Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Corteva, Inc operates in the agriculture business. It operates through two segments, Seed and Crop Protection. The Seed segment develops and supplies advanced germplasm and traits that produce optimum yield for farms. It offers trait technologies that enhance resistance to weather, disease, insects, and herbicides used to control weeds, as well as food and nutritional characteristics.

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Express (NYSE:EXPR  Get Free Report) issued an update on its second quarter 2023 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of -$0.60$0.50 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of -$0.55. The company issued revenue guidance of $400.00 million-$450.00 million, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $440.65 million.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Express in a research report on Thursday. They set a sell rating on the stock.

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Express Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of EXPR opened at $0.73 on Friday. The businesss 50 day moving average is $0.69 and its 200 day moving average is $0.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Express has a 12-month low of $0.55 and a 12-month high of $2.42. The company has a market capitalization of $54.45 million, a PE ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.73.

Express (NYSE:EXPR  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 24th. The company reported ($0.99) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.79) by ($0.20). The company had revenue of $383.26 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $389.43 million. Express had a net margin of 12.93% and a negative return on equity of 112.84%. Research analysts expect that Express will post -1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Express

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Express by 127,863.6% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 56,304 shares of the companys stock worth $200,000 after purchasing an additional 56,260 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in Express by 59,933.3% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 61,234 shares of the companys stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 61,132 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Express by 10.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,115,305 shares of the companys stock worth $11,090,000 after acquiring an additional 307,438 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Express during the first quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Express by 20.8% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 445,632 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,586,000 after acquiring an additional 76,751 shares in the last quarter. 37.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Express

(Get Free Report)

Express, Inc operates as a fashion retail company that offers apparel and accessories in the United States and Puerto Rico. The company sells its products under the UpWest and Express brands for men and women through its retail and factory outlet stores; express.com, an online store; and Express mobile app, as well as franchisees Express locations in Latin America.

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Gear Energy Ltd. (TSE:GXE  Get Free Report)s stock price hit a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The company traded as low as C$0.83 and last traded at C$0.84, with a volume of 282158 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$0.84.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Gear Energy from C$1.10 to C$1.00 in a report on Thursday, May 4th.

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Check Out Our Latest Analysis on GXE

Gear Energy Price Performance

Gear Energy Cuts Dividend

The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.80. The stocks 50-day moving average price is C$0.94 and its 200-day moving average price is C$1.00. The company has a market capitalization of C$217.13 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 3.94.

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.005 per share. This represents a $0.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.23%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 14th. Gear Energys dividend payout ratio is 22.22%.

About Gear Energy

(Get Free Report)

Gear Energy Ltd., an exploration and production company, acquires, develops, and holds interests in petroleum and natural gas properties and assets in Canada. Its properties include the Celtic/Paradise Hill property located approximately 40 kilometers northeast of Lloydminster Alberta; the Wildmere field situated approximately 200 kilometers southeast of Edmonton, Alberta; the Wilson Creek property located in Central Alberta; and the Tableland property situated southwest of Estevan in Southeast Saskatchewan.

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StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Grupo Simec (NYSEAMERICAN:SIM  Free Report) in a research note released on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the basic materials companys stock.

Grupo Simec Stock Performance

SIM stock opened at $35.50 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.91. Grupo Simec has a 12 month low of $26.21 and a 12 month high of $38.22. The firm has a market cap of $5.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.83 and a beta of 0.32.

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Grupo Simec (NYSEAMERICAN:SIM  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 20th. The basic materials company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $572.51 million for the quarter. Grupo Simec had a return on equity of 9.41% and a net margin of 9.55%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Grupo Simec

About Grupo Simec

A hedge fund recently bought a new stake in Grupo Simec stock. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Grupo Simec, S.A.B. de C.V. ( NYSEAMERICAN:SIM Free Report ) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 7,455 shares of the basic materials companys stock, valued at approximately $273,000. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

(Get Free Report)

Grupo SIMEC SAB de CV engages in the manufacture, processing and distribution of steel and structural steel products. It operates through the following geographical segments: Mexico, U.S., and Brazil. The Mexico segment represents the results of the operations in Mexico, including plants in Mexicali, Guadalajara, Tlaxcala, and San Luis Potosi.

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Hawaiian Electric Industries (NYSE:HE  Free Report) had its price objective trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $35.00 to $25.00 in a research note released on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has an underweight rating on the utilities providers stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries from $39.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Friday, July 7th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They set a hold rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $22.25.

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Hawaiian Electric Industries Stock Performance

Hawaiian Electric Industries Announces Dividend

NYSE HE opened at $12.02 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Hawaiian Electric Industries has a 12-month low of $10.05 and a 12-month high of $43.71. The firm has a market cap of $1.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.75, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.41.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 17th. Hawaiian Electric Industriess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.90%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hawaiian Electric Industries

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Hawaiian Electric Industries by 2.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,016,050 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $416,476,000 after buying an additional 245,066 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries by 1.4% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 10,350,476 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $397,458,000 after purchasing an additional 138,229 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,770,062 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $130,670,000 after purchasing an additional 31,995 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries by 3.0% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,094,933 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $80,445,000 after purchasing an additional 60,418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Hawaiian Electric Industries by 5.5% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,717,133 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $62,160,000 after purchasing an additional 88,872 shares in the last quarter. 53.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Hawaiian Electric Industries

(Get Free Report)

Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the electric utility, banking, and non-regulated renewable/sustainable infrastructure investment businesses in the state of Hawaii. It operates through three segments: Electric Utility, Bank, and Other. The Electric Utility segment engages in the production, purchase, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity in the islands of Oahu, Hawaii, Maui, Lanai, and Molokai.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 18. Large-scale construction works are underway in the Fuzuli district, liberated from Armenian occupation as a result of the Second Karabakh War, which ended with the glorious victory of the Azerbaijani army, expert economist Eyyub Kerimli told Trend.

"Fuzuli once was an agricultural area with great potential, and this industry formed the basis of the economy of the area before the occupation. 77 percent of the cultivated areas of the Fuzuli district were used for grain crops, 21 percent for cotton growing, and viticulture and animal husbandry were also developed. There are extensive water resources in Fuzuli, thanks to which all branches of agriculture can be widely developed here," Kerimli said.

The expert said that the beginning of resettlement in Fuzuli will lay the foundation for the integration of this region into the country's economy.

"People who have moved there will be provided with jobs. In addition, the district provides for the activities of social facilities. This indicates the imminent restoration of the economic life of the Fuzuli district," Kerimli said.

To recap, the first residents were resettled in the city of Fuzuli today. The return of 23 families to their hometown was organized.
StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Honda Motor (NYSE:HMC  Free Report) in a research note published on Thursday. The firm issued a strong-buy rating on the stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on HMC. Nomura cut Honda Motor from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 20th. UBS Group cut Honda Motor from a neutral rating to a sell rating in a research report on Thursday, July 6th. Finally, Macquarie upgraded Honda Motor from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, August 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy.

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Honda Motor Stock Up 0.3 %

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Honda Motor

NYSE HMC traded up $0.09 on Thursday, hitting $30.32. 192,783 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,064,031. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $30.93 and a 200 day moving average of $28.05. Honda Motor has a twelve month low of $21.43 and a twelve month high of $32.62. The company has a market capitalization of $51.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Honda Motor by 46.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,065 shares of the companys stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. Lincoln National Corp boosted its stake in Honda Motor by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 9,159 shares of the companys stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management boosted its stake in Honda Motor by 52.2% during the 2nd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,233 shares of the companys stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in Honda Motor by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 9,872 shares of the companys stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Honda Motor by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 44,700 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,355,000 after purchasing an additional 495 shares in the last quarter. 5.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Honda Motor

(Get Free Report)

Honda Motor Co, Ltd. develops, manufactures, and distributes motorcycles, automobiles, power, and other products in Japan, North America, Europe, Asia, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Motorcycle Business, Automobile Business, Financial Services Business, and Power Product and Other Businesses.

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IDACORP (NYSE: IDA) has recently received a number of price target changes and ratings updates:

8/12/2023  IDACORP was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a hold rating to a sell rating.

8/9/2023  IDACORP had its price target lowered by analysts at Mizuho from $107.00 to $105.00.

8/4/2023  IDACORP was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a sell rating to a hold rating.

8/4/2023  IDACORP had its price target lowered by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $112.00 to $108.00. They now have an equal weight rating on the stock.

7/21/2023  IDACORP had its price target lowered by analysts at Mizuho from $107.00 to $105.00. They now have a neutral rating on the stock.

IDACORP Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:IDA opened at $94.22 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.48, a P/E/G ratio of 5.10 and a beta of 0.60. IDACORP, Inc. has a 1-year low of $93.53 and a 1-year high of $115.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $102.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $105.13.

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IDACORP (NYSE:IDA  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The energy company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $413.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $359.32 million. IDACORP had a return on equity of 9.67% and a net margin of 15.31%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.27 EPS. Equities analysts predict that IDACORP, Inc. will post 5.07 earnings per share for the current year.

IDACORP Dividend Announcement

Institutional Trading of IDACORP

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 2nd will be paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 1st. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. IDACORPs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.63%.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of IDACORP in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of IDACORP in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of IDACORP in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of IDACORP in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of IDACORP in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. 81.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

IDACORP, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, distribution, purchase, and sale of electric energy in the United States. The company operates 17 hydropower generating plants located in southern Idaho and eastern Oregon; three natural gas-fired plants in southern Idaho; and interests in two coal-fired steam electric generating plants located in Wyoming and Nevada.

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Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL  Free Report) by 37.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,247 shares of the financial services providers stock after buying an additional 5,826 shares during the quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plcs holdings in Aflac were worth $1,371,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Scissortail Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 1st quarter worth approximately $287,202,000. CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Silicon Valley Capital Partners acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, Studio Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Aflac in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. 66.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Aflac Stock Performance

AFL opened at $75.61 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $44.92 billion, a PE ratio of 10.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Aflac Incorporated has a 1 year low of $56.03 and a 1 year high of $78.43. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $71.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.36.

Aflac Dividend Announcement

Insider Buying and Selling at Aflac

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 22nd. Aflacs dividend payout ratio is presently 22.46%.

In other Aflac news, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 16,040 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.86, for a total value of $1,216,794.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 53,925 shares in the company, valued at $4,090,750.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Virgil Raynard Miller sold 2,626 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.08, for a total transaction of $202,412.08. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,181 shares in the company, valued at $168,111.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles D. Lake II sold 16,040 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.86, for a total value of $1,216,794.40. Following the sale, the director now owns 53,925 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,090,750.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,166 shares of company stock worth $1,454,006 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.90% of the companys stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AFL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their target price on Aflac from $79.00 to $86.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Citigroup upped their price target on Aflac from $69.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Aflac from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. VNET Group reiterated a maintains rating on shares of Aflac in a report on Thursday, April 27th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Aflac in a report on Thursday. They set a hold rating for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $75.90.

Read Our Latest Report on AFL

Aflac Company Profile

(Free Report)

Aflac Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, provides supplemental health and life insurance products. It operates in two segments, Aflac Japan and Aflac U.S. The Aflac Japan segment offers cancer, medical, nursing care, work leave, GIFT, and whole and term life insurance products, as well as WAYS and child endowment plans under saving type insurance products in Japan.

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Invesco Asia Trust plc (LON:IAT  Get Free Report) insider Sonya Huen Rogerson acquired 2,900 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of GBX 322 ($4.08) per share, with a total value of 9,338 ($11,845.74).

Invesco Asia Trust Price Performance

Invesco Asia Trust stock traded down GBX 7.27 ($0.09) during midday trading on Friday, reaching GBX 315.73 ($4.01). 22,448 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 95,050. The company has a market capitalization of 211.06 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -587.27 and a beta of 0.70. The firms 50-day simple moving average is GBX 334.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is GBX 338.90. Invesco Asia Trust plc has a 1 year low of GBX 279.06 ($3.54) and a 1 year high of GBX 376 ($4.77). The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.15, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.17.

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About Invesco Asia Trust

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Invesco Asia Trust plc is a closed-ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by Invesco Fund Managers Limited. It is co-managed by INVESCO Asset Management Limited. The fund invests in the public equity markets of Asia and Australia. It seeks to invest in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors.

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Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of State Street Co. (NYSE:STT  Free Report) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 12,419 shares of the asset managers stock, valued at approximately $940,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of State Street during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in State Street in the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. New Hampshire Trust purchased a new stake in State Street in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. City Holding Co. purchased a new stake in State Street in the 1st quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, OLD Mission Capital LLC purchased a new stake in State Street in the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. 89.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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State Street Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE STT opened at $68.30 on Friday. State Street Co. has a 12 month low of $58.62 and a 12 month high of $94.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.23, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.57. The business has a 50-day moving average of $72.31 and a 200-day moving average of $75.96.

State Street Increases Dividend

State Street ( NYSE:STT Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 14th. The asset manager reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.09. State Street had a return on equity of 12.20% and a net margin of 16.99%. The company had revenue of $3.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.94 earnings per share. State Streets revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that State Street Co. will post 7.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is a positive change from State Streets previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 29th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.04%. State Streets payout ratio is presently 34.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on STT. Citigroup decreased their price objective on State Street from $82.00 to $72.00 in a report on Monday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered State Street from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $84.00 to $73.00 in a report on Sunday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on State Street from $91.00 to $81.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on State Street from $72.00 to $64.00 in a report on Monday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered State Street from a neutral rating to an underweight rating and reduced their target price for the company from $78.50 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, State Street presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $76.17.

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State Street Company Profile

(Free Report)

State Street Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides a range of financial products and services to institutional investors worldwide. The company offers investment servicing products and services, including custody, accounting, regulatory reporting, investor, and performance and analytics; middle office products, such as IBOR, transaction management, loans, cash, derivatives and collateral, record keeping, and client reporting and investment analytics; foreign exchange, and brokerage and other trading services; securities finance and enhanced custody products; deposit and short-term investment facilities; loans and lease financing; investment manager and alternative investment manager operations outsourcing; performance, risk, and compliance analytics; and financial data management to support institutional investors.

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Shares of Kidoz Inc. (OTCMKTS:KDOZF  Get Free Report) traded down 24.8% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $0.14 and last traded at $0.14. 1,000 shares traded hands during trading, The stock had previously closed at $0.18.

Kidoz Trading Up 16.6 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $21.03 million and a PE ratio of -6.87. The firms fifty day moving average is $0.24 and its 200-day moving average is $0.22.

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Kidoz (OTCMKTS:KDOZF  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 25th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $1.67 million during the quarter. Kidoz had a negative net margin of 11.64% and a negative return on equity of 20.45%.

Kidoz Company Profile

Kidoz Inc develops and sells AdTech software products in Western Europe; Central, Eastern, and Southern Europe; North America; and internationally. The company also owns and develops mobile Kidoz safe ad network, the Kidoz kid-mode operating system, the Kidoz publisher SDK, the Rooplay edugames platform, and the Rooplay originals.

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Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE:NET  Get Free Report) CEO Matthew Prince sold 52,384 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.93, for a total transaction of $3,086,989.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 10,723 shares in the company, valued at $631,906.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Matthew Prince also recently made the following trade(s):

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On Tuesday, August 15th, Matthew Prince sold 52,384 shares of Cloudflare stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.35, for a total transaction of $3,318,526.40.

On Friday, July 7th, Matthew Prince sold 52,384 shares of Cloudflare stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.25, for a total transaction of $3,313,288.00.

On Wednesday, July 5th, Matthew Prince sold 52,384 shares of Cloudflare stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.75, for a total transaction of $3,391,864.00.

On Monday, June 5th, Matthew Prince sold 52,384 shares of Cloudflare stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.81, for a total transaction of $3,604,543.04.

On Thursday, June 1st, Matthew Prince sold 52,384 shares of Cloudflare stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.81, for a total transaction of $3,656,927.04.

On Wednesday, May 24th, Matthew Prince sold 52,384 shares of Cloudflare stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.77, for a total transaction of $2,921,455.68.

On Monday, May 22nd, Matthew Prince sold 52,384 shares of Cloudflare stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.65, for a total transaction of $3,019,937.60.

Cloudflare Trading Down 4.2 %

Shares of Cloudflare stock traded down $2.54 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $58.31. The stock had a trading volume of 5,140,079 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,171,661. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $65.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.01. Cloudflare, Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.37 and a 12-month high of $76.07. The company has a quick ratio of 3.84, a current ratio of 3.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The firm has a market cap of $19.49 billion, a P/E ratio of -87.03 and a beta of 0.93.

Institutional Trading of Cloudflare

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. TFC Financial Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cloudflare in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cloudflare in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cloudflare in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cloudflare by 45.4% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 682 shares of the companys stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alta Advisers Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Cloudflare in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.38% of the companys stock.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Cloudflare from $55.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Cloudflare from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Cloudflare from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a sell rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Credit Suisse Group decreased their price objective on shares of Cloudflare from $95.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Monday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Cloudflare from $54.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $66.16.

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Cloudflare Company Profile

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CloudFlare, Inc operates as a cloud services provider that delivers a range of services to businesses worldwide. The company provides an integrated cloud-based security solution to secure a range of combination of platforms, including public cloud, private cloud, on-premise, software-as-a-service applications, and IoT devices; and website and application security products comprising web application firewall, bot management, distributed denial of service, API gateways, SSL/TLS encryption, secure origin connection, and rate limiting products.

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Medical Properties Trust, Inc. (NYSE:MPW  Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week low on Friday . The company traded as low as $6.75 and last traded at $6.83, with a volume of 22730945 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.50.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on MPW. Bank of America cut Medical Properties Trust from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and reduced their target price for the company from $9.00 to $8.00 in a report on Friday, August 11th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Medical Properties Trust in a report on Thursday. They set a hold rating for the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Medical Properties Trust from $14.00 to $12.00 in a report on Friday, April 28th. Raymond James cut Medical Properties Trust from a strong-buy rating to an underperform rating in a report on Friday, August 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Medical Properties Trust from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Medical Properties Trust has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $12.25.

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Medical Properties Trust Stock Performance

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $9.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.99 billion, a PE ratio of 60.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 2.88, a current ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MPW. Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Medical Properties Trust in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in Medical Properties Trust by 64.0% in the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 3,289 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,284 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Medical Properties Trust by 158.9% in the second quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 2,933 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in Medical Properties Trust by 87.7% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 2,881 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346 shares during the period. Finally, Nvwm LLC purchased a new position in Medical Properties Trust in the first quarter valued at $28,000. 74.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Medical Properties Trust Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Medical Properties Trust, Inc is a self-advised real estate investment trust formed in 2003 to acquire and develop net-leased hospital facilities. From its inception in Birmingham, Alabama, the Company has grown to become one of the world's largest owners of hospital real estate with 444 facilities and approximately 44,000 licensed beds in ten countries and across four continents.

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Rench Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT  Free Report) by 1.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,387 shares of the medical technology companys stock after acquiring an additional 661 shares during the period. Medtronic makes up about 1.9% of Rench Wealth Management Inc.s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Rench Wealth Management Inc.s holdings in Medtronic were worth $4,062,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sageworth Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Medtronic during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Syverson Strege & Co boosted its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 52.9% during the 4th quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 341 shares of the medical technology companys stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Medtronic by 250.0% during the 1st quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 350 shares of the medical technology companys stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Medtronic during the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Carmel Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Medtronic during the 1st quarter worth approximately $44,000. 80.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.38, for a total transaction of $83,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,573 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,799,316.74. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Medtronic news, EVP Hoedt Rob Ten sold 5,514 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.58, for a total value of $477,402.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,802 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,792,377.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Brett A. Wall sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.38, for a total transaction of $83,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,573 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,799,316.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,866 shares of company stock valued at $850,439 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the companys stock.

Medtronic Stock Performance

NYSE MDT traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $81.73. The company had a trading volume of 1,888,425 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,740,989. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a current ratio of 2.39. Medtronic plc has a 1-year low of $75.76 and a 1-year high of $95.60. The company has a market cap of $108.80 billion, a PE ratio of 28.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.71. The business has a 50 day moving average of $86.50 and a 200-day moving average of $84.81.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 25th. The medical technology company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.01. Medtronic had a net margin of 12.03% and a return on equity of 13.54%. The business had revenue of $8.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $8.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. The businesss revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Medtronic plc will post 5.04 EPS for the current year.

Medtronic Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 14th. Investors of record on Friday, June 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is a boost from Medtronics previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 22nd. Medtronics dividend payout ratio is currently 97.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MDT shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated a sector perform rating and set a $89.00 target price on shares of Medtronic in a report on Friday, April 21st. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Medtronic from $93.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Friday, May 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of Medtronic from $100.00 to $99.00 in a research report on Friday, May 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Medtronic from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and lifted their price target for the company from $77.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, April 24th. Finally, CL King assumed coverage on shares of Medtronic in a research report on Friday, June 30th. They set a buy rating and a $106.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $90.72.

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About Medtronic

(Free Report)

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.

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Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC increased its position in EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG  Free Report) by 63.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,224 shares of the energy exploration companys stock after buying an additional 2,805 shares during the period. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLCs holdings in EOG Resources were worth $828,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ossiam lifted its position in EOG Resources by 1,206.7% in the 4th quarter. Ossiam now owns 196 shares of the energy exploration companys stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Kalos Management Inc. bought a new position in EOG Resources in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in EOG Resources in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of EOG Resources during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Delta Asset Management LLC TN purchased a new position in shares of EOG Resources in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 89.58% of the companys stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on EOG. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on EOG Resources from $156.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of EOG Resources from $147.00 to $138.00 in a report on Monday, May 15th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of EOG Resources from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, August 7th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of EOG Resources from $139.00 to $164.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on EOG Resources from $146.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $146.24.

EOG Resources Stock Performance

EOG Resources stock opened at $129.73 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $120.74 and a 200-day moving average of $117.87. The firm has a market cap of $75.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.55. EOG Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $98.52 and a 1-year high of $150.88.

EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG  Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The energy exploration company reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.21. EOG Resources had a net margin of 33.58% and a return on equity of 28.52%. The company had revenue of $5.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.74 earnings per share. EOG Resourcess revenue for the quarter was down 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that EOG Resources, Inc. will post 10.66 EPS for the current year.

EOG Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 17th will be issued a $0.825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 16th. This represents a $3.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.54%. EOG Resourcess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other EOG Resources news, EVP Jeffrey R. Leitzell sold 2,031 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.26, for a total value of $238,155.06. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 37,607 shares in the company, valued at $4,409,796.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other EOG Resources news, EVP Jeffrey R. Leitzell sold 2,031 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.26, for a total transaction of $238,155.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 37,607 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,409,796.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Lloyd W. Helms, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.87, for a total transaction of $579,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 149,689 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $17,344,464.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,582 shares of company stock worth $1,412,594 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.30% of the companys stock.

EOG Resources Profile

(Free Report)

EOG Resources, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, explores for, develops, produces, and markets crude oil, and natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its principal producing areas are in New Mexico and Texas in the United States; and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. The company was formerly known as Enron Oil & Gas Company.

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Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE  Free Report) by 111.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,696 shares of the utilities providers stock after purchasing an additional 6,164 shares during the quarter. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLCs holdings in NextEra Energy were worth $902,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC grew its stake in NextEra Energy by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 43,498 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $3,353,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund bought a new position in NextEra Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $5,450,000. Pictet Asset Management SA lifted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 19.7% during the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management SA now owns 12,231,583 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $942,810,000 after buying an additional 2,013,894 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 2,362.7% during the 1st quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 767,107 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $59,129,000 after buying an additional 735,958 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Argent Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in NextEra Energy by 2,452.6% during the 1st quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 465,219 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $35,859,000 after buying an additional 446,994 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.70% of the companys stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director James Lawrence Camaren bought 4,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 15th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $67.85 per share, for a total transaction of $271,400.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 8,000 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $542,800. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Kirk S. Hachigian acquired 10,000 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $67.95 per share, with a total value of $679,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,019,250. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director James Lawrence Camaren purchased 4,000 shares of NextEra Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $67.85 per share, with a total value of $271,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,000 shares of the companys stock, valued at $542,800. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 27,600 shares of company stock worth $1,960,836 in the last three months. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on NextEra Energy from $93.00 to $85.00 in a report on Thursday, June 8th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an overweight rating and set a $93.00 target price on shares of NextEra Energy in a report on Friday, July 21st. StockNews.com assumed coverage on NextEra Energy in a report on Thursday. They set a hold rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on NextEra Energy in a report on Wednesday, June 7th. They set a buy rating and a $90.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim cut their price target on NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $86.00 in a report on Friday, July 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $91.36.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on NEE

NextEra Energy Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NEE stock opened at $67.51 on Friday. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.17 and a 1 year high of $91.06. The stock has a market cap of $136.62 billion, a PE ratio of 16.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.46. The businesss fifty day moving average is $72.64 and its 200-day moving average is $74.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.53.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE  Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $7.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $6.68 billion. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 12.25% and a net margin of 30.05%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.81 EPS. Equities analysts expect that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NextEra Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 30th will be issued a $0.4675 dividend. This represents a $1.87 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 29th. NextEra Energys payout ratio is 46.29%.

NextEra Energy Company Profile

(Free Report)

NextEra Energy, Inc, through its subsidiaries, generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electric power to retail and wholesale customers in North America. The company generates electricity through wind, solar, nuclear, coal, and natural gas facilities. It also develops, constructs, and operates long-term contracted assets that consists of clean energy solutions, such as renewable generation facilities, battery storage projects, and electric transmission facilities; sells energy commodities; and owns, develops, constructs, manages and operates electric generation facilities in wholesale energy markets.

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NexTier Oilfield Solutions Inc. (NYSE:NEX  Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of Hold from the seven analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $12.48.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler cut their price target on NexTier Oilfield Solutions from $14.00 to $13.00 in a report on Monday, May 1st. StockNews.com initiated coverage on NexTier Oilfield Solutions in a research report on Monday. They issued a buy rating on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on NexTier Oilfield Solutions from $9.75 to $11.30 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 18th. Barclays lowered their price objective on NexTier Oilfield Solutions from $18.00 to $13.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 8th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price objective on NexTier Oilfield Solutions from $8.00 to $7.00 in a research report on Friday, June 2nd.

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View Our Latest Analysis on NexTier Oilfield Solutions

NexTier Oilfield Solutions Price Performance

NexTier Oilfield Solutions stock opened at $10.92 on Friday. NexTier Oilfield Solutions has a one year low of $6.66 and a one year high of $11.99. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $10.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.09, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 2.13.

NexTier Oilfield Solutions (NYSE:NEX  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.03. NexTier Oilfield Solutions had a return on equity of 61.01% and a net margin of 17.59%. The firm had revenue of $945.09 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $948.66 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that NexTier Oilfield Solutions will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at NexTier Oilfield Solutions

In other NexTier Oilfield Solutions news, CEO Robert Wayne Drummond, Jr. sold 250,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.69, for a total transaction of $2,922,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,528,252 shares in the company, valued at $17,865,265.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Kevin M. Mcdonald sold 100,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.70, for a total value of $1,170,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 329,560 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,855,852. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert Wayne Drummond, Jr. sold 250,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.69, for a total value of $2,922,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,528,252 shares in the company, valued at $17,865,265.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 481,491 shares of company stock worth $5,610,901 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the companys stock.

Institutional Trading of NexTier Oilfield Solutions

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in NexTier Oilfield Solutions by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 55,112 shares of the companys stock valued at $509,000 after acquiring an additional 2,059 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in NexTier Oilfield Solutions by 62.2% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 6,290 shares of the companys stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 2,411 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its position in NexTier Oilfield Solutions by 18.6% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,120,990 shares of the companys stock valued at $40,907,000 after acquiring an additional 803,766 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in NexTier Oilfield Solutions by 38.0% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 60,712 shares of the companys stock valued at $483,000 after acquiring an additional 16,724 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position 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 valued at $72,489,000 after acquiring an additional 2,246,804 shares in the last quarter.

NexTier Oilfield Solutions Company Profile

(Get Free Report

NexTier Oilfield Solutions Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides well completion and production services in various active and demanding basins. The company operates in two segments, Completion Services, and Well Construction and Intervention Services. The Completion Services segment offers hydraulic fracturing services to enhance production of oil and natural gas from formations with low permeability and restricted flow of hydrocarbons; wireline services; and perforating, pumpdown, pipe recovery, pressure pumping, and wellsite make-up and pressure testing services.

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Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY  Free Report) had its price objective lifted by UBS Group from $63.00 to $72.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the oil and gas producers stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. 51job reiterated a maintains rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Tuesday, June 13th. Roth Mkm reiterated a neutral rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Wednesday. Mizuho boosted their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered Occidental Petroleum from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Friday, August 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $68.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, April 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $69.82.

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Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:OXY traded up $0.34 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $63.50. 1,791,725 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,678,247. Occidental Petroleum has a 1 year low of $55.51 and a 1 year high of $77.13. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $60.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.02). Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 21.36% and a return on equity of 31.59%. The business had revenue of $6.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $6.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.16 EPS. The firms quarterly revenue was down 37.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 7th. Occidental Petroleums payout ratio is presently 12.22%.

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 956,750 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $58.75 per share, with a total value of $56,209,062.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 218,286,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,824,354,376.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 4,059,573 shares of company stock valued at $235,946,451. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the companys stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in OXY. Berkshire Hathaway Inc increased its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 211,707,119 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $13,216,875,000 after acquiring an additional 17,355,469 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $267,173,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $153,255,000. Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Can boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 228.9% in the first quarter. Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Can now owns 3,030,427 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $189,159,000 after purchasing an additional 2,108,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 26.0% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 9,687,278 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $569,612,000 after purchasing an additional 1,998,851 shares during the last quarter. 78.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Occidental Petroleum Company Profile

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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.

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Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) had its price objective reduced by equities researchers at Oppenheimer from $52.00 to $49.00 in a report issued on Friday, FlyOnTheWall reports. Oppenheimers target price indicates a potential upside of 67.35% from the stocks previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on BAC. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of Bank of America in a research note on Friday, June 30th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Bank of America from $36.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Friday, May 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Bank of America from $45.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 6th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Bank of America from $41.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Bank of America in a report on Thursday. They set a hold rating for the company. Two equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $36.39.

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Bank of America Stock Performance

Shares of BAC opened at $29.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $29.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.26. The stock has a market cap of $232.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.36. Bank of America has a one year low of $26.32 and a one year high of $38.60.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $25.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.98 billion. Bank of America had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 19.97%. The companys revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.73 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Bank of America will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other news, insider Dean C. Athanasia sold 77,806 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.48, for a total transaction of $2,449,332.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 353,971 shares in the company, valued at $11,143,007.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Bank of America news, insider James P. Demare sold 75,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.53, for a total value of $2,364,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 185,108 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $5,836,455.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Dean C. Athanasia sold 77,806 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.48, for a total value of $2,449,332.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 353,971 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $11,143,007.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tanglewood Legacy Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in Bank of America by 75.9% in the second quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 920 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of America by 333.2% during the 2nd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 953 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 733 shares during the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Bank of America by 45.7% during the 2nd quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 1,036 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.34% of the companys stock.

About Bank of America

(Get Free Report)

Bank of America Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides banking and financial products and services for individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses, institutional investors, large corporations, and governments worldwide. Its Consumer Banking segment offers traditional and money market savings accounts, certificates of deposit and IRAs, noninterest-and interest-bearing checking accounts, and investment accounts and products; and credit and debit cards, residential mortgages, and home equity loans, as well as direct and indirect loans, such as automotive, recreational vehicle, and consumer personal loans.

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Brookfield (NYSE:BN  Free Report) had its price objective trimmed by Royal Bank of Canada from $52.00 to $50.00 in a research report released on Monday, BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

BN has been the subject of a number of other reports. TD Securities increased their target price on shares of Brookfield from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an action list buy rating in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Brookfield from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research report on Friday, May 12th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded shares of Brookfield from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, August 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $49.75.

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Brookfield Stock Down 2.4 %

Brookfield Announces Dividend

Brookfield stock opened at $32.51 on Monday. Brookfield has a twelve month low of $28.25 and a twelve month high of $52.78. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $33.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.78. The company has a market capitalization of $53.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 361.21 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 31st will be issued a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 30th. Brookfields dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 311.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Opps Eb Holdings Ltd. Ocm sold 3,781,561 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.00, for a total transaction of $219,330,538.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 11.00% of the companys stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brookfield

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in Brookfield by 32.3% in the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,349 shares of the companys stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in Brookfield by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 7,821 shares of the companys stock worth $263,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. RMB Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Brookfield by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. RMB Capital Management LLC now owns 16,707 shares of the companys stock worth $544,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Brookfield by 15.4% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,672 shares of the companys stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Group LLC grew its holdings in Brookfield by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 80,512 shares of the companys stock worth $2,709,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.14% of the companys stock.

Brookfield Company Profile

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Brookfield Corporation is an alternative asset manager and REIT/Real Estate Investment Manager firm focuses on real estate, renewable power, infrastructure and venture capital and private equity assets. It manages a range of public and private investment products and services for institutional and retail clients.

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Samsara Inc. (NYSE:IOT  Get Free Report) insider John Bicket sold 5,754 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.94, for a total transaction of $131,996.76. Following the sale, the insider now owns 194,494 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,461,692.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

John Bicket also recently made the following trade(s):

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On Tuesday, August 15th, John Bicket sold 47,757 shares of Samsara stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.81, for a total transaction of $1,137,094.17.

On Wednesday, August 9th, John Bicket sold 210 shares of Samsara stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.59, for a total transaction of $5,163.90.

On Tuesday, August 1st, John Bicket sold 53,022 shares of Samsara stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.67, for a total transaction of $1,467,118.74.

On Tuesday, July 25th, John Bicket sold 43,632 shares of Samsara stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.67, for a total transaction of $1,163,665.44.

On Tuesday, July 18th, John Bicket sold 90,295 shares of Samsara stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.72, for a total transaction of $2,593,272.40.

On Tuesday, July 11th, John Bicket sold 90,295 shares of Samsara stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.70, for a total transaction of $2,501,171.50.

On Tuesday, June 27th, John Bicket sold 90,295 shares of Samsara stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.57, for a total transaction of $2,308,843.15.

On Wednesday, June 21st, John Bicket sold 84,261 shares of Samsara stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.48, for a total transaction of $2,315,492.28.

On Monday, June 12th, John Bicket sold 90,295 shares of Samsara stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.90, for a total transaction of $2,699,820.50.

On Tuesday, May 30th, John Bicket sold 90,295 shares of Samsara stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.66, for a total transaction of $1,775,199.70.

Samsara Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of Samsara stock traded down $0.52 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $22.84. 1,149,388 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,041,374. Samsara Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.42 and a twelve month high of $30.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -49.02 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.61.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Samsara ( NYSE:IOT Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 1st. The company reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.13). Samsara had a negative net margin of 34.20% and a negative return on equity of 21.20%. The company had revenue of $204.32 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $193.03 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Samsara Inc. will post -0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Several research firms have weighed in on IOT. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Samsara from $23.00 to $25.00 in a report on Friday, June 2nd. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Samsara in a report on Thursday. They set a sell rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Samsara from $27.00 to $32.00 in a report on Friday, June 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Samsara from $19.00 to $23.00 in a report on Friday, June 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Samsara from $20.00 to $27.00 in a report on Friday, June 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Samsara presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $24.80.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on IOT

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Samsara

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of IOT. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Samsara in the first quarter worth approximately $558,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Samsara by 141.6% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 20,170 shares of the companys stock worth $322,000 after acquiring an additional 11,820 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in Samsara by 17.3% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,227,576 shares of the companys stock valued at $51,704,000 after buying an additional 477,013 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Samsara by 52.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,033,132 shares of the companys stock valued at $48,591,000 after buying an additional 1,048,694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Samsara during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,109,000. 50.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Samsara

(Get Free Report)

Samsara Inc provides solutions that connect physical operations data to its Connected Operations Cloud in the United States and internationally. The company's Connected Operations Cloud includes Data Platform, which ingests, aggregates, and enriches data from its IoT devices and has embedded capabilities for AI, workflows and analytics, alerts, API connections, and data security and privacy; and applications for video-based safety, vehicle telematics, apps and driver workflows, equipment monitoring, and site visibility.

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Park Lawn (TSE:PLC  Free Report) had its price objective decreased by Stifel Nicolaus from C$34.00 to C$32.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, BayStreet.CA reports.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on PLC. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Park Lawn from C$41.00 to C$36.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 17th. National Bankshares reduced their target price on shares of Park Lawn from C$32.50 to C$32.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Park Lawn has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of C$32.25.

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Park Lawn Price Performance

Park Lawn Dividend Announcement

TSE:PLC opened at C$22.36 on Monday. Park Lawn has a 52 week low of C$20.64 and a 52 week high of C$29.31. The company has a market capitalization of C$765.38 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.95, a PEG ratio of 14.67 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a 50-day moving average of C$23.74 and a 200-day moving average of C$25.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.79, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 1.92.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.114 per share. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 29th. Park Lawns payout ratio is currently 57.50%.

About Park Lawn

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Park Lawn Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates cemeteries, crematoriums, and funeral homes in Canada and the United States. The company primarily offers cemetery lots, crypts, niches, monuments, caskets, urns, and other merchandise, as well as funeral, after life celebration, cemetery, and cremation services.

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Summit X LLC lessened its stake in shares of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL  Free Report) by 4.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,785 shares of the transportation companys stock after selling 1,455 shares during the quarter. Summit X LLCs holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $1,005,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the 1st quarter worth about $502,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 117.6% during the 1st quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 740 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in Delta Air Lines by 1,136.7% during the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 742 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 682 shares in the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.35% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on DAL. Bank of America lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $53.00 in a report on Monday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, July 14th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a report on Friday, July 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $50.00 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 11th. Finally, 22nd Century Group restated a maintains rating on shares of Delta Air Lines in a report on Wednesday, June 28th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Delta Air Lines presently has an average rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $56.88.

Delta Air Lines Stock Down 0.8 %

Delta Air Lines stock traded down $0.35 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $41.43. 3,867,575 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,517,571. The companys fifty day moving average price is $45.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.12. The company has a market cap of $26.66 billion, a PE ratio of 9.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.17 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.41. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.20 and a fifty-two week high of $49.81.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 13th. The transportation company reported $2.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.28. Delta Air Lines had a return on equity of 59.56% and a net margin of 5.36%. The company had revenue of $15.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. Delta Air Liness quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Delta Air Lines Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 17th were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 14th. Delta Air Liness payout ratio is 8.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Delta Air Lines

In other Delta Air Lines news, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 7,513 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.90, for a total value of $277,229.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 107,782 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,977,155.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 7,513 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.90, for a total value of $277,229.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 107,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,977,155.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven M. Sear sold 12,129 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.52, for a total value of $552,112.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 85,708 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,901,428.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,992 shares of company stock valued at $2,116,582 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.89% of the companys stock.

Delta Air Lines Company Profile

(Free Report)

Delta Air Lines, Inc provides scheduled air transportation for passengers and cargo in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Airline and Refinery. Its domestic network centered on core hubs in Atlanta, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Detroit, and Salt Lake City, as well as coastal hub positions in Boston, Los Angeles, New York-LaGuardia, New York-JFK, and Seattle; and international network centered on hubs and market presence in Amsterdam, Mexico City, London-Heathrow, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, and Seoul-Incheon.

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Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC  Get Free Report) had its price objective increased by equities research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $12.50 to $13.90 in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a neutral rating on the oil and gas companys stock. The Goldman Sachs Groups price target suggests a potential upside of 24.44% from the companys previous close.

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on Ecopetrol in a report on Thursday. They issued a hold rating for the company.

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Ecopetrol Price Performance

Institutional Trading of Ecopetrol

EC opened at $11.17 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a 50-day moving average of $10.81 and a 200-day moving average of $10.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.14. Ecopetrol has a 1-year low of $8.59 and a 1-year high of $12.35.

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol during the first quarter worth $25,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Psagot Value Holdings Ltd. Israel acquired a new stake in Ecopetrol during the first quarter worth about $36,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Ecopetrol in the first quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new position in Ecopetrol in the first quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Institutional investors own 1.54% of the companys stock.

About Ecopetrol

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Ecopetrol SA operates as an integrated energy company. The company operates through four segments: Exploration and Production; Transport and Logistics; Refining, Petrochemical and Biofuels; and Electric Power Transmission and Toll Roads Concessions. It engages in the exploration and production of oil and gas; transportation of crude oil, motor fuels, fuel oil, and other refined products, including diesel, jet, and biofuels; processing and refining crude oil; distribution of natural gas and LPG; sale of refined and petrochemical products; supplying of electric power transmission services; design, development, construction, operation, and maintenance of road and energy infrastructure projects; and supplying of information technology and telecommunications services.

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ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, August 18. Turkmenistan imported over 180 tons of aviation fuel from Turkiye in May 2023, Trend reports.

According to Turkiye's Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK), these figures amount to 0.02 percent of the total Turkish exports of petroleum products in the specified period.

The last time Turkmenistan imported 173 tons of aviation fuel from Turkiye in April 2023. Thus, Turkmenistan's import of Turkish aviation fuel in the first five months of 2023 amounted to 1,879 tons.

Turkmenistan imported 346.2 tons of aviation fuel from Turkiye last year, which is 37.7 percent less than in the same period of 2021 (555.8 tons).

Meanwhile, the trade turnover between Turkmenistan and Turkiye in 2022 amounted to $2.06 billion, which is 21.8 percent more than in 2021.
StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI  Free Report) (TSE:TRI) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the business services providers stock.

Several other research analysts have also commented on TRI. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Thomson Reuters from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. National Bank Financial lowered Thomson Reuters from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. CIBC lowered Thomson Reuters from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and set a $140.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. They noted that the move was a valuation call. BNP Paribas upgraded Thomson Reuters from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and boosted their target price for the company from $100.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 31st. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Thomson Reuters from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $148.62.

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Thomson Reuters Price Performance

Shares of TRI stock traded down $0.47 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $126.52. The stock had a trading volume of 239,766 shares, compared to its average volume of 435,179. Thomson Reuters has a one year low of $97.59 and a one year high of $138.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stocks 50-day moving average price is $131.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $127.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.30, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.57.

Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI  Get Free Report) (TSE:TRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The business services provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.66 billion. Thomson Reuters had a return on equity of 11.91% and a net margin of 32.12%. Equities analysts forecast that Thomson Reuters will post 3.34 EPS for the current year.

Thomson Reuters Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 16th. This is a positive change from Thomson Reuterss previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. Thomson Reuterss payout ratio is 42.16%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Thomson Reuters

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRI. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Thomson Reuters in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Thomson Reuters by 134.9% during the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 195 shares of the business services providers stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Thomson Reuters by 246.7% during the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 735 shares of the business services providers stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC raised its position in shares of Thomson Reuters by 209.6% during the 1st quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 353 shares of the business services providers stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Thomson Reuters during the 1st quarter worth about $47,000. 17.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Thomson Reuters

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Thomson Reuters Corporation engages in the provision of business information services in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It operates in five segments: Legal Professionals, Corporates, Tax & Accounting Professionals, Reuters News, and Global Print. The Legal Professionals segment offers research and workflow products focusing on legal research and integrated legal workflow solutions that combine content, tools, and analytics to law firms and governments.

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StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Toyota Motor (NYSE:TM  Free Report) in a research report released on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley cut Toyota Motor from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, July 10th. Citigroup raised Toyota Motor from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, June 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Toyota Motor currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy.

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Toyota Motor Stock Down 0.3 %

Institutional Trading of Toyota Motor

Shares of TM traded down $0.41 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $161.87. The company had a trading volume of 273,781 shares, compared to its average volume of 270,274. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $162.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $147.63. Toyota Motor has a 52 week low of $130.07 and a 52 week high of $175.37. The company has a market capitalization of $219.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.67.

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of TM. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Toyota Motor in the second quarter worth $25,000. Gradient Investments LLC grew its holdings in Toyota Motor by 131.6% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 183 shares of the companys stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Toyota Motor by 1,563.6% during the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 183 shares of the companys stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Syverson Strege & Co bought a new stake in Toyota Motor during the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in Toyota Motor by 200.0% during the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 240 shares of the companys stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period.

About Toyota Motor

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Toyota Motor Corporation designs, manufactures, assembles, and sells passenger vehicles, minivans and commercial vehicles, and related parts and accessories. It operates in Automotive, Financial Services, and All Other segments. The company offers hybrid cars under the Prius name, fuel cell vehicles under the MIRAI name; and conventional engine vehicles, including subcompact and compact cars under the Corolla and Raize names.

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StockNews.com started coverage on shares of WidePoint (NYSEAMERICAN:WYY  Free Report) in a research note published on Monday. The firm issued a sell rating on the technology companys stock.

WidePoint Price Performance

Shares of WYY opened at $1.74 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1.92. WidePoint has a 1-year low of $1.70 and a 1-year high of $2.88. The stock has a market cap of $15.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.34 and a beta of 1.17.

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WidePoint (NYSEAMERICAN:WYY  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 15th. The technology company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $26.76 million during the quarter. WidePoint had a negative return on equity of 58.07% and a negative net margin of 11.15%. On average, equities analysts expect that WidePoint will post -0.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WidePoint

WidePoint Company Profile

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS Group AG bought a new stake in shares of WidePoint during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Citadel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in WidePoint by 121.1% during the 3rd quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 13,577 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 7,437 shares during the period. Susquehanna International Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of WidePoint in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WidePoint in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, EA Series Trust acquired a new stake in shares of WidePoint in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 10.48% of the companys stock.

(Get Free Report)

WidePoint Corporation provides technology management as a service (TMaaS) to the government and business enterprises in North America and Europe. The company offers TMaaS solutions through a secure federal government certified proprietary portal and secure enterprise portal that provides ability to manage, analyze, and protect communications assets, as well as deploy identity management solutions that provide secured virtual and physical access to restricted environments.

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President Bola Tinubu has stated that there is no instant fix to the countrys economic crisis as occasioned by the removal of fuel subsidy.

The president, who, however, assured the citizenry that there would be light at the end of the tunnel, urged Nigerians to exercise patience to his government.

He stated this at the unveiling of Brutally Frank, a 688-page autobiography of former Federal Commissioner for Information and South-South Leader, Chief Edwin Clark.

Tinubu said that Nigerias problems cannot be compared to instant coffee, adding that what the country is going through can be tantamount to the pain of childbirth, and that it is joy that follows.

He expressed optimism that the palliatives being rolled out by the Federal Government would help in softening the hardship and trauma.

Tinubu, who was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Senator George Akume, described Clark as someone, who belongs to the very rare form of extra-ordinary men, the Iroko of South-South and the Eagle of Nigeria.

Akume said, He (Tinubu) has also asked me to tell this gathering that we are going through a difficult phase in the history of this country. But these pains are pains of birth, birth of a new nation. And that if you want to celebrate a child, a baby, the mother must go through some pains.

But at the end of the day, there is joy. There is merriment when the baby arrives. And we will certainly be there.

Solutions to problems can never be as instant as coffee. But we must certainly be there. I know the removal of fuel subsidy has created some things. And that is why palliatives are being put in place, 100 trucks of fertilizers have been sent to the states, 100 trucks of grains have been sent and more are coming and more buses are also coming.

We can endure this for a moment. What were going through today is for a better tomorrow. Nations are great because citizens have hope. They have hope that tomorrow will be better than today.
One of the high points of the recent official tour of Nigeria by the United Kingdoms Foreign Secretary, the Right Honourable James Cleverly, was his visit to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, to see the operations of the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) managed by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).

Top UN officials in Nigeria, British High Commission officials, Nigerian government representatives and other dignitaries were at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport to receive Hon. Cleverly and discuss the UK governments humanitarian and development cooperation with the UN in Nigeria.

Those in attendance included the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Mr. Matthias Schmale; The Hon. Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Dr Nasir Sani-Gwarzo; the UK High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Richard Montgomery; the Deputy Country Director, World Food Programme, Mr. Guy Adoua; UNICEF Country Representative, Cristian Munduate; the International Committee of the Red Cross Head of Delegation in Nigeria Yann Bonzon; and the Head of Office of OCHA, Trond Jens.

UK Foreign Secretary, Hon James Cleverly (left), the Hon. Permanent Secretary, Humanitarian Affairs, Dr Sani-Gwarzo (centre) and UN Resident Coordinator discuss at the UNHAS centre.

Hon. Cleverly used the opportunity to reaffirm the UK Governments close partnership and continued collaborations with the UN and the wider humanitarian network to support the work they are doing in Nigeria.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said:

I am very proud of the UKs humanitarian partnerships in North-East Nigeria. The 38 million we have contributed over the last 12 months is saving the lives of vulnerable people, including women and girls, who are demonstrating extraordinary resilience in the face of this protracted crisis. We will continue to work with the new Nigerian government and other partners to support North-East Nigeria so the whole country can reach its potential. The whole international community must support these efforts.

UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Matthias Schmale said:

On behalf of the humanitarian community, I am deeply grateful for the 38 million contribution of the UK for humanitarian action in the North-East, which is contributing to giving countless people and, notably vulnerable women and children, a second chance. We are facing further funding challenges and are hoping that partners will step up their support to prevent further deterioration of the dramatic food insecurity and malnutrition situation.

UK Foreign Secretary, Hon James Cleverly (2nd right), the Hon. Permanent Secretary, Humanitarian Affairs, Dr Sani-Gwarzo (3rd right) and other officials review some UNHAS operational information.

The Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development Dr Nasir Sani-Gwarzo said:

We are keen to intensify cooperation with the UK government, particularly on increasing coordination between our new ministry and other ministries and partners across the humanitarian response. We particularly appreciate the UKs humanitarian assistance because it is not only financial, but also based on strong coordination, which we are keen to develop further.

Hon. Cleverly noted that the UK Governments funding has helped save lives of conflict-affected people in North-East Nigeria  in line with the UK Governments continued support to enhance food security in Nigeria.

Over 4 million people are facing food insecurity, and 2 million children under 5 are acutely malnourished in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States. The UKs funding is helping to protect people, build their resilience to the ongoing food crisis, and prevent famine.

During his visit to Nigeria, which included a stopover in Lagos, the UK Foreign Secretary also pledged the UKs support and funding to make Nigerias agriculture sector more resilient to climate change.

Hon. Cleverlys official trip to Nigeria, his first, was part of a 3-country visit to Africa (Ghana, Nigeria and Zambia) that focused on building future-focussed, mutually beneficial partnerships.

Dr Onyemaobi is the national communications Officer, United Nations world Food Programme, Nigeria.
The appointment of Professor Tahir Mamman as Nigeria's Education Minister is a square-peg-in-a-square-hole decision, and comes at a most auspicious time. In my opinion, only very few appointments on the entire Ministerial list could be reasonably described as apt as his. Before he assumed office as the Vice Chancellor of Baze University, Professor Tahir Mamman had performed fantastically well as the Director-General of the Nigerian Law School: 2005-2013. A humble, sagastic and pragmatic administrator, Tahir Mamman had in 2008 introduced a reform that radically changed for the better, the entire landscape of teaching and learning in the Nigerian Law School by introducing what is now known as the "New Curriculum", a new system of teaching and learning that measures meets international best practices and prevailing 21st-century benchmarks in the sector. Of Nigerian Law School's *"New Curriculum"*, I was later to write:

_"Teaching in the Law School under the New Curriculum[xiii] is practice-based, and is aimed at producing lawyers who would be in a position to measure up to contemporary benchmarks and international best practices in the legal profession.... vocational training at the Nigerian Law School under the New Curriculum is not just business as usual. The system appears somewhat challenging, and is designed to ensure that only serious-minded people are enrolled into the legal profession, which itself is rather tasking. Accordingly, success in the Law School depends much more on hard work and determination than on mere possession of talent; at the Nigerian Law School, hard work would beat talent if talent does not work hard. There is no room for anything goes; the School is not a dumping ground for the never-do-wells, who try to get enlisted into the legal profession through the back door"._

See: _*"CONTEMPORARY TRAINING AT THE NIGERIAN LAW SCHOOL: AN INSIDERS ACCOUNT"*_ [29 January 2017; ]. To cut a long story short, one may not be wrong if one held the view that the _New Curriculum_ in the Nigerian Law School is not only a brainchild of, but is indeed synonymous with, Tahir Mamman! Tahir Mamman is among the best Directors-General the Nigerian Law School has ever had, having carried out other innovative development efforts that changed the face of that great law citadel. Speaking generally, four other qualities stand Tahir Mamman out as an outstanding leader of this century:

*(1). HE'S AN EFFECTIVE MANAGER OF PEOPLE:* Stuart Pearce thinks that "management is about...managing people via man-to-man skills", while Agha Hasan Abedi has this to say: "The conventional definition of management is getting work done through people, but real management is developing people through work".

*(2). A PRAGMATIC, IMAGINATIVE THINKER:* Pragmatic leaders focus on the practical -- "how do we get this done", and in doing this, they work hard to remain sensitive to others. Indeed, in order to avoid anxiety, a pragmatic leader will ensure to socialize his thoughts and ideas with all stakeholders before formalizing any approach. Pragmatic leaders build healthy relationships with people and influence them towards positive outcomes

*(3). A HUMBLE, UNASSUMING LISTENING LEADER:* Being a good listener is absolutely critical to being a good leader. Yousef Munayyer said, _"Humility is a great quality of leadership which derives respect and not just fear or hatred"._

*(4). A BROADMINDED, ALL-INCLUSIVE ADMINISTRATOR:* Simon Sinek once said, _"One of the best paradoxes of leadership is [that] a leader's need to be both stubborn and open-minded. A leader must insist on sticking to the vision and stay on course to the destination. But he must be open-minded during the process."

Tahir Mamman is a colossal man of action; not the type who waits to believe in action before acting, but the one who acts as he breathes. He understands that the true test of a real leader lies in action, and that good leadership is all about impacting lives. If a leader fails to positively impact lives, then he's not a good leader, even if people keep telling him that he's one. Truth is, he's not, because the essence of good leadership is not just in spotting the problems but in providing solutions to the problems. Besides, good leadership is synonymous with thinking out of the box. And this is why Tahir Mamman's apposite; he has foresight, is broadminded, and has the exceptional habit of knowing how to assemble pragmatic and capable hands on the job, to ensure timely effectiveness. Leaders that aim to succeed must adopt all-inclusiveness as their motto, so as to be able to create an environment in which all individuals and sections feel empowered to express their opinions freely within the larger group. Diversity of thinking is critical to effective collaboration and management. A leader has not begun leading until the leader has learned to rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns, to the broader concerns of all members of team/society that he leads, and in fact the whole of humanity. In Jesse Jacksons words, inclusiveness is not a matter of political correctness. It is the key to growth. When everyone is included, everyone wins.

Apart from being a great innovator, one more attribute which many a Nigerian leader lacks, but which is present in Tahir Mamman, is the wisdom to understand that good leaders are not known nor made by the number of their subjects they tramp down, trample upon or cause to tremble in trepidation.

It also needs to be given to him that he's an effective manager of diversity. *Check this out:* Prof Tahir Mamman, a chieftain of the All Progressives Party (APC) and member of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Presidential Campaign Council during the 2023 presidential elections in Nigeria, remained (throughout the period, and until his current appointment) the Vice Chancellor of Baze University, an institution owned by Yusuf Baba Datti-Ahmed, the Vice Presidential Candidate od the Labour Party (Eluu P) in the same election. What do you say about the fact Tahir Mamman was able to effectively manage the situation and diverse interests, and being careful to render to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what's God's?

Fellow Nigerian, I praise President Tinubu for his foresight in choosing Tahir Mamman to serve as the Education Minister for the next four years. I strongly believe that if given a reasonable level of free-hand to operate and manage his ministry, Tahir Mamman would assemble capable hands to effectively implement positive, radical reforms that would help to lift Nigeria's education sector from its current doldrums of acute decay, rottenness and appalling dilapidation. Tahir Mamman comes on board at a very critical time. Nigeria's education sector is too backward. And unless and until we get it right in education, we might never begin the type of progress necessary to lift Nigeria to a top-player position in the comity of nations. In an earlier commentary, I wrote:

_'...education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change your country and the world an investment in education pays the greatest dividend.. education is not the filling of the pail; it is the lighting of a fire. Good and quality education replaces an empty mind with an open mind a country without good and quality education is bereft of good lifeeducation is not just a preparation for life; it is life itself. A nation without a good education and education system possesses no soul!'_ [See: A Nation`s Journey To True Greatness: What Nigerians Must Copy In the Americans by Sylvester Udemezue on May 29, 2017; <

No doubt, one of the best and easiest ways to bring development and civilization to a country is to start by developing its education system and sector. But I must quickly add that Education is everyones responsibility; hence, let's lend our helping hands to leaders in that sector in order to succeed.

All eyes on Professor Tahir Mamman; failure is ruled out because you've during your 2,928 days as the Director-General of the Nigerian Law School, set for yourself an enviable standard, below which you must never perform. Best wishes, Prof, sir. God help Nigeria!

Respectfully,

Sylvester Udemezue (Udems) 08109024556 [email protected].
The acting Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, has said that deliberate actions will be taken to create public awareness about the operations of the Customs service.

He said this while presenting a paper titled: The Nigeria Customs Service and the Public Relations Challenges at the 17th International Public Relations Congress on Wednesday, 16th August.

He noted that people need to generate interest to have a better understanding of the operations of the service.

We discovered that in so many cases, people are always very ignorant of what we do, and it is based on the ignorance that they're impatient to criticise us,

"So, we will also want to make a deliberate action to create awareness and let people have knowledge about what we do, he stated.

Speaking on Customs Strategic Communication Plan, the acting CGC noted, it has been our culture to complement our vigorous appearances with a consistently soothing voice in line with the overall corporate objectives.

"The strategy of putting the media in the middle is something we do to ensure we get our information across to the people.

The Customs Boss also highlighted the Customs Community Consultative forum as a tool for resolving issues causing crises, especially within border areas.

According to him, the forum has enior officers and members of management of Area Commands in Customs on one side and traditional institutions, community leaders, traders unions, and youth leaders on the other side.

"This program featured periodic engagement with traditional leaders, meetings with associations, traders, and youth leaders, dialogues, identifying their problems, and showing them what the laws say, what is permitted, and what is prohibited. We laughed, prayed, and talked with them without compromising professionalism.

"In a couple of years, major issues causing crises, clashes, and conflicts have been mitigated, majority of the communities became at peace with Customs activities, and we became at peace with the community residents, Adeniyi said.

"I must confess that this CCF initiative has been very successful, especially in border states, evidenced in Ogun, Katsina and Lagos, where this strategy has miraculously stemmed the rate of conflicts. The secret of this success, dear friends was not ammunition but communication, he emphasised.

The Acting CGC further said that the Customs community relations strategy did not end in a communication forum, as concerted efforts have been made by the service towards community projects that ultimately benefit border communities and beyond, some of which include Karu Hospital, tagged as The Flagship Customs CSR Program, NCS Primary and Secondary School in Idiroko among others.

We are also working on a deliberate recruitment plan for the indigenes of border communities into the Nigeria Customs Service.

We believe there are gaps, and we can do better, he added.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 18. The Azerbaijan Microfinance Association (AMFA) is implementing a project to support the development of business and professional associations as the lead executor of the 'Associations of the Future' project consortium, Executive Director of AMFA Jhale Hajiyeva told Trend.

Hajiyeva noted that other partners of the consortium are the Union of Disabled People's Organizations (UDPO) and 'Finance and Social Innovation Consulting' company.

"The project is funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID). The project aims to strengthen the role of business and professional associations in the country's economic development in Azerbaijan by improving the skills of associations that will be involved in the project to expand inclusive economic opportunities and contribute to economic welfare and business, hence professional associations play a very important role in any society," she stressed.

"By supporting and representing various sectors, associations have a great deal of potential to drive economic growth and expand economic opportunities. Business associations are also seen as a useful platform for businesses to seek market entry, create and share a new knowledge base, and perform other core functions," the executive director said.

In addition, as to Hajiyeva, associations provide a suitable platform for member organizations to create and implement strategies, norms and standards that lead not only to increase market share and profits, but also to increase the social impact of their activities.

"Within the framework of the project, it is planned to provide direct assistance to 15 business and professional associations within three years," she added.

The executive director also noted that a preliminary study of business and professional associations in Azerbaijan was carried out.

"The main purpose of this study was to assess the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the situation in the development of business and professional associations in Azerbaijan. This study was the first in the country and covered the entire sector, including registered business and professional associations with a membership base," Hajiyeva said. The results of this study will be used to develop a training program for capacity building. According to the results of the research, most associations face financial difficulties when implementing the measures provided for by the charter."

Moreover, as she stressed, most of the associations face difficulties such as limited capacity, lack of qualified fundraisers to attract new financial resources; 41 percent of associations do not have enough qualified personnel to effectively fulfill the tasks provided for by the charter.

According to Hajiyeva, the most demanded knowledge and the skills of both management and staff are project development and execution, as well as organizational/planning skills.

"ICT skills and communication in foreign language(s) are also important skills. Only 28 percent of associations have internal policies and regulations regarding the employment of disabled people and the creation of accessible jobs for them. 59 percent of organizations don't have such a policy or regulations. Very few associations have offices and buildings for people with disabilities," she concluded.

AMFA was officially established in November 2004 by being registered as a public association for the purpose of advancing the interests of the microfinance industry in support of sustainable and equitable economic growth in Azerbaijan.

The role of AMFA is to support its members in understanding this environment and bringing structure to the overall microfinance industry. As of today, it has 27 members including 18 non-bank credit organizations, seven banks, one credit union, and one international foundation.
Group says statue promotes devil worship

BANGKOK: A group of Buddhist artists is urging a hotel in Bangkok to remove a controversial sculpture from its premises, saying its unsightly appearance disturbs passers-by.

animalsreligion

By Bangkok Post

Friday 18 August 2023 07:32 AM

The Khru Kai Kaeo statue is facing calls to be removed from the Bazaar Hotels premises on Ratchadaphisek Road. Photo: Bangkok Post

The group, which calls itself the Council of Artists Promoting Buddhism, is planning to gather at the Bazaar Hotel on Ratchadaphisek Road in Bangkok today (Aug 18) to urge the hotels management to remove the statue of Khru Kai Kaeo from its site, which they claim promotes devil worship.

The council, which is accredited by the Religious Affairs Department, said it was highly inappropriate for the hotel to install the 4-metre-tall gargoyle-like sculpture on its grounds, reports the Bangkok Post.

Khru Kai Kaeo, also known as Khru Ba Kai Kaeo, is said to be the revered mentor teacher of Jayavarman VII, a former king of the Khmer Empire. However, some historians have said they have never heard of this so-called deity before.

Citing a large number of complaints received by the council against the scary-looking sculpture, the council said it has to take action against the statue on behalf of the public.

As the sculpture is clearly visible from the busy Ratchadaphisek Road, its unusual appearance might frighten passers-by and commuters, said the group.

National Thai People Council (NTPC), another civic group, yesterday petitioned Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt to relocate the sculpture to a less conspicuous site, saying it poses a threat to Thai culture and beliefs.

Phonphakhun Setthayabodi, a representative of the NTPC, said it was highly inappropriate for the hotel to install an evil-looking sculpture for people to worship as if it were a Buddha image.

It is tantamount to supporting a devil-worshipping cult, he said.

The Khru Kai Kaeo sculpture made headlines when it was taken on the back of a truck from a studio in Ratchaburi to the Huai Khwang shrine on the morning of Aug 9.

The truck was stuck at a pedestrian bridge, paralysing traffic on Ratchadaphisek Road for about two hours.

The sculptures unusual appearance sparked debate about what it represented.

It was reported some worshippers sought to buy cats, dogs and rabbits to sacrifice for the deity.
Hotels threat to sack bereaved woman decried

BANGKOK: The Ministry of Labour is investigating a five-star hotel that allegedly fired one of its employees who had to take time off work to take care of her dying mother.



By Bangkok Post

Friday 18 August 2023 12:30 PM

Wat Trai Phum Wanaram in Muang district of Buri Ram province was the venue for the funeral of a woman whose daughter was facing dismissal from her hotel job for taking care of her before she passed away. Photo: Surachai Piragsa / Bangkok Post

Labour Minister Suchart Chomklin ordered the investigation after the plight of the former employee caused an uproar on social media, reports the Bangkok Post.

The woman, who worked at a luxury resort in Pak Chong district of Nakhon Ratchasima, posted a screenshot of a conversation with her ex-supervisor, in which she requested extended leave as she had to take care of her terminally ill mother  a request her supervisor denied.

When her mother passed away, the employee asked her supervisor for some time off so she could return to her home province for the funeral.

In response, the supervisor replied, Are you saying you are quitting the job? Once youre done with your personal business, drop by and sign your resignation letter.

The post was shared more than 60,000 times, with most of the comments blasting the supervisors callousness.

Mr Suchart said he had instructed the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare to look into the matter.

Under the Labour Protection Act, all employees  including those who are still on probation and daily labourers  are entitled to take three days off each year to attend to personal business.

An inspector from the labour protection and welfare office in Nakhon Ratchasima has been dispatched to the hotel on a fact-finding mission, said Niyom Songkaew, the department director.

Employees who feel they have been or are being mistreated by their employers can file a complaint at their local labour protection office, he said.

On Wednesday (Aug 16), a group of hotel executives went to Buri Ram where the funeral of the former employees mother was being held at Wat Trai Phum Wanaram in Muang district.

They reassured the woman that her job was secure.

The hotel has suspended her boss, pending an investigation.

Sandy Liw, General Manager of the hotel, the InterContinental Khao Yai Resort (of IHG Hotels & Resorts), issued the following public statement:

Following the recent incident that has been widely reported on social media we have suspended a member of staff from the resort while we continue the investigation in a managers conduct.

One of our colleagues has recently lost her mother and we want to express our profound sympathy and support for her and her grieving family. They are not alone; we stand by them during this trying time with unwavering compassion.

The well-being of our colleagues is a priority etched in our hearts. Within the resort, we hold steadfast to IHG Hotels & Resorts values, which underscore doing whats right and genuinely caring. These principles illuminate our path and define our every endeavor.
New species of snake found in Peru named after Harrison Ford

LIMA: Scientists working in Peru have named a new species of snake after Harrison Ford in honour of the Indiana Jones actors support for conservation work.

animalsenvironmentwildlife

By AFP

Friday 18 August 2023 07:38 AM

A specimen of a previously unknown species of snake that has been named after the actor Harrison Ford. Photo: AFP

The 40 cm (16 inch) reptile was first discovered in May 2022 in the jungle mountains of Otishi National Park, San Marcos National University said Wednesday (Aug 16).

But it was not until now that researchers concluded it was indeed a previously unknown species.

This creature is a yellowish-brown color, with black spots, a black belly and copper eyes.

It has been given the scientific name Tachymenoides harrisonfordi.

The snake was first found by a team led by Edgar Lehr, a US-German biologist.

It is now named after Ford because he is active in environmental issues, Lehr told AFP from the state of Illinois.

I found out that Harrison Ford agreed to have his name used via a consultation that Conservation International made, he added, referring to an NGO.

He said the snake was discovered in an area that is only accessible by helicopter.

It took us seven days to find it, said Lehr.

The snake is harmless to adult humans but it is good at hunting toads and lizards, he added.

Lehr led a team of researchers from San Marcos National University, Florida International University and Illinois Wesleyan University.

Salamandra, the German Journal of Herpetology, published on Tuesday a study on the discovery of the snake.
Phuket expat appeals for help in recovering stolen bag, bank card

PHUKET: A family of expatriates residing in Kamala is seeking the assistance of their fellow Phuket residents to recover a stolen Louis Vuitton bag containing a bank card and a driving license. The incident has been reported to the Kamala Police, who are currently investigating the matter.

crimepolice

By The Phuket News

Friday 18 August 2023 03:37 PM

Mr Beliaev believes his wifes LV bag can be now on sale online. Photo: Supplied

Sergei Beliaev, originally from Russia, visited the Kamala Police Station this Tuesday (Aug 15) to report a burglary that occurred at his villa at night. The thief escaped unidentified with a Louis Vuitton handbag, which also held the mans Thai bank card and his wifes Thai driving license.

Mr Beliaev informed the police that he was awoken around 4.30am by his dogs barking. Upon being alerted, he proceeded to the living room and spotted a thief hastily exiting through the main door.

Considering that his wife and their one-year-old child were still asleep in the bedroom, Mr Beliaev chose not to pursue the intruder but contacted the police in the morning.

Upon receiving the expatriates complaint, officers from the Kamala Police inspected the crime scene and assured they would study the CCTV records to track down and arrest the suspect.

In his efforts to assist the authorities, Mr Beliaev attempted to contact his neighbors who might possess relevant CCTV records. However, all the people he approached asserted that their cameras had not been recording on that night or were dummies.

Mr Beliaiev contacted The Phuket News today (Aug 18) asking to share his appeal to Phuket residents who may have encountered the stolen bank card and driving license discarded by the culprit or the Louis Vuitton bag being offered for sale on the Facebook Marketplace.

The bank card was issued by Kasikornbank in the name of Sergei Beliaev, and the Thai driving license was issued by the Department of Land Transport of Thailand in the name of Anna Krasilnikova.

People with relevant information can contact the Kamala Police Station by calling 076-385310 or through Facebook.

Mr Beliaev conveyed to The Phuket News that the invasion left him taken aback, as he had considered Kamala to be a secure haven for his expat family, including their toddler.

The man expressed his hope that the police swiftly apprehend the suspect to ensure the safety of all residents and to uphold the good image of Phuket as a tourism destination.
Phuket flights delayed, diverted as airport runway cracks repaired

PHUKET: Airports of Thailand Phuket branch, which operates Phuket International Airport, has confirmed it has fixed cracks in the runway which caused several flights to be delayed yesterday, and one flight to divert and land in Krabi yesterday (Aug 17).

tourismtransportSafety

By The Phuket News

Friday 18 August 2023 10:00 AM

Image: Outsiders Aviation / Facebook

The statement was issued by the state-run Radio Thailand Phuket last night, and copied by the national platform of the state news agency National News Bureau of Thailand, but not posted by the Phuket office of the Public Relations Department (PR Phuket).

So far Airports of Thailand Phuket branch also has yet to publish the statement through their own channels.

The statement noted that it was in response to posts on social media. The alarm was raised by Facebook Group Outsiders Aviation, and shared by the Phuket Info Center.

Without the social media posts, Airports of Thailand Phuket branch did not recognise the problem.

According to the government reports, Phuket airport explained the cause of cracks found on the runway. affecting the landing of the aircraft but has repaired the cracked area and allowed to aircraft to land as usual.

In explaining the problem, the statement only repeated what the social media posts explained: There is a problem with the runway. making the plane unable to land.

Similarly, the statement only recognised the flights affected that were already reported thorugh the social media posts.

Many aircraft have to fly [in holding patterns], such as Qatar Airways B777-300ER, Air Asia A320, NOK AIR B737-800, Azur Air B757-200, etc. There was also an ATR 72-600 of Bangkok Airways that decided to change to land temporarily at Krabi to wait for the situation.

Now smaller planes like the A320, B737 can still take off, the statement added.

After checking at Phuket airport, it was found that at approximately 12:24pm, aircraft could not actually land. A crack was found on Runway 27 [the only runway at Phuket airport] and the air traffic control tower was notified, the statement said.

Repairs to the runway were conducted, with the runway returning to normal use at approximately 2:15pm.

According to the statement, Weerasak Insaeng, Director of Maintenance at Phuket Airport, admitted that the runway was damaged by cracks, making it impossible for aircraft to land.

It is in the process of collecting information and analyzing the exact cause, but has completed the preliminary repair of the cracked area and [the runway is] open for aircraft to land as usual, the statement said.

The airport already has a plan for permanent runway repairs. which is in the process of being drafted because it will require the closure of the runway for a long time. Its quite difficult to do because there are flights taking off and landing all the time, the statement concluded.

A "hole" in the runway caused similar fight delays and safety concerns in May this year.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 19. The meeting of the heads of states of Central Asian countries is scheduled for September 14-15 and will be held in Dushanbe, Trend reports.

During the consultative meeting of the leaders of Central Asia, important documents will be signed. The most significant of them will be the final declaration, which will be approved by the heads of state.

In addition, two key agreements will also be signed in Dushanbe: one will cover the field of land transport, and the other will be related to youth policy.

Tajikistan has proposed to hold 12 more additional events during the consultative meeting of the Presidents of Central Asian countries. Among them are an economic forum, a meeting of scientists, cultural events and an exhibition of national dishes representing the culinary traditions of all five states of the region.
Phuket warned to brace for more heavy rainfall

PHUKET: Phuket has been named in a weather warning that has called for emergency services to be on standby for flash floods from heavy continuous rain predicted to lash the Andaman coast from Sunday (Aug 20).

Friday 18 August 2023 12:08 PM

The warning was issued by Boonsom Cholpitakwong, Deputy Secretary-General of the Office of National Water Resources (OWNR) yesterday (Aug 17).

The period of heavy rain is expected to begin on Sunday and continue for three days through to Wednesday next week (Aug 20-23).

The warning was nearly nationwide, noting areas in the Northern, Northeastern, Eastern and Southern regions of Thailand that may be affected by the heavy weather.

The areas in Southern Thailand warned to be prepared were given as: Ranong (Mueang Ranong and Kapoe districts) Phang Nga (Mueang Phang Nga districts, Kuraburi, Takua Pa, Kapong, Thap Put and Thai Muang); Phuket (Mueang Phuket, Kathu and Thalang districts); Satun (Mueang Satun and La-ngu districts); Trang (Mueang Trang, Palian and Wang Wiset districts), and Surat Thani (Phanom and Ban Ta Khun districts).

Relevant agencies are requested to continuously monitor the weather and water situation, especially in areas with cumulative precipitation of more than 90 millimeters in a 24-hour period and areas at risk of regular flooding or urban areas known for flooding where the rainfall could not be discharged in time, the warning said.

Relevant agencies were asked to prepare plans to deal with flood situations, and prepare personnel and the relevant equipment needed for responding to flood situations.

They were also asked to ensure drains were cleared to allow rainwater to drain effectively, and to remain at a state of readiness to provide immediate assistance.

Phuket Irrigation Office Director Krirksak Leenanon yesterday inspected Phukets main reservoirs, and confirmed that all three were already near capacity.

The aim of the inspection was to confirm that Phuket had enough water supply reserves for the coming dry season, after October.

Despite Phuket not experiencing much rainfall during the first few months of the year, which is usual, Phuket reservoirs were now near capacity, he said.

The average water volume is almost equal to the capacity of the reservoir, for example, the Bang Wad Reservoir is approximately 96% of the reservoirs capacity, Mr Krirksak said.

The Bang Neow Dum reservoir in Srisoonthorn is approximately 94% full and the Khlong Kata reservoir, which supplies water to the Provincial Waterworks Authority throughout the year, is about 80% full, he added.
Seeds of peace: Role of Agriculture in mitigating the present Manipur crisis

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Dr Leishangthem Jeebit Singh and Dr Gayatri KhangjarkapamIntroductionManipur is primarily an agriculture-based State in North East India, with a significant proportion of its population (more than 60 %) dependent on farming and allied activities for their livelihood either directly or indirectly. This highlights the crucial role that agriculture and allied activities play in shaping the socio-economic landscape of Manipur. On the other hand, the State is also characterized by diverse communities with different ethnic backgrounds, languages, and cultural traditions. Unfortunately, the tranquillity in Manipur has been disrupted by a violent confrontation between the Meitei community and the Kuki tribal that commenced on 3rd May, 2023. This ongoing conflict has led to more than 200 deaths, displacement of around 60,000 individuals, and significant destruction of properties till date. The figures will continue to rise if the current situation persists.Impact of the current crisis on Agriculture and related industriesThe ongoing conflict in Manipur has deeply impacted all the sectors including agriculture and allied sectors, causing a major disruption in farming activities. Agricultural workers, who make up a significant portion of the economically disadvantaged population, are facing considerable challenges during this crisis. The widespread fear and insecurity in the heavily impacted regions, particularly in areas where the two communities once lived harmoniously together, have resulted in a near-complete abandonment of agricultural activities. Farmers are unable to tend to their crops and livestock, leading to crop failure and loss of income. Furthermore, farmers in general also encounter obstacles in obtaining necessary resources such as seeds, fertilizers, and other requirements due to disrupted supply chain. This decline in agricultural productivity will impact the financial well-being of farmers leading to further tensions and conflicts. Agriculture and allied activities are generally dependent on specific seasons. For example, the ongoing conflict coincides with the cultivation season for paddy, various horticultural crops, fisheries and livestock activities. In addition, the psychological consequences of these conflicts have greatly undermined the productivity and work efficiency of all individuals in the State.The present crisis has also significantly impacted the marketing channels, leading to numerous challenges and obstacles. Transportation and trade disruptions have made it difficult for farmers to sell their produce. The marketing of agricultural products like pineapple, passion fruit, King Chilli, turmeric, ginger, etc., from the Kuki inhabitant area to meet the demand of the valley has been severely impacted. These goods were traditionally sold in the valley or to other regions through merchants in the valley. Similarly, the production of rice, pulses, fresh vegetables, and other crops from the valley or surrounding regions that are supplied to meet the demands of Kuki residents is also adversely affected. This disruption is not limited to agricultural items alone but also affects necessities like healthcare supplies, household goods, transportation, etc. The restricted availability and heightened demand have contributed to exorbitant prices of necessary goods, exacerbating the already precarious circumstances.Based on statements from valley-based farmers organizations, such as LOUSAL, Irabot Foundation, Kangleipak Progressive Farmers Association, and All Manipur Progressive Farmers Association during a press conference on 14th August, 2023, it has been estimated that agriculture and allied sector production (agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, fisheries and sericulture) have suffered losses amounting to approx. Rs 388.39 crore due to the current crisis in the valley region. These numbers will become even more concerning when losses in farming activities within Kuki-inhabited areas are quantified and added. Currently, there is no specific data available from Government agencies regarding the estimated losses resulting from the current crisis.Agricultures Role in Conflict Resolution and Peace RestorationYou cannot build peace with empty stomachs-Norman Ernest Borlaug (Father of Green Revolution)Agriculture and allied sectors have the potential to catalyze peace and reconciliation in Manipurs ongoing conflict. Here are some key ways in which agriculture can contribute to resolving conflicts and restoring peace:1. Public discussions: Facilitate inclusive and collaborative discussions or forums among individuals representing diverse communities affected by agricultural challenges. Highlight the positive impact of agriculture in fostering community development and encourage stakeholders to collaborate on addressing common challenges. Effective communication is key, but it is also important to overcome any pre-existing biases that may hinder understanding and cooperation.2. Livelihood restoration: By reinstating farming operations, farmers can restore their income source and reduce socio-economic stress that may contribute to conflicts. Nevertheless, the successful implementation of these measures would necessitate substantial financial backing.3. Identify shared goals and joint planning: Encourage community engagement to collaboratively identify and work towards common agricultural goals. By promoting inclusive planning, we encourage interaction and negotiation among diverse groups while developing a sense of unity. It is crucial to address differences in priorities and conflicts that have caused disunity.4. Community infrastructure : Developing collaborative agricultural infrastructure, such as irrigation networks or storage facilities, necessitates the combined effort of diverse groups. This comprehensive process not only promotes interaction and trust-building but also cultivates a sense of collective responsibility. Building infrastructure within communities will also require substantial financial investment and specialized knowledge.5. Training and workshops: Conduct training sessions and workshops on sustainable and modern agricultural practices. These sessions should be open to all members of the community, providing an opportunity for people from different backgrounds to learn and work together. Besides imparting useful skills, these sessions could serve as neutral locations for interaction and peace building amongst disparate groups.6. Economic integration: Agriculture-related value chains, such as food processing, packaging, and marketing, can create economic opportunities that involve multiple communities. Creating interdependencies between different communities encourages cooperation to maintain stable livelihoods, thereby reducing reasons for conflict.7. Monitoring and evaluation: Continuously evaluate the effectiveness of agricultural programs by considering their influence on community dynamics. Implement feedback mechanisms to promptly identify and address any potential conflicts.8. Documentation and communication: Document the success stories and positive outcomes of agricultural-based conflict resolution initiatives. Share these stories through various channels to inspire other communities and model the peace-building potential of agriculture.9. Government and NGO/CSO support: Collaborate with Government agencies, non-Governmental organizations (NGOs)/ Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), and community leaders to ensure sustained support for conflict resolution efforts through agriculture. These organizations can also play a big role in mobilizing financial and other resources to support and implement agricultural projects.While agriculture and related activities can contribute to peace building and conflict resolution, their effectiveness is limited by ongoing violence. The continuous violence undermines the implementation of agricultural initiatives, endangering public, damaging infrastructure, and destabilizing communities. Therefore, a ceasefire or non-violent environment must be prioritized as a prerequisite for successfully executing these strategies.Agriculture in peace-building: Global case studiesCase studies worldwide have demonstrated the influential role of agriculture in fostering peace and harmony in conflict-ridden regions. For instance, in Assams Bodoland Territorial Region notably in 2008, 2012, and 2014, agriculture enabled economic recovery and social integration post-ethnic conflict, reducing further conflicts spurred by deprivation or exclusion. In Darfur, Sudan (2003), agricultural opportunities provided alternatives to violence for young men and eased resource-driven tensions. Post-genocide, Rwanda (1994) utilized agriculture for economic reform and reconciliation, aiding population sustenance, economic growth, and poverty reduction. Finally, in Sierra Leone after the civil war (1991-2002), agricultural programs facilitated reintegration of former child soldiers and promoted community rehabilitation and economic growth for lasting peace. Each of these cases underline agricultures pivotal role in peace-building and post-conflict recovery.Complementary role of non-agricultural sectors in restoring normalcySeveral sectors alongside agriculture play crucial roles in conflict restoration. Education can promote intercultural understanding, reducing tension. The health sector can provide essential services, contributing to community resilience. Banking and finance can support economic stability through financial aid programs for community rebuilding. Infrastructure and construction can stimulate economies and reconnect communities. Telecom and IT sectors can maintain essential connections and enable peaceful dialogue. Media can promote open discussions and transparency. Effective governance will ensure safety measures and initiates recovery policies. Therefore, a holistic approach that encompasses multiple sectors is essential for restoring normalcy and promoting peace in conflict-affected regions.ConclusionIn summing up, its evident that agriculture and allied activities will play an instrumental role in not only easing the current crisis but also in generating peace, harmony, and economic resurgence. This sector is far from being merely a source of sustenance; it acts as a unifier, bridging societal divides through shared goals and interdependent economic networks. It requires collaborative efforts from key participants such as farmers, Governmental bodies, NGOs/CSOs, and community leaders to face these challenges head-on. In doing so, they can sow the seeds of unity and, ultimately, cultivate lasting tranquility.Dr Leishangthem Jeebit Singh is MPS Grade  II and Former Agri. Officer and Dr Gayatri Khangjarkapam is Assistant Professor, CAU, Imphal. They can be reached at [email protected]
From Thangjing to Thangting Politics of name

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From Thangjing to Thangting, from refugees to indigenous, from Turen Wangma Leikai to Chikim village, Khunou Leikai to T Yangnom, Bazar Leikai to D Monaphai, Heinomakhong Laikei to again Chikim, all In Moreh and clearly the illegal immigrants have come a long way. From driving out the Nagas from their villages adjoining Moreh during the Naga-Kuki clash from 1992 to 1997 and giving it their own name to now claiming that the border town is theirs by birth and clearly the agenda at work cannot be missed. It was just some time back a hue and cry was raised when attempts were made to christen a place as Vaiphei colony to the east of Mantripukhri, a space acquired after some Meitei families sold off their paddy lands to meet some financial exigency. Spread out, occupy any vacant plots of land, give it your name and in due course of time claim it as an ancestral land. Or better still take note of the word Lamka given as the address of the Air Ticketing Office of Air India located at Imphal International Airport and things cannot get more dangerously farcical than this. This agenda should be nipped in the bud. There is a reason why the Tangkhul Naga Long had made it more than clear that no relief centres can be set up within their jurisdiction. Stretch this a little bit and it becomes clear that they do not want anyone to stay there as refugees for they have had the bitter experience of such elements later claiming the land they were allowed to occupy, as their ancestral property. This is far sightedness at work for no one would want to see a repeat of what happened three decades back. The State Government should take due note of the stand spelt out by the Tangkhul Naga Long and here is a lesson for everyone in Manipur, people who are indigenous to the place. What is in a name one may ask but given the ugly reality in Manipur, it could mean a lot. Giving some sort of legitimacy, and it is from this sort of legitimacy that claims can be raised that it is ones ancestral land. Manipur, more particularly Imphal, has seen and experienced this and the time is more than right to assert that the time for christening any locality or a place according to ones whim with an eye on the future can no longer be done so. This is what is happening at Moreh right now and one hopes the matter has reached the ears and eyes of the Government. The conspiracy in the change of name of a locality is serious and can have far reaching repercussions in the long run and this is precisely the reason why the Government should look into the issue raised here with the urgency it requires.

Spread out. Settle at a new place and claim it as an ancestral land and this is another reason why the Government had to take a tough stand against encroachment inside Reserved and Protected Forests. The tasks at hand should be clear. Dont leave anything unsettled. Manipur has suffered for far too long for not taking things to its logical conclusion. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has already acknowledged the influx from across the border after the coup there, but this is not enough. It is incumbent on the State Government to look beyond the political unrest at Myanmar to get a more comprehensive understanding of the influx from across the border. A look at the emergence of new villages in the hills, particularly near the international border should be in line. This is where it becomes important to question what has happened to the illegal immigrants who wrere detected at Churachandpur and other places, long before the present violence exploded in the evening of May 3. Are their movements still being monitored or has the Government lost track of where they are now ? Or more importantly have they merged with the local population ? The change in the name of localities should be seen in the backdrop of these questions.
Kuki militants open fire

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MOIRANG, Aug 18: Kuki militants fired several rounds of shots from their bunkers built at Torbung Sabal Leikai toward Phougakchao Ikhai Mamang Leikai at around 4.30 am today.

As they were prevented by troops of Kumaon Regiment and BSF stationed in the area, Meitei village volunteers did not fire back a single bullet.

As such, the villagers have a serious misgiving on why the Central security forces have been preventing them from firing back while the Kuki militants are given a free hand.

In another instance, Kuki militants exchanged fire with Meitei village volunteers at the surrounding areas of Koutruk and Haraothel this morning.

Sources said that the gunfight broke out at around 4.30 am after Kuki militants opened fire several rounds towards Koutruk Mathak Leikai from Haraothel.

The gunfight lasted for about 10 minutes.


ASTANA, Kazakhstan, August 18. Kazakhstan's government is conducting preliminary discussions of the potential transit of 1.510 billion cubic meters of Russian gas to Uzbekistan, Kazakh Energy Minister Almasadam Satkaliyev told reporters, Trend reports.

In response to a query regarding the anticipated transit of Russian gas through Kazakhstan to Uzbekistan, Satkaliyev said that "this volume can be increased as the Uzbek energy system and Russian partners become ready for the gas export in the required volume."

He claims that Kazakhstan will benefit economically from the passage of gas from Russia to Uzbekistan.

"This issue is related to generating extra revenue from transportation. It will present a chance to upgrade the gas pipeline infrastructure. The increased revenue from transit would assist lessen the financial strain on the company and maintain a sustainable cash flow for carrying out repair and investment projects, the minister said. "Gas deliveries to the domestic market are unprofitable for our national gas operator, 'Kazakhgas'.

Previously, Kazakhstan's Energy Ministry said that the country will finish preparations for the Central Asia-Center main gas pipeline for the transit of Russian gas to Uzbekistan by October this year.
A cluster of 80 shops selling green crackers both for wholesale and retail will come up on Eastern Metropolitan bypass. Senior officials of MSME department, Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and representatives of green cracker manufacturers visited the site at EM bypass on 15 August. Once set up, the cluster will get pan-India clients.

Bulk of crackers come to Bengal from Sivakasi in southern India. Locally, firecrackers are made in Nungi off Budge Budge and are sold through the cracker market set up in the Maidan area. But, most of the crackers do not follow the norms set up by the state environment department.

As a result, police conduct raids and the traders sell the crackers clandestinely. To cope with the situation, chief minister Mamata Banerjee took the initiative for manufacture of green crackers in the state.

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The crackers will follow the norm of the environment department and NEERI. A survey conducted by the MSME department revealed that the green crackers will have a panIndia market. It will take more than a year to develop the area and set up the clusters. The green crackers are eco-friendly and will not lead to breathing difficulty
Doing politics with death is not a new phenomenon. Political parties have, for decades, used the dead to highlight rivals crimes of commissions and omissions and to showcase a range of rivals shortcomings including neglect and callousness. By so doing political parties try to cash in on the tragic situations for their own ends which is to eventually rake in the votes. It is therefore not surprising that political parties have decided to make the unnatural death of a Jadavpur University student, a political issue. West Bengals top political parties, each, while condemning the incident, have nevertheless, started the blame game.

What transpired on the night of Thursday, August 10 and the circumstances under which the first year student of the colleges Bengali department died, according to police, is still emerging and a week after the freshman reportedly fell from the fourth floor balcony of the boys hostel in which he was staying, nine arrests have already been made and more arrests are likely. According to the police, which is trying to piece together a clear account based on the statements of those who were arrested and interrogated as well as others, he was a victim of ragging. Often euphemistically referred by the perpetrators of this heinous crime as initiating the newcomers into the institute, ragging, in spite of being legally banned in most academic institutions in accordance with the law, is by all accounts still rampant. A student of Jadavpur Universitys Arts Faculty told this correspondent, When I first joined, I was made to carry a political placard protesting something or the other which I had no idea about and all of us were asked to march a short distance carrying these. It was not a very serious form of ragging unlike the physical and mental torture which many students in different colleges and universities are put through but it was ragging none the less.

The young boy who died last week was apparently subjected to intense ragging by his seniors and even a group of alumni who continued to occupy hostel rooms.

As far as the states political parties are concerned, protest rallies have been planned by Opposition parties demanding an investigation. They allege gross negligence by the administration. Denying culpability and expressing shock over the Oppositions attempts to politicize the tragic incident, leaders of the ruling party, have visited the house of the victim in the suburbs.

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Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan visited Educational Consultants India Limited (EdCIL) stall at Akhil Bhartiya Shiksha samagam on July 30 and presented admission letters to the first batch of students from Sindhu Central University, Leh. On this occasion, he also commended EdCILs impactful work in the field of education.

EdCIL (India) Limited is a Mini Ratna Category-I CPSE of the Ministry of Education, Government of India.

In August 2021, a bill seeking to establish a Central University was passed in the Lok Sabha. Subsequently, the Central Universities Act, 2009 was further amended as The Central Universities (Amendment) Act, 2021 and included establishment of Sindhu Central University (SCU).

This is the first Central University named after the Sindhu River. The university will be fully supported by the Central Government, Ministry of Education.

Presently, there is only one University in UT of Ladakh viz. University of Ladakh which

cater to the students in Ladakh region through its constituent degree colleges and campus in both the districts of Kargil and Leh.

At present, there is no centrally funded university in the UT of Ladakh. With the establishment of Central University, the two universities would coexist symbiotically, complementing each other.

Further, large number of students are estimated to be pursuing higher education outside Ladakh and having a Central University in Ladakh would provide them quality education, facilitate and promote avenues of higher education & research and hence, check their migration, said Rajiv Khaneja, Manager, Advisory Services, EdCIL.

The Directors of IIT Kanpur and IIT Madras will mentor the establishment of the Universitys academic and related activities. The first meeting of the Executive Council of Sindhu Central University chaired by Director, IIT Kanpur and Director, IIT Madras was held on May 23.

The University under the mentorship of above IITs will bring innovative academic programmes which are employable addressing to the high-altitude geographical demands and at the same time leading to further research at global level.

The University thus will have a curriculum embedded with Indian Knowledge Systems that will be unique for the region and relevant to the UT of Ladakh.

The University will offer Undergraduate, Integrated, Postgraduate and Doctoral level programmes designed to enable capacity building in the areas related to sustainable development whilst also ensuring student employment potential and opportunities.

The course curriculum will enable flexibility and mobility across the disciplines along the vision of NEP-2020.

The Sindhu Central University is poised to bring reputation amongst the higher educational institutions of India catering to the students aspirations across the nation and the world. Having a Central University would come up with an additional pool of infrastructure and manpower that would catalyse developmental policy and planning in the region and develop a new progressive eco-system, said PK S Shishodia, Chief General Manager, Advisory Services, EdCIL.

The Detailed Project Report for setting up of the University was prepared by the Advisory Team of EdCIL and now the organisations Infra team is looking after its execution. EdCIL is also looking after the admission process of the Universitys first batch.
The state of Jammu and Kashmir has marked four years of abrogation of Article 370 and 35A, the articles which gave a special status to the state-turned-Union Territory.

It was one of the milestones of the Narendra Modi-led NDA Government at the Centre to go into Indian history in bold letters.

Post the abrogation, the state was filled with unpleasant incidents like stone pelting and flourishing of terrorist organisations.

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In the age of digitalisation, the state was left untouched with even the basic necessities. Amid stone pelting, students were not able to go to school, women were not able to move freely on the streets, and people were not able to celebrate festivals.

The decision was highly-welcomed by the leaders as well by the judicial system.

This week itself, the Supreme Court on Thursday appeared unenthusiastic to accept an invitation to judicially review the wisdom behind the Union governments decision.

Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas

The Modi Government has commenced a business revival package with over Rs 1,300 crore. In 2022-23, the state received all-time high investments worth Rs 1,547 crore for development projects.

From 1947 to 2019, the UT received Rs 14,000 crore investments while in the period between 2019 to 2023, it received Rs 81,222 crore.

The UT also got connected with the global economy as the exports of Kashmiri handcrafts touched an unexpected record-setting of Rs 1,116 crore.

Another key development is the Mall of Kashmir as the Lt Governor Manoj Sinha laid the foundation stone of the first international mall in Jammu and Kashmir.

Government initiatives

As per reports, through the Prime Ministers Development Package, 29 projects have been completed and 53 projects of Rs 58,477 crore in Jammu & Kashmir and 9 projects of Rs 21,441 crore in Ladakh are under progress.

A lot of infrastructure development projects were also launched in the UT as an 8.45 km long new Banihal Tunnel was opened this year. Under PM Gram Sadak Yojana, 18001 km of roads were constructed covering 2074 places.

Resource-wise too, J&Ks water connectivity has been enhanced through the Main Ravi Canal, Tral Lift Irrigation Scheme, and comprehensive flood management plan of river Jhelum.

An Accelerated Recruitment Committee (ARC) was constituted for identifying Gazetted, Non-Gazetted & Class-IV posts in the UT of J&K.

Since 2019, a total of 29,813 persons have been recruited in addition to 5523 vacancies have been referred to Recruiting Agencies.

Educational institutions

It is worth mentioning that Jammu is the only city to have IIT, IIM and AIIMS. Seven medical colleges, two state cancer institutes and 15 nursing colleges have been operationalised in J&K with two AIIMS, one for each division, were sanctioned with an estimated budget of Rs 2,000 crore each. The number of Government Degree/Engineering Colleges has increased from 96 to 147.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on Thursday launched a centralised web portal UDGAM (Unclaimed Deposits  Gateway to Access inforMation), which would make it easier for people to search for their unclaimed deposits across multiple banks at one place.

The launch of the web portal will aid users to identify their unclaimed deposits and accounts and enable them to either claim the deposit amount or make their deposit accounts operative at their respective banks, a statement issued by RBI said.

Reserve Bank Information Technology Pvt Ltd (ReBIT), Indian Financial Technology & Allied Services (IFTAS) and participating banks have collaborated on developing the portal.

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To begin with, users would be able to access the details of their unclaimed deposits in respect of seven banks presently available on the portal.

The search facility for remaining banks on the portal would be made available in a phased manner by October 15, 2023.

The central bank had announced the development of a centralised web portal for searching unclaimed deposits as part of its Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies on April 6 this year.

The initiative has been launched amid rising amount of unclaimed deposits in banks and RBI has been undertaking public awareness campaigns from time to time to sensitise the public on this matter.

Further, through these initiatives, the RBI has been encouraging people to identify and approach their respective banks for claiming unclaimed deposits.
Widows often face challenges in accessing opportunities for viable employment. Keeping this in mind, Soundlines, a prominent name in the international manpower recruitment industry, took an initiative to support such women by providing them sewing machines.

The provision of sewing machines is not only a humanitarian gesture but also a practical approach to addressing a pertinent issue.

The initiative seeks to empower the widows by equipping them with skills that can translate into livelihood.

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Soundlines move to provide the widows with sewing machines to empower them with a practical means of sustenance is an effort to contribute positively to the community. Recently, 200 sewing machines were handed over to the widows in Mumbai.

By equipping them with sewing machines, the company aims to enable these women to engage in income-generating activities and enhance their financial independence. This effort is aligned with the companys commitment to promoting community well-being beyond its core business.
According to People magazine, Priyanka Chopra, who co-founded the New York restaurant Sona with Maneesh Goyal in 2021, is withdrawing from the venture. Priyankas representatives provided a statement to the magazine, confirming, Priyanka has stepped away from her partnership at Sona. Despite this change, the restaurant will continue to operate.

Priyankas entrepreneurial journey with Sona:

Priyanka has always endeavored to bring Indian culture to the fore through storytelling, whether thats via engaging content for film and TV, or a beautifully plated dish that embodies the haute cuisine of India,. A spokesperson mentioned. Also, that the 41-year-old actor will maintain her interest in the realm of hospitality and culinary experiences.

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Stepping away from Sona allows her to broaden these ambitions on a more global scale, and shes excited about the possibilities that await, the spokesperson added.

Maneesh K Goyal, co-founder of Sona and a friend as well as former business partner of Chopra Jonas, expressed that collaborating with the actor was like a dream come true.

Were grateful for her partnership and support. While she will no longer be involved as a creative partner moving forward, she remains in the Sona family and we are excited for our respective new chapters ahead, Goyal added.

Goyal remarked that while Priyanka has disengaged from the business, her fingerprints are still all over Sona.

Sona made its debut in March 2021 amid ongoing Covid-19 restrictions, yet swiftly amassed a substantial social media following. Priyanka frequently posted pictures from the establishment and even arranged several family gatherings there. In 2022, she introduced the Sona Home collection, encompassing an array of products such as dinnerware, table linens, bar accessories, decor, and gifts.

Fans react with Disappointment

As the news spread through Priyankas most prominent fan page on Instagram, numerous individuals posed the question why in the comments section. One fan expressed, Aww man I am so sad!! I wanted to celebrate my 40th birthday there. I hope shes okay. This was a dream of hers. Another fan remarked, Oh no Nick named that restaurant. Echoing disappointment, someone else wrote, I hope shes okay because this restaurant was her dream.

Adding their perspective, a fan penned, Beautiful restaurant and she and Nick inspired it so much, but they must have new business adventures planned. Would love to see them create one in LA. A different comment speculated, So it means she is planning something huge.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Russian Space Corporation ROSCOSMOS are locked in a close contest for landing their respective missions Chandrayaan-3 and Luna 25 on the south pole of the Moon. Both Indias Chandrayaan 3 and Russias Luna 25, have entered lunar orbit and will attempt soft landing on the south pole region of the Moon in less than a week.

While ISROs Chandrayaan 3 will attempt a soft landing on the lunar surface on August 23, ROSCOSMOSs Luna 25 will try to touch down on Moons south pole region between August 21 and 23. Interestingly, Luna was launched on August 11, almost a month after Chandrayaan-3s launch on July 14.

The reason Chandrayaan-3 will take more time than Luna 25 to reach the Moons surface is that the Indian space agency is using a different trajectory to place its probe in the Lunar orbit. Due to the absence of a more powerful launch vehicle, ISRO is using the Earth and Moons gravitational force to put Chandrayaan 3 into lunar orbit.

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The Russians, on the other hand, are using a powerful rocket to put Luna 25 on a direct path to the Moon. This will mean Russians will take less time but spend more money. Not just the methods of sending their missions, but the objectives of Chandrayaan 3 and Luna 25 are also different.

The mission objectives of Indias Chandrayaan-3:

According to the ISRO, the mission objectives of Chandrayaan 3 are to demonstrate safe and soft landing on the lunar surface and conduct in-situ scientific experiments on the Moon. Also, demonstrating rover roving on the less explored south pole region of the Moon is another key objective of Chandrayaan 3. If successful, India will be only the fourth country after the US, Russia, and China to land on the Moon.

The mission objectives of Russias Luna 25:

According to ROSCOSMOS, the two primary scientific objectives of Russias Moon mission Luna 25 are  to study the composition of the polar regolith and to study the plasma and dust components of the lunar polar exosphere.
Lashing out at Pakistan for Mushaal Maliks elevation as a minister, BJP general secretary and party in-charge of J&K Tarun Chugh said on Friday that it amounts to endorsement of Indias claim that Pakistan is harbouring terrorism and terrorists.

Mushaal is wife of Yasin Malik, leader of a terrorist outfit currently lodged in Tihar Jail and is facing trial on the charges of killing four Indian Air Force (IAF) officers in Srinagar.

Chugh said Pakistan has always provided refuge to most wanted terrorists involved in destabilising security and sovereignty of India.

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He said by appointing the wife of banned JKLF chief Mohammad Yasin Malik a minister in the Anwar ul Haq led Government, Pakistan has once again provided evidence that they have been harbouring terrorism and providing refuge to terrorists.

He also said that Maliks wife has been involved in spreading fabricated stories against India and its Army while her husband, a dreaded terrorist, was involved in the killing of security personnel, Kashmiri Pandits and civilians is serving life sentence in New Delhis Tihar Jail.

Instead of reining in the elements inimical to peace, Pakistan is repeatedly resorting to such actions that harm national interest of India. We urge international bodies to take cognizance of the matter and stop Pakistan from giving political space to terrorists, Chugh said.

Pertinently, Mushaal took oath along with 18 members of Pakistans interim cabinet. However, due to her dual nationality, Mushaal will not be a full-fledged minister but will work as a special advisor on human rights issues to PM Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar, Pakistan media had said.

It is worth mentioning here that her induction in ministry has not been relished also in Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK).
As efforts to retrieve the bodies of those buried alive in the Shiv temple collapse at Summerhill, Shimla in Himachal Pradesh on 14 August, one more body was excavated from the nallah about 800 meters below on Friday.

The death toll in the tragic incident has mounted to 16, and over half a dozen are still feared to be missing on day fifth.

As chances are almost bleak to find any survivors, the relatives of the missing persons are waiting endlessly to ensure that they pay their last respects to their loved ones.

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Summerhill Councilor, Shimla Municipal Corporation, Virender Thakur said: One of the deceased has been identified as Shankar Negi, a retired banker, who hails Brua village from Kinnaur district by his relatives. His nephew is still missing.

Another body retrieved is yet to be identified, he added.

Shankar Negis relative, Shamsher Singh from Brua in Kinnaur district had travelled around 400 kms on Monday to locate his elder brother (deceased identified) and nephew, when they were untraceable after the temple collapse.

My elder brother and nephew visited the temple at 6.00 am, the tragedy struck at around 7.15 am. After that they were untraceable, he lamented.

Shankar Nehis nephew Avinash Negi, PTI in a school in Boilugang is still untraceable, as family members pins hope against hope to find him alive.

His wife is inconsolable, while his two sons two-year-old and four-year-old are time again asking about their father, said his cousin brother Anil Negi.

The catastrophe wiped out three generations of a family of seven including grandfather, grandmother, father, and mother, and their three children had got trapped under the debris.

So far bodies of five of the family members have been excavated and two including a child are still missing these include Pawan a local resident and his granddaughter.

Himachal police, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Army jawans along with the locals, continue to frantically search for more dead bodies day fifth in the nallah around 700 to 800 meters below the temple collapse site.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 18. Kazakhstan Railways (Kazakhstan Temir Zholy - KTZ), the national railway company, issued bonds worth 118.9 billion Kazakh tenge ($267.1 million) on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) with a maturity period of 2 years on July 22, 2022, a source at the company told Trend.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB), among other foreign financial institutions, expressed strong interest in the bond sale, according to the source.

According to the corporation, all of the money acquired through the bond sale was used to redeem KTZ's short-term obligations, which were then used to refinance existing loans.

KTZ has also listed a number of current and upcoming projects as part of its dedication to the growth of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR or Middle Corridor) and the extension of its transit potential.

"These include the construction of the Dostyk-Moyinty section (currently in progress), the Darbaza-Maktaaral line, and the Almaty Bypass. In addition, KTZ plans to enhance the capacity of the Aktau Seaport, with financing for these projects being considered from various financial development institutions, including the development financial institutions," said the source.

According to the KTZ, the company is currently considering the possibility of financing the Almaty Bypass project through a loan from financial development institutions, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has hinted at constituting a high-level committee to monitor new road projects in the state.

The roads sans proper drainage system will not be passed henceforth and a proper drainage and cross-drainage system would be made mandatory along all the roads in the state, he asserted.

The high-level committee and monitoring teams to be constituted soon will look into the issue, he added, while presiding over a high-level meeting here late Thursday evening.

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The chief minister said that the main cause of water seepage and cracks appearing in the roads causing huge damage to them was due to lack of proper drainage and cross-drainage systems. Henceforth, the new road constructions which sans proper drainage systems will not be approved or passed, he said, adding, that this could only be ensured by quality work at the time of construction.

The chief minister took a detailed report of the damages caused due to heavy rains and gave necessary directions to the officers.

He asked the Public Works Department to deploy adequate machinery and other equipment to restore the roads damaged by landslides and emphasized additional men and machinery to open the major blocked roads in district Mandi.

He said that scientific management would be ensured to prevent soil erosion and landslides on the river banks in the Kullu district. The National Highways Authority of India and the Public Works Department have been asked to take long-term measures in this regard.

To cope with the calamities as the state witnessed recently, the state government has decided to provide two cranes each to all the companies of State Disaster Management Authorities (SDRF) in the state, to mitigate disasters and to be used in rescue operations, said Sukhu.

Drones would also be made available to all District Disaster Management Authorities (DDMA) for mapping and monitoring besides providing goods and medicines to the people at the time of the disaster, he added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a telephonic conversation on Friday with Iranian President Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi during which the two leaders discussed matters of bilateral and regional importance.

The PM highlighted that the India-Iran relationship was underpinned by close historic and civilizational connections, including strong people to people contacts.

The two leaders reiterated their commitment to further strengthen bilateral cooperation, including to realise the full potential of Chabahar Port as a connectivity hub.

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They also discussed cooperation at multilateral forums including expansion of BRICS and looked forward to their meeting on the margins of forthcoming BRICS Summit in South Africa.
Newly-appointed President of Uttar Pradesh Congress Ajay Rai announced that Rahul Gandhi will contest the Lok Sabha polls from Amethi.

If Priyanka Gandhi wants, she can contest the elections from Varanasi against PM Modi as each and every Congress worker will lay down their lives for her victory, he disclosed.

Rai was given a rousing welcome in his home city Varanasi on Friday when a large number of Congress workers gathered to welcome him at the Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport in Babatpur this afternoon.

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Later, talking to the media, Rai asserted that Rahul Gandhi will contest the Lok Sabha elections from Amethi.

In response to a question, he said Smriti Irani has gone berserk. She had claimed to provide sugar at Rs 13 per kg, but in reality nothing of the kind happened.

He also said party workers are ready for Priyanka Gandhi Vadra contesting from Varanasi.

Ajay Rai said Rahul Gandhi and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge will go to the general public to seek their support to oust the BJP.

Rahul Gandhis soldier and worker who fought with full strength against BJP and Narendra Modi, now will fight from Chandauli to Ghaziabad with a new vigour, he said.

He claimed that the land of Banaras is the land of Mahadev and now bugle has been played from the land of Mahadev, whose effect will be seen in the entire state with Congress winning the Lok Sabha elections.

Describing his first step, Rai said that he is a common worker and a simple person. First of all, we will go to Ghazipur to bow down to the land of martyrs and sacrifices where our heroes were gunned down for hoisting the flag in 1942. It is the result of continuous struggle that today I have got this position, he added.
Former associate editor of Deshabhimani, G Sakthidharan has once again made revelations regarding a huge amount of money collected by CPI-M leaders from Ernakulam and transported it to Thiruvananthapuram by wrapping in a reed mat (Kaitholappaya).

In a Facebook post on Friday, Sakthidhran alleged that money of prominent black sand mining businessman Sasidharan Kartha was also included in the bundle of notes wrapped in the reed mat (Kaitholapaya).

He further said in his Facebook post that the money was received by Deshabhimani Deputy General Manager K Venugopal from Sasidhran Kartha.

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However, this big shot gave less than five lakh rupees to the party, Sakthidharan wrote.

Sakthidharans Facebook post said the leader, who stayed for two days at the office at Kochi and counted the cash, was Pinarayi Vijayan. Later the amount was handed over to Industries Minister P Rajeev who took it to Thiruvananthapuram under wraps.

What would have happened if I had directly said that it was the then party secretary Pinarayi Vijayan who had stayed at Deshabhimanis Kaloor office for two days and collected Rs 2.35 crore without any receipt or other documents and transported it to Thiruvananthapuram, and it was current Industries Minister P Rajeeve who had delivered it at AKG Centre? The earth would not have lost its spherical shape, Sakthidharan wrote.

G Sakthidharan, the former associate editor of CPI-Ms mouthpiece, first made the allegations in his June Facebook post, and on Thursday he revealed the names.

In the post in June, Sakthidharan without naming any CPI-M leader, he had dropped enough hints that a leader many years ago counted cash to the tune of Rs 2.35 crore and a present cabinet minister carried it in a car from Ernakulam to Thiruvananthapuram

As part of a preliminary investigation based on the complaint filed by Benny Behnan MP in the incident, the police took Shaktidharans statement but did not reveal anyones name. His position was that there was nothing to say beyond the Facebook post. At a stage when the case itself became irrelevant, Shaktidharan came out on Thursday with a new Facebook post revealing the names of the persons involved in the money dealings.

P Rajeev dismissed the accusations terming Sakthidharans Facebook post as fiction based on imagination.

Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala has on Friday demanded an inquiry into the huge amount collected by CPI-M leaders and transported to Thiruvananthapuram wrapped in kaitholapaya. An FIR must be registered in the case, as Shakthidharan has repeated the allegations, he said
When US President Joe Biden hosts Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol at Camp David in a couple of days, mutual bliss points are likely to be achieved. At least on paper. After all, an internationalist American president, a South Korean leader with foreign policy ambitions beyond the Korean Peninsula, and a Japanese prime minister firm on doubling down on Tokyos proactive security policy present a unique opportunity for trilateral cooperation, write foreign policy scholars Andrew Yeo, Mireya Solis, and Hanna Foreman. The forthcoming summit comes at what has been described as a now-or-never moment in relations among the three partners. It is also Americas window of opportunity in North/East Asia as the relentless rise of China threatens its interests and those of its closest allies in the region.

Missile grandstanding by North Korea and deep concerns about Chinese military capabilities and intentions have sparked renewed attempts in Washington to get Seoul and Tokyo on the same page as it would add even more heft to an undeniably weighty trilateral alliance. But the fly in the ointment is the historical baggage of Japan-South Korea relations, especially as domestic politics tend to thrive on it in both nations and often prevents the three countries from successfully coordinating their strategies. Mr Bidens desire to advance the trilateral relationship reflects his broader approach to geostrategic competition: Building US power by strengthening institutions and alliances. The American-Japanese-South Korean relationship has muscle because it is built around two technologically advanced US partners that possess formidable defence capabilities and together host around 100 permanent US military bases and approximately 80,000 US troops. But lack of coordinated action in the face of an increasingly belligerent Beijing has meant that trilateral cooperation has been sub-optimal. Indeed, as the experts point out, it has moved in fits and starts over the last three decades, accelerating during heightened periods of North Korean threats and often stumbling whenever relations between South Korea and Japan started to deteriorate. In 2021, the resumption of Pyongyangs provocations, including a long-range cruise missile test, galvanised the Biden Administration to push for more trilateral meetings; officials from the three countries met ten times in 2021. But tensions continued to linger between the two Asian allies of the USA. Today, though, regional and domestic level alignments have prompted the Biden Administration to attempt to solidify trilateral cooperation. The idea, it appears, is to build on the momentum generated by President Yoons decision to prioritise Japan-South Korea ties despite weak domestic support, and by Mr Kishidas pragmatic approach to Korean affairs. Washingtons desire to beef up its Asian alliances is a positive development for the region and, if successful, would contribute to strategic stability. Of course, as the accompanying comment explains, it also risks further provocations from North Korea, acting for and on behalf of China, and for itself.

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Interpreting North Korean leader Kim Jong Uns recent military posture, which includes replacing his top general, calling for increased arms production and emphasising military readiness, requires considering various internal and external factors, historical context and the broader geopolitical landscape. It is important to note that North Koreas motives and strategies are multifaceted and can be influenced by a range of factors, including domestic politics, international perceptions and regional dynamics. While this military posture could be a negotiating tactic, it may also serve other purposes such as bolstering domestic support, responding to perceived threats, or projecting an image of strength to both domestic and international audiences. By showcasing military preparedness, North Korea may be attempting to deter the United States and South Korea from engaging in actions they perceive as aggressive or threatening.

These actions might also be intended to assert North Koreas regional influence and display its capability to potentially engage in military actions if needed. North Korea has always perceived past joint military exercises between the USA and South Korea as a potential threat. It is not surprising that Mr Kims military posture comes ahead of another such exercise from August 21. Mr Kims military posture could be aimed at securing concessions during negotiations with the United States and South Korea. North Korea has a history of using military actions and displays of strength as leverage in negotiations. By showing a heightened state of military readiness, North Korea may hope to create a sense of urgency and pressure to achieve its desired outcomes in diplomatic talks. Besides, Mr Kim may have several domestic compulsions that drive his military posture. For one, demonstrating military strength can help consolidate his power and maintain control over the regime by projecting an image of a strong leader capable of defending the nation. The North Korean regime relies on a strong military narrative to legitimise its rule. Emphasising military preparedness reinforces the regimes image. Moreover, shifting the focus to military matters can serve as a diversionary tactic to redirect public attention away from internal challenges or economic issues, thereby helping to maintain social cohesion. North Koreas historical and geopolitical context, including its experiences during the Korean War and ongoing tensions with neighbouring countries, may contribute to a genuine threat perception, leading to a need for a strong military posture. Maintaining a strong military posture can help ensure the loyalty and support of the military elite, a crucial constituency for Mr Kims regime. Nationalism and propaganda play a significant role in North Korean society. A strong military stance reinforces nationalistic sentiments and helps maintain the regimes propaganda narrative. North Korea seeks to be recognized as a global player and a strong military posture may be aimed at gaining respect and attention on the international stage. It is important to understand that North Korean actions are often influenced by a complex interplay of internal and external considerations.

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The Prime Minister in his Independence Day address referred to the new emerging global order in the postCovid period. In this context, it is important to examine the nature of the present global flux, of which the intensifying SinoUS rivalry and the emergence of mega economic formations are bound to have a significant impact on Indias strategic choices.

Intermediate powers, which are undoubtedly significant players on the global stage, are not yet in a position to project power in the same league as the United States or China. Both intermediate and smaller powers are worried about the impact, especially economic, of being caught in the middle of another great power rivalry. Cold War analogies are currently in vogue to understand the nature of US-China relations.

Many commentators have drawn parallels to past great power rivalries, arguing that the current China-US rivalry amounts to a New Cold War. The term has been popularised in media outlets globally spanning topics from manufacturing to military tensions, technology, and Taiwan. This formulation is challenged by scholars who argue that it over-simplifies the complex reality of geopolitical and economic competition between China and the US, which prevails within the ambit of a single international system.

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Christopher Blattmans 2022 work, Why We Fight, is often quoted to suggest the evolving Sino-US relationship displays several of the characteristics which can be the causes of war. In our view, however, the ChinaUS relationship will not be adjudicated militarily. Instead, as Ryan Hass has argued, the crux of competition will be over which governance, social, and economic system will prove capable of outperforming the other in raising the welfare levels of its population while at the same time protecting the environment.

But could this clean-cut framework be wishful thinking? Strategic thinkers who assert that the US-China conflict is driven by geopolitics, not ideology, argue that Chinas rise inevitably clashes with the established superpower, the US, regardless of their respective political systems; that geopolitical rivalry is inherent in a rising power challenging the existing hegemon. The counter-argument is that in reality, ideology has always played an outsized role in driving conflict. Arguably, many tensions would be avoided if the US was dealing with a democratic China.

Further, even if Washington chooses to ignore this ideological dimension, many in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) wont go along. They already see the conflict through an ideological lens. This becomes very clear in both Beijings language and its actions, as Andrei Lungu brought out in his 2021 essay ~ The USChina Clash Is About Ideology After All.

Geopolitical conflict is more accurately mirrored, for example, in the case of ChinaIndia relations. The Chinese leadership is not afraid that India wants to promote democracy and threaten the party-states stability. For India, China could go democratic tomorrow and it wouldnt matter as long as the border issue remains active, Beijing continues to prop up Pakistan, and China persists with its policy of tightening the string of pearls around India. In contrast, ideological fears have always underpinned Beijings and Washingtons views of each other.

Former Chinese leader Deng Xiaopings decision to strengthen relations with the US, like the economic reforms of the 1980s, was accepted as necessary for China to be rich and glorious, but never accepted as a path toward democratic transition. Deng himself characterised the prodemocracy protestors who were crushed during the Tiananmen Square uprising as the scum of the Chinese nation. Conservatives in the CCP and the Chinese armed forces have insisted that democracy was a Western plot to bring chaos to China by subverting the CCP and promoting Western values.

The collapse of the USSR only reinforced this belief. Clearly, the conservatives, piggybacking on the rise of Xi Jinping since 2008, have seen their views prevail. To add to the present flux in global conditions, the international system premised upon Pax Americana which emerged after WW II is under pressure and global institutions are slipping into irrelevance.

This is unfortunately reflected in the sorry state of the United Nations today. China has gone ahead with and is pursuing the creation of a parallel universe of multilateral institutions. Simultaneously, in the post-globalisation era now at hand, the world is getting divided into three large trading blocs ~ the RCEP, NAFTA, and EU that are tending to overtake the spaghetti bowl effect. Thus, the world is surely headed towards multipolarity that will take concrete shape over the next two decades during which the Chinese economy will surpass the US in size and Europe will retain or even increase its share in the global economy.

Europe will try and prevent the emergence of a messy duopoly between the US and China, but may have to accept it if its internal dynamic deteriorates. Either of these alternatives yields the unsavoury prospect of India being left out and on its own. Preserving its strategic autonomy, and engaging with both/all sides in varying degree while remaining focussed laser-like on achieving rapid and sustainable economic growth, is perhaps the best way forward for India. Having opted out of the three mega regional trade blocs, India should actively consider establishing a fourth trading bloc with African and West Asian economies. The momentum of economic growth, which is both sustainable and inclusive, will now inevitably shift to the Indian Ocean Rim with an extension into Sub-Saharan Africa.

This is a rising economic entity given its vast reserves of critical minerals and a demographic structure that will remain robust even beyond 2060, when India starts aging. Indias difficult but incredible success in simultaneously managing its three-fold transition viz economic, social and political combined with its commitment to tackling the environment challenge makes it a powerful exemplar for countries in West Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Additionally, India has longstanding, strong ties with these countries.

It is time, therefore, for the MEA to put out the message that postings in these countries are a better bet for career advancement than hankering after assignments in OECD or ASEAN countries. This initiative has the potential to put India on par with leaders of the three other trading and economic blocs. If successfully executed, it may also propel India to the high table of global governance

(The writers are, respectively, Chairman and Fellow, Pahle India Foundation)
Yasin Malik received a life sentence from a trial court last year in connection with a case involving the funding of terrorism. Mushaal Hussain Malik, the wife of the incarcerated separatist leader and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) head Yasin Malik, is reportedly a part of Pakistans 18-member interim cabinet. The cabinet took an oath on Thursday.

As per reports, Mushaal will be serving as a special assistant to Pakistans caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, focusing on human rights matters. However, she will not hold a full ministerial position within the cabinet, given that she is not a citizen of Pakistan, as stated by the Pakistan website Aaj.

About Mushaal Hussain:

Hailing from Kashmir, Mushaal is a prominent figure in leadership circles. She entered matrimony with Yasin Malik in February 2009, reportedly after their acquaintance during Maliks 2005 visit to Pakistan.

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Mushaals husband, Yasin Malik, serves as the commander of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF). He currently remains incarcerated and is serving a life sentence in Delhis Tihar Jail. This is after being guilty in a case related to the financing.

The provisional Cabinet consists of 16 federal ministers along with 3 advisers.

Among the notable appointments, former foreign secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani has assumed the role of Foreign Minister. Sarfaraz Bugti has taken up the post of Interior Minister, Shamshad Akhtar is the new Finance Minister. Lt Gen (retired) Anwar Ali Haider has been designated as Defence Minister, and esteemed journalist Murtaza Solangi has been appointed as Information Minister.

They swore in Khalil George as the Minister for Minorities. Industrialist Gohar Ijaz assumed the responsibility of the Minister for Industries. Academic Dr. Umar Saif is now the Minister for Information Technology. Ahmad Irfan Aslam took up the position of the Law Minister. Celebrated actor Jamal Shah is now the Minister for Culturem and Aniq Ahmad the Minister for Religious Affairs.
Renowned broadcaster Michael Parkinson, famous for hosting the talk show Parkinson from 1971 to 2007, has passed away at the age of 88. His family shared that he peacefully departed at his home, surrounded by loved ones, following a short illness. Lets delve into his life and achievements.

Parkinson held the reins of his television talk show, Parkinson, in two stints: first from 1971 to 1982, and later from 1998 to 2007. He also ventured into other talk shows and programs, both within the United Kingdom and on the global stage. His talents extended to the radio waves as well.

Beginning his journey as a journalist right after leaving school, he joined local newspapers before progressing to roles such as a features writer for the Manchester Guardian. His path also led him to the Daily Express in London.

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During his two-year National Service starting in July 1955, he attained a commission as an officer in the Royal Army Pay Corps. Notably, he became the youngest captain in the British Army at that time. His service extended to active duty during the Suez Crisis in Egypt, where he worked as a British Army press liaison officer.

In 1971, Parkinson was a candidate for the Rector position at the University of Dundee. The competition was notably close, with the incumbent Peter Ustinov narrowly defeating Parkinson after two recounts. This outcome sparked controversy due to previous indications that Parkinson might have secured victory, prompting debates about the necessity for further confirmation.

An intriguing footnote in his journey was his appearance on the cover of Paul McCartney and Wings 1973 album Band on the Run. McCartney made a deal with Parkinson: he would guest on Parkinsons show if Parkinson graced the album cover. However, McCartneys promise wasnt fulfilled until 1999.

In 2009, Michael Parkinson expressed his discontent with the state of television. He criticized the prevalence of celebrity-hosted shows. He was against oddly titled documentaries, and property-related programs in an interview with Radio Times.

His personal life also took center stage. He married Mary Agnes Heneghan, and the couple raised three children together. During the 1970s, Parkinson championed the cause of birth control. He underwent a vasectomy in 1972 to support his wifes decision to cease taking oral contraceptive pills.

In 2013, Parkinson disclosed that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. However, by 2015, he received the reassuring news of being cancer-free.

On August 16, 2023, Parkinson breathed his last breath at the age of 88 within the comforts of his home. His legacy as a prominent broadcaster and his impactful contributions will continue to reverberate through the years.
US State Department on Thursday (local time) said that Washington is committed to confront terrorism across the world and continues to call for those involved in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks to be brought to justice.

State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel, however, said that the extradition process of Tahawwur Rana  an accused in the 26/11 Mumbai attack  is a pending matter.

So thisas you so note, is a pending extradition matter. And so, given the fact that it is pending, I dont have any specific comment to offerIm just not going to comment on a pending extradition matter. Im sure the Department of Justice can outline the specific steps that are required in an extradition matter, Vedant Patel said during a State Department briefing.

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He further said that the US is committed to confront terrorism across the world.

What I can say is that we are committed to confronting terrorism across the world and we continue to call for those involved in the 2008 Mumbai attacks to be brought to justice, Patel added.

Notably, Union Home Minister Amit Shah during the recently concluded Monsoon session of the Parliament, had said that Tahawwur Rana will face the Indian judiciary soon.

Earlier in May, US envoy to India, Eric Garcetti also stated that the United States Court has given the mandate that the extradition of Tahawwur Rana should occur. He added that it is a sort of collaboration and cooperation where both nations are working together to bring terrorists to justice, and we wont stop.

Rana was arrested in the US on an extradition request by India for his role in the Mumbai attacks in which 10 Pakistani terrorists laid a more than 60-hour siege, attacking and killing over 160 people, including six Americans, at iconic and vital locations in Mumbai.

Indian authorities allege that Rana conspired with his childhood friend David Coleman Headley to assist the Pakistani terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba in orchestrating the terror attacks.

Headley and Rana attended military high school in Pakistan together.

Ranas immigration law centre in Chicago, as well as a satellite office in Mumbai, was allegedly used as a front for their terrorism activities between 2006 and 2008, prosecutors say.

Headley, the master plotter of the 26/11 Mumbai attack, had pleaded guilty and testified against Rana. Rana is fighting extradition by claiming double jeopardy because he was acquitted of Mumbai massacre charges in a Chicago federal courtroom. Rana is arguing that he has already been acquitted of the charges he would face overseas.
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, August 18. Kazakhstan is planning to impose a ban on road and railway imports of wheat, Trend reports.

According to the document published on the the Open Laws and Regulations portal, it is planned to establish a ban on imports of wheat (code of commodity nomenclature of foreign economic activity of the Eurasian Economic Union: 100119; 100199) into the territory of Kazakhstan by road and railway transport from third countries and from the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union.

However, there will be exceptions, such as the importation of wheat by rail to licensed elevators, grain processors and poultry enterprises.

This order is expected to come into force from the date of its official publication. The draft of this order will be available for discussion in the public sphere until September 4.
The Chinese foreign ministry has announced that President Xi Jinping will attend the fifteenth BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) Summit in South Africa.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying announced on Friday that at the invitation of President of the Republic of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa, President Xi Jinping will attend the 15th BRICS Summit to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa and will also pay a State visit to South Africa from August 21 to 24.

While in South Africa, President Xi Jinping will co-chair with President Ramaphosa the China-Africa Leaders Dialogue, Hua Chunying added.

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After his trip to Russia in March, this will be Xis second international trip of 2023. The Chinese president earlier paid a visit to South Africa in 2018 in an effort to strengthen his nations relations with Africa on a political and economic level, Al Jazeera reported.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also travel to South Africa for the BRICS summit.

Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, together known as the BRICS, will gather in Johannesburg next week to explore how to transform the group of countries, which together account for a quarter of the worlds economy, into a geopolitical force that may challenge the developed worlds dominance, the report added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is under fire for Russias invasion of Ukraine, will participate in the summit through video conference.

All of the African governments are represented among the 69 nations that have been invited to the summit in South Africa, and it is expected that expansion of the BRICS group would be a top priority. A number of nations, including Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, and Ethiopia, have expressed interest in formally or informally joining the group.

China has stated that it welcomes more like-minded partners to join the BRICS family at an early date in an effort to increase its geopolitical power amid its continuous conflict with the United States.

Brazil has opposed expansion out of concern that it will diminish the groups prominence, while Russia also favours it, as reported by Al Jazeera.

A Goldman Sachs economist initially used the acronym BRIC to characterise the rise of Brazil, Russia, India, and China in 2001.

These countries had their first summit in person in Russia in 2009, and when South Africa joined the group the following year, they adopted the name BRICS.

BRICS nations account for over 40 per cent of the worlds population and around 26 per cent of the global GDP.
FILE - Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro speaks to the media upon arriving at the airport in Brasilia, Brazil, June 29, 2023. Brazils federal police on Friday, Aug. 11, 2023, alleged Bolsonaro received cash from the sale of two luxury watches he received as gifts from Saudi Arabia while in office.
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, August 18. Kazakhstan is considering switching the oil export route from Novorossiysk to the Baltic port of Ust-Luga in the Leningrad Region in the event that the situation in the Black Sea worsens, stated Deputy General Director of the state-owned company KazTransOil Eric Sagiyev, Trend reports.

"If the situation in the Black Sea worsens, the volumes we send to the port of Sheskharis (Novorossiysk) may be redistributed in favor of the port of Ust-Luga," Sagiev said.

Meanwhile, in 2022, the total volume of Kazakhstan's oil exports amounted to 64.3 million tons. More than 80 percent of the exports were transported via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC). Through this pipeline, the raw materials reach the port of Novorossiysk, where they are loaded onto oil tankers and delivered worldwide. Among the major consumers are Italy, the Netherlands, and France.
Hurricane Hilary is churning off Mexicos Pacific coast as a powerful Category 4 storm threatening to unleash torrential rains on the mudslide-prone border city of Tijuana before heading into Southern California as the first tropical storm there in 84 years
FILE -This image provided by the Meriden, Conn., Police Department shows a kitten that was found in a stolen car that police were examining for evidence, and now they are looking for his owner. Police who found a kitten in a stolen car say they have located the animal's owner: A juvenile suspect who fled and was arrested after the car crashed, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023.
Robert M. Shrum is the director of the Center for the Political Future at the University of Southern California Dornsife and a veteran Democratic political operative who worked on presidential campaigns from George McGovern to John Kerry. He wrote this for InsideSources.com .
Beleaguered ed-tech firm Byju's asked 400 of its employees to voluntarily resign.

According to a Moneycontrol report, the company had placed over 400 employees belonging to the mentoring and product expert division under performance review. Quoting multiple sources, the news outlet said those placed under performance review were asked to leave, on Thursday.

Byju's, however, said only 100 employees were let go.

The company said 100 employees who did not meet expectations were let go as part of a periodical performance review and sought to clarify that this was not a cost-cutting measure.

Employees who were voluntarily asked to resign were offered two months' salary as part of the final settlement.

The employees reportedly told the news outlet that the HR told them that those refusing to resign will be terminated.
In a significant move that underscores the deepening turmoil in China's property sector, Evergrande, once the nation's leading property developer, has filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States. This step comes as the company grapples with an enormous debt burden of over $300 billion and serves as a stark reminder of the broader challenges facing the world's second-largest economy.

The developer has filed for protection under Chapter 15 of the U.S. bankruptcy code. This chapter provides safeguards for non-U.S. companies that are going through restructurings, shielding them from creditors who may attempt to sue them or seize their assets in the United States.

The unfolding crisis

Evergrande's woes began in 2021 when it defaulted on its substantial debts, triggering financial instability and sending shockwaves across global markets. This development highlighted the vulnerabilities within China's property market, which accounts for a substantial portion of the country's economy. The company's struggles exposed a trend of other property developers facing similar issues, leading to a series of defaults, incomplete projects, and plunging sales.

Evergrande's recent filing for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in a New York court is part of one of the most significant debt restructuring efforts globally. This provision allows foreign companies to shield their U.S. assets while they work on reorganising their debts. This procedural step is a reflection of the substantial liabilities Evergrande has amassed and the necessity to navigate U.S. law during the restructuring process.

Evergrande's plan to restructure its offshore debt involves a significant sum of $31.7 billion, which includes various financial obligations such as bonds, collaterals, and repurchase agreements. The company is scheduled to hold a meeting with its creditors later this month to discuss its proposed restructuring plan. Unfortunately, this situation is not unique, as several other Chinese property developers have also defaulted on their offshore debt obligations. These defaults have resulted in unfinished homes, declining sales, and a loss of investor trust, which has had a negative impact on the overall economy of the second-largest economy in the world.

The Evergrande Center of China Evergrande Group is seen in Shanghai | Reuters

Implications for China's economy

Evergrande's bankruptcy filing in the U.S. serves as a stark reminder of the deepening property crisis in China. The move by Evergrande to seek bankruptcy protection on US soil highlights the severity of China's property crisis, which has far-reaching implications for the nation's economy. The property sector, a pillar of China's growth, accounts for a substantial portion of GDP and employment. The ongoing turmoil has been compounded by weakening domestic consumption, sluggish factory activity, rising unemployment, and weakened overseas demand. As a result, economists and global markets are closely monitoring the developments, with concerns that China's growth projections may fall short.

The turbulence within China's property sector has reverberated across global financial markets. Anxiety about the health of the Chinese economy, coupled with uncertainties about the effectiveness of government measures to stabilize the property market, has led to market fluctuations. Asian shares have been facing multiple weeks of losses, while major financial institutions have revised China's growth forecasts downward, reflecting the prevailing apprehension.

China's central bank has responded by signaling its intention to adjust and optimize property policies in an attempt to address the deepening property market crisis. The government's efforts to manage the situation and prevent further contagion risks are crucial to stabilize the economy. As some of China's largest property developers struggle to complete projects and manage their debts, the implications for the industry's supply chain, housing market, and overall economic health are substantial.

The company's struggles have cast a spotlight on the broader vulnerabilities within the nation's property sector and its significant role in the overall economy. As China navigates this complex challenge, both domestically and in the global economic landscape, close attention will be paid to the government's responses and the impact on financial markets and economic growth.

Morgan Stanley recently joined other prominent global brokerages in revising down its growth forecast for China this year. The new forecast predicts China's gross domestic product (GDP) to grow by 4.7%, down from the previous estimate of 5%. China has set a target of 5% annual growth for this year, but economists are increasingly warning that without additional support measures from Beijing, China may fall short of this goal.
A post office at Bengaluru's Cambridge Layout is making news today after Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed it as an example of India's self-reliance. Inaugurated by Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday, this is India's fist 3D-printed post office building.

With a built-up area of 1,021 square feet, the building was constructed by Larsen and Toubro, with technical guidance from IIT Madras. The construction was carried out over a span of 45 days, for a cost of Rs 23 lakh, Moneycontrol reported.

3D printing technology helps reduce the time and cost for construction, making it a viable alternative to conventional techniques. Using this technology to print buildings can save costs upto 30 per cent when compared to traditional construction technology, experts say.

The spirit of Aatmanirbhar Bharat!

Indias first 3D printed Post Office.



Cambridge Layout, Bengaluru pic.twitter.com/57FQFQZZ1b  Ashwini Vaishnaw (@AshwiniVaishnaw) August 18, 2023

Speaking after the inauguration, Vaishnaw, who holds the Railways, Communications, Electronics and IT portfolios, said the state-of-the-art building used 3D concrete printing technology, which is a fully automated building construction technology where a robotic printer deposits the concrete layer-by-layer as per the approved design. Special grade concrete that hardens quickly is used to ensure bonding between the layers to print the structure.

He added that the spirit of development, the spirit of developing our own technology, the spirit of doing something which was considered impossible in the earlier times.

Every Indian would be proud to see India's first 3D printed Post Office at Cambridge Layout, Bengaluru. A testament to our nation's innovation and progress, it also embodies the spirit of a self-reliant India. Compliments to those who have worked hard in ensuring the Post pic.twitter.com/Y4TrW4nEhZ  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 18, 2023

The Union minister lauded IIT Madras for the guidance and hoped the technology becomes mainstream.

Modi, too, posted a note of appreciation on X and said the post office building is a 'testament of our nation's innovation'.

According to reports, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurated India's first 3D-printed house, on the campus of IIT Madras in 2021. Built by the IIT's startup Tvasta, the house included a bedroom, kitchen and living room.
All the passengers of a Delhi-Pune Vistara aircraft were deboarded at the Delhi airport after a call centre received a bomb threat. A GMR centre-run call centre in Gurugram received the threat for the flight that was scheduled to depart Friday morning.

Search operations are on and all passengers are currently in the terminal building, ANI reported.

As per procedure, the flight cannot be rescheduled until the security agencies give clearance. So far, no suspicious item has been found on board as authorities inspect the aircraft in the isolation bay, officials told ANI.

-more details awaited
Artificial intelligence is changing the manner in which healthcare is being perceived. Its use, though limited in traditional medicine, is picking up where it can help in predictive analytics and patient analysis.



Though AI is proving to be an invaluable tool in the field of healthcare, experts also sound a word of caution. Ayush Ministry Secretary Rajesh Kotecha said, While AI in healthcare and traditional medicine holds great promise, there are many ethical, legal and social issues that need to be addressed, such as privacy, bias and inclusivity. Kotecha highlighted the manner in which the ministry was focusing on building the Ayush Grid, the comprehensive IT backbone. He emphasized the importance of the National Digital Health ecosystem via Namaste Portal and how '@moayush' is working to make it ICD11 compliant. He was speaking during the two-day conference on traditional medicine which concluded here in Gandhinagar.

The conference looked at opportunities for advancing traditional medicine (TM) in a scientific and evidence-based manner and to understand the use of new technology and emerging digital capabilities, regulatory issues, integrating it with the mainstream medical stream for overall health. With the WHO anchoring the conference, the focus is back on TM as people are increasingly relying on traditional and native medicine to deal with lifestyle diseases. Health experts, academicians, government officials and ministers spoke about best practices in the field and exchanged notes on replicating good models in their countries.

Dr Vinod Paul of NITI Aayog addressed the audience on the needs, opportunities and ways of establishing integrative medicine in a pluralistic healthcare society. India has a long tradition of traditional medicine curated by revered sages. A plethora of traditional medicine systems have existed since time immemorial like Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa and Homeopathy. Today, India has a vibrant healthcare system with 789 Ayush colleges, training institutes, hospitals and clinics. Noting that Ayurveda is practised in 93 countries today but is recognised in 18 countries only, he urged that leaders, academics and practitioners in traditional medicine should be trained in modern research methodology.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also addressed the gathering at the interphase session between the G20 health Ministers and traditional medicine conference. He welcomed all the dignitaries to India and his home state of Gujarat on behalf of the 1.4 billion people of India, the 2.1 million doctors, 3.5 million nurses, 1.3 million paramedics, 1.6 million pharmacists and millions of others involved in the health care sector in India.

Modi lauded Indias National Telemedicine Service, e-Sanjivani, for facilitating 140 million Telehealth consultations to date. He added that India has also successfully facilitated the largest vaccination drive in human history and delivered more than 2.2 billion fraction doses.

The Prime Minister underlined that the Covid-19 pandemic has reminded us that health should be at the centre of our decisions. He said that time also showed us the value of international cooperation, whether in medicine and vaccine deliveries or in bringing our people back home.

Highlighting Government of Indias humanitarian initiative to provide COVID-19 vaccine to the world, the Prime Minister said under the Vaccine Maitri initiative, India delivered 300 million vaccine doses to more than 100 countries, including many in the Global South.

Calling resilience one of the biggest lessons during the pandemic, Modi said global health systems should be resilient. We must be ready to prevent, prepare, and respond to the next health emergency. This is especially important in today's interconnected world. As we saw during the pandemic, health issues in one part of the world can affect all other parts of the world in a very short time.

In India, we are following a holistic and inclusive approach, Modi added. He said, We are expanding health infrastructure, promoting traditional systems of medicine, and providing affordable healthcare to all. The global celebration of the International Day of Yoga is a testament to the universal desire for holistic health. This year, 2023, is being marked as the International Year of Millets. Millets or Shri anna as they are known in India, have several health benefits.

Addressing the gathering, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General asserted that traditional medicine has its own intrinsic value. It has been practised around the world for millennia. The closer we come to the cutting age of medical science, the more we can learn from other traditions, he said.

Union Minister of Ayush, Sarbananda Sonowal, stated, "India has the potential to set the world healthcare sector with a more holistic approach towards healthy lifestyle practises and we can lead the world with a comprehensive wellness solution. The credit for the promotion and dissemination of traditional medicine is due to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sonowal added, The Ministry of Ayush is committed to realizing the Prime Minister's vision of integrating traditional medicine, a reality for the country.

Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya also praised WHO's efforts in traditional medicine stating that it will benefit global health. Integration of traditional medicine with modern medicine would contribute to advancing the health system attributes related to quality, efficiency, equity, accountability, sustainability and resilience, Mandaviya said.

He highlighted that during the COVID-19 crisis, traditional medicines had played a very important role through scientific and evidence-based medicines in terms of preventive, therapeutic and public health management. Ministry of Health and the Ministry of AYUSH work closely to integrate, endorse, and develop holistic health, including through availability of traditional medicines and yoga in 150,000+ Health and Wellness Centres and by establishing centres of integrated medicines in our tertiary hospitals, he stated.

As there is a push for integration of traditional medicine with the mainstream medicine, Prof Bhushan Patwardhan of Savitribai Phule Pune University said, Traditional medicine plus conventional medicine is tomorrow's modern medicine.
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, August 18. Asian Development Bank's (ADB) assistance in the fields of education and healthcare will play a crucial role in fostering Uzbekistan's human capital in 2023, Trend reports.

As evident from the latest fact sheet published by the bank, in response to the government's appeal, approximately $200 million is anticipated to be designated for initiatives within these two domains.

Furthermore, during 2023, ADB has intentions to undertake a fresh endeavor centered around science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in secondary schools, aimed at equipping students with pertinent proficiencies for success in a dynamic and diverse job market.

Additionally, the bank is actively engaged in developing a novel healthcare project that seeks to enhance perinatal care by modernizing over 230 perinatal centers across Uzbekistan.

ADB's ongoing efforts will encompass enhancing intelligent water management, boosting energy efficiency, and refining public sector administration within the country. At the same time, it will persist in offering guidance for public-private partnerships and facilitating private sector investments.

In 2022, ADB committed 5 new public sector projects and programs for just over $1 billion to Uzbekistan. Up until now, ADB has pledged a sum of $11.5 billion for 240 public sector loans, grants, and technical support initiatives in Uzbekistan. The accumulated disbursements from these loans in Uzbekistan reach a figure of $7.69 billion. These funds were sourced from both standard and concessional ordinary capital resources, as well as other designated funds. ADB's existing roster of sovereign commitments in Uzbekistan encompasses 32 loans, 1 grant, and 1 sovereign guarantee, collectively valued at $5.06 billion.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday challenged the bail granted to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) President and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav in Supreme Court.

The court is set to hear the petition on August 25.

Yadav was granted bail by Jharkhand High Court in the fodder scam case. While, CBI has challenged bail granted to him in four cases relating to fodder scam involving Dumka, Chaibasa, Doranda and Deogarh treasuries.

Lalu and another former Bihar chief minister, Jagannath Mishra, had been accused along with 20 others of illegally withdrawing nearly Rs 90 lakh from the Deoghar treasury between 1991 and 1994. Later, Mishra was acquitted in the case.

The first charge-sheet in the scam was filed in October 1997. Lalu was convicted in 2017.

In another scam case, central investigating agencies alleged that people were given employment in the Indian Railways from 2004-2009, when he was the railway minister. The investigation in the Railway recruitment scam is presently ongoing.
The debate on draconian laws has picked up steam with human rights lawyers and activists claiming that the new penal code provisions under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 on terror charges, bail provisions, police custody and powers of search and seizure need to have wider consultations before they become a law.

Colin Gonsalves, senior advocate in Supreme Court and cofounder of Human Rights Law Network said that the CrPC, which had its roots in the British era, was modified in Independent India to protect the rights of citizens but the arrests of activists, journalists and those protesting against the government policies under stringent laws like the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) or sedition and other charges under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) demonstrated the misuse of the laws over the years.

The need to bring in checks and balances before rolling out the revised laws is being stressed by a cross section of civil society activists who feel that measures like defining terrorism under the BNS (IPC) or plea bargain provisions can be misused or wrongfully invoked if it is made available under the regular penal provisions.

Gonsalves said that if the powers of search and seizures are transferred from the judicial magistrate to the executive magistrate, then the law has the potential of becoming more draconian as it gives the representative of the executive more power to interfere with crackdowns on publications and writers or activists leading to arrests and longer jail terms.



The complex investigations and trials of UAPA accused like Stan Swamy for his alleged role in the Bhima Koregaon case raised many questions on discretion behind arrests, slapping of terror charges, rights of arrested accused, bail provisions and remission of sentences.

The spotlight is now on the new laws proposed by the government to bring justice to citizens without infringing on their right to life and liberty.

Vipul Mudgal , director of Common Cause, said there has to be enough public consultation and detailed deliberations with all stakeholders, civil society, legal experts, and political parties across the board. Parliament should also spend enough time deliberating these through the parliamentary committee system outside of the drafting committee. The drafts need to be placed in the public domain and relevant websites proactively inviting comments.
A journalist was shot dead by unidentified people in Araria district of Bihar early on Friday, police said.



Vimal Kumar Yadav (35), who worked for a Hindi daily, was killed at his residence in Premnagar village.

"The assailants knocked at the gates of Yadav's house around 5.30 am and opened fire as soon as he opened the gates," the Bihar Police tweeted.

Yadav died on the spot, where the district police chief and the SHO of Raniganj, the police station concerned, rushed upon hearing the news.

"The body has been sent for post-mortem examination. An investigation is underway. Forensic experts and the dog squad have been called in. The deceased was said to be involved in an old dispute with a neighbour. All angles are being probed into," said Ashok Kumar Singh, the Superintendent of Police for Araria.

When journalists approached Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Patna with queries about the incident, he said, "I felt really sad and immediately asked officials concerned to look into the incident".

"The matter is being probed and the culprits will be brought to book," asserted the CM.

However, the opposition lashed out at the government and claimed the incident showed "democracy is in danger in Bihar".

"Criminals are roaming freely while innocent citizens, including journalists, and even police personnel are being killed in Bihar," alleged state BJP president Samrat Choudhary.

"What has happened in Araria is, indeed, tragic. But such incidents have become the norm since the 'ghamandia' (arrogant) Mahagathbandhan led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad formed the government in the state," said the BJP leader whose party shared power in the stage till a year ago.

Former Lok Janshakti Party president Chirag Paswan, who has realigned with the BJP-led NDA, said, "Nitish Kumar and his allies keep shouting that democracy is under attack in Bihar. But they are unable to protect the fourth estate."

Referring to the killing of a police officer recently in Samastipur, Paswan said, "The common Bihari gave up all hopes from Nitish Kumar long back. But his government cannot protect even the police and the press."
Former minister and senior NCP leader Nawab Malik is a much sought after man. Ever since he has been granted bail for two months, leaders from both factions of the Nationalist Congress Party are queuing up to meet Malik at his residence in Kurla, a central suburb of Mumbai. Both Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar want him to be part of their group and hence their factions are leaving no stone unturned to woo Nawab Malik.



Malik has spent more than one and half years in prison following his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate. He was in a city hospital undergoing treatment for his kidney ailment. A couple of days after he got bail on medical grounds, Malik, who has lost almost 15-16 kilos, returned to his home. Since then many leaders from both NCP factions have paid a visit to him.

Among the first to visit was Sharad Pawars daughter and Baramati MP Supriya Sule. Then came the turn of Ajit Pawar, Dilip Walse Patil and Sunil Tatkare, all of them from Ajit Pawar group. Praful Patel too met him. Jayant Patil, Anil Deshmukh and Jitendra Awhad, all from Sharad Pawar faction, also spoke to him over the telephone. All these were courtesy visits and get well soon calls, claimed the leaders. The real purpose, however, was to assess which way would Malik go? Ajits or Pawar seniors.

Malik is likely to meet Sharad Pawar soon. Pawar senior has already spoken to him to inquire about his health on a couple of occasions after Malik came out of prison.

So far, Malik has not given any indication. He has just told all leaders that he will remain a true NCP activist. Malik is likely to open his mind in his meeting with Pawar when it happens.

It is reliably learnt that Malik may not join Ajit Pawar faction as that will not go well with his supporter base in his assembly constituency. A large number of his supporters are Muslims and they will not like Malik joining hands with BJP under the leadership of Ajit Pawar. Another aspect is that Malik has already spent considerable time in prison, so the factor of fear of ED action will not work with him. Like Anil Deshmukh, who also spent more than a year in prison, who is with Sharad Pawar group, Malik too would not like to desert Pawar as he is the only minority community mass leader from Mumbai who was groomed by Pawar ever since he joined NCP after leaving Samajwadi Party.

Another factor is that MLAs from Maliks neighbouring constituencies- Dilip Lande and Mangesh Kudalkar- belong to Shiv Sena and they have joined the Eknath Shinde faction. So upset loyalists of Uddhav Thackeray in this part of Mumbai are likely to rally behind Malik and this will add to his support base at the time of elections. On the other hand, if he joins hands with Ajit Pawar, Malik could lose the support of Uddhav loyalist Shiv Sainiks and also his core support base of Muslim voters.

Maliks daughter who has been interacting with media on her fathers behalf is not making any political comments. She has merely said that her fathers health is improving and their familys sole concern was his health. So, it would be interesting to see how Malik plays his cards in the coming days.
"Kaanam vittum onam unnanam," a Malayalam saying that translates to 'Enjoy Onam even if you have to sell your property,' is being practically implemented by the Kerala government during this Onam season to address the current financial crisis.



The state government's maximum permissible debt limit for the year stands at Rs 20,521 crore. Initially, the Union government had directed the state to restrict borrowing to Rs 15,390 crore by the end of December. However, this deadline was later lifted by the Union government. Consequently, the state government has already borrowed Rs 16,500 crore. In the upcoming week, an additional Rs 2,000 crore will be borrowed to manage Onam-related expenses. As a result, the state will be left with a debt ceiling of only Rs 2,201 crore for the remaining seven months of the fiscal year, necessitating careful financial management.



During a recent interaction with representatives from Manorama and THE WEEK, Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal highlighted that despite the challenging circumstances, the government will not overly restrict Onam-related expenditures. He said, "Nevertheless, there is a shortage of funds. We are nearly reaching our borrowing limit. It is important for the public to understand the reasons behind this situation."



Balagopal said the current crisis for this year was foreseen. "Previously, we had the authorisation to borrow up to five per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). However, this limit has now been reduced to three per cent, resulting in a loss of Rs 15,000 crore for the state. It is important to note that the Union government is permitted to borrow 6.5 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a loan. Additionally, there was a loss of approximately Rs 9,000 crore due to the reduction in the state's fiscal deficit grant. Moreover, the GST compensation was halted, and loans obtained through KIIFB were brought under the state government's borrowing constraints. All of these factors combined have led to a shortfall of Rs 40,000 crore in the state's financial resources."



Each year, the state government typically encounters a minor crisis following Onam due to expenditures amounting to Rs 8,000 to Rs 9,000 crore. However, this year's situation is notably more severe. Interestingly, this scenario unfolds as the Kerala government boasts the highest-ever tax and non-tax revenue collection in its history. "In 2021, the combined tax and non-tax revenue of the state amounted to Rs 45,000 crore. By 2023, this figure had risen to Rs 70,000 crore. I am uncertain whether any other state has achieved such a remarkable accomplishment," stated the minister.



A potential solution lies in the state securing a special package from the Union government to navigate the period following Onam. In the preceding week, the finance minister met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, seeking an allowance of an "ad hoc borrowing increase" of one per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) above the established borrowing limit for this fiscal year. Additionally, Balagopal appealed to Sitharaman for the urgent release of various pending grants and arrears by the Union government.



For the fiscal year 2022-23, the state has been allocated 265 crore under the 'Million-Plus Cities' fund; however, an outstanding balance of 51.55 crore remains unsettled. Similarly, there exists an outstanding reimbursement of 521.95 crore which the state is yet to receive, pertaining to the Central share in the Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme, the Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme, and the Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme. An additional amount of Rs 371.36 crore in health grant for the year 2021-22 is also pending.



Furthermore, the Union government is indebted to the state for an amount of 750.93 crore in relation to the implementation of the 7th UGC Pay Revision. In addition, the state is eligible to obtain 1,925 crore under Part I of the Scheme for Special Assistance to States for capital investments in the fiscal year 2023-24. Kerala has formally requested the Centre to expedite the disbursement of the initial installment.



Interestingly, on Friday, the state's finance minister criticised the UDF, asserting that UDF MPs are not collaborating with the state government in advocating for the state's rightful share from the Union government. He expressed his disappointment that not a single UDF MP from the state was willing to sign the memorandum intended for submission to the Union finance minister.



During a recent gathering of MPs organised by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Congress MPs affirmed their unwavering commitment to unite and safeguard the state's interests, according to Balagopal's statement. Surprisingly, despite this assurance, neither the 18 Lok Sabha MPs from the UDF nor their counterparts in the Rajya Sabha joined us in meeting Sitharaman to provide her with insights into the state's financial standings. It appears that that the UDF MPs share the BJP's interest in trying to impose economic sanctions on Kerala, he alleged.



Nevertheless, he maintains an optimistic outlook, believing that the state's financial situation will eventually see improvement. Ultimately, the spirit of Onam also embodies optimism!
The newly-appointed Uttar Pradesh unit chief of the Congress, Ajay Rai, said on Friday that the party's Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi will contest from Amethi in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in 2024.

In the 2019 general elections, Smriti Irani dealt a heavy blow to Gandhi when she defeated him by a margin of over 50,000 votes. The Congress leader had contested from Amethi and Wayanad then.

On Irani's remark that Gandhi will not return to Amethi, which was once the Gandhi family pocket-borough, Rai said the BJP leader had failed to keep her promise of making sugar available at 13 per kilo. "She must answer to the public where did that sugar go," he added.

If Gandhi decides to contest from Amethi, he will once again face Irani who had dared him to come back to fight against her. Heard you (Rahul Gandhi) have announced to contest from Amethi in 2024 from one of your provincial leaders in an indecent manner. So, should I take it as certain that you would contest from Amethi? Wont run away to another seat? Wont get scared?," she had said in a tweet in December.

Rai said Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi can contest from wherever she likes, when asked if she would be contesting from Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency.

Rai had contested from Varanasi in 2019 and 2014 against Narendra Modi and lost. There were speculations that Priyanka Gandhi would be contesting from Varanasi against Modi in 2019.
Rescue operations continue at Summer Hill in Shimla where a temple collapsed on Monday, killing 14 so far. Eight more people are feared buried in the temple debris.

However, the rescue operations will be at the mercy of the weather, which remains unpredictable on Friday morning. There were light showers at some places on Thursday. The Indian Meterological Department (IMD) predicts more showers on Friday. A yellow alert is in place for heavy rain from August 19 to 25. During the last 24 hours, 60 mm of rainfall has been recorded in Mandi, 24 in Nagrota and 23 mm in Dalhousie.



#WATCH | Himachal Pradesh: Search & rescue operation underway at the landslide-affected areas of Shimla.



(Visuals from Summer Hill Area) pic.twitter.com/aOjTfpHjmA  ANI (@ANI) August 18, 2023

The death toll touched 74 on Thursday, while over 217 people died since the onset of the monsoon on June 24.



Meanwhile, a cloudburst has been reported from Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Friday morning. "The Pranmati River is in spate and the administration had already alerted people in that area. There are no reports of casualities or damage till now," Chamoli District Magistrate Himanshu Khurana told ANI.



Many areas of Kaluwala in Dehradun was inundated due to heavy rains. The SDRF immediately reached the spot and rescue work is being carried out.



Punjab



Over 300 people were rescued from inundated villages in Punjab's Kapurthala by the Army and the NDRF team on Thursday. Over 22 villages have been affected after Beas river spilled over due to release of excess water from Bhakra Dam.



Some parts of Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur and Rupnagar and Kapurthala districts were submerged following the release of excess water from Pong and Bhakra dams this week.



Officials expect the situation would improve by Friday. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann toured the flood affected areas of Hoshiarpur district in a boat to take stock of the situation. He said the government has ordered a survey to take stock of the losses and the entire government machinery is at disposal of people. "The government will compensate the people even if they had lost a hen or a goat due to the floods. There is no need for people to panic as the state government is there to extend all help to those affected," Mann told people.



The flood situation in Rupnagar district remained grim as more water was being released into the Sutlej river from Bhakra Dam.


The Supreme Court on Friday held Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and former MP Prabhunath Singh guilty in the 1995 double murder case. SC has reversed Patna High Court's order of acquittal.

We set aside the impunged order of the Patna high court and convict respondent no 2...Prabhunath Singh, under Section 302 (murder) for the murders of Daroga Rai and Rajendra Rai, read the court judgment.

We direct the home secretary of Bihar and the director general of police of the state to arrest Prabhunath Singh and produce him before this court in custody on the next date of hearing to be heard on (the) argument of (the) sentence, the judgment was quoted by HT.

The court affirmed the acquittal of six other co-accused and next date for sentence pronouncing has been fixed on September 1.

In 2017, Singh was found guilty in connection with 1995 murder of legislator Ashok Singh, who defeated him in the Bihar assembly poll.

A bench of justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, A.S. Oka and Vikram Nath convicted Prabhunath Singh, a three-term Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) and one-time RJD MP from Maharajganj, in the double murder case saying there is sufficient evidence to show he murdered the duo near a polling booth in Chhapra in March 1995.

The Patna HC transferred the case from Chhapra after the kin of those killed alleged that witnesses were being threatened and influenced. A Patna court in December 2008 acquitted Singh citing lack of evidence. It was upheld by the Patna HC as well in 2012.

However, Rajendra Rai's brother challenged the acquittal in the Supreme Court.
Just as a US court denied the writ of habeas corpus filed by the 2008 Mumbai attack case accused Tahawwur Rana against extradition to India, the US has refused to comment on the situation, calling it a "pending matter."

US State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters on Thursday that "he didn't have any specific comment to offer" on the Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman extradition. Patel was responding to reporters' query on whether Rana's lawyers wrote to the State Department seeking to deny surrender certification.



Since the US Court denied the writ of habeas corpus filed by Rana challenging a court order that acceded to the request of the US government that he be extradited to India, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken can now issue a certification for him to be extradited to India where he is facing a trial. However, just after his plea was rejected, Rana filed an appeal against the order and sought a stay on his extradition to India till his appeal is heard.



Patel, however, clarified that the US was "committed to confronting terrorism across the world and continue to call for those involved in the 2008 Mumbai attacks to be brought to justice."



The centre's move to extradite Rana gained pace in June when the Biden administration urged the court to deny the writ of habeas corpus filed by Rana. In his submission to the US Court on June 23, the US attorney argued that Ranas claims about the legitimacy of his business in Mumbai fell flat and said that Rana received a warning before the attacks does not preclude a finding of probable cause.



Notably, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, during the recently concluded Monsoon session of the Parliament, had said that Tahawwur Rana "will face the Indian judiciary soon".



In May, US envoy to India, Eric Garcetti also stated that the United States Court has given the mandate that the extradition of Tahawwur Rana should occur.



As per Indian authorities, Rana conspired with his childhood friend David Coleman Headley to assist the Pakistani terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba in orchestrating the attacks. Prosecutors claim Ranas immigration law centre in Chicago, as well as a satellite office in Mumbai, was allegedly used as a front for their terrorism activities between 2006 and 2008.



Headley, the master plotter of the 26/11 Mumbai attack, had pleaded guilty and testified against Rana.



However, as per Rana's argument, he has been tried and acquitted in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois for charges based on the identical conduct for which India seeks to prosecute him. He argued that extradition is, therefore, barred.



His second argument was that the material submitted by the government of India fail to establish probable cause that he committed the offences.


Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, on Thursday, said that the country would be willing to use nuclear weapons in the face of foreign aggression. Lukashenko said, as tensions rise around the countrys borders with NATO nations, Belarus would employ the weapons supplied to them by close ally Russia, CNN reported.



He also said that Belarus wouldn't engage in the war unless Ukrainians crossed its border adding that Putin wasn't pushing Belarus into joining the war in Ukraine. At the beginning of the war, Russia used Belarus as one of its launch pads for the invasion of Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had said that Russia had delivered nuclear warheads to Belarus in June for deterrence. We will keep helping Russia, they are our ally, he told in an interview with state news agency Belta. US and Western officials haven't publicly confirmed if any weapons have been transferred. Nor is it clear as to how much arsenal has been transported.

We didnt bring nuclear weapons here in order to scare someone, Lukashenko said. Yes, nuclear weapons represent a strong deterring factor. But these are tactical nuclear weapons, not strategic ones. This is why we will use them immediately once aggression is launched against us, he added.

He also said that Kyiv and Moscow should address all issues including the future of Crimea and other Russia-claimed territories in Ukraine.

The president also said that were direct contacts between Kyiv and Minsk, where, topics discussed included potential Belarus involvement in the war on Russias side, potential use of nuclear weapons and Wagner Group mercenaries, now stationed in Belarus. But, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had put a halt to it.

In recent weeks, there have been reports of Wagner troops moving toward the border between Poland and Lithuania; Poland recently announced it would move around 10,000 Wagner troops to its border with Belarus, CNN reported.
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, August 17. Uzbekistan has abolished the post of the Head of Presidential Administration, Trend reports.

The corresponding decree was signed by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

By the decree, Sardor Umurzakov was dismissed from the post of Chief of Staff and appointed to the post of Adviser to the President on special assignments.

According to the same decree, Sunatulla Bekenov was dismissed from the post of assistant to the head of the Presidential Administration.

At the same time, Furkat Rakhimov was dismissed from the post of head of the sector for the preparation of analytical materials and coordination of the activities of administrative divisions of the executive office of the administration.
Pakistani police have arrested two prime suspects involved in the unprecedented attacks on 21 churches and nearly three dozen homes of the minority Christian community over blasphemy allegations, Punjab caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi has said.



He praised the efforts of the Punjab chief secretary and inspector general of police, saying both of them played a key role in ensuring the arrests of the key suspects.

An enraged mob ransacked and torched 21 churches and 35 homes of Christians on Wednesday over blasphemy allegations in Jaranwala town of Faisalabad district, 130 km from Punjab's provincial capital Lahore.

"Major breakthrough in the Jaranwala incident-- both main accused now in CTD Custody. Appreciation for Chief Secretary Punjab and IG Punjab for their relentless efforts...," Naqvi posted on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday.

In a separate post on Friday, he wrote that mosques across Pakistan's Punjab province will have Friday sermons focussing on the rights of minorities.

"Today Friday's sermons across Punjab will focus on the Rights of Minorities, teachings from the Holy Quran and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)," he said.

"Amid challenging times, let's emphasise that such incidents should not be coloured by religion. Interfaith harmony is among the basic teachings of Islam. Grateful to religious scholars for their patience and support in unmasking those seeking to disrupt our nation's peace," he said.

Punjab police arrested at least 140 people and registered five cases on Thursday, a day after the violence broke out.

Among those arrested by the police include the main suspect Muhammad Yasin, identified through a video in which he was seen making an announcement on loudspeakers of mosques to incite Muslims against the religious minority.

The members of the extremist group Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) were also among those arrested in connection with the violence.

The Jaranwala incident evoked widespread condemnation, with national leaders and international organisations calling for justice for the people whose homes and places of worship were ransacked and destroyed.

Army chief General Asim Munir on Thursday termed the incident "extremely tragic and totally intolerable" and pledged that perpetrators involved in the attacks will be brought to justice.

"There is no space for such incidents of intolerance and extreme behaviour by any segment of the society against anyone, particularly against minorities," he was quoted as saying by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) - the media wing of the army.

US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters that his country was "deeply concerned" over the targetting of churches and homes in response to reported Quran desecration in Pakistan.

"We urge Pakistani authorities to conduct a full investigation into these allegations and call for calm," he said.

Senior cleric and Islamic scholar Mufti Taqi Usmani termed the targeting of the community "shameful for the whole nation", Geo News reported.

"The shameful incident in jarhanwala is highly condemnable. If someone has committed an unlawful act, no one is authorised to take law in his hand and burn the church or assault any peaceful Christian citizen. This is totally against the basic and classic Islamic teachings and is tantamount to deface Islam and Muslims. The government should take action against it," he posted on X.

Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) Chairman Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi apologised for the Jaranwala violence and reaffirmed the commitment to protect our Christian brothers, the Dawn newspaper reported.

We are ashamed. We failed to fulfil our responsibility as an elder brother we seek forgiveness, he said at a press conference here.

Amnesty International, in its statement, has demanded that the authorities must ensure [the] protection of the minority Christian community.

Rehab Mahamoor, the interim regional researcher for South Asia at Amnesty International, said the authorities should also ensure that those responsible for the arson and attacks on Churches and homes are held accountable.

Blasphemy is a sensitive issue in Pakistan, where anyone deemed to have insulted Islam or Islamic figures can face the death penalty. Often an accusation can cause riots and incite mobs to violence, lynching and killings.

According to the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), till August 16, 2023, around 198 persons have been accused of blasphemy, 85 per cent of them Muslims, 9 per cent Ahmadis and 4.4 per cent Christians.

It said Punjab province recorded over 75 per cent of the abuse of blasphemy laws cases in the past 36 years.

The aggregate accused comprises 52 per cent of minorities despite their share (3.52 per cent) in the population of Pakistan, the CSJ posted on X.

Minorities including Christians and Hindus have been frequently subjected to blasphemy allegations and some tried and even sentenced under blasphemy in Pakistan.
Ukraine is all set to get long-awaited F-16 fighter jets as the United States on Friday agreed to an international coalition's proposal to deliver the aircraft to the war-torn country. However, it is still unclear when the transfer would materialise.



According to officials, Ukrainian pilots would have to undergo a six-month training on the fighter jets. In a guarantee letter, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the countries had the full support of the US for the transfer of the aircraft and for training the pilots. I am writing to express the United States full support for both the transfer of F-16 fighter aircraft to Ukraine and for the training of Ukrainian pilots by qualified F-16 instructors, The Guardian reported quoting Blinken. It remains critical that Ukraine is able to defend itself against ongoing Russian aggression and violation of its sovereignty, Blinken said.

Washington's blessing for the plane donations to other countries is needed because the aircraft are made in the United States.

However, according to reports, fighter jets won't have an impact any time soon on the almost 18-month war. Ukraine has long pleaded for the sophisticated fighter to give it a combat edge. It recently launched a long-anticipated counteroffensive against the Kremlin's forces without air cover, placing its troops at the mercy of Russian aviation and artillery.

Ukrainian forces supporting infantry are using decades-old Soviet-era models, which are vulnerable to air-to-air missile attacks from Russian fighter jets, Captain Yevgen Rakita, a spokesman for the 18th Army Aviation Brigade, told The Associated Press. A modern war cannot be won without aviation (capabilities), Rakita said.

Danish Defence Minister Jakob Ellemann-Jensen said Friday the training of Ukrainian pilots is starting this month.

A coalition of 11 Western countries - the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden and the United Kingdom - pledged in July to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16s. Officials have previously said that Ukrainian pilots will need six to eight months of training.

Denmark will hand over some of its F-16s only after receiving its new F-35 jet fighters. The first four F-35s are due to be delivered on October 1.

President Joe Biden's authorisation last May for allies to train Ukrainian forces on how to operate the warplanes, and eventually to provide the aircraft themselves, was preceded by months of debate in Washington and quiet talks with allies, officials said.

The administration had concerns that the move might escalate tensions with Russia. Also, US officials argued that learning to fly and logistically support the advanced F-16 would be difficult. Eventually, the go-ahead came because the F-16s are required for Ukraine's long-term security needs.

Ukraine has been relying on older aircraft, such as Russian-made MiG29 and Sukhoi jets. F-16s have newer technology and targeting capabilities. They are also more versatile, experts say.

A spokesperson of Ukraine's air force on Thursday said Ukraine will not be able to operate the advanced aircraft in the coming autumn and winter. Yuriy Ihnat, an Ukrainian Air Fforce spokesperson said, We had big hopes for this plane, that it will become part of air defence, able to protect us from Russia's missiles and drones terrorism," Reuters reported.

(With PTI inputs.)
West African military chiefs met on Thursday to discuss details of a possible military intervention if diplomacy fails to reverse the military coup. Niger's military leaders, on July 26, ousted the country's democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum.



Bazoum has been under house arrest with his wife and son in the capital, Niamey. On July 30, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) issued an ultimatum to restore Bazoum in seven days or face the potential use of force. The military leaders, however, did not cede. Neither did the West African nations intervene using force.

This is the first the bloc is meeting since it ordered the deployment of a standby force last week to restore constitutional rule in the country. The troops would include several thousand soldiers from Nigeria, Senegal, Ivory Coast and Benin. It isn't clear when the force would intervene. They could take weeks or months to prepare, experts say.

ECOWASs commissioner for political affairs, peace and security, Abdel-Fatau Musah, on Thursday, accused Nigers military junta of refusing to meet envoys of the bloc. He also said that military intervention remained on the table, but was a last resort should diplomatic efforts fail.

ECOWAS has a poor track record in stemming the regions rampant coups: neighbouring Burkina Faso and Mali have each had two within three years, AP reported. Post the coup in Niger, ECOWAS imposed severe travel and economic sanctions on the country, which the military junta called inhuman.

If push comes to shove we are going into Niger with our own contingents and equipment and our own resources to make sure we restore constitutional order. If other democratic partners want to support us they are welcome, Musah told the Guardian.
Mushaal Hussein Mullick, wife of jailed Kashmiri separatist Yasin Malik has been appointed special adviser to Pakistan's caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar. She will be a special adviser to PM Kakar on human rights and women's empowerment. The appointment was among the five Special Advisers to Prime Minister (SAPM), who were appointed on Thursday along with the 19-member cabinet at Aiwan-e-Sadr, the presidential house.



Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Yasin married Pakistani artist Mushaal in Rawalpindi in 2009. The two met while Yasin was on a tour of Pakistan in 2005. He was gathering support for his signature campaign in support of the Kashmiri movement.

Mushaal and her daughter reside in Islamabad. Born in 1985, Mushaal is a graduate of the London School of Economics. Mushaal's mother Rehana Hussein Mullick has served as a secretary general of Pakistan Muslim Leagues womens wing. Her father M A Hussein, an economics professor, was the first Pakistani member of a Nobel Prize jury.

Her sister Sabien Hussein Mullick is a social worker and her brother Haider Ali Hussein Mullick is a lecturer at the Naval Post Graduate School in California.

Yasin was sentenced to life imprisonment by a trial court in a terror funding case in May 2022 and is currently serving his sentence in Tihar Jail in Delhi. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has approached the Delhi High Court seeking the death penalty for Yasin. Mushaal, in 2022, appealed to the UN, UNHCR and international powers and said Yasin's sentence was a grave injustice and called it a war crime to imprison a warrior of his motherland. Pakistan's foreign ministry condemned the sentencing and said it is "another abhorrent attempt of the Indian government to deprive the Kashmiri people of their true leadership".

In August 2022, Mushaal's account was blocked/withheld after she wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking that her husband be released.
New Delhi, Aug 17 (PTI) Union minister of commerce and industry Piyush Goyal on Thursday said that there are security concerns involved in the decision to restrict import of laptops.

The minister said that there will be no disruption in the availability or the price and the government will be ready to engage with industry and look at other options also.

"Here is an issue, which is a serious security matter. Even Tesla car is not allowed anywhere near where Xi Jinping (President of China) is present. Because they're very conscious of the risks of security, even for a car being present in the vicinity of the premier of China. India also has to protect ourselves from countries who are antagonistic to India," Goyal said.

While speaking at an event of book launch of journalist Nalin Mehta, Goyal said that the present government is a listening and accessible government.

"We are conscious that laptops are our continuous companion. Laptops are being used for all our privileged and confidential information. And they can be quite a potent source of leakage," Goyal said.

The minister shared an anecdote that while watching news, his television suddenly went to HDMI 1 port.

" I don't know, we had not touched any instrument...like what happened just now...now I am even scared about my phone, will have to get this checked too," Goyal said, in reference to his phone going in emergency mode during the event.

Talking about ONDC platform, Goyal said he has contacted three large e-commerce companies' owners directly and he has got feedback that their progress is slow.

"I personally call all three of them. And they are personally giving me messages back on the progress that their companies are doing on ONDC," Goyal said.

He said ONDC has touched about 100,000 transactions a day but "I still call it a beta testing phase".

"Some people ask me that it's meant for the small retailers. So why are you taking Amazon, Flipkart, Tatas and Airtel and Reliance and all of these also on ONDC, because I believe we are trying to socialise it and make it a success. We need big and small things to coexist. And that will give choice to consumers," Goyal said.
Cambridge (UK), August 18: Noted spiritual leader and exponent of the Ram Charita Manas, Morari Bapu has urged followers of the Hindu religion to embrace their Hindu identity with pride and chant the holy name of Lord Ram.



Speaking at the ongoing Ram Katha event at the University of Cambridge, Morari Bapu asked followers of Sanatan Hindu Dharma to shed any reluctance and proclaim their identity with confidence.



In the whole world, wherever there are Indians and whatever field that you might be from, why is there hesitation to pronounce the name of Ram and that you are a Hindu, he asserted.



Drawing attention to the statement by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who while speaking at the Ram Katha on August 15, expressed his pride in being both a Hindu and British, Morari Bapu questioned why others should hesitate in doing the same.



We are proud, we belong to the Santana Dharma of Hinduism. And why not! (Rishi) Sunak ji, who is the current British Prime Minster, said yesterday that he had come here as a Hindu. Why are all of you so ashamed (of the Hindu identity)? Bapu asked.



I felt good that Rishi Sunak honoured us with his presence. He chanted Jai Siya Ram twice. I welcome it. If a world leader like him can proudly identify as a Hindu and chant Jai Siya Ram twice, why should any other Hindus be reluctant?



Gandhi ji had said that he was a Hindu. Swami Vivekananda had said that there is this largesse of Hinduism, he emphasised.



Bapu stressed that being a Hindu is synonymous with open-mindedness and broad acceptance and remarked that the tenets of Hinduism and Sanatan Dharma stretch wider than the vast sky.



Morari Bapu also reiterated the significance of chanting the revered name of Lord Ram.



A tireless advocate for the teachings of Lord Ram and the wisdom contained within Ram Charita Manas, Morari Bapu shared his conviction that Lord Rams essence cannot be confined to any one portrayal.



Our Rama transcends mere boundaries, his divinity knows no limits, he resolutely asserted.



Highlighting the cultural influence and respect India has garnered on the global stage, Morari Bapu said he traverses the world sharing the beauty of Indian traditions and the way the world looks upon India and its cultural heritage has changed.



Through meaningful dialogues and genuine influence, we can truly realise the concept of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam or the world is one family, he added.



During his visit to Morari Bapus Ram Katha on Indian Independence Day, Rishi Sunak, the first Hindu and the first person of Indian origin to become the British Prime Minister, chanted Jai Siya Ram twice. He also said that he was at the Ram Katha not as a prime minister but as a Hindu. Prime Minister Sunak said that he was proud to be British and proud to be Hindu and also recalled his visits to temples and participation in rituals like havans, pujas, artis, and distribution of prasad with his family.

(Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with PNN and PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.). PTI PWR

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KOLKATA, India, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The International Institute of Hotel Management (IIHM) is proud to announce a major addition to its leadership team as Neil Rippington, a distinguished chef and culinary educator, takes on the role of Global Director at IIHM Group Worldwide. This strategic appointment marks a major milestone for IIHM, signifying its commitment to excellence and innovation in culinary education and hospitality management.



Neil Rippington's appointment as Global Director comes as an exciting development for both IIHM and the culinary world at large. With a rich and illustrious career spanning decades, Neil brings to IIHM a wealth of experience, creativity, and a passion for culinary arts and education. On the occasion of his appointment, Neil said, "Life is a journey and I am just about to embark on a very exciting one! As of Tuesday 1st August, I have joined the legendary Dr Bose and his wonderful team at the International Institute of Hotel Management (IIHM) as Director of Global Education. My induction starts properly very early on Saturday morning when I will be leaving for Heathrow Airport and flying to Abu Dhabi and then on a tour where I will be visiting campuses in Kolkata, Goa and Bangalore before returning to the UK on the 15th of August. I am excited to join such a prolific team and am very much looking forward to the initiatives we have been discussing over the last few months." In his exciting new role Neil will be visiting IIHM campuses regularly over the year.



On the occasion, Dr Suborno Bose, Founder and Chief Mentor of IIHM Group Worldwide, said, "We are thrilled to welcome Chef Neil Rippington to the IIHM family as our Global Director. His unparalleled expertise and remarkable achievements in the culinary world make him an invaluable addition to our team. Neil's passion for culinary arts and education and his passion for promoting sustainability perfectly aligns with our mission of nurturing future leaders in the hospitality industry. With his visionary leadership, we are confident that IIHM will continue to set new standards of excellence and innovation in culinary education on a global scale."



Neil Rippington's mastery of diverse culinary techniques and his ability to craft extraordinary flavour experiences have left an indelible mark on the global gastronomy scene. Throughout his career, Neil has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to culinary education. As a seasoned educator, he has played a pivotal role in shaping the next generation of culinary professionals. Neil has also authored culinary publications that delve into the artistry of cooking and gastronomy, further solidifying his reputation as a thought leader in the culinary world. He is currently working on a landmark book on culinary psychology.



Neil is an experienced Dean with a demonstrated history of working in the further and higher education sectors. Skilled in culinary arts, hospitality management, education, training and development, and public speaking, he is a substantial operations professional with a Master of Arts in Culinary Arts from the University of Brighton. Apart from that he is a highly decorated educator with a Bachelor's degree in Education and Training, Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy and Fellowship of the International Institute of Hospitality Management. He has held many important positions in culinary education in his stellar career including a role as Instructor in Culinary Psychology at Harvard University, USA.



Neil's remarkable contributions to global education and unwavering dedication to teaching have positively impacted countless students worldwide. His passion for education is truly inspiring, and his innovative teaching methods have paved the way for new and engaging ways of learning. As a published author, Neil brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to IIHM Global, and his work has been instrumental in shaping the future of teaching and learning. His ability to connect with students and create a positive learning environment is truly remarkable, and his commitment to ensuring that every student feels heard and supported in their academic journey is a testament to his outstanding character. Overall, Neil is an exceptional educator and a true leader in the field of education. He continues to work on several projects, including supporting sustainability in the food and hospitality industry.



In his new role as Global Director, Neil will leverage his extensive experience to elevate IIHM's global culinary and hospitality programmes. His innovative approach and visionary leadership will contribute to the institute's ongoing mission to empower students with the skills and knowledge required to excel in the dynamic hospitality industry.



Neil Rippington expressed his enthusiasm about this career move in a recent LinkedIn post. He conveyed his excitement to embark on new projects and continue his journey of culinary exploration and education at IIHM Group Worldwide.



IIHM Group Worldwide is delighted to welcome Neil Rippington to its leadership team and is confident that his remarkable achievements, passion, and innovative vision will propel the institute to new heights of excellence.



About IIHM Group Worldwide



The International Institute of Hotel Management (IIHM) Group Worldwide is a renowned institution dedicated to providing world-class education in hospitality management and culinary arts. With a global presence and a commitment to excellence, IIHM empowers aspiring professionals with the skills, knowledge, and industry insights necessary to excel in the dynamic field of hospitality. For more information, please visit www.iihm.ac.in.



Follow IIHM Group Worldwide on Social Media:



 Facebook



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About IIHM



IIHM (International Institute of Hotel Management) is one of the largest chains of premier hospitality and hotel management schools across India that started its journey in 1994 at Kolkata. IIHM is a part of Indismart Group, the conglomerate that operates the Indismart Hotels. IIHM campuses are located across eleven National and International cities with the associate institute IAM-IHM located in Kolkata, and Guwahati.



IIHM has campuses in Kolkata, Delhi, Pune, Bangalore, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Goa, Bangkok, Samarkand in Uzbekistan, and Singapore (opening soon) Students passing out of the group are awarded International Degree from the University of West London and are equipped with global hospitality skills that enable easy placements in any hospitality brand across the world. IIHM is dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in teaching and global placements. Real-time experience is the key to success in IIHM's learning experience which includes working in own training hotels and resorts attached to the campuses.



IIHM is a Founding Institutional member of the (IHC) International Hospitality Council, London. It offers discerning students excellent opportunities to be a global partner of the University of West London. Following a truly international curriculum, IIHM offers a BSc (Hons) in International Hospitality Management from the University of West London, UK. Students are also awarded UGC approved Indian Degrees. IIHM students also have the option of completing their final year in the UK, Switzerland, Germany or Canada, after completing and performing well in the first two years in India.



The institute has bagged several prestigious awards in the past 30 years. The list includes the Best Education Brand Award from Economic Times six times including 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022 and recently in 2023. "Most Valuable Hospitality Education Brand 2023" by Zee 24ghanta. Awarded "Best Hospitality Education Brand 2020" & 2022, "Best Global Hospitality Education Brand 2023" by Zee Education Excellence Award. It was also featured in Forbes Magazine as Great Indian Institute and Great Place to Study consecutively in the year 2018 - 2019 and 2019 - 2020. IIHM was also awarded as one among the World's Greatest Brands & Leaders 2015-16 by URS International (IMEA - Process Reviewer PriceWaterhouseCoopers PL) and also received the Best Institute in Hospitality Education Award by ASSOCHAM consecutively for 5 years. With it presence felt internationally and having alumni across almost all continents of the world,



Media Contact:



Abdullah Ahmed,

COO, IIHM Hotel School Group

T: +91-(0)11-43204700

E: Abdullah.ahmed@iihm.ac.in



Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2189076/IIHMNeilRippington.jpg

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1572818/IIHM_Logo.jpg



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New Delhi (India), August 18: Nova 9 E-Commerce is proud to announce the highly anticipated launch of Niro9 Advanced Detoxifier & H20 Corrector.



This groundbreaking product combines the power of pure herbal "Ayurveda" and ancient "Siddha" treatment methodologies. This innovative Aqua Booster and Advanced Natural Detoxifier marks a new era in health and wellness solutions, providing essential minerals and micro minerals for our modern lifestyles.



The official unveiling of Niro9 will take place at a prestigious press conference on the 18th of August, 2023, at the Constitution Club of India in New Delhi. This event promises to be a momentous occasion, showcasing the fusion of traditional wisdom and cutting-edge technology in health enhancement.



Niro9 is a testament to the harmonious integration of time-honored Ayurvedic principles and Siddha practices with advanced scientific advancements. This remarkable product offers an unparalleled Aqua Booster, generating pure alkaline water using Nano Technology, and presenting a proficient solution for an array of health challenges.



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Niro9 is designed to deliver the best drinking water at a reasonable price which makes it affordable to every class of our society, who are broadly ignored by the companies.



Raj Singh, Co-Founder of Nova 9 & entrepreneur exclaimed, With a focus on comprehensive well-being, Niro9 empowers individuals to take control of their health journey  and aims to give access to quality and healthy drinking water to all & side by side help them save water for the greater good.



About Nova 9 E-Commerce:



Nova 9 E-Commerce is a pioneering force in bringing forth innovative and transformative products to enhance the well-being of individuals. With a commitment to merging tradition with modernity, Nova 9 E-Commerce strives to redefine the landscape of health solutions through groundbreaking advancements.



To get the product you can reach out to: www.nova9.in



(Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with PNN and PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.). PTI PWR

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New Delhi, Aug 18 (PTI) Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has expressed dismay over the inadequate response to questions raised by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) which resulted in controversy over the cost of construction of Dwarka Expressway in Delhi.

According to ministry sources, Gadkari has conveyed his displeasure with the lopsided attitude adopted by certain officials responsible for responding to queries raised by the CAG with regard to the cost of construction of the Dwarka Expressway at a high-level review meeting on Thursday.

The source said that the minister also directed to fix the responsibility of this lapse on the part of senior concerned officials.

Earlier in the month, a political row erupted on the CAG report which flagged the high cost of construction of the Dwarka Expressway.

Earlier the ministry sources had said that in the absence of an adequate response from the ministry and the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), the CAG adopted an incorrect methodology for computing the cost of Dwarka Expressway.

They also explained that the CAG has simply divided the total cost of construction of Rs 91,000 crore (expenditure) under National Corridor Efficiency Programme with the project's entire length of 5,000 kilometres under development.

They had said the CAG has itself noted that the cost of construction of Rs 18.2 per kilometre does not include the cost norms for flyovers, ring roads, etc.

They were of the view that the expressway in question has elevated roads, underpasses, tunnels and other components which were not part of the project.

The cost of Rs 91,000 crore for 5,000 km under Bharatmala Phase-I project was finalised by the ministry on August 10, 2016, for the year 2016-17 to the extent possible.

The ministry sources had claimed that the government saved over 12 per cent in construction cost against estimates in awarding contracts for the expressway.

They pointed out that the CAG findings that the cost was exorbitant are misplaced as the auditor did not factor in the actual cost.

According to reports, the CAG had found that the NHAI decision to go for an elevated carriageway on the Haryana portion of the Dwarka Expressway pushed up the construction cost to Rs 251 crore per kilometre from Rs 18.2 crore per km estimated earlier.

The audit report on the implementation of Phase-I of the 'Bharatmala Pariyojana' highway projects, triggered a political row with the opposition parties alleging corruption in the process of awarding the project.

The ministry sources had explained that all four packages of Dwarka Expressway were put for tender at an average civil cost of Rs 206.39 crore per kilometre but the contracts were finally awarded at a lower rate of Rs 181.94 crore per km.

The average civil construction cost of the four packages of the expressway was 12 per cent lower than the estimates, they had said.
Mumbai, Aug 18 (PTI) Filmmaker Nila Madhab Panda, known for acclaimed films like "Kalira Atita", and "Kadvi Hawa", believes it's his "responsibility" to create awareness about climate change by telling stories about the relationship between nature and humans.

The 49-year-old director, who made his OTT debut with climate fiction series "The Jengaburu Curse", said he consciously explores stories that highlight consequences of environmental crises, which he has witnessed both in India and throughout the world.

"I think more than fascination with (this kind of) storytelling, it is also a responsibility and I would consider myself to be a responsible person and creator. I grew up in a certain environment in a humble village (in Orissa) and became a globetrotter, I saw the world is changing too fast.

"I believe it is high time we need to tell these stories (of environment and climate change) to people," Panda told PTI in an interview.

The "I Am Kalam" filmmaker is baffled why issues related to environment and climate change are not depicted frequently in cinema.

It's very simple, when the underworld was affecting Bombay, there were blasts, drug mafia was there, and makers were making films on that. When it was 75 years of Indias independence, there were films being made on that.

"I'm surprised people ask me, Why are you doing this? I'm surprised people haven't done it because the environment is affecting you everyday. If it is affecting us so much, then why cant we tell these stories?"

In "The Jengaburu Curse", currently streaming on SonyLIV, the director looks at the impact of mining on humans and nature. The show, written by Mayank Tewari, is billed as Indias first climate fiction thriller series.

Panda, who has binged watched many international and Indian web-shows such as Fauda, Tehran, Pataal Lok, Delhi Crime, and The Family Man, said "The Jengaburu Curse" is suited for a streaming platform.

"Sometimes, as a storyteller, you think that you're stuck somewhere. While watching web-series, I realised there's much more we can explore in terms of story, character arcs, and I love working on characters.

"So, when this story was developed, I don't think I would have been able to tell this as a feature film, I needed a long format, he said.

At the centre of Panda's show is Priya (Faria Abdullah), who is forced to come back to Odisha from London in search of her professor father who has gone missing. As she starts to search for him, a series of strange events unravel an unlikely connection between the indigenous Bondia tribe and the mining state of Odisha.

The national award-winning director said the story of The Jengaburu Curse (Jengaburu means a red mountain) is based on a legend.

The story starts with a very simple thing, theres a legend. It simply says, in any part of the world, like Africa, Australia or any country you go, these legends are based on truth. Truth is theres a mountain, we believe it to be our God.

"One day somebody found something under the hill and they destroyed it, not knowing that it will have a larger impact, be it disease or environmental hazard or radiation.

Panda said the seven-episode series explores the repercussions of mankinds never-ending "greed" through this story which is set against the backdrop of the mining industry.

"It is the effect of greed. God has given us enough in terms of surviving on this planet, but greed has come to a level that we want to go to the Moon. We want superfast trains, for that you need to dig out the earth to bring that material."

The series also features Nasser, Makarand Deshpande, Sudev Nair, Deipak Sampat, and Hitesh Dave in pivotal roles.
Bangkok, Aug 17 (AP) A pro-military party affiliated with outgoing Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said Thursday it has agreed to join a coalition led by the populist Pheu Thai party in an attempt to form Thailand's next government after a three-month stalemate.

Founded in 2021, Ruam Thai Sang Chart, or the United Thai Nation Party, was seen as a vehicle for Prayuth's pursuit of another term in office after an apparent fallout between him and Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, the leader of the Palang Pracharath Party which helped Prayuth take office after a 2019 general election.

Prayuth first seized power as army chief in a 2014 military coup and then became prime minister in a military government. He did not run in the 2019 election but was the prime ministerial candidate of Palang Pracharath. The party was able to put together a post-election coalition that named him prime minister.

Prayuth officially joined United Thai Nation just months before May's election. After the party's disappointing performance in the polls, finishing fifth with only 36 seats, Prayuth announced that he had resigned from the party and would leave politics. He remains caretaker prime minister as Thailand has struggled for more than three months to install a new government.

The progressive Move Forward Party was the surprise winner of the May election, but its leader, Pita Limjaroenrat, failed to secure a majority of votes from the elected House and the conservative appointed Senate, chosen by the Prayuth-led military government, needed to become prime minister. Many senators voted against Pita because of his party's call for reform of a law that makes it illegal to defame Thailand's royal family. Critics say the law, which carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison, has been abused as a political weapon. Members of the Senate, like the army, see themselves as guardians of traditional conservative royalist values.

The runner-up party, Pheu Thai, then took over the lead in forming a government and excluded Move Forward, saying its call for a reform of the royal defamation law made it impossible to gather enough support from other parties and the Senate to approve a new prime minister. Both houses of Parliament vote together for the prime minister under the military-implemented constitution.

United Thai Nation spokesperson Akaradej Wongpitakroj said Thursday that it has agreed to join the Pheu Thai-led coalition to break the impasse and move the country forward. He said the party's condition of joining the coalition is that there must not be a party with a policy to amend the royal defamation law in the government.

He added that his party will support Pheu Thai's prime ministerial candidate. Pheu Thai plans to nominate real estate tycoon Srettha Thavisin in a parliamentary vote expected on Tuesday.

Before United Thai Nation's announcement, Pheu Thai had cobbled together a coalition of 11 parties with 240 seats in the 500-member House of Representatives. The 36 additional seats from the military-backed party would give it the House majority it needs. However, it still needs some support from the unelected Senate. Move Forward has said it will not support a candidate from a Pheu Thai-led coalition that includes parties from the outgoing military-backed government.

Palang Pracharath, another military-backed party, has said it is willing to support a Pheu Thai candidate even though it has not been invited to the coalition. The party finished fourth in the polls and holds 40 seats in the House.

Pheu Thai is the latest in a string of parties affiliated with ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a billionaire populist who was ousted in a 2006 military coup. While Thaksin-backed parties thrived at the polls, none of his successors was able to stay in office for long due to legal challenges in the courts, which are firmly aligned with the conservative establishment that has long held a sharp animosity toward Thaksin, and destabilizing street protests engineered by his foes. A Pheu Thai government led by Thaksin's sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, was toppled by Prayuth in the 2014 coup.

Thaksin has said he plans to return to Thailand soon following years of self-imposed exile to escape a prison term in several criminal cases which he has decried as politically motivated.

There was no immediate statement from Pheu Thai regarding United Thai Nation's decision to join its coalition, but its deputy leader, Phumtham Wechayachai, said earlier Thursday that the two parties have held talks about forming a government. (AP)



NSA

NSA
Washington, Aug 18 (PTI) A US court has denied the writ of habeas corpus filed by Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana, paving the way for US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to issue a certification for him to be extradited to India where he is facing a trial for his alleged involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

The court has denied Tahawwur Ranas petition for writ of habeas corpus by a separate order, Judge Dale S Fischer, United States District Judge, Central District of California, wrote in his order on August 2.

However, Rana has filed an appeal against the order and sought a stay on his extradition to India till the time his appeal in the Ninth Circuit Court is heard.

In June this year, Rana had filed writ of habeas corpus challenging a court order that acceded to the request of the US government that the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks accused be extradited to India.

Judge Fischer in his order said Rana has only made two basic arguments in the writ.

First, he claims that, pursuant to the treaty, he cannot be extradited because India plans to prosecute him for the same acts for which he was charged and acquitted in a United States court. Second, he argues that the government has not established that there is probable cause to believe that Rana committed the Indian offenses for which he is expected to stand trial, the judge said.

He denied both arguments of Rana.

Given that, even if (David) Headleys testimony were the entire basis for the probable cause finding, it would be sufficient for the purposes of habeas review because it constitutes some competent evidence supporting the finding. For the reasons stated above, Ranas petition for a writ of habeas corpus is DENIED, the judge wrote.

Following Judge Fischers order, Patrick Blegen and John D Cline, Ranas two attorneys filed an appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from the Order entered on August 10, 2023, for denying his petition for writ of habeas corpus.

In a separate appeal, Blegen has filed a petition for a stay of extradition pending his appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from the court's order denying his petition for a writ of habeas corpus.

As set forth in the accompanying memorandum, petitioner submits that a stay of extradition pending appeal is appropriate because he has made a strong showing that he is likely to succeed on the merits of his non bis in idem claim; he will suffer irreparable harm if he is extradited, potentially including the death penalty; a stay pending appeal will not substantially injure the government; and the public interest favors a full review of Rana's non bis claim before he is sent to a country that seeks to execute him, Ranas attorney wrote on August 14.

In June, the Biden administration had urged the court to deny the writ of habeas corpus filed by Rana.

The United States respectfully requests that the court deny Ranas petition for a writ of habeas corpus, said E Martin Estrada, US attorney for Central District of California, in his petition filed before the US District Court for the Central District of California.

In May, Rana had filed writ of habeas corpus challenging the court order, which acceded with the request of the US government that the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks accused be extradited to India.

Filing the writ of habeas corpus through his attorney, Rana challenged his extradition by the government of India.

Rana's extradition would violate the United States-India extradition treaty in two respects, his attorney argued.

First, Rana has been tried and acquitted in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois for charges based on the identical conduct for which India seeks to prosecute him. He argued that extradition is, therefore, barred under Article 6(1) of the Treaty, which declares that "[e]extradition shall not be granted when the person sought has been convicted or acquitted in the Requested State for the offense for which extradition is requested."

Second, the material submitted by the GOI --consisting principally of transcripts and exhibits from Rana's trial in the Northern District of Illinois -- fail to establish probable cause that he committed the offenses for which India has charged him. The Indian government extradition request thus fails to satisfy Article 9.3(c) of the Treaty, the attorney said, adding the court should grant the writ of habeas corpus, deny extradition and order Ranas release.

However, the US government has said Rana be extradited to India.

In his submission to the US Court on June 23, the US attorney argued that Ranas claims about the legitimacy of his business in Mumbai fall flat. The evidence does not support Ranas assertion that the Mumbai office conducted legitimate business, but even if it did, the engagement of legitimate business activities does not preclude a finding that Ranas business also served as a cover for Headleys terrorism-related activities in Mumbai.

Ranas claims about who funded the Mumbai office also do not relate to whether Rana lacked knowledge of and support for Headleys activities. Similarly, even if Rana hoped to continue business operations in Mumbai, the evidence reveals that neither Rana nor Headley renewed the business lease that expired approximately two weeks before the start of the Mumbai attacks, Estrada argued.

He said the fact that Rana received a warning before the attacks does not preclude a finding of probable cause.

In the fall of 2008, when Headley learnt that Rana was going to travel to China and India, he decided to warn Rana that an attack may be forthcoming through a co-conspirator, Estrada said.

While the details of the conversation between Rana and the co-conspirator are unknown, a September 7, 2009, FBI intercept reveals that Rana told Headley that their co-conspirator had warned him (Rana) that the Mumbai attacks were imminent. Contrary to Ranas claim, the co-conspirators warning does not suggest that he was unaware of the upcoming attacks, the US attorney argued.

Instead, it merely suggests that Rana was not aware of the date of the attack, which is consistent with the fact that Headley had informed Rana earlier that the attack plans were being delayed, he said.

Estrada said RANAs claim that he did not review Headleys visa application is unsupported by the evidence. Rana does not dispute that Headleys visa applications contain false information; rather, he claims that it is unlikely that [he] checked [the applications] for accuracy because he would have corrected a statement indicating that Headley worked for First World Immigration, instead of Immigrant Law Center.

While Immigration Law Center is a DBA for Raymond J. Sanders, RANAs business partner, that business and First World Immigration shared the same address and telephone number. Significantly, India issued Headley a business visa, even though he wrote First World Immigration on his 2006 visa application and the accompanying support letter from Mr. Sanders referred to the employing entity as Immigration Law Center. Thus, Ranas claim does not undermine probable cause and is not persuasive, the US attorney said.
Washington, Aug 18 (AP) The United States, Japan and South Korea are set to sign on to a new security pledge, committing the three countries to consult with each other in the event of a security crisis or threat in the Pacific, according to Biden administration officials.

Details about the new duty to consult commitment emerged as President Joe Biden prepared Friday to welcome South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for a summit at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland.

The move is one of several joint efforts that the leaders are expected to announce at the daylong summit, as the three countries look to tighten security and economic ties amid increasing concerns about North Korea's persistent nuclear threats and Chinese provocations in the Pacific.

Kishida, before departing Tokyo on Thursday, told reporters the summit would be a historic occasion to bolster trilateral strategic cooperation with Seoul and Washington.

I believe it is extremely meaningful to hold a Japan-US-South Korea summit where leaders of the three countries gather just as the security environment surrounding Japan is increasingly severe, he said.

The duty to consult pledge is intended to acknowledge that the three countries share fundamentally interlinked security environments" and that a threat to one of the nations is a threat to all," according to a senior Biden administration official.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the coming announcement.

Under the pledge, the three countries agree to consult, share information and align their messaging with each other in the face of a threat or crisis, the official said.

The commitment does not infringe on each country's right to defend itself under international law, nor does it alter existing bilateral treaty commitments between the US and Japan and the US and South Korea, the official added. The United States has more than 80,000 troops based between the two countries.

The summit is the first Biden has held during his presidency at the storied Camp David.

The retreat 65 miles (104.6 kilometers) from the White House was where President Jimmy Carter brought together Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in September 1978 for talks that established a framework for a historic peace treaty between Israel and Egypt in March 1979. In the midst of World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met at the retreat  then known as Shangri-La  to plan the Italian campaign that would knock Benito Mussolini out of the war.

Biden's focus for the gathering is to nudge the United States' two closest Asian allies to further tighten security and economic cooperation with each other. The historic rivals have been divided by differing views of World War II history and Japan's colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

But under Kishida and Yoon, the two countries have begun a rapprochement as the two conservative leaders grapple with shared security challenges posed by North Korea and China.

Both leaders have been unnerved by the stepped-up cadence of North Korea's ballistic missile tests and Chinese military exercises near Taiwan, the self-ruled island that is claimed by Beijing as part of its territory, and other aggressive action.

Yoon proposed an initiative in March to resolve disputes stemming from compensation for wartime Korean forced labourers. He announced that South Korea would use its own funds to compensate Koreans enslaved by Japanese companies before the end of World War II.

Yoon also travelled to Tokyo that month for talks with Kishida, the first such visit by a South Korean president in more than 12 years. Kishida reciprocated with a visit to Seoul in May and expressed sympathy for the suffering of Korean forced labourers during Japan's colonial rule,

The leaders are also expected to detail in their summit communique plans to invest in technology for a three-way crisis hotline and offer an update on progress the countries have made on sharing early-warning data on missile launches by North Korea.

Other announcements expected to come out of the summit include plans to expand military cooperation on ballistic defenses and make the summit an annual event.

The White House has billed the gathering of the three leaders at the rustic retreat in the Catoctin Mountains as a historic moment in the relationship and an opportunity for South Korea and Japan to move beyond decades of antagonism.

The leaders are also likely to discuss the long-running territorial conflicts in the disputed South China Sea involving China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei.

Earlier this month, the Philippine government summoned China's ambassador and presented a strongly worded diplomatic protest over the Chinese coast guard's use of water cannons in a confrontation with Philippine vessels in the South China Sea.

The tense hours-long standoff occurred near Second Thomas Shoal, which has been occupied for decades by Philippine forces stationed onboard a rusting, grounded navy ship. But it is also claimed by China.

Ambassador Rahm Emanuel, Biden's envoy to Japan, said the administration is in part looking to counter what he calls Beijing's bullying tactics and its confidence that Washington can't get its two most important Pacific allies  Japan and South Korea  to get along.

Our message is we're a permanent Pacific power and presence and you can bet long on America, Emanuel said at a Brookings Institution event focused on the summit. China's message: 'We're the rising power, they're declining. Either get in line or you're gonna get the Philippine treatment.' (AP) RUP

RUP
Beijing, Aug 18 (AP) China is renewing its criticism of this weekend's summit among the leaders of the US, Japan and South Korea, saying no country should seek its own security at the expense of the security interests of others and of regional peace and stability.

The international community has its own judgment as to who is creating contradictions and increasing tensions, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters at a daily briefing Friday.

Attempts to form various exclusive groups and cliques and to bring bloc confrontation into the Asia-Pacific region are unpopular and will definitely spark vigilance and opposition in the countries of the region, Wang said.

The summit at the the rustic Camp David presidential retreat seeks to further tighten security and economic ties between Japan and South Korea, two nations whose historically frosty relations have rapidly thawed over the last year as they share concerns about China's assertiveness in the Pacific and North Korea's persistent nuclear threats.

China is extremely sensitive to any moves it perceives as seeking to contain its rise to dominance in Asia and has traditionally counted on the historical enmity between Tokyo and Seoul to keep its rivals divided and weaken the US system of regional alliances.

Beijing has made clear the current rapprochement between the two was something it very much did not want to see and its top diplomat, Wang Yi, last month made a clumsy and much-criticised appeal to racial-cultural similarities between Chinese, Japanese and Koreans as an alternative to partnering with the West.

No matter how yellow you dye your hair, or how sharp you make your nose, you'll never turn into a European or American, you'll never turn into a Westerner, said Wang, a former foreign minister who now heads the ruling Communist Party's foreign affairs commission.

One needs to know where one's roots are, Wang added.

President Joe Biden is looking to use the summit to urge South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to firmly turn the page on their countries' difficult shared history.

The Japan-South Korea relationship is a delicate one because of differing views of World War II history and Japan's colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula. Past efforts to tighten security cooperation between Seoul and Tokyo have progressed by fits and starts.

Expected major announcements include plans to expand military cooperation on ballistic missile defences and making the summit an annual event.

In the face of deteriorating ties with Washington, Seoul and Tokyo, China has grown closer to Russia, with whom it declared a no-limits partnership just prior to President Vladimir Putin's full-on invasion of Ukraine last year.

Japan's Defence Ministry on Friday said it scrambled fighter jets after spotting two Russian IL-38 reconnaissance aircraft flying back and forth over the Tsushima Strait in southwestern Japan.

A day earlier, the ministry said Japan spotted a fleet of 11 Chinese and Russian navy ships crossing waters between the southern Japanese islands of Okinawa and Miyako.

The fleet comprised six Chinese and five Russian warships, many of which had taken part in what they called a joint patrol in July when they sailed through the Soya Strait between the northern main island of Hokkaido and Sakhalin, the Japanese Defence Ministry said Thursday.

The ministry views the repeated joint military activities by the two countries around Japan as aimed at demonstrating their combined threat against Japan, and expressed concern to both China and Russia, Kyodo News reported.

Asked about the activities, Wang said, It conforms to international law and international practice for the Chinese and Russian vessels to conduct normal patrols.

China has also sought stronger relations with developing nations in Africa and Central and South America and President Xi Jinping will be attending next week's summit in Johannesburg of the BRICS bloc linking Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. (AP) SCY

SCY
Washington, Aug 18 (AP) The United States, Japan and South Korea are set to sign on to a new security pledge, committing the three countries to consult with each other in the event of a security crisis or threat in the Pacific, according to Biden administration officials.

Details about the new duty to consult commitment emerged as President Joe Biden prepared Friday to welcome South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for a summit at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland.

The move is one of several joint efforts that the leaders are expected to announce at the daylong summit, as the three countries look to tighten security and economic ties amid increasing concerns about North Korea's persistent nuclear threats and Chinese provocations in the Pacific.

Kishida, before departing Tokyo on Thursday, told reporters the summit would be a historic occasion to bolster trilateral strategic cooperation with Seoul and Washington.

I believe it is extremely meaningful to hold a Japan-US-South Korea summit where leaders of the three countries gather just as the security environment surrounding Japan is increasingly severe, he said.

Before it even began, the summit drew harsh public criticism from the Chinese government.

The international community has its own judgment as to who is creating contradictions and increasing tensions, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters at a daily briefing Friday.

Attempts to form various exclusive groups and cliques and to bring bloc confrontation into the Asia-Pacific region are unpopular and will definitely spark vigilance and opposition in the countries of the region, Wang said.

The duty to consult pledge is intended to acknowledge that the three countries share fundamentally interlinked security environments" and that a threat to one of the nations is a threat to all," according to a senior Biden administration official.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the coming announcement.

Under the pledge, the three countries agree to consult, share information and align their messaging with each other in the face of a threat or crisis, the official said.

The commitment does not infringe on each country's right to defend itself under international law, nor does it alter existing bilateral treaty commitments between the US and Japan and the US and South Korea, the official added.

The United States has more than 80,000 troops based between the two countries.

The summit is the first Biden has held during his presidency at the storied Camp David.

The retreat 65 miles (104.6 kilometres) from the White House was where President Jimmy Carter brought together Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in September 1978 for talks that established a framework for a historic peace treaty between Israel and Egypt in March 1979.

In the midst of World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met at the retreat  then known as Shangri-La  to plan the Italian campaign that would knock Benito Mussolini out of the war.

Biden's focus for the gathering is to nudge the United States' two closest Asian allies to further tighten security and economic cooperation with each other.

The historic rivals have been divided by differing views of World War II history and Japan's colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

But under Kishida and Yoon, the two countries have begun a rapprochement as the two conservative leaders grapple with shared security challenges posed by North Korea and China.

Both leaders have been unnerved by the stepped-up cadence of North Korea's ballistic missile tests and Chinese military exercises near Taiwan, the self-ruled island that is claimed by Beijing as part of its territory, and other aggressive action.

Yoon proposed an initiative in March to resolve disputes stemming from compensation for wartime Korean forced labourers.

He announced that South Korea would use its own funds to compensate Koreans enslaved by Japanese companies before the end of World War II.

Yoon also travelled to Tokyo that month for talks with Kishida, the first such visit by a South Korean president in more than 12 years.

Kishida reciprocated with a visit to Seoul in May and expressed sympathy for the suffering of Korean forced labourers during Japan's colonial rule,

The leaders are also expected to detail in their summit communique plans to invest in technology for a three-way crisis hotline and offer an update on progress the countries have made on sharing early-warning data on missile launches by North Korea.

Other announcements expected to come out of the summit include plans to expand military cooperation on ballistic defences and make the summit an annual event.

The White House has billed the gathering of the three leaders at the rustic retreat in the Catoctin Mountains as a historic moment in the relationship and an opportunity for South Korea and Japan to move beyond decades of antagonism.

The leaders are also likely to discuss the long-running territorial conflicts in the disputed South China Sea involving China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei.

Earlier this month, the Philippine government summoned China's ambassador and presented a strongly worded diplomatic protest over the Chinese coast guard's use of water cannons in a confrontation with Philippine vessels in the South China Sea.

The tense hours-long standoff occurred near Second Thomas Shoal, which has been occupied for decades by Philippine forces stationed onboard a rusting, grounded navy ship. But it is also claimed by China.

Ambassador Rahm Emanuel, Biden's envoy to Japan, said the administration is in part looking to counter what he calls Beijing's bullying tactics and its confidence that Washington can't get its two most important Pacific allies  Japan and South Korea  to get along.

Our message is we're a permanent Pacific power and presence and you can bet long on America, Emanuel said at a Brookings Institution event focused on the summit. China's message: 'We're the rising power, they're declining. Either get in line or you're gonna get the Philippine treatment.'  (AP) FZH
Islamabad, Aug 18 (PTI) Pakistan's jailed former prime minister Imran Khan on Friday said he was ready to endure imprisonment even for 1,000 years and continue to stay incarcerated for his country, according to a media report.

Khan, 70, was sentenced to three years in jail by a sessions court on August 5 for hiding proceeds from the sale of state gifts (Toshakhana). He is currently incarcerated in Attock Jail in Punjab province.

A division bench, comprising IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, will take up the hearing next Tuesday (August 22).

Speaking to reporters on Friday after meeting Khan in Attock jail, Umiar Niazi, a member of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) chief's legal team, said the former prime minister was in "good health, although he had grown a beard," The Express Tribune newspaper reported.

He [Imran] was provided with a mirror and shaving kit today, the lawyer said.

Niazi asserted that among a team of six, only he was granted permission to meet Khan.

The lawyer expressed his intention to file a contempt of court petition against the "jailer's conduct" for denying the legal team access to the former premier, despite possessing court orders.

I do not care about not being given facilities [in jail]. It does not matter even if I am kept in jail for 1,000 years, but I am ready for it because [one has to] make sacrifices for freedom, Niazi quoted Khan as saying.

Khan is facing more than 140 cases across the country and faces charges like terrorism, violence, blasphemy, corruption and murder since his ouster in April 2022.

The lawyer confirmed that the Federal Investigation Agency questioned Khan in Attock jail regarding the cipher (confidential diplomatic cable) issue on Wednesday, during which the former premier reiterated his previous stance.

He said Khan also spoke about the disappearance of his nephew Barrister Hassaan Khan Niazi, the report said.

The Lahore High Court directed authorities to produce Hassaan before the court by August 18 with regard to a plea seeking his recovery and an inquiry against officials over his illegal detention.

Meanwhile, police have informed the Lahore High Court on Friday that Hassaan Niazi, Khan's nephew and his focal person on legal affairs, has been handed over to a military court for trial.

In a police report submitted to the court, Hassaan will be investigated and tried by the military after he was named as the prime suspect in the case pertaining to the Jinnah House attack in Lahore, which was triggered after Khan was arrested in Islamabad on May 9.

The police arrested Hassaan from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. He was later handed over to the Quetta Police and then to the military at the commanding officer's request, Geo News reported.
Gandhinagar, Aug 17 (PTI) India has been recognised as the "pharmacy of the world" and it is now time for India to become the leader in the manufacturing of affordable, innovative and quality medical devices, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Thursday.

Mandaviya, during his inaugural address at 'India MedTech Expo 2023', underlined that India is the fastest-growing medical devices market among the emerging markets.

'India MedTech Expo 2023' was held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat on the sidelines of the G20 Health Ministers' meeting.

Mandaviya said that 'MedTech Expo 2023 draws inspiration from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of making India atmanirbhar or self-reliant. "It will be a unique, all-encompassing platform to showcase the strength and potential of the Indian Medical Devices ecosystem," the health minister said.

"Our goal is to become self-reliant in the medical device sector and reduce our import dependency which also perfectly aligns with our vision of 'Atmanirbhar Bharat', and 'Make in India, Make for the World'," Mandaviya said.

"FDI up to 100 per cent under the automatic route is permitted for the manufacturing of medical devices," he added.

The health minister also said that for the medical devices sector in India, the government has undertaken various steps to improve the ease of doing business, facilitate technological advancements and simplify investment mechanisms.

Highlighting the new initiatives taken by the Union government under the sector, Mandaviya said that besides the National Medical Device Policy 2023, the government has recently launched the the Export Promotion Council for Medical Ddevices and a scheme for assistance of medical device cluster to promote infrastructure development and strengthen the testing facilities for medical devices in the country."

He also said that a Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme was launched for promoting domestic manufacturing of medical devices with a total financial outlay of Rs 3,420 crore for four target segments of medical devices.

We have also come up with the 'Promotion of Medical Devices Parks' scheme with a total financial outlay of Rs 400 crores for the creation of common infrastructure facilities to give a boost to manufacturing and promote innovation, research and product development, he said.

Mandaviya added that under the scheme, final approval for financial assistance of Rs 100 crore each has been given to Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.

Mandaviya said that the start-up ecosystem in India's medical devices sector is diverse and vibrant, with over 250 organisations engaged in addressing important health issues.

Just within two to three months of COVID-19, the world had witnessed and recognised India's efforts and the support it gave to other nations by providing medical diagnostic kits, ventilators, Rapid Antigen Test kits, RT-PCR kits, IR thermometers, PPE kits and N-95 masks at a very fast pace," he said.

The health minister also informed that the government is investing hugely in building better infrastructure which will increase the demand for smarter technology and advanced medical devices.

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Gujarat Health Minister Rushikesh Patel and NITI Aayog member (Health) Dr V K Paul also attended the medical technology expo.
Hyderabad, Aug 17 (PTI) The Telangana Raj Bhavan on Thursday said there was no truth regarding reports in a section of media that Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan has withheld the TSRTC bill which was recently passed by the Legislative Assembly.



According to a Raj Bhavan press communique, in accordance with the Telangana Government Business Rules and Secretariat Instructions, all bills received from the Secretary to the State Legislature, including the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (Absorption of Employees into Government Service) Bill-2023, have been referred to the Law Secretary for opinion.



This is normal practice stipulated in the relevant rules, it said.



Furthermore, the Governor has made 10 recommendations based on representations and in the best interests of the employees and the well-being of the corporation while permitting the introduction of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (Absorption of Employees into Government Service) Bill of 2023 in the Assembly.



Similarly, four other bills were earlier returned to the Legislative Assembly and Council with messages containing certain recommendations.



The Governor would like to ascertain whether these recommendations were properly taken care of in the bills now received or not.



"In this regard, Raj Bhavan would like to clarify that based on the recommendations of the Law Secretary, further action on all bills, including the TSRTC bill, will be taken," the communique said.



The press communique was issued to quell the misinformation that has been circulating in certain quarters, including the print and electronic media, claiming that the Governor withheld the TSRTC bill and decided to reserve it for the assent of the President, which are in fact false and far from the truth.



"All members of the public in general and TSRTC employees, in particular, are urged not to be swayed by such false and baseless news spread by certain vested interests," it added.
Kochi, Aug 17 (PTI) An organisation of parishioners in the crisis-hit Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese of Syro-Malabar Church has approached President Droupadi Murmu, seeking the deportation of Papal delegate Archbishop Cyril Vasil, a foreigner, from India.



The Pontifical Delegate visited Kochi to put an end to the row over the Syro-Malabar Church's decision to implement a uniform way of celebrating Holy Mass in churches under the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese.



In its petition to the President, the organisation called Almaya Munnetta Samiti, claimed to have the support of parishioners in 328 dioceses under the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese, accused Vasil of interfering in its administration and threatening the faithful with dire consequences.



A Samiti core committee member confirmed that they have submitted representation to the President on April 16.



"Any attempt of Mr Cyril Vasil to execute decree of Syro Malabar Church is a violation of his Visa norms. In such a case, Mr Cyril Vasil, is liable to be deported declaring persona non grata", the Samiti said in the representation.



The Almaya Munnetta Samiti, which also enjoys the support of a significant section of priests belonging to the archdiocese, made similar representations to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.



It said Vasil should be prosecuted as per Indian law for acting against the country's sovereignty. The samiti alleged that he was acting against India's interests under the cover of diplomat/official Visa possessed by him.



The move by the organisation, which also enjoys the support of a significant section of priests and nuns belonging to the archdiocese, came days after Vasil entered the St Mary's Cathedral of Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese by ignoring the protests by a significant section of its laity, priests and nuns.



"As there are enough mechanisms existing in India to resolve, adjudicate, and decide any dispute originated and existing in India, the external help sought to the head of an alien nation by synod of Syro Malabar Church is unwarranted, unlawful, and amounts to an act against the sovereignty of our nation", the Almaya Munnetta Samiti said in the representation.



It claimed that the police authorities, including the State Police Chief, were duly alerted regarding the unlawful activities of Cyril Vasil in due course.



"Shockingly, on the eve of Indian independence day of 2023, with the assistance of hundreds of police person, Mr Cyril Vasil acting under the mandate of ruler of State of Vatican City forcibly entered the premises of St Mary's Basilica Church at Ernakulam acting against the resistance of citizens present there and forcibly installed one Fr Antony Puthuvelil as its administrator in execution of his assignment", it alleged.



The Almaya Munnetta Samiti further alleged that the act of the Government of Kerala extending police force to Cyril Vasil to exercise his powers against Indian citizens in their territory under mandate received from the Head of State of Vatican City is unconstitutional and a clear case of abuse of power.



"By such acts, the Government of Kerala is subjecting the citizens of this country to the whims and fancies of a foreigner and an alien sovereign. These acts of the Government of Kerala are unconstitutional, a denial of fundamental rights to citizens, misuse of power, and a failure of the rule of law in the state, hence present Government of Kerala warrants dismissal in due course", it said.



The row erupted in the country after the Syro-Malabar Church Synod introduced the uniform way of celebrating Holy Mass in August 2021.



According to it, the priest celebrating the Holy Mass faces the faithful in its first and last parts. The priests turn towards the altar for the rest of the Mass.



While all other dioceses under the Syro-Malabar church adopted the synod-approved Holy Mass, the majority of the priests of the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese, supported by their laity, opposed it, saying that they could not depart from the traditional way of celebrating Mass with the priest facing the faithful.



Hardening its stand on the matter, the Vatican today issued a stern warning to priests who oppose the implementation of uniformity in celebrating Holy Mass in churches under the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese and said disobedience will invite canonical punishment.



In a hard-hitting letter addressing priests in the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archeparchy, Pontifical Delegate Vasil directed them to practice the Syro-Malabar Church Synod-approved Holy Mass celebration from August 20 and said any disobedience to this order would be considered "voluntary, personal, and culpable disobedience to the Holy Father.
Kolkata, Aug 18 (PTI) A day after the scuffle between activists of ultra-left Revolutionary Students Federation (RSF) and BJP's Yuva Morcha near Jadavpur University, Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari on Friday lodged a police complaint alleging a "premeditated attack" on him by the Naxalite outfit.

Adhikari, in a tweet on X social media handle, formerly Twitter said as he was leaving the spot after giving a speech at the BJYM demonstration near JU gate, he was attacked by a group of "unknown assailants.....who belonged to the RSF an ultra-left frontal organization of the banned Maoist outfit."

"I have lodged an FIR regarding this incident," the senior BJP leader said in the post attaching an image of the complaint received by Jadavpur police station.

The Nandigram MLA said "The attack appeared to be a response of the members of the said organisation who didn't like the fact that I minced no words in my speech and called out their hypocrisy. These people are part of a group who have made Jadavpur University a den of anti-national and anti-social activities. They harbour anti-establishment and secessionist ideologies: who are always criticizing the government, but at the same time clinging on to the institution, even after their formal association is over, to keep on enjoying the subsidised benefits meant for the students."

Adhikari said in the complaint that he is entitled to Z category security in view of the threat perception as assessed by the Ministry of Home Affairs and claimed that he was suddenly attacked by seven-eight people as he was leaving the venue peacefully with slogans shouted at him, black flag shown to him and the attackers even resorted to stone pelting and wrongfully restrained him from moving towards his vehicle and "timely intervention" of his security guards saved the situation.

"I have come to know that the said assailants were supporters of RSF, a Naxalite organisation banned by the government of India," he said.

"Though I do not know their names but I will be able to identify them if they are brought before me," he said, while attaching a video clip where the protestors were talking to the media after the incident.

Owning up their role to show the black flag to Adhikari, one of the protestors told reporters "We are revolutionary students front, we are a Naxalite student organisation, we are a self-styled Maoist student organisation."

Activists of RSF and BJYM fought a pitched battle with motorcycle helmets and flags before gate number four of Jadavpur University which had been witnessing a series of protests since August 10 following the death of an undergraduate first-year student who had fallen from the second floor of the hostel after being allegedly ragged and sexually harassed by seniors.

Adhikari in his speech on Thursday said, "We have already taught a lesson to the 'Tukde-tukde' gang in JNU... we will cleanse them in Jadavpur as well."

The Leader of the Opposition also attacked the Left, ultra-Left and TMC student wings as well as the state government in his speech and blamed them for the state of affairs in the 67-year-old prestigious Jadavpur University.

The TMC alleged that Adhikari created a ruckus outside JU, verbally abused the police, and passed derogatory remarks.

On Adhikari's allegation, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, "BJP is just trying to fish in troubled waters. Before pointing fingers at us, they should take stock of the situation in Central government-run universities."

The 17-year-old deceased, who was a resident of Bagula in Nadia district and a first-year undergraduate student of Bengali Honours.

In another development on Friday, police started dismantling the podium of BJP, from where Adhikari had addressed the previous day, near 8B bus stand.

BJP's south Kolkata district president Sanghamitra Choudhury told PTI, the podium had come up with necessary permission from police and was scheduled to be in place till August 18 and the police suddenly swung into action to dismantle it in an "undemocratic" manner.

"We don't want to create a law and order problem. But our protest was against ragging and the death of the young student which was caused by intense physical and mental torture. No idea if TMC's police have any issue with it," she added.
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, August 18. In an open dialog with entrepreneurs on August 18, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted the importance of the railroad passing through Afghanistan and called it "the optimal way for Uzbekistan," Trend reports.

One of the most acute problems for businesses is transportation costs. The existing roads are long and unsafe. Construction of the Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan-China railroad 30 years ago would have allowed entrepreneurs to reduce costs and improve working conditions, the head of state noted during the meeting.

Also, the importance of the railroad passing through Afghanistan as the best, most economical, and safest way to South Asia was emphasized by Shavkat Mirziyoyev. He expressed hope that in the future, with two such railroads, Uzbekistan will be able to achieve economic sustainability and independence.

The current situation is not easy, including increased currency pressure. The president expressed the need to create conditions for entrepreneurs in the export and logistics spheres.

In addition, the Trans-Afghanistan Railway project was announced in 2018, but due to changes in the political environment in Afghanistan, its implementation has been delayed. With the start of practical work on the project in 2022, this railroad will open new routes for trade and reduce the time of cargo delivery between Uzbekistan and Pakistan from 35 days to 3-5 days.
New Delhi, Aug 18 (PTI) Home Minister Amit Shah will visit poll-bound Madhya Pradesh on August 20 during which he will attend a host of programmes as the BJP looks to intensify its campaign after releasing its first list of candidates.

Shah will also launch the 'Gareeb Kalyan Mahaabhiyan' in Bhopal as part of its exercise to reach out to people across the state about its government's various welfare measures, party leaders said. The BJP has been in power in the state since 2003 except for over 15 months after the 2018 polls when the Congress was at the helm.

He will then travel to Gwalior to attend several meetings, including one state executive and another of party workers from the region. The BJP's performance in the Gwalior region was below par in 2018 and Shah has been spearheading its drive to regain lost ground there.

Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Rajasthan will go to the assembly polls in November-December. Shah has been focusing especially hard on the two central Indian states where the Congress had gotten the better of the BJP in the last assembly elections.

The BJP had on Thursday named its candidates for 39 seats in Madhya Pradesh and 21 in Chhattisgarh for the upcoming assembly polls which are still months from being officially announced by the Election Commission.

The BJP's decision to name its candidates in these relatively weak seats so much in advance underscores its intent to get the better of the Congress in the two states.
Srinagar, Aug 18 (PTI) Three people were killed while 10 sustained injuries in an explosion inside a scrap dealer's shop in Kargil district of Ladakh on Friday, officials said.

A "suspicious" object exploded in the shop located in Kabadi Nallah area of Drass, they said.

Three people, including a non-local, were killed, while the injured were taken to a hospital, they said. Police have registered a case.
Jaipur, Aug 18 (PTI) A police constable was tied to a cot and thrashed by locals after he allegedly raped a woman in Rajasthan's Dausa district, officials said on Friday.

However, Constable Mahesh Kumar Gurjar was let go by police personnel from the local police station after they took him for a medical examination, they said.

Gurjar, who is on the run, and the station house officer (SHO) of Baswa police station were suspended on Thursday after the woman, who is married, lodged a complaint in the matter, according to the officials.

"Constable Mahesh Kumar Gurjar went to the house of the 30-year-old woman when she was alone on Tuesday night and allegedly raped her. When she raised an alarm, the woman's neighbours caught him. Meanwhile, her family members also came back and thrashed him," Circle Officer (CO) Bandikui Ishwar Singh said.

The constable was tied to a cot, he said.

After receiving information about the incident, a team from Baswa police station reached the spot and took Gurjar for a medical examination. Later, they let him go, Singh said.

The matter came to light on Thursday after the woman lodged a police complaint. Later, the station house officer (SHO) of Baswa police station was suspended for not informing senior officials about the incident on Tuesday itself. Gurjar, who was posted at a different police station, was also suspended, the CO said.

"The accused constable is on the run and efforts are being made to nab him," Singh said.
New Delhi, Aug 18 (PTI) A Kalyanpuri resident has accused her father-in-law of sexually assaulting her and husband of domestic violence, police said on Friday.

The matter was reported to police through a PCR call Thursday around 11 am, they said.

The victim during counselling said she had got married to one Ashish on March 9, and it is her second marriage, a senior police officer said.

On the basis of her statement, police have booked cases under sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation), 376 (rape), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC, they said.

Her husband and father-in-law have been apprehended, police said.

The victim's statement under section of 164 CrPC will be recorded on Friday. Further investigation is on, they added.
Srinagar, Aug 18 (PTI) Security forces have busted a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror module in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district by arresting eight militant-associates involved in cross-border smuggling of arms and ammunition at the behest of their Pakistani handlers, police said on Friday.

A terrorist module has been busted in Uri in Baramulla and eight LeT terrorist-associates have been arrested, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Amod Nagpure told reporters in Baramulla.

Nagpure said arms and ammunition have been recovered and cases under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act & Arms Act have been registered.

Giving details, the SSP said that during patrolling and area domination at Churunda in Uri area of the north Kashmir district on August 8, security forces noticed a suspected person who was roaming in the area.

He tried to flee while noticing the patrolling party, but was apprehended tactfully, the officer said.

During his personal search, two grenades were recovered and he was taken into custody immediately, the SSP said.

He identified him as Showkat Ali Awan, a resident of Churunda Uri.

During further questioning, Awan revealed the names of his accomplices --Ahmad Din and Mohammad Sadeeq Khatana -- both of whom are residents of Churunda, Nagpure said.

The two were questioned and on their disclosure, two grenades, a Chinese pistol, a pistol magazine and four live rounds were recovered from them, he said.

Similarly, on Aug 11, during a naka checking at Powarian Thajal Uri ,security forces signalled a vehicle to stop. As the vehicle stopped, its driver and four other persons inside it told the naka party that they were going to a hospital due to certain medical emergencies, he said.

However, the naka party felt suspicious about them and started a search of the vehicle.

During the search, four hand grenades, two pistols, two pistol magazines, 10 live bullet and Rs 50,000 in cash were recovered, Nagpure said.

He said all the five were taken into custody.

They have been identified as Akhter Bhat of Tarzoo Sopore, Mohammad Aslam Khatana of Churunda Uri, Muneer Ahmad of Jabla Uri, Mudasir Yousuf Gokno of Krankshivan, and Bilal Ahmad Dar of Hardushiva.

The accused are involved in cross-border smuggling of arms and ammunition at the behest of Pakistan-based terror handlers and its further distribution to LeT terrorists for carrying out terror activities, the SSP said.
Ballia (UP), Aug 18 (PTI) A 23-year-old man was arrested for allegedly abducting and raping a Dalit woman in Bansdih area here on Friday, police said.

Superintendent of Police S Anand said the accused -- Vikesh Tiwari (23) -- was sent to judicial custody by a local court in Ballia.

On June 22, Vikesh Tiwari, a resident of Uttar Tola village, allegedly lured and abducted the 18-year-old woman of the same village, her father said in a police complaint.

According to police, on July 20, Vikesh Tiwari, his father Harendra Tiwari, mother Urmila Tiwari and brother Ritesh Tiwari were booked under Section 366 (kidnapping) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Scheduled Castes/Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Police arrested Vikesh Tiwari and rescued the woman. In her statement to police, she accused Vikesh Tiwari of abducting and raping her, police said.

Following the woman's complaint, Section 376 (rape) of the IPC was added to the FIR, police said.
Jaipur, Aug 18 (PTI) Students of the Central University of Rajasthan demonstrated on the campus after a girl student accused the security officer of clicking and circulating her photograph without her consent.

The varsity on Friday ordered an inquiry into the incident.

We will ensure that this investigation is conducted impartially and that appropriate action will be taken based on the findings, Vice Chancellor Prof Anand Bhalerao said in a statement.

We have received certain complaints in the recent past and have deputed an ombudsman, who is a retired judge, to investigate the matter, he said.

Agitated students assembled on the campus Thursday night and demanded action against the accused.

Dalpat Singh, SHO, Bandar Sindri police station said no FIR has been registered yet in the matter.


Westerly, RI (02891)

Today

Partly cloudy this morning, then becoming cloudy during the afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 83F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Considerable cloudiness. Low 63F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.
The General Motors budget crossover was officially shown. The novelty has received an unusual design and an economical power plant. Its price is lower than that of the Renault Duster.

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The new Wuling Nebula is a joint development of General Motors and the SAIC Chinese concern. The companies created the Wuling brand to sell cheap cars. Its price starts from 13 700 dollars, CarNewsChina reports.

The car will go on sale in the fall of 2023. Buyers will receive a Chinese Wuling Nebula crossover with an economical powertrain. The car will be offered as a hybrid with a 2-liter gasoline four-cylinder engine and an electric motor.

Total power is not named, but it is known that the internal combustion engine produces 136 hp. The drive is front-wheel drive only.

The equipment list includes a transparent panoramic roof, 17-inch diameter wheels, surround-view cameras and a digital dashboard.

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The length of the Chinese crossover is 4610 mm with a wheelbase of 2700 mm, the width is 1810 mm and the height is 1670 mm. The size of the novelty is comparable to such popular compact crossovers as Kia Sportage and Toyota RAV4.

OBOZREVATEL has already reported about a cheap Nissan SUV that has a decent price.




YWN has confirmed that the highly trained search and rescue team from Rockland Chaveirim who deployed on Friday morning have located both of the missing special needs boys at Sams Point. They are BH both alive and in good conditon. After more than 17 hours of Hatzolah and other agencies, Rockland Chaveirim located the boys less than two hours after entering the area with their team.

Catskills Hatzolah must be publicly commended for their tireless work of hundreds of volunteers combing the area.

Rockland Chaveirim Search and Rescue Team is a group of around 100 volunteers who practice and train every Sunday all year on dangerous mountain terrain in Bear Mountain and Harriman State Park, as well as the Catskills. They have extensive equipment and training. In fact, thanks to Rockland Chaveirim, all members at the Command Center were able to have internet service on Friday when they arrived, thanks to satellite communication and StarLink Internet.

Rockland Chaveirim was called by the family last night, but due to a chain of command issue, they were unable to deploy until Friday morning. Bichasdei Hashem, they deployed and were successful just an hour later. The NY State Forest Rangers are the most trained in such incidents, but there are only around 20 Rangers in the entire area, when a group of hundreds of searchers are actually needed.

Rabbi Abe Friedman, the Chaplain of the Ulster County Sheriffs Department expressed his sincere gratitude to all law enforcement agencies on the scene, as well as Ulster County Sheriffs who were utilizing a drone with infared technology to try and locate the missing boys.

EARLIER POST

The massive search for two missing special needs children in the Catskills is continuing on Friday morning.

Hundreds of trained emergency personnel are combing the mountain terrain at Sams Point / Ice Cave Mountain. The boys are missing since around 5:00PM Thursday afternoon. Making matters difficult, a heavy rain storm passed through the area early Friday morning.

The search is being coordinated by the NY State Forest Rangers and the NY State Police, and Catskills Hatzolah. A massive team of 75 highly trained search and rescue volunteers from Rockland Chaveirim arrived from Monsey and have already deployed into the forest.

Catskill Coordinator Yeedle Feig spoke to YWN and pleaded with people not to show up at the area to try and help. While we appreciate the concerns of the public, these are not city streets where anyone can assit in helping located a missing person. This is dangerous terrain, as our teams are no longer on marked trails, Feig said.

The NY State Police is manning multiple check points, and unless you are specifically requested to respond by the State Police or Catskills Hatzolah, do not come here. You will not be allowed anywhere near the search zone. You can do your part by saying Tehillim, Feig added.

Hatzolah has deployed dozens of ATVs in the forest, with the NY State Police utilizing K-9 dogs. Catskills Hatzolah has launched their infrared-equipped drone, which can spot anything emitting heat, as well as other search and rescue technology.

Family members tell YWN that the names for Tehillim are Yehuda ben Chaya Gittel and Yoel ben Hudis Shaidel.

THIS STORY WAS FIRST PUBLISHED ON THE CATSKILL SCOOP STATUS

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UPDATE 3:30AM: The search is continuing for two missing special needs boys, both around 20 years old, who went missing in Sams Point / Ice Cave Mountain. They were last seen at around 5:00PM Thursday afternoon.

Around 200 volunteers from Hatzolah, Chaveirim and other organizations are assisting the NY State Forest Rangers and NY State Police in the search.

Hatzolah has deployed dozens of ATVs in the forest, with the NY State Police utilizing K-9 dogs. Catskills Hatzolah has launched their infrared-equipped drone, which can spot anything emitting heat, as well as other search and rescue technology.

The terrain in the area is dangerous, and the area is under severe fog, with visibility very bad. a heavy rain storm is expected to pass through the area at around 4:00AM.

Family members tell YWN that the names for Tehillim are Yehuda ben Chaya Gittel and Yoel ben Hudis Shaidel.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)




A new Fox News poll indicates that 53 percent of registered voters believe Trump did something illegal in connection with his efforts to reverse the 2020 election results.

The survey also found that 20 percent of registered voters believe Trump did something wrong, although not necessarily illegal. Meanwhile, 24 percent of respondents expressed the belief that the former president did nothing seriously wrong in this context.

In a notable shift from a previous poll conducted in June, the survey also indicates changing perceptions regarding the Department of Justices handling of the former presidents case. The percentage of voters who believe the Department of Justices treatment of Trump is politically motivated has decreased from 55 percent in June to 51 percent this month. Simultaneously, there has been a rise in the number of respondents who do not consider the departments actions against Trump to be politically motivated.

A separate poll from Quinnipiac found that 54 percent of Americans say Trump deserves to be prosecuted, while 42 percent say he should not be.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans (64 percent) think the federal criminal charges accusing former President Trump of attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election are either very serious (52 percent) or somewhat serious (12 percent), while roughly one-third (32 percent) think they are either not too serious (11 percent) or not serious at all (21 percent).

Donald Trump, who is the clear front-runner in the 2024 GOP presidential nomination race, has faced a series of legal challenges stemming from his actions surrounding the 2020 election, including a federal indictment and another in Georgia. The poll results coincide with his fourth indictment, announced earlier this week by Fulton County DA Fani Willis.

Separately, Trump faces charges over his retention of classified documents after his presidency ended, as well criminal charges in New York for covering up hush money payments during the 2016 election.

(AP)




Former President Donald Trump has unleashed a fresh wave of criticism aimed at Fox News, following reports that he is contemplating skipping the first Republican presidential primary debate hosted by the network.

On Thursday morning, Trump took to his social media platform Truth Social to express his frustrations, stating, Why doesnt Fox and Friends show all of the Polls where I am beating Biden, by a lot. They just wont do it! In his post, Trump also accused Fox News of selectively using unflattering images of him, particularly one that he referred to as the big orange' one. He implied that the networks actions mirrored his 2016 experience and concluded with a pointed statement: And then they want me to debate!

According to a CNN report, Trumps intention is not to participate in the upcoming Republican presidential primary debate hosted by Fox News. Instead, he is reportedly considering alternatives, such as making call-ins to other cable shows during the debate or engaging in a one-on-one interview with Tucker Carlson, the former Fox star who was let go by the network earlier this year.

Throughout 2023, Trump has been vocal in his criticism of Fox News, accusing the network of showing bias against him and displaying favoritism towards his closest rival in the GOP primary, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Trumps complaints have extended to Fox News ratings, which he claims have plummeted due to the networks failure to address topics he deems significant.

In a June interview with chief political correspondent Bret Baier, who is set to co-moderate the upcoming debate alongside Martha MacCallum, Trump referred to Fox News as a hostile network. He defended his potential decision to skip the debate, arguing against providing an opportunity for the network to criticize him further. Trump later remarked that Baier had been nasty in the interview.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)




Citing police errors, a Mississippi judge declared a mistrial Thursday in the case of two white men charged in an attack on a Black FedEx driver who was making a delivery.

Brandon Case and his father, Gregory Case, are charged with attempted first-degree murder, conspiracy and shooting into the vehicle driven by DMonterrio Gibson in January 2022. Gibson, now 25, was not injured. But the chase and gunfire led to complaints on social media of racism in Brookhaven, about an hours drive south of the state capital, Jackson.

Judge David Strong said he made the mistrial decision because of errors by a Brookhaven Police Department detective. On Wednesday, the judge ended the session early after Detective Vincent Fernando acknowledged under oath while the jury was out of the courtroom that he had not previously given prosecutors or defense attorneys a videotaped statement police had taken from Gibson.

The judge said the officer also improperly testified about guns found in the home of one of the men on trial and shell casings found outside the home. Defense attorneys requested the mistrial, and Strong said he had no choice but to grant it.

In 17 years, I dont think Ive seen it, the judge said of the errors.

Sharon McClendon, Gibsons mother, burst out with a loud expletive in the courtroom after the judges announcement, and she and her son declined to speak to reporters as they left the courthouse. Highway Patrol officers walked with them to a private vehicle, and some supporters hugged Gibson.

Rayshun Bridges, of Brookhaven, stood outside the courthouse with a handwritten poster reading: We want justice for DMonterrio. He said he does not know Gibson but has been following news coverage of the case.

That young guy, he was at work trying to do his job, Bridges said.

The Cases, who remain out on bond, sat stoically as the judge announced his decision. Terrell Stubbs, the defense attorney for Gregory Case, declined to comment.

After court adjourned, District Attorney Dee Bates, who leaves office at the end of the year, told reporters that he disagrees with the judges decision. The new trial is not expected before the end of the year because the judges docket is full through December, a court official said.

Carlos Moore, Gibsons attorney in a civil lawsuit, said the mistrial represents not just an administrative setback but also a delay in justice for Mr. Gibson and his family.

Moore said he has asked the U.S. Department of Justices Civil Rights Division to investigate the Brookhaven Police Department for misconduct.

It is concerning that BPD withheld a potentially crucial evidence piece of evidence, Moore said of the videotaped statement. We believe that this is not an isolated incident but a part of a larger pattern of obstruction by BPD.

Moore also called for the Justice Department to bring federal hate crime charges against the Cases, who defense attorneys have said tried to stop Gibson because he was driving a rental van with a Florida license plate and they wanted to know who was near a family home after dark.

The encounter between Gibson and the Cases happened as Gibson made FedEx deliveries on the evening of Jan. 24, 2022, while driving a van with the Hertz logo on three sides. After he dropped off a package at a home on a dead-end public road, Gregory Case used a pickup truck to try to block the van from leaving, and Brandon Case came outside with a gun, Bates told the majority-white jury.

As Gibson drove the van around the pickup truck, shots were fired, with three rounds hitting the delivery van and some of the packages inside, Bates said.

Stubbs told jurors that his client saw a van outside his mother-in-laws unoccupied home and went to check what was happening. The elder Case was just going to ask the van driver what was going on, but the driver did not stop, Stubbs said.

Detective Fernando testified that a truck stops security camera video recorded a white van being followed by a pickup truck at 7:31 p.m., 14 minutes before Gregory Case called police.

A police dispatcher testified that the elder Case called first, reporting he had seen a suspicious vehicle near his home and the van almost ran over him. Audio of the call was played in court, with Case saying he thought the driver was up to something that wasnt good.

Gibson called shortly later, reporting that someone shot at the van while he was delivering a package, the dispatcher said.

Fernando also said cellphone records showed calls between the father and sons phones that evening before Gregory Case called police.

Gibson is still employed by FedEx but is on workers compensation leave, Moore said. A judge last week dismissed Gibsons federal lawsuit seeking $5 million from FedEx, writing that the lawsuit failed to prove the company discriminated against him because of his race. That litigation also named the city of Brookhaven, the police chief and the Cases, and Moore said he plans to file a new civil suit in state court.

(AP)




Last night, the Agudahs Connecticut office hosted a meeting with the Jewish community of Waterbury and Waterbury Chief of Police Fernando Spagnolo, President of the Board of Aldermen Paul Pernerewski, and Alderman Mike Salvio to discuss the sudden increase in crime affecting the Jewish community.

Chief Spagnolo detailed his departments efforts towards resolving the issue and addressed concerns from the audience. He highlighted the significance of reporting every crime no matter the size, as it helps the police department properly allocate resources. Additionally, he praised Waterburys legislative delegation for advocating for laws to increase police officers ability to deal with juvenile offenders.

I really appreciate that Chief Spagnolo took the time to hear and address our concerns in person, said Avi Wisotsky, a member of the Waterbury community.

We are grateful to Chief Spagnolo for his open communication with the community and conveying how much he and his officers care about those they protect, said Rabbi Ari Weisenfeld, director of Agudahs Connecticut Office. I look forward to working with his office and the Waterbury delegation on potential legislative solutions to the current situation.




Russian authorities have charged one of the leaders of a prominent independent election monitoring group with being involved with an undesirable organization, his lawyer said Thursday.

The case against Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of Russias leading election watchdog Golos, is the latest in the monthslong crackdown on Kremlin critics and rights activists that the government ratcheted up after sending troops into Ukraine.

Melkonyants lawyer Mikhail Biryukov told The Associated Press that his client was charged and detained until Friday, when he is scheduled to appear in Moscows Basmanny District Court. He faces up to six years in prison.

Golos has not been labeled undesirable  a label that under a 2015 law makes involvement with such organizations a criminal offense. But it was once a member of the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations, a group that was declared undesirable in Russia in 2021.

Police raided the homes of a further 14 Golos members on Thursday in eight different cities, Russias state news agency RIA Novosti reported. Melkonyants apartment in Moscow was also raided.

In an interview with the AP Thursday, David Kankiya, a governing council member at Golos, linked the pressure on the group to Russias upcoming regional elections in September and the presidential election that is expected to take place in the spring of 2024. We see this as a form of political pressure and an attempt to stifle our activities in Russia, Kankiya said.

Golos was founded in 2000 and has since played a key role in independent monitoring of elections in Russia. Over the years, it has faced mounting pressure from the authorities. In 2013, the group was designated as a foreign agent  a label that implies additional government scrutiny and carries strong pejorative connotations. Three years later, it was liquidated as a non-governmental organization by Russias Justice Ministry.

Golos has continued to operate without registering as an NGO, exposing violations at various elections, and in 2021 it was added to a new registry of foreign agents, created by the Justice Ministry for groups that are not registered as a legal entity in Russia.

Independent journalists, critics, activists and opposition figures in Russia have come under increasing pressure from the government in recent years which intensified significantly amid the conflict in Ukraine. Multiple independent news outlets and rights groups have been shut down, labeled as foreign agents, or outlawed as undesirable. Activists and critics of the Kremlin have faced criminal charges.

The authorities have also banned popular social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and X, formerly known as Twitter, and have targeted other online services with hefty fines.

On Thursday, a Russian court imposed a 3-million-ruble ($32,000) fine on Google for failing to delete allegedly false information about the conflict in Ukraine. The move by a magistrates court follows similar actions in early August against Apple and the Wikimedia Foundation that hosts Wikipedia.

According to Russian news reports, the court found that the YouTube video service, which is owned by Google, was guilty of not deleting videos with incorrect information about the conflict  which Russia characterizes as a special military operation.

(AP)




A Florida man who used a flagpole to attack officers who were trying to defend the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was sentenced Thursday to four years in prison.

Michael Steven Perkins, 40, of Plant City, was sentenced in District of Columbia federal court, according to court records. His co-defendant, Joshua Christopher Doolin, 25, of Lakeland, received one year and six months on Wednesday.

Both were convicted earlier this year of felony civil disorder, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds and disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds.

Doolin was also convicted of theft of government property. Perkins was separately convicted of assaulting a federal officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon and engaging in acts of physical violence while on the restricted Capitol grounds.

Doolin and Perkins were arrested on June 30, 2021, along with co-defendants Joseph Hutchinson and Olivia Pollock, officials said. A federal judge issued bench warrants for Hutchinson and Pollock in March after the FBI reported that they had tampered with or removed their ankle monitors and disappeared.

A fifth co-defendant, Jonathan Pollock, has not yet been apprehended, and the FBI is offering a reward of up to $30,000 in exchange for information leading to his arrest and conviction.

According to court documents, Doolin and Perkins joined with others in objecting to Democrat Joe Bidens 2020 election victory over then-President Donald Trump. A mob attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying election results for Biden over the Republican Trump, authorities said. Five people died in the violence.

According to evidence and testimony presented at trial, Doolin and Perkins were on the west side of the Capitol on Jan. 6. Hutchinson, pushed from behind by Perkins, charged a line of police officers in an effort to break through the line, prosecutors said.

As officers descended into the crowd to help another officer, Perkins picked up a flagpole and thrust it into the chest of an approaching officer, authorities said. Perkins then raised the flagpole over his head and swung it down, striking two officers in the back of their heads, officials said.

Doolin and Perkins then advanced closer to the Capitol building, where Doolin acquired a Metropolitan Police Department crowd-control spray cannister and a U.S. Capitol Police riot shield, prosecutors said. Doolin eventually re-located to a Capitol building entrance passageway, where he used the stolen riot shield to join the crowd of rioters pushing against the police officers inside the passageway in an effort to break through and enter the Capitol, officials said.

Doolins attorney said in an email that Doolin plans to appeal his convictions. An attorney for Perkins didnt immediately respond to an email seeking comment from The Associated Press.

Since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,100 people have been arrested for crimes related to the breach of the Capitol, officials said. More than 350 people have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.

(AP)




North Korea is increasing its repression of human rights and people are becoming more desperate and reportedly starving in parts of the country as the economic situation worsens, the U.N. rights chief said Thursday.

Volker Turk told the first open meeting of the U.N. Security Council since 2017 on North Korean human rights that in the past its people have endured periods of severe economic difficulty and repression, but currently they appear to be suffering both.

According to our information, people are becoming increasingly desperate as informal markets and other coping mechanisms are dismantled, while their fear of state surveillance, arrest, interrogation and detention has increased, he said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un closed the borders of his northeast Asian nation to contain COVID-19. But as the pandemic has waned, Turk said the governments restrictions have grown even more extensive, with guards authorized to shoot any unauthorized person approaching the border and with almost all foreigners, including U.N. staff, still barred from the country.

As examples of the increasing repression of human rights, he said, anyone found viewing reactionary ideology and culture  which means information from abroad, especially from South Korea  may now face five to 15 years in prison. And those who distribute such material face life imprisonment or even the death penalty, he said.

On the economic front, Turk said, the government has largely shut down markets and other private means of generating income and increasingly criminalized such activity.

This sharply constrains peoples ability to provide for themselves and their families, he said. Given the limits of state-run economic institutions, many people appear to be facing extreme hunger as well as acute shortages of medication.

Turk said many human rights violations stem directly from, or support, the militarization of the country.

For example, the widespread use of forced labor  including labor in political prison camps, forced use of school children to collect harvests, the requirement for families to undertake labor and provide a quota of goods to the government, and confiscation of wages from overseas workers  all support the military apparatus of the state and its ability to build weapons, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights said.

Elizabeth Salmon, the U.N. special investigator on human rights in North Korea, echoed Turk: Some people are starving. Others have died due to a combination of malnutrition, diseases and lack of access to health care.

The United States and North Korea, which fought during the 1950-53 Korean War, are still technically at war since that conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. Salmon said the frozen conflict is being used to justify the continued militarization.

North Koreas Military First policy reduces resources for the people, Salmon said, and the countrys leaders demand that they tighten their belts so the money can be used for the nuclear and missile programs.

The Security Council took no action, but afterward U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who chaired the meeting, read a statement on behalf of 52 countries while flanked by many of their ambassadors.

The statement said the North Korean government commits acts of cruelty and repression at home and abroad which are inextricably linked with the DPRKs weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile advancements in violation of Security Council resolutions. The Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea is the official name.

The countries called on all 193 U.N. member nations to raise awareness of the links between the human rights situation in North Korea and international peace and security, and to hold the DPRK government accountable.

North Korea on Tuesday denounced U.S. plans for the council meeting as despicable, saying it was only aimed at achieving Washingtons geopolitical ambitions.

Vice Foreign Minister Kim Son Gyong called the United States a declining power and said if the council dealt with any countrys human rights, the U.S. should be the first as it is the anti-people empire of evils, totally depraved due to all sorts of social evils.

China and Russia, both allies of North Korea, opposed the meeting, saying its human rights situation doesnt pose a threat to international peace and security.

Chinas deputy U.N. ambassador Geng Shuang said pushing the council to consider human rights at a time when confrontation has intensified on the Korean Peninsula will escalate the situation.

It is irresponsible, unconstructive and an abuse of the councils power, he said. He urged the council instead to take practical actions to respond to reasonable concerns of the DPRK and create conditions for a resumption of talks.

Russias deputy U.N. ambassador Dmitry Polyansky called the meeting propaganda and a cynical and hypocritical attempt by the U.S. and its allies to advance their own political agenda to step up pressure on Pyongyang.

He dismissed Western attempts to link North Koreas human rights situation to peace and security as absolutely artificial.

But Thomas-Greenfield said Pyongyangs war machine, which is powered by repression and cruelty, is undeniably a matter of international peace and security. She said that is why the U.S., Japan and Albania requested Thursdays long-overdue meeting.

(AP)




By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for the Five Towns Jewish Home

It began with the leftover chocolate cake from the birthday party. It then progressed to her chocolate from Amsterdam. Her food was being stolen. What should she do? She asked her boss at work in her Tel Aviv office. Her boss said, Have you considered introducing some digestibly difficult into the food? Ultimately, she did not pursue her bosss suggestion.

What the boss was suggesting is something called, Lunch Thief Veangance, It is often quite effective in bringing perpetrators back to the straight and narrow path. But is it halachacially permissible?

Believe it or not, this matter seems to be a machlokes among Poskim. Rav Yitzchok Zilberstein in his Chashukei Chemed in Bava Kamma 69a seems to permit it based on the concept of halitahyu lrasha vyamus. The source of this term is in the Mishnah, in tractate Maaser Shaini, where Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel rules that there is no need to mark fruits that are forbidden to eat because they were planted for natai revai or maaser so that thieves know not to eat them, because in any case eating fruit from the field without permission is theft, and there is no need to prevent the wicked from failing in another offense.

Rav Menashe Klein obm, in his Mishne Halachos Vol. XVII #182, however, forbids it. In most municipalities it is also illegal  so it is best to avoid it.

The author can be reached at [email protected]




With the Knesset on its summer break and the judicial reform on hold, the anarchists, who are ostensibly against the judicial reform plan, are itching for something to screech about. They were assisted in the task by the left-wing media, which recently blew up a number of stories in recent weeks about so-called discrimination against women in the public sphere.

The stories are sometimes false, sometimes widely exaggerated, and in all cases, are completely unconnected to the government. Nevertheless, left-wing groups and some politicians, including Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Lieberman, decided to protest against the incidents on Wednesday by creating provocations on separate bus lines. Groups of men and women, some inappropriately dressed, boarded separate bus lines in Ashdod, where many chassidim live, and tried to create provocations.

Liebermans attempts were a complete failure, with the Chareidi bus passengers completely ignoring him.

However, footage of women belonging to the Achim BNeshek protest group singing loudly on a bus full of Gerrer chassidim, was met with a storm of condemnation, even from leftists. The women purposely sang while the bus was moving so the chassidim were unable to get off the bus.

Such images made sense in Germany, wrote journalist Shimon Riklin. Not in the Jewish state.

Walla reporter Yaki Adamkar wrote: Finally, these people reveal their true faces  hate, hate, hate. No other words are necessary.

Kan News reporter Omri Chaim wrote: A group of democratic heroes purposely harass the Chareidim  with a smile on their faces. What times were in  there are those for whom everything is permitted and those against whom everything is permitted. This scene is sickening.

Writer Yuval Bloomberg wrote: The only feeling I have from watching this video is a deep disgust and nausea for the protest mob. A collection of street gangs, seeking to incite provocations and violence. How can a person of conscience see this and still feel part of this rot? What decent person can watch this and still identify with such a vile form of protest? Is this your way? Is this really what you have become?

Many people commented on the smiles on the womens faces, enjoying watching their own brethren suffer as they gleefully trampled their religious sensibilities.

Journalist Avi Ravina wrote: Enemies in Arms. Ive seen very few Jews with such hatred. I doubt their Jewishness.

Below is a video of Lieberman boarding a Chareidi bus line in Ashdod.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
The European Union already filled its gas storage facilities by more than 90% in August, although the plan was to do so only in November. Russia has finally lost its influence on the gas market.

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According to Politico, this makes the Kremlin struggle to plug the gaping hole in its finances created by its decision to cut off European customers after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year.

"Today's confirmation that we have met our gas storage requirements ahead of schedule underlines that the EU is well prepared for winter and this will help to further stabilize markets in the coming months," the bloc's energy commissioner Kadri Simson said.

The news underscores the EU's success in giving up on Russian pipeline gas. Russian gas fell to 23.6 percent of EU imports in the first 32 weeks of 2022 and to 8.4 percent this year. That makes the EU's commitment to stop buying Russian gas by 2027 achievable.

"It's a success story," Bruegel Brussels-based think tank analyst Giovanni Sgaravatti said, "for the Commission, for the energy market, but even more so for the governments of the member states, who have responded to replacing 1 terawatt-hour of missing Russian gas within a year quite well."

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Russian gas has been largely replaced by imports from the US, Norway, Azerbaijan and other countries, leading to a sharp drop in prices from the 2022 peak. The Dutch TTF gas price index reached 320 euros per megawatt-hour last August; This week it hovered around 38 euros.

However, the cost of gas is still higher than before the war, when it hovered around 20 euros per megawatt-hour, meaning higher bills for households and lower productivity for European industry.

As OBOZREVATEL previously reported, Ukraine itself will not negotiate with Russia to extend gas transit. According to the Minister of Energy, it will not be necessary.




Israels Border Police on Thursday afternoon released helmet camera footage from the counterterrorism operation in Jenin in the early hours of Thursday morning.

During the operation, a wanted terrorist is seen sticking his head out of a window with a gun. The Israeli forces immediately opened massive fire, eliminating him.

The Israeli forces stormed and searched a building being used by Islamic Jihad terrorists and found weapons and dozens of explosive devices ready for use in terror attacks.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)




By Rabbi Yair Hoffman

Imagine, chalillah, witnessing an assassination happening before your very eyes. Ekkeldik, Horrifying. Dreadful. Our words fail us and we cannot sleep at night when we see it.

Shlomo HaMelech warned us: Mavais vChaim byad lshon. So is character assassination any better? Now imagine an energetic tzaddik and talmid chochom who built talmidim and built a fabulous Torah mossad, facing and living through the horror of a carefully scripted, planned and calculated plot of character assassination. IT is a character assassination against Rabbi Eitan Rubin, the Rosh Yeshiva of the Siach Chaim Yeshiva in Great Neck. I have interviewed former and current Talmidim. I have also interviewed people from those who are denigrating Rabbi Rubin. My impression is that they have convinced themselves of the truth of their position to the point where they were able to even convince others  but they are so far off the mark that they are veritable flat-earthers.

Rabbi Rubin is a Torah scholar and someone who has placed many of his graduates in the top Yeshivos in both Eretz Yisroel and in the United States. The Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem is a venerable institution with a two hundred year history. Beis Medrash Gavoha in Lakewood, New Jersey is one of the most prestigious Torah learning institutions in the country. To accuse Rabbi Rubin of being a cult-leader is a complete and utter violation of halacha.

THE HALACHA IN SHULCHAN ARUCH

We Jews, live by the halachos in Shulchan Aruch. And the Shulchan Aruch (YD 243:6) is quite clear on this topic. It is a grave sin to be mevazeh a Talmid Chacham (to degrade, disrespect, name-call a Torah scholar). Anyone who does so has no share in the World-to-Come. It is within the purview of the verse in BaMidbar 15:31, For he has scorned the word of the L-rd.

We find further insight and commentary in Gemorahs throughout Shas. The Gemorah in Shabbos 119b states: Rabbi Yehuda said: Jerusalem was destroyed only because they disparaged the Torah scholars in it, as it is stated: And they mocked the messengers of Hashem and disdained His words and taunted His prophets, until the wrath of Hashem arose against His people, until it could not be healed (Divrei HaYamim Bais 36:16). What is the meaning of: Until it could not be healed? Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: It means that anyone who disparages Torah scholars cannot be healed from his wound.

The Gemorah in Shabbos further states regarding a previous pasuk, .. do My prophets no harm (I Divrei haYamim Bais 16:22)  these are Torah scholars.

SCOPE AND PARAMETERS OF BIZUI  DISRESPECTING

It is not only actions that are considered Bizui  but even writing or saying mere words. The following are considered Bizui:

Saying Lashon Harah on him is particularly heinous (See Chofetz Chaim Hilchos Lashon Harah Klal 8 Sif 4) Negating his rulings (Maharik #189). Purposefully not extending him niceties involving honor (Teshuvas Rivash #500; Beis Meir Hashmatos to YD 336:9) Labelling him with a pejorative term such as Malshin, or Moiser (See Ramah YD 334 who writes there is no greater bizayon then this and he is placed under Nidui). Certainly labelling him with the appellation of Cult-leader is included in this. Interrupting his Drasha (Maharsham Siman 334) Acting with Chutzpah toward him (Maharik ibid) Referring to him just by his name without a title (Leket HaKemach Hilchos Kavod Chachomim end of YD Siman 334)

WHO IT APPLIES TO

The notion of Bizui Talmidei Chachomim, according to the Tashbatz Vol. I Siman 178) also applies to Torah scholars discussing other Torah scholars.

It applies to men, women, children, regardless of whether the person embarrassing is either older or younger, or wealthier or poorer. There is an obligation upon the violator to be meratzeh the Talmid Chacham (See SA YD 343:7)

Since this authors previous article, there have been many people who have expressed deserved support and appreciation toward . There are still people who, unfortunately, refer to him disparagingly in writing and spread the disinformation of his being a cult-leader chalilah. This is wrong and must be stopped immediately. There is a Rabbi who has a reputation as being a cult-buster whose letter denigrating Rabbi Rubin has been circulating widely. He truly needs to apologize to Rabbi Rubin. I have The Rabbi who has denigrated Rabbi Rubin has never even met Rabbi Rubin or even visited the Yeshiva.

The author can be reached at [email protected]
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A Jewish Father of Small Children Suspected of Smuggling Several Tortoises Detained in Madagascar for Many Weeks Among Hundreds of Cruel Criminals, Dangerous Inmates, and Antisemitic: I Cant Survive This | Listen to His Heartbreaking Pleas

Mr. R, a resident of Bnei Brak, aged 39, was arrested over a month and a half ago with a few tortoises found in his hand luggage. Since his arrest, he has been transferred between four detention centers and is now held in the most ruthless prison known in Africa, under harsh conditions, and in immediate danger to his life at every moment. In a conversation with his lawyer, he tearfully stated, This isnt normal; they beat me, took my clothes, and I have nothing to eat. Save me. His trial is set to commence in a few days, and if convicted, he may face up to 10 years in prison for an unjust accusation!

Please help to redeem and save his life>>

Since the Israeli citizen, Mr. R, from Bnei Brak, was arrested over a month and a half ago at the international airport in Madagascar for smuggling tortoises, he has been transferred four times between detention centers  yet he remains detained in the country. In a phone conversation with his attorney, Mordechai Tzivin, a few days ago, Mr. R sobbed, Save me, this isnt normal; whats happening here isnt right. Im constantly in fear, surrounded by hundreds of dangerous inmates, among them Muslim antisemites, and they beat me! They took my clothes! I have nothing to eat! I cant survive this!

Mr. R continued to recount his ordeal in detention: I sleep here with hundreds of people in one room; each person has 30 centimeters to sleep. Everyone here can harm me at any moment, and the guards turn a blind eye and show no interest. Last week, someone tried to touch me. I just wanted to say something gently to him, and he punched me twice. At night, I think to myself, When will morning come?' He added, I gave my food to a guard here in exchange for bringing my tefillin. I left them for a few minutes, and then another inmate approached and asked for money. When I refused, he hit me in the eye and took my tefillin.

Please help to redeem and save his life>>

Smuggling tortoises is considered a very serious offense in Madagascar, and the lawsuit seeks to impose no less than 10 years of imprisonment and substantial monetary fines amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars on Mr. R The tortoises were discovered in Mr. Rs hand luggage by local customs officials. After the luggage went through an X-ray scan, and without Mr. R being aware that it was prohibited, since all he intended to do was to bring them for his young children after seeing these tortoises being sold in the market for traditional soup by locals.

Customs officials identified something suspicious, and when they opened the luggage, to their astonishment, they found the tortoises. Mr. R tried to explain to them that he is a plumber by professionand not a smuggler , and he wasnt even aware that its forbidden to take tortoises out of Madagascar. He also didnt try to hide them. He believed that as a non-local, he could take them for his children to see, and therefore he didnt hide them and carried them in his hand luggage, leaving them in a compartment with air holes along with some food and an open lid. Nevertheless, their explanation was ignored, and they treated him with anti-Semitic and cruel behavior, treating him worse than murderers and serious criminals he was surrounded by. He lives in constant fear and real danger for his life!

Please help to redeem and save his life>>



His trial is scheduled to start in a few days. In the meantime, hes been in detention for several weeks and transferred as aforementioned between different detention centers  and now hes located in the worst place, as mentioned.

In order to fund his legal defense and related expenses, an effort is being made to raise around half a million dollars for Mr. R through a crowd-funding campaign. Recordings of his voice have been included in this campaign, where he describes his difficult situation in prison. Prominent rabbis, jurists, and public figures from all denominations, communities, and sectors are on the list of endorsers urging for donations and assistance for Mr. R.

Please help to redeem and save his life>>

Attorney Mordechai Tzivin, who represents Mr. R, conveyed: An ordinary civilian, without any previous criminal record. He wasnt aware of the prohibition to take tortoises out of Madagascar, and he didnt even try to hide them. Its reasonable to assume that the reasonable man, most certainly not a local, wouldnt have thought its an offense.

Tzivin added, His condition in prison, considered one of the worst in the world, is physically and mentally harsher than imaginable. I expect that the authorities in Madagascar will soon come to the conclusion that Mr. R is innocent, thus ending the torment he is currently enduring. A crowd-funding campaign has been launched by his family in an effort to aid and rescue him as much as possible.

Please help to redeem and save his life>>


Car insurance prices are set to rise further, according to the largest motor insurer - despite already being at record highs.

Admiral, which owns car insurance brands such as Bell, Elephant and Diamond, this week said it had had to increase prices by 40 per cent over the past year.

The car insurer, which is the largest in the UK, this week published half-year results showing its motor insurance underwriting profits fell by 4.5 per cent, to 189.5million.

Admiral said it was suffering increased costs, which it has had to pass on to drivers in the form of higher premiums.

The insurance firm said rising energy costs added 71.75 to the cost of each car it repaired. Meanwhile the price of paint and repair materials have gone up by 16 per cent.

Dented profits: Admiral said the increasing cost of repairs was behind rising insurance costs

Admiral chief executive Milena Mondini de Focatiis told the Times: 'We expect to continue to increase prices.'

Motor insurance prices are already at record highs. The average driver now pays 511 a year for insurance, according to official data.

The price of typical car cover rose 7 per cent, or 39 a year, from the first three months of 2023 to the second quarter, according to the Association of British Insurers.

The ABI said the cost of replacement parts for many popular cars have increased between 12 -21 per cent over the past year.

Car repairers have faced a big hike in their costs, which they have passed on to insurers, and in turn to drivers.

For example, repairers have seen a 300 per cent rise in energy bills compared to before the cost of living crisis began in 2021.

The cost of providing a courtesy car has risen 30 per cent, and paint and part prices by 16 per cent.

How to save money on car insurance

Shop around

This is the number one way to save on car insurance. Drivers can make savings of hundreds of pounds if they shop around when renewing their cover.

Insurers are no longer allowed to charge renewing customers more than new ones. That means if a driver renews, they should be quoted the same - or less - than if they had started a new policy with the same insurer.

But prices vary between different insurers, so it is still possible to get a better deal by shopping around.

Consider 'black box' telematics insurance

Black box policies are where the insurer uses a system in your car to monitor your driving, either a separate device or using the driver's smartphone. These are designed to reward those who drive carefully.

They can cut premiums substantially once you start proving you are a good driver. Some insurers even offer an upfront discount if you take out a telematics policy.

Be careful about named drivers

Another way to cut premiums is to ensure that only regular drivers are named on the policy.

Adding a young, inexperienced driver can be a false economy, especially if you have a large or higher-powered vehicle.

The premium will be affected by the youngest driver, and he or she may not have a no-claims bonus.

Pay yearly if you can

When taking out a new policy, drivers will be given the option to either to pay for the whole year upfront or in monthly instalments.

Many opt for the monthly payments as it means not having to part with a large sum of money in one go  but if you can afford to pay your yearly premium upfront, you could save money.

This is because your insurer may charge you interest on the monthly instalments. It is worth asking them if there is a difference and, if so, what it is.

Only pay for what you need

Some car insurance deals include extra benefits, such as a courtesy car, windscreen cover, breakdown cover and motor legal protection.

All of these could definitely come in handy, but they will almost always increase the total cost of insuring your car.

Many consumers who buy add-on insurance then forget they have it, and some deals are only claimed on once every 664 years.
Two of Britain's best-known companies have emerged from the doldrums to become unlikely stock market winners this year.

Engine maker Rolls-Royce has been the best performing stock in the FTSE 100 in 2023 and High Street bellwether Marks & Spencer is one of the stars of the second-string FTSE 250.

Both companies have lost much of their lustre in recent years as businesses struggled.

But they are shining brightly again having both upgraded their outlook over the past month, even as the wider UK stock market struggles.

Rolls-Royce: Engine maker and engineer roars back

Shares in Rolls-Royce have roared ahead this year, more than doubling in value.

Chief executive Tufan Erginbilgic inherited a business which he described at the start of this year, shortly after taking over, as a 'burning platform'. But investors have bought into his turnaround plan.

Last month, the firm cheered investors with a profit upgrade  revealing that it will rake in 1.2billion to 1.4billion this year, up from 800m to 1billion previously expected.

That only added fuel to the Derby-based company's explosive rise, which has seen the shares climb by 114 per cent for the year to date  though at 201.2p last night they are still far short of the peak of nearly 400p achieved in 2014.

> Read more: Rolls-Royce swings back to profit as air travel takes off

High Street sparkle at M&S bounces back

M&S has also been adding sparkle under Stuart Machin, who has been in place since May last year.

He inherited a company that was already showing improvement under predecessor Steve Rowe and chairman Archie Norman.

It follows years in which its bosses struggled to reboot the 139-year-old High Street stalwart.

Now, turnaround efforts are bearing fruit and M&S last week announced its own profit upgrade off the back of bumper sales.

M&S shares are up 79 per cent, making it the FTSE 250's third-best performer so far this year and on course to return to the FTSE 100.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: 'Many investors could have been forgiven for filing both firms in the 'too difficult' pile.'

> Read more: M&S shares soar as it eyes profit growth
When gilts hit the headlines its a clear sign that trouble has not only been brewing but has been unleashed.

Government bond yields only tend to break through into the mainstream when things arent going well and they have been firmly in the spotlight since Kwasi Kwartengs ill-fated mini-budget.

But what is a gilt, why does its yield matter, whats that got to do with prices and why do we worry about such things?

On this podcast, Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Simon Lambert, take a step back from the maelstrom to explain gilts, why investors worry about government bonds, whats causing ructions in the pensions industry and what this all means for normal people.

Chancellor Kwarteng has now departed  in fact, news of his imminent exit from the job while the team were recording the podcast, triggering a breaking news style interruption  but will Chancellor Jeremy Hunt fare any better (and last longer)?

The team discuss why the mortgage market is key to the answer to that and also look at what first-time buyers should do in this scenario.

There are some for whom the current rapid rate rises arent bad news though and that is savers. We now have a top savings rate above 5 per cent for the first time in many years, but is it worth taking?

It requires locking in for five years, but thats the sort of return knocking on what could reasonably be expected from the stock market, where you also have to take the risk of losing money.

And finally, investors are hunkering down at the moment, but when share prices fall the stock market is on sale  and if you look at some investment trusts there is a double sale going on, as discounts have widened to 13 per cent on average.

Should you be greedy when others are fearful, as Warren Buffett is often quoted as saying, or exercise some caution rather than having your head turned by knockdown prices?

Out the door: Kwasi Kwarteng's short but eventful stint as Chancellor of the Exchequer is over
ZTE (OTCMKTS:ZTCOY  Get Free Report) and Reliq Health Technologies (OTCMKTS:RQHTF  Get Free Report) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, profitability, valuation, dividends, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

0.0% of Reliq Health Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

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Profitability

This table compares ZTE and Reliq Health Technologies net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets ZTE 5.89% 13.25% 4.04% Reliq Health Technologies -13.98% -24.21% -14.55%

Earnings & Valuation

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio ZTE $17.75 billion 0.53 $1.06 billion $0.47 8.60 Reliq Health Technologies $6.70 million 10.61 -$6.46 million ($0.01) -35.00

This table compares ZTE and Reliq Health Technologies revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

ZTE has higher revenue and earnings than Reliq Health Technologies. Reliq Health Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than ZTE, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

ZTE has a beta of 0.77, suggesting that its share price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Reliq Health Technologies has a beta of 1.72, suggesting that its share price is 72% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for ZTE and Reliq Health Technologies, as reported by MarketBeat.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score ZTE 0 1 1 0 2.50 Reliq Health Technologies 0 0 1 0 3.00

Summary

ZTE beats Reliq Health Technologies on 7 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About ZTE

(Get Free Report)

ZTE Corporation provides integrated communication information solutions in the People's Republic of China, rest of Asia, Africa, Europe, the United States, and Oceania. It operates through three segments: Carriers' Networks, Government and Corporate Business, and Consumer Business. The Carriers' Network segment provides wireless access, wireline access, bearer systems, core networks, telecommunication software systems and services, and other technologies and product solutions for meeting carries' requirements. The Consumer Business segment offers smart phones, mobile data terminals, family terminals, and fusion terminals, as well as related software application and value-added services. The Government and Corporate Business segment focuses on providing informatization solutions for the government and corporations through the application of products, such as communications networks, Internet of Things, big data, and cloud computing. The company was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Shenzhen, the People's Republic of China.

About Reliq Health Technologies

(Get Free Report)

Reliq Health Technologies Inc., a healthcare technology company, develops secure telemedicine and virtual care solutions for the healthcare market. It offers iUGO Care platform, a software as a solution that allows complex patients to receive care in the home. The company was formerly known as Moseda Technologies Inc. and changed its name to Reliq Health Technologies Inc. in May 2016. Reliq Health Technologies Inc. was incorporated in 2005 is headquartered in Hamilton, Canada.

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Jet2 (OTCMKTS:DRTGF  Get Free Report) and TUI (OTCMKTS:TUIFF  Get Free Report) are both consumer cyclical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, earnings and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Jet2 and TUIs net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

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Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Jet2 N/A N/A N/A TUI N/A N/A N/A

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Jet2 and TUIs gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Jet2 N/A N/A N/A $0.22 70.06 TUI N/A N/A N/A $0.31 22.24

Institutional & Insider Ownership

TUI is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Jet2, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

19.7% of Jet2 shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 13.6% of TUI shares are held by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Jet2 and TUI, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Jet2 0 0 1 0 3.00 TUI 0 3 2 0 2.40

Jet2 presently has a consensus target price of $1,525.00, indicating a potential upside of 9,802.60%. TUI has a consensus target price of $995.00, indicating a potential upside of 14,330.75%. Given TUIs higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe TUI is more favorable than Jet2.

Dividends

Jet2 pays an annual dividend of $0.02 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. TUI pays an annual dividend of $0.11 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Jet2 pays out 9.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. TUI pays out 35.6% 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.

About Jet2

(Get Free Report)

Jet2 plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the leisure travel business in the United Kingdom. The company operates scheduled holiday flights to leisure destinations in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands, and European Leisure Cities. It is also involved in the package holiday and non-ticket retail activities, as well as passenger and charter aircraft operations. The company was formerly known as Dart Group PLC and changed its name to Jet2 plc in September 2020. Jet2 plc was founded in 1971 and is based in Leeds, the United Kingdom.

About TUI

(Get Free Report)

TUI AG, together with its subsidiaries, provides tourism services worldwide. It operates hotels and resorts under the Robinson, Riu, TUI Blue, Blue Diamond, TUI Suneo, and TUI Magic Life brands. The company is also involved in the tour operation and airlines businesses. In addition, it operates cruise liners under the Mein Schiff, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, and Marella brands. The company operates 1,600 travel agencies and online portals; 134 aircraft; and 16 cruise liners, as well as 418 hotels. The company was formerly known as Preussag AG and changed its name to TUI AG in June 2002. TUI AG is headquartered in Hanover, Germany.

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Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG  Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of Moderate Buy by the four research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $83.00.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on GGG shares. DA Davidson raised their price target on Graco from $70.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 27th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Graco from $75.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Friday, April 28th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Graco in a research report on Thursday. They set a hold rating for the company. William Blair reissued a market perform rating on shares of Graco in a research report on Monday, June 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Graco from $94.00 to $91.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 28th.

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Graco Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE:GGG opened at $75.04 on Friday. Graco has a 12-month low of $58.17 and a 12-month high of $87.94. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $83.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.81.

Graco (NYSE:GGG  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The industrial products company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.78 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $559.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $576.14 million. Graco had a net margin of 23.10% and a return on equity of 25.52%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Graco will post 3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, July 17th were given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 14th. Gracos payout ratio is 31.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark W. Sheahan bought 1,263 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, July 31st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $79.04 per share, with a total value of $99,827.52. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,978,413.44. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Graco news, CEO Mark W. Sheahan purchased 1,263 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 31st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $79.04 per share, with a total value of $99,827.52. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 62,986 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,978,413.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Timothy R. White sold 2,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.77, for a total value of $228,879.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 50,782 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,304,790.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,012 shares of company stock valued at $1,970,826. 2.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Silicon Valley Capital Partners purchased a new position in shares of Graco in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Graco in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in Graco by 52.5% in the 1st quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 421 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp boosted its stake in Graco by 569.7% in the 4th quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 509 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 433 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graco in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.47% of the companys stock.

About Graco

(Get Free Report

Graco Inc designs, manufactures, and markets systems and equipment used to move, measure, control, dispense, and spray fluid and powder materials worldwide. The company's Industrial segment offers proportioning systems to spray polyurethane foam and polyurea coatings; equipment that pumps, meters, mixes and dispenses sealant, adhesive, and composite materials; and gel-coat equipment, chop and wet-out systems, resin transfer molding systems and applicators, and precision dispensing solutions.

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Bank of New York Mellon Corp trimmed its stake in Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR  Free Report) by 0.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,833,345 shares of the utilities providers stock after selling 5,708 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 1.90% of Portland General Electric worth $89,632,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of POR. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Portland General Electric by 17.4% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 14,034 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $774,000 after purchasing an additional 2,083 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Portland General Electric by 58.9% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 46,899 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $2,586,000 after purchasing an additional 17,386 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can bought a new stake in shares of Portland General Electric in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $239,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Portland General Electric in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $460,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Portland General Electric by 55.0% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 47,232 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $2,605,000 after purchasing an additional 16,750 shares during the last quarter.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Anne Frances Mersereau sold 1,071 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Friday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.83, for a total transaction of $50,154.93. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $841,160.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.51% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Portland General Electric Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:POR opened at $43.65 on Friday. Portland General Electric has a 12-month low of $41.58 and a 12-month high of $56.37. The businesss fifty day simple moving average is $47.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.36. The company has a market capitalization of $4.41 billion, a PE ratio of 18.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.05). Portland General Electric had a net margin of 7.82% and a return on equity of 8.03%. The company had revenue of $648.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $571.82 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. The companys revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Portland General Electric will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Portland General Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 22nd. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.35%. Portland General Electrics dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Portland General Electric in a research note on Monday, May 8th. They set an overweight rating and a $56.00 price target for the company. 58.com reissued a downgrade rating on shares of Portland General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, June 20th. StockNews.com began coverage on Portland General Electric in a report on Thursday. They set a hold rating on the stock. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on Portland General Electric from $50.00 to $48.00 in a report on Friday, July 7th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on Portland General Electric from $56.00 to $52.00 in a report on Thursday, June 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $50.83.

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About Portland General Electric

(Free Report)

Portland General Electric Company, an integrated electric utility company, engages in the generation, wholesale purchase, transmission, distribution, and retail sale of electricity in the state of Oregon. It operates six thermal plants, three wind farms, and seven hydroelectric facilities. As of December 31, 2022, the company owned an electric transmission system consisting of 1,255 circuit miles, including 269 circuit miles of 500 kilovolt line, 413 circuit miles of 230 kilovolt line, and 573 miles of 115 kilovolt line; and served 926 thousand retail customers in 51 cities.

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There was another explosion near the Moscow City business center in the center of the Russian capital on the dark morning of August 18. It was allegedly "attacked by a Ukrainian drone". A column of smoke rose into the sky above the towers after a bright flash.

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The authorities of the terrorist state claim that it was the debris of the "shot down" drone that hit the roof of the Expocentre. No casualties and almost no destruction were recorded. The special services came to the place of the emergency already at dawn (to see the video, scroll to the end of the news).

The explosion in Moscow was heard around 04:00 on Friday. Propagandists claimed a "UAV attack", one of them hitting the Expocentre on Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment near Moscow City.

At the same time, Russian monitoring channels wrote that the impact partially destroyed the outer wall of one of the pavilions in an area of up to 30 square meters.

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Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin assured that there was only one drone that was "destroyed by Russian air defense forces" when it flew over the city. He assured that the bright and loud explosion near Moscow City was only the result of the UAV debris falling in the area of the Expocenter, which "did not cause significant damage to the building."

This was also claimed by the Russian Ministry of Defense, blaming the "UAV attack" on Ukraine. The ministry reassured the Russians that the drone was hit by an air defense system and that it fell near Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment with "no casualties or fires".

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However, as early as dawn, propaganda Telegram channels began to write that Russian police and special services had been called to the scene of the emergency. In particular, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation arrived near the eighth pavilion, where the UAV debris was allegedly lying.

As reported by OBOZREVATEL, it was reported about "booby-trapping" of all shopping centers in Moscow on August 17. Russians were fast to blame Ukraine.

Only verified information from us on the Telegram channel Obozrevatel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of DoubleVerify Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:DV  Free Report) by 17.6% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,712,377 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 405,282 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corps holdings in DoubleVerify were worth $81,778,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in DoubleVerify by 3.2% in the first quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,943 shares of the companys stock worth $360,000 after buying an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of DoubleVerify by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 4,052 shares of the companys stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 467 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of DoubleVerify by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 37,185 shares of the companys stock valued at $817,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of DoubleVerify by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,564 shares of the companys stock valued at $138,000 after purchasing an additional 562 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its position in DoubleVerify by 102.7% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,273 shares of the companys stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 645 shares during the period. 94.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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DoubleVerify Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DV opened at $32.20 on Friday. DoubleVerify Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.38 and a 52-week high of $42.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 107.33 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $37.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

DoubleVerify ( NYSE:DV Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 31st. The company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $133.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $133.39 million. DoubleVerify had a return on equity of 6.01% and a net margin of 10.64%. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.06 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that DoubleVerify Holdings, Inc. will post 0.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

In other news, insider Julie Eddleman sold 750 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.99, for a total value of $28,492.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 130,871 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,971,789.29. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Julie Eddleman sold 750 shares of DoubleVerify stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.99, for a total value of $28,492.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 130,871 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,971,789.29. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Vii U.S. Holdings L. Providence sold 12,419,952 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.50, for a total transaction of $403,648,440.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 40,405,492 shares in the company, valued at $1,313,178,490. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,217,135 shares of company stock worth $820,422,353. 3.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DV. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on DoubleVerify from $35.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on DoubleVerify from $35.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. JMP Securities decreased their target price on shares of DoubleVerify from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a market outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of DoubleVerify in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Finally, Stephens restated an overweight rating and issued a $47.00 price objective on shares of DoubleVerify in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $43.79.

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DoubleVerify Profile

(Free Report)

DoubleVerify Holdings, Inc provides a software platform for digital media measurement, and analytics in the United States and internationally. The company provides solutions to advertisers unbiased data analytics that enable advertisers to increase the effectiveness, quality and return on their digital advertising investments.

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California State Teachers Retirement System cut its position in shares of EMCOR Group, Inc. (NYSE:EME  Free Report) by 3.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,932 shares of the construction companys stock after selling 2,388 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.13% of EMCOR Group worth $9,744,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zions Bancorporation N.A. bought a new stake in shares of EMCOR Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Arlington Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of EMCOR Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of EMCOR Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of EMCOR Group by 66.2% in the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 251 shares of the construction companys stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new stake in shares of EMCOR Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. 96.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com began coverage on EMCOR Group in a research report on Thursday. They issued a strong-buy rating on the stock.

EMCOR Group Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of EME opened at $211.97 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. EMCOR Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $112.85 and a 12-month high of $223.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.08 billion, a PE ratio of 21.07 and a beta of 1.12. The stocks fifty day simple moving average is $193.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $171.88.

EMCOR Group (NYSE:EME  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The construction company reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.58. EMCOR Group had a return on equity of 24.20% and a net margin of 4.13%. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.99 earnings per share. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that EMCOR Group, Inc. will post 11.01 earnings per share for the current year.

EMCOR Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 20th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 19th. EMCOR Groups payout ratio is 7.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at EMCOR Group

In other news, CEO Anthony Guzzi sold 11,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.37, for a total transaction of $2,160,070.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 224,722 shares of the companys stock, valued at $44,128,659.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 22,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,196,296. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

EMCOR Group Company Profile

(Free Report)

EMCOR Group, Inc provides electrical and mechanical construction, and facilities services primarily in the United States and the United Kingdom. It offers design, integration, installation, start-up, operation, and maintenance services related to electrical power transmission, distribution, and generation systems; energy solutions; premises electrical and lighting systems; process instrumentation in the refining, chemical processing, and food processing industries; low-voltage systems, such as fire alarm, security, and process control systems; voice and data communications systems; roadway and transit lighting, signaling, and fiber optic lines; heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration, and geothermal solutions; clean-room process ventilation systems; fire protection and suppression systems; plumbing, process, and high-purity piping systems; controls and filtration systems; water and wastewater treatment systems; central plant heating and cooling systems; crane and rigging services; millwright services; and steel fabrication, erection, and welding services.

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Bank of New York Mellon Corp decreased its stake in shares of WestRock (NYSE:WRK  Free Report) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,720,963 shares of the basic materials companys stock after selling 37,332 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corps holdings in WestRock were worth $82,908,000 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. Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its holdings in WestRock by 14.7% during the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 39,928 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $1,878,000 after purchasing an additional 5,108 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of WestRock by 21.3% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 71,551 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $3,365,000 after buying an additional 12,559 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its position in shares of WestRock by 5.1% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 35,219 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $1,656,000 after buying an additional 1,705 shares during the period. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can grew its holdings in shares of WestRock by 0.9% during the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 208,790 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $10,379,000 after buying an additional 1,762 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its position in WestRock by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 53,133 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $2,499,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. 84.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WRK shares. Bank of America raised shares of WestRock from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their price target for the stock from $38.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 20th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of WestRock from $42.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Friday, June 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of WestRock from $37.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on WestRock from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on WestRock from $29.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WestRock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $35.78.

WestRock Stock Performance

NYSE:WRK opened at $32.46 on Friday. WestRock has a 12-month low of $26.84 and a 12-month high of $43.37. The stocks 50 day moving average price is $30.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.49.

WestRock (NYSE:WRK  Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The basic materials company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.39. WestRock had a positive return on equity of 8.75% and a negative net margin of 6.82%. The business had revenue of $5.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.54 EPS. The firms revenue was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that WestRock will post 2.87 EPS for the current year.

WestRock Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 10th will be given a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 9th. WestRocks payout ratio is presently -19.86%.

About WestRock

(Free Report)

WestRock Company, together with its subsidiaries, provides fiber-based paper and packaging solutions in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. It operates in four segments, Corrugated Packaging, Consumer Packaging, Global Paper, and Distribution. The Corrugated Packaging segment produces containerboards, corrugated sheets, corrugated packaging, and preprinted linerboards to consumer and industrial products manufacturers, and corrugated box manufacturers.

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TransDigm Group (NYSE:TDG  Free Report) had its price objective lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $840.00 to $910.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the aerospace companys stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of TransDigm Group from $870.00 to $1,044.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of TransDigm Group from $930.00 to $1,040.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of TransDigm Group from $920.00 to $975.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of TransDigm Group from $890.00 to $980.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 16th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of TransDigm Group from $820.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, TransDigm Group currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $920.54.

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TransDigm Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TDG opened at $843.57 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $46.55 billion, a PE ratio of 44.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.38. TransDigm Group has a 52 week low of $499.63 and a 52 week high of $940.00. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $870.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $794.71.

TransDigm Group (NYSE:TDG  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 8th. The aerospace company reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.87 by $1.38. The business had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.69 billion. TransDigm Group had a net margin of 18.41% and a negative return on equity of 39.57%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.36 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that TransDigm Group will post 22.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at TransDigm Group

In other TransDigm Group news, CEO Kevin M. Stein sold 11,833 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $798.13, for a total value of $9,444,272.29. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Kevin M. Stein sold 11,833 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $798.13, for a total transaction of $9,444,272.29. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Joel Reiss sold 3,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $812.68, for a total transaction of $2,438,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 3,600 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,925,648. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 59,602 shares of company stock worth $51,247,446 in the last 90 days. 7.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TransDigm Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in TransDigm Group by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,602,332 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $3,650,144,000 after purchasing an additional 117,137 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in TransDigm Group by 17.9% during the 2nd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,206,880 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $1,973,326,000 after purchasing an additional 335,334 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in TransDigm Group by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,061,845 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $1,843,640,000 after purchasing an additional 39,677 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in TransDigm Group by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,988,257 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $1,777,805,000 after purchasing an additional 8,413 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in TransDigm Group by 217.5% during the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,340,675 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $988,145,000 after purchasing an additional 918,393 shares during the last quarter. 95.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

TransDigm Group Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

TransDigm Group Incorporated designs, produces, and supplies aircraft components in the United States and internationally. Its Power & Control segment offers mechanical/electro-mechanical actuators and controls, ignition systems and engine technology, specialized pumps and valves, power conditioning devices, specialized AC/DC electric motors and generators, batteries and chargers, databus and power controls, sensor products, switches and relay panels, hoists, winches and lifting devices, and cargo loading and handling systems.

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Tredje AP fonden grew its position in American International Group, Inc. (NYSE:AIG  Free Report) by 16.9% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 48,917 shares of the insurance providers stock after purchasing an additional 7,080 shares during the period. Tredje AP fondens holdings in American International Group were worth $2,463,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new position in shares of American International Group in the first quarter worth about $84,000. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC grew its holdings in American International Group by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 5,535 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 578 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL grew its holdings in American International Group by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 100,861 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $6,331,000 after acquiring an additional 1,207 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in American International Group by 20.1% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 20,447 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $1,283,000 after acquiring an additional 3,428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in American International Group by 43.3% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,324 shares of the insurance providers stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 1,608 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.18% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on AIG. Credit Suisse Group reiterated a neutral rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of American International Group in a report on Friday, April 21st. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of American International Group from $73.00 to $68.00 in a report on Friday, June 2nd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of American International Group from $58.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. TheStreet raised shares of American International Group from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research report on Friday, June 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of American International Group from $76.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $68.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American International Group news, CAO Kathleen Carbone sold 7,757 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.30, for a total transaction of $475,504.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director William G. Jurgensen sold 635 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.47, for a total transaction of $33,953.45. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,190 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $63,629.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Kathleen Carbone sold 7,757 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.30, for a total transaction of $475,504.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 85,739,975 shares of company stock valued at $1,395,423,079. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

American International Group Stock Performance

Shares of American International Group stock opened at $58.06 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.82, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $58.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.95. American International Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $45.66 and a 52 week high of $64.88.

American International Group (NYSE:AIG  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 2nd. The insurance provider reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.21. American International Group had a net margin of 8.94% and a return on equity of 9.28%. The firm had revenue of $13.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.28 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that American International Group, Inc. will post 6.66 EPS for the current year.

American International Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 14th. American International Groups dividend payout ratio is presently 24.37%.

About American International Group

(Free Report)

American International Group, Inc offers insurance products for commercial, institutional, and individual customers in North America and internationally. It operates through General Insurance, and Life and Retirement segments. The General Insurance segment provides commercial and industrial property insurance, including business interruption and package insurance that cover exposure to made and natural disasters; general liability, environmental, commercial automobile liability, workers' compensation, excess casualty, and crisis management insurance products; and professional liability insurance.

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Great Lakes Advisors LLC cut its position in Terex Co. (NYSE:TEX  Free Report) by 4.6% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 128,831 shares of the industrial products companys stock after selling 6,188 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLCs holdings in Terex were worth $6,233,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Terex by 57.7% in the first quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 63,405 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $3,068,000 after buying an additional 23,207 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Terex by 59.0% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 795,299 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $37,775,000 after buying an additional 295,248 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Terex by 0.5% in the first quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 819,306 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $39,638,000 after buying an additional 3,807 shares during the period. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Terex in the first quarter valued at $246,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Terex in the first quarter valued at $564,000. 91.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Insider Transactions at Terex

In other news, insider Kieran Hegarty sold 27,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.84, for a total value of $1,507,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 186,659 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,423,038.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO John L. Garrison, Jr. sold 9,966 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $597,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 535,331 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,119,860. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Kieran Hegarty sold 27,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.84, for a total value of $1,507,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 186,659 shares of the companys stock, valued at $10,423,038.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.40% of the companys stock.

Terex Price Performance

Terex stock opened at $57.02 on Friday. Terex Co. has a 52 week low of $28.82 and a 52 week high of $65.64. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market cap of $3.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.75, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.67.

Terex (NYSE:TEX  Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.69. Terex had a return on equity of 35.91% and a net margin of 8.96%. The business had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.07 earnings per share. The firms revenue was up 30.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Terex Co. will post 7.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Terex Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 14th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. This is a boost from Terexs previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 11th. Terexs dividend payout ratio is presently 10.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Terex from $62.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 3rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Terex from $57.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Terex from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. 58.com reiterated a maintains rating on shares of Terex in a research report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Terex from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Terex presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $61.58.

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About Terex

(Free Report)

Terex Corporation manufactures and sells aerial work platforms and materials processing machinery worldwide. It operates in two segments, Aerial Work Platforms (AWP) and Materials Processing (MP). The AWP segment designs, manufactures, services, and markets aerial work platform equipment, utility equipment, and telehandlers under the Terex and Genie brands.

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Pictet Asset Management SA reduced its position in shares of Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW  Free Report) by 1.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 200,875 shares of the industrial products companys stock after selling 3,817 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management SA owned about 0.07% of Illinois Tool Works worth $48,903,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC increased its stake in Illinois Tool Works by 145.2% in the first quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC now owns 103 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Sturgeon Ventures LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. AXS Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Riverpoint Wealth Management Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Illinois Tool Works during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 79.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Randall J. Scheuneman sold 5,425 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.23, for a total transaction of $1,297,822.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,870 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,121,970.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.88% of the companys stock.

Illinois Tool Works Price Performance

NYSE:ITW opened at $236.87 on Friday. Illinois Tool Works Inc. has a 52 week low of $180.27 and a 52 week high of $264.19. The company has a market capitalization of $71.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.43, a PEG ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a 50-day moving average of $247.96 and a 200-day moving average of $238.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.59.

Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $2.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.39 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.14 billion. Illinois Tool Works had a net margin of 19.30% and a return on equity of 94.14%. Illinois Tool Workss revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.37 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Illinois Tool Works Inc. will post 9.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Illinois Tool Works Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 29th will be given a $1.40 dividend. This is an increase from Illinois Tool Workss previous quarterly dividend of $1.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 28th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. Illinois Tool Workss dividend payout ratio is presently 51.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on ITW shares. 3M restated a maintains rating on shares of Illinois Tool Works in a research report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $235.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Monday, July 10th. Credit Suisse Group lifted their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $281.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. StockNews.com started coverage on Illinois Tool Works in a research report on Thursday. They set a buy rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Illinois Tool Works from $230.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $236.75.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on ITW

Illinois Tool Works Profile

(Free Report)

Illinois Tool Works Inc manufactures and sells industrial products and equipment worldwide. It operates through seven segments: Automotive OEM; Food Equipment; Test & Measurement and Electronics; Welding; Polymers & Fluids; Construction Products; and Specialty Products. The Automotive OEM segment offers plastic and metal components, fasteners, and assemblies for automobiles, light trucks, and other industrial uses.

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Pictet Asset Management SA lowered its holdings in Carrier Global Co. (NYSE:CARR  Free Report) by 3.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,514,555 shares of the companys stock after selling 47,188 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management SA owned approximately 0.18% of Carrier Global worth $69,291,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Carrier Global by 83,676.3% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,410,303 shares of the companys stock valued at $346,925,000 after buying an additional 8,400,264 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Carrier Global during the 4th quarter valued at about $297,581,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Carrier Global by 109.6% during the 1st quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,892,166 shares of the companys stock valued at $498,317,000 after buying an additional 5,694,510 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Carrier Global by 1,140.8% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,138,117 shares of the companys stock valued at $170,697,000 after buying an additional 3,804,624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Carrier Global by 126.0% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 5,306,931 shares of the companys stock valued at $243,429,000 after buying an additional 2,958,400 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.33% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CARR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on Carrier Global from $51.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, July 14th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Carrier Global from $54.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Carrier Global from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Monday, July 10th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Carrier Global from $45.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Monday, July 10th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on Carrier Global from $53.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Carrier Global currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $54.65.

Insider Activity at Carrier Global

In related news, VP Kyle Crockett sold 6,817 shares of Carrier Global stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.22, for a total transaction of $403,702.74. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 42 shares in the company, valued at $2,487.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Carrier Global news, VP Kyle Crockett sold 6,817 shares of Carrier Global stock in a transaction on Monday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.22, for a total transaction of $403,702.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 42 shares in the company, valued at $2,487.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jurgen Timperman sold 138,956 shares of Carrier Global stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.01, for a total value of $6,254,409.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 310,223 shares of company stock worth $16,401,775 over the last ninety days. 0.38% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Carrier Global Price Performance

Shares of CARR stock opened at $53.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.63. Carrier Global Co. has a fifty-two week low of $33.10 and a fifty-two week high of $60.04. The firm has a market cap of $44.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.41. The businesss 50 day moving average price is $52.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.90.

Carrier Global (NYSE:CARR  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.03. Carrier Global had a return on equity of 25.42% and a net margin of 9.87%. The company had revenue of $6 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.69 earnings per share. The firms revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Carrier Global Co. will post 2.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Carrier Global Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 10th. Investors of record on Friday, June 23rd were given a dividend of $0.185 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 22nd. This represents a $0.74 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Carrier Globals dividend payout ratio is presently 29.37%.

Carrier Global Profile

(Free Report)

Carrier Global Corporation provides heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC), refrigeration, fire, security, and building automation technologies worldwide. It operates through three segments: HVAC, Refrigeration, and Fire & Security. The HVAC segment provides products, controls, services, and solutions to meet the heating, cooling, and ventilation needs of residential and commercial customers.

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The European Union (EU) has already filled its gas storage facilities to 90.12%, which is well ahead of schedule. The EU is already ready for the next heating season, as the goal was to fill the storage facilities by 90%.

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This was reported by the European Commission. "Filling gas storages before the onset of winter helps the EU to prepare for possible disruptions in gas supplies," the report says

Thus, according to the latest data from Gas Infrastructure Europe, the EU had reached its goal of filling gas storage facilities to 90% by August 18, about 2.5 months ahead of the November 1 deadline. More than 93 billion cubic meters of natural gas are in storage.

"The EU is well prepared for winter and this will help to further stabilize markets in the coming months. The EU energy market is in a much more stable position than at this time last year ... We can further strengthen our position by investing in renewables and energy efficiency," European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson said.

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Earlier, the EU took several measures to avoid an energy crisis caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including:

The Gas Demand Reduction Regulation (August-2022 ) has already stimulated an 18% reduction in gas consumption from August-2022 to May-2023 and has now been extended for another year;

The European Commission has led a concerted international effort on alternative gas supplies, in particular in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG);

The EU Energy Platform has already launched two calls for joint gas procurement and a third call will be launched in the second half of September.

Key investments both at the EU and on the national level have increased the EU's LNG import capacity and strengthened the resilience of the EU gas system.

According to the head of the VR Finance Committee Danylo Hetmantsev, traders are starting to use Ukrainian storage facilities as the European ones are approaching their filling point. In particular, 0.6 billion cubic meters of gas belonging to them have already been pumped.

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"We, in turn, can offer our European friends and partner underground storage facilities with a total available volume of up to 15 billion cubic meters," MP from the Servant of the people party stressed.

As reported by OBOZREVATEL, Ukraine itself will no longer negotiate with Russia on the extension of gas transit. According to the Minister of Energy, it will not be necessary.

Only verified information from us on the Telegram channel Obozrevatel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Russia claimed a drone attack on Moscow on the night of August 18. According to Moscow authorities, one of them crashed into Expocentre in the Moscow City district, damaging a non-residential building.

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This news has caused another hysteria among Russians. They demanded strikes on Kyiv, Kharkiv and nuclear facilities in Ukraine and dreamed of our country's surrender. Russians write about this in comments to the news about the drone crash in Moscow City on one of the popular Russian z-publics.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced the destruction of a "Ukrainian UAV" on the territory of Expocentre in Moscow on the morning of August 18. According to him, "There is no significant damage as a result of the debris fall. It is known about the damage to the facade of the Expocenter on 20 squares.

However, the Russians are extremely concerned about the next attack of "shot down drones". They demand to kill all Ukrainians, "level Ukrainian cities and infrastructure to the ground" and dream of Ukraine's surrender.

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"Level Kyiv and Kharkiv to the ground so that there will be no desire to launch more", "Maybe some strikes on Bankova?", "Another pathetic attempt of khokhly to shit under our door. We are waiting for explosions in Ukroreich", "Ports will be attacked in the evening show again", "This kind of news is already fucked up, when will we read about the surrender of Khokholand? Destroy the place where they are launched from, how long can we put up with this shit?", "Kill all khokhols!" citizens of the aggressor state wrote.

Some Russians still believe in Kinzhal missiles, declared by the Russian authorities to be "supersonic" and "unparalleled", and demand "retaliatory strikes."

"Why aren't they hitting Kyiv? It hasn't been touched for a long time", "Maybe it's time to strike with an announcement? Today a drone flew to Moscow, tomorrow a Kinzhal will fly to Kyiv and then the Crimean Bridge will be hit. After three or four bridges, there will be a realization in the dumb heads that the balance is a bit wrong," commentators wrote.

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Russians also can't understand why the bombing returned to them after a year and a half of daily bombing of Ukraine. Those who rejoiced at the "destroyed buildings and ports" in Ukraine suddenly remembered international law and the need to honor agreements.

"The Ukrainian drone raid on Moscow is an attack on the safety of our peaceful population", "Khokhly swore that they would not launch bombs on Russian territory! They gave their word to the Americans! Should I say it was the Nazi regime in Kyiv that swore?. You can't trust them. No peace talks with them. They will lick their wounds and start bombing peaceful people again," the comments read.

There is also a proposal to "destroy nuclear reactors" in Ukraine and strike Europe, equating a drone attack near Moscow City to an attack on a nuclear power plant.

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"Then ours will destroy all the nuclear reactors in Ukraine and Europe will be hit if they continue. I thought we agreed not to touch nuclear power. It's the end of civilization. You justify it and want to attack nuclear facilities in cities. The innocent people who died are apparently the 'valuable prize' that your patriots dream of," one commentator wrote.

In addition, many Russians are extremely interested where the air defense system has gone.

"Where is the air defense?" , "I'm embarrassed to ask: how do the drones reach Moscow? No one sees them before that?", "If there were air defense, a drone would not fly into the center of the capital", "I was at an exhibition there in May. There were a lot of guards. How do they allow UAVs to fly into the center of Moscow?" citizens of the Russian Federation ask.

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It was reported that explosions occurred and smoke billowed on the site of drone strike near Moscow City at night. The explosions as usual sounded near the Moscow City business center in the area of the Evolution and Federation towers. The offices of three Russian ministries are located there: the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Finance.

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The Russian Federation complained about a UAV attack. Propagandists claimed that one of the drones hit Expocentre on Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment near Moscow City. They claimed that only a partial collapse of the outer wall in one of the pavilions on an area of about 30 square meters was recorded.
Sweden raised its terrorist alert to the second highest level on Thursday, saying it had thwarted attacks after Koran burnings and other acts against Islams holiest text outraged Muslims and triggered threats from jihadists.

Anti-Islam activists have damaged several copies of the Koran in recent months in Sweden and also in Denmark, two of the most liberal countries in the world that allow trenchant criticism of religion in the name of free speech.

But many Muslims view desecrating the Koran, which they see as the literal word of God, as a grave offence. A media outlet linked to militant group al Qaeda has urged violent retribution.

Swedens SAPO security service raised the terrorist alert from 3 to 4 on a scale from 1-5, reflecting a high threat.

The decision to raise the level is not prompted by a single event but we know that Hezbollah, al Shabaab and al Qaeda have called on their supporters to carry out acts against Sweden, SAPO head Charlotte von Essen told a news conference.

STAND UP FOR OUR LIVES

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told a news conference that people had been arrested in Sweden and abroad after planned attacks were detected and stopped.

I understand that many Swedes feel worried but we must live our lives as usual, we must stand up for our lives and our way of life, he added, without giving details of the plots.

The Swedish armed forces have also raised the alert level for threats against their operations, while Britain and the United States have warned nationals against going to Sweden.

In Swedens worst militant attack of recent times, an Uzbek immigrant who had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State militant group mowed down pedestrians on a busy Stockholm street with a truck in 2017, killing five people.

The Koran burnings have drawn widespread condemnation from many parts of the Muslim world. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged severe punishment for those responsible and said Sweden was in battle mode against the Muslim world.

SOURCE: TOE, Reuters
A civilian cargo ship sailing from Ukraine reached Istanbul on Thursday in defiance of a Moscow blockade that sent tensions soaring after Russia opened fire on a Turkish-owned ship.

The Hong Kong-flagged Joseph Schulte left the port of Odesa on Wednesday  the first vessel to directly challenge Russias new bid to seal Ukraines access to the Black Sea.

Marine traffic sites showed it approaching its final destination in Istanbul after moving along a western route that avoided international waters in favour of those controlled by NATO members Romania and Bulgaria.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the ship was using a new humanitarian corridor Kyiv established after Russia last month pulled out of a wartime agreement to export grain along the Black Sea.

The Joseph Schultes mission came days after the Russian navy fired warning shots and boarded a Turkish-owned but Palau-flagged vessel that was sailing to the Ukrainian river port of Izmail.

The Russian attack put immense pressure on NATO member Turkey to stiffen its officially neutral line in the war.

The Turkish presidency broke a four-day silence on Thursday by announcing that it had warned Moscow about the need to avoid further maritime escalations.

But the Turkish statement stressed that it was technically up to Palau  a Pacific archipelago often used as a flag of convenience by global shipping companies  to lodge a formal complaint.

Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraines shipping infrastructure since pulling out of the UN and Turkey-mediated grain deal.

Ukraines decision to confront Russia over sea access comes with world attention focusing on ways to secure grain export routes in time for this autumns harvest.

Ukraine and Russia are major exporters of grain and seed oil.

 New US push 

Last years grain agreement helped push down global food prices and provide Ukraine with an important source of revenue to fight the war.

Ukraine is now using the Danube River to ship out its grain.

Much of that traffic flows down the river and ends up reaching the Black Sea at Ukraines border with Romania.

The Wall Street Journal reported that US officials are holding talks with Turkey and both Ukraine and its neighbours about increasing traffic along the Danube route.

An unnamed US official told the paper that Washington was going to look at everything  including the possibility of military support for the Ukrainian ships.

But a Turkish defence official appeared to push back against Washingtons initiative on Thursday.

Our efforts are focused on making the grain corridor deal active again, the unnamed defence official told Turkeys NTV television.

We are not working on other solutions.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hopes to meet Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin later this month for talks focused on the Black Sea.

Erdogan has tried to use his good relations with Moscow and Kyiv to raise Turkeys diplomatic profile during the war.

Turkey hosted two early rounds of Ukraine peace talks and stepped up its trade with Russia while supplying Kyiv with arms.

 Diplomatic counteroffensive 

Russia pulled out of the grain agreement after claiming that it had failed to fulfil the goal of relieving hunger across Africa and other famine-stricken regions.

The Kremlin has since asked Turkey to help Russia export its grain to African countries without any involvement from Ukraine.

African countries have turned into an important ally that Russia is using to counter its wartime isolation from the West.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told AFP this week that Kyiv needed to launch a diplomatic counteroffensive on the continent.

Our strategy is not to replace Russia but to free Africa from Russias grip, Kuleba said in a wide-ranging interview.

Russias attempts to win unilateral control of Black Sea shipping routes come as Ukraine inched forward in its high-stakes but brutal summer offensive.

Kyiv this week announced the capture of Urozhaine  a small village lying along one of Ukraines main lines of attack.

Kyiv is trying to reach its southern coast and cut Moscows access to Ukraines Russian-seized peninsula of Crimea.

 NATO row 

The offensive is relying on new Western equipment and training but progressing slower than Kyiv and its allies had hoped.

The strength of Russias resistance has intensified debates in some Western capitals about a need to find a diplomatic end to the war.

A top NATO official this week outraged Kyiv by suggesting that one possible solution to the war could involve Ukraine ceding territory in exchange for Kyivs membership of the US-led alliance.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg intervened on Thursday, reiterating the alliances position that it was up to Ukrainians, and Ukrainians alone, to decide when the conditions for negotiations are in place.

Kuleba insisted that Ukraine was not feeling pressure from its Western allies to demonstrate quick results.

Its easy to say that you want everything to be faster when you are not there, he said.
Storm Betty has caused flooding on some roads in the south of Ireland as the Governments national weather emergency team warned of the potential for further floods amid strong winds and rain across the country.

There was traffic disruption on some roads across Co Cork and frantic scenes in Co Waterford as a boat broke free from its berth and crashed into a harbour in Dungarvan.

A number of matches and outdoor events were cancelled, and emergency crews in the south of the country cleared debris including fallen trees.

Government departments and agencies and every local authority attended a briefing from Irish weather agency Met Eireann, which forecast that Storm Betty will move southwest to northeast across the country from Friday to Saturday morning.

The National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management (NDFEM) said this could bring strong winds, rain and the threat of coastal, pluvial and fluvial flooding.

The NDFEM said in a statement: Storm Betty is forecast to bring high winds, particularly across the southern areas. Rainfall levels of 40mm could be experienced across the country with the potential for over 60mm in some areas.

This is a dynamic storm system, intensified by the jet stream leading to some uncertainty as to the potential track and intensity of Storm Betty.

The national forecasting office Met Eireann issued two status orange warnings for wind and rain which came into effect for seven counties.

 Status Orange Rain Warning Updated  Location: Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Wicklow, Cork, Kerry, Tipperary, Waterford. Potential Impacts: Localised flooding.  Difficult travelling conditions.    Wave overtopping on coasts. https://t.co/Xg3aMJlyuS pic.twitter.com/iDtrvPVMWE  Met Eireann (@MetEireann) August 18, 2023

The warnings of structural damage, falling trees, localised flooding and power outages, came into effect from 8.35pm and 9pm and expire at 1am and 3am on Saturday.

The warnings applied to Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Wicklow, Cork, Tipperary, and Waterford  with the rain warning also applying to Kerry.

The forecaster also said that the weather conditions could lead to difficult travelling conditions and wave overtopping along coasts.

Three status yellow warnings for wind and rain are in place for the rest of the country from Friday and will remain in place until 3am to 6am on Saturday.

There is a risk of thundery downpours on Friday, as well as strong winds along eastern-facing coasts.

There is also a status red storm warning for the southern coast.

The weather agency said south to southeast winds, veering southwesterly, will reach storm force 10 and occasionally violent storm force 11 for a time on Irish coastal waters from Carnsore Point to Dungarvan to Mizen Head.

Met Eireann forecaster Matthew Martin said the deeply low weather system would bring heavy and persistent rain spreading from the south of the island on Friday and there would be a continuing threat of flooding in the evening.

In Northern Ireland, a status yellow rain warning is in place across the region from 9pm on Friday until 6am on Saturday, risking further disruption.

The Met Office has also issued a wind warning for counties Antrim and Down, in place from 6pm on Friday until noon on Saturday, which brings a risk of strong winds that could disrupt transport and temporary infrastructure.

The weather is expected to stay mixed for the rest of the weekend.
[August 17, 2023] The Inner Circle Acknowledges, Ginger Fay Quinn as a Pinnacle Platinum Business Professional for her contributions to the Road Design Standard Engineering Field Tweet

ROANOKE, Va., Aug. 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Prominently featured in The Inner Circle, Ginger Fay Quinn is acknowledged as a Pinnacle Platinum Business Professional for her contributions to the Road Design Standard Engineering Field. Ms. Quinn pursued higher education at Virginia College where she earned an Associate of Applied Science in information technology in 1994. She obtained certification as a traffic control supervisor from the American Traffic Safety Service Association and finished her scholarship with studies at National Business College in 2005 where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. Her future plans include earning a professional engineering degree. Ms. Quinn was introduced to her career through a youth program where she learned foundational skills. She then worked for the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Virginia Department of Transportation in a sign shop on the Blue Ridge Parkway. She also developed work zone safety policies,procedures, and training and has experience as a flagger; sign fabricator; highway maintenance worker; work zone traffic control coordinator; and assistant state work zone safety coordinator between 1993 and 2018.



With more than 40 years of experience, Ms. Quinn is currently a road design standard engineer and attributes her success to her desire to consistently improve. When asked to reflect on her success in the field, she credits her administrators for their support and guidance. A leader in the field, Ms. Quinn received the prestigious American Traffic Safety Service Association's National Safety Award in 2021 and the Virginia Department of Transportation's Commission Award of Excellence in 1994. Ms. Quinn is an entrepreneur that owns Restoreth Sound and Vibrational Healing, LLC which uses holistic healing techniques that align the body energy fields. She uses Himalayan Singing Bowls and other sound healing modalities to perform group sound baths and private sound healing therapy sessions as well as energizing body work to soothe the soul.

Contact: Katherine Green, 516-825-5634, [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-inner-circle-acknowledges-ginger-fay-quinn-as-a-pinnacle-platinum-business-professional-for-her-contributions-to-the-road-design-standard-engineering-field-301904139.html SOURCE The Inner Circle

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As of Friday, 18 August, 63 diplomatic missions have already supported the Ukrainian peace formula. And 18 states have joined the G7 security guarantees.

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This statement was made by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his evening video address. The corresponding video was published by the President's office.

"G7 Declaration on Security Assurances for Ukraine: as of today, 18 states have already joined. The Peace Formula: 63 diplomatic missions are already working to implement the points of the Formula. It is very important that the Peace Formula is gradually uniting the world majority based on our respect for international law and the UN Charter," the Head of State said.

He also announced good news for Ukrainians.

"You will see the news for Ukraine. We are preparing them with our neighbours in the EU. And also in those regions of Europe where our cooperation with states has not been sufficient so far. And, of course, with our European partners, with whom we have repeatedly proved that European leadership in the defence of freedom is of global importance," Zelenskyy explained.

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He also added that Ukraine hopes to open negotiations on membership in the European Union this year.

Earlier, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that his Formula for Peace for Ukraine is the only practical way to end the war waged by Russia. However, it will be useful not only for our country - international partners can also apply this strategy to avoid future military conflicts. Zelenskyy is confident that the Peace Formula can become a new universal foundation for relevant solutions.

As reported by OBOZREVATEL:

- a meeting on the implementation of the Ukrainian Peace Formula was held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on 5-6 August. The New York Times believes that this summit was the beginning of Ukraine's broad diplomatic campaign to isolate and weaken Russia;

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- after the summit, a fake news story appeared online that Ukraine's representatives in Saudi Arabia allegedly agreed to start peace talks without the mandatory requirement to withdraw the occupiers from the occupied territories. This is fictitious information that has nothing to do with reality.

Only verified information is available on our Obozrevatel Telegram channel, Threads and Viber. Don't fall for fakes!
[August 17, 2023] Moov, the Largest Global Marketplace for Semiconductor Equipment, Expands Presence in Taipei Tweet

The company will also be exhibiting at Semicon Taiwan, the most influential semiconductor event in Taiwan TEMPE, Ariz. and TAIPEI, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Moov , the largest and fastest growing global marketplace for used semiconductor equipment, today announced it will be expanding its presence in Taipei with a new office located in Taipei and dedicated staff on the ground. The company will also be exhibiting at Semicon Taiwan booth N1191 (Hall 1  4F). "We are excited and humbled by our success in the world's more important semiconductor manufacturing market," said Steven Zhou, co-founder and CEO of Moov Technologies. "We already work with over 700 companies in the region to help end users source equipment to meet their production needs and easily offload idle assets. Our expansion in the region will continue to support our end-to-end procurement and resale capabilities, including inspection, logistics, and assurance services." To support expansion in the region, Moov has hired 5 full-time employees in its new Taipei office, including sales manager Joe Tseng, who joins Moov from Keyence Corporation where he served as National Sales Director. While political tides are changing when it comes to an international semiconductor supply chain, Moov's global marketplace for buying and selling pre-owned semiconductor manufacturing equipment helps chipmakers continue to benefit from the global trade of these high value, highly sought-after asets, while staying in line with current trade regulations.



"There is immense value in enabling fabrication centers to buy and sell equipment from other fabrication centers around the world," said Zhou. "The world's demand for chips will continue to grow. To meet it, a secondary market for semiconductor manufacturing equipment is critical to provide manufacturers with increased flexibility to adapt to changing markets." Moov's announcement comes at a time when semiconductor equipment manufacturers are also planning increased investment to support the local TSMC foundry ecosystem, according to reporting by Digitimes . According to data from SEMI, the world's leading trade association for electronics design and manufacturing supply chain, Taiwan currently leads the world in spending on semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Easy access to equipment is critical for fabrication centers looking to expand local capacity quickly.

"One aspect we pride ourselves on at Moov is our ability to get fabrication centers the tools they need expediently and seamlessly, and to provide transparency throughout the procurement process," said Moov's Director of Customer Success, Raymond Mahon. "We're able to expedite the turnaround time on obtaining a replacement tool by months. In operating costs, this could equate to hundreds of millions of dollars. In addition, Moov's platform provides transparency in buying used equipment, where historically there has been none. Knowing exactly where and how your cargo is being transported is vital given the high-dollar value of this equipment." Additionally, Moov eliminates purchase risk for manufacturers sourcing used equipment with its no-questions-asked, money-back guarantee, according to SEMI , the California-based global association that represents the electronics and supply-chain design industries. If you are a company in the region looking to buy or sell semiconductor manufacturing equipment, contact [email protected]. About Moov Technologies Inc.

Headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, and Austin, Texas, Moov is a technology-driven marketplace and asset management platform that matches buyers and sellers of pre-owned semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Built by a team with more than 50 years of experience in the manufacturing equipment brokerage industry, Moov's platform ensures accurate listings and faster transactions. CEO Steven Zhou and Managing Director Maxam Yeung co-founded the company in 2017. To learn more, please visit Moov.co . View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/moov-the-largest-global-marketplace-for-semiconductor-equipment-expands-presence-in-taipei-301904163.html SOURCE Moov Technologies

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[August 17, 2023] Jackery to Showcase Innovative Power Solutions for Outdoor Enthusiasts at Australia's National 4x4 Outdoors Show Tweet

MELBOURNE, Australia, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Jackery, a global leader of innovative portable power and green outdoor energy solutions, is set to make waves at Australia's premiere outdoor lifestyle event, the National 4x4 Outdoors Show. From August 18th to 20th, Jackery will be showcasing its innovative power solutions at BP101, Boulevard Pavilion, catering to the needs of outdoor enthusiasts and addressing pressing environmental concerns. As an advocate for sustainable and green energy solutions, Jackery joins the event to showcase its cutting-edge power solutions tailored for outdoor enthusiasts. Visitors to the exhibition will have the chance to discover Jackery's extensive range of products, including Solar Generators, Portable Power Stations, and Solar Panels. These products highlight the brand's innovative capabilities and global business acumen, providing visitors with the most advanced, portable, green, and sustainable outdoor power solutions available. At Jackery's booth, attendees will witness firsthand how Jackery's power solutions empower outdoor adventurers by offering reliable, clean energy on the go. Whether camping, hiking, or engaging in other outdoor activities, Jackery's products ensure a seamless power supply for vaious devices, such as smartphones, laptops, refrigerators, and even electric cooking equipment. With Jackery, outdoor enthusiasts can enjoy their adventures while minimizing their carbon footprint and contributing to a more sustainable future.



Jackery continues to empower individuals worldwide with green energy solutions. With a decade of success in the US market and a growing global presence, Jackery made a significant entry into the Australian green energy market earlier this year. With select classic products already available to Aussie customers through official website and Amazon, Jackery continues to expand its presence. By participating in the National 4x4 Outdoors Show, Jackery reiterates its commitment to Australia's outdoor community and its dedication to shaping a greener future for all. Jackery's dedication to sustainability extends beyond its product offerings. The company has received carbon footprint verification from TUV SUD for multiple solar panel and portable power products, a remarkable achievement in the solar generator industry. Furthermore, Jackery's pursuit of sustainable innovation was recognized with the prestigious SEAL Sustainable Product Award for 2023, specifically for its outstanding SG 2000 Plus. The company also actively engages in environmental preservation initiatives, partnering with organizations like the National Forest Foundation (NFF), the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU), and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

au.Jackery.com. About Jackery Jackery, the world's leading innovative portable power and green outdoor energy solution provider founded in California in 2012, is a global top-selling solar generator brand born with a mission to offer green energy to everyone, everywhere. Jackery launched the world's first outdoor portable power stations in 2016 and developed the world's first portable solar panels in 2018. Jackery has sold over 3 million units globally since 2018, expanding its footprint from the US to Europe, Japan, and China. Its products are consistently the Best Sellers on Amazon, and it has been recognized by over 200 authorized media and organizations worldwide and received over 53 prestigious international design awards. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/jackery-to-showcase-innovative-power-solutions-for-outdoor-enthusiasts-at-australias-national-4x4-outdoors-show-301904217.html SOURCE Jackery Inc.

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[August 17, 2023] Cleveland-Cliffs Receives Exclusive Assignment of Right to Bid from United Steelworkers Tweet

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE: CLF) ("Cleveland-Cliffs" or "Cliffs") today announced receipt of the assignment of the United Steelworkers' (USW) right to bid under their Basic Labor Agreement with United States Steel Corporation (NYSE:X) ("U.S. Steel"). With this exclusive assignment, Cliffs is the only realistic buyer able to acquire the totality of U.S. Steel. Furthermore, Cliffs has agreed to assume, upon closing of a transaction, all of the agreements between U.S. Steel and the USW that are applicable to the U.S. Steel employees. Under the terms of the USW's collective bargaining agreement with U.S. Steel, a potential sale of the whole company or USW-represented assets could not be consummated without the support of the USW. The assignment transfers to Cliffs the USW's right to bid on such potential transactions. The USW's transfer and assignment only applies to Cliffs. Lourenco Goncalves, Cliffs' Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer said: "I want to thank Tom Conway for working as a true partner with me. I also want to say to the employees of U.S. Steel who are watching this all unfold: I have your back." The full text of the letter from the USW to Cleveland-Cliffs is included below: Dear Mr. Goncalves: Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (Cleveland-Cliffs) announced on August 13, 2023 that it had presented to the board of directors of U.S. Steel Corporation (U.S. Steel) a proposal to acquire 100% of the outstanding stock of U.S. Steel. U.S. Steel later announced that it has initiated a formal review process to evaluate strategic alternatives. The Union's Basic Labor Agreement (BLA) with U.S. Steel includes at Article Eleven, Section D a Right to Bid on a transaction involving U.S. Steel, and grants the Union, at Paragraph 7 of Article Eleven, Section D, the right to transfer or assign its rights to another person or entity. By this letter, the Union transfers and assigns to Cleveland-Cliffs the Union's Right to Bid. The Union's transfer and assignment only applies to Cleveland-Cliffs. I will inform you in writing if anything should change regarding this transfer and assignment. Further, the parties agree that upon closing, Cleveland-Cliffs shall assume all of the agreements between U.S. Steel and the Union that are applicable to the U.S. Steel Employees that the Union represents and that Cleveland-Cliffs shall honor the commitments contained in those agreements. Please sign below to acknowledge the assumption of those agreements. Very truly yours,

Thomas M. Conway

International President A copy of the signed letter and other relevant materials have been posted to the Cliffs' website at www.clevelandcliffs.com. Moelis & Company LLC, Wells Fargo, J.P. Morgan, UBS, MUFG and Truist Securities are acting as financial advisors to Cleveland-Cliffs and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP is serving as legal counsel. Aout Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.



Cleveland-Cliffs is the largest flat-rolled steel producer in North America. Founded in 1847 as a mine operator, Cliffs also is the largest manufacturer of iron ore pellets in North America. The Company is vertically integrated from mined raw materials, direct reduced iron, and ferrous scrap to primary steelmaking and downstream finishing, stamping, tooling, and tubing. Cleveland-Cliffs is the largest supplier of steel to the automotive industry in North America and serves a diverse range of other markets due to its comprehensive offering of flat-rolled steel products. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland-Cliffs employs approximately 27,000 people across its operations in the United States and Canada. Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. All statements other than historical facts, including, without limitation, statements regarding our current expectations, estimates and projections about our industry, our business or a transaction with United States Steel Corporation (U.S. Steel), are forward-looking statements. We caution investors that any forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results and future trends to differ materially from those matters expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Among the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those described in forward-looking statements are the following: the risk that a transaction with U.S. Steel may not be consummated; the risk that a transaction with U.S. Steel may be less accretive than expected, or may be dilutive, to Cliffs' earnings per share, which may negatively affect the market price of Cliffs common shares; the possibility that Cliffs and U.S. Steel will incur significant transaction and other costs in connection with a potential transaction, which may be in excess of those anticipated by Cliffs; the risk that the financing transactions to be undertaken in connection with a transaction have a negative impact on the combined company's credit profile or financial condition; the risk that Cliffs may fail to realize the benefits expected from a transaction; the risk that the combined company may be unable to achieve anticipated synergies or that it may take longer than expected to achieve those synergies; the risk that any announcements relating to, or the completion of, a transaction could have adverse effects on the market price of Cliffs common shares; and the risk related to any unforeseen liability and future capital expenditure of Cliffs related to a transaction. For additional factors affecting the business of Cliffs, refer to Part I - Item 1A. Risk Factors of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, and other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Important Information for Investors and Stockholders This communication relates to a proposal which Cliffs has made for an acquisition of U.S. Steel. In furtherance of this proposal and subject to future developments, Cliffs may file one or more registration statements, proxy statements, tender offer statements or other documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). This communication is not a substitute for any proxy statement, registration statement, tender offer statement or other document Cliffs may file with the SEC in connection with the proposed transaction. Investors and security holders of Cliffs are urged to read the proxy statement(s), registration statement, tender offer statement and/or other documents filed with the SEC carefully in their entirety if and when they become available as they will contain important information about the proposed transaction. Any definitive proxy statement(s) (if and when available) will be mailed to stockholders of Cliffs, as applicable. Investors and security holders will be able to obtain free copies of these documents (if and when available) and other documents filed with the SEC by Cliffs through the website maintained by the SEC at http://www.sec.gov. This document 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 jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any jurisdiction. No offering 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. This communication is neither a solicitation of a proxy nor a substitute for any proxy statement or other filing that may be made with the SEC. Nonetheless, Cliffs and its directors and certain of its executive officers may be considered participants in the solicitation of proxies in connection with the proposed transaction. Information about the directors and executive officers of Cliffs is set forth in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, which was filed with the SEC on February 14, 2023, and its proxy statement for its 2023 annual meeting of shareholders, which was filed with the SEC on April 3, 2023. Any information concerning U.S. Steel contained in this filing has been taken from, or based upon, publicly available information. Although Cliffs does not have any information that would indicate that any information contained in this filing that has been taken from such documents is inaccurate or incomplete, Cliffs does not take any responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of such information. To date, Cliffs has not had access to the books and records of U.S. Steel. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230817940088/en/

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[August 17, 2023] RS Malaysia expands local distribution centre with the launch of new warehouse Tweet

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- RS Group plc (LSE: RS1), a global omni-channel provider of product and service solutions, has expanded its distribution centre in Malaysia with the launch of a new 50,000 sq. ft warehouse as part of its strategy to ensure future growth and expand its range of service offerings. Acknowledging the significance of minimising maintenance and equipment downtime, the facility is strategically located within Mapletree Logistics hub in Shah Alam, Klang Valley. The location is conveniently situated 25 minutes (approximately 22 kilometres) away from Klang Sea Port and 50 minutes (around 56 kilometres) away from KLIA International Airport. This setup allows for a quick order fulfilment time of only one to two days for local businesses. In collaboration with Geodis MY, the warehouse is outfitted with comprehensive wireless coverage and is Industry 4.0 ready, with plans to integrate radio frequency technology and other IoT devices in the near future. The facility is also equipped with RS's SAP and vendor-managed inventory systems, enabling efficient operations management, allowing for greater spend visibility and reductions in process costs. This is urther complemented by Geodis' warehouse management system which ensures efficient inventory storage and retrieval functions.



Sean Er Lim, Country General Manager, RS Malaysia, said, "Malaysia is a strategic market for RS, and the increase in capacity will enable us to offer a wider range of products and services to our customers. This warehouse signifies RS' continued commitment to Malaysia's industry4WRD (Industry 4.0) initiative, providing businesses with the necessary industrial and electronic solutions to embrace Industry 4.0. Our diverse array of innovative solutions will simplify the transition for businesses looking to embrace the next industrial revolution." 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/ . View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/rs-malaysia-expands-local-distribution-centre-with-the-launch-of-new-warehouse-301904249.html SOURCE RS

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[August 18, 2023] Digital Realty recognized for Green Innovation at the 24th Singapore Environmental Achievement Awards Tweet

SINGAPORE, Aug.18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital Realty ( NYSE: DLR ), the largest global provider of cloud- and carrier-neutral data center, colocation and interconnection solutions, today announced that its water-saving initiative for cooling towers at its SIN10 facility has won the inaugural "Green Innovations: Water Solutions" award at the Singapore Environment Council's 24th Singapore Environmental Achievement Awards (SEAA). The award recognizes businesses, groups, and individuals that have taken significant steps to drive innovation, reduce their environmental impact, and enhance the environment, society and economy in Singapore. The first-of-its-kind in Singapore's data center industry, the water-saving solution utilizes DeCaIon (DCI) electrolysis to eliminate the use of chemicals to treat blow-down water discharge  water that is drained from cooling equipment to remove mineral build-up  from the cooling towers in its chiller systems. This allowed Digital Realty to triple the number of times the same pool of water can be used at its SIN10 cooling towers, resulting in 1.24 million liters of water saved monthly. Monthly blow-down water discharge at SIN10 has reduced by 90%, while water usage efficiency (WUE) has improved by 15%, besting the Singapore Public Utilities Board's industry benchmark of 2.6 Cu.m/MWh for data centers by 30%. As a result of the significant sustainability gains from this project, Digital Realty is evaluating implementation of the solution across its global portfolio of 300+ data centers where applicable, to achieve similar resource efficiencies. "As we gather to celebrate these outstanding organisations such as Digital Realty, it is evident hat embracing innovation for sustainability is pivotal in driving transformative change and igniting progress across our region. By recognising and honouring these visionary endeavours, we reinforce Singapore's unwavering commitment to sustainability. Together, we can continue shaping a brighter and greener future for generations to come," said Isabella Huang-Loh, SEC Chairman.



"Sustainability is a core focus at Digital Realty, and we are honored to be recognized by the Singapore Environmental Council for our achievement and commitment to improving sustainability," said Jon Curry, Vice President, Operations, Asia Pacific, Digital Realty. "From supporting the Singapore Infocomm Media Development Authority's trial of new temperature standards for tropical data centers, contributing to research and development of new cooling solutions, to the use of renewable electricity sources where feasible, we continue to look across the breadth of our business to identify opportunities for innovations that can minimize environmental impact and set new benchmarks for sustainability in our industry," he added. Digital Realty seeks to lead the global data center industry in sustainable environmental performance, and was the first data center operator of its size and scale to commit to aggressive science-based emissions reductions targets. It has achieved a 43% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 (direct and indirect) emissions as of 2022.

For more information on sustainability at Digital Realty, please visit: https://www.digitalrealty.com/about/esg About Digital Realty

Digital Realty brings companies and data together by delivering the full spectrum of data center, colocation and interconnection solutions. PlatformDIGITAL, the company's global data center platform, provides customers with a secure data meeting place and a proven Pervasive Datacenter Architecture (PDx) solution methodology for powering innovation and efficiently managing Data Gravity challenges. Digital Realty gives its customers access to the connected data communities that matter to them with a global data center footprint of 300+ facilities in 50+ metros across 25+ countries on six continents. To learn more about Digital Realty, please visit digitalrealty.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter. For Additional Information Media Contacts

Sin Huay Ho

Digital Realty

+65 8125 8380

[email protected] Amanda Sng / Eugene Wee

Archetype

+65 6603 9000

[email protected] View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/digital-realty-recognized-for-green-innovation-at-the-24th-singapore-environmental-achievement-awards-301904316.html SOURCE Digital Realty

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[August 18, 2023] ZPMC Donates Photovoltaic System to Casa Providencia in Panama Tweet

The gift enables the only orphanage housing children with special needs in the country to vastly reduce its energy costs SHANGHAI, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Recently, the completion and handover ceremony was held for the solar panel facility providing power to Casa Providencia (Providence House) in Espinar, a community near Colon in Panama. Casa Providencia is the country's only orphanage for special needs children. The construction and installation of the facility were a joint effort of Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (ZPMC) and Manzanillo International Terminal (MIT). Nancy Andrade Castro, president of Rotary Club Pacific (Panama City), part of Rotary International, a global organization of humanitarian leaders; Genesis Herrera, head of Rotary Club Cristobal-Colon; Matt Hedspeth, founder of Casa Providencia; Yelitza Norse, social responsibility manager for MIT, and Qian Weiyong, head of ZPMC's Latin American Regional Center, all took the stage to share their thoughts and insights, emphasizing the importance of the project. Their speeches were captured by reporters from local TV, radio, and social media outlets, ensuring extensive media coverage. Follwing the remarks, the key representatives from the five organizations joined together, cutting the ribbon in unison to symbolize the project's official completion. A subsequent tour of Casa Providencia underlined its vital role in caring for nearly a hundred orphaned and disabled children.



With the increase in the number of children in the orphanage, electricity consumption has surged, leading to escalating costs and financial strain for the organization. Rotary International, one of the world's largest public welfare organizations, initiated the project to meet the energy demand. ZPMC and MIT co-sponsored the construction. ZPMC's contributions were acknowledged with the 2023 Outstanding Sponsor Gold Award and the Gold Award for PV Energy System Project, presented by Rotary International.

The facility, located at the ground carport of the orphanage, consists of 108 photovoltaic modules with a total installed capacity of 60kW. MIT was responsible for the construction and installation of the infrastructure supporting the facility, while ZPMC provided the photovoltaic power generation systems, featuring ultra-high power double-sided, double-glazed PV modules for solar energy collection. Construction formally commenced in May of this year and was connected to the grid earlier this month, beginning electricity generation. Designed for a 25-year service life, the project will yield an average annual capacity of approximately 84,000kWh, saving about 28 tons of standard coal and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by around 78 tons per year. The successful completion of the facility not only ensures clean, renewable power for Casa Providencia, but also contributes to the long-term sustainability and environmental well-being of the region. By advancing Panama's green development initiatives, the project has earned widespread praise from local communities. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/zpmc-donates-photovoltaic-system-to-casa-providencia-in-panama-301904361.html SOURCE Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co.,ltd.

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[August 18, 2023] Greater Phoenix Economic Council and Startup Island Taiwan Sign MOU to Boost Startup Innovation and Investment Opportunities Tweet

TAIPEI, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC) and Startup Island Taiwan have embarked on an exciting new chapter of collaboration, solidifying their commitment to fostering innovation and investment in Taiwan's startup ecosystem. The two organizations, with unwavering support from the National Development Council (NDC) of Taiwan, came together in a historic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing ceremony held on Thursday. This landmark event, graced by the presence of distinguished guests including U.S. Senator Mark Kelly and NDC Minister Kung Ming-Hsin, marks a momentous stride toward strengthening the ties between Arizona and Taiwan. The MOU reflects a shared vision to nurture the burgeoning startup communities in both regions and propel targeted emerging industries to new heights of success. The MOU paves the way for Taiwanese startups to embrace internationalization and engage in deeper technological collaboration across key emerging sectors. Notably, areas such as cybersecurity, green energy technology, 5G, information and communications technology (ICT), semiconductor life science and healthcare, aerospace, artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, advanced manufacturing, and e-mobility are poised to witness remarkable advancements through this alliance. Taiwan's National Development Council Minister Kung Ming-Hsin unveiled the pivotal importance o a bilateral alliance to fortify US-Taiwan relations in his inaugural address. He lauded Senator Mark Kelly's exceptional feats, underscoring his astronomical accomplishments clocking 54 days, 2 hours, and 4 minutes in space. Minister Kung's address to Senator Kelly carried a heartfelt note: "Senator Kelly, today, you're not just an American hero, you're our hero, too," acknowledging his efforts in facilitating Taiwanese semiconductor companies' entry into Arizona. The Minister also highlighted Taiwan's flourishing startup ecosystem, citing its burgeoning landscape of over 7,000 startups and 90 accelerators as a testament to the government's relentless support. With this MOU signing, Minister Kung looks forward to fostering an ongoing dialogue between the collaborating parties, creating fertile ground for robust business partnerships to thrive.



U.S. Senator Mark Kelly emphasized the significance of this collaboration, stating, "The United States and Taiwan have many shared values and a deep, mutually beneficial economic relationship. This agreement builds on that by creating a pathway to foster even more collaboration and drive investment into critical industries in both Arizona and Taiwan." Since taking office, Senator Kelly has championed bipartisan agreements to establish a strong semiconductor supply chain. His collaborative approach extends to Taiwanese suppliers, highlighting his dedication to global partnerships. Through initiatives such as the CHIPS and Science Act, Senator Kelly aims to leverage Phoenix's tech talent, driving the acceleration of this crucial process. Mr. Chris Camacho, President & CEO of GPEC, remarked, "This partnership will open new doors for Taiwanese and American entrepreneurs and existing companies seeking expansion. A stronger relationship will invigorate both Taiwan and Arizona economies as we welcome the exchange of innovation, creativity, and diversity."

Key objectives of the MOU encompass the exchange of crucial industry insights, facilitating joint business missions, and promoting soft landing opportunities for Taiwanese startups in Greater Phoenix programs, including the esteemed Global Growth Accelerator. This multifaceted collaboration is poised to further elevate both regions on the global innovation map. The GPEC and Startup Island Taiwan MOU represents a transformative leap into a future of innovation, entrepreneurship, and mutually beneficial collaboration. Together, these two regions are poised to redefine the boundaries of innovation and create a thriving ecosystem that fosters growth, creativity, and prosperity. The signing software used was DottedSign , an e-signature solution developed by Kdan Mobile. It is adopted by more than 3,500 enterprises worldwide and offers SaaS, API, and customized plans to meet the diverse needs of enterprises, empowering their efficiency and moving towards sustainability. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/greater-phoenix-economic-council-and-startup-island-taiwan-sign-mou-to-boost-startup-innovation-and-investment-opportunities-301904408.html SOURCE Startup Island TAIWAN

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[August 18, 2023] ?Live Coverage of Techsauce Global Summit 2023?StartUP@Taipei Leads Top 10 New Startups to Advance into Thailand, Elevating Taipei's Startup Scene onto the International Stage! Tweet

TAIPEI, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- StartUP@Taipei participated for the first time in the Techsauce Global Summit 2023, a prominent startup event in Thailand. This year, Techsauce attracted nearly 15,000 attendees, including participants from regions such as the UK, Hong Kong, Japan, and Thailand, with over 500 exhibiting startups. Led by StartUP@Taipei, ten promising Taiwanese startups in the fields of AI, smart cities, ESG, IoT, and digital technology explored the local entrepreneurial ecosystem in Thailand. Throughout the exhibition, these teams garnered significant interest from potential clients, distributors, partners, and investors. Among the ten startups, Aiello, through a pitch contest organized by the hosts and Beacon Venture Capital, left a lasting impression on the audience with their product. Additionally, StartUP@Taipei organized several companies visits to help the teams understand the local entrepreneurial ecosystem, business environment, relevant regulations, and culture. Furthermore, to enhance mutual communication and exhibition logistics, a team dinner was organized prior to the start of the event for these ten startup companies to network. Comprehensive market entry planning, targeting entrepreneurship opportunities in Greater Southeast Asia. To help the teams gain a deep understanding of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Thailand and Southeast Asia, StartUP@Taipei has specially designed a series of visiting activities. These include visits to Thailand's largest e-commerce platform Lazada, the international law firm PD Legal, True Digital Park, one of Thailand's three major telecommunications giants, LINE Thailand, and the Digital Economy Promotion Agency (DEPA). These activities are geared towards preparing a solid foundation for expanding into new markets in Southeast Asia. Additionally, StartUP@Taipei is also leveraging Taipei Entrepreneurs Hub (TEH), a talent exchange brand under the Taipei City Government's Department of Economic Development, to promote the city government's entrepreneurial resources through exchange events.



On the first day of the exhibition, these ten startups attracted many overseas startup companies, investors, and incubator units. Notable visitors included GreenRocket, a Thai incubator, True Incube, and SusHi Tech Tokyo from Japan. They expressed interest in assisting startups to establish a presence in Taipei. Some of them even visited the SusHi Tech Tokyo booth and exchanged ideas with Taipei City's Department of Economic Development representatives on the same day. Furthermore, on the first day of the exhibition, StartUP@Taipei, along with the ten teams, participated in the Tech Showcase stage for Startup Pitching. This not only introduced the StartUP@Taipei brand to the audience but also provided information about the participating teams. Worth mentioning, through the exposure on this stage, Mechavision, one of the ten startup companies, had the opportunity to connect with Continental via the exhibition app. They are currently discussing potential cooperation, looking forward to future developments.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/live-coverage-of-techsauce-global-summit-2023startuptaipei-leads-top-10-new-startups-to-advance-into-thailand-elevating-taipeis-startup-scene-onto-the-international-stage-301904482.html SOURCE Taipei Entrepreneurs Hub

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[August 18, 2023] TUYA Developer Summit in Singapore: Advancing Global Connectivity and Sustainability Tweet

SINGAPORE, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The TUYA Developer Summit (Singapore) will take place on August 31. Following the theme of "Everything Connected, Everyone Sustainable," Tuya Smart will bring together global developers to explore how IoT and AI technologies may be utilized and incorporated in sustainable smart city scenarios in line with the backdrop of smart transformation trends and dual-carbon policies. As the first overseas stop of the TUYA Developer Summit, Singapore is not only a major global financial hub but also one of Asia's most competitive nations, with a thriving high-tech workforce, numerous data centers, a robust digital infrastructure, and a reliable power supply system that can support the growth of the IoT industry. Back in 2014, the Singaporean government unveiled a ten-year plan, "Smart Nation 2025", which is the world's first smart nation blueprint. The concept of Connect, Collect, and Comprehend (3Cs) was actively promoted to successfully actualize the vision. By leveraging advanced technologies, the government aims to systemize and rationalize city operation, offering better public services to local residents. Singapore then began to identify IoT, AI, big data, and other critical technologies as significant developments, and has begun to widely deploy them in the construction of smart cities. As a practitioner and barometer of the IoT sector, Tuya has substantial technical strength and open platform expertise to provide full support to Singapore at all stages of the execution of its 3Cs concept. Firstly, Tuya can realize interconnection for a wider range of smart devices through its PaaS2.0 and developer platform. Secondly, Tuya can quickly and efficiently develop various applicable solutions for multiple industries' management systems and scenarios to achieve smart information collection and management. Thirdly, bymerging AI and IoT technologies, Tuya can perceive and predict changes in market trends and assist customers to make better decisions towards a rapid change environment.



Given the coincidence of Tuya's IoT capabilities and Singapore's city development concept, as well as Singapore's robust policy support and extensive financial resources, Singapore ranks as one of the best choices for the TUYA Developer Summit's first overseas stop. Tuya's PaaS2.0 and HEMS will Take the Lead

Previously, at the TUYA Developer Summit in Shenzhen, Tuya showcased the PaaS2.0 fundamental framework and numerous projects in service, drawing much industry attention. This time, the Summit will go even further in terms of understanding and application of PaaS2.0 from the perspectives of technology, ecosystem, and business development, to inspire global developers with a more open and inclusive mindset, support them in developing innovative smart devices and solutions, and bring about an unprecedented level of innovation for end-users. For instance, the energy industry is currently undergoing a significant transformation, and the discussion of "how to save energy on the user side" has continued to attract more attention. Customers around the world are searching for energy-saving solutions to maximize the energy efficiency of households. In light of this, Tuya will present the newly developed Home Energy Management System (HEMS) and the energy-saving kit developed based on PaaS2.0, to enable customers to help families save at least 25% of their electricity bills, while considerably increasing energy use efficiency. In addition, how to efficiently address the application needs for the numerous smart industry systems under Singapore's Smart Nation initiative? What fresh improvements will Tuya bring to the smart city as an industry leader, given the general trend of AI and IoT integration? All of these questions are expected to be addressed during the upcoming Summit. Building a Smart Ecosystem Together So far, the Summit has attracted the attendance of many international developers and industry leaders. Siam Cement Group, the largest cement and construction materials producer in Southeast Asia, ESR Group, the leading real estate and logistic platform in Asia Pacific, and M1, Singapore's leading telecom operator, as well as many other world-renowned companies, have confirmed their attendance. The guests will share their understanding of the IoT market potential, practical experience, and insights on industry technologies and trends from multiple perspectives based on the current status, challenges, and opportunities of IoT development in Singapore. They will also help developers more accurately grasp IoT development trends and deeply embed the concept of innovation and sustainability in people's minds. The Summit will also be broadcasted live, enabling more developers to join and enjoy the event through the online channel. Tuya will bring developers together on the same stage, aiming at the establishment of more business collaboration, and, ultimately, the building and sustainable growth of smart cities. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/tuya-developer-summit-in-singapore-advancing-global-connectivity-and-sustainability-301904486.html SOURCE Tuya Smart

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[August 18, 2023] HEROTECH Invents New Thread Shooting Watch Tweet

SINGAPORE, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- HEROTECH, a startup that makes science fiction gadgets, has just released a thread shooting watch called the MAGNUS MKII. The MAGNUS MKII features technology that lets users fire out and retract specialized thread from their wrists. Users can also check the time with a unique pattern of LED lights on the watch. "It took quite literally hundreds of prototypes, but in the end it was worth it. Wearing this, using it and just seeing people's reactions, you really feel like a hero," said Jacob Uy, Founder of HEROTECH. "This new model builds on everything we learned from the previous version and our experience inventing other gadgets," he added. To show how the thread shooter watch works, they released an instructional video on their YouTube channel with over 300,000 subscribers.



The MAGNUS MKII is available on their website . Retailing at $427, preorders ship in October of this year. HEROTECH offers a lifetime warranty and free worldwide shipping on all orders. About HEROTECH: HEROTECH engineers gadgets that allow anyone to wield abilities, effects and powers from science fiction. People can purchase these gadgets through their website, or they can make it themselves; HEROTECH posts tutorials on social media so that viewers can build their inventions and learn STEM skills in the process. To date, they have amassed over 100,000,000 views and 300,000 subscribers on YouTube.

Contact Information:

HEROTECH

Jacob Uy

(774) 407-1538

[email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/herotech-invents-new-thread-shooting-watch-301903709.html SOURCE HEROTECH

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Russian occupation forces have invested significant effort, resources and manpower to maintain settlements such as Robotyne and Urozhaine. Ukraine's recent success in these areas reflects a broader degradation of Russian defense forces.

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Recent AFU offensives near such small settlements on the border of Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions and west of Zaporizhzhia are of tactic significance because of the structure of the enemy's defense lines. This was pointed out by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Ukrainian military expert and reserve colonel Petro Chernyk said on August 15 that the occupiers in southern Ukraine have built a three-echelon defense line. The first is minefields for several kilometers; the second is a concentration of Russian Armed Forces artillery, equipment and personnel; and the third is a line of rear positions designed to preserve resources.

However, analysts are convinced that recent Ukrainian advances north and northeast of Robotyne (10 kilometers south of Orikhiv) in the western Zaporizhzhia region may allow the AFU to begin operating in areas along the densest minefields.

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"If the areas around the second Russian defense line are less mined, they are likely to be more favorable for faster conquest by Ukraine. However, we have no information to assess the density or depth of Russian minefields," ISW emphasized.

At the same time, experts acknowledge that Russian forces have invested significant effort, resources and personnel to maintain Robotyne in Zaporizhzhia and Urozhaine in Donetsk, so recent Ukrainian gains in these areas likely reflect a broader degradation of the occupiers' defenses.

"Russian forces lack significant operational reserves and Russia's intensive efforts to hold these localities instead of withdrawing its forces mean that the AFU probably had to degrade Russian units completely before the offensive," the analysts suggested.

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They recalled Russian troops redeploying units of the 7th Guards Airborne Division from the Kherson region and possibly from the border zone of Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions to the Robotyne area. This also indicates that the latest Ukrainian attacks have deteriorated the forces of the occupiers significantly, who have been holding the defense in the western part of Zaporizhzhia since the beginning of the counteroffensive without rotation.

"The lack of operational reserves means that Russian forces will have to reinforce some parts of the front at the expense of others, which will presumably weaken their defense lines cumulatively and give the Ukrainian Defense Forces opportunities to exploit them" ISW assured.

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The analysts added that a recent complaint by one of the leaders of the "DPR" terrorist organization and traitor Alexander Khodakovsky about the Russian command's "failure to send reinforcements to protect" the depleted Russian forces that were "defending" Urozhaine may indicate that the Russian Federation is already making difficult choices about which sectors to prioritize when Ukrainian forces are moving forward.

"It seems that in the event of a Ukrainian breakthrough, Russian forces will have to withdraw to secondary prepared defense positions without the necessary support, and the further degradation of Russian forces creates the potential for any Ukrainian breakthrough to be potentially significant from an operational point of view," ISW concluded.

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As reported by OBOZREVATEL,, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry officially confirmed the liberation of the village of Urozhaine in Donetsk by the AFU on August 16. Our defenders consolidated on the borders of the settlement and at the same time evacuated remaining civilians. After all, there was not a single intact building there because of the attacks of the Russian occupants.

The Ukrainian military shot down a Russian Ka-52 Alligator helicopter for the second time on the morning of August 17. It was landed near Robotyne in Zaporizhzhia by the soldiers of the 47th separate mechanized brigade.

Only verified information from us on the Telegram channel Obozrevatel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
[August 18, 2023] Chung-Ang University Study Validates the Simple View of Reading for Enhancing Second and Foreign Language Learners' Experience Tweet

SEOUL, South Korea, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The simple view of reading (SVR) is a widely accepted theory that attempts to define the skills that contribute to early reading comprehension. It attributes a person's reading comprehension ability to two skillsword recognition (decoding) and language comprehension. However, SVR is known to have some limitations in the context of second as well as foreign languages (SFL). Recent reading research indicates that SVR needs to be expanded upon to include cognitive factors which may impact reading comprehension, such as working memory and inference making, along with metalinguistic skills. This is also necessary in the context of SFL. A new study led by Professor Jang Ho Lee of Chung-Ang University along with Professor Hansol Lee of the Korea Military Academy, evaluated SVR in the context of SFL using a statistical approach known as meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM). Their study, published online on 24 July 2023 in Review of Educational Research journal, demonstrates that the primary tenet of SVR holds true in SFL contexts and that it can be adapted to identify reading problems in people reading SFL. "The SVR model is a time-tested model of reading in the field of first language literacy, and has been used for the development of instructional guidelines of many countries' reading curricula. However, we decided to test the applicability of this model for SFL reading, which has till now been explained by many theories and conflicting ideas," explains Prof. Lee. The researchers selected 152 prior studies for building the MASEM model, through a database search. Next, the researchers identified 12 vriables spanning various SFL constructs, such as comprehension, decoding, cognition, and metalinguistic skills. Further, they used a two-stage modeling approach, known as two-stage structural equation modeling (TSSEM).



They developed four MASEM models, which were variants of the base model, for answering the four research questions in this study. While the base model included variables of reading comprehension, the other three models were expanded to include variables for cognition skills, metalinguistic components, and a combination of both. This helped the researchers to study more complex constructs of SFL reading, compared with the base model. Their analysis revealed decoding skills and language comprehension skills to be the primary components for effective SFL reading instruction. They identified that early instruction should focus mainly on developing decoding skills and language comprehension skills, while later instruction should focus mainly on developing language comprehension skills. Their findings also underscore the need for including specific instruction on metalinguistic skills in the SFL-SVR framework.

The researchers detail how the extended SVR models can be implemented practically for improving the reading abilities of SFL learners. "The findings that components such as decoding and language comprehension are crucial for SFL reading, can help instructors design a more effective and efficient pedagogical approach. This can ultimately help in promoting SFL learners' reading competence," explains an optimistic Prof. Lee. This pioneering research could be potentially applied to tackle open research questions in several domains. As Prof. Lee notes, "This is one of the first studies to use a specialized type of meta-analysis for finding answers to the unanswered questions in the field of applied linguistics. Going ahead, researchers can benefit from using this approach to advance the understanding of several issues that involve the complex relationships among multiple variables." Reference

Title of original paper: Extending the Simple View of Reading in Second and Foreign Language Learning: A Meta-Analytic Structural Equation Modeling Approach

Journal: Review of Educational Research

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543231186605 About Chung-Ang University

Website: https://neweng.cau.ac.kr/index.do Contact:

Se-Jin Oh

02-820-6614

364020@email4pr.com View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chung-ang-university-study-validates-the-simple-view-of-reading-for-enhancing-second-and-foreign-language-learners-experience-301903729.html SOURCE Chung-Ang University

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[August 18, 2023] FLY ASIA 2023 to be Held in Busan from October 5-8 Tweet

10.5.~8. 10,000+ startups, investors, etc. from major Asian cities expected to attend

Expected to develop the Asian startup ecosystem, network, and create a co-investment platform

Recruitment of companies to apply for 'FLY ASIA Awards' with a total prize fund of $180,000 , 7.26.~8.22. SEOUL, South Korea, Aug. 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The city of Busan (Mayor PARK Hyung Joon), together with Busan Technopark and the FLY ASIA 2023 Committee, announced that the Asian startup expo 'FLY ASIA 2023' will be held from October 5-8 at Busan BEXCO Exhibition Center 2. FLY ASIA, held for the first time last year, is an event aiming to attract investment and support for promising Asian startups to expand overseas and exchanges between domestic and overseas startup ecosystems.



The event will feature a variety of programs including opening and closing ceremonies, LP Summit and VC Forum, Open Innovation with large corporations, Scaleup Showcase, an IR pitching event, FLY ASIA Awards (a startup competition), conferences with keynote speeches and sessions on major trends in the startup ecosystem, and 1:1 meetups.. One of the main events, the FLY ASIA Awards, an innovative startup competition with the purpose of networking in the entrepreneurship ecosystem, is a program to discover promising Asian startups and support their global expansion through cross-regional business cooperation network opportunities and mutual cooperation. Applications will be accepted from participating companies until August 22 at 18:00.

*Application: Click the AWARDS tab on the top of the FLY ASIA 2023 official website (WWW.FLY-ASIA.ORG) There are three categories, Fly Awards, Busan Initiative Awards, and CINE Fly Awards, and only participants can only apply for one category. CINE Fly Awards is a new category this year and is related to the movie and video content industry. 50 startups will be selected for the final round during the event. 10 finalists will receive a total of $180,000 in cash prizes and be matched with local and international investors to support their further growth. More information about FLY ASIA Awards, please visit the official websites of Busan Technopark and FLY ASIA 2023. FLY ASIA 2023, the second edition of the Asian startup expo, will be an opportunity to take a step closer to Busan, Asia's startup center. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/fly-asia-2023-to-be-held-in-busan-from-october-5-8-301904545.html SOURCE FLY ASIA 2023

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[August 18, 2023] AM Best Revises Outlooks to Stable for Polskie Towarzystwo Reasekuracji S.A. Tweet

AM Best has revised the outlooks to stable from negative and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of "a-" (Excellent) of Polskie Towarzystwo Reasekuracji S.A. (Polish Re) (Poland). The Credit Ratings (ratings) reflect Polish Re's balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, limited business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management (ERM). The ratings also reflect the lift Polish Re receives due to the support provided by its ultimate parent, Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited (Fairfax), in particular the explicit parental guarantee in place for Polish Re. In addition, Fairfax provides technical support in areas such as reserving, retrocession protection and investment management services. The revision of the outlooks to stable from negative reflects AM Best's expectation of Polish Re's risk-adjusted capitalisation improving to the very strong level at year-end 2023 and being maintained comfortably at this level prospectively, as measured by Best's Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR). The projected improvement in 2023 factors a planned USD 18 million capital injection from Fairfax, due to occur before year end. Previously, Polish Re has seen a trend of deteriorating risk-adjusted capitalisation, as measured by BCAR, driven by increased underwriting risk due to significant premium growth. Whilst prospective capital adequacy remains exposed to potential volatility from outsized growth levels and, to a lesser extent, operating performance, financial support from Fairfax is expected to be forthcoming in addressing future capital needs. Polish Re has experienced volatility historically in reserve development, stemming largely from motor third-party liability business in Poland and requiring reserve strengthening in recent years, which negatively impacts the company's balance sheet assessment and operating performance. The company benefits from a conservative and liquid investment portfolio.



Polish Re benefits from a diversified underwriting portfolio, with operations spanning approximately 40 markets. The company's largest markets based on gross written premium in 2022 are Poland, Israel and India. Additionally, the company has expanded its agriculture line of business significantly in recent years. AM Best considers Polish Re's ERM to be developed and appropriate for the company's risk profile and operational scope.

This latest rating action is the result of an accepted appeal from Polish Re. This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best's website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best's Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best's Credit Ratings. For information on the proper use of Best's Credit Ratings, Best's Performance Assessments, Best's Preliminary Credit Assessments and AM Best press releases, please view Guide to Proper Use of Best's Ratings & Assessments. AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specialising in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com. Copyright  2023 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230818245742/en/

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[August 18, 2023] San Antonio Selected as Host Site for Artificial Intelligence Bootcamp - APPLICATIONS CLOSING SOON! Tweet

SAN ANTONIO, Texas, Aug. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Time is running out to apply to participate in the Mark Cuban Foundation Artificial Intelligence (AI) Bootcamp hosted by USAA Federal Savings Bank (USAA) in San Antonio. Applications for the no-cost bootcamp are closing soon!

The AI bootcamp is targeted toward underserved high school students (9th-12th grade) and offers participants a chance to learn the fundamentals of AI. USAA is one of more than two dozen companies selected to host camps across the U.S. this fall. If accepted, participants will engage in a four- week bootcamp held on consecutive Saturdays from October 14th to November 4th. It is imperative that students commit to attending all four sessions. The bootcamp sessions will take place from 1 p.m. - 5 p.m. CT. No prior experience in computer science, programming, or robotics is required. The applications for students and parents can be submitted through markcubanai.org/usaapr. During the bootcamp, students will explore the world of artificial intelligence, including ethical implications and real- life applications, such as, social media recommendations, smart home assistants, facial recognition, and self-driving cars. Participants will also discover the features of Large Language Models which can answer questions, create original stories, and even generate computer code. To provide a beneficial learning environment, trained volunteer corporate mentors, who are knowledgeable in AI, machine learning, and data science , will lead thestudents through the curriculum. Throughout the bootcamp, students will have the opportunity to work with open-source tools and develop their own AI applications related to Computer Vision, Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, and Generative AI.



The Mark Cuban Foundation provides the bootcamps curriculum materials, trains supporting staff, and recruits and scores applications for local students selected to attend camp. Members of USAA Bank Data & Analytics team will serve as volunteer mentors for participants during the program. In addition, the Mark Cuban Foundation and USAA work together to provide food, information on transportation options, and access to laptops for student use at no-cost during the bootcamp. It was a lot of fun, I learned things I didn't even know were possible with A.I. and their real-world applications showed me just how much it will change our world." - Brandon B., 10th Grade, 2022 AI Bootcamp Participant

Founded by Mark Cuban in 2019, the AI bootcamp initiative has hosted no-cost AI bootcamps for students across several U.S. cities, including Dallas, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Atlantic City to name a few. The Mark Cuban Foundation has impacted 900+ students to date and has a goal to increase that number year over year. Students interested in applying to the Mark Cuban Foundation AI Bootcamp should do so before Friday, September 8th, 2023 at markcubanai.org/usaapr. To see our 2023 camp locations and to learn more about the Mark Cuban Foundation AI Bootcamps, please visit markcubanai.org/faq. The Mark Cuban Foundation is a 501(c)(3) private non-profit led by Dallas Mavericks proprietor Mark Cuban. The AI Bootcamps Program at MCF seeks to inspire young people with emerging technology so that they can create more equitable futures for themselves and their communities. Over 4 consecutive Saturdays underserved 9th -12th grade students learn what AI is and isn't, where they already interact with AI in their own lives, the ethical implications of AI systems, and much more. This bootcamp is facilitated with support from Mark Cuban Foundation AI Bootcamp Programs media partner, Notified, a globally trusted technology partner for investor relations, public relations and marketing professionals. Contact: Lauren Ronse, Mark Cuban Foundation Phone: 405-973-7577 Email: [email protected]



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[August 18, 2023] University of Phoenix College of Doctoral Studies Leadership Presents at 2023 American Psychological Association Convention Tweet

Rodney Luster, Ph.D., chair, Center for Leadership Studies and Organizational Research (CLSOR) with the University of Phoenix College of Doctoral Studies, presented his research on addictive behavior and the chemical implications of a protein named FosB at the 2023 American Psychological Association Convention. The event, which took place Aug. 3-5 in Washington, D.C., is one of the largest gatherings of psychologists in the world. Each year it attracts thousands of practitioners, researchers, educators, applied psychologists, and policymakers from all areas of specialization in the discipline. "In the dynamic landscape of psychology, the 2023 American Psychological Association Convention stands as a beacon of innovation and knowledge exchange for practitioners, and I am honored to be among this year's presenters," shares Luster. "At the Center for Leadership Studies and Organizational Research, we recognize the significance of providing fresh insights to empower professionals working in the field. The session was designed not just to share information, but to spark new perspectives and strategies that practitioners can integrate into their work." Luster was invited to present at this year's conference to highlight pivotal new research in the field of addictios. In addition to his research on FosB, Luster was invited to discuss fostering conscious, active imaginal states for clients adverse to engaging in full hypnotic states.



Dr. Hinrich Eylers, vice provost of the College of Doctoral Studies at University of Phoenix, shared his support for Luster's research contributions, stating, "Dr. Luster's commitment to fostering meaningful research and his active participation in national events illuminates his dedication to academic excellence and the advancement of knowledge that shapes our society's future." In addition to leading the Center for Leadership Studies and Organizational Research, Luster is Senior Director of Research Strategy, Innovation, and Development for the College of Doctoral Studies at the University of Phoenix. Luster is currently conducting research on the potentials of polyphonic discourse for use in helping leaders navigate difficult conversations amid turbulent issues. He maintains a private practice in Austin, Texas as a psychotherapist and publishes a monthly blog on the Psychology Today website.

Luster earned his Ph.D. in Human Services with Capella University and completed a post-doctoral clinical internship with Johns Hopkins University. Luster has been an employee of the University of Phoenix since 2012. About the College of Doctoral Studies University of Phoenix's College of Doctoral Studies focuses on today's challenging business and organizational needs, from addressing critical social issues to developing solutions to accelerate community building and industry growth. The College's research program puts students in the center of an effective ecosystem of experts, resources and tools to help prepare them to be a leader in their organization, industry and community. Through this program, students and researchers work with organizations to conduct research that can be applied in the workplace in real time. About University of Phoenix University of Phoenix is continually innovating to help working adults enhance their careers in a rapidly changing world. Flexible schedules, relevant courses, interactive learning, and Career Services for Life help students more effectively pursue career and personal aspirations while balancing their busy lives. For more information, visit phoenix.edu. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230818930624/en/

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[August 18, 2023] Banks Provide Dallas Mother with $15K in First-Time Homebuyer Funds Tweet

Iliana Flores is a newly minted homeowner, thanks in part to $15,000 in Homebuyer Equity Leverage Partnership (HELP) funds from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) through Trustmark National Bank. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230818226501/en/ A $15,000 subsidy from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas via member Trustmark National Bank allowed a Dallas mom to make the down payment on her family's dream home. (Photo: Business Wire) FHLB Dallas set aside $6.5 million of its 2023 Affordable Housing Program funds for HELP. Through member institutions, HELP, whose funding has been fully allocated for 2023, assists income-qualified, first-time homebuyers like Ms. Flores with down payment assistance and closing costs. The funds enabled the 38-year-old mother to make the down payment on a two-story, four-bedroom home in Dallas, Texas. "My kids dreamed of a two-story home and I'm proud to ave fulfilled their dream. HELP provided me with the confidence to clinch the deal," Ms. Flores said. "HELP can make the difference for those on a budget, and I now encourage everyone in the homebuying process to check if they are eligible."



FHLB Dallas member Trustmark National Bank worked with Ms. Flores in the process. "We take great pride in customizing financial support to suit the needs of our customers and we're delighted to be a part of this momentous occasion for Ms. Flores's family," said Jaime Sisson, vice president, fair and responsible banking - senior CRA manager at Trustmark National Bank. "We aspire to increase homeownership in our communities and HELP is vital to achieving this goal."

Since the beginning of the year, Trustmark National Bank has assisted 23 homebuyers with more than $300,000 in HELP funds. "Trustmark National Bank has made exemplary use of its FHLB Dallas membership via the HELP program to advance affordable homeownership across multiple communities in several states," said Greg Hettrick, senior vice president and director of Community Investment at FHLB Dallas. Visit fhlb.com/help to learn more about the program. About Trustmark National Bank Trustmark National Bank is a subsidiary of Trustmark Corporation, a financial services company providing banking and financial solutions through offices in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas. Visit trustmark.com for more information. About the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas is one of 11 district banks in the FHLBank System created by Congress in 1932. FHLB Dallas, with total assets of $174 billion as of June 30, 2023, is a member-owned cooperative that supports housing and community development by providing competitively priced loans and other credit products to approximately 800 members and associated institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas. For more information, visit our website at fhlb.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230818226501/en/

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SOUTHTEC 2023 Exhibitor Preview: Innovative Global Suppliers, Distributors and Equipment Builders to Demonstrate Latest Technologies and Solutions for Southeast Manufacturers

SOUTHTEC 2023, an SME event for small- to medium-size manufacturers (SMMs) and large original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), supports the thriving southeast manufacturing industry by providing attendees with the ideal forum for exploration of new technologies and connection with new business partners. A leading manufacturing trade show in the region, SOUTHTEC hosts over 250 exhibitors from Oct. 24-26, 2023, at the Greenville Convention Center in Greenville, S.C. The event is sponsored by SME and AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230818613393/en/

With hundreds of exhibiting companies, SOUTHTEC 2023 attendees can find all the latest technologies and services - plus the experts who build them - ready to demonstrate solutions that can help them grow their business. (Photo: Business Wire)

SOUTHTEC is part of the Manufacturing Technology (MT) Series - four regional events conducted bi-annually to bring decision-makers from diverse industries together with the leaders in advanced manufacturing technology. The SOUTHTEC 2023 exhibitor lineup includes some of the most innovative names in manufacturing and draws hundreds of global suppliers, distributors and equipment builders. Some of this year's featured exhibitors include:

Haas Factory Outlet - A Division of Phillips (Booth #809) offers sales, service and support for Haas, the largest machine tool builder in the country. Job shops, contract engineering firms and manufacturers worldwide use Haas CNC machines to make parts for nearly every industry. Attendees at SOUTHTEC can discover the next evolution of manufacturing demonstrated up-close, including Haas' wide selection of fully integrated auomation solutions such as automatic parts loaders, pallet-pool systems, and 6-axis robot systems.

Morris South - A Division of Morris Group Inc. (Booth #1009) is a supplier of industry-leading CNC machine tools, tooling, accessories, automation and related engineering services, representing brands such as Okuma, Tsugami, Desktop Metal, Universal Robots and more. Attendees at SOUTHTEC can meet with productivity specialists to discuss optimizing CNC machine tool performance to enhance their manufacturing operations and boost their productivity and competitiveness.

Mazak Corp (Booth #1309) provides a wide range of machining solutions to suit job shops and major manufacturers alike, across industries ranging from aerospace to medical, and consumer electronics to construction. Attendees at SOUTHTEC can see new, cutting-edge solutions in action such as HYBRID Multi-Tasking machines that feature state-of-the-art additive and joining techniques paired with subtractive capabilities, and MAZATROL Smooth CNC with integrated automation and next-level software packages that improve repeatability and reliability.

GROB Systems Inc (Booth #829) is a world-renowned developer and manufacturer of machines and production lines for automotive OEMs and has expanded its portfolio to include universal 5-axis machining centers. Attendees at SOUTHTEC can experience first-hand how the unique retractable spindle provides unmatched accessibility to the work piece, and even upside-down machining, in a collision-free environment during tool change.

Lyndex-Nikken Inc (Booth #1709) produces high performance machine tool accessories to meet manufacturing needs across the aerospace and defense, automotive, construction, energy and medical industries. Recognized worldwide for their precision and reliability, attendees at SOUTHTEC will learn how to enhance their machining centers and optimize their capabilities with ground-breaking tools and engineering solutions.







"Events like SOUTHTEC help to advance the manufacturing industry because they invite small- and medium-sized manufacturers to openly discuss their most pressing challenges, adding their voice to the broader dialogue around advanced technologies to increase the efficiency of traditional processes," said Robert "Bob" Willig, executive director and CEO of SME. "Scaling these solutions to make them viable for all manufacturers - beyond just the large companies making big investments - is a driving force for advancement in our industry, since the majority of U.S. companies are those with fewer than 500 employees."

Media registration for SOUTHTEC 2023 is open now at this link.

About AMT

AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology represents and promotes U.S.- based manufacturing technology - those who design, build, sell and service the continuously evolving technology that lies at the heart of manufacturing. Learn more at amtonline.org.

About SME

Established in 1932 as a nonprofit organization headquartered in Southfield, Michigan, SME leads the ecosystem by elevating manufacturers, academia, professionals, and the communities in which they operate. We accelerate new technology adoption and inspire and build North America's talent and capabilities. We believe in technology's power and humanity's innovation to advance our society and meet many national challenges. We design new ways to understand and solve problems, and our solutions advance the next wave of innovation and growth. Learn more at sme.org.

High-resolution images of Bob Willig, SOUTHTEC events are available from SME.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230818613393/en/
[August 18, 2023] PitchBook Named Best Workplace for Ninth Year by Puget Sound Business Journal Tweet

List Recognizes Top Companies in Washington for Culture, Mission and Values SEATTLE, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- PitchBook, the premier data provider for the private and public equity markets, today announced it was recognized as one of Washington's Best Workplaces by the Puget Sound Business Journal (PSBJ) in the Extra Large category of businesses which employ more than 500 employees in Washington. Recipients are selected and ranked based on employee satisfaction surveys, which review benefit offerings, leadership transparency, workplace perks and more. PitchBook placed 7th on the 2023 list, up from 15th in 2022 and 2021. "Our people are our greatest asset, so creating a workplace culture that promots professional development and collaborative problem solving continues to be a top priority," said John Gabbert, founder and CEO of PitchBook. "We encourage employees to take risks and find a better way of doing things every day, which has allowed our team to build trust and support one another through any challenge. This being our ninth year on this ranking validates our approach is working and is something we need to continue as we grow and expand."



The Best Workplaces award factors in 30 standard survey questions across categories including career growth and development, diversity and inclusion, engagement and more. Companies that made the list had the highest overall scores from an employee survey administered by The Business Journals' national research partner, Quantum Workplaces. Winners were honored during a ceremony at T-Mobile Park on August 17. PitchBook has more than 2,000 employees globally across offices in Seattle, San Francisco, New York, London, Hong Kong and Singapore. By offering unprecedented access to the private and public equity markets, the PitchBook Platform provides an all-in-one research and analysis tool for investment and research professionals  including VC and PE firms, corporate development teams, investment banks, LPs, lenders, law firms and accounting firms.

For more information about PitchBook, click here.

About?PitchBook

PitchBook is a financial data and software company that provides transparency into the capital markets to help professionals discover and execute opportunities with confidence and efficiency. PitchBook collects and analyzes detailed data on the entire venture capital, private equity and M&A landscapeincluding public and private companies, investors, funds, investments, exits and people. The company's data and analysis are available through the PitchBook Platform, industry news and in-depth reports. Founded in 2007, PitchBook has offices in Seattle, New York, London, Hong Kong and Singapore and serves more than 100,000 professionals around the world. In 2016, Morningstar acquired PitchBook, which now operates as an independent subsidiary. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pitchbook-named-best-workplace-for-ninth-year-by-puget-sound-business-journal-301904797.html SOURCE PitchBook

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Fans at Old Trafford, home to Manchester United, were treated to seeing the likes of Ryan Giggs, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Nani, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Robin van Persie display their speed and technical ability as they attacked the oppositions goal at the Stretford End.







Although things havent been Glory Glory Man United for the past decade since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson, speed on the field is still on full display with the likes of Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho and Bruno Fernandes.

But those players arent alone in the fast category that fans will notice this season, which started with a 1-0 win over Wolves on Aug. 14. Extreme Networks, which became Uniteds official Wi-Fi network solutions and Wi-Fi analytics provider in 2022, is committed to delivering the latest generation of Wi-Fi connectivity at the stadium for the hundreds of thousands of fans who visit the Theatre of Dreams each season.

Now, fans will experience fast new Wi-Fi solutions from Extreme, which completed the rollout of a new Wi-Fi 6 network at Old Trafford, deployed in partnership with Verizon (News - Alert) Business.

The new Wi-Fi 6 network supports modern experiences for fans, including updated digital signage throughout the stadium and mobile ticket scanning at the stadium entrances. Stay connected with friends and family and utilize the Manchester United mobile app to navigate the stadium as well as get match updates when away from seats.

For Old Traffords operations teams, ExtremeAnalytics provides real-time insights into fan activity and network performance, which is used to continuously improve digital fan experiences. This includes application usage insights, which identifies areas and moments of increased usage to ensure better provision of services.

Manchester Uniteds IT team also leverages ExtremeCloud IQ to monitor and optimize network performance, giving it a view into the entire stadium network through a single dashboard. The cloud-managed network enables the IT team to easily scale operations based on event needs and automatically adjust traffic streams based on network traffic, helping ensure seamless experiences for fans and staff connected to the network.

The network is at the heart of every organization. With functions from EMS services to retail stores, a stadium on gameday is like a small smart city, and the network supports every digital service, said Norman Rice, Chief Operating Officer, Extreme Networks (News - Alert). The new network at Old Trafford will enable its operations team to improve experiences for everyone who visits the stadium while streamlining match day operations.

With Extreme, the next time United win major silverware, fans at Old Trafford can take it all in with reliable Wi-Fi. Bringing it back to the now, fans chanting United, United during a buildup to a goal from Rashford, which then prompts the chanting of Marcus Rashford is Manc born and bred, would be a sight to behold. Extremes reliable Wi-Fi 6 gives fans the ability to stay connected while capturing it all on their devices.

"Old Trafford is steeped in history; it is vital we keep innovating with the best possible modern digital solutions which allow us to improve the overall matchday fan experience, said Attiq Qureshi, Chief Digital Information Officer, Manchester United. The next generation of connectivity at Old Trafford will provide the club with a great platform for future digital innovation as well as help the club better understand the wants and needs of our huge fanbase.

Edited by Alex Passett
To be fair . . . We've heard/seen much crazier arguments on this blog and from Tucker Carlson.

It seems the MSNBC pundit doesn't understand much outside of his TV studio.

When it comes to red state Missouri . . . Senator Hawley is somewhat moderate in his MAGA support.

To be fair . . . Here's the money line . . .



"Sure, some people might be inclined to think prosecutors brought charges against a corrupt politician based solely on evidence of alleged wrongdoing, but Hawley would instead have the public embrace an alternative vision. To hear the GOP senator tell it, Trump was indicted, not because of the evidence uncovered through a grand jury process, but because Trump was a bold champion against an unnamed "they" and their globalism, military interventionism, and abortion rights."

Spoiler alert . . . The MSNBC pundit calls Sen. Hawley's theory "bonkers" in the not so stunning conclusion.



Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .
Russian troops shelled the village of Virivka and dropped explosives from a drone in Beryslav, Kherson region. Three people were injured in the attacks, including a minor girl.

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This was reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine. According to the investigation, on 18 August, at about 11 am, the occupiers fired on the village of Verivka in the Tyahyn community.

A minor girl was wounded as a result of the shelling.

According to the head of the Beryslav district military administration, Volodymyr Lytvynov, the victim is 17 years old and was hospitalised. In addition, the shelling damaged about ten residential buildings.

At around 2pm, the enemy dropped explosives from a drone near a private house in Beryslav. Two local residents who were on the street sustained leg injuries and were hospitalised.

A pre-trial investigation has been initiated into the violation of the laws and customs of war (Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), the Prosecutor General's Office said.

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As reported by OBOZREVATEL:

- On the afternoon of 18 August, Russia launched a missile strike on Zaporizhzhia, and the enemy also attacked Kupiansk, Vovchansk and the village of Vovchansky Khutory in Kharkiv region.

- The Operational Command "South" noted that after the Ukrainian Armed Forces' strikes on the occupied bridges in Chongar and Henichesk, the enemy's logistics slowed down significantly. As a result, the number of attacks on southern Ukraine has decreased.

Only verified information is available on our Obozrevatel Telegram channel, Threads and Viber. Don't fall for fakes!
The latest local killing occurred on the nice side of the bridge yet it keeps the KCMO homicide count moving toward a record pace . . . 24% higher than last year and ahead of 2020's pace . . . The deadliest year in our history.

Here's the first report . . .



Homicide 400 block of NW 88th St



On 8/18/2023 just after 12 am, officers were dispatched to 400 block of NW 88th St. on a reported prowler call.



Upon arrival, officers located an unknown male in the rear of the dispatched residence. Officers detained this individual prompting further investigation.



After preliminary investigations, detectives were directed to a residence in the 400 block of NW 88th Ter and was given access by the occupants of the residence. Officers then discovered an adult male who was unresponsive and suffering from apparent bodily trauma. EMS responded and declared the victim deceased.



There is a subject of interest in custody. The circumstances surrounding the homicide are unknown at this time.



Homicide detectives and Crime Scene Personnel have responded to the scene. They will be processing the scene to recover any evidence and speaking to any potential witnesses.



Anyone with information is asked to call homicide detectives at 816-234-5043. Or if you wish to remain anonymous you can do so by calling the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS.



There is a reward of up to $25,000 for information provided to TIPS which leads to an arrest in the case.



We are committed to assisting victims of violent crimes through use of Missouris Protection Program for Victims/Witnesses of Violent Crime. Funding for temporary, or even permanent relocation, may be available but is subject to pre-approval by the States administering agency.



We are working with Partners for Peace in all our homicide investigations to monitor risks for retaliation and provide social services to affected residents.

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Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . .

Kansas City Police investigating homicide in the Northland Kansas City Police are investigating a homicide in the 400 block of NW 88th Terrace after a reported prowler call in the area.

Homicide investigation underway after man found dead inside Northland home KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Kansas City police are investigating another homicide after a man was found dead inside a Northland home Friday morning. Just after midnight police responded to a home in the a...

Developing . . .
Right now we cling to Summer as hottie Blake inspires us to check pop culture, community news and top headlines.



Check TKC news gathering . . .

More Deets On Rolling Over Local Slush Fund

Kansas City voters will decide whether to renew a tax that funds public transit in November Officials say if the current 0.375% sales tax is renewed, it will generate more than $400 million over the next decade for the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority.

Tragic Crash Aftermath

Motorcyclist critically injured, 2 others hospitalized after crash on US 169 Highway in Northland A motorcylist was critically injured when it collided with a Ford Escape on Thursday evening on U.S. 169 Highway and Barry Road in the Northland.

Golden Ghetto Gets New Friends

Lux Living wins approval for more than 900 apartments in Overland Park - Kansas City Business Journal Metcalf Village, Lux Living's sixth known Kansas City-area project, would bring 906 apartments and 35,000 square feet of commercial to a prime Overland Park corner over the course of four phases.

Butch Buys Another Old Building

Historic Troost Safeway Slated to be Renovated for Small Businesses By Kevin Collison A decrepit building on Troost that was one of the first modern Safeway supermarkets built in the 1940s would be renovated into space for small businesses under a plan being pursued by veteran urban developer Butch Rigby. Rigby, who's experience includes renovating several buildings along East 63rd Street between Rockhill Road and...

Working The K For Now . . .

Kansas City Royals strike new union agreement with Kauffman Stadium employees The new deal locks in what the team calls a 'substantial wage increase' for ballpark staff.

Newspaper Fare For KC Snobs

'Kansas City doesn't really have this': Fine dining restaurant and lounge now open This sprawling, Spanish colonial-style structure has been home to several businesses over the past few decades. Now comes this restaurant and lounge.

Actress Hottie Plays Up Merch

Blake Lively shows off bikini body... six months after giving birth Blake Lively channeled her inner Baywatch babe in a racy red swimsuit while posing by the pool for a sexy campaign for her sparkling mixer company Betty Buzz.

POC Doubt White House

Biden's reelection threatened by poor marks on the economy from voters of color "Our economy is the lowest it's been."

MAGA Adds Up Charges

Trump reacts to Georgia indictment for first time on camera: 'I have four of them now' | CNN Politics Former President Donald Trump on Thursday reacted for the first time on camera to the Georgia indictment that accuses him of being the head of a "criminal enterprise" to overturn the 2020 election, dismissing the criminal charges as a "witch hunt" and a "horrible thing for the country."

First Son Stays Winning

Hunter Biden tax charges dismissed by federal judge following plea deal breakdown A federal judge in Delaware has dismissed the misdemeanor tax charges against Hunter Biden, a move that was expected after his plea deal fell through last month.

Escalation In Europe Cont'd

US reportedly approves sending F-16 jets to Ukraine from Denmark and Netherlands Secretary of state Antony Blinken confers 'full support' for transfer of F-16s and training of pilots

Far East Treads Water

China's Xi calls for measures to mitigate disastrous flooding Chinese leader Xi Jinping has called for measures to mitigate the effects of this year's disastrous flooding which has left scores dead and inflicted massive damage on crops, homes and infrastructure

Fearing Familiar Storm

Hilary grows into major hurricane in Pacific off Mexico and could bring heavy rain to US Southwest Hurricane Hilary has strengthened into a major storm off Mexico's Pacific coast, and it could bring heavy rain to the southwestern U.S. by the weekend

Reboot To Ruin Fond Memories

Marcie From 'Peanuts' Finally Gets Her Spotlight Moment "Peanuts" fans' favorite brilliant, though quiet friend Marcie gets her own backstory and special with "One-of-a-Kind" Marcie. You'll be shocked at how profound it is.

No Stopping This Movement

The Anti-work Trend Is Growing Among Young Professionals. Is Love the Answer? - Comstock's magazine The anti-work movement has been growing for a few years, with Reddit's Antiwork sub hosting 3 million users today. We've ...

Already Planning Weekend Hotness

Weekend Possibilities | Ethnic Enrichment Fest, Billy Joel and Stevie Nicks Pick from Parkville Days, the Ethnic Enrichment Festival or a night with rock and roll icons Billy Joel and Stevie Nicks in the world's loudest stadium.

Hands Full This Fall

Kansas City Juggling Club hosts 2023 juggling festival October 6-8 Kansas City Juggling Club // courtesy Nick Civitello The Kansas City Juggling Club partners with Wyandotte County Parks and Rec to host the 2023 KC Juggling Festival from October 6-8. On Friday and Saturday at the Joe E. Amayo Augustine Community Center, guests can learn to juggle, watch juggling competitions, and learn other cirque skills like aerial silks and hula hoop....

Forecast For Now . . .

One more day of typical summer heat before excessive heat kicks in this weekend Dangerously hot conditions are expected starting tomorrow

Hozier, Brandi Carlile - Damage Gets Done is the song of the day and this is the OPEN THREAD for right now.
Like it or not . . . This is the very best kind of publicity that makes everyone happy.



Our readers may not agree with her administration but there's no denying her media savvy.



Check -it . . .



Once completed, Rep. Davids said this will attract more businesses and families to move to Johnson County.



We know that if we are investing in this bread and butter infrastructure right now, its going to make those economic development opportunities that much more impactful, she said.



Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .
Truth be told . . . It's kinda surprising how quickly we lost interest in this story.

However . . . There's still a bit more interesting tidbits to share and the punchline here might be that taxpayers will fund the drama long after the cameras are gone . . . Check-it . . .



Legal experts say that could mean the small city government of Marion  a central Kansas town of roughly 2,000  owing the newspaper a big-time payout. Similar civil lawsuits surrounding police violence have resulted in settlements ranging from hundreds of thousands of dollars to millions of dollars.



That could be the outcome even if the police drop their criminal investigation, which now seems possible after prosecutors returned the seized items to the newspaper after days of widespread criticism.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

A Kansas town's taxpayers may have to pay up after police raided its newspaper The police raid on the Marion County Record potentially violated federal law and constitutional rights. It could leave taxpayers covering a big legal settlement.

Kansas judge who signed off on 'Gestapo-style' raid of small-town newspaper has two DUIs Judge Laura Viar signed a warrant to allow police to raid the newspaper over claims it illegally obtained DUI information about a business owner. It turns out Viar reportedly has two DUIs of her own.

Kobach: KBI looking into possible data breach in Kansas newspaper case - Kansas Reflector Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach says state authorities reviewing alleged crimes associated with the raid of a Marion newspaper are interested in whether someone breached the Kansas Criminal Justice Information System.

Jake LaTurner: Marion newspaper raid a 'terrible circumstance' but patience warranted U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner, R-Kan., said a police raid on a Kansas newspaper was "a terrible circumstance" but urged patience for the legal process.

Opinion | See the Kansas weekly that's standing up for press freedom A photographer of small-town Kansas newspaper offices remembers his visit to Marion County.

Developing . . .
Again, we love Perfect Village but they seem none too pleased with the direction of their Democracy.

Here's a quick note and more info about the sitch . . .

PRAIRIE VILLAGE CITY COUNCIL DENIES THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE!



Last night at the special City Council meeting, your elected Council members refused to accept the will of thousands of Prairie Village residents. Instead, they chose to use legal means to stifle our voices and prevent the county-certified petitions from going to a vote. The Kansas statutes were followed and Citizens legally have the right to vote. Councils UNANIMOUS vote to approve legal funds to defend the citys position is a way to postpone an opportunity for the residents to vote in November. Justice delayed is justice denied!



UNANIMOUS! This means that NOT ONE Council member is willing to acknowledge the overwhelming citizen support in favor of taking these issues to a vote. They were elected to represent you, not their own political agendas. For over 15 months they have simply refused to listen. One thing is certain, you WILL be able to vote for new Council members on November 7. Get out to vote!!



In this disgraceful display of unchecked authority, the Prairie Village City Council is using taxpayer funds to prevent a democratic vote and remain in power. This is nothing short of the Council stealing your due process rights, funded by you!



Do not be fooled. Council members have stooped to calling us all racists and fascists for demanding reasonable accountability. They will not accept that nearly 4,000 Prairie Village citizens are standing up to their heavy-handed tactics. This is about your community, your rights and the very fabric of our neighborhoods.



The Councils unanimous decision is not reasonable or right. Now legal remedies will be pursued to give the people a voice at the ballot box.



We need your support now more than ever. Stay informed and demand the truth!



Sincerely,

PV United Residents for the Right to Vote and STOP Rezoning

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Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

Prairie Village asks for judge opinion on petitions to change government, zoning A Johnson County judge will now decide if three petitions to make changes in Prairie Village government comply with state law.
Bartleman served as viceregal representative from 2002 until 2007, and his literacy drives sent more than two million childrens books to remote reserves across Ontario, as well as in Quebec and Nunavut.
Andrew Palamarchuk is a reporter with Metroland Media Toronto and toronto.com. He has been covering the crime beat since 2002 and has a passion for giving a voice to those affected by tragedy and looking at societal issues that may have contributed to it.
Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the interpretation of facts and data.

Im 73. I love having sex with my boyfriend, but I dont want to commit: Ask Ellie
Ditching St. Johns for Montreal, living millenial life post-COVID: this isnt your typical coming-of-age novel

In her new novel Back in the Land of the Living St. Johns writer Eva Crocker explores connections  and disconnection  in returning from lockdown life
Following a series of attacks in the Black Sea, the Russian occupiers have begun training the crews of their warships to counter naval drones. Russian coastal troops will also be trained.

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At the same time, the invaders have begun implementing anti-sabotage measures to protect the Russian fleet's basing points in the Black and Azov Seas. This was reported by the Defence Forces' media platform Military Media Centre, which is coordinated by the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine.

"The Russians are training their ship crews to counter maritime drones. Such training of crews and coastal troops is carried out simultaneously with anti-sabotage measures to protect the Russian fleet's basing points in the Black and Azov Seas. According to available information, the enemy is also trying to improve the system of defensive positions and areas in Crimea," the statement said.

Earlier, it became known that the SBU used an experimental drone "Sea Kid" to attack the Crimean bridge on 17 July 2023. Later, a video of the aftermath of the span collapse was published.

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The governor of Russia-occupied Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, said that several large roadway failures and casualties had occurred after the nighttime explosions.

Also, on 4 August 2023, the Russian large amphibious assault ship Olenegorskiy Gornyak was attacked by marine drones in the bay of Novorossiysk. It was reported that the ship suffered a serious hole, tilted on its side, and barely managed to reach the port.

And on the night of 5 August, a marine drone crashed into a SIG tanker 30 miles from the Kerch Strait. Russian media published a photo of the damaged vessel. The tanker had a hole in the engine room area.

Only verified information is available on our Obozrevatel Telegram channel, Threads and Viber. Don't fall for fakes!
The United States of America has said that the victory in the war launched by Russia will be the complete withdrawal of the occupation troops of the aggressor country from all the captured settlements in Ukraine. Washington reiterated that the Russian Federation should withdraw from Ukraine.

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This was said by Deputy Speaker of the U.S. State Department Vedant Patel at a briefing on Thursday, August 17, Voice of America reports. According to him, this was repeatedly said by President Joe Biden.

"I recall the words of President Biden, who noted that the victory in the war in Ukraine would be for Russia to completely remove itself from Ukraine," the representative of the U.S. Department of State said.

He also said that Ukraine will soon celebrate the 32nd anniversary of the Declaration of Independence from the Soviet Union. This is also Ukraine's second Independence Day since the beginning of Russia's full-scale illegal and unprovoked aggression.

The official added that Washington supports efforts to achieve "a just and lasting peace in Ukraine". At the same time, our country should remain independent, sovereign, democratic and prosperous.

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Patel also reiterated that America and its allies will help Ukraine defend against Russian aggression as long as necessary.

As reported by OBOZREVATEL, the United States officially confirmed the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine from Denmark and the Netherlands. This delivery will be carried out after the completion of the training of Ukrainian pilots.

Only verified information from us on the Telegram channel Obozrevatel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
The United National Congress gave the Elections and Boundaries Commission a deadline of 4 pm today to respond to its most recent correspondence, regarding the tied result in the electoral district of Lengua/ Indian Walk. The UNC claims a valid vote in its favour was improperly rejected. However the EBC says, it was following the Elections Rules.
Sharjah TV's competition Munshid Al Sharjah will be hosted throughout September in various countries in the Arab World.

In Saudi Arabia, the auditions will be hosted at Advanced Schools, Qortoba District, Riyadh on Sep. 2.

In Oman, the auditions will be hosted at Sohar University, Sohar on Sep. 5.

In the UAE, the auditions will be held at the Sharjah Broadcasting Authority Headquarters, on Sep. 23.

After these countries, the show's auditions will be hosted in Jordan, Morocco, Algeria, and Egypt.

Competitors are going to be judged by a panel, which will include two previous winners.

Participants who are shortlisted will have to travel to Sharjah for training, which will lead to a live broadcast of their final performances for three nights at Al Majaz Amphitheatre in December.

Read More: Sultan Al Neyadi to Start Journey to Home on This Date

Aspiring applicants who will not be able to attend the auditions in person can submit their applications online, which should include a three-minute performance of a nasheed or a mawwal at the competition's website.

Participants must be tagged between 18 and 25 years old.

If you like singing nasheeds, then you should audition for Munshid Al Sharjah!
Rebecca Zufall (left), associate professor of biology and biochemistry, is principal investigator of the grant award, which funds STEGG-INTERACT for four years. Richard Meisel (right), associate professor of biology and biochemistry, is co-principal investigator. The Southeast Texas Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics, or STEGG, network holds a symposium every summer. In 2023, the University of Houston hosted the day-long conference.

With the juggling act of maintaining grades while also keeping a job, undergraduate students pursuing STEM degrees often graduate without any research experience, despite the benefits that research can have on their careers.

To provide more graduates from diverse backgrounds with research and mentoring experiences, Rebecca Zufall and Richard Meisel, associate professors of biology and biochemistry at the University of Houstons College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, are leading a multi-institutional program that will provide 10 postbaccalaureates per year the opportunity to conduct evolutionary genetics research at major research universities in southeast Texas.

The program is funded for four years by a $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation and is part of the existing Southeast Texas Evolutionary Genetics and Genomics, or STEGG, network, which is made up of faculty members from UH, Texas A&M University, Rice University and other institutions.

The new STEGG INTEgrative Research and Collaborative Training program, or STEGG-INTERACT, will also provide participants with financial support, professional skills and mentorship from professors and their graduate students.

There are so many students who are not able to engage in research as undergraduates, largely for socioeconomic reasons, or because theyre first generation and they don't know research opportunities are available to them until its too late, Zufall said. At UH, we have a lot of students in those categories and we jumped at the chance to create this program.

Participants will research the evolutionary genetics of biological interactions that attempts to answer the questions: How do populations evolve and how do biological interactions affect evolutionary change? Their focus will be on three levels of biological interactions:

Interactions between genes within a cell

Interactions between individuals within a population: For example, male animals develop exaggerated sexual characteristics because females are choosy

Trophic interactions, which could be interactions between predator and prey or interactions between plant and herbivore

Meisel, co-principal investigator, said the goal is for postbaccalaureates to have a transformative experience doing research, which will prepare them for a career in a STEM profession.

Building a STEM Identity

The research through STEGG-INTERACT will be collaborative; although participants will be paired with a professor from either UH, A&M or Rice, they will also receive mentoring from a graduate student in the professors laboratory. Additionally, labs across institutions will work together on different projects to expose program participants to advanced and emerging research approaches in theory and modeling.

The technical and professional training that participants will receive includes bioinformatics, scientific communication, research ethics, career advice and soft skills.

We want to focus on building a STEM identity by giving students the ability to see themselves as scientists, Zufall said. Our aim is that in the soft skills training, theyll be able to talk about what it means to identify as a scientist.

Postbaccalaureate participants will be recruited from UH, Texas A&M, University of St. Thomas, Prairie View A&M University, Texas Southern University, University of Houston  Downtown and North Carolina A&T, many of which are Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges or Universities, or other minority-serving institutions. In turn, future collaborations can be formed between all participating institutions.

STEGG-INTERACT begins June 2024 and will wrap up the following summer as a new group begins the program. Zufall is planning for postbaccalaureatesto present their research at STEGGs annual conference in the summer.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has predicted that Ukraine will receive American F-16 fighter jets once the training of Ukrainian pilots is completed.

According to an Ukrinform correspondent, the Ukrainian foreign policy chief said this on national television when asked when Ukraine will receive the F-16s.

"Once the training is over. I think that Ukrainian pilots will return from training and the jets will return with them too. Maybe they won't fly directly in the cockpits, but it will be a synchronized process," Kuleba said.

He added that this week the head of state had daily meetings and conversations about speeding up the process of providing Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets.

"I will say diplomatically: I think that there will be good news soon," Kuleba said.

According to him, at this stage, the F-16 jets for Ukraine is no longer a political, but technical issue.

"This is a matter of pilot training, engineer training, infrastructure preparation and, in fact, technical transfer [of the aircraft]," the minister said.

He also noted that the American F-16 fighter jets are a symbol of any foreign aircraft.

NATO allies at the summit in Vilnius announced the creation of a fighter jet coalition for Ukraine. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said the training of Ukrainian pilots on the F-16 would begin in August and would take at least six months.
Ukraine continues to do everything possible to bring home Ukrainian soldiers who were captured by the occupiers. Negotiations are ongoing to organise new prisoner of war exchanges with Russia.

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This was stated by Andriy Yusov, a representative of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, during a briefing in Kyiv on 18 August. He also announced good news for the families of military personnel held in captivity in the near future.

Yusov stressed that during the full-scale aggression with Russia, about 50 prisoner exchanges have already taken place, although international humanitarian law provides for exchanges after the end of the war, not in the midst of confrontation.

"As of today, 48 exchanges have already taken place, 2,598 captured defenders and civilians have been returned from Russian captivity. Or, in many cases, if we are talking about civilians, it cannot even be called 'captivity'. Because this is simply the illegal detention of people who should not have been on the territory of the so-called Russian Federation and have no legal status, no grounds even in terms of the law of this dictatorship, this regime. This is just kidnapping," Yusov said.

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Despite the fact that negotiations with the aggressor state on the return of prisoners are not easy, Ukrainians may soon hear new good news.

"The work on the next (exchanges - Ed.) continues. We are waiting and hope that in the near future there will be good news, more good news for the families of our defenders. But, of course, there is still a lot of work to be done," predicted the intelligence representative.

According to Yusov, over the past few weeks, the exchange fund has been replenished by more than 200 occupants. At the same time, every fifth invader surrendered voluntarily under the "I want to live" programme.

He also said that among the occupiers captured by Ukrainian soldiers there are those who want to continue fighting on the side of Ukraine. These are both privates and representatives of junior and senior officers of the Russian army.

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At the same time, Yusov did not say how many of the occupiers' prisoners of war have expressed such a desire.

The last exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine took place on 7 August. Back then, 22 more Ukrainian soldiers returned home from captivity. They defended their homeland in different areas.

The oldest defender returned that day was 54 years old, the youngest was 23.

That day, in his evening video address, Zelenskyy stressed that it was important to replenish the exchange fund in order to release all the Heroes in captivity.

A year and a half into the full-scale war, the Russian Federation has once again changed the "goals of the Joint Forces Operation". According to Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, the priority goal of the armed aggression against Ukraine is the release of Russian soldiers from captivity. The representative of the aggressor state decided to ignore the fact that Russian prisoners of war appeared en masse after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

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NATO will support Ukraine until it wins the war started by Russia.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated this at a press conference, Ukrinform reports with reference to Reuters.

"It is the Ukrainians, and only the Ukrainians, who can decide when there are conditions in place for negotiations, and who can decide at the negotiating table what is an acceptable solution," Stoltenberg said.

According to the Secretary General, NATO will support Ukraine.

It is noted that the statement followed remarks by Stoltenberg's chief of staff at NATO, Stian Jenssen, who on Tuesday, August 15, said Ukraine may in the end give up territory to Russia as part of a deal to end the war. Jenssen subsequently said he regretted his comments.

"His (Jenssen's) message, and which is my main message, and which is NATO's main message, is, firstly, that NATO's policy is unchanged - we support Ukraine," Stoltenberg stressed, when asked about possible territorial concessions by Ukraine in exchange for NATO membership.

Subsequently, NATO called a statement by Alliance official Jenssen that Ukraine could cede past of its territories to facilitate its entry into the Alliance a "mistake."

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine reacted to the statement, calling such talks absolutely unacceptable.
The United States approved the transfer of F-16 fighter jets from Denmark and the Netherlands to Ukraine immediately after war pilots complete the relevant training course.

This was reported by Reuters with reference to an unnamed U.S. official, according to Ukrinform.

The source told the agency Washington provided official assurances to Denmark and the Netherlands that the U.S. would expedite the approval of all necessary third-party requests for the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine once the pilots have been trained.

Denmark and the Netherlands, which lead a coalition to train Ukrainian war pilots, recently asked the U.S. to provide such assurances.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken sent letters to his counterparts in the two countries assuring them the requests would be approved, the official said.

I am writing to express the United States full support for both the transfer of F-16 fighter aircraft to Ukraine and for the training of Ukrainian pilots by qualified F-16 instructors, Blinken said in the letters.

He emphasized that it remains critically important for Ukraine to be able to defend itself against Russian aggression and violation of its sovereignty.

Blinken expressed his belief that approving third-party requests would allow Ukraine to "take full advantage of its new capabilities as soon as the first set of pilots complete their training."

As reported, U.S. President Joe Biden approved training programs for Ukrainian pilots on the F-16s in May, but the terms of delivery of the aircraft are yet to be announced.

Photo: U.S. Air Force
Minister of Defense Jana Cernochova of the Czech Republic suggested that the government send Ukraine its Mi-24 attack helicopters set to be replaced by more modern U.S. helicopters.

Cernochova spoke of this possibility at the ceremony of accepting the first American helicopters into service, Ukrinform reports with reference to a post by the head of the Czech Ministry of Defense on X (former Twitter).

According to the minister, the Russian Mi-24B/35 helicopters served well, for 45 years longer than expected.

"Even if we symbolically say goodbye to them today, the story of the 24s does not end there. We probably all suspect that they may find further use where any military equipment is now needed for defense against aggressors. That is where our aid has been going for many months - and will continue to go," Cernochova said.

Read also: Czechia imposes sanctions against CEO of Russian Tactical Missiles Corporation

She added that the Czech army cannot rely on "spare parts from the East." However, the head of the Ministry of Defense clarified that not all Soviet-era vehicles are decommissioned, but so far only the Mi-24s.

The ceremony took place at the air force base outside Nameste nad Oslava. On August 17, two UH-1Y Venom multipurpose helicopters and an AH-1Z Viper attack helicopter arrived there from the U.S. Since late July, another two American vehicles have been stationed at the base.

In total, the Czech Republic will purchase eight UH-1Y Venom multirole helicopters and four Bell AH-1Z Viper fighters. They will replace the Russian Mi-24B/35. In addition to 12 new helicopters, the military will receive eight modernized ones for free - as a thank-you for helping Ukraine. All Viper and Venom rotorcraft should arrive in the Czech Republic by the end of next year.
The invaders are trying to restore the operation of the Chongar and Henichesk bridges, arranging pontoon crossings there, but this will not help them.

Natalia Humeniuk, head of the Joint Coordination Press Center of the Defense Forces of Southern Ukraine, said this during a briefing at the Ukraine-Union Media Center.

"The bridges are significantly damaged, but the occupants are trying to repair them, launch transport links there, and even advertise the launch of a bus route. But this applies exclusively to passenger vehicles, because they (the bridges - ed.) will not withstand the passage of heavy military equipment and the transportation of ammunition. That's why the occupants are trying to organize pontoon crossings there. But they should realize that if we hit the stationary bridges, we will hit the pontoons as well," said Humeniuk.

She added that the work on rebuilding the Chongar and Henichesk bridges is progressing slowly, which significantly complicates logistics. The enemy has only the M17 highway through Armyansk to supply ammunition and equipment.

As reported, Ukrainian Defense Forces successfully attacked the Chongar Bridge on July 29.
Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu expressed hope that more than 60% of Ukraine's grain exports could transit through his country.

He said this on Friday after a meeting with Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal in Bucharest, Ukrinform reported citing Reuters.

"We hope that over 60% of the total volume of Ukrainian grain exports will transit Romania," Ciolacu said.

He said Romania was trying to improve its connecting infrastructure by rail, road, river and sea, as well as at border crossings.

Ciolacu also said Romania, which is one of the EU's largest grain exporters, would balance efforts to boost the transit of Ukrainian grain to international markets to protect local farmers.

Earlier this month, Romanian Transport Minister Sorin Grindeanu said European Union and NATO state Romania aimed to double the monthly transit capacity of Ukrainian grain to Constanta to 4 million tonnes in the coming months.

Read also: Ukraine harvests over 27M t of grain

As reported, Romania and Ukraine have agreed to build a new checkpoint across the Ukraine-Romania border. It is planned to be located between the settlements of Bila Tserkva (Ukraine) and Sighetu Marmatiei (Romania).
The Lithuanian government at a meeting on Wednesday, August 16, approved a EUR 500,000 standard school architectural project for Ukraine and the allocation of EUR 300,000 to strengthen the administrative potential of Ukraine's State Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development.

That's according to Lithuania's national broadcaster LRT, Ukrinform reports.

The project, entitled "School of the Future in Ukraine," is to be prepared within 20 months.

Another project, which involves strengthening the administrative potential of Ukraine's State Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development, will receive a EUR 300,000 grant. The government's protocol decision states that the project is to be implemented within nine months.

Read also: Lithuania preparing to send NASAMS to Ukraine

Lithuanian ministers also discussed humanitarian projects, which have already been implemented, including the construction of a mobile residential camp for 36 families in Borodianka and the renovation of the Ruta nursery in Irpin. Both facilities are located on the outskirts of Kyiv.

Lithuania is also completing the renovation of a school in Borodianka, which is scheduled to be opened in October. The country has also prepared an upgraded model for the electricity distribution network of an energy company in Ukraine, Mykolaivoblenergo.

Lithuania started reconstruction works in Ukraine in the autumn of 2022.
The Government of the Czech Republic has approved the inclusion of Boris Obnosov, head of the Russian arms holding company Tactical Missiles Corporation, and his relatives in the national sanctions list.

Radio Prague International reported this, Ukrinform saw.

According to the Czech Foreign Ministry, sanctions are thus imposed against a businessman who supplies weapons systems to the Russian regime. The sanctions imposed by the Czech government also apply to the businessman's relatives who personally benefit from such ties.

At the same time, the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs proposes to include the same three people in the European Union's sanctions lists.

The Russian oligarch responsible for the production of missiles that kill innocent Ukrainians must be held accountable for the consequences of his activities. This also applies to those who enjoy luxury in the Czech Republic with money earned from the trade in death, explained Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky. Today, on his proposal, the Czech parliament approved the inclusion of three more people on the national sanctions list.

Boris Obnosov is the CEO of the Russian state arms holding Tactical Missiles Corporation, which produces and supplies its products to the Putin regime's armed forces. Two other people - the Zorikovs - are benefiting personally from their family ties to Obnosov, the statement said. They own and use luxury real estate and cars in the Czech Republic.

The condition for inclusion in the Czech national sanctions list is that the entity has committed or is committing acts punishable under one of the EU sanctions regimes, and that this step (sanctions) is in the interests of the foreign policy or security of the Czech Republic.

In this case, the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs has documents that thoroughly record actions that violate or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence of Ukraine.

Inclusion in the Czech national sanctions list means that restrictive measures are applied to this person in the form of, for example, a ban on entry or stay in the Czech Republic, a ban on receiving funds in the Czech Republic, and freezing of assets.

As Ukrinform reported, Switzerland has imposed new sanctions against Russia.
Ukraine's National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) has added Alibaba Group Holding Limited, a Chinese group of companies, to the list of international sponsors of Russia's war. Alibaba, among other things, provides its platforms for selling goods made from copper taken from the occupied territories of Ukraine.

According to Ukrinform, the NACP reported this.

"In Russia, the most widespread is the AliExpress online commerce platform, which is managed by the Russian subsidiary of the Alibaba group, Alibaba.com RU LLC. The owner of Alibaba.com RU LLC is Aliexpress Russia Holding Private Ltd. registered in Singapore. As of 2023, the company continues to do business in Russia, providing an international platform for the sale of foreign goods. The profit of Alibaba.com RU LLC for 2022 amounted to 16.3 billion rubles (about $160 million)," the NAPC noted.

In April 2023, Reuters reported that the Chinese company Quzhou Nova had purchased at least 3,220 tonnes of copper alloy for a total of $7.4 million from the Russian-controlled Debaltseve Metallurgical Engineering Plant between October 8, 2022, and March 24, 2023.

According to customs, the copper alloy was shipped from the plant through the port of Novorossiysk. The company uses the copper exported from the occupied territories to produce goods that it sells on Alibaba's platforms.

The NACP says Alibaba also censors Ukrainian content on its platforms related to the Russian war.

For example, in March 2022, Alibaba blocked the profile of a Ukrainian streamer who had more than 268,000 followers on AliExpress for posting about the war. At the same time, pro-Russian posts on the platform are not deleted.

All of these facts may indicate that the company supports Russian war of aggression not only financially by paying taxes but also ideologically.

As Ukrinform reported, the NACP sent letters to companies included in the list of international war sponsors, inviting the heads of such companies to visit Ukraine to see the consequences of Russian war of aggression and discuss the withdrawal of business from Russia.
Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko has invited U.S. companies to cooperate in building up Ukraine's renewable energy capacity.

That's according to the Ukrainian Energy Ministry's press service, Ukrinform reports.

According to the statement, as part of a working trip to Seattle, Galushchenko took part in a round table discussion with representatives of the Business Council for International Understanding and leading U.S. companies.

During the meeting, Galushchenko said that in order to strengthen the resilience and stability of the energy system, Ukraine is moving toward the decentralization of generation. The tools for achieving the respective goals are the expansion of renewable energy capacity, particularly solar and wind generation, as well as the use of gas turbines. An important direction is also the implementation of energy storage technologies, which will allow the integration of more sources of renewable energy into the Ukrainian energy system.

Galushchenko added that Ukraine needs high-voltage equipment, which was largely damaged by Russian shelling, emphasizing the potential for the production of such equipment in Ukraine.

He also emphasized the prospects for cooperation in the field of gas production, gas storage facilities, the development of hydrogen technologies, small modular reactors, smart networks and invited U.S. companies to cooperate in the relevant areas.
Ukraine will provide advice to Moldova regarding the audit of legislation regarding compliance with European standards.

This was stated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of Moldova, Nica Popescu, who spoke at the event "What does Ukraine's path to the EU look like? Hard Talk", reports an Ukrinform correspondent.

"I know that you have almost finished your self-screening. We haven't started it yet. Next week, my colleagues from the office of Ms Olha (Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna - ed.) will explain to our colleagues how you passed self-screening and we will take your advice," he said.

Popescu noted that there is a constant exchange of information between Moldova and Ukraine, and emphasized that the two states should move in a consolidated direction toward European integration.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, the ministries and central executive bodies of Ukraine had a deadline until June 30, 2023 to conduct an audit regarding legislation compliance with European standards, and to submit a report to the government by August 30.
Ukraine and Romania have agreed to cooperate in ensuring the transit of Ukrainian goods and to open a new border crossing point.

These are the results of the visit of Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal to Bucharest and his talks with Prime Minister of Romania Marcel Ciolacu, the Government portal reports.

A joint intergovernmental statement on strengthening cooperation to ensure the safe transit of Ukrainian goods was signed, reads the statement.

The document provides for restoration and improvement of transport infrastructure destroyed by Russia; the opening of new road, rail, sea and river crossing points along the common border; the intention to develop access roads and railway infrastructure to these points, to implement traffic management mechanisms to reduce congestion, and to simplify border, customs and phytosanitary controls; considering, where possible and appropriate, coordinated border controls to facilitate transit of goods between Ukraine and Romania; an agreement to facilitate the transhipment of Ukrainian products in Romanian sea and river ports; intensification of cooperation in the Danube region.

This will be achieved by making full use of existing port infrastructure and attracting investment in its development.

The governments of Ukraine and Romania also exchanged notes on the opening of a border crossing point between Bila Tserkva and Sighetu Marmatiei. It will operate round-the-clock for passenger and freight traffic.

As reported, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal arrived in Bucharest on August 18, where he met with Prime Minister of Romania Marcel Ciolacu. The parties discussed many important issues.

Photos: Government portal
After the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russian president Vladimir Putin and Russian president's commissioner for children's rights Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia has changed its actions and tries to conceal the continuation of the genocidal policy against Ukrainian children.

"The Russians changed their tactics and started using new legal definitions. After Lvova-Belova received an arrest warrant, they began to publicly say: no, this was not an adoption [of a Ukrainian child by her], it was temporary protection of Ukrainian children. Currently, we see how such terms as migrant children and migrant policy appear in the official documents of the Russian Federation. That is, they already avoid mentioning the fact that it is about Ukrainian children," Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets said during the United News telethon, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

According to Lubinets, the Russians try to cover it up with other terms so that no one can accuse them of continuing the genocidal policy against Ukrainian children.

"For international law lawyers, it is absolutely clear that the fact of recognizing genocide does not depend on the number [of children]. Even if we prove that these actions were committed against 100 Ukrainian children, it must be interpreted as genocide. And we have evidence and proof that the Russian Federation is doing this against tens of thousands of Ukrainian children, even hundreds," Lubinets noted.

The Ombudsman added that the Russians were legally removing all the documents on the basis of which they should inform about Ukrainian children and civilians who stay in the territory of the Russian Federation and in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine.

Lubinets believes that this is how the Russian Federation shows that they ignore international humanitarian law and their international obligations, and thus remove all responsibility from themselves.

He believes that there should be a reverse process in this matter.

"If the Russians officially say that now they are not obliged to inform the UN, then I have an absolutely simple and logical question: what are they doing as part of the UN then? That is, if they refuse international organizations, why do international organizations not do anything to expel them in the same way? Let's expel them," Lubinets said.

The Ombudsman believes that after the Russian Federation is expelled from the Council of Europe, it will be possible to expel it from the OSCE and the UN.
ADDIS ABABA, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 18th Aug, 2023) President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has arrived in Addis Ababa for an official visit to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.

Upon his arrival at Bole Addis Ababa International Airport, he was welcomed by Dr. Abiy Ahmed, Prime Minister of Ethiopia.

The official visit of His Highness the President to Ethiopia comes as part of efforts to strengthen bilateral cooperation across a number of fields in support of the development and prosperity of both nations.

During the visit, His Highness and the accompanying delegation will hold a series of engagements with the Ethiopian side to highlight opportunities for cooperation in sectors such as agriculture, food security, energy, trade, investment, technology, and others.

His Highness was accorded an official reception ceremony, featuring the national anthems of both the UAE and Ethiopia, accompanied by a salute of 21 artillery rounds as a tribute to his visit.

A formation of honour guards stood united, offering a warm welcome upon His Highness visit.

As His Highness' plane entered Ethiopian airspace, a group of celebratory warplanes accompanied it to welcome his arrival.



His Highness' procession was joined by horsemen on horseback, and a group of children chanted greetings while waving the flags of the two countries.

His Highness the President was accompanied during the visit by His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Presidential Court; H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan; Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan, Advisor for Special Affairs at the Presidential Court; Mohammad bin Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs; Ali bin Hammad Al Shamsi, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for National Security; Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology; Sheikh Shakhboot bin Nahyan Al Nahyan, Minister of State; Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade; Mohamed Salem Al Rashdi, UAE Ambassador to Ethiopia; and other officials.

From the Ethiopian side, the reception was attended by a number of ministers and senior officials.


Washington, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Aug, 2023 ) :US President Joe Biden on Friday will announce new security cooperation at a first-of-a-kind three-way summit with the leaders of Japan and South Korea, hoping to send a message of strength to China which has already made clear its displeasure.

The summit at the Camp David presidential retreat in the mountains west of Washington would have been unimaginable until recently, with the two treaty-bound US allies at loggerheads for decades over the legacy of Japan's harsh 1910-1945 occupation of the Korean peninsula.

But South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, taking political risks at home, has turned the page by resolving a dispute over wartime forced labor, instead calling Japan a partner at a time of high tensions with both China and North Korea.

Biden, Yoon, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will agree to a new three-way crisis hotline and regular military drills and will agree to hold trilateral summits each year, US officials said, hoping to institutionalize the progress.

"We have created something that is exactly what China was hoping would never happen," said the US ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel.

"Our message is we are a permanent Pacific power and presence, and you can bet long on America," he said at the Brookings Institution.

- Surprise at public support Campbell acknowledged that a future leader could reverse the three-way initiatives but said, "We are going to try to embed this in our politics in such a way that it will be hard for any leader, in either of the three countries" to move back.

Despite some protests against Yoon over Japan, polls in both South Korea and Japan have been more upbeat than expected, said Mira Rapp-Hooper, senior director for East Asia and Oceania on the National Security Council.

Both Japanese and South Koreans feel that there are "a number of fundamentally aligned values and interests that should bring them together," she said.

Yoon, a conservative, has quickly become a close US ally, with Biden welcoming him for a rare state visit in which the South Korean leader regaled the audience by singing "American Pie." Scott Snyder, a Korean expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, said that domestically Yoon has already paid "the political down payment" on reaching out to Japan and could move securely ahead.

But Yoon is constitutionally prohibited from serving more than a single term, which ends in 2027.

"On the South Korean side, the focus really is likely to be on pushing forward and trying to institutionalize as much as possible in order to hedge against the risk of a reversal in the event that President Yoon is not succeeded by a like-minded president," Snyder said.
Rio de Janeiro, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Aug, 2023 ) :In a hilltop slum crammed between two of Rio de Janeiro's wealthiest neighborhoods, children practice Brazilian jiujitsu, hoping to follow in the footsteps of the black belts whose graffiti portraits decorate their gym's walls.

Brazilian jiujitsu has provided an escape route for numerous kids from the rough alleys of Cantagalo, an impoverished favela whose shacks spill down a hill between the upscale beach neighborhoods of Copacabana and Ipanema.

Taking a break from teaching holds to a group of boys grappling on the mat, jiujitsu master Douglas Rufino says he has seen the sport literally save kids' lives.

"I can say it saved me, too," says Rufino, 41.

"I could have followed another path here in the community," a neighborhood rife with drug gangs and violence, he says.
BEIJING, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Aug, 2023 ) :Chinese Vice President Han Zheng met with the visiting Minister for Foreign Affairs of Denmark Lars Lokke Rasmussen in Beijing on Friday.

Han hailed the time-honored cooperation between China and Denmark that bears fruitful outcomes. He said that this year marks the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the China-Denmark comprehensive strategic partnership, and the two countries' governments will jointly release the Green China-Denmark Joint Programme, offering an overall plan for pragmatic cooperation on the next stage, especially cooperation of green development, to further enrich bilateral ties.

Noting that China and Denmark are both staunch supporters of multilateralism, free trade and economic globalization, Han said China will unswervingly continue advancing reform and opening up, and is willing to work with Denmark to maintain multilateralism, address all kinds of difficulties and challenges, and promote better cooperation globally.

While appreciating the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals put forward by China, and speaking highly of China's efforts to respond to climate change, Rasmussen said Denmark is ready to enhance cooperation with China in green, trade and other fields to bring bilateral ties to a new high.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Lagos, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Aug, 2023 ) :Following a July coup, Niger has become the latest hotbed of disinformation in the troubled Sahel regional as West African powers grapple with crafting a response to the political crisis.

From false rumours and misleading videos to manipulated audio clips, AFP has debunked over a dozen social media claims either backing or discrediting the coup leaders after they toppled President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26.

Soon after his ousting, amateur footage of a large march surfaced online purporting to show a pro-Bazoum rally in Niger's capital Niamey on August 6. In reality, the clip was filmed on the day of the president's removal from power.

Another viral video allegedly featured Niger's deposed finance minister crying after coup leaders gave him an ultimatum to account for missing funds or face death.

But AFP found the clip, from 2021, in fact showed Niger's former justice minister Marou Amadou expressing his gratitude to ex-president Issoufou Mahamadou.

Misleading reports about foreign interference in the crisis abounded as uncertainty mounted over the possibility of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) using military force to reverse the coup.

The regional bloc, chaired by Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, was quick to condemn Bazoum's ouster and piled sanctions on Niamey days after the takeover, with Nigeria -- Niger's main electricity provider -- cutting off supplies.

There were also false claims about French fighter jets landing in Senegal to support a possible ECOWAS intervention, or about fighters from the Russian mercenary group Wagner and Burkinabe troops arriving in Niger to support the new leaders.

Landlocked Niger joined neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso to become the third Sahel country in three years to experience a coup.

Like elsewhere in the region, anti-French sentiment has been on the rise in Niger. Its new military leaders have the support of fellow ex-French colonies Mali and Burkina Faso, which have turned their backs on Paris in favour of closer Moscow ties.

In May, Bazoum told British newspaper The Independent that Wagner had been sponsoring "disinformation campaigns against us".

Some analysts, however, said there were few signs of organised, large-scale offensives aimed at spreading false content as seen in other African nations.

Disinformation about post-coup Niger did not seem "particularly well coordinated or centrally managed", said Ikemesit Effiong, an analyst at the geopolitical consultancy SBM Intelligence in Nigeria.

Nonetheless, coup supporters have "largely amplified the threat of conflict with ECOWAS, particularly Nigeria as well as France, to mobilise support online and on the ground" in a region where "anti-imperialist and anti-Western views are popular and an easy sell", Effiong said.

Experts told AFP that the spread of disinformation targeting Niger mirrored a pattern already witnessed elsewhere on the continent: it usually originates on encrypted platforms like Telegram and WhatsApp before being shared on other social media apps.

Moreover, several anti-French and pro-Russian accounts that post propaganda about Mali and Burkina Faso have also promoted false claims about Niger.

One such actor is the Pan-African Group for Trade and Investment (GPCI), a media firm founded by pro-Russian businessman Harouna Douamba, originally from Burkina Faso.

The GPCI is at the heart of a vast network of websites and Facebook pages pushing disinformation to further stoke tensions, according to the All Eyes on Wagner investigative consortium.

For instance, AFP found that one of its accounts recently alleged that France was preparing a "plot to destabilise" Niger and arm "terrorists".

The GPCI also posted warnings about an imminent military intervention on "suspicious sites involved in spreading disinformation" in Chad and Nigeria for example, according to a French analyst who runs the well-known Casus Belli account on X (formerly Twitter), which monitors suspicious content in Africa.

The analyst, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity for safety reasons, said the pan-Africanist tv channel Afrique Media was also involved in the disinformation drive.

The Cameroon-based broadcaster has partnered with state-owned Russia Today and regularly reports on Wagner operations in Africa.

On August 9, the channel shared a video purporting to show Bazoum looking relaxed after allegedly signing a resignation letter.

In fact, the deposed leader has been held prisoner at his home since July 26, with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres denouncing "the deplorable living conditions that President Bazoum and his family are reported to be living under".

The current wave of disinformation is as much the work of local actors as of foreign influences, said Maixent Some, a Burkinabe financial analyst who tracks Africa-linked disinformation on social media.

"There was an anti-French feeling long before the arrival of Russia" and Moscow was able to capitalise on this sentiment, he told AFP.

Meanwhile, Some said pan-African activists are using their alliance with Russia to further "personal agendas", including political ambitions.

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Moscow, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Aug, 2023 ) :Russia on Friday placed the co-chair of independent election monitoring group Golos in pre-trial detention until at least October 17, a court spokesperson told AFP.

Grigory Melkonyants was detained Thursday on suspicion of working with an "undesirable organisation", as security forces raided the homes of other Golos members.

"By decision of the Basmanny District Court, a measure of restraint in the form of detention until October 17, 2023 was chosen against the accused Grigory Melkonyants," the court said.

Video footage from the court showed an impassive and handcuffed Melkonyants being led from the courtroom -- the hint of a smile on his face.

His lawyer Mikhail Biryukov told reporters he would appeal the decision.

"With this case (the authorities) probably want to intimidate many independent observers, so they give up monitoring (the elections in Russia), or keep silent about what they see during these elections," Biryukov said.

Since Russia launched full-scale hostilities against Ukraine last year, authorities in the country have intensified their crackdown on critical voices.

Melkonyants's lawyer said his client's detention was related to Golos's work with the European Network of Election Monitoring Organisations, which was declared "undesirable" in Russia in 2021.

The "undesirable" label has been applied to dozens of organisations inside Russia, and puts staff members of targeted groups at risk of prosecution.

The action against Golos comes as Russia gears up for regional elections next month, and as President Vladimir Putin looks set for re-election in 2024.
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STOCKHOLM, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Aug, 2023 ) :Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Friday that the government had thwarted several terrorist attacks.

"We know that planned acts of terrorism have been hindered," Kristersson said at a press conference, hours after the Swedish Secret Service's decision to raise the terrorist threat level from "elevated" to "high".

Addressing the same press conference, Minister for Justice Gunnar Strommer said: "During spring, several people were arrested in Sweden and abroad suspected of having prepared attacks in Sweden." Strommer did not comment further on these arrests, but Swedish Television (SVT) reported that there were at least two known cases.

In April, five men were arrested in coordinated dawn raids in three Swedish cities.

Four of them were later detained on suspicion of planning attacks triggered by the burning of the Quran, SVT reported. Also in April, two men suspected of planning an attack on a church in Sweden were arrested by police in Germany, SVT reported.

In one of the locations raided by German police, chemicals and fertilizers that can be used for manufacturing explosives were found, SVT said, citing German newspaper Die Welt.

Sweden and Denmark have been in the spotlight in recent weeks after several extremists repeatedly burned or desecrated the Quran in the two countries' capitals, sparking criticism from Muslim countries across the world.
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Kelowna, Canada, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Aug, 2023 ) :Wildfires on Friday bore down on Kelowna in western Canada -- a city of 150,000 -- while efforts to clear Yellowknife in the far north turned it into a ghost town as scorching flames burned ever closer.

The two fronts in British Columbia and the Northwest Territories are just the latest in a summer of devastating wildfires across the country that have forced tens of thousands from their homes and left millions of acres scorched.

In Kelowna, officials described "a hard night" beating back flames, at times forcing crews to pull back and some firefighters to become trapped behind lines while making "heroic efforts" to rescue residents.

"We fought hard last night to protect our community," West Kelowna fire chief Jason Brolund told a briefing on Friday.

"A significant number of structures were lost," he said, but no injuries or fatalities were reported.

"It was like 100 years of firefighting all at once, in one night," he said, adding that he expects "another scary night tonight" under an eerie glow of the fires.

Nearly 2,500 homes and businesses on Kelowna's west side were ordered evacuated late Thursday, while another 4,800 were advised to be ready to leave at a moment's notice.

The city is nestled in the Okanagan Valley that is home to some of the country's top wineries.

The emptying of Yellowknife continued in the far north, meanwhile, with cars snaking along the lone highway connecting the remote capital of the Northwest Territories to southern Alberta province ahead of a 12:00 pm (1800 GMT) deadline.

The exodus has also continued by air, with thousands of residents flying out and an increased number of flights scheduled Friday to evacuate the regional capital's more than 20,000 inhabitants.

- 'Empty' - The nearest evacuation center is 1,150 kilometers (700 miles) away, in Alberta, where several sites have been set up. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will meet with refugees in the provincial capital Edmonton in the afternoon.

Air Canada pilot Chad Blewett, who flew one of the first relief flights out of Yellowknife, told public broadcaster CBC that the lakeside city was "pretty empty already.

" The stragglers, he said, were mostly essential workers "building fire breaks and working with airlines (to facilitate evacuations)." Crews have scrambled to erect defenses as the flames approached Yellowknife, while water bombers have been seen flying low over the city.

Strong winds over the next two days will send the fire, already within just a few kilometers of the city's perimeter, "in directions we don't want," Northwest Territories' fire information officer Mike Westwick said late Thursday.

Several military aircraft have already been dispatched, along with more than 120 soldiers to help beat back the flames.

Defense Minister Bill Blair told reporters "conditions remain very difficult" in the north, and warned that the highway out of the city was open "for now." As the evacuation winds down, he said, "the priority (will now be) to make sure that Yellowknife and all its property are safe." The flight from Yellowknife means half the population of the near-Arctic territory has been displaced.

Several towns and Indigenous communities were also already under evacuation orders.

- Record-setting wildfire season - Canada is experiencing a record-setting wildfire season, with official estimates of over 13.7 million hectares (33.9 million acres) already scorched. Four people have died so far.

In addition, the fires have also emitted an unprecedented amount of carbon dioxide.

Scientists say human-caused global warming is exacerbating natural hazards, making them both more frequent and more deadly.

"It shows how quickly our climate is changing if a place like Yellowknife, so close to the Arctic Circle, is on fire," Adria McPherson told the CBC while fleeing the fires in the north by car.

The evacuation of Yellowknife is the second time an entire Canadian city has been cleared due to wildfires since 100,000 residents of Fort McMurray in Alberta's oil and gas producing heartland were forced out in 2016.

Earlier this year, suburbs of Halifax on the Atlantic coast were also evacuated.
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Strongly deploring the Jaranwala incident, Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar says Pakistan is owned and shared by multiple ethnicities and religions and any extreme attitude like the one exhibited in Jaranwala will be unwelcomed and dealt with iron hands.

ISLAMABAD: (UrduPoint/UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News-August 18th, 2023) Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar has expressed firm resolve to ensure that minorities in Pakistan stay protected and rule of law is established at any cost.

He was speaking during first meeting of the caretaker Federal cabinet in Islamabad on Friday.

Strongly deploring the Jaranwala incident, the Prime Minister said Pakistan is owned and shared by multiple ethnicities and religions and any extreme attitude like the one exhibited in Jaranwala will be unwelcomed and dealt with iron hands.

He said we strongly discourage rigidity either in the garb of religion or secularism and no one will be allowed to create anarchy or chaos in the country.

Highlighting the key priorities of the caretaker government, the Prime Minister said in the current polarized environment, we will try to differentiate between politics and law and lay a solid foundation for continuity of the country's national and international commitments.

He added that in the same spirit of continuity we will move forward to work with the support of all state institutions on different development initiatives especially the Special Investment Facilitation Council which aims at realizing the full potential of country's natural resources.

Alluding to the incidents of May 9, Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar strongly condemned the way state buildings, national symbols and memorials of war heroes were attacked.

He vowed that justice will be done and those involved in these attacks will be dealt with in accordance with law.

Talking about Kashmir issue, the Prime Minister said Kashmir is a core problem, which cannot be ignored as it lies in our souls and for us Kashmir is eternal.
Ten years on, China-South Asia trade doubles on closer ties

Xinhua) 08:10, August 18, 2023

KUNMING, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- The ongoing seventh China-South Asia Expo has attracted more than 30,000 exhibitors, representatives, and guests from 85 countries and regions to attend online and offline.

Themed "Solidarity and Coordination for Common Development," the five-day expo has set up 15 exhibition pavilions, with various kinds of events, such as a cooperation forum and a business forum, scheduled to be held.

Over the past 10 years, the expo has witnessed closer ties between China and South Asia, with the trade volume between China and South Asian countries doubling.

When the first expo took place in 2013, the trade volume between China and South Asian countries amounted to less than 100 billion U.S. dollars, but the figure reached 197.4 billion U.S. dollars last year, with an average annual growth rate of 8.3 percent.

This photo taken on Aug. 16, 2023 shows a view of Southeast Asia Pavilion at the seventh China-South Asia Expo in Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan Province. (Xinhua/Chen Xinbo)

Gem dealer Mohamed Rikas from Sri Lanka sensed business opportunities at the very first expo in 2013 and has attended every expo since then.

"I value China's huge market and purchasing power of Chinese people," he said, adding that more and more gem dealers from Sri Lanka attend the expo.

Liu Ruini has served as the interpreter of Rikas' booth since 2018.

"We have become friends and haven't met in three years because of the pandemic. So I immediately agreed to interpret for him this year," said Liu, adding that she took another four friends as interpreters at different booths this year.

An exhibitor introduces products from India at the seventh China-South Asia Expo in Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Aug. 16, 2023. (Xinhua/Hu Chao)

After 10 years of development, the comprehensive expo integrating trade, investment, tourism cooperation, and cultural exchanges has become a name card of exchanges and cooperation between China and South Asian countries and other countries.

With the China-Laos Railway that started cross-border passenger services in April, legions of attendees use the train as their preferred transportation to the expo.

"The China-Laos Railway is expected to serve as a bridge to connect China and Laos, and the grand gathering of the China-South Asia Expo will see more fruitful results," said Muhammad Fazle Rabby from Bangladesh, who took the train to arrive in China.

As of Aug. 15, the Mohan entry-exit border had handled 246 cross-border passenger trains from China and Laos, carrying 52,888 passengers from 53 countries and regions.

The Lane Xang passenger train of the China-Laos Railway runs past a maintenance center in Luang Prabang, Laos, March 30, 2023. (Photo by Zhou Xing/Xinhua)

Since China proposed the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013, the interconnectivity between China and South Asian countries has been greatly enhanced.

For example, the Yunnan airport group has launched over 10 cargo air routes covering destinations in cities in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal.

Greater interconnectivity across the region has also boosted investment.

Figures show that China's cumulative investment in South Asia has reached nearly 15 billion U.S. dollars, and the turnover of completed contracted projects has exceeded 200 billion U.S. dollars.

Wang Liping, an official with the Ministry of Commerce, said China and South Asian countries account for one-fifth of the global economy.

"With vibrant trade and investment and the unlocked potential for cooperation, an industrial chain and supply chain system featuring interconnectedness has taken shape here," Wang added.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
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Jalil Abbas Jillani says CPEC is a major flagship programme of the economic development of the country, and we have completed many development projects under the CPEC during the past ten years.

ISLAMABAD: (UrduPoint/UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News-August 18th, 2023) Caretaker Minister for Foreign Affairs Jalil Abbas Jilani has said that Pakistan is desirous of having cordial relations with entire international community including China, the United States, European Union, Turkiye and Arab countries.

Jalil Abbas Jillani said they wanted to strengthen their economic relations with these countries as well.

Replying to a question about China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the Minister said he is proud of being a signatory of the CPEC in May 2013 during the Chinese Prime Minister's visit to Pakistan.

He said CPEC is a major flagship programme of the economic development of the country, and we have completed many development projects under the CPEC during the past ten years.

Jalil Abbas Jilani said the next phase of CPEC will also be quite significant for Pakistan and accelerating pace of work on projects being carried out under the CPEC in IT, Agriculture, Railways, and in other sectors while utilizing Chinese expertise will be our foremost priority.

The Caretaker Foreign Minister said we need to further improve our economic policy with focus on improving economic ties with all the countries including regional, and other major important countries.

He said we will also try our level best to further cement our economic ties with the United States, China and the European Union, which are the major trading partners of Pakistan.
Coastal USM Celebrate Faculty First Week

Fri, 08/18/2023 - 12:27pm | By: Gabriela Shinskie

The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) Coastal faculty and staff gathered on Thursday, Aug. 17 at the Marine Education Center (MEC) in Ocean Springs to participate in Faculty First Week.

Dr. Shannon Campbell, Senior Associate Vice President at USM, emphasized the importance of coming together as faculty and staff to form positive collaborations and goals.

Faculty First Week is an important moment for us to bring everyone back together, both faculty and staff, and identify what our high-level priorities are for the year and communicate those out. We want to get everyone aligned and moving in the same direction together, so we can accomplish the goals we are trying to achieve, said Campbell.

Programming began in the afternoon with updates from Coastal USM leadership focusing on cultivating student successes, with a goal to equip faculty and staff with student retention and success strategies.

Dr. Jacob Breland, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Coastal Operations emphasized the motto, Empowering Futures in an effort to provide potential and current students an opportunity to choose Coastal USM as a place to obtain a high-level degree.

One of the things that is so distinctive for Coastal USM is the position that we occupy physically in relation to the Blue Economy and the gateway to the Mississippi Gulf Coast along with our distinctive programming that supports the Blue Economy along with our research centers, said Breland.

Breland discussed the top-notched research opportunities Coastal USM provides to collaborate and strive for students success and the uniqueness USM has to the Gulf of Mexico.

Both faculty and staff had opportunities to network and socialize on the grounds of the MEC in anticipation to kick off the new semester.

(Photos submitted by Cynthia Habeeb)
USM Center for STEM Education Presents Speaker Series

Fri, 08/18/2023 - 10:53am | By: Van Arnold

The University of Southern Mississippis Center for STEM Education has arranged an impressive lineup of experts for the Fall 2023 STEMed Speakers Series. The annual series begins on Sept. 14 and continues through Nov. 14. Each presentation will be held from Noon to 1 p. m. via Zoom.

Dr. Allison Downing, Assistant Teaching Professor in the Center for STEM Education, serves as the fall series coordinator. She points out that the upcoming series will feature speakers covering unconventional topics.

This term, several of our speakers will be presenting topics that are not typically discussed within the educational setting, such as informal education and ethics in STEM, said Downing. Attendees should expect to be exposed to a variety of innovative pedagogies and thought-provoking topics.

Downing notes that the series provides multi-dimensional benefits.

We are able to expose our speakers to an audience they may not typically be able to reach, she said. We are also able to expose our faculty and students to speakers and topics that may not normally be reached in South Mississippi.

The 2023 STEMed Speaker Series schedule includes:

Sept. 14: Dr. Janet Walkoe

Dr. Walkoe, with the University of Maryland College Park, will discuss Math Questioning Techniques. Click here to register.

Sept. 19: Dr. Brian Hepburn

Dr. Hepburn, with Wichita State University, will discuss Ethics in STEM. Click here to register.

Oct. 5: Dr. Becky Carmichael

Dr. Carmichael, with Louisiana State University, will discuss Environmental Science Education. Click here to register.

Oct. 17: Dr. Elizabeth Mulkerrin

Dr. Mulkerrin, with Omaha Zoo, will discuss Zoo Education. Click here to register.

Nov. 14: Cate Larsen

Cate Larsen, social media influencer, will discuss Science Communication Social Media Tips. Click here to register.

Direct any questions to Chrissy%20Hudson.
Wiggins Named T.W. Bennett Professor at USM

Fri, 08/18/2023 - 12:20pm | By: David Tisdale

A University of Southern Mississippi (USM) faculty member with a stellar record of scholarship, teaching and service to the institution has earned one of its highest honors in support of his internationally recognized research.



Dr. Jeffrey Wiggins, professor in The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) School of Polymer Science and Engineering, is this years recipient of the College of Arts and Sciences T.W. Bennett Distinguished Professor of Mathematics Education. The two-year professorship recognizes an established scholar and faculty member in the sciences from a Ph.D. granting unit in the college.

The Bennett Professorship is supported through the T.W. Bennett Endowment, established through the USM Foundation by Mr. and Mrs. T.W. Bennett, Sr. in honor of their son and his love for the sciences. He was declared missing in action Dec. 22, 1972, while serving in the United States Air Force.

The endowment provides support to the Bennett Professors research activities and sponsorship of the Biennial Bennett Symposium, the latter being a research conference showcasing topics from the Bennett Professors discipline, with the Bennett Professor delivering its keynote talk.

Dr. Wiggins is an exceptional faculty member in every way, said Dr. Chris Winstead, dean of the USM College of Arts and Sciences. His research program has attracted more than $50 million in external funding and generated more than 200 scientific publications.

However, those numbers alone dont describe his dedication to students and their professional development. He has advised more than 40 Ph.D. students and dozens of masters, undergraduate, and high school students. His commitment to mentoring and teaching students, as well as to their professional development, is truly exceptional. I cant think of anyone more deserving of this honor than Dr. Wiggins.

Dr. Wiggins earned a B.Sc. in industrial technology in 1988 from Western Washington University. He received his Ph.D. in polymer science from USM in 1992 and earned an Executive Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1996.

He joined the USM faculty in 2006 as an assistant professor after working for more than a decade in industrial polymer science and engineering management. He later served as director of the school from 2013-2019. His research interests are in the areas of carbon fiber composite materials, glassy polymer chemistry, and polymer process engineering of composite materials used in aerospace and military applications.

Dr. Wiggins says hes honored by the distinction and to be among the list of colleagues who previously held the Bennett Professorship.



Expectations of excellence from all students, colleagues and collaborators in comprehensive professorship duties for teaching, scholarship and service is required from those who carry this recognition, Dr. Wiggins continued. I view it as a privilege that is certain to inspire me to a higher level of personal and professional standards.

Prior to beginning his academic career at USM, Dr. Wiggins spent 12 years at Bayer Corporation, Pittsburgh, PA and Nike Inc., Beaverton, Oregon, where he held multiple executive management positions in the areas of next-generation polymer research, new polymer product and process engineering, and polymer product manufacturing. He has graduated 28 Ph.D. students to date, and currently has a group of 12 graduate students.

Dr. Wiggins served as an adjunct Professor for advanced manufacturing and design engineering at Swinburne University in Melbourne, Australia from 2016-2019 and is an Honorary Professor of Materials Science Engineering, Institute for Frontier Material, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, Australia.

"Dr. Jeffrey Wiggins recognition with the Bennett Distinguished Professorship is a testament to his exceptional contributions to the field polymer science and engineering, said Dr. Derek Patton, director of the School of Polymer Science and Engineering. His research in advanced carbon-fiber reinforced polymer composites, and particularly his exploration of the role of the polymer matrix in driving composite material performance, has solidified his reputation as a leading expert in the field. Jeff has employed this expertise to create research and pilot scale polymer matrix and composites manufacturing facilities that are extraordinarily unique within a university environment.

Beyond his scholarly work, the success and preparedness of his students stands as a shining reflection of his vested interest in mentorship and in their success. With the support of the Bennett Professorship, Im excited to see how he will push new boundaries and continue to elevate the stature of polymer science and engineering research at the university."

Dr. Wiggins says his foundational research philosophy relies upon the simple core belief If I take care of my students, everything else will take care of itself.

What this [belief] means to me is that my primary responsibility as a research-active faculty member is to prepare the most competent graduating professionals capable to make significant polymer science and engineering contributions for society throughout their careers, he explained. This necessitates a comprehensive professional preparation through excellence in teaching, research, service, written and oral communication, personal and professional ethics, a positive USM experience, and a global vision to prepare graduates for meaningful professional opportunities and pathways that exceed their expectations.

One of his students, Ian Beall, a senior polymer science major from Hattiesburg, has benefited from that philosophy in the classroom and research lab.

Dr. Wiggins teaches the importance of understanding the key aspects of how a product is made and emphasizes the importance of safety in the production process, Beall said. He also shows his students new products not yet released to give us a glimpse into the future of a polymer engineering career.

"Hes an amazing professor and mentor who I have the greatest respect for, and is most deserving of this recognition.

Learn more about the USM School of Polymer Science and Engineering.
Small-business owners will have an opportunity to learn how to increase their marketing efforts through ChatGPT, a new artificial intelligence (AI) communications program, Friday, Aug. 25.

Alex Gunter will present a Wyoming Community Navigator Program (CNP) webinar titled ChatGPT and Your Small Business Marketing Strategy from 11 a.m.-noon. To register, go here. Registration is free.

The Wyoming CNP, through the Wyoming Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network at the University of Wyoming, provides small-business resources and assistance for traditionally underserved entrepreneurs throughout Wyoming.

In this interactive webinar, small-business owners will learn how to use ChatGPT and other AI tools to significantly increase their marketing efforts, especially on social media.

Gunter, a UW MBA graduate and a digital transformation consultant, is passionate about helping organizations leverage AI for enhanced productivity. With a rich learning background from top-tier seminars at Stanford and Harvard universities, Gunter envisions a future in which AI and robotics significantly elevate our quality of life.

For more information, call Maureen Johnson, marketing, communication and database manager for the Wyoming SBDC Network, at (307) 343-0925 or email mjohn125@uwyo.edu.
West African defense chiefs are meeting to discuss the crisis in Niger after coup leaders there ignored their deadline to step down, leaving the regions countries with few options in their effort to restore democratic rule
Bangladeshs parliament is poised to vote on the Cyber Security Act when it reconvenes next month.

The law is intended to replace the Digital Security Act  a piece of legislation widely criticized for being used to harass and silence journalists and opposition voices.

Dhaka announced earlier this month that it would repeal the law, in a move welcomed by the United States. A State Department spokesperson said that the law had been used to arrest, detain and silence critics.

The proposed replacement is intended to reform aspects of the existing law. But journalists and civil society groups warn that the draft has some troubling and vague language, and they have called on the government to consult human rights experts.

Saydia Gulrukh, a journalist who reports on labor issues for the daily newspaper New Age, told VOA that what Bangladesh needs is to decriminalize speech. She added that the proposed law in no way addresses the cause of democratic governance of cyberspace in Bangladesh.

For Beh Lih Yi, the Asia program coordinator of the Committee to Protect Journalists, the decision to replace the Digital Security Act, or DSA, is an admission that the law was used to muzzle criticism.

But, said Yi, the reform is essentially a rebranding exercise, and the proposed Cyber Security Act is old wine in a new bottle.

The draft act incorporates several of the vague and repressive sections of the Digital Security Act that were used to jail and harass journalists, creating a culture of fear, Yi said.

While jail terms are reduced or eliminated in some sections, Yi said, the proposed law does not provide enough safeguards. She warned that it could still be used to silence critical voices, including the work of journalists.

Watchdogs have documented apparent misuse of the DSA since it was enacted in 2018.

Between October 2022 and March of this year, the Vienna-based International Press Institute documented nine cases of journalists being charged under the existing law.

An earlier report by the Centre for Governance Studies, a Bangladeshi think tank, said the law was cited in 1,029 cases, including 301 involving politicians and 280 directed at journalists.

One of those was freelancer Mushtaq Ahmed, who died of a heart attack while in custody in February 2011.

Ahmed, who posted political commentary to social media, was one of 11 people named in a complaint in early 2020 over accusations of posting disinformation about the pandemic. He was denied bail at least six times and, at the time of his death, had spent nine months in custody.

Authorities are yet to conduct a transparent and impartial investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death, said Yi. She noted that the revised law also doesnt go far enough to provide safeguards against prolonged pretrial detention.

With elections scheduled for January 2024, Yi said she would urge the government to drop all cases filed against media under the Digital Security Act so that journalists can work without fear of reprisal.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting did not respond to VOAs email requesting comment.

Last month, Anisul Huq, the minister for Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, said that a six-member team is working with the United Nations to assess potential human rights violations under the outgoing law. Saying that journalists are of great importance to the government, the minister said that representatives from the communications, technology and law ministries were looking into the law.

Gulrukh, of New Age, said the proposed law has some changes but called them mainly cosmetic.

Some offenses that were previously not eligible for bail are now eligible; others have had their jail sentences either lowered or eliminated. A minor redistribution of penalties is proposed, she said.

The journalist said that under the proposal, penalties for propaganda against the father of the nation, the national anthem or the national flag are reduced from 10 to seven years in prison; the maximum sentence for hurting religious sentiment drops from five to two years; and the five-year term for defamation is replaced with a maximum fine of around $22,830.

But, she said, historically and politically prejudiced terms and figures such as propaganda against the spirit of the Liberation War, father of the nation, national anthem and national flag are left vague and vulnerable to partisan interpretation and carry the risk of repeating the past abuse of law.

The international rights organization Article 19 has urged Bangladesh to establish a judicial committee to analyze incidents that include deaths in custody and potential injustices linked to misuse of the Digital Security Act from its creation in 2018 to 2023.

Faruq Faisel, South Asia regional director for Article 19, told VOA that citizens, journalists, activists and some diplomats have little trust in the government's intention to reform the law.

Others, like Syeda Aireen Jaman, secretary general at PEN International Bangladesh, told VOA that any replacement law must respect the right to freedom of expression.

The government has to take the final decision after discussing with human rights defenders, media leaders, editors, she said. It must not see the law as a weapon to curtail freedom of speech or criminalize dissent, but draft a bill to democratize the digital space.

Bangladeshs parliament is set to reconvene on Sept. 3.
Two years after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, there is growing consensus that the country is again devolving into a hotbed of terrorism activity that is already beginning to affect the region, if not yet capable of reaching the West.

Some of the more damning assessments have come from a United Nations sanctions monitoring team, which warned in a report in June that the Taliban have not delivered on the counter-terrorism provisions in the Doha Accords, the agreement that paved the way for the withdrawal of U.S. forces.

Instead, the report, based on U.N. member state intelligence, warned that a range of terrorist groups have greater freedom of maneuver under the Taliban de facto authorities.

The various groups are making good use of this, the report added. The threat of terrorism is rising in both Afghanistan and the region.

Some estimates put the number of terrorist groups in Afghanistan at about 20, and even some of Afghanistans neighbors have raised concerns.

Pakistan, for instance, has repeatedly pointed to a surge of terrorism-related deaths, many concentrated along its border with Afghanistan.

The Taliban have rejected such allegations.

Earlier this month, a Taliban official touted a ruling by supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada forbidding cross-border attacks on Pakistan.

Chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid went even further, telling VOA that Taliban fighters had essentially put an end to the terrorist threat in Afghanistan.

Those found guilty of indulging in such activities will be brought to justice and punished in line with our legal system, he said, saying the Islamic State terror groups Afghan affiliate, known as IS-Khorasan or ISIS-K, had been decimated by Taliban counterterrorism operations.taliban-to-mark-august-15-victory-day-against

The Taliban have also gotten a public show of support from U.S. President Joe Biden, who caused a stir last month July when he indicated the Taliban had been true to their word.

Remember what I said about Afghanistan? I said al-Qaida would not be there. I said it wouldnt be there. I said wed get help from the Taliban," Biden said in response to a question about the frenzied U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

"Whats happening now? Whats going on? Biden said. Read your press. I was right.

A U.S. official who spoke to VOA on the condition of anonymity said Biden was referring in part to the Talibans role in killing the leader of the Islamic State terror cell that was behind an August 2021 bombing at Kabul airport. The attack killed 13 U.S. troops and about 170 Afghan civilians.

Other U.S. officials remain wary, though, pointing to long-term plans by both al-Qaida and IS-Khorasan, each of which has the intent, if not the capability, to attack U.S. and Western targets.

"Our intelligence is degraded," the commander of U.S. Central Command, General Michael Erik Kurilla, told the Senate Armed Services Committee in March when asked about the militarys ability to track the two terror groups.

"I believe we can see the broad contours of an attack [plot], he said. Sometimes we lack the granularity to see the full picture."

Some former officials wonder how long it will be before al-Qaida or IS-Khorasan is able to break through.

Neither al-Qaida nor [IS] in Afghanistan currently has the capability to strike U.S. interests but I dont agree we can assume that beyond the short term, Edmund Fitton-Brown, a former senior U.N. counterterrorism official and sanctions monitoring team coordinator, said during a recent webinar hosted by the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Other analysts have expressed similar concerns.

Afghanistan seems eerily reminiscent to pre-9/11 Afghanistan, with the number of groups that are allegedly active, said Colin Clarke, director of research at the global intelligence firm The Soufan Group.

Terrorist groups thrive and indeed flourish amid instability. And that's exactly what we have here, he told VOA in June.

Here is a look at the Taliban and the major terrorist organizations now operating in Afghanistan, and how they have fared in the two years since U.S. and coalition forces left the country.

Click on the name of the organization to jump to that section, or scroll to read them in order.

Taliban

Islamic State Khorasan Province

Al-Qaida core

Al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent

Haqqani network

Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan

The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan

Khatiba Imam al-Bukhari

Islamic Jihad Group

Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement/Turkistan Islamic Party

Jamaat Ansarullah

Lashkar-e-Islam

Hezb-e-Islami

Lashkar-e-Taiba

Taliban

Since its emergence in 1994, the Taliban movement, which calls itself the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, has been led by an emir, a central figure appointed for life by a religious council of Taliban leaders.

Like his two predecessors, current Emir Hibatullah Akhundzada leads a reclusive life in southern Afghanistan's Kandahar province, surrounded by his inner circle.

Junes U.N. sanctions monitoring team report said Akhundzada has become more assertive, projecting control and authority by appointing loyalists to positions of power while growing ever more conservative.

But Akhundzadas assertiveness may belie growing frictions within the movement as rumors swirl about his failing health after multiple bouts with COVID-19.

The U.N. report said the movement appears split with one faction, based in Kandahar, loyal to Akhundzada, and a second Kabul-based faction led by Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, acting Defense Minister Mullah Mohammad Yaqub Omari and intelligence chief Abdul-Haq Wassiq.

Haqqani, who leads the semi-autonomous Haqqani network, also is said to be feuding with other Taliban officials, including First Deputy Prime Minister, Mullah Baradar, as the two jockey for power and influence.

There are also questions about the Talibans armed forces.

The most recent estimates from U.S. intelligence agencies and U.N. member states are a year old and put the number of Taliban fighters between 58,000 and 100,000, with numbers fluctuating according to the time of year and battlefield conditions.

A U.N. report from May of last year suggested the Taliban were seeking to increase the size of their standing military to as many as 350,000 fighters and even establish a nascent air force, with some 40 operational aircraft captured from the former U.S.-backed Afghan military.

And despite claims of success against IS-Khorasan, there is evidence that the Taliban are struggling to eradicate the group.

The Taliban have quietly reached out requesting intelligence and logistical support to fight ISIL-K, offering itself as a counter-terrorism partner, the most recent U.N. report on Afghanistan said, using another acronym for the Islamic State groups Afghan affiliate.

The same report, though, questioned the Talibans promises to distance itself from traditional terrorist allies, saying the Taliban link with al-Qaida and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan remains strong and symbiotic.

Moreover, there have been indications that some al-Qaida members are well integrated into Taliban-run Afghan military units.

Some analysts, however, caution that the Talibans grip on power should not be underestimated.

The Taliban holds all the cards, said Bill Roggio, a senior fellow with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.

The Taliban has near total domination of the security situation, he said during a recent webinar. Groups like the Islamic State Khorasan Province, which a lot of people think is the real threat that emanates from Afghanistan  its a minor player.

Islamic State Khorasan Province

IS-Khorasan is a sworn enemy of both the Taliban and al-Qaida, which has deep and long-standing ties to the Taliban leadership. But IS-Khorasan also benefits from the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.

According to a June report by the U.N. sanctions monitoring team, IS-Khorasan has exploited both the Talibans inability to establish control over remote areas and growing dissatisfaction with Taliban rule.

"Attacks against high-profile Taliban figures raised [IS-Khorasan] morale, prevented defections and boosted recruitment, including from within the Talibans ranks, the U.N. report said.

The increase in recruitment, at least according to intelligence shared by U.N. member states, is significant.

Whereas IS-Khorasan was thought to have between 1,500 and 4,000 fighters at this time last year, the new estimates put the IS affiliates force strength at up to 6,000 members.

The intelligence also suggests IS-Khorasan has vastly expanded its footprint.

Once mostly limited to remote parts of Kunar, Nangarhar and Nuristan provinces, in the countrys northeast, along the Pakistan border, IS-Khorasan is now thought to have strongholds or camps in at least 13 of the countrys 34 provinces as well as a network of sleeper cells that can reach Kabul and beyond.

A subsequent U.N. report, also based on member state intelligence, further warned IS-Khorasan may be building up its ability to threaten the region and even Europe, and that the group is becoming more sophisticated in its attacks against both the Taliban and international targets.

Not everyone agrees. U.S. officials in particular have pushed back hard against the U.N. assessment.

The estimate that IS-Khorasan boasts 4,000 to 6,000 members is thousands more than the [U.S.] intelligence community has assessed or assessed there to be," a senior U.S. official told VOA.

The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss sensitive intelligence, further refuted some of the more dire warnings of IS-Khorasans ability to pose a threat far beyond Afghanistan.

Our view is that ISIS-K has not closed that ambition-capacity gap that it very much hoped to close after the U.S. departure, and indeed has faced some very real setbacks and some very concerted pressure from the Taliban, the official said.

Officials familiar with the June U.N. report told VOA they are convinced there are some significant disagreements on the state of IS-Khorasan within the U.S. government. Some U.S. officials have publicly stated their concerns.

In March, U.S. Central Commands General Michael Kurilla told lawmakers that IS-Khorasan can do an external operation against U.S. or Western interests abroad in under six months with little to no warning.

A week earlier, Lieutenant General Scott Berrier, chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency, told lawmakers, "Its a matter of time before they may have the ability and intent to attack the West.

Earlier this year, Christine Abizaid, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, called IS-Khorasan the threat actor I am most concerned about.

One area in which officials from the U.S. and other countries seem to be in agreement is that there are questions about IS-Khorasans path moving forward.

In June, intelligence officials in Pakistan and Afghanistan told VOA that the IS-Khorasan leader, Sanaullah Ghafari, was killed by Taliban forces in a mountainous region of Afghanistans Kunar province.

However, neither U.S. officials nor officials from other U.N. member states who have provided intelligence on IS-Khorasan have been able to confirm that Ghafari, also known as Shahab al-Muhajir, is in fact dead.

Al-Qaida core

Intelligence assessments from a number of countries shared with the U.N. in the months after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan suggested al-Qaida was enjoying "a significant boost" from the withdrawal of U.S. forces.

Recent intelligence assessments from the U.N. suggest nothing has changed.

The link between the Taliban and al-Qaida remains close and symbiotic, with Al-Qaida viewing Taliban-administered Afghanistan a safe haven, the U.N. sanctions monitoring team said in its June report.

While al-Qaida appears to be maintaining a low profile, there are indications that Al-Qaida is rebuilding operational capability, the report warned, pointing to new training bases in Badghis, Helmand, Nangarhar, Nuristan and Zabul provinces.

The number of al-Qaida core personnel is also thought to have grown significantly, from just several dozen members shortly after the Taliban takeover to between 30 and 60 senior officials and another 400 fighters and some 1,600 family members.

Intelligence shared by U.N. member states further warns that al-Qaida members are being given roles within the Talibans security forces and that al-Qaida fighters are even benefiting from so-called Taliban welfare payments.

As with IS-Khorasan, the assessments of many U.N. member states clash with intelligence being shared by the U.S.

These numbers are wildly out of whack with the best estimates of the U.S. intelligence community, and indeed the best estimates of our partners and allies," a senior administration official told VOA in June, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

In contrast to the U.N. estimate of 30 to 60 al-Qaida core officials residing in Afghanistan, the senior U.S. official told VOA: There was one  and we dealt with it," referring to the July 30, 2022, drone strike that killed al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Al-Qaida simply has not reconstituted a presence in Afghanistan since the U.S. departure in August 2021, the official added, asserting that it is unlikely attempts by al-Qaida to establish training camps in Afghanistan, as the U.N.s June report claimed, would go unnoticed by the U.S. and its allies and partners.

The disagreement between the U.S. and other countries keeping watch over al-Qaida in Afghanistan goes even further.

Some U.N. member states assert that Afghanistan has been hospitable enough to host visits by al-Qaida cores de facto leader, Saif al-Adel, and presumed al-Qaida No.2, Abd al-Rahman al-Maghrebi, both of whom are based in Iran.

One U.N. member state has suggested that al-Adel has decided to make Afghanistan his new base of operations.

Senior U.S. officials have rejected such claims.

We do not have indications that the likes of Saif al-Adel have traveled to Afghanistan, according to the senior U.S. official who spoke to VOA in June. Al-Qaida, as far as we can tell, and we look pretty closely, they do not see Afghanistan right now as a permissive or hospitable environment in which to attempt to operate.

Other U.S. officials have played down the threat al-Qaida in Afghanistan currently poses to the U.S. homeland.

We have achieved what I would call [a] suppressive effect, Department of Homeland Security Counterterrorism Coordinator Nicholas Rasmussen said in March.

Additionally, some countries intelligence services and some analysts suggest the long-standing ties between al-Qaida and the Taliban may be preventing al-Qaida from growing into a direr threat.

In the case of a stable Afghanistan, the al-Qaida core might consider relocating to other operational theatres, to avoid offending their Taliban hosts, the U.N. said in its June report. Member States suggested that, in the mid- to long term, Al-Qaida would be strengthened by increased instability within Afghanistan.

Al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent

Just as with al-Qaida core, there are divergent views on the status of al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent, or AQIS, one of al-Qaida's key offshoots.

In January, the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center's Abizaid, called AQIS defunct.

Months earlier, an assessment from the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency said AQIS had maybe 200 members still in Afghanistan.

The most recent assessment by U.N. member states suggests AQIS is not dead, but that its footprint in Afghanistan has somewhat lessened, from up to 400 fighters in 2022 to up to 200 fighters at present.

The U.N. assessment places AQIS fighters in Kandahar, Nimruz, Farah, Helmand and Herat provinces.

Other than the number of estimated fighters, there are lingering questions about AQIS viability as a terrorist entity.

A U.S. intelligence assessment that was declassified last year called AQIS largely inactive, with many of its members focused more on media production than on plotting terror attacks against the West. Some U.S. counterterrorism officials wondered whether AQIS might eventually be absorbed by the Taliban.

One U.N. member state said its intelligence suggested AQIS may be preparing to try to spread into Bangladesh, Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, and Myanmar.

But the same intelligence agency warned some AQIS members appear ready to switch allegiance and join with IS-Khorasan.

Other U.N. member states believe AQIS is working more actively with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, which like al-Qaida has a strong relationship with the Taliban.

AQIS fighters, including native Afghans and fighters from Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and Myanmar, were said to have fought alongside the Taliban against the U.S.-backed government prior to its collapse.

AQIS leader Osama Mehmood, and AQIS deputy leader Atif Yahya Ghouri, are both thought to reside in Afghanistan.

Haqqani network

The Haqqani network is widely considered to be the most influential and strategically successful extremist group in the region.

Prior to the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the Haqqani network was seen as nominally loyal to the Taliban, with some countries describing it as "semi-autonomous," noting it maintained ties with both al-Qaida and IS-Khorasan.

Since the Taliban takeover, the relationship has grown somewhat more complicated, as the networks leader, Sirajuddin Haqqani, is also the Talibans interior minister.

The networks ties to al-Qaida appear to remain entrenched, as former al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was staying at a guest house linked to Sirajuddin Haqqani when al-Zawahiri was killed in a U.S. drone strike in July 2022.

But tensions with the Taliban have emerged.

In February, Sirajuddin Haqqani publicly criticized Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada for monopolizing power.

Some U.N. member states have advised in recent reports that Sirajuddin Haqqani may be trying to build support, possibly to undermine Akhundzada and replace him with Mullah Yaqub, the son of Taliban founder Mullah Omar.

Previous U.N. intelligence assessments warned the Haqqani network a "highly skilled core of members who specialize in complex attacks and provide technical skills, such as improvised explosive device and rocket construction.

The Haqqani network is also thought to oversee a force of between 3,000 and 10,000 traditional armed fighters in Khost, Paktika and Paktiya provinces, as well as at least one elite unit. The network also controls security in Kabul and across much of Afghanistan.

Newer intelligence assessments shared by U.N. member states suggest the Haqqani network is increasingly getting involved in the production and distribution of methamphetamine and synthetic drugs.

For much of its existence, the group was based in Pakistan's tribal areas as it operated across the border in Afghanistan.

The Haqqani network has been accused of perpetrating some of the deadliest and most sophisticated attacks against U.S., Indian and former Afghan government targets in Afghanistan since 2001. They are also believed to have strong ties to Pakistani intelligence.

The U.S. designated the Haqqani network a foreign terrorist organization in 2012, and Sirajuddin Haqqani has a $10 million bounty on his head from the U.S. government.

Intelligence gathered in recent years from some U.N. member states said the Haqqani network has at times acted as a go-between for the Taliban and IS-Khorasan, and that with the tacit approval of the Taliban, they directed the Islamic State affiliate to attack the now defunct U.S.-backed Afghan government.

With U.S. forces no longer in Afghanistan, it appears the Haqqani network has ceased to nurture ties with IS-Khorasan.

Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan

Most active on the 2,640-kilometer border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, is an insurgent group involved in terrorist attacks in both countries.

U.N. intelligence estimates put the number of TTP fighters between 4,000 and 6,000, up from an estimate of 3,000 to 4,000 fighters last year.

The group's stated objectives are to end the Pakistani government's control over the Pashtun territories of Pakistan and to form a strict government based on Shariah, Islamic law.

Intelligence shared by member states with the U.N. finds TTP, like al-Qaida, maintains a strong and symbiotic relationship with the Taliban that is unlikely to dissipate.

Recent intelligence assessments suggest TTP has been emboldened by the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and is looking to reestablish control of territory in Pakistan.

Although TTPs ambitions appear to have been boosted by a reunification with several splinter groups, a recent U.N. report cautioned that TTP capability is assessed as not matching its ambition, given that it does not control territory and lacks popular appeal in the tribal areas.

Following talks between Pakistani and Taliban officials earlier this month ((August)), Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada ruled cross-border attacks by the TTP on Pakistan to be haram or forbidden under Islam.

In the meantime, there is some evidence to suggest TTP fighters have been getting training and ideological guidance from al-Qaida, and some countries have voiced concern that TTP might evolve into an umbrella organization for foreign fighters.

U.S. forces in Afghanistan and the Pakistani military have killed or captured several TTP leaders over the past two decades.

The group's current leader, Noor Wali Mehsud, has publicly declared allegiance to the Afghan Taliban leader.

The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan

The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, was founded in the late 1990s with help and financial support from al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden. Several IMU leaders have served as part of the al-Qaida hierarchy. The group has sought to replace the Uzbek government with a strictly Islamic regime.

IMU launched its first attack in February 1999 by simultaneously detonating five car bombs in Tashkent, the Uzbek capital. The group is also believed to have carried out attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

In 2015, then-IMU leader Usman Ghazi and other senior members of the group shifted allegiance from al-Qaida to the rival Islamic State group. The move did not sit well with Taliban leaders, who launched a major military campaign against Ghazi, killing him and nearly wiping out the group.

According to U.N. member states, IMU has somewhat rebounded under the leadership of a new emir, Mamasoli Samatov, and now has anywhere from 150 to 550 fighters.

Khatiba Imam al-Bukhari

Khatiba Imam al-Bukhari was founded in 2011 by fighters who left the IMU and fought against the U.S.-backed Afghan government alongside the Taliban.

The group is led by Dilshod Dekhanov, a Tajik national.

Khatiba Imam al-Bukhari is also thought to have about 80 to 100 or so fighters across Badghis, Badakhshan, Faryab and Jowzjan provinces.

Previously, it was also thought to have dozens of fighters in Syria, possibly in Latakia or Idlib governorates.

According to the U.N., Khatiba Imam al-Bukhari 's numbers in Afghanistan had been growing due to the successful recruitment of locals and due to money from the Taliban and funds acquired via its leadership in Syria.

Islamic Jihad Group

According to intelligence assessments shared with the U.N., the Islamic Jihad Group has been considered "the most combat-ready Central Asian group in Afghanistan," and is known for expertise in "military tactics and the manufacture of improvised explosive devices."

The group is led by Ilimbek Mamatov, a Kyrgyz national. The group's second-in-command, Amsattor Atabaev, hails from Tajikistan.

U.N. member states assess that it now has between 200 and 250 fighters.

Islamic Jihad Group fighters have operated across Badakhshan, Baghlan and Kunduz provinces, some having fought alongside Taliban forces.

Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement/Turkistan Islamic Party

The Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement, or ETIM, also known as the Turkistan Islamic Party, was first established in the Xinjiang region of China, with its first reported attack in 1998.

After 2001, it began getting help from both al-Qaida and the Taliban, and it has been consistently active in Afghanistan since 2007.

According to intelligence estimates provided by U.N. member states, ETIM has between 300 and 1,200 fighters in Afghanistan training for and plotting attacks on Chinese targets.

A U.N. report from June warned ETIM continues to recruit fighters of various nationalities in an effort to internationalize and that it actively expanded the scope of its operations and built operational bases and armories in Baghlan province.

One U.N. member state warned that ETIM formulated a long-term plan to train young fighters, with hundreds already trained.

Intelligence shared with the U.N. suggested the Taliban last year relocated many ETIM fighters from Badakhshan province, which borders China, "to both protect and restrain the group." But more recent intelligence estimates from one U.N. member state cautioned ETIM was working to revive terrorist activities in Xinjiang.

It is thought that ETIM members have been given Afghan passports and identity papers.

In addition to the group's close ties to the Taliban and al-Qaida, it has been reported to collaborate with other groups in Afghanistan, including TTP and Jamaat Ansarullah, an ethnically Tajik faction of the IMU.

There is also evidence to suggest that ETIM has developed closer ties with IS-Khorasan, with some ETIM fighters joining IS-Khorasan operations.

Jamaat Ansarullah

According to recent U.N. member state intelligence, Jamaat Ansarullah remains closely affiliated with al-Qaida and also the Taliban.

The groups 100 to 250 fighters are led by Asliddin Khairiddinovich Davlatov, with some U.N. members warning up to 30 have been issued Afghan passports.

U.N. member states also warned that JA fighters joined Taliban forces in several offensives against the anti-Taliban National Resistance Front.

Lashkar-e-Islam

Lashkar-e-Islam was founded in the Khyber district of Pakistan in 2004 but relocated to Afghanistan's Nangarhar province in 2014, following clashes with the Pakistani military.

Since coming to Afghanistan, Lashkar-e-Islam has clashed with IS-Khorasan, with major skirmishes taking place in 2018 as the two groups fought for control of territory and resources.

Hezb-e-Islami

Hezb-e-Islami, or "Party of Islam," was founded in 1976 by former Afghan Prime Minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

The group shares much of the same ideology as the Taliban, and its fighters have assisted the Taliban in the past.

In 2015, Hekmatyar ordered his followers to help IS fighters in Afghanistan but never pledged allegiance to IS.

Hezb-e-Islami was known to target U.S. forces in Afghanistan, carrying out a series of attacks on U.S. and coalition forces in from 2013 to 2015.

Lashkar-e-Taiba

Lashkar-e-Taiba, or "Army of the Pure," was founded in Pakistan in the 1990s and is sometimes known as Jamaat-ud-Dawa.

Led by Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and aligned with al-Qaida, the group is perhaps best known for carrying out the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai, India, that killed more than 160 people.

Intelligence assessments shared with the U.N. said the groups leadership met with Taliban officials in January 2002 and was operating training camps in Afghanistan, having previously sent fighters to Afghanistan to assist the Taliban.

Saeed, who has been in and out of Pakistani custody, was found guilty in Pakistan in April 2022 on charges related to terrorism financing and was sentenced to 31 years in prison.

The U.S. is offering a $10 million reward for information leading to Saeed's conviction in the Mumbai attacks. Saeed has denied any involvement.

Ayaz Gul, Patsy Widakuswara, and Anita Powell contributed to this report.
Authorities are warning that 80% of Australias Northern Territory could burn from bush fires by early next year in a once-in-a-decade event. Blazes have torn through both the tropical north and Central Australia over the past week. One expert says Australia must start considering using fire shelters that mimic the burrows used by native animals.

In 2011, vast areas of the Northern Territory were lost to fire, and authorities fear the next seven months could be as bad. They are concerned about the buildup of fuel  living and dead vegetation  after prolonged rains.

Bushfires NT, an official agency, has issued a warning to several communities. Various bush, scrub and grass fires were reported Friday.

Bush fires can occur at any time of the year, but the peak of activity varies across Australia. Outbreaks are generally worse in northern regions during the dry season, while parts of the southeast are more vulnerable in the summer and autumn.

"What makes Australia so flammable is it has got a[n] evolutionary history that has resulted in very oily, dry plants that are very flammable," said David Bowman, a professor of pyro geography and fire science at the University of Tasmania.

Bowman said he believes Australia needs more front-line defenses to protect vulnerable communities from fires.

He said fire shelters, or bunkers that mimic the burrows of native marsupials, must be part of Australias emergency plans.

"They are underground, they have a window, so you have situational awareness," he said. "They have a hatch and they have enough oxygen. They are certified, they are rated, if you will, like a lifeboat. You know, the testimonials of people who own them is that suddenly they have peace of mind should a fire come. If you think about it, it is a form of biomimicry. It is just like wombats will go down their burrows, well, the humans can go into their bunkers."

Experts believe that eastern and southern regions that were left untouched by the Black Summer disaster in 2019-20 face a high risk of severe fires in the months ahead, especially if an El Nino weather pattern brings Australia hot and dry conditions.

2023 has already been a catastrophic year for wildfires. Hawaii has witnessed the deadliest wildfires in the United States in more than 100 years.

Canada is also enduring its worst wildfire season on record. Fires on Friday continue to bear down on the northern Canadian city of Yellowknife, prompting evacuation orders.

Fires have also caused widespread devastation in Greece, Spain and Portugal.

Research from Australias national science agency, the CSIRO, has confirmed the link between climate change and worsening fires across the continent.
Ukraine hailed a U.S. decision to allow allies Denmark and the Netherlands to send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov called the development Friday "great news from our friends in the United States."

It was not immediately clear when Ukraine might receive the jets, and Ukrainian pilots will need extensive training before they can fly them.

The fighter jets are not likely to affect the trajectory of the war anytime soon, according to U.S. officials.

Air Force General James Hecker told reporters at a virtual meeting with the Defense Writers Group on Friday that there are no prospects currently for either Ukraine or Russia to gain the upper hand in the air.

"I don't think anyone's going to get air superiority as long as the number of surface-to-air missiles stay high enough," Hecker said, responding to a question from VOA.

Hecker, commander of U.S. Air Forces Europe and U.S. Air Forces Africa, did note that if Ukraine runs out of its integrated air and missile defense ammo, "then it becomes a problem."

"Both Ukraine and Russia have very good integrated air and missile defense systems," he said. "That alone is what has prevented [Russia or Ukraine] from getting air superiority."

In a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said: "We welcome Washington's decision to pave the way for sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine."

Camp David

At a trilateral summit Friday, the leaders of the United States, Japan and South Korea pledged to "stand with Ukraine against Russias unprovoked and brutal war of aggression."

Meeting at the U.S. president retreat of Camp David, U.S. President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said their countries would continue to provide assistance to Ukraine.

They also pledged to continue their sanctions on Russia and to accelerate their countries "reduction of dependency on Russian energy."

Kishida said the free and open international order based on the rule of law is in crisis, and pointed the blame at Russias invasion of Ukraine, the continuing North Korean nuclear and missile threats, and a unilateral attempt to change the status quo by force in the East and South China Seas  referring lastly to China.

Ukraine grain

Romanias Black Sea port of Constanta has emerged as the best shipping route for Ukraines grain exports since Russia left the U.N.-brokered Black Sea grain deal, leaving ships traveling the Black Sea corridor vulnerable to Russian attacks.

"We hope that over 60% of the total volume of Ukrainian grain exports will transit Romania," Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said after meeting Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal in Bucharest.

Constanta has been one of the best alternative seaports for Ukrainian grain shipping even before the Black Sea grain deal was canceled.

Ukraine exported 8.1 million metric tons of grain through Constanta in the first seven months of this year, and 8.6 million metric tons throughout 2022.

While Romania is looking at boosting the transit of Ukrainian grain through Constanta to international markets, it is also looking at ways to protect local farmers from a surge of Ukrainian grain that could depress local grain prices.

Protests from farmers in Romania and four other eastern EU countries prompted the EU to approve temporary trade restrictions of Ukrainian grain imports to the nations.

The import ban expires Sept. 15, and the five states have asked for it to be extended, at least until the end of the year.

Climbing casualties

The number of Ukrainian and Russian troops killed or wounded since Russias invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 is nearing 500,000, The New York Times reported Friday, citing unnamed U.S. officials.

The officials cautioned that casualty numbers are not accurate because Moscow is believed to routinely underreport its war dead and injured, and Kyiv does not provide official figures, the newspaper said.

However, the newspaper estimated that Russia's military casualties are approaching 300,000, including as many as 120,000 deaths and 170,000 to 180,000 injuries. Ukrainian deaths were close to 70,000, with 100,000 to 120,000 wounded, it said.

The Times cited the officials as saying the casualty count had risen after Ukraine began its counterattack earlier this year.

The Ukrainian military on Thursday claimed gains in its counteroffensive against Russian forces on the southeastern front. Kyiv said its forces had liberated the village of Urozhaine, about 90 kilometers north of the Sea of Azov and about 100 kilometers west of Russian-held Donetsk city.

The advance is part of a drive toward the Sea of Azov and an effort to split Russias occupying forces in half.

However, Kyiv says its counteroffensive is advancing more slowly than it had hoped for because of vast Russian minefields and heavily fortified Russian defensive lines.

"Nothing ever goes as well as you would hope. They put mines everywhere. In a square meter, they're [Ukrainian soldiers] finding five and six mines," U.S. Air Force General James Hecker said Friday.

U.N. Correspondent Margaret Besheer and VOA National Security Correspondent Jeff Seldin contributed to this story. Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
Officials in Cameroon suspended the work contracts of several thousand foreign workers, including Africans, Chinese and Europeans, and ordered them to obtain work permits and pay taxes within a month or leave the country.

The Cameroon government said that only about 100 of more than 2,000 foreign workers from China, Nigeria, the Central African Republic and Chad are authorized to work in gold mines and export timber near Cameroons eastern border with the Central African Republic.

More than 10,500 of an estimated 11,000 foreign workers in the central African nation do not have work permits, government officials said.

Issa Tchiroma Bakary, Cameroon's employment minister, said a majority of foreign workers are acting in bad faith. By not paying taxes, foreign workers have deprived Cameroon of more than $25 million since January, he said.

Bakary said that this week government officials in Cameroon's 360 districts were ordered to make sure foreign workers obtain work permits and pay taxes or leave within 30 days.

Cameroon's employment ministry said that a relaunch of construction, mining and exploration for gas and oil has caused an influx of Chinese and European engineers.

The government said several thousand foreign workers in northern and eastern gold mines and forests deceived Cameroon consular officers to receive tourist visas.

The government said it cannot afford to allow more than 10,000 illegal foreign workers in Cameroon when more than 70% of its 27 million citizens either lack jobs or are underemployed.

Florent Djounou, who owns a wood company that employs 30 Chinese and eight Europeans, spoke on behalf of foreign workers at a meeting with Cameroons employment minister in Batouri, near Cameroons border with the Central African Republic.

He said that foreign workers understand they should respect Cameroons laws before carrying out economic activity, but that they were surprised when at least 1,000 contracts were suspended even before the Cameroon government publicly asked foreign workers to obtain permits.

European and Chinese workers often are able to obtain work permits, Djounou said, but Africans, especially those displaced by conflicts in their own countries, may not have the financial means to pay for their permits.

Prices of timber and wood have risen 15% because huge quantities of wood cannot leave eastern forests where the government has put a stop to activities of foreign workers, he said.

Bakary said foreign laborers will be allowed to work freely when they obtain their permits.

The employment of foreign workers is subject to special procedures in Cameroon. Potential workers are obliged to declare their wages and allowances, including transportation and accommodation, which are used to determine how much is paid to obtain a visa.

A 2022 law institutes a fee equivalent of two months wages for non-African workers and one month's wages for African workers before work permits are issued. The law went into effect this year.
Amid the lush greenery of Catoctin Mountain Park, the U.S. presidential retreat Camp David will once again be the setting of a historic milestone in international diplomacy  the cementing of a trilateral alliance between the U.S. and its two main Asian allies, Japan and South Korea, to strengthen deterrence against North Korea and China.

The goal of Friday's summit, hosted by President Joe Biden, is "to lock in trilateral engagement," including a pledge by Washington, Tokyo and Seoul to create a three-way hotline and consult with one another during a regional crisis, a senior administration official told reporters in a briefing Thursday. The official spoke under condition of anonymity, as is customary when discussing foreign policy and security issues.

The three countries will commit that when faced with a regional contingency or threat they will immediately consult, share intelligence and align policy actions in tandem with one another, a second senior administration official said in the same briefing.

"What it seeks to acknowledge and build in its core is the fact that we do share a fundamentally interlinked security environment," she said. "Something that poses a threat to any one of us fundamentally poses a threat to all of us."

The second official insisted the pledge is not a formal military alliance or a collective defense commitment  as China and North Korea have called it. Pyongyang and Beijing have characterized the Camp David summit as Washington's gambit to create a "mini-NATO" in Asia.

The duty to consult during crisis caps off a myriad of other trilateral defense cooperation pledges, including regular military exercises and ballistic missile drills, as well as new collaboration on economic security  strengthening semiconductor supply chains, cyber security and artificial intelligence. The three nations are also set to adopt the "Camp David Principles," a series of values and norms on peace and prosperity within the Indo-Pacific region.

The deliverables of Friday's summit are only possible after a detente in relations between South Korea and Japan, its former occupier, following months of diplomacy between the Yoon and Kishida governments to put aside their fraught history and mutual distrust to deal with more imminent mutual security challenges.

"Korea and Japan are now partners who share universal values and pursue common interests," South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said earlier this week in a speech marking the 78th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japan's 35-year colonial rule that ended in 1945.

Hedge against reversal

Behind the U.S. push to institutionalize the engagement is the need to hedge against the risk of reversal if liked-minded leaders do not succeed Yoon or Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kushida or Biden.

With more than three years left in his term, Yoon is pushing hard right now also, said Karl Friedhoff, a fellow for Asia Studies at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. "By the time he is out of office, this meeting will be seen as a normal part of Korea-Japan relations," he told VOA.

Focusing on deterrence on North Korea and China is a way to gain domestic political support in Seoul and Tokyo.

"These are politically acceptable, and indeed, necessary mechanisms that should not have a lot of political pushbacks," said Shihoko Goto, acting director of the Asia program at the Woodrow Wilson Center. "Japan and Korea recognize that the Indo-Pacific landscape is very tumultuous."

Administration officials would not clarify whether the three-way consultation in the event of a regional crisis would include a contingency in the Taiwan Strait.

While a coordinated response to an attack from Beijing may be something that Washington envisions in the long term, South Korea is not as aligned with the U.S. as Japan is when it comes to the China threat, said Jeffrey Hornung, a senior political scientist specializing in East Asian security at the RAND Corporation.

"Given that it's been difficult for Japan and Korea to really cooperate on most things, I think start with their mutual concern, which is North Korea," he told VOA. "And maybe in the future, branch that out once they work the kinks out of their cooperation."

South Korea has already indicated willingness to broaden the trilateral response.

Kim Tae-hyo, Korea's principal deputy national security adviser, told reporters in Seoul on Thursday that cooperation will evolve from focusing on the North Korean threat to a more comprehensive one aiming to build "freedom, peace and prosperity throughout the Indo-Pacific region."

Future summits

The leaders will commit that "future leaders will meet on an annual basis" without allowing them to "backtrack from the commitments" made at Camp David, the first senior administration official said.

"What we are seeking to do is not just lock in Japan and South Korea, but lock in the United States, to make clear to everyone that we are here to stay in the Indo Pacific region," he added.

Locking it in matters. There is concern that American pledges of cooperation could be undone should Donald Trump be elected again in 2024.

Under his "America First" doctrine during his presidency, Trump withdrew the U.S. from various international treaties and regional engagements. The former president is also remembered for his mercurial relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, whom he once threatened with "fire and fury," but later said he "fell in love" with.
Chinese and Russian spy agencies are setting their sights on private, U.S.-based space companies, hoping to steal new technologies while thwarting American advances, according to a new warning from U.S. counterintelligence officials.

The National Counterintelligence and Security Center, the FBI, and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations issued the two-page bulletin Friday, cautioning that foreign intelligence agencies have increasingly come to view the growing U.S. space industry as a necessary and lucrative target.

"We anticipate growing threats to this burgeoning sector of the U.S. economy," said a U.S. counterintelligence official, speaking about the new warning on the condition of anonymity.

"China and Russia are among the leading foreign intelligence threats to the U.S. space industry, but other nations are also targeting this sector," the official added, noting countries like Iran have also been tied to plots to steal data from U.S. satellite tracking and communication firms.

"They are targeting this sector to acquire data, technology, and expertise through a variety of means," the official said.

Specifically, the bulletin warns of cyberattacks, attempts to collect sensitive data on satellite payloads, attempts to disrupt satellite communications and other space infrastructure, and attempts to steal data on technological on intellectual property that could give U.S. adversaries an economic or military advantage. A combination of factors

U.S. counterintelligence officials emphasize the just-issued warning is not the result of any one development. Instead, they point to a combination of factors, including repeated attempts by China and Russia to acquire U.S. space-related technology and the growth of the industry itself.

"The global space economy is projected to grow from $469 billion in 2021 to more than $1 trillion by 2030," according to the bulletin, which further warned space is now "fundamental to every aspect of our society, including emergency services, energy, financial services, telecommunications, transportation, and food and agriculture."

A separate report in June by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis found the U.S. space economy accounted for more than $211 billion in sales in 2021 while being responsible for 360,000 private sector jobs.

Such rapid growth, according to U.S. counterintelligence officials, is also creating opportunities for foreign spy agencies to take advantage of U.S. space companies.

In some cases, foreign spy agencies have even created pop-up companies in third countries for the purpose of luring U.S. companies into deals so they can gain access to data or materials.

In January, for example, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned a satellite company called Spacety Luxembourg because of its ties to a Chinese-based company that had been supplying satellite imagery to Russia's paramilitary Wagner Group to help with operations in Ukraine.

In another case, from 2019, a Chinese national was sentenced to more than three years in prison for using a variety of aliases to obtain radiation-hardened power amplifiers and supervisory circuits from U.S. companies. Russian operatives active

U.S. counterintelligence officials say Russian operatives have also been active as they try to evade Ukraine-related sanctions.

In October 2022, the U.S. charged five Russian nationals for a scheme to get advanced semiconductors and microprocessors that could be used in satellites and missiles.

Counterintelligence officials also pointed to Russia's February 2022 cyberattack against a satellite network operated by U.S.-based Viasat.
Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu on Thursday visited Belarus and said his country would increase military cooperation with Russia's neighbor and ally, where Moscow is deploying tactical nuclear weapons.

Shangfu met with strongman President Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk and said "the purpose of my visit to Belarus is precisely the implementation of important agreements at the level of heads of state and the further strengthening of bilateral military cooperation."

Neither side gave details of what the cooperation will entail, but the two countries have agreed to hold joint military exercises next year.

Li visited Russia just before going to Belarus.

Russian troops that were deployed in Belarus were part of Russia's invading force in Ukraine and Russian troops and weapons remain there.

Belarusian forces have not taken part in the Ukraine war and Lukashenko on Thursday said China's military assistance would not be directed against third countries. Lukashenko has previously said Belarus has taken delivery of Russian nuclear weapons and on Thursday he said they could only be used by Belarus if the country was under threat.

"Nuclear weapons, which are in Belarus, will not be used if there is no aggression against us," Lukashenko said, adding that Belarus would not enter into hostilities against Ukraine as long as its border was not violated.

China claims to be neutral in the conflict in Ukraine but accuses the United States and its allies of provoking Russia and maintains strong economic, diplomatic and trade ties with Moscow.

Belarusian analyst Valery Karbalevich said the visit of the Chinese defense minister is "an important signal not only to the EU and the U.S., but also to Ukraine."

"With this visit, China marks the scope of its military interests and shows that it is interested in building up ties with Minsk and Moscow, including military cooperation, despite the dissatisfaction of Western countries," he told The Associated Press. "This is also a signal to Ukraine that the prolongation of the war can force China to take one side."
China's President Xi Jinping will attend the BRICS leaders' meeting and visit South Africa on Aug. 21-24, the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement Friday.

Leaders from the five BRICS countries of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa meet in Johannesburg next week from Aug. 22 to discuss how to turn a loose club of nations accounting for a quarter of the global economy into a geopolitical force that can challenge the West's dominance in world affairs.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who faces an international arrest warrant over alleged war crimes in Ukraine, will dial in by video call instead of attending in person.

Expansion is expected to be high on the agenda, as some 40 nations have shown interest in joining, either formally or informally, according to South Africa. They include Saudi Arabia, Argentina and Egypt.

China, seeking to expand its geopolitical influence as it tussles with the United States, has said it "welcomes more like-minded partners to join the 'BRICS family' at an early date."

Russia also supports expansion, while Brazil resists it, fearing the already unwieldy club could see its stature diluted by it. India is on the fence.

Besides attending the BRICS meeting, Xi will also co-chair the China-Africa Leaders' Dialogue with his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa, the Chinese foreign ministry said.
The BRICS group of developing economies  Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa  meet in Johannesburg from Tuesday to Thursday for their annual summit, during which expansion of the bloc is expected to figure high on the agenda.

On the surface, the members of this bloc have little in common. Brazil, India and South Africa are democracies, while China and Russia are autocracies. However, one thing they do share is a disillusionment with the current U.S.-led world order and a desire to create an alternative in which the Global South has more clout.

If the number of new countries looking to join the bloc is any indication, this is proving to be a popular idea. Some 40 nations, including Argentina, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are all interested in joining, and discussions about new members will likely feature high on the agenda of the summit, with BRICS members differing on the benefits of expansion.

While some analysts, including Jim ONeill, the former Goldman Sachs economist who coined the acronym, say the group has not actually achieved much since its founding in 2009, Mikatekiso Kubayi, a researcher at the Institute for Global Dialogue at the University of South Africa, disputes that.

There are over 40 countries that have expressed an interest in joining BRICS, said Kubayi. "Clearly those more than 40 countries have seen something, you know, some sort of benefit or use or value of BRICS to want to join it.

And this is how South Africas Minister for International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor put it last week.

The current geopolitical context has driven renewed interest in BRICS membership as countries of the Global South look for alternatives in a multipolar world.

Steven Gruzd, an analyst at the South African Institute of International affairs, said if more nondemocratic states join it could make the bloc more stridently anti-Western.

Certainly, if BRICS expands and includes countries like Iran, this will definitely enhance the anti-Western tone and tenor of discussions, said Gruzd.

Already, BRICS accounts for some 40% of the worlds population, and an estimated one-quarter of global gross domestic product. In terms of purchasing power parity, BRICS countries now have a larger share of global economic activity than G-7 countries.

A previously touted BRICS common currency is not something that will be discussed, according to South African organizers. However, the blocs New Development Bank does want to de-dollarize.

The other issue thats going to be talked about is the currencies that countries trade in and talk about more trade in local currencies rather than U.S. dollars, said Gruzd.

Presidents Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa and Xi Jinping of China, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil have all confirmed their attendance. Russia will be sending Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, while President Vladimir Putin will be taking part remotely as he is wanted for war crimes in Ukraine by the International Criminal Court.

As a signatory to the court, Pretoria would be obliged to arrest Putin if he entered the country, a diplomatic nightmare they have now avoided.

Separately, Ramaphosa will host Xi on the sidelines of the summit for an official state visit. China is South Africas biggest trading partner.
On August 12, a verified account with the username Sprinter99800 on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, posted a video allegedly showing people swarming a U.S. military base in Erbil, Iraq, after a new deployment of American troops arrived in that country.

Sprinter99800s post went viral, with more than 2,000 interactions (likes, reposts, comments, bookmarks) and more than half a million views at the time of this fact checks publication.

Sprinter99800 used the following caption for the video:

Al-Harir base in Erbil, Iraq is overcrowded after the arrival of a new batch of troops from the US.

That is false.

The video was taken at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, in August 2021, not at the U.S. military base in Al-Harir, Iraq, in August 2023.

There is no indication that Sprinter99800 intended the post to be satirical or made an honest mistake in misidentifying where the video was shot.

Moreover, Sprinter99800 did not correct or delete the erroneous post after X users pointed out the false context.

Sprinter99800s profile is verified, despite being anonymous, and has gained 270,000 followers since its creation in May 2019.

The accounts English-language content, with its anti-U.S. and anti-Ukraine sentiments, mirrors Russian propaganda and disinformation. An overwhelming portion of Sprinter99800s posts are based on unverified or unverifiable information, and designed to sow mistrust in the U.S. government and military, as seen in the posts below:

For its profile picture, Sprinter99800 uses a photograph of Issam Zahreddine, a Syrian Republican Guard major general killed by a landmine in October 2017. Zahreddine was one of Bashar Assads top field commanders.

In December 2011, Human Rights Watch accused Zahreddine of committing war crimes. Citing eyewitness testimony, HRW said Zahreddine had directly ordered the torturing of civilians in the Syrian city of Douma.

In 2016, the family of American veteran war journalist Marie Colvin accused Zahreddine of targeting and killing her in a 2012 shelling attack on the press center in the Syrian city of Homs. Colvin had reported on Zahreddines involvement in the mass killing of civilians in Syria.

The Russian and Syrian regimes lamented Zahreddines death, memorializing him with obituaries depicting him as a war hero.

Multiple cross-platform social media accounts use the same photograph of Zahreddine as their avatar. For example, this Arabic-language Facebook page dedicates its posts to Zahreddine and Russian President Vladimir Putin:

Under Xs predecessor Twitter, Sprinter99800 was banned in 2022 and reinstated in 2023: I'm finally back, after almost a year of fighting. Follow us, we will continue with new adventures.

Sprinter99800s previous account, accessed via the WayBackMachine Web archive site, also suggests Russia ties, with intense tweeting about thoroughly debunked Russian disinformation topics, including the conspiracy theory that Ukraine staged the March 2022 Bucha massacre.

At the time of this writing, there is a Community Note attached to Sprinter99800s post with the airport video, headlined: "Readers added context they thought people might want to know".

It states: "This is the 2021 Airlift at Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA), Kabul, Afghanistan".

The original video shows the dramatic moment during the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, when Kabuls Hamid Karzai International Airport was thronged by crowds of Afghans desperate to flee Taliban rule.
Fighting between two rival generals has spread to cities in Sudan's war-ravaged south, witnesses said Friday, raising concerns for hundreds of thousands who have fled violence in the Darfur region.

The vast western region has seen some of the worst bloodshed since the conflict erupted on April 15 between the army under General Abdel Fattah Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.

Battles resumed late Thursday in the North Darfur state capital of El Fasher, witnesses said, disrupting nearly two months of calm in the densely populated city that has become a shelter from the shelling, looting, rapes and summary executions reported in other parts of Darfur.

"This is the biggest gathering of civilians displaced in Darfur, with 600,000 people in El Fasher," said Nathaniel Raymond of the Humanitarian Research Lab at the Yale School of Public Health.

One resident told AFP: "As night fell, we heard battles with heavy weapons from the city's east."

Witnesses also reported fighting in Al-Fulah, the capital of West Kordofan state, which borders Darfur.

The conflict had expanded to North Kordofan state, a commercial and transport hub between Khartoum and parts of southern and western Sudan.

'Indiscriminate shelling'

Human rights groups and witnesses who fled Darfur have reported the massacre of civilians and ethnically driven attacks and killings, largely by paramilitary forces and their allied Arab tribal militias.

Many have fled across the western border to neighboring Chad, while others have sought refuge in other parts of Darfur, where the International Criminal Court is investigating alleged war crimes.

The region has been the focus of deadly fighting since 2003 when the then government in Khartoum unleashed the feared Janjaweed  precursors of the RSF  on ethnic minority rebels and the civilians suspected of supporting them.

On Friday, an armed group that signed a peace agreement with Khartoum in 2020 announced it was aligning with the RSF.

The so-called Tamazuj Front said it aimed "to fight the remnants of the old regime that use the army to reinstate their totalitarian power."

Several figures of former strongman Omar al-Bashir's regime, which was toppled in 2019, have escaped from prison in recent months, with some voicing their support for the army.

Fighting in the latest conflict has concentrated on El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur state, where the United Nations suspects crimes against humanity have been committed.

Nyala, Sudan's second city and capital of South Darfur state, has been in the throes of recent fighting.

An emergency room set up in the city said in a statement Friday that it had been "living under catastrophic humanitarian conditions" as fighting raged for a seventh straight day."

"The clashes have resulted in the death of a large number of defenseless victims  and a countless number of injuries and humanitarian violations with all state hospitals out of service," it added.

The United States on Thursday urged the warring sides "to cease renewed fighting in Nyala  and other populated areas."

"We are particularly alarmed by reports of indiscriminate shelling carried out by both" parties, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.

'Chaos'

Further east, a resident of Al-Fulah said "the RSF are confronting the army and the police, and public buildings have been set on fire during their fire exchanges."

"Shops were looted and there are dead on both sides, but no one can get to the bodies in this chaos," said another witness in Al-Fulah.

The conflict has killed at least 3,900 people nationwide, according to a conservative estimate by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.

The actual toll is believed to be much higher, as the fighting restricts access to many areas.

U.N. experts voiced particular concern for women and girls caught up in the conflict, denouncing "rape and sexual violence" by RSF fighters.

"Men identified as members of the RSF are using rape and sexual violence of women and girls as tools to punish and terrorize communities," the independent experts said Thursday, citing survivors.

In neighboring South Sudan, medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said more than 200,000 people, mostly women and children, had arrived from Sudan since the fighting erupted.
Now that Washington has approved the distribution of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, when will Kyiv get them? Plus, whats the broader impact of the roubles devaluation this week? And an update on American reporter Evan Gershkovich, whos being held in a Russian prison.
Six suspects were in custody Friday after five armed men stormed into a private dental clinic in Cambodia the day before to free a Chinese convict, Cambodian police said.

The convict, Chen Hsin Han, 45, who was serving a 52-year sentence for drug trafficking, remains at large, said Teng Channath, the Siem Reap provincial police chief. Police did not explain why the suspects in custody outnumbered the people who stormed the clinic.

Four prison guards had escorted the inmate Thursday morning to a dentist in Siem Reap city, according to a prison letter obtained by VOA Khmer and closed-circuit TV footage from the dental facility.

Teng told VOA Khmer by telephone on Thursday that he could not explain how the gunmen knew the inmate was scheduled for a dental appointment. At the time, Teng said he would not release more details because the case remained under investigation.

Chen, who was arrested February 11, 2009, had a toothache that made it difficult for him to eat, according to prison documents obtained by VOA Khmer.

The dental office video showed five people whose faces were covered pointing guns at four prison guards in the clinic. The footage was shared widely on social media.

Soeng Senkaruna, spokesman for local human rights group Adhoc, questioned why the prisoner was allowed to get treatment outside the prison and how the gunmen knew about the time of the treatment.

The prison officials knew that the prisoner was sentenced to more than 50 years in jail. Thus, they should have been more careful, he told VOA Khmer.

There should be an investigation to find out whether there was collusion, he added.

A 2021 Global Organized Crime Index profile of Cambodia says the countrys porous borders and corrupt and underdeveloped law enforcement structures have contributed to drug trafficking. The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime reported that same year that drug lords had established meth labs in Cambodia, far from their traditional base in the Golden Triangle, a lawless area where the borders of Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and China intersect.

Chum Chenda, the dental clinic owner, said the gunmen stormed into his business around 8 a.m. He said the armed men tied up police officers' hands and left with the prisoner. There were no gunshots or injuries, he said.

''Criminals had guns in their hands behind the police. They are about one meter away from me.  I pretended to not know anything. When I turned to the police, they [the gunmen] were all gone,'' Chum Chenda told VOA Khmer by telephone on Thursday.

According to government-aligned news outlet Freshnews, the gunmen left the clinic in a Lexus 330 SUV. Police found the vehicle, guns and other related evidence on the outskirts of Siem Reap.

VOA Khmer contacted Da Chamroeun, Siem Reap city police chief, Thursday and Friday. He declined to comment.

Nouth Savna, spokesman for the General Department of Prisons, confirmed the arrests of six people but made no further comments.

I have only this information. The competent authorities are now investigating further, he told VOA Khmer on Friday.

Phean Chhorvan, director of the Siem Reap provincial prison, told VOA Khmer on Thursday that he didnt have clear information about the case.
Haitian aid groups backed by the International Rescue Committee are temporarily shutting down operations, including some mobile health clinics, following days of extreme violence in parts of the Caribbean nation's capital Port-au-Prince.

"In a matter of days, violence escalated dramatically in Port-au-Prince, particularly affecting neighborhoods where the IRC collaborates with local organizations to provide vital services," the aid group said Thursday.

The IRC launched its Haiti response plan last December and works with local groups around the capital, where much of the violence has taken place.

Ann Lee, co-founder of U.S.-based crisis response group CORE, which is still operating in Haiti, said many aid groups have left as costs rise, financial aid dwindles, and staff operates under increasingly life-threatening conditions.

"We have a staff member who lost her daughter because she was having a seizure and couldn't get to the hospital," she said. "We have an employee whose brother was beheaded."

Lee said there was not a single member of CORE's 100-person Haiti team who did not know a victim of the violence.

Since Saturday, the United Nations estimates that nearly 5,000 people have fled their homes from areas around Savages Pistaches Carrefour Feuilles, which has been besieged by the Grand Ravine gang.

In a statement, Haiti's government said police would deploy "all its forces" to restore order to Carrefour Feuilles.

Haiti's under-gunned police have struggled against heavily armed gangs that have dramatically expanded their territory since last year, with their turf wars driving mass displacements, severe food shortages, murders, kidnappings and sexual violence.

Last October, Haiti's government called for foreign security assistance, but their call went unanswered until Kenya stepped up last month. Many nations are wary of lending support to Prime Minister Ariel Henry's unelected government, considered by many Haitians to be corrupt.

Following a ground assessment in coming weeks, a U.N.-backed plan to send a multinational security force should go to a vote at the U.N. Security Council.

The IRC said that even where its partner organizations were working to continue providing services, roadblocks installed by warring gangs were preventing residents from accessing them.

Recalling driving around Port-au-Prince and seeing bodies line the streets, Lee said she supported a Kenyan force but that it would not solve the root problems.

"The level of violence is unprecedented," she said.
In Malaysia, wrapping the wrong candy-colored watch around your wrist can now earn you a $4,300 fine, not to mention three years in jail.

The penalties are laid out in an August 10 order from the Ministry of Home Affairs banning LGBTQ-themed watches from the popular Swatch brand for putting Malaysias national interest at risk. It comes three months after ministry staff raided a number of shops selling the watches and seized more than 170 of them.

Rights groups say the governments reaction reflects its dwindling tolerance for the countrys LGBTQ community and the growing sway of political parties appealing to the conservative base of the countrys ethnic Malay and Muslim majorities.

Its a trend among the political scene to use LGBT issues as a scapegoat to kind of gain last-minute support from the Malay-majority conservative part of Malaysian society, Dhia Rezki, vice president of the local gay rights group Jejaka, told VOA.

Malaysias ethnic Malays are automatically Muslim by law and denouncing the faith is illegal. Malaysian law also outlaws and punishes sodomy  calling it intercourse against the order of nature  with up to 20 years in jail.

The government ordered the watch ban just two days before state elections that were widely seen as a critical test of the ruling coalitions standing with Malay voters.

The order cites the countrys Printing Presses and Publications Act, which gives the Home Affairs Ministry absolute discretion to ban any published material likely to be prejudicial to public order, morality, security, to alarm public opinion, harm the national interest, or breach any law.

It says the ministry banned the Swatch watches for promoting, supporting and normalizing the LGBTQ movement, which is not accepted by the general public of Malaysia.

Peace and love

The Swiss companys Pride Collection features six watches, each in one of the bright, bold colors of the LGBTQ flag. Each watch also features a pair of wristband loops bearing all six colors of the flag together.

Asked for comment, Swatch Group referred VOA to a public statement company CEO Nick Hayek issued in May following the shop raids.

We strongly contest that our collection of watches using rainbow colors and having a message of peace and love could be harmful for whomever, Hayek said at the time. In the contrary, Swatch gives always a positive message of joy in life. This has nothing political.

The Ministry of Home Affairs did not reply to VOAs request for comment.

Thilaga Sulathireh, co-founder of the local LGBTQ rights group Justice for Sisters, said the watch ban was not only discriminatory and unreasonable but a breach of the rights to personal liberty, gender equality and freedom of expression enshrined in Malaysias constitution.

He said the order was also an overly broad and possibly illegal use of the printing act, and no less than the seventh time the government has used it to curb LGBTQ material since 2020.

The law is in and of itself extremely broad, he told VOA. And because it is so broad, I think it is misused and it is used arbitrarily against LGBT expression.

Dhia, from Jejaka, said using the law to ban a watch underscores the governments resolve to quash that expression.

Malaysia already has a problem with restricting freedom of expression, but for them to issue a whole separate ban under a prohibition order kind of highlights how deep the governments prejudice against LGBT expression is, he said.

The paradox, he added, is that the government has been stepping up its repression just as younger LGBTQ Malaysians are finding their voice.

As people push for more equal rights, [other] people are feeling that their rights have been taken away on the other side, he said. So in general ... I do think in Malaysia, [in] the social context ... [our] rights are being restricted more and more.

Tolerance is definitely shrinking by the day, Thilaga agreed.

Last month, the organizers of what was to be a three-day music festival canceled the remainder of the event after Matty Healy, frontman for the British pop band The 1975, slammed the countrys anti-LGBTQ laws and kissed a male bandmate on stage.

In October, authorities raided an LGBTQ Halloween party and arrested 20 people for crossdressing.

Left and right

Rights groups also point to the myriad programs meant to cure or rehabilitate LGBTQ people that the government helps run or fund. Thilaga said the number of those programs has increased exponentially over the past decade.

Advocates and analysts point to more recent  and political  motives for the mounting backlash as well.

In 2018, the long-ruling Barisan Nasional bloc lost its first national elections since Malaysias 1957 independence from Britain. The country has since seen four shaky administrations take power, the latest a tenuous alliance between Barisan Nasional and its former rival, Pakatan Harapan.

Where Barisan champions the interests of the countrys ethnic Malays, Pakatan built its reputation espousing the cause of the countrys ethnic and religious minorities.

While Pakatan leads the alliance, its reliance on Barisan to hold a majority in parliament seems to be pushing its agenda toward the right, says Khoo Ying Hooi, an associate professor and human rights scholar at the University of Malaya.

Pakatan Harapan, when they were the opposition, they were the hope for a bigger ... democracy and human rights space, she said. With this very difficult partnership [with Barisan], this has to take a lot of compromising, hence I think that explains the approach that they are taking.

While being pushed to the right from within, she said, the government is also being pulled the same way by the opposition Perikatan Nasional, a bloc of parties with staunch pro-Malay, pro-Muslim goals. The largest of them, the Malaysian Islamic Party, better known as PAS, has called for the death penalty for apostasy and saw a surprise surge in support during last years national elections, winning the most seats of any party in the race.

With help from PAS, Perikatan also put up a tough fight in elections to fill six of 13 state legislatures last week and ended up gaining seats in most of them.

The state elections have basically signaled that the trend of [the] national elections continued, Khoo said. Thats why the Malay votes are very important, thats why the Swatch issue has become even more sensitive, because PAS ... Perikatan Nasional, those who use the agenda of Malay Muslims ... do not tolerate at all [the] LGBT issues.
In an interview with VOA, the humanitarian minister in Myanmar's anti-junta shadow government has apologized for failing "to bring justice to the Rohingya in northern Rakhine State," where Myanmar's military launched a brutal crackdown in August 2017.

Dr. Win Myat Aye served as social welfare minister in the administration of Myanmar's since-ousted de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi at the time of the crackdown, which was seen as a massive overreaction to attacks by Rohingya insurgents on government security posts.

The soldiers are accused of widespread atrocities including mass killings, sexual violence, and the burning of villages. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled across the border into Bangladesh where they have spent years living in squalid refugee camps, still fearing to return.

"As the civilian government, we could not administer justice when this occurred," Win said, referring to the 2017 operation to eradicate insurgents from among Rakhine's Muslim-minority Rohingya people. "I feel sorrow when I consider all of this. We apologize for that. It is now evident why we could not administer justice then."

Win's apology marks a reversal from his public position in a 2017 BBC interview, when he defended the crackdown as a necessary response to terrorism and responded "yes" when asked whether it was the Rohingya themselves who burned their villages.

"In the villages where the terrorists can't enter, there is no burning," he said at that time. "When terrorists come in, it burns." (( https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-41343887 ))

In his interview last month with VOA, Win said his administration had been misled by the military leaders behind the operation. "In the past, the military restricted access to accurate information  restricted my ability to communicate openly with Rohingya victims," he said.

Reason for apology

During a July visit to the United States, Win told members of a Burmese community in Maryland that the Myanmar military is conducting the same kind of tactics again today, this time during what it calls "clearance operations" in the northwestern Sagaing Region.

Now, as in 2017, he said, the military is labeling an entire people as enemies based on the actions of a few.

"The Myanmar military attributed attacks on approximately 30 security outposts in northern Rakhine State on August 25, 2017, to [the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army], laying the blame solely on ARSA for these events," Win said.

"However, this incident led to the displacement of an enormous number of people, around 700,000, and the subsequent burning of numerous villages. A similar pattern seems to be unfolding in Sagaing Division," he said. "Local villagers opposing the military coup are being targeted. The military has labeled them as [People's Defense Forces] supporters, mirroring how they accused the Rohingya of collaborating with ARSA.

"The junta has used this flawed logic to justify targeting civilians in Sagaing, by claiming they are all combatants," he said. "This is another example of how, from the military's perspective, the people within the country are seen as enemies."

Win's account

Soon after the 2017 military operations began in northern Rakhine state, Aung San Suu Kyi dispatched Win to the area, where he saw security forces engage in what they called an anti-ARSA operation.

But upon arriving by helicopter, Win was shocked by what he saw. "We couldn't land due to the raging flames rising from the burning fields everywhere we looked," he said.

Asked why a high-level civilian minister was unable to confront the military's actions  characterized by many as genocide  Win pointed to the country's 2008 constitution, in which the long-ruling military ceded power to a civilian-led government but reserved substantial powers for itself.

"This constitution granted considerable influence to entities such as the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Ministry of Border Affairs, significantly impacting Rakhine State, where these incidents occurred," he said.

"The primary movement on the ground was orchestrated by individuals from the General Administration Department of the Ministry of Home Affairs, many of whom are former military members," he said. "When the events transpired, they were under the direct command of the military and overseen by the security forces responsible for the region. Those who carried out these actions are the ones who are responsible for what happened."

Rohingya reaction

Some Rohingya leaders, including Tun Khin, president of the Burmese Rohingya Organization U.K., have asked Win to testify before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is investigating allegations of genocide in Rakhine.

In a Zoom interview with VOA, Tun said he views Win's comments as a positive step toward reconciliation.

"I welcome what Dr. Win Myat Aye said. This is a good sign for all of us as we move towards the Spring Revolution and a federal democratic system that includes all ethnic groups in the future," he said. "His apology shows a sign of accountability and responsibility in Myanmar."

Tun himself pursued legal action against Myanmar's military in the Argentinian courts in 2019, alleging crimes against humanity during the 2017 crackdown. His case describes in detail gang rapes, beheadings and the slaughter of Rohingya civilians committed by Myanmar's military, known as the Tatmadaw.

He said Win's National Unity Government (NUG), comprising members of the ousted civilian administration and other elements of the anti-junta resistance, "should work together with the Rohingya community to bring an end to the history of negative propaganda about the Rohingya."

Shwe Maung, a Rohingya lawmaker in the former government who now lives in the United States, told VOA that Win also formally apologized to the Rohingya community during a two-hour meeting in Houston, Texas.

"The minister said he went to Rakhine State around 96 times concerning the Rohingya issue," said Maung via Zoom. "During that period, the ministries of home affairs, defense, and border affairs, controlled by the military, held sway and suppressed information. They had to work with them and, therefore, they were not able to do as much as they should have done."

Maung quoted Win as saying, "I apologize to the Rohingya community."

Maung added that the minister described how the NUG is engaging on this issue with international bodies such as the IJC and the International Criminal Court, both based in The Hague.

"Especially since they are the individuals responsible for making the cases before international courts ... they have a lot of evidence," he said. "At this time, they have to fight the common enemy  the military junta  and they have urged everyone to cooperate."

Changing stance

In 2022, NUG officials issued a declaration to the ICC, accepting the court's jurisdiction with respect to Myanmar, although the country is not itself a member of the court.

The NUG also withdrew preliminary objections to the ICJ's jurisdiction on its genocide case. When the court started its hearing process in 2019, Aung San Suu Kyi traveled to The Hague to defend Myanmar against the genocide allegations.

The NUG recently appointed Rohingya activist and adviser Aung Kyaw Moe as its deputy human rights minister. Maung told VOA that while the community welcomed the appointment of a Rohingya leader as a deputy minister in the NUG interim government, laws must be passed to guarantee the rights of the Rohingya in Myanmar in the future.

"The NUG doesn't consider these issues resolved, and neither do the Rohingya," Maung emphasized. "This is precisely why we have asked the NUG to legislate Rohingya rights to prevent such injustices in the future."
Three weeks into the coup in Niger, the military junta continues to cling to power while West African army chiefs held a second day of talks on Friday in Ghana's capital, Accra, where they are mapping out a possible military intervention if diplomacy fails to reinstate Nigers deposed President Mohamed Bazoum.

Rida Lyammouri, an analyst who has done a lot of field work in the Sahel/Lake Chad Basin, says the West African bloc, ECOWAS, is in a difficult position trying to discourage coups in the region but grappling with whether diplomacy or military intervention is the best deterrent.

At the moment there are still some divisions in terms of the military intervention not only between ECOWAS and the African Union but also among the ECOWAS members, as well as the position of regional members that are excluded from these meetings who are currently run by junta, - like Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, said Lyammouri.

Lyammouri, also a senior fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, a Moroccan-based policy research firm in Washington told VOA, a military intervention could not only be catastrophic to Niger but also to other countries in the already volatile region. And, he says, it could spill over beyond the Sahel.

I think North African countries do have a role to play in terms of their diplomatic effort - because North Africa should be and would be concerned if theres a military intervention because of borders, Algeria specifically but also there are lots of economic and diplomatic ties between North Africa and Niger and West Africa in general. Morocco has a lot of economic interest with Niger in terms of food security - telecom, insurance, banking, etc, said Lyammouri.

Emira Woods is the executive director of the Green Leadership Trust and also a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies. She applauds the recent efforts by regional religious leaders who visited Niamey.

We had an incredible engagement of faith leaders coming from the region to Niger, stepping forward to say war is not the answer, to say diplomacy must be first and foremost to find a path to the democratic process, said Woods.

Woods says it is time for African unity and directly points the finger at the West.

What we have before us is an incredible juxtaposition of the international community with its interest and focus on resources, particularly the uranium thats in Niger, and building up military forces, training and equipping those military forces, said Woods.

Most Western countries have condemned the coup and have thrown their support behind efforts by the African Union and the ECOWAS bloc.

Niger holds strategic economic and geopolitical significance internationally. Uranium and oil, two natural resources plentiful in Niger, are sought after in the international commodities market. And under President Bazoum, the country was a big ally to the West in the fight against insurgency groups in the region linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group.

Junta leaders have justified toppling the democratically elected president because they accused him of not handling rampant insecurity in some parts of the country. On Wednesday, 17 of its soldiers were killed in an ambush by insurgents about 60 kilometers from the Nigerien capital, Niamey, in an area that borders Burkina Faso.

What we have is an undermining of peace and security in the region that goes back to - the ouster of [Moammar] Gadhafi in Libya and the flow of weapons into Libya, and then from Libya throughout the region in the Sahel. What we have is a steady equipping of military actors and literally laying the groundwork for these military actors to gain power, strength, visibility and legitimacy in a way that has emboldened them to launch coups - from Mali, Burkina, to now Niger and of course you have a similar situation on the other side of the Sahel, in the Sudan region, said Woods.

Sudans two rival generals have been engaged in a brutal war against each other the past four months, with no end in sight.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited typhoon-hit farms and oversaw military helicopters spraying pesticides in a bid to salvage key crops, state media said Friday.

Tropical Storm Khanun made landfall last week in the North, a country where natural disasters can be devastating due to weak infrastructure and widespread deforestation, which increases vulnerability to flooding.

The visit came hours after North Korea was accused at the UN Security Council of spending heavily on its nuclear arms program while its people go hungry and lack basic necessities.

On Thursday, South Korea's spy agency told lawmakers that around 240 North Koreans had starved to death between January and July this year, member of parliament Yoo Sang-bum told reporters after the briefing.

Kim visited rice paddy fields in Kangwon Province that had been flooded by the typhoon, but predicted a "complete recovery from the damage" thanks to the patriotism of soldiers who helped salvage the crop, the Korean Central News Agency reported.

KCNA images showed Kim, in a white jacket and trousers, squatting at the edge of the paddy field while military helicopters sprayed crops.

The North Korean leader said the rapid response of the military to the typhoon damage had been "performing a miracle of recovering flooded farmland in a brief span of time."

Kim urged the country's entire agricultural sector "to minimize damage by disastrous climate" and ensure North Korea could "attain the goal of grain production for this year without fail."

But some experts questioned how effective the measures would be.

"Kim Jong Un's order to mobilize air force planes is merely a show," An Chan-il, a defector-turned-researcher who runs the World Institute for North Korea Studies, told AFP.

"The appropriate time for pesticide spraying on crops has already passed," he said, adding that reliance on the military for typhoon damage recovery showed other available resources may be depleted.

Food shortages

On Thursday, Seoul's spy agency said people were starving in the North, with the country's economy trapped in a "vicious cycle" with negative growth for three years from 2020-22.

The North's domestic product experienced a significant drop of 12% in 2022 compared to 2016, the agency told lawmakers during a briefing, according to lawmaker Yoo.

The number of North Koreans said to have died due to hunger between January to July was more than double the recent annual average of 110.

The North has periodically been hit by famine, with hundreds of thousands of people dying -- estimates range into the millions -- in the mid-1990s.

The country held a high-level party meeting in February to specifically address food shortages and agricultural problems.

As the storm approached the peninsula, the North had carried out "a dynamic campaign to cope with disastrous abnormal climate" and called for measures to minimize damage to the country's economic output, state media reported.

Earlier this week, Kim berated "irresponsible" officials for failing to prevent damage from the storm.

Pyongyang's recent emphasis on the agricultural sector is "seemingly out of desperation that food issues could become a serious problem," Hong Min of the Korea Institute for National Unification told AFP.

"Kim's choreographed visit and admonishment of senior officials on typhoon preparation" shows the regime is aware that food shortages could impact domestic support, especially as it ramps up confrontation with the United States, Hong said.

Despite its difficult economic situation, Pyongyang has conducted a record-breaking series of weapons tests this year, including its first solid-fuel ballistic missile -- which experts say is a major technological breakthrough.

Washington and Seoul are set to start major annual joint military drills known as Ulchi Freedom Shield next week, a move sure to anger Pyongyang, which views all such exercises as rehearsals for an invasion.
A global media watchdog urged Pakistan to immediately disclose the whereabouts of a nationally known television journalist Friday who has been missing since his arrest on May 11.



Imran Riaz Khan has 4 million YouTube subscribers and more than 5 million followers on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. He was detained by police at the Sialkot airport in the central Punjab province as he tried to leave the country over fears of his arrest.



The journalist, often referred to as Imran Riaz, was accused of inciting people to violence through his reporting.



"Saturday marks 100 days of the disappearance of anchor @ImranRiazKhan, who has not been seen since his arrest on May 11," the Committee to Protect Journalists said in a statement released via X.



The U.S.-based group noted that Pakistani authorities had repeatedly failed to present Riaz in court amid a "larger crackdown" on the media. "CPJ calls on authorities to immediately reveal his whereabouts and the conditions in which he is held."



Beh Lih Yi, CPJ's Asia program coordinator, told VOA it was "troubling" that Riaz remains missing and urged authorities to spare no effort to find him and ensure his safety.



"His continued disappearance shows the dangerous environment Pakistani journalists are operating in, where they often face retaliation for their critical reporting or commentary," she said, urging Pakistani authorities to spare no effort to find Riaz and ensure his safety.



VOA contacted the Pakistani caretaker information minister for comments and was awaiting a response. Riaz was taken into custody under then-Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's coalition government.



Sharif dissolved the parliament and his government earlier this month when its mandated term ended, and a caretaker administration subsequently took charge to oversee elections in Pakistan.

Father says police abucted Riaz

In his complaint filed at a Sialkot police station, Riaz's father alleged that police abducted his son, and requested his early and safe release.



Former government officials would not confirm the arrest, leading to allegations the powerful military was behind it because the missing journalist would frequently criticize in his talk shows the institution's alleged meddling in political affairs.



Reporters Without Borders, known globally by its French acronym RSF, claimed in late May that it had received information from "confidential diplomatic sources" that Riaz was tortured and "may even have died in detention."



The missing journalist's lawyer, Mian Ali Ashfaq, dismissed those fears as unfounded. He appeared confident of securing Riaz's release on bail from the high court in Lahore, the provincial capital, which is hearing the case.



However, Ashfaq acknowledged Wednesday that his lawsuit was suffering from unspecified delays.



"The last date of [the] hearing was on July 5, the case was then fixed for July 25. It was rescheduled by the High Court due to the unavailability of the bench of LHC CJ (chief justice)," he wrote on X.



"The same bench is hearing the case from day one. Since then, it has been requested to fix the case repeatedly for an early date of hearing, and the next date is still awaited," Ashfaq said.



Police officers told the court during a May hearing that they did not have Riaz in custody and could not find him in any of the Punjab jails. Pakistani intelligence agencies have also denied holding him.



Human rights groups have since condemned it as an "enforced disappearance."

Arrested after criticizing military



Riaz was a vocal supporter of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and the military.



But after Khan was removed from power in a parliamentary vote of no-confidence in April 2022, the journalist started harshly criticizing the military that Khan alleged was behind his ouster.



The journalist's arrest came as a part of a nationwide crackdown on Khan supporters after they allegedly vandalized military properties in different parts of Pakistan to protest the short-lived arrest of the former prime minister in May.

Riaz had posted a video on his YouTube channel just before his arrest, accusing the establishment, a reference to the military, of harassing him and threatening to arrest him.



Global press freedom advocacy groups list Pakistan among the countries declared unsafe for journalists.



The CPJ says that at least 97 media workers and journalists have been killed, mostly for their work, in the South Asian nation since 1992. But investigations into these cases have not led to any convictions.
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A Kansas prosecutors office says it has found insufficient evidence to support a police raid on the weekly newspaper Marion County Record. The raid has alarmed U.S. media advocates and caught the attention of the White House. VOAs Jessica Jerreat reports.
Ukraine attempted to launch a drone attack on Moscow early Friday, but Russian forces downed the unmanned aerial vehicle.

After Russia shot down the drone, debris from the attack fell on Moscows Expo Center, a massive exhibitions space, located less than 7 kilometers from the Kremlin.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram that the wreckage from the drone fell near the Expo Center but "did not cause significant damage."

Ukraine claimed Thursday that its counteroffensive had retaken parts of Russian-controlled land in the southeastern part of the country in a push beyond the newly liberated village of Urozhaine.

The advance is an attempted drive toward the Sea of Azov, an effort to split Russias occupying forces in half.

"In the direction south of Urozhaine, [Ukrainian troops] had success," military spokesman Andriy Kovaliov said on national television. He gave no more details.

Urozhaine, in the eastern Donetsk region, was the first village Kyiv said it had retaken since July 27 in what has proved to be a difficult, grinding warfare in heavily mined Russian-controlled territory.

Urozhaine lies just over 90 kilometers north of the Sea of Azov and about 100 kilometers west of Russian-held Donetsk city.

Vladimir Rogov, a Russia-installed official in parts of Zaporizhzhia controlled by Moscow, said Urozhaine and the neighboring village of Staromaiorske were not under Ukrainian control.

Drone footage, however, of the intense fight for Urozhaine, has emerged in which dozens of Russian troops can be seen fleeing to the villages south.

Russia controls nearly one-fifth of Ukraine, including the Crimean Peninsula it annexed in 2014, most of Luhansk region and large tracts of the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.

Kyiv says its counteroffensive is advancing more slowly than it had hoped for because of vast Russian minefields and heavily fortified Russian defensive lines.

Russian attacks on Ukrainian grain facilities

Ukrainian officials said Wednesday that Russia damaged grain infrastructure at a port in the Odesa region in southern Ukraine as part of an overnight drone attack.

Andriy Yermak, chief of staff for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on Telegram that the attack targeted the port of Reni on the Danube River.

Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper said on Telegram that the attack damaged warehouses and grain storage facilities at the port.

Kiper said there were no reported casualties from the attack, and that Ukraines air force had downed 11 Russian drones over Odesa. The Ukrainian military said its air defenses destroyed 13 drones overnight and that Russia had used Iranian-made Shahed drones to target Odesa and Mykolaiv.

Black Sea shipping

The Hong-Kong-flagged container ship Joseph Schulte left Ukraines port of Odesa on Wednesday.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said the vessel was the first to set off down a temporary Black Sea corridor that Ukraine established for civilian ships following Russias withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

The Joseph Schulte was carrying 30,000 metric tons of cargo, Kubrakov said. The vessel had been stuck in Odesa since Russian launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Russia has not said whether it will respect Ukraines shipping corridor. On Sunday, a Russian patrol ship fired warning shots at a vessel after what Russia said was a failure by the captain to respond to a request for an inspection.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
Taiwanese Vice President William Lai returned Friday from a sensitive visit to the United States, thanking the Taiwanese people for supporting a trip he said showed the island's "self-confidence" venturing into the international community.

"Because of everyone's hard work, Taiwan's power is stronger and stronger, and it showed the international community that Taiwan is a force for good, that the international community really pays great attention to Taiwan," he said.

China claims Taiwan as its territory and denounced the transit stops in the U.S., calling Lai a separatist and a "troublemaker."

Lai officially made only transits in the United States, first in New York and then in San Francisco, on his way to and from Paraguay to attend the new president's inauguration in one of only 13 countries that maintains formal ties with Taipei.

While in the United States, he gave speeches to the Taiwanese community and met officials from the American Institute in Taiwan, a U.S. government-run nonprofit that handles unofficial relations.

Taiwanese officials have said China is likely to conduct military exercises this week near the island, using Lai's U.S. stopovers as a pretext to intimidate voters ahead of next year's presidential election and make them "fear war."

Lai is front-runner to be Taiwan's next president at elections set for January. President Tsai Ing-wen cannot run again after two terms.

China especially dislikes Lai because of comments he has previously made about being a "practical worker for Taiwan independence," though he has pledged on the campaign trail to maintain the status quo and offered talks with Beijing.

Speaking at Taiwan's main international airport at Taoyuan after stepping off his flight, Lai made only passing mention of his U.S. stopovers, concentrating instead on Paraguay and pledges of support he received there.

"Thank you for your contributions to the country and to society," he said, "allowing Taiwan to very progressively, self-confidently and respectfully go into the international community, and winning the support of the international community."

Taiwan has so far not reported any unusual Chinese military movements near the island.

However, on Thursday, Japan's government reported 11 Chinese and Russian naval ships, including destroyers, had crossed waters between the southern Japanese islands of Okinawa and Miyako, a waterway crucial for access to the Pacific and East China Sea.

The islands lie directly to the east of Taiwan, and Okinawa is home to a major U.S. military base.
Dozens of teachers, students and labor leaders marched to a Miami school district headquarters Wednesday to protest Florida's new standards for teaching Black history, which have come under intense criticism for what they say about slavery.

The protesters who marched to the School Board of Miami-Dade County objected to new curriculum standards that, among other things, require teachers to instruct middle school students that enslaved people "developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit."

Governor Ron DeSantis, who is seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has repeatedly defended the new language while insisting that his critics, including Vice President Kamala Harris and two leading Black Republicans in Congress, are intentionally misinterpreting one line of the sweeping curriculum.

"These new state standards that DeSantis has come up with will not be tolerated in our schools. We will not let our children be taught that slaves benefited from their slavery. That's a lie," said march organizer Marvin Dunn, a professor emeritus of psychology at Florida International University.

About 50 protesters who started the 1.6-kilometer trek from Booker T. Washington Senior High School in Miami's historically Black Overtown neighborhood chanted, "What do we want? Truth. When do we want it? Now. What if we don't get it? Shut it down!"

They were greeted by another 50 protesters at the school board building, where speakers addressed the crowd. Among them was Tennessee Representative Justin Pearson who was propelled into the national spotlight after being expelled from the Republican-dominated legislative body for leading a gun control protest on the House floor. He was reinstated by local officials and then won a special election.

"The true history is that Black people have always fought to make America what it ought to be, and it has always resisted what it could be," Pearson told the crowd. "We've always fought for the America that we know is possible. That is not here yet."

Harris, the nation's first Black vice president, traveled to Florida last month to condemn the curriculum. Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, who is the chamber's sole Black Republican and is also seeking the White House, issued a direct rebuke of DeSantis.

Critics said the new school standards are the latest in a series of attacks on Black history by the governor's administration. At the beginning of the year, DeSantis' administration blocked a new Advanced Placement course on African American studies from being taught in high schools, saying it was contrary to state law.

DeSantis also has pushed through the "Stop WOKE Act," a law that limits discussions on race in schools and by corporations, and it banned state universities from using state or federal money for diversity programs.
Chinese President Xi Jinping will be in South Africa next week for a major summit as well as an official state visit, at a time of increasing South African concern about persistent trade imbalances in the countries' relationship, as well as worries about Chinas domestic economy.

Naledi Pandor, South African minister for international relations and cooperation, said last week that in 2022, trade with fellow BRICS nations  Brazil, Russia, India, China  accounted for 21%% of South Africas global trade, or $43 billion (830 billion rand).

China, which is South Africas biggest individual trading partner, accounts for the lions share of the BRICS groups trade with South Africa, Stavros Nicolaou, head of the South Africa BRICS Business Council, told VOA this week  68%, followed by India at 27%. Russias and Brazils trade levels with South Africa are much smaller.

China is also Africas largest trading partner overall, with $282 billion worth of trade with the continent in 2022. The theme of this years summit, held in South Africas economic hub, Johannesburg, is "BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth, Sustainable Development and Inclusive Multilateralism."

President Cyril Ramaphosa has invited numerous other African heads of state, some of whom  like the continents biggest economy, Nigeria  have expressed interest in joining the bloc.

The fact that Xi is adding a state visit to the BRICS trip is a very, very powerful message that hes sending to other African countries: that China is back after a three-year COVID-induced freeze, said Paul Nantulya, a research associate at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies.

The fact that Xi Jinping will visit the continent before [U.S. President] Joe Biden  because there are rumors that Joe Biden will visit Africa in person  that is a diplomatic coup for China, he told VOA.

Trade imbalance

One problem some African countries have pointed to is the significant trade imbalance with China that still exists. Pandor is among those who say this needs to be addressed.

South Africa continues to have a trade deficit in its overall trade with BRICS countries. The urgent need for trade diversification, as primary products continue to be the largest share of exports, therefore remains, she told reporters last week.

Nicolaou echoed this, noting that in 2022, South Africa had a $10.9 billion deficit with China.

South Africa's main exports to China include minerals, precious metals and agriculture. Imports from China are dominated by machinery.

So, we run a trade deficit with all four BRICS countries as South Africa. Now, theres no problem running a trade deficit, but if you analyze the constituent makeup of that trade deficit, theres very clearly a pattern where we are exporting raw materials and importing finished products, Nicolaou told VOA in an interview.

Therein lies the concern, but therein lies the opportunity as well, he continued, noting that some of the groundwork was laid last week on a pre-summit visit to the country by Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao.

After Wangs meeting with South African counterpart Ebrahim Patel, the two signed a deal for Chinese companies to buy products worth $2 billion from South Africa. South African companies that signed included mining conglomerates Anglo-America and Glencore.

Our levels of trade are very significant; however, the composition of our trade needs to change. It has been focused principally on raw materials. We now need to shift to greater levels of industrial exports of manufactured goods, Patel said at the meeting.

Asked if South Africa can move from exporting mainly raw materials to finished products, Nicolaou was circumspect.

We obviously face domestic economic headwinds in South Africa at the moment, so there are constraints ... in terms of energy and infrastructure et cetera. So I think weve got to look at those products that allow us an immediate export return given the constraints, but we also need to plan for the future, he said.

Chinas domestic economic woes

China itself has been facing domestic problems  rising unemployment, prices and wages falling, a property market slowdown and deflation worries  and has also been seen to be downscaling its international Belt and Road infrastructure initiative, favoring smaller projects.

Asked whether Chinas own economic downturn could impact its international image as a trading heavyweight, Nicolaou said, I think youre going to get these differing economic growth patterns.  Thats why I dont think were banking on just one partner or just one geography here.

For his part, Mikatekiso Kubayi, a researcher at the Institute for Global Dialogue at the University of South Africa, said he didn't think Chinas own economic downturn would have much of an impact on trade relations.

China, just like any other country, will pursue trade deals and such relationships, you know, regardless [of] its position domestically, in the same way that the United States does the same thing, despite an economic downturn, he said.

You trade whether your economys on an upswing, you trade whether your economys on a downswing. Trade is a permanent fixture.

But African exports to China reportedly fell in the first six months of this year. And some traders have said developments in China's real estate market affect the price of South African exports like iron ore.

Several high-ranking U.S. officials were in South Africa and elsewhere on the continent in the past week for trade talks.

The Chinese Embassy in Pretoria did not respond to a request for comment on either the domestic downturn or the trade imbalance between China and South Africa.
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The Ukrainian military on Thursday claimed more success in its counteroffensive against Russian forces. ECOWAS military chiefs are meeting in Ghana for possible action to restore constitutional order in coup-hit Niger. Why Disney thinks artificial intelligence can boost its movies and theme parks.
The United States has forcefully rejected a statement made by a powerful Haitian gang leader who demanded that a proposed multinational force to help reestablish security must begin by arresting Haiti's legitimate leaders.

"The U.S. government condemns in the strongest possible terms the actions and statements of gang leaders like Cherizier who have paralyzed much of Port-au-Prince and the Artibonite department and displaced more than 100,000 Haitians," a State Department spokesperson told VOA via email.

Jimmy Cherizier, leader of the powerful G9 Family and Allies gang (FRG9) in Port-au-Prince, told reporters Wednesday that he would welcome a multinational police force to help Haiti restore security  under certain circumstances.

"If, when, the foreign forces arrive, they arrest the corrupt oligarchs, politicians and politicians who are selling weapons and ammunition to the people in the underprivileged neighborhoods, I will applaud them," Cherizier said.

But he also issued a warning:

"If the foreign forces arrive in 2023 or 2024, and we see them sexually assaulting women, raping young boys just as the Uruguayan soldiers did in 2004. If they bring cholera back to Haiti.  If that is what they are coming to do in the underprivileged neighborhoods, along with opening fire on us, killing the people or massacring them  we Haitians will fight them until we shed our last drops of blood," he said.

The State Department spokesperson told VOA the administration will continue working to hold responsible those in Haiti who commit "gross violations of human rights and significant corruption."

The U.S. sanctioned Cherizier in December 2020 under the Global Magnitsky Sanctions Program for human rights abuses in connection with his role in the La Saline attack. The violent assault launched against the population of the underprivileged neighborhood of Port-au-Prince in 2018 resulted in at least 71 deaths, the spokesperson noted.

Cherizier was also designated under a United Nations Security Council resolution for his role in the economic and humanitarian crisis that crippled Haiti in 2022. The gang leader is blamed for the blockade of the capital's largest oil terminal, Varreux, which sparked a nationwide gas and power shortage.

The State Department spokesperson said the U.S. "welcomed the Government of Kenya's announcement" of an offer to lead the multinational force.

"Our support for pursuing an MNF (Multinational Force) to restore security and stability in Haiti remains unwavering," the spokesperson told VOA.

In October 2022, Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry appealed to the international community for an international force to help Haiti's national police combat gang violence and make the country secure.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made a similar appeal earlier this year and again on August 15 in a report on the situation in Haiti sent to the presidency of the Security Council. The United States currently holds that position.

A recent poll by the Agency for Managing Risk and Security in Haiti found that 68% of Haitians believe a multinational force is needed to help restore security.
North Korea is increasing its repression of human rights, and people are becoming more desperate and reportedly starving in parts of the country as the economic situation worsens, the U.N. rights chief said Thursday.

Volker Turk told the first open meeting of the U.N. Security Council since 2017 on North Korean human rights that in the past its people have endured periods of severe economic difficulty and repression, but "currently they appear to be suffering both."

"According to our information, people are becoming increasingly desperate as informal markets and other coping mechanisms are dismantled, while their fear of state surveillance, arrest, interrogation and detention has increased," he said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un closed the borders of his nation to contain COVID-19. But as the pandemic has waned, Turk said, the government's restrictions have grown even more extensive, with guards authorized to shoot any unauthorized person approaching the border and with almost all foreigners, including U.N. staff, still barred from the country.

As examples of the increasing repression of human rights, he said, anyone found viewing "reactionary ideology and culture"  which means information from abroad, especially from South Korea  may now face five to 15 years in prison. And those who distribute such material face life imprisonment or even the death penalty, he said.

Markets closed

On the economic front, Turk said, the government has largely shut down markets and other private means of generating income and has increasingly criminalized such activity.

"This sharply constrains people's ability to provide for themselves and their families," he said. "Given the limits of state-run economic institutions, many people appear to be facing extreme hunger as well as acute shortages of medication."

Turk said many human rights violations stem directly from, or support, the militarization of the country.

"For example, the widespread use of forced labor  including labor in political prison camps, forced use of schoolchildren to collect harvests, the requirement for families to undertake labor and provide a quota of goods to the government, and confiscation of wages from overseas workers  all support the military apparatus of the state and its ability to build weapons," the U.N. high commissioner for human rights said.

Elizabeth Salmon, the U.N. special investigator on human rights in North Korea, echoed Turk: "Some people are starving. Others have died due to a combination of malnutrition, diseases and lack of access to health care."

The United States and North Korea, which fought during the 1950-53 Korean War, are still technically at war since that conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. Salmon said the frozen conflict is being used to justify the continued militarization.

North Korea's "Military First" policy reduces resources for the people, Salmon said, and the country's leaders demand that they tighten their belts so the money can be used for the nuclear and missile programs.

'Acts of cruelty and repression'

The Security Council took no action, but afterward U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who chaired the meeting, read a statement on behalf of 52 countries while flanked by many of their ambassadors.

The statement said the North Korean government commits "acts of cruelty and repression" at home and abroad that are "inextricably linked with the DPRK's weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile advancements in violation of Security Council resolutions." The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is the official name.

The countries called on all 193 U.N. member nations to raise awareness of the links between the human rights situation in North Korea and international peace and security, "and to hold the DPRK government accountable."

North Korea on Tuesday denounced U.S. plans for the council meeting as "despicable," saying it was only aimed at achieving Washington's geopolitical ambitions.

Vice Foreign Minister Kim Son Gyong called the United States a "declining" power and said if the council dealt with any country's human rights, the U.S. should be the first, "as it is the anti-people empire of evils, totally depraved due to all sorts of social evils."

Russia's deputy U.N. ambassador, Dmitry Polyansky, told the council the meeting was "propaganda" and "a cynical and hypocritical effort to step up pressure on Pyongyang." Russia is an ally of North Korea.

Human rights should not be discussed in the council, he said, and attempts to link the rights situation to peace and security are "absolutely artificial."
The Economic Community of West African States is prepared to send troops against Nigers military junta if diplomacy falters, the blocs commissioner for political affairs and security said Friday.

We are ready to go anytime the order is given, Abdel-Fatau Musah said. The D-Day is also decided, which we are not going to disclose.

Nevertheless, ECOWAS leaders noted that they favored the language of diplomacy over the sound of war and said they might send a diplomatic mission to Niamey as early as Saturday to try to resolve the situation amicably with the military junta and restore constitutionally elected President Mohamed Bazoum to office.

There was no immediate response from Nigers junta.

Bazoum was overthrown July 26. So far, the junta has ignored calls from the United Nations, ECOWAS and others to reinstate him, prompting the bloc to order a standby military force to be deployed in Niger.

Most of ECOWAS's 15 members are ready to contribute to a potential military force against Niger. Those opposing are three other countries under military rule  Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea  as well as Niger itself.

Multiple coups

Nigers coup is at least the sixth in the region in the last three years, testing the credibility of ECOWAS, which had asserted it would not tolerate any more coups in the region.

"The decision is that the coup in Niger is one coup too many for the region, and we are putting a stop to it at this time. We are drawing the line in the sand," Musah said.

Military intervention could destabilize the impoverished Sahel region, which for 10 years has been dealing with Islamic sectarian violence linked to al-Qaida as well as with dire poverty and hunger, despite Niger's being a significant uranium and oil producer in West Africa.

Last month, ECOWASs top officials told the U.N. Security Council that the bloc needed at least $2.3 billion annually to establish a 5,000-strong brigade for the region.

The executive director at the West Africa Center for Counter-Extremism, Mutaru Mumuni Muqthar, said ECOWAS does not have the economic resources to sustain a military intervention in Niger.

In terms of military hardware, the equipment and numbers of men on the ground that we need, we dont seem to have the numbers, he said.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk called on Nigers generals to avert war, release Bazoum and allow for democracy to be reinstated. Bazoum, his son and his wife have been held in reportedly difficult living conditions in the basement of his palace in Niamey since the coup.

Turk said he was very concerned about the juntas announcement to prosecute Bazoum and his allies for high treason.

This decision is not only politically motivated against a democratically elected president but has no legal basis, as the normal functioning of democratic institutions have been cast aside, he said.

Effects on refugees

While tensions run high in the region, the secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, Jan Egeland, expressed deep concern about the spiraling situation in Niger, which was already dealing with humanitarian crises.

"We are particularly worried about the fallout of any conflict on refugees coming from ECOWAS countries, and about new forced displacements an armed escalation could prompt, he said.

Latest figures from the U.N. refugee agency put the number of forcibly displaced people in Niger at well over 700,000. U.N. Refugee Agency spokesperson Matthew Saltmarsh said that included almost 350,000 refugees, just over 50,000 asylum-seekers and nearly 350,000 internally displaced people.

More than 10 million people in Niger - more than 40% of the population - were already facing extreme poverty, a situation that will only worsen if sanctions affect the general population.

We are calling at least for humanitarian exemptions to sanctions to avert a rapid deterioration of the food security and malnutrition situation in the country, said Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the U.N. high commissioner for human rights.

VOAs Lisa Schlein and Kent Mensah contributed to this report. Some information came from Reuters, The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.
Editor's note: Here is a fast take on what the international community has been up to this past week, as seen from the United Nations perch.

Security Council discusses DPRK human rights

The U.N. human rights chief said Thursday that many of the severe and widespread rights violations in North Korea are directly linked to the regimes pursuit of nuclear and ballistic missile technology. Volker Turk told a special meeting of the Security Council on human rights in North Korea that the use of forced labor and confiscation of wages from overseas workers all support the military apparatus of the state and its ability to build weapons.

Secretary-general proposes options for Haiti multinational force

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is calling on the international community to act now and deploy a robust non-U.N. armed force to Haiti to support the national police in stopping the gang violence that is overwhelming the island nation. In a report to the Security Council, the secretary-general said the current situation is not conducive to a U.N. peacekeeping mission, and he offered two options for the United Nations to support a multinational force. The first would provide logistical support for the multinational force and the Haitian national police. The second option would be strengthening the U.N. special political mission in Haiti, known by its acronym BINUH, to expand its current support to the Haitian police.

Education envoy urges ICC to prosecute Taliban for gender discrimination

U.N. Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown said Tuesday that the International Criminal Court should investigate and pursue charges against the Taliban for their denial of basic rights to Afghan women and girls. He told reporters that denying Afghan girls an education and women the right to work is gender discrimination, which should rise to the level of a crime against humanity and be prosecuted by The Hague-based tribunal.

U.N. and NGO leaders call for immediate cease-fire and reset in Sudan

As the fighting in Sudan entered its fifth month this week, the heads of U.N. agencies and several NGO leaders issued a joint statement appealing to the parties to end the war. They said that the situation is spiraling out of control and that millions of Sudanese, including 6 million on the verge of famine, are paying the price.

In brief

 U.N. West Africa envoy Leonardo Santos Simao is due to arrive Friday in the capital of Niger. He is expected to meet with the military leaders behind the July 26 coup against President Mohamed Bazoum. A U.N. spokesperson said the envoy remains in contact with member states of the West African regional bloc ECOWAS, stakeholders in Niger and other concerned parties in order to facilitate a swift and peaceful resolution to the crisis.

 U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths made a three-day visit to Myanmar this week, where he met with Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing. Griffiths called for expanded humanitarian access and increased funding to assist 18 million people in need of assistance across the country. U.N. aid operations are only 22% funded eight months into the year. Nearly 2 million people are displaced inside Myanmar. Griffiths traveled to Rakhine State, which is still coping with the impact from cyclone Mocha three months ago.

 The U.N. childrens agency says Congo is facing its worst cholera outbreak since 2017 with more than 31,000 suspected or confirmed cases. At least 230 deaths were recorded from January to July, many of them children. UNICEF says North Kivu is the most affected province. With more than 6.3 million people displaced across the country, many in overcrowded camps without sufficient clean water, humanitarians worry about it being fertile ground for the disease to spread. UNICEF is appealing for $62.5 million to scale up its prevention and response activities over the next five months. Ethiopia is also dealing with a large cholera outbreak in the Oromia, Sidama, SNNP and Somali regions, where more than 16,800 cases have been reported, including 212 cholera-related deaths.

Did you know?

The General Assembly designated Aug. 19 as World Humanitarian Day to honor the work and sacrifice of humanitarians. The date is in memory of the 22 U.N. staffers who were killed on that day in 2003 when their Baghdad compound was struck in a suicide truck bomb attack. This years theme is the importance, effectiveness and positive impact of humanitarian work. Aid workers carry out their duties in complex and often dangerous environments. So far this year, 62 humanitarian workers have been killed, 84 wounded and 34 kidnapped.
The United States has given the nod to allies Denmark and the Netherlands to send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, according to officials. It was not immediately clear when Ukraine might receive the jets, which it has been seeking for a long time to counter Russias air superiority.

In a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said: "We welcome Washington's decision to pave the way for sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine."

The U.S. must approve F-16 transactions because the jets are made in the United States. Despite the news, it was not immediately clear when Ukraine would receive the jets. Pilots must undergo extensive training before Ukraine can receive the jets.

Earlier Friday, Ukraine attempted to launch a drone attack on Moscow, but Russian forces downed the unmanned aerial vehicle.

After Russia shot down the drone, debris from the attack fell on Moscows Expo Center, a massive exhibitions space, located less than 7 kilometers from the Kremlin.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram that the wreckage from the drone fell near the Expo Center but "did not cause significant damage."

The British Defense Ministry said Friday in its daily update on Ukraine that Russia has published a new Russian history textbook for schools "in the occupied regions of Ukraine and throughout the Russian Federation," beginning in September. The ministry posted on X, that "Russias aim is to create a pro-Kremlin information space in the occupied regions in order to erode Ukrainian national identity."

Ukraine claimed Thursday that its counteroffensive had retaken parts of Russian-controlled land in the southeastern part of the country in a push beyond the newly liberated village of Urozhaine.

The advance is an attempted drive toward the Sea of Azov, an effort to split Russias occupying forces in half.

"In the direction south of Urozhaine, [Ukrainian troops] had success," military spokesman Andriy Kovaliov said on national television. He gave no more details.

Urozhaine, in the eastern Donetsk region, was the first village Kyiv said it had retaken since July 27 in what has proved to be a difficult, grinding warfare in heavily mined Russian-controlled territory.

Urozhaine lies just over 90 kilometers north of the Sea of Azov and about 100 kilometers west of Russian-held Donetsk city.

Vladimir Rogov, a Russia-installed official in parts of Zaporizhzhia controlled by Moscow, said Urozhaine and the neighboring village of Staromaiorske were not under Ukrainian control.

Drone footage, however, of the intense fight for Urozhaine, has emerged in which dozens of Russian troops can be seen fleeing to the villages south.

Russia controls nearly one-fifth of Ukraine, including the Crimean Peninsula it annexed in 2014, most of Luhansk region and large tracts of the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.

Kyiv says its counteroffensive is advancing more slowly than it had hoped for because of vast Russian minefields and heavily fortified Russian defensive lines.

Russian attacks on Ukrainian grain facilities

Ukrainian officials said Wednesday that Russia damaged grain infrastructure at a port in the Odesa region in southern Ukraine as part of an overnight drone attack.

Andriy Yermak, chief of staff for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on Telegram that the attack targeted the port of Reni on the Danube River.

Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper said on Telegram that the attack damaged warehouses and grain storage facilities at the port.

Kiper said there were no reported casualties from the attack, and that Ukraines air force had downed 11 Russian drones over Odesa. The Ukrainian military said its air defenses destroyed 13 drones overnight and that Russia had used Iranian-made Shahed drones to target Odesa and Mykolaiv.

Black Sea shipping

The Hong-Kong-flagged container ship Joseph Schulte left Ukraines port of Odesa on Wednesday.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said the vessel was the first to set off down a temporary Black Sea corridor that Ukraine established for civilian ships following Russias withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

The Joseph Schulte was carrying 30,000 metric tons of cargo, Kubrakov said. The vessel had been stuck in Odesa since Russian launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Russia has not said whether it will respect Ukraines shipping corridor. On Sunday, a Russian patrol ship fired warning shots at a vessel after what Russia said was a failure by the captain to respond to a request for an inspection.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
Planning is underway for a possible U.S. military evacuation from Niger, even though a top U.S. general says any final decision is still "weeks away."

The commander of U.S. Air Forces Europe and U.S. Air Forces Africa told reporters Friday his headquarters is preparing for a range of scenarios that could force some 1,100 U.S. troops to abandon two airbases that have been critical to U.S. counterterrorism efforts.

"We'll be ready if something happens," General James Hecker said during a virtual briefing with members of the Defense Writers Group.

"There's a lot of hypotheticals we can come up with why and if we should evacuate," he said. "We just have to be prepared for all of them  of course, we're hoping we use none."

U.S. officials have been warning for weeks that Washington could withdraw its support for Niger if military officials who deposed Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum last month fail to return him to power.

But despite such threats, the U.S. has refused so far to call the situation in Niger a coup  a designation that could have far ranging impacts on the current military partnership.

A coup designation "certainly changes what we'd be able to do in the region and how we'd be able to partner with the Nigerien military," Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters earlier this week.

"We've been very clear it certainly looks like an attempted coup," she said. "Niger is quite a critical partner to us in the region, and so we are hopeful that we can resolve this in a diplomatic way."

The U.S. currently has about 1,100 troops in Niger as part of a counterterrorism mission focused on al-Qaida and Islamic State group affiliates in the region.

Most of the troops are located at two air bases, Air Base 201 in the Nigerien city of Agadez, on the edge of the Sahara desert, and Air Base 101 in the capital of Niamey.

Air Base 201, a $110 million, U.S.-built facility, has been especially pivotal for the counterterrorism mission, conducting drone flights with MQ-9 Reapers since 2019.

Hecker, on Friday, called the planning for a possible evacuation from the two bases prudent and precautionary, adding that his teams have considered scenarios in which they are called upon to evacuate civilians and even the U.S. Embassy under duress.

Planning also is underway for possible alternative bases for U.S. air assets should they have to leave Niger.

"We will obviously look to some other allies in the west [of Africa] there that we could maybe partner up with and then move our assets there," Hecker said.

"We've just started looking at that  where we would like the base to be," he said in response to a question from VOA. "But more of that is going to be diplomatic through the State [Department] on where we decide to go."

At present, though, Hecker said there are few signs of tension between the Nigerien military and the U.S. troops on the ground.

"Right now, we're not going anywhere," he said. "Right now, there's not a need to go anywhere."

"That decision is not anywhere close to being made yet," Hecker added. "We have weeks, if not much longer, before our civilian leadership is going to give an order."
If mutinous soldiers who ousted Niger's President Mohamed Bazoum succeed, it will threaten democracy and security across the region and the continent, a high-ranking member of Bazoum's political party warned in an interview with The Associated Press.

Boubacar Sabo, deputy secretary general for the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism, said Bazoum had been "kidnapped" by members of the presidential guard who overthrew him on July 26 and have since kept him under house arrest.

"What is happening in Niger, if it succeeds, is the end of democracy in Africa. It's over. ... If we fight today, it is to prevent these kind of things from happening and to ensure a future for our continent," Sabo said Thursday.

In a region rife with coups, Niger was seen as one of the last democratic countries that Western nations could partner with to beat back a growing jihadi insurgency linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. The overthrow of the president nearly one month ago has been a big blow to the United States, France and other European nations, which have invested hundreds of millions of dollars of military assistance into training Niger's army and  in the case of the French  conducting joint military operations.

Since the military seized power, in what analysts and locals say was triggered by an internal struggle between Bazoum and the head of the presidential guard, Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, who says he's now in charge, it's been shoring up support among the population, exploiting grievances toward its former colonial ruler France and silencing opposers.

Sabo is one of the few openly outspoken critics of the junta still in the country and not in hiding.

Several ministers and high-ranking politicians are detained, with human rights groups saying they are unable to access them, while others have been threatened, he said. Sabo called the groundswell of support for the regime in the capital deceptive, because the junta was paying people to rally in its favor. Niamey was also never a stronghold for Bazoum and the junta is being opportunistic, he said.

Pro junta rallies happen almost daily with hundreds and sometimes thousands of people marching through the streets, honking cars and waving Nigerien and Russian flags and chanting "down with France." The junta has severed military agreements with France and asked Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group for help.

But although there was real frustration from political parties and civil society organizations toward Bazoum's party, including disagreements with its military alliance with France, it's unclear how much genuine support the junta has in the capital and across the country, Sahel experts say.

"While many of those protesters may support the transition, it is probably the case that a sizeable amount of them are present only for monetary reasons or out of curiosity and the thrill of being part of the crowd," said Adam Sandor, post-doctoral researcher at the University of Bayreuth.

The junta could face challenges with its support base across the country if it can't financially appease local elites and if the army continues to suffer losses from growing jihadi violence, he said.

Attacks by jihadis are increasing since the coup, with at least 17 soldiers killed and 20 injured earlier this week during an ambush by jihadis. It was the first major attack against Niger's army in six months.

Militants are taking advantage of a gap in support by France and the United States, which have both suspended military operations in the country, as well as Niger's distracted security forces, which are focusing on the capital and concerned about a potential invasion from regional countries, say conflict experts.

The West African regional bloc, ECOWAS has threatened to take military action if Niger doesn't release and reinstate Bazoum. It has activated a "standby" force and on Friday its defense chiefs are wrapping up a two-day meeting about next steps.

Meanwhile, in Niamey and across the country, a volunteer recruitment drive is expected Saturday where people can register to fight and help with other needs so the junta has a list in case it needs to call on people for help.

"We know that our army may be be less in terms of numbers than the armies (coming)," said Amsarou Bako, one of the organizers. "Those who are coming, they have information about our army," he said.
The World Health Organization has warned that a lack of funding and resources to support Afghanistan's health care system threatens millions of lives in a country ravaged by decades of instability and natural disasters.

Through its new alert launched Friday, the WHO urged the global community to help address the Afghan health crisis, saying "the consequences of inaction are catastrophic."

The WHO noted that unless investment is ramped up, 8 million Afghans will lose access to essential and potentially lifesaving health assistance, and 450,000 patients will have little to no access to lifesaving trauma care services.

Additionally, an estimated 1.6 million people with mental health conditions will have little to no access to mental health consultation and psychosocial support.

"The situation in Afghanistan is grave, and the lack of resources and funding to support health workers and facilities is putting countless lives at risk," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

"Women and children are suffering the most. I call on donors to give generously so that we can continue our lifesaving work," he urged.

The U.N. has appealed for $3.26 billion in humanitarian funding for Afghanistan this year but donors have given only about $800 million  less than 25% of the appeal  as of August 8. More than two-thirds of the country's estimated 40 million population need urgent assistance.

"The vulnerability of women and girls has further intensified, as they face increased obstacles in accessing healthcare due to the ban on education and workforce participation," the WHO noted Friday.

The hardline Taliban government, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, or IEA, has imposed sweeping restrictions on women's access to work and education since retaking control in August of 2021. It has also banned Afghan female staff of the United Nations and other aid groups from workplaces, undermining humanitarian operations nationwide.

ICRC program

Meanwhile, the Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross, or ICRC, is preparing to cease funding for more than 25 Afghan public hospitals by the end of August, citing worldwide funding difficulties.

The support, called the Hospital Resilience Program, was launched to respond to health care needs following the Taliban takeover, Cecilia Goin, the ICRC communication coordinator for the Afghan mission, told VOA.

She said when the ICRC introduced the program, the Afghan health care system almost had come to a "full stop" due to the lack of financial resources and significant administrative changes.

"It was an exceptional emergency measure taken by the organization to save the health care system from collapsing due to the financial crises that Afghanistan was experiencing at the time and because many development agencies and other organizations left the country, while the ICRC stayed," Goin explained.

The program's main goal was to allow Taliban authorities to organize themselves to take over their duties, Goin said.

"This support was never designed to last in time and it will come to an end. The financial difficulties the ICRC is facing worldwide have sped up, in transparency with IEA authorities, the expected return of the full responsibilities of the health services to the Ministry of Public Health," she said.

Goin vowed that the ICRC would monitor the situation, however, and she underscored that its health assistance to Afghanistan will continue to support critical programs. That includes rehabilitation support for people with disabilities and more than 46 primary health care clinics run by the Afghan Red Crescent Society, facilitating access to health care for 1 million people.
Firefighters worked to keep open the only route out of the capital of Canada's Northwest Territories as a wildfire moved closer to the city of 20,000 and residents rushed to beat a noon Friday deadline to evacuate.

Air tankers flew missions overnight to keep the highway out of Yellowknife open, and authorities were guiding a long caravan of motorists through fire zones, officials said. Meanwhile, a network of fire guards, sprinklers and water cannons was being established to try to protect the city from the fire, which had moved to within 15 kilometers.

Northwest winds combined with minimal rain were complicating efforts to slow the fire, which could reach the city limits by the weekend, emergency officials said. There was a chance of limited rain on Friday, but officials said it likely wouldn't be enough to help.

We're heading into a critical couple of days, said Shane Thompson, a government minister for the Territories.

Thousands of people have fled the fire, one of hundreds of wildfires raging in the Territories, driving hundreds of kilometers to safety or waiting in long lines for emergency flights, as the worst fire season on record in Canada showed no signs of easing.

Ten planes left Yellowknife with 1,500 passengers on Thursday, said Jennifer Young, director of corporate affairs for the Northwest Territories Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, adding that the agency hopes 22 flights would leave Friday with 1,800 more passengers.

Yellowknife Mayor Rebecca Alty said the fire didnt advance as much as expected on Thursday, but it is still coming, and heavy smoke that is expected to move in increases the urgency of evacuating while its still possible.

Alice Liske left Yellowknife by road with her six kids earlier this week because the air quality was so bad. She worried about how so many people would flee the city in such a short time.

Not only that, she said, but when we go back, what will be there for us?

Canada has seen a record number of wildfires this year  contributing to choking smoke in parts of the United States  with more than 5,700 fires burning more than 137,000 square kilometers (52,896 square miles) from one end of Canada to the other, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center.

As of Friday morning, more than 1,000 wildfires were burning across the country, over half of them out of control. Hundreds of kilometers to the south of Yellowknife, hundreds of properties were ordered to evacuate because of the threat from a wildfire near West Kelowna, British Columbia.

The evacuation of Yellowknife was by far the largest this year, said Ken McMullen, president of the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs and fire chief in Red Deer, Alberta.

It's one of those events where you need to get people out sooner rather than later because of the danger that the fire could block the only escape route even before reaching the community.

As people fled, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with his incident response group. He asked ministers to work to ensure communication services remained available and said there would be no tolerance for price gouging on flights or essential goods.

On Thursday, at the Big River Service Station about 300 kilometers (186 miles) south of Yellowknife, the line of vehicles waiting for fuel was phenomenal, employee Linda Croft said. You cant see the end of it.

Resident Angela Canning packed up her camper with important documents, family keepsakes and basic necessities as she prepared to leave with her two dogs, while her husband stayed behind as an essential worker.

Im really anxious, and Im scared. Im emotional. ... I'm in shock, she said. I dont know what Im coming home to or if Im coming home. Theres just so much unknown here.

The evacuation order issued Wednesday night applied to Yellowknife and the neighboring First Nations communities of Ndilo and Dettah. Indigenous communities have been hit hard by the wildfires, which threaten important cultural activities such as hunting, fishing and gathering native plants.

About 6,800 people in eight other communities in the territory have already been forced to evacuate their homes, including the small community of Enterprise, which was largely destroyed. Officials said everyone made it out alive.

A woman whose family evacuated the town of Hay River on Sunday told CBC that their vehicle began to melt as they drove through embers, the front window cracked, and the vehicle filled with smoke that made it difficult to see the road ahead.

I was obviously scared the tire was going to break, our car was going to catch on fire and then it went from just embers to full smoke, said Lisa Mundy, who was traveling with her husband and their 6-year-old and 18-month-old children. She said they called 911 after they drove into the ditch a couple of times.

She said her son kept saying: I dont want to die, mommy.
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Nelson Chamisa of the Citizens Coalition for Change recently told supporters at a rally in Victoria Falls that if elected next week, his administration will probe atrocities perpetrated by the previous government. (Video: Nokuthaba Dlamini)
With the growing impact of droughts caused by climate change and high food prices exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, food banks are emerging as a growing solution to hunger and poverty in Africa. Food Banking Kenya, distributed more than 500,000 kilograms of food last year to hungry families.
Conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley derided liberal Justice Janet Protasiewicz on Tuesday for not recusing herself from a redistricting case the court could take up, saying any decision in the case was predetermined and "rigged"  the same term Protasiewicz used to describe the state's current legislative maps.

Bradley's critique came in a lone dissent to an order from the court calling for the Wisconsin Elections Commission to respond to liberals' request for the high court to directly accept a lawsuit seeking to redraw the state's legislative maps.

In a blistering dissent to that order, Bradley called the case "predetermined" and pointed out the $10 million Protasiewicz received from the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, which Bradley called the "Democrat Party of Wisconsin."

Referring to the newfound 4-3 liberal majority, Bradley said, "These four justices will adopt new maps to shift power away from Republicans and bestow an electoral advantage for Democrat candidates, fulfilling one of Protasiewicz's many promises to the principal funder of her campaign."

Protasiewicz has said she would recuse herself from cases involving the state's Democratic Party, but the group isn't directly involved in either of the two cases seeking to redraw the state's legislative boundaries, which experts say are among the most gerrymandered in the country.

Republicans have repeatedly called for Protasiewicz to recuse herself from redistricting cases after calling the maps rigged on the campaign trail. Protasiewicz said she wouldn't recuse herself from redistricting cases.

"Entertaining these claims makes a mockery of our justice system, degrades this court as an institution, and showcases that justice is now for sale in Wisconsin," Bradley said. "'Rigged' is indeed an apt description  for this case."

Protasiewicz didn't respond to a request for comment.

In her dissent, Bradley references a U.S. Supreme Court case that found a judge had to recuse himself from a case because he received a $3 million donation from a litigant.

"The probability of actual bias on the part of the judge or decisionmaker is too high to be constitutionally tolerable," the court found.

Beyond calls for recusal, conservatives have repeatedly alleged Protasiewicz has violated a provision in the Wisconsin Code of Judicial Conduct that bars candidates from making pledges, promises, or commitments regarding issues, controversies or cases likely to come before the high court.

But a decision in a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court case, Republican Party of Minnesota v. White, disputed the validity of a similar prohibition in Minnesota. In that case, the U.S. Supreme Court found judicial candidates have a First Amendment right to announce their views on disputed legal and political issues.

We have never allowed the government to prohibit candidates from communicating relevant information to voters during an election, and we do not begin doing so today, former conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in that ruling.

Separately, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said he would consider impeaching Protasiewicz if she doesn't recuse herself from the redistricting cases.

"You cannot have a person who runs for the court prejudging a case and being open about it, and then acting on the case as if you're an impartial observer," he told a conservative WSAU radio host last week.

The Assembly can impeach an official with a majority vote "based on specific reasons: corrupt conduct in office or for the commission of a crime or misdemeanor, according to a Wisconsin Legislative Council memo.

After a meeting in early August to overhaul the Wisconsin Supreme Court's rules and procedures, the liberal justices announced the creation of a bipartisan task force to study the issue of recusal and present recommendations to the court. But it's unclear whether those recommendations would come before the conclusion of the redistricting and abortion cases that may come before the court.
I became fixated on this image: someone being mean to a little dog that is so full of love. Photo: Universal Pictures

Maybe you have big feelings about your mom, so youve been sobbing over Barbie. Maybe you have big feelings about being part of humanitys last chapter, so have been sobbing over Oppenheimer. But me? Ive been sobbing since March, when about ten seconds into the trailer for Strays, Will Fortes character throws a beer can at a plucky little terrier named Reggie. I became fixated on this image: someone being mean to a little dog that is so full of love. Like a parent checking under a childs bed for ghosts, I had to know that no dogs experienced sadness during the making of this film before I could move on with my life as an adult who does have a job.

What I learned over the course of multiple interviews with the films animal trainers was simple: More movies should be about dogs. A dog-centric feature like Strays, which follows a neglected terrier on his journey to try to get back to the owner who hates him, almost requires a set to be full of good, happy vibes, because dogs simply wont perform under duress. Or as Strayss head trainer, Mark Forbes, puts it, I cant give the dogs a bigger paycheck; it has to be fun for them or theyre not going to do it. His team at Birds & Animals Unlimited has worked for decades on animal-starring films like the Ace Ventura series and the 1996 live-action 101 Dalmatians, and he is adamant that the key to working with animals is for the entire crew to help create a comfortable environment. For dogs, this means being patient and not letting things get too scary or loud or cold. When youre making a movie where many scenes only star dogs, this becomes all the more imperative.

Reggie, the main terrier in question, was played by a plucky little gender-bending girl dog named Sophie (if at any point you see Reggie with a penis or balls, those were added in post.) She was trained by and lives with Mathilde de Cagny, a Paris-born trainer now located in Los Angeles who has been working with dogs for 38 years. She assured me that Sophie has the brave, stout heart of a terrier and was unfazed by things like thrown beer cans or Will Fortes presence. De Cagny described the process of filming the scenes where Forte is cruel to Reggie as one of acclimation and careful editing: Forte would sit next to Sophie as he ran his lines, slowly increasing the volume of his voice for the dialogue that needed to be shouted while offering Sophie treats. For moments when he had to be too loud, Sophie simply wouldnt be there and theyd edit shots of her in later.

But the scenes with Forte were not even close to the most challenging for the trainers and their dogs. That honor went to shots that required the dogs themselves to work together. (The cast included not only the four star dogs, Elsa, Sophie, Benny, and Dahlin, but also their doubles and stand-ins, as well as other canine co-stars that appear throughout the film.) Each dog had 70 commands to learn and perform, often in close proximity to each other, which was not Sophies favorite thing. As she is a rare only-child dog  she was born with no siblings  shes especially reactive to the presence of dogs she doesnt know. She barks really loud, de Cagny told me. So she scares everybody. Once she got the chance to sniff out new arrivals, like when one of the other three main dogs had their double swapped in, de Cagny said she was quick to accept them and the group became such a pack.

Photo: Chuck Zlotnick/Universal Studio

In contrast, Sophies co-star Benny  the Boston terrier that played Bug, a streetwise stray who agrees to show Reggie the ropes  was described to me by his trainer and owner, April Mackin, as just, well, a little guy. Benny is very sensitive and he can get his feelings hurt really fast, Mackin told me over Zoom as Benny sat perfectly still right next to her in his own chair, like a true professional. Though the production filmed in Atlanta, the fall weather necessitated he wear sweaters and lie on a heating pad between takes. He was also sometimes overwhelmed by Sophies brashness. In a scene almost every trainer brought up as the hardest to pull off, all four of the dogs dig a hole under a fence together. One shot required Benny to rush toward Sophie; she barked loudly enough at him that Benny declined to do it again, and his double, a much less shy Boston terrier named Fly, had to step in. Fly took over again for the scene in which Bug gets scooped up by a hawk. The production fitted Benny with a custom harness they could use against a green screen, but it ended up being so comfortable that he didnt wriggle at all, making it look like he was perfectly fine being carried to his doom. Fly was able to deliver a more active performance, to the filmmakers relief.

Often, a star dog acts as the face of its character by sitting still for close-ups, while its double is better at executing certain actions. That said, Dahlin, the Great Dane that plays Hunter, a therapy dog who is forever in a cone, was almost cut from certain scenes entirely due to his desire to run around and play instead of standing on his mark. Kristy Gerosky, who trained Dahlin and his double, Ike, explained that Danes take a while to grow up and they do not know they are big dogs. This is also why they scare easily, she says. One day on set, somebody had their beagle puppy, and the puppy barked at Ike and he cowered away, like, Oh, thats going to get me. She said Dahlin shared Bennys reservations about the digging scene, due to one of the other dogs looking at him funny. But he otherwise relished attention from humans. Ike would be like, Why is everyone looking at me? This isnt good, whereas Dahlin is like, Yeah, youre looking at me. Im cool. Im cute. Of course youre looking at me.

One dog no one had any concerns about at all was an Australian shepherd named Elsa, the Meryl Streep of this movie. She plays Maggie, a frustrated Aussie whose owner has all but replaced her with a more Instagram-friendly Chihuahua, and comes from a background in film and theater, having worked at the Universal Animal Actors show at Universal Studios in Florida. Since her usual trainer, Tammy Blackburn, needed to help with Sophies performance, Elsa agreed to follow direction from head trainer Forbes himself  to an extent. Shes pretty sure that shes in charge, not only of me but of the other dogs, Forbes said. If she ever reacted to the other dogs, it was more like, Guys, come on. Lets go. Get your stuff together, because shes done her homework, shes on the line, shes waiting, shes ready to go. The Danes in particular became the subject of some of her frustrations, the Ronald Weasley to her Hermione, if you will. She was the girl in the class that sat in the front row, had her hand up, knew every answer, he added. That was Elsa.

Toward the end of our conversation, I asked Forbes about how industry shutdowns, like those happening due to the double strike or during the height of COVID, affect his canine performers. Do they miss going to set? Absolutely, he answered without hesitation. They want to go every day. So in the end, my worst fears are a reality: Many dogs are actually sad, not about being in the movie Strays, but because they cannot go to work right now to do fun tricks for treats. We already knew there was a massive human cost to this industry-wide shutdown, but now that theres a dog cost? Bob Iger, open your wallet.
Photo: Erika Doss/Prime Video

Since season one of The Summer I Turned Pretty, the fans have been conditioned to focus on one relationship. Well, two, actually  the love triangle between Belly (played by Lola Tung), Conrad (played by Christopher Briney), and Jeremiah (played by Gavin Casalegno). But citizens of Fandomville, USA, have had enough. After a season of pining between Steven (played by Sean Kaufman) and Taylor (played by Rain Spencer), the characters finally made their gushy proclamations of love to each other in the finale. In the book, there is no relationship between Steven and Taylor beyond a flashback where they kiss, as reflected in season one of the show, so the slow burn was a huge, welcome surprise to viewers. And now, the people are dissenting against the propaganda that President Jenny Han has been spreading and speaking their truths  Steven and Taylor (Staylor, if youre so inclined to use ship names in 2023 ) were the best couple this season.

taylor confessing her feelings after so many years and steven with the fear of losing her reflected in his eyes, the true leading couple of the season #TheSummerITurnedPretty

pic.twitter.com/B7JRJCTVSZ  mili  (@milistilinski) August 18, 2023

This whole season has had the slow burn between this couple in the background, with Steven performing the most man-in-love act of attempting to crowd-surf (unsuccessfully) to impress his crush, the Party in the U.S.A. dance, the (again) very male thing of asserting dominance for love by fighting her boyfriend, slow-dancing to Frank Ocean, bringing her roses because shes a (bad) bitch. And now, theyve made it official. I mean, it was pretty official when he let her use his car and remembered her middle name. Theyre an It couple and that bar is in hell. Season three of the series was confirmed on August 3, but production has been delayed due to the ongoing writers and actors strikes. We know that Steven will be off at Princeton, but hopefully the long-distance relationship wont deprive audiences from more Staylor content. While Conrad continues to pine for Jeremiahs new girlfriend, Belly, Steven and Taylor will be communicating their feelings in a healthy, effective way. Get well soon.
Billions Original Sin Season 7 Episode 2 Editors Rating 3 stars * * *  Previous Next  Previous Episode Next Episode  Photo: Patrick Harbron/Patrick Harbron/SHOWTIME

Were still a long way off from figuring out what Wendy Rhoades did to cause Mike Prince to break stuff last week.

By the end of Original Sin, the initial delight of seeing Wendy and the old Axe Cap gang practically skip off into the London night had faded into a portrait of gloom. Not surprisingly, an utterly dejected Rebel Alliance  Wendy, Wags, and Taylor  returned to the United States, as Axe refused their plea to help them bring down Mike Prince.

There was no way Axe was going to let anyone lure him back into the fold so easily, but the real tell that hes got something huge up his sleeve was his bonkers advice to his departing colleagues: Help Prince get elected to the presidency. Axe may present as a new, Zen version of himself, but hes also clearly still licking his wounds  which means hes plotting something massive against his sworn enemy. So, my early prediction is he needs Prince to become president as part of his own secret takedown plan.

Whatever Axe ends up doing, Im all in, because even in his relaxed, English county-squire mode, Damian Lewiss return is just the shot in the arm Billions swan song needed. Ive said it before: This is not Corey Stolls fault, but Mike Prince is not a compelling character. Bobby Axelrod is. Also not helping matters is Princes intentional lack of chemistry with his colleagues. The Axe scenes arent great because Damian Lewis is in them  theyre great because the characters of Axe, Wendy, Wags, and Taylor are all fantastic scene partners.

Original Sin also saw Chuck Rhoades slither his way back into his old job  no, not New York State attorney general  the one from *checks notes* seasons one to three: U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. He arrived there via typical Rhoades-ian underhanded scheming, which means it was entertaining, even though weve seen it all before. He, too, undoubtedly has a plan of his own to destroy Mike Prince, so now the new question is, who will succeed in this goal? Chuck? Axe? Dave Mahar? The fledgling Rebel Alliance?

Its too soon to tell with ten episodes left.

So Wendy, Wags, and Taylor visit Axes new home base in the English countryside, where he now lives and works in a Downton Abbeysize castle. Axe Global is a modest operation, with chip-off-the-old block Gordie Axelrod heading up Daddys block-chain division. Though the new shop isnt as lean and mean as Axe insists: Hes already doubled the $2 billion he started with. Everyone is impressed, but they overdo it on the flattery, and Axe calls bullshit: You guys are laying this on thicker than a Carol Kaye bass line. Understandably, hes wary of their unannounced visit, and accuses them of gathering intel for Prince. Its not until Wendy, Wags, and Taylor sit down with him individually that Axe accepts they really do need his help.

On the other side of the pond, Chuck is busy getting the charges against him dismissed, which he does rather quickly thanks to last weeks public-opinion shift. Poor Dave Mahar ends up the real loser in this story, though. First, the judge who dismisses Chucks case harshly reprimands her, then Chuck, going full asshole, insults her by calling her job, a job he previously held a handful of months earlier, bush league.

Meanwhile, Mike Prince spends the episode courting a hotshot campaign manager named Bradford Luke. Luke is unlike anyone Prince has ever met because hes the one person who isnt champing at the bit to work with him. He criticizes every other sentence out of Princes mouth and voices concern over the billionaires decision to run as an independent. In short, Prince needs to impress Luke, not the other way around, and even then, theres no guarantee this James Carville protege will take the job.

And as it turns out, Luke putting Michael Prince Capital through the wringer with profitable and ethical investments was just a red herring. (On Billions?? Never!) The real test of Princes presidential mettle comes later in the episode when its time for Luke to do a deep dive into Princes very open marriage.

But first, lets unpack Chucks scheme-of-the-week, because its a fun one. Chuck meets with his longtime friend and colleague Solicitor General Adam DeGiulio at the Dead Rabbit. Just a friendly drink? Not where Chuck Rhoades is concerned. Guy wants a favor, and this time, its for DeGiulio to ask the president to give him his SDNY job back. When DeGiulio warns him hell will likely freeze over before the president agrees to this kind of ask, Chuck goes to plan B, which entails visiting a federal prison.

Hey! Its former attorney general Waylon Jock Jeffcoat! The guy who got Chuck fired from SDNY in the first place! Hes been doing hard time since the end of season four, courtesy of a Chuck-and-pals-staged entrapment, but Chucks willing to let bygones be bygones if Jock agrees to his terms. Both Chuck and Jock can redeem their besmirched names if Jock publicly admits that he was wrong to have Chuck fired. As soon as Chuck is reinstated at his old job, hell have Jock released.

I have lost count of how many times Chuck has made some version of this pitch, but at least the Billions writers also seem to know how overused this tactic is. Clancy Browns 30-second-long belly laugh felt more like a stand-in for the fatigued Billions audience here than anything else.

Continuing Billions seven-season-long tour of New Yorks best eateries and watering holes, Chuck then sits down to a steak dinner with DeGiulio at Peter Lugers. It turns out plan B was just part of plan A: As soon as DeGiulio informs Chuck that the president refused his request to return to SDNY, like clockwork, Chucks minion, Karl Allard, walks over with a laptop. On the laptop is a video of Jock, in his prison cell, doing exactly what Chuck asked  saying, on the record, that he wrongly fired Charles Rhoades Jr. from his SDNY job.

A flabbergasted DeGiulio (come on, man, how many times has Chuck pulled this kind of shit?) is dying to know how Chuck made this happen. Apparently, all it took was a gorgeous new pair of black leather cowboy boots gifted by Chuck himself. That and, Im assuming, assurance that Jocks loving commentary would be for DeGiulios eyes only.

See, over at Karls table, are a couple of coexecutive producers from 48 Hours (or so were led to believe) who are quite interested in blasting this video of a contrite Jock all over CBS. Its ultimatum time! Either DeGiulio can go back to the president and beg him to reinstate Chuck, or the president can look like a fool for not doing so in the first place after the 48 Hours episode airs.

The ruse works: Within hours, Chuck receives a call from the president, and its safe to say the Jock footage never made it to air.

Back in England, Wendy, Wags, and Taylor each make their hard sells to Axe over fireside chats and glasses of Michters. For the most part, each one appeals to Axes penchant for holding grudges: How could he possibly stand back and watch Mike Prince destroy the business Axe spent years building from the ground up (and more than a few dishonest schemes along the way)?

But Axes final answer is, It aint me, babe. Its not that he thinks his friends are wrong about Prince  hes just too bitter over past losses and doesnt want to put himself in another vulnerable position. Plus, hes got a better idea: Why not have Wendy, Wags, and Taylor stick around and join Axe Global? Yes, its a pretty sweet offer, but Wags and Taylor have some even sweeter arguments against hiding away in the land of warm beer and no air-conditioning:

Taylor: All the money in the world isnt worth a world where Mike Prince is president.

Wags: Foreign citizenship is meaningless if the U.S. government goes to shit.

Which brings me back to Axes head-scratching parting words: Advising his pals to help Prince get elected. (Wendys WTF? expression is simply golden.) It feels like a clue to something hes got cooking 

Before Prince can even run, though, he and his wife, Andy, need to put on the performance of their lives for Bradford Luke. That is, prove theyre a traditional married couple. Not easy when theyre desperately trying to make the bathroom at Princes Manhattan mansion look lived-in by two people  and need Molly to have sex.

Even though Andy and Prince come clean early on to Luke about living apart, he isnt fooled by their lovey-dovey act for one second. It also doesnt take Luke long to deduce that all of Andys beauty products in the medicine cabinet are brand-new. The bottom line is, Luke heard a whisper that Andy and Princes marriage was an open one, and now its confirmed. And that means if Mr. and Mrs. Prince want to live in the White House, they need to ride the monogamy train to get there.

Never mind Lukes double standard here: The American people cant accept a first couple with an arrangement? One could argue you cant even run for president in this country without at least one sex scandal.

This scene is a blast from the moment Luke confronts Andy and Prince about their unconventional marriage. The best touch was how Corey Stoll immediately removes his arm from around Piper Perabos shoulders after theyre caught. But nothing compares to their joint Im counting faces: Luke asks them to create lists on their respective phones of all their sexual partners over the last five years. The way they racked their brains for names was straight out of Samantha Joness playbook.

Looks like that was everything Bradford Luke needed to join the Prince campaign: In front of the American flag and a picture-perfect group of diverse supporters, Mike Prince announces his candidacy for president  with his smiling wife by his side. Its a frightening image.

Just in time for Chuck to stroll back into his former office at SDNY with his own plans to save the free world.

Now I really need to know what Axe is plotting 

Loose Change

 Nice Easter egg in Jock Jeffcoats prison cell: Jocks bedtime reading includes a copy of Stephen Kings Different Seasons, which includes the novella The Shawshank Redemption. Clancy Brown played sadistic prison-guard captain Byron Hadley in the movie version.
Role Call Role Call is a series in which Vulture talks to actors about performances theyve probably forgotten by now, but we definitely havent. On how a young Chicago comedian found herself under an umbrella with Harrison Ford talking liver samples and how not to look stupid on camera. Photo-Illustration: Vulture

Harrison Ford is top-billed in the opening credits of The Fugitive. Jane Lynch isnt listed at all. And yet, certain fans still approach her about her two minutes of screentime  much of it spent in a white lab coat talking liver tissue samples  opposite the erstwhile Indiana Jones. Its kind of a thing, she says. It has to be people who love movies. Real film buffs. Because it is a great movie, and it did well. People still watch it, and its still celebrated.

Thats because The Fugitive is loaded with smart performances, sharp dialogue and propulsive, old-school action set pieces. Ford plays Dr. Richard Kimble, a Chicago surgeon convicted of murdering his beautiful wife (Sela Ward). After a heart-stopping train-meets-bus-crash, he goes on the lam, and Tommy Lee Joness U.S. Marshal and his team search every gas station, residence, warehouse, farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse, and doghouse in the area to find him. (You just read that sentence in Joness Texan snarl, didnt you?).

Released August 6, 1993, The Fugitive arrived as a bit of a summer movie afterthought in the wake of blockbusters Jurassic Park, The Firm, Sleepless in Seattle, In the Line of Fire, and Cliffhanger. It wasnt even the only big-screen adaptation of a 1960s TV series that season. (Dennis the Menace, anyone?) But the clever cat-and-mouse interplay between Ford and Jones proved to be irresistible. Not only did the movie end up as the second-highest grosser of the year, it scored a Best Picture nomination  a true rarity for a mainstream action movie. (Jones won in the Supporting Actor category.)

Lynch was a Chicago-area comedy improv star when she got tapped to play Dr. Kathy Wahlund. But for claritys sake  her full name is never referenced  lets just refer to her as the tall blonde in the lab who assists Kimble, her beleaguered former colleague. Indeed, though she only appears in a few scenes, she provides Dr. Kimble with a crucial piece of information that enables him to figure out whos actually responsible for the vicious crime. Its not a big role but it had a plot point, Lynch says. A lot of the other local hires in the movie just played a cop and said a couple lines.

The actress, of course, has gone on to enjoy a big career with a slew of memorable performances in everything from Best in Show to The 40-Year-Old Virgin to Glee and Party Down. Shes also been hosting NBCs revival of The Weakest Link since 2020. Before the SAG-AFTRA strike, Lynch gave winning answers about the movie that started it all.

How does a Chicago comedy star end up in The Fugitive? There must be a good story.

It was a surprise to me. I was doing The Real Live Brady Bunch at the Annoyance Theater, which was this crazy thing where we acted out episodes of The Brady Bunch onstage. I played Carol Brady. And I got a call from my agent who said, You have this offer to be in The Fugitive. And I was like, What?! I knew it was coming through town. This agent couldnt even get me an audition! And Andy  Oh, God, the director. Whats his name?

Andrew Davis directed the movie.

Yeah, yeah. Andy Davis. I actually just saw him at the airport! And his assistant who turned out to be his producer had seen the show and told him, Hey, you could cast this person. He had never met me to play this role, which, in keeping with most roles that I got early in my career, was written for a guy  I think, Im not positive. And so he hired me. I remember I made $8000. I almost dropped when she told me that. That was a lot of money!

Was The Fugitive production a much-to-do around town?

It was a huge deal. A production would only come into town once in a while, but when it happened, there were always calls for local hires. There was Vice Versa with Judge Reinhold before that, and I had a small part in that too. The Blues Brothers was before my time.

As a seasoned stage actress, did you have lofty big-screen aspirations?

Oh, yes. Everybody wanted the brass ring. I mean, there were a few people who said they didnt care about it, but you knew they really did care. Like, Yeah, I dont want to go to Hollywood. Id rather stay here in Chicago! I never trusted that. I was doing commercial auditions and booked a few. I was starting to do voiceover work. I was probably making a living at that point. I know I had stopped temping.

Did you know in advance that youd be sharing a key scene with Harrison Ford?

I have no idea if it was a surprise to me. I dont know if I even read the script in advance. You know, in those days, it was just, Hey, you got the part. I think thats how it went down. All I know is that Im jumping up and down because Im going to be in this movie.

Julianne Moore is in the movie too, and surely you know her role was cut down from whats in the original script.

And Im sure you know the story? Ill tell you what I know.

Wasnt she going to be Kimbles love interest?

Right, and then they decided not to give him a love interest. They thought it was more powerful if he was grieving for his wife the whole time. Thats what motivated him. She was the love of his life. They did not want him to have any dalliances so the story would be purely about this destroyed man who was now being fingered for her murder. I think that made it a much more intense and compelling and emotional story for him.

Was your role bigger as well?

Its pretty much to scale. But I was cut from the scene in the beginning. Theres a big party in the ballroom, and I had a quick thing where I walked up to Richard and said a few words and my character was introduced.

So the first time we see you, youre being interrogated by two U.S. Marshals. But not Tommy Lee Jones.

I think I was in a scene with him. I remember working with him. But maybe it was cut.

Trust me, you have no scenes with him.

Okay, then it was cut too because I did meet him and I do remember rehearsing and running through something with him.

Who was more intimidating: Tommy Lee Jones or Harrison Ford?

Ummm  Tommy Lee Jones. Theyre both kind of gruff but Harrison Ford was really nice to me. I was young and there was a scene between the two of us that he wasnt happy with because of the writing. It was a rainy day. He said, Jane and I are gonna figure this out. And he grabbed my arm, and he put an umbrella over both of us. We went to his trailer and worked on the lines together. And then we came back and did the scene.

Was it the scene when youre looking at liver tissue samples under a microscope?

Yeah, that one! And he added the line, Kath, you beaut.

Didnt he also give you some advice?

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. We were both shocked as we were looking at whatever was in the liver sample. And my mouth was agape and he said, A little acting advice: No matter how smart you are, if your mouth hangs open like that youre stupid. He was being funny but its very true. Unless you want to look really shocked or stupid, you cant drop your jaw like that. I thought it was great, great advice.

Were you treated well on set or did they keep you ensconced in that little lab?

No, no, no, no. Come on. I had a trailer too! Theyre called Honeywagons, and they were for the supporting cast. Its not like we were extras and they put us in a big room. No offense to extras. But were actors. We had a place to hang out, and you talked with the other actors. They dont just bring them in later into the scene because theyre stars and youre not! Were all equal. If youre speaking a line, youre an actor. Youre getting your makeup and hair done with them. You work with the same wardrobe people. But I know Harrison had a Gulf Stream trailer situation.

Did you think the movie was going to be a hit?

I had zero thoughts about any of that. Zero. Youre just in a little bubble and then you get to burst out of it one day and work with Harrison Ford. Youre not looking at the reviews. Youre not thinking, Oh my God, am I in the trailer? Not at all.

Why not?

It wasnt about that for us. Well, Ill speak for myself. I was just about tending to my little career. That meant everything to me.

Were you invited to the premiere?

No, no. But I went to a screening for the local cast and crew at Pipers Alley Mall in Chicago. It was so exciting. I wasnt a creature of the business at that time so I sat back with my popcorn and watched the movie, and then I came up on the screen and I was like, Ahhhh! And Im checking myself out and then you go back to the movie.

Chicago is a true character in it. Can you confirm if the St. Patricks Day parade is really that big of a deal?

Ive never been! I think it is. But I know that they do dye the river green. That was a great scene.

So The Fugitive turns out to be this box-office smash and gets nominated for Best Picture. How did it impact you professionally?

This is the first Ive heard that it was nominated for Best Picture. I did not know that. I did move to Los Angeles right as it came out to meet with people. This was back in the day when youd send out postcards with your headshot on it. So I wrote, Watch me solve the mystery of the liver sample with Harrison Ford in The Fugitive, and had these cards printed out and sent to all the casting directors. I ended up meeting a lot of them and getting auditions. But I dont think I got a role just based on what I did in the movie. I doubt that.

The Fugitive was a rare non-comedy for you. Did you think about taking a more dramatic acting route?

Youre asking me about questions and thoughts Ive never had! I never consciously wanted to be a particular kind of actor. I just wanted to audition and was happy to get the next job. But now Im older. I no longer have that white-hot hunger. Thats been over for quite a while.

Have you run into Harrison Ford or Tommy Lee Jones in the ensuing years?

I have not seen either of them. But Ive seen [Fords wife] Calista Flockhart a few times. Shes said to me, Oh, he spoke of you, and I said, I speak of him, and Ill say, Give my best to Harrison.

And what are the fan interactions like? Do they even realize youre in it?

I dont get it a lot, but I still get it. Its not like Vice Versa. I mean, nobody knows me from Vice Versa. God bless it, but it didnt stand the test of time.

Then why do you think The Fugitive still holds up?

Oh, its a masterful film. The acting is brilliant and the suspense is just so crazy-high and Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones together are amazing. I love when theyre, like, at the water factory or a dam and Tommy Lee Jones is right about to catch him. And Harrison Ford yells, I didnt kill my wife! And Tommy Lee Jones goes, I dont care! He doesnt care! Hes got a job to do and bring in this fugitive. He doesnt care!

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Patrick J. Pespas and Sam Lipman-Stern are not your typical documentarians, and Telemarketers is all the more powerful for it. Photo: HBO

Cop widows and cancer survivors, paralyzed veterans and retired firemen, dying childrens wishes and brave police under siege: In Telemarketers, nearly all the organizations for which boiler rooms of callers raised millions of dollars in donations were either mostly deceitful or totally fake, nonprofits exaggerating their needs and pocketing the money. Anyone can fill out the paperwork to be a 501(c)(3) and start scamming people, and over its raucous, rough-around-the-edges, and compulsively watchable three episodes, Telemarketers explains the ease of that fraud via the people who were hired to enact the scheme. But anyone can also pick up a camera and ask questions, and Telemarketers uses its own scrappy employ of those methods to equalize the world of investigation as much as it reveals the corruption of the industry that inspired it.

Directed by Adam Bhala Lough and Sam Lipman-Stern, Telemarketers (airing on HBO Sunday nights through August 27) follows Lipman-Stern and his close friend and former colleague Patrick J. Pespas as they team up to investigate their one-time employer, the telemarketing company Civic Development Group. Were the nonprofits CDG had them calling for legitimate, and were the tactics CDG instructed them to use ethical? Telemarketers begins with those queries, which are complemented by Lipman-Sterns contemporaneous footage, produced when he was recording everything going down in CDGs sprawling mass of cubicles in New Brunswick, New Jersey. It was a big, dysfunctional family, is how one of his co-workers describes their team, and the first episode of Telemarketers operates like a rapidly paced crash course on how Lipman-Stern, Pespas, and the other CDG employees ended up in this place, calling dozens of people to reach the daily $200 donation minimum.

Initially, Lipman-Sterns camera  which he got in order to film me and my scumbag friends being little pieces of shit  is always running because the ninth-grade dropout wanted to document all the pranks, goofiness, and illegality going on at CDG, the only job he could get. Pespas doing heroin at work and then successfully closing a call is as disquieting as it is impressive; people drinking and smoking, flirting and dealing drugs, and giving each other stick-and-poke tattoos are all on-the-clock activities. Its all very Workaholics, with co-workers who have nowhere else to go forming tight relationships through a shared grind and a common jadedness. (It makes complete sense that Telemarketers is produced by the Safdie brothers, whose Uncut Gems proved their sense for larger-than-life characters, and Rough House Pictures, which has made its name crafting stories about little-seen corners of America.) CDG didnt care what you did as long as you raised money, as Lipman-Stern, Pespas, and other former employees explain in footage from the early 2000s and recently conducted talking-head interviews, and that laissez-faire attitude is eventually what inspires Lipman-Stern and Pespas to look more critically at what they were doing, and who they were doing it for. We gotta take em down from the inside, they decide, and that declaration becomes a guiding motivation as they try to unravel CDGs business practices  and realize that the companys strongest, most potentially dangerous allies are the police.

Telemarketers arrives at a time when workers around the country are unionizing or striking, from writers and actors in New York City and Los Angeles to food-service workers in Las Vegas and nurses in New Jersey. So the docuseries villainous portrayal of police unions is, read reductively, an against-the-tide move. But its also a needed one, a lens on the disproportionate amount of power and influence groups like the Fraternal Order of Police and the International Union of Police Associations wield, and a reminder that their untouchability is highly atypical: No other workers in this country get the same reflexive respect and intrinsic benefit of the doubt. Lipman-Stern drives that point home through interviews with an anonymous telemarketing executive who talks about scamming $82,000 from one donor who drained his retirement account to support what he thought was a public good and emails from police unions urging telemarketing companies to use years-old stories of officers killed on the job to ramp up donations.

Telemarketers digs into that grittier stuff in its second and third episodes, once Lipman-Stern and Pespas move on from CDG and, through a network of sources and some vigorous internet research, start piecing together how the industry works  or doesnt. The series pairs their fish-out-of-water vibe with some structurally smart choices to keep us immersed even as Lipman-Stern hits various dead ends, including its use of episodic cliffhangers, the way it integrates Lipman-Sterns narration and exposition, and its centering of the hyperearnest Pespas, who has a wonderfully prescient antiGeorge W. Bush rant in an early clip. Its most effective move is tracking how the filmmakers go from bewildered and baffled as they start poking around CDG to willful, fervid, and just a little bit paranoid as they realize the Goliath theyre staring down. At the same time, Telemarketers isnt always what we would think of as professional. Pespas is an uneven interviewer, and hes sometimes so excited about being the main front-of-camera person that he forgets hes not the entire story; Lipman-Sterns father has to remind him about public-information laws and walk him through how to access some of the nonprofits legal documents.

But those little stumbles raise all kinds of meta questions about what we want from documentaries in the first place: Do we want rawness and personal investment, or slickness and journalistic detachment? Which approach, subjectivity or objectivity, makes for a more engrossing and meaningful final product? Telemarketers lets those questions about form and function become more explicit, and vital, as the series approaches an ending that feels relatively abrupt following such absurd money-making plots and such unbelievable characters (including a convicted murderer who, after failing to secure donations, quite frighteningly describes elaborate ways he hopes those people die). Before then, however, Telemarketers takes to heart an old journalism mantra about there being value in people documenting what they see and experience every day in order to understand it, and an idea shared with filmmaker James Cameron  that picking up a camera and shooting the world around you isnt some rarified act. Theyre keeping tabs on you, America! Pespas says in the early-aughts footage, and Telemarketers leaves us with the directive that we should be keeping tabs on the America around us, too.

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Rome police investigate major jewellery heist.

The central Rome penthouse of an Italian princess was broken into on Wednesday by thieves who escaped with a trove of jewellery and valuables worth an estimated 2 million.

The afternoon robbery occurred at the Via Cavour residence of Princess Vittoria Odescalchi, reports Rome newspaper Il Messaggero.

The thieves got inside the apartment after forcing open French doors on a terrace with views of the Colosseum and Piazza Venezia.

There was nobody at home at the time of the robbery and the break-in was reportedly faciliated by the absence of an alarm.

The criminals broke into a safe and stole its precious contents, much of it historic and unique pieces of jewellery, as well as ransacking the apartment before making their getaway.

Police have launched an investigation into the professional-style robbery which occurred in the days around Italy's Ferragosto holiday when many Rome residents are currently out of town.

Forensic police have carried out an examination of the crime scene and officers are studying CCTV from surrounding streets in an attempt to identify the thieves.
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More than a million species face potential demise in what might be the biggest extinction event since an asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs. Yet efforts to enlist private capital in the fight to protect the Earths biodiversity have barely gotten off the ground. One obvious model is the financial infrastructure thats developed around the related goal of combating climate change, which has drawn in billions of dollars in investments. Doing the same for biodiversity faces steeper obstacles. Carbon dioxide can be measured, priced and traded. But how do you value a swamp or a newly discovered frog that pollinates flowers? Challenges in the market were highlighted in August, when a so-called debt-for-nature swap by Gabon failed to win over some investors.

1. What is biodiversity?

The variety of species within a region. Wherever robust populations of many forms of life swarm in and around each other  think tropical rainforests and coral reefs  they reinforce the ecosystems stability. By contrast, an area dominated by a narrower group becomes more vulnerable to sudden change if environmental conditions change. Thats one reason biodiversity and climate change are seen by scientists as intertwined crises. When tropical rain forests are burnt to expand farmland, species-rich habitats are destroyed and carbon dioxide released; in the years that follow, more frequent and intense wildfires tear through the degraded forests, destroying habitats further and releasing even more CO2.

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2. How is it in danger?

As the number of humans roughly doubled between 1970 and 2022, our growing demand for food, fuel and cleared land reduced the combined populations of other vertebrate species by 69%, according to the Living Planet Index, a project of the World Wildlife Fund and the Zoological Society of London. The projection that a million species might die off, some within decades, was made by a United Nations scientific panel estimating that 10% of insect species and 25% of other plants and animals are in danger. Such a vast erosion of biodiversity poses a threat to the natural processes on which much of society is based. The World Bank has estimated that damage to the so-called natural services supported by biodiversity, like pollination of crops, water filtration and maintenance of fishing stocks, could reduce economic activity in 2030 by as much as $2.7 trillion a year, an amount close to the gross domestic product of France.

3. Whats being done?

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At a 2022 UN conference in Montreal, more than 190 countries and the European Union reached a sweeping agreement including what was called the 30x30 pledge: that by 2030 they would put in place programs to protect 30% of the worlds land and oceans (up from 17% and 10% considered already protected, respectively) and repair 30% of degraded habitats. The final agreement, which, like the Paris Agreement on climate, isnt legally binding, calls for reducing subsidies for agriculture, fishing and fossil-fuel use that encourage large-scale destruction of habitats. The US did not sign the agreement, because it never ratified the UN treaty that was the basis of the talks, but President Joe Biden issued an executive order setting a similar set of goals. Wealthier nations also agreed that by 2030 they would raise at least $30 billion a year for a new biodiversity fund, while working to boost overall investment and spending from public and private sources to at least $200 billion a year.

4. How have investors reacted?

Biodiversity has become a hot topic in global finance, with asset managers trying to replicate what has been built up in climate investing over the past 15 years. At the Montreal conference, over 150 financial institutions with more than $24 trillion in assets backed a plan to require companies to report on their risks, dependencies and impacts on biodiversity. Another group of investors with a combined $3 trillion in funds launched a campaign to put pressure on 100 companies with a significant impact on habitats.

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5. Whats the appeal of biodiversity investing?

Climate-related investing, and the broader movement known as ESG (environmental, social and governance related investing), has become a huge and profitable business for fund managers, with total assets of more than $2.7 trillion. While there is much debate over the actual impact of ESG investing, companies that are seen as better positioned for the shift to a greener economy are attractive to many investors.

6. Whats involved?

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Banks and international agencies have proposed or introduced new financing mechanisms, including:

 Green bonds, the proceeds of which are allocated to specific environmental projects, and blue bonds for marine conservation work. The World Bank and Credit Suisse even issued a rhino bond, raising $150 million to fund the protection of black rhinos in South Africa.

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 Debt-for-nature swaps that typically help a country to cut its debts in return for allocating savings to environmental projects. Because only some of the proceeds are allocated to those projects, some deals, like a $364 million swap in Belize financed by blue bonds, have drawn the ire of analysts who consider the label misleading. Meanwhile some investors walked away from a $500 million swap in Gabon  the first in Africa  as it failed to generate any real debt savings for the country. Barbados and Ecuador are other countries to have secured such deals.

 Biodiversity credits, also known as biocredits or nature credits representing a unit of biodiversity improvement or protection. Theyre designed to be tradable much as carbon credits are, but bought by companies to offset damage theyve caused or as a positive contribution to nature projects. Offsets have gained a mixed reputation in climate finance as the benefits of many are overstated.

 Natural capital or biodiversity-focused funds targeting investments in companies seen as doing more than most to limit their impacts, or as providing solutions to the biodiversity crisis, like vegan meat makers or carbon offset developers.

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7. What are the obstacles?

A big one is the lack of clear metrics of the kind that have been developed for climate-related investing. A number of nonprofits and industry task forces are working on developing them while the EU in November approved new rules for companies doing business in the bloc requiring disclosures about their impact on biodiversity loss and related ecosystem conditions.

 The final text of the global framework agreed to at the UNs 2022 summit on biodiversity.

 The WWFs 2022 Living Planet Report, which includes the Living Planet Index.

 A report from the Paulson Institute on financing for biodiversity protection.

 A study by the World Economic Forum on the economic impact of the degradation of natural systems.

 The BloombergNEF Biodiversity Finance Factbook: 1H 2023 Edition. (Terminal subscribers only.)

(An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified the World Wildlife Fund)

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
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Billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra and his family have dominated Thai elections for much of the past two decades. A royalist establishment made up of army generals, judges and senior civil servants sees the clan as a threat to its political power and the Shinawatras were ejected from office twice in military coups. The intense rivalry is returning to the fore after opposition parties, including one linked to Thaksin, prevailed in a May election. With the countrys various factions negotiating deals to form a new government, Thaksin is preparing to return to Thailand after 15 years of self-imposed exile. The move is likely to exacerbate the political instability thats eroding investor confidence in Southeast Asias second-biggest economy.

1. Who are the Shinawatras?

Descendants of a Chinese immigrant who married a Thai woman in the late 19th century, the Shinawatras are Thailands most prominent political dynasty, with two of its members occupying the countrys top political office at different times in the last 22 years. The 74-year-old Thaksin has been a polarizing but enduring figure in the nations politics since he first became prime minister in 2001. A landslide victory for his Thai Rak Thai Party in 2005 won him a second term in office, which ended abruptly a year later in a military coup. Thaksin left Thailand in 2008 to avoid corruption charges he said were politically motivated. His sister Yingluck faced a similar fate after her Pheu Thai Party won an election in 2011 and made her Thailands first female prime minister. She was ousted by judicial order in 2014 and weeks later her government was toppled in yet another coup. In May this year, after almost nine years of military-backed rule, Thaksins youngest daughter, 36-year-old Paetongtarn, ran for prime minister. Pheu Thai came second in the vote, behind the progressive Move Forward Party thats popular among young and urban voters.

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2. How did the Shinawatras make their fortune?

Thaksin has portrayed himself as a self-made man from rural origins, but the family was already relatively wealthy when he was growing up. The origin of their fortune was a silk business his ancestors established in the north of the country in the early 20th century. During a 14-year career in the police force, Thaksin started dabbling in silk retail, cinemas, real estate and computer leasing  with little success  before striking rich in the technology boom of the 1980s and 1990s. His head start in the computer business and his political connections allowed him to snap up government concessions to operate paging and mobile phone services, cable TV subscriptions, data networks, card phones and satellites. At the height of his success, his Shin Corporation, now called Intouch Holdings, owned Thai mobile operator Advanced Info Service and satellite firm Shin Satellite (now Thaicom). Shin Corp was sold to Singapore state investment firm Temasek Holdings Pte in 2006. Today, Shinawatra family members including Thaksins ex-wife and three children  Panthongtae, Pintongta, and Paetongtarn  hold majority or controlling interests in companies spanning real estate to healthcare and hospitality. Some of those firms are listed on the Thai stock exchange, including property developer SC Asset, run by Thaksins son-in-law Nuttaphong Kunakornwong.

3. Why does the Thai establishment dislike the Shinawatras?

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The Shinawatras electoral and financial clout makes them a formidable rival to the traditional elite thats dominated Thailands powerful state institutions since the era of absolute monarchy ended in 1932. Thaksins entrepreneurial success and his credo of personal ambition and dignity echoed the American Dream and resonated with many ordinary Thais who had grown discontented with the paternalistic style of previous political leaders. While many wealthier, well-educated and city-dwelling Thais accused Thaksin of cronyism, reckless populism and corruption, he enjoyed wide support among poorer and working-class voters in the countrys north and northeast who made up the majority of the Thai electorate and benefited from his big-ticket economic programs that came to be known as Thaksinomics. The groundswell of support for Thaksin was seen by the establishment as a threat to the countrys social hierarchy, in which the monarchy is perceived to sit at the top.

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4. Why are the Shinawatras still popular?

In the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Thaksin spent heavily on grassroots measures designed to stimulate domestic demand such as debt moratorium plans for farmers, low-cost housing projects and loans for small and medium-sized enterprises. His flagship universal healthcare initiative of 2002 revolutionized access for poor people to medical care and has benefited millions of Thais two decades later. Its gold card is held by 47 million Thais, or 70% of the population. The loyalty this inspired among less affluent voters helped political parties linked to Thaksin to win the most parliamentary seats in four successive elections between 2001 and 2019, only for them to be dissolved by the constitutional court or removed from power by force. Thaksins supporters formed the pro-democracy Red Shirt movement in 2007 to protest against his removal, and often clashed with the rival royalist Yellow Shirt group that sought to eradicate the Shinawatras from Thai politics.

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5. Why did Thaksin and Yingluck go into exile?

Opponents accused Thaksin of abusing his power to benefit his familys business interests. The sales of the Shinawatras majority stakes in Shin Corp to a foreign company were seen as the final straw, and mass protests by the Yellow Shirts eventually led to his downfall. Thaksin claimed assassination attempts were made against him before and after the 2006 coup, making him fear for his safety if he remained in Thailand. His then-wife Pojamarn Damapong was sentenced to jail for tax evasion linked to a transfer of Shin Corp shares, and Thaksin decided to flee in 2008 to avoid corruption charges. Hes spent the intervening years shuttling between Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai and London, and been found guilty in absentia in four graft cases. The offenses included illegally concealing shares in Shin Corp and conflicts of interest over a state bank loan to Myanmar that benefited Shin Satellite. Thaksin risks 10 years in prison if he returns to Thailand. Yingluck fled in 2017 and a court later sentenced her to five years in prison for criminal negligence in a rice subsidy program that cost the state billions of dollars.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
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The move is one of several joint efforts that the leaders are expected to announce at the daylong summit, as the three countries look to tighten security and economic ties amid increasing concerns about North Korea's persistent nuclear threats and Chinese provocations in the Pacific.

Kishida, before departing Tokyo on Thursday, told reporters the summit would be a historic occasion to bolster trilateral strategic cooperation with Seoul and Washington.

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I believe it is extremely meaningful to hold a Japan-U.S.-South Korea summit where leaders of the three countries gather just as the security environment surrounding Japan is increasingly severe, he said.

Before it even began, the summit drew harsh public criticism from the Chinese government.

The international community has its own judgment as to who is creating contradictions and increasing tensions, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters at a daily briefing Friday.

Attempts to form various exclusive groups and cliques and to bring bloc confrontation into the Asia-Pacific region are unpopular and will definitely spark vigilance and opposition in the countries of the region, Wang said.

The duty to consult pledge is intended to acknowledge that the three countries share fundamentally interlinked security environments and that a threat to one of the nations is a threat to all, according to a senior Biden administration official. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the coming announcement.

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Under the pledge, the three countries agree to consult, share information and align their messaging with each other in the face of a threat or crisis, the official said. The commitment does not infringe on each countrys right to defend itself under international law, nor does it alter existing bilateral treaty commitments between the U.S. and Japan and the U.S. and South Korea, the official added. The United States has more than 80,000 troops based between the two countries.

The summit is the first Biden has held during his presidency at the storied Camp David.

The retreat 65 miles (104.6 kilometers) from the White House was where President Jimmy Carter brought together Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in September 1978 for talks that established a framework for a historic peace treaty between Israel and Egypt in March 1979. In the midst of World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met at the retreat  then known as Shangri-La  to plan the Italian campaign that would knock Benito Mussolini out of the war.

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Bidens focus for the gathering is to nudge the United States' two closest Asian allies to further tighten security and economic cooperation with each other. The historic rivals have been divided by differing views of World War II history and Japans colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

But under Kishida and Yoon, the two countries have begun a rapprochement as the two conservative leaders grapple with shared security challenges posed by North Korea and China. Both leaders have been unnerved by the stepped-up cadence of North Koreas ballistic missile tests and Chinese military exercises near Taiwan, the self-ruled island that is claimed by Beijing as part of its territory, and other aggressive action.

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Yoon proposed an initiative in March to resolve disputes stemming from compensation for wartime Korean forced laborers. He announced that South Korea would use its own funds to compensate Koreans enslaved by Japanese companies before the end of World War II.

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Yoon also traveled to Tokyo that month for talks with Kishida, the first such visit by a South Korean president in more than 12 years. Kishida reciprocated with a visit to Seoul in May and expressed sympathy for the suffering of Korean forced laborers during Japans colonial rule,

The leaders are also expected to detail in their summit communique plans to invest in technology for a three-way crisis hotline and offer an update on progress the countries have made on sharing early-warning data on missile launches by North Korea.

Other announcements expected to come out of the summit include plans to expand military cooperation on ballistic defenses and make the summit an annual event.

The White House has billed the gathering of the three leaders at the rustic retreat in the Catoctin Mountains as a historic moment in the relationship and an opportunity for South Korea and Japan to move beyond decades of antagonism.

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The leaders are also likely to discuss the long-running territorial conflicts in the disputed South China Sea involving China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei.

Earlier this month, the Philippine government summoned Chinas ambassador and presented a strongly worded diplomatic protest over the Chinese coast guards use of water cannons in a confrontation with Philippine vessels in the South China Sea.

The tense hours-long standoff occurred near Second Thomas Shoal, which has been occupied for decades by Philippine forces stationed onboard a rusting, grounded navy ship. But it is also claimed by China.

Ambassador Rahm Emanuel, Bidens envoy to Japan, said the administration is in part looking to counter what he calls Beijings bullying tactics and its confidence that Washington cant get its two most important Pacific allies  Japan and South Korea  to get along.

Our message is were a permanent Pacific power and presence and you can bet long on America, Emanuel said at a Brookings Institution event focused on the summit. Chinas message: Were the rising power, theyre declining. Either get in line or youre gonna get the Philippine treatment. 

___

Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed reporting.
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BANGKOK  Thai authorities said Thursday they have seized more than a ton of pangolin scales worth over 50 million baht ($1.4 million) that are believed to have been headed out of the country through a land border. Are you on Telegram? Subscribe to our channel for the latest updates on Russias war in Ukraine. ArrowRight The scales that cover a type of anteater were found Wednesday night in the northeastern province of Kalasin, and apparently were meant to be transported out through Mukdahan province, which shares a border with Laos, Thai police said at a news conference in Bangkok on Thursday.

Two male suspects, who were on a truck with the scales, were arrested and charged with the illegal possession of carcasses of protected animals, according to Ariyapol Sinsorn, the deputy chief of the Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Division. The two men confessed to the charges, he said.

The pangolin scales, which have an estimated price of around 40,000 baht ($1,129) per kilogram, are suspected to have been brought from Malaysia to Thailand, to be transported to Laos. From there, it was apparently headed for sale to clients in China, said Kamnuan Chan-anan, a regional deputy chief of the environmental crime division. He said a further investigation is being conducted to determine the route of transport.

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The scales, displayed during the news conference in Bangkok on Thursday, were dried and contained in fertilizer sacks bearing a Chinese character and different numbers. The authorities said they suspect the numbers are used for marking the quality of the scales.

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The amount of scales is estimated to come from at least 3,000-4,000 dead pangolins, wildlife protection official Prasert Sonsatahpornkul said, adding that the scales will be tested to find out the species of the pangolins.

Pangolins are endangered and it is illegal to trade them. The animals scales are used in traditional Chinese medicine and contain keratin, a protein also found in rhino horn, though there is no scientific proof that they provide any medicinal value. Pangolin meat is considered a delicacy in Vietnam and some parts of China.

Demand for pangolin scales and meat has led to rampant poaching that is decimating populations across Asia.

In 2017, the authorities revealed two major operations that successfully busted about three tons of pangolin scales and more than 100 live pangolins in Thailand.
Offshore work on Woodsides Scarborough gas project has been hit with legal action over consultation with Indigenous people similar to a move that derailed Santos Barossa project a year ago.

Late on Thursday, Woodside was served notice of a Federal Court action to have approval granted in July to conduct seismic testing for the $18.7 billion project off Western Australia declared invalid due to lack of consultation with a traditional custodian of the area.

Raelene Cooper, a Mardudhunera woman, wants an end to industrial development near the Murujuga rock art in the Pilbara. Credit: Woop Woop Pictures

In September 2022, drilling for the Barossa gas export project north of Darwin was stopped as the Federal Court found operator Santos insufficiently consulted some Tiwi Islanders.

In December, the full Federal Court rejected an appeal by Santos and enshrined in law a much wider definition of a relevant person who must be consulted before an environment plan is submitted for approval.
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 There are many things yet to be revealed about the tragic mushroom-lunch deaths in Leongatha. But the one near-certainty about the case that has gripped the nation is that someone is already turning their mind to how, when, and in what form it can be told as a TV drama. Are there producers already working out ways to pitch it? ponders Rick Maier, head of drama and executive production at Network Ten. Very probably. This mushroom story  its really interesting, says screenwriter Justin Monjo, who has more experience than just about anyone else in the country in crafting TV drama from true-life stories. I suspect people are following the events in Leongatha really closely, says Nines head of drama, Andy Ryan. Its a tragedy, make no mistake, and its gripped the imagination, but its still unfolding. Death cap mushrooms are believed to have been the cause of death of three people in Leongatha. Credit: iStock And that, all three agree, makes it almost impossible to tell as drama  for now, at least. Great stories ripped from the headlines are the stuff of Australian TV drama, and fall roughly into three buckets: the biopic (Molly, Brock, Olivia); the major cultural event (Beaconsfield, Bodyline or Heroes Mountain, about the 1997 Thredbo landslide); or true crime.

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Theres a good chance this weeks story about the four surfing mates who became lost at sea is on some TV executives under-consideration list already, and a dramatised telling of the 2021 abduction of Cleo Smith might have been pitched too (though the roasting former WA Premier Mark McGowan received for suggesting such a thing the day she was safely recovered may be a deterrent for any broadcaster inclined to consider it). Many true stories that have captivated the nation lend themselves to dramatisation, whether it be for their extraordinary nature, intriguing characters, contemporary relevance or the emotional and visceral connection we have towards them, says Sevens head of drama, Julie McGauran. Lincoln Younes as John Ibrahim in Last King of the Cross. But it is true crime that has consistently been the most popular with audiences and programmers alike, giving us Informer 3838, The Last King of the Cross, Australian Gangster, the Melissa Caddick miniseries Underbelly Vanishing Act and so many more in the past few years alone. Audiences love it, says Monjo of the true crime genre. And networks love it because it has a built-in audience, and you can promote it, and thats what theyre always looking for in TV, some sort of built-in audience that they can guarantee. True stories have the added value of market awareness, agrees Maier. That can be very important in a crowded space. But true stories also involve real people, and that comes with significant risk, both moral and legal.

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As a producer, telling these stories with sensitivity and respect is always front of mind, says McGauran. You have to be acutely aware that real people are going to be swept up in the story youre telling, adds Nines Ryan. You have to treat that with respect and integrity. Where the subject is true crime, there can be major issues around subjudice, depending on the stage of the legal process a case is at. Nine (which owns this masthead) ran into major issues with its original Underbelly series back in 2008 while more recently Seven had to delay Australian Gangster by a couple of years as a result of delays in a case coming to trial. Sometimes the risk can come from a minor character who is far from the centre of the narrative. Youve got to be really careful about the third spear carrier from the left, says Ryan. Thats the one you dont see coming, and thats the one who will stitch you up. Instagangster: Alexander Bertrand (centre) as Pasquale Barbaro in Australian Gangster. Credit: Seven All of these factors will no doubt come into play if and when someone does try to dramatise the mushroom story. But to even begin that process, a producer (or producers  it is in the nature of these things that multiple versions often rush into production at the same time, though not all will see the light of day) will need to secure the life story rights of a player in the drama. In the case of a true crime story  and it is by no means yet clear if that is what the Leongatha case is  that might mean a victim, a survivor or a detective involved in it. That will offer the production a point of view, vitally important in attempting to frame a complex story.

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But how soon is too soon to tell a story like this? Nine came in for heavy criticism for rushing its biopic Warnie into production less than a year after Shane Warnes death. But its streaming stablemate Stan also copped some blowback on social media over Bali 2002, which aired 20 years after the terrorist attacks that left 202 people, including 88 Australians, dead. And it was 25 years between the Port Arthur massacre and Justin Kurzels movie Nitram. For some people, no amount of time is sufficient to allow some stories to be dramatised. Saskia Archer, Elizabeth Cullen, Sophia Forrest and Sri Ayu Jati Kartika in a scene from Bali 2002. Credit: Tony Mott/Stan But if there is no hard and fast answer to the how soon is too soon question, everyone spoken to for this story was of the view that the events in Leongatha are simply not translatable yet. Its not a story because at this point no one knows what really happened, even though it has a lot of people engaged and interested, says Maier. Could it be told safely? Maybe, once the facts are known. Could it be told advantageously? Maybe, but maybe never. I could write a fictional story about it today, says Monjo. But, you know, whatever the outcome is, three people have died and another has been made very sick. Thats real. Whatever conclusions people might have drawn, the woman at the centre of the story still has the right to be presumed innocent. If criminal charges are eventually laid, the possibility of dramatising the story becomes more real. But if they are not, it becomes far more distant, because the risk remains that charges might be laid at some point down the track, which would make screening any drama highly problematic.

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Even if all the pieces do fall into place to allow the story to be told, the question remains: should it? I dont buy into the publics-right-to-know argument  this is drama, not journalism, says Tens Maier. But I do understand that if something is written about, tweeted about, podcasted about and generally well covered in other media theres a reasonable view that it can be dramatised, providing you feel there is a story worth telling that may add some insight. Loading That said, if a story doesnt help us understand the human condition, or elevate discussion, then you may stop and question if it needs to be told at all. Nines Ryan says a big news story may help with the marketing of a related drama, but theres no point in just serving up the story people already know, we have to give them some greater insight. Research is critical, says Monjo, to try to understand the story in all its complexity. That might mean speaking with the key players  in the mushroom case, that could include the ex-husband and the woman herself  because to tell a true story well you need to tell it with as much fidelity to the facts as possible. Often you get people who say, Oh, were doing a drama, were not doing a documentary. And I go, Well, were not doing a drama  were doing a dramatisation of a real event, and we have to respect that as much as we can.

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Ben Roberts-Smiths key supporters at Seven West Media, including billionaire Kerry Stokes, are attempting to overturn a court decision forcing them to hand over documents showing their involvement in the former soldiers failed defamation case against Nine-owned newspapers.

The Federal Court on Friday heard that Seven West Media chairman Stokes, Seven Network commercial director Bruce McWilliam and others are seeking leave to appeal against a decision by Justice Anthony Besanko requiring them to reveal to Nine their communications with either or both Roberts-Smith and his lawyers about the defamation case.

Seven West Media chairman Kerry Stokes is one of Ben Roberts-Smiths key supporters. Credit: Trevor Collens

Roberts-Smiths employer at the time, Seven Network, funded the former Special Air Service soldiers case against The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age under a loan agreement from 2018, before Stokes private company, Australian Capital Equity, took over the loan on June 24, 2020, and paid out his existing debt to Seven.

Nine, the owner of the mastheads, is ultimately seeking a court order forcing ACE, and potentially also the Seven Network, to pay the costs of the defamation litigation. The combined costs are estimated at $25 million.
Advocates for the so-called progressive No vote on the Voice referendum are putting lives at risk, says a senior figure at the Central Land Council, pointing to the urgent needs of remote Aboriginal communities.

While the Yes and No cases have largely drawn support from the traditional left and right, respectively, some figures on the left, notably Senator Lidia Thorpe, have advocated a No vote on the looming referendum on grounds including that other measures, such as a treaty, should come first.

Central Land Council executive director of policy Josie Douglas says the Voice is the mechanism for achieving what many people in remote communities want.

Josie Douglas, a Wardaman woman and executive director of policy at the democratically elected council, said there was no such thing as a progressive No vote.

History wont distinguish between a progressive No or a hard, conservative No, Douglas told this masthead.
A little over 30 years ago, melodic guitar outfit Greenhouse was making a name for itself in Melbournes alternative music scene and looked set for bigger things.

But then, in the early 1990s, a wave of grunge music led by Nirvana came and wiped the band out, singer Michael Robinson said.

Greenhouse this week: Lisa Gibbs (front) and from left: Matthew Sigley, Michael Robinson, Johnny Helmer, Alex Jarvis and Craig Mitchell at Forum Melbourne, where they will support Happy Mondays in October. Credit: Simon Schluter

Greenhouse had released three singles, supported international acts including Concrete Blonde and was being courted by record labels such as EMI and Chrysalis, Robinson said.

But then the industry flipped. No one was interested in the bands sound.
When Bob Phillips first enters a hotel room, he heads straight for the shower. Years of touring have taught the Detroit-based comedian to inspect the bathing apparatus in advance. If he skips this step, he could end up soaked and scalded, or even worse, unwashed and ill-humoured right before a performance.

That is the number-one priority when Im staying at a downtown hotel or something thats a little more upscale, Phillips said before a recent Chicago gig. I know better than to try to take a shower an hour before a show, because sometimes I need more time to figure out the mechanics of it.

In terms of guest challenges, showers are up there with adjusting your rooms temperamental air-conditioning unit and extinguishing its Milky Way of lights. Credit: iStock

Any traveller who has stared down an intimidating hotel shower system with Hydra heads and snaking limbs can relate. A few years ago on Twitter, Phillips summed up the experience in a GIF of a raccoon frolicking in a lawn sprinkler. More recently, he tweeted an image of Britains new king with the tagline, When you figure out the hotel shower on the first try.

Charles was looking very self-satisfied and I thought, well, what would I have to do to look like that? he said.
Washington: The names and addresses of grand jury members involved in the Donald Trump election probe in Georgia have been leaked online, prompting police to investigate threats against them, the local sheriffs office said.

Our investigators are working closely with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to track down the origin of threats in Fulton County and other jurisdictions, the Fulton County Sheriffs Office said in a statement on Thursday.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. Credit: AP

Posts on social media of the purported names and addresses of the Fulton County grand jury were tracked by Advance Democracy, a non-profit research organisation whose president, Dan Jones, is a former FBI investigator and staffer for the Senate Intelligence Committee.

The organisation also found posts employing violent rhetoric against Fani Willis, the Fulton County district attorney who oversaw the more-than-two-year investigation of a suspected scheme by the former president and 18 others to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Rio de Janeiro: A Brazilian hacker has testified at a congressional hearing that then-president Jair Bolsonaro wanted him to hack into the countrys electronic voting system to expose alleged weaknesses ahead of the 2022 presidential election.

Walter Delgatti Neto did not provide any evidence for his claim to the parliamentary commission of inquiry on Friday (AEST). But his detailed testimony raises new allegations against the former president, who is being investigated for his role in the January 8 riots in the capital, Brasilia.

Hacker Walter Delgatti Neto gestures while testifying before a Brazilian Congress enquiry into the January 8 riots in the capital Brasilia. Credit: Reuters

Delgatti told the hearing he met in person with Bolsonaro for between 90 minutes and two hours at the presidential residence on August 10, 2022. He said he told the far-right leader he could not hack into the electronic voting machines because they werent connected to the internet.

Bolsonaros lawyers said in a statement they would take judicial action against Delgatti, who they accused of bringing false information and allegations, without any evidence.
China claims virtually the entire South China Sea as its own, denying the claims of others and defying an international ruling invalidating its assertion.

The work on Triton Island in the Paracel group mirrors construction on seven human-made islands in the Spratly group to the east which have been equipped with airstrips, docks and military systems, although it currently appears to be somewhat more modest in scale.

China appears to be constructing an airstrip on a disputed South China Sea island that is also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan, according to satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press.

Satellite photos from Planet Labs PBC analyzed by the AP show construction on the airstrip first visible in early August. The runway, as currently laid out, would be more than 600 meters long, long enough to accommodate turboprop aircraft and drones, but not fighter jets or bombers.

Also visible are large numbers of vehicle tracks running across much of the island, along with what appear to be containers and construction equipment.

Triton is one of the major islands in the Paracel group, which is roughly equidistant from the coast of Vietnam and China's island province of Hainan.

The U.S. takes no stance on the sovereignty claims, but regularly sends Navy ships on "freedom of navigation operations" near the Chinese-held islands. Triton was the focus of one of those missions in 2018.

China has had a small harbor and buildings on the island for years, along with a helipad and radar arrays. Two large fields on the island sport a star from the Chinese flag and a hammer and sickle representing the ruling Communist Party.

China has refused to provide details of its island construction work other than to say it is aimed at helping global navigation safety. It has rejected accusations that it is militarizing the crucial waterway, through which an estimated $5 trillion in trade passes annually, and says it has the right to do as it wishes in its sovereign territory.

China seized full control of the Paracels from Vietnam in a brief 1974 naval conflict.
Today

Partly sunny, very warm, and more humid; spotty late shower or t-storm possible, especially north, however most remain dry.

Tonight

Partly to mostly cloudy. There might be a stray early shower or t-storm but most should stay dry. It will turn less humid overnight.

Tomorrow

Morning clouds giving way to plenty of sunshine by the afternoon. It will be cooler and much less humid again.
NIAMEY, Niger (AP)  Eleven West African nations have agreed to commit troops to a military deployment aimed at restoring Nigers democratically elected president following last months coup, an official for the regional bloc said Friday after a defense ministers meeting.

The ECOWAS bloc previously announced its intention to deploy a force to reinstate President Mohamed Bazoum, who has been under house arrest since he was overthrown by members of the presidential guard July 26. But the 15-member bloc had not detailed which countries would join, nor has it said when the force might enter Niger.

On Friday, the ECOWAS commissioner for peace and security, Abdel-Fatau Musah, said 11 countries have committed to the deployment.

We are ready to go anytime the order is given," Musah said in the Ghana capital, Accra, following two days of meetings there. Our troops are ready to respond to the call of duty of the region."

The 11 countries don't include Niger itself and the bloc's three other countries under military rule following coups: Guinea, Mali and Burkina Faso. The latter two have warned they would consider any intervention in Niger an act of war.

Musah indicated that ECOWAS is not yet giving up on engaging with Niger's coup leaders, who already have ignored a deadline to reinstate Bazoum and have not been receptive to negotiations on restoring his rule. Musah said an ECOWAS delegation may visit Niger on Saturday to try to pursue further dialogue with the Niger junta.

We can stand down the military option; it is not our preferred option. But we are obliged to do it because of the intransigence of the regime and the obstacles theyve been putting in the way of a negotiated settlement, Musah said.

Meanwhile, a high-ranking member of Bazoum's political party warned in an interview with The Associated Press that if the mutinous soldiers who ousted Bazoum succeed, it will threaten democracy and security across the region and the continent,

What is happening in Niger, if it succeeds, is the end of democracy in Africa. Its over. ... If we fight today, it is to prevent these kind of things from happening and to ensure a future for our continent, Sabo said on Thursday. Sabo is deputy secretary general of Bazoum's Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism.

In a region rife with coups, Niger was seen as one of the last democratic countries that Western nations could partner with to beat back a growing jihadi insurgency linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. The overthrow of the president nearly one month ago has been a big blow to the United States, France and other European nations, which have invested hundreds of millions of dollars of military assistance into training Niger's army and  in the case of the French  conducting joint military operations.

Analysts and locals say the coup was triggered by an internal struggle between Bazoum and the head of the presidential guard, Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, who says he's now in charge. Since then, the junta has been shoring up support among the population, exploiting grievances toward Niger's former colonial ruler, France, and silencing opposers.

Sabo is one of the few openly outspoken critics of the junta still in the country and not in hiding.

Several ministers and high-ranking politicians are detained, with human rights groups saying they are unable to access them, while others have been threatened, he said. Sabo called the groundswell of support for the regime in the capital deceptive, because the junta was paying people to rally in its favor. Niamey also was never a stronghold for Bazoum and the junta is being opportunistic, he said.

Pro junta rallies happen almost daily with hundreds and sometimes thousands of people marching through the streets, honking cars and waving Nigerien and Russian flags and chanting down with France. The junta has severed military agreements with France and asked Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group for help.

But although there was real frustration from political parties and civil society organizations toward Bazoum's party, including disagreements with its military alliance with France, it's unclear how much genuine support the junta has in the capital and across the country, Sahel experts say.

The junta could face challenges with its support base across the country if it can't financially appease local elites and if the army continues to suffer losses from growing jihadi violence, said Adam Sandor, post-doctoral researcher at the University of Bayreuth.

Attacks by jihadis are increasing since the coup, with at least 17 soldiers killed and 20 injured earlier this week during an ambush by jihadis. It was the first major attack against Nigers army in six months.

Militants are taking advantage of a gap in support by France and the United States, which have both suspended military operations in the country, as well as Nigers distracted security forces, which are focusing on the capital and concerned about a potential invasion from regional countries, say conflict experts.

Meanwhile, in Niamey and across the country, a volunteer recruitment drive is expected Saturday where people can register to fight and help with other needs so the junta has a list in case it needs to call on people for help.

We know that our army may be be less in terms of numbers than the armies (coming), said Amsarou Bako, one of the organizers. Those who are coming, they have information about our army, he said.

Residents of the capital are struggling to cope with the financial impact caused by the coup. Not only have the severe economic and travel sanctions made it hard for people to access their money and for shop owners to import food, the crisis has also forced hundreds of foreigners to leave, which has impacted local businesses.

I used to have all kind of customers here, Americans, French, Italians, said Mamoudou Idrissa a restaurant owner. But now many foreigners have left and those who remain are afraid to go out, he said. Only Nigerien citizens come here now to eat."

-

Associated Press journalist Francis Kokutse in Accra, Ghana, contributed to this report.
FLEETWOOD, Pa.  People in Fleetwood are leaving their mark on a piece of art that will remain in the borough long after its 150th anniversary celebration.

That mark, specifically, is a thumbprint.

Anyone walking by could leave their thumbprints on a tiger statue at Fleetwood bank Thursday afternoon.

The tiger will be on display on Main Street once it's finished.

An employee says the bank wanted to do something to honor the community as it marks a milestone.

"How can we make our tiger something we can involve our whole community, since this is 150 years of Fleetwood?" said Angela Cremer, assistant vice president, marketing officer, for Fleetwood Bank. "And being that we're the only local community bank here in Berks County, we're always looking to ways to strengthen our ties with the community, so what better way."

A Kutztown University student who lives in Fleetwood painted the tiger.

"I think it went great," said Kara Galeassi, the artist. "I'm really excited to see how many people come out from the community and get their fingerprint on it."

The base of the statue comes from the same company that made the Boyertown bear and West Reading frog statues.

Organizers say the tiger statue will be in Fleetwood for years to come.
EASTON, Pa.  Carroll Engineering Corp., one of the region's largest civil engineering and surveying firms, has announced the opening of its new office in Easton, Northampton County.

The office will be located at 101 Larry Holmes Drive, Suite 201, Carroll said in a press release Friday.

In a statement, Carroll President Thomas A. Gockowski emphasized the new office's potential to help his company further relationships with clients.

"Easton's vibrant community is a perfect fit for our growth trajectory," Gockowski said. "This new office not only brings us closer to our clients in the region but also allows us to be an active participant in the community's development."

Carroll currently employs professional engineers and staff at offices in Bucks, Chester and Montgomery counties in Pennsylvania, as well as Somerset County, New Jersey.
Authorities arrested three people from New York in connection with two separate scams in our region. Pennsylvania's Attorney General says the busts should serve as a new warning about the lengths people are going to, to steal from older Pennsylvanians.

Attorney General Michelle Henry, in an announcement Thursday, says her office worked with State Police on the arrests.

Now, the officials are warning older Pennsylvanians particularly to beware.

David Kalinoski is Associate State Director for AARP Pennsylvania. He explains why older generations tend to be targeted by scammers.

"Seniors have more disposable income, many of them, and they're not maybe as up to date with some of the technology," Kalinoski said.

"A Publisher's Clearinghouse ruse," according to the A.G., cost one Montgomery County resident $130,000.

"Very often when there's sweepstakes-scams," Kalinoski said, "people are asked to pay a certain fee for it. A certain percentage, maybe."

Kalinoski says scammers often ask for gift cards because they're mostly not traceable. And according to the A.G., that's exactly how this victim lost that money.

"Once money is used up, it's gone," Kalinoski said. "You know, kiss it goodbye, basically."

According to Publisher's Clearing House's website, the company "would NEVER ask for money to claim a prize." So..."DON'T! It's a SCAM."

In a second, separate ploy, someone in Lehigh County saw a pop-up ad on a screen, claiming to be from an anti-virus company, and asking for $15,000 for the supposed "anti-virus" program.

Kalinoski says clicking on a pop-up like that can invite scammers who offer to fix the problem.

"And say, you know, I can fix it, give me some of your bank account information," Kalinoski said.

Luckily that Lehigh County case was interrupted by law enforcement. Undercover agents intervened during the cash exchange in a grocery store parking lot.

"They're very fortunate," Kalinoski said. "Because very often that's not the case, where law enforcement can't be on top of everything at all hours. So they were tipped off, which is a good thing."

Even so, Colonel Christopher Paris, Commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police, wants scammers to know: "Our investigators will work diligently to bring them to justice, and these arrests are examples of that.

Kalinoski adds if you can spot a scam, you can stop a scam. He says anyone can join the AARP's Fraud Watch Network website. It's free and you don't have to be a member of AARP to join.

The Office of Attorney General offers this guidance to older Pennsylvanians, their families, and anyone else targeted for solicitation:

Never send money or gift cards to someone you do not know. Also, gift cards are for gifts, not for paying debts or bills.

If you are suspicious or have concerns about a solicitation, call your local police or the OAG hotline at 800-441-2555.

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Sweepstakes scams have been common for years, so be vigilant and use common sense. If you did not sign up for a sweepstakes, you could not have won.

Sign up for scam warning text alerts from the Office of Attorney General. Mobile carrier rates may apply.

The Office of Attorney General recommends an acronym to evaluate unsolicited phone calls or emails:

S: Sudden  The call or email is unexpected;

C: Contact  Scammers will contact you by phone, email or in-person;

A: Act Now  The request will be urgent and assert penalties if you do not act quickly;

M: Money or Information  The scammer will request money or personal information.

In addition to signing up for text alerts, Pennsylvanians who believe they have been victims of a scam should file a complaint with the Office of Attorney Generals Bureau of Consumer Protection by calling 800-441-2555 or emailing scams@attorneygeneral.gov.
Allentown, PA (18103)

Today

Partly sunny, very warm, and more humid; spotty late shower or t-storm possible, especially north, however most remain dry..

Tonight

Partly to mostly cloudy. There might be a stray early shower or t-storm but most should stay dry. It will turn less humid overnight.
A Russian court on Thursday imposed a $32,000 fine on Google for failing to delete allegedly false information about the conflict in Ukraine.

The move by a magistrate's court follows similar actions in early August against Apple and the Wikimedia Foundation that hosts Wikipedia.

According to Russian news reports, the court found that the YouTube video service, which is owned by Google, was guilty of not deleting videos with incorrect information about the conflict -- which Russia characterizes as a "special military operation."

Google was also found guilty of not removing videos that suggested ways of gaining entry to facilities which are not open to minors, news agencies said, without specifying what kind of facilities were involved.
Little Wilson Borough, with about 8,000 residents, may soon be looking at one of the biggest residential developments in Lehigh Valley history.



Skyline Development has proposed 422 1- and 2-bedroom apartments for the old Dixie Cup building off 24th Street. That building has been little used for decades but could wind up with hundreds of residents.



By contrast, the Hanover Apartments proposed for the border of Bethlehem and Allentown, the region's biggest cities, total just 317 units.



Wilson Mayor Donald Barrett views the proposal as a cause for hope and concern.



"I'd like to see the building fixed, but I'm very concerned about adding 422 apartments," Barrett said during a telephone interview Thursday.



Barrett and Stanley Margle, Wilson's solicitor, both said they are prepared to consider Skyline's plan with an open mind.



"We had a meeting yesterday that I will describe as very productive," Margle said during the call. "These developers are serious and they are financially in a position to move forward expeditiously."



Margle, who has decades of experience as a lawyer handling real estate, estimated the total value of the project at $100 million. He has seen other would-be developers come to the borough but fail to get a deal done.



"When it comes to putting your money where your mouth is, this is the first applicant we've seen in two dozen years who can do that," Margle said of Skyline.



Formal plans have not been submitted yet. That may begin this fall.



"We're excited, we're hopeful," Margle said. Moving forward means working with the other two taxing bodies involved at the site: the Wilson Area School District and Northampton County.



County Executive Lamont G. McClure has said the old building needs a new use. Last year, he vowed not to provide a tax break when a developer proposed a "last mile" distribution center for the site.

McClure interpreted that to mean a warehouse.



On Tuesday, McClure said he would consider a break for housing at the Dixie site.



The developer is looking for a TIF, or Tax Incremental Financing incentive. That Pennsylvania property-tax break aims to improve blighted areas. It involves issuing bonds to support a project that will generate tax revenue; in turn, some of the new taxes generated - the "incremental revenue" - goes toward paying off the debt.



The bonds are issued by a public authority, not the borough, schools, or county.



Barrett said one of his goals is to make sure that Wilson's taxpayers are not on the hook for any costs.



In short: "What's in it for the borough? If we can make an agreement that's going to work well for borough residents is the issue," he said.



"I intend to be extremely cautious and careful" in evaluating how the financing works as he advises the borough, Margle said.



Barrett sees other issues, such as how police and firefighters would handle a huge apartment complex in an area that is already congested and just off the 25th Street Interchange with Route 22.



"My big concern is the amount of traffic in that area. Easton Area High School and Wilson Area High School are nearby," he said. He adds that a lot of students to the Wilson district is a concern too.



Barrett said a mixed-use facility, with residential units and other community components that would bring other residents to the site, would be welcome. If the site is all apartments, it could become something of a small community unto itself, just off the highway.



The mayor said the number of apartments - 422 - remains a big issue, but he and Margle both said they will wait to see the final plan before making any judgments.



"There's a big call for housing" in the region, Barrett said. "My concern overall is that the building is completed and fixed."



The development envisions keeping the old paper factory up. Margle, who has been inside the old Dixie Cup factory, said the huge building remains solid.



"It's daunting," said Margle of the 600,000-square-foot building. "It's almost eerie. It's been 40 years (since full use) and you can still imagine the activity in that huge, vacuous structure. It's got a lot of character and has a lot of options for the developers."



The building is owned by a group led by attorney Joseph Reibman. The agreed-upon price has not been disclosed. The Dixie Cup building had been listed for $10 million.
Rich Mayers is among many parents taking their kids back-to-school shopping.

According to the website Statista.com, Americans will spend $41 billion on back-to-school.

Each household is expected to spend roughly $890 on average.

"It's probably about right, I've done it for three kids now and it always averages in the 4 to 5 to $600 each trip," said Mayers.

But the people we talked to say everything is just a little more expensive this year, so they're going into it with a list and a budget.

College student Ama Aidoo says this also requires a strategy.

"I would say download the store that you're going to, their apps, because they usually have sales or percents off or even gift card sales going on, and also go during a time like during the week when not everyone is shopping," said Aidoo.

Marisa Zimmerman says it's also a good idea to know a store's return policy. She says some are very generous.

"We're like, if their school clothes only last like three months and he goes to school and he rips holes in them. You can return them and get newer ones," said Zimmerman.

Mayers says the best advice: "Start early, buy stuff when it's on sale and stock it up, and order as much as you can online and ship it there," said Mayers.

But what if the cost for back-to-school shopping is just too much? Contact your local school district to get a list of local organizations that are providing backpacks and school supplies to families in need.
A pre-trial hearing for Bryan Kohberger is underway in Idaho Friday.

The defense for the Monroe County man accused of killing four college students is pushing prosecutors for more information.

The hearing has been going on since 1:30 p.m. our time, 10:30 a.m. Moscow, Idaho time. These are common for big trials, to determine what evidence will or won't be heard in court.

Latah County Judge John Judge is considering six motions Friday, two from the defense and four from the prosecution.

The judge did not allow the hearing to be streamed live. We've been following the updates from multiple reporters in the courtroom. They say the defense called on the prosecution to turn over more information about DNA profiles collected at the scene of the grisly killings in Moscow, Idaho.

The prosecution told the judge it turned over everything it has, adding that Kohberger's team is asking for things that don't exist, but that it would check again with the lab.

Among the topics being discussed: genealogy and forensics.

That's why the defense called experts Stephen Mercer, an attorney from Maryland, and Dr. Leah Larkin, a genealogist from California.

Kohberger's defense is alleging he was on a long drive by himself when four Idaho college students were stabbed to death on Nov. 13.

He was arrested at his parents' Poconos home in December.

There's still the defense's motion to dismiss the indictment on grounds of error in grand jury instructions.

The Idaho Administrative Office of the Courts says that motion will be heard at a later date.

Something else that's expected to be discussed at the hearing is whether the trial, currently set for Oct. 2, will be pushed back.

We're going to continue to follow what's going on in the courtroom.
A teenager in North Dakota has been making money cutting grass all summer.

50 of them to be exact. Alex Lattergrass  and yes that's his real name  is taking part in the 50-yard challenge.

We've covered this challenge before, so just a reminder about how it works: You mow 50 lawns - no charge.

It's a movement started by a nonprofit in Alabama that encourages kids to mow lawns for first responders, older folks, military and single parents  all for free.

So Alex has added this community service side to his business. He started Alex's Mowing Company earlier this summer and has been mowing lawns ever since. Along with the lawns he mows for free, he has paying customers so he's been able to save a lot of money too.

Alex said it was hard to get the word out at first about his new business venture, but he made some flyers and passed those around and his parents helped him out creating content for social media. He now has a Facebook page.

"They made me my own business page. And like that, wahbam  I got customers. It just works like that," Alex said.

Alex started the 50 yard-challenge in July and has just mowed lawn No. 8 of 50, so he still has a bunch to go.

Alex says the cause is near to his heart. His dad is an officer with the Fargo Police Department.
MEXICO CITY (AP)  Hurricane Hilary strengthened into a major storm Thursday evening off Mexicos Pacific coast, and it could bring heavy rain to the southwestern U.S. by the weekend.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Hilary's maximum sustained winds had risen to 120 mph (195 kph), making it a Category 3 hurricane.

The storm was expected to grow into a Category 4 hurricane Friday while on a projected path that threatened landfall on the central Baja California peninsula by Sunday or possibly keep just offshore while heading for Southern California.

Hilary was centered about 445 miles (715 kilometers) south of Los Cabos on the southern tip of the Baja peninsula. It was moving west-northwest at 14 mph (22 kph), but was expected to take a more northward heading in the coming days.

The hurricane center said that as Hilary moves onto or brushes the Baja pensinsula, it could possibly survive briefly as a tropical storm or tropical depression and cross the U.S. border.

No tropical storm has made landfall in Southern California since Sept. 25, 1939, according to the National Weather Service.

Rainfall impacts from Hilary within the Southwestern United States are expected to peak this weekend into Monday, the hurricane center said. Flash, urban, and arroyo flooding is possible with the potential for significant impacts.

The area potentially affected by heavy rainfall could stretch from Bakersfield, California, to Yuma, Arizona, as well as some parts of southern Nevada.

SpaceX announced Thursday that the hurricane caused a delay in the launch of a satellite-carrying rocket from a base on California's central coast until at least Monday. The company said conditions in the Pacific could make it difficult for a ship to recover the rocket booster.

In Southern California, an outlook for excessive rainfall stretched from Sunday to Tuesday, according to the Los Angeles weather office.

While the odds are against Hilary making landfall in California as a tropical storm, there is a high chance of major rain and flooding, UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain said in an online briefing Wednesday.

The Mexican government said a weakened Hilary might hit the coast Sunday night between the cities of Playas de Rosarito and Ensenada, in Baja California state.

Meanwhile, the city of Yuma was preparing Thursday by providing residents with a self-serve sandbag filling station.

The sandbag station will be stocked with sand and empty bags for self-filling while supplies last. Residents were allowed five sandbags per vehicle.
ATLANTA (AP)  For much of the Republican presidential field, Donald Trump is the candidate who must not be named  or at least not criticized too harshly.

Multiple GOP White House contenders took the stage Friday in Atlanta, the city where the former president was most recently indicted and where he must surrender next week on racketeering charges related to the 2020 election. They dealt gingerly with the man theyre trying to catch in the 2024 GOP primary campaign.

Radio host Erick Erickson's annual convocation of conservative leaders and activists mostly sidestepped the dominant figure in Republican politics. The Gathering, Erickson said, is our time to come together and hear from people when theyre running for office, why should we vote for you  whats your vision.

Trump dominates the primary polls and media attention despite criminal indictments for alleged actions before, during and after his presidency. Those four indictments seem to have hardened Trumps support among core GOP voters, even as a majority of people in the United States disapprove of him. Many party loyalists who say they are open to alternatives arent necessarily enthusiastic about criticizing the former president.

The event offered a potential preview of how Trump may factor into the conversation when many of the same Republican contenders gather Wednesday for the first presidential debate of the 2024 campaign. Trump has signaled he might not attend, but the forum in Atlanta was a reminder that the former president is hard to avoid  even when hes physically not present.

Former Vice President Mike Pence told a friendly audience that he has real differences with Trump about the future of the country. He nodded to the Capitol insurrection that is the focus of one of the pending indictments against Trump. He called it that fateful day and repeated that he fulfilled my constitutional duty  his way of affirming why he did not grant Trumps wish of blocking Democrat Joe Bidens Electoral College victory.

But before any of those carefully qualified statements, Pence said, I always stood loyally by President Donald Trump.

Nikki Haley, a former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador during the Trump administration, offered a critique by pairing it with a compliment.

Trump did a good job of getting attention on Chinas trade practices, but he didnt do nearly enough on the fact that they have bought 400,000 acres of U.S. soil, she said as part of a statement addressing the growing rivalry between Washington and Beijing.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis repeated his attacks on so-called wokeness and reminded attendees of his ongoing fight with entertainment giant Disney. The closest he came to confronting Trump was a call for the party to look ahead, and he did that with a swipe at familiar foils beyond the Republican fold.

Theres nobody that wants us to be looking backwards more than the Democrats and the media, he said, adding a seeming allusion to Trumps lies that his loss to Biden was rigged. They would love to have us have to relitigate all this stuff from 2020, DeSantis said.

South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott took a similar route, emphasizing his optimism about the future of the party and the country. Scott saved his presidential barbs for Biden.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, nearly alone among Republican hopefuls in criticizing Trump for his behavior and related legal peril, could shift the dynamics Saturday when he appears with Erickson. Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, making his first bid for public office, will appear as well.

Explained Whit Ayres, a national Republican pollster, You cant win the nomination by attacking (Trump) frontally.

Ayres said the dynamics reflect the realities of the GOP primary electorate. About 10-15% are Never Trumpers, Ayres said, while about 30-35% hardcore Trump supporters. The rest, half or a slim majority, have doubts about his electability in a general election but are still reliable Republicans who voted for him twice, Ayres said.

As a Republican, you cant call him unfit for office, Ayres said. Thats basically requiring half the party to admit they screwed up and put someone unfit for office into the Oval Office. Thats just a psychological step too far for most people.

Brad Raymer, an attendee from Marietta, Georgia, was among the attendees who has cast two November ballots for Trump. But he called the Friday conversation refreshing.

I dont want to hear any more about Trump, Raymer said. Its good to hear these candidates actual ideas."

Indeed, Erickson picked their brains on matters from the Ukraine war and trade policy to regulation of artificial intelligence. Still, those policy discussions largely yielded similar ideological positions  promises of smaller government, lower taxes, increased military spending  that are routine in any Republican forum.

Raymer acknowledged that those overlaps make Trumps big personality and antics stand out in a party he has dominated since launching his first presidential campaign eight years ago.

But Raymer said he knows plenty of Republicans who, unlike him, embrace Trumps antics or at least tolerate his election lies about 2020. I try to tell them to see reason, he said, emphasizing that he accepted Bidens victory in Georgia and nationally.

Making a more muted version of the same argument was Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who notably defied Trump in 2020 by certifying Bidens slate of Georgia electors. Erickson and others celebrated Kemp's 2022 reelection romp over Democratic star Stacey Abrams even after enduring Trump's public ire. They hailed Georgias economy, crediting the governor, of course, rather than a Democratic administration in Washington.

Kemp himself urged Republicans to look ahead.

You can believe whatever you want about the 2020 election. That is your right, Kemp said. But if youre still mad about that, he continued, then sign up to be a poll worker, be a poll watcher, get involved in the process, door knock, phone calls, do something that will help us win in 2024. Complaining is not going to help us.

It was all about Trump. Without a mention of his name.
President Yoon Suk-yeol flew to the U.S. on Thursday to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at Camp David in Maryland.

The three leaders are to lay out their vision for sustainable trilateral cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and the world based on shared values and the "rules-based" global order vaunted by Biden.

Areas of cooperation will stretch from security to economy, technology, climate change and nuclear non-proliferation.

"A new horizon will open for trilateral cooperation," the presidential office here said, while the White House said the summit will create a "new normal" for cooperation between Seoul, Tokyo and Washington.
The Ministry of Education came up with the new guidelines after reports show that assault from students on teachers is on the rise and that assailants are getting younger. The trigger was the suicide of a young teacher at an elementary school in southern Seoul last month after months of difficulties dealing with parents over a school violence case.

During class, students will be prohibited from using their mobile phones, and if they refuse their phone can be confiscated.

Teachers will be allowed to intervene physically to restrain or stop students when they assault teachers starting next semester. If students disrupt class, teachers can also throw them out of the classroom.

According to the guidelines, which go into effect on Sept. 1, teachers will have the authority to intervene physically when a student resorts to violence. Currently, even if a teacher is struck by a student, he or she can be reported for child abuse for touching the student's body.

However, the ministry said this does not mean teachers can hit students but merely restrain or stop a student who is resorting to violence as a form of self-defense. There has been hot debate about where the line between self-defense and physical intervention should be drawn.

The guidelines also say that students must not use their mobile phones during class, and if they continue despite warnings, the phone can be confiscated. Mobile phones have often been a source of disruption in classes, but teachers have been prevented from confiscating them for fear of infringing students' rights.

The ministry said collecting all mobile phones in the morning and redistributing them at the end of the day is an option.

Teachers will also have the authority to instruct students to sit up straight in class if they are lounging in their chairs. Currently, due to the emphasis on students' rights, it is difficult for teachers even to wake up a sleeping student. Students causing disruptions in class can be separated from the classroom, but the detailed rules are left up to each school.

If parents want to complain to teachers, they must make advance appointments. The guidelines also include a provision stating that teachers can refuse to talk to parents outside their working hours or the scope of their job.

If students do not follow guidance, teachers can request disciplinary action from the school principal. But in order to ensure fairness, parents can also raise objections to a teacher's instructions, and the school principal must respond within two weeks.

Kim Dong-seok, the head of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers' Union, said, "With these guidelines, teachers will be able to do things they couldn't before to protect both students' right to learn and teachers' authority without fearing accusations of child abuse."
Globe Life Inc. (NYSE:GL  Get Free Report) CEO Frank M. Svoboda sold 12,500 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.57, for a total transaction of $1,419,625.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,370 shares of the companys stock, valued at $382,730.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Globe Life Stock Performance

Shares of Globe Life stock traded down $1.54 on Thursday, reaching $111.95. The stock had a trading volume of 319,355 shares, compared to its average volume of 518,185. The businesss 50-day moving average price is $110.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $111.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.05 and a current ratio of 0.05. Globe Life Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $96.23 and a fifty-two week high of $123.85. The stock has a market cap of $10.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.26 and a beta of 0.79.

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Globe Life (NYSE:GL  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The company reported $2.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.37 billion. Globe Life had a net margin of 15.91% and a return on equity of 21.82%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Globe Life Inc. will post 10.48 EPS for the current year.

Globe Life Dividend Announcement

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Globe Life

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 5th were paid a dividend of $0.225 per share. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 3rd. Globe Lifes payout ratio is currently 10.51%.

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Globe Life by 37.0% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,308,014 shares of the companys stock valued at $735,187,000 after buying an additional 1,973,186 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Globe Life by 52.3% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,079,866 shares of the companys stock valued at $447,235,000 after buying an additional 1,401,828 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its stake in shares of Globe Life by 41,273.2% in the 4th quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,190,306 shares of the companys stock valued at $143,162,000 after buying an additional 1,187,429 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Globe Life in the 4th quarter valued at $112,989,000. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP raised its stake in shares of Globe Life by 53.5% in the 2nd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,287,036 shares of the companys stock valued at $250,705,000 after buying an additional 797,267 shares in the last quarter. 81.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Globe Life in a research report on Thursday. They issued a hold rating for the company. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Globe Life from $130.00 to $131.00 in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Globe Life in a research report on Tuesday, April 25th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $120.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an underweight rating and issued a $131.00 price objective on shares of Globe Life in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $130.14.

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Globe Life Company Profile

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Globe Life Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides various life and supplemental health insurance products, and annuities to lower middle to middle income households in the United States. The company operates through four segments: Life Insurance, Supplemental Health Insurance, Annuities, and Investments.

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WeWork Inc. (NYSE:WE  Get Free Report) major shareholder Bruce Dunlevie sold 5,406,301 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $0.20, for a total value of $1,081,260.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 14,065,009 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,813,001.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a companys shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

WeWork Stock Performance

Shares of WE remained flat at $0.15 during mid-day trading on Thursday. The stock had a trading volume of 52,757,345 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,581,822. WeWork Inc. has a 52-week low of $0.12 and a 52-week high of $5.23. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $0.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $0.61.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on WE. Mizuho cut WeWork from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 17th. UBS Group decreased their price target on WeWork from $2.00 to $0.20 in a research note on Friday, June 9th. Finally, BTIG Research cut WeWork from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WeWork

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Softbank Group CORP. increased its stake in shares of WeWork by 343.1% during the second quarter. Softbank Group CORP. now owns 1,437,248,653 shares of the companys stock valued at $367,073,000 after buying an additional 1,112,900,605 shares during the period. King Street Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in WeWork in the second quarter worth $13,346,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in WeWork by 1.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,430,424 shares of the companys stock worth $88,591,000 after purchasing an additional 535,138 shares during the period. Capital World Investors purchased a new stake in WeWork in the second quarter worth $4,873,000. Finally, Sycale Advisors NY LLC purchased a new stake in WeWork in the second quarter worth $4,703,000. 81.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About WeWork

(Get Free Report)

WeWork Inc provides flexible workspace solutions to individuals and organizations worldwide. The company offers workstation, private office, and customized floor solutions; and various amenities and services, such as private phone booths, internet, high-speed business printers and copiers, mail and package handling, front desk services, off-peak building access, common areas, and daily enhanced cleaning solutions.

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The trilateral summit between the leaders of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan today at the U.S. presidential retreat of Camp David is a milestone not only for Northeast Asia but global politics. The three allies, which share the principles of liberal democracy, plan to set up solid breakwaters in security, industry and technology based on their shared values to respond to threats posed by authoritarian regimes.

The meeting takes place as North Korea, China and Russia strengthen ties against the backdrop of China's increasingly dictatorial rule and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to mark the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice, stressing their "comradeship forged in blood," while Russian President Vladimir Putin sent his defense minister to Pyongyang to tout their ties. Presidents Yoon Suk-yeol and Joe Biden and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida must send a strong message to Kim warning against the consequences of misjudgment. The three leaders should also consider reviving the Trilateral Coordination and Oversight Group (TCOG) that was launched in 1999 as a means of institutionalizing the process of policy coordination on North Korean nuclear development.

Trilateral cooperation is essential at a time when the three countries are striving to secure strategic and future energy resources. Yoon proposed joint research in the areas of artificial intelligence, quantum energy and space development. But it should not stop there and be taken to the next level. It should also give South Korea an opportunity to effectively block North Korea's provocations, overcome complex crises and elevate its national stature.

The three-way summit was possible because Yoon made a future-oriented decision on the compensation of Korean laborers forced to work in Japanese factories during World War II, which had been the biggest stumbling block in bilateral relations. Former President Moon Jae-in's hostile policy toward Japan led to the deterioration of trilateral cooperation, which had served as the foundation for our country's development since Seoul-Tokyo ties normalized in 1965. But in contrast to the South Korean government's active approach to improving bilateral ties, Japan remains passive. If Seoul-Tokyo ties deteriorate again, the benefits of the trilateral alliance will be lost. That is why Kishida's response is important.
L & S Advisors Inc lessened its position in shares of The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG  Free Report) by 3.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 55,846 shares of the companys stock after selling 1,868 shares during the period. Procter & Gamble makes up about 1.2% of L & S Advisors Incs holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. L & S Advisors Incs holdings in Procter & Gamble were worth $8,304,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. CNB Bank grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. CNB Bank now owns 23,250 shares of the companys stock worth $3,457,000 after buying an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Vantage Consulting Group Inc grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 9.5% in the 1st quarter. Vantage Consulting Group Inc now owns 3,715 shares of the companys stock worth $552,000 after buying an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,299 shares of the companys stock worth $2,126,000 after buying an additional 582 shares in the last quarter. Brandywine Oak Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Brandywine Oak Private Wealth LLC now owns 22,330 shares of the companys stock worth $3,320,000 after buying an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in Procter & Gamble by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 2,332,587 shares of the companys stock worth $346,832,000 after buying an additional 182,976 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.65% of the companys stock.

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Procter & Gamble Stock Down 0.1 %

Procter & Gamble stock traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $153.07. The stock had a trading volume of 2,686,650 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,389,753. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $360.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 0.42. The Procter & Gamble Company has a 12-month low of $122.18 and a 12-month high of $158.38. The stocks 50-day moving average price is $151.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $148.23.

Procter & Gamble Announces Dividend

Procter & Gamble ( NYSE:PG Get Free Report ) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 28th. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.05. Procter & Gamble had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 32.88%. The business had revenue of $20.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $20.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.21 earnings per share. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Procter & Gamble Company will post 6.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 21st were paid a $0.9407 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 20th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. Procter & Gambles dividend payout ratio is presently 63.73%.

Insider Transactions at Procter & Gamble

In other news, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,629 shares of Procter & Gamble stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.19, for a total value of $1,985,152.51. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,051 shares in the company, valued at $2,051,486.69. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Matthew W. Janzaruk sold 33,022 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.26, for a total transaction of $5,160,017.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 888 shares in the company, valued at $138,758.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Balaji Purushothaman sold 12,629 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.19, for a total transaction of $1,985,152.51. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,051 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,051,486.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,038 shares of company stock worth $8,460,839 over the last three months. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $164.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $160.00 to $166.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $171.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Procter & Gamble from $165.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Procter & Gamble in a research note on Thursday. They issued a buy rating for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $164.82.

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About Procter & Gamble

(Free Report)

The Procter & Gamble Company provides branded consumer packaged goods worldwide. It operates through five segments: Beauty; Grooming; Health Care; Fabric & Home Care; and Baby, Feminine & Family Care. The Beauty segment offers conditioners, shampoos, styling aids, and treatments under the Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Pantene, and Rejoice brands; and antiperspirants and deodorants, personal cleansing, and skin care products under the Olay, Old Spice, Safeguard, Secret, and SK-II brands.

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Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund purchased a new position in Edison International (NYSE:EIX  Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 13,588 shares of the utilities providers stock, valued at approximately $959,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EIX. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Edison International by 12.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,234,491 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $86,534,000 after purchasing an additional 137,840 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC increased its stake in Edison International by 21.5% in the 1st quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 151,158 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $10,596,000 after purchasing an additional 26,797 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC purchased a new position in Edison International during the 1st quarter valued at about $688,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in Edison International by 30.5% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 6,916 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $485,000 after acquiring an additional 1,617 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Edison International by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,530,226 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $3,121,569,000 after acquiring an additional 731,841 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.83% of the companys stock.

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Edison International Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of EIX stock opened at $68.60 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.80. Edison International has a twelve month low of $54.45 and a twelve month high of $74.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The stocks fifty day simple moving average is $69.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.49.

Edison International Increases Dividend

Edison International ( NYSE:EIX Get Free Report ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.28 billion. Edison International had a return on equity of 12.69% and a net margin of 6.81%. The businesss quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Edison International will post 4.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 5th were given a dividend of $0.738 per share. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.30%. This is an increase from Edison Internationals previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 3rd. Edison Internationals dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 118.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Edison International from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Citigroup lifted their price target on Edison International from $79.00 to $86.00 in a report on Thursday, May 4th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Edison International in a report on Thursday. They set a hold rating for the company. Guggenheim lowered Edison International from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report on Friday, July 7th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upgraded Edison International from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $73.80.

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Edison International Profile

(Free Report)

Edison International, through its subsidiaries, generates and distributes electric power. The company supplies electricity to approximately 50,000 square mile area of southern California to residential, commercial, industrial, public authorities, agricultural, and other sectors. It also provides decarbonization and energy solutions to commercial, institutional, and industrial customers in North America and Europe.

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Bank of Hawaii reduced its holdings in shares of ABB Ltd (NYSE:ABBNY  Free Report) by 4.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,024 shares of the industrial products companys stock after selling 649 shares during the quarter. Bank of Hawaiis holdings in ABB were worth $447,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ABBNY. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of ABB by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 997,550 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $32,261,000 after buying an additional 74,433 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of ABB by 1.1% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 55,264 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $1,787,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of ABB by 20.6% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 20,326 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $653,000 after purchasing an additional 3,473 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of ABB by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 7,404 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $239,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in ABB by 50.7% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,579 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 2,887 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 5.02% of the companys stock.

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ABB Trading Down 2.8 %

NYSE ABBNY opened at $36.73 on Friday. The firms fifty day moving average is $38.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.13. ABB Ltd has a one year low of $24.27 and a one year high of $41.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $69.13 billion, a PE ratio of 20.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.10.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABB ( NYSE:ABBNY Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 19th. The industrial products company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.47 billion. ABB had a net margin of 10.99% and a return on equity of 26.90%. Analysts expect that ABB Ltd will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Separately, StockNews.com began coverage on ABB in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a strong-buy rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $26.25.

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About ABB

(Free Report)

ABB Ltd manufactures and sells electrification, automation, robotics, and motion products for customers in utilities, industry and transport, and infrastructure in Switzerland and internationally. Its Electrification segment provides electric vehicle charging infrastructure, renewable power solutions, modular substation packages, distribution automation products, switchboards and panel boards, switchgears, UPS solutions, circuit breakers, measuring and sensing devices, control products, wiring accessories, enclosures and cabling systems, and intelligent home and building solutions.

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Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC grew its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE  Free Report) by 9.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 913 shares of the industrial products companys stock after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLCs holdings in Deere & Company were worth $377,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 104,373.8% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,219,883 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $1,380,557,000 after purchasing an additional 3,216,801 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $1,326,177,000. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,576,183 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $1,962,085,000 after purchasing an additional 554,133 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Deere & Company by 2,754.5% during the 1st quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 531,585 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $219,481,000 after purchasing an additional 512,962 shares during the period. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Deere & Company during the 4th quarter valued at $149,668,000. 71.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Deere & Company Stock Down 4.9 %

Shares of Deere & Company stock traded down $20.42 on Friday, reaching $398.74. The stock had a trading volume of 2,312,575 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,605,331. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $418.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $401.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. Deere & Company has a 1 year low of $328.62 and a 1 year high of $450.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.06.

Deere & Company Announces Dividend

Deere & Company ( NYSE:DE Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 18th. The industrial products company reported $10.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $8.22 by $1.98. Deere & Company had a net margin of 15.00% and a return on equity of 43.11%. The firm had revenue of $14.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.16 EPS. The companys quarterly revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Deere & Company will post 31.87 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 30th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 29th. Deere & Companys dividend payout ratio is presently 16.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 4,680 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $449.75, for a total value of $2,104,830.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,563 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $16,444,209.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Cory J. Reed sold 4,680 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $449.75, for a total value of $2,104,830.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,563 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $16,444,209.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John C. May II sold 52,967 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.02, for a total transaction of $22,035,331.34. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 109,126 shares in the company, valued at $45,398,598.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 92,690 shares of company stock valued at $37,335,181. Insiders own 0.26% of the companys stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $512.00 to $445.00 in a research note on Monday, May 22nd. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $455.00 to $418.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 9th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Deere & Company from $492.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $510.00 to $490.00 in a research note on Monday, May 22nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Deere & Company from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $462.16.

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About Deere & Company

(Free Report)

Deere & Company manufactures and distributes various equipment worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Production and Precision Agriculture, Small Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Production and Precision Agriculture segment provides mid-size tractors, combines, cotton pickers and strippers, sugarcane harvesters, harvesting front-end equipment, sugarcane loaders, pull-behind scrapers, and tillage and seeding equipment, as well as application equipment, including sprayers and nutrient management, and soil preparation machinery for grain growers.

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StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Arcos Dorados (NYSE:ARCO  Free Report) in a report published on Thursday morning. The firm issued a buy rating on the restaurant operators stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on ARCO. Barclays boosted their target price on Arcos Dorados from $10.00 to $13.50 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Arcos Dorados from $10.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, August 10th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Arcos Dorados from $10.00 to $12.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 18th.

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Read Our Latest Analysis on ARCO

Arcos Dorados Stock Down 6.8 %

Arcos Dorados stock opened at $9.88 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Arcos Dorados has a 1-year low of $6.64 and a 1-year high of $11.47. The company has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a PE ratio of 13.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.05. The stocks 50 day moving average price is $10.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.92.

Arcos Dorados (NYSE:ARCO  Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 17th. The restaurant operator reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $985.49 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $959.61 million. Arcos Dorados had a return on equity of 55.24% and a net margin of 4.01%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Arcos Dorados will post 0.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Arcos Dorados

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Arcos Dorados during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Quarry LP lifted its position in Arcos Dorados by 607.6% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,260 shares of the restaurant operators stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 3,658 shares during the period. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new position in Arcos Dorados during the second quarter worth about $40,000. Spire Wealth Management lifted its position in Arcos Dorados by 48.2% during the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 6,150 shares of the restaurant operators stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in Arcos Dorados by 256.2% during the first quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,640 shares of the restaurant operators stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 4,776 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.33% of the companys stock.

About Arcos Dorados

(Get Free Report)

Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc operates as a franchisee of McDonald's restaurants. It has the exclusive right to own, operate, and grant franchises of McDonald's restaurants in 20 countries and territories in Latin America and the Caribbean, including Argentina, Aruba, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Curacao, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, the U.S.

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Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES  Get Free Report) CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 150,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.37, for a total value of $14,755,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 825,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,155,250. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Ares Management Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of ARES stock traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $97.53. The companys stock had a trading volume of 902,738 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,016,549. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $97.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.75. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $58.60 and a 52 week high of $103.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. The company has a market cap of $29.70 billion, a PE ratio of 60.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.32.

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Ares Management (NYSE:ARES  Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The asset manager reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $725.82 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 17.56% and a net margin of 8.79%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.74 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

Analysts Set New Price Targets

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. Ares Managements dividend payout ratio is presently 188.96%.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ares Management from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Barclays raised their price objective on Ares Management from $117.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Ares Management from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. StockNews.com started coverage on Ares Management in a report on Thursday. They set a sell rating on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Ares Management from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $105.00.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on ARES

Institutional Trading of Ares Management

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Ares Management by 68.0% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 6,485 shares of the asset managers stock valued at $527,000 after purchasing an additional 2,624 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Ares Management by 172.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 32,899 shares of the asset managers stock valued at $2,690,000 after purchasing an additional 20,816 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Ares Management during the 1st quarter valued at about $684,000. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Ares Management by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,191,021 shares of the asset managers stock valued at $502,895,000 after purchasing an additional 45,745 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can boosted its stake in Ares Management by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 7,460 shares of the asset managers stock valued at $645,000 after purchasing an additional 825 shares during the last quarter. 48.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ares Management Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Ares Management Corporation operates as an alternative asset manager in the United States, Europe, and Asia. The company's Tradable Credit Group segment manages various types of investment funds, such as commingled and separately managed accounts for institutional investors, and publicly traded vehicles and sub-advised funds for retail investors in the tradable and non-investment grade corporate credit markets.

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BIP Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of SPDR Nuveen Barclays Short Term Municipal Bond ETF (NYSEARCA:SHM  Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 9,266 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $441,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SHM. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in SPDR Nuveen Barclays Short Term Municipal Bond ETF by 8.1% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 23,482 shares of the companys stock worth $1,111,000 after purchasing an additional 1,753 shares during the period. West Michigan Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of SPDR Nuveen Barclays Short Term Municipal Bond ETF by 10.4% during the first quarter. West Michigan Advisors LLC now owns 11,300 shares of the companys stock worth $535,000 after buying an additional 1,061 shares during the period. Flow Traders U.S. LLC increased its stake in shares of SPDR Nuveen Barclays Short Term Municipal Bond ETF by 353.7% during the first quarter. Flow Traders U.S. LLC now owns 21,990 shares of the companys stock worth $1,041,000 after buying an additional 17,143 shares during the period. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of SPDR Nuveen Barclays Short Term Municipal Bond ETF by 1.5% during the first quarter. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 110,138 shares of the companys stock worth $5,212,000 after buying an additional 1,675 shares during the period. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of SPDR Nuveen Barclays Short Term Municipal Bond ETF by 40.5% during the first quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 8,667 shares of the companys stock worth $430,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the period. 93.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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SPDR Nuveen Barclays Short Term Municipal Bond ETF Stock Performance

SHM stock opened at $46.76 on Friday. The companys 50 day moving average price is $46.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.07. SPDR Nuveen Barclays Short Term Municipal Bond ETF has a fifty-two week low of $45.97 and a fifty-two week high of $47.76.

About SPDR Nuveen Barclays Short Term Municipal Bond ETF

SPDR Nuveen Barclays Short Term Municipal Bond ETF (the Fund), formerly SPDR Nuveen Barclays Capital Short Term Municipal Bond ETF, correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Barclays Capital Managed Money Municipal Short Term Index (the Index). The Fund uses a passive management strategy designed to track the Index.

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BIP Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO  Free Report) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 10,758 shares of the utilities providers stock, valued at approximately $749,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.3% in the first quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,651 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $741,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 10.2% in the first quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,534 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Tranquility Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 3.3% in the first quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 4,528 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $315,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Marcum Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 2.8% in the first quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 5,327 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $371,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Finally, Calamos Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 0.5% in the first quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,642 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $2,062,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. 63.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. VNET Group reiterated a maintains rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Southern from a buy rating to a conviction-buy rating in a research note on Monday, July 3rd. Guggenheim decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $79.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Friday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Southern from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $60.00 to $69.00 in a report on Thursday, August 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $74.07.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Southern stock traded down $0.31 during trading on Friday, reaching $67.94. The companys stock had a trading volume of 293,097 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,127,169. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $70.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.78. The firm has a market cap of $74.09 billion, a PE ratio of 24.12, a P/E/G ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 0.50. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $58.85 and a fifty-two week high of $80.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59.

Southern (NYSE:SO  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $5.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $6.47 billion. Southern had a net margin of 11.17% and a return on equity of 9.86%. The companys quarterly revenue was down 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.07 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.6 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 21st will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 18th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.12%. Southerns dividend payout ratio is currently 98.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 47,326 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Monday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.78, for a total transaction of $3,302,408.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 118,659 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,280,025.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 47,326 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Monday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.78, for a total transaction of $3,302,408.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 118,659 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,280,025.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,435 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.99, for a total transaction of $100,435.65. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,246 shares in the company, valued at $5,196,477.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 143,761 shares of company stock valued at $10,152,544. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern Profile

(Free Report)

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. It operates through three segments: Gas Distribution Operations, Gas Pipeline Investments, and Gas Marketing Services. The company also develops, constructs, acquires, owns, and manages power generation assets, including renewable energy projects and sells electricity in the wholesale market; and distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as provides gas marketing services, gas distribution operations, and gas pipeline investments operations.

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Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR  Get Free Report) Director Leslie A. Brun sold 2,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.20, for a total value of $362,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 72,430 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $13,124,316. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of BR opened at $178.58 on Friday. The stocks 50-day simple moving average is $166.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $153.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.76 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.58. Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. has a 52-week low of $131.35 and a 52-week high of $184.10.

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Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE:BR  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 8th. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.87 billion. Broadridge Financial Solutions had a return on equity of 42.09% and a net margin of 10.40%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.65 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Increases Dividend

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. This is a boost from Broadridge Financial Solutionss previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. Broadridge Financial Solutionss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.82%.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BR. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $169.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. Raymond James increased their price target on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $183.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Broadridge Financial Solutions from $160.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Broadridge Financial Solutions from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two 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, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $170.00.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on Broadridge Financial Solutions

Institutional Trading of Broadridge Financial Solutions

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT raised its holdings in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 2,945 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $488,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 9,137 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $1,513,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 56.4% during the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 183 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Ropes Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Ropes Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,327 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $634,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Broadridge Financial Solutions by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 8,037 shares of the business services providers stock valued at $1,331,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.05% of the companys stock.

About Broadridge Financial Solutions

(Get Free Report)

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc provides investor communications and technology-driven solutions for the financial services industry. The company's Investor Communication Solutions segment processes and distributes proxy materials to investors in equity securities and mutual funds, as well as facilitates related vote processing services; and distributes regulatory reports, class action, and corporate action/reorganization event information, as well as tax reporting solutions.

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Capula Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Hyatt Hotels Co. (NYSE:H  Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 4,540 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $508,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empire Financial Management Company LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hyatt Hotels in the first quarter valued at $267,000. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. lifted its holdings in Hyatt Hotels by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. now owns 122,500 shares of the companys stock valued at $11,080,000 after acquiring an additional 6,500 shares during the last quarter. Waratah Capital Advisors Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Hyatt Hotels during the 4th quarter valued at about $265,000. Archon Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Hyatt Hotels by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. Archon Partners LLC now owns 60,000 shares of the companys stock worth $5,427,000 after purchasing an additional 7,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hyatt Hotels in the 4th quarter worth approximately $480,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.57% of the companys stock.

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Hyatt Hotels Price Performance

NYSE H opened at $112.22 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $116.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $113.90. Hyatt Hotels Co. has a 52-week low of $77.70 and a 52-week high of $127.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 20.98 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Hyatt Hotels Cuts Dividend

Hyatt Hotels ( NYSE:H Get Free Report ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.01). Hyatt Hotels had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 6.88%. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Hyatt Hotels Co. will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 25th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 24th. Hyatt Hotelss payout ratio is currently 14.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on H shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Hyatt Hotels from $113.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Citigroup restated a neutral rating and issued a $122.00 target price on shares of Hyatt Hotels in a report on Friday, June 30th. Barclays reduced their target price on Hyatt Hotels from $126.00 to $123.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Hyatt Hotels from $136.00 to $132.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Hyatt Hotels from $113.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $124.60.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on H

Insider Transactions at Hyatt Hotels

In related news, Director Susan D. Kronick sold 1,508 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.99, for a total transaction of $176,420.92. Following the transaction, the director now owns 39,527 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,624,263.73. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 21.24% of the companys stock.

About Hyatt Hotels

(Free Report)

Hyatt Hotels Corporation operates as a hospitality company in the United States and internationally. It operates through Owned and Leased Hotels, Americas Management and Franchising, ASPAC Management and Franchising, EAME/SW Asia Management and Franchising, and Apple Leisure Group segments. The company manages, franchises, licenses, owns, and leases portfolio of properties, consisting of full-service hotels and resorts, select service hotels, resorts, and other properties, including timeshare, fractional, residential, vacation, and condominium units.

Further Reading

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding H? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Hyatt Hotels Co. (NYSE:H  Free Report).

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Our enduring fascination with the past has ignited a renaissance for the exploration of history. Richard J. Evans, an emeritus professor at the University of Cambridge (United Kingdom), acknowledges the unprecedented popularity of historical literature and documentaries. Evans The Third Reich Trilogy is widely regarded as the most comprehensive account of Nazism. However, he believes that historians should focus on understanding the past rather than drawing lessons from it. Evans, with almost 20 books translated into many languages, stresses the significance of objective truth and warns about the alarming rise of modern populism, which he believes surpasses even Nazi propaganda.

Question. Are there any similarities between the social context that led to Nazi rule and today, particularly with the rise of right-wing extremism?

Answer. What populists and Nazis have in common is that they blame the existing political system. And they despise it. For them, the political system of democracy and elections and a constitution  all of that  is a way of keeping elites in power who caused the problems in the first place. So they revolt against it. A populist is a politician who sees constitutions and elected governments as obstacles to what they perceive as reality. They lack integrity in their approach to the truth... Joseph Goebbels, the infamous head of Nazi propaganda, excelled at distorting the truth. However, todays populists have taken it even further. They dont believe in the existence of objective truth, which is deeply concerning given the widespread influence of social networks. All populist politicians desire authoritarian power, but its important to note that while all fascists are populists, not all populists are fascists.

Q. People frequently compare Putin with Hitler.

A. Of course, there are parallels. Both are strong men who attacked and destroyed democracy in their own country. Putin, however, is not the same as Hitler in more than one way. First of all, Putin wants to bring together the territories that were formerly part of the Soviet Union, which he sees as being Russian. Thats very different from Hitler, because Putins aims are limited. Theyre very ambitious, but they have limits. Hitlers aims were unlimited. He literally wanted to conquer the world, and his central belief was the racial question  he saw history in terms of racial struggle. Putin, however, is a Russian nationalist. He believes that Ukrainians are Russian, not that they are an inferior race.

Q. Have we learned from the history of the 20th century, or are we doomed to repeat the same mistakes?

A. History never repeats itself, in part, because we have indeed learned from the past. Since World War II, there have been very few instances of external intervention to overthrow a government. Generally, the international community only gets involved when dealing with extremely malevolent regimes that engage in genocide or perpetrate widespread cruelty. The cost of intervention is incredibly high. The post-World War I conditions that led to the rise of Hitler are no longer present, so another Hitler-like figure is highly unlikely. Dictatorships typically end through elections, revolutions or uprisings, and dictators often meet a grim fate.

Q. Free will is a recurring theme in your writing. How much can we really plan our lives?

A. Karl Marx said that we make our own history, but not from freely available elements. We make it under the conditions that we inherit. Whatever you think of Marxs theories, I think thats a very helpful statement. By analyzing individuals or groups and how we make decisions, we can approve or decline proposals. However, we cannot control the circumstances in which we exercise our free will. You have to take what is there and do the best you can.

Q. You studied the feminist movements of the early 20th century. Are there any lessons to be learned from that?

A. I was fortunate enough to uncover a suppressed feminist movement during Imperial Germany. However, it ultimately failed due to the opposition of conservative middle-class and right-wing people who did not hold feminist beliefs. They believed women should be confined to domestic roles, opposed suffrage and supported nationalism. The feminist movement has always been divisive, including during the period I studied, and this divide persists today. While significant legislative progress has been made, the movement now faces a serious challenge from the ongoing controversy surrounding the transgender movement.

Q. You have also examined conspiracy theories and their impact on democracy. With the widespread use of social media, do they pose an increasing threat?

A. Due to minimal regulation, the internet has become a breeding ground for the rapid spread of conspiracy theories. This poses a threat to democracy, as it undermines trust in institutions and the concept of truth itself. When objective truth is dismissed in favor of subjective opinions, it jeopardizes society as a whole, as our very existence relies on a shared understanding of reality. Research on conspiracy theories reveals that they are particularly prevalent among individuals who feel marginalized by the political system. This sense of helplessness fuels populism, with populist leaders often exploiting conspiracy theories to gain support from those who believe they are being conspired against by the system.

Q. Cancel culture is a growing trend that we can also observe in academia.

A. Freedom of expression is meaningless if theres no freedom to offend or annoy. Listening to opinions we disagree with is vital in a democratic culture, as long as it doesnt involve hate speech or calls for violence. The transgender movements attempt to silence opposing viewpoints is concerning, but its important to recognize that cancel culture exists across the political spectrum. For instance, in the U.K., conservatives are pushing to halt research on slavery and involvement by British institutions. As a historian, I strongly disagree. Loving your country shouldnt be blind; it should be informed by a comprehensive understanding of its past.

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StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras S.A.  Eletrobras (NYSE:EBR  Free Report) in a report published on Thursday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the utilities providers stock.

Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras S.A.  Eletrobras Stock Up 0.7 %

EBR traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $6.98. 61,413 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,352,087. The company has a market cap of $16.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.76. Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras S.A.  Eletrobras has a one year low of $5.67 and a one year high of $10.39. The companys fifty day moving average price is $7.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $7.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 1.47.

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Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras S.A.  Eletrobras

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras S.A.  Eletrobras by 509.0% in the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,858,261 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $15,368,000 after acquiring an additional 1,553,112 shares in the last quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management bought a new stake in Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras S.A.  Eletrobras in the 2nd quarter worth about $41,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras S.A.  Eletrobras in the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,505,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras S.A.  Eletrobras by 53.4% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 28,441 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $235,000 after buying an additional 9,895 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banco BTG Pactual S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras S.A.  Eletrobras by 365.9% in the 2nd quarter. Banco BTG Pactual S.A. now owns 146,977 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $1,216,000 after buying an additional 115,431 shares during the last quarter. 5.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras S.A.  Eletrobras Company Profile

Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA  Eletrobras, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity in Brazil. The company generates electricity through hydroelectric, thermal, nuclear, wind, and solar plants. It owned and operated 32 hydroelectric plants; As of December 31, 2022, it operated 32 hydroelectric plants; five thermal plants, including coal and gas power generation units with a total installed capacity of 1,482 megawatts; and two nuclear power plants comprising Angra I with an installed capacity of 640 megawatts and Angra II with an installed capacity of 1,350 megawatts.

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Coterra Energy (NYSE:CTRA  Get Free Report) had its price objective increased by investment analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $35.00 to $36.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, FlyOnTheWall reports. Stifel Nicolaus price objective suggests a potential upside of 28.96% from the companys previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on CTRA. Mizuho increased their price objective on Coterra Energy from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stephens reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of Coterra Energy in a research report on Tuesday, August 8th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Coterra Energy from $25.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Coterra Energy from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Coterra Energy from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 18th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $30.93.

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Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on CTRA

Coterra Energy Stock Up 1.3 %

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Coterra Energy

NYSE CTRA opened at $27.92 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $21.08 billion, a PE ratio of 7.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.22 and a beta of 0.29. Coterra Energy has a one year low of $22.25 and a one year high of $32.47. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $26.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Coterra Energy by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,982 shares of the companys stock valued at $354,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in Coterra Energy by 0.8% during the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 51,300 shares of the companys stock worth $1,259,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Coterra Energy by 0.7% during the second quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 61,570 shares of the companys stock worth $1,558,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Meitav Investment House Ltd. bought a new position in Coterra Energy during the second quarter worth about $213,000. Finally, MONECO Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Coterra Energy by 2.4% during the second quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 17,375 shares of the companys stock worth $440,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.59% of the companys stock.

About Coterra Energy

(Get Free Report)

Coterra Energy Inc, an independent oil and gas company, engages in the development, exploration and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States. The company primarily focuses on the Marcellus Shale with approximately 183,000 net acres in the dry gas window of the play located in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania.

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Credit Suisse AG cut its holdings in shares of Carrier Global Co. (NYSE:CARR  Free Report) by 4.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,206,661 shares of the companys stock after selling 152,105 shares during the period. Credit Suisse AG owned 0.38% of Carrier Global worth $146,705,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Carrier Global by 121.2% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 553 shares of the companys stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. WealthPLAN Partners LLC purchased a new position in Carrier Global in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC grew its position in Carrier Global by 95.2% in the 1st quarter. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 779 shares of the companys stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Portland Hill Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in Carrier Global in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Elequin Securities LLC purchased a new position in Carrier Global in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. 86.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Carrier Global

In other Carrier Global news, VP Kyle Crockett sold 6,817 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Monday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.22, for a total value of $403,702.74. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 42 shares in the company, valued at $2,487.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Jurgen Timperman sold 164,450 shares of Carrier Global stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.25, for a total transaction of $9,743,662.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Kyle Crockett sold 6,817 shares of Carrier Global stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.22, for a total value of $403,702.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 42 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,487.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 310,223 shares of company stock worth $16,401,775. 0.38% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on CARR. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Carrier Global from $54.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, July 28th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Carrier Global from $54.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Mizuho lifted their price target on Carrier Global from $53.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Carrier Global from $45.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Monday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Carrier Global from $54.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $54.65.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on CARR

Carrier Global Stock Down 2.6 %

CARR stock opened at $53.05 on Friday. Carrier Global Co. has a twelve month low of $33.10 and a twelve month high of $60.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $44.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.05, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.90.

Carrier Global (NYSE:CARR  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.03. Carrier Global had a net margin of 9.87% and a return on equity of 25.42%. The business had revenue of $6 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.69 earnings per share. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Carrier Global Co. will post 2.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Carrier Global Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 10th. Investors of record on Friday, June 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.185 per share. This represents a $0.74 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 22nd. Carrier Globals dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.37%.

About Carrier Global

(Free Report)

Carrier Global Corporation provides heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC), refrigeration, fire, security, and building automation technologies worldwide. It operates through three segments: HVAC, Refrigeration, and Fire & Security. The HVAC segment provides products, controls, services, and solutions to meet the heating, cooling, and ventilation needs of residential and commercial customers.

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Arrow Electronics (NYSE:ARW  Get Free Report) and Rexel (OTCMKTS:RXEEY  Get Free Report) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and earnings.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

95.6% of Arrow Electronics shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Arrow Electronics shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

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Profitability

This table compares Arrow Electronics and Rexels net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Arrow Electronics 3.35% 22.19% 5.92% Rexel N/A N/A N/A

Analyst Recommendations

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Arrow Electronics 1 4 1 0 2.00 Rexel 1 3 1 0 2.00

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Arrow Electronics and Rexel, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

Arrow Electronics presently has a consensus price target of $129.57, indicating a potential upside of 0.17%. Rexel has a consensus price target of $21.60, indicating a potential downside of 5.74%. Given Arrow Electronics higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Arrow Electronics is more favorable than Rexel.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Arrow Electronics and Rexels revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Arrow Electronics $37.12 billion 0.19 $1.43 billion $19.65 6.58 Rexel N/A N/A N/A $0.76 30.05

Arrow Electronics has higher revenue and earnings than Rexel. Arrow Electronics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Rexel, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Arrow Electronics beats Rexel on 8 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Arrow Electronics

(Get Free Report)

Arrow Electronics, Inc. provides products, services, and solutions to industrial and commercial users of electronic components and enterprise computing solutions in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates in two segments, Global Components and Global Enterprise Computing Solutions. The Global Components segment markets and distributes semiconductor products and related services; passive, electro-mechanical, and interconnect products, including capacitors, resistors, potentiometers, power supplies, relays, switches, and connectors; and computing and memory products, as well as other products and services. The Global Enterprise Computing Solutions segment offers computing solutions, such as datacenter, cloud, security, and analytics solutions. This segment provides access to various services, including engineering and integration support, warehousing and logistics, marketing resources, and authorized hardware and software training. The company serves original equipment manufacturers, value-added resellers, managed service providers, contract manufacturers, and other commercial customers. Arrow Electronics, Inc. was founded in 1935 and is based in Centennial, Colorado.

About Rexel

(Get Free Report)

Rexel S.A., together with its subsidiaries, engages in distribution of low and ultra-low voltage electrical products and services for the residential, commercial, and industrial energy markets in France, Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific. The company offers smart cameras, sensors, controllers, and monitoring software; light sources, lights, and control switches; climate control products, including heat pumps, air conditioning, and water heaters; fire alarms, surveillance equipment, access controls devices, and emergency lightings; and connection cables, and switches and routers, as well as enclosures, mounts, and racks. It also provides solar modules and inverters; connected lighting, intelligent home system, home control touch screen, and smart thermostat products; residential chargers, commercial stations, and charging cables for electric vehicles; electric motors, variable speed drives, programmable logic controllers, and computers and operator interface; and fastening systems, electrical power and control, and valves and instrumentation products. The company offers products, services, and solutions in the fields of technical supply, automation, and energy management related to the construction, renovation, maintenance, and production. It operates a network of approximately 1,900 branches in 21 countries. The company was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Paris, France.

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Deutsche Beteiligungs AG (ETR:DBAN  Get Free Report) dropped 0.2% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as 30.60 ($33.26) and last traded at 30.65 ($33.32). Approximately 419 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 99% from the average daily volume of 42,193 shares. The stock had previously closed at 30.70 ($33.37).

Deutsche Beteiligungs Stock Down 0.2 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 2.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.64. The firm has a market cap of $576.22 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.86, a PEG ratio of -0.78 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average of 29.61 and a 200 day moving average of 29.06.

About Deutsche Beteiligungs

(Get Free Report)

Deutsche Beteiligungs AG is a private equity and venture capital firm specializing in direct and fund of fund investments. Within direct investments the firm specializes in expansion capital, management buyout, emerging growth, middle market, mid venture, late venture, growth capital, add-on acquisitions, bridge financing, PIPES, management buy-ins for experienced executives, corporate spin-offs, succession arrangements and generational transition in a family-owned business, small and medium-sized companies, and pre-IPO stage investments.

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Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR  Free Report) by 66.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,725 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock after acquiring an additional 6,650 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.s holdings in Digital Realty Trust were worth $1,644,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Digital Realty Trust by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,170,504 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $704,925,000 after acquiring an additional 176,565 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in Digital Realty Trust by 13.3% during the 1st quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 6,100,440 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $599,734,000 after acquiring an additional 715,291 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Digital Realty Trust by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,007,565 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $601,306,000 after acquiring an additional 98,568 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Digital Realty Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $442,477,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,359,489 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $437,126,000 after buying an additional 603,337 shares during the period. 97.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Digital Realty Trust Stock Up 0.6 %

DLR stock opened at $121.85 on Friday. Digital Realty Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $85.76 and a 52 week high of $132.35. The company has a market capitalization of $36.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.55. The firms 50-day moving average is $115.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Digital Realty Trust Announces Dividend

Insiders Place Their Bets

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $1.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.00%. Digital Realty Trusts dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 378.30%.

In other Digital Realty Trust news, CAO Peter C. Olson sold 700 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.67, for a total transaction of $73,969.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 7,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $753,849.78. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Cindy Fiedelman sold 2,770 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.00, for a total value of $346,250.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Peter C. Olson sold 700 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.67, for a total transaction of $73,969.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 7,134 shares in the company, valued at $753,849.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on DLR shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an outperformer rating in a report on Monday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 21st. Raymond James decreased their price target on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $155.00 to $140.00 in a report on Friday, July 28th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $80.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $113.00 to $112.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Digital Realty Trust currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $118.43.

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About Digital Realty Trust

(Free Report)

Digital Realty brings companies and data together by delivering the full spectrum of data center, colocation and interconnection solutions. PlatformDIGITAL, the company's global data center platform, provides customers with a secure data "meeting place" and a proven Pervasive Datacenter Architecture (PDx) solution methodology for powering innovation and efficiently managing Data Gravity challenges.

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StockNews.com started coverage on shares of DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE  Free Report) in a research report released on Thursday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the utilities providers stock.

DTE has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of DTE Energy from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, July 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of DTE Energy from $120.00 to $121.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 12th. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on shares of DTE Energy from $127.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, July 7th. 888 restated a maintains rating on shares of DTE Energy in a report on Thursday, June 29th. Finally, 58.com restated a maintains rating on shares of DTE Energy in a report on Thursday, June 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, DTE Energy has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $81.76.

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DTE Energy Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of DTE Energy stock traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $105.30. The stock had a trading volume of 75,736 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,205,432. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $111.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.16. DTE Energy has a 12-month low of $100.64 and a 12-month high of $136.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. The firm has a market cap of $21.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.59.

DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.10. DTE Energy had a net margin of 8.02% and a return on equity of 10.44%. The business had revenue of $2.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that DTE Energy will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

DTE Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.952 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 15th. This represents a $3.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. DTE Energys dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Joann Chavez sold 2,500 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.53, for a total value of $283,825.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,374,507.71. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Lisa A. Muschong sold 700 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.41, for a total value of $77,287.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $602,286.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Joann Chavez sold 2,500 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.53, for a total transaction of $283,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 12,107 shares in the company, valued at $1,374,507.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of DTE Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of DTE Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Caldwell Sutter Capital Inc. grew its position in shares of DTE Energy by 60.6% in the 2nd quarter. Caldwell Sutter Capital Inc. now owns 265 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Mcmillion Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of DTE Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, BerganKDV Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of DTE Energy by 462.0% in the 1st quarter. BerganKDV Wealth Management LLC now owns 281 shares of the utilities providers stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. 74.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

DTE Energy Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

DTE Energy Company engages in the utility operations. The company's Electric segment generates, purchases, distributes, and sells electricity to approximately 2.3 million residential, commercial, and industrial customers in southeastern Michigan. It generates electricity through fossil-fuel, hydroelectric pumped storage, and nuclear plants, as well as wind and solar assets.

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StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Employers (NYSE:EIG  Free Report) in a report issued on Thursday. The firm issued a buy rating on the financial services providers stock.

Employers Stock Up 0.7 %

Employers stock traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $39.65. The companys stock had a trading volume of 11,902 shares, compared to its average volume of 133,169. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.60 and a beta of 0.23. Employers has a twelve month low of $32.58 and a twelve month high of $46.73. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $37.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.99.

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Employers (NYSE:EIG  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The financial services provider reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $215.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $210.79 million. Employers had a net margin of 14.72% and a return on equity of 10.32%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 59.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Employers will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Employers Announces Dividend

Insiders Place Their Bets

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 9th will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 8th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. Employerss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.45%.

In other news, CEO Katherine H. Antonello acquired 6,880 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $36.46 per share, for a total transaction of $250,844.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 77,177 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,813,873.42. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the companys stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Employers

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EIG. Advisor Partners II LLC lifted its stake in shares of Employers by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 17,452 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $728,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Employers by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,127 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Employers by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 80,130 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $2,998,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Unison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Employers by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Unison Advisors LLC now owns 13,453 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 566 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Employers by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 15,066 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $564,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. 79.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Employers Company Profile

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Employers Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates in the commercial property and casualty insurance industry primarily in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Employers and Cerity. It offers workers' compensation insurance to small businesses in low to medium hazard industries under the Employers and Cerity brands.

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CAVA Group, Inc. (NYSE:CAVA  Free Report)  Investment analysts at William Blair increased their Q3 2023 EPS estimates for shares of CAVA Group in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, August 16th. William Blair analyst S. Zackfia now anticipates that the company will post earnings per share of ($0.01) for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of ($0.03). William Blair currently has a Outperform rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for CAVA Groups current full-year earnings is ($0.08) per share. William Blair also issued estimates for CAVA Groups Q4 2023 earnings at ($0.01) EPS, FY2023 earnings at $0.01 EPS, Q2 2024 earnings at $0.09 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $0.04 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at ($0.02) EPS, FY2024 earnings at $0.03 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $0.07 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $0.17 EPS.

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CAVA Group (NYSE:CAVA  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 15th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $172.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $163.21 million. CAVA Groups revenue was up 27.2% on a year-over-year basis.

CAVA has been the subject of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of CAVA Group in a research note on Monday, July 10th. They set an overweight rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of CAVA Group from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of CAVA Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of CAVA Group from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of CAVA Group from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $51.00.

View Our Latest Research Report on CAVA

CAVA Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CAVA opened at $42.37 on Friday. CAVA Group has a 1 year low of $36.45 and a 1 year high of $58.10. The companys 50-day simple moving average is $46.56.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CAVA Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAVA. Glassman Wealth Services purchased a new position in shares of CAVA Group in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CAVA Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CAVA Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $74,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of CAVA Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $102,000. Finally, Cypress Wealth Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CAVA Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $202,000.

Insider Activity at CAVA Group

In other news, CFO Tricia K. Tolivar acquired 2,500 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 20th. The shares were bought at an average price of $22.00 per share, for a total transaction of $55,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 2,500 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $55,000. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Kenneth Robert Bertram bought 2,295 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $22.00 per share, with a total value of $50,490.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,000. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Tricia K. Tolivar acquired 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $22.00 per share, with a total value of $55,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 2,500 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $55,000. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 9,295 shares of company stock valued at $204,490.

About CAVA Group

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CAVA Group, Inc owns and operates a chain of Mediterranean restaurants. The company offers salads, dips, spreads, toppings, and dressings. It sells its products through whole food markets and grocery stores. The company also provides online food ordering services. Cava Group, Inc was founded in 2006 and is based in Washington, District of Columbia.

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StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR  Free Report) in a research note released on Thursday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the real estate investment trusts stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $71.00 to $69.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 31st. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $72.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Friday, May 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Equity Residential from an underperform rating to a market perform rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Monday, June 5th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Equity Residential from a market perform rating to an underperform rating in a research note on Friday, May 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equity Residential currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $69.31.

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Equity Residential Price Performance

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

EQR stock traded down $0.07 during trading on Thursday, hitting $63.69. 264,189 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,958,160. Equity Residential has a one year low of $54.60 and a one year high of $79.26. The stock has a market cap of $24.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 26th were paid a dividend of $0.6625 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 23rd. This represents a $2.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.16%. Equity Residentials payout ratio is 119.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equity Residential news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.04, for a total transaction of $165,100.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 22,844 shares in the company, valued at $1,508,617.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.69% of the companys stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Residential

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EQR. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 41,457,571 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $2,487,454,000 after buying an additional 878,998 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Equity Residential in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,822,309,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,983,779 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $1,515,182,000 after buying an additional 1,269,082 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 18,062,840 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $1,083,773,000 after buying an additional 1,415,255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 66.2% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,739,081 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $708,457,000 after buying an additional 4,278,160 shares during the last quarter. 82.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Equity Residential

(Get Free Report)

Equity Residential is committed to creating communities where people thrive. The Company, a member of the S&P 500, is focused on the acquisition, development and management of residential properties located in and around dynamic cities that attract affluent long-term renters. Equity Residential owns or has investments in 304 properties consisting of 80,212 apartment units, with an established presence in Boston, New York, Washington, DC, Seattle, San Francisco and Southern California, and an expanding presence in Denver, Atlanta, Dallas/Ft.

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In the beginning of August, at dawn and in front of more than a million young people, the priest DJ Guilherme Peixoto put on an electronic music set, a prelude to the final mass given by Pope Francis at World Youth Day. I prepared everything to wake people up as if it were a hymn of glory to God, as our life has to be, the priest fervently proclaimed.

The improvised after-party put together by Father Guilherme  his musical nickname  has been accumulating hundreds of thousands of views on different social media sites for days. The priest  a member of the Archdiocese of Braga, with over 180,000 followers on Instagram  creates his own compositions, based on homilies and encyclicals. He sometimes sprinkles in excerpts of speeches given by Pope Francis or John Paul II.

Even after more than 25 years in the profession, what this DJ did left me a bit knocked out, admits Javier Estalella, head of hiring at the Razzmatazz Room in Barcelona. [But I think] that mixing ideology and [musical] performances usually isnt a good idea, he adds. Theres ideology here, certainly, but the connection is much deeper. While sound systems and religious ceremonies may seem antagonistic in values and social perception, they actually coincide in many respects.

Raves emerged in the U.K. out of the electronic music subculture of the 1980s and 1990s. They hid in unconventional corners: deserted warehouses, remote fields, or any available site away from the authorities. More than a party, they represented a cultural revolution, as the sociologist Sarah Thornton expresses in her book Club Cultures: Music, Media and Subcultural Capital (1996): The phenomenon of raves arose as a cultural and social response to a generation that sought a space where it could break free from conventional norms. These parties  often illegal and held in makeshift venues  represented a search for freedom, authenticity and community through electronic music. On the other hand, religious ceremonies date back to prehistoric times, with civilizations that celebrated rituals in honor of divinities or natural phenomena. These sacred acts took place in spaces dedicated to worship, with particular clothing for leaders and followers, as well as a strong sense of community and congregation.

Portuguese priest Guilherme Peixoto, the priest DJ, in an image that he posted on Facebook.

Rituals, in all their forms, are outward manifestations of a deep, inner connection to the transcendental, writes psychologist Carl Gustav Jung in Psychology and Religion (1938). Both raves and religious ceremonies fulfill a human need to meet and connect with something bigger than themselves. Although these manifestations may seem to be polar opposites of each other, both seek to elevate the human spirit through collective experience and ecstasy, whether musical or spiritual. The rave is more than music and drugs: its a lifestyle. It [involves] beliefs, a behavior of a ritual type. For the person who participates, its like a religion; from the point of view of the common observer, it looks more like a sinister cult, writes British essayist Simon Reynolds in his 1998 book Energy Flash: A Journey through Rave Music and Dance Culture.

In the same vein, the sociologist Emile Durkheim argued that religious ceremonies, through ritual and repetition, create a collective effervescence, a state in which individuals feel connected to each other and to something larger. Man constantly seeks the company of [those] whom he considers his fellow men and seeks to distance himself from all others. This tendency manifests itself with special sentiments that are more visible on solemn occasions, when individuals come together, he wrote in The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1912).

Two worlds that arent so far apart

The threshold that separates one and the other world has been crossed on several occasions. In some European and American cities, deserted religious buildings have mutated into electronic music clubs, taking advantage of the excellent acoustics of the churches structures. For instance, the Church Nightclub in Denver stands out as an emblem of the citys nightlife. In New Yorks East Village, the gay club La Saint  open between 1980 and 1988  was also known as the Vatican of discos. The Limelight in New York, meanwhile, is perhaps one of the most famous examples of a church that was converted into a nightclub.

In Spain, theres the case of Bilborock: a space where concerts and music sessions are organized, which is located inside a 17th-century religious temple, the church of La Merced. And, in Amsterdam, Paradiso  an old church reinvented as a space for live music  often hosts electronic music events.

This musical genre  which, today, is one of the most listened to in the world after reggaeton  has found inspiration in religious music, with songs that include sacred sound elements in electronic tracks, including the adaptation of sacred melodies and harmonies. During the 1990s, Gregorian chants experienced a renaissance in popularity, with hits such as the album Chant (1994), performed by the Monks of the Benedictine Monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos in Spain. It reached third-place worldwide in the best-selling albums, according to Billboard magazine. After this success, various artists and producers decided to merge these songs with dance rhythms and electronic components. An early example is the song Sadeness (Part I), released in 1990 by the group Enigma, which blends the meditative and sacred sounds of Gregorian chants with the rhythms and atmosphere of electronic music.

Dancers party to electronic music at the Limelight Club in New York, located in what was once a church. Lynn Goldsmith (Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)

After seeing the video of Father Guilhermes DJ set, many Twitter users highlighted the similarities with the streaming series The Young Pope and The New Pope, by Paolo Sorrentino. In both productions, electronic music highlights the contrast between the tradition of the Catholic Church and todays world, with songs such as Levo by Recondite, Krack by Soulwax, or Sexy and I Know It by LMFAO. In a scene from the early episodes of The Young Pope, Pope Lenny Belardo  the main character  compares himself to Daft Punk. He notes how top members of the Church, much like the writer J.D. Sallinger or the artist Banksy, use anonymity to magnify their legacy.

Lastly, theres talk of drugs. This is something as common in raves and techno parties as apparently distant from traditional Christian values, despite the fact that, in many ancient ceremonies, the use of psychoactive substances was common. One example is the Eleusinian Mysteries, held annually in honor of the goddesses Demeter and Persephone at Eleusis, near Athens. For more than a thousand years, these rituals were some of the most important religious ceremonies in Ancient Greece. Due to their relevance, historical figures  such as Plato, Cicero, Sophocles, Pindar, as well as the emperors Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius  participated in, or were initiated into these mysteries.

The culmination of the initiation rite was the ingestion of kykeon, a sacred drink whose exact composition remains an enigma to historians. Albert Hofmann  a Swiss chemist, famous for being the first to synthesize and take LSD  wrote the book The Road to Eleusis: Unveiling the Secret of the Mysteries (1978), in collaboration with Carl Ruck and R. Gordon Wasson. In it, they raise the possibility that kykeon may have contained ergot  a hallucinogenic mushroom that grows on rye. They write that this mushroom may have been processed in such a way as to provide visionary experiences to those being initiated, while avoiding its detrimental toxic effects.

One of the most intriguing aspects of the Eleusinian Mysteries is the secrecy and silence that surrounds these ceremonies. Those who were initiated were placed under a strict vow of silence regarding what happened during the ceremonies. Revealing the secrets was a punishable offense, as it was considered to be sacrilegious. Its not so much that sacred drunkenness [was hiding anything]. Rather, it was simply forbidden to trivialize sacred drunkenness, wrote the philosopher Antonio Escohotado in his The General History of Drugs.

Today, many nightclubs in big cities put stickers on the mobile phones of the attendees, so that they avoid taking photos. This is to preserve privacy and mystery. Although the only real secret  as the Spanish philosopher affirmed  is the chemical composition of each drug that is consumed.

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Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR  Free Report) had its price objective raised by Truist Financial from $71.00 to $77.00 in a research note released on Monday, Marketbeat reports. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the real estate investment trusts stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on EQR. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Equity Residential from an underweight rating to a neutral rating and boosted their target price for the company from $63.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Friday, June 9th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Equity Residential in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. 3M reaffirmed an upgrade rating on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Friday, June 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Equity Residential from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Equity Residential from an underperform rating to a market perform rating and upped their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $64.00 in a report on Monday, June 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $69.31.

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Equity Residential Trading Down 0.1 %

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

NYSE EQR opened at $63.76 on Monday. The businesss fifty day moving average is $66.16 and its 200-day moving average is $63.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.19 and a quick ratio of 0.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.85, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.83. Equity Residential has a one year low of $54.60 and a one year high of $80.89.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 14th. Investors of record on Monday, June 26th were given a dividend of $0.6625 per share. This represents a $2.65 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 23rd. Equity Residentials payout ratio is 119.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In other news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 2,500 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.04, for a total transaction of $165,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 22,844 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,617.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.69% of the companys stock.

Institutional Trading of Equity Residential

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Roger Wittlin Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Roger Wittlin Investment Advisory LLC now owns 7,544 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $498,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its stake in Equity Residential by 1.2% in the second quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 13,757 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $908,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Equity Residential by 0.6% during the first quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,128 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $1,688,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 5.9% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,114 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $205,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Veritable L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Veritable L.P. now owns 3,851 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $254,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. 82.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Equity Residential Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Equity Residential is committed to creating communities where people thrive. The Company, a member of the S&P 500, is focused on the acquisition, development and management of residential properties located in and around dynamic cities that attract affluent long-term renters. Equity Residential owns or has investments in 304 properties consisting of 80,212 apartment units, with an established presence in Boston, New York, Washington, DC, Seattle, San Francisco and Southern California, and an expanding presence in Denver, Atlanta, Dallas/Ft.

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Exeter Financial LLC increased its holdings in Hormel Foods Co. (NYSE:HRL  Free Report) by 11.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,340 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the quarter. Exeter Financial LLCs holdings in Hormel Foods were worth $215,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 217.1% during the 1st quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 650 shares of the companys stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Hormel Foods during the 1st quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Hormel Foods by 1,673.3% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 798 shares of the companys stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 753 shares during the period. 40.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HRL has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Hormel Foods in a research report on Thursday. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Hormel Foods from $45.00 to $42.00 in a report on Thursday, June 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $43.71.

Hormel Foods Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE HRL traded down $0.15 on Friday, reaching $39.25. 608,625 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,001,810. Hormel Foods Co. has a fifty-two week low of $37.78 and a fifty-two week high of $51.69. The company has a 50 day moving average of $40.40 and a 200 day moving average of $40.82. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.44 billion, a PE ratio of 23.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 0.20.

Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 1st. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.06 billion. Hormel Foods had a net margin of 7.61% and a return on equity of 12.36%. The companys quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.48 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Hormel Foods Co. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hormel Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 17th were given a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 14th. Hormel Foodss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hormel Foods news, VP Mark J. Ourada sold 9,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.00, for a total value of $377,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 20,684 shares of the companys stock, valued at $848,044. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Mark A. Coffey sold 31,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.50, for a total transaction of $1,271,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 55,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,232,886.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Mark J. Ourada sold 9,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.00, for a total value of $377,200.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,684 shares of the companys stock, valued at $848,044. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 45,800 shares of company stock valued at $1,859,552. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hormel Foods Company Profile

(Free Report)

Hormel Foods Corporation develops, processes, and distributes various meat, nuts, and food products to retail, foodservice, deli, and commercial customers in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Grocery Products, Refrigerated Foods, Jennie-O Turkey Store, and International & Other.

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First National Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY  Free Report) by 8.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,082 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the quarter. Eli Lilly and Company accounts for about 2.0% of First National Advisers LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. First National Advisers LLCs holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $1,745,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LLY. Oxler Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 0.4% during the first quarter. Oxler Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,050 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,078,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 12.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 58,586 shares of the companys stock valued at $20,119,000 after buying an additional 6,473 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems grew its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 0.6% during the first quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 62,356 shares of the companys stock valued at $21,414,000 after buying an additional 351 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 61.2% during the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 8,390 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,881,000 after buying an additional 3,185 shares during the period. Finally, Resources Investment Advisors LLC. grew its position in Eli Lilly and Company by 1.1% during the first quarter. Resources Investment Advisors LLC. now owns 10,389 shares of the companys stock valued at $3,568,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. 87.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LLY has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $500.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $560.00 to $617.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $500.00 to $590.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Friday, July 14th. They issued a buy rating and a $560.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $510.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Eli Lilly and Company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $517.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eli Lilly and Company

In other Eli Lilly and Company news, EVP Patrik Jonsson sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $429.46, for a total transaction of $2,576,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,941 shares of the companys stock, valued at $15,864,681.86. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Johna Norton sold 1,647 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.29, for a total value of $731,745.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,761 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $14,111,094.69. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrik Jonsson sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $429.46, for a total transaction of $2,576,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,864,681.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 724,841 shares of company stock valued at $360,357,419. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE:LLY traded up $6.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $544.14. The companys stock had a trading volume of 1,343,930 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,062,423. Eli Lilly and Company has a 1 year low of $296.32 and a 1 year high of $552.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $466.57 and a 200-day moving average of $404.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $516.55 billion, a PE ratio of 74.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 8th. The company reported $2.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $8.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.58 billion. Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 22.01% and a return on equity of 65.00%. The companys quarterly revenue was up 28.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Eli Lilly and Company will post 9.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Eli Lilly and Company Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 14th. Eli Lilly and Companys payout ratio is 62.87%.

Eli Lilly and Company Profile

(Free Report)

Eli Lilly and Company discovers, develops, and markets human pharmaceuticals worldwide. It offers Basaglar, Humalog, Humalog Mix 75/25, Humalog U-100, Humalog U-200, Humalog Mix 50/50, insulin lispro, insulin lispro protamine, insulin lispro mix 75/25, Humulin, Humulin 70/30, Humulin N, Humulin R, and Humulin U-500 for diabetes; and Jardiance, Trajenta, and Trulicity for type 2 diabetes.

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Fresh Vine Wine (NYSEAMERICAN:VINE  Get Free Report) released its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The company reported ($0.27) earnings per share for the quarter, reports. The firm had revenue of $0.33 million during the quarter. Fresh Vine Wine had a negative return on equity of 227.16% and a negative net margin of 774.68%.

Fresh Vine Wine Stock Performance

Shares of Fresh Vine Wine stock traded up $0.01 during trading on Thursday, hitting $0.34. The stock had a trading volume of 712,015 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,376,693. The stock has a market cap of $5.37 million, a P/E ratio of -0.37 and a beta of 1.17. Fresh Vine Wine has a 12 month low of $0.21 and a 12 month high of $3.22.

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Insider Activity at Fresh Vine Wine

In related news, major shareholder Css Llc/Il sold 140,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $0.73, for a total value of $102,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 878,093 shares of the companys stock, valued at $641,007.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 39.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Fresh Vine Wine Company Profile

An institutional investor recently bought a new position in Fresh Vine Wine stock. GTS Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Fresh Vine Wine, Inc. ( NYSEAMERICAN:VINE Free Report ) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 112,512 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $25,000. GTS Securities LLC owned 0.71% of Fresh Vine Wine at the end of the most recent quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

(Get Free Report)

Fresh Vine Wine, Inc produces and sells low-carb and low-calorie wines in the United States and Puerto Rico. Its wine varietals include Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Rose, and Sparkling Rose. The company sells its products through wholesale, retail, and direct-to-consumer channels.

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Garrett Motion Inc. (NYSE:GTX  Get Free Report) major shareholder Cyrus Capital Partners, L.P. sold 3,486,267 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.70, for a total value of $26,844,255.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 31,402,333 shares in the company, valued at $241,797,964.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a companys shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Cyrus Capital Partners, L.P. also recently made the following trade(s):

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On Friday, June 9th, Cyrus Capital Partners, L.P. sold 1,086,472 shares of Garrett Motion stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.20, for a total value of $8,909,070.40.

Garrett Motion Price Performance

Shares of Garrett Motion stock opened at $7.87 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.01 and a beta of 1.24. The stocks 50-day moving average is $7.61 and its 200-day moving average is $7.84. Garrett Motion Inc. has a one year low of $5.57 and a one year high of $8.68.

Institutional Trading of Garrett Motion

Garrett Motion ( NYSE:GTX Get Free Report ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The company reported ($1.88) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($2.11). Garrett Motion had a negative return on equity of 160.26% and a net margin of 9.65%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $982.00 million. On average, equities analysts expect that Garrett Motion Inc. will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Garrett Motion during the first quarter worth about $35,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Garrett Motion during the second quarter worth about $37,000. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Garrett Motion by 888.6% during the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,505 shares of the companys stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 5,847 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in Garrett Motion by 342.7% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 9,864 shares of the companys stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 7,636 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Garrett Motion during the first quarter worth approximately $80,000.

About Garrett Motion

(Get Free Report)

Garrett Motion Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and sells turbocharger and electric-boosting technologies for light and commercial vehicle original equipment manufacturers worldwide. The company offers light vehicle gasoline and diesel, and commercial vehicle turbochargers, as well as electrified vehicles; and provides automotive software solutions.

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StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE  Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the conglomerates stock.

A number of other analysts have also commented on GE. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on General Electric from $100.00 to $105.00 in a report on Monday, July 10th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on General Electric from $108.00 to $120.00 in a report on Thursday, July 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on General Electric from $121.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, July 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on General Electric from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on General Electric from $126.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, July 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $120.00.

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Check Out Our Latest Report on General Electric

General Electric Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of General Electric stock traded up $0.33 on Thursday, reaching $111.29. The companys stock had a trading volume of 1,732,688 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,413,844. The company has a market capitalization of $121.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.22, a P/E/G ratio of 6.95 and a beta of 1.28. The firms fifty day simple moving average is $110.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $99.29. General Electric has a 52 week low of $48.06 and a 52 week high of $117.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

General Electric (NYSE:GE  Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The conglomerate reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $15.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.76 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 9.30% and a net margin of 13.32%. The companys quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 11th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 10th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. General Electrics dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3.80%.

Insider Activity at General Electric

In other General Electric news, major shareholder General Electric Pension Trust acquired 35,160 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $995.44 per share, for a total transaction of $34,999,670.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 175,160 shares of the companys stock, valued at $174,361,270.40. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other General Electric news, major shareholder General Electric Pension Trust acquired 35,160 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $995.44 per share, for a total transaction of $34,999,670.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 175,160 shares of the companys stock, valued at $174,361,270.40. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 112,614 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.20, for a total value of $12,973,132.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 57,923 shares in the company, valued at $6,672,729.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.67% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Electric by 4.4% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 70,480,887 shares of the conglomerates stock worth $7,742,325,000 after buying an additional 2,974,946 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of General Electric by 5.7% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 63,795,835 shares of the conglomerates stock worth $6,098,882,000 after buying an additional 3,463,502 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of General Electric by 0.3% in the second quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 54,261,585 shares of the conglomerates stock worth $5,960,462,000 after buying an additional 156,054 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of General Electric by 3.5% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 50,207,805 shares of the conglomerates stock worth $5,515,327,000 after buying an additional 1,717,793 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TCI Fund Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric in the first quarter worth about $2,496,379,000. 74.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Electric Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

General Electric Company operates as a high-tech industrial company in Europe, China, Asia, the Americas, the Middle East, and Africa. It offers gas and steam turbines, full balance of plant, upgrade, and service solutions, as well as data-leveraging software for power generation, industrial, government, and other customers.

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Glatfelter Co. (NYSE:GLT  Get Free Report) major shareholder Carlson Capital L. P acquired 185,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $2.00 per share, with a total value of $370,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 6,100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,200,000. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a companys stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Glatfelter Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:GLT opened at $2.05 on Friday. Glatfelter Co. has a 52-week low of $1.85 and a 52-week high of $5.70. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.06.

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Institutional Investors Weigh In On Glatfelter

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Glatfelter by 115.7% during the 2nd quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 915,038 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $2,763,000 after purchasing an additional 490,875 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its position in Glatfelter by 1.6% during the second quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 334,474 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $1,010,000 after acquiring an additional 5,312 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Middle East FZE acquired a new stake in Glatfelter during the second quarter worth approximately $37,000. CastleKnight Management LP lifted its position in Glatfelter by 56.4% during the second quarter. CastleKnight Management LP now owns 591,067 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $1,785,000 after acquiring an additional 213,067 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Wisconsin Investment Board lifted its position in Glatfelter by 17.9% during the second quarter. State of Wisconsin Investment Board now owns 170,800 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $516,000 after acquiring an additional 25,900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.89% of the companys stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Glatfelter in a report on Thursday. They issued a sell rating for the company.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Glatfelter

Glatfelter Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Glatfelter Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells engineered materials worldwide. It operates through three segments: Composite Fibers, Airlaid Materials, and Spunlace. The Composite Fibers segment offers food and beverage filtration materials for single-serve coffee and tea products; wallcover base materials for wallpaper manufacturers; metallized products that are used in labels, packaging liners, gift wraps, and other consumer product applications; composite laminates consisting of decorative laminates for use in furniture, household and commercial flooring, and other applications; and specialty engineered products, which are used in electrical energy storage, home, hygiene, and other engineered fiber-based applications.

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StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK  Free Report) in a research report released on Thursday morning. The firm issued a buy rating on the industrial products companys stock.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on GPK. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Citigroup reduced their target price on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $28.00 in a report on Monday, July 10th. Seaport Res Ptn reiterated a buy rating on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Finally, 888 reissued a downgrade rating on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Thursday, June 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Graphic Packaging currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $29.44.

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Graphic Packaging Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of GPK stock traded up $0.05 on Thursday, hitting $21.92. The stock had a trading volume of 1,113,537 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,672,353. The stocks 50 day moving average is $24.03 and its 200-day moving average is $24.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.96. Graphic Packaging has a 52-week low of $19.46 and a 52-week high of $27.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.07). Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 37.35%. The firm had revenue of $2.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Graphic Packaging will post 2.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Graphic Packagings dividend payout ratio is currently 17.54%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Graphic Packaging

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging in the 1st quarter valued at $519,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging in the first quarter valued at about $184,000. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 2.6% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 15,105,236 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $302,709,000 after acquiring an additional 377,055 shares in the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can raised its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 3.2% during the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 25,660 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $547,000 after acquiring an additional 792 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 9.0% during the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 11,619 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $233,000 after acquiring an additional 955 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.86% of the companys stock.

About Graphic Packaging

(Get Free Report)

Graphic Packaging Holding Company, together with its subsidiaries, provides fiber-based packaging solutions to food, beverage, foodservice, and other consumer products companies. It operates through three segments: Paperboard Mills, Americas Paperboard Packaging, and Europe Paperboard Packaging. The company offers coated unbleached kraft (CUK), coated recycled paperboard (CRB), and solid bleached sulfate paperboard (SBS) to various paperboard packaging converters and brokers; and paperboard packaging products, such as folding cartons, cups, lids, and food containers primarily to consumer packaged goods, quick-service restaurants, and foodservice companies; and barrier packaging products that protect against moisture, hot and cold temperature, grease, oil, oxygen, sunlight, insects, and other potential product-damaging factors.

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Grey Street Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of iShares Silver Trust (NYSEARCA:SLV  Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 98,448 shares of the exchange traded funds stock, valued at approximately $2,178,000. iShares Silver Trust makes up approximately 1.5% of Grey Street Capital LLCs holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bleakley Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of iShares Silver Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $29,521,000. Simplicity Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of iShares Silver Trust by 1,730.5% during the 1st quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 1,386,741 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $30,675,000 after buying an additional 1,310,983 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in iShares Silver Trust by 2,340.0% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,131,200 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $24,909,000 after acquiring an additional 1,181,700 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in iShares Silver Trust in the 1st quarter worth $26,492,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in iShares Silver Trust by 48.0% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,711,172 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $62,032,000 after acquiring an additional 879,524 shares during the last quarter.

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iShares Silver Trust Price Performance

iShares Silver Trust stock traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $20.82. The stock had a trading volume of 9,443,599 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,888,129. iShares Silver Trust has a 52 week low of $16.19 and a 52 week high of $23.94. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.49.

iShares Silver Trust Profile

iShares Silver Trust (the Trust) owns silver transferred to the Trust in exchange for shares issued by the Trust. The Trusts each share represents a fractional undivided beneficial interest in its net assets. The assets of the Trust consist of silver held by the Trusts custodian on behalf of the Trust.

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Flagstar Advisors Inc. decreased its position in iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (NYSEARCA:EEM  Free Report) by 5.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,487 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after selling 1,718 shares during the quarter. Flagstar Advisors Inc.s holdings in iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF were worth $1,085,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF in the first quarter worth approximately $146,000. AMI Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,268 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $509,000 after acquiring an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its position in shares of iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF by 62.5% during the first quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 65,005 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $2,935,000 after purchasing an additional 25,000 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF by 14.5% during the first quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 8,965 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF by 9.3% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 892,269 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $40,286,000 after purchasing an additional 76,229 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.70% of the companys stock.

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iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF Trading Down 0.6 %

EEM traded down $0.23 during trading on Friday, reaching $38.43. The company had a trading volume of 10,492,914 shares, compared to its average volume of 31,796,051. iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF has a 12-month low of $33.49 and a 12-month high of $42.53. The firms 50-day simple moving average is $40.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.56.

iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF Company Profile

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).

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Campaigning for the presidential election in Ecuador came to a close Thursday under a heavy security shield for the candidates. Former investigative journalist Christian Zurita chose the emblematic Shyris Avenue in the capital, the scene of the largest social demonstrations in the country. It was his first and last political rally after taking the baton of the Movimiento Construye presidential candidacy following the assassination of Fernando Villavicencio, who was gunned down on August 9 in Quito. Zurita wore a helmet and bulletproof vest under a white T-shirt with the face of his friend and his former partner in journalistic investigations. The event began with a mass in honor of Villavicencio, in which his closest family members participated. They too all wore bulletproof vests and were surrounded by a police escort. The security deployment included snipers in the surrounding buildings and Zurita was transported in armored vehicles, unlike Villavicencio, who was travelling in a state-provided unarmored van when he was shot and killed.

Meanwhile, a campaign rally organized by Daniel Noboa, the son of tycoon and five-time presidential candidate Alvaro Noboa, dispersed amid a shootout in the city of Duran, which is located fifteen minutes outside of Guayaquil. Vehicles carrying Noboas supporters were driving along the main avenue when shots were heard in the vicinity. Noboa, who always wears a bulletproof vest, said on social networks that intimidation and fear have no place in the country we want and to which we are committed to change once and for all. Minister of the Interior Juan Zapata later ruled out that the gunfire had been an attack against the candidate. Shootings are common in Duran, where drug gangs are engaged in a turf war. Between Guayaquil, Duran and Samborondon, three neighboring municipalities that are also in the grip of criminal organizations, 1,636 violent crimes have been registered so far this year and combined, the three areas have a homicide rate of 50.7 per 100,000 inhabitants.

Luisa Gonzalez of the Citizen Revolution Movement attends the closing rally for her campaign. HENRY ROMERO (REUTERS)

Luisa Gonzalez, the presidential candidate for the Citizen Revolution Movement  former president Rafael Correas party  who was leading the polls until before Villavicencios murder, chose the Cristo del Consuelo sector in Guayaquil for her last day of campaigning: the same place where a year ago, the first terrorist bombing in a populated urban area took place. Arriving two hours late, Gonzalez walked the streets of the neighborhood before attending a concert with live music where Correa made a speech via videoconference. During her own intervention, Gonzalez delivered a discourse with the message: We already did it.

Jan Topic during a campaign closing ceremony in Guayaquil. SANTIAGO ARCOS (REUTERS)

Otto Sonnenholzner, former vice president under Lenin Moreno, dedicated his last day of campaigning to a walk for peace that began in the coastal city of Machala, where he dedicated a speech to security, and then moved to Guayaquil for a political rally in the Coliseo Modelo.

In another enclosed place, the Guayaquil Convention Center, presidential candidate Jan Topic brought his campaign to a close with a speech in which he drew attention to a dirty campaign that magically appeared in the last 24 hours, referring to the publication of contracts for the purchase of security cameras, containing alleged irregularities as denounced by the Municipality of Guayaquil, which has requested an audit of the State Comptrollers Office in which Topics family company is involved.

Presidential candidate Yaku Perez and running mate Nory Pinela wear bulletproof vests during a rally in Quito. HENRY ROMERO (REUTERS)

The only indigenous candidate, Yaku Perez, also wore a bulletproof vest and closed his campaign with a rally at the top of the iconic Panecillo mountain, in the Historic Center of Quito. There he symbolically signed his first presidential decree, declaring security a national priority for the country. He also participated in an ancestral ceremony. Xavier Hervas, who is running for the presidency for a second time, suspended all campaign activities after the murder of Villavicencio. Neither he nor Bolivar Armijos, the candidate for the AMIGO Movement, scheduled a campaign closing. Now the country will enter a period of electoral silence, during which Ecuadorians will reflect on which way to cast their vote at the polls on August 20, amid of a wave of violence and the threat of terrorist attacks.

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Summit X LLC lifted its stake in shares of iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF (BATS:QUAL  Free Report) by 4,353.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 108,217 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 105,787 shares during the period. iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF comprises approximately 3.5% of Summit X LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Summit X LLCs holdings in iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF were worth $13,426,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of QUAL. Diversified LLC increased its holdings in iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF by 1.1% in the first quarter. Diversified LLC now owns 7,460 shares of the companys stock valued at $926,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Colony Group LLC boosted its position in iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF by 1.9% during the second quarter. Colony Group LLC now owns 5,251 shares of the companys stock valued at $587,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF by 4.0% during the first quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,654 shares of the companys stock valued at $329,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF by 2.4% during the first quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,862 shares of the companys stock valued at $603,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF by 3.8% during the first quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,200 shares of the companys stock valued at $397,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter.

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iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF Price Performance

Shares of QUAL stock traded down $0.89 on Friday, reaching $134.72. 1,886,930 shares of the company were exchanged. The company has a market cap of $30.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.30 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50-day moving average of $135.57 and a 200-day moving average of $127.58. iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF has a one year low of $71.96 and a one year high of $88.63.

iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF Company Profile

The iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF (QUAL) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality index. The fund tracks an index of US large- and mid-cap stocks, selected and weighted by high ROE, stable earnings growth and low debt\u002Fequity, relative to peers in each sector.

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Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST  Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,634 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock, valued at approximately $913,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 253.4% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 205 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter worth $48,000. Artemis Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 37.6% in the 1st quarter. Artemis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services by 33.0% in the 1st quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 149 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in the 4th quarter worth about $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.36% of the companys stock.

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West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of West Pharmaceutical Services stock opened at $392.87 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.66, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $206.19 and a 12-month high of $408.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.27, a PEG ratio of 10.94 and a beta of 1.10. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $376.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $347.74.

Analyst Ratings Changes

West Pharmaceutical Services ( NYSE:WST Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $753.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $755.71 million. West Pharmaceutical Services had a net margin of 18.10% and a return on equity of 22.36%. West Pharmaceutical Servicess revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.47 EPS. Analysts predict that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 7.83 EPS for the current year.

WST has been the topic of a number of research reports. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $375.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Thursday. They issued a buy rating on the stock. Stephens upped their target price on shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from $400.00 to $420.00 in a research note on Monday, July 17th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of West Pharmaceutical Services from a neutral rating to a buy rating and upped their price target for the stock from $390.00 to $405.00 in a research report on Friday, June 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $350.00.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on West Pharmaceutical Services

Insider Transactions at West Pharmaceutical Services

In related news, SVP Bernard Birkett sold 22,334 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.39, for a total transaction of $8,272,290.26. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,366 shares in the company, valued at $1,617,122.74. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, VP Quintin J. Lai sold 21,101 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Friday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $395.12, for a total transaction of $8,337,427.12. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 18,307 shares in the company, valued at $7,233,461.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Bernard Birkett sold 22,334 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.39, for a total transaction of $8,272,290.26. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,617,122.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,275 shares of company stock worth $20,859,943 over the last 90 days. 1.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

West Pharmaceutical Services Company Profile

(Free Report)

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells containment and delivery systems for injectable drugs and healthcare products in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It operates in two segments, Proprietary Products and Contract-Manufactured Products.

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Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund acquired a new position in Republic Services, Inc. (NYSE:RSG  Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 7,309 shares of the business services providers stock, valued at approximately $988,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Oak Family Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Republic Services by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Oak Family Advisors LLC now owns 3,187 shares of the business services providers stock worth $431,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. ETF Managers Group LLC raised its stake in Republic Services by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. ETF Managers Group LLC now owns 5,474 shares of the business services providers stock worth $740,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. raised its stake in Republic Services by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 6,656 shares of the business services providers stock worth $871,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Republic Services by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 7,181 shares of the business services providers stock worth $926,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA raised its stake in Republic Services by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA now owns 3,605 shares of the business services providers stock worth $478,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.36% of the companys stock.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CMO Amanda Hodges sold 2,712 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.66, for a total transaction of $403,165.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 4,969 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $738,691.54. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CMO Amanda Hodges sold 2,712 shares of Republic Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.66, for a total value of $403,165.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 4,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $738,691.54. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Brian M. Delghiaccio sold 5,500 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Monday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.65, for a total value of $823,075.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 5,071 shares of the companys stock, valued at $758,875.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Republic Services from $156.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 1st. VNET Group reiterated a maintains rating on shares of Republic Services in a research note on Thursday, April 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Republic Services from $158.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 1st. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Republic Services in a research note on Thursday. They issued a buy rating for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Republic Services from $158.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $159.00.

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Republic Services Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of Republic Services stock opened at $145.79 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $46.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.66. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $149.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $140.19. Republic Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $120.58 and a 1-year high of $156.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Republic Services (NYSE:RSG  Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $3.73 billion. Republic Services had a return on equity of 16.53% and a net margin of 10.91%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.32 EPS. Analysts predict that Republic Services, Inc. will post 5.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Republic Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 13th. Investors of record on Monday, October 2nd will be given a $0.535 dividend. This represents a $2.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. This is a positive change from Republic Servicess previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 29th. Republic Servicess dividend payout ratio is presently 39.84%.

Republic Services Company Profile

(Free Report)

Republic Services, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, offers environmental services in the United States. It is involved in the collection and processing of recyclable, solid waste, and industrial waste materials; transportation and disposal of non-hazardous and hazardous waste streams; and other environmental solutions.

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Kentucky Retirement Systems decreased its holdings in Deere & Company (NYSE:DE  Free Report) by 2.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,381 shares of the industrial products companys stock after selling 486 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems holdings in Deere & Company were worth $8,828,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ETF Managers Group LLC grew its holdings in Deere & Company by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. ETF Managers Group LLC now owns 1,746 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $721,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 2,655 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $1,138,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 6,016 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $2,579,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 537 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Finally, All Season Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Deere & Company by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. All Season Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 860 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.33% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on DE shares. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on Deere & Company from $398.00 to $367.00 in a report on Monday, May 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Deere & Company from $392.00 to $398.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Deere & Company from $450.00 to $425.00 in a research note on Monday, June 5th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Deere & Company from $455.00 to $418.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Deere & Company from $492.00 to $436.00 in a research report on Monday, May 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Deere & Company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $462.16.

Deere & Company Stock Down 3.9 %

DE traded down $16.44 on Friday, hitting $402.72. 1,837,716 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,602,068. Deere & Company has a 12 month low of $328.62 and a 12 month high of $450.00. The company has a market cap of $118.07 billion, a PE ratio of 14.07, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a current ratio of 1.96. The stocks fifty day moving average is $418.06 and its 200-day moving average is $401.13.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 18th. The industrial products company reported $10.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.22 by $1.98. Deere & Company had a return on equity of 43.11% and a net margin of 15.00%. The business had revenue of $14.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.16 earnings per share. Deere & Companys revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Deere & Company will post 31.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Deere & Company Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 30th were paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 29th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. Deere & Companys dividend payout ratio is 16.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Deere & Company

In other news, CEO John C. May II sold 52,967 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.02, for a total transaction of $22,035,331.34. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 109,126 shares in the company, valued at $45,398,598.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO John C. May II sold 52,967 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.02, for a total transaction of $22,035,331.34. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 109,126 shares in the company, valued at $45,398,598.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Pentz Markwart Von sold 7,110 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Friday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $356.69, for a total value of $2,536,065.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,372,349.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 92,690 shares of company stock worth $37,335,181 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.26% of the companys stock.

Deere & Company Profile

(Free Report)

Deere & Company manufactures and distributes various equipment worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Production and Precision Agriculture, Small Agriculture and Turf, Construction and Forestry, and Financial Services. The Production and Precision Agriculture segment provides mid-size tractors, combines, cotton pickers and strippers, sugarcane harvesters, harvesting front-end equipment, sugarcane loaders, pull-behind scrapers, and tillage and seeding equipment, as well as application equipment, including sprayers and nutrient management, and soil preparation machinery for grain growers.

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Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co bought a new position in Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG  Free Report) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 2,084 shares of the industrial products companys stock, valued at approximately $289,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PKG. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Packaging Co. of America in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. WealthPLAN Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Packaging Co. of America in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 60.0% in the 4th quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 264 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. American National Bank purchased a new position in shares of Packaging Co. of America in the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 116.0% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 365 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.84% of the companys stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Packaging Co. of America

In other Packaging Co. of America news, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 27,027 shares of Packaging Co. of America stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.80, for a total transaction of $4,021,617.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 198,121 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $29,480,404.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Robert Andrew Schneider sold 15,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Monday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.84, for a total value of $2,292,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 22,595 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,453,419.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 27,027 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.80, for a total value of $4,021,617.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 198,121 shares in the company, valued at $29,480,404.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 59,783 shares of company stock valued at $9,023,216 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the companys stock.

Packaging Co. of America Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE PKG opened at $146.70 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 3.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $139.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $137.08. The firm has a market cap of $13.19 billion, a PE ratio of 15.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.90. Packaging Co. of America has a twelve month low of $110.56 and a twelve month high of $158.66.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG  Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.93 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.99 billion. Packaging Co. of America had a return on equity of 23.30% and a net margin of 10.79%. Packaging Co. of Americas revenue was down 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. Analysts expect that Packaging Co. of America will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Packaging Co. of America from $128.00 to $148.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Packaging Co. of America from $145.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Monday, July 10th. 22nd Century Group reissued a maintains rating on shares of Packaging Co. of America in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Packaging Co. of America from $137.00 to $132.00 in a research note on Friday, June 30th. Finally, VNET Group reissued a maintains rating on shares of Packaging Co. of America in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $131.50.

View Our Latest Report on Packaging Co. of America

Packaging Co. of America Profile

(Free Report)

Packaging Corporation of America manufactures and sells containerboard and corrugated packaging products in the United States. The company operates through Packaging and Paper segments. The Packaging segment offers various containerboard and corrugated packaging products, such as conventional shipping containers used to protect and transport manufactured goods; multi-color boxes and displays that help to merchandise the packaged product in retail locations; and honeycomb protective packaging products, as well as packaging for meat, fresh fruit and vegetables, processed food, beverages, and other industrial and consumer products.

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Mendel Money Management lessened its position in SPDR S&P MidCap 400 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:MDY  Free Report) by 8.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 540 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after selling 48 shares during the quarter. Mendel Money Managements holdings in SPDR S&P MidCap 400 ETF Trust were worth $250,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MDY. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in SPDR S&P MidCap 400 ETF Trust by 250,264.6% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,523,871 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $4,217,075,000 after buying an additional 9,520,067 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in SPDR S&P MidCap 400 ETF Trust by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,000,690 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $885,886,000 after buying an additional 52,184 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in SPDR S&P MidCap 400 ETF Trust by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,140,904 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $505,181,000 after buying an additional 86,561 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in SPDR S&P MidCap 400 ETF Trust by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 838,773 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $371,400,000 after buying an additional 8,630 shares during the period. Finally, Beirne Wealth Consulting Services LLC purchased a new position in SPDR S&P MidCap 400 ETF Trust in the 4th quarter worth about $7,675,000.

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SPDR S&P MidCap 400 ETF Trust Stock Up 0.0 %

MDY stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $469.78. The company had a trading volume of 105,717 shares, compared to its average volume of 793,821. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.00 and a beta of 1.12. SPDR S&P MidCap 400 ETF Trust has a 52-week low of $398.11 and a 52-week high of $500.78. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $481.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $466.96.

About SPDR S&P MidCap 400 ETF Trust

SPDR S&P MidCap 400 ETF is an exchange traded fund. SPDR MidCap 400 Trust focuses to correspond to the price and yield performance of the S&P MidCap 400 Index. The S&P MidCap 400 covers over 7% of the United States equities market, and is part of a series of S&P the United States indices. The index also includes companies, which should have four consecutive quarters of positive as-reported earnings, excluding discontinued operations and extraordinary items.

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Shares of MS INTERNATIONAL plc (LON:MSI  Get Free Report) crossed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a fifty day moving average of GBX 603.14 ($7.65) and traded as high as GBX 668.25 ($8.48). MS INTERNATIONAL shares last traded at GBX 652.50 ($8.28), with a volume of 699 shares trading hands.

MS INTERNATIONAL Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of GBX 604.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of GBX 564.64. The stock has a market capitalization of 105.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2,625.00 and a beta of 0.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.94.

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MS INTERNATIONAL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 6th will be issued a dividend of GBX 13 ($0.16) per share. This represents a yield of 2.11%. This is a boost from MS INTERNATIONALs previous dividend of $2.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 6th. MS INTERNATIONALs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6,250.00%.

MS INTERNATIONAL Company Profile

MS INTERNATIONAL plc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, sells, and services specialist engineering products in the United Kingdom, Europe, the United States of America, and South America. The company operates through Defence, Forgings, Petrol Station Superstructures, and Corporate Branding divisions.

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StockNews.com started coverage on shares of National Bank (NYSE:NBHC  Free Report) in a research report report published on Thursday. The firm issued a sell rating on the financial services providers stock.

Separately, Stephens reissued an equal weight rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of National Bank in a research note on Friday, July 21st.

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Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on National Bank

National Bank Price Performance

Shares of National Bank stock traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $32.81. 45,562 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 238,159. National Bank has a fifty-two week low of $26.48 and a fifty-two week high of $50.00. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.48 and a beta of 0.91.

National Bank (NYSE:NBHC  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.07). National Bank had a return on equity of 12.37% and a net margin of 22.38%. The company had revenue of $134.89 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.28 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.69 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that National Bank will post 3.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

National Bank Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 24th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. National Banks dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.49%.

Institutional Trading of National Bank

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NBHC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of National Bank by 76.4% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 156,517 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $6,305,000 after purchasing an additional 67,805 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of National Bank by 20.6% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 727,077 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $29,286,000 after acquiring an additional 123,952 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in shares of National Bank by 12.3% in the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 26,539 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,069,000 after acquiring an additional 2,898 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its position in shares of National Bank by 5.2% in the first quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 15,882 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $640,000 after acquiring an additional 791 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of National Bank by 4.8% in the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 20,429 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $856,000 after acquiring an additional 943 shares during the period. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

National Bank Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

National Bank Holdings Corporation operates as the bank holding company for NBH Bank that provides various banking products and financial services to commercial, business, and consumer clients in the United States. It offers deposit products, including checking, savings, money market, and other deposit accounts, including fixed-rate and fixed maturity time deposits.

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StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Nu Skin Enterprises (NYSE:NUS  Free Report) in a research report released on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on NUS. DA Davidson reduced their price target on shares of Nu Skin Enterprises from $38.00 to $29.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Nu Skin Enterprises from $43.00 to $35.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $36.00.

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Get Our Latest Stock Report on Nu Skin Enterprises

Nu Skin Enterprises Price Performance

NUS stock traded up $0.21 during trading on Thursday, hitting $24.41. 251,067 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 596,618. Nu Skin Enterprises has a 52 week low of $23.82 and a 52 week high of $46.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.78. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.16 and a beta of 1.17.

Nu Skin Enterprises (NYSE:NUS  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $500.26 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $512.35 million. Nu Skin Enterprises had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 12.88%. As a group, research analysts expect that Nu Skin Enterprises will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nu Skin Enterprises Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 25th will be given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 24th. Nu Skin Enterprisess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 110.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nu Skin Enterprises

In other Nu Skin Enterprises news, Director Andrew D. Lipman sold 2,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.28, for a total transaction of $68,560.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 58,393 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $2,001,712.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Andrew D. Lipman sold 2,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.28, for a total value of $68,560.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 58,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,001,712.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Emma S. Battle sold 1,272 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.15, for a total transaction of $33,262.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,619 shares in the company, valued at $199,236.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,272 shares of company stock valued at $224,043. Company insiders own 2.00% of the companys stock.

Institutional Trading of Nu Skin Enterprises

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Nu Skin Enterprises in the 4th quarter valued at about $361,000. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC boosted its stake in Nu Skin Enterprises by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 9,480 shares of the companys stock worth $373,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in Nu Skin Enterprises by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 121,700 shares of the companys stock worth $5,131,000 after purchasing an additional 2,600 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Nu Skin Enterprises by 135.8% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,646 shares of the companys stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 948 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CTC Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Nu Skin Enterprises in the 4th quarter worth approximately $472,000. 89.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Nu Skin Enterprises Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops and distributes various beauty and wellness products worldwide. It offers skin care devices, cosmetics, and other personal care products, including ageLOC LumiSpa and ageLOC LumiSpa iO, ageLOC Body Spa; and nutricentials skin care products.

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Payden & Rygel lowered its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY  Free Report) by 12.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 105,330 shares of the companys stock after selling 14,570 shares during the quarter. Eli Lilly and Company makes up approximately 2.1% of Payden & Rygels holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Payden & Rygels holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $36,172,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 44.1% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,059,204 shares of the companys stock worth $4,411,740,000 after acquiring an additional 3,691,436 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 10,429,081 shares of the companys stock valued at $3,815,375,000 after purchasing an additional 364,339 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,416,206,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 102,752.2% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,446,026 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,992,374,000 after purchasing an additional 5,440,731 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,282,137 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,566,577,000 after purchasing an additional 74,736 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.25% of the companys stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LLY. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a hold rating to a buy rating and raised their target price for the company from $408.00 to $615.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an overweight rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. SVB Securities increased their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $410.00 to $458.00 in a research report on Monday, May 1st. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $447.00 to $498.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 24th. Finally, 3M reiterated a maintains rating on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a research report on Friday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eli Lilly and Company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $517.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eli Lilly and Company news, major shareholder Lilly Endowment Inc sold 27,353 shares of Eli Lilly and Company stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $454.15, for a total transaction of $12,422,364.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 101,446,457 shares of the companys stock, valued at $46,071,908,446.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Eli Lilly and Company news, major shareholder Lilly Endowment Inc sold 27,353 shares of Eli Lilly and Company stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $454.15, for a total transaction of $12,422,364.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 101,446,457 shares of the companys stock, valued at $46,071,908,446.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Johna Norton sold 1,647 shares of Eli Lilly and Company stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $444.29, for a total transaction of $731,745.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,761 shares of the companys stock, valued at $14,111,094.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 724,841 shares of company stock valued at $360,357,419 over the last ninety days. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Eli Lilly and Company Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:LLY traded up $4.84 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $542.50. The stock had a trading volume of 925,609 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,059,809. Eli Lilly and Company has a 12 month low of $296.32 and a 12 month high of $552.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $466.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $404.00. The company has a market cap of $514.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.78, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.35.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 8th. The company reported $2.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.13. Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 22.01% and a return on equity of 65.00%. The business had revenue of $8.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $7.58 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.25 earnings per share. The firms revenue was up 28.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Eli Lilly and Company will post 9.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eli Lilly and Company Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $1.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 14th. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. Eli Lilly and Companys dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.87%.

About Eli Lilly and Company

(Free Report)

Eli Lilly and Company discovers, develops, and markets human pharmaceuticals worldwide. It offers Basaglar, Humalog, Humalog Mix 75/25, Humalog U-100, Humalog U-200, Humalog Mix 50/50, insulin lispro, insulin lispro protamine, insulin lispro mix 75/25, Humulin, Humulin 70/30, Humulin N, Humulin R, and Humulin U-500 for diabetes; and Jardiance, Trajenta, and Trulicity for type 2 diabetes.

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After his victory in Argentinas primary elections on August 13, far-right candidate Javier Milei made the rounds on television to build momentum for the October 22 general elections. In several recent interviews, Milei took aim at the scientific community and said if elected, he would eliminate the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, and privatize the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), the government agency that directs most of the scientific and technical research done in universities and institutes. Argentinas scientific community quickly struck back and called Mileis proposal ridiculous and ignorant.

It [scientific research] should be done by the private sector. They [scientists] can earn a living by serving others, Milei said in one TV interview. He then presented an organization chart of the government and began crossing out the ministries he intends to eliminate  Health, Education, Social Development and Science. What do they do anyway? he asked rhetorically. Later on, Milei sharpened his attack. CONICET has 35,000 people, while NASA [the U.S. space agency] has only 17,000. To me, it feels like it doesnt quite match up with what NASA does... As it is right now, we have to shut it down.

In response, the scientific community stepped up to defend CONICET, an independent agency under the Ministry of Science, which has 11,800 researchers, 11,800 fellows, 2,900 technicians, and 1,500 administrative staff. They roundly criticized Mileis position, and called it a provocation, quoting Bernardo Houssay, Argentinas first Nobel laureate and CONICETs first president in 1958: Science is not expensive  ignorance is expensive. A protest march is scheduled for August 18.

In the 21st century, it is absurd not to support science and technology, according to CONICET director Ana Franchi. CONICET plays a crucial role in training human resources, not only within organizations and universities but also in companies engaged in significant technological advancements. For instance, we have successfully developed drought-resistant seeds, leading to the listing of Bioceres on the New York Stock Exchange. And the anti-viral facemasks we developed during the pandemic are now being exported and bring in vital foreign exchange, Franchi said in a recent radio interview.

Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Daniel Filmus also backed the organizations work, noting that regressing in these areas would be very detrimental to Argentina. Countries that invest the most in science tend to achieve greater development, productivity and social integration, he posted on social media. Filmus also posted data on X (formerly Twitter) from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) that shows South Korea, Austria, Norway and Germany as the leading nations in innovation and development investment.

According to data from the OECD, Argentinas research and development (R&D) allocation as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased from 0.37% in 1996 to 0.52% in 2020. However, state investment in R&D has been inconsistent. In the 1990s, President Carlos Menem cut budgets and closed several scientific centers and institutes, triggering a researcher exodus from Argentina. Menems Minister of Economy Domingo Cavallo spitefully told a CONICET scientist demanding better wages to go wash dishes for a living.

No country can achieve growth without investing in research, said President Nestor Kirchner upon taking office in 2003. According to government data, the number of researchers increased from 3,500 to over 10,000 during Kirchners term. Conservative President Mauricio Macri appeared to agree with Kirchner, but then demoted the Ministry of Science to a secretariat and defunded research projects, salaries and scholarships. The pendulum swung back when President Alberto Fernandez took office and elevated the ministry to its former status. Some discontent continues to linger, as scientists demand better scholarships and denounce the organizations politicization.

Molecular biologist Alberto Kornblihtt, a CONICET researcher and member of science academies in Argentina, the United States, France and Latin America, responded to Milei in an August 17 column in the Pagina/12 newspaper. Kornblihtt outlined the achievements of Argentine researchers with a mere 0.35% budget allocation: innovative facemasks, satellites, drugs and more. Naturally, these measures alone may not provide immediate solutions to the critical issues faced by most of our people who currently struggle to meet their basic needs... However, closing CONICET or endorsing extreme right-wing ideologies do not offer viable solutions either, wrote Kornblihtt.

Diego Golombek, a biologist and CONICET researcher, argued in a recent interview that Mileis understanding of the political system is lacking and displays ignorance regarding privatization. The space race and the development of vaccines relied on an active and engaged state that eventually transferred that knowledge to the private sector. Is there a lot to accomplish? Certainly. We must strengthen the relationship between the scientific system and the productive sector, he said. However, without a robust scientific system, a country will stagnate. Without CONICET, ministries and universities, who will undertake research on Chagas disease or the pollution in our rivers? It is the dedicated scientists within our system, which fortunately operates very effectively.

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Payden & Rygel purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH  Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 37,450 shares of the medical research companys stock, valued at approximately $8,592,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MAI Capital Management boosted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 20.2% during the 1st quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 2,251 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $516,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the period. Boston Research & Management Inc. boosted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Boston Research & Management Inc. now owns 22,437 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $5,147,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council boosted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 21.2% during the 1st quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 7,436 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $1,706,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 68,153 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $15,636,000 after purchasing an additional 1,402 shares during the period. Finally, JT Stratford LLC purchased a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the 1st quarter worth $404,000. 87.75% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Laboratory Co. of America Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock traded up $1.69 during trading on Friday, reaching $214.59. The company had a trading volume of 113,205 shares, compared to its average volume of 728,952. The company has a market cap of $19.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.02 and a beta of 1.07. The firms fifty day moving average is $220.25 and its 200-day moving average is $226.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 2.12 and a current ratio of 2.35. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a fifty-two week low of $166.93 and a fifty-two week high of $222.33.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

Laboratory Co. of America ( NYSE:LH Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The medical research company reported $3.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $3.47 by ($0.05). Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 5.89% and a return on equity of 14.62%. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.96 EPS. Laboratory Co. of Americas quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 13.68 EPS for the current year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 8th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 7th. Laboratory Co. of Americas dividend payout ratio is presently 31.07%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on LH shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $285.00 to $260.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Thursday. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $235.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $290.00 to $270.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $265.00 to $240.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $251.75.

View Our Latest Stock Report on LH

Insider Activity at Laboratory Co. of America

In related news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 212 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total transaction of $50,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,605 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,825,200. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.57, for a total value of $1,057,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,275 shares in the company, valued at $3,231,731.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 212 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total transaction of $50,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 7,605 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,825,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.65% of the companys stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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Premier African Minerals Limited (LON:PREM  Get Free Report) insider George Greville Roach sold 85,000,000 shares of Premier African Minerals stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 4,712 ($59.77), for a total value of 4,005,200,000 ($5,080,806,799.44).

George Greville Roach also recently made the following trade(s):

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On Friday, July 7th, George Greville Roach sold 75,000,000 shares of Premier African Minerals stock. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 5,236 ($66.42), for a total value of 3,927,000,000 ($4,981,605,987.57).

On Friday, July 28th, George Greville Roach sold 67,500,000 shares of Premier African Minerals stock. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 4,040 ($51.25), for a total value of 2,727,000,000 ($3,459,342,889.76).

On Monday, July 31st, George Greville Roach sold 12,500,000 shares of Premier African Minerals stock. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 4,000 ($50.74), for a total value of 500,000,000 ($634,276,290.75).

On Wednesday, August 2nd, George Greville Roach sold 50,000,000 shares of Premier African Minerals stock. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 4,050 ($51.38), for a total value of 2,025,000,000 ($2,568,818,977.55).

Premier African Minerals Stock Down 4.4 %

Shares of LON:PREM traded down GBX 0.02 ($0.00) during midday trading on Friday, reaching GBX 0.43 ($0.01). The company had a trading volume of 763,664,431 shares, compared to its average volume of 237,376,031. The company has a quick ratio of 2.54, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The businesss 50 day moving average price is GBX 0.54 and its 200 day moving average price is GBX 0.70. The stock has a market cap of 98.21 million, a PE ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.42. Premier African Minerals Limited has a 1-year low of GBX 0.24 ($0.00) and a 1-year high of GBX 1.04 ($0.01).

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Shore Capital reaffirmed a house stock rating on shares of Premier African Minerals in a research report on Thursday, May 25th.

Read Our Latest Research Report on PREM

About Premier African Minerals

(Get Free Report)

Premier African Minerals Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the mining, exploration, evaluation, development, and investment of natural resource properties on the African continent. It explores for tungsten, lithium, tantalum, fluorspar, potash, and gold deposits. The company holds interests in RHA Tungsten mine, Katete REE project, zulu project, and Tinde projects in Zimbabwe, as well as properties in Mozambique.

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Register Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 45.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 43,566 shares of the financial services providers stock after purchasing an additional 13,707 shares during the quarter. Bank of America accounts for about 1.0% of Register Financial Advisors LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Register Financial Advisors LLCs holdings in Bank of America were worth $1,246,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BAC. Tanglewood Legacy Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Ahrens Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Mendota Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Stone House Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of America in the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. 67.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Insider Activity

In other news, insider Dean C. Athanasia sold 77,806 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.48, for a total transaction of $2,449,332.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 353,971 shares of the companys stock, valued at $11,143,007.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider James P. Demare sold 75,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.53, for a total value of $2,364,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 185,108 shares of the companys stock, valued at $5,836,455.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Dean C. Athanasia sold 77,806 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.48, for a total value of $2,449,332.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 353,971 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $11,143,007.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.27% of the companys stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on BAC shares. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Bank of America from $36.00 to $35.00 in a report on Friday, May 12th. StockNews.com started coverage on Bank of America in a report on Thursday. They issued a hold rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of Bank of America in a report on Friday, June 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Bank of America from $32.00 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, July 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Bank of America from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $36.39.

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Bank of America Price Performance

Shares of BAC stock traded down $0.20 during trading on Friday, hitting $29.08. The company had a trading volume of 8,677,037 shares, compared to its average volume of 50,438,898. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The stocks 50-day moving average is $29.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $231.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.36. Bank of America Co. has a 52 week low of $26.32 and a 52 week high of $38.60.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.04. Bank of America had a net margin of 19.97% and a return on equity of 12.01%. The company had revenue of $25.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $24.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.73 earnings per share. Bank of Americas revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Bank of America Co. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 31st. This is a positive change from Bank of Americas previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Bank of Americas dividend payout ratio is 25.29%.

Bank of America Profile

(Free Report)

Bank of America Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides banking and financial products and services for individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses, institutional investors, large corporations, and governments worldwide. Its Consumer Banking segment offers traditional and money market savings accounts, certificates of deposit and IRAs, noninterest-and interest-bearing checking accounts, and investment accounts and products; and credit and debit cards, residential mortgages, and home equity loans, as well as direct and indirect loans, such as automotive, recreational vehicle, and consumer personal loans.

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Register Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Earthstone Energy, Inc. (NYSE:ESTE  Free Report) by 54.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 46,200 shares of the oil and gas producers stock after buying an additional 16,200 shares during the quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLCs holdings in Earthstone Energy were worth $601,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Earthstone Energy by 56.8% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,198 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 796 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in Earthstone Energy by 44.7% during the 1st quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 2,393 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 739 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in Earthstone Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Clear Street Markets LLC acquired a new stake in Earthstone Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $56,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank acquired a new stake in Earthstone Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $67,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.37% of the companys stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Benchmark increased their price objective on Earthstone Energy from $23.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Friday, June 16th. Capital One Financial started coverage on Earthstone Energy in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. They issued an overweight rating and a $27.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com started coverage on Earthstone Energy in a report on Thursday. They issued a hold rating for the company. Stephens reissued an overweight rating and issued a $21.00 price target on shares of Earthstone Energy in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Earthstone Energy from $31.00 to $24.00 in a report on Monday, July 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Earthstone Energy has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $23.50.

Earthstone Energy Price Performance

Earthstone Energy stock traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $15.70. 151,721 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,332,303. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The businesss 50 day simple moving average is $14.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.78. The company has a market capitalization of $2.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 2.11. Earthstone Energy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $10.65 and a 12-month high of $17.54.

Earthstone Energy (NYSE:ESTE  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $370.01 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $350.15 million. Earthstone Energy had a return on equity of 22.08% and a net margin of 25.40%. The businesss quarterly revenue was down 21.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. Analysts forecast that Earthstone Energy, Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Warburg Pincus Partners Ii (Us sold 5,000,000 shares of Earthstone Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.52, for a total value of $72,600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,868,234 shares of the companys stock, valued at $114,246,757.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Earthstone Energy Profile

(Free Report)

Earthstone Energy, Inc, operates as an independent oil and gas company in the United States. It engages in the acquisition and development of oil and gas reserves through drilling and development of undeveloped leases, as well as asset and corporate acquisitions and mergers. The company's asset portfolio includes the Midland Basin in West Texas, Delaware Basin in New Mexico, and the Eagle Ford trend located in southern Gonzales County, Texas.

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NorthWest Health Prop Real Est Inv Trust (TSE:NWH.UN  Get Free Report) had its price objective dropped by stock analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from C$9.00 to C$8.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has a sector perform rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canadas price objective would suggest a potential upside of 27.80% from the companys current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on NWH.UN. Cormark cut their price objective on NorthWest Health Prop Real Est Inv Trust from C$10.50 to C$9.50 in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on NorthWest Health Prop Real Est Inv Trust from C$7.00 to C$6.50 in a research note on Thursday. Laurentian cut their price target on NorthWest Health Prop Real Est Inv Trust from C$11.00 to C$9.00 in a report on Tuesday. National Bankshares decreased their price objective on NorthWest Health Prop Real Est Inv Trust from C$7.50 to C$7.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, CIBC cut NorthWest Health Prop Real Est Inv Trust from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from C$11.00 to C$9.00 in a research report on Monday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, NorthWest Health Prop Real Est Inv Trust has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of C$9.21.

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NorthWest Health Prop Real Est Inv Trust Trading Down 2.2 %

NorthWest Health Prop Real Est Inv Trust Company Profile

NWH.UN stock traded down C$0.14 during midday trading on Friday, reaching C$6.26. The companys stock had a trading volume of 763,699 shares, compared to its average volume of 867,895. The firm has a market capitalization of C$1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.29, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 118.79, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a current ratio of 1.28. NorthWest Health Prop Real Est Inv Trust has a 1 year low of C$6.06 and a 1 year high of C$13.19. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of C$6.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$8.02.

(Get Free Report)

NorthWest Healthcare Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (TSX: NWH.UN) (NorthWest) is an unincorporated, open-ended real estate investment trust established under the laws of the Province of Ontario. As at June 30, 2020, the REIT provides investors with access to a portfolio of high quality international healthcare real estate infrastructure comprised of interests in a diversified portfolio of 189 income-producing properties and 15.3 million square feet of gross leasable area located throughout major markets in Canada, Brazil, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

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Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL  Free Report) by 10.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65,952 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 6,069 shares during the period. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc.s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $4,307,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the first quarter worth $25,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the first quarter valued at about $36,000. BDO Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 74.0% during the first quarter. BDO Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 588 shares of the companys stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 42.2% during the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 613 shares of the companys stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the first quarter valued at about $45,000. 71.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. VNET Group restated a maintains rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Monday, June 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $65.00 to $71.00 in a report on Friday, May 5th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Thursday. They set a hold rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $100.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Monday, June 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $109.92.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

RCL stock traded up $0.56 during trading on Friday, reaching $100.09. 1,275,803 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,645,107. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a twelve month low of $36.92 and a twelve month high of $112.95. The company has a market capitalization of $25.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -311.02 and a beta of 2.47. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $101.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.28.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.24. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a positive return on equity of 6.76% and a negative net margin of 0.47%. The business had revenue of $3.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.41 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($2.08) earnings per share. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 61.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 6.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, Director Maritza Gomez Montiel purchased 1,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $103.70 per share, for a total transaction of $103,700.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 13,592 shares in the company, valued at $1,409,490.40. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, Director Maritza Gomez Montiel purchased 1,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $103.70 per share, for a total transaction of $103,700.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 13,592 shares in the company, valued at $1,409,490.40. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 318,325 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.97, for a total transaction of $24,819,800.25. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,167,507 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,572,460,520.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 718,182 shares of company stock valued at $57,773,619 over the last three months. 8.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Royal Caribbean Cruises

(Free Report)

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. operates as a cruise company worldwide. The company operates cruises under the Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea Cruises brands, which comprise a range of itineraries. As of February 13, 2023, it operated 64 ships. The company was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Miami, Florida.

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South Dakota Investment Council increased its position in Southwestern Energy (NYSE:SWN  Free Report) by 332.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,628,891 shares of the energy companys stock after buying an additional 1,252,167 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Councils holdings in Southwestern Energy were worth $8,144,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SWN. Capula Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Southwestern Energy during the first quarter valued at about $87,000. Mcintyre Freedman & Flynn Investment Advisers Inc. grew its position in Southwestern Energy by 13.6% during the 1st quarter. Mcintyre Freedman & Flynn Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 174,900 shares of the energy companys stock worth $874,000 after acquiring an additional 21,000 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its stake in Southwestern Energy by 25.8% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 52,705 shares of the energy companys stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 10,809 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Southwestern Energy by 0.9% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,368,775 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $21,844,000 after purchasing an additional 37,340 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Southwestern Energy by 59.4% during the first quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 8,047 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. 82.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Southwestern Energy Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of SWN traded down $0.06 on Friday, hitting $6.50. 2,443,196 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,921,445. Southwestern Energy has a one year low of $4.57 and a one year high of $8.39. The company has a market capitalization of $7.16 billion, a PE ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.59.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Southwestern Energy ( NYSE:SWN Get Free Report ) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 4th. The energy company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. Southwestern Energy had a return on equity of 23.55% and a net margin of 48.82%. The companys quarterly revenue was down 69.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.33 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Southwestern Energy will post 0.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SWN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an equal weight rating and set a $5.00 price target on shares of Southwestern Energy in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Southwestern Energy from $7.00 to $8.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 6th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Southwestern Energy in a research report on Thursday. They set a hold rating on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on Southwestern Energy from $6.50 to $7.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, August 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Southwestern Energy from a neutral rating to a sell rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $5.75 to $5.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $7.17.

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About Southwestern Energy

(Free Report)

Southwestern Energy Company, an independent energy company, engages in the exploration, development, and production of natural gas, oil, and natural gas liquids (NGLs) in the United States. It operates through two segments, Exploration and Production, and Marketing. The company focuses on the development of unconventional natural gas and oil reservoirs located in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, and Louisiana.

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South Dakota Investment Council increased its holdings in shares of First Horizon Co. (NYSE:FHN  Free Report) by 348.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 352,518 shares of the financial services providers stock after purchasing an additional 273,900 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council owned 0.07% of First Horizon worth $6,268,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in First Horizon in the 1st quarter valued at $3,101,000. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in shares of First Horizon by 18.0% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 128,497 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $2,285,000 after purchasing an additional 19,617 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc acquired a new stake in shares of First Horizon during the 1st quarter worth about $338,000. Pictet Asset Management SA boosted its holdings in shares of First Horizon by 16.5% during the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management SA now owns 201,200 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $3,577,000 after buying an additional 28,422 shares during the period. Finally, Tredje AP fonden grew its stake in First Horizon by 17.9% in the 1st quarter. Tredje AP fonden now owns 127,920 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $2,274,000 after buying an additional 19,441 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.79% of the companys stock.

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First Horizon Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FHN traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $12.67. The stock had a trading volume of 460,821 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,702,755. The companys 50-day moving average price is $12.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.76. First Horizon Co. has a fifty-two week low of $8.99 and a fifty-two week high of $24.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market capitalization of $7.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.94.

First Horizon Dividend Announcement

First Horizon ( NYSE:FHN Get Free Report ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.01. First Horizon had a return on equity of 13.44% and a net margin of 24.64%. The firm had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $820.19 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.34 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that First Horizon Co. will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 14th. First Horizons dividend payout ratio is presently 31.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director William H. Fenstermaker purchased 10,000 shares of First Horizon stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $11.62 per share, for a total transaction of $116,200.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 256,312 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,978,345.44. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.55% of the companys stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on FHN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of First Horizon from $13.00 to $13.50 in a research report on Thursday, June 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded First Horizon from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 24th. Raymond James upgraded First Horizon from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $13.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 6th. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of First Horizon in a research report on Tuesday, July 18th. They issued a neutral rating and a $14.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of First Horizon in a research report on Thursday. They set a sell rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $15.42.

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About First Horizon

(Free Report)

First Horizon Corporation operates as the bank holding company for First Horizon Bank that provides various financial services. The company operates through three segments: Regional Banking, Specialty Banking, and Corporate. It offers general banking services for consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and governments.

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StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Spirit AeroSystems (NYSE:SPR  Free Report) in a report published on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the aerospace companys stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on SPR. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on Spirit AeroSystems from $38.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Spirit AeroSystems from a buy rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $30.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Barclays decreased their price target on Spirit AeroSystems from $40.00 to $30.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 8th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Spirit AeroSystems from $32.00 to $26.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen cut shares of Spirit AeroSystems from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and dropped their price target for the company from $38.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $29.92.

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Spirit AeroSystems Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of SPR traded up $0.28 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $21.47. The stock had a trading volume of 2,088,377 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,652,269. Spirit AeroSystems has a 12 month low of $20.60 and a 12 month high of $38.55. The companys 50-day moving average is $27.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.01.

Spirit AeroSystems (NYSE:SPR  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The aerospace company reported ($1.46) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of ($0.79) by ($0.67). The firm had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Spirit AeroSystems had a negative net margin of 15.91% and a negative return on equity of 365.67%. The firms revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($1.21) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Spirit AeroSystems will post -3.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Estabrook Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Spirit AeroSystems by 319.6% during the 4th quarter. Estabrook Capital Management now owns 965 shares of the aerospace companys stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 735 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA purchased a new position in shares of Spirit AeroSystems during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp lifted its stake in shares of Spirit AeroSystems by 1,076.9% during the 4th quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 1,224 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 1,120 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Spirit AeroSystems by 39.6% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,637 shares of the aerospace companys stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI purchased a new position in shares of Spirit AeroSystems during the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.07% of the companys stock.

Spirit AeroSystems Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc engages in the design, engineering, manufacture, and marketing of commercial aerostructures worldwide. It operates through three segments: Commercial, Defense & Space, and Aftermarket. The Commercial segment offers forward, mid, and rear fuselage sections and systems, nacelles, struts/pylons, horizontal and vertical stabilizers, flaps and slats flight control surfaces, wing structures, and fully functional and tested wing systems.

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Summit X LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO  Free Report) by 5.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,539 shares of the medical research companys stock after selling 154 shares during the period. Summit X LLCs holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $1,464,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of TMO. Aureus Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC now owns 50,945 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $28,055,000 after buying an additional 291 shares during the period. Aveo Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 690 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $398,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. American Planning Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 149,900.0% during the 4th quarter. American Planning Services Inc. now owns 1,500 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $826,000 after purchasing an additional 1,499 shares in the last quarter. Glenview Trust co grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 16,018 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $9,232,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC grew its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 687 shares of the medical research companys stock worth $396,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.33% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $660.00 to $670.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $620.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 27th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $664.00 to $625.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $590.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $662.00 to $698.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $633.50.

Insider Transactions at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In other news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 14,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.00, for a total transaction of $7,755,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,393 shares in the company, valued at $15,066,150. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Thermo Fisher Scientific news, CFO Stephen Williamson sold 14,100 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.00, for a total value of $7,755,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 27,393 shares in the company, valued at $15,066,150. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 1,600 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.60, for a total transaction of $880,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 135,330 shares of the companys stock, valued at $74,512,698. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,700 shares of company stock worth $14,125,960 over the last three months. 0.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of TMO stock traded down $4.09 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $531.87. 558,244 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,498,537. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $534.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $546.06. The stock has a market cap of $205.28 billion, a PE ratio of 36.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.77. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a 12 month low of $475.77 and a 12 month high of $609.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The medical research company reported $5.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.43 by ($0.28). Thermo Fisher Scientific had a net margin of 13.14% and a return on equity of 18.59%. The business had revenue of $10.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.51 EPS. Thermo Fisher Scientifics revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 22.37 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. Thermo Fisher Scientifics dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.57%.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Company Profile

(Free Report)

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc provides life sciences solutions, analytical instruments, specialty diagnostics, and laboratory products and biopharma services in the United States and internationally. The company's Life Sciences Solutions segment offers reagents, instruments, and consumables for biological and medical research, discovery, and production of drugs and vaccines, as well as diagnosis of infections and diseases; and solutions include biosciences, genetic sciences, clinical next-generation sequencing, bio production to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agricultural, clinical, healthcare, academic, and government markets.

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Neighbors of the town of Aguamansa try to cool off the surroundings of their homes as wildfire continues in Tenerife, Canary Islands, on Aug. 17, 2023.

Firefighters in Spains Canary Islands are battling dense smoke and high temperatures to try to control the worst wildfire in decades on the main tourist island of Tenerife, officials said Friday.

The fire started late Tuesday in the north of the island and has forced authorities in eight municipalities to order the evacuation of more than 4,500 people and the confinement of thousands more. Confinement means residents are strongly advised to stay indoors with windows closed. No injuries have been reported so far.

The fire is located in a steep and craggy mountain area with pine trees, with several municipalities on its flanks, including El Rosario, Arafo and Candelaria to the east, and La Orotava to the west. Access for firefighters is extremely difficult.

Television images and videos posted on social media have showed the flames coming down a hill close to houses in small neighborhoods and a massive cloud of smoke rising from the area.

Candelaria mayor Maria Concepcion Brito Nunez told Spanish National Television that firefighters complained that the water being dumped on the flames was evaporating before hitting the ground because of the high temperatures.

The armys Military Emergency Unit said that dense clouds of smoke were impairing visibility for firefighters and preventing many water-carrying aircraft from getting close.

Army Capt. Rafael San Jose told Spanish National Television that some progress had been made overnight in stopping the fires spread, but that rising temperatures during the day would increase difficulties.

Favorable conditions Friday in the town of El Rosario prompted authorities to lift the confinement call for half of the 3,800 residents there.

The Canary Islands have been in drought for most of the past few years, just like most of mainland Spain. The islands have recorded below-average rainfall in recent years, because of changing weather patterns impacted by climate change.

The fire is said to have scorched more than 3,200 hectares, or 7,900 acres.

Regional President Fernando Clavijo said Fridays efforts would be crucial to containing the fire. The air quality in several municipalities remains hazardous and vulnerable people are advised not to leave their homes, he said.

The north of the island was forecast to have a maximum temperature of 30 degrees Celsius (84 F) Friday with light winds, (20 kph/12 mph) but temperatures were set to rise over the weekend.

Regional government meteorologist Vicky Palma told reporters that temperatures of up to 34 degrees Celsius (93 F) will be reached Saturday in the wildfire area, and temperatures will continue to rise on Monday and Tuesday.

The flames cover a perimeter of 40 kilometers (25 miles) encircling some 4,000 hectares (10,000 acres) of land. Nearly 600 firefighters and Spanish army soldiers are in the area, which is in the northeast of the island, some 20 kilometers (12 miles) away from its main town, Santa Cruz.

Tenerife is one of Europes main tourist destinations. Its tourism office stressed Thursday that the most important tourist areas are far from the fire. Business continues as usual in accommodation establishments, beaches and other tourist sites near the coast and in the midlands, the office said.

But access to the Teide National Park, the most important tourist attraction in Tenerife after the beaches, was closed Thursday evening and all tourist facilities around the Teide volcano area, including accommodation, were to be evacuated.

Clavijo claimed the fire was the worst in 40 years. He said the combination of extreme temperatures and the fire had turned the area into a virtual oven.

The seven-island archipelago is located off the northwest coast of Africa and southwest of mainland Spain.

More than 2,000 people were evacuated in a wildfire on the nearby La Palma island last month that affected some 4,500 hectares (11,000 acres).

According to the latest figures from the European Forest Fire Information System, Spain heads the list of EU countries affected by wildfires so far this year, with 75,000 hectares (185,000 acres) burned, ahead of Italy and Greece.

Spain accounted for almost 40% of the nearly 800,00 hectares (2 million acres) burned in the European Union in 2022, the EU agency said.

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Summit X LLC lifted its position in shares of American Water Works Company, Inc. (NYSE:AWK  Free Report) by 2.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,481 shares of the utilities providers stock after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the quarter. Summit X LLCs holdings in American Water Works were worth $949,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AWK. Gradient Investments LLC acquired a new stake in American Water Works in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Clear Street Markets LLC acquired a new stake in American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Spirit of America Management Corp NY acquired a new stake in American Water Works in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC acquired a new stake in American Water Works in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.05% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America reduced their price objective on American Water Works from $140.00 to $139.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 6th. StockNews.com raised American Water Works from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Saturday, August 12th. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their price objective on American Water Works from $152.00 to $147.00 in a research note on Friday, July 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $157.00.

American Water Works Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of AWK stock traded up $0.63 on Friday, reaching $138.83. 318,451 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,023,541. The stock has a market cap of $27.03 billion, a PE ratio of 28.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.56. American Water Works Company, Inc. has a one year low of $122.77 and a one year high of $162.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $144.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $145.57.

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK  Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. American Water Works had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 22.08%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that American Water Works Company, Inc. will post 4.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Water Works Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 8th will be issued a $0.7075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 7th. This represents a $2.83 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. American Water Workss dividend payout ratio is presently 59.08%.

About American Water Works

(Free Report)

American Water Works Company, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides water and wastewater services in the United States. It offers water and wastewater services to approximately 1,600 communities in 14 states serving approximately 3.4 million active customers. The company serves residential customers; commercial customers, including food and beverage providers, commercial property developers and proprietors, and energy suppliers; fire service and private fire customers; industrial customers, such as large-scale manufacturers, mining, and production operations; public authorities comprising government buildings and other public sector facilities, such as schools and universities; and other utilities and community water and wastewater systems.

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Shares of Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, Inc. (NYSE:SKT  Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $24.57, but opened at $23.74. Tanger Factory Outlet Centers shares last traded at $24.23, with a volume of 139,521 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SKT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. 888 restated a maintains rating on shares of Tanger Factory Outlet Centers in a research report on Wednesday, May 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Tanger Factory Outlet Centers from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $26.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Tanger Factory Outlet Centers in a research report on Thursday. They set a hold rating on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Tanger Factory Outlet Centers from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a research note on Monday, August 7th. Finally, Compass Point raised shares of Tanger Factory Outlet Centers from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their target price for the company from $21.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Monday, August 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Tanger Factory Outlet Centers has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $23.75.

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Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Stock Down 0.8 %

Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Dividend Announcement

The company has a market capitalization of $2.48 billion, a PE ratio of 28.46, a PEG ratio of 6.41 and a beta of 1.82. The companys 50 day moving average is $22.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.44. The company has a quick ratio of 2.49, a current ratio of 2.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.81.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 31st were paid a $0.245 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 28th. This represents a $0.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.15%. Tanger Factory Outlet Centerss payout ratio is currently 118.07%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Tanger Factory Outlet Centers news, Director Susan E. Skerritt sold 3,310 shares of Tanger Factory Outlet Centers stock in a transaction on Friday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.04, for a total value of $69,642.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 52,621 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,107,145.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Tanger Factory Outlet Centers news, Director Susan E. Skerritt sold 3,310 shares of Tanger Factory Outlet Centers stock in a transaction on Friday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.04, for a total value of $69,642.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 52,621 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,107,145.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Steven B. Tanger sold 220,064 shares of Tanger Factory Outlet Centers stock in a transaction on Monday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.67, for a total transaction of $4,768,786.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,281,919 shares of the companys stock, valued at $27,779,184.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the companys stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tanger Factory Outlet Centers

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SKT. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Tanger Factory Outlet Centers by 16,418.2% during the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,249,283 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $44,153,000 after purchasing an additional 2,235,666 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Tanger Factory Outlet Centers by 278.8% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,662,003 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $29,816,000 after purchasing an additional 1,223,291 shares during the period. Land & Buildings Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Tanger Factory Outlet Centers during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,620,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Tanger Factory Outlet Centers during the 4th quarter worth about $16,663,000. Finally, Aew Capital Management L P lifted its holdings in Tanger Factory Outlet Centers by 177.2% during the 1st quarter. Aew Capital Management L P now owns 1,250,483 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $24,547,000 after buying an additional 799,393 shares in the last quarter. 81.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Tanger Factory Outlet Centers

(Get Free Report)

Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, Inc (NYSE: SKT) is a leading operator of upscale open-air outlet centers that owns (or has an ownership interest in) and/or manages a portfolio of 36 centers with an additional center currently under development. Tanger's operating properties are located in 20 states and in Canada, totaling approximately 13.9 million square feet, leased to over 2,700 stores operated by more than 600 different brand name companies.

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The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI  Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Edward Jones from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued on Thursday, FlyOnTheWall reports.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on CI. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of The Cigna Group from $284.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of The Cigna Group in a report on Thursday. They issued a buy rating on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of The Cigna Group from $375.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of The Cigna Group from $356.00 to $341.00 in a research note on Friday, July 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of The Cigna Group from $348.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, May 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $337.79.

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The Cigna Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CI traded down $18.43 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $270.53. 4,554,403 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,709,742. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The businesss fifty day moving average is $281.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $274.04. The Cigna Group has a one year low of $240.50 and a one year high of $340.11. The stock has a market cap of $80.07 billion, a PE ratio of 12.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.65.

The Cigna Group (NYSE:CI  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The health services provider reported $6.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $5.98 by $0.15. The Cigna Group had a net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 12.32%. The company had revenue of $48.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.22 earnings per share. The Cigna Groups revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that The Cigna Group will post 24.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Cigna Group

In related news, EVP Everett Neville sold 466 shares of The Cigna Group stock in a transaction on Monday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.61, for a total value of $129,366.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,937 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,370,560.57. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other The Cigna Group news, EVP Everett Neville sold 466 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Monday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.61, for a total value of $129,366.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,937 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,370,560.57. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Hoeltzel Mary T. Agoglia sold 12,250 shares of The Cigna Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.00, for a total value of $3,564,750.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,093 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $609,063. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,180 shares of company stock worth $8,270,294 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.60% of the companys stock.

Institutional Trading of The Cigna Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CI. Davis Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in The Cigna Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $490,000. Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 19.3% during the 1st quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 4,127 shares of the health services providers stock worth $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 5,035 shares of the health services providers stock worth $1,668,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Cigna Group by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 81,006 shares of the health services providers stock worth $26,840,000 after purchasing an additional 2,698 shares during the period. Finally, Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft purchased a new stake in shares of The Cigna Group during the 4th quarter worth about $1,773,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.63% of the companys stock.

About The Cigna Group

(Get Free Report)

The Cigna Group, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance and related products and services in the United States. Its Evernorth Health Services segment provides a range of coordinated and point solution health services, including pharmacy benefits, home delivery pharmacy, specialty pharmacy, distribution, and care delivery and management solutions to health plans, employers, government organizations, and health care providers.

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Walmart (NYSE:WMT  Get Free Report) had its price objective lifted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $176.00 to $182.00 in a report issued on Thursday, FlyOnTheWall reports. The Goldman Sachs Groups price target points to a potential upside of 16.91% from the companys current price.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Friday, May 19th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Walmart from $160.00 to $166.00 in a research report on Friday, May 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Walmart from $155.00 to $157.00 in a report on Friday, May 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $173.64.

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Walmart Stock Down 2.3 %

NYSE:WMT traded down $3.59 on Thursday, reaching $155.67. 17,860,289 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,995,419. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $157.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $149.95. Walmart has a 12 month low of $128.07 and a 12 month high of $162.78. The company has a market capitalization of $419.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.42, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 17th. The retailer reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.13. Walmart had a net margin of 1.82% and a return on equity of 21.30%. The firm had revenue of $161.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $160.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.77 earnings per share. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Walmart will post 6.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, EVP John D. Rainey sold 1,000 shares of Walmart stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.48, for a total transaction of $159,480.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 170,735 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $27,228,817.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO C Douglas Mcmillon sold 9,708 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.58, for a total transaction of $1,549,202.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,480,924 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $236,325,851.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John D. Rainey sold 1,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.48, for a total transaction of $159,480.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 170,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,228,817.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,219,373 shares of company stock valued at $1,422,922,576. 46.51% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WMT. Signature Wealth Management Group grew its stake in Walmart by 1.9% in the second quarter. Signature Wealth Management Group now owns 3,436 shares of the retailers stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 3.7% in the second quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,818 shares of the retailers stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 1.1% in the second quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,976 shares of the retailers stock valued at $939,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. RB Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 0.7% in the second quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 9,770 shares of the retailers stock valued at $1,536,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Architects LLC grew its stake in Walmart by 3.3% in the first quarter. Wealth Architects LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the retailers stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 31.95% of the companys stock.

About Walmart

(Get Free Report)

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, and other units worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam's Club. It operates supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash and carry stores, and discount stores under Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands; membership-only warehouse clubs; ecommerce websites, such as walmart.com, walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, and samsclub.com; and mobile commerce applications.

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Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of iShares MSCI Japan ETF (NYSEARCA:EWJ  Free Report) by 37.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 58,310 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after buying an additional 16,035 shares during the quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.s holdings in iShares MSCI Japan ETF were worth $3,422,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Banco Santander S.A. grew its stake in shares of iShares MSCI Japan ETF by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 192,175 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $11,279,000 after purchasing an additional 10,749 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in iShares MSCI Japan ETF by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 26,424 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $1,551,000 after acquiring an additional 1,126 shares during the period. Valence8 US LP grew its stake in iShares MSCI Japan ETF by 62.9% in the 1st quarter. Valence8 US LP now owns 227,599 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $13,358,000 after acquiring an additional 87,906 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in iShares MSCI Japan ETF by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 11,594 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $680,000 after acquiring an additional 1,120 shares during the period. Finally, Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in iShares MSCI Japan ETF by 270.1% in the 1st quarter. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 581 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the period.

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iShares MSCI Japan ETF Stock Performance

iShares MSCI Japan ETF stock opened at $59.17 on Friday. The companys fifty day moving average price is $62.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.68. iShares MSCI Japan ETF has a 1 year low of $47.64 and a 1 year high of $64.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.76 and a beta of 0.68.

iShares MSCI Japan ETF Company Profile

iShares MSCI Japan ETF (the fund), formerly Ishares Msci Japan Index Fund, is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of publicly traded securities in the Japanese market, as measured by the MSCI Japan Index (the Index).

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Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. trimmed its holdings in Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL  Free Report) by 5.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,700 shares of the transportation companys stock after selling 3,000 shares during the period. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.s holdings in Delta Air Lines were worth $1,945,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of DAL. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. bought a new stake in shares of Delta Air Lines during the 1st quarter valued at $502,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 117.6% during the first quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 740 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in Delta Air Lines by 1,136.7% during the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 742 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 682 shares in the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. bought a new stake in Delta Air Lines during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC purchased a new stake in Delta Air Lines in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 68.35% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on DAL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Delta Air Lines from $81.00 to $69.00 in a report on Monday, May 8th. Barclays lifted their price target on Delta Air Lines from $55.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, July 14th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Delta Air Lines from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a research report on Friday, July 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their price objective on shares of Delta Air Lines from $51.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, July 14th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $56.88.

Delta Air Lines Trading Down 2.1 %

NYSE DAL opened at $41.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.46. Delta Air Lines, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.20 and a fifty-two week high of $49.81. The stock has a market cap of $26.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.17 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.12.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 13th. The transportation company reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.28. Delta Air Lines had a net margin of 5.36% and a return on equity of 59.56%. The business had revenue of $15.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Delta Air Lines, Inc. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Delta Air Lines Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 7th. Investors of record on Monday, July 17th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 14th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. Delta Air Liness dividend payout ratio is presently 8.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 7,513 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.90, for a total value of $277,229.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 107,782 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,977,155.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Steven M. Sear sold 12,129 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.52, for a total value of $552,112.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,708 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,901,428.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Joanne D. Smith sold 7,513 shares of Delta Air Lines stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.90, for a total value of $277,229.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 107,782 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,977,155.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 47,992 shares of company stock worth $2,116,582. 0.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Delta Air Lines Company Profile

(Free Report)

Delta Air Lines, Inc provides scheduled air transportation for passengers and cargo in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Airline and Refinery. Its domestic network centered on core hubs in Atlanta, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Detroit, and Salt Lake City, as well as coastal hub positions in Boston, Los Angeles, New York-LaGuardia, New York-JFK, and Seattle; and international network centered on hubs and market presence in Amsterdam, Mexico City, London-Heathrow, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, and Seoul-Incheon.

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StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Tri Pointe Homes (NYSE:TPH  Free Report) in a report published on Thursday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the construction companys stock.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on TPH. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Tri Pointe Homes from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Tri Pointe Homes in a report on Wednesday, May 31st. They issued a buy rating and a $42.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Tri Pointe Homes from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Tri Pointe Homes from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $38.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, August 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Tri Pointe Homes presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $33.00.

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Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on TPH

Tri Pointe Homes Stock Performance

Shares of Tri Pointe Homes stock traded down $0.31 during trading on Thursday, hitting $29.82. 971,919 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,037,670. The stocks fifty day moving average is $32.14 and its 200 day moving average is $28.12. The stock has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a PE ratio of 6.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a current ratio of 2.18. Tri Pointe Homes has a 12 month low of $14.59 and a 12 month high of $34.04.

Tri Pointe Homes (NYSE:TPH  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The construction company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $819.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $703.67 million. Tri Pointe Homes had a net margin of 11.71% and a return on equity of 17.37%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Tri Pointe Homes will post 3.1 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Lawrence B. Burrows sold 7,677 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.48, for a total transaction of $241,671.96. Following the transaction, the director now owns 86,891 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,735,328.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Glenn J. Keeler sold 21,413 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.01, for a total value of $706,843.13. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 102,194 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,373,423.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Lawrence B. Burrows sold 7,677 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.48, for a total transaction of $241,671.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 86,891 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,735,328.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.00% of the companys stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tri Pointe Homes

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. West Tower Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Tri Pointe Homes in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Tri Pointe Homes during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Tri Pointe Homes during the 2nd quarter worth about $45,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Tri Pointe Homes during the 1st quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in Tri Pointe Homes by 30.4% during the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,275 shares of the construction companys stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 531 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.53% of the companys stock.

Tri Pointe Homes Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Tri Pointe Homes, Inc engages in the design, construction, and sale of single-family attached and detached homes in the United States. The company operates through a portfolio of six regional home building brands comprising Maracay in Arizona; Pardee Homes in California and Nevada; Quadrant Homes in Washington; Trendmaker Homes in Texas; TRI Pointe Homes in California, Colorado, and the Carolinas; and Winchester Homes in Maryland and Northern Virginia.

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Walmart (NYSE:WMT  Get Free Report) had its target price raised by research analysts at UBS Group from $173.00 to $190.00 in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the retailers stock. UBS Groups target price indicates a potential upside of 22.54% from the stocks current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Raymond James boosted their target price on Walmart from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Walmart from $163.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Monday. Citigroup upped their price target on Walmart from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Friday, May 19th. StockNews.com started coverage on Walmart in a research report on Thursday. They set a strong-buy rating on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Walmart from $165.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Friday, May 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walmart presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $175.73.

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Check Out Our Latest Analysis on WMT

Walmart Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:WMT opened at $155.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Walmart has a 12-month low of $128.07 and a 12-month high of $162.78. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $157.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $149.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $417.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.50.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 17th. The retailer reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.15. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.30% and a net margin of 1.82%. The company had revenue of $161.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $160.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.77 EPS. The companys quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Walmart will post 6.25 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP David Chojnowski sold 4,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.74, for a total transaction of $626,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 39,975 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $6,265,681.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Walmart news, major shareholder Alice L. Walton sold 600 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.02, for a total value of $90,012.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 245,255,856 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $36,793,283,517.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP David Chojnowski sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.74, for a total value of $626,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,975 shares of the companys stock, valued at $6,265,681.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,764,313 shares of company stock valued at $1,354,672,677. Insiders own 46.51% of the companys stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walmart

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WMT. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its position in Walmart by 93,272.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 821,003,685 shares of the retailers stock worth $129,045,359,000 after acquiring an additional 820,124,410 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in Walmart by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 100,364,767 shares of the retailers stock valued at $15,775,334,000 after buying an additional 430,215 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,499,791 shares of the retailers stock valued at $3,995,749,000 after buying an additional 394,797 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Walmart by 112,181.6% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 22,854,919 shares of the retailers stock valued at $3,240,599,000 after buying an additional 22,834,564 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Walmart by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 22,382,688 shares of the retailers stock valued at $3,173,642,000 after buying an additional 1,923,199 shares during the last quarter. 31.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walmart Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, and other units worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam's Club. It operates supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash and carry stores, and discount stores under Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands; membership-only warehouse clubs; ecommerce websites, such as walmart.com, walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, and samsclub.com; and mobile commerce applications.

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Unum Group (NYSE:UNM  Get Free Report) EVP Christopher W. Pyne sold 3,750 shares of Unum Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.02, for a total transaction of $183,825.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 46,334 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,271,292.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Unum Group Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Unum Group stock opened at $49.09 on Friday. Unum Group has a 52-week low of $36.27 and a 52-week high of $51.15. The company has a 50 day moving average of $47.90 and a 200 day moving average of $44.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market capitalization of $9.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.08.

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Unum Group (NYSE:UNM  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $3.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. Unum Group had a net margin of 11.90% and a return on equity of 15.10%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Unum Group will post 7.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Unum Group Increases Dividend

Analyst Ratings Changes

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 28th will be given a dividend of $0.365 per share. This represents a $1.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 27th. This is an increase from Unum Groups previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Unum Groups payout ratio is currently 20.25%.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on UNM. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Unum Group from $46.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Unum Group in a research note on Thursday. They issued a buy rating for the company. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Unum Group from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $51.00.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on Unum Group

Institutional Trading of Unum Group

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UNM. Founders Capital Management grew its stake in Unum Group by 11.5% in the 2nd quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 2,034 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Westpac Banking Corp grew its stake in Unum Group by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 25,184 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $996,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC grew its stake in Unum Group by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 5,607 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $267,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Unum Group by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,997 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $477,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aviance Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Unum Group by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 38,204 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,822,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.94% of the companys stock.

About Unum Group

(Get Free Report)

Unum Group, together with its subsidiaries, provides financial protection benefit solutions primarily in the United States, the United Kingdom, Poland, and internationally. It operates through Unum US, Unum International, Colonial Life, and Closed Block and Corporate segments. The company offers group long-term and short-term disability, group life, and accidental death and dismemberment products; supplemental and voluntary products, such as individual disability, voluntary benefits, and dental and vision products; and accident, sickness, disability, life, and cancer and critical illness products.

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Vantage Consulting Group Inc raised its stake in shares of Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ  Free Report) by 12.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,200 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 137 shares during the quarter. Vantage Consulting Group Incs holdings in Constellation Brands were worth $271,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Prudential PLC purchased a new position in Constellation Brands during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $705,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of Constellation Brands by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 17,026 shares of the companys stock valued at $3,921,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Constellation Brands by 17.6% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,149 shares of the companys stock valued at $725,000 after purchasing an additional 471 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Constellation Brands by 2.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,601,280 shares of the companys stock worth $2,902,327,000 after purchasing an additional 313,344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ergoteles LLC purchased a new stake in Constellation Brands during the first quarter valued at $257,000. Institutional investors own 86.49% of the companys stock.

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Constellation Brands Price Performance

Shares of STZ opened at $257.36 on Friday. Constellation Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $208.12 and a fifty-two week high of $273.65. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $257.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $237.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23.

Constellation Brands Announces Dividend

Constellation Brands ( NYSE:STZ Get Free Report ) last released its earnings results on Friday, June 30th. The company reported $2.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.47 billion. Constellation Brands had a positive return on equity of 22.32% and a negative net margin of 3.14%. The businesss quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.66 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Constellation Brands, Inc. will post 11.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 10th will be issued a $0.89 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 9th. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. Constellation Brandss dividend payout ratio is currently -194.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on STZ. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Constellation Brands from $270.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, July 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Constellation Brands from $273.00 to $276.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, July 3rd. Citigroup lifted their target price on Constellation Brands from $265.00 to $280.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 21st. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Constellation Brands in a report on Thursday. They set a hold rating on the stock. Finally, Roth Capital upgraded Constellation Brands from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $266.24.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on Constellation Brands

Insider Activity at Constellation Brands

In other Constellation Brands news, EVP Robert Lee Hanson sold 12,299 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.10, for a total transaction of $3,297,361.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 11,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,180,202.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Garth Hankinson sold 1,550 shares of Constellation Brands stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.96, for a total value of $415,338.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 9,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,543,208.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Robert Lee Hanson sold 12,299 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.10, for a total value of $3,297,361.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,862 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,180,202.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 100,819 shares of company stock worth $27,054,755. 16.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Constellation Brands

(Free Report)

Constellation Brands, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, produces, imports, markets, and sells beer, wine, and spirits in the United States, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, and Italy. The company provides beer primarily under the Corona Extra, Corona Premier, Corona Familiar, Corona Light, Corona Refresca, Corona Hard Seltzer, Modelo Especial, Modelo Negra, Modelo Chelada, Victoria, Vicky Chamoy, and Pacifico brands.

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A Congressional delegation of Democrats, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Misty Rebik, chief of staff for Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) arrived in Santiago, Chile on August 16 ahead of the 50th anniversary of the coup against former President Salvador Allende. Sponsored by the Center for Economics and Policy Research (CEPR), a U.S. think tank, the purpose of their trip was to understand Chiles efforts to strengthen its democracy. The delegation, which includes Representatives Joaquin Castro (D-TX), Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.), Greg Casar (D-TX) and Maxwell Frost (D-FL), has already visited Brazil and will travel to Colombia after Chile.

Ocasio-Cortez met with President Gabriel Borics spokesperson, Camila Vallejo, at the Palacio de La Moneda (the presidential office). In an Instagram video, Ocasio-Cortez and Vallejo strongly highlighted the United States obligation to disclose information regarding its involvement in the 1973 coup. The United States can foster a new era of relations with Chile through transparent information exchange, said Ocasio-Cortez. She also noted that prior to her trip to Chile, she introduced legislation to declassify documents related to the coup that ended the socialist government of Salvador Allende (1970-1973). Vallejo, a member of the Communist Party of Chile, also noted the recent resolution by Chiles Chamber of Deputies instructing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to release classified records detailing the United States involvement in the coup.

The U.S. delegation began by meeting on August 17 with Santiago Mayor Iraci Hassler, who is also a member of the Communist Party of Chile and a contemporary of Ocasio-Cortez and Vallejo, to discuss equality and environmental issues. On August 18, the delegation will visit Casa Igualdad, a space inaugurated in March by Mayor Hassler to provide legal, psychological and social support to caregivers and the people they help.

The delegations packed agenda includes a meeting with President Gabriel Boric and Foreign Affairs Minister Alberto van Klaveren, meetings with Chilean legislators, and a visit with Justice Minister Luis Cordero to the Museum of Memory and Human Rights, which commemorates the victims of human rights violations during Augusto Pinochets military dictatorship (1973-1990). Their agenda includes a discussion with Maipu Mayor Tomas Vodanovic about local strategies to protect the right to clean water, and a meeting with Antonia Orellana, Chiles Minister for Women and Gender Equity.

Camila Vallejo and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, during the U.S. Congressional delegation's visit to Chile. Cortesia

U.S. foreign policy has too often contributed to instability in Latin America. We should be protecting democracy rather than supporting coups, and we should be creating peace and prosperity across the Western Hemisphere rather than replaying the Cold War, Representative Greg Casar (D-TX) said in the CEPR press release. Now is the time to talk about our history, jointly fight the climate crisis, and invest in lasting peace. That is why Im joining this delegation to Brazil, Colombia, and Chile  to meet, listen and learn from our counterparts and chart a new way forward.

Delegation coordinator David Adler said, Fifty years ago, the United States supported a bloody coup against the democratically elected government of President Salvador Allende. The scars from this tragic event are still visible today... This delegation arrives to help usher in a new chapter of U.S.-Chile relations based on mutual understanding and the common pursuit of social justice. All too often, visitors from Washington come to the region to deliver lectures and unsolicited advice. This delegation has come to Chile to listen, learn and forge lasting alliances for hemispheric cooperation.

Fernando Purcell, a professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile with a doctorate in U.S. history from the University of California-Davis, believes that the delegations visit will have positive bilateral impacts. While they only represent a portion of U.S. society and the political spectrum, the gesture of visiting Chile with an agenda heavily influenced by the 50th anniversary of the coup and human rights issues is significant. Purcell also sees commonality between Ocasio-Cortez and the current political generation leading Chile. They espouse the same causes  womens rights, sustainable development and labor rights.

The delegation led by Ocasio-Cortez, so strong aligned with the 40-something generation that currently governs Chile, will meet for breakfast on August 18 with Michelle Bachelet, who made history in 2006 by becoming Chiles first female president.

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Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD  Get Free Report) insider William S. Boyd sold 1,914 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total value of $128,238.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,764,310 shares of the companys stock, valued at $654,208,770. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Boyd Gaming Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:BYD traded down $1.25 on Thursday, reaching $64.75. 889,747 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 860,318. The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $68.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.41. Boyd Gaming Co. has a 52 week low of $46.10 and a 52 week high of $73.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

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Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.02. Boyd Gaming had a return on equity of 41.56% and a net margin of 19.61%. The firm had revenue of $916.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $910.59 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.48 earnings per share. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Announces Dividend

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Boyd Gamings dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.26%.

BYD has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, April 21st. Argus increased their target price on Boyd Gaming from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Truist Financial increased their target price on Boyd Gaming from $83.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. StockNews.com began coverage on Boyd Gaming in a research report on Thursday. They set a buy rating on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $77.00.

Get Our Latest Report on BYD

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BYD. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 15.0% in the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,575 shares of the companys stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 25.1% in the second quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 78,433 shares of the companys stock worth $5,441,000 after purchasing an additional 15,745 shares during the last quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department grew its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 4.5% in the second quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department now owns 54,970 shares of the companys stock worth $3,813,000 after purchasing an additional 2,378 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming in the second quarter worth about $612,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming in the second quarter worth about $951,000. 68.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Boyd Gaming

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Boyd Gaming Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a multi-jurisdictional gaming company in Nevada, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. It operates through three segments: Las Vegas Locals, Downtown Las Vegas, and Midwest & South.

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Evo Moraless government wasnt the only thing that collapsed in Bolivia in 2019. At the time, a torrential spring rain crumbled part of the ravines of a river, exposing some 350 dinosaur footprints in the department of Tarija, in the south of the Andean country. Recently published research reveals an authentic dinosaur daycare, as one of the studys authors, Argentine paleontologist Sebastian Apesteguia, describes it. Apesteguia, along with the rest of the scientists involved in the discovery, calls for adequate protection and conservation of the footprints, which are outdoors and at risk of disappearing due to new landslides.

The discovery reflects the scene of two adult sauropods (dinosaurs of the brontosaurus type) leading hundreds of young during the Upper Jurassic period, about 150 million years ago, at the height of the dinosaurs splendor. In addition, two ornithopods (specifically, iguanodonts) and a theropod (of the tyrannosaur type) obliquely and calmly pass each other along a path that, according to some paleontologists, was part of the worlds longest dinosaur migration route: in terms of todays geography, the path went from southern Peru, through central Bolivia to northern Argentina.

But the relevance of this discovery is related to the culmination of another temporary journey. Until now, the Andean highland country only had records from the beginning and end of the era of these giant reptiles. With this [new discovery], Bolivia now has a site with dinosaur footprints from the three periods: Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous, says Apesteguia on a video call in which Bolivian geologist Gustavo Mendez Torres and Spanish ichnologist Raul Esperante also participated. Mendez Torres, the articles lead author and the one who discovered the footprints, recalls the moment of the discovery: I felt great excitement wash over me even more so, knowing that I was the [one who found] the only site with footprints from the Jurassic period in Bolivia.

The article describes the footprints of the adult sauropods as rounded, elephant-like, and between 75 and 95 centimeters in diameter. Based on this data, the authors calculated that their hips would be almost four meters (13 feet) above the ground, their bodies would be about 20 meters (about 66 feet) long from nose to tail, and they would have had a heavy gait of less than five kilometers (about 3 miles) per hour. On the other hand, the tracks of the young dinosaurs measure between 15 and 30 centimeters in diameter. In a press release, the researchers emphasize that the curious thing is that no more of these small footprints are seen at the site, which clearly indicates that they came along the same path or in a compact group with the two giant [dinosaurs], demonstrating herd behavior and protection of the young.

Although the researchers warn that there is no absolute guarantee that these sauropods traveled in a herd, the scholars explain why they believe that this was the case. The simplest thing is to think that they went together. In addition, we compared [the footprints] with current models, what we call autoecology: nowadays, we see elephants and other large vertebrates accompanied by their young, beside or behind [them]; and then we deduced by comparison, Esperante says.

Geologist Gustavo Mendez Torres, who discovered the footprints, works with biology students on the slope that contains several levels with dinosaur footprints. ARIEL ANGEL CESPEDES LLAVE

Another detail reinforces that thesis. If the young had passed an hour later or the next day, we would expect them to step on the adults footprints; but what we see is little to no overlap between the footprints, Esperante explains. The overlap would have been more likely if they had walked at different times. But the footprints of the young do not go over those of the adults; they are to the side of them. There is a compelling reason: The big ones left their paw marks, but the huge animals tail still had to pass through; so the little ones couldnt walk there, they had to move over to one side, says Apesteguia, who is affiliated with Argentinas National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET).

When reviewing the details that allow them to approach the giant animals intangible behavior, Esperante lets his enthusiasm shine through. This site is amazing. It is spectacular. You have to go and see it, he recommends. Then Apesteguia qualifies that statement, irrevocably changing the rest of the conversation: Before it collapses.

Collapsing in on prehistoric treasures

The problems that the paleontologist Esperante overcame to reach the site paled in comparison to the complexities that affect valuable sites such as Tarija. I just traveled the week of the fall of Evo Morales, in 2019. Cochabamba was paralyzed, the whole country, but somehow I managed to fly to Tarija, he recalls.

In the midst of that political crisis, the protection of the fossil record was not a priority and four years later it continues to be a challenge. One of the big problems in Bolivia, as in many places, is how to protect these deposits, which are generally very inclined, explains Apesteguia. Less than 500 kilometers from Tarija is the Cal Orcko national paleontological monument, the most important site with dinosaur footprints in the world, with thousands of footprints of multiple species scattered in ravines with a 70-degree inclination. With anything that happens above, the collapse comes, and in Tarija the same. It looks like a jungle step that collapsed and that anticipates what the next one will be, describes the Argentine paleontologist while begging for an urgent solution.

Protecting the footprints by building an entire structure in the river basin is impossible. They wont be able to do that and it doesnt make sense. What [must] be done is a scan of the fingerprints now, demands Apesteguia, in reference to the survey by photogrammetry: a high-precision measurement through aerial and satellite images, which allow images to be digitized and preserved in maximum detail.

Scientists emphasize the value of Tarija as a world heritage site. It has been crucial in paleontology for a long time, since the 19th century. The most incredible megafauna fossils from Tarija, from the last million years, are in museums around the world, in prominent exhibitions, highlights Apesteguia. What they describe begins to look like a modern version of plunder, but Esperante avoids that word: I compare it to the exodus of Babylonian, Syrian, Egyptian archaeological material in the 19th century and early 20th century, mainly to Europe and to North America. When they did not have the record of care and preservation that those sites now have. This is equivalent.

00:43 The world's largest dinosaur footprint Argentine paleontologist Sebastian Apesteguia, next to the largest theropod footprint in the world at the Cal Orcko site in Bolivia.

Mendez Torres adds that the lack of a scientific culture contributes to the management problem: In places where there are finds from the Quaternary, people dance on the fossils because there are sectors where it is totally impossible to [move] without stepping on a record. Mastodons, glyptodonts, sloths and countless other specimens are totally neglected, even in places where there are signs warning of fines for taking fossils without authorization. With my own eyes, I saw the way an amateur picked up ten pieces, paid the fine and took them away. Unfortunately, theres no interest here in Bolivia, he complains.

Esperante blames the problem on the lack of a standardized protocol. There is no official, routine, codified system for safeguarding and protecting fossils. Some people have the idea that it has to be preserved on site, but in two years there is nothing left. We need to educate different sectors [so they know] that conservation does not mean leaving it on site, if the site is not going to be preserved, he warns.

Nature has proven him right. The Bolivian geologist gives his colleagues some bad news during the video call. In February 2020, in Tarija, a rockslide caused by the rains washed away part of the site [that revealed the dinosaur nursery]. In the news, it came out that a landslide was blocking part of the road and when I saw it I immediately realized that it was the site of the footprints. Regretfully, Mendez Torres recounts how he approached the site and spoke to local authorities, asking them to remove the blocks, recover them and take them somewhere where they could be protected. But then the heavy machine operators loaded up the rubble, took it away and dumped it who knows where. Thus, more than 30 footprints were lost, which could have been exhibited in a museum, Mendez Torres says sadly.

From plundering to protecting fossils

When seeking official answers about the conservation of this site of major paleontological importance, inquiries go back and forth between government agencies for days. At the Vice-Ministry of Science and Technology, which has been in the process of changing directors since July 27, were helped by a willing technical employee, who limits the competence of the division in which she works to promoting scientific research and refers the protection of paleontological heritage to the Ministry of Cultures. But according to their response, that ministry is not in charge of the subject either (despite the fact that the Bolivian Cultural Heritage Law, of 2014, indicates that it is). Instead, the authorities continue to pass the buck. For instance, the General Director of Cultural Heritage, Gonzalo Vargas, transfers the responsibility to the National Museum of Natural History, which depends on the Ministry of Environment and Water.

The footprints were found on a steep slope of the Santa Ana River, near the town of Entre Rios, in Tarija, Bolivia. GUSTAVO MENDEZ TORRES

There, finally, the first and only formal responses are given by a small group of passionate geologists and biologists, who have more in the way of vocation than resources, and whose role in protecting fossils is limited to an advisory function. The Ministry of Cultures didnt know much about our role, says biologist Hugo Aranibar, the director of the National Museum of Natural History. Through a series of seminars held on fossil trafficking over the last two years, they asked for his advice in specific cases, but in the case of the collapse of the Tarija footprints, no one informed them. We have no documented knowledge of this issue, states Aranibar. Bernandino Mamani Quispe, a geologist and the director of the museums Paleontology Unit, confirms that statement and explains that if the Tarija authorities (or authorities higher up) do not request their intervention, they are not authorized to intervene.

Aranibar confirms the lack of a standardized protocol, as pointed out by paleontologist Esperante. The pending regulation would also serve to reinforce the fight against the trafficking and plunder of fossils that began almost 30 years ago. Until the mid-1990s, renowned [foreign] researchers used to come and ignore national regulations. They would come in, investigate and leave with the fossils, says the biologist. Ideally, the originals should be here so that other researchers can use them for their studies, Aranibar says. According to his geologist colleague, the theft of fossils is not a problem that is exclusive to Bolivia; it is something that affects Latin America in general. They point to an emblematic case of this indirect colonization that still persists: the Brazilian fossil Ubirajara jubatus, which was recently returned from Germany following its appropriation in 1995.

The museum director explains that in order to keep the fossils in the sites where they were found, local, governmental or indigenous authorities must reach an agreement with the scientists. But to do that, they must create the elements that allow for effective safeguarding. When that is guaranteed, according to Aranibar, they can be returned to the appropriate place. That is why it is important to strengthen local capacities, he adds.

In this sense, Mamani Quispe regrets that Bolivia only has three universities that offer a degree in geology, and that paleontology occupies only two semesters in the curriculum. The problem is so complex that we have to look at it from different angles. Those of us who are working in paleontology are essentially [idealists], we love the work. If I worked in oil or mining, I would earn four or five times what I earn here. Imagine: for a young person with aspirations, it is not attractive, explains the geologist. He adds that there is a lack of government support for basic research because, he says, this type of science is not seen as having an immediate productive return.

However, they strive to create possibilities for the conservation of fossils: We are at the stage of producing new documents, norms and regulations that can standardize the work at a national level. We are still working, says Mamani Quispe. In spite of everything, his small group of dreamers, continues to resist at the National Museum of Natural History of Bolivia and propose steps forward.

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The death from brain cancer last weekend of high profile epidemiologist and University of New South Wales emeritus professor, Mary-Louise McLaws, has seen an outpouring of heartfelt condolences from peers and former students. Hundreds of messages have been published on social media and in letters to newspapers voicing their thanks for her COVID-safety advice.

Mary-Louise McLaws at National Press Club, February 10, 2021 in Canberra. [Photo: @PressClubAust]

McLaws regularly appeared on Australian television and radio during the first two years of the pandemic until her retirement in January 2022, after she was diagnosed with cancer. She won popular support during this time when she and other leading medical scientists, amid mounting working-class anger, compelled Australian governments to adopt limited COVID-19 mitigation measures. She was 70 when she died.

McLaws calls for rigorous mitigation practices and her refutations of coronavirus misinformationchildren dont get COVID, its just like the flu, and other lieswon her a wide following. Her concern for the health and safety of workers and the socially vulnerable endeared her to tens of thousands of ordinary people.

As one condolence letter stated, McLaws helped to reduce the suffering, and avoid the death, of many people. Another commented: We wont ever forget that you were there when we needed you, calmly drowning out the noise of ignorant deniers, including some who had been elected to support us through disasters and didnt.

McLaws worked for over three and a half decades on infectious disease control in Australia and internationally. She was a World Health Organisation (WHO) advisor in Hong Kong during the first SARS outbreak. When the coronavirus emerged in late 2019, she became an independent advisor to WHOs COVID-19 emergency program.

McLaws was among the first of many medical scientists who pointed out that COVID-19 was spread, not via droplets as the WHO maintained for two years, but as a fine aerosol. This meant the virus remained in the air for longer periods and spread greater distances. She revealed how Australias hotel quarantining of incoming travellers, sharing the same unsafe air-conditioning systems was infecting others in these buildings.

More broadly, the airborne character of COVID underscored the crucial importance of broad-based public health measures, including quality air filitration and N-95 masking. The official line of droplet transmission was aimed at presenting infection protection as a largely individual responsibility, centred around such things as limited personal distancing and handwashing, inter alia.

The hundreds of condolences in response to McClaws death stand in contrast to the stony silence of Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the perfunctory comments of his health minister, Mark Butler.

Albanese has yet to acknowledge McLaws passing, despite her being awarded an Order of Australia in June 2022 for her distinguished service to epidemiology, infection prevention, tertiary education and health administration.

On Monday, Butler was asked on the ABC Radio Nationals Breakfast to comment on McClaws death. To see her on TV outline in a very calm but authoritative and articulate way, the best way we could protect ourselves was a source of great reassurance to the Australian people Im sure her colleagues will miss her terribly. But most importantly, her family and friends will be desperately sad at this news over the weekend, he declared.

But it is precisely the authoritative scientifically grounded medical advice that McClaws advanced, which Butlers government rejects entirely.

Labor is implementing the socially criminal and anti-scientific let it rip policies that McClaws and other principled epidemiologists consistently warned against, leading to continuous illness and death.

According to the latest official figures, 22,466 people have been killed by COVID in Australia since 2020, 14,369 of these under the Albanese government with an estimated 300,000 people currently suffering from Long COVID.

Labor has no plans to deal with future variants of the deadly disease or any other future pandemic. Over the next two years, the Albanese Labor government will slash total federal spending on health by $11 billion by mid-2024primarily via the termination of COVID-19 safety measures.

McLaws tragic cancer diagnosis and her retirement in January 2022 came just after then Prime Minister Scott Morrisons federal Liberal-National government ended mitigation measures and adopted a let it rip program as the highly-infectious Omicron variant began to circulate in Australia.

The reopening was overseen by the bipartisan National Cabinet and was implemented in many states and territories by Labor administrations. For the previous two years, big business and the governments themselves bridled against the successful mitigation measures that had been implemented as a result of the demands of workers and of epidemiologists like McClaws.

Since it assumed federal office in May 2022, Labor has deepened this process, abolishing even the semblance of a coordinated public health response to the ongoing pandemic.



On November 24, 2022, the then seriously ill McLaws published a final message on her Twitter account. It was an appeal for her followers to share a joint report that she and other medical scientistsR. Quentin Grafton, Long Chu, Tom Kompas and Dan Suansubmitted to an Australian parliamentary inquiry into Long COVID. The document condemned the governments shift to a personal responsibilities model for COVID and provided a detailed list of all the eliminated mitigation measures. It called for their immediate restoration and for increased public health funding to combat the virus and its increasingly infectious variants.

Predictably, these calls fell on profoundly deaf ears.

In a series of statements in 202122, the WSWS explained that there were three basic responses to the pandemic.

Firstly, the let it rip policy, which allowed the virus to circulate without restraint and was openly dictated by the refusal to adopt any public health measures that would impinge on corporate profits. Secondly, a mitigationist strategy aimed at ameliorating the worst effects of the pandemic through limited public health policies. Thirdly, a scientifically-grounded elimination strategy aimed at progressively ending transmission until COVID is eliminated or eradicated from the globe.

The experiences of the past two years have seen the collapse of the mitigationist program, which had previously been implemented with success in Australia.

Now there is no middle ground. On the one side are all the governments, corporate elites and official political parties, committed to the untrammeled spread of COVID and a forever pandemic. On the other is what is required by society and by science: a full-scale onslaught on the virus, through the necessary public health measures and the deployment of the scientific knowledge accumulated throughout the pandemic.

McClaws made a significant and imperishable contribution to the development of that knowledge. The WSWS pays tribute to her and her work.

Events themselves have demonstrated that appeals to governments and to the ruling elite will yield nothing. The fight to end the pandemic is inseparable from the struggle by the working class against capitalism and its subordination of everything to the profits of big business. It is to the working class that principled scientists and epidemiologists must turn.

The WSWS is continuing its Global Workers Inquest into the COVID-19 Pandemic, the only such inquiry aimed at educating ordinary people on the pandemic, laying bare the criminality of governments and advancing an elimination strategy. We urge all readers to follow its ongoing analysis and make contact to discuss this vital and ongoing initative.
Yurii Sheliazhenko

The NATO-backed government of President Volodymyr Zelensky has officially charged Ukrainian peace activist Yurii Sheliazhenko with justification of Russian aggression. After the countrys Security Service (SBU) raided his Kiev apartment earlier this month, Sheliazhenko has been interrogated and placed under nightly house arrest as he awaits prosecution.

Sheliazhenko currently serves as the executive secretary of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement, which is a member of the European Bureau for Conscientious Objection and World BEYOND War.

The charge against Sheliazhenko is specifically based on a pacifist document taken by the SBU in their raid titled Peace Agenda for Ukraine and the World. The document, which was adopted by Sheliazhenkos organization in September and sent to Zelenskys office, calls for peace, condemns the Russian aggression, urges protection of the human right to refuse to kill and appeals for a peaceful solution of the armed conflict.

Speaking with Democracy Now! Sheliazhenko recounted that during his interrogation he realized that the Zelensky government had begun surveilling him over a year ago after he had published a document titled A Human Right to Conscientious Objection to Military Service.

He recalled, During this interrogation, the investigator provided me a copy of the request to the court. He asked the court to apply to me home arrest. He released some materials disclosed, and I must say that from this pile of papers, I saw that, indeed, surveillance was started a year ago, and it was started when I published, as a human rights defender, a legal aid document that called human right [the right] to conscientious objection to military service. And they considered it a threat to national security. They considered it as a threat to the mobilization of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. And they started to surveil me.

Despite facing prison time and potential violence from the SBU and infamous fascist militias, Sheliazhenko has vowed to remain in the country to fight the patently undemocratic charges against him.

I will not run from my home and country, wrote Shelizhenko on August 6. If I will be sent to prison for pacifism, I will find a way to be useful for peace-loving Ukraine in prison too.

The prosecution of Sheliazhenko is part of a broad crackdown on individuals and groups viewed as insufficiently loyal to the pro-NATO Kiev regime that came to power in the 2014 coup, which was organized by the EU and United States, working in tandem with the countrys far right.

The campaign to hunt down, arrest and prosecute or even kill traitors and collaborators accelerated following the beginning of the open war in February 2022 with the Russian invasion.

In addition to banning the countrys opposition political parties in May of last year, it is estimated that by the start of this year SBU had initiated 2,500 criminal cases against supposed collaborators and detained 600 foreign agents and spies.

Among the more notable cases are the prosecution of peace activist Ruslan Kotsaba and the arrest and prosecution of the anti-fascist brothers Alexander and Mikhail Kononovich.

While antiwar activists such as Sheliazhenko are being prosecuted, Zelensky found the time to meet with Andriy Biletsky, the neo-Nazi founder of the far-right Azov Battalion. Biletsky has made no secret about his neo-Nazi views and in 2010 stated that he believed the national purpose was to lead the white races of the world in a final crusade  against Semite-led Untermenschen [subhumans].

After months in which the Western media fraudulently tried to portray the Azov Battalion as having abandoned its neo-Nazi roots, Zelensky is now openly meeting with the fascist founder of this organization. On his official Telegram channel, Zelensky captioned the video of the meeting with the words, The command post of the 3rd separate assault brigade, which is performing combat missions as part of the Khortytsia operational and strategic group of troops in the Bakhmut sector. During the open conversation, we discussed the most pressing issues.

I am grateful to everyone who defends our country and people who bring our victory closer.

The intensified crackdown on dissent and evermore open reliance on neo-Nazi forces comes amid a deepening crisis of the government whose NATO-backed counteroffensive has been a bloody disaster. It is estimated that over 300,000 Ukrainians have been killed in the ongoing war. Tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers have been senselessly massacred just in the past two and a half months alone, which has failed to produce any military advances for Ukraine.

Despite this horrific death toll, unseen in Europe since World War II, the NATO-backed Zelensky government is deploying all means at its disposal to continue the war, effectively kidnapping people off the streets and forcing them to the front.

The high probability of being killed at the front has motivated thousands of men to flee the country. Those who can afford it offer bribes to Ukrainian officials in order to avoid military service.

Under conditions where a renewed wave of mobilization is being prepared, with some Ukrainian politicians demanding that as many as 400,000 more men be mobilized, Zelensky on Friday announced the firing of all of Ukraines regional military recruitment chiefs.

Last month, it was revealed that military officials had accepted bribes in cash and cryptocurrency in exchange for falsified documents and the exemption of men from military conscription. In some cases, officials collected $10,000 per person, a huge amount in a country where the average monthly income is just $400 a month. In other words, those who were able to bribe themselves out of military service were wealthier layers, whereas working class Ukrainians were the first to be forced to die in the NATO-backed counteroffensive.

Zelensky feigned indignation at the scandal, stating in a social media post that the system should be run by people who know exactly what war is and why cynicism and bribery during war is treason. In a separate statement he claimed that the scandal remained a secret until, during the inspection of the territorial recruitment centers, law enforcement agencies exposed cases of corruption. In reality, the fact that wealthy Ukrainians are avoiding the draft has been well known since the war first began.

As even the New York Times highlighted in its coverage of the scandal Andriy, an officer in the Territorial Defense Force, said corruption in recruitment centers was well known, and that rooting out some of those responsible was unlikely to have a big effect on mobilization. Andriy, who discussed political matters on the condition that his surname not be used, said, Those who would like to avoid would do that anyway.

By arresting the military recruitment officers, Zelensky no doubt seeks to assuage immense social anger both in the civilian population and among rank-and-file soldiers about the flagrant draft evasion by the wealthy and the war profiteering in sections of the military leadership. But the principal purpose is to create conditions for the ongoing mobilization of even more Ukrainian men as cannon fodder for the imperialist war against Russia. Earlier this week, the Biden administration approved another $200 million in weapons, the 44th shipment to date, which will be used to fund the continuation of the slaughter.
The International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) is holding a meeting in opposition to Macquarie University managements anti-democratic ban on our club. Their refusal to affiliate our club despite our having met all requirements is blatant political censorship of the IYSSEs anti-war, socialist perspective. We urge youth and students to attend the meeting and support the IYSSE against this attack.

Details:

Date: Thursday, 07 September

Time: 17:00

Room: 14SCO T5 Lecture Theatre, Macquarie University

The IYSSE has completely refuted Macquarie Universitys claim that our club shares the same aims and purpose as the Macquarie Socialists, a student club affiliated with the pseudo-left, pro-war Socialist Alternative. This bogus claim was the only grounds cited by management to justify its refusal.

The university is now stonewalling the IYSSE, demonstrating that the real basis for their rejection of our affiliation is political.

The IYSSE has taken a principled stand in opposition to the US-NATO proxy war in Ukraine against Russia. This is not a war to defend little Ukraine against Russia. It is a war of the imperialist powers, led by the US, to dominate Russia and ultimately, the Eurasian landmass. This reckless militarism threatens a nuclear conflagration that could wipe out life on earth.

The end goal for US imperialism and its allies, including Australia, is conflict with China. There is a deepening of ties and a buildup of military force in the Asia Pacific to that end. This underscores the warning that the IYSSE has made: students are confronted with the looming threat of a world war.

As part of these war preparations, universities around the country are being incorporated into the military apparatus. They are establishing research and development ties with the worlds largest arms manufacturers and with the defense department, to directly prepare the weapons of war. Macquarie University is no exception. In December 2022, the university signed onto a $32 million research project to boost the militarys testing and engineering capabilities.

The IYSSE has faced censorship internationally. In a recent international meeting series held by our movement, the IYSSE came under attack from far-right Ukrainian nationalists and their collaborators for our principled fight against war, including in Germany, New Zealand, the US and Canada. This demonstrates the desperation of the ruling class and its allies around the world to prevent any alternative perspective to their own being heard.

The banning of the club at Macquarie University is a pre-emptive strike by management against the developing anti-war movement. The IYSSE fights for the only program that history demonstrates can end imperialist war: a unified movement of the international working class, directed against the source of conflict, the profit system itself.

Students must have the right to discuss this perspective! Students and staff should attend the meeting and promote it, as part of the fight to defend fundamental democratic and political rights on campus.
In a clear and obvious threat of violence, supporters of ex-president Donald Trump have posted on the internet the names and addresses of every member of the Fulton County, Georgia grand jury that indicted Trump on 13 counts relating to his leadership of a conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.

As this information was spread through right-wing websites, the images of the grand jurors were added as well, accompanied by death threats. These jurors have signed their death warrant by falsely indicting President Trump, a post on a pro-Trump forum read in response to a post listing the names of jurors.

At least one right-wing site posted pictures of gallows and nooses along with grand jurors and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who brought the indictment against Trump.

These sites also cited evidence that many of the grand jurors were supporters of the Democratic Party or were African-American, hardly surprising in a county that is heavily African-American and voted for Democrat Joe Biden over the Republican Trump in 2020 by a margin of 73 percent to 26 percent.

The grand jurors were named in the 98-page indictment they returned on Monday night, but no contact information or other identification was included, in keeping with the security practices normal to any grand jury investigation. The jury is still sitting and considering other cases that could be brought by the office of District Attorney Fani Willis.

The Fulton County Sheriffs Department is responsible for the security of grand jurors, but it had no immediate comment. District Attorney Willis, who is African-American, received numerous racist threats in the period leading up to the indictment, and tightened security measures have been in place for her and her office, including allowing some staff to work remotely.

Also, on Wednesday, Abigail Jo Shry, 43, of Alvin, Texas was denied bail on charges of making violent threats against Tanya S. Chutkan, the federal judge who is in charge of Trumps prosecution on federal charges of seeking to overturn the 2020 election.

Shry called Chutkans chambers on August 5, two days after Trump was arraigned before Judge Chutkan, and left a message. According to the criminal complaint, she warned: You are in our sights, we want to kill you. If Trump doesnt get elected in 2024, we are coming to kill you, so tread lightly, bitch. She added, You will be targeted personally, publicly, your family, all of it, and then used a racial slur referring to the judge, who is black.

The complaint against Shry also alleged that she had made threats against Representative Sheila Jackson Lee of Houston, who is also black, and who has been a particular target for racially tinged political venom from Trump and other Republicans.

At the bail hearing, Shrys father told the court that she was an alcoholic who spent her day watching television and complaining about the actions of various federal and state politicians opposed to Trump. Federal agents visited Shry on August 8, three days after she made her threats against Judge Chutkan, and she told them she had no intention of going to Washington or Houston, but if Sheila Jackson Lee comes to Alvin, then we need to worry.

The same week as Shrys threats, FBI agents shot and killed a Utah man who had made death threats against President Biden and said he would act on them during Bidens visit to Salt Lake City, which took place only a few hours later. Craig Robertson was heavily armed, refused to allow the agents to enter his home, and pointed a weapon at them. He had also threatened to kill Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and others involved in criminal prosecutions of Trump.

Trump has incited these and similar attacks with non-stop inflammatory postings on his social media platform, Truth Social. Most notorious was his warning, three days after his federal indictment earlier this month, that (in all caps) IF YOU GO AFTER ME, IM COMING AFTER YOU! In his eight years in presidential politics, Trump has repeatedly encouraged his supporters to use violence against his opponents, while never suggesting that there were any lines that should not be crossed.

As he and the Republican Party have shifted further and further to the right, embracing fascism in all but name, Trump has become more explicit in his invocations of both anti-communism and racism. His campaign speeches invariably feature increasingly hysterical warnings that Marxists and socialists are out to put him in jail and exterminate his supporters. His most brazen appeal to race prejudice came in response to the Georgia indictment brought by District Attorney Fani Willis.

Trump tweeted that state and federal prosecutors were ignoring those who supposedly falsified the outcome of the 2020 presidential electionwhich he lost by seven million votes. They never went after those that Rigged the Election. They only went after those that fought to find the RIGGERS!

The word riggers was quickly picked up on ultra-right social media sites and used as a thinly disguised version of a racial slur common in that milieu.

Former Trump White House Communications Director Alyssa Farah Griffin, speaking in a discussion on CNN, said there was no doubt that Trump was deliberately appealing to racism.

With Trump, you dont need to look for a dog whistleits a bullhorn when it comes to race, she said. And I do think thats deliberate.

The threats of violence do not emanate merely from particular fascists or disturbed individuals instigated by Trumps suggestions. Far more dangerous is the organized violence of fascist groups that have a close relationship to Trumps coterie and to the Republican Party leadership more generally.

These connections have been largely concealed both in the Georgia indictment brought in Atlanta, and in the federal indictment brought in Washington D.C. by Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith.

Smiths indictment targets only Trump and six unindicted co-conspirators, all of whom were involved in efforts to recruit fake electors, organize them to cast bogus votes for Trump on December 14, 2020, and then pressure either state legislatures or Vice President Mike Pence to declare them the legitimate electors, rather than the Biden electors actually chosen by the voters.

The Georgia indictment is similarly limited, although it does include actions in Georgia, such as the harassment and intimidation of two Atlanta election workers, where violence was at least implicit.

But neither indictment mentions the violent fascist groups, such as the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, which were mobilized first for the Stop the Steal rallies in Washington that served as dress rehearsals for the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and then in the attack itself, the first such invasion of the halls of Congress in more than 200 years.

Neither indictment makes mention of those Trump aides and allies who were his liaison to the fascists, such as longtime political crony Roger Stone, and ultra-right congressmen like Paul Gosar and Scott Perry. Neither indictment mentions the actions on January 6 of Trumps allies in the military-intelligence apparatus, which played a key role in allowing the Capitol to be overrun, and then delaying the dispatch of troops until after the attackers had withdrawn.
After offering "no comment" when asked to speak on the Maui inferno, President Joe Biden waves as he walks to his motorcade spending time on the beach near his family home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023. [Photo: Manuel Balce Ceneta/WSWS]

As the number of confirmed deaths in Maui reached 111 on Thursday, with more than 1,000 people still missing, the unprecedented and horrific character of the wildfire catastrophe continued to emerge. Officials close to the search effort have said the death toll will likely rise into the hundreds or even reach more than 1,000.

Less than half of the burn area of Lahaina, which has been flattened and reduced to ash by the fire, has been searched by crews looking for human remains. As Maui Police Chief John Pelletier put it on Wednesday, No one has ever seen this that is alive todaynot this size, not this number, not this volume. And were not done.

There are very real concerns that hundreds of children perished in the fast-moving flames and extreme heat that swept through Lahaina. School children were told to stay home early the day of the fire because of the dangers posed by high winds from Hurricane Dora, a major factor in the growth and intensity of the wildfire.

In the working class neighborhoods of Lahaina, parents and other family members went to work at area resorts that are located to the east of the island and away from the burn area. These family members left their children at home alone or with relatives. With no warning that the fire was coming, the children would have been trapped in houses that were burned to the ground.

Meanwhile, thousands of survivors have been made homeless by the devastation while Hawaiian officials have outrageously stressed that the island is not closed to tourists, effectively forcing evacuated residents to compete with tourists for housing. Hawaiian Governor Josh Green offered to pay for just 500 hotel rooms, when the number of homes destroyed is more than 2,000.

While the Maui catastrophe is the deadliest US wildfire in 100 years, and possibly the worst in the countrys history, one would not know this judging from the response of the Biden administration.

It took Biden three days to declare a major disaster in Hawaii, authorizing federal aid in the recovery effort. The declaration mentioned grants and federal funding, but said nothing about what the White House itself was doing to provide the emergency relief so desperately needed by Maui residents.

By Sunday, five days after the fire started, President Biden had still not spoken publicly about the disaster. He sat on the beach at his vacation house in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware and, when asked by reporters about the Maui crisis, his first response was No comment. While pedaling past reporters on his bicycle, Biden added, Were looking at it.

As public outrage grew and Biden was widely denounced for his inaction, a reference to the Maui fire disaster was inserted into his previously scheduled speech on the economy in Milwaukee on Tuesday. During his bumbling remarks, the president offered survivors an insulting $700 per household, under conditions where families have lost everything and have no place to live.

On Thursday morning, in a previously recorded video special message, Biden said he would travel with his wife Jill to Hawaii on Monday, adding unconvincingly that he intended to convey in person our grief and solidarity and commitment to the people of Maui.

Bidens indifference to the death and desperate conditions facing working class families in Maui is the latest in a pattern of behavior by successive US presidents:

In 2005, in an infamous image of unconcern, George W. Bush was photographed peering out the window of Air Force One while flying over the devastation in New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina. Bush stayed on vacation for days while the crisis unfolded and resulted in the death of 1,836 people in one of the deadliest disasters in US history.

In 2016, Barack Obama stayed on vacation in Marthas Vineyard, Massachusetts during unprecedented flooding in Louisiana that led to 13 deaths.

In 2017, Donald Trump did nothing to respond to the devastation in Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria, which killed nearly 3,000 people, while claiming his administrations actions were a great success. His cynical visit to the island reached its low point when he threw rolls of paper towels into a crowd seeking supplies at a shelter.

In each case, the American political establishment demonstrated its indifference to the death and suffering faced by the public from natural disasters, whether it was a Democrat or Republican in the White House.

The willingness of the capitalist ruling class to acceptand facilitatemass death was taken to a new level in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. From the beginning, public health measures were blocked and shut down in favor of forcing employees back to work and students back to school, as the profits and wealth accumulation of the corporate elite were placed above human life.

Why should the Biden administration and the ruling class as a whole care about the hundreds incinerated in Hawaii when their policies led to the death of more than one million in the US from the pandemic?

Any, even cursory, examination of the causes of the latest catastrophe, as in the previous ones, reveals the consequences of the neglect of social infrastructure, disregard for urgent warnings, and failure to take basic safety precautions.

Maui is not only the site of a disaster. It is a crime scene, for which the ruling class is responsible.

The US has spent trillions of dollars on imperialist wars that have killed and displaced millions of people around the globe. But there has been no deployment of resources to address the crisis from successively more severe disasters driven by climate change. It should be noted that a massive US military base, which includes the Naval Pacific Fleet with six aircraft carriers and 18 nuclear submarines, is located at Pearl Harbor, just 85 miles from Maui.

In the early days of the Hurricane Katrina disaster, the World Socialist Web Site Editorial Board issued a statement that summed up the fundamental causes of the indifference of the ruling class to the tragedy that was unfolding:

Hurricane Katrina has laid bare the awful truths of contemporary Americaa country torn by the most intense class divisions, ruled by a corrupt plutocracy that possesses no sense either of social reality or public responsibility, in which millions of its citizens are deemed expendable and cannot depend on any social safety net or public assistance if disaster, in whatever form, strikes. Washingtons response to this human tragedy has been one of gross incompetence and criminal indifference. People have been left to literally die in the streets of a major American city without any assistance for four days. Images of suffering and degradation that resemble the conditions in the most impoverished Third World countries are broadcast daily with virtually no visible response from the government of a country that concentrates the greatest share of wealth in the world. ... The decisive components of the present tragedy are social and political, not natural. The American ruling elite has for the past three decades been dismantling whatever forms of government regulation and social welfare had been instituted in the preceding period. The present catastrophe is the terrible product of this social and political retrogression.

Eighteen years later, the economic, social and political processes analyzed above have developed qualitatively. The Biden administration is preoccupied with the US-NATO proxy war against Russia and the entire ruling class is beset by an internecine conflict arising from the breakdown of democracy and the emergence of an openly fascist wing of the Republican Party led by Donald Trump.

The lesson of the experiences with disasters such as the horrific wildfire on Maui is the necessity for an independent political struggle by the working class against the capitalist system.
Blue light filters might make sense from an advertising point of view, but not from a scientific or health perspective. While the glasses that include this added benefit are more expensive, they have not been able to prove anything: they do not prevent eye fatigue caused by the use of smartphones and computers, nor do they improve the quality of sleep.

A review of 17 trials has confirmed this notion, which the scientific community has been claiming for years. This compilation of the best scientific evidence available to date leaves no room for doubt: The use of blue light-filtering glasses to reduce the eye strain associated with computer use may not have short-term benefits. It is also not clear whether these glasses affect the quality of vision or sleep, explains Laura Downie, professor of optometry at the University of Melbourne and author of the scientific review. Downie believes that people should take these findings into account when deciding whether to buy these glasses.

In recent years, with the rise of mobile devices, blue light filters have become popular. According to an Australian study, 75% of eye doctors prescribed this type of lens in 2018. They may come in the form of a perk one can acquire when purchasing a pair of prescription glasses, or as a separate, specific model that only serve to filter blue light. In addition, many mobile devices include a night shift mode that makes the colors of the screen warmer in order to limit the blue light they emit. All of this, however, is useless, as there is no science to back it up.

Advertisements claim that this technology filters certain light waves emitted by digital devices such as phones, computers and tablets, which boost attention and wakefulness, manipulating the biological clock. Therefore  in theory  if one is exposed to the blue light of a smartphone before going to bed, falling asleep will be more difficult. There is some scientific basis for this statement: several studies carried out on fruit flies show that they do alter their sleep pattern after being exposed to blue light. The problem is that our neural circuits are much more complex than those of a fly, says Conchi Lillo, a researcher of eye diseases from the University of Salamanca in Spain and author of the book Abre los ojos! (Open your eyes!).

It is the companies that sell blue light filters that warn about its effects; that is the problem Conchi Lillo, eye disease researcher at the University of Salamanca i

The amount of blue light our eyes receive from artificial sources like computer screens is about one thousandth of what we receive from natural light. Thus, its effects should be negligible. In addition, filter lenses only block between 10% and 25% of the blue light, depending on the product. Whats more: Lillo warns that these filters can actually be counterproductive. During the day, we need to receive the blue light of the sun to regulate our circadian cycle. If we block it, we can experience drowsiness and sleep disorders.

The review also found no evidence that blue light filtering lenses protect against damage to the retina, the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye. It has not been possible to draw conclusions regarding the possible effects on the health of the retina in the long term, confirms Dr. Downie. Nor has any relationship between blue light and eye fatigue been established, even if there have been ads warning about it for years.

In this case, another falsehood has been established over a true fact: eye fatigue does occur when we spend a long time in front of a screen, but not because of the blue light, Lillo strongly emphasizes. When you are in front of the computer, you blink less, which causes dryness, and you focus your eyes on a specific, very close point. This can be solved by resting your eyes for 20 seconds every 20 minutes, she points out. In certain contexts, the cold, bright blue light can be unpleasant for some people, but this, explains Lillo, is easy to fix: Just lower the intensity.

Andrew Przybylski, from the University of Oxford, is blunt: I thought the claims were unreliable, but this assessment is rather unfavorable, he says. It gives the public a chance to pause and ask themselves if they really should change their behavior or buy things to address what they fear to be digital age issues. It would be good if people applied the same suspicion they have towards technology to research that confirms their fears and to those who sell quick solutions.

This review entails a scientific endorsement to the movement that in recent years has alerted against the use of fear as a commercial strategy. The Spanish Society of Ophthalmology positioned itself against blue light blockers in 2017. In the United Kingdom, things have gone further: that same year, Boots Opticians was fined 40,000 ($56,000) after making misleading and unsubstantiated claims on the topic.

It is the companies that sell blue light filters that warn about its effects, denounces Lillo, that is the problem. First of all, she believes, they do it because they clearly profit from it. But there are also some who do it in good faith, because they are not well-informed, because there is a lot of misinformation on this subject.

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Close to 22,000 people began fleeing Yellowknife, Northwest Territories (NWT) Wednesday under a mandatory evacuation order as wildfires are bearing down on the territorial capital from three sides. Residents of Ndilo, Dettah and those who live along the Neetah Trail have also been ordered to leave. They must take the only road out of town, Highway 3, which passes through one of the areas which is currently engulfed in smoke and flames.

Canadian Armed Forces soldiers construct a firebreak in Parker Recreation Field in Yellowknife to help fight wildfires on Wednesday, Aug.16, 2023 [AP Photo/Master Cpl. Alana Morin/Canadian Armed Forces/The Canadian Press via AP]

The thousands of evacuees have been directed to drive as much as 1,600 kilometers south to Red Deer, Alberta, a 16-hour drive under good conditions, where they can take shelter and get access to aid. Other cities in Alberta offering shelter include Valleyview (1,148 km south) and Fox Creek (1,236 km south).

An airlift began Thursday afternoon for those who could not drive out of the area. The mass evacuation is the largest in the history of NWT and the largest in Canada since 88,000 fled the devastating Fort McMurray fire in 2016.

Were all tired of the word unprecedented, yet there is no other way to describe this situation in the Northwest Territories, NWT premier Caroline Cochrane said in a statement Wednesday night. There are currently 236 fires active across the territory and more than half of the provinces population has been ordered to leave their homes under threat of wildfires.

Located on the northern shore of the Great Slave Lake and just 400 kilometers south of the Arctic Circle, Yellowknife is the largest city in Northern Canada and is a critical hub for food deliveries as well as medical and social services for the residents of even more remote First Nations and Inuit communities across the region.

CBC News reported Thursday that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had convened a high-level meeting of the Incident Response Group (IRG) to discuss the situation in NWT and the federal governments response. The IRG is a highly secretive body tasked with formulating the governments response to a national crisis or incidents that may impact Canadas national security. It consists of several government ministers and the heads of the military and intelligence services and was last convened in July in response to the dockworkers strike in British Columbia.

The Trudeau Liberal government, backed by its trade union and New Democratic Party allies, has nothing to offer when it comes to combatting the devastating consequences of the capitalist systems destruction of the environment. On the contrary, its ruthless pursuit of the interests of big business, including through corporate deregulation and tax exemptions for Canadas oil firms, have helped fuel climate change.

A major concern for the Liberal government since it came to power in 2015 has been to use its progressive credentials to secure a spot for Canadian big business in newly emerging clean energy sectors. Dressed up as a concern for environmental protection, the Liberal governments imperialist agenda in this field has been underscored with its embrace of economic nationalism to help secure Canadian and American corporate interests in the rapidly growing global clean energy economy. Meanwhile, the Trudeau government has overseen ruthless austerity by provincial governments, including the gutting of firefighting budgets and other key environmental protection programs. A June 2023 analysis by the Toronto Star found that billions of dollars in funds pledged by the Trudeau government to combat climate change went unspent.

The Canadian government does not operate a national fire service and has instead relied on the mobilization of the Canadian military and thousands of firefighters from as far away as New Zealand and South Africa to assist the provinces and territories. Four firefighters have so far been killed battling blazes this year, including two deaths in British Columbia.

Driven by the effects of capitalist-induced climate change, Canadas wildfire season has continued at an unprecedented pace and scope since unusually intense fires erupted in early May in the West in Alberta and on the East Coast in Nova Scotia, burning suburban areas of Halifax. Large fires burning in central Quebec have repeatedly released plumes of toxic smoke, choking tens of millions in the US Midwest and East Coast. As of August 17, more than 14 million hectaresroughly twice the size of New Brunswickhad been consumed by flames across Canada, nearly double the record set in 1989.

In the days leading up to the issuing of the evacuation order the mayor of Yellowknife, Rebecca Alty, reassured residents that there was no concern from the fires. She asserted that the city would not provide any details on evacuation plans and issued only an evacuation alert. Officials announced that those in need could shelter at the citys multiplex or camp in a small public parking lot. The citys position changed suddenly mid-week as the flames came within 17 kilometers of Yellowknifes outskirts. At this point, residents were already fleeing on their own accord as smoke fouled the air and turned the sky red.

Cities to the south and west of Yellowknife were evacuated earlier in the week as fires encroached on them. Over the past 24 hours or so there has been an airlift like this territory has never seen, Northwest Territories fire information officer Mike Westwick told reporters Monday. Planes flying out of Hay River, planes flying out of Fort Smith, planes flying out of Jean Marie River. The community of Enterprise with nearly 100 residents, has been almost completely destroyed by flames.

According to Canadas Changing Climate Report, published in 2019, the NWT is warming at four times the global rate. This rapid temperature increase promotes the growth of trees and foliage, which can easily ignite in dry conditions, increasing the danger of wildfires. A 2022 assessment published by the Northern Forestry Centre found that mean annual temperatures in the region had increased 2.1C to 3.9C between 1950 and 2010.

This year temperatures have soared across the NWT including into the Arctic regions, creating the perfect conditions for wildfires to be ignited by lightning strikes or human activity. This is sort of the poster child for climate change, Jesse Wagar, a warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada, told CTV News in July. The rate of the warming in the Arctic is just incredible to watch year over yearit is alarming. Fort Good Hope in far northwest NWT recorded its all-time high temperature on July 8, hitting 37.9 Celsius (100 Fahrenheit). July was the warmest month on record globally.

The capitalist ruling elite bears the ultimate responsibility for the catastrophe in NWT due to the pumping of ever greater amounts of carbon into the atmosphere in pursuit of profit. It has no solution to the climate crisis, which has produced disasters on every continent so far this year. Communities have been devastated from the Hawaiian island of Maui to the Mediterranean and northern China. The international working class must unite globally, irrespective of national boundaries, to confront this worldwide challenge through the fight for socialism, transforming the economy to meet human need and implementing the scientifically guided measures needed to combat climate change and protect millions of lives.
On August 20, 2023, Trotskys four-year exile in Turkey from 1929 to 1933 is being honored at a major event on Prinkipo, an island in the Sea of Marmara off the coast of Istanbul. Trotsky took refuge on Prinkipo following his expulsion from the Soviet Union by the Stalinist regime.

The commemoration, An Island at the Center of World History: Trotsky on Prinkipo, is being livestreamed on Trotsky.com, at 5:00 pm local time on Sunday, August 20 (see more time zone conversions on this page).

The meeting coincides with the 90th anniversary of Trotskys departure from Prinkipo in July 1933 and falls exactly on the 83rd anniversary of his assassination in August 1940.

The principal speakers are David North, chairman of the International Editorial Board of the World Socialist Web Site; Ulas Atesci, an editor of Mehring Yaynclk and a leading member of Sosyalist Esitlik Grubu [Socialist Equality Group] in Turkey; and Eric London, an editorial board member of the WSWS, who has written extensively on the assassination of Leon Trotsky.

Professor Mehmet O. Alkan, the chairman of the History Foundation in Turkey, is moderating the event. The commemoration is sponsored by the Prinkipo (Adalar) Municipality, led by Mayor Erdem Gul, with the contributions of Adalar City Council, led by Chair O. Iskender Ozturanl.
Among the defense tactics being employed by Donald Trump is to throw spanners into the wheels of the judicial process in an attempt to delay the proceedings. The former presidents lawyers have pulled out the manual and, arguing the complexity of the case, have requested that the federal trial for Trumps alleged attempt to overturn outcome of the 2020 presidential election be held in April 2026, 18 months after the 2024 ballot to elect the next occupant of the White House.

Special Counsel Jack Smith, appointed by the Justice Department to oversee the case, had proposed the first week of January as a date to begin jury selection and set the trial in motion. The case in Washington, which was Trumps third indictment of the year (a fourth arrived this week in which he is charged with electoral interference in the state of Georgia), the prosecutor referred to six other unidentified co-conspirators but elected to only pursue Trump to expedite the process.

The indictment charges Trump with four crimes: witness tampering, conspiracy to defraud the United States, efforts to obstruct the vote certification proceedings and conspiracy to violate civil rights. Trump claims the 2020 election was stolen from him. The prosecutor is not charging him for those unsubstantiated claims, but for the actions he undertook to alter the outcome and prevent Joe Bidens victory from being declared.

It will be up to Judge Tanya S. Chutkan to decide the timetable, once the petitions of the two parties have been analyzed. Trumps lawyers have a compelling argument to reject such a speedy expedition of the process, as proposed by the special counsel. In the brief in which they request a trial date for 2026, they underline the complexity of the case and the enormous volume of documents in the indictment, to which they still do not have access.

According to Trumps legal team, the case materials occupy 8.5 terabytes of information totaling 11.5 million pages. If stacked, they note, these would form a 5,000-foot-high (around 1,500 meters) tower of paper. The brief even includes a graph showing that the height of the paperwork would stand at more than 15 times that of the Statue of Liberty in New York, and more than eight times that of the Washington Monument, the tallest building in the federal capital, with nearly a million pages to spare.

The lawyers add that they had been downloading the documentation for two days after receiving the link and still had not finished. Even assuming we could begin reviewing the documents today, we would need to proceed at a pace of 99,762 pages per day to finish the governments initial production by its proposed date for jury selection. That is the entirety of Tolstoys War and Peace, cover to cover, 78 times a day, every day, from now until jury selection, they stated.

In addition to the printed text, the brief adds, there are audio recordings, image files from phones and electronic devices, and other materials that will require extensive and laborious review.

Trumps lawyers argue that it is customary to establish a trial calendar proportional to the size and scope of the indictment and the complexity of the case. The government rejects this sensible approach. Instead, it seeks a trial schedule faster than most undocumented misdemeanors, requesting only four months from the start of discovery to jury selection. The governments goal is clear: to deny Trump and his counsel the ability to prepare for trial.

Trumps packed agenda

Instead, Trumps lawyers propose a detailed timeline of more than two and a half years of procedural steps that will not impact on the final stretch of the 2024 presidential election campaign, with the former president the current frontrunner to secure the Republican Party nomination. That alternative timetable would lead to a trial in April 2026.

The lawyers also pointed to packed agenda of the former president, who faces multiple charges and lawsuits, to defend their schedule against the one proposed by the prosecutor. Trump is currently facing two civil cases, one in the New York state court, scheduled for a six-week trial beginning October 2, 2023, and another in the Southern District of New York, scheduled for a two-week trial beginning January 15, 2024.

Then, according to the current timetable, would come a trial for allegedly falsifying business accounts during the 2016 presidential election campaign involving hush money paid to adult film actress Stormy Daniels over an alleged extra-marital affair. This forms the basis of the first criminal case for which Trump was indicted and he is scheduled to appear before a New York state court for a five-week trial starting on March 25, 2024.

On the hypothetical schedule, next up would be the criminal case Trump faces in Georgia for attempting to alter the 2020 election results in that state. The former president was indicted over those allegations this week and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has requested a trial date of March 4, 2024, although the date has not yet been set by the judge.

The criminal case for crimes against the Espionage Act and obstruction of justice for illegally retaining classified material at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida following his departure from the White House has a a five-week trial scheduled in the Southern District of Florida starting on May 20, 2024.

On top of Trumps judicial calendar is his political one, to which his lawyers have made no reference. The Republican Party primaries begin on January 15 and will run through the first half of 2024, culminating in the party convention in July that will anoint a presidential nominee. The election for the White House will take place on November 5, 2024, with the inauguration of the victor on January 20, 2025. Should Trump be elected to a second term, he could either appoint a like-minded prosecutor to dismiss the federal charges, or apply the power of presidential pardon to himself.

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KYODO NEWS - Aug 16, 2023 - 17:51 | World, All

Paraguay's President Santiago Pena on Tuesday underscored his country's strong relationship with Taiwan by warmly referring to them as "brothers" in his inauguration speech in the capital Asuncion, Taiwanese media reported.

Taiwan Vice President Lai Ching-te was in attendance as Pena was sworn in. Paraguay is Taiwan's only remaining ally in South America and one of only 13 countries that still maintain formal diplomatic relations with the self-ruled democratic island.

During the ceremony, Lai shook hands with U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and spoke briefly, according to the media report. Although the United States does not have official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, it is one of the island's most important arms suppliers and trade partners.

Lai also exchanged pleasantries with other dignitaries, including King Felipe VI of Spain and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the report said.

His move could anger China, which considers Taiwan as its own territory and opposes any official contact with it by other countries.

Lai transited New York en route to Asuncion and will stop at San Francisco on his way home.

"If China uses my transits in the United States as an excuse to carry out verbal and military intimidation or other threatening methods, I believe it just confirms international media reports that China is attempting to intervene in Taiwan's election with military threats," Lai told reporters in Asuncion on Tuesday

The vice president is a major candidate in the presidential election next January. Taiwan's Defense Ministry said Tuesday that it has yet to detect any relatively large-scale Chinese military exercises near the island but will not let its guard down.

Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for China's State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said in a statement Tuesday that Lai used his U.S. stopover to spread "Taiwan independence" ideas and that "such a person will push Taiwan to the brink of war."

China regards Lai, leader of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party to which Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen belongs, as a pro-independence figure.

In April, Tsai met with U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California during a stopover on a trip to Central America, prompting China to launch military drills near Taiwan.

Related coverage:

Taiwan Vice President Lai arrives in New York en route to Paraguay

Ex-Japan PM Taro Aso says Japan, U.S. must resolve to fight for Taiwan

Taiwan Vice President Lai to transit U.S. during Paraguay trip
KYODO NEWS - Aug 18, 2023 - 21:57 | All, Japan, World

Japan, the United States and Australia are considering sending their vessels carrying aircraft to the Philippines to conduct a trilateral naval drill next week in the South China Sea, sources close to the matter said Friday.

The planned exercise set for Wednesday comes amid mounting tensions between China and the Philippines after a Chinese coast guard vessel fired a water cannon at a Philippine military-chartered boat near the Manila-controlled Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea earlier this month.

The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force has decided to send its largest destroyer, the Izumo, which is set to become a de facto aircraft carrier after undergoing additional renovation slated to begin next year or 2025, according to the sources.

The Royal Australian Navy will deploy its amphibious assault ship Canberra, while the U.S. Navy is expected to send its amphibious assault ship America, the sources said.

Through the envisaged joint exercise, including aircraft takeoff and landing practices using the decks of the three ships, the United States and its security allies aim to show commitment to upholding "freedom of navigation," according to the sources.

The Izumo plans to make a port call next Friday at Manila, the sources said.

The Philippine forces have "canceled" their participation in the joint drill since the three other nations' aircraft are too large to land on the decks of Philippine warships, according to the sources.

Instead, commanders from the four countries may gather in the Philippine capital to send a "strong message," the sources said.

The four countries have been considering conducting joint maritime patrols by their vessels in the sea along with the naval drill, but the plan could not be finalized, according to the sources.

Facing Beijing's increasing military pressure and assertive activities in the South China Sea, Manila has been focusing on boosting security cooperation with Tokyo, Washington and Canberra.

Japan, the United States, Australia and the Philippines held their first-ever defense ministerial meeting in June in Singapore, agreeing to strengthen security cooperation to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific.

Claiming sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, China has rapidly built artificial islands with military infrastructure in the waters, home to some of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

In February, the Chinese coast guard aimed a military-grade laser at a Philippine patrol vessel in waters near the Second Thomas Shoal.

Related coverage:

Japan, U.S., South Korea leaders to make 3-way ties more durable

China appears to be building runway on disputed South China Sea island

Biden trying to meet North Korean leader without preconditions: official
KYODO NEWS - Aug 19, 2023 - 08:31 | All, World, Japan

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and U.S. President Joe Biden agreed Friday on a plan to develop a new type of missile capable of intercepting hypersonic weapons when they met near Washington for one-on-one talks.

Kishida and Biden endorsed the joint development plan at the U.S. presidential retreat of Camp David at a time when China, North Korea and Russia are all aggressively pursuing hypersonic capabilities, according to the White House and the Japanese government.

Hypersonic missiles and glide vehicles fly at speeds of over Mach 5, five times the speed of sound. They are also maneuverable and can change course during flight, making them more difficult to shoot down or track by radar.

According to Japan's Defense Ministry, the two countries aim to complete the missile's development in the 2030s.

Kishida and Biden have recognized the need to step up deterrence measures amid increasing security challenges. China and Russia have been deepening their military cooperation, including by carrying out joint naval drills around Japan, while North Korea shows no signs of relenting in its pursuit of long-range missile and nuclear technologies.

It will be the second time for Japan and the United States to develop an interceptor missile together following the Standard Missile-3 Block 2A.

The two countries said in November that their first co-developed missile had successfully destroyed an intercontinental ballistic missile target in a test after it was launched from an Aegis-equipped destroyer.

The bilateral meeting took place just ahead of a three-way summit also involving South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol at the secluded retreat.

During the meeting, which lasted about 30 minutes, Kishida and Biden also agreed to work closely in dealing with issues concerning China and ensuring peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, while reaffirming the importance of cooperating with Beijing on issues of common interest, according to the Japanese government.

The White House also said the leaders voiced "concern" about China's recent "dangerous" activities in the South China Sea to assert what the U.S. government calls its unlawful maritime claims.

They also agreed to continue to impose tough sanctions on Russia for its war in Ukraine and affirmed their resolve to strongly support Kyiv, the government said.

It is the second time this year that Kishida has traveled to the United States. The previous occasion, a January visit to Washington for a meeting with Biden, marked Kishida's first trip to the U.S. capital since he took office in October 2021.

The Biden administration has praised Japan's pledge late last year to nearly double its defense spending by fiscal 2027 to around 2 percent of gross domestic product.

In the face of serious security challenges posed by China and North Korea, the Japanese government also updated its key defense documents at the time, deciding to acquire so-called counterstrike, or enemy base strike, capabilities in a major policy shift under the country's war-renouncing Constitution.

Related coverage:

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Biden trying to meet North Korean leader without preconditions: official
If youre searching for options for the finest road trips from NYC, look no further. We understand the choices can be overwhelming, but weve handpicked the best for you. Whether breathtaking coastlines or awe-inspiring mountains, road trips from New York City offer a diverse range of experiences. Join us on an epic adventure as we present the top 7 road trips that are bound to create lasting memories with your family.

1. Maines Coastline

The beautiful and rugged rocky shoreline at Acadia National Park in Maine via Getty Images

This road trip from NYC takes you along the rugged coastline of Maine, which stretches for over 5,000 miles. From the rocky shores of Portland to the quaint fishing villages of Bar Harbor, Maines coastline has something for everyone. You can visit the picturesque lighthouses, such as the Portland Head Light or the Bass Harbor Head Light, which offer stunning ocean views. In addition, you can indulge in the local lobster, which is a must-try when in Maine. The state is also known for its blueberries, so make sure to try some blueberry pie or jam when you are there.

2. Finger Lakes

Finger Lakes, wine tours via Getty Images

One of the most popular choices for road trips from NYC, this road takes you through upstate New Yorks breathtaking Finger Lakes region. It is renowned for its wine country and picturesque splendor. The 11 lakes in the area provide many swimming, boating, and fishing options. You can also stop by one of the nearby vineyards, which provide tours and tastings, like the Fox Run Vineyards or the Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery. Even more! You will also be treated to charming tiny towns like Skaneateles and Canandaigua, which provide distinctive dining and shopping experiences.

3. The Berkshires

Discover the Berkshires, a hidden gem in Western Massachusetts with breathtaking mountain views and endless outdoor adventures. Experience the unique culture of Lenox and Stockbridge, from classical music at Tanglewood to Norman Rockwells artwork. Dont miss the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, showcasing innovative works worldwide. Come explore the beauty and wonder of the Berkshires, offering something for everyone.

Read to know 10 Useful Travel Accessories for Your Next Family Road Trip.

4. Hudson Valley

The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum via Getty Images

Embark on a scenic journey through the captivating Hudson Valley in New York, renowned for its breathtaking river views and charming small towns. Immerse yourself in history with visits to notable landmarks like the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library Museum. Indulge in extraordinary culinary delights at the esteemed Culinary Institute of America, where unparalleled dining experiences await. Dont miss the opportunity to savor the exceptional farm-to-table cuisine that defines the gastronomic scene of the Hudson Valley. Sounds amazing, right?!

5. Adirondacks

This road trip from New York City takes you through the stunning Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York, offering abundant options for outdoor enthusiasts to partake in hiking, fishing, and camping. Additionally, you can immerse yourself in the charm of quaint small towns like Lake Placid and Saranac Lake, where youll find distinctive shopping and dining options. Dont miss the chance to visit the renowned Adirondack Museum, which provides insight into the rich history of this remarkable region.

6. Shenandoah National Park

Shenandoah National Park via Getty Images

This road trip from NYC takes you through the stunning beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, which offer plenty of opportunities for hiking, camping, and outdoor activities. Additionally, there are several notable historical sites to explore, including the renowned Monticello, the former residence of Thomas Jefferson. For those seeking an underground adventure, the Luray Caverns await, boasting the distinction of being the largest caverns in the Eastern United States. Along the way, be sure to make the most of the charm of small towns like Staunton and Waynesboro, where delightful shopping and dining experiences can be found.

7. Acadia National Park

This road trip from NYC takes you to the stunning beauty of Acadia National Park in Maine, which is known for its rugged coastline and scenic beauty. You can go hiking on Cadillac Mountain, which offers stunning ocean views. You can also go kayaking or whale watching, which are popular activities in the park. The park is also home to the Jordan Pond House, a historic restaurant offering traditional Maine cuisine.

In conclusion, New York City offers some of the most scenic and thrilling road trips in the Northeast. Whether you want to explore the stunning beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains or indulge in the local lobster of Maines coastline, these road trips from NYC will leave you in awe. Prepare to embark on an incredible journey filled with adventure and unforgettable moments. Its time to hit the road and have an epic time with your family. With so many options, you will surely find the perfect road trip for your next adventure.

Check out The 10 Best Family Activities in New York City.

The post 7 Best Road Trips from NYC for an Epic Family Adventure! appeared first on Momtastic.
Antique cars will be parading up and down Woodward Avenue in Oakland County on Saturday at the Woodward Dream Cruise, while Detroit will be hosting the inaugural Afro Nation Detroit and SW Fest, which celebrates the rich cultural tapestry of southwest Detroit. Here are five things to do for the weekend of Aug. 18-20:

This one-of-a-kind production put on by Cirque Italia takes place under a big-top tent and takes its audience on a sensual journey with acrobatics of the air, illusionists, mysterious creatures, contortionists and more.Because of its adult language and themes, the show is restricted to people 18 and older, unless accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. No one under the age of 13 will be admitted.

7:30 p.m. Thursday-Friday, 6:30 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday and 5:30 and 8:30 p.m. Sunday in the parking lot at Fairlane Town Center, 18900 Michigan Avenue in Dearborn. Ticket prices range from $20 to $60.

Cirque Italia is bringing a world of fantasy to Dearborn this weekend and Sterling Heights next weekend.

The show will be at Lakeside Mall in Sterling Heights next weekend Aug. 24-27.

This inaugural festival in Detroit will bring together artists in the Afrobeats, hip-hop, R&B, dancehall, amapiano and Afro House genres. It will unfold on two stages over two days.

The event will also include a marketplace with vendors offering everything from fashion to art to cuisine inspired by Africa and the Caribbean. Cultural events beyond the stage will include workshops, panels, a comedy show and an official jerk and jollof welcome party.

Afro Nation will be in Detroit this weekend. French singer Dadju will perform.

There will be performances by Burna Boy, Ari Lennox, Latto, Dadju, Davido, P-Square, Masego, Coi Leray and more. A family zone will include a petting zoo and children-friendly programming.

2-7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Bedrock Douglass site in Detroit. Go to https://detroit.afronation.com/book-day-tickets for tickets.

Guests can shop and also tour the grounds of Ford Estate at this event presented by the Art As Healing Foundation. The juried fine art and artisan fair will showcase work from about 40 artist and will includes everything from paintings and sculptures to jewelry and pottery.

Glass work from Helen Agius-Andrae will be at the Grosse Pointe Art Fair.

11 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Ford House Visitor Center at 1100 Lake Shore Road in Grosse Pointe Shores. $7, $5 for ages 6-12 and free to children 5 and younger and Ford House members. Admission to tour the Ford Mansion is extra.

This music, art and community festival returns for a third year with more than 45 performances across three stages and more than 100 vendors. It's held outside the Senate Theater in southwest Detroit.

The SW Fest will take place inside and outside of Senate Theater in Detroit.

Performers include Kynzi, Whu Else, Camilla, Rebel Diaz and Racquel Soledad.

2-11 p.m. Saturday at the Senate Theater, 6424 Michigan Ave. in Detroit. Free.

Be Greek for a day and enjoy Greek food, desserts, music, dancing, kids activities and more at this St. Clair Shores celebration. Proceeds benefit community programs and charities.

Food is a star attraction at the Greek Fest in St. Clair Shores.

4-10 p.m. Thursday, 4-11 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday at Assumption Greek Orthodox Church, 21800 Marter Road in St. Clair Shores.

Brendel Hightower is an assistant editor at the Detroit Free Press. Contact her at bhightower@freepress.com. Support local journalism: Subscribe to the Detroit Free Press.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Afro Nation Detroit, SW Fest, Greek Fest in the weekend lineup
A long-gestating victory for people with old iPhones is finally being put into motion.

Earlier this month, an appeal filed in response to an agreement in which Apple said it would pay as much as $500 million to settle the so-called batterygate class action lawsuit was dismissed, thus ensuring payouts to those affected will begin soon.

In fact, Mark C. Molumphya partner at one of the law firms behind the casesaid immediate cash payments would be provided.

The settlement is the result of years of investigation and hotly contested litigation, Molumphy said in a press release. We are extremely proud that this deal has been approved, and following the Ninth Circuits order, we can finally provide immediate cash payments to impacted Apple customers.

Fellow Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP partner Tyson C. Redenbarger called the case an important one for consumers, adding that its conclusion will help ensure that customers are fully informed when asked to update their products.

The class action was first filed way back in 2018, with Apple accused of sending out software updates that intentionally slowed down users devices. While the company did not admit any wrongdoing as a part of its settlement, Apple did agree to pay as little as $310 million and as much as $500 million.

In a class action explainer previously shared by lawyers in the case, it was estimated that Apple would be paying roughly $25 for each eligible device. More recently, Molumphy told CBS News that claimants should receive about $65, though that number could differ depending on the total number of claims.

Apple, notably, previously said the slowing down at the center of the lawsuit was not done to force users into buying new phones but was instead crafted to make the device itself last longer.

In related news of the old iPhone variety, a first generation version of the globally ubiquitous appendage recently went for nearly $200,000 at auction.

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AI-generated Paintings In Shanghai - Credit: Wang Gang/VCG/Getty Images

A federal judge has ruled that artwork created solely by artificial intelligence cannot be copyrighted because human authorship is an essential part of a valid copyright claim.

The decision, issued by Judge Beryl Howell, stemmed from computer scientist Stephen Thalers efforts to copyright an image he said was created by an AI model, identified as Creativity Machine. Thaler claimed that as the owner of Creativity Machine, he was entitled to the copyright. The Copyright Office rejected that application on the grounds that human authorship is necessary to secure a copyright, prompting Thaler to sue.

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Howell ultimately upheld the Copyright Offices decision, citing long-standing precedent about human authorship. The act of human creation  and how to best encourage human individuals to engage in that creation, and thereby promote science and the useful arts  was thus central to American copyright from its very inception, Howell wrote. Non-human actors need no incentivization with the promise of exclusive rights under United States law, and copyright was therefore not designed to reach them.

In a statement shared with Rolling Stone, Thallers lawyer, Ryan Abbott, said, We disagree with the District Courts decision. In our view, copyright law is clear that the American public is the beneficiary of the law, and the public benefits when the generation and dissemination of works is encouraged, regardless of how the works are made. We do plan to appeal.

Howells opinion did nod to the drastically shifting landscape of copyright law in the AI era. She even acknowledged Thallers own argument about the malleability of copyright law to account for changes in technology. But again, Howell noted that human authorship remained key, distinguishing autonomously created AI works from, say, photographs, which are created by machines.

Underlying that adaptability, however, has been a consistent understanding that human creativity is the sine qua non at the core of copyrightability, even as that human creativity is channeled through new tools or into new media, she wrote, adding: Copyright has never stretched so far, however, as to protect works generated by new forms of technology operating absent any guiding human hand, as plaintiff urges here. Human authorship is a bedrock requirement of copyright.

Howell also noted that we are approaching new frontiers in copyright as artists put AI in their toolbox to be used in the generation of new visual and other artistic works. This, she continued, will prompt challenging questions about how much human input is necessary to qualify the user of an AI system as an author of a generated work, the scope of the protection obtained over the resultant image, how to assess the originality of AI-generated works where the systems may have been trained on unknown pre-existing works, how copyright might best be used to incentivize creative works involving AI, and more.

But, Howell stated, Thallers case was not nearly so complex. Thats because, as it turned out, his case largely boiled down to, not grand questions about technology, art, and copyright, but clerical semantics.

In his original application to the Copyright Office, Thaller asserted the artwork was created autonomously by machine and that his copyright claim was based on his ownership of the machine. Howell noted that Thaller later tried to imply he played a controlling role in generating the work by arguing he provided instructions and directed his AI to create the work and that the AI only operates at [his] direction.

While such arguments couldve potentially led to a more nuanced case and decision, Thaller pointed out that these statements directly contradict the administrative record  meaning, Thallers own copyright application. Furthermore, Howell noted, Thaller never attempt to correct his application to claim a copyright on these grounds.

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The creator of Beanie Babies has created a new bear amid the ongoing devastation caused by the wildfires in Hawaii.

Ty Warner, the creator and founder of Beanie Babies, announced on 17 August in a press release the introduction of what Warners Ty Inc is calling the Aloha bear. All of the profits from the limited time sale will be donated to the American Red Cross and their efforts to help victims of the wildfires.

The stuffed animal itself is a burnt orange bear with a rainbow ribbon tied around its neck into a bow with an inscription on the right side of its chest that reads Maui Strong.

Loss can strike at any time. The speed and savagery of the Maui wildfires are an especially horrific, heartbreaking reminder of that, Warner said in the press release. While I cant undo what has happened, I can try to help those who are suffering in the aftermath.

Right now, thousands of Hawaiians lack food, clothing, shelter and other necessities as they attempt to cope with last weeks fires, he added. My hope in partnering with the American Red Cross is that I can help ease their burden.

Warner wants the bear to be viewed as not only an adorable little bear but also as an offering a symbol of love and hope to Hawaiians.

Similar to other Beanie Babies from the 90s, the Aloha bear has a birthday, which is 8 August. It also comes with a poem that reads, Helping each other all day long / We forever will stay Maui strong.

The release of the new bear comes after the toy celebrated its 30th anniversary. Both Warner and Ty Inc are the subject of The Beanie Bubble, a fictionalised re-telling of Warners story of becoming a billionaire with the creation of the stuffed animals in 1993 and how they took the world by storm. Warners company will continue to give away free Beanie Babies at Beanie Bubble showings in theaters across the United States and in the United Kingdom in honour of Beanie Babies anniversary, according to the press release. The film features Zach Galifianakis starring as Warner.

The movie isnt real, but the situation on Maui is, said Tania Lundeen, Ty Incs senior vice president of global sales & licensing in the press release. The Hawaii recovery efforts are a stark reminder of what is important, and thats what Ty is focused on with Aloha.

As of 18 August, one catastrophe firm is expecting that construction costs alone to begin repairing the damage from Hawaiis wildfires will be 44 per cent more than typical, as more than 2,200 structures have been destroyed, CNN reported.

Our thoughts are with those in need after the devastating wildfires swept through Hawaii, said Anne McKeough, chief development officer at the American Red Cross in the press release. We are so grateful for partners like Ty Inc as we work together to provide comfort and hope for communities in the wake of these catastrophic wildfires.

Ty Inc is not the only company that has participated in helping with disaster relief funds in Hawaii. Earlier this week, Hormel Foods, the creators of Spam, announced its intention to help bring food to the island.

The Independent has contacted Ty Inc for comment.
Not so fast! Bethenny Frankel just clapped back against reports she pitched a new reality show to Bravo right before her reality reckoning.

In case youve been under a rock, the former Real Housewives of New York star recently launched an all-out war against the reality TV giants, but some have called her a hypocrite, considering she was trying to get back on TV a few months ago. Now, she claims theres more to the story. Isnt there always?

Bethenny vs. Bravo, again

The former talk show host opened up about her failed pitch to Bravo during a recent episode of Just B with Bethenny Frankel. She explained that although shes going to war against Bravo, the stories about her recently pitching a show arent entirely accurate.

Over about two years ago, I was in Nantucket, and I pitched a project to a production company called Pop. Matt Anderson, he produced Miami, Real Housewives of Atlanta, and Married to Medicine, Bethenny explained. And I pitched him on Bethenny, the Next Chapter being in Connecticut, and the people around me.

According to Bethenny, she proceeded to pitch the show to Andy Cohen during a stroll on the beach. He allegedly loved the idea and wanted to see it move forward with Bravo. Bethenny said that Bravo was interested too and wanted to see it move forward to development. However, the former host of the Big Shot with Bethenny spun a tale about how her new show idea quickly devolved from Bethenny, the Next Chapter to The Real Housewives of Connecticut.

So they started sending me women to be around me. And only 100 times I say to them, I dont want this to be a Housewives, Bethenny ranted. But lo and behold, they were casting all these different women. We kept fleshing it out. I was producing it. It was my concept. It also involves this podcast, narrating it. And it was this whole concept that started between 18 months, two years ago, she continued.

Then, Mariah Huq, from Married to Medicine, got involved in the story. You didnt see that coming, did you? Bethenny explained that she heard about Mariahs legal fight over the show she created. That started to scare her into thinking that proceeding with the Connecticut-based show wasnt a good idea.

Someone reached out to me from the Bravosphere and said to me that the production company Pop and Matt Anderson, my partners, had produced Married to Medicine and that they had allegedly stolen the show, Married to Medicine, from a cast member, Bethenny explained.

The former Money Court host continued, I dont know the story, but they stole the show, allegedly, and things that had been going on in the interaction and in the deal negotiating between myself and this production company were making me feel worried that they were going to try to do this Connecticut ensemble show without me, which was a concept that I pitched to Andy, that I pitched to them.

Bethenny said that once she learned about the Married to Medicine controversy, she felt spooked about moving forward with the Pop production company. And thus, the deal fizzled out.

She said, So I called my lawyer at Grubman and said, I dont want to do it, called the club on the show. I just dont want to do it. So that was in like April or May.

Even with this explanation about the show that never was, its still curious timing that her war against reality TV kicked off just a few months later. Surely, thats just a coincidence.

TELL US  DO YOU BELIEVE BETHENNYS SIDE OF THIS STORY? DO YOU THINK THE REALITY RECKNONIG SOUNDS MORE LIKE A DISGRUNTLED FORMER EMPLOYEE?

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The post Bethenny Frankel Claims She Backed Out of Reality Show Pitch With Bravo appeared first on Reality Tea.
Blac Chyna recently discussed her current co-parenting relationship with ex Rob Kardashian, and apparently, things have been positive between the former couple who previously had a public tumultuous relationship.

During an interview with Entertainment Tonight posted on Wednesday, Chyna acknowledged her difficult past with Kardashian saying, time heals everything. The two share a 6-year-old daughter, Dream. Chyna, whose legal name is Angela White, is also mom to 10-year-old son King, whom she shares with rapper Tyga.

People change and situations change and you get to see the situation for what it is, and the situation is Dream, she told ET. And also too, lets not leave out King, and co-parenting with Michael (Tyga) too, with King.

She continued, As long as my kids are good and happy on both sides, thats all I care about as a parent.

Rob Kardashian and Blac Chyna photographed together on May 28, 2016, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Rob Kardashian and Blac Chyna photographed together on May 28, 2016, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Chyna and Kardashian got engaged in 2016 before ending their turbulent on-and-off relationship the following year. In 2017, Chyna was granted a temporary restraining order against Kardashian shortly after he posted explicit photos of the beauty entrepreneur on social media. Chyna and Kardashian have both accused each otherof physical abuse, among other allegations.

Last year, Chyna sued the Kardashian-Jenner family for more than $140 million, claiming the famous family were responsible for coercing E! network to cancel her 2016 show Rob & Chyna, in which she and Rob Kardashian starred.

A Los Angeles jury decided against Chyna in her defamation case against the famous family in May 2022.

But according to Chyna, her relationship between her and the Kardashian-Jenner family has become a lot more positive.

Last month, Chyna reacted to the backlash Khloe Kardashian received after she called herself a third parent to Dream on her familys Hulu reality show, The Kardashians.

Everything is good on both ends. We are all family at the end of the day, Chyna told TMZ at the time. Robert and myself are co-parenting the best we can, and its all love and positivity.

She continued, As mentioned, it takes a village to raise a child, and Im happy that Dream has a huge village full of love from both sides. As a mother, thats all I ask for.

Chyna also explained to ET that she understood Khloes remarks since she knows the Good American co-founder is very close to her ex-fiance.

Theyre so close... Rob and Khloe, she said, adding that it explains why her daughter is so close with Khloes 5-year-old daughter True.

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Surveillance video showed the boy exiting the store and walking toward the Erie Basin Pier, according to the New York City Police Department

A 9-year-old boy died after entering the water behind an IKEA store in Brooklyn.

The child, identified by family as Hasebul Nehan, was reported missing just before 9 p.m. on Wednesday, according to a press release from the New York City Police Department that was obtained by PEOPLE.

Surveillance video showed the boy exiting the store and walking toward the Erie Basin Pier just before 9 p.m., when the store closed, police said.



His body was pulled from the basin just after midnight on Thursday, the NYPD said. Nehan, who is nonverbal and has autism, was transported to New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to ABC affiliate WABC and CNN.

Related: Missing 14-Year-Old Boy Found Dead After Texas Boat Crash: 'Tragic Loss'

In a statement, IKEA said the company is devastated by this tragedy, adding, Our hearts are with the family at this difficult time, CBS affiliate WCBS and NBC affiliate WNBC reported.

IKEA did not immediately respond to PEOPLEs request for comment.

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Abida Sultan said her son was playing when he suddenly vanished, according to WABC and WCBS.

The family spent 30 minutes looking for the missing boy before checking the cameras, she told the outlet.

Police said the body was found at the edge of the water by a pair of NYPD divers, according to WNBC.

Hasebul enjoyed bodies of water, his mom said, per the outlets. She planned to take him to see the river after their visit to the Red Hook furniture store.

Related: Kansas Girl, 8, Dies After Being Hit by School Bus While Waiting for Her Own: 'Tremendous Loss'

The family has been interviewed, but police do not suspect any criminal acts are associated with the boys death, per the reports.

A cause of death has not been released, according to the NYPD. An investigation into the incident is ongoing.

"I used to have so much fun with him, his brother Abibul Dehan said per WABC. I loved him, I'll miss him.



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The 'Don't Worry Darling' actor was spotted with an unidentified woman on a boating day out while soaking up the sun

Ciao Pix / Shutterstock / SplashNews.com Chris Pine enjoyed a holiday in Sardinia, Italy with an unidentified woman.

Theres nothing quite like a refreshing dip in the Mediterranean to take your mind off the summertime heat. And that's exactly what Chris Pine was doing in Italy this week while enjoying a vacation with his mystery date.

The Don't Worry Darling actor was spotted on a boating day out while soaking up the sun near the Italian island of Sardinia with an unidentified woman.

In photos obtained by PEOPLE, the pair were seated together on the small watercraft, with Pine shirtless and sporting a pair of swimming goggles around his neck while sunglasses protected his eyes.

Ciao Pix / Shutterstock / SplashNews.com Chris Pine wore goggles around his neck and shades on his face while boating in Sardinia, Italy.

Meanwhile, his date kept things simple with a khaki bikini and a pair of sunglasses.

Later, the two were spotted in the water, this time with Pine wearing his goggles as they wrapped their arms around each other.

This is not the first time Pine has enjoyed a romantic interlude in Italy, having also dipped his toes in the refreshing Mediterranean waters while on a summertime break with his then-girlfriend, British actress Annabelle Wallis.

Ciao Pix / Shutterstock / SplashNews.com Chris Pine and his unidentified date kept their eyes protected from the Sardinian sun.

In August 2018, he was spotted on a luxury vacation in Italy with the Peaky Blinders star, 38, where they were joined by Pines parents, Robert and Gwynne. The couple was photographed lounging on the deck of a yacht off the coast of Positano while soaking up the vitamin D.

The actor and Wallis were first romantically linked in March 2018, with the pair confirming their relationship months later while holding hands on a walk in London that July, before eventually calling quits on their romance in early 2022 following a PEOPLE report that they had been quarantining together during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ciao Pix / Shutterstock / SplashNews.com Pine and his unidentified date wrapped their arms around each other while taking a dip in the Mediterranean.

Prior to Wallis, Pine and his Star Trek Beyond costar Sofia Boutella first hinted at a romantic relationship in September 2016, when Boutella, 41, showed support for Pine at the premiere of his Oscar-nominated film Hell or High Water.



Ciao Pix / Shutterstock / SplashNews.com Later, the two were spotted going for a beachside stroll in Sardinia.

Related: Heidi Klum Takes Bikini Break with Husband Tom Kaulitz in Sardinia  See the Pics!

"With this special special human dear to me at Hell Or High Water London premiere," she captioned a black-and-white photo of them. "So proud of him!"

While their relationship was never officially confirmed, an insider told PEOPLE at the time that the costars were "friends but not dating."

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Pine is in good company, with many celebrities having jetted off to the Southern European country for a summertime break.

In June, Lauren Sanchez and fiance Jeff Bezos were spotted taking in the sights of Portofino. Meanwhile, amid news of her impending divorce, Sofia Vergara popped over to the Amalfi Coast with a girlfriend to likely take her mind off her split from husband Joe Manganiello.

Related: Blake Griffin and Francesca Aiello Reunite for Beach Trip in Sardinia  See the Photos!

That same month, Gwyneth Paltrow took her two children, Apple and Moses Martin, plus husband Brad Falchuk on a family vacation in Italy, where the 50-year-old shared a photo on her Instagram Story while in Milan.



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By Matthew Carland, KYODO NEWS - Aug 18, 2023 - 10:30 | All, World

A renowned surfer from Hawaii's Maui Island who has been spearheading relief efforts after the deadliest U.S. wildfires in over a century devastated his community of Lahaina invoked Japan's recovery from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in starting to envision a path forward.

"Today I understand what happened to Japan when that earthquake and tidal waves hit" and decimated Japanese towns, Archie Kalepa said in an interview with Kyodo News on Wednesday. The native Hawaiian has emerged as a local leader in efforts to provide necessities to those impacted by the fires that started on Aug. 8.

"And so I think we can learn a lot from what happened to (Japan), so that we can begin to learn how to rebuild this community," he said, referring to the twin disasters that struck the northeastern and northern regions of Japan on March 11, 2011, claiming the lives of over 15,000 people.

Kalepa, 60, known as a surfer and for helping to improve water rescue techniques as a lifeguard, was in Reno, Nevada, when the fires broke out and as they consumed more than 2,200 buildings, including the home of a next-door neighbor.

He flew to Maui and accessed Lahaina with his crew by way of the beach, using jet skis to bypass road closures.

"I wasn't even paying attention to my house at that point. My focus was on Lahaina town and not being able to recognize it," he said. "It was just crazy."

He set up a distribution center for essential goods in his driveway, where volunteers have been handing out donated water, food, gas and more. Supplies are also stored in his backyard, near the ruins of his neighbors' house that was reduced to burnt pillars in the blaze.

The hub primarily serves residents of a local area reserved for property owners with at least 50 percent Hawaiian blood, but Kalepa said that nobody in need would be turned away.

As of Wednesday, 111 deaths have been confirmed and the number is expected to climb, according to the Maui County Police Department. Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said some 1,300 people are unaccounted for after the fires.

In the long term, Kalepa said, the goal is to "work towards minimizing the pressure put on the people who suffered and lived through this devastation, to get them mobilized to get back home here, not transplanted somewhere else."

Lahaina resident Aunty Toddy Lilikoi, 73, said she noticed black and red smoke in the distance at around 3:30 p.m. on Aug. 8, after going home from work early because there was no electricity.

She climbed onto her roof and doused it with a hose to prevent flying embers in the wind from igniting her shingles. By around 6:30 p.m., the water supply had stopped.

"That is when we knew we should leave," Lilikoi said.

She evacuated with her grandson later that night to a town further north called Kahana and spent the night in her truck, with no source of information but the vehicle's radio amid internet and power outages. Returning the next day, she found her house almost unscathed.

Regarding the immediate impact of the disaster, Lilikoi, a Lahaina resident since 1980, said the economy relies on tourism and the wildfire has taken away her occupation in vacation rental property management.

She believes Lahaina can rebuild in the long term, but expressed concerns about developers buying up land from the displaced and pursuing their own plans for the area.

"As it has been all these years, they tell us we need to develop this, develop that, but not really saying what is good for us (native Hawaiians), it is what is good for business. We hope to change that," she said.

Lilikoi said she has not been able to get in contact with her cousin Bernard Portabes, a 76-year-old Lahaina resident, as of Wednesday.

Related coverage:

Japan to give Hawaii $2 million in aid as wildfire death toll tops 100


We already know that Donald Trump isnt going to get any special treatment in Georgia following his fourth indictment in Georgia. Previously, Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat made it wildly clear that Trump will be going through the booking process just like any other person entering the system.



Unless somebody tells me differently, we are following our normal practices, and so it doesnt matter your status, well have a mug shot ready for you, Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat previously told WSB-TV.

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Trump has been able to avoid getting his mug shot taken for his other indictments, but this time, authorities are more than ready to take Trumps mug shot, and it looks like it will be taking place in one of Atlanta, Georgias most notorious jails: Fulton County Jail.

Melania Trump isn't letting Donald Trump's problems bug her. https://t.co/cPLCTK0EYX  SheKnows (@SheKnows) August 17, 2023



Atlantas Fulton County Jail, like many detention centers across the country, is notoriously dilapidated, overcrowded, and plagued with lawsuits from formerly incarcerated people against the county. It is currently under investigation by the Justice Department for serious allegations of unsafe, unsanitary living conditions. More than 60 people at the facility between 2009 and 2022 died while incarcerated, including 35-year-old Lashawn Thompson who was eaten alive by bed bugs, in September 2022.

Click here to read the full article.



Following the death of Mr. Thompson, evidence has emerged that the mental health unit in which he was housed was infested with insects and that the majority of people living in that unit were malnourished and not receiving basic care, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke told WSB-TV.



As of April, the jail was at 120% capacity. Six inmates have died at the facility in 2023 alone.



If Trump and the 18 co-defendants were to make a visit to Fulton County Jail, (also known as Rice Street, after the name of the street the detention center is located), they will likely be booked, but not stay there until trial. Getting booked includes a medical exam, getting fingerprinted, and having a mug shot taken. It is not likely that Trump or any of the co-defendants will spend any time with the general population or in a holding cell.



Instead, Sheriff Labat will have to coordinate with the secret service (which is funded by taxpayers) to coordinate Trumps safety and booking procedures. While critics of Trump might be upset that he is not being thrown in with gen-pop, his potential booking at Fulton County Jail is bringing the deadly flaws of the criminal justice system to the national spotlight.

Before you go, click here to see the biggest presidential scandals in US History.



Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton

Launch Gallery: 16 Times Ivanka Trump Has Attempted to Distance Herself From the Trump Family

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The post Elton John Has Dinner with Kevin Spacey After Testifying During Sexual Assault Trial appeared first on Consequence.

One month after giving key testimony in Kevin Spaceys sexual assault trial, Elton John had a night out in France with his friend.

John and his husband David Furnish shared a meal with Spacey at La Petite Maison, where a French group named The Snugglers performed Elvis Presleys Suspicious Minds for the dinner party and posted a clip of the moment on Instagram.

On July 26th, Spacey was found not guilty of all counts in his sexual assault trial in the United Kingdom thanks in part to Johns testimony via videolink. While speaking for 20 minutes, John confirmed that Spacey attended his annual White Tie and Tiara ball in 2001, but did not attend any other year.

Furnish also gave testimony that he did not find any photographic evidence of Spacey attending the event other than in 2001. One of Spaceys alleged victims had accused the actor of aggressively grabbing his crotch while he was driving with him to the ball in 2004 or 2005.

During the trial, Spacey was facing 12 counts of sexual assault relating to accusations brought forth by four men. The judge struck three of the indecent assault counts due to a legal technicality, and a jury found Spacey not guilty of seven counts of sexual assault, one count of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent, and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.

According to Variety, Spaceys first film following his acquittal, Control, is slated for release in the US and UK on December 15th. In the movie, Spacey solely appears in a voice capacity as a mysterious figure who remotely hijacks the British Home Secretarys self-driving car. The vocal contribution was recorded in London last December while he was still awaiting trial.

Elton John Has Dinner with Kevin Spacey After Testifying During Sexual Assault Trial

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An aerial view of the wildfire devastation in Lahaina, Maui on August 11, 2023. Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Some have been encouraging tourists to stay away from Maui after fires ravaged parts of the island.

Daniel Kalahiki, owner of the food truck Like Poke, said it was irresponsible and hurting businesses.

He said tourists should avoid Lahaina, the hardest-hit area, but visit other parts of Maui and volunteer to help locals.

Some tourists have been encouraged to cancel their planned trips to Maui after fires devastated parts of the island, but one food truck owner said telling tourists to stay away could do more harm than good.

Jason Momoa, an actor and Native Hawaiian, was among those urging tourists to stay away from the island. Other residents and activists also took to TikTok to tell travelers not to visit or to leave if they were already there.

But Daniel Kalahiki, owner of the food truck Like Poke, posted a series of Instagram videos saying those messages were misguided. Kalahiki's food truck is located in Wailuku and was not directly hit by the fires that impacted Kula and burnt much of Lahaina to the ground, killing more than 100 people.

"Lahaina's closed. We grieve for them, we cry for them, we do everything we can for them, and it will never, ever be okay or be the same," Kalahiki said, adding the only people who should be in Lahaina are residents or those who are rebuilding. "But we still need the rest of the island to be open so we can continue to live."

He said most of Maui still needs and wants tourists to come.

"Kihei, Wailea, open. Wailuku, Kahalui, open. Paia, Haiku, open. Hana, open. All of those places are still open," he said. "All of those local businesses  hundreds of local businesses that depend on at least a little bit of tourism, as do I. Although my business is based on locals, I still need that little bit of tourism."

Kalahiki said in another video that what he feared was already becoming reality, adding that people all over Maui were being financially impacted, even losing their jobs or businesses, because people are telling tourists to stay away or confronting the ones who are already there.

He mentioned several celebrities and prominent figures that he thought were acting irresponsibly by telling people not to come, including Momoa.

"Jason Momoa, have fun on your late-night shows throwing spears with your buddies, but what're you guys going to do for us now?" he said.

A representative for Momoa did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Kalahiki urged tourists coming to Maui not to cancel their plans but to vacation responsibly by staying away from Lahaina and instead visiting areas on the east side of the island that were not hit by the fires. He encouraged any tourists to take some time out of their trip to volunteer while they are on Maui and to support local businesses.

Kalahiki did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment via Instagram and phone.

"We all still need to pay our bills so that we can contribute to helping the people in Lahaina and Kula that have lost everything. We still need to survive," he said, adding: "It will be the worst day of my life, if I lose my house to the bank because of Maui being 'closed.'"

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And Just Like That hasnt felt quite the same without Willie Garson playing the beloved Stanford Blatch. Carries best friend and power-clashing ally appeared in cameos during Season 1, but Garson passed away months before the shows premiere. This week, however, the series gave the character the loving farewell he deservesalbeit in an unexpected way.

Speaking on the Max podcast And Just Like That... The Writers Room, showrunner Michael Patrick King explained Stanfords surprising decision to become a monk.

Although we havent heard much about Garsons character this season, we did already know that he remained alive in the show; a few weeks ago, he sent Carrie a kimono from Japan. As we learned this week, hes decided to give up all his worldly possessions and live there full-time as a Shinto monkor, as his shocked ex-husband Anthony puts it, Gods concierge.

King explained on the podcast that after Garsons death, the show scrambled to explain the loss of our really wonderful friend and actor, Willie Garson playing Stanford Blatch. The thing we came up with is that he went to Japan on a TikTok tour.

And Just Like That Season 2, Episode 10 Recap: Is Che Diaz an Awful Person, or Just a Comedian?

At the same time, King said, that was only a temporary solution. We skated over it because we had to, he said. Because he wasnt in the show suddenly and we didnt want Stanford to die. We wanted Willie to be alive as Stanford somewhere in the world.

This week, Carrie calls Anthony to her apartment with news: Stanford has sent her a letter explaining his choice and noting that hes left all his possessions to Anthony. As random as that choice might seem, King said its the opposite; his source of inspiration actually ties directly back to Sex and the Cityspecifically, the critically maligned Sex and the City 2.

I went to Kyoto with Sarah Jessica [Parker] after the second movie, which, I dont know, spoiler alert: was not received well, King said as his fellow podcasters laughed. The critics were not nice to that movie.

King recalled the emotional shockwave he felt as the largely negative reviews sank in. He was in Kyoto, going from temple to temple  with Parker, he recalled. I was sitting there trying to release these complicated feelings, and I felt kind of peace. Sarah was just sitting there with me, and it was so beautiful.

There were neither tears nor laughter back then, King said. It was just feeling the space, and these beautiful temples that people would come inme, a tourist, Id come in, Id light a candle, Id look at the flowers. And because it was Sarah Jessica and I, it always felt more than just me. It was quietly us.

And Just Like That: Carrie Selling Her Apartment Is So Upsetting

Several years later, as King found himself wondering how to explain Stanfords sudden absence from And Just Like That, he remembered that feeling hed shared with Parker.

I know Carrie and Stanford had a very deep bond, and Im happy to say Sarah Jessica and I have a very deep personal bond, King said. So I thought, What if he just stayed there in that beautiful blissful temple and became a Shinto monk?

For those wondering, King confirmed hes done his research. You dont have to be Japanese to become a Shinto monk, he said; you just need to put in an adequate amount of time.

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Conservatives need to be more homophobic and take it up a notch, a right-wing pundit said Wednesday night on Newsmax, claiming this is a war between good and evil and people need to stand tall.

The call for heightened bigotry against the LGBTQ community came during a discussion in which Newsmax host Eric Bolling and his guests raged against Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine, who has frequently been the target of right-wing attacks for being transgender and for her advocacy for gender-affirming care.

With conservative media centering much of its content on fear-mongering about groomers, as Republicans continue to push anti-trans legislation, the latest outrage lighting up the right-wing ecosphere revolves around Levine praising Identity Alaska, a gender clinic in Alaska. Soon after, Fox News and other conservative outlets noted that the clinic promotes gender-inclusive education guides that suggest replacing the word mother with egg producer or birth parent.

During Wednesday nights broadcast of The Balance, Bolling hosted Common Sense executive editor Chris Bedford and Shemeka Michelle, a podcaster and Christian rapper who recently had a viral hit with the anti-LGBTQ song Reclaim the Rainbow. You can already tell where this is going.

Newsmax guest: We need to be more homophobic pic.twitter.com/aHBB2F18Ia  Jason S. Campbell (@JasonSCampbell) August 17, 2023

After Bolling branded it unbelievable that Levine is a health secretary and we cant say mother anymore, Michelle took it several steps further.

You know, I guess if were identifying as egg producers, I should just identify as a chicken from now on, she groused. This is silly to me. And so, what we have done is we have put in place people that 20 years ago would have been locked in an insane asylum. Weve put them in prominent positions to completely confuse our children.

Bedford, for his part, repeatedly misgendered Levine before declaring the end goal is to indoctrinate children and weaken the military.

Its predatory, and it's not just a live-and-let-live thing anymore, he declared. Right now, its really a thing that says if you dont accept this predatory mental illness, then youre a bigot. And it is actually coming for your kids.

Noting that his program is talking about it ad nauseam, Bolling then grumbled that conservatives are often labeled bigoted and homophobic by the left because of this exact sort of coverage.

Michelle, however, declared that conservatives should lean into it even harder.

I actually think, if thats the case, we need to be more homophobic, she exclaimed. We need to take it up a notch because these people have continued to do this because we failed to shame them.

Michelle concluded: We failed to put our feet down and stand tall and say what we believe without the fear of being canceled. Now is not the time to worry about having friends. It is about linking up with people who have the same values as you and realizing this is a war between good and evil. And If we dont stand tall, were going to lose.

Bolling did not react to that call to action, instead turning it over to Bedford to finish up the segment. The Newsmax stars silence is perhaps similar to his lack of response when conspiracy-addled journalist Lara Logan went full QAnon on his air, invoking antisemitic blood-libel smears. The network later condemned Logans comments and banned her from its airwaves.

Michelle, a regular presence on Newsmax, gained fame earlier this year when she collaborated on a song criticizing the Los Angeles Dodgers for honoring drag group Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence during its Pride Night, which sparked backlash among Catholics and conservatives.

Love is love, nasty / taste the rainbow / no thanks, Id rather die, Michelle sings on the song at one point. Whats gay love got to do with me? / I got a rainbow on my neck and I cant breathe.

Interestingly, another artist on Reclaim the Rainbow claimed that, despite the songs lyrics and message, he was not homophobic.

If you know me, I love everybody. Ive never treated anybody different. I have friends that have all different types of views, and I give them the biggest hugs like theyre my close friends, Jimmy Levy said last month. We never let our disagreements affect us. However, I dont ignore the truth. And love also means the truth.

He added: We are not scared of anybody. We love everybody. They just want to put a label in order to defame the song, defame our character its wrong.

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Creator Ben Tarrolly, better known by his username @BenTellect, is being accused of DMing and texting multiple women asking to make OnlyFans content with him. The adult film star Jordan Maxx was the first woman to make her allegations against Tarrolly public, in a series of tweets and screenshots in late July.

Tarrolly started posting on TikTok in 2020, while working full-time as an insurance salesman for GEICO. His TikTok presence, which was mostly reaction videos that racked up millions of views, became so large that he eventually pivoted to being a full-time content creator by 2021. He now has over 11 million TikTok followers and over 3 million YouTube subscribers.

On July 29, Maxx uploaded a series of text screenshots to her Twitter account that allegedly showed a conversation between her and someone she called a pretty popular TikTok creator, without giving a name. Maxx prefaced the screenshots with a note saying, 3 hours before we were supposed to record he asked me if I wanted to make an OnlyFans video with him, which I declined, and 1 hour before we were supposed to meet up, he cancelled.

Maxx does not initially name Tarrolly, nor show his name in the text screenshots. Maxx also mentioned a podcast in the tweet  Tarrolly does not have a podcast  but in a follow-up tweet, clarified it was supposed to be a pickle taste testing mukbang video podcast.

Credit: Jordan Maxx / Twitter.

In one message, the person texted Maxx, I was just thinking youre helping me with doing a video for my YouTube so maybe I could help with your only fans.

Im good thanks, Maxx responded.

Then the person told Maxx that they were going to film the pickle video with someone else. When Maxx asked why, they replied, To be honest, I thought it would be fun to film and see where things go, but I get it.

Credit: Jordan Maxx / Twitter.

Two hours after she first posted the screenshots, Maxx tagged Tarrolly in the thread. On Aug. 9, Maxx updated the thread with what she alleged was a screenshot from a DM she had received from Tarrolly that said, You need to take this tweet down or I will sue you.

In the following days, Maxx shared more screenshots, claiming that she had received them via DM and had been told they were conversations between Tarrolly and other women. The screenshots are attributed to a contact saved as Ben Tarrolly and include discussions about filming a podcast.

Credit: Jordan Maxx / Twitter.

In one screenshot from Snapchat, an account attributed to Tarrolly wrote, I do think I could probably make us a f*** ton on only fans  Bentellect f**** crazy [censored] into oblivion. If you come over, Ill give you $1000.

Maxx continued to share screenshots on her Twitter account until Aug. 14.

Credit: Jordan Maxx / Twitter.

Tarrolly did address the allegations in a since-deleted tweet on Aug. 13. The tweet was saved in a video that Maxx subsequently uploaded to prove she was DMing with Tarrolly, and a screenshot of it was also featured in YouTuber Nick Greens recap of Maxxs allegations.

Credit: Jordan Maxx / Twitter.

Ive recently been accused of some heinous actions and would like the opportunity to share my disgust at these accusations, the note said. I grew up in a home with three sisters and no brothers so I learned very early on the importance, power, love and abilities women have.

I do not condone the statements or accusations that have suddenly been hoisted upon me and I hope to speak to anyone who feels they have been wronged, Tarrolly concluded.

Its not clear when he deleted the tweet, but, as of reporting time, his Twitter accounts most recent tweet is from November 2020. In The Know reached out to Tarrolly for comment.

On TikTok, Tarrolly has been posting as usual  sharing his reaction videos and memes. But the comments have changed since Maxx started publicizing allegations against him.

His most recent video, which was published on Aug. 16, is flooded with viewers asking, what typically performs best on your account  referencing one of Tarrollys alleged texts to Maxx. Other TikTok users joked ukelele video incoming, referring to Colleen Ballingers poorly received apology video from June, and wrote more straightforward comments like, Yea we all read the texts.

Maxx, who is open about being a sex worker on her platform, has had to defend the conversation from Twitter users who argued that Tarrolly had not done anything wrong in her case.

Sex work  particularly for women and especially for women of color  is one of the most stigmatized professions in the world.

You literally do porn, is this supposed to be shocking? one person tweeted at Maxx. Im sure you get people trying to have sex with you all the time, what makes this different?

He misled me to believe he wanted to record a podcast for his YouTube channel, then changed up and offered to do an OF video, and when I said no, he canceled the podcast recording, Maxx replied. Am I taking crazy pills? How is this so difficult to understand?

In The Know by Yahoo is now available on Apple News  follow us here!

The post Popular content creator accused by multiple women of allegedly trying to leverage his influence for sex appeared first on In The Know.

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YouTuber Jacksfilms alleges SSSniperwolf, one of the highest-paid creators on the platform, 'steals' content

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Starz has released the first-look images for the upcoming psychological thriller The Couple Next Door, giving viewers a look at what to expect for the Sam Heughan-led six-part series.

A remake of the Dutch series titled New Neighbours, the forthcoming series will star Heughan (Outlander) and Jessica De Gouw (The Portable Door), along with Eleanor Tomlinson (Poldark) and Alfred Enoch (How to Get Away with Murder).

The Couple Next Door, which will debut on Starz in the United States and on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom, follows Pete (Enoch) and Evie (Tomlinson) as they move into a new neighborhood, forming an unexpected friendship with their neighbors Becka (De Gouw) and Danny (Heughan). However, one steamy night took a turn that can potentially change their lives forever  whether for better or worse.

One Night Changes Their Lives Forever

The upcoming shows official logline reads: When Evie and Pete move into an upscale neighborhood, they find themselves in a world of curtain twitching and status anxiety. But soon find friendship in the shape of the couple next door, alpha traffic cop Danny and his wife, glamorous yoga instructor Becka. As time goes on, these two couples get increasingly close to each other and one fateful night, become sexually entangled in a way that will change their lives forever.

Though the images didnt give anything away about what to expect from the series, the upcoming psychological thriller will most likely explore the negative outcome of attempting to pursue their most profound and darkest desires.

The series is directed by Dries Vos, with David Allison serving as the shows screenwriter. The Couple Next Door will premiere sometime in 2024. Check out the first-look images down below.









The post Sam Heughan-Led The Couple Next Door Gets Steamy First-Look Images appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More.
A fifth-grade elementary teacher was fired effective immediately Thursday by an Atlanta school board in the latest fallout from conservative retaliation to diversity in schools across the United States.

The Cobb County School Board voted 4-3 in favor of upholding superintendent Chris Ragsdales recommendation to fire Due West Elementary School teacher Katie Rinderle.

The vote reverses a tribunal panels recommendation earlier this week that Rinderle keep her job after she was removed from the classroom over a parents complaint in March that she read the book My Shadow Is Purple to her class. Ragsdale raged at the time that the book violated a state classroom censorship law introduced last year that bans and restricts teachers from introducing divisive conceptsincluding race and sexual identityinto the classroom.

The district is pleased that this difficult issue has concluded; we are very serious about keeping our classrooms focused on teaching, learning, and opportunities for success for students, the Cobb County district said afterward in a statement obtained by the Associated Press. The boards decision is reflective of that mission. The outlet notes that Rinderle is believed to be the first public school teacher in Georgia to be affected by the laws.

The law, House Bill 1178, allows the protection of the fundamental right of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their minor children from undue infringement, the right of parents to direct the upbringing and the moral or religious training of his or her minor child, and parents right to review all instructional materials intended for use in the classroom of his or her minor child, among other additions.

BREAKING NEWS: The Cobb County Board of Education votes 4-3 to reject a district tribunal recommendation and fire teacher Katie Rinderle for reading a book about gender identity, My Shadow Is Purple, to her fifth grade class. #gapol pic.twitter.com/AimJ06hVb0  Rahul Bali (@rahulbali) August 18, 2023

According to publisher Larrikin House, My Shadow Is Purple, written by bestselling childrens author Scott Stuart, is a heartwarming and inspiring book about being true to yourself that considers gender beyond binary in a vibrant spectrum of color. The story features a nonbinary character.

On Thursday, all four of the boards Republican members voted to uphold the termination, while its three Democrats voted in opposition.

I am disappointed in the districts decision to terminate me for reading an inclusive and affirming bookone that is representative of diverse student identities, Rinderle said in a written statement provided by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which along with lawyers for the Goodmark Law Firm represented Rinderle in the case.

The district is sending a harmful message that not all students are worthy of affirmation in being their unapologetic and authentic selves. This decision, based on intentionally vague policies, will result in more teachers self-censoring in fear of not knowing where the invisible line will be drawn. Censorship perpetuates harm and students deserve better.

Defending her decision to the tribunal last week, Rinderle said that despite being given options, students had voted themselves for the book to be read and that she had purchased it at the schools book fair.

After the vote, Randy Scamihorn, one of the four Republicans who voted against Rinderle, told the Marietta Daily Journal that his vote stood for those who elected him.

My constituents, my area, theyve entrusted me to educate our kids, to keep our classrooms free of controversial topics and politics, and any negative impact to our students, Scamihorn said. We need to focus on our academics and Georgia standards and our curriculum, and anything thats not on the curriculum needs to be approved before using. Its simple as that.

People have begun to arrive for tonights Cobb County School District Board meeting. Tonight, the Board will decide whether or not to fire Due West Elementary teacher Katie Rinderle, who read her 10/11-year-old students a book with divisive concepts." pic.twitter.com/xUuJj9SBUs  Joshua Skinner (@JoshuaSkinnerTV) August 17, 2023

Mike Tafelski, senior supervising attorney for childrens rights at the SPLC, said the center was disappointed but not surprised by the outcome.

We knew this was a predetermined outcome dictated by Chris Ragsdale and the Cobb County Board of Education majority, Tafelski said. They continue to prioritize discrimination, bigotry, and retaliation in Cobb County Schools. And we will continue to hold them accountable for their unlawful conduct. This is not the end of this case. This is the beginning.

According to the Associated Press, lawyer Craig Goodmark indicated that Rinderle may appeal the decision to the state Board of Education but was considering every legal avenue.

There is no legitimate explanation for this termination, Goodmark said later in a statement. To fire a teacher under a law that no two people could agree on is wrong. Ms. Rinderle, like other Georgia educators, does not know where the lines are drawn when it comes to sensitive, controversial, or divisive concepts. After two days of trial, we still do not know.

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"I was inside, and I looked out into the yard, and I saw an animal right here and thought, 'Wow, what is that?'" Tina Kahlig said of her strange sighting

A Texas woman is asking the public's help to identify a mysterious animal she caught on camera.

Tina Kahlig shared photos of the creature, which she said she took in her neighborhood in Hill Country Village, Texas. She told local news station KENS 5 that she was shocked when she spotted the animal.

"I was inside, and I looked out into the yard, and I saw an animal right here and thought, 'Wow, what is that?'" Kahlig told the outlet.

She said she watched the animal walk around her yard and stop to eat some berries that had fallen from a nearby bush before the mystery critter disappeared.

Soon after, Kahlig posted her photos of the animal on the Next Door app to get her neighbors' input on what it could have been, per United Press International, writing, "Unusual creature in my yard! What is it?"

Related: 'Weird Alien-Like Creature' Washes Up on Australia's Bondi Beach, Baffling Onlookers

"I would love for someone to help me identify it," Kahlig continued. "But I just don't have great photos."

Officials told KENS 5 that there was a local legend about an old mountain lion wandering the area in the Hill Country Village area but that the feline has never been documented.

Several people also appeared to hazard guesses that the creature was cryptid, with many joking that the animal was a "chupacabra"  a folklore creature described as a "fanged beast with red, glowing eyes" by the American Museum of History  Kahlig told the outlet.

She also noted that some people thought the animal looked like a "cross between a coyote and a dog."

Rachel Malstaff, San Antonio Zoo's director of mammals, told KENS 5 that she thought the creature appeared to be a dog or coyote.

Two veterinarians at the zoo also agreed with that theory, adding that it could be a dog with skin issues.

Related: Texas State Park Uncovers Identity of 'Mystery Animal' After Asking Internet for Help

This isn't the first time people in Texas have sought the public's help in identifying a strange animal. In April, the Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park in Mission, Texas, asked its followers for help identifying a "mystery animal" photographed by a park visitor on a game camera.

The photo showed a furry, squat creature on four legs, sniffing at the ground.

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Many animal lovers that replied to the post identified the mystery animal as a badger based on their encounters with the critter.

"Wow, this photo has got a lot of attention! We agree with most of the comments that this is very likely an American Badger (not to be confused with the Honey Badger that lives in Africa and Asia and is rumored to not care very much)," Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park wrote in an update days later.

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Read the original article on People.
The director of a Wyoming public library was fired last month after she refused to remove LGBTQ+ books from her collection and planned an event with a trans performer.

Campbell County Public Library director Terri Lesley was terminated on July 28 by the library board, the culmination of nearly two years of conservative outcry over LGBTQ+ books on childrens and teen shelves, as Wisconsin Public Media reported. She had worked at the Gillette, WY library for 27 years, 10 as director.

Although conservatives within the community successfully lobbied for Lesleys dismissal, video of the meeting obtained by CNN this week shows massive community disapproval of the boards 4-1 vote. This is a shitshow, one speaker concluded to cheers from the gallery, and Im embarrassed for this board.

We do have some sex education books and biology books [...] that are important for youth to have access to in case they have questions, Lesley told CNN in an interview Thursday. There were some LGBTQ+ themes in these books, and I felt like the LGBTQ+ part of that was a big part of what the complaints from the public were about. Among the books in Campbell County that were reportedly challenged were Maia Kobabes memoir Gender Queer, which became a flashpoint for LGBTQ+ book bans across the U.S. in 2021. One couple even reported Lesley and the library to county police over the books, but no charges were filed.

Lesley also told the network that she came under fire not just for shelving books that conservatives falsely claim are pornographic, but for daring to hire a magician for a childrens summer reading program. A county commissioner called to complain, Lesley said, that this magician was transgender. Looking into it, we had no idea, but we had no problem with that, and planned to continue with the program. But after the magician was targeted with threats of violence, she decided to cancel for her own safety and that of the children in attendance.

15 LGBTQ\+ Books We Can't Wait to Read This Fall

From moving memoirs to haunting horror stories.

That same group chose to picket in front of the library that day, Lesley told CNN, holding signs with slogans like Dont Trans Our Kids  a rallying cry spread by far-right extremists like the Family Policy Alliance.

U.S. libraries have increasingly become both figurative and literal battlegrounds as anti-LGBTQ+ activists push to stifle all forms of queer expression. Over the past year, white nationalist militias like the Proud Boys have stormed drag queen story hour events, sometimes armed, while Republican lawmakers in six states including Arkansas and Indiana have passed laws threatening librarians with years in prison for distributing obscene or harmful materials to minors.

Officials in eight states are pushing for their libraries to cancel their membership with the American Library Association altogether because the organizations new president, Emily Drabinski, is a self-described Marxist lesbian. (In fact, the Campbell County library board also voted last year not to renew the librarys ALA funding.) We can only hope someone that cool will step up to become the new library director, applications for which are still open at time of writing.

Get the best of whats queer. Sign up for Thems weekly newsletter here.

Originally Appeared on them.
KYODO NEWS - Aug 18, 2023 - 10:13 | All, World

U.S. President Joe Biden is willing to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un "without preconditions" to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, a senior White House official said Thursday.

"They have not responded positively to that offer, but it's still on the table. We are willing to sit down and negotiate without preconditions," White House national security spokesman John Kirby said in an interview with Kyodo News.

Kirby made the remarks a day before Biden is set to host a trilateral summit with the leaders of Japan and South Korea, at which North Korea's rapid development of nuclear and missile capabilities will be a major agenda item.

Unlike his predecessor Donald Trump, who met with Kim in person three times, Biden's administration has sought to make progress toward denuclearization through multiple channels involving officials, but not at the top level.

The offer of a top-level meeting, disclosed by Kirby without specifying when the offer was made, suggests the Biden administration is stepping up efforts to reach out to North Korea.

In a related development, Mira Rapp-Hooper, National Security Council senior director for East Asia, revealed at a think tank event on Wednesday that the administration has been making a particular effort to invite North Korea to come to the table in recent weeks.

She said that such attempts have intensified since a U.S. soldier stationed in South Korea crossed the heavily armed border into North Korea without authorization a month ago.

Referring to Pyongyang's lack of response to the Biden administration, Kirby said, "But absent that, and thus far he has shown no interest in that, we've got to make sure that we are ready in every other respect to defend our national security interests and those of our Korean and Japanese allies."

"That means putting more capability in the region which we have, and we will certainly consider doing that again in the future if we have to," he added.

South Korea's spy agency has detected signs that North Korea is preparing to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile to coincide with the first-ever standalone three-way summit, a South Korean lawmaker said Thursday.

Kirby said that "there could be some sort of provocative action, but we just don't know what that's going to look like and it wouldn't be a good use of our time in worrying too much about that."

At the U.S. presidential retreat of Camp David near Washington, Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will agree to boost their deterrence capabilities to better respond to North Korea's belligerence as well as China's rising military power, according to senior officials who are involved in preparations for the summit.

Related coverage:

Japan PM vows to bolster ties with U.S., South Korea to tackle North Korea

North Korea preparing ICBM launch to protest trilateral summit: South Korea

U.S., Japan, South Korea summit to include agreement on new hotline
For many Black Americans, tracing ones family roots back more than 150 years has been nearly impossible due to a lack of adequate data and documentation from the slavery period. Now, a team of researchers, genealogists and scholars are working together to recover and restore this lost history, which is American history.

ABC News is the exclusive media partner of the historic 10 Million Names Project, an ambitious moon shot initiative that aims to recover the names of the 10 million people of African descent who were enslaved before 1865 in the present-day United States.

MORE: Michael Strahan learns deep-rooted family history of Shankleville, an East Texas freedom colony

"Those 10 million people have approximately 44 million descendants living today and all of them, all of us, face greater challenges, significantly greater difficulty than do most white Americans when it comes to tracing our ancestors," Dr. Kendra Field, chief historian of the 10 Million Names Project, told ABC News.

"The legacy of slavery has blocked access to much of Black American family history and genealogy," Field said.

PHOTO: Freed slaves on the Smith Plantation, circa 1862. (Buyenlarge/Getty Images)

"It was often obscured or erased or difficult to find," Field explained. "Descendants from say, Mayflower pilgrims, had access to a whole different set of tools and documents."

The goal of the project is to identify the names of every individual who lived through this difficult history, providing dignity to the ancestors and the power of knowledge to descendants. The project also invites anyone to share their own family history and information, with the ultimate goal of constructing a free, public, searchable database. Click here to learn more.

Research into the ancestry of ABC News Michael Strahan was first featured on PBS "Finding Your Roots." The research revealed Strahan descends from James and Winnie Shankle, formerly enslaved people, who once freed, established an impressive "freedom colony" called Shankleville in East Texas. It was an entirely self-sufficient, independent Black community that thrived. Strahan traveled to Shankleville this August and was able to connect with other proud descendants from this historic colony.

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PHOTO: Descendants gather circa 1955 for the annual Homecoming- an event established in 1941 to reconnect and to raise funds for the upkeep of the Jim Shankle and Shankleville Community Cemeteries. (Courtesy Harold Odom Jr.)

If you would like to learn more about Black history pre- and post-emancipation, freedom colonies and free peoples, you can find additional resources below.Field and Shankleville descendant Lareatha Clay have curated a list of resources to learn more about this important period of American history.

Read on for their book recommendations, in their own words.

Join American Ancestors on Aug. 24 for a free online lecture, "Introducing the 10 Million Names Project." Click here to register.

PHOTO: Slaves of Thomas F. Drayton of Magnolia Plantation, Hilton Head, S.C., 1862. (Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

Book recommendations from Kendra Field, Ph.D.

"Help Me to Find My People: The African American Search for Family Lost in Slavery" by Heather Andrea Williams

After the Civil War, African Americans placed poignant "information wanted" advertisements in newspapers, searching for missing family members. Inspired by the power of these ads, Heather Andrea Williams uses slave narratives, letters, interviews, public records, and diaries to guide readers back to devastating moments of family separation during slavery when people were sold away from parents, siblings, spouses, and children. Williams shows how searches for family members in the post-Civil War era continue to reverberate in African American culture in the ongoing search for family history and connection across generations.

"All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake" by Tiya Miles

In 1850s South Carolina, an enslaved woman named Rose faced a crisis: the imminent sale of her daughter Ashley. Decades later, Ashleys granddaughter Ruth embroidered this family history on the sack in spare, haunting language. Historian Tiya Miles carefully traces these women's faint presence in archival records, and, where archives fall short, she turns to objects, art, and the environment to write a singular history of the experience of slavery, and the uncertain freedom afterward, in the United States. "All That She Carried" is a poignant story of resilience and love passed down against steep odds.

"Bound in Wedlock: Slave and Free Black Marriage in the Nineteenth Century" by Tera W. Hunter

Americans have long viewed marriage between a white man and a white woman as a sacred union. But marriages between African Americans have seldom been treated with the same reverence. "Bound in Wedlock" is the first comprehensive history of African American marriage in the 19th century. Drawing from plantation records, legal documents and personal family papers, it reveals the many creative ways enslaved couples found to upend white Christian ideas of marriage.

"The Emancipation Circuit: Black Activism Forging a Culture of Freedom" by Thulani Davis

In "The Emancipation Circuit," Thulani Davis provides a sweeping rethinking of Reconstruction by tracing how the 4 million people newly freed from bondage created political organizations and connections that mobilized communities across the South. Mapping the emancipation circuits, Davis shows the geography of ideas of freedom -- circulating on shipping routes, via army maneuvers, and with itinerant activists -- that became the basis for the first mass Black political movement for equal citizenship in the United States.

Additional recommendations

"Generations of Captivity: A History of African American Slaves" by Ira Berlin

Most Americans, Black and white, have a singular vision of slavery, one fixed in the mid-19th century when most American slaves grew cotton, resided in the deep South, and subscribed to Christianity. Slavery was thus made and remade by successive generations of Africans and African Americans who lived through settlement and adaptation, plantation life, economic transformations, revolution, forced migration, war and ultimately emancipation. Berlin offers a dynamic vision, a major reinterpretation in which slaves and their owners continually renegotiated the terms of captivity.

"Growing Up with the Country: Family, Race, and Nation after the Civil War" by Kendra Taira Field

Following the lead of her own ancestors, Field's family history chronicles the westward migration of freedom's first generation in the 50 years after emancipation. Drawing on decades of archival research and family lore within and beyond the United States, Field traces their journey out of the South to Indian Territory, where they participated in the development of Black and Black Indian towns and settlements. Interweaving Black, white, and Indian histories, Field's beautifully wrought narrative explores how ideas about race and color powerfully shaped the pursuit of freedom.

"The Grimkes: The Legacy of Slavery in an American Family" by Kerri K. Greenidge

An eye-opening counternarrative of the legendary abolitionist Grimke sisters that finally reclaims the forgotten Black members of their family. Sarah and Angelina Grimke -- the Grimke sisters -- are revered figures in American history, famous for rejecting their privileged lives on a plantation in South Carolina to become firebrand activists in the North. Their antislavery pamphlets, among the most influential of the antebellum era, are still read today.

"A Nation Under Our Feet: Black Political Struggles in the Rural South from Slavery to the Great Migration" by Steven Hahn

This is the epic story of how African Americans, in the six decades following slavery, transformed themselves into a political people -- an embryonic Black nation. Author Steven Hahn illustrates how rural African Americans were central political actors in the great events of disunion, emancipation and nation building. "A Nation Under Our Feet" emphasizes the importance of kinship, labor, and communication networks, and compels us to think in more expansive ways about the nature and boundaries of politics and political practice.

PHOTO: A group of fugitive slaves who were emancipated upon reaching the North, sitting outside a house, possibly in Freedman's Village in Arlington, Va., in the mid 1860s. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Book Recommendations from Shankleville descendant Lareatha Clay

"Never Sell the Land" by Andrea Roberts, Ph.D.

Roberts' book, publishing in 2024, will be the first in-depth study of Texas freedom colonies, and the first book that I know of by a descendant of a colony. She looks at the founding of freedom colonies not only through a historical preservation lens, but through a planning lens. Roberts sets up Shankleville and the work we've done as a model of what can be done in other communities, and the prominent role that everyday people play in building this state/country.

"Freedom Colonies: Independent Black Texans in the Time of Jim Crow" by Thad Sitton and James H. Conrad

This book is the first to give a name to the hundreds of independent, unincorporated Black communities we now know as "freedom colonies." It also served as the starting point for Andrea Roberts' research into these communities, where her focus is from a planning perspective in addition to a traditional historical lens.

"From Teacakes to Tamales: Third-Generation Texas Recipes" by Nola McKey

My primary reason for listing this book is because of the two recipes [my first cousin Harold Odom Jr. and I] submitted from my grandmother, Addie Lewis Odom. The recipe for and stories about Purple Hull Peas are on pages 87-90. The recipe and background for her teacakes are on pages 158-160. The Jim and Winnie story about the founding of the colony is recounted on page 161.

PHOTO: Descendants gather circa 1955 for the annual Homecoming- an event established in 1941 to reconnect and to raise funds for the upkeep of the Jim Shankle and Shankleville Community Cemeteries. (Courtesy Harold Odom Jr.)

Join American Ancestors on Aug. 24 for a free online lecture, "Introducing the 10 Million Names Project." Click here to register.

'10 Million Names': Learn more about the history of enslaved people of African descent, freedom colonies originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com
Barron Trump and Donald Trump wave from the top of the steps to Air Force One on August 16, 2020. Susan Walsh/AP

An Illinois woman was charged with threatening to kill Barron Trump last week.

According to prosecutors, the woman sent multiple emails to Barron Trump's high school headmaster.

In a meeting with Secret Service agents, the woman confessed to sending the emails, prosecutors claimed.

An Illinois woman was accused of spending months threatening Donald Trump and his 17-year-old son Barron Trump through emails sent to Barron's school headmaster.

According to a criminal complaint first reported by CourtWatch, Tracy Fiorenza fired off threats to Barron Trump's school master between May and June, sending explicit threats to the former president's youngest son.

As election season nears and amid a spate of criminal indictments against Donald Trump, death threats against public figures and officials have reached disturbing levels of severity.

Last week, a Utah man accused of sending death threats to Joe Biden was shot and killed as the FBI served a search warrant at his house. According to NPR, federal arrests for threats against public officials have risen over the last five years, and tend to spike around crises and elections. Last year, there were 74 federal arrests tied to threats against public officials, up from 38 in 2013, NPR reported, citing research from the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology and Education Center.

Fiorenza was charged with transmitting threats to kill Donald and Barron Trump across state lines on August 9, per court documents, after fessing up to the ominous messages, prosecutors said.

According to prosecutors, on May 21, Fiorenza sent her first email to Barron Trump's school headmaster at Oxbridge Academy, in Palm Beach, Florida.

"I will state that I will shoot Donald Trump Sr. AND Barron Trump straight in the face at any opportunity that I get!" Fiorenza wrote in the email, prosecutors said.

Weeks later, on June 5, she emailed the school headmaster again with a second threat, prosecutors claimed in the complaint.

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"I am going to slam a bullet in Baron Trump's head with his father IN SELF DEFENSE!," Fiorenza wrote in the second email, according to prosecutors.

A Facebook page which matches Fiorenza's name features numerous conspiratorial posts about Trump and other politicians, and includes a purported letter from the Office of the Inspector General rejecting her request for Barron Trump's school records in 2020.

Throughout Trump's presidency, Barron Trump was largely shielded from the public eye. Now, Barron  Donald Trump's only child with Melania Trump  is finishing high school at the Oxbridge academy in Florida, and is set to graduate with the class of 2024.

Prosecutors said in the criminal complaint that Fiorenza agreed to sit for an interview on June 14, at the US Secret Service Chicago field office, where she admitted to sending the emails.

Fiorenza had no attorney listed in court documents. She did not respond to Insider's attempts to reach her online.

Read the original article on Insider
The Tuohy family says they will end their conservatorship for Michael Oher. A week after a deadly wildfire ripped through Maui, loved ones remember the victims. And that's not a highlighter  it's an e-cigarette.

Hi! Thursday already? Laura Davis here with all the news you need to know.

 But first: It's a scorcher. Are you accidentally making your house hotter than it needs to be? Here's how to tell.

The Short List is a snappy USA TODAY news roundup. Subscribe to the newsletter here.

'Blind Side' family says they will end Michael Oher's conservatorship

All along, Michael Oher said, he thought hed been legally adopted. Now, nearly 20 years later, Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy's lawyer said they intend to end their conservatorship for the former football star after he claimed the couple tricked him into agreeing to it. Legal experts have said there is no basis for the conservatorship, which Oher signed three months after his 18th birthday, to exist. The couple and their attorneys said this week that the conservatorship was a means of protection for Oher to attend Ole Miss and make him part of their family. Oher is also seeking back pay for any money the Tuohys may have earned off his story, mainly via the 2009 movie "The Blind Side," which starred Sandra Bullock. Here's the latest.

Michael Oher with members of the Tuohy family after being selected by the Baltimore Ravens during the 2009 NFL Draft.

Hurricane Hilary on path toward Southern California

Heads up: Hurricane Hilary is rapidly intensifying in the Pacific Ocean and could bring heavy rain and flash flooding to southern California and Nevada by the weekend, forecasters said. The hurricane could potentially bring significant impacts to parts of the Southwestern U.S. this weekend, including rainfall of up to 10 inches, according to the National Hurricane Center. As of Thursday afternoon, Hilary had maximum sustained winds of 105 mph, the hurricane center said. The forecast calls for landfall Sunday over the Baja California Peninsula, but a landfall farther north hasn't been ruled out. A look at Hilary's forecast, track.

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What everyone's talking about

The Short List is free, but several stories we link to are subscriber-only. Consider supporting our journalism and become a USA TODAY digital subscriber today.

Mourning, remembering loved ones lost in Maui fires

A week after wildfires rapidly burned through parts of Maui, destroying most of the historic town of Lahaina, the Hawaiian community is mourning the loss of life from the nation's deadliest blaze in more than a century. At least 111 people are dead, and some estimates showed more than 1,000 are still missing or unaccounted for. Only a few names have been officially released, but other victims have been identified by loved ones.

Sharing their stories: Lahaina resident Buddy Jantoc, 79, nicknamed "Mr. Aloha," a beloved, local musician who was known for his warmth and generosity. Franklin Trejos, 68, who initially stayed behind to help save the home of his friend and other residents. God took a really good man, his friend Shannon Weber-Bogar said. Some of the lives lost in Maui wildfires.

Would sirens have driven more Maui residents into the wildfire? Official thinks so.

Destroyed buildings and cars are pictured in the aftermath of the Maui wildfires in Lahaina, Hawaii on Wednesday.

When is a highlighter not a highlighter? When its an e-cigarette.

USB drives. Smartwatches. Even vaping hoodies. With vape supplies camouflaged this well, how can schools stop students from sneaking them in? Take the High Light Office 4, an e-cigarette that is practically indistinguishable from a highlighter. Its angled, colorful tip makes it look ready for study hall even when uncapped. It's never been easier to vape in secret, and schools are calling attention to the challenge of keeping products like these out of lockers and classrooms. What you need to know.

This screen capture from highlightvape.com shows the selection of vape products that can easily be mistaken for an actual highlighter.

 Pumpkin spice? "Stop this madness!" As it turns out, Short List readers are not the biggest pumpkin spice fans! (Same, y'all.) Yesterday, we asked if you liked pumpkin spice or not. It was a big nope: 78 people said it wasn't their "cup of tea," while only 45 fans chimed in. Thanks to everyone who replied!

A break from the news

Laura L. Davis is an Audience Editor at USA TODAY. She loves new Twitter pals and emails from readers: laura@usatoday.com. This is a compilation of stories from across the USA TODAY Network. Support quality journalism like this? Subscribe to USA TODAY here.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Blind Side' conservatorship, Hurricane Hilary, Maui fires: Thursday's news
Former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney is speaking out on social media in the wake of the recent election interference indictments of former President Donald Trump, highlighting the work of the House Jan. 6 committee.

Despite serving as vice chair of the committee, and pledging to do whatever it takes to keep Trump out of the White House, it was Cheney's first public comment since Trump was twice indicted on election-related charges.

In a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, Cheney said it "might be a good time" to review the product of the panel's 18-month investigation, pushing back on Trump's recent claims that the House committee destroyed "all" its evidence and records.

"No surprise Trump doesn't want you to see the J6 Committee evidence," Cheney wrote as she provided a link to the government site that houses many of those records.

"Here's the GPO website with transcripts, documents, exhibits & our meticulously sourced 800+ page final report," Cheney wrote. "Also links to our hearings. Might be a good time to watch those again."

MORE: Liz Cheney's mission on Jan. 6 committee: Keep Donald Trump out of the White House

PHOTO: Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) as the January 6th Committee meets for its final session at the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill, Dec. 19, 2022, in Washington. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Trump has denied all wrongdoing in both criminal cases. He has pleaded not guilty to four federal charges brought by special counsel Jack Smith. Earlier this week, he was indicted in Georgia along with 18 of his allies over an alleged scheme to overturn his loss in the state.

Cheney had declared Trump "unfit for any office" as the House Jan. 6 committee wrapped up its probe, but her leading role in taking on her party's de-facto leader cost her her political career.

In an interview with ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl last August, Cheney expressed disappointment in her Republican colleagues for their reaction to Jan. 6.

"I feel sad about where my party is," Cheney said. "I feel sad about the way that too many of my colleagues have responded to what I think is a great moral test and challenge of our time."

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MORE: 'Huge vindication': Jan. 6 committee members say Trump indictment in line with their findings

After Trump was charged by Smith, members of the Jan. 6 committee said the indictment lined up with their findings. Trump is facing four charges, two of which were recommended by the panel: conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and obstruction of an official proceeding.

"This does feel like a huge vindication of the rule of law and the work of the Jan. 6 committee to establish the factual narrative of what took place in the attempt to overthrow a presidential election by a president," Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said on "GMA3."

Liz Cheney makes 1st public comment since Trump's election interference indictments originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
The Harford County Sheriff's Office said there are 10 investigators working on the case of Rachel Morin, the Maryland woman who was a victim of a violent homicide.

The man suspected of killing a Maryland woman on a popular hiking trail this month is the same person who assaulted a young girl in Southern California in the spring, according to DNA results, investigators announced Thursday.

Hartford County (Maryland) Sheriff's Col. William Davis said DNA from the person who likely killed Rachel Morin in a 'violent homicide' matched the DNA of a man who assaulted a young girl in Los Angeles during a March home invasion.

Davis, at a Thursday evening press conference, shared video of the person investigators believe to be responsible for the assault. The brief clip from a security cam positioned outside the Southern California home showed a shirtless man exiting a house with his face not visible.

The Los Angeles Police Department told USA TODAY the home invasion occurred on March 26 at 3:20 a.m. and said they could not share further information about the incident.

"We believe the suspect acted alone," Davis said of Morin's killing.

Davis said investigators believe the suspect is a 5-foot, 9-inch tall man in his mid 20s who weighs about 160 pounds.

"I think now it leads us down the path that we believe this was a person that Rachel probably didn't know," Davis said. "Potentially a random act of violence."

Morin killed in 'violent homicide', police say

Officials found Morin's body on Aug. 6 near the Ma and Pa Trail in Bel Air, Maryland and said she was a "victim of a violent homicide."

Morin was reported as a missing person on Aug. 5 around 11:20 p.m. when her boyfriend said she did not return from her walk. She was last seen on the trail around 6 p.m. and her vehicle was found near the trail, according to the the sheriffs office.

Authorities interviewed Morin's boyfriend and other people close to her as part of the investigation, Hartford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler said in a video posted to the Sherriff's office Facebook page Aug. 9. He added that investigators working on the case received over 300 tips from the community.

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This was an intentional taking of a persons life, Gahler said in the video. "Together we will solve this crime and find the heinous coward who took Rachel Morin from her family and friends."

Davis on Thursday said investigators have no clue where the suspect can be or if he's even in the state of Maryland. He encouraged residents to be alert when walking on trails and to avoid walking alone.

Authorities are hoping by releasing photos and the video of the suspect the public can help identify the suspect. Anyone with information relating to the investigation is encouraged to call (410) 836-7788 or email RMtips@HarfordSheriff.org.

Contributing: Francisco Guzman

'Massacre': Police investigate quadruple homicide involving 3 children in Oklahoma City

Christopher Miller: Wisconsin man missing 9 months since attempted traffic stop found dead in abandoned home

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rachel Morin murder suspect linked by DNA to LA March assault of child
Former President Donald Trump is planning on not attending the first Republican presidential debate in Milwaukee next Wednesday and is strongly considering sitting down for an interview with Tucker Carlson that day instead, according to sources familiar with the matter.

But sources indicated no final decision has been reached and cautioned Trump can always change his mind last minute.

The Republican National Committee has previously stated it needed two days notice for Trump's final decision to make necessary arrangements.

PHOTO: Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally, Aug. 8, 2023, in Windham, N.H. (Robert F. Bukaty/AP)

MORE: Trump's GOP rivals needle him about showing up to debate days after 4th indictment

The debate plans were first reported by The New York Times.

Trump met the RNC donor and polling threshold for the debate but publicly said he wouldn't sign the RNC pledge -- a requirement to be on the debate stage -- that says the candidate will support the eventual nominee.

MORE: Trump attorneys, Fulton County DA expected to meet next week: Sources

Campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said, "We haven't confirmed anything on our end."

MORE: GOP debate lineup in flux as some race for spots, and other campaign trail takeaways

Some of Trump's surrogates will be in Wisconsin during next week's debate, sources told ABC News.

Fox News is airing the debate and Carlson is a former Fox News host.

Trump plans to skip GOP debate, considers interview with Tucker Carlson instead: Sources originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Why Trump, other Georgia defendants might try to move case to federal court

Now that former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has filed a motion to move the Georgia election interference case to federal court, his former boss -- Donald Trump -- is expected to follow suit, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The potential advantages for Trump in doing so, attorneys and law professors said, would be the possibility of a more sympathetic jury pool and the potential delays such a move could cause.

The law allows federal officers facing state charges to have the prosecution moved to federal court if the conduct at issue was done under the "color of" their office, or within the ambit of their professional responsibilities.

Trump tried this maneuver in New York, where he's charged with falsifying business records in connection to a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election. A federal judge rejected the attempt last month, stating he failed to show the alleged conduct fell under the scope of his official duties.

MORE: Trump indictment updates: Former president, 18 others indicted in Georgia

Several attorneys and legal experts who spoke to ABC News said Trump may have a better argument in Georgia than he did in New York for moving the case to federal court, but still questioned whether it would be a winning strategy.

"He's going to argue that as president he believed there was fraud in the election and he had a duty to do something about it," said Clark D. Cunningham, a law professor at the University of Georgia.

PHOTO: Former President Donald Trump delivers remarks during the Georgia state GOP convention at the Columbus Convention and Trade Center, June 10, 2023, in Columbus, Ga. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Cunningham said he believed Trump's alleged efforts to undo his election loss in Georgia was done as a candidate for reelection rather than for his role as president, but that Trump has "enough of an argument to drag things out."

There is not a lot of precedent to draw on, attorneys said, because the removal statute is not as commonly used in criminal cases as it is in civil cases.

"This rarely happens on the criminal side -- rarely," said Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor and president of the law firm West Coast Trial Lawyers.

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Why Trump and others would want to move the case

There are several reasons why Trump and other defendants may seek to move the case out of Georgia state court and into a federal jurisdiction, attorneys and law scholars said.

One rationale would be to try to get a broader pool of potential jurors. Trump has claimed he won't be able to get a fair jury in New York and Washington, and is likely to make the same assertion in heavily-Democratic Fulton County.

If the case were moved to federal court, it would wind up in the Northern District of Georgia, according to Atlanta-based attorney and trial consultant Denise de La Rue.

One likely scenario is that it will land in the district's Atlanta division, which encompasses 10 counties -- including areas where Trump performed better in the 2020 election than he did in Fulton County. Another possibility, though one de La Rue said is more remote, would be that a jury is drawn from the entire district and include more rural and conservative towns.

Similarly, moving it to federal court means a new judge will take over the case. Trump, as president, appointed four of the 15 district court judges currently presiding in the Northern District of Georgia.

PHOTO: The Richard B. Russell Federal Building is seen in Atlanta on July 21, 2012. (Mike Stewart/AP)

Another reason to seek to move the case is to try to hold up the proceedings.

"Delay is his friend," Rahmani said of Trump. "Even if he loses, he's going to slow the process down."

The motion could take months to resolve, Cunningham said, noting Trump and other defendants could take their cause to the 11th Circuit of Appeals or even to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"And then I think that the whole issue of where the case is tried could drag on for at least a year, maybe longer because it's unprecedented," he said.

MORE: Sweeping indictment could be Trump's biggest legal challenge yet: ANALYSIS

Still, the attorneys and law scholars who spoke with ABC News agreed Trump and other defendants would be tried under state law with Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis' team still leading the prosecution.

"That means that if he were to be convicted, he would then be convicted under state laws," said Michael Dorf, a constitutional law professor at Cornell University. "So, the federal pardon power would be unavailable."

Under Georgia law, complete pardons are only granted after completion of a sentence. The RICO charges Trump and 18 others face carry a minimum mandatory sentence of five years.

Why Trump, other Georgia defendants might try to move case to federal court originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
There's nothing more chic than a back bar full of colorful aperitifs.

Even if you're not in France or Italy, it's hard to resist the allure of hosting an aperitivo hour from the comfort of your own home. "The best apero dinatoires are simple, abundant, seasonal, and perfect for company," says Rebekah Peppler, author of Aperitif: Cocktail Hour the French Way. "Food thats served is grab-able, dip-able  great with a drink or three. And those drinks fall under the umbrella of aperitifs: low alcohol and lightly bitter, meant to be enjoyed during the golden cusp between day and night."

Many of our favorite aperitifs are also incredibly versatile, serving as the base for classic cocktails like Martinis or Negronis, but also easily sipped over a single cube of ice. And then, of course, there's the spritz situation, which is where we turn to options like Aperol, Cynar, and Cappelletti. The category has also expanded to include a number of nonalcoholic aperitifs worth adding to your bar for guests who aren't drinking. Read on for our favorite aperitifs you'll want to have on hand for your next dinner party.

Cocchi Americano

Brent Hofacker / Getty Images

"Cocchi Americano is an aperitif wine hailing from Italy's Piedmont region," explains Toronto-based bar consultant Juliana Wolkowski. The brand itself launched in 1891, and the recipe calls for a base of white wine fortified with alcohol then "macerated with botanicals, including gentian, cinchona, bitter orange peel, rhubarb, juniper, coriander, rose, and mace."



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Cynar

Courtesy of Campari Group

Cynar is an Italian amaro that calls for "a secret blend of herbs and spices, with one ingredient that is both known and stands out: artichoke," says Simpson. "This unique blend creates a smooth, slightly sweet blend with a bitter(ish) finish that is guaranteed to satisfy. It's slightly vegetal, with a light smokiness and a richness that lends well to a medium/full-bodied amaro."

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Fernet

Brent Hofacker / Getty Images

Despite Branca's popularity and market share, fernet doesn't just refer to this single cult favorite brand championed by bartenders around the world. Fernet can be defined as a subcategory of amari, or herbal, bittersweet liqueurs, known for its mentholated and bitter flavor profile, as well as its punchier ABV (for a liqueur), ranging between 30% and 45%. Most fernets are made from a common set of botanicals such as black aloe ferox, bitter orange, cardamom, rhubarb root, and mint, all of which are macerated in neutral grain spirit for various amounts of time before being blended into a final bittersweet elixir. Depending on the brand, the types of herbs and spices used to flavor a fernet can vary, but the ones previously mentioned are considered the core components of this specific digestivo.

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Amaro

Brent Hofacker / Getty Images

Amaro is traditionally made by infusing grape brandy with a (usually secret) mix of herbs, flowers, aromatic bark, citrus peel, and spices  a blend that can include anything from cardamom to elderberry flowers. Then it's sweetened with sugar syrup and aged, sometimes for years. It's silky, like a liqueur; bitter and sweet in varying degrees.

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Chartreuse

Brent Hofacker / Getty Images

Both yellow and green Chartreuse are produced by the Carthusian Order, a sect of Catholic monks based in the Chartreuse mountains in southeastern France, who are privy to a secret recipe that calls for more than 130 herbs. While the monks initially produced Chartreuse to fund their own monasteries, the liqueur has gained popularity stateside, in part due to its high alcohol level  yellow Chartreuse is 80 proof, while green Chartreuse is 110 proof  but also due to the complex flavor it imparts in cocktails like the Last Word, the Irish classic Tipperary cocktail, and the Naked and Famous.

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Vermouth

Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Rishon Hanners / Prop Styling by Audrey Davis

Vermouth is an aromatized, fortified wine flavored with various botanicals. Aromatized means the wine has been flavored with fruit, spices, and florals. Common botanicals include cinchona bark, wormwood, angelica root, orange peel, juniper, orris root, and star anise, though ingredients will vary from region to region depending on what's grown locally. The phrase fortified means that these wines are topped up with stronger alcohol  such as brandy or a neutral grain spirit  added to the wine to pause the fermentation process and preserve the product.

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Campari and Aperol

Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Lucy Simon

The key ingredient to cocktails like the Americano, Boulevardier, and TikToks favorite Negroni Sbagliato, Campari is beloved for its bright red color and bittersweet flavor. Aperol is made much like Campari, but unlike its deep red counterpart, the ingredients for this orange-hued liqueur are slightly better-known. Aperols key ingredients include bitter rhubarb, vegetal gentian root, and cinchona, a tree bark which gives tonic water its characteristic bitterness.

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Lillet

Pernod Ricard

Lillet comes in three variations: blanc, rose, and rouge. Broadly speaking, all call for a base of Bordeaux wine topped up with macerated liqueurs that are then blended and aged in French oak.

To make Lillet, similar to any fortified wine, a base wine is infused and flavored with aromatic herbs, roots, and spices, says Mattie Hansen, bar manager of Piccalilli in Los Angeles. Then, the alcohol content is raised slightly with a proprietary brandy.



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Suze

Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Lucy Simon

Suze is an aperitif that has a gorgeous, golden yellow hue with a strong herbaceous aroma and bittersweet notes of tangerine and lemon. It has just enough sweetness to create a rich mouthfeel and balance.

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Cappelletti

Carey Jones

If you dont know Cappelletti, prepare to make its acquaintance and find out why its the bottle that has been heretofore missing from your bar. The aperitif is bitter and herbal but just a little sweet. It's also quite light on the alcohol, friendly and mellow in character, and so refreshing you can drink it just chilled over ice, with nothing more than a citrus garnish. Think of it like Camparis even more drinkable cousin. Unlike Campari, Cappelletti is a wine-based aperitif. That gives it a rich, full character alongside its gentle herbal flavors and hint of citrus peel, which means it mixes great in cocktails, too.

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Today, going to college after high school is considered the normso much so, that it's hard to believe there was ever a time when higher education didn't actually exist. Back in the 1600s, college began as a source of education for those going into the ministry. Years later, the schools grew to focus on a broader range of studies, including medicine and law, and eventually agriculture and engineering. In the beginning, college was only an option for men, and for a long time, there weren't many schools throughout the country. Higher education has come a long way since then. Here's a look at some of the oldest universities in the U.S.their campuses and classrooms contain a whole lot of history.

United States Military Academy West Point

Established in 1802

Location: Orange County, New York

The oldest continuously occupied military post in America, West Point dates back to the Revolutionary War, when both sides realized they needed a commanding spot on the west bank of the Hudson River. General George Washington once thought of West Point as the most important strategic position in America. Thaddeus Kosciuszko was picked to design the fortifications in 1778, and soldiers built forts, batteries, and more.

United States Military Academy

University of South Carolina

Established in 1801

Location: Columbia, South Carolina

Once called South Carolina College, this school was established as a way to unite South Carolinians after the American Revolution. The founding was a part of the Southern public college movement spurred by Thomas Jefferson. After surviving an earthquake and a fire, the school didn't make it through the Civil War and Reconstruction. It closed in 1861 but was revived in 1866.

University of South Carolina

Vincennes University

Establishes in 1801

Location: Vincennes, Indiana

Vincennes University is Indiana's first college. It was founded by the ninth U.S. president, William Henry Harrison, while he was serving as governor of the Indiana Territory. They have campuses in Vincennes and Jasper, and additional sites. They also offer instruction at military states throughout the country.

Vincennes University

Middlebury College

Established in 1800

Location: Middlebury, Vermont

One of the most highly regarded liberal arts schools in the country, Middlebury has been committed to creating an environment on campus that encourages learning and engaged discourse since they were founded in 1800.

Middlebury

University of Louisville

Established in 1798

Location: Louisville, Kentucky

The University of Louisville started out as Jefferson Seminary, which had a difficult time surviving: it didn't officially open until the fall of 1813, then closed in 1829. The Louisville Collegiate Institute was eventually changed to University of Louisville, which inherited the estate of Jefferson Seminary.

Louisville

Hartwick College

Established in 1797

Location: Oneonta, New York

Hartwick College is really small, with only about 1,200 students. Back in 1797, it began as Hartwick Seminary and was founded through the will of John Christopher Hartwick, a Lutheran minister who arrived from Germany in 1746 to lead several mission congregations of early settlers near the area. He had a dream of establishing a college that eventually became a reality.

Hartwick

University of South Carolina-Beaufort

Established in 1797

Location: Bluffton

Surrounded by palm trees with locations on South Carolina's coast in Bluffton, Beaufort, and Hilton Head Island, the University of South Carolina-Beaufort is a small college with just over 2,000 students. The student to faculty ratio offers excellent personalized learning advantages.

South Carolina-Beaufort

Union College

Established in 1795

Location: Schenectady, NY



Union College was the first college charted by the Board of Regents of the State of New York. The name was chosen to represent the fact that the founders wanted the college to be open to different religious and national groups throughout the area. Union is still one of the oldest non-denominational colleges in the country.



KatieDobies - Getty Images

The University of Tennessee

Established in 1794

Location: Knoxville, Tennessee



The University of Tennessee was founded two years before Tennessee even became an official U.S. state. It was originally chartered as Blount College, and was an all-male school that struggled with a small student body. Since then, it has undergone a few significant transformations.

sframephoto - Getty Images

Bowdoin College

Established in 1794

Location: Brunswick, Maine

Although Bowdoin was established in 1794, it didn't begin to really develop until the 1820s. Notable writers Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow were two early graduates of the school, which is now a private liberal arts college.

Portland Press Herald - Getty Images

Williams College

Established in 1793

Location: Williamstown, Massachusetts



Today, Williams College is known as one of the best liberal arts colleges in America. Since it was established in 1793, many prominent alumni have come out of the school; Pulitzer Prize winners, Nobel Prize winners, members of Congress and the Supreme Court, and even one of the Presidents of the United States: James Abram Garfield.

DenisTangneyJr - Getty Images

Hamilton College

Established in 1793

Location: Clinton, New York



Hamilton was first called Hamilton-Oneida Academy when it was established in 1793, and became Hamilton College in 1812 when it was named in honor of Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton. The school didn't allow female students until 1978, when it merged with the all-women's Kirkland College.

Hamilton

The University of Vermont

Established in 1791

Location: Burlington, Vermont



The University of Vermont is the fifth oldest university in New England and was the first institution of higher education to declare public support for freedom of religion. It was also the first university to allow women and African-Americans into the Phi Beta Kappa honor society.

HsinJuHSU - Getty Images

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Established in 1789

Location: Chapel Hill, North Carolina



The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill didn't begin enrolling students until 1795, but it is still one of the oldest public universities in the U.S. Many future members of government attended the University, including a U.S. president and Vice President.

Ryan Herron - Getty Images

Georgetown University

Established in 1789

Location: Washington, D.C.



Georgetown is the oldest Catholic and Jesuit college in the country. U.S. presidents, Supreme Court Justices, and other high-ranking government officials are among the alumni of this prestigious institution.

OlegAlbinsky - Getty Images

Castleton University

Established in 1787

Location: Castleton, Vermont

Castleton is a small university in Vermont that emphasizes undergraduate liberal arts and professional studies, and also offers graduate programs. They are known for small classes with a growing international population for a lot of diversity.

Castleton University

Franklin & Marshall College

Established in 1787

Location: Lancaster, Pennsylvania

In 1787, Franklin & Marshall College was founded with a generous financial donation from Benjamin Franklin. It was the first bilingual college in the U.S., as classes were taught in both English and German, and it was also the first coeducational institution, allowing both men and women to attend (this was eventually abandoned for 182 years).

The Washington Post - Getty Images

University of Pittsburgh

Established in 1787

Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania



Back in 1787, the University of Pittsburgh was known as Pittsburgh Academy and was an actual log cabin that acted as a prep school. It obviously expanded as the years went on, and is now a state-related research university.



HaizhanZheng - Getty Images

University of Georgia

Established in 1785

Location: Athens, Georgia



In 1785, Georgia became the first state to charter a state-supported university, making the University of Georgia one of the oldest public universities in the U.S. Many notable alumni have graced the halls, from government officials to Emmy and Grammy winners, writers, scholars, poets, and more.



SeanPavonePhoto - Getty Images

Washington & Jefferson College

Established in 1781

Location: Washington, Pennsylvania



W&J College began in 1781, not long after the American Revolution. Three log cabin schools merged together to become W&J, and in 1865, it merged with Jefferson College to become Washington & Jefferson. Old Main, pictured here, is one of the most prominent buildings on campus.

Washington & Jefferson College

Transylvania University

Established in 1780

Location: Lexington, Kentucky

Affectionately known as Transy, this was the first university in Kentucky, although it actually began in an area that was once known as Virginia. Two U.S. Presidents have graduated from the school.

Transylvania University

Hampden-Sydney College

Established in 1775

Location: Hampden Sydney, Virginia



Hampden-Sydney, a men's liberal arts college, was the last American college founded in British Colonial America and the last college founded before the American Declaration of Independence was signed. It is now one of only three men's-only liberal arts colleges in the U.S.

Hampden-Sydney College

Dickinson College

Established in 1773

Location: Carlisle, Pennsylvania



Dickinson College was originally known as the Carlisle Grammar School and was founded in 1773 and charted in 1783, six days after the Revolutionary War ended. Because of this, Dickinson became the first college chartered in the new United States.

Dickinson College

Salem College

Established in 1772

Location: Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Salem College is the oldest educational institution for girls and women in the U.S. It was founded in 1772 by Sister Elisabeth Oesterlein as a boarding school. In 1866, it was renamed Salem Female Academy, and in 1890, it began offering college degrees.

Salem College

College of Charleston

Established in 1770

Location: Charleston, South Carolina



The College of Charleston is known as the oldest educational institution south of Virginia, and was founded in a time when only wealthy families sent their sons to college. It's also the oldest college in South Carolina.

Debbie H Perkins Photography - Getty Images

Dartmouth College

Established in 1769

Location: Hanover, New Hampshire



Today, Dartmouth is a private Ivy League university, but when it was established in 1769, it was meant to be a school that educated Native Americans in Christian theology and the English way of life. It eventually evolved to become one of the most prestigious schools in the country.

jmoor17 - Getty Images

Rutgers University

Established in 1766

Location: New Brunswick, New Jersey



In 1766, Rutgers was charted as an all-male school and was known as Queen's College. It was renamed Rutgers in 1825 in honor of Colonel Henry Rutgers, a Revolutionary War veteran.

GraphicaArtis - Getty Images

Brown University

Established in 1764

Location: Providence, Rhode Island



In 1764, Brown became the first college in the U.S. to admit students regardless of their religious background. In 1891, they started allowing women into the school. It was also one of the doctoral-granting colleges in the country.



DenisTangneyJr - Getty Images

Columbia University

Established in 1754

Location: New York City, New York



Back in 1754, Columbia University was called King's College. It was renamed Columbia in 1784 after the American Revolution, and is the oldest college in New York. The school has many notable alumni, including Alexander Hamilton, Robert R. Livingston, and John Jay.

Underwood Archives - Getty Images

Washington and Lee University

Established in 1749

Location: Lexington, Virginia



Washington and Lee was named after two important men in American history: George Washington (who gave a donation of $20,000 in 1796) and Robert E. Lee. It was originally called Augusta Academy.

Montes-Bradley - Getty Images

Princeton University

Established in 1746

Location: Princeton, New Jersey



In 1746, Princeton was founded as the College of New Jersey. In 1756, the college was moved to Princeton, New Jersey, which is when the name was changed. Like many other Colonial Colleges, it was first opened to train ministers, but today, it's one of the most prestigious universities in the country.

Bettmann - Getty Images

University of Delaware

Established in 1743

Location: Newark, Delaware



In 1743, a petition created by the Presbytery of Lewes to create an educated clergy caught the attention of Rev. Dr. Francis Alison, who opened a school in New London, Pennsylvania. In 1765, it was relocated to Newark, Delaware.

gregobagel - Getty Images

Moravian College

Established in 1742

Location: Bethlehem, Pennsylvania



In 1742, Moravian became the first boarding school for young women in the American colonies when it was founded by a 16-year-old named Countess Benigna von Zinzendorf. A men's version of the school was founded in the same year. In 1954, both the men's and women's schools combined to form Moravian.

CynthiaAnnF - Getty Images

University of Pennsylvania

Established in 1740

Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

In 1740, Penn was founded with a slightly different idea in mind: Evangelist George Whitefield wanted to build a Philadelphia charity school that was also a house of worship for his followers. The original project went unfinished for a decade due to lack of funds, but in 1749, Benjamin Franklin helped get the school going again, and in 1751, the doors were opened again as the Academy and Charitable School in the Province of Pennsylvania.



Archive Photos - Getty Images

Yale University

Established in 1701

Location: New Haven, Connecticut



Although it was founded in 1701, Yale can be traced back to the 1640s, when colonial clergymen wanted to found a college to preserve the tradition of European liberal education in what would later become America. The charter wasn't granted until 1701, and it became Yale College in 1718.

Lake County Discovery Museum - Getty Images

St. John's College

Established in 1696

Location: Annapolis, Maryland



In 1696, St. John's College was founded as King William's School and was a grammar/prep school. It took a century before it was chartered as St. John's College.

The Washington Post - Getty Images

The College of William & Mary

Established in 1693

Location: Williamsburg, Virginia



The second oldest college in America, the original plans for W&M can be traced all the way back to 1618they never went through because of an "Indian uprising." In 1693, King William III and Queen Mary II of England signed the charter for the school, which went on to become William & Mary.

Bettmann - Getty Images

Harvard University

Established in 1636

Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts



There are many reasons why Harvard is widely considered to be the most prestigious school in the country, but for starters, it was the first official college in the United States. It was named after John Harvard, who donated a large sum of money and a massive library of books to the school.

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Kara Still and Carmen Dianne are co-founders of Prosperity Market, which is helping connect local Black-owned businesses to much-needed grants. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)

When Shelley Bruce was first offered the lease of the top floor of a stunning 11,200-square-feet exposed brick loft in downtown L.A.s Arts District in December 2021, she did not imagine it one day becoming her own BIPOC community center.

It was kind of still the pandemic and I was like, You all must be crazy! How much is that? says Bruce, who has worked for years as a community organizer and activist. But by the following summer, she had turned the wood-beamed loft into the Heart Department  part profitable event rental space, part donation-based gathering place hosting free wine tastings, classical music concerts, Village of Mothers support groups, Black mens healing circles, queer programming events and workshops for sexual-violence survivors. There are so many communities that can't afford their own space, so we give it to them for free or at highly discounted rates.

In January, the bottom floor of the building became available, and Bruce found herself in what she described as a catch-22. If I didn't take the bottom floor of the building, I might lose everything entirely because the landlord wanted one tenant on the whole lease of building, she says. It has very much been a struggle. Now, even after months of fundraising, what has become a thriving BIPOC haven and social justice center is facing a crisis to maintain its location.

The Heart Department is one of four businesses in L.A. that Prosperity Market, a mobile farmers market and Black-owned business advocate, has chosen as a recipient for a fundraising initiative called "It's Bigger Than Us," with the goal to reach $100,000 in contributions by Sept. 17. Other recipients are Jefferson Parks wildly popular plant shop and gathering place, the Plant Chica; documentary filmmaker Rhasaan Nichols' California Coffee Co.; and veteran-owned Lazy Rose Cafe on La Brea. All have prioritized community outreach, and all are facing imminent struggles to stay open or reopen in new locations.

Read more: How a Black farmers market became an incubator for new businesses

We are seeing business after business. These are four examples. But there are many other businesses that we've seen with the same story, says Carmen Dianne, co-founder of Prosperity Market. They're either losing their locations or they have to close or their building is being sold. Though there are many others with similar struggles, Dianne and co-founder Kara Still chose these four based on their relationships with them and their extensive community outreach.

I think that there is a common thread between all of them, says Dianne. They are all very much community focused, so supporting these four businesses reaches much further than that, because of all of the businesses that they support. She says that California Coffee Co. and Lazy Rose Cafe sell other black-owned products in their shops.

The Plant Chica owner Sandra Mejia and her husband Bantalem Adis were recently forced to move out of the 4,500-square-feet plant store they had paid to convert from an auto body shop into a greenhouse.

The neighborhood kids think that Santa Claus lives at the Plant Chica, says Mejia, stressing how important the shops physical location was to her community. They hosted at least six events every month. Everything we do is always free, she says, mentioning wellness days with yoga and meditation, flower arrangement classes and story time for kids.

Sandra Mejia, left, and her husband, Bantalem Adis, own the Plant Chica and recently had to leave the store they converted from an auto body shop in West Adams. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

But the impetus for this initiative stems not only from a clear need from these beloved local businesses, but also from a broader trend that the women behind Prosperity Market want to shed light on. During the pandemic, we saw all this support, and now here we are three years later, and it's like, what happened? Where did that support go? It really wasn't sustainable. And we really wanted to tell that story.

This is the reality of what black businesses are facing right now, says Dianne who, with Still, founded Prosperity Market after witnessing 41% of Black-owned businesses close during the early months of the pandemic in 2020 and grocery store lines grow longer.

Read more: They created a safe space in South L.A. But can this beloved plant shop survive 'gentrification?'

Especially after George Floyd's murder, there was this pendulum swing of support to find and shop Black-owned businesses, organizations committing to helping Black entrepreneurs open their businesses and funding coming through to kind of offset all of the tragedy that had happened during that time, says Still. And that's great. But I guess the pendulum has to swing back before it starts to settle, right? And so what we are seeing now is that that's not as high on the list of priorities in the conversation. Some of those funding avenues aren't necessarily as available.

To counter that, Dianne and Still are partnering with the Black Cooperative Impact Fund, a nonprofit lender that generally offers zero-interest micro loans to Black-owned businesses in Southern California. In the case of "Its Bigger Than Us," BCIF will be distributing the funds as grants between these four businesses.

We see that the applicants oftentimes can't get funded elsewhere and that's really just a microcosm of the Black business community nationwide," BCIF President Robert Lewis says. "The data tells us that about 40% to 50% of Black businesses are typically funded through personal means, friends and family.

Such is the case for Erdavria Rose Simpson of the Lazy Rose Cafe. Simpson, an Army veteran whose day job is as a project management analyst for Millennium Space Systems, described spending more than $100,000 of her own money for her cafes build-out.

Read more: A community-led renaissance is brewing at Black-owned coffee shops

"Unfortunately, with rent increasing, with us putting our personal dollars into the business, I dont have a savings anymore, says Simpson, who is grappling with rent prices and watching the stores around her become boarded up. We've applied to 54 grants. We haven't gotten any.

For Simpson, this included Paycheck Protection Program loans. According to a survey from the Federal Reserve Bank, only 43% of Black-owned businesses who applied received PPP funding while 79% of white owners received help. I'm trying to save the business 1,000%. That means maybe we become a Black cafe coalition where other shops can set up home here.

Nichols, who hired a lawyer after his California Coffee Co. was evicted from a mall in Sherman Oaks, hopes to be part of said coalition. My reserve money went into doing a legal battle, he says. This fundraiser will help us pivot. I really want to make coffee again.

Bruce of the Heart Department is optimistic. I think the challenge I'm having that I'm so grateful for Prosperity Market for is, I do genuinely feel that as a Black young woman, it's a bit harder for me to find the right investment capital, and sometimes be taken as seriously, she says. The Prosperity Market fundraising is going to help us close the gap.

"Its Bigger Than Us" coincides with Prosperity Markets annual August Black Business Scavenger Hunt, a nearly monthlong public competition that, this year, highlights over 70 Black-owned businesses all over L.A. and allows customers to earn points for shopping. The scavenger hunt culminates with a celebratory pop-up farmers market from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Aug. 27 at Hollywood Park with the business owners in attendance.

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.
KYODO NEWS - Aug 18, 2023 - 20:11 | All, World, Japan

The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.

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Japan, U.S., South Korea leaders to make 3-way ties more durable

WASHINGTON - The leaders of Japan, the United States and South Korea will agree Friday on a range of initiatives to make their framework of cooperation more durable, leveraging the benefits of the recent rapprochement between the two Asian neighbors amid China's growing clout and North Korea's escalating threat.

The initiatives will include holding a trilateral summit at least once a year, carrying out joint defense drills more frequently, bolstering supply chains for semiconductors and other key industrial items, and working closely on emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, according to senior officials of the three countries.

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Japan's consumer prices rise 3.1% in July in blow to households

TOKYO - Japan's core consumer prices in July rose 3.1 percent from a year earlier, well above the Bank of Japan's 2 percent target, as food and service price hikes kept the overall inflationary trend intact, government data showed Friday.

The nationwide core consumer price index, excluding volatile fresh food items, rose for the 23rd straight month, amid emerging signs of entrenched inflation hurting consumer sentiment.

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Hacker group attacks Japan nuclear websites over Fukushima water plan

TOKYO - International hacker group Anonymous has launched cyberattacks against nuclear power-linked groups in Japan in protest at the planned release of treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea, a Japanese IT security firm said.

Anonymous has been intensifying its cyber offensives since last month, shortly after the International Atomic Energy Agency said in its final report that the planned discharge would comply with global safety standards, NTT Security Japan said.

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Japan, U.S., Australia eye ship deployment to Philippines for drill

MANILA/TOKYO - Japan, the United States and Australia are considering conducting a joint naval drill with the Philippines next week in the South China Sea, sources close to the matter said Friday.

The exercise, set for Wednesday, comes amid mounting tensions between China and the Philippines after a Chinese coast guard vessel fired a water cannon at a Philippine military-chartered boat near the Manila-controlled Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea earlier this month.

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Biden trying to meet North Korean leader without preconditions: official

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Joe Biden is willing to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un "without preconditions" to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, a senior White House official said Thursday.

"They have not responded positively to that offer, but it's still on the table. We are willing to sit down and negotiate without preconditions," White House national security spokesman John Kirby said in an interview with Kyodo News.

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China appears to be building runway on disputed South China Sea island

HONG KONG - China appears to be constructing a runway on a disputed island in the South China Sea claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan in its latest move to claim sovereignty in the contested waters, a Hong Kong newspaper reported Friday citing satellite images.

The South China Morning Post said what appears to be a 630-meter-long airstrip was seen last month on Triton Island, part of the disputed Paracel Islands, in images taken by the European Space Agency.

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Police seize 20 blades from home of suspects in Sapporo beheading

SAPPORO - Police have seized around 20 blades, including four saws, from the home of a family arrested over the case of a decapitated body found at a Sapporo hotel room in July, investigative sources said Friday.

Runa Tamura, 29, and her parents were served fresh arrest warrants earlier this week on suspicion of killing a 62-year-old company worker who lived in a city adjacent to Sapporo. The three were first arrested last month on allegations including abandoning a corpse.

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Japan town OKs survey for interim spent nuclear fuel storage facility

YAMAGUCHI, Japan - A western Japan town on Friday gave the greenlight for a geological survey by two major utilities companies, in a step toward the building of an intermediate facility to temporarily keep spent nuclear fuel.

Chugoku Electric Power Co. proposed earlier this month to Kaminoseki in Yamaguchi Prefecture a plan to jointly construct the facility with Kansai Electric Power Co. It will be the second such storage facility in Japan, following one already built in Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture in northeastern Japan.

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Adding a blue-light filter to your eyeglasses may not ease eye strain from computer work, protect the retina or help with sleep at night, according to a new review of existing research.

We found there may be no short-term advantages with using blue-light filtering spectacle lenses to reduce visual fatigue associated with computer use, said senior author Laura Downie in a statement. Downie is an associate professor of optometry and vision sciences and director of the anterior eye, clinical trials and research translation unit at the University of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia.

It is also currently unclear whether these lenses affect vision quality or sleep-related outcomes, and no conclusions could be drawn about any potential effects on retinal health in the longer term, Downie said. People should be aware of these findings when deciding whether to purchase these spectacles.

In reality, its not the blue-light emission from our devices that is causing eye strain for most people, said ophthalmologist Dr. Craig See, a cornea specialist at Cole Eye Institute at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.

Most people have computer vision syndrome, which is related to sitting at a computer screen for a long period of time, said See, who was not involved in the study.

Symptoms of computer vision syndrome include dry eyes, watery eyes, blurry vision, light sensitivity, burning or itchy eyes, and difficulty concentrating and keeping your eyes open, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Eye strain from presbyopia, which is the gradual loss with age of the ability of the eye to focus on nearby objects, can contribute, as can neck and shoulder pain, See said.

I dont typically recommend blue-light filters to my patients, See said. Theres no reason to think that blue-light filtering is harmful, other than the cost associated with adding it to your glasses. The takeaway here is that it may not be doing as much as we were hoping.

Only short-term studies

The report, published Thursday in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, analyzed data from 17 randomized controlled clinical trials conducted in six countries that lasted from a few days to a few months. The review is part of the nonprofit Cochrane Collaboration, an independent, international network of researchers that uses some of the highest standards in evidence-based research.

The brevity of the clinical trials affected the reviewers ability to consider longer-term outcomes, Downie said. Our certainty in the reported findings should be interpreted in the context of the quality of the available evidence.

In addition, blue-light filtering lenses only filter between 10% and 25% of blue light from artificial devices such as computer screens, and that blue light is only a thousandth of what we get from natural daylight, said first author Dr. Sumeer Singh, a postdoctoral clinical research fellow in the anterior eye, clinical trials and research translation unit at the University of Melbourne.

Filtering out higher levels of blue light would require the lenses to have an obvious amber tint, which would have a substantial effect on colour perception, he said in a statement.

The review was conducted to answer an ongoing debate on whether blue-light filtering lenses have any merit in ophthalmic practice, Downie said.

Research has shown that these lenses are frequently prescribed to patients in many parts of the world, and a range of marketing claims exist about their potential benefits, including that they may reduce eye strain associated with digital device use, improve sleep quality and protect the retina from light-induced damage, she said.

Our findings do not support the prescription of blue-light filtering lenses to the general population, Downie said. These results are relevant to a broad range of stakeholders, including eye care professionals, patients, researchers and the broader community.

How to help your eyes

There are a number of actions you can take to ease or prevent eye strain, See said. First, if you havent had your eyes checked in the last year or two, visit a specialist right away. Your eyes may have weakened, making a new prescription necessary.

When you visit the eye doctor, go in with a measurement of how far away your face is from your computer screen, so the doctor can maximize your prescription, See said. You should be arms length from the screen. And if youre using a laptop, consider getting a larger external display that you can plug into.

Having a bigger screen can ease eye strain by increasing text size and may also reduce headaches and neck strain from bending over the laptop, See explained.

If your text is difficult for you to read, its going to take you longer to read it, he said. You will be affecting your posture to do so, and youll be blinking even less if youre straining to read things. Having a bigger screen can help with that.

The eye stops blinking regularly as computer time increases, See said, so taking regular breaks from work at the computer is also important. Try using the 20-20-20 rule  every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet (6 meters) away for 20 seconds, which can encourage your eyes to blink at their normal rate. Better yet, get up and walk away, because constant sitting will increase neck and back strain.

If dry eyes are part of the problem, a warm compress applied to your eyes can offer relief, as can over-the-counter artificial tears. But keep the use to a minimum  many contain preservatives and should be used no more than four times a day.

If you need them more often, you need to move to preservative-free tears, which come in a vial, See said. I will say if you need artificial teardrops more than four times a day, then I think its a good idea to see an eye doctor for your condition.

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If theres one design movement that demonstrates staying power better than any other, its Art Deco. The post-war era is most famously represented by New York Citys Empire State Building and F. Scott Fitzgeralds novel The Great Gatsby. Its strong colors and precise geometric shapes also translate well to yachting, with Phoenix 2, Sycara IV, and classic yacht Malahne all striking examples.

But yacht designer Christian Leyks 289-foot yacht concept Steamer 888 stretches the idea to its limits. What would it look like if you turn the Chrysler Building horizontal and put it on the water? asks the designer. His answer: Its the embodiment of an era that was itself influenced by nautical themes.

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I think the Chrysler building is the most gorgeous skyscraper ever built, Leyk tells Robb Report. Theres just something very special about the way elegance and innovation merged so harmoniously back in those days.

The aft decks.

Steamer 888 takes its name from the steam trains of the 1930s. The chrome radiator on the front of the sundeck cocktail bar and the curving chrome handrail on the yachts floating staircase pay homage to trains, specifically the Henry Dreyfuss-designed New York Central Hudson 4-6-4 steam locomotive.

Other Art Deco features include the curved, raised swimming pool on the main deck aft with a mosaiced floor. Covered in white ceramic tiles with looped step handles, it bears more than a passing resemblance to British public bathhouses. The tiles continue onto a sunken floor area, which Leyk says can be used as a water feature to reflect sunlight or kept for decoration.

Ive grown tired of seeing infinity pools on yachts because they dont work, he says. You have to put a two-foot wall around a large body of water, or it spreads over the deck, so the tiled pool with its high walls is an attractive and practical option.

Leyk references the lines of the Lockheed Super Constellation aircraft as inspiration, while the repetition of triangular shapes found on the flooring, transom and Sat domes support a consistent Art Deco design language. A technical storage box that sits underneath the mast takes on the chromed shape of a 1950s classic Dualite toaster, complete with air ribs for ventilation.

The salon.

Art Deco is a popular theme in yachting, but 90 percent of the time its wrongly executed, he says. I wanted to create a concept that is both beautiful and accurately Art Deco.

The tri-deck yacht may look like a vintage model, but its filled with modern amenities. Alongside glass balustrades and a frosted glass floor on the sundeck that shines light on the deck below are two large salons, a full-beam owners suite, a beach club with a gym and a touch-and-go helipad.

A sleek and narrow fast displacement hull makes the yacht efficient for long-distance cruising. According to Leyk, it means the 289-footer feels closer to a 200-foot yacht. Its a sacrifice he believes owners are willing to make to avoid cramming volume and adding too many decks.

The monochrome exterior is paired with a suitably cinematic interior by French design studio Silvia Iraghi Interiors. Rounded furniture and soft shapes that connect with the decorative exterior. The floors are made from marble and wood, while the ceiling is formed from individual panels of backlit resin.

I wanted to give the interior space a sense of fluidity, but at the same time play with material, texture, and geometry to connect one room with another and to elevate the guest experience, Iraghi tells Robb Report.

The owners suite.

Steamer 888 is the first collaboration between Iraghi and Leyk. Unsurprisingly for someone who started out in the studio of master yacht designer Evan Marshall and spent a decade as lead designer for Ken Freivokh, another rock-star yacht designer, Leyk prides himself on penning concepts that express an owners individuality. He now has his own studio named coquine![design], so his imagination is free to run wild.

I believe there are future owners who simply havent been shown anything that excites them, he says. But by extending an invitation to be part of the creative journey, thats when the magic happens.

For Steamer 888, the magic will include an unfinished aluminum tender powered by a repurposed aircraft engine.

Click here to see all the photos of the Steamer 888 concept.

Steamer 888 Superyacht Concept

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Artificial intelligence apps like ChatGPT are changing the way we do all kinds of things nowadays. And if one person on Reddit's use of the app is any indication, they might even be able to change the way we think about some of the issues currently tearing us apart.

A trans person asked ChatGPT to make a Bible verse describing how Jesus feels about trans people, and the results were surprising.

Redditor Psychological_Dog 527's post is as heartbreaking as it is fascinating. "I was feeling sad today," they wrote, "so I asked ChatGPT to write a fake biblical passage about Jesus accepting trans people."

The results truly sound like they could be ripped from a page of the Bible. ChatGPT has definitely nailed the formal, stentorian tone. But the content of the fake verse is even more fascinating.

chatgpt bible verse about how jesus feels about trans people

Photo: Reddit

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The verse speaks of a woman "whose heart was divided between spirit and body" who comes to Jesus "in quiet despair," begging Him for mercy as she worries she will be cast out of "the Kingdom of God" because her "spirit and body are not one."

Contrary to what all too many Christians would have us believe about Christ nowadays, He responds to her not only with kindness, but with acceptance, calling her struggle "for unity within [herself]" a path to God's truth. And he assures her that "God looks not upon the body, but the heart."

"I know it's not real," the Redditor wrote, "but it gave me some comfort." That comfort is likely much needed given the all-out attacks being launched against transgender people by America's right-wing, nearly all of it in God's name.

The verse has special resonance in 2023 because of the virulent transphobia and anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment and legislation that continues to sweep the country  much of it supported and funded by Christians.

So far, 2023 has seen a record-breaking number of anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ bills proposed across the United States, breaking the previous all-time record set in 2022 just by the end of May.

The bills focus on everything from banning drag performances to denying trans people the gender-affirming medical care that the scientific and medical communities agree are essential and life-saving. Sickeningly, an enormous proportion of these bills are targeted at children.

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Much of the legislation and anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ activism has been directly funded by Christian organizations. Right-wing and religious figures have also practically made it a pastime to accuse LGBTQ+ of pedophilia, and routinely level "groomer" accusations against straight allies of LGBTQ+ people too, leading to harassment and violence against LGBTQ+ people.

Long story short, we are living in an unfortunate "golden age" of transphobia and homophobia, nearly all of it being perpetrated in the name of Jesus Christ. And as the discussion around the Redditor's post has revealed, it's entirely unnecessary.

ChatGPT's fake Bible verse sparked a discussion about what the Bible actually says about gender, including ancient Jewish texts Jesus Himself would have followed.

You wouldn't know it to listen to the discourse around LGBTQ+ issues, but it has long been known that the Bible's supposed condemnation of queer people rests almost entirely on mistranslations.

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But as several commenters on Reddit pointed out, the Talmud, the body of ancient Jewish writings that form the basis of Jewish law and theology, as well as the Bible and Jesus' own words, also include detailed discussion of sex and gender.

Daniel McClellan is a religious scholar who holds a PhD in Hebrew Jewish theology and is well-known on TikTok as @maklelan, where he clarifies the meaning of the Bible and debunks many religious people's wrongful interpretations of it.

In a video, he explains that the Talmud discusses a total of eight different manifestations of sex and the gender roles that go along with them.

As he details, even the creation story of Adam and Eve had a different take on gender than the story we all know, with Adam being a dual-gendered figure, half-male and half-female, from which was created separate male and female sexes.

McClellan notes that "while this would seem to describe a pretty clear gender binary, the rabbis knew that that's not how things always shook out in reality." So the Talmud includes six additional identities beyond just male and female, to address what we might today define as intersex people, those born with some combination of both male and female biological traits.

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The Talmud also accounts for whether these variations arose from natural causes or human interventions, such as eunuchs  a distinction Jesus Himself acknowledges in the New Testament Gospel of Matthew, where in Matthew 19:12 He speaks of "eunuchs who were born that way," "eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others," as well as those who chose such an identity for themselves "for the sake of the kingdom of heaven."

The Talmud's purpose for all this was to assign gender roles and legal rights based on sex  something we hardly think of as progressive today. But tellingly, the Talmud does not assign these six additional identities exclusively male or female roles, but rather "some kind of mix of those assigned to men and those assigned to women," as McClellan puts it.

So is our modern understanding of sex, gender, sexual identity and human sexuality an exact graft onto the Talmud and the Bible? Not entirely. But Judaism definitely accounted for a diversity of presentations, ones many Christians insist are abominable today. And, as a Jew, Jesus Christ was so well-versed in this diversity of presentations that he even referenced them in his own words.

So when it comes to ChatGPT's take on Jesus' thoughts about transgender people, it's probably pretty spot-on  or, at least a lot more spot-on than most of His current-day followers would have us believe.

Here's hoping we can someday use this knowledge to create a world where trans and other LGBTQ+ people don't need to turn to artificial intelligence to find respite from the vitriol being hurled at them, all in the name of a deity who never would have rejected them in the first place.

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John Sundholm is a news and entertainment writer who covers pop culture, social justice and human interest topics.

This article originally appeared on YourTango
Early drinking can be fun, but how does it affect our bodies in the short and long term? (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: courtesy of Dunkin' and Eggo)

Mornings are getting "spiked" courtesy of two iconic breakfast companies: Dunkin' and Eggo.

Dunkin' debuted its line of alcoholic drinks featuring eight coffee and tea flavors like caramel, mocha, vanilla, strawberry dragonfruit and mango pineapple. Eggo, meanwhile, came out with Eggo Brunch in a Jar Sippin' Cream, which blends the flavors of toasted Eggo waffles, maple syrup, butter and bacon. Both companies have made their products available only in select grocery and retail stores across the nation.

"Parents often struggle to find moments for themselves where they can enjoy some 'me time,'" Joe Beauprez, senior director of marketing for frozen foods at Kellogg's, the owner of Eggo, tells Yahoo Life. "We know our fans love brunch, and for parents, going out to brunch can feel like a treat. So, we set out to help them re-create that special occasion at home.

"As with any alcoholic beverage," he stresses, "Brunch in a Jar is meant to be enjoyed responsibly and in moderation by adults 21 and older."

Of course, while the idea of day drinking isn't exactly new, the temptation of such delectable treats inspired us to ask experts about the effects of morning alcohol consumption  and how it impacts our bodies in the short and long term. Here's what we found out.

Morning alcohol and overall health

While there is no sacred time one should or shouldn't consume alcohol, Dr. Gabe Ortiz, an internal medicine physician in Texas, tells Yahoo Life that morning drinking leads to "quicker absorption of alcohol into the bloodstream, which in turn can increase the likelihood of liver cirrhosis and heart damage," especially when ingested on an empty stomach.

Alcohol is primarily metabolized in the liver, he explains. In the morning, our liver is already busy processing the previous night's toxins and recalibrating for the day. Interrupting that process could lead to higher blood alcohol concentration as a whole, which causes a person to feel the effects more quickly and intensely. It may also delay our productivity for the rest of the day.

"Alcohol has already been shown to decrease cognitive function and decision making," Ortiz says. "I can imagine that once a consumer starts, it would be a very slippery slope to be productive  no matter what the agenda for the day is."

Dr. Alana Biggers, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Illinois College of Medicine, agrees, telling Yahoo Life that "people who drink early in the day will be more impaired and unable to function throughout the day" and will likely "not be able to work or take care of other responsibilities."

Furthermore, she says: "Drinking in the morning is also considered a sign of excessive alcohol use and possible alcohol dependency."

Drinking on an empty stomach

"Drinking on an empty stomach can cause the alcohol to pass quickly from the stomach to the small intestine, to be absorbed into the bloodstream," Biggers says, which "hastens the alcohol's impairing effects."

Food, however, prevents alcohol from passing so quickly since it essentially slows the alcohol on its way to the small intestine. As Healthline points out, the longer alcohol stays in the stomach (rather than the small intestine), the slower it takes to absorb  and the slower it impacts the body and causes overall cognitive delays.

While "light to moderate drinking" on an empty stomach might not be cause for concern, Healthline notes, "drinking large amounts of alcohol fast on an empty stomach can be very dangerous."

What about mixing alcohol and caffeine?

The consumption of alcohol and caffeine should be limited or avoided, says Ortiz. "Reason being that the caffeine will mask the depressant effect of alcohol, thus giving the consumer a false sense of alertness, leading to more drinks and increased likelihood of the deleterious effects of alcohol," he notes. "Additionally, caffeine does not do anything for the metabolism of alcohol."

Even more, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, caffeine "has no effect on the metabolism of alcohol by the liver and thus does not reduce breath or blood alcohol concentrations"  meaning it does not "sober you up" or reduce impairment resulting from alcohol consumption.

Dehydration

The extreme heat might inspire you to have a pina colada in the morning, but you're more likely to get dehydrated if the sun is extra hot. That may intensify the alcohol's effects and cause some to feel fatigued throughout the day, notes Dr. Jean Touchan, a New Hampshire cardiologist.

"Alcohol, in general, increases dehydration, especially in the hot weather, in the sun or on the beach," he tells Yahoo Life. "One option to decrease the risk would be to increase water intake to compensate."

As noted in the New York Times, if you're sweating while drinking, you're likely to lose more fluids than you're able to replenish  as well as sodium and minerals that help with memory, judgment and overall mood and blood sugar levels, most of which are flushed out of our system more frequently when we drink, which is why we tend to urinate more often when we consume alcohol.

Diarrhea and other digestive issues

Early drinking, especially without food, can cause irritation in the stomach lining that may lead to inflammation, increased acid production and potentially gastritis (inflammation of the stomach lining).

As Dr. Alicia Shelly, an internal medicine doctor in Georgia, explained to HuffPost, "Alcohol in general can increase the speed of digestion and put the individual at risk for diarrhea." In the same article, Dr. Anna Shannahan, an assistant professor of family medicine at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, noted that drinking "can irritate the digestive system no matter the time of day, even potentially leading to stomach inflammation over time, which can affect how your body processes nutrients."

How day drinking impacts sleep

Drinking "causes your sleep quality to decrease and the effects are worse with the more you drink," says Biggers. "Alcohol also leads to more sleep disruptions and less sleep overall."

More specifically, early drinking can disrupt your internal body clock (or circadian rhythm), which can potentially make it harder to fall asleep at night. It may also increase production of adenosine, a sleep-inducing chemical in the brain, which might lead to a "rebound effect" when the alcohol wears off, causing wakefulness or disrupted sleep later in the night, Ortiz explains.

"This will affect overall REM sleep [a critical stage of the sleep cycle associated with dreaming and cognitive functions]," he says. "Additionally, it can affect someone's ability to breathe at night by relaxing their throat muscles, causing a potentially blocked airway, otherwise referred to as sleep apnea."

Other disruptions can include changes in body temperature or bad interactions with medications, which can also lead to poor sleep patterns. Even then, it's about quantity.

"As long as the amount of alcohol during the day is small, such as one serving," adds Touchan, "its effect will potentially be minimal."
Florida Man Pleading for the Return of Beloved Dog Who Was Adopted Out While He Was Hospitalized

One man in Dania Beach, Florida, is fighting to get his dog back after the pup was adopted out while the man was hospitalized. Timothy Sweat was assured by Broward Sherrif's Office and Broward County Animal Care that his Yorkie-poo, Bear, would be safe while he recovered.

Sweat, his attorney, and 7 News Miami are all working toward Bear's return, though the public is fuming over the chain of events that led to the dog's adoption. Needless to say, the pup's owner is devastated.

Our hearts are breaking for Timothy and his beloved canine companion. Many people adopted animals during the pandemic and can understand the profound impact they have on their owner's physical and mental health. Dogs are more than pets--they are members of the family! For Timothy, Bear was there for him during life's most difficult moments. The two hadn't been apart in three years.

The tragedy began on July 19 when Timothy and his Yorkie-poo were out for a walk. A young man approached them before attempting to kidnap the dog. Timothy was able to stop him but was severely injured in the process. We're thankful to hear that he and Bear made it back home safely, but the severity of Timothy's injuries became clearer the following morning.

After calling 911, Timothy was asked several questions about his injury and situation, including whether he was feeling suicidal. Because he honestly answered 'yes,' he was handcuffed before being taken to the hospital. This is when authorities assured him that Bear would be taken care of at Broward County Animal Care.

When 7 News Miami reached out to the shelter, directed Emily Wood responded, "The minimum that we have to hold that animal waiting for you to reclaim them is five days." However, she explains that the shelter was working with limited information.

Bear's shelter records include the note, "Per Dania BSO, the owner was hospitalized, and that his owner will pick up once he gets out of hospital in 3 days.

Timothy was not out of the hospital in 3 days. He was admitted for emergency brain surgery and spent over a week in intensive care. By the time he was discharged from the hospital on August 2, someone else had adopted the dog.

The animal shelter explains that they can do nothing if the woman who adopted Bear refuses to give him back. Unfortunately, that's been her answer so far. Timothy, his attorney, the shelter, and 7 News have all reached out to the woman in hopes of changing her mind.

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Product Preview |

By Caroline Biggs

Product Preview is a weekly series spotlighting the latest and greatest debuts in the marketplace. Check back every Friday for whats new and notable.

It was an exciting week in the design world. A newly rebranded NY Now returned to the Javits Centercomplete with neon acrylic rolling trays and magical mushroom-infused mintsand at Pier 36, Shoppe Object was well underway. Trade shows aside, there were plenty of other imaginative marketplace launches to fawn over, too. From ergonomic lounge chairs with interchangeable shells to field tile forged from centuries-old terra-cotta, here are 12 standouts from the past week.

The Byron Column Rectangular dining table and Jakob dining armchair by Harrison and Nicholas Condos for RH - Photo Credit Courtesy of RH



RH released its 2023 Interiors collection with a new Sourcebook featuring 100 exclusive collections by more than a dozen international designers. Highlights include a gently rounded sideboard with woven caned doors by Los Angelesbased Thomas Bina and Brazils Ronald Sasson, and a white oak dining table with an art decostyle reeded column base by Harrison and Nicholas Condos of Australian brand Harbour.

Orchard Fruits wallpaper and window fabric in Parchment by John Derian for Designers Guild - Photo Credit Courtesy of Designers Guild

John Derians latest creations for Designers Guild are every bit as swoonworthy as expected. The launch includes two collections, Picture Book III Fabrics and Picture Book Wallpapers II, which translate the New Yorks artists signature decoupage works into romantic, vintage-style illustrated surface designs, such as the botanical Orchard Fruits and the fanciful Butterfly Studies.

Floors in Parefeuille Vintage Hex field tile by Ann Sacks - Photo Credit Courtesy of Ann Sacks

The Parefeuille series from Ann Sacks is pure upcycled perfection. Composed of centuries-old terra-cotta salvaged from farmhouses and chateaus throughout the South of France, the field tile features an authentically weathered patina and comes in four distinct shapes, including hexagonal and square.

The Mapico armchair and ottoman by Mapico at I Am U Are - Photo Credit Courtesy of Mapico

I Am U Arethe brand behind the design expo of the same nameis launching a new e-commerce site on Monday. The platform brings the works of dozens of up-and-coming Ukrainian makers to one online marketplace, and will offer everything from Mapicos shaggy sheeps woolupholstered chairs hand-crafted by artisans in the Carpathian mountains to 3D-printed pitchers made from starch, miscanthus and honeybee wax by Anumoplastic.

Marble incense holders in Bloom, Dune, Noir and Travertine by Broken English - Photo Credit Courtesy of Broken English

Los Angeles jewelry brand Broken English debuted a dreamy line of gemstone-inspired decor accents called BE Home. The collection spans 84 sculptural, heirloom-quality pieces crafted from highly touchable raw materials, ranging from crushed amethystclad storage boxes to solid bronze candleholders and travertine marble incense trays.

Sanderson partnered with Disney Home on an enchanting collection of fabrics and wallcoverings. Designed in honor of the latters 100th anniversary, the collaboration offers three dozen archival designs adorned in the legendary film companys most beloved animated characters, including a whimsical cloud-filled wallpaper featuring a jet-flying Mickey Mouse and a dainty floral upholstery print accented with Bambi and Thumper.

About A Chair 22 Armchair 2.0 seating by Hee Welling for Hay - Photo Credit Courtesy of Hay

Danish design brand Hay dropped its highly anticipated fall collection. In addition to an ergonomic lounge chair made from molded plywood by Norwegian designer Andreas Bergsaker, debuts include a line of aluminum lighting with mouth-blown opal glass shades by Studio 0405 and a seating family by Hee Welling with interchangeable shells.

The Plat table lamp in yellow by Notion Studio at Fine Lumens - Photo Credit Courtesy of Fine Lumens

At NY Now, Fine Lumens presented the multitasking Plat table lamp by Notion Studio. Created with plateausan area of level high groundin mind, the streamlined design features a vertical side that doubles as a bookend and a flat top for setting your smartphone.

Addison Rosss colorful showcase stopped me in my tracks at the Javits Center. Along with a rainbow of glossy ceramic salt and pepper grinders and lacquered ottoman trays, the U.K.-based brands offerings included a round scallop-edged wall mirror and a shiny two-toned waste bin that I will be dreaming of for weeks.

The Lowdown in Poppy by Mustard Made - Photo Credit Courtesy of Mustard Made

Australian brand Mustard Mades Lowdown design was on full display at Shoppe Object. The old-school locker-style cabinet is available in an array of feel-good colorwaysincluding lilac, Sage and a blush pinkand moonlights as a media console or storage station with lockable doors.

Gingerlily unveiled a characterful collaboration with Sheila Bridges. The sumptuous series re-imagines the A-list designers iconic Harlem Toile de Jouy motif as silk printed bedding and sleep accessories, including pillowcases, bolster cushions, a duvet cover and an eiderdown.

The Nugget sofa in Starfish by Nugget - Photo Credit Courtesy of Nugget

Nuggets kid-friendly seating design is now available in an assortment of fresh colorways, including yellow, lilac and bright orange. Swathed in machine-washable microsuede upholstery in your choice of 19 eye-catching hues, the interactive sofa is composed of four stackable geometric pieces that can be built and broken down into an array of fun, fortlike configurations.

Want to stay informed? Sign up for our newsletter, which recaps the weeks stories, and get in-depth industry news and analysis each quarter by subscribing to our print magazine. Join BOH Insider for discounts, workshops and access to special events such as the Future of Home conference.
Anglers in Connecticut are reeling in what appears to be half-eaten fish, and it seems to be due to an ocean predator.

The Connecticut Fish and Wildlife put out a call for photos of half-eaten fish on Facebook on Tuesday, Aug. 15, and fishing pros and hobbyist shared images of their partial catches.

"Yesterday while reeling in this striped bass these anglers had an unexpected visitor who proceeded to chomp most of this Striped Bass in one bite," the CFW wrote in its post. "We hear of this happening more and more over the past couple of years."

'VAMPIRE FISH' SPOTTED TWICE IN CALIFORNIA'S AMERICAN RIVER, SUGGESTING ITS RETURN TO THE AREA

Trevor Berwick, 33, a charter captain from Coventry, Connecticut, confirmed to Fox News Digital that sharks have been taking bites out of reeled fish  large and small.

Charter captain Trevor Berwick told Fox News Digital sharks have been taking bites out of striped bass during his fishing trips. He estimates the half-eaten bass in this photo could've been between 42 and 45 inches before it was bitten.

Brown sharks, sandbar sharks and tiger sharks are the usual culprits, according to Berwick, who works at Real Cast Charters, a sport fishing charter company in Old Saybrook, Connecticut.

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Berwick said the sharks seem to be active in the southern parts of the Long Island Sound, and on occasion, great white sharks have been seen in the area, too.

In the 12 years hes been charter fishing, Berwick says clients have been reeling in half-eaten fish in the last three or so years.

"We deal with them on a daily basis now. It's just kind of the way of the day," Berwick said. "[The sharks are] grabbing the back of fish, theyre chasing fish, theyre grabbing baits and it's just been getting kind of out of control."

SHARKS: 12 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE MARINE FISH

Reeling in half-eaten fish has yielded mixed feelings from fishing charter clients, according to Berwick.

When clients get to see the sharks as they take bites, excitement is stirred from the close-up encounters, he explained.

A beach in Southport, Connecticut, overlooking the Long Island Sound.

But, at the same time, not being able to fulfill the dream of catching a fully intact once-in-a-lifetime "trophy" is disappointing to some, especially when the uneaten fish remains show signs of being a large, according to Berwick.

Berwick said he throws the fish heads back in the water to respect the states size limit, and usually nearby sharks will finish it off. Crabs and lobster could also benefit from the half-eaten fish, Berwick continued.

GREAT WHITE SHARK CAUGHT AT FLORIDA BEACH, GROUP CATCHES VIDEO TO PROVE IT

Even for smaller fish, its not immediately clear if a shark bite could contaminate the meat, he added.

"I don't know if it's a bait thing or if it's the temperature or whatever the case can be, but [the sharks have] just started to kind of move in from last year," said Berwick.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Connecticut Fish and Wildlife for comment.

Several other anglers replied to the CFW with photos of their half-eaten fish and shark sightings.

Elliot Thomas, of Kensington, Connecticut, said a shark in the Long Island Sound recently took a bite out of his hooked catch.

The incident happened on Wednesday, Aug. 2, in the East Lyme are of the sound. Thomas also managed to snap photos of the shark that bit his fish that evening.

RECORD-BREAKING FISH: HUGE CATCHES THAT MADE HEADLINES IN 2022

Jake Roczniak, of East Haddam, Connecticut, was night fishing on the eastern side of the Long Island Sound in August 2022 when a shark took a chunk out of his striped bass.

"I was fighting [with the bass] and when it got near the side of the boat a shark bit my striper in half," Roczniak told Fox News Digital.

Jake Roczniak told Fox News Digital a shark bit his striped bass in half last year.

"I didnt get a great look at the shark, but it was either a small white shark or a brown shark," he continued. "Most likely a smaller white shark as Ive seen them in the area before this happened days before and after."

Roczniak said hes noticed an increase of shark activity in the sound at the beginning of August each year.

FLORIDA FISHERMEN CATCH A WARSAW GROUPER THAT WAS BIGGER THAN A MAN: IT WAS A MONSTER

Late last summer, Dale Chandler, of Griswoldville, Connecticut, also witnessed a catch get spoiled by a shark bite when he went fishing in the Long Island Sound from Clinton Harbor.

"Seen a shadow come and grab it as it was getting close to the boat. We think it was a small brown shark," he told Fox News Digital.

Dale Chandler, of Griswoldville, Connecticut, witnessed a shark eat half of a hooked fish during a fishing trip last year.

Anglers from other states also responded to the CFWs call for photos, including people who fish in the northeastern and southeastern coasts.

Brian Swiat, of Pine Bush, New York, had a large catch bit in half during a fishing trip in Rhode Island by a shark that "was going nuts next to the boat."

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"[My] fish was caught alive in Block Island, Rhode Island, and bitten right before landing into the boat," he told Fox News Digital. "Not sure what kind of shark, but its happening more and more frequently. Definitely makes us leery about putting our hands in the water anymore."

New York resident Brian Swiat said a shark bit his hooked fish while he went fishing in Block Island, Rhode Island, which is about 71 miles away from the Long Island Sound.

Steve Schipman, of Pensacola, Florida, said he has had to deal with sharks stealing and taking bites out of hooked fish when he ventures into the Gulf Coast.

The offenders are usually bull sharks, but sometimes theyre also porpoises, he told Fox News Digital.

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On more than one occasion, Schipman has had landed large Atlantic red snapper that have been half-eaten by the time he reels them in.

"Sharks have become a real problem here for recreational fishermen," he said. "The limit on red snapper is two per person, per trip, and there are some days we can't catch a limit because we lose 20 or more to sharks."
Anyone whos seen Sex and the City knows of Stanford (played by the late Willie Garson). Although the character appeared in season one of And Just Like That, his story line was pushed aside after the actors tragic passing. But now, Stanford is finally getting the ending he deserves.

Gotham/GC Images

On a recent episode of And Just Like That The Writers Room podcast, showrunner Michael Patrick King discussed the latest episode of AJLT season two. In the installment, Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) receives a letter from Stanford, where he explains that hes staying in Japan as a Shinto monk. According to King, it was the best way to honor Garson without killing off his character.

Ever since Willie died and what we had to do last year was explain the loss of our really wonderful friend and actor, Willie Garson playing Stanford Blatch, King said. The thing we came up with is that he went to Japan on a TikTok tour.

It was a fast fix, King added. It was a little bitit was like thin ice. We skated over it cause we had to, cause he wasnt in the show suddenly, and we didnt want Stanford to die. We wanted Willie to be alive as Stanford somewhere in the world.

Getty Images

King explained that theres a hidden meaning behind Stanfords Japan story line. I wanted to somehow pay tribute to Willie and put Stanford someplace where it was golden and filled with light because I hope Willies someplace thats golden and filled with light, King said. And it was poetic, and its very emotional.

Carrie + Stanford = BFFs 4ever.

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Actuarial science is a niche field at the intersection of data analytics and statistics within the business world. There are over 25,000 actuaries in the United States, with only 25.7% of them identifying as women. (Getty Images)

The actuarial field is an area of STEM that remains dominated by men and maintains a gender wage gap. But despite this, one woman was able to make waves in the field for decades and now teaches other young people how to do the same.

Mandy Hammell is many things. She is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a Certified Life Underwriter in the workforce, a Professor of Practice and Faculty-in-Charge in academia, and a loving wife, mother, and friend at home. She loves math, logistics, and fostering human relationships, and she has been lucky enough to find a career path that allows her to do all of these things. Now, she brings her passion to students aspiring to do the same.

What Is An Actuary?

Actuarial science is a niche field at the intersection of data analytics and statistics within the business world. There are over 25,000 actuaries in the United States, with only 25.7% (or approximately 6,400) of them identifying as women.

The field boasts an average of women making 94 on every $1 their male counterparts make, and, while not equal, this gender pay gap is still proportionately better than the national average of women making 83 on a mans $1. So even as there is an overall lack of women in the actuarial field, the women that are in the field are at least making better money than some of their female STEM counterparts.

Although, the statistics of racial diversity among actuaries are far less promising. According to Zippia , 71.4% of actuaries in the U.S. self-identified as White, with another 17.3% identifying as Asian, and only 11.3% making up the Hispanic or Latino, Black or African American, Unknown, or American Indian and Alaska Native populations. The source also identifies Asian actuaries to have the highest annual income at an average of $94,046 and Black or African American actuaries earning only $88,402.

Where It Started

Hammell has always been interested in STEM. From the time she was a little girl she loved to do puzzles and connect numbers. Growing up in State College, PA, she did not have many options for specialized science, technology, engineering, or math programs during her primary education.

Not knowing exactly what she wanted to do, Hammell went to The Pennsylvania State University (where her dad worked) in an initial pursuit of a Computer Science degree. She quickly figured out that the program made her feel isolated and uninspired, so her dad set up a meeting between her and a female actuary who worked for the University.

The woman explained to Hammell that the career had been very suitable for her, as a woman, in that your advancement was based upon your advancement through the exams very much at your own control. As opposed to in a lot of places getting ahead (means) you have to get the right opportunities and get exposed to things by the right people (which) is sometimes harder to navigate.

Hamell was so intrigued by this womans experience working as an actuary that she changed her major to a Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics and quickly fell in love with her actuarial courses.

Those in the actuarial field analyze the financial costs of risk and uncertainty through data, statistics and financial theory. But those in the field often see a lack of diversity among colleagues.

A Solid Career Foundation

Hammell graduated from Penn State and began working full time for Prudential Financial while she finished her course of (then) 10 exams required to become a member of the Society of Actuaries (SOA). She completed all of her exams and was able to formally join the SOA within five years of graduating college.

Over these five years Hammell focused on making connections, building her network, and finding new opportunities for herself within Prudential. She worked with financial analysis, financial reporting, and mergers and acquisitions, eventually being able to travel the world through work.

Hammell worked her way up to a Vice President position within the company and was able to work remote and part-time while her children were young simultaneously. The flexibility and understanding of her personal life allowed her to maintain a passionate career while not having to set back any of her personal goals.

Shifting To Academia

Hammell left her VP role at Prudential after working nearly 30 years with the company. She discovered that even the connections she had made back when she was in undergrad were still valuable when she got a call from one of her old professors in the Actuarial Department. He wanted her to come back to the University to teach one of the same classes that she had taken years ago.

Ready for a shift in her career, Hammell took the position as an Adjunct Professor. After only one semester (notably over the peak of Covid) she was promoted to the titles of Professor of Practice and Faculty-in-Charge of the Actuarial Science Program. Today she is the head of Penn States Actuarial Science program, where she is also a professor.

Hammells Reflections

Hammell enjoys teaching her students not only about the skills needed to be an actuary, but also how the career path can be so beneficial. She is sure to pass onto her students the same message of promoting flexibility and passion in the workplace that her fathers colleague had expressed to her years prior.

For students that do not quite know what they want to do with their careers, she emphasizes the importance of trying to learn about the environment that you would be operating in and whether or not it's going to be one where you're going to have those opportunities to advance. Even though the course of education and exams needed to be an actuary were ideal for her situation, she encourages her students to evaluate that for themselves.

In thinking about what traits employers hiring actuaries are looking for, she explained that they prioritize those students who really are interested in understanding why (something) works the way it works. That's the difference between somebody who's going to be able to sit in a meeting and (someone who knows) how to solve a problem.

All in all, Hammell describes feeling satisfied with her career thus far and thankful for those that guided her along the way. She remains eager to teach her students and inspire them to follow their passion for STEM.

Advice For Aspiring Actuaries

Doing your research on the field can give clarity to young people and students questioning their place in actuarial science. Majoring in the topic or something closely related can be useful for setting students up to take their certification exams, but a college degree is not entirely necessary. Some employers do prefer candidates who have a degree in the field, but many will accept relevant internships and progress on exams as sufficient demonstrated interest as well.

Hammell advises that in the case of any career, students should try to learn about the environment that you would be operating in and whether or not it's going to be one where you're going to have those applications to advance. By doing so students are able to predict their satisfaction with a profession before investing time, money, and other resources into its pursuit. She notes that all the big companies are looking to attract what they believe is going to be the top talent so that they can sort of, you know, blow up their next generation of leaders. So once a student feels sparked interest in a career as an actuary, or otherwise, it is advisable to make yourself known among recruiters.

Hammell also recommends that students considering going into the actuarial field look into organizations like The International Association of Black Actuaries (IABA) or the Sexual ity and Gender Alliance of Actuaries that can provide context and support for actuaries affiliated with certain marginalized demographics. There are also specific scholarships that work to promote diversity within the field.

Even if you end up switching paths later on, an actuarial background can provide a STEM mindset of problem solving that can be applied elsewhere. If the flexibility, laid out career progression, and ability to work with numbers and logic appeal to you, then you should definitely consider a career in actuarial science.



Katelyn Lewicky is a first-year undergraduate student at American University studying Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing and a minor in Graphic Design. She is passionate about uplifting small businesses and people in her community through social media marketing and blog writing.

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"And Just Like That ..." has found a sweet and surprising way to say goodbye to Stanford Blatch.

The Aug. 17 episode of Max's "Sex and the City" revival shows the late Willie Garson's character's storyline coming to an end as Stanford himself begins anew spiritually.

In a tender scene inside Carrie's (Sarah Jessica Parker) apartment, Carrie, who's been Stanfords bestie for decades, shows a photo Stanford recently sent her to Stanford's ex-husband Anthony (Mario Cantone).

Stanford left Anthony abruptly in the Season One finale of "And Just Like That..." to travel with a client in Japan, but is still in touch with Carrie.

Carrie explains that Stanford, who is dressed in a monk's robe in the photo, told her in a letter that he'd moved to Kyoto and become a Shinto monk.

Willie Garson as Stanford Blatch (MAX)

Anthony, of course, is dumbfounded by the news. Get the f--- out of here! he tells Carrie.

Stanford revealed in his letter to Carrie that after "a big ugly fight" with the TikTok star, he traveled to Kyoto to "see the geishas." He went on to visit a temple, where he had an unexpected spiritual awakening.

Carrie then reads from Stanford's letter. "Carrie, for the first time in my life, I felt peace, real peace," he writes of entering the temple.

Mario Cantone, Sarah Jessica Parker, Willie Garson in

When Anthony asks why Stanford didn't share the news with him directly, Carrie reads from the letter again."Id tell Anthony myself, but I know hed make fun of it," writes Stanford.

Carrie then tells Anthony that Stanford has also enclosed legal documents certifying that he's given Anthony his apartment and all of his belongings.

"I want no attachments. I have let go of all things that no longer serve me and I let it all go with love," Stanford writes in his letter.

Sarah Jessica Parker and Willie Garson in season 1 of

Carrie and Anthony then raise a toast to "Stanny." Afterward, Anthony asks who gets to keep the photo of Stanford in his robe.

"Oh, I do," says Carrie. "I'm very attached."

Garson died of pancreatic cancer in September 2021, after appearing in a few episodes of "And Just Like That..."

Michael Patrick King, in an interview with the Independent, said his initial plan for Stanford, prior to Garson's diagnosis, was to make him have a "midlife crisis."

Stanfords character always had a borderline career as a manager, and we were like going to explore the fact that it wasnt a real career. It was going to be Carrie and him, feeling the shifts.

Parker, who was close pals with Garson in real life, too, paid an emotional tribute to the actor Sept. 24, 2021 on Instagram. In a lengthy caption, Parker wrote that her grief following the actor's death days before was "unbearable."

"The magnitude of the loss of a 30 + year friendship," she wrote. "A real friendship that allowed for secrets, adventure, a shared professional family, truth, concerts, road trips, meals, late night phone calls, a mutual devotion to parenthood and all the heartaches and joy that accompany, triumphs, disappointments, fear, rage and years spent on sets (most especially Carries apartment) and laughing late into the night as both Stanford and Carrie and Willie and SJ," she wrote.

Willie. I will miss everything about you," she added.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
KYODO NEWS - Aug 18, 2023 - 23:53 | Arts, All, Japan

The organizer of a music event in Japan at which popular South Korean performer DJ Soda was allegedly groped by audience members plans to file a criminal complaint against the suspects possibly next week, sources close to the matter said Friday.

TryHard Japan, which organized the music festival held for three days through Sunday in Sennan, Osaka Prefecture, is considering submitting a complaint, including charges of indecent assault, to prefectural police even as the suspects have yet to be identified, the sources said.

DJ Soda, who has more than 5 million Instagram followers, took to social media a day after the event to slam unidentified individuals, including a woman, who she said touched and grabbed her breasts when she descended the stage to interact with fans at the music festival on Sunday.

The renowned DJ and model in her posts included photos of fans reaching across security fencing and appearing to touch her arms and chest. In the commotion, she said, it was a woman who grabbed her breasts harder than any of the other festivalgoers.

TryHard Japan issued a statement Tuesday stating its intention to take legal action against the individuals involved.

The groping claims by DJ Soda, which have spread throughout the internet, have sparked criticism of Japan's apparent leniency toward sexual harassment while also prompting discussion on her revealing attire.

In response to some users who blamed her for wearing skimpy clothes, DJ Soda said in a follow-up post earlier this week that "no matter what clothes I wear, sexual harassment and assault cannot be justified."

Related coverage:

Popular South Korean DJ shocked, scared after groping at Japan event
A new digital logistics hub aims to elevate e-commerce and transform the trade landscape in Kenya.

Dubai-based trade technology solutions provider Webb Fontaine this week announced plans to partner with the Kenya Trade Network Agency to revolutionize the East African nations logistics industry with a digital platform that will spur development and growth.

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The Digital Logistics Market Place (DLMP) will connect public- and private-sector groups to simplify trade processes. It gives trucking companies, shipping lines, freight forwarders, importers, exporters, warehousing firms and insurance providers access to the integrated platform that allows them to compete for business.

The DLMP is an online marketplace of trade, Alioune Ciss, CEO of Webb Fontaine, said in a statement. It offers B2B services to traders with seamless search, find, and send capabilities, fostering growth, reliability, and empowerment.

Ciss said that the platform, which brings together all the stakeholders in the supply chain, will help businesses forge relationships with the service providers best suited to their needs and allow them to secure the best rates. It will also streamline the value chain, allowing collaboration to take place in the centralized hub, shaving time off operational processes.

Calling Kenya an East African trade powerhouse, Webb Fontaine said the DLMP has the potential to open up more efficiencies and e-commerce opportunities for the region. The country is among the biggest beneficiaries of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), and the largest exporter of apparel to the U.S. under the trade preference program, generating $544 million in 2022. Almost 70 percent of those imports entered the U.S. duty-free under AGOA, while the remainder were also largely duty free under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) or Most Favored Nations (MFN) provisions.

Still, Kenyas share of the U.S. apparel market remains relatively small, and the countrys government has doubled down on efforts to change that narrative in recent months. Earlier this week, Kenyas Cabinet Secretary for Investments, Trade and Industry, Moses Kuria, met with government leaders and members of the public and private sectors to announce a Cotton Revival and Implementation plan designed to build up the nations cotton-farming industry to provide raw materials for its textile industry. Earlier this year, the government announced plans to invest $1.6 million to revitalize apparel factories and develop new cotton gins.

Though AGOA is to expire in 2025, many believe the bipartisan Congressional support is enjoys is likely to guarantee its renewal. As Africa becomes a larger player in the textile and apparel supply chain, foreign investment is pouring in from global governments and corporations.

In March, Norfund, the Norwegian governments investment arm, announced a $14-million financing agreement with Sri Lanka-based manufacturer Hela Apparel Holdings PLC. The investment in the activewear, intimates and kids apparel maker will support the companys Kenyan production facility, which employs 4,000 workers and accounts for 20 percent of the countrys total apparel export volume. In April, U.S.-based initiative Prosper Africa and the U.S. Embassy announced a $55 million investment from MAS Intimates, UAL, Mega, Coast Apparel, Best Lifestyle and NextGen. The funding will be used to expand export processing zones to support local apparel makers and U.S. fashion companies doing business in Kenya.

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Kiwi is usually great for younot to mention delicious. However, this tasty green fruit is the latest to be recalled due to possible listeria contamination. Find all of the info, including the 14 states it was recalled in, below.

Kiwis recalled for listeria

If you recently purchased Zespri brand kiwis, take note: The Food and Drug Administration has announced a recall on this popular fruit. This is the latest in several fruits that have been recalled for listeria.

The effected products include 1-pound containers of kiwis sold at grocery stores between June 14 and July 7 across the following states:

Florida

Georgia

Illinois

Indiana

Kentucky

Michigan

North Carolina

New York

Ohio

Pennsylvania

Tennessee

Texas

Virginia

Wisconsin

Affected containers will have a UPC code of 818849020093, and the fruits will have bar codes of 94009552.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by CBS Evening News (@cbseveningnews)

Luckily, there are no reported illnesses linked to this recall. However, customers are urged to throw recalled fruit out immediately. If you or someone you know consumed an affected kiwi, it's important to monitor symptoms, which include fever, muscle aches, headaches, nausea, and more. Symptoms can take up to 70 days to develop.

European cheese was also recently recalled due to possible listeria contamination.

Listeria infection, or listeriosis, can be especially dangerous for elderly people, children, pregnant people, and anyone with a compromised immune system. Keeping up with recent recalls is an important part of keeping you and your family healthy. Luckily, we have you covered at SheFinds.

READ MORE: This Soda Is Being Recalled After Being Mislabeled As Sugar Free (It Contains 73 Grams!)
The Florida Department of Health placed two counties under a mosquito-borne illness alert as five cases of dengue have been reported in Broward and Miami-Dade counties in less than a month, weekly reports show.

In total, 11 cases of locally acquired dengue have been reported in the state this year  two in Broward County and nine in Miami-Dade County  along with 204 travel-associated dengue cases.

Texas also reported a single case of dengue this year, and the disease has been reported in Hawaii and Arizona in recent years.

Worldwide, up to 400 million people are infected with dengue each year, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says, making it the most common virus transmitted by mosquitoes.

What is dengue, and where is it common?

Dengue is a mosquito-borne virus that is spread mainly via the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is also known to carry several other viruses such as yellow fever, chikungunya and Zika, according to the CDC.

Dengue is endemic in more than 100 countries in tropical and subtropical climates, mostly in urban and semi-urban areas, according to WHO.

Its also endemic in the US territories of Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and American Samoa.

More than 33,000 locally acquired cases were reported in the US between 2010 and 2022, according to CDC data, 258 of them in Florida.

But 95% of US cases are reported in Puerto Rico, says Dr. Gabriela Paz-Bailey, chief of the Dengue Branch in the Division of Vector-Borne Diseases at the CDCs National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases. And thats not a surprise.

It has the perfect climate for it. Its a tropical island, she said. There are indeed efforts from the health department and other organizations like the Puerto Rico vector control unit to control dengue in the area.

This includes public education and integrated mosquito management such as removing places where the mosquitoes lay eggs, and that is done through community engagement, but also clean-up campaigns, Paz-Bailey said.

Similar efforts are also recommended in the rest of the US and its territories, she noted.

Dengue symptoms

Only about 1 in 4 people infected with dengue will have symptoms.

The most common symptom is fever, and it can also cause nausea, vomiting, rash or aches and pains  typically behind the eyes or muscle, joint or bone pain.

There are four strains of the virus, or serotypes, according to the World Health Organization. Once someone catches one of the strains, it cant infect them again. But the more times someone is infected with different strains, the more likely they are to become severely ill.

Severe dengue is less common, with about 1 in 20 people developing it. But the symptoms are more troubling. It can cause shock, internal bleeding and even death.

About 100 million people get sick and 40,000 die of severe dengue around the world each year, according to the CDC.

Testing for dengue

If you get sick and live in an area where dengue might be spreading or have traveled to a place where the virus is common, the CDC recommends consulting your doctor.

The only definite way to know if you have the virus is through blood testing, which varies from place to place, Paz-Bailey said.

The general recommendation is to do a PCR test, she says, if your symptoms started within a week or less.

If the person presents beyond the seven-day window, a serological test to measure IgM antibodies is recommended, Paz-Bailey said.

It can take a day to a week to get those results, she says.

Dengue vaccine and treatment

The US Food and Drug Administration approved a vaccine for dengue in 2019, but its not for everyone.

The CDC recommends Dengvaxia for children ages 9 to 16 who have laboratory-confirmed evidence of a dengue infection and who live in areas of the United States where dengue is endemic or regularly occurring. The vaccine requires three doses, given six months apart.

There is no dengue vaccine available for adults in the US.

Theres also no specific medicine to treat dengue, the CDC says. Over-the-counter meds like acetaminophen can ease fever or pain, but experts say not to take aspirin or ibuprofen because they can increase the risk of hemorrhaging sometimes seen with dengue.

Protecting yourself from dengue

The Aedes aegypti mosquito, which spreads dengue and other viruses, does not like to travel far and prefers to breed in our backyards, said Dr. Isik Unlu, acting director and operations manager of the Miami-Dade County Mosquito Control Division.

They prefer to be around people. That is the problem, she said, adding that the species is often found in containers that collect rainwater, especially during the summer months.

Almost everything you see in a backyard can become a breeding ground, Unlu says, including birdbaths, plant saucers, tires, extension gutters and kiddie pools.

Unlu and Paz-Bailey recommend removing standing water around your home as often as possible to prevent mosquitoes from gathering and breeding.

If youre going outside, the CDC recommends US Environmental Protection Agency-registered insect repellents to prevent bites from mosquitoes that may be carrying dengue. Wearing long-sleeved shirts and long pants is another option, along with treating your clothing with 0.5% permethrin, an insecticide.

Mosquito surveillance in the US

In Florida, Unlu and her team are often called out to homes where mosquito infestations are reported. If they find a large population of adult mosquitoes, the team heads out in the middle of the night to spray the area with insecticide.

The best way to keep a specific virus at bay is through disease surveillance, Unlu added. This is why her county has over 300 mosquito traps set up.

When we collect the mosquitos from these traps, especially if its an area that we suspect dengue is circulating or we have confirmed cases, our research team assists us to process these mosquitos, Unlu said. The mosquitos are evaluated for sex, counted, put in test tubes and sent to a lab outside Orlando to be tested for dengue and other viruses.

Dengue is not considered endemic to Florida, according to the CDC. Unlu says this is largely due to disease surveillance operations. But the virus is present in the southern part of the state because of people traveling to places where it is endemic, such as Cuba or Brazil.

We get residents who go on vacation or visit their family where dengue is endemic and more common, and they get bitten there, and then they travel back here, Unlu said. And since we have the vector, Aedes aegypti, here, when they get bit, the mosquitos then get infected, and then they bite another human being who never traveled outside Miami, and they get sick.

The CDCs Paz-Bailey says climate change will also encourage the spread of dengue around the world.

Higher temperatures will probably expand the range of places where a mosquito can survive. And then it can also facilitate transmission through other ways, like faster viral replication in the mosquito and increased survival of mosquitoes, she said.

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In April, the FDA issued a policy in partnership with the United States Postal Service (USPS) that would require manufacturers of opioids dispensed in pharmacies to provide prepaid mail-back envelopes for patients to dispose of unused prescription pills. (photo: Canva)

Lawmakers have penned a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urging the agency to consult with Tribal Nations as it finalizes a new policy on at-home disposal of prescription opioids.

In April, the FDA issued a policy in partnership with the United States Postal Service (USPS) that would require manufacturers of opioids dispensed in pharmacies to provide prepaid mail-back envelopes for patients to dispose of unused prescription pills. The policy is an effort to curb nonmedical opioid use and a response to the ongoing opioid epidemic.

More than 103,000 Americans died in opioid-related incidents in 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Thats up more than 200% since 2000, according to CDC data.

While Americans of all races and ethnicities have been affected, the proliferation of opioid deaths has disproportionately affected Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities, especially Indigenous people. In 2020, Native Americans opioid mortality increased 39% over the prior year  the second-highest rate of increase behind African Americans, according to the CDC.

In 2020, Purdue Pharma, a manufacturer of prescription opioids including OxyContin, pled guilty to criminal charges for its role in the opioid epidemic that has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans and left more in the throes of opioid addiction.

The letter, authored by Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), and Patty Murray (D-Wash.), pointed out that the policy must include an at-home disposal option for rural and Tribal communities who do not have reliable access to the USPS. Under the current draft of the policy, Tribal citizens living on reservations would still be left with little to no option to remove opioids from their homes safely.

The letter to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf was also signed by U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), and Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.).

Read the full text of the letter below.

Dear Commissioner Califf:

We write to express the importance of strong disposal policies for prescription opioids. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has an opportunity to send a clear message that it is prioritizing public safety and taking meaningful steps to reduce opioid use disorder by removing excess opioids and other drugs from circulation. As our nation continues to grapple with the opioid epidemic, we must take steps to address the effects on rural and Tribal communities in ways that are responsive to their needs. We appreciate the Administrations efforts to combat this public health emergency and strongly believe that this can best be addressed through meaningful Tribal consultation. We respectfully request that FDA fully incorporates feedback from Tribal consultations and those representing smaller towns and rural areas as it finalizes the at-home drug deactivation option for Americans.

As you are aware, the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Act (PL 115-271) gave the FDA authority to implement risk mitigation measures to prevent diversion and addiction, including permitting co-dispensing of at-home drug deactivation and disposal products directly to patients who are prescribed drugs like opioids. We are aware that in April, the FDA issued a policy that would require opioids to be co-dispensed with a prepaid mail-back envelope to return unused pills. While we recognize that this policy supports opioid disposal for some, it is critical that this be paired with an at-home disposal option, which is supported by the latest evidence-based research for drug deactivation, is more cost-effective, and presents significantly fewer risks.

For our constituents, particularly the thousands who live in rural and Tribal communities, the ability to safely deactivate and dispose of drugs at home would be a strong tool in the fight against addiction. Our constituents in rural areas do not always have regular mail access, and any policy that focuses solely on mail-only disposal creates an undue burden for those individuals to safely remove opioids from their homes.

Even more alarming is the impact this could have on Tribal communities. Access to mail through the USPS among Tribal communities is extremely limited; whether they are located on Tribal land, or otherwise, it is almost non-existent in some areas. In some parts of the Navajo Nation, packages must be mailed to businesses or relatives who oftentimes live in towns many miles away. For many on the Navajo Nation, they must access their regular mail at P.O. boxes, which are sometimes located in other states, depending on where they reside. This experience is not unique to the Southwest, as Tribal communities throughout the United States struggle to have reliable access to the mail. Rural Tribal communities in northwestern states such as Montana and Washington often lack home mail service. Non-traditional and informal mailing addresses, along with the scarcity of post offices, P.O. boxes, and drop-off mailboxes, result in limited access to regular mail.

A comprehensive disposal policy that includes an at-home disposal method also better accounts for the increased risk for the USPS of handling additional opioids. This policy could make post offices, P.O. Boxes, and drop-off mailboxes a higher risk for theft and damage and also would increase the number of opioids going through the mail system. It puts the safety of mail carriers at risk and does not expand USPS programs to provide additional safety measures, such as providing Narcan in every USPS facility. We are concerned that USPS employees were not adequately consulted about the potential risks this policy presents, should this policy be fully implemented.

While we appreciate the effort that the FDA has put into addressing the ongoing opioid crisis, it is clear that any comprehensive approach to opioid disposal must include at-home disposal alongside a mail-back policy in order to adequately improve Americans ability to safely dispose of opioids. We request that the FDA initiate meaningful Tribal consultation and discussions with impacted communities  particularly those without reliable access to USPS, and fully include the feedback from those Tribal consultations and discussions with smaller towns and rural areas prior to finalizing this policy. We also request that you include feedback from the USPS employees and other relevant stakeholders about the increased risks to their employees.

About the Author: "Elyse Wild is senior editor for Native News Online and Tribal Business News. "

Contact: ewild@indiancountrymedia.com
For decades, American and European fashion houses have reduced African design ideas to stereotypes. Now a wave of West African brands are asserting their identities by championing methods and materials that are woven with the designers' own narratives. There is a wealth of knowledge and experience that could be lost if we do not evolve, says Nkwo Onwuka, founder of NKWO. Celebrating craftsmanship that offers a window into countries like Nigeria and Ghana, these labels are preserving age-old techniques rooted in traditionand building a global following in the process.

Boie and Bill, Ghana

In Ghana, where millions of garments donated to charity by residents of the Global North are instead thrown into landfills, brothers Ellisha Boie Ofori Bamfo and Calvin Bill Bamfo repurpose old clothes from Kantanamamto Market in Accra. We try to make the upcycled items as unique as possible, says Boie of their printed shirts and contemporary jackets. Case in point: a bomber made from plastic and textile strips and splashed with the Ghanaian flag.

Manuel Michael

NKWO, Nigeria

In 2012, Nkwo Onwuka set out to address two major issues in Nigeria: a lack of support for artisans and an increase in textile waste. Her solution? A material called Dakala cloth, developed with artisans who weave, sew, and braid together old fabrics using a proprietary technique. NKWO Design is an opportunity to bridge the gap between textile-waste reduction and craft-skill preservation by experimenting with waste as a resource, says Onwuka, who works with women displaced by the insurgency in northeastern Nigeria.

Yagazie Emezi

Pepper Row, Nigeria

Omafume Niemogha highlights African culture, folktales, and art through fashion, harnessing the skills of sixth-generation weavers and Yoruban woodworkers at Pepper Row. It's a way to share our history and story with the world, she says. The result: an eye-catching assortment of hand-dyed dresses with puff sleeves and double-breasted suits in hot pink and orange, with buttons fashioned from hand-painted wooden figurines.

This article appeared in the September/October 2023 issue of Conde Nast Traveler. Subscribe to the magazine here.

Originally Appeared on Conde Nast Traveler
This skilled group of creatives from across the region brought our country-place dreams to life.

For our 2023 Southern Living Idea House in the Leiper's Fork area of Tennessee, we assembled a talented crew from across the South to build a farmhouse that's both rooted in tradition and intentionally designed for the future. Our Idea House team includes interior designer Laura Hodges of Laura Hodges Studio in Catonsville, Maryland; residential designers Bill Holloway and Luke Sippel of Lake + Land Studio in Hattiesburg, Mississippi; builders Mary and Patrick Hatcliff of Hatcliff Construction in Murfreesboro, Tennessee; and landscape designer Butch Hamby of Southern Creations Landscaping, which is also based in Murfreesboro. Here, learn a little more about each of the folks who brought our 2023 Idea House to life.

Laura Hodges, Interior Designer

Robbie Caponetto

I have a catchphrase for myself: Good design is sustainable. Its not necessarily always about buying something that is made from cork or recycled materials, says Laura. Its about creating something thats going to last and has a cradle-to-cradle life span. This means it has the ability to be turned into something else or reused. Sustainability isnt a certain style. Its a way of designing that is respectful and responsible to the environment and being intentional in the choices that were making."

Bill Holloway and Luke Sippel, Residential Designers

Courtesy Lake + Land Studio Bill Holloway (left) and Luke Sippel

"On the way to look at the site, we passed a lot of old Tennessee farmhouses, says Bill, so we knew the home needed to be something that had history to it. We took some very traditional Tennessee architectural forms and tried to reinterpret them and give them fresh twists. For instance, the layout of the plan feels more modern, notes Luke. Theres this beautiful circular flow that happens, he says. The house caters just as well to two people as it does to a crowd. Your main floor has everything a couple would need to use on a daily or weekly basis, he notes.

Patrick and Mary Hatcliff, Builders

Laurey W. Glenn

"Although it has all the new and current amenities, the home is still casual and comfortable. It feels like its part of the land and could have been here for a really long time, says Mary, who oversaw its construction with her husband and business partner, Patrick. The house is beautiful from the front, but when you walk out the back doors and look at the views, you could stay there and not know the world is around you, he says. Mary agrees: The privacy here is just amazing. Its a secluded place with no sounds, no people, no traffic. Its your own little spot.

Butch Hamby, Landscape Designer

Courtesy Southern Creations Landscaping

Every job site is unique in one way or another, says Butch. The reality of this location is that the existing mature trees [the acreage includes maples, hickories, tulip poplars, red oaks, and white oaks] established the framework for the landscaping, while the topography provided another element for us to build on. I chose to introduce some mature anchor plantings [larger shrubs that can work as focal points within the landscape] to balance the existing trees. We also designed the beds to be oversize and were repetitive in our plant selections to create sweeps of color and texture, while manicured turf serves as the background."



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Read the original article on Southern Living.
For someone so small, a new baby requires an awful lot of stuff. From diapers and clothing to blankets and burp cloths, youll need to employ sensible nursery storage ideas for everything, as well as ensure theyre easy to access, both day and night.

Getting your nursery ideas picture perfect may feel like the priority, but if its a well-organized nursery youre after, functionality comes first  you cant afford to overlook sensible storage. Thats not to say you sacrifice on style though; the two actually go hand in hand rather nicely, assuming you know what youre doing.

Thats where we can help. Alongside advice from the experts on the most effective nursery storage ideas, we share top tips and lessons learned from our personal parenting experiences on how to get the most out of your nursery space.

Nursery storage ideas

Theres all manner of savvy bedroom storage hacks out there, but when choosing for a nursery, they need to make sense both now  and in the future. It may feel a long way off, but it really wont be long before youre organizing children's clothes and sorting toy storage ideas. Our favorite solutions are those that will grow and adapt over time, in line with your little one  they dont stay babies forever, sadly!

1. Keep things open

nursery with dinosaur wallpaper, wooden crib, textured gray rug, gray chair, stool, basket with toys, cream drapes

When it comes to nursery storage, accessibility is key, so try to avoid storage containers with lids if you can. Opt for open baskets or bins to hold small items like baby clothes, diapers, wipes and toys, so you can quickly grab them when youre in need, then throw them back in afterward, says Oregon-based professional organizer Michelle Urban, founder of The Organized House.

If your baskets are on show, by all means opt for designs that match your nursery scheme, but bear in mind that a set of neutral baskets tend to have more longevity. You dont want to have to update every time you redecorate. Theyre also great for use in communal rooms, blending in beautifully with decor.

2. Leave room to grow

nursery with checked wallpaper, blue crib and cubby storage

Despite what many manufacturers would have you believe, miniature furniture isnt the most sustainable or cost-effective of choices in a nursery. It may look cute, but it wont be long before your baby outgrows it, and youll be forced to overhaul with all-new childrens bedroom storage ideas which can be costly. Think ahead and opt for full-sized pieces, then customize if necessary.

Kids clothing, particularly baby sizes, wont hang low in a regular-sized closet, so you can afford to add an additional clothing rod on a temporary basis, which can literally double your hanging space. Youll likely still be left with space at the bottom, so make the most of it by positioning stackable storage containers or a laundry basket there, says New York-based professional organizer Amanda Wiss, founder of Urban Clarity.

These same customization techniques can also be carried out in a master closet, alongside your own (or a siblings) clothes  handy if you dont have a designated nursery, or for when baby is still sleeping in your room.

For added safety, attach furniture securely to the wall and add child locks, at Amazon, to all cabinets and drawers.

3. Opt for cubby-style storage units

Cubby-style storage units are particularly useful as they can so easily be adapted as your childs needs change  something to bear in mind when looking for playroom storage ideas, too. When it comes to the cubes themselves, Rachel Timmerman, founder of the lifestyle blog, Analytical Mommy, recommends opting for soft-side designs.

You can pull these out and leave them on the floor without the risk of baby rolling and catching an edge or a sharp corner', she explains. You can always change for something more sturdy in the future if you feel you want to.

Group items by category into the baskets (diaper changing, feeding, playing and so on) and move them around the house as you need them to save yourself going back and forth to the nursery every five minutes.

4. Divide and conquer

Drawer dividers are perfect for keeping teeny tiny baby clothes in check when organizing a dresser. Choose adjustable dividers, such as these at Target, so you can move them around as your child  and their clothing  gets bigger.

Using drawer dividers alongside the file folding (or rolling) technique, where you position items upright as opposed to stacking them, allows for maximum storage without overcrowding  if those drawers still won't shut, you know its time to cut back,' says Michelle.

5. Utilize space under the crib

neutral nursery with grey printed wallpaper on focal wall, white crib, plant in basket, artwork, mobile above crib, dark gray changing area with drawers, wooden floor

Given how quickly they move through sizes, storing and organizing baby clothes can be tricky at the best of times, let alone without a closet or dresser to fill. But its certainly not impossible. The trick is to turn your attention to less obvious storage spaces  under the crib, for example.

This is a great space for storage that most people just dont think about,' says Amanda. Invest in an underbed bin (ideally with wheels, such as this one at Target) to store clothing, bedding, towels and blankets, or anything surplus, such as diapers and wipes.

6. Be flexible on furniture

gray and pink nursery with custom wardrobe and drawer space, gold wall lights, gold ornate mirror, shelving with rattan boxes, changing area

If youre combining your nursery with another part of the home, flexible furnishings are essential if you want it to remain neat, tidy and well-organized. Where possible, choose dual-purpose pieces, ideally with storage built-in: an upholstered bench that doubles up as a toy chest, or a dresser that transforms into a changing table.

If youre still running short on space, experts advise investing in a rolling cart that can be wheeled into a closet or another room when not in use.

As an infant, this can be used as a mobile changing station to hold all the essentials (but not a changing pad and the baby!) such as diapers, wipes and changes of clothing. As your baby becomes a toddler and well into their school years, it can be serve as a library, an art caddy, or even a homework cart,' says New Hampshire-based Lauren Saltman, founder of Living. Simplified.

7. Make use of wall space

Kids room with wooden storage unit, displaying toys, ornaments, woven storage basket and rug on the floor, framed prints on walls

While were all for cute wallpaper and pastel paint shades, nursery walls can work a whole lot harder, contributing to storage whilst still remaining stylish. Open shelving, picture rails and pretty hooks not only look visually appealing, but allows you easy access to essentials too.

Adding front-facing bookshelves to your playroom can look tidier than traditional bookcases and be much easier for kids to use  as long as theyre the appropriate height, says Laura Rich, product developer at Furniturebox.

The same can be said for cute outfits and stylish toys. You could even mount a pegboard on the wall complete with hanging baskets for hiding smaller, less sightly items. However you do it, keeping items up off the floor like this also creates more floor space for your baby to grow, crawl and explore the room safely, so its well worth factoring into your storage plan.

8. Label everything

Regardless of what categorizing and storage system you use in your nursery, be sure to label everything, whether its with stickers, chalkboard tags, or even just a marker. As well as reminding you whats where, doing this also means friends and relatives can help out without having to ask  youll be glad of that when youre in need of a nap yourself, says Amanda.'

9. Dedicate space for future clothes

white nursery with white free-standing wardrobe, desk and chair, wall mounted shelving and peg rail

Whether theyre hand-me-downs, gifts or youre simply well-prepared, youre likely to have an overflow of clothing and toys for the future. While these dont require prime storage space, youll be amazed at how quickly youll need them, so choose somewhere close by, ideally in the nursery itself, the top of the closet or under the bed, for example. vacuum storage bags such as these at Amazon, can be compressed right down, which is a great space saver.

FAQs

What kind of storage do I need in a nursery?

When it comes to organizing a nursery, the main aim is to avoid clutter at all costs; theres really no such thing as too much storage. Start by thinking of ways you can integrate more storage into existing furniture (stackable containers and hanging rods into closets, drawer dividers into dressers etc.) or perhaps invest in pieces fit-for-purpose; cribs and changing tables with built-in drawers, for example.

Where possible, open storage is your best bet. Lidless baskets and bins allow for easy access, and can be moved around the house as and when you need. Bear in mind that certain items will need to be kept out of reach as baby grows; medicines and age-specific toys, for example.

Dont overlook vertical space either. Open shelving, picture ledges and hanging hooks all make for easy access, and if styled with thought, can look rather lovely, too.

With endless feeds and sleepless nights to contend with, its no surprise that tidiness isnt top of the agenda for the majority of new parents. However, taking the time to stow things properly can save you time and energy, not to mention unnecessary stress. Rummaging through clutter in search of misplaced items is frustrating at the best of times, let alone at 3am with an unsettled baby for company  take it from us!
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday it is tracking a recently discovered COVID-19 strain, BA.2.86, after a case of the highly mutated variant was discovered in Michigan.

"Today we are more prepared than ever to detect and respond to changes in the COVID-19 virus. Scientists are working now to understand more about the newly identified lineage in these 4 cases and we will share more information as it becomes available," CDC spokesperson Kathleen Conley said in a statement to CBS News.

Experts say reports of BA.2.86 being spotted in countries on multiple continents  Denmark, Israel, U.K. and U.S.  suggest it is at least capable of transmitting widely and could have been spreading undetected for some time.

It comes after the World Health Organization announced it had classified BA.2.86 as a "variant under monitoring" due to its large number of mutations.

This strain's rapid escalation to the WHO's "variant under monitoring" category is uncommon. Just three cases had been spotted of the variant worldwide. Virus trackers officially designated the strain as BA.2.86 just a day ago.

It is too early to say whether the variant will be more dangerous than the currently circulating strains of the virus. The U.N. agency says more data is needed to understand the threat BA.2.86 might pose, but had accelerated the classification due to its sheer number of changes.

The strain's dozens of genetic changes  an evolutionary jump on par with the emergence of the original Omicron variant in 2021  has raised eyebrows among virologists as cases have started to crop up around the world. Its mutations include some changes at key parts of the virus that could help it better dodge the body's immunity from prior infections or vaccination.

"Deep mutational scanning indicates BA.2.86 variant will have equal or greater escape than XBB.1.5 from antibodies elicited by pre-Omicron and first-generation Omicron variants," Jesse Bloom, an evolutionary biologist at the Fred Hutch Cancer Center, said in a slide deck published Thursday.

XBB.1.5 is the variant from which many recent strains have descended, and Food and Drug Administration officials had previously picked out XBB.1.5 as the strain for vaccines to target in this fall's booster shots.

BA.2.86 has 36 mutations relative to the XBB.1.5 variant, Bloom said.

The first U.S. case of BA.2.86 was reported by a lab at the University of Michigan. According to records attached to the sequence uploaded to GISAID, a global virus database, the variant was sequenced from a sample collected by the university's clinical microbiology lab during "baseline surveillance."

It is unclear whether the samples were collected from a hospitalized patient in the health system run by the university or from another source. A spokesperson for the University of Michigan Medical School declined to comment on the possible origin of the sequence, deferring to Michigan's state health department. A spokesperson for Michigan's Department of Health and Human Services was not able to immediately answer a request for comment.

Dr. Adam Lauring, a University of Michigan professor who runs the lab that sequenced the case, said Friday that they sequence cases from a large area in Michigan for the state health department and CDC. He declined to share additional details about the variant infection, which he said is now being investigated by health authorities.

Lauring's lab sequences cases from both hospitalized and non-hospitalized patients, he told CBS News in an email.

In Denmark, health authorities say they are currently working to culture the virus, a key step towards further assessing the threat posed by the highly mutated strain. Three cases have been spotted there, the Statens Serum Institute said. None had prior contact with each other and all experienced common COVID-19 symptoms.

Researchers in the U.K. have also identified at least one case, Luke Blagdon Snell, a researcher at Kings College London, said Friday. The patient was hospitalized and likely acquired their infection locally.

Tracking the spread of COVID variants BA.2.86 and EG.5

For now, experts say BA.2.86 will still need to show it can outcompete other fast-spreading descendants of the XBB Omicron variant already on the rise around the world in order to be more than a "scientific curiosity."

One XBB descendant, a variant called EG.5, had already climbed to nearly 1 in 5 cases nationwide as of CDC estimates published earlier this month.

New projections are due to be published Friday by the CDC. The agency says BA.2.86 will remain aggregated with its distant parent, the Omicron variant known as BA.2, until it reaches 1% prevalence in its weighted estimates.

The strain's emergence comes as drugmakers have been preparing to roll out new COVID-19 vaccines next month aimed at the XBB strains of the virus, of which EG.5 is closely related. Moderna announced Thursday that its preliminary clinical trial data from the new shots confirmed "a significant boost in neutralizing antibodies" for EG.5.

Those could face a setback if BA.2.86 is able to spread more widely. Bloom said he thinks the strain's changes are enough to risk making the XBB-targeted vaccines a "fairly poor match" to BA.2.86.

But he underscored that BA.2.86 remains rare for now, and other defenses mounted by the body may also still work to fend off the highly mutated variant.

"[T]here are also broader mechanisms of immunity elicited by vaccination and infection that provide some protection against severe disease even for very heavily mutated variants," he told CBS News in an email.

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Plantation slavery may have originated on a tiny west African island at the equator, according to archaeologists who investigated a 16th-century sugar mill and estate.

Sao Tome (Portuguese for "Saint Thomas"), an island 150 miles (240 kilometers) west of Gabon in the Gulf of Guinea, was first settled by the Portuguese in the late 15th century. Finding an uninhabited island with abundant wood, fresh water and the potential for growing sugarcane, the Portuguese monarchy tried to entice people to move there. Due to high rates of malaria, though, Sao Tome was thought of as a death trap. By 1495, to supply labor for the sugar trade, the Portuguese rulers forced convicts, Jewish children and enslaved Africans to move to the island.

While other Portuguese sugar mills relied on enslaved people solely for manual labor, in the Sao Tome sugar plantation system, enslaved people  largely from what are now Benin, the Republic of the Congo, Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo  performed nearly all the tasks, from the harvesting and processing of sugarcane to the carpentry and stone masonry needed to build and run the mills.

Remainder of wall of sugar mill used during the slave trade.

This made Sao Tome "the first plantation economy in the tropics based on sugar monoculture and slave labour, a model exported to the New World where it developed and expanded," the researchers wrote in a new study, published Monday (Aug. 14) in the journal Antiquity.

A old stone wall displays graffiti from the slave trade era.

The island's plantations were so successful that in the 1530s, Sao Tome surpassed Madeira  an Atlantic archipelago that the Portuguese used for their lucrative sugar operations  in supplying the European markets with sugar, and dozens of sugar mills were built.

Related: Enslaved people were kidnapped from all across Africa, rare look at DNA from colonial cemetery reveals

In the new study, researchers  led by M. Dores Cruz, a historical anthropologist in the Department of African Studies at the University of Cologne in Germany, along with colleagues from the University of Sao Tome e Principe (USTP)  investigated Praia Melao, a newly identified estate on the island's northeastern coast that is the first of Sao Tome's sugar mills to be analyzed with modern archaeological methods.

Interior of work area of sugar mill used in slave trade.

Looking at the Praia Melao sugar mill

The sugar mill at Praia Melao includes a large stone building that was refurbished and expanded over the span of 400 years. Featuring a now-collapsed clay roof common in Portuguese buildings of the 16th century, the building is two stories tall. Domestic quarters were located on the top floor, while the graffiti-covered lower floor included a sugar boiling room. The archaeologists also discovered numerous fragments of ceramic sugar molds similar to those used in Madeira.

"Sugar production was a very complex process," Cruz told Live Science in an email, and it "was not packed in bags and loose as today." First, cane syrup was boiled and in large copper cauldrons until crystals formed. Next, the sugar was put into cone-shaped ceramic molds, which allowed molasses to drain out and the sugar crystals to dry and harden. The resulting sugar cone was called pao de acucar  Portuguese for "sugar loaf."

Architectonic reconstruction of slavery sugar mill.

But Sao Tome struggled to keep up with the demand for sugar, given the high humidity, fast-growing forests and slave rebellions. So the Portuguese moved many of their operations to Brazil in the early 17th century, taking the plantation operating model with them. Mills on Sao Tome were reused or fell into disrepair by the 19th century.

"Archaeologically speaking, Sao Tome is uncharted territory," Marco Meniketti, an archaeologist at San Jose State University in California who was not affiliated with the project, told Live Science in an email. "Investigation of the Sao Tome sites may be the most important new development in years for scholarship of the sugar and slave connection," he said, providing new information on an industry primarily known from 17th-century records from Brazil and the West Indies.

Remainder of estate house and sugar mill used during the slave trade.

Cruz hopes they will be able to find more sugar mills or the enslaved-African quarters in the future, but her attention is still focused on Praia Melao.

"The building is in very bad shape, with cracks on the walls and walls bulging, and it is also covered by vegetation," she said, so she is currently searching for funding to preserve the site.

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"There are no archaeologists in Sao Tome," Cruz said, but USTP is launching a new master's program in history and heritage this fall, with the aim of training people in conservation and preservation of the island's important archaeological sites.

"The opportunity to investigate these unstudied sites should not be lost," Meniketti said, as "this archaeologically rich environment can significantly inform us about the intersection of slavery and capitalism."

Archaeological remains at Praia Melao.
The world is full of dark moments, which is one very valid reason to celebrate the flashes of light were offered. One person shared written proof on the subreddit r/MadeMeSmile that everyday heroes still exist.

An elementary school principal sent a student who lost a tooth home with a sweet note for the Tooth Fairy.

Roger Williams, the elementary principal at Henryetta Public School in Oklahoma, addressed a note to the Tooth Fairy, written on official school letterhead, to let the magical creature know that one of his students had lost her tooth at school.

Dear Tooth Fairy, the letter began. Today, [name redacted] lost a tooth while eating her lunch. Unfortunately, while eating her lunch, she accidentally swallowed her tooth, as well. Im sure the tooth will end up popping up sometime.

principal sends note home with student addressed to the tooth fairy

Photo: Reddit

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As a trained principal and hobby dentist, I can verify that there is definitely a gap in [name redacted]s teeth that was not there this morning when she came in, Williams continued. Please accept this letter as official verification of a lost tooth and provide the standard monetary exchange rate you normally use for a real tooth.

Williams ended his tooth-loss verification letter by including his contact information, in case the Tooth Fairy had any questions.

The principals sweet gesture shows the care and devotion that educators have for their students, as he reassured the owner of the lost tooth and the Tooth Fairy that the momentous occasion did indeed occur.

The act of losing a tooth marks a transition from being a little kid to being a slightly bigger kid.

RELATED: Teacher Making Just $37,000 After 8 Years Told To 'Be Prepared To Fight' During Mandatory Training But Says They Don't Pay Her Enough

Every adult with a mouthful of full-sized teeth remembers where they were when that first tooth was lost. We all retain the sense memory of pushing our tongues to our gums, feeling the newly-formed space.

Kids feel an undeniable amount of pride with every tooth lost  it shows that theyre growing, moving one step closer to the adults theyll become.

principal sends note home with student addressed to the tooth fairy

Photo: towfiqu barbhuiya / Pexels

The principals letter to the Tooth Fairy on behalf of his student, who likely panicked upon swallowing her tooth, is an artifact both she and her parents can treasure for years to come.

Losing teeth is a universal stage of childhood, one whose importance is clearly not lost on Principal Williams. His letter highlights the inherent value of nurturing kids imaginations and offering them space to process the myriad of changes theyll experience.

In a country where kids are put in danger, just by the act of attending school, it's heartening to recognize that educators go out of their way to provide their students with an experience full of joy and whimsy. The principal demonstrated how important it is to let kids be kids, while they still can. His letter to the Tooth Fairy validated his student's concerns about her lost tooth while celebrating her milestone.

RELATED: A Mom Went To Visit Her Son At Lunch & Caught Him Receiving An Unusual Punishment For Being 'One Minute Late' To School

Alexandra Blogier is a writer on YourTango's news and entertainment team. She covers parenting issues, pop culture analysis and all things to do with the entertainment industry.

This article originally appeared on YourTango
By Takuya Karube, KYODO NEWS - Aug 19, 2023 - 09:42 | All, World, Japan

The leaders of Japan, the United States and South Korea agreed Friday on a commitment to consult with each other swiftly to coordinate their responses to "provocations" and "threats," amid China's increasingly aggressive actions and North Korea's escalating belligerence.

Leveraging the benefits of the recent rapprochement between Japan and South Korea, the leaders declared a "new chapter" in their trilateral relationship at the U.S. presidential retreat of Camp David near Washington.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol agreed on a number of initiatives to make their framework for cooperation more durable and better able to deal with events affecting their collective interests and security.

Their joint statement, named the Spirit of Camp David, also touched on China's "dangerous and aggressive behavior" in regional waters, although officials involved in the drafting process had said earlier that South Korea expressed reservations about explicitly criticizing Beijing.

According to Japanese officials, this is the first time the three countries have referred to China by name in a joint leaders' statement.

"We strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the waters of the Indo-Pacific," the document said, noting that the three countries are particularly against the militarization of reclaimed features in the South China Sea, the risky use of coast guard and maritime militia vessels and coercive activities.

The initiatives also include holding a trilateral summit at least once a year along with various other meetings of top officials, carrying out multi-domain joint defense drills on a regular basis, launching an early warning mechanism for supply chain disruptions for key industrial items, and working closely on emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.

The steps are intended to cement the progress the United States and its two key Asian allies have made in recent months and embed their framework into the architecture of the Indo-Pacific region, the officials said.

Biden said Japan and South Korea are "capable and indispensable" allies during a press conference after wrapping up the summit, in which he said they agreed to bring trilateral defense cooperation to "unprecedented levels."

"This is not about a day, a week or month," he said. "This is about decades and decades of relationships that we're building."

Kishida said their "relationship of trust and confidence" has further deepened through the discussions and the principles agreed will be a "new compass" for trilateral cooperation.

Yoon said Camp David will be remembered as a "historic place" where they proclaimed their aim to "bolster the rules-based international order and play key roles to enhance regional security and prosperity based on our shared values of freedom, human rights, and rule of law."

An implicit but essential message is that the widening cooperation is now designed to be sustained regardless of any change of government among them or political upheavals, according to the officials.

Biden has prioritized underlining the U.S. presence in the region as it engages in intensifying strategic competition with China.

His administration has recognized that stronger bilateral alliances with Japan and South Korea, which have taken steps to restore relations with each other after sharp disagreements over wartime issues, and closer cooperation among the three are indispensable to achieve that end.

China has already reacted sharply to the trilateral summit, but Biden insisted it was "not about China."

"That was not the purpose of the meeting," he said, but added, "Not to say we don't share concerns about the economic coercion, or heightened tensions" caused by Beijing.

Biden, who is running for re-election in 2024, chose the secluded presidential retreat as the venue in order to have frank discussions.

It is the first time since 2015 for foreign leaders to be welcomed to the retreat, which has served every U.S. president since World War II and is known as the site of some of the most important moments in U.S. diplomacy.

Japan, the United States and South Korea first held a trilateral summit in 1994. In addition, more than 10 similar occasions have been held on the fringes of larger multilateral gatherings.

In addition to the joint statement, they released two different documents with one outlining the principles of their cooperation to chart a medium- and long-term direction and the other focusing solely on the importance of trilateral consultation in the event of special circumstances.

The document, titled "Commitment to Consult" and only two paragraphs in length, made it clear that it does not "supersede or otherwise infringe" on the obligations arising from long-standing bilateral security treaties that the United States has with Japan and South Korea.

As the three countries are not seeking a trilateral security alliance, it also said this commitment is "not intended to give rise to rights or obligations under international or domestic law."

Related coverage:

Biden trying to meet North Korean leader without preconditions: official

Japan PM vows to bolster ties with U.S., South Korea to tackle North Korea

North Korea preparing ICBM launch to protest trilateral summit: South Korea
Its been said that the richest among us benefit from the use of fossil fuels while the poorest deal with the downstream effects of those emissions. And now a new study is showing just how big that divide is in the United States.

The wealthiest 10 percent of American households create 40 percent of the countrys greenhouse-gas emissions, The Washington Post reported on Thursday. Thats according to a study in the journal PLOS Climate that examined how a households income led to emissions, including how and where people made money and where they invested that money.

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As you move up the income ladder, an increasing share of emissions is associated with investments, Jared Starr, the lead author of the study, told the Post. It just seems morally and politically problematic to have one group of people reaping so much benefit from emissions while the poorer groups in society are asked to disproportionately deal with the harms of those emissions.

To arrive at these numbers, Starr and his team looked at income data from 1999 to 2019, linking it to emissions created directly and indirectly from that money. That income could have come from businesses like coal-fired power plants or from investments that supported fossil-fuel-burning industries.

At the very top of the income spectrumthe richest 1 percent of Americansinvestments composed 38 to 42 percent of their emissions. And those emissions were 15 to 17 percent of the countrys total greenhouse-gas emissions. Within that subset, there were also a group of so-called super-emitters, which aligned with the top 0.1 percent of households. For these people, about 15 days of emissions were equivalent to a lifetime of emissions from someone in the poorest 10 percent of the United States, the Post noted.

All Americans contribute to climate change, but clearly not in the same way, the French economist Lucas Chancel (who was not involved with the study) told the newspaper. Without policies such as regulations or taxes on very polluting investments, its unlikely that wealthy individuals making a lot of money from fossil fuel investments will stop investing in them.

Starr noted, however, that those very same people are often the ones making policy decisions in the United States. He hopes, though, that his new study will perhaps convince some of them that such changes to investing are necessary.

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Never one to shy away from bright colors, dazzling jewels, or luxurious furs, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark knows how to turn heads. Starting from her 2004 wedding to Prince Frederik, Mary has truly been dressing the part of the future queen. Read on to check out some of her most grand fashion moments.

August 13, 2023

In celebration of the 250th anniversary of the town of Christiansfeld, a UNESCO World Heritage site, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary traveled to the city. Mary selected a Raquel Diniz dress and a floral fascinator for the occasion.

CLAUS FISKER - Getty Images

June 15, 2023

It was all glamour at a dinner at Amalienborg Castle in Copenhagen, when Crown Princess Mary wore a long, tiered gown in a blushing champagne hue.

MADS CLAUS RASMUSSEN - Getty Images

May 6, 2023

At the coronation of King Charles, Mary went for a monochrome look in a truly regal purple hue paired with a veiled headpiece, a turquoise brooch, and matching earrings.

Mark Cuthbert - Getty Images

May 5, 2023

Ahead of the coronation of Britain's King Charles III, Princess Mary and Prince Frederik attended a gala at Buckingham Palace. A pro at shopping her own closet, Mary rewore the bright, balloon sleeve dress that she chose for her daughter, Princess Isabella's confirmation earlier int he year.

Chris Jackson - Getty Images

January 3, 2023

At the New Year's reception for the diplomatic corps at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen, Mary glammed it up in a cornflower blue down with a printed skirt.

LISELOTTE SABROE - Getty Images

June 21, 2022

To visit the Willem-Alexander Childrens Hospital in Leiden, Mary opted with a classic, belted shirt dress is a warm cream shade, and snake print pumps.

Patrick van Katwijk - Getty Images

June 20, 2022

For a dinner celebrating Dutch-Danish trade at The Hague, Princess Mary wore this gorgeous, lacy navy dress with sheer details and a bright yellow shoe.

Patrick van Katwijk - Getty Images

April 30, 2022

For the confirmation of her daughter, Princess Isabella at Fredensborg Palace, Mary went for a bold papaya-hued dress with a gem-studded belt and a veiled headband.

Patrick van Katwijk - Getty Images

February 23, 2022

When Kate Middleton came to visit Queen Margrethe at the Christian IX Palace in Copenhagen, Crown Princess Mary wore a simple and chic black and white combo, pairing a white boucle coat with a black turtleneck, skirt set, and tights.

Samir Hussein - Getty Images

January 14, 2022

On the 50th anniversary of Queen Margrethe's accession, Mary wore this all-over camel ensemble to visit the tomb of Frederick IX of Denmark, father of Margrethe, in Roskilde, Denmark.

MARTIN SYLVEST - Getty Images

November 2, 2019

Crown Princess Mary donned a one-shoulder, dusty rose gown for the Crown Prince Couples Prize Awards. She paired her formal dress with dangly earrings and a floral bouquet.

Ole Jensen - Getty Images

October 22, 2019

During a trip to Japan, Princess Mary chose a blue-grey gown with an attached cape. She complemented the look with a turquoise sash, ceremonial brooches, and a purple hat with a large blue flower.

Chris Jackson - Getty Images

October 8, 2019

For a grand dinner in Paris, Princess Mary chose a blue and white lace look with matching pumps. She topped off the outfit with a romantic updo.

Pierre Suu - Getty Images

October 8, 2019

The Princess remained chic throughout her 2019 Paris trip, posing in front of the Arc de Triomphe while wearing a long-sleeved white, tweed dress. She matched her pumps with a flattering navy belt.

Pierre Suu - Getty Images

June 15, 2019

Princess Mary chose a red, silk dress with a teardrop cutout for the 800 year anniversary celebration of the Danish flag. The Princess accessorized with flowers in her hands and on her hat.

Ole Jensen - Getty Images

March 12, 2019

During a trip stateside, HRH Mary attended a Houston, Texas gala wearing a teal "cold shoulder" gown.

Bob Levey - Getty Images

January 1, 2019

The Princess chose a formal look, with a patterned gown and glittering tiara to be accompanied by her husband, Crown Prince Frederik, so celebrate the new year.

Ole Jensen - Getty Images

August 29, 2017

Always one to accessorize with a bouquet, Princess Mary attended the opening of the National Care Center in Copenhagen with flowers in hand. Her crisp look included a tea-length, polka dot skirt and snakeskin pumps.

Patrick van Katwijk - Getty Images

May 10, 2017

The rain didn't stop Princess Mary as she and her husband donned formalwear to attend the King and Queen of Denmark's joint 80th birthday party. Mary opted for a striking formal gown with a waist-accentuating belt.

Nigel Waldron - Getty Images

March 28, 2017

For a State Dinner, Crown Princess Mary glittered in gold and jewels. She paired her metallic gown with a burgundy sash, opulent necklace, and a dazzling tiara.

Ole Jensen - Corbis - Getty Images

June 15, 2016

Princess Mary wore this fun look to the Royal Ascot horse race in the United Kingdom. The Princess clearly loves a flowered hat, so she opted for this detailed cream version, which she wore along with a red puff-sleeved dress.

Max Mumby/Indigo - Getty Images

April 30, 2016

HRH Mary stepped out in a camel robe-style coat and her signature pumps. She also coordinated her plum-colored pillbox hat with matching leather gloves.

Julian Parker - Getty Images

April 13, 2016

At a State Banquet, the Princess pulled out all the stops, with her red, ruffled gown, mustard sash, and stunning accessories. Her delicate crown and bouffant hairstyle topped off this formal look.

Julian Parker - Getty Images

April 13, 2016

Earlier that day, Mary showed that outerwear doesn't have to be dull. Her belted ombre coat paired nicely with her black pumps and pillbox hat.

Julian Parker - Getty Images

June 13, 2015

The royal couple wowed while attending the wedding of Prince Carl Philip of Sweden. Crown Princess Mary shined in a periwinkle ballgown and dainty tiara.

Julian Parker - Getty Images

April 8, 2015

Accompanied by her daughter, Princess Isabella, Mary chose a simple yet formal look with a black velvet gown. Her statement necklace adds some sparkle to the outfit.

Julian Parker - Getty Images

November 13, 2014

Princess Mary stole the spotlight at the 2014 Bambi Awards in Berlin. This sparkly, off-the-shoulder gown was complemented by her dazzling statement earrings.

Franziska Krug - Getty Images

June 11, 2014

While attending a lunch at a French chateau, the Princess looked stylish and breezy in this bright green maxi dress and barely-there sandals.

Mark Cuthbert - Getty Images

June 8, 2013

At the wedding of Swedish Princess Madeleine, Mary wore this opulent coral outfit complete with a cape and a floral tiara.

Vittorio Zunino Celotto - Getty Images

April 29, 2013

The princess glowed in silver and blush at a formal dinner in Amsterdam. The gown's illusion neckline and detailed embroidery add to its beauty.

Michel Porro - Getty Images

January 3, 2013

For a formal event in Copenhagen, Princess Mary donned a black tie dress and jacket set. Her blue sash coordinates nicely with her husband's larger version.

Danny E. Martindale - Getty Images

January 1, 2013

The Princess was a vision in orange at Queen Margrethe of Denmark's 2013 New Year's Banquet. Her elaborate silver jewelry added to the striking look.

Danny Martindale - Getty Images

October 20, 2012

For the wedding of Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg, Crown Princess Mary donned an asymmetrical grey hat and a tailored skirt suit.

Sean Gallup - Getty Images

March 24, 2012

The Princess wore this floral, springtime look to greet Prince Charles at the Copenhagen airport. The elegant jacket and dress combination looked put-together and fresh for a crisp March day.

Chris Jackson - Getty Images

January 14, 2014

The Princess sported a long black embroidered gown and delicate tiara at a Copenhagen gala. The dress proved perfect for a formal night on the town.

Chris Jackson - Getty Images

November 23, 2011

During a trip to Australia, Princess Mary looked effortlessly chic in a white pantsuit and Christian Louboutin pumps.

Pool - Getty Images

October 21, 2011

Their Royal Highnesses attended the American Scandinavian Foundation's Centennial Ball in New York. The Princess shined in a sparkly, shoulder-baring, complete with a brooch and dangly earrings.

Neilson Barnard - Getty Images

July 2, 2011

Never one to shy away from bright colors, the Princess chose this eye-catching hot pink gown for Prince Albert II of Monaco's wedding weekend. She accessorized with a tiara, a brooch, and pink jewels.

Mark Cuthbert - Getty Images

July 2, 2011

Earlier that day, Crown Princess Mary stuck with the bright colors, wearing a blue tie waist dress to the Monaco wedding's religious ceremony. She also donned a hat that she continues to wear through 2020.

Venturelli - Getty Images

September 27, 2010

Always a fan of statement outwear, the Princess chose a stunning floral coat and matching burgundy headpiece during a royal visit to northern Germany.

Pool - Getty Images

June 19, 2010

While posing with her son at a Swedish royal wedding, Crown Princess Mary glowed in a muted green gown. Naturally, she accessorized with her tiara, blue sash, and brooches.

Pool BENAINOUS/HOUNSFIELD - Getty Images

June 18, 2010

Before the Swedish wedding, the Crown Princess wowed in this strapless, cream gown. The subtle embroidery and embellishments on the dress' bodice add lovely detail to this elegant outfit.

Adam Osterman - Getty Images

January 1, 2009

Crown Princess Mary always has the most elaborate New Year's outfits. To ring in 2009, she chose a silver gown, accessorizing with diamonds and fur.

Julian Parker - Getty Images

September 12, 2007

For the Brazilian President's state visit to Denmark, the Princess sported this blue gown with an elegant v-shaped neckline. She complemented the look with her tiara and powder blue sash.

Mark Cuthbert - Getty Images

September 12, 2007

Denmark can get chilly in September, and this white overcoat is the perfect transition piece from summer to fall. The Princess topped off the outfit with a black and white hat.

Mark Cuthbert - Getty Images

February 23, 2007

For the King of Norway's 70th birthday, Princess Mary chose a simple black gown paired with a luxurious fur jacket. This look was sure to keep the Princess warm and stylish in the midst of an Oslo winter.

Julian Parker/Mark Cuthbert - Getty Images

June 30, 2006

Crown Princess Mary sparkled in this embellished, beige cocktail dress. She wore this summery look to the Grand Duke and Duchess of Luxembourg's silver wedding anniversary celebration.

Pascal Le Segretain - Getty Images

May 14, 2004

One of the Princess's all time greatest looks is her wedding outfit. The stunning off the shoulder gown, detailed with white lace, proved perfect for a royal wedding, along with her lace veil and bountiful floral bouquet.

Pool BENAINOUS/TRAVERS/DUCLOS - Getty Images

May 11, 2004

At a celebratory dinner for her wedding, Princess Marry wore a silver, patterned ballgown paired with an elaborate necklace and tiara. She and her husband-to-be coordinated their light blue sashes.

Sean Gallup - Getty Images

May 5, 2004

Leading up to her wedding, the future princess sported a vibrant red gown with an oversized bow and train. Her floral tiara with red gemstones complemented the formal look.

Lalo Yasky - Getty Images

October 8, 2004

At the announcement of her engagement to Prince Frederik, then Mary Elizabeth Donaldson wore a sophisticated light brown dress to make her public debut. The chocolate brown detailing accentuates Mary's waist and adds to this classy look.

Scott Barbour - Getty Images

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Footwear insole and comfort footwear solutions firm OrthoLite has named Matt Thwaites as vice president and general manager of OrthoLite Cirql. Thwaites brings more than two decades of experience in sales and operations in the textile industry. He will lead production, sales and go-to-market strategy globally for OrthoLite Cirql and will be based at its Vietnam headquarters in Ho Chi Minh City,.

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Macys Inc. named Massimo Max Magni as its new chief customer and digital officer. He will lead the companys customer and digital organization starting Aug. 21, reporting to Tony Spring, president and CEO-elect. Magni will guide Macys digital vision and growth, aligned on customer-centric strategies that leverage data and analytics across touchpoints, including the companys e-commerce sites, mobile apps, marketplace, loyalty and gift registry programs.

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Judith McKenna, president and CEO of Walmart International, has retired after 27 years with the company. She will be replaced by Kathryn McLay, who is currently president and CEO of Sams Club U.S. Chris Nicholas, currently chief operating officer of Walmart U.S., will assume McLays former role. Kieran Shanahan will succeed Nichols as EVP and COO. These changes are effective Sept. 11.

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I've got a scar to prove it on my knee.

John Shearer/Getty Images for CMA

Lauren Akins and her oldest daughter were amongst the thousands of Tennessee fans who stormed Neyland Stadium after the Volunteers defeated Alabama last year.

Appearing alongside her husband, Thomas Rhett, in the newest episode of Southern Livings Biscuits & Jam podcast, Akins said that her alma maters 52-49 win over the Crimson Tide was the best Knoxville game shes ever been toand shes been to a lot.

I had our oldest with us. We rushed the field, Akins recalled, referring to seven-year-old Willa Gray.

We were one of the first ones on the field. I've got a scar to prove it on my knee, she added, eliciting a laugh from her husband, a diehard Georgia fan.

I've got a picture blown up of her on Tyler's shouldersmy brother-in-law [Tyler Page] who was on the team for four years. He's got tears in his eyes. I mean, grown men weeping on the field and just cigars everywhere, and the goalpost coming down.

It was like nothing I will ever experience again, Akins mused.

It was one of the coolest moments of my life behind marrying you and having children, she said, looking at Thomas Rhett.

Yeah. Thank you. Thanks for that. Do I rank third in that? the crooner laughed.

Download and listen to this episode of Biscuits & Jam with Thomas Rhett and Lauren Akins on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or everywhere podcasts are available.



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And there are dozens of options to choose from.

Traveling in person is of course the best way to experience the dramatic landscapes, gorgeous beaches, and breathtaking history of Croatia. But now, the country is allowing prospective travelers to see all that from their computers.

Thanks to the Croatian Tourist Board, travelers can take dozens of virtual walks across the country with 360-degree views in order to test drive a visit, the group shared with Travel + Leisure. The tourist board offers 63 different virtual experiences available in four different languages: English, German, Italian, and Croatian.

The walks are available to take on either the tourist boards website or the Explore Croatia mobile app.

"We continuously invest in promotion and communication channels and keep up with modern trends, Kristjan Stanicic, the director of the tourist board, said in a statement provided to T+L. Digitalization of Croatian tourism, along with sustainability, represents one of the key strategic directions of its further development, so in the future we will additionally upgrade this VR platform with new technological solutions, as well as materials for new destinations and language variants."

Travelers can choose from popular spots like Dubrovniks Church of St Blaise, the island of Lokrum (which Game of Thrones fans may recognize as Qarth), the capital Zagreb, and more. Users can move around the screen and zoom in and out, tapping on each location for more history and information.

The virtual experience gives travelers a birds eye view of Croatias most beloved sights while also allowing them to delve down into a street-level perspective.

When travelers do decide to go on an IRL vacation, they will have plenty of amazing spots to choose from like Croatias stunning beaches, Dubrovniks charmingly narrow streets, and the countrys hidden gem islands.

Croatia also isnt the only destination that allows travelers to visit without having to leave home. During the pandemic, sights from the Great Wall of China to national parks started offering virtual tours. And while its now possible to visit these places in person, travelers can still take advantage of the computer-led experience for advance trip planning today.

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Mateo's Ice Cream and Fruit Bars was founded by Priciliano Mateo, a Mexican immigrant, in 2000. The original location is at Crenshaw and Pico boulevards. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

Although theres no foolproof way to escape the convection oven that is a summer day in L.A., there are, in my mind, a handful of obvious remedies: Run through a sprinkler. Take a cold shower and drip dry in front of a fan. Spend the afternoon in a frigid movie theater. And, of course, go to Mateos Ice Cream .

When the sun goes down on another sticky day, folks are lined up outside the location near Crenshaw and Pico boulevards, some with kids in tow, shirts slightly damp with sweat, waiting for a chance to cool off with a fruity paleta or a bite of one of Mateos creamy nieves. For those in the know, a visit is an icy, refreshing pause in the middle of a blistering heatwave.

Mateos is, simply put, summertime.

Coral Cornejo, sitting, and daughter, Renata Figueroa, 10, of Culver City enjoy an ice cream at Mateo's. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

Flavors include hibiscus, soursop, black sapote, coconut and yogurt with dried fruit. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

While Mateos also sells such things as licuados and batidos (and dont sleep on its killer turkey sandwich), its essence is in its paletas, or popsicles.

Each of the 30 or so varieties is its own small, frozen work of art. Sitting next to each other in the refrigerated case, wooden sticks up and organized by flavor, the colorful paletas  strawberry, cantaloupe, mamey, hibiscus  look like swatches of paint. After you order, the counter person retrieves your choice from the case and places a small quadrangular cup around the base to catch any drips, so it looks as if youre wielding a tiny sword.

There are many paleta flavors at Mateo's  too many for a reasonable person to try. So, of course, I tried all of them.

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Founded in 2000, Mateos is as much a product of Oaxaca as it is Los Angeles. Founder Priciliano Mateo (who died in 2018), born in Chiapas and raised in Oaxaca, learned the frozen treat trade from an uncle and sold paletas on the beach in Mexico as a kid, pushing a cart through the sand. His father taught him the salesmanship that would serve him later in life: Get people to try the product. If its good, the customers will follow.

Sofia Mateo, 53, left, and daughter Elizabeth Mateo, 32, have continued the business since founder Priciliano Mateo died in 2018. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

This was related to me by Elizabeth Mateo, Pricilianos daughter, who now runs the business together with her mother, Sofia (Pricilianos widow), her brother Oscar and her uncle Art Hernandez.

Elizabeth, who was 10 when Mateo's opened, remembers watching movies in a back area while her parents nursed their fledgling business from a tiny operation to employing around 40 people today.

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At the beginning, Priciliano had two jobs, working at a hotel during the day and at Warner Bros. at night. Sofia, who was also from Oaxaca, had a job working as a hairdresser.

We started in June of 2000, and it was very difficult, Sofia said. We started with very little money. We were thinking about buying a new car with the roughly $10,000 they had managed to save, but Priciliano had other ideas.

I want to do what I like to do, she recalls him saying, and they went forward with a business plan based on his experience selling ice cream and popsicles in Mexico.

Marco Cruz prepares water-based coconut popsicles or paletas in molds to be frozen at Mateo's. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

The business success grew slowly through word-of-mouth and rarely through advertisements. Once social media and platforms like Yelp came into play, My dad was very big on reviews, Elizabeth said.

The goal of the family now, Elizabeth said, is to carry on her father's legacy.

Everything has been consistent since my father has passed, she said.

The Sepulveda Boulevard location remains the hub and where all the paletas get made, as many as 3,000 per day in the summer, in tiny molds dipped into a teal-blue bath of calcium chloride. "Everything gets made the day before and distributed the next day. We rarely store anything," Elizabeth said.

Mateos still takes care to honor its ties to the Oaxacan community with some harder-to-find flavors, such as leche quemada (smoked, or burnt, milk), which for some represent a strong connection to the homeland. People just want a taste of home, Elizabeth said.

Before we fully dive into the paleta flavors, let me fully drive home one point: There is nothing bad at Mateos. Yes, I have favorites. But you cannot go wrong with anything.

For that reason, to reinforce the uniformity of quality across the galaxy of Mateos paletas, Ive divided the flavors into three categories: Great, Greater and Greatest.

(Brandon Ly / Los Angeles Times)

Great

Coffee  Tastes like a mild-tasting frozen coffee beverage.

Pistachio  Creamy, nutty flavor with an undertone reminiscent of an almond cookie from a Chinese bakery.

Guava  Surely you've had a guava before? If not, think of it as a floral, tropical pear. Its fantastic.

Yellow cherry (water-based)  The nance, or yellow cherry, paleta has a fascinating flavor to accompany its gritty texture. Imagine an overripe banana thats been smoked over a campfire. If youre expecting something cherry-flavored, youll be disappointed.

Mango with chile  Like eating a chile-covered mango from a fruit cart. This is almost more savory than sweet, and it has a quiet heat to it.

Walnut  I liked this one but had a bit of difficulty telling it apart from the coffee. A gentle, nutty flavor.

Vanilla  Lots of rich, creamy vanilla flavor. Wholly recommend.

Esquimales  The esquimales at Mateos are a selection of chocolate-covered popsicles that may also come with sprinkles or crushed nuts. Theyre great, of course, but I dont personally need the extra coating to get in the way of the actual popsicle.

Coco Loco  If you like pina coladas, but not necessarily getting caught in the rain, youll enjoy this mix of pineapple and coconut, covered in chocolate.

(Brandon Ly / Los Angeles Times)

Greater

Strawberry (dairy-based)  I could eat these all day. Creamy strawberry flavor and, as a bonus, a full, frozen strawberry impaled through the bottom.

Soursop  Great guanabana flavor to this paleta, with a taste somewhere between an apple and a pineapple.

Black sapote  There's a beautiful, opaque off-black color to this paleta, which has a subtle flavor that evokes a persimmon custard.

Hibiscus  A paleta so deeply purple youd be forgiven for thinking it was an English prog rock band. Tannic, tart and delicious; youll feel like youre at a late-night taco stand downing an agua fresca.

Cucumber with chile  Refreshing, like the cucumber-laced water you'd get after a spa treatment, but frozen on a stick. But with a kick, of course. The chile is very much present, and its no joke.

Pineapple  Plenty of mashed bits of fruit to enjoy in this absolute winner of a paleta.

Cantaloupe  Cantaloupe, unfairly maligned in many circles, is one of those "you like it or you dont" fruits. But here, that mild, floral flavor really shines.

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Chocolate-covered banana  Is a chocolate-covered banana a popsicle? Is cereal technically soup? We can debate these questions forever, but we can agree that chocobananas are delicious, with or without nuts.

Watermelon  Watermelon is more than 90% water, so youd think it would translate well to a frozen treat. Youd be right.

Coconut (dairy)  Creamy, delicious coconut. Bury me in a sarcophagus full of these, please.

Yellow cherry (dairy)  The dairy-based version of the yellow cherry, or nance, paleta. Still tastes like warm spices and smoke. Note to the bartenders out there: This could be great as a cocktail.

The water-based coconut paleta at Mateo's Ice Cream is a perennial favorite. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

(Brandon Ly / Los Angeles Times)

Greatest

Smoked milk  Leche quemada, or smoked, milk, is possibly the most popular paleta flavor at Mateo's, and its easy to see why. It's deeply creamy with a powerfully smoky flavor and a splodge of pitaya fruit at the bottom. If youve never tried it (or if you have), youre in for a treat.

Strawberry (water-based)  The water-based strawberry paleta is, somehow, even better than the dairy-based one. Mashed bits of fruit are what really push it over the top.

Mango  Picture a ripe mango in your hand. Imagine biting into it. Now imagine that the mango is very cold and that youre very happy. Youve got the picture.

Coconut (water-based)  One of my favorite paletas here. Perhaps the favorite. An abundance of frozen coconut flavor that isnt creamy like the dairy-based version but benefits from the tiny bits of fruit throughout.

Rice pudding  Another contender for my top paleta. This is creamy rice pudding, replete with little raisins, in popsicle form. 10 out of 10, no notes.

Mamey  The mamey is earthy and creamy, like a funky papaya, and is incredible as a frozen dessert. Imagine all the best qualities of a sweet potato  rich and earthy  minus the mealiness or stringiness that can sometimes befall the tuber.

Read more: Don't skip dessert: 19 L.A. restaurants with decadent sundaes, shaved ice, sorbet and more

Myrtle  This pale, earthy green popsicle is powerfully tart and tannic, with little chewy bits of fruit throughout. Its botanic and perfume-y and feels like a guava that's evolved into its final form. If youve never tried arrayan, or myrtle, please do.

Lime  A perfect mixture of sour, bitter and sweet. Like popping half a cold lime into your mouth, rind and all.

Tamarind  A wonderful representation of why we love the tart-sweetness of the tamarind fruit. This will absolutely pucker your mouth.

Yogurt with dried fruit  Smooth, mild and tangy, with tons of fun dried fruit bits to chew on between licks (or bites, if youre that type of person).

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Hailey Clauson was photographed by James Macari in the Dominican Republic. Swimsuit by Elissa Poppy. James Macari/Sports Illustrated

Hailey Clauson has been featured the SI Swimsuit issue seven times now, and she still drops our jaw with every new gallery. The 28-year-olds latest shoot was with photographer James Macari in the Dominican Republic and it was styled with the most fun, trendy and Barbiecore inspired swimsuits in a range of flattering cuts, colors and styles.

The brands official Instagram account just shared a gorgeous throwback video of some unseen, behind the scenes clips of the team on location of Clausons shoot.

Its a lovely Friday! , SI Swimsuit wrote.

Clauson made her debut with the magazine in 2015 in Kauai, Hawaii and landed the cover the following year, after being photographed in Turks and Caicos.

The night before the shoot, I try on a bunch of swimsuits. They usually narrow down the looks in half, so we only shoot our favorite swimsuits, Clauson told People. I love that they still do the fitting photos on a Polaroid camera. The fitting is always so much fun! Its just me and some the team from SI. Lots of laughing and fun!

The California native is the co-owner and creative director of Los Angeles-based boutique modeling agency, Margeaux the Agency.

My role is mentoring these models and teaching them how to take advantage of [their] opportunities. This is really a stepping stone to so many more things, so I really want these boys and girls and people to know that they have so much more to offer, Clauson said to SI Swimsuit. For [the agency], the goal is just to keep growing and eventually be one of the best agencies in the world.

Below are eight of our favorite photos from her 2023 photo shoot.

James Macari/Sports Illustrated

James Macari/Sports Illustrated

James Macari/Sports Illustrated

James Macari/Sports Illustrated

James Macari/Sports Illustrated

James Macari/Sports Illustrated

James Macari/Sports Illustrated

Make sure to follow SI Swimsuit on YouTube!
Abigail Zwerner, a 25-year-old teacher, was shot by a 6-year-old student in her first-grade classroom at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia.

The incident occurred on January 6, 2023, when the child used his mother's gun to shoot Zwerner in the hand and chest, resulting in nearly two weeks of hospitalization and four surgeries.

Zwerner's difficult recovery continues, and she told NBC News that she sometimes "can't get up out of bed." Zwerner launched a $40 million lawsuit against the Newport News School Board. However, they are looking to dismiss it, and their reasons for doing so are pretty off-putting.

The Virginia school board told Zwerner that the shooting was a 'hazard of the job' and a 'workplace injury.'

They argue that Zwerner's injuries fall under the state's worker's compensation act, contending that she was "clearly injured while at work, at her place of employment, by a student in the classroom."

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The school board has countered Zwerner's expectation of safety from young children in the classroom, citing multiple incidents of violence against teachers nationwide and in Newport News itself.

"While in an ideal world, young children would not pose any danger to others, including their teachers, this is sadly not reality," the filing stated.

The child who shot Zwerner will not be prosecuted, but his mother faces charges of felony neglect and reckless storage of a firearm. The school board claims that Zwerner was approved for workers' compensation, which offers up to 500 weeks of compensation and lifetime medical care without having to prove negligence.

However, Zwerner has refused to accept it and filed her lawsuit in April 2023.

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Zwerner accuses the school officials of gross negligence and alleges that they ignored multiple warnings on the day of the shooting. The lawsuit states that the boy "had a history of random violence" and mentions an episode where he "strangled and choked" his kindergarten teacher.

The boy was transferred but allowed to return for first grade. He was also noted for chasing students with a belt and cursing at staff and teachers.

In its filing, the school board rebuffed Zwerner's claims, explaining that the boy was being evaluated for possible ADHD, and even if additional services were required, state and federal laws would have aimed to keep him with his peers.

The lawsuit also details warnings given by Zwerner and two students who reported the boy having a gun in his backpack. The assistant principal found no weapon, and Zwerner's lawsuit claims that action was not taken, despite seeing the boy place something in his pocket.

RELATED: Dad Shares The Honest Moment When He Realized He Didn't Want To Raise His 4-Year-Old Daughter In America Anymore

The school board's argument has caused a considerable stir in the community.

James Graves, the president of the Newport News Teachers Union, has termed the argument as "ridiculous," insisting that being shot is not part of what teachers signed up for. His statement on Facebook referred to the school board's action as "a slap in our faces" and rallied school staff to attend upcoming board meetings.

The board's recent filing highlights the "unfortunate reality" that teaching in America carries risks and even likens the incident to an attack with "sharp scissors" rather than a gun, arguing that either would fall under worker's compensation.

In the end, the Zwerner case appears to be about much more than one tragic incident. It opens a window into how many employers try to limit the amount of benefits paid to employees, regardless of the situation.

Generally, employers will prefer to pay benefits under workers' compensation where their exposure is limited to medical benefits and lost time from work. The employers are immune from most lawsuits under liability if the employer agrees that the injury occurred in the course and scope of employment, said Derek James, Esq., the workers' compensation attorney at the Overchuck Law Firm in Orlando, Florida.

In these situations, there is no recovery for pain and suffering, emotional trauma, or the impact on their families," he continues. "The limitations of workers' compensation will likely mean both she and her family will be left without the financial support needed to fully recover from this tragedy.

RELATED: Emotional Mom Shares Her Son's Last Words And People Blame Her  'He Was Weak'

Ethan Cotler is a writer and frequent contributor to YourTango living in Boston. His writing covers entertainment, news, and human interest stories.

This article originally appeared on YourTango
Pakistani Rangers stand guard after mobs attacked Christian churches and homes following blasphemy allegations in Jaranwala, near Faisalabad, Pakistan. Armed mobs in Jaranwala targeted two churches and private homes, setting them on fire and causing widespread destruction, according to the police. Photo by Ilyas Sheikh/EPA-EFE

Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Pakistani authorities arrested more than 100 people Wednesday after a mob set fire to churches and vandalized homes in a minority Christian enclave as part of a riot sparked by allegations of blasphemy toward the Koran.

The interim Punjab government said it was investigating the rampage in the east of the country, on the outskirts of the industrial city of Faisalabad, where it was rumored that the Koran had been desecrated.

No deaths were reported, but at least four churches in Jaranwala were burned, and as many as a dozen religious buildings were damaged as the angry mob ransacked the city.

"They broke the windows, doors and took out fridges, sofas, chairs and other household items to pile them up in front of the Church to be burnt," said 31-year-old Yasir Bhatti, who witnessed the chaos that forced him to flee his home. "They also burnt and desecrated Bibles, they were ruthless."

Government sources told news outlets that the Islamist opposition party known as Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan incited the uprising, but the coalition later denied any responsibility.

The violence erupted after two men were accused of desecrating the ancient scripture, but there were few if any details about what exactly happened or what the suspects did.

Police only said they filed charges against two local Christian residents for violation of blasphemy laws, while local reports indicated that a particular Koran had its pages defaced and torn out before the book was found discarded near a Christian colony.

Meanwhile, several thousand police stormed the city to restore peace, according to Amir Mir, the information minister for Punjab province, who denounced the violence but also condemned the alleged insults toward the Koran.

"This was a well thought out plan to disrupt peace and a high-level investigation is underway regarding the desecration of the Holy Koran and incidents that take place afterward," said a statement from the provincial government, adding that police had thwarted several attacks on religious minorities.

Officials said religious violence has surged in the country in recent years due to the perceived mishandling of the Koran.

"The frequency and scale of such attacks -- which are systematic, violent and often uncontainable -- appear to have increased in the last several years," the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said in a statement following the latest furor.

Blasphemy is a life-or-death matter in Pakistan, with insults toward Islam or Islamic figures punishable by execution under a strict 1980s law that arose from the British colonial period to punish those who disparage the dominant religion.

About 96% of Pakistan's population is Muslim.

The attacks left the Christian community "deeply pained and distressed" according to Pakistani bishop Azad Marshall, who resides in the neighboring city of Lahore.

"We cry out for justice and action from law enforcement and those who dispense justice and the safety of all citizens to intervene immediately and assure us that our lives are valuable in our own homeland," Marshall said.

On Wednesday, the advocacy group called on police to protect religious minorities and their places of worship and cited a 2014 Pakistani Supreme Court ruling that required them to do so.

Pakistan's interim Prime Minister Anwar ul Haq Kakar called Wednesday's violence appalling and said those responsible would be held accountable.

"I am gutted by the visuals coming out," he wrote.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Vedant Patel put pressure on the Pakistani government to investigate the attacks.

"We are deeply concerned that churches and homes were targeted in response to reported Koran desecration in Pakistan," Patel told reporters, adding "violence or the threat of violence is never an acceptable form of expression."
HAMPTON  A Massachusetts company is looking to build a 156-foot-tall cell tower on residentially zoned lots on Barbour Road.

Vertex Towers was scheduled to go before the towns Zoning Board of Adjustment Thursday, Aug. 17, but the public hearing was not held and instead continued to next month due to a notification technicality.

Vertex Towers is seeking variances from the towns zoning to build a 150-foot-tall monopole-style cell tower with a six-foot lightning rod. Intended on lots owned by Eileen and John Goodwin at 17 and 17 R Barbour Road, in a town residential zone, the tower is to be located inside a 60-foot square fenced-in compound on a 22-acre undeveloped property, according to the application.

Vertex Towers is seeking variances from the towns zoning to build a 150-foot-tall monopole-style cell tower with a six-foot lightning rod on Barbour Road.

A full room of residents came out to oppose the project Thursday. In an email sent out prior to the meeting, residents expressed concern with the location and possible negative health impacts.

However, before Vertexs lawyer Francis Parisi could present the application, he was told by ZBA Chairman Bill OBrien the meeting would not occur. According to OBrien, the abutter notifications required before a public hearing were not executed correctly.

Parisi explained he notified all abutters after a town employee returned the abutter mailing labels and $600 postage check he had provided. But OBrien said the required method of notification was not followed for Aquarion Water Company and surrounding towns, which required the hearing to be postponed.

Although Parisi said he emailed notification to Aquarion and contacted neighboring communities about the hearing himself, OBrien said regulations require Aquarion be notified by registered mail and for the town of Hampton to notify abutting municipalities.

The mix-up, OBrien said, no matter where the fault lies, failed to meet regulations, and he and the four other ZBA members at the meeting agreed on postponement. OBrien said under his chairmanship, the ZBA has a reputation for being a stickler for regulations.

Were going to follow the rules and follow the process, OBrien told Parisi. Im not going to allow anyone to get out of line. Well continue to next month and make sure Aquarion and other municipalities are notified properly.

Parisi reminded OBrien that federal regulations require the town to deal with cell tower applications in a timely fashion.

We have 150 days, OBrien said. If we act on the 149th day, weve met our requirement.

Trying again to persuade OBrien to waive the strict interpretation of the rules, Parisi expressed his concern for a month-long delay because he doesnt expect this will get through in one meeting.

Oh, OBrien replied, well get through this in one meeting.

OBrien said the ZBA intends to hire at least one consultant to provide information on radio frequencies cell towers emit, the cost for which OBrien expects Vertex to cover.

I have no problem with that as long as the fees are reasonable, Parisi said. And Im sure they will be.

Hampton has a zoning ordinance requiring cell towers to be located in its telecommunications district and that they do not exceed 100 feet in height.

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Neighbors opposed to cell tower

Although OBrien didnt allow Parisi to make a presentation, he allowed two members of the audience to speak. Vincent Penzo asked that the radio frequency expert hired have experience with the health effects of cell towers.

Former selectman Phill Bean chastised the ZBA for not having Vertexs application available online, claiming it shows a lack of transparency.

Vertex Towers is seeking variances from the towns zoning to build a 150-foot-tall monopole-style cell tower with a six-foot lightning rod on Barbour Road.

OBrien said making applications available online is not required or customary. Vertexs application is available for anyone to review at Town Hall, he said, and those wanting a copy can get one for a fee. The full application was posted on the town's website on Friday.

Vertex has also filed an application for the cell tower on Barbour Road with the Planning Board.

It will be presented to the Plan Review Committee on Wednesday, Aug. 23, at 2 p.m. Vertex is seeking a conditional use permit for a telecommunications facility in the groundwater protection district. They are also seeking waivers for stormwater management plan, landscaping plan, traffic impact analysis, and evaluation satisfying requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act.

Sidewalk battle: Hampton, state at odds over sidewalks for new Route 1A harbor bridge

Company also eyes cell towers in North Hampton, York

Currently, Vertex has a cell tower application before North Hampton officials for land at South Road Rye, behind 142 Mill Road. North Hampton suffers from numerous cell phone dead zones within its borders, a problem its Select Board unsuccessfully tried to remedy earlier this year with a failed eminent domain attempt.

Vertex Towers, headquartered in Sharon, Massachusetts, has a history of aggressively pursuing cell tower construction in the region, which it builds and manages. When initially denied permission to site a cell tower in a remote area of Thorton, New Hampshire on land owned by the Sununu family, the company filed a lawsuit against the town, which was eventually withdrawn after a settlement was reached.

The company also filed a federal lawsuit against the town of York after its Zoning Board rejected variances for a 120-foot monopole to be built in the wood behind the First Parish Church.

Vertex argued in the suit that federal law supersedes local ordinances and that the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 requires towns to let towers be built where service is needed.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Vertex Towers seeks variances for cell tower in Hampton neighborhood
KYODO NEWS - Aug 18, 2023 - 11:22 | All, Japan, 3/11 Fukushima

International hacker group Anonymous has launched cyberattacks against nuclear power-linked groups in Japan in protest at the planned release of treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea, a Japanese IT security firm said.

Anonymous has been intensifying its cyber offensives since last month, shortly after the International Atomic Energy Agency said in its final report that the planned discharge would comply with global safety standards, NTT Security Japan said.

"Vigilance is needed, as the attacks could further escalate after the discharge," a representative of the Tokyo-based firm said.

The organizations targeted by the international hacktivist group are the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Japan Atomic Power Co. and the Atomic Energy Society of Japan.

Anonymous have carried out distributed denial-of-service, or DDoS attacks, in which networks are overwhelmed by hackers who unleash a flood of data from multiple sources over a short period, with the assault being led by a group based in Italy.

Activities by a group based in Vietnam have also been confirmed, NTT Security said.

The Japan Atomic Energy Agency said its website saw about 100 times more than its usual traffic, but users could continue browsing the site as it took countermeasures.

According to NTT Security, Anonymous released a "target list" of its attacks after the Japanese government formally decided in 2021 to release treated water from Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

In addition to the three nuclear power-related organizations, TEPCO, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Liberal Democratic Party were on the list, NTT Security said.

A member of Anonymous told Kyodo News recently that the Japanese government's policy to release treated water lacks transparency as citizens were not able to participate in its decision-making process.

"We must put an end to the senseless act of making the sea a dumping ground for economic benefit," the member said.

Meanwhile, a company named Nippon Weston Co., which is not related to nuclear power, also came under attack from Anonymous, which apparently mistook its website, www.weston.co.jp, for one operated by a government entity in western Japan.

The company, which among other things leases cloths used for industrial cleaning, said it was not impacted by the attack.

Massive amounts of contaminated water have been generated in the process of cooling melted reactor fuel after the Fukushima plant was devastated by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

The water has been kept in tanks after going through the advanced liquid processing system that removes most radionuclides except tritium, but the storage vessels are nearing capacity. Tritium is known to be less harmful than other radioactive materials, such as cesium and strontium.

Local fishermen and some neighboring countries remain opposed to the plan, with China introducing blanket radiation testing on Japanese seafood.

Related coverage:

South Korea's district court dismisses suit over Fukushima water release

China tells Japan blanket seafood testing meant to protect consumers

Tritium at 13 China monitoring points above Fukushima water level

Pro-Russian hackers target Japan's top port handling Toyota trade
[Source]

Two Asian Americans were targeted in separate violent attacks on New York Citys subway stations this week.

The attacks: The first incident occurred at the 34th Street-Herald Square station in Midtown Manhattan at around 11:30 p.m. on Sunday. Iqbal Ahmed, a 76-year-old Pakistani American, was heading home from work when a man demanded money and stabbed him in his left shoulder, according to the New York Daily News.

The second incident occurred at the 23rd Street station in the Flatiron District at around noon on Tuesday. Gladys Chen was standing on the N/R/W train platform when a woman randomly struck her in the face, causing a contact lens to pop out from her eye, ABC7 News reported.

The aftermath: Ahmed, who was stabbed inches away from his heart, was rushed to Bellevue Hospital. David Trotman, 38, who has been linked to multiple assaults in the city, was arrested on Monday.

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Chen, who believes her attacker was mentally ill, suffered a bloody nose. Aside from the tenderness that lingered after, she told ABC7 News about feeling moments of intense rage over the incident.

Whats next: Ahmed remains at the hospital as doctors worry about his lungs, according to NBC New York. He organized a GoFundMe page to ask for help covering his medical expenses.

Trotman, whose rap sheet dates back to at least 2017, is facing multiple assault charges. He is also accused of groping a 21-year-old woman near Wall Street and William Street in Lower Manhattan on July 12, as per the New York Post.

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Meanwhile, Chens assailant is understood to be at large. Police reportedly described the suspect as a white woman standing 5 feet and 4 inches, weighing 180 pounds with brown hair that was in a ponytail.

Chen and her sister were the only Asians on the platform at the time, as per ABC7 News. Police are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime.

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Marylands First Lady Yumi Hogan Secures 500K COVID-19 Test Kits From South Korea
The News

Two willing leaders in Seoul and Tokyo, a private push from President Joe Biden, and an encroaching China.

Thats what it took to get Japan and South Korea to meet for a first-of-its-kind summit with Biden at Camp David later today, a significant step to mend the two nations historically fraught relationship.

Though their leaders have huddled together in the past on the sidelines of big international gatherings, the U.S., Japan, and South Korea have never gathered for a formal trilateral meeting.

Fridays represents a detente years in the making, ushered in by an Yoon Suk-yeol administration in South Korea eager to repair relations despite domestic political pressures and a receptive Fumio Kishida in Japan. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called it the start of a new era.

The countries are drawing closer together in order to counter Chinas growing influence and an increasingly aggressive North Korea, which has test-fired scores of missiles since last year.

I do think the most important factor spurring the progress is the change in government in South Korea and the combined security threats, said Lisa Curtis, director of the Center for a New American Securitys Indo-Pacific Security Program, who added that Russia-China cooperation was also a factor.



But U.S. attempts to strengthen its position against China in the region remain fraught: As of last night, the parties were still negotiating over whether official summit documents would even mention China, Japans Foreign Ministry press secretary Hikariko Ono told a small group of reporters at a briefing Thursday evening in Washington.

Biden also helped lay the groundwork for the summit, his first at Camp David. One senior administration official pointed to last Novembers meetings in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, saying Biden gave Yoon and Kishida assurances of U.S. support even when there was discouragement and questions about what was going to be possible given domestic political forces in both countries.

Bidens long experience, his wisdom, and his seniority are frankly quite well regarded in Asia, the official told reporters. So his ability to basically sit down and encourage and apply what I would call a kind of strategic empathy made a big difference.

Know More

The leaders are supposed to ink a few important agreements: they plan to set up a security hotline, agree to an annual trilateral summit, and commit to consulting one another in the event of a security crisis, according to senior Biden administration officials.

The three countries will also lay new plans to address so-called economic coercion  usually a reference to Chinas weaponization of trade in its foreign policy  and minimize global supply chain disruptions.

The countries will also agree to set up a working group on North Korean cyber activity, Ono said.

Step Back

Seoul and Tokyo have historically bitter relations, thanks to Japans brutal occupation of Korea in the first half of the 20th century. Past efforts by the U.S. to smooth frictions have faltered, and tensions mounted over a 2018 ruling in South Korea calling on Japanese companies to compensate victims of forced labor during the 1910-45 colonial period.

But Yoon has sought to end the dispute over forced labor payments. That was a big breakthrough, Ono said. He and Kishida have made trips to each others countries for bilateral meetings in recent months; Fridays meeting will be their fifth since the start of the year.

Morgans view

Though the meeting itself is a significant breakthrough, there are legitimate questions about whether the countries can sustain this kind of enhanced cooperation, because of the domestic headwinds Yoon and Kishida may withstand. Yoon faced blowback from his political opposition for a recent speech on South Koreas Liberation Day, which officially marks the end of Japans colonial rule, in which he argued for tighter security cooperation with Tokyo and didnt bring up past grievances, for instance.

A change in administration  in any of the three countries  could also prompt a shift in approach.

Room for Disagreement

The Biden administration is hoping to take steps to lock in the new cooperation and make it difficult to unravel, which will likely involve regular meetings between defense and diplomatic officials at lower levels.

Administration officials also dont seem too worried about U.S. political forces working against progress. These efforts are deeply bipartisan, the senior administration official said.

The View From China

The leaders at the summit are expected to handle talk about China carefully. Chinese officials are already signaling its displeasure over the meeting.

China has noticed some exclusionary groupings being assembled for the so-called regional security, only to intensify antagonism and undermine the strategic security of other countries, Chinese embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu said in a statement.

Notable

Biden, Kishida and Yoon cannot waste the opportunity to show they stand united at Fridays summit because the risks of war in Asia have become acute, a top State Department official under Barack Obamas administration writes.
An Oklahoma City Police Department vehicle is pictured in 2013, parked along Shartel Avenue in front of the Oklahoma County jail.

When it comes to law and order, Oklahomans assume their state stands head and shoulders above the others, and who could blame us. Our civic leaders tell us crime is under control.

Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt has said the citys 2022 homicide rate dropped 20% from what it was in 2021. He said Oklahoma Citys numbers are much lower than many other big cities across the country, and the Oklahoma City Police Department says crime is trending down.

But the shocking truth is we have a crime problem in Oklahoma City.

U.S. News & World Report says Oklahoma Citys violent crime and property crime rates are both higher than the national average, surpassing cities such as Portland, Oregon; Sacramento, California; and Pittsburgh.

Meanwhile, the Southwest Journals 2023 national inventory of crime ranks Oklahoma City the 10th-most dangerous city in Oklahoma, reporting more than one murder per week, more than one rape per day and more than 10 car thefts per day. And there are similar claims that rank OKC in the top five.

But the problem isnt just in Oklahoma City. The FBI reports Oklahomas violent crime rate is higher than New York and California, saying Oklahoma saw 7.4 murders per 100,000 people in 2020, which ranks the Sooner state 16th-highest in the nation.

So, when we hear public officials celebrate progress against crime in our community, we should look at it through a broader lens, then demand a better job.

The problem is not with our officers and deputies. They are top notch, dedicated professionals. The problem is we dont have enough of them.

Like so many departments across the country, Oklahoma City and Oklahoma County officials say hundreds of officers left the force since the anti-police protests in 2020. Recovery has been slow with Oklahoma City still short by 200 officers, and theres a shortage of 100 deputies in Oklahoma County.

But even if we bring our numbers back to pre-2020 levels, we still wouldnt have enough officers to do the job. To solve this crisis, we must raise our standards and hire the number of police necessary to make Oklahoma City safer.

Thats going to take a financial commitment on the part of our leaders, who must face the facts. If other cities our size can control crime, we can, too.

Finding quality police officers and deputies might not be as easy as it used to be, but theyre out there if were willing to compete for them, and Oklahoma Citys $10,000 signing bonus is not enough. Incentives are far greater in other large cities such as Washington, D.C., $20,000; Portland, $25,000; and New Orleans, $30,000. Atlanta is paying its existing officers a $4,000 bonus just to stay on the job.

Fighting crime might not be cheap, but its essential to the safety and quality of life of our city. Its time for our leaders to admit we have a crime problem, then allocate the resources to solve it.

Bob Funk Sr.

Bob Funk Sr. is founder and executive chairman of Oklahoma City-based Express Employment Professionals. He also has served many years on the board of directors for the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, including three years as board chairman.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Bob Funk: OKC must admit we have a crime problem, then act on it
A judge in central Illinois judge has dismissed a trio of lawsuits brought by a former Republican attorney general candidate challenging the states sweeping gun ban, citing last weeks state Supreme Court ruling that upheld the law in a separate case.

The outcome was expected after the high court in a 4-3 decision said the ban on an extensive list of high-power semi-automatic weapons and high-capacity magazines does not violate the state constitutions equal protection clause.

In that case and those brought by attorney Thomas DeVore, the plaintiffs argued the law violated the constitution by creating exemptions for certain trained professionals and for people who owned the now-banned firearms at the time the prohibition took effect, among other issues.

DeVore, who last year ran unsuccessfully for attorney general, said he plans to appeal Tuesdays lower court ruling. In addition, the gun ban is still being challenged on Second Amendment grounds in federal court. The U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago has yet to issue a ruling after hearing arguments in June in a group of lawsuits filed by the Illinois State Rifle Association and other gun rights groups.

The gun ban, spurred by the Fourth of July mass shooting in Highland Park in 2022, was signed into law by Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker shortly after it passed through the legislature in January.

Weve been saying all along that the bill that we passed, the law that I signed, is constitutional, a position the courts have affirmed, Pritzker said Wednesday during Governors Day at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield.

In Tuesdays ruling out of Effingham County, Circuit Judge Douglas Jarman found the issues before the court were largely settled by the Supreme Court ruling, which was made in a lawsuit brought by Republican state Rep. Dan Caulkins of Decatur.

In addition to dismissing the case with prejudice, meaning it cant be refiled, Jarman vacated temporary restraining orders that had blocked enforcement of the law against more than 150 licensed gun dealers and other entities as well as thousands of individual gun owners who were plaintiffs in the cases.

DeVore said in an email Wednesday that he would ask the circuit court to reconsider, calling Jarmans decisions premature and in error and blaming Caulkins and his legal team for being woefully unprepared to make a compelling case for gun owners in this state.

The Supreme Courts decision that Caulkins failed to meet his burden does not bar my clients from being able to proceed to make their case that they are in fact similarly situated to all or part of the exempt class, DeVore said.

If the circuit court wont reconsider, DeVore said hell take his case to a state appellate court.

DeVore filed an initial lawsuit within days of Pritzker signing the measure into law Jan. 10. A judge issued the first temporary restraining order Jan. 20, and DeVore followed up with two similar lawsuits in other jurisdictions.

A state appeals court upheld the order after finding that the law likely violated the Illinois Constitutions equal protection clause, a ruling the Supreme Court rejected in its decision in the Caulkins case.

In his ruling Tuesday, Jarman noted that, due to procedural issues, the Supreme Court didnt address whether the legislature violated a constitutional requirement that legislation be read on three separate days in both the House and Senate before it is approved, an argument the courts two Republican justices raised in a dissenting opinion.

However, Jarman wrote, the Supreme Court has long held that upon certification by the (House) Speaker and the Senate President, a bill is conclusively presumed to have met all procedural requirements for passage.

DeVore said he wants to bring that argument before the Supreme Court for reconsideration.

Among the plaintiffs who had been covered by the temporary restraining orders in DeVores cases was former GOP state Sen. Darren Bailey of Xenia, who lost his bid for governor in November and now is challenging five-term U.S. Rep. Mike Bost of Murphysboro.

After the Supreme Court ruling last week, Bailey wrote in a Facebook post, Ive said it loud and clear, and Ill say it again: Ill die on my porch before I give up my guns.

The gun ban immediately banned the delivery, sale, import and purchase of a long list of semi-automatic rifles, handguns and shotguns. Also banned are the delivery, sale or purchase of high-capacity ammunition magazines of more than 10 rounds for long guns and 15 rounds for handguns.

People who already owned the newly prohibited weapons when the ban took effect will have to register them with the Illinois State Police by Jan. 1.

The state police and the attorney generals office did not respond to questions on whether individuals who were covered by the temporary restraining orders at issue in the Effingham County case will be able to keep any firearms they purchased while those were in effect.

Previously, the state police said people who purchased the prohibited weapons during a six-day period when a federal court in southern Illinois put the law on hold will not be able to possess them legally after Jan. 1.

Chicago Tribunes Jeremy Gorner contributed from Springfield.

dpetrella@chicagotribune.com







2023 Chicago Tribune. Visit chicagotribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
[Source]

Chinese officials and academics are proposing changing how Tibet is referred to in English to "reconstruct" its image on the global stage

Changing an image: The proposal, which emerged during a seminar on the region's image held in Beijing on Aug. 14-16, suggests using the Chinese name Xizang, even in international discourse.

Over 320 scholars, including international attendees, participated in the seminar, which was covered extensively by official Chinese media outlets. Details about the seminar were sourced from a WeChat account managed by the United Front Work Department, a CCP-backed body related to ethnic minorities in China.

Tibet, known as "the Roof of the World," is a historically significant and culturally rich region often associated with Tibetan Buddhism and its unique linguistic heritage. Proponents of the shift say the proposal is part of a broader effort by Beijing to reframe the narrative around Tibet and emphasize its integral place within China.

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A more favorable portrayal: Wang Linping, a prominent scholar from Harbin Engineering Universitys College of Marxism, emphasized the importance of aligning an English translation with China's perspective on Tibet. He argued that the conventional term "Tibet" has contributed to misunderstandings about the region's geographical boundaries.

Lian Xiangmin, vice-director of the China Tibetology Research Centre, supported the idea, citing previous international guidelines advocating for the use of pinyin, the romanization of Chinese characters, in English place names. He believes that adopting "Xizang" adheres to these principles and could foster a more favorable portrayal of the region.

Xia Yan, an editor with the China Tibet Information Centre, suggested that using "Xizang" could help reconstruct Tibets media image and enhance Chinas international discourse on Tibet.

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Challenges and opposition: The proposal may have gained traction within certain circles, but it also gained opposition from those who suggest that this is part of China's ongoing efforts to assert its historical and territorial claims. The region has been a point of contention both within China and on the international stage, particularly regarding the exiled Dalai Lama's assertions of independence.

According to former Indian Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane, exiled Tibetans have a right to return to the land of their forefathers. Reiterating that the Tibetan people must be able to experience their culture and traditions, he said: "Over the decades, China has fully occupied Tibet and made territorial and administrative changes that would transform the identity and culture of the Tibetans."

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Chinese man accused of killing Nigerian ex-girlfriend says he spent $132,000 on her
Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie called former President Trump a certified loser, verified coward, following a Friday report that the 2024 GOP front-runner plans to skip next weeks first primary debate.

Surprise, surprisethe guy who is out on bail from four jurisdictions and cant defend his reprehensible conduct, is running scared and hiding from the debate stage, the former New Jersey governor wrote Friday in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. Trump  certified loser, verified coward.

The New York Times reported Friday Trump has decided to skip the Wednesday debate on Fox News and instead sit for an interview with former network host Tucker Carlson.

The report comes after weeks of speculation around if Trump will get on the stage in Milwaukee as the former president signaled multiple times he may not participate, citing his strong lead in the GOP primary polls. Recent polling from Morning Consult shows Trump leading the GOP primary race with 57 percent support, compared to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis trailing behind at 16 percent and Christie at 3 percent.

Top Stories from The Hill

Christie, a former Trump supporter who has become one of his most vocal critics, called on him multiple times in recent weeks to participate in the debate. Earlier this month, Christie said Trump not debating shows a lack of respect, for Republican voters. That same day, he responded to Trumps attacks on his weight and challenged the former president to attend the debate and say it to my face.

Earlier this week, Christie said he expected Trump to sign the loyalty pledge required by the Republican National Committee to participate in the debate, pointing to Trumps initial refusal to sign the loyalty pledge in the 2016 primary before eventually doing so. Trump said last week he will not sign the pledge.

When The Hill asked for comment on the reported agreement between Trump and Carlson, an aide for the former president said his campaign hasnt confirmed anything on our end and cautioned against getting too far ahead as it relates to the former presidents plans.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Russian officials have accused Ukraine of launching a drone attack on a building in Moscow, causing an explosion that was heard across the city's business district.

Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defences had shot down the drone with its debris falling on the city's Expo Center.

It marks the latest in a series of such attacks on the Russian capital.

Unverified footage on social media appeared to show thick grey smoke rising into the night sky over Moscow.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine, but officials in Kyiv have never formally acknowledged launching attacks on targets in Moscow.

The attack occurred at around 04:00 local time (01:00 GMT), Russia's defence ministry said on Telegram.

It said that, after activating the city's air defence systems, the drone had "changed its flight path", falling on a non-residential building on the Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment, an area of Moscow which hosts a number of government buildings.

It added that there were no initial reports of casualties.

The Expo Center is a large exhibition space used for conferences and conventions and is situated less than 5km (3.1 miles) from the Kremlin.

Map showing the Moscow Expo Center, which sits next to the Moskva River to the west of the city centre

A witness who was in the area told Reuters news agency the attack had caused "a powerful explosion".

The Russian defence ministry said the debris had not caused a fire, while Mr Sobyanin said the drone had caused "no significant damage" to the building.

One Russian state-owned news agency, Tass, reported that one of the outer walls of the centre had partially collapsed, citing emergency services. It said the affected area was around 30 sq m (323 sq ft).

Moscow's Vnukovo Airport also closed following the incident, Tass said, but reopened a short time later.

Until earlier this year, Moscow remained untouched by the war in Ukraine, but in recent months has been targeted by drone strikes.

On 30 May, several buildings were reported damaged in a wave of strikes.

On 30 and 31 July, two separate drones crashed into the glass facade of a skyscraper just a few hundred metres from the Expo Center.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said at the time that the war was "returning to the territory of Russia" and that this was an "inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process".

Hours before the latest strike in Moscow, a Ukrainian sea drone was destroyed during an attempted attack on Russia's naval fleet in the Black Sea, Russia's defence ministry said.
I needed a break from reality for a minute, Mama June Shannon said of posting on social media while her daughter Anna "Chickadee" Cardwell faces stage 4 adrenal carcinoma cancer

Desiree Navarro/Getty; Anna Cardwell/Instagram Mama June Shannon and Anna Cardwell

Mama June Shannon is clapping back at anyone who thinks her social media use means shes not actively supporting her daughters cancer journey.

On Monday, the Mama June: Road to Redemption star, 43, posted a video on Instagram and later slammed a commenter who urged her to worry about her daughter Anna "Chickadee" Cardwell and be by her side fighting cancer with her rather than be on social media.

Well let me school you just a little bit. We speak almost on a daily basis, she responded. This [has] all been hard on all of us and she knows that. If she was really bad off  I mean come on I have common sense  we wouldnt be going anywhere. I would be right there like we always have every time that she had a chemo treatment.

Life doesnt stop even though some days it feels like Im living in a dream with all this. It's a daily struggle for me [mentally] and [emotionally] to deal with, Shannon wrote. At the end of [the day], there is nothing we can change about the situation. I needed a break from reality for a minute even though its in the front of my mind every second of every single day. So me posting on social media doesnt mean I dont care or aint there for her during this.

Until you walk a day in my shoes, you or anyone [dont] have any idea what I deal with and struggle with, she ended.

Related: Mama June Says Ozempic Is 'Not for Me,' Responds to Comments About Her Weight Gain

Mama June/Instagram

Shannon has been putting her eldest daughters needs first since her cancer journey began. In May, PEOPLE confirmed that she and her husband, Justin Stroud, would soon be leaving Alabama for her native Georgia. While there, they'll be able to help care for Anna amid her battle with cancer.

"We are definitely leaving Alabama. I'm in the process of leaving Alabama now and I'm in the final steps of my legal issues," Stroud, 35, told The US Sun. "So we'll definitely be going back to Georgia."

However, at this time, Shannon said the couple has "split time between Alabama and Georgia."

"And when we come to help Anna and visit, we stay in an Airbnb," she added.

Cardwell, 28, was diagnosed with stage 4 adrenal carcinoma cancer in January. She learned of her diagnosis after undergoing testing for stomach aches. And while Shannon and Cardwell had a strained relationship over the years, the Shannon family matriarch told the outlet that their bond "was actually working before she found out that she had cancer."

"It didn't just all of a sudden miraculously start working like what Anna had cancer, you know, to make that totally clear with everybody," she added.

Cardwell has shared a glimpse into how she's navigating her cancer journey. Ahead of Mother's Day, Cardwell shared a photo with boyfriend Eldridge Toney as she was "going on to round 3 of chemo." She said despite dealing with digestion issues, it was still a "pretty good day."

"Cracker Barrel was good going down but not up ," she shared on Instagram. "But overall it's going good and chemo is working we come to find so things are looking good "

Related: Mama June Admits She's Been 'Emotionally Drained' Amid Anna 'Chickadee' Cardwell's Cancer Battle (Exclusive)

MEGA Mama June Shannon with daughter Anna "Chickadee" Cardwell during chemotherapy

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Shannon recently told PEOPLE that dealing with her daughter's cancer has left her "emotionally drained."

"I don't go live [on TikTok] a lot because of Anna. I'm already emotionally drained because of that," she explained. "I'm not being mean with the emotion... I'm not mentally [or] emotionally prepared to deal with 5,000 people asking me about Anna that day."

"I just have the energy to give to them and answer that a hundred times without crying on TikTok for three hours," she continued. "You don't know whether to scream. You don't know whether to laugh. You don't know whether to holler. You don't know who to blame."

And while Shannon noted that it's also been "mentally draining" for Cardwell, she said her daughter has enjoyed using TikTok as an escape.

"You're asking her that a hundred times, and that's why I know it's mentally draining for her too. They're asking her stuff," she added. "And so for her escape is TikTok but her having 600, 700 people and she's dancing and being goofy. They love that about Anna. They love that. So I'll tell you, go follow Anna. Like on TikTok, like go follow. If she's feeling good, she's mostly on there."



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Read the original article on People.
Toxic forever chemicals have contaminated water systems around the nation, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Thursday.

Those chemicals could affect the drinking water of 26 million people, an environmental advocacy organization called the Environmental Working Group estimated based on the new EPA data.

Cities where high levels of some of the most toxic types of the chemicals were found include Fresno, Calif., and Dallas, Texas.

The EPA said that two of the most dangerous types of forever chemicals, known as PFOA and PFOS, were found at unsafe levels in between 7.8 and 8.5 percent of public water systems.

Scott Faber, senior vice president of government affairs at the Environmental Working Group, told The Hill he was gobsmacked by the results.

Im like, lifting my jaw off the floor as were pulling the data, Faber said. Millions of people have been drinking dangerously high levels of PFAS all of their lives and are learning about it today.

PFAS are a group of toxic chemicals that have become pervasive in both U.S. water and in people. They have been used to make a variety of waterproof and nonstick products including Teflon pans, cosmetics, raincoats and stain removers.

Exposure to PFAS has been linked to illnesses including kidney and testicular cancer, thyroid disease and high cholesterol. They are sometimes referred to as forever chemicals because they build up and accumulate in a persons body over time instead of breaking down.

Earlier this year, the EPA proposed regulating PFOA and PFOS, saying it would limit them to just 4 parts per trillion  but the new data shows that even some water systems serving big cities have levels of the chemicals that are higher than this.

A sample from Fresno, for example, saw 16 parts per trillion of PFOA and 29 parts per trillion of PFOS  4 and 7.25 times the proposed regulatory level from the EPA.

For PFAS overall, which is a broad class of thousands of chemicals, Fresno had 194.3 parts per trillion.

A sample from Dallas also showed PFOA and PFOS above the EPAs levels, at 4.7 parts per trillion and 5.1 parts per trillion respectively, while the Dallas sample had a total PFAS concentration of 53.4 parts per trillion.

The findings add to a body of literature indicating that these chemicals are widespread. A July assessment from the U.S. Geological Survey found that PFAS were in 45 percent of U.S. taps.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
KYODO NEWS - Aug 18, 2023 - 22:44 | All, Japan, World

The United States, Japan, and South Korea will announce Friday a "commitment to consult" trilaterally in times of "any security contingency," a high-ranking White House official said.

Ahead of a summit near Washington involving the three allies, U.S. President Joe Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, stated at a press conference that they will also initiate an early warning mechanism for supply chain disruptions. Sullivan emphasized that the summit is "not against anyone," including China.
EV startup Fisker has revealed additional details about the Alaska pickup truck that it recently previewed.

The Alaska will feature a 4.5-foot bed that can be extended to up to 9.2 feet thanks to fold-down rear seats and a partition at the back of the cabin that folds away.

Fisker aims to sell the Alaska for $45,400, with deliveries planned for the first quarter of 2025.

After previewing three future models at an event in California, EV startup Fisker has begun providing more details on the vehicles that will constitute its lineup in the coming years. Last week Fisker showed off the Ronin, a $385,000, 1000-hp four-door convertible. Now the automaker is providing specifics on the Alaska pickup, including performance, range estimates, and expected production dates.

Fisker

While the Alaska's 208.8-inch length is dimensionally closer to mid-size such as like the Rivian R1T, Fisker claims it will also aim to compete with larger pickups like the Ford F-150 Lightning thanks to its innovative bed design. In its standard configuration, the bed measures 4.5-feet long, equal to the R1T. But a dividerwhich Fisker called the "Houdini partition"aft of the rear seats can electronically lower to elongate the bed to 7.5 feet, outdoing the Lightning's 5.5-footer. Lowering the rear seats provides even more room, extending the horizontal space to 9.2 feet. Panels raise up behind the front seats to protect them from the cargo and there will also be an insulated front trunk.

Under the skin, the Alaska will be offered with two battery packs, both of which appear to be the same units offered in the Ocean crossover. Fisker predicts that the smaller pack, with a 75.0-kWh gross capacity, will provide at least a 230-mile range. Fisker quotes the larger pack at 113.0 kWh, and it likely has the same usable capacity of 106.0 kWh as the Ocean's battery. The maximum range estimate for the larger pack is 340 miles.

Fisker Inc. - Car and Driver

Fisker says the Alaska will be able to reach 60 mph in 3.9 seconds for the quickest models and 7.2 seconds for the less performance-focused variants. No other powertrain details were provided, but we expect the pickup to be offered with single or dual motor setups powering either just the front wheels or all four, with 20- or 22-inch wheels available.

The Alaska's cabin will focus on practicality. The center armrest will include storage space for small objects like flashlights and pens, while the front passenger will get a tray with a tablet holder and there will also be a storage cubby for work gloves. A couple of quirkier ideas include a "big gulp" cupholder that Fisker claims to be the largest in the world and a dedicated "cowboy hat holder."

Fisker says it aims to start production of the Alaska in the first quarter of 2025, with pricing expected to start at $45,400. Fisker also says the Alaska will be built in the U.S., although it didn't specify where, and reservations are already open.

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Officials in the US state of Georgia are investigating online threats made against members of the grand jury that indicted Donald Trump on Monday.

Personal information, including the addresses and photos of the jurors, were shared on right-wing platforms.

Fulton County Sheriff's Office said it was aware of the threats, and was trying to track down those behind them.

The names of the jurors were published in the indictment, a routine practice in Georgia.

But after their identities emerged in that document, supporters of former President Trump seemingly compiled further information available online and posted photographs and addresses to forums, including the social media site Telegram.

It comes just days after the jury voted to indict Mr Trump on 13 charges, which include racketeering and election meddling. He has said the charges are politically motivated.

Officials said that along with jurors' personal information, threats against them were also shared. Police say the threats could amount to jury intimidation.

"Our investigators are working closely with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to track down the origin of threats in Fulton County and other jurisdictions," the Fulton County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

It said they took the matter very seriously and would respond quickly to ensure the safety of jurors.

In one message shared on Facebook a user wrote: "I thought it only fair to share a few names from that grand jury."

The post, which included possible addresses and phone numbers for several jurors, was later removed.

Other messages posted by users to Truth Social, the site owned by Mr Trump, urged his supporters to "make sure [the jurors] can't walk down the street" and to make them "infamous".

Media Matters, a non-profit organisation that monitors conservative media bodies, reported that one user called the information a "hit list".

Some posts reportedly include violent rhetoric against Fani Willis, the prosecutor who is overseeing Mr Trump's case in Georgia.

Two NBC News reporters who wrote about the grand jury incident also had their own purported addresses posted online, the Reuters news agency reported.

Georgia is an outlier in the US legal system as it shares the identity of the jurors, which it says is to allow the public to have a greater faith in the legal system.

But they do not make their addresses or any other personal information public.

Mr Trump, who is the front-runner for the Republican nomination to run for president in the 2024 election, has consistently hit out at those leading cases against him.

Earlier this month, US prosecutors reported a post that he wrote on Truth Social to a judge, claiming it was intended to intimidate people involved in a case against him.

Meanwhile, a woman in Texas has been charged for threatening to kill a judge overseeing another case against Mr Trump.

Last week, FBI agents killed an armed man in Utah who reportedly made death threats against Joe Biden, a few hours before the president landed in the state. He came to the attention of federal agents after posting a threat on Truth Social, which then alerted the FBI.

On Thursday, a Canadian woman was jailed in the US for 22 years for sending a letter laced with ricin to Donald Trump when he was president.
The White House will be helping Hawaii residents recover from the deadly wildfires for "as long as it takes," President Joe Biden said in a recorded video message aired on ABC News' "Good Morning America" on Thursday.

"Already from the darkness and the smoke and the ash -- weve seen the light of hope and strength, he said.

He praised first responders who've worked around the clock, including volunteers bringing supplies in fishing boats and chefs -- including those whose restaurants have been destroyed -- cooking for displaced families who've lost everything.

PHOTO: A member of the National Guard walks through a charred neighborhood in the aftermath of the Maui wildfires in Lahaina, Hawaii, on August 16, 2023. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden quoted one food bank worker, who said he'd seen "nothing but 'aloha.'"

"That's Hawaii -- thats America," Biden said. "And I want the people of Hawaii to know your country is with you as long as it takes. God bless those we've lost. God bless the people of Hawaii."

The president and first lady Jill Biden are expected to travel to Maui on Monday to meet with first responders and survivors, the White House said in an announcement on Wednesday.

MORE: Maui wildfires live updates

Deadly wildfires spread quickly through Maui last week, destroying much of the historic town of Lahaina and killing at least 111 people, local officials said an update on Wednesday. The fires have become the deadliest natural disaster in Hawaii's history as a state.

PHOTO: President Joe Biden speaks on the anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act during an event in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023, in Washington. (Evan Vucci/AP)

The Bidens plan to meet with federal, state and local officials who are coordinating the government response, the White House said.

"The President continues to marshal a whole-of-government response to the deadly Maui fires, and he has committed to delivering everything that the people of Hawaii need from the federal government as they recover from this disaster," the White House said in a statement on Wednesday.

PHOTO: Combined Joint Task Force 50 search, rescue and recovery personnel conduct search operations of areas damaged by Maui wildfires in Lahaina, Hawaii, U.S. August 15, 2023. (Staff Sgt. Matthew A. Foster/U.S. Army National Guard via Reuters)

MORE: Biden to visit Maui wildfire aftermath amid criticism, pledges support 'as long as it takes'

Biden had on Tuesday pledged to visit Hawaii as soon as he could, saying he'd support the recovery for its duration.

"We will be there in Maui as long as it takes," he said Tuesday. "As long as it takes. And I mean that sincerely."

ABC News' Morgan Winsor, Justin Gomez and Ben Gittleson contributed to this report.

'Light of hope' seen in Hawaii recovery efforts, Biden says ahead of Maui visit originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
There is mounting evidence that Ukraine has been taking heavy casualties in its counteroffensive, which began roughly ten weeks ago.

ABC News spoke with two former U.S. soldiers who are contracted in a special forces division of the Ukrainian military and who were both injured during an operation in eastern Ukraine two weeks ago.

Both soldiers are currently in a hospital in Kyiv but said they hope to be transferred to Germany for surgery this week in order to remove shrapnel from their bodies.

The men said their team's mission was to seize control of a village on the outskirts of Donetsk city, which has been occupied by a Russian-controlled militia since 2014.

One of the men, a former U.S. soldier from Texas who goes by the callsign "Tango," said his unit of "dozens" of men took "85% casualties" and that two of their comrades were killed when the team was ambushed whilst advancing into Russian-occupied territory. Forty percent of the unit was so badly injured they were rendered "combat ineffective," he said.

PHOTO: A Ukrainian soldier looks at a Russian tank on his screen while operating a drone to conduct a reconnaissance operation on the outskirts of Kreminna, Ukraine, on Aug. 16, 2023. (Bram Janssen/AP)

The other U.S. army veteran, who goes by the callsign "Goldfish" said it was immediately apparent that they were up against "very organized resistance" from Russian troops.

MORE: Biden administration seeks billions more in Ukraine aid, teeing up congressional fight

"It was definitely a very professional force that we were fighting against," the U.S. army veteran from Alaska said.

He spoke to ABC News in his hospital room in Kyiv which he was sharing with three other wounded Ukrainian soldiers.

ABC News also contacted two other Ukrainian soldiers interviewed in earlier phases of the war and they said they have also been injured in the past few weeks.

A Western man, with years of military experience, who is also now contracted with the Ukrainian military, said he sustained a serious injury in the early phase of the counteroffensive in June.

PHOTO: Ukrainian soldiers load a howitzer with a shell with 'for Latyk Boris' witten on it on the frontline in the outskirts of Lyman, Ukraine, on Aug. 15, 2023. (Bram Janssen/AP)

Speaking to ABC News on the condition of anonymity, the soldier said offensive operations which he had been part of were disorganized, criticizing some tactical decisions.

"We lost three Leopards (advanced German-made tanks) in one day because they were just told to drive forward into a minefield," he said.

He added that newly mobilized Ukrainian soldiers often appeared to lack the necessary training for complicated offensive operations on the battlefield.

The soldier, who joined the Ukrainian military more than a year ago, said dozens of men from his battalion had been involved in offensive operations since the beginning of June and around 80% of those men had been injured. However, he added that there had been no fatalities.

He claimed western military equipment such as U.S.-supplied Bradley infantry fighting vehicles were not being used to their full potential because some Ukrainian soldiers didn't have the necessary training or experience.

"It seems like they (Ukrainian soldiers) have been taught to use them but not to employ them (effectively) in a tactical sense (on the battlefield)," he said.

PHOTO: Ukrainian soldiers fire a mortar towards Russian positions at the front line, near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Aug. 12 2023. (Libkos/AP)

However, the two Americans interviewed by ABC News disagreed with that assessment.

MORE: Sending F-16s to Ukraine in fight against Russia would take 'months and months': Blinken

Despite their injuries sustained during their failed mission two weeks ago, they argued that the Ukrainian counteroffensive is being well-executed and heavy casualties in a major military offensive of this nature, against entrenched Russian defenses, are to be expected.

"It's not going to be quick and decisive", the soldier with callsign "Tango" said.

"That's not how counteroffensives work. They (the Ukrainians) are taking casualties. That is normal," he added. "I think it's going well and on pace."

His comrade "Goldfish" said it had been "a very hard fight" for Ukraine.

"But it's a fight that the Ukrainians are fighting very well," he said.

Ukraine has not published casualty figures since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February of last year.

However, a senior Ukrainian official described the situation as "really tough" with "very intensive fighting on the battlefield".

He added that 80% of casualties were being caused by Russian artillery.

The official said the war was now in a "decisive phase" and insisted that Ukraine needed even more military support from the United States and its partners, including American long range ATACMS missiles, which have a range of 190 miles.

Ukraine has promised the United States that it would only use the missiles to strike Russian assets in occupied parts of Ukraine, and not hit targets inside Russia. However, the Biden Administration has so far refused to supply the long-range missiles.

The senior official insisted that Ukraine urgently needed more military aid in order to help it achieve its goals on the battlefield, arguing that supplying more support now would be a more cost-effective way of holding Russia back and, in turn, guaranteeing security in Europe.

Ukraine taking heavy casualties 10 weeks into its counteroffensive originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Spencer Loveless, CEO of Merit3D, an additive manufacturing company in Price, poses for a photo seen through the red-tinted door of one of the companys LCD resin printers, which are a type of 3D printers, on Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News

Utahs coal country is in the midst of redefining itself.

Carbon County  aptly named for its rich coal resources  saw the closure of its sole coal-fired power plant in 2015. Its mines, which historically numbered 16, are all shuttered.

Struggling against the backdrop of those tangible impacts, residents had to endure a property tax increase of 700% in fiscal year 2022.

Price Mayor Mike Kourianos feels the sharp knife of energy costs slicing into his budget and has to answer for that to his constituents. There is no revenue coming from coal.

As a municipal power provider, the city of Price went out into the solar energy market to purchase four megawatts of energy for the Utah State University East campus.

We thought we had locked in at $123 a megawatt, but that changed, he said. Now its $400 a megawatt. Those are the real facts of whats happening with the grid and, you know, the cost of energy.

Related

The town of Price is pictured on Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News

The changing grid

The mayor personally feels the pain as coal is being weaned out of the energy market. Although coal remains the third largest provider of energy in the United States, it has dropped to 18% of the market share, succumbing to natural gas in the top place at 40%, in numbers documented by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

As the demand for coal for energy decreases, the volatile natural gas market can capitalize on that, with U.S. imports of the commodity jumping 165.5% year over year in 2022, the most dramatic increase since 2003, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Kourianos has 23 years at the Huntington Power Plant in neighboring Emery County. It is on a path to close by 2032, as is the Hunter plant, which are both operated by PacifiCorp. As a shift supervisor, he is in charge of a young workforce of 15 employees anxiously eying the future and what it may hold for their quality of life. Do they stay in coal rich country or do they go?

Related

In a recent panel discussion hosted by Utah Business magazine and the Deseret News, the Price mayor shared this pain. Its the pain of a new reality, of a need to look in the mirror and make some vital adjustments to remain vibrant, glowing and attractive in the future.

It is a luxury that can no longer be afforded to remember the good old days and let the gloss of what was once flourishing, appealing and the belle of the energy gala skew the fact that coal  and fossil fuels in general  are viewed by the Biden administration, a majority of Democrats and most environmental groups as a climate change-causing hag in dire need of retirement.

The war on coal and whats at stake

When Deseret News Executive Editor Doug Wilks, the moderator of the panel discussion, asked the American Coal Council if coal is dead or should be saved, she was blunt.

In my book it is to save coal because the United States is on a trajectory of energy poverty, said the councils chief executive officer Emily Athurn. We are a country that has enjoyed economic growth because of our fossil fuels and particularly because of coal and what it brings us  not only energy, but youre talking about the steel that has gone into what made America great. Now, were on a timeline that is unachievable for green energy.

She warned the United States does not want to be another South Africa, Africas most industrialized nation that nevertheless has endured an energy crisis with power that is out 10 hours a day due in part to aging coal-fired power plants in need of repair and the thin slice of renewable energy that is available.

So were not only fighting fossil fuels, but I dont think we understand that were fighting for our lifestyle and the way we conduct business in the states, Athurn said.

Alan Hall, CEO of Blue Sky Energy, also emphasized that coal is not dead, but rather it is evolving to meet technology needs that not only exist now, but will come in the future.

Athurn stressed that the problem overall rests on supply, timing and the countrys lack of appetite for new mining.

We do not have enough critical minerals mined today in the world, let alone in the United States. And so if mines in the United States were given the OK today, or they thought they had a plan, and they started permitting today, youre looking at 2033 before they ever put a shovel in the ground, and that is without opposition.

Numbers from the Institute for Energy Research, a nonprofit advocacy group tied to the industry, assert that in the United States, reaching net-zero on carbon dioxide emissions requires:

A 42-fold increase in lithium demand.

A 25-fold increase in graphite demand.

A 21-fold increase in cobalt demand.

A 19-fold increase in nickel demand.

A seven-fold increase in rare earth demand by 2040.

Related

Merit3D CEO Spencer Loveless, center, talks to Jesse Drumm while he does finishing work on 3D-printed parts the companys manufacturing facility in Price on Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News

President Joe Biden has set a goal for a carbon free power sector by 2030, yet his administration has put the skids on multiple mines for copper, a lithium mine in Nevada is under intense pressure and there is political pushback on lithium mining on the shores of the Great Salt Lake for fear it may compromise the ailing body of water even further.

Nuclear power is carbon free, but according to the World Nuclear Association, the United States currently imports almost all the uranium used in commercial reactors and vital for next generation nuclear technology under development in the country. Domestic mining accounts for just 5% of the fuel used in the nations fleet of reactors.

Related

Earlier this month, Biden designated a new national monument in Arizona of nearly a million acres, shutting the door on any new mining for uranium.

I can tell you 100% of Americas high-grade uranium resources were cut off in the monument, said Curtis Moore, senior vice president of marketing and corporate development for Energy Fuels, which runs the White Mesa Mill in Blanding and uranium mines.

Moore, in an interview with the Deseret News, said the federal governments own science points to zero risk of harm to groundwater, the environment and human health from mining those deposits.

I think we should be celebrating these things as gifts from God versus vilifying them. I mean, you have all this clean, carbon free electricity sitting in these little tiny, confined deposits, he said. You can mine them quickly and economically and provide a lot of carbon free electricity.

Reason for hope, reason for change

Carbon County is already taking that closer look in the mirror, with its hosting of a solar field in 2021 that produces 105 megawatts of electricity.

Related

Justin Slaughter, a designer at Merit3D in Price, poses for a photo on Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. Slaughter spent 24 years in the mining industry, including working underground in a coal mine, before working at Merit3D. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News

It is luring high-tech manufacturing in which former employees of coal mines or related industries can find training and a decent job to follow.

At Merit3D, CEO Spencer Loveless, a native of Price, established his headquarters there and brought on a trio of workers from the mining industry to round out his workforce of 15.

Jason Slaughter is one of those workers. He was employed at Dugout Mine for about 16 years until it closed in 2020.

Facing an uncertain future, Merit3D fostered him in learning a new skill, and he is now working in design at the company with more than two years in this trade.

Its been a great change from what I used to do, he said, adding that it was a big adjustment to go from a career where half the time he was underground.

It was a welcome change.

The business model Loveless uses is to manufacture a product better, more cheaply and made in the United States. His goal, too, is to help transform Carbon County and the rest of Utahs coal country as it goes through these economic shifts.

Although he wants to fight to keep coal, our backup plan is how to transition southeast Utah to a tech manufacturing economy and really challenge the supply chains that were currently dependent on with China and doing that through advanced manufacturing, additive manufacturing, 3D printing and evolve as the challenges come on.

Coal is used for more than energy, of course  in roadways, cement production, synthetic petroleum-based fuels, carbon fiber and medicine, and researchers have demonstrated it can be used for anodes in lithium ion batteries to power electric vehicles.

Carbon fiber derived from coal is big in U.S. Department of Defense applications and in the aerospace industry.

As we look at the evolution, what were putting forward as part of the evolution of coal is to take coal and convert it and refine it into its individual components, which includes hundreds of chemicals. Some of those chemicals are extremely valuable, much more valuable than coal as a source itself, said Craig Eatough, with Combustion Resources, a Provo-based consulting company specializing in the arena of fuels and combustion.

Eatough, in fact, said during the panel discussion hes working with the Defense Department.

Parts that were printed using additive manufacturing techniques await finishing at Merit3D in Price on Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News

Theyre looking at 3D printing of rocket nozzles for defense purposes. And theyre using coal based material in that 3D printing operation for national defense. And so thats just one tiny example of thousands of examples that could be talked about.

Blue Sky Energy is another Carbon County based business looking to transform coal and at the same time help replace those jobs lost in the mining industry.

Jeff Lowe, the companys president, said the Lila Canyon mine closure after a 2022 fire offered up new opportunity and employment for the stranded coal miners. He pulled from the workforce and brought them to a new setting that does not necessitate going underground.

This company owns and operates manufacturing plants that process coal. It produces crude oil it says costs less than drilling, and carbon-neutral CHAR, a material used in a number of applications and commercially viable gasses. And its looking to expand.

Lyle Pearson, a managing director with Rainstar Capital, said the possibilities for repurposing coal are endless. Hes an investor in Blue Sky.

Pearson was deeply entrenched in the tech movement in Utah  what has become Silicon Slopes  asserting this innovation potential is tremendous.

Its a big opportunity, its huge. Id say its even bigger.

The challenge is to continue to get the coal.

Parents are shooing their children away from mining and manufacturing, said Kori Ann Edwards, managing director of the Utah Governors Office of Economic Opportunity.

All of these industries are evolving to really cool technologies invested in them with automation and, you know, unmanned vehicles and robots and all of that doing a lot of the manual work, she said.

The notion of were the dirty manufacturing or the dirty mines is no longer true, she added, emphasizing the country, states and industry need to get the word out.

Athurn said that, sadly, its true  few Americans are seeking out careers in the mining industry

While China has 1.4 million students enrolled in mining-related academic disciplines such as metallurgy or geophysics, she said the 14 mining schools in the United States have a mere 600 students pursuing those studies. In 2015, there were 1,500 people enrolled.

Its a conundrum, Edwards added, because Utah has 42 of the 51 critical minerals identified for meeting global needs.

We have very unique opportunities and we have very unique industry that is critical to the world, she said. And I think its important that we own how unique we are.

Wesley Murray and Jason Marshall work with a robotic arm used for assembling products at Merit3D in Price on Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News

Related
Fayetteville City Attorney Karen McDonald has resigned after more than 20 years with the city.

McDonald presented her resignation to the Fayetteville City Council on Tuesday and will continue to serve as the city attorney until Sept. 15, a news release from the city stated.

According to a news release from the city of Raleigh, McDonald has been named the city attorney there and will start Sept. 25.

McDonald has served in the Fayetteville role since 2002, providing legal advice to the City Council and city employees regarding matters that arise during the course and scope of their employment, the Fayetteville release stated.

During my 21 years, it has been my sincere honor to serve the city, its citizens and the City Council, McDonald said in the release. Together, we have seen our city grow into a vibrant and prosperous community. We have successfully managed impacts of tornados, two major hurricanes, and threats against Fort Liberty as a part of (Base Realignment and Closure).

Moreover, we have revitalized our downtown with residential developments, restaurants, and a minor league baseball stadium.

Fayetteville City Attorney Karen McDonald resigned Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2023, and will remain in the role until Sept. 15, 2023.

McDonald began her municipal career with the city of Fayetteville in 1995 as assistant city attorney with duties that included enforcing city code violations, according to the release.

From 1998 to 2000, she worked as a staff attorney for the Cumberland County Attorneys Office.

After a two-year stay in Little Rock, Arkansas, McDonald returned to the city of Fayetteville, where she was appointed city attorney by the Fayetteville City Council.

Ms. McDonalds approach to legal matters was sound, analytical and methodical, Mayor Mitch Colvin said in the release. She cared for our city in a way that many people will never know. Her hard work and dedication are truly indicative of the Can Do attitude of our city.

During her tenure with Fayetteville, McDonald led an office of five lawyers, five paralegals and support staff.

Karen was remarkable in her duties over the past 21 years to the service of our City, City Manager Douglas J. Hewett said in the release. Her ability to analyze legal situations to provide the best legal advice to the City Council was remarkable. She was a true leader in the office, taking care of her team and others who she worked around and will truly be missed.

During her tenure, McDonald has served on several boards and with associations related to her role, including recently completing a term as president of the NC Municipal Attorneys Association and currently serving on the NC League of Municipalities board, according to the release.

Staff writer Rachael Riley can be reached at rriley@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3528.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Fayetteville announces city attorney resignation
At the start of World War II for Britain in September 1939, the main fighter plane for the Royal Air Force (RAF) was the Hawker Hurricane, which entered service with the RAF in 1936. While the somewhat superior Spitfire was just entering service, the Hurricane alone fought the Battle of France in 1940 and continued on that year, with Spitfires, in the Battle of Britain.

Hurricanes accounted for 55% of the RAFs victories during that momentous air battle. The Hurricanes eight .303 caliber machine guns, compared to the Spitfires six guns, were more efficient for destroying Luftwaffe bombers, however, Hurricane pilots did not shy away from engaging the deadly escorting Messerschmidt Bf-109 fighters. The Hurricane-equipped No. 303 squadron, consisting of veteran Polish pilots who had been flying against the Luftwaffe since 1939, claimed 126 enemy aircraft shot down, with the loss of 18 of their own, for a very respectable 7:1 kill ratio.

With newer models, more heavily armed Spitfires coming into service, and the introduction of the even more lethal German FW-190 fighter into European skies, by 1941 the Hurricane assumed a variety of roles throughout North Africa and the Mediterranean. Depending on the location, Hurricanes served as fighters, fighter-bombers, a few tank busters equipped with two underwing 40 mm guns, and even a carrier/catapult Sea Hurricane version for the Royal Navy.

In the Pacific, Hurricanes equipped RAF and Commonwealth air forces, including New Zealand, Australia and India. Britain also provided Hurricanes to the Soviet Union, Greece, and other Allied nations. By the end of production in July 1944, close to 14,500 Hurricanes had been built.

Hurricane Mk I, R4118, similar to what would have been flown during the Battle of Britain.

Ironically, when the U.S. entered the war in Dec. 1941, the Army Air Forces primary fighter, the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk was already fighting in North Africa, and the Pacific with the RAF, Australia, and New Zealand Air Forces and in Russia with the Soviet air force. During the Pearl Harbor attack, two P-40s were able to shoot down several Japanese aircraft, drawing first blood for American military aviation. The Royal Canadian Air Force used P-40s for domestic air defense during the early part of the war, including combat against Japanese forces in the Aleutian Islands.

Probably the most iconic use of the P-40 was in China with the American Volunteer Group (AVG), otherwise known as the Flying Tigers. Since Imperial Japan had invaded China in the early 1930s, the Japanese Army air force had operated virtually unopposed, attacking Chinese military assets and cities at will. In 1941, American military pilots, mechanics, and technicians were recruited to resign to work in China as private contractors and provided P-40s. Adopting the famous shark mouth markings that were originally painted on RAF P-40s operating the North African desert, and using the tactics developed by the AVGs leader Claire Chennault, the Flying Tigers struck back at the Japanese hard and brought a little hope and inspiration to a war-weary Chinese people.

During the fighting in North Africa in 1941, Lend Lease P-40s, dubbed Tomahawks and Kittyhawks by RAF and Commonwealth pilots, actually replaced some Hurricanes. Outfitted as fighter bombers and sporting six much larger U.S. .50 caliber machine guns, Kitty-bombers helped forge the coordinated, on-call Close Air Support (CAS) doctrine that is standard today. Royal Air Force, and later U.S. CAS fighter bombers devastated the German Afrika Corps and formed one of the key components of the Allied steel vs. flesh doctrine of using industrial might to preclude costly losses of citizen-soldiers that eventually won the war.

A Kittyhawk Mk III of No. 112 Squadron RAF, taxiing at Medenine, Tunisia, in 1943. The ground crewman on the wing is directing the pilot, whose forward view is hindered by the aircraft's nose.

P-40s did the bulk of air fighting in the Pacific through 1942-43 and were still in operation at the end of the war. Royal Australian Air Force pilots appreciated the heavily armed, rugged, and reliable P-40, and several became double aces fighting against Japanese aircraft in the Pacific.

Like the Hurricane, production on the Curtiss P-40 ended in 1944, with over 13,700 Warhawks produced by November of that year. Several nations operated P-40s throughout the 1940s and 1950s, with the Brazilian Air Force being the last to retire their P-40s in 1958.

In an interesting twist of fate, in 1939, British authorities approached the North American Aviation company to build P-40s, under license from Curtis. North American proposed a completely new design, incorporating the latest concepts in aerodynamics, but using the same Allison engine as the P-40. The aircraft was accepted, and the U.S. Army Air Force also received two prototypes. The Allison engine limited the new aircrafts performance, but when mated to the British Rolls Royce engine that powered both the Spitfire and the Hurricane, the thorough-bred P-51 Mustang, capable of performing the desperately needed long-range bomber escort mission, was born.
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CHIUL, Guatemala  Life in Bartolo Batens village has been defined by corruption: A teacher who cant get a job at the school until she pays a bribe. A water project that runs out of money before the pipes reached town. Sick residents who cant afford the medicine thats available elsewhere.

And so for as long as Baten can remember, they have survived thanks only to the relatives who leave Guatemala for the United States, and the dollars they send home.

Batens father worked in the U.S. for three years in Florida, North Carolina and Ohio. His brother still labors in an Ohio factory, one of around 1.1 million Guatemalans working in the U.S.

Even his friends who didnt go north had to leave their mountain village to find work in Guatemala City. From there, they began pinging on Facebook earlier this year about a man named Bernardo Arevalo. Look, these are the things Arevalo is proposing, they told him. Youve got to spread this message at home.

I want to stay and make a change, said Baten, 28.

Bartolo Baten distributed political leaflets of Bernardo Arevalo seeking support from members of his Mayan community in Chiul, Guatemala on Aug. 13, 2023. Baten had presented the presidential candidate with a gift from the community in Quiche, Guatemala the previous day where the candidate held a rally ahead of the runoff election on Aug. 20, 2023.

As Guatemalans head to the polls Sunday, that idea has made Arevalo not only the leading candidate in his own countrys presidential race, but a consequential figure in another one 2,000 miles north.

Arevalo, initially an outsider, surged to the front of the race, on a promise to end corruption that has turned generations of Guatemalans into U.S. immigrants.

If Arevalo wins a runoff election, he stands poised to reshape the Biden administrations approach to one of its most intractable challenges: the endless flow of migrants to the southern border.

Republican governors have responded with get-tough approaches, snaring border crossers with razor wire or shuffling them onto buses bound for Democratic cities. All that now plays out as the U.S. hurtles toward a possible election rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump  who ran on the phrase build the wall.

While the political debate in the U.S. focuses on border security, no effort is likely to succeed without addressing root causes of poverty, corruption and violence.

The Biden administration in 2021 heralded a plan for hundreds of millions of dollars to address just that. But Central American leaders were reluctant to cooperate.

Arevalo promises he is different.

The first thing that will happen is that actually the United States will find a partner that is rooting out corruption and will have all intention of actually working toward development, Arevalo told USA TODAY in an exclusive interview in the capital city of Quiche, the same state where Baten lives.

Supporters of the presidential candidate for Movimiento Semilla, Bernardo Arevalo await the arrival of the candidate in Huehuetenango on Aug.12, 2023.

In the week leading up to the runoff vote, USA TODAY spent three days following Arevalos campaign across rural Guatemala in a country where top officials have been sanctioned by the U.S. as undemocratic actors, where the World Bank found nearly 20% of the gross domestic product comes from money sent home by Guatemalans in the U.S.

Arevalos candidacy stirs memories of an older generation: His father was the countrys first democratically elected president after an oppressive dictatorship. His ideas galvanize a younger generations social media idealism on the premise that Guatemalans wouldnt leave in record numbers if they could find opportunities at home. Arevalo said a shared agenda with the United States is vital. At the end of the day, he said, people are going out of places like Quiche because there are simply no options for them.

Who is Bernardo Arevalo?

On a warm weekday morning, Baten and his father led a march of dozens of Chiul residents through the cobblestoned streets of Santa Cruz del Quiche.

As the youngest member of Chiuls council of leaders, Baten rallied to Arevalos cause, along with town elders who carried a banner the width of the street and blew noisemakers. They chanted in rhyme: "Se ve, se siente, Arevalo presidente!" Roughly, "See it, feel it, Arevalo for president!"

We dont want any more corrupt politicians, said Francisco Baten Itzer, Batens father. We dont want any more malnourished children, no more poverty and injustice. We want someone new.

Presidential candidate Bernardo Arevalo takes selfies with his supporters in the central square of Santa Cruz del Quiche, Guatemala on Aug.11, 2023, after a political rally.

Tall, with glasses and a graying goatee, Arevalo has a Ph.D. and speaks five languages but was otherwise unknown to most Guatemalans until a few months ago. His bid was seen less as a real chance to take the presidency and more as an opportunity for a relatively new party, popular among urban academics, to expand its base.

That was until judges aligned with President Alejandro Giammattei eliminated three candidates on alleged violations in the first-round election. Thousands of voters nullified their ballot or opted for last-place Arevalo.

It was a massive, quiet protest against the alleged machinations of a group of powerful elites known in Guatemala as the pact of the corrupt.

Arevalo surged to the top, landing a spot in the runoff against Sandra Torres, a firebrand former first lady.

Torres, who declined USA TODAYs multiple interview requests, has shifted to the right as she makes her third bid for the presidency. She has seized on Arevalos birthplace, calling him the Uruguayan candidate, even though the constitution allows Guatemalan citizens born elsewhere to run for the office.

Arevalos unlikely success, resonant message and down-to-earth campaign through rural communities drove turnout from influential locals like the group from Chiul.

These town leaders can recount how the water pipeline was built to within sight of their village but then stopped, and now, when the rains dry up, so does the water in their faucets. How the wife of one of the men cant afford basic medicine for a kidney condition, in a country where the public health system has a history of purchasing fraud, bribery and deals that benefited pharmaceutical suppliers, leaving patients at risk.

Batens 25-year-old wife, he said, is a trained teacher, the kind his town needs. But she cant get a teaching job, he said, because officials want her to "purchase" a work contract  a common form of bribery.

Those realities drove the group from Chiul as they marched through Santa Cruz del Quiche toward the campaign rally.

As they did, Arevalo was fielding questions at a news conference on the edge of town. What will he do to entice young people living in rural areas to stay?

We need to remember that Guatemala is a country in which 6 of every 10 people is a young person and the majority of this population is indigenous, Arevalo said. Rather than buy votes with gifts of rice or potatoes, he said, Our plan is to bring universal access to social services, including health care, education and highways. Were going to focus on the rural areas that have been most abandoned by the government.

Our only condition, he said, is that were going to do it with transparency and honesty.

Several hundred people filled one side of the central plaza and spilled up the stairs of the Catholic church as Arevalo climbed the stage. The countrys ethnic diversity was on display in the traditional dress of men and women from numerous, distinct Mayan communities.

Community leaders brought gifts. Baten climbed the stage and handed Arevalo a "morral," a woven bag worn by indigenous men in Chiul.

Presidential candidate for Movimiento Semilla, Bernardo Arevalo receives a gift from Mayan community leaders in Santa Cruz del Quiche, Guatemala on Aug.11, 2023, during a political rally.

Arevalo promised to build highways, ensure access to water and expand educational opportunities, his voice rising like a preachers as he yelled "ya basta," enough with corruption.

Then he paused, and considered the gift Baten had given him.

There is a "morral" hanging by his desk, Arevalo said softly. A bag that was gifted to his father, Juan Jose Arevalo, when he was campaigning in 1944.

Im going to hang this 'morral' next to my fathers, a reminder of the confidence I was given and the Mayan belief that authority is granted to those who have served the community.

Arevalos connection to Guatemalas democratic past is what makes his desire to work with the United States so extraordinary: It was the CIA that undid his fathers legacy.

A fathers complex history with the U.S.

Like many Guatemalans over 60, Mayra Rodriguez remembers hearing stories about Arevalos father and the countrys first democratic spring.

My parents were poor, and they lived through the dictatorship, said the retired teacher. My mother and father told us how, when Arevalo won the election, peoples attitudes changed, Rodriguez said. They knew they would have a different sort of president.

Since its independence from Spain in 1821, Guatemala has been ruled by a series of dictators aligned with landowning oligarchs. The oligarchs, in turn, had interests aligned with the profits of the United Fruit Company, a U.S. banana producer that established a powerful fiefdom across Central America.

"United Fruit destabilized democratic frameworks wherever it could, and it ultimately worked best with military dictatorships," said Peter Chapman, author of the 2007 book, "Bananas: How the United Fruit Company Shaped the World."

When the elder, Juan Jose Arevalo, became the countrys first democratically elected president in 1944, he ended the violent dictatorship of Jorge Ubico, an army colonel whose 13 years in power were defined by brutality and earned him the nickname "Little Napoleon of the Tropics."

Protestors hold a photo of former Guatemalan president Juan Jose Arevalo and a sign that reads in Spanish "Like my granny used to say: Viva Arevalo!" during a march supporting democracy in Guatemala City, Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023. Arevalo's son Bernardo is the current presidential candidate for the Seed movement party and faces rival Sandra Torres of the UNE party in an Aug. 20 runoff election.

Juan Jose Arevalos democratic reforms were inspired by President Franklin Roosevelts New Deal. He built schools and hospitals. He gave illiterate Guatemalan men voting rights. He nurtured fledgling unions. His efforts were not universally welcomed.

By the time Arevalo left office in 1951, there had been numerous attempts on his life and plots for his ouster.

A year before he left office, a lobbyist for United Fruit met with an influential State Department official. The lobbyist, according to declassified CIA documents, suggested that the U.S. oust Arevalo, after he had taken too much interest in United Fruits exploitative labor practices.

Jacobo Arbenz succeeded him as president, demanding better terms for the rural poor. That move smacked of communism to the Truman administration during the anti-communist fervor of the time. So, the CIA orchestrated a coup to oust Arbenz in 1954. The elder Arevalo was forced to flee Guatemala and his son, Bernardo, was born in exile in Uruguay in 1958.

"The 1954 coup shuts down the possibility for democracy. And it's really the start of a civil war in Guatemala that lasts for 36 years," said Will Freeman, a scholar fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Its a memory older generations in Guatemala still carry.

The reforms his father enacted really made an enormous difference, said Anita Isaacs, a professor of social science at Haverford College.

I see the father in the son, she said. Its his message that he is carrying.

The Biden administrations root causes immigration strategy

Two years ago, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris laid out a five-point strategy to tackle the root causes of migration from Central America, anchored by a $400 million plan to invest in programs to address problems that drive migrants to the U.S. border.

The strategy flatlined: "They came up against, in the case of Guatemala, a corrupt class that just wouldnt back down," Eric Olson, director of policy for the Seattle International Foundation said. "They found real, strong and deep resistance in the region."

The administrations root causes plan intended to support independent media, strengthen the justice system and prosecute corrupt actors. Instead, Guatemalan prosecutors aggressively pursued the officials leading anti-corruption efforts, and top judges, anti-corruption prosecutors and journalists fled to Mexico and the U.S.

So the Biden administration pivoted, sanctioning allegedly corrupt officials including Consuelo Porras, the countrys attorney general.

Over the next two years, strategy reports from the White House show a different focus. A 2023 announcement trumpets not internal anti-corruption efforts but $1.2 billion in outside private investment.

Were certainly clear-eyed that the change doesn't happen overnight, a State Department official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. These efforts require sustained attention.

There is no doubt an Arevalo win could open new avenues for the Biden administration, Olson said.

The Biden administration is not taking any public position in the race.

The State Department official rejected any suggestion that the administration has a preferred candidate and has instead condemned election interference and earlier efforts by Porras and her office to revoke the status of Arevalos Semilla party.

The most important thing for us is a free and fair election and a process that is not undermined by the Guatemalan attorney general or corrupt forces with which she works, the State Department official said.

In a sign of the election outcomes significance for the U.S., officials from the State Department, National Security Council and vice presidents office have met with both candidates.

To Bidens advantage, Arevalo seems to have an agenda that tracks with the White House, even on thorny issues of border enforcement.

Biden rolled out policies making it harder to seek asylum in the U.S.; Arevalo told USA TODAY he intends to crack down on smuggling through his country. Biden has opened lawful pathways for migrants to reach the U.S. and increased the availability of work visas; Arevalo thinks he can help.

We very clearly understand that there are problems with 'coyotes,' a form of organized crime, simply having control of many places at the borders, Arevalosaid, a problem that an expansion of U.S. work visas could address. We have been told by U.S. businessmen and by people in the U.S. government as well, that there is a need for workers in the United States.

When it comes to Biden's root causes strategy, I think Arevalo does seem to be very much on the same page, said Rachel Schwartz, an expert on Guatemalas democracy at the University of Oklahoma. There is a sort of shared understanding of the problem and a shared sense of what the solutions are.

US worries about Guatemala election interference

Tensions were high in the final days of the Arevalo campaign after an Ecuadorian presidential candidate was assassinated in early August. The brazen attack was captured on cellphone video and circulated on social media. Opponents of Arevalo commented, and Bernardo when?

Movimiento Semilla volunteers set political signs for Bernardo Arevalo and Karin Herrera on Aug, 14, 2023, less than a week from the runoff election between Arevalo and Sandra Torres of UNE political party on Aug. 20, 2023.

In Guatemala, most presidential candidates travel by helicopter across the hard-to-access countryside: a sign, voters say, theyre in somebodys debt and subject to corruption.

Arevalo, instead, crisscrossed the countrys mountainous terrain on winding two-lane highways in an older model charcoal-colored Ford SUV, in a convoy of three or four vehicles.

After Quiche, he headed to Huehuetenango state, which shares both a border and a smuggling corridor with Mexico, just to the northwest.

Security was increased for a political rally for presidential candidate for Movimiento Semilla, Bernardo Arevalo in Huehuetenango on Aug.12, 2023, as a threat of provocateurs showing up a the rally according to Arevalos team.

Some 45 police officers secured the perimeter of Arevalos rally just outside the walls of a school in the city center. The crowd sandwiched into a side street pumping the white flags of Semilla and purple signs with Arevalos name. Balloons and pennants danced in the breeze.

Recent polls of likely voters favor Arevalo to win more than 60% of the vote.

There is a social movement backing him, he said, that includes young people, indigenous people and some in the private sector who want the rule of law respected. They just didnt see us coming, he said.

Arevalounderstands there are no guarantees. His countrys legal system almost thwarted his partys chances once before. He knows that even if he wins the election, his foes could use the power of the state to attack the outcome in court.

We know theres going to be a reaction, he said.

Women played marimba. Security detail readied the area where Arevalo would arrive, holding bulletproof shields like briefcases. Someone set off firecrackers in a nearby park, the noisy ta-ta-ta-ta drowning out the music as smoke billowed.

Mayra Rodriguez rehearses as she gets ready to recite a poem on the stage where Presidential candidate for Movimiento Semilla, Bernardo Arevalo was to hold a political rally in Huehuetenango on Aug.12, 2023. Rodriguez traveled hours to hear the candidate.

Rodriguez, the retired teacher who remembered her parents stories of Guatemalas first democratic election, waited by the stage, her salt-and-pepper hair brushed back, her white lace "huipil" blouse neatly draped.

Rodriguez watched in awe. She believed Arevalo, like his father before him, would herald a new era where younger generations wouldnt have to leave Guatemala.

I am 64 years old, she said, and we have lived a very sad story in my country. I have been hoping that the people would wake up. We are hungry for justice. We are hungry for honesty and integrity.

Local performers took the stage to entertain his supporters while they waited. A clown danced. Campaign volunteers tossed T-shirts into the crowd. A "cumbia" promoting Arevalo played over loudspeakers.

Rodriguez asked for a turn.

She stepped on stage, nervous about remembering the lines of a poem she wished to share. She fumbled with the microphone.

The rally grew quiet as she swayed. The marimbas had gone silent. The green and purple balloons hovered in the humid air.

Then, the words poured out.

In the darkness of night, we speak of truth and honor. Its that Arevalo lives again 

The oration went on. Men and women in the crowd wiped their eyes in silence.

Finally, the poem reached its final line. The city center erupted in cheers.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Guatemala election 2023: Why Bernardo Arevalo could help the US border
A Kansas-based developer is threatening to cancel a $500,000 investment in his Bartlesville property if plans for a homeless mission across the street move forward.

In an email sent to Bartlesville Community Development, Garrison Hassenflu, who owns a building at 220 NW Virginia, objected to efforts to rezone the property owned by 'B the Light Mission' to C-5 commercial status for the purpose of opening a homeless shelter.

A hand up: Bartlesville nonprofit welcomes funding to tackle homelessness

Hassenflu argued the area was originally intended "as a place to do business, recreate and offer medical care," but rezoning to C-5 would allow "noisy, stinky, air-polluting or eyesores" types of businesses like "animal shelters, auto salvage yards, batching and mixing plants for concrete and asphalt."

"I was planning on a $500,000 rehab of the building for co-working office suites. But, with this shelter (or other objectionable use), I would have to stop my project and no longer consider any investment in Bartlesville," he wrote.

Hassenflu's building at 220 NW Virginia is in complete shambles, with walls, floors and ceilings torn open to expose the valuable copper.

"My building is a historic structure. It was built in 1910 and served major roles in the development of the Bartlesville region, first as the office for The Bureau of Mines, then, as a facility for the study and research of oil and gas."

Currently, the property slated for the homeless shelter is zoned as an 'industrial park' and re-zoning to C-5 would be considered "less-intense" zoning, according to city staff.

Additionally, the city is proposing further use restrictions that would limit the property's future development. Those changes will be voted on by the Bartlesville Planning Commission on Tuesday.

Hassenflu's property is currently zoned as 'multi-family residential,' which doesn't allow for professional offices, according to city zoning regulations.

He would have to petition for a rezoning of his own property  to develop it for professional office space  just like the 'B the Light Mission' has done for theirs.

Directly to the south of Hassenflu's property, there already exists a smaller C-5 zoned property and similarly zoned properties down the street.

"Though communities always need to consider the plight of their homeless, this is not the place for it," Hassenflu wrote. "Please find another location more suitable and make sure this communication is shared at the zoning hearing."

Helping the homeless: Bartlesville's Lighthouse Outreach Center adds parenting classes to homeless services

Keith McPhail of 'B the Light Mission' says the feedback they have received from the community has been overwhelmingly positive.

"Ever since [the EE's article] we've had tons of positive feedback and donors," McPhail said. "Not one person came to complain at our open meeting we had."

"We just want to change lives and get people off the streets," he added.

Most, if not all, electrical panels have been stripped of their valuable components in Hassenflu's building at 220 NW Virginia.

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: Kansas developer threatens to pull $500,000 Bartlesville investment
Sangri County has perfected turning lemons into lemonade, or in this case, turning grapes into wine. With its high altitude and fluctuating temperatures, this once barren land in Tibet is now home to an 8,500-acre grape vineyard, with some of the sweetest grapes imaginable!

Produced by Xinhua Global Service


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Spider boots may sound like one of the cool magic items you can find in fantasy games, but this specially-designed four-legged footwear exists in real life, and is literally a matter of saving life and limb.



A recent news segment posted by Reuters highlights how combat engineers of Ukraines 128th Transcarpathia Mountain Assault brigade are using indigenously produced spider boots strapped over their combat boots to protect themselves from the dense minefields impeding Ukrainian assaults on Russian fortifications in southern Ukraine.

When Ukrainian sapper Volodymyr and his team discovered corpses of Russian troops at an abandoned position, something looked off. After a closer look, the reason was clear. The bodies strewn across the floor were actually lying on top of landmines https://t.co/GtgbJ8ToNd pic.twitter.com/FXQBry0lev  Reuters (@Reuters) August 3, 2023

The four-pronged spider boots reduce risks from mines through several mechanisms.

First, the boots four pod-tipped spider-legs increase the horizontal standoff range of a detonating mine, potentially saving feet, legs and groin from a blast discharging directly underneath.

Even more importantly, the spider legs create inches of vertical standoff between the ground and the wearers foot. The resulting air gap significantly reduces the energy directly transmitted from the blast in the ground to the wearer, including by allowing more of the blasts energy to vent sideways.

Finally, the boots sole shape and materials are designed to deflect and ablatively absorb the resulting energy away from the bearers foot and leg.

Scott Peterson - Getty Images

So, if you step on a typical anti-personnel mine with spider boot, youll still probably get hurtbut youre also far more likely to still have a leg and a foot. And you avoid risking death from blood loss, as often happens after losing limbs.

A recent report by the Wall Street Journal estimates between 20,000 and 50,000 Ukrainians have had limbs amputated since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 23, 2022.

Ukraines mine warfare nightmare

Ukraines new Western-enhanced mechanized brigades were intended to spearhead a long-anticipated summer offensive to liberate territory in southern Ukraine from Russian invaders, one spearheaded by mine-clearing tanks and explosive line-charges that would rapidly blaze a path.

And indeed, in June, several of Ukraines Western-equipped brigades tried just thatonly to discover that their limited number of valuable mine-clearing tanks were rapidly targeted by overwatching anti-tank guided missiles, attack helicopters, and artillery, stranding the regular vehicles behind them in deadly minefields. Even worse, Russia began employing ISDM Zemledeliye remote minelaying systems at larger scale, which use rockets to shower down up to 600 mines per salvo per vehicle from up to 9 miles away over paths that the Ukrainians had just cleared.

And as for rocket-propelled mine-clearing line charges, they proved highly useful, but inevitably limited in range and quantity.

The losses to valuable fighting vehicles were unacceptable, so Ukraines military retired the mass mechanized assault strategy, at least for now.

Instead, the new, slower approach is to send combat engineers in advance of attackson foot and often at nightto clear Russia minefields manually using various tools. In this method, the engineers are at risk from both mines and overwatching Russian forces. Reports from the front indicate that this is every bit as terrifying and dangerous as it sounds, and casualties amongst Ukrainian sappers are heavy.

Anadolu Agency - Getty Images

More broadly, Ukraine has indicated that mines, not enemy fire, are still causing most casualties in its counteroffensive. Russian tactics include allowing Ukrainian troops to capture trenches laced full of mines, laying anti-personnel mines under easier-to-spot anti-tank mines, and (according to an account in a Reuters segment) concealing anti-personnel mines under piles of dead Russian bodies to maim Ukrainian troops seeking to remove casualties from the field.



The spider boots journey from Canada to Ukraine

Dick Loek - Getty Images

The spider boot concept has actually been kicking around for roughly a quarter century. It was originally designed by Canadian company Med-Eng systems, which builds personal protective equipment (PPE) for explosives ordinance disposal personnel, like the suits featured in the film The Hurtlocker.

A pair has even remained in the collection of New Yorks Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art since 1998. The museum notes that the striking but functional footwear incorporates self-sacrificing materials, such as aluminum honeycomb encased in a V-shaped steel container on the underside of the platform to absorb the impact of the detonation.

A study from 2000 in The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction notes that existing blast boots for mine protection could protect against weaker mines with 30-50 grams of explosives, but were limited in effectiveness due to their direct physical contact with the mine and ground:

This contact increases the shock transmission into the sole. Conventional footwear also puts the foot of the deminer directly above the mine in a region where the expanding flow can impart significant kinetic energy to the relatively high mass of the shock attenuatorenergy that must then be absorbed by the foot and lower leg. The foots relatively close proximity to the explosion also makes it very difficult to select appropriate materials. The extreme pressures in that region exceed the limits of most plastics. As a result, these materials often fail in this pressure regime before they have a chance to perform their job.





Mounting the footwear on surrogate limbs, the company exposed both old-school blast boots and their spider boots to detonations from charges varying from 25 to 200 grams of C4 (while buried under 30 millimeters of sand) and compared the resulting impact.

They found that the spider boots reduced human leg acceleration by 80-90% against the smallest charges. Photos (seen in article linked above) show that even against larger 200 gram charges, the boots would survive the blastminus two of their four extended spider legs.

They conclude: The detonation of 200g C4 or the blast produced by the large AP mines (PMA1 and PMN) is expected to injure the foot inside the boot even when a Spider Boot is used. However, the extent of injury and its treatment will be greatly reduced when compared to conventional mine-protected footwear or a standard combat boot where the foot and lower leg damage are likely to require amputation and extensive rehabilitation.

Med-Eng produced this so-called Foot Protection System, but it doesnt appear on the company website for sale today. An old article notes that Chile received some spider boots as military aid in 2003 to assist in de-mining, and a photo the same year shows Canadas 24th Field Squadron/2nd Combat Engineer Regiment deployed some in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Peter Power - Getty Images

At least sixteen pairs were put up for sale on E-Bay at $499 each, with several still available at time of writing.

Those in Ukraine are produced indigenously. Initially, in 2022, a few pairs of the Canadian-built boots were given to Ukraines State Emergency Service. The service then passed on a pair to Ihor Iefymenko, director of Kharkiv-based company Ukrainian Spring Group Center (named after the vehicle springs that it built pre-war).

Over three weeks, he developed a Ukrainian version of the boots. By March of 2023, his company had delivered 10 pairs (7 crowdfunded, three donated) and was working on a follow-up order for 65 more.

Spring Group Center now employs 3D-printers to manufacture components of the boots, which remain time-consuming to build. Reportedly, each pair costs 15,000 hyrvnia (about $406). Ukrainian units are now soliciting donations of these systems. It seems likely, given the circumstances of Ukraines counteroffensive, that orders and deliveries of spider boots have scaled up dramatically.

The company has also devised a personal shield to protect sappers from shrapnel.

Soviet anti-personnel land mines

Spring Group Center states that the boots are particularly effective against Soviet PFM-1, PMN-1 and PMN-2types of anti-personnel mines used by Russia.

The plastic PFM-1, or butterfly mine, is a relatively flat, leaf-shaped mine just under 5 inches wide and designed to flutter down after being released in the air by a rocket, mortar shell, or aerial cluster bomb. It is allegedly reverse-engineered from American BLU-43 Dragoontooth mine air-dropped during the Vietnam War.

Till Rimmele - Getty Images

The design has historically been criticized for having a toy-like characteristics likely to tempt children to interact with it, particularly following Soviet use in Afghanistan. Just 11 pounds of pressure suffices to trip the plunger, setting off the mines 40-gram liquid explosive charge.

Till Rimmele - Getty Images

The PMN-1 Black Widow mine, by contrast, looks like a small, black pot, standing 2.5 inches tall and 4.5 inches in diameter and made of bakelite, with a black rubber pressure plate. Its large, 250-gram TNT charge can destroy a victims leg, and is much more likely to kill or seriously maim its victims than most landmines.

The Sydney Morning Herald - Getty Images

The slightly shallower PMN-2 is similar to the PMN-1, but is green or brown in color, has a raised X-shaped pressure plate on top, and uses a 100-gram charge of TNT/RDX. Its fuse is designed to be much harder to set off using nearby blasts than the 1950s-era PMN-1.

At this point, millions of land mines have been sown in Ukrainian soil, along with countless unexploded non-mine munitions (bombs, rockets, artillery shells, etc.) Were the war to abruptly end tomorrow, there would still remain many years of dangerous explosive demolition disposal ahead to manage the mine-threat and restore to use contaminated agricultural lands.

That disposal will remain a hugely in-demand service that will continue to pose deadly risks to those performing it. And thus, if the spider boots prove successful to reducing risk to life and limb, they may quite literally only grow in prominence in Ukraine and other countries still afflicted by liberally dispersed minefields.

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The News

After former U.S. President Donald Trump and 18 other criminal defendants turn themselves in to the local jail in Fulton County, Ga. next week, all eyes will be on the timeline of the trial in the massive racketeering case.

District Attorney Fani Willis wants the trial to start March 4, 2024, a date that legal experts agree is ambitious. One defendant in the case has already formally pushed back on that timeline.

For context on how long it could realistically take, heres a look at a past racketeering case in the same courthouse that ensnared over two dozen defendants and ended up being the longest trial in Georgia history.

Know More

In 2013, a grand jury indicted 35 Atlanta Public Schools teachers and administrators accused of participating in a scheme to illegally change students standardized test scores.

Just like in the Trump case, the defendants were charged under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as RICO, and Willis was the lead prosecutor on the case.

The case was complex to begin with, and a litany of pretrial motions only lengthened the time it took to get to trial.

By 2015, when the trial finally began, most of the defendants had pleaded guilty. Of the 35 indicted, 12 went to trial, and 11 were found guilty. The trial itself lasted eight months, the longest in Georgias history.

And proceedings in the case have continued into this year, as some of the convicted educators sought reductions in their sentences.

The APS cheating scandal case will likely lose it title as the states longest trial to the ongoing RICO case in Fulton County against alleged members of the Young Slime Life gang, including rapper Young Thug. Jury selection, which began in January, has yet to be completed.

The View From Trump's co-defendant

Former Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Clark, one of the alleged co-conspirators charged in the Trump case, was the first to formally dispute Willis six-month trial start.

In a filing Thursday, a lawyer for Clark said the DAs office has no earthly idea whether any of the proposed dates fit the calendars of any, much less all of the dozens of busy attorneys who will be involved in representing the Defendants.

He also said prosectors need to understand the magnitude of motions that will be filed.

Clark accused Willis of setting a politically-motivated trial timeline, saying she is trying to stake out a place at the head of the line of prosecutors seeking the prize of trying the former President before the 2024 presidential election.

The View From Gov. Brian Kemp

Speaking at a conservative conference in Atlanta on Friday, the Georgia governor said that despite what dates anybody is asking for, its not going to happen before the election.

It was part of Kemps message that Republicans should focus on taking back the White House in 2024 instead of stupid distractions like relitigating the 2020 election.

Kemp has no say over the dates of the trial; thatll be decided by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who was assigned the case. It could also be influenced by other factors, like Trumps three other criminal cases and whether some of the Georgia defendants have their cases moved to federal court.
A Navajo man was charged with involuntary manslaughter in federal court in connection with an automobile crash last week that claimed the lives of two victims.

Leonardo Robbie Duncan, 32, was taken into custody on Aug. 12 after surrendering to the Navajo Police Department several hours after a head-on collision between two vehicles at 6:45 a.m. in Upper Fruitland.

While enroute to the scene, New Mexico State Police officers passed a male walking westbound approximately a half mile from the crash, according to a criminal complaint.

When they arrived at the site of the crash, officers found an off-duty Southern Ute tribal officials administering aid to the victims, a criminal complaint stated. After the tribal officer told the State Police officers the driver of the other vehicle had left the scene on foot, State Police officers doubled back in an attempt to find him, but were unsuccessful.

According to a press release from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of New Mexico, one crash victim died at the scene while the other died in an ambulance on the way to a hospital. Their names were not released to the media.

At approximately 12:30 p.m. that day, Duncans father escorted him to a Navajo Police Department station to turn himself in, according to a criminal complaint against Duncan.

Officers administered a breath alcohol content test, and Duncan allegedly was found to have registered .08 on the test.

Duncan remained in custody Aug. 17 while awaiting trial. He faces up to eight years in prison.

Duncan pleaded guilty to a 2014 criminal trespass charge in Albuquerque in 2016, but his sentence was deferred and eventually dismissed.

The case was investigated by New Mexico State Police, the Navajo Police Department and the Farmington resident agency of the FBI.

Support local journalism with a digital subscription: http://bit.ly/2I6TU0e.

This article originally appeared on Farmington Daily Times: Navajo man charged with involuntary manslaughter after fatal crash
Members of the Dutch Tall Ship Oosterschelde wave goodbye from the quay in Rotterdam on August 4, 2023. The Rotterdam ship departs for a two-year world tour that scientist Charles Darwin made two centuries ago.

On August 15, a schooner set sail from Plymouth on the southern coast of England to recreate the South America-bound voyage taken by biologist Charles Darwin almost 200 years ago. The Dutch tall ship Oosterschelde began its two year mission as a floating laboratory, where about 200 conservationists and naturalists will gather along the way to take part in a project called Darwin200.

[Related: Lets talk about Charles Darwins sexy theory of selection.]

In 1831, the HMS Beagle set sail from Plymouth with a then 22-year-old Charles Darwin aboard. The five-year journey was primarily intended to explore the coastline of South America and chart its harbors, with Darwin tasked to make scientific observations. He explored Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and the remote areas of the Galapagos Islands. Over the course of the journey that Darwin said was "by far the most important event in my life," he brought back specimens of more than 1,500 different species and this work influenced his book On the Origin of Species and the theory of evolution.

The Oosterschelde is expected to make the 40,000 nautical mile expedition and hopes to anchor in 32 ports, including all the major ports visited by the Beagle. It expected to make its first landing in the Canary Islands and then cross the Atlantic Ocean to Brazil. It will then follow along South Americas eastern coast, up the west coast, and out to the Galapagos. It will then sail to Australia and New Zealand, before stopping in South Africa, and returning to England.

I always think it is very much worth reminding ourselves on a daily basis that humans and the rest of the living world share a common origin, Sarah Darwin, a botanist and the great-great-granddaughter of Charles Darwin told the Associated Press. Darwin was saying that 160 years ago, that we were related with all other nature. Were not above it, we are part of nature.

The Darwin200 project has been in the works for at least a decade and aims to empower a new generation of exceptional environmental leaders through training some of the worlds top young conservationists ranging from 18 to 25 years-old. 200 young people were selected based on their accomplishments aimed at making the world a better place and will join the voyage at different stages.

This is about hope, its about [the] future and its about changing the world, leader Stewart McPherson told the AP.

[Related: Letters From Charles Darwin.]

Todays naturalists are studying a world a bit different than Darwin. The planets birds, reptiles, mammals, fish, and amphibians have already shown population declines of around 68 percent since the 1970s and 10 percent of terrestrial biodiversity is set to decrease by 2050 if new policies are not immediately put in place. In December 2022, 200 countries' delegates at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP 15) reached the 30 by 30 deal, vowing to protect 30 percent of the Earths wild land and oceans by 2030, thus representing the most significant effort ever to protect the worlds dwindling biodiversity. The deal also provides funding in an effort to save and preserve biodiversity in lower-income countries. Currently, only 17 percent of terrestrial and 10 percent of marine areas are protected through legislation.

Still, more work is needed as some scientists believe current estimates of biodiversity loss are even higher than scientists first expected. One of the goals of Darwin200 is to develop projects to save the species it is studying along the way before it's too late.

"We all know we're in the midst of the sixth great extinction with a lot of doom and gloom about the problems facing the environment, climate change and loss of biodiversity," Famed primatologist and Darwin200 supporter Jane Goodall told Reuters. "This voyage will give many people an opportunity to see there is still time to make change."
A former U.S. postal worker who federal prosecutors say was a leader in a multi-million dollar scheme to defraud the government during COVID-19 is going to prison, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office in Columbia.

Tiffany McFadden, who lists addresses in Brooklyn, N.Y., and Port St. Lucie, Fla., was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison, followed by five years of court-ordered supervision, a news release from the federal prosecutors office said.

McFadden, 40, led an illicit plan in South Carolina that was responsible for more than 400 fraudulent applications for federal aid related to the coronavirus pandemic, prosecutors said. She and others involved in the scheme received more than $2 million, often in $20,000 increments, the news release said.

The scheme was related to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security laws Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP. Congress had authorized the PPP effort to help businesses hurt by COVID-19, a disease so contagious it shut down businesses and left them struggling to survive.

Many fraudulent applications for aid were made in the eastern South Carolina communities of Kingstree, Johnsonville and Hemingway. McFadden is originally from the Kingstree area, her lawyer said.

Prosecutors say the scheme involved two postal workers and McFadden, a former postal service worker whose attorney said had left the service by the time the illicit activities took place. Court records show that McFadden pled guilty to one count in the federal indictment against her: conspiracy to commit wire fraud related to PPP loans.

Every dollar stolen from the PPP program was stolen from legitimate businesses who needed support during unprecedented challenges facing our country, U.S. Attorney Adair F. Boroughs said in a news release. This scheme took advantage of the publics generosity by stealing millions from taxpayers.

Cezar McKnight, an attorney representing McFadden, said his client is sorry, will serve her sentence and move on with her life. McFadden, who served time in the Navy, is a mother of four children and married to a man training to be an airline pilot, McKnight said.

My client expressed remorse for her actions and is grateful that the United States Attorneys Office did not come after her as hard as it could have; they were very merciful, McKnight said. She does not take this lightly. She sees the error of her ways.

Felony charges related to the scheme are pending against two other defendants, Cherry Lewis, 43, of Johnsonville, and Keisha Lewis, 33, of Hemingway. If convicted, those defendants face up to 20 years in prison, The State previously reported.

The U.S Secret Service investigated the case with assistance from multiple agencies, including the Williamsburg County Sheriffs Office.
WASHINGTON  The governor of Utah on Thursday put the head of the state's National Guard on paid leave after a two-year Pentagon investigation concluded that Maj. Gen. Michael Turley had had an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate soldier, according to sources familiar with the investigation.

Turley, as recently as last week, had sought the spotlight as the investigation neared completion. He greeted President Joe Biden with a hearty handshake at Roland R. Wright Air National Guard Base on Aug. 9. In February, he was the featured guest of Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, at Biden's State of the Union address.

Romney was unaware that Turley had been the target of a long-running investigation, according to his office. Active-duty senior officers under investigation typically keep a low profile. It's not clear who, if anybody, had vetted Turley before he met Biden.

Revelations about Turley follow USA TODAYs report last week that National Guards top officer for personnel matters, Maj. Gen. Eric Little, had been fired after the Army inspector general found that Little had presided over an office with a toxic atmosphere toward women. The U.S. officials familiar with Turley's investigation were not authorized to talk about it.

The Pentagon has struggled and failed to protect women in the ranks from sexual harassment and assault for years. The crime of unwanted sexual contact in the ranks peaked in 2021. Sex crimes against women have soared, particularly in the National Guard.

President Joe Biden is greeted by Maj. Gen. Michael Turley, Adjutant General Utah National Guard on Aug. 9, 2023 at Roland R. Wright Air National Guard base. President Bidens visit will include his remarks on the one year anniversary of the PACT Act, which is the most significant expansion of benefits and services for toxic exposed veterans and survivors in over 30 years. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by: Tech. Sgt. Nicholas Perez)

Turley was put on paid adminstrative leave, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said in statement. Cox made the decision based on information "conveyed" by the Army inspector general.

Cynthia Smith, an Army spokesperson, said the inspector general had substantiated an allegation against Turley.

Turley's case appears to have been poorly handled, said Don Christensen, the former top prosecutor for the Air Force and a retired colonel. Investigators took too long, and Turley had no business greeting the president while under investigation, Christensen said.

"It is hard to justify taking two years to investigate allegations of adultery and fraternization," Christensen said. "These are are not complex allegations, and there is no excuse for keeping a general officer in a leadership position with these charges hanging over his head. It erodes confidence in command and fuels the belief there is a two tiered justice system in the military. Sadly, the Guard seems particularly inept at holding senior officers accountable in a timely manner."

Major General Michael J. Turley sits next to U.S. Senator Mitt Romney.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Gen. Michael Turley who greeted Biden in Utah now under investigation
A right-wing commentator is urging fellow conservatives to be more homophobic and take their anti-LGBTQ rhetoric up a notch.

Christian rapper Shemeka Michelle was one of the guests on Wednesday nights broadcast of Eric Bolling: The Balance on conservative television channel Newsmax.

Bolling  a former Fox News personality ousted by the Murdoch-owned network in 2017 over an alleged sexting scandal  invited Michelle and Common Sense executive editor Chris Bedford to discuss recent comments made by Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine about a gender-identity clinic in Alaska.

Levine, one of the nations first openly transgender officials, was recently targeted by conservative outlets for supporting Identity Alaska, which uses gender-neutral terms such as birth parent or egg producer to replace the word mother.

Bolling started the four-minute segment by asking Michelle what she thought of Levines comments.

I guess if were identifying as egg producers, I should just identify as a chicken from now on, she started. What we have done is we have put in place people that 20 years ago would have been locked in an insane asylum. Weve put them in prominent positions to completely confuse our children.

Later in the segment, Bedford added to the conversation, saying the ultimate goal of some in the LGBTQ community is to indoctrinate children.

Right now, its really a thing that says if you dont accept this predatory mental illness, then youre a bigot. And it is actually coming for your kids, he said.

Bolling agreed, arguing the more conservatives talk about it, the more they are called bigoted and homophobic by the left.

I actually think, if thats the case, we need to be more homophobic, Michelle replied. We need to take it up a notch because these people have continued to do this because we failed to shame them. We failed to put our feet down and stand tall and say what we believe without the fear of being canceled.

Now is not the time to worry about having friends, she added. It is about linking up with people who have the same values as you and realizing this is a war between good and evil.
NIAMEY (Reuters) - Paintings of Niger's coup leader, national flags and symbols of unity have appeared in the capital since a military takeover last month that has seen some artists join a movement supporting the new junta.

Niger military officers who deposed President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26 have defied calls from the United Nations, regional and Western powers to reinstate him and gathered thousands of people at rallies condemning the West and praising Russia.

Members of a small painting collective worked under the shade of trees in a quiet corner of Niamey to make a portrait of coup leader Abdouharamane Tiani on an outline of Niger, adding a protester here, an inspirational quote there.

Artist Ali Garba said he and his colleagues wanted to play their part in unifying the nation.

"All citizens must make their contribution," he said. "Without social cohesion, there is no nation."

West African armies have threatened military action against the new regime if it does not restore civilian rule, a prospect portrayed as missiles dropping on a dark desert scene by Boubacar Djiboby, who also painted tied hands breaking free.

There has been little public sign of resistance to the coup, although a former rebel leader and politician announced a movement to restore constitutional order last week.

(Writing by Cooper Inveen; editing by Edward McAllister and Philippa Fletcher)
Mo Yan (1st R) interacts with performers at the Nairobi Station of the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway in Nairobi, Kenya, Aug. 13, 2023. (Xinhua/Wang Guansen)

by Xinhua writers Li Hualing, Jin Zheng

NAIROBI, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- "There's a movie called Out of Africa, but I think we should get closer and know about Africa and its people," Mo Yan, a Chinese of Nobel Prize winner in literature, told Xinhua after his recent tour in Kenya, and he encouraged more Chinese to visit Africa and get a better understanding of the continent.

After a ride on the 480-km Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway, which snakes through picturesque savanna grasslands, Mo Yan said that those engaged in culture should go to Africa, experience a culture completely different from the Chinese culture.

"Those who love nature and wildlife should also go to Africa because there is an infinite expanse here. We should also do some sightseeing here, it will make us contemplate our life," said Mo Yan.

Renowned for his imaginative and humanistic fiction, Mo Yan was awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature. He is the first Chinese national to win the Nobel literature award.

Mo Yan, who was born in 1955 and grew up in the Gaomi County of east China's Shandong Province, spoke highly of his first visit to Kenya and called on more Chinese to "go to Africa" to get a better understanding of the continent and contribute to bilateral friendship and cooperation.

Mo Yan arrived in Kenya on July 28 and visited some famous tourist attractions such as the Maasai Mara National Reserve, which is located in southwestern Kenyan plains and well known for the migration of wildebeests from Tanzania's Serengeti National Park to the Maasai Mara during the July-August peak season.

He said that while on the train, he saw elephants, giraffes, zebras, and antelope swarm through the Nairobi National Park as the Chinese-built train linking Kenya's capital city of Nairobi to the coastal city of Mombasa traverses through the ecological treasures along the 480-km Mombasa-Nairobi corridor.

"What I used to see on TV, now I see it in front of me. It's amazing. The African continent is so fascinating," said Mo Yan.

He also visited major infrastructure projects constructed by Chinese companies, including the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway, saying that railway, which is expected to have a total freight volume of 23 million tons and a passenger volume of 13 million by the end of 2023, is a modern one built with Chinese standards, technologies and equipment.

He admitted that all these tours have given him a lot of inspiration, saying "This time, we have come to Kenya to see the Rift Valley of East Africa, to see the vast national reserve, and to see the achievements of China-Kenya cooperation projects."

Wang Zhen, the president of Beijing Shutong Culture and Art Research Association, who accompanied Mo Yan during the over two weeks trip, also said that Africa is quite different from what one thought before coming. "Once you set foot on this land, it completely changed your impression."

Mo Yan said that China and Kenya, separated by thousands of miles, with completely different cultures, can still maintain an unbreakable bond. The connectivity between the two countries lies not only in infrastructure but also in people-to-people exchanges.

He said that after returning to China, he will continue publishing stories on what he saw and heard during his trip to Kenya so that more Chinese readers can understand Kenya, Africa, and China-Africa cooperation.

He hoped that more Chinese writers will visit Kenya and the African continent to have face-to-face exchanges with local writers.

When asked which one of his books he would recommend to readers in Kenya, he said it would be "Red Sorghum," a Chinese-language novel. He explained that the literary work has similarities to the setting of Kenya's famous writer, Ngugi wa Thiong'o's historical novel "A Grain of Wheat," which readers might find relatable.

"Loneliness and hunger were my fortunes of creation," Mo Yan once said. He believed that every writer, no matter how influential they are, shares a similar course of growth, starting as a reader and literary enthusiast.

The Nobel laureate also believed there is great potential for China-Africa cooperation in the field of literature.

"Africa is a fascinating land. China and the African continent have great prospects and infinite hopes," Mo Yan said, adding that his trip to Kenya was just the beginning of a brighter future ahead for China-Kenya cooperation. 

Mo Yan speaks during an interview with Xinhua at the Nairobi Station of the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway in Nairobi, Kenya, Aug. 13, 2023. (Xinhua/Wang Guansen)

Mo Yan (C) interacts with performers at the Nairobi Station of the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway in Nairobi, Kenya, Aug. 13, 2023. (Xinhua/Wang Guansen)
The Biden administration has promised billions of dollars to help Hawaii recover from its deadly wildfires this month  but not a federal investigation into what went wrong.

Even if the administration wanted an independent inquiry, there is no national disaster investigator to dig into unanswered questions about the response to the Lahaina blaze. Among those questions: Why the islands siren system wasnt used to cue evacuations, how water lines ran dry in fighting the fire and whether the White House was quick enough in deploying federal help.

A handful of lawmakers from both parties has already proposed creating a federal team to scrutinize the causes and handling of natural disasters, however. They see an opening for potential movement on their idea as Congress reviews Biden's request for $12 billion in extra cash to help FEMA respond to the Maui fire and other disasters.

Hawaii  maybe this is the trigger that we need, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) said in a phone interview from her district this week.



Maybe this is the impetus to get it moving through this Congress. We don't want things to happen in vain, Mace added, noting the rising death toll and that more than 1,000 people are still considered missing on Maui. Its such a huge tragedy.

The House passed a version of the disaster investigation plan that Mace backs during the last Congress, but it stalled in the Senate last summer. The bill would give its new board subpoena power to dig into deficiencies in response, including some that were alleged during the Maui fires that killed more than 100 people.

FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell said this week that she would defer questions about any Maui investigations to leaders in Hawaii, whose attorney general has announced a probe.

There is obviously a role for state leaders in disaster investigations, Mace added, but she contended that it wouldn't compare to the overarching authority of a single national oversight team.

Do you want to have the same entity that might have caused harm to investigate the harm? There is a role for the federal government, said Mace, the only Republican sponsor of the House proposal to create what would be called the National Disaster Safety Board.



As Biden prepares to visit Maui on Monday, the White House is facing tough questions about how to achieve accountability for potential failures that could have contributed to the unprecedented loss of life in Lahaina. After meeting with Biden this week, Criswell was asked if the president has directed FEMA to get to the bottom of questions like why evacuation sirens werent triggered and how faults in the islands utility grid could have exacerbated the disaster.

The FEMA chief again deferred, citing the state's leadership role in any formal probe.

We always want to make sure that we understand what happened and how we can continue to improve so we can minimize the impacts that other communities may have, Criswell said. This is still going to be part of the state's response to determine what level that they want to assess the cause and any of the initial response."

Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.), House author of the national disaster board bill, lamented that the status quo approach to disaster oversight has failed to effect change. The Maui fires are a tragic reminder, she said, that the country needs the strongest possible leadership to review natural disasters.

The lack of an agency empowered to perform comprehensive reviews following disasters, Porter added, "can dilute accountability and make it harder to take action.

Porters bill passed the House last summer, when Democrats ran the chamber, as part of a broader package aimed at preventing wildfires and boosting resources for firefighting. Then the measure sat untouched on the other side of the Capitol. But the disaster board bill boasts some bipartisan support in the Senate, where Hawaii Democrat Sen. Brian Schatz and Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy are taking the lead on it.

Their legislation could garner more attention this fall as Congress weighs disaster response efforts through the lens of Bidens $12 billion request to replenish FEMAs dwindling coffers.

Federal emergency response cash is set to run dry next month, and Biden's aid request is certain to get lawmakers talking about the rising cost of U.S. disasters  both in dollars and human lives.



Natural disasters have cost the U.S. an average of almost $150 billion in damages annually over the last five years, according to the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office. Wildfires in particular are growing more intense and frequent in the U.S. amid a rise in temperatures and severe droughts.

"The lesson from Maui: The loss of life is just off the scale. But as much as people want to make this out to be this singular isolated event that's just unimaginable, unfortunately you better be imagining this in a lot more places, said Craig Fugate, who ran FEMA under former President Barack Obama.

The Lahaina fires are a perfect example, Fugate said, of why the country needs a National Disaster Safety Board.

So what we need to do is go in there and go: Why did it happen? without necessarily looking to blame people, he added. And then go: What do we need to do differently? And more importantly: Where else do we see similar characteristics that have not been addressed?



He now serves on the board of Pacific Gas & Electric, the power company that pleaded guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter for causing the 2018 fire that burned down the town of Paradise, Calif.

In Maui, state officials are already grappling with alleged missteps in the immediate response to the disaster, including claims they initially denied requests to divert water to fight fires on private land.

Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), a co-sponsor of the bill that would create a national disaster investigation team, said the destruction in Hawaii is reason enough for the federal government to deliver on thorough, objective updates on all underlying causes.

And if local negligence contributes to death and destruction, we need the facts to prevent future losses, Doggett added.

To bolster their goals for an objective disaster board, proponents of the bill point to the National Transportation Safety Board, created more than 50 years ago to investigate major transportation accidents like train derailments. Jim Hall, the boards chair for most of the 1990s, contended that the megaphone wielded by NTSB as a well-known federal oversight team has forced federal agencies like the FAA to act on many of its post-accident recommendations, mostly through public pressure.

"The credibility of the NTSB has evolved in such a way that it has the respect of both Congress and the public, Hall said in an interview, adding that "I cant think of an issue that is more like aviation in our present society than whats happening with climate change.

Key to the transportation boards success is its investigative teams' quick deployment to accident sites such as highway collisions or plane crashes to start gathering information on the scene.

Rich Serino, who served as deputy administrator at FEMA until 2014, lauded the NTSB's go teams as a model for the kind of immediate probe that a national disaster investigator could launch alongside other federal responders working to help survivors in the wake of major disasters like the Maui fires.

After a disaster, its always tough to talk about doing something like this, Serino said. But at the same time, we know from our past experience that we need to learn from this.

Caitlin Emma contributed to this report.
I should probably be ashamed to admit this but my favorite part of any presidential election season is the Republican primaries, especially the debates. Since Republicans rarely have an incumbent president running (they have only had three Republican presidents in the last 35 years) the primaries are usually a free-for-all that features some very eccentric fringe characters as well as the precipitous fall of at least one highly touted conservative hero who everyone in the political establishment assumed was a shoo-in just months before.

I think back to 1992 which featured what we all thought was a completely beyond-the-pale Pat Buchanan speech at the RNC that the late great Molly Ivins famously quipped "sounded better in the original German."(That speech now sounds like virtually every GOP candidate running for any office.) In 2008 the open primary offered up the excitement of yet another Hollywood actor-turned-Republican politician in Fred Thompson, then a senator from Tennessee, who had the entire political press corps in a swoon, convinced that he was the next Ronald Reagan. Like so many others, Thomas quickly flamed out on the trail, showing himself to be a bad retail candidate once he had to mingle with the polloi in Iowa and New Hampshire.

2012 featured yet another presumed savior in Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, who weirdly opened nearly every appearance with a quip about his "red-hot, smokin' wife." He convinced the establishment that he was the perfect candidate to win over Democratic moderates, who were believed to be dying to vote for a midwestern Republican governor for some reason. His ads were awesome:

He dropped out after coming in third in Iowa.

But nothing can beat the 2016 GOP presidential primaries for sheer spectacle. (I actually did 22 podcasts about that crazy race.) That was, of course, because of Donald Trump. There were several serious contenders in that race, from former Gov. Jeb! Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio, both of Florida, to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. But nobody came close to the hype about yet another midwestern governor, Wisconsin's Scott Walker, who was presumed to have a magic touch because he'd beaten a recall attempt a couple of years before. He was backed by the mighty Koch brothers who had been instrumental in his rise in Wisconsin and had amassed a massive war chest.

Unfortunately, it turned out once again that a colorless automaton wasn't quite the winning personality everyone was looking for. Walker lost his frontrunner status almost as soon as he announced his campaign and steadily declined in the polls as more people began to get to know him. His debate performances were the final nails in his coffin. After the first one he dropped below 5 percent and in the second he was a cipher. He dropped out not long after when he finally went below 1 percent.

In fairness, those debates were dominated by Donald Trump's wild performances and nobody fared very well against him. But Walker was unique in that he had run through many millions and didn't even make it to Iowa. As I wrote here in Salon at the time:

The sad fact is that Walker has been the most overrated politician in the country based largely upon the Republicans' quixotic desire to find a leader who can put a respectable face on its increasingly disreputable base  and the media's odd willingness to not believe what their eyes were telling them: that Walker was a terrible candidate. Like Pawlenty and Thompson before him, he may have looked good on a PowerPoint presentation, but in reality he showed few signs of life on the debate stage or on the stump.

Hmmm. Does that remind you of someone by any chance? Yes, I thought it might.

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

This year's GOP savior was supposed to be Florida Gov.Ron DeSantis, the anti-woke crusader who managed to win big in his re-election race in 2022. He's been getting tons of press ever since he launched a culture war offensive the likes of which we hadn't seen since Alabama's George Wallace in the 1960s. Trying desperately to get to Trump's right in a quixotic attempt to appeal to the hard-core MAGA cult without ever criticizing Trump himself, DeSantis created the persona of a Cyborg in a stacked heel boot, relentlessly stomping on "woke" wherever he found it.

But no one can pry Trump's devoted base away from him. The only hope anyone ever had was to try to lure away everyone else in the party and get all the GOP-leaning independents. It was never a very likely possibility but at least it made some logical sense. DeSantis' strategy has been a massive flop and like Walker before him, he has wilted like a week-old bag of butter lettuce once he had to perform.

After several campaign shake-ups and a so-far unsuccessful attempt to change the message, the conventional wisdom is that he has one more chance to turn things around. If he performs well in the debate next week, maybe he can regain some momentum. The problem is that he's not a very good debater:

Ron DeSantis looks like a deer in headlights and Charlie Crist is the carpic.twitter.com/fzauLQ0yEd  Gabe Sanchez  (@iamgabesanchez) October 24, 2022

The New York Times reported on Thursday that DeSantis' Never Back Down Super PAC has some ideas on how he can improve his performance and they posted them online. The debate strategy memo was created by the political consulting firm of Axiom Strategies owned by Jeff Roe, the Super Pac's chief strategist.

The Times reports:

The document outlines a strategy framed around Roger Ailes' "Orchestra Pit media theory," which proposes that headlines won't be achieved by getting bogged down in policy discussions, but by creating viral moments through directed attacks, emotional statements, and clippable quotes. [...] "There are four basic must-dos," one of the memos urges Mr. DeSantis, whom the document refers to as "GRD." "1. Attack Joe Biden and the media 3-5 times. 2. State GRD's positive vision 2-3 times. 3. Hammer Vivek Ramaswamy in a response. 4. Defend Donald Trump in absentia in response to a Chris Christie attack."

I get the idea that he must attack Joe Biden and the media, that's standard stuff, but he's going to have to dig deep for a "positive vision" because that's really off-brand. Sadly, defending Donald Trump is very much on brand which is one of the main reasons why Trump is going to win the nomination. Some of the most pugnacious Republicans are mewling kittens when it comes to him.

But professional strategists are telling him to "Hammer Vivek Ramaswamy" and it's not a joke? Apparently not. They even gave him a nickname: Fake Vivek' Or 'Vivek the Fake.'" Is attacking someone nobody's ever heard of supposed to make DeSantis look strong? It's an exact replay of DeSantis' fellow Floridian Marco Rubio's 2016 strategy of attacking Chris Christie in New Hampshire instead of going after Trump in the hopes of winnowing the field. How did that work out for Rubio?

I have to admit I'm looking forward to watching these Republicans once again demonstrate their fecklessness for the whole country to see. There's a reason why they have only had one popular vote since 1988 but they never change course. It makes sense that Trump was able to come in and sweep the GOP primary voters off their feet because the establishment keeps hyping these alleged superstars who turn out to be insufferable duds.

If the big donors and party establishment wanted to get Trump off the stage, maybe they should have come up with a new formula. This one has never worked, not once.

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about DeSantis' floundering campaign
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cheryl Hines are worth roughly $15 million, per Forbes estimates.

The financial outlete said Kennedy's 10 other siblings had diluted his claim to the family fortune.

Kennedy has also made millions on his own, including through his law firm and anti-vaccine advocacy.

The long-shot Democratic presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is incredibly wealthy but perhaps not as well off as his last name might suggest, according to a Forbes analysis.

The financial publication has concluded that Kennedy and his wife, the actor Cheryl Hines, are worth roughly $15 million based on an analysis of the couple's earnings, properties, and debt as gleaned from Kennedy's legally required financial disclosure that he filed in June.

Despite his wealth, Kennedy is not self-funding his campaign. His campaign reported just over $4.5 million on hand in July after its most recent filing.

Forbes noted that one of the major reasons Kennedy didn't have more money was that "the Kennedy family tree has a lot of branches." Sen. Robert Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy had 11 children, including RFK Jr., which leaves far more links to the family fortune than President John F. Kennedy, whose only surviving descendant in their generation is Caroline Kennedy, the US ambassador to Australia. Forbes estimated in 2015 that the entire Kennedy family fortune was worth $1.2 billion.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who rose to fame as an environmental activist and attorney before pivoting to vaccine skepticism, has also made his own money too. He reported raking in more than $5 million from his law firm, Kennedy & Madonna LLP, from the start of 2022 to the middle of 2023. Kevin J. Madonna, Kennedy's partner at the firm, told Forbes that their income could fluctuate wildly year-to-year. Kennedy also received salary and bonuses from Children's Health Defense, a nonprofit that has been the main generator of his anti-vaccine agenda.

Hines, a star of HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm," brought in more than $1 million in 2022 and early 2023 when she appeared in the second season of the Kaley Cuoco-led series "The Flight Attendant." Hines also appeared in the romantic comedy "About Fate." According to Forbes, Hines also has two retirement accounts, which hold $600,000 to $1.7 million, mainly in stock and bond index funds. The couple share properties in Los Angeles and the Kennedy clan home of Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.

Some of Kennedy's family members have been outspoken in their support of President Joe Biden, and he's struggled to make in-roads with Democrats. Polling thus far has made it clear Kennedy faces a tall task in trying to oust the incumbent president in the Democratic primary.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani leaves the U.S. District Court on May 19, 2023 in Washington, DC. Alex Wong/Getty Images

Rudy Giuliani complained about being charged under the RICO act.

The laws were used by Giuliani as a prosecutor to charge mafia bosses.

The new charges relate to Giuliani's alleged bid to overturn the 2020 election.

Rudy Giuliani, the man once described as "America's mayor," has criticized the use of his own racketeering laws to indict him and other associates of former President Donald Trump.

Giuliani established his reputation as a US attorney in the 1980s by using Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) to pursue mafia chiefs in New York, but now finds himself facing charges under those same statutes.

Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis this week charged Giuliani, Trump, and other associates for their attempt to overturn Trump's 2020 election defeat in the state citing Georgia's RICO statutes.

Speaking to radio host John Catsimatidis Thursday, Giuliani discussed allegations by tax official whistleblowers that prosecutors dropped tax crime charges against President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, after allowing the statute of limitations had expired.

"There is a way around it: The legitimate use of RICO," said Giuliani.

"Rather than [how] Fani Willis [is using it]. Not for an election dispute, but for a massive 30-year bribery scheme that was well over $50 million," he said, referring to corruption allegations leveled against the Biden family reltaing to Hunter Biden's foreign business dealings.

"That's what RICO was written for  for major crimes and for long-term criminal organizations. Even if you believe everything in [Willis'] indictment, it doesn't allege a long-term criminal [scheme]."

Willis has accused Trump, Giuliani, and 16 associates of being part of a conspiracy to overturn President Joe Biden's victory in the state. In the indictment, she alleges that Giuliani lied to Georgia lawmakers in a bid to illegally help Trump retain power.

Giuliani has denied any wrongdoing, in a statement after the indictment accusing prosecutors of abusing state RICO laws.

"The real criminals here are the people who have brought this case forward both directly and indirectly," he said.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Robert Hutton, attorney for Larry McKay in his postconviction proceedings, argues in favor of his motion to disqualify the Tennessee Attorney General's Office from prosecuting the coram nobis proceeding. Nicholas Spangler (left) argued for the AG's office and Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy (right) argued alongside Hutton.

The Tennessee Attorney General's Office will be allowed to appeal Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Paula Skahan's ruling that a newly enacted state law unconstitutionally strips power from elected district attorneys.

The law, which Skahan ruled unconstitutional on July 17, gives the state attorney general the power to prosecute collateral reviews  reviews for errors in trials or sentencings  of death penalty convictions. Those cases begin when a defense attorney files a petition of coram nobis, which is typically filed after other avenues for appeal have been exhausted.

Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy and Memphis defense attorney Robert Hutton argued against the law saying it violated people's voting rights, that the Tennessee General Assembly did not give proper notice to the public about the law and that it wrongfully removed jurisdiction from district attorneys.

Skahan did not rule on the voting rights issue but ruled in favor of Mulroy and Hutton in the other two areas. Laws are ruled unconstitutional if a judge rules in favor of a single prong of an argument.

In her reasoning for granting the appeal, Skahan cited potential harm for all parties by prolonging the case, preventing expenses from the attorney general having to argue similar cases and preventing potentially conflicting rulings from happening.

Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy argues in favor of removing the Tennessee Attorney General's Office from coram nobis proceedings, calling it unconstitutional.

"Currently, these same issues are pending or are likely to be pending soon before various trial courts throughout the state in eighteen other cases," Skahan wrote. "Given the absence of controlling authority, there is a substantial risk of inconsistent opinions on these questions throughout the state."

The motion to challenge the law was originally filed by Hutton who is representing Larry McKay, a man who is currently facing the death penalty.

Issues of standing ruled on

Skahan's ruling certified two questions for appeal. The first, which all three parties requested, is whether her ruling correctly found that the attorney general being assigned collateral review cases violates the Tennessee Constitution. The second, which was requested by Mulroy and Hutton, is if the AG should be disqualified for the Tennessee General Assembly not providing adequate notice when amending the bill.

Although all three parties in the case agreed that an appeal should be granted, the attorney general argued that Hutton did not have standing to file to disqualify the attorney general from the case. Skahan, in her ruling, agreed with Mulroy and Hutton's arguments that the standing issue could be disregarded.

Judge Paula Skahan listens to arguments Monday, Oct. 14, 2019, during a hearing at the Shelby County courthouse in Memphis.

"For the reasons set forth in DA Mulroy's and McKay's pleadings, the court finds that the issue of standing is moot," Skahan wrote. "The AG has specifically conceded DA Mulroy's standing to move for disqualification in his written submissions and in open court. The AG has affirmatively waived and knowingly forfeited any challenge to DA Mulroy's right to move for disqualification. DA Mulroy is a proper party and appellee in this cause, thus McKay's standing is utterly irrelevant."

Skahan also confirmed her order for a stay in the McKay case while the appeal is pending.

Her ruling was entered Tuesday, and the attorney general will have ten days to file the appeal, which the office has repeatedly indicated its intent to do, with the Tennessee Criminal Court of Appeals.

The law was initially introduced as a bill to tackle rape kit backlogs but was changed to assign collateral review cases to the state attorney general. Mulroy and Hutton both argued that the law takes away autonomy from elected district attorneys and gives them to the unelected attorney general.

Nicholas Spangler argues against the motion to disqualify the Tennessee Attorney General's Office from Larry McKay's coram nobis proceedings.

Tennessee State House Minority Leader Rep. William Lambert, R-Portland, initially sponsored the legislation in the House and State Sen. Brent Taylor, R-Memphis, later joined as Senate sponsor.

Opponents of the bill, like State Sen. Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis, called it a waste of resources and unconstitutional on the Senate floor. Tennessee Democrats argued the attorney general's office was overstepping to wrest control from district attorneys offices.

Local death penalty cases: Shelby County DA seeking death penalty for man accused of killing Eliza Fletcher

The bill was signed into law on April 28, and Hutton  who is representing Larry McKay, a man who is currently facing the death penalty  filed the original motion the following Monday. Mulroy signed onto the motion the same day.

Hutton had filed a petition for coram nobis on March 30, saying that new evidence in McKay's murder case from the 1980s could have changed the outcome of that original case.

Lucas Finton is a criminal justice reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com and followed on Twitter @LucasFinton.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: TN attorney general OK to appeal death penalty law constitutionality
This years spike in international travel has brought more than 200 cases of mosquito-borne illnesses to Florida, including dengue, malaria, chikungunya, and West Nile Virus.

When it comes to dengue fever, most of the reported cases in 2023 are Floridians with a travel history to Cuba. So far this year, 130 travelers to Cuba were confirmed with dengue shortly after their return to Florida.

In total, 190 cases of dengue have been reported in 2023 by Floridians with travel history to a dengue-endemic areas, including Brazil, Peru, Mexico, Bolivia and the Dominican Republic. Just in the week ending August 5 alone, 43 cases of dengue were reported in people who had traveled internationally, according to the Florida Department of Health.

Peru is suffering its worst-ever recorded outbreak of dengue. So far this year, nearly 150,000 Peruvians have come down with the disease, according to the Pan American Health Organization.

South Florida is the area of the state where most cases of dengue are clustered. Miami-Dade has the majority of the international travelers who returned with dengue fever in 2023 with 114 cases; Broward has had 13 cases and Palm Beach has had six cases in 2023..

In a rarer scenario, Florida has 10 locally acquired cases in dengue. Broward and Miami-Dade Counties have two in each county. That means the disease is flourishing on its own in the area.

Dengue is spread by the bite of an infected mosquito and is not normally present in Florida. However, infected travelers can bring the virus back to Florida mosquitoes, the Florida Department of Health-Broward said in a health alert.

There are four types of dengue, and people can be infected with each type throughout their lifetime.

As long we have good mosquito control, we should be able to control the spread of these diseases in Florida, but we have to stay vigilant, said Aileen Marty, an expert in infectious disease with Florida International University.

One of things people dont realize is the impact of heat on mosquitoes and what they carry. When its hot, the life cycle of mosquitoes gets short, so there can be a whole new crop once a week. Each mosquito builds up high quantities of virus in less time.

Health officials say you can protect yourself from dengue and other mosquito-borne diseases by using insect repellent. Products with concentrations of up to 30% DEET are generally recommended along with repellents that contain picaridin, oil of lemon eucalyptus, para-menthane-diol, or IR3535.

According to Florida health officials, dengue fever can be painful but is rarely fatal. Symptoms appear three to14 days after the bite of an infected mosquito and include sudden onset of fever, severe headache, eye pain, muscle and joint pain, and bleeding. Gastrointestinal symptoms like vomiting and diarrhea may also be present in some cases.

At Cleveland Clinic Florida in Weston, Dr. Aisha Subhani, chair of the emergency department, has had patients arrive this summer with dengue fever after traveling to Latin America. They have traveled and come back with headaches, fever  not feeling well. We test them for antibodies, she said.

We had a whole family who tested positive for dengue, she said. They didnt need to be hospitalized. Its not contagious.

In addition to dengue, international travel also is associated with 35 cases of malaria reported in Florida this year. The travelers had been to areas such as Ghana, Nicaragua, Nigeria and Honduras.

Earlier this summer, the state health department alerted Floridians that seven cases of locally acquired malaria also had been reported in Florida in Sarasota County.

Symptoms of malaria are fever, body aches, headaches, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

The other two types of mosquito-borne diseases have been less common this year. In 2023, one case of West Nile Virus illness acquired in Florida was reported in Escambia County in July and one case of chikungunya was reported in Lee County in a person who had traveled to Brazil.

_____
CNN commentator and Democratic political strategist Paul Begala was astounded by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis leaked presidential debate advice, calling it the dumbest thing Ive seen in a long time.

The New York Times on Thursday published documents detailing debate and campaign strategies for the Republican presidential candidate that were posted on the website of Axiom Strategies, a company owned by the chief strategist of DeSantis super PAC, Never Back Down.

After the Times reached out for comment Thursday, one particular memo was removed from the website. Hours later, the other documents were reportedly taken down.

The memo in question presented four key goals for DeSantis at the debate:

1. Attack Joe Biden and the media 3-5 times. 2. State [DeSantis] positive vision 2-3 times. 3. Hammer Vivek Ramaswamy in a response. 4. Defend Donald Trump in absentia in response to a Chris Christie attack.

Leaking this is like, the dumbest thing Ive seen in a long time, and Ive seen a lot of dumb things, Begala said of the memo. If Gov. DeSantis wants to defend Donald Trump, well that is Donald Trumps job. He has plenty of defenders.

Begala added that DeSantis team had put the governor in a terrible position ahead of the Aug. 23 debate, because now, everything he says in the debate, were all going to say, Oh, that was scripted. That was false.

The other candidates mentioned in the memo, business executive Vivek Ramaswamy and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, should send the DeSantis super PAC a fruit basket or something and thank them, Begala said.

The memo also directed DeSantis to Invoke a personal anecdote story about family, kids, Casey, showing emotion, and suggested specific lines he could use to defend Trump and attack Ramaswamy.

It was posted among hundreds of other pages of campaign advice, research and polling for the Florida governors campaign, according to the Times.

Trump has indicated he wont attend next weeks debate hosted by Fox News in Milwaukee. He leads DeSantis, his closest rival in the polls, by nearly 40 points, according to RealClearPolitics.

Related...
People attend a rally against Japan's planned ocean discharge of nuke wastewater in front of the Japanese prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, Japan, Aug. 18, 2023. As the Japanese government approaches a decision on the specific date for the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the ocean, hundreds of Japanese gathered in central Tokyo on Friday to rally against the discharge plan. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu)

TOKYO, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- As the Japanese government approaches a decision on the specific date for the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the ocean, hundreds of Japanese gathered in central Tokyo on Friday to rally against the discharge plan.

Despite scorching temperatures exceeding 35 degrees Celsius, people from various parts of Japan braved the heat to gather in front of the Japanese prime minister's official residence on Friday morning, urging the government to uphold its promise of "no disposal without the understanding of relevant parties."

Hit by a magnitude-9.0 earthquake and an ensuing tsunami on March 11, 2011, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant suffered core meltdowns that released radiation, resulting in a level-7 nuclear accident, the highest on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale.

The plant has been generating a massive amount of water tainted with radioactive substances from cooling down the nuclear fuel in the reactor buildings, which are now being stored in about 1,000 storage tanks.

Among Friday's protesters was Saeko Uno, who told Xinhua that she started worrying about the nuclear-contaminated water ever since the leak of radioactive substances was reported in 2012.

Traveling all the way from western Japan's Kyoto, she was originally a resident of the capital city of Fukushima Prefecture, who was evacuated to her current dwelling after the earthquake in 2011.

"It is deeply problematic for the government to make a unilateral decision to start the ocean discharge amid opposition from local governments within Japan and concerns of the international community," said Uno, stressing the need for a long-term approach, such as on-land storage.

In 2015, the Japanese government and the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the operator of the plant, made an agreement with fisheries cooperative associations of both Fukushima prefecture and the nation that they will not proceed with any wastewater disposal "without the understanding of relevant parties."

However, the Japanese government announced in April 2021 its controversial plan to release diluted wastewater into the Pacific Ocean and stated in January this year that the discharge will start "in the spring or summer."

Kazuyoshi Sato, co-director of KOREUMI, a Japanese citizens' conference to condemn further pollution of the ocean and one of the rallies' organizers, reiterated the necessity for the government to uphold the 2015 agreement.

"Releasing nuclear-contaminated water into the sea would jeopardize the livelihoods of fishermen, especially when coastal fishing had just begun to recover to around 20 percent of its original levels," he said.

Protesters at the rally handed a petition to the representatives of the Japanese government and TEPCO, demanding adherence to the 2015 agreement, the withdrawal of the ocean discharge plan and comprehensive measures to block groundwater infiltration. They also required addressing the root causes of increased contamination, and reconsideration of alternative options like long-term storage in large tanks and mortar solidification.

Tomoko Abe, a former pediatrician turned member of the House of Representatives, emphasized that the management of radioactive substances has always been about containment and concentration to prevent dispersion.

"It is morally wrong to discard one's waste in another's backyard," she said, arguing that the vastness of the ocean doesn't equate to an absence of impact, particularly when the ocean is shared by everyone.

Friday's gathering was among continuous rallies during the week staged by residents across Japan, calling for the withdrawal of the ocean discharge plan and the exploration of alternative options such as continued on-land storage or other sustainable solutions.

On Thursday, a joint petition signed by 28,627 people in Japan was submitted to representatives of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry jointly by 17 organizations, urging the Japanese government to retract its plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the ocean.

"Once released, there is no turning back. Talking about dilution with seawater is merely a pseudoscientific argument we've heard all too often," a petitioner who goes by the online name of Tsutomu Aihara said.

Local media outlets widely predicted that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, after returning from his visit to the United States, will convene a cabinet meeting to determine the specific discharge date, which is expected to fall between the end of this month and early September. 

People attend a rally against Japan's planned ocean discharge of nuke wastewater in front of the Japanese prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, Japan, Aug. 18, 2023. As the Japanese government approaches a decision on the specific date for the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the ocean, hundreds of Japanese gathered in central Tokyo on Friday to rally against the discharge plan. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu)

People attend a rally against Japan's planned ocean discharge of nuke wastewater in front of the Japanese prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, Japan, Aug. 18, 2023. As the Japanese government approaches a decision on the specific date for the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the ocean, hundreds of Japanese gathered in central Tokyo on Friday to rally against the discharge plan. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu)

A man attends a rally against Japan's planned ocean discharge of nuke wastewater in front of the Japanese prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, Japan, Aug. 18, 2023. As the Japanese government approaches a decision on the specific date for the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the ocean, hundreds of Japanese gathered in central Tokyo on Friday to rally against the discharge plan. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu)

People attend a rally against Japan's planned ocean discharge of nuke wastewater in front of the Japanese prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, Japan, Aug. 18, 2023. As the Japanese government approaches a decision on the specific date for the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the ocean, hundreds of Japanese gathered in central Tokyo on Friday to rally against the discharge plan. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu)

People attend a rally against Japan's planned ocean discharge of nuke wastewater in front of the Japanese prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, Japan, Aug. 18, 2023. As the Japanese government approaches a decision on the specific date for the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the ocean, hundreds of Japanese gathered in central Tokyo on Friday to rally against the discharge plan. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu)
[Source]

Renowned theoretical physicist Michio Kaku believes that peoples fear of artificial intelligence (AI), which he described as glorified tape recorders, is misguided.

Key details: Speaking to CNNs Fareed Zakaria on Sunday, Kaku, a theoretical physics professor at the City College of New York (CUNY) and CUNY Graduate Center, admitted that programs like OpenAIs ChatGPT could help advance society by speeding up the ability to produce materials.

Misguided fear: Kaku then pointed out that society has been focusing on the negative impact of these programs  or as he would describe them, glorified tape recorders. He explained:

"It takes snippets of whats on the web created by a human, splices them together and passes it off as if it created these things. And people are saying, Oh my God, its a human, its humanlike. The chatbots simply rearrange whatever is on the internet already  its a tape recorder of a very advanced kind." More from NextShark: Mark Wahlberg Blasted Over Past Racism When He Assaulted Black and Asian People

Questionable accuracy: The theoretical physicist went on to point out how chatbots have problems understanding what is true or false, as they do not "understand slander versus reality, adding, That has to be put in by a human.

Were not there yet: For Kaku, AI is not the future. Rather, it is part of what he believes to be the second stage of technological evolution, which incorporates electricity, transistors and ones and zeroes. The first stage, according to Kaku, was computing using sticks, stones, levers, gears, pulleys and string.

The road ahead: Kaku noted that the future will lie in quantum computing or, as he would put it, the third stage of technological evolution. With this futuristic technology, Kaku believes that humanity will be able to calculate on a quantum level, much like Mother Nature, and further advance healthcare that could potentially cure diseases such as cancer, Parkinsons and Alzheimers disease.

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These are diseases at the molecular level, he said. Were powerless to cure these diseases because we have to learn the language of nature, which is the language of molecules and quantum electrons.

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S. Korean President Yoon proposes new ministry to protect Korean Americans from hate crimes
Rusty Bowers, Arizona state House Speaker, arrives as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol continues to reveal its findings of a yearlong investigation, at the Capitol in Washington, on Tuesday, June 21, 2022. | Jacquelyn Martin, Associated Press

Former Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers is mentioned multiple times in former President Donald Trumps latest indictment in connection with alleged efforts to overturn 2020 election results in Georgia.

The indictment, Trumps fourth, is focused on events that occurred related to election results in Georgia, and it says Trump and his allies also operated in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.

Heres what the indictment said about Bowers and other Arizona lawmakers:

Trump and his attorney Rudy Giuliani called Bowers on or about Nov. 22, 2020, and Giuliani made false statements concerning fraud in the election in Arizona and solicited, requested, and importuned Bowers to unlawfully appoint presidential electors from Arizona, according to court documents. Bowers spoke about this call when he testified in front of the House Select Committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Giuliani and Jenna Lynn Ellis, another Trump attorney, spoke to unnamed Arizona lawmakers during a meeting on or about Nov. 30, 2020, to make false statements about fraud and unlawfully appointing presidential electors, according to the indictment, and Trump joined the meeting by phone and made false statements about fraud in the election in Arizona.

Giuliani and Ellis met with Bowers and other Arizona state lawmakers in Phoenix on or about Dec. 1, 2020, and Giuliani again made false statements about election fraud in Arizona and requested lawmakers call a special session, according to the indictment. These were overt acts in furtherance of the conspiracy, the document says.

Trump called Bowers on or about Christmas Day in 2020 for the purpose of soliciting, requesting, and importuning Bowers to unlawfully appoint presidential electors from Arizona, according to the indictment, and Bowers told Trump I voted for you. I worked for you. I campaigned for you. I just wont do anything illegal for you.

John Eastman, a Trump lawyer, called Bowers on or about Jan. 4 and asked him to unlawfully appoint presidential electors from Arizona, and Bowers declined, saying he wouldnt risk violating his oath of office, according to the indictment. The document dates the call to 2020 rather than 2021 in an apparent typo.

Related

The indictment also says Trump and his allies made false statements to state lawmakers in Arizona in November and December 2020 as well as to state lawmakers in Michigan and Pennsylvania in an attempt to persuade them to unlawfully appoint their own presidential electors.

It says schemes similar to the false Electoral College documents made in Georgia to overturn the states election results were also conducted in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

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Trump narrowly lost Arizona in 2020 by about 10,000 votes and no audits found evidence that widespread fraud impacted the results.

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes told the Arizona Republic she had no comment on the Georgia indictment.
Donald Trump says hell be ready to go on trial on federal charges over his bid to subvert the last election  in April 2026.

Citing extraordinary amounts of evidence  including a tranche of 11.5 million pages that prosecutors handed over earlier this month  Trump lawyers John Lauro and Todd Blanche said in court papers filed Thursday that a 2.5-year delay before picking a jury would properly factor in the complexity of the case.

The proposal stands in almost absurd contrast to prosecutors call for a trial to begin on Jan. 2, 2024, a highly ambitious timeline. And it sets up a consequential choice for U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan, who has indicated she will set a trial date by Aug. 28.

Trumps proposal is almost certainly a non-starter. It would result in a trial six years after the events that formed the basis for the charges: Trumps staggering and multi-faceted effort to subvert his defeat to Joe Biden in the 2020 election. But his lawyers framed the decision in stark terms, noting the unprecedented nature of a leading candidate for president being prosecuted by the Justice Department led by his political opponent.



Trumps lawyers also pointed to typical lags in more routine criminal trials in Washington, D.C.s federal court.

In this District, ordinary order when faced with such overwhelming discovery is to set a reasonable trial schedule, commensurate with the size and scope of discovery and complexity of the legal issues, Lauro and Blanche wrote. The government rejects this sensible approach. Instead, it seeks a trial calendar more rapid than most no-document misdemeanors, requesting just four months from the beginning of discovery to jury selection.

The attorneys also noted that the district typically prioritizes trials for defendants who are in pretrial detention, a factor that is not facing Trump.

Unsaid in the brief, however, is another significant calculus. Trump could, conceivably, be back in the White House in January 2025. If that happens and the case is still pending, he could instantly shut it down, either by issuing himself a presidential pardon or by appointing an attorney general who would agree to dismiss the charges.

Special counsel Jack Smith has charged Trump with three conspiracies aimed at derailing the transfer of power to Joe Biden, in part through a campaign of disinformation aimed at disrupting state government and congressional efforts to certify the 2020 election.

In their court filing Thursday, Trumps team also continued to push the notion that prosecutors have had 2.5 years to investigate the case, while Trump is only just beginning to prepare his defense. An April 2026 trial date would give Trumps team an equal amount of time to prepare, they said.

But that notion is erroneous, prosecutors said in their own proposed trial schedule brief last week. They noted that Trump is privy to large swaths of evidence arrayed against him as a result of the House Jan. 6 select committees hearings and trove of public documents. And he also has access to millions of pages of records that overlap with the materials the government is producing to him  such as documents from his White House, his campaign and his PAC.

Chutkan has given no hints about the timetable shes considering, but she has warned that she would speed up the timeline if Trump continues to make inflammatory remarks about witnesses and parties to the case that could influence the jury pool. She is also unlikely to be swayed by Trumps claims of political malfeasance by prosecutors: During her first hearing in the case, she repeatedly emphasized that she wont be factoring in Trumps political candidacy or the politics of the matter at all in her trial decisions.

Prosecutors contended that despite the large volume of evidence they plan to share, they had meticulously organized it in a way that should speed Trumps review. And they argued that the fact patterns in the case were not so complex that they would require the kind of extraordinary lag that Trumps team claims is necessary.

But Lauro and Blanche said prosecutors were vastly underestimating the complicated issues at play. And thats before factoring in Trumps crowded calendar of criminal and civil matters already clogging the calendar in the early months of 2024. The attorneys attached the confirmed and proposed trial schedules in Trumps criminal matters in New York, where Trump is expected to face a state jury in March, and in Florida, where Trump is expected to face a federal jury in May.



Trump is also facing newly issued racketeering and conspiracy charges in Fulton County, Ga., where prosecutors have asked for a March 4 trial date.

The public interest lies in justice and fair trial, not a rush to judgment, Trumps lawyers argued. Moreover, if the rights to due process and counsel are to mean anything, a defendant must have adequate time to defend himself.
The Treasury under Secretary Janet Yellen on Wednesday sanctioned three companies as it tries to deny Russia the ability to acquire weaponry from North Korea. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI

Aug. 17 (UPI) -- The Biden administration has blacklisted three companies linked to a U.S.-sanctioned arms dealer accused of attempting to facilitate weapons sales between North Korea and Russia, which seeks to use the lethal equipment in its war in Ukraine.

Due to internationally imposed sanctions and its dwindling stockpile of weaponry, the Kremlin has been forced to try and replenish its supplies from the likes of Iran and North Korea.

In late March, the State Department targeted Slovakian arms dealer Ashot Mkrtychev, 57, whom officials said worked with North Korea to obtain more than two dozen kinds of weapons and munitions for Russia in exchange for commercial aircraft, raw materials and commodities in need by the isolated Asian nation.

At the time, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said they were concerned Pyongyang would provide the Kremlin with further support and that they had information that it was seeking to acquire munitions from North Korea.

On Wednesday, the Treasury blacklisted Kazakhstan-based Defense Engineering Limited Liability Partnership, Russia-based Limited Liability Company Verus and Slovakia-based Versor S.R.O. on accusations that Mkrtychev is the president of Versor, the founder and owner of Verus and the sole director of Defense Engineering.

Officials said he has used Versor to conduct negotiations with companies abroad.

"The United States continues to root out illicit financial networks that seek to channel support from North Korea to Russia's war machine," Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said in a statement.

The sanctions freeze all property and interest in property of the designated companies and denies U.S. citizens from doing business with them.

"Today's action underscores our commitment to identify, expose and impose severe costs on third-country actors who support Russia's illegal war against Ukraine," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

"We will also continue to take actions against those attempting to evade our sanctions."
WAUSAU  The attorney hired by the Wausau School Board to independently look into the controversy over a band instructor's treatment of a gay Asian American student has concluded that the teacher violated school policies against discrimination.

Further, the report found that Wausau East school principal Deb Foster's "lack of urgency in following up with the family and not developing a safety plan" was a failure to both the school and the family. While neither the report nor any other statement mentions any remedial action regarding Foster, the district sent an email to parents and staff at Wausau East late Thursday announcing that she would not be serving as principal this coming school year. She will be serving in "another administrative role," the district said.

Twan and Manee Vongphakdy pose for a portrait on Wednesday, May 3, 2023, at their home in Weston, Wis. Their son, who recently graduated from Wausau East High School, was the target of a series of racist, sexist and homophobic remarks by band director Robert Perkins.

Robert Perkins, the band director, already left his job in early June after weeks of unrest regarding his conduct.

On April 5, the student and his family filed a complaint with the district alleging Perkins directed both racial and ethnic slurs toward him. On April 26, the district released its conclusion  that while Perkins' conduct was unprofessional and insensitive, the language did not rise to the level of discrimination or harassment.

That infuriated the student's parents  Manee and Twan Vongphakdy  many members of the school community, the Wausau Asian American community, and even public figures such as the mayor. Public meetings were held, other victims of Perkins' conduct came forward, and 65 faculty members signed a petition of support for the student's family. Manee Vongphakdy is a longtime guidance counselor at the school.

USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin reporting led to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction opening an investigation into Perkins' teaching license. The Vongphakdys' filed the appeal of the district's original decision determining there was no harassment.

Ultimately, the school board hired Buelow Vetter law firm to re-examine the entire issue and how it was handled. On Monday, Alana Leffler of the law firm, presented her findings.

She substantiated the Vongphakdy family's complaint that Perkins engaged in racist and sexist harassment of their son. Leffler's investigation also revealed that the administration mishandled the response to the complaint.

Leffler's investigation substantiated claims that Mr. Perkins used words that are anti-Asian slurs to describe the sound of cymbals in his classroom. She could not substantiate that the use of that term was racially motivated, but the investigation did bring a new detail to light: Perkins told another teacher that those words "sounded like dinner conversation at (the student's) house."

"Attorney Leffler found, through her interviews, Perkins told a teacher the 'onomatopoeias sounding like dinner conversation at (the student's) house' spoke directly to Perkins' credibility," said Jenny Yang, the student's aunt.

Another new insight in this case came directly from Perkins. In his statements to Leffler, Perkins said he often overheard students using a homophobic slur, instead of reporting the use of the word, he joined in on jokes about how they must be referencing the bassoon, which translates to a similar word in German.

A witness reported that not only did he use the slur himself, he taught his students the German translation for bassoon, which added to the hostile environment Perkins cultivated in his classrooms.

"Perkins admitted to making that joke in response to students using the word instead of addressing it as a harassment issue," said Elisabeth Lambert of the Wisconsin Education Law and Policy Hub, who has been representing the Vongphakdy family. "He did not report it, he did not treat the use of that slur as a problem."

The investigation also substantiated a comment Perkins made to the Vongphakdys' son in March in front of his classmates. Perkins was accused of telling students to be sure they got fitted for their tuxes, "unless (the son) wants to wear a dress.

"It was more than likely intended to be a joke at (the student's) expense," Lambert said. "It caused (the student) to feel targeted and emasculated and upset."

(USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin has not named the son throughout its coverage because, even though he is well known and easily identifiable in this case, his parents fear it would exacerbate his anxiety and open him up to broader social media harassment.)

Perkins told his students that he held discriminatory attitudes toward Hmong people when he was younger. The Vongphakdys are Hmong American. Nearly one of every nine Wausau residents is of Asian descent, far and away the largest non-white demographic group. This statement was also substantiated.

Other findings that were not ultimately tied to the determination, but were related to investigation and were considered substantiated include the following:

Perkins charged toward the Vongphakdys' son in the hallway in a threatening manner. While this was substantiated, it could not be determined this was motivated by the Vongphakdys' son being part of a protected class.

Perkins made inappropriate comments toward other students of protected status. Similar to the homophobic slurs, Perkins did not report this.

Perkins also made inappropriate comments against a student with disabilities in front of the student's peers.

In a written statement to USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin, the Vongphakdys' son said the following: "One of my favorite teachers had told me to 'speak my truth,' and that is exactly what I did. It has been an excruciating and devastating wait to receive this clarity. I feel this is just the tip of the iceberg, but now, I may take a breath and continue on my journey of recovery, knowing that justice has won yet another day. I hope the closed-minded and the ignorant can learn from such experiences, as they shape the lives of children that will soon power this planet."

He will be attending the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee this fall.

Natalie Eilbert covers mental health issues for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin. She welcomes story tips and feedback. You can reach her at neilbert@gannett.com or view her Twitter profile at @natalie_eilbert. If you or someone you know is dealing with suicidal thoughts, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or text "Hopeline" to the National Crisis Text Line at 741-741.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Report validates discrimination against Wausau student
A Hawaiian restaurant and market in Wauwatosa is donating part of its August proceeds to help the communities devastated by the Maui wildfire.

David Lau and Guy Roeseler, owners of Ono Kine Grindz, 7215 W. North Ave., followed the news of the deadly wildfire on Aug. 9 that blazed through multiple Maui communities. Lau was born and raised on Oahu. He met Roeseler, who is originally from Brookfield, when Roeseler lived on the same island for 12 years. Both were in the hospitality industry.

While neither resided on Maui, they knew immediately they wanted to help.

"My phone was blowing up from people and I'm getting the news from Hawaii News Now, and at that point we really didn't know what was going," Roeseler said. "There were six fatalities and a community destroyed, so we decided to donate 10 percent of proceeds for all sales and people have been amazingly supportive."

The death toll from the fires has risen to over 100 and many are still missing, according to Hawaii News Now. Roeseler told the Journal Sentinel that Lahaina, one of the communities that was completely destroyed as wildfires moved in swiftly on Aug. 9, was a "tight-knit small town" with around 9,000 residents.

Guy Roeseler (left) and David Lau have owned and operated the Hawaiian restaurant Ono Kine Grindz for 12 years in Wauwatosa.

The blaze destroyed more than 2,700 structures in the historic town, according to Hawaii Gov. Josh Green, who said in a video posted late Sunday that an estimated value of $5.6 billion has gone away.

"Its one of the oldest cities in Hawaii and was the capital of the kingdom before the overthrow," Roeseler said. "It was a working-class city with restaurants and bars and catamaran rides. I feel so bad for them. They lose their job and their home, and, hopefully not, but most people at least know somebody well or have a family member that passed. It must be just devastating."

Since announcing their donation plans, Ono Kine Grindz has seen the Milwaukee community, especially the local Hawaiian community, come out to support the effort. Between Friday and Sunday, they raised $2,000. Roeseler said that Friday and Saturday were the busiest days in the business' history.

"The Hawaiian community here is devastated," he added. "A lot of people have family and friends on Maui. ... (T)his really galvanized everybody."

Roeseler said support has extended beyond native Hawaiians as well.

"All the Milwaukee people, so many have been to Hawaii, and people are coming in and sharing their grief and support, which is really important in a tragedy," he said. "To come together. Theyve certainly been very supportive."

Money has been, and will be, donated to the Kokua Restaurant & Hospitality Fund for Maui, which is helping fund Central World Kitchen and the rest goes directly to those who lost their job in the hospitality industry; and the Maui Strong Fund, a nonprofit the preexisted the fire. Both funds have raised $118,059 and $34,168,356, respectively.

Lau and Roeseler plan to continue the 10% donation through at least the end of August with the possibility of extending it further.

"Its a drop in the bucket, but if everybody does a little something, itll help a lot," Roeseler said.

Orders can be placed online or by calling the restaurant at 414-778-0727. The Ono Kine Grindz owners are also posting places worth donating to on the business's Facebook page.

Drew Dawson can be reached at ddawson@jrn.com or 262-289-1324.

More: 'They need so much help right now': UW student finds devastation back home in Hawaii

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Maui fire: Ono Kine Grindz in Wauwatosa donates to relief effort
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks to the press on Thursday before departing for Camp David, where he will host Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol. Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

At first glance, President Bidens summit with the leaders of Japan and South Koreabeing held at Camp David todaymay not seem newsworthy, much less extraordinary. But in fact, its a very big deal, taking place at a tensely pivotal moment.

Though Japan and South Korea are Americas two largest allies in eastern Asia, and while both countries leaders greatly value that alliance, their relations with each other have long been bristling with mistrust.

As one sign of its significance, the summit marks the first time ever that an American president has wrangled the South Korean president and the Japanese prime minister together into a trilateral summit where they are the only participants and their common concerns form the only agenda.

The summitwhich Biden sees as crucial to weaving together a network of allies across Asiais the culmination of meetings and talks that have gone on between the leaders and their senior aides for two years. The fact that it is taking place at all reflects the progress that has been made in those years.

Yet tensions and differences remain, and even the points of accord and compromise are seen as fragiledue in part to upcoming elections in all three countries.

The 2024 U.S. presidential election is only the most prominent political concern. Officials in Tokyo and Seoul trust Biden and know his deep commitment to alliances, but they wonder whether his successor will share that commitment. Specifically, if Donald Trump is elected again, they fearfrom watching him the first time aroundthat their progress will be wiped out, and so they are hesitant to take many political risks on their own. (U.S. allies in Europe have expressed the same concern.)

And moving into a truly trilateral security arrangementin which Seoul and Tokyo share the same obligations to each other that they each hold with Washingtonis a politically risky step for both.

Their mutual enmity dates back to the early 20th century, when Japan held Korea as a colony, and especially to World War II, when Japanese troops forced Korean men into slave labor and Korean women into forced prostitution. South Koreans demands for compensation and apologiesand Japans refusal to complyhave been central issues in the two countries relations.

In March, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol took the extraordinary step of compensating families of enslaved workers with local fundsthen asked Japanese companies to chip in as well. The companies did nothing, and the government in Tokyo did nothing to pressure them.

Still, Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishidaat Bidens urgingstarted cooperating in other areas, especially in sharing intelligence, with Washington and with each other, on North Koreas nuclear and missile tests, which threaten both directly. There have been other advances, at least in discussing shared interests and concerns.

Daniel Sneider, a lecturer in international policy at Stanford University, wrote in this weeks Oriental Economist that the leadersespecially Bidenhope that Fridays summit will lock in this past years progress, in the form of official declarations and new trilateral institutions that future leaders cant easily overturn.

At a news conference on Thursday, two senior U.S. officials, speaking on background, said that the summit will institute a three-way hotline, where the leaders can speak securely and instantly, as well as a pledge to consult with one another in the event of crises affecting their interests. They also hope to make commitments on trade, cybersecurity, and nuclear deterrence.

One of the officials, who said he has been doing diplomacy in Asia for 30 years, said the alignment between Tokyo and Seoul has never been greater. The summit will build on the rock-solid bilateral treaty commitments that the U.S. has with South Korea and Japan separatelyand try to extend these into a trilateral arrangement (all three countries committed together) where this is possible and appropriate. The other official stressed that the summit would not be heralding a formal alliance or collective-defense commitment, such as the NATO treaty binding the U.S. with much of Europe.

Sneider, who has been writing for years on the tensions between Japan and South Korea, told me in a phone conversation Wednesday that he is encouraged by the existence of the summit and by the steps that all three leaders have taken toward making it possible. However, he also noted the fragility of the politics that produced itnoting that it wouldnt have happened at all without President Yoons electoral victory in 2022 and if South Koreas more left-wing party, which is more suspicious of Japan and holds a majority in parliament, wins the next election.

Yoon and Kishida both face low ratings in their home countries, Kishida for Japans domestic troubles, Yoon for making overtures toward Japan that many South Koreans view as too one-sided.

Sneider also noted remaining differences on crucial issues between both countries and the United States. Particularly sensitive is the status of relations with China. Biden sees the trilateral summit as, in part, forming a strengthened joint bulwark against Chinese expansionespecially at a time when China, Russia, and North Korea have formed trilateral relations of their own. However, Japan and South Korea have much closer ties with Chinain trade and investmentthan does the United States, and they have no great desire to loosen those ties.

In an awkward moment during Thursdays press conference, the two senior officials were asked whether the new trilateral hotline and the pledge to consult would be activated if China invaded Taiwan. The officials declined to discuss specifics. However, they did say that one of the documents coming out of the summit would contain robust language on security in the South China Seawhere the Chinese navy has been expanding bases.

It is also unclear, as of a few hours before the summit begins, whether or to what extent the three leaders will discuss nuclear deterrence. In its long-standing separate treaties with Japan and South Korea, the United States has pledged to defend each country from attack, even if doing so means using nuclear weapons. Biden hopes to incorporate this assurance into the trilateral security arrangement with both countries, but officials in South Korea and Japan are reluctant to be drawn into a war that involves the other country but not themselves.

One of the senior officials said Thursday that the three leaders at the summit will engage in the task of doing whats possible and whats appropriate. Its not entirely clear what all that does and does not include.
You may have read an editorial on these pages this past weekend about a police raid:

Raid on Kansas newspaper is an intolerable overreach by police.

And then, you might have noticed the author: By The Wichita Eagle and Kansas City Star Editorial Boards.

Yes, that editorial came from both editorial staffs of the Kansas and Missouri news outlets. We are two entities, both part of the McClatchy publishing company, that came together to tell an important story. Unusual?

The Star doesnt do this very often, but we have done it before, and when we collaborate to run a joint editorial, it usually signifies an important moment in news history. Im writing about this today because any time I get a chance to speak about transparency  why we do what we do  Ill take it.

The last time The Star ran an editorial with a colleague news outlet, it was in 2017 with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which is owned by Lee Enterprises. A call for transparency  Eric Greitens still governing in the dark was about then-Missouri Gov. Greitens collaborating in the creation of a bogus nonprofit designed to share propaganda about the governors political stances.

Both news outlets felt so strongly about our state leaders participation in this, we came together to do so. We called the nonprofit an insult to Missouri voters. We also explained why we treated this editorial so uniquely:

We feel so strongly about the governors lack of transparency and repeated attempts to evade the Missouri news media that the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and The Kansas City Star are publishing this joint editorial, hoping Greitens will change course.

This time, the story was about the Marion, Kansas, police and the Marion County sheriffs office conducting a raid on the offices of the Marion County Record and the home of its owners, Eric Meyer and his 98-year-old mother, Joan. Even worse, Mrs. Meyer died the next day, apparently from the stress of the situation.

We were shocked with outrage upon hearing the news and set out to criticize the police actions while asking for swift follow-up from the state legislative and judicial levels.

We ended the editorial with a promise: In the meantime, The Wichita Eagle and The Kansas City Star stand ready to assist the Record in any way we can.

A police raid on a newspaper is unusual. I have known police to raid college newspaper offices (a guest columnist discusses this topic) but rarely a professional shop. It calls to question First Amendment rights. A Google search yielded just one other raid, in 2009, when New York City police raided several newspapers as part of a union corruption probe. But that was not about news coverage.

Sometimes a story is so important that we set aside our competitive nature, our quest to be first.

When The Washington Post collaborated with The Las Vegas Review-Journal on a murder investigation last September, Review-Journal Executive Editor Glenn Cook told PBS NewsHour: Our industry is an incredibly competitive one. Everyones competing for readership, for audience. But, at the same time, nothing brings our industry together like fighting for press freedoms, the First Amendment, ensuring that important stories can be told everywhere, not just in certain places.

The First Amendment is not a dusty piece of paper from 1791 cared about just by news nerds. Its five promises of freedoms (speech, press, religion, petition of the government and peaceful assembly) affect you, too. In this case, the raid sent a chilling message to reporters and their sources. We must fight back against  to use Mrs. Meyers word  Hitler tactics.

And we will combine forces when we need to, working together to shine light into the darkness.
Six-year-old Brenae Crawford picks out school supplies with her mother, Breana Crawford, during the Backpack to School Backpack Giveaway event held Saturday, August 12, 2023, at the Erwin Center in Gastonia.

Gastonia native Mallory Foxx, 36, was named Mrs. Black North Carolina International Ambassador earlier this year.

Foxx used her platform recently to give away 1,200 backpacks and more than $2,000 other school supplies.

A lot of people say pageantry is a vain sport, but I use pageantry to amplify my voice as a community leader, Foxx said.

The most important part of competing in pageants for Foxx is the community service.

I am a firm believer in community service, she said.

In her 15 years as a competitor, Foxx has worked with many different organizations, and even started her own mentoring organization called Mentoring M.I.N.D.S.

M.I.N.D.S. stands for mentoring, influencing, nurturing and developing students.

Mentoring M.I.N.D.S. typically works with kids between the ages of 8-18, but Foxx says she has recently been working with all ages.

Mia Mintz, left, looks on as Mrs. Black North Carolina Mallory Foxx helps hand out backpacks to students during the Backpack to School Backpack Giveaway event held Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023, at the Erwin Center in Gastonia.

Her youngest mentee is five-years-old, and her oldest mentee is 18 and heading into Johnson C. Smith University with a full-ride scholarship.

I know what its like to be a troubled teen because I was one. I was told Id never amount to anything, Foxx said.

Growing up in a marginalized community, a lot of people look down or forget about the kids, she added.

Foxx says she only ever hears about the negative, and I want to highlight the good. If no one else is going to step up to the plate, then I am, she said.

Foxx set a personal goal for her most recent project to collect 100 backpacks by herself.

She passed that goal and collected 150 packs on her own.

Shanise Davis helps students with school supplies during the Backpack to School Backpack Giveaway event held Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023, at the Erwin Center in Gastonia.

Several other community organizations reached out to Foxx when they heard what she was working on and offered to help.

It was with the assistance of 101 Black Men of the Highland Community, D.Y.E.P., and the Womens Empowerment organization that Foxx was able to bring the number of backpacks up to 1,200 and supplies surpassed 2,000.

It was a whirlwind of emotions. So many people said, you should start small, but I was like, Gods gonna provide, Foxx said. If it wasnt for all of the support I received from everyone in Gastonia, I dont think it wouldve gone without a hitch.

According to Foxx, the event was scheduled for 10 a.m.- 3 p.m. Saturday, and the team had already handed out all of the backpacks by 12:30 p.m.

They are already working together to plan another event for next year.

Foxx will travel to Atlanta, Georgia, this October to compete in her next pageant.

A group photo prior to the start of the Backpack to School Backpack Giveaway event held Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023, at the Erwin Center in Gastonia.

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Mrs. Black America visited the Erwin Center
On a gray day in late February 2017, Chinese leader Xi Jinping gathered with a handful of close advisers to survey crop fields and polluted wetlands some 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of the capital Beijing.

Just over a month later, the future of those hinterlands would change drastically, as China announced Xis plan of 1,000-year significance to transform the area into an eco-friendly, high-tech hub that would serve as the sub-capital of the country and a new model for urban planning.

At the time, the plan to launch the Xiongan New Area raised questions  including over how the new city would cope with the environmental challenges known to plague the low-lying, marshy area, which is prone to flooding and drought.

Six years on, those questions have returned as Beijing and surrounding Hebei province, where Xiongan is located, grapple with the fallout from record rains and flooding that killed dozens and displaced more than 1.5 million people in late July and early August.

Xiongans main urban areas, where offices for dozens of state-owned enterprises are under construction, did not report major flooding.

But the surrounding devastation has underscored concerns about the decision to build a multibillion-dollar city in a flood-prone plain.

Its also raised questions about the extent to which Xis dream city  and the political pressure to protect it  impacted how officials made decisions about managing the flood waters from a storm which was the regions most severe flooding event since Xiongans construction.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping inspects the construction sites of a railway station and an international trade center in Xiong'an on May 10. - Xinhua/Shutterstock

Absolutely safe

As heavy rains moved toward the region in late July, Chinas top flood control officials met to hash out their response plan. Among their priorities was to keep the capital Beijing and Xiongan absolutely safe  a demand repeated numerous times in the days to come.

The mountainous western outskirts of Beijing were hit first, as flash floods unleashed by the heaviest rains in 140 years washed away cars, bridges and roads.

Further downstream, officials had to make difficult decisions about how to manage the churning flood waters that gushed out of the mountains into the rivers snaking through cities, villages and farmlands on the plains of Hebei.

On July 30, the first of the decisions was made to discharge water into the flood storage zones  designated areas for the emergency overflow of flood waters, which were home to hundreds of thousands of people.

Zhuozhou, a city south of Beijing, took the worst hit, with streets, homes and neighborhoods inundated in meters of murky water. On social media, some residents claimed they did not receive advance warning, others said the evacuation notices arrived too late or did not explain how serious the situation was.

Flood waters also submerged villages and farmlands in Bazhou, another city in Hebei, where dozens of residents protested outside the city governments offices to demand compensation, according to social media videos.

Some unfurled a red banner that read: Give me back my home. The flood was caused by flood water discharge, not by heavy rainfall.

CNN has reached out to the Zhuozhou and Bazhou governments for comment. Under Chinese law, residents of flood storage areas are entitled to compensation for 70% of housing damage.

Suggestions by officials that decisions about releasing flood waters into Zhuozhou and elsewhere in Hebei were made to minimize the impact on the capital Beijing, Xiongan and the port city of Tianjin also caused a backlash.

In particular, Hebeis party chief Ni Yuefeng angered some when he called the province a moat for Beijing. Censors later wiped his comments from the Chinese internet.

Rescuers use rubber boats to transfer Zhuozhou residents trapped by flood waters after days of downpours brought by Typhoon Doksuri on August 2. - Zhai Jujia/China News Service/VCG/Getty Images

Reducing pressure on Xiongan

Experts say various factors likely determined how  and where  flood waters were diverted, including the speed and intensity of the waters, reservoir levels and existing guidelines and regulations on flood management. And amid a lack of transparency from officials, it remains unclear exactly why decisions were made.

But in the case of Zhuozhou, which lies 30 miles upstream along the Baigou river from Xiongan, repeated high-level calls to protect Xis dream city  and concern for how its defenses would stand up against heavy flood waters  may have played a role, experts say.

Preparing for the storms on July 20, Chinas Minister of Water Resources Li Guoying ordered officials to make flood diversion plans to keep the flood waters outside (Xiongans) periphery and reduce the flood control pressure on its newly built embankments.

Hongzhang Xu, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Australian National University, said it was possible that authorities released water in Zhuozhou to pre-emptively ease pressures on Xiongan, considering its new flood control infrastructure.

Conserving bigger cities by sacrificing smaller ones and rural areas has long been a major flood management strategy in China and elsewhere, he added.

Fan Xiao, a Chinese geologist, said by holding up some of the flood waters in Zhuozhou, authorities were able to reduce the flood peak and delay its arrival downstream. It mitigates the impact on Xiongan, he said.

Li Na, a water resources official in Hebei, admitted as much, telling state media if it had not been for the two areas (in Zhuozhou) controlling flood waters, the pressure on flood control in downstream Xiongan and Tianjin would be very heavy.

Tianjin, a major port city of nearly 14 million, is where several of the regions rivers release into the sea.

Located inside Xiong'an, the Baiyangdian Lake is the largest freshwater wetland in northern China. - Zhu Xudong/Xinhua/Getty Images/File

Closer to Xiongans center, its not clear whether the development of the city changed decisions about the diversion of flood waters into Baiyangdian Lake. As northern Chinas largest freshwater body, the lake serves a key role in the web of rivers and reservoirs that manage water  and flooding  in the region.

In the recent rains, at least three upstream reservoirs released flood waters into rivers flowing into Baiyingdian from the west and the south, according to state media.

But to the north, a canal that connects Baiyangdian with the Baigou River  which flows from Zhuozhou south toward Xiongan  was shut before the flood peak arrived. Instead, the torrents were guided east through a much broader floodway to the Dongdian flood storage zone near Bazhou, where villages were inundated.

Authorities did not say why the decision was made or specifically whether protecting Xiongan was a factor.

The floodway leading to Dongdian can contain ten times the water of the canal linking the Baigou River to Baiyangdian, and serves as the main flood relief channel for the Baigou River.

Authorities are meant to make decisions about diverting flood waters into Baiyangdian from the Baigou River based on the lakes own water levels, according to government guidelines. Open-source data show that Baiyangdians water level was already high in late July and rose further in August.

Xu, the researcher at the Australian National University, said historically, waters from the Baigou river would likely have been diverted to both the Baiyangdian and Dongdian flood storage zones.

In August 1996, when the region was hit by the largest flood in three decades, Baiyangdian Lake took in 30% of the flood waters from the Baigou River, according to Chinese researchers.

CNN has reached out to Chinas Ministry of Water Resources and the Hebei Provincial Department of Water Resources for comment.

A man wades through receding floodwaters in a street in Zhuozhou on August 5. - Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

Flood control coordination

China is not alone in relying on imperfect systems of flood control that sometimes prove costly.

Many countries have systems that involve discharging pent up flood waters into otherwise dry land after major storms.

In the US, the Mississippi River has multiple floodways. This at times has led to the flooding of farmlands, including areas with residents. But, unlike in China, where the designation of flood storage zones may not have kept up with urbanization, such systems typically do not flood highly populated areas.

Some 847,000 people were evacuated from the seven flood storage zones Hebei province ultimately opened to handle the recent rains.

There are signs Chinese officials were aware of an issue. Before the floods, a group of water officials from the region in late July acknowledged increasing conflict between the use of flood storage zones and rapid development in the region, including the construction of Xiongan.

But in the wake of Chinas latest disaster, experts interviewed by CNN have called for a review of the emergency management systems and stronger coordination between officials in the region  including with Xiongan  to ensure there arent such high costs the next time.

Experts suggested that a convoluted system of authority and jurisdictions when it comes to making decisions about managing flood emergencies in China impacts how well authorities deal with these crises.

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region is quite large and most of the time, the management of flood events is not centralized by one authority in (the region)  it is divided into different departments and by different government agencies, said Meili Feng of the School of Geographical Sciences at the University of Nottingham Ningbo in China.

In the future, it would definitely be good to start thinking about  integrated flood event management at the large river basin scale.

Sheep grazing on grass on the idled construction site of a high-end residential real estate project in Hebei province in April 2017. The project was suspended after the central government announced its decision to build the Xiong'an New Area. - Simon Song/South China Morning/Getty Images

1,000-year significance

Xiongan is widely seen as Xis answer to the bustling coastal tech hub of Shenzhen, linked to former leader Deng Xiaoping, and the glittering financial center in Shanghais Pudong New Area spearheaded by another predecessor, Jiang Zemin.

But its relatively low elevation and sprawling wetlands had already raised concern about flood risks in 2017, when the central government announced the plan for the city.

At the time, experts evaluating the areas environment found that if the population reached 5 million up to half of the developed parts of Xiongan New Area would be at risk in the event of a 100-year-level flood.

The New Area has an obvious location advantage, rich land resources, while there are some problems involving the shortage of water resources, serious pollution of surface water, high rate of flood disaster risk, they wrote in an assessment published by the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

But prominent engineer and politician Xu Kuangdi, a former mayor of Shanghai who headed an expert group on developing Hebei, Tianjin and Beijing, downplayed flood concerns.

Xu pointed to other reasons for why the location was selected, including traditional Chinese philosophy and the wetlands national significance as a site of guerilla-style fighting against invading Japanese forces during World War II, according to an account of his comments at the time reported by state media.

Nonetheless, the new city is equipped with defenses largely superior to its neighbors. That includes infrastructure to withstand flooding of an intensity that may be seen only once every 200 years, as well as sponge city features like permeable urban surfaces that can absorb water, according to reports and plans available online.

Some office buildings in Xiong'an have finished construction, including the Urban Computing Center, which is open to visitors. - Yi Haifei/China News Service/VCG/Getty Images

The construction of the city, which aims to be greener than Beijing and support restoration of the Baiyangdian wetlands, has echoes of other ambitious Chinese projects  like the Three Gorges Dam  that have used large-scale engineering to get around natural challenges.

When it comes to Xiongan, theres thinking in China that if we can build a city here we can show that we can have both urbanization and an improved natural environment at the same time, said Andrew Stokols, an MIT doctoral candidate who is researching urban planning in the area.

But the flood risks in Xiongan  and perhaps by extension the surrounding region  are likely only to grow as the area develops to meet Xis vision of becoming a modern city by 2035.

Experts say that a growing population and increasing economic development can exacerbate that risk  as will climate change, which makes extreme weather more frequent, intense and unpredictable.

This time, however, even as villages to the north and east of Xiongan remained waterlogged, with some residents facing at least weeks before they can return home, Xiongan New Areas government last week posted an article touting the return to business as usual.

There, colorful photos featured families walking through parks and raining sweat at the gym  as well as construction workers back on the job building out the new city.

Work and life of the people are gradually recovering, the article said.

CNNs Berry Wang contributed reporting.

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People protest against the Japanese government's plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated water into the sea in Fukushima, Japan, June 20, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu)

The nuclear material that will be accumulated in the leaves will definitely harm human health or the superstructures in the food chain and will have a cancer-causing effect," said Murat Kapikiran, head of the Istanbul Chamber of Agricultural Engineers.

ISTANBUL, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- A water expert has warned that Japan's dumping of Fukushima nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean could have lethal consequences.



Japan's efforts to discharge nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the sea triggered global concern, said Murat Kapikiran, head of the Istanbul Chamber of Agricultural Engineers.

"The world knows that the (radioactive) cesium isotope in the contaminated water that would be released from Fukushima has a half-life of 30 years. This isotope is dangerous and lethal in case of contact with living creatures," Kapikiran told Xinhua in an online interview.

"It is even known that one milligram of it is dangerous enough to destroy a big building," he said. "Therefore, the discharge of this wastewater into the ocean could lead to an extensive global disaster."

He believes the contaminated water could spread worldwide with strong ocean currents, impacting human health.

People attend a rally against Japan's radioactive wastewater dumping plan in front of the Japanese prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, Japan, July 10, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu)

"The nuclear material that will be accumulated in the leaves will definitely harm human health or the superstructures in the food chain and will have a cancer-causing effect," he said.

He also noted that the pollution will substantially negatively impact fish nests along the coasts, especially in the Pacific, which will be lethal.

"It can be said very clearly that it will significantly affect fish eggs and cause mutations in fish and aquatic plant populations," he said, noting that it could be fatal to those who consume such products.

Kapikiran urged Japan to act on scientific data and use other methods to eliminate the contaminated water without harming the environment.

Kapikiran voiced hope for a method that prioritizes global benefits, saying that it would be better to clean the cesium and other radioactive isotopes and elements from the water and then release it into nature.

According to media reports, Japan is considering discharging Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water into the sea in late August or early September.
The ex-wife of a Microsoft executive who was gunned down in front of his young daughter has been charged with first-degree murder
Firefighters battle smoke and heat to control a major wildfire in Spain's tourist island of Tenerife

Firefighters are battling to try to bring under control the worst wildfire in decades on the Spanish Canary Island of Tenerife, a major tourist destination
Washington foster parents say the state hasn't fixed punitive investigations driving them out of system
A bouquet of flowers sits on the steps of the Marion County Record's offices, honoring the late Joan Meyer, co-owner of the newspaper, Monday, Aug. 14, 2014, in Marion, Kan. The 98-year-old Meyer died Saturday after a police raid on the home she shared with her son, the paper's editor and publisher, and he blames the stress from that raid for her death.
SAO PAULO, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Helder Barbalho, governor of the Amazonian state of Para in north Brazil, said cooperation with China has the potential to contribute to Brazil's reindustrialization project through innovations.

He asserted that China's model could assist in financing Brazil's industry to become "green" while preserving the rainforest and generating jobs.

He also noted technology plays a crucial role in the country's drive to achieve zero deforestation in the Amazon by 2030.





Produced by Xinhua Global Service




































TEHRAN, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Thursday discussed over the phone the bilateral cooperation in various fields.

Putin commended the "dynamic and expanding" Moscow-Tehran cooperation in the areas of energy, transit and trade, while expressing Russia's willingness to improve the bilateral cooperation to regional frameworks and levels, the Iranian president's office said in a statement posted on its website.

The Russian leader condemned Sunday's "terrorist" attack on the Shah Cheragh shrine in the southern Iranian province of Fars, in which two people were killed and seven others injured, expressing his sympathy with the Iranian government, people and the victims' families.

Raisi reviewed the process of Iran-Russia economic cooperation, highlighting the necessity for implementing different joint projects, especially in the transit and energy sectors.

Iran and Russia, both under sanctions imposed by the United States, have recently expanded bilateral political and economic relations to counter the U.S. moves. 
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.
Today

Windy with showers and thunderstorms likely. High around 85F. Winds SE at 25 to 40 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Winds could occasionally gust over 50 mph.

Tonight

Cloudy and windy this evening, becoming partly cloudy after midnight. Low near 75F. Winds SSE at 25 to 35 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 50 mph.

Tomorrow

Abundant sunshine. High 92F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.
Baile Figa | A acrosat un autoturism si a plecat de la fata locului. Vezi care a fost motivul

La data de 20 august a.c., politistii Sectiei 4 Politie Rurala Beclean au fost sesizati, prin 112, cu privire la faptul ca un autoturism care se deplasa in zona de agrement Baile Figa, a acrosat un alt autoturism [citeste mai departe]
IBM is closing its plant in Vac, which manufactures storage servers  reports Telex.

According to this information, the subsidiary of the large American corporation, IBM Data Storage Systems (DSS) Kft, is ceasing its operations. The employees will know by the end of August about their tenure and the severance package they can expect. Their source also indicated that the company is handling the situation properly but production will be moved to Mexico.



The source reached out to the company and IBM did not deny the information. In their written response, they stated: We will be closing the manufacturing facility in Vac, but some of the employees will be redirected to other IBM units and will work remotely.



They also said: Employees will receive a severance package in accordance with industry standards and legal requirements, as agreed upon in discussions with the relevant works council/union. We do not disclose the specifics of the proposed severance package.



Based on data from the domestic Opten company information system, in 2022, IBM DSS achieved a turnover of 12.2 billion forints with a pre-tax profit of 606 million forints and a workforce of 448. In the previous two years, the company reported turnovers well above 30 billion forints and profits in the billions.



According to another source: In September 2021, IBM split globally and also in Hungary. The Vac factory and part of the Budapest activities remained part of the so-called big IBM, but the traditional operational business was separated into Kyndryl Hungary (with locations in Szekesfehervar and Budapest), which also contributed to the decrease in company revenue.



Original source: Telex.hu



Words by Peterjon Cresswell for Xpatloop.com

Peterjon has been researching the byways of Budapest for 30 years, extending his expertise across Europe to produce guidebooks for Time Out and his own website liberoguide.com
GUIYANG, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Nine people were killed and two others injured after a fire broke out early Friday at an inn in Liping County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, said the local emergency management authority.

The incident occurred at an inn with a brick-and-concrete structure at around 1:02 a.m. Friday in Zhaoxing Township. The fire was extinguished at around 1:35 a.m.

An investigation into the cause of the incident is underway. 
A bomb threat has been received on the Delhi-Pune Vistara flight ready for takeoff from the Indira Gandhi International Airport in the capital city. The call was received at a GMR Group-run call centre, creating a scare at the airport. The flight, which was scheduled to take off from Delhi airport this morning was taken in isolation for proper inspection by security agencies and no suspicious item was found on board, reported ANI, quoting an official.

The flight was scheduled for departure at 8:30 am "UK-971 Delhi to Pune flight received bomb threat at GMR call center in Gurugram," a security agency official told ANI. There were more than 100 passengers in the aircraft and all the passengers' luggage were de-boarded.

The passengers are currently in the terminal building and they were served refreshments, the official said. As per the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), the plane cannot be scheduled until the security agencies give clearance and go ahead with the flight.



The flight will leave for the destination (Pune) as soon as the final clearance is received from the security agencies, said the report.
Air India, the Tata Group-owned airline recently revealed its new livery and logo taking forward its rebranding activity under its transformation journey as announced by the N Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Sons and Campbell Wilson, CEO, Air India. The country's oldest airline, founded in 1932 by JRD Tata, revealed its new brand identity at an event held in New Delhi recently announcing a new livery colour, logo, cabin design among other things. The Air India's transformation follows Tata Sons' acquisition of the airline from the government in January 2022.

Air Indias brand-new aircraft livery and design features a palette of deep red, aubergine, and gold highlights, as well as a chakra-inspired pattern. It also boasts a striking new custom-made Air India Sans font. The new look reimagines the iconic Indian window shape, historically used by Air India, into a gold window frame that becomes central to the new brand design system - symbolising a Window of Possibilities and will replace the familiar red and white colours on the aircraft.

Taking to the skies in style Air India's Boeing 747-400 [VT-ESO] departing out of Delhi with a fresh coat of vibrant new livery, showcasing a modern twist on timeless elegance. @airindia pic.twitter.com/qPgnT0MRfM  Aeroconcepts by Alaqmar! (@aeroconcepts1) August 17, 2023

The new livery has generated mixed emotions among the social media users, with some hailing the new colour scheme, while others bashing Air India for fiddling with its legacy and going too bold and outgoing in their approach. Nonetheless, social media users are having fun imaginging the Air India planes wearing the new livery, as the actual planes will hit the sky in late 2023.

A Twitter user going by the name Aeroconcepts by Alaqmar, has now imagined the iconic Boeing 747 jumbojet wearing the new Air India livery. For the uninitiated, Air India was the only Indian airline to operate a Boeing 747, until the ageing aircraft was replaced with the Boeing 777.

The Boeing 747 has been the most iconic plane of all time, thanks to its massive size, double decker cabin and iconic humped design, which became synonymous with big planes. Boeing stopped the production of the 747 jumbo to make way for more modern and efficient 777 plane and the last plane was delivered to Atlas Air, a cargo airline.

As seen in the picture, the Boeing 747-400 can be seen wearing the new livery with a triple coloured tail in Chakara design, red coloured underbelly with golden frame and new Air India logo written in Air India font sitting between the two decks.

For reference, this is just a digital imagination of the aircraft as Air India doesn't operate Boeing 747 anymore on any route. Moreover, Air India will induct Airbus A350 in the fleet soon, which will be the first ever widebody plane for the airline apart from the Boeing planes.
Heavy rain and thunderstorm in parts of Germany caused flooding at the Frankfurt International Airport, the country's busiest and a major European hub, authorities said Thursday. Images and videos shared on social media websites revealed waterlogging on the apron of the airport, with many Lufthansa planes parked. The flooding led to dozens of flight cancellations at Frankfurt Airport, reported AP.

The airport said large quantities of water accumulated on the tarmac Wednesday evening and ground handling was suspended for more than two hours, German news agency dpa reported. Downpours in parts of southwestern and central Germany led to flooded basements and streets.

The airport website showed about 70 flights were cancelled by 11 pm, when flying is ordinarily halted for the night, while 23 flights headed for Frankfurt were diverted to other airports.



A passenger travelling from Macedonia To Barcelona tol Reuters, "There was a storm, a thunderstorm, so the flights were cancelled and we had to take a taxi to a hotel and we slept overnight. And now the flight that was supposed to be this morning is also cancelled. So now we're in line to find the new flight, hopefully today."
Southwest Airlines plane flying in the skies above Houston abruptly burst into flames forcing the aircraft to make an emergency landing. The incident occurred while the American carrier was on its way from Houston to Cancun in Mexico. However, the aircraft returned to Hobby Airport after a mechanical issue with the engine of the aircraft a while after the plane took off. As per NBC's report, the aircraft landed safely after the incident and was taken for review.

Addressing the incident, the airline said in a statement, "A different aircraft continued the flight to Cancun last evening, and we appreciate our Customers patience and support." The problem with the engine of the aircraft was caught on camera and was shared on social media. The video shows the right engine of the aircraft spitting flames. The incident occurred with a Boeing 737 narrow-body aircraft used for short routes.

Also read: Flooding At Frankfurt Airport Due To Heavy Rain, Flights Cancellation Leaves Passengers Stranded



NBC quotes an eyewitness on the Cancun-bound flight saying, "I noticed big black plumes of smoke coming out the right engine and then it started shooting really big fireballs out and the plane was shifting back and forth, side to side, pretty heavily."

Southwest Airlines plane heading from Houston to Cancun catches fire mid air. pic.twitter.com/GAtFXXPcbO  Ronald John (@rontech777) August 17, 2023

He added, "I was thinking this plane may crash. If that engine just completely explodes and sends shrapnel everywhere, the plane is going to fizzle out and hit the ground."
'Cream Powdera' , a song by Mashakbeen Studios, a leading music production company from Uttarakhand has crossed 50 million views on YouTube. The song, which was released in 2022, has been praised for its catchy tune, beautiful lyrics, and powerful message.

This song features Shweta Mahara and Pannu Gusain, two of the most popular actors in the Kumaoni music industry. They have starred in a number of hit songs, including Cream Powdera.

Shweta Mahara is a talented actor and dancer. She is known for her powerful performances and her graceful moves. Pannu Gusain is a versatile actor who can play a variety of roles. He is known for his comedic timing and his ability to connect with audiences.

Kamal Joshi is the co-founder and producer at Mashakbeen Studios, He is known for his innovative approach to music production and his commitment to promoting the culture and heritage of Uttarakhand.

This song from Uttarakhands Kumaon region has achieved a remarkable feat by amassing over 50 million views on YouTube in just twelve months since its release. This makes it the fastest Kumaoni song from Uttarakhand to reach this remarkable viewership count, a testament to the power of traditional folk music to transcend time and space. Cream Powdera joins the league of songs like Thal Ki Bazar and Phwaan Bagha Re that have also achieved more than 50 million views. These songs have captured the essence of Uttarakhand's cultural heritage and resonated with audiences of diverse backgrounds.

The song, sung by Rakesh Khanwal and Maya Upadhyay, celebrates the beauty of the state's natural landscape and the strength of its women. The song is sung from the perspective of a woman who is proud of her culture and heritage.

The song's success is a welcome sign for the Kumaoni folk music scene. It shows that there is still a strong appetite for traditional folk music among audiences all over the world. It also shows that traditional folk music can be just as popular as modern music.

The success of Cream Powder is a testament to the hard work and talent of the artists involved in its creation. It is also a testament to the power of traditional folk music to connect with people on a deep level. The song's message of pride in one's culture is sure to resonate with audiences for years to come.

The song has been a huge hit with audiences all over India. It has been featured on multiple music charts and has been praised by critics for its authenticity and originality. The song's success is a testament to the talent of Mashakbeen Studios and its founder, Suresh Joshi.
Bose Corporation Success Story: Given that the systems are incredibly expensive and beyond the means of the common individual, can you imagine how reluctant you must be to enter the posh Bose Audio store on Park Street? Perhaps you were hoping to get these audio systems that adhere to international standards from an electronics store in Singapore or a shopping center in Dubai. Amar Gopal Bose, a well-known Bengali scientist, inventor, academic, and businessman, is the brains behind these world-class audio systems. Did you know? He founded the Bose Corporation and completely changed how speakers and audio gear were made.

Amar Gopal Bose was an American businessman, engineer, and academic best known for founding the Bose Corporation, which is noted for its top-notch audio gear and innovative sound technology research. His success is a credit to his original ideas, perseverance, and passion for providing top-notch audio experiences. The illustrious Amar Bose founded the Bose Corporation, a business whose speaker systems are unmatched globally in practically every category.

Early Years And Education

Amar Bose was born on November 2, 1929, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His parents were immigrants from India. In order to escape persecution by the British, his father, Noni Gopal Bose, was a well-known freedom fighter from Bengal who sought asylum in the US. Bose showed an early interest in engineering and music. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1951. He later pursued a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from MIT. Bose had taken a Boy Scout trip when he was 10 years old, and one of his classmates had brought hobby radio communication equipment. They began conversing after driving a few antennae into the ground. Bose became accustomed to the setup.

Disappointment Turned To Inspiration

Bose's interest in audio technology was sparked by a disappointing experience with a new stereo system he purchased in 1956. This experience led him to explore the limitations of existing speaker technology and inspired him to find ways to improve sound quality. In the early 1960s, Bose began conducting research on sound and acoustics at MIT. He developed innovative theories on speaker design and psychoacoustics (the study of how people perceive sound). His research led to the development of new speaker technologies that aimed to replicate the sound of live music and create a more natural listening experience.

Birth Of Bose Corporation

In 1964, Bose founded Bose Corporation with a focus on research and product development. The company's first major product was the Bose 901 Direct/Reflecting speaker system, introduced in 1968. This system used a unique design that reflected sound off walls to create a more spacious and immersive audio experience. Amar Bose was known for his unconventional approach to business. He refused to take Bose Corporation public and maintained control of the company, allowing him to prioritize innovation and product quality over short-term financial gains. Over the years, Bose Corporation introduced numerous groundbreaking technologies, including noise-canceling headphones, waveguide speaker technology, and innovative car audio systems. These innovations solidified the company's reputation for high-quality audio products.

Amar Bose Legacy

Amar Bose's contributions to audio technology extended beyond product development. He was a dedicated educator, teaching at MIT for over 45 years and inspiring generations of engineers. His research and patents continue to influence the audio industry. In 2011, Bose donated a majority of the company's stock to MIT, creating the Bose Institute for Advanced Studies. He believed that this would enable the institute to pursue long-term research goals without the pressure of short-term financial returns.

Amar Gopal Bose's success story highlights the power of innovative thinking, dedication to quality, and a commitment to solving real-world problems. His influence on the audio industry and his contributions to education and research continue to be felt today. Bose passed away on July 12, 2013, leaving behind a legacy of technological innovation and a lasting impact on the world of sound.
New Delhi: If you are looking to establish your own business and you don't have fund crunch, there is a lucrative venture that you could think about. As and when the opportunity arises, you can apply for securing position as an LPG distributor in your region.

Oil marketing companies (OMCs) --IndianOil, HPC, and BPC, establish LAPG distributors at designated sites after conducting feasibility studies performed by their field teams. When a suitable space is deemed viable and also fits well with the overall marketing strategy, the OMCs release a newspaper advertisement.

This announcement is made officially to call for applications from eligible individuals who aspire to become LPG distributors.



Applicants who are both interested and eligible are required to submit their applications as per the existing guidelines that are the key selection process for LPG distributors. Although each eligible individual has the opportunity to apply for LPG distribution at a single location in response to the published advertisement, the final selection of LPG distributors takes place through a randomized draw among all the qualified applicants.

Direct Website To Check LPG Dealership/LPG Agency Requirements

For LPG godowns / LPG godowns, detailed guidelines on land requirements, infrastructure requirements, details of selection process as well as necessary guidelines related to godowns, showrooms, home delivery of cylinders etc. are available at www.lpgvitarakchayan.in

How To Apply For LPG Dealership/LPG Agency

Applicants can apply under two categories --for urban and rural areas. Interested individuals apply online via www.lpgvitarakchayan.in. A portal 'LPG Distributor Selection' has been created in. Aspiring candidates are required to complete a registration on the portal. They will have to furnish the necessary information through the online application form and pay the application fee to the respective Oil Marketing Company (OMC) using the available online payment options prior to the deadline indicated in the advertisement.

Meanwhile, to apply for inaccessible regional circles (DKV) locations, the application process is currently on manual mode. The application for this has to be submitted physically in OMCs regional offices, whose contact details would be given in the advertisement.

Documents Required To Apply For LPG Dealership/LPG Agency

Applicants need not provide any certificates or affidavits during the initial application phase. Only a soft copy of his photograph and a soft copy of the signature are required to be uploaded.

(Disclaimer: This article is for sole information purpose. The calculator is also mostly based on assumptive figures to give an example of certain type. The article does not intend to give any financial advice of any sorts. For initiating any venture, you must do your own due diligence and market research.)
Colonel Harland Sanders Success Story: Do you encounter disappointment or rejection frequently? Colonel Harland Sanders, the man who founded Kentucky Fried Chicken, did. However, he improved the world in addition to simply making lemonade out of his problems. A notable example of persistence and determination in the face of setbacks and failures is Colonel Harland Sanders, the inventor of KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken).

Despite the fact that his face has been nearly ubiquitous since KFC's success, the majority of people don't know much about the man himself. Many of the things you may have heard about him, such as that he attempted suicide after a string of business failures, that he allegedly tried to kidnap his own daughter, and that he eventually retired as a billionaire. The real narrative, however, is a great deal more compelling, fulfilling, and heartbreaking. Many businesspeople and individuals who are attempting to accomplish their goals find encouragement in his success story.

Sanders: Series Of Failures

Sanders' father died when he was six years old, leaving Sanders to take care of his siblings and cook. He left home and quit school in the seventh grade to work as a farmhand. He misrepresented his age to join the American Army at the age of 16. A year later, after receiving an honorable discharge, he was engaged as a laborer by the railroad. But he lost his job because of a confrontation with a coworker. He studied law while working for the railroad, but his legal career was destroyed when he got into another altercation. Sanders was compelled to return to living with his mother and find work as a life insurance salesman. And what's this? He was let loose for disobedience. By the time Sanders was 17 years old, he had been fired from four separate jobs including a fireman, lawyer, and salesperson. However, this man resisted giving up.

KFC: Short-Time Success

He labored at numerous jobs for many years without finding success. Due to these setbacks, Sanders contemplated suicide. He was considering it when he realized he was talented in one area: cooking! He therefore made the decision to open a store. Customers quickly became enamoured with the menus of Sanders, who began selling fried chicken with his own special sauce in his first KFC restaurant, which he built at a petrol station in Corbin, close to Tennessee. In order to better serve his clients, he erected a motel across from the petrol station. Sanders received the moniker "Colonel" from the Kentucky governor, and in little time at all, word of his popularity spread throughout the state.

KFC Chicken: Rejected 1008 Times

Colonel Sanders' success did not last for very long. Sanders business collapsed because the road it servedwhich was used by everyonebecame impassable. As his clientele declined, Sanders eventually had to liquidate everything to pay his obligations. He was broke at age 66, but he wasn't going to give up! Sanders searched for a trader to buy his hens because he just had his pension left. Sanders visited the 1009th restaurant after being turned down by the other 1008 establishments in America. He was successful in having the eatery accept his offer. He had finally identified the ideal opening for sharing his recipe with clients. Throughout his journey, Sanders refined his recipe and cooking technique. He modified his original recipe to include 11 herbs and spices, creating the distinct flavor that would later become KFC's signature taste.

KFC Chicken: Grand Success

Customers once again flocked to Sanders' fried chicken, for which a fee was paid per chicken sold. Sanders franchised hundreds of restaurants nationwide as demand for his food kept rising. His life's prosperous days had finally started, if somewhat tardily. With KFC becoming a household name, Colonel Sanders agreed to sell his business to John Brown Jr. for $2 million if he agreed to continue serving as the brand's spokesperson. As the company's official spokesperson, he would get an annual salary of $250,000. With more than 19,000 locations serving meals in 115 countries, KFC, the legacy of Colonel Sanders, who passed away at age 90, is currently one of the most well-known fast-food businesses in the world.

Harland Sanders' journey from experiencing numerous setbacks and disappointments to developing one of the most recognizable fast-food companies in the world is a monument to his tenacity, adaptability, and undying faith in his recipes. His experience serves as a reminder that success frequently necessitates overcoming challenges and disappointments along the way.
Sabeer Bhatia Success Story: Nobody could have predicted that an unassuming young man from an upper-middle-class household in India would become a global figure and discover a revolutionary web browser. Sabeer Bhatia, a man with a straightforward understanding of human needs that may be met by technology, is the creator of Hotmail, the second-largest email service provider that has taken the world by storm. Sabeer had a wider perspective than the majority of engineering graduates who travel to the United States with the sole intention of settling down with a job. He pondered how useful technology may be in people's daily lives. In his time as a hardware engineer at Apple Inc., Sabeer became familiar with the idea behind the creation of the new world. He was astounded by how much a web browser could do to assist, allowing users to use the internet differently.

Sabeer Bhatia: Worldwide Phenomenon

In Chandigarh, one of the best planned cities on the subcontinent, Sabeer was raised in an upper middle-class family. He transferred from BITS to Stanford University after receiving his engineering degree to earn his master's there. In 1996, when the world was just beginning to adjust to the methods of virtual life, he and his colleague Jack Smith founded Hotmail as a result of this very concept. With more than 400 million verified email subscribers as of this writing, Hotmail has become a worldwide phenomenon. Despite Gmail's strong position as the global leader, many continue to rely on the Hotmail service.

Powerhouse Of Fresh Ideas

Simply put, Bhatia did not declare it to be over. He had other technological ambitions and concepts that might alter how people saw internet use. Until December 1997, Microsoft paid an estimated $400 million to acquire Hotmail after realizing its potential in less than a year. Under Microsoft's control, the service grew further and significantly contributed to the acceptance of web-based email. He carried on working for Microsoft and later launched Arzoo, Inc. The globe has never seen anything like this before in terms of an e-commerce company. Bhatia then founded another free texting service, JaxtrSMS. Similar to how Hotmail altered how people viewed emails, the messaging service's first goal was to transform the way SMS operated. But the business venture wasn't particularly successful.

Due to his success with Hotmail, Sabeer Bhatia is known as a pioneer in the field of technology and the internet. Sabeer is said to have a net worth of Rs 2,500 crore, with his work as an engineer being the primary source of that wealth. In an ongoing effort to create ground-breaking innovations, Sabeer keeps working on fresher concepts. Even with all of his fame and success, Sabeer Bhatia is one of the Indian names that tops the global podium for unconventional performers. Younger engineers still aim to become the next Sabeer Bhatia.
NEW DELHI: In a major development ahead of a scheduled meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Africa, armies of India and China are holding Major General-level talks at two locations including Daulat Beg Oldie and Chushul to resolve the ongoing standoff in Eastern Ladakh.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit South Africa's Johannesburg from August 22-24 to attend the 15th BRICS Summit at the invitation of South African President Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa. Defence sources told ANI that the Indian side was represented at the talks at two locations by Trishul Division Commander Major General PK Mishra and Uniform Force Commander Major General Hariharan.

The talks are following up the outcome of the 19th round of Corps Commander-level talks held between the two sides on August 13-14 at the Chushul Moldo border meeting point. The sources said the two sides are discussing the points about resolving the legacy issues including the resumption of patrolling in the Depsang plains and the issue of Chinese military presence at the CNN junction.



The talks are being held to resolve the issues at Depsang plains and CNN Junction: Defence Sources said. Sources said that if the talks make headway at the Major General level, the two sides might hold another round of Corps Commander-level talks to finalise the outcomes. The talks, till the writing of this report, were still on and the two sides were discussing issues threadbare. India and China have been in a stand-off situation for the last three years and relations at all levels have deteriorated due to the tensions on borders.

India and China have deployed over 50,000 troops in the Eastern Ladakh sector across the Line of Actual Control. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval had held extensive talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and after that, only the 19th round of corps commander talks were held after a four-month gap.
YANGON, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese embassy in Myanmar donated food items to Mary Chapman School for the Deaf in Yangon on Thursday, according to a statement released by the embassy.

During the event, Zheng Zhihong, minister counsellor of the Chinese embassy in Myanmar, presented the food items, and Daw Khin Thida Nyunt, principal of the school, expressed thanks to the Chinese embassy for the donation.

After the donation, Zheng toured the classrooms with the principal and expressed his best wishes for the children to grow up healthy and strong.

Mary Chapman School for the Deaf was founded in 1920, and this is the fifth time the embassy has donated to this school. 
Shimla: A sombre hush blankets the once-vibrant residence of the Sharma family in the upscale Summer Hill enclave of Shimla. The heart-wrenching incident unfolded as the Shiv Bawadi temple, crumbled into devastation, claiming the lives of seven members of the Sharma family, including three innocent children. This heart-rending calamity occurred during a cloudburst on Monday, which tragically claimed a toll of at least 12 lives.

Pawan Sharma, a 60-year-old proprietor of Aman Electrics in the bustling Summer Hill market, along with his wife Santosh Sharma, 57, their son Aman Sharma, 32, daughter-in-law Archna Sharma, 27, and their three beloved granddaughters aged between 12 and 1.5 years were gathered at the temple for a religious ceremony (havan) when the disaster struck, obliterating the structure.

The aftermath has been a poignant race against time as rescue teams, including the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), work tirelessly to recover the bodies. While four of the family members have been recovered, Pawan Sharma, Archna Sharma, and a 5-year-old child remain missing. Regrettably, the chances of finding survivors are fading as each moment passes.



The surviving members of the family are gripped by a profound sense of longing and sorrow. They yearn for the recovery of their loved ones' remains, aspiring to provide them with a dignified farewell, a final tribute to their lives, including those of the tender children.

Yet, two bodies remain elusive, adding to the grief that pervades the family's silent home. Their faces bear the unmistakable weight of the colossal tragedy they have endured. A woman within the family tearfully confided, "This pain will forever remain etched in my heart."

In the midst of the tragedy, Pawan's younger sister, who was absent from Shimla, received a harrowing phone call from a family member. This brief conversation painted a grim picture of the incident. To compound matters, access to Shimla had been hindered by road closures, intensifying the sense of isolation and despair.

The catastrophe extended beyond the Sharma family, as another landslide struck Fagli, claiming the lives of five individuals on the same fateful day. Amid the ruins of the Shiv Bawadi temple, amid the frantic searches, Karandeep Sharma, Pawan Sharmas nephew and an IT professional based in Chandigarh, is among the desperate souls yearning for a glimpse of their loved ones.

The tragic toll continues to mount, with a total of 12 bodies recovered by the dedicated efforts of the SDRF and Army rescue teams, who were deployed with unwavering swiftness in the aftermath of the disaster.

Ilma Afroz, SDRF SP (Shimla), emphasized, "Our mission to rescue all those affected will persist relentlessly. Today, we have bolstered our manpower in this mission of hope and recovery."

In the broader context of monsoon-related calamities in Himachal Pradesh, the death toll has surpassed 60, underscoring the profound impact of nature's wrath. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu acknowledged the extensive toll on the state, both in terms of environmental damage and property loss, which is estimated at a staggering Rs 10,000 crore.

The severity of the situation further unfolded as over 800 individuals were evacuated from low-lying regions near Pong Dam in Kangra, where rising water levels in the reservoir rendered villages inaccessible.

In the wake of this monumental tragedy, Shimla and its surrounding areas stand united in grief, struggling to reconcile the loss of cherished lives amidst the fury of nature's forces.
New Delhi: In big trouble for former Bihar chief minister and RJD president Lalu Prasad Yadav, the Central Bureau of Investigation has challenged in the Supreme Court the bail given to him in cases linked to the alleged fodder scam. The top court is set to take up the CBI's petition on August 25. The Rashtriya Janata Dal chief had been granted bail by the Jharkhand High Court in at least four cases and all the orders have been challenged by the CBI. He was convicted in the cases and his appeals are pending in various courts.

Supreme Court agrees to list a plea of CBI challenging the bail granted by Jharkhand High Court to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Lalu Prasad Yadav in the fodder scam case



CBI mentions before the Supreme Court seeking urgent listing of its plea to cancel the bail of Lalu  ANI (@ANI) August 18, 2023

The CBI has now challenged the orders of the Jharkhand High Court granting bail to RJD president Lalu Prasad in four cases relating to multi-crore fodder scam (Dumka, Chaibasa, Doranda, Deogarh treasuries). The RJD chief was convicted in the cases and his appeals are pending in various courts. A special CBI court had held Lalu Prasad Yadav guilty in the Doranda treasury case related to the fodder scam in February this year.

The fodder scam refers to illegal withdrawals worth Rs 950 crore from various government treasuries for fictitious expenditure on fodder and other requirements for cattle during Lalu Prasad Yadav's term as Bihar chief minister. Of the 99 accused in the Doranda treasury case, 24 were acquitted while three-year jail terms were pronounced for 46 accused last week itself.

Lalu Prasad Yadav, 74, was earlier sentenced to 14 years in jail in four other cases related to Dumka, Deoghar and Chaibasa treasuries in Jharkhand.

Land-For-Job Scam

The RJD chief and his family are also under the scanner in the land-for-job scam. Earlier this month, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) attached assets over worth Rs 6 crore of many people linked to the former Bihar Chief Minister in connection with the case. The ED attached six immovable assets having a book value of Rs 6.02 crore belonging to Rabri Devi, Misha Bharti (daughter of Lalu Yadav), Vineet Yadav (husband of Hema Yadav who is the daughter of Lalu Yadav), Shiv Kumar Yadav (father-in-law of Hema Yadav).

The agency further said that it has also seized the assets of AB Exports Pvt Ltd and AK Infosystem Pvt Ltd., both companies owned and controlled by family members of Lalu Prasad Yadav under the provisions of PMLA, 2002 in the railway job for land scam. The ED started an investigation under PMLA, 2002 based on FIR registered by the CBI against the Ex-Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, Rabri Devi and others.

The investigation by ED revealed that the family members of candidates gifted/sold land (at cheap rates/lesser than the circle rate) to family members of Lalu Yadav and associated companies in lieu of a job which was given in a malafide manner with undue haste and in violation of extant law and procedure.

This criminal conspiracy to abuse his official position for the sake of seeking bribes led to the accretion of the land parcels by his family members at Mahuabagh (Danapur) and Bihta, Patna, in such a manner so as to consolidate the land holdings already in their possession.

Earlier in this case, searches were also conducted at 24 locations by ED at various places in Delhi NCR, Patna, Mumbai and Ranchi including residences of Hema Yadav, Ragini Lalu, Chanda Yadav and residential and commercial premises of Amit Katyal, Navdeep Sardana, Abu Dojana and Suman Nayak.

Searches resulted in the recovery of unaccounted cash of Rs 1 crore, foreign currency including USD 1900, 540 gms gold bullion and more than 1.5 kg of gold jewellery (worth Rs 1.25 Crore approximately) and several other incriminating documents indicating illegal accretion of the huge land bank.

Investigation under PMLA revealed that Rabri Devi and Hema Yadav sold four land parcels illegally acquired from appointees in railway to Meridian Construction India Ltd., a company related to Syed Abu Dojana, Ex-MLA of RJD and the proceeds of crime so obtained by Rabri Devi and Hema Yadav were further transferred through a maze of transactions to AB Exports Pvt Ltd and Bhagirathi Tubes respectively.

A total of 6 immovable properties situated at New Delhi, Ghaziabad and Patna being proceeds of crime, have been provisionally attached under PMLA, 2002. The properties attached include the residential premise situated at D-1088, New Friends Colony, New Delhi owned by AB Exports Pvt Ltd. Two land parcels situated at Mahuabagh (Danapur), Patna of which one each is owned by Rabri Devi and AK Infosystems Pvt Ltd have also been attached. Further, one land parcel owned by Misa Bharti has been attached at Bihta, Patna, the agency said in a statement.

Apart from this, a portion of two industrial plots, one plot each registered in the names of Vineet Yadav, husband of Hema Yadav and her father-in-law, situated in Ghaziabad have also been provisionally attached.

(With Agency Inputs)
Jammu: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is carrying out raids in the Bathindi area of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday. However, there was no official word on whether the raids were in connection with an ongoing investigation at the time of filing this report. Meanwhile, the Sopore Police in Jammu and Kashmir arrested two OGWS (Over Ground Workers) of the proscribed Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). Following the arrest, cartridges and grenades were also recovered from the possession of the terror associates.

Confirming the development, news agency ANI said, "Sopore Police arrested two LeT (Lashkar-e-Toiba) OGWS (Over Ground Workers). 8 rounds of pistols & grenades were recovered from their possession. An FIR has been registered & investigation is underway."





Jammu & Kashmir | Sopore Police arrested two LeT (Lashkar-e-Toiba) OGWS (Over Ground Workers). 8 rounds of pistols & grenades were recovered from their possession. An FIR has been registered & investigation is underway: Sopore Police pic.twitter.com/nHqJyzHRty  ANI (@ANI) August 18, 2023

An FIR was registered in connection with the arrests and an investigation is underway, Sopore Police informed on Friday.
New Delhi: Hackers targeted over 1,000 Indian websites as part of their Independence Day campaign under the hashtag OpIndia, cyber-security researchers revealed on Friday. The malicious campaign, orchestrated by hacktivist groups from various countries, utilized tactics such as DDoS attacks, defacement attacks, and user account takeovers, according to the CloudSEK team.

The hacktivist campaign on Independence Day, driven by political and religious motives, focused on vulnerable websites with lower security measures and digital infrastructure across sectors including government, education, BFSI (banking, financial services, and insurance), and small businesses. (Also Read: Heaviest RAM EVER! Realme GT 5 Confirmed To Feature 24GB RAM And 240W Fast Charging)

Government and BFSI sectors bore the brunt of DDoS attacks, whereas education and small businesses suffered bulk defacement attacks and access panel takeovers, the report noted. (Also Read: India's Cities Ranked By Cost Of Living: Check The Most Expensive And Best Pocket-Friendly Cities To Live In)

"Despite their current limitations, these groups could become a significant threat to countries in the near future. The rise in collaboration and easy access to attack tools and data, combined with potential support from state-sponsored hackers, might amplify their impact," said Abhinav Pandey, cyber threat researcher, CloudSEK

The cyber-security firm said it informed all the organizations and companies targeted by hacktivists.

While hacktivist groups from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and other nations directed their efforts toward Indian websites, CloudSEK's research indicates that the claims of DDoS attacks and user account takeovers have been exaggerated for attention and fame.

"These claims, often made in their communication channels, have not been fully verified by CloudSEK researchers. However, the tactics and tools used by the hacktivist groups closely align with the findings presented in CloudSEK's Hacktivism Whitepaper," the company said.

Responding to attacks on Indian infrastructure, Indian factions employed similar strategies, targeting websites associated with Bangladesh's air force, military, army, and national revenue board, as well as a range of Pakistani ministries and government entities.

The cyber-security agency also revealed a significant spike in hacktivist attacks during the first quarter of 2023 with India emerging as the primary focus of attacks, closely followed by Israel, Poland, Australia, and Pakistan.
New Delhi: Despite the release of two big films Gadar 2 and OMG 2, the craze among the fans for Karan Johars recently released romantic drama film Rocky aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani does not seem to end. The film has now entered the Rs 300 crore club globally.

The film marks KJos return to the directors chair after seven years. On Friday, Dharma Productions shared the news and wrote, A prem kahaani that is winning hearts ACROSS THE GLOBE!. #RockyAurRaniKiiPremKahaani, a film by Karan Johar in his 25th anniversary year, in cinemas NOW!

The film starring Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Dharmendra, Jaya Bachchan and Shabana Azmi in lead roles was released on July 28.

Soon after the production house shared the news, fans flooded the comment section with red hearts and fire emoticons. Wooow congratulations to the entire team of Rocky aur Rani ki Prem Kahaani, a fan commented. Another fan wrote, Well deserved. More Crores to go, a fan wrote.

The film marks second collaboration of Ranveer and Alia after Gully Boy. In India the film has minted Rs 140 crore.

On Friday, Trade analyst Taran Adarsh shared the news on Instagram and wrote, #RockyAurRaniKiiPremKahaani remains STEADY in Week 3, standing firm against two mighty opponents [#Gadar2 and #OMG2] [Week 3] Fri 2.35 cr, Sat 3.70 cr, Sun 4 cr, Mon 2.65 cr, Tue 3.54 cr, Wed 1.60 cr, Thu 1.40 cr. Total:  140.02 cr. #India biz.

Meanwhile, Ranveer will be next seen in director Farhan Akhtars next directorial film Don 3 which will hit the theatres in 2025.

Whereas, Alia will be next seen in the film Jee Le Zaraa alongside Priyanka Chopra and Katrina Kaif.
New Delhi: Calcutta born Actress Kashish Rizwan who was previously seen in Jalsa is currently basking in accolades for playing young Jaya Bachchan aka Dhanlaxmi in Rock Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, helmed by Karan Johar.

The new talent gets candid about how she landed into the role and the kind of responses she's been getting.

Calling it a dream come true experience seeing herself on the big screen, Kashish shared, "I always manifested this but for the dream to actually turn into reality is such a special feeling. It feels like a blessing. I was extremely happy and it all happened in a day- the audition to the second round to the selection. I called up my eldest sister first. She told me I was meant for this."

Speaking about the kind of responses she's been receiving she tells, "Responses have been positive and I have only been receiving love so far. It really fills my heart with joy how people who you have never known roots for you. What struck with me the most though are people back from my school or those I have maybe just come across once or twice taking their time out and letting me know how they felt proud, enjoyed the performance and was surprised to see me in it. Also, the whole team of RRKPK gave me so much love. The big names I have only admired, them telling me the nicest things about my performance in the film feels like still a dream to me. Then, my family went to watch me on the big screen for the first time. My sister sent me a video of my parents reaction and I have saved that video for the rest of my life. They looked so happy and proud and for me nothing can beat how that feels to me. I have people writing to me in social media every day. People are loving the film and then to be a part of that is a blessing."

Sharing about how she landed into the role Kashish tells, "I got an audition call from Shanoo Maams team. They asked me on the call if Id be interested to audition for this part. The thought of working with karan sir excited me the most. I was at a friends place and I discussed it with them. It took me not long to figure I wanted to do it. I sent a self recorded video test of a script they shared. I remember I got a call back from the casting team only a few hours after that saying theyd like to see me perform to this other scene too for audition. The person who I was in touch with told me I was the only girl they wanted to take a second round audition for. The same evening I got a call saying that I have been locked for this and Karan sir seemed to have enjoyed my audition. It all happened in a day. It was a very last minute call and I had to fly to delhi only two days later to shoot for it!"

Talking about how she prepped to play Dhanlaxmi she mentions, "The evening that I got the audition call, I remember I instantly started looking up for young Jaya Bhaduri photos and watched her songs. I was in awe of the beauty she is! For audition I did my own winged liner and bindi how shed do it. Tried to look as close to the part as I could. However, on set when it came to perform, I as an actor love to do my homework but that being said, I prep for any part as my director likes me to and also keeping in mind what the scenes demand. This definitely was very relaxed, so I wanted to take it as it goes. It was a short and sweet part."

When quizzed if she met Jaya Bachchan before the shoot, she revealed, "I didnt get the chance to meet Jaya maam while we were shooting because we were of course shooting for two different timelines. My part was the flashback sequence in the film. I met her afterward at a wrap party we had where Karan sir introduced me to Maam. She turned out everything I imagined and I told her how I admired her and loved playing her!"
Lung cancer, a devastating and often fatal disease, is primarily attributed to a variety of lifestyle factors that significantly increase the risk of its development. This malignancy arises when abnormal cells proliferate uncontrollably within the lungs, impairing their function and potentially spreading to other parts of the body. While genetic predisposition and environmental exposures play a role, lifestyle choices have emerged as prominent contributors to the onset of lung cancer.

Lung cancer is a devastating disease that continues to be a leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Here, we will delve into the culprits behind lung cancer development, shedding light on the various risk factors that contribute to this deadly condition. Understanding these causes is essential for raising awareness, promoting prevention, and improving early detection strategies.

Dr Sajjan Rajpurohit, Senior Director, Medical Oncology  Max Hospital, Shalimar Bagh explains leading causes of lung cancer.



8 Leading Causes Of Lung Cancer

Use Of Tobacco/Smoking

Tobacco smoking remains the most significant risk factor for lung cancer, responsible for approximately 85 percent of all cases. We will explore the harmful substances present in tobacco smoke, such as carcinogens and toxic chemicals, that damage lung tissue and initiate cancerous changes. Additionally, we will discuss the increased risk associated with heavy smoking, prolonged smoking duration, and the dangers of secondhand smoke.

Also read: Healthy And Happy: 8 Ways In Which High-Intensity Workouts Can Yield Amazing Benefits For Beginners

A Workplace Hazard

Occupational exposure to asbestos is another significant cause of lung cancer. We will explore the industries with higher asbestos exposure risks and how proper safety measures, regulations, and asbestos removal procedures can mitigate this danger.

Air Pollution And Lung Cancer

Air pollution is a major concern in urban areas and can contribute to lung cancer development. We will examine the various air pollutants linked to lung cancer and discuss the importance of governmental regulations, public awareness campaigns, and individual actions in reducing exposure.

Familial Lung Cancer And Genetic Predisposition

While most cases of lung cancer are attributed to environmental factors, a small percentage is influenced by genetic predisposition. We will explore familial lung cancer cases and discuss the role of specific gene mutations, such as BRCA1, BRCA2, and others, in increasing the risk of lung cancer.

Understanding Secondhand Smoke

Secondhand smoke, also known as passive smoking, can be equally harmful to non-smokers, increasing their risk of lung cancer. We will delve into the composition of secondhand smoke and how it affects individuals' health, especially young children and those with pre-existing respiratory conditions.

E-Cigarettes And Vaping

The rise in popularity of e-cigarettes and vaping has raised concerns about their potential health risks, including lung cancer. We will examine the scientific evidence linking e-cigarette use to lung cancer and discuss ongoing research efforts to understand their long-term effects.

Airborne Pollutants And Nanoparticles

Advancements in technology have introduced new challenges, such as exposure to nanoparticles and other airborne pollutants, which may contribute to lung cancer development. We will explore the emerging research in this area and discuss the need for further investigation and regulation.

The Invisible Danger

Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that can seep into homes from the ground. We will explain how radon exposure increases the risk of lung cancer and discuss the importance of radon testing and mitigation measures to protect individuals from this invisible threat.

Dr Rajpurohit concludes, Lung cancer continues to be a formidable health challenge, but by unveiling the top causes, we can take significant strides toward prevention and early detection. Addressing tobacco smoking, environmental carcinogens, genetic factors, secondhand smoke, and emerging culprits requires a multifaceted approach involving public awareness, education, policy changes, and further research. By working together to combat these culprits, we can reduce the burden of lung cancer and improve the quality of life for individuals at risk and those affected by this devastating disease.
New Delhi: State governments should not be selective in granting remission to convicts and the opportunity to reform and reintegrate with society should be given to every prisoner, the Supreme Court Thursday told the Gujarat government which defended its decision of premature release of all 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gang-rape case during the 2002 riots.

The top court's observation came in response to the submission by Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the Gujarat government, that law says a chance must be given to even hardened criminals to reform themselves. The law officer submitted the crime committed by the 11 convicts was "heinous" but does not fall in the rarest of rare categories.

"Therefore, they deserve the chance of reformation. A person may have committed the offence...Something may have gone wrong in a particular moment. Later, he can always realise the consequences.



"This can largely be determined from their conduct in jail when released on parole, or furlough. All these show they have realised what they had done is wrong. The law is not that everyone should be punished perpetually. Chance should be given for reformation," Raju said.

Responding to the submission, a bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan wanted to know how far the law is being applied to other inmates in jail. "Why are our jails overcrowded? Why is the policy of remission being applied selectively? "Opportunity to reform and reintegrate must be given to every prisoner not only to a few prisoners. But how far is remission policy being implemented where the convicts have completed 14 years? Is it being applied in all cases?" the bench asked Raju.

The ASG replied that all states will have to answer this question and that the remission policy varies from state to state. Commenting on the remission policy of states, the bench said the question is whether the policy of premature release is being implemented uniformly in all cases in respect of all those who have completed 14 years and are eligible for it.

"On the other hand, we have cases like Rudul Shah. Even though there was an acquittal, he continued to remain in prison. Extreme cases, both this side and that side," the bench said. Rudul Shah was arrested for his wife's murder in 1953 and was in jail for many years, in spite of his acquittal by a sessions court on June 3, 1968. He was finally released in 1982.

The ASG submitted the opinion given by the CBI on remission of the sentence of the 11 convicts showing there was no application of mind. The CBI had said the offence committed was "heinous, grave and serious" and hence the convicts "cannot be released prematurely and no leniency may be given" to them.

Raju said, "They just narrate facts. Except for stating the offence was heinous, nothing is mentioned. The officer sitting in Mumbai has no knowledge of ground reality. The opinion of the local police superintendent is more useful than that of the CBI officer in this case.

"CBI's opinion has no application of mind. They have repeated the facts and said it's a heinous crime. What is the purpose of remission? Does committing a heinous crime debar you from getting its (remission's) benefit?" Raju said. The hearing in the case will resume on August 24.

At the earlier hearing, TMC MP Mahua Moitra had told the apex court that the gang-rape of Bilkis Bano and murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots were a "crime against humanity", and accused the Gujarat government of having failed to exercise its constitutional mandate of protecting the rights of women and children by granting remission to the 11 convicts in the "horrendous" case.

Besides the petition filed by Bilkis Bano contesting the remission granted to them, several other PILs including one by CPI(M) leader Subhashini Ali, independent journalist Revati Laul and former vice-chancellor of Lucknow University Roop Rekha Verma have challenged the remission. Moitra has also filed a PIL against the remission.

Bilkis Bano was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was gang-raped while fleeing the horror of the communal riots that broke out after the Godhra train-burning incident. Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members killed in the riots.
Varanasi: A Hindu outfit on the forefront of a legal battle on the Gyanvapi complex located next to Kashi Vishwanath temple has written an open letter advocating an out-of-court settlement of the dispute. The letter has come at a time when a scientific survey of the Gyanvapi complex is underway on the order of the Varanasi district court.

Jitendra Singh Bisen, chief of Vishwa Vedic Sanatan Sangh, has written an open letter inviting the Hindu and Muslim sides to hold talks to settle the Gyanvapi complex dispute with mutual consent. Bisen said that the letter has been issued on behalf of the Hindu side after the consent of Rakhi Singh, the main litigant in the case. "If this matter can be resolved by mutual consent, then nothing can be better than that," he added.

Bisen in his letter said some anti-social elements want to take advantage of this constitutional fight between Hindus and Muslims for their personal gains which can prove to be harmful for both, the country and the society.

In such a situation, it is the duty of all of us to set an example by settling this dispute peacefully through mutual dialogue, keeping in mind the safety and security of our country and society, he said.

"It is possible that a peaceful solution can be found outside the court in the above matter by mutual discussion. We welcome all of you to this dialogue with an open and pure heart," read the letter. Joint Secretary of Intezamia Masjid Committee, Mohammad Yasin said the committee has received the letter and it will be deliberated upon in a meeting.

"We have received the letter through the media. The letter will be presented in the committee's meeting. Whatever decision will be taken by the members of the committee will be valid," Yasin said.

Meanwhile, Hai Shankar Jain, the counsel of other Hindu litigants in the case, in a post on X, said, "I want to say clearly that Sanatan Dharmi will not compromise on an inch of Bholenath in Kashi, it is possible that Muslims should apologise and remove their illegal occupation."

Recently Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that the Muslim community should come forward to admit that "a historic mistake" had happened at the site of Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi and propose a "solution."

"If we call it a mosque, that will lead to a dispute. We should call it Gyanvapi. It is Gyanvapi. What is a Trishul doing inside the mosque?" Adityanath had asked in an interview with the press.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan today said that around 60 lakh people in the state will be receiving Rs 3,200 each to celebrate Onam. CM Vijayan said that the fund disbursement will be completed by August 23. Though CM Vijayan also slammed the Centre alleging suspension of funds since 2021. "Around 60 lakh people will receive Rs 3,200 each as a social welfare pension to celebrate Onam. Rs 1,762 Cr has been allocated, including Rs 212 Cr for the welfare board pension, despite the Union Govt's suspension of funds since 2021. Disbursement will be completed by August 23rd," said Vijayan.

Conversely, Kerala's Finance Minister, K.N. Balagopal, expressed that the state's financial condition is extremely dire. "Our financial position is really bad. The Centre has not only tied our hands, but also our fingers after they slashed funds, said Balagopal.

Around 60 lakh people will receive 3,200 each as a social welfare pension to celebrate Onam. 1,762 Cr has been allocated, including 212 Cr for the welfare board pension, despite the Union Govt's suspension of funds since 2021. Disbursement will be completed by August 23rd. pic.twitter.com/gyCyAv6FHd  Pinarayi Vijayan (@pinarayivijayan) August 18, 2023

The most significant festival for Keralites is Onam. It's during this period that the state government provides its largest payouts, encompassing advance salaries, bonuses, disbursement of pending social welfare pensions, and more. Kerala requires around Rs 19,000 crores to manage the upcoming Onam season, which is set to commence in just 10 days.

The biggest impediment is the manner in which the Centre has slashed our limit of borrowings, said Balagopal. Around Rs 40,000 crores of borrowings have been slashed, leaving Kerala, a consumer state left to tighten the belts to the maximum. Kerala is now preparing to borrow another Rs 2,000 crores in the coming days and after which it will be left with a mere Rs 2,021 remaining for the calendar year.

Kerala government has been criticising the Modi government ever since the revenue deficit grant given annually has been slashed drastically from Rs 19,000 crores to Rs 13,000 crores and this time it's a mere Rs 4,000 crores.

Besides financial stress, the state is also staring at the worst drought of the past few years as the state has recorded a 44 per cent deficit in seasonal rainfall. For the period June 1 to August 16, Kerala received only 877.2 mm of rainfall whereas normal rainfall figures recorded for the Southwest Monsoon in the state are 1,572.1 mm, according to the India Meteorological Department. This translates to a 44 per cent deficit this season. (With agency inputs)
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday adjourned the hearing of the bail plea filed by former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Umar Khalid in an Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) case related to the alleged conspiracy behind the North-East Delhi riots in February 2020. A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela M Trivedi adjourned the matter for two weeks.

This has to go to a non-miscellaneous day. List it after two weeks on a non-miscellaneous day, the bench said. Khalid had approached the top court challenging an October 2022 Delhi High Court verdict that had denied bail to him. Khalid, arrested by Delhi Police in September 2020, in the High Court had sought bail on grounds that he neither had any "criminal role" in the violence in the city's North-East area nor any "conspiratorial connect" with any other accused in the case.

The Delhi police had opposed the bail plea of Khalid. He had then approached the High Court challenging the dismissal of his bail application by the trial court in March 2022. He was charged with criminal conspiracy, rioting, unlawful assembly as well as several sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Besides Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, activist Khalid Saifi, JNU students Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita, Jamia Coordination Committee members Safoora Zargar, former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain and several others were booked under the stringent law in the case.



The violence had erupted during the protests against CAA and NRC and had left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.
Bengaluru: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday hailed Indias first 3D printed post office at Cambridge Layout, Bangalore, calling it a "testament to our nations innovation and progress." The Prime Minister, taking to X (formerly Twitter), said, "Every Indian would be proud to see Indias first 3D printed Post Office in Cambridge Layout, Bangalore. A testament to our nations innovation and progress, it also embodies the spirit of a self-sufficient India. Kudos to those who have worked hard to ensure the completion of the post office.

Every Indian would be proud to see India's first 3D printed Post Office at Cambridge Layout, Bengaluru. A testament to our nation's innovation and progress, it also embodies the spirit of a self-reliant India. Compliments to those who have worked hard in ensuring the Post pic.twitter.com/Y4TrW4nEhZ  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 18, 2023

India's 3D-Printed Post Office Building Unveiled In Bengaluru

The reactions from PM Modi came shortly after Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw inaugurated India's first 3D-printed post office building in Bengaluru. The 3D-printed post office building at Cambridge Layout in the city with a built-up area of 1,021 square feet will be functional following the inauguration, the Department of Posts said.

According to the postal officials, the construction of this post office building was carried out by construction company Larsen & Toubro Limited while IIT Madras provided technical guidance.

After the inauguration, Vaishnaw, who holds the Railways, Communications, Electronics and IT portfolios, said, "The spirit of development, the spirit of developing our own technology, the spirit of doing something which was considered impossible in the earlier times. That's the defining feature of these times."

Speaking about the unique building, Vaishnaw said this new construction technology was carried out through 3D-concrete printing technology, which is a fully automated building construction technology wherein a robotic printer deposits the concrete layer-by-layer as per the approved design and special grade concrete that hardens quickly is used to ensure bonding between the layers to print the structure.

The entire construction activity was completed in a period of 45 days as compared to about six to eight months taken by the conventional method. Cost and time savings make 3D-concrete printing technology a viable alternative to conventional building practices.

"Having a 3D-printed concrete building constructed on-site is a great initiative. This is a technology demonstrator. IIT Madras has done fabulous work on this. When this technology will become mainstream, we will see more such initiatives on taking this technology forward," Vaishnaw told reporters.

The Union Minister also added that nobody had ever thought that India would be developing its own 4G and 5G technology. "Nobody ever thought that India would manufacture its complex telecom equipment."
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday held former RJD MP Prabhunath Singh guilty in connection with a 1995 double murder case, reversing the acquittal decision rendered by the Patna High Court. Accused-respondent no.2 (Prabhunath Singh ) is thus convicted under Sections 302 and 307 IPC for the murders of Daroga Rai and Rajendra Rai and also for attempt to murder of injured Lalmuni Devi (mother of deceased Rajendra Rai), said a special bench comprising of Justices SK Kaul, Abhay S Oka and Vikram Nath.

The special bench ordered Bihar's Home Secretary and DGP (Director General of Police) to produce the RJD leader on September 01 before the apex court, when order as to the quantum of sentence will be pronounced. It said that there was sufficient evidence to show that Singh murdered Rajendra Rai and Daroga Rai near a polling booth in Bihar's Chhapra in 1995.

Fard Bayan of Rajendra Rai, which was later converted into an FIR, is admissible in evidence and is to be read as a dying declaration or his last statement, said the apex court. It was Prabhunath Singh, who had caused the injuries from his firearm weapon, which proved to be fatal for two and caused injury to the third, said the Supreme Court.



The top court in March this year had reserved its judgment on the appeal instituted by the brother of the deceased way back in 2012 against the order of the Patna High Court upholding acquittal by the trial court on the ground of lack of evidence. As per the FIR, Singh openly fired from his rifle on a group of people who did not vote for him while they were returning after casting their vote in the election in 1995.

Prabhunath Singh is currently serving life imprisonment in murder case of Ashok Singh.
Just as there are certain methods we accomplish certain things, such as making a specific meal. The process of putting on makeup also varies a lot. But, regardless, it is essential to establish the groundwork once and for all, and we can tweak it here and there as we choose. As a result, Mukan Jain, Brand Manager at MARS Cosmetics, discusses the proper order for applying makeup.

Step 1: Primer

If you ask experienced makeup artists for their best advice, most will tell you that the key to great makeup is to prep your skin properly. It helps that there's a primer out there for every type of skin and concern. So whether you're dealing with oily skin and want to control shine, or your skin is dry and needs more moisture, there's a primer designed for it. Primers not only make makeup stick better but also make it last longer. So, if you want your makeup to shine throughout the day, primer is your secret weapon.



Also read: Excessive Screen Time May Lead To Poor Reasoning Skills In Kids: Study

Step 2: Brows and Eyes

While this isn't a strict rule, there's a good reason to handle your eye makeup and eyebrows before you get into your complexion products. It's all about having a solid base to work from. Why? It gives you a safety net. You can fix fallout or mascara mishaps under your eyes without messing up your concealer or foundation, especially if you've gone all out on your eye look.

However, you're not locked into this order  you can totally switch it up and apply your eye makeup after your complexion products if that suits your style better. The key is to kick off with whatever is going to be the star of your look. If it's all about the eyes, dive into that first. If you're focusing on achieving flawless skin, start there. This way, you've got more flexibility to perfect that focal point before bringing in the other elements like lips and cheeks. It's all about making your final look come together seamlessly.

Step 3: Foundation

Exploring the world of foundations can be overwhelming. How do you find the right one for you? If you want a light, breathable finish, go for a tinted moisturizer or something with a dewy touch. If you're in the middle, a demi-matte works well. And if you need staying power, full-coverage, matte foundations are your go-to for all-day wear.

Remember, the purpose of the foundation is to create an even base for other makeup. To start, match the shade to your skin tone and desired finish. Test three similar shades on your chest to find the closest one  usually, the face is a bit lighter than the rest of your body due to regular washing.

To apply, use a Beauty Blender for a natural look or a good foundation brush for a smoother finish. Whichever tool you choose, blend the foundation before adding concealer.

Step 4: Concealer

First things first, figure out where your face needs a bit more love, then bring in the concealer. Concealers are thicker and meant to tackle stuff like pesky dark circles or stubborn blemishes. To get the best bang for your buck, dab on thin layers and gently tap them onto your skin.

If you're uncertain about where to apply concealer, the choice largely hinges on your desired outcomes. Opt for lighter shades to brighten the area beneath your eyes, darker patches of skin, or to accentuate the high points of your face. For covering blemishes and acne scars, select a shade that closely matches your skin tone or the shade of your foundation.

Step 5: Bronzer/Blush/Highlighter

Now that your base is in place, it's time to add some depth and dimension to your face. Here's the order: bronzer first, then blush, and finally highlighter. Start by using bronzer on your cheekbones and temples to give your face definition and a sun-kissed glow. This lays the foundation for sculpting. Next, swipe blush onto the apples of your cheeks, gently blending it outward for a natural flush. Just be careful about mixing different product textures, especially when it comes to foundation and blush pairings. Putting powder on top of the cream might make things look slightly blotchy. So, if your foundation is creamy, go for a creamy blush. Finally, add a touch of highlighter to the high points of your cheekbones using a smaller brush for a subtle shimmer.

Step 6: Lips

Lip liner comes first, serving as a boundary to prevent color feathering. For a longer-lasting liner, put it on dry lips before using any lip balm or color. Once your liner is done, apply some hydrating lip balm and then your chosen lip color, whether it's lipstick or lip gloss. If you're using both, put on the lipstick before the gloss.

Step 7: Translucent Powder and Setting Spray

To make sure your makeup stays fresh all day, finish up with some setting powder. This step will set your makeup by forming a barrier to soak up any oils your skin may produce during the day. Whether you're using a foundation powder or a translucent powder, be sure to apply it with a large brush and dust the product over your forehead, cheeks, chin, and nose  that's your T-zone. If you want an extra layer of protection, you can use a setting spray at this point.
New Delhi: Model-actress Poonam Pandey, who is known for her bold image and brazen photoshoots, recently stunned one and sundry with her new avatar. The controversial celebrity was spotted at the airport by paps in an unrecognisable look, wearing a long kurta, tights with a dupatta and pretty make-up.

As soon as the paps clicked her, Poonam Pandey posed for a bit and then rushed to get inside the airport entrance. Poonam Pandey was last seen in Kangana Ranaut's reality show Lock Upp season 1. Check out her airport video which got netizens talking:

While on the show also, she once mentioned facing domestic violence. Poonam had revealed that her estranged husband Sam Bombay once beat her so much that it caused her brain haemorrhage. She got married to her boyfriend Sam Bombay in a private ceremony in 2020.

Soon after the wedding news, she filed a complaint against him saying that he has molested, threatened and assaulted her. The incident reportedly took place in Canacona village in south Goa where Pandey was shooting for a film and later Sam was arrested.

Sam who was born and brought up in United Arab Emirates Dubai is an ad filmmaker and a producer.
KABUL, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Acting President of the Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS) Mawlawi Matiul Haq Khalis said that the charity strives to provide work opportunities for needy and vulnerable families across the country, state media reported Thursday.

According to the state-run news agency Bakhtar, at a meeting of the members of the provincial assembly council, Khalis said the ARCS's responsibility is to assist the needy and vulnerable families, and if the ARCS does not treat people like family members, then the organization will not function longer.

The official said that the ARCS had appointed representatives for people in every corner of the country to reach people in need, Bakhtar said.

The ARCS said Thursday on its website that it had sent 11 trucks of food aid to flood-affected families of the eastern Wardak Province, including flour, rice, beans, and tea, among others.

According to the latest United Nations Strategic Framework for Afghanistan, released in early July, there are 24.4 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan, and more than nine in 10 are living in poverty. 
BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- China on Friday evening issued yellow and blue alerts for mountain torrents in the country's southwestern and eastern regions.

From 8 p.m. Friday to 8 p.m. Saturday, mountain torrents are highly likely to occur in parts of Yunnan, according to the yellow alert issued by the Ministry of Water Resources and the China Meteorological Administration.

The two departments also issued a blue alert for possible mountain torrents in Zhejiang, Guangxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Tibet.

Local authorities are advised to strengthen real-time monitoring and flood warning procedures among measures to prepare for possible evacuation.

China has a four-tier weather-warning system, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow, and blue. 
Students line up in front of a medical bus waiting for examination at a school in De Aar Town, more than 750 kilometers northeast of Cape Town, South Africa, on Aug. 10, 2023. The medical conditions in De Aar town have been backward. In 2020, Longyuan South Africa Renewables of China Longyuan Power Group Corporation Limited purchased a professional medical bus equipped with equipments and medical staff to provide free service to local residents since then. (Xinhua/Dong Jianghui)

Students line up in front of a medical bus waiting for examination at a school in De Aar Town, more than 750 kilometers northeast of Cape Town, South Africa, on Aug. 10, 2023. The medical conditions in De Aar town have been backward. In 2020, Longyuan South Africa Renewables of China Longyuan Power Group Corporation Limited purchased a professional medical bus equipped with equipments and medical staff to provide free service to local residents since then. (Xinhua/Dong Jianghui)

A student is examined on a medical bus at a school in De Aar Town, more than 750 kilometers northeast of Cape Town, South Africa, on Aug. 10, 2023. The medical conditions in De Aar town have been backward. In 2020, Longyuan South Africa Renewables of China Longyuan Power Group Corporation Limited purchased a professional medical bus equipped with equipments and medical staff to provide free service to local residents since then. (Xinhua/Dong Jianghui)

Nurses work on a medical bus at a school in De Aar Town, more than 750 kilometers northeast of Cape Town, South Africa, on Aug. 10, 2023. The medical conditions in De Aar town have been backward. In 2020, Longyuan South Africa Renewables of China Longyuan Power Group Corporation Limited purchased a professional medical bus equipped with equipments and medical staff to provide free service to local residents since then. (Xinhua/Dong Jianghui)

Students walk past a medical bus at a school in De Aar Town, more than 750 kilometers northeast of Cape Town, South Africa, on Aug. 10, 2023. The medical conditions in De Aar town have been backward. In 2020, Longyuan South Africa Renewables of China Longyuan Power Group Corporation Limited purchased a professional medical bus equipped with equipments and medical staff to provide free service to local residents since then. (Xinhua/Dong Jianghui)

A nurse works on a medical bus at a school in De Aar Town, more than 750 kilometers northeast of Cape Town, South Africa, on Aug. 10, 2023. The medical conditions in De Aar town have been backward. In 2020, Longyuan South Africa Renewables of China Longyuan Power Group Corporation Limited purchased a professional medical bus equipped with equipments and medical staff to provide free service to local residents since then. (Xinhua/Dong Jianghui)

Students line up in front of a medical bus waiting for examination at a school in De Aar Town, more than 750 kilometers northeast of Cape Town, South Africa, on Aug. 10, 2023. The medical conditions in De Aar town have been backward. In 2020, Longyuan South Africa Renewables of China Longyuan Power Group Corporation Limited purchased a professional medical bus equipped with equipments and medical staff to provide free service to local residents since then. (Xinhua/Dong Jianghui)

Students pose for a photo in front of a medical bus at a school in De Aar Town, more than 750 kilometers northeast of Cape Town, South Africa, on Aug. 10, 2023. The medical conditions in De Aar town have been backward. In 2020, Longyuan South Africa Renewables of China Longyuan Power Group Corporation Limited purchased a professional medical bus equipped with equipments and medical staff to provide free service to local residents since then. (Xinhua/Dong Jianghui)

A student has her eyesight checked on a medical bus at a school in De Aar Town, more than 750 kilometers northeast of Cape Town, South Africa, on Aug. 10, 2023. The medical conditions in De Aar town have been backward. In 2020, Longyuan South Africa Renewables of China Longyuan Power Group Corporation Limited purchased a professional medical bus equipped with equipments and medical staff to provide free service to local residents since then. (Xinhua/Dong Jianghui)
This photo taken on Aug. 18, 2023 shows a damaged building in Moscow, Russia. Russian air defense forces have shot down a drone that attempted to fly over Russia's capital early Friday, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on his social media channel. (Xinhua/Cao Yang)

MOSCOW, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Russian air defense forces have shot down a drone that attempted to fly over Russia's capital early Friday, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on his social media channel.

The debris fell in the area of the Expocentre, causing partial damage to one of its pavilions, he said.

There were no casualties and the city's emergency services were working at the scene.

According to Russia's TASS news agency, a partial collapse of the outer wall occurred in one of the pavilions of the Expocentre, located on the Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment in Moscow. The collapsed area is about 30 square meters.

The nearby Vnukovo airport closed its airspace for planes, but reopened shortly after. According to the airport's information board, six departures and eight arrivals were delayed, of which five flights were rerouted to other airports. 

Vehicles are checked near a damaged building in Moscow, Russia, Aug. 18, 2023. Russian air defense forces have shot down a drone that attempted to fly over Russia's capital early Friday, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on his social media channel. (Xinhua/Cao Yang)
BAGHDAD, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi Ministry of Health said on Thursday that no infection has been recorded in the country with the new coronavirus variant EG.5, also known as Eris.

The ministry's spokesman, Saif Al-Badr, told the official Iraqi News Agency (INA) that "no infection with the new variant has been recorded in Iraq so far."

Al-Badr said that the ministry, in coordination with international organizations, continues to update its information, diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities, while highlighting the ability of the ministry's laboratories to diagnose the new variant and other variants.

He said that the symptoms of the new COVID-19 variant are similar to those of the previous ones, calling on elderly citizens and those with chronic diseases to adhere to health-protective measures, including wearing masks, washing hands frequently and physical distancing. 
SEOUL, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- A group of South Korean peace activists and ordinary people staged a candlelight vigil in central Seoul on Friday to express their stern opposition to an upcoming joint military exercise with the United States.

Holding a candle in one hand, each participant shouted slogans of "Stop war exercise," and "Stop hostilities and go to peace now."

Against the backdrop of placards that read "Stop South Korea-U.S.-Japan military cooperation and South Korea-U.S. joint military exercise that cause a war crisis," the peace activists called for peace on the Korean Peninsula.

"It's a war crisis once again," said Jung Jong-sung, a civic activist who participated in the rally organized by the Korea Peace Appeal which is composed of hundreds of civic and religious groups in South Korea, as well as dozens of overseas anti-war groups.

Jung urged the South Korean government to eliminate all possible factors triggering war or armed conflict, stressing that all hostile acts, which can bring about military tension and conflict, should be stopped immediately.

The Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise between South Korea and the United States, or a summer joint military exercise involving large-scale field maneuvers, was slated to be held on Aug. 21-31, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The annual military drill will reportedly involve about 30 field maneuvers, compared to 13 conducted last year.

"As always, it will be a military exercise considering the deployment of the strongest-ever weapons, including nuclear ones. So, I came here to prevent the escalation of military crisis on the Korean Peninsula which is already in a bad situation," Hwang Nam-sun, a peace activist at the rally, told Xinhua.

"The South Korea-U.S. military exercise is a war exercise for sure ... It's raising the crisis of war and evoking the fear of war among citizens," Hwang said. 
STOCKHOLM, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Thursday that the government had thwarted several terrorist attacks.

"We know that planned acts of terrorism have been hindered," Kristersson said at a press conference, hours after the Swedish Secret Service's decision to raise the terrorist threat level from "elevated" to "high".

Addressing the same press conference, Minister for Justice Gunnar Strommer said: "During spring, several people were arrested in Sweden and abroad suspected of having prepared attacks in Sweden."

Strommer did not comment further on these arrests, but Swedish Television (SVT) reported that there were at least two known cases.

In April, five men were arrested in coordinated dawn raids in three Swedish cities. Four of them were later detained on suspicion of planning attacks triggered by the burning of the Quran, SVT reported.

Also in April, two men suspected of planning an attack on a church in Sweden were arrested by police in Germany, SVT reported.

In one of the locations raided by German police, chemicals and fertilizers that can be used for manufacturing explosives were found, SVT said, citing German newspaper Die Welt.

Sweden and Denmark have been in the spotlight in recent weeks after several extremists repeatedly burned or desecrated the Quran in the two countries' capitals, sparking criticism from Muslim countries across the world. 
SUVA, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Japan's proposed action to dump radioactive wastewater into the Pacific Ocean is a violation of the human rights of all people of the Pacific, said the Fiji Non-government organization (NGO) Coalition on Human Rights in a recent statement.

"Despite this nuclear waste dumping being deemed safe by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the magnitude of the threat is massive to humans and marine life and the livelihood of millions of Asia and Pacific people who depend so much on our ocean resources, and with consequences for the global food system," the coalition stated.

Calling the report from IAEA "highly-politicized," the statement said it's "not an adequately independent assessment of the Fukushima plan."

The NGOs called on Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and development institutions and all Pacific people to exercise all international legal means possible to stop "this massive ecological injustice."

The coalition stands in solidarity with all other organizations and social movements calling for an immediate end to the Japanese dumping plan that directly violates the Rarotonga Treaty declaring the South Pacific as a nuclear-free zone, the statement said.

It added that the dumping plan also contradicts Japan's own obligation under the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Law of the Sea, directly violating Articles 192 and 195 and nearly all the articles in Part 12 which addresses the protection and preservation of the marine environment.

"We must make a stand and demand for redress by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea," the coalition said.

The NGOs also appealed to their Pacific neighbours to stand with them, urged the UN General Assembly (UNGA) to listen to their plight, and called on the support of other countries to demand an urgent UNGA resolution at the next General Assembly to stop this errant plan.

"This is the time for firm national and regional stances of Pacific governments, including our own in Fiji and on behalf of our people, to stop Japan from dumping Fukushima nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean," the Fiji NGO Coalition on Human Rights said.

According to media reports, Japan is considering discharging Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water into the sea in late August or early September. 
GAZA, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Dozens of charity campaigns have been launched in the Gaza Strip recently in a bid to pool aid for needy families in the besieged coastal enclave.

Organized by local merchants, shop owners, and affluent people, the campaigns extended a helping hand to the financially-strapped Gazans.

Rajab Naseer, a grocery shop owner in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun, decided to exempt dozens of his clients from paying their overdue debts, which amounted to more than 2,500 U.S. dollars.

"Such an amount of money will not greatly impact my business, but will definitely double the burden of the needy families, as most of them do not have permanent sources of income to support their daily expenses," the 50-year-old father of five told Xinhua.

Naseer added that "most of the families in Gaza are struggling to meet their daily needs, including food, clothes, electricity and water supply."

The middle-aged man, along with other shop owners, hopes the campaign could alleviate the psychological sufferings of locals mired in economic hardships.

Shaher Abu Odeh, a mobile phone shop owner, also exempted dozens of his customers from paying debts totaling 8,000 dollars.

"Because of the political instability, most of the local residents, either rich or poor, have been negatively affected economically or psychologically," the 43-year-old man told Xinhua, adding that he believed these charity campaigns would promote balance and solidarity between and within neighborhoods.

Mohammed al-Shorafa, a clothing businessman, not only relieved the debts of his customers but also provided 200 free school uniforms for local students in the upcoming school year.

He said it is sad to see some families chose not to send their children to school because of their inability to afford basic necessities such as uniforms and stationery.

Israel has imposed a tight siege on the Gaza Strip since the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) took control of the region in 2007. It also launches intermittent military operations against the coastal enclave, further worsening its dire economic situation.

According to statistics issued by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, about 45 percent of 2.3 million Gaza residents are unemployed, while about 80 percent of the population depends on aid provided by international organizations.

Tasaheel Abu Jazar has utterly lived on aid from the UN relief agency in Palestine to support her seven children.

"Life is not based on food only. There are other necessities we need, such as healthy and decent living conditions for our children," the 49-year-old woman lamented.

"Without the charity initiatives launched by merchants and philanthropists in Gaza, I would not have been able to send my children to school because I can't afford school items such as uniforms and stationery," she added.

Instead of receiving aid from others, Jazar stressed that her husband, the only breadwinner of the family, needs to find a job "to keep the children afloat."

Samir Abu Mudallala, a Gaza-based economist, praised the initiatives as a pivotal step to enhance community cohesion in Gaza Strip.

However, Abu Mudallala said these initiatives contributed little to solving the crisis in the Strip, highlighting the need to find real solutions to the problems of poverty, unemployment, and food insecurity. 
BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese mainland spokesperson on Friday voiced support for the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) in mulling over the suspension or partial suspension of tariff preferences for Taiwan products under the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) in accordance with rules.

According to preliminary results from a trade barrier investigation launched by the MOC, Taiwan's restrictions on products from the mainland did not comply with the requirements for advancing the normalization, institutionalization and liberation of economic ties across the Taiwan Strait, which were included in the ECFA, said Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, in response to a media inquiry.

The restrictions went against the ECFA provision of "gradually reducing or eliminating tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade in a substantial majority of goods between the two Parties," Zhu said.

The unilateral restrictions by Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority are suspected to have also violated WTO principles, including non-discrimination and the general elimination of quantitative restrictions, and damaged the interests of relevant industries and companies on the mainland as well as the interests of consumers in Taiwan, she said, citing the MOC preliminary results.

In June 2010, the mainland and Taiwan signed the cross-Strait ECFA based on the 1992 Consensus, which has produced concrete benefits for both sides, especially Taiwan companies and people, Zhu said.

Instead of taking measures to lift the trade restrictions against the mainland, the DPP authority, however, has done the opposite to make things even worse since taking office, for instance raising the number of prohibited import items from the mainland, she added. 
This photo taken on March 6, 2023 shows the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Futabacho, Futabagun of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. (Xinhua/Zhang Xiaoyu)

"Once released, there is no turning back. Talking about dilution with seawater is merely a pseudoscientific argument we've heard all too often," said a Japanese petitioner.

TOKYO, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Local residents in Japan on Thursday submitted a joint petition urging the Japanese government to retract its plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated wastewater into the ocean.

The petition, signed by 28,627 people, was handed to representatives of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry jointly by 17 organizations, including the non-governmental organization Friends of the Earth Japan and Citizens' Nuclear Information Center.

The petition campaign commenced in May 2020, collecting signatures through online platforms and mails.

The signatories are demanding that the Japanese government reconsider its plan of releasing radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea, and instead continue with on-land storage or explore alternative solutions.

Hit by a magnitude-9.0 earthquake and an ensuing tsunami on March 11, 2011, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant suffered core meltdowns that released radiation, resulting in a level-7 nuclear accident, the highest on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale.

The plant has been generating a massive amount of water tainted with radioactive substances from cooling down the nuclear fuel in the reactor buildings, which are now being stored in about 1,000 storage tanks.

Stored nuclear-contaminated water at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant contains not only tritium but various other radioactive substances, the cumulative quantities of which have not been publicly disclosed, said representatives of the petitioning organizations on Thursday.

They emphasized the concerns raised among domestic and international stakeholders, including those within the fishing industry.

In 2015, the Japanese government and the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, made an agreement with fisheries cooperative associations of both Fukushima prefecture and the nation that they will not proceed with any wastewater disposal "without the understanding of relevant parties."

However, the Japanese government announced in April 2021 its controversial plan to release diluted wastewater into the Pacific Ocean and stated in January this year that the discharge will start "in the spring or summer."

"Just like we can't casually dispose of any kind of waste in our lives, the waste produced by nuclear power plants, including nuclear-polluted water, should never be released into the ocean. Tokyo Electric Power Company should manage their own waste generated locally," a petitioner who goes by the online name of Kazuki Shibata said.

"Once released, there is no turning back. Talking about dilution with seawater is merely a pseudoscientific argument we've heard all too often," wrote another petitioner using the name Tsutomu Aihara.

Japanese media outlets widely predicted that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, after returning from his visit to the United States, will convene a cabinet meeting to determine the specific discharge date.

The start of the discharge process is widely believed to occur between the end of this month and early September.
BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- In reply to a letter from the faculty and students of the Confucius Institute at Durban University of Technology in South Africa, Chinese President Xi Jinping encouraged them to learn the Chinese language well and contribute to carrying forward the China-South Africa friendship and promoting friendly cooperation between the two countries.

In his letter, Xi said that he witnessed the establishment of the Confucius institute 10 years ago and was pleased to see that, through the joint efforts of both sides, the educational and cultural exchanges between the two countries have yielded fruitful results.

A multitude of South African youths have got a glimpse of China's history and culture, increased their career options, and realized their dreams by learning Chinese, he said.

Both important developing countries, China and South Africa have forged a special comradely fraternal friendship. Learning and understanding each other's language and culture contributes to facilitating mutual understanding and cultivating ever-lasting friendship between the people of the two countries, said the Chinese president.

While having a good command of the Chinese language, the teachers and students are welcome to visit China more often and have a deeper understanding of China, share a true, multi-dimensional and panoramic view of China with more friends, and strive to be envoys for inheriting and developing the friendship between the two countries, so as to contribute to promoting China-Africa friendship and cooperation and building a community with a shared future for mankind, Xi said.

During his visit to South Africa in March 2013, Xi witnessed the signing of an agreement on the joint establishment of the Confucius Institute at Durban University of Technology between China and South Africa.

Since its establishment 10 years ago, the institute has trained nearly 10,000 students. Fifty teachers and students of the institute have lately written a joint letter to Xi, sharing their experience, harvest and feelings in learning Chinese, thanking Xi and the Chinese government for providing more opportunities for African youths to pursue their dreams, and, with eager anticipation, looking forward to Xi's visit to South Africa again. 
A villager arranges the bed after returning home in Shaoqidi Village of Huanghuadian Township, Wuqing District, north China's Tianjin, Aug. 17, 2023. A total of 15,011 people, the last batch of those who were previously relocated from areas prone to flooding by the Yongding River, returned to their homes in 14 villages of Wuqing on Thursday. At present, the power, water, and gas supply have been restored in the villages, and the assessment and reconstruction of damaged facilities are underway in the local areas. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue)

Workers of State Grid Tianjin Electric Power Wuqing Company conduct equipment maintenance work in Shaoqidi Village of Huanghuadian Township, Wuqing District, north China's Tianjin, Aug. 17, 2023. A total of 15,011 people, the last batch of those who were previously relocated from areas prone to flooding by the Yongding River, returned to their homes in 14 villages of Wuqing on Thursday. At present, the power, water, and gas supply have been restored in the villages, and the assessment and reconstruction of damaged facilities are underway in the local areas. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue)

Villagers return home in Shaoqidi Village of Huanghuadian Township, Wuqing District, north China's Tianjin, Aug. 17, 2023. A total of 15,011 people, the last batch of those who were previously relocated from areas prone to flooding by the Yongding River, returned to their homes in 14 villages of Wuqing on Thursday. At present, the power, water, and gas supply have been restored in the villages, and the assessment and reconstruction of damaged facilities are underway in the local areas. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue)

A villager airs the bedding after returning home in Shaoqidi Village of Huanghuadian Township, Wuqing District, north China's Tianjin, Aug. 17, 2023. A total of 15,011 people, the last batch of those who were previously relocated from areas prone to flooding by the Yongding River, returned to their homes in 14 villages of Wuqing on Thursday. At present, the power, water, and gas supply have been restored in the villages, and the assessment and reconstruction of damaged facilities are underway in the local areas. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue)

Villagers return to Shaoqidi Village of Huanghuadian Township, Wuqing District, north China's Tianjin, Aug. 17, 2023. A total of 15,011 people, the last batch of those who were previously relocated from areas prone to flooding by the Yongding River, returned to their homes in 14 villages of Wuqing on Thursday. At present, the power, water, and gas supply have been restored in the villages, and the assessment and reconstruction of damaged facilities are underway in the local areas. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue)

A worker of a paper products company transfers materials and prepares for production in Shaoqidi Village of Huanghuadian Township, Wuqing District, north China's Tianjin, Aug. 17, 2023. A total of 15,011 people, the last batch of those who were previously relocated from areas prone to flooding by the Yongding River, returned to their homes in 14 villages of Wuqing on Thursday. At present, the power, water, and gas supply have been restored in the villages, and the assessment and reconstruction of damaged facilities are underway in the local areas. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue)

A worker carries out disinfection operations in Shaoqidi Village of Huanghuadian Township, Wuqing District, north China's Tianjin, Aug. 17, 2023. A total of 15,011 people, the last batch of those who were previously relocated from areas prone to flooding by the Yongding River, returned to their homes in 14 villages of Wuqing on Thursday. At present, the power, water, and gas supply have been restored in the villages, and the assessment and reconstruction of damaged facilities are underway in the local areas. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue)

Villagers return home in Shaoqidi Village of Huanghuadian Township, Wuqing District, north China's Tianjin, Aug. 17, 2023. A total of 15,011 people, the last batch of those who were previously relocated from areas prone to flooding by the Yongding River, returned to their homes in 14 villages of Wuqing on Thursday. At present, the power, water, and gas supply have been restored in the villages, and the assessment and reconstruction of damaged facilities are underway in the local areas. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue)
Elif Balci Fisunoglu, vice general manager of the Turkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency, speaks at a meeting of promoting cooperation in tourism between Turkiye and China, in Istanbul, Turkiye, Aug. 17, 2023. Turkish and Chinese officials on Thursday vowed to strengthen cooperation in the tourism sector. (Photo by Omer Kuscu/Xinhua)

ISTANBUL, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Turkish and Chinese officials on Thursday vowed to strengthen cooperation in the tourism sector.

"China is one of our priority markets, and we look forward to working together to develop our existing relationship further," Elif Balci Fisunoglu, vice general manager of the Turkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency, told a tourism promotion meeting in the largest Turkish city of Istanbul.

Fisunoglu said the number of Chinese tourists to Turkiye surpassed 426,000 in 2019, adding that Turkiye aims to raise the yearly number of Chinese tourists visiting the country to 1 million in the upcoming years.

"At this point, our active promotion, advertising, and marketing activities in the Chinese market will continue to increase," Fisunoglu said.

Speaking at the meeting, Wei Xiaodong, China's Consul General in Istanbul, said that Turkiye, home to ancient civilizations, has been luring many tourists from all over the world, including China.

"We believe that more Chinese tourists will come to Turkiye in the near future," he said. "And they will experience the historical and cultural beauties of Turkiye and the hospitality of the Turkish people."

The Chinese envoy underscored the importance and huge potential of expanding the China-Turkiye cooperation in the tourism sector.

"From now on, we will continue to work together with other organizations to ensure that Chinese tourists can travel safely, smoothly, and enjoyably in Turkiye," he added. 

Wei Xiaodong, China's Consul General in Istanbul, speaks at a meeting of promoting cooperation in tourism between Turkiye and China, in Istanbul, Turkiye, Aug. 17, 2023. Turkish and Chinese officials on Thursday vowed to strengthen cooperation in the tourism sector. (Photo by Omer Kuscu/Xinhua)
BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Trade between the European Union (EU) and China has grown in recent years despite talks of "decoupling" from or "de-risking" economic links with China, a sign that China's market still maintains an allure for European businesses due to its vast potential and size.

Eurostat data show the value of European imports from China nearly doubled between 2018 and 2022. During the first half of 2023, China remained the leading supplier of goods to the EU, said an analysis by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Throughout this period, imports of products such as phones, computers, and machinery all saw significant increases.

With both Europe and China sharing consensus on tackling climate change, Chinese electric vehicles have rapidly expanded their presence in the European market. Three of the top-selling electric car models in Europe in 2022 were of Chinese origin.

Official statistics show that trade between China and the EU reached 847.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2022, a 2.4-percent increase over the previous year. China and the EU are each other's main trading partner, with rapid growth in the trade of lithium batteries, electric vehicles, photovoltaic modules, and other green products.

All these figures prove that a growing list of European enterprises view China as a robust partner.

Ola Kaellenius, chairman of the Board of Management at Mercedes-Benz, said in a July interview with German weekly Automobilwoche that China, the world's largest automobile market, would be at the core of the company's marketing activities starting from 2025.

"Investing in China is investing in the future," said Jean-Paul Agon, president of L'Oreal France, in a written interview with Xinhua. He emphasized that with an open market, an improving business environment, and promising initiatives to stimulate domestic demand, China presents new opportunities for the world and vice versa.

He also noted that China is a strategic growth driver for L'Oreal, as "China is more than just a large market. It is the laboratory of the most innovative concepts and the testing ground for the latest marketing practices, where the future of beauty is born."

Several European business leaders warned of the "de-risking" narrative.

Belen Garijo, chief executive of Germany's leading science and technology group Merck, said that severing commercial ties with China would come with a substantial economic cost. She hoped tensions between China and some Western countries could be eased through dialogue.

"Globalization has brought well-being to the world, with more innovation and cooperation, but we risk losing it," Garijo warned.

Stefan Hartung, chairman of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH, also said in a July interview with The Financial Times that Europe cannot reduce risk by isolating itself. European countries should not speculate on the risks of doing business in China; instead, they should invest more in enhancing competitiveness, Hartung added.

European researchers have clarified the underlying logic behind the Europe-China partnership.

Maria Joao Rodrigues, president of the Foundation for European Progressive Studies, said that China and Europe are more strategic partners than "systemic rivals." They should collaborate in reestablishing global rules, particularly in areas such as combating climate change, digital transformation, and artificial intelligence. In recent years, China has advanced initiatives on global security and development, where Europe and China can enhance cooperation.

Similarly, The Financial Times cautioned in early August that it would be challenging for Europe to sever or reduce ties with such an important trading partner as China, which accounts for 14 percent of global exports.

Likewise, German weekly magazine Focus noted that the Western economy adheres to its own rules when U.S. President Joe Biden continues to announce restriction after restriction against China. Europe now understands the meaning of "decoupling," and the European economy is "decoupled" from American political directives rather than being "decoupled" from China, as the United States desires, the article concluded. 
BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese authorities on Friday evening issued a yellow alert for possible geological disasters in parts of southwest China triggered by heavy rainfall.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and the China Meteorological Administration have warned of risks of rain-induced geological disasters in some areas of the southern part of Sichuan, the northeastern part of Yunnan and the southeastern part of Tibet from 8 p.m. Friday to 8 p.m. Saturday.

Residents have been advised to take precautions, especially in areas with potential dangers.

China has a four-tier, color-coded weather warning system for geological disasters, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue. 
LA PAZ, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Local authorities confirmed Thursday that the death toll rose to 20 from an overturned public bus on the Cochabamba-Santa Cruz Highway on Wednesday in Bolivia.

Departmental Director of Traffic Police Colonel David Herbas told reporters that the accident occurred near the El Locotal sector in the central municipality of Colomi.

A total of 39 people were injured and all have been taken to Cochabamba hospitals, Herbas said. And the seriously injured were still in intensive care. The injured bus driver had undergone an alcohol test and the results will be available later.

Investigations were underway to determine whether it was a mechanical malfunction or a human error. 
BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's banking financial institutions saw an increase in total assets, data from the National Financial Regulatory Administration showed on Friday.

The local and foreign currency assets of these institutions totaled 406.2 trillion yuan (about 56.4 trillion U.S. dollars) at the end of June, up 10.4 percent year on year.

A breakdown of the asset data showed that large commercial banks accounted for 42.2 percent of the total, while joint-stock commercial banks contributed 17.1 percent.

The country's commercial banks reaped combined net profits of 1.3 trillion yuan in the first half of 2023, up 2.6 percent year on year.

By the end of June, the non-performing loan ratio of commercial banks stood at 1.62 percent, flat with that at the end of March. 
This photo taken on Aug. 19, 2023 shows a main clinic under the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) at the Ain Al-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon. The UNRWA on Friday announced that it suspended all its services inside the Ain Al-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon to protest against the continued presence of armed groups in its facilities, including schools. (Photo by Ali Hashisho/Xinhua)

BEIRUT, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) on Friday announced that it suspended all its services inside the Ain Al-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon to protest against the continued presence of armed groups in its facilities, including schools.

"The agency does not tolerate any violation of the sanctity and neutrality of its facilities. It is unlikely that the schools in the camp will be ready to receive 3,200 children at the beginning of the next academic year, given the repeated violations, including those that occurred in the past, and the significant damage reported," UNRWA said in a statement released by the National News Agency.

The agency renewed its call to "the armed forces to immediately evacuate their facilities to ensure that urgent assistance is provided to Palestine refugees without any obstacles."

Clashes erupted in the Ain Al-Helweh refugee camp, Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp, between members of the Palestinian Fatah movement and Islamic activists on July 29. The clashes continued into August, killing at least 13 people and injuring dozens of others, according to UNRWA.

On Thursday, Dorothee Klaus, director of UNRWA Affairs in Lebanon, strongly condemned armed groups' occupation of its facilities and urged all relevant parties to vacate UNRWA premises immediately so that the agency can resume critical services and help Palestinian refugees. 

This photo taken on Aug. 19, 2023 shows a main clinic under the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) at the Ain Al-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon. The UNRWA on Friday announced that it suspended all its services inside the Ain Al-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon to protest against the continued presence of armed groups in its facilities, including schools. (Photo by Ali Hashisho/Xinhua)

This photo taken on Aug. 19, 2023 shows a main clinic under the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) at the Ain Al-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon. The UNRWA on Friday announced that it suspended all its services inside the Ain Al-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon to protest against the continued presence of armed groups in its facilities, including schools. (Photo by Ali Hashisho/Xinhua)
NEW DELHI, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- A journalist was shot dead at his residence on Friday in India's eastern state of Bihar, the police said.

Vimal Kumar Yadav was killed in his home located in Raniganj Bazaar area of Araria district, about 315 km east of Patna, the capital city of Bihar state.

Yadav, 35, was working for local Hindi newspaper Dainik Jagran.

According to the police, unidentified gunmen knocked on his door in the morning and called his name. When Yadav opened the door he was shot in the chest.

"Yadav was killed on the spot," senior police official J.S. Gangwar told the media.

Describing the incident as sad, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said he had directed officials to investigate the crime. 
Rigathi Gachagua, deputy president of Kenya, meets with Fu Hua, president of Xinhua News Agency, in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, Aug. 17, 2023. (Xinhua/Han Xu)

NAIROBI, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Rigathi Gachagua, deputy president of Kenya, met with Fu Hua, president of Xinhua News Agency, here on Thursday, with both sides pledging to strengthen media cooperation.

Gachagua said this year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Kenya and China, and that the two countries have steadily advanced practical cooperation and enjoyed increasingly close people-to-people exchanges.

Gachagua said the Kenyan side is exploring a partnership with Xinhua on enhancing cooperation in the areas of data reporting, leveraging technology like artificial intelligence and other innovations to tell impactful stories, adding that the cooperation with Xinhua will be a boost in the transfer of knowledge and skills besides stories on economic opportunities in the two countries.

Fu said Xinhua, the state news agency of China with a global reach, has a long history of introducing China to Africa and covering Africa news to the world, contributing to stronger mutual understanding and people-to-people exchanges between China and Africa.

Fu said Xinhua will continue to cover Kenya's development and the friendship between the two countries, share with Kenyan media the experience on the application of artificial intelligence, big data and other emerging technologies in media coverage, and strengthen win-win cooperation under multilateral platforms and frameworks for media exchanges such as the World Media Summit and the BRICS Media Forum.

Zhou Pingjian, Chinese ambassador to Kenya, attended the meeting.

On the same day, Fu also met with Zainab Hawa Bangura, director-general of the United Nations Office at Nairobi, with the two sides exchanging views on how to work together to enhance public awareness of the United Nations sustainable development goals and strengthen coverage of UN affairs. 

President of Xinhua News Agency Fu Hua meets with Zainab Hawa Bangura, director-general of the United Nations Office at Nairobi, in Kenya on Aug. 17, 2023. The two sides exchanged views on how to work together to enhance public awareness of the United Nations sustainable development goals and strengthen coverage of UN affairs. (Xinhua/Han Xu)
File photo shows the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia in Moscow. (Xinhua/Evgeny Sinitsyn)

Russia sanctions 54 British citizens in tit-for-tat move.

MOSCOW, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Russia has imposed personal sanctions against 54 British citizens, including officials, journalists and law enforcement representatives, the Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

The decision was taken "in response to London's hostile anti-Russian course," and unilateral sanctions imposed against Russian citizens and economic operators, the ministry said in a statement.

British Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Lucy Fraser, and Minister of State at Britain's Defense Ministry Annabel Goldie were among those sanctioned, according to the ministry.

The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan, who is British, was also sanctioned for his involvement "in issuing an arrest warrant against the Russian leadership," the statement said.

Personal sanctions were imposed against the leadership of a private British military company, Prevail Partners, which the Foreign Ministry said was involved in providing Ukrainian special services with intelligence data.

Journalists from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the Guardian Media Group and the Daily Telegraph were included in the sanctions list, for spreading false information, attempting to "suppress and prevent an objective coverage" of the events in Ukraine, and disseminating propaganda, according to the statement. 
* BRICS has provided developing countries with an opportunity to enhance their influence and amplify their voices in global governance.

* Chinese president's upcoming visit to South Africa and the meetings to be held there will further energize the BRICS mechanism and usher in a new phase of China-Africa and South-South cooperation.

* As an ex-officio member of the Global South, China has always focused on the most urgent needs of developing countries.

BEIJING/JOHANNESBURG, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- In March 2013, as part of his maiden foreign tour as China's head of state, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Africa and attended the 5th BRICS Summit held in South Africa, where he put forward the guiding principles of China's Africa policy, and expounded on his visions for enhancing the BRICS mechanism.

Ten years later, the BRICS Summit will be held on the African continent again. Xi will attend the 15th BRICS Summit to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa and pay a state visit to South Africa from Aug. 21 to 24. While in the country, Xi will co-chair with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa the China-Africa Leaders' Dialogue.

Electronic screens of the 15th BRICS Summit are seen at the O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa, Aug. 16, 2023. (Xinhua/Chen Cheng)

During the ten years between the two summits in South Africa, BRICS, which groups Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, has grown into an all-round and multi-level framework that plays a vital role in the global arena. Meanwhile, the China-Africa friendship has been enriched with their cooperation flourishing in all aspects.

As the world is facing numerous uncertainties and living through accelerating changes unseen in a century, observers hope that Xi's upcoming visit and the meetings in South Africa will further energize the BRICS mechanism and usher in a new phase of China-Africa and South-South cooperation.





WRITING NEW CHAPTER ON BRICS DEVELOPMENT

Noting that BRICS has provided developing countries with an opportunity to enhance their influence and amplify their voices in global governance, Cavince Adhere, a Kenya-based international relations scholar, said that "joining BRICS allows countries to align themselves with a group that seeks to promote multipolarity and a more equitable international system."

In fact, 22 years ago, when British economist Jim O'Neill coined the term "BRIC" -- an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India and China, he might not have imagined how the rise of those emerging economies would reshape the world economy and global governance.

With South Africa officially becoming a member in 2011, BRIC was enlarged to BRICS, which now represents about a quarter of the global gross domestic product (GDP) and some 40 percent of the world population.

It has grown into the most influential South-South cooperation platform and a crucial driver for global growth, with three main pillars consolidating its mechanism, namely, political and security cooperation, economic and finance cooperation as well as cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

A key milestone of BRICS cooperation is the establishment of the New Development Bank (NDB) in 2015. The Shanghai-based bank is aimed at mobilizing resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS and other emerging economies.

This aerial photo taken on June 17, 2022 shows the headquarters building of the New Development Bank in east China's Shanghai. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

Figures released by the bank earlier this year showed that it has approved nearly a hundred projects with a total value of 33.2 billion U.S. dollars, greatly contributing to the economic and social development of its member countries. It has also strengthened its green and sustainable credentials, as around 40 percent of the bank's projects focus on climate change mitigation and adaptation.

"NDB is one of the youngest multilateral development banks in the world. Within a short span of eight years, NDB has established itself as a major global, multilateral development bank," said Anil Kishora, vice president and chief risk officer of NDB.

Meanwhile, BRICS members have advocated a partnership on the new industrial revolution to deepen cooperation in digitalization, industrialization and innovation.

During the development of BRICS, China has never hesitated to contribute. In March 2013, Xi, as the Chinese president, attended the BRICS Summit for the first time in Durban, South Africa. In the following ten years, Xi has joined forces with leaders of other BRICS members to push the BRICS Summits to produce a series of pioneering, leading and institutional outcomes.

"China has set an example of practicing mutually beneficial and equal cooperation, and played the role of a great nation in BRICS to balance and stabilize international relations," said Irina Kokushkina, an associate professor of the Department of World Economy at St. Petersburg State University.





EXPLORING FRESH OPPORTUNITIES FOR CHINA-AFRICA FRIENDSHIP

"President Xi's attendance at the BRICS leaders' meeting and his state visit to South Africa are of great significance. This visit will strengthen the relationship between the two countries," Kenneth Creamer, a senior lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand, told Xinhua.

As Creamer noted, China-South Africa relations have developed comprehensively and rapidly over the years. The leaders of the two countries have frequently communicated with each other on bilateral and multilateral occasions or during online events, bringing bilateral cooperation to higher levels.

In a phone conversation with Ramaphosa on June 9, Xi said China and South Africa are both important major developing countries and the two enjoy special friendly relations like brothers.

Data released by China showed that in the first half of the year, bilateral trade reached 28.25 billion U.S. dollars, up 11.7 percent year-on-year.

China has maintained its position as South Africa's largest trading partner for 14 consecutive years, while South Africa has been China's largest trading partner in Africa for 13 consecutive years.

This aerial photo taken on May 4, 2023 shows a cargo ship carrying corn imported from South Africa at a port in South China's Guangdong Province. (Xinhua/Liu Dawei)

China-South Africa ties have served as a model for China-Africa relations, South-South cooperation, and unity and cooperation among emerging market countries, offering valuable experience for building an even stronger community with a shared future between China and Africa.

During his Africa trip in 2013, Xi proposed the concept of sincerity, real results, affinity and good faith, and the right approach to justice and interests, the guiding principles of China's Africa policy. Over the past decade, under those principles, China-Africa relations have been propelled into the fast lane of development.

According to the Ministry of Commerce of China, China has remained Africa's largest trading partner for 14 consecutive years. The two sides have together constructed and commissioned over 10,000 km of railway, nearly 100,000 km of highway, and an array of important infrastructure projects, including airports, docks, bridges and power plants.

In recent years, China-Africa cooperation has expanded from agriculture, infrastructure and manufacturing to new industries such as green economy, health, finance and digital innovation.

Costantinos Berhutesfa Costantinos, a professor of public policy at Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia, said that it is political justice, mutual economic benefit, win-win cooperation and common development that laid the basis for a shared future of Africa and China.





FORGING BRIGHTER FUTURE FOR GLOBAL SOUTH

The theme of this year's summit is BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth, Sustainable Development and Inclusive Multilateralism, highlighting how these emerging economies can strengthen ties with a continent home to a large number of countries also belonging to the Global South.

There are high expectations among experts and observers about the outcomes of the summit. One major focus is the membership expansion of the group.

Attracted by the openness and inclusiveness of BRICS, more countries have decided to apply to join the group, which reflects the shared aspiration of developing countries to focus on their own development, seek unity and cooperation, and oppose external interference.

"Twenty-two countries have formally approached BRICS countries to become full members. There's an equal number of countries that have been informally asking about becoming BRICS members," said South Africa's BRICS Sherpa Anil Sooklal.

As an ex-officio member of the Global South, China has always focused on the most urgent needs of developing countries. It has proposed the "BRICS Plus" cooperation model, and voiced its support for the membership expansion process of BRICS.

"BRICS countries gather not in a closed club or an exclusive circle, but a big family of mutual support and a partnership for win-win cooperation," Xi said while hosting the 14th BRICS Summit in Beijing via video link last year.

"Bringing in fresh blood will inject new vitality into BRICS cooperation and increase the representativeness and influence of BRICS," Xi said, stressing that "it is important to advance this process to allow like-minded partners to become part of the BRICS family at an early date."

Meanwhile, with unilateralism and protectionism soaring, criticism is mounting against the West-dominated global economic rules. Experts have speculated that BRICS would take further measures to promote a fairer economic order, including introducing a BRICS common currency.

Signboards of the 15th BRICS Summit are seen in a street of Johannesburg, South Africa, Aug. 17, 2023. (Xinhua/Chen Cheng)

"I would like to hear more details about the proposed BRICS currency. The change of trade between South Africa and China from being conducted in U.S. dollars to a BRICS currency would be a major move in global politics," said Dominic Preuss, an independent economic writer and engineering technologist in South Africa.

To create a global market that is not dominated by hegemony would be welcome, Preuss added.

"Many countries in the Global South have sought to come together in order to work towards a more just and inclusive world order ... BRICS inspires many countries to come together again in order to advance this vision," said Creamer.

Charles Onunaiju, director of the Abuja-based Center for China Studies, said BRICS is in line with the trend of multilateralism. "It is obvious that this trend has a great future. And the BRICS mechanism is advancing it in a very positive direction," he said. (Video reporters: Zheng Xin, Li Cheng, Dai He, James Asande, Duncan, Hu Yousong, Xie Zhao, Yu Lizhen, Zhu Wanjun; video editors: Zheng Xin, Hui Peipei)
CAIRO, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- The 15th BRICS Summit, to be held in South Africa's Johannesburg next week, has received a lot of media attention in the months leading up to the event, underscoring the growing influence of BRICS over the past years.

Analysts believe what happens at Johannesburg will be watched with heightened interest, as the voice of the Global South, represented by major emerging economies in BRICS -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, has become increasingly important in addressing global challenges at a time of profound geopolitical changes, and the group has demonstrated great potential to improve the architecture of international relations.

Expectations are high about the outcome of the summit as its participants are expected to discuss the accelerated use of local currencies, strengthened cooperation to fast-track mutual growth, and the promotion of inclusive multilateralism, among other issues of common concern.

RISING INTEREST IN BRICS MEMBERSHIP

As per data released earlier this year from Acorn Macro Consulting, a British economic research firm, the BRICS group makes up 41 percent of the global population and accounts for 16 percent of world trade. The five BRICS countries now contribute about a quarter of the global GDP.

With its growing economic presence on the global stage and as one of the most important platforms for win-win cooperation among emerging economies and developing countries, BRICS is becoming increasingly attractive.

"Twenty-two countries have formally approached BRICS countries to become full members. There's an equal number of countries that have been informally asking about becoming BRICS members," said South Africa's BRICS Sherpa Anil Sooklal.

In an opinion piece published on the website of Dubai-based commercial magazine Arabian Business in June, UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan said more countries joining BRICS would provide "a compelling opportunity for growth and cooperation."

In a column published on the website of Dubai-based English daily Gulf News recently, Osama Al Sharif, a journalist and political commentator based in the Jordanian capital Amman, said the increasing number of applicants joining BRICS has indicated "a sense of urgency by countries to address some of these challenges and strengthen partnerships away from Western influence."

FAIRER GLOBAL GOVERNANCE

BRICS has "great potential in terms of creating the architecture of international relations," Russia's foreign intelligence chief Sergey Naryshkin was quoted as saying by Turkiye's semi-official Anadolu Agency at the 11th Moscow Conference on International Security on Tuesday.

"The five BRICS nations are considering expanding the grouping by forging closer links across many areas of both economy and civil society. This is born of a long-held desire to increase the representation of developing nations in appropriately responding to shared global challenges," the UAE foreign minister wrote in the opinion piece.

In the eyes of Adnan Mansour, who served as Lebanon's foreign minister between 2011 and 2014, the Johannesburg summit will strengthen BRICS' position in a world where the United States and its allies have been coming up with global trade rules that only serve their own advantage.

"The event will contribute to global stabilization, dialogue, partnership and progress," he told Russian news agency TASS in an interview published earlier this week.

"At a time when there is so much criticism about how Western countries have failed to create a more equitable economic order in a world plagued by poverty, over-exploitation of the planet's resources, pollution, famine and disease, BRICS+ could go a long way in addressing some of these challenges," Al Sharif wrote. 
Lebanon Holds Special Prayer Service for Iraqi Assyrians

In Lebanon, Christian leaders gathered for an evening of prayer for Iraq and the beleaguered Chaldean Catholic Church.

"Our church in Iraq is going through difficult circumstances," Chaldean Bishop Michel Kassarji of Beirut said at the Aug. 12 solidarity prayer gathering at the Chaldean Cathedral of Archangel Raphael in Baabda, outside of Beirut, with representation by patriarchs, bishops and priests from Catholic and Orthodox churches.

"We will not surrender and the Lord is the one who protects us. Spread your light, O Lord, and bless us, bless our shepherds, bless your priests and your consecrated people who carry the good news of your Gospel, bless Iraq and its people, bless the Chaldean Church, bless Lebanon, bless our countries," Bishop Kassarji said.

"God placed us on this holy land, the land of Abraham the Prophet, the land of Ur of the Chaldeans," Bishop Kassarji said, in reference to Iraq, where the roots of the Chaldean Church go back to the early Christian centuries.

The prayer appeal follows the announcement in July by Cardinal Louis Sako, patriarch of Chaldean Catholics in Iraq, to withdraw from the patriarchal see in Baghdad and relocate to a monastery in the Kurdistan region.

That voluntary departure from the patriarchal headquarters follows the decision of Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid, who revoked a decree that formally recognized the cardinal as Chaldean patriarch in the country.

A decree of 2013 by Rashid's predecessor granted this authority to Cardinal Sako.

He was appointed patriarch in 2013 and elevated to cardinal by Pope Francis in 2018.

In his July 15 announcement, Cardinal Sako said: "It is unfortunate that we in Iraq live in the midst of a wide network of self-interest, narrow factionalism and hypocrisy that has produced an unprecedented political, national and moral chaos, which is taking root more and more. May God help the helpless Iraqi Christians."

Before 2003, the number of Iraqi Christians was more than 1.5 million and is now estimated at less than 200,000, due to waves of emigration, in particular following uprooting by the Islamic State in 2014.

"Our faith is firm like a rock, no matter how severe the trials are, we will remain this seed in our countries," Bishop Kassarji stressed at the prayer gathering.

Bishop Kassarji pointed out that Patriarch Sako, like all patriarchs who preceded him, "contributed to raising the name of the Chaldean Church in Iraq and the world."

"I assure you that the bells of the churches and the struggle of the clergy ... will be the leaven for the continuity of this blessed land, which is a message to the entire universe," he said.

The prayer gathering took place under the auspices of Lebanese Cardinal Bechara Rai, patriarch of Maronite Catholics. Referencing the Gospel verse of Mark 5:8, "Unclean spirit, come out of the man," in his homily, Cardinal Rai lamented the evil influences in our time, particularly among world leaders.

"Today's world, especially its rulers, put God aside, dispense with his decrees and commandments, surrender to their interests at the expense of the common good, and commit injustice and tyranny and ignite the fire of conflicts and wars, without any twinge of conscience. This means that evil and evil forces are in control of them," Cardinal Rai said.

The leader of the Maronite Church lifted up "the tragedy of dear Iraq, its people, the Chaldean Church and other churches and Christians."

Cardinal Rai also pointed to the "tragedies in Syria, the Holy Land and Lebanon, where God manifested himself in his Old and New Testaments, and laid the roots of the Christian culture that enriched these countries with their civilization."

"By virtue of our evangelical message in these countries where God wanted us to be, we remain steadfast in faith, hope and love, and we are determined to live together in a spirit of brotherhood, cooperation and mutual respect with all citizens," Cardinal Rai said.

"May God accept our prayers and bestow the gift of peace upon dear Iraq, our sister Chaldean Church, patriarchs, bishops, clergy, believers and the countries of the Middle East and our churches," he said.
LUSAKA, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Zambia has called for fair and just outcomes for African countries at the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The COP28 meeting will be held from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12 in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Ephraim Shitima, the director of the Department of Climate Change and Green Economy in the Zambian Ministry of Green Economy and Environment, said the COP28 should deliver ambitious, balanced, fair and just outcomes that should set the world on a course to effectively address climate change on several fronts which include adaptation, loss and damage as well as finance and mitigation.

"We remain steadfast in our quest for fair and just outcomes from these processes," the official, who is also chair of the African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change, said in remarks delivered Thursday at the 19th Ordinary Session of the African Ministerial Conference on Environment and Natural Resources, according to a release.

He noted that 60 percent of African countries do not have access to early warning and emphasized the importance of grant-based financing for sub-Saharan Africa for enhancing mitigation and adaptation actions.

According to him, Africa will call for the adoption of an ambitious decision under the work program on just transition pathways that strengthen the global climate response in the context of sustainable development and operationalize equity in the pathways for mitigation, adaptation and finance under the Paris Agreement.

The decision should be cognizant and provide the policy space and support in consideration of Africa's unique needs and development circumstances and urgent needs, suggested the official, noting this should ensure a fair and equitable shift to low-carbon and climate-resilient development.

He further said developed nations should make substantial financial commitments and address the outstanding deficit in the delivery of the promised 100 million U.S. dollars per year since 2000.

The official also called for the need for progress in reforming multilateral development banks to make them more suitable for the climate challenges ahead by enhancing scale, affordable and accessibility with necessary safeguards for developing countries.

Zambia will utilize its position as chair of the African group to safeguard Africa's interest in the climate negotiation process, the official promised. 
KAMPALA, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni said that many of the loans and aid packages from the western countries are of no value addition to his country or even anti-growth.

"Many of the loans and aid packages are either of no value addition to the country or are even anti-growth, all together," said the president in his latest response to the World Bank's decision to halt financing to Uganda over the enactment of a controversial anti-homosexuality law in the east African country.

Loans and aid packages from the West had brought a lot of distortion and stunted Uganda's growth as well as the entire continent, Museveni was quoted as saying by a statement released on Thursday by State House.

As a solution, Museveni said the country's army, infrastructure, private sector and abundant market in Africa, China, Middle East and Russia would fill the void.

He blamed Africa's "miserable" economic performance on the western world which looked at Africa only as producers of raw materials. 
MOGADISHU, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Somali National Army backed by international forces killed more than 20 al-Shabab militants in a joint operation in the Kurtunware district of southern Somalia, the Ministry of Defense said in a brief statement Friday.

The statement said the operation, which took place at 3 a.m., local time, Friday, targeted two houses where al-Shabab militants were assembling militias and explosives.

The al-Shabab still controls some parts of southern and central Somalia and continues to carry out attacks despite increased onslaught by government forces. 
ADDIS ABABA, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia has earned 102 million U.S. dollars from energy exports to neighboring Sudan, Kenya and Djibouti in the Ethiopian 2022/2023 fiscal year which ended on July 7, an Ethiopian official said on Thursday.

Menlik Getahun, head of sales and customer management office at state owned Ethiopian Electric Power, said the revenue the east African country earned from energy exports in the 2022/2023 fiscal year had shown an increase of four percent from 95 million U.S. dollars earned from energy exports during the 2021/2022 fiscal year.

Getahun further said Ethiopia is currently working to resolve around 50 million U.S. dollars of unpaid energy bills from conflict wracked Sudan.

Ethiopia's energy exports are part of a broader plan to economically integrate the East African region through electricity.

The Ethiopian government had previously announced its plan to increase the country's export revenue from electric power to 400 million U.S. dollars within the coming 10 years. 
DAR ES SALAAM, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- A visit to one of the referral hospitals in Tanzania's commercial hub of Dar es Salaam in late March changed the life of a 25-year-old mother of two children aged three and eight.

Mariam Mwakabungu, a resident of Kinyerezi in Ubungo District, had visited her friend at the Amana regional referral hospital that had given birth to premature twins, and as she was about to leave she saw a nurse attending to a premature baby.

"I asked the nurse where the baby's mother was and she told me that she was sick. The nurse asked me whether I could help give the baby kangaroo mother care. I accepted the offer in the blink of an eye," Mwakabungu told Xinhua in an interview.

Kangaroo mother care is a technique that helps to keep a low birth-weight baby warm by carrying the baby with skin-to-skin contact which provides protection from infection.

Mwakabungu said she gave the nurse her telephone number, and she went home asking the nurse to call her when she needed her kangaroo mother care services.

"The nurse called me and I went straight to the hospital where I started giving the service to the baby who, according to doctors, had weighed one kilogram since it was born a month earlier," said Mwakabungu whose two children were born weighing more than 3 kilograms each.

She said she stayed with the baby for one week and her weight increased to the required standard which is above 2.5 kilograms and the baby was later handed over to an orphanage after her sick mother had abandoned it.

She said as she had completed giving the kangaroo mother care to the baby, two more abandoned premature babies were brought to her and she continued giving the service to them.

"It is a very tiresome undertaking because you have to carry the baby with skin-to-skin contact for 24 hours even when eating," she said, adding that the only time one loses contact with the baby is when one goes to a washroom.

She said she gave the service on a voluntary basis, adding that the hospital only provided her with breakfast, lunch, dinner, and bus fare when she went home for a short rest.

She said she used to be a food vendor and sell second-hand clothes but she dropped the two businesses after she had run out of capital.

Soft-spoken Mwakabungu thanked her husband for allowing her to volunteer to take care of premature babies. "When I told my husband what I was doing he said it was fine because I was saving the lives of the babies."

She said between late March and July she had given the service to three premature babies that have been handed over to an orphanage and now she was looking after a fourth premature baby that she was given to her on Aug. 3.

Mwakabungu said her parents died when she was five years old, and years later she has to drop out of school because her grandmother that was looking after her had no money to pay for her school fees.

She said her work was appreciated by Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan who recently awarded her a monetary prize.

"Top officials of the hospital visited me as I clutched a premature baby and handed me the money saying it is my present from the president. I was overjoyed beyond explanation," she told Xinhua.

The president also directed the Ministry of Health to employ her permanently as a nurse and the process to employ her has already started, said Sarah Simba, the hospital's head of communications.

Mwakabungu suggested that the government should construct a special structure for accommodating premature children, especially those that have been abandoned by their mothers, from their infancy to adolescence to enable them to realize their life dreams.

Mary Machemba, a nursing officer in charge of the Neonatal Unit at the Amana regional referral hospital, described Mwakabungu as an "angel dedicated to saving the lives of abandoned premature babies".

She said Mwakabungu decided to stop doing her business and volunteered to save the tedious task of caring for premature babies.

Machemba said the hospital's neonatal unit admits between 70 and 80 premature babies a month but the unit has only six beds.

"That is why we are encouraging mothers to use the kangaroo mother care technique which is simple and cost-effective," she said.

She added, "Simple cost-effective solutions such as kangaroo mother care can make a big difference in those vital first days of a small baby's life."

Machemba, a professional nurse with over 25 years of work experience, described a premature baby as one that weighs below 1.5 kilograms at birth, adding that a normal baby usually weighs around 2.5 kilograms at birth.

She said, "A premature baby is born before 37 weeks of pregnancy are completed."

"Kangaroo mother care is both simple and cost-effective because it does not need a machine, but just a skin-to-skin bond between mother and child to provide this little baby with the needed warmth," she said.

According to the United Nations Children's Fund data, over 200,000 children are born prematurely in Tanzania every year, and approximately 9,500 of them fail to survive. 
CAIRO, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Egyptian government approved on Thursday a loan from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to finance a metro line in the northern coastal province of Alexandria, said the Egyptian cabinet in a statement.

The Beijing-based bank will provide Egypt with 250 million euros (about 272 million U.S. dollars) to fund the Abu Qir metro line in the Egyptian coastal city of Alexandria, based on a deal signed by Egypt's Ministry of International Cooperation and the AIIB in China last month.

The project, which is estimated to cost 1.5 billion euros, will be co-financed by the AIIB, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Bank, and the French Development Agency.

The new metro line will be developed on the existing Abu Qir railway line, which connects the city center with the Abu Qir area northeast of Alexandria, said the statement.

The project involves infrastructure works as well as providing related railway systems, including signaling, communication and control systems, according to the Egyptian cabinet.

The new metro line, upon completion, is expected to improve transportation and ease traffic congestion in Alexandria. 
WELLINGTON, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand greatly values the long-standing education links with China, New Zealand's top education official said at a national conference closed on Friday.

New Zealand's education links with China has been based on reciprocity and partnerships that have been developed through many years of two-way student mobility, high-level dialogue and research collaborations, Education Minister Jan Tinetti said at the New Zealand International Education Conference (NZIEC) held from Wednesday to Friday.

"Education is one of the key pillars of the New Zealand-China relationship and a foundation for enduring links between our countries," Tinetti told attendees at the NZIEC at which China is this year's country of honor.

This year, the 30th edition of the NZIEC was attended by practitioners and leaders from across New Zealand's international education sector.

One of the key topics of the conference was responding to international students' mental health and wellbeing needs, with non-government organization Asian Family Services' health and wellbeing professionals Ivan Yeo and Leah Rodriguez-Palomer sharing strategies to support the wellbeing of international students.

"China is our largest source country of international students, with almost 12,000 Chinese students studying in New Zealand," Tinetti said. 
This photo released by Pakistan's Press Information Department on Aug. 17, 2023 shows members of the federal cabinet of the interim government taking an oath at a ceremony in Islamabad, Pakistan. Pakistani President Arif Alvi appointed on Thursday a 19-member federal cabinet of the interim government led by caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, the President House Media Wing told Xinhua. (Pakistan's Press Information Department/Handout via Xinhua)

ISLAMABAD, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani President Arif Alvi appointed on Thursday a 19-member federal cabinet of the interim government led by caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, the media wing of the President House told Xinhua.

The federal cabinet includes 16 federal ministers and three advisers to the caretaker prime minister, according to the President House.

The media wing added that the president administered the oath to the federal ministers while giving approval to the appointment of the advisors to the prime minister.

The portfolios for the cabinet members are expected to be announced later, according to government officials.

The new cabinet comprised politicians, technocrats, businesspersons, retired bureaucrats and media persons.

The latest development came after the previous cabinet was dissolved following the National Assembly, or the lower house of the country's parliament, was dissolved by the president on the advice of then Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

Later on, Sharif and the opposition leader in the house jointly nominated Kakar as the caretaker prime minister to run day-to-day affairs until the general elections and the formation of a new government. 
NEW DELHI, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Three members of the Kuki community were killed by gunmen Friday in India's northeastern state of Manipur, police said.

The men were gunned down during the wee hours at Thowai Kuki village in Ukhrul district, about 33 km northeast of Imphal, the capital city of Manipur.

"A group of armed miscreants approached the village from the hills located to the east of the village and started firing at village guards. Three people from the village have been killed in the incident," a senior police official in Ukhrul, Ningshem Vashum, was quoted by local media as saying.

The slain men were voluntarily guarding the village.

Following the killings, government forces were rushed to the village to nab the assailants.

The ongoing violence due to the ethnic clashes between the majority Meitei group and the tribal Kuki minority has so far killed over 150 people in the state. The mobs have been resorting to vandalism and arson, during which hundreds of houses and shops were gutted. 
This aerial photo taken on July 24, 2023 shows a priority section of the Bar-Boljare highway in Montenegro. (Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua)

PODGORICA, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- For 58-year-old Veljko Ivanovic, the China-built highway linking Montenegro's underdeveloped north with the capital Podgorica and the tourist havens in the south means he can forever say goodbye to the worries of driving on the dangerous old roads.

The 41-km Smokovac-Matesevo highway section, built by the China Road and Bridge Corporation, was put into operation in 2022 and enabled a detour from one of the most dangerous road sections in the Balkans. It is the first part of the 180-km Bar-Boljare highway, which aims to connect northern, central and southern parts of Montenegro.

Ivanovic has worked as a driver for the past 40 years and has ridden on the infamous narrow road winding through the Platije Canyon thousands of times.

Recalling his experience of driving through the old two-lane road between the steep cliffs along the Moraca River, he is still intimidated. "During one terrible flooding after a huge rain shower, as waterfalls poured down from the tunnel, fear paralyzed me as I realized that water nearly flushed me through the security fence, down into the Moraca River."

"Numerous dangers lurked down the old road -- it was impossible to see beyond the sharp curves in the canyon, the road was of poor quality and narrow, with steep inclines and declines, and the tunnels weren't sufficiently supported with concrete," the Podgorica local said.

Around 1,200 lives have been lost on the old road through Platije Canyon, recalled Milan Ljiljanic, executive director of Monteput, a Montenegrin company that has supervised the construction of the new highway project and is now in charge of its operation.

"Since the new highway was opened, on the Smokovac-Matesevo priority section, as well as along the road through Platije Canyon, no deadly traffic incidents have occurred," he said.

The old narrow road now turns into a quiet local passage favored by bikers and tourists, while the main traffic is redirected safely above it, across over 20 bridges and through 16 tunnels. Thousands of tourists and cargo trucks can safely take the route without risking their lives driving through the canyon.

HIGHWAY OF STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE

In addition to improving safety, the new highway also brings economic benefits to Montenegro, a country with rugged mountains and of around 600,000 people, whose economy is largely dependent on tourism.

"In the past 12 months since the highway was put into operation, 2.2 million vehicles have circulated here, and the tolls generated an income of 9 million euros (9.9 million U.S. dollars)," Ljiljanic said.

"The construction of this section gave a significant incentive to the development of economic activities, and the development of tourism, especially in the Northern parts of our country," Ljiljanic told Xinhua.

This year, Montenegro expects to beat the success of the last year's tourist season, when it received two million visitors and generated around 1 billion euros from tourism, according to the national statistics agency Montstat.

Popular destinations, such as Budva and Kotor, are crowded with tourists from all over the world. Meanwhile, the country has made new deals with Chinese companies, such as Shandong Hi-Speed, to improve its key coastal boulevard and other infrastructure.

At a recent celebration marking the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Podgorica, Montenegrin officials hailed the success of the transnational project.

Montenegro's Finance Minister Aleksandar Damjanovic said his country should "continue the construction of the highway as soon as possible."

Former President Filip Vujanovic said the BRI project had proved its worth. "Not a fatal traffic accident has happened during the past year since the highway was used. We have a highway that saves human lives," he said.

Ljiljanic believed that the capacity of the highway project will reach its full potential when the whole Bar-Boljare highway is completed and put into operation.

Ivanovic said benefits will multiply once the whole country is connected by highway. "Tourists are more than satisfied, and they will be even more so when the Podgorica-Bar and the Matesevo-Boljare sections are completed," he said. 

This aerial photo taken on July 24, 2023 shows a bridge on the Bar-Boljare highway in Montenegro. (Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua)

This aerial photo taken on July 24, 2023 shows tunnels at the priority section of the Bar-Boljare highway in Montenegro. (Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua)

This aerial photo taken on July 24, 2023 shows tunnels at a priority section of the Bar-Boljare highway in Montenegro. (Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua)

This aerial photo taken on July 24, 2023 shows a priority section of the Bar-Boljare highway in Montenegro. (Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua)

A staff member works in a control room of a priority section of the Bar-Boljare highway in Montenegro, July 24, 2023. (Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua)

This photo taken on July 24, 2023 shows a bridge on the Bar-Boljare highway in Montenegro. (Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua)

Milan Ljiljanic, executive director of Monteput, poses for a photo during an interview with Xinhua in Podgorica, Montenegro, July 25, 2023. (Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua)
MADRID, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- The wildfire that began in the north-west of the Spanish holiday island of Tenerife late on Tuesday night continues to burn out of control and has doubled in size in just over 24 hours, devastating almost 3,300 hectares of forest in at least eight municipalities.

Around 7,000 residents have either been evacuated or told to stay at home as the perimeter of the fire has extended to 41 km from 22 km late on Wednesday night.

Up to 3,069 people in the small town of El Sauzal have to leave their homes late on Thursday, while in nearby La Esperanza, 3,820 were told to stay indoors, partly due to the risk from smoke inhalation.

Addressing the press, the President of the Spanish-controlled Canary Islands Fernando Clavijo said that some firebreaks were starting to have a positive effect, but the hilly and rocky terrain, with many steep valleys and outcrops, has made access to some burning zones almost impossible and made it difficult to curtail the fire.

A total of 205 members of Spain's Military Emergency Unit worked with 40 fire-engines and bulldozers over Thursday night to combat the flames. Seventeen aircraft, helicopters and local firefighters joined the combat on Friday morning.

According to the latest data from the European Forest Fire Information System, wildfires have burned 81,058 hectares in Spain in 2023. Most of Spain remains on "extreme" alert for further wildfires due to continued hot and dry weather. 
MINSK, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Belarus will not participate in the armed hostilities in Ukraine unless Ukrainians cross the state border, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Thursday.

"If Ukrainians do not cross our border, we will never participate in this war, in this full-scale war, but we will always help Russia," Lukashenko told the media in an interview.

The Belarusian president also denied reports that Moscow allegedly persuades Minsk to participate in its special military operation in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Lukashenko said that the conflict in Ukraine could have been avoided, and it is still possible to end it.

Any peace negotiation should be proceeded without pre-conditions, he added. 
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- As the death toll from the Hawaii wildfires keeps rising, the debate has got heated around whether sirens could have made a difference against the deadliest fires in modern U.S. history.

The fires that started on Aug. 8 in Maui Island killed 111 people as of Thursday, with the death toll expected to rise as searches continue.

When the wildfires broke out, residents said they were not evacuated and none of the island's 80 warning sirens sounded for evacuation.

The Maui County Emergency Management Agency, which is responsible for sounding the sirens, faced intense criticism because it didn't activate the system before the disaster.

The agency's head, Herman Andaya, resigned on Thursday facing increasing criticism for the agency's response to the crisis. But he cited health reasons for his resignation, according to the official Facebook page of Maui County.

Andaya defended the agency's decision at Wednesday's media briefing, saying the system was used primarily to warn the public of tsunamis.

He said people were trained to evacuate to higher ground, and he was afraid at that time that people would have gone mountainside into the path of fires if the sirens were sounded that night.

The siren system has not been used either in Maui or in other jurisdictions around the state for wildfires, Andaya said.

Hawaii Governor Josh Green backed Andaya's reasoning, saying at the briefing that "in those cases (of wildfires) had a siren gone off, I would have been expecting a tsunami to come."

The county's siren system is used to warn the public about natural disasters and other emergencies. The system includes outdoor sirens, warnings that are broadcast on TV and radio, as well as wireless alerts texted to cellphones.

The agency did activate the warning systems for cellphones, TV and radio stations. But widespread power and signal outages limited the reach, because electrical power and cell service were down when high winds hit the island.

The sirens, however, are solar-powered and can sound even during power outage. But some experts said it's unclear if sirens could have made a difference in the Maui fires.

Sarah DeYoung, a professor at the University of Delaware, told National Public Radio that sirens had limitations because they couldn't tell people exactly what to do.

Despite the limitations, she said, "It's better to give people more information than not enough."

The Maui County's emergency response is under review by the Hawaii Attorney General's office. 
Photo taken on Aug. 14, 2023 shows firefighting equipment unloaded at an airport in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. The government of Canada's Northwest Territories declared a state of emergency on Tuesday and issued the evacuation order on Wednesday in response to out-of-control wildfires. Mass evacuation of areas in the territory is ongoing, including the capital city of Yellowknife, the territory's largest community with a population of more than 20,000. Residents were ordered to leave by noon Friday. (Canadian Armed Forces/Handout via Xinhua)

OTTAWA, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau convened an emergency meeting on Thursday to discuss the wildfire crisis in the Northwest Territories, local media reported.

Mass evacuation of areas in the territory is ongoing, including the capital city of Yellowknife, the territory's largest community with a population of more than 20,000. Residents were ordered to leave by noon Friday.

The territory government said Thursday on its website that only residents who do not have the option to evacuate by car are asked to register for flights and that residents with health concerns and a higher risk of severe outcomes are encouraged to register for an evacuation flight to avoid worsening air quality.

The Canadian Armed Forces said Thursday on social media that they are in Yellowknife and have hit the ground running to provide support and help protect communities from wildfires.

The territory government declared a state of emergency on Tuesday and issued the evacuation order on Wednesday in response to out-of-control wildfires. Local media reported that the wildfires could reach the outskirts of Yellowknife by the weekend.

According to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, there were around 1,000 active forest fires in Canada as of Thursday, 236 of which were burning in the Northwest Territories. 

Photo taken on Aug. 14, 2023 shows members of the Canadian Armed Forces arriving to battle wildfires in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. The government of Canada's Northwest Territories declared a state of emergency on Tuesday and issued the evacuation order on Wednesday in response to out-of-control wildfires. Mass evacuation of areas in the territory is ongoing, including the capital city of Yellowknife, the territory's largest community with a population of more than 20,000. Residents were ordered to leave by noon Friday. (Canadian Armed Forces/Handout via Xinhua)

Photo taken on Aug. 16, 2023 shows a member of the Canadian Armed Forces constructing a firebreak in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. The government of Canada's Northwest Territories declared a state of emergency on Tuesday and issued the evacuation order on Wednesday in response to out-of-control wildfires. Mass evacuation of areas in the territory is ongoing, including the capital city of Yellowknife, the territory's largest community with a population of more than 20,000. Residents were ordered to leave by noon Friday. (Canadian Armed Forces/Handout via Xinhua)

Photo taken on Aug. 16, 2023 shows members of the Canadian Armed Forces constructing a firebreak in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. The government of Canada's Northwest Territories declared a state of emergency on Tuesday and issued the evacuation order on Wednesday in response to out-of-control wildfires. Mass evacuation of areas in the territory is ongoing, including the capital city of Yellowknife, the territory's largest community with a population of more than 20,000. Residents were ordered to leave by noon Friday. (Canadian Armed Forces/Handout via Xinhua)

Photo taken on Aug. 16, 2023 shows members of the Canadian Armed Forces heading to work on a firebreak in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. The government of Canada's Northwest Territories declared a state of emergency on Tuesday and issued the evacuation order on Wednesday in response to out-of-control wildfires. Mass evacuation of areas in the territory is ongoing, including the capital city of Yellowknife, the territory's largest community with a population of more than 20,000. Residents were ordered to leave by noon Friday. (Canadian Armed Forces/Handout via Xinhua)
Explosions rock Moscow, drone claimed downed, Vnukovo airport closed  video 18 August, 12:06 PM As it is claimed, smoke after an explosion in the Moscow City area on the night of August 18, 2023 (Photo:,  / Telegram)

Explosions jolted the residents of Moscow and its suburbs in the early hours of Aug. 18 as the Moskva-City complex, a financial district adorned with skyscrapers in the western part of the Russian capital, was once again damaged by what appears to be a drone attack.

News channels on Russian Telegram reported on the explosion at Moskva-City, and videos of the attack and its aftermath began circulating on social media.

Read also: Moscow airports in chaos after multiple reports of drone attacks

The airspace above Moscow's Vnukovo Airport was closed, according to a report from the Kremlin-controlled TASS state news agency. The Kovyor (Carpet in Russian) security protocol was initiated to address an unidentified flying object.

Video of day

Visual evidence of the damage to the Moskva-City complex was presented in a video posted by the Mash Telegram Channel.

Another video captures the moment of the explosion from a vantage point overlooking the financial district, a massive fireball suddenly erupts, accompanied by a deafening explosion, and a mushroom cloud forms over the Moscow Expocenter.

A subsequent video showcases the extent of the damage to the expo building. Baza reported an approximate 30-square-meter area impacted. They also shared a video featuring the sound of a drone flying over Moskva-City.

Russia's Defense Ministry asserted that an attack by a Ukrainian drone targeted sites in Moscow. They reported that the drone was intercepted and crashed near the Krasnopresnenskaya embankment.

Meanwhile, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin stated that air defenses intercepted a drone that was approaching the capital, and its wreckage fell near Moscow's expo building.

Various Telegram channels mentioned that explosions were also heard in Odintsovo and Krasnogorsk, located in Moscow Oblast.

The Shot Telegram channel uploaded a video from a tower within the Moskva-City complex, where individuals heard the drone and discussed its impact location.

The Ateo Breaking channel released a video capturing the damage, recorded by a resident of Moscow.

The overnight drone attack on Moscow on August 18 is the most recent in a series of such attacks on the Russian capital. Russia attributes these attacks to Ukraine, asserting that it usually shoots down or disrupts attacking drones using electronic means.

Ukraine typically denies responsibility for such attacks, although some of the drones are known to be of Ukrainian origin.

In a prior incident in the same district of the Russian capital on July 30, a drone collided with the IQ tower within Moskva-City, resulting in damage to an office of the Russian Ministry of Digital Development situated in the building.

Moscow faced another drone attack overnight on August 1. The same tower within the city's financial district suffered damage again, as reported by Sobyanin.

Flight restrictions were imposed on August 11 at Vnukovo airport due to a drone flying over Moscow that triggered an explosion, either by self-detonation or being shot down. This incident led to numerous flight delays.

Sobyanin mentioned that the drone was downed over the western part of Moscow, with its debris landing in the vicinity of the Karamyshevskaya embankment.

Moscow's air defense downed two drones heading towards the capital in the early hours of August 10, as claimed by Sobyanin. One of these drones was reportedly shot down in Kaluga Oblast, while the other was downed over Moscow's Central Ring.

Subsequent to this incident, flight restrictions were enforced at two of Moscow's airportsVnukovo and Domodedovo. Explosions were also reportedly heard near the settlement of Domodedovo.

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
Turkey begins construction of second corvette for Ukrainian Navy 18 August, 04:48 PM Turkey begins construction of second corvette for Ukrainian Navy (Photo:Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine)

Turkey has launched the construction of a second Ada-class corvette for the Ukrainian Navy, according to a navy spokesman on August 18.

The keel-laying event to mark the start of construction was attended by the Chief of Staff of the Ukrainian Navy, Vice Admiral Andriy Tarasov, as part of a delegation from the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, headed by Deputy Defense Minister Volodymyr Havrylov.

Photo: Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

This is the second corvette Ankara is building for Ukraine. In October 2022 the first, the Hetman Ivan Mazepa, was launched.

Video of day

The ship was ceremonially named by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, becoming the first ship of its class for the Ukrainian Navy.

The Ada-class is a type of missile corvette developed for the Turkish Navy. These vessels are designed for patrolling on the high seas and anti-submarine operations, and incorporate stealth technology.

The project to build two vessels of this type for Ukraine began in 2021. According to the agreement, the corvettes are expected to join the Ukrainian Navy in 2024.

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
Ukraines MoD skeptical of gloomy US intelligence report on failure of counter-offensive 18 August, 07:43 PM Ukrainian soldiers in the Donetsk region, July 31, 2023 (Photo:REUTERS/Viacheslav Ratynskyi)

Ukraine's Defense Ministry says it is skeptical of U.S. intelligence assessments that Ukraines counter-offensive will fail to reach Melitopol and cut off Russian land bridge to the occupied Crimea, Defense Ministry official Oleksii Kopytko said on Facebook on Aug. 18.

It is a "new creation" from the authors of "the Russians will seize Kyiv in 72-96 hours," Kopytko wrote, referring to earlier claims that Russia would quickly be able to seize the Ukrainian capital.

The US intelligence assessment was published by U.S. newspaper the Washington Post on Aug. 17. It stated, in particular, that the Ukrainian army "will remain several miles outside of the city" of Melitopol. The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden administration is also concerned with the offensive actions near Bakhmut, which it thinks could loosen the focus of the counter-offensive in the south, the article says.

Video of day

"Among the especially interesting reasons for not-liberating (Melitopol) are the Ukrainian armys involvement in activities near Bakhmut, as well as the desire of Ukrainian commanders to reduce losses by using the tactics of (fighting in) small groups," Kopytko wrote.

"I try to follow the train of thoughts of such writers. Should the Ukrainian army leave Bakhmut, or do something else? Where should they retreat? Maybe, they should retreat to the other bank of the Dnipro River? Or maybe they know how we can stop Russians in Bakhmut/Avdiyivka/ Mariinka, etc. so they won't go further, without fighting?"

He also said that it would be better to not pay attention to any "anonymous sources in intelligence," "media reports," or anything else that is still strongly affected by Russian propaganda.

The one thing that could prevent the Ukrainian army from achieving its goals is a lack of weapons, Kopytko said.

"All this speculation is akin to an inverted pyramid of swapped causes and consequences: why should we provide them with weapons if they don't liberate Melitopol. Then when they don't supply weapons, they see the expected result of not liberating Melitopol. Then they claimed to have foreseen such an outcome," he added.

The Ukrainian counter-offensive: Latest

The latest thrust of Ukraines counter-offensive is toward Ukraines southeast, U.S. newspaper the New York Times reported on July 27. The counter-offensive operation is made more difficult by the large areas of mined land and relentless enemy artillery fire.

Earlier, on Aug. 4, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said Ukrainian forces had breached the first line of Russian defenses in southern Ukraine in some areas of the front.

Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi said that Ukrainian forces "continue to create conditions for advancement, step by step."

Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said that the counter-offensive is behind schedule, but is going according to plan.

Ukrainian forces liberated the village of Urozhayne in Donetsk Oblast on Aug. 16, and were seeing successes south of the village the next day, as well as consolidating their positions around the earlier-liberated village, Ukraines military reported.

A total of nine settlements were liberated in June, and the village of Staromayorske in July.

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
Ukrenergo appeals to Poland, Romania for emergency assistance to stabilize power grid 18 August, 03:18 PM For the second day in a row, Ukraine requested emergency assistance for the power system (Photo:Matthew Henry | unsplash)

Ukrainian state energy company Ukrenergo reached out to Romania and Poland for emergency assistance to stabilize the countrys power grid, the company said in a Telegram on August 18.

"Emergency assistance is the final and most costly measure to address the energy shortfall in the power grid, which does not entail curtailing supplies to consumers," Ukrenergo said.

Although energy consumption was slightly below the record high, it closely approached the maximum on August 17.

Furthermore, three power units at thermal power plants were temporarily removed from the grid for maintenance, and only two were subsequently returned to operation.

Video of day

Given that electricity imports failed to adequately compensate for the deficit, Ukrenergo was compelled to implement emergency assistance from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. from the power grids of Romania and Poland, with a combined capacity of 400 MWh.

Commercial electricity imports amounted to 3,815 MWh over the past day.

As of August 4, only 1.6% of Ukrainian heating facilities heavily damaged by Russian attacks during the previous winter have been repaired.

Additionally, a mere 7% of the electrical grid has been restored, as reported by the National Commission for State Regulation of Energy and Public Utilities.

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
Key Insights

Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, Thermo Fisher Scientific's stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions

The top 25 shareholders own 48% of the company

Ownership research along with analyst forecasts data help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock

Every investor in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 90% to be precise, is institutions. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Because institutional owners have a huge pool of resources and liquidity, their investing decisions tend to carry a great deal of weight, especially with individual investors. Therefore, a good portion of institutional money invested in the company is usually a huge vote of confidence on its future.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Thermo Fisher Scientific.

Check out our latest analysis for Thermo Fisher Scientific

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Thermo Fisher Scientific?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Thermo Fisher Scientific's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

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Investors should note that institutions actually own more than half the company, so they can collectively wield significant power. We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Thermo Fisher Scientific. Our data shows that The Vanguard Group, Inc. is the largest shareholder with 8.3% of shares outstanding. With 7.7% and 4.9% of the shares outstanding respectively, BlackRock, Inc. and Capital Research and Management Company are the second and third largest shareholders.

Our studies suggest that the top 25 shareholders collectively control less than half of the company's shares, meaning that the company's shares are widely disseminated and there is no dominant shareholder.

Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Thermo Fisher Scientific

The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own less than 1% of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.. It is a very large company, so it would be surprising to see insiders own a large proportion of the company. Though their holding amounts to less than 1%, we can see that board members collectively own US$302m worth of shares (at current prices). In this sort of situation, it can be more interesting to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 10% stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Thermo Fisher Scientific better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Thermo Fisher Scientific that you should be aware of.

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Eugene Shvidler was sanctioned in part because of his relationship with Roman Abramovich - COLORSPORT/DANIEL BEARHAM

A billionaire ally of Roman Abramovich has lost a court bid to overturn UK sanctions imposed on him after Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Eugene Shvidlers two private jets were seized in March 2022 after officials highlighted his decades-long friendship with Mr Abramovich and his close links to Russian steel company Evraz.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) described the Soviet-born billionaire as a business partner of the former Chelsea FC owner.

Mr Shvidlers failed High Court appeal against the sanctions is the first such case to reach judgment in the UK and could have wide-reaching implications for others hoping to mount similar appeals.

His challenge revolved around claims he was wrongly targeted by officials who wanted to make him a poster boy for counter-Russian sanctions.

Mr Shvidler, whose wealth has been estimated at 1.1bn, denied that he ever obtained benefits from the Russian state and said UK sanctions had also affected his family.

Harrow School withdrew its offer of a place to Mr Shvidlers son when his father was sanctioned, while his daughter was told not to return by Wiltshires 45,000-a-year Marlborough College despite being part-way through her A-levels.

Describing the billionaires case as hopeless, trial judge Mr Justice Garnham said on Friday: It is plain from all the evidence that the reason that the claimant was [sanctioned] was not just his role at Evraz but the combination of that role with his relationship with Mr Abramovich.

A Bombardier Global Express private jet, similar to the one that was seized from Mr Shvidler - Photo/Lauri Huima

Mr Abramovich was one of the first Russians to be sanctioned by the UK after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

He has allegedly held close links to Vladimir Putins regime, and at one stage in 2022 was proposed as a negotiator to help end Russias invasion.

Mr Putin personally approved Mr Abramovich playing such a diplomatic role, the High Court said.

Mr Shvidler acknowledged that he and the former Chelsea owner had been friends since 1986, latterly becoming business associates.

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Both oligarchs have links to Evraz, a London-listed Russian steel company.

Mr Shvidler served on the board of Evraz for a decade until he resigned on the same day he was sanctioned.

In the early stages of his bid to overturn the March 2022 sanctions, he personally wrote to Liz Truss, then the Foreign Secretary, to make his case, the court heard.

Lawyer Michael OKane said Mr Shvidler, who lives in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, will seek to appeal Fridays judgment at the earliest opportunity.

Mr Shvidler has never been a citizen of Russia, has not visited Russia for more than 15 years and has been critical of the Russian governments actions in Ukraine, Mr OKane added.

Mr Abramovich is also currently appealing to EU courts to overturn invasion-linked sanctions imposed on him by Brussels, having already partially overturned a UK ruling that described him as being involved in destabilising Ukraine.

Around 1,600 people have been sanctioned by Britain after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

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.
AI has become the new shiny object, attracting investors attention. The rush began this past November when OpenAIs ChatGPT made its debut, demonstrating in the clearest possible way how AI can change the ways computers use the data they collect and the ways we interact with them.

The sudden interest in AI has had a spiraling effect. Investors are seeking companies with greater exposure to AI, while tech firms are eager to publicize their own AI links and offerings.

Keeping a close watch on these developments is JPMorgan analyst Alexei Gogolev. He recently said, Since Chat GPT came to the public domain, many companies rushed to highlight their AI expertise, lauding themselves as AI winners. We consulted a number of companies in our coverage, technology leaders, and went through various public information in order to analyze who are the true beneficiaries and leaders in this ecosystem.

Gogolev goes on to make specific recommendations, suggesting tech stocks that are likely to realize strong gains from the AI revolution. Using the TipRanks database, weve looked up two of his picks to see what makes them stand out.

Alkami Technology (ALKT)

Well start with Alkami Technology, a provider of cloud-based digital banking solutions for the US financial market. Alkami has been in business since 2009, and its products allow banks and other institutions to drive their ROI through an improved digital banking experience for customers. The cloud-based platform provides enterprise customers with tools to enhance the user experience, manage large-scale data, and leverage continuous software update delivery.

The companys tools and products are adaptable to a wide range of banking needs, from retail banking services to business and commercial financial products. Data and management solutions include customer insights and marketing automation, data cleansing, and AI-driven predictive marketing. Alkamis ability to manage data at scale is a prerequisite for making effective use of AI; machine learning systems utilize a brute force approach, basing AI on the analysis of vast amounts of data.

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Earlier this month, Alkami launched its first product specifically designed to combine its data resources and AI capabilities. The Engagement AI Model, a first of its kind in the industry, employs AI and machine learning, together with Alkamis proprietary Key Lifestyle Indicators, to identify customer behaviors most likely to lead to account retention  a crucial capability for banks seeking to increase account holder engagement with products and services.

This product announcement followed shortly after Alkami released its 2Q23 financial results. The company has displayed a recent trend of increasing quarterly revenues and moderating quarterly earnings losses  and the second quarter of this year saw the continuation of both these trends. Alkami reported $65.8 million in revenues, marking a 30% year-over-year increase and surpassing estimates by approximately $2.65 million. Regarding the bottom line, the companys non-GAAP EPS loss was 3 cents, exceeding the forecast by 2 cents.

Alkamis customer metrics supported the upward revenue and earnings trends. The company concluded Q2 with 40 new clients and reported that 15.8 million users were utilizing the digital banking platform.

JPMorgans Alexei Gogolev is impressed by Alkamis use of AI in its operations and products, noting, Alkamis transparency and optimization of AI use put it in a good position among the analyzed coverage group. We believe that Alkami has been successfully using Artificial Intelligence internally and externally to create efficient and exciting solutions for its customers. Alkamis business model is providing regional banks and credit unions with high-tech banking solutions. The company incorporates AI to personalize user experience and provide automated data analytics (20+ products with AI integration) and publishes white papers, case studies, data insights, and digital banking blogs to educate consumers

Alkami is ranked among the leading players in our Financial Services coverage given the versatility of its solutions (including fraud protection, customer chatbots, etc.), the analyst summed up.

Quantifying his stance, Gogolev rates ALKT an Overweight (i.e. Buy), with a price target of $19 to point towards a 25% one-year upside. (To watch Gogolevs track record, click here)

Overall, there are 7 recent analyst reviews on record for ALKT shares and they break down to 6 Buys and 1 Hold, for a Strong Buy consensus view. The stock is selling for $15.16 and its $21 average price target suggests a potential upside of ~38% in the next 12 months. (See ALKT stock forecast)

Procore Technologies (PCOR)

The next stock under JPMorgans radar is Procore, a company that leverages technology and high-end software systems to transform the construction industry. Procore offers a comprehensive suite of collaboration tools through its cloud-based construction management software platform, enabling seamless integration and coordination among builders, contractors, project managers, and property owners  essential stakeholders in any construction project. The platform empowers them to use connected devices such as smartphones and tablets for sharing documents, site and project plans, as well as critical data.

Procores software platform includes various features, such as document storage, drawing markups, and meeting minutes  the essential components of any project. By providing digital access to these components in real-time, Procore streamlines construction projects of all sizes.

With its sights on a lucrative market, Procore targets the global construction industry, which has a total value exceeding $14 trillion. The industry incurs over $500 billion annually due to rework and communication inefficiencies. Procore estimates that by addressing these issues, construction stakeholders could potentially realize $1.6 trillion in productivity gains. For now, the company notes that over 1 million construction projects around the world, totaling over $1 trillion, have used its platform.

Utilizing AI, Procore has developed construction intelligence  AI-guided workflows based on accurate data analysis, enhancing insights and decision-making accuracy. Each construction projects data is centralized within Procores platform, allowing customers to leverage AI-powered analytical tools for a comprehensive understanding of historical data and the formulation of effective KPIs for optimal efficiency. Procore boasts that its customers save, on average, 15 days on each project and realize a 16% reduction in rework.

Procore released its 2Q23 results at the beginning of this month, demonstrating yet another quarter of increasing revenues and earnings. After transitioning from a net loss to a net profit in Q1, the company continued to perform well in Q2. The non-GAAP EPS doubled from 1 cent per share to 2 cents, while exceeding the forecast by 11 cents. Furthermore, the companys revenue totaled $228.5 million, surpassing estimates by over $10.52 million, marking a nearly 33% year-over-year increase.

Strong performance and a smart use of AI led JPMorgans Gogolev to rate this stock highly in his notes. The analyst says, Construction needs to be digitized, and early AI adopters stand to benefit and establish themselves as industry leaders. Similar to internet infrastructure, real estate is driven by consumers desire for efficiency and comfort with AI. PCOR (we rank #1) stands out in the space; in an industry where pen and paper are the norm, they have used construction and workflow data to provide insights and better the process Procore does not appear to be monetizing AI separately from its product offerings and instead is working on increased AI integration and product offerings. Early adoption and innovation with AI provides plenty of growth potential, along with collecting more data to become an industry leader.

Looking forward, Gogolev sees his stance justifying an Overweight (i.e. Buy) rating, while his $85 price target implies an upside potential of ~36% for the year ahead.

Overall, this construction-tech firm has picked up 13 recent reviews from the Streets analysts, and these include 12 Buys against 1 Hold for a Strong Buy consensus rating. The stock is selling for $62.26 and carries an $82.45 average price target, suggesting it will appreciate by 32% going into next year. (See Procore stock forecast)

To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks Best Stocks to Buy, a tool that unites all of TipRanks equity insights.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analysts. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.
Gas prices have been climbing again, hitting the highest level since October 2022, according to motor vehicle club AAA.

The national average price for a gallon of unleaded gasoline this week reached $3.87, 31 cents higher than last month and a nickel more than just last week, AAA said. The price is still below the $3.93 people paid one year ago, but Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at gas price tracker GasBuddy, sees the potential for prices to rise above that before summer ends.

That increase could derail budgets for Labor Day travel and fan inflation again, analysts said. Gas prices are getting perilously close to $4 per gallon, seen as a tipping point for Americans, AAA said. Among 1,051 Americans AAA surveyed in February 2022, 59% said they would make changes to their driving habits or lifestyle if the cost of gas rose that high.

While July inflation data looked pretty good with energy prices well below their year-ago level, August data isnt going to look nearly as friendly, De Haan said. Annual inflation in July rose 3.2%, down sharply from July 2022s 8.5%.

Why are gas prices climbing?

Gas prices reflect the steady rise in oil costs since June and a slowdown at refineries as record heat bakes portions of the nation. Add to those issues a new concern: hurricane jitters.

Oil prices account for about half the price of a gallon of gasoline, followed by refining costs. Refiners convert oil into usable products like gasoline.

Oil prices have been rising partly from production cuts by Saudi Arabia and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (dubbed OPEC+) and soaring demand. August saw record world oil demand, boosted by strong summer air travel, increased oil use in power generation and surging Chinese petrochemical activity, the International Energy Agency said in a report.

Extreme heat across the nation prevents refineries from running at full capacity. AAA estimates extreme heat shut down 500,000 barrels per day of refining capacity this summer. Petroleum engineers can tell you that when ambient temperatures get to the 100-degree neighborhood, it is difficult to run at maximum levels, said Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at Oil Price Information Service.

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Accuweather predicts that the heat dome that's been scorching the southern United States for weeks will expand across more of the central part of the country this weekend into next week.

Hurricane season has begun, with Hurricane Hilary forecast to affect southern California, parts of Nevada and Arizona this weekend. Even if Hilary doesnt inflict pain on the oil and gas industry, the risks of a storm that could cause problems have risen. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecasters this month increased the likelihood of an above-normal Atlantic hurricane season to 60%, up from 30% in May. The U.S. is especially vulnerable to supply issues for a strong storm that strikes between Corpus Christi, Tex. and the Beaumont-Pt. Arthur, Tex. coastline, Kloza said, referring to an area with a concentration of refineries.

Gas is pumped at a Costco Warehouse in Cranberry, Pa.

How high can gas prices go?

Weather is the wildcard, analysts said.

These looming weather concerns are a roadblock to falling pump prices, said Andrew Gross, AAA spokesperson.

If a hurricane hits Gulf refineries, supply could be curtailed and gas prices would rise not just in the U.S. but across the world, Kloza said.

Caught in the middle: President Biden faces criticism from oil and gas, environmentalist after New Mexico visit

[3:00 PM] Sergent, James

Where is gas the most expensive?

According to the latest from AAA,

Kloza said he expects California, Nevada and Arizona prices to rise this weekend due to the possibility of Hurricane Hilary strikes.

Medora Lee is a money, markets, and personal finance reporter at USA TODAY. You can reach her at mjlee@usatoday.com and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for personal finance tips and business news every Monday.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why are gas prices going up? Costs soar to 10-month high
Key Insights

Atlantic Lithium's significant individual investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public

The top 10 shareholders own 50% of the company

Insiders have been buying lately

If you want to know who really controls Atlantic Lithium Limited (LON:ALL), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are individual investors with 49% ownership. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Meanwhile, private companies make up 25% of the companys shareholders.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Atlantic Lithium.

Check out our latest analysis for Atlantic Lithium

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Atlantic Lithium?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

We can see that Atlantic Lithium does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Atlantic Lithium's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Atlantic Lithium. Assore Holdings Proprietary Limited is currently the largest shareholder, with 25% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 9.3% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 6.9% by the third-largest shareholder.

We also observed that the top 10 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.

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While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Atlantic Lithium

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

We can report that insiders do own shares in Atlantic Lithium Limited. In their own names, insiders own UK4.7m worth of stock in the UK132m company. It is good to see some investment by insiders, but we usually like to see higher insider holdings. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

With a 49% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Atlantic Lithium. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 25%, of the Atlantic Lithium stock. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company.

Public Company Ownership

Public companies currently own 16% of Atlantic Lithium stock. We can't be certain but it is quite possible this is a strategic stake. The businesses may be similar, or work together.

Next Steps:

I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Take risks for example - Atlantic Lithium has 4 warning signs (and 1 which is a bit unpleasant) we think you should know about.

Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
FILE - University System of Georgia Chancellor Sonny Perdue, right, presents a trophy to Augusta University President Brooks Keel in recognition of AU's enrollment growth for the summer 2023 semester at the Board of Regents meeting, Aug. 8, 2023.

Augusta University generated $2.94 billion for the Peach State economy in 2022, according to a new report from the University System of Georgia.

The report totals the impact of the university and AU Health, which between them employ 21,250. The impact is not entirely localized to the Augusta region. The Medical College of Georgia partnership and clinical campuses across the state contribute almost $50 million of the total.

Augusta University and AU Health are not only leaders in education, research and patient care, we are also proud of the economic impact our campuses provide in the Augusta region and throughout Georgia, AU President Brooks Keel was quoted as saying in a news release.

The impact for Augusta is significant, though.

Hospital contract: Columbia County adopts contract to fund new hospital once AU-Wellstar deal approved

New construction: USG regents approve strategic plan, new degrees, capitol projects and repairs

"Having a major university is always a plus for economic development," said Cal Wray, president of the Augusta Economic Development Authority.

A well-trained workforce is one of the keys to economic development, Wray said, and AU's growth plan to expand is only going to help economic development in the region.

Augusta University was one of eight USG institutions to see an increased enrollment last year, out of 26 institutions across the state. At a recent Board of Regents meeting, USG Chancellor Sonny Perdue recognized Keel for AU's 6.8% increase in enrollment over the summer semester, the highest out of the four research universities in the system.

USG as a whole had a $20.1 billion output in fiscal year 2022, supporting 159,034 full- and part-time jobs, according to the report.

There may also be some major capitol projects coming from the university in the coming year.

AU Health is finalizing a deal with the Wellstar Health system that will include the construction of a new hospital in Columbia County. In July, the Columbia County commission approved a contract with the Hospital Authority to issue $375 million in bonds that the new health system will be responsible for.

On Tuesday, the Augusta commission approved a re-issuance of a 2018 and 2020 bond for AU Health through AEDA. According to Wray, this bond involved no new money and just transferred the bond to the new AU-Wellstar entity.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Augusta University, AU Health bring billions to Georgia
A Landline bus is reflected in a Transportation Security Administration sign at the Northern Colorado Regional Airport on Jan. 30 in Loveland.

LOVELAND  When Landline partnered with United Airlines for its "wingless flights" bus service between Northern Colorado Regional Airport and Denver International Airport two years ago, it operated much like any airline would and paid fees as if it were a traditional connector flight.

United passengers could book travel to and from Loveland to their destination, check bags at the ticket counter and board the bus to DIA. Landline offered four daily trips and unlike a traditional shuttle service was working to secure TSA clearance to drop passengers within a secure area, bypassing the much longer security lines in Denver.

But thus far, the Transportation Security Administration has not authorized that clearance and it's uncertain whether it ever will. That forced Landline to pivot. Today, it operates more like a traditional airport shuttle and on Thursday Landline asked the Northern Colorado Regional Airport Commission to adjust its fees accordingly.

Airport finds itself in Catch-22

The main sticking point to getting "secure-to-secure" approval from the TSA is something outside of Landline's control.

To get secure-to-secure approval, the airport has to have a TSA security checkpoint. But TSA won't provide a security checkpoint at an airport that lacks commercial air service, which Northern Colorado Regional has struggled to attract and retain.

The TSA recently approved Landline's secure-to-secure service in Philadelphia, the first of its kind in the world, Landline officials said Thursday. Landline believes it can prove there is demand in the market to connect from Loveland to DIA with secure-to-secure access.

Airport officials are banking that the new terminal, expected to open next year, will be a catalyst to attracting a new commercial airline to Northern Colorado. "We are being proactive to get something in here for when the terminal is done," said Interim Airport Director David Ruppel.

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New rates help Landline's profitability

Airport commissioners approved a new contract aligning Landline's fees with that of shuttle provider Groome.

Construction of a new terminal, which has moved Landline's pickup/drop-off spot away from the existing terminal and closed about 100 parking spots, has disrupted its business, limited its ability to grow and inconvenienced passengers, Aaron Ehle, the airport's planning and development specialist, wrote in a memo to the commission.

The airport had structured its fees "as if it were a flight," he said. Now, "its fees are out of whack with what Groome pays."

Groome pays a land lease of $48,800 per year with no per departure or passenger fee. Under the current fee structure, Landline would pay $100,375 in departure fees plus $4.50 per departing passenger based on 11 trips per day.

At DIA, Landline pays $7.81 per departure with no passenger fee. At Loveland, it pays fees of $25 per departure and $4.50 per passenger.

Under the new agreement, approved unanimously, Landline will pay $12 per departure for the first eight departures and $10 per departures after that. The rates apply through 2024, unless Landline begins offering secure-to-secure service. In 2025, original rates would resume.

The new rates will bridge the gap, providing relief so Landline can continue its service, Ehle said. The airport waived Landline's fees for the first 12 months of operation.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Landline reworks Loveland airport agreement; awaiting TSA approval
United States President Joe Biden smiles as South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol (L) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shake hands at the Trilateral Summit at Camp David in Maryland on Friday. Photo by Nathan Howard/UPI

Aug. 18 (UPI) -- President Joe Biden hosted a summit at Camp David Friday, bringing together the leaders of Japan and South Korea in an effort to heal old wounds and unite the frayed allies in response to increasing military threats in Southeast Asia.

The summit got underway at 11 a.m., with Biden sitting down with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol for about 4 hours in a first-ever trilateral meeting between the world powers, the White House said.

The three leaders emerged from the private chat after 3 p.m. and held a joint press conference ahead of Biden's expected departure to Reno, Nev., for a vacation on Lake Tahoe.

"Mr. Prime Minster, Mr. President, it's an honor to welcome you both here today to inaugurate the Camp David trilateral between our three nations, among our three nations. It's not only the first summit I've hosted at Camp David, it's the first standalone summit between the leaders of Japan and Republic of Korea and the United States and I can think of no better way to mark our new chapter of our trilateral cooperation than meeting here at Camp David," Biden told reporters.

"Strengthening the ties between our democracies has long been a priority for me dating back to when I was vice president of the United States. That's because our countries are stronger and the world is safer, let me say that again, our countries are stronger and the world will be as we stand together and I know that this is a belief we all three share," Biden continued.

United States President Joe Biden smiles as he greets South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol (L) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Trilateral Summit at Camp David in Maryland on Friday. The summit marks the first time any foreign dignitaries have visited Camp David since 2015. Photo by Nathan Howard/UPI

The leaders announced they had agreed to an annual leaders' meeting to share assessments on a range of strategic issues and to discuss opportunities for further trilateral cooperation.

Also among the agreements reached at the summit was what is being called a "Commitment to Consult," in which the three nations agree to consult with one another regarding any possible responses to regional provocations or threats.

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President Joe Biden will host Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol at Camp David Friday. Photo by Nathan Howard/UPI

And the parties all agreed to initiate an annual Indo-Pacific Dialogue focused on coordinating implementation of their Japan and South Korea's Indo-Pacific approaches, with a particular emphasis on partnership with Southeast Asian and Pacific Island countries.

President Yoon thanked his host and emphasized the importance of the strategic partnership.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrives for a trilateral summit at Camp David. Photo by Nathan Howard/UPI

"I would like to extend my gratitude to President Biden for his warm hospitality," said Yoon.

"At this symbolic venue of Camp David in the history of modern diplomacy our trilateral partnership is opening a new chapter which carries great significance in my view. President Roosevelt once stated, 'freedom is not given but something you fight to win.' To make sure that each of our freedoms is neither threatened or damaged our three nations must tighten our solidarity," said Yoon.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol arrives for a trilateral summit. Photo by Nathan Howard/UPI

Prime Minister Kishida started his remarks by expressing his condolences for the loss of life caused by the recent wildfires in Hawaii.

"First of all, I would like to express my sympathy once again for the devastating damages caused by the wildfires in Maui, Hawaii. In order to provide relief to the affected people, Japan has decided to offer a total of around $2 million of support," Kishida said.

United States President Joe Biden (C), South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol (L) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida hold a joint press conference at the Trilateral Summit at Camp David in Maryland on Friday. Photo by Nathan Howard/UPI

"May I also once again offer my heartfelt condolences for the passing of away of President Yoon's father," Kishida continued.

Kishida also drew attention to the security challenge posed by North Korea.

"The international community is at a turning point in history. In order to allow the potential of our trilateral strategic cooperation to bloom and to blossom. I wish to take this moment to raise the security coordination between Japan, ROK and the U.S. to new heights while strengthening the coordination between the Japan-U.S. and U.S. ROK alliances as we deepen our cooperation in response to North Korea I wish to expand and deepen our collaboration in extensive areas including economic security such as critical and emerging technology cooperation and supply chain resilience," Kishida said.

The summit marks the first time any foreign dignitaries have visited Camp David since 2015, and comes as the United States and South Korea prepare to hold joint military drills next week as North Korea was threatening to test another ballistic missile.

The annual defense exercise -- known as the Ulchi Freedom Shield -- includes live field maneuvers, computer-simulated exercises and civil defense drills, and will be conducted over ten days starting Aug. 21.

The thaw in relations between Japan and South Korea comes in the face of growing nuclear threats from North Korea and an increasingly assertive China, which have escalated provocations throughout the Indo-Pacific in recent months.

Biden met previously with Kishida and Yoon in May on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan, where they reaffirmed commitments to settling tensions in the region as Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin were forming a tighter alliance amid the war in Ukraine.

At the time, Biden and Kishida agreed to continue supporting Ukraine against Russia and committed to work more closely to address regional security challenges, including North Korea's nuclear program and actions by China that continued to flout international law.

Washington has long been pushing for closer cooperation among its allies in the region in light of a shifting balance of power across the globe, and Xi vowing to take steps toward "reunification" with Taiwan during his third term, which started in March.

Trilateral defense and intelligence-sharing activities have ramped up in recent months, with Biden signing strategic agreements with several Asian nations while shoring up military installations in the South China Sea and elsewhere.

In July, North Korea and China reaffirmed their alliance in a high-level meeting in Pyongyang, in which North Korean leader Kim Jong Un hosted a Chinese delegation led by politburo member Li Hongzhong.

Since the meeting, Kim has vowed to make "stronger military offensives" against the United States, while backing up the threat by continuing to test-fire missiles in the region.

Earlier this week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken described the upcoming summit as a "new era" of cooperation between the U.S., Japan, and South Korea, saying the alliance would serve as a "force multiplier for good" and "promote peace and stability" in Southeast Asia, while the U.S. was committed to "the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."

"Together, the leaders will have an opportunity to discuss and to strengthen practical cooperation on a variety of shared priorities, from physical security to economic security, for humanitarian assistance to development finance, from global health to critical and emerging technologies," he said.

Tensions between Seoul and Tokyo emerged earlier this week as Japan held memorial services to mark 78 years since Japan's surrender in the war. The South Korean government criticized Kishida after he sent a "masakaki" offering to the Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo -- a controversial site that glorifies military figures who committed atrocities during World War II.

Seoul called for "responsible figures in Japan to face history squarely and to demonstrate humble reflection and genuine remorse for the past."

Overall relations between the Asian powers, however, were showing signs of improvement after decades of tensions due to unresolved political clashes, territorial disputes, and Japan's refusal to compensate for forced colonial labor during the war.

In late June, Japan and South Korea held an economic summit for the first time since 2016, agreeing to reestablish currency exchanges in a further sign of reconciliation between the allies after Japan said it would reinstate South Korea to its "white list" of preferred trade partners after a four-year absence.
It must have sounded like a good idea at the time, but Anheuser-Buschs (NYSE:BUD) decision to run a promotional campaign for its Bud Light beer with the help of transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney backfired spectacularly. Conservative America did not like that idea at all, and decided to boycott the drink, thereby no longer making it the USs best-selling beer.

As sales plummeted in the wake of the controversy, BUD shares went into a tailspin, falling by 20% in May with the company also laying off over 300 U.S. employees as a result.

Nevertheless, despite the drop in US sales its the sort of hoopla that is confined to the domestic market and a strong performance in other markets managed to offset some of the US slack. In total, organic volume in Q2 fell by 1.4% year-over-year with the North American drop of 14% countered by robust growth in the Asia Pacific region.

Meanwhile, one beer lover has evidently decided to put the well-known advice of his friend to good use. Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are close buddies, and it looks like the Microsoft founder has embraced Buffetts famous be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful quote.

During the second quarter, his Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust initiated a new position in BUD, acquiring 1,703,000 shares. As of now, these shares hold a market value of approximately $95 million.

Morgan Stanley analyst Sarah Simon is also backing the drinks giant and notes that success elsewhere offers protection from the negative US situation.

After successful execution through Covid, 2023 has seen ABI suffer substantial market share loss in the US, driven primarily by consumer boycotts of its Bud Light brand, Simon said. While this makes for very negative headlines, ABIs exposure to emerging markets limits the impact of the US share loss. After one-off costs in 2023, we see profitability growth resuming in 2024, with strong cash flow growth driving leverage to the target 2.0x, allowing for both an increase in the payout ratio as well as the resumption of share buybacks from 2026. Current valuation fails to reflect this upside, in our view.

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Accordingly, Simon has an Overweight (i.e., Buy) rating for the shares to go alongside a $68.50 price target. The implication for investors? Potential upside of 23% from current levels. (To watch Simons track record, click here)

Most other analysts echo Simons sentiment. 6 Buys and 2 Holds add up to a Strong Buy consensus rating. Given the average price target of $69, the upside potential comes in at ~24%. (See BUD stock forecast)

To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks equity insights.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analysts. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.
Blue Shield of California aims to lower prescription drug prices by switching up its partnership with CVS Health's pharmacy benefit management service, a move experts say could have ripple effects across the industry.

Blue Shield is dropping most services from CVS Caremark, one of three major pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) that help insurance companies negotiate drug prices. Instead, the nonprofit health plan will be partnering with Mark Cubans Cost Plus Drugs, Amazon Pharmacy and other companies to purchase and deliver drugs. The new business model is expected to begin ramping up next year and fully launch in 2025, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The shift comes as PBMs are under fire from federal regulators and Congress amid concerns that they are driving up drug prices. (PBM defenders argue that they actually lower prescription drug costs and increase access.)

Drug prices: Is prescription copay assistance contributing to rising drug prices? Why buyers should beware.

If Blue Shield's new model is able to save the insurer up to $500 million in annual drug costs as projected, it may entice more insurers or employers to follow suit or pressure PBMs to modify their business practices, according to Stacie Dusetzina, a professor of health policy at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

The announcement today from Blue Shield of California is a major step, showing a large insurer is willing to break ties with the current drug pricing and reimbursement model, she told USA TODAY.

A sign outside of a CVS Health store on August 01, 2023 in Miami, Florida.

How Blue Shield's new model works

As of 2021, Americans on average spend more than $1,500 on prescription drugs each year, per the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. More than 8% of Americans taking prescription medication have had to stop due to cost, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

While pharmaceutical companies have long been blamed for high drug costs, PBMs have come under increased scrutiny, with critics concerned that PBMs are driving up prices by favoring more expensive medications. The Federal Trade Commission last month walked back statements backing PBMs, and the Senate Finance Committee in June introduced a bipartisan bill to increase regulation on the organizations.

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Blue Shield of California CEO Paul Markovich said the insurer is switching up its model because the current pharmacy system is "extremely expensive, enormously complex, completely opaque, and designed to maximize the profit of participants."

That is why we are working with like-minded partners to create a completely new, more transparent system that gets the right drugs to the right people at the right time at a substantially lower cost," Markovich said in a statement Thursday.

A statement from Blue Shield said it aims to lower prescription costs and provide its nearly 5 million members convenient, transparent access to medications. Under the new business model, the insurer will be working with five companies.

Amazon Pharmacy will deliver prescription medications.

Mark Cuban Cost Plug Drug Company will establish a "simple, transparent, and more affordable" pricing model.

Abarca will pay prescription drug claims.

Prime Therapeutics  a midsize PBM owned by Blue Cross and Blue Shield health insurers will help negotiate prices with drug manufacturers.

CVS Caremark will continue to provide specialty pharmacy services for members with complex conditions.

A note led by Evercore ISI analyst Elizabeth Anderson called the announcement an interesting change in the PBM landscape.

Many in the industry will likely be watching this situation closely as managing the five partnerships could prove tricky, Anderson said in the note. But if Blue Shields move is successful, we could see additional regionals move more in a similar direction.

What CVS Health says

The Wall Street Journal reports that some experts are worried Blue Shield will struggle to match the discounts negotiated by PBMs.

The decision to carve out so many different offerings carries potential execution risk that could result in a less coordinated offering for patients, J.P. Morgan analyst Lisa Gill said in a research note.

The stock price of various PBM companies dipped Thursday, but CVS maintains that Blue Shields decision will have no impact on its 2023 guidance.

CVS Health spokesperson Ethan Slavin highlighted that the company will continue to provide specialty pharmacy services, which represent over half of pharmacy benefit spend in the marketplace.

Fragmentation in the health care industry is one of the primary reasons health care remains too complex and expensive, Slavin said. We remain confident in the value we provide our customers and that our integrated solutions will continue to resonate in the marketplace.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Blue Shield of California drops many CVS Caremark services in shakeup
Borr Drilling Limited (NYSE:BORR) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript August 17, 2023

Operator: Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Borr Drilling Limited Second Quarter 2023 Results Presentation Webcast and Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speakers presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your first speaker today, Mr. Patrick Schorn, CEO. Please go ahead.

Patrick Schorn: Good afternoon, and thank you for participating in the Borr Drilling second quarter 2023 earnings call. I'm Patrick Schorn talking to you from Oslo. And here with me today is Magnus Vaaler, our Chief Financial Officer; and Bruno Morand, our Chief Commercial Officer. Next slide, please. First, covering the required disclaimers. I would like to remind all participants that some of the statements will be forward-looking. These matters involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to matter -- to differ materially from those projected in these statements. I, therefore, refer you to our latest public filings. Next slide. In the second quarter of 2023, we recorded another strong result with an increase in revenue of 9% to $187.5 million and an increase in adjusted EBITDA of 16% to $84 million on a flat active rig count.

This brings our adjusted EBITDA margin for the quarter to 45%. We continue to see the market for jack-up drilling rigs developing strongly, and year-to-date, we have added seven new contracts and LOAs for a total estimated duration of 1,771 days or $289 million in contract value, which gives an average day rate of approximately $163,000 per day, continuing the building of an increasingly strong backlog. In July 2023, we had previously exercised options on the Gerd, which was active in West Africa canceled. This rig was placed back on the market and we were immediately able to secure new work in the Middle East at more favorable economics. The change of contract for this rig will lead to some idle time before it commences its new contract in December 2023, which will impact our results in the second half of this year.

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However, at the same time, it will also improve our position in 2024 and beyond for the Gerd. We've also secured a short-term extension to the contract for our rig Prospector 1 operating in the North Sea, a region that is experiencing lower day rate levels than the rest of the world. With the overall market continuing to strengthen, particularly in other regions, we are positive that this extension will provide a bridge towards favorable long-term commitments elsewhere. Based on these developments, our full year adjusted EBITDA for 2023 is now estimated to be between $330 million to $360 million and we expect our financial performance in the third quarter of 2023 to be similar to the second quarter, which we expect will be followed by an increase in the fourth quarter, when for the first time, all of the company's 22 delivered rigs will be in operation.

Supported by our confidence in the jack-up rig market, we are in active discussions with Seatrium, formerly Keppel, for an expedited delivery of our rigs Vale and Var to August and November 2024, respectively. As we see significant opportunity to increase earnings with having these last two top-tier rigs available. Following the recent contract awards, our fleet's contract coverage for 2024 stands at 70%, including firm contracts and priced options, with an average equivalent day rate of approximately $123,000. Considering this firm contract coverage and the projected day rates for the uncontracted days, we have narrowed the estimated range of adjusted EBITDA for full year 2024 to be between $500 million to $550 million. Magnus will now step you through the financial details of the second quarter.

Magnus Vaaler: Thanks, Patrick. Q2 2023 revenues were $187.5 million in the quarter, an increase of $15.5 million or 9% to the first quarter of the year. The increase in day rate revenues were $13.4 million and the increase in variable income from Mexico joint ventures was $2.1 million. The increase in revenues was a result of higher day rates and higher efficiency for our JV rigs as the number of contracted rigs were the same quarter-on-quarter 20. The rig operating and maintenance expenses for Q2 were $89.5 million, an increase of $4 million from Q1. And this was mainly due to insurance proceeds, which was booked in Q1 and thereby reducing the operating expenses in that quarter. The general and admin expenses decreased by $2.1 million because Q1 included a $1.3 million national insurance expense recorded on employee stock options due to increase in the company's share price.

The total financial expenses net were $49.6 million for the quarter, an increase of $9.1 million, mainly as a result of $4.8 million increase in foreign exchange losses, $1.6 million increase in interest expense and $0.7 million decrease in interest income. This gave an interest -- income before income taxes of $14.2 million and a net income for the company in the quarter of $0.8 million. Our adjusted EBITDA was $84 million, an increase of $11.6 million or 16% compared to Q1. Our free cash position at the end of Q2 2023 was $83.8 million. Our cash movements in the quarter were mainly driven by $2.4 million cash from operations, which included $67.1 million cash interest paid and $7.9 million of income taxes paid. We also spent $25.7 million on asset activation costs and drilling equipment, mainly for our rigs, the Hild and Arabia III which are starting up their contracts in the third quarter.

We received $9.8 million proceeds from return on previous shareholder funding to our Mexico JVs and we used $161.4 million in financing activities, which comprised of $151.2 million repayment of our old convertible bonds, $35.2 million debt principal repayments and a drawdown of $25 million in debt from the upsize of the DNB loan facility. With this, I would like to turn the word over to Bruno.

azerbaijan, baku, business, crane, dawn, derricks, drilling, energy, engineering, equipment, evening, exploration, fuel, gas, gasoline, industrial, industry, installation, land, machinery, offshore, oil, petrol, petroleum, platform, power, production, pumps, rig, sea, shallow, ship, silhouette, sky, technology, tool, tug, vessel, water, well

Copyright: Elnur / 123RF Stock Photo

Bruno Morand: Thanks, Magnus. I'll now briefly cover some aspects relating to the markets where we operate. Jack-up utilization levels have continued to increase year-to-date. In particular, the market utilization for modern rigs currently stands at 93.9%, an increase of 1 percentage point since our last report and a level not seen since 2014. Amidst the stacked rig market, we note an increased sense of urgency from our customers in securing re-capacity. This is evidenced by two primary trends. First, the increase in average contract duration; and second, a higher number of tenders and awards, targeting programs with commencement one year ahead or more. As a result of these trends, we note that the two and three-year forward contract coverage of the jack-up fleet has already returned to peak levels experienced in the prior cycle.

Further, in recent months, there has been an increasing number of reports of tenders and negotiations concluding unsuccessfully due to no, or limited number of offers received. Additionally, we are experiencing an increased number of direct negotiations as customers attempt to fast track re-contracting. We believe that the combination of strong demand visibility and the near and long-term tightness in the market will continue to provide support to increasing rates. Moving to the next slide. Borr Drilling continues to build quality backlog. Our current contract revenue backlog stands at 34.1 rig years for a total of $1.64 billion. This equates to an equivalent rate of $132,000 per day, which we believe to be industry-leading for jack-ups. Let me provide some more details of fixtures and general fleet developments since our last report.

First, the Mist has received a contract from Valeura for 244 days program in Thailand that will maintain the re-contracted into the second half of next year. This award is a result of the strong operational performance delivered by the Mist in its crew, leveraging its unique features and offline capabilities. The Thor has been awarded a binding LOA for 151 day program in Southeast Asia. This contract is expected to commence in December '23 when the rig will conclude its current commitment with CPOC. These awards for the Mist and the Thor will maintain these units contracted until mid-'24. Based on the visible prospects, we project the Southeast Asian jack-up market will be undersupplied at that time which should put us in a strong position to recontract these units at favorable rates.

The Gerd has been awarded a binding LOA for a 270-day program in the Middle East expected to commence in December '23. The Prospector 1 received a short-term extension from its current customers in the North Sea, including some options that are subject to mutual consent. As Patrick mentioned earlier, the North Sea continues to experience softer demand and day rate levels. Hence, we continue to actively market the Prospector 1 for opportunities around the globe. All of our 22 delivered rigs are contracted or have future commitments. With the projected contract commencements for the Arabia III and the Hild in Q3 and the Gerd in Q4, we anticipate having all our delivered rigs active by year-end. Moving to the next slide. Since the beginning of 2022, we have continued to experience marked increases to our EBITDA numbers as a result of higher operating rig count and boosted by improved day rates.

With recent awards we have secured, our contract coverage, including price options stands at 70% for 2024 and 45% for 2025. Based on the demand outlook and active discussions we're having with our customers, we maintain an optimistic view that our available days in 2024 and beyond will be contracted at rates similar or superior to our recently announced fixtures. On that note, I would like to turn the call back over to Patrick.

Patrick Schorn: Thank you, Bruno. So in conclusion, we finished Q2 with strong earnings, a quarter in which returned $0.75 of every incremental revenue dollar into earnings. The average day rate of our backlog is increasing by adding contracts at market leading rates. The quality of our assets with a fleet that is the youngest in the industry is the backbone of our operation. Based on the demand for rigs in the market and us being sold out at the moment, we have been progressing discussions with the shipyard to accelerate the delivery of our last two rigs. These two rigs could be adding to our earnings as early as the end of 2024. The refinance of our 2025 debt maturity is a key priority for us. With the development of our results and the strengthening of the credit market, we intend to be making first steps forward, possibly as early as this year.

The return of cash to investors remains a key objective that we aim to achieve in combination with this refinance. Our operational team remains focused on operational excellence for the sold-out fleet. So in closing, I'm very pleased with the results of the second quarter. The earnings potential of Borr Drilling continues to improve and our long-term value is getting stronger and stronger as the demand for premium asset continues to increase in what we see to be a multi-cycle to multi-year up cycle for the shallow water offshore drilling industry. And with this, I would like to end it here, the prepared remarks section and we can go to the Q&A now.

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To continue reading the Q&A session, please click here.
Commentary: Chinese market allure won't diminish despite U.S. smears

Xinhua) 08:15, August 18, 2023

Workers work at the Tesla Gigafactory in Shanghai, east China, May 12, 2023. (Xinhua/Ma Ning)

The first half of this year saw the number of newly established foreign-invested enterprises in China increase by a notable 35.7 percent to 24,000 despite slander and constraints from the United States, according to official data.

BEIJING, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Washington's obsession with tarnishing China's reputation knows no bounds. U.S. President Joe Biden's recent assertion that the Chinese economy is a "ticking time bomb" serves as the latest example.

Biden said the Chinese economy has a dire future. But if the second-largest economy is bound to explode like a bomb, which is "not good" as the president suggested, then why has his government just imposed a new investment ban against China and is so desperate to restrain the Chinese economy?

The contradictive words and deeds have shown how America is paranoid about a greater China getting in the way of U.S. hegemony.

But smears and containment policies will not in the least reduce the Chinese market's appeal to global investors, who know well where they can benefit. The figures speak for themselves.

The first half of this year saw the number of newly established foreign-invested enterprises in China increase by a notable 35.7 percent to 24,000 despite slander and constraints from the United States, according to official data. Impressively, foreign investment in high-tech industries witnessed a 7.9 percent growth. Investment in China from France, Britain, Japan and Germany recorded substantial growth rates of 173.3 percent, 135.3 percent, 53 percent, and 14.2 percent respectively.

Though hobbled by growing global protectionism and COVID-19 pandemic in the past few years, China's foreign investment return rate has been 9.1 percent in the past five years, significantly higher than the approximately 3 percent of the United States and other emerging economies.

These all boost foreign investors' confidence in China, and in a free and globalized market, China should not be shut out by the United States.

As the major trading partner of more than 140 countries and regions, China boasts the most comprehensive range of industries, the most complete industrial system, and also the largest middle-class cohort in the world.

In recent years, China's contribution to the overall global economic growth has remained around 30 percent, and its share of the global economy accounts for 18 percent.

In the realm of market dynamics, an immutable truth prevails: Capital instinctively gravitates towards the vibrancy of a robust economy. And in this case, it flows to China.

Even the United States itself, which shifts import demands from China to other countries to suppress China, still remains connected with China in an indirect way since production in the countries is relying more on Chinese input than ever.

The falsehoods propagated by Washington, steeped in ideological agendas and political biases, are destined to crumble in the face of objective reality.

International institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recognize China as a vital driving force behind global economic growth.

This aerial photo taken on July 5, 2023 shows cars to be loaded for export at Yantai Port, east China's Shangdong Province. (Photo by Tang Ke/Xinhua)

Amid an increasingly complex economic environment, China's gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 5.5 percent compared to the corresponding period last year. The IMF shows China's economic growth ranks among the top among major economies.

As the world's largest economies, China and the United States bear the responsibility to cultivate global prosperity and stability. However, this vision remains elusive as China strengthens its policy support for foreign investment and endeavors to accommodate international firms, while Washington relentlessly pursues a de-risking agenda that fuels instability and uncertainty.

Washington needs to relinquish its fixation on maintaining hegemony and, instead, thoughtfully reassess its relationship with China. After all, an isolated and unstable world filled with hostility holds no winners.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Key Insights

Chevron's estimated fair value is US$195 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity

Current share price of US$160 suggests Chevron is potentially trading close to its fair value

Our fair value estimate is 5.7% higher than Chevron's analyst price target of US$185

Today we will run through one way of estimating the intrinsic value of Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. We will use the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model on this occasion. Models like these may appear beyond the comprehension of a lay person, but they're fairly easy to follow.

We generally believe that a company's value is the present value of all of the cash it will generate in the future. However, a DCF is just one valuation metric among many, and it is not without flaws. If you still have some burning questions about this type of valuation, take a look at the Simply Wall St analysis model.

View our latest analysis for Chevron

Step By Step Through The Calculation

We use what is known as a 2-stage model, which simply means we have two different periods of growth rates for the company's cash flows. Generally the first stage is higher growth, and the second stage is a lower growth phase. To start off with, we need to estimate the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.

A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, so we need to discount the sum of these future cash flows to arrive at a present value estimate:

Story continues

10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast

2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 Levered FCF ($, Millions) US$25.8b US$25.9b US$22.4b US$24.7b US$24.3b US$24.3b US$24.4b US$24.6b US$24.9b US$25.3b Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x12 Analyst x5 Analyst x2 Analyst x2 Est @ -1.30% Est @ -0.27% Est @ 0.46% Est @ 0.97% Est @ 1.32% Est @ 1.57% Present Value ($, Millions) Discounted @ 8.1% US$23.9k US$22.1k US$17.7k US$18.1k US$16.5k US$15.2k US$14.1k US$13.2k US$12.4k US$11.6k

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

Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = US$165b

We now need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all the future cash flows after this ten year period. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a country's GDP growth. In this case we have used the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield (2.2%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 8.1%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2033  (1 + g)  (r  g) = US$25b (1 + 2.2%)  (8.1% 2.2%) = US$436b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= US$436b ( 1 + 8.1%)10= US$200b

The total value is the sum of cash flows for the next ten years plus the discounted terminal value, which results in the Total Equity Value, which in this case is US$365b. To get the intrinsic value per share, we divide this by the total number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of US$160, the company appears about fair value at a 18% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Remember though, that this is just an approximate valuation, and like any complex formula - garbage in, garbage out.

dcf

Important Assumptions

We would point out that the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate and of course the actual cash flows. Part of investing is coming up with your own evaluation of a company's future performance, so try the calculation yourself and check your own assumptions. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Chevron as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 8.1%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.188. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business.

SWOT Analysis for Chevron

Strength

Debt is not viewed as a risk.

Dividends are covered by earnings and cash flows.

Weakness

Earnings growth over the past year underperformed the Oil and Gas industry.

Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Oil and Gas market.

Opportunity

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

Threat

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

Looking Ahead:

Whilst important, the DCF calculation ideally won't be the sole piece of analysis you scrutinize for a company. The DCF model is not a perfect stock valuation tool. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" If a company grows at a different rate, or if its cost of equity or risk free rate changes sharply, the output can look very different. For Chevron, we've put together three relevant elements you should look at:

Risks: Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Chevron you should know about. Future Earnings: How does CVX's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart. Other Solid Businesses: Low debt, high returns on equity and good past performance are fundamental to a strong business. Why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals to see if there are other companies you may not have considered!

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

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Key Insights

Using the 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity, Formosa Prosonic Industries Berhad fair value estimate is RM2.65

With RM2.67 share price, Formosa Prosonic Industries Berhad appears to be trading close to its estimated fair value

When compared to theindustry average discount of -79%, Formosa Prosonic Industries Berhad's competitors seem to be trading at a greater premium to fair value

Does the August share price for Formosa Prosonic Industries Berhad (KLSE:FPI) reflect what it's really worth? Today, we will estimate the stock's intrinsic value by estimating the company's future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. This will be done using the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. Models like these may appear beyond the comprehension of a lay person, but they're fairly easy to follow.

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

Check out our latest analysis for Formosa Prosonic Industries Berhad

Step By Step Through The Calculation

We're using the 2-stage growth model, which simply means we take in account two stages of company's growth. In the initial period the company may have a higher growth rate and the second stage is usually assumed to have a stable growth rate. To start off with, we need to estimate the next ten years of cash flows. Seeing as no analyst estimates of free cash flow are available to us, we have extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the company's last reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.

Generally we assume that a dollar today is more valuable than a dollar in the future, so we need to discount the sum of these future cash flows to arrive at a present value estimate:

Story continues

10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast

2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 Levered FCF (MYR, Millions) RM72.7m RM65.6m RM61.8m RM60.0m RM59.4m RM59.6m RM60.4m RM61.6m RM63.1m RM64.8m Growth Rate Estimate Source Est @ -15.47% Est @ -9.76% Est @ -5.77% Est @ -2.97% Est @ -1.02% Est @ 0.35% Est @ 1.31% Est @ 1.98% Est @ 2.45% Est @ 2.78% Present Value (MYR, Millions) Discounted @ 11% RM65.4 RM53.1 RM45.0 RM39.3 RM35.0 RM31.6 RM28.8 RM26.4 RM24.3 RM22.5

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

Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = RM371m

After calculating the present value of future cash flows in the initial 10-year period, we need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all future cash flows beyond the first stage. The Gordon Growth formula is used to calculate Terminal Value at a future annual growth rate equal to the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield of 3.6%. We discount the terminal cash flows to today's value at a cost of equity of 11%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2033  (1 + g)  (r  g) = RM65m (1 + 3.6%)  (11% 3.6%) = RM881m

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= RM881m ( 1 + 11%)10= RM306m

The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is RM677m. To get the intrinsic value per share, we divide this by the total number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of RM2.7, the company appears around fair value at the time of writing. Valuations are imprecise instruments though, rather like a telescope - move a few degrees and end up in a different galaxy. Do keep this in mind.

dcf

The Assumptions

The calculation above is very dependent on two assumptions. The first is the discount rate and the other is the cash flows. You don't have to agree with these inputs, I recommend redoing the calculations yourself and playing with them. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Formosa Prosonic Industries Berhad as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 11%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.117. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business.

Next Steps:

Whilst important, the DCF calculation shouldn't be the only metric you look at when researching a company. DCF models are not the be-all and end-all of investment valuation. Preferably you'd apply different cases and assumptions and see how they would impact the company's valuation. For example, changes in the company's cost of equity or the risk free rate can significantly impact the valuation. For Formosa Prosonic Industries Berhad, we've compiled three fundamental factors you should explore:

Risks: As an example, we've found 1 warning sign for Formosa Prosonic Industries Berhad that you need to consider before investing here. Other Solid Businesses: Low debt, high returns on equity and good past performance are fundamental to a strong business. Why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals to see if there are other companies you may not have considered! Other Top Analyst Picks: Interested to see what the analysts are thinking? Take a look at our interactive list of analysts' top stock picks to find out what they feel might have an attractive future outlook!

PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every Malaysian stock every day, so if you want to find the intrinsic value of any other stock just search here.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Key Insights

The projected fair value for Logitech International is CHF56.34 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity

With CHF58.16 share price, Logitech International appears to be trading close to its estimated fair value

The US$59.15 analyst price target for LOGN is 5.0% more than our estimate of fair value

In this article we are going to estimate the intrinsic value of Logitech International S.A. (VTX:LOGN) by estimating the company's future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. We will take advantage of the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model for this purpose. Believe it or not, it's not too difficult to follow, as you'll see from our example!

We would caution that there are many ways of valuing a company and, like the DCF, each technique has advantages and disadvantages in certain scenarios. If you want to learn more about discounted cash flow, the rationale behind this calculation can be read in detail in the Simply Wall St analysis model.

View our latest analysis for Logitech International

What's The Estimated Valuation?

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

A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, so we need to discount the sum of these future cash flows to arrive at a present value estimate:

Story continues

10-year free cash flow (FCF) estimate

2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 Levered FCF ($, Millions) US$517.2m US$547.7m US$589.2m US$540.0m US$590.0m US$595.7m US$599.7m US$602.6m US$604.6m US$606.0m Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x6 Analyst x7 Analyst x5 Analyst x1 Analyst x1 Est @ 0.96% Est @ 0.68% Est @ 0.48% Est @ 0.34% Est @ 0.24% Present Value ($, Millions) Discounted @ 5.9% US$489 US$489 US$497 US$430 US$444 US$423 US$403 US$382 US$362 US$343

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

Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = US$4.3b

After calculating the present value of future cash flows in the initial 10-year period, we need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all future cash flows beyond the first stage. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a country's GDP growth. In this case we have used the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield (0.01%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 5.9%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2033  (1 + g)  (r  g) = US$606m (1 + 0.01%)  (5.9% 0.01%) = US$10b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= US$10b ( 1 + 5.9%)10= US$5.9b

The total value is the sum of cash flows for the next ten years plus the discounted terminal value, which results in the Total Equity Value, which in this case is US$10b. In the final step we divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of CHF58.2, the company appears around fair value at the time of writing. The assumptions in any calculation have a big impact on the valuation, so it is better to view this as a rough estimate, not precise down to the last cent.

dcf

Important Assumptions

We would point out that the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate and of course the actual cash flows. Part of investing is coming up with your own evaluation of a company's future performance, so try the calculation yourself and check your own assumptions. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Logitech International as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 5.9%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.169. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business.

SWOT Analysis for Logitech International

Strength

Currently debt free.

Dividends are covered by earnings and cash flows.

Weakness

Earnings declined over the past year.

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

Opportunity

Annual earnings are forecast to grow faster than the Swiss market.

Good value based on P/E ratio compared to estimated Fair P/E ratio.

Threat

Annual revenue is forecast to grow slower than the Swiss market.

Looking Ahead:

Valuation is only one side of the coin in terms of building your investment thesis, and it shouldn't be the only metric you look at when researching a company. DCF models are not the be-all and end-all of investment valuation. Preferably you'd apply different cases and assumptions and see how they would impact the company's valuation. For example, changes in the company's cost of equity or the risk free rate can significantly impact the valuation. For Logitech International, we've compiled three pertinent factors you should further research:

Risks: Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 1 warning sign with Logitech International , and understanding it should be part of your investment process. Future Earnings: How does LOGN's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart. Other Solid Businesses: Low debt, high returns on equity and good past performance are fundamental to a strong business. Why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals to see if there are other companies you may not have considered!

PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every Swiss stock every day, so if you want to find the intrinsic value of any other stock just search here.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Key Insights

The projected fair value for Mettler-Toledo International is US$1,052 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity

With US$1,205 share price, Mettler-Toledo International appears to be trading close to its estimated fair value

The US$1,324 analyst price target for MTD is 26% more than our estimate of fair value

Today we will run through one way of estimating the intrinsic value of Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE:MTD) by taking the forecast future cash flows of the company and discounting them back to today's value. One way to achieve this is by employing the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. Models like these may appear beyond the comprehension of a lay person, but they're fairly easy to follow.

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

See our latest analysis for Mettler-Toledo International

The Method

We are going to use a two-stage DCF model, which, as the name states, takes into account two stages of growth. The first stage is generally a higher growth period which levels off heading towards the terminal value, captured in the second 'steady growth' period. To start off with, we need to estimate the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.

Generally we assume that a dollar today is more valuable than a dollar in the future, and so the sum of these future cash flows is then discounted to today's value:

Story continues

10-year free cash flow (FCF) estimate

2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 Levered FCF ($, Millions) US$928.3m US$1.02b US$1.03b US$1.10b US$1.14b US$1.18b US$1.22b US$1.25b US$1.29b US$1.32b Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x4 Analyst x4 Analyst x1 Analyst x1 Est @ 4.15% Est @ 3.55% Est @ 3.13% Est @ 2.84% Est @ 2.63% Est @ 2.49% Present Value ($, Millions) Discounted @ 6.8% US$869 US$895 US$842 US$843 US$822 US$797 US$770 US$741 US$712 US$683

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

Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = US$8.0b

The second stage is also known as Terminal Value, this is the business's cash flow after the first stage. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a country's GDP growth. In this case we have used the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield (2.2%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 6.8%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2033  (1 + g)  (r  g) = US$1.3b (1 + 2.2%)  (6.8% 2.2%) = US$29b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= US$29b ( 1 + 6.8%)10= US$15b

The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is US$23b. In the final step we divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of US$1.2k, the company appears around fair value at the time of writing. Valuations are imprecise instruments though, rather like a telescope - move a few degrees and end up in a different galaxy. Do keep this in mind.

dcf

The Assumptions

We would point out that the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate and of course the actual cash flows. Part of investing is coming up with your own evaluation of a company's future performance, so try the calculation yourself and check your own assumptions. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Mettler-Toledo International as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 6.8%, which is based on a levered beta of 0.929. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business.

SWOT Analysis for Mettler-Toledo International

Strength

Earnings growth over the past year exceeded the industry.

Debt is well covered by earnings and cashflows.

Weakness

Earnings growth over the past year is below its 5-year average.

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

Opportunity

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

Threat

Total liabilities exceed total assets, which raises the risk of financial distress.

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

Moving On:

Whilst important, the DCF calculation shouldn't be the only metric you look at when researching a company. The DCF model is not a perfect stock valuation tool. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" If a company grows at a different rate, or if its cost of equity or risk free rate changes sharply, the output can look very different. For Mettler-Toledo International, there are three essential factors you should explore:

Risks: For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Mettler-Toledo International that you should be aware of before investing here. Management:Have insiders been ramping up their shares to take advantage of the market's sentiment for MTD's future outlook? Check out our management and board analysis with insights on CEO compensation and governance factors. Other High Quality Alternatives: Do you like a good all-rounder? Explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there you may be missing!

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

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Key Insights

Using the 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity, Union Pacific fair value estimate is US$227

Current share price of US$224 suggests Union Pacific is potentially trading close to its fair value

Analyst price target for UNP is US$247, which is 8.9% above our fair value estimate

Today we'll do a simple run through of a valuation method used to estimate the attractiveness of Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP) as an investment opportunity by taking the forecast future cash flows of the company and discounting them back to today's value. Our analysis will employ the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. It may sound complicated, but actually it is quite simple!

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

Check out our latest analysis for Union Pacific

Crunching The Numbers

We are going to use a two-stage DCF model, which, as the name states, takes into account two stages of growth. The first stage is generally a higher growth period which levels off heading towards the terminal value, captured in the second 'steady growth' period. To begin with, we have to get estimates of the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.

A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, and so the sum of these future cash flows is then discounted to today's value:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) estimate

2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 Levered FCF ($, Millions) US$6.26b US$7.04b US$7.11b US$7.58b US$7.94b US$8.25b US$8.53b US$8.79b US$9.03b US$9.26b Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x11 Analyst x7 Analyst x2 Analyst x2 Est @ 4.69% Est @ 3.92% Est @ 3.39% Est @ 3.02% Est @ 2.76% Est @ 2.58% Present Value ($, Millions) Discounted @ 7.5% US$5.8k US$6.1k US$5.7k US$5.7k US$5.5k US$5.3k US$5.1k US$4.9k US$4.7k US$4.5k

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

Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = US$53b

Story continues

The second stage is also known as Terminal Value, this is the business's cash flow after the first stage. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a country's GDP growth. In this case we have used the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield (2.2%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 7.5%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2033  (1 + g)  (r  g) = US$9.3b (1 + 2.2%)  (7.5% 2.2%) = US$175b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= US$175b ( 1 + 7.5%)10= US$85b

The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is US$138b. The last step is to then divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of US$224, the company appears about fair value at a 1.0% discount to where the stock price trades currently. The assumptions in any calculation have a big impact on the valuation, so it is better to view this as a rough estimate, not precise down to the last cent.

dcf

Important Assumptions

Now the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate, and of course, the actual cash flows. You don't have to agree with these inputs, I recommend redoing the calculations yourself and playing with them. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Union Pacific as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 7.5%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.079. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business.

SWOT Analysis for Union Pacific

Strength

Debt is well covered by earnings and cashflows.

Dividends are covered by earnings and cash flows.

Weakness

Earnings declined over the past year.

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

Opportunity

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

Current share price is below our estimate of fair value.

Threat

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

Looking Ahead:

Whilst important, the DCF calculation ideally won't be the sole piece of analysis you scrutinize for a company. DCF models are not the be-all and end-all of investment valuation. Preferably you'd apply different cases and assumptions and see how they would impact the company's valuation. If a company grows at a different rate, or if its cost of equity or risk free rate changes sharply, the output can look very different. For Union Pacific, we've put together three important elements you should further research:

Risks: Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 1 warning sign with Union Pacific , and understanding it should be part of your investment process. Future Earnings: How does UNP's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart. Other Solid Businesses: Low debt, high returns on equity and good past performance are fundamental to a strong business. Why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals to see if there are other companies you may not have considered!

PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every American stock every day, so if you want to find the intrinsic value of any other stock just search here.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Melbourne, Victoria --News Direct-- Carnarvon Energy Ltd

Carnarvon Energy Ltd (ASX:CVN) MD Adrian Cook tells Proactive the company has completed divesting a 10% portion of its Bedout assets to OPIC Australia Pty Limited, a subsidiary of Taiwans national oil and gas company CPC Corporation. Divesting these assets means that Carnarvon is now holding approximately $319 million in financial liquidity comprising ~$181 million in cash and ~$138 million future contribution to its Dorado Project development costs. He says completion of the transaction positions the company to realise the value of its high-quality portfolio, including the development of the world-class Dorado and Pavo fields as well as unlocking the considerable exploration potential across its Bedout assets.

Cook said, "Critically, the deal with CPC provides Carnarvon with substantive funding for development of the world-class Dorado and Pavo fields, the largest undeveloped oil field offshore Australia.

Contact Details

Proactive Investors

Jonathan Jackson

+61 413 713 744

jonathan@proactiveinvestors.com

View source version on newsdirect.com: https://newsdirect.com/news/carnarvon-energys-bedout-divestment-a-crucial-funding-milestone-149029810
Potential TFF Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:TFFP) shareholders may wish to note that the CEO, Interim President & Vice Chairman of the Board, Harlan Weisman, recently bought US$150k worth of stock, paying US$0.25 for each share. That certainly has us anticipating the best, especially since they thusly increased their own holding by 280%, potentially signalling some real optimism.

See our latest analysis for TFF Pharmaceuticals

TFF Pharmaceuticals Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In fact, the recent purchase by Harlan Weisman was the biggest purchase of TFF Pharmaceuticals shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of US$0.37. Because it occurred at a lower valuation, it doesn't tell us much about whether insiders might find today's price attractive.

In the last twelve months TFF Pharmaceuticals insiders were buying shares, but not selling. Their average price was about US$0.43. This is nice to see since it implies that insiders might see value around current prices. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

TFF Pharmaceuticals is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Insider Ownership Of TFF Pharmaceuticals

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Insiders own 9.0% of TFF Pharmaceuticals shares, worth about US$1.9m, according to our data. We do generally prefer see higher levels of insider ownership.

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So What Do The TFF Pharmaceuticals Insider Transactions Indicate?

It is good to see recent purchasing. We also take confidence from the longer term picture of insider transactions. However, we note that the company didn't make a profit over the last twelve months, which makes us cautious. On this analysis the only slight negative we see is the fairly low (overall) insider ownership; their transactions suggest that they are quite positive on TFF Pharmaceuticals stock. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. When we did our research, we found 5 warning signs for TFF Pharmaceuticals (3 are potentially serious!) that we believe deserve your full attention.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
(Bloomberg) -- A US government probe has concluded some manufacturers in Asia are illegally bypassing tariffs on Chinese solar equipment, exposing them to duties that threaten to hike the cost of renewable power and slow the development of clean energy.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Some solar cells and modules exported from Southeast Asia could now face tariffs as high as 254% in June 2024, after the Commerce Department determined that companies operating in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam are avoiding the longstanding duties.

The US singled out five companies that are either Chinese or linked to China as circumventing tariffs: BYD (H.K.) Co. Ltd. and New East Solar (Cambodia) Co. Ltd. in Cambodia; Canadian Solar Inc. in Thailand; and, in Vietnam, Trina Solar Science & Technology and Vina Solar Technology Co., a unit of Longi Green Energy Technology Co.

A senior Commerce official who briefed reporters on the findings said the investigation  which included site visits and factory audits  is a signal the Biden-Harris administration is taking trade enforcement seriously as well as a warning to other companies engaging in similar circumvention schemes.

Ultimately, the ruling should bolster US solar manufacturers, which are already expanding domestic production capacity with incentives from last years climate law. Many US power companies had started diversifying their supply chains ahead of the decision, to minimize potential exposure to new tariffs and a US forced labor law aimed at products tied to Chinas Xinjiang region.

The Commerce Departments decision could also inflame tensions between Washington and Beijing, even as the two superpowers look for ways to improve relations.

Story continues

Shares of Canadian Solar were up 0.2% as of 10:46 a.m. in New York after paring earlier losses of as much as 1.6%.

In the short term, the ruling could accelerate US purchases of affected solar equipment before the expanded duties go into force next year, as renewable power developers look to stockpile tariff-free gear. Expanded duties would normally apply already, but President Joe Biden issued a proclamation in 2022 providing a two-year grace period designed to sustain US solar deployments while domestic manufacturing ramps up and developers shuffle suppliers.

Some US lobbyists tried unsuccessfully to push the Commerce Department to go further and crack down on solar imports that contain Chinese-made polysilicon and ingots, early precursors in the panel-making process. But the agency largely hewed to the preliminary determination it issued last December.

At least three companies wont be hit with expanded tariffs  Hanwha Q Cells Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Jinko Solar Technology Sdn. Bhd., and Boviet Solar Technology Co. Ltd.  after the Department concluded they werent trying to evade the duties.

The US solar industry is heavily reliant on imports from Southeast Asia, with the affected countries supplying roughly 75% of modules to the US.

Under the ruling, all other solar manufacturers in the four countries will be hit with new duties unless they certify their exports dont evade the tariffs. For instance, modules that are made using Chinese wafers will be spared duties as long as some key inputs were produced outside the country. Most companies facing new duties would see combined rates under 100%.

Even so, US renewable developers were bracing for higher costs from using imports subject to the duties or tariff-free supplies that can command a premium.

The circumvention finding will increase the overall costs of virtually all US-bound solar products because it will constrain supply at a time when the demand for solar is skyrocketing, Trina Solar (US) Inc. President Steven Zhu said in an emailed statement. The ruling makes it harder, not easier, to establish a US supply chain and a homegrown American workforce.

Still, there should be sufficient supply of tariff-free goods to meet domestic solar demand between 2024 and 2030, said BloombergNEF analyst Pol Lezcano.

The investigation, which spanned 17 months, was triggered in response to a petition from California-based manufacturer Auxin Solar Inc.

Auxin Chief Executive Officer Mamun Rashid cheered the decision even as he called on the administration to impose duties immediately.

For years the Chinese have flouted the US trade remedy laws, and today, with Commerces affirmative country-wide circumvention decisions on Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, weve successfully closed these loopholes, Rashid said in an emailed statement. Because ample solar module supply exists from domestic manufacturers and non-circumventing imports, President Biden should immediately end his unlawful tariff moratorium policy and not continue to give Chinese trade cheats a continued free pass to the US market.

The circumvention probe was a quasi-judicial process, largely dictated by nearly century-old US trade law.

The Biden administration had little choice to be protectionist or not, said James Lucier, managing director at research group Capital Alpha Partners. Bidens two-year safe harbor was designed to address that inevitability, he said, adding: There was no viable way to have Commerce find there was no dumping going on.

Supporters of the probe said the US needed to more vigorously enforce measures first imposed in 2011 to offset unfair pricing and subsidies by China that have disadvantaged American rivals. Opponents argued Commerce was ignoring the complexity of solar cell production in Asia by treating it as a insignificant processing step.

We have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in cell and module production in Thailand and Vietnam and most recently another large-scale wafer production facility in Vietnam, Trinas Zhu said. Characterizing this production as only minor processing is not an accurate assessment of the facts and against common sense.

--With assistance from Luz Ding.

(Updates with shares in seventh paragraph and comment from Trina Solar president in 14th paragraph.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Central Texas is still expected to benefit from unprecedented investment in the semiconductor industry by the United States, a year after key federal legislation was signed into law.

Companies are waiting to hear if their projects will be funded by federal legislation, which was designed to boost the industry in the United States amid a global shortage of semiconductors. The CHIPS Act includes more than $52 billion in funding for companies that manufacture computer chips, billions more in tax credits to encourage investment in chip manufacturing, and tens of billions of dollars to fund scientific research and to encourage innovation and development of other U.S. technologies.

The United States Department of Commerce has opened up applications, and while no announcements have been made yet as to which projects will receive funding or when, Central Texas has long been considered one of a handful of regions likely to see significant investments.

President Joe Biden signs into law the CHIPS and Science Act in 2022. It creates billions of dollars in incentives for semiconductor companies to move to Texas.

Ed Latson, executive director of Austin Regional Manufacturing Association, said he expects the legislation to further boost the regions manufacturing jobs and facilities.

"CHIPS was a huge momentum builder for the semiconductor industry," Latson said. "We've seen a lot of expansions and plans for new suppliers moving into the area. While the Commerce Department has not actually issued any checks yet, we expect a lot of the money to end up in Central Texas."

The legislation is anticipated to bring unprecedented investment in the industry in the United States and comes as other countries pass similar legislation to boost their own semiconductor industries. Globally, the majority of semiconductors are produced in Asia, and in recent years the world has been experiencing a shortage of semiconductors, which are used in a variety of products from computers to cars.

'Central Texas will lead America': Austin area expects boost from Chips Act passage

In the United States, Texas, along with Arizona and New York are considered major hubs for technology and are likely to see large investments as a result of the legislations. This includes, the Austin metro area, which has a notable existing ecosystem, with semiconductors making up about a quarter of all manufacturing output in the region, according to the Austin Regional Manufacturers Association. The number has been expected to increase with the passage of the CHIPS Act.

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Roger Kay, an analyst with Endpoint Securities said the CHIPS program is significant and the first of its kind in the technology industry in the United States, though the government has underwritten substantial programs in other areas in the past such as nuclear energy and telecommunications.

Kay agreed Austin still remains a contender to see benefits of the act.

As far as I can tell, the city is doing and has done all it can to make itself attractive. There is such a thing as bending over backward too far, but within reason, Central Texas has been accommodating, Kay said.

Where do things stand with funding?

So far, no money has been distributed and the Department of Commerce is still not announcing specific timing as to when companies may see funding and grants. In February, the Commerce Department released its first applications, allowing companies to submit 'statements of interest' for commercial manufacturing projects, and later this year opened it to large supply chain and material projects.

The Department of Commerce has said before that funding is expected to range between 5%-15% of project expenses and would not exceed 35%. The department is also expected to decide whether projects receive grants or loans. Companies and industry experts have said the funding is needed to justify the financial expenses for these projects to be built in the United States.

The United States Department of Commerce provided an update on the program last week, saying there has been strong interest in the CHIPS program with more than 460 companies in 41 states expressing interest in funding through the act since formal applications officially opened in June.

The department declined to say if any Texas projects were included in these numbers, but it's likely at least some of these applications have come from Central Texas. Local companies have said in local incentives applications last year that their projects require funding from incentive programs such as the CHIPS Act funding.

Latson said many local companies have asked ARMA for letters of support for CHIPS funding, as local companies apply. He added, the legislation has been an instigator of activity," with many companies considering major expansions.

In a call with members of the media this month, United States Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said the department has established two CHIPS offices staffed by 140 people to decide rules and sort through applications.

We are fully open for business, accepting applications and have a fantastic fully staffed team ready to evaluate those applications, Raimondo said. She added, the department is working to be efficient, fast and responsible, while making the correct choices on applications.

We can't afford big mistakes given how high the stakes are, Raimondo said. So as a result, we've made huge strides in implementing the program in a year. And we have amassed great private sector enthusiasm and interest.

Austin already 'uniquely positioned' to benefit

Latson said Central Texas is uniquely positioned to see benefits of the federal legislation because it already has an entire ecosystem of companies in the semiconductor industry, including fabrication facilities that make chips, toolmakers, and a supply base that works with the toolmakers and fabrication facilities.

"No other region combines all three of those things like we do," Latson said.

On a state level, Texas has also been signaling its support for boosting the industry. This year the state legislature passed its own 'CHIPS Act' which was signed into law earlier this year. Texas's law creates a state fund and a consortium with representatives from Texas higher education institutions. The bill added to other steps the state has taken to bolster its semiconductor dominance, including a task force Abbott formed in 2021 to keep Texas a leader in semiconductors.

Texas CHIPS Act: Gov. Greg Abbott signs bill to help boost semiconductor industry in Texas

Even before the passage of the CHIPS Act, the Central Texas region has been poised to see big expansions to its manufacturing capacity. Samsung, which already had two fabs in Austin, announced last year that it plans to build a $17 billion chip factory in Taylor. Filings also show the company could put as many as 11 additional fabrication facilities in Central Texas in the coming decades, though the company has said it does not have concrete plans.

Other companies with an existing Austin-area presence including Applied Materials, and Infineon are considering their own expansions. In May, Toppan Photomasks, which makes a key component used for semiconductor manufacturing, also announced it was growing its Central Texas facility after the city of Round Rock approved a $1.25 million incentive package.

Latson said once funding does come from the federal CHIPS Act, he expects there will be even more plans for expansions and a lot more suppliers coming into the region.

Theres a lot of great talk about supply chains moving here and expansions and further evolution of the ecosystem, he said. We're just at the beginning of this, we're not at the end. We're going to start seeing a lot more flowing into the region.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: CHIPS Act expected to boost Austin semiconductors as funding awaits
(Bloomberg) -- Citadel and Balyasny Asset Management are engaged in a new dispute over hiring, marking at least the second time in as many years that the two firms have clashed in an intensifying competition for hedge fund talent.

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Miami-based Citadel led by billionaire Ken Griffin has alleged that several of its employees who left to join Balyasny had misappropriated its confidential information, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Citadel has sent a demand letter to Balyasny, typically seen as a final warning before legal action is taken, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.

The allegations outlined in the letter are without merit, a spokesman for Balyasny said. A representative for Citadel declined to comment.

The worlds biggest multi-strategy investment firms such as Balyasny and Citadel rely on dozens of teams of traders to bet across asset classes and regularly hire to replace under-performing staff, expand into new areas or strengthen expertise. Demand for talent has led to millions of dollars in signing bonuses, a higher cut of trading profits and payouts for non-compete periods becoming a norm as the hedge funds tap into a limited pool of eligible candidates.

Firms poaching from each other has brought conflicts, litigation and punitive measures to try to retain talent or prevent trading secrets from leaking out.

The current depute between Citadel and Balyasny marks at least the second tussle between the two industry heavyweights in the past two years. In 2021, the two firms sparred over several former Citadel employees hired by Balyasny who were accused of being in breach of their contracts.

Story continues

Balyasny settled with Citadel back then and agreed not to hire staff, or former staff, from Citadels Global Fixed Income business for a limited period of time. The agreement expired earlier this year, two separate people familiar with the matter said. Citadel sent the latest letter after that expiration, the people said.

Talent has long been a flashpoint for competing hedge funds. In 2018, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors filed a lawsuit against its former head of human capital and ExodusPoint Capital Management, seeking to bar them from using confidential information to solicit and hire its employees. The bid was denied.

Also in 2021, Citadel Securities reached a truce with British hedge fund GSA Capital Partners over the attempted hiring of a senior trader, ending a lawsuit that was set to consider the makeup of a secret algorithm.

--With assistance from Amanda Cantrell.

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The shake-up in pharmacy benefits manager (PBM) services announced by Blue Shield of California on Thursday sent a number of healthcare stocks tumbling.

CVS (CVS) and Cigna (CI), which hold the lion's share of Blues PBM contracts along with UnitedHealthcare (UNH), lost $7 billion and $5 billion in market cap on Thursday, respectively. Shares of drug distributors like McKesson (MCK), AmerisourceBergen (ABC), and Cardinal Health (CAH) each fell more than 2%.

But analysts say the reality of the announcement is less severe than the market's initial reaction suggested.

"Thursday was a unique 'perfect storm' of news that likely had a bigger impact on sentiment than it will in setting precedent," wrote UBS analyst Kevin Caliendo in a note, adding the selloff Thursday was "nonsensical."

The Blues insurer, which is responsible for about 5 million members in California and posts $24 billion in annual revenue, is unbundling its PBM service and doling out portions to disruptors like Mark Cuban's Cost Plus Drugs and Amazon Pharmacy (AMZN).

The move, according to Blue Shield, will save $500 million on medications annually a number CEO Paul Markovich told Yahoo Finance he is confident will be achieved.

"We're creating a different mouse trap here. We've done the math," Markovich said.

Under the new arrangement, Cost Plus Drugs will be responsible for generics and Amazon will take on the mail order business. Puerto Rico-based Abarca Health will manage claims and Prime Therapeutics, a PBM jointly owned by 19 Blues plans which works with partners like Walgreens (WBA) and Cigna's Express Scripts, will handle drug pricing negotiations.

The shift will take effect starting in 2024 when Blue Shield's contract with CVS, which has been in place since 2021, ends.

However, CVS will maintain the most profitable segment: specialty pharmacy. That, according to analysts, is the reason the announcement isn't all doom and gloom for the Big 3 PBMs  CVS, Cigna, and United Health Group.

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"[The] spectre of AMZN will likely negatively impact sentiment for the group, again," JPMorgan analyst Lisa Gill wrote in a note on Thursday. "However, we think the announcement actually highlights the value of legacy PBMs and limitations of newer models as Blue Shield is keeping the fastest growing and largest portion of its drug spend with CVS."

Gill noted that generics typically represent only 15% of drug spend even though they represent a higher volume of spend, and specialty drugs continue to rise in cost and represent a pain point for large employers, as seen during the recent demand surge for branded weight loss drugs like Novo Nordisk's (NVO) Wegovy and Ozempic, and Eli Lilly's (LLY) Mounjaro.

"Per Cost Plus's page, the company has over 1,000 generic medications available but almost no branded drugs. Although the company seeks to add more branded drugs, it appears to be focusing only on specialty drugs that can be delivered via mail order," Gill said.

In addition, mail order prescriptions have not taken over in-person pickups, despite a surge seen during the pandemic, so there is little concern about Amazon's share of the new arrangement, analysts said.

Some are concerned about the customer experience with the complex makeup of PBMs.

"Coordinating five vendors is like an average Tuesday for us," Markovich said.

He added that despite the criticism, Blue Shield is going to be sticking to the unbundled model long-term, even though it is likely the combination of players changes in the future.

A sign marks a CVS branch on May 16 in Pasadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)

'Hard to replicate'

The announcement from California Blue Shield on Thursday also isn't the first time an insurer has tried such a move.

"Health plans have a mixed track record of separating or in-sourcing PBM functions," Goldman Sachs analysts wrote in a note Friday. "This decision by a large health plan will keep scrutiny on PBM economics and attention on proposed legislative changes, though we see the stock reactions as disproportionate relative to the likely implications."

"Historically, the value of scale offered by the Big 3 PBMs has been difficult to replicate," the firm added.

Craig Garthwaite, a health economist and director of the Program on Healthcare at the Kellogg School at Northwestern University, told Yahoo Finance he's willing to bet the savings California Blue Shield ends up seeing isn't actually $500 million.

"There's got to be a belief (by Blue Shield) that there's $500 million per year in excessive, unwarranted profit that the PBM is taking. I just don't believe that's true," Garthwaite said.

The fact that CVS has been able to keep the profitable specialty pharmacy business also bolsters the unpopular opinion that the Big 3 serve a purpose. Garthwaite said this move runs counter to the idea that "PBM executives are these monopolous fat cats lighting cigars with hundred dollar bills. It's not that. They actually do things that matter to people."

He also noted that CVS could respond by increasing the cost of the business segment it is keeping in the new contract with Blue Shield.

Markovich said anything is possible, but the contracts are in place and renegotiating them could be a breach.

The plan has been in the works for more than two years, with a lengthy request for proposal process, which began just before the pandemic, he said.

The announcement has excited watchers of health care industry trends, who anticipate other Blues and employer plans could emulate the strategy.

"Almost every investor we spoke with felt the consortium hired by Blue Shield was risky at best to be able to execute on the new business," UBS's Caliendo wrote. "We tend to agree, but also understand that this thesis is not likely to be proven anytime soon given timing on onboarding.

"We do think the idea that PBM contracting will be increasingly 'unbundled'...perhaps leading to lower overall profits from purchasing, rebates, and couponing."

Follow Anjalee on Twitter @AnjKhem

Click here for the latest stock market news and in-depth analysis, including events that move stocks

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(Bloomberg) -- Elon Musk has arrived in Japan for his first known visit in nine years.

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The chief executive officer of Tesla Inc. and SpaceX posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, at around 8:30 p.m. Thursday local time that he had just arrived in amazing Japan.

The last time the worlds richest person visited the island nation was in 2014 to finalize an agreement with Panasonic Holdings Corp. to build a battery factory in the US.

On Friday morning, he posted a series of short videos from TeamLab, an interactive art exhibit in Tokyo.

Its his second trip to Asia this year after he visited China for the first time in three years. While there, he met with top government officials and paid a late night visit to Teslas Shanghai factory.

Japans biggest carmakers have fallen behind dedicated EV makers like Tesla and Chinas BYD Co. in the push to electrify. Toyota Motor Corp., the worlds largest car manufacturer, has pledged to sell 1.5 battery EVs annually by 2026. Tesla delivered almost 890,000 cars in the first half of this year.

However, that growth has come at a cost, with Tesla slashing prices in its key markets. Musk last month said the automaker would have to keep cutting prices if interest rates continue to rise. Tesla lowered prices twice this week in China, fueling concerns of a reignited price war in the worlds biggest auto market.

A spokesperson for Japans transport ministry said they werent aware of any events planned with Musk.

Musician Grimes, who dated and had two children with Musk before they split in 2022, is scheduled to play a DJ set at Sonic Mania in Chiba, near Tokyo, on Friday night. Musk and Grimes were spotted in Portofino, Italy last month, and were reported to be staying at the same hotel, though they werent seen together, the Daily Mail said.

Story continues

(Adds comment from transport ministry in eighth paragraph.)

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It's common for many investors, especially those who are inexperienced, to buy shares in companies with a good story even if these companies are loss-making. But as Peter Lynch said in One Up On Wall Street, 'Long shots almost never pay off.' A loss-making company is yet to prove itself with profit, and eventually the inflow of external capital may dry up.

So if this idea of high risk and high reward doesn't suit, you might be more interested in profitable, growing companies, like OVB Holding (ETR:O4B). Now this is not to say that the company presents the best investment opportunity around, but profitability is a key component to success in business.

See our latest analysis for OVB Holding

How Fast Is OVB Holding Growing?

The market is a voting machine in the short term, but a weighing machine in the long term, so you'd expect share price to follow earnings per share (EPS) outcomes eventually. That means EPS growth is considered a real positive by most successful long-term investors. OVB Holding managed to grow EPS by 5.1% per year, over three years. While that sort of growth rate isn't anything to write home about, it does show the business is growing.

Careful consideration of revenue growth and earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) margins can help inform a view on the sustainability of the recent profit growth. It seems OVB Holding is pretty stable, since revenue and EBIT margins are pretty flat year on year. That's not bad, but it doesn't point to ongoing future growth, either.

The chart below shows how the company's bottom and top lines have progressed over time. For finer detail, click on the image.

You don't drive with your eyes on the rear-view mirror, so you might be more interested in this free report showing analyst forecasts for OVB Holding's future profits.

Are OVB Holding Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders?

It's a good habit to check into a company's remuneration policies to ensure that the CEO and management team aren't putting their own interests before that of the shareholder with excessive salary packages. For companies with market capitalisations between 184m and 736m, like OVB Holding, the median CEO pay is around 1.1m.

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The OVB Holding CEO received 957k in compensation for the year ending December 2022. That is actually below the median for CEO's of similarly sized companies. CEO compensation is hardly the most important aspect of a company to consider, but when it's reasonable, that gives a little more confidence that leadership are looking out for shareholder interests. Generally, arguments can be made that reasonable pay levels attest to good decision-making.

Is OVB Holding Worth Keeping An Eye On?

One important encouraging feature of OVB Holding is that it is growing profits. To add to this, the modest CEO compensation should tell investors that the directors have an active interest in delivering the best for shareholders. All things considered, OVB Holding is definitely worth taking a deeper dive into. It is worth noting though that we have found 1 warning sign for OVB Holding that you need to take into consideration.

Although OVB Holding certainly looks good, it may appeal to more investors if insiders were buying up shares. If you like to see insider buying, then this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying, could be exactly what you're looking for.

Please note the insider transactions discussed in this article refer to reportable transactions in the relevant jurisdiction.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
(Bloomberg) -- Estee Lauder Cos. gave a profit outlook that fell short of estimates on Friday, a sign the beauty company expects continued struggles in its crucial travel retail business in Asia.

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The owner of the MAC and Tom Ford brands said it sees those struggles causing a net loss as well as a sales decline of 10% to 12% in the current three-month period. Those would be the second-worst quarterly results on record, according to Raymond James analyst Olivia Tong.

Estee Lauder expects its duty-free sales to recover in the second half of the current fiscal year, which began in July. This means the companys oft-pushed-back forecast for a recovery in travel retail will come later than expected. The cosmetics maker had already cut its outlook in each of the previous three quarters because executives repeatedly misjudged shoppers demand for duty-free products in China and South Korea.

The reset was more substantial than we and the market had anticipated, Tong wrote in a research note on Friday.

Estee Lauder shares fell as much as 7.8%, the most since May 3, when trading began on Friday in New York, before paring most of the loss. The stock is down 35% this year through Thursday, worse than the 2.1% decline of the S&P 500 consumer-staples index.

Read More: Estee Lauder Is Falling Behind Rivals, Even on Home Turf

The companys travel retail business represented a fifth of total sales in its last fiscal year, which ended in June. During that time, revenue in the unit plunged by a third. Duty-free sales are particularly profitable, so the delayed recovery is one reason Estee Lauder executives said they expect margin contraction in the first half of the current fiscal year. Margins are then expected to expand in the second half.

Story continues

Hainan Slump

Executives told analysts on Friday that duty-free sales slumped in May and June, particularly in the hugely popular Chinese duty-free destination of Hainan, an island in the South China Sea. Some of the slump was because travel retailers are seeing fewer sales to daigou shoppers  those who purchase large quantities of a product for resale in the mainland  as Chinese authorities attempt to clamp down on the practice. Traffic from tourists hasnt offset that decline.

Our expectation is that travelers  regular, individual travelers  will return to Hainan, Chief Financial Officer Tracey Travis told analysts. Its a timing issue for us right now.

French beauty giant LOreal SA also said duty-free sales in Hainan deteriorated in May, with Chief Executive Officer Nicolas Hieronimus estimating that the current policy, if unchanged, could lead to a couple of months of inventory reduction. He added that revenue generated in Hainan represents less than 3% of the companys business.

Estee Lauder, however, is much more reliant on Hainan and travel retail in general.

The company added that a slower-than-anticipated recovery at US retailers contributed to a decline in sales there last quarter. It has been pivoting away from struggling American department stores in recent years and seeking to sell more at specialty retailers such as Ulta Beauty Inc. and LVMHs Sephora.

That shift hasnt been enough to stave off a decline in Estee Lauders US market share as rivals such as LOreal pick up customers. Chief Executive Officer Fabrizio Freda said Estee Lauder is focused on reaccelerating growth in North America in the current fiscal year. To help achieve this, the company plans to boost its advertising budget, market more on TikTok and expand its prestige offerings.

Outpacing Estimates

Fourth-quarter earnings beat expectations on stronger sales in Europe and Asia, despite the drag from travel retail. The beauty company reported adjusted earnings of 7 cents a share for the period ended June 30, compared with the Wall Street estimate for a loss. Revenue also beat expectations.

The company expects fiscal 2024 adjusted earnings of $3.43 to $3.70 a share, below the consensus compiled by Bloomberg. Sales are expected to rise 5% to 7%.

Estee Lauder said a cybersecurity attack last month will lower earnings by 7 cents a share in the fiscal first quarter and for the full year. Hackers infiltrated Estee Lauders computer network, forcing the company to shut down its email for several days, delaying some orders.

(Updates with new details in second through seventh paragraph)

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Europe Gas Storage Is 90% Full. It Still May Not Be Enough

(Bloomberg) -- Europes natural gas reserves are almost full, though that still may not be enough to see the region through winter.

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The continents storage levels hit 90.1% capacity on Aug. 16, according to the latest data from industry group Gas Infrastructure Europe. Thats the highest on record for the time of year, and well ahead of the European Unions Nov. 1 goal of reaching that marker.

However, inventories werent meant to provide all of the regions winter gas supplies, and a storm of risks is brewing. Potential worker strikes in Australia threaten to tighten the global market for liquefied natural gas. Europe is still coping with lower flows from Russia amid the war in Ukraine. And prolonged outages in Norway recently have led to price spikes, a reminder of the markets fragility.

In other words, Europes energy crisis isnt over yet. Benchmark Dutch futures are headed for a third weekly gain on continued supply concerns, while fluctuating Friday.

The continents energy security is in a much more stable position than it was this time last year, European Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson said in a statement Friday. But we have seen in recent weeks that the gas market remains sensitive.

The regions winter season for gas formally runs from October through March. Storage can cover up to one-third of the EUs gas demand in the heating season, according to the European Commission. But much depends on weather conditions as freezing temperatures could accelerate withdrawals from underground stockpiles.

Read more: Why We Should Be Worried About Gas Prices Again

Gas inventories also vary by country. Nations including Germany, the Netherlands and Spain have already exceeded the EUs target. France is among outsiders with storage levels at about 84%, after its energy supplies were disrupted earlier this year by nationwide strikes.

Story continues

While European gas prices are about 90% lower than their crisis peaks last year, market nervousness and intense volatility are here to stay given that global supplies remain tight.

Germany has already warned that shortage risks will remain until early 2027 unless it adds more gas infrastructure. Next years market balance will depend on how much fuel will be left in storage after this winter.

(Updates with EU comments in fifth paragraph.)

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By Faith Hung and Roger Tung

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Foreign investors seem to be undeterred by the possibility that growing tensions between Taiwan and China could precipitate fund outflows from the Taiwan market, the chairman of the Taiwan Stock Exchange told Reuters.

Up until the end of June, investors were going all in on Taiwan stocks with net foreign buying over the previous six months totalling $12 billion, a high water mark not reached since the first half of 2008. And Taiwan's benchmark index performance is up 16% in U.S. dollar terms this year, among the best benchmark performances in Asia.

But the net buying rally quickly changed course over these past two months, shifting to a net selling of T$83.9 billion ($2.62 billion) for July and T$106.6 billion so far in August.

Taiwan Stock Exchange Chairman Sherman Lin said in an interview this was a natural plateau after a rally rather than a sign that foreign funds are fleeing the market.

"Foreign investors have recently trimmed their holdings. But they still hold around 40% of Taiwan shares and they have been able to maintain that level for quite some time up to now," he said on Thursday.

"We have talked to foreign investors, including from countries such as Japan and Singapore. For them, the tensions barely register as a concern," he said, citing Taiwan's regional neighbours who would be most sensitive to the repercussions of any conflict between Taiwan and China.

China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory despite the strong objections of the island's democratically elected government, staged war games around Taiwan last August, and repeated those drills in April of this year.

"Even with the regular sight of Chinese warplanes flying around, why have foreign investors not left the Taiwan market?" Lin said.

Investment in Taiwan is currently too attractive to be deterred by China, he added.

Foreign investors are attracted to Taiwan's highly developed supply chain, led by the world's top chipmaker TSMC, a supply chain that plays an essential role in the currently booming AI industry, Lin said.

Story continues

"Taiwan's supply chain is very strong. All these companies (in the supply chain), including Foxconn and Quanta Computer, have the capability to make quick adjustments in the face of geopolitical risks."

Next month, Lin and the island's chief securities regulator will lead a delegation to New York and Boston, seeking to establish direct links with 16 financial institutions, including the Depository Trust & Clearing Companystock exchanges, pension funds, and fund management firms, in efforts to draw more investment in Taiwan stocks, he said.

"The more connected Taiwan is with international capital, the more secure Taiwan will be."

(This story has been refiled to add the dropped word 'Taiwan' in the headline)

(This story has been refiled to remove an incorrect picture)

(Reporting by Faith Hung and Roger Tung; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
We have selected seven stories from this week's news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues.

After working in the United States for more than 30 years, MacArthur biochemist Kunliang Guan is back in China with a full-time chair professor position at Westlake University in the eastern province of Zhejiang. He is among some 250 victims of a Trump-era policy aimed at combating Chinese espionage.

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.

Read the full story here.

Researchers in China say the laws of physics could make it possible to detect nuclear-powered submarines with existing technologies. Photo: US Navy alt=Researchers in China say the laws of physics could make it possible to detect nuclear-powered submarines with existing technologies. Photo: US Navy>

A study published in one of China's most respected peer-reviewed journals suggests that advanced submarines could be detected by existing technology, a development that would threaten US dominance of the oceans.

Read the full story here.

Singapore has filed charges against 10 people - three Chinese nationals and seven other foreigners with purported Chinese passports - in a major money-laundering crackdown, with nearly S$1 billion (US$736 million) worth of prime properties, luxury cars and other valuables seized as part of the probe.

Read full story here.

Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific Airways on Thursday afternoon offered more than 50,000 discounted economy-class return tickets to worldwide destinations, but some users reported missing out on deals or waiting hours in a queue.

Read the full story here.

US President Joe Biden (far left) will be hosting Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (centre) and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol at Camp David on Friday. Photo: AFP alt=US President Joe Biden (far left) will be hosting Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (centre) and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol at Camp David on Friday. Photo: AFP>

Story continues

China is said to be on "high alert" as US President Joe Biden hosts the leaders of Japan and South Korea at Camp David this week to deepen technological and defence ties - building what some observers have called a "de facto Asian Nato" on China's doorstep.

Read the full story here.

James Harden was left in disbelief after an appearance on a Chinese influencer's live stream brought 10,000 sales of his personal brand of wine in seconds. Photo: Weibo/Xiao Yang alt=James Harden was left in disbelief after an appearance on a Chinese influencer's live stream brought 10,000 sales of his personal brand of wine in seconds. Photo: Weibo/Xiao Yang>

James Harden was shocked after his Chinese fans bought 10,000 bottles of his personal brand of wine in just 10 seconds. The 33-year-old American recently joined a live stream on social media with local influencer Xiao Yang, who wanted to show the Philadelphia 76ers guard how quickly they could sell out his new product.

Read the full story here.

An 18-year-old in China sold an inherited property worth 1 million yuan (US$139,000) at half price to buy a motorcycle before legal action by his family cancelled the sale.

Read full story here.

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.
DUBLIN, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Condom Market - Global Outlook & Forecast 2023-2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

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The global condom market is expected to reach a value of $16.15 billion market by 2028 from $9.71 billion in 2022, growing at a CAGR of 8.85% from 2022 to 2028

It has been estimated that every year, over one million people are infected with STIs and 300 million with HPV. A huge proportion of unaware people still exist, and unmet needs for condoms. The most important and immediate need for condoms exists among women and girls.

Female condoms account for less share of the global condom market, and there is a huge opportunity for growth in the global female condom market. Vendors who can increase their ability to reach the female population are expected to enjoy a competitive advantage in the market.

Demographical factors, such as age, population, GDP, disposable income, and others, play a significant role in the condom market. Developed regions, such as North America and Europe, has significant penetration of condom usage owing to better education and high income. A huge proportion of India still lives in rural areas, and sex is taboo. As a result, a large part of the population is still untapped, reflecting huge growth potential.

APAC held the most substantial global condom market share in 2022, accounting for over 37% in revenue. The region includes the world's most populous countries, China and India. Although people in the regions are not completely aware of sexual health and condom use, it accounts for the highest share of the global condom market due to a huge consumer base.

The high penetration of condoms in countries such as Japan and China helped APAC contribute significantly to both value and volume of the global market. However, there is a low penetration of condoms and sexual wellness products in countries such as India and Bangladesh.

Story continues

The global condom market is highly fragmented, with several top vendors. However, the industry is expected to consolidate in the coming years slowly. The present scenario forces vendors to redefine their unique value proposition to achieve a strong industry presence. Some prominent players in the global condom market include LifeStyles, Church & Dwight, Reckitt Benckiser Group, Okamoto Industries, and Karex Berhad.

These companies have a global presence in at least three major regions: North America, APAC, and Europe. However, local vendors provide products with similar specifications at lower prices. Such instances have intensified price wars among vendors, and the market has the threat of infiltration with low-quality products.

The major vendors continually compete for the leading position in the industry, with occasional competition coming from other local vendors.

MARKET TRENDS & OPPORTUNITIES

Innovative Condom Designs



Condoms are used for birth control and protecting users from sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). However, post-sex contraceptive solutions such as pills and surgical procedures to prevent pregnancies are relatively more harmful than condoms. This has led many firms to research, innovate & develop a variety of condoms in the condom market.

The technology-driven condoms are some of the new & innovative contraceptives that people highly prefer. As many end-users are allergic to latex, they highly prefer to use these latex-free condoms, thereby motivating various companies to manufacture and produce latex-free condoms.

The technology-based condoms are usually light & slim that are available in different colors, sizes, & scents as per the consumer needs. Some of these condoms include ORIGAMI, Hydrogel, and The Galactic Cap.



Sex Education Programs Driving Awareness



Teenage sex can potentially result in unintended pregnancies and transmission of STIs and STDs. Birth control and post-conception contraceptives have increased significantly to prevent unwanted pregnancies and control the teenage pregnancy rate.

Moreover, sex education is a major factor driving the use of contraceptives, including condoms. Several countries worldwide offer teenage sex education programs to make teenagers aware of their bodies, reproduction, STDs, and safe sexual intercourse.



Sex education among teenagers in different countries:



Egyptian schools have sex education programs for students in the age group of 12 to 14 years. They provide teenagers with comprehensive knowledge of human reproductive systems, contraceptives, and STDs.



INDUSTRY RESTRAINTS

Availability of Several Substitutes



Although condoms rank a bit low on the perfection rate, they provide a high protection rate against STDs and STIs. However, the risk of STD and STI transfer rate is lower or non-existent in people who stick to a single partner. In such scenarios, people prefer using long-term contraceptives since condoms must be used every time one has intercourse.

Other contraceptives are usually replaced at longer intervals or, in some cases, permanently. Surgical procedures such as vasectomy and tubal ligation are permanent and non-reversible. Implants or IUDs have a long lifetime of 3 to 12 years, depending on the type of implant, and are mostly reversible.

Some hormonal injections also can provide 1-12 months of protection. With such a broad range of options, people may also seek long-standing implants that can protect against pregnancies for a longer duration.



SEGMENTATION INSIGHTS

INSIGHTS BY PRODUCT



The global condom market is characterized by high demand for male and female condoms. In 2022, the male condom segment dominated the market. Factors like male condoms are the cheapest contraceptive measures in the market with high availability, wearability, & disposability and are easy to purchase, contributing to the segment growth.

Despite being in the nascent stage of adoption, there has been a rise in the number of innovative female condom products in the market. A special type of female condom called an anti-rape condom is designed to protect women against forced sex. They are designed to cause pain to the attacker and cause the attacker's penis to bleed.

Anti-rape condoms are equipped with spikes on the inside and must be pre-inserted into the vagina and retained during incidents of potential assaults.

INSIGHT BY MATERIAL



The global condom market is categorized into latex and non-latex segments based on the materials used. Consumers highly drive the male condom due to its ease of availability, low costs, and highly preferred among couples compared to female condoms.

Moreover, the rise of non-latex condom offerings is driven by the need for non-allergic contraceptives that offer better overall performance than latex ones. Non-latex condoms, usually made of polyurethane, polyisoprene, or nitrile rubber, are thinner than latex condoms and provide better sexual pleasure and sensitivity.

INSIGHT BY END-USER



The global condom market by end-user is bifurcated into branded and institutional condoms. In 2022, the institutional condoms segment dominated the market regarding unit shipments.

This is mostly because the government in regions such as the Middle East & Africa, and North America are concerned about reducing the prevalence of HIV. Millions of condoms are distributed and made available to consumers, especially sex workers in such regions. Branded condoms cost more than institutional condoms since they are procured from various distribution channels.

INSIGHT BY DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL



Condoms are mainly sold through retail distribution channels such as specialty stores, supermarkets, hypermarkets, mass-market players, drug stores or pharmacies, and grocery stores. While institutional condoms are sourced or procured directly through manufacturers via tenders, branded condoms are sold via several distribution channels.

KEY QUESTIONS ANSWERED:

How big is the condom market?

What is the growth rate of the global condom market?

What are the growing trends in the condom market?

Which region holds the most significant global condom market share?

Who are the key players in the global condom market?

MARKET DYNAMICS

Market Opportunities & Trends

Internet Shaping Purchasing Power

Innovative Condom Designs

Increasing Popularity of Female Condoms

High Penetration of Dating Applications in Apac

Market Growth Enablers

Sex Education Programs Driving Awareness

Efforts Toward Family Planning & Birth Control

Branding Via Impactful Campaigns

Government Initiatives for Free Condom Distribution

Growing Prevalence of Sexually Transmitted Infections (Sti)

Market Restraints

Limited Popularity, Availability, & Affordability of Female Condoms

Availability of Several Substitutes

Rise in Product Counterfeiting

Psychological Barriers Among Consumers

Risks Associated With Condom Use

VENDOR LANDSCAPE



Key Company Profiles

Reckitt Benckiser Group

Okamoto Industries

LifeStyles Healthcare Pte. Ltd.

Karex Berhad

Church & Dwight

Other Prominent Vendors

BILLY BOY (MAPA)

LTC Healthcare

Caution Wear

Convex Latex

Cupid Limited

Dongkuk Techno

Double One

Fuji Latex

HBM Group

HLL Lifecare Limited

GLYDE

Innolatex Limited

Kamyra Condoms

Japan Long-Tie (China)

LELO

Mankind Pharma

Mayer Laboratories

Mister Size

Nulatex Sdn. Bhd.

Ritex

Sagami Rubber Industries

Shandong Ming Yuan Latex Co.

Skins Sexual Health

Silk Parasol

StaySafe Condoms (AdvaCare Pharma)

Unique Condoms International

Thai Nippon Rubber Industry

R&S Consumer Goods GmbH

Hello Cake

Veru (The Female Health Company)

Sustain Natural

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/eu291g

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It's been a sad week for Growthpoint Properties Australia (ASX:GOZ), who've watched their investment drop 12% to AU$2.39 in the week since the company reported its full-year result. Revenues of AU$333m beat expectations by 7.4%. Unfortunately statutory earnings per share (EPS) fell well short of the mark, turning in a loss of AU$0.32 compared to previous analyst expectations of a profit. The analysts typically update their forecasts at each earnings report, and we can judge from their estimates whether their view of the company has changed or if there are any new concerns to be aware of. Readers will be glad to know we've aggregated the latest statutory forecasts to see whether the analysts have changed their mind on Growthpoint Properties Australia after the latest results.

Check out our latest analysis for Growthpoint Properties Australia

Taking into account the latest results, the six analysts covering Growthpoint Properties Australia provided consensus estimates of AU$292.5m revenue in 2024, which would reflect a not inconsiderable 12% decline over the past 12 months. Growthpoint Properties Australia is also expected to turn profitable, with statutory earnings of AU$0.27 per share. Yet prior to the latest earnings, the analysts had been anticipated revenues of AU$312.8m and earnings per share (EPS) of AU$0.28 in 2024. It's pretty clear that pessimism has reared its head after the latest results, leading to a weaker revenue outlook and a minor downgrade to earnings per share estimates.

The analysts made no major changes to their price target of AU$3.35, suggesting the downgrades are not expected to have a long-term impact on Growthpoint Properties Australia's valuation. Fixating on a single price target can be unwise though, since the consensus target is effectively the average of analyst price targets. As a result, some investors like to look at the range of estimates to see if there are any diverging opinions on the company's valuation. There are some variant perceptions on Growthpoint Properties Australia, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at AU$4.05 and the most bearish at AU$2.80 per share. As you can see, analysts are not all in agreement on the stock's future, but the range of estimates is still reasonably narrow, which could suggest that the outcome is not totally unpredictable.

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One way to get more context on these forecasts is to look at how they compare to both past performance, and how other companies in the same industry are performing. These estimates imply that revenue is expected to slow, with a forecast annualised decline of 12% by the end of 2024. This indicates a significant reduction from annual growth of 4.6% over the last five years. Yet aggregate analyst estimates for other companies in the industry suggest that industry revenues are forecast to decline 6.0% per year. So it's pretty clear that Growthpoint Properties Australia's revenues are expected to shrink faster than the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing to take away is that the analysts downgraded their earnings per share estimates, showing that there has been a clear decline in sentiment following these results. Unfortunately they also cut their revenue estimates for next year. Forecasts imply the business' revenue is expected to perform worse than the wider industry. That said, earnings per share are more important for creating value for shareholders. The consensus price target held steady at AU$3.35, with the latest estimates not enough to have an impact on their price targets.

With that said, the long-term trajectory of the company's earnings is a lot more important than next year. We have estimates - from multiple Growthpoint Properties Australia analysts - going out to 2026, and you can see them free on our platform here.

Even so, be aware that Growthpoint Properties Australia is showing 2 warning signs in our investment analysis , and 1 of those is significant...

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
By Arunima Kumar and Arshreet Singh

(Reuters) -Hawaiian Electric Industries shares rose more than 10% on Friday, recovering some of their recent sharp losses after the utility said it is not looking to restructure but that it is seeking expert advice amid questions over its role in the Maui wildfires.

The company did not clearly outline the purpose for which it was seeking expert advice.

"Like any company in this situation would do, and as we do in the normal course of business, we are seeking advice from various experts," it said in a filing. Hawaiian Electric did not respond to a request for more details.

The utility's stock remains down about 60% for the week and has lost more than half of its value since the Aug. 8 wildfires that destroyed the coastal Maui town of Lahaina and killed at least 110 people.

The cause of the fires has not yet been determined, but the Honolulu-based company, Hawaii's largest utility, has been blamed for them in class-action lawsuits. These claim the utility failed to shut off power lines despite warnings that high winds might blow those lines down and spark wildfires.

Also, ratings agency Moody's Investors Service earlier Friday downgraded the utility's credit rating to junk status, the second such cut this week after S&P Global Ratings, as investors worried over any potential wildfire-related financial and legal challenges.

The company said in its filing that shutting off power was not part of its high-wind management protocol.

"Preemptive, short-notice power shutoffs have to be coordinated with first responders, and in Lahaina, electricity powers some of the pumps that provide the water needed for firefighting," it said.

Wells Fargo analyst Jonathan Reeder said most North American utilities do not have a formal Public Safety Power Shutoff program which outlines if and when such a drastic measure should be taken.

"Shutting off power is not an easy decision for a utility to make as there are widespread ramifications to safety when doing so," he said.

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Analysts have said Hawaiian's situation is reminiscent of that of PG&E Corp and wildfires in California. PG&E filed for bankruptcy protection in 2019, and subsequently restructured, citing potential liabilities exceeding $30 billion stemming from California wildfires that were blamed on its equipment.

Hawaiian Electric said in the filing that unlike in California, there was no precedent in Hawaii of applying an "inverse condemnation" to a private party like an investor-owned utility.

An "inverse condemnation" exposes California utilities to liabilities from wildfires regardless of their negligence, as long as their equipment is involved.

As of Thursday, about 1,900 customers in West Maui remained without electricity, Hawaiian said. It did not include around 2,600 homes and businesses that were destroyed, which represent less than 1% of its customers.

(Reporting by Arshreet Singh, Arunima Kumar and Shreyashi Sanyal in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch in New York; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Josie Kao)
If you are building a properly diversified stock portfolio, the chances are some of your picks will perform badly. Long term Pan American Silver Corp. (TSE:PAAS) shareholders know that all too well, since the share price is down considerably over three years. So they might be feeling emotional about the 54% share price collapse, in that time.

So let's have a look and see if the longer term performance of the company has been in line with the underlying business' progress.

View our latest analysis for Pan American Silver

Because Pan American Silver made a loss in the last twelve months, we think the market is probably more focussed on revenue and revenue growth, at least for now. Generally speaking, companies without profits are expected to grow revenue every year, and at a good clip. That's because fast revenue growth can be easily extrapolated to forecast profits, often of considerable size.

In the last three years, Pan American Silver saw its revenue grow by 6.6% per year, compound. That's not a very high growth rate considering it doesn't make profits. This uninspiring revenue growth has no doubt helped send the share price lower; it dropped 15% during the period. It can be well worth keeping an eye on growth stocks that disappoint the market, because sometimes they re-accelerate. Keep in mind it isn't unusual for good businesses to have a tough time or a couple of uninspiring years.

You can see how earnings and revenue have changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values).

Take a more thorough look at Pan American Silver's financial health with this free report on its balance sheet.

What About Dividends?

It is important to consider the total shareholder return, as well as the share price return, for any given stock. The TSR incorporates the value of any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings, along with any dividends, based on the assumption that the dividends are reinvested. It's fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. In the case of Pan American Silver, it has a TSR of -51% for the last 3 years. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. And there's no prize for guessing that the dividend payments largely explain the divergence!

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A Different Perspective

We regret to report that Pan American Silver shareholders are down 0.8% for the year (even including dividends). Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 0.6%. Having said that, it's inevitable that some stocks will be oversold in a falling market. The key is to keep your eyes on the fundamental developments. On the bright side, long term shareholders have made money, with a gain of 3% per year over half a decade. If the fundamental data continues to indicate long term sustainable growth, the current sell-off could be an opportunity worth considering. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Pan American Silver better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Pan American Silver you should know about.

If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on Canadian exchanges.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Today is shaping up negative for Hannover Ruck SE (ETR:HNR1) shareholders, with the analysts delivering a substantial negative revision to this year's forecasts. Revenue estimates were cut sharply as analysts signalled a weaker outlook - perhaps a sign that investors should temper their expectations as well.

Following the downgrade, the consensus from 13 analysts covering Hannover Ruck is for revenues of 30b in 2023, implying an uneasy 9.2% decline in sales compared to the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are presumed to climb 15% to 14.81. Prior to this update, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of 35b and earnings per share (EPS) of 14.75 in 2023. So there's been a clear change in analyst sentiment in the recent update, with the analysts making a substantial drop in revenues and reconfirming their earnings per share estimates.

See our latest analysis for Hannover Ruck

The average price target was steady at 196 even though revenue estimates declined; likely suggesting the analysts place a higher value on earnings.

These estimates are interesting, but it can be useful to paint some more broad strokes when seeing how forecasts compare, both to the Hannover Ruck's past performance and to peers in the same industry. These estimates imply that sales are expected to slow, with a forecast annualised revenue decline of 18% by the end of 2023. This indicates a significant reduction from annual growth of 12% over the last five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in the same industry are forecast to see their revenue grow 2.9% annually for the foreseeable future. So although its revenues are forecast to shrink, this cloud does not come with a silver lining - Hannover Ruck is expected to lag the wider industry.

The Bottom Line

The most obvious conclusion from this consensus update is that there's been no major change in the business' prospects in recent times, with analysts holding earnings per share steady, in line with previous estimates. Unfortunately analysts also downgraded their revenue estimates, and industry data suggests that Hannover Ruck's revenues are expected to grow slower than the wider market. Given the stark change in sentiment, we'd understand if investors became more cautious on Hannover Ruck after today.

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Still, the long-term prospects of the business are much more relevant than next year's earnings. At Simply Wall St, we have a full range of analyst estimates for Hannover Ruck going out to 2025, and you can see them free on our platform here.

Another way to search for interesting companies that could be reaching an inflection point is to track whether management are buying or selling, with our free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
(Bloomberg) -- Kuwaits $700 billion sovereign wealth fund appointed Abdulmohsin Al-Mukhaizeem as the permanent head of its London arm, just over a year after the units former boss was ousted.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Al-Mukhaizeem joins the Kuwait Investment Office from Wafra International Investment  a subsidiary of the countrys state pension fund  where he was chief investment officer, according to consultant Global SWF. He also spent seven years at the private equity arm of Kuwaits largest bank.

Kuwait Investment Authority officials couldnt be reached for comment.

The funds UK unit was thrust into the spotlight last year amid legal battles with former executives and after its previous chief Saleh Al-Ateeqi, a former McKinsey partner hired to modernize the branch, was ousted. He was temporarily replaced by Hussain Al Halabi.

Read More: UK Chiefs Ouster Exposes Clash at $769 Billion Kuwait Fund

The KIOs foundation predates Kuwaits independence. The fund was later placed under the KIA, but it still manages a large chunk of the oil exporters sovereign assets.

Its troubles are emblematic of the broader political upheaval in Kuwait and the divisions within the sovereign fund, which has lost several senior managers over the past year and has executed fewer deals compared with its peers in the Gulf.

Read More: Kuwaits $700 Billion Fund Is Being Eclipsed by Ambitious Peers

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
(Bloomberg) -- Saint Bella, a Chinese maternity care company that partners with upscale hotels to provide women with luxurious spaces to recuperate in after giving birth, is considering an initial public offering in Hong Kong as early as next year, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The Hangzhou, China-based company is working with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and UBS Group AG on the first-time share sale, which could fetch $100 million to $200 million, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private.

Saint Bella and its parent company, PrimeCare International, have raised nearly $100 million in three rounds of series C funding in the past year led by investors including Tencent Holdings Ltd. and China Life Insurance Co., according to a press release Aug. 4.

Deliberations are preliminary and details of the IPO such as size and timing could change, the people said. Representatives for Goldman Sachs and UBS declined to comment, while Saint Bella didnt immediately respond to requests for comment.

Services like Saint Bellas cater to affluent women seeking a high-end version of postpartum care after giving birth. In traditional Chinese practice, new moms are advised not to leave the house for a month, avoid cold drinks and use only boiled water. Families sometimes also hire a confinement nanny who gives postnatal care to mothers and their newborn babies. Maternity centers provide meals and caretakers for mothers and their newborns, who usually stay in the facility for about a month or two.

Started in 2017, PrimeCare is a service provider and lifestyle company in China, the press release shows. Its other brands include Baby Bella, PrimeCare For Family at-home pregnancy care and nutritional supplement brand Guang He Tang.

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Saint Bella partners with luxury hotel brands such as Peninsula, Rosewood and Waldorf Astoria on maternity centers in major Chinese cities, according its website. The company last month began offering services at the Four Seasons hotel in Hong Kong, where a 56-day Queen package, in a room with the Victoria Harbour view, is priced at as much as HK$1.5 million ($191,671), according to its WeChat account. Meals are created by chefs at the hotels Michelin-decorated restaurant.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
KPot Korean BBQ and Hot Pot restaurant plans to open in the former Bar Louie space at University Park Mall in the first quarter of 2024.

Work already is underway converting the former Bar Louie space outside the University Park Mall into a KPot Korean BBQ and Hot Pot restaurant that the chain reportedly hopes to open in the first quarter of next year.

Its been awhile, so were definitely excited, says Christian Carlson, the malls director of marketing and business development. The space has been sitting vacant for three years, since Bar Louie relocated to a new space at 7320 Gumwood Road in the Grandview development north of the mall in August 2020.

Market Basket: A 'reinvented' Bar Louie is set to open at new Granger location

The rapidly-expanding restaurant chain describes itself as a unique, hands-on all-you-can-eat dining experience that merges traditional Asian hot pot with Korean BBQ flavors  but modernized with a full bar.

Concentrated mostly in the eastern third of the country, the UP Mall location will likely be KPots first in Indiana, though another is planned for the Southlake Mall in Merrillville, according to the restaurants website.

While the KPot project is underway, officials also are pursuing tenants for the restaurant space that was occupied by Granite City Food & Brewery before it abruptly closed in October 2019 along with some other locations in Illinois and Indiana.

From October 2019: Granite City Food and Brewery suddenly closes in Mishawaka

Both Bar Louie and Granite City were among the first tenants in the 110,000-square-foot lifestyle center  known as The Village  that the mall opened in 2008. Carlson says he hopes to have that space filled by a new restaurant in 2024.

Of course, the timing of losing both restaurants couldnt have come at a worse time for the mall as most operators were fighting to survive during the shutdown and then the restrictions put in place as a result of the pandemic. Estimates place the number of pandemic-related closures at somewhere between 70,000 and 90,000 nationwide.

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Teresa Harrigan, manager, arranges some of the sauce bottles and packets at the Pepper Palace. The retailer recently moved to a location inside the UP Mall in Mishawaka.

But now business and other retailers are again looking for growth opportunities, and UP aims to pick up its share of new restaurants and retailers that are looking for space.

The Pepper Palace, which previously was located in The Village, relocated in July to store space just north of the Macys. It features hundreds of hot sauces, dry rubs, salsas, pickled vegetables, ketchups and mustards, most of which can be tasted before purchase.

Shuffle and Waffle, which opened at the start of summer, is located at Center Court and offers ice cream, milkshakes, crepes, waffles and drinks. Its operated by the same local entrepreneur  Khalid Khalaf  whos successfully run the Next Level clothing store in the mall the past few years.

Khalid Khalaf opened Shuffle and Waffle in the Center Court of the University Park Mall at the beginning of summer. It's the second business he operates at the mall.

During a tour of the mall, Carlson points out the new Urbn Sox store near Center Court, which carries over 12,000 pairs of colorful, fun and unique socks, space nearby where a Go! Calendars & Games is tentatively planning to open Sept. 1 and a storefront closer to JCPenney near Blondies Cookies where Michiana Lash Extension plans to open in September.

The new Urbn Sox store in University Park Mall has a wide variety of colors and styles of socks for the family.

Meanwhile a Bubblelicious Milk Tea and Fruit Tea will make its first move into Indiana by opening in the UP food court in September and at the Greenwood Park Mall south of Indianapolis, also this year.

A Bubblelicious is coming to the food court at UP Mall.

Except for the large space at the southwest end of the mall that Sears occupied until October 2019, the regional shopping destination is 90% full and one of the most successful in the state because of its combination of retailers.

The problem with the Sears space is that mall owner Simon Property Group doesnt own the building or the land its sitting on, Carlson says. We have to kind of wait for them, he says. All we can do is encourage.

Shown Aug. 19, 2019, "Store Closing" signage was recently added at the Sears store at University Park Mall in Mishawaka. After 91 years of being a retail giant in the area, the store closed in November 2019.

Picklemall, which aims to bring pickleball to empty retail space, has said it plans to open 50 locations in the next two years. Dillards, an upscale department store, also has been doing some expanding, and Dave & Busters has taken over some of the empty spots.

Obviously, wed like to see it filled, Carlson says. But its going to have to take someone approaching Sears to make it happen.

Email Tribune Market Basket columnist Ed Semmler at esemmler@sbtinfo.com.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: New restaurant and lots more changes at UP Mall in Mishawaka
Near Intelligence (NASDAQ:NIR) Second Quarter 2023 Results

Key Financial Results

Revenue: US$17.7m (up 26% from 2Q 2022).

Net loss: US$17.7m (loss widened by 366% from 2Q 2022).

US$0.36 loss per share.

All figures shown in the chart above are for the trailing 12 month (TTM) period

Near Intelligence Revenues Beat Expectations, EPS Falls Short

Revenue exceeded analyst estimates by 1.1%. Earnings per share (EPS) missed analyst estimates by 2.9%.

Looking ahead, revenue is forecast to grow 21% p.a. on average during the next 2 years, compared to a 12% growth forecast for the Software industry in the US.

Performance of the American Software industry.

The company's shares are down 21% from a week ago.

Risk Analysis

What about risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 5 warning signs for Near Intelligence (of which 3 are potentially serious!) you should know about.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Neko Chan Cat Cafe

Cat lovers rejoice, Lubbock will have a cat cafe by early 2024.

Neko Chan Cat Cafe hopes to begin remodeling in September at 84th Street and Indiana Avenue in the Melonie Shopping Center, with a goal of opening in December 2023 or early 2024.

"We look forward to being the first Cat Cafe in Lubbock, and hope everyone comes out to see it, which in turn supports a local business that's helping find cats homes," said Victoria Matsui, owner and long-time cat rescuer. "(Customers) should expect to have a great time interacting with all kinds of different cats - from kittens to seniors - and hopefully be able to find their forever furry friend. Plus, we want them to have some great crepes and coffee while watching the cats through the glass wall on the cafe side."

Matsui rescued her first cat from behind a dumpster in 2009, which started her passion for helping cats.

"Then my little gang of cats slowly grew," Matsui said. "And when I had too many that I couldn't possibly take any more in myself, I would still rescue cats and kittens off of the streets and help find a good home for them."

Matsui has visited cat cafes in other US cities and other countries, and wanted to bring that experience to Lubbock.

"Some people, like college students, just get homesick," Matsui said. "Maybe they have a cat at home that they couldn't bring with them. So they can come in and just hang out with all the furry feline friends."

Cat Cafes are often split into two areas - a cat room and a cafe space. People pay an admission fee to spend time in the cat room, where they can interact with the freely roaming cats and kittens. At Neko Chan, there will also be a kitten room, and all of their cats will be adoptable.

"That's the big difference between a cat cafe and a shelter," Matsui said. "While the ones in shelters are almost always in cages, the ones at the cat cafe are NEVER in cages and are always allowed to roam free. That way a person can kind of see what it will be like to have the cat or kitten inside their house before they choose to adopt them. "

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If a person finds a cat or kitten they like, they will fill out adoption papers and pay a fee for the cat's vaccinations and spay/neuter. Neko Chan will have their own 501c3 cat rescue organization, and will work with other no-kill shelters and rescues.

On the cafe side, there will be savory and sweet crepes, fresh fruit, macarons, cookies, pastries, locally-sourced coffee, flavored teas, sodas and bottled drinks and snacks from Japan.

Matsui felt that what some cat cafes she visited were missing was design and attention to comfort. For her cafe, the design will be high-end with Japanese-inspiration, combined with American flair.

"We want people to say WOW when they walk in the door," she said.

Other plans for the business include Painting With Cats and Yoga With Cats.

"We will also be having events like Painting With Cats, which is similar to Painting With A Twist, but there are cats all around helping you and the paintings are cat themed," she said. "As well as Yoga with cats, so you can exercise with cats all around you."

Matsui plans to accept volunteer applications to help with the cats and adoptions soon.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Lubbock's first cat cafe announces opening timeline, details
A new wave of volatility is rippling through the crypto world, ending a period of recent summer slumber for investors in digital currencies.

The price of bitcoin (BTC-USD) tumbled as much as 9% Thursday and briefly dropped below $26,000, the biggest one-day change in the worlds largest digital currency this year. It is down 8% over the last 24 hours as of 11:30 a.m. ET time Friday.

Investors sold $489 million in bitcoin futures over a 24-hour period, the largest single-day liquidation since June 2022, according to data provider Coinalyze.

Market watchers grasped at several theories for the sudden downward movement. Some pointed to news from The Wall Street Journal that Elon Musk's SpaceX had reportedly written down the value of its crypto holdings in 2021 and 2022 and sold those holdings.

Others pointed to fears of a worsening macroeconomic outlook that might dampen appetite for riskier assets, citing the bankruptcy filing of Chinese property developer Evergrande as well as the possibility that the Federal Reserve could hold interest rates higher for longer.

"The next week or two is going to be extremely important for this asset class," Matt Maley, chief market strategist with Miller Tabak + Co., said in a Friday note, pointing to both the "higher-for-longer" outlook at the Fed and "forced selling" in the crypto derivatives market as contributors to bitcoins sharp drop.

Bitcoins high point came in 2021 when it surged to $68,789 during an industry boom triggered by a period of low interest rates and fiscal stimulus that put excess savings in the pockets of investors. The market crashed in 2022 as the giant crypto exchange FTX collapsed, before making a surprise comeback during the early half of 2023.

Bitcoin surged to a record high in 2021 before crashing in 2022. It staged a comeback during the first half of the year and is now entering a new period of volatility. (STRF/STAR MAX/IPx)

Investors will be watching to see whether bitcoin can remain above its next key support level of $25,000. Such a move below that point would prove bearish for the crypto market and possibly "something that could be signaling some more declines in other risk assets in the days and weeks ahead," Maley said.

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The industry still faces legal and regulatory scrutiny that could also influence prices. Since the beginning of 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission has charged 17 different crypto actors with violating securities laws, including several exchanges that allow investors to trade digital currencies as well as individual issuers of digital tokens.

The SECs core assertion in many of these cases is that cryptocurrencies are securities, and therefore should be registered with the agency.

The courts thus far have not been clear on how digital currencies should be treated.

Analisa Torres, a US judge in the Southern District of New York, said on July 13 that a digital token issued by Ripple Labs was a security only when it was sold to institutional investors, and not when it was purchased by the general public. The SEC had also sued Ripple for selling unregistered securities.

Then July 31, US judge Jed Rakoff disagreed with that specific view in his case, in which the SEC has alleged stablecoin issuer Terraform Labs sold unregistered securities.

The SEC is expected to file its motion to appeal the ruling by Torres as early as today.

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
Northrop Grumman Corp (NYSE:NOC) has recently experienced a daily gain of 1.74%, despite a 3-month loss of -1.37%. With an Earnings Per Share (EPS) of 30.14, the question arises: Is the stock fairly valued? In this article, we will delve into an in-depth analysis of Northrop Grumman's valuation. Read on to discover if this could be a worthwhile investment for you.

Company Introduction

Northrop Grumman is a leading defense contractor that offers a diversified portfolio of aeronautics, defense, mission, and space systems. The company's aerospace segment is responsible for the fuselage of the F-35 program and produces both autonomous and piloted aircraft. Its defense systems segment specializes in artillery and missile ammunition, guidance systems, and missile defense systems. The mission systems segment integrates radar, navigation, and communication systems for avionics, weapons control, and countermeasures. Finally, the space systems segment produces satellites, sensors, space structures, and manufactures long-range missiles and rocket motors.

With a current share price of $436.65, it's important to compare this figure to the company's estimated fair value or GF Value. This will give us a clearer picture of whether the stock is overvalued, undervalued, or fairly valued.

Is Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC) Stock Fairly Valued?

Understanding GF Value

The GF Value is a unique measure of a stock's intrinsic value. It is based on three factors: historical trading multiples, a GuruFocus adjustment factor based on past performance and growth, and future business performance estimates. The GF Value Line provides an overview of the fair value at which the stock should ideally be traded. If the stock price is significantly above or below the GF Value Line, it may be overvalued or undervalued, respectively.

According to GuruFocus, Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) is fairly valued. The stock's fair value is estimated based on historical multiples, an internal adjustment based on past business growth, and analyst estimates of future business performance. If the stock price is significantly above the GF Value Line, the stock may be overvalued and have poor future returns. Conversely, if the stock price is significantly below the GF Value Line, the stock may be undervalued and have higher future returns. At its current price of $436.65 per share, Northrop Grumman stock is believed to be fairly valued.

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Because Northrop Grumman is fairly valued, the long-term return of its stock is likely to be close to the rate of its business growth.

Is Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC) Stock Fairly Valued?

Link: These companies may deliever higher future returns at reduced risk.

Financial Strength

Investing in companies with poor financial strength carries a higher risk of permanent capital loss. Therefore, it's crucial to carefully review a company's financial strength before deciding to buy its stock. A good starting point for understanding a company's financial strength is to look at its cash-to-debt ratio and interest coverage. Northrop Grumman has a cash-to-debt ratio of 0.22, which is worse than 68.47% of companies in the Aerospace & Defense industry. GuruFocus ranks the overall financial strength of Northrop Grumman at 6 out of 10, indicating that the company's financial strength is fair.

Is Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC) Stock Fairly Valued?

Profitability and Growth

Investing in profitable companies, especially those that have demonstrated consistent profitability over the long term, poses less risk. A company with high profit margins is also typically a safer investment than one with low profit margins. Northrop Grumman has been profitable 10 over the past 10 years. Over the past twelve months, the company had a revenue of $37.90 billion and Earnings Per Share (EPS) of $30.14. Its operating margin is 9.67%, which ranks better than 67.49% of companies in the Aerospace & Defense industry. Overall, GuruFocus ranks the profitability of Northrop Grumman at 9 out of 10, indicating strong profitability.

Growth is probably the most important factor in the valuation of a company. GuruFocus research has found that growth is closely correlated with the long-term performance of a company's stock. The faster a company is growing, the more likely it is to be creating value for shareholders, especially if the growth is profitable. The 3-year average annual revenue growth rate of Northrop Grumman is 5.7%, which ranks better than 62.45% of companies in the Aerospace & Defense industry. The 3-year average EBITDA growth rate is 24.6%, which ranks better than 81.06% of companies in the Aerospace & Defense industry.

ROIC vs WACC

Another way to evaluate a company's profitability is to compare its return on invested capital (ROIC) to its weighted cost of capital (WACC). Return on invested capital (ROIC) measures how well a company generates cash flow relative to the capital it has invested in its business. The weighted average cost of capital (WACC) is the rate that a company is expected to pay on average to all its security holders to finance its assets. If the ROIC is higher than the WACC, it indicates that the company is creating value for shareholders. Over the past 12 months, Northrop Grumman's ROIC was 7.75, while its WACC came in at 5.25.

Is Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC) Stock Fairly Valued?

Conclusion

In summary, the stock of Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) is believed to be fairly valued. The company's financial condition is fair, and its profitability is strong. Its growth ranks better than 81.06% of companies in the Aerospace & Defense industry. To learn more about Northrop Grumman stock, you can check out its 30-Year Financials here.

To find out the high-quality companies that may deliver above-average returns, please check out GuruFocus High Quality Low Capex Screener.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.


When investors consider the acquisition of a stock, they sort through numerous variables to make an informed decision. They should assess the fundamentals of a stock as well as its historical performance, dividend growth and recent events.

Investors must also ask whether the time is right to acquire the stock and determine whether it's currently overbought or oversold. Do the moving averages and other technical indicators support a purchase? How do analysts perceive the company's prospects?

These questions support the idea that the timing of your stock purchase is just as crucial as the selection itself. Making a purchase at the wrong time, such as when the stock is extremely overbought or right before an earnings report, could result in a swift 10% or 15% loss in a matter of weeks. Conversely, buying the stock at the right time  when it is oversold but improving  could potentially yield substantial gains.

Take a look at one historically successful real estate investment trust (REIT) that has been underperforming recently, but is now trading at a level where it could become an excellent long-term buy.

NNN REIT Inc. (NYSE:NNN), formerly known as National Retail Properties, is an Orlando, Florida-based triple net-lease REIT that owns a diversified group of stand-alone retail outlets across the U.S. It presently has 3,479 properties of approximately 35.5 million square feet in 49 states. NNN REIT has a stable base of more than 350 tenants, including 7-Eleven, Sunoco, Best Buy, LA Fitness, Camping World, BJ's Wholesale Club and Chuck E. Cheese.

NNN is an income REIT stalwart that has increased its annual dividend for 34 consecutive years, making it a Dividend Aristocrat, and has never cut nor suspended its dividend. Its total return since August 2000 is 619.34%, or an average annual total return of 8.94%.

NNN REIT has no debts maturing until 2024 and a strong balance sheet.

Check out:

A REIT you've probably never heard of is up 36% over the past two years. Here's how its unique model is crushing the market.

This REIT just teamed up with the company that built Elon Musk's tiny house to develop affordable housing communities. Here's how you can be among the first to buy shares.

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On Aug. 2, NNN REIT reported its second-quarter operating results. Funds from operations (FFO) of $0.80 matched analysts' estimates and were a 1.27% increase over FFO of $0.79 in the second quarter of 2022. Revenue of $202.43 million was slightly below the analyst consensus estimate of $203.4 million but produced a 6.1% increase over revenue of $190.78 million in the second quarter of 2022.

Additionally, NNN REIT raised its Core FFO guidance for 2023 from $3.14-$3.20 per share to $3.17-$3.22 per share. The consensus estimate was for $3.22.

NNN REIT also announced that it maintained its 99.4% occupancy level from the previous two quarters, and it presently has a weighted average remaining lease term of 10.2 years.

Despite the year-over-year improvements and FFO guidance increase, Wall Street was not happy that NNN REIT missed its revenue number and that the company's guidance range matched the estimate at the top instead of closer to the middle or low ends. In a classic Wall Street overreaction, the stock sold off and has now dropped over 8% since the report was released.

Stock Technicals

The chart below shows the recent price action for NNN REIT. At first glance it does not look good, but the chart indicates both positives and negatives.

On the negative side, the stock has been falling for some time, and the 50-day moving average (MA) has fallen below the 200-day MA. The 50-day recently came close to crossing back above the 200-day but failed to do so. The stock also fell through recent support at $39.75, and the next support level is near $36 per share.

NNN stock chart

On the positive side, the 200-day MA continues to have a slight upward trend, and both the 14-period relative strength index (RSI) at 25.84 and full stochastic at 3.33 are deeply oversold. That could indicate that the selling pressure will soon subside.

Recent News

NNN REIT has been busy with acquisitions and sales over the last few months. In the second quarter, it bought $181 million in new properties and sold seven others to earn a profit of approximately $13.9 million. Thirty-six new properties were bought with an initial cap rate of over 7%.

On July 14, NNN REIT increased its quarterly dividend 2.7% from $0.55 to $0.565 per share. The present yield on its $2.26 forward annual dividend is 5.82%. Assuming the dividend remains the same this year, the payout ratio will be 70%  comfortable coverage with little risk of a cut.

This is the fifth time that NNN REIT has increased its dividend since July 2020. When a company continually raises its dividend, it's usually a strong sign of improving earnings and revenue, along with continued faith in its future.

On Aug. 3, a day after the earnings report, RBC Capital Markets analyst Brad Heffern maintained a Sector Perform rating on NNN REIT but lowered the price target from $46 to $45.

On Aug. 9, NNN REIT announced a public offering of $500 million in senior unsecured notes due in 2033 with a rate of 5.6%. The notes were offered at 97.676% of the principal amount, payable on April 15 and Oct. 15 each year starting April 15, 2024. The underwriters included Bank of America Securities, Wells Fargo Securities, Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and others.

Wall Street seems to be concerned about the triple-net lease REITs having reached their peak in rents. But the triple-net lease REITs are among the most reliable and stable dividend-paying stocks and have less risk than REITs that are not triple net-lease programs. The quality of NNN REIT's tenants and its long history of dividend growth speak well for its ability to handle any economic environment. The REIT did not cut or suspend dividends during the pandemic in 2020, and that speaks volumes to its strength.

In short, the recent pullback on NNN REIT could provide investors with an excellent opportunity to acquire a stalwart REIT with a dividend yield that is over 1% above its five-year average.

Weekly REIT Report: REITs are one of the most misunderstood investment options, making it difficult for investors to spot incredible opportunities until it's too late. Benzinga's in-house real estate research team has been working hard to identify the greatest opportunities in today's market, which you can gain access to for free by signing up for the Weekly REIT Report.

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 Is Now A Good Time To Buy NNN REIT? originally appeared on Benzinga.com

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 2023 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Mordor Intelligence

Hyderabad, Aug. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to a new market research report titled " Pakistan Seed Market Report (2023-2028) ," the market is estimated at USD 392.88 million in 2023. It is expected to register a CAGR of 5.20% during the forecast period.

The seed market in Pakistan is witnessing licensing of seed producers, variety release methods, access to public germplasm, and quality control, among others. In Pakistan, the highest hybrid seed penetration is cotton, with hybridization reaching saturation.

Report Summary:

Report Attribute Details Market Size (2023) USD 392.88 million Market Size (2028) USD 506.22 million CAGR (2023-2028) 5.20% Study Period 2018-2028 Forecast Units Value (USD million) Report Scope Market Dynamics, Revenue Forecast and Segmentation, Competitive Landscape, and Recent Developments, Market Growth, Future Opportunities, and Trends Key Market Drivers The growth of hybridization of crops. The introduction of new laws to propagate biotech seeds.

Who are the Top Companies in the Pakistan Seed Market?

The market is highly fragmented and consists of several local and global players. The players are investing in new products, partnerships, and expansions to enhance their market presence.

Significant players in the Pakistani seed market are,

Bayer Crop Science Pakistan (Pvt.) Ltd

ICI Pakistan (Pvt.) Ltd

Four Brothers Seeds Corporation

Rashid Seeds

Sky Seeds

Jullundur Private Limited

Haji Sons

AllahDin Group

Ali Akbar Group

Pak Hi-Bred Seed

Star Seed Company

Other Reports That Might Be of Your Interest:

Philippines Hybrid Rice Seed Market Report - The Philippine hybrid rice seed market value is estimated at USD 371.04 million in 2023. It is expected to reach USD 478.08 million by 2028, registering a CAGR of 5.20% during the forecast period (2023-2028).

Quinoa Seeds Market Report - The quinoa seeds market size is estimated at USD 1.18 billion in 2023. It is expected to reach USD 1.92 billion by 2028, registering a CAGR of 10.16% during the forecast period (2023-2028).

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Key Highlights from the Pakistan Seed Market Report :

Decreasing Arable Land

The demand for increasing production from arable land to achieve higher returns can be catered to using HYVs and hybrid varieties. This is encouraging farmers to shift to packaged seeds, which provide better returns.

Fluctuating arable land is encouraging companies and farmers to attract resources for contract farming, especially for potato and maize crops.

Open Pollinated Seeds to Register Growth

MMRI released four open-pollinated maize varieties, which are of short duration and can be harvested quicker to rotate land for the next crop.

Maize is considered the third most important cereal crop in the country. Its area is increasing steadily by substituting various crops in the area. The farmers in the country prefer using open-pollinated varieties over hybrids due to the high price of hybrid varieties.

What are the Latest Developments in the Pakistan Seed Market?

In October 2022, the Pakistani government announced a package of USD 7.98 billion to promote the agriculture sector.

In September 2022, the government spent USD 0.09 million on producing high-quality cotton seeds and developing climate-resilient production technologies.

Mordor Intelligence has Segmented the Pakistan Seed Market Based on Product Type and Crop Type:

By Product Type (Market Size and Forecast based on Value (USD million), 2018-2028) Transgenic Non-transgenic Open Pollinated

By Crop Type (Market Size and Forecast based on Value (USD million), 2018-2028) Grains and Cereals Rice Wheat Corn Other Grains and Cereals Oilseeds Cotton Sunflower Rapeseed Other Oilseeds Vegetables Solanaceae Cucurbit Roots and Bulbs Brassica Other Vegetables Other Seeds



In a nutshell, the Mordor Intelligence market research report is a must-read for start-ups, industry players, investors, researchers, consultants, business strategists, and all those who are looking to understand this industry. Get a glance at the Pakistan Seed Market Report (2023-2028) .

Mordor Intelligence constantly tracks industry trends. Some relevant market reports from the analysts that might be of interest to you:

Uganda Seeds Market Report - The Uganda seeds market size is estimated at USD 7.90 billion in 2023. It is expected to reach USD 9.80 billion by 2028, registering a CAGR of 4.40% during the forecast period (2023-2028).

Ghana Seed Market Report - The Ghana seed market size is estimated at USD 8.97 million in 2023. It is expected to reach USD 10.70 million by 2028, registering a CAGR of 3.60% during the forecast period (2023-2028).

Sri Lanka Seed Market Report - The Sri Lankan seed market size is estimated at USD 12.67 million in 2023. It is expected to reach USD 14.86 million by 2028, with a CAGR of 3.24% during the forecast period (2023-2028).

About Mordor Intelligence:

Mordor Intelligence is a market intelligence and advisory firm. At Mordor Intelligence, we believe in predicting butterfly effects that have the potential to change or significantly impact market dynamics.

Our market research reports are comprehensive and provide exclusive data, facts and figures, trends, and the competitive landscape of the industry.

Attachment

CONTACT: Company Name: Mordor Intelligence Email: info@mordorintelligence.com Phone: +1 617-765-2493 Location: Hyderabad, Telangana Country: India




Your pup may be able to pitch in for their own treat budget with this new job posting.

Ever wished your furry friends could get a job to help pull their weight around the house? If you have a pooch who is a fan of peanut butter, you might be in luck.

Pet wellness company Honest Paws has a special job opening for Canine Ambassadors for its all-natural CBD-infused peanut butter products. The job calls for pups with big personalities who are ready to represent the brand with passion and enthusiasm.

What to know about dog pneumonia: Is there an outbreak of pneumonia in dogs? Here's what you and your pup should know.

The right candidate will: Be good boys and girls who love people and pets

According to the posting, the ambassador will appear at dog-friendly venues to promote products and mingle with humans and fellow canines alike.

Job responsibilities include barking rights to tour local dog parks, canine events, and pet stores marketing the peanut butter; taste testing in front of live audiences; and serving as a woofing reporter, communicating feedback from consumers to ensure everyone is enjoying the peanut butter treats.

Of course, like any job, Honest Paws has a few qualities theyre looking for in a candidate besides good looks and the ability to sit and stay.

Aspiring ambassadors should be friendly dogs with a love for treats, people and other pets. They should be well-trained and able to keep their cool in busy situations (even if a squirrel runs by) and have a human wiling to accompany them and assist in their duties.

Successful candidates stand to gain more than just an abundance of snacks  ambassadors will also earn $100 an hour and a litany of benefits, including fun days at the park, new friends, plenty of peanut butter and lots of belly rubs.

As an equal opportunity employer, Honest Paws is ready to consider Corgis to Great Danes, and every breed in between.

Keep your pup healthy: How often should you walk your dog? Best practices for keeping your pup healthy.

Interested pawrents are encouraged to check out Honest Paws website to check out the requirements.

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Applications can be sent to promotions@honestpaws.com and should include your name, email, address, dogs name and a 200-word max brief, along with a picture, on why your pet is best suited for the gig. Be sure to submit your information by Friday, September 1, 2023, to be considered.

CBD products for pets

The presence of CBD in pet products has increased in recent years, with uses ranging from anxiety or pain management. While research has shown it can have similar benefits for pets as it does humans, pet parents should still exercise caution, according to the American Kennel Club.

As the FDA has yet to officially approve any prescription or over-the-counter CBD pet products, it is important to keep in mind there is no a standardized means of testing and labeling them, according to Good RX Health.

Because CBD products for pets are not yet federally regulated, the labels run the risk of being misleading or not entirely accurate and may incorrectly report dosage or fail to report contaminants. Because of this, Good RX suggests asking manufactures for their Certificate of Analysis (COA), a document verifying ingredients that should be publicly available.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Honest Paws wants dog ambassador to promote CBD treats, peanut butter
ReportLinker

The Pineapple Market size is expected to grow from USD 27.08 billion in 2023 to USD 36.80 billion by 2028, at a CAGR of 6.33% during the forecast period (2023-2028). Key Highlights.

New York, Aug. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Pineapple Market Size & Share Analysis - Growth Trends & Forecasts (2023 - 2028)" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06484389/?utm_source=GNW

The Pineapple Market size is expected to grow from USD 27.08 billion in 2023 to USD 36.80 billion by 2028, at a CAGR of 6.33% during the forecast period (2023-2028).



Key Highlights

The pineapple market has immense opportunities owing to the demand for the product, increased awareness among consumers, and growth in investments from private investors and companies.

In 2021, Costa Rica, Indonesia, and the Philippines were the top three pineapple producers worldwide. These countries produce the fruit primarily for fresh fruit markets and the processing industry. Pineapple production is concentrated in the tropical regions of the world. The smooth Cayenne cultivar is extensively cultivated in many tropical countries like Hawaii, the Philippines, Australia, South Africa, Puerto Rico, Kenya, Mexico, Cuba, and Formosa. Costa Rica produced 2.9 million metric tons of pineapples in 2021.

Lampung, East Java, West Java, and Riau are some of the provinces with the largest pineapple plantation area in Indonesia. Great Gaint Pineapple company in Lampung province controls pineapple production in the area and exports pineapples to various countries.

The demand for pineapples in Europe has been growing in recent years, and it relies on many tropical countries to meet the demand. Costa Rica and the Philippines are the main exporters of fruit in the world, while the United States and the Netherlands are the top importers of pineapple.



Pineapple Market Trends



Increasing Demand for Fresh Fruits



The demand for fresh fruits is increasing, especially in Europe and North America, due to consumers growing concerns over health and wellness and a shift toward vegan foods. The production of pineapple increased globally due to the demand for fruit in the food processing industries to manufacture various snacks based on pineapple. In 2021, global Pineapple production accounted for 28.6 million metric tons.

Due to a need for more sufficient human resources in agriculture production, the countries heavily rely on imports to meet the demand. Tropical fruits have a stable demand across the year, which is met with imports from countries like Costa Rica and the Philippines.

For instance, Costa Rica exported USD 1.0 million of pineapples globally in 2021. The major importers of pineapple from Costa Rica are the United States, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, and Italy, with a market share of 49.7%, 9.4%, 7.9%, 7.7%, and 7.7%, respectively. Europe and North America alone constitute over 50% of the total worlds imports.

The growing use of pineapple in healthy snacks is projected to boost the fresh pineapple market growth.



Asia Pacific Dominates the Market



Asia- Pacific region is the largest producer of pineapples in 2021 with 13 million metric ton accounting for 41% share of production globally, followed by America with 10.2 million metric ton and Africa with 5.2 million metric ton of pineapple production.



Asia is the largest region in the world both in terms of production and consumption. This is due to large local consumption and the highest area under pineapple production. In 2021, Indonesia is the top producer in the region with 2.88 million metric ton in 2021, followed by the Philippines with 2.86 million metric ton and India with 1.7 million metric ton.



China imported USD 172 million worth of pineapples in 2020 to meet its consumption demand. Much of these imports are from its neighboring countries like the Philippines and Chinese Taipei. Pineapple is consumed directly as fresh fruit and is now increasingly utilized in beverages in the Asian region.



The rising demand for food extracts that add nutritional value while providing a tangy flavor and the growing popularity of pineapple flavor are expected to drive the growth of the market. Furthermore, Pineapple products such as pineapple powder has a longer shelf life and used in various food and beverages sector, pharmaceuticals are expected to drive the market growth.



Additional Benefits:



The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format

3 months of analyst support

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06484389/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



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CONTACT: Clare: clare@reportlinker.com US: (339)-368-6001 Intl: +1 339-368-6001




GREEN BAY - The Port of Green Bay and Brown County have already started to pursue additional grant money to cover a $19 million increase in the cost to expand port operations.

Port officials expected it would cost about $30 million to develop a state-of-the-art port facility with convenient access to rail and interstate highways on the former Pulliam Power Plant site. A newly received engineering cost estimate put the price tag above $48.7 million, a more than 60% increase. The cost increase was attributed to increases in labor and material costs, said Dean Haen, director of the Port of Green Bay.

The expansion project could increase the port's economic activity by $87 million in the first five years after it is completed, according to estimates shared earlier this year. The project also captured the Green Bay area's attention because it could lead to the relocation of the coal piles site out of the central city, a decades-old community dream.

Construction crews have almost completed demolition of the former Pulliam Power Plant owned and operated by Wisconsin Public Service Corp. WPS started to take apart the coal-fired units on the site in October 2018 and expects to finish the job by spring 2021.

The Brown County Board this week approved the port's request to apply for a $17.6 million Harbor Assistance Grant from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. The grant would require the county to provide $4.4 million in matching funds, equal to 20% of the project's full cost.

Port optimistic about state grant funds; other options to explore

Haen is optimistic the state will award the port at least some of the $17.6 million requested, but he said it's far from the only option staff will explore. The port expansion project already received one other Harbor Assistance Grant from the state.

"I feel like we will get some grant dollars, but we will stay at it with state and federal grant requests to fill that newly found gap in funding," he said.

Another option could include seeing if the Green Bay area's state legislators, many of whom have already supported the port expansion plans, would request additional money from the state's sizeable budget surplus.

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"There's a conversation to be had with local legislators," Haen said. "There's significant public support for this locally, at the state and federally. Hopefully that interest continues and we're able to find the funding necessary."

New $48.7 million price tag still could change

Haen pointed out the engineering report itself is a tentative cost estimate which could change between now and when the county hopes to start work. He said the actual cost to do the work will be based on multiple factors that include material prices, labor costs and contractors' availability.

"Maybe costs come down between now and then. Until we have a bid, we're still working off estimates," Haen said.

A GLC Minerals worker walks through the area where material is loaded into trucks on July 19, 2021, in Green Bay, Wis.

GLC Minerals purchases part of Pulliam site from county for expansion

The county also this week approved the sale of part of the port site to a longtime port operator which intends to expand its operations and workforce.

GLC Minerals bought 7.38 acres of the Pulliam property for $664,200, though the size and price could change based on land survey results. The property is located along the southwest corner of the Pulliam site and abuts GLCs existing operations.

GLC plans to install bulk materials handling machinery and equipment in order to expand its processing and storage capabilities for calcium carbonate, magnesium and gypsum products used by farmers and several industries.

An overhead image of the Pulliam Power Plant property. The land Brown County bought from Wisconsin Public Service is highlighted in yellow.

What's involved in the port expansion plan?

Brown County agreed to purchase the former J.P. Pulliam power plant site from Wisconsin Public Service Corp. in January 2021 for $2.7 million. The site was used to generate electricity from 1927 until 2018 when WPS shut the two coal-fired power plants down.

WPS, by 2021, cleared much of the 43.75-acre site on the western shore of the Fox River and Bay of Green Bay. The county saw an opportunity to expand port operations on the site, which also has the potential to facilitate relocation of the coal piles.

Port officials said the site would need a variety of major improvements and upgrades as part of the project. A major component of the project would involve dredging along the site and installation of a steel dock wall to enable ships to dock at the site. Construction plans include:

Construction of a rail spur;

Filling in the docking slip on the Pulliam site;

Building space to contain stormwater;

New mooring facilities and crane pads for port operations;

Sea wall repairs; and

The steel dock wall and dredging.

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., presents U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg with Green Bay Packers jerseys for Buttigieg's two young children, born in 2021. Buttigieg visited Green Bay to tour the future Port of Green Bay expansion site.

Where's the money coming from to expand the Port of Green Bay?

The port already has $30.8 million from federal, state and local sources to pay for the improvements. They are:

What about the coal piles?

The Port of Green Bay's primary focus remains on adding the new port terminal to the riverfront, but the Pulliam site also could serve as a new home for coal piles owned by C. Reiss Coal Co., a subsidiary of Robindale Energy.

The tentative idea would be to stop coal deliveries to the 35-acre site located just south of Mason Street and east of Broadway, and start them on a portion of the Pulliam site. The existing coal piles would slowly run out. Brown County, the city of Green Bay, and C. Reiss would need to agree to terms for such a plan and there is no guarantee it will happen.

Still, the hope is that doing so would free up 35 acres of prime, riverfront real estate just south of Green Bay's redeveloping central city. Haen said preliminary discussions with C. Reiss continue.

More: A port, a power plant and partnerships: How Green Bay and Brown County could finally relocate the coal piles

CONTINUE YOUR SUPPORT: Thanks to our subscribers for making this coverage possible. Be sure to download our app on the App Store or Google Play. Follow us on social media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Newsletters

Contact Jeff Bollier at (920) 431-8387 or jbollier@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JeffBollier.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Port of Green Bay expansion needs another $19 million
(Bloomberg) -- At the helm of Ralph Lauren Corp., Chief Executive Patrice Louvet is navigating the novel challenges modern times bring for the fashion industry. The list includes dealing with a world where hoodies can be fair game at the office and factoring the metaverse into business planning.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Hes bringing a different perspective, too, as one of a growing list of CEOs in apparel and retail who dont hail from the world of fashion. Prior to joining Ralph Lauren, he was an executive at Procter & Gamble, focused on beauty. Louvet spoke in an interview with Bloomberg TVs Francine Lacqua. (Questions and responses have been edited and condensed.)

Are we really going to the office in hoodies now?

It depends which industry you're in. At Ralph Lauren, I haven't seen many people in hoodies. But Ralph does come in once in a while in a double RL hoodie or a Polo hoodie. But he makes it look beautiful, as you can imagine.

How much time do you spend thinking about sustainability?

A lot. Timelessness and sustainability go together. You can't expect to be timeless if we've run out of resources. So for me, sustainability is not a side activity, it's not a reaction to external pressure. It's core to who we are, what we stand for. And to a very strong extent, it's about future proofing our business.

You need the focus on sustainability to recruit. More and more that younger consumer, they want to work for companies that care about this planet, that do more than just generate revenue and profit. You need sustainability to attract consumers, including that younger consumer. They care deeply about what are you doing differently. Are you making a difference? Investors, particularly in Europe, more and more place value in what you're doing in sustainability. Many of our partners have expectations on sustainability.

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There seems to be a trend to get chief executives from the consumer products industry who dont have backgrounds in luxury and fashion. Do these consumer products chief executives do better than those from the luxury sector?

This trend started in beauty. And now we're seeing that in the fashion world. At the end of the day, success in this industry is getting the balance right between magic and logic. And so in the fashion industry, the creative leaders have the magic. There's an opportunity to bring a higher level of logic without diluting the magic. What people from the consumer goods industry bring are greater focus on understanding the consumer now. Where you get successes is when designer vision and customer needs come together. There's an element of intuition that needs to be protected, but that can be supplemented by data.

How do you choose celebrities and influencers?

For us, what's critical is authenticity. So the concept of, I'm going to write you a big check today and you're going to talk about us and then tomorrow you're going to show up on a competitive brand because you got another big check  we're not interested in that. We want people who have an authentic relationship with the brand.

Are you excited about metaverse? Are you investing in the metaverse?

The media headlines have moved on, but the consumer has not, which is very interesting. We are investing in the metaverse. We want to be where our consumer is. And that's where the younger population is. That's where they want to engage with brands like us.

We've got a partnership with Fortnite. There's some really cool boots that we developed that you can dress your player with, but weve actually done a physical version of them as well.

Read More: How a Morgan Stanley Derivatives Salesperson Became a Celebrity Chef

What are you like as a leader? A risk taker?

I think people would say listener. There's a great quote from a Greek philosopher that we have two ears and one mouth. And there's a reason for that. People would say I'm a learner. I am a measured risk taker. I am not a swing-for-the-fence risk taker, but I believe in innovating, experimenting and trying new things. And I think that's the energy inside the company today. I love that spirit of just trying things, and again, learning.

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NEW YORK  The federal judge assigned to the fraud case against Rep. George Santos will also oversee the case against one of his staffers whos accused of impersonating House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthys chief of staff while raising funds for Santos.

Sam Miele, 27, who was indicted in Brooklyn Federal Court Wednesday on wire fraud and aggravated identity theft charges, had his case reassigned to Long Island Judge Joanna Seybert.

Miele is accused of impersonating McCarthys now-retired chief of staff, Dan Meyer, to dupe donors into giving Santos money during the 2020 and 2022 election cycles. According to an indictment filed in Brooklyn Federal Court Monday, Miele admitted the deception to Santos, and got a 15% commission for his efforts.

Santos, a New York Republican, is identified in the indictment as Candidate 1, sources familiar with the case said.

Federal prosecutors filed a letter on Wednesday saying that Mieles and Santos cases may be presumptively related.

Santos lies about his education, religion, family history, professional experience and property ownership unraveled only after his election to Congress in 2022.

The first-term Republican indictment for wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and making false statements to Congress.

The allegations against him include a 2020 scheme to collect COVID-19-related unemployment funds while working as an investment company director, a campaign finance fraud operation where he used donor money to buy designer clothes and pay his personal debts, and a string of untruths about his assets and income to the House of Representatives.
A Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland report says that while migration patterns within the United States changed because of COVID-19, movements are now returning to patterns before the pandemic began, including in the Columbus area.

Stephan Whitaker, policy economist with the Federal Reserve whose report was released earlier this month, said that Columbus does better than any other metro in this area in terms of pulling people in, better than Cincinnati, Cleveland and Pittsburgh.

As has been the case for years, much of the Columbus area's growth still comes from in-state migration, he said. But others are coming from outside the Columbus metro, he said.

Chris Pemberton, of Columbus, works on his mural as a train goes by, during the inaugural Gravity Mural Fest with international and local artists, musicians, speakers, artisans and other creatives in the Franklinton neighborhood. A new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland suggests that Columbus' urban neighborhoods as a group continued to slightly lose population in 2022 despite new apartments and housing.

"The people who are coming to Columbus are people being hired in national labor markets," Whitaker said.

The Columbus metro area also holds its own with the rest of the country, with as many people coming here from other parts of the U.S. as leaving this area to move elsewhere, he said.

"I think if you look at the trends, see the impact of COVID, it's of a much smaller magnitude than in other areas," Whitaker said.

The study points out that migration trends determine winners and losers in home-price appreciation, local consumer demand, labor force growth, and state and local government tax revenues.

The study is based on federal credit bureau data culled from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York/Equifax Consumer Credit Panel, which Whitaker said tracks changing addresses.

During COVID, there was a decline in population migration flows to the high-cost coastal metros, with those areas experiencing a doubling of people leaving to other places, Whitaker said. The study found that during the 2010s, those high-cost metros lost an increasing number of people each year to affordable large metro areas  including Columbus, Cincinnati and Cleveland  and to midsized metro areas.

But Midwestern metros such as Columbus did not attract as many of those people leaving during the pandemic as some might have thought.

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"I certainly thought that was a possibility. It probably has happened to some extent, but it's not game-changing volume," Whitaker said.

He said that his study showed what U.S. Census Bureau numbers have shown: that out-migration increased in the New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco metros. Metros in Texas and Florida continue to gain residents from other areas, he said.

Meanwhile, some small metro and rural areas are seeing an influx of people moving in, although those 1,052 areas vary widely, the study says.

In 2017, 2018, and 2019, just 41% of small metro areas and rural commuting zones had positive net domestic migration. But during the pandemic years of 20202022, the study said 57% of those regions saw a net gain in domestic migration.

Whitaker said he wonders whether future conversations about migration will shift from who's growing more to who's shrinking as the population ages and families have fewer or no children.

"I think a lot of the country is going to be dealing with that," he said.

Report highlights affordability for Columbus

Michael Wilkos, senior vice president of community impact for the United Way of Central Ohio, has long studied demographic and population trends here. He said Whitaker's report shows migration trends in the Columbus metro reverting to what they were before the pandemic.

Wilkos also found it interesting that the price-per-square-foot for housing costs in the Columbus metro area was the fourth-lowest of 36 high-cost and affordable large metros at $124. In that case, Marion and Zanesville were included as part of the metro area.

"The report emphasizes how affordable metropolitan Columbus is," he said, at least in comparison to other areas. The numbers were averaged over the months from April 2017 to April 2022.

But Wilkos said that trend lines show Columbus is beginning to experience the same housing affordability crisis as other major metros.

"If housing costs are rising more than people's income, you'll see more people living per unit," Wilkos said. He said he is seeing that from Linden to Northland to the Hilltop to the Franklin County portion of Reynoldsburg.

San Jose/San Francisco/Oakland was the most expensive at $568 per square foot. The lowest was Indianapolis/Carmel/Muncie, Indiana, at $97. Cleveland/Akron/Canton was second-lowest at $99. Metro Cincinnati, which includes Wilmington and Maysville, Kentucky, was sixth least-expensive at $129.

Gentrification not widespread

Whitaker also found that Columbus' dense central city neighborhoods continue to slightly lose population as a whole  despite new residences Downtown, in Franklinton and elsewhere amid fears of gentrification.

He said there are few metro areas in the country where gentrifying urban neighborhoods are outgaining neighborhoods still losing population.

"Gentrification is a very focused problem that impacts people paying attention," Whitaker said.

Whitaker's study said that in the years before the pandemic, national estimates showed about 83,000 more people moved out of these neighborhoods each quarter than moved in. But in 2020, the first year of the pandemic, the net flow out of urban neighborhoods more than doubled per quarter, to 206,000 people.

In fact, Franklin County suffered a slight population loss from 2020 to 2021 while surrounding counties gained population, according to census estimates, although Franklin County's population is trending upward again.

According to the report's estimates, Columbus metro urban neighborhoods lost a net of 3,200 residents in 2022. Meanwhile, Cincinnati saw a net loss of 1,200, and Cleveland, 2,800. By comparison, New York City lost 138,800 residents from those neighborhoods during 2022.

"In the 2010s, international migration and natural increase were able to offset the number of people moving out of urban neighborhoods and keep most urban neighborhoods stable or growing," the study says. "The share of urban residents who are elderly is rising, so deaths are increasing and births are falling. Natural decrease in urban neighborhoods could soon be compounding the challenges of increasing out-migration."

The study also questioned whether urban neighborhoods can continue to retain residents with hybrid work, reducing the benefits of having a short commute.

mferench@dispatch.com

@MarkFerenchik

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Federal Reserve Bank report shows Columbus urban neighborhoods shrink
If you're not sure where to start when looking for the next multi-bagger, there are a few key trends you should keep an eye out for. Typically, we'll want to notice a trend of growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and alongside that, an expanding base of capital employed. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. With that in mind, we've noticed some promising trends at Textainer Group Holdings (NYSE:TGH) so let's look a bit deeper.

Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What Is It?

For those who don't know, ROCE is a measure of a company's yearly pre-tax profit (its return), relative to the capital employed in the business. To calculate this metric for Textainer Group Holdings, this is the formula:

Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT)  (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)

0.063 = US$437m  (US$7.4b - US$507m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2023).

So, Textainer Group Holdings has an ROCE of 6.3%. Ultimately, that's a low return and it under-performs the Trade Distributors industry average of 14%.

See our latest analysis for Textainer Group Holdings

roce

Above you can see how the current ROCE for Textainer Group Holdings compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering Textainer Group Holdings here for free.

What Does the ROCE Trend For Textainer Group Holdings Tell Us?

While in absolute terms it isn't a high ROCE, it's promising to see that it has been moving in the right direction. Over the last five years, returns on capital employed have risen substantially to 6.3%. The amount of capital employed has increased too, by 74%. So we're very much inspired by what we're seeing at Textainer Group Holdings thanks to its ability to profitably reinvest capital.

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The Bottom Line

A company that is growing its returns on capital and can consistently reinvest in itself is a highly sought after trait, and that's what Textainer Group Holdings has. Since the stock has returned a staggering 192% to shareholders over the last five years, it looks like investors are recognizing these changes. With that being said, we still think the promising fundamentals mean the company deserves some further due diligence.

One final note, you should learn about the 3 warning signs we've spotted with Textainer Group Holdings (including 2 which are potentially serious) .

For those who like to invest in solid companies, check out this free list of companies with solid balance sheets and high returns on equity.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
ReportLinker

The Rice Milling Machinery Market size is estimated at USD 230.14 million in 2023, and is expected to reach USD 280 million by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 4% during the forecast period (2023-2028).

New York, Aug. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Rice Milling Machinery Market Size & Share Analysis - Growth Trends & Forecasts (2023 - 2028)" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06483782/?utm_source=GNW



Key Highlights

Rice, the primary staple for more than half the worlds population, is produced worldwide, with about 90 percent grown in Asia. China is the largest producer of rice in Asia. While Indica, Aromatic(Jasmine and Basmati), Japonica, and Glutinous rice are four major categories of rice, many other specialty varieties of rice are also produced globally.

The demand for certified rice milling machinery is driving the growth of the rice milling machinery market. This is because certified machinery ensures high-quality rice processing, which is necessary to meet the growing demand for rice. As rice is a staple food in many countries, the demand for rice is expected to remain high in the foreseeable future. This, in turn, will continue to drive the demand for rice milling machinery.

However, the availability of pre-used models of rice milling machinery may impede the market growth. Regarding the latest development in rice milling technology, the Satake New Tasty White Process (NTWP) is a breakthrough in rice processing. The NTWP process produces rinse-free rice of enhanced quality in terms of taste and appearance. This technology has the potential to revolutionize the rice milling industry by offering higher-quality rice while reducing water usage and processing time. This could lead to increased efficiency, reduced costs, and ultimately, higher profits for rice millers.

The stipulation for rice is expanding with the rising global population, which led to many rice processing plants opening new rice mills and boosting the markets growth. India is the largest producer and exporter of Basmati rice and one of the largest exporters of rice. Rice milling is perhaps the countrys oldest and biggest agro-processing industry. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), India produced around 117 million metric tons of paddy rice in 2020, which is equivalent to around 90 million metric tons of milled rice.



Rice Milling Machinery Market Trends



Rising Area Under Rice Cultivation



Rice is the primary staple food for more than half the worlds population, with Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South America as the largest consuming regions. Asia is the largest producer of rice, including countries like China and India, which are among the largest producers and consumers of rice. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), in 2021, the total area harvested by India accounted for 46.2 million metric tons, followed by China with 29.9 million metric tons, Bangladesh with 11.7 million metric tons, Thailand with 11.2 million metric tons, and Indonesia with 10.4 million metric tons. This increase in the area harvested shows the increase in the requirement for more milling machinery to extract rice from paddy for consumption.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) report 2021, four regions produced almost the entire United States rice crop production: Arkansas Grand Prairie, Mississippi Delta, Gulf Coast, and Sacramento Valley of California. Each region normally specializes in a specific type of rice, referred to in the United States by the long, medium, and short grain length.

The United States long-grain rice is typically dry and separates when cooked, while medium- and short-grain rice are typically moist and clingy. In general, long-grain production accounts for around 75 percent of United States rice production, medium-grain production for about 24 percent, and short-grain for the remainder. In 2021, the United States produced 191.8 million hundredweight (cwt) of rough rice, down 16 percent from 2020 but slightly above 2019.

Paddy rice cultivation is limited to areas with specific climatic conditions, such as high temperatures, high humidity, and abundant rainfall. As a result, it is grown primarily in regions of Asia, such as China, India, and Southeast Asia, as well as in regions of Africa and South America. However, the rising adoption of high-yielding varieties and new cultivation techniques, such as alternate wetting and drying (AWD), has allowed for increased rice cultivation in areas that were previously unsuitable.

The rising demand for high-quality rice and the increasing adoption of new cultivation techniques and high-yielding varieties presents a significant opportunity for players in the rice milling machinery market. These players can offer advanced machines that can improve the efficiency of the rice milling process, reduce labor costs, and increase the quality of the final product.



Asia-Pacific Dominates the Market



Rice, wheat, and corn are the major consumed staple crops worldwide, whereas rice is a major staple crop among the three, helping more than half of the global population meet its daily calorie requirements. More than 90 percent of the worlds rice is grown in Asia, principally in China, India, Indonesia, and Bangladesh, with smaller amounts grown in Japan, Pakistan, and various Southeast Asian nations.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), in the year 2021, the total area harvested by India accounted for 46.2 million metric tons, followed by China with 29.9 million metric tons, Bangladesh with 11.7 million metric tons, Thailand with 11.2 million metric tons and Indonesia with 10.4 million metric tons.

Integrated Crop Management (ICM) approaches for rice crops involve location-specific technologies combined with effective institutional support from governments, research institutions, and extension services. This approach aims to optimize the use of available resources, minimize the impact of pests and diseases, and improve the overall productivity and sustainability of rice farming. Using ICM approaches, farmers can bridge the yield gap and increase their rice production. Governments can support farmers by providing access to input and village credit supplies, as well as strengthening research and extension linkages to disseminate new knowledge and technologies.

According to FAO, rice consumption in Asia by 2025 will increase by more than 51 percent. This increase in demand for rice due to the population increase in the region will drive the rice milling market during the forecast year.



Rice Milling Machinery Industry Overview



The rice milling machinery market is fragmented with a few big players, resulting in competition between small players. Buhler Group, Fowler Westrup, MillTECH Machinery Private Ltd, Savco Sales Pvt. Ltd and Satake Group are some of the prominent players with their distribution and manufacturing facilities worldwide. New product launches, partnerships, and acquisitions are the major strategies adopted by the leading companies in the market in the country.



Along with innovations and expansions, investments in R&D and developing novel product portfolios will likely be crucial strategies in the coming years. These companies are making strategic partnerships by partnering with domestic companies to expand their distribution network and launch new innovative milling machinery that caters to the needs of the farmers in the respective regions.



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ReportLinker

The Small Cell Network Market size in terms of installed base is expected to grow from 6.80 million RUs in 2023 to 8.12 million RUs by 2028, at a CAGR of 3.61% during the forecast period (2023-2028).

New York, Aug. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Small Cell Networks Market Size & Share Analysis - Growth Trends & Forecasts (2023 - 2028)" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06483802/?utm_source=GNW



The deployment of the next-generation radio access network has expanded due to consumers suddenly rising need for fast mobile data connectivity. Small cell network installation is expanding across commercial, residential, and industrial applications to offer better coverage at a lower cost.



Key Highlights

Rising mobile data traffic has caused telecom companies to move toward network densification to provide mass consumers with high-speed capacity. Due to the rise of smart cities, especially in developed economies like the U.S., Canada, Singapore, the UK, Germany, Italy, and France, more small cell 5G networks are being set up for residential, commercial, government, and industrial use.

Further, the rapidly growing smart home and connected IoT devices shape the need for the internet differently. Several smart home features, like controlling the water supply, keeping an eye on the electricity, and having voice-activated security systems, are just the beginning of what connected devices can do. For a seamless experience, these devices need to be connected to the internet all the time and at a high speed.

Statistics on user behavior have indicated that indoor user connections increasingly use traditional short-range unlicensed spectrum technologies, like Wi-Fi. Such devices are mainly applied to indoor scenarios, which makes them beneficial for starting the convergence spectrum. Thus, spectrum convergence through a small cell network allows for network planning and utilizing the unlicensed spectrum range more efficiently. Moreover, manufacturers of small cells are observing an increased implementation among in-building applications. For example, Ericsson collaborated with China Unicom to deploy the Radio Dot System at over 500 commercial and residential buildings in Beijing.

Several significant countries are investing heavily in the deployment of virtualized small cell 5G network infrastructure by major telecom providers. For instance, Mavenir announced the introduction of high-capacity 5G small cell in-building independent coverage for businesses and public areas in September 2022. The 5G small cells versatility allows for both distributed and centralized end-to-end open radio access network (ORAN) architectures.The companys ORAN technology provides end customers in manufacturing, retail, public spaces, and warehouses with a high-capacity, simple-to-deploy, and affordable solution.

The world is still recovering from COVID-19 and has extensive internet usage, indicating the need for a whole new scale of data transfer rates. Recent adaptations of telemedicine, online education, and teleconferencing for work-from-home concepts must be fixed due to a lack of internet infrastructure. According to ASSIA, Inc., due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an 80% increase in PC and smartphone upload traffic since the beginning of March in the United States, with webcams, laptops, and PCs running video streams all the time.



Small Cell Networks Market Trends



IT and Telecom Sectors Expected to have Significant Share in the Market Landscape.



The increasing mobile data traffic demands advanced telecommunication networks. The deployment of 5G will facilitate the growing data usage with the required efficiency. The latest network development needs are expected to boost the market for small cell 5G networks over the forecast period.

In the modern environment, the increased number of connected devices creates the need for increased bandwidth. For instance, according to Cisco Systems Inc., 500 billion devices are expected to be connected to the internet by 2030. Furthermore, 5G telecom companies are focusing on deploying small cells in low-frequency bands to provide customers with increased bandwidth services.

Also, mobile data traffic is growing exponentially, primarily driven by data-capable devices and high-bandwidth applications (APPs). Vodafone, AT&T, Softbank, and other big operators have already leveraged their macro networks to create differentiation by implementing small-cell solutions. For instance, Verizon has deployed small cells in several U.S. cities, including New York, Chicago, Atlanta, and San Francisco.



Asia-Pacific Expected to Hold the Fastest Growth Rate over the Forecast Period



Asia-Pacific is set to depict the fastest growth rate because of the increased adoption of mobile devices and various vendor partnerships, with telecom companies introducing and strengthening 5G infrastructure. For example, in January last year, Ericsson, in association with Qualcomm and Asia Pacific Telecom (APT), completed Taiwans first data call with 5G New Radio Dual Connectivity (NR-DC), collecting APTs spectrum holdings across mid-band (2.6 GHz) and high-band (28 GHz, or mmWave) frequencies. The trial is pivotal in Taiwans transition to 5G standalone networks, opening several new opportunities and applications. Tests like these portray the scope for 5G small cells to be the future of the telecom industry when it comes to providing infrastructure for the same.

Asia Pacifics constantly increasing mobile data traffic will strongly support the small cell network industry. For instance, in January last year, Datareportal reported 4.95 billion internet users worldwide. Also, as estimated by Cisco, the region is expected to have 2.6 billion internet users by the end of the year. As we correlate the facts stated by the two sources, Asia-Pacific dominates the overall share of users worldwide. Cisco also mentioned that China would lead the world in terms of the total number of home spots, followed by the US and Japan. The regions constantly increasing mobile data traffic will strongly support the small cell network industry.

In March last year, ZTE, AIS, and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. announced the worlds first 5G NR-DC (New Radio Dual Connectivity) field demonstration, achieving a peak downlink speed of 8.5 GB/s and a peak uplink speed of 2.17 GB/s with a single mobile device in Thailand. The key band frequencies fell in the spectrum between 2.6 GHz and 26 GHz. This collaboration incorporates two critical 5G frequency bands, Sub-6 and 5G mmWave, as part of the cooperative effort to improve Thailands 5G networks capabilities and expand the 5G application space.

Recent developments through alliances among chief market players indicate the strong prospects of further development in the small cell and 5G telecom industries, highlighting the transition from 4G to 5G. For instance, in association with TPG Telecom, Nokia placed Asia-Pacifics first live Femtocell in a live network, keeping TPGs enterprise customers in focus. The "plug and play"nature of the Nokia Smart Node provides high quality, reliability, and low latency deliverables in terms of high-speed 4G and 5G connectivities.



Small Cell Networks Industry Overview



The small cell network industry is fragmented because of numerous large competitors such as Nokia Networks, Qualcomm Technologies Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., and Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. The companies are in intense competition and are constantly attempting to improve their products to acquire a competitive advantage. The corporations are also forming strategic partnerships with vendors and technology providers to expand their market share.



In March 2022, Radisys Corporation, one of the global leaders in open telecom solutions, announced that Qucell Networks, a Korean small cell player, is deploying 5G small cell solutions for global markets leveraging Radisys Connect RAN gNodeB software. Multiple operators networks worldwide are testing the integrated commercial-grade 5G small-cell solution. Global partnerships among big players have contributed significantly to market disruption by sharing technologies.



In March 2022, O2 and Telefonica Germany and NEC Corporation (NEC; TSE: 6701) announced the successful launch of Germanys first open and virtual RAN architecture-based small cells. The small cell service was first deployed in Munichs city center to improve the customer experience by adding capacity to the current mobile network in this densely populated location. NEC is the primary system integrator for Telefonica S.A.s four nations and for NECs effort to investigate how Open RAN architecture may be deployed in various geographies (urban, suburban, and rural) for various use cases.



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Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. (NYSE:SQM) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript August 17, 2023

Operator: Good morning. And welcome to the SQM Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. [Operator Instructions] After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. [Operator Instructions] Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Irina Axenova, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Irina Axenova: Thank you. Good morning. Thank you for joining SQM's earnings conference call for the second quarter of 2023. This conference will be recorded and is being webcast live. Our earnings press release and presentation with a summary of the results have been uploaded to our website, where you can also find a link to the webcast. Speaking on the call today will be Ricardo Ramos, our Chief Executive Officer; and Gerardo Illanes, Chief Financial Officer. Carlos Diaz, Executive Vice President of Lithium; Felipe Smith, Commercial Vice President of Lithium; and Pablo Altimiras, Executive Vice President of Nitrates & Iodine will also be available to answer any questions. Before we begin, I would like to remind you that statements made in this conference call regarding our business outlook, future economic performance, anticipated profitability, revenues, expenses and other financial items, along with expected cost synergies and product or service line growth, are considered forward-looking statements under federal securities laws.

These statements are not historical facts and may be subject to changes due to new information, future developments or other factors. We assume no obligation to update these statements, except as required by law. For a complete forward-looking statement, please refer to our earnings press release and presentation. I now leave you with our Chief Executive Officer, Ricardo Ramos.

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Ricardo Ramos: Thank you, Irina. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for being on the call today. Yesterday, we published our second quarter 2023 earnings report, and I would like to highlight the positive impact of significantly high sales volumes in Lithium business and continued strong performance in Iodine business seen during the quarter. Lithium business, we reported record high quarterly sales volumes, which surpassed 43,000 metric tons, driven by strong customer demand recovery and positive market outlook. We expect to deliver higher sales volumes in the second half of this year compared to the sales volumes reported to the first half of the year. Since the majority of our sales contracts are based on price indices which follow market price trends, our realized sales prices moved with the market with some lag, depending on the terms of the contracts.

chemical, industry

Adam Gregor/Shutterstock.com

This commercial strategy allowed us to capture the price premiums in market last year. After first quarter pricing negative trend, we have seen some price recovery during the second quarter and expect our realized price to follow the market for the remainder of the year. We continue to see strong fundamentals behind lithium demand growth with the global EV sales showing another strong performance during the second quarter, increasing 50% year-over-year. We believe that the total EV sales growth could be close to 30% this year when compared to 2022. And the global lithium demand could increase at least 20% this year compared to the previous year. Signing the long-term agreement with Ford Motor Company and LG Energy Solution was another important milestone of the quarter.

The trust our customers put in SQM's ability to successfully increase production in a sustainable way and deliver high-quality battery material make us very proud and encourage us to continue with our growth plans in Chile and globally. We expect to produce approximately between 180,000 and 190,000 metric tons of lithium this year from our operations in Chile and China. Our expansions in Chile are progressing on schedule, and we expect to ramp up our lithium carbonate capacity to 210,000 metric tons by the end of next year. The commissioning of our lithium hydroxide refinery in China has been delayed by a few months, and we expect to see the first production volumes coming to the market in the coming months. Simultaneously, our attention is directed towards our exploration initiatives in Australia, guided by SQM's team of highly experienced geologists and in collaboration with local partners.

We are advancing on securing potential new lithium supply sources. In Iodine businesses, we have seen both a strong market performance as well as successful delivery of new capacity from our caliche operations. Iodine market continues with record high prices, driven by a growing demand of x-ray contrast media segment. While annual global iodine market demand is expected to be flat, we believe we will deliver higher sales volumes during this year when compared to last year. Despite the record high prices seen in the market in the past quarters, SQM has been the only producer to increase materially its production volumes. We remain on track to increase our production of iodine by approximately 800 tons this year to support the future growth of iodine market.

We are also very proud of our contribution to the Chilean treasury during the first six months of this year of approximately $1.7 billion, mainly due to the public private alliances we have with CORFO over the Salar de Atacama operations. And finally, in this quarter, we released our latest sustainable report, outlining the progress we have accomplished in our sustainable journey in the past year, the advances we achieved in pursuing our goals and the upcoming challenges we have set for ourselves. Thank you, operator, and we will now open for the questions. Thank you.

See also 20 American Cities With the Highest Uninsured Rates and 20 Poorest Countries in Europe.

To continue reading the Q&A session, please click here.
(Bloomberg) -- Arm Ltd. has filled out the roster of underwriters for its initial public offering, with 28 banks in all on the deal, people familiar with the matter said.

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In addition to four lead banks  Barclays Plc, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Mizuho Financial Group  the offering will have 10 second-tier underwriters, including Bank of America Corp. Citigroup Inc., Deutsche Bank AG and Jefferies Financial Group Inc., the people said, asking not to be identified because the information was private.

A third-tier consists of a diverse group of 14 securities firms, such as Daiwa Securities Group Inc., HSBC Holdings Plc, Intesa Sanpaolo SpA and Societe Generale SA, they said.

A representative for Arm, which is majority owned by SoftBank Group Corp., declined to comment.

Cambridge, UK-based chipmaker Arm has been seeking to raise $8 billion to $10 billion in September in what would be the years biggest IPO, Bloomberg News has reported. The company is aiming to be valued in the listing at $60 billion to $70 billion.

The length of the line-up is a reflection of the global reach of Arm, which produces technology used in almost every smartphone, as well as banks eagerness to land roles on big-ticket IPOs. The record IPO of Saudi Arabian oil giant Aramco in 2019 also featured about 25 banks. A subdued period for new listings around the world has made securing work on large deals even more important for investment banks in 2023.

How Arm Aims to Ride AI Wave to Years Biggest IPO: QuickTake

(Adds context on banks, IPOs in final paragraph.)

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2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Late Wednesday, a SpaceX Falcon 9 carried more Starlink internet satellites to orbit after lifting off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 11:36 p.m. EDT.

The 230-foot rocket vaulted away from Launch Complex 40 on a southeasterly trajectory over the Atlantic Ocean, skirting between the Florida coast and the Bahamas.

The rocket's first stage, which flew its 13th mission to date, completed an ocean landing aboard the Shortfall of Gravitas drone ship about eight minutes after liftoff.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket flies through the clouds after liftoff from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, FL Wednesday, August 16, 2023. The rocket carried 22 Starlink satellites. Craig Bailey/FLORIDA TODAY via USA TODAY NETWORK

What was the payload?

The mission, dubbed Starlink 6-10, marked the 42nd launch of the year from the Space Coast and carried 22 more of the internet-beaming satellites to orbit, helping to fill out SpaceX's near globally spanning constellation.

All told, the company has sent more than 5,000 of the flat-packed satellites to orbit since 2019.

Starlink internet service starts at $120 for residential customers after an initial $599 hardware fee and is available for a wide range of applications stretching from in-flight services aboard airplanes to providing connectivity to remote and hard-to-reach destinations around the world.

Artemis II mission to the moon: NASA moving towards liftoff, but program's future remains uncertain

Rocket launch schedule: Upcoming Florida launches and landings

When's the next launch?

The next Falcon 9 slated for liftoff from Florida will send NASA's SpaceX Crew-7 mission to the International Space Station from Launch Complex 39A at NASAs Kennedy Space Center.

Targeted for liftoff at 3:49 a.m. EDT, Friday, Aug. 25, NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen, along with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Satoshi Furukawa and Russian cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov will fly aboard SpaceX's Endurance Dragon capsule to the space station for the six-month science mission.

Before then, SpaceX could schedule another Falcon 9 Starlink mission from the Cape, but no specific launch dates have been released.

Story continues

For the latest, visit floridatoday.com/launchschedule.

Contact Jamie Groh at JGroh@floridatoday.com and follow her on X.com at @AlteredJamie.

Space is important to us and that's why we're working to bring you top coverage of the industry and Florida launches. Journalism like this takes time and resources. Please support it with a subscription here.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: SpaceX launch sends more Starlink satellites to orbit late Wednesday
(Bloomberg) -- Standard Chartered Plc is joining a growing list of banks keen to explore opportunities in a debt-swap market that was once dominated by Credit Suisse.

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StanChart has held regular talks with governments that have indicated theyre interested in tapping debt-for-nature swaps, according to Robbie Sommerville, global head of sustainability communications at the UK bank. The deals typically allow a country to refinance its debt on better terms in exchange for promises to protect the environment.

Before its state-engineered takeover by UBS Group AG, Credit Suisse had cemented a reputation as the top bank for arranging such refinancing structures. Its most recent swap marked a record $656 million deal for Ecuador. That followed transactions for Barbados and Belize. But Credit Suisse was absent from the latest debt-for-nature-swap, which was done by Bank of America Corp. for Gabon.

StanChart already has some experience in a similar market. In 2018, it partnered with the World Bank to help raise $15 million for the Seychelles with a sovereign blue bond, the proceeds of which went toward marine conservation. That deal drew investments from Nuveen LLC and Calvert Impact Capital Inc.

Since then, the quantum has shifted, and deal sizes have grown considerably, Sommerville said.

Credit Suisse has helped replace about $2.3 billion of debt with roughly $1.2 billion of new financing tied to nature projects, according to Ramzi Issa, who oversaw the deals at Credit Suisse. BofA arranged a $500 million swap for Gabon. Barclays Plc has estimated that the market for debt-for-nature swaps may reach $800 billion.

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Countries that use debt-for-nature swaps typically start by buying back existing debt, which is then exchanged for a cheaper loan thats financed with a new bond. A portion of the savings from that arrangement is put toward conservation projects.

Competition is heating up, with Citigroup Inc. and HSBC Holdings Plc recently declaring their interest in doing debt-for-nature swaps. But BofAs handling of the Gabon deal has exposed some of the hurdles new entrants face. Nuveen turned the deal down based on its limited debt savings for the country. Analysts also questioned the decision to leave a large chunk of old, expensive debt on Gabons books.

Sommerville said StanChart would look to help governments move the dial on biodiversity impacts, while advancing the economic and social developments of their market.

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Starboard Value LP, a New York-based private hedge fund sponsor, recently acquired a significant stake in Bloomin Brands Inc. (NASDAQ:BLMN). This article provides an in-depth analysis of the transaction, the profiles of the firm and the traded company, and the potential implications of this investment.

Transaction Details





On August 8, 2023, Starboard Value LP purchased 8,623,000 shares of Bloomin Brands Inc at a price of $25.77 per share. This new holding now represents 4.62% of Starboard's portfolio and 9.90% of Bloomin Brands' total shares. The transaction underscores Starboard's investment strategy of identifying undervalued companies, particularly within the consumer discretionary sector.

Profile of Starboard Value LP





Founded in 2002 by Jeff C. Smith and Mark Mitchell, Starboard Value LP is a private hedge fund sponsor that primarily invests in small-cap companies in the U.S. public equity markets. The firm's top holdings include Splunk Inc(NASDAQ:SPLK), Salesforce Inc(NYSE:CRM), GoDaddy Inc(NYSE:GDDY), Humana Inc(NYSE:HUM), and Vertiv Holdings Co(NYSE:VRT). With approximately $4.58 billion in total assets under management, Starboard Value LP has a strong presence in the technology and industrials sectors.

Starboard Value LP Acquires New Stake in Bloomin Brands Inc

About Bloomin Brands Inc





Bloomin Brands Inc is a casual dining restaurant company that operates brands such as Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba's Italian Grill, Bonefish Grill, and Fleming's Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar. The company, which went public on August 8, 2012, primarily generates revenue from franchise and other revenues, as well as restaurant sales. As of August 18, 2023, Bloomin Brands Inc has a market cap of $2.42 billion and a PE ratio of 10.76. The company's GF Score is 73/100, indicating average outperformance potential.

Starboard Value LP Acquires New Stake in Bloomin Brands Inc

Comparison with Other Gurus





Other gurus who hold shares in Bloomin Brands Inc include First Eagle Investment (Trades, Portfolio), Keeley-Teton Advisors, LLC (Trades, Portfolio), and Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio). However, the largest stake in the company is held by Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC. The investment strategies of these gurus vary, but all recognize the potential value in Bloomin Brands Inc.

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Conclusion





Starboard Value LP's acquisition of a new stake in Bloomin Brands Inc is a significant move that aligns with the firm's investment philosophy. The transaction not only diversifies Starboard's portfolio but also provides Bloomin Brands with a vote of confidence from a respected investment firm. As the company continues to grow and improve its profitability, it will be interesting to see how this investment plays out in the long term.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.


TAIPEI, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- To enhance the international visibility of Taipei's innovation and entrepreneurship resources and welcome international startup teams to settle down in Taipei, the Taipei City Government's Department of Economic Development has been actively promoting the "Talent Exchange Program." As part of this program, the department created an international entrepreneur brand community "Taipei Entrepreneurs Hub (TEH)" to attract international startups and foster a community for them in Taipei. On August 15th, 2023, TEH hosted the "Creating A Cross-Border Startup" overseas promotion and networking event at Zilla Space in Bangkok, Thailand, drawing the participation of over 40 startup participants.

The Taipei City Government actively promotes international startup landing in Taipei and is organizing an overseas promotion event in Thailand to promote TEH's annual activities.

The Taipei City Government's Department of Economic Development stated that the goal for us is to bring in key technologies and research capabilities from international startups to promote technological cooperation and transformation in the city's industries. In recent years, the Department has actively connected global startup ecosystem resources, using TEH as its flagship brand to organize various exchange activities across different industries and time zones. This initiative provides resources and guidance for a thriving entrepreneurial community. This year, TEH's core theme is "Greater Health Industries," with planned events including the "Win A Greater Health" international online startup pitch contest, networking events, and overseas promotion activities.

During the promotional event, Commissioner Chen Chun-An of the Taipei City Government's Department of Economic Development delivered a speech online, sharing the city's innovation and entrepreneurship resources. The Department has integrated Startup@Taipei Office and Invest Taipei Office to welcome international startup partners, both onsite and virtually, to collaborate with the government in addressing the challenges of the entrepreneurial journey.

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In addition to the online participation of Arthur Chen, Executive Director of BE Health Venture Capital, a partner of this year's startup pitch contest, TEH alumni such as GDT ASIA, local startups and startup organizations like the Thai Startup Association, GreenRocket, and Funnow were invited to share their entrepreneurial experiences in Taipei. The event also discussed the challenges posed by the differing age demographics between Thailand and Taiwan and the necessary opportunities and resources in the health industry.

The "Win A Greater Health" international online startup pitch contest is now open for applications from international startup teams. The application period is from now until September 15, 2023, Taipei Time (UTC+8). International startup teams are encouraged to apply and register for the contest with a focus on implementing projects in Taipei and developing business expansion plans for the Taiwanese market. Winning teams will not only receive an international flight ticket to Taipei for the Demo Day presentation but also have a customized matching session and business itinerary arranged during their stay, offering diverse opportunities for technology connections and collaborations with businesses and venture capitalists in Taipei.

For more information about registration and TEH's various activities, please visit the official Facebook fan page/LinkedIn page or contact the organizing company, Everiii Consulting CO., Ltd., Ms. Kuo, at (+886 2) 33435456, extension 806.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/the-taipei-city-government-is-heading-to-bangkok-thailand-to-promote-taipeis-innovation-and-entrepreneurial-energy-301904292.html

SOURCE Taipei Entrepreneurs Hub
(Bloomberg) -- All four Moscow-area airports were briefly closed early Friday and planes diverted as air defense repelled a drone, according to Russias aviation watchdog. The UAV was taken down and fell on what was described as a non-residential building a few miles from the Kremlin. Moscows mayor reported no casualties and no significant damage. Ukraine hasnt commented.

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The rescue operation this week for Russias currency, including an emergency rate meeting and informal measures of capital control, revealed a government thats split on matters of critical economic priorities, at a time President Vladimir Putin is trying to sustain the biggest conflict in Europe since World War II.

Denmark and the Netherlands said theyve received US approval to send their F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine as soon as pilots there have been trained on the advanced aircraft. Romania and Ukraine signed an agreement aimed at increasing trade and traffic as the nations work toward a recent pledge to double the quantity of Ukrainian grains transited through Romania, to about 4 million tons per month, Premier Marcel Salacious said. Over 60% of Ukraines grain could be exported through Romania, he said.

Latest Coverage

US Intelligence Downbeat on Ukraines Counteroffensive: WaPost

Denmark, Netherlands Get US Approval for F-16s to Ukraine

Russia Briefly Closes Moscow Air Space Over Drone Attack

Russias Powerful Split Into Squabbling Factions Over the Ruble

Citi Buys $160 Million of Russian Aluminum Others Wont Touch

Markets

Wheat Rises, Oil Braces for a Weekly Loss

Wheat prices rose overnight following a report that a Ukrainian sea drone attempted to attack two Russian warships in the Black Sea.

Story continues

Oil headed for its first weekly loss since June as low trading volumes left the market vulnerable to macroeconomic concerns, overshadowing signs of a tight physical environment.

Coming Up

Russian President Putin may hold regular Security Council meeting

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov at BRICS summit next week

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Warren Buffett's company has a stake in Chinese EV maker BYD. CNBC

Warren Buffett could have invested in Tesla when it was worth almost nothing, Elon Musk said.

Buffett passed on Tesla at a $200 million valuation in 2008, Musk previously said.

Tesla is now worth about $700 billion, but that's down from a peak valuation of $1.2 trillion.

Warren Buffett missed a trick when he passed on Tesla early on, Elon Musk said.

"He could've invested in Tesla when we were worth basically nothing and didn't," the SpaceX and Tesla CEO posted on X, the website formerly called Twitter, on Thursday.

He was responding to a post highlighting Buffett's vast wealth and the enormous value of his Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate.

The electric-vehicle pioneer noted in March that Buffett could have invested in Tesla when it was worth just $200 million. The automaker's market capitalization was $687 billion at Thursday's close  or more than 3,000 times higher.

Musk also highlighted in February that he had lunch with Buffett's business partner and Berkshire's vice-chairman, Charlie Munger, in late 2008. The Tesla chief said Munger could have purchased a stake in Tesla at the same $200 million valuation, but declined to do so.

Tesla secured a $2 billion market cap when it went public in 2010. Its value surged as high as $1.2 trillion in November 2021, but has tumbled by more than 40% since then.

Still, if Buffett and Munger had purchased, say, a 10% stake, it would be worth about $69 billion (assuming no dilution). That figure is close to 8% of Berkshire's market value.

However, Buffett and Munger were never likely to invest, as they famously look for dominant, profitable companies in industries they understand. In 2008, Tesla was losing money, attempting to disrupt powerful incumbents such as Ford and General Motors, and trying to revolutionize the transportation industry. Betting on the fledgling EV maker was probably too risky a prospect for Buffett and Munger.

However, the Berkshire duo opted to invest $232 million in Chinese EV maker BYD in 2008 instead. Berkshire's stake mushroomed in value to more than $7 billion by early 2021, and the conglomerate has cashed in well over $1 billion of its BYD stock in recent months.

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Elon Musk often mentions Warren Buffett on Tesla earnings calls. Getty Images

Musk would clearly like Buffett to be a Tesla shareholder, despite his jabs at the investor in recent years. He's slammed Buffett's job of researching companies and allocating capital as "super boring," questioned his public image as a "kindly grandfather," and declared he's not the Berkshire chief's "biggest fan."

On the other hand, Musk has acknowledged the value of Buffett's work, quoted him several times on Tesla earnings calls, and even expressed a desire to meet him during an interview in 2008.

As for Buffett, he's questioned why Musk tweets himself into trouble, and once challenged the tech billionaire to disrupt the candy business. More recently, he's credited him for beating the odds with Tesla and tackling virtually impossible problems.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Bitcoin fell 10.44% from Aug. 11 to Aug. 18 to US$26,324 as of 9:00 p.m. Friday in Hong Kong, according to CoinMarketCap data. The worlds largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has been trading below US$30,000 since last Wednesday. Ether fell 9.16% over the week to US$1,678.

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Bitcoin dipped to US$25,409 on Friday, its lowest price in two months, after Evergrande, a Chinese property developer with over US$340 billion in liabilities, filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S., as part of its prolonged restructuring agreement with international creditors. Evergrande defaulted on its dollar-denominated debts in 2021.

Adrian Fritz, a senior research associate at 21.co, the parent company of 21Shares, an issuer of crypto exchange-traded products, said that Evergrandes bankruptcy contributed to Bitcoins price fall, along with the usual summer trading lull.

Bitcoins first key support level was the 200-day moving average at US$27,200, which it wasnt able to hold. The next major support level to watch would be around US$25,000, said Fritz, in an email response to Forkast.

Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the U.S., announced on Wednesday that it obtained regulatory approval to offer crypto futures trading services to eligible clients in the country.

The Shiba Inu (SHIB) token launched its layer-2 scaling solution, Shibarium, on the Ethereum blockchain on Thursday, but US$1.7 million worth of ETH was stuck on the Shibarium bridge, according to on-chain intelligence firm PeckShield, leading an over 7% drop in SHIBs price.

Adding to the negative investor sentiment, Binance announced the shutdown of its crypto payment service, Binance Connect, on Wednesday. Previously known as Bifinity, Binance Connect was a fiat-to-crypto payment ramp for the exchange, allowing users to buy cryptocurrencies through Mastercard and Visa.

Binances announcement came a day after Europes first Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) was listed on Euronext Amsterdam, nearly two years after it was first approved.

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Lucas Kiely, the chief investment officer of digital asset platform Yield App, said that the ETF listing could inspire other European countries to follow suit and pressure the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to hasten its approval process for pending ETFs.

If Europe demonstrates that such products can operate safely within existing regulatory frameworks, it may force the SEC to reevaluate its cautious approach towards cryptocurrency-related investment vehicles, wrote Kiely, adding that the surging demand may also move Bitcoin prices higher.

However, Jonas Betz, crypto market analyst and founder of consultancy firm Betz Crypto, doesnt expect the European ETF to significantly boost Bitcoin prices or accelerate the SECs decision-making process.

The SEC will likely maintain its independent pace and judgment, regardless of the actions of its European counterparts, Betz told Forkast.

Notable Movers: LTC & XRP

Some of the worlds most popular cryptocurrencies were put on the spotlight in the loss column this week.

XRP, the fifth largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, dropped 20.09% to US$0.505 after the SEC was granted the request to file an interlocutory appeal in its lawsuit against Ripple Labs.

Litecoin, the worlds 15th largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, fell 21.65% to US$65.12, as part of a broader downward movement in the crypto market. The global crypto market capitalization stood at US$1.06 trillion on Friday at 9:00 p.m. in Hong Kong, down by more than US$100 billion over the past week, CoinMarketCap data shows.

Next Week: Can Bitcoin close the week above US$27,000?

On Tuesday, investors will be anticipating speeches from Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee and U.S. Federal Open Market Committee Member Michelle W. Bowman.

Despite Bitcoin falling to a two-month low on Thursday, Yield Apps Kiely said that its not all doom and gloom.

With Europes first spot Bitcoin ETF now finally approved, if Bitcoin closed the week around US$27,000 it would be well within the range to regain momentum, Kiely said.

See related article: Hackers hit Curve, China announces blockchain link & is FTX back?
A truck hauls eight new Teslas equipped with a total of zero spare tires out of the Tesla plant in Fremont, Calif., in 2020. (Ben Margot / Associated Press)

Ira Newlander of West Los Angeles has been thinking about replacing his 1997 Ford Explorer with a hybrid or fully electric car, but there's something bugging him about the market these days.

Like many Californians who've been waylaid by a flat tire far off the beaten path, Newlander wants his new car to come with a spare. But the vast majority of battery-powered and hybrid cars don't have one.

Newlander expressed his frustration to Honda in a recent email, urging the company to put a full-sized spare in its electrified cars.

"I have conducted an informal survey of family and friends," Newlander, a retired court reporter, wrote. "The consensus is that saving 40 or 50 pounds for a full spare on a vehicle weighing 1.5 to 2 tons is silly. It is immaterial compared to the risk of being caught in the middle of nowhere without a real spare. It turns a discussion about the spare into a discussion of despair."

In response, Honda's customer service told Newlander that "the reason why the spare tire isn't included on our new electric vehicles is actually a safety concern."

"The problem is if the vehicle is in an accident, the spare tire can cause damage to the electric battery which could cause a failure in the battery," the company's email explained.

Car design experts said that explanation was plausible but far-fetched. There's a simpler explanation for the move away from spare tires: They're too big and heavy, and people don't really need them anymore.

Here's a rundown of the issues that are keeping spares out of the new generation of battery-powered cars.

Read more: The L.A. Times guide to buying an electric car now

The disappearing spare phenomenon

Car manufacturers have been ridding their sedans and smaller SUVs of full-sized spares for some time. In 2018, Consumer Reports said, 60% of the vehicles it had tested over the previous five years came with small-sized temporary tires ("doughnuts"), and only 10% came with full-sized spares.

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Increasingly, however, cars are skipping the doughnut in favor of run-flat tires (tires you can continue driving on after a puncture), puncture kits, roadside assistance or ... nothing.

The best-selling models of electric sedans and SUVs  Teslas, the Chevy Bolt, the Volkswagen ID.4, the Ford Mustang Mach-E, the Hyundai Ioniq 5, the BMW i4 and the Mercedes EQS  have no spare of any kind, even if they come with a premium price tag. Ditto for hybrids; the Toyota Prius, for example, hasn't included a spare since 2016.

That's not because people magically stopped having flat tires. U.S. drivers suffer 94 million flat tires a year, according to LookupAPlate.com, a site that collects reports about bad drivers.

Read more: More rain means more car-damaging potholes. Here's how to get repaid

The competition for space

Although you can still find spare tires on some trucks and large "adventuring" SUVs, one issue for carmakers is ever-increasing wheel sizes on new cars, said Geoff Wardle, executive director of transportation systems and design at the ArtCenter College of Design. "Try finding a suitable space in a Range Rover or Jeep Wagoneer for an 8-inch by 22-inch rim shod with a cross-country tire," he said.

That's why many manufacturers have switched to alternatives, such as inflatable spares that take up about a third of the volume of a full-size tire. Or they may equip their cars with self-sealing or run-flat tires, which Wardle said are "good if it is just a puncture from a nail but useless if you hit a pothole and split the rim and sidewall."

Finding space for a spare is particularly challenging for a car powered by something other than gasoline, designers say. "Pushing the range of EVs requires batteries, electrical systems control units or hydrogen tanks to encroach into the traditional places that spare tires are found: under the trunk floor," Wardle said.

The space crunch is worse for hybrids, which require room for both a battery system and an internal combustion engine, said Scott Grasman, dean of the College of Engineering at Kettering University in Flint, Mich.

Read more: A heat wave will cook your EV's battery, if you let it

The urge to lose weight

A full-sized spare adds 30 to 50 pounds to a car, Wardle said; a typical doughnut adds about 25 pounds. When car manufacturers are trying to meet ever more stringent emissions and fuel efficiency requirements, Wardle said 30 to 50 pounds of spare tire "is significant."

"You might think that's trivial" when compared to the weight of a car, Grasman said. But "if youre trying to eke out every bit of range that you can, having a 25-pound tire in there is extra weight youre just carrying around," he said.

Gil Tal, director of the Electric Vehicle Research Center at UC Davis, said removing the spare probably increases an electric car's range by "point something" percent. "If it's a 400-mile car, it's [an extra] mile or two," he said. But after a manufacturer takes all the easy steps to boost range, he said, it's left to scrape out more miles, however it can.

The drive to cut costs

Equipping a car with a spare tire increases the cost of building it. Grasman estimated that adding a full-sized spare costs the manufacturer $100 to $300, depending on the vehicle.

And tires for an EV may be more expensive than those for a gas-powered vehicle of the same size. That's because EVs tend to be heavier than their gas-fueled counterparts, so they require sturdier tires. And with comparatively quiet engines, they need tires that don't generate as much road noise.

Read more: Major automakers unite to build EV charging network they say will rival Tesla's

Do spares pose a safety threat in EVs?

Honda didn't respond to a request to elaborate on the email sent to Newlander, so it's hard to tell what it thought the safety issue might be.

Tal of UC Davis was skeptical that manufacturers were leaving spares out of their hybrids and EVs for that reason. "To the best of my knowledge," he said, "it has nothing to do with safety."

Wardle said that with a heavy spare wheel positioned near an elaborate and heavy battery assembly on the underside of the trunk, "there is a danger that in a severe frontal impact  a head-on crash  that spare wheel could break away from its retaining bolt and become a projectile that rips through the battery unit. So as well as the risk of injury to passengers and bystanders from the actual collision forces, there is the potential of short-circuiting and explosive overheating of the high-voltage battery unit."

Grasman acknowledged that, while unlikely, it's possible that a spare could do something bad to a battery in an accident. But he added, "You could change the design of the vehicle to make sure that didnt happen."

He also wondered why Honda would want to suggest that a spare could damage the battery in a collision.

"What about the headrest, what about all the cargo I stick in my trunk?" Grasman asked. "They're kinda opening themselves up, I think."

Read more: Public EV chargers: Will they ever be as reliable as a gas pump?

Do you really need a spare?

Tal said that tires are much better and more durable than they used to be. And because federal regulations require new cars to have tire pressure indicators, he said, drivers are alerted as soon as their tires need air.

"In most cases, flat tires ... are the outcome of long low-pressure driving," he said. "And if you drive a modern car, it will tell you [that] you have low pressure long before you get into the catastrophic failure" of a flat.

Many cars without spares come with kits to patch and reinflate a tire that's low on air. But even when a tire does go flat, Tal said, "the most common behavior today is calling AAA and sitting in your car and playing on your phone."

That's the behavioral side of the equation, Grasman said. "People dont know how to change a spare tire, so theyre not going to do it anyway," he said.

For these drivers, carmakers may safely assume that a can of Fix-a-Flat will be more useful than a spare, a jack and a tire iron. Alternatively, manufacturers can offer roadside assistance for free (as Tesla does) or for a fee (through services like OnStar, which is owned by General Motors).

Newlander said it's self-serving for carmakers to argue that people don't need a spare. "For driving around town or short distances or during daylight hours, it's one thing" to go without a back-up tire. "But for a nighttime return from San Diego, say, or Mammoth, I don't think so."

He has some experience on that front. "We had a flat tire in the mountains, I dont know, 10 years ago," he said. "It was fine because we had a spare tire."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Walmart (WMT) has upended the grocery business and is widening its lead as the industrys most dominant player.

The retail behemoth expanded its market share during the second quarter, noting "high single-digit growth" in its quarterly results. And as the leadership gap widens and Walmarts power and influence over the industry grows stronger, competitors have little choice but to join forces.

The grocery business is going through a "revolution," and Walmart is "unstoppable," Burt Flickinger, managing director of consulting firm Strategic Resource Group, told Yahoo Finance.

This weeks move by Aldi to acquire Winn-Dixie and Harveys comes amid wider consolidation across the sector that has reshaped the grocery landscape. Last October, Kroger (KR) announced its acquisition of Albertsons (ACI) for $24.6 billion, an agreement that will combine two of the largest supermarket operators in the US. The deal will create a grocery chain with nearly 5,000 locations, a move that some experts say is necessary to fend off big box rivals.

"Krogers acquisition of Albertsons is the last, best, and final chance to level the playing field," added Flickinger, who has worked with and covered the grocery industry for more than three decades.

Up until the rise of supercenters and supermarkets, most Americans shopped at local or regional grocery stores. Now, the top five grocery chains account for nearly half of the market, and Walmart alone controls nearly a quarter of the overall market share.

Growth of supercenters like Walmart, along with club stores like BJs (BJ) and Costco (COST), could be the biggest "long-run story" in the food and grocery industry, Eric Fruits, senior scholar at the International Center for Law & Economics, told Yahoo Finance. Fruits also highlighted Amazons (AMZN) purchase of Whole Foods for $13.7 billion as another deal that further intensified competition within the industry.

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A customer removes her purchases at a Kroger grocery store in Flowood, Miss., Wednesday, June 26, 2019. (Rogelio V. Solis/AP Photo, File)

Consolidation among chains has largely contributed to the recent decline in grocery stores across the country. A report by advocacy group Food & Water Watch found that the number of US grocers fell by roughly 30% from 1993 to 2019, while a study by the US Department of Agriculture showed that from 2005 to 2015 the market share held by independent grocers fell in 41% of the counties across the US.

The uptick in M&A activity comes as scale within the industry becomes more important. Larger companies have more leverage than their smaller rivals, giving them more power to negotiate lower prices with suppliers, something that advocacy groups say will put more pressure on smaller grocers and independent businesses.

"Our biggest concern is that when you have large consolidation and only a handful of firms touching so many Americans, it makes it all more difficult for the independent segment of the marketplace," Chris Jones of the National Grocers Association told Yahoo Finance. "Consumers are left with higher prices, less choice, and less convenience."

The megadeal between Kroger and Albertsons faces fierce opposition not only from trade associations but from several state officials as well. In a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Wednesday, officials from seven states urged the commission to "stop this corporate consolidation that is draining Americans of their hard-earned wages and livelihoods."

The California attorney general's office is also investigating whether the merger will create more "pharmacy deserts" in the state, in which lower-income areas have limited access to medicines, according to a Reuters report.

Food deserts  areas where people have limited options for healthy and affordable foods  are another concern for industry insiders. "The deal will very likely create food deserts, which we don't need," the CEO of a very large supermarket chain told Yahoo Finance.

Despite some lawmakers and advocacy groups expressing concern, Flickinger says the Kroger-Albertsons tie-up is "pro-consumer, pro-worker, pro-supplier, pro-community" and will "help stabilize the supermarket sector, which has been in a free fall since Walmart and Costcos entrance."

In a statement to Yahoo Finance, a Kroger spokesperson wrote, "The only parties who would benefit if this merger is not completed are large, non-unionized competitors such as Walmart and Amazon."

While hurdles remain for the proposed supermarket merger of Kroger and Albertsons, one thing is clear: Walmart has revolutionized the grocery business through its growing dominance and will likely reshape the industry for decades to come.

Seana Smith is an anchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow Smith on Twitter @SeanaNSmith. Tips on deals, mergers, activist situations, or anything else? Email seanasmith@yahooinc.com.

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(Bloomberg) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping made his first major public appearance after the countrys north was struck by devastating floods, calling for stronger efforts in disaster relief and safeguarding national food security.

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Xi presided over a meeting of the Politburo Standing Committee on Thursday, emphasizing the need to speed up repair of damaged infrastructure such as transport, communications and electricity, as well as restore farmland and agricultural facilities, according to a report by the state broadcaster CCTV.

The comments come amid controversy over the governments handling of the crisis. Swathes of northern China including Beijing, Hebei, Jilin and Liaoning were inundated with heavy rain and flooding brought by Typhoons Doksuri and Khanun in recent weeks, with the official tally showing at least 80 people have died.

Some victims have said they received little help from local authorities. Others lamented that some top officials were nowhere to be seen after the floods.

State media earlier this month touted Xis strong and powerful response to the disaster, ratcheting up mentions of the president who hadnt been seen in public since the rainfall began. Reports about his leadership in ordering rescue efforts were featured prominently in front-page articles.

At Thursdays meeting, Xi said the country is still in the main flood season, emphasizing the need to respond accurately to early warnings. He called for schools, hospitals and nursing homes to be rebuilt. Authorities should work to minimize agricultural losses and ensure food security, according to the report.

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North Bend residents are being directed to continue boiling their drinking water after a sample tested positive for coliform on Tuesday.

Following a state regulation, the boil water notice is in effect until further notice, said Mike Adair, Nebraska region manager for PeopleService Inc., which services North Bends water and sewer plants.

Residents were instructed to boil their drinking water after the towns water plant was affected by a power surge believed to have been caused by a lightning strike on Sunday or early Monday morning.

They can use tap water for bathing and for washing their clothes and dishes.

Adair said state regulations stipulate that five water samples must be taken 24 hours apart. Two consecutive rounds of samples without bacteria are required before the notice can be lifted. Water samples taken Tuesday tested positive for coliform, but negative for E-Coli.

Coliform is a family of bacteria that can indicate harmful bacteria, he said.

Results from Wednesdays samples werent received by Thursday, but because of Tuesdays positive coliform test, more testing was set to be done Thursday to meet the two rounds of negative samples 24 hours apart, Adair said.

Adair also noted that North Bends water is chlorinated so there is a disinfection value in it and chlorination of the water will continue.

Problems emerged Monday morning.

North Bend City Clerk Theresa Busse said residents had water at 5:45 a.m. that day.

But by 6 a.m., the entire town, including the Pioneer Lake community, was without water. Busse called Adair, who discovered that several components of the computer system that runs the plant were malfunctioning.

Although the system indicated that the water tower was full, it actually was empty.

Adair manually turned on pumps to begin pumping water into the town. He said water was restored by 6:45 a.m. Adair called the systems programmers Jetco, Inc. in Iowa, while continuing to run local wells and service pumps manually to provide the town with water until the system could be repaired.

He contacted the city at about 8:15 a.m. Monday to say water had been restored, but due to state regulation a boil water notice had to be issued.

When the system goes below 20 pounds were square inch (PSI), the state requires that a boil water notice is issued for the safety of the consumers, Adair said.

Adair explained that the notice is issued at 20 PSI, because back siphoning from any possible connection to the system could introduce bacteria to the water.

The first five samples were taken Tuesday. The second five were taken Wednesday. Adair stressed that the boil water notice is only for consumption.

You can shower. You can wash your dishes. You can wash your clothes. You can do everything else, but consume the water, he said.

Adair said North Bends plant was running by Wednesday and the computer system has been repaired. Adair and staff members operated the plant systems manually around the clock from Monday through Wednesday morning.

He said Jetco concluded that multiple components were burned by a power surge, which was probably caused by a lightning strike.
A 28-year-old Grand Island man died in a Tuesday crash in Merrick County involving a farm tractor and a car.

The crash that took place shortly after 6 p.m., in the area of Nebraska 14 near Q Road, took the life of Zachary Lepant.

According to the preliminary investigation, 22-year-old James Wetovick of Fullerton was driving a John Deere 4440 tractor on Nebraska 14 when he crossed into the southbound lane, striking Lepants vehicle, a 2022 Hyundai Venue.

Lepant, the cars sole occupant, was pronounced dead at the scene. Wetovick was transported to a local hospital where he was evaluated and released.

The Merrick County Sheriff's Office said in a news release that an investigation into the crash is ongoing. The news release said both drivers were wearing seat belts and neither alcohol nor drug use was suspected by either driver.

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Nearly 100 FedEx workers will be laid off in November when its shipping facility, at 5010 Centennial Blvd., permanently closes its doors in three months, according to a company letter to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.

The closing will eliminate the jobs of 80 couriers, four service agents, eight handlers and an operations lead, the letter stated.

The affected employees, who have been notified, are not part of a union, according to FedEx.

The letter, issued in accordance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, was dated Aug. 9.

Not all the employees at the Centennial location will be laid off, the letter said. Some workers will move to the FedEx location at 125 Troy Hill Road.

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Employees included in the layoff will be provided options to consider, including relocation, severance, or a leave of absence during which they may pursue other positions with the company, the letter stated.

In a statement, FedEx officials said the closing and resulting layoffs are part of the companys periodic network adjustments to align with the evolving needs of the business.

Each market is unique, and operational decisions such as this are based on a number of factors, including volume fluctuations, customer demand, facility footprints, and more. Decisions of this nature are never made lightly, and are the result of much thought and consideration for the needs of our business.

The Centennial shipping center is scheduled to close Nov. 3.
Anglers are coming to grips with the altered state of a beloved fishery between Denver and Colorado Springs  the result of heavy rains sending rock and dirt down the slopes of Cheesman Canyon.

"Altered" is how some in the sporting scene would now describe this famed stretch of the South Platte River near Deckers. "Devastating" was the word from Trout Unlimited, in an online post recounting the storm at the end of July.

It was the "worst storm I've ever seen in there," Pat Dorsey, a renowned guide and self-described "canyon junkie" wrote in an Instagram post. "Words cannot explain the devastation that occurred to the fishery and the trail."

The Gill Trail, reaching down to the South Platte, had been "trashed," Dorsey wrote, noting also "slides everywhere, many of which dumped insect- and trout-choking sediments into one of America's finest wild trout streams." Gravel and sand had clogged go-to holes, according to Dorsey's reports, with some "massive" washouts contributing to decomposed granite across the river's substrate.

Trout Unlimited's post called on volunteers to help with recovery efforts ahead  "what will surely be herculean," the post read.

The organization recognized the event as "just the latest traumatizing event" for the fishery.

That's what other outfitters are emphasizing.

That includes Jeremy Hyatt, the owner of Deckers' Flies and Lies fly shop who has frequented Cheesman Canyon all his life.

"The damage was severe  there's no question about it," he said. "But I do think one thing people have to remember is the South Platte River is a very resilient river. With everything it's been through with the Hayman fire, this isn't a first."

The latest impacts do not compare with those from the fire's wake in 2002, said Rachel Leinweber, another lifelong regular in the canyon and general manager of Colorado Springs' Angler's Covey. She said she remembers all too well the ash and debris that choked the river.

"Nature finds a way," said Leinweber, whose guides returned clients to the canyon this week after a two-week pause. "The river will carve out new holes, new runs. It's definitely not doom and gloom, like Cheesman Canyon is unfishable."

Kyle Battige, senior aquatic biologist with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, said his team was not aware of any fish kill.

"That's not to say there's not the potential for impact in terms of recruitment and habitat," he said. "But best guess would be that there was good water upstream or they may have migrated downstream. ... Despite the look of it, the fish were able to tolerate those environmental conditions."

Dorsey, who could not be reached in time for this article, was swiftly rebuked for his reports. Commenters repeated Leinweber's point: that the "devastation" was nature at work.

"This is an act of nature, I get it," Dorsey wrote, "but it's much worse than most people know."

He and other guides have voiced support for "a flush"  a reservoir release from Denver Water that would theoretically clear sediment.

"The problem with that is, that sand has still gotta go somewhere," Hyatt said. "So it's gonna go into Deckers, it's gonna go to the Wigwam Club and eventually on to Strontia Reservoir, which is the last place Denver Water wants that sand to go."

An agency spokesman said there are no plans for a "flush," and that's for the sake of protecting Strontia Springs Reservoir, a critical supply for Denver and Aurora.

In an email, Todd Hartman said sediment through the South Platte after the Hayman fire as well as the Buffalo Creek fire in 1996 "continue to be a significant challenge for Denver Water."

Previously, the agency reported sediment had filled 13% of the reservoir's space  storage that would otherwise house water to serve as many as 4,000 homes. That report detailed managers' efforts to address the problem through dredging and forest restoration.

After heavy rains from the end of July, Hartman said Denver Water suspects as much as 20,000 cubic yards of sediment had washed into the river above the reservoir.

He noted: "Not all that sediment will make its way to Strontia Springs this year and the impacts to the reservoir will be moderated over the next several months and years."

As for impacts to the fishery in Cheesman Canyon, time will tell, Hyatt said.

"We're just gonna cross our fingers and hope it hangs in there," he said.
An expansion of a residential alcohol and drug addiction and mental health treatment center in northeast Colorado Springs that faced heavy neighborhood opposition two and a half years ago is preparing for its debut by months end.

Peaks Recovery Centers is opening an additional 20 beds at Trailhead, a rehab campus on Old Ranch Road east of Voyager Parkway.

Space in a new 15,000-square-foot building provides a total of 44 inpatient beds on the nearly 10-acre site for people with substance use and mental health disorders, said Jason Friesema, chief clinical officer.

The for-profit company is headquartered in Colorado Springs and in nine years of treatment services has expanded to 44 states.

It also runs a 12-bed residential treatment facility and outpatient care clinic near Dublin and Academy boulevards.

A center in Denver near Interstate 25 and Hampden Avenue offers intensive outpatient therapy.

Demand for drug rehab services is high, Friesema said, with several factors driving the increase.

We still have a significant opioid crisis both in the country and our community, he said. COVID turned out to be pretty disruptive, with an increase in isolation and people suffering from suicidal ideation and depression.

Also, he said, more people turned to alcohol to cope with pandemic-related stresses of unemployment, reduced socialization and disruption of daily life, which resulted in higher levels of misuse.

We stay pretty full, and I believe other places do, too, Friesema said.

The new facility is expected to be up and running by the end of August, according to Friesema. Construction crews were still working on interior elements at a public grand opening held Thursday.

Two existing houses on the property have accommodated clients since the company purchased the campus in 2019 for a total of about $2.26 million, according to county assessors records.

The company received approval from City Council in January 2021 to be annexed into Colorado Springs and for rezoning its parcels from rural residential to commercial use.

A group of nearby residents, the Springcrest Neighborhood Alliance, appealed city Planning Commissions recommendation that the project be approved, saying rezoning and annexation would create too abrupt of a transition from rural residential to commercial application, that it would set a precedent for other commercial development and that the project would have a significant impact on traffic. The appeal was denied.

It was a little contentious, there was some animosity, and I understand the Not In My Backyard, said Friesema, who has been a counselor in Colorado Springs since 1999.

As part of the annexation process, the company paid to widen Old Ranch Road and create turn lanes to help traffic flow, he said. And tapping into the citys water and sewer systems should leave the water table intact for residents using wells, he said.

Clients are randomly tested for drug and alcohol use throughout their stay at the center, which ranges from 30 to 45 days, Friesema said. The center uses a treatment model that combines medical, psychological and sociocultural elements pertaining to addiction.

Neighbors are still angry about City Councils decision to allow the project, though. One neighbor said Thursday that he didnt want to go on the record, adding that neighbors feel like their voices werent heard before, and with the centers opening, it doesnt seem to matter.

Friesema describes the impact to the neighboring community as low and said overall community impact is high.

Peaks Recovery Centers does not accept Medicaid but does accept most other health insurances, according to the company.

The city is growing and expanding, in particular to the north and east, and we are working to accommodate the needs of the community, Friesema said. As the community grows, proportionately the rate of substance use disorder and mental health disorders grow, so these services are needed.
A judge on Thursday sentenced Christopher Lenard to 70 years in prison after the El Paso County man pleaded guilty to six charges, including murder, for fatally shooting his sister and burning her house down.

On June 11, 2022, El Paso County sheriff's deputies responded to Chaps View near the Pueblo-El Paso county line after someone called 911 to report a disturbance with a family member who threatened "to set the house on fire. Deputies found Shania Lenard, 21, had been shot and killed, according to an affidavit.

After setting fire to a house, Christopher Lenard chased down and crashed into another car before killing his sister, the affidavit states.

Christopher Lenard, 45, left the scene before officers arrived, but he was arrested later that afternoon.

Christopher Lenard  who appeared in court from the El Paso County jail in a wheelchair  pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, incest, two counts of attempted first-degree murder and two counts of felony menacing.

Christopher Lenard's attorney Austin Vos said his client has no recollection of the incident that led to Shania Lenard's death, and that after he was taken into custody he was in a coma at the hospital "for weeks" before waking up and being told what he had done.

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"I have no answer as to why this happened," Vos told Judge William Moller.

Since arriving at the El Paso County jail, Christopher Lenard has suffered significant physical and mental health issues, Vos said.

"This is a particularly tragic case," prosecutor Anthony Gioia said. "I stand up here speaking in defense of Shania, who found herself in a situation she, by all accounts, was trying to get out of."

Under the terms of the plea agreement, Christopher Lenard was sentenced to 48 years in prison for second-degree murder and 22 years for each attempted first-degree murder charge, which will run concurrently with each other but consecutively to the second-degree murder sentence.

Christopher Lenard was also sentenced to three years for each of the other charges, but they will run concurrently to the other sentences.
A man with multiple felony warrants has died after a confrontation with police in southeast Colorado Springs Thursday, according to the El Paso County Sheriff's Office.

A spokesperson from a Colorado Springs Police Department press conference Thursday afternoon said that an officer fired a shot at the man when he pulled a gun and tried to flee on foot, but the suspect was not shot. The man was taken to an area hospital but later died of injuries sustained during the incident, EPSO reported Friday afternoon.

The Sheriff's Office is investigating the incident. No other injuries were reported.

CSPD did not give more details about the man's age, place of residence or alleged crimes at the press conference.

According to CSPD, the shooting had occurred near the 1700 block of Aeroplaza Drive in a motel parking lot about 11:40 a.m.

The U.S. Marshals' Colorado Violent Offender Task Force in partnership with the Colorado Highway Patrol helped find the fugitive, leading CSPD to approach the man to arrest him.

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According to the CSPD spokesperson, officers approached the man in the parking lot, who then tried to flee on foot. A police K-9 dog was released on the man, who then pulled a gun. That is when at least one CSPD officer shot at him.

Officials say Colorado Springs police will continue to investigate the suspect, while the El Paso County Sheriff's Office will be handling the officer-involved shooting investigation.

The Police Department said there was no ongoing threat to the public.
A half-dozen Colorado school districts and two education groups sued the state Thursday over its freshly implemented free universal preschool program, alleging the state walked back key promises and that deficiencies in the application process disproportionately harm low-income families and students with disabilities.

Colorado Springs' Harrison School District 2 is among the slate of districts that filed the lawsuit seeking to take Gov. Jared Polis, the Colorado Department of Early Childhood and the Colorado Department of Education to task for the poor rollout  specifically calling out the states online matching system, named Bridgecare, for functioning so poorly that it keeps some families from services they need.

Joining in D-2s legal efforts are Brighton School District 27-J; Cherry Creek School District 5; Mapleton School District 1; Platte Valley School District RE-7; Westminster School District 50; the Colorado Association of School Executives, a professional organization that connects school leaders; and the Consortium of Special Education, which consists of all special-education directors in the state.

Plaintiffs say their action is for the greater interest of all Colorado students. They are not fighting to cancel the program or change laws, school leaders say, but for increased funding to properly support students and for greater access to Bridgecare to see where families applications are in the system.

Parent relationships are crumbling under the programs current approach, they say, and schools are taking a financial hit.

The state is not doing what it had said it was going to do and what it promised our parents, D-2 Superintendent Wendy Birhanzel said at a Thursday news conference. Its our job to speak up for our kids. Its our job to say, Stop. The state has done wrong by our kids, and our kids are going to run a learning loss, if we dont do this correctly.

Polis signed the universal preschool program into law in April 2022, thereby establishing the Department of Early Childhood to oversee its implementation. The program promises at least 10 hours of free preschool a week for all 4-year-olds in Colorado, with some children qualifying for up to 30 hours. Some 3-year-olds are also eligible for 10 free hours.

But its rollout this fall raised major red flags for districts including Harrison, whose roughly 50% Hispanic student population includes a large number of English Language Learner families. Birhanzel was irate when she learned the programs virtual application lacked a Spanish option, posing an immediate barrier for many parents.

That means our families couldnt even apply until it came in Spanish, which was only a few weeks ago, Birhanzel said. And then it becomes an equity issue, because If Im a more affluent parent, Ill figure it out. Im gonna say 'forget universal preschool, Im just gonna find preschool and pay for it.' But a lot of our families cant do that, and thats not right.

There are two other lawsuits targeting the universal prekindergarten program. A Christian preschool in Chaffee County filed suit, claiming the non-discrimination agreement program that providers are required to sign would violate the school's religious beliefs by forcing them to accept applicants regardless of sexual orientation. Two Catholic parish preschools filed a similar lawsuit.

In an email statement, governor spokesperson Conor Cahill doubled down on the states commitment to universal preschool, pledging to defend the program in court so that even more families can benefit from preschool.

While its unfortunate to see different groups of adults attempting to co-opt preschool for themselves, perhaps because they want to not allow gay parents to send their kids to preschool, or they want to favor school district programs over community-based early childhood centers, the voters were clear on their support for parent choice and a universal, mixed-delivery system that is independently run, that doesnt discriminate against anyone, and offers free preschool to every child no matter who their parents are, the statement reads.

Dana Smith, the chief communications officer with the Colorado Department of Education, emphasized in a written statement that CDE "fundamentally values serving all students" and is committed to ensuring preschool students with disabilities receive the services they are entitled to under federal law.

The state Department of Early Childhood did not immediately respond to The Gazettes request for comment.

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Among Bridgecares primary issues, plaintiffs in Thursdays lawsuit say, is a lack of transparency for school leaders who do not have full access to its placements. When concerned parents call for clarity on their applications, school leaders have no choice but to direct them to the web-based platforms helpline for lack of information themselves.

Some families are lost in the shuffle despite supposedly having applied, plaintiffs say. Others are erroneously placed with schools over an hour away or with private schools that are not required by law to support students with special needs and often lack the capacity to do so.

Regardless, it is the districts' responsibility to ensure all families that live within their boundaries receive the special-education support that they need, meaning district leaders must call unsuspecting families to inform them their state-provided preschool pairing might not be sufficient.

Amy Lloyd, D-2 director of special education, said students who had attended preschool with individualized education plans (IEPs) and special-education supports in previous years have not yet returned since preschool began on Aug. 8. Students known to have IEPs are also showing up to school marked under the pairing platform as not requiring support plans, while some students without special needs have been marked as requiring IEPs.

Schools lack clarity, then, Lloyd says, on just how many special-education support students they will be working with this year due to inaccurate accounts from the state.

Staffing follows the IEP, so if we dont know what students have IEPs or special needs, we cant get the right staff to provide for that student, Birhanzel said. Not meeting their needs would break the law.

Data from previous years indicate a large number of special-education students have yet to be identified.

Last year, 124 4-year-olds received special education services in D-2. That number dropped to 65 this year, according to Lloyd. Whats more, Birhanzel said preschool enrollment is down by about 50% due in part to the complexity of the enrollment process.

This lack of clarity poses a financial burden as well, school leaders say, because schools receive funding for each enrolled student. Special-education students bring additional funding, due to the extra staffing and support measures they often require. With no clear picture as to what its student makeup will be, financial planning becomes a logistical nightmare for a school year already underway.

Districts will have to make cuts to planned spending initiatives and probably dip into their general fund to make up for the deficit, according to D-2 Chief Financial Officer Shelley Becker.

D-2 will accommodate any student in need of preschool this year who has either struggled with the application process or had promised free preschool hours revoked, Birhanzel said. Just weeks before the start of the school year, the state made a last-minute change to eligibility requirements that meant some families lost out on up to 20 hours of free preschool per week.

Were committed that parents who want to go 30 hours will go 30 hours, Birhanzel said. Right now, were just making sure that we get them in the seats, and we will figure out the finances from our end. And what does that mean? It means were going to have to cut some other places throughout the district. We havent identified that yet, because we dont even know how much that is because we cant get information from the state.

The frustrating thing is weve seen this train rolling down the tracks for a long time, and here we are, and at the end of the day, kids are being hurt by this.
Here are five takeaways from the latest Colorado Measures of Academic Success, an annual yardstick of student achievement. The state has not created a metric to rank district or school academic performances. And so to better understand  and compare  the CMAS scores, The Denver Gazette created a ranking by calculating a grand total by averaging math and literacy results.

Pandemic-period learning loss still haunts schools

Educators and advocates all agree  the learning loss from the pandemic reverberates to this day.

Denver Public Schools, for example, saw gains in proficiency in the areas of literacy and math with 0.9% and 1.5% increases, respectively. But the district is still playing catchup, as these improvements lag behind pre-pandemic levels. English scores, for one, are down 2.5% and math 2.4%, compared to 2019.

What this tells us is the impact the pandemic has had, said Anthony Smith, chief of Equity and Engagement for Denver Public Schools. Schools closed and adopted remote or virtual education in the early stages of the pandemic, which disrupted learning and exacerbated already-existing challenges.

Test scores show uneven landscape

The latest student assessment data show an uneven landscape for Colorados schools. All told, schools throughout the state experienced incremental and inconsistent academic improvement.

Both English and math saw a slight increase in testing participation rates from 2022 but remain lower than 2019 levels.

The data yielded a slight increase in the percentage of students who met or exceeded expectations from 2022 to 2023 in English. When it comes to math, the results show a more noticeable increase in the percentage of students who met or exceeded expectations during the same period. But the generally lower scores in math, compared to English, across schools indicates the need for targeted intervention or support.

Cheyenne Mountain claims No. 1 spot

Cheyenne Mountain 12 claimed the No. 1 spot as the top performing district in the state, with the highest average portion of students meeting or exceeding the states math standard, 68.1%, and the states English standard, 59.3%. Theyre followed by Hinsdale County RE 1 and Steamboat Springs RE-2.

The scores also showed variations in performance across subjects. While 71% of students at Hinsdale County RE 1 met or exceeded the English standard, a smaller portion, 50%, met or exceeded the math standard. Hinsdales performance also jumped the most  with the portion of students meeting or exceeding the English standard growing by almost 22 percentage points, and the portion meeting or exceeding the math standard growing by 14 percentage points.

A tale of two districts: Douglas and Adams

In metro Denver, Douglas County Re 1 showed the highest improvement, with 56% and a difference of 4.55 points from 2019, representing an 8.8% increase, when using the Denver Gazettes averaging metric. Actually, its the only district whose CMAS results have improved, compared to 2019. All the other Denver districts showed declines in the portions of students meeting or exceeding either the math or English standards. Adams County 14, in particular, saw a significant decline overall, down 6 points from 2019, a steep 34.7% decrease.

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Indeed, Adams County 14 also held the distinction of having the smallest portion overall of students meeting or exceeding the standards.

Other districts in the region showed stability: Cherry Creek 5 and Jefferson County R-1 experienced relatively small changes from 2019 to 2023.

Plateau Valley 50, Creede improve

The data revealed significant improvements among schools in the middle tier. Indeed, some districts, such as Plateau Valley 50 in Collbran and Creede School District, showed marked progress, both in difference and percentage changes. So did Weldon Valley RE-20, North Park R-1, Dolores County RE No. 2 and Mountain Valley RE 1.

Among the Top 10 districts, the trends are mixed. Some showed slight declines or some improvements, while others remained relatively stable. A noticeable variation in the portion of students meeting or exceeding the states standards between English and math across many districts is palpable, indicating potential areas of strength and weakness in different subjects.

Notable trends in metro Denver

In metro Denver, most districts saw a higher number meeting the standard in English compared to math in 2023. For example, Littleton 6 showed 59.9% in English and 51.2% in math.

Polaris Elementary School in Denver County 1 is the highest-performing school in the state, with an overall average of 94%. Its also a significant outlier in the district.

Marshdale Elementary School in Jefferson County R-1 and Altitude Elementary School in Cherry Creek 5 showed significant improvement from 2019 to 2023.

Ralston Elementary School in Jefferson County R-1 yielded a notably higher number of students meeting the standard in math (83.5%), compared to English (76.5%).

Some schools showed extreme disparities between English and math standards. For example, Denver Montessori Junior/Senior High School has 54.7% for English, but 17.2% for math.

Denver

Gazette contributor Evan Wyloge provided data analysis of Colorado Measures of Academic Success test scores.
Universal preschool in Colorado covers the cost of half-day pre-K.

As of Friday, 9,150 families who thought they were getting full-day pre-K paid for by the state recently found out they are on the hook for the cost of the second half of the day.

Caught in the middle are the preschool providers whose classrooms may not be as full as last year.

This room will probably be empty for months, if not the full year, Melissa Lelm, director of Early Childhood University in Greeley.

Lelm, who has five classrooms in her building, will be using just one starting next Monday.

We had seven staff members last year, and now we have three, which is myself, one teacher and one teacher assistant, Lelm said.

Her school can accommodate 192 total preschool students.

Total? We can do 96 morning, 96 afternoon, and we have 31 kids, Lelm said.

Instead of 192 total students, her Greeley preschool now has 31.

I think parents are hesitant and nervous and don't know how to enroll, Lelm said.

The difference between last year and this year? Universal preschools run through the state.

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Under [Colorado Preschool Program], we'd had a contract with the district to provide preschool for three and four-year-olds and special ed. And so, parents would enroll through the school district and then we would get those spots from the district, Lelm said. We were always full with 96 [a.m. and p.m.] with the contract.

The Colorado Department of Early Education has a video explaining how the state places preschoolers with a preschool slot. Parents do not get to pick a school of their choice, but they get to pick their top five preferences.

You could get 50 matches tomorrow and not have the staff, and so you have to put off enrolling those students, Lelm said.

According to a spokesman for Gov. Jared Polis (D), as of Monday, 43,288 students have applied for preschool, with 39,311 students matched to a preschool.

We're unsure how many children will come. Or what if students who were matched long ago, a couple months ago, who never accepted their placement, will they show up to school on Monday? Lelm said.

She said if students show up unexpectedly, she cannot automatically enroll them.

No. Because we won't get paid for that slot, Lelm said. I received my first payment last month for UPK, and that's only students who are enrolled by July 9. So, that check will cover rent and some bills and probably the teacher assistant salary and that's it.

Lelm said that she is paying her one teacher with funds from the schools reserve.

It'll be a long year, unless we get more kids and can hire staff, Lelm said. It will close down a lot of businesses who have been in this in this county for a very long time, providing quality preschool and services for families. And it will put a lot of people out of work.

For a school that has been full in the past, planning into the future is a bit murky under UPK.

The landlord wanted me to sign a five-year lease, and we agreed only to a one [year] because I'm not certain what the future will bring, Lelm said.
By Mubasher Bukhari and Asif Shahzad

LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) -Pakistani police have arrested two Christian brothers accused of blasphemy, a spokesperson and a source said on Friday, two days after a Muslim mob burnt churches and houses, blaming the two men for desecrating the Koran.

Pages of the Koran were found in a street with derogatory comments written on them in red, police said. One attached extra page also carried the names, addresses and national identity card numbers of the accused, provincial police chief Usman Anwar said.

Police were investigating all angles as to why the names and addresses would be attached, he told Reuters. A court ordered the two suspects to be held in police custody for seven days for questioning, a government spokesperson said.

Blasphemy is punishable by death in Pakistan but no one has ever been executed. Numerous accused have been lynched by outraged mobs. A former provincial governor and a minister for minorities were shot dead for trying to reform the blasphemy law.

Rights groups say accusations of blasphemy are sometimes used to settle scores. Hundreds of people are languishing in prison after being accused because judges often put off trials, fearing retribution if they are seen as being lenient, they say.

Paramilitary troops have been guarding site of the arson attacks, a Christian settlement in Jaranwala in Faisalabad industrial district, which also includes the historical Salvation Army Church and Saint Paul Catholic Church.

A Christian graveyard was also desecrated, residents and the community leaders said, adding that the mob dragged belongings from Christians' houses and set them on fire.

The violence continued for 10 hours without intervention by police at the scene, residents and community leader said. The police have denied that, saying they prevented even worse damage.

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwar ul Haq Kakar said on Friday that minorities had to be protected at all costs, promising to take action against those involved in violence.

Police said they have so far rounded up 128 people involved in the mob attack.

Residents said thousands of Muslims led by local clerics were seen carrying iron rods, sticks and daggers during the violence.

It started after someone took the desecrated pages of the Koran to a mosque prayer leader, which was followed by announcements calling for punishment, residents and police said.

Residents said clerics from an outlawed Islamist political party - Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) - led the campaign which resulted in the violence, residents and government sources said.

The TLP denied that, saying it joined the police in calming down the situation.

"We looked into the announcement from the loudspeakers. The same people who were making announcements on loudspeakers later joined us for the peace process," the police chief said.

Hundreds of Christians who fled the settlement have since started returning home, Akmal Bhatti, a community leader, told Reuters.

(Writing and reporting by Asif Shahzad in Islamabad; Editing by Kim Coghill and Nick Macfie)
By Fabian Hamacher and Yimou Lee

TAOYUAN, Taiwan (Reuters) -Taiwan Vice President William Lai returned on Friday from a sensitive visit to the United States, a trip China has condemned and which has brought warnings from Taiwanese officials it could prompt more Chinese military drills near the island.

"Because of everyone's hard work, Taiwan's power is stronger and stronger, and it showed the international community that Taiwan is a force for good, that the international community really pays great attention to Taiwan," he said after returning to Taiwan's main international airport at Taoyuan.

China claims Taiwan as its territory and has denounced the transit stops in the U.S., calling Lai a separatist and a "troublemaker".

Taiwanese officials have said China is likely to conduct military exercises this week near the island, using Lai's U.S. stopovers as a pretext to intimidate voters ahead of next year's presidential election and make them "fear war".

Democratically governed Taiwan has so far not reported any unusual Chinese military movements near the island.

Amid heightened tensions between the China and the U.S., Asia has seen a flurry of military posturing and joint drills on both sides in recent weeks.

On Thursday, Japan's government reported 11 Chinese and Russian naval ships, including destroyers, had crossed waters between the southern Japanese islands of Okinawa and Miyako, a waterway crucial to access to the Pacific and East China Seas.

The islands lie directly to the east of Taiwan and Okinawa is home to a major U.S. military base.

A person familiar with security planning in the region told Reuters the China-Russian fleet had conducted simulation attacks on U.S. forces stationed in Okinawa as well as drills to seize strategic locations.

The U.S. Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier was also in the waters about 800 nautical miles (1,500 km) off Taiwan's eastern coast as of Thursday evening, the person added.

The U.S. Navy's Carrier Strike Group 5, whose flagship is the USS Ronald Reagan, told Reuters the strike group "continues to perform routine operations in the Philippine Sea", but did not elaborate.

A spokesperson at Japan's Joint Staff Office said it was not aware of any such simulations by the Chinese and Russian fleets.

"They have not intruded into Japan's territorial waters and we have not confirmed any dangerous behaviour," the spokesperson said.

"We have offered through diplomatic channels that the repeated joint actions of Chinese and Russian forces in the sea and airspace around Japan are a serious concern from a security perspective."

Russia's defence ministry said Russian and Chinese ships "conducted anti-submarine drills, repelled an air raid by a mock enemy, trained for rescue operations at sea, and mastered skills for take offs and landings on decks of war ships".

China's Taiwan Affairs Office and defence ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

STOPOVER DIPLOMACY

On Friday, the Taiwan defence ministry's official news agency put out a slickly produced publicity video showing fighters jets taking off and missiles being readied.

"Nobody can encroach on our sovereignty," reads an accompanying caption for the video entitled "The military of the Republic of China is duty-bound to maintain regional peace and stability", referring to Taiwan's formal name.

Lai officially only made transits in the United States, first in New York and then in San Francisco, on his way to and from Paraguay to attend the new president's inauguration in one of only 13 countries that maintains formal ties with Taipei.

While in the United States, he gave speeches to the Taiwanese community and met officials from the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), a U.S. government-run non-profit that handles unofficial relations.

Lai is frontrunner to be Taiwan's next president at elections set for January. President Tsai Ing-wen cannot run again after two terms.

China especially dislikes Lai because of comments he has previously made about being a "practical worker for Taiwan independence", though he has pledged on the campaign trail to maintain the status quo and offered talks with Beijing.

Speaking after stepping off his flight, Lai made only passing mention of his U.S. stopovers, concentrating instead on Paraguay and pledges of support he received there.

"Thank you for your contributions to the country and to society," he said, "allowing Taiwan to very progressively, self confidently and respectfully go into the international community, and winning the support of the international community."

(Reporting by Fabian Hamacher and Yimou Lee; Additional reporting by Chang-ran Kim and Nobuhiro Kubo in Tokyo; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by David Gregorio and Lincoln Feast)
By Andrew Goudsward

(Reuters) - White House counsel Stuart Delery, President Joe Biden's top lawyer, plans to leave his post next month, the White House said on Thursday, adding no replacement had yet been named.

Delery, who has been in the job since July 2022, advised the president on advancing his legislative agenda and defending against Republican-led congressional investigations.

Biden in a statement called Delery a trusted adviser and a constant source of innovative legal thinking.

Delerys departure comes as U.S. House Republicans escalate probes into the business dealings of Bidens son Hunter and some right-wing lawmakers push for an impeachment investigation into the president.

The White House counsels office has been managing investigative demands from Republican-led committees. The White House has dismissed allegations of financial impropriety by Biden as conspiracy theories.

Delery, a former senior Justice Department official during the Obama administration, joined Bidens White House transition team in 2020. He served as deputy White House counsel before assuming the top White House legal role when Dana Remus stepped down last year.

He is the first openly gay person to serve as White House counsel. Delery worked at law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher prior to the White House.

(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
National security adviser Jake Sullivan stressed to reporters on Friday that President Joe Biden's new trilateral agreement with Japan and South Korea does not represent a "new NATO for the Pacific."

China  the unspoken focus of Friday's meetings at Camp David between Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol  had expressed displeasure ahead of the summit, and Sullivan fielded multiple questions on the subject during a press gaggle on Friday morning.

BIDEN TO TRAVEL TO MAUI TO MEET WITH FIRST RESPONDERS AND SURVIVORS OF WILDFIRES

"First, it's explicitly not a new NATO for the Pacific. We've said that. We will continue to underscore that, and so will both Japan and South Korea," Sullivan told reporters when asked about China's criticism. "We've had a combined 150 years of alliance cooperation with Japan and Korea, so in that sense, the work that we are doing with these two countries is not new."

"What is new is that we are now stitching all of that work together to try to enhance regional stability and security, and I would just point out that in all of those decades of cooperation we've had with Japan and the ROK, we have helped safeguard stability and security in the Indo-Pacific, and that has created the conditions for all of the countries of the region to do well, economically, by the way, including China." he continued. "We see it as a contributor, a net contributor to security in the region, to stability in the region, and to enhance prosperity in the region. And we think it will be broadly welcomed by countries throughout the Indo-Pacific from the Pacific Islands to ASEAN to South Asia."

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The three leaders will host a trilateral press conference following Friday's meetings at 3:00 p.m. Eastern time.

You can watch Sullivan's comments in full below.

Original Location: Biden's Japan-South Korea trilateral not a 'new NATO for the Pacific': White House

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A Canadian woman who sent a poison-laced letter to then-President Donald Trump in 2020 was sentenced to almost 22 years in a United States prison, a U.S. district judge ruled Thursday.

Pascale Ferrier, a 56-year-old dual Canadian and French citizen, was sentenced to 262 months in prison, as outlined by a plea deal, which will also see her removed from the U.S. after finishing her sentence. Ferrier pleaded guilty to violating biological weapons when sending letters that contained the poison ricin to Trump and police officials in Texas, where she had been jailed in 2019.

TRUMP'S 'MOST DANGEROUS CASE IN GEORGIA COULD ALSO BE THE LONGEST DELAYED

FILE - In this file photo provided by the Hidalgo County (Texas) Sheriff's Office, showing Pascale Ferrier. Ferrier, 56, was sentenced to nearly 22 years in prison in Washington Thursday in the mailing of a threatening letter containing the poison ricin to then-President Donald Trump at the White House. (Hidalgo County (Texas) Sheriff's Office, via AP File) AP

"There is absolutely no place for politically motivated violence in the United States of America," prosecutor Michael Friedman said in a statement obtained by Politico. "There is no excuse for threatening public officials or targeting our public servants."

The letter to Trump, which called him the "The Ugly Tyrant Clown," was intercepted at a mail sorting facility in September 2020 before it reached the White House. Ferrier had created the poison herself at her home in Quebec.

"If it [the poison] doesn't work, I'll find better recipe for another poison, or I might use my gun when I'll be able to come," the letter to Trump read. "Enjoy! FREE REBEL SPIRIT."

Ferrier was arrested after attempting to enter the U.S. through the northern border near Buffalo, New York. According to authorities, she was carrying a gun, a knife, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition when she was arrested.

Ferrier's attorney, Eugene Ohm, told the court that the Canadian had no criminal record prior to an arrest in Texas where she would not leave a park after it closed, and the arrest in Buffalo. Ohm also described her as "inordinately intelligent" and claimed Ferrier earned a master's degree in engineering and raised two children as a single parent.

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Ferrier described herself as a "peaceful and genuinely kind person" but claimed she got upset about abuses of power and unfairness. She also described herself as more of an "activist" than a terrorist.

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"I consider myself to be an activist, not a terrorist," Ferrier said. "Activists are constructive, terrorists are destructive. The only regret I have is that it didn't work and that I couldn't stop Trump."

Ferrier has also been banished from the U.S. upon the completion of her sentence and will be forced to be under supervised release for life if she ever returns, according to the plea agreement.

Original Location: Canadian woman sentenced to almost 22 years in US jail after sending poisonous letter to Trump

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The shortage of medication for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder has popularized some alternative solutions.

Dr. Marc Siegel appeared on America Reports on Thursday to further explain what caused the shortage and how parents can still help their children mitigate their symptoms from the diagnosis. This shortage began a year ago and was coupled with a 50% increase in demand across the last decade. Two supply chains, one in Israel and the other in Japan, have been crippled by a shortage.

JOBLESS CLAIMS NUMBERS ARE SENDING A SURPRISING MESSAGE ABOUT THE ECONOMY

"Both are offloading a lot of production, and they are relying on active pharmaceutical ingredients from China, so that's the problem. And they are generics and a very narrow profit margin. So, as soon as they find they can't make the 'rubber meet the road,' they back off and don't produce, and that's the key issue," Seigel said. "The FDA is pushing them to catch up. They're not catching up."

According to Seigel, while there are perceptions that ADHD is "overdiagnosed," that is not the case for most overall groups. So there are cases where children must be treated or suffer "the inability to focus, having some aggressivity, [and/or] increased frustration."

"Sixty percent of the time, it's treatable by medication," Seigel said. "But about 50%, you need some kind of therapy involved, and we have a huge shortage of mental health professionals in the United States, especially coming out of the pandemic."

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports, according to a national survey of parents, that there are 6 million children diagnosed with ADHD as of 2019. The largest number of those diagnosed are between 12 to 17 years old, at 3.3 million.

Alaska, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Illinois have the highest rates of ADHD treatment at anywhere between 52% and 72% of those diagnosed receiving treatment per the CDC.

Original Location: Doctor explains ADHD medication shortage and solutions

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President Joe Biden's use of multiple pseudonyms during his vice presidency appears to have hidden some of his communications from that period, including some involving Ukraine policy and his son, Hunter Biden.

The House Oversight Committee asked the National Archives on Thursday for communications involving three of Joe Biden's aliases: Robert Peters, Robin Ware, and JRB Ware.

HUNTER BIDEN INVESTIGATION: COMER REQUESTS UNREDACTED EMAILS AND DOCUMENTS FROM NATONAL ARCHIVES

The committee sought correspondence between those aliases, Hunter Biden, and two of his former business partners, Eric Schwerin and Devon Archer.

Only emails involving the aliases and Hunter Biden are presently public due to the publication of the contents of a laptop he abandoned in a Delaware repair shop.

Several of those messages suggest Hunter Biden was looped in on preparations his father, in his capacity as vice president, was making for talks with Ukrainian officials in 2016. At the time, Hunter Biden was working on the board of a Ukrainian energy company.

In one message from May 26, 2016, for example, Hunter Biden was copied on an email to his father from a staff member who was reminding the then-vice president that, the following morning, he would huddle with staff before a phone call with then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

Hunter Biden was not frequently looped into such emails about his father's schedule. His inclusion on scheduling emails with "Robert Peters," his father's pseudonym at that time, appeared to happen on just a handful of dates that corresponded to developments with Ukrainian policy.

Joe Biden had already successfully pressured Poroshenko to fire Ukraine's prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, by the time the May 27 call occurred. Shokin had been investigating the energy company that was paying Hunter Biden and his business associates significant money at the time.

During the call with Poroshenko in May 2016, Joe Biden mentioned the Ukrainian prosecutor situation, according to an archived readout of the call.

Hunter Biden was copied on another email on June 14, 2016, regarding his father's official schedule for the day. The following day, June 15, Joe Biden held a meeting with Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman and announced a new package of aid to Ukraine.

Hunter Biden was also included on an email detailing his father's schedule for the day of that meeting.

And just five days earlier, Schwerin, then Hunter Biden's business partner, had visited the White House to meet with Joe Biden's office, according to visitor logs.

Other than the few days surrounding the Poroshenko call in May and the Ukrainian prime minister meeting in June 2016, Hunter Biden does not appear to be looped into more of the emails about his father's "schedule cards," or what appear to be internal memos detailing the vice president's daily schedule.

Joe Biden spent a significant amount of time during the end of 2015 and the first half of 2016 on Ukrainian policy.

In early December 2015, he visited Ukraine and delivered a speech to the Ukrainian Rada, where he argued that "the Office of the General Prosecutor desperately needs reform" and said "the judiciary should be overhauled."

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Three days after that speech, which was aimed at then-Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin, Schwerin visited the White House, according to visitor logs.

The House Oversight Committee's requests to the National Archives included all drafts of that Dec. 9, 2015, speech in Ukraine.

In an email between Hunter Biden and "Robin Ware," another Joe Biden pseudonym, Hunter Biden appears to press for a friend, John McGrail, to land a job he wanted in June 2014, imploring his father to consider McGrail "before you fill [the] position."

"Call me right away," Joe Biden replied.

By the following month, according to his LinkedIn page, McGrail had landed a job as a deputy counsel in the vice president's office and was later promoted to counsel.

Other emails on Hunter Biden's laptop show Joe Biden communicated frequently with his family, using the aliases, to offer encouragement and to let them know how much he missed them on his travels.

In one heartwarming set of exchanges, Joe Biden told his son that an article about his 2014 ejection from the Navy Reserves over cocaine use was as "good as it could have been" and encouraged his son to move forward.

Joe Biden has often spoken of his closeness with his family, and Hunter Biden has remained at his father's side for official events and trips even as his controversies cause headaches during Joe Biden's presidency.

But the evidence that Joe Biden had much more involvement in his son's business affairs than he previously acknowledged has continued to mount in recent weeks.

An IRS whistleblower this spring brought forward evidence that investigators had compiled over several years about the extent of Joe Biden's role in the business, including an FBI interview with a former business partner who said discussions were had about cutting Joe Biden in on a Chinese business deal if he'd decided against his 2020 presidential run and Joe Biden's willingness to stop by dinners to help his son close deals.

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Archer, another former business partner, told the House Oversight Committee last month that Hunter Biden would frequently put Joe Biden on speakerphone during meetings with his foreign business associates, including some from the Ukrainian company, and confirmed that Joe Biden stopped by in person to multiple foreign business dinners.

In addition, emails and bank records show that James Biden, Joe Biden's brother, also earned substantial income from foreign sources while Joe Biden was vice president, undermining the talking point that Hunter Biden's business was completely isolated from the Biden family.

Original Location: Hunter Biden investigation: Joe Bidens pseudonyms hid Ukraine-related messages involving son

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Hunter Biden, his second wife, and their toddler stayed at the White House for two weeks starting the day after his since-collapsed plea deal was made public.

The stay, starting June 21, underscores President Joe Biden's inclination to keep his California-based adult son close, despite the political repercussions of the 53-year-old's personal and legal problems, which aides told the Washington Post they cannot properly advise the president about because he does not like discussing the issue.

UP FOR DEBATE: WHERE TRUMP, DESANTIS, AND REST OF REPUBLICAN 2024 FIELD STAND ON BIG TECH

"The President and First Lady love their son, support him, and are proud of him overcoming addiction and continuing to rebuild his life," White House Counsel's Office spokesman Ian Sams told the Washington Examiner when asked for comment on the reporting.

During his stay, which the family had hoped would mark the start of a post-federal investigation chapter, Hunter Biden attended the state dinner honoring Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, made two trips to Camp David, and took part in the White House's Independence Day festivities. His attendance at the dinner was particularly criticized since Attorney General Merrick Garland, who has been accused by Republicans of overseeing a sweetheart deal with the younger Biden, was also at the event.

Joe Biden's public schedule was cleared during Hunter's July 26 Delaware courtroom appearance to plead guilty to two federal tax misdemeanor charges and to agree to participate in a two-year diversion program regarding an alleged gun crime, aides told the Washington Post. The deal unraveled over a disagreement concerning the younger Biden's immunity from future prosecutions, leading Garland to last week appoint the managing U.S. attorney, former President Donald Trump-nominated David Weiss, as a special counsel for the ongoing investigation. The president, instead, met with economic and national security advisers and recorded a mental health-focused episode with podcaster Jay Shetty.

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While Hunter Biden has settled a child support case with an Arkansas woman with whom he fathered a now-acknowledged daughter in 2018, federal prosecutors have indicated there is a likelihood of an election-year trial for the outstanding matters.

Congressional Republicans, too, have escalated their investigations into Joe Biden and his son's business dealings, including asking the National Archives for emails sent to and from the then-vice president using pseudonyms. The president additionally has a special counsel looking at his mishandling of classified documents.

Original Location: Hunter Biden stayed at the White House before plea deal collapse: Report

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Conservative legal group America First Legal is suing Progressive Insurance for alleged racial discrimination for a grant program for small businesses.

The 2023 Driving Small Business Forward grant from Progressive offered "$25,000 grant[s] for use toward the purchase of a commercial vehicle for their business" but was only open to black small business owners, something members of the class-action complaint argue is unlawful.

MAUI FIRES: EMERGENCY OFFICIAL WHO DECLINED TO SOUND SIRENS RESIGNS AMID CRITICISM

"All Americans deserve to be free from racial discrimination, yet major corporations across the United States inject racial considerations into every aspect of their business operations, employment practices, and so much more," Gene Hamilton, America First Legal vice president and general counsel, said in a statement. "As alleged in our complaint, our client  who is a small business owner fighting to create a better life for himself and his family  was denied a contract with Progressive that would have provided him with $25,000 toward the purchase of a new truck solely because of the amount of pigment in his skin."

The class action lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, argues that the grant's limitations are illegal because it is unlawful to racially discriminate when making contracts.

Nathan Roberts, the owner of Cleveland-based Freedom Truck Dispatch, says he was emailed by the insurance company about a grant opportunity, but as he filled out the grant, it prompted him that it was for black-owned businesses. Roberts is white and therefore was ineligible to apply.

"Progressive's racially-discriminatory arrangement is offensive to the American ideal, and we will fight to vindicate his rights and the rights of all similarly situated Americans," Hamilton added.

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Progressive touted the grant and the 10 recipients in a press release earlier this week, where they celebrated helping black business owners through the grant.

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"At Progressive, we celebrate all business owners, yet we understand Black business owners still face unique challenges," Karen Bailo, commercial lines president at Progressive Insurance, said in a statement touting the grant.

The Washington Examiner reached out to Progressive Insurance for comment on the lawsuit.

Original Location: Progressive insurance sued by America First Legal over allegedly racist grants

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Former President Donald Trump blasted the recent indictment against him from Fulton County, Georgia, as a form of suppression, saying Republicans cannot let people "get away with it."

"They want to silence you, and they mean silence," Trump said during a Thursday interview with Fox Business's Larry Kudlow on Kudlow. "They are people who have no idea how the world works, and they have no idea the anger they cause."

TRUMP'S 'MOST DANGEROUS CASE IN GEORGIA COULD ALSO BE THE LONGEST DELAYED

He said a "tremendous group of people" on both sides see the "disgusting situation" in Georgia, adding that he is "not just talking about Republicans."

Trump quipped at the four criminal cases levied against him since the start of the year: one out of Manhattan, two federal cases, and the recent indictment out of Georgia.

"Cause I have four of them now if you look. This is not even possible. Four, over the last couple of months, and frankly, it discredits everything," Trump said.

"They're all very similar in the sense that there's no basis for them," the former president continued.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing in the cases against him, decrying them as "witch hunts" and politically motivated to disrupt his lead in the GOP presidential primary race. He cited the Presidential Records Act on Thursday, a likely defense that he will use in his federal case for his handling of classified documents.

"And then you look at the suppression: They want to suppress your voice. They don't want you to ever talk about an election. If you talk about an election, they want to put you in jail," Trump said, hinting at both the federal case and Georgia case against him for efforts to overturn the presidential election at the state and federal levels.

However, Trump said he believes his team has the Georgia indictment case "under control." He previously stated that he plans to release a report exonerating him on Monday.

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"It's just suppression, and it's just a horrible thing for the country, and it's hurting the country very badly," the former president said.

In Georgia, Trump is charged with violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and conspiring to use fake electors to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia. He frequently made baseless arguments that the 2020 election was stolen and that widespread voter fraud made him lose, claims that have since been debunked.

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The former president made an appeal to his party over the indictments on Thursday, saying Republicans "can't let them get away with it."

"Republicans have to be tough, Republicans are great in many ways, but they don't fight as hard for this stuff, and they have to get a lot tougher," Trump said. "And if they don't, they're not going to have much of a Republican Party."

Original Location: Trump says Georgia indictment intending to 'suppress your voice'

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The Biden administration is reopening the U.S. government's immigration offices in Cuba after they were abruptly shuttered amid the "Havana Syndrome" phenomenon during the Trump administration almost five years ago.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced Thursday that the department's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Havana, Cuba, would begin allowing Cuban citizens to apply for select legal pathways to get to the United States.

ROMNEY DOMINATES 2024 SENATE FIELD AS HE WEIGHS REELECTION RUN IN UTAH: POLL

The reopening was especially significant to Mayorkas, who was born in Cuba and was brought to the United States as a baby when his parents immigrated during the Castro regime's takeover.

"Cubans like my own family, who nearly 63 years ago fled the communist takeover, deserve the same opportunity to follow legal pathways to build a new life in the United States," Mayorkas said in a statement. "Our Department is committed to building and enforcing a lawful, humane, and secure immigration system, and we will continue to work with countries across the hemisphere and around the world to ensure it."

One such initiative, the Cuban Family Reunification Parole program, was created under the George W. Bush administration as a way for children or adults in Cuba to apply for reunification with an immediate family member already in the U.S. At the time that USCIS shuttered the Havana office, approximately 20,000 applications were under review.

The USCIS office will also help Cuban citizens with refugee applications and appointment-only services, including collecting biometrics such as fingerprints, for U-visa applications.

Mayorkas said the hope behind reinstating these programs was that they would deter people from trying to get into the U.S. illegally. Cubans have been one of the most-apprehended demographics of immigrants at the southern border since 2021.

"This administration is taking steps to reduce unlawful entries, deny resources to ruthless smuggling organizations, and streamline access to lawful, safe, and orderly pathways for those seeking humanitarian relief. Reopening the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services field office in Havana helps us do just that," Mayorkas said in a statement.

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The USCIS facility was abandoned in December 2018 as a result of unexplained health troubles that U.S. employees stationed at the embassy experienced in 2016 and 2017.

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The "Havana Syndrome," as it was called, refers to idiopathic symptoms that U.S. and Canadian government officials and military personnel first began to report in 2016 while assigned to each country's embassy in Cuba. The symptoms ranged in severity but included pain and ringing in the ears and cognitive dysfunction.

The U.S. government has never confirmed what caused the condition.

Original Location: US reopens immigration office in Cuba following 'Havana Syndrome' yearslong closure

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The best that Colorados education establishment can say about the lackluster student-achievement scores released Thursday is that, overall, the states K-12 public schoolers are within reach of pre-pandemic scores.

That doesnt offer much hope.

While some of the states 178 school districts posted marginal improvements over last years results  and some districts did even better  overall student performance continued to lag that of the last full academic year before schools were shuttered amid COVID. Indeed, the number of fourth and eighth graders who can read and write at or above grade level is still 4 percentage points lower than the number who could do so in 2019.

But the real news is even worse than that. As we observed here last year after the release of similarly underwhelming scores for the annual Colorado Measures of Academic Success, or CMAS, tests  even Colorados pre-COVID scores were abysmal.

In 2019, only 44.5% of Colorado students met or exceeded expectations in English, and 32.7% did so in math. Thats below an F.

And yet, as The Gazette reported this week, educators now regard 2019s scores as a benchmark against which to judge current performance. Its as if the public is being told to don rose-colored glasses in hindsight  and look back with fondness upon failure.

This is probably our new normal, said Joyce Zurkowski, chief assessment officer at the Colorado Department of Education. As noted in The Gazettes report, Zurkowski called it good news that this years statewide math and English scores on average were roughly on par with last years.

How depressing.

As we also observed here after the release of last years CMAS scores, such accountability metrics can be enlightening  only if Coloradans, from parents to policymakers, read them the right way. Not in a feeble, glass-half-full kind of way that applauds incremental improvement over an earlier benchmark that was dismal to begin with.

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Rather, in a big-picture sort of way  as in, whats wrong with this picture?

Whats wrong is that Colorados political leaders and top policymakers, from the governor on down, arent publicly demanding that our schools account for their floundering student achievement year after year. Whats wrong is that our leaders arent in fact declaring it a crisis.

The states political elite regards the climate to be in crisis. Affordable housing, too. Last month, Denvers new mayor officially declared the citys growing homeless population on the streets to be an emergency. Arguably, it is.

How about an education emergency? Gov. Jared Polis, a committed and groundbreaking education reform advocate who helped found two charter schools, would be ideal to lead the crusade.

He could call on the Legislature to make education reform Priority No. 1 when it convenes in January. He could urge lawmakers to pull out all the stops and tear up the old playbook.

How about an aggressive, new statewide push for more charter schools? Or  gasp  school vouchers for a private education for our poorest kids, now that the U.S. Supreme Court has cleared the way? Maybe a new fund to attract and retain the best and brightest teachers from around the country and to reward the strongest performers.

No more business as usual in passing the annual School Finance Act; tie funding to bold innovations, instead.

This is no time to be timid; no crisis is more pressing than our childrens academic decline. Especially for our neediest, most at-risk kids. Their entire future is at stake.

How about it, Governor? Will you lead the way?
An effort to make Colorado the first state in the nation to prohibit so-called "abortion reversal" treatment secured a major victory on Thursday.

The Colorado Medical Board unanimously passed a rule declaring abortion reversal treatment using certain medications outside of the "generally accepted standards of medical practice."

This comes after a draft rule released in July proposed the board should review individual complaints of abortion reversal treatment on a case-by-case basis. The new rule clarifies a specific method of abortion reversal as unprofessional conduct: when a medical provider uses the hormone progesterone to try to stop a medication-based abortion after a patient has completed the first part of the two-step process.

"Although the board will not treat medication abortion reversal as a per se act of unprofessional conduct, the board does not consider administering, dispensing, distributing, or delivering progesterone with the intent to interfere with, reverse, or halt a medication abortion undertaken through the use of mifepristone and/or misoprostol to meet generally accepted standards of medical practice," the rule's new language states.

It continues: "For other conduct that could meet the definition of medication abortion reversal, the board will investigate such deviation on a case-by-case basis."

Senate Bill 190, passed by the state legislature in April, classifies abortion reversal treatment as unprofessional conduct, subjecting medical workers who provide the treatment to professional discipline. But the bill allowed abortion reversal to be reclassified as professional conduct if the state medical, nursing and pharmacy boards all agree that its a valid medical practice.

But with the medical board now stating that it is not a valid medical practice, the three boards cannot be unanimous in support for abortion reversal. So, regardless of the findings of the nursing and pharmacy boards, abortion reversal's status as unprofessional conduct under SB 190 will remain intact.

The question is whether regulators and prosecuting attorneys will enforce the new law. After a Catholic health care clinic sued to stop the ban in April, Attorney General Phil Weiser wrote in a court filing that the ban wouldnt be enforced until all three boards pass their rules.

The two remaining boards have until Oct. 1 to adopt their final rules. The nursing board will meet on Sept. 20 and the pharmacy board will meet on Sept. 21.

"I'm very happy," said Sen. Faith Winter, D-Westminster, sponsor of SB 190. The (medical board's) rule is very clear that its unprofessional conduct and that was the intent of the legislation. ... Doing it on a case-by-case basis and putting the burden on the patient was unacceptable to me.

The rule's new language isn't as broad as SB 190, applying only to progesterone being used to "reverse" abortions using mifepristone and/or misoprostol. By naming specific medications, the rule does not automatically lend to other or future abortion reversal treatments.

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Members of the board said this was intended to protect medical providers who aren't trying to perform abortion reversals. For example, board members offered a hypothetical situation of a woman trying to self-terminate her pregnancy with medications, such as beta blockers or calcium channel blockers. Under broader language, doctors could be concerned about treating her overdose because they might interrupt a medication abortion.

Rep. Karen McCormick, another sponsor of SB 190, said the board's decision is reasonable.

Colorado, other states call on court to block Idaho's abortion travel ban

"I can understand the logic behind that and Im OK with that," McCormick, D-Longmont, said. "And they're still saying they can look into other conduct on a case-by-case basis. ... That makes sense."

Abortion reversal treatment has been hotly debated in the medical community for years.

Supporters of the treatment point to a small-scale 2012 study, which found that four of six women who had begun medication abortions were able to carry their pregnancies to term after taking progesterone. Subsequent research has concluded there is insufficient evidence to support abortion reversal treatment, attributing successful pregnancies to the results of simply not taking the second abortion pill.

A larger 2019 University of California study attempted to test the effectiveness of abortion pill reversal, but the study was ended prematurely due to safety concerns after three participants required ambulance transport to a hospital for treatment of severe vaginal bleeding, NPR reported. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists also rejects prescribing progesterone to reverse abortions, saying it is "not based on science and do not meet clinical standards."

Proponents of abortion reversal argued that the board should preserve an option for women who change their minds after starting the process of a medication abortion.

"It is a very sad day in Colorado," said Dr. Thomas Perille, president of Democrats for Life of Colorado. "The proponents of 'choice' are taking away choice from women who believe they have made a tragic mistake and desperately want to save their baby after taking the first abortion pill, mifepristone."

Opponents of abortion reversal celebrated the rule, saying the board must protect women from being pushed into partaking in a medically-unfounded practice.

"This ruling is a huge win for reproductive rights and justice," a joint statement from New Era Colorado and COLOR said. "We are proud to be the first state in the nation to ensure that our communities will no longer be deceived into an unethical, experimental practice, and that providers of this so-called treatment will be held accountable for their actions."
The Denver Police Department plans to deploy the same number of armed police  called school resource officers  installed at 13 high school campuses at the end of the last school year.

Each comprehensive high school will have one officer, except East High School, the largest Denver Public Schools high school, which will have two.

The new school resource officer program begins on Monday, the first day of the news school year.

Officers were temporarily reinstalled, despite a 2020 ban, after a student shot two administrators in March at East High School, the districts flagship campus.

Ron Thomas, Denvers police chief, and two SROs discussed the deployment on Friday before DPS students head back to class on Monday.

Theyre a complement of safety, Chief Ron Thomas said. I really dont believe they are the be all, end all to safety.

Officers recently completed a 40-hour training hosted by the National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO).

The associations training includes courses on ethics and school law, instruction on adolescent brain development and trauma-informed practices, as well as touching on relevant pubescent topics, such as mental health, digital culture and safety, substance abuse, suicide and human trafficking.

SROs have similar responsibilities as regular police officers in that they have the ability to make arrests and respond to calls for service.

Thomas stressed on Friday that SROs will not be involved in school discipline.

But with the first bell set to ring within a handful of days, the police department and DPS still do not have an agreement that establishes guardrails and expectations for the return of armed officers.

Its unclear when such an agreement will be finalized.

The agreement is supposed to establish between the district and police department a commitment to specific principles, roles and responsibilities officers will assume on campus.

DPS has had SROs since in the 1990s.

Nationally, SROs first began appearing in schools nearly four decades ago.

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DPS Board of Education Vice President Auontai M. Anderson  who championed the removal of SROs in 2020 but advocated for their return following the spate of violence at East High  told The Denver Gazette that he would press for a sunset trigger to be included, which would void the agreement if the number of student citations hits or exceeds the level in 2020.

More than 50 students across DPS were arrested in the 2019-2020 school year and 334 court summons issued across DPS, according to the Colorado Division of Criminal Justice.

The DPS board members three years ago cut ties with DPD and removed SROs because of what they described as over policing and over claims that police presence perpetuates whats called the school-to-prison pipeline.

Minority students often receive harsher penalties than their White counterparts, according to some research. Its a finding that has long worried advocates who contend this also later leads to greater incarceration rates.

Social media has captured cringe-worthy moments, with officers in schools using tasers, applying chokeholds and beating students with a baton.

We cringe when we see that also, said Mac Hardy, a former SRO and director of operations for NASRO.

More often than not, those incidents  Hardy said  stem from officers stepping in to handle school discipline issues.

The way that Hardy sees it, its critical for school administrators to also receive the SRO training and learn best practices.

We still do not see enough administrators sitting next to an SRO in our 40-hour courses, Hardy said.

In a move both praised and vilified, the board voted in June to permanently return armed police to campus. Their decision reflects a delicate balancing act the board sought to strike between school safety and over policing.

DPS Superintendent Alex Marrero is responsible for ironing out the language in the agreement, which will govern the return of SROs to campus.

Anderson said he intends to raise the issue at the boards Aug. 24 meeting, if an agreement has not been reached.

The cost, which will be assumed by the city, is not yet known.

But the tally for 14 SROs could be similar to the $1.2 million the city paid in 2018, according to a Denver Gazette analysis of previous expenses.
The head of Colorado's Republican Party did something earlier this month that political bosses rarely do when he publicly unveiled the state party's strategy for the 2024 election more than a year before voters will begin casting ballots.

It's not like state GOP Chairman Dave Williams revealed any deep, dark secrets when he announced which Democrats the Republicans intend to target next year  anyone could have compiled a similar list by reviewing the results of the last election  though it's unusual to outline a detailed strategy while the opposition is watching.

But that's what Williams did on Aug. 5 at a special meeting of the state Republicans' central committee.

The nearly eight-hour meeting, held at a church in Castle Rock, mostly generated news in its final minutes, when the central committee voted down a measure that would have paved the way to exclude unaffiliated voters from next year's GOP primary. The defeat of the controversial proposal  which would have changed party rules to count no-shows as votes in favor of canceling next June's primary  likely dashes Williams' and other party leaders' plans to consider the question at another meeting in late September.

At the same meeting, Republicans elected Hope Scheppleman, the La Plata County GOP's secretary, to fill the vacant state vice chair position. She replaces Priscilla Rahn, who resigned this summer to run for Douglas County commissioner.

The central committee also heard an update on a lawsuit the party recently filed that aims to overturn Proposition 108, the 2016 voter-approved ballot measure that allows Colorado's unaffiliated voters to cast ballots in either the Democratic or Republican state-level primaries.

During a lull in the proceedings, Williams revealed what he described as the state party's "game plan for 2024."

"We all come from different backgrounds, and I think success lies in recognizing the diversity within our ranks," Williams told the hundreds of Republicans. "Our partys a tapestry of voices united by our conservative principles."

Then he got down to brass tacks.

"We have suffered devastating losses, and if we're going to come out of this, it's going to be because we're working together," he said, alluding to the string of thumping losses Republicans have suffered in Colorado in the last three general elections. Since 2018, Democrats have swept every statewide office, won five of the state's eight congressional seats and taken historic majorities in both chambers of the legislature, leaving the GOP with less power than it's held in nearly 100 years.

"What weve already achieved towards building winning coalitions is making a historic deal with Libertarians to stop them from running spoiler candidates in our competitive races," Williams said, describing a pact he inked with the state's largest minor political party earlier this summer.

The Libertarians have agreed that they won't run candidates in battleground races if Republicans can guarantee they'll nominate candidates who pass muster on a set of issues the Libertarians released this week. While some of the points have raised eyebrows  including working to abolish national intelligence agencies and supporting a presidential pardon for the founder of a marketplace on the dark web that facilitated the sale of narcotics  Williams told Colorado Politics he expects enough Republicans will participate to make the accord worthwhile.

Williams told state Republicans in Castle Rock that he's on the verge of expanding the plan.

"I'm also pleased to announce that we're very close to making a similar deal with the American Constitution Party," he said to cheers, referring to the state's fourth-largest minor political party.

For years, Republicans have maintained that conservative third-party candidates drain votes that would otherwise go to Republicans, costing victories in close races when Democrats win by narrow pluralities. While available data doesn't necessarily support that contention, Williams argues that keeping third-party candidates out of targeted races will increase chances Republicans can win some of them.

That's where something Williams calls the Freedom Initiative comes in.

"The goal of the Freedom initiative is to compete in at least 10 targeted districts with conservative candidates who share our free market, free people and limited government values," Williams said.

"I thought it best to share with you the targeted seats we are making a top priority," Williams said as an array of 11 Democratic incumbents appeared on screen behind him.

"This is the Colorado GOPs Most Wanted Democrats," he said, pausing to soak in the applause.

The priority seats included Democrats representing one U.S. House district, one state Senate district and nine state House districts.

At the center of the screen was U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo, the Thornton pediatrician who won election last year by just under 1 percentage point in the 8th Congressional District, Colorado's newest district.

In that race, a Libertarian nominee, Richard Ward, pulled nearly 4% of the vote, fueling Republicans' contention that the third-party candidate cost them the election. An analysis of the voted ballots in Adams County, which makes up nearly two-thirds of the district, suggests otherwise. The anonymous, individual ballots  available for anyone to review on the county clerks' website  show that voters who picked the Libertarian in the congressional race voted for the Democratic governor and U.S. Senate candidates by overwhelming margins, challenging the assumption that Ward took more votes from Kirkmeyer than Caraveo.

Nonetheless, it's no surprise Caraveo held a prime position on Williams' display  her district has been targeted by both national parties and ranks as a toss-up on lists compiled by every election forecaster.

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Radio host Scott James, a former chairman of the Weld County GOP, is so far the only Republican running for the seat. First-term state Rep. Gabe Evans, R-Hudson, has been circling the race and is expected to announce his intentions within weeks.

Although she didn't appear on the Most Wanted list, Williams assured the Republicans that the party also plans to put effort into protecting U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, the Silt Republican who won reelection last year to a second term in the 3rd Congressional District by an even slimmer margin than Caraveo won her first term.

Boebert is already facing multiple challengers, including Adam Frisch, the Democrat who came within 546 votes of unseating her. This week, Grand Junction Republican Jeff Hurd jumped in the GOP primary.

The legislators on Williams' target list included several who won with pluralities in three-way races against a Republican and Libertarian, though a few won their their last elections by relatively wide margins:

 State Sen. Chris Kolker, D-Centennial, in Senate District 16, won his first term in 2020 by 11 points but will be running next year in a redrawn district that's less favorable for Democrats

 State Rep. Stephanie Vigil, D-Colorado Springs, in House District 16, won by about 2 points in a race where the Libertarian got slightly more votes than Vigil's winning margin

 State Rep. Marc Snyder, D-Manitou Springs, in House District 18, won by more than 8 points while the Libertarian got about 3%

 State Rep. Jennifer Parenti, D-Longmont, in House District 19, beat a Republican incumbent by just over 3 points with the Libertarian getting nearly as many votes as her margin

 State Rep. Tammy Story, D-Evergreen, in House District 25, also beat a Republican incumbent by just over 1 point, with the Libertarian getting slightly more than her margin

 State Rep. Meghan Lukens, D-Eagle, in House District 26, won by 7 points without a Libertarian on the ballot

 State Rep. Robert Marshall, D-Highlands Ranch, in House District 43, beat the Republican by just under 1 point

 State Rep. Mary Young, D-Greeley, in House District 50, won by nearly 2 points, with the Libertarian getting just over 3% of the vote

 State Rep. Elizabeth Velasco, D-Glenwood Springs, in House District 57, beat the Republican by more than 7 points without a Libertarian on the ballot

 State Rep. Eliza Hamrick, D-Centennial, in House District 61, won by about 3 points, with the Libertarian taking about 2%

The opposition greeted Williams' target list with derision when it appeared on social media.

His counterpart across the aisle, state Democratic Chair Shad Murib, responded succinctly on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter: "lol"

"Gee, it's so flattering to be wanted...even by the GOP," tweeted Marshall, who surprised nearly everyone by winning a seat in traditionally Republican Douglas County last year, adding: "Funny part is even if in some fantasy land they could conceivably win all 9 targeted seats . . . they would still be a minority in the state house...."

Democrats hold a 46-19 majority in the House, leaving Republicans 14 seats short of winning the gavel.

Ernest Luning has covered politics for Colorado Politics and its predecessor publication, The Colorado Statesman, since 2009. He's analyzed the exploits, foibles and history of state campaigns and politicians since 2018 in the weekly Trail Mix column.

Colorado politicians might not prefer primaries, but most have weathered them | TRAIL MIX

Colorado Republicans clash over proposal to boot unaffiliated voters from GOP primaries | TRAIL MIX

Colorado boasts record as host of presidential primary, general election debates | TRAIL MIX
Nearly 100 FedEx workers will be laid off in November when its shipping facility, at 5010 Centennial Blvd., permanently closes its doors in three months, according to a company letter to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.

The closing will eliminate the jobs of 80 couriers, four service agents, eight handlers and an operations lead, the letter stated.

The affected employees, who have been notified, are not part of a union, according to FedEx.

The letter, issued in accordance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, was dated Aug. 9.

Not all the employees at the Centennial location will be laid off, the letter said. Some workers will move to the FedEx location at 125 Troy Hill Road.

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Employees included in the layoff will be provided options to consider, including relocation, severance, or a leave of absence during which they may pursue other positions with the company, the letter stated.

In a statement, FedEx officials said the closing and resulting layoffs are part of the companys periodic network adjustments to align with the evolving needs of the business.

Each market is unique, and operational decisions such as this are based on a number of factors, including volume fluctuations, customer demand, facility footprints, and more. Decisions of this nature are never made lightly, and are the result of much thought and consideration for the needs of our business.

The Centennial shipping center is scheduled to close Nov. 3.
A Christian preschool in Buena Vista filed a federal lawsuit against the state of Colorado over its universal preschool program, arguing the school's religious exemption denial is unconstitutional.

Filed on Tuesday, the civil rights lawsuit seeks to prevent the Colorado Department of Early Childhood from forcing a Christian preschool to surrender its religious character, beliefs and exercise to participate in the states new universal Pre-K program.

The Constitution is clear: The government may not deny participation in a public program simply due to a schools internal religious exercise, Jeremiah Galus, senior counsel with the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), said in a statement.

ADF is representing Darren Patterson Christian Academy in Buena Vista, which is about 120 miles southwest of Denver.

Universal Pre-K is new to Colorado.

Alliance Defending Freedom, which formed in 1994 and describes itself as the worlds largest legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, parental rights and Gods design for marriage and family, has been involved in several landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases, including, most notably, Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, in which justices ruled that the birth control mandated in employee-funded health plans is unconstitutional.

The group also represented Jack Phillips, owner of a cake shop in Lakewood, who won his own appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court on narrow grounds after he refused to bake a cake for a same-sex couple. In that case, the justices concluded the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, which determined that Phillips violated the state's anti-discrimination laws, was palpably hostile and therefore its decision "must be set aside."

ADF is also currently litigating a related case out of the federal appeals court based in Denver, which held Colorados anti-discrimination law could compel a Christian graphic designer to create wedding websites for same-sex couples despite her religious beliefs. In that case, Lorie Smith, who owns 303 Creative LLC, a website and graphic design business, wants to create wedding websites but argues that her religious beliefs preclude her from recognizing same-sex marriage.

Passed by Colorado lawmakers last year, the universal Pre-K program will provide up to 15 hours of free preschool for all Colorado children each week the year before they enter kindergarten.

The program is estimated to save Colorado parents, on average, $6,000 a year, according to Gov. Jared Polis administration.

The program's long-awaited launch comes as Colorado struggles with an acute child care shortage, exacerbated in the COVID-19 pandemic.

As of Tuesday, more than 27,000 families have had children placed in the first two rounds of placement, saving Coloradans $164.7 million, according to the Colorado Department of Early Childhood.

Statewide, there are roughly 56,800 available Pre-K seats, of which 57% are filled.

Chaffee County, where Darren Patterson Christian Academy is located, has 204 Pre-K seats, of which 119 have been filled, state data show.

Darren Patterson Christian Academy applied for and received  according to the lawsuit  participation approval to the universal Pre-K program, which includes state funding. But the preschool was denied a religious exemption.

The Academy took issue with what was described in the lawsuit as a requirement that it hire employees who do not share its faith and alter internal rules and policies that are based on the schools religious beliefs about sexuality and gender  including those that relate to restroom usage, pronouns, dress codes, and student housing during expeditions and field trips.

Founded in 1982, Darren Patterson Christian Academy is a kindergarten through eighth grade school in Chaffee County.

The denial, according to court documents, was based on provisions that prohibit discrimination against any person based on religion, sexual orientation or gender identity.

The preschool has been matched with 17 preschool children for the upcoming school year, according to the lawsuit.

The Denver Gazette reached out to the Colorado Department of Early Childhood for comment, but has not received a response.
Flood-affected villagers return home in China's Tianjin

Xinhua) 08:23, August 18, 2023

A villager arranges the bed after returning home in Shaoqidi Village of Huanghuadian Township, Wuqing District, north China's Tianjin, Aug. 17, 2023. A total of 15,011 people, the last batch of those who were previously relocated from areas prone to flooding by the Yongding River, returned to their homes in 14 villages of Wuqing on Thursday. At present, the power, water, and gas supply have been restored in the villages, and the assessment and reconstruction of damaged facilities are underway in the local areas. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue)

Workers of State Grid Tianjin Electric Power Wuqing Company conduct equipment maintenance work in Shaoqidi Village of Huanghuadian Township, Wuqing District, north China's Tianjin, Aug. 17, 2023. A total of 15,011 people, the last batch of those who were previously relocated from areas prone to flooding by the Yongding River, returned to their homes in 14 villages of Wuqing on Thursday. At present, the power, water, and gas supply have been restored in the villages, and the assessment and reconstruction of damaged facilities are underway in the local areas. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue)

Villagers return home in Shaoqidi Village of Huanghuadian Township, Wuqing District, north China's Tianjin, Aug. 17, 2023. A total of 15,011 people, the last batch of those who were previously relocated from areas prone to flooding by the Yongding River, returned to their homes in 14 villages of Wuqing on Thursday. At present, the power, water, and gas supply have been restored in the villages, and the assessment and reconstruction of damaged facilities are underway in the local areas. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue)

A villager airs the bedding after returning home in Shaoqidi Village of Huanghuadian Township, Wuqing District, north China's Tianjin, Aug. 17, 2023. A total of 15,011 people, the last batch of those who were previously relocated from areas prone to flooding by the Yongding River, returned to their homes in 14 villages of Wuqing on Thursday. At present, the power, water, and gas supply have been restored in the villages, and the assessment and reconstruction of damaged facilities are underway in the local areas. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue)

Villagers return to Shaoqidi Village of Huanghuadian Township, Wuqing District, north China's Tianjin, Aug. 17, 2023. A total of 15,011 people, the last batch of those who were previously relocated from areas prone to flooding by the Yongding River, returned to their homes in 14 villages of Wuqing on Thursday. At present, the power, water, and gas supply have been restored in the villages, and the assessment and reconstruction of damaged facilities are underway in the local areas. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue)

A worker of a paper products company transfers materials and prepares for production in Shaoqidi Village of Huanghuadian Township, Wuqing District, north China's Tianjin, Aug. 17, 2023. A total of 15,011 people, the last batch of those who were previously relocated from areas prone to flooding by the Yongding River, returned to their homes in 14 villages of Wuqing on Thursday. At present, the power, water, and gas supply have been restored in the villages, and the assessment and reconstruction of damaged facilities are underway in the local areas. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue)

A worker carries out disinfection operations in Shaoqidi Village of Huanghuadian Township, Wuqing District, north China's Tianjin, Aug. 17, 2023. A total of 15,011 people, the last batch of those who were previously relocated from areas prone to flooding by the Yongding River, returned to their homes in 14 villages of Wuqing on Thursday. At present, the power, water, and gas supply have been restored in the villages, and the assessment and reconstruction of damaged facilities are underway in the local areas. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue)

Villagers return home in Shaoqidi Village of Huanghuadian Township, Wuqing District, north China's Tianjin, Aug. 17, 2023. A total of 15,011 people, the last batch of those who were previously relocated from areas prone to flooding by the Yongding River, returned to their homes in 14 villages of Wuqing on Thursday. At present, the power, water, and gas supply have been restored in the villages, and the assessment and reconstruction of damaged facilities are underway in the local areas. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Aubrey Otto of Mason City exhibited the 2023 Champion 4-H Market Broilers (chickens) at the Iowa State Fair this past week.

"I feel excited to win. I've never gone to state before. I get to be down at the fair for a whole week," said Otto. "It was a lot of hard work changing the bedding and keeping them cool in this heat. Luckily, we bought fans and did a really good job."

Otto is a member of the CC Riders 4-H Club in Cerro Gordo County. She has shown previously at the North Iowa Fair, but this was her first exhibition at the Iowa State Fair. Aubreys parents are Aimee and Michael Otto of Mason City.

Otto has enjoyed being a part of 4-H and invites other kids to give it a shot. "I don't think kids know they don't have to have a lot of animals or live on a farm. There's lots to do in 4-H. Anyone can do the projects and be a champion."

While spending time at the Iowa State Fair this week, Otto and her parents have had the chance to see the sights and even try some new foods. "I really liked the sweet corn ice cream," she said.

Aubrey will be heading to the prestigious Iowa State Fair Sale of Champions on Saturday, Aug. 19. If you would like to donate to support Aubrey in the sale, you can donate at https://ifaa.org/donate

During the sale, 16 4-H and FFA exhibitors sell their champion livestock to hometown and national supporters. The animals represent the Grand and Reserve Grand Champions in each of their respective species as selected during the fairs livestock show, said Sara DeBouer of the Iowa State University Extension office.

The Sale of Champions is managed by the Iowa Foundation for Agricultural Advancement (IFAA) and is hosted the last Saturday of the Iowa State Fair in the Cattle Barns Penningroth Media Center.
Republican presidential candidate and South Carolina U.S. Sen. Tim Scotts campaign is laying down $8 million in a TV, radio and digital ad buy in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Scotts second major ad buy includes a $6.6 million TV ad buy that will run through the end of November. The buy includes broadcast TV, cable and satellite.

In addition, Scotts campaign said it will launch six-figure radio and digital ad campaigns during that period.

The latest buy shows Scotts campaign is doubling down on an ad-heavy campaign strategy that senior campaign officials say it sees paying off ahead of the first GOP debate next week in Milwaukee, Wis.

As he prepares to take the debate stage, it is clear he not only is the best messenger and most consistent conservative in the race but also has the resources to win, a senior Scott campaign official told The Gazette.

The ad buy makes Scott the first 2024 contender to place ad reservations that extend past Labor Day. It also comes as Scott sees a slight polling increase in both Iowa and New Hampshire.

Scott enters the third quarter armed with $21 million cash-on-hand, the second most of any Republican candidate and more than Democratic incumbent President Joe Biden.

NIKKI HALEY-BACKED SUPER PAC DROPS NEW ADS IN IOWA, NEW HAMPSHIRE

A super PAC backing former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley's presidential campaign released two new ads Thursday in Iowa and New Hampshire highlighting Haleys stance on China, which she often cites on the campaign trail as Americas biggest adversary.

The ads are part of a $13 million ad buy in the two early states that will kick off the GOP nominating contests, according to the Haley-aligned Stand For America Fund.

The 30-second Iowa spot Spine includes a clip of Haley at a campaign event saying, We need to take China head-on and proposing banning China from purchasing any American soil whatsoever.

And we dont stop there. We take back the U.S. soil they have already purchased, Haley says in the ad.

Haley delivered a foreign policy speech in June at the conservative American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., on the future of U.S.-China policy amid a number of signs of growing aggression from the communist regime.

And the former South Carolina governor last month released the second phase of her plan to combat the threat from the Chinese Communist Party  including ending normal trade relations with China to stop the flow of illicit fentanyl into the U.S., which is manufactured in Mexico using Chinese precursors and smuggled across the border.

Haley has used the topic and her foreign policy experience as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under former President Donald Trump, currently seen as the front-runner in the race for the 2024 GOP nomination, as a defining aspect of her campaign.

She has criticized both Trump and President Joe Biden for being too lenient in their dealings with China, speaking often on the campaign trail of favoring a more direct, confrontational approach with China on a number of issues.

27 senators are up for reelectionwhich, if any, are 'progressive' relative to the political lean of their states? Intro #27. Pete Ricketts, Nebraska (R) #26. Deb Fischer, Nebraska (R) #25. Rick Scott, Florida (R) #24. Kevin Cramer, North Dakota (R) #23. Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee (R) #22. John Barrasso, Wyoming (R) #21. Roger Wicker, Mississippi (R) #20. Josh Hawley, Missouri (R) #19. Ted Cruz, Texas (R) #18. Mitt Romney, Utah (R) #17. Tom Carper, Delaware (D) #16. Joe Manchin, West Virginia (D) #15. Angus King, Maine (I) #14. Kyrsten Sinema, Arizona (I) #13. Tim Kaine, Virginia (D) #12. Maria Cantwell, Washington (D) #11. Jon Tester, Montana (D) #10. Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota (D) #9. Ben Cardin, Maryland (D) #8. Jacky Rosen, Nevada (D) #7. Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island (D) #6. Kirsten Gillibrand, New York (D) #5. Martin Heinrich, New Mexico (D) #4. Mazie Hirono, Hawaii (D) #3. Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts (D) #2. Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin (D) #1. Sherrod Brown, Ohio (D)
Activities

The Guilford Rotary Club welcomed Radu Rusu and his family to Greensboro from the Republic of Moldova during a recent meeting.

Radu received a Rotary research scholarship to complete a masters in nutrition at UNCG during this academic year. The funding for the scholarship was provided by the Guilford Rotary Club, Rotary District 7690 and The Rotary Foundation.

When Radu returns to Moldova, he will be teaching nutrition at the Nicolae Testemitanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Moldova.

Guilford Rotary focuses its service projects in three areas: Caring for the hungry, support for veterans and improving the health care system in the Republic of Moldova.

For information, contact Eugene Parker at genmarpaul@aol.com or 336-288-0159.

* * * *

When Bob Bursey, a U.S. Navy veteran who served during the Vietnam War, was discharged after 8 1/2 years service, he was given a membership in the American Legion. He was living in Pennsylvania and his original post was Aspinwall American Legion Post 77 in Pittsburgh and though he moved to other cities, he sent his dues in to the Aspinwall Post. His last move was the Friends Homes Guilford in Greensboro with his wife, Peggy, to be near family members.

The commander of Post 386, Arthur Marshall, received a letter from the Aspinwall Post Commander asking that Bob Bursey receive his certificate of 50 years continuous membership from the national commander with a photo of the presentation. By coincidence, one of the posts members, Anna Kalar, lived at Friends Home Guilford and knew the Burseys. He had been recovering from knee surgery and arrangements were made to have the presentation made at Friends Homes with family members and residents attending.

Arnold R. Thompson, CEO of Friends Homes, was involved in the presentation as well as Bobby Hill, Post 386s first vice commander who has been a member for 68 years. The presentation was on July 28.

Announcements

Henry K. Burtner American Legion Post 53 will be honoring local first responders and their youth program participant at their annual awards banquet set for 6:30 p.m. today, Aug. 18, at the post, 729 Creek Ridge Road in Greensboro.

This year they will honor recipients from the North Carolina Highway Patrol, Guilford County EMS, Guilford County Sheriffs Department (sworn and detention) and the Greensboro Fire and Police Departments. Additionally, they will honor their Tar Heel Boys State Citizen, Neal Roberts.

For information, visit www.legion.org or email ncalpost53@gmail.com.

* * * *

The Piedmont Bird Club has planned a field trip to the Guilford County Farm at 7315 Howerton Road in Elon.

The trip begins at 8 a.m. Participants may expect to see Eastern Meadowlarks, Blue Herons, hawks, vireos, swallows, as well as other early migrants.

An additional field trip is set for 8 a.m. Sept. 2 at the Audubon Natural Area, 111 Tankersley Drive in Greensboro.

The small park features various habitatsmeadows, mature woods and the riparian zone of the North Buffalo Creekallowing for a nice diversity of birds and wildlife.

Both trips are joint activities with the T. Gilbert Pearson Audubon Society.

For questions or to participate, contact piedmontbirdclub@gmail.com.

* * * *

Guilford County Top Ladies of Distinction, established in 1964 as a nonprofit service organization, has elected its 2023-2025 officers. The mission of the organization is to enhance and enrich the lives of youth and adults through national program and projects.

The following are newly elected organizations officers: Gloria Jackson, president; Vickie Hughes, first vice president; Cynthia Carlton Thompson, second vice president; Sharon Mitchell, recording secretary; Shawnda Coates, assistant recording secretary; Gwendolyn Parker, treasurer; Laknea Drumgoole, financial secretary; Malinda Carmon, top teens advisor, Sandra Neeley, assistant top teen advisory; Joretta Simmons, corresponding secretary; Veronica Thompson, historian; Faye McRaven, chaplain; Melanie Hampton, parliamentarian; Francese Caraway, sergeant-of-arms; Jacqueline Pettiford, director of operations; and A. Rawiya Nash, protocol.

* * * *

The women of The FORUM of Greensboro recognize the legacy that has been handed to them over the past 60 years. This year, the executive leadership will consist of Jeanne Blaisdell, president; Paige Butler, vice president/president elect; Julie Copeland, secretary; Kimberly Heckman, meeting arrangements; Kate Brower, treasurer; Nancy Doll and Katherine Davey, programs co-chairwomen; Daintry OBrien, historian; and Lori Wilson, community chairwoman.

The first meeting of this year will be a celebration of The FORUMs 60th anniversary honoring the legacy of so many Greensboro women. Greensboro community members past and present such as Ada Jane Sapp, Jessie Macon Edwards, Boots Hinkle, Peggy Clodfelter, Kitty Robison, Nancy Courts, Sally Milikin, AnneBarton Carter, Lori Wilson and Tamara Slaughter, to name only a few, have provided leadership and support in creating this legacy.

It began as an idea and conversation between three women, opened its first meeting in September of 1963 with 25 members and had enjoyed growth over the years to a current 50 members. The FORUM has been a lunch and learn venue for much more than discussion topics of local interest, arts, culture, education, health, historic preservation, etc.
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus lauded the government's Ayushman Bharat scheme as well as the country's medical system. Tedros, while delivering his keynote address on the first WHO Traditional Medicine Global Summit, here, also noted the seamless integration of traditional medicine into primary healthcare in rural areas. "Traditional medicine is as old as humanity itself. However, it is not a thing of the past. It has a growing relevance in communities and cultures even today," he said.Minister for Health and Family Welfare Mansukh Mandaviya, in his address, said: "India is well-positioned to become a knowledge hub and unlock the full potential of traditional medicine. The pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries are both showing significant interest in traditional medicine and more than 170 countries around the world are utilising it." The summit provides an ideal platform for international collaboration and the exchange of ideas to promote best practices in the sector, he said.Speaking on the occasion, Minister of AYUSH Sarbananda Sonowal said: "The outcome of the historic WHO Traditional Medicine Global Summit is to propose recommendations for a dedicated forum within future G20 presidencies." The two-day summit is being organised by the WHO and co-hosted by the Ayush Ministry.
Downtown Helena Inc.s operations director announced her resignation in an email to the organizations membership Thursday, citing understaffing, prohibitive city regulations and dismissive city staff.

Perhaps I was naive, but when I accepted this position, I did not know how much time and effort I would be required to spend on disputes and fraught negotiations with the City of Helena, Jordan Conley says in the letter. It never occurred to me that they would be anything but supportive of an organization dedicated to the vibrancy and vitality of downtown.

She said the organization will likely cancel 2024s Parade of Lights and that the upcoming season of Alive at Five will likely be the last as a result of the turmoil.

The letter states the Helena City Commissions recently approved changes to city code pertaining to events and permitting are opaque and becoming prohibitive.

Conley, who had been with Downtown Helena for nearly two years, also says city staff cannot provide a definitive answer to legitimate questions such as the walking malls designation as a park or city right-of-way.

I have been warned repeatedly that many of our events may not be allowed to continue, Conley writes. While none of these threats have yet come to fruition, it is nearly impossible to plan ahead with such uncertainty. How can I raise money for an event that may not be permitted to happen? How can I budget with ever-shifting fees and requirements?

City Attorney Rebecca Dockter proposed that rather extensive rewrite to city code during an April 5 meeting.

In addition to increasing fees, the code also requires a broader swath of local events and businesses, such as tour groups, parades and street vendors, to obtain a city permit to operate. Liability insurance is also required of permit applicants.

The code revisions also spell out specific lengths for city staff review periods that if exceeded result in more fees for the applicant.

Helena Mayor Wilmot Collins said in an interview Friday that the city commission has and continues to support DHI and the citys urban core.

I dont know what to say about the letter, Collins said. They serve a vital role. But we need to know what we can do to better help them.

Collins said the assertion that city staff have threatened to not approve future events is not true.

We enjoy Alive at Five, he said. If we have any say in this, it will continue.

City Manager Tim Burton said in an emailed statement Friday the City considers DHI an important, strategic partner. We will continue working closely with the board and their staff, as we have for many years. We wish Jordan the best in her future endeavors.

Collins said the revisions to the citys event permitting codes was part of an ongoing effort to update everything within the city.

We were not targeting anyone with those code revisions, he said. We are looking at the entire organization.

DHI board member Megan Helton said in an interview Friday that at the boards last meeting, the decision was made to pare down the executive directors role to a part-time position, hire a second part-time employee to manage the event planning, and scale Alive at Five down from 12 weekly concerts downtown to six.

We are very unsure what the future holds, Helton said.

She said while Alive at Five was always an expensive event to run, the citys permit fee increases are felt by the organization.

From my perspective, none of us on the board want to see DHI not hold these events, we just cant, she said.

By her estimation, the communication between city leadership and the organization has long deteriorated.

She said one of her frustrations as a board member is the lack of attendance by city leadership at their monthly meetings.

There is a slot for them on every agenda, and they never show up, she said. Its pretty disappointing each month.

Conley states in the letter she organized 22 Alive at Five concerts, two Septemberfests, five Art Walks, and nearly a dozen other events.

Our membership has grown to 164 members (higher than in recent memory), and in 2023 we brought in over $40k in sponsorships, the letter states. The monthly General Membership Meetings are well-attended and productive. I have dedicated considerable effort not only to increasing and expanding the membership base, but to ramping up DHIs social media presence and marketing efforts.

According to its website, Downtown Helena is a nonprofit business membership organization established in 1964 that works to ensure that local businesses in the Downtown Helena community thrive and have their voices heard.

Aug. 25 will be Conleys last day.

Helton called Conleys departure a huge loss for us.

It was nice to have someone who was such an advocate for business and business growth, but also someone who recognized the importance of community, she said.
The owner of the Iron Front Hotel in downtown Helena said Thursday that the residential units on the historic buildings second and third floors would remain uninhabitable for at least six to nine months following the fire that broke out late Monday.

The nearly 30 tenants of the units, some of whom have been staying at temporary shelters set up by the local Red Cross and Helena First Church, now face the daunting task of finding new places to live in a town already supremely short on housing.

The outlook isnt very positive, said United Way of the Lewis and Clark Area Executive Director Emily McVey, representing the Tri-County Community Organizations Active in Disasters (COAD) unit.

The owner of the building, BG Stumberg, said in an interview Thursday the damage from the electrical fire that started about 9:50 p.m. Monday was extensive.

The fire damage and smoke damage was extensive enough that it will take six to nine months to get the apartments back to habitable, he said.

He said he is still unsure of the total estimate of damages as the initial insurance adjuster determined the damage exceeded his rank, and a higher ranking adjuster will need to be brought in to make the assessment.

That means its likely in the millions, Stumberg said.

McVey said the COAD Thursday morning dispatched case workers to help those displaced by the fire register for housing assistance programs.

She said typically Red Cross shelters are intended to be temporary and come with 72-hour limits.

Theyre already exceeding their standard time, she said.

The Red Cross intends to close the shelter Monday, she said.

Helena Area Community Foundation established an emergency relief fund (https://bit.ly/3qzkciw) for those affected by the fire, and McVey said its seen more than $1,000 in contributions as of Thursday morning.

Helena as usual is very supportive, she said. Were trying to get people on one path, coordinate their efforts.

Red Cross also is providing financial assistance to help these clients with their long-term recovery. To receive this assistance, clients should stop by the shelter, 2210 Dodge Ave., and meet with Red Cross volunteers.

McVey said while financial donations are needed most, those displaced could use small personal items, particularly socks. She also said some volunteers have stepped up to help transport some of the residents to work, and gas cards would also be welcomed.

The Tri-County COAD is coordinating donations of other items, and information about what is needed and where to donate will be shared when that information is available. Thank you for your support of our community members!, HACFs webpage states.

Additionally, the rental units lost were among the least expensive in the area.

We have a significant increase in our unsheltered population as is, and we just lost a good chunk of the low-income housing in Helena, McVey said.

She said United Way is aware of quite a few vacant rental units in Helena that are kept vacant because owners are tired of administering a rental property.

Open up your hearts a bit and open up your doors, she said as a plea to the community. Were just really asking for people to get creative.

American Red Cross Regional Communications Director Matt Ochsner said in an email Thursday that Montana Red Cross continues to provide assistance to those displaced by the Iron Front building fire. Red Cross has a shelter open at Helena First Church, 2210 Dodge Ave., where we are providing those impacted with a safe place to stay, warm meals and access to community resources and information. All Red Cross services are free.

Red Cross also is providing financial assistance to help these clients with their long-term recovery. To receive this assistance, clients are encouraged to stop by the shelter, 2210 Dodge Ave., and meet with Red Cross volunteers.

Stumberg said the commercial units on the buildings ground floor fared somewhat better.

As for The Windsor at Iron Front and The General Mercantile, he said I think well be able to get them back online pretty quickly and that the Merc might reopen as early as Monday.

The commercial unit home to Jmacs Pottery will require a bit more repair work, according to Stumberg, who said the tentative plan is to relocate Jmacs Pottery to a currently vacant unit on the north end of the buildings ground floor that was unscathed for the holiday shopping season.

I hope to keep them as tenants, Stumberg said of the businesses. Theyre (The Merc and Jmacs) both icons to Helena.

Stumberg said the commercial units were put on separate, upgraded electric systems with standalone meters before he took over as owner and as such do not require the same electrical upgrades the rest of the building does.

Owner of The Merc Lindsey Barnes said in an interview Thursday they would reopen Monday and she and her partner and co-owner are paying employees lost wages out of pocket. They are asking for the communitys help to cover the eight employees lost tips.

They have set up a GoFundMe account ({a class=c-link href=https://gofund.me/60258092 rel=noopener noreferrer target=_blank data-stringify-link=https://gofund.me/60258092 data-sk=tooltip_parent}https://gofund.me/60258092) for the donations and said any money raised over the estimated lost tips will go toward the displaced residents of the Iron Front.

People know The Merc, but they dont know who Grant is. They dont know who Barta is, Barnes said, naming two of the displaced residents. These are people we say good morning to every day. They walk with us as we take out the trash. These residents make up a big part of the feel of the 400 block. And its sad they wont get to come back.
A Montana roofing contractor sentenced for fraud in two counties is now facing accusations of cheating a customer in Billings.

William Lee Dunmire, 51, has been charged in Yellowstone County District Court with theft by deception, a felony, and a misdemeanor charge of deceptive business practices.

Dunmire allegedly bilked a woman in Billings out of thousands of dollars by taking money for roofing work and failing to deliver. He was previously sentenced for similar crimes in Silver Bow and Lewis and Clark counties.

In October 2019, court documents said, investigators with the Billings Police Department responded to a fraud report from a Billings resident. The resident had allegedly entered into an agreement for Dunmire to complete her roof in late August. Dunmire, whose company Peak Roofing was based out of Clancy, told the customer he could measure the roof from his home through GPS, according to charging documents. He allegedly accepted $4,000 as a down payment from the customer via electronic transfer.

Several weeks passed without Dunmire coming to Billings as promised, court documents said. When the customer demanded all of her money back, according to text exchanges between the two, Dunmire allegedly made several excuses as to why the refund was delayed. He first told her he could not give the money back until the cost of his materials were credited by his supplier, charging documents said, then later said the refund had to be approved by a corporate office in Wisconsin.

While speaking with BPD, the customer provided the officer with reporting from the Montana Standard regarding other charges of fraud hes faced.

In June 2023, Silver Bow County District Court Judge District Judge Kurt Krueger ordered Dunmire to prison time after revoking his suspended sentence, the Montana Standard reported. Dunmire took tens of thousands of dollars from Butte customers under the guise that he would repair roofs, only never to commit to those repairs and mislead those customers about the amount and types of materials he purchased.

He was sentenced to 15 years in Silver Bow County District Court, all of which were initially suspended, for theft by deception and forgery. Judge Krueger revoked that suspended sentence when Dunmire failed to make restitution payments to those he scammed. At the time of his revocation, he still owed nearly $67,000 to his victims.

In Lewis and Clark County, per the Montana Standard, Dunmire also received a suspended sentence for deceptive practices, theft by deception and forgery.

Cases of fraud in Montana rose steadily from 2017 to 2021, according to data from the Montana Board of Crime Control, going from around 2,200 to nearly 2,500.

Yellowstone County prosecutors filed criminal charges against Dunmire in January 2021. He is currently scheduled to appear for trial in September. If convicted of theft by deception, he could be sentenced up to an additional three years in prison.
While many of the states top Republican officials have backed Tim Sheehy as the partys candidate to face Democratic Sen. Jon Tester in next years Senate race, a group of 37 Montana legislators is asking Rep. Matt Rosendale to run.

Sheehy is a newcomer to the political scene, the CEO of Bridger Aerospace and a former U.S. Navy SEAL. Rosendale is a second-term congressman who was state Auditor before that and previously ran for the Senate against Tester six years ago.

Sheehy was picked by Montanas junior Sen. Steve Daines, in his role as head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Daines has released statements saying he wants to see Rosendale develop seniority in the House instead of running for Senate again. Other prominent Republicans such as Rep. Ryan Zinke and Gov. Greg Gianforte also support Sheehy.

The cohort of state lawmakers backing Rosendale includes the top Republicans in the state House and Senate and represents nearly 40% of the Legislatures GOP caucus, many from the party's right wing. Signers include Speaker of the House Matt Regier and Senate President Jason Ellsworth. Rosendale has indicated interest in the seat but has not yet declared if hell aim for a rematch with Tester.

Six years ago Rosendale emerged from a crowded GOP primary  something the party hopes to avoid this year  and later lost to Tester, 50.3% to 46.8%.

As a group of committed conservative leaders and citizen legislators representing Montana, we are committed to our principles and the individuals who elected us. We are uniting our voices to encourage Matt Rosendale to enter the Montana Senate race, the letter reads.

The letter said the group wants a "courageous figure" in D.C. "unafraid to defy the Mitch McConnell establishment." It praises Rosendale's votes against Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House earlier this year and calls Rosendale "the best candidate to face Jon Tester."

Let's rally behind him, the letter reads.

Spokespeople for Rosendale and Daines did not immediately return requests for comment for this story, but Rosendale tweeted yesterday I am honored and humbled to receive this statement of support and encouragement from leaders across our state. It is evident that Montanans will not have their next senator chosen by Mitch McConnell and the D.C. cartel.

He followed that up by tweeting Right now, my priority is to serve the people of Montana in the U.S. House, but I will continue to carefully consider this with my family and prayer to ultimately make a decision based on what is in the best interest of Montana.

Tester has been targeted by Republicans trying to regain the majority in the U.S. Senate. The Democrat was first elected in 2006 over former Sen. Conrad Burns by a margin of just over 3,500 votes. He won re-election in 2012 with 48% of the vote and again over Rosendale in 2018 with his largest margin of victory. Over the last few election cycles Montana has become increasingly red, with Republicans sweeping all elected statewide offices, save Testers job, in 2020 and taking a supermajority of the Legislature in 2023 for the first time in the modern configuration of the chambers.

Rosendale has carved out a place in the far-right wing of the Republican Party nationally, culminating with his votes against McCarthy in January. During hours of debate, Rosendale was photographed denying a phone call from former President Donald Trump, attempted to be passed along from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-GA. Rosendale later said he felt it was inappropriate to speak on the phone from the House floor during the votes.

This cycle, though Rosendale was enthusiastically endorsed by Trump in 2018 and the state played host to four massive rallies with the then-president as part of attempting to unseat Tester six years ago, this go-around Trump has not backed the congressman. CNN has reported Trump said he will not support Rosendale for Senate.

The Hill also reported in July that Club for Growth, which has supported Rosendale's past bids, told reporters that it has not decided between Sheehy or Rosendale for next year's Senate contest.

Several Republicans in the state, including termed-out Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen and state Auditor Troy Downing, have indicated they have interest in Rosendale's House seat if he runs for the Senate, as has state Sen. Kenneth Bogner, who signed onto the letter.
DECATUR  A Decatur river boatman accused of voter fraud will now emerge with a clean record if he keeps sailing the straight and narrow.

David E. Badon, 48, had been facing two charges that alleged he voted twice in the Illinois primary election of 2022. He denied both counts and the case had been set for a jury trial in June.

But that was scrubbed and Macon County States Attorney Scott Rueter, speaking Wednesday, said Badon is now part of the offices diversion program, which takes the case out of the court system.

Macon County Circuit Court Judge James Coryell had agreed to dismiss the formal charges against Badon at a hearing July 27. Both counts were dismissed without prejudice, which means they could be refiled, but as long as Badon stays out of trouble, he will emerge without a criminal record.

He enters a contract to do certain things to correct his behavior, said Rueter. Basically, the contract is that he does not get involved in any other criminal activity for six months and there is a fee he has to pay as well.

Rueter said sometimes community service is part of the diversion contract but, given Badon is gainfully employed working on a river boat, imposing such service wasnt seen as necessary.

Badon had been arrested and charged in November by Macon County Sheriffs Office deputies after voting early on May 20, 2022, at the Macon County Clerks Office in downtown Decatur. Police said he had then filed an application to vote at the polling place at Millikin University and cast his second, illegal, ballot on June 28.

Rueter said Badon, who works shift cycles of 28 days on and then 14 off, had said the double vote was an honest lapse.

He claimed that it was a simple mistake, forgetfulness; he works on the river and he didnt realize when he got back from working that he had already voted in the same election," Rueter added.

Of course, we take that with a grain of salt, but given he has no prior criminal history, what we worked out was that he enter our diversion program. We felt that in this particular case and under the circumstances of it, that was an appropriate resolution.

2023 mugshots from the Herald & Review Lourash Hirstein Phillip Gehrken Joseph A. Williams Jetrevius O. Jarrett Edwards King-Woods Wilson Derrickson Colby J. Park
Communities across Illinois that lack access to nearby stores that sell high quality food may soon see that change.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Friday signed a bill that sets up a program to distribute $20 million for grants and technical assistance for grocery stores as well as funding research into food insecurity.

The grants will go to grocery stores that are independently owned, including for-profit and nonprofit organizations, co-ops and grocery stores owned by units of local government.

The program's proponents say supporting grocers with state funds will be a boon for residents and struggling local economies.

"When our residents struggle to keep a roof over their head, can't put food on the table, or have to choose between paying for basic medical care and keeping the lights on  that's a failure of the system, Pritzker said in a Friday news release.

According to 2021 data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, at least 3 million Illinois residents live in food deserts as defined in the new law, although the states Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity can designate additional areas as food deserts.

Data collected this spring by the U.S. Census Bureau also revealed that food insecurity affects multiracial, Hispanic and Black households at higher rates than white households.

Officials declined to announce a specific timeline for when the grants will become available but said that updates would be published on the DCEO website when about the grant application process is finalized.

Were moving as fast as we can because we know theres a need across the state, Pritzker said at a Friday news conference.

One of the bills chief sponsors, freshman state Rep. Mary Beth Canty, D-Arlington Heights, said in an interview with Capitol News Illinois that she also views the bill as a step toward reducing violence.

When theres a lack of investment in communities, thats when you start to see incidents of violence rise, Canty said.

She also noted that she hopes to revisit food availability through further legislation or other state programs.

Some of the things weve talked about are looking at this from a public health perspective, Canty said. On the business side of things, were looking at our licensing structures.

While the Grocery Initiative originated among Democrats, it passed the Senate unanimously in May, something Pritzker credited to Sen. Dale Fowler, R-Harrisburg. Fowler noted that areas of his rural district struggle with food access.

An entire county in the 59th district that I represent does not have one single grocery store, Fowler said on Friday.

In the House, however, there was more conservative opposition leading to a 96-17 vote, splitting the Republican party.

Among the dissenters was Rep. Martin McLaughlin, R-Barrington Hills, who took a hardline stance against the bill, saying the proposal was a horrendous idea during floor debate on the bill in May and likening government support for grocery stores to socialist countries like Venezuela and Cuba.
A scathing report from the Illinois Auditor General shows $5.24 billion was stolen through overpayments of unemployment during fiscal years 2020-2022. Many of us were shocked by that number as it was 2.5 times greater than previous estimates.

These overpayments arent just about paying people more than they were entitled to receive, most of what they classify as overpayments were payouts to criminals who werent entitled to any unemployment compensation, including $46 million worth of payments to incarcerated criminals and deceased people. Governor Pritzker so far has held no one in his administration responsible for allowing such a massive amount of fraud to take place.

The Auditor General report makes it clear that the Illinois Department of Employment Security was negligent and incompetent in performing its duties. The report states, IDES did not comply with all state and federal statutory and administrative requirements for processing and auditing claims... IDES did not implement one of the tools strongly recommended in May 2020 by the U.S. Department of Labor, until September 2021 IDES chose to not utilize the Integrity Data Hub tools because other IT-related projects were deemed to be of greater urgency during the pandemic.

The fraud went on for three years even as reports of stolen personal information related to fraudulent unemployment claims were reported on by the media and directly to IDES by legislators and individuals as early as June 2020. Outside contractors hired to help IDES process claims raked in over $226 million and still the fraud occurred, in part because rules set up to prevent fraud werent followed. Waiving or ignoring rules, even under pandemic conditions, seems criminal at this point and more questions need to be asked of the administration.

To make matters worse, the amount of fraud was all money Illinois borrowed from the federal government and had to pay back with interest. Just a few months ago, final payments on that debt were made with taxpayers covering the remaining $1.3 billion out of the $4.5 billion that was borrowed in total. As part of the deal, employers will be taxed more for years to replenish the fund.

The Pritzker administration excuses the fraud away as something that happened in every state under pandemic conditions. This sentiment ignores that fraud could have been limited simply by opening businesses earlier as other states did and refusing to give out enhanced benefits from the federal government which incentivized people to stay on unemployment longer and contributed to higher fraud amounts.

In a state with world-class universities and many successful businesses including those in the financial and banking sector, our state has the talent and know-how to put in programs that can successfully service people who need to access benefits quickly and also guard against fraud.

Taxpayers should expect the Pritzker administration to prosecute every instance of fraud, claw back all overpayments, audit the contractors to see if they performed all duties in accordance with their contract, and fire the leadership at IDES that failed to follow the rules.

But Governor Pritzker has no plans to do any of the above. He signed legislation letting certain people who received overpayments to keep the money, he gave the IDES director during the pandemic a new job as the head of the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, and he has not had any comprehensive hearings to find out how to stop the fraud in the future.

During the pandemic most of the people in my district from all different professions kept working and paying taxes. Farmers, nurses, prison guards, educators, truck drivers and many others. They may have modified the way they worked, but they stayed at their jobs. Others, mostly retail and restaurant workers, were sent home and told to collect unemployment. Those forced out of their jobs by the government fully deserved their benefits and they deserved their claims to be processed in a reasonable time. Governor Pritzker shrugging off billions of tax money wasted and stolen shows insensitivity to working class people who play by the rules.
LEBANON, Va.  A loan of up to $300,000 to the Wise County Industrial Development Authority aimed to finance site development topped Thursdays agenda of the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority in Lebanon, Va.

The loan to the Wise County IDA will be used to assist with the Phase 2 development of the IDAs Elam Farm property which is adjacent to the Lonesome Pine Regional Business and Technology Park, according to a written statement.

In 2013, VCEDA previously assisted with an up to $834,250 loan to the IDA to help acquire the Elam property for future economic development. The VCEDA boards action on Thursday also saw the maturity date on the original loan extended for 10 years, to July 23, 2033.

The board also adopted a resolution honoring Jay Rife for his dedication to economic development in Buchanan County and the coalfield region, his service as a member and past chairman of the VCEDA Board and his current service as the first and only chairman to date of the Virginia Coalfields Expressway Authority board.

In addition to his service to VCEDA, Rife, a U.S. Army veteran and Buchanan County businessman, has devoted his life to public service in Buchanan County, including as chairman of the Buchanan County IDA, according to the statement.

He has also served in many other civic positions including as Buchanan County Commissioner of Revenue, Buchanan County Circuit Court Clerk, Breaks Regional Airport Authority board member and Buchanan County Chamber of Commerce board member and past president. He was inducted into the Buchanan County Hall of Fame in 2022.

In other business, members of the VCEDA board learned much of the activity since the boards last meeting has focused on marketing outreach events, closing of loans and grants approved at the June meeting, follow-up on some larger pending projects and assisting the Virginia Coalfields Expressway Authority.

Staff are currently working around 27 active projects, with the highest levels currently in the manufacturing sector, VCEDA Executive Director/General Counsel Jonathan Belcher told board members.

Additional actions taken Thursday, saw the board approve to continue with the same industry criteria for the VCEDA Seed Capital Matching Fund as in FY23 (information technology, manufacturing, energy and creative tourism).

They also approved a request from the Scott County Economic Development Authority (EDA) to extend the grant disbursement deadline by and between VCEDA and the EDA, concerning the Tempur Sealy expansion, to June 17, 2024.

The board further approved a request from the Dickenson County Industrial Development Authority to extend the grant disbursement deadline on an up to $1.2 million grant from VCEDA concerning Red Onion site development and infrastructure to Sept. 23, 2025.
Photo: The Canadian Press

A neonatal nurse in a British hospital was found guilty Friday of killing seven babies and trying to kill six others

Lucy Letby, 33, was charged with murder in the deaths of five baby boys and two girls, and the attempted murder of five boys and five girls, when she worked at the Countess of Chester Hospital in northwest England between 2015 and 2016.

She was accused of deliberately harming the newborn infants in various ways, including by injecting air into their bloodstreams and administering air or milk into their stomachs via nasogastric tubes.

She was also accused of poisoning infants by adding insulin to intravenous feeds and interfering with breathing tubes.

Letby denied all the charges.

A jury of seven women and four men deliberated for 22 days before reaching the verdict. One juror was excused well into deliberations for personal reasons and the judge later gave the remaining 11 jurors the option of reaching a verdict with 10 people in agreement instead of a unanimous decision.

Letby was found not guilty on one charge of attempted murder and the jury could not reach a verdict on several others.

During the lengthy trial, which began last October, prosecutors said the hospital in 2015 experienced a significant rise in the number of babies who were dying or suffering from sudden deteriorations in their health for no apparent reason. Some suffered serious catastrophic collapses but survived after help from medical staff.

They alleged that Letby was on duty in all the cases and described her as a constant malevolent presence in the neonatal unit when the children collapsed or died. They said the nurse harmed the babies in ways that did not leave much of a trace, and that she persuaded her colleagues that the collapses and deaths were normal.

The first baby allegedly targeted by Letby was a boy born prematurely who died when he was a day old, in June 2015. Prosecutors alleged the nurse injected air into his bloodstream.

Police launched an investigation into the baby deaths at the hospital in May 2017. Letby was arrested three times in connection with the deaths before she was charged in November 2020.

Prosecutors said a Post-It note found at Letbys home after she was arrested in 2018 on which she wrote I am evil, I did this was literally a confession.

Her defense lawyer argued she was a hard-working, dedicated and caring nurse who loved her job and that there was not enough evidence of her carrying out any of the alleged harmful acts.

The lawyer said the infants sudden collapses and deaths could have been due to natural causes, or in combination with other factors such as staffing shortages at the hospital or failure by others to provide appropriate care.

He also claimed that four senior doctors pinned blame on Letby to cover up failings in the neonatal unit.

Letby testified for 14 days, denying all accusations she intentionally harmed any baby.

I only ever did my best to care for them, she testified. I am there to care not to harm.

She sobbed at times and defended the collection of medical records she kept at home on some of the babies in her care.

I dont deserve to live, she wrote on a green Post-it note shown in court. I killed them on purpose because Im not good enough to care for them.

I am a horrible evil person, she wrote. I AM EVIL I DID THIS.

Her lawyer defended the notes as the anguished writings of a woman who had lost confidence in herself and blamed herself for what had happened in the ward.

One note says not good enough, defense lawyer Ben Myers said. Who did she write that for? She didnt write that for us, the police or these proceedings. That is a note to herself. Writing for herself.
The Long View Police Department is asking for the publics assistance in locating a woman wanted for felony child abuse.

Milisa Loraine Robinson, 30, is charged with felony child abuse, the Long View Police Department said in a news release.

The charge is linked to a juvenile that was found unresponsive in an apartment at Hilltop Apartments located on 18th Street Place NW. The juvenile was found after the Catawba County Communications Center received a call about a child experiencing respiratory difficulties on July 18, Long View police said.

The Catawba County EMS and Long View Fire Department responded to the scene. Responders administered lifesaving first aid, the release said. The juvenile was transported via ambulance to a local hospital before being flown by helicopter to a different medical center, Long View police said.

Long View police was later called to the scene due to suspicious circumstances, Long View police said.

Two other children in Robinsons care were placed in the custody of Catawba County Child Protective Services, Long View police said.

Anyone with information concerning Robinsons whereabouts is asked to contact the Long View Police Department at (828) 327-2343.

Robinson is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Ongoing conversation about book challenges in the Catawba County Schools district has raised several questions: How are books brought into school libraries? What standards are books judged by? Do media coordinators read every book?

Director of Digital and Media Literacy Amanda Moose answered these questions and more.

How are books chosen?

The biggest thing is to choose (materials) unbiased, Moose said.

Media coordinators must have a masters degree in library science, Moose said. She said the coursework emphasizes removing bias.

We all come into life with our own personal biases, Moose said. Its human nature. But to remove that and be able to supply your school with (various) viewpoints so our students become critical thinkers and can form their own opinions and learn to be lifelong learners themselves is a huge part of our job.

Another important component when choosing new material is knowing the clientele, Moose said. One way media coordinators get to know students is through teaching, she said. Director of Marketing and Communication Kim Jordan added that media coordinators also get to know students and parents through book fairs, parent nights and more.

With their schools demographics in mind, media coordinators put together book orders. Books are chosen from lists received from reputable organizations such as the American Library Association, Perma-Bound Books, Bound to Stay Bound Books and more, Moose said.

Media coordinators read both good and bad reviews from these organizations and make decisions based on these reviews, Moose said.

Do media coordinators read every book?

Impossible task, Moose said. (Media coordinators) are not just sitting there reading books all day, so its an impossible task with the amount of hours it would take to read every book we put in cover-to-cover.

Moose said there would be few additions to media centers if reading each book individually was the process.

Which is why we rely on those trusted, national resources and reviewing agencies to give us that picture of the book, Moose said.

An average of 408 books was added to each high school in the district between Jan. 1, 2022, and Dec. 31, 2022, according to a PowerPoint presentation given by former Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction DeAnna Finger in February. The PowerPoint was presented to the board of education during a meeting outlining the districts media procedures.

What do media coordinators do?

How much time do you have? Moose asked with a laugh, and began naming tasks.

Media coordinators are in charge of a budget, they make all book selections for their school, process all materials that come in, repair technology when it goes haywire, teach, and collaborate with other teachers in grades pre-K through 12, Moose said.

That was only half of the list. Skipping to the end, Moose said media coordinators also handle their schools STEM programs and are often in charge of their schools webpages and social media.

Marketing and Communication Director Jordan is the former principal of Startown Elementary School and said she often looked to the media coordinator for help.

(Media coordinator) is a unique position, because you are right-hand to the administration, but youre also there for the teachers and the students. So, you truly are involved in everything that goes on in that school, Jordan said.

Why must media coordinators have a masters degree in library science?

The coursework teaches aspiring media coordinators how to find literature that best fits their schools needs, how to identify quality literature and how to make selections without bias, Moose said. She said many classes focus on how to build a collection that will support every type of learner.

It takes a commitment, Moose said. (It takes) somebody who truly has a passion for literature and serving the students as a media coordinator. We dont just work with a classroom of 30 (students), we work with the entire school.
Lenoir-Rhyne University welcomed new and returning students to the Hickory campus with open arms on Friday as students and parents poured in, hauling everything from mini-fridges to fluffy pillows. The university had at least a dozen resident assistants and other staff to help students and their guardians settle in.

Grandparents Mike and Rosemary Brechko helped granddaughter, Elena Brechko, move into her dorm. The couple drove down from New York in their camper to visit family in Advance, near Winston-Salem. When they realized the timing of their arrival overlapped with move-in day, they came out to help.

Mike said he got a good vibe from LR, and Rosemary said it feels like a homey place. Rosemary also observed a diverse student body. The grandparents said they are excited for Elena, who plans to double-major in psychology and criminal justice

Seventeen-year-old Judah Oquendo is an incoming freshman from Harrisburg.

What really attracted me was a small school vibe in a cool city like Hickory, Oquendo said. Oquendo also runs track, which was another factor that drew him to LR.

Oquendo intends to major in marketing, sales or other fields of communication. His father, Carlos Oquendo, said Judah will be a first-generation college student. Carlos said he is excited for Judah and is glad he has this opportunity.

There are about 500 new undergraduates at the university this year, said Senior Creative Writer Amanda Smith. Of those, 400 are first-year college students and 100 are transfer students. There are also over 300 graduate students starting this semester.

Classes begin today, Aug. 21.

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HICKORY  Hickory Public Schools Superintendent Jennifer Griffin announced Jennifer Greene's appointment as principal of Grandview Middle School. The school board confirmed the position at a recent board of education meeting.

Greene returns to Hickory Public Schools after serving as the assistant principal of Newton-Conover Middle School. She has served 19 years in education, five spent in Hickory Public Schools as a seventh-grade teacher and teacher leadership specialist at Southwest Elementary and Grandview Middle.

Greene received her bachelor's degree in middle grades education from North Carolina State University and her master's in educational leadership from Gardner-Webb University. She was named a North Carolina Teaching Fellow and a National Board Certified Teacher.

Griffin states, Mrs. Greenes instructional leadership for the Grandview School community will ensure our students have a great experience. We are excited to welcome Mrs. Greene back to Hickory Public Schools and look forward to the great things she will do at Grandview Middle.

Mrs. Green is excited to return home to Hickory, where she lives with her husband and two children.

Her annual salary is $88,670.
Many Newton residents have attended the annual Soldiers Reunion since childhood and now bring their children and grandchildren for Reunion Day festivities ending in a parade that loops through the citys downtown.

The Soldiers Reunion celebrated 134 years of honoring U.S. military veterans on Thursday. Keynote speaker Col. Joseph Crosswhite said, to his knowledge, the Soliders Reunion is the longest-running event of its kind. Crosswhite added that while he spoke with attendees, some said they had never missed the event, even during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

By 4 p.m., there were already chairs lining the streets, waiting for the parade at 6:30. When the parade started, there were two and three rows of chairs on the sidewalks.

Robert Paysour, a 77-year-old Vietnam veteran, said he has been coming to the event since he was a child. Paysour views it as one way the community can honor veterans.

Its sort of like a family reunion, said longtime attendee Pearl Lowman. You see people you dont see but once a year.  I just dont run in the same circles anymore. (I) grew up doing this as a child, so its like a yearly rite of passage.

Lowman was accompanied by mother and daughter Barbara Hefner and Laura Hefner. Laura said she enjoys seeing how much the event grows each year.

Lowman said she appreciates that the parade was moved to 6:30 this year. Because its always been at 5 (oclock), and you had to really hustle to get off work, get home, kids, and everything to get everybody (here).

I was surprised they started it so late, because we used to get out of school for this, said Revonda Carter as she waited for the parade. That was one thing that started us coming, was we got out of school early. So, we would come hang out here.

Carter said she was not disappointed and was all smiles as she waited for the parade with her friend Mary Forney.

I actually live in Statesville now, Carter said. I havent been up here in a while. This is my first parade since I graduated (in 1993).

Forney had not been to the Soldiers Reunion in a while, she said. This year, I was like, I want to go out and see what I missed, Forney said.

Carter and Forney said the event looks bigger than the last time they saw it. Carter thinks it will get bigger and better with the later start time for the parade.

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GREENSBORO  A bill ratified Thursday removes Bill Goebel as a member of the Guilford County Board of Education.

While it does not mention Goebel by name, the new North Carolina law says the term of office will expire for anyone appointed by the Guilford school board to fill a vacancy between Dec. 1, 2022 and the date the act becomes law.

Theres only one person who falls into that timeframe: Goebel.

The local bill, passed by the NC Legislature Wednesday, did not need to be signed by Gov. Roy Cooper and so became law immediately.

A message left for Goebel was not immediately returned.

Its the latest ripple in a war over the District 3 school board seat thats been going on for more than six months.

State Rep. Jon Hardister of Whitsett said in June that he asked that the language on the school board be added to the omnibus bill, which also includes some unrelated provisions relevant to counties and municipalities.

What this is intended to do is get back to square one, the Republican lawmaker explained. Bill Goebel is a friend and I dont have a problem with him personally.

Goebel, he added, was put in a bad situation, though he could have handled it better in hindsight.

In an email to the News & Record in June, Goebel, a Republican, wrote that the bill is very disappointing to me and the Guilford County school system because it takes away focus from the work to improve schools.

In December 2022, in accordance with state law, the Guilford County GOP executive committee members who live in the affected district, in this case District 3, were charged with choosing a successor to Pat Tillman. They picked Michael Logan, a longtime educator.

However, the school boards Democratic members repeatedly voted to reject Logan. Democrats pointed to social media posts from Logan that they felt displayed bigotry and racial prejudice. The county GOP stuck with Logan, arguing that its the boards duty to appoint him under state law.

Hardister then introduced legislation in the state House that he hoped would ensure that Logan could be seated and the impasse broken.

Instead, at a meeting in April, school board attorney Jill Wilson revealed an interpretation of the new law that few saw coming: The GOPs nomination was no longer valid, because while the old law stated that just the executive committee members from District 3 could vote on the nominee, the new law removed that provision.

Wilson told the board that, without a valid nominee, they were free to choose Tillmans successor.

That lead to the boards Democrats voting Goebel into office, prompting a lawsuit from Logan.

Under the new law, the county executive committee of the party that most recently had a person elected to a seat gets to fill a vacancy.

Basically, Hardister said in June, the countys GOP executive committee can have another crack at making a selection. This time, however, the bill states the GOP executive committee does not have to restrict voting to District 3 members, and the party gets 60 days to come up with a name.

Whether the GOP executive committee picks Logan, Goebel or someone else, the law states the nominee shall take the oath of office at the next regular school board meeting after their name is submitted to the superintendent.

Hardister said the legislature removing local elected officials from office is rare, but not without precedent.

This is not an action that should happen often, Hardister said. Its not something I take lightly.

He referred to something written by Robert Joyce, a professor at the School of Government at UNC-Chapel Hill. According to Joyce, in 1925 the N.C. Supreme Court upheld the authority of the General Assembly to terminate the terms of all Hyde County commissioners and replace them with a new board, with the court noting that counties are subject to the unlimited control of the state legislature.
A bipartisan state House bill that aims to prohibit the use of predatory real estate service agreements was fast-tracked through the legislature on Wednesday.

House Bill 422  the Unfair Real Estate Agreements Act  was shelved for more than two months before resurfacing Tuesday in the gatekeeper Senate Rules and Operations committee.

After clearing the committee Wednesday morning, the Senate passed HB 422 by a 45-0 vote and the House by a 117-0 vote.

The bill has been sent to Gov. Roy Cooper, who has 10 days to sign it, veto it or let it become law without his signature.

HB 422s lead primary sponsor is Rep. Kyle Hall, R-Stokes, who has a portion of Forsyth County in his district and also is a Realtor.

A major focus of the legislation is addressing the business model of MV Realty of Florida, which has been sued by Attorney General Josh Stein for marketing and selling these agreements. Stein is seeking preliminary and permanent injunctions, restitution for consumers and other monetary penalties.

According to Stein, his office has received more than 20 complaints about MV Realty, which began doing business across the state in August 2020. The company has signed up more than 2,100 North Carolinians to its Homeowner Benefit Program  typically people who are facing financial hardships and are in need of cash.

The legislation, which the state Justice Department helped draft, is supported by AARP, NC Realtors and the NC Real Estate Commission.

The bill summary said the impetus is that several real estate companies have been using a predatory business model to target seniors and financially insecure homeowners with cold calls, even those on the Do Not Call registry.

A Justice review of the lending practice determined that in the states four largest Multiple Listing Service areas  Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, Greensboro-Winston-Salem and Asheville  there have been more than 2,000 homeowners that signed an agreement with one of these firms since fall 2000.

The companies offer to provide cash payments, typically less than $1,000, to homeowners in exchange for agreeing to exclusively utilize that companys services to list their property at any time over the next 40 years.

What bill sponsors say is concerning is that the signed contracts include a memorandum that is filed with the county that serves as a lien on the propertys title.

According to the bill, it is unfair to an owner of residential real estate who enters into such an agreement or to other parties who may become owners of that real estate in the future.

The bill would prohibit the recording of such agreements so that the public records will not be clouded by them and provides remedies for owners who are inconvenienced or damaged by the recording of such agreements.

The bill would declare that such an agreement is unfair if it is effective and binding for more than one year from the effective date of agreement.

The bill would provide consumers with the ability to recover damages, costs and attorneys fees that may be proved against the agent, service provider or person named in the agreement.
Ms. Blanton seems to be under the impression that all folks think like Democrats. I can assure you, we don't, and we thank God for that.

Right now, we are watching the most incompetent, for sale, compromised, and corrupt president this country has ever had. He can't get off the beach as the country is falling down around him tell reporters "no comment" with a smug smile!

Our economy is bleeding our wallets dry at the gas pumps and grocery stores. Mortgages and car loans at all-time highs. The damning evidence that has come out from the Hunter Biden laptop and from his associates that have testified against him that the left media will barely cover should have had illegitimate Joe impeached months ago. But here we are with a weaponized DOJ and FBI along with DAs that have a bad case of TDS that is trying to clearly send a message telling folks to sit down and shut up about the 2020 election that was clearly stolen and trying to eliminate Joe Biden's main opponent from running again. which is criminal activity and election interference.

Joe Biden did not win Florida, Iowa or Ohio! Out of 3,000 counties he won 477. He won only one of the 19 bellwether states. No one believes that this bumbling and stumbling fool won the election with 12 million more votes than the beloved Barack Obama!

We still support President Trump 110%t because we refuse to give up our country to the Democrats totalitarian regime and their mush-minded cult!

Eugene Reid

Hickory
" " Istanbul, Turkey, celebrated its 97th anniversary of the Independence on Oct. 6, 2020. Anadolu Agency/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

In his 1915 travelogue, "Constantinople and Istanbul Old and New," H.G. Dwight writes, "Constantinople is a compromise, therefore, and not always a successful one, between north and south." In this instance, Dwight speaks of the jarring weather in the city, which blends the climate of regions to the north and south.

Yet, his statement also serves as an apt representation of the history of Constantinople (presently known as Istanbul), which is a city that stands as a centuries-long compromise  a melting pot  of peoples, religions and cultures.

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From the Greeks to the Romans

Way back in the time before the common era (C.E.), Constantinople was the ancient capital of the Byzantine empire, though it was known at the time as Byzantium. Byzas the Megarian gave the region its name in 700 B.C.E., and a small settlement of Greeks lived there until 300 B.C.E.

In 330 C.E., Roman emperor Constantine I declared Byzantium to be the 'New Rome.' The settlement transformed into the major center of Constantinople, named after its new Roman conqueror. The ancient Byzantium thrived under Roman rule for more than 1,000 years, even as other parts of the Roman Empire collapsed.

"Constantinople was the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. It moved from Rome in the 4th-5th centuries of the Common Era (C.E.). That was the formal foundation of the city [under] Emperor Constantine," says Cornell Fleischer. Fleischer is the Kanuni Suleyman professor of Ottoman and modern Turkish studies in Near Eastern languages and civilizations at The University of Chicago.

According to Fleischer, Venetian rulers attempted to conquer the city through a Christian crusade, and were briefly successful, ruling over the area from 1204-1260 C.E. But, otherwise, the empire remained in the hands of the Romans, serving as the empire's central seat of power until the Ottoman conquest in 1453.

The Ottoman Conquest

But how did Constantinople fall into the hands of the Ottoman Empire? According to Fleischer, the Ottoman "polity" was one of many principalities in the Balkans and northwestern Anatolia (also known as Asia Minor, in what is modern-day Turkey).

"The Ottoman principality was the one that was the closest  the closest in a number of senses  to Constantinople, to the center of empire. And conquest of the city had been a dream of sorts for a very long time," says Fleischer. "Indeed, there are traditions of the Prophet Muhammad that referred to the conquest of the city  the conquest of Rome  as one of the events that will usher in the culmination of the end of history or the end of times, whatever that might be."

" " A movie, made with 3D mapping, beams and lasers, is displayed during a program marking 566th anniversary of Ottoman conquest of Istanbul in Istanbul, Turkey, on May 29, 2019. Serhat Cagdas/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

There had been numerous attempted sieges of Constantinople starting in the late 1300s, but none had succeeded. But, finally, Sultan Mehmed II toppled the city after a 55-day siege. His army bombarded the city's defenses by both land and sea until the seat of the Byzantine Empire crumbled May 29, 1453.

Beyond Constantinople, the Ottomans had been steadily expanding their empire for decades, becoming a major world player in the process. "And the Ottomans had been pressing for several decades, and they had taken imperial territories in what had been the Balkans in particular  former Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Greece. These areas were the cradle of what became the Ottoman empire."

Recent docudramas, such as "Rise of the Empires: Ottoman" on Netflix, have popularized this period of conquest for modern audiences.
On July 24, the 2023 interview travel of overseas Chinese media was ongoing. The theme was Follow the Chinese dream, and live a happy life in Hunan. It was directed by the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, hosted by Hunan Overseas Chinese Federation and Hunan Overseas Chinese Association. 18 overseas Chinese journalists coming from France, German, the UK, Spanish, Canada, America, Argentina, Malaysia and other countries and regions, together went deep into Changsha. They visited the Songdan Chinese Character Art Museum, Changsha Chutian Science & Technology Co., Ltd, Tanhe Ancient City and then Tanheli National Archaeology Heritage Park.

Songdan Chinese Character Art Museum is located in Guitang River Ecological Park in Yuhua District, Changsha. It is the first Chinese character art museum in China, combining educational study, cultural exchange, collection and service. It is also a public service platform which provides an opportunity to the world to learn Chinese character art and Chinese culture. Each Chinese character is alive, so any extra or missing stroke will turn a Chinese character into another one. Song Dan, the head of this museum, introduced the museum for the journalists from overseas Chinese media. It is a treasure passed down from our ancestors. We need to study, protect, showcase, pass down and promote it.

Pieces of distinctive works of Chinese character are showcased in the museum. Close observation and reading allowed the journalists from overseas Chinese media to feel the charm of Chinese characters. Under the guidance of Song Dan, Huang Meishun, a Spanish journalist from La Voz China finished printing the Chinese characters of  (study hard and make progress every day). She loved her work so much that she shared this experience on the website of CHNM instantly.

Then, they came to Huangcai Village, Huangcai Town, Ningxiang County, watched a spectacular song-and-dance performance Eternal Love in Tanhe and impressed by the brilliant Tanhe Culture, and visit Tanheli National Archaeology Heritage Park. Tanheli Site is the only one ancient city site of the Shang-Zhou period in Hunan Province. Over the past 3000 years, it has unearthed over 2,000 pieces or sets of cultural relics, particularly The Four Sheep Square Pot and Da He ding, whose discovery is significant to the study of Hunans history, the bronze culture in northern China and the formation of early nations and societies. Tanheli National Archaeology Heritage Park have provided years of high-quality service for overseas Chinese from America, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and other countries to learn and study local culture. Through colorful series of events, we can promote Chinese culture and improve its international influence. In 2020, it was awarded as The cultural exchange base in Hunan Province for overseas Chinese.

After visiting Tanheli National Archaeology Heritage Park, Li Qiaohong, the associate editor of the website of overseas Chinese in Italy, promptly wrote the article attached with 11 pieces of photos of the park, and posted them on the website. The article was titled Visit Tanheli National Archaeology Heritage Park, and explore the bronze culture in the Shang-Zhou period, in which Li shared his experiences and feelings with overseas Chinese in Italy. It quickly garnered more than 6,000 hits after 4 hours of its release.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Thousands of people have fled the Northwest Territories' capital and some neighbouring communities under the threat of encroaching wildfires.

Officials say an expansive network of fire guards, sprinklers and water cannons are being set up to protect Yellowknife from an approaching wildfire.

The fire is about 15 kilometres away from the city, where residents have been told to evacuate by noon today.

While there's a chance of some limited additional showers today, official say they can't count on the rain to help tackle the blaze.

Another 22 evacuation flights are scheduled today as officials try to get thousands of people out of Yellowknife.

The flights are expected to have space for about 1,800 people.

The highway out of Yellowknife remains open for those evacuating by road.

Officials say highway managers are piloting drivers through fire zones to ensure their safety.

Officials are forecasting a critical, challenging day in the effort to battle the fires.

They say northwest winds today and Saturday combined with minimal rain could mean the fire reaches city limits by the weekend.

Officials say they are doing "everything possible" to slow the growth of the fire.

Airtankers continued to fly missions overnight to keep open the highway out of Yellowknife, as officials urge residents to leave the city by noon today.

Convoys of vehicles have steadily been leaving for hotels and evacuation centres in Alberta.

On Thursday, in additional to commercial planes, about 1,500 people left on evacuation flights.

Officials say inmates have already been sent to jails in Alberta and Yukon and there will be a full evacuation of the hospital.

Several other communities in the territory, including the town of Hay River, ordered residents out earlier this week.

Shane Thompson, the N.W.T.'s environment and communities minister, told a news conference late Thursday that the fire situation remains critical.

There were 236 fires burning and it was last reported that flames were about 16 kilometres from Yellowknife.

"I urge all residents under evacuation orders to please adhere to them as they are issued," Thompson said.

"These orders are never issued lightly and always consider our collective health and safety. You could be jeopardizing your safety and that of others."
Risk intelligence company Flashpoint has published its July Cyber Threat Intelligence Index which shows Australia was in the top 10 countries for ransomware attacks last month.

Ransomware

In its July Cyber Threat Intelligence Index, Flashpoints latest ransomware infographic paints a sobering picture of the evolving threat landscape, with cybercriminals employing increasingly sophisticated tactics. In July, Flashpoint recorded a total of 515 ransomware attacks.

Clop was the most prolific ransomware group, being responsible for nearly 33 per cent of Julys recorded ransomware attacks. The United States experienced the most ransomware events, accounting for 48 per cent of all Julys recorded ransomware attacks, while Australia ranked eighth. Internet Software and Services continues to be the most targeted industry, followed by Construction & Engineering, and Professional Services.

We're consistently still seeing Australia among the most targeted countries in the world for ransomware attacks, said Ben Gestier, Senior Intelligence Analyst and Team Lead APAC/EMEA, Flashpoint. Safeguarding company assets from ransomwares is crucial for Australian businesses, who should all implement or constantly update their own threat readiness and response plans in order to prevent loss, service disruptions, and lasting damage.

Vulnerability Intelligence

1,994 new vulnerabilities were reported in July, with 312 of them being missed by the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) and National Vulnerability Database (NVD).

36 per cent of Julys disclosed vulnerabilities are rated high-to-critical in severity. If exploited, these issues could pose a significant security risk. Over 56 per cent of last months vulnerabilities are remotely exploitable. This means that if leveraged, threat actors can execute malicious code no matter where the device is located.

Vulnerability Management teams can potentially lessen workloads by 90 per cent by focusing on actionable, high severity vulnerabilities. This classification is given to vulnerabilities that are remotely exploitable, that have a public exploit, and a viable solution.

Data Breaches

Studying breach events can help CISOs and security teams better understand the goals and motivations of threat actors. In July, Flashpoint recorded 529 data breach events and threat actors stole a total of 481.2 million records.

Organisations in the United States accounted for more than 64 per cent of Julys recorded data breaches. Unauthorised access, or hacking was the leading cause of data breaches in July, being responsible for over half of recorded data breach events.

Malware

Flashpoint has looked at the latest malware trends: which types of malware threat actors favour, how they get access into a victims systems, and what cybercriminals do once they gain a foothold.

Trojans were the most widely used malware type in Julys recorded cyberattacks. In particular, the cobaltstrike malware family accounted for 33.22 per cent of Julys top five indicators of compromise. The most favoured MITRE ATT&CK tactic was Command and Control.

Insider Threat

The tactic of recruiting insiders has become immensely popular amongst threat actors aiming to breach systems and/or commit ransomware attacks.

In July, Flashpoint analysts collected 7,055 posts advertising insider services  both from threat actors seeking insiders and malicious employees offering their services. Of those, 1,121 were unique posts from individuals in illicit and underground communities.

The Telecom, Financial, and Retail industries were the most targeted sectors for insider threats in July. The majority of insider threat related postings originated from insiders advertising their services to outside threat actors. Most of this activity came from the Telecom sector.
GUEST RESEARCH: Rapid7 today released its 2023 Mid-Year Threat Review, which provides a detailed snapshot of the attack landscape in the first six months of this year, together with actionable guidance for organisations on how to protect themselves from common threats.

The report aggregates data and analysis from Rapid7s vulnerability intelligence, managed services and threat analytics teams. During these first six months, Rapid7 tracked more than 1,500 ransomware incidents and 79 attacks attributed to state-sponsored threat actors. Researchers also tracked more than a dozen new vulnerabilities that were exploited en masse, as well as reporting a 69% uptick in incident response case volume.

Exploitation of public-facing applications has been a popular initial access strategy so far this year, including for advanced persistent threat actors (APTs) and state-sponsored adversaries, said Rapid7 senior director threat analytics Christiaan Beek.

APTs exploited both zero-day and known vulnerabilities in routers, security appliances, printer management software, Voice over Internet Protocol technologies, amongst other attack vectors, he adds. Cyber espionage, cyber warfare and financial gain were the main motives attributed to state-sponsored threat campaigns, he adds.

Ransomware trends

The real number of ransomware incidents reported is likely to be higher than the roughly 1,500 Rapid7 tracked, in part because public reports can be a bit of a trailing indicator, and in part because of when Rapid7 compiled its data.

Rapid7 head of vulnerability research Caitlin Condon explains, The Cl0p ransomware gang was still actively claiming new victims from the MOVEit Transfer hack perpetrated at the end of May.

One key point we make is that counting primary victims, the organisations directly targeted or compromised in ransomware or extortion campaigns, underestimates the true impact of these incidents, which frequently involve data exposure for downstream users or partner organisations.

Looking ahead, Condon anticipates more extortion campaigns hitting businesses like those used against MOVEit Transfer and GoAnywhere MFT.

We expect to see more smash-and-grab-style exploits targeting applications that house sensitive data. Why bother deploying ransomware or planning a multi-stage attack when you can exploit a public-facing application and simply exfiltrate tranches of data in one go? warns Condon.

Security hygiene

Rapid7s mid-year data shows that basic security hygiene is still a challenge for many businesses.

Thirty-nine percent of incidents our managed services teams responded to stemmed from either lax or lacking multi-factor authentication, adds Condon.

As a priority, businesses should ensure multi-factor authentication is in place and enforced wherever possible, including and especially on VPNs and virtual desktop infrastructure. Establishing baseline vulnerability management and asset inventory programs is also critically important. Organisations can mitigate data theft and extortion risk by taking measures to prevent data exfiltration wherever possible. This could include restricting or alerting on large file uploads, blocking known file sharing sites, and monitoring the use of data archiving utilities, to name a few.

As with all its intelligence research, Rapid7 provides actionable guidance to help businesses improve their security posture. The complete Mid-Year Threat Review and related resources can be accessed here.
The constant talk by the federal Opposition about the need to embrace nuclear power as an option for satisfying the country's energy needs appears to be just another diversionary tactic, which is unlikely to be followed up were the Coalition to gain power sometime in the future.

That's the only conclusion to be drawn after one reads the incomplete information being peddled by various politicians from that side of politics.

One of them, federal Opposition climate change and energy spokesman Ted O'Brien, provided some partial information about the small modular reactors being manufactured by TerraPower, a company owned by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.

O'Brien, who touted his opinion in The Australian, offered few details about the company's wares, though there are plenty available in the public domain. Plus, he had also visited the company which is building its first SMR in Wyoming. The other SMR that has been mentioned in the Australian media is one manufactured by Rolls-Royce.

The Australian debate has been focused around the refusal of a Senate panel to reject a push to abolish legislative prohibitions on nuclear energy for power generation which were introduced in 1998.

The Coalition's claim is that power from nuclear sources would mean lower energy bills, a cry it hopes the masses will hear and heed, suffering as they are under energy costs. But such arguments fall at the first hurdle: the cost of energy generated by wind and renewable sources.

That could be why O'Brien and, more recently, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, have not gone into much detail about costs, possible suppliers and where the waste would be stored. Such details are superfluous when all that one is seeking to achieve is a diversion from the existing narrative.

TerraPower is something of a closed shop when it comes to providing details about its business. iTWire asked the company for a ballpark figure of the cost of an SMR, whether the amount of nuclear waste available in the US for use was 700,000 tonnes as mentioned in a Netflix documentary about Gates' company, and also whether there were any customers in the pipeline.

All that a spokesperson would say was: "Unfortunately, TerraPower will not be able to participate in this opportunity. You can find out more about our technology and answer many of your questions by visiting the following sites."

Rolls-Royce, however, was much more forthcoming. Asked about the capacity of the company's SMRs, a spokesperson said: "Each unit will generate 470MW of electricity, enough to power around a million homes for 60+ years."

The cost for each reactor is about 1.8 billion (A$3.57 billion).

One of the claimed plus points about the Gates' firm is that its SMRs can use existing nuclear waste. Asked about the fuel to be used, Rolls-Royce referred iTWire to a page on its site which says it would utilise the "standard Pressurised Water Reactor technology that has been used in hundreds of reactors around the world".

And on prospective customers, the Rolls-Royce spokesperson said: "Yes, we have entered into several agreements with potential customers to discuss the opportunity for deploying Rolls-Royce SMRs overseas. I have made announcements about the most recent on the news pages of our website."

Going by the announcements there, Rolls-Royce is looking at supplying the UK, Finland and Sweden, the latter two countries in association with Nordic nuclear operator Fortum. Regulatory approvals are also proceeding.

Dutton has said nothing definite about overturning the 1998 ban, telling the Australian Financial Review a couple of days back, "People are paying more for their electricity bills under Labor  despite being promised a $275 cut  because of Labors renewables-only policy. Meanwhile, people in Canada using nuclear power are paying less for their electricity.

Missing were any figures on how much setting up a nuclear industry would cost, where waste would be stored - a major issue given the NIMBY mentality in Australia. Which leads one to the inescapable conclusion that this is just white noise all over again, as with many other issues raised by Dutton and his mates.

Whenever the issue of nuclear power comes up, mentions of Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima are never far behind. But those are areas where nobody would like to talk about. Much better to talk about power bills and little else.
MATTOON  Tom Vrem grew up in Mattoon playing a guitar he purchased at the Cross County Mall and listening to a wide variety of music on local radio, including songs by 1980s pop star Tiffany.

Vrem, who is now a touring musician and recording engineer based in Nashville, Tennessee, has gone on to collaborate with Tiffany on music and a new cookbook.

The two performers are set to bring these collaborations back to Vrem's hometown for a sold-out show Saturday night and a nearly sold-out show/cookbook release party on Sunday at the Mattoon Moose Lodge, 1212 Broadway Ave.

"I just wanted to take it back home. Mattoon is where I fell in love with music and bought my first guitar," said Vrem, who lived in Champaign after he graduated from Mattoon High School and then moved to Nashville 10 years ago.

In Nashville, Vrem works in music production for the Blackbird Studio and at his Vinyl Archaeology studio.

Nashville is where Vrem met fellow Music City-area resident Tiffany, whose full name is Tiffany Darwish. He served as a recording engineer on her 2018 album "Pieces of Me," and they became friends and collaborators.

Vrem, who performs under the stage name of Calm Vrem, said they have toured together from Alaska to Florida during the last two years. He said they also have bonded over their mutual interest in trying and cooking new foods.

"If I find something I like, I have to figure out how to make it," Vrem said of visiting restaurants throughout the United States and overseas.

Vrem, who posts about music and food on his Guitar Foodie website and social media, recently teamed up with his friend to create the Breakfast with Tiffany cookbook.

Bringing their music and cookbook release tour to Mattoon was made possible by local business sponsors and by the family of the Invisible Spiders, Vrem said. That Mattoon based-youth band and Vrem will serve as opening acts for Tiffany's sold-out show Saturday.

The cookbook release brunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at the Moose lodge is scheduled to feature recipe tastings and live acoustic music by Tiffany, Vrem, John David Daily and the Black Eyed Lillies.

"This is gonna be a great Sunday down home, hometown hang. I'll be featuring my egg bake muffins/veggie with pepper jack or bacon and cheddar cheese, and my choice sauces that pair with the muffins," Tiffany posted on her Facebook page, noting that Vrem will be making biscuits and gravy.

General admission includes a tasting; "super fan tickets" include a full brunch; and "chef table" tickets include a seat at the table closest to the stage, an autographed copy of the cookbook signed by Vrem and Tiffany, plus brunch recipes served to this table by them.

Tickets for the cookbook release brunch are available on eventbrite.com.
CHARLESTON  Students and community members shared lunch on Thursday in the Charleston Middle School cafeteria, where a taco bar and strawberry milk were on the menu.

Principal Robert Lynn told the visitors that the presence of these popular menu items was made possible by the youths on the school's Student Leadership Council lobbying the Charleston school district and its Aramark food service last year for their inclusion.

"We want students to voice their concerns in a positive way and know change can take place," Lynn said as he discussed the council's successful lobbying effort.

Lynn and council representatives shared information about campus leadership and academic programs while leading tours for community members on Thursday, which was the first day of student attendance for the new school year.

At CMS, Lynn said the first day is usually devoted to assemblies and classroom activities related to the district's use of the "Leader in Me" and "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" student development programs.

The middle school also is part of district-wide efforts to introduce students to a wide range of possible career options at a young age, Lynn said.

"If you start planting the seeds a little bit at a time, it helps spark their interest," Lynn said.

Student Leadership Council member Ella Viertel, an eighth grader, said career development is one of their quarterly exploratory classes, along with computer skills, art and music.

Principal Lynn said there is overlap between these sessions, such as construction-minded students in the art class building sets for the school's production of "Willy Wonka Jr." last spring. Viertel added that some of the art students learned to apply makeup for this show.

"We learn a lot about different careers we might want to do when we get older," she said of the exploratory classes.

Fellow council member Braden Cobb, who noted that he heard presentations from agriculture industry professionals and entrepreneurs in his career class, added, "We are trying to find our voice and what we like to do."

Community members on the tour also visited a room where the middle school stocks clothing and personal hygiene items, such as deodorant, for students in need.

"We have had donors donate this stuff so kids can come in here when they need to use it," Cobb said of this room, which opened three years ago. "A lot of stuff has been donated over the years."

Principal Lynn said the school always welcomes donations for this room, where shoes tend to be in short supply, and for its food pantry. He said they send food home at the end of the week with students in need.

"I am grateful those resources are here for the kids who find themselves in circumstances beyond their ability to affect," said tour participant Jessica Mertz.

Community members can arrange to donate food, clothes and other supplies to the middle school by calling the office there at 217-639-6000.

Close Veterans Day program at Charleston Middle School in Charleston on Friday. Veterans Day program at Charleston Middle School in Charleston on Friday. Charleston Middle School cross country runner Adam Rudibaugh competes recently. Rudibaugh found cross country running after recovering from a traumatic head injury two years ago. The Charleston Middle School dance team members who will appear in the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day parade are: (front row) Madelyn Williams and Caroline Keefe (back row) Emma Jane Bickford and Hannah Taylor. In foreground, from left, students Caroline Keefe, Genna Braden, Hannah Crites and Kennedy Burns work on a water displacement and density experiment in teacher Chelsie Doughty's eighth-grade physical science classroom at Charleston Middle School in Charleston on Thursday. Pictured are the Charleston Middle School state qualifiers for the IESA Class AA track and field meet. In front, Emma Beurskens, Maggie Goetten, Erin Blair, Alycia Triplett and Madelyn Williams. In back, Mitch Cox, Peyton Cox, Caleb Oakley, Seth Shire, Jeb Vanatta, Jacob Flight, Jack Nelson and Wyatt Strader. Each year, the Charleston Middle School staff recognizes students on the eighth-grade teams with the CMS Citizenship Award. Teachers nominate students. The entire staff then votes. This award recognizes students for exemplifying the qualities of leadership, care, respect, responsibility, and teamwork. Pictured, left to right, are Gavin Johnson, Kiley Vanderport, Yoanna Yordanova, and Eldon Hatfield. Pictured is the 2018 Charleston Middle School softball team. The Lady Trojans won the regional title with a 9-0 win over Effingham on Tuesday. Pictured is the 2018 Charleston Middle School softball team that advanced to the IESA state tournament and plays East Peoria Central at 12:30 p.m. on Friday. In front, Tommie Carver, Olivia Schuette, Ally Logsdon, Kailee Gough, Maci Mayhall, Clara Cox, Austin Stephens and Alanna Lemons. In the middle row, Mackensie Williams, Kaylee Fellers, Emily Davis, Morgan Dickey and Erin Blair. In the back, assistant coach Amber Tomaska, Kailyn Wilson, Megan Myerscough, Makenlee Flynn, Karah Moore, Addison Shrader, Alaynia Bryant, Mikayla Lane, Maggie Goetten, Shelby Herrington, head coach Blain Mayhall and assistant coach Hannah Dowling. Participating in the IESA secitonal at Greenview were Taryn Pearson, Stacy Zerbst, Tesa Brown, Rileigh Babbs and Delaney Meister all members of the Charleston Middle School girls' golf team. Meister, Zerbst and Pearson all advanced to the state meet set for Saturday at Peoria's Kellogg Golf Course. Ashton Fifield, left, runner-up, and winner Gabriel Harris, right, exchange a high five after Gabriel spelled the winning word during the Coles County spelling bee at Charleston Middle School in Charleston on Thursday. PHOTOS: Charleston Middle School in recent years Veterans Day program at Charleston Middle School in Charleston on Friday. Veterans Day program at Charleston Middle School in Charleston on Friday. Charleston Middle School cross country runner Adam Rudibaugh competes recently. Rudibaugh found cross country running after recovering from a traumatic head injury two years ago. The Charleston Middle School dance team members who will appear in the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day parade are: (front row) Madelyn Williams and Caroline Keefe (back row) Emma Jane Bickford and Hannah Taylor. In foreground, from left, students Caroline Keefe, Genna Braden, Hannah Crites and Kennedy Burns work on a water displacement and density experiment in teacher Chelsie Doughty's eighth-grade physical science classroom at Charleston Middle School in Charleston on Thursday. Pictured are the Charleston Middle School state qualifiers for the IESA Class AA track and field meet. In front, Emma Beurskens, Maggie Goetten, Erin Blair, Alycia Triplett and Madelyn Williams. In back, Mitch Cox, Peyton Cox, Caleb Oakley, Seth Shire, Jeb Vanatta, Jacob Flight, Jack Nelson and Wyatt Strader. Each year, the Charleston Middle School staff recognizes students on the eighth-grade teams with the CMS Citizenship Award. Teachers nominate students. The entire staff then votes. This award recognizes students for exemplifying the qualities of leadership, care, respect, responsibility, and teamwork. Pictured, left to right, are Gavin Johnson, Kiley Vanderport, Yoanna Yordanova, and Eldon Hatfield. Pictured is the 2018 Charleston Middle School softball team. The Lady Trojans won the regional title with a 9-0 win over Effingham on Tuesday. Pictured is the 2018 Charleston Middle School softball team that advanced to the IESA state tournament and plays East Peoria Central at 12:30 p.m. on Friday. In front, Tommie Carver, Olivia Schuette, Ally Logsdon, Kailee Gough, Maci Mayhall, Clara Cox, Austin Stephens and Alanna Lemons. In the middle row, Mackensie Williams, Kaylee Fellers, Emily Davis, Morgan Dickey and Erin Blair. In the back, assistant coach Amber Tomaska, Kailyn Wilson, Megan Myerscough, Makenlee Flynn, Karah Moore, Addison Shrader, Alaynia Bryant, Mikayla Lane, Maggie Goetten, Shelby Herrington, head coach Blain Mayhall and assistant coach Hannah Dowling. Participating in the IESA secitonal at Greenview were Taryn Pearson, Stacy Zerbst, Tesa Brown, Rileigh Babbs and Delaney Meister all members of the Charleston Middle School girls' golf team. Meister, Zerbst and Pearson all advanced to the state meet set for Saturday at Peoria's Kellogg Golf Course. Ashton Fifield, left, runner-up, and winner Gabriel Harris, right, exchange a high five after Gabriel spelled the winning word during the Coles County spelling bee at Charleston Middle School in Charleston on Thursday.
CHICAGO  The University of Chicago has settled a class-action lawsuit alleging the school, along with a consortium of other elite universities, illegally collaborated in a price-fixing scheme to limit students financial aid.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Chicago in early 2022. It alleged that more than a dozen universities, including U of C, violated antitrust law by participating in a price-fixing cartel that artificially inflated the net price of attendance for students receiving financial aid.

In a proposed settlement agreement filed Monday, U of C agreed to pay out a total of $13.5 million to settle the lawsuit.

The proposed settlement is subject to final approval by a judge.

If approved, class members will include students who received need-based financial aid from U of C and enrolled as undergraduates since 2003. Students or their families must have paid the university directly for tuition, fees, room or board that was not covered by financial aid or other merit aid, not including loans.

In a statement, the university said it believed the plaintiffs claims were meritless and said it is committed to removing financial barriers for undergraduate students who are admitted to the college and is proud of the extensive financial aid we offer to students.

We look forward to putting this matter behind us and continuing to focus our efforts on expanding access to a transformative undergraduate education, the university said.

Other universities being sued over alleged price-fixing include Northwestern University, University of Notre Dame, MIT, Duke University and some Ivy League schools. U of C is the only university to settle over the allegations so far.

As part of the settlement agreement, U of C has agreed to cooperate with the plaintiffs during discovery, including by producing certain documents, according to court filings.

The original complaint alleged the group of universities overcharged more than 170,000 financial aid recipients over the course of almost two decades to the tune of at least hundreds of millions of dollars.

According to the complaint, the universities collectively adopted a financial aid formula in violation of antitrust laws. Under the 568 Exemption, a section of the Improving Americas Schools Act of 1994, universities are allowed to collaborate so long as they admit all students on a need-blind basis.

But the lawsuit alleges that some of the universities being sued, not including U of C, have considered the financial needs of students and their families during the admissions process.

The other universities, including the U of C, may or may not have adhered to need-blind admissions policies, but they nonetheless conspired with the other defendants, the complaint alleged.
Q. I have tested positive for alpha-gal syndrome. I recently developed elevated blood pressure and I have had an allergic reaction to every blood pressure medication that my doctor has prescribed. One drug gave me a red rash over my entire body.

The physician who diagnosed alpha-gal, Dr. Commins, suggested having a compounding pharmacy make my blood pressure meds. He thinks, that way, I can avoid the fillers that may be causing the hives and swelling. People should know that alpha-gal may trigger a reaction to chemicals in many medications.

A. Thank you for the warning. You are in good hands for alpha-gal syndrome, since Dr. Scott Commins of the University of North Carolina is one of the worlds experts on this condition. He helped with the discovery of this potentially life-threatening reaction to mammalian meat (beef, pork, lamb, rabbit, goat, etc.).

The reaction begins with the bite of a lone star tick. After that, exposure to red meat can cause a delayed allergic reaction that could range from hives or digestive distress to trouble breathing. The diagnosis can be confirmed with a blood test.

Prevention is the only available treatment: avoid eating meat. Some people must also avoid milk, cheese and yogurt. Highly sensitive individuals may be vulnerable to smoke from a barbecue.

Your note on medications is important. Few people react to pills, but medicines or vaccines that contain gelatin, glycerin, magnesium stearate or bovine extract can cause trouble for highly sensitive individuals. Heparin, heart valves from pigs or cows, and monoclonal antibodies may also trigger an allergic response. You may want to listen to our recent interview with Dr. Commins and his colleague, gastroenterologist Dr. Sarah McGill. It is Show 1344: Managing Meat Allergy and Other Tick-Borne Diseases at www.PeoplesPharmacy.com.

Q. I have a friend who came in contact with Agent Orange while serving in Vietnam. As a result, he now has diabetes. At 73, he is active working as a handyman. His doctor put him on Jardiance about four months ago. He is complaining about muscle and joint aches and thinks that Jardiance is causing his pain. Could it be?

A. Jardiance (empagliflozin) helps control blood sugar and reduces the risk of cardiovascular events like heart attacks. According to the prescribing information, nearly as many people on placebo had joint pain as those on Jardiance. Muscle pain is not listed as an adverse reaction.

On the other hand, doctors in Australia have described the case of a 69-year-old man who developed muscle pain, weakness and wasting while on empagliflozin (Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism Case Reports, April 12, 2020). His symptoms disappeared within weeks of stopping the drug, and the doctors could find no other explanation. Although it appears to be rare, this type of reaction is possible.

Your friend can learn about other types of diabetes drugs to discuss with his doctor in our eGuide to Preventing & Treating Diabetes. This online resource is available under the Health eGuides tab at www.PeoplesPharmacy.com.

Q. How long does it take after stopping a sulfa antibiotic for sun sensitivity to wear off?

A. Several antibiotics such as tetracyclines and fluoroquinolones as well as co-trimoxazole can cause increased sun sensitivity (phototoxicity). Exaggerated sunburn or skin darkening may occur with modest sun exposure. The case reports we found do not answer your question. Experiment cautiously!
Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), formerly known as reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD), is a chronic alteration in the perception of pain that relates to both the central and peripheral nerve fibers, producing a heightened response to otherwise innocuous stimuli.1,2 Patients report pain that often is confined to a localized body region and is disproportionate to any event or trauma, acute or remote.3,4 Despite the widely held belief that psychosocial factors predispose patients to the phenomenon of chronic sensorimotor pain, little in the literature has consistently demonstrated this association with certainty.4 However, what has been established is the significant cost to patients, with current estimates exceeding $43,000 per patient within 8 years following diagnosis.5 This figure likely underestimates the actual burden experienced by patients because most reports only include tangible healthcare expenses and costs incurred after diagnosis. Furthermore, the cumulative financial weight of complications, as well as intangible effects on quality of life, must be considered.5 Unfortunately, the diagnosis often escapes detection early in the clinical course because of the wide range of symptom expression, absence of objective findings following an established trauma or event, and distracting comorbidities.5 This article reviews the complexities of CRPS, including the current understanding of its pathophysiology, risks, clinical subtypes, detection, and treatment.

EPIDEMIOLOGY

The incidence of CRPS is estimated at 26.2 cases per 100,000 person-years, accounting for 1.2% of all chronic pain diagnoses.5 Though no racial predilection has been noted, disparities in sex and age have been witnessed consistently, with CRPS occurring more frequently in women than men (3:1) and more frequently in older adults.6 CRPS is more prevalent in the upper extremities compared with the lower extremities, and is most commonly unilateral, although in rare cases bilateral CRPS has been reported.7 CRPS often occurs after a traumatic event, such as accidental injury or elective surgery, but also can be idiopathic.7,8

Two distinct subtypes of CRPS have been established.3 The most common CRPS expression is subtype 1 in which an objective finding of nerve insult is lacking.3 Conversely, the rarer subtype 2 possesses evidence of what Bellon and colleagues term instrumentally demonstrated nerve injury, in which objective evidence of functional nerve derangement is readily supported.3,9 Nonetheless, researchers expect that both types share a common pathophysiologic expression.

PATHOPHYSIOLOGY

CRPS is a marked neurogenic inflammatory response, which leads to the classic pain severity, but nerve inflammation is not the only provocateur in this disease.1,3 A myriad of mechanisms have been proposed for this pathophysiologic expression; however, it generally is regarded as both a central and peripheral nervous system response, and signs and symptoms remain clinically indistinct.10,11 In fact, Schwartzman and colleagues note that the distinction between inflammatory pain (which generally resolves with post-traumatic healing) and neuropathic pain (emanating from any damage to peripheral or central components of the pain matrix) is frequently blurred in these patients, as there are components of each at the site of injury.8 This is supported in emerging literature by evidence of high proinflammatory activity, including common mediators, such as interleukins and tumor necrosis factor (TNF), in the extremities of patients with CRPS.10 Other neurogenic irritants proposed include various cytokines and neuropeptides such as substance P, bradykinin, and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP).11 These proinflammatory products contribute to the erythema, diaphoresis, edema, and patchy osteoporosis frequently observed in patients with CRPS.10,12 This inflammation may increase cortical sensitization to nociception and cause derangements in neuroplasticity, provoking heightened perceptions of pain even after the initial insult has resolved.1 The inflammatory cascade causes peripheral and central changes that are both functional and structural with protracted disease.1,2,4 Jung and colleagues report observations in central response that involve N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors as well as glial activation, causing allodynia, with secondary pressure hyperalgesia.1 Yet, this is a shared central and peripheral glial dysregulation that ultimately culminates in chronic pain through inciting microglial cells into a neuroprotective state that degrades to lasting neurotoxic effects.1

Furthermore, recent neuroimaging studies have shown reorganization in somatotopic maps in patients with CRPS.12 Interestingly, the degree of somatotopic reorganization appears to correlate with the severity of the patient's symptomsa limb affected with CRPS will atrophy compared with the unaffected limb.12 Patients also experience impaired sensory discrimination, including the perception of aesthesis outside of the particular nerve distribution that was stimulatedwhich may explain the nondermatomal pattern in which CRPS symptoms present.12 Although this model of understanding CRPS is in its infancy, if substantiated with expanding, contemporary research, it would show evidence consistent with other neuropathic conditions.12

SYMPTOMS

Most commonly, CRPS arises in an ascending glove- or sock-like pattern in the upper and lower extremities, respectively.7 The condition is marked by hyperalgesia with variable hypersensitivity.6,7 CRPS can present in two distinct stages:

In the acute stage, also called the warm phase, the affected extremity is characterized as having the five classic (or cardinal) signs of inflammation: pain, edema, erythema, increased temperature, and impaired function. 9,11 Pain often is felt deep in the limb and is exacerbated by temperature changes and movement. 13 Although patients often report decreased range of motion easily attributed to edema, this stage may have expressions of allodynia as well. 9,13

Pain often is felt deep in the limb and is exacerbated by temperature changes and movement. Although patients often report decreased range of motion easily attributed to edema, this stage may have expressions of as well. CRPS may progress over months or years into the chronic stage or cold phase.9 This period is marked by persistent or progressive functional motor limitations, which are secondary to an increase in fibrotic contractures and central motor activation, despite resolution of edema.13

Although allodynia predominates in the acute phase of CRPS, negative sensory effects including hypoesthesia and hypoalgesia also have been observed.13 Patients often report symptoms accompanying progressive motor and sensory dysfunction as well as alterations in visible tone to muscle and skin.13 Patients also may have radiographic evidence of marked bony demineralization.13 Although symptom onset and severity differ for each patient, the most common motor symptoms are weakness, bradykinesia, and dystonia.7

PREDISPOSING MECHANISMS

Although many researchers propose that chronic pain syndromes, including CRPS, are related to established psychosocial disease, including depression and anxiety, conclusive evidence is lacking.9 Many factors are thought to play a part in the degree of pain expression with which mood disorders are associated.4 Furthermore, the associated psychosocial factors may actually be a product of the inciting trauma or illness, even if they precede the onset of CRPS symptoms.4 Certainly patients with existing psychologic ailments are most vulnerable to such a response, but they are not the only patients who may develop chronic pain syndromes. Although depression and anxiety often are observed in patients with CRPS, this may actually be a response to individual perceptions of declining quality of life and rising discomfort linked to the disease itself rather than the cause of CRPS. Although the incidence of PTSD is greater in patients with CRPS than in the general population, research on this association is incomplete and could be expanded on broadly as studies meant to determine associations in cause and effect unfold.14

The link between PTSD and CRPS is not the only disease correlation being investigated because genetic associations are being discovered that may pose threats to specific patient populations. For example, links to the human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR13 have been found in patients with fixed dystonia.13 Links to HLA-DR15 and HLA-DQ1 have been found in patients with CRPS who do not have motor symptoms and may support familial links that predispose patients to CRPS.13 Additionally, family studies have determined that the siblings of patients with a young onset of CRPS have an increased risk of developing CRPS themselves, prompting growing interest in the search for a possible genetic association.9 Yet evidence to fully support these assertions as either causative or as an absolute risk are lacking, owing in large part to small sample sizes, small number of studies, and the inability to rule out a false-positive risk.9 Although a patient's epidemiologic and genetic predispositions may play an important role in the development of CRPS, more research is needed before a firm correlation is established.9 Additionally, neither genetic nor psychosocial factors in CRPS development should be regarded as mutually exclusive because often the links to all these associations in the formative years of development are inseparable.

DIAGNOSIS

CRPS is a challenge to diagnose because physical examination findings often are lacking or mimic other conditions.10 These findings include myofascial pain, variable neuropathic and vascular phenomenon, and underlying afflictions that are psychologic or distracting.15

The insidious presentation of the disease, including inconsistent symptom reliability and physical sign development, means that patients may present to many practices and healthcare providers; these clinicians may not be familiar with the patient or the findings that point to a diagnosis of CRPS.10 Nonetheless, the history and physical examination remain the cornerstones in identifying this disorder.15 Although clinicians must entertain the diagnosis of CRPS in patients who are at risk, even those familiar with the syndrome face inconsistencies in the literature, which create a challenge for safely making reliable diagnostic conclusions. Although much continues to be explored in clinical studies, much remains unknown. Laboratory analysis and imaging often are used to rule out other diseases but do not conclusively rule in CRPS.

Nonetheless, criteria have been established over the years to aid in clinical accuracy. Early efforts were based on idiosyncratic methods and antiquated understanding of the disease process, but newer standards are gaining acceptance.16 These new criteria are more reliable in describing signs and symptoms of CRPS.15,16 The most commonly used criteria are those of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP); these criteria are based on the contemporary and codified Budapest consensus group following the Orlando consensus criteria.11,15-17 The Budapest Criteria allow consideration of CRPS subtypes (Table 1).17

TABLE 1. - Budapest Criteria for CRPS Budapest Criteria for CRPS Continuing pain disproportionate to the inciting event.

At least one symptom in each of the four following categories: Sensoryreports of hyperesthesia and/or allodynia Vasomotorreports of temperature asymmetry and/or skin color changes and/or skin color asymmetry Sudomotor/edemareports of edema and/or sweating changes and/or sweating asymmetry Motor/trophicreports of decreased range of motion and/or motor dysfunction (weakness, tremor, dystonia) and/or trophic changes (hair, nail, skin)

At least one sign at the time of evaluation in two or more of the following categories: Sensoryevidence of hyperalgesia (to pinprick) and/or allodynia (to light touch and/or temperature sensation and/or deep somatic pressure and/or joint movement) Vasomotorevidence of temperature asymmetry (more than 1 C) and/or skin color changes and/or asymmetry Sudomotor/edemaevidence of edema and/or sweating changes and/or sweating asymmetry Motor/trophicevidence of decreased range of motion and/or motor dysfunction (weakness, tremor, dystonia) and/or trophic changes (hair, nail, skin)

No other diagnosis better explains the patient's signs and symptoms Reproduced with permission from the Queen's Printer and Controller of HMSO 2017.

TREATMENT

Pain management and physical rehabilitation of limb function are the main pillars of therapy.7 Pharmacology is complex and is guided by many factors, including the patient's likely mechanism of injury, timing of onset, and extent of physical recuperation during a protracted recovery.7 Nevertheless, pharmacotherapeutic interventions are frequently required for symptom management.7

Acetaminophen, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), vasodilators, and muscle relaxers frequently are used in symptom management.7 Although a number of studies have reported NSAIDs as an essential cornerstone in therapy, their overall efficacy of symptomatic improvement as a monotherapy remains inconclusive.7

Avoid prescribing opioidsrandomized controlled trials have shown no clinical benefits when opioids are used in patients with CRPS, owing to the presumed neuropathic nature of the disease.7

Tricyclic antidepressants are preferred to treat various neuropathies, with amitriptyline being one of the more commonly studied.7 No clinical trials have evaluated tricyclic antidepressants solely for CRPS management, but improvements in pain and sleep tolerance have been observed in patients with other conditions deemed neuropathically derived.7 Some of the research for these conditions remains in its infancy, with other medications (including carbamazepine, gabapentin, and ketamine) being purportedly used on similar refractory conditions of chronic pain and neuropathies.7 In addition to treatment for generalized CRPS, symptom-targeted treatment also is being studied. For instance, patients experiencing hyperactive vasomotor symptoms have shown favorable response to alpha-1-adrenergic blockers or calcium channel blockers. For patients experiencing dystonia, tremor, or myoclonus, centrally acting muscle relaxers, such as baclofen, or benzodiazepines also have shown benefit.7

If conventional pharmacotherapeutics fail to provide patients with adequate pain relief, consider interventional pain management.7 Sympathetic blocks, radiofrequency ablation, somatic and central neuraxial blocks, and epidural or intrathecal drug infusions have been used with modest success.7 If these measures fail, consider spinal cord stimulation or peripheral nerve stimulation in patients who are deemed appropriate candidates.7 These are late-term and often invasive interventions that should be reserved for patients with more advanced and refractory CRPS.7

Although early limb mobilization and physical therapy are staples of treatment, occupational and behavioral therapy also are considered essential components of CRPS therapy.13 Physical therapy and occupational therapy have been shown to prevent common complications such as muscle atrophy, muscle contracture, and joint ankylosis, which can complicate the patient's clinical course if not addressed.10 Therapy methods include gradual weight bearing, stretching, transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation, and functional and fine motor exercises.10,11

Behavioral therapy is garnering widespread interest in CRPS research, with promising effects shown by brain-training methods such as mirror therapy, motor imagery, and pain-exposure therapy or graded exposure in vivo.10,13 Motor imagery aids in training the brain to better recognize the limb that is afflicted with CRPS and has been shown to reduce pain and edema in most of the patients studied.10 Mirror therapy involves hiding the CRPS-affected limb behind a mirror that is positioned perpendicular to the patient, who is then able to visualize the unaffected extremity in what appears as bilateral movement and what is subsequently perceived as normal appearance and movement of both limbs.10 Most research has observed success in patients with acute and chronic pain, most notably in patients observed following a stroke, but this success also has been attributed to non-stroke-associated CRPS phenomena.10,13 Pain-exposure physical therapy (PEPT) is progressive and focused on pain-avoidance behaviors through graded exposure in vivo.13 This therapy is meant to reduce disease-centered fears that patients may express about how moving the affected extremity causes worsening pain.13 Techniques often center on activities that force the patient to dynamically confront those fears and activities through controlled movements that risk provoking pain but are followed by strategies to recover mobility and comfort.13 Naturally, these methods are only effective in patients who are motivated and understand the long-term goals of therapy.13 In an outpatient setting, PEPT and graded exposure in vivo have been shown to improve pain and movement in as little as 3 months, although these results are largely anecdotal and have yet to be consistently demonstrated.13 In fact, most of these physiotherapeutic methods suggest efficacy, but research in these areas is in the beginning stages and randomized controlled trials are needed.10

MOVING FORWARD

Although much research has been done, more is needed to fully understand the pathophysiologic mechanism of the various subtypes of CRPS, ensuring that diagnosis and treatment strategies for recovery are realized to confer the most morbidity benefit across all patient populations.10,11,13 Little is known about the syndrome's progression or how to prevent it. Contemporary research has encouraged early and rapid mobility following a known provocative injury, with mild success in reduction of disease progression, but also has shown striking possibilities in limiting disease onset.13 For this reason, early physical therapy is considered a first-line treatment.11,13 The true relationship between early physical therapy and occupational therapy and the prevention of complications is unknown.10 Further research is needed to better understand the mechanism behind the effect of these therapies on patients with CRPS, although they have shown quality of life improvements.10 If conservative treatment with these therapies and pharmacotherapy fails, more aggressive measures may be required. These measures are patient-specific and should be part of a multidisciplinary strategy.7

CONCLUSION

CRPS is a complicated medical condition with no single cause, although it most commonly is linked to a remote traumatic event. Although most of the literature supports evidence of the role of central and peripheral nerve excitation from inflammation, numerous mediators and risk factors continue to be explored with success in improving overall understanding of CRPS. Despite many tools to improve diagnostic accuracy, diagnosis often is late in the clinical course, complicating patient recovery. With improved clinician awareness of CRPS, patients may be diagnosed and treated earlier, improving their prognosis.
Burglars who broke into a vintage clothing shop in downtown Lincoln sometime early Friday morning stole $20,000 worth of merchandise from the store, police said.

A neighbor called police at around 6:30 a.m. Friday when they noticed one of Exclusive Hype's front glass windows had been shattered, Lincoln Police Sgt. Chris Vollmer said.

The owners of the business, at 1624 O St., reported numerous clothing items worth an estimated $20,000 were missing, Vollmer said.

Police did not have an itemized list of stolen items as of Friday morning, Vollmer said, but according to the shop's website, Exclusive Hype sells sought-after sneakers, designer clothing and vintage T-shirts and jackets  often for prices that range from $150 to more than $500.

Exclusive Hype opened its downtown storefront in February 2020.

Most dangerous cities in Nebraska Dangerous Cities in Nebraska 6. South Sioux City 5. Scottsbluff 4. North Platte 3. Lincoln 2. Grand Island 1. Omaha A note about the numbers
Children dressed in pink sequined dresses, light-up shoes, hair bows and T-shirts with pictures of dinosaurs, unicorns and sharks ran this way and that around their new classroom  shrieks and giggles coming from every corner.

Look at this! one girl shouted at her friend Thursday morning, displaying a plate with an array of plastic food.

Oh, that looks so yummy, the friend yelled back before returning to her own pretend meal.

On the other side of the room, preschoolers sat in a circle surrounded by mismatched, wooden puzzle pieces, red and blue shapes and plush dolls.

Wow! I have a big tower, a boy said, flashing his stack of colorful blocks.

Their teacher worked to keep the chaos controlled, cooing at her students to take turns, ask nicely and leave certain toys alone.

The classroom, filled with 11 preschoolers, was buzzing with nerves and loud excitement  and the occasional out-of-tune dings from a child banging on a small, rainbow-colored xylophone.

The long-awaited first day of preschool was finally here.

Standing Bear High School opened the doors to its two brand new preschool classrooms Thursday morning, three days after ninth-graders walked through the doors of the brand new high school.

In addition to housing ninth and 10th graders, the new school is equipped to hold four total preschool classes each day  two in the morning and two in the afternoon. Each room can hold up to 14 students. Right now, there are only two classes using the space throughout the day.

The preschool rooms were built as part of an effort to increase early childhood opportunities in Lincoln with funding from the 2020 bond issue. Northwest High School and Robinson Elementary each opened two preschool classrooms last year.

The new rooms were all built in response to growing preschool enrollment at the preschool age. Last year, between August and May, the early childhood program at LPS grew by about 29%, according to Cara Lucas-Richt, director of the early childhood department.

Even with the additional offerings, Lucas-Richt said there is still a lengthy waitlist to get into preschool. However, LPS has plans to continue adding preschool classrooms across Lincoln in areas where the need is high, specifically at Arnold, Kooser, Huntington, Humann, Fredstrom and Roper elementary schools. In total, LPS will spend about $10 million of bond money on the expansions.

Bridget Eckhout, who lives near Standing Bear and has a preschool-age son, was happy to see the addition of a preschool to the neighborhood, primarily because of the close proximity to her home.

The Eckhout family only lives about a two-minute drive from the school at 70th Street and Saltillo Road, she said. If they couldnt go to Standing Bear, Eckhouts son, River, would have attended preschool at Kloefkorn Elementary, which wouldve added about 10 minutes to their drive each morning.

River was among the first students at Standing Bear on Thursday morning and was very eager for his first day of preschool, especially after the playground outside caught his attention, Eckhout said.

He was super excited, she said.

Sarah Jumnongnart, a preschool teacher at Standing Bear, was equally excited for the first day and said everything went smoothly.

"We've had very few tears, which is always a plus," Jumnongnart said. "It's been good. The kids are excited to be in here."

From exploring insects and trees to raising butterflies, there's a lot Jumnongnart is excited for about the school year, including the possibility of working with some high school classes.

Having the preschool inside a high school adds the chance for collaboration between the two groups of students, Jumnongnart said. So far, she has been working with several teachers to create opportunities for high schoolers to get exposure to young children and vice versa.

I just think that this is a really amazing opportunity for everybody here at Standing Bear to come together and have our littles in the building and our bigs come together and work together, Jumnongnart said. I think it will be beneficial not only for the preschoolers, but for the high schoolers to take initiative working with young children.

Photos: Inside the new Standing Bear High School in southeast Lincoln Standing Bear Highschool, 7.21 Standing Bear Highschool, 7.21 Standing Bear Highschool, 7.21 Standing Bear Highschool, 7.21 Standing Bear Highschool, 7.21 Standing Bear Highschool, 7.21 Standing Bear Highschool, 7.21 Standing Bear Highschool, 7.21 Standing Bear Highschool, 7.21 Standing Bear Highschool, 7.21 Standing Bear Highschool, 7.21 Standing Bear Highschool, 7.21 Standing Bear Highschool, 7.21 Standing Bear Highschool, 7.21 Standing Bear Highschool, 7.21 Standing Bear Highschool, 7.21 Standing Bear Highschool, 7.21 Standing Bear Highschool, 7.21
Photo: The Canadian Press

The man who was last seen with a k?ik?????m (Kwikwetlem) First Nation councillor is now charged in connection with her death.

On Thursday, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team announced that David Hall, 57, is accused of the second-degree murder of Stephanie Patterson, a councillor who was elected in March.

On Tuesday, officers found the 44-year-old woman in a rural area of Mission.

She was reported missing to the detachment last Saturday (Aug. 12) after leaving the reserve with Hall in a truck the night before.

Hall was believed to be travelling with Patterson in a 2019 Honda Ridgeline truck when the two were reported missing last Friday.

The pair were last spotted at 7:30 that evening at the Meadowvale shopping centre on Lougheed Highway in Pitt Meadows.

Further evidence resulted in the murder charge, said IHIT spokesperson Sgt. Timothy Pierotti, who added no other details would be released as the matter is before the courts.

In a statement issued by Coquitlam Mounties, Kwikwetlem Chief Ron Giesbrecht thanked the police, media and members of the public for helping to find Patterson.

"The entire Nation is grieving this tragic and sudden loss and we appreciate the outpouring of support, love and condolences we have been receiving from throughout the Lower Mainland," he wrote.

Patterson was elected to Kwikwetlem council last March, along with Chief Giesbrecht and Coun. George Chaffee.

The mayors of Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam also expressed their feelings about Pattersons death.

"Our deep condolences to Councillor Pattersons family and friends, the Kwikwetlem council and administration, and the entire Kwikwetlem First Nation," said Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart, who attended Pattersons inauguration.

"This is a horrible tragedy," said PoCo Mayor Brad West, adding he was struck by her warmth and commitment to her community when the two met shortly after she was elected.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip  The global cat cafe trend, where people pay to have coffee and hang out with cats, has finally come to the besieged Gaza Strip.

In the impoverished Palestinian enclave run by the Hamas militant group and crippled by a 17-year blockade, residents seeking to escape the territory's troubles flocked on Thursday to the new Meow Cafe  Gaza City's answer to the quirky concept tried successfully around the world.

The cafe's founder, 52-year-old Naema Mabed, said she envisioned the spot as a unique escape from the pressures of life in Gaza  with its lack of recreational options, a youth unemployment rate of over 60% and frequent rounds of conflict with Israel since Hamas violently seized control of the strip in 2007.

At the cozy hang-out, Mabed offers a modest drink service and encourages guests to head straight to the cat corner to pet and play with furry friends. The rules of entry are simple: Visitors must cover their shoes with plastic and wash their hands before cuddling the cats.

I have spent my life raising cats, and theyre a source of joy and quiet, a release of pressures," Mabed said as cats roamed around her. She described feline communion as a global anti-depressant.

Her customers seem to agree. They looked exuberant as they played and lounged with the 10 cats in residence, including some named Tom, Dot, Simba and Phoenix. Some guests were quiet as they soaked in the cats' calming presence.

The cats are not adoptable, says Mabed, who is strongly bonded to her feline friends.

The feeling, honestly, is that you just come to feel the psychological comfort of the cats, said 23-year-old Eman Omar, who had paid the entrance fee of 5 Israeli shekels ($1.30) to spend half an hour snuggling with cats. Everything is beautiful!

Experts said the cafe does far more than indulge the cat-crazed and give visitors a chance for a good selfie. Psychologist Bahzad al-Akhras said that in places like Gaza such havens can serve as therapy for those scarred from the strip's devastating wars and other hardships.

Any place that provides humans a kind of interaction with animals has a positive psychological impact, al-Akhras said.

It wasn't easy for Mabed to bring the cat cafe trend to Gaza.

Opening shop in the enclave presented a range of challenges  not only financial.

The idea of paying to hang out with cats when stray cats roam free on Gaza City's streets every day struck some residents as ridiculous.

But for cat-lovers who face travel restrictions because of the Israeli-Egyptian blockade and might not experience the wildly popular trend elsewhere, the experience was pure bliss.

If youre a cat lover, this is your place, Omar, the customer, said. If you dont love cats, you will feel an urge to love them.
LAHAINA, Hawaii  The head of the Maui Emergency Management Agency, who has been heavily criticized for not activating disaster sirens during last weeks wildfire response, resigned Thursday, citing health reasons.

Mayor Richard Bissen accepted the resignation of Herman Andaya effective immediately, the County of Maui announced on Facebook.

Given the gravity of the crisis we are facing, my team and I will be placing someone in this key position as quickly as possible and I look forward to making that announcement soon, Bissen said in the statement.

As the death toll rose to 111 a day earlier, Andaya defended not sounding sirens as flames raged. Hawaii has what it touts as the largest system of outdoor alert sirens in the world.

We were afraid that people would have gone mauka, Andaya said Wednesday, using a navigational term that can mean toward the mountains or inland in Hawaiian. If that was the case, then they would have gone into the fire.

The system was created after a 1946 tsunami that killed more than 150 on the Big Island, and its website says they may be used to alert for fires.

Andaya was to take part in a meeting of the islands fire and public safety commission on Thursday morning, but it was abruptly canceled.

Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez said Thursday that an outside organization will conduct an impartial, independent review into the governments response to the fires.

We intend to look at this critical incident to facilitate any necessary corrective action and to advance future emergency preparedness, Lopez said in a statement. She said the investigation will likely take months.

Avery Dagupion, whose familys home was destroyed, said hes angry that residents werent given earlier warning to get out.

He pointed to an announcement by Bissen on Aug. 8 saying the fire had been contained. That lulled people into a sense of safety and left him distrusting officials, he said.

At the Wednesday news conference, Gov. Josh Green and Bissen bristled when asked about such criticism.

I cant answer why people dont trust people, Bissen said. The people who were trying to put out these fires lived in those homes  25 of our firefighters lost their homes. You think they were doing a halfway job?

Maui residents whose homes burned in the wildfire that incinerated historic Lahaina and killed more than 100 people are steadily filling hotels that are prepared to house them and provide services until at least next spring.

Authorities hope to empty crowded, uncomfortable group shelters by early next week and move displaced people into hotel rooms, said Brad Kieserman, vice president for disaster operations with the American Red Cross. Hotels are also available for eligible evacuees who have spent the last eight days sleeping in cars or camping in parking lots, he said.

We will be able to keep folks in hotels for as long as it takes to find housing for them, Kieserman said at a media briefing. I am confident well have plenty of rooms.

Contracts with the hotels will last for at least seven months but could easily be extended, he said. The properties will be staffed by service providers who will offer meals, counseling, financial assistance and other disaster aid.

Green has said at least 1,000 hotel rooms will be set aside for those who lost their homes. In addition, AirBnBs nonprofit wing will provide properties for 1,000 people, the company said.

The governor has also vowed to protect local landowners from being victimized by opportunistic buyers when Maui rebuilds. Green said Wednesday that he instructed the state attorney general to work toward a moratorium on land transactions in Lahaina, even as he acknowledged the move would likely face legal challenges.

My intention from start to finish is to make sure that no one is victimized from a land grab, Green said at a news conference. Do not approach their families saying theyll be much better off if they make a deal. Because were not going to allow it.

Since flames consumed much of Lahaina just over a week ago, locals have feared that a rebuilt town could become even more oriented toward wealthy visitors, according to Lahaina native Richy Palalay.

Hotels and condos that we cant afford to live in  thats what were afraid of, he said Saturday at a shelter for evacuees.

The cause of the wildfires, the deadliest in the U.S. in more than a century, is under investigation. But Hawaii is increasingly at risk from disasters, with wildfire rising fastest, according to an Associated Press analysis of FEMA records.

The local power utility faced criticism for leaving power on as strong winds from a passing hurricane buffeted a parched area last week, and one video shows a cable dangling in a charred patch of grass, surrounded by flames, in the early moments of the wildfire.

Facts about this event will continue to evolve, Hawaiian Electric CEO Shelee Kimura wrote in an email to utility customers Thursday. And while we may not have answers for some time, we are committed, working with many others, to find out what happened as we continue to urgently focus on Mauis restoration and rebuilding efforts.

Meanwhile, signs of recovery emerged as public schools across Maui reopened, welcoming displaced students from Lahaina, and traffic resumed on a major road.

The search for the missing moved beyond Lahaina to other oceanside communities that were destroyed. Searchers had covered about 45% of the burned territory by Thursday, the governor said.

Corrine Hussey Nobriga, whose home was spared, watched crews sifting through ash and debris looking for human remains. While some of her neighbors raised questions about the absence of sirens and inadequate evacuation routes, Nobriga said it was hard to lay blame for a tragedy that took everyone by surprise.

One minute we saw the fire over there, she said, pointing toward far away hills, and the next minute its consuming all these houses.

The ongoing search was marred by intermittent cellphone service and misleading information on social media. There were also challenges finding people who may be in hospitals, hunkered down at friends' houses or in unofficial shelters that have popped up. Many people made fliers and were going door to door in search of loved ones.

Judy Riley, who has been working with families seeking relatives, said false leads and a sense that no one is in charge of the missing" have contributed to a sense of despair.

If you are looking for the missing, its easy for people to slip through the cracks, she said.

Photos: A week after Maui wildfire, islanders survey aftermath and look ahead to recovery
The Gage County Sheriff's Office seized 33 horses Thursday from two veterinary clinics in the county after allegations of neglect.

The office said in a news release that its deputies and a state deputy sheriff from the Nebraska Brand Committee served search warrants Thursday afternoon at the Blue Valley Veterinary Clinic in Beatrice and the Pickrell Veterinary Clinic in Pickrell, both of which are owned by 38-year-old Jennafer Glaesemann of Beatrice.

Investigators seized 29 horses from the Beatrice clinic and four from the Pickrell clinic and took them to an unnamed nearby facility for care and treatment, according to the release.

Investigators issued a criminal citation to Glaesemann, alleging 37 counts of livestock neglect.

According to an application for a search warrant filed last week, the sheriff's office investigated a dozen reports of animal cruelty at the two clinics between June 1 and Aug. 1. During a visit to the Beatrice clinic on Aug. 3, deputies observed 30 horses, several of which "appeared to be malnourished."

The warrant application also details the deaths of more than a dozen horses at the two clinic locations.

In the document, Sheriff's Sgt. Tim Hanson said he sought the warrant, "due to the large number of deaths of horses over a short period of time."

Glaesemann allegedly told investigators that employees of the clinics had quit, leaving her as the sole care provider for the horses.

Top Journal Star photos for August 2023
The debate over abortion rights continues to heat up in Nebraska, with a new effort emerging that could leave the issue up to voters in 2024.

Local abortion rights advocates  under a newly formed committee called Protect Our Rights  filed paperwork this month with the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission to establish a ballot initiative that would put a constitutional amendment protecting the right to abortion on the 2024 ballot.

Andi Curry Grubb, a member of the committee and Nebraska executive director of Planned Parenthood of North Central States, said the committee is considering a ballot initiative, but hasn't yet committed to the effort.

"We are committed to exploring all possible options to protect our rights in Nebraska and restore the rights Nebraskans lost when politicians passed an abortion ban earlier this year," Curry Grubb said in an email.

Curry Grubb declined to give further details on the possible initiative. A petition drive would require signatures from 10% of Nebraska's registered voters to make it on the ballot. According to the latest data from the Nebraska Secretary of State's Office, that would translate into roughly 122,000 authorized signatures.

State Sen. Joni Albrecht of Thurston, who has led the charge for abortion restrictions in the Legislature, said she expects that abortion-rights supporters will launch the petition effort. But she said she believes Nebraska voters would reject a constitutional amendment protecting abortions.

"To me, it's totally obnoxious to think that people in Nebraska don't realize that we are a pro-life state," Albrecht said.

Without knowing the ballot language, it's unclear to know how the initiative would impact abortion access in Nebraska, if it were to pass. In this year's session, lawmakers tightened the state's abortion restrictions from 20 weeks post-fertilization to 12 weeks based on gestational age.

Those restrictions in LB574 took effect immediately. They have been challenged in court because the law affected both abortions and gender-affirming care options for individuals under 19. The legal challenge claims the law violated the Nebraska Constitution's single-subject rule.

A Lancaster County District Court judge recently rejected this challenge. Officials with the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska filed an appeal to the Nebraska Supreme Court Friday.

Abortion rights were on the ballot in several states in 2022. In California, Michigan and Vermont, voters passed ballot measures protecting abortion rights in their state constitutions, and in Kentucky, Kansas and Montana, voters rejected measures that would have made it easier for lawmakers to increase abortion restrictions.

Following those elections, Nebraska abortion rights advocates have suggested that Nebraska voters might follow suit if they had a vote on abortion, and Sen. Merv Riepe of Ralston cited the outcome of the Kansas initiative as a reason for casting the deciding vote to block a bill that would have banned abortions at six weeks gestation.

Albrecht said she believes the Kansas initiative failed because abortion rights advocates misled voters.

"It's so confusing if you're not in it every day," Albrecht said.

While Albrecht believes Nebraska voters would ultimately reject an initiative to protect abortion, she opposes a ballot initiative because she said it will lead to both sides of the debate spending too much money. She noted that a combined $22 million was spent by supporters and opponents on the Kansas ballot question.

Top Journal Star photos for August 2023
Democrats need a shot in the arm. No, not a vaccine, rather a dose of energy and enthusiasm.

If one considers Donald Trump, who is almost certainly going to be the 2024 GOP nominee and is certainly a threat to our democratic republic, then you know that the fate of our democracy remains in the hands of the Democratic Party. While President Biden defeated Trump in 2020, Biden is not going into 2024 with the strength needed to do it again.

A July New York Times/Siena Poll showed a tie between Biden and Trump, each with 43%, when respondents were asked if the 2024 presidential election were held today, who would you vote for. That the two men are tied should give great pause to all Americans who think Trumps behavior after the 2020 election was disqualifying.

In the same poll, when Democratic voters were asked if the Democratic Party should renominate Joe Biden as the party's candidate for president in 2024, 50% of Democrats said they should nominate someone else.

Even though Bidens legislative successes are piling up the data shows that the economy is improving, Biden approval ratings are not. They remain steady at 40% and not getting better over time. Many blame this weak opinion of the president on his age, polarization, an even more unpopular vice president or a combination of all three.

I propose an additional theory: Biden seems unable to inspire the American people.

Could an aspirational leader, a younger Democrat, someone with political talent galvanize the electorate to find common ground, change the direction from the wrong track toward the right, and break up our hyperpolarized quagmire? It seems feasible.

One such skillful politician, a Democratic backbencher, is former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu. Landrieu deserves to be brought up from the minors to the big leagues and be allowed to show the country what hes got.

Landrieu served as the 61st Mayor of New Orleans from 2010 to 2018 during which time he played a key role in helping the city rebound from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. He previously served as lieutenant governor of Louisiana from 2004 to 2010. In 2021 President Biden named Landrieu a senior advisor and infrastructure coordinator responsible for coordinating and implementing the bipartisan infrastructure law.

Beyond his impressive executive skills and resume, Landrieu may be most widely known for a speech he gave in May of 2017 when he removed the last of the citys several Confederate monuments. Landrieus rhetoric was hopeful and nonjudgmental.

I knew that taking down the monuments was going to be tough," he said, "but you elected me to do the right thing, not the easy thing -- and this is what that looks like. So relocating these Confederate monuments is not about taking something away from someone else. This is not about politics. This is not about blame or retaliation. This is not a naive quest to solve all our problems at once.

This is however about showing the whole world that we as a city and as a people are able to acknowledge, understand, reconcile and most importantly choose a better future for ourselves making straight what has been crooked and making right what was wrong. Otherwise, we will continue to pay a price with discord, with division and yes with violence.

Landrieus words offered a promising future while not alienating those who disagree with him. They also illustrate his commitment to public service and his leadership style. It is also worth noting that he used the word truth 13 times in the speech.

Many presidents have brought the country together during crises with their moving oratory. Washingtons Farewell Address, Lincolns Gettysburg Address, Franklin D. Roosevelts Inaugural Address, Reagans Berlin Wall Speech, and George W. Bushs Post-9/11 Speech comes to mind.

The country should be grateful to Biden for his leadership out of the pandemic and restoring normalcy to our civic discord. But the Democratic Party must look toward the future and elevate a younger voice and an energetic leader with an inspiring vision. Someone who can inspire a broad coalition plus add new voters. Someone like Landrieu.

About 14% of the electorate is up for grabs, according to the same poll above. This section of the electorate tended toward Biden in 2020 but now are recoiling at the idea of voting for either Trump or Biden again. This group is up for the taking, for a leader with skills, talent and vision.

A resounding win by a bold and visionary leader is what our nation needs to address the serious problems facing our nation.
RACINE  A woman charged with five counts of child neglect appeared in court Wednesday morning for a preliminary hearing, but was unable to proceed because she did not have an attorney.

Dashja Turner is accused of severely neglecting her five children, aged 1 to 14.

Turner appeared at the Racine County Circuit Court on Wednesday morning for a preliminary hearing, but had not been assigned a public defender so the case could not move forward.

Commissioner Alice Rudebusch scheduled a status conference for Sept. 27 to give Turner more time to retain an attorney or be appointed a public defender.

Turners initial appearance was Aug. 10, so Rudebusch determined that there was good cause to waive the time limit for the preliminary hearing, which is within 10 days if the defendant is in custody under Wisconsin law.

Accusations against Turner

On July 31, officers were called to help investigators from Child Protective Services carry out a welfare check on five children staying in the basement of a residence on Metron Court.

One of the residents at the home was allowing a distant relative, Turner, her boyfriend and her children to stay at the house for a short period of time, according to the criminal complaint filed in this case.

Officers and CPS investigators went down to the basement and saw that it was unfinished, and only had one light and one window that was covered with purple paint, the complaint said.

In one room of the basement, officers allegedly saw a twin-sized air mattress with four frail, unkempt children laying on it, the complaint said. The mattress allegedly had one sheet on it and no pillows or blankets.

In the other room, officers said they found Turner with a child, who was crying in a bassinette. The room reportedly had a mattress, pillows, blankets, a box fan and a desk.

There were no bathrooms and no food, according to the complaint.

The children were removed from the home and taken to the Childrens Hospital of Wisconsin.

The complaint said all the children were hypothermic, underweight and malnourished, and were diagnosed with severe neglect. Two of the children also had injuries that aligned with physical abuse, according to the complaint.

During an interview, Turner told investigators that she and the children had been living at the residence for about a month. She said the children were being fed three times a day and denied that their conditions came from a lack of being fed, according to the complaint.

A treatment provider at the hospital told an investigator that it was impossible that the children were being fed three times a day, according to the complaint.

Turner also claimed that the school-age children were being home-schooled, according to the complaint.
RACINE  Backpack giveaways mark the start of back-to-school season in Racine.

About 2,200 RUSD families preregistered to receive a free backpack and school supplies at the districts Aug. 10 giveaway at Park High School, 1901 12th St.

RUSD said the number of people who showed up at the event was much larger than back-to-school events it has put on in the past, with the line to receive free items stretching from Parks west parking lot and wrapping around the building.

The district also offered free lunch for guests as well as hundreds of free books for kids, and Feeding America gave away boxes of food.

A resource fair was also set up, offering assistance to parents searching for dentists, pediatricians and afterschool care.

Felicia Howell, director of family engagement for RUSD, said more than 1,000 backpacks were collected for the giveaway thanks to multiple community organizations like Ascension and Educators Credit Union. Howell said a little bit of everybody helped out.

This year we tried to do it more collaboratively with the community, Howell said, as this is the first year RUSD has partnered with community organizations for backpack giveaways.

We wanted to have a greater reach this year, and we thought we can do that by bringing our resources together and being able to provide families with the backpacks.

Howell said the district was excited about the turnout for its first back-to-school event and is happy to support families in a challenging time.

Several backpack giveaways are scheduled across Racine in the coming days.

Echelon Gallery is holding a backpack giveaway Aug. 19 at 3801 Monarch Drive Suite 2A, starting at 2 p.m.

A limited number of backpacks will be given away from 1-3 p.m. Aug. 23 at several Community Oriented Policing Houses. Those giveaways will take place at 1146 Villa St., 1750 Mead St., and 2437 Anthony Lane.

Photos from National Night Out 2023 For the kids Time with Atticus What a throw popcorn Basketball Incoming Helping out It has the juice Coming right at ya Pinata Scramble What a hit To the victor go the spoils Catch Victory Good Catch, chief What a catch Snow cones Adrian Higginbottom Prince-Lameir Bell Georgina Martinez Genesis Shawhan Tanya Williams and Tyran Pinkins Jamiyah Sheppard George Bray Neighborhood YMCA D'eric King Grab a bite Fire engine Focus on Community Jayden Cobb Kayden Pettigrew Jon Massie Trinity Poole Popcorn Arya Orta
BURLINGTON  Berkots Super Foods will be allowed to keep its liquor license, but not before getting an earful from city officials.

Members of the Burlington City Council questioned the grocery store operator Tuesday about liquor sales and renovations taking place inside the store at 690 W. State St.

The store was known as Gooseberries Fresh Food Market for many years before Illinois-based Berkots purchased it last year.

City officials had raised questions about whether Berkots was fully utilizing its Class B liquor license, which permits sale of beer, wine or liquor for either carryout or on-site consumption. Berkots is undergoing interior renovations that have temporarily slowed liquor sales for on-site consumption.

When the store owner requested renewal of its Class B license, city officials instead asked the owner to appear and answer questions before the City Council.

Alderman Jon Schultz, the council president, said the council agreed to renew Berkots license after the Tuesday night discussion with store representatives.

We ultimately had a productive back-and-forth, Schultz said. We had a direct but friendly discussion, and ultimately we approved the renewal.

Berkots owner Lucas Kotara and other company officials could not be reached for comment.

The renewal means Berkots will be able to continue sale of alcoholic beverages without any changes for another year.

The issue surrounding the grocery store comes as Burlington city officials have struggled with a shortage of Class B liquor licenses at a time when the city wants to license new taverns, restaurants or hotels.

Schultz said Berkots management in Illinois might have been unaware of Wisconsin state limitations on liquor licenses.

City officials explained to the companys representatives the importance of businesses performing up to the citys expectations after being granted such licenses, Schultz said.

We strongly encouraged them to meaningfully use the license, as opposed to treating it as an afterthought, he said. I think theyll be a good partner with the city moving forward.

17 unusual alcohol laws that could get you busted across the world 17 unusual alcohol laws that could get you busted across the world Nudes and booze are a no-no, New York City Keep the booze away from the communion wine, New York State No hooch on a horse, California Dry by default, Tennessee Perpetual Prohibition, Kansas Mommy-and-me martinis, Ohio No tippling till the polls close, Alaska Sober for Santa, Allegany County, New York Happy hour hindrance, Massachusetts Straw-sipping at the daiquiri drive-thru, Louisiana Cold beer crime, Indiana Banned bottomless brunch, Oklahoma Wasted while at home, Utah Hands off the barkeep, Nebraska Don't bring your cows home drunk, United Kingdom Whipped for wine consumption, Saudi Arabia Keep your beer unadulterated, Germany
1. Yes. As long as the basic ordinance is still intact, its smart to adjust to the local market.

2. Yes. If part of the ordinance isnt workable, it doesnt make sense to force the issue.

3. No. City staff worked hard on those design standards; its not fair to scrap them now.

4. No. Developers and builders shouldnt get to set their own rules. Keep the standards intact.

5. Unsure. Its best if the city and developers work together, but the city has the last word.

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Photo: The Canadian Press

A 24-year-old nurse at a mental health facility in Whitby, Ont., is facing criminal charges after a patient in an adolescent program alleged he sexually assaulted them.

Durham Regional Police say officers began an investigation after a patient at Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Services came forward with information in June.

They say the person was an in-patient in one of the centre's adolescent programs during a six-month period last year.

Police say the person reported being sexually assaulted several times by a nurse at the facility.

A 24-year-old man from Whitby was charged with eight counts of sexual assault, eight counts of sexual interference, and three counts of invitation to sexual touching.

Police say investigators want to ensure there are no other victims and are asking anyone with information to contact them.
BROOKSIDE SIGN Kenosha Countys Brookside Care Center in Kenosha now has additional beds available for long-term Medicaid and memory care and is accepting re

Kenosha Countys Brookside Care Center now has beds available for long-term Medicaid and memory care and is accepting residency applications.

Our staffing levels are now allowing us to admit additional long-term residents, Brooksides Administrator Lynda Bogdala said. We have some beds available at this time, and we anticipate more coming online in the near future.

The county-owned Brookside is a 154-bed facility that offers long-term skilled nursing and short-term rehabilitation care. In recent years, national publications have honored it as being among the best nursing homes in Wisconsin. The care center is located at 3506 Washington Road in Kenosha.

We are excited to be able to grow our census of long-term residents for the first time in recent memory, Bogdala said. We encourage families seeking compassionate long-term care to reach out and see what we have to offer.

The uptick in staffing follows steps taken to improve the countys ability to attract and retain employees, said County Board Chairman Gabe Nudo. This included the boards adoption of a classification and compensation study that established a more competitive wage structure in departments across the county last year.

These efforts already appear to be paying off, and Im pleased that Brookside is now able to expand its long-term care services, said Nudo, who is also a member of the Brookside Board of Trustees.

Robert W. Pitts, chairman of the Board of Trustees agreed.

Brookside is a special place that is a point of pride for Kenosha County. It is the communitys nursing home of choice, and were proud to be able to increase the number of people we can serve with high-quality long-term care. More information about Brookside is available at www.brooksidecarecenter.com.

Residency applications are available under the Admissions link; completed forms may be emailed to BCCadmissions@kenoshacounty.org, or hand delivered or mailed to Brookside, 3506 Washington Road, Kenosha, WI 53144.

For those seeking answers to additional questions contact Brookside at 262-653-3800.

Careers at Brookside

Brookside and its sister facility, Willowbrook Assisted Living, continue to actively recruit for employee positions including certified nursing assistants, nurses of all experience levels and environmental service workers.

All positions come with highly competitive wages and benefits including the Wisconsin Retirement System pension program and access to health insurance for full- and part-time employees.

Potential applicants may view available job postings and apply online at https://www.kenoshacounty.org/jobs.

Typical salaries can vary by 300% between these 5 types of nurses Typical salaries can vary by 300% between these 5 types of nurses #5. Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses #4. Registered nurses #3. Nurse midwives #2. Nurse practitioners #1. Nurse anesthetists
SOMERS  The University of Wisconsin System celebrated its partnership with Haribo of America at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside with an award ceremony Thursday afternoon, touting the mutually beneficial relationship.

UW System President Jay Rothman and UW System Board of Regents Vice President Amy Blumenfeld Bogost presented the Board of Regents Partnership Award to Toni Hansen, Human Resources director at Haribo.

Willie Jude II, vice chancellor for advancement at UW-Parkside, said the new partnership was an amazing opportunity for the area community.

When education and business collaborate, thats how real change occurs, Jude said. Having a company like Haribo move into town gives Parksides programs an international reach.

It feels almost surreal, Jude said. I grew up eating gold bears. To be able to drive by the facility and say theyre made here, it makes the partnership real.

Interim UW-Parkside Chancellor Scott Menke praised the company for its community work, which he said began long before they had even built the new production facility in Pleasant Prairie, including scholarships and working with students.

Its a very positive relationship; they want to do things in the community, Menke said. Theyre not doing it just to go through the motions.

Hansen said that mentality came from the top at the company. Haribo believes in giving back to the community, she said.

Hansen said they were proud to be recognized, but emphasized the award was not the driving force behind their efforts. Healthy communities mean healthy business, Hansen said.

Babatu Short, vice president of Haribo HR, said their community investment had direct benefits.

Our future workforce comes through the education of the community where we work and live, he said. Developing the future workforce is critical.

It also fits into a more philosophical mentality.

When we say we want to be embedded in the community, we mean that, Short said. Our people are what make us unique and special. The community is critical to providing those people. It was an intentional choice to locate in this community because of those people.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Before fleeing about 1,500 kilometres south of Yellowknife by car, Agnes Grandejambe looked to social media to find out almost everything she needed to know about escaping the encroaching wildfires.

Some from official government accounts. Mostly from friends and family, including an offer of help from her First Nation band.

But not from news media sites.

That's because Canadian news outlets  including the only one she trusts  have been blocked on Facebook and Instagram as a result of a dispute with the federal government.

People were posting how close the fires were. And we knew the highway kept opening and closing, so we said, OK, well just go, said the 65-year-old.

Her preferred media site, Yellowknife-based Cabin Radio, has been doing its best to get around the ban with help from the stations audience members who have been taking news from the Cabin Radio website  filled with the latest details  then snapping a screenshot and sharing that image on Facebook and Instagram so that their friends, family and others are more likely to see the information.

Our audience did an incredible job of undermining that ban on our behalf, said Ollie Williams, editor of Cabin Radio, speaking by phone after relocating west of Yellowknife to Fort Simpson. They found workarounds and they got our coverage out to each other, regardless of Meta trying to keep that from happening.

For their part, reporters have been gathering news and talking to first responders from their cars while themselves having to evacuate. Williams has been using a device for satellite internet service. And the station's general manager is sharing news with his team while volunteering as a bus driver carrying evacuees to the airport.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, announced earlier this month it would keep its promise to block news content in Canada on its platforms  everything from local outlets like Cabin Radio to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation  in response to a new law that requires tech giants to pay publishers for linking to or otherwise repurposing their content online.

Meta stood by its decision Friday, pointing out in a statement issued about the wildfires that people in Canada can continue to use the apps "to connect with their communities and access reputable information, including content from official government agencies, emergency services and non-governmental organizations.

A government minister on Friday called on Meta to lift the ban on news media.

What Meta is doing is totally unacceptable, said Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguez on a call with reporters. I warned them during conversations in the past of the risk of blocking news."

Im asking to go back on their decision and allow people to have access to news and information in Canada, he said.

Meta has been alone in its action. Googles owner Alphabet has also said it plans to remove news links in protest of the new law, although it hasn't yet followed through. The Online News Act, passed in late June after lengthy debate, doesn't take effect until later this year.

Meta has preemptively installed a ban that is now having dangerous consequences, Williams said. The editor said he doesn't put all of the blame on Meta for its arguments with the Canadian government, but local outlets like his had no say in that dispute and how it's governed.

More importantly, nobody asked our audience, Williams said. So the people being affected by this and the people producing the coverage, trying to help, had no voice at any part in that process. The outcome is a stupid and dangerous ban.

Samuel Woolley, an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austins School of Journalism and Media, warns that Metas blocking of news runs the risk of misinformation taking the place of trusted and vetted content during a natural disaster, at a risk of people's lives.

For years, platforms like Facebook pushed journalists to rely on the platform while profiting from news sharing, he said. But now they are trying to recreate themselves as news-free platforms to get away from some of the responsibility of compensating journalists or being treated as a media entity.

Woolley adds that the loss of reliable news wont be felt equally. Marginalized communities, people of color and low-income families  who may rely on social media for information when they cant afford a newspaper subscription, for example  will be impacted the most.

It was Wednesday when Grandejambe decided to leave Yellowknife, packing two vehicles along with four of her adult children and her teenage grandson. She was offered assistance and advice from fellow members of the Behdzi Ahda First Nation, based in the Artic community of Colville Lake where she was born.

An official evacuation order came soon after. But it hasn't always been clear where to go and what to do.

On Friday, she spoke by phone from a motel in Edmonton, Alberta, after a long journey that included an hours-long wait for gas near Fort Providence  a problem that's been thoroughly covered by Cabin Radio.

Her family was still working to get registered at Edmontons Expo convention center that has opened up to evacuees from the Northwest Territories. While annoyed by the difficulty of getting good information and what she felt was poor planning by government authorities ahead of the evacuation order, Grandejambe said she was happy her family was safe.

Theyre good. Just calm, cool, she said. Theyve been taught since they were small, don't stress over something thats not in our control.
Because of state funding cuts, the only licensed child care facility in Cashton will be closing next week.

Cradles to Crayons Cashton will close its doors on Aug. 25, a change initiated after Republicans voted in June to defund Child Care Counts, a Wisconsin child care subsidy program.

Child Care Counts was a huge part of our budget, said Morgan Meyer, one of the co-owners of Cradles to Crayons. So financially, were not able to do it anymore.

Child Care Counts distributed hundreds of millions of dollars in federal support to thousands of child care providers across the state during the COVID-19 pandemic. The money helped subsidize provider wages and maintain costs for parents.

In his budget, Gov. Tony Evers proposed spending $340 million to make Child Care Counts permanent. Since the funding was not approved, program dollars have shrunk and will expire entirely by February 2024.

Since 2020, over 100 child care providers in La Crosse County have received a total of $15.9 million in support payments from the state.

A broken system

The economics of child care is broken, said state Sen. Brad Pfaff, D-Onalaska.

To have a situation where for the parent, it can be quite expensive, he added. But if youre a provider, your margin is extremely narrow and its extremely difficult to get people to enter the industry because the pay can be minimum wage.

Evers has called a special session for Sept. 20 to address child care funding as well as workforce shortages. Pfaff hopes the funding can be restored so current providers can stay in business, while addressing community level needs for more child care.

The underlying basis for this is using these Child Care Count funds to make sure that we can have a broad plethora of child care providers, Pfaff said. I do believe that we need to have a hybrid approach. But part of this hybrid approach is recognizing the fact that you cannot just cut off the funding for Child Care Counts.

The senator said he would like to see a collaborative effort from the state, local governments and businesses to address the child care need  since all those sectors are affected.

Pfaff added that the Child Care Counts funding was critical to maintaining competitive wages to keep child care staff in place.

Many of the child care providers lose their qualified staff to other occupations because of the fact that they just can pay very well, Pfaff said.

Shortage of providers

Cradles to Crayons Cashton was licensed to care for 50 children. Meyer said some of their clients have found alternative care in Sparta or Westby  the nearest areas with licensed providers.

Families have been kind of finding spots like here or there at other centers, Meyer said. But we have some families that are still looking and havent found anything.

Pfaff said while rural areas might struggle with having enough providers for children, the problem stretches to urban areas as well.

There are child care deserts throughout western Wisconsin, in the Driftless Region, Pfaff said. For every one child that has child care, theres six that are looking.

Cashton community members tried to get a local fundraiser started for the child care facility, but Meyer asked them not to continue the fundraiser.

That was a short-term fix for a long-term problem, she said.

Meyer said she doesnt think they will be the only rural providers to close and many centers are struggling to find staff.

These rural areas, the centers in Westby or Sparta, need funding, too. I just hope the state can pull through and do something, Meyer said.
A 53-year-old Merrillan man with seven previous drunk driving convictions faces a felony charge for having alcohol in his system while driving.

Dario Miguel Aleman was charged in La Crosse County Circuit Court with felony operating with a prohibited alcohol concentration. He also faces misdemeanor charges of failing to stop, operating after revocation/alcohol-related, tampering with an ignition interlock device and possession of drug paraphernalia.

According to the criminal complaint, a Wisconsin State Patrol officer was observing westbound traffic on Interstate 90 around 4 p.m. Aug. 11 when he heard a vehicle with a loud exhaust pass by. The officer attempted to make a traffic stop, but the driver, later identified as Aleman, appeared to pull over twice but continued driving.

Aleman exited onto Highway 35 and reportedly made hand gestures acknowledging the squad cars presence. He continued onto George Street before coming to a stop on Moorings Drive.

The officer ordered Aleman to exit the vehicle and asked him what he was doing. Aleman reportedly said his foot got stuck in the vehicles clutch and that he was attempting to pull over the best he could. The complaint says Aleman acknowledged he was on parole and operating without a valid drivers license.

The complaint says Aleman smelled of intoxicants and that he admitted to consuming four or five beers earlier in the afternoon. He submitted to a preliminary breath test, which recorded a blood-alcohol content of .074. That was slightly below the legal limit of .08 but substantially higher than the .02 that a convicted drunk driver is allowed.

A search of Alemans vehicle reportedly recovered a glass marijuana pipe with residue, hypodermic needles and roach clips.

The complaint says Alemans previous drunk driving convictions are from Winnebago, Waushara and Jackson counties and were between 2000-18.

Aleman is being held in the La Crosse County Jail on a $250,000 cash bond. His next court appearance is an Aug. 21 preliminary hearing.
MADISON, Wis. (AP)  Gov. Tony Evers is set to lead a trade mission to Europe in September, his office announced Thursday.

The governors office says the delegation will stress Wisconsins manufacturing, health, scientific and food processing industries.

The governor will be accompanied by a delegation from 10 companies in the state as well as Missy Hughes, the secretary and CEO of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.

The trip will feature stops in Brussels, Belgium, Amsterdam and Leeuwarden in the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.

Belgium was among the top 10 destinations for Wisconsin exports in 2021. The Netherlands ranked 11th.

The announcement did not say when Evers would leave the state or return. Evers' spokesperson, Britt Cudaback, didn't immediately respond to an email seeking the dates for the trip.

This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Hughes.
Lake Geneva resident Ken Larsen has dedicated his 36-year firefighting career to helping those in their greatest hour of need.

Now in his own great hour of need, brother firefighters and community neighbors in Walworth County and across northern Illinois are joining forces to support Larsen as he fights a spirited battle for his life against occupational cancer.

According to statistics from the federal U.S. Fire Administration on occupational cancer, firefighters have a 9% higher risk of developing cancer and a 14% higher risk of dying from cancer compared to the general public, citing research by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety (NIOSH). The cancers mostly responsible for this higher risk were respiratory (lung, mesothelioma), gastro intestinal (oral cavity, esophageal, large intestine), and kidney.

And according to the nonprofit Firefighter Cancer Support Network (FCSN), cancer is the most dangerous threat to firefighter health and safety today, causing 66% of career firefighter line-of-duty deaths from 2002-2019 according to data from the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF). Cancer caused 70% of the line-of-duty deaths for career firefighters in 2016.

A career calling

A Lake Geneva resident along with his wife Kathy since 2008, Larsen serves as a firefighter and hazardous materials team leader with the Lake Geneva Fire Department (2008-) and as a lieutenant with Illinois five-station Huntley Fire Protection District (2002-) in Kane and McHenry counties.

Becoming a firefighter came naturally for Larsen in his hometown of Woodstock, Ill, where he cut his rookie teeth with the Woodstock Fire Rescue District in McHenry County, where he served from 1987-2008.

When I was a teenager I was watching the engines going out, the ambulances going out, he recalled. When were in the middle of absolute chaos and things are going bad, its just where Im supposed to be ... Its just what I was made to do. Ive spent my whole life doing it. Its just where somebody wanted me to be ... The majority of time, were there for their worst day and we have to make it better. Thats why were there.

Larsen, 54, was diagnosed with Stage IV occupational cancer in February 2023  esophageal cancer that in June was found to have spread to his liver. Filed for workers compensation in Illinois for job-related cancer for line-of-duty exposure to heat, smoke and toxins, Larsen is being treated at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., a top-ranked U.S. hospital regularly acknowledged among the very best in the nation in a variety of specialties, including cancer care.

What Im most impressed with is when you leave there, you feel like theres hope, Larsen said of Mayo. The healing that they have there is just tremendous. Ive got the best doctors in the world. Ive had such great people there that Ive dealt with.

That being said, the future is uncertain for Larsen.

They just dont know..., he said of his long-term prognosis. Its Stage IV cancer. There are treatments, but there is no cure  and thats for anybody with Stage IV cancer ... Right now the main goal is to get the tumor growth under control, hopefully get it shrinking and then adjust the treatment plan from there ... Its so stressful. Its a three-pronged fight. The physical fight of the cancer, the chemo, the treatment. Theres the mental fight, which is incredibly hard, just crushing. And then theres the insurance, legal, money, that whole thing...

Larsen is currently on light duty in a support role with Huntley Fire Protection District and on a medical leave of absence from the Lake Geneva Fire Department.

The guys from the union down there (Huntley) have have been working my light duty shifts for me for free so I havent had to go in, which has been really nice, Larsen said. Its tremendous.

But its also hard.

It kills me, it crushes me, said Larsen of not being an active duty firefighter. Ive been doing this my whole adult life. It just kills me. When this is wove into the fabric of your life ... to not be a part of it kills you ... Youre there for a reason. Youre not there to make a living, youre there for your friends, your family, your community. To have that be taken away from you so quicklly, and not by your own choice, just kills you. Its been a long road so far and weve got a long ways to go.

As a dedicated helper since joining the fire service at 19 following graduation from Marian Central Catholic High School in 1987, Larsen, while grateful for the overwhelming outpouring of support, admits struggling personally with cancer turning the tables and putting him on the receiving end of help.

Those of you that know me know that I really dont like being the center of attention, Larsen said. Ive always been a rather quiet, private guy ... We (firefighters) are great at handling other peoples tragedies, but not so great at handling our own, and this is a prime example of it. If this was reversed for somebody else, Id be the first guy in line ... To be on the receiving end just does not fall in our DNA ... To be on the receiving end, in addition to all the health struggles, is really overwhelming...

Despite the admittedly long odds of his current cancer fight and firefightings inherent risks for increased cancer rates, Larsen said he would still pursue a career in firefighting, a noble profession and calling.

I dont want this to discourage anybody from going into firefighting, Larsen said of his occupational cancer fight. I love to see the next generation coming into the station. If youre young and want to get into firefighting, absolutely keep doing it. If I could rewind the clock to August of 1987 when I started in Woodstock, I would do that again and I would do it in a heartbeat.

Firefighters, long described as being in a brotherhood, have rallied around Larsen and his wife as the veteran career firefighter faces the ultimate personal battle  for life itself.

Ken represents the very best of what a firefighter should be, said Lake Geneva Fire Department Public Information Officer and Chaplain Capt. Mark Moller-Gunderson. He handles emergencies with a calm confidence, based on years of experience and rigorous training. He has a deep skill set, making him a valuable asset in complicated situations. Ken is a life-long learner and a superb teacher. As an officer and senior member, he is looked upon as a role model and mentor for those entering the fire service. He continues to make the communities he serves safer and healthier for all of us. With Karen, he is now tackling his personal health challenge with the same determination and grace that has shaped his life. If I was ever in a jam at a fire scene, Ken is the guy I would want next to me. I am proud to call him a friend and brother in the fire service.

Added Lake Geneva Fire Chief John Peters, Kens one of the leaders of our organization and is a huge public servant and has helped many as a longtime leader in the fire service ... Hes brought a lot to the City of Lake Geneva ... Hes just a great person and has served, and continues to serve, our community. Its great to see the community rally around him and give him support. Its just a wonderful thing to see the outpouring of support by the community. Were there for the community. Now its wonderful to see that back in kind and see the support given to him. Thats just a wonderful thing. Were hoping to get them some support monetarily to continue their fight medically. We want to thank the community for their support.

Aug. 22 benefit planned

The Lake Geneva Firefighters Association and the Huntley Professional Firefighters Association IAFF Local 4106 are joining forces to organize a fundraiser in support of the Firefighter Cancer Support Fund to benefit Larsen in his continued battle against the occupational cancer threatening his life.

What started as plans for a small Taco Tuesday benefit with a couple taco trucks took on a life of its own, now with a huge family-friendly benefit event with two bands planned, with 500-800 attendees expected according to Dennis Detkowski, president of the Lake Geneva Firefighters Association.

Anything for this guy, Detkowski said. As the poster says, No One Fights Alone. We get behing our people. We help them. We support them. And our community does the same. Were proud of where we live because everybody has stepped up to make this a really successful, positive event. Were excited about everything weve got lined up. Its tragic circumstances that we need to do it, but its necessary. We appreciate the communitys support for someone who;s done do much for the local community ... He is the community. Hes a giver. Were happy to see the positive reception of the community to come out and support him. Everybodys coming out of the woodwork to support him and to support the cause. The local support that weve gotten is just tremendous.

The benefit will be held this coming Tuesday, Aug. 22, at Lake Geneva House of Music, N3241 County Hwy. H in the Town of Geneva. Tickets, $45 per person, includes dinner, live music and two beverages. To purchase event tickets, visit aftontickets.com and search Larsen.

Monetary donations can be also mailed to Lake Geneva Fire Station 1, Attn: FF Larsen Fundraiser, 730 Marshall Street, Lake Geneva, WI 53147.

Funds raised will be used toward Larsens medical expenses, transportation to and from cancer treatments at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn, and associated lodging costs while there.

Id really like to thank everyone thats part of this benefit and part of the organization of it, Larsen said. The great part to see is how the communitys rallied around my wife and I and the support that we have received ... I dont know if I can put into words how much we appreciate everything that everybody has done for us.

Far from focusing on himself and his current cancer battle with the upcoming Aug. 22 Firefighter Cancer Support Fund benefit, Larsen is already looking ahead to have the back of the next firefighter that will walk the same path and fight the same fight.

Were trying to blaze a path for the next person, Larsen said of the Firefighter Cancer Support Fund. I hope, and pray, that nobody in this community ever deals with this again, but the reality is this is part of firefighting, we do stand a chance of getting cancer. Firefighter cancer is a real thing. Were so much better at reducing the risks than we were even 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago ... but its one of the risks of the job. We doing better, but it (increased cancer risk) is there ... Firefighter cancer is so prevalent. Ive lost three friends of mine that Ive worked with to cancer. Several more have fought it and won. Its just one of the things that we deal with and have to be prepared for.

Detkowski invites the public to attend the Aug. 22 fundraising event at Lake Geneva House of Music and help Larsen fight the good fight for his life.

We hope that you are able to ... help us raise money for this worthy cause, Detkowski said. The slogan the fire department has adopted is In This Family, No One Fights Alone. We need our entire community to join us in this fight.
Marisa Gerber

Marisa Gerber writes narrative stories about life in Los Angeles and across the Southland for the Los Angeles Times. She previously covered L.A. Countys criminal courts for The Times and, before joining the newspaper in 2012, wrote about life on the border for several publications in Arizona. Gerber grew up in Nogales, Ariz., and graduated from the University of Arizona.
This article appears in the August 18, 2023 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.

May 1985

The Continuing Hoax of Artificial Intelligence:

The Multi-Billion-Dollar Boondoggle

[Print version of this article]

Editors Note: This article originally appeared in EIR, Vol. 12, No. 19, May 14, 1985.

Intelligence consists not of solving problems; intelligence consists of not having problems, said Berkeley, California philosophy professor Hubert Dreyfus, on April 17, 1985, at an Austin, Texas Symposium on the Humanities. Dreyfus is a Massachusetts Institute of Technology-trained specialist in what is called Artificial Intelligence. Austin, Texass micro-electronics center, is a hotbed of the multi-billion-dollar boondoggle, called Artificial Intelligence.

Artificial Intelligence (AI), was launched at the Massachusetts Institute of Technologys RLE laboratories, during the 1950s, as an effort to demonstrate that human intelligence could be simulated, and surpassed by digital-computing devices. AI research was launched by a circle including Professor Margaret Mead, who operated through a seed-funding conduit known as the Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation, a circle continuing the Unification of the Sciences project launched circa 1938 under the joint leadership of Bertrand Russell and the University of Chicagos Robert M. Hutchins. The basis selected for attempted achievement of AI, combined the notions of artificial intelligence developed by MITs Professor Norbert Wiener and Princetons John von Neumann, as popularized in Wieners 19471948 editions of Cybernetics.

Professor Dreyfus devoted his remarks at Austin, to his own explanation of the reasons he suspects AI research continues to be the failure it has been repeatedly admitted to be since the late 1950s. Yet, despite repeated confessions of failure by AI specialists, the percentage of total research and development grants, and professorships, continuing to be poured into this multi-billion-dollar boondoggle, has grown over the past 30 years.

Since the close of the 1950s, when the first admissions of uselessness of AI research were fielded, the variety of explanations for the failure has been as varied as descriptions of the elephant by the fabled committee of blind men. Dreyfuss purported explanation is noteworthy, as being among the most pathetic heard from such specialists so far. At the Austin conference, Dreyfus said that AI research is permanently stuck, because AI has been based on the premise that human intelligence consists of reasoning things out. The human dimension, involving flesh and feelings, Dreyfus said, goes beyond reasoning. Rules and reasoning, he said, are only the most basic aspect of human behavior. On such premises, he concluded that the objective is to avoid all problems which can not be solved on this rudimentary level.

The pouring of billions of dollars into research projects which have been repeatedly proven absurd, is a prevailing fact of the so-called social sciences, such as anthropology-ethnology, sociology, and psychology. There is perhaps no instance of research-grants for physical science, in which repeatedly proven absurdity has been so richly funded as in the instance of AI. The reason this AI boondoggle has been so long tolerated by non-scientific circles, is obvious enough: the superstitious mystique of Zbigniew Brzezinskis technetronic age, the same mystique which overwhelms the science-ignorant technician confronted with the programming of a digital computer. The reasons trained scientists do not blow the whistle on this billion-dollar-boondoggle, are a bit more complicated.

Dreyfuss recent explanation for the continued bankruptcy of AI research has the merit of pointing almost directly to the pseudo-scientific beliefs among the scientifically-educated personnel who devote their professions to this useless effort. Turn Dreyfuss explanation upside-down. Instead of saying that human intelligence is not rational, simply recognize that the definition of human intelligence adopted by AI professionals is absurd.

There exists an established body of scientific knowledge, which does enable us to define human intelligences rudimentary principles in mathematical-physics terms of reference. It is relevant that the famous David Hilbert threw Norbert Wiener, the author of Cybernetics, and co-author of modern information theory, out of a pre-World War I seminar at Gottingen University. The grounds for this expulsion, was Wieners stubbornly persisting scientific incompetence. Wieners incompetence is essentially identical with the leading features of John von Neumanns efforts to apply a neo-positivist definition of formalist mathematics to a theory of brain-function. Wiener and von Neumann were among the leading opponents of the kind of physics which does explain many characteristic features of human intelligence, opponents of the line of development in physics running through Leonardo da Vinci, Leibniz, Euler, and Gauss.

This identifies part of the reasons for the failures of that multi-billion-dollar boondoggle called AI. However, the problem is not merely the awe for the Wiener-Shannon and von Neumann doctrines of information theory, among science-educated specialists. The undeserved aspects of the reputations of Wiener and von Neumann appear to be valid among most science-educated professions today, because the textbooks and classrooms, of secondary schools as well as universities, are saturated with the effluvia of so-called formal logic.

Todays student knows almost nothing of the most important developments, and related controversies, within the history of modern science, and does not know, that the foundations of modern science, insofar as its fundamentals are developed today, were established by a succession of scientific workers whose work is known only in bits of snatches to textbook students of today. These include, notably, Leonardo, Leibniz, Euler, the celebrities of the Monge-Carnot Ecole Polytechnique, and the circle of Carl Gauss in nineteenth-century Germany. Modern secondary and university students of mathematics, are so consistently brainwashed, by drill and grill in the delusion that natural science is a subject of neo-Aristotelian formal logic, that they must tend to conclude that most of the fundamental discoveries upon which physics today depends, were the product of a method of inquiry totally unscientific by todays academic standards in mathematical formalism.

The record of bankruptcy of the AI boondoggle, is useful only to the degree it exhibits the impossibility of comprehending, even defining, human intelligence or human information, by methods of mathematical analysis based upon formal logic. It exhibits, at least implicitly, the principle, that what is called logic today, and human reasoning, are incompatible notions. If this failure of AI were examined against the backdrop of Leibnizs denunciations of Descartes, and the raging controversies within nineteenth-century science, the fact is most clearly presented to us, that Gauss, Riemann, Weierstrass, and Cantor, were correct, and their opponents, the late-nineteenth-century proponents of statistical mechanics, represented the wrong turn in scientific method and education.

What keeps the multi-billion-dollar AI boondoggle going, is the reluctance of modern secular humanists to admit, that the laws of the universe are not consistent with a statistical theory derived from formal logic. The AI crowd, is not only historically (Russell, Hutchins, Kurt Lewin, Carnap, Mead, et al.) secular humanist; excepting scientists influenced strongly by religious convictions to the contrary, the scientific community at large is dominated increasingly by a Vienna-Circle-flavored sort of neo-positivist secular humanism. The case of Charles Darwins manager, the Julian Huxley who coined the term agnosticism, indicates the role of British radical empiricism in shaping secular humanist thought in the United States. Von Neumann typifies the neo-positivist influences of the Vienna Circle upon U.S. universities science departments. These typify the leading proponents of the statistical faction in mathematical physics and other specialties over the recent 130-odd years. Today, especially among scientific professionals, the secular humanist and statistical standpoints are not only strongly correlated, but are functionally interdependent.

In this report, we contrast the proper definition of human intelligence, as situated within the history of modem science, with the absurd assumptions, rooted in statistical theory, on which Wiener and von Neumann founded the multi-billion AI boondoggle.

Living versus Dead Matter

It is elementary, for any effort to define human intelligence in the language of a mathematical physics, to begin with the fact that human beings are living organisms. The precondition for defining living organisms, is to locate a fundamental and infallible distinction, between living and non-living processes in nature generally. Once that is accomplished, we must next isolate some infallible, fundamental distinction between human and animal behavior.

The rigorous definition of the distinction between living and non-living processes was first defined for modern science, by the work of Luca Pacioli and Leonardo da Vinci, at the close of the fifteenth century. The continuing line of inquiry along the lines established by Leonardo, runs through the work on optical characteristics of living processes, by Louis Pasteur, into lines of inquiry in what is called non-linear spectroscopy, today. The physics which is uniquely suited to living processes so defined, is the physics based on the methods employed by Carl Gauss, Bernhard Riemann, and Karl Weierstrass, during the nineteenth century.

Before turning to the issues of the distinctions between human and animal behavior, we summarize the nature of the case for living processes. We begin with a summary of the connection of the initial discoveries in biology, by Pacioli and Leonardo, to the preceding discoveries of Nicholas of Cusa. This is the starting-point from which all successful approaches to definitions of living processes has proceeded, from then to the present time.

Modern science began during the middle of the fifteenth century, with the elaboration of rigorous principles of scientific method by Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa, e.g., Cusas De Docta Ignorantia (On Learned Ignorance). For example, Cusa was the first modern thinker to present a heliocentric hypothesis on the ordering of the solar system (not Copernicus). The central feature of Cusas own original discoveries, was his discovery of a conception called today the isoperimetric principle of topology, as later refined by the work of Leibniz, Leonhard Euler, and the Bernoullis. A clear understanding of the implications of this isoperimetric principle is indispensable for comprehending the work of Pacioli and Leonardo, and the later work of Pasteur and non-linear spectroscopy today. Without grasp of these implications, the mere existence of the biologist teaching biology at the head of the classroom remains a subject of profound mathematical uncertainty.

Cusa proved that both the axioms and the deductive method of the famous Elements of Euclid, are intrinsically absurd. Neither points nor straightness have any self-evident form of existence in the universe. The isoperimetric theorem proves conclusively, that the only form of self-evident existence of form and matter in our universe, is circular action.

However, circular action does not mean the simple drawing of a circle, as by aid of a compass. To define a straight line, we must create a diameter for circular action, by folding a circle perfectly against itself. This folding of the primitive circle perfectly against itself, introduces the first principle of measurement, measurement by one-half. To create a point, we must fold a half-circle against itself. By circular action, acting upon these two additional elements created by circular action, the point and the line, everything that can be constructed within Euclidean geometry is constructed, using nothing but construction, without deductive logic.

Therefore, the minimal condition for producing the shapes constructible within Euclidean space, is what we must best describe as triply-self-reflexive circular action. By self-reflexive, we mean that triply-self-reflexive circular action acts upon everything constructed by such circular action. By triply-self-reflexive, we mean that, circular action is acting triply upon circular action itself.

This is simply illustrated, as a definition, in the following way.

At every arbitrarily small interval of circular action, the same kind of circular action is acting, as if at right angles, upon that circular action. At every arbitrarily small interval of the second moment of circular action, in turn, a third of the same kind of circular action is action upon the second, as if at right angles to both the first and the second.

This is the minimal form of isoperimetric action sufficient to define a Euclidean space of construction, the minimal preconditions required to generate a straight line and a point.

Taking one aspect of triply-self-reflexive circular action, the following correction must be added to the picture.

Human perception is limited to perception of changes (transformations) occurring in a finite interval of space-time. Perception of instantaneous objects is not possible: Instantaneous objects of perception do not exist. Therefore, we can perceive nothing, except under the condition, that the act of perception ends at a slightly later point in time than it begins.

Therefore, the simplest conceivable form of circular action in physical space-time, is in the form of a cylindrical helix. Or, if the action increases or decreases at a constant rate, the circular action occurs as a self-similar-spiral action on the surface of a growing cone. The first helical geometry, is the axiomatic basis for what is called Fourier Analysis. A geometry based axiomatically upon conic self-similar-spiral action, is a Gaussian (constructive) geometry. Other terms for Gaussian geometry, are the Gaussian geometry of the continuous manifold, or Gaussian functions of a complex variable.

The history of modern sciences progress toward a physics theory of living processes, is summarily as follows.

The first step was accomplished by Luca Pacioli and Leonardo. Pacioli, working from the starting-point of Cusas Minimum-Maximum (isoperimetric) Principle, reworked the scope of the Tenth through Thirteenth books of Euclids Elements, to reconstruct a proof cited in Platos Timaeus dialogue: the proof, that only five kinds of regular polyhedra can be constructed in Euclidean space. During the eighteenth century, Leonhard Euler developed a more rigorous proof of this. Out of this work, Leonardo developed the foundations of modern optics and hydrodynamics, including a forerunner of Riemannian stereographic projection, spherical projective perspective.

As Euler demonstrated the point rigorously, of the five constructable regular polyhedra, four are simply constructed from one, the regular dodecahedron whose surfaces are regular pentagons. The construction of both the dodecahedron and the regular pentagon, is based upon preceding construction of a derivative of circular action, called the Golden Section. The Golden Sections general significance is, that it defines the boundaries of constructability within visible (Euclidean) space. The proof, earlier reported in Platos Timaeus, that, in visible space, only five kinds of polyhedra can be constructed, reflects an efficient limit determining all forms of constructability in Euclidean space.

The first step toward founding biological science, was accomplished by Pacioli and Leonardo, by showing that the elementary distinction of living from non-living processes, is that living processes forms and morphology of function, are congruent with the Golden Section.

Until the nineteenth century, at least approximately so, the explanation of the reason for this morphological distinction between living and non-living processes, was that the so-called Fibonacci series ratios for successive intervals, converges upon the ratios of self-similar growth given by the Golden Section. The Fibonacci Series, is the classical geometrical method for estimating population-growth, developed by Leonardo of Pisa. The increase of the number of cells in a tissue, for example, is a form of self-similar growth of populations, comparable in broad terms to self-similar growth of populations, at a constant set of birth and death rates.

Pacioli and Leonardo showed, that the shapes determined by growth of plants and animals, including human beings, were elaborated in forms consistent with the harmonic ratios determined by the Golden Section.

A century after Leonardos work, this generalization about living processes had to be modified slightly, because of the discoveries of a leading follower of Cusa and Leonardo, Johannes Kepler. Kepler constructed an hypothesis for the determination of the Solar Systems orbits, an hypothesis based directly on Cusas arguments for an heliocentric solar system, and the work of Pacioli and Leonardo on Platonic Solids and the Golden Section. Keplers solar hypothesis was an hypothesis based on the Golden Section, an hypothesis which employed astronomical data to demonstrate empirically, that the laws of the universe as a whole were coherent with the harmonics determined by the Golden Section. Since Gauss later proved conclusively, that Keplers astrophysics was the correct choice, and Keplers critics absurd, the universe has such a proven similarity in its underlying principles to living processes; in modern verbiage, we must say that the universe as a whole is essentially negentropic, not statistically entropic.

This implication of Keplers work was later extended by Bernhard Riemann, who insisted and showed, that, at its extremes, in astrophysics and microphysics, the laws of the universe must be characteristically negentropic. Hence, the contrast between living and non-living processes applies only to the very large experimental domain between the astrophysical and microphysical extremes. With that qualification, Paciolis and Leonardos discoveries respecting the distinction between living and non-living processes, are essentially in force to the present time.

That principle of living processes is valid as far as it goes, but inadequate. The deeper implications of a triply-self-reflexive circular action, are not yet incorporated within it, in that form.

There exist, as visible images, forms which are not constructable within Euclidean space. We say that these are incommensurable, in the sense that only forms which can be rigorously constructed are commensurable; any other meaning of commensurable is either trivial or false. Those forms which are not commensurable with construction in Euclidean space, all reduce axiomatically to what are called transcendental functions: functions whose constructability requires such mutually coherent transcendentals as pi [], the Eulerian logarithmic base, and trigonometric functions. This principled limitation of visible (Euclidean) space, was already a central feature of the work of Plato.

In the simplest terms of reference, transcendental functions reflect the fact, that physical space-time is dominated by a rotational orientation in space, as triply-self-reflexive circular action requires. The so-called Cartesian coordinates, must not be seen as axes of reference for primitively straight-line action; they must be interpreted as axes of triply-self-reflexive rotation, and Cartesian space seen also as a misleading interpretation of a space whose geometry is that of a Riemannian sphere.

The significance of transcendental values, is that they correspond, in physics, to self-similar-spiral action, as the primitive (elementary) form of action, in cylindric or conic functions, as in Fourier Analysis or Gaussian geometry, respectively. In these geometries, some (Fourier cylindric) or all (Gaussian manifold) of the transcendental values are constructable with the same efficiency as constructable forms in visible (Euclidean) space.

It happens, that all forms in visible space, which are projections of conic forms of self-similar-spiral action, have everywhere the metrical characteristics determined by the Golden Section. This is the physics-basis of proof supporting J.S. Bachs values of equal tempering in well-tempered polyphony, for example. That is the proper mathematical-physics meaning of the cited discoveries of Pacioli and Leonardo. The adequate explanation for characteristic distinctions of living from non-living processes, must therefore be sought out within the Gaussian domain.

To accomplish that, one must first consider the most general kind of problem raised by Gausss discoveries in geometry. Triply-self-reflexive conic self-similar-spiral action defines a range of physics-functions which are efficiently continuous as physical processes, which are nonetheless characterized mathematically by a more or less dense frequency of mathematical discontinuities. In elementary geometry, we already face the problem of algebraic discontinuities, in such forms as points, lines, surfaces, and solids. In physics, these confront us in such forms as what are mistakenly interpreted as elementary particles, and in other forms. The center of the elementary problems confronting the effort to elaborate a Gaussian physics, is to show mathematically how processes which are efficiently continuous in physical space-time, are continuous in some way despite the generation of what are often increasing densities of mathematical discontinuities.

This problem situates the task of restating Leonardos distinction of living from non-living processes, in terms of the Gaussian manifold. The problem of densely discontinuous mathematical functions corresponding to efficiently continuing physical processes, was the central feature of the work of such collaborators and followers of Gauss as Lejeune Dirichlet, Bernhard Riemann, Karl Weierstrass, and Georg Cantor. That is the physics-significance of the work on topology accomplished by Dirichlet, Riemann, Weierstrass, and Cantor. It is within the framework of the admittedly incomplete accomplishments of these figures, that the distinction between living and non-living processes must be resituated.

The Bearing of Economic Science

To continue our summary account of the problems of defining life and human intelligence from the vantage-point just identified, it is most useful to examine the way in which human intelligence shows itself to be the characteristic feature of economic processes. By economic science, we signify that founding of economic science, by Leibniz, on which the principles of the United States founding American System of political-economy (Alexander Hamilton), were premised: not the mere money theories popularly taught and practiced as economics in the United States and Europe today.

The most characteristic feature of human society, is implicitly defined thus. Whereas, a primitive form of human society is capable of sustaining a worldwide population of not more than approximately 10 million individuals, there exist nearly 5 billion today. This growth in the potential relative population-density of the human species, by nearly three orders of magnitude, is the most characteristic distinction of the human from all inferior species. No lower species could willfully increase its potential relative population-density by a single order of magnitude. No lower species can willfully improve its day-to-day behavior by aid of advances in scientific and related knowledge.

That circumscribes the range of phenomena to be examined, as reflective of human intelligence.

Consider only, more narrowly, the effect on population growth of the irregularly-paced but more or less continuous explosion of science and industrial societys technology, since Cusa set the progress of science into motion during the middle of the fifteenth century. (The case can be generalized, for the study of the technological dynamics of earlier forms of society.) All advances in technology, and of potential relative population-density, occur principally as technological advances in qualities of producers goods, in an increasingly energy-intensive and capital-intensive mode of alteration of basic economic infrastructure and work-places. The source of these advances in technology is the improved power of the individual human mind, to generate and to assimilate efficiently new conceptions flowing from fundamental scientific progress.

Those aspects of the potential creative powers of the human mind, which bear upon the generation of fundamental scientific discoveries, are, in this way, an efficient physical cause in the universe.

In the case, that a modern form of agro-industrial society is maintaining a constant rate of technological progress, in an energy-intensive, capital-intensive mode of production of physical goods, the most elementary picture of such economic growth, is a picture of an efficiently continuous function subsuming increasing density of mathematical discontinuities. Doubly self-reflexive, conic, self-similar-spiral action, is the minimal requirement for portraying the effect of constant technological progress upon such an economy. Instead of a simple cone, the growth of per-capita potential relative population density, generates a bell-mouthed horn, whose side-view cross-section describes an hyperbolic curve, seeming to zoom off into Cartesian infinity. The central axis of that horn represents a uniform time-scale. Obviously, the action is efficiently continuous, past the interval of that flaring of the hyperbolic curve toward infinity. This is exemplary of physical processes which are efficiently continuous, despite discontinuities subsumed by such processes.

Without going into greater detail than is directly relevant in this report on AIs incompetency, the following remarks on this economic-process function are sufficient.

Riemanns contributions to fundamental advances in physics, center upon his appreciation of the treatment of this problem, of dense discontinuities generated within an efficiently continuous function, by, chiefly, Dirichlet and Weierstrass. (The question of the determination, enumerability, of such discontinuities within an arbitrarily small interval of a function, including seemingly arbitrary functions, is a central topic of the 18711883 contributions of Cantor.) As early as his 1854 habilitation dissertation, On the Hypotheses Which Underlie Geometry, Riemann indicates the general nature of the solution to the problem we have described for economic processes. In a famous later paper, his 1859 On the Propagation of Plane Air Waves of Finite Magnitude, predicting supersonic shock-waves and isentropic compression of plasmas, Riemann defines an exemplary case for the application of the relevant principle earlier tentatively supplied in his 1854 dissertation. When a true singularity, such as the indicated sort of discontinuity, is generated within an efficiently continuous process, that determines an alteration of the metrical characteristics of the local (or larger) physical space-time of the process affected. The characteristic action of the continuous function continues to operate, but the action occurs in a physical space-time whose metrical characteristics have been altered, as the instance of supersonic flight illustrates most simply.

In the sort of idealized economic process, which we have portrayed, at the flaring mouth of the hyperbola, a new hyperbolic curving, in an altered economic physical space-time, begins. The second curve flares into a discontinuity, as did the first, with an analogous continuation of the function. And, so forth and so on. Relative to the time-axis, the interval between these discontinuities becomes shorter. This shortening of the interval defines an harmonic series.

The degree of higher organization of the economy, has therefore the following gross characteristics. First, the effect of technological progress (under stipulated, ideal conditions), is to generate a series of ever-more-frequent Riemannian shock-wave-like discontinuities. Second, the increasing density of such discontinuities, so generated, is harmonically determined. Finally, the increasing density of such harmonically ordered discontinuities of the function, is the measure of increasingly higher organization of the process.

The relationships are made more sensible, by removing the implicit assumptions of a Cartesian schema, by projecting the function onto a Riemannian sphere, so that the lines of discontinuity obviously do not shoot off into a Cartesian sort of infinity. The proper design of the function, and of the significance of a Riemann-Weierstrass Surface for plotting the function, is more or less obvious at that point.

The economy which corresponds to this function, will describe, in projection, an idealized harmonic growth consistent with the Golden Section. The economy thus appears to be a single living organism, to the effect that sick and dying economies correspond, in these terms of reference, to sick and dying forms of living organisms. The U.S. economy, under the influence of the now-accelerating post-industrial trend of the recent 20 years, is such a sick and dying organism.

Leibniz already showed that technology was a matter of the form of internal organization of productive processes. His version of the Principle of Least Action, employed this feature of empirically demonstrable technological progress, to assist in proving that Cusas isoperimetric principle was also the elementary form of physical cause-and-effect action in the universe.

The advances in efficiently employed technology, which are the sole ultimate source of economic growth, represent the imposition of forms created in the individual human mind, upon the productive process. Hence, rigorous analysis of the function of technological progress is an implicit reflection of the forms of creative mental activity deserving of the title, human intelligence.

These Gaussian forms of action, which we have outlined for economic processes, and, implicitly, for human intelligence, are the same forms of action necessarily characteristic of living processes generally. However, in man, the principle, characteristic of biological activity defined as distinct from mental activity, the same negentropic principle which Kepler implicitly proved to underlie the ordering of the universe, occurs as an efficient activity of thought itself. It is this efficient form of thought, on which the continued existence of society depends. This form of thought, constitutes the essence of what is properly defined as human intelligence.

Ludwig Boltzmanns Error

Now, we turn our attention to the roots of those popular delusions, which have aided in the perpetuation of the multi-billion-dollar AI boondoggle. We begin with a few more or less indispensable references to the historical roots of the problem.

Today, it is a popular form of ignorance, to trace the emergence of modern science from Francis Bacons founding of British empiricism. In fact, the utter fraud and triviality of Bacons writings, is efficiently symptomized by the fact, that the fruitless Bacon adopted as the target of his attacks the most profoundly fruitful scientist in all English history to date, William Gilbert. Galileos fraudulent experimental concoctions, the beginning of the effort to overturn the work of Kepler, and the Gnostic cultist Fludds attacks on Kepler, are the beginnings of modern empiricism. The comprehensive attack upon science begins with Rene Descartes, of which the work of Newton is merely a parody on this account.

The key to this emergence of empiricism and positivism, is that it was begun over a century after the foundations of modern science were established, and that each of the principal figures involved in this countercultural attack on science, Descartes included, were agents of the Venice-directed forces behind the disastrous 15161653 Counter-Reformation. During the sixteenth century, the forces of the Counter-Reformation merely attempted to stamp out science, by aid of the Inquisition. At the beginning of the seventeenth century, the emphasis on inquisitional methods was replaced by methods of attempted corruption through cooptation.

In this respect, the Leibniz-Newton controversy is of relatively trivial significance, essentially a by-product of efforts by the Duke of Marlboroughs faction, to prevent Leibnizs appointment as the prime minister of England. It is the fierce fight against Descartes evil, first by the circles of Desargues, Fermat, and Pascal, followed by a full-fledged attack by Leibniz, which is the key to the internal history of science since the beginning of the eighteenth century. The case of Newtons follies, is merely adjunct and essentially peripheral to the issue of Descartes.

By the beginning of the nineteenth century, Newton was broadly and rightly discredited outside Britain, and Descartes was almost in total disrepute even in France itself. Yet, Cartesian principles dominate scientific teaching and opinion today. How this rather abrupt, nineteenth-century change occurred, involves two distinct, but closely correlated phases of action against the tradition of Leibniz.

Descartes reputation was reestablished in 1815, by decree of the pro-feudalist forces behind the 1815 Treaty of Vienna. Carnot and Monge were expelled from Frances leading scientific institution, the Ecole Polytechnique, and the institution placed under the supervision of the neo-Cartesian Laplace. Laplace uprooted entirely the educational program of the Ecole, and handed leading political authority over French scientific opinion, to his protege, the nasty plagiarist, Augustin Cauchy, whose absurd concoctions are ritually taught to nearly all victims of elementary differential-calculus courses today. Except for the current of the Carnot-Monge tradition typified by the persecuted Louis Pasteur, science died rapidly in France after 1815, to be replaced by the ideologically fascist (Synarchist) positivism emerging from the corrupted Ecole Polytechnique.

After 1815, the main currents of French science, like Carnot himself, fled to Alexander von Humboldts patronage, in Germany. By 1827, the transfer of world-leadership in science, from France to Germany, was more or less completed. From the 18151827 interval, into somewhat later than 1857, leadership in world-science was dominated by the circles of Humboldt and Gauss.

Beginning 1850, an escalating effort was launched, to attempt to destroy science in Germany, too. There were four points from which coordinated attacks upon science were launched: Metternichs Vienna, Cauchys France, Britain, and within Germany itself. The principal figures of this anti-science effort, included Clausius, Kelvin, Helmholtz, Maxwell, Mach, Rayleigh, and Boltzmann; the principal targets, from then deep into the twentieth century, have been Gauss, Riemann, Weierstrass, Cantor, and, to a lesser degree, Felix Klein. By the 1880s, the anti-science, or statistical faction, of neo-Cartesians, had won the fight politically. The crushing of Germany, in the wake of World War I, nearly eradicated even the much-diluted German remains of the Leibniz-Gauss tradition.

The key point, which must be stressed, if the nature and outcome of these factional struggles within science are to be understood, is that, throughout, the anti-science faction prevailed not through scientific methods of disputation, but because the anti-science faction was deployed with backing from the most powerful assortment of pro-feudalistic wealthy families of Europe. The families either controlled the government, and also the dominant institutions of banking and insurance, or they controlled the universities directly. The outcome of the fight within science was arranged, thus, politically, by the simple expedient of determining which factions representatives were appointed to key university and related positions.

James Maxwell, who was perhaps, in some ways, the best of a very bad lot, frankly admitted the nature of his own largely plagiaristic work in electrodynamics. He frankly justified what might otherwise be deemed his large plagiarism from the extant work of Gauss, Weber, and Riemann on electrodynamics, by announcing that his purpose was to recapitulate electro-dynamics, to free it from the methods and geometrical conceptions of Gauss, Weber, and Riemann. Hence, the absurdities irreparably embedded in the axiomatic features of Maxwells work. Hence, Maxwells invention of an ether-fluid, to avoid the principle of Gaussian physics, that only a geometrically ordered physical space-time exists, rather than Cartesian particles roaming in empty space and time. In an effort to save Cartesian geometry, Maxwell filled Descartes empty space-time with an ether-fluid.

The discrediting of Maxwells hopes for an efficient sort of ether-fluid, so discredited the idea of locating a dynamics in anything but a Gaussian manifold, that rather than accepting Gauss, his factional opponents retreated increasingly from classical dynamics, into substituting statistics for causality.

Among the most significant of the exotic concoctions produced by the anti-science faction, was the work of Ludwig Boltzmann. The most significant feature of Boltzmanns work, is his effort to explain away the occurrence of phenomena which are not statistically entropic, such as living organisms, by means of a curious application of Laplaces arguments, a calculus of statistical fluctuations. If Boltzmanns arguments are applied with consistency, mankinds existence is based on calendars and clocks which run backwards, while the rest of the universe is based on calendars and clocks which run forward. (Boltzmann set his own clock straight, in 1901, by committing suicide at the Thurn und Taxis castle of Duino, in Trieste.)

Norbert Wiener explicitly based his definitions of negentropy and information theory upon Boltzmanns doctrine of statistical fluctuations. The axiomatic premises adopted by von Neumann are, variously, explicitly or implicitly identical to those cited by Wiener. Hence, we have a modern doctrine of political-economy, econometrics, whose only benefit is to guide nations to economic self-destruction. Hence, we have the costly AI boondoggle.

As we have summarized the case, an effective approach to discovering the commensurability of living processes and human intelligence is embedded in the internal history of the development of modern science. However, since the empiricist and neo-positivist factions of academic life, have been embedded in the science profession, politically, increasingly, over the recent hundred years, any effort to resume the line of development of scientific method typified by Leibniz and Gauss, challenges the politically motivated misassumptions imposed upon the teaching of science over many decades.

Sciences Revenge on Bertrand Russell

Bertrand Russell, a key figure in the thuggery against Riemann, Cantor, and Felix Klein, from as early as the 1890s, was the grandson and true political heir of the Lord Russell who dedicated his career to attempting to destroy the United States and everything for which that republic stands. It is the vile stream of radical positivism, which Russell represented to the end of his long-overdue demise, which has produced for us today, amid other afflictions, this AI boondoggle.

Russell was a particularly virulent representative of the pro-feudalistic aristocratic families of Europe, a stratum of powerful families, whose success in imposing their capricious wills upon ordinary people and governments, encourages them to act as if they viewed themselves as reincarnations of the fabled Gods of Olympus. In this state of arrogance, they act as if they imagined themselves not only gods, but so powerful that they might pit their wills against the Creator Himself. Their ultimate fate, as the great Aeschylus warned them, is to bring the wrath of the laws of the universe upon not only themselves, but those cowardly or greedy enough to tolerate Olympian insolence against the laws of the Creator.

So, today, as we have compromised the vital interests of the nation and people of the United States, for sake of peaceful accommodation with such families, we have imposed upon ourselves those monetary and economic policies of practice which are not only destroying the U.S. economy, but weakening our nation to the degree that we become the easy prey of growing Soviet imperial power. Similarly, in abandoning the principles of sciences search for truth, whomever that truth may or may not please, we make ourselves not only prey to the waste of billions on such boondoggles as AI, but cripple that science upon which we must largely depend, to continue to be able to feed and defend our own population.

AI may reflect the prevailing prejudices of an extant scientific community, but if that is unchangeable, then AI typifies a society which, according to Aeschylus principle, has lost the moral fitness to survive.
This article appears in the August 18, 2023 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.

RALLY AND CONCERT

A New, United Peace Movement Is Born

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Aug. 11Twenty years ago, in the run-up to and following the George W. Bush Administrations launch of the war against Iraq, the peace movement swept across the United States and Europe. On the eve of that invasion, attendees numbered in the hundreds of thousands at the larger demonstrations, and even reached into the millions in some European cities. As the war dragged on, and new ones startedin Libya, Syria, Yemen, and Ukrainefatigue set in and the former clarity of those demonstrators waned. This was accomplished in large part by Barack Obama and those who controlled him, who successfully shifted the perception of these regime-change wars to be seen instead as humanitarian interventions against anti-democratic leaders and states. As a result, it is no exaggeration to say that today, whatever was left of the peace movement in the U.S. and Europe is dead.

This became obvious when, following Russias incursion into Ukraine in February 2022 and the ensuing proxy war led by the U.S. to defeat Russia, no substantial showing of opposition emerged. Those few pro-peace groups who were the relics of larger groupings of activism in previous years found themselves isolated, rigid, and ideologically unable to collaborate with anyone except their immediate circles. Add to this an all-out war against dissent, especially against anyone daring to speak out against the approved narrative: against anyone who said that history began before February 22, 2022 and that maybe there was more to the story than the unprovoked Russian aggression. The level of thought-control over Western countries further stifled a real response.

This stranglehold was finally broken one year after the beginning of the Ukraine conflict when on February 19, 2023, a rally was held in Washington, D.C. under the banner, Rage Against The War Machine. Despite being labeled with every slander and derogatory statement under the sun, this coalition, representing organizations across the political spectrum, successfully pulled off a major statement from the otherwise moribund peace movement: Stopping nuclear war is more important than our political differences was the unifying message. This event marked a major breakthrough, identifying the war machine which is intent on preventing peace, and establishing not simply an anti-war movement, but an anti-imperialist movement.

As this last 17 months has proceeded, another process has been underwaynamely the revolt of the Global South from its former colonial masters. Not only have the vast majority of nations outside of North America and Europe refused to join in the sanctions against Russia, but there has been an increasingly strong anti-colonial sentiment being expressed from these nations in a revival of the earlier Non-Aligned Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. It was only natural to unite the newly blossoming peace movement with this new anti-colonial sentiment around the world.

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Over the weekend of August 56, 2023, the seeds of a new, united peace movement bore fruit. Calling itself Humanity for Peace, this new coalition found resonance from nations around the world and set an even more profound process into motion. Not merely intent on stopping the war and those shadowy actors controlling foreign policy of the so-called Western countries, the coalition increasingly worked to assert a universal principle of humanity, the acknowledgement of which can eliminate the underlying cause of war itself.

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A New Peace Movement Is Born

At least 28 coinciding rallies were held around the world from Guatemala to India to California. The main event was in New York City at Dag Hammerskjold Plaza, where many United Nations missions are located. Over a dozen speakers attended in person, including two presidential candidates, and many more video and written endorsements were received. A third presidential candidate, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., sent a video message which was played as part of the livestream of the event. The new Humanity for Peace released a list of four demands: End all weapons to Ukraine; convene immediate peace negotiations; dissolve NATO; and create a new security architecture to eliminate the geopolitical division of the world into blocs.

Representation, both on the podium as well as in the endorsing organizations, included those from nearly every different affiliation. Musicians, film directors, candidates for public office both in the U.S. and abroad, communists, libertarians, religious leaders, authors, journalists, and members of the LaRouche movement.

The organization expressed its explicit intent that participants put aside their particular slant on the world and come together to express a higher purpose. Held on the anniversary of the dropping of the first atomic bomb by the U.S. over Hiroshima, Japan, the event took on a particularly somber tone. A summary of a handful of notable speeches gives a flavor of the New York event.

Former Marine and UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter, who oversaw the implementation of the original Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty from within the Soviet Union, gave a passionate speech on the collapse of arms treaties over the recent years, and the need for a new million-person march, as in the 1980s in New York City, against an increasingly possible nuclear war today.

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EIRNS/Stuart Lewis Scott Ritter View full size

Humanity for Peace Diane Sare

Dont count on the uniformed men and women in the military to step in to stop this, Ritter said, as they are mere executioners and will do their job if ordered to do so. It is the American people who are needed now, to step up and assert their proper role. The American people should stop being walked all over by political know-nothings, and instead say: No! We got it here! Its over! The day of nuclear terrorism is done! He continued,

We must learn to recapture the spirit of disarmament that gripped Ronald Reaganand theres no one out there right now thats more conservative than Ronald Reaganthat gripped him in his heart, to make him believe that having nuclear weapons was insanity, and the best course of action for the United States and world was nuclear disarmament.

Ritter ended his remarks by emphasizing:

We need to recapture that spirit, and Im hoping that, today, we can begin a process that leads to a moment next summer when we can put a million people back into Central Park and send a signal to those who wish to represent us in the White House, that nuclear disarmament is the only direction for the United States: That the day of the executioner is over!

Another powerful contribution came from independent candidate for U.S. Senate from New York and long-time LaRouche movement activist Diane Sare, who began on a stark note with the following warning:

If there is not a major change in the United States, there is reason to believe that this day, August 6, would be a good time for us to say our goodbyes. Our goodbyes to each other, goodbye to the planet, and goodbye to the paintings of Rembrandt, the discoveries of Ibn Sina and Albert Einstein, the philosophy of Confucius and of Leibniz, the principles of the U.S. Constitution, the poetry of Shelley, and the music of Beethoven. We are steadfastly marching toward the thermonuclear annihilation of everything ever created by man.

With that wakeup call, Sare continued on the theme:

[No one] from inside the beltway, is going to stand up and stop this thing before we go over the cliff. Waiting for that would guarantee that we are finished. But thats why were here today. I am not pessimistic. I am optimistic because I dont intend to allow the annihilation of the human race to occur while I have breath to fight.

This certainly was the spirit of those assembled.

Sare ended by calling upon those powers within each of us to demand a more just world, in contrast to the currently morally bankrupt political leadership.

What is needed, is a whole new order among nations based upon mutual respect for the sovereignty of their people and the dignity of man. Our enemies are totally morally and financially bankrupt, so we must seize the moment to finally establish a republic of the United States of America which doesnt meddle in other nations internal affairs, but demonstrates by our own actions, within our own borders, that truth has standing, that justice will be served, and the people are protected so that through their talents they may contribute to the betterment of mankind.

Libertarian candidate for President Mike ter Maat further took up this theme, speaking about the need to rediscover our values as Americans, and sleep not in our pursuit of a more just and truthful nation. He continued:

Just as we must demand the best version of America, so too does the world long for the America of our ideals. We know the world yearns for the sound of idealism, because in its silence evil has grown. Evil grows in the hegemonic projection of power; evil grows in the imperialistic control of foreign people; evil grows in the despotic arrogance of nation building. The world awaits a new leadershipa new leadership away from evil. Make no mistake, all leadership comes from values. It is not for American values to change but for American policy to change by aligning with what we already know true American values to be.

Musician and producer Malcolm Burn gave inspiring remarks on the beautiful nature of mankind, and the currently ruling disease of insanity which threatens it.

The complete madness thats overtaken almost all of our Western leaders minds and souls, whose collective disconnect from reality replaced by hubris and greed, seems to open up a Pandoras box of evils.

Burn referenced the weakness inherent in society, where people often make decisions not on rational thought but rather on emotional responses. This is what we must overcome, he said. This is the way propaganda is currently being used to push us into war. Instead, there must be a way out, as mankind is better than that. Then, quoting from William Shakespeares The Tempest:

Oh wonder how many Godly creatures are there, how beauteous mankind is! Oh Brave New World, that has such people in it.

One presentation that had a wonderful summary of the spirit shared by all, was given by J.R. Heffelfinger, director and film producer. Heffelfinger has recently released the award-winning film 8:15 Hiroshima: From Father to Daughter, which tells the true story of a family which independently survives the nuclear attack in Hiroshima in 1945. He began his remarks by playing Auld Lang Syne on trumpet, the inspiration for which he said came to him spontaneously while listening to the days proceedings, because it is often shared at the dawn of new beginnings.

And as we reflect upon the anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, let us remember that our world stands on the precipice. Though the hands of time moved closer to midnight, we are reminded that our shared Destiny is in our hands.

Heffelfinger went on to quote from former U.S. Representative and education reformer Horace Mann [17961859] who he said is his north star.

Be ashamed to die until winning some victory for Humanity. Now Im sure this concept has been said in different ways and with different words, but this concept has echoed through the corridors of time. These words urge us to carry the torch of progress, to strive for a better world, where the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are not repeated, where Justice, compassion, and peace are cherished and celebrated, and are real.

One of the voices representing the movement among the Global South was Muhammad Salim Akhtar, the National Director of the American Muslim Alliance. Akhtar spoke of the principle of life across religions, saying:

Muslims all over the worldthey stand in solidarity with you for the sole purpose of peace and justice. What we believe, as part of our faith, is that if you kill one human being, just one, it is like killing the whole of humanity. But if you can save just one life even, it is like saving the whole humanity. So theres this belief that we are bound to stand in solidarity, not only the American Muslim, but Muslims across the world.

Elaborating on this new element coming from the nations of the Global South, Akhtar continued, making clear that this means taking on the forces of modern colonialism, and their strategy of keeping nations divided by economic underdevelopment:

We need to address the root causes of the war. We must address all the means, all the reasons, that can create a conflict between individuals, between groups, and between the nations. We must take every single measure to [stop] those scheming and planning to undermine the majority of 95 to 98 percent of the human race, [who want] to have a new colonialism, economic colonialism, and keep the underdeveloped countries [down]. Because its economyeconomics is the reality that is a rift between the haves and have nots.

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To end the rally, LaRouche activist and intervener Jose Vega took the stage to summarize the days accomplishments:

This does not end here. What weve done here is weve set up an amazing foundation and beginning for a processa continuous process.

Vega reminded everyone that August 6 is the 78th anniversary of the unnecessary bombing of Hiroshima, a terrible and murderous event, but that today the situation is much worse.

Despite this, Im optimistic, because we are not alone here, but are joined by dozens of sister rallies around the world, all making the same declaration: No more bombs! No more war! Peace is our solution and peace is the answer! We have focused our efforts into one guided laser, to tell the world: peace not war, and not violence!

The response from both speakers and attendees in the crowd was enthusiastic. The in-person audience of 400 to 500 clearly showed an excitement at how so many different and diverging speakers could at the same time converge on a higher principle.

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A Musical Intervention

Following the rally in New York City, Humanity for Peace held a special concert at a nearby church to further elaborate on the idea of peace begun earlier in the day. The concert began with a selection songs and arias from around the world, including from Germany, Russia, Italy, and America, and finished with a full performance by a chorus of over 100 of Mozarts Requiem. The event can and should be viewed in its entirety. Its power cannot be conveyed in words. The concert video is available here.

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We nevertheless reference here some of the opening remarks of the concert, to give an idea of its significance in igniting this new peace movement.

Anastasia Battle, one of the masters of ceremony of the rally, opened the proceedings by speaking about the earlier event at Dag Hammerskjold Plaza as an important, beautiful intervention into world history. She continued, emphasizing why it is that the audience was now invited to participate in a classical music concert:

I think that at this point in time, the only way that we can express the ability to stop nuclear war is to well up within ourselves that sublime power that every single one of you has. And were looking at that now. What were doing here today in this church, the volunteer chorus, people who are from all walks of life who are joining us today to express a beautiful demand that we cannot lose mankind to something so terrible and evil 

Lets grow, lets make this voice heard more loudly, lets express more beauty more broadly.

Battle was followed by Dennis Speed, Schiller Institute member and one of the concert organizers, who further delved into the importance of music for any peace movement today. Speed called the earlier events of today a mass intervention from a group of people who decided that there is a worthy experiment to be run. The question he posed is: Is it possible for humanity to speak with one voice?

Speed continued by telling a story about a time he was working with Lyndon LaRouche, who said that a lot more people are needed to join the campaign. When Speed said he would get on the phone to drum up volunteers, LaRouche said no, and insisted he must instead form choruses. Speed, confused at the time, relayed LaRouches response, quoting him:

The problem with people is that they are afraid of the sound of their own voice. You will never find or create a free people unless you can inspire people to sing. If you can do that, then you can do anything else.

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So therefore when looking around us at all the divisions in society and otherwise, Speed said, what youll recognize is that this division is also one thats in our minds, its inside of us.

The issue is: What is the voice with which we should be speaking? Well today at this rally and today as a whole, which is a commemorative day about a crime, in which tens of thousands of people died  the issue is: Can we speak to that problem, not in a strident way, not in a so-called political way per se, but in a way that moves the people, and moves the people that even committed that crime, and moves the people that were killed by that crimeis there something we can do? Well if we were to try to speak as individuals, that wouldnt work. But if we were to try to speak as humanity, offering our voice to humanity, perhaps, perhaps something can be changed.

Correction: In our Aug. 11 issues coverage of the Humanity for Peace Aug. 6 actions, the picture of demonstrators in Romania on page 9 showed the Miscarea Pentru Pace organization, rallying with supporters at Piata Unirii in Bucharest. We misidentified the picture as another rally that day, of the Schiller Institute and other groups at Piata Universitatii in Bucharest. Thanks to all who came out for peace!
This article appears in the August 18, 2023 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.

Ibero-Americans Rallied with Humanity for Peace Aug. 6

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EIRNS

Aug. 12Humanity for Peace events in several Ibero-American countries Aug. 6 displayed optimism and a commitment to reason and truth, as the Schiller Institutes Dominican Republic collaborator Caonabo Suarez described it. He told the rally in his own capital city, Santo Domingo:

We believe that with you, weve contributed to awakening humanity so it understands the danger of nuclear war that threatens us as a species. Good people around the world are one, and we must act in unity if we want a world of peace and cooperation.

In Guatemala, longtime Schiller Institute supporter Raul Marroquin declared mission accomplished! after organizing a 50-person event in the main plaza of the small northern town of San Cristobal de Verapaz, population 70,000. Large Humanity for Peace banners adorned the plaza. Marroquin had proclaimed there that the Institute is named

in honor of Friedrich Schiller, the great 18th Century German poet, writer, philosopher and historian, whose works have inspired the republican opposition in the whole world to oligarchic tyranny.

Optimism characterized the many statements of those who gathered to commemorate the 78th anniversary of the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and were immensely proud to be part of this international mobilization. They brought its message, with emphasis on the central role of Helga and Lyndon LaRouche and the words of Schiller, even to citizens in small, remote towns. They displayed large colorful Humanity for Peace banners and posters in Mexico City, Mexico; San Cristobal de Verapaz, Guatemala; Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Santiago, Chile; and Costa Rica.

On Aug. 4, the series of Ibero-American actions kicked off in Mexico City, where a team of 12 Humanity for Peace (HFP) organizers rallied in front of the United Nations offices. They carried a large HFP banner, and one highlighting John F. Kennedys June 10, 1963 American University speech. The organizers briefed passers-by with the four demands of the Humanity for Peace declaration. A public affairs officer from the UN came outside to ask questions about the rallys purpose, wanting to know how the coalition viewed the role of the UN. He asked about other Ibero-America events, but was surprised to learn that sister rallies were being held around the world, including on Dag Hammarskjold Plaza near the UN in New York City.

In an example of support activity in countries where there were no organized events, Humberto Herrera of The LaRouche Organization gave a lively interview on the mobilizationincluding the evening Mozart Requiem performance in New Yorkto the Voces de Occidente radio program in Buga, Colombia.

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Small Guatemala City Leads

The Humanity for Peace rally that took place early in the morning on Aug. 6 in Guatemalas San Cristobal de Verapaz, was a beautiful reflection of the power of ideas as represented in Schiller Institute organizer Raul Marroquin, a retired electrical workers trade union leader. San Cristobal de Verapaz is a small northern town whose population is 80% indigenous and speaks the Poqomchi language in addition to Spanish.

Some 25 members of the Citizen Observatory for Peace (Heavens Pupil), of which Marroquin is the director, joined with five people from the KAQ KOJ Environmentalist and Governance Group and 20 members of civil society at the central La Libertad plaza, having adorned it with three large Humanity for Peace banners. They distributed posters, leaflets and 200 bumper stickers with the HFP logo. Ronaldo Antonio Camey, of the Environmentalist and Governance Group, both endorsed Humanity for Peaces international mobilization and presented the urgent necessity of preventing nuclear war. He quoted at length from Helga Zepp-LaRouches 1984 speech at the founding of the Schiller Institute, which highlighted reviving the spirit of the American Revolution and the German classical tradition, and explained Schillers role as a great historian, philosopher, poet and dramatist. At that time Zepp-LaRouche had said:

The special method that Schiller used to approach world historic problems is the only one that can still bring us a solution today. The essence of that method can be defined by Schillers own words: Man is greater than his destiny.

Marroquin followed with historythe origins of the Second World War and the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasakiand another colleague read the original Humanity for Peace press release, highlighting its four demands.

No One Can Be Indifferent

The message, No one can be indifferent, was delivered to a small group gathered in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on the morning of Aug. 6, organized by Schiller Institute supporter Caonabo Suarez, whose Institute for Analysis and Conclusions (INAC) joined with Humanity for Peace to call on all nations to mobilize for peace and against the threat of nuclear war, whose epicenter and origin is the Russia-Ukraine war.

In a prepared statement including Humanity for Peaces demands, Suarez elaborated on the nuclear war threat, warning that in such a conflagration there could be no winners or survivors, but only the annihilation of the planet. Driving the war offensive, he said, is the collapse of the global financial system and the emergence of new centers of power with new paradigms of international relations which the international financial oligarchy cannot tolerate.

Repeating some of the horrifying details that University of Missouri nuclear expert Steven Starr has described, on what Earth would look like after a nuclear war, Suarez stated:

This is why the Dominican people, together with all nations of the world, are standing up for peace against nuclear war, for equality, justice and a new paradigm of peaceful existence, cooperation, solidarity, unity.

Chileans Against War

In Santiago, Chiles capital and main city, Humanity for Peace joined with three other groupsWorld without War and Without Violence, the Community for Human Development, and the Coordinator Against Nuclear Warto hold an enthusiastic rally Aug. 6 at the beautiful Parque Metropolitano. Humanity for Peace was not an official co-sponsor, but its representative, Mauricio Aguilera, was welcomed and invited to speak. Participants wanted to learn more about the Schiller Institute, and about the Humanity for Peace banner featuring the Schiller Institute logo displayed next to those of the three organizing groups.

The Santiago event opened opportunities for expanding the Schiller Institutes presence in Chile, reflected in the interest shown by the representative of the Coordinator Against Nuclear War, who said in a short video statement to Aguilera that the war in Ukraine was NATOs proxy war against Russia for the purpose of dismembering it.

The daily Pressenza published an opinion piece on Aug. 5 by Juan Gomez, who has participated in recent months weekly meetings of the International Peace Coalition catalyzed by Helga Zepp-LaRouche. Gomez publicized the rally and reported that the Schiller Institute and the other organizer groups all belong to the Humanity for Peace Coalition, waging an unyielding battle to educate citizens and get them out on the streets to show the worlds governing elites that humanity has stood up to oppose their macabre goals.

In a related initiative, on Aug. 9, marking 78 years since the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Mauricio Aguilera presented a formal letter from the Schiller Institute to the office of Chiles President Gabriel Boric at the La Moneda presidential palace. It identified NATOs offensive toward nuclear war and the extermination of human civilization, driven by the collapse of the global financial system, and presented the four points central to Humanity for Peaces international mobilization. The Schiller Institute urged President Boric to speak out on behalf of peace, and call for a ceasefire and peace negotiations without conditions between the parties before the situation goes out of control. (See box: Speak Out in Favor of Peace)

Accompanying Aguilera were representatives of Chiles Humanist movement, who had joined with Humanity for Peace in the rally at the Parque Metropolitano, and who presented their own letter to the Presidents office.
This article appears in the August 18, 2023 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.

[Print version of this article]

Speak Out in Favor of Peace

The Schiller Institute presented this letter Aug. 9 to Chilean President Gabriel Boric, at the Presidential office.

His Excellency President of the Republic Gabriel Boric Font

Santiago

Your Excellency:

In addition to greeting you, we write Your Excellency to express our profound concern over the current world situation in which the leaders of the United States and NATO are escalating and using Ukraine as a tool to wage a war to dismember Russia and then later do the same to China. Right now, the conflict has reached a point where the threat of nuclear war has intensified, not only meaning the end of human civilization but also of every living being on the planet. The true cause of this war is the imminent collapse of the trans-Atlantic financial system [whose overseers] arent willing to allow a new paradigm to come into being for the benefit of all humanity. Its the nations of the BRICS and the Global South which are fighting to bring that new paradigm into existence.

For this reason, the Schiller Institute and its founder Hela Zepp-LaRouche felt the moral obligation to create an International Peace Coalition, made up of 30 different organizations, which commemorated on Aug. 6 the 78th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, organizing a worldwide mobilization to demand the following four points:

1. The immediate ending of all funding and weapons to Ukraine.

2. Convene immediate unconditional peace talks.

3. The dissolution of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

4. A new international security architecture must be created to end the division of the world into blocs, eliminating geopolitics. This new architecture must take into account the security concerns of every sovereign nation, large or small.

We urge Your Excellency and the government over which you preside to speak out in favor of peace, to call for a ceasefire and peace negotiations without conditions between the parties to the conflict before the situation goes out of control.

Cordial regards,

Mauricio Aguilera B.

Schiller Institute, Santiago [back to text]
Belarus President Lukashenko Gives Lengthy Interview to Respected Ukrainian Journalist

Aug. 17, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko gave a nearly two-hour interview to Diana Panchenko, a noted Ukrainian journalist who is not a mouthpiece for the regime. The interview, posted on her YouTube channel, was covered by the official BelTA news agency today. Panchenko had asked for an interview in which she could ask any questions, to which Lukashenko agreed. Lukashenko said that the Ukraine war could have been avoided. Serving as a go-between for Putin and then-Ukrainian President Poroshenko, Lukashenko related his discussions with Poroshenko regarding the situation in eastern Ukraine, which had a large Russian-speaking population. Lukashenko told Poroshenko he should simply agree to the Minsk proposals for special status for the Lugansk and Donetsk and hold elections there. Lukashenko related their conversation:

Poroshenko tells me this: Why should I hold elections? They will be held under the control of Russia. I told him: Petro, well, this year, supposedly, they will be held under the control of Russia. This is what we can agree on. And I suggested to them: I will hold elections there, I will do as you agreePutin, Poroshenko. And Ill do it as you decide. Poroshenko refused. Putin agreed to everything.

According to Lukashenko, if the Minsk agreements had been implemented then, everything would have been quiet and calm. The Ukrainian hryvnia currency would circulate in the respective territories, and in general the regions and the border with Russia would be under control of Ukraine.

Lukashenko reiterated his warning that if Ukraine does not come to the negotiating table now, it may not survive as a state. Now Russia will crush you there, he said.

Manpower and equipment. Already those motivated, ideologically minded Nazis, as they were called, nationalists, these people are not ideologically strong. They have all died already. Who is fighting here already? Whoever you will catch on the streets and bring them here. They are not trained. Well, there are not many soldiers. They will not cope with this machine. Russia has reorganized. Russia today has the latest weapons at the front. There are already enough drones. It is already a completely different army. And the most dangerous thing is that they have 250,000 volunteer corps, Russia has 250,000, which are now trained and in reserve. There are fewer Russians at the front now,

the Belarus President said.

He went on to say that the Russians are on the defensive because they dont need to attack.

Its not necessary. But you go, you understand, like you are stung and drunk. You go at the ready, as they show the Germans in the movies. You go to these barricades, but you dont even reach the minefields, we see it. You are simply destroyed by the thousands. 45,000 of you died during the counteroffensive and left there crippled. Your losses at the front are one to eight, Lukashenko said.

He warned that if the war continues, there will be little left of Ukraine. And the Poles, encouraged by the Americans, will also take a piece of western Ukraine, which they greatly desire.
EIR LEAD EDITORIAL FOR FRIDAY AUGUST 18, 2023

The Coming Strategic Earthquake

Aug. 17, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)A choice must be made; an earthquake is brewing; the pressure is building; the rupture is inevitable; the abyss cannot be straddled. The globe cannot survive half slave and half free.

A new paradigm, represented by the BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, bilateral and multilateral agreements for security and development, challenges and would overcome the failing hegemonic power of Anglo-American NATO. But the would-be world imperium is willing to lead the world into nuclear warfare to prevent their system from being challenged.

These two outlooks can no longer exist together on this planet. We will succeed in transforming NATO, by an international effort, or we may all perish in the death throes of a collapsing hegemon.

The move towards a new paradigm shows new impetus every day. The defense ministers of Saudi Arabia and Iran met in Russia on Aug. 16. On Aug. 17, the Iranian foreign minister visited his Saudi counterpart in Riyadh. Regarding the rising BRICS grouping, former Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl said in an interview today, We observe a total transformation of geopolitics, international relations, which also affects institutions.

The haughty blindness to the changing world situation was apparent to Kneissl upon her taking office in 2017. She explained that she had asked staff for documentation on how the EU and Austria saw the BRICS. There was not a single paper, not a single one, she has revealed. And this is what I call Eurocentrism, you see, because this was absent during debates in the EU. And it is interesting that they were simply not interested in this, and now Macron is knocking on the door, seeking to get in, saying: May I come to the party, please? No, I have not actually been invited, but I would like to become a part of the party. 

Meanwhile, looking to the supposedly democratic side of the fraudulent democracy-vs-autocracy division of the world, the electoral process in the United States is becoming something no self-respecting banana republic would tolerate. Donald Trump, the leading opponent to the incumbent President by far, has been subjected to four indictments in an absolutely obvious attempt to prevent his return to the White House, and to send a message to anyone else who might try achieve a change in the United States, that the six ways from Sunday that Sen. Chuck Schumer cravenly said the intelligence community would use to retaliate against Trump, are just merest beginning. The latest two indictmentsone federal and one in the State of Georgiarely significantly on claims that Trump knowingly lied about the election. That is, they claim that Trump knew he had lost, knew that there had been no vote fraud, knew that there had been no ballot improprieties, knew that the 2020 election had been the most secure ever, etc., but he still persisted in making claims to the contrary for the purpose of staying in office.

Meanwhile, the same prosecutor who had offered a wildly generous plea deal to Hunter Bidena deal that was slapped down almost immediately by the judge, once she read itwas promoted to become the special counsel for investigations into the Presidents son.

These chilling developments show both how unencumbered by principles are those who think that anything is acceptable if it stops Trump, and the extent to which the ideals the United States was created to embody are being sacrificed by those seeking to fully transform the nation into the sort of Empire against which it won its independence.

It is more urgent than ever to achieve in NATO-land a radical reconfiguration, of seemingly impossible scope and speed.
Alaskas Mendenhall glacier is about 20 minutes by car from Juneau, the state capital. It is one of the areas most popular sites for tourists.

But climate change has caused the ice to melt and the glacier to retreat. That means it is losing more snow and ice than it gains. Researchers from the University of Alaska, Southeast say the Mendenhall glacier retreated about 800 meters between 2007 and 2021.

Mendenhall pours down from rocky land between mountains and into a lake filled with icebergs. Special signs mark the glaciers retreat, showing where the ice once stood.

Experts estimate that by 2050, people will not be able to see the Mendenhall glacier from the visitor center that was built for it. That is already the case at some other glacier visitor centers in Alaska.

The melting glacier leads to questions for the Alaskan tourism industry. Does it make sense to build visitor centers for glaciers if they will not be useful in the future? How can tourism leaders help protect the glaciers for visitors to enjoy? And should there be limits on the number of tourists to the area?

Local leaders, tour companies, large boat operators and the U.S. National Park Service are all considering these questions.

Future of tourism

Tourism is an important part of Juneaus economy. About 1.6 million cruise ship passengers are expected to stop in Juneau in 2023. That is the most ever in one year. On especially busy days, 20,000 people arrive each day to a city that has only 30,000 full-time residents.

Cruise ships are large boats with sleeping places that carry tourists from one place to another. Many cruises start a weeklong trip to Alaska in either Seattle, Washington, or Vancouver, Canada.

Manoj Pillai is a cruise ship worker from India. He recently got off his ship and went to see the Mendenhall glacier. The glacier is so beautiful now, he said. But he wondered what it must have looked like 10 or 20 years ago.

Jennifer Dumas lives in Washington, D.C. She knows what Alaska's glaciers looked like in the past. She and her husband first visited the state and its glaciers in the 1990s. She told about seeing another glacier not too far from the Mendenhall glacier over 20 years ago. She went to Glacier Bay National Park and spent the night near the McBride glacier.

Where we used to camp, where you could see the glacier. It has receded so far, you cant see the glacier anymore. So we have pictures of us in front of the glacier, that you can no longer take those pictures.

Visitor limits

People have many reasons to want to visit Alaska, and all the visitors help the states economy. But in Juneau, tourism officials are questioning whether the city and surrounding areas can deal with so many visitors each year.

Alexandra Pierce is the citys tourism manager. She said she and others are discussing what a sustainable tourism industry should look like.

City leaders and major cruise lines have agreed to a daily five-ship limit for next year. As many as seven ships a day have arrived this year. But critics worry that may not do much to reduce tourist numbers because the ships themselves keep getting bigger. Some Juneau residents say they would like one day a week without ships.

Kerry Kirkpatrick has lived in Juneau for nearly 30 years. She said she can remember when the Mendenhall glacier was long across the water and high above our heads. She called the glacier a national treasure. She noted that the area may not be able to keep up with all the helicopters, cruise ships and visitors that want to see Mendenhall.

Theres too many people on the planet wanting to do the same things, Kirkpatrick said. You dont want to be the person who closes the door and says, you know, Im the last one in and you cant come in. But we do have to have the ability to say, No, no more.

Im Dan Friedell.

Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on his own reporting and a report by the Associated Press.

____________________________________________________

Words in This Story

glacier n. a very large area of ice that moves slowly down a slope or valley or over a wide area of land

tourist n. a person from far away who goes to visit somewhere new for fun

iceberg v. a a very large piece of ice floating in the ocean or another body of water

cruise n. a vacation where people ride a boat that they sleep on from place to place

resident n. a person who lives full-time in a place

sustainable adj. able to continue for many years without causing damage

We want to hear from you. Would you want to visit Alaska even if you knew some of the famous glaciers would be hard to see?
At the same time, AI is a story to tell, and no longer just in science fiction.

Helen Phillips is the writer of the upcoming book HUM. It tells of a wife and mother who loses her job to AI.

Im frightened by artificial intelligence, but also interested in it, she explained.

Phillips said there is a hope in AI for gaining all knowledge, the understanding of everything. But at the same time, there is an inherent terror in being replaced by non-human intelligence.

Ryan Doherty is a vice president and director at Celadon Books. It recently agreed to publish Fred Lunzkers book Sike, featuring an AI psychiatrist, a doctor of mental health.

Weve been seeing more and more about AI in book proposals, Doherty said.

Doherty used the term zeitgeist, meaning the general ideas or spirit of a time, to describe AI.

Its the zeitgeist right now. And whatever is in the cultural zeitgeist gets into fiction, Doherty said.

Other AI-related books expected in the next two years include Sean Michaels Do You Remember Being Born?. That story tells of a poet who agrees to work with an AI poetry company. Also upcoming is In Our Likeness, by Bryan Van Dyke. It tells about a government worker and a fact-checking program with the power to change facts.

Another novel, A.E. Osworths Awakened, tells about a witch and her clash with AI.

And, crime fiction writer Jeffrey Siger, known for his books set in modern Greece, is working on a book touching upon AI and the metaverse.

Writers are also using AI to address the most human questions.

In Sierra Greers Annie Bot, the title character is an AI mate designed for a human male. For Greer, the book was a way to explore the characters urgent desire to please. She said the robot mate permitted the writer to explore desire, respect, and longing in ways that felt very new and strange to me.

Amy Shearns book, Animal Instinct, has its beginnings in the pandemic and in her personal life. She had recently divorced and began to use dating apps.

Its so weird how, with apps, you start to feel as if youre going person-shopping, she said. And I thought, wouldnt it be great if you could really pick and choose the best parts of all these people you see and mix them together to make your ideal person?

Of course, she added, I dont think anyone actually knows what their ideal person is, because so much of what draws us to mates is the unexpected, the ways in which people surprise us.

Some writers are not just writing about AI. They are also openly working with it.

Earlier this year, Stephen Marche used AI to write the short book Death of An Author. Simon Rich worked with Brent Katz and Josh Morgenthau for I Am Code, a thriller in verse that came out this month. The AI program code-davinci-002 created the work.

Im John Russell.

Hillel Italie reported on this story for the Associated Press. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English.

___________________________________________________

Words in This Story

copyrighted  adj. secured with the exclusive legal right to reproduce, publish, sell, or distribute the matter and form of something (such as a literary, musical, or artistic work)

fiction  n. written stories about people and events that are not real

inherent  adj. belonging to or being a part of the nature of a person or thing

witch  n. a person (especially a woman) who is credited with having usually evil supernatural powers weird adj. of strange or extraordinary character

character  n. a person who appears in a book or story

ideal  adj. exactly right for a person or purpose

thriller  n. a work of fiction or drama designed to hold the interest by the use of a high degree of intrigue, adventure, or suspense
In May, 10 Nebraska State Patrol troopers went to Texas for two weeks to help with drone surveillance of the border with Mexico. Recently, 60 Nebraska National Guard members went to Texas for a month for a similar assignment.

Is this a Nebraska problem? Or is this part of the national Republican Party agenda to allow Republican governors to take shots at the policies of President Joe Biden and blame Texas border woes on his administration.

Whats in it for Nebraska? Certainly not money. The trooper deployment was the third for Nebraska and has already cost an estimated $600,000 or more from the patrol budget. The Guard will apparently get some federal funds funneled through the Texas Emergency Management agency. But its doubtful that money will cover a lot of incidental costs.

Again, I ask, whats in it for Nebraska? Gov. Jim Pillen said the Guard would be aiding Texas authorities in their efforts to counter immigration and drug trafficking there. They are being sent to the border to provide additional observation and reporting near the border to assist Texas law enforcement involved in Operation Lone Star, Pillens office said.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott launched the operation in March 2021 to deploy resources from the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas National Guard to the border to secure the area. The operation has been ongoing since.

This mission is critical to the security of Nebraska as well as other states, Pillen said in a news release.

We need to maintain the safety of our citizenry and stem the ongoing influx of illegal drugs, weapons and criminals into our borders.

Is that Nebraskas job? Last time I checked, we are responsible for enforcing laws within the borders of this state. Is there evidence that the drug problem in Nebraska has increased or violent crime has spiked because of an influx of people coming across the border from Mexico illegally?

Pillens team noted Nebraskas participation in the operation comes at the request of emergency management officials in Texas. Federal funds directed through the Nebraska National Guard would cover costs associated with this deployment, the governors office said.

Where does that federal money come from? Wait for it  you and me? So, whos paying for this? Where does the State Patrol budget come from? All together now, you and me!

In announcing the Guard deployment, Pillens team pointed to President Joe Bidens ineffective border policies as the impetus for Nebraskas presence at the border. The governor said failing to address the situation at the border only opens the door to threats that we cant fully recognize yet.

Help me out here, Governor. What threats? Drugs, weapons and criminals have been identified as threats. What am I missing? Using statistics from Abbotts office, Pillens team said authorities working on Operation Lone Star have apprehended nearly 400,000 illegal immigrants, made 31,800 criminal arrests resulting in 29,300 felony charges and seized 422 million doses of fentanyl.

Were those immigrants headed to Nebraska? How about the drugs? Can we prove it? Is there a solution that would specifically benefit the safety and well-being of Nebraskans? Perhaps our money would be better spent on that.

Our nation has a serious and unchecked threat on its hands following President Bidens decision to end Title 42, said Pillen. Nebraska is committed to using every tool in its toolbox to help stop the influx of illegal immigration at our southern border. Illegal immigration hurts our nations security, undermines the rule of law, and threatens the well-being of our state.

Nice boilerplate language that makes good sound bites. But I want details. Asking again, how is this Nebraskas problem?

On May 12, 2023, Abbott renewed the disaster declaration he issued initially in May of 2021 noting that the surge of individuals unlawfully crossing the Texas-Mexico border posed an ongoing and imminent threat of disaster for a number of Texas counties and for all state agencies affected by this disaster 

Subsequently, he sent a letter to fellow governors requesting support through the emergency management network. In addition to Nebraska, Idaho and Florida have also responded, by announcing similar deployment of personnel.

Sorry, friends, I just dont get it. This sounds more political than helpful. Sadly, we should not be surprised.
Willis Johnson of Classic Cinemas in the Lake Theater during a movie screening in Oak Park on Sept. 25, 2008. (Alex Garcia/Chicago Tribune)

When Willis Johnson got into the movie theater business, old downtown theaters were out of favor, remembered son Chris Johnson on Friday. The mall was king, and shoebox multiplexes of zero architectural distinction ran rampant.

Chris always thought his fathers middle name, Gamble, suited the film exhibition trade perfectly.

But the gamble paid off. Through thick and thin, and sometimes  to borrow an old Mel Brooks line  through thin, the elder Johnsons perseverance and dedication to his hometown of Downers Grove led to the expansion of the regional theater chain known as Classic Cinemas, now with 16 locations and 137 screens in Illinois and Wisconsin.

Willis Gamble Johnson died Aug. 16 at age 86, with Classic Cinemas announcing his death on social media.

He was one of the best guys in the business, said his friend and fellow suburban theater owner Dino Vlahakis, co-owner of the Park Ridge Pickwick Theatre. He was a true showman, hardworking, and one of the sweetest, nicest men Ive ever met in this business. Always honest. His son, Chris, is the same way.

Chris Johnson now serves as CEO of Classic Cinemas, a division of Tivoli Enterprises, Inc., the Johnson family business. Hes also Illinois president of the National Association of Theatre Owners trade organization. He started as an usher, working for his father at the 1928 Downers Grove landmark, the Tivoli Theatre.

Its now a beautifully restored 1,000-seat venue, currently making hay with Barbie, accompanied by a recently added boutique auditorium off the lobby named after his father: The Willis Theater. The Tivoli paid tribute on its marquee earlier this week.

The Tivoli Theatre marquee in downtown Downers Grove commemorates the Aug. 16, 2023, death of Classic Cinemas co-founder Willis Johnson. (Classic Cinemas/HANDOUT)

He was a relentless volunteer, Chris said. Hed volunteer for everything. A tough persona in some ways, no-nonsense. Incredible passion for detail. Always trying to make the downtowns where we had theaters better for everyone.

Johnson was Downers Grove citizen of the year in 2010; hes in the Elmhurst Civic Hall of Fame; earlier this year, he and his wife of 46 years, Shirley Johnson, were chosen Downers Grove historians of the year. (His first marriage ended in divorce in the early 1970s.)

Johnson is survived by his wife, Shirley; his children Stephen, Kay, Chris, Wendy and Amy; his stepchildren Mary and Richard; 14 grandchildren; and great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

And countless friends.

He always reached out to help people, Chris Johnson recalled. So many people would tell me stories: Your dad bought me glasses. Or, Your dad paid for me to get my teeth fixed. So many stories like that. He didnt tell anyone about it, really. He just took care of it.

Johnson was born in January 1937 and grew up in a Sears catalog house at 4812 Bryan Place in Downers Grove, three blocks from the Tivoli. He graduated from Downers Grove Community High School in 1955, then from Western Michigan University in 1959. He served as a sergeant in the U.S. Army National Guard, subsequently working as a time-study engineer, one of 26 for International Harvester.

He got laid off from that job, Johnson says in a 2022 documentary History Happens Here, produced by the Downers Grove Historical Society. From there, with his brother, Ross, he started Johnson Printers and eventually cofounded Classic Cinemas/Tivoli Enterprises, Inc.

Willis and Shirley Johnson in the Willis & Shirley Johnson and Classic Cinema Research and Education Center on Jan. 20, 2014, in Elmhurst. (Chuck Berman/Chicago Tribune)

Movie theater ownership is not for the weak of heart. The pandemic has taken a heavy toll. And with the studios and streamers currently at contract negotiating odds with the writer and screen actor guilds, films initially scheduled for fall 2023 release may end up getting kicked down the road into 2024, leaving exhibitors in the lurch for new titles to keep audiences coming back.

But in his own heyday, Willis Johnson saw ups, downs and everything in between. He took over the Tivoli with brother Ross in 1976, along with the hotel, the bowling alley and storefronts in the same corner complex at Highland and Warren. They took it over because the theaters tenant, Chicago-based Oscar Brotman, who died in 1994, slapped a closed for remodeling sign on the marquee and, as Johnson told it in the documentary, Brotman skipped on the lease.

So Johnson got into the theater business. Through the years as an operator and renovator of theaters in downtown Downers Grove, Elmhurst, Oak Park, La Grange and other towns, he believed foremost in the concept of supporting communities, and volunteering. And giving, son Chris Johnson said.

And the last movie his father ever saw? Chris Johnson knows the date and the title: May 2, 2023. The film was History Happens Here, the homegrown documentary about the history of the Tivoli Theatre, advertised in 1928 as the Wonder Theater of Suburban Chicago.

The film is about the Tivoli, but really, its about Willis Johnson. And that screening in May?

We sold every seat, Chris says.

A memorial is planned for 10:30 a.m. Sept. 2 at the Tivoli Theatre, 5021 Highland Ave., Downers Grove.

Michael Phillips is a Tribune critic.

mjphillips@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @phillipstribune
Lexington native Nathan Price, currently of Lugoff, South Carolina, will be retiring from the U.S. Army after 20 years of service.

Price was born to Dondi Price of Lexington and Beth Forcade of Omaha. He grew up in Lexington but moved to Omaha before his sophomore year of high school. He graduated from Omaha Westside High School in 2003.

I am very proud of him for what he has accomplished for, not just me, but for our entire country, Dondi Price said. It means a lot to fight for our country. I am glad he got his 20 years done and that he is back on American soil for good. Im so excited for what he has planned for his family and their future.

After high school graduation, Price enlisted in the Army as a cavalry scout. He attended One Station Unit Training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, graduating in November 2003. His first duty station was at Fort Carson, Colorado.

While stationed at Fort Carson, Price met his future wife, Lauren Taylor, in Colorado Springs in 2006. The couple wed in January 2007 in Minnesota, Taylors home state. They have three children, Torin, 14, Raina, 9, and Kenna, 5.

In 2009, Price reclassified as an air defense battle management system operator and currently serves in that position with the 2503d Digital Liaison Detachment.

Price has had many job titles throughout his 20 years in service including Bradley driver and gunner, 1st Squadron 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment; squad leader and section chief, 10th Cavalry Regiment; early warning section sergeant; air and missile defense operations sergeant; and recruiter.

He is retiring as a sergeant first class. The ceremony was held Aug. 10 in South Carolina; however, Prices retirement date is set for Nov. 30.

The ceremony was very noble and dignified. said Kami Price, his stepmother. It was amazing to see their time served, overseas deployments recognized and all their awards. The presentation of the folded American flag given to each retiree was wonderful. They acknowledged their families and their children for the support they gave throughout their military careers. It was just beautiful.

Over his 20 years of service, Price has been presented with many military awards and decorations. Those include two Meritorious Service medals, six Army Commendation medals, four Army Achievement medals, six Army Good Conduct medals, National Defense Service medal, Afghanistan Campaign medal, four Iraq Campaign medals, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary medal, Global War on Terrorism Service medal, three NCO Professional Development awards, Army Service Ribbon, four Overseas Service Ribbons, NATO medal, Recruiting Badge, Combat Action Badge, Expert Marksmanship Badge, and the Driver and Mechanic Badge. Unit awards include Joint Meritorious Unity award, Valorous Unit award, three Meritorious Unit Citation awards and an Army Superior Unit award.

Price served five deployments overseas: Iraq from February 2004 to March 2004, March 2005 to February 2006, and February 2010 to January 2011; Afghanistan from March 2012 to March 2013; and Korea from November 2018 to November 2019.

Prices military education includes Basic Leader Course, Unit Armorer, Air Defense Artillery High to Medium Air Defense, Combat Lifesaver, Advanced Leader Course, Operations Security, Senior Leader Course, Joint Firepower and Control Course, Battle Staff, Army Recruiting Course, Master Resilience Course, Mission Command Digital Master Gunner and Master Leader Course.

After retirement, Price and his family will reside in South Carolina. He plans to get his Class A CDL license and is currently doing an internship with a landscaping company.

Forcade said, I couldnt be more proud of the selfless service Nate has given to this country in time of war and beyond. Hes raising a beautiful family, alongside his supportive wife, Lauren. (That) is another accomplishment that is just as important, and even more impressive with the amount of time spent away for duty. Im happy for them all, as in his retirement, there will be many opportunities going forward to make even more memories together in the next chapter of their lives.

Prices grandfather, Fay Maloley, was a Korean War veteran and his uncle, Michael Maloley, is a veteran of the Army National Guard.
A man was sentenced Thursday in federal court in connection with a Dawson County drug seizure.

Senior U.S. District Judge John M. Gerrard sentenced Orlando Castro-Gutierrez, 29, of Mexico to 76 months in prison for possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl and 100 grams or more of fentanyl analogue, according to a press release from Acting U.S. Attorney Susan Lehr.

After completing his sentence, Castro-Gutierrez will be placed on supervised release for four years. He faces deportation from the United States after his sentence. There is no parole in the federal system.

On March 7, 2022, a Nebraska State Patrol trooper stopped a vehicle driven by co-defendant Alejandro Berrelleza-Bojorquez on Interstate 80 in Dawson County for speeding. Orlando Castro-Gutierrez was the passenger.

The trooper smelled marijuana odor emanating from the vehicle, and the vehicle was searched.

In the trunk, law enforcement found 10 triple-wrapped bags under clothing. Those bags contained about 10,000 pills. Law enforcement also found in the trunk 15 zip-lock baggies in a paper sack that contained about 15,000 pills. The vehicle was towed, and both men were arrested.

Upon further search after the tow, law enforcement found a 1-kilogram brick in a box in the trunk. Sample pills from the 10 wrapped bags were tested at the state lab, and the lab confirmed that they contained fentanyl. The pills in those 10 wrapped bags weighed over 1 kilogram.

Sample pills from the 15 zip-lock baggies were tested at the lab, and the lab determined they contained para-fluorofentanyl, a schedule I substance and analogue of fentanyl. The pills from those 15 baggies weighed about 1.5 kilograms. The brick was tested at the lab as well, and the lab confirmed it contained fentanyl.

Berrelleza-Bojorquez was sentenced April 14 and received the same sentence.

This case was investigated by the Nebraska State Patrol.
A Minnesota man has been sentenced to 78 months in prison for possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute after an August 2022 arrest in Dawson County.

Acting United States Attorney Susan Lehr announced that Jeno Michael Paulucci, 42, of Duluth, Minnesota, was sentenced Aug. 15 by Senior U.S. District Court Judge John M. Gerrard. Paulucci pleaded guilty on May 18.

Paulucci was also sentenced to a three-year term of supervised release to be served after he completes his prison sentence. There is no parole in the federal system.

Additionally, Paulucci will be forfeiting to the United States any interest he had in a 2018 Cadillac Escalade, which was used during the commission of the offense.

On Aug. 3, 2022, law enforcement conducted a checkpoint on Interstate 80 in Dawson County. Paulucci was the driver and Pauluccis co-defendant, Patrick Lewis McKinney, was the passenger. Paulucci exited the highway and parked on the wrong side of the road. Law enforcement initiated a traffic stop and smelled a strong odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle. Paulucci did not have a drivers license, registration or insurance.

Law enforcement searched the vehicle and located 63 grams of methamphetamine, cocaine, fentanyl pills, kief and Ecstasy pills. Law enforcement also located various weapons, including two machetes, multiple bladed weapons, a stun baton and a firearm.

McKinney pleaded guilty to Possession of Methamphetamine with the Intent to Distribute on April 17, 2023. On July 21, 2023, McKinney was also sentenced to a term of 78 months imprisonment, and three years of supervised release.

This case was investigated by the Nebraska State Patrol.
Opponents of a since-defeated merger of two Nebraska public power districts have dismissed a lawsuit they had filed prior to its failure.

Citizens Opposed to the Merger said in a Friday press release that there was no reason to continue its suit against the Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District over alleged merger-related violations of the states Open Meetings Act.

A modified version of Centrals merger with Dawson Public Power District, initially approved by both districts boards Oct. 24, fell one vote of a needed two-thirds majority during a July 28 meeting of Centrals board at its Holdrege headquarters.

The Nebraska Power Review Board rejected the original merger plan on technical grounds in April. Central and Dawson officials then tweaked the plan, hoping along the way to also overcome objections from Centrals traditional Tri-County irrigation customers in Gosper, Phelps and Kearney counties.

Central board members voted 7-5 last month in favor of the second plan, which would have given Tri-County board members a majority on water allocation matters in the now-scuttled Platte Valley Public Power and Irrigation District. Eight yes votes were required under state law.

Central board President Dave Rowe later said the failed vote had sidelined the merger unless and until there is a change in circumstances.

In light of that, theres no need for merger critics to stick with their Phelps County District Court suit alleging open-meetings violations in adopting the initial merger plan, Citizens Opposed to the Merger President Gary Robison said Friday.

Given Centrals leadership assertions and COMs desire to enter into a productive collaborative working relationship to improve Central, we felt continuing this legal proceeding was not in the best interests of our group or Central, he said in a press release.

He thanked the people and organizations that had come out against merging Central and Dawson since the original plan was advanced last fall.

Based on a review of Centrals finances by his opposition group, we are optimistic about the future and Centrals continued viability for generations to come, Robison said.

Citizens Opposed to the Merger had argued that the merged districts board, which in time would have had two members from each of the seven counties, would have meant the end of Tri-County irrigators historic control of irrigation water from Lake McConaughy near Ogallala.

Gosper, Phelps and Kearney counties have long enjoyed a sizable majority on Centrals board, with the Tri-County systems primary host counties  Keith, Lincoln and Dawson  gaining a single board member apiece only in recent decades. The district celebrated its 90th anniversary July 24.

Merger with Dawson Public Power, based in Lexington, would have added Buffalo County to the counties fully included in the new districts borders. The original merger proposal would have left Gosper, Phelps and Kearney counties in an 8-6 geographic minority after attrition trimmed the combined board from 23 members.

Citizens Opposed to the Merger had its initial Dec. 2 Open Meetings Act lawsuit dismissed Feb. 13, with District Judge Terri Harder finding the group lacked standing on its own to pursue it.

The court challenge was refiled that same day, with Robison himself as primary plaintiff alongside the citizens group.
LEXINGTON  Two Lexington police officers have moved into new roles.

The Lexington Police Department announced the changes Monday, Aug. 14.

Luke Pinkelman of Cozad has accepted the position of investigator and has stepped out of the position of Lexington Middle School resource officer. Pinkelman has served as the SRO for the past seven years and is in his 10th year of service with the Lexington Police Department.

The new middle school resource officer is Lexington native Edwin Perdomo.

Im excited to be more involved in the community, Perdomo said.

Perdomo graduated from Lexington in 2014. He studies criminal justice at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and worked as a correctional officer for three years in the Nebraska Department of Corrections in Lincoln.

After attending and graduating from the state police academy, Perdomo found his way back to Lexington and joined the Lexington Police Department. This is his sixth year with the department.

When I was growing up in Lexington, I had positive interactions with police, Perdomo said. They didnt treat me as different. I liked how they treated me and what they did in the community, so I wanted to be able to do that as well. I want kids to see me as a positive role model.
LINCOLN, Neb. (Aug. 16, 2023)  Nebraska Public Media will broadcast live coverage of the exhibition volleyball match between the University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK) and Wayne State College at 4:30 pm. CT on Wednesday, Aug. 30.

The match is part of Volleyball Day in Nebraska and will be played at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln. Live streaming of the UNK and Wayne State College match will be available on the Nebraska Public Media App or at NebraskaPublicMedia.org/live.

The network will also record Nebraska Womens Volleyball: Omaha vs. Nebraska during Volleyball Day in Nebraska events at the stadium on Aug. 30. Nebraska Public Media will rebroadcast the match on television at 8 p.m. CT on Friday, Sept. 1 and at 9 p.m. CT on Saturday, Sept. 2.

For more information about programs produced by Nebraska Public Media Sports, visit NebraskaPublicMedia.org/sports.
A Douglas County District Court judge cited on suspicion of driving under the influence last month has pleaded not guilty to an updated charge of reckless driving.

Tressa Alioth, who was appointed to her judgeship in 2021, faces a misdemeanor charge of reckless driving after she was pulled over in a Bennington neighborhood last month. Deputies at the scene cited Alioth on suspicion of DUI and transporting a child while intoxicated, but those charges were never filed by prosecutors.

Alioth was pulled over in Bennington shortly before 2:30 a.m. on July 2, according to a citation from the Douglas County Sheriffs Office. Court documents show that she was about two blocks away from her home at the time of the stop.

A sheriffs deputy cited Alioth for first-offense DUI, refusal to submit to pretest, transporting a child while intoxicated and driving left of center. According to the citation, Alioths blood alcohol content was .088%, just above Nebraskas limit of .08%.

City prosecutors weighed charges against Alioth for more than a month before charging the 49-year-old judge with misdemeanor reckless driving last Friday. The charge carries a penalty of up to three months in jail and a $500 fine.

Reckless driving is defined in state law as operating a motor vehicle in such a manner as to indicate an indifferent or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property.

On Sunday, Alioth entered a written plea of not guilty to the reckless driving charge. She remains on the bench in Douglas County.
Western eyes may be fixated on the bogged-down war between Russia and Ukraine. But the eyes of many nuclear weapons analysts are glancing warily toward the Far East.

Chinas growing nuclear capabilities are on the minds of many of the nearly 700 military and civilian experts attending the U.S. Strategic Commands annual Deterrence Symposium this week at the CHI Health Center in Omaha.

So is North Koreas increasing success and confidence in its nuclear program.

The most likely place where nuclear weapons will be used in battle is the Korean peninsula, not Ukraine, said Markus Garlauskas, director of the Indo-Pacific Security Initiative at the Atlantic Councils Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security.

Garlauskas said he and his colleagues had played out tabletop exercises in which a conflict between the U.S. and North Korea spreads to China, with which it shares a border. That could happen because of a simple miscommunication between the two neighbors leaders.

Its a real possibility, he said. The consequences are so dramatic, we really have to take this risk seriously.

Rick Chancellor, chief of the Defense Counterproliferation Office at the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, said the nuclear threat is far more complex than when he served as a young Air Force captain at StratComs Offutt Air Force Base headquarters in the early 2000s.

Now we see this very complex atmosphere that is more than just Russia, Chancellor said.

He noted that Russia has modernized its entire nuclear arsenal since 2010. Its leaders have lately proposed six new weapons systems, five of them nuclear.

At the same time, he said, China is developing new submarine-launched cruise missiles and has set a goal of stockpiling 1,000 weapons by the end of the decade.

While Russia and the U.S. have been constrained by arms control treaties for decades, China has not signed any.

We are past Cold War 2.0, Chancellor said.

Gen. Anthony Cotton, StratComs commander, sounded the same alarm as his two most recent predecessors, Adm. Charles Richard and Gen. John Hyten, about the perils of squaring off in a nuclear showdown with both Russia and China.

For the first time, the United States is going to be deterring two near-peer adversaries, Cotton said.

While those nations may have some shared interests, he said, America has true allies in Europe and the Pacific. Fourteen of them are represented at the symposium.

Its the strength of our alliances and partnerships that gives us an asymmetric advantage, Cotton said.

Still, he said, the defense of the U.S. and its allies depends on an aging nuclear umbrella that is only now being modernized  years behind their rivals.

Were not seeing any indication that they are slowing down, Cotton said.

He noted that new U.S. weapons systems like the Sentinel ICBM, the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine and the B-21 bomber, though late getting started, at least have not fallen any further behind schedule.

Were in the beginnings of our modernization, and Im comfortable with where we are, Cotton said. Its a safe, secure, credible deterrent.

But, he added, there is no room for delay.

(With these systems), its not a Should we? Cotton said. Its a We must.
Sweden raises terrorist threat level to "high"

Xinhua) 09:05, August 18, 2023

Security guards are seen next to the Royal Palace in Stockholm, capital of Sweden, Aug. 17, 2023. The terrorist threat level in Sweden has been raised from "elevated" to "high," the Swedish Security Service (SAPO) said on Thursday. (Photo by Wei Xuechao/Xinhua)

STOCKHOLM, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- The terrorist threat level in Sweden has been raised from "elevated" to "high," the Swedish Security Service (SAPO) said on Thursday.

The threat posed by "violent Islamist actors has increased over the past year," Director General of the Swedish Security Service Charlotte von Essen said in a press release.

"Sweden has gone from being considered a legitimate target for terrorist attacks to being considered a prioritized target. In our assessment, this threat will remain for a long time," von Essen said.

She said the decision to raise the terrorist threat level was not linked to "any specific event, but is to be considered in a strategic, long-term perspective."

The last time SAPO raised the threat level to "high" was during a brief period between Nov. 18, 2015 and March 2, 2016.

Sweden and Denmark have been under the spotlight in recent weeks after several extremists repeatedly burned or desecrated the Quran in the two countries' capitals, which sparked criticism from Muslim countries across the world.

A police car is seen among pedestrians in central Stockholm, capital of Sweden, Aug. 17, 2023. The terrorist threat level in Sweden has been raised from "elevated" to "high," the Swedish Security Service (SAPO) said on Thursday. (Photo by Wei Xuechao/Xinhua)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Three different prosecutors want to put former President Donald Trump on trial in four different cities next year, all before Memorial Day and in the midst of his presidential campaign.

It will be nearly impossible to pull off.

A morass of delays, court backlogs and legal skirmishes await, interviews with nearly two dozen current and former prosecutors, judges, legal experts and people involved in the Trump cases show. Some experts predicted that only one or two trials will take place next year; one speculated that none of the four Trump cases will start before the election.

It would be virtually unheard-of for any defendant to play a game of courthouse Twister like this, let alone one who is also the leading contender for the Republican nomination for the presidency. And between the extensive legal arguments that must take place before a trial can begin  not to mention that the trials themselves could last weeks or months  there are simply not enough boxes on the calendar to squeeze in all the former presidents trials.

This is something that is not normal, said Jeffrey Bellin, a former federal prosecutor in Washington who now teaches criminal procedure at William & Mary Law School and believes Trump might only be on trial once next year. While each of the cases seems at this point to be strong, theres only so much you can ask a defendant to do at one time.

Any delay would represent a victory for Trump, who denies all wrongdoing and who could exploit the timeline to undermine the cases against him. Less time sitting in a courtroom equals more time hitting the campaign trail, and his advisers have not tried to hide that Trump hopes to overcome his legal troubles by winning the presidency.

If his lawyers manage to drag out the trials into 2025 or beyond  potentially during a second Trump administration  Trump could seek to pardon himself or order his Justice Department to shut down the federal cases. And although he could not control the state prosecutions in Georgia or Manhattan in New York City, the Justice Department has long held that a sitting president cannot be criminally prosecuted, which very likely applies to state cases as well.

Ultimately, the judges overseeing the four cases might have to coordinate so Trumps lawyers can adequately prepare his defense without needlessly delaying the trials. Judges are permitted under ethics rules to confer with one another to efficiently administer the business of their courts, experts said, and they periodically do so.

The four indictments can appear to resemble four cars converging on an intersection that has no lights or stop signs  but that wont happen, said Stephen Gillers, a legal ethics professor at New York University School of Law. Well before the intersection, the judges will figure it out.

For now, Trumps court schedule looks to be nearly as crowded as his campaign calendar, with potential trials overlapping with key dates in the Republican primary season. Claiming he is a victim of a weaponized justice system that is seeking to bar him from office, Trump may end up bringing his campaign to the courthouse steps.

A federal special counsel, Jack Smith, has proposed Jan. 2 of next year (two weeks before the Iowa caucuses) as a date for Trump to stand trial in Washington on charges of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election. In a Thursday night court filing, Trumps lawyers countered with a proposed date of April 2026.

Fani Willis, the Fulton County, Georgia, district attorney who this week announced racketeering charges against Trump, accusing him of orchestrating a criminal enterprise to reverse Georgias election results, wants that trial to begin March 4 (the day before Super Tuesday).

Smiths recent case in Washington, and Willis in Georgia, were filed after Trump was already scheduled for two additional criminal trials next spring: in New York, on March 25, on state charges related to a hush-money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels; and in Florida, on May 20, on federal charges brought by Smith accusing Trump of mishandling classified material after leaving office.

Although the New York and Florida indictments were unveiled earlier, affording them first crack at the calendar, some experts now argue they should take a back seat to the election-related cases, in Georgia and Washington, in which the charges strike at the core of American democracy. Trial scheduling is not always a first-come, first-served operation, and deference could be given to the most serious charges.

In a radio interview last month, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said that having been the first to indict did not necessarily mean he would insist on being the first to put the former president on trial. However, he said, the judge in the case, Juan M. Merchan, ultimately controls the calendar.

We will follow the courts lead, Bragg said.

There has not yet been any direct communication among judges or prosecutors about moving the Manhattan case, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Still, Braggs comments suggest that he would not oppose moving the Manhattan case, which carries a lesser potential punishment than the three others, backward in line.

My own belief is Alvin Bragg will be true to his word and remain flexible in the interests of justice, said Norman Eisen, who worked for the House Judiciary Committee during Trumps first impeachment and believes that prosecutors might be able to squeeze in three Trump trials next year.

And Eisen, now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, argued that voters deserve to know whether Trump was convicted of subverting the will of the people in the previous election before they vote in the next one.

There could not be a more important question confronting the country than whether a candidate for the office of the presidency is innocent or guilty of previously abusing that office in an attempted coup, he said.

The most likely candidate to take over Braggs March trial date would be Smith and his election interference case. Recently, nearly a dozen Republican-appointed former judges and high-ranking federal officials submitted a brief to the judge overseeing that case, arguing that the trial should take place in January as Smith has proposed and citing a national necessity for a fair and expeditious trial.

But this is the case in which Trumps lawyers have asked for a 2026 trial date, citing the voluminous amount of material turned over by the government  11.5 million pages of documents, for example  that the defense must now review. Trumps lawyers estimated that to finish by the prosecutions proposed January trial date would mean reading the equivalent of Tolstoys War and Peace, cover to cover, 78 times a day, every day, from now until jury selection.

In that case, Smith brought a narrow set of charges against Trump in connection with efforts to overturn the 2020 election, totaling four felony counts, and with no co-defendants.

In contrast, Willis election case is a sweeping 98-page indictment of not only Trump, who faces 13 criminal counts, but also 18 co-defendants, including Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff, and Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City. Already, Meadows has petitioned for his case to be moved from state to federal court, and other defendants are likely to follow suit. That process could take months and could be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, probably making Willis proposed trial date of March 4 something of a long shot.

The sheer size of Trumps Georgia case, and the fact it was the last of the four cases to be brought, suggests any Georgia trial of Trump could be delayed even beyond next year.

It is exceedingly rare for a criminal defendant to face so many trials in such a concentrated period of time. The once highflying lawyer Michael Avenatti seemed to be heading for three federal trials after he was charged in Manhattan in 2019 in a scheme to extort the apparel giant Nike; and, separately, with stealing money from Daniels, a former client; and in California, with embezzling money from other clients. (He was eventually convicted in the New York trials and pleaded guilty in the California case.)

E. Danya Perry, a lawyer who represented Avenatti in the Nike case, the first to go to trial, said the challenge was sequencing the cases in a way that would be most advantageous to her client. And because there was some overlap in the evidence, she said, the defense had to be careful not to open the door for prosecutors to introduce evidence against Avenatti from another of the cases.

Youre not just trying the case in front of that particular judge, Perry said. Evidence from one case could bleed into other cases.

Before any trial, Trumps cases are also likely to become bogged down as his lawyers review and potentially argue over large amounts of documents and other case material turned over by the government. Certain judicial rulings could also lead to drawn-out pretrial appeals.

In the Florida documents case, disputes over the use of classified information could delay the proceeding as well. And in the federal court in Washington, which is already contending with lengthy backlogs amid prosecutions of hundreds of Jan. 6 rioters, Trumps lawyers have suggested they plan to litigate complex constitutional issues, including whether some of Trumps false claims about the election were protected by the First Amendment.

Even the jury selection process could drag on for weeks or months, as courts summon huge pools of prospective jurors for questioning over whether they harbor bias in favor of or against the polarizing former president.

Michael B. Mukasey, a former U.S. attorney general and longtime Manhattan federal judge, said because of the complex issues raised in all four of Trumps cases, I think the odds are slim to none that any of them gets to trial before the election.

And Trumps criminal cases are not the only courtroom battles hes waging.

In October, he faces trial in a civil suit filed by Attorney General Letitia James of New York, accusing him, his company and three of his children of a staggering fraud in overvaluing his assets by billions of dollars. In January, Trump faces two civil trials arising from private lawsuits: one a defamation claim by writer E. Jean Carroll and the other accusing him of enticing people into a sham business opportunity.

We fully expect both cases to go to trial in January 2024, said Roberta Kaplan, the plaintiffs lawyer in the two private suits.

Although Trump need not be in court for the civil cases, he almost certainly will have to attend the criminal trials, said Daniel C. Richman, a former Manhattan federal prosecutor and now a professor at Columbia Law School.

If you asked all the prosecutors in each case, theyd firmly and sincerely say that they want these trials to happen in the first half of 2024, Richman said. But wishing does not make it so.
One of the novelties presented at this years edition of the Macao International Environmental Co-operation Forum & Exhibition (2023MIECF), which kicked off yesterday and will continue until Sunday, was a new mobile application (app) from local company CESL Asia that aims to revolutionize the way companies manage their assets, people and other resources.

The Ortux is a platform that offers a set of tools that will help companies be more efficient and, at the same time, make better use of the information they collect daily but that often fails to produce results due to quantity, complexity, and difficulties with analysis, as told to the Times in an interview with the president of CESL Asia, Antonio Trindade.

The app was initially developed internally within companies that comprise the CESL Asia universe and for the companys own management and efficiency purposes but is now, after years of development, available to all others who wish to engage in the modern era of management.

As Trindade explained, companies of all sizes have huge quantities of data and information to handle daily. The way this data is managed and processed can help companies be more efficient on several levels, including personnel management, resources allocation and many other ways. Efficiencies will be in the areas of electricity bills, transportation, and many others.

From sampling to real data use

As Trindade explained to the Times, the app comes from the companys own experience of over 30 years of operation different fields including consultancy and other services to other companies and government entities.

From our own use, we are getting very good results [in the use of the platform] with savings of about 20 to 30% on the use of resources, namely turning off usage times more efficiently. We also see a reduction in waste [of some raw materials and commodities] as well as in people [staff] who no longer need to do repeated tasks or waste time checking the status of tasks, etc., the president of CESL Asia explained.

We also use several tools including Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other sophisticated tools to process large quantities of data [coming from every staff member or department] that until today was impossible to process. We generate millions of reports annually about the daily activities that previously were impossible to analyze.

He said that in the past the company had to resort to either internal audits to understand what was happening in certain areas or short studies using sampling, a situation that has now been overcome with the use of this technology that uses all real data available and not just a sample of it. Additionally, using the programmed algorithms, the information is presented in a form that is easy to use.

As an example, Trindade explained that through this app it is possible to combine information such as weather reports with the type of user of a given service or the frequency that a certain service is requested. It is also possible to understand the particular needs of a certain group of people according to their characteristics, among many other aspects that historically needed to be observed and analyzed manually.

Macau as a lab

As in other cases, for CESL Asia, as Macau has the same functionality as other countries and regions, and being a small territory it is the perfect lab size to experiment with the use of these technological tools.

Macau is small in area but very complex in terms of functioning. It is a perfect lab to test some of these new technology tools, Trindade said, noting that in the development of this app, the company is counting on the support of another local company  Meta-Archit Software Technology Limited  that over time has allowed over 30 years of data from companies within the CESL Asia universe to be entered into the app. This concurrently facilitates the growth of other Small and Medium Enterprises in the process.

A big step forward in the quality of life for workers

One of the great advantages of the app is also how simple it is for staff members to use, and how it provides them with assistance in their work and personal needs.

Trindade explained that not only does the app help with reminding workers of the time scheduled for certain tasks, as well as itemizing the required tools and materials, but also provides a background and a history of similar tasks or references to those who completed the task previously. It also allows workers to  report incapacity to attend to some job or report sickness, or request leave, change shifts, etc., allowing them to immediately allocate the task to another person without wasting time or jeopardizing completion of the task itself.

The inputs contributed by everyone in the company into the same platform also allows it to predict behaviors and potentially address problems before they occur, avoiding inefficiencies and minimizing the time spent on unnecessary tasks.
Hurricane-fueled flash floods and mudslides. Lava that creeps into neighborhoods. Fierce drought that materializes in a flash and lingers. Earthquakes. And now, deadly fires that burn block after historic block.

Hawaii is increasingly under siege from disasters, and what is escalating most is wildfire, according to an Associated Press analysis of Federal Emergency Management Agency records. That reality can clash with the vision of Hawaii as paradise. It is, in fact, one of the riskiest states in the country.

Hawaii is at risk of the whole panoply of climate and geological disasters, said Debarati Guha-Sapir, director of the international disasters database kept at the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium. She listed storms, floods, earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes.

Hawaii has been in more danger lately. This month alone, the federal government declared six different fire disasters in Hawaii  the same number recorded in the state from 1953 to 2003.

Across the United States, the number of acres burned by wildfires about tripled from the 1980s to now, with a drier climate from global warming a factor, according to the federal governments National Climate Assessment and the National Interagency Fire Center. In Hawaii, the burned area increased more than five times from the 1980s to now, according to figures from the University of Hawaii Manoa.

Longtime residents  like Victoria Martocci, who arrived on Maui about 25 years ago  know this all too well.

Fire happened maybe once a year or once every two years. Over the last 10 years, it has been more frequent, said Martocci, who lost a boat and her business, Extended Horizons Scuba, to the fire that swept through Lahaina.

From 1953 to 2003, Hawaii averaged one federally declared disaster of any type every two years, according to the analysis of FEMA records. But now it averages more than two a year, about a four-fold increase, the data analysis shows.

Its even worse for wildfires. Hawaii went from averaging one federally declared fire disaster every nine years or so to one a year on average since 2004.

Watching the fires on Maui, Native Hawaiian Micah Kamohoaliis mind drifted to 2021, when the states largest ever wildfire burned through his familys Big Island home and scorched a massive swath of land on the slopes of Mauna Kea.

Linda Hunt, who works at a horse stable in Waikoloa Village on the Big Island, had to evacuate in that fire. Given the abundance of dry grass on the islands from drought and worsening fires, Hunt said fire agencies need to double or triple spending on fire gear and personnel.

They are stretched thin. They ran out of water on Maui and had to leave the truck, she said. Money should be spent on prevention and preparedness.

FEMA assesses an overall risk index for each county in America and the risk index in Maui County is higher than nearly 88% of the counties in the nation. The federal disaster agency considers that a relatively moderate risk.

Hawaiis Big Island has a risk index higher than 98% of U.S. counties.

A 2022 state emergency management report listed tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, health risks and cyber threats as high risk to people, but categorized wildfire as a low risk, along with drought, climate change and sea level rise.

Yet fire is the No. 1 cause of Hawaiis federally declared disasters, equaling the next three types of disaster combined: floods, severe storms and hurricanes. Hawaii by far has more federally declared fire disasters per square mile than any other state.

For most of the 20th century, Hawaii averaged about 5000 acres (about 20 square kilometers) burned per year, but thats now up to 15,000 to 20,000 acres, said University of Hawaii Manoa fire scientist Clay Trauernicht.

Weve been getting these large events for the last 20 to 30 years, he said from Oahu.

Whats happening is mostly because of changes in land use and the plants that catch fire, said Trauernicht. From the 1990s on, there has been a big decline in plantation agriculture and a big decline in ranching, he said. Millions of acres of crops have been replaced with grasslands that burn easily and fast.

He called it explosive fire behavior.

This is much more a fuels problem, Trauernicht said. Climate change is going to make this stuff harder.

Stanford University climate scientist Chris Field said these grasses can just dry out in a few weeks and it doesnt take extreme conditions to make them flammable.

Thats what happened this year. For the first four weeks of May, Maui County had absolutely no drought, according to the U.S. drought monitor. By July 11, 83% of Maui was either abnormally dry or in moderate or severe drought. Scientists call that a flash drought.

Flash droughts are becoming more common because of human-caused climate change, an April study said.

Another factor that made the fires worse was Hurricane Dora, 700 miles (1,100 kilometers) to the south, which helped create storm-like winds that fanned the flames and spread the fires. Experts said it shows that the synergy between wildfire and other weather extremes, like storms.

Stanfords Field and others said its difficult to isolate the effects of climate change from other factors on Hawaiis increasing disasters, but weather catastrophes are increasing worldwide. The nation has experienced a jump in federally declared disasters, and Hawaii has been hit harder.

Because Hawaii is so isolated, the state is often more self-sufficient and resilient after disasters, so when FEMA calculates risks for states and counties, Hawaii does well in recovery, said Susan Cutter, director of the Hazards Vulnerability and Resilience Institute at the University of South Carolina. Still, it shocks people to think of disasters in places they associate with paradise.

Those are places of fantasy and nothing bad is supposed to happen there. You go there to escape reality, to leave pain behind, not face it head on, said University of Albany emergency preparedness professor Jeannette Sutton. Our perceptions of risk are certainly challenged when we have to think about the dangers associated with paradise, not just its exotic beauty.

Maui resident Martocci said, it is paradise 99% of the time.

Weve always felt secure about living in paradise, and that everything will be OK, she said. But this has been a reality check for West Maui. A significant reality check.

SETH BORENSTEIN, MARY KATHERINE WILDEMAN & BOBBY CAINA CALVAN, KIHEI, MDT/AP
With 300 eight-year taxi licenses to expire this year, the government will open new tenders for the same number of new licenses, complying with the new taxi law, the transport minister said yesterday.

On the sidelines of an environmental protection expo, Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Raimundo do Rosario, revealed that a new set of Executive Regulations will be issued within the coming few months to supplement the enactment of the new taxi law. It will also help facilitate the tender opening for the refilling taxi licenses. He added that the number of licenses to be issued at the end of the day will depend on the balance between short and long-term demand and supply.

In response to the long-awaited online taxi hiring services, the senior official cited the lack of such provisions in the current law, and said the social demand will not be satisfied for the time being.

Online taxi hiring services have thrived in both the Chinese mainland and around the world. Global app Uber and Chinese app DiDi are operating within comparative frameworks and modes. It was said that similar apps could ensure improvement and maintenance of the quality of service.

Uber operated briefly in Macau in the middle of the past decade, but opted out after serial fines issued by the police in respect of allegations of illegal vehicle hiring. The fine then was MOP30,000 per apprehension.

The minister has also touched on bus routes and frequency. He dismissed the suggestion to increase frequency on all bus routes, citing the small size of the city and almost saturated capacity of certain routes. Certain routes will run at higher frequency when necessary, he added.

On the use of EVs, Rosario said that the government will focus on providing normal charging stations rather than fast chargers, as each fast charger consumes the same amount of electricity as 50 air-conditioners, but he did not explain how much electricity is used to fully charge an EV on a common charger over a timeframe of six to eight hours.

Despite this, the government will still establish some fast chargers for the taxi industry.

The city currently has over 3,000 electric cars and 2,000 motorcycles.

While asked about the impact on the LRT as the waterway on New Urban Zone A will not be reclaimed, the minister stressed that they are two separate matters. In addition, he said that the reclamation for New Urban Zone D would not start in the near future.

The extension to Barra is expected to start operations at the end of the year. Rosario said two tenders have been opened to invite business operations at LRT stations but were not successful. Another tender opening may occur around the end of 2023 or early 2024, he said.
The Grande Hotel Macau, better known locally by its Cantonese name Kuok Chai, is reopening its doors to guests after 27 long years of closure, which led the space to almost complete ruin.

Once an iconic symbol of Macau, the Grande Hotel Macau hopes to bring back some of the charm to the city center, welcoming new guests to its historical site.

Co-owned by a trio of sisters, Vivian, Jessica, and Veronica Lu, the property is to reopen its doors today after a major revamp in which some 500 million patacas was invested, the co-owners said in an interview to Jornal Tribuna de Macau.

The renewed hotel offers 96 rooms as well as some small commercial spaces, but it does not have any food and beverage venue on the premises.

According to the co-owners, who are experienced in the business of co-owning several guesthouses in Macau, the hotel aims to be an affordable option in the heart of the city accessible to a wide range of travelers, particularly those interested in the historical side of Macau.

Designed by the Macau civil engineer Joao Canavarro Nolasco in 1937, it was built by the contractor Tai Man Hou and named Hotel Kuok Chai.

The hotel, first opened in 1941, catered mainly to Chinese clients as an alternative to the luxury hotels that attracted most foreigners of that time, Portuguese Architect, and researcher Ana Tostoes noted in extensive research conducted over certain iconic Macau buildings. The research is part of the Heritage of Portuguese Influence, a project from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation undertaken with the support of several Portuguese Universities.

Tostoes notes that although it was never considered a luxury hotel, its design and inspiration from the art deco movement were very attractive to the local elite of Chinese origins.

With modern lines and decorated with a Parisian expression of art deco, it was a place of sophistication and activity for the moneyed elite. When it was inaugurated, it was considered the highest building in the Portuguese colonial empire.

In its golden days that spanned over the first 20 years of its existence, the Grande Hotel, on the Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro, has been visited by many celebrities and local dignitaries, and gained most of its popularity after appearing as a frequent backdrop in many Hong Kong films.

At the time, the hotel was located in an even more privileged area of the city as the old steamer ferry boat, arriving from Hong Kong, would dock at the Inner Harbour area just a few meters away from the hotel.

The number of rooms will stay mostly the same (from 97 in 1941), but the hotel had originally featured a tea room on the top floor that offered an unmatched view over the city at the time.

The building began to deteriorate at the end of the 1980s and was considered obsolete as it could no longer offer what is ordinarily considered a contemporary hotel, Tostoes added, noting the building was one of the most innovative modern buildings in Macau in the early 20th century until the construction of Hotel Lisboa in 1970.
Where the Dead Sleep begins pleasantly enough: Detective Ben Packard is back, becoming more comfortable with Sandy Lake, making his rounds as acting sheriff at the small Minnesota towns Labor Day weekend celebration.

But we cant have a murder mystery without a murder, and before he can even remember the name of the drummer he hooked up with after the celebrations, Packard gets called out to the crime that will take center stage in Joshua Moehlings anticipated sequel to the Ben Packard series: Bill is found dead in his bed with two bullets in him and a wife who heard only one shot and didnt see anything. Its a strange case from the start, as its quickly revealed that Bills wife, Carrie, is the sister of his ex-wife, Sherri. And the family drama doesnt end there.

Beyond the ongoing investigation, theres the matter of Packards future. As acting sheriff, he could be taking on a lot more bureaucracy when the current sheriff, sick with cancer, dies. But Packard doesnt want to give up detective work and, frankly, the readers dont either.

If Packard becomes sheriff, hows he going to keep doing detective work that makes for interesting stories? But its also unfathomable that he would lose  hes the hero of the story and the only qualified candidate for the job.

Where the Dead Sleep sticks the landing after a puttering start. Any doubts I had going in were quelled by a twist halfway through that was so surprising and darkly comical I snorted. This is where things really pick up.

Its a cat-and-mouse game as the clues start to emerge, slowly at first, then quickly as the truth begins to materialize. As an added layer, the series through-line of Packards missing brother, Nick  the cold case from almost 30 years ago that was eventually closed with no body  finally takes the spotlight. After spending half the novel wondering whats in the box?! it ends with a huge cliffhanger thats only slightly remedied by Moehlings promise that all will be revealed in the third book. DONNA EDWARDS, MDT/AP
AFGHANISTAN | Q&A

The Taliban have settled in as rulers of Afghanistan, two years after they seized power as U.S. and NATO forces withdrew from the country following two decades of war.

The Taliban face no significant opposition that could topple them. They have avoided internal divisions by falling in line behind their ideologically unbending leader. They have kept a struggling economy afloat, in part by holding investment talks with capital-rich regional countries, even as the international community withholds formal recognition. They have improved domestic security through crackdowns on armed groups such as the Islamic State, and say they are fighting corruption and opium production.

But it's their slew of bans on Afghan girls and women that dominated the Taliban's second year in charge. They barred them from parks, gyms, universities and jobs at nongovernmental groups and the United Nations  all in the space of a few months  allegedly because they weren't wearing proper hijab  the Islamic head covering  or violated gender segregation rules. These orders followed a previous ban, issued in the first year of Taliban rule, on girls going to school beyond sixth grade.

Here is a closer look at Taliban rule and where they are headed.

Why are women excluded from school, jobs and public spaces?

The Taliban say they are committed to implementing their interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia, in Afghanistan. This leaves no space for anything they think is foreign or secular, such as women working or studying. It's what drove them in the late 1990s, when they first seized power in Afghanistan, and it propels them now, ever since they took control again on Aug. 15, 2021. Their supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, has praised the changes imposed since the takeover, claiming life improved for Afghan women after foreign troops left and the hijab became mandatory again.

What was the global response?

Foreign governments, rights groups and global bodies condemned the restrictions. The U.N. said they were a major obstacle to the Taliban gaining international recognition as the legitimate government of Afghanistan. Overseas aid is drying up as major donors stop their funding, pulled in different directions by other crises and worried their money might fall into Taliban hands. The lack of funds, as well as the exclusion of Afghan women from delivering essential humanitarian services, is hitting the population hard, pushing more people into poverty.

What are living conditions like in Afghanistan?

Nearly 80% of the previous, Western-backed Afghan government's budget came from the international community. That money  now largely cut off financed hospitals, schools, factories and government ministries. The COVID-19 pandemic, medical shortages, climate change and malnutrition have made life more desperate for Afghans. Aid agencies stepped into the breach to provide basic services such as health care.

Afghanistan is struggling with its third consecutive year of drought-like conditions, the ongoing collapse in families' income and restrictions on international banking. It's also still suffering from decades of war and natural disasters.

How is the economy doing?

The World Bank said last month that the local currency, the afghani, gained value against major currencies. Customers can withdraw more money from individual deposits made before August 2021 and most civil servants are being paid. The World Bank described revenue collection as "healthy" and said most basic items remained available, although demand is low.

The Taliban held investment talks with countries in the region, including China and Kazakhstan. They want sanctions removed and billions of dollars in frozen funds to be released, saying these measures will alleviate the suffering of Afghans. But the international community will only take such steps once the Taliban take certain actions, including lifting restrictions on women and girls.

How likely are the Taliban to change direction?

It's largely up to the Taliban leader, Akhundzada. The cleric counts likeminded government ministers and Islamic scholars among his circle. He is behind the decrees on women and girls. His edicts, framed in the language of Islamic law, are absolute. The bans will only be lifted if Akhundzada orders it. Some Taliban figures have spoken out against the way decisions are made, and there has been disagreement about the bans on women and girls. But the Taliban's chief spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, slammed these reports as propaganda.

"The secret of their success is that they are united," said Abdul Salam Zaeef, who served as the Taliban envoy to Pakistan when they ruled Afghanistan in the 1990s. "If someone expresses his opinion or his thoughts, it doesn't mean someone is against the leadership or will go to another side," said Zaeef, who spent several years at the Guantanamo Bay detention center after the 2001 U.S. invasion. "Disagreements are put in front of the emir (Akhundzada) and he decides. They follow his word."

What about international recognition?

Aid officials say the Taliban view recognition as an entitlement, not something to be negotiated. The officials also cite high-level meetings with powerful states like China and Russia as signs that the Taliban are building bilateral relations in their own way. Qatar's prime minister met Akhundzada in the southwestern Afghan city Kandahar in June, the first such publicly known meeting between the supreme leader and a foreign official.

Even though the Taliban are officially isolated on the global stage, they appear to have enough interactions and engagement for ties with countries to inch toward normalization. Cooperation with the Taliban on narcotics, refugees and counter-terrorism is of interest globally, including to the West. Countries including China, Russia and neighboring Pakistan want an end to sanctions.

"The political interactions are such that no country in the region is thinking of bringing Afghanistan under their power or control," Zaeef said. However, he noted the Taliban's foreign outreach is hampered by blacklists preventing officials from traveling, and by lacking common ground with the rest of the world.

Do they have opposition?

There's no armed or political opposition with enough domestic or foreign support to topple the Taliban. A fighting force resisting Taliban rule from the Panjshir Valley north of Kabul is being violently purged. Public protests are rare.

The Islamic State has struck high-profile targets in deadly bombings, including two government ministries, but the militants lack fighters, money and other resources to wage a major offensive against the Taliban.

Key events

Here is a look at key dates since the Taliban came back to power two years ago, as U.S. and NATO forces withdrew from the country:

Aug. 15, 2021: The Taliban march into Kabul as internationally backed President Ashraf Ghani flees the country.

Aug. 26, 2021: Islamic State group suicide bombers and gunmen kill over 170 Afghans and 13 U.S. troops in an attack on the crowds trying to be evacuated at Kabul's airport.

March 23, 2022: On the day high schools are opening, the Taliban suddenly reverse a promise to allow girls above the sixth grade to attend schools. Girls who showed up for the first day of classes are told to go home.

May 7, 2022: The Taliban Virtue and Vice Ministry issues orders that women in public must wear all-encompassing robes and cover their faces except for their eyes. It advises them to stay home unless they have important work outside the house.

June 22, 2022: A powerful earthquake hits a remote region of eastern Afghanistan, killing more than 1,100 people. The Taliban struggle with rescue eff orts, underscoring a lack of resources and a reliance on aid groups.

July 31, 2022: The U.S. kills al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri in a drone strike on a safehouse in Kabul, where he was staying for months. U.S. officials accuse the Taliban of sheltering him in violation of the Doha Agreement.

Sept. 5, 2022: An IS suicide bombing kills two diplomats at the Russian Embassy in Kabul, a rare assault on a foreign diplomatic mission. Russia is among the handful of countries with a working embassy in Afghanistan, and the only European one.

Sept. 30, 2022: A suicide bomber strikes an education center in a Shiite area of the capital, killing dozens of people, including teenagers taking university entrance exams.

Nov. 10, 2022: A nationwide ban on women using gyms and parks comes into force. The Taliban imposed the ban because women allegedly disobeyed gender segregation rules or didn't wear hijabs, or Islamic headscarves, properly.

Nov. 20, 2022: The Taliban lash 19 people, including alleged adulterers, in the first public flogging since the return to Taliban rule.

Dec. 8, 2022: The Taliban execute a convicted killer before hundreds of spectators in the first public execution since the takeover.

Dec. 21, 2022: The Taliban bar female students from attending university, having already banned girls from middle and high schools.

Dec. 24, 2022: The Taliban bar Afghan women from working with national and international nongovernmental groups, after already excluding them from most jobs.

March 9, 2023: The U.N. says Afghanistan has become the most repressive country in the world for women and girls, depriving them of virtually all their basic rights.

April 6, 2023: The Taliban's chief spokesman relocates his office from Kabul to Kandahar, the spiritual birthplace of the movement and the base of the supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada. It's the clearest sign yet of a power shift to the south.

April 10, 2023: The U.N. warns that its Afghan operations remain severely underfunded. It previously said that Afghanistan is its lowest-funded operation globally, despite being the world's biggest humanitarian crisis.

July 4, 2023: The Taliban order beauty salons to shut down for offering un-Islamic services like eyebrow shaping. The decision affects as many as 60,000 female entrepreneurs and further restricts meeting places for women outside the home.

July 19, 2023: The Taliban use stun guns on women protesting the ban on beauty salons, spraying the demonstrators with water and firing into the air to break up the crowd.
Aug. 27, 1948Aug. 16, 2023

Deborah Ann Garfield Wunnicke passed away peacefully on august 16, 2023, at age 74. she left us with the twinkle of joy and magic of love that she spread abundantly.

For many years Deborah and her family lived with her Alzheimer's disease, emphasis on "living." Deborah decided early on that she would continue enjoying her life and "doing the hokey pokey because that's what it's all about!" and she did. she would greet strangers and friends alike with the biggest, happiest smile, saying, "i don't know you, but i love you."

Born in Chicago, IL, on august 27, 1948, to Harriet and Milton Garfield, she had two beloved brothers, Robert and David. Deborah's parents gave her a choice to get Bat Mitzvahed or take dance classes and even though she loved her Jewish heritage, she decided to dance. Deborah was a dancer! she graduated from Roycemore High school in Evanston, IL, and attended Nasson college in Maine, where she was part of a study abroad program in France, finishing her undergraduate education at Mundelein college in 1971, with a major in English. as a true Virgo, Deborah was an incredible editor and had a way with words, which she expressed prolifically through hundreds of love letters with Bruce.

Deborah met the love of her life, Bruce Edward Wunnicke, in 1973, as she was preparing for a dance therapy Master's program at NYU in New York city. love brought her to Wisconsin and Bruce and Deborah married on June 15, 1974, at an outdoor ceremony overlooking the Wisconsin river by rabbi Manfred Swarsensky and Father Thomas Reardon. soon after in the spring of 1975, daughter, Sara lilac was born in Avoca, Wi. Kathryn rose was born in the summer of 1984, in Madison. Deborah embraced motherhood, raising her daughters with a spirit of sweetness and joy. she was later blessed with grandchildren she absolutely adored, Alex and Leo Alvarado, and Stella Singh.

Deborah's sweetness came with a strong opinion. For 15 years, from 1977-1992, she worked as a legislative aide in the Wisconsin legislature and then as director of government affairs at WHEDAWi Housing economic development authority. later she volunteered tirelessly with the Richland county democratic office where she made lifelong friendships with her co-volunteers.

Mid-career, Deborah was ready for a paradigm shift and began working towards her calling as a Healer. in 1994, she was licensed and nationally certified as a Massage therapist. in 1996, she completed a Master's degree in clinical social Work at UW Madison and worked at the Mental Health center of Dane county for five years before starting a private practice combining her tools of massage and counseling into integrative therapy. she continued to explore somatic ways of healing and fell in love with yoga. in 2003, Deborah and Bruce created a yoga and health studio, stairway to Wellness in Richland center, Wi. it was here that Deborah began teaching gentle yoga and in 2009, she completed her yoga teacher training at the Kripalu center in Stockbridge, Ma, and created a magical healing space. Deborah spent many years as a volunteer at Passages, a Program for survivors of domestic Violence and sexual assault. she offered her gifts well, was a lifelong learner, and world traveler.

Deborah has been blessed with the help of exceptional caretakers and friends and we are incredibly thankful to ceil Simonson, Evelyn Claudia Gonzalez, and the loving Krause family, and staff at Hope and a Future in Madison.

love of family was nurtured by her parents and it was her priority with her own family. Preceded in death by her parents, Harriet Morgan stern Garfield and Milton Garfield. Deborah is survived by her husband, Bruce Wunnicke; daughters: Sara (Carlos) Alvarado, and Kathryn (Dominik) Singh; brothers: Robert Garfield (sandy Whipple), David (Bonnie) Garfield; grandchildren: Alex and Leo Alvarado, Stella Singh; and much-loved nieces, nephews, and cousins, and her lifelong friend, Susan Mills.

services to celebrate her life will be held on Saturday, august 19, 2023, at cress Funeral Home, 6021 university Ave., Madison, Wi 53705. Visitation at 12:30 p.m. with a memorial service following at 2:00 p.m. guests may wear purple to honor Deborah's favorite color and the fight to end Alzheimer's.

Memorial donations may be made to Hope and a Future Inc. online at https://Hopeandafuturewi-bloom.kindful.com/, and checks can be mailed to Hope and a Future Inc. 501c3, 1115 s. High Point road, Madison, Wi 53719.

Please share your memories at www.cressfuneralservice.com. Cress Center

6021 University Ave. Madison (608) 238-8406
HAWAII WILDFIRES |Q&A

The destruction and suffering caused by the Maui wildfires in Hawaii prompted many to immediately look for ways to help.

However, experts say immediate donations may not be the most useful following a natural disaster like the Maui wildfires. They suggest standing by a week or two until needs are assessed and support lines have been established. But they know that some people will not be able to wait.

Here's what you need to know about getting your donations to the people you are trying to help.

There are so many solicitation's to help Hawaii. What groups should get priority right now?

Experts recommend donating to nonprofits based on Hawaii that have provided rapid response services in the past.

Hawai'i Community Foundation raised more than $17 million as of Aug. 11 for its Maui Strong Fund, which is "providing financial resources that can be deployed quickly." Though the foundation says its support will evolve, initially it will focus on providing food, shelter and immediate financial assistance.

The Maui United Way says all donations will "provide direct relief to families and nonprofits directly affected" by the wildfires, offering a place to donate and apply for help on its website.

How can you guarantee donations reach those affected?

Regine Webster, vice president of the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, generally recommends giving to organizations with deep local ties and knowledge of the affected communities.

"Wait a week, wait two weeks, to understand where the greatest needs are," Webster said. "Then, look toward organizations that are really meeting those needs, again, prioritizing organizations with specific disaster expertise and organizations that are local in nature."

Many national and international organizations have already deployed to Maui to help. So if you already donate to a group like World Central Kitchen or the American Red Cross, you can simply continue to donate to them.

How can I make sure a crowdfunding campaign is real?

vetted hundreds of fundraisers for individuals and families who lost property or were injured in the fires, verifying the identities of the organizers and pledging to take additional verification steps before releasing funds to organizers.

As of Aug. 14, GoFundMe said it collected more than $13 million for those impacted by the Maui wildfires, from more than 100,000 people across all 50 U.S. states and 100 countries.

Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez warns donors to stay away from people rushing you to make a donation, asking you to donate with cash, a gift card or on Cash App or Venmo. She also says to look for specifics about how your donation will be used.

Can donations arrive too fast?

Yes. The needs of those in an emergency situation are different from those rebuilding after a natural disaster.

The Most Reverend Larry Silva, the Catholic bishop of Honolulu, said many offered resources to those affected by the wildfires. "The problem at this point is getting supplies to those in need, since many evacuated to the West of Lahaina, where access from the rest of the island is extremely limited," he said in an email.

Donating home furnishings, for example, is very useful once families have been permanently relocated. However, at this point, when people are living in shelters, they are not useful and storing them creates costs and issues for nonprofits, especially on an island where storage space is limited.

Why is giving after two weeks or a month so important?

Experts say donations tend to drop off after the initial burst of media attention ends, even though many of the needs of those affected haven't been met yet.

Waiting a few weeks also allows the government and nonprofits to figure out what rebuilding priorities have been funded and which haven't. Later donations can be used to fund programs addressing pressing needs.

TV icon Oprah Winfrey, a part-time Maui resident, said she will be there "for the long haul, doing what I can" to rebuild after the wildfires.

"My biggest concern is how do you get the resources to the people who actually need it," Winfrey told Hawaii News Now.
A DuPage County judge on Thursday ordered a teenager from Maywood held in custody on felony charges related to a high-speed chase through the western suburbs that reached 132 miles per hour, authorities said.

The 17-year-old, whose name is being withheld because of his age, faces felony possession of a stolen motor vehicle and aggravated fleeing and eluding a police officer, along with several misdemeanors, according to prosecutors.

The youth was arrested early Wednesday morning following a nearly 20-minute pursuit that began in west suburban Villa Park and stretched to Schaumburg before circling back to Villa Park and finally ending in Elmhurst, according to prosecutors.

Villa Park officers first spotted the teen just before 1:15 a.m. on Route 83 near Lake Street, driving a 2013 Hyundai Genesis that was reported stolen out of Chicago, prosecutors said. When the officers tried to pull over the vehicle, the teen sped away westbound on North Avenue, eventually reaching speeds of about 104 mph, authorities said.

Once the teen drove on to the Veterans Memorial Tollway, his speed soon reached about 132 mph, something prosecutors called unimaginable. Despite the high speeds, no injuries were reported.

To characterize fleeing from police at 132 mph, as alleged in this case, as an extremely dangerous display of an utter contempt for the rule of law and public safety would be a gross understatement, DuPage County States Attorney Robert Berlin said in a statement. We are all extremely grateful that no innocent motorists or bystanders were injured or killed as a result of the defendants alleged actions.

The Hyundai eventually crashed into a parked car in the 600 block of Vallette Street in Elmhurst and the teen fled the vehicle on foot, but was taken into custody.

Judge Demetrios Panoushis ordered the teen held in custody until at least his next court date on Sept. 15.
In an effort improve trade relationships, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers will travel to Europe next month to showcase Wisconsin's economy.

Evers, Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. Secretary Missy Hughes and representatives of 10 Wisconsin companies plan to meet with officials in Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands to "showcase the state's expertise in advanced manufacturing, biotech, food manufacturing, energy, and water technology industries," the governor's office announced Thursday.

"This trade mission will underscore Wisconsin's manufacturing, health, scientific, and food processing industries in a region where consumers with 60 percent of the European Union's purchasing power live within 300 miles," Evers said in a statement.

Hughes said the countries are home to two of Europe's largest ports and are considered a "gateway for Wisconsin entrepreneurs looking to export to Europe."

"Wisconsin already has valuable partnerships with companies in the region, and this mission will allow us to solidify those relationships and build new ones," Hughes said. The governor's office did not provide specific dates for the planned trip, but said it will take place in September.

The Netherlands is the second-largest exporter of food in the world, behind the U.S. The U.S., meanwhile, is the sixth-largest agricultural supplier to the Netherlands, according to the governor's office.

The state's two-year spending plan, signed by Evers this summer, includes $2 million in state funds for the Wisconsin Agricultural Export Promotion Program, which supports increased export of agricultural products such as dairy, meat, crops and other commodities.

Agriculture is a $100 billion-plus industry in Wisconsin. In 2020, the state exported $3.37 billion worth of food, forestry and other agricultural products.
ANOTHER VIEW | DALLAS MORNING NEWS

American society continues to struggle with the question of how to fairly and compassionately deal with people addicted to drugs. Even though this is a complicated area of public policy, it's reassuring to see Republicans and Democrats in Congress looking for spots of consensus that can improve outcomes for low level, nonviolent offenders who enter the federal criminal justice system.

Under current law, a person found guilty of a federal charge of simple drug possession  meaning a small quantity for personal use, and not for dealing  can request probation if this is the person's first and only drug offense. After the person successfully completes probation, a federal judge can dismiss the case. The arrest and disposition would still show up in a public records search. However, the law does allow people younger than 21 to get the criminal record expunged.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, U.S. Rep. Nathaniel Moran, R-Tyler, and a group of Democrats and Republicans from across the country want to get rid of the age cap. They're co-sponsoring legislation named after a former New York district attorney, the Kenneth P. Thompson Begin Again Act, to narrowly amend federal law to remove the age limit for first-time drug offenders to expunge records.

That's appropriate. A criminal record, even a low-level drug possession charge, can hamper people's ability to land a job, secure an apartment or obtain public aid. It's important for offenders to accept responsibility for their actions, but having doors shut in their faces because of a single, relatively small mistake can destabilize lives and drive people away from recovery and back toward crime. First time drug possession offenders deserve a second chance even if they aren't minors or young adults.

The offense wouldn't show up in public background checks anymore. The U.S. Department of Justice retains a confidential record of the case, only for the purpose of determining whether a person would qualify for an expungement in a future proceeding.

Getting rid of the age cap for this second chance is so popular that organizations all over the ideological spectrum support it, from the NAACP to the Conservative Political Action Coalition. So do the National District Attorneys Association and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Americans should tread carefully when it comes to proposals to decriminalize drug use. A seemingly well-intentioned effort in Oregon to only fine people caught with small amounts of illegal drugs has backfired in Portland, where drug use has burst into the open. Overdose numbers are climbing while businesses and residents worry about disorder and aggression from chronic drug users.

The Kenneth P. Thompson Begin Again Act doesn't overstep. Beneficiaries would still face consequences, in the form of probation, while having barriers to their rehabilitation removed. It's a small policy change that can transform lives. We hope Congress will recognize this and act.
TRUMP INDICTMENT | KEY TAKEAWAYS

The fourth indictment of former President Donald Trump may be the most sweeping yet.

The sprawling, 98-page case unveiled late Monday night opens up fresh legal ground and exposes more than a dozen of Trump's allies to new jeopardy.

But it also raises familiar legal issues of whether the First Amendment allows a politician to try to overturn an election. Already, Trump and his supporters are alleging the indictment is the product of a politicized, corrupt process to hobble him as he competes for the GOP nomination to face President Joe Biden next year.

Here are some takeaways from the latest indictment:

The big one

This may be the last of the Trump indictments, but it was the big one. The indictment lists 18 defendants in addition to Trump, all joined together by Georgia's unusual anti-racketeering, or RICO, law.

Many of the defendants aren't even based in Georgia. The better-known defendants include former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and attorney Sidney Powell, who appeared in many hearings and on television spreading false claims about unfounded incidents of purported election fraud. Giuliani and Powell were among the unnamed co-conspirators in the federal indictment against Trump for his push to overturn the election that was released earlier this month.

Others, however, had to date escaped mention in charging documents, like Trump's then chief of staff Mark Meadows, who was on the call during which Trump urged Georgia election officials to "find"the votes he needed to win the state.

Other defendants include Mike Roman, a Trump campaign official who allegedly helped arrange slates of fake Trump electors whose votes Congress could count rather than those of the actual appointed ones for the winner of the election: Biden. Another person charged is Jenna Ellis, who has become a prominent conservative legal personality after working on the Trump campaign.

The charges also fall upon several Georgia players, including Ray Smith and Robert Cheeley, lawyers working for Trump in the state, and David Shafer, then the state GOP chairman, for serving as a fake Trump elector along with fellow co-defendants Shawn Still, then the state GOP finance chairman, and Cathleen Alston Latham.

A wider approach

Critics may argue this is an overreach for a local prosecutor's office. But the Georgia RICO statute gives Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' office the ability to construct a wide-ranging narrative by citing and charging other players in the alleged wrongdoing, even those out of state.

Some legal analysts think that Jack Smith, the federal prosecutor who filed the earlier charges against Trump for trying to overturn the election, didn't charge people identified as co-conspirators in his case, like Giuliani, because he is aiming for a trial as quickly as feasible.

Willis said she hoped for a trial date in six months and would seek to try all 19 defendants together.

The First Amendment argument

Trump is expected to employ a similar defense in both the earlier federal indictment and the Fulton County case. He and his supporters contend he's being charged simply for speaking up against what he saw as an unfair election and practicing politics as usual.

Indeed, some of the 161 acts that prosecutors contend were part of the conspiracy to overturn may sound like protected political machinations in isolation  emails and texts about meetings of people contending to be Trump electors, tweets about alleged voter fraud, even the filing of a lawsuit in Georgia challenging the election outcome.

But the indictment argues they were all steps in what it calls "a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump." It alleges that those fake elector meetings were part of an attempt to convince Georgia state lawmakers to "unlawfully" appoint the phony Trump electors, rather than the Biden ones they were bound to by law.

The indictment contends the tweets about phony voter fraud and the lawsuit were part of a similar scheme. It says some of the lies used to try to persuade Georgia's top election official, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, and Gov. Brian Kemp to declare Trump the victor could be considered another crime under state law: solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer.

Document drama

A document briefly posted to the Fulton County Clerk's Office website earlier Monday snagged the day's proceedings and gave Trump a window to further disparage the case against him.

People were still waiting to testify before the grand jury when Reuters reported on a document listing criminal charges to be brought against Trump, including state racketeering counts, conspiracy to commit false statements and solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer.

Reuters, which later published a copy of the document, said the filing was taken down quickly. A spokesperson for Willis said the report of charges being filed was "inaccurate," but declined to comment further. A statement subsequently released by the Fulton County courts clerk called the posted document "fictitious," but failed to explain how it got on the court's website.

Trump and his allies seized on the apparent error to claim that the process was rigged. Trump's campaign aimed to fundraise off it, sending out an email with the since-deleted document.

"The Grand Jury testimony has not even FINISHED  but it's clear the District Attorney has already decided how this case will end," Trump wrote in the email. "This is an absolute DISGRACE."
HAWAII

LAHAINA, Hawaii  Hawaii's governor vowed to protect local landowners from being "victimized" by opportunistic buyers when Maui rebuilds from deadly wildfires that incinerated a historic island community and killed more than 100 people.

Gov. Josh Green said Wednesday that he instructed the state attorney general to work toward a moratorium on land transactions in Lahaina, even as he acknowledged the move would likely face legal challenges.

"My intention from start to finish is to make sure that no one is victimized from a land grab," Green said at a news conference. "People are right now traumatized. Please do not approach them with an offer to buy their land. Do not approach their families saying they'll be much better off if they make a deal. Because we're not going to allow it."

Since flames consumed much of Lahaina more than a week ago, locals feared that a rebuilt town could become even more oriented toward wealthy visitors, said Lahaina native Richy Palalay.

Hotels and condos "that we can't afford to live in  that's what we're afraid of," he said.

Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez said Thursday that an outside organization will conduct "an impartial, independent" review into the government's response to the fires.

"We intend to look at this critical incident to facilitate any necessary corrective action and to advance future emergency preparedness," Lopez said in a statement. She said the investigation will likely take months.

As the death toll rose to 111 on Wednesday, the head of the Maui Emergency Management Agency defended not sounding sirens as flames raged.

"We were afraid that people would have gone mauka," said agency administrator Herman Andaya, using a navigational term that can mean toward the mountains or inland in Hawaiian.

The system was created after a 1946 tsunami that killed more than 150 on the Big Island, and its website says it may be used to alert for fires.

Many in Lahaina struggled to afford life in Hawaii before the fire. Statewide, a typical starter home costs over $1 million, while the average renter pays 42% of their income for housing, according to a Forbes Housing analysis.
A former historic school in Verona could soon become a hub for artists and art education.

The nonprofit Art House 360 would take up the vacant 12,000-square-foot, two-story building at 401 W. Verona Ave., the former home of New Century Charter School that's now located on North Main Street.

The goal is to provide an accessible arts education for all ages, empower artists from minority communities and foster an overall arts ecosystem, organizers said.

An opening is planned for next summer, said Monica Cliff, one of four co-artistic directors and future tenants of the property along with Jessica Lanius, AJ Juarez and Karisa Johnson.

The nonprofit is seeking major donors for its $2 million capital campaign to cover building renovations, Lanius said. Any renovations would preserve the architecture of the structure, built in 1917, Lanius said.

Once major donors have covered 50% of the renovations, the group will open donations to the public, she said, adding that the nonprofit is working with Madison architect DeHaven Design Build and is working with the city on finalizing the lease.

The center is expected to include four anchor tenants, including Cliff's Inventiva Works, which offers visual art and theatre classes in Spanish; Theatre LILA, headed by Lanius, which hosts trainings for actors; Barrio Dance, a dance school headed by Juarez; and Slate BLUE studios, headed by Johnson.

Slate BLUE Studios will offer community events, classes and coworking space for artists. Art House 360 hopes to get three more tenants, Johnson said, particularly a musician who can teach others about their craft. The nonprofit also wants to have a photography studio.

The four conceived of Art House 360 during the pandemic, Lanius said, and chose the former charter school for its walkable neighborhood and green space. The city is also building a stage and a recreational ice rink nearby, and there's a neighboring plaza where farmers markets are held.

"In Mexico, it's common to have artistic and cultural houses," said Cliff, who grew up in a small town in southern Mexico.

"One of the things we discussed when we started meeting during the pandemic was how much the arts are a great way to bring the community together. We wanted to in some way give a different meaning to the word 'artist.' Everyone is a natural creative."

Other potential tenants could be artists who are just starting out and need studio space. Leases would potentially be a two- to three-year commitment, Johnson said.

Community space

Plans call for including a community space in the building, and Johnson said Art House 360 wants to host events such as gallery nights. Under their lease agreements, each tenant will host two free community events a year, she said, focusing on their particular discipline.

The nonprofit has not yet determined how much it would cost to rent the community space for other arts-oriented events. Revenue for the center would come from rent as well as grants, donors and sponsors, Johnson said.

The organizers are also planning outreach programs such as subsidizing summer camps and hiring artists to go into schools, she said. They also plan to hire an administrative assistant and build a core of volunteers to help maintain the building, Johnson said.

"Literally it's perfect," Juarez said of the building.

No national spot

The former charter school was completed in March 1917, according to the Verona Area Historical Society. The Verona Graded School served students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

In 1995, the building became home to New Century, which was the first elementary level charter school in Wisconsin, the Verona historical society said.

The historical society sought to have the building added to the National Register of Historic Places, but the effort failed, said Jesse Charles, head of the Verona historical society.

"The land on which the school building sits was being debated and traded between the school district, the city of Verona and in the end the private companies who acquired and developed the surrounding lands but did not acquire the school," Charles said.

"We did request from the city several times over the years that the National Register be pursued  it eventually owned the building, and because we never owned it, we did not feel it was appropriate to pursue it as a historical society without the city's permission."
A Verona man who owned a drywall business was sentenced Thursday to 18 months in federal prison for tax evasion that totaled $557,907.19, authorities reported.

Gustavo Reyes, 52, was sentenced by Judge William Conley on the tax evasion charge he pleaded guilty to on May 24, U.S. Attorney Timothy OShea said in a statement.

Reyes owned and operated the business between 2013 and 2020, and a 2015 IRS audit of his income tax returns for 2013 and 2014 and determined that he had significantly underreported his income for those years, OShea said.

From 2015 through 2019, the IRS sent multiple notices to Reyes regarding tax deficiency assessments for the 2013 and 2014 tax years, but he did not respond. The IRS also filed tax liens in an attempt to collect the taxes Reyes owed and filed levies against several of his business bank accounts, but Reyes failed to pay any of his tax debt, OShea said.

Beginning with tax year 2018 and continuing to 2020, Reyes worked with others to create five nominee entities in Dane County through which he operated his drywall business, including Royal LLC, American Drywall and Morales Construction. By operating his drywall business through the nominee entities, Reyes attempted to defeat IRS collection efforts, OShea said.

Reyes avoided IRS liens and levies by operating with large amounts of cash that he received from cashing checks at establishments around the Madison area, OShea said.

The charge against Reyes was a result of an investigation conducted by IRS Criminal Investigation and the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Wegner was the prosecutor.

Emily Pritzkow, executive director of the Wisconsin Building Trades Council, said in a statement that Reyes sentencing underscores the critical importance of collaboration between labor, industry, and law enforcement in upholding the principles of a responsible construction sector. This outcome demonstrates the impact of collective efforts to expose and eliminate exploitative practices that undermine the well-being of workers and the credibility of our industry. The consequences of misclassification and payroll fraud ripple beyond immediate financial losses, affecting tax compliance, insurance credibility, and worker safety.
It was the sort of conduct one usually associates with to-talitarian governments: Law enforcement officers swarm a newspaper office and confiscate computers, servers and cellphones of reporters and editors. Yet this raid took place not in a faraway autocracy, but in a small town in Kansas, despite a federal law prohibiting such searches in most cases.

Police acting on a warrant Aug. 11 searched the offices of the Marion County Record, a weekly newspaper with seven employees and a circulation of about 4,000. Simultaneously, officers searched the home of Eric Meyer, the publisher and co-owner, seizing computers, his cellphone and the home's internet router, according to Meyer. Meyer's 98-year-old mother  a co-owner of the newspaper who lived with him  collapsed and died Saturday. Meyer blamed her death on the stress of the raid on their home.

Drastic as they were, the searches originated in what might appear to be a trivial dispute between the Record and a local restaurant owner, Kari Newell, who has accused the newspaper of invading her privacy and illegally accessing information about her and her driving record. (The newspaper says it obtained information about her driving record unsolicited and verified it through online public records. And it didn't print a story referencing the information.) The search warrant alleged identity theft and unlawful use of a computer.

The searches left the small news operation in such a dire state that it was not clear whether it would be able to publish the next scheduled edition Tuesday evening. Meyer memorably described the police action as "an atomic flyswatter."

It may also have been illegal. The federal Privacy Protection Act of 1980 requires that in most situations, law enforcement seek to obtain material from journalists through a subpoena.

The 1980 law was passed after the Supreme Court upheld a search by sheriff 's deputies of Stanford University's student newspaper seeking photographs from a protest. It serves as a necessary recognition that a free and inquisitive press serves the public interest, and that raids and searches of newsrooms can intimidate reporters and stop their vital work. The law broadly defines who is protected: those "reasonably believed to have a purpose to disseminate to the public a newspaper, book, broadcast, or other similar form of public communication." ...

These searches took place in a small town, but the temptation of law enforcement to overreach in dealing with journalists exists in communities of all sizes. In 2019, police in San Francisco searched the home and office of freelance journalist Bryan Carmody in an apparent bid to identify a confidential source. The city later agreed to pay Carmody $369,000 in a settlement.

Congress decided that journalists needed protection against searches. Local police and judges need to honor that judgment.

Send your views

Email your letter to the editor of 200 or fewer words to wsjopine@ madison.com. Submissions may be edited for clarity and length. Not all can be published. Please include your full name, address and phone number for verification.
First Federal sponsors Sept. 1 at Twin Falls County Fair

First Federal Bank is the Sept. 1 sponsor for the 107th annual Twin Falls County Fair and is offering discounted tickets for that day at all locations across the Magic Valley.

First Federal customers with a debit or credit card will receive $3 off adult admission ticket. Customers without a debit or credit card, and non-customers, will receive a $3 off coupon.

The Twin Falls Country Fair and, for that matter, all of Idahos fairs, are special, Nick Popplewell, the banks marketing director, said in a news release. Theyre a glimpse into the work and people that make Idaho great. They showcase community, bringing families and neighbors together in celebration.

The Twin Falls County Fair opens Aug. 30 and runs through Labor Day, Sept. 4. The theme is Kids, Critters and Cowboys. For a full schedule of events, go online to www.tfcfair.com/events.

Jerome chamber to host leadership symposium

The Jerome Chamber of Commerce will host a Leadership Symposium on Sept. 21 featuring New York Times best-selling author and retired U.S. Marine Angie Morgan Witkowski, whose message will inspire us to take meaningful risks in our lives.

The event, scheduled for 10 a.m. to noon, will be staged at the Jerome High School Auditorium, 104 S. Tiger Dr. Tickets are $50 for members and $70 for non-members. A VIP ticket, which includes lunch with Witkowski, is $100.

To register or for more information, go online to https://members.visitjeromeidaho.com/events, or call the chamber office at 208-324-2711.

Also:

Former Ketchum Mayor Jerry Seiffert will serve as grand marshal for the citys annual Wagon Days

celebration on Sept. 1-2. He will be honored during a special reception in Town Square on Sept. 1, beginning at 5:30 p.m. The Sept. 2 festivities will include a pancake breakfast, childrens activities in Town Square, horsemanship and cultural performances and a 1 p.m. concert and street party.

Kent Thibault of Twin Falls has been elected as an alternate delegate to the 140th annual American Angus Association Convention of Delegates, set for Nov. 6 in Orlando, Florida. The American Angus Association

is the nations largest beef breed organization, serving more than 22,000 members across the United States, Canada and several other countries.
To identify the top cities fostering new business growth in 2023, the data and research team at Swyft Filings turned to the most recent data from the United States Census Bureau, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and other government sources.
Tim Mapes, former chief of staff to House Speaker Michael Madigan, arrives at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago on Aug. 9, 2023. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)

Tim Mapes told a federal grand jury that he didnt see all that much of lobbyist Michael McClain after McClain retired in 2016.

I think he was (in Springfield) occasionally, but I dont really know his schedule because he wasnt there much, Mapes testified of McClain, one of House Speaker Michael Madigans closest confidants. From what he had told me when he was going to retire is that he was going to phase out some of his clients through the spring session. And I didnt  I never did have another discussion with him about it after that.

That testimony stood in stark contrast to evidence presented in Mapes perjury trial on Friday, where federal prosecutors played a series of wiretapped conversations showing Mapes and McClain were in frequent contact, even after Mapes was ousted in June 2018 as part of a sexual harassment scandal that had engulfed the speakers office.

Not only that, the men appeared in the calls to have a great affection for each other. They talked about their families and commiserated on the declining health of McClains mother. They ate meals together, joked about the perceived shortcomings of certain Madigan staffers, and worried about each others futures. At one point, McClain signed off by telling Mapes he loved him.

On the day Mapes resigned, McClain left him a voicemail that was played for the jury, saying, Tim, this is Mike. You know Im here for ya. So whatever I can do to help, all you gotta do is call on me. All you gotta do is call on me. God bless.

Mapes called McClain back and the two talked about the unfairness of Mapes forced exit. Youre the only persons made me cry today, McClain told Mapes.

In another call from June 2018, McClain told Mapes he still hadnt talked to Madigan about Mapes abrupt ouster.

I dont think I can contain myself right now around him, McClain said. I think I would say, I never thought youd be the one to leave the foxhole. But I just ... havent even wanted to talk to him. You know what I mean Tim?

The calls were played one after another for more than an hour as prosecutors neared the end of their case in chief.

Prosecutors had planned to rest on Friday afternoon, but that plan was scuttled after technical issues in the courtroom audio feed delayed the start of the trial. Prosecutors now plan to rest their case Monday.

The defense is expected to begin presenting its case on Monday, and will call an expert witness who will testify on the faults of human memory. They have also said they want to call Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu, who conducted the questioning of Mapes at the grand jury.

Mapes, meanwhile, has not said whether he will testify, though its considered a long shot given his previous track record and the general risks involved.

Mapes, 68, of Springfield, is charged with perjury and attempted obstruction of justice, accused in an indictment of lying in answers to seven questions during his appearance before the grand jury investigating Madigan and his vaunted political operation.

He faces up to 20 years in prison on the obstruction count, while the perjury charges carry up to five years behind bars.

Defendant Michael McClain exits the U.S. Dirksen Courthouse in downtown Chicago following the first day of the ComEd Four bribery conspiracy trial, March 14, 2023. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)

Over seven days of testimony, prosecutors have presented 15 witnesses and dozens of wiretapped phone conversations, emails and other documents in an effort to prove that Mapes was lying when he said he was unaware that McClain was doing sensitive assignments for the speaker.

The prosecutions case has also included the audio of Mapes entire grand jury testimony, offering a rare glimpse into a secretive process and illuminating how big-time political corruption investigations play out behind the scenes.

Mapes, who served for more than 25 years as Madigans chief of staff as well as stints as executive director of the state Democratic Party and the clerk of the House, has denied making any false statements.

His attorneys have argued that he did his level best to provide truthful answers. They also accused prosecutors of asking open-ended questions and failing to provide Mapes with any corroborating materials that might refresh his recollection of years-old conversations.

While the charges against Mapes are fairly straightforward, the trial has been anything but ordinary, especially given the backdrop of the political corruption scandal that roiled Illinois politics and helped end Madigans record, decadeslong run as speaker.

A slew of Democratic Springfield insiders have lined up to testify for the prosecution, including state Rep. Bob Rita, ex-legislators Lou Lang and Greg Harris, and former top aides to Madigan such as Tom Cullen, Will Cousineau and Craig Willert.

[ Former top Michael Madigan aide on trial: What you need to know  and whats next for Tim Mapes ]

Lang testified Thursday for the second time about the painful end to his 32-year legislative career.

[ Tim Mapes perjury trial: Evidence seen and heard by the jury ]

Prosecutors played a series of calls from 2018 where Mapes and McClain discussed Langs future after rumors of a #MeToo allegation prompted Madigan to decide Lang should give up the seat hed held for decades.

In one call from Oct. 26, 2018, McClain told Mapes, My assignment is to tell Lou Lang that he has no life in the House anymore.

Youve had one discussion with him. Did you have more? Mapes asked.

Im doing it in tiers, McClain responded.

In a recorded telephone call from Oct. 31, 2018, McClain said he would wait until fundraising checks that they had directed Lang to disperse to other Democratic candidates cleared, Then I gotta tell (Lang) hes gotta move on, he has no future in the House.

On the witness stand Thursday, Lang calmly told prosecutors that he was not surprised that it was McClain who called him to deliver the news because he was the message sender.

Mr. McClain was the person dispatched to tell members things that the speaker didnt want to tell them, Lang testified.

On Friday, the jury heard calls between McClain and Mapes that were both personal and profane. Some dealt with the death of McClains mother in 2018, while others featured McClain counseling Mapes on how to get over having to resign.

On June 27, 2018, McClain told Mapes he still cringed when he thought about letters he wrote to Madigan after he lost his legislative seat in 1982.

Im like, Jesus Christ, you dumb (expletive), McClain said.

McClain also told Mapes that his replacement as executive director of the state Democratic Party was in over her head. This is between you and me, he said. I never thought that she was the sharpest knife in the drawer and her heads gonna be swimming a lot.

The jury also saw how Mapes kept tabs with the burgeoning federal investigation into Madigan and his friends.

In November 2019, Mapes son, Devin, forwarded him a Tribune investigative story detailing $30,000 in payments that had been steered from Madigan-connected lobbyists to former Madigan lieutenant Kevin Quinn, who had been cut loose due to the alleged sexual harassment of a campaign worker.

Im starting to think that the feds dont have much on (McClain), Devin Mapes wrote in the email. Its just wicked character assassination  lots of stuff that people will think looks bad/unsavory but nothing that will convert into a guilty verdict.

Good to hear, Mapes replied. Well they really want another guy.

jmeisner@chicagotribune.com

rlong@chicagotribune.com
PHOTOS: Inside Magic Valley classrooms, 2023-24 Through the lenses of Times-News photographers, a look into the classrooms of the Magic Valley.

As kids head back to school, families like mine feel the promise of the year ahead  a promise that depends on our dedicated teachers.

Currently, teachers are putting in extra hours and digging into their own pockets to ready their classrooms and, too often, facing a heavier workload and less pay than the Legislature promised. Sadly, they are also bracing for harassment from far-right agitators.

Its therefore not surprising we see growing teacher turnover and schools with hundreds of vacancies. We must better support teachers to deliver the education we want for our children and the working conditions teachers deserve.

Two recent news stories illustrate what we are up against. The first was an article in the Boston Globe about 2023 Idaho Teacher of the Year Karen Lauritzen, who left our state.

The second was a KMVT piece about unfilled teaching vacancies in the Twin Falls School District less than a week before the start of school. Many districts face the same challenge and larger class sizes are the most likely fix when vacancies go unfilled.

Lauritzen was nationally recognized for excellent instruction and her passion for student learning. Receiving this prestigious award should have been cause for celebration in her community. Unfortunately, the opposite occurred. Far-right conflict profiteers picked her part online, criticizing her personal social media posts expressing support for the LGBTQ+ community and opposition to excessive police violence against Black people.

Despite having zero evidence that her personal views had any bearing on classroom instruction, parents started questioning her every move, even discussions of topics like world cultures and the United Nations.

The harassment took its toll. Ultimately, Ms. Lauritzen  like many other Idaho teachers  made the difficult decision not to return.

When educators exit the classroom, we pay a high price. Student achievement suffers in schools with more turnover. Attrition costs rural districts up to $9,000 per educator and $20,000 in urban districts.

Alarmingly, an Idaho Education Association survey found that 51% of Idaho educators are considering early retirement or leaving the profession. Lack of funding, salaries that fall behind the cost of living, and a worsening anti-educator climate are driving qualified teachers from the classroom.

Extreme Republican politicians have been deliberately sowing the seeds of doubt in public education for decades. They ignore the needs of students, parents, and educators and instead try to distract voters by politicizing our classrooms.

Instead of censoring books and curricula, Idaho Democrats are working to support our educators. We are advocating for the things schools need, like reasonable class sizes and professional development.

If we focus on delivering excellent educational opportunities to every child, we can build a bright future for Idaho.
SunAsia Energy Inc. applied for tax incentives with the Board of Investments on its planned $1.7-billion floating solar power project in Laguna Lake.

The BOI said that once approved, the incentives would include 7-year income tax holiday; duty free importation of machinery, equipment and materials; 10-percent corporate income tax rate after the ITH period; accelerated depreciation; zero value added tax on the sale of fuel or power generated; cash incentive for missionary electrification; tax exemption on carbon credit; and tax credit on domestic capital equipment and services.

It said SunAsias solar power project is the first strategic investment under Executive Order No. 18 or the Green Lanes for Strategic Investments policy.

This underscores the seriousness of the government in helping investors realize their investments by removing the barriers to the entry of strategic investments. Rest assured of the whole-of-government support for this strategic investment which positively impacts our economy not only in terms of investments but more importantly on the jobs to be generated, said BOI director for investment assistance service Ernesto Delos Reyes Jr.

He said the company was still completing the documentary requirements needed for registration.

Having a green lane status will speed up and streamline the procedure and requirements for the issuance of permits and licenses, including resolutions of issues concerning strategic investments.

Aside from SunAsia Energy, ACEN Renewable Energy Solutions, the power subsidiary of the Ayala Group, is also building similar floating solar projects.

Both companies are committed to providing clean and sustainable energy for consumers with combined capacities of 2.3 gigawatts of renewable energy.

SunAsia will integrate 10 floating solar projects on the Laguna Lake that would generate 1.3 GW of power, while ACEN would produce 1 GW.

Laguna Lake Development Authority general-manager Senando Santiago said the LLDA board identified several pre-determined areas in Laguna Lake for RE development with a total area of 2,000 or about 2 percent of Laguna Lakes total surface areas and recently awarded the contracts to RE developers though public bidding.

Laguna Lake is the largest freshwater lake in the Philippines spanning 90,000 hectares. The first allocation of 2,000 hectares for solar energy will redound to huge economic benefits, it said.

SunAsia is set to start the construction phase in 2025 and commercially operate by 2026. Once completed, the project will increase the share of renewable energy in the total energy mix in the Philippines and displace fuel usage by about 1 million tons of carbon credits.

SunAsia expects the Department of Energy to set higher installation capacities for floating solar by November 2023 to comply with governments ambitious decarbonization goal by 2050.

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A first-class city in the Visayas, Cebu City envisions to develop into a smart city, like the city-state of Singapore.

To this end, the local government unit (LGU) of Cebu City has forged a partnership with PLDT Enterprise, the corporate business arm of PLDT, the leading integrated telecommunications and digital services provider in the Philippines, to expedite its thrust towards digital transformation for the benefit of its constituents and thriving business communities.

The collaboration will provide advanced digital solutions and reliable connectivity with the initial roll out of free, unlimited public Wi-Fi in 50 barangays, including prominent areas like Guadalupe, Tisa, Basak San Nicholas, and Talamban.

Wi-Fi access points will be strategically deployed in barangay halls, gyms, and key areas of each barangay to ensure wide coverage and connection of about 30 to 40 meters from every access point.

PLDT Enterprise supplies fiber broadband internet access with a robust bandwidth of 100mbps to enable seamless connectivity. Moreover, a cloud-managed access point is installed to monitor real-time alerts and ensure uninterrupted internet.

Kent De La Calzada, Assistant Vice President & Head of Customer Relationship Management at PLDT Enterprise, underscores the importance of connectivity in driving progress and innovation, saying, Digital access has become the lifeblood of modern cities. A digital city  facilitated by widespread broadband  is one precursor into becoming a smart city. This certainly benefits all stakeholders.

In enabling easy access to information and essential services through wireless internet, the LGU enhances the delivery of public services, facilitates learning and information technology, and promotes competitiveness among barangays.

To help the LGU connect with their constituents better, PLDT Enterprise played a pivotal role in powering the Peoples State of the City Address, as the official connectivity sponsor of the event, bringing together the community virtually to engage and connect with the local government.

It will also play a pivotal role in supporting the citys tourism objectives by providing internet access to visitors. Last year, Cebu City ranked first in tourist arrivals, with 1,063,503 tourists, among all LGUs in Cebu.

The Honorable Michael L. Rama, Mayor of the City Government of Cebu, expressed gratitude for the partnership and its potential impact on the citys digitalization programs.

Not only enhancing connectivity, but this initiative also empowers our citizens by providing access to vital information and social services. With PLDT Enterprises expertise and support, we are one step closer to realizing our vision of a smart Cebu City, PLDT Enterprise quoted Rama as saying.

This latest partnership is another testament to PLDT Enterprises commitment to digitalize different localities, particularly those in far-flung areas, to support nation-building and economic growth.

Indeed, the City Government of Cebu set plans to expand connectivity to the remaining 30 barangays in mountainous areas to extend and ensure reliable connection across the city.

Mitch Locsin, First Vice President & Head of Enterprise and International Business Groups at PLDT and Smart, expressed enthusiasm for the partnership and the growing trend of digitalization across the country.

PLDT Enterprise is delighted to be involved in Cebu Citys digital transformation journey. Much like we have done in other LGUs, our advanced fiber broadband solutions will provide the city and its residents with the tools and resources needed to thrive in the digital era, Locsin concludes.

PLDT Enterprise continues to work hand in hand with LGUs like the City Government of Cebu to foster innovation, improve government services, and create smarter and more connected communities. This partnership has taken significant strides in supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by promoting digital inclusion and empowering citizens with greater and equal digital opportunities through connectivity.

Together, PLDT Enterprise and the City Government of Cebu are driving positive change, bridging the digital divide, and building a more inclusive and sustainable future for all.

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The Department of Foreign Affairs said Friday that the country will arrest illegal fishers who will venture into Philippine territorial waters and exclusive economic zone after the end of Chinas fishing ban in the South China Sea.

Local fishermen are concerned that Chinese fishing fleets will enter Philippine waters and its exclusive economic zone with the end of Chinas fishing ban, which also covers the West Philippine Sea.

The Philippines is ready to take law enforcement measures on illegal fishing activities in its waters, DFA spokesperson Ambassador Teresita Daza said on Friday in a TV report.

The Philippines did not recognize Chinas fishing ban which has been the subject of its diplomatic protests.

We will continue to register our formal opposition to it. It is an illegal exercise of state authority in so far as they cover the Philippines maritime zones, Daza said.

According to a report on 24 Oras, local officials in Kalayaan, Palawan said Chinese fishers didnt honor the fishing ban.

Based on what weve seen, its contradictory. Their boats have always been there to fish, Kalayaan Municipal Councilor MP Albayda said.

Filipino fishermen from Kalayaan and mainland Palawan opt to avoid fishing in areas where Chinese vessels are sighted, the TV report added, quoting a local fisherman.

Our fellow fishers here are afraid to go there. Instead of being able to fish where there is plenty to catch and within our territory, were being kept from doing so by another country, said the fisherman.

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A 79-year-old Filipino was among the over 100 fatalities in the wildfires that struck Maui in Hawaii, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Friday.

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo Jose de Vega said the fatality was identified as Alfredo Galinato, a naturalized US citizen originally from Ilocos.

The DFA confirms the death of a Filipino national in the Hawaii wildfires, De Vega said in a message to reporters.

The Philippine Consulate in Honolulu is assisting the family who are all based in Hawaii, he added.

As this developed, three Filipino teachersHeidee Gudao, Maria Christina Espina, and Angelic Gallariowho have earlier been reported missing not only survived the wildfires but were also lauded for heroically rescuing an elderly neighbor.

We found him carrying just a pillow and a flashlight, Gudao said of the elderly man they rescued.

I asked him what he brought and what clothes he had. He said he only had his clothes on. He had no belongings, she added.

The elderly man is now with his family in California.

Espina expressed gratitude for the outpouring of support from the Filipino community.

The Filipino community here in Hawaii is hospitable. They are concerned about us. Were the first Filipinos to become teachers in Maui, so theyre concerned about us, she said.

The Maui Filipino Chamber of Commerce earlier reported that hundreds of Filipinos were among the more than 1,000 missing in the wildfires that started last week.

The Philippine Consulate General in Honolulu said it was receiving a rising number of calls and emails inquiring about the status of Filipinos and Filipino-Americans missing due to the wildfires.

Queries received by the Consulate requesting assistance in locating missing individuals and family members have increased, Consul General Emilio Hernandez said.

There are 200,000 Filipinos living in Hawaii, 60 percent of whom are American citizens, according to the DFA.

The wildfires raged the dry grasslands into the historic resort town of Lahaina last Tuesday, turning block after block into ash.

While the cause of the fire has not been determined, many survivors said they went unwarned before the inferno rapidly swept through town.

Some people were forced to dive into the Pacific Ocean to escape the flames.

With more than 100 fatalities, the fire is one of the deadliest US wildfires in more than a century. As officials work to identify the deceased, stories about those who perished have emerged from loved ones.

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The government is embarking on a flagship multi-billion-peso Bamboo Villages program that seeks to uplift the poor and indigenous people (IP) still residing in ancestral lands while generating foreign exchange from the global bamboo market that could grow to a $90 billion industry by 2030.

The program will use bamboo as a climate change mitigation tool. President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. himself cited during the United Nations General Assembly that the climate challenge is a major policy goal of his administration, said newly-appointed Department of Agriculture Undersecretary Deogracias Victor B. Savellano.

Meanwhile, President Marcos and the Private Sector Advisory Councils (PSAC) Job Sector Group have discussed several initiatives aimed at generating more than 2 million direct jobs by 2028.

In a fourth meeting convened by Marcos at the Palace on Thursday, the PSAC  Job Sector Group presented its proposed actions and recommendations that could help create more employment opportunities for Filipinos.

The Buong Bansa Magtanim (BBM) ng Kawayan program aims to create livelihoods in the countryside.

Savellano has been leading consultations on the concept of Bamboo

Villages, which he has been pushing for as an inclusive, community-based approach to job creation and agricultural development.

With bamboo growing abundantly in the Philippines, we can tap a rich economic resource if we only have a national program to develop it as an industry as what our neighbors have already invested in, Savellano said.

A week ago, the DA undersecretary led a consultation in Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon on proposed legislation allocating 5 percent of the budget of various government agencies for bamboo propagation.

He noted that an institutionalized bamboo program will be needed to consolidate different government programs on bamboo that are now scattered across agencies.

We need to harmonize our programs that are now uncoordinated. We need to obtain the cooperation of each individual and harness all economic resources to attract private sector investment in bamboo, Savellano said.

Bamboo bills filed in Congress, primarily Senate Bill 605 and House Bill 7941, have provided for a P100 million budget for the institutionalization of the Philippine Bamboo Industry Development Program.

While P100 million yearly may be a heavy yearly budget for the government, Senator Nancy Binay said the legislature should review the huge economic potential offered by bamboo as against costs.

With bamboos strong like steel, tough like concrete, beautiful as hardwood, bamboo should be included as a certified material in the Building Code, Savellano said.

He noted that bamboo has become a raw material for a wide range of products including lumber as an alternative to hardwood for beams, engineered wood and tiles, textiles, carbon composites for windmill turbine blades, large-diameter water pipes and sewage mains, and bamboo pellets to replace coal in power generation.

A local miner said bamboo can generate $3.5 billion in revenue per year, equivalent to the revenue from the Philippine mining sector The Philippines has 3.75 million hectares of idle land waiting to be developed. If only 400,000 hectares are developed for bamboo which is equivalent to 10 percent of Chinas 4.2 million hectares, the Philippines can earn $3.5 billion yearly, he said.

Mr. Marcos, during the PSAC meeting, was briefed about the proposed roadmap of PSAC and the IT and Business Process Association Philippines (IBPAP) to transform the Philippines into a global leader in the digital domain.

Under the proposed roadmap, the targeted approach is envisioned to open 1 million additional Information Technology and Business Process Management (IT-BPM) jobs by 2028 and a total of 2.5 million employment opportunities, the PSAC said in a news release.

These positions will, in turn, stimulate the generation of at least 550,000 new IT-BPM jobs in the countryside and 6.3 million indirect job opportunities across various industries, such as food, logistics, real estate, retail, and transportation. The ripple effect of this initiative is expected to significantly contribute to the nations economic development, PSAC said.

Citing IBPAP figures, PSAC lead convenor and Aboitiz Group president and chief executive officer Sabin Aboitiz said the proposed roadmap is projected to contribute P169 billion in annual personal income tax and inject 8.9-percent growth into the Philippines gross domestic product.

Mr. Marcos and the PSAC-Job Sector Group also discussed the priority sectors that would play a vital role in making the Philippines a significant global player, while also retaining, upscaling, and creating more jobs.

The council proposed the allocation of direct scholarship funds towards IT-BPM training and upskilling, with support from the Office of the Presidential Assistant on Investment and Economic Affairs and the Private Sector Jobs and Skills Corp. PSAC said the goal is to train about 500,000 individuals annually with a budget of P4 billion.

The councils proposal includes extending Senior High School immersion from 80 hours to 640 hours, promoting higher education internships, and fostering apprenticeships.

The PSAC-Job Sector Group emphasized the need to focus on industries that could boost job creation and shape the Philippines as a future-ready nation where cutting-edge technology, workforce empowerment, and economic growth converge.

PSAC noted that synergies between the private sector and the Department of Agriculture would play a crucial role in bringing development to the agriculture sector.

The ongoing study to help develop the habal-habal and motorcycle taxi program could generate one million jobs. The recommendation also incorporates private sector participation in which it aims to connect an estimated 200,000 agri MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) and can generate over 400,000 additional jobs, it said.

The council also proposed the improvement of the Philippines Shipping Registry through the passage of a law that could enable a robust administrative framework to facilitate maritime trade. It also backed the reinstatement of the Philippine Economic Zone Authoritys one-stop shop role to provide streamlined services to foreign companies in economic zones.

Also on Friday, the Civil Service Commission on Friday announced 204,054 vacant positions in the entire government bureaucracy. At the weekly media forum organized by the Philippine Information Agency in Quezon City, CSC chairperson Karlo Alexei Nograles said: There are 204,054 job vacancies in the entire agencies, in all government-owned and controlled corporations, local water utilities, including the local government units.  With Rio N. Araja

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Analyst: China ships down to 19 from 32 during water-cannon incident at Ayungin

A former US Air Force colonel and a security analyst said he is tracking 19 Chinese militia ships swarming the waters off Mischief Reef and Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea.

Raymond Powell, director of SeaLight at the Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation, said this number was down from a high of 32 during the Aug. 5 resupply mission that was thwarted by Chinese ships that fired water cannons at Philippine boats.

Actually there were probably even more than 32, as indicated in this satellite photo of Mischief Reef from Aug. 4, where you can see many smaller vessels rafted together and probably not broadcasting on AIS [Automatic Information System], he said in an email to the Manila Standard.

The SeaLight director also said that he noted three departures of Chinese Coast Guard vessels back to Hainan Island, where ships involved in the Aug. 5 incident may have originated.

He said three of the ships involved in the Aug.5 incident have gone dark by turning off their AIS transponders, but may still be in the area.

Powell, in his post at the SeaLight, said that the resupply mission blockade had been planned.

The China Coast Guards 5 August water-cannon assault on the Philippines resupply mission didnt just happen. Things didnt just get out of hand, he said.

The SeaLight director also noted that China has allowed their forces back to Hainan, and the Chinese presence is now less than it was in the region.

This seems to have been a temporary surge specifically to contest the last resupply, and since that date, they have allowed some of these forces to recover back to Hainan Island, so their presence now is less than it was, he said.

SeaLight says they use commercially available technology to shed light on the maritime gray zonethat is, things that happen at sea that someone would rather the public not know about.

Common gray-zone activities we track and report include: Harassment of legal activities such as responsible fishing, security operations or hydrocarbon exploration within a nations own exclusive economic zone, Illegal incursions into other countries waters, intimidation measures such as vessel swarming, outpost and artificial island building and Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, the website said.

Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Friday that the Philippines does not recognize Chinas annual ban on fishing in some parts of the disputed West Philippine Sea.

In a statement, the DFA stressed the fishing ban imposed by China from May 1 to Aug. 16 has been the subject of the countrys diplomatic protests.

We will continue to register our formal opposition to it. It is an illegal exercise of state authority insofar as they cover the Philippines maritime zones, the department said.

China has imposed the ban each year since 1999.

The Philippines has been calling on China to take active measures at its ports to prevent its fishing fleets from entering the countrys territorial sea and exclusive economic zone.

The Philippines is ready to take law enforcement measures on illegal fishing activities in its waters, DFA said.

In 2013, the Philippines challenged Chinas legal basis for its vast claim in the South China Sea before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands.

The Philippines won the case in a landmark arbitral ruling in 2016 after the tribunal invalidated Chinas massive claims over the South China Sea.

However, Beijing continues to defy the PCAs arbitral ruling.

Also on Friday, the Presidential Communications Office said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will meet in the Philippines to discuss defense and maritime affairs on Sept. 7 and 8.

In a statement, PCO said that the President is pleased to welcome the Australian Prime Minister to the country as the Philippines and Australia share a rich history of friendship and collaboration.

The PCO said Mr. Marcos and Albanese are expected to discuss key issues in their partnership, particularly in key sectors such as defense and security, trade, economic development, and maritime affairs.

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Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Thursday a deal aimed to bring long-term preventative HIV treatment to vulnerable populations was on hold after the drugmaker imposed pricing confidentiality.

In a statement, MSF called on ViiV Healthcare, to withdraw unacceptable conditions suddenly added to a long-negotiated purchase agreement for the preventative HIV drug cabotegravir long-acting (CAB-LA).

These conditions, including a confidentiality clause on the drugs price and supply terms, are not acceptable in MSF purchase agreements, the statement said.

MSF warned that the new conditions were holding up its procurement of the drug, which it said was the most effective form of HIV prevention available today.

ViiV Healthcare is a subsidiary of British pharmaceutical giant GSK.

A spokesperson for Viiv said: We share MSFs ambition to enable access to cabotegravir LA for PrEP.

We remain committed to supporting our partners, and were currently working closely on contract negotiations with MSF to enable access to cabotegravir LA for PrEP as quickly as possible.

MSF said it had been negotiating the deal since early 2022, with the aim to first bring the highly effective drug, given as an injection every eight weeks instead of as daily pills, to vulnerable populations in Mozambique.

But a few months ago ViiV had suddenly added the confidentiality clause, it said.

It had also announced it retained the power to terminate the contract or refuse the purchase order without just reasons, in what MSF said undermined supply security.

MSF is stuck in an infuriating situation, Helen Bygrave with the MSF Access Campaign said in the statement.

Theres a lifesaving HIV prevention drug at our fingertips, but ViiV, the only corporation producing CAB-LA for at least the next three to four years, is deliberately putting up red tape to delay access for people in our care.

 Stop stalling 

In May last year, the Health Gap civil society group alleged that ViiV had set an access price for CAB-LA at $23,000 per person per year in the United States, and at $240-270 per person per year in low-income countries, putting the drug far out of reach for those who need it most.

MSF said Thursday that the new access price is not expected to be significantly different.

Regardless, ViiV continues to undermine the established good practices of transparency on HIV drug prices and supply terms in its ongoing negotiations with procurers, by attempting to reinstate confidentiality clauses around the price and supply terms of CAB-LA, it said.

The medical charity said that since it first began responding to the HIV crisis more than two decades ago, it had consistently refrained from signing such clauses, akin to Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs), as part of its efforts to help promote access to affordable, quality-assured treatments.

Bygrave called on ViiV to stop stalling so that we can make sure people in our care are offered the most effective HIV prevention as quickly as possible.

MSF remains open to finding an immediate solution and awaits the response from ViiV.

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Washington, DCA 55-year-old woman who holds dual French and Canadian nationality was sentenced to nearly 22 years in prison on Thursday (Friday in Manila) for sending a letter containing deadly ricin to then-US president Donald Trump.

Pascale Ferrier pleaded guilty in January to violating prohibitions on possession or use of banned biological weapons.

Ferrier admitted she made ricin, an extremely toxic plant protein derived from castor bean seeds, at her home in Quebec in September 2020.

She sent a letter containing ricin that same month from Canada to the White House addressed to Trump and other poison-laced letters to eight law enforcement officials in the state of Texas.

Her letter to Trump contained threatening language and called on him to withdraw from the looming election, according to the Justice Department.

I found a new name for you: The Ugly Tyrant Clown I hope you like it, the letter said.

If it doesnt work, Ill find better recipe for another poison, or I might use my gun when Ill be able to come. Enjoy!

Around the time of sending the letter, Ferrier had also posted on Twitter that someone should shoot Trump in the face.

Threatening the US president is a specific crime that brings up to five years in prison.

The Justice Department said that in 2019 Ferrier had been detained in Texas for around 10 weeks for weapons possession, and she blamed the law enforcement officials she eventually sent letters to.

No one was hurt by the poisonous contents of the letters.

All White House mail goes through a suburban Washington processing facility, in part to screen for threats.

After mailing the letters, Ferrier attempted to enter the United States at an official crossing in Buffalo, New York, on September 20, 2020.

She was arrested there.

Officials found a gun and hundreds of rounds of ammunition in her car, according to the Justice Department. AFP

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WellingtonA New Zealand man who spent nearly 18 years in prison for a murder he did not commit will receive a multimillion-dollar compensation package, the government said Friday.

Alan Hall was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1986 after a man was fatally stabbed during an Auckland home invasion.

In a statement to local media, Halls family said they were relieved the fight to clear his name was over. Alan was 24 when he was arrested. He is now 61.

There was no forensic evidence linking Hall to the scene, and the assailant was said to be of a different height and ethnicity.

But Hall was found guilty nonetheless.

Hall was released on parole in 1994 only to be sent back to jail in 2012 for breaching the conditions of his release. He was finally set free last year and acquitted.

New Zealands Supreme Court admitted the initial trial had been unjust, showing either extreme incompetence or a deliberate and wrongful strategy to secure conviction.

The Supreme Court also noted that Hall had an intellectual disability, and despite this was subjected to 20 hours of interrogation without his lawyer present. AFP

Justice Minister Deborah Russell said Friday that Hall had accepted an offer of NZ$4.9 (US$3 million) compensation.

The New Zealand government apologizes unreservedly for his wrongful convictions and imprisonment. Russell said.

I acknowledge that the apology and compensation can never completely remedy the injustice Hall has suffered, Russell added. AFP

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Chicago police Chief Larry Snelling, center, arrives with Mayor Brandon Johnson to be introduced as Johnsons choice for superintendent on Aug. 14, 2023, at City Hall. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Mayor Brandon Johnson made two high-profile personnel moves this week that tell us a lot about what he will be like as mayor. A third, lower-profile appointment may yet say even more.

On Sunday, Johnson named Larry Snelling as his police superintendent. In doing so, he followed the new selection rules and chose from a list of three finalists provided by the new Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability.

Also, we learned, Johnson on Friday had one of his aides fire Dr. Allison Arwady, the citys public health chief, without meeting with her even once. In the third, lower-profile but intriguing move, Johnson brought back lawyer Jim Franczek to complete negotiations on a new police contract.

What does it all add up to?

As Johnsons administration takes shape now that the mayor has spent nearly 100 days on the job, the rigors of the office are starting to show. The tough decisions, and their consequences, are beginning to stack up.

Hire by hire, ouster by ouster, a picture of Johnson as the citys chief executive is emerging.

The choice of Snelling was textbook: Johnson accepted one of three nominees from the community commission. And he fulfilled a campaign commitment that he intended to select a superintendent from within CPDs ranks. The City Council now must approve the appointment.

During the campaign, Johnson also pledged improved compliance with the federal consent decree. He talked about addressing the root causes of crime and working with communities to address them.

Snelling checks those boxes. His expertise on the appropriate use of force by patrol officers and his background on training are bonus attributes. And when the Democratic National Convention hits town next summer, Snellings recent work as chief of the departments anti-terrorism unit should help the CPD back up the federal authorities responsible for keeping the convention safe.

[ Editorial: Job one for Larry Snelling? Tackle CPDs trust deficit across the South and West sides. ]

And in the immediate future  when its important to build on recent momentum in reducing violent crime  Snellings early-career patrol experience in Englewood, one of the citys most challenged communities, should add credibility and competence.

As smoothly executed as the Snelling selection was, the handling of Arwadys ouster was clumsy. Denying her a chance to take leave of her staff was mean-spirited.

As a candidate, Johnson pledged to meet with Arwady and learn what he could from her role leading the citys fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. That never happened.

[ Editorial: Brandon Johnsons unconscionable treatment of Dr. Allison Arwady ]

Candidate Johnson committed to act independently of the Chicago Teachers Union, his prior employer and political sponsor. Arwady as health commissioner famously battled with the CTU, which defied efforts by Lori Lightfoots administration to return children to in-person schooling, even as remote teaching yielded falling grades and social isolation.

Dr. Allison Arwady, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, provides guidance on the coronavirus at the Thompson Center on Feb. 28, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

Dismissing Arwady without a meeting and without meaningful public explanation broke Johnsons campaign commitments. And by paraphrasing brilliant but vague Tupac Shakur rap lyrics as explanation  Real eyes ... realize real lies  the mayor unfairly left open an interpretation that Arwady had lied, without offering details or evidence.

The lack of explanation left the public free to infer that Arwadys jousting with the CTU was a factor in her dismissal. And Johnsons raw show of power broke character from the inclusive, open soul of Chicago persona the mayor has tried to build.

Against that backdrop, the hiring that got the least attention  Johnsons decision to bring back Franczek to finish contract negotiations with the Fraternal Order of Police  should not be overlooked. Issues affecting morale and retention are not resolved, and Johnson understandably needs Franczeks expertise and hard-nosed negotiating style.

The appointment, if just for this assignment, is important. If it leads to Franczeks reinstatement as the citys lead negotiator, it would offer a promising signal about Johnsons intent to deal firmly and fairly with city unions, even his alma mater and political sponsor the CTU.

Franczek has represented the city in labor talks since Harold Washington was mayor. He has negotiated against the CTU on eight contracts. That includes talks that broke down and led to epic strikes against Lightfoot and Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Franczek even helped draft the 1995 law that gave control of Chicagos public schools to the citys mayor. Thats a move the CTU reversed with its successful backing of a new law that creates an elected school board, which begins to phase in next year.

Attorney Jim Franczek discusses bargaining agreements between City Hall and the Fraternal Order of Police in 2016. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)

There also could be lingering distaste over Franczeks decision, late in the mayoral campaign, to issue a near-endorsement of Paul Vallas, Johnsons rival in the runoff election. Surely this cannot have won Franczek any favor with Johnson or his CTU backers.

A lame-duck Lightfoot fired Franczek for his indiscretion, and Johnson could easily have turned the page on the Franczek era. In fact, the politics of such a move would have been understandable. Instead, he has brought Franczek back to deal with the FOP. This raises the question of who will represent the city in the next big union negotiation, with the CTU, to replace the contract that expires next year.

Keeping Franczek on board would signal Johnsons sense of responsibility as the citys CEO. It also would signal Johnsons willingness to make a decision that may not be welcome at the CTU.

Johnson needs such moves to fulfill another campaign promise: to be a mayor for all of Chicago, not just teachers and others who helped him win the job.

Three key personnel moves and three contrasting but telling results. Theyre pieces of the puzzle that is beginning to come together as Chicago gets to know its new mayor.

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
MoscowRussian and Chinese warships are conducting joint maritime patrols in the Pacific Ocean involving rescue training and drills for countering air strikes, Moscows defense ministry said Friday.

Video released by Russian state news agency TASS showed nine large vessels sailing in a diamond formation as crew members stood to attention on deck.

The drills also included practicing the replenishment of fuel reserves by ships and the transfer of cargo on the go, the defense ministry said, adding that the joint detachment of ships had covered more than 6,400 nautical miles since the start of the exercises.

A detachment of ships of the Russian Navy and the PLA Navy is currently operating in the waters of the East China Sea, said the ministry, referring to Chinas Peoples Liberation Army.

During this period, the sailors of the two countries conducted anti-submarine exercises, repulsed an air strike by a mock enemy, conducted rescue training at sea, and perfected the skills of taking off and landing helicopters on the decks of warships, the statement read.

Ties between Moscow and Beijing have grown closer in recent years, as prolonged fighting in Ukraine has shattered Russias relationship with Western governments.

A Chinese defense ministry spokesperson said Monday that naval fleets of the two countries were conducting maritime patrols in western and northern regions of the Pacific Ocean.

These actions are not aimed at a third party and are not related to the current international and regional situation, the spokesperson added.

Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu visited Russia this week to attend the 11th Moscow Conference on International Security, where he called for closer military cooperation.

Moscow and Beijing have ramped up bilateral defence collaboration in recent months, carrying out a joint air patrol over the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea in July.

The displays of force have caused concerns in the region  the July air patrol led to South Korea deploying fighter jets as a precaution. AFP

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The easing of travel rules will certainly increase foreign tourist arrivals in the Philippines.

Airlines are the first to acknowledge the removal of vaccine certificate requirement for inbound foreign travelers will lead to a busier travel sector.

The vaccine proof has served as the most essential travel requirement for foreign visitors during the pandemic.

On many occasions, however, the requisite has discouraged potential foreign tourists to visit the Philippines.

With the global pandemic essentially over and revenge travel on the minds of tourists, the Philippines can expect a sort of a tourism renaissance in the coming months.

International visitor arrivals reached 3.41 million as of Aug. 13, or already about 70 percent of the governments full-year target of 4.8 million.

The long queues at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), the nations premier airport, confirm the increase in flights and passenger traffic.

The Christmas holiday season, which is just four months away, and the lax COVID-19 travel rules are expected to result in bigger traffic at the NAIA.

How the airport will respond to the challenge will be interesting to note.

A study by vacation rental management company Casago has just named the NAIA among the worst airports in Asia after passengers were forced to wait in long lines.

Casago analyzed passenger reviews about queuing times rated on a scale of 1 star to 5 stars on airlinequality.com, taking into consideration only airports with 20 or more passenger reviews.

NAIA, according to the study, ranked 8th among the 10 worst airports in Asia, with just 18 percent of passengers highly approving the queuing time in the airport.

Singapores Changi International Airport, meanwhile, is considered the worlds best in providing smooth experience to passengers after 74 percent of travelers gave it 4 to 5 stars ratings in the travel website.

The NAIA, like some global airports, may argue it is struggling to meet the bigger post-pandemic demand after three years of lockdown restrictions.

For NAIA, the big influx of foreign travelers is causing flight delays and bottlenecks in the form of long queues.

Changi International Airport, a much busier airport, seems to be more capable of handling the task.

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The North Carolina State Board of Community Colleges, during its meeting on Friday morning, affirmed the decision of the McDowell Technical Community College Board of Trustees to name Ryan Garrison as interim president of McDowell Tech, effective Sept. 1. He will serve on an interim basis while the board conducts a search for a new president as the colleges sixth president, Dr. Brian S. Merritt, will become senior vice president at the North Carolina Community College System Office in Raleigh on Sept. 1.

At the boards last meeting on Aug. 10, board chair Gary Stroud discussed a possible timeline for the search process. Ideally, the board would like to have a new president in place as early as possible during the Spring 2023 semester, but he acknowledged that there are a number of variables involved in the process.

This will be Garrisons second time serving as McDowell Techs interim president. He last served in the role from July to December 2020, following the departure of the colleges former president, Dr. John Gossett, who had been named president at AB Tech in Asheville.

Garrison is currently senior vice president of finance and administration at McDowell Tech. He served as vice-president at the college since 2008 and was recently named senior vice president following an organizational restructuring approved by the board of trustees last week.

Garrison is a 1996 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics. He also received a B.S.B.A in Accounting from Appalachian State University in 1999 and a Master of Arts in Higher Education Administration in 2008.

Garrison has indicated that he will not be a candidate for the permanent position as president. Once a new president takes helm at the college, Garrison will return to his full-time role as senior vice president for finance and administration.

The board of trustees anticipates approval of a consulting firm to help facilitate the presidential search process during its regular meeting on Sept. 14.

We have a great leadership team at the college and Mr. Garrison is a proven, trusted, and effective leader, said Merritt. I am confident that the growth and progress we have made toward our workforce development goals over the last couple of years will continue uninterrupted and our students and the community wont notice a change, except for having a taller, bow-tie wearing, interim president. I wish Garrison and the college continued success during this transition.
By the end of this year, the historic First National Bank building and its landmark cupola at 14 S. Main St. will officially become the new Marion City Hall. And the current city hall building at 194 N. Main St. will become a new annex for the city of Marions utilities and services.

Those decisions were reached Tuesday night during the regular August meeting of the Marion City Council.

In December 2021, the City Council decided to purchase the old bank building at 14. S. Main St. after Fifth-Third Bank announced it would close its branch here. The city bought it for slightly more than $300,000.

During Tuesdays meeting, council members considered the contract for renovations to the First National building as well as the current City Hall structure.

City staff members recently got informal price quotes for the cost of renovations to the First National Bank Building to allow the city to occupy the building with administration, finance and human resources offices and to complete additional security improvements and painting at the current City Hall building at 194 N. Main St.

A total of two bids were received, which is sufficient to award a contract in the informal bid range. The low bid came from Enterprises G, a general contractor headquartered in Blowing Rock, with significant relevant experience with governmental projects. Their bid came in at $161,244.

City staff determined that Enterprises G is a licensed general contractor in North Carolina, has sufficient liability insurance and has enough experience with projects of this nature.

During Tuesdays meeting, council awarded the contract to Enterprises G in the amount of $161,244 to complete renovations to the First National building as well as the current City Hall and to authorize city staff to undertake needed technology improvements at the First National building.

Council also voted unanimously to officially name the First National building as City Hall and rename the citys current City Hall as the City Annex once administration, finance and human resources move to the new location.

The renovation work could be completed by the end of this calendar year but Mayor Steve Little said he hopes it can be done sooner.

Furthermore, the Marion City Council will meet on Monday, Aug. 21 at 5:30 p.m. at the First National bank. The purpose of the meeting is for the City Council to conduct a planning session to discuss current and future projects and priorities.

The cupola over the 120-year-old building at 14 S. Main St. has become an important part of the city of Marions official logo and can be seen on welcome signs, mugs, letterheads and websites. It is often accompanied with the slogan Where Main Street Meets the Mountains and has become the recognizable symbol of Marion. Almost every photo of Marions Main Street features it.

The building has a main level, a lower level and an upper level, along with its distinctive cupola on the roof. It comprises approximately 4,000 square feet and has 25 rooms.

The building was constructed in 1903 as the First National Bank of Marion. This was likely a part of the rebuilding process that Marion went through following the great fire of 1894, which destroyed much of the downtown. The bank had its roots in the Commercial Bank of Marion, which had been established in 1896. At that time, the building had a meat market in the lower level, according to the book Marion by Kim Clark.

For the largest portion of its history, this structure has been a bank. First Union probably was there the longest. This long-time banking company later moved to another building and became Wachovia and then eventually Wells Fargo.

At one point, the old bank building became an exercise gym. But in the late 1980s, Community Bank & Trust took it over and made it into a bank again. From 2000 to 2008, the building was the home of First Charter. In 2008, Fifth Third Bank acquired First Charter.

During the Community Bank & Trust era, all three floors were in operation and used by company employees. The bank president and the auditors were located upstairs. The lower level was used by the loans and collections departments.

By 2015, Fifth Third only used the main level. The lower level had not been used for a long time. The upper level still has the boardrooms and offices, although they were mostly empty six years ago. The building does not have an elevator and therefore has issues with disability access, according to a previous story by The McDowell News.
KABUL, Afghanistan  The Taliban have settled in as rulers of Afghanistan, two years after they seized power as U.S. and NATO forces withdrew from the country following two decades of war.

The Taliban face no significant opposition that could topple them. They have avoided internal divisions by falling in line behind their ideologically unbending leader. They have kept a struggling economy afloat, in part by holding investment talks with capital-rich regional countries, even as the international community withholds formal recognition. They have improved domestic security through crackdowns on armed groups such as the Islamic State, and say they are fighting corruption and opium production.

But it's their slew of bans on Afghan girls and women that dominated the Taliban's second year in charge. They barred them from parks, gyms, universities, and jobs at nongovernmental groups and the United Nations  all in the space of a few months  allegedly because they weren't wearing proper hijab  the Islamic head covering  or violated gender segregation rules. These orders followed a previous ban, issued in the first year of Taliban rule, on girls going to school beyond sixth grade.

Here is a closer look at Taliban rule and where they are headed.

WHY DID THEY EXCLUDE WOMEN FROM HIGHER EDUCATION, MOST JOBS AND PUBLIC SPACES?

The Taliban say they are committed to implementing their interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia, in Afghanistan. This leaves no space for anything they think is foreign or secular, such as women working or studying. It's what drove them in the late 1990s, when they first seized power in Afghanistan, and it propels them now, ever since they took control again on Aug. 15, 2021.

Their supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada has praised the changes imposed since the takeover, claiming life improved for Afghan women after foreign troops left and the hijab became mandatory again.

WHAT WAS THE RESPONSE TO THESE BANS?

Foreign governments, rights groups, and global bodies condemned the restrictions. The U.N. said they were a major obstacle to the Taliban gaining international recognition as the legitimate government of Afghanistan. Overseas aid is drying up as major donors stop their funding, pulled in different directions by other crises and worried their money might fall into Taliban hands.

The lack of funds, as well as the exclusion of Afghan women from delivering essential humanitarian services, is hitting the population hard, pushing more people into poverty.

WHAT ARE LIVING CONDITIONS LIKE IN AFGHANISTAN?

Nearly 80% of the previous, Western-backed Afghan government's budget came from the international community. That money  now largely cut off  financed hospitals, schools, factories and government ministries. The COVID-19 pandemic, medical shortages, climate change and malnutrition have made life more desperate for Afghans. Aid agencies have stepped into the breach to provide basic services like health care.

Afghanistan is struggling with its third consecutive year of drought-like conditions, the ongoing collapse in families' income, and restrictions on international banking. It's also still suffering from decades of war and natural disasters.

HOW IS THE ECONOMY DOING?

The World Bank said last month that the local currency, the afghani, gained value against major currencies. Customers can withdraw more money from individual deposits made before August 2021 and most civil servants are being paid. The World Bank described revenue collection as "healthy" and said most basic items remained available, although demand is low.

The Taliban have held investment talks with countries in the region, including China and Kazakhstan. They want sanctions removed and billions of dollars in frozen funds to be released, saying these measures will alleviate the suffering of Afghans. But the international community will only take such steps once the Taliban take certain actions, including lifting restrictions on women and girls.

HOW LIKELY ARE THE TALIBAN TO CHANGE DIRECTION?

It's largely up to the Taliban leader, Akhundzada. The cleric counts like-minded government ministers and Islamic scholars among his circle. He is behind the decrees on women and girls. His edicts, framed in the language of Islamic law, are absolute. The bans will only be lifted if Akhundzada orders it. Some Taliban figures have spoken out against the way decisions are made, and there has been disagreement about the bans on women and girls. But the Taliban's chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid slammed these reports as propaganda.

"The secret of their success is that they are united," Abdul Salam Zaeef, who served as the Taliban envoy to Pakistan when they ruled Afghanistan in the 1990s, said. "If someone expresses his opinion or his thoughts, it doesn't mean someone is against the leadership or will go to another side," said Zaeef who spent several years at the Guantanamo Bay detention center after the 2001 U.S. invasion. "Disagreements are put in front of the emir (Akhundzada) and he decides. They follow his word."

WHAT ABOUT INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION?

Aid officials say the Taliban view recognition as an entitlement, not something to be negotiated. The officials also cite high-level meetings with powerful states like China and Russia as signs that the Taliban are building bilateral relations in their own way. Qatar's prime minister met Akhundzada in the southwestern Afghan city of Kandahar in June, the first-such publicly known meeting between the supreme leader and a foreign official.

Even though the Taliban are officially isolated on the global stage, they appear to have enough interactions and engagement for ties with countries to inch toward normalization. Cooperation with the Taliban on narcotics, refugees and counter-terrorism is of interest globally, including to the West. Countries like China, Russia and neighboring Pakistan want an end to sanctions.

"The political interactions are such that no country in the region is thinking of bringing Afghanistan under their power or control," said Zaeef. He said the Taliban's foreign outreach is hampered by blacklists preventing officials from traveling, and by lacking common ground with the rest of the world.

WHAT OPPOSITION IS THERE TO THE TALIBAN?

There's no armed or political opposition with enough domestic or foreign support to topple the Taliban. A fighting force resisting Taliban rule from the Panjshir Valley north of Kabul is being violently purged. Public protests are rare.

The Islamic State has struck high-profile targets in deadly bombings, including two government ministries, but the militants lack fighters, money and other resources to wage a major offensive against the Taliban.

Photos: Scenes from Kabul under Taliban control
Cape Verde is under the influence of a tropical wave Thursday and Friday August 18, with rain and strong winds. Civil Protection is urging people and property to be doubly careful.

The Cape Verde archipelago will be under the influence of a tropical wave this Thursday and Friday, which is expected to cause a significant worsening of the weather, the countrys Meteorological Institute has warned.

Widespread rain of varying intensity is expected, sometimes accompanied by thunderstorms, significant wind intensification and a consequent worsening of the sea state, it said in a statement.

The adverse conditions are felt with greater incidence on the islands of Santiago, Fogo and Brava, in the leeward group, and on the islands of Sao Vicente and Santo Antao, in the windward group.

Cape Verdes civil protection also issued an appeal to the population to redouble their attention and ensure the safety of people and property.

Tropical waves, areas of low atmospheric pressure, are characteristic of this time of year, from August to October, when the archipelago experiences irregular and occasionally heavy rainfall, capable of causing damage, especially in urban areas.
The Executive director of the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat) began handing over houses to 133 families on Principe Island, beneficiaries of the Promised Land project to create a sustainable, urbanized community.

The Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of UN-Habitat, Maimunah Sharif, is in Sao Tome and Principe for a working visit that ends on Friday August 18, after having visited the Terra Prometida project in the community of Roca Sundy, on the island of Principe.

After a meeting with the Sao Tomean Prime Minister to take stock of his mission to the archipelago, Maimunah Sharif stressed that the Terra Prometida project aims to promote sustainable urbanization and participatory processes in projects in Sao Tome and Principe.

The UN leader stressed that the 133 houses are ready and that the project is almost complete and should start welcoming the first inhabitants later this month, bearing in mind that there are families in Sanzala of Roca Sundy who are at risk because the roofs of the houses threaten to collapse.

During his visit to the project a number of title deeds were handed over to families, in consultation with the president of the regional government and community leaders. On the other hand, Maimunah Sharif assured UN-Habitat of his support to help finalize and implement the National Spatial Planning Plan carried out two years ago.

In this regard, the authorities will hold a roundtable with all the partners in the first quarter of next year to discuss how to implement the National Spatial Planning Plan with UN-Habitats technical assistance.
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Ula Jurkunas, MD performs the first CALEC transplant in the United States as part of a clinical trial at Mass Eye and Ear in April 2018. Credit: Mass Eye and Ear

A team led by researchers from Mass Eye and Ear, a member of Mass General Brigham, reports the results of a phase I trial of a revolutionary stem cell treatment called cultivated autologous limbal epithelial cell transplantation (CALEC), which was found to be safe and well-tolerated over the short term in four patients with significant chemical burns in one eye.

According to a study published August 18 in Science Advances, the patients who were followed for 12 months experienced restored cornea surfacestwo were able to undergo a corneal transplant and two reported significant improvements in vision without additional treatment.

While the phase I study was designed to determine preliminary safety and feasibility before advancing to a second phase of the trial, the researchers consider the early findings promising.

"Our early results suggest that CALEC might offer hope to patients who had been left with untreatable vision loss and pain associated with major cornea injuries," said principal investigator and lead study author Ula Jurkunas, MD, associate director of the Cornea Service at Mass Eye and Ear and an associate professor of ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School.

"Cornea specialists have been hindered by a lack of treatment options with a high safety profile to help our patients with chemical burns and injuries that render them unable to get an artificial cornea transplant. We are hopeful with further study, CALEC can one day fill this crucially needed treatment gap."

In CALEC, stem cells from a patient's healthy eye are removed via a small biopsy and then expanded and grown on a graft via an innovative manufacturing process at the Connell and O'Reilly Families Cell Manipulation Core Facility at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. After two to three weeks, the CALEC graft is sent back to Mass Eye and Ear and transplanted into the eye with corneal damage.

The CALEC project is a collaboration between Jurkunas and colleagues in the Cornea Service at Mass Eye and Ear, researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, led by Jerome Ritz, MD, Boston Children's Hospital, led by Myriam Armant, Ph.D., and the JAEB Center for Health Research.

Expanding one's own stem cells to address limitations in existing treatments

People who experience chemical burns and other eye injuries may develop limbal stem cell deficiency, an irreversible loss of cells on the tissue surrounding the cornea. These patients experience permanent vision loss, pain and discomfort in the affected eye. Without limbal cells and a healthy eye surface, patients are unable to undergo artificial cornea transplants, the current standard of vision rehabilitation.

Existing treatment strategies have limitations and associated risks the CALEC procedure aims to address through its unique approach of using a small amount of a patient's own stem cells that can then be grown and expanded to create a sheet of cells that serves as a surface for normal tissue to grow back.

According to the authors, despite landmark studies describing an autologous stem cell approach over the past 25 years and similar methods being utilized in Europe, no U.S. research team had successfully developed a manufacturing process and quality control tests that met U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requirements or showed any clinical benefit.

"It was challenging to develop a process for creating limbal stem cell grafts that would meet the FDA's strict regulatory requirements for tissue engineering," said Ritz, executive director of the Connell and O'Reilly Families Cell Manipulation Core Facility at Dana-Farber and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. "Having developed and implemented this process, it was very gratifying to see encouraging clinical outcomes in the first cohort of patients enrolled on this clinical trial."

Studies like this show the promise of cell therapy for treating incurable conditions. Mass General Brigham's Gene and Cell Therapy Institute is helping to translate scientific discoveries made by researchers into first-in-human clinical trials and, ultimately, life-changing treatments for patients. The Institute's multidisciplinary approach sets it apart from others in the space, helping researchers to rapidly advance new therapies and pushing the technological and clinical boundaries of this new frontier.

Case studies hold early promise as clinical trial advances

In the phase I study, five patients with chemical burns to one eye were enrolled and biopsied. Four received CALEC; a series of quality control tests determined the cells in the fifth patient were unable to adequately expand. The CALEC patients were tracked for 12 months.

The first patient treated, a 46-year-old male, experienced a resolution of his eye surface defect, which primed him to undergo an artificial cornea transplant for vision rehabilitation. The second, a 31-year-old male, experienced a complete resolution of symptoms with vision improving from 20/40 to 20/30.

The third, a 36-year-old male, had his corneal defect resolved and his vision improved from hand motiononly being able to see broad movements like wavingto 20/30 vision.

The fourth, a 52-year-old male, initially did not have a successful biopsy that resulted in a viable stem cell graft. After re-attempting CALEC three years later, he underwent a successful transplant and his vision improved from hand motion to being able to count fingers. He then received an artificial cornea.

The researchers are finalizing the next phase of the clinical trial in 15 CALEC patients they are tracking for 18 months to better determine the procedure's overall efficacy. Their hope is that CALEC can one day become a treatment option for patients who previously had to endure long-term deficits when existing treatment options were not an option given the severity of their injuries.

More information: Ula Jurkunas, Cultivated autologous limbal epithelial cell (CALEC) transplantation: development of manufacturing process and clinical evaluation of feasibility and safety, Science Advances (2023). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adg6470. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adg6470 Journal information: Science Advances
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Prof Jenny Trinitapoli began collecting data in Malawi in 2004, and her experience culminated in a project looking at religious responses to HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa. Credit: Shutterstock.com

In an epidemic, we often focus on three staple metrics: Who does or doesn't have the disease, the rate at which people are contracting the disease, and the mortality rates. What's often left out, as explored in a new book by Jenny Trinitapoli, a professor in the Department of Sociology, is the role of uncertainty in the way individuals make decisions. The book, "An Epidemic of Uncertainty: Navigating HIV and Young Adulthood in Malawi," was recently published by the University of Chicago Press.

Trinitapoli, a sociologist and demographer, has focused on the social consequences of population dynamics, changing fertility, mortality, and migration patterns and rates, while also exploring the sociology of religion. As a graduate student at the University of Texas at Austin, she began collecting data in Malawi in 2004, and her experience culminated in a project looking at religious responses to HIV in sub-Saharan Africa.

"An Epidemic of Uncertainty" is based on research that began in 2009 and ran through 2019. Trinitapoli and her team started following a large cohort of 15- to 25-year-olds in Balaka, Malawi, for what was designed to be a three-year study to explore the complicated stretch of young adulthood among a group that never knew the world without HIV.

"When this cohort was born, HIV was prevalent and AIDS-related mortality was extremely high; their parents were subjected to the worst mortality rates that Malawi ever experienced, and they have the highest levels of orphanhood of any cohort," Trinitapoli says. "These levels of HIV constituted their 'normal.' We wanted to learn how young people who had experienced the world this way would be making decisions about dating, navigating sexual relationships, getting married, and having childrenwe were focusing on HIV and fertility in particular."

The team interviewed this cohort every four months, asking after their relationships, fertility desires, how these things were changing, and how they perceive the risks around themwhich included not just HIV, but also malaria, food insecurity, relationship stability, and finding work.

But as the study wrapped up, the team noticed how new policies, especially the lifesaving antiretroviral therapies that became available during the course of their research and a series of changes to family law, were changing the context in profound ways. Two more iterations of the study followed, and Trinitapoli wound up with a decade of observations from this cohort.

When Trinitapoli began outlining a book project in 2015, she was motivated to argue both for a particular research approach and against some erroneous but widely circulating ideas about HIV in Africa. For one, she was arguing for the importance of studying uncertainty and of population-based research for understanding epidemics broadly.

"That might sound like an obvious thing," Trinitapoli says. "But the vast majority of the knowledge base for HIV and many other health conditions comes from clinical studies, from selective samples, from people who are sick or who likely already have the condition. I'm arguing that the longitudinal, population-level view is essential for understanding the arc of HIV in this community and disease patterns broadly. The data we collect from clinical samples enrolled in HIV care is important, but it's insufficient for understanding the epidemic. The scientific community hasn't always prioritized population-level data, but we can't understand the world without it."

What became clear from her research was that most young adults wanted to have children; "unprotected sex" is considered a risky behavior when it comes to HIV transmission, but it is also essential for childbearing. The dilemma of avoiding HIV while conceiving and bearing wanted children offered an opportunity to study the role of known-unknowns in daily life.

"High levels of uncertainty or ambiguity about one's HIV status is actually a characteristic of the epidemic; it's not a problem of ignorance," she says. "One stereotype that circulates widely is that Malawians don't want to know their HIV status, or that they won't get tested because they don't want to face reality. That's completely wrong."

Trinitapoli underscores two particular surprises from the research, as it relates to uncertainty. First, after randomizing when participants would be tested, the team expected that those who received their results would feel more certain about their HIV status than if they didn't get a test result. But there was no proof that those tested felt significantly more certain about their status than others.

"We expected that getting biomarker results in a clinical setting would give people certainty," Trinitapoli says. "But that wasn't the case in our sample, and it won't be the case when the risks a population lives with are ongoing and omnipresent. Imagine the process for detecting COVID or lead levels in small children. The results are useful but always qualified. COVID test results that you might get on a Tuesday morning may or may not give you the assurance that you need to go visit an aging parent on Wednesday."

The second surprise, she says, was how stable uncertainty was in the population. While Malawi experiences a particularly severe HIV epidemic, most people don't have HIV. At epidemic levels of around 10% prevalence, about 40% of respondents, at any given time, said that they didn't know their HIV status.

"Our estimate of HIV uncertainty was the same in 2009, 2012, 2015, and 2019. But it wasn't always the same 40%; respondents moved in and out of the state of uncertainty over time based on recent test results, conversations they overheard at a funeral, changes they perceived in their own health, the conclusion of a risky sexual relationship, or the suspicions they felt about their partners. The stability of HIV uncertainty over time in this population suggests that it's capturing something bigger than just the summed experiences of individuals."

Overall, Trinitapoli's book emphasizes how biomarker data is, in many cases, both essential and partial.

"Biomarker results are pieces of information that we integrate alongside many other pieces, especially our perceptions about the world we live in," she says. "Uncertainty becomes a part of our daily life; it's dynamic, more and less intense on different days and over distinct periods of time. But it really does motivate our actions."

More information: An Epidemic of Uncertainty. press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/b  o/E/bo193398354.html
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A new COVID variant with very few known cases but many mutations has been swiftly moved into the World Health Organization's "variant under monitoring" classification.

Four known cases of the variant, dubbed BA.2.86, have been so far identified worldwide, including one case in Michigan.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday that it is tracking the new variant.

"Today we are more prepared than ever to detect and respond to changes in the COVID-19 virus," CDC spokesperson Kathleen Conley said in a statement to CBS News. "Scientists are working now to understand more about the newly identified lineage in these four cases and we will share more information as it becomes available."

More data is needed to understand whether or not the variant will be dangerous with its many mutations, WHO said. BA.2.86 includes dozens of genetic changes, CBS News reported. That's similar to the differences observed when the original omicron variant emerged in 2021.

It's possible the variant has been spreading undetected for some time, because there are reports of it in countries on three continents. In addition to the United States, cases have now been spotted in Denmark and Israel, CBS News reported.

The University of Michigan reported the first U.S. case as part of "baseline surveillance" at the university's clinical microbiology lab.

Some of the mutations are in parts of the virus that could help it evade immunity provided by prior vaccination or infection.

"Deep mutational scanning indicates BA.2.86 variant will have equal or greater escape than XBB.1.5 from antibodies elicited by pre-omicron and first-generation omicron variants," Jesse Bloom, an evolutionary biologist at the Fred Hutch Cancer Center in Seattle, said in a slide deck published Thursday, CBS News reported.

BA.2.86 still remains rare. The body also has other defenses that may also help people fight off even this highly mutated variant.

"[T]here are also broader mechanisms of immunity elicited by vaccination and infection that provide some protection against severe disease even for very heavily mutated variants," Bloom noted in an email to CBS News.

Other questions remain, including whether BA.2.86 can outcompete existing, fast-spreading strains descended from the XBB omicron variant that now predominate. If it fails to do so it may not pose any threat, experts believe.

One such XBB descendent, the EG.5 variant, is steadily climbing in dominance and now makes up 1 in every 5 COVID-19 cases in the United States, the CDC said. Right now, the agency said BA.2.86 will remain grouped with its forbearer omicron BA.2 until it reaches at least 1% of known cases.

BA.2.86 is emerging just as vaccine makers are preparing rollouts of a new generation of COVID-19 vaccines, due for launch in September. Those shots are targeted to the XBB strains of the virus, of which EG.5 is closely related.

Vaccine maker Moderna announced Thursday that its shot provides "a significant boost in neutralizing antibodies" for EG.5, CBS News reported.

That efficacy could be undone if BA.2.86 successfully spreads, however. Bloom told CBS News that he believes the new variant has so many mutations it could be a "fairly poor match" for any XBB-targeted vaccine.

More information: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on how the agency tracks variants.

Copyright  2023 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
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A transmission electron microscope image of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, next to a model of the virus particle. A new long-term study by Johns Hopkins Medicine reaffirms the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination for organ transplant recipients to reduce the risk of disease severity or complications when breakthrough cases occur in this vulnerable population. Credit: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health

Findings from a two-year study of nearly 2,400 solid organ transplant recipients, conducted by the Johns Hopkins Transplant Research Center (TRC) in collaboration with the New York University Center for Surgical and Applied Transplant Research, indicate spikes of post-vaccination SARS-CoV-2 viral infections (commonly known as COVID-19 breakthrough cases) remain common, yet hospitalization rates have dramatically dropped following the first wave of the virus' omicron subvariant.

"These results mirrored what medical institutions across the country were reporting for many U.S. populations, not just people who are immunocompromised," says senior study author William Werbel, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine and associate director of the TRC's epidemiology and quantitative sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "It provides more evidence of the value of vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 in high-risk persons, specifically making breakthrough infections less severe and reducing the chance of long-term complications."

The research letter detailing the study was first posted online Aug. 18, 2023, in JAMA Network Open. Werbel calls it "a bit of a capstone" to the study team's national COVID observational research project, which has produced more than 60 published studies since 2021, evaluating the safety, immunogenicity and effectiveness of repeated vaccination in transplant recipients and other immunocompromised people.

"This time, we wanted to look back through two years of data to see how many study participants reported a diagnosis of COVID-19 following vaccination, trending cases over time and by variant era to assess how many of them developed severe disease that required hospitalization," says Werbel. "We also plotted infection trends against reported cases in the general U.S. population to understand the relationship with SARS-CoV-2 circulating in the community."

Werbel says just under a fifth of the study participants (464 of 2,356, or 19.7%) reported SARS-CoV-2 infections, and of those persons, 35 (7.5%) required hospitalization.

"The infection trends paralleled those seen in U.S. COVID-19 case counts, peaking in the first wave of the omicron BA.1 subvariant of SARS-CoV-2 in the winter of 2021, with ongoing prominent spikes during subsequent omicron waves," says Werbel. "Hospitalization rates dropped by 75% in the later omicron era [subvariants BA.2 through BQ.1] versus the rates seen in the earlier subvariant waves [pre-delta, delta and BA.1]."

He explains that the decrease was likely due to many factors, including growing population immunity (from vaccines and exposure to infected people), better disease management (through the use of therapies such as antivirals), more testing and, possibly, changes in the virus itself.

"However, we did find that certain groupsprimarily patients who had received lung transplantsremained at higher risk for hospitalization during more contemporary subvariant eras," says Werbel.

Werbel adds that the new study's findings "can guide counseling regarding the benefits of vaccination, and provide an evidence-based framing of risk and risk behaviors for populations most vulnerable to COVID, such as transplant patients."

Next, says Werbel, the TRC will expand the current study's methodology to investigate responses of transplant recipients to vaccines against other infectious threats, such as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza and mpox (formerly known as monkeypox).

Additionally, he says, the team will continue to study novel strategies to optimize SARS-CoV-2 vaccine effectiveness in transplant recipients through the COVID-19 Protection After Transplant (CPAT) trials. For example, one method is selectively reducing immunosuppressive therapy (used to prevent rejection of the transplanted organ) around the time of vaccination to assess if this permits the immune system to properly respond.

Along with Werbel, the members of the study team are Aura Abedon from Johns Hopkins Medicine, and lead study author Teresa Chiang, Jennifer Alejo, Allan Massie and Dorry Segev from the New York University Grossman School of Medicine.

More information: Teresa Po-Yu Chiang et al, Incident COVID-19 and Hospitalizations by Variant Era Among Vaccinated Solid Organ Transplant Recipients, JAMA Network Open (2023). DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.29736 Journal information: JAMA Network Open
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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

An estimated one in four older Americans with dementia or mild cognitive impairment lives alone and is at risk of practices like unsafe driving, wandering outside the home, mixing up medications and failing to attend medical appointments.

In a study published JAMA Network Open on Aug. 18, 2023, researchers led by UC San Francisco concluded that the United States health system is poorly equipped to serve patients living solo with cognitive decline, a group whose numbers are predicted to swell as the population ages.

For these patients, living alone is a social determinant of health with an impact as profound as poverty, racism and low education, said first author Elena Portacolone, Ph.D., MBA, MPH, of the UCSF Institute for Health and Aging and the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies.

In this qualitative study, researchers interviewed 76 health care providers, including physicians, nurses, social workers, case workers, home care aides and others. Participants worked in memory clinics, home care services and social services and other places in California, Michigan and Texas

The providers raised concerns about patients missing medical appointments, failing to respond to follow-up phone calls from the doctor's office and forgetting why appointments were made, leaving them vulnerable to falling off the radar. "We don't necessarily have the staff to really try to reach out to them," said a physician in one interview.

Some patients could not assist their doctor with missing information on their chart, leaving the providers uncertain about the pace of their patient's decline. Many had no names listed as emergency contacts, "not a family member, not even a friend to rely on in case of a crisis," according to a case manager.

These patients were at risk for untreated medical conditions, self-neglect, malnutrition and falls, according to the providers. A house service coordinator also noted that calls to Adult Protective Services were sometimes dismissed until a patient's situation became very serious.

One consequence of the shaky infrastructure supporting these patients was that they were not identified until they were sent to a hospital following a crisis, like a fall or reaction to medication mismanagement. Some were discharged without a support system in place. In one case, a patient was sent home with a taxi voucher, a situation that a psychiatrist likened to "sending a kid out to play on the freeway."

These findings are an indictment of our health care system, which fails to provide subsidized home care aides for all but the lowest-income patients, said Portacolone.

"In the United States, an estimated 79% of people with cognitive decline have an income that is not low enough to make them eligible for Medicaid subsidized home care aides in long-term care," she said, adding that the threshold for a person living alone in California is $20,121 per year.

While Medicare is available to adults over 65, subsidized aides are generally only provided after acute episodes, like hospitalizations, for fixed hours and for limited durations, she said.

"Most patients need to pay out-of-pocket and since cognitive impairment can last for decades, it is unsustainable for most people. Aides that are available via Medicaid are very poorly paid and usually receive limited training in caring for older adults with cognitive impairment," she added.

Subsidized home care aides plentiful in Europe, Japan, Canada

In contrast, subsidized home care aides are generally available to a significantly larger percentage of their counterparts living in parts of Europe, Japan and Canada, said Portacolone, citing a 2021 review of 13 countries, of which she was the senior author.

The study's findings illustrate substantial deficiencies in how our health system provides for people with dementia, said senior author Kenneth E. Covinsky, MD, MPH, of the UCSF Division of Geriatrics. "In an era when Medicare is going to spend millions of dollars for newly approved drugs with very marginal benefits, we need to remember that Medicare and other payers refuse to pay far less money to provide necessary supports for vulnerable people with dementia."

The researchers advocate for a system in which robust supports are made available by funding from an expanded Medicare and Medicaid. This will become increasingly critical, said Portacolone, "because effective treatments to reverse the course of cognitive impairment are unavailable, childlessness and divorce are common, and older adults are projected to live longer and often alone."

More information: Elena Portacolone et al, Perceptions of the Role of Living Alone in Providing Services to Patients With Cognitive Impairment, JAMA Network Open (2023). DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.29913 Journal information: JAMA Network Open
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Joann Sweasy, PhD, director of the UArizona Cancer Center, speaks at a Scientific Cafe event at Rollies Mexican Patio restaurant. Credit: UArizona Health Sciences

A new study by University of Arizona Cancer Center researchers piloted a unique outreach strategy to foster dialogue between basic scientists and community members to demystify basic science research and facilitate culturally tailored approaches to address health disparities of vulnerable communities.

The paper, published in the journal Cancer Causes and Control, analyzes the processes, experiences and lessons learned during the establishment of the Research Outreach for Southern Arizona, or ROSA, program.

"Basic science research is critical for understanding biological mechanisms essential to advances in cancer prevention, diagnoses and treatment. However, most of this research is conducted outside of the purview of community observation or input, leaving these research processes mysterious and subsequent findings disconnected from the communities they intend to benefit," said senior author Jennifer Hatcher, Ph.D., MPH, MSN, UArizona Cancer Center member and professor in the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health.

"This study allowed us to develop strategies to build collaborations between basic scientists and Hispanic community members at the Cancer Center."

Researchers in the Cancer Center's Cancer Biology Program and Office of Community Outreach and Engagement partnered to develop the ROSA program. As part of the study, they formed a community working group, launched a community and student ambassador program, hosted scientific cafes and developed a community-based survey.

The Scientific Cafe series provided opportunities for community members to have discussions with researchers about cancer. The first event was held at Rollies Mexican Patio, which offered convenient access for people living in neighborhoods surrounding the restaurant located on Tucson's southwest side. Joann Sweasy, Ph.D., director of the UArizona Cancer Center, spoke to attendees while Adalberto Renteria, MD, medical director for the Pascua Yaqui tribe, translated for Spanish speakers.

Subsequent Scientific Cafes featured other speakers from the Cancer Center and included attendee surveys intended to help the ROSA team measure impact and make improvements.

"Accessibility, inclusivity and overall relevancy to the communitythat's where culture plays a huge role in ROSA's focus," said Namoonga M. Mantina, the paper's first author and research program administrator in the Office of Community Outreach and Engagement.

"The Cancer Center is the only comprehensive cancer center headquartered in Arizona. The work that happens here needs to be relevant specifically to the communities of Arizona and our catchment area of Southern Arizona, which is a beautiful, colorful, diversely cultural place."

The study also resulted in the development of a 17-member working group comprised of researchers, University of Arizona Community Advisory Board members, a cancer survivor, bilingual community members from Chicanos por la Causa and Nostros Comprometidos a su Salud, and representatives of El Rio Health, Marana Health Center and Clinica Amistadconsists. The working group met to conceptualize new ways to reach community members.

While the study has ended, the success of the ROSA program has led researchers to continue the Scientific Cafe series this fall.

"ROSA helps connect people to that research that is currently taking place at the Cancer Center, but also does the flip side of thatit connects the researchers to the community. It benefits both sides," Mantina said.

More information: Namoonga M. Mantina et al, Building capacity for collaborative research between basic scientists and underrepresented communities in cancer research, Cancer Causes & Control (2023). DOI: 10.1007/s10552-023-01726-7
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Under a very high magnification of 31,207X, this scanning electron micrograph depicts spores of a strain of Bacillus anthracis bacteria. An anthrax outbreak outbreak in West Africa raises calls for investment in vaccinations. Credit: Janice Haney Carr, (CC BY-SA 2.0)

As Ghana and Nigeria grapple with outbreaks of anthrax, scientists say governments must prioritize funds for vaccination to prevent a re-emergence of the disease across West Africa.

Anthrax is a zoonotic diseasetransmissible from animals to humanscaused by the spore-forming bacterium Bacillus anthracis.

Dozens of animals and one person died as a result of confirmed cases of anthrax in the Upper East region of northern Ghana in early June, while the disease was confirmed in Nigeria's north-central state of Niger in July.

Fenteng Danso, Ghana's head of veterinary epidemiology, told SciDev.Net that the discontinuation of vaccination in the country was to blame for the recent outbreak.

"We were doing yearly vaccinations for the northern regions, but the Ministry of Food and Agriculture was not supporting with funds so we couldn't continue for up to five years now."

"There was no anthrax case until this year, which happened because we had stopped vaccination."

Anthrax can infect livestock and other animals when they breathe in or ingest spores in contaminated soil, plants, or water. Humans then become infected by handling animals or animal products that contain spores.

As well as causing high mortality among animals, people infected with anthrax suffer skin blisters and sores and it can lead to more serious illness.

Prevention is centered around treatment and vaccination of livestock, which has mostly been discontinued in countries now witnessing an outbreak.

Danso expressed concerns about re-emergence in parts of the northern region of Ghana that falls within the anthrax beltwhere there is a prolonged dry season and too little grass for ruminants such as cows and goats to feed on.

This means the animals have to graze to soil level and are more likely to inhale bacterial spores from the soil, Danso explained.

"The best control is continual vaccination of animals because anthrax is endemic in these areas," he added.

The government of Ghana said more than 23,000 animals had been vaccinated in the affected regions, 100,000 vaccine doses had been distributed, and another 100,000 doses were being produced.

In Nigeria, the National Veterinary Research Institute says it can produce enough vaccines to cover the national herd.

"Our target is to vaccinate 10 million animals," Maryam Muhammad, the institute's chief executive, told SciDev.Net.

"This is not the total population of animals in the country, but this will provide the 'herd immunity' required to protect the national herd."

She added, however, that the vaccines were only available for sale, not for distribution free of charge.

Anthrax funding gap

Oladotun Fadipe, a veterinarian and member of the Anthrax Technical Working Group in Nigeria, told Scidev.Net that while the Nigerian federal government usually supports the states to purchase vaccines, the onus is on state governments to do so.

Fadipe says he fears that resources to buy vaccines may not be prioritized amid other pressing health care challenges including lassa fever, diphtheria and meningitis.

"We are therefore calling on the federal and state governments, philanthropies as well as well-meaning Nigerians to make donations for vaccines," said Fadipe.

Fadipe's concern is shared by the One Health Quadripartite, comprised of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Organization for Animal Health, the United Nations Environment Program and the World Health Organization (WHO).

"Zoonoses like anthrax constitute a constant social, public health and economic burden, yet they are often underestimated, which in turn leads to neglect by policymakers and funding agencies. Thus, often times it may not get the attention and resources required to tackle it," the Quadripartite said in a policy document.

So far, the Nigerian government has bought 50,000 doses each for Niger and Lagos states where several animals are reported to have been infected.

The country's anthrax working grouptasked with coordinating the responsesaid it had begun deploying vaccines to frontline states where livestock are transported into the country.

Simeon Cadmus, director of the Centre for Control and Prevention of Zoonoses at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, told SciDev.Net, "If the government prioritizes the health of humans and animals, more funding [to fight anthrax and zoonotic diseases] should be provided."

The government of Ghana, in its 2023 budget statement, said it produced 8.86 million doses out of a target of 15 million in 2022 to fight anthrax and the contagious Newcastle disease, which affects birds.

The FAO has pledged to support the Nigerian government to mobilize human and financial resources to control the country's recent anthrax outbreaks.

Provided by SciDev.Net
Construction will start next week on a new skatepark in Clinton after the community raised nearly $111,000 for the new gathering space.

On Monday, the Missoula County commissioners voted to chip in $20,000 in the form of a 2023 Parks and Trails Matching Grant Program award. Montana Pool Service, a nonprofit founded by Pearl Jam bassist (and Missoula resident) Jeff Ament kicked in $100,000, and the Montana Skateparks Association brought another $50,000 to the table.

The project includes construction of a roughly 7,000-square-foot skatepark within Clintons Community Park. The facility will be designed for multi-use activity and will include an integrated pump track and learning area with flatter, slower features for beginners.

Clinton Community Park, which has long served as an important recreation and community gathering space, is 5 acres in area and consists of an overgrown ballfield and a church building formerly used as a community center, explained Jackson Lee of the countys Parks, Trails and Open Lands office. Missoula County, the site owner, has a vested interest in developing the Clinton Community Park into a public asset for the Clinton community  this project is the first step in returning the park to a vibrant gathering space.

Fundraising efforts will continue through construction as the working group looks to secure funding for supporting amenities, Lee said.

Dependent on level of funding secured, these supporting amenities will include establishment of a parking lot off Silver Street, an approximately 800-square-foot picnic pavilion, garbage service and portable restroom facilities and installation of fencing along Silver Street and around the perimeter of the newly established parking area, he said.

Lee said it was amazing how much money the Clinton Community Park Working Group raised since early this year.

Its impressive, he said. And to add that less than 10% of the total skatepark construction costs is being sourced from county funds. Local contractors, engineers, materials suppliers, community members-turned-fundraisers have stepped up in spades to provide support to this project, donating their time, passion and expertise to ensure this neighborhood park is a product for celebration for the people that call Clinton, Montana home.

Construction is set to begin on Aug. 21.

All three Missoula County commissioners supported the motion.

When the Clinton Community Center was condemned due to the presence of hazardous materials like asbestos in the spring of 2022, the small community of about 700 people east of Missoula lost its only public, multi-use gathering space.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency gave the county a technical grant, in the form of hiring a consulting firm, to conduct master planning for the park with the goal of seeing the land revitalized.

Travis Ross, a parks and trails administrator with the county, said back then that a skatepark was high on the list because it would serve as a place where people of all ages could gather.

Were using this as an opportunity to work with the community and nearby property owners to develop a plan that best fits what the community needs, what they are interested in and what recreational opportunities are there, Ross said at the time.
Big Sky High school student Max Berndt, who uses they/them pronouns, faced a parent upset with them when they began questioning their sexuality and gender. It became an emotionally fraught time for Max and their mom Sara.

Max ended up joining the Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA), an LGBTQ+ school group that spans Missoula high schools and middle schools. Sara said Max needed the club for the support and community it offered that she was unable to provide as an adult.

When kids are coming out, they aren't ready to talk to the grownups about these things yet, Sara said. They have to spitball things off their peers. That's where these things start, and allowing them the space for community is essential for that.

New policies that will be enacted this academic year to comply with state laws could limit students from joining such groups. This prompted Max and Sara to speak against a slate of proposed policy changes at the Missoula County Public Schools Board of Trustees' meeting Thursday evening.

A lot of our GSAs, or other programs, are attended by students who need it the most, said Max, president of Big Sky High's GSA chapter. They are kids whose parents would object to being in those groups. They are kids who want to discover a community and a life outside of the one that they were taught.

Max and Sara were joined by several other community members upset with a new set of policies passed by the Montana Legislature requiring parental permission to join extracurriculars and restricting the honoring of preferred pronouns. They will be implemented this year in MCPS and across Montana.

At Thursday's meeting, the trustees expressed discontent with the policy changes. They considered options for addressing the new policies that the district will implement with some trustees saying the policies create a less-safe school environment.

The school district is obligated to enforce the policy changes to follow state law. Sponsors said laws like Senate Bill 518 and House Bill 676 passed this session focused on expanding parental rights. Legal counsel and trustees disagreed with that perspective.

All these are geared towards the transgender community, MCPS legal counsel Elizabeth Kaleva told trustees in the meeting. We know that they can't say it out loud, though, because it's illegal to say it out loud. And they're couching it in the form of parental rights by saying that parents should have the right to essentially control and make decisions for their children below the age of 18.

The trustees tabled a decision on the language that will ultimately be added in student handbooks this fall.

Trustee Grace Decker said in a Facebook post after the meeting Thursday that the policy changes brought about by the new bills clearly aim to curtail youth rights to gender expression, and force schools to create less-safe learning environments for LGBTQ+ students.

The board typically doesnt make any decision when it comes to the approval or rejection of handbooks, with the decisions instead being implemented by school administrators. Trustees instead used it as an informational meeting to better understand their options for potentially challenging the new policies.

Trustee Meg Whicher said it isnt the intention to alienate parents with the trustees frustration on the new policies.

What we're trying is to protect students who need protection by diving into all of this, Whicher said. I think at the end of the day, speaking for myself and speaking for some colleagues, it's that safety and those kids who need us the most. I think that has got us where we are right now and making sure that we're taking care of the kids of our district.

Kaleva said there could be legal standing to challenge the bills, following recent rulings at a national level protecting LGBTQ+ individuals from discrimination.

Additionally, parts of the bills are contradictory, according to Kaleva. They leave the school district in an odd spot in how to enforce the policies.

SB 518 declares that a parent should provide written consent if a student wishes to go by preferred pronouns that do not align with the students sex. At the same time, the bill states that a person may not be compelled to use pronouns that do not align with the childs sex, ignoring the parental rights that are meant to be supported by the bill, according to Board of Trustees Chair Wilena Old Person.

The state of Montana also made changes earlier this year to harassment and human rights language saying it is not discrimination to refuse to call someone by their preferred pronouns.

In spite of perceived contradictions in law and trustees disagreeing with the new policies, the school district will still have to implement and enforce them in some form. Otherwise, if the trustees gave direction for teachers to ignore the policies, teachers would risk being delicensed and trustees would fail to follow the law they've sworn to as elected officials.

There are contradictions throughout the way this was adopted and implemented, and it is wreaking havoc throughout Montana, Kaleva said. Its not just Missoula struggling with this. It's all schools that are really saying, How do we do this, and at the same time, recognize that we're potentially disenfranchising portions of our population, which flies in the face of everything we say we're going to do.

Decker said trustees will be watching how the policy implementation plays out closely over the next couple of months. Kaleva anticipated a lawsuit related to the policies.

If we follow it, or we don't follow it, we're probably gonna get sued either way, Kaleva said. It's a question of whether we're a friendly defendant or a not-so-friendly defendant.

In a letter addressed to the trustees Tuesday, Executive Director of the Western Montana LGBTQ+ Community Center Andy Nelson said that the policy changes specifically target GSA and Queer-Straight Alliance (QSA) groups.

This change is none other than a political ploy and culture-war wedge issue that is ultimately harmful to some of the most marginalized kids in our school system, Nelson stated. Why? Because GSA and QSA groups have existed in public schools for decades and it wasnt until this right wing/parental rights wave that it became a problem.

The first GSA groups are estimated to have started in the 1980s. Nelson stated that while he didnt have the opportunity to be part of a GSA growing up in rural northeastern Montana, he could have benefited greatly from such a group. Luckily, his parents were supportive of him coming out, even though he would be afraid of telling his parents he joined such a group.

There are so many kids that dont have the same privileges of having a supportive family as I do, Nelson stated. Allowing a young, middle, or high school aged person to attend a GSA or QSA is important because of those reasons. It is imperative that a young LGBTQIA+ or Two Spirit person has a strong support system, because in reality, many dont have one in their own family.
The Johnson Street shelter received the Board of Health approval necessary for a September reopening to serve unhoused Missoulians, but many are wondering what the sites future will hold.

The Missoula City Council this week opted to delay its decision on reopening the shelter. Criticisms from the community and council have accompanied Mayor Jordan Hess effort to reinstitute Johnson Street as a year-round shelter.

Theres been no opportunity for the neighborhood to engage in or participate in this decision, said Ward 4 Councilor and mayoral candidate Mike Nugent. The bus has left the station.

Many of Nugents colleagues and neighbors from Ward 6 echoed this sentiment. Councilor Kristen Jordan, who represents the ward where the shelter is housed, said she was exceptionally frustrated with the process to reopen the shelter.

Some of her constituents described those frustrations to council this week, citing drug use and other unsavory behaviors that have erupted in the neighborhood since the shelter went into place three years ago. But city staff explained the urgency of the houselessness crisis and the lack of alternative spaces have forced the mayors hand when it comes to finding a place to house vulnerable community members.

We are in an emergency with houselessness in our community, said Houseless Programs Manager Emily Armstrong. This is the building the city already owns. Its a building that weve operated the shelter out of previously and we know that it will work for the short-term.

Armstrong added that a meeting on Aug. 22 and an open house at the shelter on Sept. 6 are meant to facilitate community engagement in the issue.

This use is temporary, Hess stressed to council. There is a higher and better use for this site.

Nugent asked to include a condition stipulating the building would be torn down within three years and the master planning process would start in the next year. Hess responded that he cant put conditions on future councils.

For the time being, the shelter has Board of Health permission to operate through September 2024. But the contract to fund and operate the facility for that time period hasnt received council approval yet. The contract asks for $789,345 from American Rescue Plan Act funds and county support, for at least one year of funding.

If council votes in favor of the contract and the shelter reopens in September, the city will still have to look at a long-term solution for sheltering Missoulians come next fall.
The University of Montana has landed an $8 million grant to try to solve challenging health care problems in the state.

This week, the Utah-based ALSAM Foundation announced that the organization will be gifting the money to benefit the University of Montana Foundation and the L.S. Skaggs Institute for Health Innovation. The money will allow UM to engage a variety of stakeholders who are committed to improving health outcomes of Montanans as well as construction of a community-facing high-tech space to house the institutes programs, according to UM.

The institute is led by Dr. Erica Woodahl and Dr. Hayley Blackburn, both UM professors in the Skaggs School of Pharmacy, who focus on addressing health disparities in Montana through an interdisciplinary approach.

The institute is known as SIHI to those on campus who prefer fewer than 11 syllables for their place of work.

Through this investment in SIHI, we can develop programs and infrastructure to address health equity for rural and tribal Montana communities, Woodahl said. Through access to research, education and clinical services, SIHIs pharmacy faculty and other partners within the College of Health can help fill the gaps in some of Montanas medically underserved areas.

Woodahl said it will probably be two or three years before the new community space is built on campus, and there are many details to be worked out.

However, she said, it will allow SIHI to offer expanded services in chronic disease management, host presentations and allow students in various health professions to learn from each other, among other things.

Blackburn said SIHI can be a national leader by providing a blueprint for pharmacists to expand their traditional roles in an effort to reduce health disparities.

Approximately half of the patients enrolled in our remote disease management program are from Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Areas, said Lonnie Murphy, a pharmacist within SIHI. We are grateful that we will be able to grow our program to help fill the primary care gaps in Montana.

The ALSAM Foundation was founded by L.S. Skaggs and his wife Aline W. Skaggs. The organization has made previous contributions to UM, and the Skaggs School of Pharmacy is named for the couples generosity.
HICKORY  On Aug. 24, the Drendel Auditorium will be opening its doors at 6 p.m. to experience the N.C. premiere of sister. This event will begin with light refreshments and include live performances from the films composer and Hickory native, Matt Ferretti and Regina Ferguson. Following the conclusion of the screening of this short film will be a panel discussion with the cast, director and producers moderated by the Master of Ceremonies, Hal Rowe. Tickets can be purchased through carolinacaring.org/love-and-loss.

This short film is a fictional story based on the life and death of Meg Jenkins Lockes sister, Mary Mallette Jenkins Wood, who battled breast cancer and died in 2021. Mary Mallettes diagnosis, surgery, and treatments were in Catawba County, and she loved this community of health care professionals, friends, and caretakers.

Several of the films star-studded cast will be in attendance, including Billy Magnussen (Made for Love, Game Night, James Bond: No Time To Die, The Many Saints of Newark), Jayne Brook (Star Trek: Discovery, Brothers & Sisters, Boston Legal, Greys Anatomy, Private Practice), Shane Andries (director), and Meg Jenkins Locke. There will also be a photo op/meet and greet with the cast for those in attendance.

This project is supported by a grant from the United Arts Council of Catawba County and has been made possible by the coordination of many local partners who support the compassionate care provided by Carolina Caring.

Carolina Caring, founded in 1979, is an independent, community-based, nonprofit health care provider. It specializes in programs that offer relief from chronic conditions, serious illnesses, and the challenges they bring, including palliative medicine and hospice care for all ages, primary care, and grief counseling. Currently, Carolina Caring serves 12 counties across western North Carolina and the Charlotte Region. For more information about Carolina Caring or to donate, call 828-466-0466 or visit CarolinaCaring.org/give.
New York (CNN)  Anyone in the United States who had a Facebook account in the past 16 years has roughly one week left to file for payment in a data privacy settlement case.

Facebooks parent, Meta, in December agreed to pay $725 million to settle a host of privacy-related class action lawsuits alleging, among other things, that Facebook let third parties access its users private data and that of their friends without users permission.

That includes roughly 70 million US-based users private Facebook data that was accessed by the political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica, which had been working for the Trump presidential campaign in 2016.

That private information may have included everything from birthdays and hometowns to more personal information, such as private messages.

Heres what you need to know if youre considering making a claim in the case:

Who is eligible to file a claim?

If you were a user of Facebook in the United States for any period between May 24, 2007, and December 22, 2022, you may file a claim.

When is the deadline to file?

You must submit your claim using this form by 11:59 pm PT on Friday, August 25 if youre filing online. If you are filing by mail, your envelope must be postmarked by August 25.

How much will I be paid?

That depends on three factors: 1) how many people file valid claims; 2) how long you were an active Facebook user between May 24, 2007 and December 22, 2022; and 3) what the total net settlement fund will be after administrative, legal and other costs are subtracted.

Based on how long you were a Facebook user, Meta notes that the settlement administrator will award one point for each month you had an activated account. The administrator will then add up all the points assigned to all valid claimants and divide the net settlement amount by that total number of points. That will determine how much you would be paid for each month you were an active user.

Using an oversimplified example, if the net settlement amount is $100 and the total number of points for all claimants adds up to 500, you would be paid 20 cents ($100/500) for every month you had an open account between May 2007 and December 2022. If your account was activated for, say, 52 months you would receive $10.40 (20 cents x 52 months). If it was activated all 187 months of that period you would receive $37.40.

When will I be paid?

Its not clear yet.

Once everyones claims are in, there will be a final approval hearing for the settlement of the case. That hearing is scheduled for September 7 at 1 p.m. PT, according to the Facebook user privacy settlement website.

If the settlement is approved but there are appeals, that will delay when you might get a payment. Settlement payments will be distributed as soon as possible if the Court grants Final Approval of the Settlement and after any appeals are resolved, according to an extensive FAQ sheet on the settlement site.

And if the court changes the date of the approval hearing, the updated day and time will appear on that site.

Can I still sue Facebook?

Facebook users were allowed to opt out of being in the settlement class and preserve their right to sue. But the deadline for doing so  July 26  has already passed.

By joining the settlement class, and claiming a payment, you will no longer be able to sue Facebook or join others lawsuits against Facebook for matters covered by the settlement. Page 15 of the settlement agreement details the legal claims you are giving up.

How to take a break from social media Be easy on yourself and ask for help about social media use Helpful exercise to remind you what you're missing by scrolling Use your phone's screen-time tracking feature and limit social media use Physically distance yourself from your phone and apps Benefits of taking a social media break Reevaluate what you want out of social media Two and a half hours.
Episode 103: You dont have to look far to see the ravages of climate change. In recent weeks, one of the deadliest wildfires in U.S. history killed more than 100 people in Hawaii, and July was the hottest month ever recorded.

Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada talk about how we must do two things at once  try to somehow slow the warming while also being better prepared for the effects still to come.

Links to stories discussed during the podcast:

The clean energy future is arriving faster than you think, by David Gelles, Brad Plumer, Jim Tankersley and Jack Ewing, The New York Times

Young environmental activists prevail in first-of-its-kind climate change trial in Montana, by Matthew Brown and Amy Beth Hanson, The Associated Press

How climate change could cause a home insurance meltdown, by Michael Copley, Rebecca Hersher and Nathan Rott, National Public Radio

About the hosts: Scott Rada is social media manager with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The University of Montana Western announced in a Friday press release the hiring of Estee Aiken, Ed.D., as the next Dean of Strategic Initiatives.

According to the release, Aiken earned her bachelor's in music from Macalester College, in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 2001, followed by a master's in teaching elementary school from Colorado College in 2002. She earned her Doctor of Education in education studies from the University of Northern Colorado in 2012.

Aiken currently serves as the Division Chair of Education at Montana Western, where she has also served as a professor since 2011. Having taught over 25 different education courses during this time, she has also been actively involved at the state level in roles including Montana Council of Deans of Education, Montana University System Teacher Scholar 2022-23, current campus lead for the Teacher Residency Demonstration Project, President of the Montana Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, past President of the Montana Association of Gifted and Talented Education, and past co-chair of the Montana Higher Education Consortium.

Also per the release, she also has a variety of experience in grants authorship and project management from funding sources including the U.S. Department of Education, State of Montana DPHHS, Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education, Montana Office of Public Instruction, and the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education. Aiken has published several peer reviewed publications and presented at conferences across the country.

I am so excited for this opportunity to be part of advancing our strategic plan and initiatives. Dr. Ripley has established a legacy of excellence as the current Dean of Strategic Initiatives, and I will do all that I am able to continue that legacy. Im grateful that I get to grow professionally without leaving UMW or DillonI love being a part of Western, and my family loves being a part of the community, said Aiken.

She will start the duties of her new position at Montana Western on August 28, 2023.
A forecast full of contradictory conditions has wildland firefighters wondering what's next as a record-setting August nears its close.

The shifting winds prompted a mandatory evacuation order for people living near the East Fork fire between Olney and Striker along the Flathead/Lincoln county border near Highway 93. Sheriff's deputies were going door-to-door in the area Friday afternoon. Specific information about the affected evacuation area was available on the Sheriff Department website.

"A Mandatory Evacuation means there is a strong probability of wildfire moving into the targeted area," Flathead County Sheriff Brian Heino said in an email on Friday afternoon. "Ash and fire debris are likely and can spread with the high winds expected later today. Residents and visitors in the area should respond quickly and determine steps to secure your home, pets, livestock, and family. Residents, landlords, hotels, and businesses in this area should also have a plan in place to evacuate.

"Fire is unpredictable and can change rapidly," Heino continued. "We cannot predict how much time people will have to evacuate, road conditions, etc. We strongly recommend that if you are in or near the evacuation area that you leave as soon as possible."

The blaze is active to the west of Olney and was at about 3,000 acres as of Friday.

Residents in northeast Lincoln County might see their power affected by the fires, according to the Lincoln County Emergency Management Agency. The American Red Cross has established a shelter in Columbia Falls. If you plan to use the shelter, please call the Red Cross in advance at 1-800-733-2767 prior to your arrival.

Last week's record-high temperatures from Butte to Libby pushed a lot of smoke into valley bottoms but failed to ignite any new fires west of the Continental Divide. That smoke notwithstanding, most of the big fires in Lake County, Seeley-Swan Valley and Flathead National Forest didn't grow much or submitted to control efforts. But a persistent drought has sunk its spikes across Montana north of the Clark Fork and Missouri rivers, with severe conditions in the far northwest corner of the state.

This summer, Montana is seeing a heightened level of fire activity in the northwest region due to persistent record-breaking hot, dry and windy weather, creating conditions that are ideal for wildfire ignitions and rapid fire spread, Montana Fire Protection Bureau Chief Matt Hall said in an email on Friday. Hot and dry weather conditions have also decreased flow levels and increased water temperatures in streams, rivers and other shallow surface water, leading to recreational restrictions and the implementation of conservation measures at a local level.

A moderate El Nino pattern has settled over North America, which could mean a warmer and drier than average fall and winter for Montana. Without receiving a significant amount of precipitation in the form of rain or snow  known as a season-ending event  elevated fire concerns may extend through September.

Red Flag weather warnings remained in effect through Friday night as a high-pressure system transitioned to cooler, wetter conditions. At the Colt fire northwest of Seeley Lake, firefighters braced for gusts of 30-40 mph along mountain ridges and sustained winds of 20 mph elsewhere. Recent ground mapping showed the fire has burned about 7,154 acres, with crews performing mop-up action on the north and east edges.

That cooler, wetter weather blowing out of Canada could collapse the smoke throughout the Flathead County vicinity, according to the Interagency Wildland Fire Air Quality Response Program. Conditions are forecast to drop into the Unhealthy range for communities from Arlee in the south up to Whitefish and West Glacier on Saturday.

In Ravalli County, the lightning-caused Bowles Creek fire near Skalkaho Pass grew more than 2,300 acres on Wednesday and Thursday to 6,847 acres.

Fire managers were able to map the fire with an infrared flight late Thursday night. The fire is burning in steep terrain on both the Bitterroot and Beaverhead-Deerlodge national forests. The blaze was 20% contained as of Friday morning, according to a statement released by fire officials.
Editors note: This article includes graphic images that may be upsetting to some readers.

A central Iowa care facility is being sued for allegedly causing the death of a resident whose pressure sores progressed to huge, open wounds on her body.

According to a lawsuit filed this week in Jasper County District Court, Deanna Kay Mahoney was admitted to the Newton Health Care Center in June 2021. On April 18, 2022, she was transferred to MercyOne Newton Medical Centers emergency room where the medical staff found a large skin ulcer, or open wound, on her buttocks and another on the heel of her foot. The emergency room physician reported that the wound on her buttocks was contaminated with feces and ran very deep, exposing muscle and bone.

Mahoney was then transferred to Iowa Lutheran Hospital in Des Moines for a higher level of care, where the staff photographed the wounds and admitted Mahoney to the critical care unit.

On May 6, she died at the hospital, with the immediate cause of death listed as sepsis, a blood infection, that resulted from sacral osteomyelitis, which is a bone infection near the base of the spine. She was 83 years old.

The lawsuit filed by Mahoneys estate seeks unspecified damages for negligence. The defendants include Newton Health Care Center and its corporate owners, Newton OpCo and ManagerCo Prairie Rose. They have yet to file a response to the lawsuit.

A few weeks after Mahoneys death, in June 2022, the home was inspected by the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing as part of a routine, annual recertification process. While there, inspectors also investigated a backlog of six separate complaints against the facility, and three self-reported incidents, all of which were ruled substantiated.

DIAL cited the facility for 24 state and federal violations, but the inspectors report appears to make no reference to any deficiencies in Mahoneys care. The violations were related to residents rights, abuse-and-neglect policies, resident care plans, quality of care, medication and treatment, pressure sores, insufficient nursing staff, insufficient support staff, unnecessary psychotropic drugs, medication errors, unsanitary conditions and infection prevention.

A state fine of $14,000 was imposed but was later reduced to $9,100 when the home agreed not to appeal the penalty. In 2020, federal officials imposed a $156,660 fine against the home. That was later reduced to $101,829 when the home agreed not to file an appeal.

In April, inspectors returned to Newton Health Care Center in response to four complaints, all of which were substantiated. The home was cited for four violations of federal regulations, including the failure to treat pressure sores.

The homes plan of correction indicates that one of the two residents whose pressure sores were left untreated, resulting in exposed bone and muscle, has since died. The report provides conflicting information as to the fate of the second of the two residents, stating that the individual continues to reside there but also stating the resident is now deceased.

During the April inspection, a nurse aide told state officials staffing was not good at the home, residents did not receive the care they needed, did not get showers, and wound dressings were not being changed as ordered by physicians. She said it sometimes took 30 to 45 minutes to answer residents call lights.

No fines and citations were issued as a result of the inspection.

The Newton home has a one-star overall rating from the federal government, the lowest in a five-star rating system, as well as a one-star rating for its health-inspection results.

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The United Democratic Alliance(UDA) is working with the Communist Party of China (CPC) in building and strengthening its structures for an ideology-centered political party, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has said.

Speaking when he hosted the Chinese Ambassador to Kenya, Zhou Pingjian at the Karen Residence on Thursday morning, Gachagua- who was accompanied by the UDA Secretary General Cleophas Malala- said parties established on firm ideologies contribute to the socio-economic stability of a country.

The United Democratic Alliance is the younger brother of CPC, but it is the party of the future. We want to develop it like CPC. Work with us in creating structures and building the capacity of our staff, he said.

Mr Gachagua said most political parties in Kenya have died after general elections. But the UDA party has to be founded on an ideology that will outlive the current administration, he said.

Transfer of skills and good practices on running and managing political parties for posterity, like the 100-year-old CPC, the Deputy President noted, guarantees development resulting from a commitment to the ideology.

It cannot be a party for elections only. We must make UDA be around for 100 years. Our Ideology is Bottom-up Economic Transformation. Training some of our staff will enable them to come back and transfer the knowledge to others, Mr Gachagua added

Ambassador Pingjian said the Government of China is ready to support the UDA party because a stable Kenya is good for both countries. He added that it has facilitated such training for a number of countries in Africa and across the globe.

China and Kenya have enjoyed strategic partnership for 60 years. We have confidence in the leadership of President William Ruto. We see a lot of potential in further cooperation. We are ready to facilitate party-to-party exchanges, he said.

The two leaders also discussed trade and investment opportunities for the benefit of the people of the two nations. The Deputy President said Kenya is happy with the trade volumes but it is inviting Chinese investors to the country. Under the Kenya Kwanza Pillar of Manufacturing, Mr Gachagua said, the country will benefit in job creation for the youth.

The Deputy President also held engagements with the President of the Xinhua News Agency Fu Hua of China, on partnership in media and development.
Raila Odinga pulled no punches as he laid into the US Ambassador to Kenya, Meg Whitman, for supposedly interfering in Kenyas affairs.

The Opposition leader was responding to the envoys remarks on Tuesday that the August 2022 General Election was the most credible poll the country has ever held.

Meg Whitman was addressing the 8th Devolution Conference in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County, terming the contested election by the Opposition as a credible, transparent and verifiable election.

On Thursday, Raila got a chance to address the ongoing conference and went for the jugular, referring to Meg Whitman as a rogue ambassador and telling her to shut up.

I want to tell the rogue ambassador, leave Kenyans alone. If maandamano can lead to dialogue between Ichungwah and Kalonzo, everything is good with maandamano.

Tell the rogue ambassador Kenya is not the United States. Kenya is not a colony of the United States. Keep your mouth shut while here, otherwise, we will call for your recall back to your country, Raila said.

Odingas remarks did not sit well with leaders allied with President William Rutos Kenya Kwanza administration

Led by Nandi Governor Stephen Sang, the group expressed their disappointment with Odingas comments, describing them as regrettable.

They called upon him to exercise restraint and maintain a respectful attitude towards the government and the countrys development partners.

The Kenya Kwanza leaders have appealed to Raila Odinga to apologize to the US diplomat.
President William Ruto says the prices of basic food items are starting to decline as a result of a bumper harvest this year.

Speaking to the residents of Kiambu on Thursday, President Ruto expressed optimism that the reduction in food prices is imminent. He attributed this positive outlook to the strategic initiatives implemented by his Kenya Kwanza administration towards the end of 2022 and the beginning of this year.

The President pointed to several contributing factors, including the fertilizer subsidy that led to a reduction in prices from Sh7000 to S.2500. Additionally, he mentioned the widespread heavy rainfall across many regions of the country and the expansion of cultivated land by 200,000 acres in the current year.

Ruto noted that the collective efforts of farmers have resulted in a remarkable increase in food production.
Kenyans stand to enjoy extended 4-day public holidays if the Senate approves a proposed Bill fronted by Kiambu Senator Karungo Wa Thangwa.

The Public Holidays (Amendment) Bill, 2023 seeks to extend long weekends when a public holiday falls on either Tuesday or Thursday.

The Bill aims to establish the preceding Monday as a public holiday in the event of a holiday occurring on a Tuesday. Similarly, it proposes the designation of the following Friday as a public holiday in cases where a holiday falls on a Thursday.

Senator Karungo Wa Thangwa argues that his proposed legislations primary aim is to prioritize the welfare of Kenyan workers and breathe new life into the tourism industry.

Public holidays are designed to provide workers with time off from their jobs to rest and recharge, spend time with family and friends, and celebrate important events or traditions, and are often associated with travel and tourism, the Bill reads in part.

The lawmaker adds that the extension of public holidays can contribute to ensuring that employees have ample time to thoroughly relish their time away from work and attend to both their physical and mental well-being.

Public holidays also seek to support economic growth, as they are often associated with travel and tourism, and extending public holidays may encourage Kenyans to take longer trips or visit destinations farther away from their homes. Essentially, such an extension would promote the hospitality and tourism industries, Thangwa says.

He highlights that the Philippines and various other nations have effectively executed comparable strategies, resulting in heightened tourism and enhanced the welfare of workers.

The Senator also notes the Bill will diminish the countrys dependence on international tourists.

All Kenyans including in counties are entitled to enjoy the public holidays under Part 1 of the schedule to the Public Holidays Act. Under the Fourth Schedule to the Constitution, Kenyans living and working m the counties are entitled to cultural activities, recreational facilities and sports for which Kenyans would travel between different counties, the Bill states.

This year, three holidays, namely Madaraka Day, Huduma Day, and Jamhuri Day would be eligible for the extended weekend arrangement.
NAPA - Lorna "Norene" Peyovich (nee Snyder) passed away on July 28, 2023, at the age of 91. She was known as Norene for her entire life, but she also had some colorful nicknames, including Mutt, Gram, and Nor-Babe. She lived in Napa for more than 40 years and died peacefully in her beautiful home.

Norene is survived by her daughter, Sharon Workman (Glenn); grandchildren: Joanne Zucca (Gino), Lisa Morelli (Vasco), and Daniel Workman (Sarah); and great-grandchildren: Milo, Taylor, Justin, Dominic, Madison, Connor, Alexandra, and Grady. She was preceded in death by her son, Michael (1973); and her husband, Milo (2022). She also had a special place in her heart for "Grandma Wheat" - her maternal grandmother who passed many decades ago but was always in Norene's thoughts.

Norene was born on August 13, 1931, in Admire, KS. She spent the first ten years of her life in Kansas, before her family moved to El Cerrito in 1941. The relocation to California was difficult for Norene, but annual summer visits to Kansas helped ease the transition. She often shared fond memories of her time spent with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, helping with farm work, playing cribbage, and listening to music. She especially treasured her time with her Grandma Wheat in Kansas.

In 1946, Norene met a young man named Milo Peyovich at a bus stop in Berkeley. Both Norene and Milo knew it was love at first sight, and this fortuitous meeting changed their lives forever. Norene graduated from El Cerrito High School in 1949, and the following year, she and Milo were married in Reno, NV. For the rest of her life, Norene was singularly devoted to her family and friends.

Norene and Milo lived in Berkeley for a short time before moving to Richmond and eventually settling in El Sobrante. Their son, Michael, was born in 1952, and daughter Sharon was born two years later in 1954. Norene worked in San Francisco for several years after graduating from high school, but her children soon commanded most of her time and energy.

Norene and Milo's life took a tragic turn with the sudden death of their son in 1973. Although the passing of her son took a toll on Norene, she still found a way to smile, laugh, and be present in the lives of her family and friends. Under such circumstances, we should all marvel at her spirit.

In 1976, Norene and Milo welcomed the arrival of twin granddaughters Joanne and Lisa. Their grandson, Daniel, was born in 1980. Shortly after the births of their grandchildren, Norene and Milo designed and built a new home on a hill overlooking the Napa Valley where they enjoyed so many beautiful sunsets and lived for the rest of their lives.

Norene, often referred to by her grandchildren as "Gram," fully embodied the role of a loving and involved grandmother. This unconditional love was mutual, as was evident in the care and attention her grandchildren showed her in return. She also bestowed upon her family her love of ice cream (one or more helpings a day kept her alive into her 90s!), chocolate and card games.

Those of us that knew Norene best will miss the cribbage games, her clam dip and homemade chocolate cake, the wacky Midwest expressions, her sense of humor and the unconditional love that was given and received. Rest in peace, Gram.
How many passengers fly on first Yerevan-Kapan-Yerevan flights?

Protesters leave food outside UN Armenia office to deliver to Karabakh

Azerbaijan MP ponders over which Armenians to be allowed to stay in Karabakh

Dollar, euro drop in Armenia

Armenia ambassador-at-large: Azerbaijan uses all means to purge peaceful people from their homeland

Belgium FM to visit Armenia

Quake recorded in Armenia, also felt in capital Yerevan

41 people transferred from Karabakh to Armenia, Azerbaijan forces passengers to cross Hakari bridge on foot

Armenia MoD: Azerbaijan disseminates 3rd disinformation

Karabakh MoD: Azerbaijan disseminates another false statement

Korea, US begin Ulchi Freedom Shield joint military exercise

Man who impersonates Karabakh president is beaten at police station

Uzbekistan president to visit Azerbaijan

Armenia wins 6 awards at international book art competition

MoD: Azerbaijan fires at Armenia combat outposts

World oil prices going up

2 of those injured in tragic accident on Gyumri-Yerevan motorway remain in severe condition

Ecuador presidential elections: Daniel Noboa, Luisa Gonzalez likely to make it to runoff

Armenia wins 2 medals at 16th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics

Yerevan-Kapan-Yerevan flights with approved schedule are operated for first time

Budapest, Baku agree on more Azerbaijan natural gas supply to Hungary

Burnt-out shell of old Ferrari racing car sold at auction for $2M

Azerbaijan fires at Armenia positions

Karabakh army: Azerbaijan violated ceasefire at night

Armenians holding protest outside UN headquarters in New York

Armenia official: Our aircraft flies entirely in our territory

Karabakh MoD: Azerbaijan disseminates another disinformation

Provincial governor of Armenias Syunik: Azerbaijanis will provoke but Kapan airport shall operate

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia received the EU Ambassador

Azerbaijani units fired from fire arms towards the Armenian combat outposts in the vicinity of Verin Shorzha

Ararat Mirzoyan will participate in a strategic conference in Slovenia

Azerbaijani Armed Forces open fire on Armenian positions in Akhpradzor section. Armenian Defense Ministry

Greek authorities have rescued about 60 migrants traveling by boat from Turkey to Aegean islands

Iran will launch a locally manufactured Tolou-3 satellite into orbit by the second half of March

Azerbaijani Defense Ministry tries to justify its regular fire to disrupt wheat harvesting. Artsakh Defense Army

The Azerbaijanis once again targeted the 'Syunik' civil airport. Gor Tsarukyan

Artsakh State Minister: Azerbaijani Armed Forces hold at gunpoint the only wheat field in Sarushen community

Azerbaijan refuses to allow the body of the Artsakh girl to be taken to her homeland. MFA

Armenia PM is informed about plans to invest another $15M in Agarak Copper-Molybdenum Combine

Azerbaijan does not allow body of young woman who died in tragic Armenia road accident to be sent back to Karabakh

Azerbaijan plans to try abducted Karabakh resident Vagif Khachatryan

Dollar, euro drop in Armenia

Armenia deputy PM, Poland envoy confer about regional developments

Central Electoral Commission registers electoral lists of political forces to run in Yerevan municipal elections

Karabakh MoD: Azerbaijan statement, video footage are utter falsehood

Ambassador Kvien emphasizes US support for Armenia sovereignty, security (PHOTOS)

Karabakh MFA: We expect UN Security Council member countries to demonstrate consistency, principled stance

Armenia ex-FM: Perhaps international community keeps open possibility of changing today's negotiation agenda

Armenia MoD: Azerbaijan disseminates another disinformation

London Coptic Church leader, UK Armenian Apostolic Church primate discuss crisis in Karabakh

11 medical patients from Karabakh are transferred to Armenia through Red Cross

MFA official: China is closely following of North-South international corridor current operation

Armenia battalion deputy commander is charged with causing soldier to commit suicide

Armenia MFA: It is evident that Azerbaijan continues distorting international community appeals

Armenia FM stresses to UN deputy secretary general urgency of reopening Lachin corridor

US ambassador to Armenia visiting Jermuk town (PHOTOS)

Artsakh President meets with group of militia fighters

Karabakh President receives Free Motherland-UCA Faction MPs

Presidential advisor: Azerbaijan cut fiber optic internet cable, disrupting Karabakh's stable internet connection

Azerbaijan fires on tractor working in Karabakh village field

Ardshinbank recognized as Retail Bank of the Year in Armenia by Asian Banking & Finance magazine

Azerbaijan fires in direction of Armenias Kapan city airport

EU Special Representative for South Caucasus meets with some other European officials, in Yerevan cafe

Newspaper: What to expect after UN Security Council emergency meeting on Lachin corridor issue?

France cities, regions want to deliver humanitarian aid to besieged Karabakh

China interested in development of relations with Armenia

Ambassador to Armenia on Zangezur corridor: Chinese initiative has nothing to do with it

Armenia MoD: Azerbaijan fired in direction of Yeraskh village

Mher Grigoryan, Toivo Klaar discuss humanitarian crisis in Karabakh

Fan Yong: China is concerned about situation around Lachin corridor

Armenia FM to Romania colleague: Karabakh crisis resolution requires international community to take clear steps

Dollar gains, euro loses value in Armenia

Ocampo: Armenians should not be side victims of Ukrainian conflict

Chaarat Gold announces selling Kapan mine in Armenia for $54.5M

Azerbaijan again fires at combine harvester working in Karabakh village field

Armenia ambassador-at-large: Azerbaijan is blaming Karabakh children for eating cookies on their birthdays

Demonstration in support of Karabakh held outside Israel MFA (VIDEO)

Pashinyan: Next week we will start Yerevan-Kapan regular flights

Armenia PM heads from Yerevan to Kapan by plane, tests new airline

Arman Tatoyan: Azerbaijan is preparing new fascist disaster for Armenia
Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Mher Grigoryan received Toivo Klaar, the European Union (EU) Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the Crisis in Georgia, informed the Armenian government website.

Ambassador Andrea Wiktorin, Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, also attended the meeting.

The interlocutors discussed the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh as a result of the ongoing blockade of Lachin corridor by Azerbaijan. The parties emphasized the need for urgent resolution of the issue, including from the perspective of establishing long-term stability and peace in the region.
China is Armenia's second largest Asian trade partner, and these relations are developing. In 2022, the trade between Armenia and China reached $1.43 billion, and in the first six months of 2023, the indicator was $800 million, increasing by 45% year-on-year. Chinese ambassador to Armenia Fan Yong told this to reporters Thursday.

According to him, Chinese investments in Armenia amount to about $50 million, and in Armenia$15 million, indicating the potential for growth of these indicators.

He noted that Armenia and China are developing their cooperation in various domains, including rubber production, road construction, photovoltaic plants, reservoirs, etc.

The Chinese diplomat added that work is underway to launch direct flights between China and Armenia.

In his view, the implementation of the North-South Road Corridor project is progressing successfully.

Ambassador Fan expressed satisfaction that Chinese language teaching is actively developing in Armenia.

He reminded that Armenia was one of the first countries to respond to joining the Belt and Road Initiative and thereby contributed to its development. The implementation of this initiative has shown promising results in recent years, the ambassador noted.

The Chinese diplomat added that a summit dedicated to this initiative will be held this year.

He emphasized that a consensus has been formed on the matter of its implementation, and now work is being carried out to harmonize national characteristics.

Adviser on trade and economic affairs of the Chinese embassy in Yerevan, Tsai Chung, for his part, informed that last year Armenia exported 70 thousand bottles of brandy, worth $1.5 million, to China.

According to him, this is the most impressive indicator during the entire period of establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

He added that there is a major demand for Armenias honey in China, and called on the Armenian side to increase the production and export of this product, as well as other quality products.
At the initiative of Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris, and in conjunction with the Ile-de-France, Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, Hauts-de-France, Occitanie, Pays de la Loire, and Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azure regions of France, united in providing support to the people of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), have come together to provide urgent humanitarian aid to Artsakh, which has been besieged by Azerbaijan since December 12, 2022. This was reported by the embassy of Armenia in France.

The first truck carrying 20 tons from the French territorial authorities went from Armenias capital Yerevan to the border Kornidzor village area, where it joined the 21 trucks carrying essential items sent by the government of Armenia to the people of Artsakh. Since June 15, however, the armed forces of Azerbaijan have not allowed any movement through the checkpoint.

The 20 tons of aid being transported from France is only the first, small part of a larger convoy of trucks funded by the aforesaid French regions and cities. The start of the main convoy will be given at the end of August, under the leadership of a delegation of French MPs and local government leaders who support this humanitarian initiative being implemented for the people of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Azerbaijan has fired in the direction of the Kapan city airport. The Republic of Armenia National Security Service (RA NSS) issued a statement about this.

According to the statement, at 4:24am Friday, an unidentified person who came from the Azerbaijani side with a car to the area adjacent to the Syunik Airport in Kapan city of Armenias Syunik Province, on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, fired three shots in the direction of the aforementioned airport and left.

Two of the bullets damaged a window and the roof of the airport.

"We call on the authorities of Azerbaijan to carry out a proper investigation on the incident and to take measures to exclude the repetition of such incidents.

"The RA NSS Border Guard troops are ready for joint investigation and/or transfer relevant videos to the Azerbaijani side," the NSS added.
International magazine Asian Banking & Finance awarded Ardshinbank with the nomination "RETAIL BANK OF THE YEAR OF ARMENIA" for achievements in the development of retail financial business. The winner is selected based on strong financial performance, innovative products, a customer-oriented approach, and a commitment to sustainability.

The magazine's press release emphasizes the strength of Ardshinbank's financial position. According to the magazine, the significant growth of the bank's total assets and liabilities, the growth of the customer base and notable increase in net profit speak for it. Additionally, the financial stability of the bank is attested by ratings from leading credit rating agencies.

Commenting on the prestigious accolade, Artak Khachatryan, Director of Retail Business at Ardshinbank, stated: "Ardshinbank has been recognized as the best retail bank of the year in Armenia for the fourth consecutive time. We are guided by the interests of our customers, consistently expanding our range of services, particularly through online platforms. Moreover, we actively develop our digital applications, which play an increasingly vital role each year in enhancing service quality and in spreading ideas of ecological responsibility and environmental impact reduction. Along with the development of digital banking services, it should be noted that Ardshinbank has the largest branch network in Armenia, which also contributes to increasing the comfort of our customers. All this is duly appreciated by the international financial community and becomes a benchmark for us for the future."

Over the years, Ardshinbank has amassed a collection of accolades from prestigious international organizations and publications, including The Banker, Global Finance, Euromoney, Global Banking & Finance Review, Asian Banking & Finance, Thomson Reuters, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and the Eurasian Development Bank.

You can access the list of RETAIL FINANCE AWARDS winners here.

Ardshinbanks activity is regulated by the Central Bank of Armenia.
At 5:55pm Thursday, the Azerbaijani side cut the fiber optic cable of the internet near the illegal Azerbaijani checkpoint located in the Berdzor (Lachin) corridor, disrupting Artsakh's stable internet connection. Artak Beglaryan, advisor to the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) president, wrote about this on Facebook Friday morning.

"Yesterday evening, specialists from Artsakh, together with Russian peacekeepers, tried to approach the given section and repair the cable, but the Azerbaijani side did not allow [it]. Negotiations between the peacekeepers and the Azerbaijani side have been ongoing since this morning so that our specialists can restore the damaged cable.

"I do not consider it a coincidence that this new crime has occurred after the UN Security Council [emergency] meeting [on the Lachin corridor issue] and literally 5 minutes before the start of the scheduled press conference on the topic of Artsakh genocide. (). Despite Azerbaijan's efforts, the press conference was held, attended by around 130 people from 27 countries.

"By the way, now a very limited amount of internet is accessible in Artsakh through unstable radio communication, which is also continuously under the pressure of Azerbaijani jamming systems," Beglaryan added.
Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) President Arayik Harutyunyan on Thursday met with a group of militia fighters, Armenian News-NEWS.am has learned from the President's office.

At their suggestion, Harutyunyan presented the steps being taken to ensure the security of Artsakh, and to stop the further course of genocide and overcome the humanitarian disaster in Artsakh.

The necessity of consolidating everyone's efforts and stability of the state system to face the challenges facing Artsakh was underscored during the meeting.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan on Thursday met with Rosemary DiCarlo, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, in New York, Armenian News-NEWS.am learns from Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia.

Mirzoyan presented the extremely difficult humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, and stressed that the conscientious players of the international system should not allow this situation to turn into a real humanitarian disaster. In this connection, the minister particularly emphasized the special role and preventive function of the UN Security Council as an organization with a mandate in maintaining peace and security.

Reflecting on the difficult conditions created for the vulnerable groups of the 120,000 people in Nagorno-Karabakh, the Armenian FM stressed the urgency of implementing the decisions of the International Court of Justice on February 22 and July 6 and ending the illegal blocking of the Lachin corridor by Azerbaijan.

And in the context of establishing long-term stability in the region, Ararat Mirzoyan emphasized the need for Azerbaijan to abstain from actions and provocations aimed at neutralizing international efforts in that regard and the possibility of achieving peace.
The deputy commander-chief of staff of battalion has been charged with causing of Private Granik Khnkoyan, a mandatory conscript soldier of Armenia, to commit suicide.

Facts have been obtained that Major A.T., the deputy commander-chief of staff of the rifle battalion of a military unit, had committed actions aimed at degrading the honor and dignity of serviceman Khnkoyan by using violence against him in the presence of fellow soldiers, reported the Investigative Committee of Armenia.

On August 11, Khnkoyan's dead body was found in the aforesaid military unitand with a gunshot wound to the head.

During the investigation of this criminal case, it was found that Khnkoyan, being in a depressed state of mind, had opened fire with a rifle at around 8:40am on the same day and inflicted fatal gunshot wounds on himself.

On Tuesday, a petition was filed with the supervising prosecutor to launch a public prosecution against Major A.T., which was granted, he was charged and detained to appear in court.

The court placed A. T. under house arrest as a preventive measure.

Earlier, we reported that on August 11, Granik Khnkoyan, a soldier of an Armenian military unit, sustained a fatal gunshot wound under circumstances yet to be determined.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Armenia released a statement regarding the UN Security Councils urgent meeting on Wednesday. The statement reads as follows:

The urgent meeting of the UN Security Council, convened on August 16 at the request of the Republic of Armenia, once again proved that, despite the false propaganda of Azerbaijan, the international partners are clearly aware of the fact of the dire humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and realize the importance of addressing it. During this second discussion in the format of the UN Security Council, the assessments and targeted appeals addressed to Azerbaijan, in essence, complemented the clear positions expressed so far by various governments, international structures, and human rights organizations.

Noteworthy were the statements of the members of the UN Security Council and the EU representative reiterating that Azerbaijan is obliged to lift the illegal blockade of the Lachin corridor in accordance with the Trilateral statement of November 9, 2020, and the legally binding Orders of the UN International Court of Justice of February 22 and July 6. It was unequivocally emphasized that the ongoing 8-month-long severe humanitarian situation created for the population of Nagorno-Karabakh as a result of the blockade should be resolved.

It is evident that Azerbaijan continues to distort the appeals of the international community, to look for false pretexts, not corresponding to reality, to avoid fulfilling its obligations and, by prolonging the humanitarian crisis, including through starvation to subject the indigenous people of Nagorno-Karabakh to ethnic cleansing. Moreover, Azerbaijan tries to manipulate any balanced approach of international actors, interpreting it as an explicit permission to continue its adopted policy.

We emphasize the urgency of using all available international tools to eliminate the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh and restore unimpeded movement in both directions through the Lachin corridor and ensure unhindered access of international humanitarian organizations to Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, highly appreciating the principled and fair positions of the UN Security Council members that remain faithful to their mandate to advance international security and peace, will continue to work on various platforms, including in the UN Security Council, taking consistent steps to unblock the Lachin corridor and resolve the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Eleven patients from the Republican Medical Center of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) were transported Friday to specialized medical institutions of Armenia for urgent specialized medical care, with accompanying persons as well as the mediation and escorting by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), informs the Artsakh Ministry of Health.

And nine patients, who had been transferred to Armenia for medical treatment within the framework of state funding, are expected to return to Artsakh during the day with ICRC vehicles, and together with their accompanying persons.

A total of 27 children are currently receiving inpatient treatment at Arevik Medical Center in Artsakh, and eight of them are at the neonatal and intensive care unit.

And 82 patients are receiving inpatient treatment at the Republican Medical Center, four of them are at the intensive care unit, and two of these four are in critical condition.
The international community is perhaps keeping open the possibility of changing today's negotiation agenda. Armenias former foreign minister Vartan Oskanian wrote about this on Facebook.

"The [urgent] meeting of the UN Security Council, which had caused optimism and hopes in our society, ended in disappointment. No resolution or statement was adopted, and it is questionable whether there will ever be a resolution under international law that will obligate Azerbaijan to [re]open the Lachin corridor," Oskanian wrote.

"In any case, I want to take a grain of optimism from all this, the possibility of its becoming a reality depends only on the position and practices of Armenias authorities or their resignation," the ex-FM added.

"In their speech [at the aforesaid meeting], none of the five permanent members of the Security Council made special emphasis on the fact that Armenia prematurely recognized Artsakh [(Nagorno-Karabakh)] as a part of Azerbaijan. The representative of the European Union, one of the main mediators in the current negotiations, made reference to the Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Oblast [(Region)], which, I believe, is not a coincidence. The international community is perhaps keeping open the possibility of changing today's negotiation agenda," Vartan Oskanian noted.
Azerbaijan does not allow the transfer of the body of Helen Dadayan, 21, who died in the tragic accident on the Gyumri-Yerevan motorway on August 14 that killed 11 people, back to Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). Her uncle, Mushegh Safaryan, told Armenian News-NEWS.am about this on Friday.

"The Red Cross says that they will try to do something today as well, they will give an answer tomorrow, but I don't believe it anymore. I can record that the Artsakh authorities are incompetent, and the Red Cross has failed in its mission. The authorities of Armenia are also incompetent; it is true, we have not petitioned to them, but they have not tried to contact us in any way. I am currently still in Goris [city of Armenia]. The child's parents want to transport the body [back to Artsakh] at any cost. We will not give up," Safaryan said.

And Zara Amatuni, Communication and Prevention Program Manager of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Armenia office, told us that the ICRC, as a neutral humanitarian mediator, conducts a dialogue with both sides, but cannot publicize their position.

"We can only reaffirm that the Committee is ready to fulfill its mission in favor of the humanitarian issue, but the decision is not in our hands, other parties. And in case of disagreement of one party, we cannot carry out the action," Amatuni said.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited the Agarak Copper-Molybdenum Combine, where he got familiarized with the activities of this enterprise and its future plans.

Pashinyan particularly emphasized the importance of introducing new technology to this enterprise, in particular, digitization and the consistent solution of environmental problems.

Also, the PM was informed that about $25 million have been invested in this enterprise over the last five years, and another $15 million are planned to be invested this and next year, which will be allocated to the improvement of the Agarak Copper-Molybdenum Combine.
Zhoghovurd newspaper of Armenia writes: A UN Security Council emergency meeting [on the Lachin corridor issue] was held yesterday. After this meeting, it became relevant, and many people are interested in, ultimately, what will happen after this discussion.

Thus, Zhoghovurd daily, after studying the UN Charter, found out that there could be several scenarios.

The Security Council may adopt a statement [on the aforesaid issue]. A resolution is adopted if nine members voted for it at the open meeting. These members shall include the five permanent members. If any of the permanent members is against it, the resolution is not adopted.

The [Security Council] chairperson's statement may be adopted; it must be adopted by consensus.

The other option is the chairperson's writing: the chairpersons letter or press release.

Let us remind here that on December 20, 2022, an emergency meeting [of the UN Security Council] was held under the chairmanship of India, which was called again based on the petition of Armenia and aimed to discuss the situation created as a result of the blocking of the Lachin corridor [by Azerbaijan]. However, after this discussion, the parties did not come to a consensus, and no statement was adopted. France had adopted the statement and made the proposal, but it was not adopted due to the objection of the Russian side. It is interesting what will happen this time.

Let us add that the Security Council is one of the main bodies of the United Nations, it consists of 15 members, five of which are permanent members representing the US, Russia, Great Britain, France, and China and have the right to veto.
Dale Aschemann is director of the SIU School of Laws Civil Practice Clinic.

Grant will help SIU School of Law clinic expand civil law services to veterans, their families

by Pete Rosenbery

CARBONDALE, Ill.  A recent Illinois Bar Foundation (IBF) grant will allow Southern Illinois University School of Laws Civil Practice Clinic to expand its basic estate planning and other civil law services to veterans and their immediate families.

The clinic provides free services for persons 60 years and older in the regions 13 southernmost counties. The $15,000 IBF grant will enable veterans and their immediate families, including spouses, of all ages the ability to receive the same services, said Dale J. Aschemann, clinical assistant professor of law with the Civil Practice Clinic. Along with assisting in estate planning, Aschemann anticipates students will assist in other civil matters, including adult guardianships, power of attorney for health care and finances.

I think the estate planning aspect of law and what the students provide and the attention to detail they bring is a valuable service, Aschemann said. Its satisfying to me that we can offer it to veterans of any age. People dont like to think about their affairs in terms of dying, but I see routinely from where I sit the consequence of what happens if you dont prepare and what your family is left with.

As the SIU School of Law celebrates its 50th anniversary, serving the public good and providing integral experiential opportunities for its students remain the law schools hallmark since the initial class in 1973.

Students hone skills

Eight second- or third-year students will participate each semester and can earn 3 credit hours, which includes classroom work. The students will have 711 licenses, which under Supreme Court Rule 711, will allow them to make court appearances, counsel clients and prepare documents under Aschemanns supervision. After an initial intake interview with clients, students will conduct interviews, prepare drafts and review them with clients, execute documents and answer questions clients might have. Aschemann noted that these interactions allow students to hone fundamental skills including time management, attention to detail and effective listening.

Students will also meet with clients in their homes and hospitals, if needed.

The value to the students is they get real-world contact with these clients, and they are able to experience all that goes with that, Aschemann said.

Aschemann is in his third semester at the law school and credited the work of Rebecca ONeill, emerita law school clinical professor with the Civil Practice Clinic, which also consists of a juvenile justice clinic to assist children in case of abuse and neglect.

The legal clinic now has about 400 cases a year, and Aschemann hopes the clinic will be able to assist at least 40 veterans a year. Aschemann said the clinic will continue to provide consultation on veterans benefits, and he plans to visit veterans service organizations to discuss the new program. Grant funds will cover expenses such as travel, staff assistance and filing fees, where necessary.

Access to justice

The SIU School of Law was one of four in the state to receive funding for the IBFs new Law School Legal Clinic Grant program. Aschemann noted that one programs primary tenets is access to justice for underrepresented groups.

The IBF recognizes the crucial role law schools play in educating and training law students to become the future of the legal profession while meeting the legal needs of the most vulnerable members of the Illinois community, said Stacey Weiler, IBFs director of grants and access to justice program. This partnership with SIU helps broaden the reach of the IBFs statewide impact, and we are proud to help create the capacity of the legal clinic and students to provide civil legal services to veterans throughout Southern Illinois this year.

For more information on the program or assistance, call the Civil Practice Clinic at 800-673-6130.
The stock market witnessed a downturn as both the Nifty and Sensex indices grappled with a challenging trading session. Investors were met with a bearish sentiment as the market struggled to maintain its upward momentum. The stock market experienced a turbulent close on Friday. The Nifty index initially faced a downward trend, finding support around the 19,250 mark before making a rebound. However, the overall sentiment in the market remains uncertain as it grapples with an ongoing retracement from its recent peak. The Sensex, India's leading stock market index, concluded the trading session by shedding 281.10 points, settling at 64,869.92. Meanwhile, the Nifty index, a benchmark for the broader market sentiment, saw a decline of 82.90 points, finishing at 19,282.35 at the close of the market. Among the Nifty-listed companies, a mixed pattern emerged, with 10 advancing, 39 declining, and 2 remaining unchanged. Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports, Eicher Motors, Maruti, and Britannia emerged as the top gainers, contributing to the positive momentum. On the flip side, Hero Motocorp, Tech Mahindra, TCS, Hindalco, and Infosys faced notable losses, driving the downward trajectory. Investors and analysts alike are closely monitoring the market's behaviour, as the ongoing retracement raises questions about the potential bottom. The trading day's volatility has left many speculating about the market's next moves and the factors influencing these fluctuations. As the weekend approaches, market participants are left with a sense of anticipation and uncertainty, eager to see how the coming week will unfold in this dynamic financial landscape. Varun Aggarwal, Founder and MD, Profit Idea, said, This offers excellent opportunities in selected blue chip, mid and small cap space. Overall market breath is positive inspite of indexes being red. Selected Banking, IT bluechip stocks offer good discount and can be picked up. We continue to focus with bullish bias as long as 18887 levels are not breached on downside. Good OI base at 19000 Nifty levels. Negative global cues are opportunities for investors as Indian outlook looks robust, said Aggarwal. The decrease in values can be attributed to a combination of factors, including global economic concerns, fluctuating commodity prices, and domestic economic indicators. Analysts and investors are keeping a close watch on market dynamics, attempting to gauge whether this downturn is a temporary setback or a potential trend reversal. Market participants remain cautious as they navigate the uncertain terrain, assessing the impact of these market movements on their portfolios and investment strategies. As the trading day comes to a close, attention now turns to upcoming market developments and the potential factors that could influence a rebound or further decline in the days ahead. (ANI)
Karnatakas Large and Medium Industries Minister MB Patil said on Friday that a dedicated platform would be constituted to facilitate investment by American companies in the state. Speaking at an event organised by the American Chamber of Commerce in India (AMCHAM- Karnataka Chapter) he stated that more and more American companies are coming forward to invest in the state. Minister emphasised that from now onwards the industrial plots would be allotted to entrepreneurs only after completion of at least 75 per cent of the targetted development by the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board. Responding to a suggestion put forth by an industry expert, he said that an economic advisory board would be formed. He explained that the government was encouraging the growth of industries across the state by providing attractive incentives and initiatives such as 'Beyond Bengaluru'. He added that he would also convene a meeting with industrialists in the next two weeks. Saying that there is no problem with the availability of land, water, and power in the north Karnataka region, he called on industrialists to come forward to set up their plants in the districts belonging to the region including Vijayapura. Patil said that proposals worth Rs 40,000 crore investments have been received after the new government assumed office in the state and added that proposals worth another Rs 60,000 crore are in the pipeline. Further, Minister Patil said that Tata Technologies has evinced interest to set up three Common Facilities Centres (CFCs) for MSMEs. He opined that the manufacturing sector should also grow along with the IT sector in the state. American companies are eyeing investment in e-mobility, ESDM, clean energy, aerospace and defence sectors, he said. Minister also informed that the 'Invest Karnataka Forum' (IKF) would be reconstituted and a 'Strategic Investments Committee' would be formed to facilitate the inflow of FDI to the state. American Chamber of Commerce in India representatives Rajan Khanna, Som Satsangi, and Atul Ujagar were among those present at the event. (ANI)
SRV Media New Delhi [India], August 18: Westfalia Fruit India is delighted to announce the launch of its first Avocado ripening facility in Mumbai, India. This will allow the company to supply avocados that are ready to eat to consumers in Mumbai and neighbouring areas. The dedicated ripening chamber has been built in Navi Mumbai, near the APMC market and was launched at a ceremony on August 17, 2023. In addition to Westfalia Fruit India leadership team, the launch ceremony was attended by leading fruit distributors, wholesalers, offline retailers, and e-commerce operators. Westfalia Fruit India has established itself as the market leader and largest importer of avocados in India. Westfalia Fruit started its India journey last year has already supplied over 1,000 MT of avocados to the Indian market in 2023. This year also marks the first year of commercial harvest of Indian grown Hass avocados. Over the next few years, over 500 acres of our existing Hass avocado plantations in Southern India will come into production, enabling consistent year-round availability of avocados for consumers. Speaking at the launch, Zac Bard, Director Westfalia Fruit India, said that Avocado ripeness has been a challenge for both retailers and consumers in India. Many consumers in India are not sure when is the perfect time to eat an avocado. Retailers also at times are unaware how to differently handle Hass avocados at different stages of their ripeness. Our perfectly ripened avocados will look to address this gap in the market. Westfalia ripe and ready to eat avocados will be available in a special punnet and consumers can be assured of consistent quality and ripeness. This ripening facility will be a milestone in India and will change the way avocados are marketed and consumed, added Zac. Westfalia Fruit India is excellently placed to offer avocados consistently from multiple origins all year round mentioned, GVK Naidu, Director Westfalia Fruit India and MD of Sam Agri group, the Indian JV partners of Westfalia. This ripening facility in Mumbai is just the start and in the coming months, we will have similar facilities in other major metros of the country, added Naidu. These surely are exciting times for the avocado category in India. About Westfalia Fruit India Westfalia Fruit India is a subsidiary of Westfalia Fruit, established in joint venture with Sam Agri India, Dvori-Or & Zohara Farms Israel, to introduce Hass avocados in India and other internationally accepted varieties that suit the Indian climate. Westfalia Fruit India markets Hass avocados sourced from Westfalias global network of farms and from farms developed in India. (Disclaimer: The above press release has been provided by SRV Media. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
PRNewswire Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], August 18: The International Institute of Hotel Management (IIHM) is proud to announce a major addition to its leadership team as Neil Rippington, a distinguished chef and culinary educator, takes on the role of Global Director at IIHM Group Worldwide. This strategic appointment marks a major milestone for IIHM, signifying its commitment to excellence and innovation in culinary education and hospitality management. Neil Rippington's appointment as Global Director comes as an exciting development for both IIHM and the culinary world at large. With a rich and illustrious career spanning decades, Neil brings to IIHM a wealth of experience, creativity, and a passion for culinary arts and education. On the occasion of his appointment, Neil said, "Life is a journey and I am just about to embark on a very exciting one! As of Tuesday 1st August, I have joined the legendary Dr Bose and his wonderful team at the International Institute of Hotel Management (IIHM) as Director of Global Education. My induction starts properly very early on Saturday morning when I will be leaving for Heathrow Airport and flying to Abu Dhabi and then on a tour where I will be visiting campuses in Kolkata, Goa and Bangalore before returning to the UK on the 15th of August. I am excited to join such a prolific team and am very much looking forward to the initiatives we have been discussing over the last few months." In his exciting new role Neil will be visiting IIHM campuses regularly over the year. On the occasion, Dr Suborno Bose, Founder and Chief Mentor of IIHM Group Worldwide, said, "We are thrilled to welcome Chef Neil Rippington to the IIHM family as our Global Director. His unparalleled expertise and remarkable achievements in the culinary world make him an invaluable addition to our team. Neil's passion for culinary arts and education and his passion for promoting sustainability perfectly aligns with our mission of nurturing future leaders in the hospitality industry. With his visionary leadership, we are confident that IIHM will continue to set new standards of excellence and innovation in culinary education on a global scale." Neil Rippington's mastery of diverse culinary techniques and his ability to craft extraordinary flavour experiences have left an indelible mark on the global gastronomy scene. Throughout his career, Neil has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to culinary education. As a seasoned educator, he has played a pivotal role in shaping the next generation of culinary professionals. Neil has also authored culinary publications that delve into the artistry of cooking and gastronomy, further solidifying his reputation as a thought leader in the culinary world. He is currently working on a landmark book on culinary psychology. Neil is an experienced Dean with a demonstrated history of working in the further and higher education sectors. Skilled in culinary arts, hospitality management, education, training and development, and public speaking, he is a substantial operations professional with a Master of Arts in Culinary Arts from the University of Brighton. Apart from that he is a highly decorated educator with a Bachelor's degree in Education and Training, Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy and Fellowship of the International Institute of Hospitality Management. He has held many important positions in culinary education in his stellar career including a role as Instructor in Culinary Psychology at Harvard University, USA. Neil's remarkable contributions to global education and unwavering dedication to teaching have positively impacted countless students worldwide. His passion for education is truly inspiring, and his innovative teaching methods have paved the way for new and engaging ways of learning. As a published author, Neil brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to IIHM Global, and his work has been instrumental in shaping the future of teaching and learning. His ability to connect with students and create a positive learning environment is truly remarkable, and his commitment to ensuring that every student feels heard and supported in their academic journey is a testament to his outstanding character. Overall, Neil is an exceptional educator and a true leader in the field of education. He continues to work on several projects, including supporting sustainability in the food and hospitality industry. In his new role as Global Director, Neil will leverage his extensive experience to elevate IIHM's global culinary and hospitality programmes. His innovative approach and visionary leadership will contribute to the institute's ongoing mission to empower students with the skills and knowledge required to excel in the dynamic hospitality industry. Neil Rippington expressed his enthusiasm about this career move in a recentLinkedIn post. He conveyed his excitement to embark on new projects and continue his journey of culinary exploration and education at IIHM Group Worldwide. IIHM Group Worldwide is delighted to welcome Neil Rippington to its leadership team and is confident that his remarkable achievements, passion, and innovative vision will propel the institute to new heights of excellence. About IIHM Group Worldwide The International Institute of Hotel Management (IIHM) Group Worldwide is a renowned institution dedicated to providing world-class education in hospitality management and culinary arts. With a global presence and a commitment to excellence, IIHM empowers aspiring professionals with the skills, knowledge, and industry insights necessary to excel in the dynamic field of hospitality. For more information, please visitwww.iihm.ac.in. Follow IIHM Group Worldwide on Social Media: * Facebook * Twitter * LinkedIn About IIHM IIHM (International Institute of Hotel Management)is one of the largest chainsof premier hospitality and hotel management schools acrossIndiathat started its journey in 1994 atKolkata. IIHM is a part of Indismart Group, the conglomerate that operates the Indismart Hotels. IIHM campuses are located across eleven National and International cities with the associate institute IAM-IHM located inKolkata, and Guwahati. IIHM has campuses inKolkata, Delhi, Pune, Bangalore, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Goa, Bangkok, Samarkand in Uzbekistan, and Singapore (opening soon)Students passing out of the group are awarded International Degree from the University of West London and are equipped with global hospitality skills that enable easy placements in any hospitality brand across the world. IIHM is dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in teaching and global placements. Real-time experience is the key to success in IIHM's learning experience which includes working in own training hotels and resorts attached to the campuses. IIHM is a Founding Institutional member of the (IHC) International Hospitality Council, London. It offers discerning students excellent opportunities to be a global partner of the University of West London. Following a truly international curriculum,IIHM offers a BSc (Hons) in International Hospitality Management from the University of West London, UK. Students are also awarded UGC approved IndianDegrees.IIHM students also have the option of completing their final year in the UK, Switzerland, Germany or Canada, after completing and performing well in the first two years in India. The institute has bagged several prestigious awards in the past 30 years. The list includes the Best Education Brand Award from Economic Times six times including 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022 and recently in 2023."Most Valuable Hospitality Education Brand 2023" by Zee 24ghanta. Awarded "Best Hospitality Education Brand 2020" & 2022,"Best Global Hospitality Education Brand 2023"by Zee Education Excellence Award.It was also featured in Forbes Magazine as Great Indian Institute and Great Place to Study consecutively in the year 2018 - 2019 and 2019 - 2020. IIHM was also awarded as one among the World's Greatest Brands & Leaders 2015-16 by URS International (IMEA - Process Reviewer PriceWaterhouseCoopers PL) and also received the Best Institute in Hospitality Education Award by ASSOCHAM consecutively for 5 years. With it presence felt internationally and having alumni across almost all continents of the world, Media Contact: Abdullah Ahmed,COO, IIHM Hotel School GroupT: +91-(0)11-43204700E:Abdullah.ahmed@iihm.ac.in Photo:https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2189076/IIHM_Neil_Rippington.jpgLogo:https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1572818/IIHM_Logo.jpg (Disclaimer: The above press release has been provided by PRNewswire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
Naor Gilon, Ambassador of Israel to India, hosted a soiree on Wednesday that brought together distinguished figures from both the Israeli and Indian film industries to celebrate and strengthen Israel-India cultural partnership. Tsahi Halevi, a well-known Israeli actor, and Nurit Tinari, the Head of the Cultural Relations Division at the Israeli Foreign Ministry, attended this special event. They are in India to promote an exciting co-production that brings together the talents of both countries, as well as to explore new avenues of collaboration. https://twitter.com/IsraelinIndia/status/1692056249255272772?s=20 Speaking about the event, Gilon said, Every such event is another building block of the people-to-people connection between Israel and India. Indian cinema enjoys popularity in Israel, while Israeli series like Fauda has gained a dedicated fan following in India. The Bollywood debut of the Fauda actor Tsahi Halevi marks a momentous milestone in the growing cultural ties between our two ancient civilizations. As we celebrate this milestone, we look forward to more collaborations bridging our rich cultures and histories, further strengthening our friendship, he added. The event also featured the presence of prominent leaders from the film industry of both countries. It is a powerful testament to the strong relationship and mutual commitment to fostering art and culture. Fauda actor Tsahi Halevi is set to make his long-awaited Bollywood debut alongside Nushrratt Bharuccha in the upcoming film Akeli. Halevi, known for his roles in acclaimed Israeli productions such as Bethlehem, Fauda, and Line in the Sand, has entered the Indian film industry, adding a new layer of cultural exchange and artistic collaboration. (ANI)
Talking about his visit, Rajinikanth told ANI, "I will watch the film with the CM. It's God's blessing that the movie is becoming a hit."

Earlier, on FridayRajinikanth visited the holy Chhinnamasta Temple in Jharkhand.After offering prayers at the temple, the megastar was clicked at the Birsa Munda Airport.

Previously,Rajinikanthvisited Badrinath Dham to take the blessings of Lord Badri Vishal.

Ahead of the release of 'Jailer', the legendary actor went for a spiritual trip to the Himalayas.

Rajinikanthrevealed on various occasions that he used to visit the Himalayas often. But the superstar was unable to visit the hills for the past four years due to various reasons, including the corona pandemic.Earlier, on Thursday, Sun Pictures shared the total gross collection of the film.

The post read, JAILER Highest 1st week total gross collection in the history of Tamil cinema 375.40 crores.Talking about Jailer,Rajinikanthportrays the father of a police officer in the film. The trailer also demonstrated how a regular individual uses swords and firearms to take out rivals.

While Jackie Shroff is very briefly seen in the teaser, his look does give away his portrayal of a negative character exuding power and authority. He has a daring and dramatic appearance in the teaser that has the viewers in awe.

Interestingly, Jackie shared the screen with Rajnikanth 36 years ago in the film 'Uttar Dakshin.'Jailer' is touted to be an action-packed entertainer and has a stellar star cast that also includes Priyanka Mohan, Shiva Rajkumar, Tamannaah Bhatia, Ramya Krishnan, Yogi Babu, Vasanth Ravi, Vinayakan in prominent roles. (ANI)
In a significant move towards social welfare and urban development, the Telangana government announced its initiative to provide double-bedroom houses to underprivileged families residing alongside the Musi River. According to the official press release, the decision was made after MLAs from the city appealed to the state government to address the challenges of people living along the river bank, particularly concerning the flooding during monsoon season. The individuals, who endured adverse living conditions, are set to be relocated to areas equipped with essential amenities. This will also free the river of encroachments. Approximately 10,000 double-bedroom houses will be earmarked for this purpose. Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister KT Rama Rao held a meeting with the MLAs on Thursday. Various aspects regarding the growth of the city were discussed at the meeting. MLAs from Hyderabad placed a unanimous request before the State government to address the existing challenges and irregularities along the Musi River with a primary emphasis on freeing Musi of unauthorized settlements and allotment of state-built homes to the deserving populace. The proposed removal of obstructions from the Musi River is a strategic initiative, which lays the ground for the upcoming Musi Project. The project is currently in its preliminary planning stage. The minister appreciated the MLAs for coming up with the proposal which aligns with the State governments vision to prevent floods in Hyderabad. He said that the State government will shift the poor people residing alongside the river, who are already identified, to a safer place and allot them double-bedroom houses. This will provide significant relief to the poor who are forced to live near the river because of poverty. Also, this addresses the existing blockages, in the form of unauthorized constructions, in taking up plans to prevent flooding of the Musi River and other plans. The risk of flooding in areas alongside the river too will come down. This paves the way for works related to the Musi project, the minister added. KTR also said that works related to SNDP Phase II will be sanctioned soon. Distribution of double-bedroom houses will commence in the forthcoming week and the programme will be conducted at places where the houses are located. They have reported that people are content with the widespread development in Hyderabad in the past ten years, he added. However, BJP spokesperson Racahna Reddy hits out at the ruling party, saying, KTR has today announced that he is going to build a 2BHK houses to remove people who are allegedly living near Musi unauthorised and who are underprivileged and poor people, I wonder why KTR is thinking about the people especially people living in dangerous conditions now, after nine years of terrible floods of absolutely abysmal urban infrastructure in Hyderabad where roads are completely damaged in some part of the city and greater Hyderabad and in an around Musi. There is absolutely no planning, no manner in which the government had followed. Congress working president Mahesh Goud said that the move came just to woo the voters of the state which is going for assembly polls this year. As this is an election year, just to attract votes they are giving false promises. Two bedrooms in Telangana is a total failure. They have received lakhs of applications and they are not in a position to release a thousand houses, they haven't given 10 per cent of the total applicants. It will take 25 to 30 years to keep up the promises, keeping the budget in view, so this is again a false promise to the common man just to attract the votes, the Congress leader said. (ANI)
Delhi Police have arrested two people including one African national in two different cases of drug smuggling and seized some contraband worth around 35 lakh, the official said on Thursday. According to the police, they have also recovered 60 grams of Amphetamine--worth approx. 30 Lacs in the international market and 15 grams of heroin--worth approx. 4.5 lakhs in the international market by the anti-narcotics squad and 625 grams of ganja by the staff of Sultan Puri Police Station. In the first case, the police said that the action was taken following the secret information received to them. The accused has been identified as Alban John Alexandre who hails from Benin in West Africa. On August 16, secret information was received at Anti-Narcotics Squad, Outer District regarding an African-origin person namely John who supplies heroin in the Chander Vihar area and will be coming to supply heroin and MD in Nihal Vihar for supplying them to some unknown person. A dedicated team was constituted. The team reached the spot and a trap was laid to nab the drug supplier, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Outer Harender Singh said. The DCP further said that after some time, an African-origin suspect was sighted who began to wait for someone. After waiting for about 810 minutes, when no one turned up to meet him, he started to leave. The raiding team acted swiftly and overpowered the suspect immediately. On verification, he was identified as Alban John Alexandre Resident of Cotonou, Benin, (West Africa), he added. The recovered contraband of amphetamine and heroin were seized, he said. As per the police, during sustained interrogation, accused Alban John Alexandre disclosed that he hails from Benin in West Africa. Police further said that the accused came to India on a medical visa for three months and was living with his African friends at Chander Vihar. He used to supply drugs in Chander Vihar, Nihal Vihar and Delhi/NCR area on a commission basis. He is presently staying in India illegally, the police said. In the second case, DCP Outer Kumar also said, On August 16, staff of PS Sultan Puri was performing beat patrolling duty in the area and noticed a person carrying a transparent poly bag at E-3 block, near Budh Vatika. The staff acted swiftly and apprehended the suspect, who on verification was identified as Manoj resident of Sultan Puri, Delhi. After checking, 625 grams of ganja were recovered from his possession from the transparent poly bag. The police further said that the accused Manoj is previously found to be involved in two other criminal cases of theft and cheating. The accused Manoj was arrested in the case and Ganja was seized, the police added. (ANI)
National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) chief Priyank Kanoongo has written to West Bengal Police Director General (DG) Manoj Malviya to initiate necessary action and inquiry into the Jadavpur University student death case asking to submit an action taken report to the commission within seven days. "The Commission...requests your good offices to inquire into the matter and take necessary action. Further, an action taken report may be submitted to the Commission within 07 days of receipt of this letter," NCPCR chief Priyank Kanoongo wrote in a letter to West Bengal Police DG Manoj Malviya. In the letter, the Commission mentioned that it has taken suo-moto cognizance under section 13/ (1) (j) of CPCR Act, 2005 since there is a prima-facie violation of various provisions of Law and UGC Regulations on Curbing The Menace Of Ragging In Higher Educational Institutions,2009. "The Commission has come across news reports regarding the death of a minor first-year undergraduate student of Bengali Department of Jadavpur University, Kolkata, West Bengal, wherein it has been alleged that the victim student died after falling from the balcony of second floor of the main hostel building," the NCPCR mentioned in its letter. Earlier on Monday, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued a notice to the Chief Secretary, Government of West Bengal calling for a report on the Jadavpur University student death case within four weeks. A first-year student of Jadavpur University, identified as Swarnodip Kundu, died after allegedly falling from the balcony of the university's hostel on the night of August 9. He was allegedly subjected to ragging before his death. (ANI)
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday said the state government is on a mission to build a new Madhya Pradesh. CM made the remark while addressing a program in Kurwai, Vidisha district. He also dedicated and performed bhoomi-pujan of 25 construction projects worth Rs 325.68 crore on the occasion. We are making a new Madhya Pradesh. A petrochemical complex with an investment of Rs 50,000 crore is slated to be established at Agasod in Kurwai tehsil within this district along with Bina Refinery, for the development of Kurwai and surrounding areas. This holds the potential to significantly transform the lives of the local populace, the CM said. Chauhan also announced that the civil hospital at Kurwai would be upgraded to 50 beds. A statue of Rani Avantibai would be installed in Kurwai and a college would be opened in Pathari town in the district. He added that he was determined to work for the development of the state and the welfare of the people. The Chief Minister told the citizens, Homeless people will get pucca houses and for those whose names have not even appeared in the Pradhan Mantri Awas and Awas Plus, we are launching the Mukhya Mantri Jan Awas Yojana. In order to increase the scope of Ayushman Bharat Yojana, now families that are not availing the benefits of any other scheme and are not income tax payers will also be covered. The Chief Minister called upon the women to celebrate Raksha Bandhan on August 27 saying that the women must join the programme. He said that Rs 1000 being given under the Ladli Bahna Yojana would be gradually increased to Rs 3000. The CM also addressed students, urging them to excel in their studies. He revealed that he had already deposited Rs 4500 into the accounts of students for purchasing cycles who have been travelling to other villages for their education. On August 23, students excelling in the Higher Secondary School would be given the amount of purchasing scooters. "The government has launched several initiatives including the provision of higher education fee subsidies for exceptional students. The youth will receive both skill training and stipends under the Mukhyamantri Seekho-Kaamo Yojana. Along with this, the government has facilitated the creation of one lakh public sector jobs and introduced self-employment schemes," he added. (ANI)
"A boy from Kashmir was arrested today. Who issued a residential certificate to him? How did he get the OBC A certificate?... The case has now become multi-state so it's a fit case for CBI and NIA," said Suvendu Adhikari.

Earlier on Monday, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued a notice to the Chief Secretary, Government of West Bengal calling for a report on the Jadavpur University student death case within four weeks.

A first-year student of Jadavpur University, identified as Swarnodip Kundu, died after allegedly falling from the balcony of the university's hostel on the night of August 9. He was allegedly subjected to ragging before his death.

West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose called Jadavpur University authorities for an emergency meeting at Raj Bhavan.

Six more people were arrested on Wednesday morning in connection with the Jadavpur University student death case, taking the total number of arrests in the case to nine, police said. (ANI)
West Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari claimed that saying Vande Mataram and hosting the national flag is not allowed in Jadavpur University which is in the news due to a death of an undergraduate student. Speaking to ANI, Suvendu Adhikari said, "Some students told me that saying Vande Mataram and hosting the national flag is not allowed at Jadavpur University. Everyone is aware of their activities". In an attack aimed at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said that Mamata Banerjee being anti-national herself is "protecting anti-national forces". "Mamata Banerjee, herself is anti-national and she is protecting anti-national forces. In 12 years, Mamata Banerjee's government has done nothing. Mamata's close acquaintances are involved in the incidents, oppression that is taking place here," Adhikari said. Reacting to the four-member fact-finding committee set up by the Mamata Banerjee government to probe the student death case, the BJP leader said that it is all a "farce". "This is a farce. The Jadavpur incident has enraged the public in West Bengal. The BJP is running a Yuva Morcha protest against the incident." Speaking on the demands of the BJP, Adhikari said, "We demand an SIT under a sitting Judge, those who are accused should be punished by immediately filing charge sheets against them...action should also be taken against those who were in charge of administrative duties." Earlier in the day, Suvendu Adhikari joined the protest by West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party Youth Morcha at Kolkata's Jadavpur to condemn the incident of the death of Jadavpur University student. Adhikari held a placard with 'Ragging Free Campus is our right' written on it while participating in the protest. Speaking at the protests Suvendu said "This student's death has served as an eyeopener for us...For long Jadavapur University had housed anti-national forces, all kinds of wrongdoing." Meanwhile, a four-member fact-finding committee has been formed by the state government regarding the Jadavpur student death case. The committee is slated to submit its report within two weeks. A first-year student of Jadavpur University, identified as Swarnodip Kundu, died after allegedly falling from the balcony of the university's hostel on the night of August 9. He was allegedly subjected to ragging before his death. (ANI)
Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president Nana Patole on Thursday said that the upcoming meeting of the INDIA opposition bloc, scheduled to be held in Mumbai on August 31 and September 1, aims to oust the Narendra Modi government from the Centre. While speaking to the media persons, the Congress leader said that the meeting would give a new direction to the country. "INDIA alliance meeting will be held in Mumbai on August 31 and September 1. We held a meeting today at Matoshree to organise it successfully and decided on the agenda for it. It would give a new direction to the country. The aim of the (INDIA) meeting is to oust the Modi government from the centre...," Patole said. The party held the Wednesday meeting to review preparations the third in the series after the earlier ones in Patna and Bengaluru ahead of the crucial INDIA bloc meeting. Speaking on speculations over Sharad Pawar joining the BJP, following a meeting between the NCP president and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in Pune, Patole said the NCP chief has already clarified about the same. Sharad Pawar is a big leader, he is capable of taking decisions for his party. He, meanwhile, has made his stand clear on the meeting between Ajit and him last week, Patole said. Earlier on August 13, making his stand clear on joining Bharatiya Janata Party,Nationalist Congress Partychief Sharad Pawar said that his party will not go with theBJPas its ideology does not fit in NCP's political framework. "As national president of NCP, I am making it clear that my party (NCP) will not go with theBJP. Bharatiya Janata Partys ideology does not fit in NCP's political framework," Sharad Pawar said while talking to the reporters at Sangola in Solapur district of Maharashtra. Pawar further said that some "well-wishers" are trying to persuade him to join theBJP. "Some of us have taken a different stand. Some of our well-wishers are trying to see if there can be any change in our minds. That is why they are trying to have a cordial discussion with us," he said without taking names. Recently, Ajit Pawar, nephew of Sharad Pawar along with eightNationalist Congress Party(NCP) MLAs, switched over to theBJP-Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde)-led Maharashtra government recently. Ajit Pawar later claimed of having support from several MLAs of NCP. Pawar was then sworn in as a Deputy Chief Minister of the state. Maharashtras other Deputy Chief Minister isBJPs Devendra Fadnavis. On being asked about the secret meeting with Ajit Pawar, Sharad Pawar said how the meeting became a secret one while it was held at someones residence. What is wrong with meeting my nephew? How it can become secret when it was held at someones residence. I was there at his residence, he added. (ANI)
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Thursday said it will request the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) to reconsider its decision on sharing water with Tamil Nadu. Shivakumar said the CWMA has instructed the Karnataka government to release 10,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu over the next 15 days at a time when the state was grappling with water shortage. Speaking to ANI, Deputy CM Shivakumar said, "We received an instruction that we have to release 10,000 cusecs of water (from Cauvery) for 15 days. We are aware that the state is currently grappling with a water crisis. We are facing severe drought in some areas." "Still, in compliance with the Supreme Court directive, we have released the water (from the Cauvery) over the last four to five days. However, we urge the authority to reconsider the decision (to release water to Tamil Nadu) as it might have a direct impact on the availability of potable water here in Karnataka," the Deputy CM added. Meanwhile, weighing in on the issue, former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday said the Congress government has betrayed farmers in the state as it did not put forward their plight before theCauvery Water Management Authority. "Congress govt has betrayed the farmers, especially those inhabiting the Cauvery river basin. They did not fight their case before the CWMA. Now, they should stand up for our farmers before the Supreme Court and argue our case on merit rather than meekly surrendering to the authority and giving away water (to Tamil Nadu). This is dhokha (betrayal) with our farmers," former CM Bommai said. Earlier, on Monday, deputy chief minister Shivakumar said Tamil Nadu need not worry about the release of Cauvery water. "We respect the court's Distressed Water Sharing Formula with regard to the Cauvery.There is no need for the people of Tamil Nadu to approach the Supreme Court in such a hurry. We have to work together to cater to the interests of both the states," he said. The Kaveri is an interstate basin that originates in Karnataka and passes through Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry before draining into the Bay of Bengal. The total watershed of the Cauveri basin is 81,155 sq km, of which the rivers catchment area is about 34,273 sq km in Karnataka, 2,866 sq km in Kerala and the remaining 44,016 sq km in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry. (ANI)
Water level in Pranmati river in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand has increased to a great extent following incessant rainfall in the state, which has been witnessed massive flooding and landslides. Authorities have alerted the locals in the area to ensure the safety and well-being of the residents, officials said on Friday. According to Chamoli District Magistrate Himanshu Khurana, River Pranmati has swollen due to heavy downpours. The district magistrate said that no damage has been reported from the area and that locals were alerted about the rise in the river beforehand to ensure their safety. "There has been no cloudburst in Chamoli's Tharali, but the water in the Pranmati River has increased to a great extent. The administration had already issued an alert in the area, so there is no information about any kind of damage," District Magistrate Khurana said. Meanwhile, excessive water entered into houses in Kaluwala in Dehradun due to the heavy rainfall. SDRF personnel immediately reached the spot and are engaged in efforts to help the affected locals and carried out rescue operations on Thursday night. Due to rain-triggered landslides, the road between Maithana and Pursadi on the Badrinath National Highway sank, as per Chamoli Police. Authorities have restricted vehicular movements at Ram Jhula bridge in Rishikesh after a supportive wire broke following heavy rainfall. According to the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), a person was found dead after a house collapsed in Helang village on the Badrinath highway between Pipalkoti and Joshimath in Chamoli district on Tuesday evening. Kotwali Joshimath informed the SDRF that a two-storey house built near a crusher unit on the banks of the Alaknanda River had collapsed and that some locals were feared trapped under the debris. The SDRF team reached the spot to find four people buried under the debris of the collapsed house. Subsequently, the SDRF team rescued three people and rushed them to a nearby hospital while another died on the spot. According to official estimates, 52 people died due to rain-related incidents in the state this monsoon season while another 37 sustained injuries. On the instructions of Chief Minister Pushkar Dhami, SDRF and NDRF personnel were deployed in places badly affected by rain-related incidents. Heavy rains in the state this monsoon have triggered landslides and flash floods in several places. The India Meteorology Department has predicted light to moderate, scattered to fairly widespread rainfall, thunderstorm and lightning with isolated heavy rainfall over Uttarakhand, East Uttar Pradesh from August 17- August 23. (ANI)